kaputt

Speaking of government involvement, anyone else see the proposal hidden in the Build Back Better bill that mandates banks provide the total inflow and outflow data of all accounts with over $600 in transactions? That’s probably one of the most blatant invasions of financial privacy the government has ever attempted. Even the awful “Patriot Act” caps mandated reporting at $5,000 for suspicious transactions. Nearly every American would be subject to this, yet the administration will still tell you with a straight face that it’s to catch rich people who are cheating on their taxes… As an example, I could potentially draw the attention of the IRS simply because my fiancé and I do not have joint accounts, so she pays her portion of rent to me and then I pay the full amount to the landlord. As such, my bank account would show $18,000 in cash inflow that is not reflected on any W2. As far as I can tell under this proposed new system, that could get me noticed by the IRS even though I have done nothing wrong. Pretty sure that meets the definition of 1984 style Big Brother. Edit: Perhaps a better example is selling a car. I sell my several year old used car as a private party to another private individual for $17,500 that is wired to my account. I am under no obligation to pay tax on this money. However, IRS AI algorithm flags me because my tax filing claims I made $100k in taxable income, yet my checking account shows $117,500 went into my account in one year. Mr IRS then wants me to prove I actually don’t owe taxes on that money. Provable? Yes, but it’s basically akin to “show me your papers”. Here is an article discussing it, however plenty of others out there as well. https://fee.org/articles/treasury-department-seeks-to-track-financial-transactions-of-personal-bank-accounts-over-600/

Hell no. It’s a ways off, but if Trump is the nominee in 2024 I may go 3rd party. Not super excited about that possibility, but that’s why I plan to vote in the primary next time and have some say on that aspect of the process. Trump is no leader and his narcissistic personality is not going to reunite the country or set us back on the right path. He’s right on much of what he says and the policies he tried to implement, but it’s not always about just having the right ideas. You have to sell those ideas beyond just your base, and I think Trump struggled at that. Maybe I’m crazy, but I still believe there is someone out there in this country that can stand up to far leftist bullshit, be professional, and have the best interests of all Americans in mind, and still not bring the baggage that Donald Trump does. My best guess though, I don’t think Trump will run next cycle. Anyway, back to Biden saying gibberish from his White House set across the street from the actual White House.

The iconic image of this Presidency it seems.

Agreed. I will be voting in a primary for the first time in my life if Trump runs again in order to try and do whatever I can to prevent it. And like you, I voted for him twice (and don’t regret it). But yes, the future of this country is not Trumpism.

At least we saved 10¢ on that 4th of July Cookout!

“He was allowed recreational time for a minimum of two hours a day and could regularly converse with other prisoners and staff, albeit socially distanced and masked when in the company of others in accordance with COVID-19 protocols. As a policy, the brig does not put its prisoners in solitary confinement,” he added. Was that really fucking relevant or necessary to point out in this situation? 🤦🏼‍♂️

I think you’ll be waiting awhile for an answer to this.

“The whipping” Incredible to me that a flat out fabrication like “the border patrol is whipping black people” can actually spread as accepted fact among mainstream outlets (@arg, not saying you’re that person). Also, maybe I’ve just been working in the wrong places, but if I was as bad at handling a project I was given as Harris has been at handling the border, I would have been fired and fired real good. Must be nice to have that kind of privilege. Finally, and I know I posted about it already but I’ll mention it again; if you haven’t seen the video of Biden handlers kicking the press out in the middle of Boris Johnson answering a question, you really should (link below). There is some weird and scary shit happening in our country right now.

https://news.yahoo.com/biden-ignore-us-reporters-amid-222227885.html Boris Johnson starts answering questions from the press. Team Biden then removes all press from the room. The clown show continues in the White House. But hey, at least the VP has the border under control. Oh wait…

Well, you can count at least two YES votes for recall from our household. Fiancé voted by mail and I went in person. I don’t have any real hope that Newsom will get recalled however. At the very least, the recall has kept his power in check for the past 6-9 months. I’m kind of afraid what might happen if/when he survives; I would imagine some heavy COVID mandates could be on the way again. I also think the state legislature may move to change the recall rules, which would be a real tragedy as it’s basically the last remaining check on power in what has otherwise become a single party rule state. Despite the fact that this state has provided me some fantastic opportunities both on and off active duty, I absolutely cannot wait to leave and we will be taking the first legit opportunity that comes along.

What a shame 13 dead Americans cut into the President’s busy day….

A defining photo of this administration. And they haven’t even been in power a year.

What an absolute travesty.

It will be recognized. Knowing that the DoD requirement was coming I went ahead and submitted my JJ vaccine card info on myPers last week and now show as green on the COVID vax in myIMR.

Trump, Climate change, Covid, Systemic racism. Surprised we haven’t seen articles on all 4 being the cause of the problems in Afghanistan.

Do they actually think people are that stupid to not see through their absolute bull shit?

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/military-doesn-t-have-capability-to-rescue-americans-who-cannot-get-to-kabul-airport-118991941602 “We don’t have the capability to go out and collect up large numbers of people” - Sec Def We are definitely no longer the nation that won World War II, accomplished the Berlin Airlift, and put men on the moon. We can’t even get everyone successfully home from a conflict we lost. We still have individuals in this country that are capable of those feats, but not a single one of them resides in our leadership class anymore.

It's hilarious that he has gone to great lengths to position himself as an anti Trump Republican, yet he is acting EXACTLY like Trump, right down to the moronic Twitter posts. I'm not sure who on this guys staff is telling him this is the right approach. I guess more likely is he's not listening to anyone.

I realize there are some Bush era neocon types that are still making the rounds on the news saying we should be staying in Afghanistan. But it was puzzling to me that the majority of the focus of the President's speech was on reinforcing why we should leave Afghanistan, and not on the shit show that developed over the weekend and the obvious fact that there was zero plan in place should the Afghan govt/military collapse overnight; something anyone with half a brain knew was a highly likely outcome.

Just a mind blowing amount of money. A guy I know was sharing his thoughts on Facebook and included a picture from Bagram where he checking out a Harley dealer that had been set up, complete with actual motorcycles you could look at. What a weird fucking war.

This. I looked at his Twitter page and he has zero posts on things like the out of control spending, border crisis, etc… Pretty sure his role as an elected official goes beyond hating Trump and only worrying about Jan 6th, but what do I know?

That video is tough to watch. I’m guessing he key’d the mic accidentally in the final panic. It will be interesting to see what the investigation yields. It kind of looked like a mini version of the 747 crash from Afghanistan a few years back. Maybe some sort of load shift, control failure, or leaving a control lock on? I have a hard time believing a pilot of his experience and skill let a perfectly good airplane get into that nose attitude on takeoff.

Malcom Nance, in that video, is the perfect summary of the modern American left. Zero fact based arguments, a complete lack of knowledge on the ideas he is defending, retorts are all based on emotion or are irrelevant to the topic at hand, and his smug elitism is palpable. The fact that he was wildly cheered every time he spoke was very sad. I’ve always liked Bill Maher despite often disagreeing with him. He is someone who has zero tolerance for bullshit and is not afraid to call it out. I wish there were more like him. I think a conversation between him and Shapiro would be a great listen. Nance is an absolute joke.

I suppose you’re right. I always thought that hardcore Trumpers were the best of the best at putting aside all rational and fact based thinking in order to blindly support the man and the cause. But the left these past 6-9 months has put on an absolute masterclass of the same thing.

Man, who knew that three fact based articles about the border situation from Reuters, CNN, and NBC News was all actually just part of some right wing conspiracy theory…