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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 ” sur…[Read more]

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 mer…

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Here is another review of the Sunday book recommendation.

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

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.

@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…[Read more]

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, Har…

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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…[Read more]

Reg,

There are, of course, other reasons to question “fine-tuning” for life.

For example, if another Element could take the place of Carbon as a hub for other Elements to bond and form self-sustaining, replicating bodies, then life may not have to be Carbon-based. If so, then Life, the Universe, ad Everything is not so “fine-tuned” as the…[Read more]

On the Nobel prize:

From the NYT:

On Sunday, Mr. Rubio leaned heavily on emotive language to push back against the critics who have since berated the Trump administration for the public display of hostility toward Mr. Zelensky, a wartime president who frames his battle against Russia’s invasion as a bulwark of Europe’s security and freedom. Mr.…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
Had she been a black girl or a homely white girl, she’d have been toast.

If she had been Black, she would have been treated worse by the police and the press.  Beyond that, that’s a pretty misogynistic assessment.  What do the Brits think?  We’ve pretty much forgotten about it.  I think it unfolded in a complex way and we follo…[Read more]

@Unseen

The mayor of Perugia in Italy where Meredith Kercher was murdered was annoyed that Knox filmed her “Blue Moon” documentary there. Knox did not bring shame to the town, its own police force did. The mayor was more concerned about the public image of the town being associated with the crime again than with the 16 years Knox had spent cle…[Read more]

@Unseen – The Dems simply got ahead of their skis and are paying the price.

They paid the price because the GOP amplified their “wokeness”. It got major airtime on Faux News and the other platforms that MAGA tune in to. It was always headline news for MAGA even when only a small minority of the Dems had vocalized it. The GOP got voters foc…[Read more]

@TheEncogitationer: On the design argument……

There is fundamental flaw in the Fine-Tuning Argument that many Christian apologists use. If a god created the universe, then it would not appear finely tuned—it would simply be as it was designed to be. The need to invoke fine-tuning actually undermines the premise of an all-powerful creator in s…[Read more]

@ Reg

The Democrats forgot that they need to give people reasons to vote for them rather than reasons to vote against them. The average American (myself included) doesn’t want to hear about pronouns, doesn’t want “females: with male bodies competing against their daughters in sports, doesn’t want to share restrooms with people of indeterminate or…[Read more]

@_Robert_ Sunday school today is awash with stories of how Amerika is bucking traditional conservative values.

At the editorial meeting this morning I decided to tone down “the politics”. No-one disagreed with me 🙂

But you comment got me thinking. I started to answer it and somehow ended up with the following so I will publish it and be…[Read more]

The only thing that spared Amanda Knox 28 years in prison was what’s known as the “pretty white girl effect” that got her face (and body) in the news and garnered her lots of sympathy. Had she been a black girl or a homely white girl, she’d have been toast.

Let’s face it: She’s an attractive woman today, but back then she was fucking…[Read more]

Robert,

Sunday school today is awash with stories of how Amerika is bucking traditional conservative values such as guarding trade, the NATO alliance, honoring veterans and promoting tariff-free trade. Yet the spineless “conservatives” have their thumbs in the asses as we align with the likes of Putin and Kim.

I never thought a president cou…

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Reg,

Uti Possidetis Juris and Israel.

Years ago in the Eighties, I saw a cartoon of the U.N. Building with cartoon balloons coming from it. The voices said something to the effect of:

“The Soviets have invaded Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq are at war, and Argentina has 20,000 children disappeared. What shall we do?”

“I move we condemn…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
Once again i commend the lefties for their role in preserving the death cult. Death to intellect. Death to freedom. Death to civil rights. Death to equality. Death to morality.

An apt description of the segment of the American political sphere that blindly backs Israel no matter what they do.