Kind Of A Big Deal - One

Bahrain normalizes ties with Israel. The Bahraini leadership is backed by the Saudis so this is a useful weathervane but... the Saudis are unlikely to take the plunge themselves any time soon:

Its importance is mostly because it’s an indication that the new leadership in Saudi Arabia supports normalization,” Ms. Fontenrose said. “Bahrain doesn’t make a foreign policy move without Saudi Arabia’s express permission.”

Toby Matthiesen, a research fellow at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, said that the Saudis “could be testing the waters” for their own normalization with Israel. But, he noted, Saudi Arabia participated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and has a long history of support to the Palestinian cause, and its autocratic leaders are sensitive to public opinion on such issues.

After Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful Saudi crown prince, appeared to make an overture toward Israel in 2018 by saying in an interview that Israelis “have the right” to a homeland, his father, King Salman, quickly countered with a rare public rebuke.

Israeli experts hold little hope of normalization with Saudi Arabia as long as King Salman retains power, saying that the country’s custody of Islamic holy sites complicates its ability to strike a deal with Israel if the Palestinians see it as a betrayal.

“I hope I’m wrong, but I cannot imagine them signing a normalization of relations with us,” General Gilead said.

Baby steps are fine. FWIW, King Salman is 84, so tick-tock.

 

 

Comments

[jimmyk]

First?

[jimmyk]

“And we had some bad pollution growing up in the Detroit area, come to think of it.”

Jim, didn’t realize you were a fellow Detroiter. Did you live downriver? As I recall, that was the only area where air quality was an issue.

[Jack Lillywhite]

All because on one word: Iran.

[hrtshpdbox]

King Salman doesn't have much to do with it as this point, but Princa Salman has occasionally made the right noises. Trump (assist to Kushner) might score his biggest foreign policy success (treading water is the best you can get when it comes to North Korea).

https://www.timesofisrael.com/saudi-crown-prince-recognizes-israels-right-to-exist-talks-up-future-ties/

[anonamom]

This week TWIP is smoking.

BEYOND smoking!
May be best collection EVER!

SO MANY spot on!

Reposting so a link is on this page too

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/09/the-week-in-pictures-far-turn-edition.php

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
22m
NORTH CAROLINA: To make sure your Ballot COUNTS, sign & send it in EARLY. When Polls open, go to your Polling Place to see if it was COUNTED. IF NOT, VOTE! Your signed Ballot will not count because your vote has been posted. Don’t let them illegally take your vote away from you!

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
17m
Was Andy McCabe ever forced to pay back the $700,000 illegally given to him and his wife, for his wife’s political campaign, by Crooked Hillary Clinton while Hillary was under FBI investigation, and McCabe was the head of the FBI??? Just askin’?

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
22m
ALERT: So now we find out that the entire Mueller “hit squad” illegally wiped their phones clean just prior to the investigation of them, all using the same really dumb reason for this “accident”, just like Crooked Hillary smashing her phones with a hammer, & DELETING HER EMAILS!

....It has now been determined that the Mueller Scam should never have been set up in the first place, there were no grounds. It was all an illegitimate Witch Hunt, & a big price must be paid. How different my life would have been if this fraud on America was never committed!!!

[MissMarple2]

A must watch for the good of our DEMOCRACY! pic.twitter.com/dVE6z7SShW

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 12, 2020

7-minute video about mail-in ballots and the perils of that voting method.

[MissMarple2]

https://nypost.com/2020/09/11/trump-campaign-reaches-100m-voters-in-campaign-milestone/

[Narciso]

Yes ive made the comparison of thr corleones or since were talking a chuch state fusion like the tudor monarchies.

[MissMarple2]

A good point on Twitter by RG:

J.B. White
@RattlerGator
·
23m
Why on Earth do you need to postpone a football game (http://Virginia-Va.Tech) because of positive virus tests?

Allow any players who desire to opt out to do so.

At some point a higher than 99% survivability rate has to mean *something* -- doesn't it ???

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Words to live by, literally;

I can still remember the first time I read them when I read The GA many years ago.

[MissMarple2]

Steve Guest
@SteveGuest
·
11m
Today, @realDonaldTrump
has two rallies in Nevada.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden called a lid at 9:15am.

[Jane]

Powerline Pix were indeed GREAT!

OK I'm ready for a 3rd Nobel Prize nomination. What an amazing president we have.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

I'm not an Amazon Prime guy but I do occasionally order from them. One such order has not shipped after 9 days. Is there a method by which one might actually contact Bezos's chimps in order to motivate them?
If there is they don't make it easy to find. The only options I see are track order [I did, it hasn't moved morons] or cancel order [I don't wanna cancel it, I want you to send it].

[JohnH]

I would like to see Trump announce that while he is flattered at being nominated for a Nobel the award should go to the leaders of the countries that have made peace.

[Manuel Transmission]

Happy 11th anniversary to maybe the biggest JOM meetup yet. Not to mention the million or so we bummed around with at the time.

[Melinda]

The Daily Signal
@DailySignal
A watchdog group recently blew the whistle on the “news” website Courier Newsroom—which was operating as a front for a Democratic-aligned group to target 2020 swing states.

It’s a win for transparency, but the font of “dark money” for leftists is bigger dailysign.al/2RxQx4p

https://twitter.com/DailySignal/status/1304790409265262592

[Melinda]

Willowed:

Nice job growing snowflakes:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8724409/Wealthy-white-BLM-protester-20-inspired-Stalin-wanted-occupy-luxury-homes.html

(Hiding out at her parent's weekend farmhouse in Litchfield, CT.)

[hrtshpdbox]

Is there a method by which one might actually contact Bezos's chimps in order to motivate them?

Is it fulfilled by Amazon or a third-party vendor? Prime doesn't mean much in the latter case, but either way Amazon will chat or return your phone call:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/contact-us/ref=hp_gt_comp_cu?ie=UTF8&nodeId=508510

[Old Lurker]

Iggy, we ARE Amazon Prime folks and until this summer found them indispensable for getting stuff to Nantucket where the local supply chain is so challenged and overpriced. We would order from them maybe 150 times each summer and we were best friends with the UPS guy who was here almost every day. Our neighbors, ditto.

This year Amazon service has gone to hell with orders often taking weeks or longer to even ship such that we and our neighbors have had to simply cancel orders and get the stuff direct from other suppliers.

My wife actually dug into enough to speak to a person but, as you would expect, that was a waste of time. (As I warned her it would be when she started down that road.)

We have found that other suppliers, Homedepot.com for me and Chewy.com for her, for example, now ship and deliver almost as quickly as Amazon used to but no longer does.

Once I saw he had no clothes, I started noticing that Bezos' streaming video service sucks too.

Fem.

[Melinda]

JohnH-

He already voted on The Prize's "Value" by spelling it in a Tweet as "Noble".

[Melinda]

OL-

So, you discovered how much of AMZN's "fulfillment" actually came from China on the US subsidized pipe that got turned off?

[Narciso]

Evidence what need of this:

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/sources-trump-nominees-for-afghanistan-and-germany-ambassadors-not-confirmable/

[MissMarple2]

I have NEVER ordered through Amazon.

Used to buy from all sorts of places that offered shipping, but not once through Amazon. I might have been lured into it if Bezos hadn't bought the Washington Post, which I despise. Once he did, there was no way I was going to give that guy a nickel.

[Narciso]

If if you ebay, you feed omidyar and whitmans pockets

[Melinda]

It went Sooooo well the first time:

The Washington Post
@washingtonpost
Opinion: Trump’s collusion with Russia isn’t in the past.

It’s happening right now. wapo.st/2DRUMV7

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1304513583838044162

[MissMarple2]

Melinda,

Max BOOT? They're dragging in Max BOOT? They have to be desperate.

[Robin, eff 'em all]

I had two Amazon orders get "stuck" in a USPS warehouse in Euclid, OH a couple of weeks ago. I figured it had to do with the post office making a point about something. Called Amazon and asked for replacements, then miraculously both orders showed up.

Not sure what to make of it. The hold up is usually the last mile shipping on my end with my rural post office only staffed morning hours.

[MissMarple2]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/oregon-preparing-for-wildfires-to-be-mass-fatality-event-official-says

"Based on the number of burned structures" an official says that they expect 8 or more fatalities.

That's pretty bad. Another example of that worthless governor's failed leadership.

[hrtshpdbox]

This year Amazon service has gone to hell

Because they prioritized orders based on COVID, and because the non-Amazon delivery services suffered their own COVID problems.

I think it's a great company, and that Bezos is way way down the list of rich folks to hate. But that's my bias.

[Narciso]

Its about derkach isnt it, whats 6 billion in tax dollars between friends

[MissMarple2]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
·
43m
Subject only to State approval, our important Ethanol Industry will be allowed to use the 10% Pumps for the 15% BLEND. Thank you! @SenJoniErnst @ChuckGrassley
@SenatorFischer @SenJohnThune
@SenatorRounds @KimReynoldsIA
@EPAAWheeler @SecretarySonny
@govkristinoem

[Narciso]

Blind squirrel

https://mobile.twitter.com/Mediaite/status/1304614311000780800

[peter]

not crazy about 15% ethanol gas, there, Mr. President

[Melinda]

hrt-

That was their PR statement AFTER the USPS China subsidy repricing came in.

[peter]

Why didn't someone post new thread on the old one?

[Another Bob]

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/7013152/Preventing-a-Disrupted-Presidential-Election-and.pdf

[MissMarple2]

Narciso,

Reading the replies to that Mediaite tweet is like a tour through the Leftist Hall of Fame.

Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Rachel Maddow....

Ugh!

[Narciso]

Fuera pa la calle, (get out get off the street)

https://mobile.twitter.com/theconservador/status/1304535051712032769

[CCGirl]

Abob - Isn’t TIP part of the problem? More jerks, or in this case, same old never Trumpers.

While I understand it is easier to order product on line, and for many it’s the only way to find needed or wanted items, please try to shop local when you can.

Prior to Trump my business was slowly losing revenue. Presidents have an impact, and so do giants like Amazon. That’s why you see so few small hardware store and the like.

[Melinda]

ccgirl-

If Radio Shack still existed for the parts I need, I would gladly use them. McMasterCarr or Grainger don’t do that, as you know. Otherwise, I’m always at Ace or TrueValue.

Now if Giant Eagle would come here, I could do all that, plus groceries, on one trip....

[Captain Hate]

Why didn't someone post new thread on the old one?

I just went back and tried boris's c&p and it worked.

Are you monkeys done with the Saturday morning cartoons so the adults can talk?

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

I found this reply funny as heck;

Sanctusfilius to Tito Puraw. • an hour ago

"Famous for his purple nurple attacks."

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

No.

[MissMarple2]

ccgirl,

Nearly every day I am out I drive by the building that housed Marien Hardware. It's no longer in business, though, driven out by the big companies.

I used to wait for the school bus in their entry, by the lever-operated coke machine. In really cold weather or pouring rain they would let me wait inside.

I think of your business every time I go by,
and say a little prayer that your business can make it through these hard times for small businesses.

[CCGirl]

Mel, Like I said, it’s not always easy to shop local. We order product from Amazon if we can’t find it in our suppliers’ warehouses. One time I needed to order an iron from TV. The listed retail price left me no profit so I googled what it was selling for elsewhere. Turns out it was cheaper for me to restock it through Amazon. So that’s what I did. The irony of ordering from very entity that threatens my little store.

So thanks for shopping local!

[Another Bob]

“Isn’t TIP part of the problem?”

Absolutely yes.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Thanks for the Amazon link, box.
Ordinarily I "shop" Amazon, mainly for the customer reviews, and then find the same item for considerably less at ebay. Not these two items.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--The irony of ordering from very entity that threatens my little store.--

Good pun. Intentional?

[BeastsEngland]

’Are you monkeys done with the Saturday morning cartoons so the adults can talk?’

Adulting is seriously overrated... :)

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Creative destruction is what makes the world go round.
Large gunstores sell most new guns online as cheap or cheaper than I can get them wholesale, so I found a different niche.

[Old Lurker]

Hrts "I think it's a great company, "

Might have been once, but had their service been then what it is now, they would be a coulda-woulda-shoulda has been.

I don't hate Bezos at all. I just say his company sucks for the moment, and if this is how it will be, his model will fail.

[Narciso]

So youre trasitioning from charterd accounting through banking.

[lyle]

There are actual adults posting here? Huh. 😬

[Narciso]

Pinnette stocked up on the butter

https://mobile.twitter.com/Miche1T/status/1304805061034487809

[Old Lurker]

I am pretty tired of every price spike and every service problem, and every delivery problem being blamed on COVID.

Nantucket used to blame high prices on "we are an island" and that worked for years until somebody noticed that all that crap still arrives in a big tractor trailer and the only "extra cost" is the time and cost on the Ferry. Divide THAT incremental cost by the thousands of of item in the truck and the extra cost did not come close to justifying double the shelf price.

So "Covid" is just another 99% red herring.

As to Amazon Prime, the "old model" would ship almost all items one by one. The "new model" seems to wait until you have ordered a box full, then they will deign to ship it in one big box.

I see how that works for THEIR per item shipping cost, but it comes at destroying the "here in a flash" date who took them to the dance.

Sure. "COVID"

[CCGirl]

Thanks Miss M. The plandemic has been great for my business. Plus so many have moved down here. At the start people shopped and said they didn’t want to see us close because of the crises. So lucky to have so many nice customers.

Ig - I didn’t intend it as a pun, but thanks!

No adults in this house of over 18 year olds! Aside for the grill inferno the wheels fell off of the dishwasher rack last night. Putting it all back together today. Too many bang em smash em college youth here. But the parents drink more than the kids. It’s a sad state of fun.

[GUS]

I turned on the TEEEEEVEEEEEE, saw a SYRACUSE FOOTBALL PLAYER with EQUALITY on his back.
TURNED OFF THE TEEEEVEEEEE. I would certainly like to know what type of classes and what grades MR EQUALITY represents.

[CCGirl]

OL, our supply lines seem to be finally normalizing. But COVID really has impacted supplies. The entire world wide exchange seems to have been impacted, especially concerning China. Between the new trade rules and the shutdown over there many items simply are not available. From electric can openers to sprinklers, to cleaning supplies, to potting soil, there is a shortage. It’s bizarre, and from week to week we see different items being impacted. We finally received Clorox Clean up this week. But now we can’t get Soft Scrub. Just an example of the 20 pages of “ship later” items.

Also many of the pickers in the warehouses quit and grabbed the no pay to work benefit. That left it to the desk jockies to complete the orders, and they basically didn’t know what they were doing. At the same time there was an unprecedented surge in demand in my industry. So items that were not as commonly ordered were put into a “zero in stock” status at the warehouse so that they could focus on catching up on the common high demand items.

I have heard that working in the Amazon warehouse is brutal. Very long hours, and expected to work seven days a week. If their pickers quit for the UI bonus cash, then they are having the same probs as all the other suppliers. My smaller suppliers seem very capable. It’s the larger ones that have been impacted the most.

Just my two cents. It’s my impression that many of my customers don’t understand just how messed up the entire supply line system is at this point.

Living here, I understand the Nantucket issue. It’s a beautiful island, but really I hate it. As far as I am concerned, “Nantucket can suck it”. So I get your gripes.

[CCGirl]

Another irony of this mess is that not that son did not go to Oxford over the summer, and because he simply wants to finish up ASAP, he is dropping his minor, and so dropped two classes. So now he can work more, and I now have time off! Works for me!

[hrtshpdbox]

The "new model" seems to wait until you have ordered a box full, then they will deign to ship it in one big box.

OL, I can only say that the exact opposite is the case. They used to encourage orders with multiple items, they now steer people to ordering "singles". They've done this by making shipping free, even for many non-Prime orders. They prefer it because when they don't care as much about having a variety of items at each sort center, it's easier to ship same or next day. I've seen it, it's what they do - they never try to save on shipping or other costs, they're all about fulfillment and it's worked out so far.

BTW, a lot of the reason that items weren't shipping promptly for the last few months has been that UPS and FedEx weren't sending trucks to pick stuff up from them ... because of COVID. Now that Amazon delivery fan are becoming more ubiquitous, problem should get solved.

[hrtshpdbox]

I have heard that working in the Amazon warehouse is brutal.

It's not, the people who've been fired or couldn't cut it say that. The people who work there love it and have a ball.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Tariffs do have negative effects.
China was a safety valve for log exports, especially when, for instance the Rim Fire made it impossible to sell logs to domestic mills because they were choked with their own burnt wood I could sell to China at a decent price.
But now the delivered price at the port barely covers logging and trucking costs which means making a land deal [or profit] is pretty much impossible. The exporter blames it on the cost of retaliatory Chinese tariffs.

[hrtshpdbox]

"delivery fan" s/b delivery vans

[Manuel Transmission]

I think the shipping snafus go along with a lot of other deteriorating services that the slowdown has ‘allowed’. Being incompetent and lazy has a cover. Everything devolves to the DMV given the chance. Think how much the HR hiring practices and the CRT crap drives that. Our old shop a decade after we left, decayed to the point that people showed up at 10:30 and went home at 2:00 And while there took hour long potty breaks and multiple half hour smoke breaks. And that was just the obvious stuff.

[MissMarple2]

I am going out to see what's in the garage besides another possible litter of kittens.

Back after while.

While I am absent some big news will probably happen.

[CCGirl]

Hbox, I am just going on what I have heard from customers who had family in management there. Pay was great, but no family time at all. Not a family without a work ethic. I’ll keep an open mind, but I am biased against Amazon. Can’t help it.

Amazon, Home Depot, Lowes, etc have their low priced items, but many items are priced higher than my in store price. Don’t be fooled by the convenience. They are also not the same - at least at the big box stores. I think Amazon does not apply in this case. For example, a power drill will just about have the same model number, but the inside machinery will be of a lower grade. Usually the box looks the same, but the model number may have a letter on the end. Same with Scott’s fertilizer. It’s cheaper at the box store, but it’s actually a lower ratio of actual fertilizer. Same bag, same name, but not the same. It’s very frustrating to have a customer yell at me about over charging, while trying to explain that it’s not the same product.

[Momto2]

I've had the opposite experience. My Amazon order was scheduled for today - delivered yesterday including an emailed photo of it sitting on my front porch.

But Amazon is still out of Clorox wipes and has been since March...

[hrtshpdbox]

I am just going on what I have heard from customers who had family in management there. Pay was great, but no family time at all.

ccgirl, I work there (just part-time now) but my son is a manager, and it seems he's forever taking vacation.

[Jane]

"I think it's a great company, and that Bezos is way way down the list of rich folks to hate. But that's my bias."

I'm with you. I am close friends with a guy Bezos went to HS with, and they are still in touch. I love the early stories, and the way he made it big. I told my friend we should meet in DC and stay at Bezo's house. Friend said "Bezo's won't let you stay there if he hasn't met you". Rude, but understandable.

Anyway I have the utmost respect for what he's done with his life. Imagine the pressure on every link from that company since the virus hit. I spend more money on Amazon every month than all my other bills combined, times about 4. But remember, I live in Florida, and bills are pretty non-existent.

[CCGirl]

Momto, manufacturers of products such as clorox wipes, lysol, etc had such a surge in demand that the number of options (in scents for example) were reduced at the factory so that they could ramp up production. I still can’t get them. We did receive a rationed amount of clorox wipes twice since March. It’s my impression that the government at all levels has put out bids for these items and that’s where most of the product end up. Perhaps in the healthcare system as well. Then there is the general hoarding, which I do not think will end for some time.

Sorry to bore everyone to death! I even drove away MissM! Whoops!

[Old Lurker]

Hrts, SOME of what you say might be true.

Our neighbor here has returned to their house in FL and they report that all of a sudden they are getting Amazon stuff like the old days. As you say - in Amazon Vans. But so far Amazon vans are not everywhere so here they do have to rely on UPS, FedEx and/or USPS. Scuttlebutt is that up here the fight is between UPS & USPS about who HAS to take the Amazon boxes which "Amazon will not pay enough for". They call Wareham MA the black hole for USPS & UPS.

Since our dog food comes UPS in two days via Wareham from Chewy.com, and my boy toys the same from Homedepot.com, we all tend to think the pissing contest is between Amazon-UPS-USPS in MA at least and the line workers are teaching Amazon a lesson. All I know is I blame those issues on Amazon because they no longer serve me or any of my neighbors as in summers past.

[Captain Hate]

There are actual adults posting here? Huh. 😬

Since I was the only one offended by that ignorant Hindu cartoon about a month ago, I guess not.

[Manuel Transmission]

OL, our rock is prolly similar to yours. Our one guy who owns both groceries ‘adds a buck’ to each item, so we support him for most things, but hit the big box stores every few weeks at the added expense of the plane ride or the ferry ticket. Booze almost covers the overhead by itself. :)

We shop at the builder supply and the Ace, but all my work stuff comes from Amazon or McMaster. Too specialized for the locals.

Speaking of ferry rides, I chatted with a guy running a fleet of trucks bringing sand/gravel on the rock and his monthly tab was $15K. Needless to say pouring concrete is pretty spendy here.

[hrtshpdbox]

OL, there's a local Chewy that regularly entices Amazon workers away. So far, I've fought off ordering pet foot online - I still lug it home from the store like a caveman.

[Momto2]

ccgirl - I'm glad you explained about the Clorox because I've been perplexed at why I can now find all sorts of other paper items, cleaning supplies, etc. I became "addicted" to Clorox wipes while caring for my husband. I think I had a tube of them in every room in the house and a case out in the garage. I've long since gone through my "stash!"

[CCGirl]

All I can say is that my UPS drivers are the best! But they are exhausted. So are the fed ex guys, and all of the truckers.

Two customers mailed me checks that I never received. The USPS is messed up in this area. Also two bills I sent out to regular customers came back with no forwarding address available. Neither had moved.

So let’s all vote by mail.

[Old Lurker]

Man Tran "...Everything devolves to the DMV given the chance."

Speaking of. We keep a year round car on Nantucket with MA tags and MA Inspection Stickers. May 31 the registration was set to expire so as in years past, I sent my form and check from Potomac in early April. A month later it was return unopened with a stamp saying I had to do it in person. No problem, says I, since there is a DMV office in the Nantucket Courthouse and since I was arriving May 29 I planned to just walk in before the car turned to a pumpkin.

May 30 I go there and find it closed because of COVID and directed me to re-register on their "Full Service Website". But the website said, sorry OL, you have to do this in person. So I sent all the papers back to them which was said to be "open for mail in customers". Nope. It was returned again saying I have to do it in person. I emailed them and asked how I could do that since they had closed the only office on the island. They said "guess you will have to go find an office on the Mainland. But they will require an appointment. Click."

So I said screw it, I will worry about it in 2021. So far no problem.

Wife says our Next Door website has hundreds of comments just like mine about the DMV.

[caro]

MT, found this YouTube with Lloyd Marcus singing.

https://youtu.be/9Cva0t0s4PU

[henry]

Choice at the pump would allow zero ethanol gas. Unobtanium here, despite better fuel mileage and easier on power tools.

@senjoniernst

GREAT news for Iowa—our biofuel community, farmers, and economy. This is what I’ve been pushing for since we secured E15 year-round: increased access to higher blends of ethanol and more choice at the pump for consumers.

https://twitter.com/senjoniernst/status/1304793454392770560?s=21

[CCGirl]

Yes, Momto. Many companies, like True Value, started their own lines of hand sanitizer,etc. We have it all, just off-brand or generic stuff.

The other day a painter wanted a coverall suit. All I have are xxxl and xxxxl. I can’t get any other sizes. He was bewildered. Then he asked for a respirator. I wanted to ask him if he’s been living under a rock.

I really need to get some stuff done around here.

CH - I see things here that offend me from time to time, but I just scroll on by. I don’t want to fight with any of you. Discuss and banter, yes!

[boris]

Where I am I usually get one day ground service from McMaster.

[hrtshpdbox]

I love the early stories, and the way he made it big.

Jane, Bezos' is more of a geeky dreamer than a traditional businessman, so it took Wall Street quite a while to see he was the real deal. There's some very entertaining (I think) older seminars of him addressing investors and employees, talking about innovation and the road ahead.

[hrtshpdbox]

"pet foot" s/b pet food. More coffee.

[Buckeye]

Speaking of supply chain disruptions, try buying a refrigerator.

Have a new wall oven and dishwasher on order with delivery scheduled for less than 2 weeks.

Fridge is being quotes at 9-12 weeks and don’t hold your breathe.

Contemplating buying a scratch and dent special and then buying replacement door(s).

[Old Lurker]

ManTran.

For example, I just had to go to our Ace Hardware for some batteries. They charged me $14.99 for a four pack. Amazon sells them for $7.99. I needed some feet for chairs. Ace charged $10 per pack and Homedepot $5.

Identical in every respect.

If our guys just added $1 per item. I would think I died and went to heaven.

[mike in houston]

I have a question about Amazon. I bought something through a company on the Amazon site. The company is located in PA, but they are charging me sales tax. I realize that Amazon has brick and mortar sites in TX but this is an out of state company. Why should I pay taxes on this? it didn't use to work this way.

[Old Lurker]

Nice try, Senator:

"The Obama administration's Justice Department "got caught" after newly released records show dozens of cell phones from then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative team were "accidentally wiped" during the Russia investigation, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said Saturday. This shows you why you have to investigate the investigators," the Senate Judiciary Committee member told "Fox & Friends Weekend."

YOU swept this under the rug until Judicial Watch finally got the documents.

The "Dog not Barking" here is how the entire Uniparty system of Justice & Checks & Balances treated us all as dummies and like the good sheep we are...

I want RG to come back here and apologize for lecturing us on how the NEW IGs using their NEW profound powers would fix all this.

Bullsh*t.

[hrtshpdbox]

Mike, that sounds like what I see on Ebay, where I now pay state tax on anything I buy regardless of where the seller (who rarely has any brick and mortar anywhere) is located. That change came about last year, I'm pretty sure.

[caro]

Clarice, I got your copy. What is the website?

[henry]

Mike in Houston. Thank the US Supreme Court. In a complete fuckup led by Thomas, they ruled all online and catalog sales are taxed at your front door. This ends tax competition, and favors big retail over Main Street— tax compliance is an expensive hobby. It costs the same for Amazon to install the sales tax calculation, reporting, and compliance software as for me to do so. Need the same set of lawyers to track item level tax codes. Say $100,000 / year. An Amazon or Wal-Mart blows that much on useless crap hourly. For me that reduces my development staff by one developer. But the states are happy. :(

[GUS]

Shortages shortages......what type of country or form of government has chronic shortages or very little product at all.... Hmmmmmmmm, starts with THE FULL.......

[Narciso]

Wwll dannehy revealed herself, eichenrode laid out the narrative adecade ago.

[Narciso]

Sorry a year ago.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Since I was the only one offended by that ignorant Hindu cartoon about a month ago, I guess not.--

I don't remember the exact joke. I have met your son-in-law and he's a great guy, but if I was going to pick one guy here who understood the value of offensive jokes I figured it would be you.
IMO there are two kinds of offensive ethnic/religious jokes; those meant to belittle, which truly are offensive and are only told by insecure eff ups, and those meant to emphasize that we all are from some ethnicity/religious background that someone else can ridicule.
The first is meant to harm to build up the weakling telling it.
The second is the universal mild hazing that establishes whether someone can laugh at themselves and can be counted on when it matters or whether they're a humorless, useless, sensitive soul.

[James D.]

Say $100,000 / year. An Amazon or Wal-Mart blows that much on useless crap hourly. For me that reduces my development staff by one developer.

A bug, not a feature, Henry.

[henry]

Absolutely a feature, James. The Chamber is all about globalization, and crushing Main Street the kulaks. Thomas’ ruling does that marvelously. The ruling forces all internet commerce through the big names: Amazon, EBay,Etsy, Wal-Mart, etc. they charge a high percentage for access to customers (as do the banks via credit cards), way more than the trivial marginal cost to them of providing “free” tax rate and reporting to their “partners.” Then as each of the above goes SJW / BLM, they prune socially undesirable partners. They comprise a threat to our freedoms, abetted by the Supreme Court.

[rse]

Yikes!

https://www.racepowerofanillusion.org/events/?mc_cid=c1784040de&mc_eid=631b4234f1

Race—The Power of an Illusion is an award-winning three-part docuseries that provides a comprehensive and nuanced view of the history and uses of race throughout time. More relevant now than ever, the first event in this series, The Difference Between Us (Part I), will consist of a one-hour film screening followed by a one-hour panel discussion and will attempt to answer one foundational question: is race biological or social?

Part I seeks to reveal the complexities involved in what may appear to be a basic concept: What do we mean when we say "race"? Is this concept a biological one rooted in genomic sciences? Is it merely a phenotypic categorization? Is it culturally based? Is it a social construct used by elites to organize societies? The video shows interviews with scientists and ultimately illustrates that racial differences as commonly understood have little biological meaning -- We are all pretty much the same under the skin. In fact, there is greater genetic diversity within a racialized group than between groups.

Following the film screening, expert panelists Darlene Francis (Associate Professor of Public Health and Neuroscience at UC Berkeley), Evelynn Hammonds (Chair, Department of the History of Science at Harvard University; Professor of African and African American Studies and interviewed in Part I), Leslea Hlusko (Professor of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley), and john powell (Director, Othering & Belonging Institute and Professor of Law, African American Studies, and Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley) with moderator Osagie Obasogie (Professor of Bioethics at UC Berkeley School of Public Health and the UCB-UCSF Joint Medical Program) will explore the contradictions between the biological reality of fundamental similarity across different populations with the stark social differences ascribed to different "races."

We hope you’ll join us for Part I and future critical conversations during this historical period of mass resistance to structural racism. Our Part II (Sept. 25) event will cover the roots of race and racism in America, as well as how race is used to naturalize inequality. Part III (October 9th) will examine intersections of race with social institutions, power, wealth, and status. Bookmark this page for more information on the upcoming events. All events are free and open to the public.