thedanadecker.bsky.social
Astronomy, walking, photographs, mathematics
970 posts
116 followers
82 following
Getting Started
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Is anyone going to ask Joe “I did more to get Trump re-elected than anyone” Biden what he thinks about this?
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"militarization is distinctly UNpopular" right now, but will protests change that assessment?
History says that violent protests - still a concern- will change perceptions substantially.
David Shor made a similar assessment years ago and was ostracized for it.
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Good news!
The tariffs will bring on a recession, which is the only thing that will diminish Trump's approval numbers. Until 2026, perhaps, when the mid-terms might bring a Democratic House.
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RFK Jr. rejects the germ theory of diseases
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"Under President Trump, violence & destruction against federal agents & federal facilities will NOT be tolerated."
FALSE
It was tolerated (and approved of) by Trump when it came to the January 6 rioters.
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If that essay isn't the biggest argument that large and rapid immigration-driven demographic change has triggered a predictable racist reaction, I don't know what is.
Of course, nowadays, immigration is an all-or-none issue where exploration of what thresholds might be optimal is forbidden.
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The one he blew up 8 years ago was the Obama deal.
Trump hates Obama for teasing him at the WHCD
Trump wants his Iran deal to show up Obama
Trump will strike a deal that may be inferior to the Obama one because "replacing Obama deal" is more important to him than actual policy details
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CNN (April 28)
“He’s called*. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Trump said, referring to Xi, in the Time interview published on Friday.
"I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness" is Trump's way of hinting that it was a sign of weakness.
*He didn't
bsky.app/profile/fint...
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My understanding is mask mandates and school closures weren't particularly effective.
A pandemic was in full swing, little was known about transmission, so public health officials implemented public-compliance orders that worked in the past.
Some were ineffective. Good. Err on the side of caution.
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Responses largely track with political affiliation & ideology but...
There is a steady increase of Strongly Approve as people get older:
18 - 29 : 18%
30 - 44: 29%
45 - 64: 44%
65+: 42%
Why would that be so?
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Not defending it, but here's a possible scenario:
Trump hates TACO
Trump firm on tariffs
High tariffs result in
(1) inflation
(2) reduced business activity / employment
(1) and (2) are politically potent. People pay attention to what is happening & by who.
2026 blue wave.
(theoretically)
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Trump: "I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf"
IOW
I'm telling you that Xi crawling on the floor begging for tariff relief isn't a sign of weakness.
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Rapid and large immigrant-driven demographic change (which was a policy choice) unsurprisingly leads to social unrest here and Europe.
"It's not my country anymore" leads to an eagerness to bring it all down.
Lib Harvard prof Steve Levitsky warned of this eventuality 4 years ago.
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I am glad they had the container ships take off their shoes when going thru now
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Help me out here. What does she mean when she said:
"And I’m really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well."
That people supporting Medicaid believe in nonsense? (R-wing perception of federal financial support for anything, e.g. "no free lunch")
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Good article.
I wonder about "can’t diagnose the president or any public figure without personal examination".
I get the ethics regarding most people, but aren't some clearly ill w/o examination? Do we really need to have Jeffrey Dahmer on the couch before making an assessment?
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Procrastinated w COVID booster but finally got it - FOUR HOURS AGO.
Have a total of ~11 shots since 2021. Never had a bad reaction, so lucky on that score.
This news is horrible. Much worse than the "only seniors & select others should get the vaccine" we were reading about last week.
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This is exactly why the Dems must nominate a strong white man. So many voters know nothing about the candidates, except "Black woman bad". It's unfortunate that it must be done, but life isn't fair. Let's not keep losing elections.
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I feel like this is the off-ramp he wanted. He gets to avoid a total disaster of biblical proportions and it gives him a new enemy to rant about - "it would have worked if it weren't for these meddlesome liberal judges!" He was outmaneuvered by everyone else and this lets him save face.
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This is terrific news for Trump supporters who worried (correctly) that his tariffs would have led to a sharp recession, significant diminished political clout, and a great 2026 for Democrats.
Trump's biggest political mistake so far was tariffs. Why are people happy they will be undone?
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This is great news for Trump supporters who worried (correctly) that his tariffs would have led to a sharp recession, significant diminished political clout, and a great 2026 for Democrats.
Trump's biggest political mistake so far was tariffs. That handicap is (likely) to be undone.
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IOW: "We can't do everything, so we're going to do nothing"
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You happy about this? Unlike all other court rulings reversing Trump's actions (DOGE, universities, ICE, media, firing IGs) this one is unwelcome.
The only thing that stops Trump wrecking the government (until 2026 mid-terms) will be a recession. His insane tariffs would bring that about.
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Unlike all other court rulings halting / reversing Trump's actions (DOGE, universities, ICE, media, firing IGs) this one is unwelcome.
The only thing that will stop Trump wrecking the government (until, hopefully, the 2026 mid-terms) will be a recession. His insane tariffs would bring that about.
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Unfortunately, he might do it. The best hope for restraining Trump politically (until 2026 mid-terms) was a recession. The sooner the better. His insane tariffs were a huge factor in making that possible. In this instance the courts are helping Trump.
Absent a recession, what restrains Trump?
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Unlike all other court rulings halting / reversing Trump's actions (DOGE, universities, ICE, media, firing IGs) this one is unwelcome.
The only thing that will stop Trump wrecking the government (until, hopefully, the 2026 mid-terms) will be a recession. His insane tariffs would bring that about.
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Unlike all other court rulings halting / reversing Trump's actions (DOGE, universities, ICE, media, firing IGs) this one is unwelcome.
The only thing that will stop Trump (until, hopefully, the 2026 mid-terms) will be a recession. His insane tariffs would bring that about.
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This post about Pulitzer awards baffles me. A private entity is giving awards to private entities. That's not commerce, where there might be a case (anti-competition, discrimination).
Are the courts now going to adjudicate the Oscar, Tony, Emmy and other awards?
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If you want* a recession you need Trump to defiantly cling to his tariff obsession, and not back down so often. The news that the TACO jibe has penetrated the White House is welcome.
* like I do, ASAP, because that's the only thing that will seriously hurt him politically
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I am fed up with this stop-and-go-and-stop-and-go tariff nonsense.
I think tariffs are Trump's hobbyhorse and that he won't abandon them completely (though may lessen them). What bugs me is the market jumping up - as if happy days are here again.
I hope the pending recession gets here quickly.
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Than you for putting influencers in quotes.
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“dreadnought” is very English word.
During the Falkland War NPR was amused by the names of their ships:
HMS Invincible
HMS Broadsword
HMS Alacrity
HMS Conqueror
HMS Courageous
RFA Sir Galahad
HMS Ambuscade <--(!!)
HMS Argonaut
HMS Hecla (Icelandic volcano, Hekla)
HMS Hydra
HMS Spartan
HMS Splendid
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Dated thinking. From Schindler's List
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I went over there and the replies are overwhelmingly pleased with cuts to math and physics, probably because most of them failed Algebra 1.
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Why would voters elect a man that will effectively tear down this country? Because they feel the country they knew is lost and unredeemable.
Why would that be so? Liberal Harvard professor Steven Levitsky suggests it's b/c of demographic change, which was nat'l policy for 50 years.
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Of course it's racism. Still exists in this country (and other countries) which is why it was unwise to embark on 50 years of demographic-changing large scale immigration. It's mostly why Trump got elected.
And it explains the appeal of "we've lost our country, might as well tear it down"
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You are probably right about Republicans that could move from NV to voting, but anything is possible, including, er, one or two Republican House members getting sick (or worse).
Highly unlikely in a 48 hour time frame, but history is full of bizarre unexpected events. We might get lucky.
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Meet "Don" Trump, capo of the MAGA crime family.
Truth? Sleeps with the fishes. Hitmen? How about 1500 freed insurrectionists! Disloyalty? You take a trip… under the bus. His message? An offer you can’t refuse- even if it's a lie.
Musk may have more money, but Don? He owns the attention racket!
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Maybe, ... but maybe not!
At least make it a bigger challenge. The Republicans might be thwarted. Why take that option off the table?
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Disappointed that Homeland Security has abandoned the traditional (20th century) charge made by oppressive governments towards un-favored individuals and organizations:
currency exchange violations
Was popular in eastern Europe until the USSR collapsed. Was the go-to charge.
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Ableism, which includes the ability to reliably stay alive for two years, should absolutely be a criteria to be met by Democrats - until such time that Trump is politically vanquished.
These guys did a disservice to the nation:
Sylvester Turner – March
Raúl Grijalva – March
Gerald Connolly – May
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I don't like fraudster Vance but his "too much migration too quickly" appears to be something to be concerned about. Liberal Harvard professor Steven Levitsky (quoted a lot recently re fragile democracy) suggests large and rapid demographic change is disruptive. Are his concerns meritless?
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Sylvester Turner – March
Raúl Grijalva – March
Gerald Connolly – May
Dems better get old and sick members of Congress to not run for re-election.
Ablest? Damn right.
Earlier this year a bill could have been stopped had Turner and Grijalva still been alive.
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South Sudan !?
That's a basket case ever since it broke from Sudan. They are poor as shit. Per capita (nominal) GDP is $326 !!
[PPP is $934]
There is no way it was carefully considered as a destination (which shouldn't happen anyway). It was picked because the officials could be bribed.