Msg. 33637 of 60008 (This msg. is a reply to
33629 by
Decomposed)
Jump:
I think the first 5 are considerably thought provoking. I also had never considered #8: Jeff Bezos possibly deciding to run for President. The rest of the questions are more like worn filler material or, at least, not terribly thought provoking.
But here's a #13 in my book: Could the US be a 2nd tier country within 3-5 years, no more relevant to the future than is "Rome", Her Majesty the Queen, or the USSR?
Chances of using a crisis like the 2020 pandemic to alter, bypass, or influence local elections in the name of fairness are less likely now that some states have tightened voter ID requirements. In addition, nineteen states have either prohibited or regulated private funding of elections. That leaves four possible options, all of which are much more overt.
One is for Congress to pass an amnesty bill turning all of the millions of illegal aliens residing in the country into U.S. citizens, allowing them to vote. President Biden could try using an executive order to do the same thing. However, it is doubtful that the Supreme Court would see that as constitutional.
A second possibility is that Congress passes something similar to the For the People Act, which passed by the House of Representatives in 2021 but stalled in the Senate. This would give the federal government control of the election process in all 50 states. In addition, it would likely result in the expanded use of mail-in ballots, drop boxes, and ballot-harvesting, which were cited as problems during the 2020 election.
A third option, actually in progress, is using federal resources — money and employees — to register voters friendly to Democrats and spur turnout. This is part of an executive order issued on March 7,2021, which encourages federal agencies to work with third-party organizations on voter outreach, registration, and participation activities. The executive order also gives federal workers time off to vote. Some or all of these activities may be violations of the Hatch Act.
The fourth option is that President Biden cancels the election over some real or imaginary threat in the name of national security or climate change. It is difficult to imagine something like this, but anything is possible. The real issue is, what happens if the election is canceled?
This is a scary thought. This goes back to Hunter's appointment to the board of directors of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. When Burisma was being investigated by Ukrainian authorities, Vice President Joe Biden famously threatened to withhold one billion dollars of foreign aid to get the Ukrainian chief prosecutor fired. This action protected Hunter's position and his salary of $1 million per year.
Hunter later bragged that his father would talk about anything he wanted, including working Hunter's suggestions into his political platform. Considering Hunter's previous ties to China, does this influence extend to disbanding an initiative to combat Chinese espionage? What about removing restrictions on TikTok, a Chinese social media platform whose managers can access U.S. users' personal data, or possibly eliminating tariffs on Chinese imports?
Democrats obviously have a political interest in terms of new voters. But it is difficult to believe they allow Mexican cartels to make billions from human trafficking and drug smuggling without getting a piece of the action. I am tempted to finger Hunter Biden, but this is too big and bold for him. We may have to wait for a Republican Congress to investigate.
This is not an if question. The most likely scenario is after Republicans take control of the House of Representatives in early 2023 and begin an investigation. Then Biden can claim they are being mean to Hunter and the whole thing is unjustified. Otherwise, he would have to do it before leaving office. The only way Hunter does not get pardoned is if Joe passes away in his sleep without a signed document on his desk.
The real threat to the world is not gradual climate change over one or two hundred years. It is a nuclear war tomorrow, the day after, or the month after. Some say Putin is already risking that war.
There are reasons to be hopeful this will not happen. One, the population of Russia is 145 million. The combined population of the NATO alliance plus Ukraine is roughly one billion. This means NATO has over six times more manpower than Russia alone.
Two, NATO has an advantage in the quality and quantity of weapons. The slight numerical advantage the Red Army possessed in tanks and other armored vehicles has disappeared thanks to five months of war against the tough-minded Ukrainians. Russia may have a lot of nuclear weapons, but so does NATO. The Russians may threaten and bluster about nuclear war, but they cannot attack a NATO country without a requisite and proportional response.
Third, northern hemisphere westerly air currents favor NATO. If Putin launches a nuclear strike on Ukraine or eastern Europe, radioactive fallout plumes will drift over western Russia. This is the equivalent of spitting into the air with a stiff breeze in your face. So if Putin is smart and sane, he won't do it.
After being beaten by Barack Obama in 2008 and Donald Trump in 2016, she might take the hint and remain in her safe space on Earth 2. But Democrats foster a culture of entitlement, and Hillary feels entitled to be President.
Newsom recently invited Floridians to move from the safe, sunny beaches and low taxes of the Sunshine State to the Democrat nirvana of high-tax, drug-infested, crime-ridden, abortion-on-demand California. He may be clueless, but he wants to be president.
Highly unlikely. Only a fool would contemplate such a thing.
From 1775 to as recently as 1941, the weapons an average farmer, hunter, or bank robber could get were not very different from those of regular army troops. Times have changed. Despite the Second Amendment, modern armies have all sorts of weapons average citizens cannot buy and are not allowed to possess. The best an irregular militia armed with handguns and rifles could do is fight a short guerrilla war. Anything else is a fantasy of extremists or writers trying to sell books or movie scripts. (I've always figured that a civil war IS possible if the military is divided in its support. But that would be the only way. - De)
DON'T BELIEVE A DAMN WORD YOU READ ON THIS WEBSITE!
The reader is responsible for discerning the validity, factuality or implications of information posted here, be it fictional or based on real events. Moderators on this forum make every effort to review the material posted on this site however, it is not realistically possible for a one man team to manually review each and every one of the posts atomicbobs.com gets on a daily basis.
The content of posts on this site, including but not limited to links to other web sites, are the expressed opinion of the original poster and are in no way representative of or endorsed by the owners or administration of this website. The posts on this website are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice, opinion, or factual information on behalf of the owner or administration of Atomicbob’s. This site may contain adult language, if you feel you might be offended by such content, you should log off immediately.
Not all posts on this website are intended as truthful or factual assertion by their authors. Some users of this website are participating in internet role playing, with or without the use of an avatar. NO post on this website should be considered factual information on face value alone. Users are encouraged to
USE DISCERNMENT
and do their own follow up research while reading and posting on this website. Atomicbobs.com reserves the right to make changes to, corrections and/or remove entirely at any time posts made on this website without notice. In addition, Atomicbobs.com disclaims any and all liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly as a result of a post on this website.
This website implements certain security features in order to prevent spam and posting abuse. By making a post on this website you consent to any automated security checks required by our system to authenticate your IP address as belonging to an actual human. It is forbidden to make posts on this website from open proxy servers. By making a post on this website you consent to an automated one time limited port scan of your IP address which is required by our security system to validate the authenticity of your internet connection.
This site is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. You should not assume that this site is error-free or that it will be suitable for the particular purpose which you have in mind when using it. In no event shall Atomicbobs.com be liable for any special, incidental, indirect or consequential damages of any kind, or any damages whatsoever, including, without limitation, those resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether or not advised of the possibility of damage, and on any theory of liability, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of this site or other documents which are referenced by or linked to this site.
Some events depicted in certain posting and threads on this website may be fictitious and any similarity to any person living or dead is merely coincidental. Some other articles may be based on actual events but which in certain cases incidents, characters and timelines have been changed for dramatic purposes. Certain characters may be composites, or entirely fictitious.
We do not discriminate against the mentally ill!
Fair Use Notice:
This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Users may make such material available in an effort to advance awareness and understanding of issues relating to civil rights, economics, individual rights, international affairs, liberty, science & technology, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
At some point freedom of speech and copyright law merge. The following interpretation of "Fair Use" and subsequent posting policy were developed with the assistance of qualified legal council however, we are not lawyers and cannot offer you legal advise as to the limits of "Fair Use"
In accordance with industry accepted best practices we ask that users limit their copy / paste of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss and no more than 50% of the source material, provide a link back to the original article and provide your original comments / criticism in your post with the article.
Though legally each situation is evaluated independently according to guidelines that were intentionally left open to interpretation, we believe generally this policy represents "Fair Use" of any such copyrighted material for the purposes of education and discussion.
You are responsible for what you "publish" on the internet. You must be sure any copyrighted material you choose to post for discussion on this forum falls within the limits of "Fair Use" as defined by the law.
If you are a legal copyright holder or a designated agent for such and you believe a post on this website falls outside the boundaries of "Fair Use" and legitimately infringes on yours or your clients copyright
we may be contacted concerning copyright matters at:
If you require a courier address please send a fax or email and we will provide you with the required information.
For expedited human review & removal of potential copyright violations we encourage users & copyright holders to utilize the "Report Copyright Violation" button that accompanies each post published on this website.
In accordance with section 512 of the U.S. Copyright Act our contact information has been registered with the United States Copyright Office. "Safe Harbor" noticing procedures as outlined in the DMCA apply to this website concerning all 3rd party posts published herein.
If notice is given of an alleged copyright violation we will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the material(s) in question. It is our strict policy to disable access to accounts of repeat copyright violators. We will also ban the IP address of repeat offenders from future posting on this website with or without a registered account.
All 3rd party material posted on this website is copyright the respective owners / authors. Atomicbobs.com makes no claim of copyright on such material.
Please be aware any communications sent complaining about a post on this website may be posted publicly at the discretion of the administration.
---
DON'T BREAK THE LAW!
---
Other than that you can do / say whatever you want on this forum.
We reserve the right to block access to this website by any individual or organization at any time for any reason whatsoever or no reason at all.
| 