I'm not afraid to just come out and say it, joe biden (not capitalized out of extreme disrespect) is a complete asshole, career politician, fake pretend president that should have been thrown the hell out of public service years ago. This administration is a complete disgrace to our country and slap in the face to American citizens. Sorry but not sorry.
You don't generally initiate posts, so yes, by definition, you haven't posted any "left of center".
Anyway, I joke your comment because I simply don't believe in this contrived meaning of "moderate"...it's simply a term made up by people who want to feel better about themselves as well as (slightly) condescending to others. Which is fine, I could care less, but in a political sense, "moderate" simply can't exist in politics or economics because where do you draw the line? I mean, if you spread all your beliefs out on a table, exactly what percentage of those beliefs would indicate that you are a moderate, and to what degree within those beliefs would you be considered a moderate? The entire concept of being a political moderate (left or right) is completely nebulous and contrived to make people feel better (and more superior) about themselves.
When I research and teach comparative economic systems, in the US there tends to be four groups: republican, democrat, liberal, conservative
Even though both the left and right have twisted the definition of liberal and conservative to also cover religious (atheist) ideals, it's really not--liberal and conservative are primarily economic ideals; republican and democrat are primarily sociological ideals.
For instance,
Liberal = larger government economically speaking Democrat = favor sociological policy that create an "equal playing field" so to speak that can only be attain through federal policy Conservative = less government economically speaking Republican = favor sociological policy that embraces individualism with most policy being determined at the state level
So, we're left with the following categories that people can fall into:
Liberal democrat Republican conservative Conservative democrat Liberal republican
(Notice that it would be impossible to have a liberal conservative or democrat republican.)
I believe you fall in the liberal democrat category from my limited interaction(s) with you, but please correct me if I'm wrong. I personally fall in the Republican conservative category.
If you want examples of the other two, I would put someone like Joe Manchin in the conservative democrat category, and someone like Tulsi Gabbard or even someone like Mitt Romney in the liberal republican camp.
Is there any percentage breakdown within these groups? To some extent there is; if more than 50% of your beliefs fall into these categories then you are in that category...but that's my point, there is no "moderate", it simply has no viable definition within politics or economics that's not covered by these four groups.
And as I always tell my students, please read the syllabus before contacting me! 🤣
In my personal opinion, the world has responded, reasonably, the way it should respond--strong sanctions that effectively shut down the Russian economy...let's hope it works. The key to this success will be if the world keeps (or appears to keep anyway) these sanctions in perpetuity.
Anyway, for the US, military intervention wouldn't be wise, not because of nuclear weapons, but because this is a European problem. For years Trump tried to get other European nations to contribute more to NATO and home defense, but they refused, now they're stuck with a problem that they need to fix, not us. But the marginal cost of strong sanctions is quite low. That said, the one sanction that's problematic for everyone is sanctioning their oil. You can see below that Russia is the number 2 producer in the world
Here are the 10 countries with the most oil production:
United States (12108)
Russia (10835)
Saudi Arabia (9580)
Iraq (4620)
Canada (4129)
China (3823)
United Arab Emirates (3068)
Kuwait (2652)
To counter that, and something our currently incompetent, impotent government is not doing, is ramping up our own production (and open Keystone back up) instead of simply relying on an increase in demand to increase output, and coordinating with other friendly nations (e.g., Sauds, UAE, Kuwait, etc) to up their's as well. This would effectively squeeze any oil Russia does have on the market, and with a sanctioning of their own oil, would castrate them economically.
I'm also encouraged that the hacker group Anonymous has joined in this battle. Granted, they aren't the most grandmotherly nor benign group to work with, they are extortionists after all, but they have the capability and determination to wreak havoc on Russia's government, banking, and oil computer systems (just like they held our Colonial Pipeline system hostage for 2 weeks a couple of years ago). Unlike the self righteous, sometimes you have to get thugs on your side to win the playground war.
All in all, I think we are currently doing at least some of this, even though implemented far too late in the game. We could do much much more though (like the oil production thing).
@vtgrad2003 My college backgound was taylored to computer/business integration in the 80's prior to that I worked in photography and owned a gallery and frame shop. I studied Micro and Macro Economics along with Acounting and Tax Accounting as the applications I would encounter as a computer programer. The remainder or my classes were my true educational loves, Analytical Philosophy and Mathematics.
As a result I see the world as a fluid whole that functions fairly well when the extremes aren't taunting each other to irrational behavior as we are seeing today. I didn't appreciate a Reality TV star nor do I appreciate a Career Politician as President. Quite frankly the Party or person controlling the White House, Senate or House has never changed the direction of my life so when you don't really care you're firmly in the middle.
I do understand your point, but, you do care, regardless of whether you admit it or not--i.e., if you vote, you care, and I'm sure you vote (although I could be wrong); those who truly don't care, don't vote. The reason being that if you vote, you are voting for a particular economic and political philosophy, so by definition, you fall somewhere into those four categories. But again, I see where you are coming from, although I don't agree with that statement--agree to disagree as you and I often do.
"Since fascism does not exist [he means in it's proper context], antifascism must conjure it. We see this with the absurdly broad and hysterical discovery of hateful “isms” in a wide variety of harmless words, symbols, gestures, and practices.. Punctuality has been declared white supremacy. Black conservatives are labeled as racists and Jewish intellectuals are often called Nazis. Broadly speaking, fascism has become anything that vexes the antifascist. Even inanimate objects can be fascist now."
@RondyR; I agree with everything you said, but what are we going to do? This country is headed to Hell and we can't even slow it down. As goes America, so goes the world.
@vtgrad2003 It seems only fitting that a nation of rebels that started a fight for freedom with a handful of drunken shopkeepers and farmers, should be reminded of the cost of freedom and democracy by a guy who played the piano with his dick. That bastard truly has balls of solid steel.
Last week gas prices in Slidell, LA was $3.29 a gallon. On Tuesday, the price wa $3.49. Yesterday it was $3.69. Today it is $3.79 for regular unleaded. Thanks in part to the anti-economy, anti-fossil fuel policies of the democrats.
@PappyJoe Just cost me $123 to fill my truck. I came into work, went up to the first demtard I saw, which happened to be an accounting professor with an office next to mine, gave him the receipt and told him to cut me a check for 1/2 since he's the one that caused it!!!
@vtgrad2003 The price at the pump is a result of newscasters informing the rational economic actors of a gold worthy opportunity. The gas you bought today was from crude contracts purchased months ago.
@vtgrad2003 Don't you find it interesting that when prices increase it's based on futures but prices only decrease after the product is produced from lower priced delivered contracts?
@Balisong Absolutely wrong wrong wrong. Current prices fluctuate for a variety of reasons...even the cracking of diesels cause regular gas prices to rise (and vice versa), but the significant cost to gasoline is based upon the futures contracts in the oil markets. Those contracts can expire at a profit or loss depending on whether the buyer of the contract wants to actually take delivery of the product at expiration, but that is a completely separate issue from the prices at the pump regardless whether the buyer exercises the contract or not--if the futures market believes the price of oil will rise in the future, gas prices rise, if they expect it to fall in the future, gas prices fall.
@vtgrad2003 Everything you say is correct and why is qualified my statement with "Thanks in part..." The policies I attribute to raising gas prices is the cancellation of the pipeline and the stoppage of drilling on federal leases.
@vtgrad2003 What is the actual cost of the gallon of gas you purchased today?
"-if the futures market believes the price of oil will rise in the future, gas prices rise, if they expect it to fall in the future, gas prices fall. " You experienced an increase based on belief!
You forgot the depreciation of the dollar due to insane borrowing and spending, thats the only time democrats are actually not adhering to their two tier system, because they reach into everyone's pockets at the same time
@PappyJoe Ddaaammmmmnnnn😛 Even I could probably watch that football🙂 Crikey! I actually made it through the first quarter before I got bored out of my skull. I think it’s the only full? quarter of football I’ve ever watched in my life.
Most differences in state prices are usually due to state fuel taxes, with the exception of CA. They have high state fuel taxes, but they also have several different local environmental ordinances which requires refineries to crack several different types of gas just for that state, which is more expensive (obviously). That said, I wonder why MA price is so high? I'm not familiar with their state laws, but their gas tax is only 24 cents a gallon which is somewhat low--e.g., ours here in NC is 36 cents. It could be that there aren't many refineries up there so there's a large transpo cost, I don't know.
Comments
You don't generally initiate posts, so yes, by definition, you haven't posted any "left of center".
Anyway, I joke your comment because I simply don't believe in this contrived meaning of "moderate"...it's simply a term made up by people who want to feel better about themselves as well as (slightly) condescending to others. Which is fine, I could care less, but in a political sense, "moderate" simply can't exist in politics or economics because where do you draw the line? I mean, if you spread all your beliefs out on a table, exactly what percentage of those beliefs would indicate that you are a moderate, and to what degree within those beliefs would you be considered a moderate? The entire concept of being a political moderate (left or right) is completely nebulous and contrived to make people feel better (and more superior) about themselves.
When I research and teach comparative economic systems, in the US there tends to be four groups: republican, democrat, liberal, conservative
Even though both the left and right have twisted the definition of liberal and conservative to also cover religious (atheist) ideals, it's really not--liberal and conservative are primarily economic ideals; republican and democrat are primarily sociological ideals.
For instance,
Liberal = larger government economically speaking
Democrat = favor sociological policy that create an "equal playing field" so to speak that can only be attain through federal policy
Conservative = less government economically speaking
Republican = favor sociological policy that embraces individualism with most policy being determined at the state level
So, we're left with the following categories that people can fall into:
Liberal democrat
Republican conservative
Conservative democrat
Liberal republican
(Notice that it would be impossible to have a liberal conservative or democrat republican.)
I believe you fall in the liberal democrat category from my limited interaction(s) with you, but please correct me if I'm wrong. I personally fall in the Republican conservative category.
If you want examples of the other two, I would put someone like Joe Manchin in the conservative democrat category, and someone like Tulsi Gabbard or even someone like Mitt Romney in the liberal republican camp.
Is there any percentage breakdown within these groups? To some extent there is; if more than 50% of your beliefs fall into these categories then you are in that category...but that's my point, there is no "moderate", it simply has no viable definition within politics or economics that's not covered by these four groups.
And as I always tell my students, please read the syllabus before contacting me! 🤣
In my personal opinion, the world has responded, reasonably, the way it should respond--strong sanctions that effectively shut down the Russian economy...let's hope it works. The key to this success will be if the world keeps (or appears to keep anyway) these sanctions in perpetuity.
Anyway, for the US, military intervention wouldn't be wise, not because of nuclear weapons, but because this is a European problem. For years Trump tried to get other European nations to contribute more to NATO and home defense, but they refused, now they're stuck with a problem that they need to fix, not us. But the marginal cost of strong sanctions is quite low. That said, the one sanction that's problematic for everyone is sanctioning their oil. You can see below that Russia is the number 2 producer in the world
- United States (12108)
- Russia (10835)
- Saudi Arabia (9580)
- Iraq (4620)
- Canada (4129)
- China (3823)
- United Arab Emirates (3068)
- Kuwait (2652)
To counter that, and something our currently incompetent, impotent government is not doing, is ramping up our own production (and open Keystone back up) instead of simply relying on an increase in demand to increase output, and coordinating with other friendly nations (e.g., Sauds, UAE, Kuwait, etc) to up their's as well. This would effectively squeeze any oil Russia does have on the market, and with a sanctioning of their own oil, would castrate them economically.I'm also encouraged that the hacker group Anonymous has joined in this battle. Granted, they aren't the most grandmotherly nor benign group to work with, they are extortionists after all, but they have the capability and determination to wreak havoc on Russia's government, banking, and oil computer systems (just like they held our Colonial Pipeline system hostage for 2 weeks a couple of years ago). Unlike the self righteous, sometimes you have to get thugs on your side to win the playground war.
All in all, I think we are currently doing at least some of this, even though implemented far too late in the game. We could do much much more though (like the oil production thing).
My college backgound was taylored to computer/business integration in the 80's prior to that I worked in photography and owned a gallery and frame shop. I studied Micro and Macro Economics along with Acounting and Tax Accounting as the applications I would encounter as a computer programer. The remainder or my classes were my true educational loves, Analytical Philosophy and Mathematics.
As a result I see the world as a fluid whole that functions fairly well when the extremes aren't taunting each other to irrational behavior as we are seeing today. I didn't appreciate a Reality TV star nor do I appreciate a Career Politician as President. Quite frankly the Party or person controlling the White House, Senate or House has never changed the direction of my life so when you don't really care you're firmly in the middle.
I do understand your point, but, you do care, regardless of whether you admit it or not--i.e., if you vote, you care, and I'm sure you vote (although I could be wrong); those who truly don't care, don't vote. The reason being that if you vote, you are voting for a particular economic and political philosophy, so by definition, you fall somewhere into those four categories. But again, I see where you are coming from, although I don't agree with that statement--agree to disagree as you and I often do.
https://amgreatness.com/2022/02/26/a-movement-that-must-invent-its-enemies-to-exist/
"Since fascism does not exist [he means in it's proper context], antifascism must conjure it. We see this with the absurdly broad and hysterical discovery of hateful “isms” in a wide variety of harmless words, symbols, gestures, and practices.. Punctuality has been declared white supremacy. Black conservatives are labeled as racists and Jewish intellectuals are often called Nazis. Broadly speaking, fascism has become anything that vexes the antifascist. Even inanimate objects can be fascist now."
I agree with everything you said, but what are we going to do? This country is headed to Hell and we can't even slow it down. As goes America, so goes the world.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/gop-black-women-hair-crown-act/2022/03/01/id/1058999/
Zelenskyy's powerful speech moves translator to tears
https://www.foxnews.com/world/zelenskyys-powerful-speech-moves-translator-to-tears
Just cost me $123 to fill my truck. I came into work, went up to the first demtard I saw, which happened to be an accounting professor with an office next to mine, gave him the receipt and told him to cut me a check for 1/2 since he's the one that caused it!!!
The price at the pump is a result of newscasters informing the rational economic actors of a gold worthy opportunity. The gas you bought today was from crude contracts purchased months ago.
Absolutely not! The gas prices today are based upon futures contracts!
Don't you find it interesting that when prices increase it's based on futures but prices only decrease after the product is produced from lower priced delivered contracts?
Absolutely wrong wrong wrong. Current prices fluctuate for a variety of reasons...even the cracking of diesels cause regular gas prices to rise (and vice versa), but the significant cost to gasoline is based upon the futures contracts in the oil markets. Those contracts can expire at a profit or loss depending on whether the buyer of the contract wants to actually take delivery of the product at expiration, but that is a completely separate issue from the prices at the pump regardless whether the buyer exercises the contract or not--if the futures market believes the price of oil will rise in the future, gas prices rise, if they expect it to fall in the future, gas prices fall.
Everything you say is correct and why is qualified my statement with "Thanks in part..."
The policies I attribute to raising gas prices is the cancellation of the pipeline and the stoppage of drilling on federal leases.
What is the actual cost of the gallon of gas you purchased today?
"-if the futures market believes the price of oil will rise in the future, gas prices rise, if they expect it to fall in the future, gas prices fall. "
You experienced an increase based on belief!
Ddaaammmmmnnnn😛
Even I could probably watch that football🙂
Crikey!
I actually made it through the first quarter before I got bored out of my skull. I think it’s the only full? quarter of football I’ve ever watched in my life.
I almost needed a cold shower after watching that.
$3.79
That's a little more than we pay but our southern neighbor, Massachusetts, is $4.00 and more!
Most differences in state prices are usually due to state fuel taxes, with the exception of CA. They have high state fuel taxes, but they also have several different local environmental ordinances which requires refineries to crack several different types of gas just for that state, which is more expensive (obviously). That said, I wonder why MA price is so high? I'm not familiar with their state laws, but their gas tax is only 24 cents a gallon which is somewhat low--e.g., ours here in NC is 36 cents. It could be that there aren't many refineries up there so there's a large transpo cost, I don't know.