Trump

[skab]

Kanye's joke of a campaign is over.

No it isn't, apparently.

Helping his buddy Donald there, spoiling some black votes that would otherwise go to Biden. Always considered Kanye West a waste of oxygen. Feel confirmed now.

[tufty]

Unmarked vehicles with police in combat fatigues, sans name or number, detaining protestors in Portland.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonchand ... bddeaf1fe5

[p-saurus]

Unmarked vehicles with police in combat fatigues, sans name or number, detaining protestors in Portland.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonchand ... bddeaf1fe5

I was curious to see if you were hearing about Trump's deployment of secret police over there. I'm weighing my options if he refuses to give up power if he loses the election in November. I'm very close to Mexico. I hope they'll have me.

[tufty]

It didn't get covered by the French TV news, at least as far as I'm aware, although it got a passing mention on the radio, I picked it up from the variety of other sources. UK's Grauniad covered it.

[p-saurus]

It's pretty terrifying. My country has been in decline for a while, but I'm not sure it survives the Trump Presidency. Right wing populism is evil.

[F-ZeroOne]

Well, this is one way of protesting that seems to baffle the Forces of Injustice (link may technically be NSFW):

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula ... -portland/

[Harlequin]

Apparently, according to Ton Rump, World Wars I and II were "beautiful".

[KlaxonCow]

That cognitive test that Trump brags about acing:

https://www.parkinsons.va.gov/resources ... nglish.pdf

Better yet, he claims to have scored 35 points, when the test only has 30 points available. So I guess he awarded himself an extra 5 points for filling out the name, date of birth, date of test stuff at the top of the form.

This test is not supposed to be about intellect at all, it's meant to help in picking up cognitive defects (indeed, you don't want intellect / knowledge to get in the way of the assessment, or you might be erroneously diagnosing dementia, just because someone doesn't know what a rhinoceros looks like or can't tell the time on an analogue clock, so they keep things as basic as possible to avoid exactly that).

Worryingly, Trump suggested that the test got difficult towards the end. Oh dear.

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/tr ... 29241.html

Docs don't give a cognitive test to measure intellect. We give it to assess cognitive defects. Trump calling questions on this test difficult should raise some red flags about dementia and inability to serve.

(p.s. the link to the test in the article requires logging in and shit, so the link I've provided above is different and just jumps to a PDF of the test. But it's the same basic MoCA test.)

[gilesgoat]

After listening to Alex Jones again .. I am really looking forward to the mess that is going to be the upcoming USA elections ...

.. so "according to him" .. if Mr Toupee wins again "it's fair and square as it should be" ( because he's supported by God himself ) BUT should he loose the election IT'S ALL RIGGED, IT'S A CONSPIRACY/MASTER PLAN FROM THE GLOBALISTS !!! And he SHOULD NOT LEAVE BUT REMAIN IN PLACE to avoid a possible "coup d' etat" ..

So in other words "Mr Toupee" CAN NOT LOOSE because he is THE BEST for America and if he looses it's the GLOBALISTS MASTER PLAN INTO ACTION !

According to him also "he should send even more troops to stop the manifestanst" he thinks BLM has reached a point where it's going "too far" and those people are "manipulated" it's again all a plan from the GLOBALISTS to DESTABILIZE/DESTROY AMERICA and such.

.. it's going to be .. some fun .. from VERY FAR AWAY to look at what will happen in USA ..

[merman]

Trump and the Republicans have already spent a billion dollars to try and get the senile old satsuma re-elected.

And there we have the reason why America's democracy is so flawed.

[tufty]

There's loads of reasons why America's democracy is flawed, parties spending billions isn't a particularly major one.

[p-saurus]

There's loads of reasons why America's democracy is flawed, parties spending billions isn't a particularly major one.

It's a huge problem. If the ability to raise billions of dollars is a prerequisite to being viable, you wind up being beholden to a lot of powerful, wealthy special interests. Our system is incredibly corrupt, and money is most of the reason.

[gilesgoat]

There's loads of reasons why America's democracy is flawed, parties spending billions isn't a particularly major one.

It's a huge problem. If the ability to raise billions of dollars is a prerequisite to being viable, you wind up being beholden to a lot of powerful, wealthy special interests. Our system is incredibly corrupt, and money is most of the reason.

America is the only country I know of that "properly legalized bribery" by calling it "lobbying", I mean literally "the more money you have the more you can influence the politics".

Not that it does not happen anywhere else but as far as I know USA is the only place where it legally and systematically happens.

But "makes some sense in the context of extreme capitalism", as the word "capitalism" says it's ALL about MONEY, *NOT* people, it's PROFIT *NOT* "social stratum".

What is so totally fucked up in USA also is the INFAMOUS "American dream" where "you start with equal opportunities you work hard and you get somewhere rich with a big house".

It FAILS ALREADY at the equal opportunities because .. there aren't, there never been, since Far West times where "the opportunities were who had more guns and men" today is all about "those who are already rich and powerful and inserted into places".

The other thing that USA made it legal , which is ILLEGAL in some countries and/or higher regulated ( in theory at least ) is the story about monoplies and "megacorp".

"Proof of concept?" there's no state driven NHS and the fact you can buy a weapon like you can buy a package of peanuts.

And the fact that fundamentally the whole "state system" is too based on money .. and lobbying .. and candidates being paid from this and that to get this and that.

Where's the problem ? Fundamentally that is "completely non-socialist but profit based" .. so I am not doing thing "because it benefits more people" I am doing this "because it makes more profits for SOME people" .. and quite often with the side consequences of reducing even more those "equal opportunities" and "social differences" ( i.e. richer get richer and poorer get poorer ).

There's so much talk about this BLM, ok fine, but what about the native american people ? ...

Foreing people came, found a fantastic land, almost killed everyone there, segregated them, took everything by force .. and then they call this "the pioneers of the frontier that built the american dream".

What is the "american dream" built on ?

The only thing but it's a double edge sword that capitalism does it speeds up things, thing can happen very fast .. as long there's money and profit in sight .. but that's the problem, it's like a bulldozer smashing everything in its path as long as it gets the goal.

In many cases there are so many things that you don't do for profit, sometime they are really a loss, but you do them becuase they are good for many people and/or the envirronement.

Anyway you will hope all that is happening with virus and protest will make at least some people think, it probably will, but I still fear it still would be "too little" for some real changes, a lot of people "are still the same" or even worse than before, I am pessimistic.

And it's not only about USA of course, this coronavirus did open a bit of a pandora box and the effects are .. weird .. as in "some get better, some get even worse", it certainly proves to me that "when something a bit weird ( I say "a bit" because overall this is still FAR away from the 'worse' that could be ) happens "you can start to see how frail/weird some people really can be", which is absolutely NO surprise at all.

But should make us all think at all those people that are in MUCH WORSE situations than what we are .. but it doesn't .. except as "thanks someone it's not me" .. people are still thinking when they'll be able to return to the hair saloon, nail saloon, restaurant and pub and forget all this like it never happened.

And they'll probably still re-vote the same people again, which is worse than coronavirus

[tufty]

And they'll probably still re-vote the same people again, which is worse than coronavirus :roll:

There is very little in the way of fundamental differences between the US's 2 parties. Republicans, Democrats, they're all tied to the Chicago School of economic theory. It's hilarious watching the trumplings calling ardent free-marketeers "leftists".

The Republican Party are largely to blame for Trump's continued rule, and they will eventually pay one way or another for their maniacal need to hold on to power at all costs (even at the cost of their name, they claim to be republicans; Trump wants to be king). But the Democrats are little better, pushing Joe "I knew Obama, you know" Biden to the fore instead of more capable, and younger, candidates. 2020s choice is between a geriatric playing the tinpot dictator's handbook for all he's worth, and a geriatric - well, at least he was an actual politician when he could breathe unaided.

There is no third, or fourth, or any other, alternative. The American system precludes any other parties having any say. Pick your prty of least dislike, hold your nose, and vote Republican or Democrat, Anything else, you literally might as well stay at home. It's not money that does that, although it certainly helps, but the underlying flaws are absolutely built into the system, far more so than even in the UK.

[gilesgoat]

There is no third, or fourth, or any other, alternative. The American system precludes any other parties having any say. Pick your prty of least dislike, hold your nose, and vote Republican or Democrat, Anything else, you literally might as well stay at home. It's not money that does that, although it certainly helps, but the underlying flaws are absolutely built into the system, far more so than even in the UK.

I was about to say "in term of REAL CHOICES" ( of parties to vote ) .. UNfortunately UK is not that much better ...

.. don't even make me start on Italy, that's all about a "vote the less worse you can find it" .. "there are NO REAL PARTIES WITH REAL IDEALS !!! " .. it's all really "populism" as in "we do what gives us the more votes regardless if it's that good or not"