Juliajms

This is interesting. Even though farms are getting bigger most are still family farms. Another peculiarity of the farming business is the degree to which it is dominated by family operations. The USDA estimates family farms accounted for nearly 90 percent of America's total agricultural production in 2015. Nearly 80 percent of all U.S. farms that generated at least $5 million in sales that year were family-owned operations. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2018-04-04/family-farms-pushed-to-get-big-or-go-bust

^ Isn't Monsanto the company that sold farmer's seeds that had to be purchased every year? I've read a ton of bad things about them. Pretty sure the company doesn't exist by that name anymore as well. Must be nice to be able to do all that evil and then just get a new name. ETA: This article isn't new, but just skimming it you can see the pure evil. Monsanto merged with Beyer. I'm guessing they are still awful. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2008/05/monsanto200805

That's for sure. I guess it's too much to hope that she'll be at Litchfield Max?

He sounds more like Putin than GO to me. "Don't think about this anymore".

Here's some good news, if you trust it.

Yes, it's just crazy to me when people defend the insane amount of benefits the wealthy receive. Even people who are 401k millionaires should not be voting Republican if it's about economics. We have generations of people who could really stand to take sociology 101, instead of believing that all you have to do is work hard and you will get rich.

^ Here's hoping we are around to see the economic ramifications of these immoral policies. Meanwhile, here's some insanity I had actually managed to forget due to the daily onslaught.

Oh don't worry, they plan to. At least the spending that keeps the sick and the old off the streets. Haven't you seen Paul Ryan going on about "entitlements"? Lordy.

Right. It's clear to me that they like most of what Trump is "accomplishing". They just wish it didn't come in such an embarrassing package and with a side of Russia.

@DramatistDreamer Damn good point. It's not like our government officials are working day and night to make sure that the Russians don't interfere again. That could easily happen or elections could be suspended for a time because of evidence of interference. Nothing will surprise me. This is a dangerous time for our democracy.

Maybe, but a lot of those people were lost to Fox News and their ilk some time ago. The decades long hate campaign against Hillary worked. Was Trump inevitable as a backlash against Obama? I don't know, but probably not. I think it was also that a big part of the population didn't want a woman president, they didn't want that woman president, voter suppression, Russian interference, the fact that some people are drawn to authoritarians. Basically a perfect storm and still she did get three million more votes. Anyway, what's done is done. With any luck we can mitigate some of the damage in the midterms.

I remember telling someone back around 2006 that I didn't like watching TV on my computer. It wasn't about screen size, I think it was more just what I was used to. Not even sure exactly when I made the switch, maybe around 2008. Once streaming to the TV set became more prevalent I really didn't care where the show originated from if I liked it. Part of the reason is that I like to do other things while I'm watching shows that aren't really complicated high quality TV that you have to pay close attention to. At this point, it doesn't matter if the soaps are on Hulu or whatever because I could just watch it on TV anyway, while I'm on my computer or doing something around the house.

^ Good. I hope they have to pay. Meanwhile looks like the noose might be tightening on Junior.

I think this sums it up.

^ I wish QE2 had completely snubbed him. What a delusional idiot.

^ I can't believe the victim survived that.

45 really managed to lower the bar as a whole for who gets to lead us and what is acceptable.

The end of Pax Americana?

What a sad place this has become. I refuse to believe hate will win long term, but even in the short term it's terrible to see. Yes, it should raise red flags. Talk about stacking the deck in his favor.

Good Lord.

It's kind of like "not my president". I understand it, but we are affected by his policies even if we disavow him. The same will be true for the decisions SCOTUS makes unfortunately. One thing Trump has done is made this a "for us or against us" situation. The lines are pretty damn clear. Not that long ago we discussed issues in this thread like how undocumented immigrants were easy to exploit by the farming industry. I was pretty on the fence about what I thought was right. Now, we have kids in cages, so the economics of any of this is hard for me to worry about. He have to try to pressure these worthless politicians to do the right thing.

I was thinking something similar. I mean right now if you had a choice between the U.S., Canada and Europe would you pick the U.S.? If nothing else at least Canada and Europe actually help the people who go there. Of course, refugees don't get much of a choice and we aren't taking many here anyway. Not to be too paranoid about what's happening here. Maybe the ship will right itself in the next election cycle. Things feel unstable and unpredictable though. If I were a refugee picking the safest place for my family this would not be where I'd hope to land.

What I find disturbing is that Trump keeps calling for the suspension of due process. If he can do that to one group, where does it stop? I'd have to agree that people in the U.S are not that educated, at least. That's not an accident. There are groups in this country that actively thwart critical thinking, health and science education. And this is just foolish. Basically Trump trying to leverage a critical new tunnel for the NY/NJ region to get his boondoogle of a wall.

This struck me because we were just talking about naturalized citizens. It's a little more complicated then the headline, but damn if this administration can't find endless ways to create harm.