I have heard Arkansas compared to Cuba and been found similar in terms of economic development.

Of course, the crazy works both ways: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/why-is-china-treating-north-carolina-like-the-developing-world-122892/

The only time that doesn’t seem f-ed up is when you stand outside the processing plants, here or there…

We’re back to the chicken tax… it’s the reason why 'Muricans all drive big pickup trucks:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax

It’s a bit like the old sitcom “Night Court” where the judge would find the ladies of the evening guilty as charged and turn them loose with “time served” as their penalty.

This “lack of sentence” is a bit more than time served since the penalty for this crime can still be applied at any time if the offender is in court for anything else.

It’s overly lenient and a bad message, but better than letting off manslaughter charges for a defense of “affluenza.” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43621839

Uh, no, those are the normal well adjusted people, I’m talking about the psychotics that still support it.

5+ years back Trumpettes threw around the label TDS at Trump detractors, saying they couldn’t see reality due to their rage…

Whatever you call it, however you see it, there is significant mass psychosis associated with our nutcase-in-chief.

Every sperm is sacred:

https://youtu.be/fUspLVStPbk

What I want to know is: what does the vote of a Republican Senator cost these days? Can we start GoFundMe campaigns to get some things changed in our preferred direction?

Saving that for 2029.

They had a pretty rough go when beaver hats were in fashion…

Some people care, but not enough yet: https://eowilsonfoundation.org/what-is-the-half-earth-project/

That was a company of 1000 employees, over 500 of them in the traveling global sales force. There were about seven guys at the top taking home millions a year in those bonuses, and their whole priority was to maximize their personal incomes as much and as soon as possible.

In the shiny promotional videos, we were all about helping our customers, improving their lives, but in reality we weren’t very good at that, only about 1/3 customers saw any benefits and maybe 3/100 would get anything close to what they were really hoping for, but… they didn’t have any alternatives, so they were willing to let their health insurance pay for a $30K surgical procedure on the chance that they might be one of the lucky ones.

Research around methods of testing to determine who might and who might not benefit from the product? Actively undermined by the company.

Research around ways to improve product performance? Squashed as I described, it was more likely to “disrupt” the short term income streams they leaders were all enjoying than to make any significant improvements in income for them on any time schedule they care about.

I think he was unexpectedly successful in winning the 2016 election.

I also think that by mid 2017 “his” administration had built up collection of “advisors” who have been increasingly calling the shots since then. They give him “on brand” scripts to read, but he’s not personally orchestrating much of anything.

This is nothing new for Google, compliance with local laws…

As a business, they’re respecting the current US administration - probably weighing the likelihood of penalties depending on which side of the US legal system they choose to obey.

I have spent 30 years developing computerization of traditional medical tasks. Anytime a project gets anywhere near M.D. territory they villify it mercilessly, it’s a threat to their cash cow, a threat to their status as the exalted font of all knowledge, a threat to their $600K/yr practice income - they think.

Doesn’t even have to be about that. Einstein was a disruptor. He scribbled some theories on paper and it dramatically reshaped the global power and wealth dynamic.

The extremely rich have a singular top priority: to stay that way. Unpredictable change, regardless of the net change for good or bad, is not their friend.

This works at all levels. I was hired into the mid level of a company to “lead research to improve the product” - but I quickly found out: that was just a carrot to get me and others like me in the door to fill roles required by regulatory bodies: so many degreed this and thats to oversee implementation of the quality procedures, etc. Everyone above Director level in that company was making fat bonuses every quarter and they didn’t want ANYTHING to change, not even an improvement in the product, it was making plenty of money with no signs of competition on the horizon. To announce a potential future improvement would be to derail current sales volumes, and there were new mansions under construction that still needed more quarters of bonuses to complete.

I’ve met both US Senators from Florida a couple of years before they got in the Senate. Neither of them gave the slightest impression of being a leader, in charge of their own destiny, or even a servant of the people. They were both just performers on a publicity tour, slaves to their schedules and scripts.

Yep, we’re going to have to train mainstream media how to filter them, or just boycott all monetized channels of MSM until they figure it out for themselves.

Rubio was a US Senator from Florida, before that he was a Florida state level legislator.

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/examining-rubios-home-sale/

Local News Examining Rubio’s Home Sale miami March 8, 2016 / 2:50 PM EST / CBS Miami

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story and video was originally posted on the CBS4 website on May 18, 2010. CBS4 News was the first to investigate the 2007 sale of Marco Rubio’s home in Miami. It is now being re-posted following a series of statements and campaign ads by Donald Trump questioning the ethics of the home sale. )

-------------ORIGINAL REPORT-------------------

In 2007, Florida’s no fault auto insurance law was set to expire. The law known as PIP – or personal injury protection – provides $10,000 in medical coverage for anyone in an auto accident.

Both Florida Governor Charlie Crist and the Florida Senate wanted to extend PIP. The only obstacle was the Florida House and its speaker, Marco Rubio, who believed PIP was rife with fraud and abuse.

“I started to study the issue and really became convinced that there was a serious fraud industry that had been built around it, largely through a combination of clinics and lawyers,” Rubio said recently. “So I was okay with PIP being extended but only if we dealt with the fraud issues, at least some anti fraud measures.”

Yet Rubio also gave the impression that he was willing to let PIP die.

“What I did obviously want was ultimate leverage and the threat that I was willing to let PIP go away,” he recalled.

Among those who supported PIP were Florida chiropractors, including Dr. Mark Cereceda, who operates a string of pain clinics throughout South Florida. Cereceda’s business depends on seeing PIP patients.

“I see a lot of PIP patients,” Cereceda said.

In the Spring and Summer of 2007, Cereceda mounted a campaign to pressure Rubio to allow PIP to continue. Accompanied by other chiropractors, Cereceda met with Rubio in Tallahassee. Cereceda also organized marches and demonstrations in front of Rubio’s West Miami office. He even hired four planes to fly banners over Rubio’s home and office urging him to keep PIP alive.

Rubio, who described Cereceda as “an acquaintance,” said he was aware of Cereceda’s campaign and that he Cereceda “was pretty excited about that issue.”

In the midst of all this lobbying, Mark Cereceda’s mother bought a house from Rubio, paying $380,000 in an all cash deal that was finalized in April 2007. Rubio had originally purchased the house in 2003 for $175,000.

“It was just a coincidence,” Mark Cereceda said of the sale.

Mark Cereceda, who lives on the same block as the Rubio house, said he noticed a “For Sale” sign in the front yard and recommended it to his mother.

Six months after the sale of the house was complete, Rubio wrote Gov. Crist a letter asking him to call a special session of the Florida Legislature. This time Rubio said he would support PIP.

“It had nothing to do with the house,” Cereceda said.

Nothing at all, I’m sure.