Bits of Tid That Didn't get Posted Earlier

 https://x.com/realmaalouf/status/1870947178534830175?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 

Here we have video if a Muslim woman at a pro-palestinian rally in Canada.  She's whining about  “Canada is a white supremacist, racist, colonial project, just like Israel. I will never consider myself Canadian, because this is occupied land.”.

 Here's the problem, virtually every Muslim majority country is Muslim supremacist, and many Muslim countries are literally "occupied land".  The reality is that many Muslims, if given the opportunity, would gladly turn Canada into a Muslim majority country, impose Sharia, and absolutely not give a thought to the fact that they'd become occupiers of the land.  They certainly aren't giving it back to the Natives.  

 https://x.com/jackposobiec/status/1871204945422155907?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1871233623699165567?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 https://x.com/billackman/status/1871180325239591097?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Biden is on a pardoning/commuting spree over the last few weeks.   Now he's going after some of the most vile murders in US custody, people who genuinely deserve the death penalty, people who's states support the death penalty, and he's commuting their sentences.   Which raises the question, if Biden is mentally incapable of performing the duties of POTUS, why wouldn't the 25th amendment provide justification for the reversal of these pardons and commutations.   Much like my earlier question regarding Biden selling pardons/commutations, it seems strange that there would not be a mechanism to overturn these actions if he's incompetent or selling pardons.  

 https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1871214057216250361?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 https://www.newsweek.com/new-york-city-subway-fire-attack-immigrant-arrested-nypd-2005261

So, per Newsweek (a revered bastion of real journalism), the fine gentleman who set a woman on fire in the NYC subway had been deported during the Trump term and came back and was "on the loose" during all 4 years of the Biden administration.  It seems likely that he lived in NYC and partook of the generous benefits NYC provided as a sanctuary city.    Given that, it seems that both the Biden/Harris administration as well as the NYC government bear some degree of responsibility for the woman's death. 

Merry Christmas to All

 I'm heading out for an indefinite period of time to spend Christmas with family and friends.   I wish all of you (with one possible exception) a wonderful time of celebrating the birth of The Christ and the ultimate finished work of Him on the cross.   

I may or may not have the ability or motivation to check comments while I'm gone, so please no complaints about my lack of response. 

Bug Dump of Bits From the Weekend

 

 https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1870964712978161929?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1871002223884513559?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMY

 https://nypost.com/2024/12/22/us-news/horror-video-shows-suspect-watching-woman-burn-to-death-in-f-train-car-after-he-allegedly-set-her-on-fire/

 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/who-is-sebastian-zapeta-suspect-behind-nyc-subway-fire-attack-arrested/articleshow/116582755.cms?from=mdr

In a stunning move, NY governor Hochul takes to Twitter to tout the safety of the NY subway system right after an innocent woman was set on fire by a guy who stayed and watched the woman burn.  Too bad she didn't have a Daniel Penny on her train.   Does the prosecution of Penny actually increase the chances that innocent people will be harmed because bystanders will be afraid to intervene?  

 

 

 

 https://www.thesudburystar.com/news/provincial/sudbury-man-refused-kidney-transplant-due-to-vaccination-status-dies-report

Folx like Dan desperately want Canadian style health care, unfortunately this is what you get.   Mr Harper had two options for kidneys lined up so he wouldn't deprive someone else from getting a kidney but was refused a transplant because he wouldn't reveal his "vaccination" status.   In an ironic twist, the hospital asked if he'd like to donate his organs to those who were "vaccinated".  

Follow the "data", trust the "data", trust the "experts" who collect and interpret the "data", ignore the fact that they made up the "data".

 

 https://x.com/sappholives83/status/1870753913999155434?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Dude ("trans") goes to a support group for women, and gets hurt and offended when they talk about subjects that are unique to biological women.   Dude wants them to stop or limit those discussions so his feelings won't get hurt.  

https://x.com/RandoLand_us/status/1870830537440415780

 

 

 https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_84096001_6800/

The creation of a nonprofit to get government grants/loans for nonprofits who are already doing the work the grant/loan is for and who already have the ability to apply for grants/loans on their own, seems a bit strange.   It'd be interesting to see how much of this money actually makes it to the non profits that are actually doing things.  

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/02/politics/adam-schiff-primary-residence-maryland-california/index.html

This seems to be both impossible and illegal.  

 https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/sweden-seized-record-number-of-explosives-in-2023-but-reports-149-bombing-incidents/3105485

This seems like a really bad situation.  I wonder which demographic group has a history of using explosives for attacks?

 

 https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/kare-11-investigates-federal-charges-evergreen-recovery-fraud-probe/89-d27a7773-5301-48e4-a9b5-81ea1fb45425

https://www.startribune.com/theyre-stealing-from-us-minn-lawmakers-want-to-crack-down-on-fraud-in-state-programs-next-year/601197375

 https://x.com/billglahn/status/1870249527145373715?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Well, I guess MN under Walz really is the fraud capitol of the US.   But at least MN lawmakers "want" to investigate the multiple cases of MN programs being defrauded.   It's good to know the MN legislature is right on top of things.  

"Astronomer Robert Jastrow, though not a Christian, explains how the Big Bang supports the idea of a Creator: “Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proven, by their own methods, that the world began abruptly in an act of creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star, every planet, every living thing in this cosmos and on the earth. And they have found that all this happened as a product of forces they cannot hope to discover. That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact.” “Far from disproving the existence of God, astronomers may be finding more circumstantial evidence that God exists.” “Now we see how the astronomical evidence supports the Biblical view of the origin of the world. The details differ, but the essential elements in the astronomical and Biblical accounts of Genesis are the same: the chain of events leading to man commenced suddenly and sharply at a definite moment in time, in a flash of light and energy.” “For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance, he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”"

 Quoted by Nancy Pearcey from God and the Astronomers by Robert Jastrow

https://archive.org/details/robertjastrowgodandtheastronomerszlib.org

 

https://news.bgov.com/bloomberg-government-news/senate-oks-childhood-cancer-bill-after-leaving-off-stopgap-deal

 https://www.yahoo.com/news/bargaining-chip-trump-allies-dismantle-173142604.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAjqvh8CLjGJF1JECk_SivWe3-P_GPxHB4x3eGFxOppwEnvSUO0cHjCKldDuvO7_bFMdb0k5x9MWBywz3N2cBoeefVcw2avUdCiuSZNvqsYD8iStEVS4tXf3Uhq4qQf59wxxN7w6iNnEyhfDrObJO-ZlFQkhX3jOpc7zbHkN_0Ov

After Pocahontas and others claimed that the GOP CR proposed in the house "cut funding" for childhood cancer research, it was noted that a clean bill for this funding had been sent to the senate 9 months ago and the DFL controlled senate had done nothing about it.   Strangely enough, the DFL controlled senate quickly passed the bill they'd been ignoring for 9 months.  

https://www.foxnews.com/media/dnc-powerhouse-fundraiser-announces-exit-from-democratic-party-following-attacks-its-like-leaving-cult

 https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2024/12/22/republican-rep-kay-granger-texas-missed-votes-dementia/

This seems like more bad news for the DFL, and more indications that the DFL is one screwed up organization.   I could be wrong, but the hiding a DFL legislator for MONTHS because she has dementia also seems like a bad look for the DFL.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/illegal-immigrant-sexually-abused-child-u-s-after-being-removed-from-country-5-times?intcmp=tw_fnc

FIVE BLEEPING TIMES.    This is exactly the kind of border security folx like Dan are satisfied with. 

  https://x.com/thatskaizen/status/1870267844975566969?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Why do folx in the DFL seem to lie about things that are so easily verified?  

https://nypost.com/2024/06/29/world-news/german-woman-given-harsher-sentence-than-rapist-for-defamation/

I could be wrong, but it seems like gang rape is way worse than the victim calling one of the rapists a name.  Maybe the unrestricted immigration of people who do not intend to assimilate is a bad thing. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/christmas-market-germany-car-dead-injured-magdeburg/

 https://x.com/amuse/status/1870238658571157702?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Great job CBS (that revered practitioner of real journalism) for noting that a car just decided to go on a killing spree.   Let's review, inanimate objects do not kill people.  It also appears from the embedded video that migrants to Germany want to prevent Germans from publicly celebrating Christmas.  Good call on the unrestricted immigration.  

https://x.com/archbishopokc/status/1869793884907188415?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

A bleeping Archbishop of the RCC is upset that a criminal who lured a woman into his apartment, beat, suffocated, and raped her before beheading her and planning to eat her.  Can we just agree that some people are simply so depraved and vile that death is the only real option for them?

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4013726/dod-announces-2000-troops-in-syria-department-prepared-for-government-shutdown/

DOD either has been lying for months, or had no clue what is going on, but Pete Hegseth definitely is less qualified than the people in charge now.  It's not like the DOD hasn't had billions of dollars for which they cannot account either.  

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/decision-2024/woman-accused-of-trying-to-fraudulently-register-4-people-to-vote-in-election/4059830/

Who do you wanna bet they voted for?

 

CR

 Regarding the CR.   

The people of the US made their voices heard and the GOP came up with a better version of the CR, and it failed to pass.   The fact that something like 3 DFL congressmen voted for it, belies their claims about the importance of keeping the government open and getting relief to victims of disaster.   They clearly wanted to use those two things to slip shitloads of pork and other wasteful crap though before they went on their Christmas break.    What's disturbing is that there were almost 40 GOP congressmen who also voted against this CR.    Every single one of those GOP reps should be target in their next primary and the campaign against them should start today.  

Oh, and the DFL folx are bitching about Musk and Vivek actually reading and publicizing the contents of the bill and giving citizens the information.   It's strange that they don't object to billionaires like Soros, Gates, and others getting involved in government.   

As far as a temporary government shut down, who cares.   Absolutely nothing of value will be affected, and no "vital" services will be stopped.   Let it shut down until the new congress takes office or until Trump is inaugurated.  

I've seen reports that Massie is advocating for individual bills for each thing contained in the CR, which seems like a reasonable proposal.   I'm seeing DFL congressmen bitching about funding for children's cancer research, when a clean bill for that passed the house and died in the DFL controlled senate.  

Ultimately we're in this situation because congress abdicated their constitutionally mandated role of writing and passing an actual budget yearly.   That budget should be a result of zero based budgeting.   Instead they limp along on bullshit CR's which they wait until the last minute to propose and can load up with pork.  

Much like Trump, the incoming congress needs to do it's job well and quickly.   They need to show that they are not looking for business as usual, but are actually looking out for the good of the country. 

Scandal

 https://www.wsj.com/politics/biden-white-house-age-function-diminished-3906a839

 https://x.com/jasonjournodc/status/1869843347629641841?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 https://x.com/ggreenwald/status/1869784022446149743?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

So the WSJ finally acknowledges what has been obvious for years, and revered journalist Chris Cillizza apologizes for his failure to cover what's been obvious for years.  So we now know that the MSM has been complicit in covering up Biden's decline, that Harris and virtually every DFL surrogate lied about Biden's condition, and partisan idiots like Dan bought and parroted those lies.   

How is this not one of the biggest scandals in US political history?   An entire political party and voter base elected someone unqualified to fill the position of president, and the MSM went along with this and covered it up.  That they engaged in false attacks on anyone who questioned the narrative, only makes this worse. 

Irrelevant

 This is kind of irrelevant, but I have found one feature of the new Blogger UI that I actually like.  The ability to collapse comments makes it much easier to scroll through a long thread, or to avoid reading comments by idiots.   Very helpful, although not being able to pull up the original post when writing a comment is kind of annoying.  

Oh, and since the plight of the Bears has been a topic recently, let me say that they are not doing well at all and the Caleb Williams body language isn't a good look either.    Best of luck next year. 

Bits

 So the Uniparty put together a CR that is allegedly intended to keep the government open and provide disaster relief to hurricane victims.   For some reason this needs to be a 1500 page bill made available right before the vote.  Elon uses AI to summarize the bill, makes that summary public, and people freak.  Somehow, a new football stadium for DC (3 billion) a @40% raise for congress, pandemic restrictions, and preventing future administrations from accessing house proceedings are all necessary to achieve the two stated goals.  

Needless to say, those on the DFL side are annoyed that Elon made this information public and are insisting that the only possible way to keep government open and provide relief is to pass this specific bill.  What a huge crock of shit.    I'd be willing to bet that a sub 20 page bill that keeps the government funded at current levels for 3 months, and provides disaster relief could be written within a few hours and voted on.   They don't want that, they want to hide a bunch of pork in a bill then while when it's pointed out.  Of course, we've managed to survive government shutdowns in the past and will no doubt weather this one just fine, if it comes to that.   Further, listening to the folks in WNC, it sounds like many of them would prefer that the government stay the hell out of things and stop forcing them to live in tents for the winter, and trying to condemn land that people have owned for years without adequate compensation.  If they were that worried, why not pass a clean bill for aid weeks ago?

In short, this is all about trying to set as much ridiculous spending in stone before Trump assumes office, and making it difficult for him to undo what they've done.   The republicans who are aiding and abetting this should be ashamed, the people voted for something different, and y'all are going with one more shot at the same old, same old.   

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/biden-says-supports-congressional-stock-trading-ban-rcna184619

In what I suspect is an effort to get revenge on Pelosi, Biden swerves into being right about something.   We've seen congressmen benefit from insider information to make stock trades ahead of the market in order to make huge profits.  For anyone else, this behavior would be illegal,  but not congress.  Pelosi is one of the worst examples of this, but she's not alone.  Nor is this limited to one side of the aisle.  I don't think that anyone has a problem with congressmen placing their investment accounts in some sort of blind trust, and that they should not be allowed to actively trade while in office.   It would be absurd to expect them to liquidate their existing portfolios upon being sworn in.   The likelihood of this passing seems slim, but it is absolutely the right move.  

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/parents-fight-for-change-after-13-year-old-girl-dies-in-b-c-homeless-camp-1.7033221

1.  This is exatly what the APL/DFL is doing in the US.  Providing addicts with what they need to feed their addiction.

2.  This is the kind of healthcare system that the APL/DFL wants for the US.  A system that simply allowed this girl to die of an OD with virtually no attempt to help her get clean.  

https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2020/01/59167/

After a meta analysis of over 30 studies, we learn what should be self evident.  Faith and family play a huge role in achievement for minority students.  

"My meta-analysis revealed that if an African American or Latino student was a person of faith and came from a two biological parent family, the achievement gap totally disappeared, even when adjusting for socioeconomic status."

 

 https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/19/politics/fani-willis-donald-trump-georgia/index.html

For months/years people have been saying that the Trump charges were BS and that the Biden/Harris administration was using the courts to attack their challenger.   Well, this is one more example of those charges going down the drain because the APL/DFL establishment was unable to find a prosecutor (I'm guessing that skin color played a role in her selection, as did the fact that she was a her) that was able to actually bring the charges, try the case, and get a verdict without disregarding the rules for those things.   The explanation that is the lest bad is incompetence, which raises the question of the competence of the prosecutors in GA.   The explanation that looks the worst is corruption,  that the Biden/Harris administration and Fulton County simply colluded to bring false charges against Trump and to rig the trial to convict.    Clearly, finding ethical democrat prosecutors seems like a challenge. 

Just a Few Bits of Tid

 https://x.com/vigilantfox/status/1868777729719406889?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

(Embedded video of Adam's comments from Forbes)

BVMLTT    All of a sudden Mayor Adams is starting to make little bits of sense here and there.   Maybe the DFL strategy isn't working as well as they thought.   Let's hope they don't listen to people like Adams.  

https://x.com/therabbithole84/status/1868888300179832996?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 

   

A similar thing happened a few years ago when liberals were surveyed about how many unarmed, innocent, black men were shot by police every year and they estimated around 10 thousand instead of @20.    Clearly there is something in the liberal mindset that allows them to focus on the narrative regardless of the facts.   

https://x.com/robynurback/status/1869024092810367255?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

(embedded link to CBC news story)

When I had my knee replaced, it took weeks from making the decision (I chose to put it off longer than I should have, but that was my fault) to the surgery.   The very notion that they couldn't do follow up for 8 days and that amputation is even being considered tells me how bad the Canadian health care system is.   Yet folx like Dan have determined that this is what they want to force us to submit to.  

Bits of Tid

 https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-capitol-satanic-holiday-display/

 https://x.com/mortforus/status/1868798389737124178?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Welcome to another day in Walz's Minnesota.   Why in the literal hell is there a satanic "holiday" display at the MN State capitol?

 https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/12/16/low-income-mothers-lost-tax-refunds-to-tutoring-companies-using-overseas-instructors/

I'm shocked that we've learned of MORE fraud and abuse of taxpayer money in Walz's Minnesota.   It's even more shocking that the major players are DFL leaders and Somalis.  

https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1868728000180584949?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/man-accused-shooting-5-nye-uptown-sentenced-prison/UTCA4YHPXRHJRD7OJ4QHNO7X7E/

Let me get this straight, the same city (run by the DFL) that charged Daniel Penny for attempting to protect subway passengers from a potential assailant, just let a guy who admitted his guilt for shooting 5 people off with a 20-36 months sentence AND he gets credit for the 12 months he's already served.   What's interesting is to look at this in context.   NYC liberals tried to throw the book at Penny, literally changing the rules while the jury was deliberating,  Biden and the rest of the left are calling for gun control after a school shooting,  Biden pardoned his son on felony gun charges, and now this slap on the wrist for shooting 5 people.   NYC is a freaking joke, and the DFL/APL are a bunch of hypocrites.  

 

 https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5043206-senate-democrats-abolish-electoral-college/

"Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii,) Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), three leading progressive Senate voices, say it’s time to “restore democracy” by allowing for the direct election of presidents through the popular vote alone."

 

How, may I ask, does one "restore" something that never existed?   Are these guys stupid?   What's hilarious is that if this moronic bill gets passed Hawaii and Vermont immediately become irrelevant in US electoral calculus.    The Chicago metro area will join the LA metro, the SF metro, and the NYC metro in ruling the US.   The founders realized that democracy was a horrible idea for a national government and intentionally founded a representative/constitutional republic, enshrining protection for the smaller states in the constitution.  The likelihood is that the constitution would never have been ratified without the electoral college.  

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/16/middleeast/syria-assad-prisoner-homs-intl-latam/index.html

This is absolutely hilarious.  CNN (revered practitioners of real journalism) make a big deal of them freeing this political prisoner from a cell in Syria, then reporting the facts in a way that tries to make it sound like they weren't the ones who originally reported the false information.  

https://x.com/mikebenzcyber/status/1868945446875676693?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Why is the Biden administration paying Reuters (a revered practitioner of real journalism) $300 million dollars?  If you're getting $3  00 million from someone don't you think it might affect how you cover them?

https://x.com/mjtruthultra/status/1868838710927577486?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 

A court ruling just verified that an "antemortem blood sample" was taken from George Floyd.   That literally means that someone took a blood sample from Floyd while he was still alive.  If this is True it'll be quite the shock to the true believers who've accepted the Floyd narrative as gospel, and chosen to ignore various factors. 

 

Madison

 We had a school shooting in Madison WI yesterday and we've seen some interesting reactions.

 

Joe Biden roused himself to make this statement calling for more gun control right after pardoning his son on felony gun charges.  He also might be interested in knowing that 15 year olds can't own guns, and that murder is already illegal.    One also wonders where these calls for gun control were after Brian  Thompson was killed or after the assassination attempt on Trump.

 

 

This is the response of liberal media personality after the shooting.    Not unlike some of the responses to the Thompson murder.

 

Truth and Narrative (H/T WK)

 https://winteryknight.com/2024/12/14/is-there-an-epidemic-of-violence-against-transgender-people/

 

This is what happens when the Narrative becomes more important than the Truth.  

More Bits of Tid (I know, I need a catchy name for these posts) How about "News Dan Will Ignore"?

 https://x.com/herandrews/status/1868134318620721274?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 Shockingly, the vast majority of Canadian euthanasia victims are white.  

 https://x.com/iamyesyouareno/status/1868220690274611543?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

From Kendi on down, the clergy of the DEI religion are frequently plagiarizing frauds who couldn't have gotten their sweet gigs based on their actually ability or accomplishments.  No wonder people think DEI is about prioritizing incompetent people who check certain demographic boxes.  

 https://x.com/nancyrpearcey/status/1868078487849795676?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 https://x.com/heerjeet/status/1867959535702544756?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 https://x.com/chuckrossdc/status/1867977575290589520?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 https://x.com/leslibless/status/1867941005594411259?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

When I posted earlier about Biden's pardon factory, I had no idea it was this bad.    The people he's letting out make no sense (based on Art's analysis) in terms of the apparent principles behind the pardon power.  This sort of thing is making me rethink my position on the pardon and limits.   I still think that there should be some sort of significant punishment if a president is ever found to have sold pardons.   With all of the wailing about the cost of US healthcare, the MN fraud and this slime getting a pardon will likely get ignored as they relate to healthcare costs and problems. 

https://x.com/wallstreetapes/status/1868312915679518742?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

The lame duck congress and Biden/Harris administration are determined to get as much bullshit through as possible while they still can.  Between that and selling off materials for building the border will at pennies on the dollar, it's a disgusting display of disdain for the voters.   

https://x.com/richardhanania/status/1868313659027624218?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 https://x.com/ddiamond/status/1868307046455751159?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Who knew?   Maybe he, and UH, are not all bad?   Especially given the fact that the excuses of the killer are now found to be bullshit.  

 https://x.com/ocraziocornpop/status/1868084582425170121?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

While we're blaming everything bad about the US healthcare system on "for profit" insurance companies, let's look back at what they knew about P-BO care before they forced it through in the middle of the night and without allowing anyone to read the bill.  

 https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/12/13/minnesota-an-easy-mark/

 Walz is a complete idiot. 

https://x.com/analisapackham/status/1867795673606955493?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Again, maybe the healthcare debates are not as simple as some would like you to believe.  

https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1868032787967582675?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Whoops!!   Maybe we should send screenshots of Dan referring to Trump as a rapist to Trump's legal team.   Watching Dan get sued for libel/slander would be amusing.  

https://x.com/gragedustin/status/1867725263188242760?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

More evidence that Walz is an idiot.  After pissing away a massive surplus, using it to start new handout programs that would eventually grow the budget we get to watch Walz turn a 20 billion dollar surplus into a 5 billion dollar deficit.   But y'all wanted this kind of incompetence for VP.  

https://x.com/defiyantlyfree/status/1867671534615273675?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

During the campaign, I argued that while Trump had engaged in some unsavory business practices, the Clinton Doctrine (private acts don't affect government service) should have been invoked.   That Biden's cabinet has managed to turn government employment into massive personal fortunes is one more ignored hypocrisy of the left.  

Uff Da! Holy Buckets!!!

 https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/two-minnesota-autism-centers-raided-fbi-as-part-of-wider-fraud-investigation/89-459105aa-bff5-4213-9d2d-0c14eb49ca36

Well, this is quite the surprise.  One more huge scandal involving MN residents ripping off more millions from the government, all under the benevolent watch of Tim Walz.

Oh, these scammers had connections/overlap with the ones who ran the fake feeding charities.   Yes, that's correct, it appears that there's a Somali connection.  

WTH

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/12/12/trump-port-strike-automation/

One of Trump's big agendas is reducing government waste and inefficiency, which I agree is a good thing, yet his position on the dockworkers strike is that he wants LESS efficiency in US cargo handling.  He's coming down on the side of a union who's president has gotten obscenely rich, who's members are extremely well compensated, and who are willing to destroy the US economy.    What in the hell is he thinking?

I'm not an economist, nor do I play one on TV, but I can tell him right now that this strike is going to massively increase the very prices on consumer goods that he promised to bring down.  Both in the short term as over half of our nations ports shut down, but in the long term as imported good will become more expensive as the costs to unload ships goes up.    Beyond that, it'll harm US companies that EXPORT things to other countries both short and long term.   Short term, we'll likely see exports fall sharply along with revenue declines for companies that rely on exports for revenue.   Long term, because it'll make US exports more expensive and less attractive to other countries.  

I shouldn't have to say this, because I agree with many of Trump's agenda items, but this is a really bad move and the timing of it is even worse.   He's going to start his triumphant second term by shutting down half of the ports in the US, raising prices, and putting thousands of (non dockworkers) out of work.  

 

FYI, this statement just makes Trump look stupid.   “I’ve studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it,” Trump posted. “The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen. Foreign companies have made a fortune in the U.S. by giving them access to our markets. They shouldn’t be looking for every last penny knowing how many families are hurt.”.    

https://x.com/cremieuxrecueil/status/1867384196693688498?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Healthcare.

 https://tribune.com.pk/story/2515799/canadian-man-dies-from-aortic-aneurysm-after-healthcare-delays

One of the stock responses from the Dan's of the world is that people die from for profit health insurance companies refusing treatment, and that state run healthcare systems will solve this problem.    Well, maybe the intentional choice of the Canadian government to not have enough medical equipment available to treat someone in an ER who had a deadly condition, is just as bad. 

"The test that could have saved his life requires a CT scan. Canada has fewer than one third as many CT scanners per capita as the United States. It takes Canadian hospitals a median of seven hours to perform an inpatient CT scan after one has been ordered, over three times as long as in a study on a US hospital. We heard a lot recently that denying payment on a health insurance claim is morally equivalent to murder. But rationing is its own form of ongoing denial, a scarcity mindset that affects all patient care as providers have to contemplate who is most deserving of their limited public resource. In an American emergency room, you are more likely to get unnecessary tests, be billed for time with ludicrously expensive equipment, and then fight with your insurance company over the bill. But the question is usually one of payment, rather than if the service can be supplied at all. Under a public system, the decision to ration care was made in advance as a matter of economic planning, but nobody in charge ever becomes tainted with moral responsibility for having "denied" an individual."

 

 One of Dan's big "gotcha" links use the metric of life expectancy/health care expenditure per person to "prove" that the US healthcare system is flawed. The following links look at the data on this issue from a few different angles and demonstrate that this metric is a horribly flawed way to measure this particular thing. 

 https://x.com/vincentgeloso/status/1866848967272902907?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 https://x.com/jeremykauffman/status/1866661748566266294?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 https://www.cremieux.xyz/p/grading-the-worlds-shortest-manifesto

 https://x.com/cremieuxrecueil/status/1866752366986530985?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Tidbits

 https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1867261182530167272?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 https://x.com/yashar/status/1867424521789354479?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

 

Well, Biden's been passing out pardons like party favors recently, and is threatening to preemptively pardon Fauci,  and some other political cronies.  He just pardoned a pedophile, and a corrupt judge because it's best for society to have them walking the streets. While I still contend that the pardon power is virtually unlimited, I have to wonder what would be the appropriate response if it was discovered that a president was selling pardons.  

https://x.com/joshua_pieters/status/1866191949847306338?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

This is one of the weirdest stories to get traction in a while.  A porn star, who's "team" is all women including her mother, chose to engage in and film herself having sex with 100 men in a day.   Not only that, but she then made a documentary on the event.   (FYI, apparently she plans to go for 1000 in a day soon)  I find the responses fascinating, it's clear from the documentary that this stunt has done the opposite of making her happy and fulfilled.   The regret in her reaction seems obvious from the clips I've seen.   What I find fascinating is the reaction from the "feminist" side of things.  On the one hand this woman is an individual woman with complete agency and should choose to do pron as a way to empower herself, on the other hand the "feminists" are claiming that this entire thing was men forcing a woman to have non consensual sex.   Phillips set up the whole thing, sought out an d screened the men, encouraged them to have sex with her, and (presumably) made money on the deal, yet it's the men who are to blame.   FWIW, I'm firmly on the side of acknowledging that one major factor in having agency is that it allows us the ability to make really stupid choices.    Also FWIW, the men who participated in this event certainly are not innocent in all of this.  Apparently her "team" didn't bother to screen the 100 men for STDs and I've seen reports that she did contract at least one. 

https://x.com/mostlypeacefull/status/1866211237396201855?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Good question.  Why wasn't Penny's black accomplice charged and why aren't idiots like Dan going after the black accomplice?  

https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1867350261129253227?s=51&t=cLq01Oy84YkmYPZ-URIMYw

Well, we have the first Luigi copycat, I'm sure she'll become a martyr as well. 

Displaying the Bad Choices

Comment #1, the closest to actually answering the questions.

 

" Q1: What was United Healthcare's profit margin for the most recent year with available data?

I don't know. You? I have taken NO POSITION on what UH profit margin was, have I?

Q2: Is that profit margin excessive?

I don't know. You? I don't think I believe that the healthcare for profit model is a just or reasonable or effective one. I'll provide a link below. So, it's not about how much they do or don't make, it's about whether the SYSTEM of for-profit health schemes is effective/healthy/helpful or not.

Q3: If so, by what definition?

I'm not dealing with their profit margin and have not staked a position on their profit margin... have I?

My concern is that the health care for-profit model as exists in the US has negative results, keeps people away from healthcare and results in less-healthy people, including many who die for lack of healthcare (amongst other reasons).

Q4-Q7: Please show objective data that "for profit" health insurance causes "so much harm"? Please show with objective data what exactly "so much harm" is? Please show with objective data, how you determine that "so much harm" is specifically caused only by "for profit" insurance? Please show with objective data, how "so much harm" exceeds some objective standard of harm?

"The U.S. ranks last on four of five health outcome measures. Life expectancy is more than four years below the 10-country average, and the U.S. has the highest rates of preventable and treatable deaths for all ages as well as excess deaths related to the pandemic for people under age 75."

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2024/sep/mirror-mirror-2024

For one source with some objective measures and data. Having people die at a younger rate in significant numbers IS harm to me.

More sources with more objective data... like the reality that we pay TWICE as much for healthcare on average per person but die younger:

https://healthsystemsfacts.org/

Or another source of data:

"Another way to transform America’s failing healthcare system is to address the high rate of insurance claim denials."

This link notes that the US actually improved in health equity in the last 15 years... thanks to ACA/Obamacare, which Trump and the GOP has committed so much effort to try to undermine or remove.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/2024/12/07/how-the-american-healthcare-system-is-failing-its-people/

How much data would you like?"

 

Comment #2  Just a note.  This is clearly not Dan answering the questions "as..asked..to do".   It's Dan trying to throw a flood of crap against the wall to avoid answering the actual questions as he'd been asked to and simply trying to exert control. 

 

 "Continuing with providing hard, objective data to answer Craig's question, as he asked me to do:

"More than 26 260 Americans aged 25 to 64 died in 2006 because they lacked health insurance"

But what of those who don't have insurance in the UK, France, the Netherlands, etc... Oh, wait. They ALL have universal health insurance. My son who got sick while in Peace Corps in the relatively poor nation of Albania was able to be treated... because ALBANIA has universal health care, and he wasn't even a citizen! Same for when he was in Taiwan.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2323087/

I'd say 26,000 people dying a year due to our health system is a problem and a legitimate harm. Do you think so?

More:

"Main takeaways include:

* About half of U.S. adults say it is difficult to afford health care costs, and one in four say they or a family member in their household had problems paying for health care in the past 12 months. Younger adults, those with lower incomes, adults in fair or poor health, and the uninsured are particularly likely to report problems affording health care in the past year...

* The cost of prescription drugs prevents some people from filling prescriptions. About one in five adults (21%) say they have not filled a prescription because of the cost...

* Those who are covered by health insurance are not immune to the burden of health care costs. About half (48%) of insured adults worry about affording their monthly health insurance premium...

* Health care debt is a burden for a large share of Americans. About four in ten adults (41%) report having debt due to medical or dental bills including debts owed to credit cards...

https://www.kff.org/health-costs/issue-brief/americans-challenges-with-health-care-costs/

As you can see, aside from the harms, illness and death that come from not having universal health care, there are also the harms of the wildly more expensive health care - harms to the economy writ large, harms to household economies and harms to healthcare due to not being able to afford medicines and treatments.

You don't have that so much with universal healthcare systems, apparently. Or so, the data seems to say."

 

Comment #3    This is an obvious straw man.  I had asked him to answer specific questions in specific ways, nothing else. 

 

" So... you're wanting me to provide support that I don't have about claims I have not made because... why?

Would you like for me to address concerns about long-term space travel on human bodies and how that might impact proposed colonization of Mars, too... or other topics I haven't raised?

That's strange."

 

Comment #4

 

" Okay, addressing YOUR questions that have nothing to do with ANYTHING I've said, here's one source:

Despite significant initial financial losses in the individual market after the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) took effect,
health insurer profitability in the individual market has risen due to substantial premium increases,
government premium tax credits that pay for those premium increases, and the large, government-funded, Medicaid expansion. Since ACA
implementation on January 1, 2014, health insurance stocks outperformed the S&P 500 by 106 percent."

And who is this sketchy source where I found this?

https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/The-Profitability-of-Health-Insurance-Companies.pdf

Ha.

Or, how about a whistleblower FROM the health industry, talking about the great costs of the for-profit/Wall Street/pay investors strategy of health insurance companies:

Restricting patients’ access to needed care made UnitedHealth, Cigna and a handful of other big insurers Wall Street darlings, and made lots of people lots of money while doing little to enhance care...

Hundreds of acquisitions later, UnitedHealth is now the fourth largest U.S. company — just behind Walmart, Amazon, and Apple. At the end of trading on Monday of this week, the share price was $560.62.
That’s an increase of more than 2,100% since June 24, 2009.
By comparison, the Dow Jones average has increased 438%.

https://www.statnews.com/2024/12/11/wall-street-unitedhealthcare-ceo-shooting-brian-thompson/"

 

Comment #5

 

 "More:

United Healthcare reported a
historic profit of $16.4 billion in the previous year.
This profit comes not from inventive, groundbreaking medical technology. It arises from accumulating substantial insurance premiums and subsequently failing to provide the promised benefits when customers seek to redeem those benefits. Why should a customer who spends $10,000 annually on health insurance be denied medication or a medical treatment deemed medically necessary by their physician simply because the insurer disagrees with the physician’s assessment?

Now, I'm done answering questions about something I haven't stated a position on. Feel free to deal with the data I've provided or not. I'm telling you what is obvious: Large numbers of people in the US across the political spectrum are angry about how our health insurance companies provide care and services.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/09/29/increasing-share-of-americans-favor-a-single-government-program-to-provide-health-care-coverage/

https://news.gallup.com/poll/4708/healthcare-system.aspx

As to your question about me not saying if this guy being shot is bad, I simply would point you to my CONSISTENT position. ANY TIME you hear that someone innocent was harmed or killed, what is my position? It's wrong.

That's true whether it's a wealthy white CEO or the people harmed by lack of equitable health insurance. So you have no reason to wonder, "What does Dan think of the morality of this man being assassinated?" Dan's position is consistent: IT'S WRONG to assassinate people. It's WRONG to bomb innocent civilians. IT'S WRONG to cut off aid to starving people. IT'S WRONG to enslave people.

I'm consistent.

It's the advantage of having a consistent ethical worldview. You don't need to wonder what my position is."

 

 

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Awaiting moderation

Dan Trabue commented on "Tragedy"

1 hour ago

Perhaps one of the problems is when I made the claim (supported now with much data, and plenty more where that came from) that our system of private health insurance causes harm ("AND, it is a tragedy that health policies have been so dominated and harmed by a FOR PROFIT system of "insurance" that causes so much harm.")... you took that to mean that I think UH and other insurance firms are getting "too rich," which is NOT the claim I made and NOT anything I have data on. That may or may not be the case, but it wasn't the claim I was making.

When ~9% of the population has no health care, people die younger and in the order of tens of thousands of fellow citizens. That number of uninsured was closer to 15% back prior to Obamacare, but we've made great advances in that front (unless the GOP/Magop manage to finally undo those advances). Those tens of thousands of annual deaths ARE harm. It doesn't matter how much the insurance companies makes or doesn't make. The system is flawed.

When large numbers of people (including many WITH health insurance) can't afford their treatments or medicines, that causes harm. Regardless of how little or how much profit the insurance and pharma industries make.

When large numbers of people are denied treatments recommended by their doctors, THAT causes harm, regardless of insurance company profits.

Part of the problem IS the connection to profits, but not solely. In a system (regardless of how much profit companies are making) that a FOR-PROFIT business is dependent on keeping costs down SO THAT they make a profit, there is incentive for them to deny treatments and medications. Listening to the anger across the US, surely you recognize this. The system itself motivates worse care.

And this is borne out by various studies and reports by a variety of experts in the field and which is based upon hard numbers.

https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/quality-u-s-healthcare-system-compare-countries/

https://www.who.int/news/item/07-02-2000-world-health-organization-assesses-the-world%27s-health-systems

The point being, once again, is I was not talking about the profit margin and I STILL don't know the profit margin of UH, because that was not the point I was addressing. I was addressing the SYSTEM and looking at hard data comparing us to other wealthy nations.

Also, it would be one thing if the US was doing poorly with our private for-profit system and so was everyone else. But when we know it can be done better and with less harmful outcomes, why would we not do it better?

Awaiting moderation

Dan Trabue commented on "Tragedy"

18 hours ago

Consider the words of Mary, James and Jesus about the rich oppressors:

"God has scattered the proud in their conceit.
God has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
God has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich have been sent away empty..."

"...listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter."

"Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."

People have this natural abhorrence of the abuses of and molestations by the rich and powerful and some sense (that serious, even literal, readings of scripture would seem to affirm) that such abusers SHOULD be punished.

Which, AGAIN, is not me affirming this awful action alleged to have been done by this privileged white man from a conservative family. I can do two things at the same time: Condemn the assassination completely AND condemn the system which frustrates and harms so many more people than this one man.

Awaiting moderation

Dan Trabue commented on "Tragedy"

19 hours ago

From your New Yorker article, again:

Reporting in the Wall Street Journal has found that these private insurance companies, which cover more than a third of American seniors on Medicare,
collect hundreds of billions of dollars from the government annually and
overbill Medicare to the tune of around ten billion dollars per year;
UnitedHealthcare has
used litigation to fight its obligation to repay fees that were overpaid [sounds strikingly familiar for the corrupt pervert the GOP put back in power - Dan].

In 2020, UnitedHealth acquired a company called NaviHealth, whose software provides algorithmic care recommendations for sick patients, and which is now used to help manage its Medicare Advantage program. A 2023 class-action lawsuit alleges that the NaviHealth algorithm has a
“known error rate” of ninety per cent and
cites appalling patient stories:
one man in Tennessee broke his back, was hospitalized for six days, was moved to a nursing home for eleven days, and then was informed by UnitedHealth that his care would be cut off in two days.
(UnitedHealth says the lawsuit is unmerited.)

After a couple rounds of appeals and reversals,
the man left the nursing home and died four days later.

This murder was bad. Awful. Wrong. The treatment/abuse of thousands/tens of thousands/more US citizens and our neighbors... the deaths, bankruptcies, crushing debt and ill-health produced by our health system are LIKEWISE, wrong. Perhaps even worse, if you want to try to measure evil. The actions of one apparently frustrated perhaps conservative wealthy man who may have been done wrong by an insurance company (remains to be seen) is awful, but one can understand the frustration.

The actions of people in insurance companies and just the system itself which produce all of the harms noted in your article (and more) is truly awful and not understandable.

It's the difference between a father who killed the man who raped his daughter and which rapist was never convicted (wrong, but one can understand the frustration) and the actions of serial rapists (wrong and in no way understandable... it's just evil and sick).

Awaiting moderation

Dan Trabue commented on "Tragedy"

19 hours ago

Of course, you aren't even going to bother proving your claim about any of these responses coming from anyone "right wing", because you just don't prove your claims

I DON'T KNOW. I don't tend to make claims about things as if they were a fact about things I don't know. Again, distaste/dislike/disdain for insurance companies is not a partisan thing. I have NO data to guess that the majority or all are coming from liberals or conservatives, any more than you do. I suspect both.

But what about the concerns being raised in such a harsh way by SO many people across the country (and probably across political lines)? They've been denied services their doctor recommends, they've gone bankrupt, they've had to choose between medicine and food, they've sometimes died or died younger than they should have according to the data. Will you express NO sympathy for these thousands, tens of thousands of people suffering so?

That goes both ways.

Awaiting moderation

Dan Trabue commented on "Tragedy"

19 hours ago

Craig, from YOUR New Yorker link:

“I’m sorry, prior authorization is required for thoughts and prayers,” someone commented on TikTok, a response that got more than fifteen thousand likes. “Does he have a history of shootings? Denied coverage,” another person wrote, under an Instagram post from CNN. On X, someone posted, with the caption “My official response to the UHC CEO’s murder,” an infographic comparing wealth distribution in late eighteenth-century France to wealth distribution in present-day America."

Again, I ask you a rather simple question: DO YOU HAVE ANY DATA THAT SAYS ALL OR EVEN MOST of the people acting rudely about this man's murder are liberals? Anonymous comments on TikTok does not data make.

If you have no proof that this is primarily a liberal thing, then just admit as much. There's no harm in being straightforward. I'm glad to say that I do not know if these abusive comments are from mostly liberal or mostly conservative types... or perhaps regular people with no huge political leanings, but who are amongst the many actively harmed by our health insurance system (and again: DATA: "HARMED" in the sense that tens of thousands of people from lack of health insurance... in the sense that people go bankrupt, that they can't afford their medications which leads to physical and financial harm).

My guess is that most of the abusive comments are from mostly non-political people who've just been harmed or view themselves as harmed by the medical system in general and insurance companies specifically. For instance, ALL the times that your doctors recommend Treatment A but then, an anonymous insurance expert says, "No, we don't agree with your doctor who has actually been with you and knows your case... request denied!" What the hell kind of arrogance is that? HOW is that a just or rational system?

Just admit you have no proof for your theory and move on. That's the rational, adult way to handle such mistakes.

Awaiting moderation

Dan Trabue commented on "Tragedy"

20 hours ago

As far as I can tell, here are the ONLY words I've used to talk about the killer:

It is a tragedy that this man was murdered
by a privileged white man
from an apparently conservative background.

and:

Murder is wrong.

Where in that do you even begin to read into my words... "But secretly, I idolize him..."?

Awaiting moderation

Dan Trabue commented on "Tragedy"

20 hours ago

Craig:

The issue is whether or not some number of people being some degree of annoyed is justification to kill someone.

No. No. Of course, it's not. Don't be obtuse. I've ALWAYS been consistent on this: Causing harm/killing/enslaving others is wrong. I'm the one that's been consistent. You're the one that says, "Well, sometimes slavery is okay. Sometimes killing babies and children and other innocent bystanders is okay. Sometimes bombing a whole city full of innocent people is okay."

Understand this: I AM CONSISTENTLY OPPOSED TO KILLING PEOPLE. So, go ahead and ask, "Well, though, do you think that THIS guy should have been assassinated?" My answer is what it always it: I AM CONSISTENTLY OPPOSED TO KILLING PEOPLE.

You're the one with wishy washy hunches about when it's okay to slaughter even innocent children and babes and when it's not.

You clearly seem to lean (maybe slightly) toward the side that is idolizing this guy.

Of course, I don't. I have never said anything like that. Good Lord. Do you have a reading comprehension problem?

What words have I used to make you think I "idolize" this sick, sad man?

 

 

I'LL BE BLOCKING ALL COMMENTS ON THIS POST, AND MODERATING ANY COMMENTS ON THE OTHER POST THAT RELATE TO THESE COMMENTS.   UNFORTUNATELY DAN'S CHOICE NOT TO DO AS HE WAS ASKED, HAS RESULTED IN CONSEQUENCES.  

Tragedy

 I've been a little unsure about how to approach this Untied Healthcare murder story because I have friends who worked closely and knew Brian Thompson pretty well.   But in short this was an absolute tragedy.  Yet, we've seen days of response from the APL who've been almost gloating about his murder, with virtually zero evidence of restraint.  Now we find out that the murder is very likely (based on what we know and his background) someone who leans to the left politically, I suspect that things will quiet down pretty quickly in terms of media, especially social.  

Regardless of how bad the US health insurance industry seems screwed up, and there is plenty to not like, there is no justification for either the murder or the self satisfied "He got what he deserved" attitude among all too many leftists. 

Acquitted

 Thank goodness, the NYC jury did the right thing and acquitted Daniel Penny despite the legal maneuvering intended to get him convicted on a lesser charge despite contravening the jury instructions.  There's no way I'd want to live in NYC, but this restores a little of my faith in the ordinary citizens. 

DEI and BLM

 One of the failures failures of the BLM movement was their insistence on taking a premise that virtually everyone agrees with, that black people have intrinsic value and that their lives are worth something, and insisting that one must agree with the bizarre agenda of the organization.   Yet the organization, up to this point, has merely been a money making scheme for the leaders, with no value given back to any one or any communities.   The DEI industrial complex is similar.   It's taken three terms that in and of themselves are not objectionable and turned them into an agenda that pushes a narrative that must be agreed with by everyone.  The the default argument for DEI is something like, "What, don't you think that diversity is a good thing?".   To which most would respond with something like "Sure as long as it's a strategy to increase the size of the pool of qualified potential employees.".   So far, not big deal.  Yet the DEI industrial complex would respond by insisting that diversity means excluding some qualified candidates because they're not diverse enough, and including some candidates that are not qualified but diverse.   Of course, diversity is limited to "race" and nothing else.  In short, it's one more example to turning something that most could agree with into an agenda intended to bludgeon everyone into submission. 

More Hypocrisy

 As I watch the furor around the new DOGE, I'm shocked by the number of left wing idiots who are virtually in tears because a couple of successful business guys are going to make recommendations on how to get rid of waste in government.   It's almost like they are cheering for government waste, fraud and abuse or something.  

One complaint that I hear regularly is that these billionaires are going to cut Social Security benefits for people.   Bullshit.   Let's start with the obvious, Social Security is a horrible ROI for the vast majority of people.   Then let's acknowledge that the money that was supposed to be set aside in a "trust fund" for recipients has been spent by lawmakers.   While we're at it, it's acknowledge that the "overpopulation" nuts and idiots who've driven our birthrate down have undermined the foundation of Social Security.   Finally, let's acknowledge that changes need to be made.   Raise the tax rate, raise the income cap, raise the retirement age, eliminate tax on SS benefits, allow surviving spouses to collect at least a percentage of their spouses benefits, just to name a few.    Obviously, the best option is to transition into a privatized system where at least half of the withholding goes into an account controlled by the taxpayer and where they are encouraged to pick vehicles with better ROI.  

I also hear people whining about what will happen to government employees who are fired from unnecessary jobs.   Strangely enough, the same people worried about government employees losing their jobs, and passionately committed to eliminating the jobs of millions of American taxpayers in industries that they deem harmful.   What was it that leftist elites told miners who were concerned about losing their jobs?  "Learn to code", was the phrase I heard often, well sounds like good advice for soon to be ex government employees as well. 

The other, related, complaint I hear from idiots is that tariffs will be passed on to consumers.  Strangely enough, these are the same lemmings that constantly complain about increasing corporate taxes as if those aren't passed on to consumers also.  Let's start with the basic premise that every cost to every business is passed on to the consumer.   Then let's look at the potential benefits of tariffs.    If tariffs encourage consumers to buy products from companies that make their products in the US, that seems like a win on multiple levels.    More jobs, more tax revenue, more capitol expenditures (which also equal more jobs/tax revenues), also seems like a good thing.   If tariffs cause Chinese business to become less competitive, which decreases China's ability to effect world affairs negatively, that also seems positive.  Finally, if tariffs can cause countries to change things that harm the US and allow US companies to compete on a level playing field internationally, that seems positive as well.  

My point is not that tariffs are the best possible option, or that we should immediately impose them.  My point is that it might be worth taking a look at all sides of tariffs before reflexively following the other lemmings.  

The common thread in all of this is that the US government, should be prioritizing the needs and well being of US citizens and taxpayers over all else.  If hard choices need to be made to save/extend/improve Social Security, then lets study the problem and choose the best possible solutions based on something other than partisan bitching.   If waste exists in the government (the very notion that waste might not exist in the federal government is literally insane), then let's get rid of it.   It's not the role of the US taxpayers to subsidize inertia and waste just because we have in the past.  The amount of energy being spent to defend government waste, illegal aliens who commit violent crimes, and those who want fewer chemicals in our food is strange. 

Travesty

 https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/hung-jury-daniel-penny-trial-manslaughter-jordan-neely/6045773/

What in the hell is wrong with the citizens of NYC?    The testimony clearly showed that Penny did not kill Neely, and that Neely was alive when the police finally showed up.   

The very fact that Penny was charged at all is a travesty, and the fact that he hasn't been acquitted is a joke.  

Without knowing for sure, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that there are 1-3 jurors who are either black or extremely liberal who were never going to vote to acquit no matter what the evidence showed.  

At this point declare a mistrial, take the loss, and move on.   The justice system in NYC is clearly a joke.  

Not really related, but it happened in NYC and the left wing response has been a travesty is the murder of Brian Thompson.   The number of allegedly Christian leftists who are celebrating this callous murder is appalling.   They they are trying to justify his murder because of his job is disgusting.   I'm sure his surviving family feels comforted by y'all showing the grace, love, and compassion of the Jesus you claim to follow. 

Let's Go Brandon! No, Seriously, Brandon go the Hell Away.

 https://www.mykxlg.com/news/national/biden-announces-1-bn-for-africa-during-maiden-trip/article_629225c3-8a9c-524a-acef-7c3901c6b12a.html

So, after Biden pardoned Hunter he hopped on a plane and took a useless trip/vacation to Africa where he announced a billion dollars to be spent on housing for Africans.

Now I was pretty sure Biden was president of the USA, and that his first priority was to the citizens of the country he's president of.  

So maybe I missed something, but I'm pretty sure that there are folks in Maui that don't have their homes rebuilt yet, folks in the southeast US who are living in tents and other temporary shelters, let alone homeless veterans living on the streets.  But screw those US citizens, lets build houses in Africa.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against building houses in Africa.   I wholeheartedly support private groups going to Africa and building houses with private money.  I might even support the US doing so, after they take care of our citizens.  But no, this is Brandon taking a last international jaunt to piss away money that the US taxpayer is going to have to pay interest on for decades while ignoring suffering right here at home.

FJB!

More NFL

 As we enter December, the NFL standings are becoming more clear.   At the top of the standings, it's all about the 1seed and the bye in the playoffs.   Although the 2 seed an home field through the majority of the playoffs isn't bad, especially if the 1 gets knocked off.   But, that'll get decided on the field.  

What I find more interesting is the other end of the standings.   The stakes might actually be higher for these teams, especially long term.   It seems like draft order, salary cap, and coaching are the priorities for these teams.  

AFC

3 win teams-   Browns, Jets, Titans, Patriots, 

2 win teams- Raiders, Jaguars

NFC

3 win team- Panthers

2 win team- Giants

Of those teams the Browns, Jets, Titans, Raiders, and Giants absolutely need a quarterback and really don't have much to choose from in the draft.    The Patriots, Jaguars, and Panthers are in a position to add high end talent, or trade back to load up on additional picks to build around their franchise quarterback.   It'll be interesting to see how this plays out in the draft and free agency, especially for a team like the Jaguars who've already paid their quarterback big money.  

I'll add three more teams that will be interesting to watch in the off season.

The Saints are in salary cap hell, and aren't bad enough to even sniff one of the prime quarterbacks to build around.

The Bears have some really nice talent, and a potential generational quarterback on a rookie contract, but also have big holes to fill.   It'll be interesting to see where they draft, and whether or not they trade their #1 for quantity or use it on left tackle.  

The 49ers seem to be in a really difficult situation.   Purdy is due for a huge payday, but really hasn't justified the $50 million plus that he "should" be getting.    CMC is back to being injury prone, and expensive.  They'll be looking to replace Trent Williams soon as well as potential big receiver contracts.   So far, it looks like their best move is to sign Purdy to a short term deal that recognizes what he's done over the last couple of years for $35 million or so, and then stock up around him.    Obviously, it'll depend on how much Purdy wants to help the team by taking a "smaller" contract, and whether or not there's a free agent market for him.

Personally, I think that San Francisco and Chicago are the two teams that will be the most interesting to watch in the off season.   

H/T WK

 https://winteryknight.com/2024/12/01/william-lane-craig-on-the-unexpected-applicability-of-mathematics-to-nature-11/

I am not going to try to replicate WK's piece here since he does a much better job than I would.  I do agree that these sorts of arguments, can be very effective in discussions.   The notion that everything comes from nothing, order comes from disorder, or that the applicability of math to nature seem contrary to very Naturalist/Materialist/Darwinian arguments I've ever heard.

Pardon

 I'm of two minds about Biden's decision to pardon Hunter.  

On the one hand, I firmly believe that the presidential pardon is intentionally an unrestricted power of the executive and that any encroachments on powers reserved to the various branches of government are wrong.   I also understand a father wanting to help his son.

But.......... on the other hand this particular pardon reeks of saving Joe's ass.  It seems obvious that, given the scope of the pardon, that Joe does not want a federal prosecutor to offer Hunter immunity to spill the beans on the whole family.   Further, the hypocrisy of pardoning Hunter for violating firearms law, while simultaneously prosecuting people for similar violations and while trying to restrict the 2nd amendment rights of firearms owners is incredibly hypocritical.   Not only that, but Biden has been promising for months that he would not pardon Hunter because Hunter was not above the law.   As far as I'm concerned, the left bitching about Trump's lies is now off the table, unless and until they apply the same standard to their own

I think I've said else where that Trump should have pardoned Hunter for the charges he'd been convicted of as a demonstration of magnanimity.    But a blanket pardon for anything Hunter has done tells me that the Hunter "conspiracy theories" are more than likely True and that the Biden family raked in lots of money through illegal/unethical means.  

Too bad Joe is too old and incompetent to actually stand trial himself.  

 

 https://winteryknight.com/2024/12/03/hunter-biden-pardon-proves-that-fascist-secular-leftists-think-they-are-above-the-law/