Just A Reminder: today's GOP is toxic

[Joe (SoCal)]

Nailed it



https://youtu.be/WScbDjJWuh4

[Garret]

Vermont does have a big lake on its west coast... That being said, while beautiful & surrounded by mountains, it doesn't smell right.

I'm sure NH is a cheaper place to live than VT - but both states vary hugely depending on where you look. Northern NH & NE VT are much cheaper than southern NH or the Burlington area of VT.

Broad brushes simply don't work.

I do send out my thanks to my NH friends whenever I buy something expensive with no sales tax in NH - as their property taxes covered it for me.

Also booze - NH is cheaper for imported, many are surprised to find that VT is lower on domestic. Oh - we have better beer too!

[elf]

If the thesis of this thread is true, there would seem to be two possibilities.

• The US electoral system is a bent as a left-handed corkscrew.
• A really significant proportion of the US electorate are either as thick as a brick, are total aerosols, or both.

Discuss.

Both of these are correct.

[elf]

I'm taking a quick look.

All it's missing is a seacoast.

And the seacoast in NH is industrial or tourist ridden, a relief to get across the Piscataqua.

I don't have any experience with the NEK, but my adventures into northern NH are enough to convince me that quality of life up there is nothing to write home about. It's beautiful (although nothing to compare with the stretch between Lebanon and Gorham) but north of that in NH is land of loners, dead towns and no work, truely a great place to live free and die - early. It's sad, but VT has Burlington north of its mountain strip, and an infestation of ski resorts north of Waterbury.

I mean, even the AT skips northern New Hampshire!

[CWSmith]

Vermont does have a big lake on its west coast... That being said, while beautiful & surrounded by mountains, it doesn't smell right.

Really? I never noticed.

I'm sure NH is a cheaper place to live than VT

Actually, I'm not sure that's true. I paid off my house a few years ago, but I remember that being a big piece of my monthly income. Houses are cheaper in VT.

And everyone complains about taxes, but you do get services and NH is "Live Free or Die" in a great many regards.

And the seacoast in NH is industrial or tourist ridden, a relief to get across the Piscataqua.

I don't have any experience with the NEK, but my adventures into northern NH are enough to convince me that quality of life up there is nothing to write home about. It's beautiful (although nothing to compare with the stretch between Lebanon and Gorham) but north of that in NH is land of loners, dead towns and no work, truely a great place to live free and die - early. It's sad, but VT has Burlington north of its mountain strip, and an infestation of ski resorts north of Waterbury.

I mean, even the AT skips northern New Hampshire!

What happened, elf? Did someone from up north scare you once?

The Cape is a nice place to visit, but...

[elf]

The Cape is a nice place to visit, but...

It's a wonderful place to live if you got here before the last two big real estate booms. It's brutal if you have to rent, excellent if you're in construction, heavenly if you like to sail, great for marine biology and zoology, fascinating for weather.

But not a particularly nice place to visit, as soaking the tourists is a popular local game.

Except in Wellfleet and Truro.

[Garret]

And the seacoast in NH is industrial or tourist ridden, a relief to get across the Piscataqua.

I don't have any experience with the NEK, but my adventures into northern NH are enough to convince me that quality of life up there is nothing to write home about. It's beautiful (although nothing to compare with the stretch between Lebanon and Gorham) but north of that in NH is land of loners, dead towns and no work, truely a great place to live free and die - early. It's sad, but VT has Burlington north of its mountain strip, and an infestation of ski resorts north of Waterbury.

I mean, even the AT skips northern New Hampshire!

Why so negative Emily? Northern NH has some beautiful lakes & forests. The NEK has beautiful country as well - though it too has fewer jobs - though not none.

Infestation? 4 north of Waterbury is an infestation? C'mon. Besides you spend time in an area with 2 (used to be 3 until Glen Ellen was gobbled up by Sugarbush) - are ski areas that awful?

Of course we do have a Rep.governor (just as you) & while he's basically a good man, his antipathy towards renewables & refusal to do anything that might make "business" unhappy makes it impossible for me to support him.

[elf]

Last fall I spent a lot of time driving up Rt. 3 above Lancaster. It was pretty worrisome, how little opportunity there was on that stretch.

Similar to the area around Houlton, in Maine. Beautiful, but very empty, trucks full of trees but no bigger than 12" diameter, obviously farmed, monoculture.

This trip while I'm in Warren, I'm going to go up Rt. 100 and actually see what the NEK really looks like beyond Waterbury. Aside from Burlington, that's the farthest North I've gotten in VT.

I just get the general feeling that VT up north is more of a land of opportunity and variety than either NH or ME.

The saddest thing about ski areas is that their season is so short, and getting shorter with climate change. That means the chance that their existence can actually sustain a year 'round economy is either unlikely or not being exploited. When I went down by Arlington, VT, and over by Stratton Mountain, and saw the summer development of golf courses, I figured the people down there were thinking a bit more out of the box about how to become at least a 3 season economy. It's still depressingly upscale, attracting a population of people who tend to not actually care about preserving the environment and maintaining farms and other work which has been the mainstay of those areas, but at least it's not fallen into the hole of job flight like northern NH and ME.

[David G]

Really? I never noticed.



Actually, I'm not sure that's true. I paid off my house a few years ago, but I remember that being a big piece of my monthly income. Houses are cheaper in VT.

And everyone complains about taxes, but you do get services and NH is "Live Free or Die" in a great many regards.



What happened, elf? Did someone from up north scare you once?

The Cape is a nice place to visit, but...

As an outsider who lived in NH for 4 years... I have to agree with elf about the coast. I guess I've been spoiled by the Oregon coast. I used to throw the two boys in the car and head for the ocean every weekend, so my sweetie could write/study. After a few quests looking for something interesting, I gave up on the small patch of NH coastline. Thereafter, we always went to Maine, exploring further and further up the coast as time went on. Never disappointed. To be fair... If I'd been alone, or with only adults, I'd have spent more time in Portsmouth. Liked that town.

[CWSmith]

I'm reading and hearing in the news that "illegals" were in Texas at a center where they were applying for permission to stay in the country were lured away with empty promises. They were transported to Florida and then DeSantis flew them to Massachusetts.

It seems this is not debated. This is what these low-life GOP operatives did.

In what world is this even legal, let alone moral? They weren't even in Florida to begin with. It's like DeSantis went out shopping for illegals so he could manufacture a political stunt. In fact, that is exactly what he did.

[Joe (SoCal)]

The Martha's Vineyard stunt was sooooooo effed, what kind of minds thinks up such sh**, then actually act on it:


https://www.miamiherald.com/article266044016.html

This is absolutely disgusting from the party that proclaimed Christian Values. Good on the Sheriff for calling it out

Matthew 25:35

For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, 36I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’…

[Keith Wilson]

I'm reading and hearing in the news that "illegals" were in Texas at a center where they were applying for permission to stay in the country were lured away with empty promises. They were transported to Florida and then DeSantis flew them to Massachusetts. . . .
In what world is this even legal, let alone moral?

It may very well not be legal. Defrauding asylum-seekers is illegal under Texas law. They are, BTW, NOT illegal immigrants, but legally applying for asylum. The application may be rejected or accepted but until then, they're complying with US law. And it appears that he also may have violated Florida law by misappropriating state funds. (Jonathan Chait discusses this in some detail here.)

This was purely a stunt orchestrated for right-wing news, to advance DsSantis's career. It plays well on Fox; that's all that matters.

[Osborne Russell]

Sounds like kidnapping to me. You move someone by force or fraud, without their consent. It's legally impossible to get their consent by fraud.

[elf]

Trouble is, apparently many of them consented, due to being misled by the recruiter lady.

[Keith Wilson]

Trouble is, apparently many of them consented, due to being misled by the recruiter lady.

You can't legally consent if you're being lied to.

[Garret]

You can't legally consent if you're being lied to.

Yep - see my "candy little girl" post above. This is no different.

[CWSmith]

They are, BTW, NOT illegal immigrants, but legally applying for asylum. The application may be rejected or accepted but until then, they're complying with US law.

Seriously? I'm assuming they crossed the border illegally. Is that wrong?

What amazes me is that the Trumpsters seem to see this as acceptable. Think what they will, there should be a standard of behavior. I'm not seeing that in this case. It seems to be a matter of "Whatever we do is justified." I don't know how to have a meaningful conversation with someone like that.

[stromborg]

I'm assuming they crossed the border illegally. Is that wrong?

Possibly.

An immigrant can ask for asylum status by simply walking up the border and asking for it, somebody visiting from another country has up to a year to apply after arriving on US soil. That then plunges the immigrant into the wonderful world of US bureaucracy... Imagine tackling that system with English as your second language.

[CWSmith]

Possibly.

An immigrant can ask for asylum status by simply walking up the border and asking for it, somebody visiting from another country has up to a year to apply after arriving on US soil. That then plunges the immigrant into the wonderful world of US bureaucracy... Imagine tackling that system with English as your second language.

I somehow think that if they were here legally the empty promises that lured them away from the center would have less effect. I may be wrong.

Either way, DeSantis should be prosecuted for what he did. His actions have the dubious honor of being both illegal, immoral, and untruthful.