zapatos

Which is a subset of those attributes that make up socialism. Even social security is not socialistic just because we pay for it, and we can elect representatives who can change it and shape it the way we want. At the end of the month, the checks have to show up in our mailboxes, not some mailboxes in Israel or Egypt.

That seems to me to be a very broad definition of socialism. Not that it is invalid simply because the term is used broadly but in my mind it loses meaning as its scope increases. I wasn't saying that ownership is determined by who benefits most, I was saying that if it is socialistic, then the owners would be the benefactors.

I disagree. We may pay for it but we certainly don't own it. Its benefits as often are used for the benefit of non-taxpayers as taxpayers. I think a key component of socialism is that all the benefits derived from the contributions must flow back to the contributors.

Keep in mind that I'm no expert on socialism... I tend to think "no". Socialism generally means everyone contributes and everyone benefits proportionately. Social Security is a great example of that. The military on the other hand is an example of everyone contributing but your return being anywhere from near zero (average Joe in the middle of nowhere) to a great deal (some US corporations and their owners). There is no question that all benefit to some extent since the homeland is being protected but the distribution is far from equitable, and the military is far from only defensive in nature. It seems to me that paying taxes for the military is closer to paying taxes for buildings and cars the government needs, than it is to social security.

I'm curious what your celebrations are like in Canada given your drink of choice! 🤪 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernet-Branca

I read an article that shows the three most likely scenarios of the coronavirus pandemic easing up in either the first, second or third quarters of this year, with the second quarter being most likely. That would be followed by an economic rebound in the quarter following the easing. If the coronavirus pandemic does indeed ease up in the second quarter then Trump could see the economy rebounding just in time for the election. And as we've seen so many times, the economy is a major driver for who wins the election.

After thinking about it... I don't believe the impact of COVID-19 and the economy will be a thing of the past by November. But my larger point was that suggesting the poll numbers may change in Trump's favor in the future if certain things occur may be fun to speculate about, but is not very meaningful. There are a nearly infinite number of things that can occur between now and November, some that would help Trump and some that would help the Democrats. As an example was given about a scenario that could help Trump, I gave an example that could hurt Trump. By posting the poll I was only trying to indicate what people were thinking now.

I'm not sure I was referencing their memory. Would you mind expanding on that a bit?

Haha, no not yet. When I run I'll pledge to fight for meaningful actions to reduce gun deaths, guarantee working wages, stop letting the few get rich on the backs of the many, ensure government sponsored health coverage for all, stop treating everyone who needs assistance like they are lazy, take fiscal responsibility seriously, treat people fairly, hire back everyone who has quit the State and Justice departments, and issue a global apology to everyone who was offended by recent dick behavior in the White House. In other words I expect to be unelectable, or if elected, to be stonewalled at every turn.

LOL! I LOVE IT!

All polls are based on what people think at the time it is taken. With the tanking of the stock market and the spread of COVID-19, by the time November rolls around I might be able to beat Trump in the general election.

https://www.vox.com/2020/2/28/21157803/trump-fox-news-poll-losing-to-biden-sanders-bloomberg

Great song and even better story! Thanks for sharing Airbrush! Here is an improved version of a country song by a great reggae band.

I suspect he is. Growing up in poverty, gangs, drugs, guns and racism with no real hope for the future is bound to have a much bigger impact on someone than a person growing up in one of the highest quality of life environments. And why should an uneducated, poor black kid from a crime ridden neighborhood want to reform? What is in it for him? The opportunity to wash dishes for 10 hours a day? He can do that in prison. But if reform means opportunities like it might in Norway, then of course recidivism will be less.

I'm curious if Norway's low recidivism rates are strictly due to their humane treatment of prisoners. For example, my understanding is that the culture of Norway favors conformity over individualism. It may be that Norway's system works so well because it is Norwegians who are entering the system. If their system was suddenly populated with a majority of Americans, their success rate might plummet.

While this may be true it would be helpful if you cited studies so that we could determine exactly how effective or counter-productive they are.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/02/covid-vaccine/607000/?utm_medium=offsite&utm_source=yahoo&utm_campaign=yahoo-non-hosted&yptr=yahoo

Might just be a translation issue. You ever read assembly instructions for products that come from china?

The world is a messy place. In the entire world you would be hard pressed to find two people who agree on all issues. What is worth killing a person for you might be unknown or totally fair to me. The acceptance of protests changes with time, who is in charge, and which way the wind is blowing. Something that is critical today may be a minor annoyance tomorrow, simply because something more critical now has our attention. We will try to set levels of acceptability for protests, and those levels will change over time. From my perspective I don't get bothered by much. I accept that I will like some things and not like others; that I will be inconvenienced on occasion; that people will disagree with me; and that I may not like the final outcome. Debating generalities may be useful but it is not very practical. All you can really do is decide how you and like minded individuals will react to different situations.

Externet lives in the US. For him to be so worried about his well being indeed likely causes more risk for him than the actual virus does.

"Zero tolerance to pollution" buddy. Don't be a hypocrite.

You mean you keep thousands of people in close quarters and a virus spreads? Shocking!

Then I suggest you end your bloodline.

That was very helpful Mordred. Thank you.

You were probably clear but I was not able to understand it. Does that mean there was no t+10-44 seconds? And if there was that point in time, why wouldn't it be considered 'prior' to t+10-43 seconds? (I recognize that perhaps I am mistakingly trying to apply simplistic logic to a more complex situation.)