The Frankish Reich

OK, well imagine if Biden said it ... it would be dismissed as yet another example of his senility. What the hell is he talking about? A question that applies here.

Right. If Trump is worth $5 billion (he claims more, but we know about the wealth inflation), a $500 million fine is 10% of his net worth. This is like the ordinary schmuck worth $500,000 being fined $50,000 for falsifying his records.

No, it's grade level verbal expression. If Putin said something like this we'd say, "you clever old dog, insinuating attack if you don't get your way." If Trump says it, his "people" ignore it and say yeah, he wasn't exactly clear about what he meant, but we know it's nothing sinister ...

A tale of two sets of parents that I know. One is ultra educated. A lawyer and a legal professional. Kid who is very smart, but not so good at the STEM stuff. Goes to get a masters in library science ("science" ... hah). Gets a job making about $45,000 a year in a place she doesn't want to live. No ability to save money or really get ahead in life. Has some student loans to repay unless Biden forgives them. 26 years old now. One is the kid of a plumber who restores old cars on the side. High school dropout dad, mom with a diploma. Kid has been in and out of trouble. He's 19 now. Lives at home. Dad lays down the law after charges get dismissed on a diversion program: go get a commercial driver's license. Get a UPS job. Work your way up as a UPS driver. Live at home. You'll make $80,000 a year, set aside 15 or so for taxes, then stick the rest in an account. After 5 years you'll have at least $250 K saved. Move out, buy a house, get into adulthood in good shape at 24 years old. Or ignore me and blow probation and, whatever ...

I don't even know what "ongoing destruction of this country" is supposed to mean. I take it it is something akin to American Carnage, that 2016 slasher film that ran out of steam after the first 20 minutes.

It's dangerously un-woke to say it, and I wouldn't want it to apply before a kid is about 13, but ... ... there is something to be said for a different/vocational track for some kids. It is not doing them any good to keep them in traditional college-prep high school, struggling through algebra and geometry and a foreign language and all that. There is nothing wrong with letting kids who seem to be continuously struggling (regardless of individualized education plans and other interventions) step away from the academic track and start learning marketable skills that don't require higher math, etc. In fact, we're not doing them any favors by forcing continuing failure on them.

Leticia James Tower. Has a ring to it, you gotta admit.

Sounds almost as if you want a literal bloodbath. You just may fit Trump's "low class" insurrectionist profile.

Go back and read where I picked it apart from a pure textual perspective. Yes, some people are deliberately taking it out of context. But Trump's own explanation makes no sense, so clearly he was getting at some other kind of "bloodbath," which may or may not be a literal bloodbath.

Been a while (but not that long of a while), but that basically agrees with my experience. Class of 30 (Catholic school, so class sizes are larger): probably 20 kids doing just fine. 7-8 kids just not trying, partly on parents and partly on legitimate attention issues. Maybe 2 or 3 who just seem not to get it no matter what they or their parents do. So mostly effort, but there are some maturity and/or innate issues that also show up in a small percentage of kids.

I've been spending a fair amount of time in the Phoenix area this winter, and I am glad to report that driverless "taxis" are the way to go. Coming soon to a city (that doesn't ban them) near you. The future is now. https://waymo.com/

Yeah, and the Jerk Store called. They're running out of you. That's what she said. Got any other sick burns from decades past?

I am a supporter of unions, which does take me out of the total laissez-faire economic viewpoint. I can't paste the interactive chart without screenshotting it, but the numbers show a strong wage increase in the lower paid sectors, actually leading among sectors for a few quarters: https://www.atlantafed.org/chcs/wage-growth-tracker (Sort by income quintiles to get the picture)

A fair question. My answer: it does actually "trickle down" but it takes time. Does that mean we should ignore safety nets? No. But it's easy to mock, but (to go to another old capitalist saying) a rising tide actually does lift all boats. Eventually ...

Funny how that goes. The Dems hear Trump say "come to DC on January 6 to Stop The Steal, it's gonna be wild." And they stupidly expect something like a bunch of low-class loons will storm the Capitol or something. Alarmists.

That's kind of the way this forum works. Bad news? Biden haters all over it. Good news? Biden supporters all over it. As you asked before, in one of the most insightful comments ever on PPP (or maybe ever on TBD in general): why do people bother to read/post here? EDIT: I forgot to add "Bad Trump News? Expect a flurry of Trump with a Lincoln Beard memes.

Gas prices are higher now, but not particularly high by historical standards. They are still lower than they were in summer 2008 (I recall a very pricey road trip I made from Colorado back to Buffalo), even without inflation adjusting.

exactly. That was what one of our Twitter monkeys reposted here ... a guy claiming he spent 20 bucks for his Taco Bell lunch.

Let me pour a 40 on the Chevy Vega's grave. The plant's initial products were Chevrolet's full-size lineup (Caprice, Impala, Bel Air, Biscayne), then America's best-selling vehicle, as well as the first generation Pontiac Firebird. The Firebird and Chevrolet's full-size models would be moved to other plants by 1971, when the plant added conversion van production and began production of the Chevrolet Vega.

They can learn to code. There you have it. Some good old fashioned Republican sentiment. Always wondered if you were non-binary.

Don't forget Taco Bell Value Combo Intepreter. Poor, minorities suffer most. Where have I heard that one before?

And I just dropped a 20 on lunch at Taco Bell. And 120 on buying fish, veggies, and water for dinner. How do we survive with these kind of prices? How do I survive eating 5,000 calories at Taco Bell for lunch and 6 pounds of salmon for dinner?

Awfully quiet? I just called b.s. on the latest random reposting tweet. Oh, and get an EV.

Candidate says "If I'm not elected, the U.S. auto industry will suffer, but that's not the least of it, there will also be a BLOODBATH." Trump supporters say, c'mon, don't take him at his word, it's just Trump being Trump. That's why we say it's a cult.

Look at the links I gave you. Ford and GM are international automakers. Yes, even in China through joint manufacturing agreements. And if we simply can't seem to produce competitive automobiles in America, well, then maybe our comparative advantage is no longer in automobile production and propping up a domestic industry through hidden subsidies (tariffs) or express ones (the Obama bailout) is kind of a ... wait a minute, I'm thinking ... still thinking ... aha! got it! ... a SOCIALIST idea.