Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Mike]

Your logic is very interesting, Froot.

[iam416]

He mostly just makes shit up and proceeds to "reason" from there. Whatever. It's a nice reminder of what's the Ds are about.

[iam416]

In a glorious victory for justice, the Ohio 9th Circuit of Appeals upheld the trial verdict in favor of Gibson's bakery against Oberlin College. As some of you may recall, Gibson's was completely obliterated by both Oberlin and students as "racists" for, well, daring to stop a black student for shoplifting (which he was, of course, doing). The problem, though, is that Gibson's....PROFILED!!!! Oh god.

The University took an active role in putting Gibson's out of business. The trial court awarded the bakery $32M. The Appellate Court upheld $25M of that along with $6M in attorney fees. Given the procedural disposition of the case -- that a jury opted in favor of Gibson's and thus all factual issues on appeal must be resolved in "a light most favorable" to Gibson's, I have a hard time seeing the Ohio Supreme Court overturning.

A nice little bit of justice from Strangelove's neck of the woods!

Decision: https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/ro...-Ohio-1079.pdf

[froot loops]

But I'm not making up Trump's crush on Putin.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I voted for Biden, Froot. I think it was Hanni that said you needed a firmware update. I agree.

You got one assertion in your post right.....I'm anti-Putin. That's a huge understatement of what I think about him.

[Mike]

Speaking of Biden's sinking poll numbers - which are a direct reflection of the absolutely awful job he's doing - just wait until they scrap Title 42 in May. I read this yesterday from WaPo:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...alth-cdc-says/

The administration is expanding border facilities and migrant processing capacity with the goal of fully lifting the pandemic restrictions in May...

The Trump administration implemented the Title 42 order in March 2020, characterizing the measure as an emergency safeguard to prevent the spread of infection inside detention cells, border stations and other crowded settings. The order has allowed border authorities to bypass normal immigration screening procedures and rapidly expel border crossers to their home countries or to Mexico without affording them a chance to seek humanitarian protection under U.S. law.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has carried out more than 1.7 million of these “expulsions” over the past 24 months, the majority under President Biden.

The decision to ease Title 42 carries political risks for Biden whose administration’s border performance rates poorly in opinion polls.

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, said he has been asking the Biden administration for months about its plan for a post-Title 42 scenario. He said he was disappointed by the administration’s contingency work.

“Their plan is to move people into the country faster,” Lankford said at the news conference. “That’s their whole plan. What they have worked on, apparently for a year, is the way to expedite people crossing the border and moving into the interior at a faster rate.”

Its also worth noting that May begins peak season for border crossings. It's gonna be a complete shitshow. It's absolutely astounding how clueless this administration is in both policy and politics. This move is a massive loser on both fronts. Just in time for elections season!

[iam416]

Well, look at this way, Mike...inflation and the economy will probably largely overshadow the border shitshow. And that's actually a shame because The Chairman is directly responsible, I mean directly responsible, for the border shitshow and way less responsible for inflation/economy woes.

So, you know, things might be bad enough in other ways that the border issue gets overlooked. A huge win for The Chairman!

[froot loops]

I voted for Biden, Froot. I think it was Hanni that said you needed a firmware update. I agree.

You got one assertion in your post right.....I'm anti-Putin. That's a huge understatement of what I think about him.

I was talking about 2016. You voted for Trump in 2016. He was pro-Putin.

[iam416]

Ben Shapiro had a fairly interesting and somewhat obvious observations about DeSantis. He noted that DJT had the ability to make anyone on the Left or any D to reflexively say I DISAGREE to almost anything. DJT: "the sky is blue" -- Elizabeth Warren: "the hell it is! and even if it was, GO FUCK YOURSELF!" -- shit like that. It's like the Fox News point made by Ruy. Anyway, DeSantis has that power, too. Though, unlike DJT, he's actually discerning to some extent. He actually tries to stake out popular issues and let the Ds self-immolate. The latest example is, of course, "don't say gay". He has somehow managed to get Ds to take the position that Schools should teach kindgergartners about sexual orientation and gender dysphoria. I mean....JFC....

So, I'm not sure if DeSantis can beat DJT in the R Primary. I sort of think not. But I'm 100% certain that DeSantis is a better general election candidate and the Ds should be terrified of that prospect. And, judging by the amount of ink spilled trying to go after him, it sure looks like they are.

Ah, for the heady days of 2018 when Andrew Gillum was next big thing. Now DeSantis is on a national stage and Gillum went all Mayor Berry-Madison Cawthon on us. Who could have guessed.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Inflation is an equal opportunity pain in the ass. Everybody (well, except for the very rich) notices a sudden $1 jump in gas or milk. When unemployment hits 10%, yeah it sucks for those 10%, but the rest of society largely carries on unaffected. That said, high unemployment is much worse for the economy overall than high inflation (unless you're in Weimar territory). But ordinary Joe Public doesn't usually view it that way.

So yeah, unemployment is 3.6%. It's the best time to be an employee in decades. Probably since 1970 at least. Jobs are everywhere. But tell that to someone in the lower spectrum whose disposable income has gone from 20% to 5% thanks to higher food/utility bills. Like spitting into the wind.

[iam416]

So yeah, unemployment is 3.6%. It's the best time to be an employee in decades. Probably since 1970 at least. Jobs are everywhere. But tell that to someone in the lower spectrum whose disposable income has gone from 20% to 5% thanks to higher food/utility bills. Like spitting into the wind.

I think the numbers for the past 12 month -- and I'm just going off memory -- is something 5% growth in wages and 7% inflation. Something like that. So, I mean, I guess it's super easy to find a job right now and the competitive job market is pushing up wages (which, heh, creates inflationary pressure). But, it's also probably pretty hard to find a job that keeps pace with inflation. I guess that's your point, but I might take issue with "best time to be an employee" in decades. I think the unemployment rate under, you know, DJT was somewhere around 3.6% and inflation was, you know, around 2%. I might take that over this.

[froot loops]

It sounds like Fed is going to start attacking inflation at the next FOMC meeting and Powell should, but that in itself is tricky. Yellin raised rates in 2015 prematurely and it hurt the economy for a couple quarters. Gas prices are always the trump card in this, the last time they were this high it caused the chain reaction for the Great Recession.

The chip shortages are a pain in the ass to me.

[Mike]

I was talking about 2016. You voted for Trump in 2016. He was pro-Putin.

That's exactly why Trump let Putin run amok in Eastern Europe. As soon as Biden was elected, Putin knew his days were numbered and has largely flown under the radar.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Well maybe it would help to draw a distinction between the economy or employment picture and "living standard". IMO it's never been easier to find work and starting pay has swelled enormously in the past 2 years. At the same time living standards have declined. Not precipitously but enough to sting for working class folks. And no wage growth hasn't kept pace with inflation.

Although I may contradict myself because I seem to recall reading a while back that wages at the bottom end were actually outpacing inflation. It was more the unionized blue collar jobs and most of the middle class that were falling behind. Will try to find that or if I'm just imagining it.

I mean, the average starting fast food salary went from around $10 to $15-18 practically overnight

[iam416]

It sounds like Fed is going to start attacking inflation at the next FOMC meeting and Powell should, but that in itself is tricky. Yellin raised rates in 2015 prematurely and it hurt the economy for a couple quarters. Gas prices are always the trump card in this, the last time they were this high it caused the chain reaction for the Great Recession.

The chip shortages are a pain in the ass to me.

There are other issues for sure. It's not an easy fix. I dunno. But, I'm starting to get the feeling that we best get this shit under control soon. I know it'll be a ton of pain for Biden, but he probably has to aggressively go after interest rates and even spending. Reagan ate a ginormous pile of shit in 81 and 82. I mean he got obliterated, But, they got things back into a workable state and in 1984 he got the deserved credit.

Biden should probably write off 2022 midterms entirely right now. He should probably govern toward 2024. He should do what a grown-up would do and take the pain for the modestly long-term credit. But, I'm not sure there's any politician who's going to do that in this era -- the short-term thinking is staggering.

All of that, of course, is just my opinion and not particularly well-educated one at that -- certainly not one that I'd stake out with fervor.