American Politics

[MarquisdeSade1]

Repubs have been demonizing and scape-goating Liberals and by extension Democrats since at least Nixon. It really swung into serious neurotic behavior under Reagan and by the time his VP became president their sick culture had decided "Liberal" was such a terrible label to put on someone that silly man would refer to Liberals as "The L word. " That is how terrible they hoped people would consider Liberal / Democrats to be.

The demonizing and scape-goating got to be as vicious and irrational as the anti-Jewish sentiment in 1930's Germany.

Oh, it is so easy to blame "Libs" for all the failures of your life and the ills of society. Chicago, San Francisco, New York and the rest had been hotbeds of crime, gangs and corruption since the day they were built, through Repub and Dem Mayorships and State Governorships. But it is always the fault of "Lib / Dems", don't ya' know. LOL.

Jews in 1930's Germany.

Of course, never mind that "Lib / Dem" policies and stewardship has so surpassed that of "Conservative-Repub"s for at least 100 years on economic Recoveries, expansions and damn near every job created over the past 50 years while Conservative-Repubs' only specialty appears to be driving us into one Great Depression, Great Recession and Massive Jobs Destruction after another in our and our parents' lifetimes.

So that creates a very inconvenient problem for Repubs; how to demonize and scape-goat the side whose economic results are far and away superior to their own? Particularly when you just had a several decades' long pattern of Conservative-Repub disaster vs Lib-Dem Success too blatantly obvious to ignore?

Enter the Repubs' sucker social issues. On steroids.

Now the most horrible thing to happen to America isn't another Great Repub Depression and Massive Jobs Destruction. Oh no. Hey, shit happens. Wild coincidence. Magical economic cycles. A Witch's Curse. No big deal.

It is now "wokeism", "pronouns", "child mutilation", defund the police", blah blah blah shit that almost no Conservative-Repub can define or point to ever happening as often as someone getting struck by lightning 3 times in a week during the Summer.

But the weak-minded demonizers and scape-goaters must believe in it to keep their deep "own the libs" psychosis alive and kicking. And for the Repub pols to win votes and ever get elected for anything.

Do you know there were Emergency Room staff reports of old MAGAs dying of Covid and with their last choking gasp they still refused to believe they had what their lord and savior assured them was a "Democrat Party Hoax"? That they had essentially chosen to die rather than get a vaccine or avoid crowds in closed rooms and thereby be mistaken for a "Democrat"? LOL.

That is how deeply psychotic the need for "owning the libs" is among MAGAs.

A. H. Is a social issue sucker. So is Tiny to a certain extent. So are many otherwise seemingly lucid and capable MAGAs.

They will vote in a way that directly elects or helps Trumps and Trumpists win elections even though it is blatantly obvious that those traitors' only mission is to destroy the USA Economy, wipe out millions of jobs, skyrocket the debt and deficit with nothing of value to show for it because they have been indoctrinated from an early age to demonize and scape-goat the very Party and philosophy whose policies and stewardship have ever actually ever Made America Great.

Con man Trump knew this from the very beginning. He knew where the suckers were and how to bamboozle them because their deep psychosis gave them no choice. And he knew very, very well it was not going to be among Lib-Dems.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...rumps-tariffs/

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/...xt-four-years/

https://nypost.com/2025/03/03/busine...ariffs-report/

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/03/tsmc...ip-plants.html

[ShooBree]

The Democrat party is in self-destruction mode. It is simply amazing to watch this mass group suicide. It is so bizarre. I mean ever since the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention the left has seen themselves as the "peace" party. They were against the Vietnam war (although Johnson started it), the Iraq war, and the killing of Soleimani. Biden as VP was even against the raid to kill bin Laden. And the left was so proud of President Biden's impersonation of Humphrey Bogart in the Caine Mutiny with his cowardly and frantic decision to retreat from Afghanistan.

But now for the sole reason that Trump is president the left suddenly wants war, a war between Russia and Ukraine to continue into the foreseeable future. It is just fucking amazing especially considering that President Trump is on the verge of getting a cease fire deal between Putin, the Ukraine and the USA to end this massacre..

What trump is doing is not ceasefire, it's not peace, it's a complete capitulation!

What you're doing is to support Russia's war against Ukraine. If you wanted the war to be over you would defend Ukraine because Ukraine are literally trying to defend themselves and end the war!

What you're displaying is a complete lack of humanity and knowledge of history.

Hitler didn't stop just because the Europeans let him take over the Sudetenland and the wars didn't stop after the West let putin take Georgia in 2008!

Neither did the wars stop after putin invaded Crimea in 2014!

To believe that there will peace if Ukraine just capitulates to Russia is the definition of insanity!

To do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result is the definition of insanity!

What trump is doing has actual consequences for real people on the ground in Ukraine!

It's not some Hollywood movie or WWE!

Let us be honest about what trump actually has done and what consequences we have seen:

Trump took away Ukraine's weapons to defend themselves against the russian aggression.

Trump took away Ukraine's information of russian attacks.

And here's the real kicker; what does this mean for russia?

It opens up new doors for russia, they are becoming more aggressive and are attacking more Ukrainian cities because they know that Ukraine will have less weapons and intel to defend themselves.

Does this lead putin and russia closer to signing a ceasefire? Hell NO!

The Russians are in this now, they are going forward and they are not stopping! If anyone believes otherwise, why would you? Because the Russians said something? Haha, that's hilarious! The Russians are liars just like trump!

So thanks to your great leader more Ukrainians will die, the Russians will keep going and be stronger.

Trump is not a politician, he is a cult leader.

[Elvis 2008]

When Elvis spews his own brand of nonsense, you know where it comes from -- Elvis is a conspiracy theorist, he's a guy MAGA IS MADE OF.

Uh, wrong. I think on my own. When there is an issue that tries to turn us all into robots, and there is this attitude of you have to be crazy to go against the narrative, I look deeper. Look at all the bullshit that was being fed to us that was true. Biden is sharp as a tack. Kamala is no drunk. Putin is pure evil. Zelensky is an angel. The Covid vaccine is safe and effective. Anyone who thinks Covid came from a lab is into conspiracy theory.

On every issue, with time, the public came over to my side. The one pushing conspiracy theories were the douches reading off the same script and Xpartan, you just bought what the douches are saying.

78% of the American people versus 16% want a peace deal in Ukraine. The percent of people saying Russia is an enemy has gone from 64 to 34%.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT63l0td9bA

And this is what always happens when the facts are on my side. It just takes a while for people to see him. Here is more drivel.

But good to know that you're a supporter of Putin's puppet in the White House, Putin and the other Russian war criminals.
You should be aware that Putin will be remembered in history as the Hitler of the 21th century, because What's going on now will very much be in the history books and the future school children will read about this.
There will be statues and streets named after Zelenskyj in every European capital. The school children will read about Zelenskyj in the history books and he will be remembered as a hero just like Winston Churchill.
For USA I do believe that there will be a lot of shame over how the American people could elect trump and how the (Republican) senators betrayed their own beliefs.

One thing you can deduce from people is the mindless name calling. The fallacy of the Nazi analogy, also known as reductio ad Hitlerum, is a logical fallacy where an argument is invalidated by comparing it to Adolf Hitler or the Nazi Party. Mike Godwin later introduced Godwin's law in 1990, which states that as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.

So you have the Democratic douche fallacy. Trump is Hitler. Putin is Hilter. The Putin one is really stupid. Hilter took over almost the whole of Europe in 2 years. Putin has taken over 20% of one country in 3 years. Yet I do not expect any douche to back off.

Meanwhile, this is what Zelensky the angel is up to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjlJoLT1Df0.

The pattern with you and the douches is the same. You pound the narrative and once it is shown to be false, you pretend you did not say what you did. When peace comes to Ukraine, no one will admit to being pro war, you will pretend that you were not one of the biggest war hawks going but wanted peace all along.

That is why I call you the never mind Democrats. I should put a pin in this post and have us come back to it in 2 years.

[Spidy]

Again, Go to the table in the Environmental Impacts section of the web page that shows emissions for hard coal, brown coal, and natural gas.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foss..._power_station

And please learn to think and research independently. Like Elvis. I'm not able to educate you via a message board on combustion and chemistry.

(...kkkk!) Just what I thought! What a cop-out!

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

Well it seems I'll leave you to those, who just love to provide ONLY their options! Because obviously ChatGPT is providing yours! Good Luck!

BTW, I think it was I, who educated you! Well...on what is "clean burning" and zero 0% CO2 emissions, at any rate! Class dismissed!

[Tiny 12]

That's the biggest cop-out I've ever heard! You can do better than that!

However, that still doesn't alleviate you, from providing the sources (just as I've done) to backup the claims of ChatGPT. So what, you just let ChatGPT do all the thinking for you?

Since when does Tiny 12, shy away from providing source material to his arguments, especially if he's using ChatGPT, to do the research, for him?

Again, I would like to ponder those very sources, for myself!

PS: But look no further than S+W+B that perfectly emit zero 0% CO2 emissions!

Again, Go to the table in the Environmental Impacts section of the web page that shows emissions for hard coal, brown coal, and natural gas.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foss..._power_station

And please learn to think and research independently. Like Elvis. I'm not able to educate you via a message board on combustion and chemistry.

[Spidy]

It's all in the way you ask the question. Try "Please make the argument that natural gas is a clean burning fuel. " If you were using Elon Musk's AI chatbox you might not have to beat around the bush, but the people who wrote ChatGPT are politically correct. ChatGPT will listen to reason though, just as you're starting to with GILTI. Argue with it long enough and often it will agree with you.

While you may not accept it, the fact is perfect is the enemy of good. And natural gas is a practical bridge to get to a future with cleaner air and reduced CO2 emissions.

That's the biggest cop-out I've ever heard! You can do better than that!

BTW, if you have to tell ChatGPT to "make the argument", then you've lost the argument already.

However, that still doesn't alleviate you, from providing the sources (just as I've done) to backup the claims of ChatGPT. So what, you just let ChatGPT do all the thinking for you?

Since when does Tiny 12, shy away from providing source material to his arguments, especially if he's using ChatGPT, to do the research, for him?

Again, I would like to ponder those very sources, for myself!

PS: But look no further than S+W+B that perfectly emit zero 0% CO2 emissions!

[Tiny 12]

Really! Allow me to just stop you, at #1

So when ChatGPT tells you "On average, natural gas emits about 50-60% less CO2", you believe that, that is clean burning, when it still emitting 40-50% CO2....C'mon man are you kidding me!

A simple Google search using "Is natural gas a clean burning fuel?" and I get one of several articles, that all more or less tell me, "CLEANER but not CLEAN"

Cleaner but not clean - Why scientists say natural gas won't avert climate disaster
https://www.reuters.com/article/busi...idUSKCN25E1DR/

Natural Gas Is Not A Clean Burning Renewable Fuel
https://theclimateguru.org/natural-g...enewable-fuel/

Forgive me, but I doubt very much, that if you typed the following, into ChatGPT "Is natural gas a clean burning fuel?", it would just return the basic composition of the gas, its properties and relation to other fossil feuls and not come to the same conclusions as those articles I provided.

So with that in mind, when I have a hard time believing you or ChatGPT version of events, I will naturally ask for "the sources" (if you could be so kind), so I may determine the facts for myself, should the need arise.

You forget, I'm not MAGA and therefore don't take things blindly!

It's all in the way you ask the question. Try "Please make the argument that natural gas is a clean burning fuel. " If you were using Elon Musk's AI chatbox you might not have to beat around the bush, but the people who wrote ChatGPT are politically correct. ChatGPT will listen to reason though, just as you're starting to with GILTI. Argue with it long enough and often it will agree with you.

While you may not accept it, the fact is perfect is the enemy of good. And natural gas is a practical bridge to get to a future with cleaner air and reduced CO2 emissions.

As to sources, I already gave you the Wikipedia table showing emissions of particulate matter, SO2, and NOx compounds from natural gas, which are the primary contributors to dirty air. Your belief that CO2 and CH4, being colorless, odorless, nontoxic (unless you stick a mask on your face and connect it to a CO2 or CH4 cannister) gasses contribute to dirty air is subjective. You want references but I dont know what to give you. Maybe some chemistry and chemical engineering textbooks?

[EihTooms]

What boggles the mind is that Axel is not your typical MAGA cultist. When Elvis spews his own brand of nonsense, you know where it comes from -- Elvis is a conspiracy theorist, he's a guy MAGA IS MADE OF. But Axel is not like that. I've communicated with him, he's a worldly, intelligent person. How is it possible that people like that can't see Trump's incessant lies and empty boasts, his crazy rants and off-the-charts boorishness worthy of a drunken vagrant, his fantastical stories from his own alternative universe? And did I mention his pure LIES -- lies so patently obvious that even a 9-year-old could easily cut through them -- and yet, these grown-up fellas keep coming here to mindlessly and exuberantly defend the pure-evil incompetent scamster and his team of sycophants, no matter what they say and do.

One can dismiss his Day One promises: to end the war and lower the prices (very bold promises that ended in spectacular failures) as typical Trump's bravado, but why none of them is asking one simple question:

For what reason, the president who has the majority in both chambers of Congress is ruling with executive orders? He's signed at least 75 orders since taking the Oval office, "the most executive orders within a president's first 100 days over the past 80 years.".

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...rm/ar-AA1zQer1

Seriously, MAGA, why?

Repubs have been demonizing and scape-goating Liberals and by extension Democrats since at least Nixon. It really swung into serious neurotic behavior under Reagan and by the time his VP became president their sick culture had decided "Liberal" was such a terrible label to put on someone that silly man would refer to Liberals as "The L word. " That is how terrible they hoped people would consider Liberal / Democrats to be.

The demonizing and scape-goating got to be as vicious and irrational as the anti-Jewish sentiment in 1930's Germany.

Oh, it is so easy to blame "Libs" for all the failures of your life and the ills of society. Chicago, San Francisco, New York and the rest had been hotbeds of crime, gangs and corruption since the day they were built, through Repub and Dem Mayorships and State Governorships. But it is always the fault of "Lib / Dems", don't ya' know. LOL.

Jews in 1930's Germany.

Of course, never mind that "Lib / Dem" policies and stewardship has so surpassed that of "Conservative-Repub"s for at least 100 years on economic Recoveries, expansions and damn near every job created over the past 50 years while Conservative-Repubs' only specialty appears to be driving us into one Great Depression, Great Recession and Massive Jobs Destruction after another in our and our parents' lifetimes.

So that creates a very inconvenient problem for Repubs; how to demonize and scape-goat the side whose economic results are far and away superior to their own? Particularly when you just had a several decades' long pattern of Conservative-Repub disaster vs Lib-Dem Success too blatantly obvious to ignore?

Enter the Repubs' sucker social issues. On steroids.

Now the most horrible thing to happen to America isn't another Great Repub Depression and Massive Jobs Destruction. Oh no. Hey, shit happens. Wild coincidence. Magical economic cycles. A Witch's Curse. No big deal.

It is now "wokeism", "pronouns", "child mutilation", defund the police", blah blah blah shit that almost no Conservative-Repub can define or point to ever happening as often as someone getting struck by lightning 3 times in a week during the Summer.

But the weak-minded demonizers and scape-goaters must believe in it to keep their deep "own the libs" psychosis alive and kicking. And for the Repub pols to win votes and ever get elected for anything.

Do you know there were Emergency Room staff reports of old MAGAs dying of Covid and with their last choking gasp they still refused to believe they had what their lord and savior assured them was a "Democrat Party Hoax"? That they had essentially chosen to die rather than get a vaccine or avoid crowds in closed rooms and thereby be mistaken for a "Democrat"? LOL.

That is how deeply psychotic the need for "owning the libs" is among MAGAs.

A. H. Is a social issue sucker. So is Tiny to a certain extent. So are many otherwise seemingly lucid and capable MAGAs.

They will vote in a way that directly elects or helps Trumps and Trumpists win elections even though it is blatantly obvious that those traitors' only mission is to destroy the USA Economy, wipe out millions of jobs, skyrocket the debt and deficit with nothing of value to show for it because they have been indoctrinated from an early age to demonize and scape-goat the very Party and philosophy whose policies and stewardship have ever actually ever Made America Great.

Con man Trump knew this from the very beginning. He knew where the suckers were and how to bamboozle them because their deep psychosis gave them no choice. And he knew very, very well it was not going to be among Lib-Dems.

[Spidy]

Your wish is my command!

Natural gas is considered a clean-burning fuel primarily because of its chemical composition and combustion characteristics compared to other fossil fuels like coal and oil. Here's why:

1. Lower Carbon Emissions.

Natural gas is mostly methane (CH&#8324, which has a high hydrogen-to-carbon ratio.

When burned, it produces less carbon dioxide (CO&#8322 per unit of energy compared to coal or oil.

On average, natural gas emits about 50-60% less CO₂ than coal and about 25-30% less than oil.

...

Really! Allow me to just stop you, at #1

So when ChatGPT tells you "On average, natural gas emits about 50-60% less CO2", you believe that, that is clean burning, when it still emitting 40-50% CO2....C'mon man are you kidding me!

A simple Google search using "Is natural gas a clean burning fuel?" and I get one of several articles, that all more or less tell me, "CLEANER but not CLEAN"

Cleaner but not clean - Why scientists say natural gas won't avert climate disaster
https://www.reuters.com/article/busi...idUSKCN25E1DR/

Natural Gas Is Not A Clean Burning Renewable Fuel
https://theclimateguru.org/natural-g...enewable-fuel/

Forgive me, but I doubt very much, that if you typed the following, into ChatGPT "Is natural gas a clean burning fuel?", it would just return the basic composition of the gas, its properties and relation to other fossil feuls and not come to the same conclusions as those articles I provided.

So with that in mind, when I have a hard time believing you or ChatGPT version of events, I will naturally ask for "the sources" (if you could be so kind), so I may determine the facts for myself, should the need arise.

You forget, I'm not MAGA and therefore don't take things blindly!

[Spidy]

I only have personal knowledge about how one multinational major did things. It held its patents and proprietary software in a USA entity, so wouldn't have paid the GILTI tax because there was no foreign income. It didn't share or sell the results of its research in upstream (exploration and production), because it viewed it as a competitive advantage. And it only received a very small percent of its income from licensing its refining patents. I bet other large USA Oil and gas E&P and integrated companies would operate similarly.

A lot of the "intangibles" are held by the service companies, like Schlumberger, who may hold their patents in places like Ireland for all I know. I don't think Schlumberger is the best example though, as I don't believe it's a USA Company.

The big players in tankers, FPSO vessels (floating production, storage and offloading vessels) and offshore seismic acquisition are mostly foreign. The seismic companies have a lot of intangible assets. Up until Republicans cut the federal corporate tax rate to 21% in 2017, American companies couldn't compete in these areas because of the tax advantages the foreigners had.

Your explanation sounds reasonable enough to me, as I'm still trying to reconcile and wrap my head around, why or what made the reporter think CFCs or foreign O&G companies, were using foreign tax loopholes (ie. Maybe the use GILTI), to sidestep million in taxes and it seem to center around the income from their intangible assets.

Anyways, perhaps there's nothing to the report, perhaps there is. I guess when time permits, I'll take a second look. Same goes for the wind farm subsidies.

[Sirioja]

Yeah, Trump was close to the worst candidate Republicans could pick to run for president. Maybe George Santos would have been worse. But Democrats still couldn't beat him! Hillary should have, both because she won the popular vote by a decent margin and because she would have made a better president IMHO. (I didn't vote for her because the Libertarians were running the best presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan that year -- Gary Johnson.) In the mind of many Americans, including me, Harris and Biden were as bad a choice or worse than Trump.

Michele Obama could give a much better image than a senile schizophrene threatening blackmailing to rob poor Ukrainians with his friend, criminal dictator Putin, also threatening Greenland to rob also them. USA are just behaving like robbers now, when they can t compete with EU and cheap China for economics. But Hamas won t be afraid of a old senile bullshiting. The world have now to protect versus shameful USA under robber, crazy Trump.

[SubCmdr]

It increasingly looks like Trump's going to get the parties to negotiate a ceasefire, instead of continuing with a senseless war. Maybe President Trump will receive the Nobel Peace Prize!

President Putin is serving as an intermediary for negotiations between the USA and Iran, that may also bring peace to the Middle East. Perhaps Trump and Putin will jointly receive a Nobel! And now that Trump's talked some sense into him, Zelenskyy too! Wouldn't that be the cat's meow!

Can't wait to hear what Xpartan thinks about this!

Ferengi Rules of Acquisition #35: Peace is good for Business!

In other news, I am considering an electric scooter / motorcycle here in Pattaya, Thailand. Research online leads me to believe that some have removable battery packs that can be taken up to my room and charged overnight there. I can even have two so if I am rolling hard during the day I could use my room as hub and change out the battery pack during the day and keep rolling. For my in town movements that ranges are perfect. For longer rides I still need a ICE. But that's ok as I was planning to buy a scooter for errands and maxi scooter for longer trips. The crypto and stock market have been very, very, very good to me.

[Tiny 12]

PS: And while your at it, ask ChatGPT, if natural gas is a "clean burning gas", I'd love to hear the answer.

Your wish is my command!

Natural gas is considered a clean-burning fuel primarily because of its chemical composition and combustion characteristics compared to other fossil fuels like coal and oil. Here's why:

1. Lower Carbon Emissions.

Natural gas is mostly methane (CH&#8324, which has a high hydrogen-to-carbon ratio.

When burned, it produces less carbon dioxide (CO&#8322 per unit of energy compared to coal or oil.

On average, natural gas emits about 50-60% less CO₂ than coal and about 25-30% less than oil.

2. Minimal Particulate Matter (PM) and Air Pollutants.

Unlike coal and oil, natural gas combustion does not produce soot, ash, or significant particulate matter.

It emits very low levels of sulfur dioxide (SO&#8322, reducing acid rain formation.

It also produces less nitrogen oxides (NO&#8339 than other fossil fuels, leading to lower smog formation.

3. High Combustion Efficiency.

Natural gas burns almost completely, producing mainly CO₂ and water vapor (H₂O).

This high efficiency means less fuel is needed to generate the same amount of energy, further reducing emissions.

4. No Toxic Residues or Heavy Metals.

Unlike coal, which contains mercury, arsenic, and other toxic metals, natural gas combustion does not release hazardous heavy metals into the atmosphere.

Natural gas is considered a clean-burning fuel because it produces fewer greenhouse gases and air pollutants, burns efficiently, and leaves little to no residue.

Natural gas is often referred to as a bridge fuel because it provides a cleaner alternative to coal and oil while supporting the transition to a more renewable-based energy system.

[Axel Heyst]

Check out this video from last night's speech when Trump calls Warren 'Pocahontas' while announcing he received letter from Zelenskyy calling for peace. All the while Warren and the loony Dems applaud the idea of an unending war in the Ukraine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr9U-FCv9gY&t=22s

[Tiny 12]

Okay...it seems I need to revisit my understanding of GILTI, but one last question for you.

So is it your assertion, that O&G companies have no intangible assets? Because if they do (which I think they do) have intangible assets (no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential), wouldn't they need GILTI to be calculated?

And that calc use some variation of the following, when I do a search?: GILTI = Net CFC Tested Income (10% x QBAI - Interest Expense)

That's it, I'm done! It seems YOU and GILTI, have done me in....well at least for now!


PS: My apologies to all the other ISGers, for taking up the forum bandwidth these last few days! I'll try to keep things to a minimum for the next little while.

Thx for your patience and understanding!

I only have personal knowledge about how one multinational major did things. It held its patents and proprietary software in a USA entity, so wouldn't have paid the GILTI tax because there was no foreign income. It didn't share or sell the results of its research in upstream (exploration and production), because it viewed it as a competitive advantage. And it only received a very small percent of its income from licensing its refining patents. I bet other large USA Oil and gas E&P and integrated companies would operate similarly.

A lot of the "intangibles" are held by the service companies, like Schlumberger, who may hold their patents in places like Ireland for all I know. I don't think Schlumberger is the best example though, as I don't believe it's a USA Company.

The big players in tankers, FPSO vessels (floating production, storage and offloading vessels) and offshore seismic acquisition are mostly foreign. The seismic companies have a lot of intangible assets. Up until Republicans cut the federal corporate tax rate to 21% in 2017, American companies couldn't compete in these areas because of the tax advantages the foreigners had.