The Political Discussion Thread

[BlowitUpistus]

We've been talking about that in the past page or so. But it's hardly the news stations and papers, the internet is full of fake news and half-baked truths. Yet, it's clear that Annoyed doesn't think them accountable. So should we heavily punish the few legitimate newssites out there and let the internet take over entirely? That would just remove the shred of credible information left.

How';s about we go with news papers/tv stations, like many sites do.. Mess up, get a temp suspension (ie loss of broadcast for say 1 week). Mess up 2 times (and when i say mess up i mean ACTUALLY make up fake stories, or willfully put out false info), and its a mo blocking..

And Iraq and Afghanistan are examples of why that doesn't work. As the US troops march out of the front of the building, local terrorists will hang the flag at the back.

So if nation building doesn't work, and the tactic of going in and blowing the enemy up also doesn't.. What's left? Total non-interference?

You do realize that the car is counted as income and so taxed? Quite a few people who got that car just didn't accept it because it would cost too much. It sounds good on paper, but if you do the math it's not all that beneficial unless you already drove a similar car.

Actually no i didn't. I know you can get iirc a 10k one time gift from someone untaxed, anything above that IS taxed though. So i would have thought for a car, its first 10k of value if a gift, would be tax free.. anything above it, and you owe..

Well, i think a few interventions did more harm than good. Some of it's been plain hypocritical (Osama Bin Laden was armed and trained by the CIA), some of it pretty good.

That is part of the reason i feel the CIA needs to just go.. SHUT IT down. We've sen them embroiled with drugs (Afgan and columbia etc), and other "Illicit activities" including arming our future enemies.. Are they worth keeping around, with that piss poor track history?

Though don't read too much into it. It was something put forward on twitter, and it's hardly the first (and certainly won't be the last) time that someone considered presidency without actually running. As mentioned earlier, The rock also was in the news a while back because he was considering.

But if they DO decide to let her run, it still proves our point of once again, showing a double standard...

Some people see royalty as sort of the face of their country. In that sense, not wholly unlike the US president. Or any president.

That is true, the royals are like our politicians. BUT it still imo shouldn't be so politicized/publicized.. IMO who cares who is marrying whom?

True, but remember that most of those jobs were hit incredibly hard by the '08 crisis. It's only been a few years since construction came out of it's lull, and i know at least two people who were trained to work in construction but switched jobs because there was no work for them.

I agree. One of my current co-workers, was a certified electrician, and just couldn't find work for over 18 mo.. So became a sec guard too..
But i DO feel we need to spend more time pushing kids towards the trade craft skills, such as plumbing/carpentry etc, rather than yet MORE lawyers, or people getting 'sexual identity degrees'/./ Hell what exactly will those sorts of people get for jobs with such a (IMO) worthless degree anyway?>

Nobody knows. It's probably the biggest hurdle to driverless cars. But even so, that may not mean as much as you think, since technically companies could just install all the normal stuff on a car, sell it as a normal car with "daily task assist" and have the car do 99% of the driving.

With all the hacking going on these days, i don't want to trust my life or my kids to a damn computer driven car..
I mean, how long do you feel it is going to be, before one of those computer operated vehicles gets HACKED by someone to cause a crash, just so they can hold the company for ransom or the like?

Really, I have no problem if the Dems choose to run Oprah in 2020. They will simply be handing the election to Trump or Pence. The vast majority of males that I know and many women as well dismiss Oprah as just a daytime talk show host, right up there with Dr. Phil or the crew from The View. Here's a hint for the Democrats. Working class people, at least males, have very little respect for these shows or the people on them.

With as many fans as she has, i wouldn't dismiss her popularity so out of hand..

You were barbecued 30 seconds after you walked in here. You expect politeness?

Well, other sites i've been on over the years, who had such politics area, still were somewhat cordial.. Well for a while at least.

Well, splitting yet another one into separate posts..

[BlowitUpistus]

Changes his mind about something as many times as a normal person changes his underwear every day.

I know women (and some men, like my younger cousin) who are that way too, flip and flop so often on what they like/dislike. Doesn't mean they are unstable..

Ranting on twitter -- that nuclear button rant was just... so grown-up.

Wasn't it Roosevelt who said "walk softly but carry a big stick"? IMO Trump was echoing that..

Can't drink from a bottle without holding it with both hands (that's more a physical problem than a mental one).

Well, it can't be either since the WH physician, gave him a clean bill of health..

Remember this from Charlottesville over the summer:

Yes i do. A tragic incident for sure. BUT does one incident, compare to the # of reported assaults against trump supporters during the lead up to, and even after the vote? Or the # of times we've seen college campuses with flat out riots on, to oust a conservative speaker who was INVITED there by other students?
IMO no way in hell.

Wasn't that in relation to libel-law, which Trump can't change because they are state-laws and not federal.

I thought his request was more cause it wasn't authorized.. Ergo had no permission, and this fell under federal privacy stuff. NOT liabel.. BUT if that was the only reason he said "STOP IT", then yes it would have been wrong.

Usually only in countries ruled by tyrants and dictators.

Which is a good chunk of africa and the far east (BURMA!!!)..

And I think you would be surprised to know the right to vote is linked to being a citizen, or naturalized citizen.

Then why have a # of townships/cities, extended voting rights (even just for local elections/school board elections) to illegals? OR why the DNC itself (via that leaked memo from yesterday) shows "WE want DACA to be done to ensure our voting base is stronger??" To me that says they Encourage illegals to vote..

Probably because they live in places where it is mandatory, and people fought bloody hard to gain the right to vote.

So does that mean America should go that way too?

And if I ever found the love of my life, I'll at least know a guy to perform the ceremony.

My ceremony fees are 4 pies for the first hour, 1 pie per half an hour there after (PS i love hawaiian pizza!!)

Mmm... here we have another violent American who cares not about civilian live or the consequences of such actions.

How is me saying "BLAST the enemy!" me wanting civilian deaths??

They do care about someone with experience.

So why then ask Oprah? What experience does she have?

No, that's what happens when you marry into the family of the Head of State of the United Kingdom. They are forbidden to talk politics, sway one side or the other (neutral ground), to endorse one side or the other. Those are the rules they have to abide by.

Man that bites!

Annoyed missed your post explaining back 40 but caught it in BlowitUpistus post. Thanks for the explanation.

Don't sweat it..

There's no need to add the Mr. or Ms. or Mrs. -- we generally don't mind being called by our usernames or when getting really familiar with one another, you'll see us use short forms of each others names.

Copy that. Will stop using the Mr/Mrs..

[SoulReaver]

If someone is writing a book about me containing quotes i never gave permission for, why SHOULDN'T i be allowed to get it silenced?

all of a sudden the most powerful public government figure becomes a commoner like any private citizen (but only when convenient of course)

AND HOW is wanting to do that, wanting to abolish the 1st amendment?

you’re asking how is wanting to silence anti-governmental speech, censorship
good question I dunno :/

that the state who's law says "If the vote is tied, then it goes to a lottery to pick the winner"?? HOW is that stealing the vote?

omitting the fact that there was a lottery cause the GOP asked for it instead of accepting the initial results

Cosby went to court.

ok so the goalposts are moved but your question still applies what of presumption of innocence?

Spacey ADMITTED to his wrong doing (so did frankin and weinstein)..
There fore they are not innocent by their OWN admission..

actually none of them admitted anything. the first two said they didn’t remember & Weinstein vehemently denies everything

but since you mention admission here’s a real one from your King himself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYqKx1GuZGg

ho wait if the elites say it then it’s locker room talk right?

Moore on the other hand, had some of the evidence against him debunked..

that fake news was debunked

[Falcon Horus]

Did either of them practice financial and corporate law in the US? That system is not quite sane.

Auntie ever only did criminal cases, but my cousin wants to corporate and financial law. Did see her law course on world economies (and started reading it before Lucy the dog interfered for playtime) and it was large.

But no, not in the US.

There will be liability claims (cue the ambulance chasers). If the laws are written to allow the manufacturers to be held liable, the lawsuits will kill the industry. Bankrupt it. I doubt that anyone would want to start 8 run a vehicle company under such a threat.

I think the Tesla case did set a precedent about the company proving otherwise, and thereby implicating the driver at fault. But of course, there will always be more clever people trying to get the company to pay up anyways.

Automatic ****** 'cause they didn't make this model with a stick. I prefer a stick shift. Most of the cars I've owned have been sticks. No automatic headlights. Of course it has turn signals, they've been required for over 50 years. No Sonar. It has both ABS & Traction control, but both of those systems can be switched off when desired.

I only drive manual shift.
My lights and wipers are automatic (not the big lights or foglights). And my car has ABS and traction control which my father has explicitly told me to never turn off (his brother, my uncle, died in a car crash when he was about 10 years younger than I am now, so I have a feeling that still haunts him and he wants us, at least be safe on the road). But I would turn it off just to test it -- but I haven't.

So how would World War 2 have ended if Germany instead of Japan had been nuked?

I think it would have ended the same.

How's about we go with news papers/tv stations, like many sites do.. Mess up, get a temp suspension (ie loss of broadcast for say 1 week). Mess up 2 times (and when i say mess up i mean ACTUALLY make up fake stories, or willfully put out false info), and its a mo blocking.

Here you go, the largest database of sites and where they fall on the scale of bias, science, fake or real, conspiricy or otherwise: Media Bias/Fact Check

...or people getting 'sexual identity degrees'/./ Hell what exactly will those sorts of people get for jobs with such a (IMO) worthless degree anyway?>

Err.... a what now?

Anyway, my sister has a "useless degree" (she's a certified Assyriologist -- history and archaeology of ancient Mesopotamia) and yet she's employed as a managing assistent to the legal director at the company that runs the largest airport in Belgium. I have no degree beyond my highschool degree and I work as a document/template designer at a large firm dealing with human resource and everything independant workers need to be in order with their papers required by law to operate as an independant or semi-independant.

Degrees don't always matter, not matter how useless they may seem at first.
They do matter when it comes to how much you're gonna get paid though. I don't earn as much as my sister does.

I know women (and some men, like my younger cousin) who are that way too, flip and flop so often on what they like/dislike. Doesn't mean they are unstable.

But they aren't trying to run a country, are they, where such flip/flopping has major consequences.

Wasn't it Roosevelt who said "walk softly but carry a big stick"? IMO Trump was echoing that.

Not what Roosevelt intended, I imagine.
Also, different times.

Well, it can't be either since the WH physician, gave him a clean bill of health.

Of course, they did.
I didn't expect they would find anything else.

But I have observed enough people with degenerative diseases, to know that ain't healthy. He's a 70-year old, American male -- no way he's got a clean bill of health.

A tragic incident for sure.

I believe it was ruled a first-degree murder -- hardly an incident.

BUT does one incident, compare to the # of reported assaults against trump supporters during the lead up to, and even after the vote? Or the # of times we've seen college campuses with flat out riots on, to oust a conservative speaker who was INVITED there by other students?

Did you read the article at all.

And you really are related to Garhkal -- so what happened? Did he get banned indefinitely?

I thought his request was more cause it wasn't authorized.. Ergo had no permission, and this fell under federal privacy stuff. NOT liabel.. BUT if that was the only reason he said "STOP IT", then yes it would have been wrong.

I know there was a cease-and-desist letter but at the same time there was also something at libel laws -- I could have gotten things mixed up.

Which is a good chunk of africa and the far east (BURMA!!!).

****hole countries, according to your Overlord.

Then why have a # of townships/cities, extended voting rights (even just for local elections/school board elections) to illegals? OR why the DNC itself (via that leaked memo from yesterday) shows "WE want DACA to be done to ensure our voting base is stronger??" To me that says they Encourage illegals to vote.

Schoolboard elections are hardly presidential elections, are they?
Local elections are also local to the local population.

And the DACA-thing: there's literally no credibly source to support this. There's literally no where in the memo saying they need those dreamers as vote. They want a deal because yes, it will look good with their base -- the ones that can vote and might vote, and could vote for them.

Has little to do with more votes from Dreamers, but from those who believe that DACA should continue to exist. But I'm sure the FOX News article and the Breitbart article wrote it differently.

Here's Newsweek's article: Democrats Fear Losing 2018 Elections If Daca Deal Is Not Passed, Memo Reveals

Here's Fox News' article: Dreamers 'critical' to Dems' 'electoral success,' Palmieri memo says

And Breitbart's: Leaked Memo: DACA Amnesty Is ‘Critical Component of Democratic Party’s Future Electoral Success’

So does that mean America should go that way too?

Why not? You afraid it might turn in something you won't like?

Mandatory it doesn't have to be, but how about everyone automatically registered to vote.

My ceremony fees are 4 pies for the first hour, 1 pie per half an hour there after (PS i love hawaiian pizza!!)

I'm gay -- still interested in officiating?

You sure win points with pineapple on pizza -- it's the best.

How is me saying "BLAST the enemy!" me wanting civilian deaths??

Who do you think you'll blast to kingdom come?

So why then ask Oprah? What experience does she have?

It was in geste perhaps... to stir the pot.

[Ian-S]

Automatic ****** 'cause they didn't make this model with a stick. I prefer a stick shift. Most of the cars I've owned have been sticks. No automatic headlights. Of course it has turn signals, they've been required for over 50 years. No Sonar. It has both ABS & Traction control, but both of those systems can be switched off when desired.

As far as I'm aware TSS (Toyota Safety Sense) can be switched off too, so I'll ask again, you're happy to drive a car that has an automatic gearbox, ABS and traction control (all systems run by a computer) but you're not happy to have an object detection system that applies the brakes before you've even realised something is in your path. Please explain the difference, since all of those systems are controlled, in some way, by a computer.

And safety doesn't come under the heading of better?

No, not in your black means black and white means white world, better does not mean safer, it means better.

[Annoyed]

I think the Tesla case did set a precedent about the company proving otherwise, and thereby implicating the driver at fault. But of course, there will always be more clever people trying to get the company to pay up anyways.

I only drive manual shift.
My lights and wipers are automatic (not the big lights or foglights). And my car has ABS and traction control which my father has explicitly told me to never turn off (his brother, my uncle, died in a car crash when he was about 10 years younger than I am now, so I have a feeling that still haunts him and he wants us, at least be safe on the road). But I would turn it off just to test it -- but I haven't.

Yes, they didn't find a fault in Tesla vehicle. Tesla laid the blame on the driver for ignoring warnings to take over.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...ash/411516001/

Tesla has long insisted that drivers must keep their hands at the wheel, ready to take over at any time. The company, which declined to comment, has previously defended its system. But software upgrades since the accident would likely have prevented it, CEO Elon Musk has said.

NTSB said the driver received seven visual warnings on the instrument panel, which blared "Hold Steering Wheel," followed by six audible warnings.

But this raises the "What's the point?" issue. In this case, the vehicle was not intended to be autonomous.. but if the vehicle comes with that caveat from the manufacturer, what is the point of a self driving car that can't drive itself?

But what about in a few years; if these things progress, the goal is for the car to be self-driving, without such caveats.
Who is liable when a true self-driving car or truck is the cause of an accident?

Regarding ABS.. I would suggest that you wait for a time after a nice, fresh snowfall and go find an empty unplowed parking lot where there is nothing to hit, disable the automatics and spend some time learning how the car behaves in a skid and how to best recover from it with your particular vehicle. I've done this with every car/truck I've ever owned. I think it helps if you are already familiar with your own vehicle's handling before you need to recover in an emergency situation.

Anyway, my sister has a "useless degree" (she's a certified Assyriologist -- history and archaeology of ancient Mesopotamia) and yet she's employed as a managing assistent to the legal director at the company that runs the largest airport in Belgium. I have no degree beyond my highschool degree and I work as a document/template designer at a large firm dealing with human resource and everything independant workers need to be in order with their papers required by law to operate as an independant or semi-independant.

Degrees don't always matter, not matter how useless they may seem at first.
They do matter when it comes to how much you're gonna get paid though. I don't earn as much as my sister does.

I can't speak for your country, but in the US, as far as I know, most people end up in jobs that have little or nothing to do with what they went to school for. The education industry in the US has so oversold the value of their product to the point that the vast majority of employers want a sheepskin, regardless of what position you are being considered for. It's not what they have taught you in school, it's that you "paid your dues" or homage to the educational system.

And the DACA-thing: there's literally no credibly source to support this. There's literally no where in the memo saying they need those dreamers as vote. They want a deal because yes, it will look good with their base -- the ones that can vote and might vote, and could vote for them.

Has little to do with more votes from Dreamers, but from those who believe that DACA should continue to exist. But I'm sure the FOX News article and the Breitbart article wrote it differently.

Here's Newsweek's article: Democrats Fear Losing 2018 Elections If Daca Deal Is Not Passed, Memo Reveals

Here's Fox News' article: Dreamers 'critical' to Dems' 'electoral success,' Palmieri memo says

And Breitbart's: Leaked Memo: DACA Amnesty Is ‘Critical Component of Democratic Party’s Future Electoral Success’

The DACA may or may not be of strategic value for the Democrats for 2018 or even 2020, but the assumption that immigrants would skew towards being Dem. voters has been the impetus for the Democrats' soft stance on immigration control for decades now; look at the various amnesty and "paths to citizenship" they keep wanting. We already HAVE an existing, legal "path to citizenship" for people who wish to migrate here. Why are they not satisfied with that?

Mandatory it doesn't have to be, but how about everyone automatically registered to vote.

Not practical.
Yes, you could auto-register when a person achieves citizenship by any means, birth or legally becoming a citizen. But that leaves the question of residency requirements, which requires local registration, as well as positive identification. A photo ID of a newborn isn't going to be useful in verifiying the ID of that person 18 or more years later.

[Falcon Horus]

Not practical.
Yes, you could auto-register when a person achieves citizenship by any means, birth or legally becoming a citizen. But that leaves the question of residency requirements, which requires local registration, as well as positive identification. A photo ID of a newborn isn't going to be useful in verifiying the ID of that person 18 or more years later.

Aren't you registered at birth?

Like when we are born this the city where you live has to be notified of this birth so your kid is registered into the registry of citizens. Every legal citizen has to have a registration number.

[Womble]

We're so freakin' small -- there's 10 million or so of us, about half would be army-ready at any given time I would reckon.
Seriously, Belgians are not concerned with such matters. What happens, happens... we'll figure it out then, or not.

I am reading this from a country that's only just hit 8.5 million people, which has repeatedly kicked the collective butt of the Arab states whose population numbered in hundreds of millions...

[aretood2]

I know women (and some men, like my younger cousin) who are that way too, flip and flop so often on what they like/dislike. Doesn't mean they are unstable..

Their choices don't drastically impact the lives of many and are rarely life and death decisions.

Wasn't it Roosevelt who said "walk softly but carry a big stick"? IMO Trump was echoing that..

No he didn't. He said "Talk softly and carry a big stick". It meant that one should look for the most amicable approach possible while at the same time reserving the full force of one's strength once the amicable approach fails. And even then Teddy was a lot more reserved than some of his democratic counterparts. Trump is very much not speaking softly. In fact the whole point of "America first" is to NOT speak softly. There are some things I really don't like about Teddy, but for his time he was...well...progressive.

Yes i do. A tragic incident for sure. BUT does one incident, compare to the # of reported assaults against trump supporters during the lead up to, and even after the vote? Or the # of times we've seen college campuses with flat out riots on, to oust a conservative speaker who was INVITED there by other students?
IMO no way in hell.

That was by no means an isolated incident. And yes, right wingers have attacked and threatened and tried to shut people up. Just because the left has the motto of "It's free speech only if it agrees with me" doesn't mean that the right is absolved of all sin. It has plenty to be guilty on in that matter.

Which is a good chunk of africa and the far east (BURMA!!!)..

I thought conservatives rejoiced with Burma's actions? Well, that's what they are doing in the Foxnews comment section of each related article I've seen.

Then why have a # of townships/cities, extended voting rights (even just for local elections/school board elections) to illegals? OR why the DNC itself (via that leaked memo from yesterday) shows "WE want DACA to be done to ensure our voting base is stronger??" To me that says they Encourage illegals to vote..

A general question. Does the Constitution actually require one to be a citizen to cast a vote? I mean, running elections is the responsibility and sovereign power of the states...so...can they enfranchise whom they please?

Yes, they didn't find a fault in Tesla vehicle. Tesla laid the blame on the driver for ignoring warnings to take over.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...ash/411516001/



But this raises the "What's the point?" issue. In this case, the vehicle was not intended to be autonomous.. but if the vehicle comes with that caveat from the manufacturer, what is the point of a self driving car that can't drive itself?

But what about in a few years; if these things progress, the goal is for the car to be self-driving, without such caveats.
Who is liable when a true self-driving car or truck is the cause of an accident?

Regarding ABS.. I would suggest that you wait for a time after a nice, fresh snowfall and go find an empty unplowed parking lot where there is nothing to hit, disable the automatics and spend some time learning how the car behaves in a skid and how to best recover from it with your particular vehicle. I've done this with every car/truck I've ever owned. I think it helps if you are already familiar with your own vehicle's handling before you need to recover in an emergency situation.

Your assumption is that it will be somehow more unsafe than human drivers...but that's all it is. A blind assumption. What if it will be safer? As for liability, that is a far more legitimate point to bring up...but then...the question is what makes you so sure that the car will be the one at fault? Manufacturers will know the limits and make it known via fine print...so liability would fall on the user.

I can't speak for your country, but in the US, as far as I know, most people end up in jobs that have little or nothing to do with what they went to school for. The education industry in the US has so oversold the value of their product to the point that the vast majority of employers want a sheepskin, regardless of what position you are being considered for. It's not what they have taught you in school, it's that you "paid your dues" or homage to the educational system.

I don't know about you, but the numbers don't lie. People with degrees on average make more than those without. But I will say this, people do miss the mark when it comes to post secondary education. There are some very elitist attitudes out there that should change.

The DACA may or may not be of strategic value for the Democrats for 2018 or even 2020, but the assumption that immigrants would skew towards being Dem. voters has been the impetus for the Democrats' soft stance on immigration control for decades now; look at the various amnesty and "paths to citizenship" they keep wanting. We already HAVE an existing, legal "path to citizenship" for people who wish to migrate here. Why are they not satisfied with that?

That sort of pragmatism might be the case for the politicians, some of them anyway. But for most people on the left and libertarians, it's a moral/economic question. A question of personal convictions. Not about shoring up votes. Trying to paint it like that is all about is a nice way to hand wave those considerations and ignore them. Instead of facing head on the fact that not wanting a Dream act would be immoral and have potential downsides to the economy, it's just easier to tell yourself that it's all just a ploy by the "others".

Aren't you registered at birth?

Like when we are born this the city where you live has to be notified of this birth so your kid is registered into the registry of citizens. Every legal citizen has to have a registration number.

Registration is about residential requirements. The US is huge, like really huge. So registration by birth would be highly inefficient or require some real tough government tracking of individuals...or just have an ID requirement that includes home address...I mean...that could work. But because there can be no poll tax, such a requirement cannot require payment on behalf of the citizen.

The US does need an ID infrastructure and not just rely on Driver's Licenses if you ask me.

[Annoyed]

Your assumption is that it will be somehow more unsafe than human drivers...but that's all it is. A blind assumption. What if it will be safer? As for liability, that is a far more legitimate point to bring up...but then...the question is what makes you so sure that the car will be the one at fault? Manufacturers will know the limits and make it known via fine print...so liability would fall on the user.

Nothing manufactured by humans is perfect. There will be accidents, some will be the fault of the human, but some will be the fault of the automated car.
How many trucking companies, who would be the "user" will risk their financial future for the manufacturer's flaws? How many people will?

I don't know about you, but the numbers don't lie. People with degrees on average make more than those without. But I will say this, people do miss the mark when it comes to post secondary education. There are some very elitist attitudes out there that should change.

No question, that is true.
But how many of those people making more $ are doing so in jobs utterly unrelated to what their degree is in? It's just the fact that you've "paid off" the educational industry.

That sort of pragmatism might be the case for the politicians, some of them anyway. But for most people on the left and libertarians, it's a moral/economic question. A question of personal convictions. Not about shoring up votes. Trying to paint it like that is all about is a nice way to hand wave those considerations and ignore them. Instead of facing head on the fact that not wanting a Dream act would be immoral and have potential downsides to the economy, it's just easier to tell yourself that it's all just a ploy by the "others".

The fact remains that we already have an established, legal process for people to migrate here and become citizens. Why do we need to grant amnesty of any kind to those who sneak in? And if we do (again), what does that say to the millions who have patiently worked through the system legally?

[Annoyed]

Registration is about residential requirements. The US is huge, like really huge. So registration by birth would be highly inefficient or require some real tough government tracking of individuals...or just have an ID requirement that includes home address...I mean...that could work. But because there can be no poll tax, such a requirement cannot require payment on behalf of the citizen.

The US does need an ID infrastructure and not just rely on Driver's Licenses if you ask me.

Only recently have we really had the abiltiy to do this, but I don't think the population is ready to be microchipped.

[Coco Pops]

So let me get this straight some wack jobs tried to arrest the mayor of London and had at hand a gallows and noose. What were they going to do with the gallows and noose, perform a public hanging?

I do hope the law prosecutes these deplorables

[Falcon Horus]

I am reading this from a country that's only just hit 8.5 million people, which has repeatedly kicked the collective butt of the Arab states whose population numbered in hundreds of millions...

And I'm in a country that manages to live relatively peacefully in coexistence with the French south without feeling the need to confiscate more land for the Flemish north.

A general question. Does the Constitution actually require one to be a citizen to cast a vote? I mean, running elections is the responsibility and sovereign power of the states...so...can they enfranchise whom they please?

Voting Laws and Constitutional Amendments
For reference, if needed.

And...

Voting by aliens
(a) It shall be unlawful for any alien to vote in any election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing a candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, unless-

(1) the election is held partly for some other purpose;
(2) aliens are authorized to vote for such other purpose under a State constitution or statute or a local ordinance; and
(3) voting for such other purpose is conducted independently of voting for a candidate for such Federal offices, in such a manner that an alien has the opportunity to vote for such other purpose, but not an opportunity to vote for a candidate for any one or more of such Federal offices.

(b) Any person who violates this section shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to an alien if-
(1) each natural parent of the alien (or, in the case of an adopted alien, each adoptive parent of the alien) is or was a citizen (whether by birth or naturalization);
(2) the alien permanently resided in the United States prior to attaining the age of 16; and
(3) the alien reasonably believed at the time of voting in violation of such subsection that he or she was a citizen of the United States.

I don't know about you, but the numbers don't lie. People with degrees on average make more than those without. But I will say this, people do miss the mark when it comes to post secondary education. There are some very elitist attitudes out there that should change.

This is unfortunately very true (I can attest to that).

The US does need an ID infrastructure and not just rely on Driver's Licenses if you ask me.

Well, there's a good start...

But how many of those people making more $ are doing so in jobs utterly unrelated to what their degree is in? It's just the fact that you've "paid off" the educational industry.

Just recently one of the people in one of our client-services, quit her job because she was going to work in her field. She turned out to be in possession of a master's degree in law, which in general terms is considered working way below one's actual paygrade.

The fact remains that we already have an established, legal process for people to migrate here and become citizens. Why do we need to grant amnesty of any kind to those who sneak in? And if we do (again), what does that say to the millions who have patiently worked through the system legally?

Dreamers didn't migrate on their volition -- they were brought along and some of them have never known anything but the US -- don't even speak the language of the country they were born in. They might very well be contributing to your economy, making your life easier even, while in country of birth they'll have squat and have to start all over maybe.

They've done nothing wrong and yet you are ready to punish them for the sins of their parents or family who brought them along.

Only recently have we really had the abiltiy to do this, but I don't think the population is ready to be microchipped.

We're not microchipped either.

So let me get this straight some wack jobs tried to arrest the mayor of London and had at hand a gallows and noose. What were they going to do with the gallows and noose, perform a public hanging?

I do hope the law prosecutes these deplorables

Far-right group built gallows, tried to arrest London mayor over criticism of Trump

[Annoyed]

You don't give a hard turd what he says as long as you get what you want, and stop pretending otherwise.
Trump could call your own mother a 1 out of 10 fat ***** and you would not care so long as you got what you wanted.
You are pathetic.

Typical. Stoop to personal insults.

Yes, absolutely, I want to see the agenda Trump ran on pursued. I make no bones about that. And I won't apologize or stand down from that position. I believe it's the best path forward for my country. I've also said several times that we would be better off if Trump stepped aside or was forced out so that Pence could take over. I've said many times that at this point, Pence would be far more effective in pursing that agenda 'cause Trump can't keep his feet out of his mouth.

And who are you to say what I give a "hard turd" about? Trump's comments last week are damaging to the agenda; he's in the middle of negotiating immigration policy, and he goes and says something which can hardly be construed as anything but racist, undermining his position in such negotiations? Why wouldn't I be genuinely unhappy with that?

[SoulReaver]

as long as you get what you want

that's the thing in the end they won't get what they want
even the tax cuts are temporary & will turn into tax hikes

immigration crackdowns? maybe they'll get that one but it won't benefit them economically