Total posts: 4,222
Posted in:
-->
@IlDiavolo
How can you explain then that he has the biggest chance to win the elections?
I don't understand your question. He doesn't. The most recent polls show biden ahead slightly. And in pretty much every election since 2016, the dems have overperformed the polls by like 4-10 points. And the news between now and the election is going to continue to be bad for trump with his multiple trials and potentially bankruptcy. So his odds aren't going to get any better.
He will get nominated and he will very likely win the presidency.
I have no doubt he will be nominated. His cultists will see to that. But he is going to lose a general election.
Though you're right when you say he will be taken down in this witch hunt.
what witch hunt? He is obviously guilty of most of the stuff he is accused of. It isn't even difficult to see he is guilty because there is so much evidence.
Happily, americans have Vivek to finish the job.
what? vivek isn't even running. He was never a serious candidate. Let's face it, republicans aren't going to pick someone who isn't a white guy, so he will never be a serious candidate.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ADreamOfLiberty
The FBI told you so.
uh huh. And some random person you know nothing about said biden was corrupt, and provided no evidence of any kind to support that. You choose to assume the FBI is lying, but the guy who has admitted to being on the russian payroll is telling the truth. That says alot about you.
It's also important to note that literally no one has been able to find a shred of evidence of biden being corrupt.lol
There has never been a shred of evidence put forward to show biden has engaged in corruption. I know you listen to people who tell you the opposite all the time, but they are lying. There is no evidence. There are just people like this "witness" who make baseless claims for their own profit. When those claims are checked, they all come to nothing.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@TheUnderdog
Because John Oliver is trying to buy votes in the Supreme Court by getting Thomas out of there and replacing him with a judge Biden would appoint who would be pro Roe V Wade.
lol a comedian is trying to buy a vote? Seriously? that is your argument? His point is that Thomas' vote was bought a long time ago by right wing donors. Read up on all the stuff right wing donors have bought him. There is no chance oliver could outbid them.
If the 1st 2 sentences are true, it doesn't make the 3rd sentence true as that's not what corruption is.
I honestly don't know what you are trying to say.
It's corruption because John Oliver is trying to buy votes.
that has got to be the weakest argument I have ever heard. I thought you were joking. Thomas has been taking bribes from right wing billionaires for decades. That is corruption. That is the right buying court decisions. A comedian makes a joke about it to show how corrupt thomas is and you take the joke as corruption, but ignore the actual bribes he has been getting for years.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ADreamOfLiberty
The cruelest slavery has always been and still is west and north African slavery. The cruelty of colonial American slavery (including the Spanish, and Portuguese colonies) was imported from there where the slaves came from.
where did you get this idea from? It is absolutely not true.
That cruelty was heavily attenuated by European sensibilities and the christian emphasis on universal love.
what?!?!?! Europeans absolutely did not have sensibilities of Universal love. Anyone with even a passing understanding of History would know that.
The 'slavery' of medieval Europe was so regulated as to make it reasonable to deny it was slavery (serfs and indentured servants).
serfdom isn't slavery. The people were not owned. They were not property. They were certainly treated like crap, but they were not the property of their lord.
The worst of the slavery in the united states is of course worse than the best slavery in west Africa or the arab empires, but it's not worse than the worst of those regions.
This is objectively not true. The worst of slavery in the United states isn't as bad as other European colonies like Haiti or the Belgian congo, but it is still just as brutal as anything africans ever did.
Castration is cruel.
I never said it wasn't. I said that Europeans were worse. Again, read about Haiti and then tell me that isn't worse.
Nothing in the rest of the world compares to the horror of what was done to slaves in "western" countries.
I was talking about slavery, you then brought up war. Those are completely different topics and shows that you either don't take this conversation seriously, or you know your point is so weak that you need to move the goalposts.
Could keep going on like that for dozens of pages.
Again, I never said slavery in other places was fun. But you didn't show me anything worse than what Europeans did. Europeans were much worse. Again, read about Haiti or the belgian congo and then come back and show me what is worse than that. You're talking about dehumanizing people. That's bad. In haiti, field slaves were treated worse than animals.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Greyparrot
Of course he is horrible, but for the polls to change, you have to bet on one or the other. You are betting on Trump declining over Biden improving to change the polls. That's pretty risky.
oh i see. No, I am not betting on either of those things. I think, like in every election for the last like 8 years, the polls are wrong. The way the polls are designed is giving the illusion of like a +5 point support for republicans.
Created:
-->
@Best.Korea
I don't remember why I blocked you. So I have unblocked you.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ADreamOfLiberty
A ruling that is obviously wrong if it occurred since it would imply that courts can declare an incomplete set of rights by whim.
I mean, at this point there is no point discussing this with you. The supreme court and decades of case law say that you are wrong. a couple of far right wing judges packed in to intentionally skue the court agree with you. You say it is "obviously wrong", but most lawyers and judges would disagree with you. I don't know how we can discuss it further if you think your personal opinion is somehow "obviously right" when most experts agree you are wrong.
Partial rights to liberty is just a deceptive way to describe inequitable tyranny.
as opposed to what? Every right is partial. Every. single. one. There is no such thing as a right without limits.
I would ban taxes in an instant, but the implication is that taxes would be unconstitutional.How do you imagine such a thing would go?Well, if you have a better system ready to go.
you didn't answer my question. How do you think a system without taxes would exist? How would society not collapse into some dictatorial mess?
Yea that's what they said about seceding from the UK, ending slavery, letting women vote, and failing to imprison homosexuals.
I mean, assholes will always want to protect their power. But I can't think of any way in which society is even possible without taxes. And so far you have failed to give any indication of why it wouldn't go exactly as I describe.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Greyparrot
So you are betting on Trump declining over Biden improving. That's a bit risky.
I don't understand your point. Trump is horrible. The entire country already knows that. His maga freak candidates have been losing in every election where it isn't a super safe republican area. And what do you mean "biden improving". He's not one of the best presidents in history. But he's definitely in the top half. Trump is in the bottom 10%, if not literally the worst president ever.
Polls suggest a much different story. Biden had almost no negatives before 2020.
most of the negatives around biden are just that he is old. Which is true. People would like a younger candidate. But trump is pretty much the same age and clearly going senile. So it isn't likely to be a relevant factor in the election.
people are not OK with Biden's policies after 2020.
what policies do you think people aren't ok with. Most of what he has done is popular.
What's worse is that independents in swing states have to know they are really voting for Kamala over Trump.
I mean, at this point, most people would vote for a pineapple over trump. He has a cultish base that would die for him. But most independent see what a train wreck he is.
Immigration is going to be as big an issue as abortion was last election, and like you said, there will be no strategy shift.
I hope they do make immigration an issue. Then biden can beat them over the head with the fact that the democrats passed a sweeping immigration bill and the republicans killed it because they need dumb people to be afraid of the border.
And abortion is still a critical issue. People haven't forgotten about that. They know that if the republicans win, their rights are gone. That albatross is still firmly around the republican's necks.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@IwantRooseveltagain
Trump is obese. Biden is at a healthy weight but Trump is a big fatty
A big fatty who loves drinking coke and eating burgers. But even more than that, he has been under huge strain the last few years. The stress of losing the 2016 election and having the world see what a loser he is, losing court cases over and over and over, being criminally indicted multiple times, being sued for 85 million by E jean carrol, being sued for like 450 million by the sate of New york etc. Trump's entire personality is tied to showing everyone what a big, strong, rich man he is and the last 4 years have been a parade of him being a loser. You can see his decline in real time these days. The civil fraud case is going to break him mentally. He would have to sell everything he owns in New York to pay for that. And he can't even appeal the decision with putting the money in an escrow account.
Created:
-->
@IwantRooseveltagain
“If we’ve learned anything from the Russia collusion hoax“What was the meeting with Russians in Trump Tower about?
don't forget about Paul Manafort giving their confidential polling data to a russian intelligence officer during the 2016 election.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ADreamOfLiberty
Unfortunately that is the case. So for example owning a gun or speech. They are enumerated rights.
no it isn't. And the Supreme court ruled that it wasn't the case. And decades of case law upheld that it wasn't the case. The only reason it isn't the case today is that the republicans packed the court with far right wing assholes.
It's not fine. It's objectively immoral. It would however be constitutional if you replace "government" with "federal/state congress enact a veto proof law".
It would not be constitutional. The courts would strike such a law down.
I would ban taxes in an instant, but the implication is that taxes would be unconstitutional.
How do you imagine such a thing would go? Because the obvious answer is the collapse of society. Then some sort of military strong man seizes power and makes a new government, one with taxes. There is a reason taxes exist in every country in the world. They aren't optional.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Greyparrot
Do you really think Biden will beat the spread in the swing states?
I have almost no doubt that Biden will beat trump. He already did it once. And since then trump has been charged with numerous crimes and seems to get angrier and crazier by the day. All the while Biden has been doing a relatively good job as president.
What do you think his new strategy will be?
what new strategy? His has a pretty strong record to run on. And he can just point to how unhinged and dangerous trump is. It is truer today than the last time he beat trump.
How confident are you that Biden will be on the ballot in November instead of someone more competent?
99% sure. The only way biden isn't on the ballot is if he dies. Which is certainly possible, but there's no evidence that he is going to die any time soon. He still goes biking and stuff. I'd say the odds are much higher trump is the one who won't be on the ballot. maybe 5% to biden's 1%. Trump hasn't been a healthy man in years and the strain of being such a massive loser is clearly getting to him.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ADreamOfLiberty
Due process of law means you pass a law, then you put them on trial, then you throw them in jail.
so by your measure, anything the constitution doesn't explicitly say is protected isn't protected? So if the government said you couldn't drink water ever again, the constitution doesn't explicitly say you have a right to drink water, so you can just die and that's totally fine.
I dream of liberty, and taxes are the first thing on the list.
I'm not even sure what this means. Is the implication you would ban taxes? That's a weird way of saying you want to destroy the country.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ADreamOfLiberty
I don't trust the FBI.
I mean, this isn't really an argument of any kind. The man lied to the FBI, they investigated and confirmed he was lying. He then confessed to getting the info from the russian government. Whether or not you trust them isn't particularly relevant. It's not like the guy provided any evidence for any of his claims. He just claimed that people he never spoke to told him things.
It's also important to note that literally no one has been able to find a shred of evidence of biden being corrupt. So it's not like anyone else can corroborate the things he says.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ADreamOfLiberty
Now if you pointed out that some American slaves freed themselves, and then bought slaves... would that be slavery apologetics? What about the fact that some were paid?
my point was that the form of slavery used by white people was horrifying and much, much worse than the forms other cultures used.
So stop apologizing for slavery in the ottoman empire.
i'm not. Slavery is bad. Full stop. The form of slavery used by white people is the absolute worst form of slavery ever conceived. It was many times worse than the forms used by other cultures.
You know the arab empires castrated their black slaves right? Also turks are pretty light skinned.
I'm not really seeing how this connects to my point. Read a little about how slaves were treated in places like Haiti or the belgian congo. Nothing in the rest of the world compares to the horror of what was done to slaves in "western" countries.
You're nuts. (whipping to death was rare everywhere and there were plenty of slaves worked to death outside of Europe & colonies)
you may want to learn more about slavery, because no it was not. Maybe it was in the specific area you are thinking of. Most americans only think about slavery in terms of cotton fields, so i'm guessing that is what you are thinking of. But read a bit about other places white people colonized too. Haiti and the Belgian congo are some of the worse examples. And maiming, beating slaves to death and just random murders of slaves were not uncommon in these places.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Greyparrot
It seems that Biden is winning in latest polls.Source?
Also important to note that since trump got elected, democrats have overperformed the polls in basically all elections. Often by double digits. As a recent example, in George Santos' old seat, the polls showed the dems ahead by 1-4 points. The dems won by almost 8 points. In a district santos won by 7.5 points only 1 year earlier. That's a HUGE swing in one year.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ADreamOfLiberty
and finally stated the obvious: The constitution does not imply anything about abortion.
It does say "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law". The courts determined that abortion bans illegally deprived people of these rights. This ruling was upheld by the courts for decades, IE giving this ruling decades of case law to support it.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ADreamOfLiberty
lol, this is a serious take? Basically, a guy said he had conversations that proved biden corruption. The FBI investigated and confirmed his statements were lies and that he hadn't even spoken to the people he claimed to have gotten the information from. Now he is being arrested for lying to the FBI. And since his arrest he has confirmed that he got the "information" from Russian intelligence officials.
Basically, the story here is that the republicans amplified Russian propaganda and are now mad that their Russian agent has been arrested.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@TheUnderdog
Corruption that benefits the right (repealing Roe V Wade): Bad.Corruption that benefits the left (re enacting it): Good.
you're not really making any sense. Roe v. Wade has been established case law for decades. It was upheld over and over and over. So the supreme court repealing it was corruption. They set aside decades of case law.
How would putting it back be corruption? It has decades of case law supporting it and it is overwhelmingly popular. So your base premise doesn't make sense.
Created:
Posted in:
Also, what slavery means in different cultures isn't the same thing. For example, in the Ottoman empire being a Janissary (IE a slave soldier) was a desirable profession. They were well paid, well taken care, of and had real possibilities for career advancement. In some descriptions, parents sold their children into slavery as Janissaries willingly because it was a better life. I don't know if I buy that, but just to highlight that it wasn't some horrible fate. And it was absolutely nothing like what white people were doing.
So banning of slavery in other countries doesn't have the same meaning as it does for those white countries. Because the white countries were whipping their slaves to death to make them work harder. Other countries' versions of slavery didn't really do that. Chattel slavery is mostly a white person thing.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@WyIted
I dont Trump has really stated he wants to suspend the constitution despite his hot take on some things.
he has said on multiple occasions that he wants to suspend the constituion.
For example this is from december 2022 "A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
And you think the left is the threat the constitution? lol. The right is openly saying that if the constitution gets in the way of their power that they will get rid of it.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@YouFound_Lxam
Zygotes only need resources. They grow as its own biological creature.
uh huh. so the same as a sperm. They need an egg in order to start the process to become a person. A zygote needs all kinds of things to be given to it in order to continue the process of becoming a person.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
So you agree with my OP. Fill the jails. That's how you save democracy.
why would anyone disagree with this statement? Do you save democracy by punishing people who tried to overthrow it? Obviously yes. If you fail to punish them, they will definitely try again.
Created:
-->
@ILikePie5
“Price fixing is an agreement (written, verbal, or inferred from conduct)”
we're going in circles with you just repeating the same misunderstanding over and over. "inferred from conduct" does not mean both companies decided to price gouge at the same time. It still requires collusion, you just don't necessarily need to find written evidence to show collusion. for example if 2 companies raised the prices of their product to exactly the same price on the same day, that would show collusion from conduct. IE they arranged in advance to do this and their actions prove this, even if you can't find a letter showing they colluded. But if two companies raise prices a month apart and they aren't the same price, that wouldn't show collusion. It would be perfectly legal, and a normal part of capitolism.
So you’re saying the stimulus packages were not needed?
no. i'm saying you are blaming biden for the consequence of trump's actions. which is pure partisan hackery.
What “shitty policy” of Trump caused inflation. Simple question.
in this statement I was referring to republicans shitty policy more broadly, not specifically in relation to inflation. Things like cutting taxes on the rich, selling off government assets to rich friends, cutting regulations that prevent corporations from causing problems etc.
The inflation that happened under biden was partially a result of covid (supply chain issues etc), partially a result of covid policy (lockdowns causing everyone to value the same products at the same time, stimulus spending etc), and largely corporate greed (corporations jacking up prices far in excess of their costs increasing). I'm not saying it was shitty policy on trump's part that caused this.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
Anything can be defined as an attempted overthrow of the government in the eyes of an elected official.
this is absurd.
Including the removal of a police barricade.
on it's own, no of course not. If they took down a police barricade in front of a mall on black friday, no one could possible say that's treason. But when you "take down a police barricade" in front of congress while shouting "hang mike pence", and you attack the police with clubs and pepper spray injuring over 100 cops, and you are doing all of it for the express purpose of stopping the peaceful transfer of power so that the loser of an election can seize power illegally, then you are absolutely a traitor.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
Do you think Biden was right to order a 3rd round of stimulus?
it's hard to say. Daily new cases were still rising. active cases were at all time highs (up to that point). It's entirely possible that without more stimulus there could have been significant negative impacts. I'd say the choice was similar to trump's. There was no "good" choice. All he could do was choose between bad options. Not giving stimulus would have hurt alot of people.
And, to be clear, the majority of the inflation increase had nothing to do with Biden's choice. The majority of the increase was a either covid caused (Ex there were huge holdups at customs and in shipping causing shortages) or corporate greed (ex their cost to produce went up 10% so they raised prices by 40%). The stimulus certainly had an impact on inflation, but it was not the main cause of it.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
No, I was comparing burning down a Wendy's with removing a police barrier. One is worth 17 years, the other is a 500 dollar fine.
no, you are comparing treasonous attempted overthrow of the government to vandalism. Attacking the capitol and trying to overthrow the peaceful transfer of power isn't "removing a police barrier". It's treason. If Pence had given in to their attacks, things could have gotten very, very bad.
and the cases I have seen involve people smashing in windows, attacking police with pepper spray and clubs etc. this wasn't some peaceful movement. this was a violent attack.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
What's kind of funny is that before inflation, Democrats and the media regularly trashed Trump for not spending enough. Some of the plans proposed by a Democrat Congress would have near doubled what Trump spent. That would have been hilarious to live through. Careful what you wish for.
I'm not arguing that trump's spending was a bad thing. In this specific area he had a series of bad choices. If he didn't spend, the economy was going to stall and caused a huge recession. If he spends too much, the economy gets too hot and you get inflation. There was no good choice. But since republicans like to pretend like it was somehow Biden that caused the inflation and not trump, I feel it is necessary to point that this is not the case.
Created:
If supply and demand justifies the higher price, then by definition there’s no price gouging.
do you understand what price gouging means. If I raise my prices by 400% and people are still buying my products, that is both price gauging, and capitalism working as intended.
You clearly did not read the FTC article I sent.
I don't think you did. It says there has to be collusion. Two companies raising prices because they can isn't illegal. Even if those raises are price gouging.
Again, if supply and demand equilibrium price is not the price all of these companies are charging, by definition, it’s collusion and illegal.
this is going around in circles. If they all raise prices independently of each other, it isn't illegal. There has to be collusion in order for it be a crime.
Literally laws ban this. Otherwise monopolies would be legal. I provided you sources and laws. You have yet to counter any.
you aren't making any sense. You link to sources that say it requires collusion, then argue the opposite. Link the exact quote that says that companies raising prices independently of each other is illegal.
You’re changing the topic. Inflation wasn’t a problem during Trump. That’s a fact.
lol, if I light a fire right before selling a house, does that mean fire wasn't an issue when I owned it? Trump set the economy on fire, then lost the election. If he had won, inflation would have been the same. Just because the inflation didn't jump to 10% the moment trump make decisions, doesn't mean his decisions didn't cause it.
Under Biden is when inflation skyrocketed
this sort of logic is endemic for republicans. Republican candidates push shitty policy that causes problems. The problems take a few years to become really bad, but by that point they have lost the election. Democrats spend years dealing with the mess they made and fixing it. But repubican voters go "Look, it was only a problem under the democrats" and completely ignore the fact that republican policy caused the problem in the 1st place. But then the cycle begins again.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
I am just stating you don't need to be afraid of all of the law.
of course you do. I am not going to be sent to prison for 100 years for running a red light. But i'm still not going to do it.
Just the parts that would have your elected officials brand you a traitor.
i'm not an elected official. Those people are traitors. They saw their preferred candidate lose the election. They saw him sue over and over and over again, and every single case get tossed out because there was no evidence to support his claims. then they marched on the capitol to try to overturn the results of an election. that is treason.
Created:
False; it is illegal.
no, it isn't. In order for it to be illegal, they have to collude. IE they need to come to an agreement that they will work together to raise prices. If they see the market will support them charging more, there is nothing illegal about raising prices.
But, if you set higher prices to effectively monopolize the market indirectly or directly with a competitor in the market, to negate the supply/demand fundamentals, it is by definition contrary to capitalism and illegal.
this is false. It is only illegal if the competitors are working together. If both companies decide, independently of each other, that they can get away with charging more, there is nothing illegal about that.
But you are saying that companies are effectively working together to price gouge to prevent “competition.” Competition is a cornerstone of capitalism. So which is it?
not exactly, no. Profit is the cornerstone of capitalism. Much of the time, it is more profitable to undercut your rival so you can sell more. But if undercutting your rival only increases your market share by a little, then you can make alot more money if you just raise prices and they do the same thing. With covid, people were expecting inflation. There was a reasonable explanation as to why prices were going up. So companies just kept raising prices far in excess of what they actually needed to.
COVID was an inflationary period? I had no clue.
I'm really not sure if you didn't understand that or not. But yes, Covid, and the policies it triggered, caused the inflation spike. And trump was the one doing that, not biden.
I agree, there must be collusion or an illusion of collusion so to speak. It’s just as illegal because it is contrary to capitalism lmao. You don’t have to sleep with rival companies to effectively monopolize markets.
contrary to capitalism? You defitely don't know what capitalism is if you think it is contrary to capitalism. And you're wrong. It isn't illegal.
This wasn’t a problem during Trump.
are you insane? Trump was being directly paid by billionaires. They used to rent out whole floors of his hotels and then not stay there. The Saudi's were especially large payers of trump. Ivanka got tons of money from China. Trump was, and is, king of crony capitalism.
Under Trump, inflation was stable at around 2-3% until COVID, so the problem never existed.
so your statement is inflation was stable until trump. Then biden inherited his mess....
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
Get a friendlier DA then, I suppose. One that selectively applies the law depending on how you vote. Then you can enjoy life to the fullest.
you are comparing burning down a building to trying to overthrow democracy. How could you think these 2 things are comparable?
You can also ask one of the million illegal invaders how to deal with your fear of the law. They will help you get over that fear.
you just love your false equivalences don't you? How does that have literally anything to do with a traitor being punished for his crimes?
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
There are no perfect solutions, only trade-offs.
I mean, I agree. But there isn't really much of a trade off here. These people are criminals who betrayed their country. They need to be punished.
Correct. If the people no longer fear the government, then there is no government. True democracy requires constant fear and swift retribution.
I'm not arguing they should fear the government. But they should fear breaking the law. And they should definitely fear betraying their country. If people have no fear of blatantly breaking the law, then you don't have a country. But I don't fear my government. I do fear breaking the law. Those 2 things don't go together.
Created:
Then that’s illegal. Plain and simple.
you think that companies raising prices is illegal? You don't know how capitolism works do you? It's only illegal if they get together and collude to set a price. If they see their competitor raising prices and say "hey, we can raise prices too". That's not illegal.
I did make an argument. Biden can use the DoJ to stop the price gouging you claim is happening but he doesn’t want to.
how could he do that? It isn't illegal to price gouge. I'm starting to think you don't know how capitalism works.
I know that Republicans wouldn’t have let inflation get this bad in the first place. Spending trillions in an inflationary period sure helps increase inflation. Who would’ve thought.
lol trump spent trillions in an inflationary period. Your partisan blinders are really bad.
Yes there is. You don’t have to have a written agreement. There only needs to be inference that they are colluding to raise prices. Sherman Act. Clayton Act. FTC Act. Just to name a few.
you are contradicting yourself. There must be collusion. IE they have to be working together. If all companies choose to raise prices at the same time and don't communicate about it, that isn't illegal. that's capitolism.
I never said they don’t. But Biden is the POTUS and in charge of the DoJ, not Republicans. Biden has the power of prosecution, not Republicans.
ok, he does right this minute. But trump did a few years ago. Bush did a few years before that. They definitely didn't go after anyone who donated to them. So to pretend you are outraged that Biden isn't doing something when people you support act either the same way or worse, is childish.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
Exactly. More of the same. I suspect the jails will be overflowing by election day.
i mean, you are talking about a good thing, but I suspect you are trying to make it sound bad. These people are figuratively, and I would argue literally, traitors. they tried to overthrow their government and install the loser of an election. Many of them came armed. Many of them attacked police. They absolutely should go to prison for their crimes. Many of them already have. People need to know that if you try to destroy democracy, there is a price to be paid.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
Rules for thee, but not for me on steroids, Expect more of the same.
I'm not going to bother wasting my time with the full video. The man took part in an attempt to overthrow democracy, then got arrested. Like thousands of other traitors.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
These people all fund both sides.Exactly.
so you acknowledge that all republicans are every bit as compromised, usually even more compromised, than Joe Biden? And if so, why were trying to call out joe biden specifically?
Created:
-->
@hey-yo
Point 1: We can see from the get-go that the actions of Hamas here were not to get peace and prosperity in Gaza, not to build infrastructure, and not to receive an Arab state (in the conventional sense), rather it was to see a LACK OF A JEWISH STATE.
While their charter definitely wants the destruction of Israel, I interpret it more as they see the jews as an existential threat. IE as long as a jewish state exists in the area, they will always be under threat of that state attempting to expand, as Israel has done many times and continues to do. therefore his statement is false. It's not that they aren't looking to receive an arab state. They very much do. But they also see the existence of a jewish state as a existential threat to that state.
1. HISTORICAL RIGHTS TO THE LAND/ISRAEL STOLE IT
This one is a complicated point. Jews definitely lived there thousands of years ago. But there were very few jews living there for like 1000 years prior to Zionism. In my opinion, being absent for 1000 years removes much claim to the land. there are countless people in the world who have been displaced from their ancestral lands. If we said that all of them still had a right to those lands, the wars would be never ending. For example, the turks have lived in Anatolia and Europe for about 1000 years. So the people they displaced would have a similar claim to the removal of Turkey as the Jews do to the lands of Palestine. But I don't think anyone would support that.
I'm also not sure that there is evidence to support the idea that the jewish people living there now are actually descendants of the jewish people who lived there 1000's of years ago. Judaism is, of course, a religion, not an ethnicity. Just because jews lived there before, does not mean the people living there now have a claim to it. Lots of people from other areas of the world converted to Judaism, it doesn't mean those people have claims to Israel/Palestine.
2. JEWS DIDN'T GIVE ENOUGH LAND/PREVENTED AN ARAB STATE (PLEASE READ)
this is kind of a weird point to me. Jews didn't "give" land. The british were taking land and giving it to the jews. The palestinians got mad and did horrible, horrible things prompting the Jews to retaliate. In the resulting violence the jews ended up taking more land. And they are illegally taking more land year after year. They weren't originally trying to prevent an arab state, because the population of the area was arab when they arrived. Their goals shifted over time though and they definitely have been fighting to prevent an arab state for decades.
Point 3: Arabs have walked away from every single attempt to make an independent Arab State, so There cannot be any blame on the Jews for not giving up/stealing land from the Arabs.
arabs certainly share blame for the current mess. But just because you walk away from what you perceive to be a bad deal, does mean you lose all rights to a deal. And it certainly doesn't justify the other side illegally stealing your stuff, which the Israeli settlements do every year.
Point 4. Do not blame israel for the oppressive conditions in Gaza.
I would strongly disagree with this point. Israel wanted hamas in power. They took steps to make sure Hamas stayed in power. The idea of a palestian people unified under a peaceful and reasonable government is terrifying to Israel. Israel needed hamas because it justified Israel in blocking peace and continuing their militarist policies and illegal settlements.
Point 4: Israel did not expel all arabs from Palestine as a result of making the state. At most, arabs were displaced from the war waged by up to 7 other arab countries at a time. if not for these unprovoked wars, much less arabs would have been displaced. Furthermore, Arabs since the beginning have enjoyed full citizenry in israel, even having representatives in gov't. This disproves the Apartheid theory (look up the definition of Apartheid.)
It's true they didn't expel all arabs, just most of them. The statement seems to claim that Israel didn't expel them at all, that they were displaced by the war only, this is untrue. He says it can't be Apartheid because many of the arabs that remained in what became Israel got citizenship and to look up the definition. The definition I found is "a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race." The Palestinians certainly are discriminated against on grounds of race. Allowing some people to have citizenship and the right to vote doesn't negate an apartheid state. Besides, choosing to sort of accept a small chunk of a population doesn't mean you aren't engaging in apartheid against the rest of that population. There were some black people in apartheid south africa who did very well. They went to the best schools, served in government etc. Their existence doesn't negate how the government treated the rest of the black people.
To discuss the concept of a human shield and proportionate response, I really don't understand the current Opposition's stance. Throughout world history, and indeed in common sense, once an act of aggression is done towards a country, that country will respond in the way it deems fit.
this is REALLY, not true. There have always been rules to war. Those rules have shifted over time, but to say that once a country has an act of aggression done against it they are free to do what they want is wildly inaccurate. for example, WW 1 was caused by Austria over reacting to an act of aggression. Their heir to the throne was murdered. But Russia still intervened to stop them when they went too far in reacting to it. Another example could be the Vietnam war. Theoretically, the reason america got involved was the gulf of Tonkin incident, IE an act of aggression against america. That does not excuse them bombing villages and mass slaughtering civilians.
This means that Germany shouldn't have been attacked because of the civilians, Japan shouldn't have gotten 2 nuclear bombs after Pearl Harbor, and many other examples of retaliation that NO ONE IS PROTESTING ABOUT.
this seems straight up stupid. many people protested about the use of force on germany and Japan. It is pretty commonly held that the allies went too far in what they did to germany, the fire bombing of Dresden for example. But without the internet and freely available information, it was much less known and understood exactly how brutal it was. And the world has kind of moved on by the time that information was more widely available.
For the japanese, it's tougher. The allies' only 2 options were a conventional land invasion or using the bomb. It is plausible that a land invasion could have killed more japanese civilians than the bombs did. but we will never know.
If Hamas did not have their military operations near hospitals and schools and civilians, the IDF would not be shooting at them.
the counter point would be that the IDF is putting little, if any, effort into avoiding civilian targets. They have been freely bombing any target that might have hamas there. They don't bother checking if they are actually there. They don't care. If they were doing everything they could to avoid civilian casualties, then this might be a valid point. Civilians were going to die in the fighting no matter what. But the IDF is actively bombing civilian targets with little to no evidence that there are any hamas fighters in the area. They want to drive out the civilians so they can militarily occupy the area. The free fire on civilians isn't a flaw, it's the design.
Also, even if there were to be an argument for unnecessary civilian death, why is no one blaming hamas for putting their operations there? why is all the blame on israel? this shows something.
it shows desperation. Many, if not most groups engaging in asymmetrical warfare use tactics like this. If they didn't Israel would easily kill them all and then continue abusing the palestinian people anyway. I'm sure they would argue it is even more inhumane to allow Israel to easily win and then abuse their people freely with no chance of resisting them. But like I said, this argument would only be valid if Israel was actually trying to avoid civilian casualties, which they are not. they lose any moral high ground the moment they intentionally target civilians.
Created:
-->
@ILikePie5
So consumers can go to alternatives and get things for cheaper.
they could, assuming it wasn't a trend everywhere. If all businesses are gouging at the same time, then there is nowhere to go for cheaper alternatives.
. Got it. Also, I don’t think you realize how inflation really works, which is okay. Not everyone is a business or economic major.
lol this is just a sad comment. You made absolutely no argument at all, and yet pretend like you know more than me.
In which case you send the DoJ in, but again. More profits for companies = more donations for Joe.
Do you have any idea how hard the republicans would fight against investigating corporations? Are you really pretending like going easy on corporations is a democrat thing?
Uh, no they don’t. There’s like a million laws that prevent price gouging, but Biden doesn’t want to.
name some, specifically. Name a law that doesn't allow a company to set a price they want to set. Companies have a wide latitude to set whatever price they want. The idea is that competition will force them to lower prices. but when all companies realize they can make more money by raising prices and that they can get away with it, competition stops forcing down prices. And there isn't really a government mechanism to do anything about it.
People like Jeff Bezos and Sam Bankman-Fried fund his campaign.
and those same kinds of people fund all the republicans too. SBF also gave huge amounts of money to republicans, you know that right? These people all fund both sides.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
Because there's no substitutes when you have a sanctioned monopoly.
you realize we aren't just talking about Canada right? That was just an example. Inflation shot up around the entire world. That includes the US, Canada, Europe Asia etc. And a large part of that inflation was just corporate greed. Unless you are saying every country in the world has monopolies.
Of course they have to. Businesses have to keep their profit margins to avoid bankruptcy, so prices have to be inflated by at least their profit margins over their cost increases or else the business goes belly-up.
did you even read what I said? Their prices have increased multiple times more than their costs increased. it's not like their costs went up 8% so they raised prices 8%. It's more like their costs went up 8% so they raised prices 40%. That isn't "avoiding bankruptcy". That is runaway corporate greed.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
This absolutely is not "besides the point'
the point is that companies have raised prices far in excess of their costs. Whether they are engaging in criminal activity in order to do that is besides the point.
I had no idea Canada was so corrupt with the crony government colluding to support monopolies which will then inevitably fix the prices as there are no substitutes for the consumer.
nothing in this article says the government is corrupt or colluding with companies. It also says that the US has the same problems. For example google, facebook etc.
But again, all of this is outside the point I am making. This is criminal activity to increase prices. But most companies aren't engaging in such egregious crimes. They don't have to. They just keep raising prices over and over. And since their competitors do the same thing, everyone gets rich. As long as "everyone" is the corporations. Everyone else just has to pay more and more and more for basically all goods and services. And this is a core reason of what is driving inflation. It's not that the products and services are significantly more expensive to produce. It is that the companies sensed they could get away with gouging their customers.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
A silly argument since the majority of the press shills for Biden.
lol are you kidding? He is constantly undermined by the press all over the place. Talking about how old he is, how his policies aren't successful (even though most of them have been blocked). The media loves to badmouth him.
Unless you are arguing that the press outlets themselves are bad at their jobs.
I guess it depends on what you think their job is. If their job is to accurately report the news, then 100% they are bad at their jobs. If their job is to get people to watch, then alot more people will watch the news rip on someone that if they are saying "wow, biden's policies have increased GDP growth to the highest it's been in decades". Even though that is accurate, not alot of people will tune in to watch it.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
I did a deep dive into why there was only one bread manufacturer in Canada, and it seems the government rewarded the monopoly through regulations while punishing new businesses through regulations.
please provide evidence for your claim that government regulation rewarded monopolies and punished new businesses.
But this is sort of the besides the point. My point is that companies have been artificially raising their prices for years now. IE their costs go up by 8%, so they raise prices by 40%. And you can see this reflected in the record profits in many industries. If the price raises were related to increased costs, they wouldn't be making more money, their profits would be the same. And there isn't really a mechanism to stop companies from doing this. The only way you could, that I can see, is some sort of government instituted price caps, which is generally a bad idea.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
This is why Biden is sitting at around 40% approval. The public is sick and tired of Adhom tactics when the country is burning to the ground.
no, it's a combination of bad press and the republicans and corrupt dem senators (manchin and sinema) bocking his policies so he can't actually do the things he campaigned on. Also, the country is not burning to the ground. It is doing better than it was under trump.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
That doesn't seem like a real answer. It's extremely hard to fix prices in a market with readily available global substitutes. Much more so when it was just local private competition competing for consumers.
so the fact that it happens doesn't convince you that it happens? That is some weird thinking. You can just google how price fixing works. It's not complicated. you can find examples. I even gave you an example to look up.
I will google it, but I will take a guess and say the government restricted the free global market.
what? no. Grocery stores and bread producers colluded to artificially inflate the price of bread.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@YouFound_Lxam
Zygote doesn't need another cell.
of course they do. They need to grow brains, lungs, bones etc. If they fail to do this, which could happen for any number of reason, a person will never exist.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
Exactly how are you supposed to do that in a global market when a Chinese substitute is a mouse click away?
I mean, if you want to know how these schemes work you can just google it. They do happen. If you want an example you can google "bread price fixing Canada". Companies in Canada illegally fixed the price of bread for years.
Created:
-->
@ILikePie5
Palestine had numerous opportunities to accept a two-state solution. They refused to because they want everything — something which they never will get. It’s a fool’s errand.
Israel has also regularly blocked any attempts at peace. BB himself has been helping Hamas for years because he wants to make sure the palestinians can't be unified under a single, peaceful government. He wants them divided and committing terrorism, because it justifies his refusal to negotiate in good faith while he sends more and more settlers in to build illegal settlements on Palestinian land.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
That’s just wrong. Even if you think they’re price gouging, Biden could put the DoJ in them, but he doesn’t cause he needs money
what does "Biden could put the DoJ in them" even mean? It isn't illegal to raise prices. Basically, it's like their costs have gone up 8%, but they raised prices 40%. It isn't illegal to do that. It's shitty, but I'm not aware of any laws banning them from doing it. The only place it crosses the line is if there is price fixing going on. IE all the companies that sell a specific product get together and decide on a price they will sell at to fix the price there. There have been cases of that caught in the last few years. But mostly, it's just the downsides of poorly regulated capitalism. If the government wanted to do something about that, they would definitely need laws passed through congress. And the republicans would 100% block anything the democrats tried to do to help people.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@YouFound_Lxam
Cancer is a cell, with a sole purpose of killing another organism. It has no chance of becoming its own being. A zygote does.
ok. so a chance at becoming a person, makes something a person? By that logic semen is a person. It has a chance of becoming a person.
Created: