Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Hannibal]

Heh, btw, after his staff spent the entire morning denying this was being considered, President Deals just confirmed that in fact he HAS been considering this Sanctuary City plan

If you reside in a sanctuary city, then you can take comfort in the fact that Trump has proven by now that he is either too insincere or too executively incompetent to pull this off. It's all hot air.

[Hannibal]

Ahhhh fuck it. They may be playing me for a sap again but...if that's who I think it was at the end, I'll probably go see this shit. Steal another $15 from me, Disney.

This will be the first Star Wars that I don't see in theaters.

[Dr. Strangelove]

The last one was bad. I'd still say see in in the theater unless you have an amazing home setup...but yeah, the last one was bad. And I've still never seen Solo

[crashcourse]

yep

herad shazam was actually pretty good.

2 more weeks til endgame

[Dr. Strangelove]

Yeah, I got very optimistic when I saw the first Shazam previews because it looked like it was going to be goofy and didn't take itself very seriously. And I've heard good things too. May go see that this weekend.

[Kapture1]

If you reside in a sanctuary city, then you can take comfort in the fact that Trump has proven by now that he is either too insincere or too executively incompetent to pull this off. It's all hot air.

why would they take comfort? don't the want their cities overrun with illegals?

[Kapture1]

I_Spy_Trump_-_Shirt_900x900.jpg?v=1555103053.jpg

https://shop.donaldjtrump.com/products/i-spy-trump-tee

[Whitley]

Yeah, I got very optimistic when I saw the first Shazam previews because it looked like it was going to be goofy and didn't take itself very seriously. And I've heard good things too. May go see that this weekend.

I am going to see it tomorrow with a friend.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I read an article based on an interview with a Texas Rancher who raises Bison on a vast ranch whose property line abuts the Mexican boarder. He walks his property regularly finding discarded articles from illegals who have crossed through his property. Occasionally he encounters them. He is always armed and prepared to defend himself. He tells a story of a knock on his door one evening, this in an environment where you never approach another rancher's home after dark in that the assumption is that someone who does that intends to do you harm and you'll be met with a shot gun. That evening the dreaded knock occurred. Armed with a shot gun he approached the door and inquired of a lone man what he wanted. The answer was water. He noted the man was probably an illegal, posed no threat and needed help. He gave him water and the man thankfully feel to his knees and cried.

The point this rancher made was that we need to find a way to wear each other's shoes. We need a responsible migrant worker visa program. "It's not that hard, and not that complicated," he says. I get this attitude among those that employ these people. It's a good deal on both sides. But, clearly, that's not the bulk of the immigrant issue - it's the large number of whole families seeking safety in the US. There's no drive from this group to work but rather to escape to sanctuary then see what happens.....and doing nothing but subsisting on the good will of those who wrongly provide it may very well be the default position.

In a previous exchange involving talent and DSL, talent made a good point: The laws to prohibit entry of this population cohort are, for the most part, there. They are not enforced and worse, they are flaunted in the name of social justice by sanctuary proponents. Trump, perceived by his opponents of seeking law breaking policy, is no worse than the left who has been supporting immigration law breaking for decades. Point taken.

The Obama administration facilitated this behavior and, IMO, encouraged and enlarged groups who flaunted the law with impunity because enforcement of laws prohibiting sanctuary immigrants were uniformly not enforced. The courts did much the same by ruling in favor of plaintiffs claiming immigration laws designed to properly limit it were unconstitutional. So, we have the immigration mess we have in the US - the drift to the left in US politics over the last two decades can be rightly blamed for this, the nationalism - in all it's various flavors - has sprung forward in response.

Trump is also correct in blaming Congress for not addressing the immigration mess and at the same time increasing enforcement activity within DHS. I may not like how Trump frames his approach to immigration publicly. I may not agree completely with his immigration policies but, at a higher level, he is spot on. It is a shame that he gets pummeled by the press over BUT, THE CHILDREN. I think it is sad that discourse on the subject of immigration quickly deteriorates to two sides - that of claims by liberals leveled at conservatives of "white nationalism" and racism and claims on the other leveled at Liberals that they are Trotsky/Lenin loving communists and ethnic purgers. The net result - we're not getting in the public discourse what we need: a full disclosure of the many untoward implications of open boarders...... which is essentially where the current political and public climate in the US has brought us.

As an aside, the members of the EU, particularly the Brits (with EU immigration policy being a major player among Brexiteers), struggle with immigration issues with the two sides much like they are defined in the US. The problem is not much different in Europe other than it involves a different cohort of immigrants from Africa and the ME also seeking sanctuary from violence in their mother countries.

[Jeff Buchanan]

In other European news of the ME ...... I thought this was interesting:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47913544

[Ghengis Jon]

Talked to Doc Hodgeman yesterday. He's going to attempt one game this year, maybe Army. Looking forward to it.

[iam416]

Good post, Buchanan.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Talked to Doc Hodgeman yesterday. He's going to attempt one game this year, maybe Army. Looking forward to it.

I'll be there. Hope all the plank holders can make it. Liney?

[Jeff Buchanan]

On the link I posted to the BBC report offering speculation on the Trump Administration's ME policy as it relates to the long standing territorial dispute between the Palestinians and Israelis.

This is an immensely complex issue not well suited for reduction to it's core elements. The article does not try to do that and is well served not trying to do so. However, it does provide a BBC reporting glimpse inot what appears to be an emerging ME policy shift on the part of Donald Trump. At it's core, it seems as if Trump may well be guiding American policy toward an abandonment of the Two State Solution, fundamental to the Oslo Peace Accords. For whatever reasons - and blame goes all around - the Accords have failed to produce a two state solution after a quarter century of wrangling between various parties on the Arab side and various flavors of the Israeli government.

My take is that the US, under Trump's presidency, wants to leave the issue of the Palestinian diaspora to the Arab states - The Quartet I believe it is called. Meanwhile, the US will commit it's full support to the Israelis. The underlying intent, I suspect, is to leverage Israeli military power against the Iranian mullahs (and their ME proxy, Hamas) keeping their regional aspirations in check. SA could be a willing partner in this undertaking. If this is so, it rather dismisses the underlying religious conflicts between Sunni and Shia Muslims that has colored ME relations and attendant conflicts for centuries.

Recent actions by the Trump administration - recognition of Jerusalem as the proper site of the US Embassy and control of the Golan to Israel - certainly point to this pathway and the underwriting of Benjamin Netanyahu's policies. I'm not prepared to speculate how all this will turn out but it is a bold policy move that appears to abandon what amounts to nearly a century of failed attempts to reconcile differences between Jews and Arabs in the ME.

[Da Geezer]

GOOD POST....AGAIN