pawnman
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Posts posted by pawnman
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10 hours ago, arg said:
Okay, genuine question. What would you do if a bus with a few was dropped off in front of your house.
If in front of my house I would check to see if they needed food or water, then let them know the nearest town was 20 miles north.
Don't know about NSPlayer, but I'm also very pro-immigration. But I don't think that means we just bus people in and dump them in a random city.
We have visa processes for work visas and student visas. My step 1 would be to keep and expedite those processes while removing the caps. Anyone who wants to work or study in the US can, but you don't get a visa until you show you've got a job or you've been accepted by a university.
Anyone who graduates from an American college, no matter what country they're from, no longer has to leave and re-apply for a work visa. Upon graduation, you get 1 year to find and keep a job. If you have a job a year after graduation, it's an automatic renewal of your visa. Keep a job in the US for three years or more, we offer you citizenship (as long as you pass the other requirements).
I'd scrap the whole H1-B program. You wanna work, someone wants to hire you, come on in. No reason to limit it just to "specific technical knowledge".
The part that would be real unpopular with Dems is that I would invest HUGE amounts of money into Customs and Border Patrol so that we can expedite these visas. There's no reason in a country with as much wealth as we have, with so many employers begging for workers, that people should be waiting over a year to immigrate legally. Make it quick, fast, and cheap, pretty soon you simplify your problems - the only people coming in illegally are the ones looking to do something illegal. Getting a visa should be much closer to getting a driver's license or a passport than the years-long process we currently have.
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3 hours ago, DSG said:
Ukraine's economic importance pales in comparison to Taiwan's. Yet, scare resources continue to be funneled to its defense. My distinct impression is that U.S. intervention in Ukraine is motivated less by such cold calculus as the above and more by the ideological animus and atavistic prejudices of the liberal internationalist foreign policy establishment. I'd be less skeptical of U.S. policy there were it otherwise.
Scarce resources, as in, less than 1% of the DoD budget?
Cheapest and most effective military spending we've ever invested in.
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17 hours ago, FourFans130 said:
Let me boil this down. Russia, Ukraine, and Europe DO impact your life. You not realizing that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Apparently I don't have the right verbiage to explain the 'how' in a way that you'll choose to hear, but let me put it this way: If you drink coffee, wear clothes, drive a car, or use the internet, those countries impact your life. Ignorance is not an excuse and it's certainly not a defense.
And, as people so often seem to forget, oil. Oil is a global market. Diminishing supplies in Europe drive up prices in the US, even if we're drilling for that oil here in the US. And higher prices on oil drive prices up on pretty much everything else, because it's all carried by trucks and planes.
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8 hours ago, nsplayr said:
That’s really dumb. My system was designed and inspected by the local utility so it does not feed back into the grid during an outage, only while things are working normally. It’s not rocket science! That sucks that your utility is way behind the times. Where approx. do you live?
California doesn't exactly make it easy either.
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9 minutes ago, dream big said:
I thought he “grew up in a Black Church”? Or was that just another pandering talking point to win over the African American vote?
Did he hand out the purple heart in his home church?
https://www.factcheck.org/2022/12/bidens-story-about-uncle-frank-doesnt-add-up/
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On 1/13/2023 at 2:56 PM, nsplayr said:
@filthy_liar I appreciate it, and esp if you're very rich...I'm listening 🍆😆 Everyone has a price ,and anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves & just hasn't heard a big enough number yet.
Wasn't it Bill Burr who said he'd blow a dude for $10 million? "You spend a million dollars on mouthwash, you still have $9 million!"
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11 hours ago, uhhello said:
Were you bitching just as much when we maxed out the credit cards every other year for less consequential shit?
Guessing he's also upset that the bonus is too low, the Air Force is too small, and that we aren't buying enough new aircraft.
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39 minutes ago, nsplayr said:
Biden is Catholic lol, that’s about how my white ass would look rolling up to Ebenezer Baptist in the middle of a service too 😅
In nomeni patri et fili et spiritus sancti, amen ✝️🇮🇪🇮🇹
Are there a lot of black Catholic churches in Delaware?
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4 minutes ago, Guardian said:
Well that’s changing the discussion a lot and wasn’t at hand. Also it is a hypothetical made to trap. I believe when someone in a relationship is asked a question by their significant other such as the one above, it could be referred to as a $hit test.
I never said it was a conspiracy to make the rich richer even though it did have partially that effect on some.
But I think in general taking more than what is fair from those who build up aspects of society, give opportunities, and help propel our society to heights never experience in this world is wrong and nearly pure evil. Even most of the poorest people in this country are better off than the large majority of the rest of the world.Ah. So covid is not, in fact, a power grab to make the rich richer.
Glad we agree.
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2 minutes ago, Guardian said:
Define the situation you are referring to specifically please. As you allude to multiple situations and viewpoints.Well, let's start with the one at hand. If you believe covid was just a conspiracy to make rich people richer, why serious you oppose taking that wealth from them?
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11 hours ago, BashiChuni said:
You have nothing but insults to dispute what I’m saying. THIS is the power grab I’m talking about.
"The rich executed a huge transfer of wealth to themselves over the last two years! "
"So let's tax it and use it to benefit the poor"
"Fuck you, the rich already pay enough in taxes!"
I guess I'm not following the argument. What would you like to do to remedy this situation?
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11 hours ago, Biff_T said:
I like how she's using a gas stove. That must have been extremely hard to cook with all of those poisonous fumes.
Remind me... the argument against gas stoves is that they negatively impact cognitive performance, right?
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32 minutes ago, Prozac said:
I dunno man. Kinda hard to tell a sovereign nation to stop fighting for every inch of territory that’s been annexed by an aggressor. If the Ukrainians are willing to fight for the next 20 years, & tie up the Red Army in the process, I say let ‘em & provide whatever weapons are reasonable for that end.
I agree.
If China invaded the west coast, at what point do you think the US would negotiate a settlement that gave up Hawaii, Alaska, California, Oregon, and Washington?
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16 hours ago, brabus said:
What I’m trying to say is if you have ever had a background check/bought from an FFL, there is a paper trail of you being a gun owner. Now sure you may have lost that specific firearm, had it stolen, or sold it privately. But, they still know you’re a gun owner as a general statement. There is no hiding it unless 100% of firearms you’ve acquired over your lifetime have been private.
There's a record of me owning A gun. That's very different than a registry of every gun I own now or have ever owned.
I don't think we're too far off from registering guns the way we do cars... every year, for each one you own, and by the way, the state wants a fee for it.
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5 hours ago, filthy_liar said:
While all of the talk about bleeding our enemy without us spending any blood is going on...is Russia a threat to us? If we didn't send a nickel to Ukraine - would our lives be any different here at home? I'm not convinced. What I am convinced of is that a lot of Americans have yet again been duped - there is a boogeyman (he doesn't affect your day to day in the slightest), but we need to send a shitload of $$$ to customer ### to defend against the boogeyman.
Its kinda like cyber. "Dude, if you don't know that the cyber threat can shut down the ATMs at any moment, then I don't know what to tell you." Well, every ATM I go to works just fine. You can only use the "it's all on JWICS" argument on me so much before I start to have doubts. And yes, I'm on JWICS every day.
I think people just get so caught up in the hype, just like the covid threat, that they forget to think. The narrative starts and then it starts spiraling into a frenzy because people want to believe that their leaders aren't selfish pricks who will do anything to obtain and keep power and wealth.
If Europe doesn't care enough to take care of Ukraine, then I guess I'll still go ahead and keep living exactly how I was before Russia invaded. And Ukraine's shitty extremely corrupt construct of a government.
I think people need to pay attention to what is actually happening around them. Put on earphones, turn off the tv and radio, and observe what is actually happening.
If you're really on JWICS everyday, then you must know that Russia is a major global competitor that attempted to influence both the 2016 and 2020 elections. You can't possibly believe that the US isn't better off with a weakened Russian military, especially if you're on JWICS every day.
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3 hours ago, FLEA said:
So people aren't worthy because they were born in Africa and not Europe? What makes Ukrainians more worthy than say Nigerians?
Hell of a choice of language.....
Let me know when a major global competitor starts getting their ass handed to them by Nigeria.
We're not funding Ukraine because we love Ukraine. We're funding Ukraine because it is a unique opportunity to significantly degrade a major global competitor.
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14 hours ago, StoleIt said:
We wore the "Whoop" ring for ORM purposes. It went away pretty quickly when the tech dude who did all the work to get set up PCA'd.
My only issue with using a wearable device to track healthy/fitness (which I'm a fan of, I love my smart watch for this reason) is that if you work in a vault or do any significant amounts of flying I can see you get flagged and put in the bad camp. Sure, even if I hit the gym and run 2 miles before a flight, 24 hours stuck in a metal tube eating a ton of calories isn't gonna help. I do get a kick out of it when my watch tells me to get up and go for a walk when I'm halfway across the ocean and have 3 more legs to go. Airplane mode needs to apply to fitness!
The Space Force is only requiring something like 90 minutes of activity a week, not wearing a tracking device 24/7.
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10 hours ago, FLEA said:
Lets be honest for a minute..... we aren't talking about the US ever getting invaded. This is 100% about us being able to flex power on different continents. For the foreseeable future, at least several generations, the US is a fortress due to perfect oceanic terrain.
Was already mentioned this above but by sheer force projection, spending, capability we do. If you are measuring raw manpower fine but its not a good measure. Also are you really worried about China invading the US? We are skeptical China can even invade Taiwan right now.... What is your concern here?
My concern is to not follow other great powers who could never be invaded or who had unprecedented military power. I don't want us to follow the road of the English Empire.
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On 1/8/2023 at 4:49 PM, FLEA said:
Like......?
Edit: Also worth asking: if this is the ideal state strategy, why aren't any other free democratic states practicing it?
Because waiting to be invaded and hoping your adversary has terrible logistics isn't a great strategy. If Russia were competent and less corrupt, this easily could have gone much, much worse.
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On 1/8/2023 at 4:00 PM, FLEA said:
Wasn't sarcasm. A serious COA. Is it possible some of these border states know the best means of investment for their defense better than we do? Is it possible they could spend that money more effectively and wisely than we could? We gave Ukraine $21B and they have literally crumbled what we thought was our second largest conventional competitor.
We are geographically the most secure country on the planet but have the largest standing army in history. We also have guaranteed our security through a massive nuclear enterprise. The vast majority of our forces are engaged to security commitments abroad. We can't reduce forces due to those commitments. We spend ~$700B on defense annually but ~$350B is actually spend on personnel cost, benefits, entitlements, salary, wages and insurance. People are the costliest asset in the DoD. We don't need 2 million people though to defend the US borders. We need that because of foreign commitments. And a smaller force would generally be overall healthier for our economy. Imagine reinvesting ~$350B annually back into the US economy, or approximately $1000/person, $4000/family. The average household income in the US is $70K/yr. That's a nearly 5% raise to buying power across the US population.
It also puts the onus back on most of these other countries that they need to take more responsibility for their own security. I don't think it should be the job of US forces to hold the expectation to absorb the majority of casualties in foreign conflicts designed to protect other countries. I think back to McArthur's support for the South Koreans when he said we weren't there to fight the war for them, but to be their spine, knowing that the US was backing them was a major boost to confidence and morale that allowed them to be successful. Working in South Korea its very clear they feel responsible for their own defense. Working in Europe, its exactly the opposite. They largely believe it is the US's job to pick up the burden of defense and they will assist in support roles later in the conflict. (With the exception of France and the UK, who are pretty reliable and self sufficient.)
We do not have the largest standing military in history. China does. Which is a good reason not to slash our budget.
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9 hours ago, JimNtexas said:
Someone please explain to me how it could possibly be in the best interest of the United States to not give Ukraine really significant military assistance.
They are killing Russians and blowing up their stuff. Russia is one of our two near-peer adversaries. The one that is run by a crazy man.
What’s the point of being in NATO if just fold our arms and say ‘not our problem, we need the money for dish washer rebates and drag queen shows’. Yes, I know that Ukraine isn’t a member, but all their neighbors are. What will we do if we see Putin dancing down main street Kyiv while the FSB is going door to door kidnapping kids and sending Mom and Dad to Siberia?
And why are Republicans suddenly whining about defense spending? Are we now in bizzaro world?
100%. No matter how much we've given Ukraine, it's a fraction of our annual DoD budget. We are witnessing the wholesale destruction of a near-peer's military capability with zero US lives spent. It would be a bargain at twice the price.
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11 minutes ago, Homestar said:
I believe his self-immolation in joining the Jan 6 committee demonstrates the opposite—extreme conviction.
Perhaps made easier by getting redistrict-ed. But I find myself more impressed by his and Cheny’s efforts to hold Trump accountable as more genuine than the cowards like McCarthy that blow wherever the winds of power take them.
Flame away.
Self-immolation? You mean being a darling of the party in power and levying that into a high six-figure job with CNN where he'll only have to work a couple days a week, for an hour at a time?
God, I wish I could sabotage my own career that successfully.
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I've never known AFPC to meet a suspense, either their own or an external one.
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Russian Ukraine shenanigans
in General Discussion
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