Posted in: U.S. judge blocks Trump buyout offer for government workers until at least Monday See in context
It's like watching two drunk pyromaniacs with some matches and kerosine. They just can't figure out what to torch, but they love the flames, and who cares about the consequences?
1 ( +2 / -1 )
Posted in: Trump tells prayer breakfast he wants to root out 'anti-Christian bias' and urges 'bring God back' See in context
Complete unoriginal nonsense, Pneil. the historical existence of Jesus is one of the most well-documented facts of antiquity, confirmed by multiple non-Christian sources like Tacitus, Josephus, and Pliny.
Perhaps we're going off on a tangent, because while there likely was an itinerant preacher by the name of Jeshua in 1st century Palestine, there are no extra-Biblical accounts from the era. All are later and refer to Christianity, except the Josephus reference which is regarded as a forged insertion.
But the key thing for debate is whether Christianity should be playing an increased role in a constitionally secular society. The answer must be no, please no. The country was established as secular for a reason - puritan extremists were trying to create a theocracy and dictate their values onto others.
But in various ways, Christian extremists have been inserting their values back into the civic life, through abortion bans, school book bans etc. This campaign against secularism needs to be resisted.
8 ( +11 / -3 )
Posted in: Australia passes tough hate crime laws with mandatory jail time for Nazi salutes See in context
YAWN. Another tired Uber "Liberal" caricature. FACTS: right wing views equal personal freedom, limited government, and individual responsibility. They do NOT equate neo-Nazism, which you seem to lump in with every conservative.
I agree that freedom of speech is often associated with the tradition of old fashioned liberalism i.e. the state stays out of people's business, both socially and politically.
Yet so often, the calls to protect free speech are strongest when there is a threat to far right hate speech, yet not a whimper when right-wing radicals like "Moms for Liberty" remove books from schools that run in some way contrary to their agenda (e.g. a book about two real gay penguins, one about Japanese internment camps in the US in WW2, a book about Billie Jean-King, Charlotte's Webb, the Diary of Ann Frank etc).
3 ( +10 / -7 )
Posted in: Australia passes tough hate crime laws with mandatory jail time for Nazi salutes See in context
For about 2000 years it was a Roman salute. It only became commonly regarded as Nazi in the late 1930's.
The "Roman salute" is a myth - it is a modern invention, but for some reason this line has become popular with this those on the hard right following Musk's fiasco. Is your argument that Musk was doing a "Roman salute", despite such a thing never existing in antiquity?
4 ( +11 / -7 )
Posted in: Australia passes tough hate crime laws with mandatory jail time for Nazi salutes See in context
I miss the days, when the mere mention of Governments creating so-called 'hate speech' laws, got you branded a conspiracy theorist.
When were those days? I don't recollect them.
2 ( +8 / -6 )
Posted in: Australia passes tough hate crime laws with mandatory jail time for Nazi salutes See in context
People will be terrified of waving or even throwing a frisbee for fear that someone will interpret it as a nazi salute.
Again, I note that those with hard right views are quick to oppose this. But in Raw Bert's case it is not because of freedom of speech to hate but for fear of playing frisbee misinterpreted as a Nazi salute, perish the thought!
So remind me, in Germany, where it is already illegal to do a Nazi salute, how many people get arrested for waving or playing frisbee?
I think we know the answer, because this argument was not serious, but rather a poorly deployed slippery slope fallacy.
1 ( +8 / -7 )
Posted in: Australia passes tough hate crime laws with mandatory jail time for Nazi salutes See in context
We're all for cracking down on ACTUAL crime, but this is just another step toward criminalizing free speech and thought.
There is a clear correlation between those with hard right views and the defence of neo-Nazis who have no interest in freedom of any sort for people of the wrong colour or religion.
Australia has ZERO real protections for freedom of expression,
It does. It may operate a little differently to the absolutist form in the US, but it does, and there are legal precedents demonstrating this.
and now we're setting a dangerous precedent - what’s next? Mandatory prison for questioning mass immigration? Jail time for criticizing the LABOR GOVERNMENT's climate agenda? Fines for quoting the Bible if it offends the alphabet crowd?
The slippery slope fallacy, and an opportunity for you to run through a list of right wing fantasy hobby horses.
0 ( +7 / -7 )
Posted in: Trump fills his government with billionaires after running on a working-class message See in context
Trump is actually the rare character who comes true on campaign promises. Unlike the typical pofessional politician everywhere.
@Zaphod - he did not last time - he failed completely, but you could put that down to the surprise of being elected, and the fact that he didn't know what he was doing. But this time he does seem to be taking steps to achieve what he set out to do.
So yes, he is arresting illegal immigrants, as well as legal immigrants and some US citizens if they are a bit brown looking. Obviously this will end up driving up inflation, but that's another issue.
He has been good to his word on tariffs, even if it will punish working class americans the most. It will also drive up inflation, but that's another issue.
On inflation, that's going up. And the stock market is expected to plunge. Not what he promised.
1 ( +3 / -2 )
Posted in: Trump fills his government with billionaires after running on a working-class message See in context
What a pathetic headline, at least the billionaires knows how to make money while cutting unnecessary cost and that's why they are billionaires in the first place. Like or not, believe it or not, time for filling the entire government with DEI candidates who does what masa says without questions are long gone.
"Get businessmen instead of bureaucrats..." is a go-to fall-back of the right, common in tabloid newspapers and radio phone-in shows. Along with promises to cut red tape and improve efficiency, they have lived up to expectations. Businessmen make poor politicians. Statecraft is very different to commerce. But sadly, it is all about providing overly simplistic answers to complex problems - that is the Trump and MAGA level.
filling the entire government with DEI candidates who does what masa
Whenever you read "DEI" in a MAGA comment, just replace it with the word "black" or to understand what the commentator actually means. While this would normally be denied, the use of "masa" in the above makes it clear exactly what is meant.
4 ( +4 / -0 )
Posted in: Taiwan actress Barbie Hsu dies in Japan after contracting pneumonia triggered by flu See in context
It is uncommon to hear of it because, it's like telling someone on the news, that someone died of Asthma. The news broadcasters don't get enough eyeballs. Anyway, about 650,000 die annually from Influenza.Every single year! Not insignificant.
Agreed. But what is relatively uncommon is for a youngish person to die from it, but absolutely not unknown.
I went thru the flu this winter for the first time in my life and I can say, I will get for sure I will get flu shots next season.
No doubt you went through the "oh, so this is flu...I hope I never go through that again" feeling.
When you get a bad dose of influenza as a fit person, you can understand why it kills so many.
And while effectiveness varies year to year, and from age to age, getting the vaccine is more important in the elderly.
UK data from last year:
'Estimated vaccine effectiveness against all influenzas ranged from 63% (95% confidence interval 46 to 75%) to 65% (41 to 79%) among children aged 2–17, from 36% (20 to 49%) to 55% (43 to 65%) among adults 18–64 and from 40% (29 to 50%) to 55% (32 to 70%) among adults aged 65 and over.'
5 ( +7 / -2 )
Posted in: Trump says Americans could feel 'some pain' from his tariffs that are triggering trade war See in context
If anyone in the teaching game ever wants to explain the idiom to cut off your nose to spite your face, Trump's tariffs on goods that the US needs are probably as good an example as you could find.
16 ( +17 / -1 )
Posted in: Trump says Americans could feel 'some pain' from his tariffs that are triggering trade war See in context
For decades it has been understood that free trade is what makes everyone better off overall, especially between developed economies.
Donald Trump doesn't understand this and torching deals in place to make both his own country and the US's closest ally poorer.
And in the short-term it's going to feed into inflation - the one thing Trump promised to reverse.
But the MAGA cult would rather be poorer rather than admit they elected an idiot.
15 ( +16 / -1 )
Posted in: Arab nations reject Trump’s suggestion to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan See in context
Really now? So what would be the best answer or better yet, what would be the best solution, you got the floor.
A peace deal that doesn't involve Palestinians being completely ethnically cleansed from their indigenous lands, and which provides them with some permanent statehood in the area, as well as providing Israelis with security from psychotic Islamists.
A long term solution is tricky, but a Palestinian state rather than massive de facto refugee camp would be a start, allowing a sense of home and nationhood. Peace might not be permanent, but ethnic cleansing to make way more homes to please Ultra Orthodox Jews and American Evangelicals is not the route to long-term peace.
6 ( +7 / -1 )
Posted in: Arab nations reject Trump’s suggestion to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan See in context
Typical Trump - providing idiotically simplistic answers to highly complex problems.
5 ( +10 / -5 )
Posted in: Trump aid freeze stirs chaos before it is blocked in court See in context
Look at California’s deficit which is now $2 billion.
For a state that alone would have the world's 4th largest GDP of it was a country, that's pretty small.
But California has to subsidise all those poor red states that all love a bit of wealth redistribution when they are the beneficiaries.
4 ( +11 / -7 )
Posted in: Trump tells Davos elite to invest in U.S. or face tariffs See in context
stand up to the sick corrupt globalist elites pulling the strings
Trump is in bed with the world's richest men - if they aren't the globalist elites, who are they?
Oooh, "pulling the strings" - the shadowy figures in the background who secretly control everything. I get your dog whistle now. I bet you consider George Soros to be one of them.
9 ( +14 / -5 )
Posted in: Trump tells Davos elite to invest in U.S. or face tariffs See in context
No mention of the reiterated threats to Canada to become a US state from the President of the United States?
It was mentioned apparently, and the audience reacted as you might expect.
10 ( +12 / -2 )
Posted in: Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump’s executive order redefining birthright citizenship See in context
The judge said he’s been on the bench for more than four decades, and he couldn’t remember seeing another case where the action challenged so clearly violated the constitution.
The fact that it is directly contrary to the constitution was obvious, presumably even to Trump. It was a symbolic gesture to the MAGA cult.
3 ( +11 / -8 )
Posted in: Trump pledges a series of Day 1 executive actions to end 'four long years of American decline' See in context
It's going to be an interesting couple of years.
Trump will have to live up to his promise of closing the boarder. It's possible he'll do nothing and just say that he closed the boarder, and that will be enough for many of his followers.
The economy of likely to remain as strong - as typically happens, Democrats hand over booming economies, but he won't bring prices down. And if he imposes tariffs, prices will increase further.
And after a couple of years, he will lose his majority in both houses, and still likely loose interest in the whole thing anyway, and pay golf.
The economy will worsen and then a Democrat will be elected and be handed an economy in recession, as always happens.
6 ( +15 / -9 )
Posted in: Many countries, including China and Japan, grappling with shrinking and aging populations See in context
The population of 1.4 billion people — still more than 10 times that of Japan — is projected to fall to 1.3 billion by 2050.
I'm sure they'll cope with that many.
Quite possibly not. Because of the one child policy, they are going to end up with an inverted population pyramid with far more older, retired people than people of working age.
The oldest children of the one child policy are already in their mid-40s and would likely only have had one child themselves. The policy has been relaxed, but it will time until the population returns to normal.
China will most likely need millions of immigrants to care for its elderly and will likely be the destination of choice for nurses from the Philippines.
1 ( +5 / -4 )
Posted in: Many countries, including China and Japan, grappling with shrinking and aging populations See in context
Or maybe people are taking a look at the general state of the world and thinking "yeah, no thanks".
But not in developing countries, where birthrates remain high.
-3 ( +5 / -8 )
Posted in: What is healthspan, and how can you maximize yours? See in context
The problem in the US would appear to be obesity and lack of exercise.
3 ( +3 / -0 )
Posted in: Judge clears way for release of special counsel Smith's report on Trump's 2020 election case See in context
Judge Aileen Qannon isn't even sitting on the election interference case but she is such a biased Trump fanatic that it doesn't stop her making random orders.
The American justice system is so broken that it can't stand up to this level of corruption. Or rather, it was set up never envisaging that this level of corruption would exist at a federal level, so the appropriate checks and balances take too long to work through.
10 ( +10 / -0 )
Posted in: Man fired after ditching work 633 times to go to the gym See in context
More disturbing is the calculated hourly pay of a 55-year-old civil servant: ¥2,700.
And where he is, he probably won't be able to get a job that pays even that much again.
10 ( +15 / -5 )
Posted in: Why are there so many cults in Japan? See in context
A remarkable thing about cults is those who are in them aren't aware of being in a cult
People can't even agree on whether it is a religion, let alone calling it a religious cult, so we need to be careful about labelling others with pejorative terms such as "cult", and if you do, have very good reasons why you use those terms.
We need to be careful about getting too argumentative about definitions. When you are disagreeing about something being a religion, make clear what definition you are using. Buddhism is most commonly seen as a religion, including by many followers, and while it lacks a central God figure, it has many of the elements and trappings that we see with other religions, such as a belief in supernatural forces and concepts, which like karma and nirvana, play roles that one would typically find in theistic religions.
0 ( +1 / -1 )
Posted in: Selfish or selfless? Anti-natalists say they’re going child-free to protect the kids they won’t have See in context
Why this obsessive need to drag "christianity" into an unrelated discussion? Is there a reason?
Because Jay brought it into the conversation on cults and it is clear what perspective he is writing from - a conservative evangelical one most likely (arguably a cult in itself).
3 ( +5 / -2 )
Posted in: Selfish or selfless? Anti-natalists say they’re going child-free to protect the kids they won’t have See in context
Yes, it it's heartbreaking, but when the glow of youthful freedom fades, and the reality of growing old without a family sets in, the "child-free by choice" crowd most likely WILL find itself grappling with loneliness, purposelessness, and - for many of them - a legacy of nothing.
People make the decisions that are best for them, based on their lifestyles. Your suggestions of "loneliness" and "purposelessness" are more from your imagination, not rigorous analysis of data. Yes, some do, obviously.
Your views appear to be driven more by your evangelical christian zeal shown in the cult article thread, rather than regard for what people actually want.
It is sometimes depicted that child free adults are selfish, yet one of the constant reasons presented for having children is to have a captive audience to keep you happy in old age. Now that is very clearly selfish.
2 ( +4 / -2 )
Posted in: Why are there so many cults in Japan? See in context
Ever heard of the kamikazes? They killed themselves by deliberately crashing their planes into enemy ships. They did this in service to the Emperor, who was considered a Living God - in Buddhist Japan.
Why they did it is your interpretation. I disagree that they did it specifically for religious reasons and have never seen evidence to suggest that they did.
They did it for Japan, which they believed was at a point of existential threat and that it was a self-sacrifice they were prepared to make.
Furthermore, many pilots were not given any real choice but to "volunteer" for kamikaze service. It was an idea dreamt up by command as a way to fend off the advancing US Navy.
2 ( +2 / -0 )
Posted in: Why are there so many cults in Japan? See in context
Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism...all are cults
They are all religions, not cults. However, all religions can have cult like elements growing out of them.
To dismiss everything as a cult means that you can't see the really damaging cults beneath them. These are cults that dominate people's lives, take all their money, create an insider/outsider environment, and control every aspect of their lives.
If you look at two offshoots of Christianity, Jehovah Witnesses definitely fit the criteria of a cult, whereas the Mormons are probably not, despite the obviously fictional stories spun by Joseph Smith.
1 ( +2 / -1 )
Posted in: Trump's Ukraine envoy says world must reinstate 'maximum pressure' on Iran See in context
If people take each word in the literally sense then there’s just no logical hope for them.
Obviously we know now not to take Trump at his word.
9 ( +14 / -5 )
One has to wonder how long the various Arab regimes could remain in control if the US were to take…
Posted in: Trump says he is committed to owning Gaza, but could let Middle East states help rebuild
Ishiba proposes Nippon Steel invest in U.S. Steel rather than acquire it Booooo. Bad idea.
Posted in: Ishiba proposes Nippon Steel invest in U.S. Steel rather than acquire it
Making Canada the 51st state would really piss off tiny Texas.
Posted in: Trump says he is serious about Canada becoming 51st state