You have good credit?! Well, that's no fair!! A $15,000 penalty for you!
Biden to hike payments for good-credit homebuyers to subsidize high-risk mortgages
By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times - Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Homebuyers with good credit scores will soon encounter a costly surprise: a new federal rule forcing them to pay higher mortgage rates and fees to subsidize people with riskier credit ratings who are also in the market to buy houses.
The fee changes will go into effect May 1 as part of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s push for affordable housing, and they will affect mortgages originating at private banks across the country. The federally backed home mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will enact the loan-level price adjustments, or LLPAs.
Mortgage industry specialists say homebuyers with credit scores of 680 or higher will pay, for example, about $40 per month more on a home loan of $400,000. Homebuyers who make down payments of 15% to 20% will get socked with the largest fees.
The new fees will apply only to Americans buying houses or refinancing after May 1.
Lenders and real estate agents say the changes will frustrate homebuyers with high credit scores and homeowners seeking to refinance because the rule punishes them for their relatively strong financial positions.
“The changes do not make sense. Penalizing borrowers with larger down payments and credit scores will not go over well,” Ian Wright, a senior loan officer at Bay Equity Home Loans in the San Francisco Bay Area, told The Washington Times in an email message. “It overcomplicates things for consumers during a process that can already feel overwhelming with the amount of paperwork, jargon, etc. Confusing the borrower is never a good thing.”
He said the rule will “cause customer-service issues for lenders and individual loan officers when a consumer won’t understand why their interest rate and fees suddenly changed.”
“I am all for the first-time buyer having a chance to get into the market, but it’s clear these decisions aren’t being made by folks that understand the entire mortgage process,” Mr. Wright said.
The new fees “will create extreme confusion as we enter the traditional spring home purchase season,” said David Stevens, a former head of the Mortgage Bankers Association who served as commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration during the Obama administration.
“This confusing approach won’t work and more importantly couldn’t come at a worse time for an industry struggling to get back on its feet after these past 12 months,” Mr. Stevens wrote in a recent social media post. “To do this at the onset of the spring market is almost offensive to the market, consumers, and lenders.”
The housing market has been hit hard by a series of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes that have driven mortgage rates above 6%, roughly double the level from early 2022. The Fed has raised rates rapidly to bring down inflation, which hit a four-decade high of 9.1% last summer.
“In the wake of a 3-percentage-point increase in mortgage rates, now is not the time to raise fees on homebuyers,” Kenny Parcell, president of the National Association of Realtors, told the Federal Housing Finance Agency earlier this year.
Under the new mortgage financing rules, homebuyers with riskier credit ratings and lower down payments will qualify for better mortgage rates and discounted fees.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra Thompson, a Biden appointee, said the fee changes will “increase pricing support for purchase borrowers limited by income or by wealth.” The agency calls the overall fee changes “minimal” and said the moves will ensure market stability.
After a storm of criticism, the agency delayed to Aug. 1 an upfront fee for debt-to-income ratios of 40% or more. The ratio is calculated by dividing the homebuyer’s monthly debt payments by gross income. It’s one of the key measures lenders use to determine whether a mortgage applicant qualifies for a loan.
Ms. Thompson said the postponement will help “to ensure a level playing field for all lenders to have sufficient time to deploy the fee.”
The fee changes are intended to subsidize higher-risk borrowers by imposing “an intentional disruption to traditional risk-based pricing,” Mr. Stevens said.
“Why was this done? The answer is simple, it was to try to narrow the gap in access to credit especially for minority home buyers who often have lower down payments and lower credit scores,” he wrote in a post on LinkedIn. “The gap in homeownership opportunity is real. America is facing a severe shortage of affordable homes for sales combined with excessive demand causing an imbalance. But convoluting pricing and credit is not the way to solve this problem.”
He predicted that the Federal Reserve will soon complete its course of tightening its balance sheet and mortgage rates will fall.
“Demand for homes will begin to rise and the same challenges for first-time homebuyers will return,” he said.
Lenders also are worried about the impact of the debt-to-income fee that takes effect in August because homebuyers might feel as if they are in a game of “bait and switch” on their projected borrowing costs.
“When a lender is quoting a borrower, there’s a lot they don’t know yet, such as what the property taxes and insurance payments are per month,” Mr. Wright said. “Changes happen to the mortgage payment and income during escrow, so this will cause frustration to borrowers and lenders for the sudden rate/fee changes. Most of us loan officers will then say let’s ‘eat’ the cost for the borrower to keep them happy (resulting in losses for the lender and loan officer).”
He said the added uncertainty will cause delays “during an already competitive real estate market lacking inventory.”
“For example, due to the low inventory and fierce competition, many buyers must close their transactions in less than 30 days to get their offer accepted,” Mr. Wright said. “The sudden rate changes will cause lenders to ‘re-disclose,’ adding additional days to the transaction. This puts extreme timeline pressure on the buyer and lenders forced to re-underwrite the file for the changes.”
In a letter to Ms. Thompson in February, Mortgage Bankers Association President Bob Broeksmit said the timing of the fee changes was “especially troubling” and that the debt-to-income ratio fee creates “operational issues and quality control” for lenders.
“A borrower’s income and expenses can change several times throughout the loan application and underwriting process, especially considering evolving assumptions concerning the nature of debt and income, and the growth in self-employment, part-time employment, and ‘gig economy’ employment,” Mr. Broeksmit said
Well, I guess if you're going to make your only appearance in months, this is as good as any. Fetterman, being the sly fox that he is posted this at 4:20. MATH!
‘Teen Takeover’; Liberal Networks Refuse to Cover Latest Lawlessness in Chicago
Curtis Houck April 17th, 2023 1:46 PM
Over the weekend, Chicago was the site of further unrest as mobs of teenagers terrorized some of the city’s busiest streets, sending both residents and tourists fleeing amid gunfire that left two teens shot, 14 people arrested, city transportation disrupted, and cars smashed.
None of this interested the broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC or lefty cable network CNN on their flagship Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Monday mornings shows. In contrast, all four networks wallowed Monday morning in the fact that Netflix’s Love Is Blind live reunion failed to air Sunday night due to technical difficulties. The horror!
NewsNation was on the case Sunday with seven minutes and 29 seconds over two segments and three news briefs despite having only three hours of programming a day on weekends. Add in a full segment on Monday’s Early Edition, and NewsNation had 10 minutes and five seconds.
The Fox News Channel took until Monday to arrive and spent 11 minutes and 28 seconds from 5:00 a.m. to noon Eastern. MSNBC’s Morning Joe only made a veiled reference spanning 38 seconds courtesy of New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D).
The unrest was the first tease on Sunday’s NewsNation Prime from host Natasha Zouves:
Takeover in Chicago as hundreds of teams take to the streets jumping on cars and smashing windows. Teen seen punching and kicking a person on the ground. NewsNation's own crew was there hearing gunfire ring out as people fled to the scene, we'll show you the video.
Zouves opened the show with more on the “scenes of chaos” from “[w]hat’s being called a teen takeover” with “hundreds of teens taking to the streets” and some “jumping on cars, smashing windows, damaging property, and climbing up buildings.”
“Tourists running from the sound of gunfire. Officers struggling to get this under control. Two teens shot in all of this, but they are expected to survive,” she added. Tossing later to a full report from NewsNation affiliate WGN correspondent Courtney Spinelli.
Spinelli showed footage of the lawlessness that took place with the hoodlums “crowding the area of the loop from Michigan Avenue to Clark Street and [teens] could be seen jumping on parked cars and smashing windows. Two times, groups of teens were also seen punching, kicking, and stomping on someone on the ground.”
She also included soundbites from community activists denouncing the violence as “nuts” and demanding the city government give “the Chicago Police Department the funding and the resources...to take care of this crime in our communities.”
She added that the chaos “was enough to disrupt traffic and CTA service” and despite policing “flood[ing] the scene, attempting to control the crowds,” gunfire still erupted with two teens hit.
She spoke with one woman who said she “used my running capability” to reach her hotel and escape harm.
Unfortunately, NewsNation omitted the statement from Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson, who defended the teenagers as having “been starved of opportunities in their own communities.”
Over on Fox, Johnson’s lack of concern for his city and how it’s perceived was front and center.
The Faulkner Focus had a three-minute-and-31-second story from host Harris Faulkner and correspondent Garrett Tenney. Faulkner tore into Johnson’s statement: “So if you’re poor, that's what you do? He’s so wrong about that. There’s so many Americans who struggle every day and they don't do that.”
Tenney explained the mass gatherings weren’t contained to Saturday night as it happened for “three nights in a row” even though “[t]he worst of it was Saturday night, right along Chicago's famed Magnificent Mile and near Millennium Park” as “hundreds of teens were roaming the street late at night terrorizing the city.”
Thats so much a radical left socialist policy. Biden will market himself as a moderate, but he is not. He is a socialist commie.
That’s an Oxy moron, considering Goper’s and their spray on hair and tan leader loves Putin and his communist party, while reflecting hatred towards communism state side. Interesting.
Thats so much a radical left socialist policy. Biden will market himself as a moderate, but he is not. He is a socialist commie.
That’s an Oxy moron, considering Goper’s and their spray on hair and tan leader loves Putin and his communist party, while reflecting hatred towards communism state side. Interesting.
If that was truly the case he would have ended trump’s trade war on China 2 years ago.
“While former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden differ starkly on many policy issues, they are remarkably similar on trade policy. Notably, President Biden has maintained tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese imports dating to the Trump administration, all while maintaining a flawed process of granting tariff exclusions to select industries. Those tariffs, put in place when Trump invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, have not only failed to achieve their objectives, but have hurt U.S. businesses and consumers along the way. As part of its ongoing review of the Section 301 tariffs, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) should listen to the overwhelming majority of comments calling for the end of this failed trade war.”
You should do some research before making ridiculous comments with no substance to back it up. But I know, it’s all fair game when you’re a Goper while you expect the libtards to prove these things with actual facts.
Proposition 47 did not end prosecution of thefts under $950 in California
CLAIM: Under Proposition 47 in California thefts under $950 will not be prosecuted.
AP ASSESSMENT: False. Proposition 47 was passed in California in 2014 and reclassified felony theft offenses as misdemeanors. It did not allow shoplifting and petty theft to go unprosecuted.
THE FACTS: The false claim about the proposition circulated on social media with a video showing two individuals walking out of a T.J. Maxx in Granada Hills, California, with duffle bags filled with merchandise and their arms filled with clothing on hangers. No one attempted to stop the pair as they walked out of the store and through the parking lot.
The scene was captured on video by another person in the store and circulated widely on news media.
Adam Carolla, a comedian who hosts a podcast, posted the video to Facebook along with a false comment about Proposition 47.
“Thanks to Prop 47 thefts under $950 will not be prosecuted,” Carolla commented on the post. “So cops will not bother showing up. Just a reminder that you get what you voted for, California!”
But the post is incorrect. The 2014 proposition modified, but did not eliminate, sentencing for many nonviolent property and drug crimes.
“What Prop 47 did was take very low level crimes like petty theft, some petty drug offenses, petty larceny, and classify them as misdemeanors rather than felonies,” said Charis Kubrin, professor of criminology, law and society at the University of California, Irvine, who wrote a study examining the impact of the proposition on crime rates. “It doesn’t mean, like that Facebook post is saying, that you’re not prosecuted or that you aren’t committing a crime.”
According to Alex Bastian, special advisor to Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón who co-authored Prop 47, most shoplifting was already prosecuted as a misdemeanor anyway.
“What Prop 47 did is increase the dollar amount by which theft can be prosecuted as a felony from $400 to $950 to adjust for inflation and cost of living,” Bastian said. “But most shoplifting cases are under $400 dollars to begin with, so before Prop 47 and after Prop 47, there isn’t any difference.”
Proposition 47 was enacted to comply with a 2011 California Supreme Court order, which upheld that California’s overcrowded prisons violated incarcerated individuals’ Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment.
“In 2011, our prisons were bursting at the seams, and California was ranked either first or second behind Texas as having the highest per capita incarceration rate of any state in the country,” Kubrin said. “It was so bad that the Supreme Court stepped in and told us we needed to reduce our prison population by 33,000 individuals.”
“So the goal of Prop 47 was to limit our prison population, to reduce the number of people that we send to state prisons,” said Kubrin. “Prop 47 has achieved that goal while not causing crime rates to go up.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Wednesday aimed at curbing organized retail theft, according to Associated Press reporting. The law allows prosecutors to seek to charge the offense as either a misdemeanor or a felony.
T.J. Maxx’s global media relations team did not respond to a request for comment, nor did store representatives.
___
This is part of The Associated Press’ ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform.
I guess you didn't bother to read the article I posted. It straight says the crime got reduced to a misdemeanor AND THAT IS WHAT IS CAUSING THE THEFT. Not the garbage you posted.
Your standard reply, insults. That's what desperate people use when they have nothing else. I understand you are only willing to use right wing extremist news sources and consider them only as "factual", I would like to point out the difference here for anyone that uses logic. Newsmax, the source you used is a highly bias right wing news source. The AP is a very neutral and very much non bias news source.
But do go on with your usual campaign of personal attacks.
According to Alex Bastian, special advisor to Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón who co-authored Prop 47, most shoplifting was already prosecuted as a misdemeanor anyway.
“What Prop 47 did is increase the dollar amount by which theft can be prosecuted as a felony from $400 to $950 to adjust for inflation and cost of living,” Bastian said.
The original bill setting $400 dollars as the threshold was passed in 2014. I guess maybe the threshold should have been kept at $100 like it was back in the 70's? What does $400 dollars in merchandise today equal compared to 2014?
Close but not quite. It's more like you always resort to name calling to those whom you disagree with. Having a discussion that involves civility is not a part of you.
Anyone with an IQ over 12 would surmise that this does more to encourage theft and absolutely nothing to discourage it. But hey, those people probably need that stuff, so a "cost of living increase" was definitely in order.
In case you missed it, which it appears you did, there's nothing about calling people names stylish or anything involved with what can be considered style at all. And in return you claim that when I bring up counterpoints and differing opinions, rather than try to actually discuss them, you put some negative label stereotype on them in order to avoid any actual discussion. Then you point your finger and accuse me of what that is you actually do. Deflection.
No we should have kept it a felony for anything over $100 dollars like it was in the 70's. Nobody made these things legal. They simply made some lesser offenses misdemeanors instead of felonies. But I understand how that doesn't fit your narrative.
What you seem to be missing here is that the U.S. Supreme Court actually ordered that the state of California cut down the prison population. Their prison population was at 200% its actual capacity. The court ordered that the prison population be cut back to 135% of its actual capacity.
Now people are using headlines and stories that twist this into being some idea and measures that politicians in California just made up to approve of criminal activity. It's simply false. I mean if this is something you want to get into, let's actually get into it.
It is a judgement that was ordered in 2011. Can you explain what that has to do with California taking further measures to comply with the courts order? Or do you believe this is the first step or change they've made to comply with the courts order?
“What Prop 47 did is increase the dollar amount by which theft can be prosecuted as a felony from $400 to $950 to adjust for inflation and cost of living,”
That's a better col and inflation bump than minimum wage got! Are you seriously trying to make a "nothing to see here" point out of this idiocy?
“What Prop 47 did is increase the dollar amount by which theft can be prosecuted as a felony from $400 to $950 to adjust for inflation and cost of living,”
That's a better col and inflation bump than minimum wage got! Are you seriously trying to make a "nothing to see here" point out of this idiocy?
Now you fall prey to his bogus argument that the California Supreme Court said to lower inmate count. "You see, I don't really want to argue about truth and common sense, so I'll just move the goalposts".
I don't really care how many are overcrowding the prisons. Charge the felony and put them on house arrest for two years. You can leave for groceries, doctors and your J.O.B. Instead, we have a situation where prison overcrowded is going to be cured by encouraging more crime? GTHOH.
Why Shoplifting Is Now De Facto Legal In California
By: Lee Ohanian
Google “Shoplifting in San Francisco” and you will find more than 100,000 hits. And you will find lots of YouTube videos, where you can watch a single thief, or an entire gang, walk into an SF Walgreens or CVS and empty the shelves. Most walk in, go about their pilfering, and then walk out, though at least one thief rode their bike into the store and departed the same way, carefully navigating their two-wheeler down a narrow aisle.
We probably shouldn’t call it shoplifting anymore, since that term connotes the idea of a person trying to conceal their crime. In San Francisco, there is no attempt to conceal theft, and there is almost never any effort by store employees, including security personnel, to confront the thieves. The most they do is record the thefts with their cell phones.
Why is shoplifting so rampant? Because state law holds that stealing merchandise worth $950 or less is just a misdemeanor, which means that law enforcement probably won’t bother to investigate, and if they do, prosecutors will let it go.
Why won’t store employees do anything about this theft? Because they don’t want to take the risk. I doubt many would, knowing that a Rite Aid employee was murdered recently after trying to stop two thieves. Moreover, a confrontation within the store risks harming not only store staff but also customers, so employees are almost certainly instructed by their managers to do nothing.
Because of this law, California is extending an open invitation to anyone to walk in and take. Just like that—since they know that police or prosecutors won’t bother with a misdemeanor complaint and that store personnel won’t stop them.
It is not just pharmacies that are being ransacked. Recently, San Francisco’s Neiman Marcus was targeted by thieves who had a hankering for designer handbags and hit the purse department hard. The video shows one after another, after another, running out, as apparently there were 10 thieves, and they stole over the $950-per-thief misdemeanor limit.
This video gives a whole new meaning to the term “curbside pickup,” which is the door that the thieves departed from before they jumped into getaway vehicles. And if you are one of those who identify Neiman Marcus with “Needless Markup,” well, now you know: those markups help cover the cost of theft insurance and stolen merchandise, costs that are passed on to those who choose to acquire merchandise the old-fashioned way—by paying for it.
A host of conservatives officials who were once vocal about supporting for law enforcement are suddenly joining the “defund” movement after the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) tweeted “DEFUND THE FBI” Monday, a far cry from a March 2021 tweet in which she insisted “We must #BACKTHEBLUE!” On an episode of Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) fumed, “This is, in my opinion, the most defining moment of the Joe Biden presidency. So if that’s the diagnosis, my assessment is the antidote has to be not one more damn penny for this administrative state that has been weaponized against our people in a very fascist way.” The new messaging is at odds with the conservative tendency to unequivocally support the police, a party line that snowballed during the BLM protests of 2020. Kari Lake, Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial candidate, went a step further. “We must fire the Federal Government,” she said in a statement.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) called for the defunding of federal law enforcement for the second time in as many weeks Monday after former President Donald Trump’s home was raided by the FBI.
A call to “defund the FBI” was published on her Twitter page amid a full meltdown in the hours after it was reported Mar-a-Lago was searched by federal agents seeking documents on behalf of the National Archives.
Now you fall prey to his bogus argument that the California Supreme Court said to lower inmate count. "You see, I don't really want to argue about truth and common sense, so I'll just move the goalposts".
This is nothing but lies. It was not a California Supreme Court ruling. It was a U.S. supreme Court ruling.
Quote
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Ruling. On May 23, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the three–judge panel's ruling, declaring that “without a reduction in overcrowding, there will be no efficacious remedy for the unconstitutional care of the sick and mentally ill” inmates in California's prisons.
And the claim someone is moving the goalpost is bogus. You don't like that there is a court mandate to lower the prison population in the state of California. You don't like that the only way to lower the prison population is to be releasing more prisoners than you are sending into prisons and something had to be done to make that happen. So all you have in rebuttal is a bunch of gibberish with no substance in rebuttal. White noise.
Please explain how California is supposed to lower the prison population unless they begin sending less people into the prison system than are leaving the prison system and how else you recommend they accomplish that.
I gave you the truth. You just don't like the truth.
Now you fall prey to his bogus argument that the California Supreme Court said to lower inmate count. "You see, I don't really want to argue about truth and common sense, so I'll just move the goalposts".
This is nothing but lies. It was not a California Supreme Court ruling. It was a U.S. supreme Court ruling.
Quote
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Ruling. On May 23, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the three–judge panel's ruling, declaring that “without a reduction in overcrowding, there will be no efficacious remedy for the unconstitutional care of the sick and mentally ill” inmates in California's prisons.
And the claim someone is moving the goalpost is bogus. You don't like that there is a court mandate to lower the prison population in the state of California. You don't like that the only way to lower the prison population is to be releasing more prisoners than you are sending into prisons and something had to be done to make that happen. So all you have in rebuttal is a bunch of gibberish with no substance in rebuttal. White noise.
Please explain how California is supposed to lower the prison population unless they begin sending less people into the prison system than are leaving the prison system and how else you recommend they accomplish that.
I gave you the truth. You just don't like the truth.
Did you read the decision or did you just let someone explain it to you? Since you won't realize this was rhetorical.
Taking the prison population down to 135% of capacity from 200% of capacity is pretty easy to understand.
So the answer to the shoplifting epidemic is to reduce the prison population by 33%, right?
That's what you're co-signing? If we stop the incarceration, the thievery will stop??
Posters are talking about crime in the big cities, how it is out of hand, and why the problem is so bad. Your answer is some nonsense about $100 in the 1970s and moving the goalposts to prison populations.
This dolt literally said "the thieves need a cost of living increase"... You're co-signing.
It seems you are now in the make noise crowd. So are you trying to say that it doesn't say that?
No. I did not say that.
I asked if you read the decision. You haven't. Therefore you really don't know what SCOTUS said. You know what the state says they said. Though likely you dont really understand that either since your standard is google a phrase and paste a link.
Do you have the SCOTUS number for this one? Or case name? Something that leads to what SCOTUS published.
Taking the prison population down to 135% of capacity from 200% of capacity is pretty easy to understand.
So the answer to the shoplifting epidemic is to reduce the prison population by 33%, right?
That's what you're co-signing? If we stop the incarceration, the thievery will stop??
Posters are talking about crime in the big cities, how it is out of hand, and why the problem is so bad. Your answer is some nonsense about $100 in the 1970s and moving the goalposts to prison populations.
This dolt literally said "the thieves need a cost of living increase"... You're co-signing.
Pitiful.
It doesn't need to make sense. He's used to using impoverished logic in his arguments. It's about the fight, not the result.
I'm saying that you can't keep the same amount set forever. This specific topic was about California and that's all. You seem to think that showing why something is happening is approving of it or signing off on it. The main reason it is happening is because the SCOTUS ruled they must lower their prison population and in order to accomplish this you must find a way to let more people out of prison than you are sending into prison.
Nothing about any of that makes any claim that I approve of it or like it. It just means I understand why they did it and what it is meant to accomplish. There's a difference. All it's really doing by making these things a misdemeanor is making the sentences lighter and as a result, it sends those people to county jails instead of into the prison population. Thus lowering the amount of people being sent to prison.
I understand how people living on the streets steal food too. That doesn't mean I approve of people stealing. But there are times I understand why they do it.
It doesn't need to make sense. He's used to using impoverished logic in his arguments. It's about the fight, not the result.
And here you are with nothing of substance to add, attacking another poster while claiming they are about the fight. You provide all the evidence one needs to see through you.
It doesn't need to make sense. He's used to using impoverished logic in his arguments. It's about the fight, not the result.
And here you are with nothing of substance to add, attacking another poster while claiming they are about the fight. You provide all the evidence one needs to see through you.
Stating a fact isn't attacking. You constantly make things up so you van argue. How many times have I had to tell you I didn't say what you said I said? You've proven you credibility with the lies you post.
But of course it's always someone else. Can't even own it. Pathetic.
And there you go again. You still haven't figured out what a question mark means. Because you and others often times post things that leaves one to question exactly what it is you meant. Me included. So I certainly ask questions looking for clarification. But then you will claim asking that question is claiming you said something. I would think a man as successful as yourself you understand basic punctuation but it appears that's not the case. And you can't even own it. Pathetic.
And there you go again. You still haven't figured out what a question mark means. Because you and others often times post things that leaves one to question exactly what it is you meant. Me included. So I certainly ask questions looking for clarification. But then you will claim asking that question is claiming you said something. I would think a man as successful as yourself you understand basic punctuation but it appears that's not the case. And you can't even own it. Pathetic.
Except you flat out said I said thing. Not a question. A statement. You've also lied about what you have said when that statement became inconvenient to your argument.
And again, it's someone else's fault and you will still fail to own it.
Your BS attacks are juvenile at best. I understand how when you have nothing of substance left that's all you can do. It's not new to this forum. Trashing every discussion with personal insults to take things off track and distract those with short attention spans which disagree with the one you are attacking. I'm fully aware of how the feeding frenzy works on here. Buy you sir aren't as good at it as you think you are. In fact you're pretty bad at it.
Your BS attacks are juvenile at best. I understand how when you have nothing of substance left that's all you can do. It's not new to this forum. Trashing every discussion with personal insults to take things off track and distract those with short attention spans which disagree with the one you are attacking. I'm fully aware of how the feeding frenzy works on here. Buy you sir aren't as good at it as you think you are. In fact you're pretty bad at it.
You lie about what is said and call that an attack. You can't own your actions.
Your claims are wrong and nothing more than a personal attack to try to undermine someone you disagree with. I mean I'm not the one who claimed the Puckle gun which was invented in 1718 and only shot nine rounds per minute was somehow the same as a modern day machine gun. If we're talking about honesty here.
Wall Street ends down on nagging uncertainty about Fed rate path
By Caroline Valetkevitch
Fed raises rates by 25 basis points Advanced Micro Devices shares fall after outlook Financials, energy down the most among sectors Indexes: Dow down 0.8%, S&P 500 down 0.7%, Nasdaq down 0.5%
May 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday, reversing gains after comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell left investors wondering what the U.S. central bank's next move would be with interest rate hikes.
Indexes initially held onto gains following the Fed's statement. It increased interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, as expected, and signaled it could pause further hikes.
The unanimous decision lifted the U.S. central bank's benchmark overnight interest rate to the 5.00%-5.25% range, the 10th consecutive increase since March 2022.
Stocks started to swoon after the press conference following the statement. Powell said the Fed still views inflation as too high, and said it was too soon to say the rate hike cycle is over.
"The Fed continues to walk the tightrope, and that is they're trying to strike a balance between their inflation fighting credibility while trying to engineer a soft landing," said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.
All of the major S&P 500 sectors ended lower, with energy (.SPNY) and financials (.SPSY) down the most. The KBW regional banking index (.KRX) was down 0.9%, extending this week's sharp losses.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 270.29 points, or 0.8%, to 33,414.24, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 28.83 points, or 0.70%, to 4,090.75 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 55.18 points, or 0.46%, to 12,025.33.
Heading into the session, investors had been anxious for any signals from the U.S. central bank on whether Wednesday's increase would be the last hike for now.
"Anybody that was hoping for an inclination toward that scenario, it doesn't sound like they're getting that," said Alan Lancz, president of Alan B. Lancz & Associates Inc., an investment advisory firm based in Toledo, Ohio. "It's inconclusive."
Investors worry that higher rates will eventually tip the economy into recession.
Earlier, data showed U.S. private employers boosted hiring in April, but showed signs the labor market was slowing following several rate hikes.
A separate report showed U.S. services sector maintained a steady pace of growth in April, but higher input prices indicated inflation could remain elevated for some time.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) shares fell 9.3% after the chipmaker forecast quarterly sales below estimates due to a weak PC market.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 12.03 billion shares, compared with the 10.51 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.44-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.00-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and 12 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 64 new highs and 266 new lows.
On the positive side, we have Trans getting more rights and being referred to as the "soul of our nation" by our president. Reparations are catching on and if you say that you believe people should work for a living, you are branded as a "racist." We traded a global arms dealer who is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people across the globe for a black, female, lesbian, drug-smuggling basketball player who refused to stand for the National Anthem. All is good in the Land of the Libs.
Those articles are old. Its still going on out of control and Biden doesnt even care.
As if Goper’s give a squat.
The GOPers have been railing against the flood of illegal immigrants, their child trafficking, and their drug trafficking for YEARS. Your head has been in the sand for as many years.
The articles are not "old" and it proves that Biden has taken measures to fight against child trafficking. As per usual your rhetoric doesn't fly.
The articles are a year old, and one from early this year. The surging illegal child labor is still happening as your ass felt the need to make a new thread about it since it is way out of control. Biden sitting on his ass about illegal immigration.
My thread was about American businesses breaking child labor laws and republicans trying to pass legislation to lessen restrictions on current child labor laws. Try to keep up here rather than inventing something that didn't happen. My thread had nothing to do with child trafficking. But thanks for showing that you are just making things up as you go along.
My thread was about American businesses breaking child labor laws and republicans trying to pass legislation to lessen restrictions on current child labor laws. Try to keep up here rather than inventing something that didn't happen. My thread had nothing to do with child trafficking. But thanks for showing that you are just making things up as you go along.
Where do you think the child labor came from? Stop being obtuse.
So you're saying that republicans are trying to undermine current child labor laws is so businesses can put children who have been trafficked to work in jobs they couldn't do before? Or that the 10 year olds who were working until 2:00 A.M. were children who had been trafficked?
No I'm saying Democrats are doing nothing about child trafficking coming from an open border, which some businesses are taking advantage of. It's pretty simple. Too simple for you I guess.
And I gave you direct evidence that they do. I posted the measures they took to combat it. As we post 1500 troop are being sent to the border where there are already 2500 deployed. I know, I know... according to you that means nothing.
Simple is refusing to admit that measures have been taken to try to combat this even when the evidence of it was made perfectly clear to you.
The troops there are not doing one thing to stop child trafficking. They are there for when title 42 ends and even more illegals flood in. And your articles are outdated. This child trafficking is raging on and Biden is swinging the border doors even wider open.
So December of 2022 is outdated? You mean they haven't done anything else in five whole months!? Oh the humanity!
So helping to stop the flow of immigrants by adding 1500 additional troops does nothing to help stem the flow of children being trafficked across the border?
"What will the troops do? Will they detain migrants?
No. Troops will do “ground-based detection and monitoring, data entry, and warehouse support. … Military personnel will not directly participate in law enforcement activities. This deployment to the border is consistent with other forms of military support to DHS over many years,” Ryder said in his statement Tuesday."
Because you are clueless. The troops have nothing to do with stopping child trafficking, drug trafficking, or stemming the increasing flood of illegals.
Yes, troops are trained to fight wars, not about border control and enforcement. What the troops will be doing is taking over jobs currently being done by border patrol agents whose jobs do not place them directly with controlling the border. Thus it frees up those 1500 agents to directly help on the border. That means there will be 1500 additional people enforcing border control. You're welcome.
The troops “will not be performing law enforcement functions or interacting with immigrants, or migrants,” Jean-Pierre said. “This will free up Border Patrol agents to perform their critical law enforcement duties.”2 days ago
Having those troops there will directly aid in having 1500 more border agents directly involved in protecting our southern border. Let me guess, now you're going to say that freeing up those 1500 border agents to protect our southern border is doing nothing?
Pit, why do you put so much effort into talking to the clueless? What a complete waste of time.
It's more for people who read but don't post. These forums have a lot more people viewing than posting. Allowing such empty rhetoric to be left unchecked and unchallenged is what helped get people like trump, MTG, Boebert, Gaetz and so many other right wing extremists elected. Seeing their echo chamber being repeated here should be challenged by someone.
You see, we're not as far off than you may think. I certainly think more should be done to protect our southern border. But what I'm not for is claiming that one side does so much to stop it while the other side does nothing to stop it. This has been an issue for decades now. Through both Republican and Democrat administrations. Hell, Reagan pardoned over 2,000,00o illegals in the 1980's. And while the rhetoric we hear would indicate that Republicans are stronger on this issue, 90% of the illegal drugs entering this country come through legal ports of entry. So does much of the trafficking you speak of.
Yet it seems neither party actually focuses on that. All we hear about is Paco smuggling drugs in his backpack. Paco isn't the problem. If either and or both parties would actually focus on where the bulk of the drugs and trafficking takes place, through legal points of entry, I would be happy to hear about it. But we are being distracted by both parties.
You see, we're not as far off than you may think. I certainly think more should be done to protect our southern border. But what I'm not for is claiming that one side does so much to stop it while the other side does nothing to stop it. This has been an issue for decades now. Through both Republican and Democrat administrations. Hell, Reagan pardoned over 2,000,00o illegals in the 1980's. And while the rhetoric we hear would indicate that Republicans are stronger on this issue, 90% of the illegal drugs entering this country come through legal ports of entry. So does much of the trafficking you speak of.
Yet it seems neither party actually focuses on that. All we hear about is Paco smuggling drugs in his backpack. Paco isn't the problem. If either and or both parties would actually focus on where the bulk of the drugs and trafficking takes place, through legal points of entry, I would be happy to hear about it. But we are being distracted by both parties.
Oh really? and where did you collect that data from?
Because that how the internet works. Search engines scour the internet to index every page. Every forum has inflated user counts because of that. I've owned forums and had that problem.
87 Robots (Crawlers) Robot Location Googlebot AdSense Reading Russia blames US for drone attack on Kremlin PetalBot Reading My nomination for parent of the year Googlebot AdSense Reading Free Agency [cont.] bingbot Viewing list of forums PetalBot Reading World War Z: COVID-19 bingbot Viewing list of forums GrapeshotCrawler Reading Cuckoo Democrats And What They Have Become bingbot Reading Mason Rudolph PetalBot Reading Isaiah Simmons PetalBot Reading Free Agency Part 3 PetalBot Reading World War Z: COVID-19 PetalBot Reading Isaiah Simmons PetalBot Reading Free Agency Part 3 Applebot Reading Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Understands Politics Better Than Her Critics Applebot Reading Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Understands Politics Better Than Her Critics proximic Reading Browns News and Notes cont. trendictionbot Viewing a list of posts PetalBot Reading World War Z: COVID-19 proximic Reading Cuckoo Democrats And What They Have Become PetalBot Reading World War Z: COVID-19 PetalBot Reading Free Agency Part 3 PetalBot Reading Trades PetalBot Reading Free Agency Part 3 PetalBot Reading Imagine This ... Superbowl PetalBot Reading Covid-19 continues. PetalBot Reading Trades Baiduspider (bad_bot) Reading 2020 Dems part 4 PetalBot Reading Imagine This ... Superbowl PetalBot Reading Covid-19 continues. eBot Viewing list of forums PetalBot Reading RIP Kenny Rogers PetalBot Reading RIP Kenny Rogers PetalBot Reading Covid-19 continues. Applebot Reading Will Mayfield work head enough to be great? Applebot Reading Will Mayfield work head enough to be great? PetalBot Reading Covid-19 continues. PetalBot Reading Your Top 5 OL Prospects For The Draft trendictionbot Reading Shout out to Terrelle Pryor PetalBot Reading Your Top 5 OL Prospects For The Draft PetalBot Reading Drafting a Free Safety PetalBot Reading Trades trendictionbot Viewing a list of posts PetalBot Reading Drafting a Free Safety proximic Viewing list of forums PetalBot Reading Trades PetalBot Reading Outbreak: COVID-19: The Hot Zone GrapeshotCrawler Reading Satanists vs Christians vs White Supremecists PetalBot Reading Outbreak: COVID-19: The Hot Zone PetalBot Reading Primaries 4 Googlebot AdSense Reading Russia blames US for drone attack on Kremlin Applebot Reading Bombshell memo could end Mueller Investigation Applebot Reading Bombshell memo could end Mueller Investigation PetalBot Reading Favorite Players from Each Sport PetalBot Reading COVID-19 pt4 PetalBot Reading Favorite Players from Each Sport PetalBot Reading Free Agency Cont’d PetalBot Reading COVID-19 pt4 PetalBot Reading Free Agency Cont’d proximic Reading Satanists vs Christians vs White Supremecists PetalBot Reading Your Top 5 OL Prospects For The Draft PetalBot Reading The General Election Trump vs Biden proximic Reading Mass Shootings Continued.. PetalBot Reading Your Top 5 OL Prospects For The Draft PetalBot Reading Mock Draft Thread PetalBot Reading COVID-19 pt4 PetalBot Reading Your Top 5 OL Prospects For The Draft PetalBot Reading The General Election Trump vs Biden PetalBot Reading Mock Draft Thread PetalBot Reading COVID-19 pt4 PetalBot Reading Your Top 5 OL Prospects For The Draft trendictionbot Reading Browns pick Sione Takitaki 80th overall proximic Reading Russia blames US for drone attack on Kremlin PetalBot Reading Mock Draft Thread Googlebot AdSense Reading Browns News and Notes cont. Applebot Reading IMPEACHMENT: James Madison warned us that Trump is dangerously un-American Applebot Reading IMPEACHMENT: James Madison warned us that Trump is dangerously un-American PetalBot Reading Your Top 5 OL Prospects For The Draft PetalBot Reading Draft day one thread PetalBot Reading Your Top 5 OL Prospects For The Draft PetalBot Reading Your Top 5 OL Prospects For The Draft PetalBot Reading Your Top 5 OL Prospects For The Draft GrapeshotCrawler Reading Russia blames US for drone attack on Kremlin GrapeshotCrawler Reading January 6th Fallout p6 PetalBot Reading Draft day one thread PetalBot Reading Draft day one thread PetalBot Reading Draft day one thread proximic Reading Russia blames US for drone attack on Kremlin
Pit, why do you put so much effort into talking to the clueless? What a complete waste of time.
It's more for people who read but don't post. These forums have a lot more people viewing than posting. Allowing such empty rhetoric to be left unchecked and unchallenged is what helped get people like trump, MTG, Boebert, Gaetz and so many other right wing extremists elected. Seeing their echo chamber being repeated here should be challenged by someone.
Pit, why do you put so much effort into talking to the clueless? What a complete waste of time.
It's more for people who read but don't post. These forums have a lot more people viewing than posting. Allowing such empty rhetoric to be left unchecked and unchallenged is what helped get people like trump, MTG, Boebert, Gaetz and so many other right wing extremists elected. Seeing their echo chamber being repeated here should be challenged by someone.
Pit, why do you put so much effort into talking to the clueless? What a complete waste of time.
It's more for people who read but don't post. These forums have a lot more people viewing than posting. Allowing such empty rhetoric to be left unchecked and unchallenged is what helped get people like trump, MTG, Boebert, Gaetz and so many other right wing extremists elected. Seeing their echo chamber being repeated here should be challenged by someone.
Thank God you're here to keep the evil in check!
I, too, feel the heavy burden of needing to post articles that inevitably, over time, prove to not be accurate. I sometimes also post the articles from a couple of years ago and hope no one looks to fact-check me. If they do, I plead that it was an honest mistake...phew, I make a lot of honest mistakes! LOL! You see, it's pretty clear....if one does not post their political points of view on a football message board, it obviously means they cannot think for themselves or research issues on their own, and thus, it is incumbent upon me to think for them and post what I want them to believe, regardless if it is accurate or not. I even post for the bots well-being too as I leave no stone unturned here at Dawgtalkers. Then when I've been defeated in a debate (which happens quite a bit) I go ahead and move the goal posts, insinuate a poster means something they really don't to move the topic away from what I just got beat on, or even flat-out lie. All in the name to educate and inform the non-posters who clearly have no opinion or else they would say something on here. It's my job to spoon feed and force my version of the truth onto them....to save them!!
Pit, why do you put so much effort into talking to the clueless? What a complete waste of time.
It's more for people who read but don't post. These forums have a lot more people viewing than posting. Allowing such empty rhetoric to be left unchecked and unchallenged is what helped get people like trump, MTG, Boebert, Gaetz and so many other right wing extremists elected. Seeing their echo chamber being repeated here should be challenged by someone.
Thank God you're here to keep the evil in check!
I, too, feel the heavy burden of needing to post articles that inevitably, over time, prove to not be accurate. I sometimes also post the articles from a couple of years ago and hope no one looks to fact-check me. If they do, I plead that it was an honest mistake...phew, I make a lot of honest mistakes! LOL! You see, it's pretty clear....if one does not post their political points of view on a football message board, it obviously means they cannot think for themselves or research issues on their own, and thus, it is incumbent upon me to think for them and post what I want them to believe, regardless if it is accurate or not. I even post for the bots well-being too as I leave no stone unturned here at Dawgtalkers. Then when I've been defeated in a debate (which happens quite a bit) I go ahead and move the goal posts, insinuate a poster means something they really don't to move the topic away from what I just got beat on, or even flat-out lie. All in the name to educate and inform the non-posters who clearly have no opinion or else they would say something on here. It's my job to spoon feed and force my version of the truth onto them....to save them!!
Pit, why do you put so much effort into talking to the clueless? What a complete waste of time.
It's more for people who read but don't post. These forums have a lot more people viewing than posting. Allowing such empty rhetoric to be left unchecked and unchallenged is what helped get people like trump, MTG, Boebert, Gaetz and so many other right wing extremists elected. Seeing their echo chamber being repeated here should be challenged by someone.
Thank God you're here to keep the evil in check!
Not all heroes wear capes.
Defending the truth doesn't make you a hero but in today's times it does fill a much needed void. You're all welcome.
I had no idea that the goal of becoming an internet troll was such a lofty goal for some of you but you have obviously achieved your mission.
VP Kamala Harris is now AI czar and will oversee an effort to ensure the technology is developed responsibly. Harris will work with Microsoft, OpenAI and Google about how they can mitigate risks and work with the government. The companies will 'participate in a public evaluation.'
"I think it's very important... For us at every moment in time, and certainly this one, to seize the moment in time in which we exist. The significance of the passage of time, right? The significance of the passage of time. So when you think about it, there is great significance to the passage of time. It is time for us to do what we have been doing and that time is every day."
Pretty obvious chatGPT struggles with GOPer. You must have used an early model. Gpt4 passed the bar exam in the 90 something percentile. And both it and 3.5 converse better than 30% of Americans in ANY language. That sounds like gibberish, and I struggle to think GPT was the reason it sounds like gibberish. But AIs tend to hallucinate when confused, so answers like that often happen from poor input. Maybe try again.
Btw, that 30% number is just the percentage I’m confident AI out performs on all levels of communication. Ask it to create a report on the pros and cons.
And what does Kamala or any of the idiots in congress know about AI? She’s nothing more than a figure head ordered to reel it in so big money can hoard it. As if other countries will stop training AI because of this fear mongering and cautionary cries to think it through. SMH, this genie is out of the bottle.
Things like this are game changers. Instant strategically perfect command structures are probably important and crazy valuable, but only if it is controled restricted tech.
Not a sexual roleplay. Just anything. Dr and Patient. Teacher and Student. That thing is just a parrot that can parrot conversationally. It cant think for itself. Language model is all it is. Calling it an AI is not very accurate.
I know, the purple didn’t take. I’ve been coding with GPT4 and copilot for a couple months now and wow, just wow. But it has limitations as a raw LLM. But you can train it to be very efficient at anything for little to nothing now. And you can give them access to tons of tools, to teach you or even run themselves. The big freak out is that in the next 6 months at this pace, we could make them smarter than any human, possibly 10s to 100s of times scale. How do you control something smarter than you that thinks for itself? These things aren’t written in code, They go through a training process that basically dumps in the data and then sits back to see how they handle thinking about it. Nobody really knows what it will take to make them self aware, but they are already showing signs.I’ve been playing with an autoGPT setup, see it on GitHub, but I can see the next model if not gpt4 killing tons of jobs over the next couple years.
You should dig into it a little. All the big players are in now, it’s the future, and the future is now.
Also, you are right, there is no true AI that can act independently, autonomously, and is self aware. But when you dig into how these models can be fine tuned and trained on specific data sets and tasks, it closer than anything we’ve seen since AI was dreamed up.
Most people are playing with the free 3.5 model on openAI’s platform. You need to look into extending, training, and hosting your own interface. Then you can fine tune and train it, give it access to data you want it trained on. This process builds a vector DB giving it long term memory that will allow you to create filter models called tranformers to put between GPT and the end task. These turn them into great tools. The talking heads are crapping on them and have no clue what is actually possible. People are creating all kinds of high functioning crap with these models right now.
You need to look into extending, training, and hosting your own interface. Then you can fine tune and train it, give it access to data you want it trained on. This process builds a vector DB giving it long term memory that will allow you to create filter models called tranformers to put between GPT and the end task. .
Where are instructions on how to do this? I want to put it to work for me.
This is what happens when your 'marketing executive' calls your customers "out of touch", sticks her nose in the air, and says "onward and upward"... Now her feelings are hurt and she's taken a leave of absence. That worked out well.
Bud Light offers free beer in response to Dylan Mulvaney backlash, drop in sales Updated: May. 04, 2023, 11:35 a.m.|Published: May. 04, 2023, 11:01 a.m. Bud Light cans
FILE - Cans of Bud Light beer are seen in Washington, Thursday Jan. 10, 2019. The marketing executive who oversaw a partnership between Bud Light and a transgender influencer is taking a leave of absence after it snowballed into cries for boycotts from some angry customers, according to media reports, Friday, April 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
By Leada Gore | lgore@al.com Faced with steep drop in sales, the maker of Bud Light is offering free beer to help soothe relations with distributors.
Anheuser-Busch has pledged to give a case of Bud Light to every employee of an Anheuser-Busch wholesaler, Wall Street Journal reported. The country’s largest brewer has also pledged to boost its marketing spending on Bud Light.
The efforts are in response to the backlash after Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender social media influencer, released an Instagram video promoting Bud Light. The April 1 post prompted an immediate backlash and calls for a boycott.
According to WSJ, in the week ending April 22, Bud Light’s U.S. retail-store sales fell 21.4% over the same period from last year. Meanwhile, sales of rival brands Coors Light and Miller Lite grew by an almost equal amount.
You need to look into extending, training, and hosting your own interface. Then you can fine tune and train it, give it access to data you want it trained on. This process builds a vector DB giving it long term memory that will allow you to create filter models called tranformers to put between GPT and the end task. .
Where are instructions on how to do this? I want to put it to work for me.
Bill holds some of the key to those Gates. Ask him. Or the Chinese Government. Or the Russian oligarchs. Enjoy your search.
Oh the outrage! "Mah beer is advertising to everyone! No more drink mah beer! Murica!" Another tantrum from the right. But it's not new. trump was calling for boycotts of every company that questioned him. He taught them well.
When 'your beer' says it's tired of an "out of touch" clientele and a "frat boy" mentality. Then sticks their nose in the air and exclaims "onward and upward"?
Obviously you're missing the point for the sake of... well... looks like blaming Trump.
That's not how or why any of this started and you know that. It started over a simple ad done by a transsexual. Of course it only makes sense that people try to divert attention away from that by things that were stated later, after the boycott was called for.
This was done AFTER the uproar of the add and the call to boycott Bud Light. Not before. You do understand what a timeline is, right? Trying to pretend that comments that came after the boycott was called for somehow change the mentality of why the boycott was called for in the first place is nonsensical.
There are a myriad of energy efficient appliances on the market. First you whine about appliances becoming energy efficient then do a whatabout by making an immigration inference. There isn't a single answer to saving the planet. It's a multitude of measures working together. But as per usual, the answer from you is that since a single measure won't solve everything, we should do nothing.
You may wish to ask people who live in states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Kansas, New Mexico and Nevada how important it is to preserve our water supply. But nah, you seem to act like it isn't important. There's a lot of Republicans out there who understand just how precious their water is becoming unlike you it seems.
It certainly was a marketing ploy that backfired. The funniest part of why that happened however can't be ignored. Well I guess it could be if one chooses to. I certainly wasn't a fan or consumer of it. The only beer Anheuser-Busch ever made that I could stand was Michelob and it was low on my list.
And it is okay for people decide what products they purchase and the reasoning for why they do or do not purchase those products. This one just happened to be hilarious.
There are a myriad of energy efficient appliances on the market.
Thanks for making my point for me! No need to mandate anything. For a vast majority of consumers, that's their number two consideration anyway... right behind brand trust / loyalty. All appliances have become more, and more, and more efficient as time has gone on anyway. Who mandated appliance energy labels? Carter? Reagan? Not sure, but that was genius. People care -- mostly because we all pay electric bills. Mandating does nothing more than give huge corps a rubber stamp for massive price increases. So, unless obscene profits will save the planet, dumb ideas like this will be ineffective.
Once again, tell people in those states running out of water that this wasn't something needed and right away. You seem to indicate that it's manufacturers on their own who somehow decided to make their products more energy efficient. Well it's not so....
About the Appliance and Equipment Standards Program
There isn't some limitless supply of everything. Especially water that everyone needs to survive. Saving water is essential to everyone. And somebody has to be smart enough to see that and do something to help preserve it. I actually can't believe ths is a hill you chose to stand on. Well, okay I can.
There are a myriad of energy efficient appliances on the market.
Thanks for making my point for me! No need to mandate anything. For a vast majority of consumers, that's their number two consideration anyway... right behind brand trust / loyalty. All appliances have become more, and more, and more efficient as time has gone on anyway. Who mandated appliance energy labels? Carter? Reagan? Not sure, but that was genius. People care -- mostly because we all pay electric bills. Mandating does nothing more than give huge corps a rubber stamp for massive price increases. So, unless obscene profits will save the planet, dumb ideas like this will be ineffective.
#butitswokesoletsallgobroke
Most dishwashers today already come close to the new standards but we have to have government cause, government.
As I said before, claiming that a single measure in and of itself isn't the total solution is used as an excuse to do nothing to help work towards a solution. Nothing better than watching you prove my point.
Let's ban dishwashers and tell people not to shower every day. Just don't look at the hundreds of golf courses in the desert that use millions upon millions of gallons water to keep grass green where it wasn't meant to grow. Those old politicians just don't want to give up their golf.
Golf courses use a great deal of water for irrigation and other purposes. A typical 150-acre golf course uses approximately 200 million gallons of water a year, enough to supply 1,800 residences with 300 GPD of water.
Dishwashers Are Already Efficient
By DOMINIC PINO May 8, 2023 5:38 PM
The Biden administration wants stricter efficiency requirements for dishwashers in an effort to make them greener. It would likely backfire.
Bloomberg reports:
Under the Energy Department’s proposed standard, conventional household dishwashers made in or imported into the US as soon as 2027 would have to use 27% less power and 34% less water — no more than 3.3 gallons during their normal, default cycles. Compact models would see a 22% and 11% reduction in power and water use, respectively. The requirements would not apply to other dishwasher cycles, including those with faster run times.
Less powerful dishwashers may use less water, but they could also yield dishes that are less clean. In response, people would likely do one of two things: run the dishwasher more than once or clean more dishes in the sink before or after putting them in the dishwasher.
If your dishwasher uses 34 percent less water per load, but you run it twice, you’re using more water than if you only ran it once. Since the proposed rule would only apply to default cycles, people would be more likely to use heavier cycles more often. And dishwashers, even less efficient ones, are more water-efficient than washing dishes in the sink.
Kitchen-sink faucets generally have flow rates around 1.5–2 gallons per minute, so if you leave it on the whole time and it takes you ten minutes to wash the dishes, you’re using 15–20 gallons of water. Even if you turn it on and off and only run it for a total of five minutes, that’s 7.5–10 gallons of water.
The most common dishwashers on the market right now use less than four gallons of water per load. Even old dishwashers, which are less efficient, would be very unlikely to use more than 12 gallons per load.
As usual with environmentalist crusades, the target is poorly chosen and the “solution” is likely to aggravate people, with no benefit to the planet.
Let's start anywhere that accomplishes anything and continue from there. You seem to equate accomplishing little with accomplishing nothing. Those aren't the same thing.
You really, really can't make up that some people think nothing should be done unless it will fix everything all at once.
You also make up that some people who belive any propaganda stuck in doing of them, especially shrink they don't need to think for themselves and can just belive "the science"
Exactly my point. But y’all so up into BLM about their crap. At least their black supremacy terror group makes their P&L statements public.
I wish MSNBC or CNN would have looked into the finances of white supremacy groups and be all into their crap!!!!!!!!!
Of course you do. Lol …then you’ll pick and choose and blame the media outlets of your choice and not the white supremacy groups. Nothing new here. Rinse repeat.
Just something I found that should help make some of you feel better......
Protester involved in pulling down abolitionist’s statue in Wisconsin gets 6 months in jail
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A man who drove the car that helped pull down the statue of a Civil War hero and abolitionist outside of the Wisconsin state Capitol during a night of protests in 2020 has been sentenced to six months in jail.
The statue of Hans Christian Heg was toppled and beheaded during a protest in downtown Madison in June 2020 against police brutality. Protests began a month earlier over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and flared up again that June after Madison police arrested a Black activist.
Kelsey D. Nelson, 33, was sentenced for his role in damaging the Heg statue and for looting a nearby jewelry store about a month earlier, the Wisconsin State Journal reported Friday.
Nelson apologized in court, saying he was “someone who was trying to make a difference.”
“I was just a person who woke up and saw the injustice done to a man named George Floyd,” Nelson said. “Am I going to say what I did was right? I am not.”
Nelson was also ordered to pay $5,000 to the jewelry store, a cost to be shared with two other people, and $2,500 to the state Department of Administration for the damage to the Heg statue, a cost to be shared with four others.
Most of the original Heg statue has been restored, but the head was stolen and had to be recreated. A man convicted of misdemeanor theft for stealing the head has since returned it to the state.
I almost posted this in the what the hell's wrong with people thread because it would certainly fit there as well. But sometimes you just feel like being nice and throwing a dog a bone.
Just one more because I'm in an extra giving mood today.....
Federal prosecutors probing Menendez over luxury gifts: report
The Department of Justice is looking into whether Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was given expensive gifts, headlined by a Mercedes-Benz, a luxury Washington apartment, jewelry and money, according to reports.
The main question for DOJ investigators centers around whether the gifts were from the owner or associates of IS EG Halal, based in Edgewater, N.J. The company was handed an exclusive contract to conduct Halal meat certification with the Egyptian government.
As NBC News notes, the move was made despite the company having no prior experience in that area, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture officials.
Menendez, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, last week denied he was involved in any wrongdoing.
“I am sure it is going to end up in absolutely nothing,” Menendez said.
Sources told NBC News that Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, is heading up the probe into whether Menendez or his wife, Nadine Arslanian, received any gifts and whether the Senate Democrat took any official action in return.
According to Senate rules, items given to a lawmaker are considered gifts if a senator “has reason to believe the gift was given because of the official position.”
A Menendez spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Wael Hana, IS EG Halal’s owner, denied that any gifts were provided to Menendez or his wife.
“Allegations about cars, apartments, cash and jewelry being provided by anyone associated with IS EG Halal to Sen. Menendez or his wife at all, let alone in exchange for any kind of favorable treatment, are totally without basis,” the spokesperson told NBC.
IS EG Halal won the exclusive contract in 2019 over a number of other companies that were subsequently cut off by the Egyptian government, swinging millions of dollars in its direction.
Menendez’s most recent financial disclosure does not include any mention of a Washington apartment or a Mercedes-Benz.
This is not Menendez’s first run-in with prosecutors as he was indicted on federal corruption charges in 2015. The charges were dropped in 2018 after a jury was unable to reach a verdict .
So it appears the DOJ does investigate Democrats too unlike the popular theme of the GOP. I wonder if anyone will call this politically motivated or a witch hunt? Maybe a pardon? Hah....
If using the term ‘biological women’ is offensive, "exclusionary", and "further reinforces heteronormativity" (gthoh)... what term are you supposed to use, to differentiate, when your topic is men performing in womens sports??
University of Cincinnati student alleges professor failed her for using the term ‘biological women’
A sophomore at the University of Cincinnati claims that her professor gave her a zero on a college project for using the term “biological women.”
Olivia Krolczyk, 20, said the professor for her Women’s Gender Studies in Pop Culture class failed her for using the “exclusionary” term despite admitting that she submitted a “solid proposal,” the student told The Post.
The course instructed students to pick a topic related to feminism, with Krolczyk choosing to research the changes female athletes have experienced throughout history and the rights and opportunities they have been awarded and fought for in athletics.
Her project discussed things from the first woman to compete in the Olympic Games to the fight that female athletes like Riley Gaines are making for proposed changes to Title IX.
The chemistry major said her project ended by sharing how “these rights and opportunities are being threatened by allowing men to compete in women’s sports.”
Krolczyk, who hasn’t identified the professor for fear she may be subjected to online harassment, first made the claim in a now-viral TikTok, which has been viewed more than 2.5 million times.
The clip shares an apparent photo of the zero grade and the professor’s comment, which reads, “Olivia, this is a solid proposal. However, the terms ‘biological women’ are exclusionary and are not allowed in this course as they further reinforce heteronormativity.”
“The final grade is based on the very few assignments we have, adding up to 200 total points. All grades relating to this specific project add up to 100 points, which is half of my grade,” Krolczyk told The Post.
“The project in general was very broad and the students had a lot of freedom to pick a topic.”
The undergrad — who competed in cross-country and track throughout high school and the beginning of her college career before transferring to the University of Cincinnati — said she followed the professor’s instructions to a tee, including using three sources from the class and formatting the paper to the teacher’s requirements.
“The directions for the assignment in which I received a zero on specifically state, ‘This exercise is developmental. Thoughtful proposals submitted on time will receive full credit.’ I turned in my assignment on time and I can guarantee 100% that my proposal was extremely thoughtful,” she insisted.
Krolczyk also said she had contacted the university’s Gender Equality office, which told her it would have a different professor review and grade her work — but she has yet to see her grade change nearly two weeks later.
The student also claims this was not the first time she’s run into issues with this professor.
Krolczyk said she was rebuked when she pushed back during a class discussion and argued that generalizing all white men as having privilege is “not fair.”
“She commented that something along the lines of it being necessary and important to recognize privilege and oppression. I was docked on my grade,” the student alleged.
The University of Cincinnati said the matter is being reviewed through its established policies and processes.
The Post has reached out to the professor for comment.
Krolczyk said she decided to speak out because she feels “the issue is not being taken seriously” by the university.
“Standing up for free speech in education is more important. If we as a student body take action instead of conforming to the professor’s ideology, we can hopefully start changing our universities back to a place where stating simple biology isn’t punished and conflicting opinions are encouraged,” she told The Post.
“I can confidently say within my university and many across the country, dissenting opinions are frowned upon and the views of the professors are affecting their abilities to teach,” she proclaimed.
“Regardless of what the course is, and what the assignment is, a professor assigning a zero on something that was turned in on time and is of high academic value is extreme.”
Krolczkyk said political ideologies being injected into universities is turning young Americans off wanting to go.
“There are more and more people avoiding college, or finding the cheapest possible options simply because universities are losing their respect as educators and are building the reputation as indoctrinators of ‘wokeness,’” she said.
Members of the Georgia state assembly cannot be ticketed for speeding while the state assembly is in session. That’s just the way it is. Some people get a pass on the stupid s they do.
Gavin Newsome proposes a new constitutional amendment. This wouldn't repeal the second amendment, it would clarify how it works. On the surface this is a move that looks like he is trying to use the actual process to make changes, but I suspect it is a campaign talking point for when he tosses his hat in for a Presidential run.
I also like he is now admitting that the second amendment protects those "assault weapons" and the only way to ban them is to change the constitution.
You're hilarious. There's nothing here to argue about. Trying to make an issue out of composting is just plain stupid. Some people just don't appreciate humor.
You're hilarious. There's nothing here to argue about. Trying to make an issue out of composting is just plain stupid. Some people just don't appreciate humor.
Former Nashua lawmaker charged with distributing sex abuse images, say police By Paul Feely Union Leader Staff Jun 22, 2023 Updated Jun 23, 2023 Stacie Laughton
LAUGHTON Facebook Twitter Linkedin SMS Email Save Former state Rep. Stacie Marie Laughton of Derry, the first openly transgender person elected to the N.H. House of Representatives, was arrested Thursday by Nashua police on charges she allegedly distributed child sexual abuse images, officials said.
On Tuesday, June 20, Nashua police responded to a local facility for a juvenile matter, officials said in a release. Officers spoke with individuals there who indicated Laughton allegedly distributed sexually explicit images of children, police said.
Detectives from the Special Investigations Division applied for and were granted a warrant for Laughton’s arrest. She was arrested Thursday with distribution of child sexual abuse images. She was also charged with three additional counts of distribution of child sexual abuse images, Nashua police said.
Laughton was held on preventative detention, and is scheduled to be arraigned at Hillsborough Superior Court-South on Friday.
Laughton, a former Democratic state representative from Nashua, resigned her Ward 4 seat in the House in December 2022.
At the time, Laughton posted a video on Facebook announcing her resignation to friends, family and supporters.
“As of today, I’m no longer a state representative which is very disappointing, but I’m going to come back to it,” Laughton says in the video. “I will be attending mental health court and getting some counseling and trying to get my life back on track. I’m not perfect. Even in the future I still won’t be perfect but I will be a better version of myself and better able to handle situations that come my way. In two years, the next state election, I will run for state representative again.”
According to published reports, Laughton was arrested for stalking in September 2022, and again later that same year.
Laughton was arrested on a warrant in Hudson on a stalking order charge, and accused by police of communicating with the victim on social media on Nov. 8.
She was also accused of stalking and harassment, according to Nashua police.
After it became clear Laughton wasn’t present at the State House for the swearing in of House members on Organization Day in December 2022, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley called on Laughton to resign.
In her December 2022 Facebook message, Laughton said she’s been “dealing with a lot.”
“I’m alive, I’m safe, I’m well,” Laughton says in the video. “I’m not suicidal, and just trying to get by every day with what I’ve been dealt. I don’t know what the future holds but I do know this — there’s a lot of good opportunities out there for me to serve, and a lot of good opportunities for me to still stay connected with everyone and I plan to do that.”
In 2008, Laughton was convicted of conspiracy to commit credit card fraud while living in Laconia as a man.
After winning election in 2012, Laughton resigned after the felony conviction came to light.
And, in 2015, Laughton was sentenced to a suspended six-month jail term for reporting a bomb threat at a local hospital and voluntarily admitted herself to a mental health and addiction treatment facility in Vermont.
On Nov. 8, 2022, Laughton finished second in the race for three seats in Nashua Ward 4, the most Democratic ward in the city.
Democrat Marc Plamondon, a former Nashua alderman, defeated Republican nominee David Narkunas, 151-60, in a special election last month to fill Laughton’s former seat.
Democrat Biden "will always take a call from his grandchildren", any of the 6. But he has 7.
Wow - my parents will make a 2 hour drive to watch an adopted grandson and granddaughter play sports, or to be at grandparents day at school. Oh, they're republicans, also.
(notice how DUMB it is to label a group based on a small part of that group anyone?)
Boy, we’re scraping the bottom of the old HATE BIDEN barrel today! SMH. Right-wing writers must have learned he’s slaying jobs and growth, dwarfing Trumps BS accomplishments. Joe Biden may very well be the best President we could have had in this peculiar time (AT-after Trump). He has taken everything the right could throw at him and made use of it to do as much fixing of the country as possible. I can’t wait until he adds 4 new dem Justices to SCOTUS… I think it’s coming sooner rather than later.
Well, he is part of that baby-eating pizza basement cabal run by Wicked Hillary, so there's that- Just a little nibble to check for ripeness... I'm guessing a few more weeks, since he didn't leave with the kid-
I can now see tons of TV commercials about Biden studdering/misquoting/falling/walking in the wrong direction/being handheld by world leaders/sniffing kids/can't go to meetings because he needs a nap/etc of things he does this fall.
If I was running against him... I wouldn't do anything else. I would just show 30-60 seconds of the stuff above.
Closing frame:
Biden doesn't have what it takes. Vote Superbowldogg for President in 2024
I guess posting them both together would show just how far America has fallen. When on one hand you have a candidate in his 80's the seems lost sometimes and on the other hand have a 77 year old narcissist who is a perpetual liar to choose from that has been criminally indicted twice.... so far, it just goes to show you how terrible the two party system in this nation has become.
AMEN, it is unbelievable to think both parties are led by such losers. Rome lasted 500 years- broken by corruption, division of empire/ two party system completely split, and invasions- we are invaded daily by folks with little/ no concept of what an American is- only motivation is money. We are in real trouble.
I guess posting them both together would show just how far America has fallen. When on one hand you have a candidate in his 80's the seems lost sometimes and on the other hand have a 77 year old narcissist who is a perpetual liar to choose from that has been criminally indicted twice.... so far, it just goes to show you how terrible the two party system in this nation has become.
I agree. We need a middle party desperately.
Trump is really not the other candidate. He has 0% chance of being on the Republican ticket.
I have a feeling it will be some unknown candidate (or Desantis) vs Biden.
I guess posting them both together would show just how far America has fallen. When on one hand you have a candidate in his 80's the seems lost sometimes and on the other hand have a 77 year old narcissist who is a perpetual liar to choose from that has been criminally indicted twice.... so far, it just goes to show you how terrible the two party system in this nation has become.
I agree. We need a middle party desperately.
Trump is really not the other candidate. He has 0% chance of being on the Republican ticket.
I have a feeling it will be some unknown candidate (or Desantis) vs Biden.
I don't feel the same as you. I think that there is almost overwhelming odds that trump will win the repub nomination. The R primary polling data have not been moved at all
I just saw a clip with Maggie Haberman. She said that her sources that are close to trump are basically telling him the only way he doesn't go to jail is that he has to delay all cases and win the election. And that is basically win the general election at all costs. He will fight like a cornered rat
I guess posting them both together would show just how far America has fallen. When on one hand you have a candidate in his 80's the seems lost sometimes and on the other hand have a 77 year old narcissist who is a perpetual liar to choose from that has been criminally indicted twice.... so far, it just goes to show you how terrible the two party system in this nation has become.
I agree. We need a middle party desperately.
Trump is really not the other candidate. He has 0% chance of being on the Republican ticket.
I have a feeling it will be some unknown candidate (or Desantis) vs Biden.
I don't feel the same as you. I think that there is almost overwhelming odds that trump will win the repub nomination. The R primary polling data have not been moved at all
I just saw a clip with Maggie Haberman. She said that her sources that are close to trump are basically telling him the only way he doesn't go to jail is that he has to delay all cases and win the election. And that is basically win the general election at all costs. He will fight like a cornered rat
almost all of our Republican friends have said they will not vote for him and they will vote for any other Republican in the primary.
there are only 3 couples who are super extreme that will.
And that's great if you believe in anecdotal evidence based on your friends. However the polls indicate he is leading the race for the Republican nomination by a huge margin. I mean it's not even close by any stretch of the imagination. So it's not as if your prediction is impossible but it will take a huge shift of republican party voters and that will take a lot of doing.
To top that, none of them is taking an alternative approach, save for maybe Christie, that I can think of. Many are trying to out-Trump Trump. That's like me trying to run the zone stretch offense better than Kyle Shanahan.
I know things like science and medical experts aren't something you approve of obviously. I mean of course your feelings are more important than any of that.....
Medical Organization Statements
Leading medical groups recognize the medical necessity of treatments for gender dysphoria and endorse such treatments. Most of these groups have also explicitly rejected insurance exclusions for transgender-related care.
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry American Academy of Dermatology American Academy of Family Physicians American Academy of Nursing American Academy of Pediatrics American Academy of Physician Assistants American College Health Association American College of Nurse-Midwives American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists American College of Physicians American Counseling Association American Heart Association American Medical Association American Medical Student Association American Nurses Association American Osteopathic Association American Psychiatric Association American Psychological Association American Public Health Association American Society of Plastic Surgeons Endocrine Society Federation of Pediatric Organizations GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health National Association of Social Workers National Commission on Correctional Health Care Pediatric Endocrine Society Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine World Medical Association World Professional Association for Transgender Health
I belong in the group who made decisions for my child while she was growing up. As for my child I would not have approved of such a surgery. But what I won't do, which you seem quite willing to do, is interfere with the decision of other parents decisions for their children based on the fact that so many medical professionals approve of it and how people raise their children is none of my business.
That's the same way Republicans used to feel but not anymore.
I belong in the group who made decisions for my child while she was growing up. As for my child I would not have approved of such a surgery. But what I won't do, which you seem quite willing to do, is interfere with the decision of other parents decisions for their children based on the fact that so many medical professionals approve of it and how people raise their children is none of my business.
That's the same way Republicans used to feel but not anymore.
Oh suddenly you care about parents decisions? That is not the libtard way.
As long as they're not dictating their beliefs on every other parents children. And maybe you're beginning to find out that not everyone that disagrees with you is a libtard. At least I understand that not every Republican is some MAGA extremist. There may be some hope left for you yet.
What are your thoughts on Jehovah's Witness children and blood transfusions?
Parents of Jehovah's Witness children do not want their children to get blood transfusions even if it is to save their lives. The courts have determined that this is child abuse and these parents are not allowed to prohibit a blood transfusion if deemed necessary by doctors to save the child's life.
1, Do you think parents of Jehovah's Witness children should be allowed to refuse blood transfusions for their children?
2, if no, how is this different? The blood transfusion is I believe religious doctrine forJehovah's Witness. Wouldn't that make it even more compelling?
Letting kids serve alcohol to adults is cool though, I’m sure nothing could go wrong there…
Being 100% honest here for a moment, I don’t really believe in the underage transition either. But I also know it’s none of my damn business. The right keeps missing that memo.
As long as the kid, the parents or guardians, and the medical team is onboard; who am I to say they can’t? And it’s not as if they wake up one day and say, I feel like a transgender kid and then the next day they get a sex change. This prOdessa takes years to my understanding. Years with hormones, psychological evaluations, constant monitoring, and information exchange.
The truth of the matter is GOPers don’t like the trans community being out and open and kids talking about it because little Johnny MAGA might come out as Susie lgbtQ and embarrass his parents. GOPers want all non white non Christian non straight folks to move into the shadows so they can live in pretend world with Donald.
Just curious as to why the line is drawn here, and not the fact that underage kids can get any sort of elective surgeries with parents consent.
Nose and boob jobs are fine, no sex changes though.
So, you feel that castrating sexually and mentally immature children is ok. I know what group you belong in.
So kids who get elective surgeries aren’t mentally immature children as well? Somehow, they’re different, right?
Those parents who allow their kids to get those elective surgeries like cosmetic work, are they not groomers helping to sexualize children, by your own standard?
Or is that different. All I want to know is what’s the standard.
Just curious as to why the line is drawn here, and not the fact that underage kids can get any sort of elective surgeries with parents consent.
Nose and boob jobs are fine, no sex changes though.
So, you feel that castrating sexually and mentally immature children is ok. I know what group you belong in.
So kids who get elective surgeries aren’t mentally immature children as well? Somehow, they’re different, right?
Those parents who allow their kids to get those elective surgeries like cosmetic work, are they not groomers helping to sexualize children, by your own standard?
Or is that different. All I want to know is what’s the standard.
What 12 year olds are getting boob jobs? Plastic surgery is superficial. Castration is a catastrophic change to your body that is irrevsible and not to mention makes you infertile. A child isnt mature enough to make that decision.
Funny, some kids build million dollar businesses before 18, but they are not supposed to be allowed to sign contracts or make life decisions. They don’t worry about that crap when they come recruiting them for the military at 16 and 17 though, and they will wait until the kids 18th to let them sign without parental consent, or get the parents to sign off. Where is the GOPer outrage about that? I had several friends go through boot camp at 17.
President Joe Biden’s economic policies drove an unexpected economic surge that has forced Morgan Stanley to make a “sizable upward revision” in its GDP forecasts. Biden’s 2021 infrastructure bill has created “a boom in large-scale infrastructure,” wrote MS analysts, while domestic business investment “is rebounding, led by manufacturing.”
Drew Angerer | Getty Images WASHINGTON — Morgan Stanley is crediting President Joe Biden’s economic policies with driving an unexpected surge in the U.S. economy that is so significant that the bank was forced to make a “sizable upward revision” to its estimates for U.S. gross domestic product.
Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is “driving a boom in large-scale infrastructure,” wrote Ellen Zentner, chief U.S. economist for Morgan Stanley, in a research note released Thursday. In addition to infrastructure, “manufacturing construction has shown broad strength,” she wrote.
As a result of these unexpected swells, Morgan Stanley now projects 1.9% GDP growth for the first half of this year. That’s nearly four times higher than the bank’s previous forecast of 0.5%.
“The economy in the first half of the year is growing much stronger than we had anticipated, putting a more comfortable cushion under our long-held soft landing view,” Zentner wrote.
The analysts also doubled their original estimate for GDP growth in the fourth quarter, to 1.3% from 0.6%. Looking into next year, they raised their forecast for real GDP in 2024 by a tenth of a percent, to 1.4%.
“The narrative behind the numbers tells the story of industrial strength in the U.S,” Zentner wrote.
Morgan Stanley’s revision came at a pivotal time for the Biden White House. The president has spent the summer crisscrossing the country, touting his economic achievements. “Together we are transforming the country, not just through jobs, not just through manufacturing, but also by rebuilding our infrastructure,” Biden said Thursday during a visit to a Philadelphia shipyard.
The White House has dubbed this brick-and-mortar economic growth formula “Bidenomics,” a phrase originally used by Republicans to jab the president, who co-opted the term as a badge of honor.
In addition to his legacy, Biden has also staked his 2024 reelection bid on Bidenomics, betting that strong economic growth and a campaign built around kitchen table issues will ultimately drown out Republicans’ culture war outrage.
This could be a risky wager, however. The latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey, released Thursday, found that just 37% of respondents approved of Biden’s handling of the economy, while 58% disapproved. Only 20% of Americans agreed that the economy was excellent or good, while a whopping 79% said it was just fair or poor, CNBC’s poll found.
Republicans have seized on voters’ economic pessimism to argue that Biden is ignoring everyday Americans’ ongoing challenges with high interest rates and inflation that has fallen some, but still sits above pre-pandemic levels.
“Bidenomics is about blind faith in government spending and regulation,” GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in a statement Friday. “It’s an economic disaster where government causes decades-high inflation, high gas prices, lower paychecks and crippling uncertainty that leaves America worse off.”
With 16 months to go before Americans cast their ballots for president, Biden’s political fortunes, for the moment, appear to be improving along with the economy.
“This report confirms what we’ve long said: Our strong and resilient economy is Bidenomics in action,” White House assistant press secretary Mike Kikukawa said in an email to CNBC.
“The president’s economic agenda is spurring investments in manufacturing and infrastructure that are creating jobs and supporting workers.”
Since this was a subject of conversation several hours ago:
EXCLUSIVE: Trans surgery nightmares revealed: 81% endure pain in the five years after gender-change procedures, more than half say having sex is painful - and a third are left incontinent, survey shows
What are the risks or complications of gender affirmation surgery?
Different procedures carry different risks. For example, individuals who have bottom surgery may have changes to their sexual sensation, or trouble with bladder emptying. In general, significant complications are rare, as long as an experienced surgeon is performing the procedure.
With any surgery, there is a small risk of complications, including:
Bleeding. Infection. Side effects of anesthesia.
What is the outlook for people who have gender affirmation surgery?
Most people who choose these surgeries experience an improvement in their quality of life. Depending on the procedure, 94% to 100% of people report being satisfied with their surgery results. In general, people who work with a mental health provider before surgery tend to experience more satisfaction with their treatment results.
All you people who wouldnt castrate your kids but advocate for other people castrating their kids for the sake of pushing a liberal agenda need to take a long hard look in the mirror.
Trying to dictate your beliefs on other parents choices seems to be the biggest issue here. You seem to have a lack of being able to grasp the difference between advocating that parents have a choice as advocating for the choice they decide to make. It's the same thing ya'll do with abortion. You don't have to agree with someones choices to understand they have a right to make those choices whether you agree with them or not.
While the over 20+ medical affiliations approve and the parents who actually live with those children, you believe it's you and those who think the way you do that knows what's in the best interests of their children? See that's the problem here. Neither you nor I have been faced with this situation. As such we have no idea what's in the best interest of their children in each individual case. It has shown to lessen suicides by these children. For someone to care about the life of these children I think them being alive is an important part of that.
While I'm not for it as it pertains to myself or my child when she was growing up, she was also never confused about her sexuality. It's easy to second guess a situation you have never been faced with.
Common sense says don't castrate children. And the government agrees with me. Which is why this barbaric practice is being outlawed. If you want to be obtuse about it, that's your problem. Enjoy being wrong.
Seriously??? You can’t see the difference between a nose job and cutting a little boys nuts off??? Wow!! And just for accuracy sake, you cannot change a person’s sex.
Seriously??? You can’t see the difference between a nose job and cutting a little boys nuts off??? Wow!! And just for accuracy sake, you cannot change a person’s sex.
in the realm of mental illness - which the right really pushes - then there is no difference. those are elective surgeries based on feelings, regardless of what those feelings happen to be. and they are elective surgeries that minors can get with parent's consent. at the end of the day, right to choose. if you're not gonna say anything about the young girl pressured to get a boob job and nose job for beauty pageants, i'm not gonna take you seriously when you complain about some kid wanting to change their bodies based on how they feel.
i don't see the difference because none exist. those are decisions that those minors and their parents have to live with. ya know, freedom.
Tell us that when your 14 year old daughter comes to you and says she is really a man and wants to have her uterus removed. Yenno, because it is the same as cosmetic surgery. Live your delusion.
Seriously??? You can’t see the difference between a nose job and cutting a little boys nuts off??? Wow!! And just for accuracy sake, you cannot change a person’s sex.
in the realm of mental illness - which the right really pushes - then there is no difference. those are elective surgeries based on feelings, regardless of what those feelings happen to be. and they are elective surgeries that minors can get with parent's consent. at the end of the day, right to choose. if you're not gonna say anything about the young girl pressured to get a boob job and nose job for beauty pageants, i'm not gonna take you seriously when you complain about some kid wanting to change their bodies based on how they feel.
i don't see the difference because none exist. those are decisions that those minors and their parents have to live with. ya know, freedom.
And actually, you're projecting your feelings on gopers. We would never say those are equivalent. It's your liberal extremist agenda to make them equal.
A teen who thinks her nose is too big or her boobs too small has self esteem issues. A young boy who thinks he is a girl has serious mental health issues and needs to be treated. IMO a young boy almost never comes to the conclusion he is a girl on his own. He is guided.
Does anyone know if genital mutilation of females by Muslim parents is oki dokie now??
I think we are going to see lots of studies published in the near future. I just read one in pubmed done in Sweden, a country very accepting of the process, that death rates, suicide rates, rate of suicide attempt and admissions to mental health facilities of the post surgery people were all well above the rates for the comparison group.
I searched for longitudinal studies demonstrating substantial improvement but found little. It is funny how we have attempted to make people comfortable coming forward with mental health issues for treatment while we ignore this that is clearly just that, a mental health issue.
Could you find and post the data this article is using to draw its conclusion. It is odd that no data is shown and no author is listed. Seems more like an information piece than a legitimate data driven study.
Self esteem issues, and/or depression and other mental health issues. The fact that you think it’s just only one thing shows you’re not ready for the complexity of this topic.
At the end of the day, mind your business. Whatever that kid decides they want their gender to me is something that doesn’t violate your individual rights in any way shape of form. They can be whoever the hell they want as long as they end of being productive members of society.
I’m sure you don’t want anybody telling you want you’re allowed to do with your own body. How bout you keep that same energy. Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it should be illegal.
Well the govt says its illegal whether you like it or not. The govt is forced to step in for the welfare of the child because wacko libtards are cutting their kids junk off. I'd be ok with child services taking the child away.
All you people who wouldnt castrate your kids but advocate for other people castrating their kids for the sake of pushing a liberal agenda need to take a long hard look in the mirror.
You do a whole lotta putting words in other peoples mouths..
All you people who wouldnt castrate your kids but advocate for other people castrating their kids for the sake of pushing a liberal agenda need to take a long hard look in the mirror.
You do a whole lotta putting words in other peoples mouths..
Yes she does. So liberal agendas are labeled here as enabling castration of kids now? Ok. Tit for tat…I guess we won’t count the death toll of the conservative agendas enabling the mass murder of our school children.
Seriously??? You can’t see the difference between a nose job and cutting a little boys nuts off??? Wow!! And just for accuracy sake, you cannot change a person’s sex.
What I see the difference in is how hard you'll fight against the rights of other parents to make choices for their children while you fight for the right to make choices for your own children.
A teen who thinks her nose is too big or her boobs too small has self esteem issues. A young boy who thinks he is a girl has serious mental health issues and needs to be treated. IMO a young boy almost never comes to the conclusion he is a girl on his own. He is guided.
According to all these medical experts you would be wrong. But we're supposed to take your non expert opinion over all of these professionals?
Quote
Medical Organization Statements
Leading medical groups recognize the medical necessity of treatments for gender dysphoria and endorse such treatments. Most of these groups have also explicitly rejected insurance exclusions for transgender-related care.
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry American Academy of Dermatology American Academy of Family Physicians American Academy of Nursing American Academy of Pediatrics American Academy of Physician Assistants American College Health Association American College of Nurse-Midwives American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists American College of Physicians American Counseling Association American Heart Association American Medical Association American Medical Student Association American Nurses Association American Osteopathic Association American Psychiatric Association American Psychological Association American Public Health Association American Society of Plastic Surgeons Endocrine Society Federation of Pediatric Organizations GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health National Association of Social Workers National Commission on Correctional Health Care Pediatric Endocrine Society Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine World Medical Association World Professional Association for Transgender Health
Well the govt says its illegal whether you like it or not. The govt is forced to step in for the welfare of the child because wacko libtards are cutting their kids junk off. I'd be ok with child services taking the child away.
18 out of 50 states. You still don't get the math do you? Whacko Republitards stepping on the choices of other parents while demanding choices for their children. The only difference? They want to force the choices for their children on everyone else.
All you people who wouldnt castrate your kids but advocate for other people castrating their kids for the sake of pushing a liberal agenda need to take a long hard look in the mirror.
You do a whole lotta putting words in other peoples mouths..
I guess you didn't read this thread because thats what the lefty extremists in this thread are doing.
The castration of rapist in prisons is considered cruel and unusual punishment but let's let our innocent children be castrated. Makes no sense what so ever.
The castration of rapist in prisons is considered cruel and unusual punishment but let's let our innocent children be castrated. Makes no sense what so ever.
I’d say there is a LOT that goes over your head with your reasoning skills.
The castration of rapist in prisons is considered cruel and unusual punishment but let's let our innocent children be castrated. Makes no sense what so ever.
For anyone who may have missed it, this is what it looks like when a random person thinks they know more than over 20 professional medical organizations do including mental health organizations.
He compares something being forced on someone as punishment to people making a choice and somehow thinks he's making a point.
I guess posting them both together would show just how far America has fallen. When on one hand you have a candidate in his 80's the seems lost sometimes and on the other hand have a 77 year old narcissist who is a perpetual liar to choose from that has been criminally indicted twice.... so far, it just goes to show you how terrible the two party system in this nation has become.
You should be a 3rd party candidates campaign manager.
I'm in a somewhat unique position and it's one many such people as myself will be in come election time depending on the state they live in. At the present time it seems there's little doubt that trump and Biden will be the major party nominees. Living in Tennessee, unless something drastic changes, trump will win this state. In 2020 trump received 60.7% of the vote and Biden received 37.4% of the vote. There's no way Biden can win in Tennessee. So while if I thought a vote for Biden would do any good or make any difference in my state I would most likely vote for Biden.
However it won't. As such, there may only be one way that my vote can make a difference and make a statement about my disgust for the choices the major parties have afforded us. That would be if the No Labels Party runs a candidate. If they do, at this point in time that's the direction I'm leaning towards when casting my vote.
Judge blocks Biden asylum policy because he's too tough on asylum seekers?
Judge blocks limits on asylum at U.S.-Mexico border but gives Biden administration time to appeal
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a rule that allows immigration authorities to deny asylum to migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border without first applying online or seeking protection in a country they passed through. But the judge delayed his ruling from taking effect immediately to give President Joe Biden’s administration time to appeal.
The order from U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar of the Northern District of California takes away a key enforcement tool set in place by the Biden administration as coronavirus-based restrictions on asylum expired in May. The new rule imposes severe limitations on migrants seeking asylum but includes room for exceptions and does not apply to children traveling alone.
“The Rule — which has been in effect for two months — cannot remain in place,” Tigar wrote in an order that will not take effect for two weeks.
The Justice Department said it would seek to prevent the judge’s ruling from taking effect and that it’s confident the rule is lawful.
Immigrant rights groups that sued over the the rule applauded the judge’s decision.
“The promise of America is to serve as a beacon of freedom and hope, and the administration can and should do better to fulfill this promise, rather than perpetuate cruel and ineffective policies that betray it,” American Civil Liberties Union attorney Katrina Eiland, who argued the case, said in a statement.
The ACLU and other groups had argued the rule violates a U.S. law that protects the right to asylum regardless of how a person enters the country. The groups said it forces migrants to seek protection in countries that don’t have the same robust asylum system and human rights protections as the United States. They also argued that the CBP One app the government wants migrants to use doesn’t have enough appointments and isn’t available in enough languages.
The administration had argued that protection systems in other countries that migrants travel through have improved. But Tigar said it’s not feasible for some migrants to seek protection in a transit country and noted the violence that many face in Mexico in particular.
“While they wait for an adjudication, applicants for asylum must remain in Mexico, where migrants are generally at heightened risk of violence by both state and non-state actors,” the judge wrote.
He also wrote that the rule is illegal because it presumes that people are ineligible for asylum if they enter the country between legal border crossings. But, Tigar wrote, Congress expressly said that should not affect whether someone is eligible for asylum.
The judge also rejected the administration’s arguments that it had provided other avenues for people to come to the U.S. and that should be taken into account. The administration has pointed to a program that allows as many as 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela if they have a sponsor and fly into the U.S. The judge noted that such pathways are not available to all migrants.
The Biden administration also argued that it was allowing potentially hundreds of thousands of people into the U.S. through the CBP One app. Migrants use the app to schedule an appointment to present themselves at the border to seek entry to the U.S. and request asylum.
Tigar noted that the 1,450 appointments currently available daily outstrips demand, leaving asylum seekers waiting in Mexico where they’re at “serious risk of violence.”
The Biden administration said the asylum rule was a key part of its strategy to strike a balance between strict border enforcement and ensuring several avenues for migrants to pursue valid asylum claims. According to Customs and Border Protection, total encounters along the southern border — meaning migrants who either came to one of the ports of entry or tried to cross between them — were down 30 percent in June compared with the previous month. The agency said it was the lowest monthly total since February 2021.
Critics have argued that the rule is essentially a newer version of efforts by President Donald Trump to limit asylum at the southern border. The Supreme Court eventually allowed the Trump administration to limit asylum for people who don’t apply for protection in a country they travel through before coming to the U.S. to go into effect. But another Trump effort to bar people from applying for asylum except at an official border entry point was caught up in litigation and never took effect.
There is nothing that states he will not get a plea deal. It's simply on hold as of now..........
Hunter Biden plea deal on hold after judge said she wouldn't 'rubber stamp' it: Recap
A federal judge refused Wednesday to accept a plea agreement with Hunter Biden after an unexpected disagreement about the terms between prosecutors and defense lawyers temporarily upended the resolution to the five-year federal investigation.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika urged both sides to come to an agreement and called for a lengthy mid-day recess. But she wanted more time to review the proposal before accepting it.
"You all are telling me 'just rubber stamp the agreement, Your Honor,’” Noreika told the lawyers.
Biden pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor charges he failed to pay his taxes in 2017 and 2018, when he received more than $1.5 million each year. Biden told the court a third party paid the back taxes along with interest and fees pursuant to a personal loan he has not began to repay.
The plea deal had also covered a gun charge and would have allowed him to enter a pretrial diversion program that could eventually wipe the charge off the record.
But prosecutors and defense lawyers disagreed about the terms of the plea agreement, with Biden insisting any guilty plea encompass immunity from any other criminal charges.
Noreika asked the parties to submit legal briefs on the legitimacy of the deals offered to Hunter Biden within 30 days.
U.S. Attorney Leo Wise said that would require ordering transcripts of Wednesday's hearing and said 14 days would be sufficient.
However, Noreika set no specific date for the next hearing before court adjourned.
The hearing was held in the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building, named after the former U.S. senator a young Joe Biden defeated in 1972. GOP gets involved in case
Noreika's postponement of the plea agreement came after Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, urged Noreika to reject the plea deal based on the allegations from two IRS investigators of political favoritism in the case.
Julianne Murray, chair of the Delaware Republican Party, was in the courtroom Wednesday. She filed a separate brief on behalf the Heritage Foundation, which claims that it offers "information that has not, and likely will not, be presented to the Court by either the government or the defendant."
"I have not had time to review those submissions," the judge said, noting it consisted of 900 pages.
The plea agreement aimed to resolve a five-year investigation into Hunter Biden. The case remains a flashpoint for Republican investigations into Hunter Biden and his father, President Joe Biden.
Republicans have questioned the sources of Hunter Biden’s income and accused him of peddling influence with his father for foreign companies. The White House has dismissed the allegations as baseless innuendo.
Here is what we know:
White House responds
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to questions shortly after the decision.
"Hunter Biden is a private citizen, and this was a personal matter for him," she said Wednesday afternoon. "As we have said, the president, the first lady, they love their son, and they support him as he continues to rebuild his life."
She said the case was handled independently and by a prosecutor appointed by former President Donald Trump, referring other questions to the Department of Justice and Hunter Biden's legal team.
'An absolute disgrace'
As Hunter Biden's plea deal fell apart − at least temporarily − Republicans on Capitol Hill ran a victory lap.
“He thought he was pleading to get rid of everything and they said, ‘No, it’s only the tax evasions, not the Foreign Agent Registration Act, money laundering, and the other stuff,’” said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee investigating the Biden family.“The only thing is I'm glad that people see that what I've said for weeks is true, that there is an ongoing investigation of the entire family,” Comer added.
There hasn't been any evidence yet to substantiate GOP claims linking President Biden to his son's legal challenges.
Other Republicans continued their criticism of the plea deal that dissolved in court Wednesday afternoon, when it was put on hold by a federal judge.
“The plea deal is an absolute disgrace,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said.“It is a sweetheart deal designed by the Biden Justice Department to give Hunter Biden a slap on the wrist and its principal objective is protecting Joe Biden and insulating him from his own involvement and corruption selling access to foreign nationals,” Cruz added.
“I don’t think that it was a good deal for the American public. I think it was clear he was getting favored treatment because he’s the president’s son and they’re trying to close down and shut down the investigations into the Biden (family),” Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., a member of the House Judiciary Committee, told USA TODAY Wednesday.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., pointed to last week’s high-profile hearings in the House with two whistleblowers from the Internal Revenue Service who alleged the Department of Justice interfered with the federal investigation into Hunter Biden. Lawler said Congress is yet to be done investigating Hunter Biden’s case.
“You have numerous whistleblowers right now coming forward and saying (interference) occurred. These are not Republican whistleblowers by the way, these are Democrats. These are registered Democrats coming forward and saying this is a problem,” Lawler told reporters Wednesday. How to watch Hunter Biden press conference
Hunter Biden will hold a press conference Wednesday after his court appearance in Delaware, marking his first public reaction to federal tax charges and an anticipated plea deal.
The president's son is expected to avoid jail time, but is facing mounting pressure from President Joe Biden's political enemies in the House GOP, which tried to intervene in the case and asked the judge to reject the plea deal.
What is Hunter Biden accused of?
Biden is set to plead guilty to receiving $1.5 million in taxable income each year in 2017 and 2018 and failing to pay more than $100,000 in taxes each of those years, according to a prosecution letter that announced the charges.
Each charge carries a maximum 12 months in prison, but prosecutors are expected to recommend probation, according to The Associated Press.
The judge, Noreika, will determine the sentence. Gun charge still pending
The gun charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, alleges Biden made a false statement on a federal form when he bought a gun in 2018.
The Gun Control Act prohibits drug users from possessing firearms. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ruled the ban applies to "a conviction for use or possession of a controlled substance within the past year."
Biden filled out a federal form when he bought a handgun in October 2018 in which he replied “no” to a question of whether he was “an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance," according to the Washington Post.
Hunter Biden drug addiction
By his own account in his memoir “Beautiful Things,” Biden battled drug addiction and for periods during 2018 smoked crack “every 15 minutes.”
"I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life,” said Clark, Biden’s lawyer. “He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward."
What is a plea deal?
A plea deal is a negotiation between a defendant and a prosecutor in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty to one or several offenses in exchange for a lenient punishment from the prosecutor, according to the Cornell Legal Information Institute.
The prosecutor can agree to reduce the number or severity of a charge, thus allowing them to “to focus their time and resources on other cases,” according to the institute. But ultimately it is the judge’s decision on how to punish a defendant.
Scholars estimate that about 90% to 95% of federal and state court cases are resolved through plea deals, according to the Department of Justice.
Who is Maryellen, Noreika, the judge overseeing the Hunter Biden case?
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who is overseeing Hunter Biden’s tax and gun cases, was appointed by former President Donald Trump and confirmed with bipartisan support in the Senate.
The Senate confirmed her appointment in August 2018 by voice vote, suggesting her nomination wasn’t controversial. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., has cited her appointment as an example of bipartisanship and how the system should work.
Noreika has a bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University, her master’s is from Columbia University and her law degree is from the University of Pittsburgh. She was a lawyer in private practice in Wilmington for 25 years before Trump appointed her to the bench.
I would have written that headline slightly different. I would have said “statistics show that after 2.5 years of biden border policy and 7 million crossing the border, the number of illegal crossing have final abate somewhat. Border patrol agents are breathing a sigh of relief at a reduction in the chaos they have endured for the past 2.5 years.”
A little wordy perhaps but expresses the situation more completely.
Well, you broke the rules Keith. You cannot have truthful headlines, they went bye-bye during the Carter administration. Besides, crossings are only triple under Biden. But as long as they're down over the last three months, well, nothing to see here.
Well, you broke the rules Keith. You cannot have truthful headlines, they went bye-bye during the Carter administration. Besides, crossings are only triple under Biden. But as long as they're down over the last three months, well, nothing to see here.
Or you could write the headline.... "Republicans fear tactics over increased border traffic after new Biden border policy were wrong"
So you're depending and putting faith in a witness who is a convicted felon? Sounds like he passes the threshold of what Republicans consider a credible witness. That sounds about right......
Court reinstates fraud conviction for Hunter Biden business partner
Devon Archer was convicted of defrauding the Oglala Sioux Indian tribe out of bond-sale proceeds.
A federal appeals court reinstated the fraud conviction of Hunter Biden’s former business partner on Wednesday, reversing a lower court judge who had granted his request for a retrial.
Hunter Biden was not implicated in the scheme, which defrauded the Oglala Sioux Indian tribe out of the proceeds of bond sales. But the scheme was committed under the auspices of a broader business venture in which Hunter Biden was involved, and the perpetrators invoked his name to bolster their legitimacy, according to testimony and a consultant’s slide presentation presented at trial. A lawyer for Hunter Biden has said his name was invoked without his knowledge and that he cut ties with the perpetrators when he learned of their misconduct.
Devon Archer, whose conviction was reinstated by Wednesday’s ruling, had partnered with Hunter Biden in Rosemont Seneca, a Washington-based investment firm. Starting in 2014, the pair served together on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian natural gas company accused of corruption, at the same time that his father oversaw U.S. policy towards Ukraine. Hunter Biden has called his decision to take the board seat “a mistake,” while Joe Biden has defended the decision, saying, “my son did nothing wrong.”
A lawyer for Archer, Matthew Schwartz, decried the ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. “As the experienced federal judge who presided over Mr. Archer’s month-long trial determined, he ‘lacked the requisite intent and is thus innocent of the crimes charged,’” Schwartz said. “Today’s ruling, which second-guesses that judge’s decision without having sat through the evidence and listened to the witnesses, is beyond disappointing.”
Archer was convicted in June 2018 of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, but five months later, trial Judge Ronnie Abrams of the Southern District of New York overturned the conviction.
In its ruling, the Second Circuit wrote that the District Court “abused its discretion” in overturning the jury’s verdict.
Some good news... 4 Eddie Spence and Kailey Leinz Fri, July 28, 2023 at 11:39 AM EDT·1 min read In this article:
(Bloomberg) -- The Inflation Reduction Act is spurring manufacturers to return to the US in droves, the chief executive officer of US Steel Corp. said.
“This is the most amazing thing we’ve seen in the United States for a very long time,” David Burritt said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “It’s a Manufacturing Renaissance Act.”
US industrialists have been cheering the praises of the IRA, which offers generous subsidies to domestic manufacturers of green technology such as electric vehicles batteries. It’s faced stern criticism from European countries, which are racing to match the scale of the funding.
The IRA may drive stronger steel demand in the US, particularly from the metals-intensive renewable energy sector. Steelmakers also will benefit from tax credits for their decarbonization goals.
“I couldn’t be more bullish on the steel industry,” Burritt said. “It’s fantastic to see that our country finally recognizes how important a strong manufacturing base is.”
Earlier Friday, the company posted second-quarter profit and sales that topped estimates.
Swing …and a miss….another nothing burger from the Goper’s. If they spent as much energy into governing as they do on Hunter and Hillary we wouldn’t be forced to watch a new trump dumpster fire everyday.
But they do get their crowd in a frenzy convincing them they actually have something until it's actually shown that they don't. All that BS about releasing the FD-1023 form that was "supposed to" blow the lid off the whole thing. In the end they had to admit that there was no actual evidence that such a tape actually existed.
A Senator’s New Wife and Her Old Friends Draw Prosecutors’ Attention Tracey Tully Tue, August 1, 2023 at 8:27 AM EDT·10 min read
Nadine Menendez and her husband, Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, attended a state dinner at the White House. (NYT) In early 2019, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his new girlfriend, Nadine Arslanian, were riding high.
He had avoided a federal bribery conviction after his trial ended with a hung jury, and the couple had begun traveling the world.
Menendez proposed to Arslanian that October in India with a grand gesture, singing “Never Enough” from “The Greatest Showman” outside the Taj Mahal. They married a year later in a small ceremony in the Queens borough of New York City and were showered with gifts from a dozen influential friends, including the head of one of New Jersey’s largest health care systems and a lawyer who would later become the U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
The senator moved into his wife’s modest split-level house in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and they have since attended two state dinners at the White House, dining with the president of France and the prime minister of India.
But their whirlwind romance has taken a sudden dark turn.
Menendez, the 69-year-old Democratic chair of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, is under investigation by the Justice Department for the second time in less than a decade. And this time, his wife is also in prosecutors’ crosshairs.
The new inquiry, led by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, appears to be focused at least in part on the possibility that either the senator or his wife received undisclosed gifts from a company run by a friend of Nadine Menendez, and that those gifts might have been given in exchange for political favors, according to two people with knowledge of the matter and subpoenas issued in the case.
Unlike her husband, who took a seat on a New Jersey school board as a 20-year-old and rose to prominence in Hudson County’s famously sharp-elbowed political scrum, Nadine Menendez, 56, has lived a mainly private life.
She holds a master’s degree in French language and civilization from New York University, but did not work outside the home while raising her two children in Bergen County, New Jersey, according to court records and longtime friends. She is described by friends, acquaintances and two former lawyers in much the same way: social, smart and highly fashion-conscious.
She struggled financially after a 2005 divorce and even faced foreclosure. But by 2020, the year she and Bob Menendez were married, she had formed an international consulting company, and her assets included bars of gold bullion then valued at as much as $250,000.
Nadine Menendez, who is represented by a Washington-based lawyer, now finds herself at the center of an investigation that carries the risk of steep criminal penalties and could alter the political playing field in New Jersey and in Washington as her husband prepares to run for a fourth term next year.
The senator’s campaign finance reports underscore the gravity of the new federal inquiry. He has spent roughly $290,000 since January in connection with the investigation, federal election records show, and last month he created a new defense fund to avoid further draining his political accounts.
The senator has said that he expected the inquiry would be “successfully closed.” His office did not respond to requests for additional comment.
A Halal Monopoly
The full scope of the federal inquiry, including Nadine Menendez’s role, remains unknown. But the investigation appears to focus at least in part on the couple’s connection to a 40-year-old New Jersey businessperson, Wael Hana, who has known Nadine Menendez since before she started dating the senator.
She and Hana were part of a group of friends who frequently socialized at restaurants in northern New Jersey; some of them shared an affinity for Cuban cigars. Several members of the network have received subpoenas, according to a friend who was interviewed by prosecutors and lawyers representing other people in the case.
Hana began operating a startup company, IS EG Halal, in New Jersey in 2019, and it soon became the sole entity authorized to certify that any halal food product imported into Egypt from anywhere in the world had been prepared according to Islamic law.
It was an unlikely development, given that Hana, a U.S. citizen born in Egypt, has said in court papers that he had no prior experience in the halal industry.
Before 2019, four companies in the United States had divvied up the work of ensuring that meat exported to Egypt was free from ingredients prohibited by Islamic law and met strict processing standards, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The decision to give authorization solely to one company did not require U.S. approval. But it was an abrupt pivot by the government of Egypt, and news stories at the time chronicled how the steep new fees for certification were expected to lead to higher meat prices in a country that is home to 90 million Muslims.
In November 2019, the FBI searched Hana’s home and offices. Investigators seized computers, cellphones, Hana’s passport and “every single piece of paper” in the company’s headquarters, Hana’s lawyer, Lawrence Lustberg, said in a court filing. Hana was not charged, and Lustberg, in the filing, said that his client was told he was not a target of the investigation.
Federal prosecutors and the FBI are now investigating whether the senator or his wife received a luxury car or an apartment in Washington from Hana’s company. It is, however, unclear which, if any, of Menendez’s official acts as a senator is under scrutiny by prosecutors.
Hana’s spokesperson, Ellen Davis, has said that he got the halal business without assistance from any U.S. public official. “Allegations about cars, apartments, cash and jewelry being provided by anyone associated with IS EG Halal to Sen. Menendez or his wife at all — let alone in exchange for any kind of favorable treatment — are totally without basis,” she said in May. She declined additional comment.
The investigation has reached in other directions as well.
Prosecutors have asked for any correspondence from Nadine Menendez, Bob Menendez or a prominent New Jersey developer, Fred Daibes, about a bill that has stalled in Trenton, according to a person familiar with a subpoena issued in May to state Sen. Nick Sacco who was not authorized to speak about it publicly.
The legislation would limit the height of buildings near the Palisades along the Hudson River and could have scuttled a skyscraper complex at 115 River Road in Edgewater, New Jersey, which Daibes has been planning to build for years.
Daibes, whose company owns the building where IS EG Halal has its headquarters in Edgewater, pleaded guilty to an unrelated federal bank-fraud charge last year; his sentencing, which is expected to result only in probation, was recently rescheduled for the fourth time.
ADVERTISEMENT
Lustberg, who also represents Daibes in the bank-fraud case, said the new Oct. 26 sentencing date should not be interpreted to mean that his client was cooperating with prosecutors. “Fred Daibes is not cooperating with the authorities against Sen. Menendez or anybody else,” Lustberg said.
A Shared Cause, and Pancakes
Bob and Nadine Menendez first met years ago at one of his well-known haunts — an IHOP in Union City, New Jersey, where he was once mayor. They began dating in late 2018.
They quickly found common cause: a desire for the U.S. government to formally recognize the Armenian genocide, a brutal campaign by the former Ottoman Empire that killed 1.5 million people, including several of Nadine Menendez’s relatives.
In 2019, after a decadelong effort, Bob Menendez succeeded in getting the Senate to approve a resolution acknowledging the deaths as genocide, a step that paved the way for President Joe Biden’s formal recognition of the massacre two years later.
“When he passed it, I had tears of joy,” Nadine Menendez said in a 2020 interview with “The Armenian Report,” an English-language podcast.
“People ask me, ‘What’s the next thing? What are you pushing him to do, backing him up to do? What would you like to see?’ ” she added. “For me, the one and only thing I wanted was the recognition of the Armenian genocide.”
Nadine Menendez did not respond to requests for comment. But on the podcast she explained that she was born in Lebanon to Armenian parents, who fled during the Lebanese civil war. They emigrated to the United States when she was a child, eventually settling in New York.
ADVERTISEMENT
Court records and interviews with her former lawyers, acquaintances and longtime friends show that the years after her divorce were a time of legal tumult and financial uncertainty.
She relied mainly on alimony and child support, and at one point picked up part-time work as a host at a New Jersey restaurant, said Douglas Anton, a lawyer who represented her in several past legal matters, including a dispute over her ex-husband’s monthly payments and a lawsuit against an insurance company.
Anton, who dated Nadine Menendez before her relationship with Bob Menendez began, recounted being struck by her sharp intelligence and feeling frustrated that she had not pursued a career.
“Just a smart woman,” Anton said. “Her talents were being wasted.”
In 2014, after having trouble paying the $1,897 monthly mortgage on the home she now shares with the senator, she enrolled in a federal program that lowered her payments, court records show. By June 2019 she had failed to make even the lower payments for six months, and Freddie Mac had begun foreclosure proceedings.
Just as the foreclosure began, she founded a consulting business with the help of one of her soon-to-be-husband’s close friends. It was the start of a dramatic improvement in her finances.
State records show that Nadine Menendez’s business, Strategic International Business Consultants, was incorporated on the night the mortgage company began foreclosure proceedings. The simple, one-page form creating the limited liability company was faxed to New Jersey’s Department of Treasury by a law firm run by Donald Scarinci, who testified during the senator’s bribery trial in Newark, New Jersey.
The company is run solely by Nadine Menendez from her home, according to state records, and does not have an online footprint or phone number. It appears on her husband’s required financial disclosure reports because they are married, but little else about the nature of the firm is known.
Scarinci declined to comment.
The foreclosure was dismissed two months later after part of the debt was repaid and the mortgage was reinstated, according to a representative at the law firm that handled the foreclosure proceeding.
Then, a year and a half after their marriage, Bob Menendez amended a 2020 financial disclosure form to include a new asset belonging to his wife: bars of gold bullion worth as much as $250,000.
It is unclear how she came into possession of the gold, and in late June, he filed yet another amended report, noting that his wife had sold between $200,000 and $400,000 of the bullion.
David Schertler, Nadine Menendez’s lawyer, declined to comment.
A Wide Net
Proving that elected leaders accepted gifts or favors in exchange for an official act has only gotten harder in the five years since Bob Menendez’s 2017 federal bribery trial, after a series of Supreme Court rulings narrowed the definition of what kind of conduct can serve as the basis for a corruption prosecution. Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York have seemingly cast a wide net, issuing subpoenas in phases as the investigation broadened.
A spokesperson for the Southern District declined to comment.
Despite the investigation, Bob Menendez has steadily raised funds to run for reelection, and he has remained a vocal presence in Washington and in New Jersey.
“I know Bob to be a real decent, honest guy, who I consider to be a good friend,” said Mark Sokolich, the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey.
He said he did not know Nadine Menendez as well but had spent time with the couple socially.
“Very nice, very pleasant,” he said before offering an example of a typical exchange.
“‘Hey, Nadine. Hey, Mark.’ A little cordial kiss. ‘How’s the weather?’ But not halal meat, or whatever this freaking thing is about.”
c.2023 The New York Times Company
—————————————————
Menéndez embodies the epitome of corruption on the right. I think he’s also taken the approach of “Don’t outrun the bear. Outrun the person next to you.” With all the shenanigans on the Right going on right now, he seems to evade the public’s wrath for the most part.
I think where a lot of people lose focus is thinking that not supporting a nations government officials is the same thing as not supporting the people of that nation. That's two totally different things. The political regime controlling Israel as of now is doing everything within their power to undermine democracy which sounds quite familiar to me. I certainly don't support that regime. On the other hand I very strongly support the people of Israel.
That's a good way to put it, and agree with both you and OCD. Netanyahu is rather self-serving, and demonstrates a lot of those similar undertones that we've become all too familiar with.
School board votes to change mascot at California high school
(KRON) — The Mount Diablo Unified School District voted Wednesday night to replace Concord High School’s current mascot, “The Minutemen”, with a bear.
The Minutemen is a revolutionary war soldier armed with a rifle. The debate over a mascot began when the district updated their policy to avoid mascots depicting humans.
Some people say changing the mascot would only result in a loss of an unnecessary amount of money and suggested to the school board that they should remove the firearm instead, or add an African American minutemen.
So what other president was it that has four indictments with a total of 91 counts against hm besides inmate #01135809? What other president has ever been criminally indicted? And why hasn't anyone on the side that votes for that party addressed it? Because if you'll notice, you didn't either. Joining the crowd?
To be clear, there will be no questions by libtards, right? They have open arms with shemale nudity and shove their daughters forward to undress for the man-girl.
They shamed everyone that spoke out. I would suspect they'll be silent now that everything's going off the rails. Of course, there's always the possibility that Trump did all this, I'm sure Rachel Maddow will find the angle and they can all parrot it like mindless fools.
Because there are so many different identities that involve gender and sexuality, it can be challenging to select a word or acronym that makes everyone feel included, though that is the intent. Some people and organizations use 2SLGBTQ+, LGBTQI2S, LGBTTQQIAAP, and many other variants.
They also include the "2s", it has something to do with "indigenous free-spirit"... not sure what that has to do with sex or dressing like a monkey, but there must be some reason why they felt excluded.
I hate to be the first to state the obvious, but why not just use all the letters of the alphabet? Just mix them up so there's plenty of intrigue. That way all the fringe groups don't get their panties in bunch if they feel excluded.
Queer is not good enough to represent one's true uniqueness. Queer is just plain boring when we have California Medical professors now exclaiming that there are infinite genders including one new one called Tootsie Roll Pop. "It's for the kids!"
What's fascinating is that people can vote for this crap, wear it like a badge of courage, applaud change, shame those that don't double-plus-good it... and then ignore the results. Men raping women in prison.
BREAKING: Feds Weighing Criminal Charges Against Top Democrat Senator: Report
The U.S. Department of Justice is considering bringing criminal charges against Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) after a lengthy corruption investigation, according to a new report.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the prosecutors are expected to meet with Menendez’s lawyers in the next few weeks, a sign that prosecutors have “developed the evidence they need to bring charges.”
Meetings like this that occur toward the end of an investigation are usually held so defense lawyers can present reasons why their clients should not be charged.
The criminal investigation into Menendez, which first made news last October, originally centered around how IS EG Halal, a New Jersey-based halal meat business, won “an exclusive worldwide contract with Egypt to certify halal exports — as numerous other firms’ contracts were suddenly canceled in 2019,” NBC News reported.
Numerous sources told the publication that the U.S. Agriculture Department was suspicious over how the large contract was awarded to the company which had “little experience.”
Menendez’s wife is friends with the company’s owners, the report said, and the senator’s position as chairman on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee puts him in charge of billions of dollars in weapons sales to Egypt.
In 2015, Menendez was indicted on bribery charges for allegedly accepting “luxury vacations, golf outings, campaign donations and expensive flights” from Florida physician Salomon Melgen in exchange for political favors. A federal jury in Florida convicted Melgen in April of “67 charges for operating what prosecutors called a massive scheme that robbed Medicare out of as much as $105 million,” the Palm Beach Post reported.
Prosecutors began investigating Menendez when they were tipped off in 2012 that Menendez was allegedly having sex with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic.
The jury was split in the trial and a mistrial was declared.
It's such an easy and simple thing to do. When someone gets arrested you hope if they're guilty they are prosecuted and pay the price for their criminal acts. Based on the evidence it's much easier for some people to do than others.
It's such an easy and simple thing to do. When someone gets arrested you hope if they're guilty they are prosecuted and pay the price for their criminal acts. Based on the evidence it's much easier for some people to do than others.
It is easy. But for some reason, the bad guys in the Trump investigations are always the FBI or DOJ or various DA's or Biden. It's never his actions that bring these investigations to the forefront. Did you ever notice how they all want the FBI, DOJ, Various DA's to bring their opponents to justice. They applaud them then. Those very entities are just fine when they nail a guy like Menendez, but they are horrible when they nail a guy like Trump.
So, let me man-splain this to those confused about dems. Those “Dem Cities”, as y’all call them, wouldn’t be so upside down as to have the homeless issues if they weren’t tied to the financial taxation yoke of supporting red states. Talk about failing your people… smfh, only sheep would see Dem cities as bad.
The same people that told you not to leave the house unless wrapped like a mummy with syringes hanging out of your ass will tell you this is no big deal.
I'd also say that the idea that this is a "Dem" thing because it is in Cali is part of the problem with 'politics' today. I mean if Texas has an **illegal** operation of some kind or another set up in it's borders somewhere, I'm not going to leap on the board or tell people it's an indication of a Republican problem --- I can tell you for damn sure if this had been an illegal chinese Lab in TX or some other "Red" state I wouldn't be insinuating anything. And in wouldn't surprise me if there were other similar types of illegal operations chinese or otherwise, in many different red, blue and purple states.
To be clear, there will be no questions by libtards, right? They have open arms with shemale nudity and shove their daughters forward to undress for the man-girl.
I'd also say that the idea that this is a "Dem" thing because it is in Cali is part of the problem with 'politics' today. I mean if Texas has an **illegal** operation of some kind or another set up in it's borders somewhere, I'm not going to leap on the board or tell people it's an indication of a Republican problem --- I can tell you for damn sure if this had been an illegal chinese Lab in TX or some other "Red" state I wouldn't be insinuating anything. And in wouldn't surprise me if there were other similar types of illegal operations chinese or otherwise, in many different red, blue and purple states.
When people have gotten to the point they are grasping at straws because it's being shown the leader of their party is the head of a crime syndicate, what else did you expect?
When people have gotten to the point they are grasping at straws because it's being shown the leader of their party is the head of a crime syndicate, what else did you expect?
...Are you talking about Trump or Biden? ...Just asking....
One is charged on 91 criminal counts that includes the RICO act. The other one has been charged with nothing.
Those are your clues. Hopefully you can figure out out from there. But I do understand that there are a lot of people having a problem solving such a deep mystery.
While I know you may expect that, I would hope you take into consideration that even after trump appointed his own committee to investigate Hillary after he took office that the only mug shot of Hillary Clinton is one where she is drinking coffee.
I think both sides are crooked but just like with everything else there are degrees. The candidates both parties endorse and nominate for the presidential election is sickening.
![[Linked Image from imagez.tmz.com]](https://imagez.tmz.com/image/a7/4by3/2023/04/20/a7a0703de9ff4438892a320015b5579f_md.jpg)
![[Linked Image from images.thestar.com]](https://images.thestar.com/gTFSwGwZSTrp4rxODGZPenXt9SI=/1200x869/smart/filters:cb(2700061000):format(webp)/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/world/2017/10/11/vladimir-putin-gets-a-puppy-as-a-gift-from-president-of-turkmenistan/putin_puppy_jpg.jpg)
![[Linked Image from media3.giphy.com]](https://media3.giphy.com/media/JhSL4vfyXR1HVgYm3s/200w.gif?cid=6c09b952ythh8mx9hwbyl6madlogyg7q2w83c836w87kpafx&rid=200w.gif)
![[Linked Image from media3.giphy.com]](https://media3.giphy.com/media/l0Iy4huobQr1flHuE/giphy.gif)
![[Linked Image from images3.memedroid.com]](https://images3.memedroid.com/images/UPLOADED19/64cbd9c9e4307.jpeg)