2024 US Presidential Election

[moose eater]

but, i like pineapple! so, that makes it ok.

That's it, precisely.

We often fail to remember how it is that we get to live so well, when often times that quality of life is due to a burden placed on someone else's backs.

Few ask how we're able to import bananas from another hemisphere, and market them fresh and nicely yellow or gold to North America at .79 cents a lb.

Allende' was a duly elected leader in Chile and our government helped to sponsor a coup there that ended with him killed, and there were approximately 6 corporations who didn't want their assets to be nationalized there, so the State Dept. (CIA) and Kissinger undermined another sovereign government's duly elected leadership in order to safeguard ITT, Coca Cola, and 4 other majors.

And the scum who run our country now are even more led by the nose by corporate interests than those scumbags were. Citizens United wasn't even an overt thing back then.

 

[zachrockbadenof]

so, why has the world forgotten about haiti? it's simply because they have no natural resources to exploit.

the best by far mangoes come from haiti - in the US, only available from may till july - absolutely the best in the world - the label says 'organically grown in haiti' - what organic means in haiti... i dunno...

 

[greyfader]

That's it, precisely.

We often fail to remember how it is that we get to live so well, when often times that quality of life is due to a burden placed on someone else's backs.

Few ask how we're able to import bananas from another hemisphere, and market them fresh and nicely yellow or gold to North America at .79 cents a lb.

Allende' was a duly elected leader in Chile and our government helped to sponsor a coup there that ended with him killed, and there were approximately 6 corporations who didn't want their assets to be nationalized there, so the State Dept. (CIA) and Kissinger undermined another sovereign government's duly elected leadership in order to safeguard ITT, Coca Cola, and 4 other majors.

And the scum who run our country now are even more led by the nose by corporate interests than those scumbags were. Citizens United wasn't even an overt thing back then.

i remenber Allende and the coup. a sad state of affairs. the russians were doing the same things to other countries in their "sphere of influence" during the cold war.

hopefully, the developed nations will finally lose the "colonial" mentality they have displayed for so long and start helping the third world countries just for the good of it. think of the good will it would create. instead of invading your neighbors and taking from them you help them develop. think of the world wide stability. it wouldn't cost any more than producing weapons and funding large standing armies.

you are right about people wanting to stay "home" with their families and friends. they migrate because they are living a substandard lifestyle. in the old days before instant communication became possible people didn't know they were living a substandard lifestyle. now, everyone is keenly aware of the differences.

you ever read a book by arthur c clarke titled "childhoods end"? the aliens came and made the earthlings grow up. they didn't use violence, they used patience and logic to educate humans. maybe we need some benign aliens to help us

 

[greyfader]

the best by far mangoes come from haiti - in the US, only available from may till july - absolutely the best in the world - the label says 'organically grown in haiti' - what organic means in haiti... i dunno...

this is almost like deja vu all over again. ok, now you've got to hear the story of me and mangoes in haiti.

in 1981 i was living and working in puerto rico. i was a live marine specimen exporter. i would go out in a boat almost daily and catch tropical reef specimens for zoos and aquariums. scuba, hose apparatus, and snorkeling.

a commercial air freight company operated out of san juan and i used them to transport my specimens to miami. stripped out old 727's with roller beds set up for ld3 containers. a scissor lift picks them up and loads them through a side door then they are rolled into position and strapped down. that's how it's supposed to work.

because i used the airfreight company frequently they would let me ride along in the navigator's jump seat in the cockpit.

well, this time we had to make a stop in haiti to pick up mangoes. this is the time i flew over the center of the island.

so we land on time expecting the mangoes to already be loaded into ld3's and ready to put on the plane.

the mangoes weren't there but the mango shipper said they were on the way and would be there shortly.

we waited 5-6 hours with my live fish in a forward hold heating up in the hot tropical sun. they were packed in plastic bags with oxygen and were good for about 24 hours unless they got too hot or cold. i was worried that i was about to lose 2 months of work and income.

at this point we look up the mountain and saw a thin, long line moving slowly toward us. it took another couple of hours for the first part of that line to reach us. the long line that we saw in the distance was about 500 donkeys with cases of mangoes strapped to their backs led by men on foot.

the pilot sees this and starts going bananas because he realized they didn't even have any ld3 containers at the airport. he calls miami and asks for permission to leave and let another plane take the mangoes but the home office said no, we had to bring the mangoes.

so the rest of that day and all through the night about 100 haitians hand loaded a 727 jetliner full of mangoes in little wooden cases.

i thought my fish would all be doa but somehow they survived and we finally got to miami.

during this i got bored and walked about 2 miles into port-au-prince to get something to eat and a much needed beer or two. i was in shock at what i saw there. filthy, naked children with swollen, distended bellies from malnutrition. most of the adult population also showed signs of lifetime malnutrition. i saw an old man lying in the gutter near a luxury hotel. he was dying from something and nobody even tried to help him. two policemen walked by and just stepped over him like he didn't exist. he was covered in scabs and open sores.

from the airport to downtown there is a magnificent four lane boulevard but very few cars. most people were walking or riding little motorbikes loaded with a thousand pounds of something. sometimes 6 people on one little motor scooter.

every once in a while a big mercedes or caddy would go by at 80 mph. people scrambled to get out of the way because the drivers wouldn't even slow down.

meanwhile, back at the luxury resort hotel, rich folks were partying. i was truly shocked. how could people party and have a good time in the middle of all that suffering?

editing to say that, in 1981, the penalty for cutting down a mango tree in haiti was death.

 

[EastCoastGambit]

The best starting point to stop accepting asylum requests en masse here is to stop engaging in illegal covert and overt ops in others' lands. If we stop fucking up their places economically, governmentally,. socially, and militarily, perhaps they'd stop coming in droves and have a place they'd want to stay.

'Home' is held quite dearly by most, wherever that might be. They don't take moving to the US lightly.

When 'we' take part in making the mess that many of those countries have turned into, courtesy of our 'representation' in those many leather-topped-desk alphabet soup agency offices, we forfeit the ability to complain about the residuals or blow-back.

Like tipping over a glass of milk, then complaining that the carpet got wet and "Why hasn't anyone cleaned it up yet?!"

I think if we're going to coerce the well-dressed stuffed-suit heathen scum in the many positions of power to engage in sensitivity training, the first book that they ought to have to read aloud to each other, with mandatory attendance, on camera, in their assigned or respective chambers (to include the Oval Office), is, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten". It addresses most of what the bastards seem to have forgotten that was truly pertinent to life.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[buzzmobile]

@So Hai i'm still waiting for the response from you on your choice of government and where is there a working model of one.

 

[buzzmobile]

As I write this I am sixty-five years old.

Happy Belated Birthday

so, why has the world forgotten about haiti? it's simply because they have no natural resources to exploit.

Some things may not have been forgotten and the consequences may be ongoing.

Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations - Office of the Historian

history.state.gov 3.0 shell

history.state.gov

the best by far mangoes come from haiti - in the US, only available from may till july -

More misery for Haiti when mango imports were suspended in Oct. 2022. There are no agricultural inspectors to certify the mangoes are pest-free.

iciHaiti - Agriculture : Urgency to resume exports of mangoes to the USA - iciHaiti.com : All the news in brief 7/7

Let's remember that in October 2022, the United States Department of Agriculture suspended the importation of mangoes from Haiti...

www.icihaiti.com

 

[zachrockbadenof]

this is almost like deja vu all over again. ok, now you've got to hear the story of me and mangoes in haiti.

in 1981 i was living and working in puerto rico. i was a live marine specimen exporter. i would go out in a boat almost daily and catch tropical reef specimens for zoos and aquariums. scuba, hose apparatus, and snorkeling.

a commercial air freight company operated out of san juan and i used them to transport my specimens to miami. stripped out old 727's with roller beds set up for ld3 containers. a scissor lift picks them up and loads them through a side door then they are rolled into position and strapped down. that's how it's supposed to work.

because i used the airfreight company frequently they would let me ride along in the navigator's jump seat in the cockpit.

well, this time we had to make a stop in haiti to pick up mangoes. this is the time i flew over the center of the island.

so we land on time expecting the mangoes to already be loaded into ld3's and ready to put on the plane.

the mangoes weren't there but the mango shipper said they were on the way and would be there shortly.

we waited 5-6 hours with my live fish in a forward hold heating up in the hot tropical sun. they were packed in plastic bags with oxygen and were good for about 24 hours unless they got too hot or cold. i was worried that i was about to lose 2 months of work and income.

at this point we look up the mountain and saw a thin, long line moving slowly toward us. it took another couple of hours for the first part of that line to reach us. the long line that we saw in the distance was about 500 donkeys with cases of mangoes strapped to their backs led by men on foot.

the pilot sees this and starts going bananas because he realized they didn't even have any ld3 containers at the airport. he calls miami and asks for permission to leave and let another plane take the mangoes but the home office said no, we had to bring the mangoes.

so the rest of that day and all through the night about 100 haitians hand loaded a 727 jetliner full of mangoes in little wooden cases.

i thought my fish would all be doa but somehow they survived and we finally got to miami.

during this i got bored and walked about 2 miles into port-au-prince to get something to eat and a much needed beer or two. i was in shock at what i saw there. filthy, naked children with swollen, distended bellies from malnutrition. most of the adult population also showed signs of lifetime malnutrition. i saw an old man lying in the gutter near a luxury hotel. he was dying from something and nobody even tried to help him. two policemen walked by and just stepped over him like he didn't exist. he was covered in scabs and open sores.

from the airport to downtown there is a magnificent four lane boulevard but very few cars. most people were walking or riding little motorbikes loaded with a thousand pounds of something. sometimes 6 people on one little motor scooter.

every once in a while a big mercedes or caddy would go by at 80 mph. people scrambled to get out of the way because the drivers wouldn't even slow down.

meanwhile, back at the luxury resort hotel, rich folks were partying. i was truly shocked. how could people party and have a good time in the middle of all that suffering?

editing to say that, in 1981, the penalty for cutting down a mango tree in haiti was death.

wow... what a story.... thanks for sharing

 

[zachrockbadenof]

More misery for Haiti when mango imports were suspended in Oct. 2022. There are no agricultural inspectors to certify the mangoes are pest-free.

no wonder i haven't seen em in my store/s

 

[buzzmobile]

I learned about Haitian mangoes from you this morning. Their only export is restricted.

I grew up on 10 acres of mangoes and avocados my grandfather planted. I would love to taste a Haitian mango. I bought a beautiful mango in Costa Rica in 2014 that I still remember. It was tropical heaven and I was floating in a swimming pool listening to Costa Ricans in the area cheering for their Tico World Cup team.
Palmer, Kent, Haden, and Tommy Atkins were the varieities we grew.

 

[zachrockbadenof]

I learned about Haitian mangoes from you this morning. Their only export is restricted.

I grew up on 10 acres of mangoes and avocados my grandfather planted. I would love to taste a Haitian mango. I bought a beautiful mango in Costa Rica in 2014 that I still remember. It was tropical heaven and I was floating in a swimming pool listening to Costa Ricans in the area cheering for their Tico World Cup team.
Palmer, Kent, Haden, and Tommy Atkins were the varieities we grew.

they are kidney shaped.. i see some i think from mexico that looks similar, but can't get close to matching the taste.

 

[buzzmobile]

they are kidney shaped.. i see some i think from mexico that looks similar, but can't get close to matching the taste.

Palmer mango developing.

Almost time to eat.

 

[zachrockbadenof]

Palmer mango developing.

Almost time to eat.
View attachment 19028752

nicccce

 

[greyfader]

the island of hispaniola has 2 countries on it. the haitians speak french and the dominicans speak spanish.

one of my friends in puerto rico was a lawyer from a wealthy family and he came to me one day wanting to set up a marine tropical collecting and shipping operation in the Dominican republic.

we flew over on a private chartered plane into santo domingo, the capital, to get permissions and approvals from the government. well, they said we had to get the approval of the army general in the district where we wanted to work.

so we go to meet him and i'm expecting an older man in a uniform, of course. wrong! what showed up was a young man about 30, driving a fucking lamborghini, wearing designer clothes, and covered in gold chains and jewelry.

he gets out of the car grinning from ear to ear and starts speaking in perfect english with a clipped british accent. he had gone to school in england. he presented us with a deal that required us to give him 20% of our profits just to operate.

we were in la romana at a world class resort known as casa de campo and drinking in the bar during the meeting. we told him we would think it over and get back to him and we were about to leave when he invited us to go on a trip with him the next day to the border with haiti.

he said it wasn't official business but he was going to meet another general and they were going to shoot some haitians that were too close to the border. a sporting trip. he said we could shoot some too if we wanted to.

i said thank you for the offer but we had to go home and maybe we could get a raincheck on shooting some haitians some other time.

the corruption was so bad in the DR that we decided to cancel our plans for business there. everyone we met had their hand out for a "propina", which is a bribe but they call it a tip for great service.

my lawyer friend and i were in a rental car and he was driving like a maniac. speeding, running through intersections, weaving through traffic. finally we get pulled over by a motorcycle cop. he walks up to the car and my lawyer friend says, in spanish, "what the fuck do you want?" the cop says we were speeding and asked for our "papers". my friend says "fuck off, we don't have time for this shit." i'm sitting there thinking that we're both about to see the inside of a dominican jail when the cop says that we could pay our fine to him right there on the side of the road. my friend pulls a 10 peso note out of his pocket and threw it on the ground at the cop's feet. i'm still thinking we're fucked when the cop smiles, picks up the note and says "have a nice day." we roared off spraying him with gravel.

at the time a DR 10 peso note was worth about 75 cents US.

bribery and corruption is normal business in most poor countries. you are considered stupid if you don't get your share. it's another obstacle to helping develop these countries.

there is no middle class in these types of places, you are either rich and fat or poor and skinny. obesity is a sign of wealth.

 

[buzzmobile]

i was a live marine specimen exporter. i would go out in a boat almost daily and catch tropical reef specimens for zoos and aquariums. scuba, hose apparatus, and snorkeling.

A slurp gunner

 

[zachrockbadenof]

the island of hispaniola has 2 countries on it. the haitians speak french and the dominicans speak spanish.

one of my friends in puerto rico was a lawyer from a wealthy family and he came to me one day wanting to set up a marine tropical collecting and shipping operation in the Dominican republic.

we flew over on a private chartered plane into santo domingo, the capital, to get permissions and approvals from the government. well, they said we had to get the approval of the army general in the district where we wanted to work.

so we go to meet him and i'm expecting an older man in a uniform, of course. wrong! what showed up was a young man about 30, driving a fucking lamborghini, wearing designer clothes, and covered in gold chains and jewelry.

he gets out of the car grinning from ear to ear and starts speaking in perfect english with a clipped british accent. he had gone to school in england. he presented us with a deal that required us to give him 20% of our profits just to operate.

we were in la romana at a world class resort known as casa de campo and drinking in the bar during the meeting. we told him we would think it over and get back to him and we were about to leave when he invited us to go on a trip with him the next day to the border with haiti.

he said it wasn't official business but he was going to meet another general and they were going to shoot some haitians that were too close to the border. a sporting trip. he said we could shoot some too if we wanted to.

i said thank you for the offer but we had to go home and maybe we could get a raincheck on shooting some haitians some other time.

the corruption was so bad in the DR that we decided to cancel our plans for business there. everyone we met had their hand out for a "propina", which is a bribe but they call it a tip for great service.

my lawyer friend and i were in a rental car and he was driving like a maniac. speeding, running through intersections, weaving through traffic. finally we get pulled over by a motorcycle cop. he walks up the car and my lawyer friend says, in spanish, "what the fuck do you want?" the cop says we were speeding and asked for our "papers". my friend says "fuck off, we don't have time for this shit." i'm sitting there thinking that we're both about to see the inside of a dominican jail when the cop says that we could pay our fine to him right there on the side of the road. my friend pulls a 10 peso note out of his pocket and threw it on the ground at the cop's feet. i'm still thinking we're fucked when the cop smiles, picks up the note and says "have a nice day." we roared off spraying him with gravel.

at the time a DR 10 peso note was worth about 75 cents US.

bribery and corruption is normal business in most poor countries. you are considered stupid if you don't get your share. it's another obstacle to helping develop these countries.

there is no middle class in these types of places, you are either rich and fat or poor and skinny. obesity is a sign of wealth.

it happens everywhere - some years ago a client of mine was in russia trying to get some ship demurrage paid - 8am walking across the street a cop stops him and accuses him of being drunk , and takes out a dirty hypo needle to take blood... he gave the cop some US dollars and he continued on his way...its a fuk'd up world

 

[EastCoastGambit]

And this is where the US is heading unfortunately. While the US has and has had its flaws, mostly meddling in other nations' affairs, we still had a lot going well. Unfortunately, for me and my children, I think that time is coming to an end.

 

[zachrockbadenof]

And this is where the US is heading unfortunately. While the US has and has had its flaws, mostly meddling in other nations' affairs, we still had a lot going well. Unfortunately, for me and my children, I think that time is coming to an end.

i agree... while i lean towards trump, i WISH i had other choices other then the 2 dicks that are running now... one fibs, and the other sometimes loses his train of thought.... (its sunday, i am being kind))

 

[greyfader]

i am not saying this to be rude or insulting, and i don't want to offend, but we have one candidate that is on the verge of complete dementia, obviously past the beginning stages.

and then we have another candidate who is approaching dementia but is not quite over the threshold yet. trump's lapses are just as numerous as biden's, just a little bit different type. biden's illness is more like mitch mcconnell's.

but trump truly does have several diagnosable mental illnesses, he has at least 3 illnesses that are closely related,

one is narcissist syndrome, it used to be called megalomania. it means that you are in love with yourself. that you believe you are the best at everything you do just because you are you, a magnificent specimen of the human race. hitler and mussolini suffered from this also. trump's behavior is almost identical to mussolini's. facial expressions and speech patterns.

closely related is machiavellianism, named after the famous italian family that fought others and one another for prestige and power. this illness causes it's victims to automatically engage in subterfuge and trickery to get what they want. scheming and conniving all the way. they do this because they think it will get them what they want better than just being honest and straightforward.

and third, he is at least a sociopath, which is a subset of psychopathy. basically, sociopaths have no conscience. no guilt, no remorse. he manipulates and uses others by telling them whatever it takes, lie or not, to get what he wants. one out of every 27 people you meet is a sociopath.

together these 3 mental illnesses are called the dark triad by psychologists.

so we have a doddering, debilitated candidate on one side and a crazy one on the other.

while examining these 2 choices, we should be thinking about the nuclear button. one could go to sleep standing up and fall on the button and the other one might push it just because he's batshit crazy.

here is a basic explanation of these 3 illnesses;

Dark Triad

The term “Dark Triad” refers to a trio of negative personality traits—narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy—which share some common malevolent features. The construct was coined by researchers Delroy L. Paulhus and Kevin M. Williams in 2002.

www.psychologytoday.com

 

[EastCoastGambit]

I'm not sure there is really a physical button for someone to press and launch nukes at random. Aren't there codes and keys and such.

But all in all I agree, two terrible candidates at this point. Hopefully the dems and Biden swallow their pride and at least put forth someone electable, with that they have a fighting chance to beat Trump who probably would implode over the pressure of a well spoken candidate.

While his record in California, among other things, could be called into question, Newsom does speak well. I don't think Harris is a good fit. Regardless they are all clowns but the crossing over into totalitarianism is too scary to ignore in the present moment.