Trump-plots-coup-2020-09-28

Trump is planning to claim fraud in the courts no matter how big his loss is! That is why he is attacking every aspect of the election process. It is why he had million dollar mail sorting machines dismantled and trashed - so they could not be replaced before the election. Even the court order can't overcome the physical time to replace them! Mark my words, his SS troops will be distributed to institute violence so he can declare a national emergency and keep power. I wouldn't put it past him to invite Putin and Russian troops to "help restore (fascistic) order" if the SCOTUS doesn't take his side.

Soul-2020-10-04

Our "soul" is our individual semantic environments grown from our cumulative experiences starting in the womb. Every brain grows its own, unique, character that informs understanding, motivation, and actions according to memories, beliefs, and what it all means to that particular brain-body. It is the embodiment of everything we are, unique to each person, ( and to most mobile lifeforms with a brain, though complexity varying with the phylogenetic scale ).

Core Republican Ideology and Trump

Republican ideology is based on the long tradition of American self-sufficiency. They believe everyone is responsible for their own success, just as was the case since colonial days when a man hunted, fished, and farmed sufficient to take care of himself and his family. They believe that if one does not succeed in taking care of him or her self it is his or her own fault.

Consequently, people who do not succeed are failures, and failures are "bad" persons, losers. Failing because they are lazy means they do not deserve public help. Core Republican belief holds that giving "welfare" support for lazy "failures" is not justified, providing welfare or other support takes away from "normal" people's ability to support themselves.

This is based on the fallacy that because some people can succeed, therefore All people can succeed (if they just work hard enough).

The fallacy fails to take into consideration differences in opportunity, differences in ability, and that competition always results in better off and worse off individuals. Only 10% can be in the top 10%. Moreover, there is no risk distribution mechanism in the Republican ideology; it's everyone for him or her self. Trump is suing to kill the ACA even now.

Now, Trump does not want to see any of these people. As for the military, anyone who joins the military is feeding at the public trough.

Trump's complete lack of empathy, his fixation on wealth, and his extreme egoistic narcissism, prevents him from understanding any motive that can not be put in zero sum quid pro quo format. Anyone who gets wounded, captured, or killed "did not work hard enough", and is therefore a "loser" that reminds Trump that he, himself, frequently fails. He fights that realization by denigrating, avoiding, and hating any military person not in pristine condition, as well as non-military persons. Trump's attitude is anybody "lazy" enough to catch a disease should be allowed to die.

The US, spelled "Trump", did everything to prevent providing support, and in several cases, prohibited mitigating actions, (prohibiting mask wearing, refusing to engage federal resources, and demanding unsafe behavior be required).

Now he's taking all the actions he can get away with to cheat his way into a second term, so he can continue his hateful revenge against the people, and to take power a la Putin and other dictators. He is strongly following the Republican use of the Electoral College to win the election without a majority of the popular vote. We will need more than a five percent excess in the public vote to beat the electoral college.

more

Very simply, Donald Trump is not a winner. Donald Trump is a cheater, and a cheater is a loser. He cheated on his wives. He cheated on his contractors. He cheated his workers. He cheated his customers. He cheated on his charitable donations. And you can believe he cheated on his taxes. If elected, he will cheat the voters.

Aug 12 2020: I warned y'all. You voted a looser into the POTUS, and he has turn the United States into a loser, a loser of productivity, a loser of prosperity, a loser of health, a loser of life, a loser of employment, a loser of Commonwealth, a loser of National assets, a loser of international prestige, a loser of leadership, a loser of trustworthiness, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. He's turning the post office into a loser, a loser of our votes, by slowing it down! He's going to lose all the hard to find people in the census by closing early so that the states with wealthier people will get more benefits and the poor and downtrodden will be screwed!

Vote early! - so your vote won't be lost.

It's a new world based on human population and mobility. Ubiquitous transfers of invasive species and global warming will blend non-competing ecosystems into new larger and simpler ecosystems with far fewer species. We are 7.8 Billion as of April 2020, the only species not living naturally in harmony with the world and local ecosystems.

We have caused the Sixth Extinction, now in progress, transitioning to the new epoch, the Anthropocene. Radical climate change is caused by human release of 375 billion tonnes (827 billion tons) of carbon as CO2 since the industrial revolution. That's enough coal to cover the entire continental United States to a depth of 9 Feet 3 inches.

More micro-organisms, more lethal, will evolve and jump to humans, making COVID-19 seem like the common cold in comparison. The new world of ecosystems for diseases is now global due to human global systems, mobility, and high population.

The United States is fast regressing to the state of the dark ages, with education (and healthcare) having dropped to 27th place. The COVID-19 fiasco is showing anti-science dominating the administration and far too many states.

Religions are once again injecting their anti-science, anti-evolution, anti-democracy, authoritarian control into our laws under the rubric of "freedom of religion", which allows business to force their owners' beliefs on customers and patrons. This is the beginning of a new anti-logic dark-ages.

We have lost any international prestige and respect we used to have as these factors have accumulated. Trump has in effect beaten down the ordinary citizenry by a factor of at least "10 times harder" with his handling of the COVID-19 epidemic - turning it into a pandemic. He really resents his lack of winning the popular vote, and he has been taking it out on the country, the residents, the government, and all that was good in and about America.

If we are to contain this coronavirus we must test for digestive system infection of all mild cases without respiratory symptoms, COVID-19 antibodies, as well as respiratory system infection, and test again. We won't be able to safely resume pre-COVID-19 activities until we have cures and vaccines - forecast at about a year.

Because the virus exhibits "stealthy" infection vectors, infects different systems, and has highly variable symptoms, including no symptoms at all, testing can not reliably detect all infections unless 100% of the population are tested. If isolation and social distance are relaxed, the disease will pop-up in variable areas with no traceable source due to one stealth infection 23.3% or two stealthy infections in a row 5.4%.

Isolation and containment should not be relaxed.

Current Testing policy gives COVID-19 a Stealth Infection Vector

The data in the report, 48 with only digestive symptoms out of the 206, implies that 23.3% of the time respiratory symptoms do not present.

Our current testing criteria, respiratory symptoms only, include 100°F, coughing, and shortness of breath. We do not include digestive symptoms, nor do we have tests for the digestive system (stool Viral RNA). This means that tracking on the basis of respiratory symptoms alone will not identify a contact with digestive symptoms only as an infection source. Said unknown infection source will go unidentified. These sources can account for a significant percentage of infected patients without a tracked source. Without stool testing transfer about 23.3% will be "stealthy". This also means that the actual infection rate is 130% or more of the infection rate obtained with respiratory testing only. - Source: Source

The original (draft) report is available free: here

Note: The following is an extract from that research report - to be published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology. quoting New info:

• We describe a unique sub-group of COVID-19 patients with low severity disease marked by presence of digestive symptoms
• These patients are more likely to test positive in stool for COVID-19 RNA, to have a longer delay before viral clearance, and to experience delayed diagnosis compared to patients with respiratory symptoms but no digestive symptoms.
• In some cases, the digestive symptoms, particularly diarrhea, can be the initial presentation of COVID-19, and may only later or never present with respiratory symptoms or fever.
• These data emphasize that patients with new-onset digestive symptoms after a possible COVID-19 contact should be suspected for the illness, even in the absence of cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, or fever.

If we are to contain this coronavirus we must test for digestive system infection of all mild cases without respiratory symptoms, COVID-19 antibodies, as well as respiratory system infection, and test again. We won't be able to safely resume pre-COVID-19 activities until we have cures and vaccines - forecast at about a year.

Because the virus exhibits "stealthy" infection vectors, infects different systems and has highly variable symptoms, including no symptoms at all, testing can not reliably detect all infections. If isolation and social distance are relaxed, the disease will pop-up in variable areas with no traceable source due to one stealth infection 23.3% or two stealthy infections in a row 5.4%.

Isolation and containment should not be relaxed

RALPH KENYON
EXTRAPOLATOR

Current Testing gives COVID-19 a Stealth Infection Vector

Data from a report published by "Knowridge Science Report" entails that 23.3% of the time respiratory symptoms do not present in mild cases. Current testing criteria include 100°F, coughing, and shortness of breath. We do not include digestive symptoms nor do we have tests for the digestive symptoms (stool Viral RNA). This means that tracking on the basis of respiratory symptoms alone will not identify a contact with digestive symptoms only as an infection source. Unknown patient infectors will go unidentified. This can account for a significant percentage of infected patients without a tracked source. Without stool testing of mild cases the actual infection rate will have 23.3% "stealthy" infection. The actual infection rate will be a minimum of 130% of the measured infection rate.

The original (draft) report is available free: COVID19_Han_et_al_AJG_Preproof.pdf.

Note: this is an extract from that research report to be published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology. quoting New info:

• We describe a unique sub-group of COVID-19 patients with low severity disease marked by presence of digestive symptoms
• These patients are more likely to test positive in stool for COVID-19 RNA, to have a longer delay before viral clearance, and to experience delayed diagnosis compared to patients with respiratory symptoms but no digestive symptoms.
• In some cases, the digestive symptoms, particularly diarrhea, can be the initial presentation of COVID-19, and may only later or never present with respiratory symptoms or fever.
• These data emphasize that patients with new-onset digestive symptoms after a possible COVID-19 contact should be suspected for the illness, even in the absence of cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, or fever.

RALPH KENYON
EXTRAPOLATOR

The Democratic Debate 03/15

Joe Biden is too conservative, and he uses political rhetoric. He's a bit of a two-valued rhetorical thinker. His anti-socialism dominates his logic in the "There's nothing good about socialism" paradigm attacking Bernie Sanders for having pointed out things certain communist/socialist regimes have accomplished better than the US, for example The fact is that China has reduced poverty more that we have; Cuba instituted better schooling for children than the US; etc. These are facts. To say so, however, is NOT support for the communist/socialist regime. To say that is IS is a logical fallacy (UN-scientific rhetoric).

Bernie Sanders, not only tells truth to power, he also tells truth to rhetorical UN-logical fallacy speakers. Bernie is right in saying that change comes from the masses, not those in power.

The unfortunate thing is that a lot of the disadvantaged have less understanding of the logical fallacy; they see "socialism" as a red flag and can not distinguish the two-valued thinking that throws the baby out with the bath water. Governments are instituted for the people, and can not survive forever exploiting the people.

Nixon, in 1973, gave medical facilities to join the capitalist for-profit businesses during the cold war when the political rhetoric branded anyone who pointed out any good fact about the communist/socialist regimes a traitor to democracy - two-valued rhetoric ad hominems. Nixon, catering to the drug and insurance industry began the 47 year downfall of equal healthcare for the masses. You hear Bernie say 45 years? Before Nixon healthcare was a service industry. Now it it a system for Doctors, medical facilities, and insurance companies to embezzle from the government the hard-earned taxes the poor salaried workers paid. In 1982 Reagan started the rush to reduce taxes on the wealthy cutting from 70% to 50%, and it kept going down.

The clash of these two paradigms, rhetoric vs logic, goes back to ancient Greece. It killed Greek democracy; the Roman Empire, and brought on the "dark ages" of Christian rule of the Vatican, the Holy Inquisition, and more... But that's another story.

With Bernie, you get logical truth and a bold push to do what the founding fathers wrote into the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution: Equality, Inalienable, Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The Constitutional Status of Healthcare

2020-03-06@11:45 COVID-19

Remember, Trump ordered flying home both cruise passengers that tested positive and passengers that tested negative ON THE SAME PLANE overriding the CDC recommendation: "No way" . His evil mind knew tha that would create a big distraction as the disease spread, and he could manipulate that to be forgotten as he denies he did it and he controls the media, distorting and limiting the transfer of truth. Trump is the media master of speaking false to powerless. Trump multiplied the general population infection probability by 328/14 = 23.4 times. Washington and other locations are the result. There are just now (3/2@11:20) 22 states reported with infections. Had those 14 infected passengers been kept off the plane, the likelihood could be as low as only (22/23.4 ~= 1) one state! Trump's dictatorial decision and his corrupt obsequious sycophant administration gave the virus a big head start ~ 22 times as fast as had the CDC direction been followed. As usual, Trump's decision was made without any thought to planning and resources or consulting the experts.

Loyalty

FB 2016-09-19

"The National Anthem statute now on the books, known as 36 U.S. Code § 301, acknowledges that the Star-Spangled Banner is the official national anthem; and that military members should salute as it plays or is performed, while

“all other persons present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart, and men not in uniform, if applicable, should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart.�

In all cases, the attention given to the anthem should be the same, regardless of the presence of the flag at the location. These rules and customs are similar to those followed for the Pledge of Allegiance.

In 1943 the Supreme Court invalidated a West Virginia state law that required members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses group to salute the flag and recite the Pledge. “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein,� said Justice Robert Jackson.

These customs are like loyalty oaths, the unloyal don't hesitate to take them, while the loyal have no need for them, and, if required to, feel untrusted. Congress encoded the customs, required for the military, but only as "shoulds" for civilians. Today's Congress doesn't deserve the respect for rigid compliance with customs the SCOTUS declared uninforcable in the year of my birth. Anyone may observe the flag and Anthem however he or she deems appropriate under the First Amendment, so long as he or she does not interfere with the equal right of other to do the same.

Armageddon

Trump wants to be neither king nor dictator; he wants to be God! He demands praise, is vengeful "ten times harder", Caligula misogynistic, meaner than Loki the trickster, greedier than Mammon the covetous, and more dangerous than Sutekh the destroyer. His three protectors, Barr, McConnell, and Pence, see no evil deeds, hear no good bills, and speak no truths. These Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are dead set on bringing Armageddon to American democracy.

Problems of US Democracy: Impeachment

When it comes to impeachment, the comparison with the Judiciary is often mistaken for a direct analog in which the House is the Grand Jury and the Senate is the Trial Jury. That comparison can not be assumed to directly apply all the rules of the law that determine the due process of the Judiciary. The "due process" of the congress is determined by the rules of the congress, not by the rules and traditions of the Judiciary. However, both must satisfy the people's sense of justice and fairness (as marred by politics). Congresspersons are answerable to the voting public and to those who provide funds for election campaigns.

Since everybody is required to serve on Juries, the general public has some idea of the Judicial "due process", but few have any idea how different Congressional "due process" work, or even that they are rewritten every two years. When the Republicans preach "due process" in the impeachment arguments, they are counting on you to think about Judicial due process. That's a "red herring" to convince you the process is not fair. Here's the basic difference with respect to impeachment: differences

People are going to continue to ask if their taxes are going to go up under Medicare for all.

The answer is that is the wrong question. The question is will their total cost be higher than their current total cost consisting of payroll deductions, insurance premiums, co-pay, patient share of cost, and out-of-pocket expenses for preventive care, urgent care, hospital, and specialists, for medical, dental, vision, hearing, and. prescriptions.

The answer is NO, their total cost as a fraction of their income will be much less than the total current cost. There will be NO co-pay. No out-of-pocket, no cost share, and they will have complete coverage of every injury, every sickness, all preventative measures, including dental care, vision care, hearing care, etc.

You will get more healthcare, from any doctors you want, without buying any insurance, without paying any co-pay, without getting any medical bills. You will be covered 100% for medical, hospital, and prescription drugs, as well as 100% of Dental, vision, and hearing (which are not now covered).

You will still have to pay for cosmetic and other treatments that are not medically necessary, such as tattoos, breast enlargement, body shaping, etc.

How is it possible? It's the profit, Duh! There will be no insurance needed, because everybody is covered for everything with no charge for individuals. Medical service delivery will be non-profit, and the entire insurance industry cost will be used to reduce the overall cost of healthcare, and that means less cost for individuals. Cost is always less that cost plus profit.

Once a Fallacy, Always a Fallacy

Lying Republicans and conservatives keep saying "If you work hard enough you will succeed" (false). instead of "If you work hard enough you may succeed" (true).

If you work hard enough you may succeed.

There are many factors, mostly unknown, that are beyond an individual's control. Competition divides the better able from the lesser able. Only 10 out of 100 can get in the top ten percent - unless there are more than 10 with the same top performance scores for all factors (highly unlikely in competition).

Even if you work as hard as you possibly can, you may still fail to succeed. That's life!

It is generally true that anyone may succeed, but it is false that everyone can succeed.
Republicans argue.
Anybody can succeed if they work hard enough.
Therefore everybody can succeed if they just work hard enough. (The fallacy)
If you don't succeed, it's because you did not work hard enough.
If you did not work hard enough it's because you are lazy.
If you are lazy, you don't deserve public help, because it's your own fault for being lazy.
Consequently nobody deserves any welfare.

• American Ideology - Conservative vs Liberal

• Republican Premises and Agenda

Once a Fallacy, Always a Fallacy

Lying Republicans and conservatives keep saying "If you work hard enough you will succeed" (false). instead of "If you work hard enough you may succeed" (true).

If you work hard enough you may succeed.

There are many factors, mostly unknown, that are beyond an individual's control. Competition divides the better able from the lesser able. Only 10 out of 100 can get in the top ten percent - unless there are more than 10 with the same top performance scores for all factors (highly unlikely in competition).

Even if you work as hard as you possibly can, you may still fail to succeed. That's life!

It is generally true that anyone may succeed, but it is false that everyone can succeed.
Republicans argue.
Anybody can succeed if they work hard enough.
Therefore everybody can succeed if they just work hard enough. (The fallacy)
If you don't succeed, it's because you did not work hard enough.
If you did not work hard enough it's because you are lazy.
If you are lazy, you don't deserve public help, because it's your own fault for being lazy.
Consequently nobody deserves any welfare.

• American Ideology - Conservative vs Liberal

• Republican Premises and Agenda

On Lifetime prohibition of congresspersons to lobby

"the activity of lobbying has been interpreted by court rulings as constitutionally protected free speech and a way to petition the government for the redress of grievances, two of the freedoms protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution."

I proposed anti-lobbying to all members of congress in my letter of 1975.

"Inasmuch as the congressmen should not accept communications of value from anyone other than their constituents - and there must be in some measure equality - the former idea of "Campaign Contribution" is inconsistent with the one man one vote idea. Congressmen and prospective congressmen should accept no money or items of value from anyone, under penalty of imprisonment and/or fine. It follows that all campaign financing should come from the public till. Congress should pass appropriate laws to regulate the equitable use and limits on funds for such campaigning, in order to ensure that the people have a choice. Additionally, funding campaigns from other than the public till does not provide for equal opportunity to "ascend" to the public-servant level of congressman."

Making it a 10 year limit would get around the First amendment, at least until we get a liberal SCOTUS.

dementia evidence
Trump is neither evil nor mentally ill. His is a case of extreme arrested development brought on by a complete lack of being held accountable by his parents and servants. He is at the extreme of all the maladies that have been listed. He is the epitome of the negation of the Scout Law: "A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent." There is only one of these twelve principles that he may epitomize - ("germaphobe" entails clean). How did he not become a "normal" social person?

How Trump never matured.

To answer this question, look at the stages of development as Lawrence Kohlberg interpreted Jean Piaget's work in child development.

"Stage 0: Egocentric judgement. The child makes judgements of good on the basis of what he likes and wants or what helps him, and bad on the basis of what he does not like or what hurts him. He has no concept of rules or of obligations to obey or conform independent of his wish."

Indulgence and pampering by parents and servants started Trump down the path of his getting anything he wanted. It does not provide a basis for learning rules - undermining any possibility of understanding "the rule of law".

"Stage 1: The punishment and obedience orientation. The physical consequences of action determine its goodness or badness regardless of the human meaning or value of these consequences. Avoidance of punishment and unquestioning deference to power are values in their own right, not in terms of respect for an underlying moral order supported by punishment and authority (the latter is stage 4)."

Complete lack of accountability, discipline, and consequences is a recipe for not learning any semblance of this stage. Never being punished, and being completely indulged in all his demands prevents developing this stage. Temper tantrums and coddling creates his dictatorial demanding. It feed development of his "I can do no wrong" (what's that?) ego and narcissism.  Rudimentary bribery without consequences for reneging introduces young trump to barter, but there's no sense of equal value, and no consequences for breaking the "deal".  Trump himself stated that "it's ok if you can get away with it" and "anything is okay if you can get away with it".  With that perspective, you can see that there is no equity in his concept of a deal.

"Stage 2: The instrumental relativist orientation. Right action consists of what instrumentally satisfies one's own needs and occasionally the needs of others. Human relations are viewed in terms such as those of the market place. Elements of fairness, reciprocity, and equal sharing are present, but they are always interpreted in a physical, pragmatic way. Reciprocity is a matter of 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours', not loyalty, gratitude, or justice."

The only fairness and equality in his deals were when he could not get away with it.  You scratch his back, and, when it comes time for him to scratch your back, he wont do it, or he is vicious.  He used threats and bullying (like in his childhood tantrums) to get unfair "deals".  And, as he got into the business world, he used gag orders in settlements to keep his nefarious methods hidden from the public.

"Stage 5: The social-contract legalistic orientation (generally with utilitarian overtones). Right action tends to be defined in terms of general individual rights and standards that have been critically examined and agreed upon by the whole society. There is a clear awareness of the relativism of personal values and opinions and a corresponding emphasis upon procedural rules for reaching consensus. Aside from what is constitutionally and democratically agreed upon, right action is a matter of personal values and opinions. The result is an emphasis upon the "legal point of view", but with an additional emphasis upon the possibility of changing the law in terms of rational considerations of social utility (rather than freezing it in terms of stage 4 "law and order"). Outside the legal realm, free agreement, and contract, is the binding element of obligation. The "official" morality of the American government and Constitution is at this stage."

There is no possibility that Donald Trump is ever going to be capable of understanding the United States Constitution.  Likewise he can not understand stage 3, as it requires social reciprocity and personal loyalty, or stage 4 - commitment to law and order - rules. Stages of Moral Development, Lawrence Kohlberg (1971)

PROBLEMS OF UNITED STATES DEMOCRACY
EXTREME FREEDOM AND WEALTH

1. The United States was created pursuant to the rights and principles of Common Law by the Declaration of Independence.
2. As such, the Declaration of Independence is the first and foremost United States of America legal document having the status of law.
3. The five preeminent principles are, in order of priority,
1. equality under the law,
2. inalienable (can not be taken away by any person or organization),
3. Life (no one or organization my take the life of any citizen)
4. Liberty (no one may deny any citizen the right to choose).
5. The pursuit of Happiness.
4. Equal and inalienable in priority order as given by the founding fathers, dictates that Liberty is restricted by the prior right to life. That Liberty is to be equal, it necessarily follows that Liberty can not be absolute, as many seem to think.  Liberty is constrained and limited by the prior right to life.
5. Equal and inalienable Life and Liberty entails that no acts in the pursuit of happiness may deny or jeopardize the prior rights to Life and Liberty.

It is a consequence of these rules, that Life entails healthcare, that all behavior under liberty must provide for reciprocity, and the priority of life and liberty entail that no acts in the pursuit of happiness may deny or jeopardize the rights to life and Liberty.

The pursuit of happiness necessarily entails basic needs, and in the capitalistic society, the ability to acquire wealth enough to pursue activities providing the basic needs, which entails obtaining sufficient wealth to satisfy the basic needs. This, in turn, dictates a satisfactory employment or business to provide for those needs, as well as, sufficient education to succeed in the aforementioned employment or business.  The prior priority of equality, inalienably, life, and liberty, entails that such pursuit of wealth shall not be so excessive as to materially prevent others from enjoying comparable satisfaction and all the prior rights.

Monopolies pricing goods beyond the means of others violates equality, inalienable, life, and liberty as well as others ability to acquire necessary minimum wealth.  Paying employees too little likewise jeopardizes all the five principles.

In short, the rights in the Declaration of Independence are all abrogated by excessive pursuit of wealth (greed).

6. The Preamble to the Constitution reiterates these rights and duties and more.
7. Once other countries recognized the United States of America, and accepted the Declaration of Independence as applied to us, the Declaration of Independence becomes a de facto treaty, and pursuant to the Constitution becomes the first element of "the supreme law of the land".
8. The preamble to the Constitution states
   

1. Establish Justice
2. Insure domestic tranquility
3. Provide for the common defense
4. Promote the general welfare
5. Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity

1. Justice - Equality
2. Order - Civility
3. Defense - Military
4. Welfare - Health and Safety
5. Liberty - Freedom

The Total Control Lie

"On January 20th, 2009, 57 Senate seats were held by Democrats with 2 Independents (Bernie Sanders and Joe Lieberman) caucusing with the Democrats...which gave Democrats 59 mostly-reliable Democratic votes in the Senate, one shy of filibuster-proof “total control.” Republicans held 41 seats."

"Total control" is a Republican lie! Obama was blocked by the Republican senators filibuster control and threats, Obama tried to get around this by trying to get bipartisan negotiation working. Suffice it to say the Republicans blocked him in the Senate.

I'm confident he was told to close the investigation when Barr was confirmed. There was too much unfinished business not included in the report.

An ad hominem argument is not logic, but rhetoric, used when you can't think of a reason and attack the person instead.

Logic preserves truth, rhetoric does not, and, as everyone should know, when truth is gone, one can conclude anything.

Truth is used in science; rhetoric is used in politics, by lawyers, the traditional used car salesman, the ignorant, and more.

Trump must pay for his blatantly political 4^th of July campaign rally on the mall.

Tell your Congressperson to send citizen Donald J. Trump a personal bill for all the cost associated with the moving the military equipment, salaries of service and other persons diverted from liberty to service the move of the military equipment, including the flyover and Air Force One if he is not on it.

(The idiot said AF1 was free because we own it; false! It costs big bucks any time it moves!)

Add a penalty fee for Hatch Act violation equal to the aforementioned costs.

Trump has still not paid Washington DC the $7 million balance of the inauguration costs to the city - just like he regularly stiffed his contractors.

Dave Perkins wrote:

You know, and I mean this seriously not as a tongue in cheek jab, what's happened to the NRA is a good example of what usually happens to ANY human organization that allows a loud extremely vocal minority to manipulate the power structure within the organization so as to fundamentally change the overall focus of the organization to a limited often irrational radical extreme: it self-destructs.

That has happened to churches, political movements and parties (most recently, but not uniquely, the GOP) and entire NATIONS. There's something in human nature that seems to lead to this unless enough people within the organization make a conscious effort to take steps to explicitly stop it. This aspect of human nature waxes and wanes but it never ceases entirely. Currently our entire culture is engaged in just such a tug of war with one prominent aspect of that conflict playing out in our politics and that's why I'm up at 1:30 AM.

As I see it, our only hope as a nation is that there's a resurgence of rational, centrists. I just wish I could FEEL more hopeful.

We humans exhibit characteristics of both predators and social species. We compete with each other on an individual basis for survival and mates. When we evolved languages, our environments expanded to include symbols. As our intelligence grew, languages became more abstract. Once we had abstract languages we began to develop semantic environments, which are unique to each individual. As language has varied with geographical isolation so did the semantic environments of the groups, and thus began tribalism with the help of competition.

Every kind of individual with every kind of group provided for what we now see on Earth, the result of competitive evolution genetically, physically, socially. It takes too much energy to continually fight for position and status. Groups become relatively stable in order to conserve the energy of individuals and groups. Individuals tend to find their level in the social hierarchy and then pretty much accept it^*.

In America major memes developed in symbolic and semantic environments. These memes correspond roughly to predator and social. See American Ideology - Conservative vs Liberal.