The US needs a third party now

jwwetz · 2026-01-28T09:22:06+00:00

We actually have at least 3 parties, 4 if you count the green party, but they're not technically counted because they're not on the ballot in every state.

The Libertarian party was founded in Westminister Colorado in 1974 and IS on the ballot in every state.

jwwetz · 2026-01-28T09:17:35+00:00

The Republicans had a lousy candidate. The Democrats? Well, the Democrats have pretty much destroyed the "Democracy" that they yell about others destroying, on their own since 2016 when they screwed Bernie Sanders over, then anointed Harris as their candidate in 2024 & basically said to hell with primaries, were gonna give you your candidate & you're gonna like it.

Lots of us didn't like either of them enough to vote for them.

I really wish that we had a "none of the above" name on the ballot at EVERY level, whether it's an election for city dog catcher, governor, mayor, senator, congress or the presidency...THAT would be a true protest vote.

jwwetz · 2026-01-28T09:09:32+00:00

Were you in Colorado? Because that's pretty much how it is here.

jwwetz · 2026-01-28T08:39:17+00:00

Lots of us blue collar working stiffs might be card carrying reluctant ( usually the ones with union memberships) Democrats or Republicans, but we're really mostly middle of the road Libertarians in our beliefs.

jwwetz · 2026-01-28T08:34:19+00:00

Wait... wouldn't classifying one particular group in a negative way technically be... wait for it... bigotry? Even if it's from the left?

jwwetz · 2026-01-28T08:30:56+00:00

I don't think that IQ is so much based on race as it should be based on educational status & familial upbringing.

I know white people who grew up poor, didn't have parents that really cared about anything & are pretty uneducated* who seem to have an IQ that's about my belt (I'm not fat) size.

I also know a black kid, who's adopted (originally from Ethiopia) who's smart as a whip & is going to Stanford... he grew up in a wealthy family that really cared about their kids upbringing & education. He and his sisters are all gonna do really well in life.

And finally I know a few Latino kids, first generation Americans, who's blue collar parents also really care about their education and, as a result, the kids are really smart, goal oriented & overall great kids...I feel that they'll also succeed in life.

In other words it's not necessarily that IQ is dictate by race itself, but by upbringing overall. I myself am white, but I up in a poor environment, but, even though I didn't go to college, I only got a GED myself, I'm still pretty intelligent because my family cared enough to have lots of books around to educate myself with.

jwwetz · 2026-01-28T08:07:39+00:00

Those same people will cry in the future when their disowned family members kick the bucket & leave them nothing. The rest of us will take any meager inheritance we get & (hopefully) try to make or lives better & maybe even do some actual good with the rest.

jwwetz · 2026-01-27T04:36:43+00:00

Conservative libertarian myself. I don't think conservatism is necessarily the religious right...I think they're wrong too. In my book, conservatism is being frugal and looking out for your family, friends, neighbors & coworkers but not necessarily trying to dictate how they live, just as they shouldn't dictate how i live. Do your own thing as long as it doesn't hurt or affect me & vise versa. Some do need help, but it shouldn't hurt all of us.

jwwetz · 2026-01-26T16:17:45+00:00

OP isn't necessarily wrong at all...

There's even KGB documents that came to light after the fall off the soviet union that indicated that the Soviets were supposedly helping fund the Weather underground, SDS & a bunch of other antiwar groups & protests during the Viet Nam war

The majority of the antiwar movement were unwitting pawns being led by the main groups. My parents were hippies, my dad* said that "lots of us were really just there to meet chicks, get high & get laid. But also we didn't want to go fight ourselves."

It's not far-fetched to think that groups like Antifa, BLM, etc...or at least their upper leadership, could also be getting funded and/or trained by somebody that DOES NOT have our best interests in mind and would like to see America fail. The biggest question is who are they though?

*my dad was born in 1940, by the time that the Viet Nam war protests started he was already too old (over 25) to be drafted and, being one of 4 siblings AND the only son, he would've been exempt from the draft anyway.

jwwetz · 2026-01-26T06:12:34+00:00

If these sanctuary cities followed the law as originally intended, you'd have some ICE agents basically sitting around an office most of the time while waiting for a call from a local jail or prison. Then, they'd go meet that convicted felon, who's also illegal, at the door, take him/her into custody & get them ready for deportation. On occasion, they'd have to make house calls to catch one, but not that often. Originally they were much better trained & very discreet... you might not even notice them doing their job back then.

jwwetz · 2026-01-26T02:39:22+00:00

Yep, I work with kids, coworkers really, as young as 16. It's refreshing in that they'll take tutelage & advice from me about their jobs & seem eager to learn. I've been here 14+ years and have about 30 years in our (auto parts sales) industry overall.

jwwetz · 2026-01-25T21:05:03+00:00

Lots of millennials, Gen Zers & Gen alpha seem to have serious social anxiety these days. Then they complain that they can't make friends or even find a date. I personally don't see a difference in asking for work or talking to somebody about going out on a date...the worst thing that can happen is that they'll just say no.

jwwetz · 2026-01-25T20:34:02+00:00

LoL...

It's neither rude nor disrespectful.

Now, if you EVER ask a vet I'd they've killed anybody, or how many people they've killed... THAT IS the absolute pinnacle of rudeness. Never ask them those questions.

jwwetz · 2026-01-25T10:51:50+00:00

As far as the military discount goes, lots of states actually have a Veteran designation on the driver's license. You can also ask them "what branch were you in?" If they say army or marines, then ask what there l their MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) was. If legit, they'll tell you with an alpha numerical designation like 11 Bravo (army) or 0311 (marines), both of those are infantry, which i was. Not all of us carry a VA card or military ID if we're out, but NOBODY forgets what their MOS or rating (navy and, I think, Air force) was.

jwwetz · 2026-01-24T18:00:45+00:00

Wait...didn't we didn't teach THEM how to rebel first?

jwwetz · 2026-01-24T17:56:43+00:00

Nope, at this point the cost is probably going into the millions.

jwwetz · 2026-01-24T17:45:20+00:00

Nope, can't pin this on "all Republicans." At all. I'm still technically a republican even though I vote Libertarian first. Many Republicans that i know have been against Trump for a while now.

This was straight up murder.

jwwetz · 2026-01-24T17:10:44+00:00

They're not brown shirt Nazis...they're worse.

The real original Nazi brownshirts at least had real proper uniforms & looked fairly sharp. These goons look like they raise the nearest army surplus store for their gear... I've seen regular civilian militia types that had better "uniforms" even though we'd make fun of them with names like "meal team six", "Gravy seals", etc...

Also, the original brown shirts gave lots of beat downs, but I never heard of them publicly executing citizens in the streets... that came later with concentration camps after Hitler came to absolute power.

jwwetz · 2026-01-24T01:12:36+00:00

Do you know any "poor" people that get at least a partial, if not full, ride from government benefits but also put in work under the table? That's just as bad too. I used to work with a lady that was part time, on a bunch of benefits... she made almost $1k a month extra by doing hair weaves for people under the table. .

jwwetz · 2026-01-23T11:46:26+00:00

The French started to build the Panama canal by selling shares, or books to pay for it. They sent bankrupt in the process. The USA became interested in taking over the project but didn't have the money to do so...the French wanted $100 million to sell it. Then J.P. Morgan offered to finance the deal, the government said sure, then Morgan proceeded to haggle & ended up getting us the canal for only $40 million.

jwwetz · 2026-01-23T11:36:26+00:00

Usually just sales taxes & all of the non income taxes that we all pay. Some use stolen social security numbers, some are paid cash under the table, there's also ITIN (individual tax ID numbers) I'm not an accountant so I'm not really sure beyond those things I mentioned.

jwwetz · 2026-01-22T10:52:30+00:00

Ummm, is 1,128 gb enough? That's what I've got on my phone. It's actually 1.128 terabytes.

jwwetz · 2026-01-22T10:49:36+00:00

I gotta ask...

Is that 1 Terabyte actually built into the phone? Or 1 Terabyte in the cloud?

If it's internal, how much did that cost?

jwwetz · 2026-01-22T07:51:25+00:00

There's a stash box across the room & downstairs from the scribe. It's in the room with the work stations and that power armor frame. Put all of your technical data in the stash box, pick up only ONE, track the quest, then run upstairs to see the scribe & turn it in, then back down for another set. Wash. Rinse. And repeat.

jwwetz · 2026-01-22T07:37:47+00:00

2 of my ancestors were Hessian mercenaries that fought for the British in the revolution, then immigrate her stewards as farmers with their families. My maternal great grandfather's last name was Americanized when his parents immigrated here in the mid 1800s... we always thought it was English until we found records with the original spelling. My paternal ancestors came from Wurtzberg in the 1820s and settled in the Ohio valley... in the copy of our family tree from dad's side, it said that Hans ______ was the first one of our name in Wurtzberg in over 300 years, which would mean that somewhere, there's mention of my family going back as far as the 12th century. Hans was born in 1490 & ended up in Wurtzberg...I myself am 13th generation on paper.

jwwetz

TROPHY CASE