OlDawg

You’re not in-country with a target on your back.

“That said, this is a bad day for Cuba, China, Russia, and Iran, which were in cahoots with Maduro and have reason to fear U.S. power. Their instrument for influence in the Western Hemisphere via Venezuela is out of power and out of luck, sitting in a U.S. jail cell.“ Excerpt From “Trump’s Audacious Maduro Raid Sends a Powerful Message” The Editors National Review [Hidden Content]

Trump needs to pipe down some. If typical, there are still assets in country who will be pursued by Maduro loyalists, and cartels. They will have their heads on a swivel. This is why I said ‘speak softly.’ @Reagan

China is all over it, and has been. They have an increasing presence, and have put a block on exports of their own rare earth minerals while trying to gain control over all others. Today’s militaries and space programs can’t function without rare earth minerals. I’ve also mentioned their military involvement. Russia is there as well. This is the closest major communist enemies/adversaries of the U.S. have been to us in our own hemisphere since the ‘80’s. [Hidden Content]

Now, if he’d only follow the speak softly part…

It’s justified. Just wait for the screaming from Cuba, Putin and Xi. That will tell you all you need to know. (My info caveat) Maduro was actually guarded by Cuban military as he didn’t trust his own people for security. His arrangement was to supply Cuba with at least one tanker of oil per month. Cuba will now be the next domino to fall as they’re on the brink already. The Venezuelan oil was keeping them barely afloat. The Trump Administration needs to play this carefully, and they can assist the Cuban people in regaining their freedom as well. Continue with the Monroe Doctrine return. Get China and Russia out of our direct sphere and proximity. Don’t let the liberal mindset deter. This action was foretold for those experienced, and paying attention.

For those that believe this debate began recently with Trump, this opinion is from 2015 in the NYT. [Hidden Content]

Mamdani was sworn in just after midnight, in a private ceremony, underground in the subway, on the Quran.

Not the same ‘jurisdiction’. Please read the link below for a better understanding of the arguments ‘for’ and ‘against’ automatic birthright citizenship for anyone on U.S. soil. [Hidden Content] A really simple explanation about citizenship is found in the final act of an immigrant becoming a citizen the LEGAL way. The last thing they have to do? Say the Pledge of Alllegiance, or the Oath of Allegiance. Now, they are fully under the jurisdiction of the United States. (Remember the Pledge of Allegiance? What we all had to say in school before the liberals decided they’d prefer a multicultural, non-cohesive country with no identity, pride, or patriotism because it was all offensive to someone?)

Been expecting this for a year. Assume he was taking one more chance while he had C Mack. He's 61 with plenty of years to get full retirement bennies.

I like to think about political discourse like being a member of a church. If you only go to Christmas, Easter, and/or the occasional Sunday service, the church seems very typical of the community. I’d say that’s akin to the typical voter experience who only votes every 4 years. Then, there’s the church member who is also a member of the steering and business committee of the church. This member sees the ugly underbelly of the church as a business. This can disillusion the member if they don’t remember the real reason they attend anyway. I’d say this is akin to the voter who is more informed, votes even in local elections, and participates in political discussions. Both members are valuable to the congregation. One is much easier to deal with, and causes no qualms for the most part. But, the church couldn’t function without the more involved member. There’s a need for a place to discuss politics, as unsettling as it may be sometimes. Many of the topics, I wouldn’t know anything about if it weren’t for this forum. This forum actually makes me investigate things. I become more informed, and whether I agree or not is irrelevant. That—to me—is a very big positive.

AI still has too many issues right now. People who use it without back-checking are foolish. As an example, type in the below two questions EXACTLY as typed: How many illegal aliens in Texas 2025? How many undocumented immigrants in Texas 2025? We know the questions are asking about the exact same subset of the population. But, the AI answers—and sources—you receive will be quite different. AI isn’t smart enough to figure that out. It’s merely going on key words. Not really intelligence in my book. A big misnomer.

The thing that bothers me more than anything else lately, is the amount of posts obviously strictly using AI. I’ve researched quite a few of them, and they are coming from obviously biased source material. Makes sense since most media has a more liberal slant. I wish people wouldn’t just use AI generated answers, and think for themselves. AI seems to already be taking critical thinking out of the equation for many people.

I think most debates on this particular political forum are fairly robust. It’s a lot better than most places. Personally, I do a lot of data checking before I get too deep into discussion. Unless it’s something with which I have personal experience. Even then, if someone asks, I’ll try to provide data to support.

Only if someone checked what she posted. I’m not sure the issue is a big surprise to people. The numbers may be off. But, the occurrences of misuse, overuse, and outright fraud are pretty well known. Her statement of “if all benefits were cut off, they would leave” is pure conjecture. Nothing wrong with that as her opinion. But, it is pure conjecture.