Luke Ford

I’ve been thinking about these questions:

>So knowing what you know about Harris and Trump, who do you think has the potential to make more terrible decisions as president?
Trump has the bigger up side and down side.

Do you think project 25 will be implemented?
About as much as any think tank plans get implemented (modestly).

Do you think some of the checks and balances on power will be dismantled by trump and his team?
They will try. Civil servants donate 99-1 for Democrats. More political appointments and fewer veteran civil servants might lead to a reduction in the competence of government. My biggest fears about Trump are incompetence and corruption, and nothing he’s done since the election has reduced these fears. Like Reagan, Trump is more interested in performance than in the nuts and bolts of governing. His cabinet picks do not indicate a preference for competence. 

Do you think Trump will place his people in DoJ and FBI to neutralize checks and balances on power?
Yes. He has some basis for believing the deep state is trying to thwart him, so I have an open mind that he might have some success here and that might lead to better governance, or it might be a disaster.

Will the lives of the working poor be better or worse on balance?
During Trump’s first term, the least educated Americans had their first substantial relative income increase in 70 years… so I think that trend will continue.  

Will he do what he has openly stated?
He’ll do some. Trump is simultaneously the biggest liar and the most honest politician ever.

Do you think increased tariffs will make inflation better or worse?
There’s a difference between the threat of tariffs and the implementation of tariffs. During his first term, Trump had low inflation. Higher tariffs will lead to higher inflation but Trump will also drive down energy costs, which will reduce inflation. 

We are entering a fascinating era in history – will we rue the day we are part of it?
Events, my dear boy, events will determine everything. 

I forgot how exhausting and exciting living under Trump can be. There’s just a water cannon of news every day. 

I’ve been pro Trump for nine years, but I acknowledge that most criticisms of him have substantial validity. A normal person could look at Trump’s behavior after losing the 2020 election, and look at January 6, and regard that as disqualifying. Trump’s behavior was horrible.

NYT: “Higher levels of news consumption track with higher levels of income and education. In big cities, where information is currency and knowledge is status, there are social costs to not keeping up.”

01:00 “It always surprises me… how little compassion is shown for those forced to have sex in toilets. Being gay, wanting closeness despite a time when that was frowned on, is not a crime.” https://www.smh.com.au/national/i-took-on-alan-jones-i-survived-but-the-backlash-terrified-me-20241118-p5krn3.html
09:00 Joe Biden signs off on Ukraine using American missiles to attack Russia, increasing our risk for nuclear war
13:00 MEN who visit toilets for gay sex, https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/1125879/men-who-visit-toilets-for-gay-sex/p9
15:00 UCLA toilet sex, https://dailybruin.com/2007/04/25/emtheres_more_casual_sex_you_may_thinkem
16:00 How did toilet cruising work?, https://ask.metafilter.com/276076/How-did-toilet-cruising-work
17:00 Why do so many gay men still go cruising and cottaging?, https://www.attitude.co.uk/culture/sexuality/why-do-so-many-gay-men-still-go-cruising-and-cottaging-293683/
18:00 Investigation of motivational and behavioural factors influencing men who have sex with other men in public toilets (cottaging), https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8218468/
19:00 With the increased acceptance of homosexuality in the US, why is “cruising” for anonymous sex in public restrooms and parks still so popular for many gay/bi males?, https://www.quora.com/With-the-increased-acceptance-of-homosexuality-in-the-US-why-is-cruising-for-anonymous-sex-in-public-restrooms-and-parks-still-so-popular-for-many-gay-bi-males?top_ans=268693603
20:00 This Is Why Men Meet For Sex In Public Toilets, https://www.buzzfeed.com/patrickstrudwick/men-are-still-meeting-for-sex-in-public-toilets-and-the
20:40 Trump & Bibi vs the deep state, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0HcReRPJZ8
29:00 Making America normal again
39:00 Dan Turrentine posted a selfies with his wife and shocked the world, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-3GJDf-epg
41:30 Great Rabbinic Thinkers: Rabbi Samuel Mohilever (Part 2) || Dr. Marc Shapiro, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQvjLO7ckMM
47:00 Israel Update: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE LEAK SCANDAL, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiXQJ2WnKkQ
49:50 The Morning Meeting: After Dark 11/19 | Political News: Trump Transition, Dem Realignment & More, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-3GJDf-epg
53:30 The Morning Meeting S3E10 | Trump Nominees & Democratic Chair Candidates, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MstNXQfs3vc
58:00 The better job depends upon your ego (NEC vs Treasury head)
1:02:00 How Illegal Immigrants Redistribute Political Power — Without Voting, https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/how-immigrants-redistribute-political-power-without-voting/
1:05:00 The New Election Gurus: Using early-voting data, an emerging crop of number-crunchers predicted Trump’s win long before the pollsters and pundits did., https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-new-election-gurus
1:16:00 Migrants leaving USA before Trump takes office, Haitians leave Springfield, OH