Dashinka

I don't fully understand the question. If you are referring to the electoral college for President/VP, then the states have their rules as to how their electors are allocated and many states tie their electors to the popular vote in that specific state. There is an ongoing push to get more states to tie their electors to the national popular vote which I think is wrong, but many "progressives" out there would like to get rid of the state governments and give all the power to the feds. As to how Congress votes relative to legislation, that is up to them and theoretically how they feel they are best representing the voters of their district or state. The way the legislation of the federal government was set up was that districts would be formed to directly represent the people at about 1 House member per 30k people, and each state would have 2 Senators regardless of population. The House members were voted on by the people directly, but Senators were selected by the state legislation (so indirectly by the people). The 17th Amendment changed the way Senators were selected, instead going to a state popular vote which means Senators now need to pander to campaign donors every six years or so, and the Senate is essentially just a more elite House. The other, and I would opine bigger issue, is when the Congress capped the number of representatives in the House to 435, so now each House member directly represents an average of about 750,000 people which means it doesn't really matter how they vote in Congress as long as they keep their campaign donors and political party happy. One House member per an average of 750k people is the second worst apportionment of any democracy based country (only India is worse), and in my opinion directly lead to the rise of the two primary political parties. If they had apportioned the House to say 1 member per 200k, of course there would be many more members, and more than likely other political parties would have emerged.

And 1,000 hp with the ICE engine. Fire at lithium battery factory kills at least 16 in South Korea https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/fire-at-lithium-battery-factory-kills-at-least-16-in-south-korea/ar-BB1oMaXN

I wish the Federal government would make it easier for those that naturalize and standardize getting a passport. In 2018 when my wife naturalized in Detroit, a rep from the passport agency came to the ceremony and told those naturalizing they could come to the passport office within 30 days and apply for a passport with no need for immediate travel. In our case, we were planning on traveling within 3 weeks, so the day after my wife's oath ceremony (it was an afternoon ceremony so the agency was closed by the time it was over) we went to the passport office as a walk-in. We had all the required materials (photo's, nat. cert., etc.), and the clerk made a copy of the nat. cert. and had a supervisor verify it, so my wife never had to give it up. In the end, my wife received her passport in 3 days. @Visitor User, no, there will be no notices, emails, or calls, you just have to wait. Good Luck!

I agree, I don’t see Sony doing this if they did not think they would turn a profit.

Was she given a 221g colored sheet after the interview? If they have indeed returned it to NVC then they found an issue with the visa application. She should be able to get her passport back as they cannot keep it.

Not sure about the other documents, in general, it is not a good thing to give the consulate the official copies of things like BC’s, or other official documents. Regardless, when they do give her back her passport, she can request to get those documents back. As to the other items, the online status can alternate between “Refused”, “Ready”, and “Administrative Processing” several times, and although frustrating, it is just a waiting game. You have to remember “Refused” does not mean the same as “Denied”. Refused means the visa has not been issued yet, and is still in process, but a decision cannot be made yet (a consulate may be waiting on background information, or other material before a decision can be made). One of the things that may be taking longer in your specific case is that she is from Venezuela, so if the consulate is trying to get background information, it may take longer. If she needs her passport back, she can request it (that does not end the processing of the visa application), and then she can take it back when they are ready to hopefully issue the visa. I know it is frustrating, but otherwise Good Luck!

Big payday for them. Queen's catalog sells to Sony Music for over $1 billion in record-breaking deal: reports Legendary British rock band Queen's music catalog has been acquired by Sony Music in a deal worth more than $1 billion, according to reports. On Friday, the music industry trade publication Hits reported that Sony had emerged triumphant in a battle with other recording giants to claim ownership of Queen's catalog for £1 billion (approximately $1.2 billion). Two sources confirmed the staggering deal to Variety. According to Hits, the only revenue that Sony will not receive under the deal is money generated from live performances. Founding members Brian May and Roger Taylor continue to perform as Queen in collaboration with singer Adam Lambert in place of the band's late frontman, Freddie Mercury. https://www.foxbusiness.com/entertainment/queen-could-sell-music-catalog-record-breaking-deal-report

The OP mentioned they were legally married again after the divorce was properly filed with the court.

Yes in that it decides how the State will vote. Kind of similar to a parliamentary system. We also vote directly for our House and Senate members. Initially, Senators were chosen by the state houses, but the 17th Amendment changed that.

I agree, but when the airline clerk in Beijing asked to keep it, she wasn’t about to give up the original.

Make a few copies of it, my wife was asked to leave one with the airline when traveling with that documentation, and she will need the original for CBP. Also, it is a good idea to have a link for the latest CBP carrier guide. https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2023-Nov/Carrier Information Guide ENGLISH.pdf Good Luck!

Completely agree. Whether Right or Left, if one breaks the law, destroys property, or affects someone else's rights based on political protesting or action, they deserve to be prosecuted. We are allowed to protest, but that doesn't mean we can break the law to do it. The question is why does one side seem to get much more of a pass than the other. I am fine with the J6 protesters that broke the law, but what about the mainstream left/Democrats (antifa et. al.) in Portland who were attacking federal property and federal law enforcement? I know Merrick Garland said it was different as those protesters did it at night.

I don't disagree, and I am surprised China has not started trying to attract immigration, but for some reason it is going the other way. Kind of the same as birthing tourism. The main issue is our current immigration laws need some updating. We shall see if that will happen given the disfunction of Congress (both sides), but I could get behind the proposal.

I disagree about eliminating the electoral college. I know, the election denying Democrats and their MSM allies will say it is all about the popular vote, it is not. The President represents the federal government which is made up of the states, and the people in those states. As to who to vote for, I am firmly in the camp of Anyone But Biden. I haven't decided yet, but most likely will vote for Trump over the corrupt Biden since voting third Party is really a vote for Biden, and I cannot do that.

It is interesting how easy it is for Western leaders to sacrifice Ukrainian men, and for that matter Russian men. Has Ukraine become the military industrial complex's laboratory? Did the West deliberately prolong the Ukraine war? The interview corroborates claims first reported in May 2022 by the broadly Western-alignedUkrainska Pravda outlet — which reported that Boris Johnson told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the West wouldn’t support any peace deal regardless of what Ukraine wanted, and they preferred to keep taking the fight to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was less powerful than they had thought. Johnson had himself confirmed, albeit not in so many words, in a phone call to French President Emmanuel Macron that he had urged Zelensky against peace. All of it lends further weight to multiple accounts over the course of the past 21 months that have claimed Ukraine and Russia were on the brink of peace, but were blocked by NATO states eager for a prolonged war that would weaken Russia and possibly destabilize it. Former U.S. national security official Fiona Hill reported the two sides had reached a tentative peace deal the same month of Johnson’s surprise visit to Kyiv, while former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and several Turkish officials — all of whom were involved at various times in the talks — have said that NATO officials stopped or undermined negotiations. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/ukraine-russia-talks/

Sucky for the American people, a boon to the established bureaucrats, and a CYA to elected leaders.

I am not anti-medication, but rather anti-overmedication. I see the value in some medications, and use some now, and in the past. That being said, I have also seen a lot of pills thrown at patients with what appeared to be little thought. Back in 2006 I had a surgical procedure, and when being discharged, even though I told them the pain I was feeling was bearable, they handed me some pretty powerful pain-killers. I disposed of those properly when I got home. My point with the statins is why are they being handed out like Pezz. You mentioned Drs. are supposed to give informed recommendations based on the totality of the person. I would say good Drs. do that, but others may have alternate reasons for over-medicating people. I like my main Dr., she is not drug happy, was not trying to force Covid vaccines into my arm, and actually talks to me about potential conditions. The Dr. pushing statins on me was a specialty Dr. who spent less than 5 minutes with me, looked at some blood work, and then suggested statins. This was after the numbers that sent me to this specialist had shown steady improvement without drug. Why were drugs suggested now? It left me a bit miffed, but sure, this guy is a Dr., and he has knowledge I don't, but that doesn't mean he cannot be questioned.

I call BS on this statement in the article. There is no way Greta did this by herself. That movement, started by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, called on school students to quit classes each Friday and saw millions join marches around the world in 2018-19.

Fairly good analysis. Too bad there are a bunch of hard-headed folks on both sides. Yes, we can reconcile absurd Russian & Ukrainian peace plans Even de facto acceptance of Russian rule over five Ukrainian provinces would be a most bitter pill for Ukraine and the West to swallow. However, this would still be far less than the maximalist goals of Russian hardliners, whether in terms of the subjugation of the whole of Ukraine, or annexation of all the Russian-speaking areas of the country, including Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, and the whole of the Black Sea coast. If in the months and years to come, the Ukrainian army can manage to hold roughly its existing lines, then the eventual line of division between Ukraine and Russia (whether drawn in a formal peace settlement or accepted as part of an armistice) will also run along these lines. If however Ukraine is defeated and suffers much greater loss of territory, then future generations of Ukrainians may regret that Kyiv did not treat Putin’s proposal at least as a starting point for negotiation and bargaining. For it should be remembered that while the Russian terms of March 2022 would also have been a bitter pill for Ukraine to swallow at the time, their acceptance would have saved Ukraine much territory that it now seems certain permanently to lose, much damage that may never be restored, and many human beings who can never be brought back to life. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/ukraine-peace/

Even more interesting. I think your step-father can in fact just file an I485 for you in this case as there is no deadline for filing the AOS package from a K1 (not sure about K2, but I expect at 21 you would age out). I would recommend calling into Hacking's show asking the question if you can AOS from a K2 as a step-child after 17+ years? You may need to explain that your biological parent and step-father are no longer living together, but are still married. It may be since your bioparent did not AOS, you cannot as a K2, but you are still the step-child of a USC, that step relationship occurred prior to your 18th birthday, and you are in the US, so the I130/I485 option may be there. Good Luck!

This is an interesting situation. Since they did get married and you were a minor at the time, it seems possible that he could petition you as a step-child which may require both an I130 and I485, but I am not sure what the marriage ending (I assume there was a divorce) affects things. It might be worth looking into Jim Hacking on his YouTube show. In the end, a very complicated situation, and I agree with the others, a good immigration lawyer consult should occur. Good Luck!

Generally it is the consulate officer that determines if a beneficiary can file an I601 as the timeline @Boiler mentioned, it is not filed before the interview. So either the I601 is just tagging along with the I130, or it was separated by USCIS and they may simply deny it as they are not the entity that decides them. Good Luck!

It worked for Beria, so the establishment types are all for it.

I am not sure of the first question. To be safe I would submit two requests for consulate transfers. Good Luck!

After the over-turning of RvW, I would hope SCOTUS would also overturn Chevron. The Supreme Court May Be on the Brink of Radically Restricting Bureaucrats' Power The United States Constitution vests all legislative powers in Congress. Yet, over the past century, we've witnessed a disturbing trend of legislators increasingly delegating much of the authority to set the laws that govern the land to the executive branch, which includes unelected officials at administrative agencies. This undermines democratic accountability, contributes to government bloat and abuse of powers, and disrupts the balance of power crafted so carefully by the Framers. Reasserting congressional authority is essential for maintaining a balanced government and ensuring that policies reflect voters' wishes. It's also the best hope for promoting economic freedom and growth. Unfortunately, getting Congress to stop evading its authority is an uphill battle. After all, we're talking about an institution that systematically fails to do another of its primary jobs by passing legitimate budgets on a timely basis. Nevertheless, there is some light at the end of the tunnel, as the Supreme Court might soon stop being so deferential to executive branch agencies in interpreting the laws set by Congress. As I understand it, "Chevron deference" is a judicial doctrine created by the 1984 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. This ruling compels courts to defer to a federal agency's interpretation of ambiguous language in statutes that the agency is tasked with administering. In theory, the deference allows agencies to implement complex statutes. In practice, it limits the judiciary's proper role in holding the other two branches of government responsible for carrying out and sticking to their constitutional duties. One result is too much discretionary power exercised by agencies who were envisioned to enforce, rather than create, the law. https://reason.com/2024/06/20/the-supreme-court-may-be-on-the-brink-of-radically-restricting-bureaucrats-power/