Comments on: Open thread 4/19/2025 https://thenewneo.com/2025/04/19/open-thread-4-19-2025/ A blog about political change, among other things Mon, 21 Apr 2025 22:07:07 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 By: Art Deco https://thenewneo.com/2025/04/19/open-thread-4-19-2025/#comment-2798412 Mon, 21 Apr 2025 22:07:07 +0000 https://thenewneo.com/?p=141270#comment-2798412 A quarter century ago, she could be amusing. (Her description of a Democratic fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion: “the Viagra Cotillion”). She’s a 63-year old childless spinster whose work product consists entirely of popular commentary. Not an optimal set of choices in this life.

]]> By: om https://thenewneo.com/2025/04/19/open-thread-4-19-2025/#comment-2798280 Mon, 21 Apr 2025 01:47:28 +0000 https://thenewneo.com/?p=141270#comment-2798280 Open Tread Sunday – Tariffs and Trade Wars – Perun

The New U.S. Tariffs – Weird Formulas, Risks, & The Coming Trade War – Perun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVZ1lcw2bVU&t=453s

Timestamps:

00:00:00 — Intro
00:00:33 — What Am I Talking About?
00:03:41 — the Tariffs
00:12:52 — Why?
00:18:58 — Complications
00:25:51 — What Makes Effective Tariffs?
00:32:08 — Trade Warfare 101
00:34:10 — US Advantages
00:38:33 — US Vulnerabilities
00:53:58 — an Alternative Strategy
01:03:06 — Channel Update

]]> By: Dax https://thenewneo.com/2025/04/19/open-thread-4-19-2025/#comment-2798279 Mon, 21 Apr 2025 01:46:27 +0000 https://thenewneo.com/?p=141270#comment-2798279 I recently decided to stop reading Ann Coulter’s blog due to its bitter tone, but will try again, since she has come back from the Dark Side. 🙂

She wrote a book called “In Trump We Trust” during his first campaign, but later strongly criticized him. When Trump was asked about her after that, he said something like “I don’t know much about Ann Coulter. I think I met her once.”

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

]]> By: Snow on Pine https://thenewneo.com/2025/04/19/open-thread-4-19-2025/#comment-2798257 Sun, 20 Apr 2025 20:12:04 +0000 https://thenewneo.com/?p=141270#comment-2798257 The thoroughly insincere Ann Coulter jumps back on to the Trump Train as it picks up steam.*

Her principles and standards so “flexible,” it seems like it’s all just a performance with her.

* See https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/ann-coulter-is-back-team-trump-most-wonderful/#comments

]]> By: Dax https://thenewneo.com/2025/04/19/open-thread-4-19-2025/#comment-2798255 Sun, 20 Apr 2025 20:09:21 +0000 https://thenewneo.com/?p=141270#comment-2798255 More pics of K. A. Garcia’s tats are here:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/president-trump-drops-hammer-releases-photo-ms-13/

]]> By: Dax https://thenewneo.com/2025/04/19/open-thread-4-19-2025/#comment-2798249 Sun, 20 Apr 2025 18:47:30 +0000 https://thenewneo.com/?p=141270#comment-2798249 Art Deco wrote Uh huh. And I gave you a scrum of examples of how to make the voting process less complicated and the lot of you do not give a rip.

Your examples of how to make it less complicated were too complicated. 🙂

]]> By: Rufus T. Firefly https://thenewneo.com/2025/04/19/open-thread-4-19-2025/#comment-2798216 Sun, 20 Apr 2025 13:02:22 +0000 https://thenewneo.com/?p=141270#comment-2798216 neo writes often about the definitions of Left and Right, vis a vis U.S. politics. It seems, in 2025, many in the U.S. take Right to mean “Nationalism” and Left to mean “Nanny State” (or large, centralized government, or government control).

Which is interesting, because those are not opposite ends of a continuum.

Fascism almost always includes nationalist fervor, yet Fascism is government control.

The U.S. Constitutional system is unique in that nationalism, revering our Constitution, means individual liberty, freedom and responsibility. It means subsidiarity (subsidiaritism?).

]]> By: Art Deco https://thenewneo.com/2025/04/19/open-thread-4-19-2025/#comment-2798204 Sun, 20 Apr 2025 12:22:57 +0000 https://thenewneo.com/?p=141270#comment-2798204 Art Deco seems factually correct about the theory of ranked voter preference, but factually wrong in opposing Bob Wilson noticing that, in practice, it helps Democrats.
==
It does not help Democrats. Arithmetic works the same way no matter who the candidate is. The only way it could ‘help Democrats’ is if third party candidates were more commonly sectaries who sheared off from the Democratic Party and if you electorate’s habits sustained such parties absent ranked-choice voting.
==
How many times does Heads have to come up, with no Tails, before you suspect it’s not a fair coin toss?
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You’ve cherry-picked a few examples. Your reasoning is not sound.
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I like it in theory but not in practice. Why does it fail?
==
Problems have already been discussed in two different threads.

]]> By: Marlene https://thenewneo.com/2025/04/19/open-thread-4-19-2025/#comment-2798189 Sun, 20 Apr 2025 07:42:57 +0000 https://thenewneo.com/?p=141270#comment-2798189 Rufus @10:08 pm:
The story of you making your sister laugh, re “Baby Elephant Walk”, is priceless! Thank you!
I look forward to hearing the Japanese ska band tomorrow. (Can’t now, as the husband is sleeping. I don’t think he’d laugh if I woke him that way. Heh.)

]]> By: Tom Grey https://thenewneo.com/2025/04/19/open-thread-4-19-2025/#comment-2798182 Sun, 20 Apr 2025 06:40:48 +0000 https://thenewneo.com/?p=141270#comment-2798182 Art Deco seems factually correct about the theory of ranked voter preference, but factually wrong in opposing Bob Wilson noticing that, in practice, it helps Democrats.
Bob gave a few real world examples, not including Alaska’s Senate race, all of which helped Dems. How many times does Heads have to come up, with no Tails, before you suspect it’s not a fair coin toss?

I like it in theory but not in practice. Why does it fail? Maybe because there are two main changes in govt size, bigger or smaller, and those wanting it bigger more often agree on the most popular “bigger in some current problem solving way”. Those wanting it smaller both a) don’t want bigger govt to solve the current problem, and b) don’t agree on where to cut first.

Now why hasn’t school choice been more successfully popularized? Govt schools haven’t failed badly enough for enough voters to vote Rep, and the elected Reps haven’t prioritized it enough. Gov. Abbott in Texas just pushed it thru, more Rep governors will likely be successful. While Trump is sucking all the Dem opposition air into opposing him on cutting off Harvard from tax benefits.

School choice is good news, but still half the kids will have below avg IQs.
Ranked Choice Voting hasn’t seemed to help get school choice accepted anywhere. Rep governors acting while Trump does other anti-establishment edu things seems a better tactic, in practice.

(Written before Neo’s next RCV pos. Reminding me how excellent her topic selection is.) (My browser missed the new articles as I came to visit.)

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