I sure wish my tax dollars could help people instead.

“We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – there is no place for hate in a democracy.

Trump is getting rid of that democracy problem

Can’t blame them - I would try to get out of SC too

We were so close to electing a president that can speak in complete sentences!

Private prisons also saw a huge bump in stock prices. GEO Group is up a shocking 26% this morning and CoreCivic—once known as Corrections Corporation of America—is up 20%.

Wow. A lot of people know what’s coming and don’t give a damn.

Appreciate the insight!

What’s with the fictional quote?

Ignoring that, I think the best and worst case scenarios are too optimistic.

Worst case: Israel continues war with support from Russia and/or China. US loses influence and ally. Atrocities increase. Violence spreads.

Right?! I think that’s probably a real risk

I think it’s fair to say we all want the death and suffering to end. I’m curious, however, about the overarching goals of those advocating for Stein and such. Some people have suggested that Russia and China stand to benefit the most from America cutting off support to Israel. Russia has certainly vied for influence in the region and generally picks up whatever America leaves behind for pennies on the Ruble.

To summarize my question: if the US cut off support to Israel with the intent of ending genocide, wouldn’t Israel simply partner with Russia or China instead?

I don’t see how this helps Gaza, but it seems like to make the situation worse.

Hell, we already wouldn’t be here without them.

Just look at that word salad. I bet getting dressed is a real struggle for him

Yep - it’s one of the reasons Miami sees so much Trump support.

Although it is common to use churches as temporary polling places, I wonder how much ballots may be influenced by the location.

I haven’t read the entire article, but this raises some interesting points: https://theconversation.com/voting-while-god-is-watching-does-having-churches-as-polling-stations-sway-the-ballot-144709

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I don’t want people to get the wrong idea. Voting in FPTP is not the same as approval.

Well that was an interesting rabbit hole. There have been a number of new studies in the past decade, and researchers are still investigating the effects of free fructose in sweeteners.

This study is fairly recent: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8188419/

This study notes how the actual amount of fructose varies from the expected amount in popular beverages: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900714001920

Every study I read continues to point out that sweeteners with free fructose taste sweeter and have negative health effects in large quantities while stating how results are inconclusive due to excessively caloric intake. I’m still skeptical of HFCS for now.

Yes but I like making cheap jabs at the drink industry.

On a serious note - you’re absolutely right to avoid sugar, and I stopped drinking sweetened beverages many years ago. From what I understand though, people would develop fewer health problems if they consumed cane sugar instead of HFCS. Apparently the unbound fructose makes a difference when consuming sugar at such a high volume.

Sugar or high fructose corn syrup?

I’d like to take this opportunity to blame Citizens United and the lack of regulation on the advertising industry.

Social media companies seek greater engagement to increase their main source of revenue: advertising. Extremist opinions on topics like abortion receive greater engagement, so algorithms optimize accordingly.

Does that mean Republican representatives and senators are inherently useless?

I used to hold the same belief and considered myself a proponent of limited governance. However, the individuals I know that advocated for smaller government did so because they preferred to be governed by the church instead.

I don’t believe that labeling others as liberal or conservative helps anything.