The moderator is just doing their job, making sure the rules are followed (like our Constitution). Something RUMP is trying to destroy ! The babbling from Maverick10000000 (last in line ) is just the same way RUMP talks, out of his A** ! When quoting "winning" BS, you forgot about, "hang in there baby", "you have to break a couple eggs" and the "early bird gets the worm" If you would give an answer to any of the questions asked, a actual conversation could be had ! The Rump propaganda has come down on peoples property. They are learning a hard lesson voting for an idiot. I don't want to put them down...they were hoping for a better way of life. They are learning a hard lesson, that Mr RUMP does not care about them and won't give the people TRUTHFUL ANSWERS !

@claabe wrote:

The moderator is just doing their job, making sure the rules are followed (like our Constitution). Something RUMP is trying to destroy ! The babbling from Maverick10000000 (last in line ) is just the same way RUMP talks, out of his A** ! When quoting "winning" BS, you forgot about, "hang in there baby", "you have to break a couple eggs" and the "early bird gets the worm" If you would give an answer to any of the questions asked, a actual conversation could be had ! The Rump propaganda has come down on peoples property. They are learning a hard lesson voting for an idiot. I don't want to put them down...they were hoping for a better way of life. They are learning a hard lesson, that Mr RUMP does not care about them and won't give the people TRUTHFUL ANSWERS !

Speaking of eggs, TDump (spelled that way on purpose) tried to take credit for egg prices coming down (before they actually had in many parts of the country), not acknowledging or maybe being clueless that the reason they went up to begin with was due to avian flu killing off laying hens, which don't mature as fast as roasters and fryers. The flocks are starting to increase in numbers so the price is now going down.

How about the most recent load of BS coming from his Truth Social fingertips that Biden was executed and is a clone? OMG beyond ridiculous.

You know how you can tell that TDump is lying? His mouth and/or fingers are moving!

Newsweek breaking news:

"Elon Musk ripped into President Donald Trump's spending bill, calling it a "disgusting abomination" and accusing lawmakers who supported it of knowingly betraying the public trust.

"Shame on those who voted for it," Musk posted on X. "You know you did wrong. You know it."

In a follow-up post, Musk added that the bill will "massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America [sic] citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt."

From me: So yeah, I don't like Elon Musk but he sure is spot on about this one.

The wheels are coming off the bus.

@claabe wrote:

People are people, no matter where they are from. Americans shoot up schools, clubs, stores and run drug outfits too ! They steal peoples futures (Enron and Bernie Madoff to name just 2) The immigrants that come here are wanting a better way of life (sure, there are some bad ones). But, I would venture to guess, 99 % are just looking to live better (then the countries they ESCAPED from). Also, it seems to be based on skin color and language !
We have friends from Canada (their visas expired) that were afraid of being caught. I just laughed and told them to not worry. They said "why" ? I said "you are white", ICE won't even look at you twice ! Humans are ALL THE SAME, no matter where they are from. Everyone wants the same thing. A place to live, work, family and love.

Yup. And yet... Not too far away from me (in Boulder, Colorado), the recent hate crime was researched and specific people were targeted. A few people really are being deported who did not want a better way of life...

Shop-et-al---is there a reason you do not state who the specific people are who were targeted?


Not too far away from me (in Boulder, Colorado), the recent hate crime was researched and specific people were targeted.

ICE is picking up law abiding folks with skin that isn't pink or "white." They don't care where they are from, or even if they are citizens or legal residents, they are simply rounding up brown people and deporting them because of the color of their skin.

Um, I'll just leave this here along with a link to a very interesting read...

The US National Debt will soon reach $37 trillion. As for how we got here, James Howard Kunstler correctly points out that we Americans “fooled ourselves into thinking that we could replace … factory production with financial games based on jiggering interest rates and innovating ever more complex swindles. That merely produced a fantastic divide between the financial gamesters raking in billions while the former factory workers were left broke (and) demoralized.” Indeed. Now you know why Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted this week that spending cuts can’t fix this; instead the US needs to “grow” – a.k.a. borrow – its way out of the situation.
[www.kunstler.com]

Kunstler is a old broke guy and just another election fraud knucklehead. Don't waste your time.

@Rho wrote:

Shop-et-al---is there a reason you do not state who the specific people are who were targeted?


Not too far away from me (in Boulder, Colorado), the recent hate crime was researched and specific people were targeted.

Typing on phone and did not succeed with link to info. News reports indicate that Zionists were targeted.

Let's see, Kunstler wrote for a few liberal rags: wrote articles for The Atlantic, Slate, Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, was previously a harsh critic of the Republican Party, once popularized the concept of peak oil, and lectured at the TED Conference, the American Institute of Architects, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the International Council of Shopping Centers, and the National Association of Science and Technology, as well as at numerous liberal colleges and universities, including Yale, MIT, Harvard, Cornell, the University of Illinois, DePaul, Texas A&M, the USMA, and Rutgers University just to name a few.

These are all topics / things / venues that liberals clamor for, so why the disparaging remarks?

Oh, right, right, right. He now criticized the liberals. Yep, turned on one of his own. OUCH!

@claabe wrote:

Kunstler is a old broke guy and just another election fraud knucklehead. Don't waste your time.

No. Not at all worried. The biggest and only impact any of us have felt was a terrifying drop in our 401Ks for a few weeks. That passed. The rest of this will, as well.

There was the one guy working construction who was a citizen who they picked up in error. (Which is awful!). Are there other examples of this that the media isn't covering?

@Morledzep wrote:

ICE is picking up law abiding folks with skin that isn't pink or "white." They don't care where they are from, or even if they are citizens or legal residents, they are simply rounding up brown people and deporting them because of the color of their skin.

Ok, so he's an idiot in your opinion. What is the real reason we are $37T in debt?

@claabe wrote:

Kunstler is a old broke guy and just another election fraud knucklehead. Don't waste your time.

Breaking news!

Karine Jean-Pierre, who served as White House press secretary under former President Joe Biden, has switched her political affiliation from Democrat to independent.

She announced this change in conjunction with the upcoming release of her book, "Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines."

Why is this tariff related? Well, just like a tax on imported goods, ALL Americans continue to pay the tax for the poorly run, habitual lying, pronoun enriched, lawfare consumed, anti-merit last administration who are slowly coming forward with stories purely intended to profit from.

Here you go Cassie, if you doubt their affiliations, they have a tab for that, claim non partisan and bipartisan

[www.crfb.org]

It's weak to assume that because one has serious concerns about a current administration, that it automatically means they fully support the other party.
Critical thinking is nonbinary.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2025 12:02PM by BarefootBliss.

About ICE, there's a new program. Have a gander. It's happening all over the country, I see local reports and reports from other states..if it's not in your area, well, good for you I guess lol..

“Operation At Large,” a nationwide, ICE-led plan already underway to ramp up arrests of unauthorized immigrants, includes more than 5,000 personnel from across federal law enforcement agencies and up to 21,000 National Guard troops, according to an operation plan described to NBC News by three sources with knowledge of the personnel allocations who detailed the previously unreported plans.

Drawing those numbers from other law enforcement agencies, though, has been a source of tension among some officials, who feel they have been taken off other core national security missions, according to three additional law enforcement and military officials. Like others interviewed for this article, they requested anonymity in order to share sensitive information.

It is the latest example of how President Donald Trump’s push for mass deportations is reshaping federal law enforcement as officials shift resources toward immigration-related cases — including nonviolent administrative offenses — leaving less time and attention for other types of criminal investigations.

The plan calls for using 3,000 ICE agents, including 1,800 from Homeland Security Investigations, which generally investigates transnational crimes and is not typically involved in arresting noncriminal immigrants; 2,000 Justice Department employees from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration; and 500 employees from Customs and Border Protection. It also includes 250 IRS agents, some of whom may be used to provide information on the whereabouts of immigrants using tax information, while others would have the authority to make arrests, according to the operation plan.

For how long has this situation been brewing?! Long before Biden, we already had an unmanaged crisis with problematic and/or systematic illegal immigration. We the legally here people have been targeted! Finally, a concerted and comprehensive effort is underway which might turn the tide. ('Sea change' is the word of the day in dictionary world. Perhaps we are experiencing a sea change which will eventually restore some autonomy to the US and our management of the sheer volumes of people already here and those who would like to be here in future.)

Yes, exactly...the exorbitant cost imposed by the previous administration for not controlling the border according to laws. If you want to help, feel free to SPONSOR a migrant in your home at your cost.

I knew a manager who immigrated from Vietnam decades ago. He had a American family sponsor him legally. He has a law background and engineering degree. He has been a successful citizen and worked, in part, for the US defense industry. I'm sure he's retired now. I'm also sure he would only support LEGAL immigration based upon his law and procedural background.

Every person who is in the US illegally must be removed. That is a violation of US law.

Back to tariffs...some excellent news today:
"U.S. trade deficit cut in half in April on plunge in imports from Trump tariffs" - The U.S. international trade deficit narrowed 55.5% in April to $61.6 billion, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted the deficit would narrow to a seasonally adjusted $63.3 billion from a record $140.9 billion in March.

Less crap from China that ends up in US landfills is a good thing!

Meanwhile, another ship (from China) of vehicles including EVs is a drift in the Pacific Ocean on fire believed to have started in an EV. The crew could not put the very hot fire out and were forced to abandon ship.
[www.youtube.com]

And speaking of "law enforcement," US Army recruitment is up significantly after the DEI, pronoun, and other gender bending rules have been removed.
[abcnews.go.com]

@BarefootBliss wrote:

About ICE, there's a new program. Have a gander. It's happening all over the country, I see local reports and reports from other states..if it's not in your area, well, good for you I guess lol..

“Operation At Large,” a nationwide, ICE-led plan already underway to ramp up arrests of unauthorized immigrants, includes more than 5,000 personnel from across federal law enforcement agencies and up to 21,000 National Guard troops, according to an operation plan described to NBC News by three sources with knowledge of the personnel allocations who detailed the previously unreported plans.

Drawing those numbers from other law enforcement agencies, though, has been a source of tension among some officials, who feel they have been taken off other core national security missions, according to three additional law enforcement and military officials. Like others interviewed for this article, they requested anonymity in order to share sensitive information.

It is the latest example of how President Donald Trump’s push for mass deportations is reshaping federal law enforcement as officials shift resources toward immigration-related cases — including nonviolent administrative offenses — leaving less time and attention for other types of criminal investigations.

The plan calls for using 3,000 ICE agents, including 1,800 from Homeland Security Investigations, which generally investigates transnational crimes and is not typically involved in arresting noncriminal immigrants; 2,000 Justice Department employees from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration; and 500 employees from Customs and Border Protection. It also includes 250 IRS agents, some of whom may be used to provide information on the whereabouts of immigrants using tax information, while others would have the authority to make arrests, according to the operation plan.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2025 01:53PM by maverick1.

Quite a show today. Wow....

Makes Watergate look like a traffic violation. #47 makes Nixon look like a choir boy.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2025 03:17AM by BarefootBliss.

Yes, illegal is illegal.
Unfortunately lots of laws are only sporadically enforced, but that doesn't make it right.
Perhaps we should have considered more effective reform before
we start driving small businesses into the ground by rounding up their employees and dividing families.
Deporting breadwinners when their dependents are here legally, sends the dependents to
public assistance.
The taxpayer loses again.
If you want to cut it off quickly, make it illegal to hire an illegal...cut it off at the source. Fine the businesses that hire them.
I am sure there are lots of US citizens lining up for yard work and restaurant work and domestic work.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2025 03:18AM by BarefootBliss.

In other news, the administration has reportedly picked 22-year-old ex-gardener Thomas Fugate to lead the Centre for Prevention Programs and Partnerships at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Fugate was working as a neighborhood gardener just five years ago and in a grocery store as recently as August 2023.
Fugate graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio just 12 months ago.

Continuing the tariff conversation (from an investment view)...

Because of the tariff measures, US imports plunged 16.3% in April, a record drop, while exports picked up 3.0%.

Net Exports (how much the U.S. sends out minus how much the U.S. brings in) was the biggest drag on GDP growth in Q1, the primary contributor to a negative print last quarter.

The narrowing of the trade deficit should flip that drag into a major positive contribution to GDP growth in Q2.

GDP growth is good for the economy. (When GDP grows, it typically indicates increased output, more jobs, and potentially higher incomes for individuals.)

Now, market data is often highly volatile and subject to short-term noise – seasonal quirks, one-off events, or data revisions – that can muddle the underlying trend where the true information resides.

The same is true with stock prices.

That’s why the best investors focus on trends, more specifically changes in the trend, and implement moving averages to paint clearer pictures.

I remain a buy and hold investor in the US. I continue to believe in US exceptionalism. While I have a small portion of funds in other world markets, like Warren Buffet, I remain virtually entirely invested in US public companies.

Edit addition, FYI:

In the United States, the vast majority of companies are private rather than public.

Private Companies: There are over 25 million private companies in the U.S. These include businesses of all sizes, from small businesses with few or no employees to very large companies that are privately held. (For you mystery shoppers, the Wawa Convenience Store chain is an example of a private company.)

Public Companies: The number of public companies in the U.S. is significantly smaller, with less than 4,000 listed on stock exchanges. This number has actually decreased substantially over the past couple of decades. (For you mystery shoppers, the Home Depot home improvement store chain is an example of a public company.)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2025 11:25AM by maverick1.

@Jusa wrote:

Newsweek breaking news:

"Elon Musk ripped into President Donald Trump's spending bill, calling it a "disgusting abomination" and accusing lawmakers who supported it of knowingly betraying the public trust.

"Shame on those who voted for it," Musk posted on X. "You know you did wrong. You know it."

In a follow-up post, Musk added that the bill will "massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America [sic] citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt."

From me: So yeah, I don't like Elon Musk but he sure is spot on about this one.

Musk is the most naive chump on the planet. To think that rump was going to be loyal to whatever pet causes or gov’t bankrolled projects he had was a huge miscalculation. Billionaires don’t reach that status by being a loyal, even to other billionaires. It was just a matter of time before a spat erupted. Rump will sue chump for implying that he was named in the Jeffrey Epstein files as a way to silence him and siphon more money out of him.

It’s been widely held that Nostradamus referred to rump as ‘trumpet’ and spoke of a betrayal involving him…

“The great Senate will ordain the triumph
For one who afterwards will be vanquished, driven out:
At the sound of the trumpet of his adherents there will be
Put up for sale their possessions, enemies expelled.”

And there’s this tidbit..

“The trumpet shakes with great discord.
An agreement broken: lifting the face to heaven:
the bloody mouth will swim with blood;
the face anointed with milk and honey lies on the ground.”

A couple of Christian folks I know have independently suggested that Trump is the antichrist. These two people don't even know each other.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2025 01:16PM by Jusa.

@Jusa wrote:

A couple of Christian folks I know have independently suggested that Trump is the antichrist. These two people don't even know each other.

My cousin who follows this way more than me said the same thing.