leh-nerd skin-erd

You’re advocating for a system where people that contribute to a better society through taxation should not benefit from their contribution? I really don’t understand this thought process. To boot, oftentimes, the issue with based on actuarial projections, it’s based on a regulatory environment that limits what can be charged to cover what’s being covered. We see this over and over with government regulation, especially in places like California, Florida and NY. You speak of science, what about math?

So, I understand the point you’re making generally, but where is the government rebuilding $30,000,000 houses for people with $30,000,000 in the bank?

I have no background in fire prevention, nor do I have background in farming. Disasters move money massively for sure. I’d support following the money there.

I have no background in forest fire prevention, but it seems as though Team Newsome has a handle on it for sure.

Probably a good time to consider how some of these people sought refuge in a government facility, praying and begging for police to come to their aid just a few short years ago. And how, since then, countless hours and millions of dollar were spent in pursuit, in some cases, of people guilty of trespassing. Meanwhile—in your town, at your place of employment, your business…not a priority.

I feel this is a question you should figure out on your own, McGruff. I’ll keep a good thought for you.

On the bright side, no doors kicked in, no creative legal theories to prosecute adversaries yet, no attempts to haul opponents off to jail for behavior completely acceptable and embraced by DC until, magically, 2020.

That you feel it’s necessary to proactively declare that you are involved/attempting to be involved in a discussion should be added to your list of blind spots. It’s also reflective of emotional immaturity and perhaps a bit of narcissistic personality disorder. In the future, consider not reaching out to me directly and specifically to avoid the debate on who/whom might be considered a discussion partner.

That you see our interaction as a “discussion” reveals you lack the emotional maturity to understand how discussions actually work. We all have our blind spots, 4th.

I’m not sure I follow you here. I’ve never been to Cuba—you said you were told that critics of the government faced censorship, harassment and exile. Here, you downplay those issues. Is it like a soft exile? They send dissidents off on a Carnival cruise line?

Yes, it’s all business, but you seem to be taking his comments personally. If you believe the scale is weighted more heavily towards the US, I would understand support for your government pushing back. I feel the same way.

Interesting analysis.

I appreciate your contribution to the dialogue, you’ve given me much to think about. How many asterisks is too many? When a poster uses 7 # in a row, how many words could it represent? Is it too much to ask for one comma in the last sentence after a plethora of asterisks and hashtags? You seem to live in a silo of discontent, I just don’t really see the point in being perpetually closed-minded. Still, thank you.

I didn’t get any of that from what @sherpa wrote, though English is my native language and to my knowledge I’ve never had a head injury.

You said the other day that critics faced censorship, harassment and exile.

The “51st state” comment was disrespectful to be certain, though in context of Trudeaus weakened state it was sort of funny. Addressing economic imbalance to the extent it occurs I have less of an issue with. That said, in the world of international politics, it’s hard to figure out what declarations of “acts of war” really mean from administration to administration. It’s not that long ago a boatload of cash was shipped on a cargo plane to a country absolutely and vocally determined to destroy our nation—-and folks like Tibs were all for the party sending it.

I don't disagree with you here, but incursions into foreign countries can get very dicey. That's really pretty ironic given the support foreign countries provide to people looking to gain access illegally into ours. What are your thoughts on US action against cartels (and let's be honest, action against powerful/corrupt individuals in Mexico) across the border, +/- 150 miles in? Would you support that sort of action by the military?

You make it sound pretty good, what with the blackouts, censorship, gas shortages, accumulating garbage, and the threat or exile for complaining about blackouts, accumulating garbage, censorship, gas shortages, harassment and/or exile from the homeland. I'm not sure how you square the 'free' part of education and healthcare given the other concerns you've raised here. Question--are the educators immune to threats of harassment and exile, or do they generally follow the directive of the government?

Significant accomplishments to be sure. That said, like every other aspect of life, there are excellent doctors, good doctors, average doctors, below average doctors, and poor doctors--all of whom went to medical school, passed exams, etc. Using the opiod crisis as one example, what one has to hope for is that in a time of need, their phyiscian researched, analyzed, considered their situation and made the appropriate recommendation for the patient at the time. Blind faith is never the answer, though I would agree lots of people of all political stripes take information from sources that are not reputable.

Not really, I'm just worried you'll get stuck in the trunk.

No, on the one hand, I fear you are a hacker intent on stealing my tens and tens of dollars and you have a link embedded in the account. On the other, I fear for you that one day you may lock yourself in the trunk of your 2017 Nissan Leaf. I'm a complicated soul. For the record, I am not against non-American engineers being hired.

Who is against non-American engineers, Tibs? I wasn’t aware that was a platform.

For sure. A legend amongst legends in Hollywood, where those most virtuous tread according to a survey of the top publicists in the biz. He’s been called the Alec Baldwin of his generation. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67375220

Well, I think the issue with masks can be traced back to guidance, confusion and the crappy job done by people like Faucci and other leaders in government sending conflicting messages. I wore masks, social distanced, installed the magic plexiglass shield, vaxxed, had employees working from home….and watched a menagerie of dumbasses abuse the public trust. Fauci et al were not transparent about what our government was up to, the partnership with China, the possibility of a lab leak. We had politicians making rules up on the fly, treating different people differently, and in many cases completely disregarding their own rules and regulations. As for “me, me, me”, it seemed to me most Americans were compliant for much of the pandemic. However, when it became apparent it was largely a pandemic of the compliant, people stopped believing. Example: I flew back from Fla to NY during the pandemic, and live in NY. The rule in place to save the works according to Cuomo was that as a resident, I was required to quarantine and as I recall, get checked before returning to work (although that may have been a different time). Interestingly, for a resident of a contiguous state on the same plane as I, who worked or had business in NY, the rule was not in place. So, an infected soul in seat 29A was free to travel roam the state and infect so long as he lived in Mass or Ct. It was pretty silly.

He might have missed a story or two about voter turnout, changes in perspective and the perils of assuming you can perpetually shove **** down voters throats and they might not vote against you.