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@Greyparrot
Biden is more Trump than Trump!
I read Trump's recent interview. Apparently he had the entire thing completely set up and ready to go and, as Trump put it, all Biden had to do was "go to the beach" which he "likes to do very often" 😂
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@Double_R
Are you seriously arguing against this?
No. I am saying we can't know whether more people truly are employed or not based on BLS statistics.
Sure, there were more who were TEMPORARILY unemployed. But permanently unemployed? Maybe for a bit before they found new jobs.
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@Double_R
Which means that the definition widened
Not necessarily. The definitions for the other categories changed too. This is why comparing BLS percentages is pointless. They are all different definitions. Trump changed his compared to Obama, who did not count those on welfare as unemployed, regardless of if they were looking for work or not, iirc.
You have to look at agencies that use the same qualifications throughout time and who have solid data, because the BLS constantly changes their definitions. If you can find one let me know.
Harvard even changed the Living Wage calculations when Biden took office, so you can't really compare them to Trump, either.
I used to love it when Gallup did the "real unemployment" metric because the methodology didn't change. But they stopped it when Trump was in office.
All that being said, we can basically conclude from some people who did not change their qualifications (like AIER) that the economy has not really recovered. In fact you could argue it is in a recession or been in a constant state of near-recession.
The inflation has far outpaced the salary raises and spending is at a low. The banks are not as prosperous as before and may be needing a bailout in a few years. They are close tk running out of money to lend.
Interest rates and consumer debt are at alarming levels, and there are shortages of cars and houses and apartments. The costs for these things are becoming unaffordable as well.
This economy is in no way in good shape at all. And it wasn't in good shape during COVID either.
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@Double_R
Google unemployment claims in 2020 vs 2021
The one thing you're missing is that the Biden Administration redefined "unemployment." So we are comparing two different metrics entirely.
In 2020, the definition of unemployed was:
do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work. (1)
In 2021 the definition changed to:
people who are jobless, looking for a job, and available for work. (2)
There's a major difference between "actively looked for work in the last 4 weeks" and "looking for a job."
One implies actually applying to places and getting interviews. The other one is just "looking."
Also, anecdotally, unemployment claims are currently at 8.73%. So this Bidenomics isn't working now, either. (3)
SOURCES:
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@Double_R
the lockdowns post 2020 were nothing compared to what they were when COVID first hit.
That isn't true at all.
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@Double_R
I was talking about the lockdowns
As was I. They continued clear into 2022 in the U.S. in most states, iirc. At least, at minimum, they continued through 2023 in some states.
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@Best.Korea
Its actually a common troll tactic
SHUT UP TROLL 😂 (sarcasm)
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@Critical-Tim
Can I ask what you mean by "interpreted"?
It means wildly different things for us Christians depending on the tradition you're in.
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@Double_R
COVID hit in 2020
Ah, yes. Let's pretend it wasn't there in 2021... Anything at all to make Trump look bad...
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@Double_R
If it was due to covid then explain how we did it in 2021 🤣
Additionally, more money to the federal government doesn't equate the soundness of an economy.
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@Critical-Tim
Interesting. Do you have any original sources I can read to better understand your explanation of Biddhism?
As far as paganism, the pagan religions are all actually the same. They just ascribe different names to the same beings, but the beings themselves are the same.
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@Best.Korea
GDP grew faster during Biden
What did I JUST say back in comment #379 abput using just the GDP to make arguments???
5 million people lost healthcare
That has been debunked multiple times now. But I'll leave the Politifact one here:
lowering the taxes just increases budget deficit.
Trump actually had the highest revenue from taxes of any previous President and it was accomplished by lowering taxes:
did not decrease government spending
Stop moving the goalposts. Government spending is just one facet of a socialist economy. The other one is regulation of the economy via central planning. Under Trump the central planning aspect of the Federal Government reached historic lows.
Also, under Trump there was record high incomes, a higher standard of living, a lower cost of living, and consistent GDP growth. In fact, Trump's economy was so good that the only people left who were unemployed were people not actively looking for work.
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@FLRW
have the highest unemployment rate (14.8%)
I said 2017-2019 on purpose... 2020 was a swift kick in the socialist direction and, presto change-o, 14.8% unemployment and a wrecked economy that then stayed stagnant for about 6 months after cratering for a year and a half. It kinda proves my point that socialism is a horrible idea.
The two previous years before that were nearly unprecedented, constant growth... unlike under socialism and its stagnation.
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@Best.Korea
Stagnation is a natural part of the economy
Only for socialist countries. Laissez-faire policies never lead to stagnation.
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@Critical-Tim
So I have heard that Buddhism isn't actually atheistic at all and has quite a lot of spiritualism, paganism, and practicing of magic involved.
I have heard that Shaolin Monks actually practice magic and worship different deities.
Is any of this true? And if not, can you provide evidence that this is not the case?
Also, what I mean by paganism is simply the belief that there are many gods, half-gods, and such who are all children of one supreme god, and the worship of these gods accompanied by performing magic with their help). Like what the Egyptians, Sumerians, Hindus, Greeks, Romans, Canaanites and Gnostics and voodoo and shamans believed/believe (in addition to many other countries and historical people groups).
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@Greyparrot
I googled it anyways...
And it's sad that the Jews were so brutally treated.
Though the real figure is likely more like 12 or 13 countries.
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@Best.Korea
Virtually all of the countries you mentioned either have experienced stagnation in most of those categories while inflation continued to rise, thus ultimately resulting in a worse economy year-over-year, or are actually on the verge of, or have already, defsulted (Like Japan). Except for Sweden. Finland I am not so sure is in a worse economic position. I just know they are more a case for removing rather than addimg government invovement.
Oh, I forgot to include a falling cost of living as a determiner too.
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@Best.Korea
And, before you start talking about GDP growth as a main signal of an economy, let me remind you that such a simplistic view of an economy is precisely why nobody really understands what is going on.
An economy is more than just growth of businesses. It is also the rate of growth of inflation, the standard of living, both as compared to where it was years ago vs now, and compared to the mode or average of the global econome. It is also the employment rate as a real measure, not a guestimate based on looking at pocket of the country and extrapolating the data elsewhere using equations, or by redefining "unemployed" so the rate goes down. It also includes what is called "gainful employment," which is the ability to obtain better jobs and move up the ladder to the top. And, finally, growth in wages. All (or at minimum most) of those must be in better shape for an economy to really be growing.
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@Best.Korea
Except in USA, Germany, Finland, Japan, North Korea, USSR, Sweden, Switzerland, Libya, France, Canada, China, Vietnam, Britain, Spain, Cuba, Italy
Germany's economy was not communist. It was a weird invention of Hitler.
The U.S. had its best economy under Trump (2017-2019) and Coolidge (1920s). In both of those economies there was significantly reduced and near non-existant government intervention. Welfare is the one thing that has systematically destroyed the American economy. And, yes. I can accept a debate on this topic. I am confident I will destroy anyone on the topic of government intervention and welfare destroying the American economy.
Japan just declared a state of emergency over their failing economy.
Finland is actually more economically and personally free than most of the known world.
Nirth Korea has significant starvation and medical issues and rampant disease.
Sweden's economy was about to default after just 20 years of socialism so Swedes began voting for parties that reduced welfare and government intervention, and the economy rose proportionately to the removal of socialism. Currently Sweden has a significantly more privatized system and they are still removimg government involvement year-over-year, leading to increased personal wealth for all.
Switzerland is a world bank. But even so they actually have more economic freedom than the United States and most of the known world, like Finland and Sweden.
Libya is a totalitarian hellhole. It also has a completely destroyed economy.
France is on the verge of defaulting.
Canada's economy is so bad that there's mass unemployment and mass closures of businesses.
China's also on the verge of a collapse. Plus, you know, most of that wealth is concentrated in the elites, with the standard of living absolutely horrid for most citizens compared to the rest of the known world. The "upper middle class" in China are lower-middle class to middle class at best in most of the Western world.
Vietnam's economy has been in the toilet for years. People can't afford anything there.
Britain's economy is also on track to default.
Spain's economy has been crumbling since at least 2012.
Cuba has one of the lowest standards of living in the known world.
Italy's economy just defaulted in 2020 due to too much welfare.
You really should pick up an economic report every once in a while on these countries you speak so highly about. Socialism has completely destroyed them.
Bernie Sanders caused more blatant disinformation to proliferate on socialism with one singular presidential campaign than the Soviet Union did in 40 years.
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@Double_R
I agree Fox News and Republicans are to blame, believe it or not.
But I also believe CNN and Democrats are to blame as well.
Both sides are deeply corrupt. Sure, there are some honest people on both sides, but overall both sides have broken politics.
But then again, during FDR and Teddy Roosevelt, one a Democrat and one a Republican, the same exact shit happened... So you could argue that the last 8 years has been more like politics as usual.
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@IwantRooseveltagain
Reality has a well known liberal bias
Veritably false.
Liberalism: Abortion isn't murder. It's just a collection of cells.
Reality: Life begins at conception.
Liberalism: Communism can work.
Reality: Communism has never worked everywhere it has been tried.
Liberalism: Socialized medicine is the best form of medicine.
Reality: Every country with socialized medicine has absurdly long wait times, medical supply shortages, and comparatively low pay for doctors. Oh, and their population overpays for it with absurdly high taxes.
Liberalism: Joe Biden does not have mental problems.
Reality: Joe Biden walks into trees and bushes and shakes hands with invisible people and often forgets where he is and what he is doing.
Liberalism: Hunter Biden is innocent. It's a witch hunt.
Reality: Hunter Biden was indicted twice by his father's DOJ on illegal gun charges and tax problems.
Liberalism: Trump is responsible for J6.
Reality: All of the leaders of the Oath Keepers stated to the FBI in separate questionings that President Trump was not involved in the planning, coordination, or execution of J6.
I can keep going... There's a lot that liberals believe that isn't reality.
I can also do the same thing for the right. Because reality doesn't have a bias. Both sides believe absurdly false things.
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@Nyxified
Can you provide a summary of what we have agreed upon?
So much has happened lol
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@Double_R
So then why did you quote disinformation from WebMD?
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@Vegasgiants
There is no scientific agency on the planet that says they agree there is strong evidence for what the cause of sexuality is. Not one.
That's the point. No scientific agency worth its salt believes it is genetic because the science is basically settled on it not being genetic.
If homosexuality was genetic they would all agree it was. The only thing they agree on, though, is that genetics plays an insignificant role.
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@Vegasgiants
The science is inconclusive
Only because there's a few holdouts.
When you have a study looking at 400,000 people it usually isn't seriously questioned by any scientist worth his aalt until someone finds a mistake or the authors come clean and admit they were frauds.
Considering nobody found a mistake yet and the authors did not come clean to anything, then the science is basically settled.
400,000 people is statistically representative for a population of 40 billion even. That's the gravity of the size of the population used in the study. It's pretty conclusive evidence, regardless of the holdouts and their correlative studies.
Correlation =/= causation. Every science researcher learns this. A correlation just means further study is required. Considering the further study basically happened already, it's not conclusive that any gene leads to homosexuality.
It's about time we looked into that other correlation nobody wants to talk about, the one where a disturbingly large amount of LGBT+ people were abused as children.
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@Nyxified
@Bones
Have we actually agreed on all the terms yet?
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@Double_R
Ok. So I was right then, you do believe the science is wrong on homosexual attraction.
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@Double_R
Unless I'm mistaken, didn't you cite the WebMD article that said "experts agree" that being gay is genetic?
Was that just to say an organization says it, or was it a statement of agreement to it?
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@FLRW
Men with older brothers are more likely to be homosexual
Men with older brothers are also endemically more likely to be sexually abused.
That isn't genetics. It's environmental.
There is a strong correlation between same sex sexual orientation and being something other than right-handed
Multiple studies have either debunked this statement or had mixed results:
Even so, as Towards Data Science points out, correlation =/= causation:
The maxim “correlation does not imply causation” serves as a useful reminder of how to think about the relationship between two variables X and Y. If X and Y seem to be linked, it’s possible but not certain that X caused Y. It’s also possible that Y caused X or that some third variable (Z) caused both X and Y.
Finally:
There is a subset of gay individuals who have more than one relative in their family that is also gay.
Homosexuals are more likely than heterosexuals to molest children:
And children are most likely to be molested by people they know:
So there is a much greater correlation between sexual abuse and homosexuality than handedness and other correlations with genetics, especially considering the massive study that literally looked at 417k people and found very little correlation between any sort of gene and homosexuality.
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@Double_R
Experts agree that sexual orientation isn’t a choice and can’t be changed. Some people who are homosexual or bisexual may hide their sexual orientation to avoid prejudice from others or shame they may have been taught to feel about their sexuality
The argument of the "gay gene" has been repeatedly debunked by scientific studies and organizations:
WebMD is spreading disinformation. There is absolutely zero evidence that a person's genes cause them to be gay.
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@RationalMadman
Does the title of the forum post say "let's all debate transgenderism" or does it say "debate with Nyxified over transgender identity"?
Because if you're debating transgenderism then you're being pretty off-topic...
If your name isn't Nyxified, or your comments are not related to the DEBATE OVER TRANSGENDERISM WITH NYXIFIED, then please take your off-topic microaggressions somewhere else.
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@whiteflame
@Nyxified
@Sir.Lancelot
So I've lost track of the original purpose of this debate and I have no idea who is judging it anymore.
I won't name any names (*cough* RationalMadman, zedvictor, bella3sp *cough*) but this thread kinda got derailed hard.
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@IwantRooseveltagain
Only if you're color blind... and can't read... and are incapable of using a mouse to click on profiles to read descriptions.
Then again, you were born in 65. So you probably need to get your prescription adjusted and pick up a Windows For Dummies...
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@IwantRooseveltagain
The students at Trump University got a partial refund.
Can you point me to a source that proves they got a partial refund?
You compared Trump University to your own college.
And my point was that college is a waste of money and one of the biggest scamd perpetrated on the American people.
You don't need a college degree at all to be successful.
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@FLRW
Trump is related to Hitler.
Can you show me the genealogy proving this? I've also heard Trump is jewish, but nobody has been able to prove either one.
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@IwantRooseveltagain
A settlement is when a harmed party gets money. In this case it was the money that they paid. They got it back. I called it a refund because, effectively, that was what it was.
When did I say Trump didn't commit fraud with the university?
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@IwantRooseveltagain
From Trump
It went to the people who took the classes...
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@IwantRooseveltagain
Boomers tend to be the idiots who believe Trump is innocent
Ok boomer.
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@ADreamOfLiberty
He thought you were me lol
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@IwantRooseveltagain
You mean a partial settlement from a class action lawsuit
Where do you think the settlement money goes?
You are delusional
https://hbr.org/2016/05/two-thirds-of-college-grads-struggle-to-launch-their-careers
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@HistoryBuff
mueller actually had tons of things to investigate
Like all the false allegations made by democrats and Clinton campaign staffers?
Mueller exonerated Trump, then the IG said the investigation never should have even happened. In reality they had nothing to investigate.
This new alleged classified documents probe is the fist time they actually may have something.
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@ponikshiy
Good catch. I should have been more clear. He was found guilty of more likely than not sexually assaulting E. Jean Carrol:
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@FLRW
did you graduate from Trump University?
I wish I did. I at least could have gotten a refund for my degree that way.
At least it would have been better than wasting 300k+ on a piece of paper from Harvard and ending up a career barista at Starbucks since I wouldn't have had any actial experience doing anything with my life.
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@ludofl3x
I can see what you're saying. To me, lucking into money would be a random stock tip that paid off huge or a business idea that just happened to market itself. Stuff like that, where it was a person's luck, not their skills, that got them there.
So, by "lucking their way into it" I meant a long series of lucky breaks that eventually ended in a billion dollars.
But I guess I can see it from your way of interpreting it too. If you're born into an ultra rich family, that's luck too. I hust didn't mean it that way.
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@IwantRooseveltagain
You have never seen me.
He doesn't need to. This much ugly on a personality always shows. 😉
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@ponikshiy
Well, to still be the general public's pick for president, despite being impeached twice, convicted of sexual assault, and in the middle of being investigated for allegedly having classified documents, I'd say that requires some amount of brains, yes?
Not even DeSantis can beat Biden in the polls, and he's not being investigated for anything.
He's obviously smart. Being smart and a narcissist are not mutually exclusive.
Nobody "lucks" their way into a billion dollars. They may inherit it from their parents, but they definitely don't luck their way into it.
He's the same type of person as Elon Musk. Really bright but still did dumb things.
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@Bella3sp
Being transgender does not mean you have gender dysphoria.
From the DSM-5 for gender dysphoria:
A marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and natal gender of at least 6 months in duration.
It includes the following:
A. A marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and primary and/or secondary sex characteristics (or in young adolescents, the anticipated secondary sex characteristics)B. A strong desire to be rid of one’s primary and/or secondary sex characteristics because of a marked incongruence with one’s experienced/expressed gender (or in young adolescents, a desire to prevent the development of the anticipated secondary sex characteristics)C. A strong desire for the primary and/or secondary sex characteristics of the other genderD. A strong desire to be of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one’s designated gender)E. A strong desire to be treated as the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one’s designated gender)F. A strong conviction that one has the typical feelings and reactions of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from one’s designated gender)
Transgenderism is definitely gender dysphoria. It's literally a part of the diagnosis. Gender dysphoria covers everyone who believes they are not the biological sex they were born as, as per the DSM-5.
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@Nyxified
I apologize for coming across as snarky. Please don't let it cloud your reading of the facts and research I cited.
I assure you I am trying to be in good faith here. I honestly believe transgender surgery is a health hazard, experimental, and even deadly in some cases.
But I do not hate transgenders. Nor do I want to ban them from existence through regulations and such.
I just honestly believe it stems from gender dysphoria rather than a case of mistaken identity.
I don't know your story, and I'm not going to pretend I do, but a vast amount of transgenders were abused/severely bullied (many were also sexually abused). It seems there's a correlation between this abuse and questioning of their gender. Granted, I cited a survey here, but it's been corroborated by the therapy sessions of many psychologists who engage in ralk therapy.
I'm not saying this to assume you were seuxally assaulted or abused, but just to say this tends to be the case. Trauma is not easy, and people respond to it in a bunch of different ways, some becoming transgender or dysphoric, and other's becoming attracted to the same or opposite sex. Others devlop sexual fetishes, etc.
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