jonottawa

Diana, I'd post in the bridge section of the forum, but my signature (a direct quote, as everyone knows) would probably get me banned. :P As I recall the WC has looser rules than the rest of the forum. But if it makes you feel better I will stop complaining about the harassment of Kaitlyn and about the incredibly nasty tone of and repeated personal attacks by my adversaries here. You have made your position clear.

Now let's get back to the REAL issue, is it Bernie's fault that President Trump won the election? :P Dem blame game rages over Clinton loss

Adam, if I snuck into China or Afghanistan or Nigeria or Israel or Japan or Mexico or Korea (either one) and demanded government services and protested against the government, how would I be treated? The question is not how would I react to someone with an ISIS hat in America, the question is how would I react to someone with an ISIS hat in Afghanistan or Pakistan or Iraq. The answer is, I'd realize that I'm in HIS country & that I have no right to impose MY values on HIM in HIS country. (And I'd pray that I got out of there alive.) And nobody's claiming there's a conspiracy, per se. But judging from that website (with links to mainstream news sources,) there have been MANY MANY instances where people made stuff up or staged things in order to smear President Trump & his supporters. Why? Maybe for attention. Maybe to influence public opinion. There are many possible explanations. President Trump loves women & has hired a lot of them. President Trump loves legal immigrants & has hired a lot of them. President Trump loves the US Military & has pledged to restore it to greatness & they love him. President Trump has nothing against disabled people (the disabled smear is a complete lie, unless you think that people with physical handicaps should be immune from being mocked for being bad JOURNALISTS.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baUuXQ443fA President Trump wants to enforce the border & existing immigration law. He didn't call ALL Mexicans rapists. He opined that a judge who is a member of the San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association might have some trouble being objective when adjudicating a case involving someone who wants to deport (or encourage the self-deportation of) millions of Mexican citizens living in the US illegally. You can disagree with that argument, but it's not an absurd argument. Do you think if I were involved in a dispute & mikeh were the mediator that he'd give ME a fair shake? Probably not. I certainly wouldn't want to chance it. I'd ask him to recuse himself. And no, he hasn't appointed any racists or anti-Semites to anything.

I wish the harassment of Kaitlyn would stop. I've privately messaged one forum mod to TRY to get a handle on the personal attacks in here, but to no avail (even though that's the FIRST rule of the Water Cooler.) Anyway, here's a good article: Maybe Donald Trump knows exactly what he’s doing with these Cabinet picks "With the announcement Thursday of Gen. James Mattis as his pick for secretary of defense, Trump continues to demonstrate that those early worries were way off base. In fact, Trump's Cabinet choices -- and some of his potential choices -- reflect a political savviness that many people haven't been willing to grant the president-elect."

I mainly posted it because I found it tragic. (Especially this bit: "Ms Ladenburger reportedly worked in her spare time helping out in refugee homes in Freiburg.") You're right, maybe it deserves its own thread. I don't like creating thread clutter, though. Later edit: I should have posted it in RIP, thanks for the idea.

It's a hoax because someone spray-painted racist (specifically anti-black,) nazi-themed and pro-Trump messages on someone's car (and other property) in order to smear Trump supporters. The person who did that IS black. It'd be like if some Jewish people sprayed a bunch of swastikas on a synagogue along with pro-Trump graffiti. It's designed to inflame public opinion against Trump and his supporters. If you read the original story, you'll see the kind of press coverage this kind of behavior is meant to create. Here's a website with a list of similar events. I do not vouch for the quality of the website. I'm sure someone will cry 'fake news' but most of the links are to mainstream publications from what I can see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f27zNlmRMWU

Daughter of top EU official raped and murdered in Germany - Afghan migrant admits killing Tragic!

Keith Ellison’s coronation as DNC Chair is over What a shame. I was really hoping they were going to pick this guy. "The Minnesota Democrat had won endorsements from Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer for the job and had emerged as the liberal favorite in a party that has become increasingly controlled by its progressive wing in recent years. ... In 2010, Ellison gave a speech at a fundraiser hosted by a past president of the Muslim American Society. In it, he says he wants the “U.S. to be friends with Israel” but adds: “We can't allow another country to treat us like we're their ATM.” Then he said this: The United States foreign policy in the Middle East is governed by what is good or bad through a country of 7 million people. A region of 350 million all turns on a country of 7 million. Does that make sense? Is that logic? Right? When the Americans who trace their roots back to those 350 million get involved, everything changes."

Another hate crime hoax. Shameful! S. Jersey man arrested in 'Pro-Trump', racist post-election vandalism in South Philly

And there's the rub. This generation is raised to expect (feel entitled to) a free Whopper with extra pickles and extra mayo! Socialized medicine works when a society instills old fashioned values like a strong work ethic, personal responsibility & patriotism (or at least a willingness to sacrifice SOMETHING for the greater good.) When people say 'Hey, maybe I shouldn't abuse the system. Maybe I should eat healthy and exercise, etc.' The JFK (Ask not ...) ethos in America is dead (or at least on life support.) Look who agrees with you. :D (FWIW I'm agnostic on this particular case.)

I must say I AM disappointed that repealing ACA seems to be President Trump's FIRST order of business. It's a really bad idea strategically imo, much better to let premiums skyrocket for a couple more years (let its unpopularity fester and its unaffordability become apparent to all rational observers) and then repeal it just before the mid-terms. It's also a good bargaining chip with many congressional R's, who are MUCH more enthusiastic about repealing Obamacare than they are about building a southern border wall or preventing non-citizens living in the US illegally from working or receiving government benefits. It also alienates any Democrats who MIGHT be tempted to cooperate (on some other issue) with the new administration. It's kinda 'IN YOUR FACE.' Finally, it's a blame transfer for a problem that can't realistically be solved from the Democrats to the Republicans. Why would you be in any rush to transfer blame from your opponent onto yourself? Surprisingly, President Trump didn't seek my input on this issue, though. :P http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juG9IQYjbyg

I agree that that's something I wouldn't cover (in my 'perfect' health care system.) But I don't see that as a fruitful topic of conversation here, it'll only rustle people's jimmies even more than they already are. Nor do I think that it would lead to a "huge increase in health care costs" only because it's so rare. Of course if our culture continues down the path it's on, maybe it'll become far more commonplace, who could know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTqra4YSsaM

You seem to be pretending that the ACA is working great. It's not! As you seem to acknowledge, healthcare is complicated. There is an unlimited demand for healthcare, especially if you include mental health, dentistry, vision, cosmetic medicine & (as Hillary promised) give coverage to the 20M+ non-citizens living in the US illegally. So instead of telling us that you don't believe a word Trump says, how about telling us what your solution is. And tell us how you'd pay for it. And tell us how you'd get it passed. It starts with both sides agreeing not to demonize the other side. And with rejecting money from lobbyists who work for the AMA or for Big Pharma. Since none of that will ever happen, it seems inevitable that we are doomed to have a broken health care system NO MATTER WHO IS IN CHARGE. Doctors are some of the smartest people around. Do any of them come up with and promote affordable sensible proposals on how THEIR PROFESSION should operate? No. Because they're happy with the status quo, no matter how unsustainable and inefficient that system might be.

What's funny? Did you not see the NSFW videos or do you dispute the content or ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IuJGHuIkzY&t=5shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDc8PVCvfKs&t=4s

I retweet tweets I find interesting. Even really stupid or extremist people occasionally make interesting observations. If Satan (or even Hillary) made an interesting observation, or linked an interesting article, I'd retweet him. Which neo-Nazi rant are you referring to?

You have the unmitigated GALL to quote the MOTE proverb (which basically says 'don't be a hypocrite') when you're calling for someone to be banned for allegedly violating the forum rules (for his retweets on social media) when you are a SERIAL VIOLATOR OF THE FORUM RULES? How about applying that proverb to YOURSELF? What's wrong with you people? You want your 'safe space' and you want to be able to hurl nasty insults continually. I'm fine with EITHER, but not with BOTH. Pick one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YuaZcylk_o

People who serially abuse, violate and ignore the rules of THIS forum (that Diana posted) and then call for ME to be banned because they object to some of my RETweets on Twitter are beyond hypocritical. People bringing up places I worked over a dozen years ago or medical mishaps from ~7 years ago ... That's just creepy. I guess my Twitter feed is fair game, I don't make a secret of who I am, but not if it's being used as evidence that I broke the rules HERE. I follow Twitter rules on Twitter. I follow BBF rules on BBF. Retweet does not mean endorsement. Mr. Hargreaves, I strongly suggest you delete that last defamatory attack against me & refrain from future defamatory libel. My patience and tolerance has limits. You don't like me. Fine. Then ignore me. Your delusional aspersions against andrei and I have passed any bounds of decency or sanity. As for this spurious 'advertising' argument, that rule is to prevent people advertising outside services/products on THIS forum. Not to prevent/discourage advertising (sending people to) THIS forum on outside social media like Twitter. Kaitlyn, thanks for telling it like it is. Now, back to the topic at hand: Great speech by President Trump yesterday and great appointment for SecDef, General James 'Mad Dog' Mattis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akOpXknRIQk

You've been a non citizen living in a country illegally for the last 10 years? That's what we're talking about. Not legal immigrants. I agree that legal immigrants would be very unlikely to risk their immigration status by voting, but that's not what we were discussing. I hope the DoJ investigates once they finish their investigation of the Clinton Foundation. There were 14.2 million? or so votes cast in California. If one tenth of one percent (one person in one thousand) of those were cast by non-citizens (the vast majority of which are living in the country illegally,) that's 14,200. That's my 'floor'. I hope we get a chance to find out the true number (or a reasonable facsimile thereof.)

You're not in a position to 'promise' anything. Your guess is certainly no better than mine. But just out of curiosity, what's your definition of 'almost no'? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of Thousands?

You agree this is the question that was asked? "Many of the millennials, Dreamers, undocumented citizens -- and I call them citizens because they contribute to this country -- are fearful of voting. So if I vote, will immigration know where I live? Will they come for my family and deport us?" And you claim "the whole premise of the question is that even citizens may be afraid of voting"? If she had wanted to ask about ACTUAL citizens, she could have done so. She could have said "Many US citizens who are relatives of non-citizens living in the US illegally are fearful of voting. So if I vote, will immigration ..." SHE DIDN'T DO THAT. If she had done that, NOBODY would have an issue with the question. If Obama had corrected her and said directly: Hold on. Non-US Citizens are not allowed to vote & shouldn't register to vote. And then continued on with the rest of his answer, NOBODY would have an issue with the answer. But he didn't. You can play your 'it depends upon what the meaning of the word is is' games all day long. The question was awful. The answer was confusing, and Obama (Mr. 'Let me be clear') is smart enough to know it. And people who pretend otherwise are full of it. There was no 'fake edit'. The answer shown on Fox is the answer he gave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SF33K1ts-E

The Real Reason Hillary Asked for a Recount "Part of the answer is that people close to Hillary—Huma Abedin, Chelsea Clinton, and Sidney Blumenthal—encouraged her to ask for a recount as a way of lifting her spirits. “She is weepy, looks ten years older and is very whiny,” said one of Hillary’s closest friends. “She has been drinking wine pretty heavily, much more than usual. She mopes around all day, swimming in a sea of recriminations and complaining that her campaign managers were ‘incompetent,’ Bill and Chelsea ‘didn’t work hard enough,’ FBI Director Comey was ‘in league with Trump.’”" Sad! http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Car/b/bg112916dAPC20161129044559.jpghttp://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Car/b/sk120116dAPC20161201104510.jpg