A pocket of hope in Appalachia. Plus: Stumbling toward the White House, The Free Press in Israel, and two Zoomers duke it out over the Apple Vision Pro.
Jobs surging? Look beyond the headline at the actual report. Full-time jobs actually decreased. Part-time jobs surged. Now do an experiment. Next time you’re in a diner or store talk to the waiter and clerk. Ask them how many jobs they have. Many will say 3. I know because I have had those conversations. Part time work is unstable work with few if any benefits and exhausting. But that is how Joe Biden’s America is feeding its children.
Yes, people doing it for themselves, not expecting government to help.
I had the “pleasure” of determining what services are available for older people in my community. Services behind miles of red tape, waiting lists, disqualifying details, and unanswered phone calls. Seems that people have government jobs to explain all sorts of service programs and how your little old lady doesn’t qualify.
My church people step up and take care of our older people in need.
Does anyone seriously think the poll question about treating migrants humanely and protecting immigrant rights was valid? Protecting immigrant rights? WTF is that? The right to steal, rape and beat up cops? To live in rec centers and schools while American citizens get leftovers? The right to Visa cards and new phones and new Nikes? To get hotel rooms or shelters while veterans especially elderly vets are kicked out?
Holy Christmas Batman, where’s the reality when you look at actually controlling the border where Joey is in the septic tank having already gone down the toilet.
The ads for Trump and the Rs write themselves. If they don’t capitalize on this, we deserve to be Cuba.
Thank you FP for such a good story on the impact that corrupt political policies, big pharma and the cartels have had on devastating these Appalachian people and their communities. You can see it all over the northern and western areas of my home state of North Carolina. This tragedy should serve as a perfect example of why there should not be another penny sent to Ukraine, Israel or any other nation and repurpose our taxpayer dollars to rebuilding our communities that have been ravaged by the politicians, corporate cabals and international criminal organizations. But of course there's no honeypot of corrupt cash for the politicians in doing that, nor does it help the stock price of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. These are the same corrupt assholes who continue to shut down coal mines for "green energy" and telling the laid off coal mine workers that they should learn to code. The same ones that have shipped all the textile and manufacturing jobs to Mexico, China and SE Asia. All this devastation is a result of corrupt DC elites who hate & manipulate the working poor and who've completely gutted the nations middle class to enrich themselves and their cronies. I'd wager every penny I have that Mitch McConnell has never made a single visit to Hazard, Kentucky.....ever. Just proving he's one of the top scumbags in Washington that needs to be tossed out on his turtle looking ass. F*ck these people.....they are the true enemy of our county.
On a positive note, there are some great artists that have made a big difference in fighting the addiction epidemic in the Appalachia's. Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, S.G. Goodman, and Chris Stapleton to name a few. There's an annual music event that is worth attending and supporting called Healing Appalachia.
I am surprised and disappointed by your video about the Israeli captives. I support the effort to keep awareness of their ongoing tragedy in people's minds, but you went past that into Israeli politics, essentially using this tragedy as a cudgel against the government.
There was no indication that you had sought to interview a representative of the government, or any of the many people with family among the captives who do 𝗻𝗼𝘁 share Yair Golan's politics or the opinion that there are concessions that are not being made but should be. The idea that we can refuse Hamas nothing if it's the price of the captives' return is obviously wrong. Were Hamas to demand that we sacrifice some random Israeli, many would rush to volunteer to be the sacrifice, but I doubt any of the family members you interviewed would be willing to wield the knife. And rightly so.
Freeing untold numbers of terrorists is, according to many who blame Netanyahu for this debacle, how he caused it, via the Shalit deal (and it's worth mentioning that support for the Shalit deal was mostly on the Left, not the Right). Now the same people are saying he's evil for not wanting to do it again. Leaving Hamas in power means increasing the risk of more October sevenths in the future, as well as more garden-variety rockets, shootings, bombings and stabbings.
And it's worth taking a moment to remember the soldiers who are fighting right now for the dual goals of destroying Hamas and returning the captives, many of whom disagree with the assessment of every single person you interviewed, all the while risking -- and sacrificing -- their lives for those people's loved ones. I have seen their bravery and the purity of their intentions, their overpowering need to give the "last full measure of devotion" to their countrymen, their family. They deserve better than this.
I'm not condemning anyone, least of all those with relatives among the captives, for whatever opinion they hold, but you're journalists and have some responsibility to offer a fuller picture.
My son texted me the other day saying "we need to think about the Apple vision Pro." I wrote back its "$3500 so that's a hard no." I got an "OMG" in return. He had no idea of the cost.
The issue with tech like the Vision Pro is not that it takes you out of reality, or that it allows you to play a more immersive kind of game. People complain about new tech all the time. You would return to reality eventually, just like you do with your phone. The problem is that when people return to IRL they would then take one look around and go back as fast as they can to pretend world. People choose tech immersion even now because they really feel they have no control over their day to day lives or their day to day lives are so hard that escapism is the only thing that helps them survive. Too bad that those in charge truly have no idea what the average person deals with on a daily basis. Trump isn't ahead in the pols because people feel good about the world around them. But I digress.
Listien, the part of the article that actually caused me to guffaw is when the writer says the Vision Pro is the cost of a vacation. That is some privileged shit right there.
"The really worrying thing for Biden is that 20-point gap on the economy even with the GDP expanding, inflation cooling, jobs surging, and consumer sentiment finally improving."
It's bad enough to swallow that swill but do you have to peddle it for those liars, too? Try going to the grocery store or gas station. That inflation is cooked into prices and wages haven't kept pace. Moreover, asset prices are up, along with interest rates, so housing and rent are even less affordable and Americans are more in credit card debt (at over 28% interest rates) than ever. Biden's economy is a mess and you need to stop pretending otherwise. Americans with assets can exult over the recent run up in the market (how long will that last?) but how about a little compassion for those who are struggling. Just another reason why I detest Democrats more by the minute.
It is easy to get 97 percent of the vote if the Democrats act like the mafia—which they do—and run around making it impossible for anyone else to run or get on the ballot. I wonder how Biden would have done if the party “preserving democracy” actually allowed voters to make a choice. Why was Kennedy exiled? North Korea indeed.
And when the illegal alien military aged men invaders from countries that hate us do their October 7 atrocities around the country, will the wearers of those things see them coming? Cannon fodder.
“Biden loses to Trump by five points. (The pair were neck and neck back in September.) And then here’s what voters said”
——————————————————-
Was the poll conducted the way elections are where street hustlers and nightclub promoters are paid to collect votes aggressively and oversample Democrats in a huge way? No? Okay so ignore the poll.
I find it interesting that when Google had those AR glasses people went nuts. "I don't want someone's camera pointing at me all the time!" "Oh, they look so stupid". But Apple does it in an even more obtrusive way and its the best thing ever. I sometimes wish I was an Apple fanboy so I could understand why people spend 500 bucks on a watch they use primarily to know if they need to pull their phone out. Let alone 4000 bucks to be even move over connected than we already are.
Jobs surging? Look beyond the headline at the actual report. Full-time jobs actually decreased. Part-time jobs surged. Now do an experiment. Next time you’re in a diner or store talk to the waiter and clerk. Ask them how many jobs they have. Many will say 3. I know because I have had those conversations. Part time work is unstable work with few if any benefits and exhausting. But that is how Joe Biden’s America is feeding its children.
Yes, people doing it for themselves, not expecting government to help.
I had the “pleasure” of determining what services are available for older people in my community. Services behind miles of red tape, waiting lists, disqualifying details, and unanswered phone calls. Seems that people have government jobs to explain all sorts of service programs and how your little old lady doesn’t qualify.
My church people step up and take care of our older people in need.
Does anyone seriously think the poll question about treating migrants humanely and protecting immigrant rights was valid? Protecting immigrant rights? WTF is that? The right to steal, rape and beat up cops? To live in rec centers and schools while American citizens get leftovers? The right to Visa cards and new phones and new Nikes? To get hotel rooms or shelters while veterans especially elderly vets are kicked out?
Holy Christmas Batman, where’s the reality when you look at actually controlling the border where Joey is in the septic tank having already gone down the toilet.
The ads for Trump and the Rs write themselves. If they don’t capitalize on this, we deserve to be Cuba.
Thank you FP for such a good story on the impact that corrupt political policies, big pharma and the cartels have had on devastating these Appalachian people and their communities. You can see it all over the northern and western areas of my home state of North Carolina. This tragedy should serve as a perfect example of why there should not be another penny sent to Ukraine, Israel or any other nation and repurpose our taxpayer dollars to rebuilding our communities that have been ravaged by the politicians, corporate cabals and international criminal organizations. But of course there's no honeypot of corrupt cash for the politicians in doing that, nor does it help the stock price of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. These are the same corrupt assholes who continue to shut down coal mines for "green energy" and telling the laid off coal mine workers that they should learn to code. The same ones that have shipped all the textile and manufacturing jobs to Mexico, China and SE Asia. All this devastation is a result of corrupt DC elites who hate & manipulate the working poor and who've completely gutted the nations middle class to enrich themselves and their cronies. I'd wager every penny I have that Mitch McConnell has never made a single visit to Hazard, Kentucky.....ever. Just proving he's one of the top scumbags in Washington that needs to be tossed out on his turtle looking ass. F*ck these people.....they are the true enemy of our county.
On a positive note, there are some great artists that have made a big difference in fighting the addiction epidemic in the Appalachia's. Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, S.G. Goodman, and Chris Stapleton to name a few. There's an annual music event that is worth attending and supporting called Healing Appalachia.
Please check it out. https://healingappalachia.org
I am surprised and disappointed by your video about the Israeli captives. I support the effort to keep awareness of their ongoing tragedy in people's minds, but you went past that into Israeli politics, essentially using this tragedy as a cudgel against the government.
There was no indication that you had sought to interview a representative of the government, or any of the many people with family among the captives who do 𝗻𝗼𝘁 share Yair Golan's politics or the opinion that there are concessions that are not being made but should be. The idea that we can refuse Hamas nothing if it's the price of the captives' return is obviously wrong. Were Hamas to demand that we sacrifice some random Israeli, many would rush to volunteer to be the sacrifice, but I doubt any of the family members you interviewed would be willing to wield the knife. And rightly so.
Freeing untold numbers of terrorists is, according to many who blame Netanyahu for this debacle, how he caused it, via the Shalit deal (and it's worth mentioning that support for the Shalit deal was mostly on the Left, not the Right). Now the same people are saying he's evil for not wanting to do it again. Leaving Hamas in power means increasing the risk of more October sevenths in the future, as well as more garden-variety rockets, shootings, bombings and stabbings.
And it's worth taking a moment to remember the soldiers who are fighting right now for the dual goals of destroying Hamas and returning the captives, many of whom disagree with the assessment of every single person you interviewed, all the while risking -- and sacrificing -- their lives for those people's loved ones. I have seen their bravery and the purity of their intentions, their overpowering need to give the "last full measure of devotion" to their countrymen, their family. They deserve better than this.
I'm not condemning anyone, least of all those with relatives among the captives, for whatever opinion they hold, but you're journalists and have some responsibility to offer a fuller picture.
My son texted me the other day saying "we need to think about the Apple vision Pro." I wrote back its "$3500 so that's a hard no." I got an "OMG" in return. He had no idea of the cost.
The issue with tech like the Vision Pro is not that it takes you out of reality, or that it allows you to play a more immersive kind of game. People complain about new tech all the time. You would return to reality eventually, just like you do with your phone. The problem is that when people return to IRL they would then take one look around and go back as fast as they can to pretend world. People choose tech immersion even now because they really feel they have no control over their day to day lives or their day to day lives are so hard that escapism is the only thing that helps them survive. Too bad that those in charge truly have no idea what the average person deals with on a daily basis. Trump isn't ahead in the pols because people feel good about the world around them. But I digress.
Listien, the part of the article that actually caused me to guffaw is when the writer says the Vision Pro is the cost of a vacation. That is some privileged shit right there.
"The really worrying thing for Biden is that 20-point gap on the economy even with the GDP expanding, inflation cooling, jobs surging, and consumer sentiment finally improving."
It's bad enough to swallow that swill but do you have to peddle it for those liars, too? Try going to the grocery store or gas station. That inflation is cooked into prices and wages haven't kept pace. Moreover, asset prices are up, along with interest rates, so housing and rent are even less affordable and Americans are more in credit card debt (at over 28% interest rates) than ever. Biden's economy is a mess and you need to stop pretending otherwise. Americans with assets can exult over the recent run up in the market (how long will that last?) but how about a little compassion for those who are struggling. Just another reason why I detest Democrats more by the minute.
Things could have been worst, Biden could have said he met de Gaulle.
It is easy to get 97 percent of the vote if the Democrats act like the mafia—which they do—and run around making it impossible for anyone else to run or get on the ballot. I wonder how Biden would have done if the party “preserving democracy” actually allowed voters to make a choice. Why was Kennedy exiled? North Korea indeed.
Those apple thingies. Bread and circuses.
And when the illegal alien military aged men invaders from countries that hate us do their October 7 atrocities around the country, will the wearers of those things see them coming? Cannon fodder.
“Biden loses to Trump by five points. (The pair were neck and neck back in September.) And then here’s what voters said”
——————————————————-
Was the poll conducted the way elections are where street hustlers and nightclub promoters are paid to collect votes aggressively and oversample Democrats in a huge way? No? Okay so ignore the poll.
“Do voters trust Biden on. . . anything? Why are Democrats so mean to Dean Phillips? “
———————————————————-
Because it is a cult and you need to look up how Stockholm Syndrome often causes victims to side with their abusers, sometimes quite angrily.
"the president won with 96 percent of the vote. Those are North Korean numbers."
Exactly. And we should soon start expecting similar numbers in our general elections if we don't re-establish basic election integrity measures.
The polls indicate that 20 to 35% of those polled still support Biden on some issues. This level of insanity is very alarming.
I find it interesting that when Google had those AR glasses people went nuts. "I don't want someone's camera pointing at me all the time!" "Oh, they look so stupid". But Apple does it in an even more obtrusive way and its the best thing ever. I sometimes wish I was an Apple fanboy so I could understand why people spend 500 bucks on a watch they use primarily to know if they need to pull their phone out. Let alone 4000 bucks to be even move over connected than we already are.
In what way is that gadget not just sticking a monitor on your face? No thanks. Apple has got enough money. I've got enough monitors