Politics

[mdwest]

I cry on behalf of the parts of the world starved for fuel..Vietnam, the Phillippines, Australia, Slovenia...the fuel starvation is becoming a global challenge..

Furthermore..Iran has acknowleged Trumps TACO..the know he is bluffing..

Keep crying… your crying changes nothing..

Iran can also keep acknowledging that it continues to get hit with thousands of bombs and missiles daily, that key leaders continue to die daily, and that within a matter of weeks they’re going to look more like a disheveled developing country rather than the modern nation they were a few weeks ago..

Getting the shit bombed out of you without being able to do anything about it, and your senior leaders dying daily as part of the raids hardly looks like a bluff to me…

And for all of your TACO silliness, Trumps negotiating tactics of insane demands followed by less insane demands followed by insane demands sure seem to be working…

Every time he does it you cry about it.. then when he reverses you cry some more.. then he reverses again and you cry some more..

And ultimately he end up getting what he wanted far more often then he doesn’t..

Which makes you cry even more..

It’s actually kind of entertaining to watch if I’m honest…

I’ve said it a hundred times before.. I’m not a fan of Trump..

But he’s not hard to understand.. go back and listen to his interviews as far back as the 1980’s.. read his book.. he tells you exactly what he wants to do.. and he tells you exactly how he does things…

All of the TACO silliness just tells me you lack the ability to read..

He speaks to exactly this strategy and the associated tactics behind it all the time… and has been telling the world this is how he operates literally for more than 40 years…

And yet the world continues to fall for it.. over and over and over again..

 

[mdwest]

It does sound like fuel prices are rising almost as much in the US as in other parts of the world so one might assume internal pressure on him will rise almost as much as external pressure...

That’s actually untrue..

Fuel jumped about $1.25 per gallon (national average… it’s better in some places.. worse in others) almost immediately… and then has stabilized there…

It rises a few cents one day, drops a few cents the next… but that is common and normal in the US… prices fluctuate almost daily here and always have..

Prices however are not continuing to rise at any notable level (for now)…

 

[Big_Easy]

Dave...You have it all wrong.. it is not so simple..perhaps with isolationist american eyes but that does not add upp..

Your government will feel an immense pressure from the rest of the world as the energy crises grow..

The iranians will probably fire against all shipping traffic they consider hostile..

The pressure will be so big that Trump simply cannot ignore it..

That means that the strait AND the iranian coastline need to be secured..otherwise the tankers will be denied insurance and thus not sail..

Unless a deal with Iran can be struck..wich presently is pretty futile..

Confirmation bias is one helluva a drug buddy. Nothing is going to pop their bubble on this one. But the last time republicans started unnecessary wars of choice in the middle east and gas prices skyrocketed, the US elected a random black dude form the south side of Chicago...so anything is possible in the next election as long as gas prices stay high. I guess the Republicans were right about one thing, short term pain...long term gain

 

[Pondoro]

So..if Trump start bombing all iranian power plants and whatever they have of important assets..then Iran will systematically take out the desalination plants along the western coast of the persian gulf..

That spells disaster for the gulf states..

 

[Big_Easy]

If Iran remains stubborn and doesn't make a deal acceptable to the U.S, SOON, the Military just might rain down the thunder on Irans power grid, and take over the straight of Hormuz
There is a reason why 3000 troops of the 182nd Airborne unit are being sent over.
If that happens , it will really give you something to snivel about

Jesus dude, you realize that more US troops is what Iran wants. More potential targets. More likely to get US involved in a limited ground war where they can kill more US soldiers. While I'm sure they dont want their power plants destroyed, doing so would cause them to increase their attacks on others in the region, and on others oil/gas infrastructure as well, which would further increase the price of gas. They have also demonstrated that they don't really care about the suffering of their own people, so threatening to blow up more of their shit doesn't have quite the effect you think it does.

 

[Flipper Dude]

So..if Trump start bombing all iranian power plants and whatever they have of important assets..then Iran will systematically take out the desalination plants along the western coast of the persian gulf..

That spells disaster for the gulf states..

Why would they do that?

 

[steve white]

Here in Australia, we don't show ID. We say our name and address, this is checked against the electoral roll, we're asked if we've already voted, our attendance is recorded on the roll, we're handed our ballot papers or shown to a booth with a screen. Our elections are fair and well respected. We have all of the reforms I mentioned above already in place. A person can only vote if they're on the electoral roll, which established their bona fides. Simple.

How interested in reform are you?
- rank-choice voting? You get to show who you want the most and who you want the least.
- independent electoral commissions? No more gerrymandering.
- voting on Saturday? Much easier for everyone to vote.
- postal voting? Much easier for everyone to vote, whether sick or busy, etc.
- absentee voting? Much easier for everyone to vote, even if travelling.
- compulsory voting? Everyone votes, meaning the result truly represents the peoples' preference.

Are you game?

I am game. Who says an "independent " electoral commission will be independent--as defined by whom? Gerrymandering--to my knowledge Democrats have done it the most. Postal voting--how are those votes validated as legitimate ballots--motor voter? Harvesting ballots--conservative ballots have been found discarded! WE WANT NO MORE CHEATING! GOT IT? And as long as humans are involved there will have to be constant vigilance. The writers of the US Constitution did not trust anyone to have power and use it unsupervised. "Bind them down with the chains of the Constitution" was their guiding principle, but at the end of the day they knew that the Constitution was written for a moral and upright people and was wholly inadequate for the governance of any other.
In a nutshell, requirements to ensure integrity in voting are exactly in line with the founders intention that sinful man was to be legally controlled. No Pollyanna, no blue sky dreams about the goodness of man, which they considered a bunch of baloney. My interactions with the public inform me that the founders were right in that regard. Write the rules on the basis of the rottenness of man and his desire for power, and you will write protective laws.
While we're at it, write laws for the MAJORITY of the people, not the minority. Don't try to drive a Mack truck through some obscure loophole, or in lieu of what only affects the very few.
PS, it is illegal in the US to tell someone they cannot leave work to go vote!

 

[mdwest]

Lots of “ifs” in your statement…

What if worms had machine guns? I bet the birds wouldn’t fuck with them…

Both sides are threatening each other… well… no shit… that’s what happens in wars…

The question is whether either side can actually make good on its threats…

The US very obviously can destroy the entire Iranian power grid in a single day..

Does Iran have the skills and munitions to take out the desalinization plants? Who knows… they certainly haven’t been super successful taking out much of anything else they have targeted yet… they’ve had a few minor successes so far and that’s it… and… they’ve are running out of launchers and munitions rapidly..

At the beginning of the war estimates were that Iran had roughly 250 missile launchers…

Damage estimates show that at least 150 of those launchers are now destroyed and their missile stockpile is greatly depleted..

Remember Iran also threatened to start blowing up recreation and vacation spots around the world last week, intentionally targeting civilians, women, and children..

That hasn’t happened yet either…

People can threaten anything..

The only thing that matters is whether or not they can deliver…

 

[Big_Easy]

That’s actually untrue..

Fuel jumped about $1.25 per gallon (national average… it’s better in some places.. worse in others) almost immediately… and then has stabilized there…

It rises a few cents one day, drops a few cents the next… but that is common and normal in the US… prices fluctuate almost daily here and always have..

Prices however are not continuing to rise at any notable level (for now)…

It also took almost 4 months for gas prices to peak after Russian invaded the Ukraine. from $3.70 to $5.10. We haven't been at war for an entire month yet, and summer is historically when we see higher prices anyways. Iran knows that they need to keep gas at at least $5 a gallon for US consumers to get pissed off.

 

[steve white]

No, ranked-choice is not stupid.

49% of voters put a total nutjob first, but 51% put him or her last. They don't get elected. This is good.

With 'first past the post' elections, a winner could have only 20% or 30% of the vote. A big majority of voters didn't want them. That's dumb.

Untest, untried, un-Constututional, not in the original template of the founding fathers. NO we don't want to socially experiment, and by the way "too busy to vote' as you mentioned above can "Kiss my grits." They don't take the time, we don't count their intentions.
More liberal claptrap.

 

[fourfive8]

Another way to think about illegal aliens in a state’s population, aside from obvious voting fraud, is the state’s electoral representation is greater because of the higher population. For those who can’t connect dots… simply means that states with higher populations, have greater numbers of representatives in congress. For those who think Reagan’s poop never smelled, how did his “one time, I promise I promise” illegal alien amnesty turn out? I remember it well and it seemed at the time all he was doing was pandering support and kicking the can down the road. Really just avoiding a tough issue at the time. I believe I’ve been proven correct given the 20-20 vision of history.

 

[steve white]

Well at least we won't hear you complaining when a candidate you abhor wins with 30% of the vote.

Who's "we"....you have a mouse in your pocket?

 

[Big_Easy]

Why would they do that?

To inflict as much pain on the US allies in the region as possible so they increase pressure on Trump to stop and negotiate with Iran.

 

[Pondoro]

Since we are at it...I am a bit tired of hearing that Europe can thank USA for liberating Europe in 1945..

That is only partially true.. The fact is that the Soviet Union grinded down the Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS on the battle ground..in eastern Europe. There were few german divisions left and those were very low on manpower, tanks and other heavy equipment..

True..they could not have done so without massive logistic help from the west..

US losses in western Europe were ca. 250.000..a terrible number of course but look below..

Summary of Russian sources​

The war-related deaths detailed in Russian sources are as follows:

• The Krivosheev study listed 8,668,400 irreplaceable losses (from listed strength): 5,226,800 killed in action, 1,102,800 died of wounds in field hospitals, 555,500 non combat deaths, POW deaths and missing were 4,559,000. Deductions were 939,700 who "were encircled or missing in action in occupied areas who were reconscripted once areas liberated" and 1,836,000 prisoners of war (POWs) returned from captivity.

The Krivosheev study is from 1997.

 

[KJE81]

Why would they do that?

If media is to believed they have issued statements saying that they would do exactly that if Trump follows through on his ultimatum.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Senate passes DHS funding bill……

 

[mdwest]

Since we are at it...I am a bit tired of hearing that Europe can thank USA for liberating Europe in 1945..

That is only partially true.. The fact is that the Soviet Union grinded down the Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS on the battle ground..in eastern Europe. There were few german divisions left and those were very low on manpower, tanks and other heavy equipment..

True..they could not have done so without massive logistic help from the west..

US losses in western Europe were ca. 250.000..a terrible number of course but look below..

Summary of Russian sources​

The war-related deaths detailed in Russian sources are as follows:

• The Krivosheev study listed 8,668,400 irreplaceable losses (from listed strength): 5,226,800 killed in action, 1,102,800 died of wounds in field hospitals, 555,500 non combat deaths, POW deaths and missing were 4,559,000. Deductions were 939,700 who "were encircled or missing in action in occupied areas who were reconscripted once areas liberated" and 1,836,000 prisoners of war (POWs) returned from captivity.

The Krivosheev study is from 1997.

Do you think anyone in the US cares about what you’re tired of hearing?

We grew tired of hearing from you on Iran weeks ago… but you continue to spout drivel and cry…

I’m pretty sure you’ll quit hearing from us about the same time we stop hearing from you lol..

 

[Pondoro]

Looking forward to see how the war play out..

 

[Flipper Dude]

If media is to believed they have issued statements saying that they would do exactly that if Trump follows through on his ultimatum.

So we should alter our course and goals based on threats issued by a combatant that is getting their ass handed to them?

 

[steve white]

I think your on to something with the property ownership , then make it mandatory you show government id that matches your name and residence on the deed.

That was debated A LOT by the founders. They didn't want mobs to control things, and today the left doesn't want billionaires to control things, while wanting a mob they can gin up.