Oh but Trump is the past for ME even though he isn't for many other people even though he's "officially" announced he's running again. He will remain in the past and irrelevant to ME, unlike other people, unless or until he is the Republican presidential candidate. Even if he's the candidate he won't be living rent free in my head because I don't become obsessed with anyone and allow that to happen.
There is also a huge difference between considering the history of person entering your life personally, as in dating, and the history of someone who may never be an influence of your life.

oops

Tiffany I read your profile. Did you get the Russian documents before or after your "separation from a long-term boyfriend"???
Living in Michigan I would like to know if he's a Russian agent placed in the strategic spying location of Rockford Michigan?
Oh wait, I forgot Rockford is more strategically located to take a day trip to Lake Michigan for a day of salmon fishing.

I don't think about Trump until the media, politically driven DA's and prosecutors or politicians talk about him.

But then again I'm not obsessed with the past and don't allow anyone, including former presidents, to live in my head rent free.

The whole "China balloon" incident troubles me. It troubles me it was allowed to travel so far, not just by the United States but also by Canada. I understand wanting to bring down safely but I'm troubled that a decision was made that it needed to be over the Atlantic for safeties sake. I'm troubled that the balloon was brought down with a single shot. I'm not an expert but I'm troubled that the balloon wasn't shot with smaller artillery rounds that would have caused it to descend slowly so it sustain less damage on impact and remain largely intact while it was over unpopulated land.
Perhaps I'm troubled because I'm too much of a pragmatist?

but but but you peasants don't understand that they have to fly on private jets for their meeting. These environmentalist can't get together for dinner to eat caviar, lobster, prime rib and drink $500/bottles wine and $1000/bottle cognac if they met via Zoom.

I would refer you to the White House Counsel office and/or Biden's personal attorneys in order to determine the odds.

You are seeing this from the perspective of someone who isn't dealing with this, someone who DOESN'T have to deal with this. You may see this as a problem but it seems you are in a position of "it's not my problem it's not a problem". If this was happening in New Zealand, stressing the countries resources, taking resources your citizens need and redirecting those resources to people in your country illegally then perhaps your perspective would be different.

Also can you show me when I said ANYTHING about rape or murder in this thread? It's true that everyone does have capacity to commit crimes, to not follow laws, but people with integrity and morals don't break laws, That also includes immigration laws.

There is NO such thing as an "illegal immigrant" or an "undocumented immigrant", ACTUAL immigrants are ALLOWED entry AFTER going through the immigration process and are GIVEN documents. The problem is NOT differentiating between people entering a country, ANY country, legally or illegally. If any foreign national who enters a country becomes an immigrant of some kind then someone on vacation and terrorists alike becomes an immigrant.

As for my family, my father wanted to immigrate to the United States in the early 50's but was denied US entry so he moved to Canada. He landed in Canada with barely enough money to eat, the ONLY means our family had was the result of him and my mom working. We never lived in a house let alone owned a house when we lived in Canada. My dad didn't have the MEANS to have a nice car but that didn't give him the right to get one illegally. Not having the MEANS to do something, ANYTHING, doesn't justify doing something ILLEGAL!!!

From the Immigration New Zealand (INZ) website:
"INZ aims to increase the economic and social framework of New Zealand by:
facilitating residence and temporary entry into New Zealand, and ensuring that those who cross New Zealand's borders observe the provisions of New Zealand's immigration instructions and legislation.
Most of INZ's operational work is focused on deciding residence, temporary entry and transit visa applications, but we also provide information and respond to general enquiries. In addition, INZ removes people who are in breach of immigration law, or resolves their immigration status in other ways.
Another responsibility is to determine claims for refugee status in New Zealand under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol. We select quota refugees and escort them to New Zealand".

Your country, New Zealand has laws that need to be followed and "removes people who are in breach of immigration law"...you seem to believe is inhumane if the United States does the same thing to people who don't follow immigration laws.

Also your country has a QUOTA for refugees and "escort them to New Zealand". Your country DOESN'T allow EVERY refugee to enter your country. Is it inhumane for New Zealand to control how many refugees it allows?

How many other countries border New Zealand??? How many points of entry by land, both legal and illegal, does New Zealand have protect? There is a state that is similarly located geographically with New Zealand, that is Hawaii, and that state like New Zealand doesn't have an problem with illegal entry.

It's easy to be self righteous and generous when you aren't facing the problems or paying the price of dealing with those problems. Why haven't the United Nations member countries, as a whole or individually, stepped up to deal with the conditions in the countries that foreign nationals are fleeing? That's a rhetorical question since the answer is obvious.

I'm an immigrant in the United States because my family went through the immigration process. The people you are refer to as "immigrants" that are entering the country ILLEGALLY aren't immigrants, they are foreign nationals. I am so tired, and insulted, when these foreign nationals are given the same label that is assigned to me and other ACTUAL immigrants. There is also a process for refugees to follow that DOESN'T include entering the country ILLEGALLY.
The United States has NO more of an obligation to ANYONE who enters the country illegally than you or I have to someone who enters our home illegally. As far as cultural diversity goes the United States is accepting of diversity and welcomes the culture of ACTUAL immigrants who come LEGALLY. As an ACTUAL immigrant I know this to be true from personal experience.

Yeah it's selfish of the citizens of a country to want to be able to know who's entering. And those selfish people have locks on their doors too, can you believe it????

Why aren't "refugees" going to Germany instead of the United States especially since Germany is more welcoming and closer to the countries they are leaving?

Ever heard of Pascal's wager? Pascal was a seventeenth-century French mathematician, philosopher, physicist and theologian.
Pascal argued that a rational person should live as though God exists and should seek to believe in God. If God does not exist a nonbeliever will have only a finite loss like some pleasures, luxury, etc, But if God does exist a believer stands to receive infinite gains such as represented by eternity in Heaven and avoid infinite losses like spending eternity in Hell.

I'm not a religious person and I don't go to church, I don't believe any deity is taking attendance on Sundays, but Pascal's wager is based on a logical approach to the possibility of there being a Heaven, Hell and a God.

Mitch McConnell could be both the senate minority leader and the speaker of the house.
The Constitution does not require the speaker to be a member of the House of Representatives, although every speaker thus far has been. The fact is the speaker of the house can be someone who has never held a political position.....they just need to get 218 House Representatives to vote them to the position.

You should have wrote "freedom of speech is only ok if you say what I want to hear". Do you believe that some words are equal to violence and violence is justified to stop those words? Is that why you believe what Trump says is dangerous to freedom in America and the world and needs to be stopped? If so you are exhibiting signs of having a phobia which could manifest into violent and dangerous behavior.

Can you explain to me how it feel to have a phobia that allows someone to live in your head rent free? It seems to be your disdain (not distain as you wrote) for Trump that is allowing that to happen.

Do you also believe people can change from being a man to a woman or a woman to a man depending on how they FEEL on a given day because a persons biological makeup doesn't matter?

Actually AR15's CAN, and are, used for hunting game.
AR15's are used to hunt deer but the most popular use for the AR15 is hog hunting. Anyone who hunts and intends to use the meat knows that the only area to aim for is the "vitals", NOT the flesh.
You are correct in saying they are also used by varmint and predator hunters.
It would behoove you to ACTUALLY do some research before emphatically saying what anything, not just a gun, CANNOT be used for as if you're stating a fact.

While some people say the AR15 is "overkill" others say the AR15 is effective, For home defense my shotgun loaded with magnum buckshot is just as deadly, if not more deadly, than an AR15 at close range.

I don't own an AR15, I don't want an AR15, but just because I don't want one who am I, or you, to say someone else shouldn't own one?

Laws passed by congress DON'T mean squat if it's not enforced and people breaking laws aren't punished.

The 18 U.S. Code 1507 reads: "Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent uses any sound-truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."

18 U.S. Code 1507 was written to protect not only judges but also court officers, jurors and witnesses from being intimidated.
How many protesters have been fined or arrested for protesting at the homes of Supreme Court justices??
If ANY administration, the DOJ or those in charge of enforcement pick and choose which laws to enforce there will be laws that DON'T mean squat.

I have a cousin who's a cop in London Ontario, Ca. who told me a lot of crimes go unreported and he cited that their press isn't free to report on crime unless it gets government permission.

If people actually do the research you can find info that isn't widely seen and never gets reported by the MSM.

From https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/gngs-cnd/index-en.aspx

Gun violence in major cities in Canada has been a growing concern, especially in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Montréal.

Gun violence is also more prevalent among street gangs that involve primarily young men less than 30 years of age.

The Drugs, Alcohol and Violence International (DAVI) study, a joint Canada-U.S. effort, provides important evidence about the relationships between gangs, guns and drugs in Toronto and Montréal. A total of 904 male students (grades 9 to 12), school dropouts and young offenders were interviewed. The results indicate that:

There is a correlation between gang presence in schools and the availability of both guns and drugs in schools.
18.7% of boys (ages 14 to 17) in Montréal and 15.1% in Toronto have brought a gun to school.
School dropouts who get involved in drug selling are at higher risk of being involved in gun-related violence.

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How safe are Canadian schools when between 15 and 20 percent gang members ADMIT to bring guns to school? How many DIDN'T admit they had brought a gun to school?

While "law abiding" Canadians may not break gun laws, or have have guns that they aren't allowed to own, aren't involved in criminal activities.

The number of school age boys who have brought guns to school is troubling......and they are the SAME kind of people who wouldn't care about "gun restrictions" in the United States.

And there is no denying that Mexico, Chicago and NYC have shown that criminals don't care about gun laws.

And the idea of being able to sue gun manufactures for crimes committed while using their product that is produced legally is as ridiculous as suing a liquor manufacturer for health issues or death from using their products or an auto company for a crime or death resulting from the use of their products.

Taking away the rights of responsible people won't stop criminals from committing crimes, stop irresponsible people from from driving recklessly or drinking excessively.

Biden and Harris have talked about finding the "root cause" of foreign nationals entering the country illegally. Maybe they should try finding the root cause of the increase of hate in the country. Perhaps go back 40 years and look at what societal changes, the change in what kids have been exposed to, or not exposed to, that has caused the increase in crimes and violence.

If "gun control" laws worked Mexico would be a pretty safe country.

Mexico has extremely restrictive laws regarding gun possession. There is only one gun store in the entire country, and it takes months of paperwork to have a chance at purchasing one legally.

A total of 34,582 cases of homicide occurred in Mexico in 2019, up from 33,369 the year before. In 2020 there were 34,515 homicides.

The population in Mexico in 2020 was 128,932,753.

In 2020, there were 21,570 reported cases of murder or non-negligent manslaughter in the United States.

The population of U.S. in 2020 was 331,002,651.

Numbers don't lie......and from data it's obvious that restrictive laws doesn't stop murders in Mexico or the US cities with the most restrictive laws. Criminals commit crimes, whether it's car jacking, theft or murders because they IGNORE laws.

If 12 year old gets married

and the minimum legal age of consent nationally to have sex is 16

it means that a 12 year old who gets married can't consummate the marriage legally

and in some states, entering into a marriage without the intent of consummating the marriage is considered to be marital fraud

that means that a 12 year old who gets married can't consummate the marriage legally

so are 12 year olds who get married are either guilty of fraud or violating the age of consent law by default in some states

Oh geez.....I put way too much thought into something that isn't a problem for me!!!!

You said " I do not subscribe to the ludicrous scare stories perpetuated by those who read something on facebook and choose to believe it without any evidence whatsoever" and I couldn't agree more with that statement.

You go one to say " My philosophy in life is based around evidence based science" and I also agree with that statement.

But the problem is that government funded "medical experts" and politicians were using scare tactics to implement totalitarian like regulations that WEREN'T based on "evidence based science". Forcing children to wear masks that aren't KN95 or N95 is useless. Unless someone is wearing a N95 or KN95 face mask PROPERLY wearing a mask isn't very protective.....and those mask AREN'T required. There are studies that show evidence that children wearing masks in schools is more harmful than not wearing masks yet they are still being mandated by school districts in the United States.

If you want to live your life "around evidence based science" some ACTUAL research on your part is needed because JUST listening to talking point from government funded "medical experts" and politicians isn't following the science.

From a University of Waterloo study:

N95 or KN95 face masks may be the best way to avoid COVID-19 during crowded indoor events. That’s the recommendation from a new study reporting most cloth masks just don’t do the job when it comes to stopping the spread of coronavirus within enclosed spaces.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo simulated a person breathing in a large room with a cloth face mask on. Despite wearing a cloth mask, the study finds a large buildup of aerosol droplets suspended in the air.
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