jakee

I admire your confidence. ”A. source close to the group told AFP news agency that the son of Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar and the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member in the Bekaa Valley were among those killed. Later, the source said the son of another lawmaker, Hassan Fadlallah, was wounded, having initially reported that he was dead.”

Great example. We absolutely cannot predict the result of the next coin flip, yet we can confidently predict the overall split of the next ten thousand coin flips to within fractions of a percent. How can this be?

Which is, as well as the headine inflation figure, almost exactly the same as the Eurozone numbers. So explain again how you understand that global supply chain issues are a factor and not everything can be blamed on the White House? It's the other one.

No one can predict the next roulette spin but we can certainly predict the house will come out on top in the end. Just like no one can predict the next blackjack hand but card counting still works until you're lying in an alley with your legs broke and no thumbs. But how? This is unpossible, no?

Regardless of that, it's the sleazy evasiveness of the answer that grates. If she's in his entourage and travels to events on his plane she's not just 'a supporter' whose racist statements are nothing to do with him - she's part of the team. People say they like him because he's not like other politicians, but really he's more political than any of them. On the relationship side there's a similar thing going on with Boris Johnson who, when he was booted out of office, gave a life peerage (place in the House of Lords) to Charlotte Owen who was then 29, the youngest person ever to be appointed a life peer, and whose entire career was made up of some work with the youth wing of the Conservative party, a series of junior internships for various MPs then a few months long stint as a special advisor to BoJo when he was PM. He's now appointed her as VP of a new company created to funnel large amounts of cash to him in exchange for using his connections to try and get government contracts for a foreign nuclear power / uranium mining magnate. I would never normally assume a successful woman has just been given her career, but since in this case she literally has had it handed to her it's 50-50 as to whether she's his bit on the side or secret daughter. He almost certainly has several of both.

So why talk such transparent and obvious bullshit about the rest of the economy? If the truth is that a wannabe dictator can buy your support with a short term bribe, just say that. Of course you might have to own that favourite right wing slogan about bread and circuses, but whatever.

Just one more of those times that I am totally unable to tell if that’s real or an Onion headline. Help me out here.

There are plenty of people around who still push the self serving fantasy that market forces are all that is needed to make corporations act fairly and properly in accordance with their responsibilities to society. So here's an article about a multinational cement company which willingly collaborated with ISIS at the height of its expansion and paid tens of millions of dollars into its machine of conquest, torture and oppression in order to keep making money from just one factory. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/17/french-cement-company-lafarge-paid-millions-to-islamic-state-syria It also notes that while the situation was so dangerous that all western execs were evacuated, the head of security bragged about using 'military methods' to make the local laborers keep coming to work. A French court ruled the company couldn't be prosecuted for this as laws which protect workers' rights in France do not apply in Syria. Three thumbs up for deregulation!

He also said it was disgusting that the media pointed out that the stories weren't true. Then he criticised them for never interviewing any of the fictional people whose fictional cats were fictionally eaten. Then he said that although he was spreading these made up stories for the express purpose of making people realise that immigrants in Springfield are hurting 'real' americans, the subsequent attacks on immigrants in Springfield couldn't possibly have anything to do with the things he said. And BTW, it was disgusting of the media to even report that those attacks had happened. Because.... oh who knows.

And what is the magical reason why this caveat does not apply to Trump's presidency?

The deficit last year was about 6% of GDP, so what are you moaning about?

So Trump fucked it up and emboldened Putin, then?

The bit where it doesn’t stop you blaming it all on the democrats over and over and over again.

That is also a lie. See? The NOAA didn’t say that, you did.

You post constantly about global average temperatures that are only the third or fourth or fifth or sixth highest in recorded history, not the absolute highest ever, in threads where you deny that global warming is happening. Apologise to Wendy for lying about her lying.

It does often seem like people forget this. It’s easy to think that the worst thing about Trump is his corruption, his racism, his kowtowing to foreign dictators, his lack of any coherent economic or social policy - in essence that he’s a clown. But he genuinely attempted to overthrow American democracy. That was his absolute goal, he tried a number of ways to make it happen, and he and his party have spent the last 4 years figuring out how to do it properly next time. There’s a lot of pseudo intellectual waffle around at the moment on how all great states eventually collapse because of this tax or that public spending. I think the historically proven number one way to reliably destroy a great democracy is to elect someone who’s already told you he wants to destroy it.

No, but only because I wasn't alive 100 years ago and looking too deeply at the history of anti-semitic propaganda can get a bit depressing. I think you're absolutely right that it's history repeating itself with a new shirt and a different haircut though.

I think that's kinda the point. It's so ridiculous you could never imagine it being said about people of anglo-saxon descent. Then what made them think it would gain any traction when said about a different group of people, right?

The suggestion that immigrants are stealing and eating pets is a racist smear. The racism doesn't get turned off just because they are also ripping off a fast food ad campaign. Racists can multitask too.

Funny how when Biden stumbled his way through a debate the Dems all said 'shit, our very old candidate doesn't sound good, people shouldn't vote for someone who doesn't sound like he knows what's going on'. Then Trump says one of the biggest problems facing the USA is immigrants stealing and eating all the pets in an entire state and Republicans don't say 'shit, our very old candidate sounds senile and demented as a Proud Boy with Alzheimers' but instead just moan about how unfair it is that someone fact checked it.

Well, ok, except not in the sense that you think it actually matters.

He certainly had the line of the night with "I have been a leader on fertilisation!" I'd say 'you know your wife is listening, right?' except the truth is I'd be amazed if she bothered.

So slow motion that here we are 60 years later and money is still worth money. But sure, the sky’s gonna fall on our heads tomorrow… always tomorrow. Every time you try make it sound like you’re explaining your position you just make it clear that you simply like Trump more than Kamala and that’s all that matters. FFS just get it over with and say you’ll never vote for an affirmative action darkie.

The mainstream Republican right has devolved into what only a few years ago were fringe, extremist, cultish and plain fucking wierd thinking in order to justify their support of him. To them now, the gross overconfidence is the point. Doesn't matter if he does know a goddamn thing about any of those subjects he proclaims to be an expert in - the unrepentant arrogance means he's an alpha male, a man's man, a high testosterone individual! People who ever apologise or backtrack are feminised beta boys with too much estrogen sloshing around. Just another occasion where it doesn't matter how insane or toxic or dangerous their rhetoric is as long as they're owning the libs.

And his staff were significantly worse, responding by attacking the staff member who they’d already attacked. In addition, they claimed that they’d had approval to break protocol which has been categorically contradicted by the Army, and said they had video to back up their story which they will obviously now refuse to release. It could not be a worse fight for a struggling Republican candidate to pick, and the media need to stay on it like terriers on rats.