Just caught this headline -

"Donald Trump’s lawyer Christina Bobb was instructed to certify to the justice department that all sensitive government documents stored at his Mar-a-Lago resort subpoenaed by a grand jury had been returned, though she had not herself conducted the search for the records."

She now faces potential criminal charges.

Regardless what side you're on, there's no denying the trend for Trump lawyers winding having to hire there own lawyers as a result of their work for Trump.

Politely explain that I'm happily taken, while falling over laughing at the last response.

You're probably unfamiliar with the H1-B program.

That was arguably one of the most idiotic statements I've ever seen you make, but at least it was mercifully short, thank you.

About 20 years ago a recently divorced friend asked me to go to a gathering for an AOL divorcee support group, the intent of the group was, in part, for match-making.

For the first two hours I wandered the group and it seemed like every single conversation was about how their ex had wronged them, no one apparently had any role in the wrongs themselves.

I spent the rest of the time there watching PPV movies at the room, my friend met his next ex-wife there, the marriage lasted less than a year.

This opening post is great, granted, we all have one or two of those red flags on occasion, it's a life saver to avoid too many of them.

Very little of what a president controls has any bearing on the economy.

It's usually the Fed, by design the Fed doesn't answer to government for that reason.

Russians are using energy prices to say "Trump wouldn't have let this happen", which is true, but then, Ukraine would now be a part of Russia, maybe they'd be into Poland, Finland or Germany by now.

Oil & gas prices have been plummeting in recent months as capitalist Darwinism works its magic and we find alternative sources in spite of OPEC.

For America, LNG exports have increased 1000%, tenfold, as a result, we're supplying the EU now instead of Russia, a huge gain for our economy.

America now produces 2/3 of it's oil consumption, and that ratio is rapidly improving, which is why Biden's considering a stall to oil exports.

The good news is that we're evolving more to Nat gas and we have the world's largest reserves of natural gas.

Oil is becoming the new coal, OPEC and Russia know this, OPEC is pinching supply to counter, Putin is trying to go the Genghis Khan route to conquer territories with more natural resources.

I'm actually worried about Kazakhstan for this reason.

Trump in 2024 almost guarantees a Biden win, while he has the appearance of strength, he also ostracized too many moderates and women by catering to one sect of Conservatives.

He also expressed a lot of ambiguity towards Putin in his "President Putin says it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be," statement, as well as a perceived attempt to coerce Zelensky in favor of Russia.

Biden does appear weak, old, but to be honest, his Ukraine response has been a big surprise, he hasn't budged, and he's been unafraid to ignore Putin's saber rattling/nuclear threats.

I have serious concerns for the "Putin puppet" accusations with Trump, including what he's done with the Mar A Lago docs.

To moderates, Trump appeared inexperienced and over confident, while at the same time too stubborn to listen to experienced advisors, many whom were fired as a result.

That same approach has him a long history of bankrupt businesses and investors.

If you truly want a GOP president, Romney's the ace up the GOP sleeve, he was, afterall, the one to warn us about Russia in 2012.

I will not vote for Trump, there were too many mishaps under his discretion, too many instances of uncouth open speech in situations that required diplomacy.

He makes his own rules, which is fine for private business, not for leader of the free world.

I'm very sexy, in a tree stump kinda way.

Bonnie, on the other hand, has eyes that melt. Her voice is the sweetest sound to wake up to.

On Saddam, he got what he deserved, no debate.

Though I don't think we should have invaded, we'll never agree on that, which is fine, end result is Saddam gone.

The problem now is that Russian influencers & trolls are trying to use our invasion of Iraq to sway consensus in America.

America has done wrong, no question, but there is no possible way a foreign dictator will convince me that rationalizes their doing the same to us.

Also, Eastern Ukraine is a major producer of grain, oil and economics in general, this is a play on control of the global economy for Putin, who's country's economy is diminishing.

Just take a glance at a ten+ year chart of the RSX to see what a kleptocratic oligarchy has done to their market.

He displayed this control back in 2020 when he flooded the oil market to suppress prices in an attempt to bankrupt American refiners.

Putin's smart, he's playing a good chess game despite not having all the pieces his opponents have.

Attempting to manipulate American voters' opinions is a brilliant move, and if it works he gains huge leverage over global energy and grain prices.

Big news today, Russia fired 75 missiles into Ukraine, killed ten people, 41 of the missiles were shot down.

Putin's "brute force" approach just cost him over $200 million to kill ten noncombatant civilians.

In terms of "Thermopylae", Putin is definitely "Xerxes", but with much worse odds, the "Spartans" have yet to enter.

True, that's Plato's allegory, it specifically states that once a person is shown his sources, "shadows", aren't accurate, he revolts in angry disbelief and will want to return to the "cave" and continuing ingesting disinformation.

America has a long history of shadow governance, like Pinochet in Chile, or The Shah in Iran.

Our "WMD" scandal under Bush in Iraq was devastating to our global credibility as well.

But, that doesn't mean we're required to sit back as Russia tries doing it to us.

Yes, politicians and political parties use "Oppo" research to dig up dirt.

This is why Biden's son may face charges, and that's a good thing.

This is why the DOJ should continue and finish it's investigation of Trump, for the same reason they were allowed to investigate Hunter Biden.

That said, I'm just happy you at least know Russia is currently working public opinion via social sites on Ukraine.

I also think "Qanon", "Pizzagate" and Jan 6th were at least partially instigated by Russia.

I may not like the Clintons, but geez, cannibalistic pedophiles?...Seriously?

I parse American sources, while CNN, NBC, ABC, Reuters, AP, and Fox may have their own spin, they're not going to promote propaganda, or lie.

Each has been, and occasionally does get forced to retract inaccurate stories, this proves, at least enough to me, that they cannot lie.

This, I believe is why Russian intelligence has been pummeling U.S. social media with the premise of "fakes news" or "deep state", to get us to distrust our own media and listen to Russian state media instead.

I DO NOT blindly trust my government, but I'm not going to let that distrust become a tool for a foreign adversary to turn me against America.

I often mention Plato's allegory, for good reason.

Always use critical thinking regarding the source of your knowledge.

I frequent numerous economic and political blogs online to gauge the heartbeat of stock markets and the economy.

(Usually as contrarian indicators, bloggers often have an interest in influencing for pay, talking up or down a certain sector, bitcoin, penny stock pumping...etc)

There are a handful of sites that have consistently provoked political divides within America for a decade, or use ridiculous conspiracy theories to invoke public outcry.

On one site, back in 2012 or so, I was lambasted for speaking against Russia's invasion of Georgia by posters claiming to be American, the opinions were overwhelmingly pro-Russian.

At the time, I concluded this site had to have ties to Russia - the "Americans" there were far too pro-Russian.

Finally, this year, this site was labelled a potential Russian propaganda site by the U.S. government.

I'm posting this today because that site and others are currently ablaze with "Americans" saying that the schools, churches and hospitals in Ukraine were bombed for "hiding weapons", or Zelenskyy was placed by the CIA, or that "the west has done far worse, therefore it's ok for Putin to bomb Ukraine".

Foreign governments have the ability to capitalize on our 1rst amendment, they can hire 3rd parties to swamp us in disinformation that eventually leads to turmoil and counterproductive actions.

These sites are using our legitimate gripes against our government, then using that anger to invoke outrage and public opinion to their benefit.

All I can tell you is "consider the source", if you don't personally know the source is a real American, be open to the possibility they have an agenda against the U.S.

That does not mean your opinions are wrong, only that these sites will try to align you by appealing to your opinion, and feed rage with disinformation.

Russia's intelligence is working overtime right now to disinform, what they lack in military strength, they're trying to make up for elsewhere.

With almost 1000 criminal charges, hundreds already in jail, that's one hella "fable".

Worst of all, the guy with the goat helmet ain't gettin' the special food his mom makes for him at home.

Make that two.

Headline -

"Kazakh Interior Minister Says 200,000 Russians Have Entered Country Since Mobilization"

That's nothing short of incredible, near 1.5% of the Russian population, fighting aged men, has entered just Kazakhstan alone.

There's a dozen countries bordering Russia, that's only one.

We have a demographic problem, the baby boomer post WW2 population surge is now retiring at the same rate as births, birth rate has been in steep decline since 2008.

The solutions are going to be an affront to certain political demographics.

Not saying I support those ideas, but the other side offers nothing but insults and accusations of those ideas, or total denial of the problem altogether.

I belong to neither party, I take issue with the fixed ideologies of both, as I do with fixed economic ideologies like Keynes, monetarist and Austrian.

Since 2008, watching politics has been like watching someone trying to help a broken down car roadside, with some passengers in the car insulting the mechanic who'd stopped by to help.

Right now, the Fed's rapidly raising rates to combat labor shortages that are fueling wage inflation, our labor pool is maxed with 10 million jobs to spare.

This means disposable incomes are dropping to reduce consumption in order to stunt the economy, this is going to hurt my business and income, as with millions of small businesses.

If you don't have a solution, at least stop being a problem, or at least stop denying there is a problem if you don't grasp the topic.

This was the whole premise of my thread.

I feel great, wondering how Crystal or River feel.

Immediately after you explain Plato's allegory of the cave.

If you're going to call it "ramblings", at least show us proof that you've validated that opinion.

Or, just keep whining about "Democrats" and how they, but not you, have ruined your life.