In the wake of yet another round of domestic terrorism perpetrated by gun rights supporters, writer Jeff Yang has proposed something I have been calling for in terms of a solution: make everyone who owns a gun required to join a militia. Thus, the original intent of the 2nd amendment would be fulfilled.
That's why I want to share a solution that should resolve the logjam blocking sensible reform of gun ownership in this country — one that by all rights should get overwhelming support among American patriots of both parties. I call it the "Military Induction for Licensing, Instruction and Training In Arms" Act — the MILITIA Act for short.
The proposal is simple: Anyone purchasing a gun should be required to enlist for military reserve service, spanning the entire period of their gun ownership.
Under this proposal, being granted a handgun license would simultaneously and automatically register you to serve as a reservist in the Armed Forces branch of your choice — it's that simple. And it should be that simple ... because it's what the framers intended.
Yep. Let's see the gun humper haul their fat asses out for some fucking PT and "well-regulated" training with firearms. Anyone that fails to comply will be a felon.
We here a lot of bravado from gun humpers about the military and defense. Let's see if they can live up to those words. My guess is they can't because, in the final analysis, they are cowards.
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Thursday, August 08, 2019
Saturday, August 03, 2019
Fear and Hate
This recent article in Newsweek summed up Trump and his supporters quite well. The daughter of segregationist George Wallace, Peggy Wallace Kennedy, was interviewed and drew some striking parallels and similarities between then and now.
"The two greatest motivators at (Dad's) rallies were fear and hate," said Wallace Kennedy. "There was no policy solution, just white middle-class anger."
Sound familiar?
"The two greatest motivators at (Dad's) rallies were fear and hate," said Wallace Kennedy. "There was no policy solution, just white middle-class anger."
Sound familiar?
Friday, August 02, 2019
Fat Asshole With A Gun
The one thing I would add to this meme is for this asshole and all the other gun humpers out there who look like this to JOIN THE MILITARY. I'd love to see how long they would last...
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Thursday, July 25, 2019
The New Motto of the United States: 45 es un títere
The incompetence of the Trump administration knows no bounds. This was emphasized at an event where Trump stood beside a fake image of the presidential seal that mocked him:
The real seal is on the left, and the one on the right was displayed at the event. The eagle has two heads instead of one (like the Russian double-headed eagle), it's got golf clubs instead of arrows in one claw, cash instead of a branch in the other claw, and the text reads "45 es un títere" (Trump is a puppet, in Spanish) instead of "E pluribus unum."
How did the White House let something like this go? How could they not have vetted the presentation? What sheer incompetence not to!
Trump is a clown. Trump's staff is packed with clowns. His cabinet is packed with clowns, half of whom are only acting clowns because so many of his administration have been forced to resign for ethical violations, or have resigned in disgrace for beating their wives or getting pedophiles off with a slap on the wrist, or have been fired because they won't stoop to Trump's level.
This presidency is a dumpster fire. I'm getting tired of repeating myself, but these people are all idiots who don't know what they're doing and don't care how much they screw up the country. The Republican Party is complicit.
I only hope that they haven't damaged the Republic beyond repair.
The person who made this seal should be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, right after Trump leaves office and is indicted for all the crimes outlined in the Mueller report.
The real seal is on the left, and the one on the right was displayed at the event. The eagle has two heads instead of one (like the Russian double-headed eagle), it's got golf clubs instead of arrows in one claw, cash instead of a branch in the other claw, and the text reads "45 es un títere" (Trump is a puppet, in Spanish) instead of "E pluribus unum."
How did the White House let something like this go? How could they not have vetted the presentation? What sheer incompetence not to!
Trump is a clown. Trump's staff is packed with clowns. His cabinet is packed with clowns, half of whom are only acting clowns because so many of his administration have been forced to resign for ethical violations, or have resigned in disgrace for beating their wives or getting pedophiles off with a slap on the wrist, or have been fired because they won't stoop to Trump's level.
This presidency is a dumpster fire. I'm getting tired of repeating myself, but these people are all idiots who don't know what they're doing and don't care how much they screw up the country. The Republican Party is complicit.
I only hope that they haven't damaged the Republic beyond repair.
The person who made this seal should be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, right after Trump leaves office and is indicted for all the crimes outlined in the Mueller report.
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
The Art of Redirection
A recent article in my local newspaper regarding Representative Jim Hagedorn, a Republican representing the 1st Congressional District in the southern part of my state, caught my attention because of this quote.
Hillary [Clinton] would have stacked the Supreme Court with radicals who would have taken away our individual liberties. In the next go-round, you’re going to see nothing different.
Let’s be clear on this tactic. It’s the same one used by the Nazis in the 1930s. Accuse the other side of the very thing you intend to do and demonize them while doing it. So, it’s not that liberals are the radicals. They actually want to uphold the rule of law. It’s the conservatives who are radical and want to install judges who will rewrite the law to their liking.
The problem is that "conservative" judges aren't all they are cracked up to be. Invariably, they are quite reluctant to overturn precedent. This is particularly true of Chief Justice John Roberts. It seems to also be true of Neil Gorsuch. Conservatives just like to know that a member of their tribe is in there and most of them don't care after that.
Liberals, on the other hand, do care that a good judge who understands the rule of law serves as a federal judge. Remember, we aren't tribal like the right. Our goal is reality and the truth.
Hillary [Clinton] would have stacked the Supreme Court with radicals who would have taken away our individual liberties. In the next go-round, you’re going to see nothing different.
Let’s be clear on this tactic. It’s the same one used by the Nazis in the 1930s. Accuse the other side of the very thing you intend to do and demonize them while doing it. So, it’s not that liberals are the radicals. They actually want to uphold the rule of law. It’s the conservatives who are radical and want to install judges who will rewrite the law to their liking.
The problem is that "conservative" judges aren't all they are cracked up to be. Invariably, they are quite reluctant to overturn precedent. This is particularly true of Chief Justice John Roberts. It seems to also be true of Neil Gorsuch. Conservatives just like to know that a member of their tribe is in there and most of them don't care after that.
Liberals, on the other hand, do care that a good judge who understands the rule of law serves as a federal judge. Remember, we aren't tribal like the right. Our goal is reality and the truth.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Saturday, July 20, 2019
America at Its Best
As I write this it is 50 years to the minute since man first walked on the moon. I was only 11 years old, and it was long past my bed time when I watched Neil Armstrong descend the lunar module ladder and set foot on the surface of another world.
I was always a fan of the space program, but at that point pretty much everyone on the planet was united in awe of what human beings can accomplish when they put their minds to it. The men who landed on the moon were patriots, but they too understood that this accomplishment was much bigger than planting American flags on the moon. The plaque on the LEM's leg said it all:
Here men from the planet earth
first set foot upon the moon.
July 1969 A.D.
We came in peace for all mankind.
After the initial flush of excitement, landing on the moon became old hat, and the Apollo program was canceled with Apollo 17, after six moon landings (Apollo 13 experienced an explosion in a tank in the service module and its landing had to be canceled -- the crew barely made it back to earth).
There was another time when we all felt united by the space program -- a much sadder time. In January 1986 the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launch, killing the whole crew. The mission had attracted a lot of attention in the press because a civilian, teacher Christa McAuliffe, was aboard.
It was horrible seeing the crazily winding plume of rocket exhaust on the screen, but the shock of the loss didn't really register in me until they showed a picture of the crew.
 |
| STS-51-L crew: (front row) Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair; (back row) Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik |
Three white guys, an Asian guy, a black guy and two women (one the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine). The Challenger crew represented the best of all of America. Not just entitled billionaires, white guys from Ivy League colleges, and hot-shot pilots.
This is what America is all about: anyone, from anywhere, can become an American and do anything if they work at it.
Now, that ideal has not always been met. And there are a lot of people these days who want to throw out that ideal completely, shut down our borders and kick everyone out of the country that they don't like.
The picture of the Challenger crew still brings tears to my eyes because of what it says about America when it's at its best. Donald Trump's Twitter account paid lip service to that ideal in a tweet a week after moving into the White House.
But it's clear that everything Trump has said and done since then has proved he doesn't believe any of it. He and his Republican lackeys represent America at its worst.
Friday, July 19, 2019
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Our Diversity Unites Us
Nativist and ethnic bigotry have been around since our country began. It’s not just nonwhites that been marginalized. The Irish, for example, have had a long history of being treated as subhuman. In Minnesota, Germans were persecuted during WWI simply because they were German. The CPS (Commission on Public Safety) patrolled the streets, arresting people for playing German music. The mayor of New Ulm was dismissed because he was German.
I say all this because we are all in this together. When people like Trump and his followers create a checklist for what it means to be American, we ALL lose, no matter what the color of our skin. It’s our diversity that unites us.
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
How To Propaganda
The cleverest trick used in propaganda against Germany during the war was to accuse Germany of what our enemies themselves were doing.
Political propaganda in principle is active and revolutionary. It is aimed at the broad masses. It speaks the language of the people because it wants to be understood by the people. Its task is the highest creative art of putting sometimes complicated events and facts in a way simple enough to be understood by the man on the street. Its foundation is that there is nothing the people cannot understand, but rather things must be put in a way that they can understand. It is a question of making it clear to him by using the proper approach, evidence, and language. ---Joseph Goebbels, 1934.
Political propaganda in principle is active and revolutionary. It is aimed at the broad masses. It speaks the language of the people because it wants to be understood by the people. Its task is the highest creative art of putting sometimes complicated events and facts in a way simple enough to be understood by the man on the street. Its foundation is that there is nothing the people cannot understand, but rather things must be put in a way that they can understand. It is a question of making it clear to him by using the proper approach, evidence, and language. ---Joseph Goebbels, 1934.
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Conservatives Are All About Identity Not Ideology
A recent paper from Cambridge political scientists confirms many assertions made on this site over the years. Conservatives don't have any sort of ideological convictions. They say they do but really it's all about identity and blindly following an authoritarian leader. Ironic, considering they rip the left for this, once again pulling the Goebbel's like propaganda move of accusing an opponent of the very thing of which they are guilty.
Barber and Pope specifically chose positions that Trump had taken that were polar opposites. The study showed that if Trump advocated the position, regardless of whether it was a conservative one or a liberal one, conservatives loved it. “The fact that stronger conservatives are the ones most likely to react to the treatment — regardless of the ideological direction of the treatment — suggests that the nearly ubiquitous self-placed ideology measure is less a measure of principled conviction and more of a social identity,” write Barber and Pope.
This would be why the debt is no big deal now. Or tariffs are now cool. They have zero policy loyalty and massive party loyalty. Consider all the foaming at the mouth we see on a daily basis from right wing media regarding "liberal fascism" and government taking over our lives. It's only bad when liberals do it. But this?
Just fine and dandy. After all, Trump is their dictator and that makes it OK!
Barber and Pope specifically chose positions that Trump had taken that were polar opposites. The study showed that if Trump advocated the position, regardless of whether it was a conservative one or a liberal one, conservatives loved it. “The fact that stronger conservatives are the ones most likely to react to the treatment — regardless of the ideological direction of the treatment — suggests that the nearly ubiquitous self-placed ideology measure is less a measure of principled conviction and more of a social identity,” write Barber and Pope.
This would be why the debt is no big deal now. Or tariffs are now cool. They have zero policy loyalty and massive party loyalty. Consider all the foaming at the mouth we see on a daily basis from right wing media regarding "liberal fascism" and government taking over our lives. It's only bad when liberals do it. But this?
Just fine and dandy. After all, Trump is their dictator and that makes it OK!
Monday, July 15, 2019
Trump's Attempt To Distract and Divide.
At this point in the presidency of Donald Trump, it's child's play to figure out why he makes racist comments. First, as the puppet of Vladimir Putin, he seeks to divide this country and making racial remarks is the best way to do it. Second, he's shitting himself right now over what might come out about him and Jeffrey Epstein. Third, Robert Mueller has now been given 3 hours to testify before Congress next week. He will undoubtedly repeat his previous assertions that the president was not exonerated from obstruction of justice and, in fact, should be investigated further.
Trump is such a classic con man playing the shell game that it surprises me that his cult followers aren't picking up on this. They are pretty enamored with his ability to troll liberals so it's not really that much of a stretch. My hope is that the media and the twitter outrage mob ignores the substance of what Trump tweeted and focuses on the overall reasons why he did it.
It's an act, folks, and it's all about distraction and division.
Trump is such a classic con man playing the shell game that it surprises me that his cult followers aren't picking up on this. They are pretty enamored with his ability to troll liberals so it's not really that much of a stretch. My hope is that the media and the twitter outrage mob ignores the substance of what Trump tweeted and focuses on the overall reasons why he did it.
It's an act, folks, and it's all about distraction and division.
Friday, July 12, 2019
The Paradox of Tolerance
Sorry, Trump supporters and other conservatives. The problem isn't us. It's YOU. Stop being intolerant assholes and then we will accept you. Until then, we are going to call you on your bullshit every single fucking day.
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Monday, July 08, 2019
Socialism Is...
...the DEVIL. Or, in this case, yet another example of just how irrational the right is when it comes to an ideology they epically fail at defining or understanding. Check it out...
Reporter @EmmaVigeland: Do you think Joe Biden is a socialist?
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) July 6, 2019
Trump supporter: Yes.
Reporter: How would you define socialism?
Trump supporter: I define socialism as when you bring down your own country, your own race, because he’s not black.
🎥@TheYoungTurks pic.twitter.com/KWE7h3gXfR
Monday, July 01, 2019
Electric Cars Have Arrived
Electric cars are in the news today: almost half the cars sold in Norway in the first six months of 2019 were fully electric.
Well. That settles it. Since Norway is the country that Donald Trump immigrants to the United States should come from, we should all switch to electric cars.
But seriously, folks. If you were a Texan you might think it's a little odd that Norway is so into electric cars, since they are a major oil producer. But Norway borders the arctic, and it's totally clear to anyone who lives in the north that global warming caused by people burning fossil fuels is wreaking havoc on the climate.
The Norwegian people understand that some things are more important than lining oil company execs' pockets with more money.
The perceived problem with electric cars is that they take a long time to refuel. And this is true: it can take several hours to recharge the batteries. But how often does that really matter?
We bought a Kia Niro plug-in electric hybrid four months ago. It goes a paltry 26 miles on an electric charge before the gas engine kicks in.
I was skeptical about this short electric range. But in practice, we use almost no gas. In the last month, we used gas seven times. Most days we don't use any gas at all and our mileage readout looks like this:
999 mpg means that only the electric motor was used and no gas was burned. On the 25th we drove it in the morning, recharged it, then drove it in the afternoon.
We have filled the tank five times since we bought the car. We bought it in Salt Lake City and drove it home to Minnesota. Equally impressive is the fact that the car's gas range is 600 miles on a full tank.
It's a small SUV that can hold a lot of stuff -- we put two bikes in the cargo area along with our luggage on the way back from Utah.
The average person who commutes less than 26 miles a day will see similar results. But even someone who commutes the average 32 miles a day (and I pity the fool...) would commute 3,200 miles between trips to the filling station. And if you can plug in at work, you would use no gas at all.
And that's with a 26 mile electric range. Cars like the Tesla and the Nissan Leaf have much longer ranges, and could go several days without having to recharge. Yes, it would be a hassle to drive from Salt Lake to Minneapolis with one of those cars. But how often do people do that?
Electric cars currently use lithium batteries, and the lithium supply is kind of wonky. Most of it comes from a mile-high desert in Chile. But there are new battery technologies in the works that may not use such a hard-to-get material.
In the long run, though, gas-powered cars should be replaced by hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles. The hydrogen should be produced by electrolysis, using electricity from wind power or solar cells, which is a great way of storing that energy for later use.
At this point, every family with two cars should be looking to replace one of their gas-powered cars with an electric vehicle. Not only do you reduce carbon emissions, but you save money as well -- in most areas electricity costs half what gas does.
Plus, electric cars make this cool futuristic sound when they move.
Well. That settles it. Since Norway is the country that Donald Trump immigrants to the United States should come from, we should all switch to electric cars.
But seriously, folks. If you were a Texan you might think it's a little odd that Norway is so into electric cars, since they are a major oil producer. But Norway borders the arctic, and it's totally clear to anyone who lives in the north that global warming caused by people burning fossil fuels is wreaking havoc on the climate.
The Norwegian people understand that some things are more important than lining oil company execs' pockets with more money.
The perceived problem with electric cars is that they take a long time to refuel. And this is true: it can take several hours to recharge the batteries. But how often does that really matter?
We bought a Kia Niro plug-in electric hybrid four months ago. It goes a paltry 26 miles on an electric charge before the gas engine kicks in.
I was skeptical about this short electric range. But in practice, we use almost no gas. In the last month, we used gas seven times. Most days we don't use any gas at all and our mileage readout looks like this:
999 mpg means that only the electric motor was used and no gas was burned. On the 25th we drove it in the morning, recharged it, then drove it in the afternoon.
We have filled the tank five times since we bought the car. We bought it in Salt Lake City and drove it home to Minnesota. Equally impressive is the fact that the car's gas range is 600 miles on a full tank.
It's a small SUV that can hold a lot of stuff -- we put two bikes in the cargo area along with our luggage on the way back from Utah.
The average person who commutes less than 26 miles a day will see similar results. But even someone who commutes the average 32 miles a day (and I pity the fool...) would commute 3,200 miles between trips to the filling station. And if you can plug in at work, you would use no gas at all.
And that's with a 26 mile electric range. Cars like the Tesla and the Nissan Leaf have much longer ranges, and could go several days without having to recharge. Yes, it would be a hassle to drive from Salt Lake to Minneapolis with one of those cars. But how often do people do that?
Electric cars currently use lithium batteries, and the lithium supply is kind of wonky. Most of it comes from a mile-high desert in Chile. But there are new battery technologies in the works that may not use such a hard-to-get material.
In the long run, though, gas-powered cars should be replaced by hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles. The hydrogen should be produced by electrolysis, using electricity from wind power or solar cells, which is a great way of storing that energy for later use.
At this point, every family with two cars should be looking to replace one of their gas-powered cars with an electric vehicle. Not only do you reduce carbon emissions, but you save money as well -- in most areas electricity costs half what gas does.
Plus, electric cars make this cool futuristic sound when they move.
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Trump and His Cult Followers Are Fake Christians
Recently, President Trump tweeted this out...
I'm confused. I thought that he was a Christian as were his cult followers. The Bible is crystal clear on this.
"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
--Matthew 25:35-45
So, fake Christians.
Worse, by turning away these folks and being all hatey and xenophobic, Trump and his cult are pushing these people into the arms of our enemies. We should be taking them in and helping them, not just because it's the right thing to do, but also because it's geopolitically advantageous. And we have a fucking labor shortage in this country!
What the fuck is the matter with these people?
I'm confused. I thought that he was a Christian as were his cult followers. The Bible is crystal clear on this.
"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
--Matthew 25:35-45
So, fake Christians.
Worse, by turning away these folks and being all hatey and xenophobic, Trump and his cult are pushing these people into the arms of our enemies. We should be taking them in and helping them, not just because it's the right thing to do, but also because it's geopolitically advantageous. And we have a fucking labor shortage in this country!
What the fuck is the matter with these people?
Thursday, June 27, 2019
The Trump Camps
It's time to start calling the immigration centers in the southern part of our country what they are: Trump Camps. He likes to see his name everywhere and recognizes the importance of labels, right? Because he made this issue the centerpiece of his campaign, he needs to own it.
So, more stuff like this...
So, more stuff like this...
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Sunday, June 16, 2019
Friday, June 14, 2019
Trump Recants on Foreign Aid Statement
In a massive flip flop, President Trump recanted an earlier statement in which he admitted he would accept help from foreign agents if they offered dirt on his political opponents.
“Of course, you give it to the F.B.I. or report it to the attorney general or somebody like that,” Mr. Trump said on “Fox & Friends” in a telephone interview on Friday morning. “But of course you do that. You couldn’t have that happen with our country.”
Whew! Well, I for one am relieved and feel quite secure in knowing that our president would do the right thing now.
“Of course, you give it to the F.B.I. or report it to the attorney general or somebody like that,” Mr. Trump said on “Fox & Friends” in a telephone interview on Friday morning. “But of course you do that. You couldn’t have that happen with our country.”
Whew! Well, I for one am relieved and feel quite secure in knowing that our president would do the right thing now.
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Trump Continues His Traitorous Ways
In an interview set to air Sunday on ABC, Donald Trump stated that he would listen to foreign government officials opposition research on political opponents. He went further to state that we would not necessarily report such an approach from a foreign government to the FBI. These statements represent further evidence that Donald Trump is in the game for himself and not for service to our country. What does this say about the people that support him?
It says they are selfish, vindictive, petty, and view liberals as less American than people that actually are not American. They are a cult of anger, hate and fear who are so far gone that they consider an act of treason to somehow be patriotic. Their support of this signals yet another example of how deeply authoritarian they are and how close we are to Germany in the 1930's.
Donald Trump has gone directly against his oath of office. It's time for him to be removed. Forcibly.
It says they are selfish, vindictive, petty, and view liberals as less American than people that actually are not American. They are a cult of anger, hate and fear who are so far gone that they consider an act of treason to somehow be patriotic. Their support of this signals yet another example of how deeply authoritarian they are and how close we are to Germany in the 1930's.
Donald Trump has gone directly against his oath of office. It's time for him to be removed. Forcibly.
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
Abortion Is Here To Stay
Abortion foes may feel like they've scored some victories of late but a recent poll of the American people shows that 77% want Roe V Wade upheld. The simple fact is that when US citizens have things taken away from them, they don't like it. And the Roberts court is not going to overturn precedent.
Bill Clinton once famously said, "Abortion should be safe, legal and rare." I agree and that's my position. How we make it rare is the discussion we need to have right now and that needs to focus on the women who get the majority of abortions in this country, middle to upper class single white women in their 20's. Figuring out why they are so reckless and, quite frankly, dumb is the key here. Birth control is readily available everywhere and yet they have an unplanned pregnancy. Why?
We need to figure it out.
Bill Clinton once famously said, "Abortion should be safe, legal and rare." I agree and that's my position. How we make it rare is the discussion we need to have right now and that needs to focus on the women who get the majority of abortions in this country, middle to upper class single white women in their 20's. Figuring out why they are so reckless and, quite frankly, dumb is the key here. Birth control is readily available everywhere and yet they have an unplanned pregnancy. Why?
We need to figure it out.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Gun Humpers Dealt Another Blow
The Supreme Court of the United States refused to hear a case regarding a ban on gun silencers, thus leaving a lower court ruling in place. States can continue to force registration for them or ban them altogether.
Given all the problems the NRA is having, the ongoing victories by Moms Demand Action, and the multiple states that now have outright bans on assault weapons (e.g. New York, Connecticut, California), the era of expanding guns rights is now officially over. We have now entered the era of Gun Rights contraction.
I hope it lasts a while:)
Given all the problems the NRA is having, the ongoing victories by Moms Demand Action, and the multiple states that now have outright bans on assault weapons (e.g. New York, Connecticut, California), the era of expanding guns rights is now officially over. We have now entered the era of Gun Rights contraction.
I hope it lasts a while:)
The Republican Brain Part Nine: Are Conservatives From the Amygdala?
The last time we looked inside Chris Mooney's insightful and amazing book, The Republican Brain (and I realized it's been far too long...*lowers head sheepishly*), we looked at some of the possible issues with his overriding theory. We poked holes in it and wondered if the science really held up. It did.
The next chapter is the fourth and final part of the "Nature" section of Mooney's book and is titled, "Are Conservatives From The Amygdala?" The short answer is yes, they are. The simple fact is that conservatives have a larger right amygdala and liberals have more gray matter located in their anterior cingulated cortex (ACC). What does this mean? It means that conservatives allow the amygdala, which plays a key role in our emotional responses to threats and stimuli that evokes fear, to drive their reasoning. Liberals' reasoning, however, is driven by ACC which has been shown to detect mistakes and errors, leading one to make a corrective response. This is also known as "conflict monitoring.
All of this was confirmed by multiple studies, beginning with an MRI study of 90 University College of London Students in 2011. A University of Nebraska-Lincoln study from the same year showed that conservatives had a more pronounced startle reflex. Another "political brain scan" study was conducted by Darren Schreiber of the University of California-San Diego in 2010. This study showed that political conservatives have much higher activity in the amygdala when perceived risks are thrown at them.
So, as Mooney notes on page 114, "All in all, that's a fair bit of evidence connecting conservatism to the amygdala." In so many ways, this explains Donald Trump. For as much of a dumb ass as he is, he knows how to appeal to fear. And there is plenty of it physiologically located in the brains of conservatives. It's why they follow him no matter what he does. They are completely driven by emotion, not logic. Of course, you can tell this is true because of their strategy of attacking liberals for the very thing they do all the time (see also: trolling).
But what about the other side? The ACC? In 2007, John Jost, David Amodio, and several other NYU neuroscientists showed that liberals have far more active ACC's and are able to weed out faulty information. This would be why liberals can't watch Fox News for more than a few minutes without cringing. They quickly recognize faulty information because of their increased gray matter in their ACC.
Since Mooney's book was published, there have been multiple studies along these same lines. Here's a study from 2016 that illustrates how conservatives are all about negative emotions. Here's another study (from 2014) that shows that single stimulus data can reliably classify liberals from conservatives. Dr. Hibbing has even created a political physiology lab at Nebraska.
Now that we know that political ideology is inherently explained by physiological differences, what next? Is there anything we can do to counter the negative effects of what conservatives are naturally experiencing? Yes. Towards the end of the chapter, Mooney notes that children's politics are set in motion at a very early age. This is where the nurture part comes in and that's where Mooney is going in his next section, Enter The "Environment": Turning Against Change.
*Please click on the tag "The Republican Brain" if you want to review my previous summaries.
The next chapter is the fourth and final part of the "Nature" section of Mooney's book and is titled, "Are Conservatives From The Amygdala?" The short answer is yes, they are. The simple fact is that conservatives have a larger right amygdala and liberals have more gray matter located in their anterior cingulated cortex (ACC). What does this mean? It means that conservatives allow the amygdala, which plays a key role in our emotional responses to threats and stimuli that evokes fear, to drive their reasoning. Liberals' reasoning, however, is driven by ACC which has been shown to detect mistakes and errors, leading one to make a corrective response. This is also known as "conflict monitoring.
All of this was confirmed by multiple studies, beginning with an MRI study of 90 University College of London Students in 2011. A University of Nebraska-Lincoln study from the same year showed that conservatives had a more pronounced startle reflex. Another "political brain scan" study was conducted by Darren Schreiber of the University of California-San Diego in 2010. This study showed that political conservatives have much higher activity in the amygdala when perceived risks are thrown at them.
So, as Mooney notes on page 114, "All in all, that's a fair bit of evidence connecting conservatism to the amygdala." In so many ways, this explains Donald Trump. For as much of a dumb ass as he is, he knows how to appeal to fear. And there is plenty of it physiologically located in the brains of conservatives. It's why they follow him no matter what he does. They are completely driven by emotion, not logic. Of course, you can tell this is true because of their strategy of attacking liberals for the very thing they do all the time (see also: trolling).
But what about the other side? The ACC? In 2007, John Jost, David Amodio, and several other NYU neuroscientists showed that liberals have far more active ACC's and are able to weed out faulty information. This would be why liberals can't watch Fox News for more than a few minutes without cringing. They quickly recognize faulty information because of their increased gray matter in their ACC.
Since Mooney's book was published, there have been multiple studies along these same lines. Here's a study from 2016 that illustrates how conservatives are all about negative emotions. Here's another study (from 2014) that shows that single stimulus data can reliably classify liberals from conservatives. Dr. Hibbing has even created a political physiology lab at Nebraska.
Now that we know that political ideology is inherently explained by physiological differences, what next? Is there anything we can do to counter the negative effects of what conservatives are naturally experiencing? Yes. Towards the end of the chapter, Mooney notes that children's politics are set in motion at a very early age. This is where the nurture part comes in and that's where Mooney is going in his next section, Enter The "Environment": Turning Against Change.
*Please click on the tag "The Republican Brain" if you want to review my previous summaries.
Sunday, June 09, 2019
The Poison of the Alt-Right
The main story in today's Times illustrates just how much the alt-right is poisoning our country. How familiar does this sound?
Mr. Cain, 26, recently swore off the alt-right nearly five years after discovering it, and has become a vocal critic of the movement. He is scarred by his experience of being radicalized by what he calls a “decentralized cult” of far-right YouTube personalities, who convinced him that Western civilization was under threat from Muslim immigrants and cultural Marxists, that innate I.Q. differences explained racial disparities, and that feminism was a dangerous ideology.
Reminds me a lot of the assholes from Kevin Baker's site. Make no mistake about it, folks, they are a CULT. And the propaganda they peddle is a great danger to our nation's security. They claim to be fighting for "freedom" but what they really want is an authoritarian state where they can subjugate anyone who they perceive as a threat.
Threats, of course, originate from most of the rest of us who want our society to evolve from the Neanderthal-like mentality they currently espouse. They are so petty and vindicative that making the world a better place somehow mushes up in their mind as a boiling pit of sewage. They can't see that it's their own personality disorder and ongoing mommy/daddy issues that cause them to see good things as evil.
Cain talks about being brainwashed. It looks likes it's time to start deprogramming...
Mr. Cain, 26, recently swore off the alt-right nearly five years after discovering it, and has become a vocal critic of the movement. He is scarred by his experience of being radicalized by what he calls a “decentralized cult” of far-right YouTube personalities, who convinced him that Western civilization was under threat from Muslim immigrants and cultural Marxists, that innate I.Q. differences explained racial disparities, and that feminism was a dangerous ideology.
Reminds me a lot of the assholes from Kevin Baker's site. Make no mistake about it, folks, they are a CULT. And the propaganda they peddle is a great danger to our nation's security. They claim to be fighting for "freedom" but what they really want is an authoritarian state where they can subjugate anyone who they perceive as a threat.
Threats, of course, originate from most of the rest of us who want our society to evolve from the Neanderthal-like mentality they currently espouse. They are so petty and vindicative that making the world a better place somehow mushes up in their mind as a boiling pit of sewage. They can't see that it's their own personality disorder and ongoing mommy/daddy issues that cause them to see good things as evil.
Cain talks about being brainwashed. It looks likes it's time to start deprogramming...
Monday, June 03, 2019
Sunday, June 02, 2019
The Great Nazi Make Believe Game
The next time someone you know or are debating on the internet under reacts to Trump and his supporters clearly behaving like Nazis, show them this video.
And then tell them to fuck off. We are on to them and will be D Daying their asses every step of the way.
And then tell them to fuck off. We are on to them and will be D Daying their asses every step of the way.
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Trump Admits Russia Got Him Elected
After years of denying reality and calling the intelligence community and Democrats liars, Donald Trump finally admitted that Russia got him elected:
And it's not just "helping him to get elected." He won by such a narrow margin that Russia's sabotage of the American electoral process was the critical factor that put Trump over the top, by alienating Bernie supporters and discouraging black voters from going to the polls.
How can Republicans continue to back this corrupt, senile, tax-dodging racist piece of garbage?
And it's not just "helping him to get elected." He won by such a narrow margin that Russia's sabotage of the American electoral process was the critical factor that put Trump over the top, by alienating Bernie supporters and discouraging black voters from going to the polls.
How can Republicans continue to back this corrupt, senile, tax-dodging racist piece of garbage?
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Sunday, May 19, 2019
GOP Lawmaker: Impeach Trump
Michigan GOP Representative Justin Amash is the first Republican lawmaker to come out and admit the obvious: President Trump has engaged in impeachable behavior. He also accused Trump personal attorney masquerading as our attorney general William Barr of intentionally misleading the public. Here his principal conclusions:
1. Attorney General Barr has deliberately misrepresented Mueller’s report.
2. President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct.
3. Partisanship has eroded our system of checks and balances.
4. Few members of Congress have read the report.
The last one really sucks. The report is only 400 pages. C'mon, people! This is our country we are talking about!!
1. Attorney General Barr has deliberately misrepresented Mueller’s report.
2. President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct.
3. Partisanship has eroded our system of checks and balances.
4. Few members of Congress have read the report.
The last one really sucks. The report is only 400 pages. C'mon, people! This is our country we are talking about!!
Saturday, May 18, 2019
Saturday, May 11, 2019
The Gun Cult Threatens Our National Security
The Gun Humpers can add some more bodies to their domestic terrorism enterprise with two school shootings last week. The first was at the University of North Carolina and the second was in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. After a few weeks, each of these incidents will be lost in the giant pile of mass shootings that we now have to endure every day because a minority of insecure, fat ass fucks with inadequacy issues need a firearm to help them through life.
It sickens me to no end that this has now become normal. I used to be of the mind that we could have a few laws here and there that could help prevent this. No longer. Because this has become a regular occurrence, the only thing that will truly prevent it is a complete repeal of the second ammendment and a ban on the civilian use of all guns. All other civilized nations have done this. We must follow suit if we want to save lives.
Further, we need to start jailing supporters of the NRA as domestic terrorists. This week saw Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America, receive. multiple death threats from NRA members. Take a look at some of these, folks. These are your gun rights supporters.
Time to Gitmo their asses.
It sickens me to no end that this has now become normal. I used to be of the mind that we could have a few laws here and there that could help prevent this. No longer. Because this has become a regular occurrence, the only thing that will truly prevent it is a complete repeal of the second ammendment and a ban on the civilian use of all guns. All other civilized nations have done this. We must follow suit if we want to save lives.
Further, we need to start jailing supporters of the NRA as domestic terrorists. This week saw Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America, receive. multiple death threats from NRA members. Take a look at some of these, folks. These are your gun rights supporters.
Time to Gitmo their asses.
Tuesday, May 07, 2019
Arrest Trump, says all these federal prosecutors
Over 400 former federal prosecutors have said the following.
Each of us believes that the conduct of President Trump described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting President, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice.
And the number continues to grow...
Each of us believes that the conduct of President Trump described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting President, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice.
The Mueller report describes several acts that satisfy all of the elements for an obstruction charge: conduct that obstructed or attempted to obstruct the truth-finding process, as to which the evidence of corrupt intent and connection to pending proceedings is overwhelming. These include:
· The President’s efforts to fire Mueller and to falsify evidence about that effort;
· The President’s efforts to limit the scope of Mueller’s investigation to exclude his conduct; and
· The President’s efforts to prevent witnesses from cooperating with investigators probing him and his campaign.
And the number continues to grow...
Sunday, May 05, 2019
Saturday, May 04, 2019
Wednesday, May 01, 2019
Here's Some Clarity on Donald Trump
1. He owes the Russian mob a lot of money.
2. He is laundering it through Deustche Bank
3. All of this is in his financial records (taxes, bank statements) and that’s why he doesn’t want any of it publicly disclosed.
4. All of this is why he is buddy buddy with Putin.
5. The Russians helped Trump win the election and members of the Trump team helped them do it.
6. Trump obstructed justice and should be charged on multiple counts of this.
7. The last two points are crystal clear to anyone who reads the ENTIRE Mueller report and doesn't phone it in.
2. He is laundering it through Deustche Bank
3. All of this is in his financial records (taxes, bank statements) and that’s why he doesn’t want any of it publicly disclosed.
4. All of this is why he is buddy buddy with Putin.
5. The Russians helped Trump win the election and members of the Trump team helped them do it.
6. Trump obstructed justice and should be charged on multiple counts of this.
7. The last two points are crystal clear to anyone who reads the ENTIRE Mueller report and doesn't phone it in.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
It's a Question of Fairness
A common refrain among conservatives is that Democrats want illegal immigrants flooding into the country because they want more people to vote Democratic.
This, of course, is bogus. Illegal immigrants can't vote, and it takes at least five years to become a citizen after you get a green card, if you stay in the US consecutively. So bringing in new people won't help the Democrats in the near future. (Plus, most immigrants are socially conservative, and if Republicans weren't always scapegoating them, they'd probably vote Republican.)
The real reason Democrats oppose Trump's tyrannical policy on immigration is that it's all just grandstanding to whip up anger among the white supremacists that make up the majority of Trump's dwindling base.
Trump's administration just increased the number of H2B visas, allowing thousands more foreign workers into the country. His own companies are hiring hundreds of workers on those visas because he doesn't want to hire Americans, because Americans expect permanent jobs that pay well. And Trump just wants employees he can treat like slaves that he can threaten with deportation to keep them in line.
We're building a house, and most of the work crews (siding installers, roofers, masons) are Hispanic. They were nailing siding on our garage in the dead of winter when it was snowing and 10 below zero.
These people are not lazy bums looking for a handout. They're working jobs that Americans don't want. These workers aren't stealing jobs from Americans -- Americans are doing the skilled craftsman jobs that pay a lot more -- architects, designers, managers, electricians, plumbers, HVAC installers, tile installers, and framers.
The arguments Trump is levying against immigrants from Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are exactly the same arguments that were levied against Jews in the 1930s and 1940s, and against Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Chinese, and Japanese immigrants in the early 20th and late 19th centuries, and against Germans and French immigrants in the early 19th century.
Donald Trump's German grandfather and Scottish mother would never have made it into this country if the people like Trump had had their way -- they were dirty, diseased Huns and Gaels and weren't pure English blood.
A lot of our Irish, German, French and Italian ancestors were escaping famine and war in Europe, just like Latin American immigrants are trying to escape social chaos in their home countries. Democrats don't think it's right to use innocent people looking for a better way of life as scapegoats for race-baiting demagogues.
This country is not full. My dad, who is a big Trump supporter, recently went into the hospital for a heart procedure. He was so weak that he couldn't take a piss by himself. He needed help to hobble to the bathroom, and who got him there? An African immigrant orderly.
We can't find enough people to do the jobs that American-born citizens won't do. We need immigrants to do that work, especially considering the low birth rate and huge wave of retirements that's coming down the pike as baby boomers age out of the workforce.
It's really a question of fairness: our ancestors had the chance to come to America. As long as we need people to do the jobs Americans don't want to, we should give them the same shot my dad's Norwegian father got.
Because modern Norwegians sure aren't lining up in droves to help my dad take a piss.
This, of course, is bogus. Illegal immigrants can't vote, and it takes at least five years to become a citizen after you get a green card, if you stay in the US consecutively. So bringing in new people won't help the Democrats in the near future. (Plus, most immigrants are socially conservative, and if Republicans weren't always scapegoating them, they'd probably vote Republican.)
The real reason Democrats oppose Trump's tyrannical policy on immigration is that it's all just grandstanding to whip up anger among the white supremacists that make up the majority of Trump's dwindling base.
Trump's administration just increased the number of H2B visas, allowing thousands more foreign workers into the country. His own companies are hiring hundreds of workers on those visas because he doesn't want to hire Americans, because Americans expect permanent jobs that pay well. And Trump just wants employees he can treat like slaves that he can threaten with deportation to keep them in line.
We're building a house, and most of the work crews (siding installers, roofers, masons) are Hispanic. They were nailing siding on our garage in the dead of winter when it was snowing and 10 below zero.
These people are not lazy bums looking for a handout. They're working jobs that Americans don't want. These workers aren't stealing jobs from Americans -- Americans are doing the skilled craftsman jobs that pay a lot more -- architects, designers, managers, electricians, plumbers, HVAC installers, tile installers, and framers.
The arguments Trump is levying against immigrants from Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are exactly the same arguments that were levied against Jews in the 1930s and 1940s, and against Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Chinese, and Japanese immigrants in the early 20th and late 19th centuries, and against Germans and French immigrants in the early 19th century.
Donald Trump's German grandfather and Scottish mother would never have made it into this country if the people like Trump had had their way -- they were dirty, diseased Huns and Gaels and weren't pure English blood.
A lot of our Irish, German, French and Italian ancestors were escaping famine and war in Europe, just like Latin American immigrants are trying to escape social chaos in their home countries. Democrats don't think it's right to use innocent people looking for a better way of life as scapegoats for race-baiting demagogues.
This country is not full. My dad, who is a big Trump supporter, recently went into the hospital for a heart procedure. He was so weak that he couldn't take a piss by himself. He needed help to hobble to the bathroom, and who got him there? An African immigrant orderly.
We can't find enough people to do the jobs that American-born citizens won't do. We need immigrants to do that work, especially considering the low birth rate and huge wave of retirements that's coming down the pike as baby boomers age out of the workforce.
It's really a question of fairness: our ancestors had the chance to come to America. As long as we need people to do the jobs Americans don't want to, we should give them the same shot my dad's Norwegian father got.
Because modern Norwegians sure aren't lining up in droves to help my dad take a piss.
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Easter Morning Reflection
This year on Easter, I'm thinking about the fact that the number of US citizens that belong to a church has plummeted 20 percentage points over the last two decades. We now stand around at around 50% of this country that affiliate themselves with churches. From the link.
Among Hispanic Americans, church membership dropped from 68% to 45% since 2000, a much bigger decline than for non-Hispanic white and black Americans.
There was a big discrepancy over that 20-year period in regard to political affiliation: Church membership among Democrats fell from 71% to 48%, compared to a more modest drop from 77% to 69% among Republicans.
David Campbell, a University of Notre Dame political science professor who studies religion's role in U.S. civic life, attributed the partisan divide to "the allergic reaction many Americans have to the mixture of religion and conservative politics."
"Increasingly, Americans associate religion with the Republican Party – and if they are not Republicans themselves, they turn away from religion," he said.
Indeed. And I would add in the fact that the ongoing issues with the Catholic church and raping boys doesn't really help at all either.
This cultural shift is a stunning development when you consider how, during the Bush years, we were all worried about the growing evangelical movement and how that would affect politics. No longer. Mega churches are closing down, regular sized churches struggle to retain families, and the number of people that identify as "unaffiliated" in this country now stands as the majority.
That would be me. I consider myself a libertarian Christian. I don't need someone who is insecure about their faith screaming to me about what the Bible really means. I'm a smart guy. I can figure it out for myself. I can read, after all:)
Further, while I enjoy the fellowship of churches and the communities they serve, I'm very wary of sharing faith with people. It should be more private in my view...kinda like taking a shit. It's a moment when you are vulnerable and there shouldn't really be anyone else witnessing it. Adding more people tends to muck it all up as they bring all their nonsense into the mix. Dilution of Christ's simple message invariably happens after that.
You can still have the community without the church. As I write this, I'm hanging out with my in laws in rural Iowa. We have around 30 people coming over for a family meal and Easter egg hunt. Very few of them are heading to church. Most of us just want the family time and the fun of being together.
We are all people of deep faith and we don't need a building to have those core convictions.
Among Hispanic Americans, church membership dropped from 68% to 45% since 2000, a much bigger decline than for non-Hispanic white and black Americans.
There was a big discrepancy over that 20-year period in regard to political affiliation: Church membership among Democrats fell from 71% to 48%, compared to a more modest drop from 77% to 69% among Republicans.
David Campbell, a University of Notre Dame political science professor who studies religion's role in U.S. civic life, attributed the partisan divide to "the allergic reaction many Americans have to the mixture of religion and conservative politics."
"Increasingly, Americans associate religion with the Republican Party – and if they are not Republicans themselves, they turn away from religion," he said.
Indeed. And I would add in the fact that the ongoing issues with the Catholic church and raping boys doesn't really help at all either.
This cultural shift is a stunning development when you consider how, during the Bush years, we were all worried about the growing evangelical movement and how that would affect politics. No longer. Mega churches are closing down, regular sized churches struggle to retain families, and the number of people that identify as "unaffiliated" in this country now stands as the majority.
That would be me. I consider myself a libertarian Christian. I don't need someone who is insecure about their faith screaming to me about what the Bible really means. I'm a smart guy. I can figure it out for myself. I can read, after all:)
Further, while I enjoy the fellowship of churches and the communities they serve, I'm very wary of sharing faith with people. It should be more private in my view...kinda like taking a shit. It's a moment when you are vulnerable and there shouldn't really be anyone else witnessing it. Adding more people tends to muck it all up as they bring all their nonsense into the mix. Dilution of Christ's simple message invariably happens after that.
You can still have the community without the church. As I write this, I'm hanging out with my in laws in rural Iowa. We have around 30 people coming over for a family meal and Easter egg hunt. Very few of them are heading to church. Most of us just want the family time and the fun of being together.
We are all people of deep faith and we don't need a building to have those core convictions.
Saturday, April 20, 2019
People Who Aren’t Victims and Why Volume #3: Puppet Offense Takers
If a person is not offended by words or an action that another person takes toward them, YOU are not allowed to be offended for them.
Everyone has different morals, sensitivities, and likes/dislikes. That’s what makes our planet and the people on it fun and interesting. Taking personal offense for someone else is actually a giant fuck you to the person who you think should be upset. Shouldn’t you be considerate of their feelings? If it doesn’t bother them, what’s it to you? Kindly, get over yourself.
More importantly, deal with the obvious problem of jealousy and inadequacy that you feel because you aren’t the one getting the attention.
Everyone has different morals, sensitivities, and likes/dislikes. That’s what makes our planet and the people on it fun and interesting. Taking personal offense for someone else is actually a giant fuck you to the person who you think should be upset. Shouldn’t you be considerate of their feelings? If it doesn’t bother them, what’s it to you? Kindly, get over yourself.
More importantly, deal with the obvious problem of jealousy and inadequacy that you feel because you aren’t the one getting the attention.
Friday, April 19, 2019
Monday, April 15, 2019
Death, Destruction and Picking Winners and Losers in the Aircraft Market
The following is a story of greed, technical incompetence and political malfeasance that will only backfire and hurt the American economy. Oh, and it will kill people too.
Boeing's 737 Max 8 passenger jet has been grounded after two deadly crashes. The FAA grounded the Max 8 only after every other civilized country in the world did so.
Boeing is trying to sell this as a "software glitch," but the fact is that Boeing radically changed the flight characteristics of the aircraft by installing bigger engines in order to compete with Airbus's A320neo, which was based on the A320. This video explains the technical details.
Basically, the A320neo engine upgrade improved engine efficiency by 15%, which would save the airlines billions of dollars in fuel costs. Because the engine could be slipped onto the wing with no other changes, it didn't require much extra training for pilots qualified on the A320.
Boeing wanted to do the same thing, but the 737's 50-year-old design is lower to the ground, which means the bigger engine can't fit under the wing. So a Boeing exec had a brilliant idea: move the engine up so it's partially above the wing.
This drastically changed the flight characteristics of the aircraft, causing its nose to pull up during full thrust, potentially causing a stall during takeoff. Boeing "fixed" the problem by adding a software system (MCAS) that forced the nose down when it detected a potential stall.
This meant that the plane did not behave like its predecessor, and pilots should have received significant training and simulator time on the aircraft. But Boeing lied, and said it was the same as the old plane and just offered an iPad course to train pilots on the new plane.
Because the MCAS system depends on sensors to force the nose down, the plane will crash if the sensors aren't operating properly. If the pilots weren't aware of these details, which Boeing didn't go out of their way to tell anyone about, they wouldn't know that MCAS is what's forcing the nose down. Boeing also made optional some of the safety features that alert the pilots when something bad is happening. Some airlines don't want to pay extra for these warning systems, so the pilots aren't alerted when these problems occur.
After the second crash, most countries in the world grounded the Max 8 almost immediately. But the FAA and the Trump administration diddled around for a couple of weeks before doing the right thing.
Of course, this could spell economic doom for Boeing, which makes a lot of money selling these flawed planes.
So, last week, Trump announced this:
“The World Trade Organization finds that the European Union subsidies to Airbus has adversely impacted the United States, which will now put Tariffs on $11 Billion of E.U. products!” President Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday morning. “The E.U. has taken advantage of the U.S. on trade for many years. It will soon stop!”Yes, you got that right. Just after he grounded Boeing's Max 8 fleet for being unsafe, Trump imposed tariffs on Airbus's safe airplanes.
Because the engine is placed too high on the Max 8, it is never going to be as safe as the A320neo. It is inherently unstable under full thrust and requires a software hack to avoid stalling. But Trump wants to stop US airlines from buying Airbus and buy Boeing instead. He wants to force Americans to fly in unsafe aircraft.
Trump doesn't care if you die. He's got Airforce One and a personal 757.
Trump claims that Airbus receives unfair subsidies from European governments. But Boeing also receives subsidies in the form of tax breaks from South Carolina and Washington state. It isn't news that everyone coddles big companies that promise lots of high-paying jobs.
As with every trade war, the EU will retaliate with its own set of tariffs on American products, which will hurt American companies, in particular, Boeing and the rest of the US aircraft industry, which is already hurting because of the Max 8 fiasco. Nobody wins a trade war.
Boeing simply has an inferior and unsafe product. One that has killed hundreds of people. It makes no sense to punish Airbus for having a better airplane. People won't want to fly on Max 8s no matter how many software kludges they issue. The Max 8 design is literally fatally flawed.
Why is the president of the United States using tariffs to interfere with the market to force Americans to fly in planes that have a major design flaw? I thought Republicans thought government should let the market decide, rather than have government pick winners and losers.
But Trump isn't a real president. He's a stupid, senile old man who should be out cheating on the golf course instead of running the world's economy into the ground with his childish showboating.
Thursday, April 11, 2019
New Zealand Shows The World What Secure Adults Do
New Zealand has just shown the world what to do when you have ONE mass shooting: BAN GUNS. Their parliament just voted 119-1 to ban military style, semi automatic weapons. No longer will racist right wingers be able to commit the great acts of violence that they fantasize about on a daily basis. Like Australia, New Zealand will now join the rest of the civilized world and keep these types of weapons out of the hands of ordinary citizens where they never should have been in the first place.
We're about due for another mass shooting here, eh? It's been a little while and these things tend to work in cycles. How many more Americans have to die just so some insecure older white male with saggy tits can have his safe space? Sadly, several more.
There is some good news, however, and the gun humpers seem completely oblivious to it which is fine by me. Take a look at all of the victories that are piling up on both the federal and state level. The pace of these has increased since Parkland and if there is another mass shooting, there will be more until we finally get it right.
If I were a gun rights activist, I'd be beyond worried now. You've lost the argument. It's merely a matter of time now before they start coming for your guns...hee hee...
We're about due for another mass shooting here, eh? It's been a little while and these things tend to work in cycles. How many more Americans have to die just so some insecure older white male with saggy tits can have his safe space? Sadly, several more.
There is some good news, however, and the gun humpers seem completely oblivious to it which is fine by me. Take a look at all of the victories that are piling up on both the federal and state level. The pace of these has increased since Parkland and if there is another mass shooting, there will be more until we finally get it right.
If I were a gun rights activist, I'd be beyond worried now. You've lost the argument. It's merely a matter of time now before they start coming for your guns...hee hee...
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