May 7, 2022

States' Rights... opinions vary depending on where you live.

If you live in Texas or Oklahoma, the exercise of States' Rights can seem like a local attempt to take rights away.

In California and New York, States' Rights means shielding you from an authoritarian or tyrannical Federal Gov't.

States' Rights get a bad rap because people think of the Confederacy and some States trying to "get around" Federal laws and regulations that extend rights to larger groups of people.

But I think States' Rights might be JUST what keeps a level of sanity to this nation in it's badly fractured state.

So today, States' Rights sounds scary re: abortion... but States' Rights might be exactly what keeps abortions legal and available.

PS I live in California, more than 35 years.

May 5, 2022

They've lost communications with Azovstal soldiers...

Yeah, I know it's Daily Mail... but they have the video of thermobaric warheads being used... confirmed reporting by a handful of European agencies.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10782185/Ukraine-war-Communications-lost-Mariupol-defenders.html

Communications have today been lost with the last heroic defenders of Mariupol holed up inside the Azovstal steel works, after Russian forces stormed the complex.

Vadym Boichenko, mayor of the besieged city, said there is 'heavy fighting' ongoing inside the plant today and that he had 'lost contact' with those inside. There is no way of knowing 'what's going on, whether they are safe or not,' he said.

The grim news came as footage emerged showing Russian forces using what appeared to be lung-crushing thermobaric rockets to bombard Azovstal as tanks and troops moved into the sprawling industrial zone.

May 4, 2022

Maybe I missed the news... how did JP Mandel do last night?

Hmmm??

May 3, 2022

It's a sad day but I feel lucky to live in a State that's "got our backs"...

Even if/when the Federal Gov't or Judiciary oversteps... I know that California will do the right thing.

I knew I was paying $6.19 a gallon and living in an 1800sf 50 year old tract house worth 1.2M for a reason...

I hope lines of transportation from Red States to Blue States are open, accessible and easy.

We even successfully gerymandered my home District and VOILA!! I now have a DEM rep.

April 28, 2022

Q1 GDP slides negative... will a Q2 rally keep the US out of recession for the election season?

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-economy-shrank-14-q1-consumers-spending-84367864

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy shrank last quarter for the first time since the pandemic recession struck two years ago, contracting at a 1.4% annual rate, but consumers and businesses kept spending in a sign of economic durability.

The economy's overall decline in the January-March quarter does not mean a recession is likely in the coming months. Most economists expect a rebound this quarter as solid hiring and wage gains sustain growth.

Instead, the steady spending by households and companies suggests that the economy will likely keep expanding this year even though the Federal Reserve plans to raise rates aggressively to fight the inflation surge. The first quarter was hampered mainly by a slower restocking of goods in stores and warehouses and by a sharp drop in exports.

April 26, 2022

Musk buying Twitter... is pretty much like many of us buying a new Toyota Camry...

He purchased something valued at about 15% of his total net worth.

He went through Morgan Stanley to get the loan.





Let that sink in. I'm 100% in support of people "being all they can be" but let's have a serious talk about a wealth tax, ok?

I have NO PROBLEM with Billionaires, just pay up.

April 25, 2022

Twitter is what YOU make it.

If you follow a bunch of photographers and wildlife accounts, you're going to see a lot of content about birds, coyotes, rabbits and deer.

If you follow a bunch of anti-vaxxers, flat earthers or Trumpists, that's what you're going to get.

Twitter is NOT force feeding content to ANYONE.

The algorithm checks out WHO you're following and what posts your reading and tailors your intake appropriately.

Twitter is a microcosm of society... you get what you put in. Your community, your friends and the things you choose to be important in your life will fill your life.

I'm not leaving Twitter, why would I?

April 21, 2022

British Historian/Ph.D breaks down WHO and WHAT the Azov Battalion is.

Really the comprehensive study.

A recent DU-thread was full of lots of misinformation.

April 20, 2022

Russia test fires NEW ICBM. Will make enemies 'think twice', says Putin

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/20/new-russian-missile-will-make-enemies-think-twice-says-putin

Russia successfully tested the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with President Vladimir Putin boasting the nuclear-capable projectile will make Moscow’s enemies “think twice”.

Putin was shown on television being told by the military the missile had been launched from Plesetsk in Russia’s northwest and hit targets in the Kamchatka peninsula in the far east on Wednesday.

The Sarmat is a new heavy ICBM that Russia is expected to deploy with 10 or more warheads on each missile, according to the United States Congressional Research Service.

April 18, 2022

Short of a nuclear weapon, what can Putin do to us??? He's got nuthin' right?

Some people seem to think it's a black and white situation. We fly CAP over Ukraine and launch cruise missiles targeting Russian supply routes.

"What's Putin going to do, nuke us?"

The moment the US starts killing Russian soldiers... the floodgates open.

Remember the Moskva? And those Neptune missiles that struck it going around 650mph?

Well the Russians have Anti-ship missiles that travel Mach 10. They're barely detectable and certainly unstoppable.

Some Russian subs are equipped with them right now. As in... RIGHT NOW.

It doesn't take a military genius to acknowledge that RIGHT NOW there are Russian subs shadowing US carrier groups around the world.

That's a given. There are Zircon hypersonic ASM's in firing range (1000km) of the USS Harry S. Truman in the Mediterranean RIGHT NOW.

So when the US launches attacks... 5000 US sailors die.

Think long and hard when your heart and emotions get out in front of your head.