Steve Thomas Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 How come the people who win elections never complain about voter fraud? Steve Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cotter Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) 15 hours ago, W. Niederhut said: John, In my case, you're preaching to the choir about the dark side of capitalism and the exploitation of the working classes, but I also agree with Churchill that, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for every other form of government." Seriously, would you have opted to live in Dresden or Munich in the post-WWII era? The Soviet Bloc or the Western democracies despised by Putin? Soviet communism was a socio-economic experiment that failed miserably, and Putin has, certainly, turned the Russian Federation's nascent democracy into a totalitarian, neo-Soviet style dictatorship. No one knowledgeable about the RF doubts that tragic reality. Look at Navalny's case! As for Putin's destruction of Ukraine, IMO, it was never about feeling threatened. It's about Russian nationalism, grandiosity, and militant imperialism. Putin wanted to restore the Crimea and contiguous territory in the Donbas to the Russian empire. And he is contemptuous of the Ukrainian people, the people who were starved to death by the Soviet government in the 1930s. I have had some direct, personal experience with Russian nationalists through my involvement in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. I tend to think of that subset of recent emigres as the "neo-Soviets." And they are quite different than the older generation, non-Soviet "White" Russians. I have even, at times, listened to neo-Soviet Russian nationalists whose speeches closely resemble those of Mussolini. William, We don’t seem to be getting anywhere in terms of logical discourse. As for the choice between Munich and Dresden, I have to confess that growing up in monocultural, monotheistic, ultra-authoritarian, rain-sodden, sexually repressed, guilt-ridden Catholic Ireland where we didn’t speak Russian or German, images of the New Jersey Turnpike, Highway 61, Route 66, Wichita Lineman, Ventura Highway, Easy Rider, Vanishing Point and the general inundation of such Americana which violated our insular “innocence”, especially from the 60s on, had an irresistible illusory appeal for a gobdaw such as myself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QBRwj3kzno Edited October 25, 2022 by John Cotter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bauer Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) 13 hours ago, John Cotter said: William, We don’t seem to be getting anywhere in terms of logical discourse. As for the choice between Munich and Dresden, I have to confess that growing up in monocultural, monotheistic, ultra-authoritarian, rain-sodden, sexually repressed, guilt-ridden Catholic Ireland where we didn’t speak Russian or German, images of the New Jersey Turnpike, Highway 61, Route 66, Wichita Lineman, Ventura Highway, Easy Rider, Vanishing Point and the general inundation of such Americana which violated our insular “innocence”, especially from the 60s on, had an irresistible illusory appeal for a gobdaw such as myself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QBRwj3kzno All my life since childhood I remember hearing this warning about the Irish: Don't get em drinking! Never know what an Irishman will do once they get even a wee bit amount of Uisce Beatha ( water of life ) down their gullet. Break out in song, start a brawl, crack funny jokes, dance a jig...but Holy Mary do they make great actors; Kenneth Branagh, Daniel Day Lewis, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, Liam Neeson....and on and on. Edited October 26, 2022 by Joe Bauer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Koch Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Steve Thomas said: How come the people who win elections never complain about voter fraud? Steve Thomas I wouldn't say "never" ; ) Remember the 80's commercial about this is your brain on drugs? I now see this thread as the result of people's brains on MSNBC! Edited October 25, 2022 by Matthew Koch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bauer Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) I can't understand the Democrats in Texas not initiating a continuous mass mailing campaign flyer project all over the state with side by side pictures of Tommy Bahama shirt, shorts and sandal wearing Cruz sunning himself on a warm Cancun Mexico beach with Mai Tai in hand, straw hat and ogling the bikini clad babes walking by... accompanied by a picture of shivering trailer park kids with their single mom suffering at the same time back in his unprecedented killer freeze home state of Texas. With a bold lettered caption...CANCUN CRUZ - A SENATOR WHO CARES ABOUT HIS FELLOW TEXANS! Every time a Democrat mentions Cruz he or she should refer to him as CANCUN CRUZ! To not do so is wasting the biggest shameful reveal of his true Texas citizen non-caring character. And by the way, Raphael ( Ted ) Cruz's very politically minded dad Raphael Cruz Sr. "was" in New Orleans the entire time Lee Harvey Oswald was there doing his pro-Castro leaflet passing/street brawl/TV and radio broadcast debate shenanigans there. And the picture of Oswald handing out his flyers in front of the International Trade Mart shows a fellow leaflet passer who really does look remarkably like a young Raphael Cruz Sr. ... imo anyways. And Raphael Cruz Sr. was born in the same year as Oswald....1939. Edited October 26, 2022 by Joe Bauer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 20 minutes ago, Joe Bauer said: Never know what an Irishman will do once the once they get even a wee amount of Uisce Beatha ( water of life ) down their gullet. Break out in song, start a brawl, crack funny jokes...but Holy Mary do they make great actors; Kenneth Branagh, Danial Day Lewis, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, Liam Neeson....and on and on. And singers, musicians & bands. I do wonder if the things you have identified are a result of trauma, as a people and individually. Excessive drinking, fighting, humour, etc. They’re all outlets and coping mechanisms/reactions/symptoms in some way or another. They’ve been through a lot. I am 1/4 Irish and my Scots heritage originates in Ireland too about 1000 years back. One of the saddest things I read were that Irish people fought on both sides of the American civil war, they did so in exhange for food. They always had song and humour. What a moment it must have been for all of those Irish to have an a man elected president of Irish extract. It wasn’t so long ago that the signs were outside businesses stating “we don’t hire Irish.” Imagine coming half way across the world for that to be your greeting, after a potato famine. As for actors; Daniel Day Lewis is perhaps one of the best ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bauer Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Lawrence: A Supreme Court Justice Violated The Law In Plain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Thomas Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Oklahoma GOP candidate vows to make teachers undergo 'patriotic education' based on 'Judeo-Christian values' By Brad Reed October 25, 2022 https://www.rawstory.com/ryan-walters-oklahoma/ “Ryan Walters, the Republican candidate for state superintendent in Oklahoma, is vowing to force all teachers in the state to undergo what is being described as "patriotic education" at a right-wing college in Michigan. As Tulsa World reports, Walters believes that this intervention is needed because teachers in the state right now are purportedly "indoctrinating" students. “What I will do is I will put together courses — I’ve been talking to Hillsdale College on this, they’re great, they’re great — and have every U.S. history teacher and every history teacher in the state go through that training so they know the basics and that every kid will have a teacher who is learned on U.S. history, on the constitution, on those fundamental principles," he said recently. "What we have to have is true history taught in schools," he said recently. "Our kids need to know about the founding. They need to know this country was founded on Judeo-Christian values. They need to know about the constitution. They need to be inspired by heroes like George Washington."” So, a State Superintendent in Oklahoma is going to force Oklahoma teachers go through an “education camp”in Michigan. Sounds like something Mao Tse Tung would do. Steve Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cotter Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, Joe Bauer said: All my life since childhood I remember hearing this warning about the Irish: Don't get em drinking! Never know what an Irishman will do once the once they get even a wee amount of Uisce Beatha ( water of life ) down their gullet. Break out in song, start a brawl, crack funny jokes...but Holy Mary do they make great actors; Kenneth Branagh, Daniel Day Lewis, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, Liam Neeson....and on and on. Ha ha ha, the madness has to break out some way, Joe. “There’s a crack in everything” or as James Hillman said, we’re all essentially pathological. If there’s a distinctively Irish pathology, it’s easy to see where it came from. As Samuel Beckett said, “We were fu**ed by the Brits and the priests” (though he died before seeing how literally prescient he was about the latter). PS I’ve just seen Chris’s post above, to which this is also relevant. Edited October 25, 2022 by John Cotter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Allison Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) I am a direct descendant of the O'Dea clan of County Cork and I believe it is responsible for my pugnacious nature, my constant war on injustice and falsehood, and my belief that JFK was our greatest President. Edited October 25, 2022 by Matt Allison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Bulman Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Paternally my roots trace back to the Scottish Highlands but they spent about 100 years in England sailing from Newcastle on the Tyne in 177? to Georgia. Maternally Airard Stephen commanded the ship Mora sailing from Normandy in 1066 carrying William the Conqueror leading his army to England. I've always agreed with Sir Paul McCartney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, John Cotter said: William, We don’t seem to be getting anywhere in terms of logical discourse. As for the choice between Munich and Dresden, I have to confess that growing up in monocultural, monotheistic, ultra-authoritarian, rain-sodden, sexually repressed, guilt-ridden Catholic Ireland where we didn’t speak Russian or German, images of the New Jersey Turnpike, Highway 61, Route 66, Wichita Lineman, Ventura Highway, Easy Rider, Vanishing Point and the general inundation of such Americana which violated our insular “innocence”, especially from the 60s on, had an irresistible illusory appeal for a gobdaw such as myself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QBRwj3kzno John, Math and logic were two of my strongest subjects in college. The "logic" of my question about Dresden vs. Munich in the Cold War era is that they were two cities with comparable populations under two very different political and economic systems-- the Soviet/Stasi communist police state vs. Western free market democracy. Who among us would have preferred to live in Dresden in the 1960s and 70s? No one. And, incidentally, Vlad Putin spent most of his KGB career in Dresden. Edited October 25, 2022 by W. Niederhut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Gallaway Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 I'm what we call in the states, a Heinz57, but I can feel the drive Matt professes to, and I see in me, but especially in some of my siblings some of the associated negative traits. . heh heh John, I can appreciate your revulsion for the moral depravity of Capitalism but it doesn't sound like your at all ready for the alternative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Koch Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Jordan Peterson explains how Putin can't lose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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