American Politics Thread: The Hunt for Blue November

[#-3]

Originally Posted by Sliver

You can have a very rich life filled with friends, family, community, and contribution while guided by a strong moral compass without also believing in fairytales and choosing baloney over rationality.

At the very least, I am strongly opposed to indoctrinating children with BS and potentially damaging beliefs, traditions and rituals (eg circumcisions, boys alone with priests, etc). If people want to join areligious clubs and teams, there are plenty out there. Adding in teachings from a book or two that have been outdated for a good couple thousand years is poor parenting imo.

I often admire the organizing ability of religions, and lament that we aren't able to pull together and have the same effects as they are, without turning it into some kind of gimmick (church of Satan). It's probably the same reason that they have such an outsized impact on the American political process.

You know, I am super careful to make sure my kids don't get the blind unquestioning indoctrination, they go to public school, they have never been inside a church, they rarely if ever have interacted with people who go to church unsupervised by me, and still they have managed to bring home questions about god.

I've actually found the marvel movies, and planets very useful for this. I can compare the gods represented by the planets or Thor & Odin to jesus, Using names they recognize, talk to my kids about how a lot of these myths were developed to explain things we didn't understand like the motion of the planets, the cause of thunder and lightning or origins of earth.

[JR449]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Interesting fact that is more random than a sign of Trump losing, but never in American history have 4 straight presidents been re-elected to serve a full 8 years. Prior to Clinton -> Bush -> Obama, the only other time 3 consecutive have served 8 years was Jefferson -> Madison -> Monroe.

Trump is in the same league as Monroe if he wins next

[MRCboicgy]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1310378828188057605

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by MRCboicgy

https://twitter.com/user/status/1310378828188057605

of course it had to be Florida

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by octothorp

New York Times just dropped what looks like a massive expose on Trump's tax history:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...ump-taxes.html

I haven't dug into it yet, but the un-shocking nutshell is that he's worth a lot less than claimed, but also may have misrepresented losses to claim tax refunds.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/27/u...takeaways.html

This link provided a point form overview for optimum forum posting:

Among the key findings of The Times’s investigation:

- Mr. Trump paid no federal income taxes in 11 of 18 years that The Times examined. In 2017, after he became president, his tax bill was only $750.

- He has reduced his tax bill with questionable measures, including a $72.9 million tax refund that is the subject of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service.

- Many of his signature businesses, including his golf courses, report losing large amounts of money — losses that have helped him to lower his taxes.

- The financial pressure on him is increasing as hundreds of millions of dollars in loans he personally guaranteed are soon coming due.

- Even while declaring losses, he has managed to enjoy a lavish lifestyle by taking tax deductions on what most people would consider personal expenses, including residences, aircraft and $70,000 in hairstyling for television.

- Ivanka Trump, while working as an employee of the Trump Organization, appears to have received “consulting fees” that also helped reduce the family’s tax bill.

- As president, he has received more money from foreign sources and U.S. interest groups than previously known. The records do not reveal any previously unreported connections to Russia

[BoLevi]

Originally Posted by JR449

Why are people fleeing California en mass?

People are leaving the California for other states more than any other state for a couple of reasons it seems: housing prices and the political climate.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by JR449

Why are people fleeing California en mass?

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3...20756734_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7...19590183_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...60962495_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...64732139_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3...45615685_zpid/

I think you get the idea.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by BoLevi

People are leaving the California for other states more than any other state for a reason it seems: California is the single most populated state in the US therefore a relatively small percentage of migration, far lower than most states looks like a large amount on paper if you are looking to prove the libtards are screwing the state up, which if course ignores the fact that California is just about the economic engine of the US which somewhat belies the idea the libtards are doing anything wrong

fyp

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/27/u...takeaways.html

This link provided a point form overview for optimum forum posting:

It's not a big deal. I bet you Locke could get trump down to $0 without much effort given the right circumstances. The tax code is awful and a rich guy taking advantage is somewhere ranging from non-story to positive because only an idiot intentionally overpays taxes.

[dsavillian]

Which is a bigger deal? Trump paying next to no tax or the fact that he's got like $400m in loans coming due in the next couple of years?

I know covid time is wacky, but I had no idea it was October already

[HockeyIlliterate]

Originally Posted by Sliver

At the very least, I am strongly opposed to indoctrinating children with BS and potentially damaging beliefs, traditions and rituals (eg circumcisions, boys alone with priests, etc). If people want to join areligious clubs and teams, there are plenty out there. Adding in teachings from a book or two that have been outdated for a good couple thousand years is poor parenting imo.

I occasionally go to church.

I have never been alone with a priest or minister or the like. I didn’t have to get circumcised to attend church or join a congregation (in fact, no one has ever asked if I am not and I’m not aware of anyone else being asked either).

One can certainly go to a church, listen to the sermons, take away from them what you want, and not believe in so-called fairy tales or allegedly outdated teachings or whatever it is you are ranting about. Indeed, not much of most mainstream Christianity is fire and brimstone anymore and most sermons in most churches are about social justice, trying to be a better person, using biblical stories to teach about wisdom or love or understanding, and lessons that are more or less about general positivity. Some churches are into the whole prosperity gospel too, but that is another topic.

Can you live a good, moral life without going to church? Of course. But some of us need some encouragement and reinforcement, and church helps with that.

Regardless, it should be noted that areligious clubs and teams and groups have their share of moral and ethical lapses too, and kids in them are sometimes subject to damaging behaviors and acts too.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

It's not a big deal. I bet you Locke could get trump down to $0 without much effort given the right circumstances. The tax code is awful and a rich guy taking advantage is somewhere ranging from non-story to positive because only an idiot intentionally overpays taxes.

Ok, but where's his wealth? It's not like he is Jeff Bezos with billions of dollars in stocks. He has a bunch of property that is over leveraged or he just puts his name on for a fee and doesn't own at all.

He's always been about borrowing money to build a shiny facade with TRUMP in giant letters, and using that fake wealth to borrow more money.

It gets him the use of jets, gold plated penthouses, high end golf courses, and eastern european trophy wives, but not actual money in the bank account that can be taxed. If you push that too far, you probably go to jail.

He's running the country the same way and it will catch up to us.

[MRCboicgy]

And Jared deleted all his tweets tonight. Coincidence?

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by HockeyIlliterate

I occasionally go to church.

I have never been alone with a priest or minister or the like. I didn’t have to get circumcised to attend church or join a congregation (in fact, no one has ever asked if I am not and I’m not aware of anyone else being asked either).

One can certainly go to a church, listen to the sermons, take away from them what you want, and not believe in so-called fairy tales or allegedly outdated teachings or whatever it is you are ranting about. Indeed, not much of most mainstream Christianity is fire and brimstone anymore and most sermons in most churches are about social justice, trying to be a better person, using biblical stories to teach about wisdom or love or understanding, and lessons that are more or less about general positivity. Some churches are into the whole prosperity gospel too, but that is another topic.

Can you live a good, moral life without going to church? Of course. But some of us need some encouragement and reinforcement, and church helps with that.

Regardless, it should be noted that areligious clubs and teams and groups have their share of moral and ethical lapses too, and kids in them are sometimes subject to damaging behaviors and acts too.

I always go to church when I am in the UK, there is something deeply moving about sitting in a stone building that's a thousand years old listening to evensong or just quietly meditating, I also tend to go to midnight mass and pray for my kids, its a tradition for me that goes back almost 40 years, I cant say there isnt a God and I will take any help I can get, even from the flying spaghetti monster

[Wormius]

I thought a lot about Trump not paying taxes was mostly known already because of some heavy losses. What new information is this providing?

[Lanny_McDonald]

That the vast majority of what he has done is fraudulent. He's over-reported the value of properties to generate losses so he can dodge taxes on his income. He's a grifter that is finally being caught in his grift and will have to answer for it. There is so much shady stuff in those returns that the audit has to come against him. He manufactured deductions by doing a lot of borderline stuff that may just land not only him in prison, but his kids too.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

I always go to church when I am in the UK, there is something deeply moving about sitting in a stone building that's a thousand years old listening to evensong or just quietly meditating, I also tend to go to midnight mass and pray for my kids, its a tradition for me that goes back almost 40 years, I cant say there isnt a God and I will take any help I can get, even from the flying spaghetti monster

Really cool post.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I thought a lot about Trump not paying taxes was mostly known already because of some heavy losses. What new information is this providing?

There's much talk of trump supporters not admitting they will vote for him to pollsters, I wonder if it might end up being the other way round though, that there will be a chunk of them to say they are Trump till they die but will actually not bother because its really hard not to realize its all a con

[TherapyforGlencross]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

of course it had to be Florida

We all like to make fun of Florida, but this isn’t a “Florida thing.”

Wishing him and his family the best. Suicide is no joke.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by TherapyforGlencross

We all like to make fun of Florida, but this isn’t a “Florida thing.”

Wishing him and his family the best. Suicide is no joke.

I agree, a tad flippant of me