All_Pro_Bills

"Sometimes you go for the easy conviction to get the person off the streets." That statement seems like a real cop out here. I gotta call that out. All I hear for the past 5 months is how overwhelming the evidence is and how Trump directed the demonstrators to invade and occupy the Capitol Building. And you suggest the DOJ along with Federal and DC prosecutors are going to plea bargain down to the lowest charges just to get convictions? Frankly that conclusion sounds like avoiding an admission on your end that there is no tangible evidence of the insurrection charges or that Trump directed an attack on the Capitol. Face the truth. The actual facts around the events of that day have not be provided to the public. If the administration had any real proof of anything it would be on the airwaves and social media propagandist would be touted it 24/7. Its all political drama and theater. Basically they know they have little to nothing to make an serious charges stick so they've drummed up this Commission idea as a way to keep the story on the front page for another year without having to actually prove anything. Like I said political theater. Let the courts handle it as quickly as possible and let's get the truth and facts out in the open so we can all understand what and how it happened that day.

China has a lot of influence over the social media platforms and they never hesitate to do the bidding of the CCP by censoring and identifying critics of their government. They block what they're told to block from the public on the mainland. So by extension they have no issue with censoring any stories with "fact checkers" and "mis-information" designations when it comes to COVID origin stories. These tech corporations are also in lockstep with US intelligence agencies and perform information gathering functions for them too. So while they view themselves as "left leaning" and "progressives" they are in reality agents of government oppression. I don't know how others view this but from my perspective traditional liberal doctrine was opposed to big government and oppression not the servant and partner of such nefarious agencies and operatives.

Voter fraud is discussed on another thread. But you know that. So can we stay on topic? At the end of the day this is a legal matter assigned to the judiciary branch plain and simple. So let's see the formal charges, see the governments evidence, call some witnesses, and get down to it.

So you have a problem with a Federal jury trial where the prosecution and defense are governed by rules of evidence and due process that are impartially applied by a judge presided over the trial where a verdict is rendered by a jury of 12?

Well it looks like the commission idea is DOA in the Senate. And as protocol requires the venue for all of this will be the Federal & DC courts where the rules governing the judicial legal system will be followed. I can think of no logical reason why this course of action should displease anyone looking for truth and justice.

The major news outlets and networks have suspended and excluded reality from their reporting. Approved narratives drive their stories while truth and facts are unimportant. Their polling numbers reflect a lack of confidence in their current business model. Their dishonestly centers around the role they've assumed of running cover and being the mouthpiece for all kinds of shady and unscrupulous activities.

Both actually but at this time I'm adding only to my energy sector plays.

As for the consensus of economists the saying "Its hard to get a man to understand something when their job depends on not understanding it" is applicable. Lots of factors in play with inflation. Maybe too complex to explain here. My bet's on a big increase. The low inflation cycle is ending. Everything is cyclical but over time the human mind convinces itself that everything is linear. A trend will continue forever in the same direction at the same rate. Life doesn't work that way. Fed has run out of rope and runway. Government debts too big to service. Treasury department running a Ponzi Scheme. CPI measure is a joke as most increases are substituted or assumed out. Real rate is likely double now. But nobody takes the time to read up on the methodology although its all there to see. Lots of other factors. I've made bet in the markets on higher inflation. So far, so good. Also, it a good thing lots of people don't agree. After all, somebody's got to take the other side of the trade as markets are more or less a zero sum game.

In keeping with the theme of comedy this may be ias offensive question. Have you or any "normal" person you know ever dated anyone that is "woke"? And how did it work out? That might be a good concept for a situation comedy.

More troubling to Lightfoot is the majority of Chicago Blackhawks players are white, the majority of Chicago Bears players are black, and not a single player on the Chicago Bulls roster meets the criteria for being identified as "short". Clearly some sort of diversity and inclusion program is needed to ensure proper representation.

I expected you've been paying attention to events. If you want to end racism what would you propose? Give me your top 5 initiatives and what impact each would have on ending racism.

I think we all can agree that racism exists and is a problem. The debate to me is really on the impact of such behavior. And identifying the right and most impactful cause of the problem in order to apply some "fixes". Because my conclusion is you can "fix" all the racism issues you want and it isn't going to materially change the outcome for most people you are intending to help. That's pretty much it for me. You fix the wrong thing and you still have the same problem. So if you disagree I guess the fundamental question is "do you really believe that racism is the number one factor holding people back in our society in 2021"? Do you believe that other factors have less impact? Like education level, a stable family environment, a safe neighborhood, access to jobs and opportunity, drug and alcohol abuse, crime, avoiding "bad" social influences. And other things. So... If race is truly the key factor how can you explain so many whites living in poverty? if race is truly the key factor how can you explain so many affluent minorities? If race is truly the key factor how can you explain how recent African immigrants are as a demographic much more successful than Americans of African descent? if race is truly the key factor how can you explain how Asians as a group score much higher than Whites in standardized tests (which many claim favor whites) like SAT's and other exams? Just to specify a few examples..

Yup, just like Santa Claus they know when you are sleeping, they know when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake! I try to keep as much of my life private as possible (with one exception being a few posts and opinions here) and I am always amazed at the low exception of privacy most people have today. Like they believe its their duty to provide as much information or data about themselves to governments and corporations. There are things you can do to minimize your electronic fingerprints. I'm no expert on it and there are experts in personal privacy and security that know a lot more but things like use VPN, get off social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter (stop things like posting pictures of yourself or your vacations that nobody wants to see anyway), pay cash for things when you can, get rid of personal assistant devices like Alexa (they are listening to everything you say if only for the keyword command "Hey Alexa"), don't use Google search or Gmail (Google parses and "reads" all your e-mails).

Biden bows to Putin and removes Trump era sanctions intended to block the completion of NordStream2 from Russia to Germany. And in the process also hangs Ukraine out to dry. So who's the Russian asset now?

You should check out Fox Networks "Let's Be Real" which airs on Thursday's at 8:30 PM ET. It is pretty funny and violates almost all the "values" of woke-ism and virtual signalling. Appears to have no specific axe to grind or any agenda. The opening episode featured Gov. Coumo encouraging everyone to flatten the curve of sexual harassment instances by following the social distancing rule of maintaining a 6 foot distance between them and the Governor. Also a skit about Trump on Antiques Roadshow trying to pawn all the stuff he heisted from the White House when he left. I did test-drive on a few new comedies that attempted to blend the woke lifestyle with comedy and despite having some good actors in the cast they turned out to be total flops. Like Mr. Mayor. Woke comedy. A contradiction in terms and something that cannot exist in the natural world.

Frankly I trust the CDC a lot more than I trust Fauci. In fact I don't trust him at all. What I do know of him, his comments, and his associations leads me to conclude he has a lot of conflicting interests when it comes to this outbreak. One important thing to be cognizant of is he's more of an "administrator" than he is a "doctor". I've warmed up to the new CDC Director, Rochelle Walensky. She appears to be a straight-shooter with a good grasp of the sciences, data, and statistics behind COVID. Her answers and comments around vaccinated and the un-vaccinated along with the current comments on mask rules appear logical. And the CDC has been very transparent and forthcoming on all the stats and numbers relevant to the virus which are available for anyone to review and reach their own conclusions. I especially like this heat map of underlying conditions and risk. It paints a very informative picture. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#underlying-med-conditions

Now if the evil one who's name shall not be spoken had made this decision? Well we can imagine the level of outrage and calls for investigations and perhaps another impeachment show trial. At a minimum hearings held by Rep. Schiff's committee with lots of cameras and drama along with all the major networks featuring the story 24/7. But as it was JB making the call here the event will be relegated to the back page while social media censors block and delete any negative comments about removing the sanctions. As the pipeline is about 95% complete it was obvious the sanctions were not going to stop the project from going operational. And Germany was adamant that this project be completed. So removing the sanctions make sense from the view that the US is giving its "consent" for the project to be completed rather than looking like a failure when it competes and the sanctions are seen as ineffective. The other thing in play here is how it will impact the balance of power and events in Ukraine where all the revenue the country sees via gas transit fees may soon disappear. It provides the Russians a bit more leverage over the situation by providing a mechanism to divert that gas flow and still get it to its customer in Western Europe. I suspect one of the assurances the US (under both Trump & Biden) gave the Kiev government in return for their obedience with the US agenda here was that the administration would block NordStream2. This is obviously off the table now and perhaps the Ukraine government will begin the question the US strategy which puts them in the firing line? So Putin 2, Biden 0 here.

Yes, "The Commission" welcomes all political views as long as you think everyone is guilty.

Sure, why waste a good opportunity to criminalize political descent to the DQC Gestapo. I'll make a bold prediction here. Nobody is going to serve any serious jail time when it all gets aired in court. The government is afraid to release any official videos of events inside and outside the Capitol because they don't support their case. I'm sure they're try every trick in the book to suppress and withhold all of it. Even invoking the granddaddy of all excuse, threats to national security! But keep believing the conspiracy theory and talking points that an unarmed and unorganized group of "radicals" were attempted to overthrow the government of the United States. The most powerful single force on the planet in all of recorded history. Without any of the necessary elements in place to pull it off. They didn't even have the forces necessary to take over and hold the local Mall down the road from me. Simply hilarious. Do you guys really believe this crap or are you just yanking my chain?

There's really no need for any commission because the conclusions of the "investigation" are already per-determined by politics rather than law. They will accept, process, and utilize any evidence or opinions supporting their position and ignore or suppress anything that doesn't. I expect a draft of the "final" report is already written. That's how government works. A committee gives their masquerade an air of legitimacy. We all know that so why pretend? No matter what political view is prevalent at the time makes no difference. its always this way. This will be no different. So it ain't so..

So absent US arms sales and aid to Israel, they would be sourcing their weapons purchases from Russia, or China, or Switzerland, or home industries? All kinds of hardware but most critical IDF fighter jets and support?

There's plenty the President can do. But none of them of either political party will ever do it. He could freeze arms sales and assistance to Israel and Saudi Arabia to convince them to use their influence and control to bring all the parties to the table to reach some kind of amiable "peace" plan for co-existence. He could exert his influence on the Israeli PM and government to stop ultra-right wing Orthodox Jewish "settlers" from confiscating and encroaching on traditional Arab neighborhoods. He could pull our troops out of Syria and Iraq. He could reach a genuine agreement with Iran (an adversarial relationship since the 1950's US engineered coup) and respect their sovereignty in exchange for their adherence to standards of behavior consistent with the international community. He could recommend Turkey be expelled from NATO and reprimand Erdogan for supporting ISIS terrorist and other extremists and he could support democratic forces within the country that face persecution and imprisonment. He could engage the Lebanese government to begin the process of extracted Hezbollah from the country. He could eliminate US assistance to the Saudi's in their fight against rebel forces in Yemen. I could go on for a lot longer. But the fundamental problem is US Middle East strategy is to maintain chaos. And then be mostly silent about it when hostilities break out like they are right now.

I think defeating China can be more effectively achieved by enacting a more cooperative view of international relations than would be taking China on head-to-head in some competitive effort which would hopefully not include direct military conflict. The problem I see is a very belligerent attitude in US foreign policy since around 9/11. Rather than cooperation and mutual benefit US policy is based on sanctions, unilateral decisions, and expectations that every other country will fall in line and be obedient and compliant to US policy objectives. The NordStream2 natural gas pipeline is an example. Both the German government and business interests support the project to bring gas into Germany and Europe from Russia. But because of US strategy to isolate Russia from Europe our "allies" are being forced to oppose the project and if not subject to sanctions. In essence forcing Europeans to defer their interests to US interests. This do as we say or else policy is at the core of US foreign policy. It is driving potential and current allies further away. It is counterproductive to the task of taking on China in a competitive framework. In order to be successful in "boxing in" China and imposing some level of control it is necessary to modify this approach and treat allies as partners. Not as vassal states to rule over and dictate all terms and conditions of the relationship. Sadly, I doubt anyone in Washington, in a position of power, in either major political party has either the vision or desire to make the changes necessary to make any of this happen.

Ambassador or not the administration's apparent unwavering support for Israel and its desire to rekindle the nuclear deal with Iran are simply incompatible. The Israeli government has clearly stated a nuclear Iran is not acceptable under any circumstances and they view any re-establishment of the nuclear deal exited by the Trump administration to be a threat that must be addressed. And Iran views Israel as a enemy which it cannot negotiate or compromise with under any circumstances.

I have a conflicted view of AOC. I like her and I don't like her. But I think what's more important than what she says and does is what she doesn't say and doesn't do. If AOC is serious about her positions on Israel and the Middle East she would introduce legislation on the House floor this morning to impose sanctions on businesses and individuals doing business with Israel, stop all financial aid, stop intelligence sharing and military and economic cooperation, ban entry and exit to the US of Israeli citizens. You know express displeasure with stuff they do against countries like Russia, Iran, and Venezuela that don't play ball by the US rules. But she isn't going to do that. That's not her real function. She will certainly not attack her party leadership, Biden, Pelosi, Schummer, and others that have expressed unwavering support for Israel. No matter what they do. Its the moment of truth for her. So walk the talk or shut up. Odds are she folds like a cheap suit here.