, yep, and furthermore

Democracy has always contained the possibility of its own undoing, it just takes a majority vote of someone non- or anti-democratic. — Dec 27, 2023

, check the likes of the Unabomber, Torquemada, Capone, Escobar, Mogilevich, the Pagans, neo-Nazis, jihadists, ...

You don’t think people wanted DOGE? — NOS4A2

Sure they did, or at least they wanted...something. :) (bulldozing education, research, information sources, are among the things they seem to be getting)

So it doesn't make any difference to you if you live in a democracy or a dictatorship. It's the same thing either way. — frank

I'm guessing @NOS4A2 doesn't want either, wants there to be nothing, just people doing...their thing.

:D

Canada, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine, to join extended EU, and form defense alliance which includes Greenland (and California) — now the largest democratic cooperative around — hypothetical news headline

Every illegal alien has committed a crime. That’s a 100% crime rate. — NOS4A2

Sure, though the accusations have been drugs murder rape ... that's a few dealers murderers rapists (according to P01135809) ... (and cat eaters or something :grin:) ... Some of this stuff brings up memories, ah never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway.

the president of the United States

Are we talking plain dictatorship now?

, why don't you just answer fοo?

Anyway, I took their references and their concluding summary seriously enough to think that we better prepare. Unless otherwise meeting an early end, that applies to everyone.

Limiting anthropogenic warming remains the most sound strategy for avoiding the most severe heat events

Haven't sifted through the references and examples in detail though, maybe if time permits. Some mentioned samples are down to Karachi, Paris, Vancouver, Mecca, Lagos, Chicago, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Al Hudaydah, New York, Ahmedabad, other perspectives are broader. Preparing for wider temperature swings is justified.

South Asia and West Africa seem at most risk at the moment

On another note, plastic bags (old style) have been out for a while around here. In stores, you bring your own reusable bags or buy them there. Plastic straws have been out for a while as well. Anthropogenic pollution at large has become ridiculous.

Do peruse that article linked in the OP. — Wayfarer

Mr. Musk, who leads a cost-cutting initiative the administration calls the Department of Government Efficiency, boasted on Saturday that his willingness to work weekends was a “superpower” that gave him an advantage over his adversary. The adversary he was referring to was the federal work force.

:D Propaganda has worked.

If a bunch of tools barge into an office, would the office not require a warrant?
(Presumably, these are government offices, I have no idea about the legal details.)

, that was your takeaway from the paper? (telling)

Democracy in Eastern Europe Faces Another Crisis (archived)
^{— Anthony Borden · The Atlantic · Feb 4, 2025}

Not really all the surprising, is it?

Looks like P01135809 won't stand up to Putin after all, I guess we'll see.

The new Trump administration could herald a remaking of the international order. How should the world respond?
^{— Leslie Vinjamuri · Chatham House · Feb 5, 2025}
US defence chief signals major shift in Ukraine support in first NATO meet
^{— Al Jazeera · Feb 12, 2025}

On another note... When someone pushes for peace, not by stopping the attacker, but by stopping the defender, then something's amiss.

, you seem to have extensive information on the topic + keep bringing it up in other threads ... isn't whipping up a thread the next natural move?

Since this (counter-propaganda) is making the rounds again ... :D

A day in the Life of Sue Republican (— Sonny Vermont · Jul 5, 2022)

J D Vance goes for monarchy-oligarchy?

You Cant Do That Bro (— Politics Girl · Feb 11, 2025 · 2m:57s)

(I don't know the legal details.)

Of all the fucked up things the US government [...] — Tzeentch

Already suggested you put together a thread on these things. Hit it.
(Don't you already have a mile-long list + who where when + means motive opportunity etc?)

Is all the yelling here due to thinking that DEI efforts are against choosing on merit?
That wasn't my impression, rather the opposite, it's intended to apply when choices aren't based on merit (which isn't hypothetical), hence diversity equity inclusion.
Either way, RFK Jr sure wasn't appointed head of Health on merit. :D



Someone somewhere else was trying to come up with historical analogies to ...

HIV, transgender care, climate change and other federal websites go dark
^{— April Rubin · Axios · Jan 31, 2025}

Our Service Academies have been infiltrated by Woke Leftist Ideologues over the last four years. I have ordered the immediate dismissal of the Board of Visitors for the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard. We will have the strongest Military in History, and that begins by appointing new individuals to these Boards. We must make the Military Academies GREAT AGAIN! — Donald J. Trump · Feb 10, 2025

As USAID retreats, China pounces
^{— Robbie Gramer, Eric Bazail-Eimil, Phelim Kine · POLITICO · Feb 10, 2025}

South Asia and West Africa seem at most risk at the moment

Mortality impacts of the most extreme heat events
^{— Tom Matthews, Colin Raymond, Josh Foster, et al · Nature · Feb 4, 2025}

Came across this (4 pages), some of which ring true today:

“The Danger of American Fascism,” Henry Wallace (1944)

Your mileage may vary.

^{Some other snippets/sources:
• America, Fascism, and God: Sermons from a Heretical Preacher (2005) by Davidson Loehr
• American fascists: the Christian Right and the war on America (2006/7) by Chris Hedges (pdf)
• Christianity - Christianity and Fascism (2007) by M D Magee
• Did FDR's Vice-President Write an Op-Ed About 'American Fascism'? (2018) by Arturo Garcia
• Am I My Brother’s Keeper? : Local and Global Responsibility in the Digital Age (2020) by David Gethings}

In 2004, it took the world a year to add a gigawatt of solar power — now it takes a day
<sup>— Charlie Giattino · Our World in Data · Feb 7, 2025


— Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) · Wikipedia</sup>

:D

How Bill Cassidy, a lifelong vaccination advocate, wound up voting for RFK Jr. as health secretary
^{— Anne Flaherty, Will McDuffie, Cheyenne Haslett, Allison Pecorin · ABC News · Feb 4, 2025}

Sellout. Circus.

Rapid tech progress have allowed newer EVs to achieve comparable lifespans with other vehicles in the UK, even under more intensive use:

The closing longevity gap between battery electric vehicles and internal combustion vehicles in Great Britain
^{— Viet Nguyen-Tien, Chengyu Zhang, Eric Strobl, Robert J R Elliott · Nature · Jan 24, 2025}

Dude should go back to SpaceX and all that. :D

Tesla Sales in Europe Plummet Amidst Elon’s Stupid Meddling
^{— Lucas Ropek · GIZMODO · Feb 3, 2025}

P01135809 has managed (further) alienate a number of Americans, Canada, Greenland, Panama, Mexico, ... Way to go. I guess we'll see what comes of it.

Using AI for weather projection seems like an obvious exercise; that's what these folks are researching:

On the Extrapolation of Generative Adversarial Networks for Downscaling Precipitation Extremes in Warmer Climates
^{— Neelesh Rampal, Peter B Gibson, Steven Sherwood, Gab Abramowitz · NIWA + UNSW · Dec 5, 2024}
A Reliable Generative Adversarial Network Approach for Climate Downscaling and Weather Generation
^{— Neelesh Rampal, Peter B Gibson, Steven Sherwood, Gab Abramowitz, Sanaa Hobeichi · NIWA + UNSW · Jan 2, 2025}

The projections (for New Zealand) can be generated a lot faster than with traditional models.

Swifter hydroclimate changes anticipated:

Hydroclimate volatility on a warming Earth
^{— Daniel L Swain, Andreas F Prein, John T Abatzoglou, et al · Nature Reviews Earth and Environment · Jan 9, 2025}

@Agree-to-Disagree, would you like renewable/sustainable/green energy efforts to succeed?

(Big Climate Change, like there is Big [...] — Agree-to-Disagree

Is that the powerful windmill-industrial complex?

Do you believe that all climate scientists are "knights in shining armour"? — Agree-to-Disagree

No. Neither are all astronauts, yet the Earth still ain't flat.

Hmm , answering the question with a question instead? If you weren't called denier, what you call them?

In absence of anything better, I'll go by the (large) consensus among subject matter experts.

Scientific consensus on climate change | Wikipedia | science index
Evidence | NASA | science
Nature Climate Change | Springer Nature | science and discussion index
10 myths about climate change | WWF | errors
Consequences of climate change | European Commission | effects
Climate change | OECD | policy
+ a simple rational analysis → Aug 1, 2024.

Doesn't seem plausible that they're all in on some conspiracy or whatever, but people have ridiculously believed worse. Any ulterior motives would largely be financial in fossil fuel sectors. (Or just contrarians/conservatives/economists perhaps?) :shrug:

, why do you consistently call others alarmists and scaremongers? Did "concerned" (heck, or "caring") go out of fashion? And unenlightened...? → Aug 1, 2024

Anyone who believes in indefinite growth on a finite planet is either mad or an economist :D — whoever

, you know there's such a thing as redheads, yes?
They have reddish hair.
I don't know of any particular discrimination against them on that account, and neither should there be.
If there were, then DEI could apply to discriminators.
Something similar goes for people that require very large shoes, and whatever.
Yet there is discrimination that ought not be, to which these efforts are a reaction.
You may complain about whatever implementation details of course.

It's hardly new...

The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. — paraphrasing Plato

And you can also commit injustice by doing nothing. — Aurelius

Often injustice lies in what you aren't doing, not only in what you are doing. — Aurelius

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. — paraphrasing Burke

Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. — Mill

Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. — Wiesel

:D "You know what I'm saying, right? You know what I'm saying." Don't know who the interviewer is, but they probably actually know. And Spain isn't "low" (let alone "very low"), it's a reasonably civilized democracy, "higher" than a lot of countries.

, that's too bad. :/

By the way, we don't see this happening in otherwise comparable countries:

Did Alex Smith Die at Age 26 Because He Couldn't Afford Insulin? (— David Emery · Snopes · Sep 24, 2018)

Apropos the recent murder.

Someone elsewhere claimed that the recent pardons of insurrectionists are a way of building loyalty from militias and such. They might carry out unofficial acts. Not exactly a charitable comment, still consistent though.

, the US having turned into pre-industrial anarchy would be "objectively an unmitigated trainwreck" (yours is tweet-style exaggeration). But, sure, things aren't exactly optimal. (By the way, the Ukraine situation isn't just the US, as have been argued again and again, though they should have handled it my way.) ;) Threatening Canada Greenland Panama Mexico is estranging.

:up:

objectively an unmitigated trainwreck — Tzeentch

↑ tweet; such magnificent exaggeration that "objectively" seems like a joke :)

Good riddance! — NOS4A2

... because screw the environment!

I admittedly can't be bothered to read those 174 pages myself:

READ: Jack Smith's final report on Trump's Jan. 6 case
^{— Avery Lotz · Axios · Jan 14, 2025}
Jack Smith’s Final Report on Trump Investigations (2025)
^{— John R Vile · The Free Speech Center, Middle Tennessee State University · Jan 17, 2025}

Guilty (or not) probably wouldn't have made much difference to his die-hard followers and their apparatuses. About as futile as deconverting a Pentecostal and for similar reasons. Might have made a difference to the election though. A different kind of rigging?

Biden won the rigged election. He was inaugurated, after all. — NOS4A2

Why do you think it was rigged?

13 billionaires ...

Billionaires and loyalists will provide Trump with muscle during his second term
^{— Daniel Drache, Marc D Froese · York University · Jan 13, 2025}

The distance between rich and poorer has increased, though I'll note that people like Gates, Buffett, Swift have donated/contributed considerably to various causes. The Clown administration seems to favor the rich.

I'm still at a loss as to why RFK Jr was picked as head of Health.

More saltwater...

Climate-Induced Saltwater Intrusion in 2100: Recharge-Driven Severity, Sea Level-Driven Prevalence (study)
^{— Adams, Reager, Buzzanga, David, Sawyer, Hamlington · Geophysical Research Letters · Nov 22, 2024}
Saltwater Could Contaminate 75% of Coastal Freshwater by 2100
^{— Margherita Bassi · GIZMODO · Dec 15, 2024}

More longer larger droughts...

Global increase in the occurrence and impact of multiyear droughts (study)
^{— Karger, Chen, Brun, Buri, Fatichi, Gessler, McCarthy, Pelliciotti, Stocker · Science/AAAS · Jan 16, 2025}
Mega-droughts are becoming more frequent and intense worldwide
^{— Beate Kittl · Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research · Jan 16, 2025}

The usual findings. Might be worthwhile preparing some.

Brief note in a New Zealand newspaper from some 113 years ago:

Journalist Samuel Rachlin (at newspaper Berlingske) writes of "The Buffet of the Cannibals".

The topic, or one topic at least, is whether or not the Clown will follow Putin's example, and snack on things that aren't theirs.

Things might be looking up in the Middle East at the moment, yet, the current climate leaves a lot to be desired — warring, dis/mal/misinformation, post-truth, political rhetoric (and tirades), tariffs, cancellation of international rules or disregard thereof, anti-democratic forces, instability, moves to divide (and polarize), extremism, ...

More cannibalism would be a signal to the autocrats of the world (or would-be autocrats): help yourselves to the buffet. Something NATO can help deter, by the way.

By Rachlin, backsliding has been much too frequent in our time, of which Putin's Russia is an example.

Europe might want to get together, build sufficient deterrence, stand up for civilized democracy, build strong relationships with, say, Australia, Japan, South Korea, others.


Ukrainian tragedies

(I'm using "tragedy" somewhat broadly; also, there are no utopias here.)

The war kicked off by the Kremlin is a tragedy — destruction, bombing, killing.

Then there are possible future tragic turns:

Ukraine falls back under the Kremlin's thumb, dragged thither by Putin's regressive Russia.
Ukraine becomes a tense border in another cold war.
Ukraine's supporters throw them under the bus, (cowardly) abandoning promises, appeasing Putin.
Ukraine becomes a nation of bitterness, hate, mass production of weaponry.

I suppose there are more possible tragedies, but there are also less tragic possible future turns:

Ukraine continuing to develop democracy, political reforms compatible with the EU, wouldn't be tragic (if Belarus were to follow a similar path, then that would be a bonus).
Ukraine leaves Kursk, Russia leaves Ukraine, handshakes and signatures, Russia shall not be attacked from Ukraine, ease up on sanctions, no more sabotage, GPS jamming, downing passenger planes — peace.

A bit more fatigue after infection it seems:

Incidence and Prevalence of Post-COVID-19 Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: A Report from the Observational RECOVER-Adult Study
^{— Suzanne D Vernon, Tianyu Zheng, Hyungrok Do, et al · NIH · Jan 13, 2025}

I guess this stuff wasn't mentioned explicitly in the thread, so I'll toss something in.

Political philosophers envisioned the masses transcending countries (or any such partitioning I suppose). The masses could find common ground and solidarity, like refuse being sent to wars against each other. With the advent of mass communication, discussions + organizing should be technically possible more or less worldwide; well, except that having sessions where all of the masses attended isn't feasible, so representatives would be needed. The likes of ideologies, religions, cultures, traditions, distrust, certain ambitions, greed, extremism, whatever, might get in the way of such efforts, yet, surely the masses + commoners + whatnot, if in voluntary agreement, could force an agenda across large regions, across multiple countries. After all, if they all (or most of them) plainly said "No" to go to war killing each other, or perhaps sanctioning each other, then it would be less likely to happen. Conversely, the more people, the more diversity can be expected. (And what of personal relationships?)

The top honchos of the old USSR didn't follow the philosophers, but instead forced themselves on others, right off the Russian revolution. They didn't seek out voluntary solidarity, but instead replaced old with new honchos that became ruthless dictators, and rolled over other countries regardless of what any masses might have to say there. (Is it easier to force involuntary compliance than for voluntary cooperation to come about?) Would-be communism that wasn't.

The UN doesn't have that much power, and there's plenty of globalization-phobia to come by, though one could sometimes wish otherwise. Well, centralization and concentration of broad and wide powers are known to carry inherent dangers, balances and limits are warranted. Conversely, cooperation can and does achieve markedly more than any individual.

Why have these ideas not caught on?

On a smaller scale, unions are around though, in part going by similar objectives, with top honchos of their own by the way.

The world has an unholy mix of dictatorships, theocracies, authoritarianism, corruption, semi-democracies, civilized democracies, ... It only takes one, for others to be threatened.

Anyway, I remain skeptical that communism is feasible/realistic; don't see anything particularly better than democracy, and that takes work to maintain.

(I'd quote a variety of people, fiction and non-fiction, but have already babbled long enough here.)

Hmm... Is there an answer that does not admit questions (even in principle)? Other than "Unknown" perhaps? :chin: :zip:

iep
wikipedia
fact-index

Moore using sign language before a deaf audience could emphasize the point.

I'm not sure it's needed though. Denial of an extra-self world seems like a philosophical (maybe psychological) problem alone, a Cartesian curse. Should we expect a purely deductive dis/proof?