quote:

Originally posted by ANTELOPEDUNDEE:
Do you suppose that Musk might try to get government agencies to switch to EVs?

Maybe reduce environmental regs on battery production and disposal or recycling.

Maybe subsidize charging stations at Walmart.

Etc.

Really though, IMO Musk is after a monopoly on space technology and other high cost, high risk, high reward, essential demand, exclusive supply tech and communications and control of AI competition.

If you don't think he can do it - think again.

As we speak:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/mone...1b9a5cf076c763&ei=21

Tesla surpasses $1 trillion in valuation in the wake of Trump's victory
Story by Rob Wile • 12m • 1 min read

quote:

Originally posted by ANTELOPEDUNDEE:
I wonder how long it will be before that light majority discovers what snake oil tastes like.

I think the "light majority" and the enlightened minority, for the most part already tasted the snake oil, and like the flavor or gag on it, respectively.

I honestly believe that Trump has achieved the greatest con-job of all time.

And this ain't a bait and switch. He and Team told us, up front.

Think about it - CEO, no RULER, of the greatest economic machine in the world, with both his tiny hands in the cookie jar.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, it already has.

If you want division to end -

Just drink the Kool Aid, and submit to the Trumpian Manifesto. It’s easy, and almost painless. Just close your eyes and let it happen, my child…you now must choose between assimilation and annihilation.

Really though, it takes a lot of gall, or alt-reality, or whatever, for someone to call for unity and the division to end or reconciliation, when Trump's whole campaign pitch was divisiveness and exploitation thereof. And it paid off.

And there is really no reason to expect a pivot.

What is expected of us who opposed Trump(ism)? Of course we can still hold our country, its founding principles and our values dear.

We can appreciate the democratic process through which he won.

Just because Trump won the election doesn't mean we were/are wrong or Trump voters are right, nor does it negate our values or validate yours. Our values are ours and we want to keep them.

The "System" as founded protected the minority just as much as the majority. Trumpism specifically violates that principle as a matter of policy.

Agreeing to end division, or unite, is way premature. That has to be earned. Trump(ism) hasn't earned it, rather division was the goal and achieved.

So, don't ask. Show us. Earn it.

quote:

Originally posted by Magine Enigam:
Really though, it takes a lot of gall, or alt-reality, or whatever, for someone to call for unity and the division to end or reconciliation, when Trump's whole campaign pitch was divisiveness and exploitation thereof. And it paid off.

say, which side was it, again, that called the other garbage and disparaged the women on the other side?

What was quemala's platform again, other than "not trump" ... in tech, we have this phrase -- "Vaporware"

I'll just call false equivalence on your first sentence.

Yea, the "not Trump" platform was deficient.

Hey, just because I quit responding to you doesn't mean you win or that I ignore you.

It just means you are in a different time zone, and my dogs get me up early.

Good night.

quote:

Originally posted by Magine Enigam:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by Magine Enigam:
That's interesting.

I don't see much in print or news about Soros. I have seen a lot of BS from the right.

I haven't' seen Soros jumping around on stage with a fascist wannabee either.

One should consider their goals.

Musk is definitely in it for the money - lots of money and power through essential tech with the Govt being exclusive, source and supply. He may have some humanitarian thoughts if not goals. He's Ayn Rand's dream.

OTOH, what does Soros want.

Typical!

You are totally blind to the leftist agenda!

Soros has been financing all the stupid DAs who refuse to punish criminals.

Done on purpose.

Because he has armed guards protecting him.

Unlike ordinary citizens!

He is not long before croaking!

I don't consider Soros an existential threat. That explains my disinterest in him.

There's another aspect to your reply, Saeed. One that I didn't think of at first.

If you are correct about Soros, that means he's not doing it for the money, but for humanitarian reasons.

That's the other side of that coin.

"The U.S. incarceration rate increased dramatically between 1970 and 2000, growing by about 400 percent—and resulting in the highest rate of incarceration in the world. This rise wasn't by accident. Elected officials and policymakers made deliberate decisions that grew the prison population." https://www.google.com/url?sa=...uDShb-D&opi=89978449

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...s_incarceration_rate
United States incarceration rate

===============================================

And another aspect:

Quote:
"Soros has been financing all the stupid DAs who refuse to punish criminals."

I think "refuse" is misleading, or just plain incorrect, in the context of Soros and his bought DAs.

The contrast, in context, is Trump and Team will pardon criminals already convicted, and thwart further prosecutions of loyalists. But actively pursue prosecutions on his opponents, all with taxpayer money. And Trump has been given immunity and impunity to do whatever he wants with no downside.

Now, in the balance/scope of things, which is more existential and threatening to the rule of law?

Fuckwits like Soros do not know what humanitarian is!

As I said earlier, he is over due to croaking!

If you want the division to end people are going to have to start voting for the benefit of the country rather than blindly following D or R.

quote:

Originally posted by nute:
If you want the division to end people are going to have to start voting for the benefit of the country rather than blindly following D or R.

You mean like in the UK??

Vote in a bunch of unmitigated fuckwits!

Every person from the UK here is absolutely livid at the stupid new UK government!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by Magine Enigam:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by Magine Enigam:
That's interesting.

I don't see much in print or news about Soros. I have seen a lot of BS from the right.

I haven't' seen Soros jumping around on stage with a fascist wannabee either.

One should consider their goals.

Musk is definitely in it for the money - lots of money and power through essential tech with the Govt being exclusive, source and supply. He may have some humanitarian thoughts if not goals. He's Ayn Rand's dream.

OTOH, what does Soros want.

Typical!

You are totally blind to the leftist agenda!

Soros has been financing all the stupid DAs who refuse to punish criminals.

Done on purpose.

Because he has armed guards protecting him.

Unlike ordinary citizens!

He is not long before croaking!

I don't consider Soros an existential threat. That explains my disinterest in him.

There's another aspect to your reply, Saeed. One that I didn't think of at first.

If you are correct about Soros, that means he's not doing it for the money, but for humanitarian reasons.

That's the other side of that coin.

"The U.S. incarceration rate increased dramatically between 1970 and 2000, growing by about 400 percent—and resulting in the highest rate of incarceration in the world. This rise wasn't by accident. Elected officials and policymakers made deliberate decisions that grew the prison population." https://www.google.com/url?sa=...uDShb-D&opi=89978449

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...s_incarceration_rate
United States incarceration rate

===============================================

And another aspect:

Quote:
"Soros has been financing all the stupid DAs who refuse to punish criminals."

I think "refuse" is misleading, or just plain incorrect, in the context of Soros and his bought DAs.

The contrast, in context, is Trump and Team will pardon criminals already convicted, and thwart further prosecutions of loyalists. But actively pursue prosecutions on his opponents, all with taxpayer money. And Trump has been given immunity and impunity to do whatever he wants with no downside.

Now, in the balance/scope of things, which is more existential and threatening to the rule of law?

Fuckwits like Soros do not know what humanitarian is!

As I said earlier, he is over due to croaking!

I'm a bit surprised at you, Saeed. I figured you just loved to troll and stir and besmirch, but most likely a reasonable and reasoned man, using the forum as entertainment.

But maybe your true self is showing.

OTOH, if you're trolling me, you're doing a good job of it with few words - it's working and also thought provoking and prompting me to inform myself. My response to you is as much about who you are as it is what you say. Most people who say some of the stuff you say, I wouldn't even bother with

In order to confirm my presupposition about Soros, from previous modest info I knew, I refreshed the info by reading a few articles - not far-right of course.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Soros#

Excerpt:
George Soros[a] HonFBA (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930)[1][2] is a Hungarian-American[b] businessman, investor, and philanthropist.[7][8] As of October 2023, he had a net worth of US$6.7 billion,[9][10] having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations,[11] of which $15 billion has already been distributed, representing 64% of his original fortune. In 2020, Forbes called Soros the "most generous giver" (in terms of percentage of net worth).[12] He is a resident of New York.[13]

In July 2015, Soros stated that Putin's annexation of Crimea was a challenge to the "prevailing world order", specifically the European Union. He hypothesized that Putin wants to "destabilize all of Ukraine by precipitating a financial and political collapse for which he can disclaim responsibility, while avoiding occupation of a part of eastern Ukraine, which would then depend on Russia for economic support".[201] In November 2015, Russia banned the Open Society Foundations (OSF) and the Open Society Institute (OSI)—two pro-democracy charities founded by Soros—stating they posed a "threat to the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation and the security of the state".[210][211] In January 2016, 53 books related to Soros's "Renewal of Humanitarian Education" program were withdrawn at the Vorkuta Mining and Economic College in the Komi Republic, with 427 additional books seized for shredding. A Russian intergovernmental letter released in December 2015 stated that Soros's charities were "forming a perverted perception of history and making ideological directives, alien to Russian ideology, popular". Most of these books were published with funds donated by Soros's charities.[212][213]

==================================================

I can see why the far-right and TrumpMAGA in particular hate Soros. They are the anti-thesis of his worldview, and as normal for them, make up all sorts of BS lies and conspiracy theories about him as a lubricant for their own worldview.

==================================================

My view is that Soros is indeed a humanitarian. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarianism#

"Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional reasons."

While we're talking about "division to end" consider this article:

I have first-hand knowledge of this which is why I oppose Christian nationalism, aka Christofascism, and likewise Trumpism. They view the dark prophecies as self-fulfilling and thus incumbent to do their part.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news...8b9b5273828a49&ei=27

Christian Nationalists Feel Their Dark Prophecies Are Now Coming True
Story by Christopher Mathias • 21h • 7 min read

To my Republican friends…

We won the election.

All the democrats have right now is shrill complaining.

If you lower yourself to that level, we will be giving away the moral position the voters gave the Republican Party.

Govern well. Let the past bad behavior be like water off a duck’s back and show the electorate we CAN do better than the last 4 years, or we will be fighting the same battle in 2-8 years.

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
To my Republican friends…

We won the election.

All the democrats have right now is shrill complaining.

If you lower yourself to that level, we will be giving away the moral position the voters gave the Republican Party.

Govern well. Let the past bad behavior be like water off a duck’s back and show the electorate we CAN do better than the last 4 years, or we will be fighting the same battle in 2-8 years.

And all the Republicans have for the moment is shriller gloating.

I predict your plea will fall on deaf ears, and the Republicans in their hubris will piss away voters' goodwill soon enough.

All it's going to take is for Trump to get his tariffs...and we'll see how the inflation rate reacts.

Ukraine is a goner. Trump will go back to bullying our allies and sucking up to our enemies. Israel will continue to kill civilians with Trump's blessing.

The political pendulum won't take long to return to center though.

quote:

Originally posted by RolandtheHeadless:

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
To my Republican friends…

We won the election.

All the democrats have right now is shrill complaining.

If you lower yourself to that level, we will be giving away the moral position the voters gave the Republican Party.

Govern well. Let the past bad behavior be like water off a duck’s back and show the electorate we CAN do better than the last 4 years, or we will be fighting the same battle in 2-8 years.

And all the Republicans have for the moment is shriller gloating.

I predict your plea will fall on deaf ears, and the Republicans in their hubris will piss away voters' goodwill soon enough.

All it's going to take is for Trump to get his tariffs...and we'll see how the inflation rate reacts.

Ukraine is a goner. Trump will go back to bullying our allies and sucking up to our enemies. Israel will continue to kill civilians with Trump's blessing.

The political pendulum won't take long to return to center though.

HaHA

4WD

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:

quote:

Originally posted by nute:
If you want the division to end people are going to have to start voting for the benefit of the country rather than blindly following D or R.

You mean like in the UK??

Vote in a bunch of unmitigated fuckwits!

Every person from the UK here is absolutely livid at the stupid new UK government!

That's exactly my point. The govt here wasn't voted in by people who just vote labour because they have always done. lots of Torys voted labour because they were so frustrated by the behaviour of their party.

Nute,
I don’t blindly follow any party. There are many terrible Republicans. But, they usually vote the right way on policy. In the General, I vote policy. The existential threat to the USA today is the woke leftist agenda. Priority number one has to be defeating them and their agenda. Democrats have become the party of the woke leftist agenda. They have to be defeated. The GOP offers the only viable means at the moment. We are afforded the opportunity to vote the person in Primaries.

Unless you support a leftist woke agenda, there is really no other pragmatic way to defeat it. Just a reality.

Doc

How come you did not give the same advice to Trump and the Republicans when Obama and Biden were in charge?

The disruption and hateful disinformation from people like matt Getz, MGT, Bobert, Johnson and many others are examples.

Now you want Democrats to be the "Loyal opposition". Go figure.

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
I agree that the use of loaded political rhetoric needs to end.

I hope the democrats shift to being the loyal opposition. Describe where they think the president is wrong and offer alternatives.

Stop attempting to govern via the courts.

Make realistic comments about the need to debate policy.

But yeah, I’m dreaming.

BTW, Roland, he is your president, just like Biden was. I don’t expect anyone to kowtow to him, but we have seen that incivility has just made things worse.

As they said in the Army, you salute the uniform (in his case, the office) not the individual.

Trump is president. The majority has spoken. Let’s try and make it work… on both sides.

Why did you not leave when Obama became president or when Biden became president?

You stayed and spread hate and undermined the truth with all the fake BS you kept spreading.

Let us see what you say about the border after Jan 6th 2025.

quote:

Originally posted by 4WD:

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
Those folks are citizens and belong in the U.S. as much as anyone.

Not if they denounce and don’t support our country,constitution and our elected president, even if they don’t agree with everything . They need to pack up an leave for some banana republic

Brilliant! I absolutely am with you 100%

quote:

Originally posted by Magine Enigam:

quote:

Originally posted by tomahawker:
Posting that totally refutes ignoring it. Get a grip, stop acting like a child.

You don't get it.

JTEX is a troll. He gets his jollies from insulting others. He contributes practically nothing to the forum, and I presume the world, except maybe some sperm long ago.

He baits and trolls for bites, then he insults and nothing constructive comes from responding with him.

Silently ignoring him isn't good enough for me. I'm passive aggressively ignoring him and want him to know it.

He can say and insult me all he wants, bark at the moon, taint cyberspace, whatever. I just ignore him.

I think it's a rare privilege to ignore him in a passive aggressive way. There are many people in the world who deserve to be ignored. Mostly it's in silence, and they don't know their impotence.

Thank you Saeed for providing the ignore setting on this forum. I consider it a gift and use it sparingly.

I did say I expected them to work wisely. Sadly they did not.

The democrats had their hissy fit (the so called pussy hats and saying Trump wasn’t their president and going on about Hillary winning the popular vote.

I don’t think the GOP has a mandate to the culture war off this election… a mandate to stop the vilification of the party out of power is more like it.

Biden started out talking about unifying America, and rapidly changed course. Let’s see if Trump learned anything. So far the loudest voices seem to have not.

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
Doc

How come you did not give the same advice to Trump and the Republicans when Obama and Biden were in charge?

The disruption and hateful disinformation from people like matt Getz, MGT, Bobert, Johnson and many others are examples.

Now you want Democrats to be the "Loyal opposition". Go figure.

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
I agree that the use of loaded political rhetoric needs to end.

I hope the democrats shift to being the loyal opposition. Describe where they think the president is wrong and offer alternatives.

Stop attempting to govern via the courts.

Make realistic comments about the need to debate policy.

But yeah, I’m dreaming.

BTW, Roland, he is your president, just like Biden was. I don’t expect anyone to kowtow to him, but we have seen that incivility has just made things worse.

As they said in the Army, you salute the uniform (in his case, the office) not the individual.

Trump is president. The majority has spoken. Let’s try and make it work… on both sides.

Doc

The real test is if the rest of the GOP will show some spine and govern responsibly.

Trump has one Achilles heel (apart from his bone spurs LOL)- this is his last term.

Since the agenda of Project 2025 is clear and people like Kevin Roberts have a major voice in how the GOP should govern, I expect the far right to go full throttle at their agenda.

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
Doc

The real test is if the rest of the GOP will show some spine and govern responsibly.

Trump has one Achilles heel (apart from his bone spurs LOL)- this is his last term.

Since the agenda of Project 2025 is clear and people like Kevin Roberts have a major voice in how the GOP should govern, I expect the far right to go full throttle at their agenda.

poor little naki, frequently wrong, never in doubt -- well, since your forecast of cruz lossing, texas going red, iowa going red, and the nation voting blue were ENTIRELY demolished, i guess setting some vague, undefined, and therefore unmeasurable "standard" will give you the chance to say "i have always said thus"

So, i'll ask again, in the hope that your integrity could be challenged, how many days/weeks or even hours have you visited the US, heck, is your visa even still valid?

Reading a Map isn't knowing the terrain

There is some truth there. I went to the US thinking the dems had an advantage. I came home the week before the election having listened too people on the ground and said I thought the republicans would win. The on the ground mood was far different than what we se reported in our media. Interestingly Paddy Gower, a left leaning reporter who was over at same time as me, said the same.

quote:

Originally posted by shankspony:
There is some truth there. I went to the US thinking the dems had an advantage. I came home the week before the election having listened too people on the ground and said I thought the republicans would win. The on the ground mood was far different than what we se reported in our media. Interestingly Paddy Gower, a left leaning reporter who was over at same time as me, said the same.

It depends on where and to who you talked.

I’m in Minnesota and IMO it was close. The folks from the 5 county metro were gung Ho for Harris, the outstate was pretty much Trump country.

My home district… where Walz lived until he became governor… went to Trump. The state went to Harris because the metro area and the iron range went that way rather strongly.

I thought this would be close, and it was. Maybe not shaving close, but not a reaganesque drubbing like he gave Walter Mondale (also a Minnesotan… we apparently are a Mecca for the far left…)

Drove from Chicago to Lake Huron. Then back to chicago, and flew to Memphis and spent a week In the Ozarks. Definitely spoke with more republican type persons but it wasn't that that struck me. The democratic voters I talked with were not as positive or confident. The republican voters were much more upbeat.