Mr engineer, when there are two parties, sentence structure demands you use plurals….both sides have THEIR share of undesirables. An engineer should see grammar as a clearly defined structure that follows simple rules and just get it. Spelling is different, but grammar should be a no brainer….why is it so hard for you? Have you never seen it that way, or was engineering incredibly difficult for you too?

The difference being one side is all undesirables, and the level of undesirability. One side openly calls for an end to American democracy, death for their political rivals, death for anyone who disagrees with today’s talking point. One side has no party platform, no stated goals, and exists solely to stop any legislation the other side puts forth, even when it was something they want or that would benefit them. They are the same side.

We found another point of agreement.

Term limits are a must, and will never happen because our system does put the regulatory onus on those who need regulating….absolute insanity. It also lets them set their own salaries, ethics, and benefits.

Divestment is another must. Perhaps a bigger must. Total divestment across the board. Not just blind trusts that aren’t really blind, and absolutely not what we have now…the “honor” system run by the honorless. Allowing legislatures to write horrific laws because they can personally financially benefit is a recipe for disaster. That should (but never will) change.

Campaign finance is a third must. Corporations should have the same donation limits individuals have, which should be more like $100 each so every person can afford to have a voice, and we should return to an equal time on broadcast tv for free situation and deny the media as a political platform to give candidates a boost….no more Fox News interviews indistinguishable from campaign commercials, no more media smear campaigns, with severe penalties for violations, like $10 mil the first time, $25 mil the second, loss of fcc license the third. Another non starter….but needed badly.

PACs should be outlawed, or regulated into obscurity.

Some reasons often brought up in opposition to term limits can be traced back to Maddison who wrote "[A] few of the members of Congress will possess superior talents; will by frequent re-elections, become members of long standing; will be thoroughly masters of the public business, and perhaps not unwilling to avail themselves of those advantages. The greater the proportion of new members of Congress, and the less the information of the bulk of the members, the more apt they be to fall into the snares that may be laid before them,"

I think we have proven at this point the cons of self serving representatives legislating for personal gains outweigh the benefits of professional legislators, especially seeing as we have the internet and huge staffs to ostensibly level the playing field of knowledge.

One fix would be the creation of an ethics branch, completely non partisan, not self regulatory, with rules against former candidates (winners and losers) and lobbyists too from serving and strict rules about how they operate, and bans from running for office or being a lobbyist afterwards so it doesn’t become a campaign platform or tool for industry. Maybe even ban close family members from the same. Won’t happen, only the best people intentionally limit their powers, and they are few and far between in Congress….all but absent on your side.

You’re arguing with the mirror, buddy. There’s one anti American, anti democratic, anti fact, delusional cultist here. ROTFLMFAHS!!! You’re so silly.

Whine some more, kiddo. More sour grapes from infantile sore losers. You only insult yourself with these kindergarten insults. Your opinion is less than worthless. You calling me a “Tool” for the left only verifies I’m on the right path, if you had something nice to say, I would re-examine my position immediately. You are such a ridiculous full fledged cultist in a failed cult of personality. Keep screaming into the dark.

You CLEARLY hated Obama because he was black, you liar. Called him a Kenyan (as an insult), a Muslim (as an insult), a thug, and in private much much worse. Lie to yourself, we know the truth, and you are a well known verified racist liar no one trusts to ever tell the truth.

You also CLEARLY have problems with strong women too. Hated Clinton for being a woman in power. Pretend you aren’t sexist, it won’t fool anyone, you are a well known constant liar, who would listen to you complimenting yourself?

You hate Harris for the same reasons. Being black, and being a woman. Her being intelligent, professional, knowledgeable, reasonable, level headed, well spoken, and accomplished only pisses you off, doesn’t it?

I and really totally disagree, but after Trump, leadership skills aren’t a prerequisite, and you have no leg to stand on. That’s it.

We’ve never had a leader with less, worse leadership skills than Trump, who never led anyone who wasn’t willing to follow him literally anywhere. Jim Jones was a better leader, he actually cared about those he misled….Trump doesn’t care one whit about anyone not named Trump, and when the chips are down, only people named Donald John Trump. That’s it.
Her leadership skills are infinitely better than her MIA predecessor, Pence, his were non existent.

Obama led conservatives from depression to a healthy economy. True, they obstructed him for the entire 8 years, but he was leader enough to make serious progress anyway, including growth that eclipsed Trump’s dismal 1% gdp growth per year, and health care for all Americans.

Woefully diminished is still exponentially better than his predecessor, whose cult tried to overthrow the government and make us a dictatorship. I still blame him for Trump, if he had run in 2016, the nation, probably the world, would be in such better shape it would be unrecognizable.
I wanted Butigieg, a super smart, knowledgeable, thoughtful, disciplined, younger president, but Biden kicked Trump’s ass despite multiple massive Republican fraud schemes, so he is a major success. That’s it. Nothing can change that…just like no attempted rewriting of history can make Trump anything but a massive failure on every front.

Go pander your idiotic cultist babbling somewhere else. You only come here to troll, no one ever agrees with you besides your sock puppet accounts, you just enjoy being a nasty liar, trying to trigger libtards with nonsense and prejudice. Here’s the problem, Bob. It doesn’t work when you have no real gripes to complain about and no one cares what you think.

I note you still can’t say who she slept with or how that got her elected….I did explain the top two in Trump’s administration got their positions by sleeping to the top, they had zero leadership skills, zero experience, and zero accomplishments. Harris is overqualified if Trump was only underqualified. He also had no leadership experience or skills. He didn’t run the companies he owned, those he tried to failed miserably, and no one goes to work for Trump twice.

Lots more whining and crying, but not a single fact in your posts, Bob. You seem allergic to fact. I understand, they tear at your fantasy world and, when you’re forced into reality, you must live with the piece of excrement you have become.

You are beyond delusional.

A Tool of Tools for the left.

Like Obama, no give a fuck if she is black, orange or purple.
An no one cares if she is a woman.


She is lacking leadership skills. That it.


Obama had leadership skills but not conservative leadership.

Biden had skills but is woefully diminished.

Go pander your stupid thoughts elsewhere.

I disagree. Timing matters. Had the pipeline been halted in 2019, it may well have sparked this invasion years earlier when the US couldn’t be counted on to give the aid promised or oppose Putin at all, and when there was no unity in the UN or NATO.

By not halting the pipeline then, two years ago +, Germany let them invest hundreds of millions more in a project that’s now cancelled, causing far more pain for Russia.
Also, it allowed them to use the project as both carrot and stick….true that failed to stop Russia, but was a tool used to try to cajole them out of invasion, and is now a stick whacking their disabled economy.

Of course, it’s all supposition about what may have happened….but moderately informed supposition.

I read it, nowhere did it give an estimate of what those protests cost, and it indicated there were multiple other routes for the oil to travel so didn’t even disrupt oil transportation completely, much less ALL commerce.
And it was about pipelines crossing their (or protected) land it seems, a far cry from the truckers. Yes, the validity and severity of your cause matters, just like the damage you do and to whom.

Billions worth of goods stuck temporarily…but no actual estimated cost for their delay, this cost billions in lost production and salaries that won’t be recovered.

That protest was targeted against the offending entity, not the populace. I have no issue with natives blockading their own land and preserves that feed those reservations against permanent destruction for some private profits. That’s a far cry from the truckers blockading the main border crossing for industry and tourism because they’re afraid to get a poke.

The numbers I saw were special. Hundreds of millions-billions lost (your billions in goods delayed doesn’t have a price tag). That was before the bridge was reopened. These protesters weren’t satisfied with that damage and continued to close your capitol with ever shifting demands. Since regular measures had failed, I support emergency measures, seizure, even forfeiture after trial, of any funds or tools used.

Perhaps they became only as localized (but certainly not as targeted, and localized in a city not the unpopulated country), but they had already done exponentially more damage and showed no sign of end or even demands.

Let’s ignore someone personally supporting a grass roots movement outside their country and control, please. I find it a red herring totally unconnected to how he governs.

Yes, some Floyd protests were more violent than the truckers, some weren’t, remember how they were all violently smashed, tear gassed, rubber bullets galore, run through with police trucks, unmarked vans pulling up and grabbing people crossing the streets, unmarked vans driving through towns full of police shooting tear gas at any moving body, etc? Don’t pretend the response is similar.
Also, the Floyd protests lasted a weekend in most cases (occupy Portland really wasn’t about Floyd) and went elsewhere the next march. They weren’t closing down one area for weeks intent on staying. Most lasted hours and were peaceful until police became violent, despite right wing media’s fear-mongering.

I think you’re stretching, putting on blinders, and doing insane mental gymnastics to pretend you believe that. From the actual damage caused, the idiotic reasoning behind it (quickly abandoned), the extremely uncanadianness of the self centered far right rally masquerading as protest, the international damage, the foreign involvement from planning to funding, these are unique “protests” in numerous ways.

Their idiotic beliefs are only one of many distinctions I’ve pointed out, and as I mentioned only color public opinion and the amount of patience they’re given by the public, not how the government treats them. It’s not at all honest for you to pretend that’s the entirety of my position…it’s very Bob of you, and has lost some of my respect.

Pipelines crossing sovereign territory or preserves = bad so blockading those areas to force pipeline movement = good….oil companies didn’t truck the oil out, they increased shipments from other areas by rail. Read the article you linked.

Native cultures and governments are different. Pretending an elected board for a reservation works for the people is naive in the extreme. Read about politics on reservations, who funds the people that get elected in most cases, what happens to opposing candidates…saying the board signed off while so many showed up to fight against it seems a bit at odds, no? Like maybe the board members were bribed, had ties with the oil industry, or other conflicts….just maybe?

And again, those protests didn’t cost a fraction what the truckers did from my research. Delaying delivery of a billion in goods isn’t the same as costing a billion in losses. Neither is delaying or cancelling a billion dollar project. Be adult please….don’t make such specious arguments ….please. They don’t slip by, and they make me think you are being disingenuous.

Wait….so you are saying you see no difference between this protest and BLM (besides the skin color of the protesters)….but you are in favor of this and vehemently against BLM?…and you don’t see the blatant racism? LMFAHS!!

Sorry, no.
Only racist tools like you refuse to see both the similarities and differences.

Threatening, fighting, closing businesses, loudly occupying residential neighborhoods (truckers for weeks, also blocking the border crossing with the most commerce for weeks to disrupt both economies,) and definitely some killing by Covid carrying truckers. Sounds similar with truckers causing more damage and disruption to the innocent.

No false flag attacks by the left, (killing, burning, bombing, shooting cops, ) all done dressed as and pretending to be truckers. Many false flag attacks by the right (killing, burning, bombing, killing cops,) all done dressed as and pretending to be BLM activists, caught and admitted to, dumb shit. Sounds pretty different without a misinformation campaign by right wing media and false flag operation by right wingers.

Sounds to me and the rest of the world like the tiny minority of unpopular truckers have done exponentially more economic damage and likely killed more through Covid….and done so because they’re cowardly self centered snowflakes afraid to get a tiny shot in order to gain a privilege, not because people who look like them are being murdered in the streets daily by a government sponsored gang with immunity and have been for the lifespan of our nation.

Only cultists like you refuse to see or admit it, it’s blatant and obvious. You act like a child covered in chocolate trying to lie that you didn’t eat the cake, Bob. You convince no one with your denials, because we see what you say before and after them. You only make yourself a liar, but that’s nothing new.

Self centered babies are gone now, lost their trucks, many lost their Canadian driver’s license maybe for life, some going to prison. Now what are they going to protest now that they can’t drive their trucks across the border ever again? Losers.

Derp. Such a racist tool…consistently and constantly.

so yep newtboy is right you admit you support trucker protest but not BLM protests lol you such a tool. disrupting supply chains and hurting small businesses in 2 countries is OK for bewbs. yer hypocrisy is delicious and i feast on it.

Keep your “I can see absolutely no racism besides reverse racism” dishonest idiocy to yourself.

Almost every killing was Boogaloo boys committing racially motivated false flag operations, but the morons are so stupid they carried their manifesto with them when committing terrorist acts, outing the false flag operation the first time one got caught. Morons.

Well over half the burning and looting was found to be non BLM related,(and many if not most that were attributed to BLM were abandoned buildings). The true terrorists of 2020 were Trump’s Proud and boogaloo boys caught repeatedly causing mayhem to blame on BLM, shooting into crowds, starting fires, planting bombs, breaking into stores, shooting cops, etc. You know this well, you bold faced liar. You pretend you don’t know it because then you think you can get away with being a racist tool and blaming black people for everything, IMO, but we all know you know it.

Many were caught, prosecuted, and convicted (those they didn’t shoot to death in the process of being bomb planting cop shooting fake BLM terrorists that is) and the damage done was 1/10 what the idiot truckers cost.
The people with those truckers are many of the same people….with the same mindset.

Blacks protesting being shot=Thugs.
Whites protesting getting a shot=Freedom fighters.

Not everything is racist, but right wing terrorists waiving confederate and Nazi flags are. White supremacists who commit false flag terrorism to try to blame on black people and their anti-racist-murder-at-police-hands protests are racists.
The people standing with and behind them are racists….tell me the company you keep and I will tell you what you are.-S.P.
People who intentionally hide those facts and knowingly lie to blame the known racist false flag operations on BLM are racists….looking directly at you.

You support the side of racist white supremacists, racist nazis, and racist policy EVERY SINGLE TIME….but suddenly get the vapors and declare your innocence whenever it’s pointed out.

Edit: And let’s not lose sight of the issues, BLM protested blacks being murdered by police regularly with no recourse at all, absolutely none. Truckers are protesting not getting the privilege of getting to choose to travel internationally without the minor inconvenience of being vaccinated against a raging pandemic. I know, you think the latter far more important than the former, thereby excusing that the truckers have cost more, done more damage to local businesses and home owners, and, by being super spreaders, have killed more people.

If you think this is Trumps fault, think what you want?

But
This is on Biden, commander in chief. It is his job to steer the ship. To correct the direction of the nation.
What has he done to correct this? NOTHING, except more spending , making this worse.

Biden use by date has long expired. He has no leadership ability, He cant take questions He is kept from media and public for fear on looking tool old and too slow and unable to speak intellectually. His days are in the past.

How extremely unRepublican of you.

No strings, no hoops, no “no help until you get a job” type of nonsense!?
Who is this? You are aware all those strings and hoops are Republican additions to welfare laws, right?

Second, a set time limit for those on warfare!?! (I must assume that means companies that are part of the military industrial complex, riding high on that sweet sweet government cheese)

Holy shit, that’s pretty damn far left of you. Congratulations! I’m seriously impressed, and fully back that plan. If your business is making tools for war, it shouldn’t be a private business, it should be a department in the DOD. America doesn’t like war profiteering….or so we claim.

👏

@newtboy

Lets remember those were Democrats, Like you. Racist tools of elitism.

Congratulations! Your comment on The simple tool that can open most US stores has just received enough votes from the community to earn you 1 Power Point. Thank you for your quality contribution to VideoSift.

being that he's the lock picking lawyer, probably he's aware of the legalities of his side business.

that said, there are some countries where it's illegal to own or possess any lock picking tools. (don't know the details about how locksmiths operate? maybe special license or local police do that job)

Unless they have intent to use them, or have knowledge that that’s what they’re made for, no? That’s what it says in the law, isn’t it?

“ Every person having upon him or her in his or her possession a picklock, crow, keybit, crowbar, screwdriver, vise grip pliers, water-pump pliers, slidehammer, slim jim, tension bar, lock pick gun, tubular lock pick, bump key, floor-safe door puller, master key, ceramic or porcelain spark plug chips or pieces, or other instrument or tool with intent feloniously to break or enter into any building, railroad car, aircraft, or vessel, trailer coach, or vehicle as defined in the Vehicle Code, or who shall knowingly make or alter, or shall attempt to make or alter, any key or other instrument named above so that the same will fit or open the lock of a building, railroad car, aircraft, vessel, trailer coach, or vehicle as defined in the Vehicle Code, without being requested to do so by some person having the right to open the same, or who shall make, alter, or repair any instrument or thing, knowing or having reason to believe that it is intended to be used in committing a misdemeanor or felony, is guilty of a misdemeanor. ”

I have this opinion, (that police (and some prosecutors) will ascribe intent to anyone in possession of any tools, even those with other uses, so they wouldn’t hesitate to do the same for tools that are clearly purpose built breaking and entering tools having been advertised as such and with no other use,) because I watched a friend be arrested in the 80’s for having a screwdriver and pliers in their backpack that the police called “burglary tools”. He did not have a history of burglary. The case was dropped when they instead charged him with <.5 grams of marijuana for some crumbs found loose in the bottom in his backpack and sent him juvie for 6 months. (I think he was on probation, I know the police wanted to charge him with anything….and did.). I was accused of having lockpicks once because I had picked up a few metal brush bits from a street sweeper in a parking lot and police saw me pick them up, arrested, then released me on site when the supervisor showed up and heard their story.

I think the last sentence of that paragraph puts him in danger, since he clearly has reason to believe at least some of the burglary tools he sells to the public are going to be used criminally.

I don’t want to see you give someone advice that could get them in serious trouble, I know you would feel terrible. You might be correct, technically without intent to commit a crime they’re legal to own, but in reality police and prosecutors decide your intent and I don’t trust them one whit.