mspart

We are not a democracy. We are have a Republican form of government with shades of democracy. Remember, Republic is a form of government where the people elect leaders and the leaders do the government's business. In that manner, it is a democracy because the leaders are elected. A Democracy is rule by the people. Period. Now that can be revised to have some sort of representation but then that is moving more towards a Republic. The democracies you tout are really Republics with a bit more citizen input than the US has. mspart

Agree. The object is to remove the criminal from society so no further crime from that individual is perpetrated against innocent civilians. If the criminal can be reformed that is good. A few are, most are not. We could just put to death every criminal and then there would be no mass incarceration. But to let criminals go and put them back into society without paying price for their anti-social behavior guts the criminal justice system. Criminal justice system should be renamed to Victim justice system. When criminals are let go, the victim count increases unnecessarily. We are on the verge of vigilantism. There is a case of this in Houston recently where a person lured a sex offender to have sex with a minor. When the sex offender showed up, the sex offender's life was take from him/her. I personally do not see a need to cry over this, except that government has abdicated their responsibility to keep the citizens safe in favor of social justice which says some perps don't deserve the affects of the law. It is based on skin color or other range of minority-ism rather than on law that is just. You cannot say that a person can shoplift because they have nothing and then turn around and say a person that has something cannot shoplift. That is not just. Theft is theft. https://fee.org/articles/why-walgreens-is-closing-5-san-francisco-stores/ Economics students learn in their 101 classes that basic markets can’t function without a few prerequisites — namely, the protection of private property rights. It’s an introductory concept because it’s almost self-evident: How can people do business if they’re not secure in their property and profits? Yet the furthest-left faction of today’s Democratic Party, which governs in the most liberal bastions such as San Francisco, has abandoned even this most basic lesson. And, just as econ 101 predicted, stores are abandoning the California city in droves. Just this week, the pharmacy chain Walgreens announced that it will close five of its stores in San Francisco, citing theft and retail crime as the main motivator behind its decision. The theft doesn't just hurt the store who is the immediate victim. But allowing the theft, the city has decided that those who use that store to fill prescription are not worthy of a convenient and safe place to do so. Does that sound like justice to you? It is, as the article says, the predictable outcome of not enforcing the law. mspart

It is Constitutionally illegal for slavery to be legal. The Constitution states in the 13th amendment: Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. mspart

Responses in RED above. It looks like what you want is a Supreme Court and Appellate Courts to be stacked with "liberal" justices and you are trying to convince yourself how this could be done in a way that makes sense. Sorry but your wisdom and reasoning is faulty as noted above. How about we pack the court with impartial justices who will look at the Constitution and applicable case law to determine the just course of action to take? Wouldn't that be better that stacking with ideologues? mspart

A bill that duped everyone else? Not likely. They were the only ones to vote NO. https://nypost.com/2024/02/01/news/democratic-reps-rashida-tlaib-and-cori-bush-vote-no-on-bill-banning-hamas-terrorists-from-us/ The bill passed the lower chamber 422-2, with Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) voting present and six members not voting. Your answer and that vote does not square with each other. Let's get one thing straight. Illegal aliens are by law illegal and it is illegal for them to come here. That doesn't seem to be stopping anyone coming across the border. Shows the lie that those two are plying. Apparently their concern for redundant laws was not persuasive to the 422 others who voted for it. mspart

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/02/05/congress/halfway-to-failure-00139746 Those no votes include three Democratic caucus members: Bob Menendez (N.J.); Alex Padilla (Calif.); and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who does not support unconditional aid to Israel. Plus 21 Republican nos or likely nos: Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Mike Braun (Ind.), Katie Britt (Ala.), Ted Budd (N.C.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Steve Daines (Mont.), Deb Fischer (Neb.), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Ron Johnson (Wisc.), Mike Lee (Utah), Roger Marshall (Kan.), Rand Paul (Ky.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Mike Rounds (S.D.), Eric Schmitt (Mo.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Rick Scott (Fla.), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) and J.D. Vance (Ohio). Sounds like there is bipartisan support for voting no. Just as much as this bill is a bipartisan effort. Now that the language is out, there should be no one supporting the bill. Parts of it are good. Parts are bad. Amendments needs to be allowed, but Schumer and Biden aren't interested in amendments, they are not interested in fixing this mess. They are interested in trying to blame Rs for not supporting this stupid idiotic horrible bill. That's all this is. Cynical politics. If you like the bill, please state the many ways it will solve the crisis at the border. Definition of the crisis: mass quantities of illegal aliens crossing the border illegally and being allowed to stay. How does this bill solve that? mspart

He visibly got worse during that match. You could see it, he wasn't right. I feel bad for him and hope he can come back from that. At the end of the match he was squatting and lost balance going backwards. He needs to follow the protocol to give himself the best chance at success. mspart

Doing what now? This maintains the status quo essentially. The House provided the Senate with HR 2 and the Senate ignored it. Why is their bill more important and getting all the press? The HR 2 is a better bill. Why not give it some traction? This bill barely does more for Ukraine and Israel than it does for the border. And it codifies 5000 illegal immigrants a day before closing things down. That's 1.8 million illegal immigrants a year. That's not border control. mspart

My wife had 8 with 1 bathroom, 3 bedrooms and the wood stove was at the other end of the house. She woke up to ice on the inside of the windows many times. I had is fairly easy in comparison. But since we moved to the PNW the second time, we live in a less populated area that would lose power for more than a few days and do this a few times a year. Finally got a generator and installed the transfer switch and we don't have any worries. Keeps the heat going, have hot water (both are natural gas) and can watch TV and keep the freezers going. All the important stuff. mspart

A lot!!

I saw in the news a few days ago that the 5000 person per day limit was absolutely not in the bill. Well it is. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/does-new-immigration-bill-5000-illegal-border-crossings-per-day-rcna136656 This was printed before the bill was out. Their sources were wrong Former President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other right-wing Republicans say they oppose an emerging bipartisan immigration deal because it would allow 5,000 migrants to illegally cross the southern border every day. ... But that's not actually what the bipartisan deal would do, according to negotiators who are finalizing the details before they release the full text of the legislation, possibly later this week. So there goes NBC lying to the public that Trump is a scare monger. Truth is, 4000 crossing a day fro 7 days MAY result in a border closure, 5000 crossing a day WILL cause a border closure, and 8500 on any one day will close the border. Does this sound like progress in the situation? It codifies the current situation. And what makes us think Biden would abide by this law? This is an effort to hamstring any future president that wants to bring sanity to the border situation. It is impossible to think this was bipartisan. Senate still has not voted on it. mspart

I have to say when Fast Car first came out I thought it was ok but not good. My viewpiont has changed over the years, I hear it and like it. I heard it again a few nights ago and thought what a great song that was. It took this long for me to gain appreciation for it. I think I didn't like it before because of the repetiveness, but there is soul in the lyrics. Just watched the video. I don't know what Luke had to so with this but that was a great performance. mspart

I don't think there is yet a case to be made for security for folks in Congress. However, it is good that Scalise had security on the ball field back a few years ago. Perhaps helped him live rather than die. mspart

I don't think so really. I think it has to do with the education system teaching our kids that America is evil, that socialism is the way to go. Rs are not generally supportive of socialism so that gets them axed. Look at what is going on in the public schools and on college campuses. There is no doubt indoctrination going on that discredits the value of the USA. We are raising a generation that hates or dislikes the USA and they naturally vote D straight ticket because it is socialist. That is how we have the squad. That is how we had a socialist city council in Seattle. It has become so bad there that they were all voted out but one. Granted all are democrats but not as crazy as the socialists that have ruined the emerald city turning into a turd city. Example: I have two sons that are in this direction right now. Openly hostile to any R or R idea. Even in the face of facts and data, they will eschew that for their favored talking points and say they are absolutely correct by doing so. To the credit of the older one, my wife presented him with refutation of what he was saying and he actually thought about it and said that maybe there is more to this. They can still be taught. mspart

In saying I agree, I don't necessarily think it will happen, but I do think there will definitely be an effort to make it happen. mspart

Burroughs leaves his shoes in Paris. Now there's a prediction!! mspart

Pico would not have been a 4 timer in my opinion. mspart

You call the Carroll lawyers written court refutation slightest pushback? Not slight in my opinion. But if you read to the end, the judge has said nothing. So you can bet someone is looking into this still. This is why reporting without due diligence is wrong, and that is the way of the media now. If NYP heard this and didn't investigate and just reported it, shame on them. If they investigated it, you can bet this will come back. mspart

Not what the Iranians say. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iranian-president-says-tehran-will-spend-6-billion-released-prisoner-e-rcna104475 Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his government will decide how it will spend $6 billion in previously frozen funds due to be released in a prisoner exchange agreement with the U.S., telling NBC News’ Lester Holt that the money will be spent "wherever we need it." ... In response to Raisi’s remarks, a senior Biden administration official said the released funds would first be transferred to Qatar. The Treasury Department would then track all transactions closely to ensure the money is used exclusively for humanitarian purposes. “It’s going to be held in a bank in Qatar and each transaction will be monitored by U.S. Treasury — transaction by transaction," the official said. "It’s for humanitarian aid only.” Apparently, Biden and his handlers have never heard of money laundering. Oh wait, Biden has obviously. Iran says one thing, US another. Who do you think is correct? Gee lets see. I need to fund Hamas, and I have 6 billion more now than i did. So I give 6 billion to Hamas' humanitarian causes. Yeah, that's it. Or I give our money to Hamas and spend the other in Qatar on inside humanitarian causes. Wow, I, not a felon, figured this out. Money laundering, its so much fun taking advantage of gullible idiots. mspart

It gets too hot by the cookers so you go for a quick soak and back at it again. Not a bad way to go!!! mspart

Now that is something to ponder. But as a rejoinder, in the 60's the houses were quite small. Now they are huge and you need 2 incomes just to knock on the door. By the way, we have done it with one income for many years until my wife took up teaching preschool. Now she works 3 hours a day, 4 days a week and supplements the household income. Makes vacations a little easier. mspart

You are correct in both sentences. Have a great weekend and send pics of your latest smoked creation. mspart

Ha, thanks Know Nothing. I plan on 120 years but genetics says different!!! My Great Grandpa lived to 42, grandpa to 54, my dad to 88 so the trajectory is there. However my great great grandpa lived to 63, dying just 2 years before my great grandpa. I just need to outlive my kids and grandkids and I'll be happy. My 401K has gained 6 times what it was in 2008. That's 15 years, not too bad. I just need that to have been 12 times and I would be sitting pretty. I'm thinking I could have maybe but I lost track for a number of years so I didn't get the gains I could have had. Oh well, I am where I am. Was looking to retire but not enough in the kitty yet. If I retire now and die in a month, there's enough. mspart

I heard this this morning. https://www.nationalreview.com/news/students-at-school-run-by-u-n-palestinian-aid-agency-boast-about-wanting-to-murder-jews-in-shocking-video/ Students at a school in East Jerusalem run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) were recorded in a recently resurfaced video explaining how they’ve been taught to murder Jews and take part in the generational struggle to reclaim land which they believe belongs to Palestinians. The documentary was shot in 2022 in a school in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem and recently resurfaced amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. In the video, students who appear to be as young as seven or eight years old tell an interviewer “we have been taught that the Jews kill our children.” “Stabbing and trampling Jews brings respect to the Palestinians,” says another child. Another student explains that she is “ready to carry out a suicide attack.” This UN agency needs to be disbanded. I also heard that the head of the agency in Gaza was terminated due to Hamas request. This is what our tax dollars to the UN pay for. mspart

To be clear, I spent a good amount of time in Venezuela in the 80's and love the country. But it has turned into a very bad place and I feel bad for those that live there under horrendous conditions. But I do not feel bad for these thugs in NYC. Deport them now. mspart