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MAGA Coalition Falling Apart

BradStevens said:
Or a dominant athlete turned savvy businessman?

www.foxbusiness.com

Shawn Kemp, ex-NBA great, to open cannabis dispensary in Seattle

Shawn Kemp, the former six-time NBA All-Star and three-time All-NBA selection, is set to open a cannabis dispensary in Seattle next week.
www.foxbusiness.com www.foxbusiness.com

www.kempscannabis.com

Kemps Cannabis | Downtown Seattle Recreational Marijuana Store

Visit Kemps Cannabis | Downtown Seattle Recreational Marijuana Store for premium products and expert guidance. Quality meets community.
www.kempscannabis.com www.kempscannabis.com

#Elkhart's finest
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Speaking of dudes with multiple baby mamas:

www.marca.com

Police arrest the former 91m-dollar NBA star with 11 children from nine different women: Shawn Kemp's downfall

Shawn Kemp was arrested and booked into the Pierce County jail in Washington on charges of engaging in a drive-by shooting. Tacoma police reported an altercation, as shots were f
www.marca.com www.marca.com
 
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BradStevens said:
Oh, they're coming:

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Wake me up when they become a real part of commercial reality. At minimum, we are 10 years away.
 
Marvin the Martian said:
Russia is far more fascist than communist. Communism was the removal of classes and worker ownership of the means of production. But Russia has a different model. Sure, government partly owns. But that existed in Germany. But wealthy individuals take control and make huge profits. Oligarchs. Much closer to Germany and Italy. Oligarchs are not to exist in communism. It has been learned that allowing oligarchs allows much deeper loyalty to the leader than having a simple government bureaucrat.

Plus communism was the elimination of nationalism, workers of the world unite. A worker's true brother was another worker no matter where in the world. Putin preaches nationalism, not an international brotherhood.

As to liberals having fewer children, don't we call that "freedom"? I don't care how many kids people have.

Fascism, as started by Mussolini, was a revolt against socialism and communism. The peasants, the workers, were the enemy. Mussolini was very pro industrialist, he did not realize how quickly the middle would love his message that the low paid workers were the problem.

Putin has no problem killing Russian peasants by the hundreds of thousands in Ukraine.
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Perhaps your association of Nationalism with Communism is incorrect and would only apply to Marxism vs. actual governance using Marxist philosophies? There seems to be plenty of nationalist attitudes throughout communist regimes. Mao was a Nationalist, Castro was a Nationalist, Stalin was an imperialist and nationalist, etc.

In other words, the goals of Marxism (utopia of workers and unity) were not practiced in reality by any of those self-acclaimed Communist leaders. I find it ironic that you use Putin's views on life sanctity but don't acknowledge how many millions were murdered or evicted by Stalin, Mao, etc.

And I agree, Fascists (Mussolini, Hitler, Pinochet) mirror many similarities with the aforementioned communists.

Which is exactly the problem with the extremes on both sides of the political spectrum and why many pundits claim there is more of a circular continuum vs. a traditional longitudinal one.
 
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JamieDimonsBalls said:
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Wake me up when they become a real part of commercial reality. At minimum, we are 10 years away.
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If 10-15 years away why would you be concerned about the birth rate? We will need all the robots and automation we can get our hands on to pay for the Medicare and social security ponzi schemes.

I don't have the energy to search, but from what I've read there is way less automation in US Ag compared to other countries precisely because it's cheaper to pay folks $4 per hour under the table with no benefits.
 
JamieDimonsBalls said:
Perhaps your association of Nationalism with Communism is incorrect and would only apply to Marxism vs. actual governance using Marxist philosophies? There seems to be plenty of nationalist attitudes throughout communist regimes. Mao was a Nationalist, Castro was a Nationalist, Stalin was an imperialist and nationalist, etc.

In other words, the goals of Marxism (utopia of workers and unity) were not practiced in reality by any of those self-acclaimed Communist leaders. I find it ironic that you use Putin's views on life sanctity but don't acknowledge how many millions were murdered or evicted by Stalin, Mao, etc.

And I agree, Fascists (Mussolini, Hitler, Pinochet) mirror many similarities with the aforementioned communists.

Which is exactly the problem with the extremes on both sides of the political spectrum and why many pundits claim there is more of a circular continuum vs. a traditional longitudinal one.
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I think the point Marv made is a sound one: Russia today is not a communist country.
 
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hookyIU1990 said:
The point is becoming moot in many industries anyway. You don't necessarily need people in the country with you. We're a small husiness by every measure and have an operating unit in India that's a wholly owned subsidiary.

Tech, manufacturing, customer service, etc...
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That's another issue imo. But I'm not comfortable with American companies listed on American stock exchanges, while 50% of their staff is located aboard. I suspect many others would agree with me.
 
BradStevens said:
I think the point Marv made is a sound one: Russia today is not a communist country.
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China is way more capitalist than the United States. People love a good talking point. Absolutely no fiscal support given to the populace during covid, heck Europe gave less, compared to the socialist United States.
 
BradStevens said:
Or a dominant athlete turned savvy businessman?

www.foxbusiness.com

Shawn Kemp, ex-NBA great, to open cannabis dispensary in Seattle

Shawn Kemp, the former six-time NBA All-Star and three-time All-NBA selection, is set to open a cannabis dispensary in Seattle next week.
www.foxbusiness.com www.foxbusiness.com

www.kempscannabis.com

Kemps Cannabis | Downtown Seattle Recreational Marijuana Store

Visit Kemps Cannabis | Downtown Seattle Recreational Marijuana Store for premium products and expert guidance. Quality meets community.
www.kempscannabis.com www.kempscannabis.com

#Elkhart's finest
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Heck, if he just sells to his kids, he’ll make a tidy profit.
 
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BradStevens said:
Interesting discussion.

I think of "deserve" in the sense of persons, as you've written it, as something that individual did and could control.

I agree with you that govts reflect a particular society/culture (probably one of the things GWBush and neocons didn't pay enough attention to) but I find it hard to blame an individual person who was raised from birth and indcotrinated into a culture/society as being able to control that, something that person actively chose to do, and so something he or she "deserves."

I'd like to hear more about this Stem OPT. Any good articles you have read?
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Russians love a strong leader. Iranians have had ample time to overthrow their regime. In some way, shape, or form the government reflects the society. We have democratic elections and deserve whoever our public votes for. Granted, it's easier said than done to overthrow dictatorial regimes.

Btw, I happened to stumble onto this article from Anti-American Congressman Mike Lawler a few minutes ago...


I then spent a short time googling his spouse.


If this is actually his spouse, no wonder he is all aboard the H1B and OPT train. Talk about a conflict of interest.

www.iie.org

United States Hosts More Than 1.1 Million International Students at Higher Education Institutions, Reaching All-Time High | IIE

India surpasses China as the top place of origin for international students, with a record-high 331,602 Indian students in the U.S. in 2023/2024
www.iie.org www.iie.org

This is some basics on OPT. The Stem version is 3 years.

blog.sprintax.com

FICA Tax Exemption for Nonresident Aliens Explained

Do nonresident aliens get Social security and Medicare tax back? Here's everything you need to know about FICA taxes & claiming your FICA refund.
blog.sprintax.com blog.sprintax.com

OPT never voted on or authorized by Congress!!!!
 
toastedbread said:
China is way more capitalist than the United States. People love a good talking point.
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That’s ridiculous. The U.S. having too large a safety net pales in comparison to CCP advisers having an office in every single major Chinese company.

Measuring how capitalist a society is solely by the generosity of their public benefits is simple, first order thinking.
 
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crazed_hoosier2 said:
Your first paragraph isn’t congruent with the other two.

The two key ideas here are that businesses have to (a) be strongly influenced by meeting customer demands, and (b) do so in a way that returns a profit to their shareholders.

Well (b) doesn’t apply to government. It has no shareholders and, unlike businesses, its primary purpose isn’t profit.

However, it does have to make ends meet. Like businesses, government has money coming in and money going out. And woe to the society which decides that government can act irresponsibly in this endeavor, simply because it has the capacity to print money. Such a society is headed for ruination. This has happened numerous times in history, including recent history, and we are not exempt.

As for (a), government doesn’t have “customers” per se. In that sense, it is a monopoly. The people it (nominally) serves can’t choose some other provider - not without relocating entirely. The fact that a business’s customers can choose to use a competitor is a massive influence that government will never really have. The closest thing it has is voting. But that’s clearly not a great substitute.

Still, when I say that government can learn from business, I’m thinking primarily of these two attributes: financial prudence and responsiveness to those they exist to serve.

Business *has* to be attentive to and effective at these two things. Government should be - but is not.
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Compare and contrast SpaceX with NASA. Results vs. failed DEI boondoggle.
DEI is a cancer which should be excised IMMEDIATELY from any public experience.
 
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toastedbread said:
The rejection rate is 90%+ which is quite telling. That's with coaching. The few actual political asylum seekers and journalists then wait in the backlog. How sad. if you are truly "endangered" seek asylum in the first safe country.
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Toasty, like to see where you got the rejection rate of 90%+ for asylum seekers. The rates I've seen vary greatly depending on the time
period selected. Don't doubt 90% occurred at one point in time.

The entire discussion on immigration by our pols with all their conflicting opinions and facts leaves the public going with their gut feelings as often presented by some pol's highly emotional argument.

Arrive at the above by listening to the callers on C-Span's Washington Journal morning program. Lots of crazy and highly emotional thinking out there on the subject of immigration.

Maybe Musk and Ramaswamy will give us an AI plan to clear up our immigration mess :).
 
hoot1 said:
Toasty, like to see where you got the rejection rate of 90%+ for asylum seekers. The rates I've seen vary greatly depending on the time
period selected. Don't doubt 90% occurred at one point in time.

The entire discussion on immigration by our pols with all their conflicting opinions and facts leaves the public going with their gut feelings as often presented by some pol's highly emotional argument.

Arrive at the above by listening to the callers on C-Span's Washington Journal morning program. Lots of crazy and highly emotional thinking out there on the subject of immigration.

Maybe Musk and Ramaswamy will give us an AI plan to clear up our immigration mess :).
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The immigration debate has always been an emotional changed one. And not just recently, but one that goes back to the founding.

Everyone knows immigration laws are badly outdated, being based upon a Post WW2 world. But getting the political coalition of diverse interests together for a solution, or even incremental improvement, has defied anyone who has attempted it.
 
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IUCrazy2 said:
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Parents bought our house in 73 for $17,500. Worth about $400k today. I went to private catholic school. We had two new cars. Dad drove a dump truck. Bounced around. Mom never worked. Never finished high school. Had dinner for us ready at 5. Snack when I got home. We had all we ever wanted. And time.

To make it today you either need to be a really high earner, have a spouse who also has a career, or live in the sticks. And you can’t get sick. And you can’t get too horny and go down the divorce maintaining multiple homes path etc. there is a path to make it today but you can’t deviate. Two earners no divorces two kids
 
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BradStevens said:
I think the point Marv made is a sound one: Russia today is not a communist country.
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Perhaps it no longer is, but significant birth rates and trajectory don't change quickly. Look at China's one child policy, for example. And I didn't bring up Russia in the first place - I just said "thanks Libs" since they have fewer children than non-liberals.
 
IUCrazy2 said:
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Fred’s a Bitcoiner, Crazy. Don’t go down the rabbit hole. Before you know it you’ll be selling one of your kids and taking out a 2nd mortgage to acquire more Bitcoin.

In all seriousness, CPI is a shit measurement of inflation. Fred’s post shows how bad inflation has actually been since Nixon took us off the gold standard. It’s incredible considering how much innovation has happened the past 50 years. The living standards should have at least doubled or more.
 
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BradStevens said:
Who's going to enforce it? We going to beef up the DoJ? Immigration services? How much will that cost? Will Republicans vote to enlarge those departments? Even if so, will Big Corps still do cost/benefit analysis and use evil lawyers to still do it and think of ways around the system?
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Contest: Spot the redundancy.
 
hoosboot said:
Come on...you have to come back with something funnier than that. You can't let @IUCrazy2 lap you like that!
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I wasn’t trying to be funny. You’re not incentivized (I’d argue we all are though) to take the time and understand Bitcoin. It contradicts your shit lib worldview and you don’t seem intellectually curious enough on economic matters either.

Also, based on your posts you do well for yourself, which tends to make people want to maintain status quo more. You’ll own Bitcoin 15 years from now when the right people tell you to, which is fine.
 
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The Original Happy Goat said:
If a guy comes along and accurately diagnoses your problems, and then tries to sell you snake oil to cure all your ills, you aren't going to remember his impressive diagnosis. You are going to remember him as a snake oil salesman.
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A. Bitcoin does fix most issues.

B. I’ve only ever said you should take the time to learn about it. You shouldn’t ever invest in anything without doing your own homework.
 
hookyIU1990 said:
That's supposed to be illegal. You're supposed to have to prove that the job you're filling is going unfilled because you can't find anyone to do it. Enforce that and those examples go away. If it's because the function is outsourced to another company, that's a different issue.
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I wonder how much salaries are factored in when companies say they have jobs they can't fill?

I bet they're not reporting they can't fill a job at $60k but they could fill it at $75k.
 
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toastedbread said:
It's not dictating. It's the company proving that there is a bonafide need by paying above the rate of the American median. You can lookup H1B salaries. The info is public. They are severely lagging what the market rate is. Americans are fired first and replaced by H1B.
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But are they actually saving money. Granted, I've been retired for a while, but I had a lot of experience managing H1B workers and I NEVER saw a 1-for-1 replacement of an American worker. I'd see a group of maybe 5 - 7 Americans replaced by at least 10 H1B workers. I'd say that ratio was pretty accurate.

I don't know if it's just out of different budgets or some slick book-keeping, but there's no way the company was saving money.

I did see some savings when an entire project was outsourced (not H1B), but the rework that had to be done negated almost any savings. But again, maybe that was some sleight of bookkeeping magic.
 
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