"Nearly Half of Americans Don’t Know What America 250 is Celebrating: Poll"Posted By James Brown |
I saw the preview ad yesterday, it’s on our watch list.Originally Posted by Pete BraytonPretty hilarious show on HBO: Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness
Larry David sketch comedy of seven episodes with executive producers Barack and Michelle Obama.
He was sleeping in…. 😴Originally Posted by James Lacey
Well, JimB, you called it; he's just a little late, is all.
It would be impossible for me to do something that I never did. All I ever said was that your bombastic claims that Platner was an actual bona fide Nazi were obviously overblown political hyperbole. Like everyone else here, I said from the beginning he should be removed as the nominee by the party and that he is a deeply flawed candidate I would rather not see the Democratic Party nominate or support. If that's what you call "defending him," then you clearly live in an alternate reality from most of the world, but we already knew that. Maybe the Republicans can get Platner to switch sides? His character and background fit right in with the modern-day MAGA-wing of the Republican Party.
Today would be a good day to...Posted By James Brown |
The plot thickens…. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/carney-gordie-howe-bridge-comments-deal-criticism-mps-details-9.7276991Originally Posted by David Cotterell....open the Gordie Howe Bridge. The entire construction of which was paid for by Canada. The use of which would improve the efficiency of goods flowing across the #1 busiest crossing between the USA and Canada to the great benefit of both countries...
But Trumpf's buddy owns the old, rapidly deteriorating, narrow and outdated Ambassador Bridge and will lose a lot of money if the new bridge is opened, so he gave a $million to Trumpf and the opening is put off.
Aside: how is it that important international infrastructure, such as the Ambassador Bridge, is under private, for-profit ownership?
The Gordie Howe International Bridge is jointly owned by the Government of Canada (through the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority) and the State of Michigan. While ownership is shared equally, the Canadian government funded the entire construction cost upfront. Canada will collect toll revenues until its investment is recouped, after which toll profits will be split with Michigan.
Dave
Today would be a good day to...Posted By James Brown |
Thanks for the clear explanation. In Trumps mind, he won biggly, and that is everything to a narcissist. I enjoyed the story from your youth! 😀🧨🎆Originally Posted by David Cotterell
We do know what's in the new agreement. Well publicized. The original agreement had Canada getting all the toll money for a couple of decades from which would have been deducted the debt pay down, ongoing maintenance etc. We would have kept the profit too. What little there was. After 15 (or was it 25 years?) the tolls would be split 50/50 and the expenses too.
The 'new' agreement has us giving up 50% of the profits from the tolls after expenses from the get-go.
There won't be very much 'profit' from the tolls for many years so, yeah we 'gave up' something to Trump's renegotiation but it is going to be a vanishingly small amount of actual money.
Trump 'won' by going from half of nothing to half of not-very-much. Carney 'won' by giving up half of not-very-much and getting the god damn bridge open to let commerce flow which is worth billions to both countries.
Dave
hi Dave and Jim, I agree that masks/vaccines, and distancing worked to flatten the curve. I agree that Trump‘s handling of the pandemic was buffoonish in many respects.Originally Posted by David CotterellMasks + social distancing + vaccine worked. Perfectly. Ivermectin and hydroclhoro-whatsit did not. Categorically.
Fauci's 'crime' was to publicly and repeatedly tell the orangeman that he and his fellators were wrong.
Who took the fifth over 400 times in hearings?
Dave
Fauci's own diary, as reported by Taibbi shows misfeasance (lying). I am not saying that Fauci had bad intentions. And of course I am not saying anything about the actual origins of the pandemic. I am saying that he lied in 2020 and has since been exposed. You and I both recall Fauci's hard line in 2020 that the mere possibility of a lab leak was a conspiracy theory. We have know that he lied about this for a long time, and his lie is confirmed in his recently released diaries and emails. So I personally think it is fair that he shoulder some level of blame for public distrust. I trusted him and he lied to me, so I know how portions of the public feel.Originally Posted by James Lacey
Jim,
I've read a lot about what the science says about the origins of COVID-19, and I don't think many scientists who study pandemic origins give much credence to the lab-leak theory anymore. Most say there is very convincing, if not overwhelming, evidence pointing to an animal origin, and that the Wuhan wet market was simply the bull's-eye where the outbreak was centered. Keep in mind these same experts all agree that their minds could be changed if new evidence for a lab leak becomes available, but for now, the best explanation is a natural spillover or zoonotic origin.
I guess what I never get is what possible motive could Fauci have had for lying about the origin of COVID-19? You hear lots of speculation about his supposed motives, but is there any publicly available evidence that Fauci was trying to mislead deliberately? I've heard he was trying to downplay a lab leak to conceal gain-of-function research, but there's actually more evidence that gain-of-function research on COVID-19 never happened at Wuhan. Or maybe it was some other wrongdoing, but again, where is the evidence of the wrongdoing? The Republican fascination with blaming Fauci for the pandemic response is about making a scapegoat out of a symbolic figure, as far as I'm concerned, since there is no hard evidence to support their claims of malfeasance.
“Gain of function” are the words used by Fauci in his own Feb 1 email.Originally Posted by James Lacey
I've read that what Dr. Shi was working on was testing viral binding and infectivity, not gain-of-function. Testing viral binding and infectivity are not even close to the same thing. In other words, she was trying to predict zoonotic spillover, not enhance a coronavirus so that it could infect humans or make a coronavirus more deadly. Testing viral binding and infectivity is incredibly common, so I'm immediately suspicious of any article that claims she was doing gain-of-function research on coronaviruses.
Regardless, neither of us should expect the debate to die down quickly, because it seems that just about any narrative can be supported by the available evidence.
US Drops Case Against Olympian Accused Of Damaging Reflecting PoolPosted By James Brown |
Slander is a spoken defamation, so I find it hard to believe you have slandered anyone Rod, unless you have been making public speeches recently?Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman
I think that's a wise decision.
EV boom in Oz. Thanks to TrumpPosted By James Brown |
I hope you still have your tomato soup colored Toyota 4 Runner with the lift, winch, and big wheels though, for special occasions!Originally Posted by Russ Carroll
I got an EV about 4 months ago and I can't tell you how happy I am with it. I will never go back to an ICE vehicle. Not because of the environment or gas prices. EV's are better on nearly every important measure and FAR superior to their ICE counterparts.
I'd never go back.
You and Brian are missing my point. Maybe it is a dumb point, but still…. Fauci lied at a point in time. The point in time is the first week of February, 2020. His own experts on his own call advocated for lab leak as a viable origin theory. Fauci’s contemporaneous email documents that these were respected experts and they had good reason to think as they did given the GOF research in Wuhan’s lab.Originally Posted by James Lacey
Did he lie, or did his view change over time as new evidence became available? Regardless, it seems to me that the true nature of MAGA's obsession with Fauci is that they need someone to blame for the pandemic, and they are still upset about the vaccine mandates, mandatory masking, and so forth that they view as government overreach. Rather than take responsibility for who was in charge when COVID hit and their failures, they need a scapegoat so they don't have to admit uncomfortable truths.
