It's funny that you even bring up "thought and belief" in this context. It would make for a good drinking game.

My nomination for the next president.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/15/elizabeth-warren-accountable-capitalism-act-richest-companies?CMP=fb_gu

Everything ever thought, believed, spoken, and/or written...

What good is a philosophical position if it isn't applicable in everyday life?

:razz:

Her and Sanders...

State sponsored terrorism?

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/17/middleeast/us-saudi-yemen-bus-strike-intl/index.html

CNN covering this type of story is a fairly new development. Kudos to them.

The tories have a new solution to the problems of brexit: a unilateral trade deal.

It might even work, (not really) except that this government cannot even agree amongst itself.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/aug/22/dominic-raab-uk-wont-trigger-no-deal-battle-with-brussels?CMP=fb_gu

Madness gone stupid. I think a unilateral deal is where you agree to eat your own shit.

Please be kind to an honest inquiry:
I am not really understanding the 'sides' of this upheaval.

Germany reels as far-right 'mobs' go on a rampage

"Of course history is not repeating itself, but that a far-right mob is on a rampage in the middle of Germany and the authorities are overwhelmed, is reminiscent of the situation during the Weimar Republic," noted Spiegel Online.

The Weimar years were marked by the formation of paramilitary groups, such as the Sturmabteilung or SA, which eventually helped the Nazis to power.

Josef Schuster, who chairs the Central Council of Jews in Germany, also voiced his alarm, saying it is "now the responsibility of citizens to counter the far-right mob".

"It must never be accepted in Germany again for people to be attacked because of their appearances or their backgrounds."
Anetta Kahane of the anti-racism Amadeu Antonio Foundation told rolling news channel NTV that people have the right to demonstrate.

But he added: "What happened in Chemnitz went beyond that -- it was incitement to hatred and the propagation of pogrom sentiment."

Noting that chatter among far-right sympathisers online is "extremely brutal, as calls are made blatantly for murder and killings", Kahane said authorities need to crack down.


What is meant saying it is "now the responsibility of citizens to counter the far-right mob"?
Is that a call to the streets or to the voting booths?

All Germans are not Jews and even though they have a torrid past, it appears that they have formed a new alliance? I mean I know there was a time when the Jews were less than welcome in Germany but they seemed to get over it, come together, live side by side. Is any of what I am saying a layman's interpretation as to how it is as it stands today?

Is that what is happening when they say: "Misgivings run deep in the state against the arrival since 2015 of more than a million asylum seekers, many from war-torn Syria and Iraq.

Railing against the newcomers, the far-right AfD party has made significant gains in the state and is poised to become the second biggest party in Saxony's regional elections next year."

Have the Germans and the 'German Jews' (a German Jew is a person that is a citizen of Germany and is Jewish) become one group, standing in opposition of the criminal actions of foreigners?

"The state can never allow our streets to be overrun by far-right mobs," said Bild daily, adding that at the same time, Berlin needs to promptly deport criminal foreigners.

"For too long, nothing has been done. That's why confidence in the state is buckling. That's why racists like in Chemnitz think they can do what they want. Nothing can be more dangerous for our country."

Here is perhaps a better insight, from the comments section here:

Right let me put this straight. I live in Chemnitz and last night I was there and witnessed it all first hand. You have to understand that right wing, politics is not welcomed here by the majority. Germany has a dark past when it comes to extreme right wing politics you know. The Nazi, AfD etc are right wing of varying extremes. So, we do not want to see the right rise again do we. Over last year’s more and more people have come out of the woodwork and are becoming more vocal, they for first time in years feel that they can be more vocal in slagging off Merkel and her immigration policy. They feel like they can be a bit more openly xenophobic, and target the immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers that have come into Chemnitz and Germany. The murder of Daniel Hillig here was carried out by an Iraqi and Syrian, who have been arrested and will be charged. The right have now taken this and used it as propaganda to push their xenophobic views on the world on a bigger scale. They are exploiting his death, they couldn't give a hoot about him really. His death is being abused and blown out of proportion. Yes its terrible that someone was murdered, but a murderer is a murderer independent of skin colour. Yesterday, I saw Nazis freely walk the street again. Friends who are from India and Syria were too afraid to leave their homes as Nazis had been attacking people cos they had darker skin than your 'average Caucasian German'. And you ask why the left wing was protesting?! Yes there were extreme left-wing there who are infact in a different way not, much better than the Nazis in their violent approach. But the ordinary people of the city came out to say enough is enough, this kind of behaviour is not welcomed here or anywhere, there is no room for your hateful views in society. By not turning up you show the Nazis especially, that they have a platform, that they can be openly racist again and its acceptable. By the way, the man who died, Daniel, was half Cuban and therefore had darker skin. Just the kind of person the Nazis targeted, hated and attacked on Sunday when things started to escalate, but yet they are mourning his death as if he was one of their own. I can understand where people are coming from in showing their unease at the number of unchecked and uncontrolled immigration, but to condemn the ‘Ausländer’ (foreigner) because they are not a Caucasian German is completely unacceptable. And again the irony, the deceased was not Caucasian and came from a migrant parent from Cuba.

Dic(k)tator putin, and his insidious alliance with Winnie-the-Pooh:

https://youtu.be/a_7dw8bXRpk

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45330161

Corey Booker and her

Please be kind to an honest inquiry:
I am not really understanding the 'sides' of this upheaval. — ArguingWAristotleTiff

The Germans suffer from a complex because of their past. Partly it's self flagellation and the inability to get over their ugly past. If some German would say nazism is a past issue and today we are living in a different world, he would be basically crucified as his view could be intrepreted in a very bad way. Hence the Germans have a habit of depicting problems of today as resemblances of the past, as nazism is somehow coming back etc.

It's a bit like the problematic issue that Americans have with slavery and Jim Crow: even if it's past history, the issue still comes up in current debates.

Anyway, a huge influx of immigrants in a short time will create a heated debate in every country however permissive or non-permissive the country is.

Not Booker. Too inexperienced, and doesn't seem to have a moral compass beyond civil rights he's interested in.

@unenlightened Thank you for guiding me in the right direction.
@ssu Thank you for your response. I am grateful for your thoughts on how to understand the subject better.

Covert Weapons of Mind Control? :gasp: :scream: :down:

Civil disorder for Dic(k)tator putin

05/09/2018: Capstone Hill Tour of Britain bike turned into penis

Male long distance bike riders quite often end their ride with a very numb dick -- it can take a few days for the nerves in the penis (squished against the hard bicycle seat) to recover. Female riders invariably end the race with no dick at all -- which may or may not come as a surprise to them.

Why did you drop "apientia" from your S? Inquiring minds want to know.

What ever is the world coming to?

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/fears-church-england-apos-future-230100282.html

The catholics must be having an even harder time of it because I would suppose that the same thing is affecting their ranks and all of the abuse and corruption problems they are having.

Oh no, the end of the world is nigh! :scream:

Yu Hua wrote a fascinating piece in the 9/5/18 Guardian about the enormous amount of change that has taken place in China over her (50 year) lifetime. The long article is also about her own significant changes, leaving China and eventually becoming a British subject.

Nicely done.

The catholics must be having an even harder time of it because I would suppose that the same thing is affecting their ranks and all of the abuse and corruption problems they are having. — Sir2u

Nah. We have South America, we're good and comfy while you guys go extinct.

Plummeting parishioners has been a perplexing apostolic problem in Europe and North America since the 1960s, at least.

The article you cited says "Our experience is that people – of all ages - haven’t stopped searching for meaning and answers in their life."

That may be, but the question is: are they finding answers in the church?

Mostly not, at least at the present time. A lot of what people are getting is the unsatisfying hog swill of popular commercial culture. If the churches want to become the font again, they will have to again undergo a serious reformation of their spirit.

Yu Hua (post immediately above this) asked a Taoist priest in China why the Buddhist temples are very busy and the Taoist ones are not? The priest said "because the Buddhists have money." Yu Hua is quite concerned about the spiritual future of people in China, too, where money seems to be the be-all and end-all of life.

Why did you drop "apientia" from your S? Inquiring minds want to know. — Bitter Crank

:smirk:

Nah. We have South America, we're good and comfy while you guys go extinct. — Akanthinos

Well where I live in Central America things are going downhill for them too.

That may be, but the question is: are they finding answers in the church? — Bitter Crank

What, they are not getting answers? How could that be with so many churches nowadays offering prepaid prayers for your problems, confessional, and acceptance of donations directly from your cellphone.

Or is that the problem. Maybe they are trying too hard to get into peoples lives that the people are starting to look at them as just another service being provide, but without the fun and and no visible return from it.

Mostly not, at least at the present time. A lot of what people are getting is the unsatisfying hog swill of popular commercial culture. If the churches want to become the font again, they will have to again undergo a serious reformation of their spirit. — Bitter Crank

Ain't that the truth. Doubt it will happen with a bunch of conservative bishops getting ready to pull a coup.

Doubt it will happen with a bunch of conservative bishops getting ready to pull a coup. — Sir2u

I expect Jove will have to hurl lightning bolts from Mt. Olympus to so much as get their attention. Then turn them from anxious Anglicans to mild mice which will be set upon by Catholic cats which will be set upon by Lutheran lions and finally be annihilated by Zoroastrianism zealots.

Say what you will about Trump, his recent bombshell that he has, i quote, '100 pictures of comey and mueller hugging and kissing' is amazing.

he has, i quote, '100 pictures of comey and mueller hugging and kissing' is amazing. — csalisbury

So now he's a porn addict as well? Come back back Bonking Bill, all is forgiven!

Come back back Bonking Bill, all is forgiven! — unenlightened

As long as he doesn't bring HER back with him! :up: