Muda69

I guess Mr. Trump now believes starting a "war" with Iran will help boost his re-election chances: Iran vows 'harsh' response to US killing of top general: https://apnews.com/e36db7c72c1adba1a6cae75091bc273d And the military-industrial complex gets richer, on the backs of American taxpayers and dead/wounded American servicemen. Despicable.

https://reason.com/2020/01/02/illinois-spent-the-last-decade-losing-population-and-learning-nothing/ You have to wonder whether anybody there made the connection between the state's dropping unemployment rate and the state's drop in population. And if they're hoping marijuana tax revenues will make up for the massive budget holes, Illinois is in for a major disappointment. Tax demands for legal marijuana providers in Illinois are extremely high, and pot prices will likely be double those of nearby Michigan (which has also launched legal recreational sales). Illinois' weed taxes aren't quite as high as the ones in California, but it's still notable that the Golden State's high taxes mean the state is bringing in less than a third of its projected tax revenues from legal sales. Indeed, in California around 80 percent of all marijuana sales are still on the black market. The Illinois authorities are predicting $57 million in tax revenue for the first six months of marijuana sales, and they expect to get $500 million annually within five years. That's probably not a reasonable expectation, given what's happening in California. And in any event, that much revenue is just a drop in the bucket of the state's estimated $137 billion in pension obligations. Illinois spent much of 2010 serving as a warning that states cannot tax themselves into prosperity and cannot thrive by using so much of their budget to line the pockets of government employees. Will this be the decade that the state learns its own lessons? I doubt it, as long as they keep electing big government uni-party shills. Step one, as one of the comments posits, is for the state of Illinois to secede from Cook county.

https://reason.com/2020/01/02/military-intellectual-complex-expects-more-war-in-2020/ "Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense. We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security alone more than the net income of all United States corporations. Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence—economic, political, even spiritual—is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together." - Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 17, 1961

R.I.P. jazz trumpeter and Schoolhouse Rock! singer Jack Sheldon: https://www.avclub.com/r-i-p-jazz-trumpeter-and-schoolhouse-rock-singer-jack-1840773880 How sad. I can still hear the music and recite the lyrics to both of those Schoolhouse Rock! segments.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/12/31/790261705/farmers-got-billions-from-taxpayers-in-2019-and-hardly-anyone-objected Still marching towards a debt crisis, and these handouts to farmers in exchange for votes only adds fuel to the fire. Sickening.

Castro drops out of 2020 U.S. presidential race: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-castro/castro-drops-out-of-2020-u-s-presidential-race-idUSKBN1Z10ZE And another one bites the dust.

https://reason.com/2020/01/02/3-new-years-resolutions-the-government-should-adopt/ Once can only hope. Too bad most members of Congress can only look ahead to their next election cycle, and don't really give a rat's ass about the future of this country and what their irresponsible actions and inaction means for our children and grandchildren.

Not always.

Bernie Sanders Wants to Kill Pro Baseball: https://mises.org/wire/bernie-sanders-wants-kill-pro-baseball More big government, more taxpayers funds wasted, that is the "solution" to everything the Mr. Sanders and all other liberals view as a problem.

Thank you. But you are still the second smartest individual on the GID.

Not in Indiana but asset forfeiture madness: https://reason.com/2019/12/30/missouri-cops-used-federal-loophole-to-seize-2-6-million-from-drivers-who-they-never-charged-with-crimes/

Also bonafide liberal city-states like Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City tend to suck their home states of resources, just ask my downstate Illinois in-laws. No, these metropolises need to be 'cut loose' and become the 51, 52, and 53 states.

? If you are going to sling insults and/or snide remarks at least have the courage to actually say it to that person's "face".

Government Standards Are Making 5-Year-Olds and Kindergarten Teachers Miserable: https://reason.com/2019/12/27/kindergarten-test-standards-reading-math-teachers/ Yet another reason to get government out the education business, and let parents choose.

How is a U.S. congressman using his position of power to sway some SS or Medicare bureaucrat a "scam"? Do you have proof that Mr. Hamilton was getting some kind of kickback, other than perhaps a few votes from his constituents? Like you said..... own it.

You probably need to go somewhere more highbrow than the GID then. Perhaps a message board for MENSA members.................

A non-answer. Typical. And expected.

Sorry, I thought the GID was primarily for entertainment purposes. Also sorry you hold junior high debate in such disdain.....................

So your age makes you an authority on racism then? Kind of makes sense from a "wisdom" perspective.

So you are an authority on racism then?

If a supposed news organization like MSN can't use a simple tool called a 'spell checker' how can one trust the veracity of this 'poll'?

Convinction? Is that the liberal MSM spelling of "conviction"?

Sorry that you can't handle alternative viewpoints that don't come from the MSM.

You really didn't answer my question. Yes, I watch soccer from time to time. It's a beautiful game, with real athletes on the field.

With all the government employees in that video methinks Goshen schools will be receiving communication from the ffrf soon. And don't tell me GHS caved and got rid of the excellent Redskins mascot for the generic and insipid "Redhawk" moniker?