Cameraimage cinematography festival in the bin

[Ilkka Nissila]

From a European point of view, I would say that on economic policies the US Democrats are center-right, but on social issues they tend to be more left. The US society itself continues to be very racially segregated, as the rich and poor live in distinct areas and the schools in the poorer districts are poorly funded while the wealthy areas have very good and well-funded schools. This maintains or increases the economic gap between the different communities. When I was working in the US for two years, I went to work in a building with approximately 1000 employees. All the cleaners and janitors were black and there was just one black scientist whom I knew in the whole building. There is no genetic reason the African-Americans only get  jobs that are poorly paid and they don't get educated, it's mostly due to the environment they're growing in. So an effort into reducing the racial divide and the difference in wealth between different groups in the US would make the society stronger (because more talented people would get the chance at developing to their full potential) and it also would make the society safer (because income and education inequalities lead to crime).

Because of global warming, there will be a whole lot more immigration in the future. I would expect there to be hundreds of millions of climate refugees trying to get to Europe and North America from hotter areas of the globe in the next 100 years or so. I think it's best to try to let them in to such a degree as possible (since we are mostly responsible for the warming, we ought to give shelter) and give them good education so that they contribute positively to society. A lot of populist leaders want to just shut down the borders but this becomes unviable when the numbers of immigrants increase by 100x from current figures. Since birth rates are declining rapidly in the Western countries, new blood is needed to keep the society active. How this is managed is a key question if we want to maintain some resemblance of an organized society. Since leaders have basically chosen not to curb carbon emissions and instead we are driving at accelerating speed towards a brick wall, the option of continuing as if nothing were happening does not really exist in the near future.

 

[Ilkka Nissila]

Honestly this shouldn't be too surprising when you look at how the Biden Administration behaved over the last four years, and when you consider the palace coup which took place to put in place Kamala Harris, and how the Democrat Machine just totally ignored the will of their own voters in mattering in the process. 

Biden was too old and so they switched to Harris as the candidate. No laws were broken, as the party is free to put whomever they want on the ballot. There should be some kind of age limit on political candidates as many of the most powerful politicians today are really old and of questionable mental fitness. Also a limit on how much a single person or company can donate to campaigns should be limited to make the donating more egalitarian rather than the rich people controlling everything.

USA has gravely depleted its weapon stocks. USA needs to immediately stop sending hundreds of billions of arms to Ukraine, as all it is accomplishing at the moment is: 1) needlessly perpetuating yet more deaths of Ukrainian men (they truly are trying to take literally the saying "until the last Ukrainian", this is going to be a demographic disaster for post war Ukraine) & 2) running dry USA's own stocks which is putting at risk USA's own security should they need it for themselves.

USA has only been spending only a few percent of their defense budget on Ukraine, and a lot of it has been used to give  old weapons that have expired and needed to be replenished anyway (so most of the money was spent didn't actually go to Ukraine directly but to defense contractors in the USA, boosting domestic employment). Ukrainians know what it is like to live under Russian oppression and they'd rather die than experience that again. America has never been occupied, lucky for them. I think the West needs to stop giving Ukraine restrictions on arms use and let them fight as deep into Russia as Russia has attacked in Ukraine. Otherwise a fair border can never return as the fighting always continues only on Ukrainian territory, gradually demolishing what was.

How much of that was due to "outsourcing security to the USA" vs being due to: 1) having a collective living memory of the recent horrors of WW1 & WW2, with zero desire whatsoever to repeat that under any circumstance 2) having ever close economic ties with each other now within Europe than ever before (the more you're trading with a country, the less likely you wish to go to war and ruin all that prosperity)

The memory of war in Europe has faded and new generations do not remember it, and this can lead to selfish and indecent behavior towards other people. Those close economic ties can be severed. Populist leaders already lead the UK to leave the EU single market with a hard Brexit lying before the election that of course they wouldn't leave the single market. Similar things can happen in other European countries, e.g., France was close to being lead by a populist far-right Le Pen. Eventually the economic co-operation can end and result in a hot war among European countries. Right now it is only Russia who is trying to return to the 17th century of nation states fighting wars over land and looting property, but this kind of thinking could spread. Russia is supporting rightwing populist movements across Europe because they know that a divided Europe is a weak Europe.

Unfortunately true, because no matter who the people elect to represet them in Washington DC, its "the establishment" (the unelected bureaucrats) who hold all the cards. 

The bureaucrats were nominated by elected representatives, and as some of them serve longer than one electoral cycle, they can have the positive effect of stabilizing the society against too rapid changes (the US government is always by one party and so there can be a zigzagging effect of one direction and then reversing the direction repeatedly, which is not productive over the long term). In foreign policy, consistency is very important to build trust with other countries. However, now there is the world's richest man who apparently is taking the role of a shadow president. He owns the most popular media platform and effectively can control a large part of how people think with changes to algorithms behind the scenes. In the US, if you have money, you can be untouchable, as Trump has shown, he is still a free man after 4000+ law suits.

 

The terribly botched withdrawal from Afghanistan happened under the Biden Presidency.

True, Biden did handle it badly, but before he took office, Trump threw the Afghan government under the bus by making a deal with the Taliban and releasing 5000 prisoners. The Afghan government never had a chance after that.

NATO primarily existed to oppose the USSR, and the moment The Cold War ended then NATO itself should also have been wound down and abolished. 

Russia is allied with Iran and North Korea today and to some degree also with China, and combined those countries can be very powerful economically and they're spending a lot of money on military build-up. Russia is trying to re-occupy the previous parts of the Soviet Union including Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, and they're making threats that they will have a new world order from Vladivostok to Lisbon. I think NATO is needed today more than ever especially as Europe has cut its defense spending so much in the years since the cold war ended, people in many countries in Europe assumed that there would be peace and prosperity after the Soviet Union collapsed, but here they are again. Russia is testing where they can just take foreign land and resources. Now they're using threats about nuclear weapons use to prevent a fair defense.

 

[eatstoomuchjam]

8 hours ago, IronFilm said:

The data does indeed show there has been a clear swing to the extreme left (but it happened even earlier than 2016), thus why I said that.

 

No, the data you provided shows that the Democrats shifted left on two issues, and in neither case to the "far left."  In particular, many of the Democrats who lost their races this year were immigration centrists/hardliners on border security.  One place where they did move a bit left is on a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who are currently in the country, many of them doing jobs that current citizens won't take (such as working for low wages in slaughterhouses or picking crops).  Others might call that "living in reality" that mass deportation of those immigrants would be economic disaster for this country - but a path to citizenship can protect them from some of the abuses heaped on them by employers.

9 hours ago, IronFilm said:

t's now the Republicans who are closer to Democrats of the past (such as the era of Bill Clinton) than modern Democrats of 2024 are, who have abandoned what the Democrat Party used to be, leaving that ground instead to only Republicans to claim. 

That's a really stupid statement.  The shift of Republicans to the far right is well-understood and documented.  If you think of the Trump/Vance ticket as closer to the center than the Harris/Walz ticket was, you were either paying no attention to the last election or your head is far enough up your ass that there's no point in discussing politics with you.

[Andrew Reid]

11 hours ago, IronFilm said:

"The data shows Democrats taking a sharp turn leftward on social issues over the past decade. This has distanced them from the median voter. Notably, the shift began in 2016. This suggests that Trump’s election radicalised the left, not the right."

https://www.ft.com/content/73a1836d-0faa-4c84-b973-554e2ca3a227

The data does indeed show there has been a clear swing to the extreme left (but it happened even earlier than 2016), thus why I said that.

It's now the Republicans who are closer to Democrats of the past (such as the era of Bill Clinton) than modern Democrats of 2024 are, who have abandoned what the Democrat Party used to be, leaving that ground instead to only Republicans to claim. 

If Democrats want to win elections again, they should look to reclaim this lost ground they've given away to the Republicans. But it might be a multiyear process to regain the trust of voters (as it's been a decade plus long swing away from the median voters the Democrat Party has been doing, you can't change that overnight), otherwise voters will just suspect politicians are doing what they usually do to voters: lying to them. (take for instance Kamala Harris suddenly trying to be "tough on the border" in the final weeks of the campaign, come on man, nobody is taking her seriously over that! It's just pure political spin, and not what she truly believes, in fact her doing that out of desperation just made her look even less authentic)

 

Monumentally stupid.

(And the source of all this is Elon Musk on X, you just happen to parrot it).

It is simply insane to suggest that the current Republican party is now closer to the Clinton era democrats.

They are not even remotely similar and not even close to the Bush era Republican party or even 1980s Reagan. The Republican party of the past is dead.

If you think the likes of Steve Bannon, Matt Gaetz, Laura Loomer and Tom Homan are the spiritual successor to Bill Clinton you want your fucking head examining.

It just goes to show how little you know about politics outside of social media BS.

By the way, the values you are labelling far-left are nothing of the sort... They are centre-left neoliberal policies, not socialism or communism. They are not even really that unusual, and come from people's well meaning intentions in lieu of being less racist. That's not to say everyone has to agree with them and that there aren't major practical issues in terms of the implementation of it.

You are free to want less immigration, not more.

You are free to want less affirmative action and wokeness.

But for fucks sake get your facts right before making your mind up.

[Andrew Reid]

13 hours ago, IronFilm said:

 

Let's not forget that many of these most prominent people who were on the other side to Kamala Harris and the Democrat Machine were people who had for most of their lives been Democrats (or at the very least liberal / Democrat leaning / voting), until that is the Democrats lurched to the extreme left, and left them behind: Joe Rogan, Tim Pool, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , Donald Trump, Tulsi Gabbard, Glenn Greenwald, Elon Musk, Dave Rubin, etc

I watched the Joe Rogan / Musk podcast in its entirety and can see why they have the opinions they do on the progressive politics of the more extreme Democrats. But the extremists in that party are not a majority. You need to ask yourself also why the woke issues are being amplified and dominate the world's discourse and who is doing the amping and why.

It is a point of failure and division in western society and the Russia/China-compromised social media engine is amping up the discourse around it to make us all fall out and get angry at our media, institutions, judiciary and government.

Musk has his own valid personal reasons for switching side but it's mostly opportunistic... He sees an opportunity to get into government, pump up the value of Dogecoin and enact change which will favour his businesses.

Trump and Musk are not going to be best friends, there's no substance to it. It's just a circle jerk thing.

The trick is to fool the rest of us into thinking there's a genuine agreement and friendship that binds together all the people you mentioned prior.

In fact, as the last Trump government shows they all hate each other and will barely last 2 months together, it will be like the Apprentice with a new firing every week just like it was in 2016-2020.

13 hours ago, IronFilm said:

For all of these people to have called them "conservatives or right wingers" would have been flat out wrong for most of their lives. 

https://theconversation.com/the-intellectual-dark-web-just-won-the-election-meet-the-coalition-of-joe-rogan-rfk-jr-tulsi-gabbard-and-elon-musk-243380

Musk wants to wear many different hats at once... He is an environmentalist selling green cars. He is a MAGA guy and hangs out with the Murdochs and right wing mainstream media / press.

He is a space rocket engineer and world's most clever guy, at the same time as buying a website for 44 billion and proceeding to destroy it, not a smart move really.

He had an allegedly highly abusive upbringing and father, and has allegedly got some quite bad psychological issues because of it.

And he clearly is an able talent and has an ability to get a lot out of his employees in terms of technology and achievement... but only because of huge government subsidies from NASA and the green car venture capitalism industry.

He's a very complicated guy and so are his politics.

But it's possible to judge someone not by their achievements but instead by the company they keep.

And let's face it a mid-life crisis & divorce happens to the best of us.

13 hours ago, IronFilm said:

The Dow Jones is still up a massive two thousand points since the election (nearly five percent)

Wow really sticking it to the establishment there then.

Men of the people!

It will be right down once Trump and his team start to make material concrete decisions in government.

How is the removal by force (with military involvement) all the undocumented workers from agriculture for example going to impact food prices and inflation?

And a lot of these deportation victims will be well on their way to becoming valuable hard-working members of society with wives and husbands, families, jobs, paying tax... And Trump wants to end all those personal success stories before they've barely even got started.

Is that what American is about now?

Think about it.

13 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Let's not forget that democracy was also an issue too, and on this point the exit polling showed that Trump was beating Harris as the better candidate for people who cared about democracy:

The threat to democracy was shared by both sides with both sides pointing the finger in the opposite direction.

Can we have that discussion about democracy in 4 years when Trump has stitched up the entire judicial system in America, made himself a king above law and is holding Russian style elections for show?

13 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Honestly this shouldn't be too surprising when you look at how the Biden Administration behaved over the last four years, and when you consider the palace coup which took place to put in place Kamala Harris, and how the Democrat Machine just totally ignored the will of their own voters in mattering in the process.

Pretty ironic you mention a "palace coup" when Trump had people literally storm the capital.

They can choose who they want, it's their own party... yes a proper primary and much earlier dropping out for Biden would have worked much better for them in the end. It was all mishandled very badly.

13 hours ago, IronFilm said:

People forget how unusual it was what Trump did! He was the first president since Jimmy Carter to not start a new war! Hopefully the next four years will in this particular matter, be the same as his first term of presidency.

It's not about STARTING WARS it's about preventing them, that's what NATO and nuclear deterrence is about and as others have pointed out that's why we have American-backed security for other countries like Taiwan and why the UK and US work so closely together on intelligence and security matters.

Trump is a trojan horse sent by Russia, North Korea and potentially other bad actors including allegedly China to weaken all of that security - for you in Australia included.

13 hours ago, IronFilm said:

USA has been so eager to jump into new wars for so long, hopefully this is another trend that Trump can break, and maybe even end.

No, America has a responsibility.

They don't have the right to shy away from it under the guise of being all doveish all of a sudden.

The impact on Afghanistan by withdrawing was horrific.

Would you like to live under the Taliban?

And why did we spend all those trillions of dollars and all those lost lives only to go and have that shitty outcome?

It was a disgraceful decision by Trump, and bafflingly followed-through upon by Biden.

The message we are sending to Taiwan at the moment is also very bad... That the security agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on.

13 hours ago, IronFilm said:

NATO primarily existed to oppose the USSR, and the moment The Cold War ended then NATO itself should also have been wound down and abolished.

That is laughable man...

NATO exists for there to be peace in Europe and the West.

Are you suggesting that military collaboration between democratic countries is a BAD THING?

Who will come to help out Australia or Japan if you are attacked by communist China? Are you going to defend yourself on your own? I don't think so.

 

[Andrew Reid]

2025 going to be a bad time to be poor in the US

[majoraxis]

Thanks for the above video interview - I will check it out!

 

5 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Trump is a trojan horse sent by Russia, North Korea and potentially other bad actors including allegedly China to weaken all of that security - for you in Australia included.

I highly doubt that Trump is a trojan horse sent by Russia, North Korea, but I am open to any evidence.

While allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election are well-documented (e.g., U.S. intelligence reports),  Investigations such as Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference found insufficient evidence to charge Trump or his campaign with criminal conspiracy.

Trump's action during his Presidency:

Russia: His administration enacted sanctions against Russia for election interference, the annexation of Crimea, and the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in the UK.

China: Trump initiated a trade war with China, imposing tariffs on Chinese goods and restricting Chinese tech companies like Huawei and TikTok.

North Korea:  When negotiating with North Korea, Trump did not make significant concessions or changes in U.S. policy. Sanctions against North Korea remained in place throughout Trump presidency.

I was surprised to read that Biden also maintained the tariffs against China that Trump enacted in light of Hunter Biden's Business Activities:

CEFC China Energy: Hunter Biden was involved in business ventures with CEFC China Energy, a Chinese conglomerate. Reports indicate that he and his firm received approximately $3.8 million from CEFC between 2013 and 2018.

Payments to Biden Family Members: In 2017, accounts linked to Hunter Biden's associate, Rob Walker, received a $3 million wire transfer from a Chinese energy company. Subsequently, Hunter Biden, James Biden (Joe Biden's brother), Hallie Biden (widow of Joe Biden's son Beau), and an unknown fourth Biden received a total of $1.3 million from these accounts.

On that note, I would appreciate it, when people respond to this thread, if they would share if they have identified conformation bias as I did above - I thought Biden would have eased up on the tariffs on China, which appears not to be case - I'm guilty as charged ; )  That way we can identify how we have be "programmed" by the media we consume in the face of the actual facts of the situation we confirm along the way.

[Andrew Reid]

You do seem to care about the facts.

So why support Trump?

[majoraxis]

Thanks Andrew!

First is the first amendment. I am a free speech absolutist. When people are censored by their government, even by proxy, I am against that administration and their bid for reelection. Missouri v. Biden, alleged that Biden administration officials pressured social media companies to suppress viewpoints on topics like COVID-19 policies, election integrity, and Hunter Biden. In 2023, a federal judge issued a ruling restricting certain federal officials and agencies from communicating with social media companies about content moderation. The case cited examples of alleged direct and indirect government influence on content moderation. I believe the Trump administration will not pressure social media companies to censor free speech.

Second is lower fuel costs and lower inflation due to energy Independence under President Trump.  By 2019, the U.S.: became a net exporter of energy for the first time since 1952. The US produced record levels of crude oil, exceeding 12 million barrels per day. reduced dependence on foreign oil, particularly from OPEC nations.  Higher fuel costs have lead to higher inflation under Biden. Trump's presidency (January 2017 to January 2021), the average national gasoline price in the United States was approximately $2.46 per gallon. Under Joe Biden's presidency (January 2021 to November 2024), the average price has been around $3.54 per gallon. That's 43% higher inflation under Biden. Less than 2% of the registered vehicles on US roadways will be EV's by the end of 2024. Around 11 % of new car sales will be EV in 2024, so the impact of higher fuel prices effects not only 98% of US drivers by also the costs of transporting food due to increased fuel costs, which has lead to an increase of food costs/inflation.

Third, I am strongly against human trafficking. Under President Biden (January 2021 – Present) The Biden administration has faced challenges with a significant influx of unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico border. Reports indicate that over 320,000 migrant children have entered the U.S., with concerns about the government's ability to track and protect them adequately. (New York Post) Sex trafficking of minors makes me sick and I believe there will potentially be less of it under Trump than there potentially was under Binden.

Fourth, I am against war, so I prefer Trump's desire to deescalate international conflicts and wars and to not start new wars.

Fifth is tenacity. If I were convicted of 34 felonies, like Trump I would exit my political career - but Trump was not deterred by his public humiliation/felonies. If I were wounded in an assassination attempt, that would be it - I would have ended my bid for a second term in the White House, but not Thump - he pumps his fist and yells fight, fight, fight and keeps going.  Also, Trump did not end his run for the White House in 2016 when his locker-room-talk audio recording was made public. I would have ended my run right then and there out of embarrassment and shame, but not Trump, he keeps going.  I know many people think he is an egotistical narcissist and I do too, but I get the sense that Trump's fragile ego and desire to maintain his public persona, will lead him to fulfill his promises (out of fear of further public humiliation.) I believe you can expect Trump to follow through on his election promises, due to his character flaws.

Sixth, I like the idea of Trump surrounding himself with AI and automation experts like Musk, to help guide our transition and help the US regulate and/or deregulate AI, as necessary, and to help the US safely win the AI and quantum computing arms race. "President-elect Donald Trump's plans for artificial intelligence likely start with repealing President Joe Biden's executive order on AI followed by limiting government regulation of the technology." TechTarget

I think that some time during next four years, there is going to be an economy reset and your average entry level office worker, customer service person, coder will be downsized due to AI and later, labor will be downsized due to automation.

I think that no matter who the president is, the average person will be screwed economically in the next four years.

I believe Trump will provide the decisive leadership needed to soften the landing, during the tough economic times ahead, and that's the final reason why I support Trump, flaws and all.

[eatstoomuchjam]

5 hours ago, majoraxis said:

lower inflation

The tariffs and mass deportation of immigrants proposed by Trump are likely to cause an inflation nightmare.  Nearly every economic expert agrees.  But be sure to enjoy your gas costing a little less at the pump.  Great logical thinking skills on display there.

5 hours ago, majoraxis said:

I am strongly against human trafficking

Congratulations on electing a candidate who was friends with Epstein and just put an alleged sex trafficker up as his head of the DOJ, then.  What a great step ahead in the fight against trafficking!

5 hours ago, majoraxis said:

If I were convicted of 34 felonies

Being convicted of 34 felonies and still running is, frankly, a stupid fucking reason to elect somebody.  What the fuck is wrong with you?

You do realize, right, that had he dropped out of the race, he would likely have been convicted for election interference in Georgia as well as having to face trial for his federal crimes relating to the 2020 election?  Staying in the race was fully motivated by his own self-interest.

And hey, now that he's going to be in control of the DOJ, he can demand that it settle his own 100 million dollar lawsuit.  Nice that he'll directly take tax dollars from every individual in the US and put it in his own bank account.

5 hours ago, majoraxis said:

Also, Trump did not end his run for the White House in 2016 when his locker-room-talk audio recording was made public.

The recordings of him talking about how much he liked sexually assaulting women?  How great that we have a sexual abuser in office - confirmed in court, as part of the trial for him defaming a woman that he sexually assaulted.  Once again, what the fuck is wrong with you?

5 hours ago, majoraxis said:

I believe you can expect Trump to follow through on his election promises

The problem is that I do believe he will follow through on a number of the things he said he would do.  Most of them are fucking awful.

5 hours ago, majoraxis said:

surrounding himself with AI and automation experts like Musk

Elon Musk is an expert in almost exactly one thing - hiring smart people and exploiting them. He's invented exactly one thing - the hyperloop, the dumbest form of mass transit that has been proposed in more than 50 years.  He's a shithead who failed upward by owning part a company that he was driving into the ground, getting fired as its CEO, and profiting when Peter Thiel actually made it successful.

5 hours ago, majoraxis said:

I believe Trump will provide the decisive leadership needed to soften the landing, during the tough economic times ahead

Oh yeah, the guy with a history of putting his own interests ahead of quite literally everybody else really has your back.  Great reasoning there.  He definitely won't fuck the common person and do a bunch of stuff to enrich himself and his cronies. Even if it means he'll have a few dollars less, he'll definitely look out for the little guy. 🤣

[Emanuel]

Weird times these ones of today. A full disappointment, never thought to ever attend this show worldwide nowadays. Man and the planet, we're all going to the extermination in this way. People have no idea what they're doing and facts are upside down. People simply don't see it. How come? Just a fact. Determinant one, though : ( Lacks ability of perceiving the dimension of the hole but this is spread all over the place when shit hits the fan. What a miss and a mess, both in a single one. A dangerous combo.

- EAG

[majoraxis]

2 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

The tariffs and mass deportation of immigrants proposed by Trump are likely to cause an inflation nightmare.  Nearly every economic expert agrees.  But be sure to enjoy your gas costing a little less at the pump.  Great logical thinking skills on display there.

Thanks for agreeing with my point - higher fuel cost led to inflation.

Regarding tariffs - it has to be combined with other incentives to on shore jobs as it did not work in isolation the first time around. So you are correct tariffs alone with not solve the problem of bring back job to the US.

Regarding mass deportation of illegal immigrants - there are economic costs due to accommodating millions of new illegal immigrants. Center for Immigration Studies (CIS): A 2024 report by CIS estimated that the lifetime fiscal drain (taxes paid minus costs) for each illegal immigrant is about $68,000. (Congress.gov) So illegal immigrants are not a net benefit to the tax payer, you either pay through inflation or you pay through taxation and/or debt. There is no free fiscal ride when it comes to illegal immigration.

 

2 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

Congratulations on electing a candidate who was friends with Epstein and just put an alleged sex trafficker up as his head of the DOJ, then.  What a great step ahead in the fight against trafficking!

There is no evidence that Trump was involved in Epstein's criminal activities. Unsealed court documents and flight logs have not implicated Trump in Epstein's illegal conduct. Trump has stated that he had a falling out with Epstein "a long time ago" and was "not a fan." (Wikipedia)

 

2 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

Being convicted of 34 felonies and still running is, frankly, a stupid fucking reason to elect somebody.  What the fuck is wrong with you?

Public opinion on whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been "weaponized" against former President Donald Trump include:

June 2023: A Quinnipiac University poll found that 62% of Americans believed the DOJ's case involving Trump's handling of classified documents was mainly motivated by politics, while 34% thought it was mainly motivated by law.

Polls at Quinnipiac University

March 2023: A Rasmussen Reports survey indicated that 64% of likely U.S. voters agreed with the statement that the FBI has become "politically weaponized, starting from the top in Washington."

You are basically asking what is wrong with the American people?

Nothing, as the People did allow a politicized DOJ determine who they want to be president.

2 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

The recordings of him talking about how much he liked sexually assaulting women?  How great that we have a sexual abuser in office - confirmed in court, as part of the trial for him defaming a woman that he sexually assaulted.  Once again, what the fuck is wrong with you?

Once again, nothing is wrong with the American voter who unfortunately had to choose between a sex offender who proved he could run the country first time around and someone who they believed could not, as evidenced by the outcome of both the electoral college and the popular vote.  Reminds of Bill Clinton - great economy, questionable morals.

American voters had to selected from two evil candidates.

Just because I support Trump does not mean I like everything he has done or said or will do. I support Trump because I believe he will protect our freedoms and I am ecstatic that a divisive administration (Biden - stop calling the now majority of American voters extremists - it is untrue and divisive.)  that tried to limit free speech will soon be out of the White house.

But not soon enough...

I hope Biden is not leading us into a nuclear war with his recent escalation in military strategy. That is person you need to pose your f-bomb questions to... what the f is wrong with Biden?

Does he not care for the common person who doesn't have a nuclear fallout shelter in their basement?

[Andrew Reid]

10 hours ago, majoraxis said:

Thanks Andrew!

First is the first amendment. I am a free speech absolutist.

You're a free speech absolutist but a very poor judge of character.

Are you not watching who Trump has around him, men like Steve Bannon and Matt Gaetz.

The former is another convict, and the latter is an alleged sex offender under investigation from all corners, $10k payments to prostitutes, sex with an underage girl and there's even a witness for that.

This is only just scratching the surface of the Trump circle jerk.

They are terrible people. Absolutely terrible.

You as an American deserve better.

[eatstoomuchjam]

2 hours ago, majoraxis said:

Regarding tariffs - it has to be combined with other incentives to on shore jobs as it did not work in isolation the first time around. So you are correct tariffs alone with not solve the problem of bring back job to the US.

US labor costs more than foreign labor.  Bringing jobs into the US does not reduce the cost of goods.  Also, factories don't build themselves (that costs a bunch of money and will take time) and people won't instantly be trained to do the work.  So yeah, years of major inflation.

2 hours ago, majoraxis said:

Regarding mass deportation of illegal immigrants - there are economic costs due to accommodating millions of new illegal immigrants. Center for Immigration Studies (CIS): A 2024 report by CIS estimated that the lifetime fiscal drain (taxes paid minus costs) for each illegal immigrant is about $68,000. (Congress.gov) So illegal immigrants are not a net benefit to the tax payer, you either pay through inflation or you pay through taxation and/or debt. There is no free fiscal ride when it comes to illegal immigration.

Learn to read.  I said "immigrants" and didn't qualify their documentation status.  Shit for brains said he wants to also revoke citizenship from a number of people who entered the country legally.  We're also talking about inflation here and when farmers and slaughterhouses, etc have to suddenly start paying 5-10x the prices for labor, the prices of food will go up.

2 hours ago, majoraxis said:

There is no evidence that Trump was involved in Epstein's criminal activities. Unsealed court documents and flight logs have not implicated Trump in Epstein's illegal conduct. Trump has stated that he had a falling out with Epstein "a long time ago" and was "not a fan." (Wikipedia)

Yes, there isn't specific evidence of Trump fucking children with Epstein.  There's also no evidence that he didn't.  There is, however, evidence that they were buddies, Trump brags about sexually assaulting women, and women who were in teenage beauty pageants that he judged said he used to like walking into the changing room while they were undressed.

Also, Matt fucking Gaetz.  Don't be a cherry picking dipshit.

2 hours ago, majoraxis said:

Public opinion on whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been "weaponized" against former President Donald Trump include:

June 2023: A Quinnipiac University poll found that 62% of Americans believed the DOJ's case involving Trump's handling of classified documents was mainly motivated by politics, while 34% thought it was mainly motivated by law.

Polls at Quinnipiac University

March 2023: A Rasmussen Reports survey indicated that 64% of likely U.S. voters agreed with the statement that the FBI has become "politically weaponized, starting from the top in Washington."

You are basically asking what is wrong with the American people?

Nothing, as the People did allow a politicized DOJ determine who they want to be president.

Who is asking about fucking opinion polls?  Trump's convictions weren't through the DOJ anyway.  It was through the state courts of New York.  Learn how the fucking legal system works.

I'm asking, specifically, what's wrong with you and your dangerously impaired critical thinking skills.  Do you get all of your information from a steady diet of right-wing news sources?

2 hours ago, majoraxis said:

Once again, nothing is wrong with the American voter who unfortunately had to choose between a sex offender who proved he could run the country first time around and someone who they believed could not, as evidenced by the outcome of both the electoral college and the popular vote.  Reminds of Bill Clinton - great economy, questionable morals.

What the fuck?  He proved the first time that he is completely incompetent at running a country which is why, specifically, people voted him out of office.  Also, I'm not talking about the "American voter."  I am talking about you, specifically, and the dumbshit reasons you're giving for supporting a sex predator.

Bill Clinton, FWIW, lied about receiving a blowjob from an intern.  There is a big difference between "questionable morals" and "rapist."  If you can't tell that difference, kindly remove yourself from any public discussion of anything.  You are an embarrassment to my country.

2 hours ago, majoraxis said:

Just because I support Trump does not mean I like everything he has done or said or will do. I support Trump because I believe he will protect our freedoms and I am ecstatic that a divisive administration (Biden - stop calling the now majority of American voters extremists - it is untrue and divisive.)  that tried to limit free speech will soon be out of the White house.

If you think Trump will "protect freedom," you are truly idiotic and I won't bother responding to any other pablum that you want to post.  Trump will protect "Donald J Trump" and will be glad to fuck over anybody else in order to enrich himself and his cronies.

 

2 hours ago, majoraxis said:

I hope Biden is not leading us into a nuclear war with his recent escalation in military strategy. That is person you need to pose your f-bomb questions to... what the f is wrong with Biden?

Here you go again with dipshit comments about Ukraine.  If somebody invaded the US, most people wouldn't be OK with us just giving up a few states to avoid further conflict.  But yet, you think that the only solution is for them to do just that, any you wring your hands while shedding crocodile tears about their generation of young men that will be lost because the big bad US had the gall to arm them to defend themselves against Russian aggression.

Note also that BIden escalated jack shit with military strategy.  Our military is not in Ukraine.  You'd know that if you pulled your head out of your ass long enough to actually pay attention.

[majoraxis]

5 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

You're a free speech absolutist but a very poor judge of character.

Are you not watching who Trump has around him, men like Steve Bannon and Matt Gaetz.

The former is another convict, and the latter is an alleged sex offender under investigation from all corners, $10k payments to prostitutes, sex with an underage girl and there's even a witness for that.

This is only just scratching the surface of the Trump circle jerk.

They are terrible people. Absolutely terrible.

You as an American deserve better.

I am not a fan of Gaetz and don't think he will get confirmed - he is an embarrassment and will be a source of division and controversy, if confirmed.

As for Bannon, he deserved to go to jail for not complying with the two subpoenas from Congress, so hopefully this will be the standard going forward, so Congress can get to the bottom of whatever they're investing in the future.

Many of Trump's appointees are not qualified and can't be taken seriously, but because of what happen during his first term, Trump is hand picking loyalists, for better or worse.

I agree with you! America deserves better...

[Emanuel]

9 hours ago, majoraxis said:

I hope Biden is not leading us into a nuclear war with his recent escalation in military strategy. That is person you need to pose your f-bomb questions to... what the f is wrong with Biden?

You know what I immediately realised when I've started to deal with Russia (I lived there in 2012 and 2013) in those twenty years ago of 2005?

Western politicians should only be able to candidate to the office from a living experience in Russia or they have no clue what they're doing.

West should never insult/defy the good people of Russia because of the bad apple BUT never to be afraid of them either. Such fear will lead all of us to a nuclear war, unfortunately, just not in 2024 or 2025, very likely.

Trumpism explores you all in a very embarrassing way, to the general view and history/science no less WTH : X Biden is the best President you had in two decades at least. To only pair Clinton and Reagan, whether the differences between them whether you like it or not.

Half of U.S. voters are a bunch of ignorants on economics to begin with and their vote just proves it. Let alone the politics and sense of reality. Plain pathetic : ) On this, among a lot of other their claims, @Andrew Reid and @eatstoomuchjam are 100% accurate. And I am not the kind of individual who don't see pros and cons practically about everything TBH.

 

Disclaimer: Nothing about you @majoraxis (one of my favs ones over here : ) neither I have any beef against Trump or Musk, on the contrary even though my fierce resistance, they're not losers at all, of course, I wish they would!

 

BTW in the past, I supported for U.S. President versus anyone else who could fit the job, the perfect real American war hero and one of the best Americans ever born: John McCain.

Remember his position on all this we're living today? And his loyalty to 'his' POTUS and VPOTUS too?

Just not to this current elected one.

 

You have no clue what you've done. Despite the fact you are in California so I suppose you haven't elected him.

 

Your electoral system is far to be a democracy.

A lunatic left not a small blemish on his father, uncle and his own family name's memory, when arranged a way to stay in the American history selling his vote for a role. And less than 233 thousands of votes in 3 out of 50 States and the District of Columbia. No 2nd round. Anyone with less than 50% can become the most powerful man in the world and rule the lives of all of us worldwide. For some reason the South African-born American businessman Elon will be part of the next government.

 

The characters are all there:

We have no need to be Nostradamus to understand what's really going on.

[Emanuel]

21 minutes ago, Emanuel said:

Your electoral system is far to be a democracy.

A lunatic left not a small blemish on his father, uncle and his own family name's memory, when arranged a way to stay in the American history selling his vote for a role. And less than 233 thousands of votes in 3 out of 50 States and the District of Columbia. No 2nd round. Anyone with less than 50% can become the most powerful man in the world and rule the lives of all of us worldwide. (...)

I stand corrected especially when every vote counts: less than 232 thousand of votes...

The difference was 231 590 votes with 99% of votes counted*.

Fact.

 

*source: Associated Press

https://apnews.com/projects/election-results-2024/?office=P

 

A personal comment now:

231 590 individuals out of 8 billion people... WOW ; ) What a democracy!

 

 

[majoraxis]

2 hours ago, Emanuel said:

Disclaimer: Nothing about you @majoraxis (one of my favs ones over here : ) neither I have any beef against Trump or Musk, on the contrary even though my fierce resistance, they're not losers at all, of course, I wish they would! ...

... You have no clue what you've done. Despite the fact you are in California so I suppose you haven't elected him.

Thanks - I appreciate it!

I admit it - I am someone who trusts Trump more than I trust our government and their media proxy.

This is the decision tree for me - if you believe that the current administration does not have your best interests in mind you vote for Trump.  Is he going to do a better job than Biden did, probably not, according to the experts here and abroad.

With Trump I don't have to hear day in and day out that I am an unworthy extremist who's distrust of the government, makes me a potential criminal.

As much as you (not directed at anyone in particular) hate Trump - I  hate being told I am a piece of shit for my views on government by my government its media proxy.

So yeah,  look what I've doing - I along with the majority of the small number of people who choose to vote in this election, said stop calling me a f-ing idiot for my views.  I think this forum thread proves this point.

I love you guys (regardless of your political views or if you think I am idiot for my political views. In fact, I encourage you to exercise your freedom speech even when it is critical of my views and critical of me exercising my freedom of speech - that's how we get to what we believe is true) and I love this forum.

I was hoping shed some insight on how the media divides us by labeling us into groups and pitting us against each other, for profit.

Then it turned in to me arguing for how the American voter sees Trump as the lesser of two evils...

Then the core issue came in to focus - people (like me) voted for Trump because they are tired of being labeled as evil or stupid themselves...

[Emanuel]

47 minutes ago, majoraxis said:

Thanks - I appreciate it!

I admit it - I am someone who trusts Trump more than I trust our government and their media proxy.

This is the decision tree for me - if you believe that the current administration does not have your best interests in mind you vote for Trump.  Is he going to do a better job than Biden did, probably not, according to the experts here and abroad.

With Trump I don't have to hear day in and day out that I am an unworthy extremist who's distrust of the government, makes me a potential criminal.

As much as you (not directed at anyone in particular) hate Trump - I  hate being told I am a piece of shit for my views on government by my government its media proxy.

So yeah,  look what I've doing - I along with the majority of the small number of people who choose to vote in this election, said stop calling me a f-ing idiot for my views.  I think this forum thread proves this point.

I love you guys (regardless of your political views or if you think I am idiot for my political views. In fact, I encourage you to exercise your freedom speech even when it is critical of my views and critical of me exercising my freedom of speech - that's how we get to what we believe is true) and I love this forum.

I was hoping shed some insight on how the media divides us by labeling us into groups and pitting us against each other, for profit.

Then it turned in to me arguing for how the American voter sees Trump as the lesser of two evils...

Then the core issue came in to focus - people (like me) voted for Trump because they are tired of being labeled as evil or stupid themselves...

I don't hate Trump, I wish him all the best : ) Our future is now in his hands... I just don't buy his lies.

And see them as rather serious to the human race.

Let alone the climate change.

Without mention autocracy to rule 99.99% of the world population, that's nuts and it's actually happening!

About media... that DON'T LOOK UP thing and feature film even puts a woman as President : D and media is nothing but not innocent.

The fact is that if we say all media is evil, the same principle you denounce applies.

Wokeism, maybe, is that what you're referring to?

I also think that made Kamala's loss... and the fact she is a woman, too sad to be true but I'm afraid it is. After all, Biden had been elected with 81 million people, about more 4.5 million people than Trump in 2024 (who got just about 2.5 million more of voters than in 2020 but not all those who elected Biden).

In a line: pity the moderate Biden is now old or I bet Trump would never have defeated the democrats twice... What a change!

 

https://www.nbcwashington.com/decision-2024/2024-voter-turnout-election-demographics-trump-harris/3762138/

 

[Snowfun]

5 hours ago, majoraxis said:

that's how we get to what we believe is true

Isn’t that precisely the problem? What we “believe” to be true isn’t enough. We should endeavour to listen to the evidence so we know what is true.

(And, yes, we can argue about the evidence and its significance but that is all part of the epistemological  process - it doesn’t diminish the difference between what is true and what is not. Irrespective of what I, or anyone else, might believe).