Political Posts

[cubsfan]

3 hours ago, changegonnacome said:

 

Expect the chant to 'finish off' Iran's nuclear program to grow louder and louder as Trump's Presidency continues......and to be clear.....finish off may sound like more aerial bombs to the lay person....but in reality to truly 'finish off' Iran's program you require regime change....and regime change cannot be achieved via aerial bombardment.

 

A commentator made a great point recently - that with the IAEA shut out of Iran  and unlikely to get back in anytime soon...the world is flying blind re:Iran nuclear program capability.....into that blind spot Bibi can inflate the Iranian nuclear to whatever degree he wishes to fulfill his ultimate aim of regime change in Tehran and its very hard for an American administration to  counter those claims.....Bibi has 3.5yrs left to fulfill his life's work...in Donald vs. Bibi bake-off....I'd bet on Bibi all day long.

 

Definitely a cause for concern. I was almost wishing Bibi would finish off the Ayatollah, that POS. Looks like we're a long way from over - but Iran is tremedously damaged - especially if you're a Iranian leader looking to take the spot of the dead troublemakers.  They know they will be dead men if they cause trouble.

[changegonnacome]

46 minutes ago, whiskybravo said:

No it would be cuts to qualified competent executives.

 

I think you missed my sarcastic tone.......indiscriminate cuts which characterize alot of what DOGE did in the beginning for sure...meant exactly what you say......the most qualified and most competent people left of their own free will.....indeed as a mentor of mine once said to me.......

 

"it isn't the rats that leave a sinking ship..... but rather the sailors who can swim"........

 

when Elon started taking a chainsaw to various parts of the federal bureaucracy and injecting uncertainty into various departments......I can assure you it was the sailors who could swim who left.......the folks that remain arent as competent and arent as experienced and by simply remaining have shown a hell of a lot of less initiative than the colleagues that left........I suspect we'll see the results of this diminution of state capacity/competency in the coming years.....a post-mortum will be done on this Texas tragedy....and we'll find out what happened. 

[changegonnacome]

1 hour ago, cubsfan said:

Iran is tremedously damaged

 

Yep....and what would you do as a State that just went through an almost decapitation of its military leadership from external forces with expressed preference for your overthrow?....remembering that you have 60% enriched uranium on-hand, some functioning centrifuges but most certainly the knowledge to build new ones.

 

Which goes to the heart of the matter.

 

See the B-2 bunker busters didn't obliterate Iran's nuclear capability......they fired the starting gun in an all out sprint by Iran to develop a nuclear bomb.....Bibi the old dog knews this, he just needed to set off that race to get what he's always wanted.......and its only in their 100m dash for a nuke can Bibi build the invasion case for whats required...and what he's wanted all along......a ground incursion into Iran and the overthrow of the regime with US support.......thats the Bibi playbook here.....and with no IAEA monitors on the ground...and Mossad's clear intelligence superiority versus anybody else......when Bibi says Iran is two weeks away from a nuclear bomb next time.....we wont be able to tell if he's the boy crying wolf...or if the wolf is here.....its an embarrassment to nuclear non-proliferation that North Korea got a bomb.....it wont be allowed happen again.

 

When I look at it - the final destination here looks almost inevitable. I think Donald may have put a down payment on America’s next ‘forever’ war.

 

Edited July 7, 2025 by changegonnacome

[whiskybravo]

37 minutes ago, changegonnacome said:

 

I think you missed my sarcastic tone.......indiscriminate cuts which characterize alot of what DOGE did in the beginning for sure...meant exactly what you say......the most qualified and most competent people left of their own free will.....indeed as a mentor of mine once said to me.......

 

"it isn't the rats that leave a sinking ship..... but rather the sailors who can swim"........

 

 

Is it a sinking of or a right sizing?  Are you saying competent executives will leave if a bloated workforce is optimized?

[changegonnacome]

3 minutes ago, whiskybravo said:

Are you saying competent executives will leave if a bloated workforce is optimized?

When cuts are indiscriminate….competent people don’t wait around to be randomly cut….they take as many did the early retirement gig and go work elsewhere and double up on the salary….i suspect if the Texas report shows some lack of resources or competency….you’ll find the competants took the deal on offer to go work somewhere else. Let’s see, way too early in this particular case to assign DOGE blame….but what I said above is true….competent people don’t wait around with a cloud of uncertainty of whether their department or agency will exist next month….or wether workforce optimization is going to lead to a better work environment…..they simply bounce….and my central thesis is that a good proportion of the MOST competent people in the federal government bounced in H1 2025…and we’ll find out what that results in over time.

[whiskybravo]

1 hour ago, changegonnacome said:

When cuts are indiscriminate….competent people don’t wait around to be randomly cut….they take as many did the early retirement gig and go work elsewhere and double up on the salary….i suspect if the Texas report shows some lack of resources or competency….you’ll find the competants took the deal on offer to go work somewhere else. Let’s see, way too early in this particular case to assign DOGE blame….but what I said above is true….competent people don’t wait around with a cloud of uncertainty of whether their department or agency will exist next month….or wether workforce optimization is going to lead to a better work environment…..they simply bounce….and my central thesis is that a good proportion of the MOST competent people in the federal government bounced in H1 2025…and we’ll find out what that results in over time.

Thanks for the color.  Were cuts indiscriminate?  People voluntarily took buyouts.  If their staying could have saved lives, are they in some way at fault?
 

I know there was talk of eliminating the climate research arm.  Going further Project 2025 called for dismantling NOAA and dividing its functions into other agencies, privatizing, and relegating to states.  Who in the world knows if this would be better or worse?  
 

Are we to throw up our hands and say it’s too risky to optimize government and cut costs.  If we wanted to try would there be a partner across the aisle?  I remember Clinton cut some jobs, programs, and agencies.  Obama and Biden were more about increasing efficiency hand waving.  Now I don’t think there is much will, since Trump is seen as such a boogeyman.

Edited July 7, 2025 by whiskybravo

[whiskybravo]

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/texas-flood-guadalupe-river-climate-change-national-weather-service-d2a9319d?st=1hdJxf&reflink=article_copyURL_share
 

“Some are blaming DOGE and federal budget cuts, but there’s scant evidence that staffing shortages at NWS affected events. The local NWS office had extra staff on duty last week and upgraded its precipitation models and forecasts repeatedly, from seven to nine inches on Wednesday night to 20 inches on Thursday evening.”

[cubsfan]

24 minutes ago, whiskybravo said:

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/texas-flood-guadalupe-river-climate-change-national-weather-service-d2a9319d?st=1hdJxf&reflink=article_copyURL_share
 

“Some are blaming DOGE and federal budget cuts, but there’s scant evidence that staffing shortages at NWS affected events. The local NWS office had extra staff on duty last week and upgraded its precipitation models and forecasts repeatedly, from seven to nine inches on Wednesday night to 20 inches on Thursday evening.”

 

Now that sounds much more reasonable.

[Spekulatius]

On 7/5/2025 at 2:16 PM, Spekulatius said:

Another exec (from Transneft) falling from a window of this apartment in Russia:

https://www.newsweek.com/top-russian-oil-executive-dies-moscow-window-fall-2094669

Another one bites the dust:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/07/europe/russian-minister-suicide-intl
 

Looks like Putin is doing some housecleaning.

[changegonnacome]

2 hours ago, whiskybravo said:

buyouts.  If their staying could have saved lives, are they in some way at fault?

 

the leadership of the bureaucracy is at fault....cause they instituted an incentives package that was counter to the best functioning of the bureaucracy.....the competent civil servant did what was best for them and left....the lazy incompetents did what was best for them and stayed....you can see how a voluntary redunacy package in the civil service often leads to extreme diminution of competency........80/20 rule.......20% of the people are doing 80% of the work......what happens when the 20% of workers leave.....the same principle is why corporate death spirals occur surprisingly quickly....the sailors who can swim abandon the ship first......they were responsible for 80% of the output.....and they are gone.......its a very interesting fact of organizations that gets lost in the mix alot......in any corporate downsizing you need to figure out how to keep the top performers or else your screwed....the story of the federal government is probably even more extreme distrubtion of performance to a smaller number of people than even the the 80/20 rule..

[Parsad]

4 hours ago, TB said:

@Parsad - would you mind sharing your opinions on Trudeu, Carney, Pollivere, and Alberta separation movement in Canada? Some people here say that Carney was the person behind Trudeu policies; would like to hear your opinion as you generally tend to be rational on most of these issues.

 

Alberta is not seceding.  They are pissed at Trudeau and want government to help them monetize their resources and help their economy.  Two candidates that were pro-separation just lost and had under 20% of the vote in their riding.  So Alberta leaving is even more unlikely than Quebec leaving.

 

Carney was an advisor to Trudeau, amongst many advisors.  Doesn't mean he pushed for all of Trudeau's ideas.  Carney lead Canada through the GFC alongside Stephen Harper...should he not get credit for that or only the blame for Trudeau's policies? 

 

Pollivere couldn't even get security clearance as he ran for Prime Minister, so you have to wonder why?  They never revealed.  He currently sits without a riding. 

 

I don't particularly care for Trudeau or Pollivere.  I want someone up the middle who isn't going to blow up our global relationships, become fiscally irresponsible or simply push a partisan agenda.  Carney is more central than the other two, and he has the economic background to get Canada back into a balanced budget and stop growing debt/GDP.  He also has the skills to develop Canada's global position, build the economy and lead with dignity.  So personally, I'm happy!  But let's see what he does over his term.  Cheers! 

[cwericb]

7 minutes ago, Parsad said:

 

Alberta is not seceding.  They are pissed at Trudeau and want government to help them monetize their resources and help their economy.  Two candidates that were pro-separation just lost and had under 20% of the vote in their riding.  So Alberta leaving is even more unlikely than Quebec leaving.

 

Carney was an advisor to Trudeau, amongst many advisors.  Doesn't mean he pushed for all of Trudeau's ideas.  Carney lead Canada through the GFC alongside Stephen Harper...should he not get credit for that or only the blame for Trudeau's policies? 

 

Pollivere couldn't even get security clearance as he ran for Prime Minister, so you have to wonder why?  They never revealed.  He currently sits without a riding. 

 

I don't particularly care for Trudeau or Pollivere.  I want someone up the middle who isn't going to blow up our global relationships, become fiscally irresponsible or simply push a partisan agenda.  Carney is more central than the other two, and he has the economic background to get Canada back into a balanced budget and stop growing debt/GDP.  He also has the skills to develop Canada's global position, build the economy and lead with dignity.  So personally, I'm happy!  But let's see what he does over his term.  Cheers! 

 

Agree 100%. Of Canada's choice for PM, there was little real choice as Carney is well qualified and has a proven track record. The biggest concern that I have is the boys in the back room that influence the party's decisions.

 

However, time will tell. But Carney is no fool and is a proven factor. Hopefully he will live up to expectations. If not... well it is a minority government and can be turfed out by the opposition. 

[Parsad]

45 minutes ago, TB said:

Thanks @Parsad - is Quebec separation still a thing? Someone told me one can get Canadian permanent residency by paying 500K CAD to Quebec (will be paid back after some years) but one doesn't need to live there. 

 

No, Quebec isn't separating either.  Yes, they do have an investment program for immigration in Quebec, and you used to be able to move to any part of Canada.  They are trying to crack down on that or get Quebec to share the revenue, but I believe it is still available.  Cheers!

[Parsad]

Hey MAGA folks...why did Bondi back down on releasing the Epstein client list that was on her desk two months ago? 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/07/politics/bondi-epstein-files-client-list-suicide-memo

 

Guy was a monster and his many clients may have been monsters.  No names, no charges, no release of information.

 

Or is it just illegal monsters that MAGA wants to get rid of and fake Clinton-related monsters at pizza parlors.  Cheers!

[73 Reds]

5 hours ago, Parsad said:

Hey MAGA folks...why did Bondi back down on releasing the Epstein client list that was on her desk two months ago? 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/07/politics/bondi-epstein-files-client-list-suicide-memo

 

Guy was a monster and his many clients may have been monsters.  No names, no charges, no release of information.

 

Or is it just illegal monsters that MAGA wants to get rid of and fake Clinton-related monsters at pizza parlors.  Cheers!

Why is your question posed to "MAGA" folks?  As a non-MAGA (or anything) folk, the answer seems rather simple:  Those with power and clout exert it when necessary for survival.

[Parsad]

3 hours ago, 73 Reds said:

Why is your question posed to "MAGA" folks?  As a non-MAGA (or anything) folk, the answer seems rather simple:  Those with power and clout exert it when necessary for survival.

 

And that is ok?  Like Biden's protection of Hunter...the pardons...34 felonies against Trump...Pelosi and MTG trading on insider information...all ok?  Everything is ok as long as our politicians push their agenda?  Cheers!

[73 Reds]

48 minutes ago, Parsad said:

 

And that is ok?  Like Biden's protection of Hunter...the pardons...34 felonies against Trump...Pelosi and MTG trading on insider information...all ok?  Everything is ok as long as our politicians push their agenda?  Cheers!

Who said it was OK?  Still don't understand why you asked the question to MAGA folks?  Doesn't anyone else's opinion count?  

[RichardGibbons]

2 minutes ago, 73 Reds said:

Who said it was OK?  Still don't understand why you asked the question to MAGA folks?  Doesn't anyone else's opinion count?  

 

Oh, I can help you understand. It's likely because Sanjeev thinks the MAGA folks are the ones likely to ignore, defend, or whatabout it and the non-MAGA folks are not likely to do the same.

 

It's fun to see the really creative contortions people go through when "their side" does something horrendous. It's only interesting hearing answers from MAGA folks, because non-MAGA folks likely won't take one of those approaches.

[73 Reds]

4 minutes ago, RichardGibbons said:

 

Oh, I can help you understand. It's likely because Sanjeev thinks the MAGA folks are the ones likely to ignore, defend, or whatabout it and the non-MAGA folks are not likely to do the same.

 

It's fun to see the really creative contortions people go through when "their side" does something horrendous. It's only interesting hearing answers from MAGA folks, because non-MAGA folks likely won't take one of those approaches.

I believe Sanjeev is smarter than that.  Those of us without a "side" can view an issue objectively without regard to politics.  The likes of Prince Andrew, Clinton, Gates and others with a lot to lose can surely control the narrative.  Its really that simple.

[Parsad]

1 hour ago, 73 Reds said:

I believe Sanjeev is smarter than that.  Those of us without a "side" can view an issue objectively without regard to politics.  The likes of Prince Andrew, Clinton, Gates and others with a lot to lose can surely control the narrative.  Its really that simple.

 

No, I'm not smarter than that.  I've been dumbed down to a drooling idiot over the last 7 years thanks to the morons in politics these days...on both sides.  But the Dems are just stupid...fighting grifters, con artists, just plain assholes...with 8 hour fiery speeches and table motions to rename Bills.  Yeah, that's going to change the world.  Where the hell are the likes of Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, even Ronald Regan for crying out loud!  

 

No, I'm not smarter than that.  I'm sad, disillusioned, disgustingly repugnant to the general population now.  I'm numb to politics...numb to MAGA...Trudeaued out!  Carney is my last saving grace...please don't be a dick, a hypocrite, a womanizing rapist who has been given enormous power...be decent, be powerful but diplomatic, bring dignity back to the office and politics.  Please, oh please!  Cheers!

[73 Reds]

5 minutes ago, Parsad said:

 

No, I'm not smarter than that.  I've been dumbed down to a drooling idiot over the last 7 years thanks to the morons in politics these days...on both sides.  But the Dems are just stupid...fighting grifters, con artists, just plain assholes...with 8 hour fiery speeches and table motions to rename Bills.  Yeah, that's going to change the world.  Where the hell are the likes of Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, even Ronald Regan for crying out loud!  

 

No, I'm not smarter than that.  I'm sad, disillusioned, disgustingly repugnant to the general population now.  I'm numb to politics...numb to MAGA...Trudeaued out!  Carney is my last saving grace...please don't be a dick, a hypocrite, a womanizing rapist who has been given enormous power...be decent, be powerful but diplomatic, bring dignity back to the office and politics.  Please, oh please!  Cheers!

Your frustrations are understood.  My own posts here only serve as a meager attempt to level a playing field of outlier posts by otherwise intelligent posters.  As Administrator you have every right do yourself and most of us a favor and eliminate the politics section of COBF.  None of the opinions expressed here are going to change anyway.

[Red Lion]

8 minutes ago, Parsad said:

Carney is my last saving grace...

 

As an outsider it looks like Canada has the most level headed leader in the world, and a newfound unity and patriotism. Maybe the unity will pass when Trump moves on to the next target, but it seems like a great setup for your country. 

[cubsfan]

14 hours ago, Parsad said:

Hey MAGA folks...why did Bondi back down on releasing the Epstein client list that was on her desk two months ago? 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/07/politics/bondi-epstein-files-client-list-suicide-memo

 

Guy was a monster and his many clients may have been monsters.  No names, no charges, no release of information.

 

Or is it just illegal monsters that MAGA wants to get rid of and fake Clinton-related monsters at pizza parlors.  Cheers!

 

Yup, not cool!  Sounds very fishy and no real defense. As with most of these scandals, one day we may learn the actual truth.

[Parsad]

On 7/6/2025 at 2:33 PM, Parsad said:

Has Trump tweeted blame on the Biden Administration for the flooding and deaths yet in Texas?  I bet he does by Monday!  Cheers!

 

There we go!  Like clockwork.  Cheers!

 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/08/politics/biden-blame-trump-texas-flood

[changegonnacome]

4 hours ago, cubsfan said:

Yup, not cool!  Sounds very fishy and no real defense. As with most of these scandals, one day we may learn the actual truth.

 

A JFK conspiracy theorist dies and meets God.

"Any questions?" God asks.

"Who really shot JFK?" the man blurts.

God replies, "Lee Harvey Oswald. Acted entirely alone."

The theorist blinks, nods slowly, and mutters:

"...Damn. This goes way deeper than I thought."

 

An old joke but a good one.!.....funny to watch the conspiracy wing of MAGA turn on MAGA itself.....and to a certain extent we had Trump the conspiracy theory candidate who just loved spreading innuendo and falsehoods as a campaign tool.....funny to watch that stuff come a full 360 back to his own administration.

 

Its something of a preview I suspect to how the MAGA movement ultimately ends......distrust, in-fighting, accusations of treason & various conspiracy theories will implode the coalition.....its only the cult of personality of the Donald that holds this thing together....if/when he's gone it fractures into a zillion pieces.

Edited July 9, 2025 by changegonnacome