SomewhereonNeptune

There have been ample documentaries that have depicted areas like the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and the trail that basically says that lunches are provided, but the content ends up being down to the local districts. Taco Bell Tuesday anyone? [think before following links] https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/blog/usda-foods-local-roots-dod-fresh-connects-farm-school#:~:text=This became a matter of,1946 by President Harry Truman. The history is in the link, as well as how the DoD became a component of it. But the question of 'what' kids are getting in their school lunches often leads to an answer of "whatever is cheapest" or "wherever big food can control the composition". Lots of school systems are providing fast-food lunches rather than something made on premises or at least healthy, and since big food & beverage provides money to schools for programs (like the scoreboards for football, etc.), you see Coke or Pepsi being made available by one or the other on school grounds. And not always their healthiest options. So there's the corporate capitalism approach. State-owned/state-controlled? If we had guidelines that didn't consider ketchup as a vegetable (anyone recall that from the Reagan era?), we might get somewhere. No simple answers but the current path isn't great. Michelle Obama had some ideas around that, but the execution left a lot to be desired. [think before following links] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2863508/Prisoners-eat-better-food-Students-slam-Michelle-Obama-pictures-disgusting-lunches-served-schools-America.html [think before following links] https://www.businessinsider.com/students-tweeting-awful-photos-school-lunches-michelle-obama-healthier-meals-2014-4 [think before following links] https://nypost.com/2014/11/23/kids-thank-michelle-obama-for-mystery-mush-school-lunches/ [think before following links] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2803961/Thanks-Michelle-Obama-filling-lunch-Student-photos-paltry-school-lunches-raise-alarm-social-media.html Doesn't that make your mouth water? Wait...let me rephrase. That doesn't make your mouth water. No easy answers, but not a lot of thinking either.

I've mentioned my own experience previously, and how I suspected and confirmed. The shame of it all is that the Church's answer to this is to provide some type of inpatient counseling to 'change the behavior' (whatever that means), then move them around to a different parish or post where it only starts all over again. We've seen how well that works. Also met two seminarians at a party once that were openly salivating over the potential for getting action from the altar-boy set, plus I saw how they looked at some of the minors at this party. 🙄 Everyone knew about this particular priest's reputation but despite that nothing was ever done until one kid reported his abuse to the police. The priest got off easy in more ways than one, then was moved from NJ to PA, then around PA quite a bit, where he continued to (ahem) get off. Then by the time to former Archbishop of Philly was called to testify on why he'd been reassigned so often (he'd since stepped down for health reasons), his doctor's testified he wouldn't be reliable due to dementia. 🙄 I'm probably the outlier here, but this guy was a scumbag and a total predator, and for years he got more ass than a rental car. Yeah, they finally defrocked him. Just in time for his retirement.

So I asked AI for the answer to "why beef tallow": Beef tallow, derived from the fat of cows, offers several potential benefits, including supporting immune function, promoting healthy skin, and potentially contributing to weight loss efforts. It's also a good source of essential fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K. Here's a more detailed look: 1. Immune Support and Vitamin Absorption: Beef tallow is rich in fat-soluble vitamins, which are crucial for various bodily functions, including immune support, bone health, and cellular function. It can help the body absorb these vitamins more effectively. 2. Skin Health and Hydration: Beef tallow's composition closely resembles natural oils produced by the skin, making it a good moisturizer. It can help hydrate and strengthen the skin barrier, potentially reducing inflammation and irritation. Some claim it may improve skin elasticity. 3. Weight Management: The saturated fats in beef tallow can contribute to feelings of satiety, potentially helping to curb cravings and reduce overall calorie intake. It can be part of a low-carb or ketogenic diet for weight loss. 4. Cooking and Flavor Enhancement: Beef tallow has a high smoke point, making it suitable for high-heat cooking like frying and roasting. It can add a rich, savory flavor to dishes. According to the Coast Packing Company, tallow can even increase fry life and reduce cleaning time. 5. Other Potential Benefits: Some research suggests beef tallow may have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It's also a source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a polyunsaturated fatty acid with potential health benefits. According to the Gutsy Ferments website, tallow contains butyric acid, which may support gut health. For years, a ton of different fats were maligned, such as coconut oil, avocado oil and others. Olive oil has always been considered good, but revised research is coming forward that outlines the benefits of other fats, such as beef tallow. Other research is taking a renewed look at oils, such as canola and others, and how their processing may have a negative effect on their composition (Refined, Bleached, Deodorized or RBD oils). But Canola Oil (which is a GMO version of rapeseed oil) is the darling of big food, so you need to dig deep on the research that pulls out the negative components. [think before following links] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1357272509003252 So what's the answer? Perhaps not all we've been told by big food is reliable, and perhaps the wisdom of our ancestors who used tallow needs more research. RFK's general point has been to move the American diet away from ultra-processed foods that remove nutrients, which in itself isn't necessarily a bad idea. The only true answer is more independent research not funded by the same interests supporting big food or big pharmaceutical companies.

There's a saying that goes that 'if the government says it's healthy, it's a good idea to do the opposite'. For instance, everyone by now knows the 'Food Pyramid' that recommends high amounts of carbs and low amounts of healthy fats (or unhealthy ones). This article from Australia tells some of the story behind its origins, and the story of the flawed science presented by Ansel Keys. [think before following links] https://wearechief.com/en-us/blogs/articles/the-corrupt-history-of-the-food-pyramid?srsltid=AfmBOoqPBBNPr4jv9Oe1MK1Ri8Zcn-4tZrXhPOUuAHRqGsezVVD56tgj I'll do everyone a solid and give you the TLDR punchline: As the diet guidelines took hold (eat more carbs), obesity and type II diabetes showed a marked increase in first world populations who were now chowing down on Ultra Refined/Processed Foods. And more recent science that hasn't necessarily pushed a political agenda has shown that fats are actually healthy. That's aligned also to the later prevalence of diets like Atkins, South Beach, and Keto as blood chemistry diets that resulted in weight loss as well as improved blood chemistry that lowered glucose and A1C. Nope. We're clearly still making them. Some people are trying to correct them, but you can also bet that the food and beverage lobbies will pressure lawmakers to deep-six this bill in the Texas Legislature: [think before following links] https://www.fox26houston.com/news/texas-food-warning-labels-sb25

@TaKinGDeePanal, I like the thought and layout in your hypothesis. Much like @nanana's comment, you're showing a theorization that leads to a good potential explanation of events and I also wish more people would cite sources as you have. While I'm not 100% there yet, I haven't completely dismissed it as conspiracist either. It's good stuff. Now on the other side of that, @meetme's post sounds like a modern interpretation of "The Fox & The Grapes": e.g. Trump won, so regardless of reason, it must be fraud. It dismisses offhand the reality that the media gaslit the public, omitted details and news coverage that didn't place it's candidate (Biden) in a favorable light, and created narrative designed to sound like "Biden good, orange man bad". It's an oversimplification dismissive that anyone would feel that the country was not heading in the right direction, and that view was validated by numerous pre-election polls that should have been a harbinger to the Democrats. And that seems to be a theme. The left's view is "how dare they vote for the Republican", embodied in comments like "basket of deplorables" (Hillary Clinton) and others. The concept that there be a dissenting view is inconceivable to them, as if no one should be thinking of a view that they didn't espouse. And there's a crap ton of those that did not land with a large swath of the electorate. We could opine on this, but aren't the following explanations possible given the outcome: Biden's/Harris' message didn't resonate with the base or represent the direction they wanted to see, so they just stayed on the sidelines. They felt disenfranchised by the lack of a primary and the lack of a convention floor vote because of anointing Harris as the handpicked nominee. They didn't like the direction of the agenda and it leaned too far from the center to be supportable. They felt misled by the media, and after the debate performance, that feeling was reinforced. They weren't better off than they were 4 years ago. Where voters wanted to come back to the center, the party was leaning further left. Immigration was a HUGE issue and the Biden Administration was proven to be ineffective on that. If even one of those isn't a possibility, explain why?

After trying Tamsulosin and Tadalafil (Cialis generic) separately, the combination of the two helps with flow AND libido more than each separately and the two don't have contraindications with each other. That said, you need to watch for contraindications in other drugs. Rapaflo on the other hand can really give a ton of side effects that aren't desired in combination with Cialis. I've had no issues with getting insurance to cover it when Tamsulosin is prescribed together.

So I'm happy here to stand corrected after revisiting this issue. One of the few videos to truly debunk it was from CNN (given their ratings, no wonder it went unnoticed): For Philadelphia, you can say this was disputable. However, you could also say that the mere presence of a man with a billy club standing around outside a polling place (which he had no business at) can appear menacing to some. So @viking8x6 your point is well taken. But... ...and you knew there'd be a "but", that doesn't mean that voting fraud doesn't occur. This is from a mayoral race in Connecticut. The laws are very clear that you cannot harvest ballots and take them en masse to a drop-box. And there are other ways in which the system can and has been subverted. The Village of Kiryas Joel in New York was permitted to police its own election process, and did so through elections in the wider Town of Monroe. After the polls closed, poll watchers observed people entering the voting precinct carrying a large ballot bag, which was never explained to anyone when questioned. Further, during the 2013 election, the County Board of Elections provided the Village 102% of the ballots required for every registered voter. In precincts outside the Village? They got 60%. The Board of Elections took the blame and legal challenges made to have outsiders observe elections within the Village. (See "Convers, et al v. Orange County Board of Elections, et al"). Hope that's enough for y'all to understand that not every conservative point is a conspiracy theory and that issues do occur. If you want to explore Maricopa County, AZ, we can fork off to another thread. 🙂 "really close to violating the rule against conspiracy theories". But no cigar. With all due respect, I wish that the non-conservative posters/commenters were treated just as equally. Sadly, I think that's an area ripe for improvement. TakingDeePanel raised a ton of those, so where's the admonition on those counts? "posted without corroborating evidence". Again, all due respect, but I don''t see that request made on the counter-arguments. Have I missed that? There are a lot of back-and-forth sniping comments on this thread already. I'd hope you'd be more concerned with the civility of a discussion than rating responses to other posts. That could have been done easily with TakingDeePanel's conspiracy point on Gaza and others, to which I chose to not comment because there was no substantiation to it. So I'd constructively argue we could do a much better job on neutrality if we're fine tooth combing points and perform it just as equally regardless of POV. I've substantiated my points and admitted where I'm mistaken (don't see that too often around here, do we gang?), but I just don't see that requirement applied universally. Now I'll take my leave. Thought there was a glimmer of hope, but...I can admit when I'm wrong and clearly I misjudged that one. Peace out gang.

Except that Harris spent $1.4 Billion and had a lackluster performance. And much of it was used to pay for celebrity endorsements like Beyonce and Oprah. Money put to good use? Nah.

Ok, I know I said I'd take a leave from posting here. So I'm just giving the point of view of the mainstream America that voted for Trump and perhaps why by highlighting some of the issues and perhaps debunking others. Some of this is tongue-in-cheek, don't take it personally. It's called "gaslighting". When the response to your logical arguments becomes "you're a racist", you eventually get tired of being forced into a corner when you know in your heart that you aren't. Especially when the arguments aren't about race or the responses have nothing to do with the original premise or point. Even a dog that's been kicked too much will attack its owner. The debate performance showed everyone with a working braincell that the media was gaslighting us about Biden's health. No one truly has anything against any other faction or constituency. But people eventually get fatigued over being told they aren't tolerant or accepting when things like Pride or BLM continually come up. We all are very accepting of those ideals, but eventually people become fatigued from having it rammed down their throats. That or constantly being called "Nazis" when you actually understand the foundation of Naziism and can clearly link it to things like the anti-Semitic riots on college campuses where Jews are impeded from getting into facilities. Only thing missing there is wearing the yellow Star of David. Border security was huge. It didn't take long to solve that issue despite being fed a diet of 'we'll need billions more dollars to solve that.' That was disproven quickly. Plus a lot was done, as we've since seen from the DOGE efforts, to break the bank on giving money to things that didn't make much sense to Americans. Then the immigration efforts. Imagine being an immigrant who went through the process legally, endured the hardships, and became a lawful citizen only to learn that so many of those coming through were sent to fully paid housing, financial stipends, and lots of other things not even given to American citizens, then to have that be glaringly in your face if you were in North Carolina and needed FEMA assistance only to learn that you're getting a measly $750 for having your house wiped out. That perception didn't sit well with Americans. Taking, there was a lot to unpack here so I focused on the items that actually resonated, many I didn't requote tend to be unproven or didn't make much difference. Things like "black female being inferior to a white male" or "voter intimidation" or "Gaza being a second front of Ukraine" are wild conjecture, everything else I think we agree. We didn't think a black female was inferior to a white male. We did think that this black female was the inferior candidate because she spoke in a word salad to people who would come away and think "Huh?" There's a difference in distinction. Plus many Democrats were upset with the lack of a primary process and not moving the nomination to the convention. Did the DNC really care what the voters wanted? Didn't seem that way. Check out Lindy Li who was a Democratic Strategist that walked away after the election and started siding more moderately. Her story is interesting. Voter intimidation/voter purging. That's a subject near and dear to me since I and others went to court in NY over electoral fraud issues in a local election. Fraud happens. I could explain how states like NY do more to allow it while Florida clamps down hard on it, but I might as well put that in a blog under several parts. I know that local election commissions tend to get voters on the books and not do much to get them off, and that in most cases that generally benefits Democrats more than Republicans. Voter intimidation? That happened. In Philadelphia, where it was caught on video and well documented. If you really examined it, the incidence can be far likelier in 'blue' cities than in 'red' districts. Both Fulton County, Georgia and Maricopa County, Arizona had irregularities that came to light post-election. Things like the refusal to grow the voterbase and overall strategy worked to the benefit of Republicans, who grew their voterbase in more traditionally Democratic demographics. Young male adults. African Americans. Latino voters. The whole #WalkAway movement. All played a role as well. There are a lot of good thoughts here. And some stuff on both sides that might look like conspiracy theory through different lenses. MSM/Social Media disinformation was also a huge factor, and that's manifested in a distrust of the media. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why Fox News and NewsMax are popular and MSNBC and CNN are waning, especially while Jake Tapper is now on his "sorry I lied for 4 years" tour. And I'm no fan of the do-nothing Republican Congress and Senate that have been disappointing AF in their inability to do anything, and the Democrats in both houses who supported many of these same measures in the past that Trump now supports turning tail and opposing them now thinking that's the hill they want to die on. So both parties are a joke and we're all fucked. Hope this was entertaining. So I'll be like Biden and not take any questions as I stumble to find my way off stage. Peace! 🙂

Hey@viking8x6? Recall that earlier thought about 'jumping the shark'? Think perhaps the thread has run its course and completely devolved into less-than-civil chatter? I'm going to take my leave from this for now and see if it changes maybe 6 months down the road and people return to civil chat and facts. Til then, bye for now.

So you'll note above what was written, and then your reply to my RELEVANT comment. Suddenly having a bad day to cause you to go off like that? My comment was meant with zero malice, yet it seems to have set you off. And it wouldn't be the first time, pal. You might note that I also echoed @viking8x6's earlier thoughts about whether this thread has jumped the shark, so not the first time it's been said. If you dislike responses to your comments so much -- especially when people respond directly to what you wrote with salient comment -- perhaps you should rethink posting or commenting. Let's avoid one another going forward so that I don't cause you to go off the handle. Relax, have a Fosters, put some prawns on the barby and try not to be uptight about life. None of us are getting out of it alive. 😀

Of course they were able to tell. And I'm not being a cynic in saying that. There were people interacting with Biden who could see the cognitive decline but for the sake of the party and an election, they were willing to gaslight people on the narrative until they could see that "Emperor has no clothes" moment in the 2024 debate. Peter Doocy came out with a post series on X yesterday that cited his knowledge from being in the White House Press Pool and his conclusion was that people chose not to pay attention. It's called a complicit media. As Americans, we have a right to know who knew what and when, as well as who was actually guiding the country. That isn't being disrespectful, but questioning if he could even make decisions, or who was running the auto-pen. The press has and continues to lose credibility with me and most of the public. The figure I've seen is 86% of the public holds a distrust of the media. And Jake Tapper is a total cunt in my view. Among others, he lied to us (commission or omission) and later penned it into a book. If you felt like Biden was forced on you, how did you feel about being denied a primary and having Harris shoved down your throat? Much the same as Sanders being cast aside in favor of both Clinton and Biden. As for dementia, my Nan had it and I could tell when she was in her late 60's based on the behaviors and loss of memory. Over time, it was just amplified degrees of being mean, since she always had been but when the dementia took hold, it got ramped up to 11. Now that things are emerging about Biden, people are starting to relate that they felt that he wasn't engaged or understood much of what he was being told. I wouldn't quite say that he "had partners in the governing process" but that people behind the scenes were actually running things, potentially without his knowledge or understanding. That makes one entire branch of government pretty dysfunctional if the single leader of that -- the person people thought they voted for -- was not cognitively at the helm. Even during the debate prep, the details have come out that he lost energy and interest and often went away to take a nap. Pretty certain that detail was from another tell-all. You might not like Trump, and he leaves some things to be desired, but we've seen more interaction with him and the press even in the first 100 days having extemporaneous conversations than we saw in 4 years of Biden. And the interaction from Biden even then was very tightly scripted ("they told me I need to call on..."). I want to call on the prostate cancer issue. Scott Adams of Dilbert fame also came out with his late stage prostate cancer and he's said he likely has just weeks to live. That's not a sudden thing, especially someone who should be receiving the top-tier care of a President. Does anyone really feel that it had been missed, it was very sudden, or that the timing might be a method of deflection when the questions are hitting too close to home?

You sure about that one mate? For most of the Islamic world, it's still against their religion (and in many cases, public laws for majority Muslin countries) to engage in non-heteronormative behavior. Not saying that it doesn't happen and there may be more tolerance in countries like Indonesia or Malaysia, but I'm not sure I'd be scoping out a site for a gay bar in Marrakesh just yet. 😉 But then that isn't really the subject of the post and we probably jumped the shark on that some time back, so this is just my observation.

So let me reiterate: We don't seem to be in an inflationary chasm if you consider that the latest numbers now show the lowest rate in 4 years. The consumer price index "rose" by the lowest rate. That is a far sight better than the 9% inflation we were experiencing under Biden. I agree that the prices for ordinary goods has risen since 2021 and discretionary incomes have fallen as a result. No disputing that. That seems to have abated in the past several months. Even the pesky price of eggs has fallen considerably -- I paid about $3.49 the other day, that was closer to $6 or $7 even a couple months ago. As for highways, bridges, etc., much of that work actually pre-dates the infrastructure bill. You're in Tampa. You see the work being done on I-275, but that's been the case since I first came down here in '04. And we've gotten a lot done on I-4, but not all of that was infrastructure bill either. I previously cited one project that proudly had a sign that it was funded by the infrastructure bill: ADA curbing on a busy street and sidewalk in a residential area north of Orlando where most people travel by car and there's nothing to walk to in close proximity. And the sign reminded me of that episode of The Office where they spent most of the money on the oversized check. If things are being funded by the bill, they needed to communicate that better or have printed diamond signs that depicted it.

You might want to look into the digital nomad visa arrangement that many of the EU countries are offering. I'm not a tax expert nor do I play one on TV, but you should consult one. Also, I understand that both Thailand and the Philippines are both offering digital nomad visas but for both of those countries you're barred from land ownership (downside), but the cost of living is much less and if you're into ladyboys and the trans scene, they'll definitely satisfy that itch.

"There are lies, damn lies, and statistics." - Mark Twain. I think my response was trying to capture the essence of deportations by President, and might not have done so well in that effort. So here are a couple infographics to illustrate. They capture slightly periods, and the whole discussion digressed, but I was trying to close off the point and hopefully these help. Actually, I think the poster has engaged a different cross-section of participation. I mean it somehow got me contributing and I know my views don't represent the larger group here in most cases. Not an easy task given he's in the UK and this is a very American topic. "Cut him some slack. Jack." 🙂

So far, you're correct. But if the data is correct, 11 million illegally crossed the borders from 2020 to 2025, the number includes jumpers through the Southern border as well as visa overstays and those through other means including human trafficking. Obama did it too. Obama also deported more illegal aliens than several other recent Presidents and started the family separation protocols, but this isn't something that our American media likes to cover. (And yes, I can find the stats on both). Not everyone in Europe is so anti-Trump. There was a political rally in Poland this past weekend where that was brought up in the same vein as border security and sovereignty, and the crowd seemed pretty keen on Trumps actions. Agreed @topblkmale. That has been a key difference in how the media wants to 'frame' the matter. 'No one's really an illegal immigrant'. Despite the fact that the 1996 Immigration Reform Act (quick quiz: Under which administration was that passed? Answer: William Jefferson Clinton's) made clear the penalties for unlawful entry to the United States, as well as for hiring those who've crossed the border and employers who hire them. That act has not been repealed. It's really simple. And having familiarity through friends and family, I understand how broken the system is, and I'd love to see it fixed and streamlined. We need immigration, there is a process, and the right way is to get in line, not pay Cartel Coyotes to traffic you across the border for tens of thousands of dollars or a lifetime of enslavement. We need the labor participation for a lot of jobs that go unfilled, but skirting the laws ain't the way to do it.

Yep. Absolutely correct. Can't dispute that fact, they sent him to the wrong place. Here's the problem I see. Let's quote that song from the 90's: "you don't have to go home But you can't stay here" We can't keep him, and we can't send him to El Salvador where he is a citizen. So that alone shouldn't qualify him for a life in the US or automatic citizenship. But where do you send him? I cannot imagine any other country who'd accept an asylum claim from him based on his background. Before we accidentally set some type of precedent, that asylum claim needs to be scrutinized as once it's used as a basis for future claims, I don't doubt that others will try to use that to skirt the actual reason for leaving their home country. And the majority of asylum claims are already invalid, so are we just inviting more? Asking the question more than having any answer because it ties everyone's hands.

Interesting strategy to reverse play the victim card. I'll need to keep that one in mind. 🤣 What I will not do is to attempt to victimize myself other than what the media has already chosen to manipulate. So let's examine how the media manipulates. It was the major media in the US that chose to call Abrego Garcia "Maryland Man", completely disavowing his association with MS-13. And he was ruled as deportable. Multiple times. So now the opposite party has chosen to embrace an MS-13 associate as the hill they'll die on because he wasn't given 'due process'. And that's certainly questionable because he had already been given that by Immigration Judges, and as a non-citizen, that is the due process to which he is entitled. Adding to that, we have activist judiciary who is demanding that he be returned, to which SCOTUS has replied that the administration should "facilitate" his return. As a citizen of El Salvador, his return is up to that sovereign nation, which has made it clear that they do not wish to release someone they also consider as a terrorist. They have trains in Australia? Who knew? 🤣🤣 Kidding aside, I can only go by your words as verbatim, so when you say "slave labourers", that can be a sensitive topic to the US based on its history, flawed as it is. But I'll try to address your points head-to-head. Yes, there have been furloughs of government workers. There have also been voluntary buyouts and much discussion over probationary workers losing their jobs. There are also a ton of workers who are likely not needed given our over bloated bureaucracy, so supposing that the US needs to bring spending back in line, we can either raise taxes on everyone (unpopular option for all and has detrimental impacts to the economy) or we can determine where we spend money and if that's what we want to do. Is it possible that some services are impacted? Sure, because anything is possible. Re: Australian Broadcasters. I can only imagine this to be comparable to the US media, but all we seem to see of your media in the US are funny bits from Karl Stefanovic and your Today show, or Sky News if we are streaming. Of course the US is not your government, so not sure of the depth of your coverage of our news versus your local events. As for the tariffs, it was always the stated case that the administration wanted to discuss fairer trade terms, and since there was no motivation for other countries to do so, tariffs were a way to bring people to the table. The EU has already stated their willingness to talk about equal tariffs; The UK has already signed a deal that opens their markets and reduces tariffs on their cars -- great if I want a good deal on a Jaguar or Land Rover. Others including China are following suit. And the losses from the stock market here have largely been clawed back. So we could continue to have shitty trade deals, markets closed to our goods, or induce negotiations. As to the points on judicial policies, this presents a test of the powers of the Executive Branch and what it can or cannot do. I personally think that any executive order should be followed by the actual legislation to codify that action into law. That our congress has failed to do so is appalling and lazy, and I lose all respect for Congress...or at least I like them less than hemorrhoids. 🤣 I mentioned that there was no proof of insider trading, but since our Congress seems to engage in those bits, we can either all get the benefit of Nancy Pelosi's stock picks, or our Department of Justice should prosecute all insider trading to the fullest extent. Everyone. Regardless of party. Make them felons and unable to run for office. Re: Arms dealers. I won't deny that's what we are. Or the military industrial complex that benefits from it including a lot of HUGE companies. Nonetheless, I'd rather that our economy benefits from that versus that of China. You know, since you wanted to mention "slave labour". 🤣 Feel free to ask what the Uyghurs are doing these days. 🙂 As to media bias, I thought I'd share this chart from All Sides, which independently audits and rates media coverage, and pretty fairly I'll add. Thanks though for a decent tete-a-tete. Much enjoyed. Peace!

And @viking8x6 is really pretty fair about moderating this stuff, and we've spoken about times when -- let's call it the 'non-left-view' -- tends to get short shrift from many, and in the past it's made me reluctant to enter into the Politics Forum here because often my views are about as popular as members of Congress, STIs, root-canal and cockroaches, not necessarily in that order. But because the non-left view does get criticized, I attempt to substantiate any point I make with a valid source or reference. Otherwise, I'm sure I'd get called out on anything that doesn't necessarily comport to much else than what might sound like a rant. So...to quote someone else, "thank fuck" that we have Viking around here, he's actually pretty fair. And I'll be the first to admit that forums don't do well with self-policing since I do a similar task on a more "SFW" website where volunteers also do the job. Thanks, Viking.

Foremost, nothing has actually been cut, so that's an inaccurate claim. Secondarily, you mention the deportation of "slave labourers". It interesting that the Democrats of the 1860's who were largely pro-slavery plantation owners in the Southern US and Democrats of 2025 are making very similar arguments of "who's going to pick our (insert cotton or produce here)?" So I don't mean to be crass but are you suggesting that we should be keeping people here in poor working conditions being paid low wages because we need them to do work? Then let's look at the "already biting costs of food & other items necessary for a reasonable quality of daily life". When did those costs really begin to inflate? I seem to recall that wasn't until Mr. Biden had been in office for more than a year. As for tariffs...I seem to be reading these to already be in negotiation. Our treasury secretary is meeting with China's representatives, and that's actually resulted in a major reduction of the tariffs before those can have major impact. But hey, which is better? Being able to buy cheap shit made in China by abusing intellectual property or having fair reciprocal trade rules? I'll take the latter every day, twice on Sunday. And where is the proof of that claim? If I were to sit here and make such a claim in a post, I can guarantee that I'd both be downvoted AND get penalty points on the post, but it's interesting that the counter-argumenters can make those claims scot free. So there's no proof of your claim of insider trading, though Nancy Pelosi and her cohorts in Congress seem to always have the inside track on good stock deals. Things that make you go Hmmmm... And I should point out that the same offer of the 747 was made to Biden, who turned it down. Trump accepted it. Up to our DOJ to make a determination of any gift given to the American government, but let' go back about 8 years to a discussion of replacing Air Force One. This was supposed to have cost billions of dollars and taken considerable time to do until Trump made a recommendation that would have reallocated another 747 that could be used more quickly. Eight years on, where's the new Air Force One? Didn't happen either. As for an arms deal, who benefits from that? Oh right! All those defense contractors who actually build that stuff, so it's revenue to them, not to Trump. He's just the guy that helped seal the deal for the Middle East nations to cozy up as our ally and buy from us. But would buying from Russia be better in your view? China? I think companies like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin would beg to differ. So If I were to make an outrageous claim, I need to substantiate it with all sorts of facts and references to make my point, but the counter-argument gets to go absolutely nuts because...well, it's Trump and people should hate him. But already you've gotten timing wrong on inflation and the like, neglecting to mention key facts, and you really want to suggest that you should get a free pass? And while you cite media, let's clarify that you're speaking of the same media that tried to gaslight the American people on Joe Biden's cognitive issues for months (MSNBC's Joe Scarborough's 'this is the best Joe Biden ever', etc.) only to come back when challenged on why they didn't do their job as journalists only to say that "(they're) looking forward" (Senator Schumer) or "these are backward looking statements" (Gov JB Pritzker). Then we have people like CNN's Jake Tapper who completely neglected coming clean about Biden's condition in order to write his tell-all admitting that he wasn't all there. You're talking about that media, right? Can you see why people in the US have an overwhelming distrust of the information they're getting from the media because of how that same media wants to craft its own narrative? Not all of them. You have a majority of Republicans in both houses, so you'd think all those folks would easily rubber stamp anything this President has done. Why then do we not have this "Big Beautiful Bill" or actual legislation crafted around all of these Executive Orders that the President has signed? Would it not stand to reason that if they were all standing behind him they'd be crafting laws to codify those orders? And why hasn't that even happened? I'll be clear. I'm not a Democrat. I can't tell you a single thing that they stand for other than screaming about Trump. But I think the Republicans have already had time to act on all of this stuff and haven't, so they're feckless too. So we may not be in total agreement, but we aren't in polar disagreement either and I think we can have spirited discussion based on the facts. And I'll be the first to say "you're right" when you have me on it. Just don't think that's slam dunk simple. 😀

With all due respect, do you have data to support that assertion? We don't seem to be in an inflationary chasm if you consider that the latest numbers now show the lowest rate in 4 years. I would like to better understand where the data shows that the economy was in sorrier shape from first to last day in office. We should also note that no one has really probed the Hunter Biden laptop where it depicted "10% for the big guy" and cut a series of other percentages. Did he profit? Not yet proven true or false, but lots of data to review if DOJ is inclined. Interesting side topic, though. The spending habit that we entered during the prior administration was marked by passage of new spending and continuation of a lack of fiscal oversight, where DOGE depicted some significant flaws in how the federal government actually tracks things like payments (they didn't very much) and lax accounting controls. We also allocated a LOT for things like the Infrastructure Bill ($1.2 trillion) and can't point to very much in the way of projects to which the monies were allocated. It could be argued that the additional spending was done pretty quickly and required the Federal Reserve to print money, thereby causing dilution that in turn spiked inflation in consumer prices. To counteract that, The Fed then decided that cooling inflation required raising interest rates, which in turn has had a chilling impact on the affordability of housing. It also froze the hiring market since companies couldn't predict how markets would expand or contract, so there are a lot of people that have been out of work and since fallen off the unemployment rolls. My own livelihood certainly took a hit and many others haven't recovered from that completely. In the classic sense, we didn't hit a traditional recession, but the economic indicators don't seem to paint a rosy picture of his stewardship. And prior to the election in '24, every single poll reflected that a majority of the electorate felt the economy had suffered during his administration, or that respondents had more confidence in Trump from an economic standpoint. I'll grant that the entirety wasn't his handiwork, but his cabinet and handlers weren't as focused on economics as they were on other concerns.

What on earth would be the point of that? Like wearing a raincoat in the shower. Or asking to be knocked up when you've been on PrEP for considerable time.

Or he could be like the hecklers who sit on the sidelines downvoting posts without having the courage to contribute and subject their own views to critique. Right? 😆

The highlighted section was what made me laugh, @harrysmith25. Not laughing at you, just at your sense of wit. Staggering Biden was overtaken by Collapsing Springsteen that's become viral on X today. Before I was just another Jersey boy who didn't like "The Boss". 🤣