The Race For 2024

[Ford]

The vast majority of people on those boards got there because of friendly connections. Kamala wasn't special in this in any way.

How many had sex for them?

I suppose you also object to LinkedIn and other such sites.

Why? Can you arrange quid-pro-coitus on LinkedIn now?

These days, most of Derec's posts seem to be nothing but nasty misogynistic lies.

It is worth noting that the threads that he has started - going back years - are almost all misogynistic or racist. How long will it continue? Well, a few years ago I decided to try a different approach, and made a few attempts to break through whatever walls/defense mechanisms he's got up. Tried to give advice, encouragement, whatever positivity I could muster, and it fell on deaf ears. I'm sure I'm not alone, and there have been other people who have tried to reason him out of his virulent misogyny, but as the old saying goes, he didn't reason himself into it, so...

 

[GenesisNemesis]

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/29/trump-violent-day-policing-crime-00181619

Trump is literally calling for a Purge. Anyway, all of the people who whine about people calling Trump a wannabe dictator, are fucking idiots.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I have been a professional for 40 years working for several different companies, large and small. I have NEVER once seen a woman "sleep her way to the top".

I don't think it's possible to sleep your way to the top. People do get undeserved positions but that requires somebody above them to give them said undeserved position. At the top there is no such person.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I actually got an eighteen pack of grade A large eggs from Kroger for $1.99

They are not quite that cheap around here. An 18 pack is more like $2.89.

The price of eggs did skyrocket for a while there. There was some kind of bird virus that killed off a bunch of chickens, resulting in a big jump in egg prices. Lasted a few months, as I recall. The reason I noticed is that I am trying to reduce our meat consumption. Didn't really change anything.

Tom

Yup, this is the reality of egg prices. Reasonably inflexible demand so small supply shifts result in big price swings. And bird flu is a persistent problem.

 

[Toni]

I inadvertently opened this line of discussion re: Dereck’s posts. I apologize because I genuinely meant no disrespect towards Derec and did not mean to open a discussion about Derec’s personal life, which is his personal life.

Derec is not the only poster whose posts sometimes reek of sexism and racism. He’s just been open enough to talk a bit about his personal life, as some others of us have done.

He’s made the very good point that many of us do not seem open to criticism of Harris or some other politicians we like who are running for office. I will flat out say that I know I don’t care for the low blows aimed at Democratic candidates while laughing at those directed at candidates I truly detest. It’s not my best look. I am blaming it on my terror for what happens to this country and to the world if Trump gets elected and frankly the same for the potential to lose Senate seats for the Dems and to lose seats in the House.

 

[Ford]

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/29/trump-violent-day-policing-crime-00181619

Trump is literally calling for a Purge. Anyway, all of the people who whine about people calling Trump a wannabe dictator, are fucking idiots.

I think we're going to have to accept that if Trump loses - whether in a nail-biter or in a convincing sweep - there will be violence from some of his supporters. Will there be a repeat march on the Capitol? Who knows. We're sure to get voter intimidation at the polling locations and drop boxes, and I'm almost certain a confrontation or two is going to result in a shooting. He seems to understand at some basic level that victory may be slipping away from him, so he's lashing out. Of course he's not going to lead any "civil war," but he knows that he has followers dumb enough to commit violence in his name.

November 5th is going to be the start of months of unrest if he doesn't win.

 

[starwater]

Thing of it is: If the candidate was white and male with the EXACT SAME qualifications and experience, the righties would not say a word about a DEI hire.

 

[starwater]

I inadvertently opened this line of discussion re: Dereck’s posts. I apologize because I genuinely meant no disrespect towards Derec and did not mean to open a discussion about Derec’s personal life, which is his personal life.

Derec is not the only poster whose posts sometimes reek of sexism and racism. He’s just been open enough to talk a bit about his personal life, as some others of us have done.

He’s made the very good point that many of us do not seem open to criticism of Harris or some other politicians we like who are running for office. I will flat out say that I know I don’t care for the low blows aimed at Democratic candidates while laughing at those directed at candidates I truly detest. It’s not my best look. I am blaming it on my terror for what happens to this country and to the world if Trump gets elected and frankly the same for the potential to lose Senate seats for the Dems and to lose seats in the House.

Toni is always trying to be inclusive and call out fairness with this posters comments.

Too bad its not reciprocated.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

The other issue is to what extent does TV advertising work with today’s streaming services?

I watch the free (ad supported) streamers. I ignore political ads, and most others. But I did fall for 2 nifty gadgets. Turned out to be over-priced and under-preforming.

My experience is that any ad that isn't selectively sent to me is for garbage. Anyone who flings their ads everywhere is spending an awful lot per sale on advertising and thus they can't afford to make a product that competes on it's merits. And even if it's targeted it's very likely that it's something I examined and rejected. The only ones worthy of attention are the weekly grocery ads in the mailbox and the stuff that I have deliberately subscribed to and have rules dropping it in a specific folder--and even then rarely do I do more than look at the title.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

When you select on things like race or gender you're engaging in racism or sexism. Period. At things like SCOTUS there would be adequate candidates available of any group so it doesn't harm the selection process but it's still wrong.

But no one was chosen because of their race or gender.

When you refuse to acknowledge that there are a lot of women and a lot of people of color who are exceptionally well qualified, you are engaging in racism and sexism.

Nobody was??? No. Harris was no doubt chosen for her race and gender. Vance was no doubt chosen for his race, gender and religion. I'm pretty sure Amy Coney Barrett was chosen on gender, I'm sure all The Felon's appointees were chose on race.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

When you select on things like race or gender you're engaging in racism or sexism. Period. At things like SCOTUS there would be adequate candidates available of any group so it doesn't harm the selection process but it's still wrong.

Wrong? I consider it an attempt to slightly alleviate a far greater wrong.

An attempt to. Good motivations don't make it actually do what's intended. You can't change the past, when you discriminate now you're perpetuating the problem. Whatever direction you discriminate.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

But it's not wrong to consider her being selected as racially motivated.

Suppose one of the people on Harris' VP list were a black female. Would it matter that she was a PhD in political science, and elected to state legislature four times, because she's brilliant? No. She'd be a drag on the ticket and everyone knows it.

Walz was a DEI hire. Harris needed a white male to "balance" the ticket. Harris is smart enough to realize that. So she did hire the middle aged, Midwestern, white dude.
Tom

White, certainly. I don't think male/female would really matter.

VPs are always some form of DEI hire. Their appeal to sectors that the candidate is weaker on always dominates over merit.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

But it's not wrong to consider her being selected as racially motivated.

Suppose one of the people on Harris' VP list were a black female. Would it matter that she was a PhD in political science, and elected to state legislature four times, because she's brilliant? No. She'd be a drag on the ticket and everyone knows it.

Walz was a DEI hire. Harris needed a white male to "balance" the ticket. Harris is smart enough to realize that. So she did hire the middle aged, Midwestern, white dude.
Tom

How is that a "DEI" hire? How is the purpose of either equity or inclusion served, and what formal organization oversaw consistency and accountability for how candidates were recruited for the role?

You're forgetting the D part. VPs are always about diversity compared to the candidate.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Around here ground source HVAC is a thing sometimes done on expensive custom houses. It's considerably more expensive up front but makes up for it over the long run with a lower bill. And it means you don't have to have any equipment outside which is good from a maintenance standpoint. Note that this is not geothermal, it's simply using a deep hole as a source of constant temperature. The AC has a much easier time of it discarding heat into 70F water than 110F air.

Likewise heating with a heat pump. Your outside unit (functioning as an evaporator) may freeze because it is pumping hear from the outside to the inside. Using a warmer underground cold reservoir avoids that.

Yeah, you live in a wet climate, that could be an issue. Around here gas heat is the norm so it's not an issue for most people but even with a heat pump our humidity is almost always low enough to avoid freezing.

There's nothing much to do about housing shortages. More people want to live in cities than there is land. Building tall is the obvious answer to pack more people in but it adds enough to the construction costs that it does nothing about housing cost.

A lot of people also do not want to live in huge high rises. If they have a family, they want a detached house with at least a small yard.

I'm just saying they aren't a solution to housing prices anyway.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I feel extremely confident that had Biden not explicitly stated his intentions and still chose Kamala Harris from among all of the candidates who were qualified, the same people would still be harping on Harris as a DEI hire.

Side note here...

A "DEI hire" is the new right wing term for "Affirmative Action hire." Are they the same thing in a political situation? Hmm...

For quite a long while, there were policies and laws in place that said to certain institutions "you have to hire/admit minorities." This (as we all know) was designed to give people previously discriminated against a chance at things previously denied to them purely on the basis of race. The previous paradigm was "we won't hire this guy because while he's eminently qualified, he's black."

When Affirmative Action was implemented it was ugly but probably the best solution for the very reason you give. However, once the general social issue not wanting to be a company that employed blacks was gone that reason goes away. Sure, there are some who won't hire someone because they're black--but unless the comprise a substantial portion of people who are hiring for that job skill it's simply not going to matter. If they were passing over qualified candidates in large enough numbers that would drive down the price of black workers--and make them a good deal for someone who recognized the issue. Yet we don't see anyone stepping up to snap up the deals--which leaves the only reasonable conclusion being that things are close enough to balanced that nobody can exploit the difference.

Affirmative Action worked, it did what it could. What it could do was done long ago, now we have only costs without benefits.

 

[Toni]

When you select on things like race or gender you're engaging in racism or sexism. Period. At things like SCOTUS there would be adequate candidates available of any group so it doesn't harm the selection process but it's still wrong.

But no one was chosen because of their race or gender.

When you refuse to acknowledge that there are a lot of women and a lot of people of color who are exceptionally well qualified, you are engaging in racism and sexism.

Nobody was??? No. Harris was no doubt chosen for her race and gender. Vance was no doubt chosen for his race, gender and religion. I'm pretty sure Amy Coney Barrett was chosen on gender, I'm sure all The Felon's appointees were chose on race.

To say that Harris was chosen for her race and gender ignores the fact that she had many excellent professional qualifications as well as being a nationally recognized political figure. She was in the 2020 primaries, which one dies not normally ruse to without significant backing.

Again, given the centuries of history when all candidates were chosen from the pool of white men, it seems a bit rich to see ( checks notes) white men complain that she was chosen because of her race and gender.

Nobody is complaining about the ( checks notes again) white men chosen as running mates in the 2024 presidential election.

I wonder why?

Could it be because for some people, the most qualified candidates just by coincidence happen to be white and male?

I mean, what other qualification does Trump have? What has he accomplished? What does he offer?

I feel extremely confident that had Biden not explicitly stated his intentions and still chose Kamala Harris from among all of the candidates who were qualified, the same people would still be harping on Harris as a DEI hire.

Side note here...

A "DEI hire" is the new right wing term for "Affirmative Action hire." Are they the same thing in a political situation? Hmm...

For quite a long while, there were policies and laws in place that said to certain institutions "you have to hire/admit minorities." This (as we all know) was designed to give people previously discriminated against a chance at things previously denied to them purely on the basis of race. The previous paradigm was "we won't hire this guy because while he's eminently qualified, he's black."

When Affirmative Action was implemented it was ugly but probably the best solution for the very reason you give. However, once the general social issue not wanting to be a company that employed blacks was gone that reason goes away. Sure, there are some who won't hire someone because they're black--but unless the comprise a substantial portion of people who are hiring for that job skill it's simply not going to matter. If they were passing over qualified candidates in large enough numbers that would drive down the price of black workers--and make them a good deal for someone who recognized the issue. Yet we don't see anyone stepping up to snap up the deals--which leaves the only reasonable conclusion being that things are close enough to balanced that nobody can exploit the difference.

Affirmative Action worked, it did what it could. What it could do was done long ago, now we have only costs without benefits.

Wow.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/29/trump-violent-day-policing-crime-00181619

Trump is literally calling for a Purge. Anyway, all of the people who whine about people calling Trump a wannabe dictator, are fucking idiots.

WTF?!

“One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out and it will end immediately, you know? It will end immediately,” Trump said.

Simply from logistics:

• "the police" aren't under Federal control so he can't run a reign of terror with them
• The Constitution doesn't get to be put on hold for "one hour" or "one day".
• The State Constitutions don't get to be put on hold for "one hour" or "one day".
• The Police are a finite resource and can not wage a reign of terror over a portion of the community within the time frame he notes.
• What does "real rough" even mean?

Wait... wait... this was just another joke.

Asked whether the former president’s idea amounted to a new proposal and how such an operation would work, a campaign official said Trump was “clearly just floating it in jest.”

So he was saying he was going to manage high crime as a joke, and Trump won't do anything about crime?

“President Trump has always been the law and order President and he continues to reiterate the importance of enforcing existing laws,” Steven Cheung, the campaign’s communications director, wrote in a statement to POLITICO. “Otherwise it’s all-out anarchy, which is what Kamala Harris has created in some of these communities across America, especially during her time as [California] Attorney General when she emboldened criminals.

Oh that's right... the guy was President during the spike in crime... the Failed Law and Order candidate.

 

[Elixir]

So he was saying he was going to manage high crime as a joke, and Trump won't do anything about crime?

Of course Trump won’t do anything about crime;
HE IS A FUCKING CRIMINAL.
It’s not like he’s going to put himself in a death camp.

 

[Toni]

When you select on things like race or gender you're engaging in racism or sexism. Period. At things like SCOTUS there would be adequate candidates available of any group so it doesn't harm the selection process but it's still wrong.

But no one was chosen because of their race or gender.

When you refuse to acknowledge that there are a lot of women and a lot of people of color who are exceptionally well qualified, you are engaging in racism and sexism.

Nobody was??? No. Harris was no doubt chosen for her race and gender. Vance was no doubt chosen for his race, gender and religion. I'm pretty sure Amy Coney Barrett was chosen on gender, I'm sure all The Felon's appointees were chose on race.

To say that Harris was chosen for her race and gender ignores the fact that she had many excellent professional qualifications as well as being a nationally recognized political figure. She was in the 2020 primaries, which one dies not normally ruse to without significant backing.

Again, given the centuries of history when all candidates were chosen from the pool of white men, it seems a bit rich to see ( checks notes) white men complain that she was chosen because of her race and gender.

Nobody is complaining about the ( checks notes again) white men chosen as running mates in the 2024 presidential election.

I wonder why?

Could it be because for some people, the most qualified candidates just by coincidence happen to be white and male?

I mean, what other qualification does Trump have? What has he accomplished? What does he offer?

 

[Politesse]

But it's not wrong to consider her being selected as racially motivated.

Suppose one of the people on Harris' VP list were a black female. Would it matter that she was a PhD in political science, and elected to state legislature four times, because she's brilliant? No. She'd be a drag on the ticket and everyone knows it.

Walz was a DEI hire. Harris needed a white male to "balance" the ticket. Harris is smart enough to realize that. So she did hire the middle aged, Midwestern, white dude.
Tom

How is that a "DEI" hire? How is the purpose of either equity or inclusion served, and what formal organization oversaw consistency and accountability for how candidates were recruited for the role?

You're forgetting the D part. VPs are always about diversity compared to the candidate.

No, I'm not. It just makes very little sense in this context. An individual cannot be "diverse". To call a pair of people diverse or homogenous is only slightly less absurd.