Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[Peter McLennan]

Sorry.  Americans are blaming President Biden for the high gasoline, oil, propane, and natural gas prices.

SOME Americans.

[TechTalk]

he gets the blame.

the public knows who to blame - Buden.

he gets the blame

Americans are blaming

You're only fooling yourself with your political blame games. The game that you like so much is simple and repetitious. It entertains only you and enlightens no one.

[Alan Klein]

SOME Americans.

You're only fooling yourself with your political blame games. The game that you like so much is simple and repetitious. It entertains only you and enlightens no one.

For once, I don't think anyone's blaming Trump for the high oil prices.  That's refreshing. 

[TechTalk]

Why would they? Oil is a global market based commodity with pricing that's very volatile and responds to extreme fluctuations in supply and demand as has happened over the past 18 moths due to the pandemic. It's been rising and falling precipitously for twenty years in response to various events.

In the last nine months that Trump was in office the average price of gas jumped from $1.773 (4/27/20) to $2.379 (1/18/21). No one here was posting that Trump was responsible for a 34% increase in gas prices in just nine months, including you. It was understood that gas prices fell due to weak demand caused by the pandemic and rose as economic activity and demand improved.

Your game is transparent, but it is anything but refreshing.

[digitaldog]

For once, I don't think anyone's blaming Trump for the high oil prices.  That's refreshing. 

It pales to blaming him rightfully for a coup.

[TechTalk]

unreasonable ones who cannot accept facts and instead repeatedly assume

Unfortunately, facts have no impact where fact, fantasy, assumption, and opinion are all put into the same mental blender and poured out in a cocktail of endless circular argument for one person's amusement and no one's benefit. Some people have a mind like a Vitamix. There are people that look at facts to form opinions and then there are those that focus on opinions and assume they are facts.

I admit, I occasionally get a brief chuckle from some posts. Alan attempted to give another spin to his latest merry-go-round arguments by linking three political opinion articles. One of those was from "Marcellus Drilling News" whose tagline under their name is "Helping People & Businesses Profit from Northeast Shale Drilling". It's a really great source for unbiased facts when your looking to patch the concrete surrounding your rationalizations.

[Alan Klein]

Why would they? Oil is a global market based commodity with pricing that's very volatile and responds to extreme fluctuations in supply and demand as has happened over the past 18 moths due to the pandemic. It's been rising and falling precipitously for twenty years in response to various events.

In the last nine months that Trump was in office the average price of gas jumped from $1.773 (4/27/20) to $2.379 (1/18/21). No one here was posting that Trump was responsible for a 34% increase in gas prices in just nine months, including you. It was understood that gas prices fell due to weak demand caused by the pandemic and rose as economic activity and demand improved.

Your game is transparent, but it is anything but refreshing.

A couple years ago we were net exporters of oil. The largest producers in the world. Now, Biden has to beg OPEC and the Saudis to produce more oil.

[TechTalk]

You're only fooling yourself with your political blame games. The game that you like so much is simple and repetitious. It entertains only you and enlightens no one.

[digitaldog]

Now, Biden has to beg OPEC and the Saudis to produce more oil.

He did, when?
What he did, that you misunderstood as usual, is to ask, not beg OPEC to go back to the production that existed prior to their cuts made during the pandemic.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-call-opec-its-allies-increase-oil-production-cnbc-2021-08-11/

The message also underscored the new dynamic between Washington and OPEC since Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, broke with prior practice in demanding specific policy changes from OPEC to adjust prices. Trump had threatened to withdraw military support from OPEC's de facto leader Saudi Arabia over output, which at the time he thought was too high and hurting U.S.-based drillers.

[digitaldog]

You're only fooling yourself with your political blame games. The game that you like so much is simple and repetitious.

He's lost, he doesn't get it. It is what one should expect from a fool, fooling himself (alone) here.

It entertains only you and enlightens no one.

Can we give it the name it deserves? Klein Masturbation. 

[Peter McLennan]

Actually, I think Alan's a bot.  He's an AI planted here by the US government with instructions to say only really stupid stuff. 
That way, the rest of us are compelled to challenge, refute and debunk the really stupid stuff in public for the benefit of all.

[LesPalenik]

It's been reported that the counties with high percentage of obese citizens tend to vote Democrats.
Interestingly, the least obese counties tend to vote also Democrats.

10 most obese counties in US:
1. Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, which has an adult obesity rate of 58.9%. The percentage of adults who don’t exercise is 42.4%, or 15th highest of 3,106 counties. Adults with diabetes is 15.3%, or 622nd. And adults reporting poor or fair health is 28.4%, 182nd highest.
2. Sunflower County, Mississippi, (24.6% adults have diabetes)
3. Candler County, Georgia
4. Humphreys County, Mississippi
5. Ziebach County, South Dakota
6. Aleutians East Borough, Alaska
7. Jefferson County, Mississippi (37.9% adults have poor or fair health)
8. Macon County, Alabama
9. Sabine Parish, Louisiana
10. Holmes County, Mississippi

Turns out that six out of 10 of these counties voted for Joe Biden in the last election; Sunflower County, Mississippi; Humphreys County, Mississippi; Ziebach County, South Dakota; Jefferson County, Mississippi; Macon County, Alabama; and Holmes County, Mississippi. These are all blue counties in red states, and all have majority African-American populations, except for Ziebach County, which is 75% Native American.

10 least obese counties in USA:
1. Teton County, Wyoming which has an adult obesity rate of 11.0% (58.9%). The percentage of adults who don’t exercise is 10.8% (42.4%), or 5th lowest of 3,106 counties. Adults with diabetes is 2.4% (15.3%), the lowest of 3,106 counties. And adults reporting poor or fair health: 11.4% (28.4%), 36th lowest.
2. Taliaferro County, Georgia
3. Gunnison County, Colorado, (adults with diabetes: 3.1%)
4. Boulder County, Colorado
5. Summit County, Utah
6. Pitkin County, Colorado, (adults reporting poor or fair health: 9.8%)
7. Summit County, Colorado, (adults who don’t exercise: 10.2%)
8. Mariposa County, California
9. New York County, New York
10. Routt County, Colorado

Eight of the 10 counties are in blue states—the exceptions are one each in Wyoming and Utah, though those counties went for the Democrat in the last presidential election. In fact nine of these least obese counties voted for Biden.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/inside-americas-most-and-least-obese-counties-093121856.html

[digitaldog]

The stupidity of the insurrectionists (and those that command them) is almost shockingly funny. First they record themselves breaking the law, then they try to remove the evidence from social media (pointless). Now this. Morons:

Some Capitol riot defendants forgo
lawyers despite major legal risk
Some of the defendants charged in the storming of the
U.S. Capitol are turning away defense lawyers and electing
to represent themselves, undeterred by their lack of legal
training repeated warnings from judges.
That choice already has led to some curious legal
maneuvers and awkward exchanges in court.
A New York man charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection
wants to bill the government for working on his own
case. A Pennsylvania restaurant owner is trying to defend
herself from jail. A judge told another New Yorker he may
have incriminated himself during courtroom arguments.
The decision by at least five defendants to defend them-
selves is bound to create a host of challenges, particularly
for those behind bars. They risk getting themselves in more
legal trouble if they say the wrong thing in court. They have
to sift through the mountain of evidence investigators have
collected in the attack. And the strategy is already testing
judges' ability to maintain control of their courtrooms.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

It's been reported that the counties with high percentage of obese citizens tend to vote Democrats.
Interestingly, the least obese counties tend to vote also Democrats.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/inside-americas-most-and-least-obese-counties-093121856.html

Does that mean I should check my BMI (body mass index) before each time I go to the polls?   

[MattBurt]

The stupidity of the insurrectionists (and those that command them) is almost shockingly funny. First they record themselves breaking the law, then they try to remove the evidence from social media (pointless). Now this. Morons:

Don't try and dazzle them with your fancy degrees and facts! They don't need lawyers, doctors, or scientists.
If they can treat themselves with Sheep Drench then they can represent themselves too!

[digitaldog]

Yes, Trump really just said this:

Roughly 24 hours after the death of Colin Powell, Donald Trump proved, again, that he is utterly incapable of empathy, grace or even common decency.
"Wonderful to see Colin Powell, who made big mistakes on Iraq and famously, so-called weapons of mass destruction, be treated in death so beautifully by the Fake News Media," Trump said in a statement released Tuesday morning. "Hope that happens to me someday. He was a classic RINO, if even that, always being the first to attack other Republicans. He made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace!"

Donald Trump (yet again) proves there's no bottom
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/19/politics/donald-trump-colin-powell-death/index.html

[TechTalk]

Over in the COVID-19 vaccine thread, in response to one of my posts, Joe was recently mocking public health officials.

You mean politicians?  LOL. 

My reply contained some information about the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

No, I mean the people that have spent their entire adult lives in the study and practice of medicine with specialties and subspecialties like epidemiology, immunology, virology, and public health and who are dedicated to improving the health and lives of the general public.

This reminds me, I suspect that a number of people may not be aware that there are eight uniformed services in the United States. They consist of the United States: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Space Force, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps), and Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC).

USPHS Commissioned Corps history has roots which trace back to 1798 and the establishment of the first Marine Hospitals. Their uniforms are modeled after Navy uniforms and they are commissioned as officers ranging from ensign to admiral. The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the service and holds the rank of vice-admiral.

What I left out in that post, regarding the commissioned officers, is that the vice-admiral and operational head of the service (the Surgeon General of the United States) reports directly to the Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS. The Assistant Secretary for Health may be a civilian or hold a commission in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. When commissioned, the  Assistant Secretary for Health holds the 4-star rank of admiral. USPHS Commissioned Corps personnel can be assigned to serve as part of any branch of the military or to any federal agency by order of the president.

As of today, Admiral Rachel Levine has become the first transgender 4-star officer to serve in any of the eight U.S. uniformed services. This is the same Dr. Rachel Levine that Joe insisted "does not even have a medical degree". Even after her actual medical eduction and credentials were posted, he asserted that "she has a degree... in child psychology" and not a "real MD"—which were all completely false assertions. She does have a medical degree, is a "real MD", and has specialties in pediatrics and adolescent medicine. Now, in addition to being a real MD with a medical degree, she is a 4-star admiral.

https://www.nbcnews.com/dr-rachel-levine-becomes-nations-first-transgender-four-star-officer

[Peter McLennan]

Yes, Trump really just said this:Donald Trump (yet again) proves there's no bottom
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/19/politics/donald-trump-colin-powell-death/index.html

From the article: "It also puts to lie Trump's regularly repeated assertion that he loves the military more than any other president has ever loved the military."

The same guy who avoided the military like a weaselly coward. 
How anybody (let alone 70-odd million Americans) can support this creep is beyond me.

[Alan Klein]

Over in the COVID-19 vaccine thread, in response to one of my posts, Joe was recently mocking public health officials.

My reply contained some information about the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

What I left out in that post, regarding the commissioned officers, is that the vice-admiral and operational head of the service (the Surgeon General of the United States) reports directly to the Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS. The Assistant Secretary for Health may be a civilian or hold a commission in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. When commissioned, the  Assistant Secretary for Health holds the 4-star rank of admiral. USPHS Commissioned Corps personnel can be assigned to serve as part of any branch of the military or to any federal agency by order of the president.

As of today, Admiral Rachel Levine has become the first transgender 4-star officer to serve in any of the eight U.S. uniformed services. This is the same Dr. Rachel Levine that Joe insisted "does not even have a medical degree". Even after her actual medical eduction and credentials were posted, he asserted that "she has a degree... in child psychology" and not a "real MD"—which were all completely false assertions. She does have a medical degree, is a "real MD", and has specialties in pediatrics and adolescent medicine. Now, in addition to being a real MD with a medical degree, she is a 4-star admiral.

https://www.nbcnews.com/dr-rachel-levine-becomes-nations-first-transgender-four-star-officer

Yeah, She's really going to scare the Chinese Navy.

[Alan Klein]

From the article: "It also puts to lie Trump's regularly repeated assertion that he loves the military more than any other president has ever loved the military."

The same guy who avoided the military like a weaselly coward. 
How anybody (let alone 70-odd million Americans) can support this creep is beyond me.

I happen to like Powell. He's from The Bronx as I am and went to CCNY as I did.   

However, Powell was a RINO (Republican In Name Only)as asserted by Trump.  Of course, the Democrats liked him.  He supported both Democratic presidential candidates Obama and Clinton against Republicans McCain and Trump.  Apparently, Powell didn't think McCain's military and Senatorial service was good enough for him to make a good Republican President. 

Additionally, you forget, as did most of the press in their reports, that US Secretary of State Powell lied before the world at the United Nations swearing that Iraq had WMD weapons of mass destruction justifying our war against that country.  The results killed thousands of Americas and probably over a million Iraqis and helped lead to ISIS, sectarian killings,  and so many other problems in the Middle East.  It was Trump, who long before he ran for president, was opposed from the beginning to getting into a war with Iraq.  Apparently, you don't feel Powell should be called for a disastrous and unnecessary war he help start.