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Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)

René Descartes February 19, 2018 at 05:56 121800 views 24161 comments
MOD OP EDIT: Please put general conversations about Trump here. Anything that is not exceptionally deserving of its own OP on this topic will be merged into this discussion. And let's keep things relatively polite. Thanks.

Comments (24161)

3017amen February 14, 2020 at 18:18 #382675
Reply to NOS4A2

Yo Dumpertrumper,

I didn't see where you answered the question?

Using your bosses Trump-speak, be a man and grab those questions by the balls, or by the pussy if that works better for you!

LOL


Relativist February 14, 2020 at 18:23 #382678
Reply to Michael Quoting 3017amen
Speaking of that, what is your take on Barr's comments on Dumpertrumper's tweets ? Do you think there is an ulterior motive of sorts?

Well, he spoke truth - but that doesn't preclude there being ulterior motives, some of which may be good (to save the sinking ship of the Justice Dept) and some might be selfish (his own reputation).

It will be interesting to see how Trump reacts.
3017amen February 14, 2020 at 18:24 #382679
Reply to Michael

Yep, Bloomberg is his nemesis; he's the only one who will be able to get under his thin skin. Wait a minute I stand corrected everybody gets under his thin skin!

Bloomberg is fighting fire with fire on the tweet circuit!!!
3017amen February 14, 2020 at 18:27 #382681
Reply to Relativist

Okay I think you're right. Let's wait and see how Dumpertrumper reacts, he'll probably stick his foot in his mouth again...

In the big scheme of things I'm confident the truth will all come out about the fraudulent Dumpertrumper.
Benkei February 14, 2020 at 18:32 #382682
Reply to NOS4A2 I look forward to you eating those words after listening to the podcast.
3017amen February 14, 2020 at 18:38 #382685
Reply to Benkei

Yep. It's seems like NOS4A2 is loosing more credibility by the hour. Although that would imply that he even has some!

He's like a little ostrich who puts his head in the sand and then complains it's too dark!

LOL
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 18:39 #382686
Reply to Michael

He did not admit it. Quote him admitting anything close to openly admitting sending his attorney Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to find damaging information about his political opponents.
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 18:40 #382687
Reply to Benkei

I look forward to you eating those words after listening to the podcast.


Keep looking.
3017amen February 14, 2020 at 18:41 #382688
Reply to NOS4A2

Yo Dumpertrumper,

Can you go through a lawyer to interpret your nonsense? You might be better served!!
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 18:42 #382689
Reply to 3017amen

Yo Dumpertrumper,

I didn't see where you answered the question?

Using your bosses Trump-speak, be a man and grab those questions by the balls, or by the pussy if that works better for you!

LOL


I answered your questions many times. Still awaiting your analysis.
Michael February 14, 2020 at 18:42 #382690
Quoting NOS4A2
Quote him admitting anything close to openly admitting sending his attorney Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to find damaging information about his political opponents.


I'm not saying that he admitted to sending Giuliani to Ukraine to find damaging information about his political opponents. I'm saying that he admitted to sending Giuliani to Ukraine. It's right there in the audio. Previously both he and Giuliani denied that Giuliani was in Ukraine at Trump's behest, as per your previous comment:

Quoting NOS4A2
That might be an issue. According to Giuliani it was the state dept. that requested he travel to Ukraine. I think if Trump personally requested him to do it, Trump might be in trouble.
3017amen February 14, 2020 at 18:43 #382691
Reply to NOS4A2

Your credibility is in the shitcan, you didn't answer my question would you like me to repost it?
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 18:43 #382692
Reply to Michael

I'm not saying that he admitted to sending Giuliani to Ukraine to find damaging information about his political opponents. I'm saying that he admitted to sending Giuliani to Ukraine. It's right there in the audio. Previously both he and Giuliani denied that Giuliani was in Ukraine at Trump's behest.


So is CNN telling the truth?
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 18:45 #382693
Reply to 3017amen

Your credibility is in the shitcan, you didn't answer my question would you like me to repost it?


Still awaiting your sober analysis.
3017amen February 14, 2020 at 18:46 #382694
Reply to NOS4A2

Would you like me to repost it? If you're scared say you're scared!

LOL
Michael February 14, 2020 at 18:46 #382695
Quoting NOS4A2
So is CNN telling the truth?


You're not going to deflect that easy. I don't care what CNN says. I care about what Trump says to Geraldo in that interview. You can listen to the audio. Geraldo asks him about sending Giuliani to Ukraine and he admits that he did and that he isn't sorry for it. Whereas previously, as per your own comment:

"According to Giuliani it was the state dept. that requested he travel to Ukraine. I think if Trump personally requested him to do it, Trump might be in trouble."

NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 18:52 #382696
Reply to Michael

You're not going to deflect that easy. I don't care what CNN says. I care about what Trump says to Geraldo in that interview. You can listen to the audio. Geraldo asks him about sending Giuliani to Ukraine and he admits that he did and that he isn't sorry for it. Whereas previously, as per your own comment:

"According to Giuliani it was the state dept. that requested he travel to Ukraine. I think if Trump personally requested him to do it, Trump might be in trouble."


You used a CNN article to make a point. The CNN article claimed Trump openly admitted to something he didn't. Is this true or false?

Rivera's question was a loaded question. Trump never admitted sending Giuliani to Ukraine and their past statements say otherwise.
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 18:53 #382698
Reply to 3017amen

Would you like me to repost it? If you're scared say you're scared!

LOL


Anytime now....
Michael February 14, 2020 at 19:00 #382700
Quoting NOS4A2
You used a CNN article to make a point. The CNN article claimed Trump openly admitted to something he didn't. Is this true or false?


I used it as a reference. I followed it up by summarizing the key points:

1. Giuliani is a liar, as he claimed it was the State Department, not Trump, who sent him to Ukraine
2. Trump is a liar, as he claimed he didn't send Giuliani to Ukraine

Note that I'm not saying that Giuliani was there for nefarious reasons, only that he was there at Trump's request.

Rivera's question was a loaded question. Trump never admitted sending Giuliani to Ukraine


Yes he did. Listen to the audio.

and their past statements say otherwise


Yes, which are the lies. That's the point I'm trying to drive across here. They lied. Which is a common theme with them, and why most of us don't believe what he or the White House say.
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 19:05 #382702
Reply to Michael

The question was loaded, it was poorly asked. There is no indication Trump heard it properly. There is no indication Trump was talking about sending Guiliani to Ukraine. Your unforgiving word-parsing and contextomy is the same kind of nonsense that leads us to the fake news such as the CNN article you posted.


Deleted User February 14, 2020 at 19:41 #382708
Quoting NOS4A2
Trump never admitted sending Giuliani to Ukraine


"Was it strange to send Rudy Guliane to Ukraine? Your personal lawyer? Are you sorry you did that?"

"Not at all, not at all..."

Quoting NOS4A2
There is no indication Trump heard it properly.


Unfounded and biased speculation in connection to the subject's mental state.

So silly.
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 19:45 #382711
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

You guys have no qualms in uncritically believing and promoting the flimsiest of cases to justify your conspiracy theorizing.
Relativist February 14, 2020 at 19:46 #382712
Reply to NOS4A2 Oh my. I'm getting embarrassed for you. Seriously, maybe you should take a break from this thread and try to make a contribution elsewhere.
Baden February 14, 2020 at 19:49 #382713
Reply to Relativist

@NOS4A2's only function here is to highlight the depths to which Trump sycophants will go to defend him. Nobody believes even he believes the rubbish he posts.
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 19:51 #382715
Reply to Relativist

Oh my. I'm getting embarrassed for you. Seriously, maybe you should take a break from this thread and try to make a contribution elsewhere.


That's just your fantasy getting the best of you again. I suppose it's a good thing your opinion means very little to me.
Deleted User February 14, 2020 at 19:56 #382718
Quoting NOS4A2
You guys have no qualms in uncritically believing and promoting the flimsiest of cases to justify your conspiracy theorizing.


Opinion without a factual support.
Deleted User February 14, 2020 at 20:07 #382724
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Baden February 14, 2020 at 20:12 #382728
Reply to tim wood

I can't prove he's a troll. He might be insane.
Deleted User February 14, 2020 at 20:18 #382736
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 20:23 #382740
Reply to tim wood

Perhaps, but he corrupts the space. So while you're here, I request he be banned or restricted to the lounge. Which is too bad, becouse in other threads he has demonstrated he can make sense and be not himself altogether a corruption. Would you tolerate a pet that had decided your leg was a fire-hydrant?


I don't mind some constructive criticism on how I should conduct myself, Tim. Metaphors about pissing on your leg is fine and dandy, but anything realistic I can do to alleviate your stress would be more helpful.
Michael February 14, 2020 at 20:23 #382741
Quoting tim wood
Um, maybe a cage?


That's what this is, which is why it says "All General Trump Conversations Here". ;)
3017amen February 14, 2020 at 20:25 #382742
Reply to Baden

His credibility is highly suspect. I have found that he can't be honest with himself or other's. After reading responses to mine and other poster's.., there is no consistency in his arguments except to say that he complains that it's too dark while stubbornly refusing to take his head out 'the sand.

LOL

Deleted User February 14, 2020 at 20:25 #382743
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Deleted User February 14, 2020 at 20:29 #382747
Quoting NOS4A2
their past statements say otherwise.


To identify a liar, note inconsistencies in his narrative, especially when engaged in a not-so-defensive conversation with a political ally (Geraldo).
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 20:34 #382750
Reply to 3017amen

His credibility is highly suspect. I have found that he can't be honest with himself or other's. After reading responses to mine and other poster's.., there is no consistency in his arguments except to say that he complains that it's too dark while stubbornly refusing to take his head out 'the sand.

LOL


You promised me an analysis about my right-wing extreme views and how I am a danger to democracy. Is that ever going to arrive? or....
ssu February 14, 2020 at 20:37 #382752
Quoting NOS4A2
You promised me an analysis about my right-wing extreme views and how I am a danger to democracy.

I bet you want to hear that.

Would reinforce your thoughts about those who are critical about Trump or what?

People are usually smarter than you think. If they listen to you and you listen to them.
.
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 20:52 #382760
Reply to ssu

Any advice on how I should further conduct myself in the future?
Michael February 14, 2020 at 21:07 #382765
Quoting NOS4A2
Oh dear. It looks like the disgraced Andrew McCabe is facing prosecution. This is one of the people anti-trump conspiracy theorists had unmitigated faith in.


Justice Dept. won’t charge Andrew McCabe, the former FBI official who authorized the investigation of President Trump

I wonder if [s]Trump[/s] Barr will step in to interfere with this one too.
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 21:10 #382768
Reply to Michael

It appears to be so. That’s a shame given that he lied to the FBI with all these others being jailed for doing the same. So does that Waylay your fears about the Trump DOJ?
Michael February 14, 2020 at 21:12 #382769
Quoting NOS4A2
So does that Waylay your fears about the Trump DOJ?


Too early to say. Give it a couple of days after the inevitable Trump tweet. Apparently he ain't happy.
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 21:14 #382770
Reply to Michael

I wouldn’t be happy either. To me this is more evidence of the two-tiered approach to justice.
Michael February 14, 2020 at 21:15 #382771
Reply to NOS4A2 True, the rich and powerful, whatever their party, always get away with crap that would get us lesser folk in serious trouble.
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 21:21 #382776
Reply to Michael

True, the rich and powerful, whatever their party, always get away with crap that would get us lesser folk in serious trouble.


As you might expect I will have to accept this with extreme suspicion. The defense, Michael Bromwich, was the inspector general of the Clinton DOJ and appointed federal prosecutor for Obama. That is of course conspiratorial on my part but, good god, it’s just too convenient.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/mrbromwich/status/1228137819098492928?s=21[/tweet]

Edit to add: I was wrong about Bromwich being prosecutor. He was defense. The prosecutor was Molly Gaston, who prosecuted Rick Gates for lying.
Benkei February 14, 2020 at 21:23 #382780
Reply to NOS4A2 Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani told Fox News that he was personally asked by the State Department to contact Ukrainian officials and inquire about investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden.

Now we know it was Trump.

1 + 1 =...?
Michael February 14, 2020 at 21:25 #382782
Quoting NOS4A2
but, good god, it’s just too convenient


And now you know where we are coming from.
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 21:26 #382784
Reply to Michael

And now you know where we are coming from.


So long as you admit it, yes I do.
Monitor February 14, 2020 at 22:26 #382805
Michael Avenatti is facing forty some years in prison. Will Barr or Trump have a more lenient sentencing guideline to offer?:grin:
Michael February 14, 2020 at 22:29 #382807
Reply to Monitor That max figure that papers mention is really misleading. The same metric gave Stone 50 years. It’ll probably be around 3 or 4.
Relativist February 14, 2020 at 23:21 #382830
Quoting NOS4A2
It appears to be so. That’s a shame given that he lied to the FBI with all these others being jailed for doing the same.

That's a false equivalence. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying as a plea deal - they had other things on him. Had lyng been the only issue, he would have had no motivation to accept the deal.

Of special note is a statement made by the judge in Mccabe's case. The judge, a George W. Bush appointee, said "the fact that you got somebody at the top basically trying to dictate whether somebody should be prosecuted" was like a "banana republic." He told this to the prosecutors months ago, but it was only released today. Here's another example of Trump's inappropriarte nvolvement getting in the way of the impartial administration of justice.


Michael February 14, 2020 at 23:43 #382840
Reply to Relativist Speaking of which

https://www.msnbc.com/katy-tur/watch/ag-barr-reopens-probe-into-michael-flynn-guilty-plea-78779461988
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 23:48 #382842
Reply to Relativist

That's a false equivalence. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying as a plea deal - they had other things on him. Had lyng been the only issue, he would have had no motivation to accept the deal.


Sure, they are not equivalent, but it is true they were charged for lying to the FBI (Papadopolous, Gates, van der Zwaan) whereas in this case no charges were recommended at all.

Do you think people should or should not be charged with lying to the FBI?
NOS4A2 February 14, 2020 at 23:51 #382843
Reply to Michael

I’ve been following that case closely. If what Flynn’s attorney’s are claiming is true, it will be a disaster for the Mueller investigation and the DOJ
Michael February 15, 2020 at 00:01 #382846
Reply to NOS4A2 What is he saying? I haven’t been following it.
Relativist February 15, 2020 at 00:05 #382847
Reply to NOS4A2 Yes, of course people should be charged when they lie to the FBI.

I couldn't care less if Mccabe were prosecuted for lying, if that is the typical course of action for lies of a similar magnitude. But I'm sure you're aware that prosecutorial discretion filters out some lying charges, and fairness dictates that discretion be applied consistently. This discretion also provides a tool for investigators to seek additional information - as was the case with those charged through the Mueller investigation. There's nothing wrong with that. On the other hand, there IS something wrong with Trump using such prosecution in a vendetta - and the judge perceived this may have been going on.
NOS4A2 February 15, 2020 at 00:10 #382848
Reply to Michael

What is he saying? I haven’t been following it.


They are saying the DOJ broke the plea agreement. It's complicated but that's the essential point. more heavy-handed recommendations and all that.
NOS4A2 February 15, 2020 at 00:13 #382851
Reply to Relativist

Personally I think it's a fair decision in the McCabe case because he was already fired. But I do not think it is fair in the case of others.
ssu February 15, 2020 at 00:23 #382854
Reply to NOS4A2 Oh, Just be yourself.

And don't get banned.
Relativist February 15, 2020 at 03:51 #382907
Reply to Michael Reply to NOS4A2
This article seems a good summary.

Here's my takeaway:
there was a plea deal, which granted Flynn probation in return for his cooperating with other investigations and prosecutions.

Flynn chose to not testify in a particular trial because it would admit he knowingly lied on his filings under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)

Prosecutors believe Flynn had already admitted to these false statements, so they regarded Flynn's refusal to testify as a breach of the deal.

Because of the alleged breach, prosecutors changed the sentencing recommendation to jail time. They rethought this, and 7 days later, they reverted back to the original recommendation of probation.

Flynn's attorneys are treating the temporary action as a breach of the plea deal. This opens the door for Flynn to withdraw hia guilty plea,if the judge approves.

As a separate matter, Flynns current attorneys allege the original ones had a conflict of interest. This is another potential basis for withdrawing the plea.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 04:14 #382910
2 years on, and Trump Derangement Syndrome is as strong as ever. Scott Adams predicted that by now it would have been abated.... that afaics is the only prediction he got wrong.
Benkei February 15, 2020 at 05:56 #382932
Quoting Nobeernolife
2 years on, and Trump Derangement Syndrome is as strong as ever. Scott Adams predicted that by now it would have been abated.... that afaics is the only prediction he got wrong.


Indeed. It's surprising his supporters are still so deranged to actually defend Trump. A terrible affliction.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 06:31 #382936
Reply to Benkei
....and there we go. As if my observation needed support.

Really, Adam`s metaphor of the two movies on the same screen totally works. The Trump haters (aka mainstream media consumers) are simply seeing a totally different reality than the rest of us. But Scott predicted that by now, the separation would have been lessened. Instead, it has increased. If anything, CNN et al have been doing a phantastic job of creating mass hysteria.
NOS4A2 February 15, 2020 at 07:05 #382940
Roger Stone is indeed asking for a new trial. Just crazy.

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/483188-roger-stone-asks-for-new-trial
Deleted User February 15, 2020 at 07:06 #382941
Quoting Nobeernolife
aka mainstream media consumers)


Fox News is as mainstream as mainstream media gets.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 07:18 #382947
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm
"Fox News is as mainstream as mainstream media gets. "

LOL, these responses are so predictable, I can write an entire dialog myself. Someone mentions the corporate propaganda media, and someone from the echo chamber will say "Fox" (or "Faux") as they usually spell it. I do not get or watch Fox (except for youtube clips), but I understand that it is one of the few (or maybe the only) mainstream channel that has not totally succumbed to TDS. Good for them, but really.... 1 single exception among whole alphabet soup of propaganda channels which broadcast orangeman bad nonstop is really nothing to brag about.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 07:51 #382961
Reply to Nobeernolife What do you prefer? 4chan? 8chan?
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 07:55 #382962
Reply to Noah Te Stroete
What do you prefer? 4chan? 8chan?

I don´t know "4chan" and "8chan". Are they mainstream media? Do you watch them?
Fwiw, I look at a variety sources, starting the day with CNN on the tele for breakfast. I must say, the sheer level of TDS hysteria sometimes makes me choke on the toast.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 07:57 #382963
Reply to Nobeernolife No, I don’t go on those sites. It’s best that no one does.

What do you like about Trump?
Benkei February 15, 2020 at 08:02 #382964
Reply to Nobeernolife I'm not even American, you moron, so I'm not a "mainstream media consumer". Trump is corrupt. Clear as day from anywhere outside the US.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 08:05 #382966
Reply to Noah Te Stroete
What do you like about Trump?

Thanks for a reasonable question instead of a TDS rant. So rare these days!

What do I like about Trump? I agree with his basic policy platform. Fundamentally, return from globalism to healthy nationalism. Imho, he is very much the American Brexit. I do not particularly love the guy as a person, in fact I find his appearance quite grating. I am not American, so not part of the party political football game, but I am watching it. In fact, there is a Democrat candidate who I would vote for, but guess what..... she is getting the Trump treatment from the corporate media.

Hth to clarify from what angle I am looking at this.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 08:07 #382967
Reply to Benkei
'm not even American, you moron, so I'm not a "mainstream media consumer". Trump is corrupt. Clear as day from anywhere outside the US.

I am not American either, what you see is not clear at all for me from outside the US. And it possible to talk about this without name calling?
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 08:12 #382968
Reply to Nobeernolife So you prefer nationalism to globalism. Do you feel like countries like the US don’t need immigrants? It’s funny because so many companies in the US that the population depends on rely on undocumented workers to do the work that Americans won’t do.

Do you like environmental deregulation?

Do you like massive military spending?

Do you like massive tax cuts to billionaires and corporations?

Do you deny climate change as Trump does?

Benkei February 15, 2020 at 08:16 #382969
Reply to Nobeernolife I will stop the namecalling if you stop as well. Your first post was a swipe at most posters here for having TDS. That's insulting in itself so you get back what you threw.

Also, it might be a strange turn of phrase but I do not remember anyone on this board ever suggesting voting for a politicians that they cannot vote for. And there's been a lot of talk about Brexit and Trump here. So yeah, I'm not buying it you're not American, especially since the first thing you watch in the morning is CNN.

Also, no Democrat supports your idea of American nationalism so your entire political position is circumspect.
NOS4A2 February 15, 2020 at 08:18 #382970
Reply to Benkei

I don’t live in America either.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 08:24 #382971
Reply to Noah Te Stroete
So now, after asking a reasonable question, you veering off into propaganda talking point. Disappointing, but alas no surprise. I don´t want to get bogged down in one forum, so just quickly.

So you prefer nationalism to globalism. Do you feel like countries like the US don’t need immigrants?
-->No, "countries like the US" do not to abolish border controls. Immigration should be controlled and regulated by every host nation. That is a fundamental part of the definition of a nation.

It’s funny because so many companies in the US that the population depends on rely on undocumented workers to do the work that Americans won’t do.
--> Importing illegal cheap labour to cut down on wages is not something that should be promoted.

Do you like environmental deregulation?
--> Yes, as long as it is sensible.

Do you like massive military spending?
--> No.

Do you like massive tax cuts to billionaires and corporations?
--> No.

Do you deny climate change as Trump does?
--> Did you stop beating your wife? Can we really not do without loaded questions?
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 08:27 #382972
Reply to Benkei
I will stop the namecalling if you stop as well. Your first post was a swipe at most posters here for having TDS. That's insulting in itself so you get back what you threw.

TDS was not a personal swipe, it is simply an observation. When so many people are so obsessed with such fanaticism that is destroys reasonable communication, we are definitely talking about a derangement syndrome. I did not call you a moron or anything else.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 08:29 #382973
Reply to Benkei
So yeah, I'm not buying it you're not American, especially since the first thing you watch in the morning is CNN.

CNN comes with the cable subscription where I live. Not my choice. But I must say it is quite an impressive start for the day, LOL.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 08:29 #382974
Reply to Nobeernolife Now you’re getting defensive. I’m trying to figure out which policies of Trump’s you like. He has done all of the things I asked about. Also, he employs undocumented workers at some of his resorts. It used to be all of them until he got called out for hypocrisy.

Asking if you deny climate change is a reasonable question.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 08:42 #382977
Reply to Noah Te Stroete

Now you’re getting defensive.
Sorry, just been through this routine too many times, online and in real life.

I’m trying to figure out which policies of Trump’s you like. He has done all of the things I asked about.
No, he has not. At least not in the filtered way you present them. I am not saying I agree with everything he does. I simply said I agree with his basic policy platform: 1) Stop out-of-control globalism, put your nation ahead of global institutions, 2) Protect the borders, 3) Stop stupid foreign wars.
Afaic he has at least tried to stick to those. Most importantly, he has NOT started any new idiotic military adventures like his predecessors. Instead of bashing Trump, you should count your blessings you did not get the warmonger Hillary Clinton.

Asking if you deny climate change is a reasonable question.
I do not know that he (or in fact anybody) "denies climate change". The disagreement is about politics, in particular the merit of signing international agreements full of empty promises which in fact only amout to money and power transfer. Yes, your question was loaded and als is typical for the stuff emanating from the TDS bubble.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 08:44 #382978
Reply to Nobeernolife

Trump literally calls climate change a hoax.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 08:48 #382979
Reply to Noah Te Stroete
Trump literally calls climate change a hoax.

Do you have source for that? In that case, I would disagree with him. In the event, I strongly suspect he called the various climate models and predictions a hoax, which is clearly true, since they all prove wrong. Please show me the transcript where he says "climate change is a hoax". If you can not, I assume you are simply repeating another media talking point.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 08:52 #382980
Quoting Nobeernolife
If you can not, I assume you are simply repeating another media talking point.


Lol. Fake news!

Go on his Twitter feed.

NOS4A2 February 15, 2020 at 08:58 #382981
Reply to Noah Te Stroete

Now you’re getting defensive. I’m trying to figure out which policies of Trump’s you like. He has done all of the things I asked about. Also, he employs undocumented workers at some of his resorts. It used to be all of them until he got called out for hypocrisy.


To be fair they had fake documents.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 08:58 #382982
Reply to Noah Te Stroete
Go on his Twitter feed.

I am not interested in Twitter with its stream of conscience content.

Here is what I found with a little googling (from the Telegraph):
[u]The US president said during an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes show that he does not think climate change is a “hoax”, reversing his previous position.
However Mr Trump claimed that some scientists have a “very big political agenda” and suggested there is no consensus about the cause of global warming.[/u]

Well, that is not denying climate change, and the very big political agenda is certainly there, as we all (should) know after seeing the Climategate mails and the exposee of the IPCC. Climate clearly exists, but questioning the politics is an entire different thing.

I agree he could have handled the interview better.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 09:00 #382983
Quoting NOS4A2
To be fair they had fake documents.


The managers told them where to go to get better fake documents as reported by some of the undocumented workers at his New Jersey resort.
NOS4A2 February 15, 2020 at 09:01 #382984
Reply to Noah Te Stroete

I thought Trump hired them.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 09:02 #382985
Reply to NOS4A2 He owns the resorts. He relies on their cheap labor.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 09:04 #382986
Quoting Nobeernolife
suggested there is no consensus about the cause of global warming.


But there is a consensus. That’s tantamount to a denial of climate change if you’re going to question its cause.
NOS4A2 February 15, 2020 at 09:05 #382987
Reply to Noah Te Stroete

He owns the resorts. He relies on their cheap labor.


4 out of 5 star reviews from employees. Sounds like a great company to work for.

https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Trump-Organization/reviews?fcountry=ALL


Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 09:08 #382988
Quoting Noah Te Stroete
But there is a consensus. That’s tantamount to a denial of climate change if you’re going to question its cause.


Consensus on what? This "97% of scientists agree" talking point is bandied about a lot, but we are never told what exactly they agree on. And by the way, the Cook report (in case you refer to that) has been discredited.
Bonus question: Do you think that Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace, is not a scientist?

RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 09:09 #382989
Reply to NOS4A2 That misses the point entirely. Also, Mar-a-Lago has bed bugs, and Trump doesn’t pay his contractors. Furthermore, he has declared bankruptcy several times because he is a terrible businessman, and he is constantly in litigation.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 09:10 #382990
Quoting Nobeernolife
Greenpeace


Greenpeace has no sway with anyone I know.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 09:10 #382991
Reply to Noah Te Stroete
I thought it was possible to communicate with you, after you asked a reasonable question. But now we are descending into the heated exchange of CNN talking points... at which point communication becomes meaningless. Group mentaly takes over. Sad!
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 09:11 #382992
Quoting Nobeernolife
CNN talking points


Facts aren’t talking points.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 09:12 #382993
Quoting Nobeernolife
But now we are descending into the heated exchange


Also, I’m not heated right now.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 09:20 #382994
Reply to Noah Te Stroete
Green peace has no sway with anyone I know.

Oh, now you are a climate change denier? Because Greenpeace bought heavily into the political "man made climate change" agenda, which is the reason Dr. Patrick Moore left them.
(Somehow I suspect that Greepeace does have sway with people in your echo chamber....)
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 09:24 #382995
Reply to Nobeernolife

I personally don’t listen to Greenpeace. Nor does anyone I know. I happen to understand how they figured out that climate change is human caused, and I’m convinced by the science. I prefer not to explain it all here again as I did in another thread months ago.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 09:25 #382996
Reply to Noah Te Stroete
You are a climate scientist?
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 09:29 #382997
Reply to Nobeernolife

I am not a climate scientist, but like I said, I understand how they reached that conclusion.

I suggest you actually research it and try to understand it yourself. If you come to a different conclusion than 97% of climate scientists, then I would like to hear your reasoning.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 09:35 #382999
Reply to Noah Te Stroete
I am not a climate scientist,

so what business do you have to "explain" climate scientists to others? It is clearly a massively complex subject.

but like I said, I understand how they reached that conclusion.
No, you don´t.

I suggest you actually research it and try to understand it yourself.

Reading opinion articles and repeating them is not "research". I am not qualified to do climate research myself, and neither are you.

If you come to a different conclusion than 97% of climate scientists, then I would like to hear your reasoning.

Yes, the famous 97%. Please explain who selected them, what they were asked, how many of them answered, and what they answered. If you are referring to the Cook study, you will be surprised.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 09:40 #383000
Reply to Nobeernolife

I understand the scientific method. I know what steps they took to determine that the planet is heating up, and also how they reached the only conclusion that could be reached, viz. that burning fossil fuels is the cause. If you’re interested in my synopsis, then you can go read through my comments history. This isn’t the thread to do that in. We are getting off track of Trump.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 09:47 #383001
Reply to Noah Te Stroete
Who are "they"? And what exactly do they "agree" on? That CO2 is a greenhouse gas? I strongly suspect that the number who agree is closer to 100%. That CO2 is the ONLY factor in climate change? That we have accurate models to predict climate change? That is a completely different topic.
It certainly looks like you have been been bashing a strawman while "explaining" science.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 09:50 #383002
Quoting Nobeernolife
That CO2 is the ONLY factor in climate change? That we have accurate models to predict climate change?


Also, methane. We don’t need proven models to predict climate change. It’s already a problem.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 10:00 #383003
Reply to Noah Te Stroete
Also, methane.
LOL, yeah. Read the UN report on cow farts. When did that drop off the radar?

We don’t need proven models to predict climate change.
So you agree that we do NOT have accurate models. But all the political demands are based on models, are they not?

It’s already a problem.
There are plenty of problems in the world, and different ways to address them. Non sequitur.

RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 10:33 #383008
Quoting Nobeernolife
Read the UN report on cow farts.


Melting glaciers also release methane.

Quoting Nobeernolife
So you agree that we do NOT have accurate models.


No. How am I to know if a model projecting out into the future is accurate until I get to the future? That’s silly.

You’re almost religious in your denial of common sense and fervor for Trump.
Deleted User February 15, 2020 at 13:12 #383023
Quoting Nobeernolife
I do not know that he (or in fact anybody) "denies climate change".


This assertion suggests you have no idea what you're talking about.


Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 13:58 #383032
Reply to Noah Te Stroete
No. How am I to know if a model projecting out into the future is accurate until I get to the future? That’s silly.
All the previous models have been wrong. Currently, there are a number of different models.... clearly all of them minus one have to be wrong. What was that about common sense again?
You mentioned the scientific method. Testing a hypothesis against reality is not part of that?

You’re almost religious in your denial of common sense and fervor for Trump.
I clarified my position about Trump; where do you see "fervor" there?
Relativist February 15, 2020 at 14:27 #383037
Quoting Nobeernolife
All the previous models have been wrong.


Correction: they have been inaccurate, to varying degrees. The point is that this doesn't imply anthropogenic global warming is a hoax, it just means that we can't predict it accurately. Inaccuracy is not rational grounds to reject the general consensus view that the world is warming, that CO2 emissions is contributing to it, and that if currrent trends continue, there will be disastrous consequences. The inaccuracy only implies we can't know exactly when.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 14:46 #383041
Reply to Relativist
Thanks for writing without hysteria and name-calling!

Correction: they have been inaccurate, to varying degrees. The point is that this doesn't imply anthropogenic global warming is a hoax it just means that we can't predict it accurately.
Well, how inaccurate does a model have to be, before you call it simply wrong?

the general consensus view that the world is warming, that CO2 emissions is contributing to it,
Fair enough, from all I know that seems correct.

and that if currrent trends continue, there will be disastrous consequences.
Wow, hold the horses. Are you sure there is general consensus about THAT? I.e. Dr. Patrick Moore, an earth scientists himself, thinks that we are in a carbon starved period, and a little warmer and thus greener planet would be a good thing. Can quote a source about this "general agreement" about "disastrous consequences"?
Metaphysician Undercover February 15, 2020 at 14:50 #383042
Quoting Nobeernolife
I simply said I agree with his basic policy platform: 1) Stop out-of-control globalism, put your nation ahead of global institutions, 2) Protect the borders, 3) Stop stupid foreign wars.


The problem here is that 1) and 3) are incompatible. You must respect the fact that globalism has already occurred, so it is too late to prevent it. The only recourse is an attempt to reverse it. The attempt to reverse it will create strife, and "stupid foreign wars" where there were none before (starting with trade wars, the most stupid type of war of all). The natural tendency for rational human beings is to socialize and cooperate, respectfully allowing for flex in the frontiers of ownership, as this is beneficial to all parties. Rigid walls are detrimental in an evolving world.

In other words, the irrationality of proceeding with 1), which is nothing other than an attempt to reverse the rational development and evolution of human existence, is actually an act of starting stupid foreign wars, directly contradicting 3).

Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 15:16 #383045
Reply to Metaphysician Undercover
Thanks for writing without TDS hysteria.

The problem here is that 1) and 3) are incompatible.
I strongly disagree. In fact, globalist ideology is the cause for the many of the conflicts we are seeing.

You must respect the fact that globalism has already occurred, so it is too late to prevent it. The only recourse is an attempt to reverse it.
Not a "fact". Globalism is an ideology (i.e. read the books by Soros and Barnett), and the question is how far to pursue it.

The attempt to reverse it will create strife, and "stupid foreign wars" where there were none before (starting with trade wars, the most stupid type of war of all).
I strongly disagree on all points here. In fact, globalism is the root cause of many of the conflicts we see today. And "trade war" is a question of definition. I.e. you could argue that we have been in a trade war with China since its entry into the WTO.

The natural tendency for rational human beings is to socialize and cooperate, respectfully allowing for flex in the frontiers of ownership, as this is beneficial to all parties. Rigid walls are detrimental in an evolving world.
Not sure what you mean by "rigid walls". I am talking about the preservation of nation states, which are the foundation for democracy. As opposed to oblique globalist organizations accountable to no one.

In other words, the irrationality of proceeding with 1), which is nothing other than an attempt to reverse the rational development and evolution of human existence, is actually an act of starting stupid foreign wars, directly contradicting 3).
No, to the contrary. The endless proxy wars conducted by the globalists (e.g. Clintons destruction of Libya and Syria) are testimony to that.
Relativist February 15, 2020 at 16:25 #383066
Quoting Nobeernolife
[i]and that if currrent trends continue, there will be disastrous consequences.]/i\

Wow, hold the horses. Are you sure there is general consensus about THAT? I.e. Dr. Patrick Moore, an earth scientists himself, thinks that we are in a carbon starved period, and a little warmer and thus greener planet would be a good thing. Can quote a source about this "general agreement" about "disastrous consequences"?

Patrick Moore is not a CLIMATE scientist. This study provides the basis for my claim about the consensus of climate scientists. It also discusses a prior study (Tol) that concluded there was not much consensus

"Tol (2016 Environ. Res. Lett. 11 048001) comes to a different conclusion using results from surveys of non-experts such as economic geologists and a self-selected group of those who reject the consensus. We demonstrate that this outcome is not unexpected because the level of consensus correlates with expertise in climate science."

Perhaps you object to my use of the subjective term "disastrous", so let me just put it this way: if current trends continue, there will be very costly consequences.

Metaphysician Undercover February 15, 2020 at 16:27 #383067
Quoting Nobeernolife
Not a "fact". Globalism is an ideology (i.e. read the books by Soros and Barnett), and the question is how far to pursue it.


I don't think this is correct, "globalization" is a descriptive term, describing what has already occurred, or what is ongoing. It is clearly not an "ideology", because there is demonstrably a number of different ideologies, capitalism, communism, etc., which lead to globalization. In fact most all ideologies which serve the interactions of human beings as rational social animals, lead to globalization. Globalization is the term used to refer to the effects of these ideologies. Anti-globalization may be an ideology, but it does not support rational social interactions between human beings, so it is rather an irrational ideology.

Quoting Nobeernolife
I strongly disagree on all points here. In fact, globalism is the root cause of many of the conflicts we see today.


Based on what I said above, the fact that globalization is coincident with conflicts, does not indicate that it is the cause of the conflicts. There are many ideologies involved with globalization, any rational ideology will lead to globalization, and some of them clash in the process. But this does not mean that globalization is the cause of the clash. The cause of the conflicts are the clash of the different ideologies involved in globalization, but globalization is not an ideology.

Quoting Nobeernolife
As opposed to oblique globalist organizations accountable to no one.


Because "globalization" is not properly an ideology, this term "globalist organizations" is incoherent or at best ambiguous, and lacking in any real meaning. I suggest to you, that individuals such as yourself, who for some reason do not like the natural phenomenon of globalization, have created an ideology which we could call "anti-globalization", and have also created a phantom category "globalist organizations", implying that there is a globalist ideology which has set up globalist organizations, but there are really no such things. The organizations which are referred to as "globalist" are set up for a wide variety of different reasons, from differing ideologies, for a wide variety of purposes. To class them together as if they are supported by one ideology, with one purpose, and call them "globalist" as if they have one globalist ideology, is simply a mistake, or more likely a move of deception by those supporting an anti-globalist ideology.

Quoting Nobeernolife
No, to the contrary. The endless proxy wars conducted by the globalists (e.g. Clintons destruction of Libya and Syria) are testimony to that.


See, this is very clear evidence that you have set up this category of ideology, you call "globalist", as a catch all category, and place people whose ideology you dislike within that category. In reality the people have no such "globalist" ideology, holding a variety of different ideologies instead, because there is really no such thing as an ideology called "globalism". The anti-globalists, such as yourself, have created this category, and place numerous different ideologies into the category, but there is no such ideology at all, just a vast array of ideologies which are resented by the anti-globalists.
NOS4A2 February 15, 2020 at 16:52 #383075
A quick peak at the toxic Twittersphere reveals a competing narrative occurring re: Bill Barr. The Trumpist camp believes that Barr is going to clean up the DOJ, rectifying the unjust culture permeating that branch of government. The anti-Trumpist camp believes the exact opposite, that Bill Barr, at Trump’s behest, is irrevocably damaging the DOJ.

Neither side gives the other any benefit of the doubt.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 17:26 #383081
Reply to Relativist
Thanks for writing without TDS hysteria and name-calling. That is refreshing.

Patrick Moore is not a CLIMATE scientist. This study provides the basis for my claim about the consensus of climate scientiests. It also discusses s a prior study (Tol) that concluded there was not much consensus
Well, as you say yourself, the Tol study came to a different conclusion. Anyway, how productive is it boil down tens of thousands of different papers into a simplistics yes/no vote? Clearly, there is a continuum. Clearly, there is a human factor, but exactly how large is it, and exactly what can and should be done to mitigate it?

Perhaps you object to my use of the subjective term "disastrous", so let me just put it this way: if current trends continue, there will be very costly consequences.
That is an entirely different thing. Costly consequences is an economic term. Certainly the activists policies promoted by the climate activists are extremely costly. Bjoern Lomborg addresses this aspect, if you have not heard of him, look him up.

Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 17:37 #383084
Quoting Metaphysician Undercover
See, this is very clear evidence that you have set up this category of ideology, you call "globalist", as a catch all category, and place people whose ideology you dislike within that category. In reality the people have no such "globalist" ideology, holding a variety of different ideologies instead, because there is really no such thing as an ideology called "globalism". The anti-globalists, such as yourself, have created this category, and place numerous different ideologies into the category, but there is no such ideology at all, just a vast array of ideologies which are resented by the anti-globalists.


Lets agree to disagree. When I talk about "globalism" I refer to the set of ideas that by and large the Western elites have bought into, and that are layed out in books such as "The Pentagons New Map" by Barnett or "George Soros on Globalization". Talking about the latter, look up all the activities that his "Open Society Foundation" is involved in, and you see everything that the Western elites love, and the people of their nations have to suffer from. You can also call it the populist vs elitist debate. Trump, like the European populist parties, takes the populist side, and neocons, neolibs, the coporate media like CNN et all take the elitist (globalist) side.
I can see on which side you are, and you can see on which side I am.

Anyway, if you oppose Trump on those grounds, I respect that. I think you are wrong, but at least you have a philosophical basis, and are not just repeating unhinged rants from the talking heads at CNN, which I see too much off....

Thanks for writing without name-calling.

Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 17:39 #383086
Reply to NOS4A2 Quoting NOS4A2
Neither side gives the other any benefit of the doubt.


Agree. As Scott Adams (check him out if you don´t know him) says: Two movies on the same screen.
NOS4A2 February 15, 2020 at 17:44 #383090
Reply to Nobeernolife

One of the people who testified against Trump, Fiona Hill, a Soros stooge, writes for an online magazine called “The Globalist”. You can’t make this stuff up.

https://www.theglobalist.com/contributors/fiona-hill/

Qwex February 15, 2020 at 17:49 #383091
Will he evolve into a dictator if he gets another term? Is this forever? No. He won't last long he someone like him should proceed. Clear out some of the left.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 18:22 #383098
Quoting NOS4A2
a Soros stooge


That tells me all I need to know about you, and I suspect @Nobeernolife is the same as you.
RegularGuy February 15, 2020 at 18:23 #383099
Reply to NOS4A2 I have Ashkenazi ancestors.
Metaphysician Undercover February 15, 2020 at 18:30 #383100
Quoting Nobeernolife
Lets agree to disagree. When I talk about "globalism" I refer to the set of ideas that by and large the Western elites have bought into, and that are layed out in books such as "The Pentagons New Map" by Barnett or "George Soros on Globalization". Talking about the latter, look up all the activities that his "Open Society Foundation" is involved in, and you see everything that the Western elites love, and the people of their nations have to suffer from. You can also call it the populist vs elitist debate. Trump, like the European populist parties, takes the populist side, and neocons, neolibs, the coporate media like CNN et all take the elitist (globalist) side.
I can see on which side you are, and you can see on which side I am.


Exactly, you have demonstrated my point clearly. Those, such as yourself, who hold an anti-globalization ideology have lumped together a "set of ideas", as conducive to globalization, despite the fact that these ideas are vastly variant, and cannot be reconciled as one ideology, "globalization". Therefore there is really no such ideology as "globalization", because globalization is the result of many ideologies.

However, these are the rational ideologies of the world, promoting cooperation and social relations, and peaceful co-existence of human beings, which lead to globalization, despite the fact that the differences in the ideologies sometimes clash in conflict. The anti-globalization ideology is opposed to these rational ideologies of co-existence and global social relations, and is therefore irrational.

Elitism is irrelevant, and a notion you've just decided to toss in. Why?

Quoting Nobeernolife
Lets agree to disagree.


I see you're not prepared to defend your principles. That is because what you hoist up is a deception. You recognize that anti-globalism is a deception, an irrational ideology which you propagate for no other reason than disrupt the status quo. Your post reveals that your true concern is "elitism", and you raise the anti-globalist deception as a means of attacking it. You are dissatisfied with the elitism within the status quo. Anti-globalism is not the solution to the problems of elitism.

NOS4A2 February 15, 2020 at 18:47 #383105
Reply to Noah Te Stroete

That tells me all I need to know about you, and I suspect @Nobeernolife is the same as you.


What does it tell you?
Relativist February 15, 2020 at 19:00 #383114
Quoting Nobeernolife
Patrick Moore is not a CLIMATE scientist. This study provides the basis for my claim about the consensus of climate scientiests. It also discusses s a prior study (Tol) that concluded there was not much consensus

Well, as you say yourself, the Tol study came to a different conclusion. Anyway, how productive is it boil down tens of thousands of different papers into a simplistics yes/no vote?

You're ignoring the fact that the Tol study does not constitute the consensus of those with the relevant expertise, and it did some cherry picking of individuals with contrary opinions.

How productive is it? As productive as any argument from authority. Anyone is free to hold a contrary opinion, but they shouldn't expect it to be respected if it's based on non-authority opinions, cherry picking of authorities whose conclusions appeal to them, or on naive falsification (e.g. the models make these errors, so the general view must be false).
Deleted User February 15, 2020 at 19:24 #383118
Quoting Nobeernolife
Agree. As Scott Adams (check him out if you don´t know him) says: Two movies on the same screen.


Baudrillard's notion of simulacra (in Simulacra and Simulation) is a bit clearer.

We've passed far beyond the classical notion of disparate interpretations of reality. The two camps inhabit two exclusive divergent realities.
Deleted User February 15, 2020 at 19:42 #383126
Quoting NOS4A2
Neither side gives the other any benefit of the doubt.


When your hero and mascot is a pathological liar - you don't deserve the benefit of the doubt.

It would be foolish to give Trumpsters the benefit of the doubt. They're in cahoots with a potentate who steals from children's charities.

Fox News says so.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/potus-to-pay-2-million-admits-misuse-of-trump-foundation-funds-in-settlement-with-ny-ag
Relativist February 15, 2020 at 20:13 #383143
Quoting NOS4A2
One of the people who testified against Trump, Fiona Hill, a Soros stooge, writes for an online magazine called “The Globalist”. You can’t make this stuff up.

Geez - Genetic fallacy upon genetic fallacy. A "Soros stooge" (whatever that refers to) is wrong because she's a "Soros stooge", not because something she says is irrational or false. And since she writes for a magazine called "The Globalist", she obviously has some false beliefs about the world, and therefore she's wrong.

Thanks for providing another example of how to think irrationally.
creativesoul February 15, 2020 at 20:16 #383145
Reply to Relativist

That is par for the course in current American political discourse. Unfortunately, it's not just Trump supporters.
Relativist February 15, 2020 at 20:20 #383147
Reply to creativesoul Yes, but I'd like to think that people participating on a philosophy forum would value critical thinking, so I think its appropriate to call out clear irrationality.

Am I being irrational to do so?
creativesoul February 15, 2020 at 20:21 #383149
Reply to Relativist

Not at all.
Echarmion February 15, 2020 at 20:25 #383150
Quoting Nobeernolife
Reading opinion articles and repeating them is not "research". I am not qualified to do climate research myself, and neither are you.


So, since you're unqualified to do the research, and unwilling to listen to the experts, what do you do?

Quoting Nobeernolife
That is an entirely different thing. Costly consequences is an economic term. Certainly the activists policies promoted by the climate activists are extremely costly. Bjoern Lomborg addresses this aspect, if you have not heard of him, look him up.


What exactly is your position? That Climate change isn't a problem or that it is a problem, but any solution would be worse?Quoting Nobeernolife
When I talk about "globalism" I refer to the set of ideas that by and large the Western elites have bought into, and that are layed out in books such as "The Pentagons New Map" by Barnett or "George Soros on Globalization". Talking about the latter, look up all the activities that his "Open Society Foundation" is involved in, and you see everything that the Western elites love, and the people of their nations have to suffer from.


I always find it bad manners to expect people to read entire books or do time consuming research just to be able to engage with you in an internet forum. If you have a position, you should be able to summarize that position for us. Give us the basics on "Globalism" an "Elitism".
creativesoul February 15, 2020 at 20:29 #383152
Reply to Echarmion

"Elitism" on Fox News is equivalent to anyone on the left, particularly those people who are financially well off, live on the coasts, enjoy Starbucks or some other kind of 'higher quality' coffee, and think that their ethics are better than the Fox viewers'(those put on display at Fox).
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 21:20 #383159
Quoting Qwex
Will he evovle into a dictator if he gets another term? Is this forever.


TDS is an amazing condition.
Nobeernolife February 15, 2020 at 21:26 #383161
Quoting Echarmion
So, since you're unqualified to do the research, and unwilling to listen to the experts, what do you do?


I do listen to experts. The experts have varying and nuanced opinions, as is to be expected. What I do NOT do is take opinion articles from the propaganda media and then go lecture other people about "science". Surprising concept?
Echarmion February 15, 2020 at 21:30 #383163
Quoting Nobeernolife
I do listen to experts. The experts have varying and nuanced opinions, as is to be expected. What I do NOT do is take opinion articles from the propaganda media and then go lecture other people about "science".


So, the IPCC reports, are those expert reports or "propaganda media"?
NOS4A2 February 15, 2020 at 21:52 #383168
Reply to Relativist

Geez - Genetic fallacy upon genetic fallacy. A "Soros stooge" (whatever that refers to) is wrong because she's a "Soros stooge", not because something she says is irrational or false. And since she writes for a magazine called "The Globalist", she obviously has some false beliefs about the world, and therefore she's wrong.

Thanks for providing another example of how to think irrationally.


Oh dear. No genetic fallacy. Just pointing out she’s a globalist.

Yes, but I'd like to think that people participating on a philosophy forum would value critical thinking, so I think its appropriate to call out clear irrationality.

Am I being irrational to do so?


But when you do it wrong, you’re being irrational, so naturally you go seek validation.
Deleted User February 15, 2020 at 22:37 #383193
Quoting Nobeernolife
TDS is an amazing condition.


[tweet]https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1225174713992990721?lang=en[/tweet]
Relativist February 15, 2020 at 22:49 #383198
Quoting NOS4A2
Oh dear. No genetic fallacy. Just pointing out she’s a globalist.


Fair enough, although labeling someone a "globalist", or any other kind of "-ist" suggests possibly making some unwarranted assumptions. Nevertheless, I gather you're just making some observations, and stating an ad hominem (stooge). Well and good, so I presume you'd still value her opinion, given her education and experience - right?
Metaphysician Undercover February 16, 2020 at 03:08 #383241
Globalism, globalization, what's the difference?
Globalization:
[quote=Wikipedia on globalization] Globalization or globalisation is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. As a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, globalization is considered by some as a form of capitalist expansion which entails the integration of local and national economies into a global, unregulated market economy.[1] Globalization has grown due to advances in transportation and communication technology. With the increased global interactions comes the growth of international trade, ideas, and culture. Globalization is primarily an economic process of interaction and integration that's associated with social and cultural aspects. However, conflicts and diplomacy are also large parts of the history of globalization, and modern globalization. [/quote]

Globalism:
[quote=Wikipedia on Globalism]
Not to be confused with Globalization.
Globalism refers to various systems with scope beyond the merely international. It is used by political scientists, such as Joseph Nye, to describe "attempts to understand all the interconnections of the modern world — and to highlight patterns that underlie (and explain) them."[1] While primarily associated with world-systems, it can be used to describe other global trends. The term is also used by detractors of globalization such as populist movements.[/quote]

Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 06:14 #383289
Quoting Echarmion
So, the IPCC reports, are those expert reports or "propaganda media"?


IPCC is a political orginization with a political purpose. You might want to read one of the exposees about it.
Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 06:16 #383291
Quoting Metaphysician Undercover
— Wikipedia on Globalism


Wikipedia has a well-known bias, shown here.You might want to look Wikipedia to form an opinion.
Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 06:34 #383295
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm
Thats funny. But as Scott Adams points out, there is a large part of the population that is simply unable to understand a joke.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 06:49 #383303
Quoting Nobeernolife
there is a large part of the population that is simply unable to understand a joke.


I suppose you think it a great idea for the President of the United States to make a joke about shredding the Constitution and occupying the White House indefinitely.

You, like Trump, have no respect for power and no sense of responsibility. Let's call it a pathological puerility.

NOS4A2 has a similar outlook. It runs in the family.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 06:52 #383306
Quoting Nobeernolife
You might want to read one of the exposees about it.


Provide a link to an expose on the IPCC, please. From a source you trust.
Echarmion February 16, 2020 at 07:00 #383311
Quoting Nobeernolife
IPCC is a political orginization with a political purpose. You might want to read one of the exposees about it.


You're not answering the question. Does the IPCC employ experts that write their reports?
Punshhh February 16, 2020 at 07:02 #383312
Reply to Nobeernolife

IPCC is a political orginization with a political purpose. You might want to read one of the exposees about it.


Let's get back to reality,
Where do you live? I don't mean the country be more specific. I'm interested in your local climactic conditions.

I bet you will find just about everyone posting here, from around the globe, are beginning to experience the changes in the climate in their location. Some far worse than others. You don't need to have blind faith is some some scientists to see what's happening, you just need to look out the window.
Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 07:27 #383323
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
Provide a link to an expose on the IPCC please.


Read the book by Donna Laframboise who actually worked there and saw how these "reports" are compiled. It is an eye-opener.
The IPCC is funded by politicians with the goal to promote a political agenda. If it does not produce the desired results, it loses its reason to exist. Basing climate policy on the IPCC reports is like basing a critical examination of communism on the writings of Lenin.
Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 07:30 #383324
Reply to Punshhh Quoting Punshhh
I bet you will find just about everyone posting here, from around the globe, are beginning to experience the changes in the climate in their location


What is there to bet about? The climate has always been changing and will always change. In fact, I have not yet met any real-life person who claims that the climate does not or should not change. These fictional characters seem to exist only in the imagination of the climate policy peddlers. Talk about a strawman.
Punshhh February 16, 2020 at 07:36 #383328
Reply to Nobeernolife are you going to answer my question? So we can discuss it?

Politely of course.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 07:37 #383329
Quoting Nobeernolife
Read the book by Donna Laframboise who actually worked there and saw how these "reports" are compiled. It is an eye-opener.


Okay. One woman's book. What else?
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 07:38 #383331
Quoting Nobeernolife
The IPCC is funded by politicians with the goal to promote a political agenda.


Can you provide a source or two to support this assertion?
Echarmion February 16, 2020 at 08:32 #383341
Quoting Nobeernolife
Read the book by Donna Laframboise who actually worked there and saw how these "reports" are compiled. It is an eye-opener.
The IPCC is funded by politicians with the goal to promote a political agenda. If it does not produce the desired results, it loses its reason to exist.


Question: if Donna Laframboise wrote a book about how everything was fine with the IPCC and we should all listen to them, do you think that would sell as well as her criticism?
Benkei February 16, 2020 at 09:48 #383349
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm She didn't work there and critises about 0.6% of the report. Meanwhile, Shell and other industry participants contributed to the report and subscribe to its findings and process. See for instance: https://reports.shell.com/annual-report/2018/strategic-report/climate-change-and-energy-transition.php

Meanwhile raspberrylady is a nobody peddling lies.

Climate skeptics aren't skeptic but just stupid.
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 10:18 #383351
I wish somehow that Trump could realize that we are all God’s children and that God loves him. I know I will catch heat for this from the atheists, but you gotta admit that things would go much more civilly, peacefully, and harmoniously if he believed this equally about himself and his so-called enemies, even if only in a figurative sense.
Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 14:55 #383381
Quoting Echarmion
Question: if Donna Laframboise wrote a book about how everything was fine with the IPCC and we should all listen to them, do you think that would sell as well as her criticism?


That would depend on the book. In the event, she writes about her experience inside the IPCC, which speak for themselves. And she is not the only one. Anyone who takes a closer look at the workings of the IPCC knows we should not take the IPCC reports as bible.
Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 14:58 #383382
Quoting Noah Te Stroete
I wish somehow that Trump could realize that we are all God’s children and that God loves him.


Even if he suddenly believes that that all the corrupt swamp creatures who are out to get him are Gods children, I don´t see how that changes the situation he is in, so I am not sure what youre getting at. He still has to live and act in the real world, even if he prays to Yahwee 7 times a day...
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 15:06 #383385
Reply to Nobeernolife I think you should stop getting your news from social media. It makes it impossible to communicate when you believe all of the subversive disinformation.
Echarmion February 16, 2020 at 15:12 #383389
Quoting Nobeernolife
That would depend on the book. In the event, she writes about her experience inside the IPCC, which speak for themselves. And she is not the only one.


Again evading the question. A pity. Why so scared though?

Quoting Nobeernolife
Anyone who takes a closer look at the workings of the IPCC knows we should not take the IPCC reports as bible.


No-one has suggested we should. Unfortunately, this kind of straw-manning is all anyone ever seems to do in these discussions.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 15:17 #383391
Quoting Noah Te Stroete
I wish somehow that Trump could realize that we are all God’s children and that God loves him.


Atheist or theist - Christian charity is the baddest penny. We can only hope Trump's (deranged-deranging) hubris presages a fall.

Ernest Hemingway:It is in defeat that we become Christian.

Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 15:20 #383394
Quoting Benkei
Climate skeptics aren't skeptic but just stupid.


Sheep in wolves' clothing howling dumbly.
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 15:23 #383395
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm That is very cynical and unChristian. I am not holding my breath, and I don’t think Trump’s chances are good considering the 2018 outcome, but to insinuate that I don’t wish for him to be a better person is to completely miss the point of Christianity.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 15:28 #383397
Reply to Noah Te Stroete

I only meant the post-hubris fall can bring us to our knees.

A god can never be a Christian.
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 15:39 #383402
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

I actually have a fear of an upcoming race war if Trump falls, instigated by the Neo-Nazis and other fervent Trump supporters. I am sincere about this, and I think Trump would probably welcome it.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 16:02 #383407
Reply to Noah Te Stroete

I had the same fear in 2016. But the 1st anniversary of Charlottesville closed the chapter. I think the most we'll see is an uptick in Antifa-Whitey skirmishes. So many doxxed Nazis scared the undoxxed.

In the end, Americans are too addicted to screens and fat and sugar to go urban guerilla.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unite_the_Right_rally

After Charlottesville refused to approve another march, Unite the Right held an anniversary rally on August 11–12, 2018, in Washington D.C.[32] The rally was expected to draw large protests from opposing religious organizations, civil rights groups, and anti-fascist organizers.[33][34] The rally drew only 20–30 protesters amidst thousands of counter-protestors.
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 16:05 #383409
Yeah, maybe you’re right. The Nazi youth value PlayStation and Xbox more than they want to get their asses kicked.
Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 17:29 #383451
Quoting Echarmion
No-one has suggested we should. Unfortunately, this kind of straw-manning is all anyone ever seems to do in these discussions.


I am glad you agree the IPCC should not be taken too seriously. So why do we argue?
Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 17:32 #383452
Quoting Noah Te Stroete
I actually have a fear of an upcoming race war if Trump falls, instigated by the Neo-Nazis and other fervent Trump supporters. I am sincere about this, and I think Trump would probably welcome it.


Oh boy, and I thought TDS can not get more rampant.... do you even realize how bizarre rants like this sound to people who are not in your CNN echo chamber? (Rethorical question... of course you dont)
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 17:35 #383455
Reply to Nobeernolife Okay. It seems that you don’t trust CNN. I don’t trust social media that isn’t constrained by FCC regulations. How do we communicate?
NOS4A2 February 16, 2020 at 17:36 #383456
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

KKK and Neo-nazis have been marching for decades and decades, as is their fundamental right. It was the media, not Trump, who gave them the free press and your fears.
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 17:37 #383457
Reply to NOS4A2 The KKK and Nazis are terrorist organizations.
Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 17:38 #383458
Quoting Benkei
Climate skeptics aren't skeptic but just stupid.


What exactly is a "climate sceptic"? Your rant about something you don´t define.

Echarmion February 16, 2020 at 17:38 #383459
Quoting Nobeernolife
I am glad you agree the IPCC should not be taken too seriously. So why do we argue?


*yawn*
Is that all you have to offer? Sorry, not interested.
NOS4A2 February 16, 2020 at 17:39 #383461
Reply to Noah Te Stroete

The KKK and Nazis are terrorist organizations.


They have been marching and rallying for decades, as is their right. They were used as a bogeyman to smear Trump.
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 17:40 #383462
Reply to NOS4A2 Trump’s dad was KKK.
Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 17:41 #383463
Quoting Echarmion
*yawn*


"Claims such as '2500 of the worlds leading scientists have reached a consensus that human activities are having a significant influence on the climate' are disingenious. Giving the impression that the IPCC consensus means everyone agrees with everyone else (...) is unhelpful. It does not reflect the uncertain, exploratory and sometimes contested nature of scientific knowledge."

Mike Hulme, IPCC lead author

.... its all very simple and clear, isn´t it.
NOS4A2 February 16, 2020 at 17:42 #383464
Reply to Noah Te Stroete

Trump’s dad was KKK.


Yeah, I doubt it.
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 17:44 #383466
Reply to NOS4A2 Of course you would. I didn’t think you would acknowledge it. We don’t agree on facts. You have “alternative facts” aka fictions.
NOS4A2 February 16, 2020 at 17:45 #383467
Reply to Noah Te Stroete

No, you have smears and propaganda.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/mar/28/facebook-posts/heres-whats-known-about-fred-trumps-arrest-after-k/
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 17:48 #383469
That’s what I call the “news” you get on social media.
NOS4A2 February 16, 2020 at 17:50 #383470
Reply to Noah Te Stroete

Trump’s dad was KKK.


Is this true or false? What news taught you this?
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 17:56 #383472
Reply to NOS4A2 My guess was that he was discharged because he didn’t get violent. He was most likely cooperative.
NOS4A2 February 16, 2020 at 18:02 #383476
Reply to Noah Te Stroete

There is nothing wrong with speculating. But the notion that Trump is racist is an alternative fact, an anti-Trump smear that has been bandied around for quite some time, so much so that people have feared coming race wars and a Hitlerian future. These lies are going to get people killed.
Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 18:03 #383477
Quoting Noah Te Stroete
You have “alternative facts” aka fictions.


Well, where do you get your facts from? CNN? MSNBC? Bloomberg? Huffpost? NYT? BBC? Young Turks? WashPost? Daily Beast? I must guessing here... can you append the list? Hoest question, I would be curious to learn.

It certainly seems you are firmly stuck in the TDS echo chamber. Would love to be surprised.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:06 #383479
Quoting NOS4A2
They have been marching and rallying for decades, as is their right. They were used as a bogeyman to smear Trump.


You don't know what you're talking about.

(Do I even need to say that?)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/20/hate-groups-white-power-supremacists-southern-poverty-law-center/2918416002/

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-supremacy-white-nationalism-entered-political-conversation/story?id=64998396

The El Paso shooter is not a fluke or an anomaly. He is part of a resurgence of white nationalist violence in the United States, a wave of killings that are themselves part of a very long history of political violence by American racists and white nationalists.

In the years after the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan and other terrorist groups launched a wave of killings aimed at intimidating newly freed black people and restoring the antebellum racial order. Around the same time, an increase in immigration from East Asia and Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to a wave of lynchings and mob violence targeting migrants, including large-scale race riots in Los Angeles in 1871 and in El Paso in 1916.

At various points in the 20th century, white supremacists reacted viciously against continued immigration from ethnic and religious minorities and tried to suppress movements for black civil rights by force. In 1963 alone, they assassinated NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers and killed four black girls in a bombing attack on the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

The 2015 attack on a black church in Charleston, South Carolina; the 2017 fatal car attack in Charlottesville, Virginia; the 2018 shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh; this weekend’s shooting in El Paso — these are not isolated incidents, but evidence that we are once again in the midst of a wave of white racial violence.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/8/6/20754828/el-paso-shooting-white-supremacy-rise

When Barack Obama took office in January 2009, white supremacists were fragmented and without charismatic leaders. That quickly changed with the arrival of Richard Spencer, Matt Heimbach and Milo Yiannopoulos, a generation of new leaders who created and captured a following that capitalized on white unease over a black president.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ten-years-later-the-gathering-storm-of-white-supremacist-terror-is-here
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 18:06 #383481
Reply to NOS4A2 Okay. I can only infer what’s in his heart from what comes out of his mouth and from his policies. If we don’t infer the same thing based on the evidence, then I don’t find this communication productive. I sincerely hope there is no violence.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:06 #383482
Quoting NOS4A2
But the notion that Trump is racist is an alternative fact


You don't know what you're talking about.

Trump's history of racism is well-documented and you know nothing about it.
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 18:09 #383483
Reply to Nobeernolife Mostly MSNBC. I find them to be fair in their analysis of Trump.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:11 #383484
Quoting Noah Te Stroete
Trump’s dad was KKK.



All the Evidence We Could Find About Fred Trump's Alleged Involvement with the KKK

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mvke38/all-the-evidence-we-could-find-about-fred-trumps-alleged-involvement-with-the-kkk
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:12 #383485
Quoting Noah Te Stroete
Mostly MSNBC. I find them to be fair in their analysis of Trump.


MSNBC is extremely biased.
NOS4A2 February 16, 2020 at 18:13 #383486
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

I’ve read the same well-documented nonsense you have. But then I went further. You’re stacking the deck without telling the other side of the story.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:14 #383488
Quoting Nobeernolife
"Claims such as '2500 of the worlds leading scientists have reached a consensus that human activities are having a significant influence on the climate' are disingenious. Giving the impression that the IPCC consensus means everyone agrees with everyone else (...) is unhelpful. It does not reflect the uncertain, exploratory and sometimes contested nature of scientific knowledge."

Mike Hulme, IPCC lead author

.... its all very simple and clear, isn´t it.


What's the source?
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:15 #383489

Quoting NOS4A2
But then I went further.



"...went further" because the facts you found failed to confirm your bias.
RegularGuy February 16, 2020 at 18:15 #383490
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm That’s not my impression. I think they state the seriousness of the situation at an appropriate level.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:17 #383492
Quoting Noah Te Stroete
That’s not my impression. I think they state the seriousness of the situation at an appropriate level.


Impressions are deceiving.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/msnbc/
https://www.adfontesmedia.com/msnbc/?v=402f03a963ba
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:21 #383494
Reply to Noah Te Stroete User image

Something like this is probably the best we can do to out our biases.
NOS4A2 February 16, 2020 at 18:21 #383495
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

"...went further" because the facts you found failed to confirm your bias.


Because I’m not as credulous as you. Would a racist endorse Jessie Jackson’s presidential campaign twice? Would a racist date a half-black woman? The man has done business with more races, more nationalities and more people of different backgrounds than you or I could ever imagine. You guys have promoted a fiction and elevated that fiction to truth.

These lies and the subsequent free press given to people like David Duke, the KKK and other white nationalists have directly contributed to any rise in the far-Right.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:34 #383499
Quoting NOS4A2
Would a racist endorse Jessie Jackson’s presidential campaign twice?


You don't know what you're talking about.

Your view is void of psychological depth. Trump will do whatever benefits Trump. He is a master PR-man (his only gift) and you are his dupe.

"Trump never endorsed Jackson, at least according to Jackson.

“There is no evidence at all,” the longtime civil rights activist told The Daily Beast. “I think he promised to endorse David Dinkins [for mayor in 1988] and did not. He never promised to endorse me.”

Jackson ran twice for president, first in 1984 and then in 1988. The first time he did it as a matter of political activism. Jackson felt that black Americans could further their policy objectives if they were viewed as viable presidential candidates. The second time, he won nearly 7 million votes and 11 states in the Democratic primary, and spooked the party establishment. Virtually no white Democratic official backed his campaigns outside a youngish ex-mayor of Burlington, Vermont, named Bernie Sanders.

Though Jackson praised Trump in the late ’90s, he said he was wary of the man, owing to his demonization of the Central Park Five—the group of young black kids Trump wanted executed after they were wrongfully jailed for the near death of a Central Park jogger."

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jesse-jackson-donald-trump-endorsing-me-is-fake-news


The Rev. Jesse Jackson has condemned recent outbursts by President Donald Trump against lawmakers of color as "dangerous, divisive and diversionary" and says he believes they fuel white nationalist extremism.

In an interview, the longtime civil rights leader called Trump's vilification of African Americans an attempt to divert the nation's attention from its real problems, including Russian election interference, border detentions and a tax cut benefiting the richest Americans at the expense of the poor.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/ap-interview-jesse-jackson-slams-dangerous-trump-rhetoric-64753325

https://apnews.com/afs:Content:2601590439
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:35 #383501
Quoting NOS4A2
Because I’m not as credulous as you.


You are so credulous you're blinkered to how credulous you are.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:37 #383502
Quoting NOS4A2
Would a racist date a half-black woman?


Yes, if he wanted to grab her pussy.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:38 #383503
Quoting NOS4A2
he man has done business with more races, more nationalities and more people of different backgrounds than you or I could ever imagine.


Irrelevant. Trump's avarice may overrule his racist inclinations at times. Trump will do what benefits Trump.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:40 #383504
Reply to NOS4A2 https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/06/trump-racism-comments/588067/

I suppose the Atlantic is fake news too.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-atlantic/
NOS4A2 February 16, 2020 at 18:41 #383505
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

Now I get to watch as you scurry off to find anything that confirms your biases.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:46 #383507
Quoting NOS4A2
Now I get to watch as you scurry off to find anything that confirms your biases.


In other words:

Trump good: Real news.
Trump bad: Fake news.


Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:48 #383508
Reply to NOS4A2

Suppose you were able to support the view that Trump isn't a racist.

It's incontestable that Trump is happy to deploy racism if it accords with his PR strategy.
NOS4A2 February 16, 2020 at 18:48 #383509
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

Fake news?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/us/politics/trump-blacks-african-americans-girlfriend-charlottesville.html
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 18:49 #383510
Reply to NOS4A2

Trump once dated a black woman who said Trump wasn't racist.

That's what you call evidence.

Just sad.
NOS4A2 February 16, 2020 at 18:53 #383511
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

Your evidence is...what exactly?
Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 18:58 #383515
Quoting Noah Te Stroete
Mostly MSNBC.


Yep, that figures.

Quoting Noah Te Stroete
I find them to be fair in their analysis of Trump.


LOL! You are not serious, are you???

Nobeernolife February 16, 2020 at 19:04 #383516
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
Something like this is probably the best we can do to out our biases.


Whoever compiled that media bias chart is simply demonstrating his/her bias. CNN "neutral/skews left"? That is just ridiculous.
Deleted User February 16, 2020 at 19:07 #383517
Reply to Nobeernolife

Eh. Like I said, it's about the best we can do. Laypersons have no way to access the facts directly.

Reading from a vast array of biased and unbiased sources can ease the dizzies.
Benkei February 16, 2020 at 20:00 #383527
Reply to Nobeernolife 1. Mike Hulme was not and is not a lead author for the IPCC. 2. That quote is taken out of context.

The IPCC collects research over various fields. Climate researchers are specialised in sub-fields. What Mike actually said can be found in this paper, which you should read in its entirety. All in all, Mike is quite positive about the work the IPCC has done. He's certainly not a climate skeptic so bringing him up is rather a laughable example of confirmation bias on your part. See: http://www.mikehulme.org/wp-content/uploads/the-five-lessons-of-climate-change.pdf

As I said. Stupid.
Deleted User February 17, 2020 at 04:45 #383647
Quoting Benkei
1. Mike Hulme was not and is not a lead author for the IPCC.


"I have published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles on climate change topics, served as a Lead Author on the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change in 1996 and 2001..."

https://www.mikehulme.org/wp-content/uploads/the-five-lessons-of-climate-change.pdf
Deleted User February 17, 2020 at 04:46 #383648
double-post
Nobeernolife February 17, 2020 at 04:55 #383650
Quoting Benkei
Mike Hulme was not and is not a lead author for the IPCC.


He was. And I am not interested in getting bogged down in another climate debate. I am simply pointing out that the IPCC is a political body, set up by governments, with a political agenda. Look at it this way: If the IPCC declared that there is no point for governments to enact "climate policy", it would lose its reason to exist. Ever heard of a bureacracy that committed suicide?

Nobeernolife February 17, 2020 at 05:02 #383651
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
Reading from a vast array of biased and unbiased sources can ease the dizzies.


I agree. Here are some quotes for you:

"No matter if the science of global warming is all phony... climate change provides the greatest opportunity to bring about justice and equality in the world."
(Christine Stewart, former Canadian Minister of the Environment)

“We’ve got to ride this global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing in terms of economic and environmental policy.”
(Timothy Wirth, President, UN Foundation)

“The goal now is a socialist, redistributionist society, which is nature’s proper steward and society’s only hope.”
( David Brower, first Executive Director of the Sierra Club, founder of Friends of the Earth)

“This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution.” (and) “This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model for the first time in human history.”
(Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change)

“…one has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. Instead, climate change policy is about how we redistribute de facto the world’s wealth…”
(IPCC official Ottmar Edenhofer)

"Isn't the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn't it our responsibility to bring that about?"
(Maurice Strong, founder of the UN Environment Programme)

“A global warming treaty [Kyoto] must be implemented even if there is no scientific evidence to back the [enhanced] greenhouse effect.”
( U.S. Deputy Assistant of State Richard Benedick, Rio Climate Summit)

“The threat of environmental crisis will be the international disaster key to unlock the New World Order.”
(former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, 1996)

“There is a powerful convergence of interests among key elites that support the climate ‘narrative.’ Environmentalists spread fear and raise donations; politicians appear to be saving the Earth from doom; the media has a field day with sensation and conflict; science institutions raise billions in grants, create whole new departments, and stoke a feeding frenzy of scary scenarios; business wants to look green, and get huge public subsidies for projects that would otherwise be economic losers, such as wind farms and solar arrays. Fourth, the Left sees climate change as a perfect means to redistribute wealth from industrial countries to the developing world and the UN bureaucracy.”
(Dr. Patrick Moore, Founder of Greenpeace)

"We've got to ride the global-warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing, in terms of economic policy and environmental policy."
(Timothy Wirth, Clinton Administration Undersecretary of State)


Deleted User February 17, 2020 at 05:15 #383654
Quoting Nobeernolife
If the IPCC declared that there is no point for governments to enact "climate policy", it would lose its reason to exist. Ever heard of a bureacracy that committed suicide?


This is a weak (and not uncynical) argument for bias at the IPCC.

The argument seems to go this way:

1. The methodology of every bureaucracy is dominated by a will to survive.
2. Therefore, a bureaucracy dependent on influencing policy debate will do whatever it takes - lie, mislead, fudge or falsify data - to influence policy debate. Whatever it takes to survive.
3. Any bureaucracy whose survival is dependent on influencing policy debate is not to be trusted.





Nobeernolife February 17, 2020 at 05:18 #383655
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
The argument seems to go this way:

1. The methodology of every bureaucracy is dominated by a will to survive
2. Therefore, a bureaucracy dependent on influencing policy debate will do whatever it takes - lie, mislead, fudge or falsify data - to influence policy debate. Whatever it takes to survive.
3. Any bureaucracy whose survival is dependent on having an influence on policy debate is not to be trusted.



Yes. When you evaluate the statements of a bureaucracy, you should always keep that aspect in mind. E.g. why do you think the military is constantly asking for more money to counter existing or non-existing threats?
Deleted User February 17, 2020 at 05:23 #383657
Quoting Nobeernolife
you should always keep that aspect in mind.


Of course: Let's keep it in mind.

But good-faith research, clarifying the minutia of the bureaucracy in question, is crucial to avoid a broadbrush cynical view of bureaucracy. Not to mention a broadbrush erroneous view of a specific bureaucracy.

There are a zillion bureaucracies and your argument is a very broad brush.
Nobeernolife February 17, 2020 at 05:30 #383659
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
But good-faith research, clarifying the minutia of the bureaucracy in question, is crucial to avoid a broadbrush cynical view of bureaucracy.


In this case, we have people from inside the bureaucracy confirming that we should not mistake the IPCC as a scientific body. Did you the quotes I posted above? There are plenty more moments of truth like that.
Deleted User February 17, 2020 at 06:14 #383666
Quoting Nobeernolife
Did you the quotes I posted above?


All of the quotes need to be set in the context of each speaker's personal history and reputation and each speaker's overarching view of climate change.

Where did you find the quotes?
Nobeernolife February 17, 2020 at 06:38 #383669
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
All of the quotes need to be set in the context of each speaker's personal history and reputation


Ah here we go. No argument, so we go straight to attacking the messenger.
Benkei February 17, 2020 at 07:19 #383676
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm the paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/215646136_Climate_change_What_do_we_know_about_the_IPCC

The relevant paragraph that doesn't say what nolife wants it to say :

Mike hulme:Consensus and Uncertainty

Since its origins, the IPCC has been open and explicit about seeking to generate a ‘scientific consensus’ around climate change and especially about the role of humans in climate change. Yet this has been a source of both strength and vulnerability for the IPCC. Understanding consensus as a process of ‘truth creation’ (or the more nuanced ‘knowledge production’) which marginalises dissenting voices – as has frequently been portrayed by some of the IPCC’s critics (see Edwards & Schneider, 2001; Petersen, 2010) – does not do justice to the process. Consensus-building in fact serves several different goals. As Horst and Irwin (2010) have explained, seeking consensus can be as much about building a community identity – what Haas (1992) refers to as an epistemic community – as it is about seeking the ‘truth’. Equally, as Yearley (2009) explains, IPCC consensus-making is an exercise in collective judgement about subjective (or Bayesian) likelihoods in areas of uncertain knowledge. Consensus-making in the IPCC has been largely driven by the desire to communicate climate science coherently to a wide spectrum of policy users – ‘to construct knowledge’ (Weingart, 1999) - but in so doing communicating uncertainties have been down-played (van der Sluijs, 1998). As Oppenheimer et al. (2007: 1506) remark: “The establishment of consensus by the IPCC is no longer as critical to governments as [is] a full exploration of uncertainty.” Without a careful explanation about what it means, this drive for consensus can leave the IPCC vulnerable to outside criticism. Claims such as ‘2,500 of the world’s leading scientists have reached a consensus that human activities are having a significant influence on the climate’ are disingenuous. That particular consensus judgement, as are many others in the IPCC reports, is reached by only a few dozen experts in the specific field of detection and attribution studies; other IPCC authors are experts in other fields. But consensusmaking can also lead to criticism for being too conservative, as Hansen (2007) has most visibly argued. Was the IPCC AR4 too conservative in reaching its consensus about future sea-level rise? Many glaciologists and oceanographers think they were (Kerr, 2007; Rahmstorf, 2010), leading to what Hansen attacks as ‘scientific reticence’. Solomon et al. (2008) offer a robust defence, stating that far from reaching a premature consensus, the AR4 report stated that in fact no consensus could be reached on the magnitude of the possible fast ice-sheet melt processes that some fear could lead to 1 or 2 metres of sea-level rise this century. Hence these processes were not included in the quantitative estimates. This leads onto the question of how uncertainty more generally has been treated across the various IPCC Working Groups. As Ha-Duong et al. (2007) and Swart et al. (2009) explain, despite efforts by the IPCC leadership to introduce a consistent methodology for uncertainty communication (Moss & Schneider, 2000; Manning, 2006), it has in fact been impossible to police. Different Working Groups, familiar and comfortable with different epistemic traditions, construct and communicate uncertainty in different ways. This opens up possibilities for confusion and misunderstanding not just for policy-makers and the public, but among the experts within the IPCC itself (Risbey & Kandlikar, 2007). For Ha-Duong et al. (2007) this diversity is an advantage: “The diverse, multidimensional approach to uncertainty communication used by IPCC author teams is not only legitimate, but enhances the quality of the assessment by providing information about the nature of the uncertainties” (p.10). This position reflects that of others who have thought hard about how best to construct uncertainty for policy-relevant assessments (Van der Sluijs, 2005; Van der Sluijs et al., 2005). For these authors ‘taming the uncertainty monster’ requires combining quantitative and qualitative measures of uncertainty in model-based environmental assessment: the so-called NUSAP (Numerical, Unit, Spread, Assessment, Pedigrees) System (Funtowicz & Ravetz, 1990). Webster (2009) agrees with regard to the IPCC: “Treatment of uncertainty will become more important than consensus if the IPCC is to stay relevant to the decisions that face us” (p.39). Yet Webster also argues that such diverse forms of uncertainty assessment will require much more careful explanation abouthow different uncertainty metrics are reached; for example the difference between frequentist and Bayesian probabilities and the necessity of expert, and therefore subjective, judgements in any assessment process (see also Hulme, 2009a; Guy & Estrada, 2010). This suggests that more studies such as Petersen’s detailed investigation of the claim about detection and attribution in the IPCC Third Assessment Report (Petersen, 2010; see also 2000 and 2006) are to be welcomed. He examines the crafting of this statement in both scientific and policy contexts, explores the way in which the IPCC mobilised Bayesian beliefs and how outside review comments were either resisted or embraced. While he concludes that the IPCC writing team did a reasonable job of reflecting the state of knowledge in this specific area, he is also critical of the inconsistencies and ambiguities in the ways the IPCC, more broadly, handled and presented uncertainty (cf. Swart et al., 2009). Betz (2009) offers a second example of a detailed case study of how the IPCC constructs its knowledge claims, this time a more theoretical and methodological example. Betz contrasts two methodological principles which may guide the construction of the IPCC climate scenario range: modal inductivism and modal falsificationism. He argues that modal inductivism, the methodology implicitly underlying the IPCC assessments, is severely flawed and advocates a radical overhaul of the IPCC practice to embrace modal falsificationism. Equally important for the IPCC is how the uncertainties embedded in its knowledge claims are communicated and received more widely. This too is an area where scholars have been at work. Patt (2007) and Budescu et al. (2009) approach the question empirically and draw upon psychological theory to examine how different forms of uncertainty communication used by the IPCC – for example uncertainties deriving from model differences versus disagreements between experts – alter the perceived reception of respective knowledge claims. Patt (2007) found that these two framings of uncertainty did influence lay perceptions and Budescu et al. found respondents interpreted IPCC’s quantitative uncertainties in ways rather different from that intended by the Assessments. They both call for the social features of uncertainty to be attended to more carefully in future IPCC assessments and suggest some alternative formulations. Schenk and Lensink (2007) and Fogel (2005) examine more precise examples of uncertainty communication from IPCC assessments: uncertainty about future emissions of greenhouse gases and uncertainties in national inventories of greenhouse gas emissions. Schenk and Lensink (2007), for example, suggest improved communication of complex messages from the IPCC through clearer reasoning when communicating with nonscientists, making emissions scenarios explicitly normative and increasing stakeholder participation in scenario development.
Benkei February 17, 2020 at 07:21 #383677
Reply to Nobeernolife Your complaints about the IPCC are attacks on the messenger as well. You don't want to talk climate change because the evidence for it is overwhelming. So instead you suggest the IPCC cannot be trusted, which has absolutely zero bearing on the veracity of the results of climate science. All the more funny when you do it by quoting someone who believes climate change is real and doesn't support your view of the IPCC.
Punshhh February 17, 2020 at 07:32 #383678
Reply to Nobeernolife I thought you required polite considered debate.

So we would should treat the findings of the IPCC with caution, fair enough. Meanwhile California and Australia burn, the UK and Bangladesh and numerous islands flood regularly, southern Europeans die in extreme heat waves. The Greenland ice cap is shown to be irreversibly compromised. I could go on but why bother, we can't trust committees the're nothing more than gravy trains for the so called experts who sit on them.

You know, I have a problem with moss in my lawn. But I wouldn't ask a moss removal expert to deal with it, the're crooked. My neighbour has had a moss man coming twice a year for as long as I can remember and there's still just as much moss as there was five years ago. I think he is secretly spreading the moss, so that there's more work for him next time. If he solved the moss problem, he would be out of a job. I wouldn't let him get his hands on my lawn.
Deleted User February 17, 2020 at 12:56 #383709
Reply to Benkei

Sure. I was just pointing out that in the source you provided Mike Hulme says he was a lead author.
Deleted User February 17, 2020 at 13:03 #383710
Quoting Nobeernolife
Ah here we go. No argument, so we go straight to attacking the messenger.


First: You ignored my question: "Where did you find the quotes?"

Why did you ignore it?

Second: No one said anything about attacking anyone. That's something you assumed without a lick of evidence. You assumed the intention was to attack. (It would be wise to ask yourself what other assumptions you might be making without a lick of evidence.)

Every quote has a context. A freestanding quote is useless without some knowledge of the person who said it: Their personal history and reputation - what is the specific context of the quote? a speech (to whom; who is the intended audience)? a peer-reviewed scholarly essay? what are the person's credentials? have they said these sorts of things before? have they said things that contradict the quote in question? when was the quote made? what is this person's political affiliation and source of financial wherewithal? etc.

Jesus said: "Give to Ceasar what belongs to Ceasar." He must have been a pretty staunch conservative.



Nobeernolife February 17, 2020 at 13:09 #383711
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
what are the person's credentials?


The credentials of the people are given under the quote, and the quotes speak for themselves. I do not have the time to get bogged down here for hours, which would not change your made-up mind anyway.
Deleted User February 17, 2020 at 13:19 #383712
Quoting Nobeernolife
The credentials of the people are given under the quote


Those aren't credentials. Those are titles.

Quoting Nobeernolife
I do not have the time to get bogged down here for hours


Exactly. To truly comprehend a subject as sprawling as the climate change debate, hours and hours of research are necessary. So trust comes into play. Do the 97% of scientists who form the scientific consensus on climate research seem more or less trustworthy than Fox News and Donald Trump and friends - the only folks I ever see who question the climate science, and who, as conservative operatives, also happen to have a vested interest in the survival of the fossil-fuel economy?

Quoting Nobeernolife
which would not change your made-up mind anyway


It would be silly to try to change my mind. For whatever reason, I trust the scientific consensus. Try to change the scientists' minds.

Deleted User February 17, 2020 at 13:20 #383713
Quoting Nobeernolife
The credentials of the people are given under the quote


For the third time: Where did you find the quotes?

For the second time: Why did you ignore this question the first time and the second time?

The longer you ignore the question of sources, the faster your credibility ebbs.
Metaphysician Undercover February 17, 2020 at 13:20 #383714
Quoting NOS4A2
I’ve read the same well-documented nonsense you have. But then I went further.


We've noticed.
Benkei February 17, 2020 at 14:33 #383728
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm Yeah, I noticed that later and forgot to correct it. I started writing the initial post by searching for him on the IPCC website and couldn't find him at all.
NOS4A2 February 18, 2020 at 16:08 #383950

Dershowitz claims to have proof Obama asked FBI to investigate 'somebody on behalf of George Soros'

“I have some information as well about the Obama administration, which will be disclosed in a lawsuit at some point, but I'm not prepared to disclose it now, about how President Obama personally asked the FBI to investigate somebody on behalf of George Soros, who was a close ally of his," he continued, without naming a specific target.

Dershowitz added, "We've seen this kind of White House influence on the Justice Department virtually in every Justice Department. The difference is this president is much more overt about it. He tweets about it. President Obama whispered to the Justice Department about it. And, I don't think these 1,000 former Justice Department officials would pass the shoe-on-the-other-foot test. Maybe some of them would, but a good many of them wouldn't."


https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/dershowitz-claims-to-have-proof-obama-asked-fbi-to-investigate-somebody-on-behalf-of-george-soros

Dershowitz has gone full Trumpian.
Benkei February 18, 2020 at 16:56 #383958
Reply to NOS4A2 What about it? It's totally irrelevant Obama was smarter then Trump is. Doesn't make Trump honest, he's still corrupt.
NOS4A2 February 18, 2020 at 17:11 #383961
Reply to Benkei

What about it? It's totally irrelevant Obama was smarter then Trump is. Doesn't make Trump honest, he's still corrupt.


I just thought it was an interesting story.

Smart or not, all Obama could do was talk and write speeches. Not very impressive if you ask me.

Trump has been accused of abusing his office and Barr has been asked to resign because opponents allege Trump is influencing Barr. I’m not sure of the veracity of Dershowitz’s claims, but imagine if a foreign billionaire was asking Trump to use the DOJ to investigate someone. It would be explosive and impeachments would immediately commence.
Deleted User February 18, 2020 at 17:53 #383971
Quoting NOS4A2
Dershowitz


Your source isn't reliable. The Washington Examiner.

"Overall, we rate the Washington Examiner Right Biased based on editorial positions that almost exclusively favor the right and Mixed for factual reporting due to several failed fact checks."

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/
NOS4A2 February 18, 2020 at 17:55 #383972
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

The genetic fallacy (also known as the fallacy of origins or fallacy of virtue)[1] is a fallacy of irrelevance that is based solely on someone's or something's history, origin, or source rather than its current meaning or context. This overlooks any difference to be found in the present situation, typically transferring the positive or negative esteem from the earlier context. In other words, a claim is ignored in favor of attacking or championing its source.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_fallacy
Deleted User February 18, 2020 at 18:04 #383974
genetic fallacy


Cute.

You attack sources constantly (mainstream media) so be sure to remember every time you do it that you're committing the genetic fallacy as you understand it. I'll point it out for you if you forget.

In other words: According to your understanding of the genetic fallacy there can never be such a thing as a disreputable source. Any claim of disrepute would be a case of genetic fallacy.

Again, just shallow silliness.
NOS4A2 February 18, 2020 at 18:08 #383975
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

Have I ever attacked your source? No. Meanwhile you spend energy policing the bias of the source without being able to refute what was written.
Deleted User February 18, 2020 at 18:15 #383978
Quoting NOS4A2
Have I ever attacked your source? No. Meanwhile you spend energy policing the bias of the source without being able to refute what was written.


Just wanted to let you know not to trust what the Washington Examiner puts out.
NOS4A2 February 18, 2020 at 18:39 #383981
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

That’s fair. But then again I don’t trust any news.
NOS4A2 February 18, 2020 at 20:45 #384007
Trump riffing on current events.

NOS4A2 February 19, 2020 at 03:20 #384062
A “source” says AG Bill Barr is considering quitting.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-02-18/ap-source-barr-tells-people-he-might-quit-over-trump-tweets

Fake news or leaker trap.
Michael February 19, 2020 at 07:48 #384121
Reply to NOS4A2 What's a leaker trap?
Baden February 19, 2020 at 09:46 #384131
Reply to NOS4A2

Barr is doing everything he can to give the impression he's not a Trump stooge while Trump continues to make it obvious he is. He knows he has zero credibility and the only way to create any is to create the illusion of a rift between himself and Trump. I don't believe for a second he'll resign if he can succeed in getting the media to swallow the idea he and Trump are not joined at the hip.

Reply to Michael

Giving false information to a potential leaker, so if it gets out, you can confirm that person leaked it.
Benkei February 19, 2020 at 10:55 #384141
Reply to Baden That's the canary trap.
Echarmion February 19, 2020 at 12:51 #384156
So, Trump continues to dismantle American institutions, now the impartiality of the legal system.

I wonder if those moves increase or lessen his support on the part of the capitalist elite.
Baden February 19, 2020 at 13:01 #384159
Reply to Benkei

Same thing, no?
NOS4A2 February 19, 2020 at 14:27 #384172
A DOJ spokeswoman denies the rumor.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/kerrikupecdoj/status/1229971002031034373?s=21[/tweet]

Imagine an attorney general quitting over tweets? Honestly it sounds like projection from an anti-Trump journalist.
Benkei February 19, 2020 at 14:51 #384175
Reply to Baden I never heard of a leaker trap but what you described is a canary trap. Either it's the same thing, or leaker trap isn't a thing.
Baden February 19, 2020 at 15:24 #384182
Reply to Benkei

Hey, blame the Russian dude, I'm just tryin' to help.
NOS4A2 February 19, 2020 at 15:43 #384185
It looks like CNN is having another meltdown, this time over Trump’s pardoning spree.

Trump's pardon spree deepens crisis gripping American justice

Deleted User February 19, 2020 at 16:12 #384188
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Michael February 19, 2020 at 16:48 #384193
Reply to tim wood There were a couple of drug-related clemencies.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/19/politics/trump-pardons-commutations/index.html

Tynice Nichole Hall
Trump commuted the sentence of Tynice Nichole Hall, after she served almost 14 years for drug-related charges. Hall was convicted on charges to distribute, possess, and manufacture crack cocaine, as well as possession of firearms, per the Justice Department.
Since she was incarcerated in 2006, Hall took numerous job training programs and has continued to work toward her college degree, the White House statement said.
Her clemency was supported by former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker and Alice Johnson, whose sentence Trump commuted in 2018 at the behest of Kim Kardashian West.

Crystal Munoz
Trump commuted the sentence of Crystal Munoz, who served 12 years in prison for marijuana-related charges.
In 2008, Munoz was found guilty and sentenced to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, according to court records.
She has spent much of her time in prison committed to her rehabilitation. Munoz mentored others and volunteered to help with a hospice program, according to the White House statement.
Munoz previously applied for clemency during the Obama administration.
NOS4A2 February 19, 2020 at 16:49 #384194
Reply to tim wood

2 of the 11 were black women, Tim, one of whom was arrested for drug offences. Another person arrested for drugs was Crystal Munoz, a Latino. These are not his rich friends, but friends of Alice Johnson, a black drug offender. Trump commuted her life sentence back in 2018.


NOS4A2 February 19, 2020 at 17:02 #384197
This is gold. Reminds me of Tim’s post above.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/theangiestanton/status/1229960784228298752?s=21[/tweet]

Identitarians are the worst and are deserving of ridicule.
Benkei February 19, 2020 at 18:14 #384212
Reply to Baden While we're on the subject of blaming. I blame the Irish for making Brexit needlessly complicated. So there's that. :yum:
NOS4A2 February 19, 2020 at 19:03 #384229
Possibly big news.

Read with caution (note the ellipses:

Fitzgerald said a statement produced by Assange’s personal lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, included a description of “Mr Rohrabacher going to see Mr Assange and saying, on instructions from the president, he was offering a pardon or some other way out, if Mr Assange... said Russia had nothing to do with the DNC leaks.”


Trump Offered Assange Pardon if He Covered Up Russian Hack, WikiLeaks Founder’s Lawyer Claims

Deleted User February 19, 2020 at 20:14 #384266
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
NOS4A2 February 19, 2020 at 22:42 #384285
Reply to tim wood

You're right, I was wrong. He has released now three - the only good things I know of that he has done. Indeed his predecessors should have done. So many more to do, yes?


To be fair to you, Tim, I don’t think Trump is walking through prisons in search of injustices. As far as I can tell people petition for their loved one’s release. To get to Trump’s ear would be a difficult task for anyone without the voice and perhaps even the recognition to do so. So I fear you a right in a sense, though his First Step Act is a step in the right direction, much to the chagrin of many of his republican allies.
Deleted User February 19, 2020 at 23:51 #384307
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Baden February 20, 2020 at 00:13 #384314
Reply to Benkei

Ah, if only we had a corrupt orange king to rule over us, we could be the greatest nation on earth. MIGA!
Benkei February 20, 2020 at 07:22 #384416
Reply to Baden Piffle. If you ain't Dutch you ain't much. The Netherlands is already the greatest country in the world despite our politicians being corruptish.
Punshhh February 20, 2020 at 07:36 #384419
Reply to Benkei Do you think I can get a Dutch passport. I need a way out of this sinking ship!
Benkei February 20, 2020 at 09:34 #384434
Reply to Punshhh Definitely. Easiest if you'd qualify as a highly skilled migrant and get a job in the Netherlands. After five years you could apply for naturalisation. You're highly skilled if:

  • you earn more than 29,149 EUR if you're 30 years or younger and have a masters degree or equivalent
  • you earn more than EUR 38,347 if you're above 30 years (no degree required
  • you do scientific research in the Netherlands


That also gives you a nice 30% reduction in taxes for five years.

Enjoy: naturalisation

@SittinWSocratesTiff that's also for you! :kiss:

EDIT: aren't you British Punshhh? I think you can still move here before the end of the year. If you're employed I doubt the Dutchies will kick you out on the 1st of January 2021.
Michael February 20, 2020 at 15:44 #384497
The new prosecutors in the Stone case are asking the court to apply the enhancements that the original prosecutors asked for, contrary to what the revised recommendation said.

What's going on at the DOJ?
Michael February 20, 2020 at 15:50 #384500
Reply to NOS4A2

Rohrabacher confirms he offered Trump pardon to Assange for proof Russia didn't hack DNC email

Rohrabacher said that not only did talk of a Trump pardon take place during his meeting, but he also followed up by calling then White House chief of staff John Kelly to discuss the proposal. He did not, however, ever speak to Trump about it, he said.

“I spoke to Julian Assange and told him if he would provide evidence about who gave WikiLeaks the emails I would petition the president to give him a pardon,” Rohrabacher said. “He knew I could get to the president.”

When he spoke to Kelly, the then chief of staff was “courteous” but made no commitment that he would even raise the matter directly with the president. “He knew this had to be handled with care,” Rohrabacher said, and that it could be spun by the news media in ways that would be “harmful” to the president. In fact, Rohrabacher said he never heard anything further from Kelly about the matter, nor did he ever discuss the subject directly with Trump.


So is Rohrabacher lying now when he says that he didn't speak to Trump or was he lying to Assange when he said that he did?
NOS4A2 February 20, 2020 at 16:33 #384510
Reply to Michael

I have no clue what’s going on with Rohrabacher. But it’s an interesting development. Assange has repeatedly said that the Russian government did not give him the emails, and then he was silenced and thrown into solitary. It’s a tragedy what has happened to him and we should all be ashamed.
Michael February 20, 2020 at 16:35 #384512
Quoting Michael
The new prosecutors in the Stone case are asking the court to apply the enhancements that the original prosecutors asked for, contrary to what the revised recommendation said.

What's going on at the DOJ?


What's even more confusing is that the new prosecutor is the one who signed the revised recommendation, and when asked about this refused to answer:

ABJ: With respect to the second filing — you signed it. Did you write it?

Crabb: I’m not at liberty to discuss the internal deliberations in DOJ.

ABJ: Were you directed to write it by someone else?

Crabb: I can’t answer.
Michael February 20, 2020 at 16:36 #384514
Quoting NOS4A2
It’s a tragedy what has happened to him and we should all be ashamed.


He chose to escape prosecution and hide out in an embassy for years.
NOS4A2 February 20, 2020 at 17:35 #384554
Reply to Michael

3 years 4 months for Stone. What a travesty. Trump should pardon immediately.
Michael February 20, 2020 at 17:40 #384555
Reply to NOS4A2 Why? He’s guilty. And it’s less than the recommended sentence anyway.
NOS4A2 February 20, 2020 at 17:53 #384557
Reply to Michael

Why? He’s guilty. And it’s less than the recommended sentence anyway.


That’s a long time for impeding an unjust fishing expedition for which there was no underlying crime, especially for a first-time offender. It’s just difficult for me to watch people like Stone get rail-roaded while people like McCabe, Brennan and Comey get MSNBC contracts and book deals. Then again the swamp protects its own.
Michael February 20, 2020 at 18:00 #384561
Reply to NOS4A2 Even if it were an “unjust fishing expedition” - which it wasn’t as determined by the IG after his investigation - that’s no excuse for lying to the FBI and threatening witnesses.

And the proper recourse for other guilty people getting away with it is to push for more prosecutions, not to pardon those who have been prosecuted and found guilty.

If you pardon everyone then everyone will just keep doing it.
NOS4A2 February 20, 2020 at 18:10 #384562
Reply to Michael

Even if it were an “unjust fishing expedition” - which it wasn’t as determined by the IG after his investigation - that’s no excuse for lying to the FBI and threatening witnesses.

And the proper recourse for other guilty people getting away with it is to push for more prosecutions, not to pardon those who have been prosecuted and found guilty.

If you pardon everyone then everyone will just keep doing it.


Found guilty by a jury with a foreman who displayed bias, and sentenced by a judge with a personal vendetta against Stone. He shared a picture of her on Instagram saying she was an Obama-appointed judge, and she accused him of threatening her and the court. It’s obscene. An appeal will be forthcoming but I hope a pardon comes first.
Michael February 20, 2020 at 18:15 #384563
Quoting NOS4A2
Found guilty by a jury with a foreman who displayed bias,


And 11(?) others who didn’t. The evidence was clearly sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

Quoting NOS4A2
and sentenced by a judge who with a personal vendetta against Stone. He shared a picture of her on Instagram saying she was an Obama-appointed judge, and she accused him of threatening her and the court.


Was that the picture with the crosshairs on her head? That is threatening. And what was she supposed to do? Declare him innocent? Recuse? Then every criminal ever will just threaten all of their judges and avoid ever being sentenced.

Besides, she gave him less than the recommended sentence, so your implicit accusation of bias falls flat.
NOS4A2 February 20, 2020 at 18:20 #384564
Reply to Michael

Yeah the crosshairs were a part of a logo.

User image

Sorry, only an idiot would claim this is a threat. But the judge was swayed by the beltway intelligentsia to believe otherwise.
Benkei February 20, 2020 at 19:07 #384566
Reply to NOS4A2 Stone deleted that picture and reposted it without the crosshairs and then deleted that too. I can't find where the judge stated she saw it as a threat. She did think it gave her reason to review the limited gag order that was in place. And that isn't so weird if you have such a dust storm of reactions to a post by him as you want to avoid jurors are influenced.
NOS4A2 February 20, 2020 at 19:34 #384570
Reply to Benkei

Stone deleted that picture and reposted it without the crosshairs and then deleted that too. I can't find where the judge stated she saw it as a threat. She did think it gave her reason to review the limited gag order that was in place. And that isn't so weird if you have such a dust storm of reactions to a post by him as you want to avoid jurors are influenced.


She states it here in her ruling on Stone's gag order.

The defendant himself told me he had more than one to choose from. And so what he chose, particularly when paired with the sorts of incendiary comments included in the text, the comments that not only can lead to disrespect for the judiciary, but threats on the judiciary, the post had a more sinister message. As a man who, according to his own account, has made communication his forté, his raison d'être, his life's work, Roger Stone fully understands the power of words and the power of symbols. And there's nothing ambiguous about crosshairs.


https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5746249/Transcript-Instagram-Post-Leads-ABJ-to-Broaden.pdf

It's hard for me to believe that the criticism of her in the post had zero bearing on her decision to silence Stone.
Benkei February 20, 2020 at 20:01 #384579
Reply to NOS4A2 But that's not her stating Stone threatened her but that it could lead to threats to the judiciary and that there was nothing accidental about his choice in imagery.

EDIT: Even if it was accidental, he should've known better that it could be interpreted as or give rise to threats as people's reactions to the post proved. "Who will rid me of this meddle some priest?"
NOS4A2 February 20, 2020 at 21:36 #384586
Reply to Benkei

There is no transcript yet, but:

Jackson noted Stone threatened her personally during the trial and stirred up claims that the process was rigged. Doing so, she said, “willfully increased the risk that someone with even poorer judgment than” Stone would take action and put the entire courthouse in danger.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/roger-stone-sentence-due-thursday-in-federal-court/2020/02/19/2e01bfc8-4c38-11ea-9b5c-eac5b16dafaa_story.html

She’s an idiot.



Benkei February 21, 2020 at 05:35 #384660
Reply to NOS4A2Seriously? Stone posts a picture. Then a lot of people interpret it as a threat. The judge concludes after that media fallout that someone with worse judgment could take action because of it and she thinks Stone should've known better. This is entirely reasonable.

Or are you know pretending only people on the left could've interpreted it this way because that would be patently ridiculous.
NOS4A2 February 21, 2020 at 06:38 #384673
Reply to Benkei

Seriously? Stone posts a picture. Then a lot of people interpret it as a threat. The judge concludes after that media fallout that someone with worse judgment could take action because of it and she thinks Stone should've known better. This is entirely reasonable.

Or are you know pretending only people on the left could've interpreted it this way because that would be patently ridiculous.


I never said anything about “the left”. I said only an idiot would interpret it as a threat.
Benkei February 21, 2020 at 06:43 #384674
Reply to NOS4A2 Exactly. And between het full gag order and the post it was proved the US is full of idiots, which Stone (considering his profession) knew or should've known, hence it was entirely rational.
NOS4A2 February 21, 2020 at 07:27 #384681
Reply to Benkei

Exactly. And between het full gag order and the post it was proved the US is full of idiots, which Stone (considering his profession) knew or should've known, hence it was entirely rational.


Not a single person took Stone’s post as an incitement to violence but those who thought he put a crosshairs above her head, including the judge. They are idiots, and they prove they have “worse judgement” than anyone else.
Benkei February 21, 2020 at 08:37 #384686
Quoting NOS4A2
Not a single person took Stone’s post as an incitement to violence but those who thought he put a crosshairs above her head, including the judge. They are idiots, and they prove they have “worse judgement” than anyone else.


Sigh. Are you having problems with logic here? Why the hell should we wait until someone actually would use violence? That would be too late wouldn't it?

If a lot of people interpret his post as having crosshairs and they express that publicly then it is an observable fact that the post may incite violence as people have expressed that they think it could communicate a violent message. The "idiots" in your view were the people saying they were crosshairs. This is not an interpretation by the judge but by people in the public. The judge observes the reaction of the public to the post and can tell a significant number of them think it was a violent message.

Let's move all the players into a bar and pretend you're the judge. Stone calls you corrupt, an Obama stooge and Hillary shill. In the bar there's people who really like Stone and agree with that assessment. They don't like you. There are also people that are impartial and some that really don't like Stone. The people who like Stone have been looking angrily at you all night. He posts that picture with your face on it. Someone remarks "hey, that really looks like a crosshair!" Some of the threatening looking people say "Yeah, it kind of does!"

Did the risk of someone punching you in the face increase or decrease compared to before the post?
Michael February 21, 2020 at 14:39 #384722
Trump puts an unqualified loyalist in charge of national intelligence

Does Trump ever actually appoint someone suitable, or is it just useless yes-men, donors, and family?
Michael February 21, 2020 at 14:41 #384723
Quoting NOS4A2
Here we go again.


With what? Russian interference has never gone away.
NOS4A2 February 21, 2020 at 16:28 #384744
Reply to Benkei

Sorry, but she’s an idiot. She saw it as a threat, or worse, pretended she did and used that to justify silencing Stone's criticism.

"Roger Stone fully understands the power of words and the power of symbols. And there's nothing ambiguous about crosshairs."


In the US the test for incitement to violence (and the limits of free speech) is that it must produce, or is likely to produce, "immanent lawless action".

Your little scenario is ridiculous. Name one person in the history of the world who was incited to hurt someone after seeing a crosshair on their picture, let alone a crosshair in a logo. You, like the judge, are dealing in fantasy.

NOS4A2 February 21, 2020 at 16:30 #384745
Reply to Michael

With what? Russian interference has never gone away.


With the selective leaking. Schiff receives a classified intelligence brief and immediately leaks it to the NYT — a federal crime. I suspect the Russian hoax true believers will be quick to point their fingers.

Punshhh February 21, 2020 at 16:47 #384751
Reply to Benkei
?Punshhh Definitely. Easiest if you'd qualify as a highly skilled migrant and get a job in the Netherlands. After five years you could apply for naturalisation. You're highly skilled if:

you earn more than 29,149 EUR if you're 30 years or younger and have a masters degree or equivalent
you earn more than EUR 38,347 if you're above 30 years (no degree required
you do scientific research in the Netherlands

That also gives you a nice 30% reduction in taxes for five years

EDIT: aren't you British Punshhh? I think you can still move here before the end of the year. If you're employed I doubt the Dutchies will kick you out on the 1st of January 2021.


Yes, I did nearly move to France in the summer of 2018, but didn't in the end due to the uncertainty of Brexit. Now I have bought a nice new house with land in the UK, so am not going to be able to move to Europe anytime soon. I will keep an eye on what happens in Scotland as I would qualify for Scottish citizenship.
creativesoul February 22, 2020 at 02:55 #384926
If Trump is the president of choice for Russia, and thus they meddle in order to get what they want, then why on earth would the same country meddle to get Bernie nominated?

Makes no sense. Bernie will crush Trump in national debates. Trump will lose the most reasonable of his supporters that hold putting American workers first.

This news today about Russian meddling in favor of Bernie just makes no sense whatsoever if Russia wants Trump to win. Unless the move is being made to offer plausible deniability. That's a stretch though... I mean... quite the stretch.
Benkei February 22, 2020 at 07:27 #385000
Reply to NOS4A2 It's not a scenario but an analogy. Did the risk increase or not?
Nobeernolife February 22, 2020 at 08:20 #385010
Quoting creativesoul
This news today about Russian meddling in favor of Bernie just makes no sense whatsoever if Russia wants Trump to win. Unless the move is being made to offer plausible deniability. That's a stretch though... I mean... quite the stretch.


It makes completely sense if they prefer Bernie. And why wouldn´t they?
In the event, everybody is meddling in everybody elses affairs, so the this fake meddling hysteria is complete nonsense.
Punshhh February 22, 2020 at 08:24 #385012
I expect Trump will be spreading rumours about the rumours about Saunders being in collusion with the enemy.
The way he will do it will be to hint at the rumours in a joking, poking fun kind of way, such that on the media, it will come across as a serious statement, while winking at his audience, his base, hoodwinking them into going along with his roose on the suggestion that it is poking fun, or sarcasm.

You know, like those emails. Lock her up, send her back.

Snake oil salesman, sleight of hand stuff. A conjuring trick, rather than politics, to divide and deceive the American people. For nothing more than to give Trump what he wants, to stroke his ego, to make him a memorable president and secure his place in history. What happens to his country, his people in the meantime is irrelevant to him.
Monitor February 22, 2020 at 08:32 #385013
Quoting creativesoul
Bernie will crush Trump in national debates.


I don't think Trump will agree to debate. He has said as much. Why would he risk it?
creativesoul February 22, 2020 at 08:36 #385015
Quoting Nobeernolife
It makes completely sense if they prefer Bernie. And why wouldn´t they?
In the event, everybody is meddling in everybody elses affairs, so the this fake meddling hysteria is complete nonsense.


Yeah. Someone mentioned plausible deniability.

:roll:
Nobeernolife February 22, 2020 at 08:37 #385016
"Bernie" is unacceptable to the swamp, so he will of course be ditched. I don´t know why you people even debate this.... TDS again?

Afaik, I keep the popcorn ready for the show of furious Bernie supporters raising hell when he is sidelined.
creativesoul February 22, 2020 at 08:37 #385017
Quoting Monitor
I don't think Trump will agree to debate. He has said as much. Why would he risk it?


Risk what? His best chance to lose on purpose?

:lol:
IvoryBlackBishop February 22, 2020 at 14:51 #385088
What are the opinions on Trump's Tweets?

Do you think he writes them himself, or does have a paid campaign staff do it?
Nobeernolife February 22, 2020 at 15:25 #385101
Quoting IvoryBlackBishop
What are the opinions on Trump's Tweets?
Do you think he writes them himself, or does have a paid campaign staff do it?


Himself. Staff would produce something more slick and less effective.

You might want to check out Scott Adams on that topic, he has an interesting perspective.
NOS4A2 February 22, 2020 at 15:45 #385110
Reply to Benkei

It's not a scenario but an analogy. Did the risk increase or not?


It’s not analogous, though. But no a crosshairs in a logo did not increase the risk.
Can you name one case of anyone being incited to violence by an image of a crosshairs?
NOS4A2 February 22, 2020 at 18:14 #385142

When President Trump ticks off his accomplishments since taking office, he frequently mentions his aggressive makeover of a key sector of the federal judiciary — the circuit courts of appeal, where he has appointed 51 judges to lifetime jobs in three years.

In few places has the effect been felt more powerfully than in the sprawling 9th Circuit, which covers California and eight other states. Because of Trump’s success in filling vacancies, the San Francisco-based circuit, long dominated by Democratic appointees, has suddenly shifted to the right, with an even more pronounced tilt expected in the years ahead.


Trump has flipped the 9th Circuit — and some new judges are causing a ‘shock wave’
NOS4A2 February 24, 2020 at 10:48 #385583
Wow, what a crowd.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1231868340093825024?s=21[/tweet]
Punshhh February 24, 2020 at 11:16 #385589
Reminds me of Billy Graham rallies. The US is having trouble ripping off India in trade talks, so they wheel out the populism to twist the arms of the negotiators.
Benkei February 24, 2020 at 12:11 #385599
Reply to NOS4A2 Since the blocking by Congress of Obama's appointment I've had a closer look at the US system. Since then I've been advising clients not to apply US law and jurisdictions any more. It was then compounded with the Kavanaugh appointment. Now this.

The law doesn't change based on the judge sitting the case and the principles of interpretation and construction have been so often discussed that this is relatively well documented (in fact, the UK Supreme Court is fed up with them and is not likely to accept a case about construction and interpretation any time soon). The fact people nowadays find it so important means there's an issue with US courts that goes beyond the correct application of law, e.g. judges beholden to political interests because they have to "thank" their position to politicians.
NOS4A2 February 24, 2020 at 17:37 #385694
Reply to Benkei

In the beginning of Trump’s administration a number of activist judges blocked Trump’s policies with nation-wide injunctions. In other words some Obama-appointed judge in California could override the policies of the elected president of the country, at least until the issue was taken to the Supreme Court. So hopefully with the new appointments that kind of judicial activism and political interest is excised from the system altogether.

NOS4A2 February 24, 2020 at 17:55 #385700
Reply to Punshhh

Reminds me of Billy Graham rallies. The US is having trouble ripping off India in trade talks, so they wheel out the populism to twist the arms of the negotiators.


They played Macho Man by the Village People when Trump entered the stadium. That doesn’t ring “Billy Graham” to me.
Deleted User February 24, 2020 at 17:58 #385701
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
NOS4A2 February 24, 2020 at 18:06 #385703
Reply to tim wood

I believe your judgement of character is lacking in exactly the places you lack character. Personally I don’t look to politicians for moral guidance. I don’t want a pope, I just want an elected official to do his job.
praxis February 24, 2020 at 18:09 #385704
Quoting NOS4A2
They played Macho Man by the Village People when Trump entered the stadium. That doesn’t ring “Billy Graham” to me.


Someone who whines about bone spurs, being treated unfairly by the fake news media, etc etc, doesn’t ring macho to me.
NOS4A2 February 24, 2020 at 18:12 #385705
In more Trump news, it appears the claims of Russian interference were “overstated”.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/23/politics/intelligence-briefer-russian-interference-trump-sanders/index.html

The US intelligence community's top election security official appears to have overstated the intelligence community's formal assessment of Russian interference in the 2020 election, omitting important nuance during a briefing with lawmakers earlier this month, three national security officials told CNN.

The official, Shelby Pierson, told lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election with the goal of helping President Donald Trump get reelected.
The US intelligence community has assessed that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election and has separately assessed that Russia views Trump as a leader they can work with. But the US does not have evidence that Russia's interference this cycle is aimed at reelecting Trump, the officials said.

"The intelligence doesn't say that," one senior national security official told CNN. "A more reasonable interpretation of the intelligence is not that they have a preference, it's a step short of that. It's more that they understand the President is someone they can work with, he's a dealmaker."

What national security adviser Robert O'Brien is saying about Russia briefing 'conflicts' with what lawmakers were told Pierson's characterization of Russian interference led to pointed questions from lawmakers, which officials said caused Pierson to overstep and assert that Russia has a preference for Trump to be reelected.

One intelligence official said that Pierson's characterization of the intelligence was "misleading" and a national security official said Pierson failed to provide the "nuance" needed to accurately convey the US intelligence conclusions.


I doubt true believers such as John Brennan and the DNC will walk back their statements.
NOS4A2 February 24, 2020 at 18:12 #385706
Reply to praxis

Someone who whines about bone spurs, the fake news media, etc etc, doesn’t ring macho to me.


I don’t even want to know what you think is macho.
Deleted User February 24, 2020 at 18:13 #385707
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
praxis February 24, 2020 at 18:13 #385708
Quoting NOS4A2
I don’t want a pope, I just want an elected official to do his job.


Your unrelenting defense of Trump proves this to be false.
Deleted User February 24, 2020 at 18:14 #385709
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
NOS4A2 February 24, 2020 at 18:16 #385710
Reply to praxis

Your unrelenting defense of Trump proves this to be false.


Not a strand of chewing gum can connect that premise to your conclusion.
praxis February 24, 2020 at 18:20 #385712
Quoting NOS4A2
Someone who whines about bone spurs, the fake news media, etc etc, doesn’t ring macho to me.

I don’t even want to know what you think is macho.


For starters, someone who’s willing to fight for their country rather than whine about bone spurs. Someone who is actually self-made and didn’t inherit almost half a billion.
praxis February 24, 2020 at 18:22 #385713
Quoting NOS4A2
Your unrelenting defense of Trump proves this to be false.

Not a strand of chewing gum can connect that premise to your conclusion.


You defend him as though he’s your cult leader.
NOS4A2 February 24, 2020 at 18:27 #385715
Reply to praxis

For starters, someone who’s willing to fight for their country rather than whine about bone spurs. Someone who is actually self-made and didn’t inherit almost half a billion.


Bone spurs. That’s all you got, eh? We used to call this grasping at straws, but given the element of hatred impelling it, it’s little more than the bluster of a hater.
Deleted User February 24, 2020 at 18:52 #385719
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Benkei February 24, 2020 at 18:54 #385721
Reply to NOS4A2 Your reply has no bearing on the point I was making except as to serve as an example why the US legal system cannot be trusted to judge based on law.
Michael February 24, 2020 at 19:36 #385733
Quoting NOS4A2
In the beginning of Trump’s administration a number of activist judges blocked Trump’s policies with nation-wide injunctions. In other words some Obama-appointed judge in California could override the policies of the elected president of the country, at least until the issue was taken to the Supreme Court. So hopefully with the new appointments that kind of judicial activism and political interest is excised from the system altogether.


Or perhaps the Obama-appointed judges were judging the law correctly and any Trump-appointees who judge differently are being activists.
praxis February 24, 2020 at 19:50 #385735
Quoting NOS4A2
Bone spurs. That’s all you got, eh?


No, I said just for starters. Here's Trump curtseying like a bitch...



Or how about his 'fire and fury' moment. Look at the body language, the folded arms are a form of 'self-comforting', literally hugging himself. To Trump culties it may look like a tough posture, but to those who can read body language, the anxiety is evident and not at all macho.

Deleted User February 25, 2020 at 00:19 #385803
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Deleted User February 25, 2020 at 16:23 #385956
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
creativesoul February 25, 2020 at 17:25 #385981
Reply to tim wood

Trumps financial ties to Deutsche Bank are currently being investigated. Some of them look like he is a participant in money laundering....
NOS4A2 February 25, 2020 at 17:47 #385983
Two welcome changes have occurred over the last couple weeks. Trump appointed Richard Grenell as Acting Director of National Intelligence, and Kash Patel as advisor to Grenell. According to CBS, a source told them that their mandate was to “clean house” in the ODNI, which in a matter of decades has become a sclerotic and bureaucratic tumor in government.

These changes are welcome because the recent fibs regarding Russian meddling has become de rigueur in the intelligence community. Maybe those who are not spellbound by russiaphobia can course-correct.
frank February 25, 2020 at 17:50 #385985
I think any fall-out shelter worth the name is going to have a massive stash of dried gourmet mushrooms.
Michael February 25, 2020 at 18:16 #385990
Trump doctor hid cauliflower in mashed potatoes to improve diet

Former White House physician Ronny Jackson told The New York Times that he regretted leaving his position before he could implement the diet and exercise regimen planned for Trump.

“The exercise stuff never took off as much as I wanted it to,” he said. “But we were working on his diet. We were making the ice cream less accessible, we were putting cauliflower into the mashed potatoes.”


:rofl:

Your toddler-in-Chief.

Although the headline doesn't quite match what Jackson said.
Baden February 25, 2020 at 19:02 #385998
Reply to Michael

B...B...But he can build things!

User image
NOS4A2 February 26, 2020 at 17:43 #386285
Another obstructionist injunction overturned.

Court rules in favor of Trump in ‘sanctuary cities’ grant fight

The nation-wide injunction has become a tool of the judiciary in order to stifle Trump’s agenda, so it’s nice to see them overturned in higher courts.

Federal judges have moved more than three dozen times in three years to temporarily prohibit enforcement of Trump policies that were challenged before them. That contrasts with about 20 for Barack Obama and even fewer for George W. Bush, both of whom served eight years, according to senators and witnesses at the hearing.


https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/senators-grapple-with-nationwide-injunctions

It’s hard to believe that even with all this obstruction—constant investigations, impeachment’s, injunctions—President Trump is delivering. It’s no wonder Euros want a Sanders presidency: their own hapless, progressive leaders cannot compete in the same world as the Trump administration.

Benkei February 26, 2020 at 18:42 #386337
Punshhh February 28, 2020 at 16:53 #386917
Reply to Benkei He's such a stable genius.
User image
Michael February 28, 2020 at 17:14 #386925
Reply to NOS4A2 As I understand it that ruling only applies to the specific States under that Court’s jurisdiction. Three comparable Circuits have ruled against the Trump admin and their ruling stands for their respective States.

Or am I misunderstanding how it works?
Michael February 28, 2020 at 17:17 #386927
Quoting NOS4A2
It’s no wonder Euros want a Sanders presidency: their own hapless, progressive leaders cannot compete in the same world as the Trump administration.


What do you mean by this? In what way are Johnson, Merkel, Macron, etc. failing to “compete” with Trump?
Michael February 28, 2020 at 17:21 #386931
"Let me just say, I have an intention to be the most litigious chair in history," McDaniel said. "I think what Democrats have done systematically to take away our rights to rig the election system and this, to take away our votes, our Electoral College votes, and have California and New York dictate who the next president of the United States is."

No way she actually said that part out loud?
Deleted User February 28, 2020 at 17:33 #386938
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
NOS4A2 February 28, 2020 at 18:12 #386958
Reply to Michael

What do you mean by this?


I mean that others could not do what Trump is doing under this pressure, and I accused those who write in British English of wanting Sanders to become US president because Trump makes their own leaders look bad.
Michael February 28, 2020 at 20:09 #386996
Quoting NOS4A2
I accused those who write in British English of wanting Sanders to become US president because Trump makes their own leaders look bad.


Trust me, Boris Johnson makes himself look bad. :lol:
NOS4A2 February 29, 2020 at 17:47 #387248
The tentative end of America’s longest war is on the horizon.

U.S.-Taliban sign landmark agreement in bid to end America's longest war

This is what happens when you give Trump the nuclear codes.
praxis February 29, 2020 at 18:10 #387255
While in the process of politicizing the Coronavirus, Trump claims that the Democrats are politicizing it.



Junior goes much further.



They seem to have a low opinion of their supporters intelligence.
NOS4A2 February 29, 2020 at 18:36 #387259
Reply to praxis

Trump never said the Coronavirus is a hoax. But I guess the Times has a low opinion of its readers.




praxis February 29, 2020 at 19:12 #387276
Reply to NOS4A2

Where exactly did they say that?
creativesoul February 29, 2020 at 19:17 #387279
Quoting NOS4A2
...I accused those who write in British English of wanting Sanders to become US president because Trump makes their own leaders look bad.


Or perhaps... just maybe... nearly everyone else in the world would like for Sanders to become president because he is much less likely to fuck everyone else in the process of putting Americans first? Maybe he is not going to run the country as if it is his own cut-throat business in a dog eat dog world?

Maybe he realizes that everyone else does not have to lose in order for America to win. Maybe he takes the responsibility of effecting/affecting others seriously? Maybe he does not have the most outright openly questionable ethics in American history for a president of his own time?

Maybe he knows what he's talking about...

Just maybe...

Or it could all be some big conspiracy of the deep state to make Trump look bad and do whatever it takes to get rid of that leech? Maybe the aliens are in on it too...
NOS4A2 February 29, 2020 at 19:43 #387291
Reply to praxis

Right in the title of the New York Times video.
NOS4A2 February 29, 2020 at 19:46 #387293
Reply to creativesoul

Maybe their countries are just used to getting a free ride, bleeding America dry, and like any addict is getting frustrated that their supply is dwindling.
praxis February 29, 2020 at 19:49 #387294
Reply to NOS4A2

The title reads:

“Donald Trump: Coronavirus is Democrats' 'new hoax'”

I image that most Trump supporters have poor reading comprehension, or just tend to see what they want to see.
creativesoul February 29, 2020 at 19:52 #387295
Reply to NOS4A2

Maybe they - like everyone else in the world - realize that when someone enters into an agreement that they voluntarily obligate themselves to make the world match their words... to make the changes they gave their word to make... to do the things they've agreed to do...

Maybe, just maybe... the rest of the world is not nearly as creative as Donald John Trump at looking for an escape clause in order to not be held liable for not keeping his word - after he has received the benefits of said agreement.

Maybe, just maybe... everyone else realizes the imperative nature of working together to make the world a much beter place for everyone, which requires being a man of your word.

Trump is not.
NOS4A2 February 29, 2020 at 19:52 #387296
Reply to praxis

The title reads:

“Donald Trump: Coronavirus is Democrats' 'new hoax'”

I image that most Trump supporters have poor reading comprehension, or just tend to see what they want to see.


Did trump say that? No. But anti-Trumpers like to believe what they’re told. Trump has taken drastic measures a while ago, long before Democrats started bleating about their Coronavirus fears.
NOS4A2 February 29, 2020 at 19:56 #387299
Reply to creativesoul

Maybe the rest of the world should get used to paying their fair share. Working together requires partnerships, not dependants.
creativesoul February 29, 2020 at 20:04 #387305
Reply to NOS4A2

That's a gross oversimplification of a complex set of circumstances resulting from a complex set of agreements.

Everyone ought keep their word. Not everyone has broken theirs. There are also better ways to go about ensuring that people do.
creativesoul February 29, 2020 at 20:05 #387306
Quoting NOS4A2
Working together requires partnerships, not dependants.


Working together is being interdependent. Humans are, by our very nature, interdependent social creatures.
NOS4A2 February 29, 2020 at 20:11 #387308
Reply to creativesoul

19 NATO members that have not met the 2% GDP spending goal set at the 2014 NATO summit, which was before Trump arrived. So were they lying?
praxis February 29, 2020 at 20:12 #387309
Quoting NOS4A2
The title reads:

“Donald Trump: Coronavirus is Democrats' 'new hoax'”

I image that most Trump supporters have poor reading comprehension, or just tend to see what they want to see.
— praxis

Did trump say that? No. But anti-Trumpers like to believe what they’re told.


In the posted video, Trump says “and this is their new hoax.” If you’re too brainwashed to believe that he wasn’t referring to Democrats and the coronavirus, well, then there’s little chance of me opening you eyes.
NOS4A2 February 29, 2020 at 20:14 #387310
Reply to praxis

In the posted video, Trump says “and this is their new hoax.” If you’re too brainwashed to believe that he wasn’t referring to Democrats and the coronavirus, well, then there’s little chance of me opening you eyes.


Did he or did he not say Coronavirus is the Democrat’s new hoax?
creativesoul February 29, 2020 at 20:16 #387312
Quoting NOS4A2
19 NATO members that have not met the 2% GDP spending goal set at the 2014 NATO summit, which was before Trump arrived. So were they lying?


What's the point here? Is the argument something like... some people do not keep their word, therefore Trump can pull out of any and all agreements that he chooses to?
NOS4A2 February 29, 2020 at 20:17 #387314
Reply to creativesoul

What's the point here? Is the argument something like... some people do not keep their word, therefore Trump can pull out of any and all agreements that he chooses to?


The point is it isn’t wrong to expect other countries to hold up their end of the bargain.
praxis February 29, 2020 at 20:18 #387315
creativesoul February 29, 2020 at 20:27 #387318
Quoting NOS4A2
Did he or did he not say Coronavirus is the Democrat’s new hoax?


Calling it a hoax is to deny that it is a problem, and it doesn't matter who "their new hoax" refers to. The denial itself is the problem.
creativesoul February 29, 2020 at 20:28 #387319
Quoting NOS4A2
The point is it isn’t wrong to expect other countries to hold up their end of the bargain.


I would agree generally speaking about the obligation to keep one's word. I disagree that the fix for some not doing so is for everyone to not do so.
praxis February 29, 2020 at 20:39 #387324
Quoting creativesoul
Did he or did he not say Coronavirus is the Democrat’s new hoax?
— NOS4A2

Calling it a hoax is to deny that it is a problem, and it doesn't matter who "their new hoax" refers to. The denial itself is the problem.


Just to be clear, I believe Trump is claiming that criticisms to his administration’s actions surrounding the issue (cuts to CDC funding etc.) is a hoax, or something like that, and not that the virus itself is a hoax.
creativesoul February 29, 2020 at 20:44 #387327
Reply to praxis

That's more palatable. Everything contrary to Trump's beliefs is a hoax to him. I would go even further and say that there have been many things he knows to be true and still calls it a hoax, or fake news, or a witch-hunt. The man is a liar of the worst variety... a practical one. A means to an end. The end is an increase in his own wealth and power.

A spoiled rich kid who has never once had to pay for his own mistakes.
Punshhh February 29, 2020 at 20:56 #387328
Reply to praxis
While in the process of politicizing the Coronavirus, Trump claims that the Democrats are politicizing it.

It's known as Munchausen's syndrome by proxy. All the populists are doing it, it's a well known snake oil salesmans trick.
To illustrate, I have experienced it myself, as I have a relative who suffers from the condition. She would walk up to me and knee me in the leg, then immediately fain a limp claiming that I had kneed her in the leg. The people witnessing the deceit, don't know who kneed who in the leg. But will believe the deceiver because they are skilled at reacting as the victim and the person they actually kneed is shocked and confused, so appears less plausible.

The populist Home Secretary in the UK government is doing it at the moment against the top civil servant in the country, leading him to resign and state that he is going to sue the government today.
Deleted User February 29, 2020 at 21:05 #387331
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
ssu February 29, 2020 at 21:25 #387339
Quoting praxis
Just to be clear, I believe Trump is claiming that criticisms to his administration’s actions surrounding the issue (cuts to CDC funding etc.) is a hoax, or something like that, and not that the virus itself is a hoax.

Sounded this way to me also. Trump even went on to say that even if we haven't lost anyone to the virus, it doesn't mean the US couldn't lose people to it. (Which I think has now happened)

And lets put things into perspective: normal seasonal flew epidemics kill 1 000 people or so every season around the World. Coronavirus has killed about 3 000 people. The Ebola outbreak 2014-2016 killed about 11 000.

The Hong Kong Flu 1968-69 killed 34 000 just in the US and 1 million World wide. Malaria kills roughly about 400 000+ around the World annually.

NOS4A2 February 29, 2020 at 22:41 #387349
Reply to praxis

Just to be clear, I believe Trump is claiming that criticisms to his administration’s actions surrounding the issue (cuts to CDC funding etc.) is a hoax, or something like that, and not that the virus itself is a hoax.


That’s right. He did not say Coronavirus is Democrats' 'new hoax'. So why would the NYT say that?

But yes, the Democrats have politicized the issue. They repeatedly accused Pompeo of not doing enough about it during a testimony on the Iran strike. Trump is right.
NOS4A2 February 29, 2020 at 22:42 #387350
Reply to tim wood

Do you ever get tired of Trump's lies and those of his yes-men and women?


I get tired of you parroting whatever the DNC wants you to. I tire of you lamenting a dystopian future that never arrives. How can you look at yourself in a mirror?
praxis February 29, 2020 at 22:57 #387352
Quoting NOS4A2
That’s right. He did not say Coronavirus is Democrats' 'new hoax'. So why would the NYT say that?


I've pointed out that in the posted video there's a clip of Trump saying “and this is their new hoax.” Granted that it's not always easy to decipher his rambling nonsense, but are you claiming that he wasn't referring to Democrats and the coronavirus? If he wasn't then who and what was he referring to?
NOS4A2 February 29, 2020 at 23:06 #387354
Reply to praxis

I was claiming the headline was false, fake news. I would also claim that what Trump said was true.

Democrats have distorted and politicized coronavirus in terms of lying about the response and giving us a pitiful panic among the fearful (see Tim Wood's response here).

AP FACT CHECK: Democrats distort coronavirus readiness


praxis February 29, 2020 at 23:24 #387360
Quoting NOS4A2
I was claiming the headline was false, fake news. I would also claim that what Trump said was true.


It was fake but it's true? Lol.

So Bloomberg and Biden engaged in a little harmless hyperbole. Isn't that what you say when Trump lies? Pretty dumb to lie about it though when the truth would have been nearly as damming, that the Trump admin tried to cut CDC funding but was prevented by congress.
Deleted User February 29, 2020 at 23:25 #387361
Quoting NOS4A2
Did he or did he not say Coronavirus is the Democrat’s new hoax?


Trump said "this" is their new hoax, using a demonstrative pronoun the referent for which was (demonstratively) unclear, coming, as it did, sixty seconds earlier in the speech.

It's not clear, to the less-than-savvy, what Trump's "this" was alluding to. It could easily be taken (again, by a person who doesn't spend a lot of time analyzing language) to be the virus itself: A - not atypical; one might even say Trumpian - lack of clarity the talking heads in the media - experts at the use and abuse of language - set ethics aside to take advantage of. Clearly a deception by leftists in the press. They know how to parse a sentence - or, in Trump's case, a string of sentence fragments.

Trump is guilty of a sophomoric, haphazard use of language in connection to a global crisis. That's about it. He can't help it. He never read a book. I doubt he even read the books he "wrote."
Nobeernolife March 01, 2020 at 00:01 #387375
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
He can't help it. He never read a book. I doubt he even read the books he "wrote."


I love TDS. It is amazing watching the sheer delusion it creates. Who needs drugs when you have mass hallucinations.
Deleted User March 01, 2020 at 00:05 #387376
Quoting Nobeernolife
I love TDS. It is amazing watching the sheer delusion it creates. Who needs drugs when you have mass hallucinations.


Funny, I felt like my response was "fair and balanced."

You do know that Trump's books were written by ghostwriters, I hope.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all
Deleted User March 01, 2020 at 00:50 #387387
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
praxis March 01, 2020 at 01:06 #387388
Quoting Nobeernolife
I love TDS.


How about DDS (Democrat Derangement Syndrome)?

[quote=Lil Trump Jr.]The playbook is old at this point. But for them to try to use a pandemic [coronavirus], and seemingly hope that it comes here and kills millions of people so that they can end Donald Trump's streak of winning, is a new level of sickness.[/quote]

How does one seemingly hope for millions to die, btw? I suppose that delusions may seem real. Maybe that’s what he means.
NOS4A2 March 01, 2020 at 05:13 #387417
Reply to praxis

You repeated the same lie. Perhaps a little skepticism moving forward?
Punshhh March 01, 2020 at 07:21 #387434
I'm surprised he hasn't said it yet, that coronavirus is a Chinese plot. If thousands of US citizens die, what will the spin become. Maybe, it's all for the fault of Congress, they tied my hands. Or thank the lord that I was able to reduce the deaths to only a few thousand.

And whatever the spin is his base will drink it up like the elixir of life. Drunk on the power without reason, or justification, just neat raw power.
praxis March 01, 2020 at 17:04 #387496
Quoting NOS4A2
You repeated the same lie. Perhaps a little skepticism moving forward?


Now you're suggesting that Trump did not claim that criticisms to his administration’s actions surrounding the coronavirus issue (cuts to CDC funding etc.) are a hoax? You previously indicated that he did make that claim when you wrote: "That's right."

Two Democrats lying about something doesn't constitute a plot by the Democrats to oust the sitting president. I think we can agree on that.
NOS4A2 March 03, 2020 at 06:09 #387926


Looks like we’re finally getting some action on the Biden front.

Senate Homeland Security Panel Chairman Wants to Issue Subpoena in Hunter Biden Probe

Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, wrote in a letter Sunday that he wants to subpoena Andrii Telizhenko, a former Ukranian diplomatic aide who worked for Blue Star Strategies, a Washington-based consulting firm. Mr. Johnson said he would schedule a committee meeting soon to vote on the subpoena.

Mr. Johnson’s committee is one of several in the Republican-led Senate that is investigating Hunter Biden’s service on the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas company, while his father was vice president and leading international anticorruption efforts in Ukraine.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-homeland-security-panel-chairman-says-he-will-issue-subpoena-in-hunter-biden-probe-11583183194

Also, some of the same action is occurring on the Ukraine side.

A court ruling in Ukraine has forced state investigators to open a probe into alleged pressure by then-vice president Joe Biden that led to the 2016 dismissal of Viktor Shokin as the country’s prosecutor general, officials said Thursday.


Ukraine court forces probe into Biden role in firing of prosecutor Viktor Shokin

It’s about to get exciting, what with an election right around the corner.
Michael March 03, 2020 at 08:02 #387936
Quoting NOS4A2
Senate Homeland Security Panel Chairman Wants to Issue Subpoena in Hunter Biden Probe


Hoax investigation, political theatre, etc. etc. All that stuff you were saying about the House investigation into Trump's impropriety, except this time it's true.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/c-span-video-joe-biden-ukraine/

In the excerpted portion of the clip, Biden was discussing his efforts on behalf of the Obama administration to pressure Ukraine into to prosecuting corruption and firing Viktor Shokin, an ineffective prosecutor. That effort by Biden has been used by Trump supporters to argue, inaccurately, that Biden single-handedly had Shokin fired because Shokin was investigating Burisma, a Ukrainian group of energy exploration and production companies of which Biden’s son Hunter was a board member.

However, Shokin was not fired for investigating Burisma, but for his failure to pursue corruption investigations — including investigations connected to Burisma. And Biden wasn’t alone in the effort to push Shokin out, but rather was spearheading the Obama administration’s policy, which represented a consensus among diplomats, officials from various European countries, and the International Monetary Fund that Shokin was an impediment to rooting out corruption in his country


https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/may/07/viral-image/fact-checking-joe-biden-hunter-biden-and-ukraine/

There’s a strong case that Hunter Biden’s position with the company had nothing to do with Biden’s position on Shokin’s ouster. That’s because Western leaders and institutions were largely united in seeking Shokin’s removal, arguing that he was not pursuing corruption cases aggressively.

For instance, in early 2016, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said that "it’s hard to see how the I.M.F.-supported program can continue" unless corruption prosecutions accelerate.

Steven Pifer is a career foreign service officer who was ambassador to Ukraine under President Bill Clinton and deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs under President George W. Bush. Pifer told PolitiFact that "virtually everyone" he knew in the U.S. government and virtually all non-governmental experts on Ukraine "felt that Shokin was not doing his job and should be fired. As far as I can recall, they all concurred with the vice president telling Poroshenko that the U.S. government would not extend the $1 billion loan guarantee to Ukraine until Shokin was removed from office."

Anders Åslund, a resident senior fellow at Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington, agreed that criticism of Shokin was widespread

Shokin "failed to prosecute anybody of significance, protecting both the Yanukovych circle and the Poroshenko group," Åslund said.

Daria Kaleniuk, the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a leading anti-corruption voice in Ukraine, tweeted earlier this month that Shokin’s firing was not about protecting the company Hunter Biden was working for. The firing "was obviously not because the prosecutor wanted to investigate Burisma & Zlochevsky," she wrote.

Meanwhile, accounts differ on whether Shokin was poised to prosecute Burisma at the time he was removed.

In an interview with the Ukrainian website Strana.ua this month, Shokin said the cases were indeed active.

However, Vitaliy Kasko, who had been Shokin’s deputy overseeing international cooperation before resigning in February 2016 citing corruption in the office, produced documents to Bloomberg that under Shokin, the investigation into Burisma had been dormant.

"There was no pressure from anyone from the U.S. to close cases against Zlochevsky," Kasko told Bloomberg. "It was shelved by Ukrainian prosecutors in 2014 and through 2015."
NOS4A2 March 03, 2020 at 15:58 #388015
Reply to Michael

I’m not sure running to conclusions before the investigation is a bright idea.

You supported the Russia hoax and the Ukraine hoax, but when a little investigation is thrown Biden’s way we get all touchy.
Michael March 03, 2020 at 16:24 #388020
Quoting NOS4A2
You supported the Russia hoax and the Ukraine hoax, but when a little investigation is thrown Biden’s way we get all touchy.


I supported the investigation into Russia's connections with the Trump campaign because the FBI believed there to be sufficient justification to open an investigation – a view supported by the Inspector General when he investigated the investigation – and I supported the investigation into Trump's withholding of aid to Ukraine because there was a formal whistleblower complaint on the matter that the Inspector General believed to be urgent and credible.

There's nothing like any of that for the Biden-Burisma hoax. Just Giuliani spouting rubbish and now Republican politicians latching onto it to help them in the next election.

You might want to read from the person who first reported on Biden's activity in Ukraine and Hunter's involvement with Burisma (in 2015):

I Wrote About the Bidens and Ukraine Years Ago. Then the Right-Wing Spin Machine Turned the Story Upside Down.

And of course the previous links to Snopes and PolitiFact.
NOS4A2 March 03, 2020 at 17:10 #388027
Reply to Michael

The problem is Giuliani has documents and testimony, which I doubt you’ve seen or heard or even bothered to look at. Instead all you can do is post articles and fact-checks wherein they simply assert the opposite, without documentation or investigation. Luckily these documents are now with the DOJ, so we’ll find out one way or the other whether you’ll go zero for 3.
NOS4A2 March 03, 2020 at 17:13 #388028
Interesting story here:

Trump’s election may have messed up the sex balance of babies

The ascendancy of the billionaire president may be linked to a decline in the number of boys born to liberal-leaning parents in Ontario, Canada.

According to a new study in the scientific journal BMJ Open, Trump’s election was associated with a temporary shift in the sex ratio of newborn babies. But this short-term decline in male babies was only apparent in politically liberal areas of the Canadian province and not in conservative parts.

A relationship between stressful events and the sex ratio of babies might seem implausible, but the pattern is actually well established. Terrorist incidents such as 9/11 and the 2005 London bombings saw a similar shift in the gender balance, which skewed towards girls over baby boys for a few months afterwards.


Good god.



Relativist March 03, 2020 at 17:59 #388035
Reply to NOS4A2The hypothesis needs further testing. I suggest you help elect Bernie Sanders to test whether the stress this induces in conservatives results in their bearing more females.

If true, it's ironic that Trump - the womanizer - is the cause of more women.
praxis March 03, 2020 at 18:22 #388039
That wouldn’t be a good test because everyone knows that socialists eat their children.
Michael March 03, 2020 at 18:29 #388041
Quoting NOS4A2
Luckily these documents are now with the DOJ, so we’ll find out one way or the other whether you’ll go zero for 3.


It won't be zero for three.

The GAO concluded that withholding aid was illegal and even Republicans like Romney and Rubio accepted that it was impeachable, with others like Alexander and Collins accepting that it was wrong. The fact that the Republicans (bar Romney) didn't vote to remove him from office just shows that they put party loyalty before their duty to conduct proper oversight of the executive, and doesn't affect the validity of my position. So I was right on that account.

The Inspector General concluded that the investigation into the Trump campaign was warranted, and Mueller laid out the many occasions that Trump obstructed justice as well as concluded that the Trump Tower meeting was a violation of campaign finance laws (although chose not to prosecute as apparently ignorance is an excuse). If you look back at some of my earlier comments in this discussion you'll see that I only ever said that the investigation was warranted, that Trump obstructed justice, and that the Trump Tower meeting was a violation of campaign finance laws. So I was right on that account.

So far I'm two for two, and I suspect that I'll be three for three once this investigation into Biden concludes.
Deleted User March 03, 2020 at 18:39 #388043
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NOS4A2 March 03, 2020 at 22:00 #388078
Reply to Michael

You're zero for two. The GAO is an investigative arm of Congress with no power. It offers an opinion, or for democrats and their parrots, a piece of paper they can wave in the air to justify an unjust impeachment. The administration has offered the opposite opinion, that everything is done legally. You've merely accepted the song and dance of congress. Also, no criminal penalties are associated with violating the impound control act. Every administration has done it. So you're wrong on that account.

The Attorney General disagreed with that finding of the Horowitz report, that "The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions". US Attorney John Durham, who is conducting a Justice Department criminal review of the investigation into Russia, said "Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened". So according to those now investigating the utter failure of Crossfire Hurricane and the Mueller investigation, you're wrong on that account.

Benkei March 04, 2020 at 08:53 #388196
Reply to NOS4A2 Nah. Michael's two for two. Barr's opinion counts for nothing as he's a Trump stooge.
Benkei March 04, 2020 at 08:54 #388197
Quoting NOS4A2
Every administration has done it.


Oh, so he did do it. Thanks for admitting to it finally.

Tu quoque isn't an argument but the way. Only kids think it is.
NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 15:19 #388262
Reply to Benkei

Oh, so he did do it. Thanks for admitting to it finally.

Tu quoque isn't an argument but the way. Only kids think it is.


And here you are cherry picking from the sidelines like a little cheerleader. U mad?

Benkei March 04, 2020 at 15:23 #388264
Reply to NOS4A2 Great argument. Oh wait, there's isn't one as usual. Carry on.
NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 15:26 #388265
Reply to Benkei

Here’s my argument.

You're zero for two. The GAO is an investigative arm of Congress with no power. It offers an opinion, or for democrats and their parrots, a piece of paper they can wave in the air to justify an unjust impeachment. The administration has offered the opposite opinion, that everything is done legally. You've merely accepted the song and dance of congress. Also, no criminal penalties are associated with violating the impound control act. Every administration has done it. So you're wrong on that account.

The Attorney General disagreed with that finding of the Horowitz report, that "The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions". US Attorney John Durham, who is conducting a Justice Department criminal review of the investigation into Russia, said "Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened". So according to those now investigating the utter failure of Crossfire Hurricane and the Mueller investigation, you're wrong on that account.



Here’s what you cherry picked:

Every administration has done it.


Great argument.
Benkei March 04, 2020 at 15:29 #388266
Reply to NOS4A2 Oh good. Now we also know that you don't know what an argument is and that you swallow propaganda like a prostitute.
NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 15:33 #388267
Reply to Benkei

Oh good. Now we also know that you don't know what an argument is and that you swallow propaganda like a prostitute.


You’re zero for two, Benkei. (Or is it three?) and this from someone who claims to exist outside of propaganda.
Benkei March 04, 2020 at 15:38 #388272
Reply to NOS4A2 So now you can't count either. Wonderful.
Michael March 04, 2020 at 18:39 #388318
Quoting NOS4A2
The tentative end of America’s longest war is on the horizon.

U.S.-Taliban sign landmark agreement in bid to end America's longest war

This is what happens when you give Trump the nuclear codes.


Unfortunately that didn't last long. I don't think there's anything that the Trump administration can say or do that other administrations haven't already tried. Short of finding a way to wipe out the Taliban entirely, I don't know what will get them to stop fighting.

Unless the U.S. just withdraws and leaves the Talban for the Afghanistan government to deal with. But then that's not really peace, just abandoning an ongoing war.
NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 18:47 #388322
Reply to Michael

Unfortunately that didn't last long. I don't think there's anything that Trump can say or do that other administrations haven't already tried. Short of finding a way to wipe out the Taliban entirely, I don't know what will get them to stop fighting.


He just needs to stick to his guns, especially when the Taliban aren't willing to do so. As Trump has always said on the matter, "We'll see what happens".
Deleted User March 04, 2020 at 20:26 #388365
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 20:29 #388372
Reply to tim wood

4x, no answer. I invite all who reply to nos4 to stick with this. He acknowledges that Trump and his are liars all. Or not, and he says so.


This is the 4th time you’ve asked your loaded question and expected an answer, even though I responded the first time you asked it.
Deleted User March 04, 2020 at 20:43 #388383
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NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 20:56 #388397
Reply to tim wood

It’s a question loaded with presumptions. Either way I answer would make me seem complicit. That’s the point: you don’t want a discussion, you want to malign your opponents, because I suspect that’s all you have left.

Deleted User March 04, 2020 at 21:03 #388402
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NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 21:07 #388403
Reply to tim wood

I’ve already responded to your loaded question while acknowledging how fallacious and bad faith it is. You can either accept that or follow your own double standards and stop responding.
Deleted User March 04, 2020 at 21:13 #388411
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Deleted User March 04, 2020 at 21:17 #388415
Quoting tim wood
why respond to nos4 at all,


There's absolutely no reason to respond to him except to point out a lie or mis- or dis-informative post.
Deleted User March 04, 2020 at 21:23 #388419
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 21:23 #388420
Reply to tim wood

Out of one side of the mouth:

Everyone: why respond to nos4 at all


Out of the other side of the mouth:

Now anyone can plainly see you're vicious and a liar yourself. You have not answered. And the question is substantive wrt the topic. My mistake, and possibly shared by others, is to suppose you to be other than a vicious liar. But 315 pages in and it's explicitly clear.

Let's go for 7x. See, even I don't give up hope for you..


praxis March 04, 2020 at 22:05 #388430
How about a practical test.

Many of the people in DACA, no longer very young, are far from ‘angels.’ Some are very tough, hardened criminals.


I was the person who saved Pre-Existing Conditions in your healthcare.


'Years of economic decay are over' because Trump 'reversed the failed economic policies of the previous administration.'


Some of the Democrats have been talking about ending (coverage for) pre-existing conditions.


In many places, like California, the same person votes many times. You probably heard about that. They always like to say 'oh that's a conspiracy theory.' Not a conspiracy theory, folks. Millions and millions of people.


Over the last two years, the number of murders in America and America’s major cities has dropped, unlike here (Chicago), by more than 10%.


Originally "almost all models predicted" Dorian would hit Alabama.


California "admitted" there were "a million" illegal votes in the 2016 presidential election.


There has never been, ever before, an administration that’s been so open and transparent.


"The noise (from windmills) causes cancer.


Democrats let him (cop killer Luis Bracamontes) into our country," and "Democrats let him stay."


Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad," including Somalia and Ukraine.


Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and the rest of the corrupt Democrats made a promise to their crazy left-wing base that they would impeach me even BEFORE I took office.


Today I opened a major Apple Manufacturing plant in Texas that will bring high paying jobs back to America.


Does this stuff ever get old, @NOS4A2?
NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 22:24 #388437
Reply to praxis

No, it doesn't.

I say this because everyone makes mistakes, exaggerates, misspeaks, forgets, and *gasp* lies. So I wager it gets tiring holding people to inhuman standards. Trump talks a lot, so any list of falsities is only a part of the story. What I'd love to see, for once, is a list of truths.
Monitor March 04, 2020 at 22:28 #388440
Quoting NOS4A2
What I'd love to see, for once, is a list of truths.


Start typing.
praxis March 04, 2020 at 22:41 #388444
Quoting NOS4A2
No, it doesn't.


There you have it, Tim.

Quoting NOS4A2
I wager it gets tiring holding people to [s]inhuman[/s] standards.


It's exhausting in Trump's case.

Just a little graphical comparison for you:

User image
Deleted User March 04, 2020 at 22:59 #388451
Quoting NOS4A2
I say this because everyone makes mistakes, exaggerates, misspeaks, forgets, and *gasp* lies. So I wager it gets tiring holding people to inhuman standards. Trump talks a lot, so any list of falsities is only a part of the story. What I'd love to see, for once, is a list of truths.


What a bootlicking thing to say.
NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 22:59 #388452
Reply to praxis

It’s a shame Obama was so effete and ineffective and boring. All that truth-telling got us nowhere.

NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 23:00 #388453
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

What a bootlicking thing to say.


If only your opinion mattered.
Deleted User March 04, 2020 at 23:02 #388454
Quoting NOS4A2
If only your opinion mattered.


That the above is a bootlicking thing to say is nearer to a fact than what we find in the bulk of your posts.
NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 23:06 #388457
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

That the above is a bootlicking thing to say is nearer to a fact than what we find in the bulk of your posts.


My eyes glaze over as soon as I see your reply. I’m surprised you didn’t go copy and paste some article to pad your lack of original thought.
Deleted User March 04, 2020 at 23:08 #388458
Quoting NOS4A2
and *gasp* lies


A histrionic cynicism in regard to thousands upon thousands of lies. A telling attitude toward the truth.
NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 23:10 #388461
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

I like to know what my president is thinking, whether he spits truth or not. You would prefer a gaggle of social media consultants, PR specialists and speech writers to tell you stories,
praxis March 04, 2020 at 23:13 #388463
Quoting NOS4A2
It’s a shame Obama was so effete and ineffective and boring. All that truth-telling got us nowhere.


Well, besides rescuing the economy from the great recession, passing health care reform where over 20 million Americans gained coverage, and so on. One notable achievement that's related to not being a childlike liar, Obama was the first president since Dwight Eisenhower to serve two terms with no serious personal or political scandal.
NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 23:21 #388467
Reply to praxis

Well, besides rescuing the economy from the great recession, passing health care reform where over 20 million Americans gained coverage, and so on. One notable achievement that's related to not being a childlike liar, Obama was the first president since Dwight Eisenhower to serve two terms with no serious personal or political scandal.


The The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 was under Bush. The website for Obamacare cost over a billion dollars. Then there is the IRS targeting scandal, Fast and Furious gun-running, Benghazi, Bowe Bergdahl, spying on a presidential campaign, on American citizens, on news agencies and reporters. Thanks Obama!

Deleted User March 04, 2020 at 23:30 #388472
Quoting NOS4A2
You would prefer a gaggle of social media consultants, PR specialists and speech writers to tell you stories,


Right. Trump doesn't have "a gaggle of social media consultants, PR specialists and speech writers to tell [the American people] stories."

Again: Trump is the king of PR and you are his dupe.
praxis March 04, 2020 at 23:42 #388475
Quoting NOS4A2
The The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 was under Bush.


And that alone resulted in the economy that Obama left office with. Is that what they teach you to say in troll school?

Quoting NOS4A2
The website for Obamacare cost over a billion dollars.


Trump will probably spend half that much just golfing.

NOS4A2 March 04, 2020 at 23:50 #388479
Reply to praxis

And that alone resulted in the economy that Obama left office with. Is that what they teach you to say in troll school?


Oh right, it was Obama who rescued the economy. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act had absolutely nothing to do with.

So we already have a number of mistruths in only a couple of your posts. That’s Trump numbers, pal. Better watch it.
praxis March 05, 2020 at 00:06 #388485
Quoting NOS4A2
... The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act had absolutely nothing to do with.

So we already have a number of mistruths in only a couple of your posts. That’s Trump numbers, pal. Better watch it.


You wrote that EESA had nothing to do with it so if there's a lie it's your lie.

What are the other lies? You appear to read about as well as Trump.
Deleted User March 05, 2020 at 02:20 #388525
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Deleted User March 05, 2020 at 03:52 #388552
Quoting NOS4A2
My eyes glaze over as soon as I see your reply.


I recommend the ignore option.
Deleted User March 05, 2020 at 05:10 #388567
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
NOS4A2 March 05, 2020 at 18:36 #388707
Legendary tweet from the president.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1235633381595066373?s=21[/tweet]
NOS4A2 March 05, 2020 at 18:46 #388710
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

I recommend the ignore option.


I would never censor you, friend.
Michael March 05, 2020 at 19:07 #388718
Reply to NOS4A2 More like cringe. From both of them.
NOS4A2 March 05, 2020 at 19:09 #388719
Reply to Michael

Lol. The phrase “OK Boomer” does apply here. These men are well into their 70’s.
Michael March 06, 2020 at 00:15 #388850
Judge Calls Barr’s Handling of Mueller Report ‘Distorted’ and ‘Misleading’

A federal judge on Thursday sharply criticized Attorney General William P. Barr’s handling of the report by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, saying that Mr. Barr put forward a “distorted” and “misleading” account of its findings and lacked credibility on the topic.

Judge Reggie B. Walton said Mr. Barr could not be trusted and cited “inconsistencies” between his statements about the report when it was secret and its actual contents that turned out to be more damaging to President Trump. Judge Walton said Mr. Barr’s “lack of candor” called “into question Attorney General Barr’s credibility and, in turn, the department’s” assurances to the court.

The judge ordered the Justice Department to privately show him the portions of the report that were censored in the public version so he could independently verify the justifications. The ruling came in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking a full-text version of the report.

“It would be disingenuous for the court to conclude that the redactions of the Mueller Report pursuant to the FOIA are not tainted by Attorney General Barr’s actions and representations,” wrote Judge Walton, a 2001 appointee of President George W. Bush.

...

Among the issues Judge Walton flagged: Mr. Barr initially declared that the special counsel had not found that the Trump campaign had conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

While Mr. Mueller did conclude that he found “insufficient evidence” to charge any Trump associates with conspiring with the Russians, Mr. Barr omitted that the special counsel had identified multiple contacts between Trump campaign officials and people with ties to the Russian government and that the campaign expected to benefit from Moscow’s interference.

Judge Walton wrote that the special counsel “only concluded” that the investigation did not establish that the contacts rose to “coordination” because that term “does not have a settled definition in federal criminal law.”
NOS4A2 March 06, 2020 at 00:35 #388859
For those interested, Trump is doing a townhall.

Benkei March 06, 2020 at 08:06 #388948
Reply to Michael Judge Reggie B. Walton is an Obama stooge... Oh wait, he isn't.
Benkei March 06, 2020 at 08:07 #388949
Clinton stooge! Wait... No...
Benkei March 06, 2020 at 08:09 #388951
Well, it's only one guy so we can discount his opinion.
Benkei March 06, 2020 at 08:09 #388952
Did I get the playbook right do you think?
Michael March 06, 2020 at 08:55 #388961
Reply to Benkei You forgot "Never Trumper" and "Deep State operative".
NOS4A2 March 06, 2020 at 08:56 #388962
Reply to Michael

Both would apply in this case. I guess we’ll see when it gets to the Supreme Court, yet again.
Benkei March 06, 2020 at 10:06 #388976
Reply to Michael Right you are. Well, it's all getting rather predictable isn't it?
Michael March 06, 2020 at 10:57 #388983
Quoting NOS4A2
Both would apply in this case.


How so? Do you just believe that anyone who says or does anything that goes against Trump's interests is doing so in bad faith? Are you incapable of accepting that Trump and the Trump administration are sometimes in the wrong?
Benkei March 06, 2020 at 11:10 #388984
Reply to Michael Uh, 316 pages in and that's still a question?
Benkei March 06, 2020 at 11:48 #388991
It's a bit coarse but still pretty funny. A bit of Dutch but mostly English.

Relativist March 06, 2020 at 15:34 #389050
:lol:
NOS4A2 March 06, 2020 at 17:10 #389077
Reply to Michael

I was joking. Nonetheless, he exhibits the same anti-Trumpism that has rendered relatively bright people into vectors of propaganda. He speculates, without evidence, that Barr made calculated efforts to “obfuscate” Mueller’s findings.
Benkei March 06, 2020 at 17:21 #389081
Reply to Michael Notice the dodge?
Michael March 06, 2020 at 17:32 #389084
Quoting NOS4A2
He speculates, without evidence, that Barr made calculated efforts to “obfuscate” Mueller’s findings.


He read Barr’s summary and read the redacted report and ”concurred with Special Counsel Mueller’s assessment that Attorney General Barr distorted the findings in the Mueller Report.”[sup]1[/sup] Given the known distortions it’s reasonable to infer unjustified redactions. He didn’t make his judgement apropos of nothing.

[sup]1[/sup]https://lawandcrime.com/awkward/george-w-bush-appointed-judge-isnt-taking-barrs-word-for-it-will-review-mueller-report-redactions-himself/
NOS4A2 March 06, 2020 at 17:40 #389087
Reply to Michael

What exactly did he distort?

The Mueller report was released to the public.
Michael March 06, 2020 at 17:48 #389090
Quoting NOS4A2
What exactly did he distort?


You’ll have to ask the judge.

Quoting NOS4A2
The Mueller report was released to the public.


Yes, and apparently Barr’s summary before its release was misleading.
Michael March 06, 2020 at 17:51 #389092
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barr_letter

After the release of the redacted report, Barr's letter was criticized as a deliberate mischaracterization of the Mueller Report and its conclusions, and as an attempt at spinning the media narrative to undermine Mueller's investigation.[20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Numerous legal analysts concluded that Barr's letter did not accurately portray some of the findings of the investigation, casting Trump in a better light than was intended in the report. The New York Times reported instances in which the Barr letter omitted information and quoted sentence fragments out of context in ways that significantly altered the findings in the report, including:[20]

Omission of language that indicated Trump could be subject to indictment after leaving office, inaccurately suggesting that Trump was "totally exonerated".[27][28][29]
A sentence fragment described only one possible motive for Trump to obstruct justice, while the Mueller Report listed multiple possible motives.
Omission of words and a full sentence that twice suggested there was knowing and complicit behavior between the Trump campaign and Russians that stopped short of direct coordination, which may constitute conspiracy.
CNN wrote that while Barr in his letter took it upon himself to deliver a ruling on whether Trump had committed obstruction, the redacted report indicates that Mueller intended that decision to be made by Congress, not Barr.[30][clarification needed]

Numerous other political and legal analysts, including Bob Woodward[31] and Brian Williams,[32] observed significant differences in what Barr said about Mueller's findings in his letter, and in his April 18 press conference, compared to what the Mueller Report actually found. This commentary included a comparison of Barr to Baghdad Bob, calling him "Baghdad Bill".[32][33][34][35]

Barr wrote that his letter provided "the principal conclusions" of the Mueller Report. Ryan Goodman, a professor at the New York University School of Law and co-editor of Just Security, observed that in 1989, Barr also wrote a letter which he stated contained "the principal conclusions" of a controversial legal opinion[which?] he worked on as head of the OLC. Barr declined to provide the full opinion to Congress, but it was later subpoenaed and released to the public, showing that the 1989 letter did not fully disclose the principal conclusions.
frank March 06, 2020 at 18:13 #389098
Reply to Benkei It's nice to see you Dutch people trying to develop a sense of humor. This is old, but it's the kind of thing you could be shooting for:

NOS4A2 March 06, 2020 at 19:47 #389111
Reply to Michael

Here’s the judge’s “concerns”.

Specifically, Attorney General Barr’s summary failed to indicate that Special Counsel Mueller “identified multiple contacts—‘links,’ in the words of the Appointment Order—between Trump [c]ampaign officials and individuals with ties to the Russian government,” Def.’s Mot., Ex. D (Mueller Report – Volume I) at 66, and that Special Counsel Mueller only concluded that the investigation did not establish that “these contacts involved or resulted in coordination or a conspiracy with the Trump [c]ampaign and Russia, including with respect to Russia providing assistance to the [Trump] [c]ampaign in exchange for any sort of favorable treatment in the future,” because coordination—the term that appears in the Appointment Order—“does not have a settled definition in federal criminal law,” id., Ex. D (Mueller Report – Volume I) at 2, 66.


Attorney General Barr also failed to disclose to the American public that, with respect to Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation into whether President Trump obstructed justice, Special Counsel Mueller “determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment[,] . . . recogniz[ing] that a federal criminal accusation against a sitting [p]resident would place burdens on the [p]resident’s capacity to govern and potentially preempt constitutional processes for addressing presidential misconduct,” but nevertheless declared that:

“if [he] had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that [ ] President [Trump] clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, [he] would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, [he] [is] unable to reach that judgment. The evidence [he] obtained about [ ] President[] [Trump’s] actions and intent presents difficult issues that prevent [him] from conclusively determining that no criminal conduct occurred. Accordingly, while th[e] [Mueller] [R]eport does not conclude that [ ] President [Trump] committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

Id., Ex. D (Mueller Report – Volume II) at 1–2.


He Says that he agrees with Mueller’s letter:

Special Counsel Mueller himself took exception to Attorney General Barr’s March 24, 2019 letter, stating that Attorney General Barr “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of th[e] [Special Counsel’s] Office’s work and conclusions,” EPIC’s Mot., Ex. 4 (March 27, 2019 Letter) at 1, and a review of the redacted version of the Mueller Report by the Court results in the Court’s concurrence with Special Counsel Mueller’s assessment that Attorney General Barr distorted the findings in the Mueller Report.


http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2020/images/03/05/uenrosj.pdf

According to Barr’s testimony, however, Barr stated that Mueller and him talked by phone, and Mueller “was very clear with me that he was not suggesting that we had misrepresented his report”, which Mueller never disputed and which the judge fails to cite.



Baden March 07, 2020 at 00:12 #389171
Barr is such a slimey corrupt little fuck. Him, Pompeo, and Pence. Pure mercenary sycophants. :vomit:
Maw March 07, 2020 at 00:18 #389172
Reply to Michael Trump's Spaceball tweet was actually hilarious and shows how he would have stomped Bloomberg in a 1:1 debate.
Maw March 07, 2020 at 00:19 #389173
I mean he obviously didn't write the tweet or anything but still
Baden March 07, 2020 at 00:28 #389175
Reply to Maw

Rumor has it Boomberg is investing the rest of his billions into developing a microscope sufficiently powerful to detect one molecule of charisma in his body. Scientists are sceptical...
Maw March 07, 2020 at 00:30 #389176
Reply to Baden Less charismatic than a wet sponge
Benkei March 09, 2020 at 12:48 #390033
Reply to frank Well, we also had this one; after which the rest of the world followed:

frank March 09, 2020 at 14:08 #390048
Reply to Benkei That video caused me to be fond of the Netherlands. Strange.
Benkei March 09, 2020 at 14:09 #390049
Reply to frank Let me help you hate it again. Can't have this country overrun with Americans or we have to build another ocean and have the USA pay for it.
frank March 09, 2020 at 14:28 #390058
Reply to Benkei Every American has to make a pilgrimage to Amsterdam at least once. It's a religious thing.
Michael March 10, 2020 at 14:43 #390432
Relativist March 10, 2020 at 15:13 #390438
Reply to Michael
Have you seen this?
Nobeernolife March 10, 2020 at 15:29 #390441
Quoting Michael
Trump and GOP mount coordinated campaign to paint Biden as senile


Do you have to mount a coordinated campaign to do that?`Isn´t it enough to watch some Biden clips?
Deleted User March 10, 2020 at 18:43 #390492
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
xyzmix March 10, 2020 at 18:45 #390494
Reply to tim wood he's pushing the right agendas.

These others will be corrupt. They're young minded still. I am not curropt, I am a man who senses other non corrupt politicians. As a business man Trump is perfect right now, little corruption.
Deleted User March 11, 2020 at 01:26 #390614
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Metaphysician Undercover March 11, 2020 at 01:28 #390615
This thread's dead. Where's NOS4A2 to grease the wheels?
Streetlight March 11, 2020 at 01:47 #390620
Quoting Michael
Trump and GOP mount coordinated campaign to paint Biden as senile


Not much painting necessary tbh, the dude's mental decline is there for all to see.

Anyway, here's to another 4 years of Trump. Fuck Americans.
Benkei March 11, 2020 at 06:02 #390686
Reply to StreetlightX Come home, come to the Netherlands.
Streetlight March 11, 2020 at 06:06 #390687
Reply to Benkei I don't live in the States, luckily! Although my own backyard is getting worse and worse by the day, influenced heavily by US policy.
Michael March 11, 2020 at 09:15 #390725
Quoting StreetlightX
Anyway, here's to another 4 years of Trump. Fuck Americans.


Probably, but if Biden is winning in the primaries then I guess he has a better chance to beat Trump than any other candidate?
Streetlight March 11, 2020 at 09:58 #390733
Reply to Michael All the more an indictment on the US.
Michael March 11, 2020 at 10:22 #390739
NOS4A2 March 15, 2020 at 04:50 #392047
I know some hopes are dashed, but Trump tested negative for coronavirus.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/14/politics/trump-press-conference-coronavirus/index.html

User image

Monitor March 15, 2020 at 04:55 #392048
Quoting NOS4A2
I know some hopes are dashed, but Trump tested negative for coronavirus.


Maybe it's fake news.
Relativist March 16, 2020 at 16:21 #392655
How does everyone feel about Trump's handling of the pandemic? Is he rising to the occasion? This article was published 2 weeks ago:

[Url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/trump-playbook-coronavirus/607342/]
Trump’s Playbook Is Terribly Ill-Suited to a Pandemic[/url]

[I]"Americans should all hope [Trump] succeeds in mitigating the danger posed by the virus, though there are reasons to fear he is not up to the task. The new pandemic is a challenge for which his playbook seems uniquely unsuited.

"The Trump crisis playbook to date has involved bullying both political allies, to keep them in line, and potential opponents, to prevent them from talking. It has involved lying. It has involved the deflection of attention onto other matters. It has involved attacking the attackers, spinning conspiracy theories about and spawning investigations of the investigators. It has involved bombastic dismissals of serious issues as the latest “hoax” or “witch hunt” or instance of “presidential harassment.” And it has involved endlessly reminding people that the economy is humming along and their 401(k) plans are doing well.

"But a virus, unlike a Republican member of Congress, cannot be bullied. It doesn’t care about the president’s poll numbers. Nor does it pay any mind to whether the president describes his own handling of its presence as perfect."[/i]



NOS4A2 March 17, 2020 at 01:14 #392752
DOJ moves to drop charges against Russians accused of funding troll farm

https://www.axios.com/justice-department-russian-trolls-internet-research-agency-9bf95c0d-2f6a-4377-84a5-c5f3eb8c4abb.html

The government drops the charges against the only Russians to show up for trial.
Michael March 17, 2020 at 01:36 #392755
Reply to NOS4A2

Prosecutors claim that the Russians were essentially able to evade accountability and punishment while taking advantage of the discovery process to potentially harm U.S. national security.

...

The Concord companies sought to fight the indictment in court, unlike the other Russians charged by Mueller. In doing so, prosecutors say they were able to "obtain discovery" from the U.S. government regarding its efforts to "detect and deter foreign election interference" — while also ignoring court-issued subpoenas.


So the secret is to break the law in such a way that the government can't prosecute you without hurting itself. Good to know.
praxis March 17, 2020 at 01:54 #392759
Quoting NOS4A2
DOJ moves to drop charges against Russians accused of funding troll farm


Congrats to you benefactors. :party:
frank March 17, 2020 at 01:54 #392760
Reply to NOS4A2 They had no effect, so there's no reason to punish anyone.
creativesoul March 17, 2020 at 02:05 #392762
Quoting Michael
Prosecutors claim that the Russians were essentially able to evade accountability and punishment while taking advantage of the discovery process to potentially harm U.S. national security.

...

The Concord companies sought to fight the indictment in court, unlike the other Russians charged by Mueller. In doing so, prosecutors say they were able to "obtain discovery" from the U.S. government regarding its efforts to "detect and deter foreign election interference" — while also ignoring court-issued subpoenas.

So the secret is to break the law in such a way that the government can't prosecute you without hurting itself. Good to know.


Same playbook Trump has been using... to expose him will expose so many others throughout history who've basically done the same things...

I explicated upon this... pages and pages back... maybe a year ago... it's the only explanation for why they haven't done anything despite clearly illegal behaviour, mainly regarding the emoluments clause.

Corruption is rampant.
NOS4A2 March 17, 2020 at 02:22 #392767
Reply to Michael

So the secret is to break the law in such a way that the government can't prosecute you without hurting itself. Good to know.


Yeah, it’s brilliant. Show up and they drop the charges. Another failure for Mueller and the DOJ.
Metaphysician Undercover March 17, 2020 at 12:45 #392918
Quoting NOS4A2
The government drops the charges against the only Russians to show up for trial.


Did you read the article you referred? They dropped the charges against the company, or group of companies, "Concord", for various reasons, mostly due to the fact that the company had the capacity to, and practised non-compliance, and it would be capable of taking advantage of the court case through access to information. Pursuing the case was clearly detrimental to the interests of the United States. However, charges against the 13 individuals have not been dropped.

"The United States will continue its efforts to apprehend the individual defendants and bring them before this Court to face the pending charges..."
NOS4A2 March 17, 2020 at 12:57 #392921
Reply to Metaphysician Undercover

I did read the article. The government dropped the charges against the only Russians to show up for trial. It’s a deep failure.
Metaphysician Undercover March 17, 2020 at 13:31 #392939
Reply to NOS4A2
Yes, not be able to bring the responsible individuals into court to face trial, and having only representatives from a company who have the sole intention of abusing the judicial process show up, is a failure.
NOS4A2 March 17, 2020 at 13:36 #392943
Reply to Metaphysician Undercover

You really believe that, don’t you? The US government cannot charge Russians for national security reasons?
Michael March 17, 2020 at 13:48 #392951
Quoting NOS4A2
You really believe that, don’t you? The US government cannot charge Russians for national security reasons?


That's what the court papers say. Do you have an alternative explanation?

There is a substantial federal interest in defending American democratic institutions,
exposing those who endeavor to criminally interfere with them, and holding them accountable, which is why this prosecution was properly commenced in the first place. In light of the defendant’s conduct, however, its ephemeral presence and immunity to just punishment, the risk of exposure of law enforcement’s tools and techniques, and the post-indictment change in the proof available at trial[sup]1[/sup], the balance of equities has shifted. It is no longer in the best interests of justice or the country’s national security to continue this prosecution.

...

[sup]1[/sup] Moreover, as described in greater detail in the classified addendum to this motion, a classification determination bearing on the evidence the government properly gathered during the investigation, limits the unclassified proof now available to the government at trial. That forces the prosecutors to choose between a materially weaker case and the compromise of classified material.

NOS4A2 March 17, 2020 at 13:53 #392954
Reply to Michael

That's what the court papers say. Do you have an alternative explanation?


Do you believe the defence has a right to see the evidence of what they are charged with?
Michael March 17, 2020 at 13:57 #392955
Quoting NOS4A2
Do you believe the defence has a right to see the evidence of what they are charged with?


Yes, which is why the prosecution chose to drop charges. They would have to hand over classified evidence, and as the court papers say, the defendants have already misused evidence that was given to them and so cannot be trusted to not do so again. So for matters of national security it is safer for the U.S. government to not continue with prosecution.
NOS4A2 March 17, 2020 at 14:01 #392956
Reply to Michael

Then why charge someone you could never take to trial, and for an arguably fake crime? The Mueller team fucked up, big league.
Michael March 17, 2020 at 14:02 #392958
Quoting NOS4A2
Then why charge someone you could never take to trial, and for an arguably fake crime?


It wasn't a fake crime. And as the quote above says, the classification change happened post-indictment.
Michael March 17, 2020 at 14:07 #392959
Quoting Michael
It wasn't a fake crime.


It was this very real crime I believe:

18 U.S. Code §?371.Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States
NOS4A2 March 17, 2020 at 14:08 #392960
Reply to Michael

It wasn't a fake crime. And as the quote above says, the classification change happened post-indictment.


Isn’t that convenient?
Michael March 17, 2020 at 14:09 #392961
Quoting NOS4A2
Isn’t that convenient?


For the defence, yes.

What exactly are you alleging? Perhaps that they don't have any evidence and are trying to hide that fact? If that is what you're alleging, where's your evidence?
NOS4A2 March 17, 2020 at 14:09 #392962
Reply to Michael

It was this very real crime I believe:


It’s not illegal to create fake social media accounts.
Metaphysician Undercover March 17, 2020 at 14:09 #392963
Quoting NOS4A2
DOJ moves to drop charges against Russians accused of funding troll farm


This statement, as well as the headline of your referred article, is false and deceptive.

No charges against Russians have been dropped. Charges against Russian companies have been dropped.

The reasons given for dropping charges against the companies, was that the companies display no inclination to comply with rulings of the court, the court has no jurisdiction to enforce compliance, and the companies have the capacity to abuse information given as disclosures of evidence.

Quoting NOS4A2
The US government cannot charge Russians for national security reasons?


Get with it Nos4A2! It's not "Russians" who are the defendants here, it's Russian companies.



Michael March 17, 2020 at 14:10 #392964
Quoting NOS4A2
It’s not illegal to create fake social media accounts.


Then you should be arguing that they are innocent of committing the alleged crime. Because it's false to say that they were charged with a fake crime. They were charged with a real crime. Whether or not they're guilty hasn't been determined (and now won't be).
Metaphysician Undercover March 17, 2020 at 14:12 #392966
Charges against the individual Russians are maintained!
NOS4A2 March 17, 2020 at 14:15 #392967
Reply to Metaphysician Undercover

Get with it Nos4A2! It's not "Russians" who are the defendants here, it's Russian companies.


Why are they Russian? Because Russians own them and run them.
NOS4A2 March 17, 2020 at 17:01 #393031
Reply to Relativist

I’m hot and cold on the response. I think he’s been quick to respond, but I also think he’s taking it too serious. Now he’s talking about sending cash to working American’s, and bailing out entire industries. These measures make me cringe each time I hear them.
Relativist March 17, 2020 at 17:20 #393037
Reply to NOS4A2 I hope you realize Trump is a populist, not a libertarian.

So you think he's taking it too seriously. Does that mean you'd prefer to let nature take its course? I guess that would reduce social security outlays.
NOS4A2 March 17, 2020 at 17:27 #393040
Reply to Relativist

I’m well aware of that. On the other hand he is leaving much of the response to the states, which suits me just fine. I think that’s the best way to go about tackling the issue. But I fear his opponents and the press are trying to goad him into taking some drastic measures.
praxis March 18, 2020 at 17:23 #393460
Quoting NOS4A2
Now he’s talking about sending cash to working American’s, and bailing out entire industries.


He’s a god damn socialist. :razz:
Baden March 18, 2020 at 20:06 #393511
Reply to praxis

An authoritarian socialist: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/watch-live-trump-invokes-defense-production-act-to-increase-masks-supplies-to-fight-coronavirus

About time he crossed over and gave "liberty" and the free market the finger.

NOS4A2 March 20, 2020 at 15:15 #394033
Anti-Trump Fake News during a Pandemic

The Fake news has been working overtime to malign the administration’s efforts during the pandemic. Trump took decisive coronavirus-related actions back when impeachment was all the rage, saving countless lives while the media was garnering countless clicks, but none of that will stop the usual suspects from dancing on the graves of Americans to further their political futures. Their ghoulish efforts during this pandemic has only increased confusion, anger and division in a time when we need to pull together.

1. Google Website

This article by CNN once painted a much different picture: Google will partner with US government to develop a nationwide coronavirus website, company says. It once read: Google says it's not publishing a national-scale coronavirus site anytime soon after Trump announcement.

CNN and others ran with this “gotcha” until Google later confirmed that they were wrong.

2. The president is putting his own political interests over the well-being of the American people, according to Vanity Fair.

A Vanity Fair author said that “Trump Reportedly Afraid Coronavirus Testing Could Hurt Reelection Chances”. This dangerous accusation, sowing discord and division in a time of crisis, was extrapolated not from any evidence or statement of Trump’s, but from a politico reporter’s “understanding”.

My understanding is he did not push to do aggressive additional testing in recent weeks, and that's partly because more testing might have led to more cases being discovered of coronavirus outbreak, and the president had made clear - the lower the numbers on coronavirus, the better for the president, the better for his potential reelection this fall.


https://www.npr.org/2020/03/12/814881355/white-house-knew-coronavirus-would-be-a-major-threat-but-response-fell-short

3. Trump dissolved the pandemic response team, cut funding for the CDC, and reduced the CDC presence around the globe.

In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10. Meanwhile, throughout 2018, the U.S. Agency for International Development and its director, Mark Green, came repeatedly under fire from both the White House and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And though Congress has so far managed to block Trump administration plans to cut the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps by 40 percent, the disease-fighting cadres have steadily eroded as retiring officers go unreplaced.


https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/

Much of these falsities are woven with little bits of truth, but is ultimately misleading,according to factcheck.org. As usual the nonsense is already widely spread among media parrots.

4. Trump called the Coronavirus a hoax.

CNN continues to push this lie to their servile followers.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AnaCabrera/status/1239305489655218177?s=20[/tweet]

But Trump never called the coronavirus a hoax. He was clearly speaking about the Democrat’s politicization of the pandemic, and only through deceptive editing of video could this lie possibly work.

5. Trump Declined WHO Coronavirus Test Kits

The trump-bashing reached new heights when politico claimed the administration declined WHO test kits.

Why the United States declined to use the WHO test, even temporarily as a bridge until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could produce its own test, remains a perplexing question and the key to the Trump administration’s failure to provide enough tests to identify the coronavirus infections before they could be passed on, according to POLITICO interviews with dozens of viral-disease experts, former officials and some officials within the administration’s health agencies.


This was parroted by the Biden campaign during the debates and found a comfortable home in the minds of millions. Of course, it was false. No testing kits were offered. No testing kits were declined. And there was no deviation from standard protocols.

6. Trump offered large sums of cash for exclusive rights to vaccine from Germany

This unsubstantiated misinformation made Germans angry in a time of pandemic, and offered soothing balm to any Trump-hater’s cognitive dissonance. Citing some German newspaper, the claim made its way through the Twitterati and their obsequious followers, who readily believe anything that makes Trump look bad. But those actually involved in the discussions—on both sides—disputed the claims entirely, not that they made any sense to begin with.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/03/17/trump-poach-coronavirus-vaccine/



Baden March 20, 2020 at 15:19 #394037
Reply to NOS4A2

Thanks for the propaganda update, KellyAnne, :yawn:
Baden March 20, 2020 at 15:22 #394039


He lied and:

Quoting NOS4A2
People are dying because of this.
NOS4A2 March 20, 2020 at 15:29 #394042
Reply to Baden

“No I don’t take responsibility at all” is another good one. He was speaking in regards to the lag in testing, which Fauci himself said was a “technical glitch”, and which others testified was because of previous regulations. And here it is used as fake news. Thanks for sharing.

Deleted User March 20, 2020 at 16:52 #394070
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
NOS4A2 March 20, 2020 at 17:18 #394074
Reply to tim wood

That you readily gobble misinformation so long as it serves your bias concerns me very little. Even now, after showing that the “I am not responsible” epitaph on Trump’s efforts is fake, you hold it up as a shield against your nascent dissonance.

That is where the poison lies: in your fantasies, in your world view, in the undying hope that you are on the right side of history and that your efforts weren’t simply that of a useful idiot. But the dustbin of history awaits your arrival.
Deleted User March 20, 2020 at 17:23 #394075
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Baden March 20, 2020 at 18:35 #394111
Biggest lies bolded:

1) January 22nd: Trump is asked about the coronavirus at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Days earlier the first case of the coronavirus was detected in the U.S., in a man who had returned to Seattle from a trip to China earlier in January.

“No, not at all. We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control,” Trump told CNBC. “It’s going to be just fine.”

3)
January 30th: Trump addresses the coronavirus during a speech on trade in Michigan. The same day, the World Health Organization classified COVID-19 as an international health emergency.

“We think we have it very well under control,” Trump said. “We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five — and those people are all recuperating successfully. But we’re working very closely with China and other countries, and we think it’s going to have a very good ending for us.”

4)
February 10th: Trump says the coronavirus will be gone by the end of the spring while speaking with reporters in the White House.

“Now, the virus that we’re talking about having to do — you know, a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat, as the heat comes in. Typically, that will go away in April. We’re in great shape, though. We have 12 cases, 11 cases, and many of them are in good shape now.”

Days later, Centers for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield estimates the “virus is probably with us beyond this season and beyond this year.”

5)
February 14th: Despite Redfield saying the coronavirus will be in the U.S. beyond 2020, Trump continues to push the idea that it will be gone in a matter of weeks.

“There’s a theory that, in April, when it gets warm, historically, that has been able to kill the virus,”[/b] he said while speaking to the National Border Patrol Council.

6)
February 23rd: Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn: “We have it very much under control in this country.”

7)
February 24th:

"The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!"

8)
February 26th: During a press briefing at the White House, Trump claims that positive cases will soon begin to decrease.

“We’re going to be pretty soon at only five people,” he said. “And we could be at just one or two people over the next short period of time. So we’ve had very good luck.”


9)
February 27th: “It’s going to disappear,” Trump said at the White House. “One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.”

11)
February 28th: During a rally in South Carolina, Trump alleges Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus, calling it “their new hoax.”

12)
February 29th: While speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump again claims his administration has the coronavirus under control.

“I’ve gotten to know these professionals. They’re incredible,” Trump said. “And everything is under control. I mean, they’re very, very cool. They’ve done it, and they’ve done it well. Everything is really under control.”

It would be revealed later that a CPAC attendee tested positive for COVID-19, leading multiple Republican lawmakers who came into contact with him to self-quarantine.

13)
March 4th: [b]In an interview with Sean Hannity, Trump calls the WHO’s estimate of the global death rate “false,” describes the coronavirus as “very mild,” and suggests that those infected can get better by “sitting around” and “going to work.”

Trump to Hannity on WHO saying coronavirus death rate is 3.4%: "I think the 3.4% number is really a false number ... personally, I'd say the number is way under 1%."[/b]

14)
March 7th: “No, I’m not concerned at all,” Trump said from Mar-a-Lago. “No, I’m not. No, we’ve done a great job.”

15)

March 9th: Trump bashes Democrats for sounding the alarm “far beyond what the facts would warrant” before implying that the common flu is far worse, an argument he’s made on several occasions and which has been parroted by Fox News.

Trump: "The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant."



https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/opinion/trump-coronavirus.html
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-coronavirus-timeline-dismissed-969381/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/12/trump-coronavirus-timeline/
https://www.npr.org/2020/03/09/813763871/president-trump-has-consistently-downplayed-threat-of-coronavirus
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/trump-truth-and-the-mishandling-of-the-coronavirus-crisis

Quoting NOS4A2
People are dying because of this.


Correct.
ssu March 20, 2020 at 18:43 #394115
Fake fake news from NOS4A2!

Quoting NOS4A2
Trump dissolved the pandemic response team, cut funding for the CDC, and reduced the CDC presence around the globe.

You're wrong, actually. The utter inability of Trump to get anything done is the reason why, thanks to the Congress, the budget wasn't slashed as dramatically as Trump wanted. Yet fighting possible pandemics was slashed: The global presence was indeed reduced because of cuts.

And Trump did really want cut the CDC budget. I remember that years ago. It was one of those irresponsible bullshit moves that Trump was doing that I remember well. Luckily for us, he FAILED just like he usually does in his policy decisions. Just as he does in many things starting from the Mexican paid wall and the deal with North Korea.

The budget, which was released Tuesday, takes drastic spending cuts to agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services. Almost immediately, the proposed budget drew criticism, including from former heads of those agencies.

Here are some of the biggest cuts the agencies within the HHS are facing:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - 17%

The CDC, which is in charge of public health and disease prevention, would see its budget cut by $1.2 billion. Dr. Tom Frieden, who was director of the agency until 2017, went off on the proposed cuts on Twitter on Monday, saying Americans would be "less safe," and that the cuts "would increase illness, death, risks to Americans, and health care costs."
See Former Obama administration officials blast Trump's proposed health budget cuts from May 23rd 2017

. If CDC had to absorb the kinds of combined cuts supported by the White House as of late March — a total cut of nearly one-third — Holubowich said it could “completely erode the safety net system — you’re looking at a tidal wave of need that would completely subsume the system.” On the proposal to block grant CDC’s budget, she predicted the funds would come from reallocating existing resources.

John Auerbach, MBA, president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health, said if CDC actually experienced the combined cuts it faced as of March, it would impact virtually all areas of public health, from responding to emerging disease outbreaks to partnering with hospitals to reduce health care-associated infections. He said turning CDC’s budget into a block grant would likely result in much less funding support for state and local public health. On the proposal for a new emergency response fund for outbreak response, Auerbach said it would certainly be “advantageous” to have a pot of money for crises like Zika and Ebola. However, he is concerned that money for the fund would be pulled from other public health programs.
See President’s 2018 budget devastating to public health: Cuts to prevention, research, programs from May 2017

Yet let's look what happened:

However, while Trump has attempted to cut funding to the CDC, overall funding to the agency has increased under the Trump administration.

Since assuming office in 2017, Trump has sent four budget proposals to Congress. Each one requested a decrease in funding for the CDC—you can view the budget numbers here: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021. Congress has not yet passed a budget for this year, but Trump has signed a budget that increased funding for the CDC every year he’s been in office.


And what is true is this:

the CDC “cut back on this program of overseas vigilance.” The CDC decided to end epidemic prevention activities in 39 out of the 49 foreign countries it was active in due to a predicted absence of funding for the programs, even as funding for other CDC activities increased.
See https://factcheck.thedispatch.com/p/did-donald-trump-cut-the-cdc-budget

And more clearly from 2018:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is cutting back its epidemic prevention programs in 39 of the 49 countries it serves due to a funding shortfall, reported The Washington Post on Friday.The CDC programs are largely responsible for strengthening outbreak emergency response systems and training front-line workers to detect outbreaks before they occur. - The rollback in prevention programs is primarily in response to the dwindling funds provided by an emergency five-year aid package approved by Congress in 2014. The package included $600 million to help countries prevent infectious disease epidemics such as the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Only $150 million is left and is set to run out by September of next year, a senior government official told The Washington Post.
CDC Rolls Back Disease Prevention Programs Due to Budget Shortage

Republican Presidents have this obsession not to be prepared for the next crisis. I remember Bush at first didn't care a shit about terrorism or the prevention of terrorism. For Trump it was preparations for countering pandemics.
Relativist March 20, 2020 at 19:35 #394134
Reply to BadenReply to Baden I've always been of the opinion that a large percent of the untruths uttered by Trump are the product of stupidity, rather than intentional deceit. He really didn't believe we'd have a problem with the coronavirus.
Baden March 20, 2020 at 20:31 #394144
What it's like for the intelligence community to brief a moron President:



Summary: He's an illiterate fool who knows nothing about anything and asks stupid questions... But it was fun.

Michael March 20, 2020 at 20:32 #394145
Reply to Baden He would say that. Look at his hair. Clearly a liberal hippy with an agenda.
Baden March 20, 2020 at 20:33 #394146
Reply to Michael

Please don't insult my Dad.
Michael March 20, 2020 at 20:37 #394148
Reply to Baden Speaking of the Irish:

March 15: Coronavirus: Pubs asked to close by Irish government

March 16: Irish-developed kit confirms infection in 15 minutes

You lot are really keen to get back on the Guinness.
Baden March 20, 2020 at 20:38 #394149
Benkei March 20, 2020 at 21:26 #394170
Deleted User March 21, 2020 at 00:21 #394243
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
NOS4A2 March 21, 2020 at 05:54 #394315
Reply to Baden

If Trump’s optimism is all you need to blame Trump for the death of Americans, then I’m afraid I cannot do much to convince you otherwise. But I can do my best for the sake of others.

Trump’s right, he has done a great job, and recent approval ratings reflect this. And this isn’t some rinky-dink country of a few million. It’s a massive country with a massive population spanning a massive geographic area.

But it doesn’t take too much effort to remember that while Trump was taking decisive measures to meet coronavirus head on, the press and Democrats we’re trying to impeach him, and spectacularly failing in the process.

So while one can string together disparate, out of context quotes to make a case against Trump’s efforts, all I need to do is look at what one suspiciously left out to make a case for the opposite.

Jan. 14th

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1217043229427761152?s=20[/tweet]

*crickets*

But, as we’ve come to learn, we now know that they they were warned in December by Taiwanese health officials.

Taiwan has accused the World Health Organization of failing to communicate an early warning about transmission of the coronavirus between humans, slowing the global response to the pandemic.

Health officials in Taipei said they alerted the WHO at the end of December about the risk of human-to-human transmission of the new virus but said its concerns were not passed on to other countries.


https://www.ft.com/content/2a70a02a-644a-11ea-a6cd-df28cc3c6a68

The WHO also advises against travel restrictions, contradicting most governments. An Italian virologist says the Italian government took the same approach, but that they would rather lay the lives of its citizens at the alter of political correctness.

"There was a proposal to isolate people coming from the epicenter, coming from China," he said. "Then it became seen as racist, but they were people coming from the outbreak." That, he said, led to the current devastating situation.


https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/18/europe/italy-coronavirus-lockdown-intl/

Trump, on the other hand, took decisive action almost immediately.

Jan. 25th

U.S. Working to Evacuate American Citizens From Epidemic-Stricken Chinese City

Jan, 29th

Trump Forms Coronavirus Task Force

Jan. 31st

Trump administration declares coronavirus emergency, orders first quarantine in 50 years

Feb. 3rd.

Since we’re using one’s optimism as a point of criticism, Andrea Ammon, the director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, had this to say about the coming pandemic.

“An outbreak of novel viruses is always an issue of public concern, [but] the situation right now is really under control [in Europe]," Ammon added.

https://euobserver.com/coronavirus/147350

A little more than a month later, Europe would be declared the epicenter of the coronavirus.

Feb. 4th (eve of impeachment trial), the night the press and Dems were praising Pelosi tearing up his speech, his state of the Union address:

“Protecting Americans health also means fighting infectious diseases. We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China. My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat”.

Feb. 29th
(22 known infections of coronavirus and one death in the US)

Bans Travel from Iran

March Onward

At the first death, Trump’s actions immediately escalate, resulting in a flurry of proclamations, meetings with industry leaders, near daily press conferences, coordinating with governors, mayors, and consecutive legislative actions that are just too numerous to get into, but that all concerned citizens should take a look at from a sufficient distance from the antitrumpism.

The virus continues to spread and continues to infect many, but Trump’s leadership, his nimble instincts, decisive actions, and the 24/7 work of the administration has and is saving lives, not ending them.

As for my own criticisms, the massive spending is worrying me. But worse, on a personal note, the general public response and American refusal to take the issue seriously might seriously affect my family.



















NOS4A2 March 21, 2020 at 06:05 #394316
Reply to ssu

Asked about the criticism at a House budget hearing Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that, “during the president’s tenure, every part of our preparedness and infectious disease program activity has been enhanced and expanded.”

Azar went on the say the president’s budget proposals are just the jumping-off point for budget negotiations.

“Budgets are like the first move in a chess game with, I’ll be honest, a fairly profligate Congress,” Azar said. “And the president starts that move with a budget knowing that we’re going to get a lot higher there as we work with Congress.”


https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-cut-cdcs-budget-democrats-claim-analysis/story?id=69233170

Art of the deal, baby.


And what is true is this:

the CDC “cut back on this program of overseas vigilance.” The CDC decided to end epidemic prevention activities in 39 out of the 49 foreign countries it was active in due to a predicted absence of funding for the programs, even as funding for other CDC activities increased.


You’re wrong, actually.

CDC did not have to cut back its work from 49 to 10 countries,” said Maureen Bartee, CDC’s associate director for Global Health Security, in a statement to FactCheck.org. “In the FY18-FY20 annual appropriations, CDC received base appropriations for global health security from Congress. This was used to continue the essential public health capacity development in the four core areas that was started in 2014 with the one-time supplemental funds.”

Those four core areas, Bartee said, are surveillance, laboratory systems, workforce development and emergency management and response. “Focusing on potential weak links in these core areas ensures that partner countries are better prepared to respond to disease threats, wherever they might begin,” she explained.

CDC operating budget plans show that its funding for global public health protection — which includes global disease detection and emergency response and global public health capacity — increased from $58 million in fiscal year 2017 to around $108 million in fiscal years 2018 and 2019. (And that does not include any remaining supplemental funds available for use.) The increases included nearly $50 million more each year for CDC’s global health security initiatives.

Those amounts went up again in fiscal year 2020, when the CDC was awarded $183 million for global public health protection, overall, and $125 million specifically for its global health security efforts. For fiscal year 2021, President Donald Trump has requested that CDC funding for global disease detection and other programs be increased further — to $225 million total, with $175 million going directly to global health security.

With its current funding, Bartee said, the CDC is actually working in “more than 60 countries” — not 10 — to address the threat of global infectious diseases and outbreaks.


https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/false-claim-about-cdcs-global-anti-pandemic-work/

Benkei March 21, 2020 at 08:03 #394324
Reply to NOS4A2 Disinformation isn't optimism. Optimism sounds like this: Things look bad, but I'm convinced we'll get together as a country and take care of each other to beat this virus.
NOS4A2 March 21, 2020 at 08:44 #394328
Reply to Benkei

Optimism isn’t disinformation. Speaking confidently about ones actions and decisions is optimism by definition.
ssu March 21, 2020 at 12:34 #394380
Quoting NOS4A2
Art of the deal, baby.

Art of Bullshit, baby. Bullshit.

Just like the Wall paid by Mexico, the deal with North Korea AND NEARLY EVERYTHING ELSE...

Of course, nothing of those happened as promised, but who cares? It's art of the deal. Just like "Art of the Deal" was written by a ghostwriter. As we know, Trump is incapable of writing himself something as long as a book. But who cares? It's all quite fake and that's Trump.

Just think about it: how whimsical it is for a President who's party is at first in control of BOTH houses of Congress and then to get what through? One tax break! Yeah, great work.

Quoting NOS4A2
You’re wrong, actually.

So let's me get this straight. Trumps wants to make cuts. Finally the CDC does make the cuts, but AFTERWARDS understanding that this is their core area to operate, the CDC wiggles with base appropriations (thanks to Congress) and transfers then them to sustain things. And knowing Trump, the CDC has an reason to paint everything with roses as not to make this President angry. Just like after the "taboo words" debacle. Oh no, Trump administration surely didn't do it!



ArguingWAristotleTiff March 21, 2020 at 14:23 #394425
Quoting Benkei
Optimism sounds like this: Things look bad, but I'm convinced we'll get together as a country and take care of each other to beat this virus.


Woo hoo :party: Excellent approach Benkei!
Benkei March 21, 2020 at 14:35 #394429
Quoting NOS4A2
Speaking confidently about ones actions and decisions is optimism by definition.


No, that's just arrogance.
Nobeernolife March 23, 2020 at 21:35 #395225
Quoting Benkei
No, that's just arrogance.


Yeah, if it comes from OrangeOtan, I know. If it came from someone you like, you would gloat about it.
Anyway,,,,,

I see an interesting situation coming up very soon. Some industries are especially hard hit by the whole Corona thing, so politicians will be starting about bailouts. Some of the hardest hit are the travel and hotel industries. Of course they will be asking for help. Now.... OrangeHitler is in the hotel business. Can you see where this is going?

Just warning you.... lots of triggered people in the TDS community very soon. Better find a safe space.
Benkei March 23, 2020 at 21:48 #395228
Reply to Nobeernolife Remind me again. TDS stands for Trump Defense Syndrome endemic under Trumpanzees right?

I don't see why companies ought to be bailed out. If taxpayers save companies that would otherwise go bankrupt, they should own it. It's the typical corruption that allows the vested interests to have cake and eat it too.
Benkei March 23, 2020 at 21:53 #395229
Quoting Nobeernolife
Yeah, if it comes from OrangeOtan, I know. If it came from someone you like, you would gloat about it.
Anyway,,,,,


Glad Orange-oetan is sticking with you. Also, I'm a reflexive kind of guy and quite allergic to arrogance. I don't like arrogant people, so there's no world where I would think differently.

In any case, in light of the tons of lies Trump had already uttered, the idea his disinformation is "really just" optimism is rather disingenuous.

https://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/
Nobeernolife March 23, 2020 at 21:57 #395230
Quoting Benkei
Remind me again. TDS stands for Trump Defense Syndrome endemic under Trumpanzees right?

Yawn... ok ok

Quoting Benkei
I don't see why companies ought to be bailed out. If taxpayers save companies that would otherwise go bankrupt, they should own it. It's the typical corruption that allows the vested interests to have cake and eat it too.

Well, no matter what you think about it, companies will still asking for it. And in some cases, they have a good argument. I don´t want to get bogged down into arguing which should and which should not (for some reason, banks always seem to have priority). I was just warning you of the oncoming big trigger event, because hotels WILL ask for bailouts. So watch your blood pressure.
Benkei March 23, 2020 at 22:03 #395233
Reply to Nobeernolife You're pretty new here so you don't know what gets my blood pressure up. I certainly don't swear with cutesy made up names for people when I'm angry. It's all in good fun. This particular example would just be the typical corruption endemic to US politics. Another body that's sick I suppose.
NOS4A2 March 24, 2020 at 06:41 #395300
Democrats have decided to shirk a Senate vote on worker relief so Nancy Pelosi could introduce a 1200-page Democratic policy wishlist. They’re playing with people’s livelihood to include provisions such as diversity hiring, aviation climate change studies, minimum wage, and other piffle.
Nobeernolife March 24, 2020 at 06:48 #395306
Quoting Benkei
You're pretty new here so you don't know what gets my blood pressure up. I certainly don't swear with cutesy made up names for people when I'm angry. It's all in good fun. This particular example would just be the typical corruption endemic to US politics.


The orange monster getting bailed out by tax money? Oh my. I am glad that your blood pressure is OK, but you can see the screaming headlines and your triggered fellow CNN./NYT bubble dwellers, can you not? It will be glorious.
Monitor March 24, 2020 at 06:48 #395307
Quoting NOS4A2
They’re playing with people’s livelihood to include provisions such as diversity hiring, aviation climate change studies, minimum wage, and other piffle.


I know, it's so selfish.
Benkei March 24, 2020 at 06:49 #395308
Reply to Monitor We should just bail out corporations without any strings attached. Again.
Nobeernolife March 24, 2020 at 06:50 #395309
Quoting Monitor
I know, it's so selfish.


It is. Points for failed attempt at sarcams>=: Nill
Benkei March 24, 2020 at 06:55 #395312
Reply to Nobeernolife Sigh. I'm Dutch. I'm not in any US-centred bubble. Which makes it so easy for me to render judgment. No horse in the race and all that. I'm really glad I don't live there.
Nobeernolife March 24, 2020 at 06:58 #395313
Quoting Benkei
I'm Dutch. I'm not in any US-centred bubble.


The European "mainstrteam" media is every bit on the Trump hating, globalist wagon as the American. This is not about geographic location.
Benkei March 24, 2020 at 07:02 #395315
Reply to Nobeernolife Of course, it's all one big bubble. I can tell you're super informed about mostly nothing so that claim about mainstream media in Europe is baseless as usual. El Pais comparable to Der Spiegel? NRC with la Republicca? Don't make yourself look even stupider than normal.
NOS4A2 March 24, 2020 at 07:06 #395318
Reply to Monitor

I know, it's so selfish.


I wonder what things such as corporate diversity, airline emissions, cancelling the debt of the Postal Service, and election auditing have to do with the current crisis. Government bailout and megalomania.
Michael March 24, 2020 at 07:21 #395321
Quoting NOS4A2
Democrats have decided to shirk a Senate vote on worker relief


I thought the Democrats' problem with it is that it wasn't worker relief but a corporate bailout.

Quoting NOS4A2
They’re playing with people’s livelihood to include provisions such as diversity hiring, aviation climate change studies, minimum wage, and other piffle.


Aren't Republicans also playing with people's livelihood to include provisions that are a Republican policy wishlist?
Monitor March 24, 2020 at 07:21 #395322
Quoting Nobeernolife
The European "mainstrteam" media is every bit on the Trump hating


I have never understood this automatic presupposition, that the default position, the null hypothesis, on anything Trump does has to be without regarding any of his history whatsoever. The world has had 4 years to watch what he has done and said and it is well documented; but according to the right he awakes each morning with a clean slate, to be judged only on the allowable spin that the public will bear on that day.
NOS4A2 March 24, 2020 at 07:26 #395324
Reply to Michael

I thought the Democrats' problem with it is that it wasn't worker relief but a corporate bailout.


Workers often work for corporations.

Aren't Republicans also playing with people's livelihood to include provisions that are a Republican policy wishlist?


For instance?
Nobeernolife March 24, 2020 at 12:27 #395365
Quoting Monitor
I have never understood this automatic presupposition, that the default position, the null hypothesis, on anything Trump does has to be without regarding any of his history whatsoever. The world has had 4 years to watch what he has done and said and it is well documented; but according to the right he awakes each morning with a clean slate, to be judged only on the allowable spin that the public will bear on that day.


Well what I have seen in the 4 years is that Trump did pretty well, while being non stop attacked by the polical opponents and their propaganda arm in the so called mainstream media.. Clearly, we are watching 2 different movies.

Now look at this bumbling fool and tell me THAT is the guy you prefer to have in charge during a national crisis
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/03/slow-joes-slow-pitch.php
NOS4A2 March 24, 2020 at 14:26 #395394
More fake news to add to the pile. Good on them.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/axios/status/1242425467438858241?s=21[/tweet]
Michael March 24, 2020 at 15:05 #395404
Quoting NOS4A2
More fake news to add to the pile. Good on them.


I don't think you know what fake news is.
Deleted User March 24, 2020 at 15:05 #395405
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
NOS4A2 March 24, 2020 at 15:07 #395406
Reply to Michael

I don't think you know what fake news is.


I don’t think you know what real news is.
Michael March 24, 2020 at 15:10 #395407
Quoting NOS4A2
I don’t think you know what real news is.


I do. Real news can make mistakes. Fake news on the other hand "is a form of news consisting of deliberate disinformation or hoaxes ... written and published usually with the intent to mislead in order to damage an agency, entity, or person, and/or gain financially or politically, often using sensationalist, dishonest, or outright fabricated headlines to increase readership."

The fact that Axios publicly corrected themselves suggests that it was an honest mistake.
NOS4A2 March 24, 2020 at 15:12 #395408
Reply to Michael

It was sensationalist and false, with the intent to mislead in order to damage a person. Didn’t you post a similar story?
Michael March 24, 2020 at 15:14 #395409
Quoting NOS4A2
It was sensationalist and false, with the intent to mislead in order to damage a person. Didn’t you post a similar story?


Where's the evidence that there was an intent to mislead in order to damage a person? As I said, the fact that they corrected themselves suggest that it was an honest mistake.
NOS4A2 March 24, 2020 at 15:16 #395410
Reply to Michael

Do you think they put Trump in there for any other reason? They posted that for the same reason you posted it, and that almost certainly wasn’t to inform others.
ArguingWAristotleTiff March 24, 2020 at 15:16 #395411
I'm not sure if it was Gov Cumo or Marc Cuban that suggested the way our economy could get through this mandatory shut down would be to instead of arguing over the SBA financial aid just let the business write their checks as usual, payroll, overhead, utilities ect and not allow the bank to bounce any checks. If the SB keeps their employees through this than it will be considered a grant but if they fire them, then it's considered a loan.
Thoughts?
And the first person to protect the fat cats sitting at the banks we bailed out before? You are my first: :zip:
Michael March 24, 2020 at 15:18 #395412
Quoting NOS4A2
Do you think they put Trump in there for any other reason? They posted that for the same reason you posted it, and thatlmost certainly wasn’t to inform others.


I posted it in response to Shawn saying that he bought some, asking him to be careful. Neither the comment I was replying to nor my comment mentioned Trump at all.

So is your accusation here fake news or an honest mistake on your part?
NOS4A2 March 24, 2020 at 15:20 #395413
Reply to Michael

Shawn didn’t buy fishbowl cleaner.
ArguingWAristotleTiff March 24, 2020 at 15:21 #395414
Is there some dispute as to whether or not a couple of fellow Phonecians actually did ingest fish tank cleaner as "fake news"?

Not my neighbor but
Michael March 24, 2020 at 15:22 #395415
Quoting NOS4A2
Shawn didn’t buy fishbowl cleaner.


I don't know what he bought. And this seems like deflection. My posting the article had nothing to do with Trump.
NOS4A2 March 24, 2020 at 15:23 #395417
Reply to Michael

I don't know what he bought. And this seems like deflection. My posting the article had nothing to do with Trump.


I doubt that.
Michael March 24, 2020 at 15:25 #395418
Reply to NOS4A2 Doubt all you like. Your accusations are fake news.
NOS4A2 March 24, 2020 at 15:25 #395420
Reply to ArguingWAristotleTiff

Specifically this tweet, and this article.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/axios/status/1242425467438858241?s=21[/tweet]
Michael March 24, 2020 at 15:27 #395421
@Shawn what kind of hydroxychloroquine did you buy? According to this, the medicine requires a prescription, but the way you phrased it suggests that you just ordered online.
ArguingWAristotleTiff March 24, 2020 at 15:29 #395423
Quoting NOS4A2
Specifically this tweet, and this article.


Gotcha. I just wanted to make sure it was clear it was tried and one person passed away as a result of doing it.
Along the same lines, isn't one of the drugs the active ingredient in Tonic water? Much diluted I get but I am just curious.
NOS4A2 March 24, 2020 at 15:31 #395424
Reply to ArguingWAristotleTiff

Gotcha. I just wanted to make sure it was clear it was tried and one person passed away as a result of doing it.
Along the same lines, isn't one of the drugs the active ingredient in Tonic water? Much diluted I get but I am just curious.


I can’t imagine the reasoning that went into eating/drinking fishbowl cleaner.

Yeah, I’ve heard that too about tonic water. Time to head out and buy a palette of it.
ArguingWAristotleTiff March 24, 2020 at 15:34 #395426
Quoting NOS4A2
Yeah, I’ve heard that too about tonic water. Time to head out and buy a palette of it.


Nah, unless you get Vodka or Gin with it :wink:
Nobeernolife March 24, 2020 at 15:37 #395429
Quoting tim wood
Did what pretty well?


Reduce globalism, protect the borders, scale down stupid foreign wars... pretty much what he promised. Gee, a politician who actually tries to meet his campain promises. Of course he is not perfect, but given that he is under round-the-clock attack from the media and power establishment, quite impressive. Others would have cracked. But of course, if you have consumed 4 years of CNN/NYT etc indoctrination for 4 years, you probably see a different reality.
Nobeernolife March 24, 2020 at 15:42 #395431
Quoting NOS4A2
Specifically this tweet, and this article.


You do realize that the tweet you mentioned and the subsequent "mainstream" media press coverage is a prime example of fake news? Trump of course NEVER recommended that anyone self-medicates with fish tank desinfectant.... but for the "mainstream" media there is level they are not willing to sink to. Truly the enemy of the people.
NOS4A2 March 24, 2020 at 15:56 #395439
Reply to Michael

I apologize for impugning your motives.
praxis March 24, 2020 at 16:08 #395451
Reply to Nobeernolife

Reduce globalism? And his wall isn’t built yet so the hordes of bad hombres are still invading our country!
Deleted User March 24, 2020 at 16:24 #395463
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Shawn March 24, 2020 at 17:35 #395481
Reply to Michael

https://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&SearchText=hydroxychloroquin

https://my.indiamart.com/
praxis March 24, 2020 at 20:03 #395548
Quoting Nobeernolife
Oh right. Obama made healthcare affordable by passing an "affordable healthcare act". Gee, how brilliant! I suggest then than Trump signs a "Cure Corona Act", and the Corona will be gone. Maybe after that an "Eternal health and wealth for all forever" act, and everybody will live forever.

I just love simple minds. Would you like buy a used car from me?


You doubt that the ACA resulted in millions more Americans with health insurance?
Nobeernolife March 24, 2020 at 20:26 #395555
Quoting praxis
You doubt that the ACA resulted in millions more Americans with health insurance?


Maybe, but at what cost? I was just pointing out that the concept of a giant bureaucracy mandating anything "affordable" by passing a 20,000 page package of new laws is laughable. Even the designers of that law admitted that it was designed to fail.... just meant as a stepping stone to socialed medicine. (Which you can defend, if you want.... just do not pretend that it is particularly affordable or efficient.)
Nobeernolife March 24, 2020 at 20:28 #395557
Quoting tim wood
The reality I've encountered has nothing to do with CNN/NYT & etc.


Yeah, I know they all say that. And then I turn on CNN in the morrning and see the same talking points that I just read from the TDS crowd on social media. Been around long enough to know the pattern.
DingoJones March 24, 2020 at 20:55 #395564
Reply to Nobeernolife

What criteria do you use to distinguish between TDS and legitimate criticism of Trump? How do you know when a person who has a negative even anti-trump perspective is motivated/caused by TDS?
Monitor March 24, 2020 at 20:59 #395567
Quoting Nobeernolife
the TDS crowd


If we are all sick, and ignorant of it, then why engage with us? It can't be the challenge because we are all so stupid, it's too easy. Neither side is getting anywhere with the other. There has got to be a personal motivation. Are you like NOS and just enjoy stirring the pot? You continually end with the same sweeping generalization that discounts any response. Do you just like feeling self-satisfied?
Nobeernolife March 24, 2020 at 21:09 #395569
Quoting Monitor
If we are all sick, and ignorant of it, then why engage with us? It can't be the challenge because we are all so stupid,


Dont know who "we" is but, confirmation bias and virtue signalling are human conditions.You are right, I should not waste time on social media, but by the same token, why do you continue to parrot the crap you hear on CNN on this site? It is not like you are going to convince a dissident, all you do is get browny points from your fellow echo chamber residents. So, same question.
Nobeernolife March 24, 2020 at 21:12 #395570
Quoting DingoJones
What criteria do you use to distinguish between TDS and legitimate criticism of Trump? How do you know when a person who has a negative even anti-trump perspective is motivated/caused by TDS?


I ask if the criticism makes sense or not. BS like blaming Trump when some morons drink fish tank desinfectant does not. Continue at will.
DingoJones March 24, 2020 at 21:14 #395571
Reply to Nobeernolife

What kinda of criticisms make sense about Trump? Any examples?
praxis March 24, 2020 at 21:22 #395576
Quoting Nobeernolife
Even the designers of that law admitted that it was designed to fail.... just meant as a stepping stone to socialed medicine. (Which you can defend, if you want.... just do not pretend that it is particularly affordable or efficient.)


It makes buying health insurance within reach for more Americans. In regard to efficiency, the US spends much more per capita than other developed countries, including those with socialized healthcare, and without better health outcomes, so I'm not sure what the point is in bringing that up.
Deleted User March 24, 2020 at 23:07 #395592
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Monitor March 24, 2020 at 23:19 #395600
Quoting Nobeernolife
Dont know who "we" is but, confirmation bias and virtue signalling are human conditions.You are right, I should not waste time on social media, but by the same token, why do you continue to parrot the crap you hear on CNN on this site? It is not like you are going to convince a dissident, all you do is get browny points from your fellow echo chamber residents. So, same question.


I have been on this forum for four years and have only 135 posts. That means I read. Nobody knows me, I don't parrot, I don't watch CNN. And the only thing I continue to do is read. And this is a philosophy forum not Twitter. The goal is not to be smugly indefeasible. I won't bother you with it again.
Relativist March 25, 2020 at 03:59 #395668
Quoting Nobeernolife
I ask if the criticism makes sense or not.

Does this criticism make sense to you?
Nobeernolife March 25, 2020 at 19:42 #395927
Quoting Relativist
Does this criticism make sense to you?


No. Didn´t read it in detail, but right off the bat I see so many loaded assumptions, it is clear this is another hit piece. And what else to expect from the Brookings Institute. Your next source is maybe the NYT?
Nobeernolife March 25, 2020 at 19:48 #395936
Quoting praxis
It makes buying health insurance within reach for more Americans.


Not getting bogged into details, but if you do not see the contradiction in a government claiming to be able to make things "affordable" by massive regulation and taxation. And as I reminded you, even the designer of this thing said that it was designed to fail.
Nobeernolife March 25, 2020 at 19:50 #395941
Quoting DingoJones
What kinda of criticisms make sense about Trump? Any examples?


I have criticised his initial Corona rethoric right here, remember? (The PR, not the actions.)
praxis March 25, 2020 at 19:57 #395947
Quoting Nobeernolife
Not getting bogged into details, but if you do not see the contradiction in a government claiming to be able to make things "affordable" by massive regulation and taxation.


A little detail like the claim of "massive" taxation and regulation? I can see how that would get in the way. Affordable as in meaning that around 30 million Americans could afford to purchase health insurance, whereas before they could not afford it. Taxes increased for many, but not "massively."
Nobeernolife March 25, 2020 at 20:09 #395958
Quoting praxis
A little detail like the claim of "massive" taxation and regulation? I can see how that would get in the way. Affordable as in meaning that around 30 million Americans could afford to purchase health insurance, whereas before they could not afford it. Taxes increased for many, but not "massively."


I do not know the details of that thing, and I doubt that you do, seeing almost none of the people passed actually read it. (Remember Pelosi "we have to pass it to see what is in it"). I also remember that it only became legal after a Supreme Court judge decided to re-define the punishment for non-participants a "tax" (which proponents of the thing had denied it was), so right off the bat it was based on massive taxation by definition. And I remember that the designer of the thing admitted publicly that it was designed to fail and only meant as a stepping stone to ultimate state-run nationalized medicine, along the the lines of the NHS. I pointed that out to you several times, maybe the reading problem is on your side?

Anyway, my main point was only that any law claiming to make someting "affordable" is a contradiction in terms. You can not legislate affordability.

I pointed that out to you several times too, you seem to have missed that.


DingoJones March 25, 2020 at 20:16 #395965
Reply to Nobeernolife

No, I do not remember that. Maybe you're confusing me with someone else. I don’t think we have interacted before.
praxis March 25, 2020 at 20:24 #395971
Quoting Nobeernolife
I do not know the details of that thing, and I doubt that you do, seeing almost none of the people passed actually read it.


About six years ago my wife and I were in a transition, moved to another state, and considered Obamacare between employers. It was affordable.

We ended up paying a minor penalty for being without insurance for a few months. Nothing anyone but a deranged lunatic would call “massive.”

Nobeernolife March 25, 2020 at 20:29 #395974
Quoting praxis
About six years ago my wife and I were in a transition, moved to another state, and considered Obamacare between employers. It was affordable.


Good for you. I do not see what your anecdotal evidence has to do with the basic points I made.
praxis March 25, 2020 at 20:35 #395976
Reply to Nobeernolife

Well, it’s just an anecdote so let’s dismiss it.

I concede all of your fine points.
Deleted User March 25, 2020 at 20:47 #395981
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Nobeernolife March 25, 2020 at 20:56 #395985
Quoting tim wood
Any facts in your world? Or do you just take it straight from the tube? Let's try a really simple one. Did DJT have the largest, greatest, best inaugural as he claimed - insisted upon?


I do not know or care. Do you want to fact-check every frigging piece of trivia that some politician says? Or only DJT?
Deleted User March 25, 2020 at 21:07 #395992
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Nobeernolife March 25, 2020 at 21:16 #395997
Quoting tim wood
You're a disgrace, nobeernoballs. And DJT, for whatever reasons, is a liar. Actually worse, but in any case that. But you're not interested in the truth or anything like that, are you, nobeernoballs?


I do not know what your name-calling is about. I know the "mainstream" media slogan about Trump being a "liar", but everytime I partially checked some of those lists of lies, I only found distortions, misinterpretations or outright false claims.
The lies by the "mainstream" however have been non-stop, vicious, and dangerous, the last one being the claim that Trump asked people to drink fish tank desinfectant as a Corona cure. That was just beyond the pale. Completely disgusting. But while most media outlets have since retracted the claim, some just let it stand and changed the topic.

What is the worst lie that you are blaming Trump for?
ZhouBoTong March 25, 2020 at 21:23 #396004
Quoting Nobeernolife
I do not know what your name-calling is about. I know the "mainstream" media slogan about Trump being a "liar", but everytime I partially checked some of those lists of lies, I only found distortions, misinterpretations or outright false claims.


Really?...what about this one:

Quoting tim wood
Did DJT have the largest, greatest, best inaugural as he claimed - insisted upon?








NOS4A2 March 25, 2020 at 21:27 #396010
Reply to tim wood

nobeernoballs


Lol you have a way with words, Tim, I’ll give you that. Trumpian, even.
Deleted User March 25, 2020 at 21:30 #396012
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Nobeernolife March 25, 2020 at 21:31 #396013
Quoting ZhouBoTong
Really?...what about this one:


I answered that. I do not know had the friggin "greatest" inauguration, and I do not care. Maybe his Majesty Barrack Obama had a greater inaugoration in your mind. Why is that relevant?
So is that the greatest, most profound "lie" that you can think of?
Monitor March 25, 2020 at 21:35 #396016
Quoting Nobeernolife
I do not know what your name-calling is about


He may have learned it from our president.
Deleted User March 25, 2020 at 21:36 #396017
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
ZhouBoTong March 25, 2020 at 21:37 #396019
Quoting Nobeernolife
I answered that. I do not know had the friggin "greatest" inauguration, and I do not care.


So then, when you said, Quoting Nobeernolife
but everytime I partially checked some of those lists of lies, I only found distortions, misinterpretations or outright false claims.


You just don't check most of them? Why would it be difficult to admit he lied in this case? You don't even need to do research. Sounds like a type of derangement syndrome. I wonder if anyone has talked about that as an actual thing?
praxis March 25, 2020 at 21:56 #396032
Quoting Nobeernolife
What is the worst lie that you are blaming Trump for?


Just a few of my favs:

Many of the people in DACA, no longer very young, are far from ‘angels.’ Some are very tough, hardened criminals.


I was the person who saved Pre-Existing Conditions in your healthcare.


'Years of economic decay are over' because Trump 'reversed the failed economic policies of the previous administration.'


Some of the Democrats have been talking about ending (coverage for) pre-existing conditions.


In many places, like California, the same person votes many times. You probably heard about that. They always like to say 'oh that's a conspiracy theory.' Not a conspiracy theory, folks. Millions and millions of people.


Over the last two years, the number of murders in America and America’s major cities has dropped, unlike here (Chicago), by more than 10%.


Originally "almost all models predicted" Dorian would hit Alabama.


California "admitted" there were "a million" illegal votes in the 2016 presidential election.


There has never been, ever before, an administration that’s been so open and transparent.


"The noise (from windmills) causes cancer.


Democrats let him (cop killer Luis Bracamontes) into our country," and "Democrats let him stay."


Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad," including Somalia and Ukraine.


Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and the rest of the corrupt Democrats made a promise to their crazy left-wing base that they would impeach me even BEFORE I took office.


Today I opened a major Apple Manufacturing plant in Texas that will bring high paying jobs back to America.
praxis March 25, 2020 at 22:03 #396037
Quoting Nobeernolife
You can not legislate affordability.


Can't help thinking about this. You say it as though it's some sort of economic principle. I think it's a statement of values, like saying that a society cannot afford to feed its citizens when in fact it has the resources available to do so.
Relativist March 25, 2020 at 22:42 #396060
Quoting Nobeernolife
No. Didn´t read it in detail, but right off the bat I see so many loaded assumptions, it is clear this is another hit piece.

Name a few of the assumptions you find questionable.

[Quote]And what else to expect from the Brookings Institute. [/quote]
I expect thoughtful analysis by experts. I expect the same thing from the Cato Institute and American Enterprise institute. I don't always agree with them, but its worthwhile to hear alternative, educated perspectives. You seem dismissive of any perspective you disagree with. No wonder you're so devoted to a cartoonist.
Nobeernolife March 26, 2020 at 06:28 #396261
Quoting tim wood
Proving beyond doubt that either you're terminally stupid - which I doubt - or vicious in the way of weasels and liars. The subject is not the size of anyone's inaugural, but rather lying about it.


Political hyperbole is not "lying". By that standard, all politicians lie, any time, all the time. So again, is that the greatest "lie" you can think of?
Wayfarer March 26, 2020 at 06:31 #396262
I notice that Trump's approval rating is at an all time high. Hey, the bullshit sessions about a deadly virus, on prime time TV, are working! Selling false hope to a desperate populace is working! Who would have thought......
Nobeernolife March 26, 2020 at 06:42 #396264
Quoting praxis
Just a few of my favs:


Many of the people in DACA, no longer very young, are far from ‘angels.’ Some are very tough, hardened criminals.
--> not a lie

I was the person who saved Pre-Existing Conditions in your healthcare.
--> needs context, looks like hyperbole

'Years of economic decay are over' because Trump 'reversed the failed economic policies of the previous administration.'
--> not a lie

Some of the Democrats have been talking about ending (coverage for) pre-existing conditions.
--> needs context, looks like hyperbole

In many places, like California, the same person votes many times. You probably heard about that. They always like to say 'oh that's a conspiracy theory.' Not a conspiracy theory, folks. Millions and millions of people.
--> not a lie

Over the last two years, the number of murders in America and America’s major cities has dropped, unlike here (Chicago), by more than 10%.
--> don´t know, sounds probably

Originally "almost all models predicted" Dorian would hit Alabama.
--> don´t know, needs context

California "admitted" there were "a million" illegal votes in the 2016 presidential election.
--> don´t know, sounds very plausible

There has never been, ever before, an administration that’s been so open and transparent.
--> not a lie

"The noise (from windmills) causes cancer.
--> probably nonsense, sounds like hyperbole.

Democrats let him (cop killer Luis Bracamontes) into our country," and "Democrats let him stay."--> not a lie

Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad," including Somalia and Ukraine.
--> not a lie

Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and the rest of the corrupt Democrats made a promise to their crazy left-wing base that they would impeach me even BEFORE I took office.
--> not a lie

Today I opened a major Apple Manufacturing plant in Texas that will bring high paying jobs back to America.
--> not a lie

So that is a list of the worst "lies" that you can think of? Thanks for making my point about the credibility of these lists.

Now do you have a comment about the vicious lies that the "mainstream" media tells us every day, from the claim that only CNN is allowed to read Wikileaks to staged muslim peace demonstrations, to "good people" Charleston lie to the "fish tank cleaner as miracle cure" lie? I only need to turn on CNN to see the lastes lies, day after day.



Echarmion March 26, 2020 at 10:18 #396292
Quoting Nobeernolife
Political hyperbole is not "lying". By that standard, all politicians lie, any time, all the time. So again, is that the greatest "lie" you can think of?


Why is it not lying? Is it ok for politicians to lie, some of the time or all the time? Do some politicians lie more than others?

Quoting Nobeernolife
the claim that only CNN is allowed to read Wikileaks


Where and when did CNN use those exact words?

Quoting Nobeernolife
staged muslim peace demonstrations


That just seems like political hyperbole, if it happened, which I doubt.

Quoting Nobeernolife
"good people" Charleston lie


Trump's words are a matter of public record. Not a lie.

Quoting Nobeernolife
"fish tank cleaner as miracle cure" lie?


The thing they reported on happened, so based on your standard, not a lie.
Nobeernolife March 26, 2020 at 11:09 #396305
Quoting Michael
I do. Real news can make mistakes. Fake news on the other hand "is a form of news consisting of deliberate disinformation or hoaxes ... written and published usually with the intent to mislead in order to damage an agency, entity, or person, and/or gain financially or politically, often using sensationalist, dishonest, or outright fabricated headlines to increase readership."


Pretty good description of what people are regularly fed by CNN, the NYT and the rest of the so-called mainstream media.
How many have apologized for this fake Trump bashing news that was splattered all over recenty?
Deleted User March 26, 2020 at 13:50 #396347
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
praxis March 26, 2020 at 15:47 #396381
Quoting Nobeernolife
So that is a list of the worst "lies" that you can think of? Thanks for making my point about the credibility of these lists.


Simply saying “not a lie” is, quite frankly, beyond idiotic. Those lies were cut and pasted from politifact.org and I could cut and paste the facts they list to support them, but why bother, facts are irrelevant to a Trump supporter. That’s the point you make.

Regarding hyperbole, disinformation is intentionally false or misleading information that is spread in a calculated way to deceive target audiences. An exaggeration occurs when the most fundamental aspects of a statement are true, but only to a certain degree. Trump’s lies target people like yourself and are strategic in nature. Only a fool can’t see that.
NOS4A2 March 26, 2020 at 17:30 #396414
Reply to Nobeernolife

Pretty good description of what people are regularly fed by CNN, the NYT and the rest of the so-called mainstream media.
How many have apologized for this fake Trump bashing news that was splattered all over recenty?


I can almost guarantee that most antitrumpist news has been curated for them by the gatekeepers of their respective bubbles, whether on twitter or reddit or on whatever social media they find themselves entirely among their fellow travellers. Any news that may reflect favorably on the president is wholly excluded, or worse, suppressed, so it is no strange wonder much of their thinking reflects the same.

To be fair, this is also true of Trumpist bubbles, but the frequency of those are almost negligible as far as I can tell.
Relativist March 27, 2020 at 01:29 #396615
Quoting Nobeernolife
I do. Real news can make mistakes. Fake news on the other hand "is a form of news consisting of deliberate disinformation or hoaxes ... written and published usually with the intent to mislead in order to damage an agency, entity, or person, and/or gain financially or politically, often using sensationalist, dishonest, or outright fabricated headlines to increase readership."
— Michael

Pretty good description of what people are regularly fed by CNN, the NYT and the rest of the so-called mainstream media.
How many have apologized for this fake Trump bashing news that was splattered all over recenty?

Seriously, when you make such a statement, it just sounds like you're parrotting Trump. Michael was referring to the original definition of "fake news" - falsehoods that get widely circulated. Trump uses the term to refer to unfavorable coverage. Avoid conflating the two, and you could then have productive conversations. If CNN is spreading actual falsehoods, that's something I want to know about. I'm also fine hearing about positive things Trump's done that CNN omitted. But be willing to discuss both the good and the bad.
Monitor March 27, 2020 at 03:21 #396639
Also, you two know, you obviously know, that the majority of people here do not believe that he was remotely qualified to even be the president from the very beginning. And whatever right and good that comes out of this White House is not fundamentally because Trump actually cares about anything other that his own experience. It is not difficult to find apodictic reasons for this belief. This is your audience here. And you know it.
DingoJones March 27, 2020 at 04:16 #396653
Quoting NOS4A2
To be fair, this is also true of Trumpist bubbles, but the frequency of those are almost negligible as far as I can tell.


In my experience its about the same, the fringe on both sides unless you include the media and even then the anti-trump or pro trump media both equally remain mostly on the same message. (Though it seems to me the anti-trump/left media has a wider reach. Im just not sure too many people really care what mainstream media says anymore, they just act like people do. Also, I consider right news programs to be mainstream, mainstream on the right.).
One problem is that to many anti-trump people think anyone who voted for Trump (or the vast majority) are the same people as the fringe who voted for Trump. They do not realise that a lot of people who voted for Trump are not all that much different than they are. Just ordinary people who voted for who they think is better, or stuck to voting for party over candidate. (And various other, normal reasons for voting for Trump). Thats why they will lose again, and Trump will be elected again. The deciding votes are these ghost people that anti-Trump people dont really believe exist so completely ignore them (or worse, specifically mischaracterise or alienate them as racist, bigoted etc etc).
Anyway, bubbles. I think that at least a certain kind of bubble (a sub-bubble) is mirrored by both sides.
Metaphysician Undercover March 27, 2020 at 11:57 #396698
Quoting NOS4A2
To be fair, this is also true of Trumpist bubbles, but the frequency of those are almost negligible as far as I can tell.


Most Trumpists, other than yourself of course, keep to themselves because they know that to publicly support Trump requires blatant lying and a display of dishonesty. You seem to have no conscience.
unenlightened March 27, 2020 at 13:23 #396709
I don't normally bother, but really, what a turnip! His fantasies have become completely irrelevant, as the virus ignores him and everyone else responds to the virus.
NOS4A2 March 27, 2020 at 15:38 #396755
Reply to Metaphysician Undercover

I keep to myself because your fellow travellers are violent and have a tendency to sucker punch and spit on others.
Deleted User March 27, 2020 at 16:10 #396768
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
NOS4A2 March 27, 2020 at 18:15 #396812
Reply to tim wood

If you have to say you are you usually ain't. That's something you have to prove. Unfortunately I have yet to be sold on anything you've ever tried to put into words on this subject. It reeks to me of fanaticism and veiled persecution, but luckily for us pigs, I know they come from a place so effete and weak and empty that I can hardly be bothered to take them seriously. In fact they've become a mild source for humor, like the funny pages.

You hate the lie and the liar while you generalize about millions of people you've never met: your peers, your neighbors, your countrymen. You emphasize the bad while suppressing the good. You can do little more than levy false accusations—lies. It becomes pitifully clear you've become what you hate.
Deleted User March 27, 2020 at 20:47 #396880
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Borraz March 27, 2020 at 23:34 #396950
In my world, no one talks about politics or religion. We prefer to keep friends. It is a naturally diminishing whole. Be good.
fdrake March 27, 2020 at 23:41 #396952
Reply to Borraz

It seems you don't live in your own world.
Nobeernolife March 28, 2020 at 09:13 #397034
Quoting Echarmion
Why is it not lying? Is it ok for politicians to lie, some of the time or all the time? Do some politicians lie more than others?

All politicians spout political hyperbole. If you count that as "lying", they all lie all the time. Now lies I that I am concerned about are lies that have catastrophic results, such as the lie that the Bengazi jihadis were a popular, democratic uprising against Gaddafi. For examople.

Quoting Echarmion
"The claim that only CNN is allowed to read Wikileaks — Nobeernolife
Where and when did CNN use those exact words?"

Surprisingly, it is still on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQllunHssEk
You might want to check before rushing to the keyboard

Quoting Echarmion
staged muslim peace demonstrations — Nobeernolife
That just seems like political hyperbole, if it happened, which I doubt.

The original complete clip has been removed by Youtube and Twitter (what a surprise), but you can still find parts of it. Watch it tell us how truthful CNN is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g62_UMiv6wY

Quoting Echarmion
"good people" Charleston lie — Nobeernolife
Trump's words are a matter of public record. Not a lie.

He said "good people on both sides" about the pro/anti statue protesters, and NOT about the neonazis. Very clearly. Which you would know if you actually read the transcript, instead of listening to the fake media lies. The fake media narrative is a total lie, and one of the most shameful ones.

Quoting Echarmion
"fish tank cleaner as miracle cure" lie?
The thing they reported on happened, so based on your standard, not a lie.

No, it did NOT. Trump NEVER recommended drinking fish tank cleaner, like these two idiots did.
The misrepresentation by the Guardian et al is patently fake news.

Nobeernolife March 28, 2020 at 09:18 #397036
Quoting Relativist
Michael was referring to the original definition of "fake news" - falsehoods that get widely circulated.

That is exactly what I was referring to also.

Quoting Relativist
Trump uses the term to refer to unfavorable coverage. Avoid conflating the two, and you could then have productive conversations. If CNN is spreading actual falsehoods, that's something I want to know about. I

You can find that very esily all the time, if you compare CNN coverage with the original footage of what they cover. Of course, if you stay inside the CNN/BBC/Guardian/NYT echo chamber, you always hear the same opinion narrative.
Relativist March 28, 2020 at 14:00 #397086
Quoting Nobeernolife
You can find that very esily all the time, if you compare CNN coverage with the original footage of what they cover. Of course, if you stay inside the CNN/BBC/Guardian/NYT echo chamber, you always hear the same opinion narrative.

Give me some notable examples of CNN spreading falsehoods. I want to understand what you'rw talking about.
Echarmion March 28, 2020 at 14:15 #397092
Quoting Nobeernolife
All politicians spout political hyperbole. If you count that as "lying", they all lie all the time.


Oh, so if they just report the weather today, that's also "hyperbole"?

Quoting Nobeernolife
Now lies I that I am concerned about are lies that have catastrophic results, such as the lie that the Bengazi jihadis were a popular, democratic uprising against Gaddafi. For examople.


Or lying about having a dangerous epidemic under control while it is in fact spreading uninhibited across the country?

Quoting Nobeernolife
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQllunHssEk
You might want to check before rushing to the keyboard


Nowhere in that video does it say that only CNN is allowed to read WikiLeaks. Is what the person is saying a lie? How about you go ahead and prove it? Or are you the liar here?

Quoting Nobeernolife
The original complete clip has been removed by Youtube and Twitter (what a surprise), but you can still find parts of it. Watch it tell us how truthful CNN is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g62_UMiv6wY


That video actually proves the protest wasn't staged. Only a specific view on the protest was created. We could call it an "alternate protest". This really just is media showmanship. Everyone does it all the time. I just care about actual, damaging lies. Like lying about climate change. If that's the best you can offer, I think I was right all along.

Quoting Nobeernolife
He said "good people on both sides" about the pro/anti statue protesters, and NOT about the neonazis. Very clearly. Which you would know if you actually read the transcript, instead of listening to the fake media lies. The fake media narrative is a total lie, and one of the most shameful ones.


Sorry, dude, but that's just like, your opinion. Opinions aren't facts, and having one isn't lying. You got nothing here.

Quoting Nobeernolife
No, it did NOT. Trump NEVER recommended drinking fish tank cleaner, like these two idiots did.
The misrepresentation by the Guardian et al is patently fake news.


Show me the report that said that Trump recommended drinking fish tank cleaner. Or the report saying the guy did exactly what Trump recommended. It's all just a narrative in your head.
DingoJones March 28, 2020 at 16:39 #397115
Quoting Relativist
Give me some notable examples of CNN spreading falsehoods. I want to understand what you'rw talking about.


A good example is “pussygate”. I felt like the incident was pretty thoroughly misreported on CNN and most other media. First, they left out what proceeded his actual pussy grabbing comment which was “...when youre a celebrity, they LET you do whatever you want” or something close to that. That part is always left out and clipped so it can be misrepresented as sexual predation. Within a week it went from suggesting it meant he thought it was fun to sexually assault women to calling him an admitted rapist.
It seemed pretty dishonest to me, and was spreading a falsehood.
Another common thing I see is the conflation of jokes or hyperbole as factual claims. They do it all the time, going with the worst possible interpretation of something Trump said. I mean, I get it, Trump will hide behind hyperbole or jokes or actually lie but thats exactly why its so important not to tell lies or misrepresent what he said. Once you do that, people can say the media is misrepresenting or lying and be totally correct. Then Trump can call it fake news, and be 100% right. This provides cover for the actual problematic things he says and does.
I mean, you can pretty much say anything about Trump and no one questions it. Calling him a Nazi, a racist, a narcissistic sociopath...and no one questions it. If just one of those terms is inaccurate or has no evidential basis then I would call it a falsehood.
Im not saying its only with Trump, news is such a click baiting wasteland its full of this kinda thing and an place like Fox will spread falsehoods in the opposite direction but to say that Trump isnt misrepresented or lied about by the media seems clearly untrue to me.
Relativist March 28, 2020 at 17:48 #397126
Quoting DingoJones
A good example is “pussygate”. I felt like the incident was pretty thoroughly misreported on CNN and most other media. First, they left out what proceeded his actual pussy grabbing comment which was “...when youre a celebrity, they LET you do whatever you want” or something close to that. That part is always left out and clipped so it can be misrepresented as sexual predation. Within a week it went from suggesting it meant he thought it was fun to sexually assault women to calling him an admitted rapist.
It seemed pretty dishonest to me, and was spreading a falsehood.

I heard the entire audio on CNN, and it included everything you said. No one has ever suggested that this isolated clip shows he's a sexual predator, but it does add context to the looooong list of sexual misconduct : he's cheated on every wife he's ever had numerous times (including Melania shortly after giving birth); there are numerous allegations of unwelcome sexual advances; he felt entitled to visit the Miss Universe contestants while they were dressing....the list goes on. His behavior toward women is indefensible. If you don't accept that, then you're burying your head in the sand.

Quoting DingoJones
Another common thing I see is the conflation of jokes or hyperbole as factual claims. They do it all the time, going with the worst possible interpretation of something Trump said. I mean, I get it, Trump will hide behind hyperbole or jokes or actually lie but thats exactly why its so important not to tell lies or misrepresent what he said. Once you do that, people can say the media is misrepresenting or lying and be totally correct. Then Trump can call it fake news, and be 100% right. This provides cover for the actual problematic things he says and does.

Trump utters an enormous number of falsehoods.
Some are downright lies (intentional untruths), some are repeating nonsense he's heard from idiots like Alex Jones, some is just pure stupidity, and yes- some is hyperbole, and much of that is inappropriate (e.g. telling police officers it's ok to rough up the people they arrest). Is it CNN's job to analyze each false utterance and discern which category they belong to? Discerning fact from fiction seems sufficient, and Trump could avoid the negative interpretations if he'd strive to make factual statements.

Nevertheless, I see the difference between opinion and facts. My steady diet of CNN has not impaired that. Contrast that with die-hard Trump supporters who are in denial of any negative reporting about Trump. I can respect a Trump supporter who likes his policies, if they are realistic about what sort if man he is. I have zero respect for someone who make excuses for everything he does.

praxis March 28, 2020 at 18:00 #397128
Quoting Nobeernolife
He said "good people on both sides" about the pro/anti statue protesters, and NOT about the neonazis. Very clearly. Which you would know if you actually read the transcript, instead of listening to the fake media lies. The fake media narrative is a total lie, and one of the most shameful ones.


So there was a group of protesters supporting the removal and a group against, and the neo-nazis just happened to be in the neighborhood attending a home decor tiki torch convention or something?
DingoJones March 28, 2020 at 18:25 #397133
Quoting Relativist
I heard the entire audio on CNN, and it included everything you said. No one has ever suggested that this isolated clip shows he's a sexual predator, but it does add context to the looooong list of sexual misconduct : he's cheated on every wife he's ever had numerous times (including Melania shortly after giving birth); there are numerous allegations of unwelcome sexual advances; he felt entitled to visit the Miss Universe contestants while they were dressing....the list goes on. His behavior toward women is indefensible. If you don't accept that, then you're burying your head in the sand.


You asked for an example of him being misrepresented in the news, which I provided. Whether it fits an overall narrative about Trump is another matter. Just because someone does something wrong doesn't mean that you can freely make up more instances of that something and claim they are true.

Quoting Relativist
Trump utters an enormous number of falsehoods.
Some are downright lies (intentional untruths), some are repeating nonsense he's heard from idiots like Alex Jones, some is just pure stupidity, and yes- some is hyperbole, and much of that is inappropriate (e.g. telling police officers it's ok to rough up the people they arrest).Is it CNN's job to analyze each false utterance and discern which category they belong to? Discerning fact from fiction seems sufficient, and Trump could avoid the negative interpretations if he'd strive to make factual statements.


Lol, yes! That is their job, not going “we hate this guy, lets just go with close enough”. Its actually very important to get it as accurate as possible, to recognise distinctions between lies, errors, ignorance etc.
Those are important distinctions and again, not being accurate or open about those distinctions is costly for any kind of anti-trump agenda. It plays into his hands, it lets him accurately claim “fake news”, which obscures the truth and any lies Trump actually does tell. It allows Trump To muddy the waters.

Quoting Relativist
Nevertheless, I see the difference between opinion and facts. My steady diet of CNN has not impaired that. Contrast that with die-hard Trump supporters who are in denial of any negative reporting about Trump. I can respect a Trump supporter who likes his policies, if they are realistic about what sort if man he is. I have zero respect for someone who make excuses for everything he does.


Well I didnt say you couldnt tell the difference between opinion and facts, nor suggested CNN impairs your judgement. It might, I dont really know.
I said they lie about Trump, and mischaracterise Trump. To use your term, they spread falsehoods. Thats what I interjected to discuss.
Your stance on Trump supporters is noted, but I am not a Trump supporter. I dont even live in the US.

Relativist March 28, 2020 at 19:27 #397140
Quoting DingoJones
You asked for an example of him being misrepresented in the news, which I provided.
You claimed it was misrepresentative to only play a portion of the pussy-grabbing audio. I pointed out that I had heard the entire audio on CNN, so you are either misrepresting it yourself, or you are referring to some occasion in which only a portion was played. Notice that you object to playing only a portion of the audio out of context, while you wish to set aside the general context I brought up. Omitting that portion of the audio, on occasion, does not result in someone getting a false impression of his character. Shouldn't that be what's important?

Quoting DingoJones
Lol, yes! That is their job, not going “we hate this guy, lets just go with close enough”. Its actually very important to get it as accurate as possible, to recognise distinctions between lies, errors, ignorance etc.

Those are important distinctions and again, not being accurate or open about those distinctions is costly for any kind of anti-trump agenda. It plays into his hands, it lets him accurately claim “fake news”, which obscures the truth and any lies Trump actually does tell. It allows Trump To muddy the waters.

Distinguishing truths from untruths is generally objective. Trying decipher what kind of untruth it was is subjective. Personally, I think it's a mistake to label all untruths "lies", but that's what's done on all sides. Obama was charged with making the "lie of the year" when he said we could keep our current health insurance. It was not a statement he made to intentionally mislead; it was an inaccurate prediction and therefore in hindsight, it was an untruth. In politics, all untruths get labeled "lies" - that's just the way it is. That's not different with Trump; the only thing that's different with him is the sheer quantity. And because the quantity is so enormous, Trump supporters delude themselves by cherry picking some statements that were not intentional lies, and then complain Trump is picked on.

Echarmion March 28, 2020 at 19:51 #397144
Quoting DingoJones
Within a week it went from suggesting it meant he thought it was fun to sexually assault women to calling him an admitted rapist.


Who called him an "admitted rapist"? Some opinion piece somewhere? Have a source for that?

Quoting DingoJones
Lol, yes! That is their job, not going “we hate this guy, lets just go with close enough”. Its actually very important to get it as accurate as possible, to recognise distinctions between lies, errors, ignorance etc.
Those are important distinctions and again, not being accurate or open about those distinctions is costly for any kind of anti-trump agenda. It plays into his hands, it lets him accurately claim “fake news”, which obscures the truth and any lies Trump actually does tell. It allows Trump To muddy the waters.


Isn't it entirely possible it's mostly lies, and claiming it's anything else is "muddying the waters"? How could anyone possibly know with certainty which statements are intentional and which are accidental lies?

Quoting DingoJones
I said they lie about Trump, and mischaracterise Trump. To use your term, they spread falsehoods. Thats what I interjected to discuss.


Wait. You just said how very important it is to distinguish between lies, repeating nonsense, hyperbole etc. And here you are, claiming all they do is lie. Why don't you apply your own standard to them and try to analyse each statement in detail?
DingoJones March 28, 2020 at 20:00 #397145
Quoting Relativist
You claimed it was misrepresentative to only play a portion of the pussy-grabbing audio. I pointed out that I had heard the entire audio on CNN, so you are either misrepresting it yourself, or you are referring to some occasion in which only a portion was played. Notice that you object to playing only a portion of the audio out of context, while you wish to set aside the general context I brought up. Omitting that portion of the audio, on occasion, does not result in someone getting a false impression of his character. Shouldn't that be what's important?


If at any time they didn't play that important part of the recording for context it was a falsehood. It gives the condemnable words context, and without them it sounds worse. Leaving it out so it sounds worse is spreading a falsehood.
Anyway, I watch CNN too. I dont hate CNN. I realise now that I should have been more clear about how general I was being, its not CNN constantly spreading misinformation, its the media in general. (Of which CNN is part of and guilty on occasion.
As far as general judgement of his character, that a lie reflects someones true character doesnt mean its not a lie. If a guy is a thief, its still not ok to lie about him stealing something. If someones a dirtbag, you still shouldn't lie to make them look like more of a dirtbag.
DingoJones March 28, 2020 at 20:20 #397146
Quoting Echarmion
Who called him an "admitted rapist"? Some opinion piece somewhere? Have a source for that?


Not offhand no, it was a story about how that audio was an admission of guilt for sexual assault and I saw it referenced elsewhere (re-reported). Sorry, cant recall exactly.

Quoting Echarmion
Isn't it entirely possible it's mostly lies, and claiming it's anything else is "muddying the waters"? How could anyone possibly know with certainty which statements are intentional and which are accidental lies?


I dont know, and I didnt say anything about certainty did I? Im not someone who things many things can be certain.

Quoting Echarmion
Wait. You just said how very important it is to distinguish between lies, repeating nonsense, hyperbole etc. And here you are, claiming all they do is lie. Why don't you apply your own standard to them and try to analyse each statement in detail?


I didnt say all they do is lie. Is that what you read in the part you quoted? I said “they lie”. If I say “they sleep” does that mean thats all they do? Lol
I love how you started with”Wait”. Lol. Was that a big gotchya moment?
And I do apply the same standard to them. I try to apply the same standards to everyone, where context permits of course.

Echarmion March 28, 2020 at 20:56 #397156
Quoting DingoJones
I didnt say all they do is lie. Is that what you read in the part you quoted? I said “they lie”. If I say “they sleep” does that mean thats all they do? Lol


Regardless, you failed to specify. You went straight from "it's not 100% accurate" to "it's a lie". Yet you complained that all of Trumps inaccurate statements are treated as lies. That seems like a double standard to me.

Quoting DingoJones
Anyway, I watch CNN too. I dont hate CNN. I realise now that I should have been more clear about how general I was being, its not CNN constantly spreading misinformation, its the media in general.


It seems a very odd hill to choose to die on. Most media outlets have some political bias. Almost all of them have a significant economic bias. There are plenty stories that go unheard or are badly mangled by the media. When it comes to inaccuracies in major news outlets, Trump is the last thing I'd worry about. The misrepresentations about Trump are just incredibly minor compared to some of the other shit that goes on.
DingoJones March 28, 2020 at 21:26 #397162
Quoting Echarmion
Regardless, you failed to specify. You went straight from "it's not 100% accurate" to "it's a lie". Yet you complained that all of Trumps inaccurate statements are treated as lies. That seems like a double standard to me.


It only seems like a double standard because of your low reading comprehension. Ive already explained this failure on your part but evidently you didnt understand that either.

Quoting Echarmion
It seems a very odd hill to choose to die on. Most media outlets have some political bias. Almost all of them have a significant economic bias. There are plenty stories that go unheard or are badly mangled by the media. When it comes to inaccuracies in major news outlets, Trump is the last thing I'd worry about. The misrepresentations about Trump are just incredibly minor compared to some of the other shit that goes on.


Its not a hill im dying on, not all opinions, comments or disagreements are hills to die upon. Get a grip.
Anyway, last word is yours, we are done here.
NOS4A2 March 28, 2020 at 21:31 #397163
Reply to DingoJones

I think the exact terminology was that trump was “bragging about sexual assault”. This isn’t true, but it no less was the dogma at the time and likely still is.
DingoJones March 28, 2020 at 22:22 #397166
Reply to NOS4A2

Right, and it was repeated and exaggerated. Thats an example of spreading falsehoods in my books.
Monitor March 28, 2020 at 22:38 #397171
Quoting DingoJones
Right, and it was repeated and exaggerated. Thats an example of spreading falsehoods in my books.


Right. So when there is smoke there is not necessarily fire. It could be something else. Or perhaps there is no smoke that you can see. Or maybe there is not enough smoke . Any consideration of there being a fire should be rejected as rash speculation because other possibilities exist.
DingoJones March 28, 2020 at 22:50 #397172
Reply to Monitor

Non-sequitor, i was providing an example of news spreading falsehoods about Trump not a reference to Trumps character. Im not rejecting anything as rash speculation, nor suggesting anyone else do so. This was actually addressed above anyway, if you're following along.
Monitor March 28, 2020 at 23:14 #397178
Okay. Wrong spot in the conversation.
Relativist March 29, 2020 at 02:04 #397207
Quoting DingoJones
If at any time they didn't play that important part of the recording for context it was a falsehood. It gives the condemnable words context, and without them it sounds worse. Leaving it out so it sounds worse is spreading a falsehood.

Right...the words taken out of context sound worse than warranted by in the context of his total conversation. And that conversation just sounds like an anomaly if you ignore the context of his general behavior toward women.

No one got a false impression about Trump's character. Trumpists like you nitpick to avoid confronting that reality. Trump is a rude, arrogant, mysogynist asshole. Embrace the policies you like, but stop fooling yourself about his character.
DingoJones March 29, 2020 at 04:35 #397231
Reply to Relativist

See it really seems like a blind spot for you, and Im not trying to be a prick. Im a Trumpist?! I imagine we mostly agree on what kind of character the man shows, had you bothered to ask. How could you know im fooling myself about his character when Ive expressed so very little about it? Sorry, but I think you are assuming alot about me just because I noticed that media, including CNN, have spread falsehoods about Trump.
Honestly, Im not trying to be antagonistic but thats fairly well out of line to call me a Trumpist. You have no real basis for that claim, except that we apparently disagree the news has spread falsehoods about Trump. So ask yourself why you made these baseless assumptions, and how it might be a problem when discussing this topic.
Anyway, I think my original point still stands.
I like sushi March 29, 2020 at 05:57 #397241
I’m curious what your views are here on ‘lockdowns’ and NY without any emotional baggage attached (if possible?)

Just curious because if you take a brief look across the Atlantic ‘lockdowns’ are not exactly being touted as a terrible idea.

Remember ‘a broken clock is correct twice a day’.
Metaphysician Undercover March 29, 2020 at 12:16 #397298
Quoting tim wood
You-all are pigs. But you want to be in the parlor.


Animal Farm:
A Fairy Story.
Deleted User March 29, 2020 at 16:59 #397332
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Deleted User March 29, 2020 at 18:35 #397350
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
unenlightened March 30, 2020 at 12:04 #397548
I really think there is no depth of depravity to which the man will not descend.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/trump-blames-hospitals-for-coronavirus-mask-shortages.html
Deleted User March 30, 2020 at 12:33 #397551
Quoting tim wood
And our - my - Duh! move is to keep trying to educate them.


"It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into."

-Unknown, sometimes attributed to Swift
Deleted User March 30, 2020 at 12:35 #397554
Quoting tim wood
will either kill you or make you yourself poison.


"The darkness knows neither the light nor itself; only the light knows itself and the darkness also."

George Macdonald
Relativist March 31, 2020 at 01:21 #397677
Inspiring words from our beloved leader:

[I]"President Trump is a ratings hit. Since reviving the daily White House briefing Mr. Trump and his coronavirus updates have attracted an average audience of 8.5 million on cable news, roughly the viewership of the season finale of ‘The Bachelor.’ Numbers are continuing to rise..."[/i]
-- March 29, Trump's twitter

No need to obsess on infection rates and the potential for overwhelming our healthcare system. Instead let's cheer his ratings success! Way to go, Donald!

Nobeernolife March 31, 2020 at 17:28 #397826
Quoting Echarmion
Nowhere in that video does it say that only CNN is allowed to read WikiLeaks. Is what the person is saying a lie? How about you go ahead and prove it? Or are you the liar here?

He says it is illegal for unwashed to read Wikileaks. But he at CNN can.

That video actually proves the protest wasn't staged. Only a specific view on the protest was created.

If you had seen the original raw footage (removed by Youtube) you would see the Hollywood production that CNN staged, complete with directions and pre-printed placards. Still the link I posted show some of it.

Sorry, dude, but that's just like, your opinion. Opinions aren't facts, and having one isn't lying. You got nothing here.

Nope, not an opinion. If you read the transcript, you clearly see that Trump was talking about good people on both sides of the monumet debate, not on both sides of the neonazi / antineonazi fights. This is a blatant lie by CNN, and one of the most despiccable ones.

Show me the report that said that Trump recommended drinking fish tank cleaner. Or the report saying the guy did exactly what Trump recommended. It's all just a narrative in your head.

An honest title would have been "2 idiots die from drinking fish tank cleaner". Instead of that, the fake media turned that into something like "people die from following Trumps Corona medicine recommendation" (not verbatim, but different variations of that). Trump had said that Hydroxychloroquinine could be a "game changer", which it is. He NEVER said people should drink fish tank desinfectant contining Chloroquininesulpate, with "NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION" printed on the package.


Nobeernolife March 31, 2020 at 17:36 #397831
Quoting DingoJones
I said they lie about Trump, and mischaracterise Trump. To use your term, they spread falsehoods. Thats what I interjected to discuss.
Your stance on Trump supporters is noted, but I am not a Trump supporter. I dont even live in the US.



I do not either, by the way, but the Trump hatred is pretty much the same among the Western globalist media. On a related note, a Rasmussen poll just showed that only democratic voters believe that most reporters are simply trying to report the news in a non-biased fashion. This is so not surprising!
Nobeernolife March 31, 2020 at 17:39 #397833
Quoting praxis
So there was a group of protesters supporting the removal and a group against, and the neo-nazis just happened to be in the neighborhood attending a home decor tiki torch convention or something?


Stop wasting our time and read the transcript.
NOS4A2 March 31, 2020 at 17:44 #397836
I don’t think these people should be fired over these social media posts, but their rhetoric gives a clear window into the soul of anti-trumpism.

NY health care executive fired over posts on coronavirus and Trump supporters

In a conversation with Hauptman Woodward Medical Research Institute Director of Development Lisa LaTrovato, Krolczyk wrote, "Trump supporters need to pledge to give up their ventilators for someone else ... and not go to the hospital."

In response, LaTrovato wrote, "I think they should be the only ones in packed churches on Sunday," to which Krolczyk replied, "They should barricade themselves in there and ride this out."


praxis March 31, 2020 at 19:13 #397861
Reply to Nobeernolife

It was a neo-nazi and white supremacist rally organized by Richard Spencer and Jason Kessler. To say that there are good people on both sides is to say that these are good people.

User image

Trump is unable to condemn part of his base. It’s just that simple, I’m afraid.
Echarmion March 31, 2020 at 19:18 #397862
Quoting Nobeernolife
He says it is illegal for unwashed to read Wikileaks. But he at CNN can.


No. He says it's illegal to own classified documents. Which may well be true. Unless you can prove its false - not a lie.

Quoting Nobeernolife
If you had seen the original raw footage (removed by Youtube) you would see the Hollywood production that CNN staged, complete with directions and pre-printed placards. Still the link I posted show some of it.


Isn't it convenient that your supposed evidence is removed? Anyways the guy in the interview you linked confirms there was actually a protest ongoing. I am just applying your own standards here - not a lie.

Quoting Nobeernolife
Nope, not an opinion. If you read the transcript, you clearly see that Trump was talking about good people on both sides of the monumet debate, not on both sides of the neonazi / antineonazi fights. This is a blatant lie by CNN, and one of the most despiccable ones.


I did read the transcript. Just before he makes the comment, he talks about "the left" attacking "the other group". It's a matter of interpretation what he was talking about, but it certainly makes sense to assume that "both sides" here means "the left" and "the other side" fighting on that particular day. Your interpretation isn't fact. It's not a lie just because you disagree.

Quoting Nobeernolife
An honest title would have been "2 idiots die from drinking fish tank cleaner". Instead of that, the fake media turned that into something like "people die from following Trumps Corona medicine recommendation" (not verbatim, but different variations of that). Trump had said that Hydroxychloroquinine could be a "game changer", which it is.


So? The media uses headlines that get attention. All the media does it. The headlines weren't lies, they just used [I] hyperbole [/I]. According to you, that makes it alright.

Quoting Nobeernolife
He NEVER said people should drink fish tank desinfectant contining Chloroquininesulpate, with "NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION" printed on the package.


I guess if you had an article from, say, CNN stating "Trump literally encouraging people to drink fish tank disinfectant", you'd have a point. But you don't, do you?

Isn't it frustrating when your own bullshit comes back to bite you?
Nobeernolife March 31, 2020 at 19:45 #397866
Quoting Echarmion
I did read the transcript. Just before he makes the comment, he talks about "the left" attacking "the other group". It's a matter of interpretation what he was talking about, but it certainly makes sense to assume that "both sides" here means "the left" and "the other side" fighting on that particular day. Your interpretation isn't fact. It's not a lie just because you disagree.


He said:
"And you had people -- and I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists -- because they should be condemned totally. But you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists. Okay? And the press has treated them absolutely unfairly."

So clearly you did not not read the transcript. Well, maybe making fake claims if par for the course for believers of the fake media. Anyway, I am not your babysitter. Do your own homework. Just stop lying.
Echarmion March 31, 2020 at 20:09 #397875
Quoting Nobeernolife
He said:
"And you had people -- and I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists -- because they should be condemned totally. But you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists. Okay? And the press has treated them absolutely unfairly."

So clearly you did not not read the transcript. Well, maybe making fake claims if par for the course for believers of the fake media. Anyway, I am not your babysitter. Do your own homework. Just stop lying.


Yes, he did. As an answer to a different question, talking about a different group. After making the "both sides" statement. Which of course I would not know, had I not read the transcript. You're flailing around now. Your initial claim was CNN was lying. Now it's "well but Trump also said". Makes you look pretty weak.
Nobeernolife March 31, 2020 at 20:15 #397876
Quoting Echarmion
Yes, he did. As an answer to a different question, talking about a different group. After making the "both sides" statement. Which of course I would not know, had I not read the transcript. You're flailing around now. Your initial claim was CNN was lying. Now it's "well but Trump also said". Makes you look pretty weak.


The "both sides" refers to pro and anti statue. And I don´t know how much clearer you can get than "and I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists".

I would have made a snarky remark about your reading comprehension, but after watching a few of Dr. Karlyn Borysenko video, I am starting to understand the TDS sufferers better. With your distorted filter, you really do see a different world than those of us who are not afflicted. Hope you get better sometime.
Echarmion March 31, 2020 at 20:22 #397880
Quoting Nobeernolife
The "both sides" refers to pro and anti statue.


No it doesn't. But we both know we can play this game forever, since you cannot prove that is what he meant, and neither can I. Unfortunately for you, you made the initial claim that CNN was lying, a claim you have failed to defend.

Quoting Nobeernolife
I would have made a snarky remark about your reading comprehension, but after watching a few of Dr. Karlyn Borysenko video, I am starting to understand the TDS sufferers better. With your distorted filter, you really do see a different world than those of us who are not afflicted. Hope you get better sometime.


You know, the funny thing is that I knew perfectly well you'd pick up that one line about what Trump meant and try to debate me on it. I wondered if I should delete it, because it'd just give you an opportunity to change the topic to something where you can at least make some semblance of a plausible argument. But I figured you'd focus on it regardles, because clearly the injustice burns brightly in your heart. Talk about derangement syndrome.

Anyways, just as a reminder: You didn't manage to defend any of your other supposed "lies" either. Perhaps you'd need to be more strict about truth and falsehood, but then of course a lot of the stuff Trump does would suddenly no longer be defensible...
Nobeernolife March 31, 2020 at 20:41 #397882
Quoting Echarmion
Anyways, just as a reminder: You didn't manage to defend any of your other supposed "lies" either.


Your sophistry does not turn lies into true statements.

On a related note, I am just reading that opinion research shows that only democratic voters believe that most reporters are simply trying to report the news in a non-biased fashion.

I am NOT surprised....

https://t.co/NDMKltU8Su

Deleted User March 31, 2020 at 20:57 #397884
Quoting Nobeernolife
a related note, I am just reading that opinion research shows that only democratic voters believe that most reporters are simply trying to report the news in a non-biased fashion.


Nowhere in the link you provided does it say a word about Democrat v. Republican voters. Can you provide a Rasmussen quote for non-subscribers?
Echarmion March 31, 2020 at 21:03 #397885
Quoting Nobeernolife
Your sophistry does not turn lies into true statements.


And your continued lack of a substantive response speaks for itself.

But yes, I was doing sophistry. I think it did a fine job of illustrating the absurdity of your standards for truth and lies. Also I won, which [I]is[/I] nice.

Quoting Nobeernolife
I am NOT surprised....


And I am not surprised you repeatedly post the same thing because you apparently are so happy about it.
Nobeernolife March 31, 2020 at 21:37 #397890
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
Nowhere in the link you provided does it say a word about Democrat v. Republican voters. Can you provide a Rasmussen quote for non-subscribers?


You can see a snapshot of the relevant question on the Rasmussen Twatter page, unless the censors have removed it already:
https://twitter.com/Rasmussen_Poll/status/1244240182930550784
Baden March 31, 2020 at 22:16 #397898
Reply to Nobeernolife

Specifically only in relation to Trump and specifically in relation to helping to block or pass his agenda. Hardly a surprise that more Republicans think the media is trying to block Trump's agenda, is it? So this:

Quoting Nobeernolife
On a related note, I am just reading that opinion research shows that only democratic voters believe that most reporters are simply trying to report the news in a non-biased fashion.


is a lie. You presented no evidence for the above. But this is typical of the right-wing Reddit brigade, lie, lie, lie and then blame CNN and the MSM for spreading fake news.

What's even worse about this lie is that according to the very same research you now linked to, a plurality of Dems don't trust the political news they are getting, which strongly implies that in general, they don't believe that most reporters are simply trying to report the news in a non-biased fashion. Exactly the opposite of your claim.




Relativist March 31, 2020 at 22:27 #397900
Reply to Baden Reply to Nobeernolife
The wording in the survey was problematic. These 2 questions were asked:
[i]1* Do you trust the political news you are getting?

2* When they write or talk about President Trump, are most reporters trying to help the president pass his agenda, block the president from passing his agenda, or are they simply interested in reporting the news in an unbiased manner?[/i]

Consider a Democrat who believes political news reporting is not fully trustworthy. (answers "no" to the first question), but does not believe "most reporters" are either helping to pass, nor helping to block, Trump's agenda AND they believe there is some bias in the media.

There's plenty of bias in the media, in both political directions but also in terms of sensationalism. That bias toward sensationalism helped Trump get elected: every bombastic thing he said as a candidated received air-time.
Baden March 31, 2020 at 22:41 #397905
Reply to Relativist

It's a stupidly worded survey. But it's not too difficult to disentangle the two questions.

A. The first is a general question and the second is specifically about Trump.
B. The first asks about whether the news is trustworthy in a general sense. The second asks about pro and anti-Trump bias for the specific purposes of passing or blocking Trump's agenda.

There is zero issue with not trusting political news in general but not believing that most reporters are actively trying to block or pass Trump's agenda.

For example:

1) It's possible to mistrust the majority of political news but still trust the majority of news about Trump.
2) It's possible to mistrust the majority of news and mistrust the majority of news about Trump but still not believe that the majority of journalists are actively biased one way or the other against Trump.
3) It's possible to mistrust the majority of news and mistrust the majority of news about Trump and even believe that the majority of journalists are actively biased one way or the other against Trump, but still not believe that they are trying to help block or pass his agenda.

Etc.
Deleted User March 31, 2020 at 23:30 #397919
Deleted User April 04, 2020 at 04:40 #399076
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Merkwurdichliebe April 07, 2020 at 03:34 #399745
Quoting tim wood
What a disgusting person. I am persuaded that the only proper fate for Trump is indictment, arrest, trial - by all means acquit if he's committed no crimes! - conviction, forfeiture of all assets if he has any, and hanging. I believe he is a traitor and that he betrays his country almost hourly. There was a time this country tore itself apart over presidents and generals who lost 50,000 lives in an unnecessary SE Asian war. Now a feckless, vicious, incompetent, self-serving criminal of a president through his lies, racism, greed, immaturity - you name it - will have on his hands the blood of hundreds of thousands of people who died unnecessarily because of his decisions and non-decisions ... The US, on the other hand, is not managing and has not managed. What's the difference? Donald Trump. Got a friend or relative that's sick, dying, or has died. Thank you, Donald Trump. Thank you for destroying our capability in terms of anticipatory planning and action. Thank you for your lies and misdirection. Thank you for your deliberate ignorance. Thank you for making clear to us the citizens of this country that the federal government has no responsibilities and that you personally have no responsibility, but rather it's all states' business. Thank you for corrupting the medical equipment supply chain, channeling it all to profiteers. Thank you for putting your incompetent son-in-law in charge of that behind the other incompetent, Pence. Thank you for making it completely clear that the only thing that matters to you is you. Thank you for firing every responsible and ethical professional career public servant you can get your hands on and replacing them, if you replace them at all, with your ghoulish associates. Thank you for showing us that your utter evil and corruption corrupts and ruins everything it touches. And you know what's worse? 20-odd million Americans voted for you.


Stop filibustering, tell us what you really think of Trump
Deleted User April 07, 2020 at 04:15 #399749
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Merkwurdichliebe April 07, 2020 at 04:23 #399751
Quoting tim wood
Words fail me.


Me too buddy, me too.
unenlightened April 07, 2020 at 11:39 #399799
Quoting Merkwurdichliebe
Words fail me.
— tim wood

Me too buddy, me too.


Time for a song from the auld country, then.

Merkwurdichliebe April 07, 2020 at 18:37 #399909
Deleted User April 12, 2020 at 22:01 #401247
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Relativist April 14, 2020 at 01:08 #401602
OMG, what an f-ing moron!:

“For the purpose of creating conflict and confusion, some in the Fake News Media are saying that it is the Governors decision to open up the states, not that of the President of the United States & the Federal Government. Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect....” Mr Trump wrote on Twitter. “...It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons.”

Baden April 14, 2020 at 01:42 #401611
Reply to Relativist

Never mind about the dead people, Trump's dick is bigger than the governors' dicks. Everything got that? Ok, carry on.
Punshhh April 15, 2020 at 07:26 #401974
Reply to Baden Trump showered himself in glory lastnight.
Benkei April 15, 2020 at 12:04 #402032
Is it true the 1200 USD cheques were delayed because Trump wanted his name printed on it?
Metaphysician Undercover April 15, 2020 at 12:18 #402038
Reply to Benkei
Let him sign each one of them! That might keep him out of trouble for a while.
NOS4A2 April 15, 2020 at 14:56 #402082


Steele Dossier Disinformation Update

New evidence that the FBI was duped by Russian intelligence.

Russia interfered in America’s 2016 election, as several government reports have established. The latest disturbing news is that Russia may have received an assist from no less than the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

That’s the takeaway of newly released portions of last year’s Department of Justice Inspector General report about the FBI’s investigation into Trump-Russia collusion. That report showed how the FBI abused its powers by misleading a secret court into granting surveillance warrants on the Trump campaign.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/steele-dossier-disinformation-update-11586897258


Footnotes in watchdog report indicate FBI knew of risk of Russian disinformation in Steele dossier

The FBI was warned sections of the controversial Steele dossier could have been part of a "Russian disinformation campaign to denigrate U.S. foreign relations," according to newly declassified footnotes from a government watchdog report.


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/footnotes-in-watchdog-report-indicate-fbi-knew-of-risk-of-russian-disinformation-in-the-steele-dossier/

Not looking good for the FBI and Russian collusion conspiracy theorists.
neonspectraltoast April 15, 2020 at 15:53 #402103
It was really disturbing to hear Trump speak recently of total authority. Obviously a deadly precedent.
NOS4A2 April 15, 2020 at 16:13 #402107
Reply to neonspectraltoast

It’s the art of the deal. “Never take anything off the table”. Trump likes to tout his power and authority for leverage and ambiguity in deal making. His actions prove otherwise in this instance. He has operated according to federalist principles: supporting the states in their efforts, providing funds and assets where needed.
neonspectraltoast April 15, 2020 at 16:17 #402110
Reply to NOS4A2

He said he has total authority, though. He is very deluded.
Baden April 15, 2020 at 16:20 #402111
Reply to neonspectraltoast

Just a couple of days ago he was saying the exact opposite, that he doesn't, because of the constitution. It's all just bullshit. He doesn't know what he's saying or what he means. He's just a child.

NOS4A2 April 15, 2020 at 16:21 #402112
Reply to neonspectraltoast

That’s certainly debatable.
neonspectraltoast April 15, 2020 at 16:22 #402113
Of course he has to act within accordance of the constitution. If he didn't he's be removed from office. But precedence has power over any document. It's about what people will accept. And the Donald is making an effort to get us to accept things we shouldn't.
praxis April 15, 2020 at 16:36 #402117
Quoting NOS4A2
It’s the art of the deal. “Never take anything off the table”. Trump likes to tout his power and authority for leverage and ambiguity in deal making.


It’s the Art of The Con, and you appear to have bought it hook, line, and sinker.
NOS4A2 April 15, 2020 at 16:47 #402118
[reply="neonspectraltoast;402113]

It is chilling to know that the president has powers not even congress knows about. Trump could be referring to those. Let’s hope we do not see them during this crisis.

Presidential emergency action documents emerged during the Eisenhower administration as a set of plans to provide for continuity of government after a Soviet nuclear attack. Over time, they were expanded to include proposed responses to other types of emergencies. As described in one declassified government memorandum, they are designed “to implement extraordinary presidential authority in response to extraordinary situations.”


https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/opinion/trump-coronavirus-emergency-powers.html
NOS4A2 April 15, 2020 at 16:48 #402119
Reply to praxis

I’m pretty sure you’ve used that one before.
Michael April 15, 2020 at 17:10 #402121
Quoting neonspectraltoast
Of course he has to act within accordance of the constitution. If he didn't he's be removed from office.


That's naive. The Republicans in the Senate would turn a blind eye just as they've already done.
Michael April 15, 2020 at 17:13 #402122
Quoting NOS4A2
It is chilling to know that the president has powers not even congress knows about. Trump could be referring to those. Let’s hope we do not see them during this crisis.


This doesn't make any sense. The President has whatever powers the Constitution and the laws allow, and there are no secret laws or secret parts of the Constitution. The Eisenhower administration can't have just made up new powers.
neonspectraltoast April 15, 2020 at 17:13 #402123
Oh, he would be removed. And so would they. If by force if necessary.
NOS4A2 April 15, 2020 at 17:31 #402128
Reply to Michael

I was just relaying the article. Are there such powers? I don’t know.

More from the article:

The past few weeks have given Americans a crash course in the powers that federal, state and local governments wield during emergencies. We’ve seen businesses closed down, citizens quarantined and travel restricted. When President Trump declared emergencies on March 13 under both the Stafford Act and the National Emergencies Act, he boasted, “I have the right to do a lot of things that people don’t even know about.”

The president is right. Some of the most potent emergency powers at his disposal are likely ones we can’t know about, because they are not contained in any publicly available laws. Instead, they are set forth in classified documents known as “presidential emergency action documents.”

These documents consist of draft proclamations, executive orders and proposals for legislation that can be quickly deployed to assert broad presidential authority in a range of worst-case scenarios. They are one of the government’s best-kept secrets. No presidential emergency action document has ever been released or even leaked. And it appears that none has ever been invoked.



praxis April 15, 2020 at 17:33 #402130
Reply to NOS4A2 Speaking of con jobs, did you see the campaign ad that he aired during a coronavirus briefing the other day?



When a reporter pointedly asked who made the ad, Trump replied that it was made by a few people in his administration, apparently oblivious to the fact that it’s illegal to use public resources for campaign purposes.
NOS4A2 April 15, 2020 at 17:36 #402131
Reply to praxis

Yeah, it was awesome. It’s a lazy stretch to say it was a campaign ad. Government propaganda? Perhaps.
Michael April 15, 2020 at 17:38 #402133
These documents consist of draft proclamations, executive orders and proposals for legislation that can be quickly deployed to assert broad presidential authority in a range of worst-case scenarios.


The government can plan any executive orders it likes but they'd be invalid unless "authorized by the Constitution or laws of the United States"[sup]1[/sup]

And having proposals for legislation that Congress doesn't know about doesn't mean anything. They'd have to be put forward to Congress and voted on for them to apply and at that point they'd be powers that Congress knows about and have granted.

[sup]1[/sup] Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952)
praxis April 15, 2020 at 17:38 #402134
Reply to NOS4A2

Campaign ad, propaganda... potato, potato.
NOS4A2 April 15, 2020 at 17:44 #402138
Reply to Michael

I don’t know if that’s the case or not without seeing the classified documents.
NOS4A2 April 15, 2020 at 17:45 #402139
Reply to praxis

Again, a lazy stretch.
ernestm April 15, 2020 at 18:05 #402142
Its all my fault. I should never have invented Twitter. Really people should just ignore the man. Instead a gigantic proportion of the USA population have taken to emulating his insults etc thinking its funny. Or they are even more insane and take him seriously. He just tries to aggravate people on purpose and make fights so he drowns out everything else. I got so fed up with people playing partisan politics instead of pulling together in the face of a global health crisis, I am just taking myself offline entirely. I deleted my websterver, and social media accounts first. Next I am closing down all my site registrations. No one has had a sane conversation with me here since Trump got in. Im closing this account next. At least the democrats made a failed impeachment to stop him starting a nuclear war, turns out it was not necessary, but it was a good gesture.

Good bye.
praxis April 15, 2020 at 18:11 #402144
Benkei April 15, 2020 at 18:28 #402150
Reply to NOS4A2 From the December report that concluded the FBI was justified in its investigation. So it's neither news nor important.
NOS4A2 April 15, 2020 at 18:39 #402155
Reply to Benkei

From the December report that concluded the FBI was justified in its investigation. So it's neither news nor important.


It was just declassified. And it shows the FBI knew Steele was perhaps dealing in Russian disinformation, which I suspect you believed. So yes it is news, and yes it is important.
Benkei April 15, 2020 at 18:46 #402158
Reply to NOS4A2 No, it isn't because the person asked to investigate it already concluded that they were justified in their investigation and he had that information. So it doesn't change a thing and isn't news. The FBI was made aware so they were aware (and probably took that into account in their assessment) but the Steele dossier wasn't the only lead. George Papadopoulos opened his mouth first in March 2016. The Steele dossier is from June 2016 and later.

So yeah, as usual you fail to see the forest for the trees.
NOS4A2 April 15, 2020 at 19:28 #402164
Reply to Benkei

Horowitz has no power of subpoena, so based on what they told him, sure that is the case. Durham, who does have the power and who is by now deep into the investigation, disagreed. So once again you’re setting yourself up for failure.
ssu April 15, 2020 at 20:49 #402184
Quoting praxis
When a reporter pointedly asked who made the ad, Trump replied that it was made by a few people in his administration, apparently oblivious to the fact that it’s illegal to use public resources for campaign purposes.

Trump has always been oblivious to a lot of things. Like that the FBI has as one of it's core missions to keep a watch on the actions of hostile foreign intelligence services in US. Who could have known?
VagabondSpectre April 15, 2020 at 22:02 #402203
I voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces party because that's what the founders would have wanted. The current leopard is a highly successful face-eater. People are just jealous of his spots.

Several weeks later:

I never thought that leopards would eat MY face!!!!

For some laughs
Relativist April 16, 2020 at 00:28 #402270
Quoting NOS4A2
He has operated according to federalist principles: supporting the states in their efforts, providing funds and assets where needed.

Trump claims that he has absolute authority over Governors. How is that consistent with federalist principles?

Federalism does not serve us well in this pandemic. Consider the ventilator problem: if each state is on its own, this creates two problems: 1) the states compete with each other for a scarce resource, ensuring winners and losers, and driving up the price.2) each state has to manage for its own peak needs. Add together 50 peak requirements is bound to be considerably higher than the national peak, because the peaks will not be concurrent.
NOS4A2 April 16, 2020 at 00:41 #402275
Reply to Relativist

It’s the art of the deal. “Never take anything off the table”. Trump likes to tout his power and authority for leverage and ambiguity in deal making. His actions prove otherwise in this instance. He has operated according to federalist principles: supporting the states in their efforts, providing funds and assets where needed.

Federalism does not serve us well in this pandemic. Consider the ventilator problem: if each state is on its own, this creates two problems: 1) the states compete with each other for a scarce resource, ensuring winners and losers, and driving up the price.2) each state has to manage for its own peak needs. Add together 50 peak requirements is bound to be considerably higher than the national peak, because the peaks will not be concurrent.


I think you’re probably right on that. A federalist government does not serve us well in this pandemic. All the more reason why we should not depend on the federal government and expect more from our state governments.


ernestm April 16, 2020 at 01:53 #402292
Well I had to think about it, but it seems obvious now, the WORST consequence of Trump has been granting the moral permission to be rude about other people all the time.

Apparently most people havent noticed, that unless people are asking for money, virtually all people do online is insult others these days, except one minor exception: publicity media fan groups and party political groups, in which, unless one totally agrees with everything presented, one gets banned. Either one is not allowed to argue at all or no one is interested unless you're rude.

It used not to be like this. People used to be able to talk kindly to each other even when they disagreed. It just seems not to be possible any more. Just about anywhere about anything, including here. The most annoying thing is, even people who dont like Trump are behaving just like him too, so its difficult for a rational person to do anything.

Well that was my final thought. I have respiratory health problems, quite alot of pain, and probably will not be around much longer. My family are delighted. They call to find out if I am dead yet so they can get my estate, so now I have to hire an attorney to protect myself from my family too. I was thinking of shortening the process by suicide but thankfully it appears covid19 will do that for me. Apparenlly alot of people have real probllems accepting death is a natural part of life. I thought forums like this were meant to help with that kind of thing, but they've just become about bashing other people. t. Hope you all have a very nice day.
VagabondSpectre April 16, 2020 at 02:38 #402296
Reply to ernestm You should try and moderate the information (especially from social media) that you are consuming. Many threads on this site are filled with exchanges of ridicule, and I'm sure facebook and twitter users are presently brimming with mutual and righteous indignation as well.

Sit around digesting this stuff all day and you're going to become stressed. If it is calm interaction you're after, find or create an intentionally quiet corner, and ask for reciprocity when and where necessary.(the tone of your own posts can easily determine the nature of responses).

This is one of the most stressful periods in human history in terms of absolute numbers. Never before have so many molecules of cortisol flowed through the veins of this many great apes. Obviously this is going to go to our heads; before deciding one's self rational, it's perhaps relevant to consider how experimental and fragile our rationality is in the first place.

I'm sorry to hear about your present state of depression though. I wish you a nice day as well...
ernestm April 16, 2020 at 03:10 #402304
Reply to VagabondSpectre well, considering there are going to be about 22 million people unemployed this week, I had thought at least a significant percentage of people would think, hey great, now I can read that book I always wanted to read. I havent seen anything like that at all. All the frontiers of change are pretty well used up, and the people who could have done something about it, like the people who are running companies, have not shown any responsibility to maintaining their corporate communities. they regard paying for retirement a responsibility of their employees, and have no cash reserves to keep employees on payroll during difficult times. Instead its all ended up in stock, which has greatly benefited executives, but not really provided any sense of community to the rest. What I observe is a reversion to tribal attitudes with employees treated as virtual and disposable slaves, who then find their own tribes and bicker with each other about how wrong theyve been treated but not agreeing what to do about it. And a total abscission of responsibility for global warming in the USA, which now appears the only significant remaining force for change.

When I got a Commodore 64 at 21,. I saw enormlus potential, and it was true, clock speeds went from 5mhz to multiple ghz while I was working, creating enormous changes in society. But now it feels like everything is exactly the same as two recessions ago, like a vinyl record stuck on a groove, except theres more people who dont know what to do with themselves and the world has to keep inventing new things for them to do. Security and the war against terrorism worked for a while, but now we pretty much ran out of terrorists too. and people, pressed against the walls of life by their own vacuity, are reverting to infighting and increasingly hostile tribal behavior. And the problem I see is, there is nothing, nothing at all, to reverse the trend for the si gnificant majoroity. Thats what I observe. I have taken my blog offline, no one did anything except make rude jokes about headlines, and canceled my other social media accounts/.

I would suggest a reading group here, but Im sad to say someone else would have to run it. Im not really good at moderating all this tribal behavior. I always found I could rely on other people to do that before, but now it seems there isnt anyone left who can do that, everyone's got sucked into this 'they are wrong, what fools they are, and how right I am jajajaja' thing.
Benkei April 16, 2020 at 04:44 #402317
Reply to NOS4A2 Oooh. We got an answer we didn't like so let's have another investigation. Let's do the same with Trump shall we?

Hypocrisy again.
Relativist April 16, 2020 at 05:46 #402326
Quoting NOS4A2
He has operated according to federalist principles: supporting the states in their efforts, providing funds and assets where needed.

He was not supporting the states when he said it was entirely their responsibility to obtain ventilators they felt they needed. He later complained that some governors were asking for too many. It's not because anyone's stupid, it's because everyone's on their own in trying to figure out how to estimate their needs. The smart thing would have been to take on a coordination role as early as possible. The only thing he's done consistently from the beginning is to cast blame) and claim credit. At a time when strong, effective leadership is needed, he makes it about him.

Quoting NOS4A2
I think you’re probably right on that. A federalist government does not serve us well in this pandemic. All the more reason why we should not depend on the federal government and expect more from our state governments.

That sounds contradictory. I suggest that the lesson is that a dogmatic view of federalism is problematic. It may be best in some cases to leave things to the state, but this demonstrates there are other cases when it is not.





Benkei April 16, 2020 at 05:50 #402328
Quoting ernestm
I would suggest a reading group here, but Im sad to say someone else would have to run it. Im not really good at moderating all this tribal behavior. I always found I could rely on other people to do that before, but now it seems there isnt anyone left who can do that, everyone's got sucked into this 'they are wrong, what fools they are, and how right I am jajajaja' thing.


There's a reading group already that you can join. And online discourse just isn't discourse 99% of the time. Especially in politics. I stick around for that 1%though.
Streetlight April 16, 2020 at 05:56 #402330
Government-loverboi NOS will be relived to hear that Trump just off-the-cuff mentioned the possibility of suspending congress. Not that Trump would do it because Mitch won't give him permission. Nonetheless, NOS will no doubt still remain a supporter for this State Leader and all-round cheerleader for big government, the Trump excreting relay machine that he is.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/banana-republic-trump-threatens-to-unilaterally-suspend-congress-20200416-p54kaq.html

This 'mention' of course coming from the piece of shit leader who left government positions vacant for months if not years and now wants to blame it on congress. Not unlike his move to blame the WHO for his own shitty job. Not that anyone should be surprised by his total avoidance of any responsibility at all. His equally piece of shit supporters will likely find excuses of too course, as they have been this whole time.
Michael April 16, 2020 at 08:03 #402359
Reply to StreetlightX

Seems like rubbish anyway.

...he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper..


They've already agreed on Jan 3rd being the adjournment date.

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/DatesofSessionsofCongress.htm
https://history.house.gov/Institution/Session-Dates/110-Current/
ernestm April 16, 2020 at 10:02 #402386
Reply to Benkei thanks fo rthe info. What's the subject?
Benkei April 16, 2020 at 11:41 #402404
Reply to ernestm https://thephilosophyforum.com/categories/16/reading-groups
Benkei April 16, 2020 at 12:51 #402413
User image
fdrake April 16, 2020 at 13:22 #402421
Reply to Benkei

I saw this in the related news the other day, "First ever iceberg wearing a bad wig found on large landmass situated between Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans".
Banno April 17, 2020 at 04:53 #402543
Old, but apt:
A very British opinion (and maybe a few other countries). Just to clear up any confusion.

"Someone on Quora asked "Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?" Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:
A few things spring to mind.
Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.
For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.
So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump's limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.
Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever.
I don't say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.
But with Trump, it's a fact. He doesn't even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.
Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.
And scarily, he doesn't just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.
There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It's all surface.
Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.
Well, we don't. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.
And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.
Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.
He's not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat.
He's more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.
And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: A bully.
That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.
There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.
So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think 'Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy' is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
· Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
· You don't need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.
This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.
After all, it's impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.
God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.
He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.
In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.
And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish:
'My God... what... have... I... created?
If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set"
Wayfarer April 17, 2020 at 05:27 #402545
ChrisH April 17, 2020 at 07:25 #402557
Reply to Banno Absolutely spot on.
Streetlight April 17, 2020 at 08:20 #402565
Reply to Banno To be honest I think it's deeply ingenuous to place the focus on Trump's personal failings. It's both a distraction from his politics - which in the end is all anyone should give a shit about - and more importantly, is premised upon the fantasy that if only a more 'competent, cultured and articulate' person were in office, everything would be better. It evinces a fundamental faith in the system, as though it would be working perfectly well if not only for this particular oaf that happens to be occupying the White House.

But it's precisely that faith which ought to be broken: the entire system is broken, and it's not simply because of this one man. Personalization is de-politicization and entrenches existing politics rather than arguing for a change.

Yet I think the worst is this: the disturbing classist overtones that saturate writing like that: "no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace" - i.e. Trump does not display the correct markers of class: well educated, articulate, polished, etc. Ultimately: 'Trump is not one of 'us' (who, by contrast, are articulate, witty, charming, etc)". Like, do people know what kind of privilege it takes to fit this image properly? And again - as if this were the issue. No one gave a shit when Obama blew up hospitals in the Middle-East because he was so charming.

Trump of course is a joke. But taking that joke seriously misses precisely the seriousness of the situation. Writing like that is self-affirming, feel-good cathartic fodder for middling liberals. The smell of self-satisfaction reeks off of it. It's a deeply shameful, embarrassing piece of writing that illuminates more about the writer than it does of Trump. As if anything written there is news to anyone - of course it's not. It's just libidinal, orgiastic discharge, nothing more.
unenlightened April 17, 2020 at 08:59 #402577
Quoting StreetlightX
To be honest I think it's deeply ingenuous to place the focus on Trump's personal failings. It's both a distraction from his politics - which in the end is all anyone should give a shit about - and more importantly, is premised upon the fantasy that if only a more 'competent, cultured and articulate' person were in office, everything would be better


Quoting StreetlightX
No one gave a shit when Obama blew up hospitals in the Middle-East because he was so charming.


Some of us did. Indeed a certain person of colour in my own household was extremely critical before that, on reading his rather weak autobiography. And it was based firmly on a judgement of character. The problem with any hierarchical system from monarchy to democracy is two-fold that kings, presidents advisors and functionaries can be incompetent and/or malicious. So the character of the person at the top is always significant, and in a democracy is more so intimately bound up with the character of the people.

And that is where I am critical.
[quote=an articulate and witty writer]Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.[/quote]

No they are not. They are a vicious, ignorant, and sentimental folk. Just like us. And we fall for the same kind of bloated bluff con man. Which is a deep fault of the culture, deeper than 'the system'.
Streetlight April 17, 2020 at 10:36 #402607
Quoting unenlightened
Which is a deep fault of the culture, deeper than 'the system'.


Culture is an object of social reproduction and does not spring ex nihilo out of nowhere. Culture is shallow, fragile and anemic, not deep, and it is all the more visciously defended and contested because of its shallowness. The person at the top is significant, but significant as a barometer, nothing more.
I like sushi April 17, 2020 at 11:46 #402613
Quoting StreetlightX
Not unlike his move to blame the WHO for his own shitty job.


To be fair the WHO fucked up in a huge way:

In this case, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus specifically discouraged any such measures.

“The WHO doesn’t recommend and actually opposes any restrictions for travel and trade or other measures against China,” he said, while praising China’s response to the outbreak. “If anyone is thinking about taking measures, it’s going to be wrong.”


https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1848369/china-travel-bans-spread-despite-who-advice

None of that is to say each government shouldn’t do their own investigations into the matter. That was the WHO’s position late Jan, early Feb - luckily many countries ignored them. I seem to remember China saying to Italy something along the lines of ‘Lockdown now. What you’re doing isn’t enough’.

That said, mistakes happen. When mistakes lead to tens of thousands of deaths then it seems tame to call it a ‘mistake’ given that the WHO should’ve been on top of this.


Metaphysician Undercover April 17, 2020 at 14:14 #402626
Quoting StreetlightX
No one gave a shit when Obama blew up hospitals in the Middle-East because he was so charming.


Actually there is a significant number of things which Obama did, that many Americans disagreed with, consequently tarnishing his image in their eyes. An important one was his sustained attack on whistleblowers through the use of the espionage act; culminating in the Snowden affair.
praxis April 17, 2020 at 15:46 #402639
Quoting StreetlightX
It's a deeply shameful, embarrassing piece of writing that illuminates more about the writer than it does of Trump.


Right, it was an explanation of why some Brits dislike the man, so of course it says a lot about the writer. It actually doesn’t illuminate anything about Trump. What the writer mentions has always been painfully obvious.
Deleted User April 17, 2020 at 16:17 #402650
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Deleted User April 17, 2020 at 17:14 #402671
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praxis April 17, 2020 at 17:16 #402672
Quoting tim wood
Dogs**t, ultimately, isn't funny or worth any more comment, time, or trouble than is needed to solve it as a problem. After all, finally, dogs**t is just dogshit.


It seems to me that the bigger problem is in how such a person could be elected. That problem won’t go away anytime soon, but meanwhile, it may serve a less than shameful purpose to express solidarity in our shared dislike of dogshit.
Metaphysician Undercover April 17, 2020 at 19:23 #402711
Quoting tim wood
Like what? Please educate?


Some times I really wonder about your capacity to read, tim wood. Why did you ask me this question? I gave you an example right there in the post which you replied to, and it wasn't a long post, like you might have skipped that part. The example was Obama's attack on whistle blowers, through the use of the espionage act. Google it if you are interested, and maybe in your research you'll uncover other things which Obama did that people were unhappy with. There's a problem with having high expectations for someone, and that is that you're bound to be let down, because no one's perfect.
Deleted User April 17, 2020 at 20:32 #402738
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Benkei April 17, 2020 at 20:39 #402741
Reply to tim wood Obama didn't close Guantanomo Bay. He expanded the war into Pakistan without approval from the Senate and Congress. I'm sure there's more but those are the ones that stand the most out for me.
Deleted User April 17, 2020 at 20:47 #402743
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Benkei April 17, 2020 at 22:20 #402771
Reply to tim wood Where was Bin Laden killed again? And that's not the only instance US forces were active in Pakistan. In fact they blew up their Pakistani allies by accident.
ssu April 17, 2020 at 23:14 #402786
Quoting tim wood
As to Pakistan, are you quite sure he expanded the war there? Please make your case. Because I'm pretty sure you don't know what you're writing about.


Quoting Benkei
In fact they blew up their Pakistani allies by accident.


The final straw came when an US air attack targeted and killed Pakistani border guards at Gora Prai. Pakistan refused after that (if I remember correctly) any supply routes going through their country or using their aerospace (and afterwards US forces in Afghanistan were supplied by air from Romania). Yet as this happened in 2008, I guess that it still was Dubya's administration. But these attacks (or incidents) where the US has killed Pakistani troops have continued during the Obama years with the deadliest incident happening in 2011. Between 2008-2012 as many as 42 Pakistani soldiers were killed by the US.


Deleted User April 17, 2020 at 23:28 #402791
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Banno April 17, 2020 at 23:36 #402795
Reply to StreetlightX Well, yes, the middle class luxuriant in me did reach a catharsis when this piece reappeared in my feed. The description of Trump is so delicious. And you are right to point out how ineffectual an ad hominem critique is in the face of the tragedy before us. Except that the failings listed for the man are the failings of the nation. Trump is the modern Leviathan, the "sovereign by institution", the Master fo the Deal, and as such he embodies the will of the people.

Hence White's piece, while superficial about Trump, is also a list of the failings of a culture.

There is much to praise in a culture with an unprecedented genius for innovation, and I watch the unfolding cataclysm with fascinated horror. If one would understand what went wrong, one might start by looking at the failings of the person chosen to embody that culture.
Streetlight April 18, 2020 at 01:12 #402820
Reply to I like sushi There's merit in that. It seems like the WHO were indeed initially too worried about stepping on China's toes (including a pathetic display where rather than even mention the name 'Taiwan' in an interview with a Taiwanese reporter, one of their senior advisors simply terminated the call - after pretending not to hear her) - a stance exacerbated by China's own cagey initial response to the outbreak, which included denying entry to WHO teams in mid-Jan.

Not that it would have mattered that much insofar as Trump repeatedly ignored the WHO even after the latter got their act together. Whatever the case, Trump's attack on the WHO has nothing to do with merit - as if anything he does is - and everything to do with looking for a scapegoat in order to better shift blame from Mr. I'm-Not-Reponsible-For-Anything-At-All.
Banno April 18, 2020 at 01:15 #402822
Reply to StreetlightX Well, now China can step in to the funding void Trump created. So cowing to them was quite forward thinking.
Streetlight April 18, 2020 at 01:16 #402824
Also, Obama is a war criminal who, like the current administration, served the interests of the rich and powerful - his shameful bailouts being repeated today - and an otherwise small-visioned politician whose crowning achivement was not to rock the neoliberal boat.
Metaphysician Undercover April 18, 2020 at 01:37 #402835
Quoting tim wood
On leaks, arguably illegal.


The legality of the acts is not the issue. The issue is whether some people who supported him disliked these activities.

Quoting tim wood
But you aver there were "a significant number of things" he did,


He applied the espionage act numerous times against whistleblowers.

Quoting tim wood
But you slide in weasel-like and with your rhetorical microscope find and without any accuracy at all proclaim the mote you find in his eye, overlooking the whole faggot in your own.


I happen to know two completely unacquainted people who cited this as something they did not like about Obama, people who otherwise liked him.

Quoting tim wood
To my way of thinking it all falls under the Big Lie. I'm calling you a Big Liar - not a good thing. Show me wrong.


What's there to show? Either you believe me that he turned off otherwise friendly faces with these actions, or you don't. If you don't believe me, I really don't care.



Banno April 18, 2020 at 01:58 #402848
Reply to StreetlightX How far back do we have to go to find a president who was not a war criminal? And why is that?

Quoting unenlightened
They are a vicious, ignorant, and sentimental folk. Just like us.


Streetlight April 18, 2020 at 02:10 #402855
Reply to Banno I dunno, I'm not super well versed in the American presidency. They probably all are, given that America has always been an imperial warmongering nation.
Deleted User April 18, 2020 at 02:15 #402857
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Baden April 18, 2020 at 02:20 #402861
Quoting Banno
How far back do we have to go to find a president who was not a war criminal?


Hoover.
Deleted User April 18, 2020 at 02:20 #402862
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Deleted User April 18, 2020 at 02:41 #402869
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Streetlight April 18, 2020 at 02:42 #402870
Reply to tim wood Get [####] you piece of [####]

Accuse me of racism again on the basis of a post that has nothing to do with race and I will [##############]
Deleted User April 18, 2020 at 04:09 #402895
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I like sushi April 18, 2020 at 04:11 #402896
Reply to StreetlightX Agreed. The capacity of WHO is very limited. Individual governments shouldn’t rely only on one source when it comes to such a crisis - and many didn’t.
Streetlight April 18, 2020 at 04:11 #402897
Reply to tim wood Nah [#####]. You don't get to accuse someone of racism on no basis and then pretend you want to have a level conversion. [######]
Deleted User April 18, 2020 at 04:44 #402906
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Streetlight April 18, 2020 at 05:05 #402911
Carter? Who at every turn did what he could to undermine the Sandinistas and pave the way for the Contras and their murderous regime? (Cemented by Reagan of course). Worth mentioning that Cater literally committed a war crime when flying Nicaraguan National Guard (who eventually become the Contras) out of the country under the banner of the Red Cross. The same Carter who effectively created the Mujahadeen which eventually became Al Qaeda and further along, ISIS? The same Carter who materially and financially assisted Sukarno as he slaughtered civilians in East Timor? Nah, Carter was a prick like the rest of them.

Lecture me about knowing my history. Wanker.
Benkei April 18, 2020 at 05:23 #402914
Reply to tim wood Ah, so you don't know how international law works.
Streetlight April 18, 2020 at 05:45 #402915
And in case anyone had any doubt about the small-minded anemia of the Obama administration:

"To his most hopeful followers, Obama’s unique gift was being able to turn soaring statements of principle into simple truths of politics, marrying a national inheritance of social movements from below to a plainspoken pragmatism from above. There was something to that view, but it never reckoned with the fact that Obama’s radicalism was, from the very beginning, bound up with a narrow notion of what politics was about. His was a vision less of power than of process, the culmination of twenty years of political theory journals where democracy was deliberation and deliberation was democracy. Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Reagan won election by promising to crush a systemic social malignancy: the slaveocracy, economic royalists, a parasitic class of liberal elites. Unlike these transformative presidents of left and right, Obama disavowed any structural transformations of society or the economy. Even when it came to race, as Obama’s most electrifying speech (on Jeremiah Wright) made clear, his vision of change was almost completely divorced from the social bases of power. His goal was to help both sides understand each other, to make our conversations better.

... As men and women watched their life savings go up in smoke and their homes disappear into foreclosure, Obama hailed the “power” of the market, declaring in his first inaugural address that capitalism’s capacity “to generate wealth and expand freedom” was “unmatched.” Encouraging free enterprise and rewarding individual initiative, he said in his 2013 State of the Union address, was the “unfinished task” of government. That was the positive vision. Just as often, he was reminding the left and reassuring the right of his belief in the limitations of government. Even as he affirmed his commitment to enforcing federal laws against discrimination, he was convinced “that a transformation of conscience and a genuine commitment to diversity on the part of the nation’s CEOs could bring about quicker results than a battalion of lawyers.” His famous phrase, “Hard things are hard,” which was made into a plaque he kept on his desk, was not a reference to the Affordable Care Act, as is commonly believed. According to top strategist David Axelrod, it was a reference to entitlement cuts, to Obama’s genuine desire to impose some kind of austerity on Social Security and Medicare in return for a deal with the Republicans on taxes and the debt. Thankfully, the Republicans refused it.

... Obama’s public philosophy: a moral minimalism that rendered him not so much ill-prepared for a fight with the Republicans as ideologically indisposed to the very idea of a fight. “Yes we can” was a sonorous but empty phrase: yes we can what? When Obama got concrete, he might stay in that register of grandness—there was that moment when the rise of the oceans would begin to slow, and so on—but more often than not he opted for unapologetic avowals of smallness. “The true genius of America,” he told the DNC in 2004, is “an insistence on small miracles; that we can tuck in our children at night and know that they are fed and clothed and safe from harm.” No one-off, that turn to the slight but simple truth of children being safe was a recurring theme of Obama’s presidency, arguably its epistemological ground. “There’s only one thing we can be sure of,” he said after Sandy Hook, “and that is the love that we have for our children. . . . The warmth of a small child’s embrace, that is true.” These were not just comforting words to a grief-stricken nation. They emanated from the idiom of bare life, the wariness of deep foundations that had come to characterize liberalism in the wake of the New Deal order and the end of the Cold War.

In retrospect, it seems obvious that such a smallness of vision could never withstand the largeness of the right. But, for Obama, opposing largeness with smallness was the point. In this age of Trump and Twitter, it’s easy to forget the exhaustion of the electorate after the foreign wars of Bush and the domestic wars of Rove. Obama was keenly attuned to it. Rather than depict the Republicans as revanchists, he chose to describe them as irresponsible and grandiose, reckless adventurers who fought extravagant wars they didn’t pay for and squandered a surplus they hadn’t earned. Theirs was a “politics of anything goes,” he said, a bacchanal of waste and war. They were dangerous and dumb and out of control; he was safe and smart and in control. After eight years of operatic conflict, the last thing Americans wanted was more. What they wanted was less. That’s what Obama promised them—action that was “imperfect,” victories that were “partial”—and no amount of Republican wilding would stop him from keeping that promise. Even if it meant the peace of a graveyard, the quiet of a tomb."

https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/the-obamanauts
Baden April 18, 2020 at 10:40 #402945
Reply to tim wood

Obama was a corporate tool and continued Bush's warmongering foreign policy. Street is right about Carter too. There is zero racial context to that. I mean you think we don't like Trump because he's orange?

I've said it before, but you are as misguided about Dems as Repubs are about Trump. The Dems and the Repubs are competing vendors in a political market where the product is political favors and the customers are monied interests. Obama previously won this competition for corporate money, hence his two election victories. Now the Repubs are back in the mix. The most egregious examples of this competition being the bailouts. Because Obama was cool and charming and had the Dem label plastered on his butt changes none of that.
ssu April 18, 2020 at 11:09 #402957
Quoting tim wood
What's the point of all of this? All I see is a pathetic attempt to validate Trump by besmirching anything and everything else, just like Trump.

No. It's you utter inability to understand that people can be critical of BOTH Trump AND the Democrats.

If you see that being critical about Obama / Bush is validating Trump, it is simply absurd. It's the common stupidity in juxtapositioning everything. It's genuinely all that you see.

Besides, I think that a President that gives an order to kill an under aged American citizen just because his father (also an American citizen) was a spokesperson for Al Qaeda (after being tortured in an Egyptian prison) is something to be critical about. And as the President has made the decision himself after Bush (as the CIA and the Armed Forces obviously wanted a 'free from jail card' for the extrajudicial killings), it can be said it's his decision. But that doesn't validate Trump at all. He is a weak, inept and likely extremely corrupt leader.

The fact that people opposed Bush in his extrajudicial and secret operations during "The War on Terror" is understandable, but that the same people then fell silent when Obama continued many of the same practices just show how these people had nothing else but partisan politics in their mind.
unenlightened April 18, 2020 at 13:05 #402987
But for sheer petty-minded vindictive nastiness, no one can beat the current administration.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/us-blocks-sale-ventilators-cuba-after-acquiring-medical-companies?fbclid=IwAR0F6xenKKXw1JMFR_9GLmiRtPQWmqrl9buOwzbnmQ4CGeQe1LYif3Cm5JY#.XpqlAEYopjo.facebook
Deleted User April 18, 2020 at 13:20 #402992
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Benkei April 18, 2020 at 13:25 #402995
Reply to tim wood If Trump and Obama are symptoms of a rigged system then your question misses the point. Trump can only be the douche he is because of the Republican support in Congress.
Baden April 18, 2020 at 13:26 #402996
Reply to tim wood

It's not so much the President that's the problem. You could elect Karl Marx president and it wouldn't make a huge difference.

[Cross posted.]
Deleted User April 18, 2020 at 13:51 #403004
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Baden April 18, 2020 at 13:54 #403006
Reply to tim wood

Get money out of politics and edit the Senate out of your constitution. You might have a chance then.
frank April 18, 2020 at 16:19 #403023
Quoting ssu
The fact that people opposed Bush in his extrajudicial and secret operations during "The War on Terror" is understandable, but that the same people then fell silent when Obama continued many of the same practices just show how these people had nothing else but partisan politics in their mind.


Yep. Both sides do that to the point that my eyes glaze over at any criticism, which might be bad if I weren't a nihilist.

Did you know that horror generated by evil kings is an expression of the divine child archetype? The evil king (Herod) is the shadow if the divine child (Jesus).
Deleted User April 18, 2020 at 18:53 #403045
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Deleted User April 18, 2020 at 19:15 #403051
Quoting frank
Did you know that horror generated by evil kings is an expression of the divine child archetype? The evil king (Herod) is the shadow if the divine child (Jesus).


Snipped for the scrapbook.
TheDarkElf April 18, 2020 at 21:06 #403096
Do people think trump is going to win the re election?
ssu April 18, 2020 at 21:38 #403100
Quoting frank
Did you know that horror generated by evil kings is an expression of the divine child archetype? The evil king (Herod) is the shadow if the divine child (Jesus).

People want scapegoats and saviors.
javra April 18, 2020 at 21:48 #403105
Quoting ssu
People want scapegoats and saviors.


Both of which are an evasion from personal responsibility.
ssu April 18, 2020 at 21:56 #403107
Quoting javra
Both of which are an evasion from personal responsibility.

Yes. And also give a face to complex problems and the even more abstruse solutions to those problems.
Banno April 18, 2020 at 22:18 #403116
Reply to tim wood It's been pointed out that this is an absurd question.

So in answer I'll refer you back to an article I cited a while back: The End of the Roman Empire Wasn’t That Bad

In the light of that article, reflect on the response of the Governors to the idiocy of the Trump administration during the pandemic.

Where else but Texas would one find active protests against lockdown restrictions? There's a deep flaw in 'mercan culture that prevents it from taking collective action. Hence so much of 'merica will fall to the Tragedy of the Commons. Those states that can implement collective action will; and those that can't - we'll see.
Banno April 18, 2020 at 22:30 #403124
Here's one way to modify the Administration...
Quoting csalisbury
An ever starker example can be drawn from the Ottoman Empire and the 'Devshirme'. The Ottoman Empire, during this period, wouldn't populate their higher-courts with insiders, but with children kidnapped. These kidnapped kids would be objective in relation to court politics, due not only to their lack of connection to dynasties, but also to the sheer trauma of capture. The emotional 'snipping ' (and, irc also physical snipping)- of capture.Thus they were able to serve the Ottoman state objectively. this still happens , but in subtler ways.


Worth considering.
frank April 18, 2020 at 23:55 #403168
unenlightened April 19, 2020 at 17:49 #403447
Quoting tim wood
But in itself, is it the problem? Or is it the form of government, the federal republic as so-called democracy? Or the particular form of the American government, with its three branches of government?


I think you have to blame the people in a democracy. If the people get conned, as the people clearly have been conned, it is hard for them to admit it until it is impossible to deny it. And there are always the same weaknesses at the heart of every conned person, which are greed and fear. Let's make everything great again without any hard work or sacrifice. Vote Ponzi!
Deleted User April 19, 2020 at 18:01 #403449
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Streetlight April 19, 2020 at 18:07 #403451
I guess when your country is founded by a paedophile slaver rapist like Jefferson that's why it turns out the way it does: with a 2020 election choice between two additional rapists.
Deleted User April 19, 2020 at 18:14 #403453
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unenlightened April 19, 2020 at 18:14 #403454
Quoting StreetlightX
I guess when your country is founded by a paedophile slave rapist


It's so annoying when that happens isn't it? But I suspect there is a category error hiding there. Slaves have no human rights because they are property, so the abuse of slaves wouldn't be rape or child rape, but some kind of animal husbandry.
Streetlight April 19, 2020 at 18:42 #403465
Also America is simply a plutocracy with a weak democratic spitshine (this is what 'trickles down') so no, don't blame 'the people'.
frank April 19, 2020 at 18:49 #403468
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Metaphysician Undercover April 19, 2020 at 19:09 #403476
Reply to unenlightened
Bestiality? That's sick in more ways than one.
unenlightened April 19, 2020 at 19:36 #403482
Quoting Metaphysician Undercover
Bestiality? That's sick in more ways than one.


Well I understand you moderns have delicate sensibilities about slavery and this strange 'eat it or fuck it but not both' thing going, but it's hardly fair to project these onto the good ol' boys, now is it? You'll be saying next that trial by ordeal isn't proper justice!
frank April 19, 2020 at 20:30 #403493
Who can get enough of this guy?

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Relativist April 20, 2020 at 05:09 #403626
Do any of you remember the Iraqi Information Minister (AKA "Baghdad Bob")? During the Iraq War, he would give daily briefing that were totally divorced from the facts. For example:

When US forces were in Bagdad, he said, "They're not even within 100 miles of Baghdad. They are not in any place. They hold no place in Iraq. This is an illusion ... they are trying to sell to the others an illusion."

After the US forces captured the airport, he announced, "Today we slaughtered them in the airport. They are out of Saddam International Airport. The force that was in the airport, this force was destroyed." and later: "We have retaken the airport. There are no Americans there. I will take you there and show you. In one hour."

And this particularly memorable quote:"The American press is all about lies! All they tell is lies, lies and more lies!"

Remind you of anyone?

frank April 20, 2020 at 14:41 #403742
Quoting Relativist
Remind you of anyone?


Yes. Yes it does:

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chustavo April 20, 2020 at 14:43 #403744
Reply to frank and i wonder where he would be at real fun, maybe hiding somewhere in secret rooms, instead such things like this.

same with our warlord The Great Putin, that thug will also not be in the scene
frank April 20, 2020 at 14:47 #403747
Reply to chustavo Could be. Gotta love the machine gun bayonet tho.
chustavo April 20, 2020 at 14:48 #403748
Reply to frank dont say could be, because this will be the case. this faggot and lion in the bed with some whores cannot do anything which is called manhood.

but just cashing the name and fame which these americans has gathered by hook or crook.
NOS4A2 April 20, 2020 at 14:58 #403749
Trump’s federalist take on the current emergency has put statists on edge, but for me it is a turn away from the common ploy of seizing powers during emergency.

An excellent op-ed:

Washington’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic is upending one of the most durable patterns of American politics. Throughout history, national emergencies have led to a more powerful and centralized federal government and to the transfer of federal power from Congress to the executive branch. This time, the federal response rests largely on state and local government and private enterprise, with a wave of deregulation clearing the way. The Trump administration has seized no new powers, and Congress has stayed energetically in the game.


Trump Rewrites the Book on Emergencies
frank April 20, 2020 at 15:11 #403753
Throughout history, national emergencies have led to a more powerful and centralized federal government and to the transfer of federal power from Congress to the executive branch.


That's because the US faced a series of crises which required a more powerful fed. This crisis was better met by local gov'ts deciding when and how to act.

frank April 20, 2020 at 15:12 #403754
Quoting chustavo
lion in the bed with some whores cannot do anything which is called manhood.


A lion in the bed?
chustavo April 20, 2020 at 15:13 #403758
Reply to frank if you did not understood than leave it. ( finished ) i will not teach you everything by point at every damn word.

because western people are on summit of material civilization and already know what is what. and dont have to be taught materially. is it not ?
frank April 20, 2020 at 15:14 #403759
Reply to chustavo I think you meant "lying in the bed."

A lion is a large predatory cat.
chustavo April 20, 2020 at 15:19 #403760
Reply to frank im an fool, just ignore me. thank you for understanding it.
frank April 20, 2020 at 15:21 #403761
Reply to chustavo I understand. It's an absurd picture I posted, but its funny.
praxis April 20, 2020 at 16:04 #403774
User image

ECONOMIC IMPACT PAYMENT
YOUR NARCISSIST PRESIDENT
Relativist April 20, 2020 at 17:25 #403789
I'm tempted to encourage Trump supporters to attend anti-social distancing protests. The bigger, and more tightly packed, the better.

Punshhh April 20, 2020 at 18:35 #403796
Is the swamp full of oil that can't be sold at any price?
Shawn April 20, 2020 at 18:36 #403798
I'm voting for him, coming November...
Benkei April 20, 2020 at 20:17 #403824
Reply to Shawn Unless you're a volatility trader I don't see the upside.
Shawn April 20, 2020 at 20:20 #403825
Quoting Benkei
Unless you're a volatility trader I don't see the upside.


Well, supposedly in the long run we're all dead.

And then there's this:

https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/403815
Cheshire April 20, 2020 at 20:49 #403830
I'm starting to think things have gotten a bit out of hand.
Shawn April 20, 2020 at 20:52 #403831
Reply to Cheshire

None of which was his fault. You want more neocon New World Order shit?
frank April 20, 2020 at 21:01 #403832
Reply to Cheshire Everything is fine.

User image
Cheshire April 20, 2020 at 21:48 #403837
Reply to Shawn I'm pretty satisfied with the 'Old' New World Order shit. It was paranoid and logically disconnected but we could all agree there was some base reality. Anecdotal, but I've been arguments lately where I literally didn't know the 'what' of the disagreement. My problems aside; I agree they aren't his 'fault', technically pence and the cabinet have the authority to prevent a lunatic from running the country straight to hell.
praxis April 21, 2020 at 00:27 #403866
Quoting Relativist
I'm tempted to encourage Trump supporters to attend anti-social distancing protests. The bigger, and more tightly packed, the better.


A few red states are planning to loosen restrictions within about a week, so DJT might be deprived of some votes.

User image

Her body, her choice... and she's voting for Trump?
frank April 21, 2020 at 01:43 #403890
User image
NOS4A2 April 21, 2020 at 01:56 #403896
Dunking on Pelosi. A sign the political season is going to be great this year.



Banno April 21, 2020 at 02:44 #403905
Reply to NOS4A2 I'm aware that I don't see many memes supporting Trump, and sometimes I actively go look for them.

But dude, that one is so lame. Surely you can do better?
praxis April 21, 2020 at 02:53 #403910
Quoting NOS4A2
A sign the political season is going to be great this year.


If you're three years old maybe.


Trump:"Let them eat ice cream" - Nancy Antoinette


I'll give Trump credit for being the master of fake news.
Wayfarer April 21, 2020 at 04:23 #403934
Quoting praxis
Her body, her choice


never mind that 'her choice' might result in another's infection and death.

Trumpism is finally fulfilling its destiny - as a Death Cult.
NOS4A2 April 21, 2020 at 05:37 #403941
Reply to Banno

The Trump campaign has a sophisticated digital team. The worst you could do is underestimate it, just like last time.
NOS4A2 April 21, 2020 at 05:38 #403943
Reply to praxis

If you're three years old maybe.


Remember when you guys got outraged at a sharpie mark on a map? Three years old.
Punshhh April 21, 2020 at 06:30 #403950
Banno April 21, 2020 at 06:56 #403958
Quoting NOS4A2
...sophisticated...


Hm.
Streetlight April 21, 2020 at 07:01 #403960
The Trump campaign has a bunch of boomers who have just discovered memes placing white text on American flags and skulls while they herp-derp amongst each other. It's as sophisticated as a smear of shit on a buttcheek. Not to say it doesn't work.
Baden April 21, 2020 at 07:23 #403965
Reply to praxis

Don't know how anyone could object to the freedom to kill the old and vulnerable with a deadly disease. That would kind of be like objecting to allowing dumb fucks to run around with automatic rifles. Did I mention FREEDOM? :party: :party: :death:


praxis April 21, 2020 at 13:11 #404003
Quoting NOS4A2
Remember when you guys got outraged at a sharpie mark on a map? Three years old.


At least he didn’t use a crayon. That shows some maturity.
Metaphysician Undercover April 21, 2020 at 13:12 #404004
Quoting NOS4A2
The Trump campaign has a sophisticated digital team.


Oh yeah, I almost forgot about them Russians. Thanks for reminding me.
Metaphysician Undercover April 21, 2020 at 13:25 #404008
https://yeeeesh-video.tumblr.com/image/616012286752112640

Would you buy a used car from this man?
NOS4A2 April 21, 2020 at 14:08 #404026
Reply to Metaphysician Undercover

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about them Russians. Thanks for reminding me.


The hoax you guys peddled back and forth to each other for years. Man, you guys were so sure of yourself. It was brilliant.
NOS4A2 April 21, 2020 at 14:18 #404028
Reply to praxis

Check out this fire meme, from the leader of the free world himself.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1252204786059018240?s=21[/tweet]
frank April 21, 2020 at 14:29 #404032
Reply to Punshhh Trump-bo!! :grin:
frank April 21, 2020 at 14:34 #404035
Quoting NOS4A2
The hoax you guys peddled back and forth to each other for years. Man, you guys were so sure of yourself. It was brilliant.


So the Russian trolls will be backing off of improvising and focusing on just repeating native conspiracy theories (I read). Just trying to add oomph to already existing conflicts.

Can you imagine having that job? Pathetic.
praxis April 21, 2020 at 14:36 #404036
Reply to NOS4A2

We get it, NOS, when the target demographic possesses the maturity of a three year old you have to advertise appropriately.
NOS4A2 April 21, 2020 at 14:38 #404037
Reply to frank

So the Russian trolls will be backing off of improvising and focusing on just repeating native conspiracy theories (I read). Just trying to add oomph to already existing conflicts.

Can you imagine having that job? Pathetic.


They probably regret their pro-Trump efforts. Besides, it’s the ChiComs we have to worry about.
frank April 21, 2020 at 15:28 #404047
Reply to NOS4A2 One way to cement good will toward China would be a GOP attack on them blaming them for the pandemic. In the polarized environment we live in, that would have the reverse effect on at least half the US population.

As for the other half: conspiracy theory advocates don't believe the establishment ever allows the truth to be told. The longer Trump is in office, the closer he comes to being viewed as establishment. He loses credibility. See how that works?

What if he came out and cleared suspicion of China? Would that get us a division? No. That wouldn't be news.

The China thing doesn't have a path to fruition. The US is heavily dependent on China.
NOS4A2 April 21, 2020 at 15:43 #404049
Reply to frank

I suspect China will be a political cudgel this time around, as Russia was last time. But this time the evidence of foreign interference and espionage is insurmountable, and not just relegated to Facebook ads and twitter posts. Chi-com spying, hacking, and intellectual theft have been on the books for years and years now. But as this pandemic has taken over, the campaigning has taken a back seat.

As this pandemic unfolds the certainty around Trump’s re-election have diminished in my view.
frank April 21, 2020 at 15:55 #404054
Reply to NOS4A2 Facts always take a back seat to myth.

I agree that Trump was unable to strike a presidential pose through the pandemic. Word is he intends to blame it all on China, the guys who sent NYC 1000 ventilators.
Baden April 21, 2020 at 15:59 #404057
Quoting NOS4A2
I suspect China will be a political cudgel this time around


Yes, the Biden campaign are not going to let Trump's kissing up to China be forgotten.


Baden April 21, 2020 at 16:02 #404059
Trump: "China has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In, particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!"

Trump is clearly a politburo sleeper agent.
Metaphysician Undercover April 21, 2020 at 17:01 #404065
Quoting NOS4A2
The hoax you guys peddled back and forth to each other for years. Man, you guys were so sure of yourself. It was brilliant.


Yes sir, documented verification tends to make people sure of themselves. But we'll always find the odd sort who keep shouting 'Hoax!', regardless.
NOS4A2 April 22, 2020 at 17:41 #404363
Looks like ol’ Trump is temporarily suspending immigration for 60 days due to the pandemic. Cue the cries of racism and xenophobia.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-to-temporarily-halt-immigration-into-the-u-s-amid-coronavirus-crisis-11587436960
Punshhh April 22, 2020 at 18:13 #404369
Reply to NOS4A2 Its a pointless exercise, wherever they fly in from there will be less infected people than there are in the US. The Mexicans will be building that wall to keep them (US citizens) out.
Deleted User April 22, 2020 at 18:14 #404371
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
NOS4A2 April 22, 2020 at 18:16 #404372
Reply to Punshhh

Its a pointless exercise, wherever they fly in from there will be less infected people than there are in the US. The Mexicans will be building that wall to keep them out.


The reasoning behind it is to reserve jobs for the millions of citizens who have lost theirs, not to reduce infections.
Punshhh April 22, 2020 at 18:22 #404374
Reply to NOS4A2 But US citizens won't do those low grade low paid jobs. It's the same problem we've got in the UK. Now large numbers of Eastern European workers have gone home, which the Brexit backing government was urging them to do. UK citizens aren't stepping in to fill those low grade jobs. A consortium of farmers is chartering planes to bring in seasonal workers from Romania to bring in the harvest, because The British workers won't do it. Even though the Brexiters have been assuring us for two years that UK workers will fill these vital jobs.

Evidence of a lack of joined up thinking.
NOS4A2 April 22, 2020 at 18:22 #404375
Reply to tim wood

What is it, exactly, you trust Trump for? If and when he does anything, how often can you say, "I understand why he did that."


I don’t trust Trump. I would never leave the guy around my wife, for example. The best I can do is try to empathize with him.
NOS4A2 April 22, 2020 at 18:25 #404376
Reply to Punshhh

But US citizens won't do those low grade low paid jobs. It's the same problem we've got in the UK. Now large numbers of Eastern European workers have gone home, which the Brexit backing government was urging them to do. UK citizens aren't stepping in to fill those low grade jobs. A consortium of farmers is chartering planes to bring in seasonal workers from Romania to bring in the harvest, because The British workers won't do it. Even though the Brexiters have been assuring us for two years that UK workers will fill these vital jobs.

Evidence of a lack of joined up thinking.


It’s wrong to assume immigrants only occupy low-grade jobs. But if a company has difficulty attracting workers they need to become more competitive on the job market.
Punshhh April 22, 2020 at 18:30 #404377
Reply to tim wood NOS4A2 is in on the con, he knows that Trump is all things to all people, a snake oil salesman. The way it works is he says both sides of a political argument so that he can claim the credit for which ever side comes out on top. This way he can do no wrong in the way eye of his supporters. Say he's asked to call the toss of a coin, he will say both heads and tails like a confidence trickster and then which ever way the coin lands he will claim he said that side.

If you are in on the act, it all makes sense and you can support it because there is a hidden agenda which is being furthered while he is politically successful.

I know all this because the exact same thing has been going on in the UK, so I have two equivalent examples to analyse.
NOS4A2 April 22, 2020 at 18:46 #404380
Reply to Punshhh

A hidden agenda? The agenda could not get any more explicit.

The problem with Trump’s case is you cannot compare him to any other person. He’s one of a kind. It’s why you waste time fantasizing about hidden agendas while you search the lexicon of archetypes and past leaders for any hint of what you’re actually dealing with.
Deleted User April 22, 2020 at 19:41 #404397
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Punshhh April 22, 2020 at 20:34 #404407
Reply to NOS4A2
It’s wrong to assume immigrants only occupy low-grade jobs.

Are you sure about that ( to the extent that it is relevant o the argument).

But if a company has difficulty attracting workers they need to become more competitive on the job market.


It's not that simple, it's the kind of work. British workers won't do these jobs even if they are paid twice as much.
Banno April 22, 2020 at 22:01 #404425
frank April 22, 2020 at 22:33 #404431
Reply to Banno NOS isn't an American, he just poses as one. This guy is all American, though:

User image

Banno April 23, 2020 at 00:25 #404461
Banno April 23, 2020 at 00:26 #404462
Quoting frank
NOS isn't an American


Nor am I, yet the article rang true. Nos' reaction will be more about Nos than about 'merica.
Banno April 23, 2020 at 00:32 #404463
...we should take some pains to distinguish constructivism from intuitionism.

As I've suggested, I don't see how constructivism is committed to finitism

Nor do I see that constructivism is committed to rejecting the Law of Excluded Middle. Rather, a constructivist approach would say that including the law leads us this way, excluding it leads us that way; and which way you choose depends on what you are planning to do.

Another way to put it is, contrary to Brouwer, mathematics just is the language of mathematics.

Nor is mathematics just a creation of the mind; that's too solipsistic. Mathematics is a collaborative enterprise, not something in individual minds.
Streetlight April 23, 2020 at 00:43 #404466
Reply to Banno I think you uh, posted this in the wrong thread.
Banno April 23, 2020 at 01:14 #404473
Reply to StreetlightX Oops. Too many open windows.
Relativist April 23, 2020 at 03:11 #404494
Reply to NOS4A2 I think restricting immigration during the pandemic is reasonable. Anything that reduces person to person contact is good. On the other hand, praising protest gatherings is a bad idea

Trump has said lots of stupid things. Thank goodness the deep state is doing many good things, in spite of him.
Wayfarer April 23, 2020 at 07:06 #404541
Punshhh April 23, 2020 at 08:44 #404558
Reply to Banno

For @NOS4A2: We Are Living in a Failed State


Nice article.
180 Proof April 23, 2020 at 14:07 #404605
What the wealthiest "failed state" in history looks like? :mask:

[quote=Not Fake News, 4/23/20]Confirmed first cases of Covid-19 infection:

South Korea - 1/19/20
United States - 1/19/20

:chin:

By 4/22/20, deaths from Covid-19 infections:

South Korea (pop. 52m; 519 pp/km^2) - 240
United States (pop. 328m; 23.2 pp/km^2) - 47,750[/quote]
How can the U.S. presidential election this November NOT be solely a referendum on tRUMP's criminal negligence evident from the start of this pandemic which has produced - and will continue to produce - so much needless "American Carnage"? Someone please explain it to me.
Benkei April 23, 2020 at 14:14 #404609
Reply to 180 Proof population numbers aren't even relevant to measure how bad a country does in the initial phase as the virus doesn't care about that until it starts to reach level where herd immunity starts to have an effect.
frank April 23, 2020 at 14:19 #404615
Quoting 180 Proof
Someone please explain it to me.


Some people care more about RBGs seat than holding one idiot responsible for the fact that we aren't South Korea.
Benkei April 23, 2020 at 14:21 #404616
Quoting frank
RBGs


Really Big Guns?
frank April 23, 2020 at 14:24 #404618
Reply to Benkei
Rude banana germs
tavaa April 23, 2020 at 14:32 #404622
Reply to frank tell us more. for you sound like you have some knowledge.
ArguingWAristotleTiff April 23, 2020 at 14:39 #404628
Quoting 180 Proof
How can the U.S. presidential election this November NOT be soley a referendum on tRUMP's criminal negligence evident from the start of this pandemic which has produced - and will continue to produce - so much needless "American Carnage"? Someone please explain it to me.


I ask this in all sincerity, what other option do we have?
Also: what do you think the election 7 months from now will look like? Operationally speaking.
My best of health to you :heart:
Benkei April 23, 2020 at 14:42 #404630
Reply to ArguingWAristotleTiff The other guy. It's not that hard. And I warned you about him last time.
ArguingWAristotleTiff April 23, 2020 at 14:53 #404636
Quoting Benkei
The other guy. It's not that hard. And I warned you about him last time.


The other guy is literally having his onset of senility propped up on display. The election is over unless Joe drops out and someone else comes in.

Yes Benkei, you did in fact warn me about Trump but the idea of Hillary handling this pandemic is unthinkable.
tavaa April 23, 2020 at 14:59 #404638
Reply to Benkei tell us more indeed you have some knowledge.
Benkei April 23, 2020 at 15:22 #404648
Quoting ArguingWAristotleTiff
Yes Benkei, you did in fact warn me about Trump but the idea of Hillary handling this pandemic is unthinkable.


You have a rich imagination then. Handling it worse than Trump did and is doing is nearly impossible.
Baden April 23, 2020 at 16:31 #404662
Quoting ArguingWAristotleTiff
The election is over unless Joe drops out and someone else comes in.


Biden currently leads Trump by 6 points on RCP. If the election were held today and that's accurate then Trump would be crushed. Biden's mental decline is certainly an issue, but at least half of America would vote for a cardboard box rather than the Donald, so no matter what happens, Biden is probably the slight favourite to win.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_biden-6247.html
NOS4A2 April 23, 2020 at 16:36 #404665
Reply to Banno

The scapegoating is marvellous, but predictable. It’s been the going rate for opinion pieces in The Atlantic for a few years now. Trump has already been blamed for everything from climate change to war in the Middle East, so it’s no wonder he’ll be blamed for a pandemic. He is their whipping boy after all. But note that they can only come up with few out-of-context reasons why he is to blame, most of which revolve around his apparent word crimes.

Of course this comes with zero blame on the governors, who have the most power and jurisdiction over what goes on in their states during emergencies. New York, for instance, has a policy that readmits coronavirus patients to nursing homes. There has already been over 3000 deaths in nursing homes in New York alone. Is that Trump’s fault? No, because Trump doesn’t set the policy for New York. They have their own health officials, their own laws, their own systems. The best Trump could do for New York was provide the USS Comfort, build the Javits Center into a hospital, provide military and financial support, which he has done in spades. Every governor has been laudatory about Trump’s leadership.

No, Trump has done his job, has done it well, and all without seizing any new powers for the federal government.
Benkei April 23, 2020 at 19:11 #404711
Quoting NOS4A2
It’s been the going rate for opinion pieces in The Atlantic for a few years now. Trump has already been blamed for everything from climate change to war in the Middle East, so it’s no wonder he’ll be blamed for a pandemic. He is their whipping boy after all. But note that they can only come up with few out-of-context reasons why he is to blame, most of which revolve around his apparent word crimes.


So you haven't read the article because it's not blaming Trump. Meanwhile, you're setting up pathetic strawmen in place of the criticism that has been rightly levelled at Trump. Trump has been criticised for denying climate change in the face of overwhelming evidence and unilaterally breaking the promises of the Paris accord without regard of the withdrawal mechanism. He's not blamed for a pandemic but for downplaying the risks, touting an unproven and ineffective medicine as the cure and reacting way to fucking late to the whole thing. And then turns around and blames the governors.

Quoting NOS4A2
Every governor has been laudatory about Trump’s leadership.


Because the reality is that if you don't have your face firmly planted on Trump's ass, he will shaft you. As we've seen ample proof of in the past 3,5 years.

Quoting NOS4A2
No, Trump has done his job, has done it well, and all without seizing any new powers for the federal government.


Unitary executive theory anyone? What fucking bullshit from you as usual. Don't bother replying either. It's for people who aren't Trump stooges.
NOS4A2 April 23, 2020 at 20:13 #404740
Reply to Benkei

So you haven't read the article because it's not blaming Trump. Meanwhile, you're setting up pathetic strawmen in place of the criticism that has been rightly levelled at Trump. Trump has been criticised for denying climate change in the face of overwhelming evidence and unilaterally breaking the promises of the Paris accord without regard of the withdrawal mechanism. He's not blamed for a pandemic but for downplaying the risks, touting an unproven and ineffective medicine as the cure and reacting way to fucking late to the whole thing. And then turns around and blames the governors.


The problem is your only criticisms are about his optimism. You suspiciously leave out everything he has done while magnifying the trite, superficial complaints of a few of Washington journos and Democrats. Another mouthful of turd from you.
Deleted User April 23, 2020 at 20:35 #404750
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
Banno April 23, 2020 at 22:01 #404781
Reply to NOS4A2 Thank you.

Now, since you are of a philosophical disposition, go back and have a look at your reply and tell me, what are the forms of the arguments you have use.
NOS4A2 April 23, 2020 at 22:59 #404800
Reply to Banno

Now, since you are of a philosophical disposition, go back and have a look at your reply and tell me, what are the forms of the arguments you have use.


Why would I do that?
Banno April 23, 2020 at 23:18 #404804
Reply to NOS4A2 Well, I asked nicely. And there is this thing in philosophy were philosophers reflect on their ideas.

But perhaps you are not up for that.
NOS4A2 April 23, 2020 at 23:34 #404813
Reply to Banno

I shared my opinion; you shared someone else’s. When you want to reflect on your ideas, or mine, let me know.
Banno April 23, 2020 at 23:46 #404819
Reply to NOS4A2 That's a pity. You've reinforced my prejudice that Trump's supporters are unreflective boors.

Let me start, then. A scapegoat takes away one's sins. So how is it that the Atlantic is using Trump to take away its sins?

And that first paragraph -it doesn't address anything in the article, but instead attacks the author. Hence it seems invalid. That's not a concern for you?
frank April 23, 2020 at 23:57 #404823
Quoting Banno
Trump's supporters are unreflective boors.



I'd buy that. Trump doesn't show up well in an intellectual domain, so we easily trash him here on this forum.

What we may overlook is the impotence of intellectuals through the ages. They're mere servants to the powerful apes who do the real creation and destruction that drives human life.

An intellectual is no more than a helpful dog whose whining means nothing.

Banno April 24, 2020 at 00:05 #404826
Reply to frank Perhaps. That's certainly a pop notion now. But then, it's exactly the sort of thing an unreflective boor would say in order to avoid interrogation.
NOS4A2 April 24, 2020 at 00:15 #404828
Reply to Banno

I’m not attacking the author in particular, I was attacking those who scapegoat the president in general. Hence my use of the plural pronoun “they”. Some of them write opinion articles at the Atlantic.

I am using the term “scapegoat” in the colloquial sense, not in the biblical sense.

I know your opinion if Trump supporters, what is your opinion on the matter at hand? Surely philosopher wouldn’t pass off someone’s opinion as his own.



Banno April 24, 2020 at 00:25 #404831
Quoting NOS4A2
I’m not attacking the author in particular, I was attacking those who scapegoat the president in general. Hence my use of the plural pronoun “they”. Some of them write opinion articles at the Atlantic.


Sure, and on this we might agree - I think @StreetlightX made the same point against one of my earielr posts; or was it @180 Proof?

Anyway, the point is that even if they are scapegoating Trump, there are criticisms of substance in the article that remain unaddressed.
NOS4A2 April 24, 2020 at 00:35 #404835
Reply to Banno

Anyway, the point is that even if they are scapegoating Trump, there are criticisms of substance in the article that remain unaddressed.


That’s fair. Is there any one in particular you’d like me to address?
Banno April 24, 2020 at 00:38 #404837
Reply to NOS4A2 Your choice. My interest here is in how you justify your position.
praxis April 24, 2020 at 00:50 #404840
Quoting frank
Trump's supporters are unreflective boors.
— Banno

I'd buy that. Trump doesn't show up well in an intellectual domain, so we easily trash him here on this forum.

What we may overlook is the impotence of intellectuals through the ages. They're mere servants to the powerful apes who do the real creation and destruction that drives human life.

An intellectual is no more than a helpful dog whose whining means nothing.


Cute, but the fact of Obama invalidates your poetry when analyzed intellectually.
180 Proof April 24, 2020 at 00:51 #404841
Reply to Benkei Really? It isn't "relevant" - doesn't illustrate gross public health & political failure - that the U.S. has only 6.3× more population than S.K. and yet, in only 93 days, 199× more reported Covid-19 deaths?! :brow:

Reply to ArguingWAristotleTiff As U.S. political history decisively demonstrates (especially since the last 'Gilded Age'), every election for a second term is a referendum on the incumbent and never a choice between "options". :roll: And even if it were a choice (which it's not!), Joe Biden, in over four decades in government has not proven himself to be as uninformed, anti-science, incompetent, corrupt, pathologically untruthful, demogogic, disrespectful of career public/civil servants, unpatriotic or unpopular as the Donald; there's no way any challenger could serve this country worse in the coming years than the 45th POTUS has since 2017.

As for this fall, Tiff, it's too early to tell how far the WH, AG Barr & the GOP will go in trying to sabotage the election by (e.g.) suppressing student, minority & urban voters; (again) suborning foreign interference via cyber-espionage, etc; and terrorizing the electorate with incitements of mob violence against poll workers, Democratic Governors & Mayors, "deep state" IGs & Public Health officials, and, of course, against "the fake news" media. Because both the WH & RNC know they've already lost - behaviors, forensic psychologists et al will tell you, never lie. I suspect things are going get much uglier this fall. :shade:

Be well, Tiff, stay healthy. :mask:
NOS4A2 April 24, 2020 at 00:53 #404842
Reply to Banno

Your choice. My interest here is in how you justify your position.


I hope I can defend any statement I make or position I hold. Which position do you wish to see me justify?
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 00:54 #404843
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
frank April 24, 2020 at 01:30 #404858
Quoting Banno
Perhaps.


:up:
Banno April 24, 2020 at 01:43 #404860
Reply to NOS4A2
We can play all day. In the interests of moving the conversation along...

You say
Quoting NOS4A2
Trump has done his job, has done it well,


Yet the USA has the worst of Covid-19.

SO presumably it was somehow out of his control? So what powers does Trump lack that, say, Angela Merkel or Scott Morrison has?
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 01:48 #404863
Quoting frank
They're mere servants to the powerful apes who do the real creation and destruction that drives human life.


Without the intellectuals we would still be apes.
180 Proof April 24, 2020 at 01:49 #404864
Banno April 24, 2020 at 01:53 #404866
Reply to frank ,Reply to praxis ,Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm ,Reply to 180 Proof
It's odd, that claiming not to be able to think about things is now so popular a way of thinking about things.
frank April 24, 2020 at 01:59 #404868
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
Without the intellectuals we would still be apes.


Strictly speaking we are apes. It's the intellectual who wants to forget that.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:00 #404869

Also the notion of the intellectual in the Nietzschean sense is far cry from the contemporary notion.

"It is the intellect that saves us from being utterly burnt and reduced to ashes..."


(Wish I knew my Nietzsche better. Maybe someone knows a more apropos quote.)
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:01 #404870
Quoting frank
Strictly speaking we are apes.


Strictly speaking we are absolutely not apes. We are human.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:03 #404871
Reply to frank Always bears repeating:

"What is the ape to man? A laughing-stock, a thing of shame. And just the same shall man be to the Superman: a laughing-stock, a thing of shame. Ye have made your way from the worm to man, and much within you is still worm....Lo, I teach you the Superman!

The Superman is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: The Superman SHALL BE the meaning of the earth!"




Who has not fallen short of the glory of god.
frank April 24, 2020 at 02:03 #404872
BC April 24, 2020 at 02:04 #404873
Reply to frank

Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
Strictly speaking we are absolutely not apes. We are human.


We are smart apes, but apes, and being a smart ape is a major piece of our existential problem.

There are exceptions, of course. Some humans are dumb apes, like the current POTUS. Therefore, DUMP TRUMP IN NOVEMBER!

frank April 24, 2020 at 02:05 #404874
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
What is the ape to man? A laughing-stock, a thing of shame. And just the same shall man be to the Superman: a laughing-stock, a thing of shame. Ye have made your way from the worm to man, and much within you is still worm....Lo, I teach you the Superman!

The Superman is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: The Superman SHALL BE the meaning of the earth!"


What does this mean to you?
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:06 #404875
Quoting Bitter Crank
We are smart apes, but apes, and being a smart ape is a major piece of our existential problem.


We actually aren't apes. Our ancestors were apes.

You might as well say we're a single cell. Or pre-gelid cosmic dust. Or a singularity. Why stop at ape.
frank April 24, 2020 at 02:07 #404876
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm We're great apes.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:10 #404877
Reply to frank

It inspires me to continue to become larger than I am. In incites me to continue to master the arts of peace, intellect, wisdom and glory. It's a question of human dignity.


As to what it means: Poetry is open to interpretation. I'm certain I've had the very experience that incited Nietzsche to write those lines. (Not to say I have a speck of his intellect.)

frank April 24, 2020 at 02:11 #404878
Banno April 24, 2020 at 02:12 #404879
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
We actually aren't apes.


The Hominidae (/h??m?n?di?/), whose members are known as great apes[note 1] or hominids (/?h?m?n?dz/), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: Pongo, the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan; Gorilla, the eastern and western gorilla; Pan, the common chimpanzee and the bonobo; and Homo, of which only modern humans remain.[1]

Wiki.
BC April 24, 2020 at 02:13 #404880
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm Well, what have you got against apes? All apes are primates. Humans are primates. Therefore, humans are apes. Something like that. Apes are a distinguished species.

We have only 1.2 percent genetic difference between modern humans and chimpanzees. Granted, that 1.2% makes a significant difference. I don't think chimps have a hyoid bone, a piece of bone located in the human throat which is a critical part of speech production. Still, we are a lot like chimps in many ways. (Intellect isn't the only thing significant about our (plural) species.)

Does the fox object to being related to the wolf? Does the family dog object to being related to both fox and wolf?

Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
We actually aren't apes. Our ancestors were apes.


So, at what point did we leave the company of primates?
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:15 #404881
Quoting Bitter Crank
So, at what point did we leave the company of primates?


That isn't known, to my knowledge. What's known is we are no longer apes. To call us apes is to say something untrue.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:17 #404882
Reply to Banno
The Hominidae (/h??m?n?di?/), whose members are known as great apes[note 1] or hominids (/?h?m?n?dz/), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: Pongo, the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan; Gorilla, the eastern and western gorilla; Pan, the common chimpanzee and the bonobo; and Homo, of which only modern humans remain.


Science draws funny lines. Science doesn't draw the only lines.

It's easy to argue humans aren't apes. The jury would not be hung.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:18 #404883
It's an imprecise use of language and we should not be comfortable with it.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:19 #404885
Quoting Bitter Crank
Well, what have you got against apes?


I laugh at apes. They're a laughing-stock.

A joke set beside the sublimity of man.
BC April 24, 2020 at 02:21 #404887
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
Nietzsche


Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
apes


Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
intellect


Intellect isn't all or nothing. Even clams have enough sense to shut up and get out of town when trouble comes their way, (Octopi and squid are both in the same group as clams, and have quite a bit of brain power. A dog has much more brain power than a squid, but a Dalmatian can't change its spots. A squid can. A bonobo or pan troglodytes (Chimps official name) have a lot more brain power than dogs, and have a brain structure similar to ours. Bees are much different than squid, dogs, chimps, and you -- but bees too have some brain power.

That we are closely related to apes should be a matter of delight. Why? Because they are kin. They aren't our ancestors (we branched off from the stalk of the family, as they also did, millions of years ago. Well, about 8 million years ago,
frank April 24, 2020 at 02:21 #404888
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm We have a lot in common with other apes. They just cant talk.
Relativist April 24, 2020 at 02:22 #404889
Today our illustrious leader proposed the following remedies:

[I]“Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous ultra violet or just very powerful light. And I think you said that hasn’t been checked but you are going to test it. And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you could do either through the skin or in some other way. I think you said that you are going to test that, too. And then I saw the disinfectant, where knocks it out in one minute, and is there a way we could do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning. As you see it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”[/i]

Is it wrong of me to wish he would try these things on himself?
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:23 #404890
Quoting Bitter Crank
That we are closely related to apes should be a matter of delight.


I agree we are closely related. Too closely. I hope we become less and less closely related to the apes.

To look back on the ape as today we look back on the single cell.
Wolfman April 24, 2020 at 02:25 #404891
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

I hear what you're saying. A couple anthropology professors I've spoken with have told me that although the term "ape" technically includes homo sapiens, they don't often use the term as such -- even among their colleagues -- as the term has come to connote something different in ordinary non-scientific discourse. Usually what I'll hear is, "Humans and apes share a common ancestor," but 'ape' here just means non-human hominoids. In any case, I suspect this is a semantic disagreement.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:27 #404893
Quoting Wolfman
I hear what you're saying. A couple anthropology professors I've spoken with have told me that although the term "ape" technically includes homo sapiens, they don't often use the term as such -- even among their colleagues -- as the term has come to connote something different in ordinary non-scientific discourse. Usually what I'll hear is, "Humans and apes share a common ancestor," but 'ape' here just means non-human hominoids. In any case, I suspect this is a semantic disagreement


Thanks.

It's a disagreement over connotation. No one is right or wrong. It feels powerful and righteous to say I am not an ape, I am human.
BC April 24, 2020 at 02:28 #404894
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
I laugh at apes. They're a laughing-stock.


You think you have the same relationship to apes that the gods have to us? a joke...

How do you make the gods laugh?
Tell them your plans.

If we're so smart, how come we don't seem to be able to do anything about the reality that we are wrecking the environment.

Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
I hope we become less and less closely related to the apes.


In the fullness of time (which we probably don't have, being too stupid as we are to solve our problems) we will become less and less like primates, We'll probably get a bit lighter in build, and maybe--dear god, may it be--smarter. But this will take a long time--many, many generations.

And we will probably wipe ourselves out before we get many, many generations to evolve into something closer to the paragon of animals that Shakespeare thought we were.
Streetlight April 24, 2020 at 02:30 #404896
I don't see why this is some kind of either-or. Anyone can see the almost the entirity of the US ruling class - from Cuomo who closed schools way, way, way too late, to Las Vagas' mayor who recently offered to kill her poor just to see what happens, to Trump, whose shitfuckery needs no introduction - is utterly shit and that the US is just a terrible place and everything about it sucks and is devised to kill its citizens. I think this is a fair compromise.

And of course Larry Summers, who helped Obama devise the last criminal bailout of the rich while leaving the poor to burn, is advising Biden on CV recovery. God, everything about your leaders is just total trash.

Oh yes and I forgot about the shithead governer of some buttfuck state somewhere the other day, who, on TV in a mask, gloves, and full, gleaming blue protective gear, told his state that reopening is totally safe and everything is fine. There's no debate here: US leadership is uniformly terrible, and it is led by someone whose incompetence is the mutiplictive product of all of them.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:31 #404897
Quoting Bitter Crank
But this will take a long time--many, many generations.



It will teach us patience.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:32 #404899
Quoting Bitter Crank
If we're so smart,


I never said we're smart. We're dumb.

I said we are beautiful in the mode of the sublime.

"A joke set beside the sublimity of man."
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:35 #404900
Quoting Bitter Crank
You think you have the same relationship to apes that the gods have to us?


You said god. I didn't say god.

I have the same relationship to my apy ancestors that I have to the single cell. Again: Why stop at ape? Why not say we're fish or ooze?
Banno April 24, 2020 at 02:36 #404901
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:38 #404903
Quoting Relativist
“Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous ultra violet or just very powerful light. And I think you said that hasn’t been checked but you are going to test it. And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you could do either through the skin or in some other way. I think you said that you are going to test that, too. And then I saw the disinfectant, where knocks it out in one minute, and is there a way we could do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning. As you see it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”


The man has broken through to the other side. It reads like a paragraph from Dr. Scheber's diary.


(Say if Schreber had gone through with the lobotomy.)
praxis April 24, 2020 at 02:40 #404904
Quoting Banno
We actually aren't apes.
— ZzzoneiroCosm

The Hominidae (/h??m?n?di?/), whose members are known as great apes[note 1] or hominids (/?h?m?n?dz/), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: Pongo, the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan; Gorilla, the eastern and western gorilla; Pan, the common chimpanzee and the bonobo; and Homo, of which only modern humans remain.[1]
Wiki.


We’re sapiens, a species infinity more lethal to itself and other species than, uh, any other species.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 02:44 #404909
Quoting Bitter Crank
And we will probably wipe ourselves out before we get many, many generations to evolve into something closer to the paragon of animals that Shakespeare thought we were.


This wipe ourselves out notion is interesting. It's an expression of pessimism without a rational basis. It is easy to kill billions of people, less easy to kill all. It seems ludicrous to include the phrase "we will probably wipe ourselves out" in a discussion of this kind without providing statistic-like projections (graphs and charts) in support of this hyperbolic hypothetical. Is there a math to do here? Is it probable that we will wipe ourselves out, statistically speaking? How can the numbers on this be run? If the numbers on this can't be run why is it considered rational to continue to say we will probably wipe ourselves out?
BC April 24, 2020 at 05:21 #404940
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm This has been done plentifully in the scientific literature of climate change. But take this little piece as an example: A pandemic has (appropriately) frightened the species. Appropriate protective measures (social isolation, distancing, etc.) has produced the highest unemployment in the US (22,000,000) since the Great Depression. Millions of individual's personal economies have tanked. Revenues from commerce, taxes, transit fares, fees, and so on have crashed. Besides all that, many people are sick or dead.

Compare this massive economic and social disruption, just over 3 months long and which isn't over by any means, to the kind of massive long-term industrial/economic/social changes required to sharply and permanently reduce CO2, methane, and other greenhouse gas emissions. The costs, disruptions, ruptures with habit, and so on are so severe that it will cause far worse disruption.

The alternative -- doing what we have been doing since the industrial revolution got underway -- will mean a slower, but no less severe disruption and severe disruption--likely worse, because it will last for a very long time.

OK, technically, global warming won't wipe out the species. Remnants of humanity will remain. They will be isolated little groups of former industrial masters reduced to figuring out how to hunt and gather--if they live long enough. They will have left the glories of human culture behind--the loss of which will only take a couple of generations. Culture is either maintained or it is lost. We know this from ample historical experience.

So sure, we'll survive global warming.

Why would we do this to ourselves? Because: bright as we are, we do not seem to possess the ability to detect distant disasters (like, even 50 years away) and act in the present to avoid them. Environmental, agricultural, population, nuclear, disease, and other disasters have been clearly seen coming down the pike. Humans have not, by and large, acted effectively to avoid any of these calamities.

The [western] Roman Empire endured for many centuries--much longer than the modern world has--and sustained repeated calamities. It always bounced back. Resilience. It bounced back until just the right combination of disasters overwhelmed their exhausted resilience, Then they went down the cloaca Maximus fairly fast.
BC April 24, 2020 at 05:26 #404942
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
It's an expression of pessimism without a rational basis.


Definitely pessimistic, hardly irrational. I'm getting old; I can afford to be honestly pessimistic -- I won't be around, most likely, too much longer. I don't need to maintain optimistic delusions of the sort that I used to.

I'd prefer that the evidence led to optimism. It just doesn't.
Benkei April 24, 2020 at 06:12 #404945
Reply to 180 Proof Not relevant indeed. When doing nothing, the virus will spread at more or less the same speed in every population. While population density might have an effect on that speed, total population does not at the beginning of the spread of a virus. The fact that it's 199 times more than Korea, means the USA has done a 199 times worse than South Korea. Adjusting for population size actually makes the failure of the USA Trump administration less egregious.
Benkei April 24, 2020 at 07:49 #404960
Reply to NOS4A2 Another misrepresentation. I have not criticised his optimism as my post history shows. You've just relabelled and excuses bad policy as "optimism". The fact that his "optimism" has had real life consequences resulting in the deaths of 199 times more than South Korea "because it will go magically away" is a criticism of policy failure. Just as Russian collusion wasn't a hoax (just not a legal term!), obstruction of justice was real, the emoluments clause is an issue, impeachment where Republicans blocked witnesses a sham etc. etc. That last has probably moved the US closer to an authoritarian regime as it was a tacit approval of the unitary executive theory.

Trump is corrupt and a product of a corrupt political system in the US, which system is propped up by both parties. He is too stupid and doesn't inform himself or inspire those who serve him to advise him on how to avert a crisis.

Trump has done exactly nothing to "drain the swamp", has not made the world safer, and his lack of action on the coronavirus has killed many more Americans in the short term than that would have otherwise died. All this was glaringly obvious from the beginning as the thread on the coronavirus had made clear.
180 Proof April 24, 2020 at 07:57 #404962
Reply to Benkei Maybe the relative population metrics aren't relevant to the way you're looking at it, but I'm thinking of it this way:

data:

Geographical Areas, National Populations & Population Densities (best online stats I can find):

South Korea
• 100,210km^2  (38,691mi^2)

• c52 million

519 pp/km^2 (1,344 pp/mi^2)

United States
• 9,833,517km^2 (3,796,742mi^2)

• c228 million

23.2 pp/km^2 (60 pp/mi^2)


With about 1/6th the population, South Korea has 22.4× greater population density than the United States.

extrapolation (guesstimate):

Assuming the United States government had acted immediately and as effectively as the South Korean government had (NB: both the Bush & Obama administrations have helped South Korea develop and rehearse rapid response protocols, etc over the decade or more since the SARS-1 outbreak in East Asia in the mid-2000s, in preparation for the next pandemic :brow:), it's reasonable to expect similar mortality outcomes, especially as a percentage of national population adjusted for relative population density as a/the major driver of the rate of transmission of highly contagious pathogen like Covid-19 (aka SARS-2) and the same time period (93 days) for public health mitigation efforts and emergency-critical care medical interventions: as of 4/22/20, the United States' death toll should have been

6.3 (times greater national population than S.K.) ×

1/22.4 (lower population density than S.K.) ×

10 (times scale of bureaucratic inefficiency,  *fudge factor* in U.S.'s favor) ×

240 (S.K. deaths) =

:point: "675 deaths" (or 1/70.7th of the current U.S. death toll of 47, 750).

As a grade on a scale of 1-100, using South Korea as a perfect 100 (for the sake of argument) @240 dead, the United State response - indicated by its national death rate being nearly 1.8 orders of magnitude higher than S.K.'s to date @47,750 dead - earns a grade of 0 (rounded).

Adjusting for population size actually makes the failure of the USA Trump administration less egregious.

Well, we disagree. I see things exactly opposite to what you say here.

:mask:

I'm convinced the gross level of presidential maladminstration is even greater than these cocktail napkin figures suggest. The Covidiot-in-Chief has been pushing dangerous drugs unproven for Covid-19 treatment for about a month and now suggests injecting disinfectants into Covid-19 patients to "clean" them inside out. As if he doesn't have enough blood on his tiny hands already ... :shade:
Baden April 24, 2020 at 08:34 #404966
@ZzzoneiroCosm

Denying that humans are apes is just as wrong as denying dolphins and whales are mammals and calling them fish instead. The problem is just the connotations of the word "ape". But, hey, we made a dude who thinks we should inject bleach into each other to cure us of COVID, the leader of the free world, so let's not overestimate ourselves.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 10:18 #404990
Quoting Baden
But, hey, we made a dude who thinks we should inject bleach into each other to cure us of COVID, the leader of the free world, so let's not overestimate ourselves.


I hope Trump isn't the standard by which you judge humankind.

"The average man is closer to an ape than to Einstein."

-I Forget

Trump is far below average.

Quoting Baden
the leader of the free world


This expression is obsolete.

Quoting Baden
Denying that humans are apes is just as wrong...


This position is irrationally science-centric. You're going to let the eggheady chaos-codifiers dictate what your language will connote.

I will dictate my own connotations.

I am not an ape, I am human.

Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 10:20 #404991
Quoting Bitter Crank
Definitely pessimistic, hardly irrational. I'm getting old; I can afford to be honestly pessimistic -- I won't be around, most likely, too much longer. I don't need to maintain optimistic delusions of the sort that I used to.

I'd prefer that the evidence led to optimism. It just doesn't.


Again: Where are your charts and graphs demonstrating that "we will probably wipe ourselves out"? If you lack charts and graphs why do you continue to say we will probably wipe ourselves out? Explicate the rationality of your position, if you can.
Benkei April 24, 2020 at 11:17 #405002
Reply to 180 Proof I don't think we disagree on substance but I do think you're wrong to multiply with the 6.3 due to the population size difference. All things being equal, population size has absolutely no effect on the number of people getting infected and dying, if you'd take no action whatsoever, until such time as herd immunity starts to have an effect.

Due to the lower population density in the USA, the speed of the spread should be lower so the number of deaths in the short term in the USA should have been lower in absolute terms than in South Korea. On the other hand, I think the large cities in the US are as densely populated as the large cities in SK, so I suspect the effect of a slower spread based on average population density is too heavyhanded.
Relativist April 24, 2020 at 15:30 #405075
Quoting 180 Proof
I'm convinced the gross level of presidential maladminstration is even greater than these cocktail napkin figures suggest. The Covidiot-in-Chief has been pushing dangerous drugs unproven for Covid-19 treatment for about a month and now suggests injecting disinfectants into Covid-19 patients to "clean" them inside out. As if he doesn't have enough blood on his little hands already ... :shade:

Trump says some extremely stupid things, but its less clear that any of his actions or inactions have caused preventable harm.

It's easy, with hindsight, to say actions should have been taken earlier, but we'd need to judge that based on the conditions, and state of available knowledge, at the time.

I'm not a Trump apologist, but I do think we should judge the facts fairly. IMO, the majority of the untruths he mouths are the result of extreme stupidity, not duplicity. Fortunately, there are smart people doing the real work here (like Dr. Faucci). Trump is nothing more than an idiotic pundit.
NOS4A2 April 24, 2020 at 16:27 #405088
Trump’s innocent question to the doctor about how to get disinfectant into the body or lungs gets twisted into “Trump suggests injecting disinfectant as treatment”. Antitrumpism in a nutshell.

Streetlight April 24, 2020 at 16:40 #405091
Nah Trump's just the fuckin idiot everyone knows he is lmao

Fuckin retard in charge of that country lol
fdrake April 24, 2020 at 16:43 #405093
Maybe 20 years ago people would've said "Someone who would advise their public to inject bleach into their veins is unelectable". Now it's a bunch of supporters playing word games, he didn't tell them to do it, he merely implied something like detergent would be effective if applied inside the body!
Streetlight April 24, 2020 at 16:46 #405094
Fuckin retard supporters lol
Wolfman April 24, 2020 at 16:50 #405097
Reply to Relativist

When I first heard Trump at the press conference, it seemed like he was taking a more questioning tone than anything else. He said disinfectants hurt the virus, as do heat and light, and he wanted to know if there was a way to replicate these effects somehow in the form of a treatment. "Maybe we can, maybe we can't. I'm not a doctor... But maybe it's worth looking into." I'm not a Trump apologist either, but I think if a normal person hears that such and such has been found to hurt the virus, their next thought might be, "I wonder if there's a way we can use that somehow." I think the idea that he is suggesting injecting bleach into people, or something like this, is an uncharitable, not to mention inaccurate, interpretation of what he was saying. It doesn't really add anything to the discussion unless the goal is to just pile more hate onto the bandwagon.

In any case, Trump is probably the most imprudent, undiplomatic, egotistical president we have ever had. He needs to have these kinds of discussions in private with his medical advisors as opposed to out in the open during a press conference. There are some extraordinarily stupid people in this country, and while I don't particularly care about them misinterpreting his words and introducing cleaning agents into their bodies, I am concerned about them maybe doing it to their kids.
NOS4A2 April 24, 2020 at 16:51 #405098
Reply to fdrake

That’s one of the things I’m trying to figure out. I’m not sure how one can misconstrue a layman’s question to a doctor into an official suggestion that the public should do such and such.
Streetlight April 24, 2020 at 16:53 #405101
Oh look there's one now lmao
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 16:56 #405102
Quoting NOS4A2
I’m not sure how one can misconstrue a layman’s question to a doctor into an official suggestion that the public should do such and such.


A layman? What a joke. Anything to cast your hero in the most innocent light.
Streetlight April 24, 2020 at 16:57 #405103
It's just his programming he can't help it.
NOS4A2 April 24, 2020 at 16:58 #405104
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

A layman? What a joke. Anything to cast your hero in the most innocent light.


So...he’s not a layman?
fdrake April 24, 2020 at 16:59 #405105
Reply to NOS4A2

You are right of course. It is my partisanship, my ideological blinkers, and my thorough lack of critical thinking skills that lead me to believe Trump implied injecting bleach into your veins has a hope of curing coronavirus, in public, just for a PR move.
NOS4A2 April 24, 2020 at 17:06 #405108
Reply to fdrake

I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just asking how one can misconstrue Trump’s question to the doctor into an official suggestion that the public should inject disinfectant into their veins. Can you suggest that I do something by asking someone else a question? I just don’t understand it, but perhaps that’s my own blinkers.
Streetlight April 24, 2020 at 17:06 #405109
I think the best thing about Trump is that he's like a sieve for stupidity - you can watch people out their retardation in real time while trying to defend him. It's the most glorious show.
fdrake April 24, 2020 at 17:07 #405110
Reply to NOS4A2

Can I imply something with a question?
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 17:08 #405111
Quoting NOS4A2
So...he’s not a layman?


Nonchalantly affixing the term "layman" to the President of the United States is an act of decontextualizing reductivism. You know this.
Michael April 24, 2020 at 17:08 #405112
Quoting NOS4A2
That’s one of the things I’m trying to figure out. I’m not sure how one can misconstrue a layman’s question to a doctor into an official suggestion that the public should do such and such.


Wolfman addressed that best:

Quoting Wolfman
He needs to have these kinds of discussions in private with his medical advisors as opposed to out in the open during a press conference.


A President doing a press conference to address an ongoing crisis should stick to setting out the facts about what the administration is doing and the like. Some off-the-cuff question about possibly injecting disinfectant or irradiating the body has no place on the podium.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 17:10 #405114
Quoting NOS4A2
I’m just asking how one can misconstrue Trump’s question to the doctor into an official suggestion that the public should inject disinfectant into their veins. Can you suggest that I do something by asking someone else a question? I just don’t understand it, but perhaps that’s my own blinkers.


The President's words can move armies.

Armies of all kinds.

In this case, very stupid armies. Have some empathy for the very stupid.
frank April 24, 2020 at 17:12 #405115
Quoting ZzzoneiroCosm
, very stupid armies


They're apes. They do what apes do.
NOS4A2 April 24, 2020 at 17:15 #405116
Reply to Michael

A President doing a press conference to address an ongoing crisis should stick to setting out the facts about what the administration is doing and the like. Some off-the-cuff question about possibly injecting disinfectant or irradiating the body has no place on the podium.


I disagree with that. I like being able to watch the leadership spitball and brainstorm. But maybe I am one of the few who don’t look to politicians for medical advice.
Benkei April 24, 2020 at 17:17 #405117
Quoting Wolfman
When I first heard Trump at the press conference, it seemed like he was taking a more questioning tone than anything else. He said disinfectants hurt the virus, as do heat and light, and he wanted to know if there was a way to replicate these effects somehow in the form of a treatment. "Maybe we can, maybe we can't. I'm not a doctor... But maybe it's worth looking into." I'm not a Trump apologist either, but I think if a normal person hears that such and such has been found to hurt the virus, their next thought might be, "I wonder if there's a way we can use that somehow." I think the idea that he is suggesting injecting bleach into people, or something like this, is an uncharitable, not to mention inaccurate, interpretation of what he was saying. It doesn't really add anything to the discussion unless the goal is to just pile more hate onto the bandwagon.


I'm a normal person and I still know it's a fucking stupid suggestion. I'd expect that the most serious problem affecting the US at the moment would have the president's undivided attention, meaning he should know at least as much as I do. In fact, he should be better informed, with what little time I spend on the subject next to a full time job, a wife and two kids who are at home all the time at the moment.
Streetlight April 24, 2020 at 17:20 #405119
To be fair, anyone who holds Trump to any standard at all hasn't been paying attention.
Wolfman April 24, 2020 at 17:27 #405121
Reply to Benkei

You are a Dutchman, and the Dutch are on balance smarter than Americans. Plus, you are smarter than the average Dutchman, so this would practically make you Albert Einstein over here.

:razz:
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 17:28 #405123
Quoting Wolfman
I think the idea that he is suggesting injecting bleach into people, or something like this, is an uncharitable, not to mention inaccurate, interpretation of what he was saying. It


The FDA and Lysol, among other players, felt it was an accurate enough interpretation to release a statement warning against DIY injection-treatments.

It's easy to underestimate the power of the President's words and not so easy to overestimate the stupidity of the American people.
Wolfman April 24, 2020 at 17:39 #405129
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

I think these warnings have more to do with (a) them knowing that there are a lot of stupid people in the country, and (b) liability (moreso in Lysol's case), than the accuracy and/or intent of Trump's statement. I think if you watch the press conference, you don't really get the impression that Trump is recommending injecting ourselves with disinfectants.

In any case, this point really just serves to reinforce the conclusion in my second paragraph -- that his "spitballing" should have never been done during a public press conference.

I don't really have any interest in defending a person I vehemently dislike, but I do like to try and strive for honest discussion.
Baden April 24, 2020 at 17:51 #405134
Sadly, many of Trump's supporters will view the increasingly obvious truth that you can never be too stupid to be President of the United States as a good thing. In fact, it's getting to the point in the US where a large section of the population see stupidity itself as a good thing, a sign of not being part of the "elite" or some such. What can you do? Enjoy the memes.

Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 17:52 #405135
Quoting Wolfman
think these warnings have more to do with (a) them knowing that there are a lot of stupid people in the country, and (b) liability (moreso in Lysol's case), than the accuracy and/or intent of Trump's statement. I think if you watch the press conference, you don't really get the impression that Trump is recommending injecting ourselves with disinfectants.

In any case, this point really just serves to reinforce the conclusion in my second paragraph -- that his "spitballing" should have never been done during a public press conference.

I don't really have any interest in defending a person I vehemently dislike, but I do like to try and strive for honest discussion.


I agree with the bulk of this. But carelessness is no defence.

It conveys just how low Trump has set the bar. He has a gift for pushing the bar lower and lower - not unlike the boiling frog scenario. He is a gifted man.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 17:53 #405137
Quoting Wolfman
liability


Liability because they want to cover their ass when people start trying this shit out.
frank April 24, 2020 at 17:57 #405139
Quoting NOS4A2
I like being able to watch the leadership spitball and brainstorm


My first thought was nanobots with little UV lamps. Or maybe just chemo and radiation. Then we wouldn't be able to tell if the virus is making them nauseous or the chemo.

Gamma knife. Now we're talking. If that doesn't work, then maybe tiny H-bombs as Evil suggested earlier.
NOS4A2 April 24, 2020 at 18:09 #405142
Reply to frank

What about some nebulizer filled with something that kills the virus?

I can only find this paper on the possibility of using ethanol solutions.

Possibility of Disinfection of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in Human Respiratory Tract by Controlled Ethanol Vapor Inhalation

Baden April 24, 2020 at 18:10 #405143
Quoting NOS4A2
...brainstorm


It's not a brainstorm, which implies there's thought involved. Try this: Speculate on injecting disinfectant into someone's lungs as a treatment for COVID with a nine-year child. Here's the response I got: "That's stupid! It would make them die quicker!" The fact that you're not concerned that your president is considerably intellectually less able than a nine-year-old says everything we need to know about your level of political analysis.
frank April 24, 2020 at 18:12 #405145
Reply to NOS4A2 We used to aerosolize Ribavirin. It's rarely done now.
NOS4A2 April 24, 2020 at 18:12 #405146
Reply to Baden

It's not a brainstorm, which implies there's thought involved. Try this: Speculate on injecting disinfectant into someone's lungs as a treatment for COVID with a nine-year child. Here's the response I got: "That's stupid! It would make them die quicker!" The fact that you're not concerned that your president is considerably intellectually less able than a nine-year-old says everything we need to know about your level of political analysis.


I think he's just curious and asking questions.
Wolfman April 24, 2020 at 18:14 #405147
Reply to ZzzoneiroCosm

Yeah, well, people tend to be easily swayed by rhetoric and celebrity. Living in Northern California you get the impression that everyone hates Trump, but people forget there's a whole other country out there filled with people who think just like him. There's also a lot of silent voters who share Trump's values but will never admit to it in public.
Streetlight April 24, 2020 at 18:17 #405150
My God Trump displaying how Godawfulfuckingstupid he is is the second most entertaining thing to have happened all day, the most entertaining being watching watching people trying to defend him - including Trump "I was just being sarcastic" himself. It's the force multiplication of morons. And the memes my god the memes.
Streetlight April 24, 2020 at 18:25 #405156
User image
Baden April 24, 2020 at 18:29 #405159
Streetlight April 24, 2020 at 18:31 #405162
It gets better! In the interests of non-partisanship:

User image
Maw April 24, 2020 at 19:06 #405174
Drinking bleach sounds preferable more and more each day
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 19:09 #405175
Quoting StreetlightX
clorox chewable



Brilliant
frank April 24, 2020 at 20:13 #405219
Michael April 24, 2020 at 20:28 #405233
Trump claims he spoke 'sarcastically' when repeatedly suggesting people inject disinfectant to cure coronavirus

"I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters ... to see what would happen," the president said Friday


What? So it wasn't some "innocent question" as @NOS4A2 suggested but him fucking around with the media for shits and giggles?

(Although, honestly, I don't believe his backtracking here. He's just a moron who genuinely thought injecting disinfectant could help - or he just wasn't thinking and talking out of his ass.)
NOS4A2 April 24, 2020 at 20:32 #405234
Reply to Michael

Yeah I don’t know why he’s backtracking on this one. But if idiots are pretending he suggested drinking bleach and shoving lightbulbs up their ass I suppose it’s warranted.
Michael April 24, 2020 at 20:32 #405235
Quoting NOS4A2
Yeah I don’t know why he’s backtracking on this one.


Because he said a stupid thing so he's trying to save face.
Baden April 24, 2020 at 20:34 #405236
Reply to Michael

He's just trying to cover for his stupidity and is, unfortunately, adding to it. Look at the tape, he was talking to the doctors not the media.

[Crosspost]
Baden April 24, 2020 at 20:34 #405237
Reply to frank

Got my vote.
praxis April 24, 2020 at 20:44 #405243
I wouldn't be surprised if one of Trump's cult members tried out his brilliant idea.
Baden April 24, 2020 at 20:46 #405244


Birx's face is priceless.
Michael April 24, 2020 at 20:51 #405247
Reply to Baden I find it really hard to watch videos of Trump talking. I'm quite sensitive to second-hand embarrassment.
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 20:53 #405249
Quoting frank
aerosolize


I'll be impressed when he can exegize Hegel or describe a beatific psychirradiance. [sic]
Deleted User April 24, 2020 at 20:53 #405250
Whoops. The above was in response to the ape link. Can't do quoteless replies on my phone.
Punshhh April 24, 2020 at 21:21 #405260
Was listening to a guy who was looking for something Trump could do which would turn his supporters away. The only thing which anyone thought could do it was if he was a closet gay, or bum boy. Shooting someone on 5th avenue, or saying anything at all wouldn't have the same effect.
Benkei April 24, 2020 at 21:24 #405262
Quoting Punshhh
closet gay,


Once he goes to prison he'll be someone's bitch. Does that count?
Punshhh April 24, 2020 at 21:35 #405266
Reply to Benkei I doubt it, he could claim he was coerced. It has to be something weak* which he can't possibly blame on someone else.

It's interesting the thought had a president or prime minister could govern the country from a jail cell. During the Brexit debacle, the unlawful preroging of parliament, there was a possibility that the Prime minister could be sent to prison and his supporters were shouting that he would continue to run the country and have their support while in jail. Johnson didn't shirk from the possibility.

*any kind of mental aberration, or illness would be insufficient.
Banno April 25, 2020 at 00:33 #405327
@NOS4A2, did you reply to this?
NOS4A2 April 25, 2020 at 00:35 #405328
Reply to Banno

I don’t know the answer to the question. Care to enlighten me?
Banno April 25, 2020 at 00:42 #405331
Reply to NOS4A2 Backtrack the conversation.

Quoting NOS4A2
I hope I can defend any statement I make or position I hold. Which position do you wish to see me justify?