JE_ThomasVoice #8

Identifying government employees shouldn't be problematic with the rare exceptions of those working as undercover agents for, say, the CIA. Doxing them is another thing altogether.

Legal but unethical. It shouldn't have been done. Republicans have a long history of dirty tricks. Roger Stone made an entire career out of dirty tricks. The solution is for American voters to eschew these antics but that requires a level of sophistication and engagement that has never existed here.

Evidence matters. Casting doubt on elections is a hallmark of autocrats, Trump has complained for years that the 2020 election was stolen; laughable because he tried to steal it himself. There is ample evidence of Trump's attempt to steal the election, none that it was stolen from him. Having him question the loss of an election of a fellow autocrat wannabe in a foreign country with zero evidence is both predictabe and idiotic.

The city gets to invest where it chooses to invest. It doesn't matter whether their action changes anything on the ground or is purely symbolic.

Nations need to pursue their national interests. Canada and Europe didn't walk away from the US, the US pushed them away. We are no longer a reliable partner in either commerce or defense. Our erstwhile allies should waste no time making other arrangements.

To those voting "No" I'd suggest they read the Constitution: "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators." Article I, Section 4, Clause 1.

Iran is a tar baby of our own creation. We need to be looking for an off ramp, not a way to become further involved in a forever war. The nations of the Middle East have the necessary tools and motivations to restore normal operations to the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab.

Russia's leadership is a continuing threat to world peace. Until that changes the United States and every other nation committed to a stable world should keep maximum pressure on Russia.

Dunno, ,Dagman. Might have been Scaramouche, he seems to be a Russophile.

At this moment Flavio Bolsonaro is a fugitive under investigation for serious crimes in Brazil. The visa is a slap in the face of the rule of law.

Are you kidding me? Methane is a much more potent driver of climate change than CO2. Ending emissions standards enables short term financial gains for a few producers at the cost of long term consequences for everyone.

I think Trump will never get a Nobel Peace Prize for the simple reason that he doesn't deserve one. That makes the Nobel Committee ... noble, in my opinion. Attacking Norway and its people for a decision they don't control demonstrates how shockingly stupid our very stable genius actually is.

Absent evidence it is meaningless, just like Trump's constant wailing about election fraud. What about charges that Trump molested underage chipmunks? See how easy that is? Whatabout, whatabout, whatabout. Evidence, please.

It appears to be simple harassment.Throw one charge, then another, now a third trying to find something that might stick. It costs Trump nothing but Comey has to pay to defend himself each time. What's next, a charge that Comey picked his toenails in Hoboken? Enough already.

The deadly shootings in the Westbank are almost entirely of Palestinians. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 79 Palestinians (including 19 children) had been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank as of late August 2026. As far as I can find, zero Israelis have. Now what was the question?

Unless and until a higher court says otherwise, it is a fact of law that he exceeded his authority.

Instead of another Bolsinaro, a right-wing proto-autocrat just like his father? Yeah, a good thing for Brazil, a great thing.

Vaccination is the single most important medical intervention ever devised. Life expectancy in this country was about 50 years a century ago, mostly because so many children died before the age of 15 from communicable diseases. Smallpox once killed millions. Polio, rubella (watch a video of an unvaccinated child with rubella some time), and yes, measles. I don't have the figures at hand but something like 1 in 20 children who contract measles will require hospitalization, 1 in 1,000 will die even with the best care medicine can offer, usually of encephalitis. Measles is no joke. There is all sorts of crap information circulating but this is you child's life. Be a responsible parent, learn the real facts, and get your kids vaccinated.

Sure. Minaj or anyone else is free to support the candidates of their choice. But people in the entertainment industry are generally smarter not to attach to political figures, especially those who are especially divisive. I am not alone in voting with my wallet. I no longer buy from Amazon as an example. It's the same with artists. The chance of me going to a Minaj or Kid Rock concert, never high before, are zero today.

It depends on a great number of circumstances, some personal, some federal monetary policy. I have a mortgage at about 3%. Given the inflation rate I am borrowing that money for free, even being paid a little to borrow it. I could pay the loan off today but why would I? Owning also allows me to do things that a rental would not. I have a substantial garden and a large shop in my backyard, neither common in rental situations. Rental makes sense for people who are likely to change jobs or move as their job demands change, for those who struggle to accumulate the down payment on a home, or for those who don't want to be bothered with maintenance costs and activities.

The problem isn't showing a photo ID when voting, in many places one can get, for instance, a driver's license without being a citizen. The issue is proving citizenship when registering to vote. When voting signatures are compared with the signature filed at the time of registration. The signature works on checks drafted on your account, on legal contracts, and throughout commerce and law. It works when voting in person and it works when voting by mail.

The Supreme Court is the branch furthest from the people, in fact it has no connection to the people whatsoever. The Supreme Court system should be completely revamped by Constitutional amendment including term limits and a direct and clean path to remove sitting justices. This is supposed to be a government "of, by, and for the people."

Birds of a feather flock together. And yeah, that includes vultures.

This is a tiresome issue. Voter fraud has been investigated ad nauseum and demonstrated NOT TO BE A PROBLEM. But who cares about evidence right? All you need is some clown with an IQ of 65 saying, "but,, but, but..." We have real, serious problems in this country, So let's spend a bunch of time relitigating election fraud for the umpteenth time.

Plug me into the matrix. I'll lay on a Barcalounger and think, "bring me a mezze plate and a glass of wine." (rolls eyes)

This is't even a question. Read the frigging Constitution. "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators." - Article I, Section 4, Clause 1.

I read news from a wide variety of sources but very little opinion from any source.

That depends entirely on the condition of the plants and the plans to handle the waste. I have long been a proponent of nuclear energy but it must be exploited carefully,

It is no longer possible to simply disagree. Today, those with whom you disagree are framed as subhuman. The trend has been growing since the Clinton administration but you can thank the orange idiot and his wannabee storm troopers for raising it to truly frightening levels. This is the First Amendment turned to self-parody, Rights are sacrosanct but with every right comes a concomitant responsibility,

Order must be restored. To protest is one thing, to riot and destroy property is quite another. Macron has been slow to react to growing discontent and that's on him. But some of the protesters' demands are unrealistic too. Tough spot for Macron.

Trup has vandalized Washington, DC by whim, destroying the East Wing of the White House, destroying the Rose Garden for a helipad, and trying to build an arch to himself. Enough.

Yes. Transparency matters. If it was up to me even votes would be public.

Different layers of government should be responsive to their citizens. The feds have massive resources of their own. They can also petition courts to compel certain actions.

Not policy usually, but they focus voters on the issue

Are taxpayers going to be paid dividends?

Nothing is free. Sometimes the price is hidden.

If someone is doing all of the housework they need a housekeeper or a divorce.

A mortal sin!

Sizzle is great but ROI is what it's all about.

Postponing the summit us a Houthi win. Just don't

Boots on the ground? Yeah, let's take a terrible situation and make it much, much worse.

My next car will be an EV - but not a Tesla.

Anything that makes it easier to vote!

The Iran war is an unnecessary stupidity. Nonetheless, surprise is an essential element of warfare.

Futurama. South Park. The Simpsons.

No, and I like Anthropic. It's over valued and investors are betting on the come.

They were stupid to begin with and they aren't getting better with age.

I'm glad it worked out the way it did but it isn't the answer to mass murder.

Trump fellates Putin. Again. Knee pads and chapstick - making America great again.

She was a train wreck, but oddly appropriate, no?

I think America gets sold to the highest bidder since Citizens United. It is disgusting.

No, the Roberts Court killed that possibility. You won't hear it until they age out, the Court is expanded, or unexpected stones grow in Congress and they impeach them.

I always favor letting investigations play out. But if this was done as an act of political intimidation - which it certainly appears to have been - there should be serious legal consequences for those involved.

It is StarShield, not StarLink that is the primary problem. A different problem is having private companies involved in international military affairs.

The US and other leading countries had a nuclear deal with Iran, the JCPOA, that was working very well indeed until Trump unilaterally abrogated it during his first administration. The United States was in active negotiations with Iran when Trump and Netanyahu launched an unprovoked attack and now an ongoing war. There shouldn't have been military force used then and there certainly shouldn't be military force used now. The forces roiling the Middle East go much, much deeper than Iran's theocratic government and those forces are more likely to be exacerbated than calmed by more military action in that troubled region.

I'm headed for Europe in the morning where tipping is as it should be. Tips are not expected (except in some tourist traps. Don't.). Typically, one might leave change or, in the case of exceptional service, a few Euros, kroner, or zloty. Waitstaff are typically professional and it is often seen as a career rather than something to do while going to school or waiting for something better.

Flying in and out of FCO but spending time in Czech and Poland. I'm OK with the biometrics. I'm a US Global Entry holder so the government has pix, prints, and probably the results of my last colonoscopy.

But I'm not French!!!

Thanks!

Homicide rate in the US varies between 5.0 and 6.3 per 100,000 people. In the UK is is almost 5 times lower - 1.2 per 100,000.

See my response to rovr322 above. The figures don't hold. Murders, violent crime, total crime, even stabbings, the UK does much better than the US.

I think the problem with guns is that it's too easy. Pull, point, squeeze. You don't even have to be all that close. And of course I don't know but I suspect for many the regret comes as quickly as the action.

Scaramouche, I referred to the CIA overthrow of Mosaddegh as a bad thing, a terrible thing. If that didn't come across, I'm losing my touch. CIA overthrew Mosaddegh because he was planning to nationalize the oil fields that the UK had been milking like its own personal cow. That led to the Shah, and then to the CIA-trained SAVAK secret police. It's no damned wonder the Iranians hate the US.

I went to a college with no Greek life and figure myself better for the absence. A bunch of kids, most too you to legally drink, getting shit-face drunk and trying to get laid.

Walk before you run. The trip to mars is 7+ MONTHS using current technology. Even a minor oopsie won't be fixed by the cavalry riding to the rescue. I'm not even sure sending humans to Mars makes sense. It has a really inhospitable climate, average temperature is about 85 below zero, there is no atmosphere to speak of, and most of the water is in the polar ice caps. Terrible place to live. Terrible place to die.

I don't even know what it is, I watch little TV of the regular kind, and I imagine it's seriously overpriced. So, NO.

I don't know and neither does anyone else. It is a shit ton of money and sooner or later investors are going to want to see returns on the investment. That's when bubbles burst. The strongest and least leveraged will survive. Right now AI investment is keeping this country out of a recession so ... it's all good for now.

No. Sam Altman should accept "some bad things happening" and that he and his investors will have to pay for the damages. That's how liability works. If my 10 year old hits a baseball through your living room window, I don't get to say, well, "some bad things are going to happen."

She should have been fired. From a circus cannon. Into a vat of something stinky and vile. She was an embarrassment to the nation.

There is no "correct" answer to this question. It depends entirely on the work.

To say nothing of self-defeating. But you know American businessmen usually like to do whatever the consultants say so this year it's open floor plans, next year it will be team calisthenics. But at least there aren't mandated testosterone injections like the military. Jesus, you can't make this shit up.

The pardon power has been abused and exploited both parties for decades. It will require a Constitutional Amendment to curtail that power but it is none-the-less worth pursuing.

Yeah ... not sure how that would work in a nation of 350 million.

Not unless they're going to open antitrust investigations into both major political parties.

The antitrust investigation of networks is the Trump administration's retribution for the networks shunning him after he banished CNN and a few others from the White House. This isn't about business practices, it's about making them knuckle under t a wannabe dictator.

Does anyone seriously think that embroiling ourselves in another Middle East war is a good idea? Saudi Arabia has a quarter of a million men under arms and a Texas shitload of American weaponry including more than 350 aircraft and 575 Abrams tanks. Saudi Arabia also has an assist from Pakistan and presumably can entice Turkey to help. Not our circus. Not our monkeys. It's time we learned that lesson.

The idiom means, more or less, that I or we are not responsible for the enterprise, whatever that may be, nor for the individuals involved. In this case the US has no treaty obligation to SA (though there may be an implied obligation) and we have no control over the Saudis of the Houthis.

I read the book. Period. I haven't been to a movie in years. I'm not aware of a film worth my time.

I read the biography. I may stream the movie at some point. I loved Beetlejuice. In fact I went to a Halloween party as Beetlejuice a couple of years ago. The full monte. People, even relatives, didn't recognize me. If I stumble across the sequel I'll give it a look.

As usual, surveys want answers lacking nuance. The 2.8% COLA is fine, even generous, for those of us with significant resources, not nearly enough for those for whom Social Security was originally intended.

It is pegged to inflation. It's just that people who didn't earn much didn't contribute much and don't get much in the way of benefits. The average SS benefit in the US is $2,087.52 as of August according to the SSA. I don't think that people can live on that.

Has there ever been a less competent House Speaker? Johnson's only qualification is his complete subservience to Donald J. Trump. If the man has ever had a thought of his own, he's kept it to himself. The GOP members in the House may reconsider keeping him in leadership depending on the results of the election. If it is as bad as predicted and if I were an incumbent who managed to squeak through to reelection, I'd be looking to the future and how the trajectory might be changed. Mike Johnson is not the answer.

Malevolence runs in the GOP bloodstream. I take that as a given, like French girls are going to have hairy armpits.

I live where I live, the Pacific Northwest, for quality of life. If I was younger I'd move to Copenhagen for the same reason.

Did calculators weaken students' ability to do arithmetic? Why yes they did. But not in ways that made much difference. I find it amusing when clerks can't make change in their heads, but it hasn't resulted in a crisis of civilization. AI is different. It is a wonderful aid in producing better work. I use it often for research and proofreading. It is a debilitating crutch when used to do the work for you.

DOJ has avoided investigative splashes involving politicians in the weeks before an election. There is nothing to say that investigators couldn't work quietly behind the scenes, gathering evidence and building a timeline. But a high profile raid in the run up to an election looks like abuse of power. It will be interesting to see if there is actual evidence of criminal activity or if, as in the case of Lisa Cook (a Federal Reserve Board member Trump tried to fire) it is some insignificant paperwork error.

Any pie. I'm not a cake guy.

No. Russia is the aggressor here. full stop. The United States should GIVE Ukraine as many interceptors as we can spare (likely 11 after the idiocy in Iran) and sell them whatever non-nuclear weapons they choose to buy (or the EU is willing to buy on their behalf).

Yes, but only in extremely limited circumstances. There are already abundant laws to protect intellectual property.

(rolls eyes, walks away)

Eye color is pretty straightforward but many other traits are formed by the interplay of multiple genes. The possibility of unintended consequences suggests caution. but people ae going to do what they're going to do. All of the world's problems, all of the opportunities to better the arc of mankind, and people want to make sure that their daughter is blond. Eff me in the eye with a fork.

Go too far according to what measure? Art should sometimes confront, disturb, enrage. The best art forces one to examine their biases and preconceptions. If you can't handle that, don't watch.

Iran isn't going away despite Trump's periodic vows to destroy it as a civilization. The Sunni powers in the ME need to come to some diplomatic detente with the Shia powers, Iran being foremost among the latter. Foreign powers including the US aren't going to settle that. And the underlying irritants of Israel and the plight of the Palestinians isn't going to be solved by foreign powers either, though there is a role available as an honest broker. The US though has probably destroyed its ability to fill that role. Today, the US and its military bases scattered across the region are a destabilizing rather than a stabilizing force. We - and the Arab countries - need to confront those realities.

Stricter gun laws, better mental health services, and a Constitutional Amendment striking the Second Amendment and replacing it with something far more restrictive.

Russia attacked Ukraine. Whether declared by Russia or not, that is an act of war. Ukraine has shown considerable restraint while russia has actively attacked purely civilian targets. Ukraine has every right to attack military and economic targets.

Security clearances are periodically reviewed. Presidents should be no different.

The devil is in the "most" in the question. Writing uniform rules that cover all of the reasonable exclusions of a work requirement is all but impossible. Denying routine medical care to anyone is morally wrong and economically stupid.

Read the frigging Constitution. Article I, Section 4, "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators." While Congress may diddle with this the Executive branch cannot.

While the history of anonymous commentary is long in this nation, I fail to see its value. If one advocates a position, why wouldn't one be willing to put their name on it? The withholding of that is by its very nature deceitful. I want to know who pays for political ads, who advocates for this or that position, who attempts to shape public discourse. As bots and fakery become ubiquitous this information becomes ever more important.