caulfield12

You could argue hatred/vitriol at Clintons has transferred to the Obama’s, then back to Hillary. Roughly that same 25% has always been there on the right. It’s just that the left has become incredibly energized with Trump now. So it’s seemingly even more polarized. I must have posted about politics five times in eight years under Obama or Bush. Many turned against Bush after the war lies and Hurricane Katrina, but the feeling was more apathy/distrust/antipathy than the visceral hatred aligned against Trump now.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 20, 2018 -> 06:32 PM) Here's the problem. Convince me that a #7 seed can even get to the 2nd round, let alone win the title. This is the same problem baseball is starting to see. If a #7 seed has absolutely no shot, then they are stuck in NBA Hell - not good enough to be a finals team, but too good to get a draft pick likely to turn into a star. Unless as a #8 seed you can sign a Lebron James, you have a choice - either be happy filling your stadium as a first round exiting playoff team, or lose. As long as the Warriors and a handful of other teams are superteams, this will remain an unsolvable problem. In baseball, the WC and then the first round of games...the probability of upsets is higher. When you have seven game series (especially with home court advantage in basketball to the best teams), it’s that much harder. Imagine the general feeling about the NBA if Draymond Green wasn’t suspended two years ago and the Warriors had won 3 in a row instead of 2/3.

Deutsche Bank Willing To Report Jared Kushner’s ‘Suspicious Transactions’ To Robert Mueller: Report https://uk.news.yahoo.com/deutsche-bank-wil...-001443755.html And one wonders why his Q popularity rating is 25%, well below the two oldest Trump Brothers.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 20, 2018 -> 07:01 AM) Kelly sunk the deal that Schumer and Trump had worked out earlier in the day. https://twitter.com/samstein/status/9545862...src=twsrc%5Etfw https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/20/i...ss-trump-352222 When it comes down to it, Kelly, Cotton and Stephen Miller are the 3 most responsible for the hardline on immigration. Mulvaney’s probably #4, with Marc Short #5. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/19/g...18-blame-349398 Nonetheless, the failed vote led to the first official shutdown since October 2013. It came after Trump summoned Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to the White House earlier Friday in hopes of an agreement. But the New York Democrat returned without one, saying he and Trump discussed “all the areas” on which the two sides disagree. On the floor, Schumer spoke of that lunch, telling the chamber that "in my heart," he thought he had brokered a tentative agreement. "That was how far we had come. That's how positive our discussion felt," Schumer said. But "even though President Trump seemed to like an outline of the deal in the room, he did not press his party in Congress to accept it." Schumer pointed the finger squarely at the White House: "There is no one ... who deserves the blame for the position we find ourselves in more than President Trump."

Essentially our government now is being run by a general with no political experience (Kelly), Mick Mulvaney, Marc Short (only on the job since November), Stephen Miller and Javanka, with a large helping of immigration advice from Sen. Cotton. Is it any wonder it’s totally dysfunctional?

QUOTE (mac9001 @ Jan 19, 2018 -> 09:59 PM) The longer this goes the more blame will fall on Trump, Ryan and McConnell. It's astonishing a party holding the presidency and both chambers of congress would allow their window of governance to be limited because of a funding bill. Every day this goes on significantly reduces their chances of passing any legislation of substance. You don't get opportunities like this often and wasting months just to keep the government funded instead of using your majority position to advance conservative policy is just an epic failure. They should have taken the political hit, made some deals and moved on to bigger policy goals. Bigger policy deals are going to be tough to pull off with all the infrastructure money given away to tax cuts for corporations and the Top 1%.

Hot take: Trump never wanted to make a DACA deal because he fears losing his base. The far right wing of the GOP (Cotton, Goodlatte from VA, Freedom Caucus) actually wants to send all those kids and young adults back to Mexico and declare victory. I’m guessing none of them have ever even met or talked a Dreamer, nor have a desire to do so. This tweet will be hammered upon over and over from last May... Mr. Trump tweeted: “The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! We…” he continued, “either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good “shutdown” in September to fix mess!”

But they would universally be called cheap and be accused of taking fans’ money without a good faith effort to compete if they never signed studly free agents or just filled out the roster with journeymen and AAAA players...

In the end, the pressure is going to fall on Trump on his one year anniversary. They’ll just play his comments about Obama’s lack of leadership around the 2013 shutdown on an endless loop. McConnell has twice promised to deal with DACA, as did Trump a year ago. There’s just no trust. Looks like Donnelly, Heitkamp, Manchin, McCaskill, Jones and maybe Tester crossed over, all from red states up for re-election this fall. GOP lost Graham, Flake and Paul. McCain didn’t vote. 51-48. 9 votes short. Lee from Utah, so 5 Dems vs. 4 Republicans defecting. GOP could have dealt with CHIP numerous times. Republicans honestly don’t want a DACA deal, just pretend to pay lip service to it and hope the Dems keep blinking. Dem base wants this fight, now. GOP has seven Republican cosponsors at least on the Durbin/Graham compromise bill.

CNN poll: DACA not worth a shutdown, except to Democrats http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/19/politics/cnn...daca/index.html Not fake news! Overall, about half of Americans say they would blame either Trump (21%) or his Republican counterparts in Congress (26%) should Congress fail to fund the government by the midnight Friday deadline. About a third, 31%, say they would hold the Democrats in Congress responsible, and another 10% say they'd blame all three groups. Among Republicans, 62% would blame the Democrats in Congress, while 43% of Democrats would blame Republicans on Capitol Hill and 29% would blame Trump. Still, 56% overall say approving a budget agreement to avoid a shutdown is more important than continuing the DACA program, while just 34% choose DACA over a shutdown. Democrats break narrowly in favor of DACA -- 49% say it's more important vs. 42% who say avoiding a shutdown is the priority -- while majorities of both Republicans (75%) and independents (57%) say avoiding a shutdown is more important.

Why isn’t the Stormy Daniels story a bigger deal? http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/19/politics/sto...ysis/index.html National Enquirer Shielded Donald Trump From Playboy Model’s Affair Allegation Tabloid owner American Media agreed to pay $150,000 for story from 1998 Playmate of the Year, but hasn’t published her account Don’t we trust the PMOY a little bit more? https://www.wsj.com/articles/national-enqui...tion-1478309380 Notice the very conservative WSJ was the source for both these stories, originally

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 19, 2018 -> 10:14 AM) They'll study and then apply their studies to a field? Why doesn't America do this! Good question...seems like it should be fairly straightforward and bipartisan, right? https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/18/sequoia-vc-...&yptr=yahoo Rabbit will like this, Silicon Valley politically correct culture slammed... Mike Moritz, a top partner at Silicon Valley's most successful venture capital firm, says that the local tech culture has descended into "soul-sapping discussions" about "the inequity of life," and compared it unfavorably with the work ethic in the Chinese tech scene. Moritz, a managing partner at Sequoia Capital, wrote in the Financial Times that Silicon Valley's culture is becoming "unhinged" with discussions of things like the politics of speakers at tech companies, debates over work-life balance, and "grumbling about the need for a space for musical jam sessions." He contrasts this with China, where: "Top managers show up for work at about 8am and frequently don't leave until 10pm. Most of them will do this six days a week — and there are plenty of examples of people who do this for seven. Engineers have slightly different habits: they will appear about 10am and leave at midnight."

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 19, 2018 -> 09:52 AM) I wouldn't know how to bait caulfield. His response to a general point on taxes, earnings and incentives was about Fox and Friends, muslims getting aid, kids looking at iPads and universities being awful. Any topic is in play in any thread, You almost have to wonder why the brightest minds out of China almost always come here since everything is so terrible... Not for public high schools. Tsinghua University, National Univ Of Singapore...Hong Kong, will eventually pass American schools in another 10-15 years. They go to learn creativity/innovation/design. And then will apply lessons to sharing economy, AR, VR, green tech, AI, autonomous vehicles, drones, mobile payments, delivery/logistics, One Belt One Road, massive infrastructure projects, etc.

QUOTE (KagakuOtoko @ Jan 19, 2018 -> 09:39 AM) Was Rabbit baiting caulfield tho? Lol. They come just to the absolute border of saying what they really mean...without explicitly saying something that can’t later be walked back or denied. Somewhere in there is a story about school teachers not being able to succeed in life or business...complaints that school teachers’ pensions are bankrupting Chicago or America. Probably some anecdotes about the restaurant jobs being eviscerated by ObamaCare.

MLB Media/Bam Tech/Disney are the real winners, compared to the local radio rights deals. It’s not like the past, when Cards or Royals games were advertising the product/brand across thousands of miles of Heartland.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 19, 2018 -> 08:48 AM) I'd probably stop grinding in my career and try to be a teacher or something. This is why education in America is falling apart. No respect, kids are addicted to mobile phones or iPads and can focus for 10-15 minutes tops and are also expected to double as counselors because parents no longer parent...but you have succeeded in illuminating why China is winning the real trade war. Parents and society respect teachers and education, period. All parents here are willing to spend $15-30,000 per year for high school and SAT training centers and an infinite amount on undergrad and grad school. Look at the majority of the winning schools for the Mathematics Modeling Contest. Of course, you’ve now made your flippant comment, but haven’t admitted you would go ape poop crazy if the Dems wrote a bill to benefit either poor minorities or new Muslim immigrants in America. What’s wrong? No GOP talking points issued by Drudge, Fox and Friends or The Heritage Foundation yet today? And most schools wouldn’t hire you because of your long track record of comments here, so you might have to join the Google discrimination lawsuit instead.

See, you’re already contributing $190 back into the economy. DACA, military funding, hurricane relief and CHIP...should all be no brainers with widespread national support. Yet they aren’t because nobody knows what Trump wants. Call his bluff, pass a bill along the lines of Graham/Durbin Senate version or the Will Hurd (TX) one in the House and dare Trump to veto it and shut down the government. No way he doesn’t cave and try to declare victory, arguing that the final version is what he wanted all along.

The trade deficit in 2017 under Donald Trump, worse than the last four years under Barack Obama. 3.2% increas, especially rising negatively the last two months. Trump was going to be the master of trade deals and economics, bring back jobs to America and slow the growth of foreign exports into the US. Fail. Not winning bigly. https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/balance-of-trade Btw, according to a CBS poll, 87% want to allow the Dreamers to stay in America. The Federal budget deficit, worse in 2017 than 2016 under Obama. The S&P under Trump in 2017, only up 19%, far less than that number under Obama in 2009.

This weekend, Pence leaving for the Middle East...Trump back to Mar A Lago for a $100,000 a couple fundraiser marking the anniversary of his administration. First real crisis of the admin and both President and VP being out of Washington is going to look pretty bad. Would be first shutdown in US history when executive and both legislative bodies were controlled by the same party. Also, another Women’s March on Washington marking the one-year anniversary. The National Parks System under Zinke has no idea how to keep their parks open without Rangers...might have wanted to come up with a contingency plan before Friday at such a busy time for visitors.

QUOTE (joejoedairy @ Jan 18, 2018 -> 09:02 AM) I thought it was quite good, but I thought spotlight was much better. Yep. The problem is that there's no real clear winner. Last year, movies like Lion or Hidden Figures were much better (IMO) than 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Lady Bird, etc. Brooklyn was much better than Lady Bird, for that matter, or The Edge of Seventeen, which almost nobody saw. Molly's Game is similar to The Post, in that Chastain and Streep are getting a ton of hype...Bob Odenkirk deserves it for his supporting role. Get Out, to me, just isn't Best Picture material...I can't remember the last time a horror film made it. Coco...animated movies have never done well, other than Beauty & the Beast back almost 25 years ago. Fwiw, here's a site's betting odds with favorites in order: 3 Billboards The Shape of Water (not quite good enough, but surely a unique film) Dunkirk (not enough dominant acting performances to carry it to best film) Get Out (loses because of genre and amount of time since most have seen it) The Post Call Me By Your Name (a film about a gay couple might not be seen by enough, although look at The Artist) The Florida Project (not enough have seen it) Molly's Game The Greatest Showman (no interest in seeing this one) The Darkest Hour (great Oldman performance, but not a great film again...very good) The Disaster Artist (momentum moving away from James Franco/Tommy Wiseau) I, Tonya (great work by Janney/Robbie) Kings Mudbound (I would actually put this solidly in the Top 10, but almost nobody has seen it) Doubt it will happen, but would like to see Baby Driver (but Spacey) up there

Expected response/s: Quotes from Ayn Rand. Derogatory comments about blacks and/or Hispanics and "enabling them to become dependent" on the government...quotes about WIC, AFCD, food stamps, people driving around in Cadillacs with a fur coat and I-phone 8, etc. Using the money to buy alcohol, drugs or guns. Shareholders SHOULD be rewarded. 47% of the people in America have no net tax burden. People who have a strong work ethic and have established retirement plans through their own initiative should be rewarded for their positive/proactive behavior. Economic benefits will eventually trickle down to everyone else when you "invest" in the American economy. The poor won't change their negative behaviors if you reward them for being lazy/unproductive/inefficient/ill-educated and ill-trained. At least half of Americans are shareholders. Those who aren't saving or wise enough to invest deserve to fall behind. The government doesn't have the right to confiscate our earnings and frivolously spend it on $750 toilet seats for the Department of Defense...for Obama's vacations/golfing or for Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer's gold-plate health care plans and pensions. Those who are in the richest 10% all got their through old-fashioned sweat equity, pulled themselves up by the bootstraps and weren't born with silver spoons in their mouths. But as one travels around the world and talks to policymakers, investors, and current and former officials, there is the unmistakable sense that China is on the rise and the West … well, "muddling through" is probably a charitable way to put it. Few serious people think that the U.S., a proxy for the West, is remotely capable at this juncture of launching something on the scale of the Belt and Road Initiative. More corrosive is an idea becoming fashionable that democracies just can't do big things any more. We'll see how that plays out. Declinism is rife throughout American history -- and yet the U.S. keeps bouncing back. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/m/d5741c5d-f4...ina%3A-its.html

disproportionately for the bottom 80% of the population, and financed it largely by taxing the top 20% at a higher rate? Would that be ANY different than the current reaction of Democrats/liberals to Trump's tax law, and why? Study after study have shown that by giving the poor and middle class more money (disposable income) in their pockets, they'll directly inject it back into the economy and also pay down debt to a much larger extent than the positive economic impact of gifting it to the rich/elites. The middle class and those living in poverty might also wisely invest it into their children's education/s, which sociologists point out is the only realistic way to break poverty cycles, for example...or into saving some of it for retirement (putting it back into the economy by buying shares). Yes, stocks are up (under Obama, 250%, Trump around 30%). But 80 percent of the value is held by the richest 10 percent. 84% of the tax cut benefits are going to the Top 1%. We can throw out any numbers we want, like 52% have "stock market investments/shareholder class" all the way up to 63% having some type of 401-k/pension/mutual funds/Roth/IRA/profit-sharing or stock option plan, but the fact is that almost all of the benefits of the new Republican tax bill are going to the richest Americans, leading to more and more inequality/unequal distribution of wealth. But why is this good for America, exactly? Studies of the 2004 tax cut confirm exactly what economists predicted is already happening: Repatriated earnings (think Apple here) were used largely to repurchase stock. The obvious problem is that stock buybacks aren't as productive as ordinary business investment, research and design/development, capital expenditures, improving technology/efficiency/productivity and 2) they inflate corporate earnings (misleadingly) per share by reducing overall share count, eventually leading to a recession. Rewarding existing shareholders for remaining loyal and faithful shareholders would certainly be argued by many to be a productive business investment, but, once again, almost all of the benefits are going to the wealthiest 10% of Americans. So if we argue that roughly 20% of the benefits are trickling down to middle class tax cuts AND employee bonuses/raises/minimum wage increases, we have a bigger question... Why wouldn't Democrats simply turn around and "victimize" the rich by doing the exact opposite somewhere down the line? To many, Trump's policies are, at their heart, about rewarding his family and his base of support...so, wouldn't doing the opposite pretty much ensure that the majority of Americans would vote for Democrats? That 80% of the benefits should flow to the middle class/poor and only 20% of the benefit to the rich/corporations? Since the corporate taxes are already locked in, wouldn't it be natural to turn around and continue this "class warfare" thing we've got going on going all the way back to the Clinton Administration in the 1990's and realistically even earlier. One COULD argue that this was exactly what Hillary Clinton was attempting to articulate in 2016, but it didn't come across as genuine or authentic because she and the Obama admin were too cozy with Goldman Sachs/Wall Street and the corporate elites to be believed or trusted in the same way that Bernie Sanders was... https://finance.media.yahoo.com/news/tax-cu...-185047405.html

http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/18/politics/kfi...adio/index.html Head of the Corporation for National and Community Service (former Navy SEAL, Trump booster) out over racist/anti-Muslim/sexist/anti-gay comments. You can't have someone in charge of AmeriCorps/Peace Corps/VISTA...basically, our Federal government's domestic and international outreach in terms of volunteer/service workers represent such distasteful viewpoints.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 18, 2018 -> 05:51 PM) My response was in no way lazy. Not sure why you have to call it that when you can just give your opinion. Liberal is not a snarl word. I am a liberal. In the classic sense. If I called all liberals "commies" every time they had a different opinion that would be more like calling someone alt-right. Also the alt right wasn't created decades ago. Do you know people in real life that call themselves alt-right and are proud of it? I certainly don't. I would have no idea who Richard Spencer was if I only took in right wing voices. People on the left talk about him far more than I've seen anyone on the right. Look at Spencer's academic background. You will be shocked. Much smarter than Trump.

Greg, it's not so complicated. We're supposed to have EQ and sense when someone is hesitant or not completely comfortable. That's when you stop whatever you're doing and ask, "Is that alright?" or "Are you okay?" Or you simply should be so confident of yourself that you allow the women to lead the physical interactions in the beginning stages of a relationship, until you're 100% sure about how she feels about you, that she's "into you" or whatever phrase people use these days.