Posts Made By: Rod Kaufman

Microsoft and American airlines, to name just a few...
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/551781-major-corporations-business-groups-come-out-against-texas-voting-law
But, just like in Georgia, I'm sure if they'd just read the law, they'd see they're all just mistaken about the whole thing, right?

Originally Posted by James Brown

Sometimes a quote or headline comes along that simply leaves me stunned in abject disbelief.  She, who still argues that Trump's active collusion with the Russians cost her the election, simply takes the cake in this regard:

Hillary Clinton: "There has to be a global reckoning with disinformation."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/06/hillary-clinton-guardian-disinformation-big-tech-facebook

Jim

Compared to Trump's big lie that the election was stolen from him and all that occurred as a result, I'd give Clinton's comment a 1 on a 1-10 scale...

Originally Posted by James Lacey

Hi Jim,

I read the article and didn't see where Hillary said what you claim, but maybe I missed it, or others are inferring it. In fact, I didn't see anything that mentioned her 2016 election loss directly. However, I did see a lot of talk about how big-tech social media drives disinformation, hence divisiveness, and there is no accountability or check on their actions. So it seems to me that disinformation has always played a role in elections. Still, today it's much easier to spread misinformation, and foreign actors can easily do it through social media. And the ability to easily spread misinformation using social media is being used by lots of different actors in different situations worldwide. That seemed to be the overall gist of the article to me.

Anecdotally, just the other day, I was on a rowing machine at the gym and overheard sweet little old ladies on the recumbent bikes talking about politics. They both declared they do not watch any cable or network news anymore and only get their news off Facebook since it's the only source they trust. They then gleefully discussed and bashed Democrats, including bringing up the canard that Joe Biden wants to force Americans to eat less red meat. So it seems to me there is no doubt we have a disinformation problem in this country and a critical-thinking skill problem. Both of these issues will affect election outcomes.

All good points, James. Here's a list of 16 reasons Hillary gave for losing the election, note the number one reason was herself:
https://www.axios.com/16-things-hillary-clinton-blames-for-her-election-loss-1513305545-cf6505a6-76a8-49a0-989a-1be67190d4ed.html
I'd add that your reference to the nonsense about Biden limiting red meat, even though debunked, continues to echo from the Republican leadership, especially McCarthy. This, of course, is only one in a sea of endless lies being propagated by the GOP which then resonates with its base on their social media platforms. There's no shortage of red meat for them...

Originally Posted by James Brown

Speaking of red meat - or maybe the "other white meat"  I slow smoked my first Boston Butt on the Kamado Joe this Friday.  It was spectacular!  

Again, there could at least be an Orion 4.25" starblast on the countertop and/or a small apochromatic refractor on an AVX mount on the deck!
PS: It's been shown Manafort met with a Russian operative , likely at the behest and direction of Putin, to discuss internal Trump polling data as an effort to aid the campaign. https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-paul-manafort-russia-campaigns-konstantin-kilimnik-d2fdefdb37077e28eba135e21fce6ebf 

Originally Posted by James Lacey

I agree, things are looking good. However, I do worry about what is happening in India. I don't think we will see a national surge, but with so many unvaccinated people, we could see some regional problems.

"with so many unvaccinated people, we could see some regional problems." That's the real concern, especially in Florida and Idaho. Just saw a headline from "The Idaho Statesman" stating to the effect of, "With vaccine hesitancy, Covid Is Here Permanently". Florida just dropped a bit below 4000 cases per day despite DeSantis's proclamation that he'll commute anybody's sentence for refusing to wear a facemask. I suspect either Florida or Idaho can be a powder keg for a covid flareup...

Originally Posted by James Brown

Hi James:

You and I mentioned India many months ago.  I have no idea why the huge surge there has been so delayed.  Maybe the test kits are just now getting wide use?

Jim

Test kits?! 
Dude, people are dropping in the streets!

Originally Posted by Greg Shaffer

That case regarding the riot is a non-starter.....there is actual footage out there now of the capitol police inviting the protestors in. Incompetence? He brought a stop to a lot of conflict in the ME (which has now come back thanks to Joe's efforts lol) The economy was booming and employment was at an all time high and that certainly isnt true now after just 100 days or so.....face it, were it not for mean tweets he would be riding high on public opinion. lol

The fact that a few capitol police invited a few rioters inside and/or took selfies with them had been known at the time of the riot. Such officers have either been disciplined/resigned or a few may have committed suicide. But that was a smidgen, a tiny portion of the overall violent riot that formed the insurrection of January 6th. Let's not be distracted from the big picture that actually happened and not on a few feckless capitol police members who later regretted what they did on that day. What should be emphasized is the courage and hardships of those officers who stood up to the rioting and the insurrection.
The economy now is better than under Trump. “If he gets in, you will have a depression the likes of which you’ve never seen. Your 401(k)s will go to hell and it’ll be a very, very sad day for this country,” Trump said in the Oct. 22 candidate debate."

"Instead, the rebounding economy is headed for its best year since 1984, according to the International Monetary Fund. The U.S. economy likely expanded in the first quarter at an annual rate of 6 percent and should accelerate in the months ahead, economist Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics told clients this week. More than 1.3 million jobs have been added since the election."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/04/22/trump-biden-economy-depression/

Originally Posted by Brian McFarland

Everything I see says real GDP and current dollar GDP are up, as are personal income and savings.  My 401K is doing gangbusters. I'm an investor in a brewery/restaurant and business is taking off like crazy - it looks like it's going to do a lot better than just survive the pandemic. Not sure about other towns, but here in SD everyone is working and businesses are having a difficult time finding staff right now.  If that's an economy going in the wrong direction, I'll take it.

I gotta wonder which MAGA media source Greg is getting his stuff from? Conservative blogs, AON, Newsmax, Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Fox or a combination thereof? 

Originally Posted by James Brown

Probably CNN or USA Today.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/19/donald-trump-again-teases-another-presidential-run-2024/7295093002/

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/05/politics/trump-run-for-president-again-2024/index.html


Jim

Hi Jim,
I was responding to Brian's post specific to Greg's take on the economy and not to his initial post about a Trump/DeSantis tag team in 2024.
As far as another Trump run goes, that's been reported almost weekly from conservative and MSM so I don't think one source has a corner on this news more so than the other...

Originally Posted by Greg Shaffer

You live in your own little world dont you Rod? LOL

So we are looking at the highest gas prices in a decade....The worst jobs report in 2 decades....The highest inflation in 3 decades and the highest increase in illegal immigration in 4 decades and you think the economy is booming? That kool-aid you are gulping down from the Washington Post has really twisted your knickers huh?

While I would concede covid is responsible for a good portion of the current situation, for you to actually claim we have a booming economy is nothing if not entertaining.....The policies coming from this administration certainly arent helping matters either but rather compounding them.

But hey.....if the Washington Post says its all good then it must be right? 

Greg,
That's ONE jobs report coming off a major recession. You and some other mightie righties might make like to make a world of it but it's one data point. Previous reports with Biden at the helm have been quite good. The inflation, per the feds that monitor it is still within expectations now that the economy is reopening and people are buying again. Again, inflation to the extent it is occurring is not unexpected and the fed hasn't not changed its policies because of it. We know you don't like fact checks but, with regards to illegal immigration, “the current situation at the border is neither a unique crisis nor the result (yet) of Biden’s policy changes.”

"while the apprehension numbers are spiking now, “this is not a new crisis.” Instead, it has been going on since 2014, “when we first saw unaccompanied minors and family units arriving at the border and turning themselves in,” and the problem has plagued each administration since."
As the chart above shows, apprehension spikes under the past two presidents in 2014 and 2019 similarly included sizable increases in family units and unaccompanied children arriving at the border.'
https://www.factcheck.org/2021/03/the-facts-on-the-increase-in-illegal-immigration/
and:

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/03/arizona-governor-cherry-picks-illegal-immigration-data-to-exaggerate-rise-under-biden/