And…. Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff, committed voter fraud.
He rented a shack in N Carolina and claimed it was his home. He registered to vote from that shack. He never visited the home, and no one stayed the night there while he rented it.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-did-mark-meadows-register-to-vote-at-an-address-where-he-did-not-reside

He lied about it being his residence, and voted illegally in N Carolina. Voter Fraud…by your guys.
Lock them up for years, and it’s definitely time to require any registered Republican to verify both their residence and identity by random physical checks and DNA testing at their expense. Voter ID is needed for your party, and a fake driver’s license is too easy to get to count.

You want secure elections, don’t you? Then you obviously want special requirements for the group that tried to commit massive election frauds….that’s Republicans.

Or can you admit you’re completely hypocritical and don’t care about all the voter fraud now that you know it was all Republicans perpetrating them?

I expect no answer, because there isn’t a good answer for you.

BTW, strong leader Biden just announced a ban on Russian energy products. Good for Tesla. Yes, it will hurt, gas prices will rise. Freedom isn’t free, and if you don’t chip in your buck 0 five, who will?

Yes that is a thing.

Not all russians have phones. Plus they are anyway mostly sitting in vehicles stuck on roads sometimes without gas or food. It is a tactical mess of Trump-like proportions.

Also ukranian drones are still able to fly. The russians are advancing by the sheer mass of their bodies as usual, no brains or preparation involved.

Unfortunately the Russian army is 10 times stronger than the Ukrainian.

We are not hoping Putin will reverse his course, we are hoping (rich elite and military) Russians will decide they would be better offf without war and threatening to destroy the world.

Switching of SWIFT is not a total ban on transactions but is very annoying for russians.

Dependency of Europe on Russian oil and gas is a direct security danger, they do use it to extort (and bribe - see Mr. Schroeder) the west.

China gets paid mostly in dollars, it would be a pain for China to use anything else to buy oil and gas. But nothing is ever certain forever.

Russia will need dollars in any form, even if they have to be black market dolars so they will gladly take Chinese payments in dollars. Also their stock market and currency is... f***ed.

Ever easier method.
Just like the first one, but reverse the blocking thing.
Stick it all the way in, block the end, pull it most of the way out full of gas.
Release and pour.

I wonder actually...
He is such a narcissist maybe it does hurt.
Mostly I just forgot to press the sarcasm button.

What does he care about? Because his legacy project for Mother Russia looks like it is backfiring. His own legacy is also about to go down the drain. It will be difficult for his western friends to remain his friends, just like that pedophile whatshisname that was friends with everyone but no one will admit it now.

Putin broke his own treaty, his word, sent his soldiers into a sovereign country where everyone speaks russian. Some of those soldiers dont know where they are and what they are doing there, have no gas and no food after 4 days. He is lying to his own people and censoring information. Some legacy.

Unfortunately no one in the USofA gives much of a shit, but maybe Europe can get its act together based on this shitstorm.

ONE gas station is over $6…in Beverly Grove, the shopping district of Beverly Hills. The real average is $4.77 statewide.
Another totally dishonest @bobknight33 post. I expect nothing less.

I’m in Humboldt county, the most expensive gas in California regularly by far (except for special hyper expensive stations like Big Sur, Icehouse gas on the Rubicon trail, and the Uber rich one in the post).
…we are barely over $5, just like we were in 2019.

Whats your local gas price?

North Carolina

3.65 $/gal

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.

Economic disruption of the blockades was similar to the Mohawk blockade of railways about 2 years ago:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ottawa-rejects-police-intervention-to-put-an-end-to-blockades/

Similarly, mass lay offs and multi-billions of dollars of goods stuck sitting around waiting to get to the industries needing them.

Since at least 2012 the attempted expansion of an existing pipeline(Trans Mountain) was targeted continuously by blockades. Opposition and resulting delays leading to cost overruns so large that company ultimately halted the multi-billion dollar project.

In terms of dollars being lost, the convoy protest wasn't special. More over, the blockade of the border in Ontario that was causing the real economic damage was dismantled and removed before the 'emergency measures' were enacted. Which is to state, the emergency measures were primarily intended to clear out downtown Ottawa. In downtown Ottawa though, the damages were at minimum as localized as any of the lumber or pipeline blockades mentioned.


Prime Minister Trudeau couldn't be more unequivocal when he was expressing his support for the farmer protests in India and the Floyd protests in the US. Clip if you'd like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9EaSF6Y0eE

The protests in India absolutely did immensely more harm to India's economy than the convoy here did in Canada. The protests in support of Floyd were again unequivocally more violent than the convoy in Canada.

There really is no basis by which to point to the convoy's actions and find them in any way unique or distinct from multiple other protests within Canada, or ones abroad that have been either given more latitude, or outright embraced and supported.

The distinction as even you can't resist going after, is that their beliefs they are protesting for are stupid and wrong, so no right to protest for them. That isn't how the right to protest within a democracy should be allowed to work.

I also have to point out the 'ethical' argument isn't as cut and dry as you want to make it out either.
-Pipelines bad so blockading is good ignores the fact the same oil gets pumped regardless, it just gets loaded into trucks that burn even more oil to haul it and have a fair greater risk of accidents and spills.
-Defending the rights and lands of Aboriginal peoples(like at Coastal Gas Link site violently attacked with millions in damages while the convoy was being vilified for 'incitement') is anything but obvious. The Wet'suwet'en hereditary leaders made claim to parts of the pipeline route and demanded it be shut down. However, the same Wet'suwet'en people's multiple elected Band Councils signed on with their wishes to proceed with the project. In fact, ALL elected representatives of ALL the Bands with land along the route had ALL signed onto the project and wanting it to proceed. It is in no way obvious that ignoring the will of those other bands to favour the conflicting claims of the hereditary leaders is clearly the most respectful of the people's wishes.

A dollar has value if you can buy shit for a dollar.

Gold likewise has no exchange value if you cant exchange it for goods and services. Its rare and chemically stable and good for memorial coins, has many technical uses and looks cute, but otherwise it hardly matters what symbol for money you choose. There is 200 years of experience with fiat money and gold and silver standards and fiat money has been better, not just usually better or better in some scenario, universally better.

Symbolic money is practical and facilitates quicker turn around prevents deflation makes speculative runs on currency harder and smoothes the economic bumps in the road in general.

GDP is just a metric. Not a bad one but not the actual goal.

USofA is teh most developed. Should have used growing. Deflation in an economy that is growing kills growth.

Restarting countries not only get to ignore their debts, they immediatelly start borrowing again.

The only countries that dont borrow are countries no-one will lend to and countries so rich in some silly resource they can float high in the international currency system without borrowing. Borrowing is good for bussiness.

What is outrageous idiotic bullshit? Believing pegging the value of your paper note to some hoarded luxury makes it a better representation of the mean value of goods and services bought and sold? I could do without gold except for the jacks on my audio cables (just kidding). It does not matter what I exchange for food and gas, if it gets me food and gas, its good money.

Money is what you can pay taxes with. Do they take gold?

If you insist your dollar has the value of some weight of gold how does that influence the willingness of someone else to sell you shit? Unless they specifically intend to buy gold at a fixed price they dont care. They are going to use your dolar to buy some other shit from someone else. So if you take the actual currency out of the equation, when you decide on buying and selling shit you are intuitively comparing that decision with all the other decisions about buying and sellin that you know of. The currency is just a good way to count the measure of usefullness of a product or service and compare among many. Pebbles, bottletops, dollars, gold, pearls, all just a number.

A dollar could be backed by gold or it could not, this has zero impact on the transactions made. What matters is how many transactions are made, at what value, and how much money is available to the entire marketplace in a given period of time. Transactions quickly pass the ability of a gold standard to keep up. If you want a gold standard you have to slow transactions down because you dont have the money for them.

This is why markets need some regulation, otherwise someone might sell the universe twice and then default on one. But a gold standard, at least the type of gold standard I believe was talked about in this thread as a miracle cure, would be too limiting.

I was in downtown Toronto when this happened... middle of afternoon power drops and I left work... was closest thing to a zombie movie I've ever experienced... luckily I was close to freeway and was on the road so quickly... but looking down off the Gardiner Expressway I could see the city surface streets were just completely packed with cars and electric streetcars blocking up all the uncontrolled intersections... no one could get to the freeway and it was just me driving up there... then later when I had to go back downtown at night to find someone, the freeways had cars that had run out of gas scattered along the sides the whole way there.. unreal.

For new cars, probably correct, but old combustion engines aren’t just going to dissolve away. I have two over 50 years old in my driveway. They can last a long time.
Also, India and China don’t seem very interested in skipping their turn at combustion engines (sad), so tack 50+- years on before the entire world even really wants to switch over.

I don’t deny average electric vehicles should soon outperform average normal gas engines (let’s ignore exotics as exotics). My point is switching technology across the board is a slow, painful, expensive process that won’t likely happen in 5, 10, or even 20 years IMO….and electric motors won’t ever totally replace combustion for all applications as some suggest.

So, time to end the subsidies and tax breaks for Tesla then. No more government handouts for them.

They’re not going to be so dominant when actual competition is available, coming soon from every maker. (High demand, low inventory, double sticker price gas cars aren’t a fair comparison.).
They also wouldn’t be so profitable if they paid taxes.

It was not a good move to program the self driving unit to run stop signs. (Yes, they programmed it to just “rolling stop” at stop signs recently which is not just illegal it’s also dangerous.). That’s the kind of upgrade you get with Tesla, without warning. How many recalls now?

Also not a good move for Elon to admit he’s far right, pro corporate subsidy, anti tax. It alienates most of his customers.

Let me remind you….you are still one of the 30% that think Trump did a good job (by what metric I can’t tell….not economic, not infrastructure, not public health, not jobs, not the state of the union, not trust in government, not international standing, not trade, not lower crime, not cooperation (government or civil), not by simplifying the tax code, not by lowering spending….so how, how did he succeed, by bankrupting the treasury to give welfare to billionaires? The only thing he actually won are titles for most corrupt administration in history hands down, first to be impeached twice, only president ever to deny certified election results, first to attempt to falsify election results, first to attempt to overthrow a valid election by force, and biggest debt by 1/3 and biggest deficit by far more than double.).

You are also one of the 30% that, after months of denying Republican involvement at all now thinks violently attacking the government with bombs, fire, guns, knives, tear gas, projectiles, and heavy clubs, killing police and trying to murder representatives is a great job, patriotic. 🤦‍♂️

You are also one of the 30% who denied Covid was ever an issue that needed to be addressed until Jan 20, 2021 when it suddenly was horrific and all the president’s responsibility….but no fucking way in hell you’re going to listen to his advice.

Bob, I couldn’t say the last time you were correct on any topic. I may be incorrect up to 5% of the time, and gladly accept true correction (but not simple obstinate contradiction without fact) and willingly admit mistakes. I actually research. You are totally wrong on every detail closer to over 95% of the time, you’ve never once even looked into the ridiculous claims you cut and paste from right wing propaganda sites…I doubt you would know how, and never once have you admitted a single of your uncountable and verified mistakes that you make in every single argument you attempt….and I’m talking about factual mistakes, not grammar.

Let me also remind you, Biden has a 42% approval rating, not 30%. Trump had 39% at this point. 🤦‍♂️