I was thinking of Breaking Bad with the whole RV thing as well... meth labs blow up all the time... I don't know if they can be this explosive, though... and there were apparently reports of gunfire which had the cops arrive on the scene prior to the explosion, per Fox News.
UBI doesn't rely on honesty, it's literally a direct [re]distribution of wealth. It does away with numerous corrupt government organizations across the country and prevents abuse as a result.
Insofar as I am against stealing from people (taxes) I don't like UBI, but so far as I like simplifying government, reducing overhead, and providing a basic social safety net, I very much love UBI.
As with all things, UBI is far from perfect. Social Security is something we are forced to pay into, it's meant to be self-funded, UBI would work the same way except we would collect our whole lives (early funds would be split between school, parents, and a savings account which matures when the child graduates high school - that account can be used to fund whatever vocational training the child chooses, can be collected in cash in equal payments for 20 years, or saved towards retirement).
$16k/year is a huge sum for a lot of people and not much for others... it's less than I pay for my car every year... I wouldn't be happy with the net cost in my tax burden, but a guaranteed safety net is always welcome.
UBI isn't communism by any stretch - communism is socialism with single party in control... which socialism tends to devolve towards anyway. UBI isn't some magical mystery meat - I've said repeatedly that it can't actually work because the price is just too high... but its simplicity and ability to dump all social welfare programs are attributes the conservatives who dreamed it up liked most.
Also, I've been subjected to the corruption of our justice system more than once... there's a way to play within that corrupt system and there's a way to ensure you get screwed by it.
In general, I examine all sides and look for the desirable attributes of every idea... then I look to why they can or can't be achieved. That last part separates me from the radicals on the left and the first part separates me from the radicals on the right. Socialism has worthy end goals.... but the means they use to achieve them are authoritarian and oppressive by nature.
I was a member of the Ron Paul Revolution and of Trump's election and re-election efforts and remain a staunch supporter of Trump... I wouldn't mind if he could let off the Twitter tirades from time to time but I'll take Trump over literally any other person currently in the running.
UBI isn't socialist or communist and is a much better alternative to paying people to NOT work.
UBI encourages people to work and removes numerous burdens on businesses by only providing the bare essential funds needed to survive - you won't be living well on your own, but you can afford to share an apartment on the outskirts of town and pursue a career... and there are plenty of people who will just work fast food or other menial labor jobs either from laziness, complacency, or a lack of motivation to excel.
Socialism controls the means of production, UBI liberates it by necessity (it heavily relies on the power of free market capitalism to work).
Exactly, UBI, done right, would be a genuinely great thing for conservative efforts... and it is going to become required at some point as automation takes more and more jobs.
Socialism is destructive, UBI is not socialism... all too often people think that things done universally are socialist - we can have universal healthcare without socialist designs, but that requires a form of conscription... Switzerland's model would be a good one to follow.
I'm actually not against UBI if it could be done right... get rid of ALL welfare programs.
No food stamps, no rental assistance, no minimum wage, nothing except the same basic income everyone has... and, often enough, the thing holding back people who are in dire straits is having enough money to pick themselves back off rock bottom... money for fuel, work boots, food, and rent... I've been there - and I assume many of you also have... or at least realized how close you were to being in that position... UBI would end that genuine issue...
Of course, it's not exactly possible to actually pay for it with a UBI large enough to have that capability... everyone would need to receive roughly $16,000/yr and taxes would have to increase by more than that on average to pay for it and the administrative overhead. The wealthy generate wealth through a combination of greed and as a side effect of their desire to achieve their passions... half of that dies with the taxation required to feed UBI... the counter argument for UBI is that it would empower many more people to seek their passions without fearing the worst possible outcome (UBI would be immune from garnishment or seizure).
The people who think we can just print UBI into existence don't understand inflation... ask the Italians or Greeks about that little devil of a detail...
The UBI form that would work best monetarily would be one with far lower payouts... but then the welfare programs would still exist.. which then undermines the major upside of UBI from a logistical perspective... though the welfare assistance would be diminished by the UBI, so the programs would be cheaper.
Assange vetted the information he released - they received far more than they released. Snowden dumped everything he could get his hands on. Night and day.
What Assange did was troublesome, but understandable and generally honorable in its execution and in some ways little more than what investigative journalists used to do... when they still existed... what Snowden did was treason.
They are suing more than just pence, but I always go directly to the lawsuits to make sure they're real and not being misconstrued.
https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2020/12/DC-WVA-20201222-complaint.pdf
Let's make this clear: this judge is HELPING the Legislature in this case, not hindering it. Clearing away technical issues is EXTREMELY important to not getting results or cases thrown out at a later stage.
The judge didn't just say: "Yeah, you did this wrong, fuck off." He said "shit, this is wrong, do it this way so things don't get fucked later by some cuck judge on appeal."
Full, the deep state knows the critical nature of timing and will cancel these flights one at a time or will arrest people they suspect of traveling to DC to support Trump. Tons of people here quite possibly be arrested on domestic terrorism charges if the deep state wants to stop things early... which I kinda doubt. They probably want widespread bloodshed.
Plaintiffs:
Wisconsin Voters Alliance, Pennsylvania Voters Alliance, Georgia Voters Alliance, Election Integrity Fund, Arizona Election Integrity Alliance, Lynie Stone, Baron Benham, Debi Haas, Brenda Savage, Matthew Dadich, Leah Hoopes, Ron Heuer, Richard W. Kucksdorf, Debbie Jacques, John Wood, Sonny Borrelli, Warren Peterson, Matthew Maddock, Daire Rendon, David Steffen, Jeff L. Mursau, William T. Ligon and Brandon Beach.
Defendants:
Mike Pence, U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate, Electoral College... then the governors and various officials of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona.
The case alleges that the Legislatures have been left impotent due to their inability to meet and debate in person due to COVID and that this has allowed officials without the proper Constitutional authority to certify the elections despite obvious issues we all know here.
That was in January... making it useless.
Just a month later:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32080990/
Virus Isolation from the First Patient with SARS-CoV-2 in Korea
I've heard that audio before, but I can't place it.