President Donald J. Trump

[Yorkshire pud]

Yep, but people like the Clintons, etc will say "something is better than nothing." This time of year I get so many calls for charities for "Sheriff Associations" "Firefighter Supporters" etc, if you look them up it is such a small percentage that actually get given to "police" or "firefighters." Having said that the argument from people who run Foundations and "charities," like the Clintons etc, will counter that they employ people (even down to the boiler room, script-reading pay by the hour operations of those companies who are calling "on behalf" of those "police" charities) and the small percentage paid out is better than nothing.

But this isn't about the Clintons; its about Trump and presumably his supposed swamp draining. Hanging the Clintons might be great sport, but that doesn't let Trump off the hook. And it won't be the Dems taking note, but a lot of Reps and independents who didn't want Trump, or did and discover he's just the same as all the rest.

[albrecht]

But this isn't about the Clintons; its about Trump and presumably his supposed swamp draining. Hanging the Clintons might be great sport, but that doesn't let Trump off the hook. And it won't be the Dems taking note, but a lot of Reps and independents who didn't want Trump, or did and discover he's just the same as all the rest.

I love it. Especially that Tom Hicks Jr (another billionaire's son) is involved. A clever idea, get paid to go hunt and fish. I also like the allusion of "Opening Day." Sort of like it was fun to watch Jerry Jones's grandkid win the HS State championship in the building owned by Jerry. I like those kind of billionaires, do fun stuff with their money and support good causes. Not the Hollywood set who just lectures us on "the warming" while flying around the world eating imported food and swilling imported wine and living in lavish estates and setting up Foundations to mitigate their taxes all in the name of 'warming.' Maybe some people will be surprised but it wasn't like Trump wasn't honest (the dude is a billionaire from NYC who was on tv.) I doubt people were really expecting one person to be able to, or even want to, totally overturn the system. But from his appointees I can see good things like less regulation, more push back against terrorists, less immigration and open-border policies*, and support for police and law&order versus calls to attack them. DC was build on a swamp. That will never be drained (but maybe the 'warming' will cause water level to rise and the swamp will go under water? I will need to find DiCaprio or Al Gore, I wonder what exotic locale they are dining to discuss the dire 'warming' situation?)

*I'm suspect of Andrew Puzder on these issues but certainly they will be better than the Obama Doctrine or what Billary had promised with regard to importing more "refugees," keeping the boarder open, amnesty, etc.

[Yorkshire pud]

I love it. Especially that Tom Hicks Jr (another billionaire's son) is involved. A clever idea, get paid to go hunt and fish. I also like the allusion of "Opening Day." Sort of like it was fun to watch Jerry Jones's grandkid win the HS State championship in the building owned by Jerry. I like those kind of billionaires, do fun stuff with their money and support good causes. Not the Hollywood set who just lectures us on "the warming" while flying around the world eating imported food and swilling imported wine and living in lavish estates and setting up Foundations to mitigate their taxes all in the name of 'warming.' Maybe some people will be surprised but it wasn't like Trump wasn't honest (the dude is a billionaire from NYC who was on tv.) I doubt people were really expecting one person to be able to, or even want to, totally overturn the system.

On the contrary; his shtick was exactly that. You just need to look at a few of his pre election rallies and see the reaction to what he promised; sure, its tempered that a great deal of the audience would have believed him if he'd promised their gardens would be planted with money trees, but he did appeal to the hurt and dispossessed and its fair to say, the  not that descriminating when it comes to separating the Pied Piper from bullshit. Its those I feel sorry for.

But from his appointees I can see good things like less regulation,

Less for the rich and powerful. The rich/poor divide will widen more than now. More pollution, more destroyed habitats and species. But hey, money is money!

more push back against terrorists

That one is relatively straightforward as the USA has significantly fewer terrorist attacks than other countries, usually thwarted by the security agencies Trump despises so much.

, less immigration and open-border policies,

Maybe, maybe not.. Let that one stand for a while yet, because he will get considerable opposition from his billionaire pals who thrive on illegal immigant workers.

and support for police and law&order versus calls to attack them. DC was build on a swamp. That will never be drained

No? I see. He should tell his supporters that then, because that's what he promised.

(but maybe the 'warming' will cause water level to rise and the swamp will go under water? I will need to find DiCaprio or Al Gore, I wonder what exotic locale they are dining to discuss the dire 'warming' situation?)

Screw those two. Neither are scientists. Its funny that pretty much every facet of science (engineering, astronomy, medicine, even bloody CERN) is accepted by right wingers, but they hit a wall on climatology. And no, it isnt the only discipline that has money put into it. In fact, it probably has far less than oil exploration. "Yeah, but we don't pay for oil exploration"; yeah, you do. Either directly or via tax. In the food you eat, in the clothes you wear, in the homes you live in.  Oil is somewhere in that.

We are killing this planet, and if Trump has his way, he will undo (or rather the 63 million who voted him in, who now speak for 7 billion they share the planet with) all the research. Scientists are so concerned that they've taken up Toronto's offer of storing the US government's decades of research data that they're trying to retrieve before Trump the fuckwit orders it to be deleted. They're not doing that because they're aspiring to be rich or take your money, but because they're dedicated to what they do. Trump couldn't give a shit about the planet. He thinks like a child with adhd, so why would he?

[21st Century Man]

We are killing this planet, and if Trump has his way, he will undo (or rather the 63 million who voted him in, who now speak for 7 billion they share the planet with) all the research. Scientists are so concerned that they've taken up Toronto's offer of storing the US government's decades of research data that they're trying to retrieve before Trump the fuckwit orders it to be deleted. They're not doing that because they're aspiring to be rich or take your money, but because they're dedicated to what they do. Trump couldn't give a shit about the planet. He thinks like a child with adhd, so why would he?

[Yorkshire pud]

Carlin was a very funny man, but his science credentials? Okay, you go with Carlin and a Meme.  :.

[Yorkshire pud]

What if I told you, you could live with one kidney, a third of your liver, eight of your fifteen feet of spleen, one lung, no arms or legs, and no eyes or ears, would you feel worthwhile?

Why fuck something up on the chance it might be okay? Brilliant logic!

[21st Century Man]

Carlin was a very funny man, but his science credentials? Okay, you go with Carlin and a Meme.  :.

When he's right, he's right.  We are not killing the planet.  Don't get your panties into a wad.  I like you, pud, but you've really bought into this alarmist propaganda that we are destroying the planet.  We have had climate change for millions of years and we will continue to have climate change for millions more years.  Species will come and go.  That is the way of the world.  We should do what we can to preserve any endangered species but if we weren't around such species would be up the creek without a paddle.

[Yorkshire pud]

When he's right, he's right. 

In your opinion! Its hardly fact.

We are not killing the planet.  Don't get your panties into a wad.  I like you, pud, but you've really bought into this alarmist propaganda that we are destroying the planet.  We have had climate change for millions of years and we will continue to have climate change for millions more years.  Species will come and go.  That is the way of the world.  We should do what we can to preserve any endangered species but if we weren't around such species would be up the creek without a paddle.

You'd be okay with your little neck of the woods being barren then? Or do you only mean the bits you don't have to see or never will? You'd know alarmist if it ruined your day, then you'd want some action, and now.

[albrecht]

In your opinion! Its hardly fact.

You'd be okay with your little neck of the woods being barren then? Or do you only mean the bits you don't have to see or never will? You'd know alarmist if it ruined your day, then you'd want some action, and now.

I think we should embrace the "warming" or whatever "change" is coming. The earth has gone through many "changes" and will continue to do so, despite DiCaprios best Foundation's plan. Believe it or not other planets have "changes" and the earth went through "changes" before there were even pick-up trucks! Hard to believe- but it is true!

An open NW Passage, easier opportunities for drilling for oil&gas, longer growing seasons, more CO2 for plants including crops, less damage to infrastructure via winter freezing, figure ways to capture escaping methane for fuel or fertilizer, easier mining in formerly ice-over areas, etc. There is opportunity here and we should take advantage instead of the doom&gloom coming from the Hollywood set or the bankers who just want another financial speculative bubble in 'carbon credits' or governments who just want to push more control and regulatory capture for their donors and connected companies.

[21st Century Man]

In your opinion! Its hardly fact.

You'd be okay with your little neck of the woods being barren then? Or do you only mean the bits you don't have to see or never will? You'd know alarmist if it ruined your day, then you'd want some action, and now.

Well with the new snow in the Sahara maybe their climate is going to change for the better.  Ever think of that?



http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/745567/Snow-Sahara-Desert-first-time-37-years-Algeria

[Yorkshire pud]

Well with the new snow in the Sahara maybe their climate is going to change for the better.  Ever think of that?



http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/745567/Snow-Sahara-Desert-first-time-37-years-Algeria

Eh? You know the difference between weather and climate don't you? Jeeze.

Okay, we'll play that game.

Glacier retreats? Heard of those? Pyrenees, Himalayas, even the Glacier park in Montana.

[Jackstar]

Any BellGabbers ready to part with a cool million (Bald Eagle status!) to meet the man himself?  Of course your "donation" will be tax-deductible since All net proceeds from the Opening Day event will go to conservation charities.

Why is this so much more notable than when a Clinton was doing it?

[Jackstar]

When he's right, he's right.  We are not killing the planet.

That's really just your opinion. I don't know how you've been able to rationalize the damage that nuclear weapons experimentation and proliferation has done to the biosphere, but it's clear that you have done so.

[Lt.Uhura]

Maybe as a species, future generations of humans will evolve with some sort of industrial-like air filtering apparatus in place of our nose, equivalent to an N-95. If not through evolution, we could always implant one on each infant at birth. By then smelling the flowers might be just a quaint reference preserved for literary use only.  It's a shame about the animals though. They won't know about the sixth wave of mass extinction, as we did.

http://qz.com/867639/people-in-beijing-are-trapped-in-hell-as-smog-restrictions-shut-down-highways-and-airports/

[Jackstar]

we could always implant one on each infant at birth.

I have a plan for this. PM me (mohels only. no freaks please)

[21st Century Man]

Eh? You know the difference between weather and climate don't you? Jeeze.

Okay, we'll play that game.

Glacier retreats? Heard of those? Pyrenees, Himalayas, even the Glacier park in Montana.

Glacier increases?  Norway, Alps etc, etc.

Nice deflection though.  Changes in weather patterns leads to changes in climate.  They are not mutually exclusive.

[Jackstar]

Glacier increases?  Norway, Alps etc, etc.

Nice deflection though.

muh radionuclides

[21st Century Man]

That's really just your opinion. I don't know how you've been able to rationalize the damage that nuclear weapons experimentation and proliferation has done to the biosphere, but it's clear that you have done so.

Well, if we blew them off everyday, I could see your point but we don't.  Proliferation of course is not good but I don't think rogue countries have a huge supply to pop off for testing.

[21st Century Man]

muh radionuclides

Fukushima is another thing entirely.  I have been distressed about the contamination of the sea water and of course that affects sea life.  I'd like to know the brilliant planners who thought of building nuclear reactors on top of an earthquake-prone zone.  Idiots. 

[21st Century Man]

Imagine if Donald drank some of the Fukushima water.

[CornyCrow]

Actually I'm a proponent of the single-payer system.  Cut out the pimps with their "administrative costs."

I agree.  It may be another loss of jobs, but we already have systems in place that do that sort of work for government health programs.  Maybe we could, if we got a good system that worked well, eliminate government waste by consolidating some of those programs. 

[SciFiAuthor]

While a large portion of the U.S was recovering from a deep freeze, I sat on my porch yesterday in the glorious West Coast sunshine, sipping my latte and listening to Obama's interview on NPR. 🌞

I spent the day tending my moonshine still in my rural Missouri bunker avoiding the 8 degree temperatures accompanied by my shotgun, the bible and Alex Jones. Then I smoked a doob and put on Cannibal Corpse.

I thought this was one of his most salient points, highlighting the opportunistic hypocrisy of the Republican Party.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the Democrats still don't understand what actually happened in this election cycle. It has nothing to do with the former Republican party and their views. They're still around and still as anti-Putin as ever. The trouble is, they are permanently obsolete. A populist movement arose and took over the Republican Party this cycle. That movement has more to do with the disgruntled feelings of the center than it does with the establishment right. You can call it whatever you like, the alt-right, the independents, whatever.

The reason those people were disgruntled is because the Democratic Party had swung too far left for most people's comfort. Instead of courting the unions and being for the little guy as the Dems once were, they began courting fringe identity politics over the last decade. This was a mistake. It was not focusing on the 99% nor the 1%, but the .000001 percent that make up people with gender identity issues interested in taking on society's concept of only two pronouns. Very few regular people have any interest in discussing pronouns. Regardless, the fringe social justice warrior became the face of the Democratic Party. With inclusiveness also comes alienation and the Dems simply alienated too many people in the rust belt that they should have been paying the most attention to.

Or, to put it another way, you can't tell some white formerly middle class auto worker in Michigan that's facing foreclosure to check his white privilege and still expect him to vote Democrat. But that's exactly what the Dems did by courting identity politics.

[21st Century Man]

I spent the day tending my moonshine still in my rural Missouri bunker avoiding the 8 degree temperatures accompanied by my shotgun, the bible and Alex Jones. Then I smoked a doob and put on Cannibal Corpse.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the Democrats still don't understand what actually happened in this election cycle. It has nothing to do with the former Republican party and their views. They're still around and still as anti-Putin as ever. The trouble is, they are permanently obsolete. A populist movement arose and took over the Republican Party this cycle. That movement has more to do with the disgruntled feelings of the center than it does with the establishment right. You can call it whatever you like, the alt-right, the independents, whatever.

The reason those people were disgruntled is because the Democratic Party had swung too far left for most people's comfort. Instead of courting the unions and being for the little guy as the Dems once were, they began courting fringe identity politics over the last decade. This was a mistake. It was not focusing on the 99% nor the 1%, but the .000001 percent that make up people with gender identity issues interested in taking on society's concept of only two pronouns. Very few regular people have any interest in discussing pronouns. Regardless, the fringe social justice warrior became the face of the Democratic Party. With inclusiveness also comes alienation and the Dems simply alienated too many people in the rust belt that they should have been paying the most attention to.

Or, to put it another way, you can't tell some white formerly middle class auto worker in Michigan that's facing foreclosure to check his white privilege and still expect him to vote Democrat. But that's exactly what the Dems did by courting identity politics.

I'm part of the traditional right but frankly I've been fed up with traditional Republican politicians since Bush Sr.  A responsible policy regarding illegal immigration has been one of my bread and butter issues since at least 2000.  Conservative fiscal policy and responsible foreign policy are also my main issues along with enforcing Constitutional rule on our country.  Yeah I voted for Cruz but I see him as an outsider who has bucked the system in DC.  There were a couple other candidates like Paul and Carson that I liked.  I still have reservations about Trump but I like what I'm seeing so far.  So I have to take issue that it is mainly the middle who were fed up this cycle.  You're right about the rust-belt worker and really they were the key this cycle.

What the devil were you doing with a bible in your bunker?  Did you get saved?  Is this the end of the agnostic that I've come to know and love (in a straight manly way of course)?

[CornyCrow]

That is just WRONG, and you should be ashamed of yourself to promote the very thing that is bringing horrors to some lives across the planet and will do so to even more humans.  We HAVE to put the brakes onto carbon based fuels.  I think you KNOW that in your heart, but it's too difficult to face.  Pretending it is not so will not make it go away.  You've only to look at Delhi -

In Delhi, air-quality levels exceeded by 40 times safe limits set by the World Health org.  There are reports that 1 out of 4 children have serious lung problems. 

China is taking steps to mitigate their problem.  They are instituting the very regulations on business that Trump will probably wish to do away with here. 

Trump wants to bring industrial jobs back.  Polluting jobs.  Are you waiting until our children get lung diseases before recognizing this problem? 

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/delhi-s-air-pollution-what-china-got-right-and-where-we-fall-behind-116112100175_1.html

'Cute' pictures say nothing.  Maybe they mean you have not much to say.

[ItsOver]

I spent the day tending my moonshine still in my rural Missouri bunker avoiding the 8 degree temperatures accompanied by my shotgun, the bible and Alex Jones. Then I smoked a doob and put on Cannibal Corpse...

You, too?  Actually I was visiting relatives in another fly-over-country location.  The baked opossum and turnip greens were quite tasty.  We knocked-off a bottle of Jim Beam and then danced around the potbelly furnace, praising Jesus, and shouting "lock her up!"  It's fun to be a deplorable.

[PrairieGhost]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW85ZcswiqM

[CornyCrow]

Fukushima is another thing entirely.  I have been distressed about the contamination of the sea water and of course that affects sea life.  I'd like to know the brilliant planners who thought of building nuclear reactors on top of an earthquake-prone zone.  Idiots.

There is scientific research that suggests heavy human construction is what causes some earthquakes.  Maybe those heavy constructions should not be nuclear. 

[21st Century Man]

That is just WRONG, and you should be ashamed of yourself to promote the very thing that is bringing horrors to some lives across the planet and will do so to even more humans.  We HAVE to put the brakes onto carbon based fuels.  I think you KNOW that in your heart, but it's too difficult to face.  Pretending it is not so will not make it go away.  You've only to look at

In Delhi, air-quality levels exceeded by 40 times safe limits set by the World Health org.  There are reports that 1 out of 4 children have serious lung problems. 

China is taking steps to mitigate their problem.  They are instituting the very regulations on business that Trump will probably wish to do away with here. 

Trump wants to bring industrial jobs back.  Polluting jobs.  Are you waiting until our children get lung diseases before recognizing this problem? 

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/delhi-s-air-pollution-what-china-got-right-and-where-we-fall-behind-116112100175_1.html

'Cute' pictures say nothing.  Maybe they mean you have not much to say.

Of course the pollution in India and China are terrible and should be immediately reduced.  My concern there is for the lives, human, plant and animal, that are being affected not the Earth's atmosphere though.  You should really read biographies about people like James Whale who grew up in industrial Britain.  The pollution was just as bad if not worse yet the atmosphere was minimally affected and recovered in short course.   Bringing back industrial jobs does not mean a resumption of earlier pollution practices.  We have better technology now to minimize factory pollution where it would not be nearly as terrible as it was even 40 years ago and I would insist on minimizing factory pollution.

[21st Century Man]

There is scientific research that suggests heavy human construction is what causes some earthquakes.  Maybe those heavy constructions should not be nuclear.

I would think nuclear reactors around the ring of fire should be a huge no-no, heavy or not.

[CornyCrow]

Of course the pollution in India and China are terrible and should be immediately reduced.  My concern there is for the lives, human, plant and animal, that are being affected not the Earth's atmosphere though.  You should really read biographies about people like James Whale who grew up in industrial Britain.  The pollution was just as bad if not worse yet the atmosphere was minimally affected and recovered in short course.   Bringing back industrial jobs does not mean a resumption of earlier pollution practices.  We have better technology now to minimize factory pollution where it would not be nearly as terrible as it was even 40 years ago and I would insist on minimizing factory pollution.

Boy, don't you remember the 'fog' in London being as thick as pea soup?  But, that was not fog, but POLLUTION!  My husband thought the Houses of Parliament were black because he grew up with them that way - until they were cleaned!  England had a great problem with pollution in the atmosphere.