Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[lineygoblue]

impressive

[Mike]

And while that fast track to Fantasyland speeds onward, just how many gun owners are just going to leave their guns out for the authorities to take them away? Probably about zero, So they'll just have to search every closet, basement, attic, garage and shack in the woods to find them. Anne Frank hiding from the Nazis would have to hold about 400 million beers while listening to the stories that would come out of that turn of events.

Right. Rounding up the guns itself, were it legal to do so, is an insurmountable hill to climb. Not to mention the ruckus that would create.

[Hannibal]

Our transportation secretary...

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[Hannibal]

Right. Rounding up the guns itself, were it legal to do so, is an insurmountable hill to climb. Not to mention the ruckus that would create.

Not to mention it wouldn't put a dent in crime. At all.

Picture2.png

[Dr. Strangelove]

Another look at the costs of blacklisting "woke" capital. If voters are aware of the costs and still favor it, so be it. But I'd wager most are unaware or haven't thought about the potential downsides.

****************

In recent months, though, several campaigns have failed even in conservative strongholds, and studies have calculated the financial cost to these ideological stances. They include:

• Indiana’s budget office found that a bill forcing state pension funds to divest from “woke” money managers would cost $6.7 billion over the next decade in sub-market returns, forcing retirees to increase their paycheck contributions.
• Executives in charge of one of Kentucky’s retirement funds sent a letter last week to the state’s treasurer, arguing that a recent law requiring them to pull money from BlackRock and 10 other firms deemed hostile to the energy industry would violate their duty to get the highest returns for pensioners. BlackRock manages one-third of the fund’s international stock holdings, according to Ed Owens III, CEO of the $10.8 billion County Employees Retirement System.
• A 2021 Texas investment blacklist cost municipalities an additional $303 million to $532 million in bond interest, according to a study by University of Pennsylvania’s Daniel Garrett and Federal Reserve researcher Ivan Ivanov. JPMorgan, Citigroup, and other big banks left the state after the law was passed, leaving less competition for the underwriting deals and pushing interest rates about 40 basis points higher in the eight months that followed, they found.
• North Dakota last week voted down, 90-3, a Texas-style bill that would have required the state treasurer to prepare a blacklist of financial firms that have committed to reducing carbon emissions. but would have stopped short of banning state investment funds from doing business with them

The backlash to the ESG backlash is here | Semafor

[Mike]

I'm starting to think progressive criminal justice policies might not be helping to keep communities safe.

Former Ingham County (home to MSU) prosecutor, Carol Siemon, instituted a policy in the wake of the George Floyd riots to not prosecute two year gun felonies that arise from traffic stops or drug offenses. The rationale was because 80% of the people in Ingham County jail on felony gun charges were black. So it stands to reason, that the law is racist and applied unjustly. It's more important to use skin color when deciding whom to prosecute for felony gun charges because... reasons.

She was roundly criticized by law enforcement and judges. She even went so far as to offer a plea deal to a guy who brutally beat two women to death to keep him OUT of prison for life. She actually thought the guy deserved a second chance. Judge Aqualina, who you may remember from the Nassar trial, ripped her a new asshole.

https://www.wlns.com/news/judge-call...er-sentencing/

During a court hearing surrounding a double murder, Judge Aquilina said she changed the sentencing from the 30 to 50 years recommended by the county Prosecutor Carol Siemon to a sentence of 70 to 100 years in prison.

“She is offering a deal. Because she doesn’t believe in life offenses. She is not a legislator, she is not a judge. And she is making our community unsafe. If someone has an offense that should be charged as a life offense, it should be done in accordance with the law. And if she wants to change the law she should run for the legislature,” said Judge Aquilina.

Ingham County prosecutor to limit gun charge that disproportionately impacts Black people

https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/...ge/5555564001/

This new policy is the latest of Siemon's reforms to address mass incarceration and racial inequities in the justice system. She also said she will stop charging gun and drug possession charges that stem from a traffic stop for a non-public-safety-related reason and will have her staff always review body camera footage before issuing resisting police charges.

Ingham County Sheriff Scott Wriggelsworth said Siemon's policy to not pursue charges for gun and drug possession stemming from some traffic stops is giving criminals a free pass.

“This is yet another Ingham County policy or story focusing on what’s best for the offender,” Wriggelsworth said. “What family will be the next to be victimized? This is justice for whom? The only logical answer is the offender.”

https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/...n/69751718007/

In 2020, Siemon offered Kiernan Brown, who was accused of bludgeoning two women to death and who police said planned to kill two more women and was on parole for domestic assault, the opportunity to plead guilty to second-degree murder. That charge carried a prison sentence ranging from 30 to 50 years.

At the time, Siemon said she did not believe in life-without-parole sentences, which come with first-degree murder conviction. Brown deserved the chance to change, she argued, even if rehabilitation wasn't likely.

In a statement after the case, Siemon said she has a "responsibility for making the tough calls, and I stand by all of the work that I've done. She argued that her role is to hold people responsible for harm they cause others, "while also ensuring that the criminal legal system is fair, ethical and just."

FOR WHOM??

Siemon retired effective Dec. 31, 2022. She leaves a wonderful legacy, eh?

https://www.bridgemi.com/talent-educ...ealth-problems

McRae was charged with a felony punishable by up to five years in prison in district court but later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in circuit court.

He was put on probation in 2019 and was discharged from it in 2021. The plea deal was offered under then-Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon, who in 2021 pledged to limit the use of felony firearm charges because she said they disproportionately affect Black residents.

[Dr. Strangelove]

McRae was charged with a felony punishable by up to five years in prison in district court but later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in circuit court.

To push back on this portion slightly, the crime McRae apparently was charged with is possession of a concealed weapon without a permit (the gun itself was legal and registered). Most red states have completely de-criminalized that.

[Dr. Strangelove]

lol

[THE_WIZARD_]

DSL...do us all a favor and drive to East Palestine and do some deep breathing.

[iam416]

Another look at the costs of blacklisting "woke" capital. If voters are aware of the costs and still favor it, so be it. But I'd wager most are unaware or haven't thought about the potential downsides.

****************

In recent months, though, several campaigns have failed even in conservative strongholds, and studies have calculated the financial cost to these ideological stances. They include:

• Indiana’s budget office found that a bill forcing state pension funds to divest from “woke” money managers would cost $6.7 billion over the next decade in sub-market returns, forcing retirees to increase their paycheck contributions.
• Executives in charge of one of Kentucky’s retirement funds sent a letter last week to the state’s treasurer, arguing that a recent law requiring them to pull money from BlackRock and 10 other firms deemed hostile to the energy industry would violate their duty to get the highest returns for pensioners. BlackRock manages one-third of the fund’s international stock holdings, according to Ed Owens III, CEO of the $10.8 billion County Employees Retirement System.
• A 2021 Texas investment blacklist cost municipalities an additional $303 million to $532 million in bond interest, according to a study by University of Pennsylvania’s Daniel Garrett and Federal Reserve researcher Ivan Ivanov. JPMorgan, Citigroup, and other big banks left the state after the law was passed, leaving less competition for the underwriting deals and pushing interest rates about 40 basis points higher in the eight months that followed, they found.
• North Dakota last week voted down, 90-3, a Texas-style bill that would have required the state treasurer to prepare a blacklist of financial firms that have committed to reducing carbon emissions. but would have stopped short of banning state investment funds from doing business with them

The backlash to the ESG backlash is here | Semafor

You're really all over this shit. I can't wait to see actual real articles on this.

The Indiana cite doesn'ts ay "WOULD COST" it says "COULD result" -- that's a big motherfucking diffference.

I'm all for figuring out how to best manage money and, incidentally, I also happen to believe that the stockholder and investment fiduciary duties mean you invest in the funds that make the most money (not ESG nonsense).

But it's also a critical mass issue. Right now you have funds that don't will not make the best investments if they conflict with some sort of nion-financial mantra. That's inefficient. And in response, you have States that won't invest with people who COULD be inefficient, and that's ineffcient.

I mean, I get that you love Woke capital. LOVE IT. And think that if the government can't slamW Woke down our throats that investment funds should. But, just like your bullshit with guns yesterday (you never did answer my question about the detente), you gotta look at both sides.

[Dr. Strangelove]

It's only rational that if you're selling muni bonds, and you have a certain number of bonds you want to sell, that if you limit the pool of potential buyers you're going to have to sweeten the deal to the remaining investors. Meaning if you expect the First Federal Bank of Ogallala to buy the same amount Goldman Sachs had previously pledged to buy you will probably have to offer a higher yield. That's an entirely rational and logical conclusion. Now you may hate WOKE so very, very much that you're willing to pay any price to punish those woke companies. Fine..But I doubt very, very much that most people in the anti-woke brigade put any serious thought into that side of things.

As to gun detente, fine. Democrats should stop demonizing gun ownership. Stop pretending you can ban guns completely.

Now are there things Republicans say about guns that YOU find irresponsible? Does the Right fetishize guns perhaps a bit too much? If guns are essentially a people/culture problem then we need to talk about ALL aspects of the culture, including the people who brandish guns like they're fun toys.

[iam416]

Well, I'm against the inefficient use of other people's money in all regards. I'm against the use of other people's money to further the cultural elite's political agenda -- whatever that may be -- left or right. I'm generally against state pension funds foreclosing investment opportunities for political reasons. HOWEVER, one of these things is clearly came first. And if the response, albeit inefficient, neuters the original, then it's better to do it. I'd very much prefer to not live in a world where corporations effectuate or attempt to effectuate policy using other people's money. That's me.

As for guns, there are plenty of sensible restrictions to use. I would start with hammering the shit out of those people who get around restrictions namely the illegal selling of guns. And I would hammer the shit out of people who illegally possess guns. We can pretend that the whatever -- 13,000? -- murders in US are all mass shootings or a majority mass shootings, or we can acknowledge that the vast,vast majority of gun murders are crime-related (beyond the murder itself). That's the issue that needs addressed. That's what I'd start with. It sure as fuck wouldn't be with some sort of shit about "gun culture" or "gun fetishization" -- because, yeah -- THAT's what's driving gun murders in, say, Southside Chicago.

[iam416]

There were over 2100 murders in Chicago ALONE from 2020-22 -- right around 700 per year. 700. That's the issue. And, of course, there are plenty of other underlying issues there beyond illegal gun ownership. It has to be a comprehensive solution. But, it has to acknowledge the realities.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Well, I'm against the inefficient use of other people's money in all regards. I'm against the use of other people's money to further the cultural elite's political agenda -- whatever that may be -- left or right. I'm generally against state pension funds foreclosing investment opportunities for political reasons. HOWEVER, one of these things is clearly came first. And if the response, albeit inefficient, neuters the original, then it's better to do it. I'd very much prefer to not live in a world where corporations effectuate or attempt to effectuate policy using other people's money. That's me.

Well, I mean everyone probably has a line even if they don't admit it out loud. Virtually no one places profit and ROI ahead of literally everything else. China is a real easy example. I'm sure you'd be comfortable if Goldman Sachs were to say "You know, even if it would improve the return to our shareholders, we're not going to invest in companies building Chinese slave camps". Your objection to companies using their clout this way isn't really in principle, per se, it's that the political cause must be something you personally align with. And that's the case for the vast majority of us.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I trust Fred's Bank in downtown Ogallala much more than any federally run bank...