Simon Paynton

Have a great week!

Words and thoughts we invent. Words and thoughts of the president. Is he real? Can we know? Just a robot, Joe Blow?

Tea with thee is glee. Tea for free without me. Tee off. Check your balls. Cough! Cough! Easy mister that hurts. He squirts and ejaculates as the bot conflates concepts, confuses dates, misstates facts sprays unhealthy snacks. Even…[Read more]

Thanks Jake, I was mostly thinking about Ireland when I wrote that :-).

I failed again in my prediction that MAGA would become aware enough of the pain that even they will inevitably feel, e.g. wrt losing health care (and now food support) for low income families. It is happening, but their core love and trust in their father figure/cult leader is largely still there.

As is the hate of libs and any of vestiges of…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
At that point, our only hope will be the military.

Trump keeps acting stupid and unaccountable, intentionally claiming ignorance of some of the people and policies affected by decisions made by his kabal that are borderline criminal or mafia-like.

To what you’re saying about how the military might be our only hope, the…[Read more]

Really well said Reg in a departure from lots of other really well said.

The Enlightenment was about freeing thought from authority, be that authority religious, royal, or dogmatic. Now the new authorities are hashtags and outrage algorithms. The problem is not just ideological, it’s epistemic. Both the ‘Lunatic Left and Rancid Right’ have abandoned Enlightenment principles like reason, evidence, and open debate in fa…[Read more]

Jake,

Oh, and the influence of both the Lunatic Left and Rancid Right are growing beyond their respective corners! Again, it’s bad times for supporters of The Enlightenment!

Jake,

Yeah, the train will stay on the tracks, but for what itenerary?

First, there’s Tucker Carlson platforming Antisemitic, Racist, Sexist, Homophobic, Totalitarian Nick Fuentes, then Megyn Kelly plus Kevin Roberts platforming Tucker Carlson all on the Right.

Then there’s Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders and The Squad and all their fellow…[Read more]

Garden of Earthly Delights.

You might think the ideals of America would be sacrosanct with the young and educated. Alas a smack what they aint got they lack. Globalize the intifada! Free Palestine.

But hey Dems did ok and Trump’s support was not a hamburger helper. So maybe the train will stay on the tracks.

The idea of America; self-determination, free inquiry, equality before the law, is extraordinary. The execution of it has always been messy, compromised, and full of contradictions. Please don’t see my criticism as anti-American. I hope it is seen as pro-Enlightenment. I have no tribal attachment, and I can separate the myth from the machinery. T…[Read more]

Reg,

@Enco – It could be that Tucker Carlson made a balls of his testosterone booster with too much testicle tanning?

Before that, I think first the ZYN™ then the ALP™ Nicotine Pouches blocked the blood flow to both of his heads, which would probably explain everything not right about Tucker Carlson, right down to his out-of-nowhere cackling a…[Read more]

@Jakelafort – I agree with the sentiment, but I am more optimistic (or naïve!) about the future. The pace of scientific and technological progress has far outstripped the average person’s ability or willingness to keep up intellectually with these advances. It is not so much that there is a growth in ignorance and stupidity but rather that it now…[Read more]

When i skim science headlines (and yea read some of the articles) and think back just 4 or 5 yrs. today’s headlines feel like sci fi. The richness of the prospect for improving our lives is staggering. At same time it feels like the norms and beliefs and stupidity are overflowing their toilet and depositing turds everywhere you look.

@Enco – It could be that Tucker Carlson made a balls of his testosterone booster with too much testicle tanning?

Fellow Unbelievers,

And Tucker Carlson’s Anti-Enlightennent goes deeper than history and politics. Get a load of this:

https://youtube.com/shorts/w9IHTMYzLck?si=llR3IG-LAg9-9jfs

Hey, Tucker, couldn’t it have been one of the four dogs in the bedroom with you while you were half asleep instead of demons?

And he manages to get both his religion…[Read more]

Fellow Unbelievers,

Ben Shapiro isn’t the best at arguing for Theism, but he does a good job at showcasing Tucker Carlson and Kevin Roberts as miners of Nick Fuentes’ motherload of bad ideas:

Between all the Alt-Right Groypers and the Leftie Woke Mobs, it’s a bad time for friends of The Enlightenment.

Reg,

Good Website here.

For what and for whom? So kids can learn how to replicate all the screwy foreign policy moves of previous CFR members and U.S. Administrations?

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Simon, the problem with JD Vance isn’t that he “respects” his wife’s atheism — it’s that he doesn’t respect her Hinduism. He’s implying she’s an atheist simply because she isn’t a Christian, which is a rather offensive way to erase a faith practiced by hundreds of millions in India. It’s disingenuous.

[Read more]