The Frankish Reich

I'm not sure what those terms mean. "Balanced and equitable" sounds vaguely ... redistributive? As in economic equity? Many economists have noted that we have moved toward much more of a winner-takes-all society. And yes, I agree that this, in a vacuum, is not a good thing. I find something disturbing and probably unsustainable in those stats that compare CEO compensation to average worker in the CEO's company's compensation. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren would tax the hell out of those big compensation packages (and accumulated wealth) and redistribute it. I'm skeptical that that would have the desired effect. I have mentioned that I think unions played an important role in the building of the American middle class and that this is one of the big changes in the last 4 decades or so -- the decline of unions. So that may play a part in evening things out a bit. Other than that, I have to admit I don't have any great ideas since the proposed cure (huge redistributive taxes, creation of massive tariff protections) is usually worse than the disease.

Yeah. That was an incredibly stupid comment. Joe has always let his mouth run in that embarrassing stream of consciousness way.

The jobs created are certainly not all minimum wage jobs. Many that are minimum wage - or higher - go unfilled for long periods of time. Revision or not, we still have a surplus of job openings to available workers.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/return-of-high-interest-rates-central-banking-federal-reserve-u-s-economy-290da4d0?mod=hp_opin_pos_1 In one sense the rise in rates is healthy and long overdue. The Federal Reserve sat on the long end of the yield curve for years after the financial crisis. The goal was to stimulate growth, which didn’t work, but a side effect was to distort signals from the bond market. The Fed is now selling off its bond portfolio at a rate of $900 billion a year, and the market can better navigate its own way. It’s no tragedy if the bond market is sending truer economic signals. Higher rates force investors and businesses to screen potential investments more carefully. Non-economic choices, like cryptocurrency and many SPACs, go by the wayside. The result will be fewer investment duds and in the long run faster growth. Some market sages think faster growth now helps to explain the higher long-term rates, with the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow estimate that third quarter GDP will be 5.8%. I'm glad to see the return of a more normal interest rate environment. Yes, high mortgage and credit card rates and auto loan rates hurt borrowers. But I've watched older Americans who've saved prudently get driven into investments that I consider too risky since they couldn't live with savings account returns of 0.1 percent. They can now supplement social security and (for those that have it) pension income with a decent return on savings. My mother is in this situation, and I just helped her ladder CDs and treasuries to ensure a good, steady 5 percent return - enough to maintain her standard of living without risking loss, which makes a lot of sense at her age. And as I approach retirement age I'm starting to do the same thing for myself. Income investing. What a quaint, old-fashioned notion.

What does that mean?

He won an NFC championship in his 6th year. This is McD's 7th year.

Hey, Jack Poso, please tell me why God is now taking aim at Florida and Texas? Must be their un-Christian anti-LGBT legislation, right?

A reminder: YOU are the one who posted Pizzagate Jack's tweet saying God flooded Dodgers Stadium as retribution for the Dodgers' LGBTQ day. YOU are the one who apparently believes that a vengeful God singles out various communities for offending him and visits tragedy upon them.

The stats agree. Broken tackles on rushes? 5 all year. So he's not that guy. You never know when a RB has lost it until his performance declines. But I'm guessing he's more or less the same effective power runner he was last year with a pathetic Broncos offense. I hope I'm right.

A long time ago, on what I guess was his first tour of America, Billy Bragg played a tiny club gig I went to. Really nice, funny guy. Actually hung out with the small "crowd" (maybe 50?) after the show. Yes, a committed leftist and I certainly didn't then (and really don't now) agree with some of his politics. But a damn good songwriter and a man of integrity.

I think you're right. It was the era of urban redevelopment and a lot of those mega projects really had no concern for the fate of the existing neighborhoods, etc. As the documentary shows, O'Malley was more of an opportunist when LA politicians came calling, promising a brighter future on the west coast.

There's a really good documentary about how the Dodgers, with government support, essentially forcibly displaced a hispanic community that used to live there in order to build their stadium and it surrounding parking lots. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chavez_Ravine This after screwing over the people of Brooklyn. I will always hate the Dodgers ...

Actually, Jack Posobiec may have a theory of why God Hated Maui. Maybe one of our posters who follows him can fill us in.

I guess that's a reference to a different/related wacko conspiracy theory. The classic deflection. "What about the black Israelites?" Well they didn't kill a woman for the sin of flying the Pride Flag. We'll talk about them if/when they do. He was DR's enabler. His toady. His sidekick. Robin to his Batman. He renamed himself in honor of his exiled prophet. I'm sorry the 600 page colossus of stupidity that was the "Q Analysis" thread was taken down, depriving me of the chance to confront some people here with their support of his vile nonsense. You may still find some headnodding in the secondary Deep State War thread if you care to peruse that cesspool.

The point about Spencer Brown is a fair one. I appreciate the folks who watch the tape closely and report on what really happened. But before joining the Spencer Brown Fan Club, I will note that he has been consistently ... what's the word I'm searching for? ... oh, I know ... awful. Ever since taking over at RT in his rookie year. So any new confidence in him is based on the hope that he will be better this year because (1) he isn't playing hurt; (2) he's now more experienced; and/or (3) he'll be playing next to a more competent RG. As a realist, I will hope for modest, incremental improvement. Kind of "below league average, but no longer a huge liability."

It is well documented that there are crimes - nutty, preposterous crimes - committed by people who have been persuaded by QAnon and its mega-conspiracy ilk. From the guy who went in to Comet Pizza to find the children kept in the basement (there was no basement; there were no children) to this guy killing the lady over the Pride Flag. I don't know when some of you [turns his gaze in the general direction of North Carolina] decided that the new rhetorical approach would be "QAnon? That's a liberal media hoax! Some of you are the same fawning supporters of the guy who posted - in all seriousness - 600 pages of "Q Analysis" before he was sent packing to his own little playground. Where some of you still gather to share in his in-depth analysis of how the Clintons, the Jesuits, child sex traffickers, and, of course, The Jews run the world. People have been killed over such stupidity. Your flippant denials are in poor taste.

Read what this nut who killed the lady over the Pride Flag said. Hint: it is essentially what you just said.

What was that about how we're just making up all of this QAnon silliness? The one where it doesn't really exist outside of some crazy liberals' minds? Because it sure seemed to have existed in this killer's mind. In a June 28 post, the Ikeguchi account — which included posts on conspiracy theories along with anti-vaccine and anti-abortion content — posted, “Abortion and same-sex marriage are both immoral and are design to destroy humanity one by one. So if someone is pro-abortion and pro-LGBTQP, they are at war against the foundation of family values. –Travis Ikeguchi 6/23/2023 6:39am” A Gab account bearing Ikeguchi’s name — describing the author as “Anti-freemasonry, Anti-zionism, Anti-jesuits, and Anti-paganism, same-sex marriage should be abolished” — pinned a post with a video titled “When You Should Shoot a Cop,” with Ikeguchi stating, “There will come a time that we have to do this.”

I don’t think he means DC elites when he talks about a 5’3” 300 lb woman buying fudge with food stamps.

You know this because .... ? I mean, that's my hunch. Russia was interested in sowing discord, maybe with the additional benefit of swinging a very small percentage of votes. So I doubt their rather ham-handed strategy worked. At least not on the actual vote count. But "not a single one" is a bit much.

I should offer my services. But really: look at the original post (coming from Pizzagate Fool) blaming the flooding of Dodger Stadium on their LGBT day. And that was presumably offered up as a serious take on a news event, the old "God is punishing the heathens."

That's why some people here say it's a cult. I used to think that was a little overheated. But if it looks like a cult, if it smells like a cult, well ...

I think he's playing a waiting game, hoping that the resolve of the West (particularly of the USA) wanes. That's rational, since Trump, DeSantis, and others have suggested that they'd cut off funding for Ukraine.

Not "pushed back to the border." More like "once Putin understands that there will be no such thing as the victory he imagined he'd win in Ukraine." At that point, the concept of a negotiated withdrawal becomes possible. A preemptive surrender just emboldens him.