[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Azath Vitr (D, on 08 March 2024 - 01:10 PM, said:

Quote

Trump Is Connecting With a Different Type of Evangelical Voter

[...] religion scholars, drawing on a growing body of data, suggest another explanation:

Spoiler

Being evangelical once suggested regular church attendance, a focus on salvation and conversion and strongly held views on specific issues such as abortion. Today, it is as often used to describe a cultural and political identity: one in which Christians are considered a persecuted minority, traditional institutions are viewed skeptically and Mr. Trump looms large.

"Politics has become the master identity," [...]

This is most true among white Americans, who over the course of Mr. Trump's presidency became more likely to identify as "evangelical," even as overall rates of church attendance declined. The trend was particularly pronounced among supporters of Mr. Trump

Donald Trump Is Connecting With a Different Type of Evangelical Voter - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Evangelizing... for the cult of Trump,
And all the "evangelical" ideals He stands for
(Bible and all other books be damned,
Who has the time to read when you're Truthing and making history quake?...

I like the new way you're formatting your posts!

[amphibian]

HoosierDaddy, on 07 March 2024 - 03:53 PM, said:

Trump's winning over of evangelicals is fantastically hilarious. I'm an evangelical christian. It's new, but it is what I am.

Christ's call is to believe and have faith, and in doing so you are saved and will begin to mirror his actions and way to live your life.

There is nothing that Donald Trump supports that coincides with a path of sanctification and picking up your cross daily.

If you want to make "right to life" your one and only cause and issue on which to vote and base it on the Bible, fine. Do that. We can quibble, but whatever, you are a single issue voter and there's no speaking reason to you on that.

But any attempt to vote for Trump because of that and characterize that as the christian thing to do is such a distortion of Christ's call as to be bankrupt of any actual reasoning and solely a cover story to vote that way for one and only one reason. Embryos (of Americans who already live here and are probably white) are preferred over living people.

What Trump is particularly good at doing is being a superficially strong person who jerks can hang their needs/visions on and also actually being someone who can relatively easily be manipulated by the leaders of the jerks.

It's a perfect storm for all kinds of weird hagiography or propaganda. All the weird AI art, the wacko Christian support, and the "yeah, the rules are made up by the rich or the strong, so I'll give you what I'm doing in my daily life" collides to make what we see.

I hate it. I understand it, but I hate it.

[Tsundoku]

Satire article that hits the nail on the head.

https://www.betootaa...tomatic-tiktok/

14 Dead At US School After Disgruntled Student Walks In With A Semi-Automatic TikTok

WENDELL HUSSEY | Cadet | CONTACT

In some sad but very predictable news from the home of the brave and the land of the free,* a local school is dealing with another tragedy after a disgruntled student entered the grounds with a loaded semi-automatic TikTok.

It’s believed to be tenth mass casualty caused by the app this year, all but ensuring that law makers will continue on with the push to ban it.

Prayers have been offered by notable politicians and figures around the state and country, in a touching display of solidarity with the victims of the latest incident.

It’s unknown how the teenager got access to the semi-automatic dance app and how he managed to cause such damage, but it’s believed he pre-meditated using a viral trend to cause maximum impact.

Authorities are expected to comment shortly.

The latest incident follows the House of Representatives passing a bill to force TikTok’s owner to sell the app or be booted out of US app stores moving forward.

The move from the nation’s politicians has been hailed as long awaited action to try and protect the lives of ordinary Americans.

After years of inaction and countless thoughts and prayers offered to the families of victims, the new bill will likely pass congress next month.

“Finally, the people in charge of our country are doing something about the repetitive, senseless violence caused by TikTok,” said one local American today.

“The future is looking bright.”

More to come.

*T’s and C’s apply.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 19 March 2024 - 06:26 AM

[Cause]

So Trump is finally claiming he cant pay the bond to appeal his NY fraud trial. He needs to put down a bond of greater than 450 million dollars.

He is claiming that being forced to fire sale his assets would be an irreprable harm that he cant recover from even if he wins his appeal. Not sure if this is a real legal argument or just the kind of thing his lawyers always keep trying out.

I feel like he shouldnt be given any slack but we will See. He claimed he couldn't put down a bond for E jean Carol but when the court confirmed he had too, turns out he had it waiting. So could be more games. Otherwise he has also been caught trying to change the addresses of his business from NYC to Florida to escape the jurisdiction of the court so that should be a serious black mark against him.

I must say this area of the law fascinates me. I never before considered that you would need to cover the fine before appealing but of course if you don't you could run away or just spend or hide the assests as the appeal takes place. Some people are surely petty enough to burn their assets rather than hand them over. Equally though it seems that if you can still appeal you have a chance to avoid the fine altogether in which case if you win, having to put up the bond will still cost you even if you turn out to be innocent later. No perfect answer.

Still in this case the evidence is overwhelming and his appeal seems a long shot at best. More fascinated by how this law would intersect with a regular person or business owner than I am with how it intersects with Trump. I suppose the equivalent in a criminal trial is being out on bond pending an appeal. So it applies there too.

[Gorefest]

He will probably just fundraise it from his devoted followers.

[Primateus]

Gorefest, on 19 March 2024 - 08:29 AM, said:

He will probably just fundraise it from his devoted followers.

Sometimes I wonder if "devoted follower" and "fool" are just synonyms of the same thing, because either are usually quickly parted with their wallets.

[Tsundoku]

Primateus, on 19 March 2024 - 10:03 AM, said:

Gorefest, on 19 March 2024 - 08:29 AM, said:

He will probably just fundraise it from his devoted followers.

Sometimes I wonder if "devoted follower" and "fool" are just synonyms of the same thing, because either are usually quickly parted with their wallets.

'Twas ever thus.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 19 March 2024 - 11:32 AM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Tsundoku, on 19 March 2024 - 11:31 AM, said:

Primateus, on 19 March 2024 - 10:03 AM, said:

Gorefest, on 19 March 2024 - 08:29 AM, said:

He will probably just fundraise it from his devoted followers.

Sometimes I wonder if "devoted follower" and "fool" are just synonyms of the same thing, because either are usually quickly parted with their wallets.

'Twas ever thus.

Yeah, but we've been making progress:

Quote

Americans passed a discomfiting benchmark last year: For the first time, they lost a collective $10 billion to fraud, according to data that the Federal Trade Commission released last month.

[...] The $10 billion figure, although massive, is likely an underestimate

The How America Got Scammed - The Atlantic

... and that's not even counting political donations (for the most part at least)....

OTOH my local government is finally taking countermeasures:

Quote

Scammers, schemers, deceivers and cheaters are constantly taking advantage of [Philadelphia] residents, and attorneys who work for the city want to fight back.

[... new] bill [...] would make a host of deceptive and unfair practices illegal under city law, and give the Law Department power to investigate and file suits

Philadelphia city lawyers could sue fraudsters under proposed law (billypenn.com)

More recent progress:

Quote

The U.S. hit an all-time low ranking in the annual World Happiness Report, tumbling eight spots to 23rd.

[...] pointed to "Americans under 30 feeling worse about their lives" for the steep drop.

America's happiness hits new low, per World Happiness report (axios.com)

And that could obviously have some political repercussions:

Quote

It's not the economy, stupid: wellbeing is the real vote-winner

In the dominant culture today, the overarching goal is individual success, compared with other people (better grades, better jobs, better income). But this is a zero-sum game. For every winner there is a loser. So however hard people try, overall total wellbeing doesn't change. But we can be happier if our individual aim is to make others happy and we derive much of our own happiness from doing that. We need that positive-sum goal and countries with high levels of social support and trust (such as the Nordic countries) are indeed happier.

It's not the economy, stupid: wellbeing is the real vote-winner | Richard Layard | The Guardian

... and AI will be an even better way to achieve it in the long run.

Many people who base their happiness on advancing in that zero-sum game are probably particularly miserable about it right now:

Quote

America has a 'trapped in place' economy

[...] if you like your situation right now — your job, your house, your car — you can keep it. If you aren't so satisfied, well, tough luck, because you might have to keep it anyway. [...] In a consumerist society that encourages people to want more and a culture that prizes itself on economic mobility, this level of stillness is uncomfortable. While it's still possible to get a better job or a new house, those things feel like they're off in some nebulous future, out of your control.

The Trapped Economy: Americans Can't Buy a Home, Car, or Find a New Job (businessinsider.com)

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 20 March 2024 - 08:39 PM

[Mentalist]

So now MTG wants Johnson out?

What's the angle here?

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 22 March 2024 - 09:24 PM

[Cause]

Mentalist, on 22 March 2024 - 09:24 PM, said:

So now MTG wants Johnson out?

What's the angle here?

Addiction to attention has overwhelmed common sense. No angle at all.

Please god let them do it! Time for the republicans party to split. American can be a 3 party state for a decade while they sort there shut out.

[Tiste Simeon]

Mentalist, on 22 March 2024 - 09:24 PM, said:

So now MTG wants Johnson out?

What's the angle here?

Yeah she just wants to stay in the limelight and say whatever it takes to achieve that.

[Tsundoku]

Ahhh ... so that's why so little blood ever made it to her brain ...

https://nypost.com/2...od-clot-in-leg/

[Tsundoku]

Doo-blay post!

OK this is a blog, but I figure it's probably better written and more objective - even with the obvious frustration - than most media these days.
A pretty decent summation of the shitshow that is US politics for the forseeable future. And a warning.
Not that most USA voters would read it, or care. More's the pity.

https://www.stoneket.../no-safety.html

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 07 April 2024 - 02:06 AM

[Lady Bliss]

Good post and so accurate. The US is genuinely fucked.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Tsundoku, on 07 April 2024 - 01:38 AM, said:

Doo-blay post!

OK this is a blog, but I figure it's probably better written and more objective - even with the obvious frustration - than most media these days.
A pretty decent summation of the shitshow that is US politics for the forseeable future. And a warning.
Not that most USA voters would read it, or care. More's the pity.

https://www.stoneket.../no-safety.html

Marjorie Taylor Greene on X-Twitter:

Quote

God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent. Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens. [prayer hands emoji]

Readers added context they thought people might want to know

Monday's eclipse was predicted hundreds of years ago, it will not have been caused by contemporary actions.

eclipse2024.org/predictions.ht...

Earthquakes occur naturally and happen (on average) more than 30 times a day across the world, although many are too subtle to feel.

(13) Marjorie Taylor Greene ���� on X: "God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent. Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens. ��" / X (twitter.com)

... unless it was all foretold hundreds (or thousands) of years ago... Trump is no doubt the fulfilment of myriad ancient prophecies (... since the most successful ones tend to be vague enough to be interpreted in any which way you like...).

But here she makes a decent point:

Quote

Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was a lie.


How many lies are you being told right now?

(13) Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene���� on X: "Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was a lie. How many lies are you being told right now?" / X (twitter.com)

... in this very Twitter feed? lol

A quantitative variation on the liar's paradox: how many lies are you being told by this telling telling?

Quote

Do you see the difference between "Republican" Speaker Johnson and Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi?


That's right, there isn't one!

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene���� on X: "Do you see the difference between "Republican" Speaker Johnson and Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi? That's right, there isn't one! Democrats are already saying they are ready to save Mike Johnson because he's doing such a great job for their agenda. We need a new Speaker of the…" / X (twitter.com)

He's just Nancy Pelosi in drag!

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 07 April 2024 - 12:26 PM

[Lady Bliss]

Worst infringement on women’s rights yet…

https://www.cnn.com/...sday/index.html

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Quote

This was the case we had been waiting for, and all was made clear—brutally so. These justices donned the attitude of cynical partisans, repeatedly lending legitimacy to the former president's outrageous claims of immunity from criminal prosecution. To at least five of the conservatives, the real threat to democracy wasn't Trump's attempt to overturn the election—but the Justice Department's efforts to prosecute him for the act. These justices fear that it is Trump's prosecution for election subversion that will "destabilize" democracy, requiring them to read a brand-new principle of presidential immunity into a Constitution that guarantees nothing of the sort.

Spoiler

[...] Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh, and Gorsuch suggested that Smith's entire prosecution is unconstitutional; meanwhile, Roberts sounded eager at times to handle the case just a hair more gracefully: by cutting out its heart by preventing the jury from hearing about "official acts" (which lie at the center of the alleged conspiracy).

[...] "I'm talking about the future!" Kavanaugh declared [...] pitching himself not as Trump's human shield but as a principled defender of the treasured constitutional right of all presidents to do crime. (We're sure whatever rule he cooks up will apply equally to Democratic presidents, right?)

Supreme Court immunity arguments: The court just showed how and why it will let Donald Trump get away with it. (slate.com)

Hmm... so if they do rule in favor of presidential immunity, then Biden could have them assassinated, cover it up, and be immune from prosecution? Lovely. Oh, and just in case Trump wins, he can also have Trump and every other Republican in the presidential line of succession assassinated until he finally lands on a reasonable person. But just in case Trump manages to evade the best assassins the Biden administration can muster, here's hoping he can at least dispose of the Republican justices in time to push new Supreme Court judges through the Senate....

(Of course I'm kidding---Slow Biden would never do any of that in time....)

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 26 April 2024 - 05:49 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Quote

"I am in shock that a lawyer stood in the U.S. Supreme Court and said that a president could assassinate his political opponent and it would be immune as 'an official act.' I am in despair that several Justices seemed to think this answer made perfect sense."

[...] A democracy cannot survive when its supreme leader can arbitrarily decide that it's in the nation's best interest to rub out his opponents, and then leave it to some future court to decide whether it was an official act, because he'll get away with it as long as there aren't 67 votes in the Senate to impeach. And given that it will have been established that the president can put out a contract on political foes, how many senators are going to vote to impeach?

Spoiler

[...] increases the chances that yes, [Trump] will go ahead and violate the civil and human rights of political opponents and classes of people he calls Communists, Marxists, and fascists. People forget that the first German concentration camp (Dachau) was built [...] to hold members of the Communist and Social Democratic Parties, and Trump has made it clear that he's building enough camps to process a minimum of 11 million people (migrants, at least for starters).

[...] [Trump] is likely to believe that he [will have] the option of "removing" any member of the Supreme Court who defies him. [...] The Roberts Court surely believes that Trump would never stoop to this—that the sanctity of court and the laws and norms of our democracy will protect them. Anyone who has spent 10 minutes studying how democracies collapse knows this is idiotic

The Court Just Sealed Everyone's Fate, Including Its Own | The New Republic

Quote

Barr: Trump Brought Up 'Things Like' Executing Rivals a Lot

[...] Trump's former attorney general who once said that voting for [Trump] would be "playing Russian roulette with the country," stood by his decision to vote for Trump in November while also suggesting that Trump used to regularly float the idea of executing his political rivals while in office.

[...] Barr made the nonchalant admission [...] during a CNN interview [...] "[...] at the end of the day, it wouldn't be carried out and you could talk sense into him,"

Barr: Trump Brought Up 'Things Like' Executing Rivals a Lot (thedailybeast.com)

.. but perhaps that's because Trump didn't believe he'd be immune from criminal prosecution?...

Remember:

Quote

"But [Putin's] a killer," O'Reilly said to Trump. "There are a lot of killers. You think our country's so innocent?" Trump replied.

Trump defends Putin: 'You think our country's so innocent?' | CNN Politics

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 27 April 2024 - 02:25 PM

[Maark Abbott]

I'm sorry did I see something about America banning any speech critical of Israel?

I'm flying on second hand Twitter info but there's enough plausibility that a confirmation or confirmed refutation would be neat

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Maark Abbott, on 03 May 2024 - 11:06 AM, said:

I'm sorry did I see something about America banning any speech critical of Israel?

I'm flying on second hand Twitter info but there's enough plausibility that a confirmation or confirmed refutation would be neat

Quote

The House passed legislation [... that] would establish a broader definition of antisemitism for the Department of Education to enforce anti-discrimination laws [...] If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would broaden the legal definition of antisemitism to include the “targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.” Critics say the move would have a chilling effect on free speech throughout college campuses.

House passes bill to expand definition of antisemitism amid growing campus protests over Gaza war | AP News