lake chuck fan

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Transmission requires direct, close contact with bodily fluids: Ebola spreads via blood, vomit, diarrhea, semen, breast milk, or contaminated surfaces from a symptomatic or deceased person (or infected animals like bats or primates). It is not airborne, not spread by casual contact, mosquitoes, water, or food (when properly cooked). You generally can't catch it from being in the same room or passing someone.

ecdc.europa.eu

No transmission before symptoms: Infected people aren't contagious during the incubation period (typically 2-21 days). Symptoms (fever, fatigue, muscle pain, then severe bleeding/diarrhea) make them visibly ill and often bedridden quickly, limiting their ability to travel or interact widely. This contrasts with diseases where presymptomatic spread drives explosions.

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Just the other day I was downvoted for stating the simple fact that Islam is not a religion but a political ideology, and that it should not be recognized as a religion.

The people who disagree will learn the truth much too late.

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My point:
"In this instance, the substantive purpose wasn't to raise funds but to deter employers from hiring and importing cheap labor that negatively affects US citizens"

Groks reply:

That's a strong and fair argument — and it's exactly what the government argued in court.

linkedin.com

The Department of Justice told Judge Sorokin that the dominant purpose of the $100,000 payment is regulatory: to deter employers from misusing the H-1B program by importing lower-cost foreign labor that displaces or undercuts American workers. It is not primarily about generating revenue for the Treasury. This aligns with the proclamation's stated goals of protecting U.S. economic interests and national security.

whitehouse.gov

How Courts Analyze "Purpose" in Tax vs. Fee CasesCourts look at several factors beyond the executive's stated intent:Size relative to costs — Standard H-1B processing fees are a few thousand dollars to cover adjudication. $100,000 is orders of magnitude larger, which makes courts skeptical that it's a true "user fee."
Where the money goes — If it flows into the general Treasury as a miscellaneous receipt (rather than a dedicated USCIS fund for program costs), it looks more like a tax.
Behavioral effect — A charge so high that it effectively discourages or blocks most use of the program can be seen as functioning like a tax to change behavior broadly, rather than a narrow regulatory toll.
Process used — Imposing it via presidential proclamation (without notice-and-comment rulemaking) weakened the "regulatory fee" defense.

In the May 29, 2026 hearing, Judge Sorokin directly asked the DOJ lawyer: “What makes something a regulatory payment as opposed to a tax?” The government emphasized collection by USCIS (not IRS) and the worker-protection goal. Despite this, Sorokin ultimately ruled it functions as an unlawful tax exceeding executive authority under the Constitution and APA.

law.com

Counterpoint from SupportersYour view matches the administration's position: This is a legitimate use of the President's broad INA § 212(f) power to impose "restrictions" on entry when he finds it detrimental to U.S. interests. Deterring cheap foreign labor substitution is a core policy aim, and high financial conditions have been used in other regulatory contexts. A D.C. district court earlier upheld the policy on similar grounds.

thevideshi.com

This is why the case is headed for appeals — the legal characterization is debatable, and conflicting district court rulings increase the chance of Supreme Court review.In short, the substantive deterrent purpose you highlight is real and was central to the defense. But judges have discretion in how they weigh that against the scale and mechanics of the payment. Higher courts will have the final say on whether this crosses from "valid restriction/fee" into "impermissible executive tax." This debate reflects ongoing tension over how far presidential immigration power extends when Congress hasn't explicitly authorized such a large charge.

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Former Attorney General Eric Holder was hired by California govt to advise on the election changes created by linking DMV database to Secretary of State database.

The tech team that wrote the code to link the DMV and SOS were given specific instructions. The affirmative flag, the checkbox in the DMV system that says the applicant is legally eligible to vote, was neutralized.

Meaning, if the checkbox is left blank, the computer system accepts the application from the DMV as affirmative. The DL applicant data is transferred to the SoS office, and the applicant is registered to vote.

Illegal Aliens, unlawful migrants, were allowed to get California Driver’s Licenses and State IDs. The Motor-Voter process now registers those drivers and ID recipients as legal voters and ballots are created.

Those illegal ballots form the core of the voter fraud in California and were first used in the November 2018 midterm election as the beta test for national rollout.

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But it's been nearly 8 years now and nothing

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The laptop was investigated thoroughly by Republicans and turned out to be nothing of importance…

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The statement is misleading and incomplete. The Hunter Biden laptop (often called the "laptop from hell") was not "nothing of importance." It was authentic, contained verifiable evidence of serious personal and business issues, played a role in federal prosecutions, and raised legitimate questions about influence peddling—though it didn't produce the smoking-gun proof of high-level criminality that some hoped for regarding Joe Biden.

en.wikipedia.org

Key Facts on Authenticity and InvestigationIt belonged to Hunter Biden and was genuine: The FBI took possession in December 2019 (via subpoena) and quickly verified it as his, with no signs of tampering. Independent forensic analyses (e.g., by CBS News-commissioned experts, The Washington Post, and others) confirmed over 120,000 emails and other data were consistent with normal use, cryptographically verifiable in many cases, and unaltered. No post-April 2019 files were added.

cbsnews.com

Republican investigations: House Republicans (and Senate ones earlier) did probe it extensively post-2022, along with broader Biden family business dealings. They issued subpoenas, held hearings, and highlighted bank records, emails, etc. Outcomes included Hunter Biden's convictions on gun charges (2024, where the laptop was used as evidence of his drug use) and tax issues. Broader probes into Joe Biden yielded allegations of influence peddling but no impeachment, criminal charges against him, or conclusive proof of policy-for-money swaps while VP.

washingtonpost.com

It wasn't dismissed as irrelevant by investigators—federal prosecutors used it, and it fueled years of oversight.What the Laptop Showed (and Didn't)Hunter's activities: Extensive evidence of lucrative foreign deals (Ukraine's Burisma, China), millions earned, heavy drug use, personal chaos, and efforts to leverage the Biden name. Emails like one about a Burisma meeting setup were authenticated.

washingtonpost.com

Joe Biden ties: Suggestions of awareness and possible involvement (e.g., meetings, calls, or access), but nothing that definitively proved illegal acts by Joe Biden. Many claims remain unproven or open to interpretation (standard "no evidence of wrongdoing" vs. "appearance of impropriety").
Broader context: The 2020 suppression (social media blocks, "51 intel officials" letter calling it Russian disinfo) was a major media/tech failure. The FBI knew it was real and had it for months but didn't clarify publicly. No credible Russian operation was ever tied to it.

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