Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)

[Ternaugh]

Just came back from Sam's Club to pick up some prescriptions and grab a few regular items, and I was surprised to find the store very busy. The pharmacist explained that people were stocking up on toilet paper and water because of the port strike. As I was leaving, one customer was asking an employee about the shortages, and the employee explained that those were products manufactured in the US, and that it was actually most likely to affect produce prices, as many of those products are grown elsewhere.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/02/business/toilet-paper-shortages-port-strike/index.html#:~:text=But the strike at ports,consumption comes from domestic factories.

[DShomshak]

Getting away from the election, yesterday's ep of Marketplace concluded a series about American government entanglement in the economy. First ep back in January talked about the New Deal. This last ep wraps up with a comparison between Bedenomics and Johnson's "Great Society" legislation. Suggests that Biden may be the most legislatively significant" US president since Johnson -- at least in this economic aspect.

 

Biden's "Great Society" - Marketplace

 

INot discussed, but it's worth remembering that some people on the far right have loathed the trajectory of government/economy interaction since the New Deal; their ideal is the Gilded Age. I suspect many of them see Trump as their chance to turn back the clock, despite (or because of?) the damage this would cause.

 

Dean Shomshak

 

ADDENDUM: Just heard on BBC: The UK is returning sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, something Mauritius sought for decades. However, the deal leaves the US in control of the base on Diego Garcia, and it's not clear what it means for the long-exiled Chagosians.

 

Dean Shomshak

 

 

Edited Thursday at 08:53 PM by DShomshak

[unclevlad]

22 minutes ago, Ternaugh said:

Just came back from Sam's Club to pick up some prescriptions and grab a few regular items, and I was surprised to find the store very busy. The pharmacist explained that people were stocking up on toilet paper and water because of the port strike. As I was leaving, one customer was asking an employee about the shortages, and the employee explained that those were products manufactured in the US, and that it was actually most likely to affect produce prices, as many of those products are grown elsewhere.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/02/business/toilet-paper-shortages-port-strike/index.html#:~:text=But the strike at ports,consumption comes from domestic factories.

 

Saw a similar story..."flashbacks from the early days of Covid".  Produce might be hit less here, because much of it comes up from Mexico.  The bigger issue is manufactured goods...and we may not see that all that soon, as the supply chain empties from the back, forward.

 

Other economic bad news you may have missed:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/10/01/hurricane-helenes-devastation-in-north-carolina-could-disrupt-the-worlds-semiconductor-industry-heres-why/

 

 

[tkdguy]

Now for something lighter in tone: 

 

[Pattern Ghost]

Saw that one last night. Was amazing.

[Cygnia]

Disney was just the beginning of this BS...

 

https://ballsandstrikes.org/legal-culture/uber-lawsuit-uber-eats-terms-of-service/?utm_source=bsky&utm_medium=referral

[DShomshak]

I'm sure we all expected this, but here's the confirmation:

 

Marjorie Taylor Greene Says ‘They Can Control The Weather,’ Promoting Conspiracy About Hurricane Helene (msn.com)

 

The title says all you need to know. Not really worth reading the article, except maybe for the Republican officials who are asking people to PLEASE stop repeating this garbage! And that Georgia Gov. Kemp has praised the Federal response to Helene.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Starlord]

It's an oddly specific kind of omnipotence when 'they' can control the weather but 'they' can't shut her and/or Trump up....

[Ternaugh]

Just had a door to door canvasser for the Republican candidate for Senate, Sam Brown. He ticks all of the boxes: MAGA, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-abortion, and appears to be partially bankrolled by some of the backers of Project 2025. He's also been branded as a "carpetbagger from Texas" for moving to Nevada specifically to run against Rosen, who was seen as an easy target. According to recent polling, Rosen is showing anywhere from +2 to +13 over Brown. 

 

[Cygnia]

🤢

'Trump Bible' one of few that meet Walters' criteria for Oklahoma classrooms

Quote

Superintendent Ryan Walters isn’t just talking about buying Bibles for schools.

Bids opened Monday for a contract to supply the state Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. According to the bid documents, vendors must meet certain specifications: Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.

A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters.

But one Bible fits perfectly: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, endorsed by former President Donald Trump and commonly referred to as the Trump Bible. They cost $60 each online, with Trump receiving fees for his endorsement.
 

 

[unclevlad]

21 minutes ago, DShomshak said:

I'm sure we all expected this, but here's the confirmation:

 

Marjorie Taylor Greene Says ‘They Can Control The Weather,’ Promoting Conspiracy About Hurricane Helene (msn.com)

 

The title says all you need to know. Not really worth reading the article, except maybe for the Republican officials who are asking people to PLEASE stop repeating this garbage! And that Georgia Gov. Kemp has praised the Federal response to Helene.

 

Dean Shomshak

 

It's one thing to take bits and pieces out of context, to craft false and misleading attack ads.  (Herrell's main thrust now is a "Vasquez wants to defund the police" and the TV spots do exactly this.)  Or to take false credit or spread false blame ("the economy was great under Trump, see what Biden's done to it!"). 

 

But this is about 3 bridges too far for me.  This isn't legitimate political speech, IMO;  it crosses WELL into what I'd consider subversive speech.  Which means it fits right in there with so, so much of the Republican campaign messaging.  Said it before, I'll say it again.  Anyone running as a Republican...I don't care about what you claim, I don't care about your individual positions.  I will never vote Republican until the Party and its political leads reject their whole-hearted embrace of extremely damaging, complete lies.  I will even concede that Greene probably is in a small minority with this *#@#$.  Fine...then speak out, call her out, denounce it long and loud.  

[Old Man]

37 minutes ago, DShomshak said:

I'm sure we all expected this, but here's the confirmation:

 

Marjorie Taylor Greene Says ‘They Can Control The Weather,’ Promoting Conspiracy About Hurricane Helene (msn.com)

 

The title says all you need to know. Not really worth reading the article, except maybe for the Republican officials who are asking people to PLEASE stop repeating this garbage! And that Georgia Gov. Kemp has praised the Federal response to Helene.

 

Dean Shomshak

 

It's the same HAARP and DEW conspiracy crap that pops up after any severe disaster.  We got a concentrated dose of it a year ago after Lahaina.  It pisses me off because it takes advantage of psychologically vulnerable people who have just lost everything they own and/or people they love.  They're looking for some way to make sense of it all and the disinformation turns that into focused rage against Democrats or Oprah or whoever.  We had people get violent at the emergency meetings because they bought into the lies.

[Lectryk]

2 hours ago, Starlord said:

It's an oddly specific kind of omnipotence when 'they' can control the weather but 'they' can't shut her and/or Trump up....

 

The Jewish Space Lasers are too busy with their tasking of weather control (agitating/heating/whatever storm cells and diverting/directing jet streams, targeting islands) to spare time to hit individual targets. 

Edited 8 hours ago by Lectryk