United States Politics Thread 47

[malloc]

Trump invading Greenland would mean the end of NATO and the loss of a lot of American power globally. Even many of Trump's friends in the Republican party don't support invading Greenland, even if they cheered on Trump's adventure in Venezuela.

Well yes. There must surely be numerous powerful people frantically begging Trump to reconsider behind the scenes. Still, the fact that he's even planning this invasion is really mind-boggling. It really would have been unthinkable not that long ago.

[WeepingElf]

Trump invading Greenland would mean the end of NATO and the loss of a lot of American power globally. Even many of Trump's friends in the Republican party don't support invading Greenland, even if they cheered on Trump's adventure in Venezuela.

Well yes. There must surely be numerous powerful people frantically begging Trump to reconsider behind the scenes. Still, the fact that he's even planning this invasion is really mind-boggling. It really would have been unthinkable not that long ago.

Not all rightists are as mad as Trump, and I guess that if Trump decided to go at war with EU+UK over Greenland or whatever, the Joint Chiefs of Staff would just say "No!", and petition the House to impeach him. Venezuela is one thing, Europe is another.

[MacAnDàil]

No, the Guardian has opposed it. e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... e-genocide. Even the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cde3eyzdr63o

The Guardian is not considered to be a major mainstream outlet, which is why I like it.

It is one of the most reputed British newspapers.

The major mainstream outlets have published "both sides".

Could you provide an example please?

Even assuming all far-right movements are fascist, firstly genocide is still worse, grappling with an opposition is importantly different from them being in power and Nippon Kaigi was no more in power under the four other prime ministers who were members of it.

Setting aside the fact that the current Japanese prime minister is an adherent of palingenetic ultranationalism, I think the basic block in communication is that you don't understand the concept of one thing being "worse" than another. "Worse" doesn't mean bad. It means more bad. Even if thing 1 is bad, thing 2 can be worse if it is even more bad. For example, if thing 1 and thing 2 are both responsible for genocide, then thing 1 is not necessarily "worse" if thing 2 is responsible for other bad things in addition.

I assumed you know this, but neither you nor Travis B. act like you do.

Of course I understand that worse is worse than bad. It would appear that you think that the Japanese, French, British, Brazilian and German governments are responsible for genocide. Is that the case?

Also, the countries that I cited are either members of the UN Security Council or vying for it so they are global powers. China is even more obviously a global power. What definition would you propose of global power if it excludes China in 2026?

Setting aside the fact that France has committed genocide in Africa rather recently, etc, I would say that a global power should be able to challenge the global hegemon. The Soviet Union was able to do this. China is not.

When do you consider that France has committed genocide in Africa rather recently? Why would China not be able to challenge the global hegemon? Its GDP PPP overpasses the US’s which the USSR did not. Therefore, from an economic perspective at least, China at least challenges the global hegemon if it isn’t a global hegemon.

Please cite something specific. Something probably being recorded somewhere on a Youtube video is insufficient.

If you're not even willing to watch the media coverage you're defending, how can you possibly justify having such strong opinions about it? Try watching from 3:03:50 onwards.

I understand now that you linked to a Youtuber who filmed himself watching NBC among other videos.

Zompist is right.

Sure, I said what is quoted, but Zompist is right. About what? Who knows? Does it even matter as long as the bottom line is that I'm wrong?

No, the bottom line is that I did not need to bring a new argument because the argument that Zompist brought in the post in between our own posts was sufficient.

Saying 'Orange Terrorist' rather than '(Donald J.) Trump' would be less specific and therefore less helpful to the readers.

'(Donald J.) Trump' is less specific than 'Orange Terrorist'. Many people can be called '(Donald J.) Trump', but the 'Orange Terrorist' will go down in history. In any case, I have explained my point already, and you say you understand it.

The only famous person called Donald J. Trump is currently US president. 'Orange Terrorist' may refer also to a cat or a member of the PKK among others so it is less clear.

That noone has agreed with does not preclude them from already being familiar with the ideas.

I don't understand why you think I should care in the context of my argument. Please elaborate.

You gave the impression that nobody agreed with you, that your ideas were new and that nobody understood them. I tried to underline that the first of this can be true without the other two.

[Raphael]

Taking a cue from Mike Brock, I just want to state for the record that I support the protests against the bunch of lying murderers ruling the USA. https://www.notesfromthecircus.com/p/i- ... e-protests

[jcb]

RFK Jr released a new food pyramid:
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dietary-gu ... ut-health/

And South Park predicted it (in 2014):
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIGXkh6S8Zw

I can't help but think about how South Park predicted (in 2000) the diverse racial make up of the cops that killed George Floyd, compared to the cops that beat Rodney King:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZtEIosVvdE
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNb-7Cy_INo

[malloc]

RFK Jr released a new food pyramid:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dietary-gu ... ut-health/

And South Park predicted it (in 2014):
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIGXkh6S8Zw

Yeah, that is one ridiculous pyramid. I suppose every king needs a jester. Looking at the silver lining, limiting sugar and alcohol is good advice at least.

[bradrn]

RFK Jr released a new food pyramid:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dietary-gu ... ut-health/

And South Park predicted it (in 2014):
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIGXkh6S8Zw

Yeah, that is one ridiculous pyramid. I suppose every king needs a jester. Looking at the silver lining, limiting sugar and alcohol is good advice at least.

Eh, what I’ve seen is that the new pyramid is, by and large, not unreasonable. RFK is an idiot but this is far from the worst thing he’s done.

[Lērisama]

RFK Jr released a new food pyramid:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dietary-gu ... ut-health/

And South Park predicted it (in 2014):
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIGXkh6S8Zw

Yeah, that is one ridiculous pyramid. I suppose every king needs a jester. Looking at the silver lining, limiting sugar and alcohol is good advice at least.

I'm not a doctor, but I have a gut condition that means I need to know about some of this stuff. The actual guidance does look mostly¹ good, even if the emphasis by the idiots promoting it is all wrong. The new protein guidance is good for example, but most people would have been getting at least that anyway, and it's certainly not the thing to focus on². The move away from processed food and towards fibre has been advised over here³ for years now as well.

¹ From the article, the weird opinions on the health relative value of fats were the oddest thing
² I'd actually be more worried about the opposite because of the idolisation of protein and unrealistic body standards, but whatever
³ With exceptions for specific medical conditions where a low residue diet may be needed (usually temporarily)

[alice]

Is it just me, or does that pyramid look iike it (1) was printed in 1970, judging by that typeface, and (2) it's either upside-down or balancing precariously on one of its corners? (Or maybe RFK Jr. knows something about Egyptology that I don't???)

[Raphael]

Is it just me, or does that pyramid look iike it (1) was printed in 1970, judging by that typeface, and (2) it's either upside-down or balancing precariously on one of its corners?

People who are good at visual style and design are clearly all woke loser beta males or (shudder) women who (shudder even more) think they're good at something, so of course their services aren't needed.

(Or maybe RFK Jr. knows something about Egyptology that I don't???)

Well, he certainly knows al the Ancient Secrets of the Pyramids which the frauds and charlatans in the academic establishment are trying to hide from people.

[jcb]

Is it just me, or does that pyramid look iike it (1) was printed in 1970, judging by that typeface, and (2) it's either upside-down or balancing precariously on one of its corners?

People who are good at visual style and design are clearly all woke loser beta males or (shudder) women who (shudder even more) think they're good at something, so of course their services aren't needed.

The state department literally ordered in December that Times New Roman be used instead of Calibri for documents, because Calibri was too woke.
- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... department

I don't really like Calibri either, but:
(1) it's not woke,
(2) they're not printing on newspaper, so Times New Roman is inappropriate, and
(3) decades of American middle school and high school teachers requiring that their students use Times New Roman for reports have something to answer for. (I wonder, does/did this happen in Europe too?)

Also, I think that part of the appeal of MAGA hats is that they use a typeface that has serifs, making it seem old-timey and "traditional".

[jcb]

RFK Jr released a new food pyramid:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dietary-gu ... ut-health/

And South Park predicted it (in 2014):
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIGXkh6S8Zw

Yeah, that is one ridiculous pyramid. I suppose every king needs a jester. Looking at the silver lining, limiting sugar and alcohol is good advice at least.

I'm not a doctor, but I have a gut condition that means I need to know about some of this stuff. The actual guidance does look mostly¹ good, even if the emphasis by the idiots promoting it is all wrong. The new protein guidance is good for example, but most people would have been getting at least that anyway, and it's certainly not the thing to focus on². The move away from processed food and towards fibre has been advised over here³ for years now as well.

¹ From the article, the weird opinions on the health relative value of fats were the oddest thing
² I'd actually be more worried about the opposite because of the idolisation of protein and unrealistic body standards, but whatever
³ With exceptions for specific medical conditions where a low residue diet may be needed (usually temporarily)

I disagree with the parts that promote fats, red meat, and dairy (as somebody who is lactose intolerant), and using a pyramid at all when it doesn't correlate to servings.

[jcb]

Former Democratic mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, in a brazen display of greed and servitude to Israel, is shilling a crypto token that he claims will make NYC safer and fight antisemitism (somehow).
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W43xX0Dkhs
- https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/eric- ... mericanism

The pump and dump is already over:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W43xX0Dkhs
- https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/nyc-token/

People like him are why I criticize (some) Democrats so harshly. As the saying goes, who needs enemies when you have friends like this?

[Lērisama]

I disagree with the parts that promote fats, red meat, and dairy (as somebody who is lactose intolerant), and using a pyramid at all when it doesn't correlate to servings.

I never said it was perfect, and I agree, those are the bad bits; however, what I was saying is that there seemed to be a gap between how RKF Jr was promoting it and the actual guidance. In a way this is a return to early Trump, when he said outlandish things, and then gave 3 directions to whatever the Americans call civil servants, who then wrote decent guidance, those things notwithstanding. This is significantly better, in real world effects, than the alternative of RFK Jr actually caring about being able to do anything more than shout about his particular hobbyhorses. Apparently this guidance is linked to SNAP somehow, but I don't understand enough about how this works to comment on how bad those particular bits will be. Again, not perfect, but at this point I'll take “not an unmitigated disaster.”

[Raphael]

From the Irish Times, posted without comment:

https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/20 ... n-ireland/

[Raphael]

Former Democratic mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, in a brazen display of greed and servitude to Israel, is shilling a crypto token that he claims will make NYC safer and fight antisemitism (somehow).
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W43xX0Dkhs
- https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/eric- ... mericanism

The pump and dump is already over:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W43xX0Dkhs
- https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/nyc-token/

People like him are why I criticize (some) Democrats so harshly. As the saying goes, who needs enemies when you have friends like this?

Then again, if things on the Dem side would work like they do on the GOP side, he'd still be a celebrated Dem leader in good standing.

[Travis B.]

Former Democratic mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, in a brazen display of greed and servitude to Israel, is shilling a crypto token that he claims will make NYC safer and fight antisemitism (somehow).
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W43xX0Dkhs
- https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/eric- ... mericanism

The pump and dump is already over:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W43xX0Dkhs
- https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/nyc-token/

People like him are why I criticize (some) Democrats so harshly. As the saying goes, who needs enemies when you have friends like this?

Thing is, where are these Democrats that actually support Eric Adams? I haven't been hearing much love of him from Democrats.

[MacAnDàil]

Is it just me, or does that pyramid look iike it (1) was printed in 1970, judging by that typeface, and (2) it's either upside-down or balancing precariously on one of its corners? (Or maybe RFK Jr. knows something about Egyptology that I don't???)

If it isn't based off the inverted pyramid of the regional govenrment of Réunion, it could be that of the Louvre.

[Ketsuban]

Trump has responded to Europe sending tripwire forces to Greenland with a 10% tariff which may become a 25% tariff depending on if Mars is in retrograde and whether or not the pickles fall out of his Big Mac when he picks it up. This has resulted in Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage agreeing that that's stupid and he's stupid for doing it. Should I buy a lottery ticket?

[zompist]

I feel like we're in 25th amendment territory. For foreigners, that's the one about removing an incapacitated president.

Trump thinks he's a dictator, of course-- doesn't matter that the president has no authority to declare a tariff because he wants to steal land from an ally. I hope Europe takes its own responsibility to respond to armed aggression more seriously.