Iron/steel are great for thermal mass and durability (eg searing steaks).
Aluminum/copper/silver are great for conductivity / temperature responsiveness (eg reducing sauce).
Stainless steel is uniquely good with acidic foods (which will absorb copper or aluminum as well as the "seasoning" on cast iron & carbon steel).
Teflon and ceramic are disposable trash that will probably also poison you.
I have a cast iron skillet and a stainless steel saucier (with aluminum core) and I struggle to imagine picking another setup.
Do you think the US was basically a functioning democracy in 2008? Do you think the general government was basically structured as described by the Constitution?
I think "No" to both. I think the elected officials have very little control and the real power lies in the institutions, and consequently US democracy is window dressing on an authoritarian system. I think the Constitution is not remotely followed. The Constitution forbids a standing army, vests all executive power in the President, requires only gold and silver as money, and forbids Congress from doing anything at all other than a handful of specifically listed powers.
I view project 2025 as (partially) remaking America in the image of the Constitution, with the likely consequence that judges eventually bring it even closer in line.
"the political projects of Orban and Trump have lots of parallels"
Yes, they both want to act within the system to gain power and then use that power to do what they think (perhaps mistakenly) is best for the people of their nation.
You know WHO ELSE wanted to do what he thought was best for his nation?
The Democrats look far more like Orban than Trump. Who talks about packing the Courts? Who created a "Disinformation Governance Board" to censor the opposition?
The only Orban-like idea in the Trump camp is that elected officials should actually be in charge, which is the meaning of (representative) democracy.
Left 2 characters look very spec ops, Asian chick looks business or diplomacy or something, old man looks like a modern generic businessman villain (not that that's automatically bad)
they seem like fine characters but usually a movie poster also conveys something about the setting or action, eg A New Hope poster has ships shooting lasers and explosions, plus the characters are in action poses
https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Episode-Poster-Regular/dp/B00LREHN0S
just seeing your 4 characters doesn't convey who is good or bad or what sorts of things they're going to do in the film / book
another good point of comparison are the frazetta covers, where you usually have 1-2 characters shown in good detail, and some suggestion of action but you don't get the full core of the cast like the Star Wars poster
The most important prop for warriors is a weapon, usually held ready or actively in use. The male warrior seems to have a plate carrier so perhaps he should have a rifle, while the scar on the female warrior suggests close combat - perhaps she should have a blade.
If one or more of those characters is primarily characterized by wealth they should have some indicators of that wealth - such as gold jewelry, cigars, finely tailored clothing, etc.
TLDR: Not enough information to respond to your question
Reich is a communist and a loser
"Fascism" doesn't mean specifically that big business influences government, but rather that all corporations become de facto government agencies.
And "corporations" here refers primarily to trade unions (fascio) but also religious organizations and large businesses.
I did.
I was a nerd and loved reading and learning all sorts of stuff. I found a book on geology and was amazed at all the little details about different minerals. My parents thought I was into rocks when I was into dense information. So they bought me a rock collection and a rock tumbler and I'm sure other rock stuff I've forgotten about.
18USC-334
"Whoever, being a Federal Reserve Agent, or an agent or employee of such Federal Reserve Agent, or of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, issues or puts in circulation any Federal Reserve notes, without complying with or in violation of the provisions of law regulating the issuance and circulation of such Federal Reserve notes; or
Whoever, being an officer acting under the provisions of chapter 2 of Title 12, countersigns or delivers to any national banking association, or to any other company or person, any circulating notes contemplated by that chapter except in strict accordance with its provisions—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."
12USC-411
"Federal reserve notes, to be issued at the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the purpose of making advances to Federal reserve banks through the Federal reserve agents as hereinafter set forth and for no other purpose, are authorized. The said notes shall be obligations of the United States and shall be receivable by all national and member banks and Federal reserve banks and for all taxes, customs, and other public dues. They shall be redeemed in lawful money on demand at the Treasury Department of the United States, in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, or at any Federal Reserve bank."
So if Powell refuses to redeem (as the Fed currently does) he can simply be arrested.
IMO we need Congress to create mechanisms to unwind social security, the US Army (Constitution permits a permanent Navy but not a permanent Army), the Federal Reserve and the Federal pension program
Pretty much everything else can go in a day - Dep of Ag, Dep of Edu, Dep of Energy (turn the nuke stuff over to the military), Dep of HUD, EPA, and many others can just be shut down immediately
Yeah Trump has been very pro-Israel, but it looks like he's got a much better crew this time around, hopefully enough of them talk sense into him on the neocon question
He had a bit I just watched - claimed that if Trump wins it's just the beginning, need to block out neocons from Trump admin. He says there's no foreign country that's a serious threat, and the neocons work for Israel to get America into wars.
I don't think I'm this pessimistic but he has a point:
"These people are trying to do a beat-for-beat remake of the 2016 election. We have the same slogans, the same “outsider” arguments, the same promises. Our villain is just a dumber, colored version of Hillary Clinton. We have a cast of characters billed as a “super team” assembled (most of them new because many of the 2016 people don’t want anything to do with this election and others were exposed as frauds). Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Jared Kushner is running the show."
https://www.unz.com/aanglin/a-failed-soft-reboot-of-the-2016-election/
Trump is portrayed as a threat
I think the real threat is that he exposes that elected officials have virtually no power and thus democracy was fake all along
(which Biden and Harris also expose in a different way)
I believe in an alternate model, in which interstellar travel is really hard and low-payoff so even advanced civilizations don't do much of it (or any)
this thought has occurred to me
Trump's 2016 victory united the corporate/bureaucrat wing of the Dems (exemplified by the Clintons but including Biden) with the commie wing (exemplified by Obama but including Harris)
I think their recent infighting has resulted in the establishment Dems sitting this one out
it's only for people convicted of crimes
I think California is seeing some backlash from letting all the criminals do whatever they want, so for a while they will probably get "tough on crime"
I think you're right historically (even very recently in history)
but I also think the events of the past several years have radicalized not only the "conservative" base but also many activists and officials
There's also the fact that the RNC is currently co-chaired by Lara Trump (Eric's wife)
well if you wanted more child trannies there was already a candidate for that
so Oliver was basically pitching to culturally left libertarians
who exist but not as a major voting block
SCOTUS has had some good voices pushing this way in a long time, notably Scalia (for laying out the legal interpretive framework) and most especially Thomas (who advocates to overrule Wickard v. Fillburn and basically overturn the whole modern regime)
Gorsuch is pretty good, and ACB seems OK, while the other Republicans are basically normies who don't want to rock the boat and just let the regime run on autopilot
Nothing to see here, just top US military and political leaders wargaming how to prevent Trump from taking power in the event of a "clear Trump victory" in the election
https://youtu.be/evpxa5XJ5bg
Fascism is the merger of state and corporate power
But corporate in the 30s didn't mean big business in particular, it meant any organized body (eg unions & religious organizations as well as big business)
18USC334 + 12USC411 mean that if the Fed doesn't redeem Federal Reserve Notes (as they have failed to do for 60 years) the 'Governors' can be imprisoned for 5 years
I very much doubt the US still has 8 tonnes
(or if US does, it's legally earmarked for somebody else and that somebody else doesn't have as much gold as they imagine)
good pick if there are other offices / appointees who can help enforce his will
if he has to wrangle the department by himself I doubt his skills are relevant
a) official inflation is deliberately understated in order to underpay benefits that are indexed to cost-of-living
b) people save in real estate instead of evaporating currency, creating a semi-permanent property bubble
Oddbean new post about login | logout
Notes by asourcefamiliarwiththematter | export