The Trump-Canadian War
It started as bartering. Archaeologists have uncovered undeniable evidence that hunter-gatherer groups met up to trade goods. Hunter-gatherers and nomadic groups that still exist today continue to engage in this practice. Then cities sprang up, ships and writing was invented, and long distance trading commenced. Partnerships and allies formed. Civilizations became prosperous. International trade strengthens the economy for everyone involved. A good example is our steel and cars trade with Canada. We import steel from Canada. We use it to make cars. Canada then buys the cars from us. Trump said we don’t need Canada’s steel because we have our own. Unfortunately, that’s not true. The primary ingredient in making…
The Trump-Colombia Crisis
I have to back-track a little to lay the ground work. Here’s how deportations worked under Biden: Per Biden’s agreements with Mexico, Mexico was stopping as many illegals as possible before they crossed the border into the US, and sending them back where they came from. For illegals already in the country, ICE agents would pick them up and transfer them to the nearest detention facility. A judge would determine if an immigrant should be deported, and if so, they were flown either via a chartered commercial plane or by one of ICE’s 10 planes to a staging locations along the southern US border to await deportation. Deportees would then…
History of Presidential Pardons and Clemencies
How Pardons Work The plenary power to grant a pardon or a reprieve is granted to the president by Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution; the only limits mentioned in the Constitution are that pardons are limited to federal offenses, and that they cannot affect an impeachment process. The president can issue a full pardon, reversing a criminal conviction as if it never happened. Executive clemency may take several forms, including pardon, conditional pardon, commutation of sentence, conditional commutation of sentence, remission of fine or restitution, respite, reprieve and amnesty. Since 1789, various offices within the federal government have provided the president with administrative support for the…
Trump’s Troublesome Tariffs
Rather than make a new tariff post, I’m adding an update to my original post, which you can find below. I’m seeing an incredible amount of confusion, ignorance and misinformation about Trump’s proposed tariffs. He’s saying he wants a 60% tariff on everything imported from China, and 20% on anything imported from any other country. People are not understanding that this will cause higher prices across the board on everything, and I mean everything bought and sold in this country. That includes anything manufactured or grown here. Almost everything manufactured here requires imported components, materials and parts, because we are unable to produce/supply those components, materials and parts, or we…
Fox News is Fake News [UPDATE OCT 31]
TWO UPDATES OCT 31. Scroll down. They’re clearly marked. By now you’ve probably seen the meme going around on social media saying someone shouted Jesus is Lord at one of her rallies, and she told them they were at the wrong rally. Maybe you’ve also seen the Fox interview with those two hecklers. I watched the rally in question. I saw the part where the boys started shouting. What I heard was Lies! Lies! and something unintelligible as the crowd erupted. Following is the UNEDITED clip, exactly as I saw it while watching the rally. I don’t know how to get the Fox video on the page, but you can…
Trump’s Hurricane Lies Continue
This is the worst response to a storm or a catastrophe or a hurricane that we’ve ever seen ever. Trump said that. Of course it’s not true. I’ve watched countless press conferences given by both Republican and Democrat leaders in the affected Helene areas. I see a common theme. They are praising the Biden administration for the relief response, they are saying FEMA is doing their job, and they are angry at Trump for his lies about the situation. Yes, the Republican leaders are angry at Trump. The Biden administration announced 100% of reimbursement of local Helene response. This is typical of a presidential administration during a catastrophe, except when…
Hurricane Helene Hoaxes
I wanted to write a post debunking all the conspiracies but there are so many, it’s impossible. So I’ll just make a few brief points. Authorities are keeping rescuers out of affected areas It is true that restrictions had to be imposed in some of the more accessible towns due to two reasons: [1] They had to run looters out and they are trying to keep those from coming back, and [2] Conditions are dangerous and they’re trying to make sure experienced (and legit) relief teams only are going in.. Helicopter woes: It’s apparently true that a Fire Chief prevented a pilot from his rescue efforts. I haven’t confirmed it,…
Vance-Walz Debate
I’ll keep this short by not doing any fact checking. This debate was relatively civil, which was a refreshing change. Compared to the Trump-Harris debate, both men spent more time discussing policies and less time tearing each other down. Walz I think he mostly did ok, but his response to the Hong Kong question bothered me. A lot. Vance My respect for him rose a notch in that he spoke strongly and decisively without lapsing into the incoherent ramblings that Trump is known for. However, I was annoyed no end that he spent so much time regurgitating the false information that Trump is always spewing. I was also irked by…
Harris vs. Trump: Debate + More
I wanted to post this the day after the debate, but I didn’t have time. If you ever wonder why I take so long to publish the next blog post, it’s because life. It gets in the way a lot. What Annoyed Me Both candidates spent more time tearing each other down than saying what they would do to fix things. Harris was asked: Is the economy better than it was 4 years ago? She didn’t answer. She launched into a spiel about how she was raised middle class, and vaguely explained what she would do to fix the economy. Trump was asked about Jan 6. He initially evaded the…
Vance & Walz Battle it Out
The Trump team couldn’t wait to find dirt on Walz to dig up. The only thing they could find was… he left the military before his unit deployed? Republicans seem to be drawing much of their slanderous remarks from this PAID attack ad dated November 2, 2018. Who are Paul Herr and Thomas Behrends? Are they real people? If they are, did they say what they did because they received monetary compensation to do so? In contrast, many who served with Walz are making opposite statements in support of Walz’s actions, although there is conflicting information about how sure or not sure the unit was about whether they would be…
Right vs Left and Short Memories
All my life I’ve seen presidents get blamed for things their predecessors did, or for things they have no control over. I wonder if John Adams got blamed for stuff Washington did? This political blame game probably dates back to kings, emperors and pharaohs. One modern example is the so-called Obama Phone. The consensus from the right seems to be: Obama decided to give free cell phone service to people too lazy to work, and your taxes are paying for it. Wrong on all counts. The Lifeline program was launched by President Reagan in 1984 to provide reduced landline service to low income consumers. This gave them…
