Here Comes The Left

[Derec]

Socialism is policies that benefit society overall.
Tom

No, it's not. Socialism is an economic system predicated on public ownership and control of means of production. This can take the form of direct state control or through legally mandated worker self management as in Titoist Yugoslavia.
Additionally, under Marxist theory, socialism is meant to be only a transitional state toward communism, in which there is no need for money or organs of the state.

Your statement reminds me of when during the Biden administration Dems tried to pretend that everything was infrastructure in order to pass Spendapalooza.

 

[Toni]

Socialism is policies that benefit society overall.
Tom

No, it's not. Socialism is an economic system predicated on public ownership and control of means of production. This can take the form of direct state control or through legally mandated worker self management as in Titoist Yugoslavia.
Additionally, under Marxist theory, socialism is meant to be only a transitional state toward communism, in which there is no need for money or organs of the state.

Your statement reminds me of when during the Biden administration Dems tried to pretend that everything was infrastructure in order to pass Spendapalooza.

Not quite: under socialism, the means of production are owned Or regulated by the community/government .

We have long regulated many aspects of businesses, and other aspects of our society.

The Biden administration saved industries and businesses —and families—from economic collapse and disaster in much the same way as FDR’s New Deal helped pull us out of the Great Depression

 

[Derec]

DNA can stay on clothes for several days … or sometimes even decades!

The opening sentence acknowledges, by using "sometimes", that DNA does not last that long most of the time.

The exact time depends on the type of clothes and the condition they are stored in.

Exactly. There is a big difference between preserving a sample in a police evidence locker and the back of someone's closet.

DNA is a tiny molecule in our body that is unique to each individual.

No, it's a huge molecule. Even the smallest DNA molecule in the human genome is contains over a billion atoms. A tiny molecule would be something like water - only three atoms, two of which are basically just seminaked protons.

It is contained inside all of our cells. We’re constantly leaving our DNA behind us. Our DNA can get onto the clothes we’re wearing through the skin cells we shed, or from body fluids such as blood, saliva, and semen.

That is exactly right. EJC could have collected DNA on that piece of clothing just by interacting with people. While a semen load would have a lot more cells and thus DNA than a touch transfer, the latter would be far more recent.

DNA found on clothes can be from not only the wearer but also anyone who has touched the clothes. So DNA traces on clothes can often give important clues in a crime investigation. In a 1967 murder case, DNA extracted from the victim’s clothes over 3 decades after the crime occurred helped identify the suspect and solved the mystery.

It is great that they got the murderer, but note the difference between something being stored under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity in an evidence locker, vs. storing it in a random closet. And then also wearing it to an interview.

More from your article:

Just like foods spoil faster at hot and humid places, DNA breaks down faster in hot and humid places. If your clothes are in a warm and damp place, the heat and humidity will make the DNA molecules unstable and more likely to fall apart. Also, bacteria and fungi grow better at warm and damp places, which can also produce enzymes that break down DNA. Sunlight also damages DNA. The UV radiation in sunlight can distort the chemical structure of DNA and lead to irreversible changes. So DNA will stay intact for longer in cool, dry, and dark places.

While there wouldn't be any UV in her closet, she did wear it to the interview.
A closet is part of the apartment, so it would be kept at comfortable conditions. People don't like air that is too dry, and relative humidity is kept at moderate 30-50%. It will also be heated in wintertime. Not exactly the best conditions to preserve organic samples over long time.

You should do some DD before you make claims. Just sayin'

What is DD? If you mean that I should do my research, I have.

 

[Elixir]

Now Republicans are all in on that government owning/running every aspect of production. Trump has been taking money from you and me, buying stock in Companies, manipulating their market prices and tipping off his best buds. Not huge investments like what he spends per day using Iran to distract from the Epstein files, but enough to influence share prices upon announcement.

• Intel - The Commerce Department acquired a 9.9% equity stake in the chipmaker via an $8.9 billion agreement. [1, 2]
• MP - The Defense Department took an initial 7.5% stake in the rare-earth mineral producer through a $400 million investment. [1, 2]
• Lithium America - The Energy Department secured a 5% stake in the company and its Thacker Pass joint venture in exchange for a $182 million deferred debt service. [1]
• ReElement - The Defense Department obtained rights for a future stock purchase in this rare-earth recycling company. [1]
• US Steel - The administration acquired a "golden share" (governance stake) rather than an economic interest, giving the government veto power over certain decisions such as moving facilities offshore. [1, 2]
• QUantum Computing - The administration also unveiled equity stakes in nine privately held quantum technology firms.

What a way to pay back your loyal friends, eh?

 

[Derec]

Not quite: under socialism, the means of production are owned Or regulated by the community/government .

No. There is regulation under capitalism as well.

We have long regulated many aspects of businesses, and other aspects of our society.

Exactly. There is regulation under capitalism. Which means that regulation is not indicative of socialism. We are back again to "everything is socialism" just like in 2021 "everything was infrastructure".

The Biden administration saved industries and businesses —and families—from economic collapse and disaster in much the same way as FDR’s New Deal helped pull us out of the Great Depression

How exactly was there a danger of "economic collapse" during Biden's term? Please be specific.

 

[Derec]

In a civil trial? I don't think so.

I do not know the rules of evidence in NY state, but I think if you sue for $5M there should be far more evidence than vibes and the defendant being unpopular among the jury pool.

Nuh uh.

I guess that passes for an argument these days.

 

[Derec]

He could have just settled it by providing one and settling things. He refused and I am confident that it's because he is guilty and he knows it.
Tom

This article says he offered it but that the Democratic judge refused it. Because the judge wanted the case tried on vibes and popularity, I guess.

After refusing to provide a DNA sample, Trump’s lawyers switched tactics, saying they would provide one if Carroll’s lawyers turned over the full DNA report on the dress.

Seems fair to me. Discovery should go both ways.

But Kaplan said Trump had provided no persuasive reason to relieve him of the consequences of his failure to seek the full DNA report in a timely fashion.
The judge also noted that the report did not find evidence of sperm cells and that reopening the dispute would raise a “complicated new subject into this case that both sides elected not to pursue over a period of years”.
He said a positive match of Trump’s DNA to that on the dress would prove only that there had been an encounter between Trump and Carroll on a day when she wore the dress, but would not prove or disprove that a rape occurred and might prove entirely inconclusive.

Note that she claimed that he ejaculated on her. No evidence of that. There is also no evidence they went into the changing room together. It is also improbable that a busy NYC department store would not have customers or sales associates nearby who could have been alerted if she was indeed assaulted.
This case should have been dismissed instead of going to the jury. It pains me to take sides with Trump, but I think falsely accusing somebody of rape is vile, and profiting from it doubly so.

 

[RVonse]

Y'all make is sound like socialism would be worse than what we have right now.

Not my wish to derail the aforementioned man/woman discussion by getting back on topic. I am late to the thread.

But what exactly is socialism? To myself anyway, socialism is when Bush and Obama bailed out the banking system. Our federal government made clear to us all the private banks, their private shareholders, and CEOs were made whole. All by using public assistance coming from middle class workers. Is that not socialism? What about Trump's Iran war? Who is paying for the bombs and the inflation in gas prices? Who are the private people benefiting from AIPAC donations and distraction from Epstein pedophilia that started the bombing? Is that not socialism when the public supplies the funding for Israel's private mission to kill people?

And if you agree with me that these are indeed examples of socialism where the public collects taxes for the benefit of private individuals, then yes I think socialism is worse than we have had and lets not to make it any worse! I'm not saying the Republicans or Libertarians have any better answers or lifestyle. But the one thing even the common man with modest means should be in agreement is that big government causes trouble and small government offers more individual freedom. I live in the state of Missouri that collects less taxes than most states and I like it because no matter how ridiculous the local politicians get..... by collecting less of my labor they will waste less than more with their horrible decisions and management. This is where the left falls down on a national level in my humble opinion.

Socialism is an elephant and everyone is a blind man who thinks he knows the entire thing because he touched one part.

Then tell us what your elephant looks like? More to the point, how do you believe your elephant with legs and trunk looks better than free market capitalism (the US economy)?

IMO much of the disagreement over ideology is simply this lack of communication what socialism and free market capitalism really are.

There are many on the right who say the US is no longer free market capitalism anymore. I agree with them. In fact, some say China practices free market capitalism better than the US today. If that is really the case, perhaps the problem is not so much the US needs more socialism as that it needs to actually practice free market capitalism it is supposed to be based upon.

In any case, it makes sense to know what is really being talked about before forming an opinion over ideology.

 

[RVonse]

The Biden administration saved industries and businesses —and families—from economic collapse and disaster in much the same way as FDR’s New Deal helped pull us out of the Great Depression

The only thing I seem to remember is how during COVID the big players like Wal Mart and Amazon got to stay open in business while many of the mom and pop's had to close and go out of business.

 

[ZiprHead]

The only thing I seem to remember is how during COVID the big players like Wal Mart and Amazon got to stay open in business while many of the mom and pop's had to close and go out of business.

Grocery store were exempt because people still needed to buy food. And Amazon is not open to the public.

 

[TomC]

I don't know about Amazon.
But my opinion of Walmart went up a bunch during COVID-19.
Nobody could enter without wearing a mask. Just inside the door was a big hand sanitizer station. Smaller ones were scattered around the store. Employees would politely, but firmly, remind shoppers of the stores distancing requirements.
Most Mom and Pop stores didn't bother with any of that.
Tom

 

[TomC]

The Biden administration saved industries and businesses —and families—from economic collapse and disaster in much the same way as FDR’s New Deal helped pull us out of the Great Depression

The only thing I seem to remember is how during COVID the big players like Wal Mart and Amazon got to stay open in business while many of the mom and pop's had to close and go out of business.

You don't remember when the president announced that everything would be open in time for Easter shopping? That ivermectin cured C19?
Were you in a coma that year?
Tom

 

[Elixir]

Were you in a coma that year?

IANATs are in a perpetual coma. We gotta play hardball.

 

[Derec]

It's pretty gauche for Democrats to be salivating over Mitch McConnell's seat like a bunch of vultures circling overhead.
He is not even dead yet.

 

[thebeave]

It's pretty gauche for Democrats to be salivating over Mitch McConnell's seat like a bunch of vultures circling overhead.
He is not even dead yet.

Vultures? Reminded me more of Monty Python and The Holy Grail:

 

[jonatha]

He is not even dead yet.

We're not entirely sure. Which is the problem...

 

[Derec]

Speaking of rape and "here comes the left":

Walz questions Trump administration's deportation of pedophile to Laos

The MN board of pardons pardoned a Laotian national for child rape. The Knucklehead is part of the three member board. Then Walz bitched that the child rapist finally got deported. He had an order of deportation since 2006. We truly had a very broken immigration system.

Btw, the article above does not specify the girl's age, but this shows that she was 10.

Another btw, the same board commuted the sentence of a gang banger who murdered an 11 year old girl while shooting at somebody from a rival gang. They really do have a disturbing track record ...

 

[TSwizzle]

Tampon Tim really is a weirdo.

 

[RVonse]

I don't know about Amazon.
But my opinion of Walmart went up a bunch during COVID-19.
Nobody could enter without wearing a mask. Just inside the door was a big hand sanitizer station. Smaller ones were scattered around the store. Employees would politely, but firmly, remind shoppers of the stores distancing requirements.
Most Mom and Pop stores didn't bother with any of that.
Tom

Government was choosing which business could succeed and which would have to fail. In my own neck of the woods, some restaurants got to stay open and others had to close. That is not free market capitalism. It might be good politics for you and even feel good to you today..... but it is simply not free market capitalism. And that assumes COVID was a real pandemic that mattered in a material way to the public (which in itself is still a controversy today). Assuming COVID was a real public threat the government could have and should have simply said every business had to follow the same rules in order to stay open. That's not what they did. Government could have acted like an honest umpire in that crises... the umpire letting one team get 3 strikes but letting the other team get 4 strikes before they were out. Our government was not fair at all to free market capitalism.

Whatever the US is doing today, its not free market capitalism and it is IMO getting even worse with Trump mixing government and private enterprise. Maybe it should be called fascism? Or perhaps some word that means government completely held hostage by monopoly powerful unknown interests who are hiding in plain sight?

In any case, what the left should be doing is fervently attacking and fighting the current sad state of fascism. Asking for free market capitalism first! Before making an opinion that we need more socialism for a better life. We might just be perfectly happy just to get rid of the powerful interests making all the decisions. Or if that's too difficult of a task....maybe just smaller government that can't interfere as much or do the big damage we see today?

The left should be truthful with itself knowing what has happened and what could have happened. Before making any advertisements that socialism might be better.

 

[Toni]

The government allowed essential businesses to remain open and mandated closing or limiting non-essential businesses from remaining open. In my town, we could go to our usual grocery store, get take out from restaurants that chose to offer take out, still go to Target and presumably Walmart ( I don’t shop at Walmart), the drive up window at the pharmacy and we still got our hair cut although it is possible that briefly we got a bit shaggier. Pretty much what we did anyway. Minus dining out, or going to the movies. My local grocery store had special hours for seniors and I made use of them. Hand sanitizer and wipes for carts at the entrance. One could have a personal shopper do your shopping for you for free at some grocery stores. Hand sanitizer lived in my car, actually.

This whole ‘ government deciding which businesses could survive’ is more dramatic than a two year old protesting a nap.

Yes, businesses did suffer. Yes, people suffered, even if they did not get ill or die as millions did.

Speaking of which, had Trump set a better example, advocated for social distancing, called for unity instead of peddling fake remedies, many fewer deaths would likely have occurred and the pandemic would likely have been contained much sooner.