US Politics Thread

[Calamity K]

5 hours ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

Yeah.  I made mention of Canada's abundance of raw materials earlier.

 

Eventually sodium-ion based batteries are going to replace Lithium-Ion.  Sodium is only 1 square away from lithium on the element table.

 

If Canada were to invest in lithium battery technology today, it would be nearly a seamless move to transition to sodium batteries if those do take over for lithium like many believe.

 

Canada could have a world leading position if it invests with the long term in mind.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- edit--------

I have to leave to run a quick end of day errand.  I'll be back in an hour or two.

In keeping with my theme for the evening, Canada is blessed with an abundance of professors and deep thinkers who know that extracting these resources must be done with the utmost care, for the sake of the environment and various sky fairies. Unless of course we are talking about Quebec, in which case it is cool to drown everything for a buck, ad nauseam.

[Smashian Kassian]

On 10/8/2023 at 9:20 AM, Curmudgeon said:

First, I did not compare Trump to Hitler. I compared 1930’s Germany and it’s burgeoning fascist movement to the 2020’s MAGA/QAnon fascist movement. But, I am extrapolating what might happen if Trump were somehow elected to a second term. And guess what? A second term would be a revenge tour on his part and he absolutely would do his best to become a dictator. He has already advocated the execution of his top military leader, he wants to deport just about everyone who doesn’t fit his vision of an America that no longer actually exists, he wants the Justice Department to become his personal legal attack force, he wants the Supreme Court to do his bidding, he wants to eliminate the FBI, he wants to ban and/or jail MSM that he doesn’t like, he wants to slash programs designed to help the sick, the jobless, the homeless and the elderly, he wants to control what women do and don’t do with their own bodies, he wants to withdraw the US from NATO and is happy to cozy up to every dictatorial leader in the world because he can get good deals for his private businesses. On top of all that, he has no regard for the Constitution and wants everyone to swear an oath of loyalty to him, not the Constitution. But it seems to me you can’t see the forest because the trees are in the way.

 

I'd say the same to you, what your describing here in his revenge tour is a complete destruction & re-design of the US state to Hitler/Stalinist proportions. He already ran on this rhetoric twice; won once & didn't use his power in any meaningful way towards these ends at all (which was my point) and then lost. 

 

These institutions themselves have incredible built-in power, and given he's hated by all of them, they wouldn't go down easily.

 

I'm not saying this stuff is good I agree there are alot of problems with the Trump movement (including the fact he doesn't even care about his own die-hard supporters, just think about what that means for a second), but ultimately I'll go back to what I said initially; the answer here is national divorce. Why continue sharing a country with a QAnon/Fascist movement that desires the Hitler/Stalinist road when you could have your own country aiming at your own vision?

 

Lastly - and honestly most importantly - the majority of US politicians have absolutely no regard for the constitution. I agree entirely on this criticism of Trump but would not limit it to Trump in the slightest. 

 

[RupertKBD]

9 hours ago, Smashian Kassian said:

 

I'd say the same to you, what your describing here in his revenge tour is a complete destruction & re-design of the US state to Hitler/Stalinist proportions. He already ran on this rhetoric twice; won once & didn't use his power in any meaningful way towards these ends at all (which was my point) and then lost. 

 

These institutions themselves have incredible built-in power, and given he's hated by all of them, they wouldn't go down easily.

 

I'm not saying this stuff is good I agree there are alot of problems with the Trump movement (including the fact he doesn't even care about his own die-hard supporters, just think about what that means for a second), but ultimately I'll go back to what I said initially; the answer here is national divorce. Why continue sharing a country with a QAnon/Fascist movement that desires the Hitler/Stalinist road when you could have your own country aiming at your own vision?

 

Lastly - and honestly most importantly - the majority of US politicians have absolutely no regard for the constitution. I agree entirely on this criticism of Trump but would not limit it to Trump in the slightest.

 

Could you give some examples? I agree there are quite a few of them, but I'm betting you're playing the "both sides" card here and I'd like to see which of the Democrats you believe have "no regard for the Constitution" and what your reasoning for that is.

 

And as long as we're asking questions, I'm curious as to how you think this national divorce would work. The simple answer is Red state / Blue state, but that ignores the fact that many of the big cities in deep Red states lean heavily Democrat.

[RupertKBD]

Tamie WIlson is the woman challenging Gym Jordan for his seat in Congress....and she's my new favorite politician:

 

 

Quote

 

"As the woman running against you, I have some bad news for you. Your career is now over. The reason is simple," she wrote. "The ENTIRE world will now see your true pathetic colors broadcast on the news every single day."

Wilson then listed some of the allegations levied against Jordan.

"Everyone is going to know you covered up RAPE at OSU where kids trusted you," she said. "Everyone is going to know you have DEFIED a January 6 subpoena for over 500 days and deserve to be in HANDCUFFS rather than a Speaker’s chair."

Wilson added that the job of the House speaker "is to build consensus and get things done."

"You lack backbone and moral fortitude. You have never shown willingness to work with Democrats or even moderate Republicans. You are the worst kind of partisan extremist and you’re not a leader. You are a do nothing loser who has never even never passed a bill," she wrote. "You are inflammatory and irresponsible and you are beneath the dignity of the office. You have failed to protect those kids and you’ve failed to protect the Constitution. Your students from OSU don’t trust you. Your district doesn’t trust you. And America doesn’t trust you. Everyone will know you’re a failure. You are finished Jim."

 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/you-are-finished-dem-running-to-unseat-jim-jordan-promises-he-will-be-exposed/ar-AA1ibEU8?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=8d0774bcaf324d6d8b756c87fff9fb9d&ei=13

[nuckin_futz]

4 hours ago, RupertKBD said:

Tamie WIlson is the woman challenging Gym Jordan for his seat in Congress....and she's my new favorite politician:

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/you-are-finished-dem-running-to-unseat-jim-jordan-promises-he-will-be-exposed/ar-AA1ibEU8?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=8d0774bcaf324d6d8b756c87fff9fb9d&ei=13

 

Speaking of lacking backbone and moral fortitude...........

 

 

You could cover this guy's spine with a piece of dental floss.

[nuckin_futz]

22 hours ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

For example, when I buy electronic components for my projects, I do my best to make sure that I buy as many Japanese and US components as possible.  I only buy Chinese parts when they aren't otherwise available.

 

These are made in Japan and Indonesia but I shudder to think what comes out of China.

 

 

Former electronics technician here. Good luck with your projects.

 

 

[Sabrefan1]

2 minutes ago, nuckin_futz said:

 

These are made in Japan and Indonesia but I shudder to think what comes out of China.

 

 

Former electronics technician here. Good luck with your projects.

 

Wow!  Not cool.  I'd be peeved to no end if Mouser or Digikey ever sent me that.

[5forFighting]

On 10/12/2023 at 7:59 PM, Canuckle said:

 

Not a fan of MXC, I see.

 

 

No, not really. I have watched it, just not my cup of tea. 

[Canuckle]

1 hour ago, 5forFighting said:

No, not really. I have watched it, just not my cup of tea. 

And wouldn't you know it. Someone made an MXC themed recap of tonight's game with AI voices. LMAO

 

 

Edited October 15, 2023 by Canuckle

[bishopshodan]

10 hours ago, Canuckle said:

And wouldn't you know it. Someone made an MXC themed recap of tonight's game with AI voices. LMAO

 

 

I used to watch Mr Blankenship decades ago. ...Takeshi's Castle

 

So fun.

 

Btw...KB3's hair cut is great.

Edited October 15, 2023 by bishopshodan

[NewbieCanuckFan]

 

 

[RupertKBD]

This is hilarious.....George Santos is threatening to resign from Congress if the GOP "works with the Democrats" to elect a new Speaker:

 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/george-santos-threatens-to-quit-congress-if-gop-works-with-dems-on-speaker-deal-reports/ar-AA1idLuN?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=2b1240a571244056a20df589e6c2abd6&ei=56

 

Quote

 

Embattled Rep. George Santos, the New York Republican who is currently under indictment for alleged fraud, reportedly threatened Saturday to resign from his position if Republicans reach a deal with Democrats to elect a speaker of the House.

 

Santos has been a supporter of Jim Jordan as speaker, and admitted he felt spurned by the earlier GOP nominee, Steve Scalise, who Santos said never called him to jockey for the congressman's support in a vote.

 

After Scalise dropped out of the race, Jordan became the nominee, but there are serious doubts as to whether he can unite the conference in such a way that he gets the necessary votes for becoming speaker.

 

On Saturday, Santos reportedly took his position a step beyond what he's previously proclaimed. Despite resisting calls to resign based on his indictment (and superseding indictment), Santos apparently offered his resignation in exchange for a mere compromise.

 

Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post listened in on an X "Spaces" audio update on Israel and Hamas. During the event, Santos reportedly said, "It's about time we end our membership in the U.N."

 

Santos also said, "We need to call out the fake stuff," according to Paybarah.

Finally, according to the report, Santos threatened to quit.

"Rep. George Santos, who has resisted calls to resign for lying about his background and credentials, said he would resign from congress if Rs and Ds work together to elect a House Speaker," Paybarah wrote.

The report was also confirmed by Talking Points Memo publisher Josh Marshall.

Santos "just threatened that he’ll resign from Congress if there’s a deal to elect a Speaker with the Dems," according to Marshall's account.

 

 

Santos:  "Don't you dare do this, or I swear I'll do what everybody in Congress wants me to do!"

[nuckin_futz]

Not politics but I'll dump it here anyway.

 

 

 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

3 minutes ago, nuckin_futz said:

Not politics but I'll dump it here anyway.

 

 

 

 

And yet, many of the illiterate might even feel proud about their illiteracy, because they don't know any better. 

[Sharpshooter]

28 minutes ago, nuckin_futz said:

Not politics but I'll dump it here anyway.

 

 

 

Not even going to challenge this truth. 

[RupertKBD]

6 hours ago, nuckin_futz said:

Not politics but I'll dump it here anyway.

 

 

 

 

It's hard to imagine how this sort of thing managed to force out tried and true methods....Phonics stood the test of time.

 

I know there are certain people in the Education field who get caught up in the hype behind "new thinking".... (codeword: Pedagogy) but I would have thought that the smarter people in the room (the veteran teachers, in most cases) would be able to head that off.

 

I can only guess that these "forward" thinkers somehow managed to attain a position of authority (In my experience, this could be a simple as acquiring a PHD) and were able to push their agenda through.

[Bob Long]

3 minutes ago, RupertKBD said:

 

It's hard to imagine how this sort of thing managed to force out tried and true methods....Phonics stood the test of time.

 

I know there are certain people in the Education field who get caught up in the hype behind "new thinking".... (codeword: Pedagogy) but I would have thought that the smarter people in the room (the veteran teachers, in most cases) would be able to head that off.

 

I can only guess that these "forward" thinkers somehow managed to attain a position of authority (In my experience, this could be a simple as acquiring a PHD) and were able to push their agenda through.

 

I would think attacking teachers and paying them as little as possible feeds into this.

[RupertKBD]

6 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

I would think attacking teachers and paying them as little as possible feeds into this.

 

I think that's a separate branch off the same tree, but you're certainly correct about the pay. I have no idea why anyone would want to get into that line of work in the US....

 

That being said, what the author describes in the article is more or less counter to the type of attacks on education we've seen in the past few years. One might even describe the program outlined in the article as "woke".

 

I generally shake my head when I hear that word used, but there certainly are areas within the education field where I feel they've lost the plot. Even in my current job at a regional college, I see examples at play:

 

The college I work for maintains campuses in Haida Gwaii, Prince Rupert, Terrace, Hazelton and Smithers. Every year, just before classes start, we converge on the main campus in Terrace for Galt'sap Day. (I forget what Galt'sap means. It's a Tsimshian word meaning "Community", or something like that)

 

One year, (before the pandemic) the Galt'sap Committee hired a consultant from New Hampshire, of all places, who led us all in a bunch of "team building" exercises. It was basically a half hour of silly, often uncomfortable "games", after which we went for lunch and the consultant (presumably) went back to NH with his fee in pocket.

 

I couldn't help but wonder what the college had paid for this guy to fly across the continent to direct us in some ridiculous games that anyone could have looked up on the Web for free.

 

When I have to deploy a crappy outdated computer, loaded with an SSD and as much Ram as the mainboard will support, (because I don't have anything better) I wonder how much useful equipment or supplies, could have been purchased with the money we spent on that one day....

[NewbieCanuckFan]

On 10/13/2023 at 2:47 PM, Sabrefan1 said:

For a country that helped the Apollo mission as much as it did and then carried it on to help getting the Space shuttle program off the ground while also revolutionizing the way the world collects weather data through it's rocket creation, Canada really has fallen behind in technological leadership in the last 30 years or so.  It's so unfortunate.

Speaking of space (or rather space cadets):

 

 

[Bob Long]

11 minutes ago, RupertKBD said:

 

I think that's a separate branch off the same tree, but you're certainly correct about the pay. I have no idea why anyone would want to get into that line of work in the US....

 

That being said, what the author describes in the article is more or less counter to the type of attacks on education we've seen in the past few years. One might even describe the program outlined in the article as "woke".

 

I generally shake my head when I hear that word used, but there certainly are areas within the education field where I feel they've lost the plot. Even in my current job at a regional college, I see examples at play:

 

The college I work for maintains campuses in Haida Gwaii, Prince Rupert, Terrace, Hazelton and Smithers. Every year, just before classes start, we converge on the main campus in Terrace for Galt'sap Day. (I forget what Galt'sap means. It's a Tsimshian word meaning "Community", or something like that)

 

One year, (before the pandemic) the Galt'sap Committee hired a consultant from New Hampshire, of all places, who led us all in a bunch of "team building" exercises. It was basically a half hour of silly, often uncomfortable "games", after which we went for lunch and the consultant (presumably) went back to NH with his fee in pocket.

 

I couldn't help but wonder what the college had paid for this guy to fly across the continent to direct us in some ridiculous games that anyone could have looked up on the Web for free.

 

When I have to deploy a crappy outdated computer, loaded with an SSD and as much Ram as the mainboard will support, (because I don't have anything better) I wonder how much useful equipment or supplies, could have been purchased with the money we spent on that one day....

 

oh man I remember having to do a cringey thing like that once. Everyone had to sit in a circle and say something they liked about everyone else, god damn painful. 

 

[Gurn]

Them " Ok, now fall backwards, and your co workers will catch you".

 

Me "Not happening, when's lunch?"

 

 

[The Arrogant Worms]

Donald Trump Shares Spoof Video Of Him Smashing Biden With Golf Ball

 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-joe-biden-video-golf_n_652d0a23e4b0da897ab49d4c

[Shift-4]

2 hours ago, RupertKBD said:

 

 

I couldn't help but wonder what the college had paid for this guy to fly across the continent to direct us in some ridiculous games that anyone could have looked up on the Web for free.

 

When I have to deploy a crappy outdated computer, loaded with an SSD and as much Ram as the mainboard will support, (because I don't have anything better) I wonder how much useful equipment or supplies, could have been purchased with the money we spent on that one day....

 

Living the dream I see

[Warhippy]

9 hours ago, nuckin_futz said:

Not politics but I'll dump it here anyway.

 

 

 

[nuckin_futz]

CNN Manu Raju: Jim Jordan says will force a vote on the floor tomorrow with or without votes

CNNs Manu Raju is reporting that:

• Jim Jordan said he will go to the House floor and force a vote tomorrow at noon even if he doesn't have the 217 votes initially
• He added that tomorrow the House will elect a speaker.

Previously he had said that he would go to the floor once he had the 217 votes locked down.

 

Jordan can only afford to lose four Republican votes on the House floor since a Speaker needs a majority. However, last week, 55 Republicans voted against supporting Jordan within the GOP conference, and roughly 40 "no" votes are still expected.

Some senior Republicans have stated they are ready to block Jordan's path to the floor in a potential roll-call vote on Tuesday. Despite this, Jordan believes he can secure enough support to be elected Speaker. He won a key endorsement from House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers.

If Jordan doesn't garner enough support, the legislative paralysis would continue. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are moving ahead with plans, emphasizing their ability to work in a bipartisan manner compared to the House's dysfunction.

In the midst of this, there have been discussions about alternative ways to move the House forward, such as potentially expanding the powers of interim Speaker Patrick McHenry or forming a bipartisan governing coalition. However, the path forward remains uncertain in the divided GOP conference.

 

*****************

 

Guess the guy likes getting kicked in the balls publicly.