psychologist, lover of books and crafts, boomer
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In the times when it was created, it did have a purpose, but now? I think the problem is that the weapons are seen as necessary deterrence/a symbol of strength which speaks volumes for US society. Switzerland also has also a great density of guns, but the Swiss are not mentally invested in them.
I read it several times and now I keep waiting for the well-regulated Militia to secure the free State, which is actually in danger of becoming an autocracy right now - but crickets. The 2nd amendment is just a fig leaf for the fact that people feel more powerful with a gun in their possession.
It is not necessarily a wish for misfortune, just for a loss of influence. There are people who I just want to be out of the spotlight. Let them discover a new interest and stop poisoning the minds of their followers, is all I want. I do not need them to come to harm for my mental balance.
Right now nothing is known about the shooter, about his (or her?) mental state, political affiliation or motives. That person is still at large.
Gun violence is wrong, no matter who the victim is. To condemn this does not require any sympathies for this man, who did a lot of evil with his rhetoric. Gun violence is a cancer to the US. The 2nd amendment has to go.
One can condemn violence without needing to have sympathies for the victim.
Indeed they are. His party isn't leading anymore in the polls, hope it stays that way until the elections April 2026.
To condemn gun violence (regardless of who it is targeted at) is not tantamount to having empathy/sympathy for this man.
Kirk was in a public debate that was part of his American Comeback Tour, featured by Turning Point USA, who declare their aim is 'to rise up against the radical left in defense of freedom' - that is as political as one can get. (But of course this is also gun violence).
I really dislike this misogynistic sorry excuse for an adult. But nevertheless I condemn this shooting. The veneer of civilization is so very thin, every such act makes further violence and brutality (against everyone) more likely.
So you already know who shot him and why? So far the vast majority of shooting at public persons in the US was done by right-wing extremists, including those attempts on Trump. How about waiting for the results of the inquiry before blaming liberals?
What I meant is there is already so much proof. both in Trump's own public statements as well as in pictures, one does not need to invest so much time in the GOP attempt to devaluate this particular proof.
Would a fake signature absolve him of all the allegations of misconduct and rape of minors? Then why do mainstream media make such a big thing about it news-wise? This is a distraction. The Epstein files have to be released in full.
The only good thing about this silly attempt at denying the truth is that it automatically renews the mentions of Epstein. Epstein. Epstein. Epstein.
Given the circumstances, this is like a badge of honor. There aren't enough journalists left that really scare the government and it seems you are one of them. 👍
Article 4 does not state that weapons are sent to Poland. But it could pave the way for much more severe sanctions on Russia by the NATO members.
Is that an attempt to bribe Putin to stop the war? Weak and unrealistic.
This is an example of letting the interview partner get away with bullshit. Instead of taking the bait and addressing his point of pharmazeutical ads she should have stayed on the main subject which is the danger that millions of US Americans could be denied vaccines, spreading illnesses.
Why would Poland ramping up its defenses be bad news for Ukraine? The less encouragement Putin gets to try to realize his Empire-dreams, the better.
I am sure they do. And we should not forget that the Russian aggression had Sweden and Finland join NATO in the first place, a move that is an important part of deterrence.
So the attacks were not 'intentional', just frighteningly incompetent? Is that an explanation that breeds trust in the Russian neighbour? I do not think so.
Poland has invoked article 4. They will not be caught off guard. Also: The Baltic states have ramped up their defenses already.
Rather: Bad news for Russia.
With RFK Jr. it is all about eugenics.
I think the dementia symptoms are hard to overlook. And even if people with dementia are (sometimes) given a break, the first thing you do is remove them from any position of power. Because they are dangerous. His cult will not accept mental decline in him, they want to believe he is a genius.
This is not normal. This is dementia.
Take care and be kind to yourself.
As a German I (as you assumed) have no problem with carrying my id at all times and if asked to to show it to the police. In my eyes that does not interfere with my freedom. What would interfere with it, however, would be abuse of my data by officials. So far I have no reason to expect that.
As the old saying goes: 'Someone who choses to represent himself at a trial has a fool for a client'.
This seems to be part of a very good strategy at uncovering all the intricate relations in these criminal activities: Follow the money. More of that, please.
I though RFK Jr. was of the opinion that we have no reliable data on Covid mortality? He should make his mind up (what there is left of it after heroin and the worm).
Antidote to RFK's lie about the HHS: us.pagefreezer.com/en-US/wa/bro...
Epstein.
The 'troll' couldn't have been the Troll-in-Chief himself, maybe?
Putin does not want Russian criminals back, he is happy when they wreak havoc on US soil.
Just because it crossed my mind: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov...
Das ist nicht normal (selbst für jemanden, der so unglaublich dumm ist, wie Trump). Das ist Demenz.
This is not normal. This is dementia.
People who insist on believing an obvious lie need endless proof not to 'accept the truth' but to change the opinion they are invested in. Believing/defending a lie is costly and the simple fact that one was willing to pay these costs trick the mind into the idea that 'it must be worth it, then'.
Parrotting Putin's propaganda. No surprise there.
One goal is to stay in the good graces of vaccine-deniers. Another goal is way more sinister - an erroneous idea about eugenics and 'survival of the fittest'. As if physical fitness nowadays would be the one most important factor for a productive member of society.
Hegseth and Trump secretly suspect they might not be as 'alpha' as they want to be. So they overcompensate. That 'war-rhetoric' is a dead giveaway.
Spahn will einfach kritiklose Unterstützung und greift hier zur Erpressung.
I think te police should be well enough equipped to handle the right-wing domestic terrorist problem of the US - or did Miller refer to something different?
So what they should do, if they do not want to edit afterwards is simultaneous fact-checking and calling out each lie the moment it happens. That is what genuine journalists do, or so I've heard.
Yes, that is very unfortunate. My hope is that since battery technology is close to some scientific breakthroughs, the dependance on rare earth minerals will diminish.
Well, to be honest, noone can choose the USA at the moment with the wildly unhinged leader who breaks any deal on a whim. Modi actually tries to Choose China as well as the EU at the moment.
Yeah, he cannot even do Newspeak correctly. He does the opposite. Maybe Hegseth's 'warfighting' posturing has rubbed off on him.
'Unappealing' can mean two things: Unappealing to the users - then bluesky would dwindle (I do not see that so far, it seems to me rather the case for X) or unappealing to the author, who mistakenly takes his own taste for a general standard.
I do not think so. When the EU tried for Modi to take sides in the Russian/Ukraine war he refused. That was before Trump. Modi hedges his bets.
I do not like how this is worded. Trump is not 'president in the most dangerous period' - Trump is causal and instrumental in making this the most dangerous period by being the most dangerous (and most deranged) president.
Self-enrichment, vengeance, cruelty, self-aggrandizement, cowardice and an eager desire to please men he perceives as powerful. And racism and misogyny, of course. An astonishing blend of malignant narcissism, weakness, stupidity and now also rapidly worsening dementia.
I see India as on the verge of autocracy (for example visible in Modi's propagation of Hindu nationalism and intolerance towards Muslims and Christians). However, Modi is a clever politician, as is Xi and they try to appear neutral. They would do nothing that really angered the EU at this time.
He is pissed because Modi contradicted his claim that it was he, Trump, who brokered the peace between India and Pakistan. In his eyes they are an obstacle to his 'rightful' claim to the Nobel peace prize. He is demented. (No hyperbole, he really is).
I don't think so. Trump is acting without logic on a purely emotional basis. He imposed tariffs on Brasil because of their treatment of Bolsonaro, that should give a clue. He is angry at India because they deny his claim that he brokered the peace between India and Pakistan (no Nobel-prize).
Cracking down on India purportedly because of Russian oil purchases while at the same time excempting Russia from tariffs does not lend credibility to Trump's narrative.
This is not normal. This is dementia.
They could do that, because those leaders had given orders that violated the existing laws. Not many of these laws did exist at that time, it was only in the aftermath that laws protecting civilians in war zones were formulated (in the Geneva Convention).
This was ignored by Stalin at the start of the Nuremberg Trials, who demanded that all German officers should be shot (regardless of their individual actions). The USA, the UK and France did not follow his logic. But they put the military leaders on trial: Göring, Keitel, Dönitz, Jodl, Raeder.
Soldiers are not put on trial for their military service, even if they fight an unjustified war (like many soldiers of many nations have done in history). It is only when they individually commit crimes (like killing prisoners of war) that they can be put on trial.
The only chance I see for that is if he leaves Tesla and keeps no shares in it.
Reminds me of a line from the brilliant White House Correspondence Dinner speech by Stephen Colbert 2006: ... And reality has a well-known liberal bias... www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X93...
There is a beautiful German term 'Fremdschämen' ('shame for others'). It decribes the feeling of shame/nausea that overcomes you when you witness an act of cringe behavior by someone else.
Angela Merkel was chancellor of Germany for 16 years (also with elections every 4 years). There is a difference between using state media to influence public opinion and classic autocratic moves like falsifying the votes (Belarus) or imprisoning the opposition candidate (Turkey/Russia).
You stated that the election is rigged and therefore he will win. I speak against that. We are in agreement that he will try his very best to riog the elections in his favor, but I would not discount the opposition.
Since the voting itself was not rigged, i doubt your take that Orban was 'very unpopular' 2022. I think his propaganda machine was very effective. If you want to call that 'rigged' we have different definitions for that term.
They admit themselves that the voting was not rigged: "To be sure, classic electoral fraud through falsifying the vote count was probably limited, owing to organised civil-society efforts to ensure that opposition delegates were present in every polling station."
Any proof of that?
Hungary is suffering from Orban, but it is absolutely not like Russia. Belarus is more like Russia, with threats against dissidents and rigged elections. In Hungary you can protest Orban without being thrown into prison. And hopefully he'll lose his presidency in the elections coming next April.
No surprise there.
I admire her self-discipline - I would have thrown a shoe at him.
And if they do, they can blame it on AI now.
A follow-up question (after giving proof that he actually said that) would have been "Is your memory about a statement with such strong implications really that faulty or are you trying to deceive us? Both cases would warrant a resignation on your part."
Maybe it is for Duffy. He failed miserably at his job, especially in comparison to his predecessor Buttigieg. I think they hope by not compensating for disruptions, the information about the disruptions as well will disappear.
America's history is full of 'Anti-American content'. It can't be helped.
I wonder what they could have done. Forgoe all bipartisan decisions that would have profited their constituents? That would have meant puting party over country. A difficult decision.
I am always puzzled by the call for Dem leadership - the Dems have many factions and I do not think any leader could be a favorite of all Dem voters. But there are many excellent Dem fighters doing their best right now (like Crocket, Talarico in Texas, for example).
I think the stacking of SCOTUS happened thanks to McConnell, who as speaker refused to give Obama the chance. No fault of the Dems here. Same with the subsequent nominations they tried to oppose (but they were a minority). Merrit Garland was much too hesitant, indeed.
The MAGA 'Blitz'?! Unashamedly using Nazi terminology, here? This is not normal. This is dementia.
Nice analysis!
SCOTUS made punishing Trump himself for criminal actions much harder. But still the Trump regime has lost the majority of cases so far. A major problem right now is the totally dependent DOJ. But the fight is far from over.
Here is an overview: www.lawfaremedia.org/projects-ser... I admire the lawyers battling the regime for their diligent and effective work and (most of) the judges for their courage.
Ted Crut thinks Pritzker opens the door to human traffickers? But I thought Pritzker had explicitly told Trump not to come ... I am confused...
I think you underestimate the skills of survival a child that grows up in abject poverty and war can muster. Their parents give all their money to the smugglers and the smugglers show them the routes. But noone is looking out for them. And if they survive they arrive deeply traumatized.
We had and have many unaccompanied children arriving in Germany, many with horrible experiences, because there was no adult looking out for them. They were exploited, threatened, beaten up and sometimes even thrown into prison in the countries they had to cross to get here.
Speak to your family and your neighbours, do not let anyone get away with justifying or normalizing this. As a person who refuses to accept this as proper behavior, you are an example to others. Do not underestimate your influence. Just by speaking out you do make a difference.
This is not normal. This is dementia.
Or maybe Laura Loomer?
Meaning himself, of course. What a pathetic whiner.
The flaw (well, one of many flaws) in his logic is that men who transition do not intend to become 'trans women', but 'women'. And they do. Or does Musk think women are celebrated in our society over men?
Das hat mir klar gemacht, dass es nicht reicht, Fürsprecher zu haben, die müssen auch so furchterregend sein, dass niemand wagt, ihren Schützlingen was anzuhängen. Ein durch und durch verbuxeltes und unfaires System.
As unhinged as his intended victim (well, almost).
Finde ich schwierig - ich zweifle an der Objektivität mancher Gutachter. Bei einer meiner Bewerbungen wollte die örtliche Gleichstellungsbeauftragte mich unterstützen und fragte als Erstes, ob ich etwas Negatives zu den anderen Bewerbern wüsste... Ein mieses Spiel.
I would want the US to continue as (or rather to develop into) a unified country. I am a German and the scars that the division of my country caused have not healed yet, even after 35 years. A division not only puts the people who 'live in the wrong place' to grief, it also creates fear and hate.
Es sind oft ausgezeichnete (und drittmittelstarke) Persönlichkeiten, da ist die Hoffnung, dass sie wirklich kommen könnten, stärker als die Vorsicht.
Und es ist überdies oft auch nicht ernst gemeint, sondern ein Mittel, um am Standort Bleibeverhandlungen führen zu können. Und damit wird ein Platz auf der Berufungsliste verbraten.
Yes, perfect! The 'Sir' is an essential part of this.
It doesn't take much to predict absences like this will reoccur every so often with less and less time in between.
It might have been "7, maybe 10". Still waiting for "Some people say I ended more than twenty wars..."
Invoke the 25th. already. It is time. (Actually, way past time). Demand this incessantly and don't let the mainstream media get away with their sanewashing. This is not normal. This is dementia.