Politics

[Wheels]

Looks a bit like another CIA/State Department color revolution.

Scenes From Protests in Georgia Against ‘Foreign Agents’ Law

Two nights of clashes between police and thousands of protesters in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, prompted the ruling party on Thursday to abandon legislation targeting “foreign agents” that had been strongly criticized by the US and the European Union.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[Wheels]

Tech companies need to be made whole for poor decisions. Bank stockholders and managers need to be bailed out at the expense of the taxpayer. Why can't a poorly run company just fail anymore. Instead we just leave the people that created the problem in place to fail again.

Lehman 2.0. Another step down the road of perdition.

 

[Wheels]

Tech companies need to be made whole for poor decisions. Bank stockholders and managers need to be bailed out at the expense of the taxpayer. Why can't a poorly run company just fail anymore. Instead we just leave the people that created the problem in place to fail again.

Lehman 2.0. Another step down the road of perdition.



View attachment 522094

Wonder if there is a correlation.

 

[Ray B]

Just one more step in the government giving you all the government that you're paying for.

 

[Wheels]

Powell has raised interest and needs to raise interest rates further to get inflation down.

The banks have long term paper/T bills at low interest rates.

As interest rates go up, the long term paper becomes worth less. This will work out if you let the paper mature in 5-10-20 years.

Banks have to allow depositors to make withdrawals. Depositors at SVB started making withdrawals yesterday.

SVB had to sell $21B in long term treasuries at a $1.8B loss. More withdrawals were taking place today forcing the bank to sell the rest of their $70B in treasuries, loosing billions more and becoming insolvent and forcing the takeover.




Powell has no where to go. SVB was the first domino. If rates continue to go up, other banks will fold. If Powell doesn't raise interest rates we continue with inflation. The ramifications of $31T in debt are starting to show.

 

[Wheels]

Jim Cramer a month ago on February 8.

Kind of reminds you of Cramer 15 years ago.

 

[Scott CWO]

I think this thread is appropriate to bring to light what's going on in the NE/Mid-Atlantic with the wind-farms and whale/dolphin deaths. As an offshore fisherman, waterman, and just someone who loves the ocean: I am beyond furious. Anyone who is not in the know should take a strong look into this. Before you know it these useless pieces of trash they want to install will be ruining a natural space near you. Whether it's public farm land, ocean, etc. Worst of all, they want to implement a ridiculous November - May speed restriction for vessels to "protect the Right Whale" when they've killed about 10 humpbacks, 1 right whale, and numerous dolphin in the construction of these windmills.

White House pushes speed restrictions on boats to protect endangered species | Fox News Video

Fox News correspondent Douglas Kennedy reports on the Biden White House's proposed boat speed restrictions that some say could cause unintended consequences.

www.foxnews.com

'Alarming' increase in whale deaths blamed on wind energy projects: 'Unprecedented in the last half-century'

Meghan Lapp of the Center for Sustainable Fisheries ripped offshore wind projects for deafening and eventually killing whale species after another carcass washed ashore in NJ.

www.foxnews.com

Yes and welcome to my world out in the West where the black, not green, windmill farms ruin our views, wildlife and hunting! What people see as “wastelands” were ranches full of pronghorn, deer and even elk, not to mention raptors, grouse, etc… that have ben pushed around or out due to these fkn things with roads built to each of them and new transmission lines as well. They only produce incredibly expensive and inefficient electricity 30% of the time because it’s either too windy or not windy enough the other 70%. They are the biggest environmental scam and HORRIBLE for the environment. They are so inefficient that it takes 25 years to pay for themselves (with taxpayer subsidies) and that’s their life expectancy! They have ruined ranches and further fragmented wildlife habitat.

 

[Ray B]

The easy way to understand bonds is that they are like US Savings Bonds. Back in the day you could buy a $25 savings bond for $18.25. The bond cost $18.25 and when it matured it is worth $25.00. the $25 is $18.25 cost plus $6.75 interest. You buy the bond for $18.25 and expect it to earn @ 4%. But then the interest rate goes up, which means the savings bonds that have a mature value of $25 have more interest, so these higher interest bonds have $8.00 interest, reducing the price of a $25 bond to $17.00. So now someone can buy a $25 savings bond for $17. that is great for them and it doesn't matter to you if you keep your bond to maturity, you will get $25. But before that, the bond that you paid $18.25 for is now only worth $17. So if you had to sell it because your creditors demanded payment, you bought it at $18.25 and are selling it for $17. A loss of $1.25.

And that is just on a $25 bond- so a bank that has millions invested in bonds can really "lose their shirt" by having bonds that were purchased at a lower interest rate when the interest rate goes up.

 

[fourfive8]

Yes and welcome to my world out in the West where the black, not green, windmill farms ruin our views, wildlife and hunting! What people see as “wastelands” were ranches full of pronghorn, deer and even elk, not to mention raptors, grouse, etc… that have ben pushed around or out due to these fkn things with roads built to each of them and new transmission lines as well. They only produce incredibly expensive and inefficient electricity 30% of the time because it’s either too windy or not windy enough the other 70%. They are the biggest environmental scam and HORRIBLE for the environment. They are so inefficient that it takes 25 years to pay for themselves (with taxpayer subsidies) and that’s their life expectancy! They have ruined ranches and further fragmented wildlife habitat.

Yes, Yes, Yes!

 

[Doug3006]

I agree and disagree with some of your points. It seems like we feel the same way. However, I personally don't want my life to get any harder. I feel in this day and age I get little for what I pay in taxes. My wife asked me one day what we paid in 2021. When I told her she was in shock and her response was "That's more than most people I know make in a year." My response: "Yup. And look at how much we get in return!" She picked up on my sarcasm. Working 50-60 hour weeks, dealing with constant problems, I'm sorry...I really don't care what other countries do or don't deal with. You're right. I don't want a president who panders to special interest groups, "woke demographics" and just generally pussifies American males and leads everyone to believe "We will all be OK." How about a president for ALL the people? I think DeSantis and Haley are that combo.

Do you REALLY think we are that far off Germany? We barely use any of our own energy. It all gets shipped off to other nations. Yesterday, higher taxes proposed on oil and gas companies. Oils around $80 a barrel and gas is $3.25-$3.50 depending where you are? I don't love the oil companies but does anyone think this is going to get better? This green deal nonsense with EVs, we don't have the grid capacity to charge these things. So lets install garbage windmills and solar fields that destroy the natural habitat and kill wildlife...and don't work. Do yourself a favor and educate yourself if you have not on "Pebble Mine" in Alaska. Largest proposed open-pit cyanide strip mine. Conveniently proposed at the largest spawning ground headwaters of salmon in the world. Trump shut it down but do we really think this won't continue? Where does everyone think these rare earth metals/minerals for the batteries come from? This is an absolutely dumpster fire.

Lets talk about another nation who doesn't use any of their energy, elected a leader who promised "modern day socialism", successfully disarmed their population, and now residents can't even find a loaf of bread to eat. Venezuela. Oh...and lets not forget they were the richest country in the southern hemisphere in the 1990's.

I'm sure we will "survive" another democrat president/administration but do we really think that's a good idea to even allow ourselves to think that?

Thanks! We really do agree on most points. Where I differ a bit is the question of whether we’re better off than people in other countries. Hell yes! “Insert bad word”, yes. In pretty much any way you choose to look at.

In regards to thinking about living through another Democrat administration…..yes we should. Because we will. We have 2 parties that represent a variety of constituencies. These can and have changed over time. In my lifetime Democrats were literally the party of Jim Crow…Republicans will figure it out and regain power…eventually. But Democrats will win elections too. That’s how things work.

 

[sgt_zim]

Wonder if there is a correlation.




View attachment 522098

Gosh, who could've predicted that ESG wouldn't be a winning strategy?

 

[Red Leg]

A few scales are starting to fall from a few eyes.

Dear Conservatives, I Apologize

My "Team" was Taken in By Full-Spectrum Propaganda

naomiwolf.substack.com

 

[Areaonereal]

Anyone and I mean anyone that is not on a monthly review of their 401 and understands without any doubt that 401 has limitations or restrictions in trade is an absolute victim of their own willful Ignorance. So many small compansies are sold 401 programs thru their insuranance carriers that the owners or manager are ignorant of the consequences and limit your options and growth potential. The Fed rates are going to take down more banks…sit back, pop the popcorn and watch.

 

[Scott CWO]

I take no issues with your opinion as I have my own. I spent a bit of time in Afghanistan. I was there during 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 20117, 2018, 2019. The gaps were filled with other countries tied to GWOT or what ever our nation asked of me. I personally do not see it as a failure. I hope the Afghans whose lives were made better and those exposed to a different and less extreme ideology can steer the country in the right direction. Global powers has been meddling in their business since the dawn of time. Thanks for your thoughts.

Our role in Afghanistan to eliminate OBL and the terrorist camps that were training people was achieved.

What became a problem was thinking we could establish a democratic government system in a country that wasn’t ready for it and where many people didn’t want it.

One of my best friends recently retired from the 7th Group Special Forces and was the highest ranking enlisted soldier in that group. He is highly educated and went from a team member to a team leader to eventually being over 556 men and worked with the General officer in charge of JSOC forces in Afghanistan, daily. He spent considerable time in Afghanistan, as well as Iraq, Eastern Europe and South America. He explained to me that the literacy rate in Afghanistan is 6% and that different warlords control different pieces of territory. These groups don’t get along and fight each other often. On one side of the mountain there’s one warlord that controls a valley and another warlord controls the valley on the other side. These warlords want nothing to do with a centralized government and most never supported the central government that we tried to organize in Kabul. There are also different ethnic groups that have been fighting for years against each other. We tried to civilize these groups and show them the European Judeo Christian ways of governing. They don’t want it.

 

[Dragan N.]

Our role in Afghanistan to eliminate OBL and the terrorist camps that were training people was achieved.

What became a problem was thinking we could establish a democratic government system in a country that wasn’t ready for it and where many people didn’t want it.

One of my best friends recently retired from the 7th Group Special Forces and was the highest ranking enlisted soldier in that group. He is highly educated and went from a team member to a team leader to eventually being over 556 men and worked with the General officer in charge of JSOC forces in Afghanistan, daily. He spent considerable time in Afghanistan, as well as Iraq, Eastern Europe and South America. He explained to me that the literacy rate in Afghanistan is 6% and that different warlords control different pieces of territory. These groups don’t get along and fight each other often. On one side of the mountain there’s one warlord that controls a valley and another warlord controls the valley on the other side. These warlords want nothing to do with a centralized government and most never supported the central government that we tried to organize in Kabul. There are also different ethnic groups that have been fighting for years against each other. We tried to civilize these groups and show them the European Judeo Christian ways of governing. They don’t want it.

It seems that Al-Qaida and other such groups are already re-establishing themselves in Afghanistan:

ODS HOME PAGE

Multilingual interface of the UN Official Documents System

documents-dds-ny.un.org

Afghanistan is still a festering cesspool for islamic extremism. The country is only weakly unified and individual warlords have significant power over their own individual territory. One warlord may welcome Al-Qaida while another one may not. Either way they probably don't care much about what Kabul says. So how do you fight against that?

The country's geography is also extremely mountainous and remote. There is also a porous border with Pakistan's F.A.T.A region. Hell even Bin Laden himself was in Pakistan. This porous border allows both the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban the ability to sustain their own respective insurgencies. While NATO was in Afghanistan, the Afghan Taliban would cross into Pakistan which was their safe haven. Now you have Pakistani Taliban using Afghanistan as their safe haven. Taliban controlled Afghanistan is now giving Pakistan a lot of headaches. Despite the fact that during the war Pakistan was, arguably, their ally. You also have an extremely ignorant and very fanatical population. The only type of law they want is Sharia law and their code of conduct is governed by Pashtunwali. Neither ideology is particularly "progressive". On top of this you have the fact that Afghanistan has been at war for the past 40 years. So you have 2 or so generations of men who grew up knowing nothing but war. Given all these factors, I honestly don't see Afghanistan being anything else but a festering hole of Islamic fundamentalism for many many years to come...

 

[Hogpatrol]

Our role in Afghanistan to eliminate OBL and the terrorist camps that were training people was achieved.

What became a problem was thinking we could establish a democratic government system in a country that wasn’t ready for it and where many people didn’t want it.

One of my best friends recently retired from the 7th Group Special Forces and was the highest ranking enlisted soldier in that group. He is highly educated and went from a team member to a team leader to eventually being over 556 men and worked with the General officer in charge of JSOC forces in Afghanistan, daily. He spent considerable time in Afghanistan, as well as Iraq, Eastern Europe and South America. He explained to me that the literacy rate in Afghanistan is 6% and that different warlords control different pieces of territory. These groups don’t get along and fight each other often. On one side of the mountain there’s one warlord that controls a valley and another warlord controls the valley on the other side. These warlords want nothing to do with a centralized government and most never supported the central government that we tried to organize in Kabul. There are also different ethnic groups that have been fighting for years against each other. We tried to civilize these groups and show them the European Judeo Christian ways of governing. They don’t want it.

Some semblance here of an entire continent in which a lot of us have interest.

 

[Randy F]

A few scales are starting to fall from a few eyes.

Dear Conservatives, I Apologize

My "Team" was Taken in By Full-Spectrum Propaganda

naomiwolf.substack.com

Well that’s interesting. Kudos for having the will to write it. How many more have discovered the same but will sneak off into the crowd and never acknowledge it?

 

[Dirtdart]

In the 2022 gubernatorial election DeSantis beat a white career politician that was a Republican before 2010, Independent 2010-2012, and a democrat since 2012. I have been told the 2022 victory for DeSantis was by a 20% margin over his opponent. You would think that the margin would have been higher.

In the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election DeSantis won by a 0.4% margin over Andrew Gillum. All I can say is look up Gillum. Gillum's politics were well known and he lost by only 0.4%. All of the reports of Andrew Gillum with male escorts doing meth amphetamine and all that didn't hit the news until after the election so I am sure that he wasn't into that before he ran for governor.

The democrats dead, alive, ineligible, or non existent are going to vote for their nominee so consider voting for the candidate who gives a fuck about this country even if he or she offends your sensibilities every once in a while.

 

[Red Leg]

In the 2022 gubernatorial election DeSantis beat a white career politician that was a Republican before 2010, Independent 2010-2012, and a democrat since 2012. I have been told the 2022 victory for DeSantis was by a 20% margin over his opponent. You would think that the margin would have been higher.

In the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election DeSantis won by a 0.4% margin over Andrew Gillum. All I can say is look up Gillum. Gillum's politics were well known and he lost by only 0.4%. All of the reports of Andrew Gillum with male escorts doing meth amphetamine and all that didn't hit the news until after the election so I am sure that he wasn't into that before he ran for governor.

The democrats dead, alive, ineligible, or non existent are going to vote for their nominee so consider voting for the candidate who gives a fuck about this country even if he or she offends your sensibilities every once in a while.

So I have a very different take.

DeSantis, a relative unknown, beat a up and coming black candidate with the backing of every democrat political PAC in the country. As you note, Gillum's drug and entertainment issues became public later. After a single term as Governor, DeSantis carried the state by 19+ percent, and the Democrats could only find Charlie Crist willing to run against him.

"You would think that the margin would have been higher." In what universe do you follow politics? That margin of victory was the largest since Florida Democrat Governor Bob Graham won reelection in 1982 - that was forty years ago. DeSantis also did it at a time the MSM assured us Florida was trending ever bluer - pointing, in part, to Trump's narrow victory there. DeSantis carried Miami Dade. He won the Latino vote by 13%! Trump managed 46% of that vote.

Analyzing the data: DeSantis wins by largest margin of any Fla. governor in 40 years

Gov. Ron DeSantis handily won his reelection Tuesday night by the largest margin of any Florida governor in 40 years.

www.news4jax.com

DeSantis is 44 years old, smart, articulate, and quick on his feet. Trump's age will be the same as Biden was at the time of his election. Trump is inarticulate, undisciplined, and apparently unable to maintain a stable executive branch. His personal issues will only become worse as he gets closer to eighty. Most importantly, he has a unique capacity to solidify his political opposition. DeSantis has proven he can disrupt it.

 

[Dirtdart]

Gov. DeSantis is a tier one bad ass and I am fortunate to live in the state he governs.

I would like to see Sheriff Judd of Polk County run if Gov. DeSantis should apply for another job.

I never once mentioned Donald Trump in my previous post, do not assume. I was sarcastically trying to get the point across that it doesn't matter if the democrats nominate Charlie Manson, or anybody else. The dead, ineligible, and most of the actual living registered democrat voters will still vote for Charlie Manson.