If you have to feed the Russian sock puppet can't you at least find a nonvacuous Subject?

So now I feel I have to requote you against the censor trolls with mod points even though I disagree more than I agree? Well, I do agree the YOB is getting played, but the Yuge Orange Buffoon will never figure that out. (And even let the vacuous Subject stand?)

But I'll focus a partial response on the Epstein part because I think it's so funny. First, the Dems are caught in a paradox involving "nonpartisan justice" while the fake Republicans have it much simpler: "If it gives us more power, then JUST DO IT!"

And now for the conspiracy fun: I'm buying into the theory that the YOB's problem is right at the beginning of the Epstein files. One thing we are all sure of is that the cops don't bother rich people. Exception is when they have proof, which in Epstein's case means someone had to drop a SOLID dime on him--and the YOB had the motive due to that squabble about the mansion money he was laundering for that friend of Putin. First rat wins? But whoops! That means the YOB knew about the child abuse.

But that also explains the interest in Maxwell. She can claim she dropped the dime, not the YOB. Or maybe she can try to fudge the timeline that the YOB was only finking with proof she had given him just before he went to the feds?

Whatever is going to happen next, I should invest in Orville Redenbacher. Gonna be a lot of popcorn runs coming up...

I don't see any problems......said with a perfectly straight face.

I have no problem with ICE acting within the laws on the books and kicking people who are here illegally the fuck out of the US.

In fact, I voted for it.

that is to say, about ensuring the country can produce the things it needs during a time of conflict, and not relying on imports for essential technology. That seems to be a more likely reason for this specific push, but they always try to hide these things behind

"jobs"...ah...politics...sigh...,

You almost seem to be saying this like it is NOT a good primary reason for bringing manufacturing back to the US?

Per my other post, did you forget covid days?

It is a national security risk big time...especially with china who is openly antagonistic to the US.

Manufacturing jobs are gone. And good riddance

Nope...we need as much of the critical manufacturing as we can do in the US.

Did you forget the pandemic so quickly? We got a good glimpse at what a national security threat looks like when we depend on external nations (some openly hostile like china) for our products and raw materials ......

If you don't do it here...other nations have you by the balls....

.....and not in the good way.

they probably will demand a tax holiday to onshore money tax free for it to happen as well.

I'm all for that...let's get that cash back IN the US....have it flowing in our economy ......

And as far as iPhones made in the US...I wouldn't mind paying a premium for an US made iPhone....

Hell, right now, with most any purchase I DO see if there is a US company making things here and will save and pay extra to get US made goods...especially anything that is hand made these days,, like boots.

I'm liking the offerings from Nick's Boots....things like this I'm happy to pay extra for.

Well, those so called cops didn't do their job and I believe they faced the consequences..

But stats on daily lives in the US show WAY more crimes are stopped by a good guy with a gun...

Hell, a recent story about a guy running around in a Walmart I think it was...mass stabbing people was stopped in the parking lot by an armed citizen....who actually showed more restraint than most folks...held him at gunpoint and had him finally drop the knife.....rather than shoot him.

Good people defend themselves all the time by being a "good guy with a gun"....

...then fire and/or burn it.

That's what dictators do. Nobody trusts China's and Russia's official econ stats because the books are always cooked to make the dictator look like the best dictator ever, believe me, everyone says so.

There can't be climate change if there is no instrument around to measure it.

Close to the joke I was looking for, but I was thinking more along the lines of "suitability to be a Bond movie villain".

Perhaps "How much do you like feeding sharks?"

That was Clarke, not Asimov?

2001: A Space Odyssey...

"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"

"I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going."

"D A A A I I I I SS S S SSYY Y Y Y Y"

Yup...and with RTO, I guess a lot of people forgot how to talk with their indoor voices....or go to a meeting room or break room to meet of shoot the shit.

It's bad enough now....it would be really fucked if you had everyone talking to their damned computer....ugh.

As it almost always goes -- this legislation restricting direct vehicle sales from manufacturers is only around today because the car dealership middle-man is a powerful money-generating force, and most auto-makers seem to prefer it stays in place.

Tesla got their "carve out" because they had the money to throw at getting made an exception. Rivian should automatically get the same treatment, but we don't live in a country where laws are applied fairly to all.

In many ways, a dealership network acts as a shield to absolve a manufacturer of direct responsibility for dealing with their own defective products. Take Kia as a great example. They've been producing defective engines across a whole line of vehicles for something like 10 years straight. Most managed to hold up through their "generous 10 year, 100,000 mile" warranty but failed soon after it. The landscape is littered with Kia Souls with major engine failures. But dealers act like a filter, putting up barriers to getting them replaced or repaired, despite the manufacturer being legally forced to issue a recall. They'll tell people, "Sorry.. but the recall is only valid if we get this specific diagnostic code from the code reader. Yours isn't showing that one." Each time, the owner has to go to corporate and fight to try to get their engine replaced -- and corporate will counter that the dealer informed them the issue wasn't one indicative of the specific failure that's being recalled. Eventually? SOME people get their vehicles fixed, but a substantial number of others give up the fight, writing off their maybe 8-10 year old vehicle as trash and they buy something else. This constitutes a huge savings for Kia corporate.

It's tougher for manufacturers doing direct sales. They can still reject people for warranty work, or claim recalls don't apply. But now, there's nobody else to blame. They can't just get the customer mad at "Sellum Quick Auto Sales". Now, the wronged customer's response is to never buy from their brand again.

So like you would enjoy a green women with three boobs?

Hey, I'm no Captain Kirk....but....

he general population doesn't really care about the human experience of art and music, and often just want content to consume to make the pain go away for a while.

??

Listening to music to make "pain go away"....is this really a thing?