Sunday School

[jakelafortParticipant]

Reg,

Great job dismantling fine tuning. Very analytical.

I knew about Uti Possidetus Juris as it applies to Israel. Learned from the article that the Turks during their hegemony over the region limited number of Jews who were permitted. I don’t give two cents for international law. The UN, Amnesty or any of it. It is all lying racist political BS.

But it is relevant to demonstrate how disingenuous lefty’s are in perpetuating their lies. Morality play needs its evil Jew bastards and innocent and helpless children of God victimized by those Jews. No matter the legitimacy of the international law principle the scum lefty’s will continue their modern blood libels. Occupation. Nay illegal occupation. You know the mantra. Knowing what i know now i would have taken 1 to 9 on that day in October that the Islamists and Lefty’s would accuse Israel of genocide. The lefty’s and even what was perceived as more balanced media adopts the language of the blood libels and the lies from Hamas. It results in people who know little about the region and care less believing the lies. All to the detriment of…

[UnseenParticipant]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

The Democrats should have reused the brilliantly simple political messaging strategy that helped Bill Clinton defeat George H.W. Bush in 1992.  James Carville’s famous phrase “It’s the economy, stupid” was a reminder to the Clinton campaign to stay focused on what truly mattered to voters: economic issues. Yes, Harris and Biden forgot that and forgot it very quickly.

Did you ever see the David Mamet movie about con men House of Games, wherein a psychiatrist joins a group of con men as an observer to learn what makes them tick and what makes them successful. The leader of the team explains to her their secret and how confidence figures in. I paraphrase: The con man doesn’t take your confidence, he gives you his.

Trump says he actually won in 2020 because the Democrats cheated. He says the economy is terrible because of the Democrats. He says the Democrats let the military fall apart. That illegal immigrants account for a large proportion of crime.

None of those things are true, but he says them over and over (The Big Lie Technique) and with such confidence that in the minds of the poorly informed and the poorly educated, it turns into a truth.

They could have keyed in on the economy more, but to take on that question almost as a single focus would have left all of his many other lies standing. And he would have lied about their truth-telling anyway.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

@unseen – Yes, a lot more than just the economy.

Project 2025 ‘is the agenda’ for Trump’s second term and they admitted it the day after the election.  The thing with the lies is that there were so many of them and fired from various sources simultaneously. There was too much to unpick. By the time people got over the “Eating the dogs and eating the cats”, it was too late.  Then the Trump administration began implementing its agenda as “MAGA at the Muzzle Velocity”.

[UnseenParticipant]

@ Reg

Yes, the truth is always more complicated than can be summed up in one sentence. All the things you detailed were true, but it was her good looks more than anything else that saved her. Her pretty face kept her in the news cycle.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

Unseen wrote:

Her pretty face kept her in the news cycle.

It was the sensationalism of the case that kept it in the news cycle, together with her being British, one of our own.  Murder, sex, drugs, pretty girls, Africans, Italians – it had it all.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Here is another review of the Sunday book recommendation.

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Reg,

Traditional liberalism (rooted in John Stuart Mill, FDR, and JFK) emphasized individual rights, free speech, economic fairness, and civil liberties. Today, parts of the Democratic Party have embraced “woke” politics, which prioritize group identity, intersectionality, and equity over classical liberal principles like universalism and meritocracy.

It’s a mistake to think that FDR and JFK fit into the category of Classical Liberalism. They both practiced mass surveillance of opponents. FDR also brought us the FCC, which brought us George Carlin’s “Heavy Seven” as well as censorship of opponents, and which FCC Donald Trump tried to sic on television networks over news coverage. And 140,000 Neisei (first generation Japanese-Americans) could tell you how “classically liberal” and non-Identitarian FDR was after putting them in detention camps. About the only thing anti-big government FDR did was passing Amendment 21 to repeal Prohibition.

And don’t get me started on the New Deal and all it’s waste and regimentation of the economy.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

It’s a mistake to think that FDR and JFK fit into the category of Classical Liberalism.

Yes, after 2 seconds thinking about it, I fully agree. Neither were classical liberals in the tradition of Locke or Adam Smith. Both expanded federal power.  FDR and the NEW Deal was to tie down the economy in red tape and JFK  expanded a “Big Brother ” surveillance program. I think it even targeted MLK Jr. and eventually it led to attempts to censor comics and rock music.

So yes, me calling them classical liberals is historically inaccurate. They were big-government liberals at best. Both embraced big government and expanded executive power in ways that classical liberals would reject.

Now, I am going to look at myself in the mirror and slowly pronounce “Seven Dirty Words” 🙂

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Reg,

I misspoke too. The Neisei were second-generation Japanese-Americans. Which made their internment all the more nonsensical.

[UnseenParticipant]

Focusing on the economy (“It’s the economy, stupid”) wouldn’t have worked because The Orange One’s attack on the Democrats’ economy was only one of several potent tools he had: immigrants raping and murdering, immigrants bringing in fentanyl, immigrants stealing jobs in the country while Dems were allowing jobs to migrate outside the country, Dem wokeness.

Most of it was based on Trump lies and exaggerations, but a large percentage of the electorate were already convinced that he was believable and that anything was better than what the Dems were selling.

It may take Trump absolutely destroying the economy and our democracy to turn things around, but by then it may be too late. He and the GOP may have rigged future elections to such an extent that those elections may be bey0nd Democrats’ reach.

[_Robert_Participant]

Unseen wrote:

Focusing on the economy (“It’s the economy, stupid”) wouldn’t have worked because The Orange One’s attack on the Democrats’ economy was only one of several potent tools he had: immigrants raping and murdering, immigrants bringing in fentanyl, immigrants stealing jobs in the country while Dems were allowing jobs to migrate outside the country, Dem wokeness. Most of it was based on Trump lies and exaggerations, but a large percentage of the electorate were already convinced that he was believable and that anything was better than what the Dems were selling. It may take Trump absolutely destroying the economy and our democracy to turn things around, but by then it may be too late. He and the GOP may have rigged future elections to such an extent that those elections may be bey0nd Democrats’ reach.

Canada is fighting back; they import more US goods than anyone. The stoooopidest trade war in history. Tesla already sold its last car to a Canadian.  I will not be engaging in international travels anytime soon after this Zelensky fiasco. The only thing exceptional about the US is the incredibly low IQ of our voters and spinelessness of our leaders,

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

I shall continue to watch Tesla in silence.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Recent cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have significantly affected American farmers. In January 2025, the Trump administration ordered a near-total freeze on foreign aid, leading to a halt in USAID’s procurement of U.S.-grown crops for international food assistance programs. This abrupt cessation has disrupted a vital market for American agricultural products, particularly affecting farmers who supplied commodities like wheat, corn, and soybeans.

For example, in Kansas, farmers like Vance and Louise Ehmke, who traditionally sold grain to USAID for overseas distribution, are now facing financial uncertainty due to the loss of this significant revenue stream.  Similarly, in Texas, approximately 30,000 tons of food intended for international aid are stuck in a Houston port due to the aid suspension, further exacerbating the challenges faced by farmers and associated industries.

Beyond immediate sales, the funding freeze has also led to the shutdown of agricultural research programs at U.S. universities, which are essential for developing innovations that benefit domestic farming practices. For instance, the Soybean Innovation Lab at the University of Illinois, which provided technical assistance to farmers and collaborated with major agribusinesses, has been forced to lay off staff and plans to close.

These developments underscore the broader economic and operational challenges American farmers face due to the recent USAID cuts, affecting both their income and the advancement of agricultural research critical to the industry’s sustainability.

 

[jakelafortParticipant]

Second act of Trump is even more chaotic and mind bending than i would have thought. As things unravel i am very curious to find out whether hard core Trump cultists alter their position from at his feet to at his throat.

It is so natural to lash out at the morons. lately i have been feeling that for the lefty’s. I just don’t know other than a coterie of thinkers who is not stupid. To me intelligence is critical thinking. Math, music, mechanical aptitudes are talents. Not same as general intelligence. Beliefs interfere with reason. Beliefs are the death of reason. So i am gonna order a few books that concern belief formation.

Sam Harris interviewing a historian is interesting.

https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/402-the-geopolitics-of-trump-2-0

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

I have recently read both of these books and I would recommend them:

The Knowledge Machine – Michael Strevens. Link.

and

Free Thinking – Simon McCarthy Jones. Link.

[Author]

Posts