Phil1111

So the deadly combination of a deteriorated mental condition and guns has struck SC and DZ. Everything that Billy worked and dreamed of in 1/2 a century is now gone. Without doubt he faced challenges in his life and thought he could control the darker thoughts in his mind. But in the end he could not. In the space of a minute or two he faced a monster from within. The result was his whole beautiful family was destroyed. When he finally called out for help it was too late. He realized what he and he alone had done to his family. That agonizing realization was too much for his mind to deal with. In the absence of a gun perhaps some sort of physical altercation would have resulted. Perhaps a verbal showdown that ended in divorce. Nobody knows of such possibilities. Very sad.

Here I thought this was about the baptists. Who maintained a database about sexual predators within their church. Which they kept hidden. Then the vilified and attacked victims. All while doing this over two decades. "a few senior leaders on the church's executive committee as having control over its response to the reports of abuse and of being "singularly focused on avoiding liability for the SBC". These officials reportedly "protected or even supported alleged abusers", the report says. Calls and emails from survivors or other concerned Southern Baptists would be "ignored, disbelieved, or met with the constant refrain that the SBC could take no action" because of how the church functions, the report states. The document also discloses for the first time that the executive committee maintained a list of its ministers who were facing abuse allegations but - in spite of calls for a public database - kept its findings secret." Ho hum, more corruption in a religious group that seeks power. As the largest evangelical group in the US who endorsed, supported trump. It debates CRT at every convention as if they can't decide if racism is acceptable.

Yes. Macron started campaigning almost-as as an afterthought. He was the first president to win re-election in two decades. In addition turnout was almost at historic lows. So the motivated right had every opportunity to turnout win. Macron won with over 58% of the vote.

$1.90 a liter in Canada for the cheapest make of self serve. It comes out of the ground but 50km away and is refined here as well. US Presidential imperialism is impressive. Inflation is at a 30 year high. But nobody is blaming Biden. Nobody blaming the prime minister. Well the conservative leadership candidates maybe. But grocery, foreign cars, etc. have nothing to do with him.

March 10,2022 PEW Research "Both parties have grown more ideologically cohesive. There are now only about two dozen moderate Democrats and Republicans left on Capitol Hill, versus more than 160 in 1971-72." I like PEW research because its accurate, independent and through. I don't think its so much about which side is "nastier". As it is the extremes that don't take prisoners and don't compromise.

Judges! When you get to someone who is next to unimpeachable, i.e. a judge. Or even a lawyers where lying under oath might get you a fine(Clinton). Theft, well lawyers steal trust funds all the time. The result from the disciplinary committees are costs of the investigation and perhaps a short suspension. Should they be so stupid as to get caught. The latest tranche of judges from trump is a good example. Any lie to get on the bench. Then away you go with your political "feelings" i.e. Roe v Wade. The US is no different from anywhere else. The GOP is just better at using the courts for politics. Republicans are silent because its just a judicial lapdog doing what they should.

Agree. The west needs to supply Ukraine with so many artillery rounds and grad rockets. That an engineering study will be needed to ensure Ukraine doesn't sink into the Black sea. In the history of western defense since WWll. No defense spending is as effective in ensuring future peace. Than sending artillery to Ukraine. "Memorandum on Security Assurances in connection with the Republic of Belarus'/Republic of Kazakhstan's/Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons" signatories Kazakhstan Ukraine Russia United States United Kingdom France China

You don't bite the hand that holds your shield.

In 2014 Pat Buchanan a flag bearer of "paleoconservatism—that authoritarian strain of thought linking both white nationalists and US President Donald Trump—wrote that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “entering a claim that Moscow is the Godly City of today...Buchanan blushed with praise for Putin’s policies, writing, “In the culture war for the future of mankind, Putin is planting Russia’s flag firmly on the side of traditional Christianity.”...Russian banks funded groups like France’s National Front, but Moscow has hosted international conferences on everything from neo-Nazi networking to domestic secessionists attempting to rupture the U.S. Meanwhile, American fundamentalists bent on unwinding minority protections in the U.S. have increasingly leaned on Russia for support" Russia and Putin started the WCF> "WCF was the brainchild of Anatoly Antonov and Viktor Medkov, a pair of sociology professors at Lomonosov Moscow State University, and Allan Carlson, WCF’s current president emeritus. The two Russians, according to Mother Jones, were casting about for a means to stave off their country’s looming “demographic winter” Putin and Russia then funded. "In the two decades since its formal founding in 1997 the WCF has become one of the primary poles around which far-right U.S. evangelicals have exported their fundamentalism, as well as one of the world’s foremost anti-LGBT organizations. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the WCF “is one of the key driving forces behind the U.S. Religious Right’s global export of homophobia”—not that the WCF would necessarily take offense to the charge. In 2016, for instance, the WCF hosted a conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, in which, as Coda reported, speakers encouraged attendees to “stay firm against homofascists” and “rainbow radicals.”

"As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine unfolded, Patriarch Kirill I, the leader of the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church, had an awkward Zoom meeting with Pope Francis...Kirill spent 20 minutes reading prepared remarks, echoing the arguments of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia that the war in Ukraine was necessary to purge Nazis and oppose NATO expansion... Kirill has called Mr. Putin’s long tenure “a miracle of God,” and has characterized the war as a just defense against liberal conspiracies to infiltrate Ukraine with “gay parades.”...European officials have included him on a list of individuals they plan to target in an upcoming — and still in flux — round of sanctions against Russia," Since 1994 he has operated a TV show with fundraising and his unique brand Putin endorsing religion. He has sought to expand his unique style of religion into a greater Russia. "reports of luxurious apartments owned by Kirill and his family surfaced in the Russian media. Other unconfirmed rumors of billions of dollars in secret bank accounts, Swiss chalets and yachts...A news website dug up a photograph from 2009 in which Kirill wore a Breguet Réveil du Tsar model watch, worth about $30,000, a marker of membership to the Russian elite." A church profiteering off of politics and war. Corruption and Russia. Not much new here.

I believe the reports are that 1/3 of Russian combat groups are ineffective due to losses. If it was 1/3 killed that would be about 70,000 which is way too high. Street surveys suggest that about 10% of younger people in the cities know whats going on. The balance and mainly older people swallow state TV like a dish of fresh perogies. There is no free press. No real free exchange of ideas. Rural areas have few independent minds. Few real employment possibilities. The US has a free press and a real opportunity to exchange ideas. But some choose to ignore those possibilities. Another iron curtain is descending. Putin and XI hold power without oversight. What was that good bourbon? A drink I can control. The world I can't.

Charest, baggage with a history of a bad smell. He's be good for another minority, coalition, liberal government.

Ron...Ron..??. Jerry made a comment in another thread about SHTF. IMO it won't, but there is certainly those who want it. No I don't mean Jerry. But politicians on the right who don't believe in compromise. Those who believe politics is war by other means.

"They encouraged her to get licensed as a masseuse, but on her own time, on her own dime," the friend said. "They implied that she would get to fly more often if she were to do this because she'd be able to give Elon proper massages. I thought that was kind of strange because — you weren't hired to be a masseuse. You were hired to be a flight attendant." From the story. Obviously Musk is prime republican material. Require prospective employee/staff/prostitutes to pay for their own training. I guess its just another instance where Musk failed to get off the pad.

I certainly see why Putin and trump got along so well. A sailor on the Russian flagship Moskova was killed when it sank. His family was informed that their son would not receive death benefits. Because it was not in Ukrainian waters when it accidentally sank. I'm sure trump would chuckle at that one.

IMO he fell on his sword. He made many pandemic mistakes. The popularity of his party is way down. It might recover enough now to hold power. With current oil prices cash is pouring into Alberta. "The provincial deficit, estimated as recently as November to be around $5.8 billion, is now eliminated. The province is now reporting a $500 million surplus for the upcoming fiscal year, and surpluses of $900 million and $700 million projected for the two years to come." Naturally because its Alberta. Energy conservation, saving the energy windfall, are ideas laughed out the door. Each Albertan gets $50 a month back for 3 months(electricity) $444 for a carbon tax rebate and on and on. Imagine Texas mild and you have an Albertan. Interesting contrast to US conservatives who revel in sex scandals, felonies, etc. Yet still believe they should carry on.

He has high name recognition. "Poilievre has no subtleties. He may win the leadership but his odds of being elected PM are very long because he comes across as dangerous. Charest begins by saying there is something different about Canada right now, as well as the world around us....Charest want us to believe that we’re not safe anymore. Is he running a fear campaign...Poilievre has no subtleties. He may win the leadership but his odds of being elected PM are very long because he comes across as dangerous." I would start going to church again if a moderate, level headed conservative could challenge Trudeau and have a decent environmental policy. But genetically engineered flying pigs will take flight first.

The conservatives need a moderate who can win Ontario, Quebec and B.C. In the last election they won the popular vote. I personally like the Liberals environmental plan even though it doesn't come close to meeting climate commitments. The conservatives have none and no intent of making one. The current liberal government can't seem to stop spending and borrowing. I haven't followed the conservative candidates because too many pander to specific western issues. Up until four elections ago I always voted conservative.

There are Brents in Canada as well. The leader in the opposition candidates race, the conservatives. Stated: "Poilievre is https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/poilievre-bank-of-canada-audit-1.6433860, and he doesn't want the Bank of Canada to offer a competing product." Its disappointing that people like him would offer no alternative to our current Liberal government. Because they are so damn stupid.

A person that supports Putin and Russia. Supports "Tucker Carlson Has Become Obsessed With Hungary. Here’s What He Doesn’t Understand. For Hungarians, Carlson’s anti-Soros tirades are nothing new. But they offer a big boost to Viktor Orbán’s re-election campaign." How Tucker Carlson and the far right embraced Hungary’s authoritarian leader Why? Just follow the money: "More than $65 million of that will go to a privately managed education foundation that last year hosted the Fox News host Tucker Carlson at a festival of right-wing pundits in Hungary. It has also provided stipends and fellowships to conservative Americans and Europeans looking for a safe haven from what they bemoan as the spread of “cancel culture” back home. Some of them featured this week at the first Hungarian edition of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, a gathering of the right wing of American politics. The event, at which Mr. Orban gave the keynote speech, opened in Budapest on Thursday under the slogan “God, Homeland, Family.” Hungary has for years served as a beacon for foreign conservatives who admire Mr. Orban’s hostility to immigrants, L.G.B.T.Q. rights, George Soros and liberals" Money from Putin flowing directly to Carlson to fund racist, right wing ideology. Who'da thunk it!

The shooter described himself as a " I fall in the middle of the mild, moderate authoritarian left category, and I would prefer to be called a populist... Call me an ethno-nationalist eco-fascist national socialist if you want, I wouldn't disagree with you." Its amusing that metalslug can look past the shooters actions and pick out the phrases that appeal to his personal identity. His view of politics. No the shooter didn't travel long distances to kill Blacks because he's a racist. Its all because he is a leftist, a democrat even. Bill's excellent response involved far to much effort for me. A statement in which the shooter identifies himself as a Nazi ("national socialist") then goes out to kill Blacks is framed as "leftist". .Because he self labeled himself as "left". Such is the self identity of the populist right in America, for some. Just pick the phrases and identity that fits your feelings Let your actions stand separate.

You need to get your head out of the gun forums and use common sense. "A 180-page manifesto, allegedly released by the accused along with a video of the attack, is rife with pseudo-scientific racism, antisemitic conspiracy theories and a call for others to mimic his violence. The screed is mostly plagiarized from other extremists and from the far-right 4chan. The 18-year-old white man charged with carrying out the massacre – before turning himself over to police at the scene – wrote that “extreme boredom” drove him to 4chan in March 2020." Or provide the quotes from the manifesto where racism and antisemitic ideology is left of center.You and Brent have allot in common.

WTF? So everyone doesn't need a gun?

Now see If i won el gordo I could get a hold of Joe and rent one of his Blackhawks for a couple weeks. All of my good friends here at SC could come for free jumps. Although I'd have to charge Brent a nominal amount.