The Pope is condemning President Trump on Iran. This from a man leading an organization that has (at various rimes) supported the impoverishment of Communism, letting horrific violent criminals escape the death penalty, pacifism towards depraved dictators, opening up the borders to anyone and everyone, and turning the other way for as long as they could get away with it when priests routinely molested young boys. I sure will listen to what the Pope has to say when he decides to moralize against America for finally fighting back after 47 years of relentless attacks by the # 1 sponsor of world terrorism.

And by the way, Pope Leo, the Iranian regime wants you beheaded and incinerated too. You might want to consider the benefit to Catholics of a world with a real America still in it.

*******

Speaking of uptight totalitarians, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has said that “everyone,” including Trump supporters, are “scared” right now — of President Trump.

Since when are leftist totalitarians frightened of anything or anyone?

What are you scared of, Ms. Warren? Freedom? Why does freedom scare you?

Why does unseating dictators who trample on rights and impair commerce and prosperity frighten you?

Why do tax cuts and deregulation frighten you?

Why does arresting and prosecuting violent people, and refusing to let violent felons into the country, terrify you?

Oh, that’s right. You’re one of those dictators. You’re afraid you might lose some of your unjustified power and unearned millions.

And where are the Trump supporters afraid of him? Name one. I interact with Trump supporters all the time. The great majority are happy with him. Some want him to go further. Their only fear is that he won’t go far enough, and monsters like you will ultimately prevail. Who are the Trump supporters afraid of Trump? Name one.

This woman, and her kind, are insane. Or lying psychopaths. My money is on the latter theory.

 

 

The post Go to Hell, Pope Leo appeared first on Michael J. Hurd, Ph.D. | Living Resources Center.

Critics of Trump’s economic policies must avoid the trap of calling them “state capitalism”

The post The Term “State Capitalism” Wrongly Equates Freedom With Dictatorship appeared first on New Ideal - Reason | Individualism | Capitalism.

 

Download video: https://www.youtube.com/embed/0D1039_JOBk

You may soon find some of the same people who foam at the mouth at the sight of a pride flag trying to beat you over the head with a rainbow of their own:

A vast network of more than 63,000 connections woven throughout the Bible is drawing renewed attention from believers, with some arguing the intricate links point to divine authorship.

The connections, identified by a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University and a Lutheran pastor in Germany, stretch across all 66 books of scripture, linking people, events and themes scattered throughout the Old and New Testaments.

Researchers transformed these connections into a visualization that lays out every chapter from Genesis to Revelation along a single line. Each vertical bar represents a chapter, with taller bars marking sections that contain more verses.

Thousands of curved lines stretch between books to link related passages, with darker lines highlighting verses that share the greatest number of connections. The arcs form a rainbow-like pattern that visually reveals how extensively the Bible is woven together from beginning to end.

Add a little motivated reasoning to the huge number of these vague "connections," a pattern that happens to resemble the rainbow after the Great Flood, and the kind of willful blindness to obvious alternative explanations that would make Tucker Carlson blush, and you have a sort of mini-Young Earth type of "theory:"

One user posted on X: 'That's literally impossible: you can't get 20 people in a room and tell them to write an essay about one topic and get agreement.'

In a video shared by Silverdale Baptist Church in Tennessee, pastor Tony Walliser highlighted how the Bible connects stories across generations while focusing on a central figure, Jesus.

'Now, let me ask you how that just happened?' Walliser said in the video. 'You go wow, it must have had a major, amazing general editor, yeah, it did: God.'

Wait a minute. I thought the Bible was of divine authorship and that god is perfect. But here he is having to edit his work! Hmmmm.

Speaking of contradictions, the fact that the Bible contradicts itself hundreds of times comes up nowhere in the story and will surely be deemed irrelevant (if it comes up at all) by the sort of people who will tout this "analysis" as the kind of "proof" religion has never, and will never, provide.

-- CAV

The post The Humiliating Iran Ceasefire Deal appeared first on New Ideal - Reason | Individualism | Capitalism.

 

Download video: https://www.youtube.com/embed/opUGimR5nr0



Download audio: https://media.blubrry.com/new_ideal_ari/content.blubrry.com/new_ideal_ari/Humiliating_Iran_Ceasefire.mp3

"[There is now a] strange coexistence between an unprecedented variety of opinions that are strongly represented in the public square and the rigid worldview that constrains the beliefs of the most influential people in our society ....

"Never before have so many opinions been at our fingertips—and never before have so many professionals felt unable to voice theirs. What explains this paradox [of infinite voices and narrow minds], why does it matter, and what can we do about it?

"It is impossible to understand the recent politics of the Western world without considering a giant sociological transformation ...: The bourgeoisie has switched sides. ...

"Karl Marx called on the workers, not on the lawyers or freelance illustrators, of the world to unite. The origins of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, of Britain’s Labour Party, and even of the modern-day Democratic Party in the United States lie with factory workers and trade unionists. ... But of late, these realities have started to shift ...

"Plumbers are right wing but lawyers are left wing. Cab drivers are right wing but university professors are left wing. Police officers are right wing but civil servants are left wing. And though many professions claim to be apolitical, the plumbers and cab drivers and police officers increasingly suspect that the lawyers and professors and civil servants are letting their political values influence their work. The decline in respect for 'experts' is in part owed to the blatant lies spread on social media; but it also has its roots in the real ways in which the consensus within these professions has increasingly come to adhere to a narrowly progressive—and often lamentably erroneous—set of assumptions about the world. ...

"The resulting state of affairs leaves both sides equally unhappy. ... What one side perceives as flagrantly unjust domination by the well-credentialed, the other interprets as the perils of revanchist demagoguery."

~ Yascha Mounk from his post 'The Bourgeoisie Has Switched Sides: What happens when elites all believe the same thing'

When it comes to election time my general approach is "Don't encourage them, don't vote." I've never been  disappointed with that considered choice.

But Henry Olsen has an idea that might get me into a booth: a negative vote.

We know exactly who we cannot stand and why the other lot would be a disaster. But our positive support for any party is probably lukewarm at best. ...

Perhaps the voting system should reflect that.

Imagine this: ... You head to the polls and discover that, not only can you vote for a party, but you can also vote against one.

Instead of adding to your preferred party’s vote count, you could bring down the count of one you hate. Now that voters have finally mastered MMP, this would take democracy to a whole new level.

Are you a middle-aged farmer worried about the Greens’ alternative Budget, or a young college graduate mad at the Coalition for reducing Auckland’s housing construction allowance? Use the negative vote to express your anger!

No one would be obliged to use their positive vote, so all votes could be negative. The party with the fewest negative votes would then win the election.

I like it. It could be that all parties are so hated, we could have a Prime Minister leading a party with more negative votes than positive. Just fewer negative votes than all those other bastards.

Then let's see them talk about their bloody "mandate."

PS: Which of the bastards would you be voting against?