quote:You guys have got the Western world shitting themselves with this arsehole. I can't imagine why so many want this egotist back - particularly women - but they seem to.
Fascism has always been popular. It appeals to strong emotions, and at least in the US our education on fascism is piss-poor (because learning about fascism tends to make people uncomfortable when looking at the United States).
quote:But what on earth are the democrats thinking? It seems that almost any other democrat could beat the lunatic but they've stuck with the one guy that might not. It's terrifying.
The democrat establishment has never been in touch with their actual voting base, and the voting base is not as unified as the Republicans traditionally have been.
Republicans have factions that historically have not conflicted amongst themselves - deregulation-business Republicans and anti-choice religious conservatives didn't care about each other's goals, they could support the same candidates without much/any infighting.
The Democrats have not had the same situation. There's a lot of infighting and disagreement and purity testing.
The establishment Dems are seeing that Biden beat Trump once, and incumbent candidates tend to have an advantage. They dont want to rock the boat, Biden is "tried and true" from their perspective.
They don't seem to see (or their weighing of the situation is different from what others are concluding) the electoral cost of Biden's strong public support for Israel, who are at this point very widely known to be committing heinous war crimes and crimes against humanity by anyone with any social media access.
This is combined with immense fatigue over existential elections - there's a lot of chatter about how establishment Dems use existential threats like Trump to ensure that we continue with mostly the (capitalist-friendly) status quo, and never actually make progress on things Americans actually care about. This happens often with incumbents - political progress in the US is often slow or nonexistent, and voters are always frustrated that they're not getting what they need/want. Frustration with the status quo is escalating, it's getting harder and harder to just live especially for people just starting out.
Leadership seems to just be banking on "Biden beat Trump before, let's do it again."
The good news is that Trump is facing more and more legal issues. There are a ton of indictments, and polling suggests there are a number of Republicans who will actually vote for Biden or abstain if Trump wins the nomination (as seems likely). Biden's support is not as strong as it was in 2020, but neither is Trump's.
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
quote:America's economy will implode within 4 years. You heard it here first. But go ahead and listen to the talking heads in the government. You all will soon see that I was right.
When have any of your predictions ever been right, Phat?
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
Phat, I'm going to show you a YouTube video. It has a few statistics. It's nice and short, only 4 minutes.
I'd also like to mention that I don't like Biden. Neither does the guy in the video. Granted, I dislike Biden for mostly different reasons than you might. But when Republicans (or Democrats, or anyone else) make claims, it's smart to look at the facts behind those claims. A good practice for consuming any form of media, too. Note the sources listed in the video summary.
Republican voters are better off right now, under Biden, than at any time under Trump. And Republican talking points tend to assume that voters, like you, will either be incapable of basic math...or just won't bother to check the numbers.
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
quote:And quit dismissing my "sources" by lumping them all in the category of bad information. Did it ever occur to you that "official" government statistics can be inaccurate? And not all of my ideas are by any means Trumps. You seem to think that Trump is some sort of Adolf Hitler setting the country up for a national socialist takeover. Our government is already controlled by left-leaning plutocrats such as prominent educators, political scientists, and hard-core activists who are destroying the American Dream we grew up with. We need less government not more. Let the free markets run the country. Its what we have always been good at.
Trump is, very literally, a fascist, Phat. By the definition. I went over that with you some months ago.
The Nazis called themselves "national socialists," but were actually anti-socialist in every one of their policies. They did not enact a single socialist policy once they came to power. They were ultra-capitalist and right-wing. There is a reason that Communist Russia was one of their main enemies - Hitler hated socialism and communism as much as other Western capitalists.
And the US government is not in any way "left-leaning." The plutocrats are in charge and fund both major parties, but the Democrats are not "left." By international standards they're center-right. Democrats are liberals - they're still extremely capitalist. They're less authoritarian than the Republican fascist right, but the major power brokers among the Democratic party hate leftists almost as much as the Republicans - they just feel like the Dems can get some grudging votes from actual leftists to prevent even worse backsliding from the right. And they're not wrong about that.
Actual leftists want to seize the means of production. Phat. Not a single major American politician at the Federal level has that position, at least not publicly.
America has drifted so hard to the right that Americans have lost all sense of what the left actually is.
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
quote:This is the type of video I will listen to. Can someone please tell me why these people are wrong?
Some of what they're saying is true. The media in the US is filled with propaganda. They do spin things, a lot. Much of what we consider the mainstream media is based on social media engagement - clicks, not news, not facts. And the government does have a vested interest in maintaining the levers of power exactly where they are. The Republicans and Democrats have major differences, but no matter which of them is in control, the real power in the United States is driven by money. Oligarchs. Wealthy donors, wealthy PACs, wealthy lobby groups.
Governments exist to preserve the status quo. The status quo doesn't serve most people well.
Change is possible, but it's difficult and takes a long time. Often more than a lifetime, for the larger changes.
Specifically they seem to be talking about the destruction of an undersea gas pipeline from Russia to Europe. It happened as I recall not long after the Russian invasion of Ukraine stalled out. To my knowledge nobody has "officially" claimed responsibility. The people in the video are speculating about who has the most to gain, and are skeptical about US statements indicating Russia might be responsible.
There's a lot of "I don't know" going on here. That's important and good. It's responsible to point out that you don't know. These guys are acknowledging that they are not, in fact, experts. They have limited information and find themselves confused. Noticing that you are confused is a powerful thing - it means that something you believe to be true is wrong, or incomplete. In this case, the hinted assertion that Russia may be responsible is confusing - they don't see a motive for Russia to do that, they believe that NATO has very strong intelligence services who they think would likely have known about what was going on, and they are skeptical of the media reports.
That's not unreasonable.
At the end, one of them says "you should always question everyone...unless you trust them."
There's the problem. You should question people you trust even more. You should question yourself even more.
Why do I believe what I believe? What do I think I know, and how do I think I know it? We can't all be experts on everything, and at some point we do need to acknowledge the expertise of individuals. We should still question them and make sure that what they're saying adds up.
The major issue is claims/conclusions vs facts. Facts are things like "on tuesday novembuary eleventeenth, a gas pipleine that transports natural gas from Russia to Someeuropeancountry was destroyed." That's simple facts. They can be confirmed. Now we get to conclusions. "Officials have eliminated natural causes." Which officials? Do other officials agree, from other countries? How about countries that aren't aligned with any party, do they agree with that conclusion? "Officials suspect it may have been Russia." Now we get to more specific claims and conclusions, and they should receive more scrutiny.
But sometimes the honest answer is "we don't know, and probably won't know until 50 years pass and everything gets declassified." It's not satisfying, but it's often true.
You can usually trust that the numbers the US government produces are accurate. There are too many eyes watching to outright lie about publicly-available information. The numbers can be used to manipulate conclusions. I can accurately count the number of apples at the grocery store, but is that actually a good number to use to represent the health of the apple industry?
We also have to acknowledge our own lack of expertise. I am not an expert in all fields. I often feel like Im not an expert in my own field. I am not a foreign policy expert, and I have to rely on the opinions of foreign policy experts to help decipher what's going on sometimes. Foreign policy is a quagmire of truths and lies mixed together - it's been described as an international poker game where everyone is cheating. But I am cautious in who I rely on to help interpret that information. Most specifically, are they willing to draw conclusions that are counter to their own expressed biases? Are they speaking as if what they say is definitely true, or are they pointing out possibilities? Most importantly, what is their track record? Sometimes we find out later whether a given prediction was right or wrong, and to what degree. It's important to check back and see if there is demonstrated accuracy. Nobody is perfect, especially in complex environments where multiple parties are literally lying, but you can see who correctly identifies their own gaps in information, when they decline to make a prediction, and whether the predictions they do make turn out to often be correct.
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
Maybe it helps Phat. Maybe not. Maybe it helps a lurker. Debating here helped me. It can help others.
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
I agree. Overturning that ruling would put the country in an absolutely insane place, and I think it's a bridge way too far even for this court.
And I think they'd much prefer to just stay the hell away from it. Letting the existing ruling stand is the easiest solution for them.
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
quote:If the Supreme Court accepts the request then that means they think there's a chance they might overturn the lower court ruling. Trump would then have 90 days from today to file his appeal. How long the court would take to hear oral arguments, review briefs and issue a ruling is difficult to ascertain.
Not necessarily. The Court could simply wish to clarify the lower court's ruling to firmly establish the boundaries of Presidential immunity and privilege. That's doesn't mean they'd overturn anything, just outline the boundaries for the future.
Overturning the ruling and granting total Presidential immunity means that Biden's obvious and immediate response should be to imprison and/or order killed literally every political opponent, including Trump and much of the Court. And then do the same for any legislative members who talk about impeachment.
It would literally be crazy-town. Overturning the ruling requires not only corruption and terrible application of law, it requires outright insanity.
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
quote:I was mystified by this outburst of emotionalism. WTF has John Roberts done that is so bad...(looks him up) Oh I see. He is a *shudder* conservative!
For starters, he overturned a judicial precedent over 50 years old by reaching back to law from before the United States was a country and a time where witches were still burned at the stake to invalidate the Constitutional right to control over your own body, directly causing the deaths of many women so far.
Make no mistake Phat, that same ruling set the stage for the annihilation of the entire right to privacy in the United States. That right, not directly espoused in the Constitution but considered "implied" through long, long-established precedent, is the same right that has been used to confirm that you can marry who you please, and that the cops can't decide that they want to look at your emails and see if you're a "subversive."
This Court isnt merely conservative. We've had lots of conservative Courts. This Court is unpredictably insane in its legal rulings. Facts and precedent do not matter to this Court, and so people have lost faith in its ability to remain fair.
There's a lot more. Major, big-time corruption, self-dealing, and a clear inability to remain apolitical.
This Court is not balanced. As you've demonstrated several times, you don't know what "left" actually is. It's a scary boogeyman for anyone who doesn't believe what you believe. This Court is fanatically right-wing with only a few center-right-but-sane Justices to "balance."
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
quote:I think Roberts is an outstanding jurist, but he has the misfortune of leading a Supreme Court that has two rabidly conservative justices
Not just the two. Three of them. Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Barret. And maybe Alito. Several (all?) have major corruption and self-dealing issues. The ethics crisis in the Court has faded from the news but hasn't gone away. And I care less about Roberts as the Chief Justice - he's either complicit with the crazies or unable to stop them, and the end result is just a Court with some of the lowest public confidence in living memory. And dead women. And a lot of rights, long recognized and held sacred, at extreme risk.
I don't think Phat is conservative. I don't think he's anything but a well intentioned bumpkin with an affinity for the kind of videos conservatives like to churn out. They get him going and then he comes here and repeats it without understanding a word.
I think you just described most American "conservatives," Percy. Most of them don't have any actual understanding of policy or have a position on it. They just get riled up by boogeymen - "liberals", communists, socialist, leftists, immigrants, gays, transgender people, drag queens, and some nebulous idea that the economy is better with Republicans despite actual, measurable facts showing that they do worse economically under Republican policies.
Modern American conservatism is a position of fear and ignorance and authoritarianism, not governance or freedom.
EDIT - I doubt that Phat, for example, could define socialism and communism, and specifically how they differ. He's heard that they're bad from authorities he trusts. He thinks they're authoritarian because some authoritarian governments have used those words, like the example with the "national socialist" Nazis who were literally not socialist despite their name.
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
Do you think that I would be better off "conforming" to the rest of you? What makes you think that you know and that I don't? What is GroupThink?
Phat, this is a major brain-bug that affects a lot of people. It causes opposition to reinforce ideas. regardless of whether they are accurate beliefs or not. It's tied to conspiracy theories, cults, and a number of other issues.
You've already admitted ignorance on a variety of topics. I cannot remember the last time you were actually able to defend a single one of your claims with a logically coherent argument or any shred of evidence.
What makes you think that you know and that I don't?
Quoted again for emphasis. The determinant factors are being able to support claims with argument and evidence! If you, Phat, are making wild claims with no supporting argument or evidence, then it is clear that you do not know what you think you know!
What evidence do you have to indicate that "the rest of us" are any better?
Why is this about being "better than" someone else?
Everyone is wrong to some varying degree.
We do not generally know what we are wrong about.
Ideally we become less wrong over time - we identify mistaken or empty beliefs and change our minds, either by admitting that we don't actually know something, or changing our minds based on convincing evidence that compels different but supportable beliefs.
Popularity does not matter. Consensus is a check against error but it not an argument in itself. You won't catch flak if you support your claims with argument and evidence! Not just a YouTube video that didnt actually make any claims with experts in fields unrelated to what was actually discussed!
So you honestly think that I am ignorant?
YES!
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
Nobody has the money to rebuild either Palestine nor Ukraine.
Im not sure you understand how government funding works, Phat. Do you think WW2 and the post-war rebuilding efforts happened because we just had a giant Scrooge McDuck vault full of gold that we showered on Europe?
We need to spend our money in America first.
Leaving aside the connotations of "America first," this is literally what happens when we provide aid. The government spends dollars at American companies who produce the aid to be provided, creating American jobs and fueling the economy. Every dollar spent circulates back through the *American* economy.
When we provide a bunch of ammo to Ukraine for example, we're taking old surplus material that we kept in reserve for an eventual NATO fight against Russia, and we ship it over to Ukraine. Then we order replacement, updated ammo from American arms companies to replace the stock. American jobs are needed to produce the backfill, Americans get paid all of that money, Americans spend that money in the American economy and pay taxes back...it's a big cycle.
Some politicians like to make it sound like we're taking big pallets of physical dollar bills, packing them onto pallets, and shipping literal money to Ukraine. They are lying.
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
Is there a limit to the number who can seek Asylum? Should there be?
What limit did Jesus place on how many neighbors we should love as ourselves?
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
Logic placed the limit at as many as one could take care of while not sacrificing the needs of their own family.
Is that so?
Luke 18 v18-25:
18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
20Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
He didn't seem to put a limit on it.
And even if there should be a limit by capacity...how would you determine how many we can take care of without sacrificing our own needs?
There are many, many rich people in the US. Many to whom the passage above would apply.
One could include our own government - we spend enough on the military budget to easily feed every refugee at our borders, and it would only take a fraction of the amount.
Any limits suggested by current politicians are not due to ability, they're due to a choice.
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
The fall of Roe has been predictably and *spectacularly* unpopular. Republicans and, in particular Trump, bear the full weight of responsibility for that most asinine Supreme Court decision.
I suppose this is a subset of Trump and the Republicans' inability to actually govern, but there are a lot of voters who are going to flip - some red to abstain or 3rd party, some red and abstain to blue.
And the Republicans are having a funding crisis. Trump has been sucking RNC money lime mad on top of alienating very major previously-reliable big-money donors.
Even more Americans today see the truth of Trump and the modern Republican party than 4 or 8 years ago.
The only real advantage Trump has is that Biden has lost an incredible amount of support over his handling of Israel and Gaza. And that doesnt directly benefit Trump (it's widely acknowledged that if anything Trump would be even worse on the issue), it's just going to cause a lot of people who otherwise would have voted for Biden to just not vote or vote for 3rd parties.
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Francis Bacon
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
“A world that can be explained even with bad reasons is a familiar world. But, on the other hand, in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling of absurdity.” – Albert Camus
"...the pious hope that by combining numerous little turds of variously tainted data, one can obtain a valuable result; but in fact, the outcome is merely a larger than average pile of shit." - Barash, David 1995...
"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends." - Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord Of the Rings
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26King James Version (KJV)
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