Brazil has a functioning judicial system. Good to see. May he rot in prison, that piece of shit. — Mikie

Wasn't the US supposed to be the beacon of light for free democratic societies in the world? Trying to install it in other nations by the means of anti-communist wars...? Fighting for the "good".

...how's that going? :sweat:

, there's a stark contrast between North and South Korea; Pyongyang went down, Seoul thrived. (Freedom; HDI doesn't have North Korea; ...)

I'm thinking some of that divergence can be attributed to the history of their foreign support/influence. Seoul went democratic/humanitarian/aspiring, Pyongyang went militant/crazy, etc.

EDIT

HDI: North Korea, not South Korea

I'm thinking some of that divergence can be attributed to the history of their foreign support/influence. Seoul went democratic/humanitarian/aspiring, Pyongyang went militant/crazy, etc. — jorndoe

Yes, but one needs to also ask, if nothing was directly influenced, could the entirety of Korea have come out leaving behind authoritarianism and not being divided? The probable reason for why they went so far in either direction might be because outside influence pushed the country to that extreme divide.

Point being... if the US would have leveraged diplomatic power through trade agreements and aid... the carrot rather than the stick... might we have had much more peaceful transitions to democracies in the world?

Subsequently, would the US have become an actual force for good? A nation that wouldn't be involved with military and getting criticized and instead through its economic power have actual soft power to influence without stepping on the freedom of each nation it involved itself in.

Sweden was long a great diplomat between nations in conflict, per capita I think we have more diplomats that made a difference in the world than most other nations. But we didn't have the economic power, so we could only act as mediators. If we had the economic power of the US, maybe we would have been able to change much more than the US which produced the consequences of fracturing nations, destroyed people, cultures and giving rise to terrorism.

Wasn't the US supposed to be the beacon of light for free democratic societies in the world? Trying to install it in other nations by the means of anti-communist wars...? Fighting for the "good".

...how's that going? :sweat: — Christoffer

Americans will probably be paying more for their coffee as a result of this ruling since you're asking.

How the clown circus continues to treat others and set a creepy atmosphere:

South Korean workers return home after ICE raids at US Hyundai factory
^{— Reuters / Australian Broadcasting Corporation · Sep 12, 2025}
South Korean workers detained in US raid arrive home
^{— BBC · Sep 12, 2025}

Why shall [we] continue US investments after such back-stabbing?

Americans in other countries might want to self-identify as Canadians or something.
I'm sure Canada, Mexico, Europe, whoever would welcome such investments.

Earlier:

Following the Immigration Enforcement Operation on the Hyundai Battery Plant in Georgia, I am hereby calling on all Foreign Companies investing in the United States to please respect our Nation’s Immigration Laws. Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people, with great technical talent, to build World Class products, and we will make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so. What we ask in return is that you hire and train American Workers. Together, we will all work hard to make our Nation not only productive, but closer in unity than ever before. Thank you for your attention to this matter! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA — Donald J. Trump · Sep 7, 2025

The only man who could play both parts in Dumb and Dumber... — David Farrell

, well, Korea was split up by the Allies after the 2nd world war (not entirely unlike East and West Germany I s'pose).
There was a conflict-ridden momentum.
Do you think it was realistic for a single Korea to remain fairly uninfluenced + thrive, perhaps analogous to South Korea / unlike North Korea?
Technically possible sure, but realistic?

So Jair Balsanaro got the sentence Trump should have got - 27 years for an attempted coup.
— @Wayfarer

:clap: Brazil has a functioning judicial system. Good to see. May he rot in prison, that piece of shit. — Mikie

:100:


empathy (uninfected) vs stupidity (MAGA-virus)



https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/1012974 :fire:

addenda to https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/1012352

So now the MAGA administration is predictably leveraging the Kirk assassination as a pretext for the furthering of authoritarianism.

On Monday, two senior administration officials, who spoke anonymously to describe the internal planning, said that cabinet secretaries and federal department heads were working to identify organizations that funded or supported violence against conservatives. The goal, they said, was to categorize left-wing activity that led to violence as domestic terrorism, an escalation that critics said could lay the groundwork for crushing anti-conservative dissent more broadly. — NY Times

This, from the President who pardoned more than a thousand felons convicted of looting the Capital Building on 6th January 2021. The hypocrisy of this administration knows no bounds.

Wow, they couldn't even pretend like it isn't one sided. Just outright saying they're just concerned about violence against conservatives instead of political violence in general. I mean, that would be total bullshit anyways but yeah.

identify organizations that funded or supported violence against conservatives. — NY Times

The only people who believe there are organizations that would fund violence against conservatives are people like Kirk, who believed Jews are attempting to eliminate all white people by importing non-whites. So it appears the cabinet is being motivated by conspiracy theories, to no one's surprise.

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s highest court has declined to consider Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ appeal of her removal from the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others.

Citing an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship Willis had with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to lead the case, the Georgia Court of Appeals in December ruled that Willis and her office could not continue to prosecute the case.

https://apnews.com/article/fani-willis-appeal-georgia-supreme-court-trump-7be50feee272612484490b53592e7e08

The hopes and dreams of the anti-Trump brigade lied with the corrupt because their hopes and dreams were corrupt.

The hopes and dreams of the anti-Trump brigade lied with the corrupt because their hopes and dreams were corrupt. — NOS4A2

So basically, "I'm right, anyone who doesn't agree with me is wrong." This is cognitive dissonance. A metaphorical demon of sorts. The brain will believe anything it's told from an early age. Why do you love your mother and your father more than a random woman or man off the street you've never seen before? Surely, they're fine people deserving of love, too.

Ah, the path to truth is not for most. I doubt it is for you. You remain useful and serve a purpose. But, the path is there. If you have the will for it. Be warned however, it is not for the faint of heart. Many men die an agonizing death attempting to pursue it.

, maybe someone received a phone call from Trump, except this time it wasn't recorded? ;) For some reason, that doesn't seem out there, not anymore.

You can only put off becoming fascist for so long until BAM! You're there. Deal with it.

Did Trump's pseudologia fantastica condition go contagious? Is a medical quarantine in order?

While our side of the aisle certainly has its crazies, it is a statistical FACT that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the Far Left.
^{— Vance · Rapid Response 47 · Sep 15, 2025}

The killing of Charlie Kirk is part of a grim pattern of political violence in America. This is what the data show http://econ.st/4gwVO6Y
^{— The Economist · Sep 16, 2025}

Worse than casual bullshitting. To be called out.

Apropos, DOJ Deletes Study Documenting Frequency Of Far-Right Violence: Report

, the report was archived online a few times. :up:

What NIJ Research Tells Us About Domestic Terrorism (archive·today 2024Oct24, archive·org 2025Sep11)
^{— National Institute of Justice Journal · Jan 4, 2024}

Militant, nationalistic, white supremacist violent extremism has increased in the United States. In fact, the number of far-right attacks continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism. Since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists, including 227 events that took more than 520 lives.

I can see why they wanted to "review" it.
Vance lied straight to everyone (2025Sep16) in typical Trump style.
Miller has taken it up as well. (2025Aug24, 2025Aug30)
Johnson, too? (2025Sep8)
They reached the point of "Put up or shut up" for everything they say some time ago.

Pam Bondi, many republicans, and the conservative wing of MAGA have moved to censorship in order to defend Kirk’s honor, which is something Kirk himself would have abhorred. And now those who have worked to silence opposing speech worldwide are claiming “free speech” as if they never hated such a concept just moments ago. This confirms the theory that no one really cares about free speech until it benefits them.

"the conservative wing of MAGA" :lol:

Trump sues ‘degenerate’ New York Times for $15B

So now that Trump's people threatened Disney to fire Jimmy Kimmel "or else", we have truly arrived at the very definition of what censorship is (not how common folks use it). This is the proper definition of how a fascist state dictates free speech.

And the irony that the extreme right have been crying about the "woke left" and their cancel culture, but are now not only doing the very same thing by firing people who haven't even said anything extreme, but also, as a state, threatening a private company into silencing one of their talkshows.

Is it ok to call Trump, Maga and his people fascists now? Is it properly aligning with the textbook definition? Or will people still debate the true nature of Trump and his people and followers?

This confirms the theory that no one really cares about free speech until it benefits them. — NOS4A2

That's actually how partisan Americans think (as others in other countries). Partisanship has taken such a firm grasp over the discourse. If you do care about freedom of speech and other rights of the individual, democracy or the rule of law, sooner or later the partisans on both sides of the political aisle will hate you and dismiss you. This is because the loyal partisan supporter simply cannot be critical about his or her side.

This quote was reason for suspension? We're talking a comedian/satirist, the kind of person you expect to say "pinchy" things.

We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it.
In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving. On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism. But on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this.
Yes, he's at the fourth stage of grief. Construction. Demolition, construction... This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish, okay? And it didn't just happen once.
There's something wrong with him. Is it possible that he's doing it intentionally so we could be mad about that instead of the Epstein list? By the time he's out of office, the White House will have slot machines and a water slide. — Jimmy Kimmel

ABC cowardice on display — good grief that's weak. (Loss of independence integrity?) From the looks of it, Trump managed to not directly violate the law in this case, at least not openly.