gearhog

The Help America Vote Verification (HVAA) system by the Social Security Administration logs the number of requests for voter registration. The data is published on the SSA website. Download the .xls spreadsheet to see year to date totals. https://www.ssa.gov/open/havv/havv-weekly-2024-01-20.html I saw this making the rounds today and had to check for myself. I went through week by week to see if the numbers jived. They do. The number of attempts to register the information of dead people seems high. New voter registrations since the start of 2024: TX: 1,250,710 PA: 580,513 AZ: 220,731 At this rate, there will be several million new voters by Nov. The numbers for many states already exceed the margin by which either candidate won in 2020. I'm leaning toward not voting this year. It's gonna b a fn mess.

For some reason, I'm kinda doubting his enthusiasm for the cause.

If anyone knows a better way to extract information from a terrorist…

Reports are now that 4 gunman who did the shooting are in custody and 11 others were caught in Chacun, 370km from Moscow and 150km from Ukraine. Most if not all are said to be from Tajikistan. Russian media is reporting the terrorists admitted the attack was planned for March 9 at the Shaman concert, during the song "I Am Russian". This was to disrupt the Russian elections. However, the warning from the US caused security to be tightened to an extent that caused the terrorists to postpone the attack until the next major concert at the venue, which was this one. The terrorists said they were fleeing to the place where they either knew or expected to be allowed to exit Russia.

Good point. I've only seen pictures of stereotypical Islamic extremists and I think one in custody who is likely a crisis actor. Russia could have surreptitiously created an false flag terrorist group and outsmarted US intelligence agencies, making us believe ISIS was going to attack and publish a warning to US citizens stating exactly that. Now that US embassy warning is being used by Russia to play upon suspicions of the US government having a role, while artfully concealing that they attacked themselves. That's what they did with the pipeline. They attacked themselves because it makes war better or something. This is a compelling theory and I'm warming up to it. EDIT: New strategy: We stop funding the Ukraine war and continue to allow Russia to attack itself until it is finally defeated. Everyone is happy.

Very interesting. So you think it's possible Russia created a new threat to garner public support in expanding their war effort on a second front that is unrelated to the first? I'm not convinced. There is no precedent.

So you believe a country would orchestrate terrorist attack to justify war? That's the stuff crazy conspiracy theories are made of.

So exactly two weeks prior, the US warns US citizens about a terrorist attack, in Moscow, at a concert? Our intelligence is really really good. Also, smart move by ISIS to try and weaken Russia by drawing them into a wider conflict at the exact moment they're already engaged in another war.

We warned them?

Awesome view of Polish Air Force doing a patriotic flyover.

Be careful out there guys. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is warning there is about to be a flood of disinformation threatening our democracy. And Anthony Blinken knows disinformation when he sees it. https://judiciary.house.gov/media/in-the-news/biden-campaign-blinken-orchestrated-intel-letter-discredit-hunter-biden-laptop

Who here said America isn't great? It's a feeble attempt at a strawman argument. We're criticizing those who are leading the country. Why can't you make that distinction? We were forced out of one of two strategic anti-terrorist bases on the African continent while our former host cozies up to Russia. It was errors from senior leadership that lead to an this undesirable outcome. They actually are to blame. Because non of us spent our careers trying to reach a high level position in the DoS, we're not allowed to criticize them? Weren't you an ROTC instructor or something? How were you personally conducting foreign policy? I don't personally hold office, but my mother is state level house representative and my next door neighbor and former employer is a state senator. I am involved in both of their campaigns continuously. Things go fairly smooth in our state, but I do occasionally interact with my US representatives at certain events. I've pleaded with them on certain issues and if I get an honest answer, it's always the same. If you don't compromise your principals and cut deals, you're sidelined. If you think you can show up to DC, be good person, and make the country a better place, you're the most naive person on the face of the planet. Look what happened to @congressman. By all accounts, a fairly decent dude when he was elected, had an emotional breakdown, remained broken, compromised, was used, and was tossed aside. Given that you have a tendency to adopt the official narrative as your personal heartfelt opinion, and gleefully cheerlead things like mask mandates and forced vaccinations, you would likely do very well in DC. Probably better than @congressman. So why haven't you? Because our leadership is doing so well they don't need your help? I expect lectures to us in the threads about migration, inflation, etc, and that we shouldn't complain because everything is awesome and someone somewhere else has it worse.

Looks like Putin just won a rigged election. What a ridiculous charade. Everyone knows real democracies cancel their elections so their leadership can remain in power.

We invested a shitload of money in a shithole, and "Surprise!"... we get kicked out. Again. How badly is this Admin gonna keep screwing up? It appears we operate(d) two bases there. The linchpin of the U.S. military’s archipelago of bases in North and West Africa, Air Base 201 consists of a 6,200-foot runway (composed of 1.1 million square feet of asphalt), aprons, taxiways, massive aircraft hangars, multistory living quarters, roads, utilities, munitions storage, and an aircraft rescue and firefighting station, all within a 25-kilometer “base security zone.” U.S. troops eat in a 13,000-square-foot dining facility, work out in a gym, play on basketball and volleyball courts, and spend leisure time at a recreation center with “bookcases full of movies and games, Wi-Fi, snacks,” according to the Air Force, all of it protected by fences, barriers, and upgraded air-conditioned guard towers with custom-made firing ports. Only the Pentagon could call Air Base 201, the largest “airman-built” project in Air Force history, a “low-cost” facility, since it cost $110 million to build and is maintained to the tune of $20 to $30 million U.S. taxpayer dollars each year. In addition to Air Base 201, the U.S. military operates another CSL — a second drone facility known as Air Base 101 — at the main commercial airport in Niger’s capital, Niamey. A Pentagon spokesperson told The Intercept that they were now “repositioning some U.S. personnel and equipment in Niger from Air Base 101 in Niamey to Air Base 201 in Agadez” but did not respond to questions about how many personnel would be moved. The CIA also operates a drone base in the far north of the country near the town of Dirkou. What's this?

But I was told it was a homocide by bigoted transphobe hate group.

Absolutely not. First, this is not what I would call "taking a stand". If someone were helping to write language of the legislation they hope to enact and sending it to their representatives, protesting in the street, actively preventing access, going door to door, then I would say a person has real conviction in their beliefs and were taking a stand. We're just debating about allowing the choices of people we've never met nor seen and have who near zero impact on our lives. Both of us should be able to argue our respective positions and what we believe to be right and wrong. Freedom of speech. If you feel you can make someone understand the logic of what you believe and change the mind of a parent or child who may be considering this, I 100% support you and I'll argue alongside you. But even after we've educated them, they stand up and say don't agree and are going to proceed anyway, would you physically restrain them? There are natural laws governing this sort of thing. Let them work. If and when this "crisis" comes to an end, it won't be due to legislation, it'll because enough people did or did not get the result they expected, and the word got around.

Sorry, man. Not true. You're using the example of the dirt bike, yet there are literally thousands of kids competing in 7 year old classes at races around the country. Do you support banning that, also? Kids are allowed to do dangerous things that can either make them happy or harm them horribly. That's life. There is a laws against minors and alcohol, but parents spend hundreds of billions of dollars drugging their kids in other ways with an incredible amount of OTC and prescription drugs. They're encouraged to do it, and often times required by the state to do it. In addition to gender transitioning medication, what other medications would you ban? Why would you just pick one? Lots of kids live in a household with guns, and some of them shoot themselves. Should the guns be illegal? Should the ATF be allowed to inspect your home and make sure they'll locked up? My point when asking if you knew any was to say that if it weren't for the magic window in your hand, you would never know this was a problem. If it weren't for the magic window in everyone else's hand - the problem would be non-existent. Your perception of the frequency and severity of the problem is radically skewed. And even if someone did know one of these kids, I guarantee that they have never contacted the family and asked to discuss the matter. Everyone wants to bypass that step make someone else work to create a new law of the land for everyone that suits their worldview. I admire your compassion. Always offer help. But if it is refused, let it go.

You're making quite the leap by intentionally conflating gender transitioning with veteran suicide. That's a retarded line of reasoning. People who undergo gender transition aren't doing so in order to hurt or end their lives. What would be the point of that? They're doing it because in their own heads, it'll improve their lives. I don't agree with it, either. But should your judgement regarding what a child and his/her parents decide to do with their bodies supersede theirs? They argue consistently that they go through the process to avoid resorting to suicide or self-harm. Of course life has innate value, as does the right for self-determination. Who are you to tell a family what they believe is making life more livable is actually harm? Two categories, eh? The first is a mental disorder from thinking you’re the opposite sex, and the second is completely different: sexual gratification from transitioning to the opposite sex, which is cool. I hope you're making yourself available to explain that distinction for each person who wants to transition, because I'm pretty sure no one else can. lol

Huh? No offense, but you don't appear to understand the meaning of the word. Eugenics is a deliberate intervention in another person's choices regarding reproduction. I'm advocating for exactly the opposite. Let the family decide and stay out of it. To be clear, I don't think children are currently allowed to be making these decisions without the concurrence of the parents. I would agree that kids should not be deciding for themselves without parental involvement, but isn't that already the law? How many issues do we want the state to supersede the parents? Riding a dirt bike can be a life-altering decision for a child, going swimming, flying to Nashville with family in a GA aircraft, as well as many other things. I had a few students who SIE'd from pilot training. Why would I want to force them to remain? If someone and their family wants to SIE from the procreating population - so? Go live your childless life and disappear. If someone is considering self-amputation, they're 100% going to be unhappy in life either way. It is better for them to blame themselves than you. Does anyone here actually personally know a child transitioning? Have you spoken with them or their family and still want to circumvent their wishes and impose yours via legislation? I bet the answer is "no".

That's kind of my point. What is the goal of preventing gender affirming care? Are we creating better people? They're likely to be a dreg of society with or without a penis. Any legislation on gender affirming care addresses the end result of harmful or neglectful parenting and social norms, not the destructive conditions that lead to mental illness. So now if you want to address the root causes, you have to create nanny state laws that allow for seizure of kids from homes and laws that prevent exposure to whatever the state deems dangerous. I don't like that either. The people who are least equipped (and being raised) to deal with modern life are self-sterilizing and effectively ending their genetic lineage. And... they're happy to do it. And... likely willing to become angry/violent if not allowed. Who are we to deny their pursuit of happiness? Why not let it play out? I'm willing to speak with your neighbor's kid and list all the reasons why he shouldn't touch the hot stove, but if he still want's to.... It's not on me. It's on his parents. What I am against, is any sort of outside funding. Do what you want, but not with my taxes or insurance premiums. If the parents have to work overtime for months on end to have their kid's tits chopped off, I think the whole dynamic might change.

Maybe hard to believe, but I may have an unpopular opinion on this. Raising my kids was the most incredibly difficult thing I've done. I was working an airline job and guard job to include TDYs, deployments, etc while trying to be a decent father. The amount of thought and mental churning it took to anticipate, recognize, and mitigate all the potential pitfalls in a modern child's (especially girl's) life often seemed overwhelming. I have a very strong wife and immediate/exteneded family who live nearby. Fortunately, we were able to shape these young ones into an even better version of ourselves. Now there's another generation beginning and he's starting life with an even bigger advantage and more people to help guide him. You can't remove the danger from a child's life, but you can prepare them to confront it. That takes an extraordinary effort today. Those countless hours at the dinner table, sitting next to them on the bed talking, sitting on bleachers until my ass was numb, Googling calculus answers, etc, was painful, but a family legacy is the most important thing to me. I can't imagine attempting to concern myself the children of others to the extent that I care about mine. That's their job and so many are failing. If a family or society fails to produce mentally and physically fit young people who are wholly unable to produce the strong family dynamic required to go forth and multiply, those people eventually cease to exist. All I have to do is wait. I'lll help where I can, but I am under no obligation to drag the weak through life. If your child succumbs to these dangers, where does the responsibility lie? With the things you can't control (danger) or the things you can (preparation)? If you're someone who becomes conflicted about who you are and believe you need to change your body, I support whatever makes you happy. The chances of you outlasting my family and friends are slim.

Do you like classical? Well, you do now.

More terminal velocity “relief”. WTF.

The entire State of the Union: