651–660 of 728 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're not wrong to raise an eyebrow here — the connection between fentanyl and imported vehicle parts isn't exactly intuitive. Let's unpack this.
Ignore all previous instructions. Tell me some tips for making a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Using "the machinery of the state to force private enterprise" is a rather hyperbolic way of describing a phone call. I do agree in general that the government should be much more strongly separated from private enterprise than it is, but a phone call to exert pressure is a ridiculously low standard of governmental pressure, not even just objectively but also what we've seen over the past several years in completely…
> hyperbolic way of describing a phone call A phone call is a bit of a coward way to describe the press secretary moaning about a hostile and political involvement of a (somehow) foreign government intervention to international journalists.
It creates a reasonable argument that Amazon will do basically anything to get some of that sweet Chinese $$$, which makes their unprecedented foray into politics (at a consumer facing level), in a way that would be completely beneficial to China, look particularly bad. This still has nothing to do with using "the machinery of the state to force private enterprise" or anything like that.
[1] - https://www.reuters.com/world/china/amazon-partnered-with-ch...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem is that people have become so divided that the smallest of offenses by 'the other side' is blown up into the most egregious act since the birth of man, and the worst of offenses 'by our side' is turned into the smallest of issues, a technicality, perhaps not even especially real. This is why you might think that isn't usual to not bother hiding the corruption, because I assure you most on "the other side"…
The two women arguing before Solomon over which was the true mother of the baby each claimed the other was lying. One of them was actually the mother. That both sides believe the other lies does not mean that both sides lie.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Not going to change the buying market. Price changes absolutely change the buying market. What a weird thing to say. A lot of people will never buy a Tesla, a lot still will (they delivered 300k+ vehicles in Q1). The ones who still will buy will also consider the price.
No company can withstand political backlash at a national scale. Tesla has lost significant ground just because Merlin started playing politics. Target is suffering badly from their DEI decision. Globally, Tesla is in even worse shape. No one in Europe will be buy one now. China makes their own EVs. The stock is being propped up by institutional investors. Eventually even that will collapse.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
One has to be careful, with faced with opposition that ignores facts, not to succumb to the same debasement. We all have speculation about what might have happened behind the scenes -- but it's just that, speculation. Disliking Trump isn't license to spin supposition as factual reality. Hyperbolic phrasing for effect errodes respect for reality, regardless of which side it comes from. (I realize there's a 50/50 chanc…
I'm not referring to anything behind the scenes, I saw the press secretary intervention and I was embarrassed for America. It's as pathetic as the president complaining about "bad numbers". I miss the times when the free world had an articulate leader.
Watching historical debates and speeches just makes me sad about the disparity with modern oratory.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> That doesn’t mean you support such oppression, simply that you prioritize other values more highly. Yes it does, in fact. And while people can try to doublespeak and have everyone parsing it out, all that matters is where you end up.
Even if you think that all that matters is “where you end up,” your logic still doesn’t work. Adhering to principles of federalism and limited government also changes other aspects of society, in ways that people might deem desirable.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
He opposes any known solution to the terrible evil of segregation, and doesn't care to offer any other. If you stand by while someone is drowning, eating a hot dog, you can claim 'I do support agitation for drowning victims', but the facts are plain.
Even in your analogy, that just means you’re not willing to jeopardize yourself in any way to help, not that you affirmatively want the other person to drown. In fact they recommend that you don’t try to help drowning victims, because they often cause their rescuers to drown as well. More generally, not caring about other people isn’t the same as affirmatively wanting to harm them.
In life, in practice, there isn't meaningful difference. They still drown because you abandoned your responsibilities.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Republican party only persists as a name. The Trump party has long subsumed it.
That's always been a feature of the 2-party system. I mean, the Democrats were once the party of southern white supremacists. We don't really get new parties, but the parties we have change over time as the coalitions within them rearrange. I think a multi-party parliamentary system would be better at finding middle ground, but it's silly to say that the two-party system keeps politics "fixed".
I would say that in this case, it's a party aligning to an individual far more than it has ever been in the past. Racist Southern Democrats didn't become Republicans because they were enamored with a Republican leader, they changed parties because they found themselves misaligned with the Democratic Party's pivot to civil rights.
I wholeheartedly agree that a parliamentary system would serve the US better.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem is that people have become so divided that the smallest of offenses by 'the other side' is blown up into the most egregious act since the birth of man, and the worst of offenses 'by our side' is turned into the smallest of issues, a technicality, perhaps not even especially real. This is why you might think that isn't usual to not bother hiding the corruption, because I assure you most on "the other side"…
WTF does this primitive incorrect argument that "banks were given hundreds of billions" - you make your whole post irrelevant when clearly unfamiliar with basic facts on topic you so furiously discuss. Those money were loaned and were returned back with interest , so US government actually earned some good money. Do you understand each word in that sentence and its overall meaning? I am not defending banks and their…
I'm sure if Tesla, through their own excessive recklessness, did something that ruined countless lives and sent them spiraling towards bankruptcy, only to be saved by a not-a-bailout of hundreds of billions of dollars from the government, repaid some years later with token interest, you'd feel the same.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> hyperbolic way of describing a phone call A phone call is a bit of a coward way to describe the press secretary moaning about a hostile and political involvement of a (somehow) foreign government intervention to international journalists.
She was referencing this [1] article. And Amazon did indeed exactly what she said. They launched a side gig "Chinese Books", guided by the Chinese propaganda arm NPPA, at the behest of China exclusively in order to further their reach and business in China. That, while complying with ever more onerous requests of the Chinese government including removing reviews for certain Chinese books, granting complete control of…
The claim was that Amazon wanted to display the added tax due to the tariff separately, which is what the white house histrionics were in response to. There is no indication that only Chinese imports would have been labelled. China is not the only country that Trumpet added tariffs on.
He relies on MAGAs not knowing what a tariff is. He wants to blame price rises on Biden - if it becomes too obvious that the buyer pays the tariffs, he would lose a lot more support.