Political Cartoons, Memes & Amusing Videos

[TX-Beau]

As somewhat of a libertarian I don't understand why there need to be talks for free trade: free trade means you can sell any of your stuff to us and we can sell any of our stuff to you. It should rally be called the "Sort of Free Trade but Not Really" Act.

Much like Liberty, Free Trade for Republicans comes with caveats.

 

[KaraBulut]

So in my life I have voted happily for Liberal, Conservative, New Democrat and even Green Party candidates.

To expand upon this- I used to have a group of conservative and liberal friends that I socialized with, had occasional lunches with and had some enjoyable conversations with.

About 15 years ago, those conversations with the conservative friends began to change. More and more, there were remarks like, "Why can't all Black people be like __" or "The US is going to become a white minority country!". Then there were the conspiracy theories. Thankfully, it never reached the point of "JFK Jr is still alive" and "Hillary is eating children's adrenal glands" but I got the feeling that the persons that I had known for some time were losing their mind.

Meanwhile, my liberal friends would make comments like, "You can't say that!". Or there would be a continuing re-invention of the language that we would all be expected to consent to. And the endless tacking on of additional letters to LGBT...

There's been a similar devolution on JUB. There was always spirited debate but there was a clear distinction between opinion and interpretation of facts/data... but there was such a thing as "facts".

I can always see both sides on issues like the role of government, what constitutes "fair tax policy" and whether social welfare spending accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish.

What disturbs me is the fact-free nature of the arguments, the "alternative facts" and the recitation of Russian/Chinese disinformation that dominates the alt-right/MAGA universe. And to what end?

 

[KaraBulut]

As somewhat of a libertarian I don't understand why there need to be talks for free trade: free trade means you can sell any of your stuff to us and we can sell any of our stuff to you. It should rally be called the "Sort of Free Trade but Not Really" Act.

Except that it often really means, "I need lower prices to allow my conspicuous consumption".

First it was the cheap imported stuff at Walmart. Then the cheap imported stuff at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Now that Amazon has driven many of the brick and mortar suppliers out of business, Amazon has become the marketplace for poorly made but cheap Chinese goods to feed the conspicuous consumption.

 

[Kulindahr]

Biggest news in Texas is weather

Thinking of weather, I just noticed my rain barrel this morning: in December alone we had 45 inches of rain, most of it just barely warm enough to not be snow (though about a quarter of it came as hail).
So of course today it feels like spring.

Though the news is that though the last storm caused four landslides in the area here and dropped five dozn trees across roads, and threw trash cans all over town (and a few dog houses), no one went without power.

 

[Kulindahr]

Hillary Clinton was the most admired woman in America

She was admired by a lot of people where I lived until it came out how complex her health-care plan was looking. Lots of people equated "complex" with "corrupt".

 

[TX-Beau]

Thinking of weather, I just noticed my rain barrel this morning: in December alone we had 45 inches of rain, most of it just barely warm enough to not be snow (though about a quarter of it came as hail).
So of course today it feels like spring.

Though the news is that though the last storm caused four landslides in the area here and dropped five dozn trees across roads, and threw trash cans all over town (and a few dog houses), no one went without power.

Yeah, you people from rainy and cold places would laugh at us. It MIGHT Be freezing rain on Thursday, but maybe not, and it will be just below freezing in the depth of night this week, a chilly unreasonable 28! SOMEONE DECLARE AN EMERGENCY.

Today was sunny and cool with blue skies as far as the eye could see. Apparently, we're in the midst of a Polar Vortex, which sounds scary, but was not so scary that I didn't need my shades.

The real danger - barring 'pubby disaster management, is that no one in this part of the state knows how to drive in inclement weather.

 

[Kulindahr]

poorly made but cheap Chinese goods to feed the conspicuous consumption

To require conspicuous consumption: as a kid there were toys I got at 6 or 7 and abused enormously yet they were still solid enough to pass on to another generation. Now I see toys neighborhood kids get that don't even survive till the end of summer.

 

[Kulindahr]

no one in this part of the state knows how to drive in inclement weather.

That's something I hated in my university days -- two inches of snow meant overtime for tow truck drivers, four inches of snow shut down the town; eight inches of snow shut down the university!

 

[TX-Beau]

That's something I hated in my university days -- two inches of snow meant overtime for tow truck drivers, four inches of snow shut down the town; eight inches of snow shut down the university!

Yeah, we had 6-8 inches of snow during the deep freeze of '21 for a week, and the entire infrastructure of the state failed.

 

[KaraBulut]

To require conspicuous consumption: as a kid there were toys I got at 6 or 7 and abused enormously yet they were still solid enough to pass on to another generation. Now I see toys neighborhood kids get that don't even survive till the end of summer.

That process has accelerated and isn't just toys.

I have some American-made kitchen appliances and cookware that I purchased when I was in college. It takes some heft to lift some of it. It has a little wear-and-tear but it all still works fine.

In contrast, kitchen items that I bought a decade ago lasted a few years before they had to be replaced. The replacements were lighter, less well made and lasted even less time than the items that they replaced. That does appear to be part of the construct: cheap goods made abroad that fall apart in a few years, so that you have to buy replacements that are of even poorer quality.

 

[TX-Beau]

That process has accelerated and isn't just toys.

I have some American-made kitchen appliances and cookware that I purchased when I was in college. It takes some heft to lift some of it. It has a little wear-and-tear but it all still works fine.

In contrast, kitchen items that I bought a decade ago lasted a few years before they had to be replaced. The replacements were lighter, less well made and lasted even less time than the items that they replaced. That does appear to be part of the construct: cheap goods made abroad that fall apart in a few years, so that you have to buy replacements that are of even poorer quality.

I have my great great grandmother's cast iron pans that quite literally date back to the 19th century. They are heavy and thick and hold temperature like a dream, not to mention over a century of seasoning, I went looking for a modern one for a gift, and nothing I saw was even close.

 

[KaraBulut]

I have my great great grandmother's cast iron pans that quite literally date back to the 19th century. They are heavy and thick and hold temperature like a dream, not to mention over a century of seasoning, I went looking for a modern one for a gift, and nothing I saw was even close.

Same here. I have a couple of cast iron skillets that were passed down to me.

I did find a company with a foundry in Tennessee that still makes good quality cast iron pans. Given what I've seen of companies like Caphalon (originally made in Toledo OH, now made in China), I wouldn't buy anything from China that is used to prepare food.

 

[Kulindahr]

Don't think this has been posted yet--

 

[TX-Beau]

Don't think this has been posted yet--

View attachment 2856474

WHERE DO WE SIGN!

 

[TX-Beau]

Same here. I have a couple of cast iron skillets that were passed down to me.

I did find a company with a foundry in Tennessee that still makes good quality cast iron pans. Given what I've seen of companies like Caphalon (originally made in Toledo OH, now made in China), I wouldn't buy anything from China that is used to prepare food.

For stainless I stopped buying Calphaon years ago and went with All Clad. They are supposedly American made - not the reason I bought the first one, but who knows these days, that could just mean they were assembled here I suppose.

Not disappointed in the quality though.

 

[Kulindahr]

 

[Kulindahr]

 

[Kulindahr]

 

[KaraBulut]

For stainless I stopped buying Calphaon years ago and went with All Clad. They are supposedly American made - not the reason I bought the first one, but who knows these days, that could just mean they were assembled here I suppose.

Not disappointed in the quality though.

Same here.

After finding flecks of the Caphalon non-stick coating from one of their Chinese-made pan in my eggs one morning, the Caphalon was thrown out. Of note, the original Caphalon pan that I bought probably 20 years ago came with a lifetime guarantee. When they moved their manufacturing from Ohio to China, the lifetime guarantee was no longer honored, even on their older American-made pans.

I've been very happy with the All Clad replacements.

 

[KaraBulut]