Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
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The "Billionaire Bunker" Paradox

The ultra-wealthy are investing hundreds of millions into fortified compounds, yet these projects often face logical dead ends:

Worthless Wealth: A major concern for elites is maintaining control over security forces once currency loses its value. Without a functioning economy, there is little incentive for guards to remain loyal rather than simply taking over the resources themselves.

Extreme Features: Some luxury shelters include bizarre defensive measures like flammable moats that turn into rings of fire or water cannons designed to take down helicopters.

High-End Isolation: Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly building a $270 million compound in Hawaii featuring a 5,000-square-foot underground shelter with its own food and energy supplies.

Psychological Strain: To prevent insanity, luxury bunkers use tricks like night-scene paintings visible under black lights to simulate the outside world and windows that aren't actually windows.

Common Design and Social Flaws

Beyond the luxury tier, doomsday prepping often overlooks practical and ethical realities:

Basic Survival Gaps: Many amateur designs fail due to inadequate air filtration, insufficient waste management, or lack of secondary exits.

Social Isolation: Critics argue that focusing on individual survival via bunkers ignores the fact that human survival historically depends on peaceful cooperation and stable climates rather than isolated concrete boxes.

Market Growth: Despite the absurdity, the "panic industry" is booming, with the fallout shelter market expected to exceed $175 million by 2030.

Eight Democrats Help GOP Pass Anti-Transgender Law

'Tis wrong on every level.

Which is exactly why Trump and company utilized this as a potent message in 2024...


click graphic above for actual She's for They/Them ad

Gosh.

Not a single thing about Hamas, Israel, Jews, or anything else.

"judges have ruled against ICE detention practices in roughly 90 percent of cases since the agency mandated that millions of immigrants must be locked" www.politico.com

The White House is blaming liberal judges but the truth is of the 10K+ cases were handled by nearly 500 different judges, many of those who were appointed by Trump and other republican presidents.

Since the OP loves AI, I asked it to analyze the article. Here's what it said:

Analyzing the Daily Kos article reveals several critical flaws in its reasoning, logical structure, and interpretation of scientific data:

1. Hasty Generalization
The author applies a specific statistical finding to an entire demographic group.
Broad brush: The headline claims "White Americans" oppose programs out of spite.
Lack of nuance: It ignores vast political, regional, and socioeconomic differences among white individuals.

2. Confirmation Bias
The author openly admits to looking for data that validates a pre-existing belief.
Prejudged outcome: This mindset often leads to cherry-picking data.
Uncritical acceptance: The author accepts the conclusion without questioning the underlying data.

3. Relying on Secondary Sources
The author did not review the original scientific study directly.
Filtered information: The author relies on an article from Alternet describing the study.
Compounded bias: This introduces multiple layers of potential media distortion or oversimplification.

4. Oversimplification of Complex Issues
The article attributes opposition to social safety nets entirely to racial resentment.
Ignored factors: It dismisses legitimate ideological debates on fiscal conservatism.
Omitted views: It leaves out debates over government efficiency, taxation, and individual responsibility.

5. Hyperbolic and Inflammatory Language
The argument uses extreme, emotionally charged rhetoric to describe political opponents.
Extreme labels: It conflates general safety net opposition with "White Nationalist" hatred.
Sensationalized claims: It asserts that a third of Americans "would rather be poor and homeless" to spite others.

"Or to use the less technical version, we can not have nice things (h/t Digby).

1/3rd of our fellow Americans would rather be poor and homeless because they would be force to share with Persons of Color.

As Chris Hayes argued on his program All In, T*ump's base, approximately 37% of the voting population, is effectively "holding the rest of the country hostage".

more

www.psypost.org

video version

LBJ's Warning on White Resentment Still Haunts America

www.youtube.com

"We were in Tennessee. During the motorcade, he spotted some ugly racial epithets scrawled on signs.

Late that night in the hotel, when the local dignitaries had finished the last bottles of bourbon and branch water and departed, he started talking about those signs.

"I'll tell you what's at the bottom of it," he said.

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." - Billy Moyers quoting LBJ

www.snopes.com

;;

So, bottom line, Corporatists have for decades built upon this racial prejudice to finally obtain a Voter Base that they could control with fears of minorities, immigrants, an anyone else they can give said Base an opportunity to look down on, such as women or Democrats or trans or gay or women who have abortions.

Divide and Conquer is alive and well in Project25 Trump's 'Murica.

What the heck does Benjamin Netanyahu care about the hardworking American taxpayer who suffers without universal healthcare while Israelis enjoy world class medical treatment without onerous paperwork, awful outcomes, or bankruptcy from astronomically-high bills?

The price of irrational Muslim hatred is way too high for Americans.

Soon the US will be $100 billion in the hole:

Cost of Iran War for Israel's Behalf to the American Taxpayer

In 2024, the Democrats already paid the price of ignoring the antiwar bloc of the American left.

Bibi called them "the useful idiots of Iran."

On Monday 4 Nov 2024, the Palestinian death count in Gaza at the hands of the IDF was least 43,374 human beings, mostly women and children; another 102,261 were wounded or maimed.

In response, on Tuesday 5 Nov 2024 (US election day), roughly 5.7 million progressive voters did not cast a ballot out of disgust and stayed home. Those same Samaritans voted in peacetime for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Tuesday 3 Nov 2020.

So?

AI Overview Presidents who have authorized emergency sales or drawdowns from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) include George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.
1. George H.W. Bush (1991)Context: The Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm).Action: Ordered the first-ever emergency drawdown, releasing roughly (17.3) million barrels to stabilize global energy markets following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

2. Bill Clinton (1996, 2000)Context: Market volatility and rising gasoline prices.Action: Authorized smaller sales in (1996) and created the Heating Oil Exchange in (2000) to exchange and release reserves to mitigate winter heating supply crunches.

3. George W. Bush (2005)Context: Hurricane Katrina.Action: Sold and loaned approximately (20.8) million barrels of oil after the hurricane severely disrupted oil platforms and refineries in the Gulf Coast region.

4. Barack Obama (2011)Context: Civil war in Libya.Action: Coordinated with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to release (30) million barrels to offset disruptions to the global oil supply.4. Barack Obama (2011)Context: Civil war in Libya.Action: Coordinated with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to release (30) million barrels to offset disruptions to the global oil supply.

5. Joe Biden (2021, 2022)Context: Post-pandemic inflation and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Action: Authorized historic drawdowns, including a record-breaking release of (180) million barrels over six months beginning in early (2022) to mitigate global supply chain issues.6. Donald Trump (2020, 2026)Context: Short-term market volatility during the COVID-19 pandemic and international supply disruptions.Action: Authorized exchanges of crude oil in (2020) and a large-scale emergency release to offset energy shocks and stabilize prices.For more details on the exact amounts sold or the legal requirements for tapping the reserve, check the Department of Energy SPR History overview.. Joe Biden (2021, 2022)Context: Post-pandemic inflation and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Action: Authorized historic drawdowns, including a record-breaking release of (180) million barrels over six months beginning in early (2022) to mitigate global supply chain issues.

6. Donald Trump (2020, 2026)Context: Short-term market volatility during the COVID-19 pandemic and international supply disruptions.Action: Authorized exchanges of crude oil in (2020) and a large-scale emergency release to offset energy shocks and stabilize prices.For more details on the exact amounts sold or the legal requirements for tapping the reserve, check the Department of Energy SPR History overview.

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