leh-nerd skin-erd

So…you’re happy the charity dealio is back on? We can cheer for the winner, no?

I don’t understand refusing a client’s request for the work you do, and I think a good rule of thumb is to treat everyone the way you would want to be treated. However, these things tend to be a bit more complicated than you’re laying out. Perhaps your mind made up. Here’s a different perspective from someone practicing tolerance and thoughtfulness: https://nypost.com/2023/06/30/as-a-gay-man-i-dont-think-supreme-court-infringes-on-my-rights/

Everyone should have a seat at the table, Tibs. This is how we ultimately come together.

It may be silly, but if the dirty bomb does cause a late payment on one’s student loan, I’m very pro-one-free-late charge. Per year. If a borrower has yet another dirty bomb delayed payment the following year, I think you have to question judgment. Related: Oranges and apples are both round, but are different fruits all together.

This goes in the “people are complicated basket” imo. If you hang in on the “your debt your responsibility” mantra, I can understand wanting the Biden loan program going through because it benefits those you love. I don’t understand that as some last straw issue that pushes folks to the liberal left. No judgement intended, I just don’t get that one. Thanks, and sounds like you have great parents.

Thank you for your measured response. I get the frustration from your parents perspective, as our friend Muppy says rarely is anyone 100% conservative or 100% liberal. We’ve come this far, so I wonder if we can see it through. The math suggests your parents are pushing 80 years old. It seems they have the money to help your siblings, what was their thinking before this was finalized today? While the chatter on student loan forgiveness has been around for a number of years (as has the dialogue on the exponentially increasing cost of education), the actual Biden plan is really still in its infancy. Assuming (now, based on the 60 year voting record) your younger siblings are older, why didn’t they just pay off the loan to begin with? As for being careful what you wish for, we need not capitulate out of fear of the next big thing that liberal or conservative Americans might want.

There are options, BillSy. Help your younger siblings. Provide sound guidance on how debt works, the extraordinary benefits offered by community college, the benefits of staying local, virtual learning etc. Research in-state options relative to income (NY Excelsior program). Look into programs where they get free education for public service (volunteer firefighters get an exceptional benefits if they attend community college). If you can afford to do it, help them pay for college. Gift them money. Pay for books. We were able to fund our children’s college debt with some strategic planning, heartfelt conversations on what we would expect in return for our commitment, good fortune and good children. My son’s wife has college debt (and she’s a young lady who powered through sone very tough breaks in life to complete her education), and they would have qualified for relief under the Biden plan though financially they are doing quite well. My advice was pretty simple—if you qualify for forgiveness when all is said and done, take it. If not, pay the debt off as soon as possible.

#truth Mrs Ish takes the Bentley as a sensible choice. The Frankish likes a little pop of color when he’s road trippin.

I want to be angry with her, I really do. I want to tell her that her surname, Marsh, implies English heritage and her family likely oppressed the Irish (my people!) and caused great hardship before and after the Great Potato famine. I just can’t. I don’t know why. I can’t explain it. @muppy am I a liberal?

I don’t know about that, and would think that’s probably inaccurate. Biden has access to the best caregivers in the world with reason to keep him as healthy as possible. I only entered the chat because of the +\- 8 years. We can see with our eyes what’s going on, and it is not promising.

It helps to think of the organization as a Corporation, acting in its own best interest for its own purpose. When that happens, some stakeholders will be thrilled with the result in spite of working against the law of the land, others will be disappointed. Where there is a will, there is a way.

My children’s heritage includes Argentinian on their mother’s side. I went back and forth on this issue for a while. I’m never sure if I made the right choice. On the bright side, when my daughter reminds me of my role in the patriarchy, I offer to offload her cell phone bill directly to her in solidarity with The Cause. We move on, the dance continues.

People are prone to hypocrisy, and sometimes completely ignorant of their own complicity in the game. See Biden v Trump.

I don’t know about the IQ test. I think Trump’s IQ is underestimated, and he thrived in a competitive jungle that would defeat most people. I think Clinton’s genius was in finding a medium that was controllable, maximizing her strengths and minimizing her weaknesses. If you took Hillary out of the test tube of DC politics and placed her in NYC real estate/entertainment etc, she would likely fail. When Trump entered her world, well, we know the results. I’d also go so far as to say without Bill Clinton paving the way, HRC’s career stalls out long before Sec of State. Pure guess on my part, and you may well be 100% correct on IQ test. I think as you have pointed out, that’s only one piece of a complicated puzzle.

Wait—are these the bad boycotts, or the good boycotts? I need to know before casting my vote. Cabo was a fun trip.

I disagree on the intelligence factor, or at least I’d say it’s a push between Clinton and Trump. I think Clinton was much, much more skilled in the art of political science and had many more friends/associates in the right places. Her experience as wife of Bill, Senator and later on Sec of State gave her unique access to all things political in the world. Somehow, she managed to blow up what should have been the coronation of the heir apparent against an opponent with no experience in a world where normal rules don’t apply. Clinton is a smart and accomplished person, but she was also protected and enabled by the system. For some odd reason, we get fascinated by these lineage/legacy candidates. She had no ground game when Trump flipped the script.

I’m not certain that the spending issue equals confidence in Biden, Trump or anyone else. It seems more likely that excessive spending is a habit that many, many, many Americans cannot seem to break. https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/debt/average-american-debt/ I do think that the message point(s) of the Biden platform, that is, people were victims of economic malfeasance when they took on student loan debt, plays very well with people that are struggling with debt. It would not surprise me in the least to learn that the American’s in Poland you referenced borrowed money from a financial institution at 19% to take the trip, took photos on the latest upgraded iPhone, and googled “status of Student Loan Forgiveness” all on the same trip.

I don’t know who James Holzhauer is, so I did a quick search. Turns out he’s an accomplished guy, the third highest earner in the history of Jeopardy. In this case—we can agree. Of the three..Biden beats Trump. Trump beats Clinton. Of the three, Clinton is James Holzhauer—accomplished, intelligent, capable and ultimately, third. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

I’d think where Joe Biden is concerned, any convo about atrial fibrillation and sleep apnea 15 years in the making are off limits.

Oh boy. Sleep apnea. That can matter. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/28/politics/biden-cpap-sleep-apnea/index.html https://aasm.org/risk-of-death-is-high-in-older-adults-with-sleep-apnea-and-daytime-sleepiness/

I suppose it’s possible that Biden’s cognitive failings started much, much earlier as you’ve speculated with Reagan. It would explain his removal of top secret/classified documents from his time in the Senate and as VP, that he lost track of the documents and they ended up near the extra paper towels and toilet paper in the First Garage. Maybe he just got turned around. Maybe he’s been dealing with this decline for 20 years already. As for the Republic surviving, sure, yes. I said as much during Trump as well. We push forward.

Absolutely a consideration. Biden’s loved ones likely follow a pattern of readjusting his perspective, reminding him of important issues at times, allowing him to push forward with others in spite of inaccuracies for others.

I respect your absolute commitment to the point, but that doesn’t change the reality, Frank. A voter voting considers every piece of data they choose to consume. The data they choose to consume or disregard typically is relevant only insofar as the subject’s agenda and value offered. I don’t have any insider information, Frank, and the fact is the average voter that places absolute faith in a White House report does so at his/her own peril. I can tell you Biden is declining at a predictably consistent pace. Not long ago you mentioned that you felt Biden has been “broken” by the loss of his son In Iraq, so much so he has reimagined the facts of that family trashed. You didn’t need an in-depth medical report from a team of experts to see that, yet you considered what you saw and know to be true. Anyway, time to move on.

I’m sorry for being a pain, but not the actuarial odds of “Biden” surviving, the actuarial odds of a “male” of a certain age, all other things being equal. There is a difference, and it’s important distinction.

I understand your point, but this is not a future value of money conversation, this is a mortality question on a specific individual. That’s a different discussion than if Biden were tossing a cool million or two into the Emerging Bribery Scandal Fund at Vanguard. Ignoring signs of physical and cognitive decline, and all that comes with it, is not something an insurance company would do, though they might well take the cash on the annuity. When considering it from the perspective of “us”, we’ll be divided into the “Everything is fine, he looks amazing!” and “He’s disintegrating before our eyes”. Both angles are guesstimates, both have limitations, but I will say this—if an 80 year old R was shuffling around the WH, making up words, speaking of friends and family long gone, routinely confused names of people long gone, facts related to tragic occurrences, who’s gait and balance caused stumbling and falls, the perspective from the other side of the aisle would be exactly, precisely that which R voters hold with respect to Biden. I think we both know that, and we both know why. Now, on the campaign, I think the suggestion that hi-lighting the likelihood of a Harris presidency is somewhat irrelevant. People that cast a vote for Biden-Harris knew who she was, knew what she represented, and Biden was a tired old man in 2020. That was part of the analysis.