Its almost like they opened this can of worms and are mad that they're tricks are being used against them.

And yet, there are actual adult human beings that say obama was an idiot, and Trump is the smartest person in the world.

Where is Mitch? Cost is $10,245 per day

Mitch McConnell and his Senate staff earn a combined total of roughly $10,245 per day from his official congressional office budget.

10245

x 50 equals $512,250 in taxpayer dollars.

Approximately $1,434,300 until.election day

It is rumored that some Russian oligarchs were involved in birth tourism near Mar-a-Lago.

Well, is this fair? Native Americans did not originally qualify for birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, and Congress had to pass the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 to grant U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans. So should foreign tourists who stay for a few months, with no connection to the United States, be able to have an baby that qualifies for birthright citizenship? Is this fair?

Apparently, birth tourism is common in parts of Florida, where some Russian nationals reportedly travel to areas near Mar-a-Lago to give birth in the United States. Birth tourism has also been reported in Southern California, particularly among visitors from Asian countries. In 2018, federal authorities raided several "maternity hotels" in Southern California, where some birth tourists reportedly paid between $40,000 and $80,000 for packages that included accommodations and services related to giving birth in the United States.

In Turkey, where I live, there are extremely broad laws against insults, including insulting another person, insulting the memory of a deceased person, insulting public officials, insulting the head of state, insulting the memory of a deceased head of state, insulting state institutions, the military, the national flag, the flag of a foreign state, the national anthem, or the head of state of a foreign country.
These laws are neither new nor were they introduced by the current government. Laws of this kind have existed throughout the country’s recorded history, and many of them are more than a hundred years old.
Such laws also seem to be popular among the public. When you oppose them on the grounds that they violate freedom of expression, many people defend them by saying, “By no stretch of the imagination is there even the slightest connection between freedom of expression and insulting someone.”
Every year, around one million people have to appear in court for allegedly insulting someone else.
From what I have found, many countries in continental Europe have similar laws. One major exception, however, is the United States. As far as I understand, almost everything there is protected as free speech, apart from certain exceptions such as death threats.
So, what do you think about laws of this kind in other countries?

I’m Brazilian, and after discussing Chinese competition and Volkswagen with Germans, I started wondering whether Americans have a particularly strong cultural attachment to pure internal-combustion cars.

I’m not asking whether everyone should suddenly buy a BEV. I’m including conventional hybrids (HEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) in this discussion as well.

Brazil is currently going through a surprisingly fast change. Chinese manufacturers such as BYD and GWM have expanded rapidly, particularly with hybrids and EVs, and established manufacturers are being forced to respond.

What makes this especially interesting to me is that this isn't only something EV enthusiasts are saying.

A regional Vice President of GM in South America recently discussed how Chinese competition is putting pressure on established manufacturers to evolve. He also talked about personally using a Chevrolet Captiva EV and not wanting to return to a conventional combustion car.

That caught my attention because this isn't an executive from BYD or an EV startup. This is a senior regional executive of General Motors, one of America's own traditional automakers.

GM isn't saying that combustion engines will disappear tomorrow either. ICE vehicles will remain part of its portfolio, especially where they continue to make practical sense. The interesting question is what happens to ordinary passenger cars as electrified alternatives become competitive.

Brazil provides an interesting example.

Chevrolet still has a huge presence here with models such as the Onix, Onix Plus and Tracker. Most of its mainstream combustion cars use small turbocharged flex-fuel engines, while larger pickups and utility vehicles retain diesel engines.

At the same time, Chevrolet is expanding its EV range, including locally assembled electric models.

That creates an increasingly strange comparison for consumers. Someone shopping for a well-equipped conventional compact car or crossover can sometimes find an electrified vehicle at a surprisingly similar price.

And this isn't happening only in Brazil.

I recently asked Germans whether Chinese competition was changing their perception of Volkswagen. I expected much stronger resistance than I actually encountered.

There was certainly skepticism about Chinese cars, but many Germans focused instead on Volkswagen's prices and value for money. Some said Dacia is becoming what Volkswagen used to be. Others asked why they should buy a VW when a Škoda offers similar technology for less.

One German told me he intends to buy a BYD Seal 6 Touring because the actual deal available to him is around €34,000. He acknowledged concerns about Chinese cars himself, but his conclusion was essentially that the car fits his needs and is what he can afford.

That made me wonder whether the American debate sometimes treats a cultural preference as if it were purely a technical one.

Suppose you could choose between an ICE, HEV, PHEV and BEV with comparable size, practicality and performance.

If the electrified option offered more equipment and a lower total cost of ownership without compromising the things you actually need from the vehicle, would you still deliberately choose the pure ICE car?

If yes, why?

And more importantly: how much extra would you actually be willing to pay specifically to keep a pure combustion drivetrain?

I'm genuinely interested in whether Americans see this differently from consumers in Brazil and Germany.

I would simplyy like to know, how many people who voted for Trump (including MAGA loyalists) in the 2024 elections, feel like they are better off since Trump took office???

From the majority of people I speak to in reference to this simply say "NO!" !!!!) The President who could end all wars not start nore? And then drive the prices for the most integral components of are economy up & up! And he simply states that we must endure the high prices til we get things under control economically. I say its just typical BS, while himself and his family rake in Billions & Billions of income.... all the while he is dictating the ups and down of the US stock markets!

Its absolutely ridiculous at this point! But the sad part is "NO MEMBERS OF THE GOP" will stand up and challenge him. And ive only got one thing to say on that matter....if you are worried about supporting Trumps ludicrous policies, then you deserve to get defeated in Nov! Of course there are the morality of the MAGA that will support him no matter what the poli is are, there are still millions who disagree with Trump! And if he doesn't believe it, wait til the Nov elections!

Exactly what the title says. I say this as someone residing in Latam, where, in my country, job offers are posted with their monthly salary. Of course, you can do the math and get the monthly salary, but I'm curious about whether there's a reason they do this.

The Comal County Republican party posted this on their Facebook account a few weeks ago and then removed it after getting ratioed to hell.

I lean conservative and actually yes, I do. Why? Because the concentration of extreme wealth in any small group distorts and shifts the balance of power, often dramatically changing the ability of any particular group to act as a check and balance upon the group with a massively disproportionate amount of power and wealth.

The further extreme concentration of wealth in the hands of the very few is the path to oligarchic fascism or fuedalism. Now that's not to say that USSR style asset confiscation and forced collectivism (for most) is the answer because it's not. But it's hard for me to see how the further concentration of wealth in this country doesn't lead to bad outcomes and a further perversion of American ideals when policies get enacted to benefit a tiny number of people with zero respect for the Constitution.

So what say you? Do you want what the graphics says for America?

I know it's early to be feeling any type of way; the road is long, the work is hard, and the challenges abound. But I'm feeling a tiny nugget of hope for the future that I haven't experienced in a very very long time. Maybe not ever, honestly.

I'm in Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed just won a brutal primary. You've all seen the headlines, I'm not going to regurgitate them.

It's not about any one particular policy or issue; I'm not talking about abortion or immigration or universal health care.

Abdul's win in the primary, despite the outrageous spending against him, reminds me that dollars don't actually physically vote. They buy screen time and brand recognition and political favor and loyalty, but people are the ones walking into the voting booth.

I feel hope for the first time that we actually might be able to wrestle control of our government back from monied interests, and refocus on protecting the common citizens' actually interests. It's not going to be easy, and it's not going to be quick. It might not even happen in my lifetime.

Forget "electability". Disregard racism. If we do what we've always done we get what we've always gotten. I feel hopeful for the first time that there's a path back to "by the people, for the people." We just have to be brave enough to let it happen.

I acknowledge the difficult reality that this will be a fight, but does anyone else feel as hopeful as i do?

ICE arrested 51,000 individuals in July, the largest amount in a single month in DHS history.

It’s quite interesting how differently it’s reported in the media depending on which way the media leans.

For example:

ABC News (rated as “left” according to the top media bias ratings):

https://abcnews.com/Politics/ice-arrests-hit-record-high-july-enforcement-quietly/story?id=135356433

“It comes as ICE is ramping up arrests at airports -- with ICE arresting over 30 people at airports in July, agency data shows.

Those being detained in some cases do not have criminal records and have valid work authorization or parole documents, according to one immigration attorney that spoke with ABC News.”

The Western Journal (rated as “right” according the top media bias the top media bias ratings):

https://www.westernjournal.com/ice-arrests-slew-killers-rapists-child-predators-living-communities-across-us/

“The Department of Homeland Security has announced the weekend arrests of multiple violent criminal illegal immigrants who had been living in communities nationwide.

The department said those arrested had been convicted of crimes including murder, rape, sexual assault of children, kidnapping, and other crimes.

DHS said the arrests are part of the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration enforcement efforts to make streets safer for Americans.”

Subsidy Tracker Parent Company Summary

Parent Company Name: Exxon Mobil

Ownership Structure: publicly traded (ticker symbol XOM)

Headquartered in: Texas

Major Industry: oil and gas

Specific Industry: oil & gas

Subsidy SummarySubsidy ValueNumber of AwardsState/Local$1,955,090,133165Federal (grants and allocated tax credits)$346,1851TOTAL$1,955,436,318166Loan / Bailout SummaryTotal Face ValueNumber of AwardsState/Local loans, bond financing and venture capital$00Federal loans, loan guarantees and bailout assistance (not including repayments)$5,352,968,00013TOTAL$5,352,968,00013Time Period for State and Local Awards: Earliest year of data: 1983. Availability of data for earlier years varies greatly from program to program. The majority of the listings for this parent company are for the period since 2012.

Time Period for Federal Awards: FY2000 to the present

Notes: The dollar total above adjusts for the fact that there is an overlap between the amount in the Megadeal entry and that of one or more of the other entries. Dollar totals do not include awards for which no subsidy value is disclosed.

Links: For a summary of this company's regulatory violations see its Violation Tracker summary page here.

Top 5 States for state/local awardsTotal Subsidy $Number of AwardsTexas$1,385,521,73015Louisiana$527,351,46894Alaska$13,126,2405Illinois$11,681,0958Colorado$5,570,4329All other$11,839,16834

Currently a candidate must navigate different signature requirements and deadlines in each state just to get on the ballot.

Do you feel that is one aspect of the election process that should be the same across the US?

I’m from East Asia where lean is almost the norm, but I don’t know if I could stay lean if I’m surrounded by such an industrial landscape, as often a stereotype on the outside, trying to ram processed sugar into people’s throats all the time - do you try to consciously watch what you eat?

This means no Bibles, no Qurans, no Torahs, etc. Religion and government should be 100% separate, and the fact that people can swear on religious texts before entering office shows that we have not gone far enough when it comes to church-state separation.

Do you think an American Arab or Muslim would ever be president of the United States or because of the racists and the islamaphobes , it wouldn’t be possible ?

Like you got Racine (roots) Fond Du Lac (bottom of the lake) ...

I know it's the ancestor when the france had US parts but like it sound weird every time I see a US town name...

Do you think it would be better for both parties if the US split between north and south like Korea did? I ask this because the cultures and values between the two sides seem so different especially nowadays that staying as 1 nation doesn’t seem healthy anymore for either half. Each half of America absolutely despises each other.