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Cantrell is being investigated by the FBI for many things. The first-class flights all over the world for dubious conferences to which she flew with her police officer boyfriend, with $39,000 in "upgrades for her security," which is in violation of city regulations requiring coach-class travel. The money from campaign funds she gave a local hairdresser to buy her thousands of dollars worth of clothes. She has a previous history during her tenure on the city council of having charged personal expenses on a city credit card. Donors have given her money to pay back some of these travel and personal expenses, but the violations still occurred. It's doubtful she'll be recalled: 54,000 signatures out of an adult population of about 290,000 is a very high bar to clear. But that doesn't make her a good mayor, and that fact has nothing to do with race or gender. It has to do with behavior. She obviously doesn't care, or there wouldn't be reports of her sitting in a bar with her boyfriend at night after being closed up with him in a city apartment all day. And Mr. Blow, you should have looked for some of her newer, "made up and dressed up" photos, not the old ones looking sober-minded. She's obviously going through a midlife crisis.
| yes | 8,385 |
"Oh, Biden, What Have You Done?"Here is what Biden has done:Biden accomplished the following while dealing with global inflation, 50-50 Senate, obstructionist Republicans, filibuster, Manchin, & Sinema: Best midterm election results for a Democrat since 1998 The American Rescue Plan Infrastructure Law Inflation Reduction Act - Including Rx pricing & the single largest investment in climate and energy in American history The CHIPS Act The PACT Act Gun Safety Law (Bipartisan) The Paycheck Protection Program Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Juneteenth National Independence Day Act Good jobs numbers - nearly 10 million jobs added Low unemployment Tech restrictions on China Rejoined the Paris Climate Accords NATO strengthened and membership increasing Military (equipment & strategy) and intelligence support for Ukraine College debt relief Diverse, fair and open minded justices appointed to Federal Courts and The Supreme Court Biden will continue to appoint those kind of justices. Gas prices are lower Inflation is slowing downPeople are about to experience the benefits of the accomplishments listed above.
| no | 811 |
I’m not a fan of the death penalty and history shows it does little as a deterrent. However, egregious and inhuman acts against the innocent public shouldn’t be rewarded with life in prison on the taxpayer’s expense. Prisons are at capacity. It costs $35,663 yearly in 2020 to house a federal prisoner.
| no | 4,629 |
The West should reevaluate its relationship with India. It has the potential to be another China and, like China, has latent hostility for the Western countries and perhaps sees an opening for leverage now and has no appreciation for the trade that was enabled by an international order forged by the US post ww II.India is justifying their oil purchases from Russia by saying that Europe is still buying so why shouldn't they. They don't seem to care that their purchases have accelerated since the war because of the discounts given in Ukrainian blood.India, under the present leadership, is not to be trusted.
| no | 1,515 |
Thanks to the NY Times my wife is now very worried about our existing gas stove and sometime in the next 6 months we will probably be retiring our beautiful 32 year-old Viking workhorse. Groan!Meanwhile our 1909 house is leaky as hell and for heaven sake, whenever we actually spend time in the kitchen we are constantly letting our 2 dogs in and out of the backyard. The back kitchen door is often simply left open so they can go in and out. Ventilation is a legitimate and concern...just not to me in this specific house with this specific lifestyle (large dog ownership).I can't speak for the next homeowners but based on how we use the house I find it hard to believe this is an immediate "emergency" for my family.As for health issues and toxic environmental threats that truly concern ME...I am pleased to say I am 6 weeks into a full swearing off of sugar and processed foods and am feeling 100% better.Pick your poison.
| no | 1,893 |
Jackson 86% Support Background checks on guns - Quinnipiac, March 6, 2019. 68% support stronger gun safety laws - Forbes, June 15, 2022.83% support expanded medicare - Data For Progress - June 15, 2021.62% support raising minimum wage to $15 - Pew Research - April 22, 2021 .85% support a woman's right to have an abortion in some or all circumstances - Vox.com - June 24, 2022 (Vote results in Kansas - 59%, Vermont, 77%, California 67%, Michigan 57%, Kentucky 53%. Note that California has double the people of the others, combined)..65% of Americans want stronger action on Climate Change, 80% want tougher standards on Carbon emissions, 71% want stronger standards on car exhaust; 79% want more effort on developing alternate energy sources - Pew Research - June 23, 2020.Support for stronger Social Security runs 70% - 80% depending on the question - NASI study, January 2013. See also Data For Progress, July 11, 2022..Overall, the main planks of the Democratic party policy platform are very popular across the broad swath of American public opinion.
| yes | 5,970 |
Paula Why do people do this - criticize somebody for something he never said. MS never said "be-all and end-all answer to a good life". In fact MS said "I know people debate back and forth about the costs of college".I, however, will point out that a person with a 4 year degree earns, on average, more than a million dollars over their career than a person who has a high school degree. Since the average amount college debt is between $32,000 and $36,000, I think that a pretty darn good return on investment.
| yes | 5,628 |
In Brazil, Santos stole a checkbook and used it to steal $900 worth of goods. When the legal system there went to indict him, George Santos was nowhere to be found--he had gotten to the US, living fairly innocuously. So the case was dropped as pointless.But now Brazil's justice system knows exactly where Santos is, in Washington, DC, about to falsely swear an oath he has no intention of keeping, to support, defend, and uphold the Constitution. And, since Bolsonaro is no longer President of Brazil, having "fled"(?) to Florida, and HIS "pal", Trump, is also no longer President, Brazil has re-opened the case against Santos and may well request extradition!OTOH, Santos may well be indicted here on charges of fraud and campaign finance violations. Just as most Republicans have kept mum on the revelations, so, too, most will stand mum if he is indicted, either here or in Brazil. I think the odds of Santos serving a full 2 years are less than 100%.
| no | 1,606 |
The H1B sub-thread is this comments section is legit. But our K12 inadequacies are of our own making. We could keep billions in the US if we voted in our own self-interest. Instead, the white flight our policies fueled scurried tax dollars into the suburbs and left urban centers [ahem, where Black folk were forced to remain due to redlining] in the lowest tier of funding. Impossible for individuals to do anything about it now. Collective action is required. Make no mistake, we CHOOSE to import talent rather than do right by own own people.
| no | 485 |
There are a lot of comments here that take the position that there are more important things to worry about - the climate, health care of everyone, and the planet in general - than addressing aging as this essay suggests. I disagree. Frankly, I like my life, and I am interested in extending my health for as long as I enjoy living. I'm retiring this summer (age 68) and I am fully invested in preparing for that event by practicing good health habits now and into the future.I am aware I could get hit by a car or some other unforeseen event; develop cancer or Alzheimers. But, until that happens, I am all in on healthy aging.
| no | 84 |
Layla The privileged Royals "leak" to the press and Willy inherits a billion dollars as he takes on the title of Prince of Wales and the former mistress prostituted herself to become Queen Consort.
| yes | 6,555 |
This is a frivolous article and posit. Everything will kill you; the question is what are the most reasonable balances and trade-offs?Around the world, many cuisines are simply not conducive to cooking over anything but a flame. Trying convincing any serious Indian or Asian cook settle for electric. I'd rather see better technology deployed to improve the efficiency and safety of open flame cooking ranges.As with all things, moderation and measured use is best.
| no | 1,083 |
There is a certain nostalgia or goodness-of-fit that comes when eating a frozen pizza. And trying to elevate it with a $30 ordering of frozen pizza just ruins it.We know what we are getting into when we rip open the cardboard box, remove the plastic cover, and throw a traditional frozen pizza in the oven. It is like biting into a rice krispie treat or a peanut butter/jelly sandwich. It works. Is it the tastiest thing in the world? No. Are there fresher, better versions in the world? Yes. But on that Friday night or late night Tuesday when your kids have gone far too long and the fridge is empty and you want to feel full and a little comfort, the old fashioned Tombstone or Newman's or DiGiornos is super satisfying.BTW, ordering a $30 frozen pizza is just so oxymoronic. Just go out to eat or order directly from the pizza place. Ridiculous.
| no | 1,980 |
Ibn Guess where the University of Southern California got the money to build their medical school? A National Championship in College Football brings the victor ~$200MM
| yes | 5,563 |
There is clear campaign finance fraud here. He could not have earned or gotten through dividends even a small fraction of what he claims that he "gave and loaned himself" for the campaign. Someone or some group illegally poured money into his campaign. Talk of "ethics" is soft and subjective; wantonly violating campaign finance laws is not.
| no | 203 |
One of the US's greatest world contributions was the Africa AIDS aid PEPFAR program started by GW Bush in 2003. 20 years and $90 billion later it has saved and estimated 20 million lives.But as article points out, there must be continued refinement for this and related programs to patch deficiencies and save more lives.
| yes | 5,680 |
Boy this guy was really gullible to believe in investments yielding 16% at a time when interest rates were near zero.
| yes | 8,591 |
….and look at California on the map, then look at the videos of California flooding yesterday, today and tomorrow….100 mph wind gusts, full grown tree splitting houses open, landslides covering highways with massive boulders and 3’ of muck… who knows how many dead (one story I saw said 14 ‘confirmed’ so far)And as others note, the nation can’t even agree politically it’s a problem they can help curb…. What we’re seeing is the consequences of gross, even deliberate and intentional stupidity. Nothing less. It may not be, legally, but this is every bit as bad as criminal negligence.
| no | 620 |
RB "They each agreed to pay $400 before I bought the tickets." I agree with you except that I'd already be a little resentful because friend agreed to pay me back and now I am having to chase my money.
| no | 2,955 |
Rich the military budget isn't so much about weapons systems:"Breaking down the $718 billion, we find that it supported a broad range of activities. The largest category, operation and maintenance, cost $286 billion in 2021. It covers the cost of military operations such as training and planning, maintenance of equipment, and most of the military healthcare system (separate from outlays made by the Department of Veterans Affairs). The second largest category, military personnel, supports pay and retirement benefits for service members and cost $173 billion in 2021.""Procurement of weapons and systems cost $141 billion in 2021 and nearly $106 billion was spent on research and development of weapons and equipment. The military also spent over $10 billion on the construction and management of military facilities, such as barracks and family housing, and $1 billion on a number of miscellaneous activities."This per Peterson Foundation.
| yes | 7,242 |
Charles The $525 is for the beautiful hotel, which took years and millions to create, not for the location. There are a number of cheaper hotels nearby, at which I have stayed, so it's not the neighborhood that causes the high price.
| yes | 6,876 |
$1.6 million is peanuts. If it was you or me, we would be in jail.Is Trump going to jail?
| yes | 7,613 |
DecliningSociety It's 'woke' to pull together to ensure habitability or avoid mass dislocation due to climate change?And how is sourcing more coal and gas - given soaring and record prices of those now - a solution to the (partly Putin generated) shock?The UK is generating carbon conscious nucelar power and importing it from France. It's invested much more than the US in offshore and onshore wind, and has sizeable solar investments. Those renewables were *already* significantly 'cheaper' (your metric) than coal or gas, even in 2020. <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/911817/electricity-generation-cost-report-2020.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/911817/electricity-generation-cost-report-2020.pdf</a>
| no | 4,160 |
john The Dept. of Treasury estimates there is $600 Billion, yes 600 Billion, in tax revenues owed by the very wealthy and corporations. That's why the new GOP House majority's first action was to vote to gut better funding for the IRS!
| yes | 6,742 |
My open minded side read this piece with fascination. My cynical side read it with a nagging feeling brought on by the epidemic of pharmaceutical commercials that eat up half of the evening news.
| no | 1,204 |
Over the past 5 million years, we have become less fertile (lower "r" in ecological parlance) than our closest living relatives (both chimpanzee species) yet more widespread and numerous in the process. The reason is greater investment per offspring, leading to more productive adults. From an evolutionary perspective, population growth and economic growth are incompatible and their coincidence over the past 200 years will turn out to be a short-lived anomaly.
| yes | 9,433 |
Representative Lieu is right, but he underestimates the risk. AI can become a tool for countries, companies and even, in this time of amoral billionaires, powerful individuals to collect and analyze data on every individual. Few are aware, for example, that two or three companies maintain massive databases with the consumption habits of 200 million Americans gleaned from loyalty cards. If you use a loyalty card in a grocery store, you’re in this database that has been estimated to be several petabytes in size – equal to trillions of typed pages – about you and your family. "Why do I care if they know what cereal I buy?" you ask. But now add in facial-recognition and body-analysis software analyzing data from street-mounted cameras, phone location data, license plate trackers, public employment data, publicly scrapable reviews you post… Even if data is anonymized, AI enables computers to connect the dots and identify you, your family, your friends, your employment, dentist, OB-GYN and oil-change guy. Some of this is already happening in China, where individuals get social compliance scores that determine their access to employment, education and other resources. based on whether they comply with jaywalking laws, Covid lockdowns and other rules.Not all of this is happening, but all of it is, or will shortly be possible.
| yes | 9,314 |
Again, we conflate Black with broke. This is about socioeconomics. Plenty of people from many background and races can’t afford to live in New York. Too often, we frame low income issues as Black issue and low-income benefits as Black benefits. Yes, a number of low income individuals are Black, but many are White and Asian and Latino and Native American, and so on. As a Black woman, I’m sick of issues that clearly affect low income or working class Americans as “Black issues” . If a Black person can buy their way out of it, it’s not a Black issue, it’s a low income issue. If all the money in the world can’t fix an issue affecting Black people (like racism, discrimination, profiling, etc) that’s a Black issue! Not being sold a house in a neighborhood you can afford because they don’t want “your kind” there - that’s a Black issue. Being stopped by cops on the street because you “fit a description of a perpetrator” - that’s a Black issue. Being passed over for a promotion because your dreadlocks look “unprofessional and would put off clients” - that’s a Black issue. Not being able to raise a family in NYC is a “you make less that $250k a year” issue - regardless of race.
| yes | 9,755 |
Johnny Panic It may not be a good look, but it's irrelevant economically, and a distraction from holding the real culprits to account. Funding the royal family cost the British taxpayer the equivalent of around US$2 a year. Even less if you count the tourist income they generate.
| yes | 5,542 |
17 Billion spent by big money in the last election cycle. 14 Billion spent in 2020. You really think your vote will change this?
| no | 3,094 |
It is very important to realize that fentanyl coming across our open border killed more Americans in 2022 alone than were killed during our wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan collectively.
| yes | 5,892 |
Having spent 20 years working in high-level casino positions and 25 years opening casinos in various jurisdictions around the globe, I can say unequivocally that Manhattan or Long Island are not ideal locations for casinos. But, not for the reasons many others cited. It is a fallacy that casinos bring major upticks in crime, drugs, homelessness, etc. That's like saying bars turn social drinkers into alcoholics or that having lottery (yes, that's gambling) causes what's attributed to casinos. Nonsense. The major problem with Manhattan and Long Island is traffic. There is one highway bw the City and Long Island and the LIE is already a parking lot. And does Manhattan really need another entertainment destination? And where will workers live? NYC is too expensive to live on wages that casinos pay the majority of workers. Eyes wide open!
| no | 4,127 |
While Princess Diana was an incredible woman at so many different levels including as a mother to her young children and with her charitable work I think she caused irreparable harm to the royal family by opening the royal family to attack by the media and turning them into spetacles for no holds bar attack with her very public private life after her divorce. That continues to this day.It works much better in other European royal families and Japan and elsewhere where the royal families stay out of hte press and are beyond approach.
| no | 4,176 |
Zeke PS - Of course Obama added to the debt.He was given a $1.4 trillion deficit.
| no | 1,569 |
Thomas Moore Paul Krugman: Notes on Immigration "First, the benefits of immigration to the population already here are small. " "My second negative point is that immigration reduces the wages of domestic workers who compete with immigrants. That’s just supply and demand: we’re talking about large increases in the number of low-skill workers relative to other inputs into production, so it’s inevitable that this means a fall in wages" "Finally, the fiscal burden of low-wage immigrants is also pretty clear. Mr. Hanson uses some estimates from the National Research Council to get a specific number, around 0.25 percent of G.D.P. Again, I think that you’d be hard pressed to find any set of assumptions under which Mexican immigrants are a net fiscal plus, but equally hard pressed to make the burden more than a fraction of a percent of G.D.P." The NY Times , Mar 27, 2006And costs the US taxpayer, taking the 0.25 percent of the GDP value, is 52 Billion?This is not a small amount : The entire National Science Foundation Budget for 2021 was 6.91 BillionAnd yet Democrats are pro immigration ..
| no | 436 |
There is a very intelligent school of thought that partners should never be totally surprised by a marriage proposal. Instead, they should know it’s likely and be prepared to accept based on open communications they’ve had about their intentions for each other. If it’s done properly the asking becomes a romantic formality which serves to mark the point at which their commitment became official. Being ready is a good sign.
| yes | 6,777 |
Lynne S-D Yes, the system was shady and corrupt, semi-professional without the pay going to the athletes, and in many respects unworthy of its association with institutions purportedly existing for the sake of education. Now, the shady and corrupt practices are in the open, and the gap between the semi-professional and the amateur is simply widening: it is now a gap between fully professional and amateur. The system is now perhaps even more unworthy of its association with educational institutions (although, in many respects, those educational institutions care very little about true education, so the decay is parallel).
| yes | 7,926 |
To me, this article misses the real point. This year's war budget is $858 billion, and people are dying all over the earth. Wars, famines, the stress of grinding poverty, pollution, climate change. Our sharehold primacy brand of capitalism is literally destroying the habitability of our planet, and we are in the midst of a great extinction. Kim Jung Un wants a new ICBM system and expanded nuclear capabilities. Russia's unilateral invasion of Ukraine (we still really don't know why) has ruined the lives of millions. So, when we talk about human life, the point at which life begins isn't really a valid point. The valid point is how well do we take care of our less fortunate? The orphans? The immigrants? People waiting in front of barbed wire topped walls in the cold because they had the temerity to flee, walk across a thousand miles of dangerous land because they want a better life for the children they have.When we stop the wars, alleviate the grinding poverty, stop exploiting workers, and learn to organize ourselves around human need instead of human greed, then we can talk about abortion access. And, to my mind, making some law that allows a woman to die because a fetus has died inside her and is poisoning her body, or she is in danger due to ectopic pregnancy just because some old church guy doesn't 'get' the facts of life is odious and most decidedly un-Christian.
| no | 3,395 |
When he succeeded to the Papacy, Ratzinger had wide-open administrative opportunities to set the Church on a path toward institutional stability to:1. Take every step to right wrongs denigrating the institution and teaching authority caused by clerical pedophilia.2. Correct the financial corruption and ineptitude endemic in the operation of the Vatican State.3. Acknowledge and promote the importance of women guiding the Church in its long-term survivability as an institution with powerful influence across the globe.Not only was nothing accomplished in these areas--true Ratzinger did verbally acknowledge the pedophilia--the Church appeared to focus upon and promote its own internal culture war between those who recognize that institutions, even religious institutions, evolve to meet the needs of the time--because of the hardened doctrines it espoused.For example, it seems obvious, even to those with a passing interest in the Church's survivability, that if the greatest number of church-attending people are women, who also assume responsibility for getting families to catechism class or Sunday Church while men watch NFL football, shouldn't women also have a role to lead, formulate and implement policy as priests, cardinals, or bishops? This seems obvious to me, yet the Church under Ratzinger had more interest in angels dancing on the head of a pin than in ensuring the institution's long-term viability and survival by addressing the issues of Church governance.
| no | 1,374 |
Puzzlemucker I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong, when I try to open these links they all take me to the same wordplay column. I know I can’t open links at all from the app, and I can’t fathom how links that look so different can take me to the same place?
| no | 584 |
Oh please. The reason is he cannot be on any committee is because there is no possible way he can get a security clearance from the FBI. He's a wanted criminal in Brazil, literally no one knows where the $700,000 for his campaign came from, and until a year ago everyone on earth knew him as a drag queen named Anthony Devolder. No security clearance, no committee, because he cannot legally be in the same room with classified information.
| no | 3,820 |
Kerry-Trump/Kushner also got $2B from the Saudi's and millions before entering office and during. What did the Saudi's get in return?
| yes | 6,844 |
I like Harry. He's a young man who has suffered and dared to use his platform to speak openly about his pain in a raw way --all the while challenging one of the world's oldest, most corrupt, wealthy institutions. His privilege clearly did not protect him from sorrow and pain. Maybe his openness will help other young men?With so many disasters (famine, war, etc.) does this story merit the media's obsession? Absolutely not. But the personal attacks against him and the defense of the anachronistic British monarchy is misguided.
| yes | 7,322 |
We lived in China for about 8yrs, coming home in 2013. In our home town, in Guangdong Province, during this period there was non-stop construction of 15-20 stories apartment cluster. Where we lived, single family houses, same thing. Driving by these sites at night revealed only a few lights on the first floor - commercial space - and few to none throughout the remainder of the complex.When we asked our friends about this, they explained that many of the empty units were in fact sold, mainly to investors from Hong Kong. I'll leave it to your imagination as to why.When someone "buys" an apartment or house, what they own is a 100 year, transferable lease on the unit. The land under the units is owned by the federal government, in perpetuity.When we were there, there was no property tax, so sitting on an empty unit didn't accrue any expense. When we spoke with friends, from our home city in China, recently, they told us most of the units are still empty and new construction has ended.What this means for the future of the federal government, the CCP, good question. One possibility, a result of the various Mao driven revolutions, is the CCP greatest concern to its hold on power is unrest in the cities - wen hua da ge ming - great cultural revolution being the most ruinous. Perhaps they'll find a solution or maybe the current power structure will be altered in ways not imagined even 10 years ago.
| yes | 7,018 |
Alan - pandemics aren't easy to deal with (my understatement for the month) and there are harms no matter which way things are measured.Regarding Sweden, let's consider the tradeoffs - they had a far higher death rate than their neighbors Norway and Finland and a higher death rate than Germany, too. The King and the Prime Minister in Sweden apologized to the country late in 2020 for what they viewed as the failure of their light-touch approach.So is the nation better off because their children have a fraction of a year boost (on average) over others in school achievement?Here in the US the numbers appear to show that it's not whether a school opened sooner or later that counts - it's the economics of the school district and families that seems to have played a bigger role. School funding based on local property values appears to be our more worrisome issue.
| no | 4,829 |
I was 34 years old when a business in fear of layoff. My son was 6 years old. He is 34 and was just laid off by a tech company.My words to him: “You have a right to be angry but before you get desperate, remember that you are the same age when I opened my company. Look at it as an opportunity. You are single, do not have a mortgage, do not have children, have no college debt and no car payments. You have 10 years of experience with a masters in Computer Science. The loss is on the tech company. In a couple of years you will look at the layoff as a blessing.”
| no | 3,654 |
I am having a good chuckle over Bret's concerns about the big city couple making $400,000 a year. Having grown up among rock-solid middle class families in the Midwest, we never assumed parents owed us money to pursue a college education. They motivated us to get one and then helped us determine where we could go based on cost and the jobs, scholarships and loans we could get to help pay for it. They drove their used cars without complaint and enjoyed the dickering to get the best deal. And they wondered why things were so damn expensive too, then clipped coupons, put away a little savings each month, and scrupulously watched for deals. And debt? Outside of a mortgage, it was a four-letter word. The outcome of this recipe was kids who felt less entitled, who observed how to face life's challenges while enjoying it, and who were well-rounded and capable of adapting when the inevitable kinks appeared. And yes, they gave to God what was God's and to Caesar what was Caesar's, because that's what you do.
| yes | 5,403 |
Articles like this can make taxpayers complacent about debt. This is dangerous. I agree that debt ceiling should be raised as a mere formality, America’s rising debt is unsustainable. After Volcker, interest rates have declined for nearly thirty years. This softened the cost of servicing rising debt amount. Last year’s interest rate increase should be a wake up call.Government borrowing crowds out private investment. Since Treasury yields set the floor in borrowing costs, everyone pays more for their borrowing. Government is left with less discretion for other spending.How about an article with ideas to restrain government debt?
| yes | 7,736 |
Richard Ralph Nonsense. Your parenthetical, "with the lone exception of Kherson" is ridiculous. Why should we treat that as an exception? It's of major strategic importance, cutting off Russia from numerous supply lines. And the Russians "chose" not to context it because they didn't have the means to, they were completely outmaneuvered by the Ukrainian military. Furthermore, focus on "major urban centers" is arbitrary and obfuscates the strategic importance of numerous other strategic gains, such as Izyum, entry point to The Donbas, Kupiansk, major railway hub, and the Balakalia gas fields. Finally, your analysis fails to acknowledge that Russia has failed to further any of their victory conditions. Ukraine is positioned to hold off Russia indefinitely.
| no | 2,379 |
Amazon opened a bricks-and-mortar store in Montgomery County MD, where 80% of voters are Democrats. The first book you saw was a “birther” attack on Obama. Letting the manager choose the books makes a lot of sense.
| no | 1,800 |
The REALLY big question is where Santos got $700k for his campaign. He claims he lent that to himself. How can he do that if he cannot afford rent in a cheap apartment and has lots of bounced checks? Who is funding Santos is a question for the federal DOJ and the IRS.
| yes | 6,965 |
Dear Democrats,Yes, I trust you more than Republicans to protect Social Security and Medicare. But instead of sending me 98,000 emails a day soliciting my donations (I did donate to Charles Booker in Kentucky) follow John McCain's examples and use that energy to reform campaign finance laws.If money is speech, how can it be that someone's million (or these days, billion) dollar contribution to a PAC cannot outweigh my small donor contribution, even if I were able to contribute up to the limit.I get that it's hard to cut off churches, and I am aware that Black churches were instrumental to passing civil rights legislation, and everybody should be treated the same under the law. But so much money is spent on elections and so little on the needs of the country's citizens.
| no | 3,187 |
Hunter Greer--First of all, you ignore the exemption that Fred mentions, i.e., the first 12 million is zero tax, so it's applied to the remaining amount. The $10 million farm pays no estate tax, the $20 million pays less than one million. So why is it that someone should inherit a $10 to 20 million asset, in other words, end up with millions that they themselves didn't earn, and not pay taxes on that inheritance? The estate tax, while literally focused on the assets of the dead, are essentially inheritance taxes--a tax upon survivors for unearned wealth. There is nothing wrong with requiring taxes on windfall income.If the GOP is, in fact so concerned about breaking up family farms (news flash: they aren't, they're concerned about their mega-rich donors), then exempt, say, the first 500 acres of cultivated land, or the first 200 head of cattle, etc. from the estate tax. That way, small farm operations are protected, but the ultra-rich and corporate farm operations are not. But I've never heard a Republican proposal aimed at protecting smaller family farms.
| no | 979 |
Microsoft has unbelievable profit levels that are monopolistic profits and indicative of a monopoly that needs to be regulated by the federal government--either broken up or its price and employment levels controlled by the government. Microsoft is using its monopoly power over employees.Bill Gates the Microsott founder is one of the richest billionaires in the world, and the source of this wealth is because of a monopoly or oligopoly. Our extreme wealth and income concentration is closely connected to our monopoly capitalism.
| no | 316 |
JD Since April 2021, the United States has provided over half a billion dollars in assistance for the Palestinians/ It's been going on for years...and into the pockets of the so-called Palestinian leaders.
| no | 298 |
Microsoft needs to take a cue from Elon Musk and Twitter. Layoff half the workers and tell the remaining half to work twice as hard. Voila, instant doubling of profits as your personnel costs were just dropped by half.
| yes | 5,775 |
Well, looking at the mess, $2 trillion of borrowed money, given to the richest, tax-dodgingest corporations, I want to know WHY huge, greedy price grabs in FOOD and ENERGY, are not considered ‘inflation?’Govt has no problem GIVING tens of billions to chip companies, but feeding their people isn’t important?Allowing energy companies to fatten profits and reward CEOs IS important, but reimbursing the huge sums stollen from people, ISNT???
| no | 2,940 |
Smilodon7 She makes 174K a year and her husband got hired on with the oil industry at a million a year. Running for Congress and having a vote for sale is lucrative as George Santos figured out as well.
| yes | 8,481 |
open borders or de factor open borders are for fools. The US Southern border would be very secure if Congress could close the asylum loopholes. 99% of migrants at the southern border are economic yet they present as asylum seekers. Before Trump, there were stories in the 2010's about how the wall in El Paso had helped insulate the city from the drug war violence in Ciudad Juarez, including accounts of Mexicans who felt safer just by crossing the border to El Paso. Borders and walls on southern border will work if you close the loopholes and remove all the incentives/benefits illegal aliens get in America.
| no | 425 |
I read a lot of physics. And most of this is sheer nonsense while we spend billions looking for ever more elusive particles. in our quest to understand. sure. but unlike most science articles about the newest discoveries, never a word about how this could benefit us all. and things moved with astonishing rapidity after fundamental insights and discoveries a century ago, despite requiring far less money and time. now everything moves slow as molasses, they're still playing fancy math games with stuff that was discovered many decades ago. of course they describe it as the most interesting time ever, that's how they get governments to give them 10 billion dollar toys. what are space and time? Feynman would have laughed at (most of) this, and told them where to shove their fancy equations that just go on and on.
| yes | 6,571 |
Mark Thomason These are all good points. It is tough to argue that it is easier to do business in Mexico than China. However, the compliance departments of American corporations should ultimately be up to the task of wading through Mexico's many rule-of-law issues.Renewed investment in Mexico will surely be a force for positive change in that country. A burgeoning middle class of manufacturing workers could be just what's needed to force and pay for reforms.
| yes | 8,566 |
A crack team of legal scholars could probably make a solid case that ALL papers, discussions, drafts of SCOTUS should be open to public review, lest a black-robed aristocracy w life appointments be allowed to conduct the people's business in total secrecy, thus again privileging a powerful few while preventing national participation in or even knowledge of this fundamental aspect of American democracy.
| no | 3,628 |
We sanctioned the Russian gov, oligarchs, friends & associates of Mr Putin. In retaliation the Russian gov is successfully attacking our financial system via the debt ceiling, negatively impacting our ability 2 defend our nation & pay our bills, weaponizing our political parties & our laws against us. They are demonstrating they understand our systems better than most Americans do & are eager 2 exploit our systems 2 attack us. Our security agencies will have noticed. We are in an undeclared war. We must educate our people 2 mitigate more of us being weaponized against us. We must declare a national emergency 2 defend ourselves, whatever it takes w/out physically harming weaponized legislators & citizens. Our gov must go loud & explain 2 the nation what is being done 2 us, & why, & how we're going 2 defend ourselves. In Iran that gov believes its protestors are destabilizing weapons controlled by Israel & West allied nations. The Iran gov chooses 2 murder, rape & maim its people instead of honestly explaining modern warfare 2 them. In England the previous PM cost the British people 100s of billions of pounds in added debt costs though she was only in office for weeks. In Israel the Russian gov is destroying the judicial system, using politicians it controls. What we're experiencing is all govs have vulnerabilities when enemies gain access 2 their country. Govs must educate their people, adapt & fortify their institutions & their people. This type of warfare will only get worse
| yes | 9,889 |
John Smithson We have tremendous national interests in the outcome of this war. A Russian victory will directly threaten our economic security, our political stability, and our national security. It will also replace one of the world's largest democracies with an ascendant authoritarianism. This will empower China in Taiwan and other authoritarian governments. Rising authoritarianism is terrible for us and terrible for the world. And I am fairly certain that the summit in Helsinki is the one where Trump told Putin in front of the entire world that he trusts him over US Intelligence. Look, I understand. that people feel connected to Trump. But we cannot continue talking about him as if he was working for our best interests. Donald Trump was not in good faith with the US American people. He had more to gain from appeasing Putin than from fulfilling his oath of office and he had no scruples about making that choice. He lied to us about Covid. He lied to us about the election. He told the Russian ambassador classified information the day after he fired James Comey. His campaign manager was on the payroll of a Russian oligarch. He would not have solved anything.Laslty, Ukraine doesn't want to join NATO because we pressured it. Ukraine wants to join NATO because Russia committed one of the most egregious acts of genocide in world history against the Ukrainian people and Russia also has a habit of being ruled by unstable sociopathic expansionist autocrats.
| yes | 6,097 |
Sounds like something that might be a 'thing' in the future. Gas, as it is, is a wonderful cooking medium. But, if you have induction, I doubt you will ever use gas again....I converted to induction about 10 yrs ago...and loved the gas stove I had but it created a fire hazard (my senior partner was no longer a good fit for an open gas flame).
| no | 746 |
Laura Right! I have no experience with this, but I think a distant family relation (sisters ex-husband's dad) very well off met his second wife, a doctor, through a dating service and they have been together for decades. So it works for some. I also have a neighbour who runs a dating service where they charge about 2,000 euros per person. Does the dating service application have medical disclosure questions? I would tend to doubt it. Probably more likely: "anything else you need to disclose" AND some questions about the importance of sexual relations (which is not specific enough to get to the point). So, no lying then it's up to her discretion. Where I live this stuff is confidential. Also, if it's a major deal breaker the other party could probably negotiate with the dating service to have one more date in the deal, if they felt betrayed. Since the fees are considerable the service presumably have some level of customer service, and deals. ALSO it seems the demographics is such that in the over 50 dating services there are more women signed up than men, so it might not be so hard to balance out in the case that doesn't work. Lots of people over 50 have health issues, now or will in the the next 10 years or so. It might not need to be the main deciding factor.
| no | 1,014 |
Rk Exactly!Even if Noma were the best restaurant in the world, it certainly isn't the most expensive. There are certainly more expensive eateries in NYC!What those with astronomical excess wealth spend and trivially lose on $10,000 poker chips at the casino or pay millions of dollars on a blank canvas with a colored line near the bottom (I think I saw it displayed at MoMa a few decades ago) or other random splotch I am too unsophisticated to understand, or whatever they like to spend their untaxed loot on is easy to justly criticize.Artists, like chefs, aren't the one's who decide that a meal experience is worth $500 or that an art piece is worth a million or that a silly superhero NFT is worth $99. $500, or a million, is a trivial amount to the few who can afford it for an interesting and unusual experience given the massive amounts already wasted on so many trivial things in life by these people.Why is it easy to criticize one who works a few months for nothing to get Noma on their CV in return, yet not criticize the same motivation of many who spend a quarter million and study a bit to get Harvard engraved on their CV - just different ways to get ahead. Not as if the workers at a McDonald's will ever earn a living wage for their toil nor will it ever improve their CV or future advancement in life.
| no | 1,356 |
The wealthy transplants who have turned Montana into the second-fastest-growing state in the nation contribute to its hard-right turn (all that dark corporate money spent on campaigns) but not to its budget. Montana receives $1.47 in federal funding for every dollar it sends to Washington, much of it for Medicaid and Social Security.
| no | 2,331 |
If only they could buy investment grade real estate in the West! Take the cash out and run. International students from China but million dollar property in Vancouver. There is a way if there is a strong desire. Looks like boom and bust, Chinese style. Start a corner store or dollar store and buy Tesla as a business expense. Operate an ethnic restaurant and flourish. The road to riches is paved with gold.
| yes | 5,774 |
I am a 60+ activist who has put in a lot of time, and still does, particularly in organizing against climate change among churches, Left, Right and Center. If I had some sort of purity test involving pronouns or people using just the right terminology for gender or race, or for the right sort of religious belief, I wouldn’t get anywhere. You build bridges with tolerance and understanding, and if you go in with a bunch of pc buzzwords about privilege and colonialism etc, you’re going to shut people down before they trust you enough to listen to you. If you want to be listened to, let alone heeded, be prepared to listen to them, with an open mind and heart.Talking to fellow-activists my age, some of whom have dedicated their lives to their causes, there seems to be a new generation of performative activists more interested in talking with each other than effectively changing minds and the system. They will learn eventually, but they’re booting out a lot of good people right now. Glad this fellow spoke up.
| yes | 5,899 |
The 2017 Tax cut was enacted, stating it will wipe away the entire national debt. In the end Trump spent $7.8 Trillion and the national debt rose to $31.38 Trillion. He also lost close to 4 million jobs.Last month, the debt ceiling has been raised to $31.40 Trillion. Biden has created 11.2 million jobs in the first two years and has added $200 Billion to the national debt.Now Republicans are crying about the soaring national debt, saying under Trump things were prosperous and there was responsible spending.Let us wait for the cuts GOP will be proposing.
| yes | 7,567 |
Down where the rubber meets the road, "conservative" politicians will never, not in a thousand years, allow one dollar of taxpayer money to go towards the alleviation of human suffering, in this case that of poor and/or unwilling pregnant women and their offspring. How else will women [but not men!] know that sexual activity is a punishable offense? The forced-birth crowd thinks that now, suddenly, they will transform the US into Scandinavia, where pregnant women and their babies are succored and very well taken care of. This has zero chance of happening, because it would cost money. Forced birthers evidently think Scrooge [aka republicans] is going to have a Christmas-morning change of heart, and open his/their hands freely to the oppressed, aka women forced to give birth.I won't be holding my breath. And this is why failure is coded into everything they try to do.
| yes | 9,536 |
You cannot talk of a balanced budget out one side of your mouth when on the other side you vote to defund the proposed 87,000 increase in personnel for the IRS; resulting in a $114 Billion annual increase in the deficit as a result. Hypocrisy.
| no | 4,485 |
I emphasize with Microsoft. The economy is not as profitable.
| yes | 9,673 |
MSF Here is the OED on the origins of the wordEtymology: Probably a variant of palmette n. (compare sense 2 at that entry), palmette designs having been a conventional ornament on window cornices. Compare:1925 J. Penderel-Brodhurst & E. J. Layton Gloss. Eng. Furnit. 123 Pelmet, a word used by upholsterers and sometimes by art dealers, who prefer the word ‘palmette’, to denote the horizontal stiff curtains or valance hiding the rod, rings and headings of the hanging curtain decorating a door, window, bed, etc.”The operative word is the resemblance to palms which persisted at least in Victorian window treatments, and the rigidity. Often referred to a shaped box, perhaps covered in stiff fabric. Sometimes it was a piece of stiff embroidered and fringed fabric. Valances are usually just fabric and often ruched or mounted on an additional piece of hardware (in the US) in the UK Valances are used more to mean bed skirts, which again are pleated or ruched. All dust catchers and with handsome or otherwise invisible hardware, hardly necessary. My favourite extended meaning of pelmet (also from OED) is in reference to skirt length (hardly necessary since we have the original included in the Bee today) but isn’t this quote a beauty?“1987 Guardian 7 Sept. 11/6 It's just a matter of inches that decides whether it's a bottom-skimming pelmet, a modest mid-thigh, or a frankly frumpy knee-length skirt.“
| no | 1,310 |
"Financial planning for retirement" is a complex matter that goes well beyond just investing. As a consumer, I highly recommend an absolutely outstanding software platform called Right Capital, which is only available through select Certified Financial Planners for a fee. In my case, it was a $1250 flat fee and for that I got a complete review/analysis after I manually entered all of my own data (income, expenses, investments, goals, social security, Medicare, etc.). I also get to ask questions of my CFP during the year, and all updates to the platform are automatically pushed to the consumer through the CFP. In fact, the software has already been updated to reflect the financial ramifications of the Secure Act 2.0. You cannot believe the wealth (no pun intended) of data that you can project into x number of decades. Yes, it does require the consumer to enter their initial data and interpret it (there is an equally robust Help system of topics), but you literally get the hands-on ability to edit your choices/plans/goals on the fly as your life changes. I have never, ever, seen or heard of such a powerful way to direct your own retirement financial planning than this tool. It is so worth the cost. What I can do with this goes far beyond what any advisor, even a great one, would ever do, since I control the planning software myself.
| no | 2,554 |
Baruch There's a certain satisfaction in seeing McCarthy getting his comeuppance. Long overdue. McCarthy consistently lacks a moral compass. He always tries to figure out which way the wind is blowing & then heads that way. No wonder some don't trust him. The radicals on the right have no desire to govern, only to cause chaos & jam their way into more power. The nation is against them, & Republicans should be as well. The GOP needs to find a more courageous moderate to be their speaker who will force the radicals to fall in line. Even if it means threatening to fund challengers against them in 2 years. Having said that, there's something to be said for spending curbs in exchange for raising the federal debt. Will we ever fix the ballooning deficit, or will we watch it spiral out of control? Earmarks to direct federal money to individual projects are out of control. They vanished for a decade after 2011 following the “bridge to nowhere” & other embarrassments. Last year's $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill contained no fewer than 367 pages of pet projects that lawmakers earmarked for their home state or district. Congress brought home the bacon for some 5,000 separate earmarks at the cost of $9.7 billion. Insane. The GOP group of 20 is also seeking to heavily fortify the U.S. border with Mexico. Are we ever going to repair our broken immigration system, or is the plan to keep accepting more illegals until we are overwhelmed? These legitimate issues have to be addressed.
| no | 1,422 |
An enlighten, secular society requires the open curiosity and debate fostered by great institutions of higher learning. Hamline administrators are choosing to avoid controversy for "business reasons" and by doing so, forming Hamline into an expensive extension of secondary school.
| no | 2,964 |
peter s There is no such thing as a model democracy. And all emerging democracies, everywhere and throughout time, have a previous history of corruption. Furthermore, the Russian government is nothing but a gang of criminal thugs, run by a KGB trained true believer, and which routinely responds to internal opposition with violence and political imprisonment. And it has been so, unapologetically, for the past thirty years. And now they’re knocking on Europe’s front door. I know there are a good many Americans who are sincere in their doubts about America’s involvement in this war, and clearly you are one among them. Our interventionist foreign policy since WWII has been a bit of a mixed bag, to be generous. Still, I think we make a very deep mistake indeed if we do injury to our European partners. And right now, with so many countries on its eastern boundaries wondering what the future has in store for them, Europe broadly supports this fight. We should too. They’re our allies.
| yes | 6,757 |
Since the advent of Uber and Lyft, I've never used either service once, and I'm vehemently opposed to ride-sharing businesses, because a quick look under the surface shows how terribly these companies treat their workforce.There's something inherently bad about a company that doesn't even grant its workforce employee status. Worse than that, if a driver has a flat tire or breakdown while working, Uber and Lyft don't care and do nothing to help the driver who is wearing out their car and depreciating its value to enrich venture capitalists in California. Uber and Lyft are a sign that there really aren't very many decent paying jobs in America anymore. 60% of working adults in the country make less than $40,000 a year, and that's not enough to support a decent or even respectable living. I hope these companies go belly up and business owners start remembering there was a time when companies had some sense of responsibility toward their workforce.
| no | 4,060 |
Irene Chwalkowski A new Bagel shop had just opened In the last month. It was September 2nd and I was enjoying my coffee and bagel on the porch. There was another person at another table. We struck up a conversation, which I thought would be a “Hi, nice day, isn’t it?” We ended up talking for an hour. Found we had experiences and interests in common. We started talking about our dogs. I had just had to put my dog down two days before. She died of kidney failure. I cried and it. Was ok. This wide ranging, intelligent conversation was just what I needed. I really like talking to strangers and do it as often as I can.
| yes | 5,221 |
PattyDeVille This one's confusing. The listing here says $120 (I assume monthly), but the listing on Compass (not the listing real estate company) lists the HOA fees as $720. There are two adjacent buildings here - for what looks like 4 units or is it 6 units ($120x6--$720???). $720 per month each seems more like it (city utilities, insurance, exterior maintenance?) Who knows for sure?
| yes | 7,538 |
LibertyLover I would add that you train their forces to use them, given their advance nature. This takes time and suggest an extended period of wafare. Problem is there is a lack of consensus among the NATO members to take this on and I would say among those with the means closest to arena - France, Germany, Italy, Spain. It should have started months ago. It has no doubt been debated among strategists in the various armed forces and political structures. If not, a failing. The British seem to be the closest to this reasoning so far, though with some hesitance, in my estimation. I hope to believe that the Ukrainians are not standing still and are working on their own more powerful weaponry given the shortfalls west of them.
| yes | 7,337 |
Steve Deech - Plus, doesn't his campaign owe him that $700k or so that he loaned to it?
| yes | 5,836 |
For reasons best known to herself, Frances Fisher really went into overdrive pushing for this nomination, even promulgating the lie that Viola Davis and Danielle Deadwyler were "locked" as nominees, so "let's make room for Andrea Riseborough". She even included the number of votes necessary in the Academy' s ranked voting system. But this campaign was spearheaded by the director's wife Mary McCormack, and Riseborough's agency, which represents many of the A listers who signal-boosted this effort on social media with cut-and-paste retweets. So Riseborough's "little ol' me" response is disingenuous at best. To Leslie has been out for some time, yet it and Riseborough's performance garnered very little attention before Oscar voting season, unlike the widely-acclaimed performances of Davis and Deadwyler, in films that earned a lot more than $27,000. The optics are not subtle - the spector of a Best Actress category with majority minority nominees was too much for Hollywood, so the white actress cavalry rode to the rescue.
| no | 2,706 |
It takes a lot of intention to hold on to culture, to celebrate it, to practice it,” Ms. Catlow said, “especially as an immigrant, especially in a society that doesn’t value that and makes it really difficult to access, and where there can be a lot of shame around it and pressure to assimilate. You have to be a really strong, proud person and someone that’s willing to invest that time and make it a priority.”This is exactly right. I'm half Chinese half African American, and felt this emptiness until I moved to a native reservation and experienced their vibrant culture more free of cultureless Western materialism. It made me get back to my own roots, reconnect with family, speak Cantonese with my mother, and recommit to my cultures. Now I feel whole again.
| no | 462 |
To Writer #1: freeze your eggs or decide to be a single parent. Why the need for a partner? You have an amazing job, and as a neurosurgeon should probably be able to afford child care etc. Why pressure your very new boyfriend? 10 weeks? That’s far too soon to talk future. Take care of yourself Writer#2: you have no idea what your brother’s arrangements are with his fiancée. Maybe they have an open relationship. Stay out of it. If it troubles you, talk to him, not the fiancée. Writer#3: Sorry your friend has stiffed you for the tickets. I would ask her one more time and then forget it. Then you will need to decide if it is worth rupturing your friendship; maybe they are in difficult financial trouble. Talk to them
| no | 4,370 |
I used to hit the wine heavily every night. Down a bottle easily and of course with alcohol the more you have the more you want. Did this for about ten years. An otherwise healthy man, always young for my age — you’re HOW old? And those are your KIDS, I thought they were your siblings! Then shock of shocks — open heart surgery, for coronary artery disease, I honestly thought the doc was just kidding. No question in my mind that booze was the cause. Healthy now, though with the lifetime after-effects of a double bypass, the constant musculoskeletal pain, not a pleasant experience. Silver lining? Can’t drink anymore, detest the way it makes me feel, result of the surgery or complications of Covid who knows. But I feel better — diametrically better — my mind is sharper than it’s ever been, and in all humility that’s saying something. Moral of the story — lay off the drinks. Your body and your mind — innocent players in life’s game, subservient to your whims and wills — will thank you.
| no | 4,827 |
I wonder if the Republican Party is going to be able to come back from the unproven claim that cutting taxes actually increases revenues?I wonder if the Republican Party is going to be able to recover from the claim that the wealthy are 'job creators'?I wonder if the Republican Party is going to be able to recover from the fact that they have presided over 8 of the last 11 recessions?I wonder if the Republican Party is going to be able to recover from the fact that their deficit spending over the past 50 years has been twice as great as the Democrats?I wonder if the Republican Party is going to be able to recover from their opposition to Social Security and their attempt to reduce benefits?I wonder fi the Republican Party is going to be able to recover from their desire to shrink the federal government to the size that they can drown it in the bathtub?Yes Ross, I wonder if your party can recover from their fifty year history of trying to cut the social programs from the federal government that keep the vast majority of the citizens with their heads above water?The clumsy attempts at bullying the Republican moderates into line during the House of Representatives opening session makes me wonder why any fair minded citizen could vote for such absurdity.
| no | 1,465 |
These Republicans in the House have an issue remembering fiscal policy under Trump.Trump inherited a budget deficit around $650 billion, and quickly blew it up to over $1,000 billion …. before Covid hit.One of the first acts of the new Republican controlled House, was to slash the budget of the IRS.This is the usual grandstanding of Republicans, who become obsessed with the budget deficit and government debt, only when there is a Democrat in the White House.
| yes | 9,140 |
I am still waiting for a journalist to consider salaries in the tech sector as a contrubuting factor for layoffs. Salaries in this space are SKY HIGH and with all of these tech companies (including the big ones) doing layoffs at the same time is this an opportunity for a correction in salaries? I just cant imagine--esp with new ai tech that can write code-- that software engineers just out of college can garner 200-300K salaries plus bonus, stock and benefits. even when these companies make huge profits, the labor costs must be looking hefty to investors.
| no | 2,287 |
What a wonderful column! Thank you. I am glad to know these things about Tony Perkins, whom I've always considered closed-minded and frightening. It has opened my mind about him and let me know that I shouldn't judge him only by what is reported about him but should take the time and make the effort to learn about his actions. And this tells me that I should make the same effort with others whom I automatically dismiss.Having a respectful relationship with people whose views don't align with mine can be extremely hard, especially when their actions have a direct impact on others' lives. But that doesn't mean I should give up trying.This column emphasizes how necessary that is. And indeed it's the only way we're going to get beyond the mistrust, ignorance and hatred that is tearing this country apart.
| no | 2,848 |
Zoning boards are going to have to deal with this problem for many years. In-law apartments are not new and they do not affect the footprint of a home in the same way as ADUs. I object to ADUs mostly because they crowd out open space and they do affect neighborhoods in ways that in-laws apartments do not. I myself would not afflict an ADU on my neighbors, even if I got a permit for one, which in my town, I doubt I would. Portland, where I have family, is allowing lots to be subdivided, as well as ADUs. The long term does not look good for quality of life there. The central problem to elder housing, and all housing, climate change, and water depletion, everything, really, is OVERPOPULATION! We'd better start talking now about incentivizing one child families or we as a species are screwed.
| yes | 6,560 |
If the franchisor profits are so awesome don’t you think other franchisors would open competing shops offering franchisees a better deal ?
| yes | 7,863 |
CDiff Blaming Biden for the value of your investments is a largely fact-free exercise. Oh, and there are things that may be as important as the value of your investments, such as living under democracy versus authoritarianism.
| no | 1,504 |
"Chef & the Farmer closed, in large part because the inefficiencies, stress and fatigue brought by an unsustainable business model became impossible to ignore."In the late 90s, we spent a 24-hour period with a French manufacturer and his family in Paris. While showing me his (very modest) cellar, the husband explained to me the economics of Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris.The bottom line was this: the higher-starred the restaurant, the higher the number of kitchen staff was required to produce what customers were paying for, the highest staff qualifications were necessary, and so the higher the wages of not only the kitchen staff but everyone else in the establishment needed to be.The bottom-bottom line was this: they were all running at a loss! So, what was the solution? These restaurants would, periodically and when absolutely necessary, confide their closely-held financials to their best and best-heeled customers, who would then pony-up the amounts required to recapitalize their favorite restaurant(s) so they could remain open and continue to provide them with their preferred gastronomic experiences.I would be surprised if much has changed in this rarefied world.
| no | 3,631 |
Decline : Compared to what ?IMF Forecast for 2023China Real GDP Growth 2023, annual percent change +4.4% US Real GDP Growth 2023, annual percent change +1.0 % Compared to the US it will be doing splendidlyAs to declining population t is by now means clear that this will be a permanent change. Indeed, thismight be a “blip” that disappears as the Chinese economy recovers (the IMF predicts that its economy will grow in 2023 by 4.4% vs 1% in the US)And the reasons are* COVID-19 pandemic has greatly suppressed childbirth in the past three years People planning a baby were advised against getting vaccinated and those who had got infected were advised against planning a baby till six months after their nucleic acid test turned negative.* The effect of the three-child policy introduced in June 2021 still remains to be seen.. 20th CPC National Congress legislation includes measures encourage childbirths in the coming years. (Although no where near as whatFrance does: on average 170 euros ($209) per month for each child)But assume it does drop* If Chinese couples were to birth to just one child, China would still have a 1.2 billion population by 2050. And China will still have 600-650 million people in the age group of 16-59 years by the middle of this century, larger than all the labor force in developed countries combined. Back to France: Nothing prevents China to do the same
| yes | 5,557 |
Edward Allen So $31 trillion in national debt is irrelevant? Trillion dollar spending bills don't mean anything? We can continue to print and spend money at a deficit forever? No consequences? Just Republicans are terrorists, and thats all we need to know?
| no | 4,232 |
Jim K ---"There is no more open land to move into or freely accessible resources to exploit" Sorry, Jim you need to get out more; there is plenty of wide open spaces for people to move into, and lots of resources to exploit for the benefit of mankind and for the benefit of the planet. If you raise my taxes, I will hide my resources and stop working(stop being productive, creating jobs and products) rather than give it to you. People in high tax states are doing this now---they take their money and move.
| no | 2,916 |
Whether convicted, or not, this case proves several things. One, the justice system is horribly slow and two, it's terribly unjust. High profile justice failures like this cause everyone to lose faith in the system.If DJT had presented a counterfeit $20 bill, the cops would have arrested him, but $150K in "hush" money, (not to mention tax/bank/insurance/rent increase fraud, etc.,) are apparently "victimless" crimes which allow him to remain free?His only legal defense? Denial.
| no | 82 |
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