Hodad

Yes, you're using VERY basic economics to second-guess the world's best experts. That's sort of the point of the thread. It's not like inflation and interest exist in an isolated vacuum. They are trying to"time" it with all the other moving forces.

You don't remotely understand the math or logic, and you're creating and army of straw men attributed to me, but let's put a pin in that. Tell me how one would go about determining that seatbelts save lives if you're just "counting toe tags." No drop in deaths. Deaths actually went up in in spite of the "beltcebo" big government forced on people. Is there a smarter way to get to the answer of seat belt efficacy than counting toe tags?

It is not anything close to simple math. And they don't have to raise interest rates above inflation to tame inflation. Not sure where you're getting that. Any increase in interest rates at the central bank tightens the money supply on business and retail lenders and those increases eventually get passed along to people and starts chipping away at the margins of people making actual spending decisions. Sure, setting a crazy high rate would instantly be tame inflation. Volcker did it when necessary, and it surely worked, but it also shocked the economy into deep recessions. The whole point is to moderate volatility in the economy, not create it. They are pumping the brakes 3/4 of a point at a time rather than slamming them down, trying to find the *just right* level of drag. They want to slow the car without putting us through the windshield. It's not corrupt. It's responsible.

Yeah, how could anyone mistake Trump for a narcissist? Definitely not. He's the stable genius who knows politics better than the politicians and military strategy better than the generals, ready to tackle the problems that he alone can solve. We know because he told us all this in front of the biggest audiences ever, who just adore and love him, he said.

This is a very good post. The machinations of the central bank are extraordinarily sophisticated. I have extensive economics education (as a student, it's not my profession) and have no problem admitting that it's way over my head. I don't mean to say that it's unlearnable, but one would need both a good foundation and a lot of specialized training on top of it--and a good bit of practice. We're talking multiple textbooks. Nobody's going to do it in a blog post

You have no idea what the definition of vaccine is, and you clearly can't understand the data, and you've resorted once again to quoting me out of context. Maybe Myata will explain it to you. They distrust the accuracy of the data but seem to understand the math just fine. The seatbelt analogy is beautiful in that it *perfectly* illustrates the garbage logic you are trying to use. Outboard shoulder belts became mandatory on all cars starting in 1968. Yet automotive fatalities went UP in 1969 and literally every year since. You continue to argue that the measure of efficacy for a mitigating agent - vaccine or seatbelt- is the total number of deaths rather than deaths per incident. That's an incredibly stupid argument, but you won't let it go. Let's see how far your fragile ego will push it. *Are you willing to go on record stating saying that seatbelts don't save lives?* If not, why not? Structurally it's the exact same problem.

Um, no. Sorry. That's not how any of that works. You seem to have missed the point rather badly, so I'm not sure what you're on about here.

There is a thread title. And then a post that has absolutely nothing to do with white privilege. I have to assume OP doesn't know what white privilege is. It doesn't have to do with money or other circumstances of birth. It refers to the general "benefit of the doubt" that white folks like myself enjoy every day in a society that is built from the ground up to treat us as a special class. OP, did you forget that you already posted a stupid thread about white privilege?

Do I honestly have to explain the concept of an analogy? I think it was pretty clear, but okay. The point is that just because someone (or someones) was not the first person to do something bad does not mean they bear any less guilt for the action. Hitler didn't invent genocide, but he's still an awful, evil guy. We don't need an article about how Hitler was just a man of his time. Literally everyone knows that slavery existed prior to the colonization of North America. It's about as useful as posting that the sky is blue. The problem is why those stories are written and the implications of posting it. The intention is to minimize and excuse the culpability of early Americans in what was a fundamentally heinous evil at the very core of how this country was formed--an original sin that has lingered all the way to the present day. We may not have slavery anymore, but we still live with the effects. Minimizing that history is wrong. It's part of that evil. It's the same sad series excuses that many slave owners made. "Everybody else is doing it!" George Washington knew and went on record about the evils of slavery, but he didn't free his slaves until after his death. That's commendable in one sense. But why would he wait until his death? Because doing what he knew to be wrong afforded him a lavish lifestyle. The fact that it was customary and his friends and peers owned slaves didn't excuse his ownership, particularly when he knew what was right. We (nearly) all know that slavery is wrong now. We shouldn't be making any excuses for that history. It was always wrong, whether other people were doing it or not.

A. That's not something I really spend any time talking about. Remember, it doesn't matter what portion of the population is unvaxxed, double-vaxxed, or 3x and 4x vaxxed, or what portion is dying. The measure of outcome efficacy is what happens to each of those vaccination classes if they catch COVID. Spoiler: the vaccinated are dramatically less likely to die. B. My comments aren't misleading at all. They just lead to a conclusion that you don't like. Probably because you've invested countless hours and hundreds of posts telling people that these vaccines don't do anything, when the data shows that they are substantially effective. Remember the seatbelts. The fact of the death count not going down does not mean that seatbelts- or vaccines -aren't saving lives.

You are once again arguing numbers you don't understand and using them to draw conclusions that cannot be drawn. It absolutely has measurable success. I've showed you like a hundred times how to measure it. Myata, for reasons TBD, doesn't seem trust the data. That's one thing. You are looking at the data and relying upon it to draw all the wrong conclusions. The data is crystal clear that the COVID vaccines work. You deny it and spread FUD about minor side effects. You may not like the comparison, but you aren't really any different than the anti-vaxxers that scare people away from the MMR vaccine.

The subject of this thread is NOT "Does anybody here own slaves?" Rather the absurd premise is that American colonists did not start the slave trade. Well, duh. Thanks for that mind-blowing insight. You know what the American colonists DID start? They started the slave trade with the American colonies. Whether someone else in the world practiced slavery first (of course they did) has zero bearing on the rightness, wrongness or historic evil practices upon which America was built. It's an ugly legacy. We should deal with it rather than minimizing and deflecting blame, as the OP does. I love the brilliance of constitution and admire the minds that invented a remarkable new means of self governance. But there's also no escaping the fact that many of those wigged, white motherf*cks had all the time in the world to sit around and pontificate about a new kind of society specifically because they had brutalized slaves working their plantations.

Chicken or egg? Nonsense. Like saying it's not your fault for banging trafficked girls at a seedy brothel. "Well they were there, someone had to bang 'em!"

Hey, liar, that's not quote from me, no matter how you spell my user name. And this is an absurd argument to make. Jeffrey Dahmer didn't invent cannibalism, but it doesn't mean he's blameless, absolved of the evil of his actions. America bears the sins of its origins build on the bloodied, brutalized backs of the slave population whether other peoples were guilty of the same or not. And from a purely economic perspective, there is no market without demand.

I sincerely doubt anyone has ever "lost" and argument to you. You're a lunatic, calling your own citations from reliable sources a lie. I don't want to cancel you for that. It's one of the best satires around. The racist rants, OTOH, have no place in public discourse. ETA: Is it 4? Am I close? Higher?

QQ, how many "debate" forums have you been banned from for being a useless, vulgar, dishonest troll? My money is on 4. I think we should get a pool going.

Okay. You've made the claim. Lay out the evidence you have for why the PHAC data is of poor quality. It appears to me that you're conflating a lot of different things, including your own biases, but I'm open to seeing if you actually have what you claim. (Not to mention the data from many other countries.) IMO, what is going back 5,000 years is turning our backs on the same scientific processes that have carried us all this way. We have vaccine deniers, climate change deniers, and all sorts of other manner of pseudo-cults built around conspiracy thinking. I assume these people have always existed. Once they would have been isolated-- they could go to ten doctors and get the same answer and they'd give up on their fantasy. Today, though, they have the internet, and can find like-minded people and delude themselves into thinking there are two sides to the story and that there is a conspiracy to suppress their views.

You mean the article from the BBC that you posted in another thread - the one that says nothing at all about Trump working as a construction laborer, but does mention that he got million dollar loan and cushy job from daddy after college? Mr Trump says he got into real estate with a "small" $1m loan from his father before joining the company. He helped manage his father's extensive portfolio of residential housing projects in the New York City boroughs, and took control of the company - which he renamed the Trump Organization - in 1971. You are just comically foolish. Now I have to cite your own post back to you. It's too much.? Also love that you're on record that BBC is a reliable source. You're correct (for once). They are a reliable source. I'm sure they'll be honored to have ascended in your esteem to the level of Pinterest posts and opinion pieces and other sources you respect. ETA: There is no secrecy here and no controversial history. Trump's dad gave him millions of dollars, bailed out his dumb son's failed businesses over and over again and left him the company--the hotel and casino portion which Trump developed and subsequently bankrupted FOUR TIMES. If Trump hadn't been born into extreme wealth he'd be a wildly successful used car salesman, still full of sh*t and full of himself. That's not really fair to used car salesmen, actually. Some of them are decent people.

Trump was not a laborer, lol. You cannot seriously believe that. His daddy gave him millions of dollars, a cushy job in the family business and a silver spoon--exactly like Trump did for his own children. If Donald Trump HAD ever worked as a construction laborer (I can't even type it with a straight face) then he wouldn't have become notorious for cheating honest laborers out of their hard-earned wages. Those pudgy little baby-soft hands have never touched a shovel handle for more than a ceremonial groundbreaking. All mansions and private schools and limousines for little Donald.

Incorrect. As reported by Mike Emanuel of FOX news, Joe Biden gave an "emphatic no" to being involved in that deal and it fell apart. Vox (you can view the screenshots) Bobulinski claims “the big guy” means Joe Biden. But that line notably ends in a question mark. And if accurate, it is unclear whether Joe Biden himself (by then the former vice president) actually knew about it — or whether Hunter was throwing around his name without his knowledge. Furthermore, there is also a message six days after this one where Hunter says that his “Chairman” gave him “an emphatic NO.” Fox News claims the “chairman” is Joe Biden, which if true would seem to suggest he turned down Hunter’s offer.

Look, unless you're a real luddite I think there's some willful ignorance at play here. None of it is secret. I've not given you any real technical information. I'm not a telco engineer, just a person who has lived in the era of smartphones. Have you really never heard LEOs or attorneys talk about this stuff? Have you never had an app on your phone ask you about your location? The app will tell you up front that if you want to share your location with Uber you need to turn on your location services- GPS and WiFi. Or are you aware of the complications of calling 911 from a cell phone vs a landline? A cell signal doesn't cut it. Or, if you know anyone who does digital marketing ask them about location-based marketing. I've been involved in those operations on a few occasions and the location is just okay, varying a lot based on which data broker you use and the software in play. But fine, if you've never encountered this stuff in the real world, consider the application for emergency responders via 911 (is it the same in Canada?) But really, why aren't YOU trying to figure out if True the Vote (as shady as Project Veritas) is telling you the truth. Why would you just believe them? Is there any barrier to you looking up this information? Industry white paper GPS accuracy varies and could incorrectly place the victim’s location at their neighbor’s home. When outdoors, GPS accuracy can be affected by available satellites, atmospheric effects, sky blockage, WAAS corrections, and receiver quality. GPS signals can also be affected by multipath issues, where the radio signals reflect off surrounding terrain; buildings, canyon walls, hard ground, etc. These delayed signals can cause measurement errors that are different for each type of GPS signal due to its dependency on the wavelength. When indoors, GPS satellite signals can be easily blocked inside of buildings and homes. Using cell towers to detect location is not as accurate as GPS. Locating a mobile phone based on a single cell tower can place the mobile phone in a broad area, but it cannot pinpoint it. As the phone connects to more towers, the accuracy improves. By using cell tower triangulation (3 towers), it is possible to determine a phone location to within an area of about ¾ square mile. In densely populated urban areas, the cell towers are close together, and a much closer estimation of phone location can be made than in a rural area, where the towers are far apart. If the nearest cell tower is busy, the cell signal would be picked up by the next nearest tower which could decrease location accuracy to beyond ¾ square mile or 30 meters of that cell tower. Sometimes, the diverted signal may go to a cell tower that is out of the PSAP’s jurisdiction. Wi-Fi-based positioning system (WPS) or WiPS/WFPS is used where GPS is inadequate due to various causes including multipath and signal blockage indoors. Wi-Fi positioning takes advantage of the rapid growth of wireless access points in urban areas. The Wi-Fi hotspot database gets filled by correlating mobile device GPS location data with Wi-Fi hotspot MAC addresses. The possible signal fluctuations that may occur between the phone and the access point can increase errors and inaccuracies in the path of the user. Additionally, in a power outage scenario, W-Fi detection may not be possible. They won't even reveal where they bought the data or how exactly it was processed but sure, you can trust 'em! I think I made this pretty clear in my last post and there was nothing technical about it. Location data can be a a tool to help build a case but the actual investigation has to secure the evidence. And remember that of the 2,000+ alleged mules and the millions of minutes of video footage there is not a single piece of evidence that shows ballot stuffing or mule activity, and not a single person has been referred for prosecution. Honestly, this story is so preposterous it should not be fooling grown adults. No evidence of a single person stuffing ballots, but this makes sense to you? WTF? Well, True the Vote is lying because that's just what they do. They know their audience does not ask questions so they don't have to work very hard. Even if the data were perfect (it isn't) they are finding patterns and making wild allegations, not providing evidence. From all those minutes of video footage and allegations of "mules" visiting the boxes 20 or 30 times, they couldn't get even one person on tape making 2 trips? FFS, how are you buying any of this?

Eh, I think there's certainly an element of philosophy involved any time one starts actively doubting available data without any evidence that it's of poor quality. I think there's some political predisposition coloring that logic. ? At any rate, based on the data we have (and from multiple countries with their respective agencies tracking) the vaccines are substantially effective. But I agree that it's a separate question how policies are conceived and implemented. Personally, I don't have a lot of patience for anti-vaxxers (not just COVID, but in general). We have an anti-vax problem in the US because a nude model turned actress/celebrity and a discredited science fraud helped convince too much of the population that vaccines cause autism. Because we are collectively, as it turns out, pretty stupid. Now, children both vaxxed and unvaxxed are dying of diseases that were once effectively eradicated. FUD kills. It's one of those things that often gets positioned as a matter of personal choice, but anti-vaxxers don't just take the take the risk upon themselves. They also inflict that risk upon the community. When there's a significant community threat that comes with a choice the community should have a voice in the decision and the ability to exclude participation as a means of self defense. Rather like building codes, if you want to live in this neighborhood, keep your electric up to code so that you don't burn down my house too. If you really want to cut corners when it comes to safety, fine, but go live in the boonies where the conflagration will be confined to your property. -- I don't believe in literally forcing people to vaccinate, but think coercion is absolutely fair game. If someone doesn't want to do your part to protect the community from disease then the forfeit their right to participate in society in the same way. The casual, carefree and careless, attitudes of the groups at low personal risk would be fine if they weren't going to be negligently killing old people too. Netting it all out, Canada fared WAY better than the US during peak COVID. There are some nuanced factors at play, but I think the bulk of it is down to vaccine compliance. People followed the science. You weren't sabotaged by a nude model 10 years ago. Sigh.

Honestly, I think you do have a misunderstanding of how these scenarios differ from one another. Yeah, ping locations aren't that accurate because of the limitations of the technology, but even if they were you'd be talking about a very different process. True the Vote accessed a massive tranche of data and presumably used AI to spot travel patterns in it, and then without substantiation proclaimed that the patterns represented a specific activity. It's a ton of data, so it's not difficult to imagine that there are a lot of people who fall into the pattern as a coincidence based on live/work/school/ locations etc. And not a single person was shown on the video going to multiple boxes or returning to the box. And not a single person was investigated and referred for prosecution--and several were investigated and exonerated. They've somehow convinced you without a shred of actual evidence. Contrast that with the way ping data is typically used in an actual investigation. There is a suspect. They know aspects of the crime(s) happened at locations X, Y, Z and the times that they happened. They look at the ping history of suspected individuals and can then align them to see that the individual was either in the identified areas at the right times or was elsewhere. And only as additional, directional information or circumstantial support. It's not reliable enough to be "proof" on its own. They are not creating suspects, but rather investigating them.

Yeah, Joe Biden is "the Big Guy." Who shut down that deal? My expectation is that it will be Benghazi all over again. The GOP will be full of sound, fury, hints, lies and allegations, but won't touch Joe. They may or may not turn up something illegal in Hunter's activity--we already know it was ethically shady in the way that many presidential family members enrich themselves with at least the impression that they come with access. But so far what we've seen from the laptop makes Joe look good.

First you criticize DeSantis' use of a "diploma mill" like Harvard (lol), and now you're taking shots at people who were born rich, lead privileged lives, got into and through schools because of family clout and money, never held a real job and were supported by their parents well into adulthood? Boy, you're being surprisingly rough on the Republican frontrunners for 2024. (To be totally fair, Ivanka is totally capable of getting through school on her own. She's much smarter and more capable than her dimwitted father and brothers.)