MAGA civil war ends with surprising concession; Carter dies producing another 2024 'coincidence'; DEI death rate accelerating; Republicans unplug main federal censorship shop; more.
So what you’re saying is: Elon and Vivek brought up a real issue, sparked productive conversation about it for a respectably brief period, leading to a likely solution that almost all parties can be satisfied with, and they remained focused on their ultimate goals?
It’s like…they’re adults.
I hope this teaches some knee-jerk conservatives to stop being so emotionally manipulable!
And now thousands (maybe millions) of people are aware of H1B and the problems it presents who otherwise wouldn’t have any knowledge it existed. Knowledge and awareness are good things.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant. But don't let the schools off the hooks. They don't teach what employers need anymore. They're more concerned with pronouns, porn, dragqueens, & putting men in girls' locker rooms & bathrooms. The school superintendents & admin that are bleeding taxpayers dry should be run out of town on a rail, & the federal Dept of Education should not just be disbanded but burned to the ground.
I am waiting for some young adults to wise up and put together a class-action suit for the superintendents, principals, and teachers who failed to educate them.
Well…Elon wasn’t exactly acting like an adult when he censored dissenting opinions on X or told us to F ourselves. If the two of them just stick to the efficiency in government concept it will be fine. They need to button their lips on anything else
Disagree. I think they should speak. Like many people, sometimes I agree with them, sometimes not, but they both have valuable and often interesting things to share.
I also think Elon has the right to run his business as he pleases. He paid for that right. X isn’t the government. It is a private company. Private companies chose what information they will promote or demote all the time.
The problem is most on this thread think Elon saved free speech. Linda Yacarino is his visibility filter chief. They openly acknowledge this. And last time I checked billionaires typically only do things that are within their own self interest. Just wait until he unleashes the best AI to help usher in the digital security state they all want us to live under.
I actually use the AI aspect of web searches and love it. You get an immediate specific answer to your question rather than having to wade through various websites.
Actually, I deleted my 15 year Facebook acct when they banned the people I respected in the health freedom movement there. If enough other people had also left, the free market would do its work; Facebook would have cleaned up their act because ultimately they are about making money and they can’t do that without user data to sell to their customers. But others didn’t want to be inconvenienced by walking away from Meta (Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp). So. They complained but also still gave their business (data) to their abuser 🤷♀️
Or if FB didn’t clean up its act, serious competitors would arise because there would be enough demand; that would have been nice too. I use some of the competing social media but it’s not quite the same in terms of practical, especially local and educational content. Just not enough users yet.
For a great discussion (the first hour of a two hour podcast) that never would have happened without the ruckus, here's Robert Barnes on the H1B which pretty much covers all the bases and angles.
Barnes is an optimist if he thinks Musk is going to back down on using H1Bs as the program is now. . I listened to what Barnes had to say but it didn't give me hope. Especially when he said that Trump has always been in favor of "legal" immigration.
Of course there is. Require them to learn English within the first three years in the States, to study and be tested on our history and Constitution, to contribute meaningfully to their communities.
There are Americans who honestly couldn’t show in any way that they love America and in many cases ones that hate it.
If you’ve ever met some amazing immigrants from the world’s hellholes and seen how their whole lives and the course of their futures have been changed and improved by being able to live in the US, I think you’d certainly say you can figure out who loves America.
I don’t think he’s wrong about Trump favoring legal immigration. Doesn’t mean we need millions of legal immigrants. Just quality ones when they do come. We’ve always had legal immigrants, that is not a bad thing.
The H1B is not the process that should be used. What people don't talk about much these days is how difficult it is for people to immigrate using the normal process. Also, Biden still requires them to get the Covid vax.
Yes! A friend of mine married someone from another country (very friendly with the US) and it took them almost two years just to get him into the US legally. And he took the shot in desperation to get to his wife 😢 it should not be so hard for quality people to immigrate legally.
I don’t know much about the current process but if that is an example of it, it is radically broken.
I'll have to admit I was pretty disappointed in that. I kind of was hoping that someone was overhyping what happened. Apparently that was not the case. And for someone who goes on and on about unpopular speech and people saying what you don't want to hear - that's definitely troubling
Antagonism is her brand. And honestly, I appreciate her passion, if not her judgment at times. I think we have to stop expecting people to be perfect or check all our (often subjective) boxes.
Everyone has flaws but that doesn’t mean they don’t bring something valuable to the table.
I don’t like her. Over the summer she went full attack mode to smear MTG in the most disgusting way. At the time I was just learning more about both women and didn’t have any particular alliance with either. MTG fought back by defending herself, but Loomer chose to offensively attack MTG and her honor repeatedly. She was quite viscious. The whole thing left me disgusted and I muted Loomer. I did not mute MTG because she was simply responding, not attacking. The fact that Loomer will throw fellow MAGAs under the bus for her own gain showed me a side of her I wasn’t willing to entertain. I agree nobody is perfect and we have to accept each other, warts and all, but deliberately attacking someone outright because of what it might do for your own fame is not something I will condone. Loomer tried to do the same thing with Musk in this latest drama. It was rather disgusting. I don’t have to agree with Musk on everything, and I can publicly criticize his stance on an issue without attacking him personally and trying to destroy the perceptions others have of him. That’s what Loomer did.
I’d forgotten about this; I didn’t like their tiff either but I also didn’t follow it too much so I didn’t catch as much info even as you shared in your comment. I hope we see some increased discretion in some of the more excitable MAGA personalities.
You know, Isaac Kappy called out Laura Loomer as a fake and a very bad person. Which means she is essentially fake maga and/or has a very shady history. I was surprised to hear him say her name, Jack Posobiec as well!! As far as I have seen he didn't call people out lightly. Hard to swallow both of those out-ings.
If it was an 'Op', imho Laura Loomer played her role. Google "Laura Loomer Hillary Clinton". I have concerns she is a Chaos Agent, keeping in mind the Dems goal in 2016 was for Trump to win the primary because they (ignorantly) though he would be the easiest one for Hillary to beat. Loomer and Posobiec made a name for themselves by interrupting that play in Central Park (I think) where they were simulating the murder of a Caesar/Trump character.
As a fiscal/economic conservative, the most disturbing part of the entire debate was watching MAGA influencers like Loomer, Posobiec, and Cernovich start saying things you'd hear from AOC, Bernie, and Fauxcahontas. Remember the controversy when Loomer posted something about the White House smelling like curry if Kamala was elected? She's an obnoxious embarrassment for MAGA imho. I muted her over a year ago for the GOP Civil War she stoked with DeSantis fans. How can people not see she's a Chaos Agent?
I just did a mini deep dive on all you stated here Lisa and I am intrigued but also overwhelmed by Loomer at this point! The Hillary connection was very weird, it even tied James O'Keefe in with Project Veritas and a fundraiser for HRC's campaign.. Seems like they were trying to get her hung up on FEC violations? It was confusing in that is made it seem like Loomer and O'Keefe were defendants with HRC's campaign? I don't know. Thank you for the leads!
I'm not familiar with Shannon Joy. I had followed a lot of DeSantis people during covid for obvious reasons before Trump announced he was running. I supported Trump and saw a lot of the nastiness on X on both sides.
I think Loomer has a chip on her shoulder and is fighting for recognition as a legitimate reporter. She's fearless in what she covers, but she also has biases that she cannot control. She's wll known enough now that she should tone it down and focus on professionalism. If she does not, she'll likely end up a side show for her entire career. If she does, she could become a force to be dealt with.
I understand the instinct to jerk the knee reflexively. Conservatives are a bit like an abused spouse especially after the way the Tea Party was subsumed by the Republican party.
When Elon calls people who disagree with him retards and racists, when he says they needed to be purged from the party root and stem and when he says “go fuck your own face”, that’s adult behavior now? From a guy who was a democrat earlier this year? When Vivek takes an Indian sized shit on American culture and education?
No, I don’t think so. They’re back peddling after doubling down a few times and getting ratiod to hell and even removing blue check marks, outright banning people and changing the algorithm didn’t help them. Nothing “adult” happened here. A couple of grifting tech bros showed their true colors and got called out, that’s pretty much it.
So I have not read all the original comments made attacking Elon and Vivek and potential immigrants but from all accounts it sounds like *some* of the responses to their original posts WERE racist. It’s debatable if those comments were made by bots, plants, those trying to stir the pot or those with sincerely held beliefs, but was he wrong that some of the people apparently commenting were making racist comments?
I feel like the “retard” insult is so empty and archaic, do people even get offended by that anymore?
My youngest, now 18, listens to my husband and me talking about growing up in the 70s and he just oozes envy. He thinks it sounds like paradise - riding bikes endlessly, no parental oversight (well, not much, anyway), getting home when the street lights come on, fending for yourself on the play ground, ice skating on some pond in the farmer's field without adult supervision, pool hopping through the neighborhood. And somehow we survived and even benefitted from it.
My son says the "retard" word is meant as a general insult and would never be levied against someone with legitimate learning or developmental issues (even in the 70s and 80s we did the same). And you know what other insult is back? Calling something "gay." There is nothing new under the sun.
And actually, the majority of true MAGA that spoke out did it rather respectfully and thoughtfully. I believe the ones that came out attacking and throwing vile insults at everyone were “plants” or had a politically strategic motive. There was a huge uptick in new X accounts the week prior and most spent their posting time on this issue trying to create division with hate. They were masquerading as conservatives, and probably many true white supremists joined the melee too, in addition to those true MAGA followers who have all along despised and mistrusted Elon. They used this as an opportunity to drum up support for their hate and you can see this by the lack of constructive discussion in their posts.
I think too many people got fooled that true MAGA conservatives actually fought. They really didn’t. The infighting was staged for the most part and many MAGA were fooled by it. But cooler heads prevailed.
I really think people need to be more skeptical of comments and users. There are so many more bots and plants than we realize and what a waste to give our emotions to them.
lol that's an interesting way of framing it. Elon and Vivek were totally ratioed by the grassroots and plebes (Musk threw a big temper tantrum banning people for disagreeing and dissenters to "F_ck themselves in the face"). Vivek has permanently lost all credibility (after his one and only awful tweet, he never said another thing on the topic) as has Musk (who dug his grave deeper for many days until finally capitulating).
What's great though is that these guys wanted to push the narrative one way and it completely boomeranged the opposite way and millions of people are now aware of how awful h1bs are and how they're being abused. Praise God!
I think Vivek and Musk thought they were going to get out in front on this and convince people that they really need more H1Bs. But that did not happen, although a few people who know nothing about the situation have been convinced that Musk is right. Not sure where this is going to wind up.
Jimmy Carter may he rest in peace. Was a much better person than he was President. He was opposed by the left of the Democratic Party when he attempted to work with Republicans to make America better. He at least restored decency to the WH. And he was never the big guy
I can admire the man even if I do not admire his failed presidential leadership, as opposed to being disgusted with a corrupt man who also had the worst presidency in U.S. history.
One thing that I wish Carter did NOT do was usher in the Department of Education which has done more harm than good.
Jimmy may have been a “nice person,” but he gave mediocre people a bad name. The deep malaise America endured under his inept “leadership” will not be forgotten by those of us who lived through it.
I used to believe Jimmy was the worst president of my lifetime, but given the choice between inept and the insidious, intentional attempt to divide and subvert the will of the American people, I’d have to say Obama has captured that ignominious title…IMHO
Correct take. The patina of "Mr. Nice Guy" obfuscates Carter's ineptitude, both during and after his presidency. The world would have been a better place if he remained a peanut farmer. Good Riddance!
We have seen the malignant influence of those surrounding the president in both Donald Trump’s first term and continuing through Joe Biden. Mr. Carter’s support was a foretaste.
I agree, part of the problem with Biden and Obama as well is the lack of effective response to our national problems. I remember when Obama took office and we had the mess W left, and let’s not forget he bears some responsibility for that mess, I kept waiting for an effective response because he promised one. Same when the race tensions started. I started to see purpose in what they were doing …they either hid this well earlier on and got cocky and sloppy as they continued to get away with it…or it was me slowly waking up to the fact they PURPOSEFULLY have done all they have done with one goal in mind …consolidation of power.
I was a kid during Carter’s term and I remember the difficulties my family went through with my dad put out of work, my mom forced into the workplace, the stress on my parents nearly causing a divorce. Fortunately they held on and the 80s were much, much better, but that time period was permanently etched on my mind.
Did you know that when he ran for Senate, he had to fight the Democrat establishment? They were cheating in various districts and he knew it. Literally, the Democrat Mafia, oversaw your vote to make sure you were voting for the right candidate. He had to get a change of venue for his case, but he successfully ousted the "owner" of the senate seat which he won.
Yet he remained largely silent in 2020 when he must've known his own party was cheating on a national scale with mail in voting. He spent years overseas verifying elections in sketchy countries, but didn't speak up for citizenship voting in his own country. He spoke out about his successor presidents, especially (exclusively?) Republicans, breaking the tradition of retired presidents' respectful silence. He was a better Democrat than we've seen since, but he did a great deal of damage to his party and his country... well intentioned, but we know what we say about good intentions...
Perfectly illustrating my point. He had to have known it was a rigged election, and he, even at 96yo, still couldn't simply be quiet. But instead of speaking out about the consequences of corruption, he spouts the uniparty line. They were lucky it wasn't an actual insurrection.
The comment was made on the day of the event, very little knowledge of the actual actions were known by anyone outside of those who failed in their duty.
Commenting on anything prior to the exposure of the actual happenings is a well established approach for plausibility.
Apparently Quitman County GA was run by a powerful political figure. The election was anything but free and fair. It's difficult to believe that was going on in 1962!
He also wasn't as obscenely rich as all other living presidents. His net worth was estimated at 10 million (same for Biden, but I don't believe those numbers), which is still quite a lot but still the smallest of all the living presidents and there is a believable way he could have accumulated it by not living extravagantly and saving his presidential pension. Also under his administration brewing beer at home was legalized, which might have lit the spark under the trend for more diversity in beer brewing in the USA with craft beers not just 2 brands of light beer featuring unattractive cross-dressers on the can.
On the topic of presidents and wealth, I very much ‘do not’ appreciate a president in the final weeks of office taking expensive vacations on the tax payers dime when he will soon have all the free time to vacay and do it on his own dime. 💸
In the case of Biden better he vacation then accidentally or on purpose launch nukes at Russia or escalate somewhere else or pardon thousands of criminals.
Best solution: Once the results are in, hand him a box with his stuff and have secret service escort him from the premises. New president gets sworn in as acting president until inauguration. With any problem employee you would escort them from the premises so they don't cause any damage on the way out.
Interesting, I didn't know that. My hubby started homebrewing in the 80's when he saw an add for a home brew kit in a magazine. Continued making beer into the 90's until craft brewing took off and just buying it was easier. But we used to have super bowl party every year before we gave up on the NFL's wokeness, and always served beers from the states of the 2 teams. The year Atlanta was in the Super Bowl we could not find a GA beer anywhere in our metro, kind of ironic, if Carter got that ball rolling. Ended up serving Free State beer from KS that has a Falcon for its logo.
No warm fuzzies from me. I'm sorry to say that bought into the image he projected the first time. The Christian Sunday School teacher. Peanut farmer. Nice guy. That was the outside. A book worth reading: "The Real Jimmy Carter: How Our Worst Ex-President Undermines American Foreign Policy, Coddles Dictators and Created the Party of Clinton and Kerry" by Steven F. Hayward. https://www.amazon.com/Real-Jimmy-Carter-Ex-President-Undermines/dp/0895260905/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1
Yes, Carter was just as much of a two-faced politician as all the rest of them. One of our worst Presidents, but better than nobama, better than the bushes, better than LBJ.
The only good thing about Carter was Habitat for Humanity.
I was in college when Carter was President. The Iranians snatching all the American hostages was as good a demonstration as any that he was perceived of as a wimp. I also remember waiting in line to buy gas. My father, who was a very good man, could not stand Carter, and felt that he was an egomaniac. Reagan was the cure. Carter seems like an absolute saint compared to Biden, however.
Your comment is right on. I was working for the federal government during the Carter admin. He had the hot water turned off in all federal buildings, and making daylight savings time year round, to save the fossil fuels (which were on the verge of being completely gone --46 years ago). I remember commuting to work all of a sudden in the pitch dark. Hope we don't do that again,
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
― C. S. Lewis
Jimmy Carter was an exemplar of this impulse. But he also exemplified the flip side of this same type - timidity in the face of TRUE tyranny and moral evil. His failure to perceive the level of evil of the Iranian revolutionaries during his term was the most visible, but he continued to exhibit his anti-Jewish attitude, and his excuse making for communist tyrants (especially in Latin America) throughout his life.
I had just finished my master's degree and had a terrible time finding a job due to Carter's horrible economy and policies. He also told Americans to not put Christmas lights on their trees and houses to save energy. What a Scrooge.
Virtue: The CIA overthrew Mosaddegh, Iran’s elected President in 1954 and installed the Shah. Bush was the Director of the CIA during Ford’s presidency. The CIA was cut by a third when Carter took office. The CIA gave the thumbs up for Carter to allow the Shah to come to America. A first attempt of the Iranians taking our embassy was conducted in less than a month after Carter was inaugurated; a second attempt took place in September and the third and successful attempt happened in November. There was no policy by Carter that caused these actions, Bush was gone from being the Director of the CIA for only 3 weeks when the Iranians captured the embassy (returned it in less than 3 hours).
Carter’s administration was sabotaged and doomed to fail because of Bush.
Carter had interest rates down to 6% but they rose to much higher levels in’79 and’80 which was a major factor in his defeat in’80. Regan had interest rates higher than Carter... by multiple % points. Regan changed the tax codes in 1984 which eliminated most of the public’s tax write offs. Regan spent BILLIONS of $$ on the SDI and nothing came from that boondoggle... money thrown away without ROI, just like Ukraine but without the killing and destruction.
Thank the CIA for Carter’s “failed” presidency. Regan was a good President but his single biggest failure was picking George HW Bush as VP... we have never recovered.
Don't forget that Carter let Zbig run wild, creating the Afghanistan color revolution which led to the whole debacle (9/11 and 20 year war) which most recently saw the withdrawal catastrophe. In terms of domestic policy he believed that as the smartest man in the room (He's a nukear engineer!) he could control the economy in a technocratic way which is crazy. When his 'ration-al' policies failed he blamed the American people (malaize speech). He lost the election because of the perfidy and treason carried out by the Reagan campaign (through Bush) through back door negotiations with Iran promising weapons for their war against Iraq (fund both sides). The lesson learned through the Carter presidency is that even someone considered 'a good man' has to execute everything he does through staff and they control all the information he gets i.e. the most powerful person in the country is not the President but whomever is briefing the president. So did he really 'bungle' the rescue mission or was the bungling his decision to allow it at all? Should he have known in advance of the dust storm at the site in the desert that ruined the mission?
Carter’s term was like Trump’s first term in many ways and the biggest likeness was who he appointed.
Brzezinski was the worst and if your NSA man is no good... the presidency will suffer.
The gas lines were self-inflicted, it was the country’s laziness and the oil and gas lobby that resisted domestic gas exploration because they were getting $5.00/barrel of gas. It was a no-brainer to let the Middle East spend their own money instead of the men in Texas “wasting US dollars.
I too was in college when Carter was elected and I thought he was going to be a good president. I was young and dumb and bought into all of the media lies about Reagan for the 1980 election but I knew Carter wasn’t the answer for I voted for Anderson wish I understood then what I do now.
The hostage crisis was purposefully held off until the day Regan was sworn in. Who’s administration conducted the negotiation? The short answer is Carter’s.
"Restored decency to the White House?!" Because Gerry Ford was so horrible?! Or because you think Nixon is what the leftists told you he was, I'm guessing. Well, guess what? That was probably the first run for what they did to Trump. This is where you can find out more about what may be a surprising claim to you:
Yea, he was not presidential material but he did a lot of good work around the world after being president. IDK, maybe those doors would not have been open to a lowly peanut farmer if he hadn't been president. His legacy is that work, not his presidency. I think he was a truly decent and good man who meant well unlike Biden who is not decent and only means to do "well" for his own family to get ahead.
The breathless praise by the propagamedia is nauseating, Carter was a terrible president, the worst president (modern times anyway), until Obomination where he became the second worst until Bribem where he moved to the Copper medal when Bidet took the Gold. The only redeeming feature Crater had was he wasn't evil and deliberate like O and B, just a bumbling idiot.
He removed the Made in America clause requirement from government contracts. Hurt many companies here as they then had to compete with subsidized nationalist companies abroad.
The Democrats who were gleefully proclaiming "conservative civil war caused by MAGA" have obviously never read any of the records of the founding fathers' heated discussions about the Constitution. Yes, people had major disagreements, and were very passionate about their positions. And we ended up with a very robust foundational document upon which to build our nation.
I'm also pretty sure that a lot of activists and bots from the Democrats stoked the fire, specifically with all the anti-Indian racist posts. There are tons of NGO grifters getting paid by the federal government for such a thing - directly from the deep state color revolution playbook.
Always remember, if democrats accuse conservatives of something heinous,they are experts at it, and are deploying it as they speak. They are projectors.
The party leaders have convinced Dem voters that all Republicans are fiercely opposed to any other ethnicity besides White Anglo. The Dem voters accept that unquestioningly even if they see no evidence of it in real life.
There probably are a few examples of "New Right" or "Alt Right" figures like e.g. Fuentes, but these aren't exactly mainstream Republicans. The racist memes and comments seem to mostly come from small accounts. I haven't really heard of a prominent example.
My dad thought it would have been great to time travel back to some of those Virginia taverns for the conversations and debates our founding patriots excelled in over a few beers. 🍻🇺🇸
Reading what they wrote is the closest we can get to that. Unfortunately, many people base their ideas of the founding of America on someone's opinion of someone's opinion of someone's opinion of something they heard about but never read or studied for themselves.
The founders first created Articles of Confederation and then the Constitution with 13 sovereign states because there was no such thing as an "American Culture", and there still isn't. This is why the Constitution almost wasn't ratified.
Higher paid $ Senior Engineers, typically white males, competent and knowledgeable, are laid off and H1B replaced. They hire 3 or more H1B for 1 Senior Engineer.
Bean counters happy, good people with knowledge laid off 😞.
Came to US from Canada on TN work visa (NAFTA visa for skilled workers from Canada, US, and Mexico). This type of visa required I renew it every year. I was/am a Mainframe Computer Programmer. I was hired to help work on the Great Y2K Issue (remember that)? After a couple of years, my employer agreed to sponsor me for an H1B and eventually as a Permanent Resident (Green Card).
At the time, the rules for the H1B were that the employer tried and failed to find suitable local talent and need to bring in someone else via the visa. Also, the person was to be paid a prevailing wage, one that wasn't too low for the position. That meant the employer couldn't pay $20,000 for a $50,000 job. My employer followed all the rules and here I am.
I believe that the H1B rules HAVE been misused in certain instances and rather than add new rules, just ENFORCE the existing rules. Check to see if the employee is doing what they are supposed to under the H1B and is being payed properly. Applying to bring a dishwasher on an H1B should be instantly denied.
I was a mainframe programmer! I excelled at machine code and then Assembler. I actually was hired for one particular job because they couldn’t find any candidates that loved Assembler code like I did. 🤣 I remember re-reading my entire college Assembler text book during that position. Lmao I’m so old! Of course I went on to master DB2 and COBOL and then learned and trained employees in object oriented and C++, but soon after I gave birth and my heart changed. I tried to work but after three months I couldn’t handle the conflict of letting someone else raise my child. I’ve been a stay a at home mom for the past 23 years, and now I have no clue how to find any kind of work. I’m overqualified for hourly, service or support positions but am underqualified in today’s tech. No easy way to integrate people my age back into the working world. But I’m digressing - I just wanted to fist bump with you on mainframe programming. 🤣
Mad respect, Juju. Regarding machine code, I'm often fascinated by videos on the interwebs by people who elucidate the how and why of the creation of an "operating system" from scratch.
It's informative in that one quickly finds out how marketing infects the utter genius of those who can translate binary logic into useful algorithms.
Now we are faced with quantum logic. The inability to understand what is going on will certainly doom many to acceptance of technology.
I went to a state college that focused on application over theory. We HAD to design our own operating system in one of my classes. It was gnarly, but fun as heck.
In the first company I worked for there were 32 of us in our starting class. The majority were either Ivy League grads or they came from the financially powerful state colleges that focused on “theory” and looked down their noses at actual application because they were groomed to believe management was the only thing to strive for. 🙄 However, I was consistently programming circles around all of them during our training and won every contest put to us over a 3 month period. It drove them mad because I was poor, came from a poor school, AND was a woman! *Gasp* 🤣 How could I possibly be the most talented??? There were only three other women in my start group, but two were from nosebleed wealth (fur coats even in the summer if you can imagine it,) and the other was a good programmer but not as talented. I liked her because she was humble, but boy did she hate me. I was sort of intimidating to her. You’re not supposed to look like Barbie AND have a brain without threatening every woman around you … it would forever be my curse. I was a big threat to all of the men too and their sights on comfy positions. Thankfully I just loved what I learned and loved doing it, so I didn’t have any hunger to rule over others like they did. So when it came time to assign us I got the most envied positions because I could actually do the work. That drove them nuts too and you can imagine their efforts to undermine me. I even recall that my very first review by one of the younger “good old boys” gave me deserving rave reviews of my actual work, but docked me from a higher raise because: I wore too much perfume. 🤣🤣🤣 NOT JOKING! That happened. I didn’t of course, I couldn’t afford to. Lmao. But they were overly distracted by me and had to turn me into a hussy or something to hold me back. I look back at how naive I was to the politics of that time and all the many missed zingers I could have given had I had the wisdom I have today. That guy never would have left that room with any semblance of dignity or walked straight again if I had handled it like I would today. 🤣 Instead I walked out mortified and embarrassed, extra insecure - just what he intended.
And yes, quantum logic is scary. And I don’t like the ideas behind brain implants to make us “better” either. That just feels evil. It’s like using steroids to be the best in sports. If you can’t be the best by the raw materials God gave you then maybe you should move on to something else. I don’t like this idea of using AI to artificially improve people’s skills. It’s more of the same “everybody gets a trophy” reasoning and then nobody is special. It’s overkill and yes, trying to be like a god.
I was never a "super programmer" by any means. In fact, I remember once, at my first job out of community college, I worked on the payroll system of a company. Each year there were changes necessary, mostly because the government always changed something. Any way, I updated one COBOL program and either forgot a period or put one where it wasn't needed. The next pay check, EVERYONE got a raise! Boy, was my name known far and wide at that time......and not for a good reason. :P
Thank you for posting about your experience. I have a degree in CS but at my first job just couldn't hang with people who just lived for coding and 12 hour+ days. I just wanted to go home at 5, not good for that type of work. I eventually found out what I wanted to be when I grow up and luckily was able to make it happen due to the tolerance of a saintly wife. By the way she had much the same experience as you vis-a-vis the good ole' boys but in a different field.
You sound like you can learn anything and be successful at anything. Get back in the ( paid) workforce if you want. You can do it. My attorney sister took 17 yrs “off” to bear and raise seven sons. When asked in interviews about the employment gap, she’d say, “ criminal justice.”
My sister with an Electrical Engineering degree and an MBA chucked it all to stay home with her kids for ~15 years till she started working PT at her daughter's private HS for pretty much peanuts but 10 years later is in a director role at a private college. Not using her EE or her MBA but just sayin', being a mom is a skill, don't sell yourself short!
Hello fellow Mainframer! A dying breed we are. As the "oldys" at work retired, they would stack various textbooks and work related documentation along the wall, as they weren't taking them home. So far, I have 5-6 textbooks on PL/1, remember that? I figure I'll give them to a museum at some point.
I think Musk quit arguing and probably deamplified the topic, because he realized or his lawyers finally got through to him, that his companies have been attesting to falsehoods with respect to their Fed documentation. He gamed the system with tacit approval fromnthe Feds and now people know. Best to stop talking.
Bean counters….that’s what my husband calls them too. They come in, knowing absolutely nothing about the business, and within a few years, the company is ‘out of business’, as they tried to run the business the way the ‘bean counters’ thought best, and they were wrong…..every single time!!!
Oh yeah, always the typical playbook, try to save a buck, destroy product quality, see people only as a cost and not a resource, try mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buy-outs, stock market manipulation and the company slowly dies under the weight of stupidity layered on stupidity.
Look at IBM or HP. Both were once leaders in their field. Intel is another example where the beancounters and MBAs were in charge for too long, even Pat Gelsinger (an engineer) failed at turning it around although they are imporving.
I was a power plant engineer there. It was an amazing company to work for. I have great stories behind that digital camera beginnings. And the shame that they caused, and how they literally destroyed themselves. For whatever reason, we were the Guinea pigs on anything new. Computers came out, the 286’s, and a pallet full arrived on our dock with a note. “ figure these things out”. When they built the first digital camera, it held three photos. And you could use a little earphone jack cord to load them into the computer. I think we were up to like 486’s by then. We were fascinated. Then they came out with one that could hold ten. And then they decided to go public with it. But because they were so shortsighted, they figured that it would hurt the paper business. We were all about paper, after taking a huge hit from fuji making 35mm as good as ours. So paper and chemicals was our business,and they sold that patent off for like 30 M. I left not too long after. I knew they would cease to exist.
My husband has been experimenting with infrared film. He's been using Ilford SFX 200 but wishes that Kodak HIE film was still around. Some of the Kodak B&W chemistry is still available.
The main story with Kodak is that management believed they were so great that they couldn't possibly go out of business. So they kept making stupid decisions and spending tons of money.
My husband met a woman a couple of years ago whose Dad had worked at Kodak. She spoke of the company as if it were heaven itself. Husband was quite amused.
The loyalty and nostalgia for Kodak of days gone by is real here in Rochester, NY. George Eastman was instrumental in so much. You can drive down the road on which sits the famous George Eastman House and just imagine what the area looked like in its heyday. It's still a remarkable area and we have him to thank for the Eastman School of Music and the presence of the RPO. Kodak allowed many, many people to live good, upstanding, dignified lives and support families. It is a tragedy to see what mismanagement and a misreading of the market did to that once great company.
Yeah, east avenue was beautiful. I haven’t been back in a long time. I played in a popular local band there many years ago,and that finally came to an end, and my love for permanent summer and salt water won me over. Haven’t been back but twice since. The Eastman house is incredible. And there’s ( or there used to be) a cool,little museum in bldg 28, the one on ridge that has the theatre and there are some cool things there to see.
I have a brother-in-law and uncle who work/worked at Boeing. The uncle is retired. Both engineers. The same thing is happening with there and at US Steel. (I worked at US Steel for a year - terrible company.) It's a mistake to not let Nippon buy US Steel, but we'll learn that lesson maybe in another 10-20 years.
My sister worked in Logistcal Analysis, read/wrote Mandrin. Pretty much ran Logistics for HP (15 yrs). She was ordered to train her 4 H1B replacements. She had so much vacation time on the books, she said "screw that" walked out the day they walked in and never looked back.
I recently went to my childhood home in Cary, NC, which is a suburb of Research Triangle Park and Raleigh and all the area universities. It was a great place to grow up, but I no longer recognize it. Everywhere I went felt like I was in New Delhi.
A super-sad anecdote: a friend of mine, Silicon Valley coder, referenced lower paid non-citizens taking all the jobs on his suicide note. This was about 15 years ago.
I have been sitting on the sidelines on the H1B debate but I (actually) agree with Elon, now that he has clarified. *Disclaimer I do not trust anyone who would try to build a Neuralink device*
Here are my reasons:
I have a undergrad and a masters in engineering both achieved in the last 10 years, I've also had several engineering interns work under me. The problem I see with too many homegrown individuals is that there is no strive or push for excellence. College used to be a full time job, now going to class is fairly optional, colleges will pass anyone - we call them degree mills.
I studied next to students from India, China, and Eastern Europe (as examples) in my Masters program and they were often the most dedicated students. I personally think if we want excellence in our tech industries we have to get the MOST qualified individuals.
So the underlying problem is actually the lack of internal motivation and excellence from within our educational processes. That would be a great place to start. The underlying root of the problem. Could it be that “trophy’s for everyone” has perhaps degraded our American children’s motivation to work for success? I suppose it must start within the home. Good comment Micha… we here are also inundated by mediocrity of young new engineers lacking basic knowledge in their fields. No one has asked the question of why they are lacking the basic knowledge while holding the degree. We must fix this within our country and require exceptional education and self accountability.
We have adults teaching kids that they basically shouldn't experience discomfort in their lives - so, you know, if learning (or anything) is hard and challenging that is some kind of unfair injustice or something.
This! I’m a teacher and enjoy teaching at my school. But parents in general nowadays don’t want their child to deal with anything hard. When in reality they need the challenges in life to gain confidence. I believe kids lack motivation because often the adults do things for them, or don’t encourage them to push themselves to achieve hard things. Consequently students are not very eager to try.
My neighbor is a teacher and she is bombarded with emails from parents requesting leniency for their children. And if she tries to impose standards, the administration prevents her from doing so. We are in serious trouble.
Kids who wither from “micro aggressions”!!! I think children could be taught across the board that bullying each other is unacceptable, but without referencing race, gender, sexuality, etc. The same way a good parent would step in if they saw one of their children bullying another. And when a kid is bullied, try to build up their self-esteem instead of telling them that they are a victim. The self-esteem of the ones bullying needs to be addressed too. Of course, there will always be a few sociopaths who can’t be reached. Luckily that’s not most kids.
One important thing would be to go back to standardized tests. This has mostly been phased out for being "racist" because of disparate results between ethnic groups. Once students are accepted into college there is an incentive to get them a degree, after all that's what they're paying for. Colleges are also usually a funnel for radical progressives into the elite, hence the focus on essays. DEI statements and extracurriculars (easy to spot the activist in their language and choice of activities). First step would be to remove bias from the process by using standardized tests as admissions criteria, even if this allows for other forms of cheating. I also think exams and any bachelor/master/PhD thesis should be graded on a blinded basis first.
But really a lot of people would be better of with $2000 for books or courses, a laptop and some capital to try and start a real (small) business. Whenever I'm asking to review CVs I mostly focus on whether or not people have entrepreneurial experience and if they have side-projects that I can look at. Accomplishing something in the real world is the best credential.
My husband would get Electrical Engineering interns from WSU. There came to a point where he refused taking anymore interns from there because they couldn’t handle the basic equations needed to do the job.
Erin, all the smart kids went to UW. And yes, it was really hard to get into because of all the smart Asian kids. Your husband might confirm my speculation? Average kids became less and less smart, or less educated I should say, so they went to WSU. They couldn’t compete because they had it too easy in public school, they were not pushed to succeed in school or at home. I wrote about them a few comments above or below.
UW rejected many smart kids from WA state because they could get more $$$ from foreign students per school counselor who directly asked admissions. My son selected the Naval Academy instead.
I'm an Idaho and UW grad hahaha, your husband should be looking on the other side of the border. While UW worked for me, I'd reccomend keeping kids away from Seattle...
Reminds me of when my nephews were young. We were all staying up at mom and dad’s for a family thing and my brother and his wife slept on the pullout couch. We were all having coffee and putting the house back together and someone told one of the kids to put the cushions back on the couch. He tried once and gave up. My husband told him to try again and figure it out. Husband wasn’t sweet and nice but matter of fact. Anyway my husband became the bad guy, mean old inlaw, the kids turned out to be liberals and one is a raging socialist. No surprise. Trophies for everyone. Never had to work, barely even during college breaks, life was so easy for them. Seattle public schools and coddling older parents who were liberal (my brother started out conservative tho). Perspective: the kids were born in ‘89 and ‘92 ish.
While I agree with your description of the lackadaisical attitude many Americans take to college and excellence in general, I’m not sure the best approach is to import a LOT of workers from overseas. The problem of mediocrity goes deep and needs to change. The focus should be on cultural change—morality (which I honestly think would best emerge from a relationship with God), which we all know can’t be coerced. If we don’t teach our children to strive for excellence and insist on it in our schools (including homeschools), we will never be great again. Integrity must underpin the entire culture. And we must value excellence while finding ways to lift up those who are not as gifted or able.
Imho, 1-the impression of importing tech workers has been way overblown. It's a form of corporate welfare, so it largely affects major connected corporations. I've been an engineer for 25 years and have rarely encountered H1B visa or foreign born engineers. 2 - completely agree with you. We have a culture that places value on $ and material goods no matter how the wealth is obtained. I have a coworker whose wife is a librarian in a conservative/red/white county school system. He said 1/2 of the young teachers are on OnlyFans to supplement their income. And there is the problem with drugs/gambling gained wealth. Conservatives were talking about these problems constantly over the past 4 years, but Vivek says some things and all of the sudden, we have no problems with our culture? A lot of 'MAGA' influencers lost my trust over the past week.
It's not way overblown. If you have a Twitter account you would see the data that people with opposite views of yours have put forth. I've worked in IT for 25 years and can attest that Indians have taken over huge swaths of it, most of it mid-level work that Americans could most certainly do. You seem to be naive because for whatever industry you're in has not been affected by h1bs.
I have an X account and I watched the entire thing since before Christmas. MAGA influencers made it sound like H1B is depressing all STEM wages all over the country. I saw the companies with the most H1B workers - Meta, Google and some others. It seems regional/localized. Here are the largest H1B visa employers in my state, a whopping 1,153 H1B visa workers in a state of 5 million. https://1819news.com/news/item/as-debate-rages-over-h-1b-program-273-alabama-companies-employ-foreign-visa-workers
The cultural aspect cannot be overlooked either. As a BS, MS ChE working in Singapore 15 yrs ago I was pleasantly surprised to see the front page of the Singapore Straits newspaper profiling a "student of the week" every Sunday! My first reaction was this is precisely why America is falling behind in STEM fields. We profile 'athlete of the week'.
I think there are huge differences between the culture of immigrants to America vs. the culture they are coming from as well as the culture in America. They often don't have a sense of entitlement and also reject the parts of culture from their home countries that is holding it back. And if you think US colleges are degree mills, the same is true in India or China and really most countries and the cheating is absolutely rampant.
I'm not so sure about China degree mills. We hosted a pair of Chinese boys here on a summer program five or six years ago, and have kept in touch with one. He takes excruciating exams, and his scores determined if he could attend high school, and which one. Those that failed are send to trade schools. The poor kid does absolutely nothing but study. That is how middle-class kids, at least, live in China.
If they are allowed to go the USA their family is probably in very good standing with the regime. If they are really smart and hard workers they might study abroad but China wants them to return. The Chinese don't want to lose their best people to other countries.
It's the same with the tea in China, the highest quality stays in country, the lower quality gets exported.
I agree! If America is going to continue to be able to compete on the world stage, employers must be allowed to recruit and employ the best. However, all employees must be paid equally and have identical work requirements if unscrupulous employers are to be kept from scamming the system by paying some less and working them harder.
To force an employer to hire someone less qualified is DEI deja vu all over again!
The key here is "all employees must be paid equally and have identical work requirements if unscrupulous employers are to be kept from scamming the system by paying some less and working them harder"
My daughter just graduated from a state university (CA) this past May. I was on a parent Facebook group for the school. The parent comments and complaints were insane. The most interesting thing I learned from a university professor/parent on the site was that they were required to have a B- grade average each semester. It's been a couple of years but I think I'm remembering that correctly. But that explains why my daughter would be panicked at the end of the semester because in some classes, she would have no idea what her final grade was going to be. Some professors wouldn't post final project, report, or test scores. If they did they graded on a curve. She found out real quick to find the smartest kid in the class and make sure her grades were as close to them as she could get them then she would be alright.
My husband teaches 7th/8th grade math and he says the 8th grade class of 2016 was the last class where they had a true honors group of students, about 30/180.
I teach 3rd grade and my husband and I agree that the students from China, southeast Asia, and Yemen that we have, have a completely different work ethic and display of respect in the classroom. We still have some hardworking, respectful American students but it seems the numbers are dwindling. I feel they are being dumbed down with neurotoxins in the medicine, food, water, and air. Some of them honestly try so hard but they can't get their little brains to work. It's so sad. The last 4-5 years have taught me a level of patience I didn't know existed inside me. I used to teach 3rd grade curriculum to most students then have a small group working above (4th grade) and a small group below (2nd grade). I still have that but I now have a group that's reading at a Kindergarten-1st grade level too. That's not differentiated instruction. The planning and coordination for that takes a lot of time.
There is definitely a cultural component to the differences we see in American students and those from Asia, India, etc...I spend a lot of time at a local music school where kids who want to get private instruction in music performance can attend. I know that when I walk through the halls, I notice that the kids with Asian heritage can be found studying flash cards for SAT prep or doing some other exercise while waiting to go into their lesson. They are also the kids who frequently compete for merit awards and concerto competitions. The American kids are usually doomscrolling on their phones. (I am obviously painting with a broad brush, but it largely holds true). We have some foundational issues which need addressing and I would argue it actually starts with reducing significantly the amount of tech exposure in young children's lives.
- We (MAGA) spent the past 2 years talking about the importance of meritocracy, but now all of the sudden we're not for it? Not for me. A lot of MAGA influencers showed their asses over the past week and more disturbingly were making statements I'd expect to hear from AOC, Bernie, and Pocahontas about labor/wages.
I've worked in IT for 25 years. Mid-Level it work even non-college degreed Americans could do (certifications would suffice) are mainly given to Indians. I've seen this for 25 years.
It's criminal. What has been done to the American worker. Seen it firsthand
I was surprised (saddened) to read that Costco is pushing back and planning to relabel their DEI policy. I then recalled Costco world headquarters is in Washington 🤦🏻♀️.
They were pretty hard-line about the mask during Covid. I was disappointed then, so I’m not terribly surprised now. Just hope their DEI policies dry up.
I’d like to get rid of Costco until they get rid of DEI. (Not easy in my area.) Any thoughts on how to get Costco to realize their customers’ opinions on DEI?
“I’m not saying this unnecessary, overheated “civil war” was deliberately staged to change the narrative in that exact way, but it is fun to muse about.”
Underestimate Trump’s instinctive mastery of the media at your own peril.
See “McDonalds”, “Garbage Truck” and “Fight Fight Fight” as three of the more obvious examples.
Obama's Administration deserves 100% credit for OWS. He funded it, DARPA created the blueprint and published it. The DOD has the capacity and capabilities to execute OWS in times of emergency.
Trump gives himself credit for Obama's work on OWS.
🎯 and "Eating the Dogs, eating the cats" and I believe the Omnibus bill was an exercise to make people see the ridiculous spending habits of our DC rats.
Why is no one upset over Elon’s 180 from being a “free speech absolutist” to deplatforming those who disagreed with him? He did in fact just do to many what Jack Dorsey did to Trump and everyone is just ignoring it?! 🤯
A true test of Elon’s free speech X, will be if he apologizes and reinstates Laura Loomer. Laura can be thorny but, she uncovers very inconvenient truths.
It’s not just Loomer. A person with 300 followers was banned after his post ratiod Elon by a lot. There was a purge of accounts that would have made Jack Dorsey proud...many were groypers. Elon even changed the algorithm!
There were at least a half dozen very large groyper accounts that were banned. @classicsgroyp, @kaizerrev, and @raymo_g are 3 that I followed that are gone and there are a lot more.
More than that. I saw a list of like 30. Totally nuked because they pushed back against Musk effectively. People need to keep a light grip on Elon Musk. Be very skeptical
RIP Mr. Carter, and thanks for the good work you gave to Habitat for Humanity. I also salute your service as a Navy veteran, knowing you had some skin in the game defending this nation. And it’s true, the Carter presidency led us to 8 years of Ronaldus Magnus, but our standing in the world took a beating during his term.
Sadly, his is not the “exclusive club” obituary I most look forward to reading. All the comments above have throughly contrasted the difference between an ineffective but decent and well-meaning man, and one of the most corrupt individuals this nation has ever known.
Thank you, Jeff, for another year of truth, humor, and hope. There was a lot of uncertainty and angst popping in 2024. It sometimes felt like the longest Mr. Toad’s wild ride. Your steadfast faith, knowledge, and dedication to the C & C mission has created a refuge and sane space to share and learn. This army is inspiring and united. May 2025 bring blessings and peace to all!
I realized something important this weekend, life is precious, even at my age of 72. My long time friend of 48 years died on Friday, I found her dead on Saturday morning at her apartment, she had stage 4 COPD, an enlarged heart and high blood pressure. I knew a few days ago she was getting worse and I wanted her to go to the hospital but she really didn't want to, she wanted to stay home and thats exactly what she did, she went out the way she wanted, she was on her couch when she died, she was 75. I was reading the post from you Jeff and it made me think of life and that we must embrace every second of it. Happy New Year, may you have many more good years to come. God Bless!!
I'm sorry for the loss of your friend, and that you now have the lasting image of finding her passed. May she rest in peace--and thank you for the reminder to embrace every second of life.
I’m hoping that when these guys axe these departments, there is no switcheroo allowed. Your department was eliminated yesterday, walk to the locker, with security escorts, and out the door for the last time, no clearances of any kind.
The mercies and grace of the Lord cannot be taken for granted, the day is coming….!
“The days of punishment have come; The days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, The spiritual man is insane, Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity. The watchman of Ephraim is with my God; But the prophet is a fowler’s snare in all his ways— Enmity in the house of his God. They are deeply corrupted, As in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity; He will punish their sins.”
ERRATA
— KCRG is in Cedar Rapids IOWA not Boise. Fixed
Tara=spambot
So what you’re saying is: Elon and Vivek brought up a real issue, sparked productive conversation about it for a respectably brief period, leading to a likely solution that almost all parties can be satisfied with, and they remained focused on their ultimate goals?
It’s like…they’re adults.
I hope this teaches some knee-jerk conservatives to stop being so emotionally manipulable!
And now thousands (maybe millions) of people are aware of H1B and the problems it presents who otherwise wouldn’t have any knowledge it existed. Knowledge and awareness are good things.
Yeah I feel like the whole debate was educational. For me at least.
Bringing things into the light is the greatest cure.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant. But don't let the schools off the hooks. They don't teach what employers need anymore. They're more concerned with pronouns, porn, dragqueens, & putting men in girls' locker rooms & bathrooms. The school superintendents & admin that are bleeding taxpayers dry should be run out of town on a rail, & the federal Dept of Education should not just be disbanded but burned to the ground.
I am waiting for some young adults to wise up and put together a class-action suit for the superintendents, principals, and teachers who failed to educate them.
They've got to go after the source, the teacher's unions.
Yes! But we need victories at the lower levels first.
I read an article yesterday that indicated that was the plan.
Get a argument going with MAGA to bring national attention to the H1-B.
Even mainstream media had to report on the MAGA dustup.
Now people who had no clue what it was, now do.
If planned it is redolent of deep state tactics, imo.
So are we looking at the deep state, or an adaptation wielded for purpose?
Reminder: nothing is as it seems.
Important note: not claiming to have any answers, simply the ol' jaundiced eye. Time will tell us much.
--Hope you're feeling better and better
Thanks for your good wishes.
I agree.
I think that was the whole point of the “controversy”-this is game theory.
Not what Musk or Vivek intended but light has been shed for sure. Let's see if the Trump administration actually reforms H-1B.
Well…Elon wasn’t exactly acting like an adult when he censored dissenting opinions on X or told us to F ourselves. If the two of them just stick to the efficiency in government concept it will be fine. They need to button their lips on anything else
Disagree. I think they should speak. Like many people, sometimes I agree with them, sometimes not, but they both have valuable and often interesting things to share.
I also think Elon has the right to run his business as he pleases. He paid for that right. X isn’t the government. It is a private company. Private companies chose what information they will promote or demote all the time.
The problem is most on this thread think Elon saved free speech. Linda Yacarino is his visibility filter chief. They openly acknowledge this. And last time I checked billionaires typically only do things that are within their own self interest. Just wait until he unleashes the best AI to help usher in the digital security state they all want us to live under.
I won't touch AI with a 50 foot barge pole.
I actually use the AI aspect of web searches and love it. You get an immediate specific answer to your question rather than having to wade through various websites.
I'm sure it's a great tool. It's not for me.
x and facebook are like public utilities.
We hated when facebook banned anti-vax people.
But now it's ok when x does it, as it's private? Geez.
Actually, I deleted my 15 year Facebook acct when they banned the people I respected in the health freedom movement there. If enough other people had also left, the free market would do its work; Facebook would have cleaned up their act because ultimately they are about making money and they can’t do that without user data to sell to their customers. But others didn’t want to be inconvenienced by walking away from Meta (Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp). So. They complained but also still gave their business (data) to their abuser 🤷♀️
Choices.
Or if FB didn’t clean up its act, serious competitors would arise because there would be enough demand; that would have been nice too. I use some of the competing social media but it’s not quite the same in terms of practical, especially local and educational content. Just not enough users yet.
No he wasn’t. But he certainly got called out for it. Free speech works and throttles don’t.
Unfortunately, the people he banned are still banned. What happened to free speech?
Nonsense, Jacqoff, they both are far more intelligent than you and most others, and will be a great benefit to this nation... in many ways.
Neither is without flaw, but YOU are the one that needs to button your lips.
For a great discussion (the first hour of a two hour podcast) that never would have happened without the ruckus, here's Robert Barnes on the H1B which pretty much covers all the bases and angles.
https://rumble.com/v640hng-ep.-243-holiday-special-the-great-h1b-visa-debate-jay-z-gets-scorched-attac.html
Barnes made a good point, Elon spent a ton of money to get X and allowed people to call him out on his own platform. And then, he came around...
I don't have any insight on those he demonetized though, so I'll leave that to others to hash out.
Badlands Media had a good discussion on this as well.
https://rumble.com/v639iat-the-liberty-den-ep.-124.html
Thanks for sharing this, I’ll have to check it out. Always interesting to hear the Barnes view.
Barnes is an optimist if he thinks Musk is going to back down on using H1Bs as the program is now. . I listened to what Barnes had to say but it didn't give me hope. Especially when he said that Trump has always been in favor of "legal" immigration.
He said legal immigration for people who love America.
So there is that.
Well, I think that is a nice sentiment but there is no way to figure out who the people are who "love America".
Of course there is. Require them to learn English within the first three years in the States, to study and be tested on our history and Constitution, to contribute meaningfully to their communities.
There are Americans who honestly couldn’t show in any way that they love America and in many cases ones that hate it.
If you’ve ever met some amazing immigrants from the world’s hellholes and seen how their whole lives and the course of their futures have been changed and improved by being able to live in the US, I think you’d certainly say you can figure out who loves America.
I don’t think he’s wrong about Trump favoring legal immigration. Doesn’t mean we need millions of legal immigrants. Just quality ones when they do come. We’ve always had legal immigrants, that is not a bad thing.
The H1B is not the process that should be used. What people don't talk about much these days is how difficult it is for people to immigrate using the normal process. Also, Biden still requires them to get the Covid vax.
Yes! A friend of mine married someone from another country (very friendly with the US) and it took them almost two years just to get him into the US legally. And he took the shot in desperation to get to his wife 😢 it should not be so hard for quality people to immigrate legally.
I don’t know much about the current process but if that is an example of it, it is radically broken.
I'll have to admit I was pretty disappointed in that. I kind of was hoping that someone was overhyping what happened. Apparently that was not the case. And for someone who goes on and on about unpopular speech and people saying what you don't want to hear - that's definitely troubling
If you ask me, Laura Loomer, is just someone who’s always looking for attention… and with those low-cut blouses, she always gets it.
Antagonism is her brand. And honestly, I appreciate her passion, if not her judgment at times. I think we have to stop expecting people to be perfect or check all our (often subjective) boxes.
Everyone has flaws but that doesn’t mean they don’t bring something valuable to the table.
I like her. If I was a public official, I would not want to get "Loomered."
I don’t like her. Over the summer she went full attack mode to smear MTG in the most disgusting way. At the time I was just learning more about both women and didn’t have any particular alliance with either. MTG fought back by defending herself, but Loomer chose to offensively attack MTG and her honor repeatedly. She was quite viscious. The whole thing left me disgusted and I muted Loomer. I did not mute MTG because she was simply responding, not attacking. The fact that Loomer will throw fellow MAGAs under the bus for her own gain showed me a side of her I wasn’t willing to entertain. I agree nobody is perfect and we have to accept each other, warts and all, but deliberately attacking someone outright because of what it might do for your own fame is not something I will condone. Loomer tried to do the same thing with Musk in this latest drama. It was rather disgusting. I don’t have to agree with Musk on everything, and I can publicly criticize his stance on an issue without attacking him personally and trying to destroy the perceptions others have of him. That’s what Loomer did.
We call this an "Attention-Whore"!
I’d forgotten about this; I didn’t like their tiff either but I also didn’t follow it too much so I didn’t catch as much info even as you shared in your comment. I hope we see some increased discretion in some of the more excitable MAGA personalities.
You know, Isaac Kappy called out Laura Loomer as a fake and a very bad person. Which means she is essentially fake maga and/or has a very shady history. I was surprised to hear him say her name, Jack Posobiec as well!! As far as I have seen he didn't call people out lightly. Hard to swallow both of those out-ings.
If it was an 'Op', imho Laura Loomer played her role. Google "Laura Loomer Hillary Clinton". I have concerns she is a Chaos Agent, keeping in mind the Dems goal in 2016 was for Trump to win the primary because they (ignorantly) though he would be the easiest one for Hillary to beat. Loomer and Posobiec made a name for themselves by interrupting that play in Central Park (I think) where they were simulating the murder of a Caesar/Trump character.
As a fiscal/economic conservative, the most disturbing part of the entire debate was watching MAGA influencers like Loomer, Posobiec, and Cernovich start saying things you'd hear from AOC, Bernie, and Fauxcahontas. Remember the controversy when Loomer posted something about the White House smelling like curry if Kamala was elected? She's an obnoxious embarrassment for MAGA imho. I muted her over a year ago for the GOP Civil War she stoked with DeSantis fans. How can people not see she's a Chaos Agent?
I just did a mini deep dive on all you stated here Lisa and I am intrigued but also overwhelmed by Loomer at this point! The Hillary connection was very weird, it even tied James O'Keefe in with Project Veritas and a fundraiser for HRC's campaign.. Seems like they were trying to get her hung up on FEC violations? It was confusing in that is made it seem like Loomer and O'Keefe were defendants with HRC's campaign? I don't know. Thank you for the leads!
There was a lot of animosity from the folks who supported DeSantis.
Top of the list is podcaster Shannon Joy.
She was vicious towards anyone who supported Trump. She would post on X and call Trump supporters "MAGAts."
Wonder how she feels now that her boy DeSantis didn't make it and Trump was re-elected.
I'm not familiar with Shannon Joy. I had followed a lot of DeSantis people during covid for obvious reasons before Trump announced he was running. I supported Trump and saw a lot of the nastiness on X on both sides.
Shannon Joy has done a lot of interviews with conservatives.
But her postings about Trump supporters on X were vicious and evil.
She's a skinny girl...maybe she needs to eat a hamburger, fries, and a milkshake to make her nicer.
RIP Isaac!
I prefer Lara Logan... who also has a nice rack, that she is pretty proud of...
Something a little caustic about Loomer...
I think Loomer has a chip on her shoulder and is fighting for recognition as a legitimate reporter. She's fearless in what she covers, but she also has biases that she cannot control. She's wll known enough now that she should tone it down and focus on professionalism. If she does not, she'll likely end up a side show for her entire career. If she does, she could become a force to be dealt with.
Offensive. Let’s keep “racks” talk for your buddies in the bar.
Loomer definitely got hit by the botox train in recent years
LOL!!! Perhaps the Silicone Express as well?
Would you volunteer to test those monsters?
Laura Logan’s appearance detracts from her message. She would be more effective if she toned it down a bit.
I think Loomer should tone it down far more than Logan.
Both can be a bit hyperbolic, but Loomer is always looking to throw bombs... Logan is looking to expose hidden truths and corruption, mostly.
Logan can't help it if she has a great set of knockers, but yes, might dress a bit more conservatively... especially for a previous rape victim...
I saw her at the RNC. She's a skinny dwarf in real life.
I understand the instinct to jerk the knee reflexively. Conservatives are a bit like an abused spouse especially after the way the Tea Party was subsumed by the Republican party.
I agree! But I hope they can work through their trauma so that they won’t sabotage future profitable relationships.
When Elon calls people who disagree with him retards and racists, when he says they needed to be purged from the party root and stem and when he says “go fuck your own face”, that’s adult behavior now? From a guy who was a democrat earlier this year? When Vivek takes an Indian sized shit on American culture and education?
No, I don’t think so. They’re back peddling after doubling down a few times and getting ratiod to hell and even removing blue check marks, outright banning people and changing the algorithm didn’t help them. Nothing “adult” happened here. A couple of grifting tech bros showed their true colors and got called out, that’s pretty much it.
Steve Bannon called Musk a baby for that behavior.
Bannon wants H1B banned, not reformed. I'm with Steve.
So I have not read all the original comments made attacking Elon and Vivek and potential immigrants but from all accounts it sounds like *some* of the responses to their original posts WERE racist. It’s debatable if those comments were made by bots, plants, those trying to stir the pot or those with sincerely held beliefs, but was he wrong that some of the people apparently commenting were making racist comments?
I feel like the “retard” insult is so empty and archaic, do people even get offended by that anymore?
All the young kids are back to using "retard."
Oh my word 🤦♀️😂 it’s so surreal having the nineties roll around again.
We already did this decade…😂
My youngest, now 18, listens to my husband and me talking about growing up in the 70s and he just oozes envy. He thinks it sounds like paradise - riding bikes endlessly, no parental oversight (well, not much, anyway), getting home when the street lights come on, fending for yourself on the play ground, ice skating on some pond in the farmer's field without adult supervision, pool hopping through the neighborhood. And somehow we survived and even benefitted from it.
My son says the "retard" word is meant as a general insult and would never be levied against someone with legitimate learning or developmental issues (even in the 70s and 80s we did the same). And you know what other insult is back? Calling something "gay." There is nothing new under the sun.
Well, some of us did anyhow.
And actually, the majority of true MAGA that spoke out did it rather respectfully and thoughtfully. I believe the ones that came out attacking and throwing vile insults at everyone were “plants” or had a politically strategic motive. There was a huge uptick in new X accounts the week prior and most spent their posting time on this issue trying to create division with hate. They were masquerading as conservatives, and probably many true white supremists joined the melee too, in addition to those true MAGA followers who have all along despised and mistrusted Elon. They used this as an opportunity to drum up support for their hate and you can see this by the lack of constructive discussion in their posts.
I think too many people got fooled that true MAGA conservatives actually fought. They really didn’t. The infighting was staged for the most part and many MAGA were fooled by it. But cooler heads prevailed.
I really think people need to be more skeptical of comments and users. There are so many more bots and plants than we realize and what a waste to give our emotions to them.
lol that's an interesting way of framing it. Elon and Vivek were totally ratioed by the grassroots and plebes (Musk threw a big temper tantrum banning people for disagreeing and dissenters to "F_ck themselves in the face"). Vivek has permanently lost all credibility (after his one and only awful tweet, he never said another thing on the topic) as has Musk (who dug his grave deeper for many days until finally capitulating).
What's great though is that these guys wanted to push the narrative one way and it completely boomeranged the opposite way and millions of people are now aware of how awful h1bs are and how they're being abused. Praise God!
I think Vivek and Musk thought they were going to get out in front on this and convince people that they really need more H1Bs. But that did not happen, although a few people who know nothing about the situation have been convinced that Musk is right. Not sure where this is going to wind up.
Barnes had good insight on Elon and Vivek and the H1B, how they differ from Trump.
https://rumble.com/v640hng-ep.-243-holiday-special-the-great-h1b-visa-debate-jay-z-gets-scorched-attac.html
They're adults? Both of them called Whites 'dumb' and Elon was saying dissenters could go f*ck their face.
He was a GMO soybean farmer—and *what* exactly was his role in the Trilateral Commission? 🤔
Well put!
Actually that well put was for the comment regarding adulting. I wish this made more sense.
Jimmy Carter may he rest in peace. Was a much better person than he was President. He was opposed by the left of the Democratic Party when he attempted to work with Republicans to make America better. He at least restored decency to the WH. And he was never the big guy
I can admire the man even if I do not admire his failed presidential leadership, as opposed to being disgusted with a corrupt man who also had the worst presidency in U.S. history.
One thing that I wish Carter did NOT do was usher in the Department of Education which has done more harm than good.
Indeed, my school teacher bride was just saying this morning that she wishes President Carter could've taken the DEA with him...
Chris Hedges wrote a blistering article about Carter’s failed policies and the disastrous and bloody blowback from them. I learned a lot here.https://open.substack.com/pub/chrishedges/p/dont-deify-jimmy-carter?r=10bcnn&utm_medium=ios
Jimmy may have been a “nice person,” but he gave mediocre people a bad name. The deep malaise America endured under his inept “leadership” will not be forgotten by those of us who lived through it.
I used to believe Jimmy was the worst president of my lifetime, but given the choice between inept and the insidious, intentional attempt to divide and subvert the will of the American people, I’d have to say Obama has captured that ignominious title…IMHO
Correct take. The patina of "Mr. Nice Guy" obfuscates Carter's ineptitude, both during and after his presidency. The world would have been a better place if he remained a peanut farmer. Good Riddance!
But, “Nil nisi bonum de mortuis.”
We have seen the malignant influence of those surrounding the president in both Donald Trump’s first term and continuing through Joe Biden. Mr. Carter’s support was a foretaste.
Yes. The house that my dad paid 18 percent interest for in 1979 was the legacy I will not soon forget!
I agree, part of the problem with Biden and Obama as well is the lack of effective response to our national problems. I remember when Obama took office and we had the mess W left, and let’s not forget he bears some responsibility for that mess, I kept waiting for an effective response because he promised one. Same when the race tensions started. I started to see purpose in what they were doing …they either hid this well earlier on and got cocky and sloppy as they continued to get away with it…or it was me slowly waking up to the fact they PURPOSEFULLY have done all they have done with one goal in mind …consolidation of power.
I was a kid during Carter’s term and I remember the difficulties my family went through with my dad put out of work, my mom forced into the workplace, the stress on my parents nearly causing a divorce. Fortunately they held on and the 80s were much, much better, but that time period was permanently etched on my mind.
Did you know that when he ran for Senate, he had to fight the Democrat establishment? They were cheating in various districts and he knew it. Literally, the Democrat Mafia, oversaw your vote to make sure you were voting for the right candidate. He had to get a change of venue for his case, but he successfully ousted the "owner" of the senate seat which he won.
He was always skeptical of mail in voting: ‘Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud.’
Yet he remained largely silent in 2020 when he must've known his own party was cheating on a national scale with mail in voting. He spent years overseas verifying elections in sketchy countries, but didn't speak up for citizenship voting in his own country. He spoke out about his successor presidents, especially (exclusively?) Republicans, breaking the tradition of retired presidents' respectful silence. He was a better Democrat than we've seen since, but he did a great deal of damage to his party and his country... well intentioned, but we know what we say about good intentions...
Here's his statement regarding Jan 6th:
https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2021/statement-pres-carter-010621.html
Perfectly illustrating my point. He had to have known it was a rigged election, and he, even at 96yo, still couldn't simply be quiet. But instead of speaking out about the consequences of corruption, he spouts the uniparty line. They were lucky it wasn't an actual insurrection.
Oh, I agree, Hektor.
Yes, exactly, Hektor.
Carter was in on the fraud - because it benefited him! Typical politician.
The comment was made on the day of the event, very little knowledge of the actual actions were known by anyone outside of those who failed in their duty.
Commenting on anything prior to the exposure of the actual happenings is a well established approach for plausibility.
Are you saying Carter ran for the US Senate? I'm confused...Carter served as Governor of GA, but I don't recall him running for the Senate. 🤷🏼
Carter ran for the State Senate.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/stopping-the-steal-in-1962/
Apparently Quitman County GA was run by a powerful political figure. The election was anything but free and fair. It's difficult to believe that was going on in 1962!
Plains, GA had 336 people, there were over 600 votes counted from Plains, GA that year.
It was GA Senate - so this was a state race.
I still wonder how it was that he could possibly get elected, given his own party disdained him? That's so odd!
I guess he had the media on his side.
He also wasn't as obscenely rich as all other living presidents. His net worth was estimated at 10 million (same for Biden, but I don't believe those numbers), which is still quite a lot but still the smallest of all the living presidents and there is a believable way he could have accumulated it by not living extravagantly and saving his presidential pension. Also under his administration brewing beer at home was legalized, which might have lit the spark under the trend for more diversity in beer brewing in the USA with craft beers not just 2 brands of light beer featuring unattractive cross-dressers on the can.
On the topic of presidents and wealth, I very much ‘do not’ appreciate a president in the final weeks of office taking expensive vacations on the tax payers dime when he will soon have all the free time to vacay and do it on his own dime. 💸
Report came out that Biden has spent at least 40% of his term on vacation.
Just 40%?
Remember - they are not figuring in naps and early bed times and mornings off because “he does not do well in the morning.”
IMO I think probably 60% or more.
Officially.
So much for leading the USA and having the codes for nuclear weaponry.
In the case of Biden better he vacation then accidentally or on purpose launch nukes at Russia or escalate somewhere else or pardon thousands of criminals.
Best solution: Once the results are in, hand him a box with his stuff and have secret service escort him from the premises. New president gets sworn in as acting president until inauguration. With any problem employee you would escort them from the premises so they don't cause any damage on the way out.
They might want to escort him all the way home and check for classified documents while they’re there. 😉
I agree! Once they become a lame duck president they should have their perks like travel reduced by half.
Interesting, I didn't know that. My hubby started homebrewing in the 80's when he saw an add for a home brew kit in a magazine. Continued making beer into the 90's until craft brewing took off and just buying it was easier. But we used to have super bowl party every year before we gave up on the NFL's wokeness, and always served beers from the states of the 2 teams. The year Atlanta was in the Super Bowl we could not find a GA beer anywhere in our metro, kind of ironic, if Carter got that ball rolling. Ended up serving Free State beer from KS that has a Falcon for its logo.
Check out the article on American Thinker this am. https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/12/jimmy_carter_his_image_vs_the_reality_i_experienced_covering_his_1976_campaign.html
No warm fuzzies from me. I'm sorry to say that bought into the image he projected the first time. The Christian Sunday School teacher. Peanut farmer. Nice guy. That was the outside. A book worth reading: "The Real Jimmy Carter: How Our Worst Ex-President Undermines American Foreign Policy, Coddles Dictators and Created the Party of Clinton and Kerry" by Steven F. Hayward. https://www.amazon.com/Real-Jimmy-Carter-Ex-President-Undermines/dp/0895260905/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1
Yes, Carter was just as much of a two-faced politician as all the rest of them. One of our worst Presidents, but better than nobama, better than the bushes, better than LBJ.
The only good thing about Carter was Habitat for Humanity.
I don't remember any new wars starting under Carter----much appreciated.
I said you second sentence verbatim to my daughter last night when we saw the news. He seemed like a good man.
I was in college when Carter was President. The Iranians snatching all the American hostages was as good a demonstration as any that he was perceived of as a wimp. I also remember waiting in line to buy gas. My father, who was a very good man, could not stand Carter, and felt that he was an egomaniac. Reagan was the cure. Carter seems like an absolute saint compared to Biden, however.
Your comment is right on. I was working for the federal government during the Carter admin. He had the hot water turned off in all federal buildings, and making daylight savings time year round, to save the fossil fuels (which were on the verge of being completely gone --46 years ago). I remember commuting to work all of a sudden in the pitch dark. Hope we don't do that again,
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
― C. S. Lewis
Jimmy Carter was an exemplar of this impulse. But he also exemplified the flip side of this same type - timidity in the face of TRUE tyranny and moral evil. His failure to perceive the level of evil of the Iranian revolutionaries during his term was the most visible, but he continued to exhibit his anti-Jewish attitude, and his excuse making for communist tyrants (especially in Latin America) throughout his life.
That C.S. Lewis quote is one of my favorites.
We should go back on standard Time. DST is just another fraud, it doesn’t save one second. It waste time having to reset all the clocks.
DWT-daylight wasting time.
I had just finished my master's degree and had a terrible time finding a job due to Carter's horrible economy and policies. He also told Americans to not put Christmas lights on their trees and houses to save energy. What a Scrooge.
"Always winter but never Christmas."
Virtue: The CIA overthrew Mosaddegh, Iran’s elected President in 1954 and installed the Shah. Bush was the Director of the CIA during Ford’s presidency. The CIA was cut by a third when Carter took office. The CIA gave the thumbs up for Carter to allow the Shah to come to America. A first attempt of the Iranians taking our embassy was conducted in less than a month after Carter was inaugurated; a second attempt took place in September and the third and successful attempt happened in November. There was no policy by Carter that caused these actions, Bush was gone from being the Director of the CIA for only 3 weeks when the Iranians captured the embassy (returned it in less than 3 hours).
Carter’s administration was sabotaged and doomed to fail because of Bush.
Carter had interest rates down to 6% but they rose to much higher levels in’79 and’80 which was a major factor in his defeat in’80. Regan had interest rates higher than Carter... by multiple % points. Regan changed the tax codes in 1984 which eliminated most of the public’s tax write offs. Regan spent BILLIONS of $$ on the SDI and nothing came from that boondoggle... money thrown away without ROI, just like Ukraine but without the killing and destruction.
Thank the CIA for Carter’s “failed” presidency. Regan was a good President but his single biggest failure was picking George HW Bush as VP... we have never recovered.
An excellent, nuanced comment.
Don't forget that Carter let Zbig run wild, creating the Afghanistan color revolution which led to the whole debacle (9/11 and 20 year war) which most recently saw the withdrawal catastrophe. In terms of domestic policy he believed that as the smartest man in the room (He's a nukear engineer!) he could control the economy in a technocratic way which is crazy. When his 'ration-al' policies failed he blamed the American people (malaize speech). He lost the election because of the perfidy and treason carried out by the Reagan campaign (through Bush) through back door negotiations with Iran promising weapons for their war against Iraq (fund both sides). The lesson learned through the Carter presidency is that even someone considered 'a good man' has to execute everything he does through staff and they control all the information he gets i.e. the most powerful person in the country is not the President but whomever is briefing the president. So did he really 'bungle' the rescue mission or was the bungling his decision to allow it at all? Should he have known in advance of the dust storm at the site in the desert that ruined the mission?
Carter’s term was like Trump’s first term in many ways and the biggest likeness was who he appointed.
Brzezinski was the worst and if your NSA man is no good... the presidency will suffer.
The gas lines were self-inflicted, it was the country’s laziness and the oil and gas lobby that resisted domestic gas exploration because they were getting $5.00/barrel of gas. It was a no-brainer to let the Middle East spend their own money instead of the men in Texas “wasting US dollars.
Brezinski was a technocrat and a globalist.
Odd/even gas days.
I too was in college when Carter was elected and I thought he was going to be a good president. I was young and dumb and bought into all of the media lies about Reagan for the 1980 election but I knew Carter wasn’t the answer for I voted for Anderson wish I understood then what I do now.
I liked Anderson.
You didn't cost Reagan the election so I wouldn't feel bad.
All I remember is 55 mph speed limits and gas rationing under Carter.
If we didn’t have the 55mph limit; there may not have been a Sammy Hagar.
and something about his deal with North Korea...
Yeah. I've never been that fond of Reagan but he scared the heck out of the Iranian hostage takers which is why we got them back.
I kinda liked his, "Gorbachev, tear down that wall!"
Yeah, that wasn't bad. And Reagan seemed to have a genuine sense of humor.
The hostage crisis was purposefully held off until the day Regan was sworn in. Who’s administration conducted the negotiation? The short answer is Carter’s.
"Restored decency to the White House?!" Because Gerry Ford was so horrible?! Or because you think Nixon is what the leftists told you he was, I'm guessing. Well, guess what? That was probably the first run for what they did to Trump. This is where you can find out more about what may be a surprising claim to you:
https://shepardonwatergate.com/
Yea, he was not presidential material but he did a lot of good work around the world after being president. IDK, maybe those doors would not have been open to a lowly peanut farmer if he hadn't been president. His legacy is that work, not his presidency. I think he was a truly decent and good man who meant well unlike Biden who is not decent and only means to do "well" for his own family to get ahead.
There’s no doubt that Biden is pure evil.
How did a lowly peanut farmer get on the trilateral commission?
The breathless praise by the propagamedia is nauseating, Carter was a terrible president, the worst president (modern times anyway), until Obomination where he became the second worst until Bribem where he moved to the Copper medal when Bidet took the Gold. The only redeeming feature Crater had was he wasn't evil and deliberate like O and B, just a bumbling idiot.
It does seem that Carter was the last President who was an actual human, tho I never met him. I'll always remember when he invited John Birks Gillespie and Max Roach to the White House, and participated in "Salt Peanuts." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORhqJZfxxcI) . And it was Carter who abolished the Civil Aeronautics Board. (https://simpleflying.com/civil-aeronautics-board-history/)
A fond remembrance of Carter from a conservative: (https://wirepoints.org/he-was-the-real-thing-a-personal-memory-and-a-few-surprises-about-jimmy-carter/)
He removed the Made in America clause requirement from government contracts. Hurt many companies here as they then had to compete with subsidized nationalist companies abroad.
The Democrats who were gleefully proclaiming "conservative civil war caused by MAGA" have obviously never read any of the records of the founding fathers' heated discussions about the Constitution. Yes, people had major disagreements, and were very passionate about their positions. And we ended up with a very robust foundational document upon which to build our nation.
Healthy debate is back! Another sign that America will be Great Again.
Well stated. So many prefer acquiescence instead of arguments over fundamentals.
These debates have been very productive.
I'm also pretty sure that a lot of activists and bots from the Democrats stoked the fire, specifically with all the anti-Indian racist posts. There are tons of NGO grifters getting paid by the federal government for such a thing - directly from the deep state color revolution playbook.
Always remember, if democrats accuse conservatives of something heinous,they are experts at it, and are deploying it as they speak. They are projectors.
True dat!
This can’t be said too many times! They’ve gotten away with it for too long.
That would make more sense than a bunch of republicans making anti Indian statements
The party leaders have convinced Dem voters that all Republicans are fiercely opposed to any other ethnicity besides White Anglo. The Dem voters accept that unquestioningly even if they see no evidence of it in real life.
There probably are a few examples of "New Right" or "Alt Right" figures like e.g. Fuentes, but these aren't exactly mainstream Republicans. The racist memes and comments seem to mostly come from small accounts. I haven't really heard of a prominent example.
Good point.
An excellent point, Tonya!
My dad thought it would have been great to time travel back to some of those Virginia taverns for the conversations and debates our founding patriots excelled in over a few beers. 🍻🇺🇸
Reading what they wrote is the closest we can get to that. Unfortunately, many people base their ideas of the founding of America on someone's opinion of someone's opinion of someone's opinion of something they heard about but never read or studied for themselves.
Yessssss
The founders first created Articles of Confederation and then the Constitution with 13 sovereign states because there was no such thing as an "American Culture", and there still isn't. This is why the Constitution almost wasn't ratified.
Love this! So true.
Except that disagreements within the Democratic party are downplayed rather than overblown.
The disgusting thing is that there are hardly any disagreements within the Democrat party.
Those corrupt, America-hating swine usually vote in lockstep... like the old USSR Politburo.
Thanks for another great ☕🦠.
H1B, my experience, Silicon Valley :
Higher paid $ Senior Engineers, typically white males, competent and knowledgeable, are laid off and H1B replaced. They hire 3 or more H1B for 1 Senior Engineer.
Bean counters happy, good people with knowledge laid off 😞.
Here's my personal experience with H1B visas
Came to US from Canada on TN work visa (NAFTA visa for skilled workers from Canada, US, and Mexico). This type of visa required I renew it every year. I was/am a Mainframe Computer Programmer. I was hired to help work on the Great Y2K Issue (remember that)? After a couple of years, my employer agreed to sponsor me for an H1B and eventually as a Permanent Resident (Green Card).
At the time, the rules for the H1B were that the employer tried and failed to find suitable local talent and need to bring in someone else via the visa. Also, the person was to be paid a prevailing wage, one that wasn't too low for the position. That meant the employer couldn't pay $20,000 for a $50,000 job. My employer followed all the rules and here I am.
I believe that the H1B rules HAVE been misused in certain instances and rather than add new rules, just ENFORCE the existing rules. Check to see if the employee is doing what they are supposed to under the H1B and is being payed properly. Applying to bring a dishwasher on an H1B should be instantly denied.
I was a mainframe programmer! I excelled at machine code and then Assembler. I actually was hired for one particular job because they couldn’t find any candidates that loved Assembler code like I did. 🤣 I remember re-reading my entire college Assembler text book during that position. Lmao I’m so old! Of course I went on to master DB2 and COBOL and then learned and trained employees in object oriented and C++, but soon after I gave birth and my heart changed. I tried to work but after three months I couldn’t handle the conflict of letting someone else raise my child. I’ve been a stay a at home mom for the past 23 years, and now I have no clue how to find any kind of work. I’m overqualified for hourly, service or support positions but am underqualified in today’s tech. No easy way to integrate people my age back into the working world. But I’m digressing - I just wanted to fist bump with you on mainframe programming. 🤣
Project management, you will be terrific at it since you have real-life experience as a Mom.
Project Management is killing my current IT department, IMO. Scrum, Sprints, Big Room Planning, etc. All evil, vile words.
Mad respect, Juju. Regarding machine code, I'm often fascinated by videos on the interwebs by people who elucidate the how and why of the creation of an "operating system" from scratch.
It's informative in that one quickly finds out how marketing infects the utter genius of those who can translate binary logic into useful algorithms.
Now we are faced with quantum logic. The inability to understand what is going on will certainly doom many to acceptance of technology.
"I will become like The Most High."
No. You won't.
I went to a state college that focused on application over theory. We HAD to design our own operating system in one of my classes. It was gnarly, but fun as heck.
In the first company I worked for there were 32 of us in our starting class. The majority were either Ivy League grads or they came from the financially powerful state colleges that focused on “theory” and looked down their noses at actual application because they were groomed to believe management was the only thing to strive for. 🙄 However, I was consistently programming circles around all of them during our training and won every contest put to us over a 3 month period. It drove them mad because I was poor, came from a poor school, AND was a woman! *Gasp* 🤣 How could I possibly be the most talented??? There were only three other women in my start group, but two were from nosebleed wealth (fur coats even in the summer if you can imagine it,) and the other was a good programmer but not as talented. I liked her because she was humble, but boy did she hate me. I was sort of intimidating to her. You’re not supposed to look like Barbie AND have a brain without threatening every woman around you … it would forever be my curse. I was a big threat to all of the men too and their sights on comfy positions. Thankfully I just loved what I learned and loved doing it, so I didn’t have any hunger to rule over others like they did. So when it came time to assign us I got the most envied positions because I could actually do the work. That drove them nuts too and you can imagine their efforts to undermine me. I even recall that my very first review by one of the younger “good old boys” gave me deserving rave reviews of my actual work, but docked me from a higher raise because: I wore too much perfume. 🤣🤣🤣 NOT JOKING! That happened. I didn’t of course, I couldn’t afford to. Lmao. But they were overly distracted by me and had to turn me into a hussy or something to hold me back. I look back at how naive I was to the politics of that time and all the many missed zingers I could have given had I had the wisdom I have today. That guy never would have left that room with any semblance of dignity or walked straight again if I had handled it like I would today. 🤣 Instead I walked out mortified and embarrassed, extra insecure - just what he intended.
And yes, quantum logic is scary. And I don’t like the ideas behind brain implants to make us “better” either. That just feels evil. It’s like using steroids to be the best in sports. If you can’t be the best by the raw materials God gave you then maybe you should move on to something else. I don’t like this idea of using AI to artificially improve people’s skills. It’s more of the same “everybody gets a trophy” reasoning and then nobody is special. It’s overkill and yes, trying to be like a god.
I was never a "super programmer" by any means. In fact, I remember once, at my first job out of community college, I worked on the payroll system of a company. Each year there were changes necessary, mostly because the government always changed something. Any way, I updated one COBOL program and either forgot a period or put one where it wasn't needed. The next pay check, EVERYONE got a raise! Boy, was my name known far and wide at that time......and not for a good reason. :P
Thank you for posting about your experience. I have a degree in CS but at my first job just couldn't hang with people who just lived for coding and 12 hour+ days. I just wanted to go home at 5, not good for that type of work. I eventually found out what I wanted to be when I grow up and luckily was able to make it happen due to the tolerance of a saintly wife. By the way she had much the same experience as you vis-a-vis the good ole' boys but in a different field.
You sound like you can learn anything and be successful at anything. Get back in the ( paid) workforce if you want. You can do it. My attorney sister took 17 yrs “off” to bear and raise seven sons. When asked in interviews about the employment gap, she’d say, “ criminal justice.”
You can do it. Smarts wins.
My sister with an Electrical Engineering degree and an MBA chucked it all to stay home with her kids for ~15 years till she started working PT at her daughter's private HS for pretty much peanuts but 10 years later is in a director role at a private college. Not using her EE or her MBA but just sayin', being a mom is a skill, don't sell yourself short!
IMHO the moms I worked with and for were the best bosses.
Hello fellow Mainframer! A dying breed we are. As the "oldys" at work retired, they would stack various textbooks and work related documentation along the wall, as they weren't taking them home. So far, I have 5-6 textbooks on PL/1, remember that? I figure I'll give them to a museum at some point.
You’re the perfect example of how H1B works, or should work. And I think that is all Elon was trying to say.
Amazing how we have rules, you’re right, just enforce those rules and don’t add new ones.
I think Musk quit arguing and probably deamplified the topic, because he realized or his lawyers finally got through to him, that his companies have been attesting to falsehoods with respect to their Fed documentation. He gamed the system with tacit approval fromnthe Feds and now people know. Best to stop talking.
Bean counters….that’s what my husband calls them too. They come in, knowing absolutely nothing about the business, and within a few years, the company is ‘out of business’, as they tried to run the business the way the ‘bean counters’ thought best, and they were wrong…..every single time!!!
Oh yeah, always the typical playbook, try to save a buck, destroy product quality, see people only as a cost and not a resource, try mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buy-outs, stock market manipulation and the company slowly dies under the weight of stupidity layered on stupidity.
Look at IBM or HP. Both were once leaders in their field. Intel is another example where the beancounters and MBAs were in charge for too long, even Pat Gelsinger (an engineer) failed at turning it around although they are imporving.
Look at Eastman Kodak,that owned the patent on the digital imaging sensor! lol. We don’t use them at all, do we? And sold it, for pennies
Sad what happened to Eastman Kodak. I was a photographer in the Navy and all our film, paper, and photographic chemicals were made by Kodak.
I was a power plant engineer there. It was an amazing company to work for. I have great stories behind that digital camera beginnings. And the shame that they caused, and how they literally destroyed themselves. For whatever reason, we were the Guinea pigs on anything new. Computers came out, the 286’s, and a pallet full arrived on our dock with a note. “ figure these things out”. When they built the first digital camera, it held three photos. And you could use a little earphone jack cord to load them into the computer. I think we were up to like 486’s by then. We were fascinated. Then they came out with one that could hold ten. And then they decided to go public with it. But because they were so shortsighted, they figured that it would hurt the paper business. We were all about paper, after taking a huge hit from fuji making 35mm as good as ours. So paper and chemicals was our business,and they sold that patent off for like 30 M. I left not too long after. I knew they would cease to exist.
My husband has been experimenting with infrared film. He's been using Ilford SFX 200 but wishes that Kodak HIE film was still around. Some of the Kodak B&W chemistry is still available.
The main story with Kodak is that management believed they were so great that they couldn't possibly go out of business. So they kept making stupid decisions and spending tons of money.
My husband met a woman a couple of years ago whose Dad had worked at Kodak. She spoke of the company as if it were heaven itself. Husband was quite amused.
The loyalty and nostalgia for Kodak of days gone by is real here in Rochester, NY. George Eastman was instrumental in so much. You can drive down the road on which sits the famous George Eastman House and just imagine what the area looked like in its heyday. It's still a remarkable area and we have him to thank for the Eastman School of Music and the presence of the RPO. Kodak allowed many, many people to live good, upstanding, dignified lives and support families. It is a tragedy to see what mismanagement and a misreading of the market did to that once great company.
Yeah, east avenue was beautiful. I haven’t been back in a long time. I played in a popular local band there many years ago,and that finally came to an end, and my love for permanent summer and salt water won me over. Haven’t been back but twice since. The Eastman house is incredible. And there’s ( or there used to be) a cool,little museum in bldg 28, the one on ridge that has the theatre and there are some cool things there to see.
No wonder you gave me a thumbs up!
I have not been to Rochester but I would love to see the Eastman House.
My brother-in-law is from Rochester. His father worked for the Manhattan Project during the war and then his later career was at Kodak.
I have a brother-in-law and uncle who work/worked at Boeing. The uncle is retired. Both engineers. The same thing is happening with there and at US Steel. (I worked at US Steel for a year - terrible company.) It's a mistake to not let Nippon buy US Steel, but we'll learn that lesson maybe in another 10-20 years.
Were either of your relatives laid off, when was it, 30 years ago?
A lot of people blame that garbage at Boeing on the Jack Welch school of mismanagement.
My sister worked in Logistcal Analysis, read/wrote Mandrin. Pretty much ran Logistics for HP (15 yrs). She was ordered to train her 4 H1B replacements. She had so much vacation time on the books, she said "screw that" walked out the day they walked in and never looked back.
Yes, she gave up her "seperation pay"
Good for her that she was able to walk out.
HP used to be great. No more. A friend of mine worked at Agilent which was split off from HP. She has stories to tell.
My hubs has said for years that once the lawyers and accountants seized de facto control over business, it’s the end of excellence for any company.
Same true for government. Their meddling net result is tyranny and a long slow march into failure.
Same thing in telecom here in North Texas - foreign-born managers cooking the books since the early 90s to bring in more of their compatriots.
I recently went to my childhood home in Cary, NC, which is a suburb of Research Triangle Park and Raleigh and all the area universities. It was a great place to grow up, but I no longer recognize it. Everywhere I went felt like I was in New Delhi.
Especially bad in Morrisville by RDU. The invaders are everywhere.
Elon tells you this is all good. Let the cream rise to the top! The hardest worker wins! This is America! Make India America!
We lived in Cary for 8 years (1993 - 2000). It was just starting to explode with transplants during that time and you could see the change coming.
I'm hopeful that's about to change.
A super-sad anecdote: a friend of mine, Silicon Valley coder, referenced lower paid non-citizens taking all the jobs on his suicide note. This was about 15 years ago.
Yep
I have been sitting on the sidelines on the H1B debate but I (actually) agree with Elon, now that he has clarified. *Disclaimer I do not trust anyone who would try to build a Neuralink device*
Here are my reasons:
I have a undergrad and a masters in engineering both achieved in the last 10 years, I've also had several engineering interns work under me. The problem I see with too many homegrown individuals is that there is no strive or push for excellence. College used to be a full time job, now going to class is fairly optional, colleges will pass anyone - we call them degree mills.
I studied next to students from India, China, and Eastern Europe (as examples) in my Masters program and they were often the most dedicated students. I personally think if we want excellence in our tech industries we have to get the MOST qualified individuals.
So the underlying problem is actually the lack of internal motivation and excellence from within our educational processes. That would be a great place to start. The underlying root of the problem. Could it be that “trophy’s for everyone” has perhaps degraded our American children’s motivation to work for success? I suppose it must start within the home. Good comment Micha… we here are also inundated by mediocrity of young new engineers lacking basic knowledge in their fields. No one has asked the question of why they are lacking the basic knowledge while holding the degree. We must fix this within our country and require exceptional education and self accountability.
We have adults teaching kids that they basically shouldn't experience discomfort in their lives - so, you know, if learning (or anything) is hard and challenging that is some kind of unfair injustice or something.
This! I’m a teacher and enjoy teaching at my school. But parents in general nowadays don’t want their child to deal with anything hard. When in reality they need the challenges in life to gain confidence. I believe kids lack motivation because often the adults do things for them, or don’t encourage them to push themselves to achieve hard things. Consequently students are not very eager to try.
My neighbor is a teacher and she is bombarded with emails from parents requesting leniency for their children. And if she tries to impose standards, the administration prevents her from doing so. We are in serious trouble.
Also this!
Kids who wither from “micro aggressions”!!! I think children could be taught across the board that bullying each other is unacceptable, but without referencing race, gender, sexuality, etc. The same way a good parent would step in if they saw one of their children bullying another. And when a kid is bullied, try to build up their self-esteem instead of telling them that they are a victim. The self-esteem of the ones bullying needs to be addressed too. Of course, there will always be a few sociopaths who can’t be reached. Luckily that’s not most kids.
One important thing would be to go back to standardized tests. This has mostly been phased out for being "racist" because of disparate results between ethnic groups. Once students are accepted into college there is an incentive to get them a degree, after all that's what they're paying for. Colleges are also usually a funnel for radical progressives into the elite, hence the focus on essays. DEI statements and extracurriculars (easy to spot the activist in their language and choice of activities). First step would be to remove bias from the process by using standardized tests as admissions criteria, even if this allows for other forms of cheating. I also think exams and any bachelor/master/PhD thesis should be graded on a blinded basis first.
But really a lot of people would be better of with $2000 for books or courses, a laptop and some capital to try and start a real (small) business. Whenever I'm asking to review CVs I mostly focus on whether or not people have entrepreneurial experience and if they have side-projects that I can look at. Accomplishing something in the real world is the best credential.
Lost three generations with that shit. Gonna take three more to make merit based upward movement the norm again.
My husband would get Electrical Engineering interns from WSU. There came to a point where he refused taking anymore interns from there because they couldn’t handle the basic equations needed to do the job.
Erin, all the smart kids went to UW. And yes, it was really hard to get into because of all the smart Asian kids. Your husband might confirm my speculation? Average kids became less and less smart, or less educated I should say, so they went to WSU. They couldn’t compete because they had it too easy in public school, they were not pushed to succeed in school or at home. I wrote about them a few comments above or below.
UW rejected many smart kids from WA state because they could get more $$$ from foreign students per school counselor who directly asked admissions. My son selected the Naval Academy instead.
Yes, foreign students have to pay full price.
Good point, money talks. My brother did complain about that too.
Were the foreign students better prepared though? More successful in the end?
Smart move for your son!
I'm an Idaho and UW grad hahaha, your husband should be looking on the other side of the border. While UW worked for me, I'd reccomend keeping kids away from Seattle...
Reminds me of when my nephews were young. We were all staying up at mom and dad’s for a family thing and my brother and his wife slept on the pullout couch. We were all having coffee and putting the house back together and someone told one of the kids to put the cushions back on the couch. He tried once and gave up. My husband told him to try again and figure it out. Husband wasn’t sweet and nice but matter of fact. Anyway my husband became the bad guy, mean old inlaw, the kids turned out to be liberals and one is a raging socialist. No surprise. Trophies for everyone. Never had to work, barely even during college breaks, life was so easy for them. Seattle public schools and coddling older parents who were liberal (my brother started out conservative tho). Perspective: the kids were born in ‘89 and ‘92 ish.
While I agree with your description of the lackadaisical attitude many Americans take to college and excellence in general, I’m not sure the best approach is to import a LOT of workers from overseas. The problem of mediocrity goes deep and needs to change. The focus should be on cultural change—morality (which I honestly think would best emerge from a relationship with God), which we all know can’t be coerced. If we don’t teach our children to strive for excellence and insist on it in our schools (including homeschools), we will never be great again. Integrity must underpin the entire culture. And we must value excellence while finding ways to lift up those who are not as gifted or able.
Imho, 1-the impression of importing tech workers has been way overblown. It's a form of corporate welfare, so it largely affects major connected corporations. I've been an engineer for 25 years and have rarely encountered H1B visa or foreign born engineers. 2 - completely agree with you. We have a culture that places value on $ and material goods no matter how the wealth is obtained. I have a coworker whose wife is a librarian in a conservative/red/white county school system. He said 1/2 of the young teachers are on OnlyFans to supplement their income. And there is the problem with drugs/gambling gained wealth. Conservatives were talking about these problems constantly over the past 4 years, but Vivek says some things and all of the sudden, we have no problems with our culture? A lot of 'MAGA' influencers lost my trust over the past week.
It's not way overblown. If you have a Twitter account you would see the data that people with opposite views of yours have put forth. I've worked in IT for 25 years and can attest that Indians have taken over huge swaths of it, most of it mid-level work that Americans could most certainly do. You seem to be naive because for whatever industry you're in has not been affected by h1bs.
I have an X account and I watched the entire thing since before Christmas. MAGA influencers made it sound like H1B is depressing all STEM wages all over the country. I saw the companies with the most H1B workers - Meta, Google and some others. It seems regional/localized. Here are the largest H1B visa employers in my state, a whopping 1,153 H1B visa workers in a state of 5 million. https://1819news.com/news/item/as-debate-rages-over-h-1b-program-273-alabama-companies-employ-foreign-visa-workers
The cultural aspect cannot be overlooked either. As a BS, MS ChE working in Singapore 15 yrs ago I was pleasantly surprised to see the front page of the Singapore Straits newspaper profiling a "student of the week" every Sunday! My first reaction was this is precisely why America is falling behind in STEM fields. We profile 'athlete of the week'.
Well, that’s an excellent example!
I think there are huge differences between the culture of immigrants to America vs. the culture they are coming from as well as the culture in America. They often don't have a sense of entitlement and also reject the parts of culture from their home countries that is holding it back. And if you think US colleges are degree mills, the same is true in India or China and really most countries and the cheating is absolutely rampant.
I'm not so sure about China degree mills. We hosted a pair of Chinese boys here on a summer program five or six years ago, and have kept in touch with one. He takes excruciating exams, and his scores determined if he could attend high school, and which one. Those that failed are send to trade schools. The poor kid does absolutely nothing but study. That is how middle-class kids, at least, live in China.
If they are allowed to go the USA their family is probably in very good standing with the regime. If they are really smart and hard workers they might study abroad but China wants them to return. The Chinese don't want to lose their best people to other countries.
It's the same with the tea in China, the highest quality stays in country, the lower quality gets exported.
I agree! If America is going to continue to be able to compete on the world stage, employers must be allowed to recruit and employ the best. However, all employees must be paid equally and have identical work requirements if unscrupulous employers are to be kept from scamming the system by paying some less and working them harder.
To force an employer to hire someone less qualified is DEI deja vu all over again!
This.
The key here is "all employees must be paid equally and have identical work requirements if unscrupulous employers are to be kept from scamming the system by paying some less and working them harder"
This is an entirely logical use of government
No more immigrants. It's not DEI to demand we make jobs work for our own people.
Otherwise our culture will continue to be diluted by the outsiders who simply refuse to assimilate.
My daughter just graduated from a state university (CA) this past May. I was on a parent Facebook group for the school. The parent comments and complaints were insane. The most interesting thing I learned from a university professor/parent on the site was that they were required to have a B- grade average each semester. It's been a couple of years but I think I'm remembering that correctly. But that explains why my daughter would be panicked at the end of the semester because in some classes, she would have no idea what her final grade was going to be. Some professors wouldn't post final project, report, or test scores. If they did they graded on a curve. She found out real quick to find the smartest kid in the class and make sure her grades were as close to them as she could get them then she would be alright.
My husband teaches 7th/8th grade math and he says the 8th grade class of 2016 was the last class where they had a true honors group of students, about 30/180.
I teach 3rd grade and my husband and I agree that the students from China, southeast Asia, and Yemen that we have, have a completely different work ethic and display of respect in the classroom. We still have some hardworking, respectful American students but it seems the numbers are dwindling. I feel they are being dumbed down with neurotoxins in the medicine, food, water, and air. Some of them honestly try so hard but they can't get their little brains to work. It's so sad. The last 4-5 years have taught me a level of patience I didn't know existed inside me. I used to teach 3rd grade curriculum to most students then have a small group working above (4th grade) and a small group below (2nd grade). I still have that but I now have a group that's reading at a Kindergarten-1st grade level too. That's not differentiated instruction. The planning and coordination for that takes a lot of time.
There is definitely a cultural component to the differences we see in American students and those from Asia, India, etc...I spend a lot of time at a local music school where kids who want to get private instruction in music performance can attend. I know that when I walk through the halls, I notice that the kids with Asian heritage can be found studying flash cards for SAT prep or doing some other exercise while waiting to go into their lesson. They are also the kids who frequently compete for merit awards and concerto competitions. The American kids are usually doomscrolling on their phones. (I am obviously painting with a broad brush, but it largely holds true). We have some foundational issues which need addressing and I would argue it actually starts with reducing significantly the amount of tech exposure in young children's lives.
Thank you for your comment. I agree.
- We (MAGA) spent the past 2 years talking about the importance of meritocracy, but now all of the sudden we're not for it? Not for me. A lot of MAGA influencers showed their asses over the past week and more disturbingly were making statements I'd expect to hear from AOC, Bernie, and Pocahontas about labor/wages.
I've worked in IT for 25 years. Mid-Level it work even non-college degreed Americans could do (certifications would suffice) are mainly given to Indians. I've seen this for 25 years.
It's criminal. What has been done to the American worker. Seen it firsthand
I was surprised (saddened) to read that Costco is pushing back and planning to relabel their DEI policy. I then recalled Costco world headquarters is in Washington 🤦🏻♀️.
They were pretty hard-line about the mask during Covid. I was disappointed then, so I’m not terribly surprised now. Just hope their DEI policies dry up.
That was my experience there during COVID as well.
Me too ! Perhaps a note to the board ? DEI is the very thing they think they are fighting against, it IS racism!
I’d like to get rid of Costco until they get rid of DEI. (Not easy in my area.) Any thoughts on how to get Costco to realize their customers’ opinions on DEI?
Send a message to Robby Starbuck to sic em
That thought crossed my mind as well.
“I’m not saying this unnecessary, overheated “civil war” was deliberately staged to change the narrative in that exact way, but it is fun to muse about.”
Underestimate Trump’s instinctive mastery of the media at your own peril.
See “McDonalds”, “Garbage Truck” and “Fight Fight Fight” as three of the more obvious examples.
It's fun to watch those who underestimate Trump’s brilliance in marketing and controlling the narrative 😅
My point also, Trump is a Chess Master, do not forget.
Still waiting for the checkmate on OWS.
Obama's Administration deserves 100% credit for OWS. He funded it, DARPA created the blueprint and published it. The DOD has the capacity and capabilities to execute OWS in times of emergency.
Trump gives himself credit for Obama's work on OWS.
🎯 and "Eating the Dogs, eating the cats" and I believe the Omnibus bill was an exercise to make people see the ridiculous spending habits of our DC rats.
Why is no one upset over Elon’s 180 from being a “free speech absolutist” to deplatforming those who disagreed with him? He did in fact just do to many what Jack Dorsey did to Trump and everyone is just ignoring it?! 🤯
A true test of Elon’s free speech X, will be if he apologizes and reinstates Laura Loomer. Laura can be thorny but, she uncovers very inconvenient truths.
It’s not just Loomer. A person with 300 followers was banned after his post ratiod Elon by a lot. There was a purge of accounts that would have made Jack Dorsey proud...many were groypers. Elon even changed the algorithm!
🎯
Nailed it
Who did he deplatform? I saw accusations he was doing it but I didn't see any actual proof he was.
There were at least a half dozen very large groyper accounts that were banned. @classicsgroyp, @kaizerrev, and @raymo_g are 3 that I followed that are gone and there are a lot more.
More than that. I saw a list of like 30. Totally nuked because they pushed back against Musk effectively. People need to keep a light grip on Elon Musk. Be very skeptical
Methinks you are an ignorant clown.
May Trump surpass Carter’s life span…
He did say his son was ready and capable of carrying on after his term.
RIP Mr. Carter, and thanks for the good work you gave to Habitat for Humanity. I also salute your service as a Navy veteran, knowing you had some skin in the game defending this nation. And it’s true, the Carter presidency led us to 8 years of Ronaldus Magnus, but our standing in the world took a beating during his term.
Sadly, his is not the “exclusive club” obituary I most look forward to reading. All the comments above have throughly contrasted the difference between an ineffective but decent and well-meaning man, and one of the most corrupt individuals this nation has ever known.
In good health!
Thank you, Jeff, for another year of truth, humor, and hope. There was a lot of uncertainty and angst popping in 2024. It sometimes felt like the longest Mr. Toad’s wild ride. Your steadfast faith, knowledge, and dedication to the C & C mission has created a refuge and sane space to share and learn. This army is inspiring and united. May 2025 bring blessings and peace to all!
✝️✝️✝️
Yahweh looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men;
From the place of His habitation He gazes
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
He who forms the hearts of them all,
He who understands all their works.
— Psalm 33:13-15 LSB
✝️✝️✝️
I realized something important this weekend, life is precious, even at my age of 72. My long time friend of 48 years died on Friday, I found her dead on Saturday morning at her apartment, she had stage 4 COPD, an enlarged heart and high blood pressure. I knew a few days ago she was getting worse and I wanted her to go to the hospital but she really didn't want to, she wanted to stay home and thats exactly what she did, she went out the way she wanted, she was on her couch when she died, she was 75. I was reading the post from you Jeff and it made me think of life and that we must embrace every second of it. Happy New Year, may you have many more good years to come. God Bless!!
I'm sorry for the loss of your friend, and that you now have the lasting image of finding her passed. May she rest in peace--and thank you for the reminder to embrace every second of life.
Thank you, she was a wonderful friend.
I too (72 and currently healthy and active) would far rather die at home. and intend to.
Sorry for your loss.
Thanks for the reminder.
Let's hope the 120 GEC employess were fired...not just absorbed into some other roguish agency.
I’m hoping that when these guys axe these departments, there is no switcheroo allowed. Your department was eliminated yesterday, walk to the locker, with security escorts, and out the door for the last time, no clearances of any kind.
The mercies and grace of the Lord cannot be taken for granted, the day is coming….!
“The days of punishment have come; The days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, The spiritual man is insane, Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity. The watchman of Ephraim is with my God; But the prophet is a fowler’s snare in all his ways— Enmity in the house of his God. They are deeply corrupted, As in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity; He will punish their sins.”
Hosea 9:7-9 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/hos.9.7-9.NKJV
Psalm 94: 3How long shall the wicked, O Lord,
How long shall the wicked exult?
4 They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly;
All who do wickedness vaunt themselves...
7 They have said, “The Lord does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob pay heed.”
8 Pay heed, you senseless among the people;
And when will you understand, stupid ones?
9 He who planted the ear, does He not hear?
He who formed the eye, does He not see?
10 He who chastens the nations, will He not rebuke,
Even He who teaches man knowledge?
11 The Lord knows the thoughts of man,
That they are a mere breath.
12 Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O Lord,
And whom You teach out of Your law;
13 That You may grant him relief from the days of adversity,
Until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not abandon His people,
Nor will He forsake His inheritance.
15 For judgment will again be righteous,
And all the upright in heart will follow it.
Kind of sounds like today's church and prophets/preachers.
Pray for Donald Trump for the next twenty-one days.
And RFK as well. The bad guys may fear and dislike him even more than Trump. Either way, I pray for both of their safety.