Just want to put this prediction here for my future self:

All the hysteria and grandiose claims being made about Kirk’s death, how everything will change and how the “Movement” will thrive now etc etc., is so blatantly stupid and shortsighted as to be embarrassing. People simply cannot think long term or outside of their current emotions.

What will happen? Nothing. People will flail, and that’s it. It’ll make the year-end news summaries as a blip. The media will talk about it for a bit, until the next shiny object appears. I give it two weeks, if that. Then it becomes a secondary story. Information about the shooter and his trial will make news, but not front page, and by year’s end all of these world-is-ending tweets will finally be seen for what they are: the usual irrational, short term hysterics that are typical of the snowflake Right.

Meanwhile, in another part of the catastrophe:

This is not a very happy video. But Ukraine is losing more slowly than Russia. Not very consoling, really.

I’m always wondering how long it takes for a revolution to happen these days. Have the world gone so apathetic that no one is turning the guns back towards the top of a nation that has turned their backs on them?

With so much suffering and oppression in Russia, why isn’t there any sign of resistance? Either the population is entirely indoctrinated into Putinism or Putins people have such a violent grip on the people that it is impossible.

But I wonder how this can be true? Wouldn’t there be any people with military background that would organize an underground resistance? Aren’t there any hackers who feel the need to sabotage the government?

With all of this going on in Russia, why is it only that Ukrainian special forces do operations deep in Russia and not more bombings by the people of Russia fed up with Putin?

Nazi Germany had tons of sabotages and underground resistance movements. But it seems Russians are too depressed and drunk that they have no ability to fight the power.

We’ve heard like nothing about any resistance, which is very odd. If Russia is so incompetent on the battlefield, wouldn’t their corruption and incompetence spill over into intelligence as well? Making it more likely to actually be able to organize an underground resistance

We’ve heard like nothing about any resistance, which is very odd. If Russia is so incompetent on the battlefield, wouldn’t their corruption and incompetence spill over into intelligence as well? Making it more likely to actually be able to organize an underground resistance — Christoffer

I guess the corruption and incompetence soaks in to the underground too. Or to put it a bit more sociologically, nazi Germany had another culture, and was close to going socialist/communist instead of to the nazis at that time. Russia has never really had the luxury of a bilateral culture in 'peaceful conflict' aka a democratic culture. The path in Russia is from incompetent dictator to collapse to anarchic struggles to competent dictator to incompetent dictator to collapse ....

(not a shot at you at all Mikie; you just happen to be the only post about this subject)

Weird that there's barely any mention of the most high-profile political assassination (though, i understand that's a weak phrase given he was not a politician) on a website which would normally have a lot to say about it.

I wonder if this is because association with the left's response is undesirable. At any rate, it is undesirable.

Now comment's on Mikie's post:

What will happen? Nothing. People will flail, and that’s it. — Mikie

It's already the case that the response has gone beyond this. Whether that is kept up remains to be seen (but i also posit the "nothing" you anticipate is the same 'nothing' we get from any other major political event... it can be applied to everything throughout the Lounge which is vaguely on topic).

world-is-ending tweets will finally be seen for what they are: the usual irrational, short term hysterics that are typical of the snowflake Right. — Mikie

It seems to me perhaps Twitter has gotten the better of you on this? The majority of responses have not been on Twitter, but even had they been (im not on it - i imagine it is rife) they are not 'the world is ending' tweets at all.

This seems to me a very similar bloviation as those who charge Kirk with what they do...racism, homophobia etc.. I didn't agree with Kirk on much but his approach - I have still yet to see anyone present anything (that isn't clipped in bad faith) that might be held up to prove his sins. Which is weird, because I can always find plenty to critique in those clips, even the good faith ones.

We're worse off without him, particularly on the right given literally no one on the left is willing to do the same. Many have taken up the job on the right. The left continues to simply pretend political violence is both inevitable and justifiable (perhaps only in this case, but that's all the most insane).
Ironic, considering a right-winger was shot to death and celebrated by the left. Even more ironic given the response to fucking Sydney Sweeney in a jeans ad was far more 'irrational' and had all hte hallmarks of 'short term hysterics' to the point that it could easily be argued that that response is exactly the type of ridiculous, divorced-from-reality thinking and posting that lead someone to think killing Kirk was justified. The ignorance continues to know no bounds..

I also note no denunciation of the murder. Just a pedastal from which you can bloviate. But, that is relatively expect. The penchant for political violence on the left is ... lets say peaking.

May 21 - Capital Jewish Museum
July 4 - Alvarado ICE facility
Sept 10 - Charlie Kirk
Sept 21 - ABC building
Sept 24 - Dallas ICE Facility
We don't even need to mention the LA bollocks or the numerous plans and plots foiled by law enforcement.
Hortmann I wont list, because its murky. Appearance is right wing, but further investigation indicates they were upset Hortmann voted against a left-wing measure. So, who knows.

Given that, Josh Shapiro's home is the only right-wing political violence we can name for the year conclusively. There's a big problem with these sorts of things though: right wing violence tends to result in more deaths. Left wing violence tends to be (quite a bit) more frequent and accetpable by more on that end of the spectrum. I suppose this concords with being more revolutionary, or whatever. But In a democratic republic, I know who I feel safer talking to.

This is also not to mention the (for practical purposes) endless social media which shows that leftists protesting or simply 'upset' will resort to violence, theft and property destruction at the drop of a hate. Toddler behaviour. Not hard to predict. But sad, nonetheless.

Weird that there's barely any mention of the most high-profile political assassination — AmadeusD

There’s 11 pages worth of it, in fact. Try paying attention.

https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/16164/the-ballot-or/p1

The majority of responses have not been on Twitter, but even had they been (im not on it - i imagine it is rife) they are not 'the world is ending' tweets at all. — AmadeusD

They are. Not being on it, it’s ridiculous to assert otherwise (for anyone wanting to be taken seriously, so this excludes you of course). There’s talk about revolution, about civil war, about things being “forever changed” after this, etc etc. (Let me guess: that doesn’t count because it’s not literally talking about the end of the world.)

I have still yet to see anyone present anything (that isn't clipped in bad faith) that might be held up to prove his sins. — AmadeusD

What a shocker.

The left continues to simply pretend political violence is both inevitable and justifiable — AmadeusD

No one is saying that. No one serious. Try getting out more.

Ironic, considering a right-winger was shot to death and celebrated by the left. — AmadeusD

No one serious is celebrating his death, despite what the conservative narrative would have you believe. Try getting out more.

I also note no denunciation of the murder. — AmadeusD

Then, as usual, you aren’t paying attention. In fact, it was strongly condemned immediately by political leaders, business leaders, celebrities, and the vast majority of Americans. Takes real effort not to notice this and then embarrassingly claim there was “no denunciation.” What dream world are you living in exactly?

I’ll skip the rest. I assume it’s more of the same. Go back to pretending to be a free thinker while inadvertently repeating Brietbart talking points verbatim. :up:

Here's something to make you glad you live in the fucked up US, God-forsaken Europe, or the La-la land of the UK. This is the real Big Brother.

:o
Max (app) (— Wikipedia) :eyes:
NSA, Mossad, and others can probably do something a bit similar, except on demand, not pre-installed.

On that note, smartphone companies got a good deal, must be lucrative.
These days, a personal smartphone is just about required for various purposes (e.g. authentication), including for other business (e.g. bank) and government, who don't pay for your phone.
Not having a smartphone is becoming like a handicap/disability if not a hindrance.

There’s 11 pages worth of it, in fact. Try paying attention. — Mikie

Thanks for that - if you had paid attention, you'd have known I wasn't here for quite some time. Try not to be so combative and childish constantly.

They are. — Mikie

They aren't, though. I can look through Twitter without having my own. Tweets get re-posted all over the internet. This charge is utterly asinine - and you know it.

There’s talk about revolution, about civil war, about things being “forever changed” after this, etc etc. — Mikie

From some very small number of people, sure. The vast, vast vast majority of responses are about keeping calm, honouring Charlie and (I understand this ruffles your feathers, but its not what you're claiming either..) continuing 'his work'. Feel free to disagree, but if you're looking for what you've outlined (you are, obviously) you'll find it. I personally don't care. Both sides are idiots when it gets into line-towing.

What a shocker. — Mikie

It is, given the ubiquity of the claims. There hasn't been a single (non-chopped, context-inclusive) piece of evidence presented anywhere. Feel free to have a go, if you want to. I am completely open - I wasn't a fan of his and I disagree with plenty of what he had to say given it was largely Christianity-driven. But claims require evidence, yknow?

No one is saying that. No one serious. Try getting out more. — Mikie

No one, or no one serious? This is the pipeline "No, its not happening". "Its happening, but no one important". "Ok, important people, but who cares?". I suppose the rash of people being terminated for celebrating/justifying it just doesn't exist? Kimmel, Dowd, Ilhan Omar, AOC plus several further attempts or attacks (ABC building, Fox News van, TPUSA event i think two days ago in Utah among others). It is quite hard to think you're paying much attention (particularly on Twitter) if you've not seen this - but this comes to another point: You're in an echo chamber. I don't think that's controversial at all, and it evidenced by your entirely one-sided approach to all political issues. You're allowed. I'm just pointing it out.

Then, as usual... — Mikie

It is possible your reading comprehension has taken a hit in my time away. This was aimed at you,

So more backpedaling and face-saving. You’re bad even at sophomoric equivocation. :yawn:

Next time, skip commenting on things you don’t understand.

Neither of those things happened.

Your comprehension has definitely taken a hit.

See above.

I do honestly hope that one day you gain the ability to understand threads of exchange properly.

As it stands, you've simply resiled. That's fine. I did expect it.

:rofl: Good one, “risible” guy.

There is only so much garbage I can tolerate on the forum, and I'm not going to spend my time deleting posts one by one. So please up your game or be banned.

Congratulations to László Krasznahorkai for being awarded with the Nobel Prize in Literature 2025. :clap:

“For his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”

László Krasznahorkai.

:up:

I'll be delving into his work soon.

Trending for Halloween!!

This is cool. Humans may have remote touch where the fingers can locate things under granular material through mechanical signals.

I wonder if this is also related to the way nurses find veins to start IVs.

What will happen? Nothing. People will flail, and that’s it. It’ll make the year-end news summaries as a blip. The media will talk about it for a bit, until the next shiny object appears. I give it two weeks, if that. — Mikie

Well it’s been exactly two months. Prediction was accurate. The news cycle has long moved on, and nothing has changed.

This is from an interesting interview with Noam Chomsky about his experiences as a Zionist:

CHOMSKY: I was connected to a considerable part of the Zionist movement which was opposed to a Jewish state. It’s not too well known, but until 1942 there was no official commitment of Zionist organizations to a Jewish state. And even that was in the middle of World War II. It was a decision made in the Hotel Biltmore in New York, where there was the first official call for a Jewish state. Before that in the whole Zionist movement, establishing a Jewish state was maybe implicit or in people’s minds or something, but it wasn’t an official call.

The group that I was interested in was bi-nationalist. And that was not so small. A substantial part of the Kibbutz movement, for example, Hashomer Hatzair, was at least officially anti-state, calling for bi-nationalism. And the groups I was connected with were hoping for a socialist Palestine based on Arab-Jewish, working-class cooperation in a bi-national community: no state, no Jewish state, just Palestine.

There were significant figures involved in that. Actually one of them in Philadelphia was Zellig Harris, the guy I ended up studying with at the University of Pennsylvania. He was one of the leaders of a group called Avukah. By the time I got there it had disbanded but through the 1930s and early 1940s it was quite an important organization of left-wing, Zionist, anti-state, young Jews. Plenty of people went through that—a lot of people who are pretty well-known now—from all over the place. It was not an insignificant part of the young, left Jewish community in the United States, and happened to be partially in Philadelphia.

I can remember when the UN partition resolution was announced in 1947. It was almost like mourning in these circles because we didn’t want a Jewish state.

The Anglo-American Commission claimed that about 25% of the Jewish population in Palestine was opposed to a state. There was kind of a different mentality at the time. To talk about socialism wasn’t considered a joke at that time. It was a real meaningful, live phenomenon. And a large part of the Yishuv—the Jewish community in Palestine—was, in fact, a co-operative community with collectives, co-operative industry, commerce, lots of socialist institutions. They were also racist Jews. But there was also a lot of opposition to that, too in our groups. We thought they should be Arab-Jewish.

From about then, from the late 1960s until the mid-1970s, I think bi-nationalism was actually a feasible objective. Even then it could have moved in that direction. By then it would have taken a different form than pre-1948, of course. But there could have been moves toward a kind of federalism, which might have evolved further into a more integrated, bi-national community. And, in fact, even elements of Israeli intelligence were pressing for something like this.

By 1975, the opportunity had been lost. By that time, Palestinian nationalism had entered the international agenda and mainly among Palestinians. And since about 1975, I don’t think there has been any way of realizing objectives like that except in stages with a two-state settlement being the first stage. If there was some other way of doing that, I’d be in favor of that, but I’ve never heard of it.

People now talk about one state—which would, of course, be a bi-national state—but without saying how you get there. At that time of my youth, there was, pre-1948. In the early 1970s, it was possible to think about how to get there directly. Now, as far as I can see, the only way to achieve goals like that is indirectly, through a two-state. — Chomsky 2011

It was written in 1977, but it is very worth reading nowadays:

Toward a Creative and Original Spain.

Everything is changing, rapidly and rather smoothly; almost everything has already changed; but there has been no discontinuity or power vacuum or revolution or anarchy.

The Franco years seem incredibly distant; almost everything that seemed impossible has already taken place.

Is this not a political miracle? Has Spain changed that much? Or were the ideas one held about her mistaken? What has happened since November 1975? I would say just one thing: There has been a beginning of a respect for reality. — Julián Marías.

https://youtube.com/shorts/dS6w8v-ZZD0?si=bIx3qvjUn9GTRLpz

Watch to the end of this. It's amazing how he gets this idea across.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Ld8VRPxScM4?si=sBapQwey6hDR5E0W