MAGAThread XIX: Hambergers, Noble Prizes, & Disinfectant

[Diahon]

Are we allowed to call Trump a Tin-Pot dictator now, after his speech over the peaceful transition of power?

You can call him a dictator if and when he successfully seizes power. I have my doubts he'll be able to manage that given he can't seem to manage the more routine affairs of state without severe hiccoughs.

no

while that would indeed be putting the horse before the cart, keep in mind the horse would be dead at that point

[Neutraligon]

I half wonder if this is an attempt to decrease the size of the government by getting everyone to quit.

[Northern Davincia]

I half wonder if this is an attempt to decrease the size of the government by getting everyone to quit.

If so, it is a brilliant move.

[The Black Forrest]

I half wonder if this is an attempt to decrease the size of the government by getting everyone to quit.

Eh what now?

[The Black Forrest]

I half wonder if this is an attempt to decrease the size of the government by getting everyone to quit.

If so, it is a brilliant move.

Hmm? Admitting I don’t know the details....its a bad move as the smart people are the ones leaving.

[San Lumen]

https://apnews.com/article/billings-mon ... ce=Twitter

A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump’s leading steward of public lands has been serving unlawfully, blocking him from continuing in the position in the latest pushback against the administration’s practice of filling key positions without U.S. Senate approval.

U.S. Interior Department Bureau of Land Management acting director William Perry Pendley served unlawfully for 424 days without being confirmed to the post by the Senate as required under the Constitution, U.S. District Judge Brian Morris determined.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

You can call him a dictator if and when he successfully seizes power. I have my doubts he'll be able to manage that given he can't seem to manage the more routine affairs of state without severe hiccoughs.

Well, based on his latest plan, which has Very few legal obstacles and very few moving parts that Trump himself can mess up, it’s not actually impossible.

Yeah I hope it's just beyond the courage of any one state government, and they all hold back. If there's a Biden majority in their state, and a Biden majority nationally, and Biden would have won without their electors cheating their state is going to burn.

[Rusozak]

Well, based on his latest plan, which has Very few legal obstacles and very few moving parts that Trump himself can mess up, it’s not actually impossible.

Yeah I hope it's just beyond the courage of any one state government, and they all hold back. If there's a Biden majority in their state, and a Biden majority nationally, and Biden would have won without their electors cheating their state is going to burn.

Agreed. There is only so far you can take it. There would actually be an armed revolution and possibly state secessions if Trump tried to forgo the democratic process entirely.

[Page]

Are we allowed to call Trump a Tin-Pot dictator now, after his speech over the peaceful transition of power?

You can call him a dictator if and when he successfully seizes power. I have my doubts he'll be able to manage that given he can't seem to manage the more routine affairs of state without severe hiccoughs.

Dictators usually suck at managing routine affairs of state.

[Vassenor]

So has anyone actually tried to explain what makes Barrett a good pick yet?

[Nobel Hobos 2]

So has anyone actually tried to explain what makes Barrett a good pick yet?

Her second given name is Coney, which means among other things, a rabbit.

[Vassenor]

So has anyone actually tried to explain what makes Barrett a good pick yet?

Her second given name is Coney, which means among other things, a rabbit.

...Get the potatoes.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

Her second given name is Coney, which means among other things, a rabbit.

...Get the potatoes.

Well she clerked for Scalia, who isn't dead after all, and is on Twitter claiming she raped him.

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

I half wonder if this is an attempt to decrease the size of the government by getting everyone to quit.

If so, it is a brilliant move.

Only if you don’t understand how executive power works.

[The Alma Mater]

So has anyone actually tried to explain what makes Barrett a good pick yet?

She upsets the democrats. Since Trump believes he was chosen to upset democrats as much as possible, she is his perfect pick.

[Vassenor]

So has anyone actually tried to explain what makes Barrett a good pick yet?

She upsets the democrats. Since Trump believes he was chosen to upset democrats as much as possible, she is his perfect pick.

And from the perspective of people not suffering from a terminal case of Liberal Salt Addiction?

[The Alma Mater]

She upsets the democrats. Since Trump believes he was chosen to upset democrats as much as possible, she is his perfect pick.

And from the perspective of people not suffering from a terminal case of Liberal Salt Addiction?

Nope. As Arch pointed out in the other thread, she is not even a good pick for republicans.

[Vassenor]

And from the perspective of people not suffering from a terminal case of Liberal Salt Addiction?

Nope. As Arch pointed out in the other thread, she is not even a good pick for republicans.

Huh.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

And from the perspective of people not suffering from a terminal case of Liberal Salt Addiction?

Nope. As Arch pointed out in the other thread, she is not even a good pick for republicans.

Just to recap that: If she's really as devoutly Catholic as she seems, abortion might be the only issue she really aligns strongly with Republicans on. On the death penalty, the Catholic church is diametrically opposed to Republican orthodoxy.

Wouldn't it be funny if a decade or two of her sniping at them from the bench makes them change that policy ...

[Kowani]

You can call him a dictator if and when he successfully seizes power. I have my doubts he'll be able to manage that given he can't seem to manage the more routine affairs of state without severe hiccoughs.

Dictators usually suck at managing routine affairs of state.

laughs in Thomas Sankara

[Juristonia]

So has anyone actually tried to explain what makes Barrett a good pick yet?

She makes the libbies mad.
That's generally the full extent of Trump's ability to think ahead.

[San Lumen]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... on-logging

The Trump administration has announced it will move forward with a plan to roll back regulations protecting millions of acres in America’s largest national forest from logging, sparking an outcry from environmental advocacy organizations, Alaskan tribal nations, and fishermen. The man doesn’t care one iota about the environment.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/24/tongass-national-forest-trump-administration-logging

The Trump administration has announced it will move forward with a plan to roll back regulations protecting millions of acres in America’s largest national forest from logging, sparking an outcry from environmental advocacy organizations, Alaskan tribal nations, and fishermen. The man doesn’t care one iota about the environment.

"You dick, you just cut down that tree!"
"Nothing of the sort. I created some lumber."

"You killed a tree!"
"Economic growth!"

Seriously we should stop counting stuff dug out of the ground as "production" because it's not literally produced, it simultaneously glosses over the way we use up natural capital, and pumps the economic growth figure deceptively.

Forests are renewable, and if only we could source it all from tree farms (ie we'd planted enough 20 and 30 years ago), production of lumber and woodchip could validly be counted as economic gain.

Wood is still one of the best things to build a basic house from, and while not carbon neutral (soil degradation spoils that) it still has a very low impact compared to steel, brick or concrete. It's very difficult to strike the right balance here: I want to bring tree farm supplies up to demand, so no old growth has to be cut in the US or elsewhere ... but there's no way of making a tree grow more quickly. For once I don't want to use the tax hammer. The price of wood has to go up, way up, to bring the demand down to renewable supply for now. That means huge profits for the few companies still able to fell and process wood, but that is unavoidable because that demonstrates to farmers with marginal grazing land (and not too much debt) that tree farming promises more future reward for them than barely surviving running stock.

I am certain that wood will still be in demand 20 or 30 years from now when it becomes available in quantity (AND renewable) again. But for now, banning imports and restricting access to public forests, creating artificial scarcity and driving up prices of all wood products, is the only way to guarantee that future generations have access to affordable wood products AND beautiful old-growth forests.

But more likely government will just protect the forests in the US, do nothing at all to stimulate tree farm planting, and simply import however much wood or products is necessary to keep prices down. Canada or Brazil (etc) can cut down their forests ... not our problem right?

[San Lumen]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/24/tongass-national-forest-trump-administration-logging

The Trump administration has announced it will move forward with a plan to roll back regulations protecting millions of acres in America’s largest national forest from logging, sparking an outcry from environmental advocacy organizations, Alaskan tribal nations, and fishermen. The man doesn’t care one iota about the environment.

"You dick, you just cut down that tree!"
"Nothing of the sort. I created some lumber."

"You killed a tree!"
"Economic growth!"

Seriously we should stop counting stuff dug out of the ground as "production" because it's not literally produced, it simultaneously glosses over the way we use up natural capital, and pumps the economic growth figure deceptively.

Forests are renewable, and if only we could source it all from tree farms (ie we'd planted enough 20 and 30 years ago), production of lumber and woodchip could validly be counted as economic gain.

Wood is still one of the best things to build a basic house from, and while not carbon neutral (soil degradation spoils that) it still has a very low impact compared to steel, brick or concrete. It's very difficult to strike the right balance here: I want to bring tree farm supplies up to demand, so no old growth has to be cut in the US or elsewhere ... but there's no way of making a tree grow more quickly. For once I don't want to use the tax hammer. The price of wood has to go up, way up, to bring the demand down to renewable supply for now. That means huge profits for the few companies still able to fell and process wood, but that is unavoidable because that demonstrates to farmers with marginal grazing land (and not too much debt) that tree farming promises more future reward for them than barely surviving running stock.

I am certain that wood will still be in demand 20 or 30 years from now when it becomes available in quantity (AND renewable) again. But for now, banning imports and restricting access to public forests, creating artificial scarcity and driving up prices of all wood products, is the only way to guarantee that future generations have access to affordable wood products AND beautiful old-growth forests.

But more likely government will just protect the forests in the US, do nothing at all to stimulate tree farm planting, and simply import however much wood or products is necessary to keep prices down. Canada or Brazil (etc) can cut down their forests ... not our problem right?

National forests are supposed to be protected from logging.

[Aclion]

National forests are supposed to be protected from logging.

Hahaha no. There's a reason the forest service is a division of the department of agriculture. You're probably thinking of Conservation Areas, Wilderness Areas or National Parks. https://www.doi.gov/blog/americas-publi ... -explained