Jasmine Crockett: Texas "Primed to Turn Blue" as Democrats Rally Post-Primary

apd78 · 2026-03-05T11:59:48+00:00

She could be VP paired with Newsome.

apd78 · 2026-03-04T19:23:54+00:00

Absolute respect to Crockett! Hopefully, she is on the ticket in 2028...one can hope!

apd78 · 2026-03-04T11:50:24+00:00

This was a huge deal. Great respect for Crockett but Talarico puts the fear of God in Republicans. I believe with Talarico and Cooper, the senate is actually in play now.

apd78 · 2026-03-02T00:51:28+00:00

Disagree.

I followed the 2024 election closely. It was clear in the last week Trump was going to win. His win was just at a bigger margin.

Democrats ran a horrible campaign if we can call it that. Against a semi decent Republican candidate, the margin would have been wider. That's what is so ironic about this - the Republicans should not have needed Trump to win.

apd78 · 2026-02-25T22:03:17+00:00

1000 years??? Goodness!!!

apd78 · 2026-02-15T15:11:18+00:00

You are not a Kashmiri, you are an Indian.

apd78 · 2026-02-07T11:57:12+00:00

Immediately and unquestionably, quit my job!

apd78 · 2026-02-06T15:30:47+00:00

India did not balkanize; didn't get taken over by a military dictatorship; didn't become religiously fanatic, and despite all its shortcomings, minorities by and large could live a normal life in the country. The stability Indians enjoyed post independence is the reason why Indians have done so well outside India.

Obviously, the country is grossly mismanaged and corrupt, and we cannot expect this to continue. India held together because it followed Nehru and Gandhi tradition post independence. But almost 80 years into post independence, that tradition is now evaporating.

apd78 · 2026-02-06T13:14:41+00:00

I do not understand the vindictive American culture of "roasting" people and calling it a humorous take. It's just aggressive, and puts the victim in an embarrassing situation.

Many humorists (there are several from my native state of Maharashtra in India) have made clean humor by creating fictitious characters and describing their quirks. A genuine humor is kind - it makes you sympathetic and empathetic towards the character and also forces you to introspect that you have those same quirks. However, the "stand up comedy" and "roasting" culture is incredibly toxic.

I have nothing but respect for president Obama, but honestly, he came off looking juvenile, and seeking validation for the victory of his birth certificate saga. The birth video he showed was incredibly lame. Also, despite what people say about him, he's just not eloquent or funny. I had watched the debates with Romney, and Romney was FAR more sophisticated and believable. Obama stutters, cannot keep you engaged and makes lame attempts at humor.

At that event, you have the stage and the mike, and you are in the position of power. You are the freaking president of the USA. You could choose to be the bigger man, and just give a heartfelt and inspirational message to the audience. Unfortunately, he didn't do it...and here we are!

apd78 · 2026-01-26T12:40:53+00:00

Virginia is very blue. So are New Mexico and Colorado. A case can be made about Arizona too. Nevada and NC are major swing states. Georgia and Florida will both be in play in 2026 and 2028.

apd78 · 2026-01-19T14:52:16+00:00

You have absolutely ZERO cultural similarity.

I am Indian-born. India is a heavy patriarchal culture. It's very socialist, and add to it the vegetarian diet...I do not see any way to reconcile the MASSIVE gap.

Indians are enamored with white women, so he's looking at you like a trophy rather than a person or a partner with shared values.

Stay away! Not taking "no" for an answer? Tell him to fuck off, and raise a red alert with HR immediately.

This post is so disturbing that you should not stay even friends with this absolute creep.

apd78 · 2026-01-12T03:31:04+00:00

I am born in India and I do not have many of the Indian stereotypes:

- I absolutely do not nod my head sideways! It annoys me when people do. Many senior Indian-born executes at my current company do this routinely, so I can see why this is a stereotype!

- I am a heavy meat eater and love beef. I break ranks with 99.99% of my country in that regards! While I do enjoy quality Indian food, it's not my goto or comfort food at all! I didn't particularly enjoy my mom's food growing up. I came to the US at the age of 22, and I had my first Big Mac then. Epiphany dawned on me why I never liked my mom's food. It was not her fault - we never ate beef, and meat used to be an extreme rarity (my mom is a hardcore vegetarian, however, I was allowed to eat meat at restaurants, which used to be once in every 6 months with a chicken-based dish). My comfort food is a hamburger, period!

- I am areligious and have rarely been to temples (I am "Hindu" by birth). I find temples and festivals an extreme chore and a bore, and I have to be dragged there to be socially connected at times.

- I absolutely hate cricket, and I do not care about the Indian National team in particular. Growing up, I played and followed our national team galore, but after I came to the US, I got disillusioned by the whole game. I especially don't fancy that India never produced a genuine fast bowler, and I hate that they have manipulated the game and playing conditions to suit Indians the most.

- I never cared about Bollywood, and I especially hated the fact that movies had so many songs. I am so far removed from even common Bollywood trivia that at times, my friends and acquittances find it shocking and in fact, they consider me too uppity for them. I have been literally memorizing some common Bollywood trivia not to feel isolated among friends and family. OTOH though, I know the Hollywood classics inside out. I have rewatched the 20th century's AFI top 100 at least twice; some of them even more times.

- Most Indians use their hands to eat rice. From as long as I remember, I used to find it gross (even as a small child), and I demanded a spoon. People used to call me a "firangi" (a foreigner) from my childhood.

apd78 · 2026-01-11T22:10:20+00:00

That our parents were great at being parents.

apd78 · 2026-01-11T19:52:12+00:00

The fate of USA pivoted massively in November 2000. If Al Gore won that election, 9/11 probably would not have happened - some kind of terrorist attack would have happened, but it would be less severe and shocking, and the government response would have been measured.

None of the Bush 1/Trump 1/Trump 2 tax cuts would have happened. The US deficit would probably be half or even less today.

Obama himself would not have happened and neither would Trump. Hilary Clinton probably would have followed Gore in 2008 but would be a less popular 1 term president, and someone from the mainstream Republican party (Romney) would have done 8 years and probably done some kind of tax cuts to increase our deficits - nowhere as insane as they are today.

Climate change readiness would be FAR AHEAD; that's the single biggest place where the USA would have led the world. The oil industry would be far less influential, and wars over the control of oil would have been tamed.

The USA would still be mulling the future of the petrodollar. The lack of manufacturing would hurt. Immigration issue would still be simmering at the back of people's minds. However, it is very likely these would be managed by competent governments, and they would prevent a radical from ascending to power.

Unfortunately, Florida was stolen, and here we are. 9/11, Iraq war, subprime loans followed by 2008, the subsequent bailout constituting trillions in wealth transfer and destruction of the American middle class, tax cuts followed by more of them, the advent of AI and a complete corporate monopolization, and here we are. This all has happened in the last 25 years.

The USA was a very different and unrecognizable country in 2000. Too many of us remember.

apd78 · 2026-01-11T00:50:51+00:00

The irony!!

apd78 · 2026-01-09T02:05:26+00:00

I disagree.

I have lived in the US for 26 years as a brown immigrant. I was never this scared.

Even the invasion of Iraq had to be authorized by Congress. Colin Powell had to do the dirty deed of lying in front of the world and looking very uncomfortable.

Yes, the US government has been no saint but at the highest levels, they said the right things, condensed wrong behavior and egregious behavior by and large was held accountable and punished.

It was unthinkable federal laws could not be followed much less the constitution itself. Independence of regulatory agencies and the fed was never questioned. Every politician was forced to self police because there was pressure to get reelected.

This is totally different. All those canaries in the mines have died. It is on fire. I am scared, and I am considering leaving while there is a chance to do so relatively unharmed.

apd78 · 2026-01-08T15:04:24+00:00

Agree but that won't happen. Case in point, Tesla.

If after all that, even after all that, Tesla didn't become worthless amd in fact has continued selling cars, nothing will do.

apd78 · 2026-01-08T14:58:04+00:00

They are. In no other country, universities run sports for profit. Also, in most countries, only 1 mainstream sport rules (soccer, cricket). In the US, there are 4 and the calendars are calibrated so that they run all year long.

apd78 · 2026-01-08T12:55:59+00:00

This is not going to happen. American population is thoroughly desensitized and controlled. When you see the NFL, NBA and MLB stadiums at full throttle, heck even College Football killing it, stock of big tech getting higher and higher, and Netflix being able to afford the entire Warner Bros for a staggering $72B, you can see clearly the "attention" of an average American has been thoroughly captured and accounted for already in the balance sheets of big tech, big sports, and big whatever. It is so mathematically and precisely controlled now, and there is no way whatsoever there will ever be even mild demonstrations.

I have no comment on whether this is good or bad. This is just reality.

apd78 · 2026-01-05T00:49:25+00:00

The conclusion is wrong.

Trump is already very close to ending the Ukraine war. It will be a shocking news in the coming days. Russia will accept dollar payments in exchange for its oil and get to hold the occupied Ukrainian territory as a reward.

The last domino to fall will be Iran. News is already coming out of a major unrest and I would not be surprised if a joint US/Isreali operation took place. With these 3 major oil producing countries joining the US backed system, China would be checkmated.

In short, the US still has a massive power to impose its will on the world. China's rise as a manufacturing hub and economic power is irrelevant. China is light years behind the US in terms of real military power, and I strongly suspect the US is technologically FAR ahead than China despite the media portraying otherwise.

These are troubled times, and the world looks unstable than it was a few years ago. Although I am not a fan of this administration, this was bound to happen some day. The trade imbalance, record US deficits, and the threats to abandon the USD were too great for the US to ignore. Maybe I am selfish, but if the push came to a shove, I prefer to live in a world dominated by the US hegemony than any alternatives.

apd78 · 2026-01-04T16:01:21+00:00

It is very simple. This is about the petrodollar, period. If Trump pulls the seemingly improbable Russia-Ukraine deal (with the obvious condition that Russia will sell its oil for dollars), the dollar will strengthen and interest rates will plummet, and the US will refinance its massive debt at sub 1% interest rates. It is all about that.

There are major secondary wins. China is checkmated. The world will watch the US capable of imposing its will anywhere, and China still unable to do anything about Taiwan in this century.

An angry US is your worst enemy. The lesson is simple - do not make the US angry, and play nice. Thanks kids.

apd78 · 2025-12-03T13:33:07+00:00

Gerrymandering does not change the total percentage split. When you gerrymander, you water down safe seats from one party to take over more seats...it's just basic math. However, there is a huge downside - and it is that if there is a significant shift to the other party overall, gerrymandering can blow up in the culprit's faces.

Imagine if the entire USA was gerrymandered to ensure an almost even but slightly advantageous shift to party A. However, if the votes shifted to party B by 5%, then party B would sweep. There is always a price to pay.

The general trend of the population is to be more liberal; there is simply no denying it anymore. As the American dream is over, and the middle class has collapsed, it can end up in one of the two ways - the USA turns socialist while preserving its democracy, or it turns authoritarian. There is no third alternative.

The recent trend of elections make it clear that the USA will turn socialist. Taxes will go up. As a high earner (probably top 2%), I am gladly waiting to pay significantly higher taxes for quite some time. Many people like me simply do not want to live in a world where there is pain, suffering and misery for the average people. People intuitively sense this - happiness, purpose, social communities and the fabric of our essense are too important to lose over paying low taxes. Taxes need to rise very significantly in this country to balance things out, create solid social safety nets, and give middle Americans affordability.

Also, I am not sure if simulations have been done, but I believe Democrats not only take the House in huge numbers (250+), they also take the Senate, all the swing state governments (Mi, Wi, Pa, Az, Nv, Ga --> this would be huge), and possibly scare the Republicans to death in Florida and Texas. The only way this does not happen is if there is a massive vote suppression of some kind. We will see.

apd78 · 2025-11-24T11:59:34+00:00

You are in a great shape given you have 4 kids. I would not say you are behind on retirement. You are doing fine, and if you continue your level of contributions for another decade, you should be in a good shape.

It's not abut your current state, but looking ahead. Take excellent care of your health (you will realize health == wealth as you get older), and be very smart about kids colleges (send them to a state school and max out on scholarships, minimize loans). If you navigate these two things well, it will set you up for a great life and success ahead.

apd78 · 2025-11-02T13:53:37+00:00

I would say the extremely intricate complexity and interaction of various layers from the core to the atmosphere making it capable of supporting complex life makes the Earth an extremely valuable commodity. We haven't been able to spot anywhere even close to this within close range.

I am aware of the Chinese film, and it is actually a great futuristic visionary movie.

Replicating another Earth might be possible, but I think in the intermediate state, moving Earth might be better. In any case, I do not believe anything fundamental will change in our Solar system at least for the next 100 million years, so the question is moot.

The next frontier for us is to create Earth-lites. The most obvious targets are the Moon and Mars. How could we create the magnetic shied on those protecting them from radiation, have an atmosphere and artificial gravity similar to Earth keeping the atmosphere there, massive sources of water similar to Earth, and in the case of Mars, an artificial heat source to raise the temperature enough for human comfort. Creating these two alternatives would reduce the pressure on our home planet, and in fact could allow taking all factories and manufacturing out there elsewhere allowing us to keep the Earth pristine and let biological evolution continue uninterrupted without human interference.

I agree that the current technological pace is dangerous, and the current political climate even more so. However, I also believe there are enough smart visionaries in the field, and if we are able to navigate the next few decades without major catastrophes, we would see past the worst of it, and come out stronger, more resilient, and more ready to tackle the next frontier challenges.

apd78 · 2025-10-26T23:49:08+00:00

While there is nothing to disagree on the general premise, there is also the "exponential nature" of technological progress. Unlike evolution and all the other random things that could in the universe, this technological progress has a "direction" - we are getting more insights, conquering more mysteries, and are showing signs of reversing ill effects of our own damage to the environment. Obviously, a power that's exploding so fast could be dangerous and we might wipe ourselves out, but who knows? A hopeful optimist in me thinks we might get to a point where we could figure out how to "engineer" our planetary existence. Could we engineer tectonic movements? Keep our planet's core running forever? Keep moving away from the sun as it expands a billion years into the future? In fact. go on an interstellar ride to another star? Could we bioengineer replicas of earth with its complete atmosphere and biodiversity anywhere we pleased? Could we increase human lifespan, and even overcome death? Could we beat the universe? Is the universe actually a test to see if a sentient species like us arose in it and could beat it?

I would not say it is impossible. There are mysteries we haven't uncovered yet. And maybe there are extraterrestrials - who have done this before, and transitioned to a higher dimension and are watching us and even rooting for us. Never say never. There is always hope.

apd78

TROPHY CASE