Actually, especially Saudi Arabia and Israel have already found each other as both fear Iran. Saudi-Arabia here is important as the largest GCC member, which also creates the opportunity for smaller states simply to start normalizing their relations.

As I have repeated again and again, not ONE of those Gulf States have ever deployed a single soldier to fight Israel. Ever. The Saudis haven't done that since the Israeli war of Independence. It's a positive move, yes, but it really isn't as a breakthrough as you think, especially after Egypt and Jordan have already normalized their relations with Israel. Still, it's a positive thing.

Yet tone down those superlatives, NOS4A2.

Soviet Russia never had any direct battles with the US in the Cold War, therefor the end of those tensions wasn’t much of a breakthrough, because it wasn’t a “meaningful” conflict.

The Arab-Isreali conflict, the Khartoum resolution, and the years of “meaningful” conflict between these countries is well known, despite your hand waves. Until now Israeli planes couldn’t even enter Sudanese or UAE airspace, let alone begin talks for embassies, ambassadors, tourism, investment and telecommunications.

Because the actual work is not much. Just look at the wall. And not starting a new war (just killing an Iranian general and getting Iran to lob missiles into US bases didn't start it) is actually, really, not a huge accomplishment.

But “normalization” and the brokering of diplomatic relations between Israel and some Arab states is a huge accomplishment.

I remember you telling me that putting your son-in-law in charge of the Middle East policy with absolutely no idea about politics in the area is absurd. This was during the fear-mongering about the brief Turkey-PLK spat—so much talk of genocide, world war 3, and ISIS, none of which occurred. Yet during his brief time there the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan normalize relations with Israel. These are countries that were a part of the Khartoum resolution of 1967, which essentially forbids peace with Israel. Even Ambassador Jim Jeffry, who once signed a letter proclaiming Trump a danger to the world, is going to recommend the Biden administration continue the Trump administration Middle East policies. He says it yielded better stability in the area than his predecessors.

So it’s not only that he didn’t start new wars, but he moved forward on peace in the Middle East, something that no virtue-signalling, “compassionate conservatism”, hopey-changey government could ever hope to accomplish.

In a sense the concept of rights is about behavior. Your right to free and independent thought is my duty not to suppress or punish you for it. Your right to property is my duty not to plunder it, and so on. Every right afforded a man depends on a corresponding duty which the rest of us ought to, at least in theory, act out.

The discourse around rights serve well to define the reasonable limits of power, and I think the justifications for why we afford others these rights has been well reasoned and put to the grindstone of trial and error for hundreds if not thousands of years.

It's certainly true rights are codified and bestowed by legal systems. But each of us also have the power to afford another a right, simply by affirming it and acting out the corresponding duty. I think it's a damn shame we seek to relegate rights to the state, as if we haven't the power to afford other rights ourselves.

But obviously I was looking for a clear-cut case: wouldn't you agree that there are cases that are clear-cut enough for pacifism to be morally reprehensible, even without an explicit call for help?

As an aside, here are some great arguments against pacifism written during times when such an ideology would have been disastrous.

Orwell wrote a great article against pacifism called Pacifism and the War.

CS Lewis makes a great argument against pacifism in Why I am not a pacifist.

I believe Biden will be just a figurehead for the same technocratic foreign policy we’ve seen before, where the government’s actions will be set in motion by the will of career advisors, intelligence officials and bureaucrats instead of his constituents. Expect drone strikes, foreign meddling, the arming of opposition forces, information and cyber warfare, sweeping counter-intelligence powers—“counter-terrorism plus”—while at the same time hiding behind the US government’s massive PR machine and media allies.

Ukraine, Libya, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq—almost everything Biden touches turns to instability, poverty and rubble.

Hm?
Anyway, seems kind of odd that, out of millions of Americans, lots of cool people, Trump and Biden of all people would be the two candidates.

A viable candidate requires a movement, or a wealthy cabal of political, celebrity, establishment and media complicity in order to compete. Not many people possess either.

That’s not the case because the economy was doing great before it was subverted by worldwide lockdowns. The US is brokering peace in the Middle East. We get massive prison reform. We get deregulation. Turkey and Belarus could not do this. We hit Turkey and Belarus status (and worse; see gun death statistics in Chicago for instance) only in enclaves where democrats have always held power.

The idea that people should expect of their head of state what they do of their spiritual leaders is a silly one. The same goes for the feeble daddy-figure sentiment about how a leader must be some infallible “unifier” and a “healer”. This sort of statism leads to the United States being one of the biggest public relations firm in the world.

The government should defend the liberty to practice whatever religion or creed one wants to, so long as it doesn’t infringe on the rights of others. It’s management and employees need not express any religious or pious overtures, for Christians or otherwise. Any paid actor can virtue signal.

I was hoping Trump’s presidency would expel this disease, like chemotherapy would a cancer—the reactionary response to him was suppose to be it’s death throes. But I fear it it has only strengthened it.

So....no substantive predictions. Nothing that will have a broad impact on Americans. That seems odd.

Why does that seem odd? I have no ability to predict future events, so why would you want to hear me try?

That's a prediction about style. What bad thing will Biden actually get away with?

Yes, the style is and has been ruinous until now. Biden can lament corruption in Ukraine and meddle in their elections while his son rakes in millions from corrupt gas companies. This is the sort of politics I predict: whispering fashionable bromides in your ear while taking from your back pocket.

You lament the wealthy out of one side of the mouth then cheer as you elect the wall-street and corporate candidate.

Enjoy four years of Biden.

I fear more of the same, specifically the public relations politics, where an administration can get away with anything so long as it utters the fashionable bromides and ticks the right identity boxes. I think Biden's record with race and segregation and war and corruption and lies is well enough known to predict that it won't be the best of administrations.

You mean 75 more days to enjoy the supreme smack down?

Sure. But I wager even you will be longing for a Trump presidency before long. The hopey-changey rhetoric and lullabies may have worked before, but will it prevail again?

Don’t give up so easily, ssu. There are still 75 days left of the best American presidency to have graced this earth.

Jyna called and the CCP are happy you devoured their propaganda platter.

I resigned to a Biden win long ago. But projections are just projections. There will still be recounts and litigation, not to mention another two months of left of President Trump.

enjoying your meltdown?

I’m quite good, actually. Trump can run again.

Yes, even you could own your own business, your own corporation, and provide meaningful employment to thousands. You could pay livable wages to the poor. You could provide housing, food and other necessities.

But you won’t. Why is that?

It’s because your fake concern for the poor is really self-interest. Little socialists such as yourself want the government to take wealth from others and give to whatever class you like, all so you don’t have to.

Wall Street, CIA, Big Tech, military industrial complex, and Davos appreciate your vote.

What an election! It exceeded my expectations.

The censorship, the suppression polls, the propaganda, the deceit, the threats and violence—it may have an effect on many, but not on everyone. I have regained faith in humanity.

I hope Trump does something drastic during his remaining days, just so I can see an anti-Trumper’s head explode one last time.

I think the divide of power between wealthy and poor, at least in the West, is largely overstated. Wealth alone cannot force a poor man to do anything, and vice versa. In fact, the rich and poor often engage with each other in consensual, common enterprise, whether through employment or other contracts.

No amount of wealth can enslave you or I because the wealthy do not possess a monopoly on violence. The wealthy are subject to the same laws, and, at least where the law is faithfully executed, the same punishments. So I cannot see how the wealthy are the “masters of mankind” when they are unable to force mankind to do anything.

Rather, we must look to which class has expropriated the means of political organization and domination, and have convinced us of its legitimacy. These people can force us to give it our earnings, can imprison us if we disobey, and kill us should it choose to do so.

This master is the state.

“The State, completely in its genesis, essentially and almost completely during the first stages of its existence, is a social institution, forced by a victorious group of men on a defeated group, with the sole purpose of regulating the dominion of the victorious group over the vanquished, and securing itself against revolt from within and attacks from abroad.”

https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/oppenheimer-the-state

I never said it was a fact. The police say it appears the Biden vehicle may be at fault. Biden goons claim the Trump supporting vehicle was trying to murder Biden. Take your pick.

Another DNC ruse regarding the “ambush” and “attack” on the Biden bus.

A statement from the San Marcos Police Department said after research of the incident and viewing online video, it appeared the crash happened in their jurisdiction. “The at-fault vehicle may be the white SUV and the victim appears to be the black truck,” the statement continues. “Calls to the driver of the white SUV have gone unanswered and SMPD has not been contacted by the driver of the black truck. Since SMPD has not spoken to either driver at this time, additional investigation would be required to fully ascertain who was at fault.”

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/fbi-investigating-alleged-incident-involving-trump-supporters-biden-campaign-bus/

The white SUV was a Biden supporter. The cognitive dissonance must be profoundly painful.

It’s too early to tell who is going to win, I think. Though many polls show a resounding win for Biden, some say the exact opposite.

Sheer enthusiasm paints a different picture altogether. Trump can pack stadiums.


Then again, this apparent enthusiasm may be a sign of social distancing choices rather than support. Biden just may have stricter measures for his rallies.

The so-called silent majority is still silent, and there is only anecdotal evidence that such a group exists.

The advantage of being a Trump "Covidiot" is that you're not afraid to visit the polling station, and can be sure your vote counts. Mail-in votes could be showing up for days after the election.

So it will not only be interesting to see who wins, but also who was right in predicting the winner.

Oh you have a president and prime minister. Thanks for the explainer.

Yes, I am a dual citizen, thanks to official multiculturalism.

I no longer vote in Canadian elections because I do not like proportional representation—coalition and minority governments and all that. I find my vote means very little in the grand scheme of things,

Are you able to vote for your leader? Here in Canada the party leader is nominated by the party and thus Canadians are unable to vote for the prime minister. The American system is to me far superior on those grounds.

Anti-Trumpists upset with a little protest. That’s rich. If only they hadn’t harassed every trump rally and appearance, their whines wouldn’t sound so hilarious.

They aren’t pro-Biden; they are anti-Trump. Anti-Trumpism forces them to toss their principles to the wind. Out of one side of their mouth they will lament systemic racism, and out of the other they would gladly vote for a duo whose political careers led to the mass incarceration of dark-skinned people. Out of one side of the mouth they teach us the failures of neo-liberalism, and out of the other they vote for its champion. They would sink the entire ship if it meant Trump’s exit.

Nope. Read what I said.

It will take years.

Likely after Donald has passed away and everybody has forgotten about Ivanka.

Right. And then she’ll do the Washington book circuit and become a CNN contributor, where the press and their obsequious readers will fawn all over her. You should write a quatrain about it.

Yes, I’ve heard it all before. I guess we’ll wait for that to come out. Any time now.

I’m not going to pretend that your media-informed ignorance is an accurate representation of anything, especially after pretending, without evidence, that it was Russian disinfo.

U.S. economy rebounded strongly in the third quarter

The U.S. economy grew at a record annualized rate of 33.1% between July and September, clawing back much of the ground it had lost during the coronavirus-fueled shutdown earlier in the year, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Expect the president to gloat about these numbers in the coming days, to the chagrin of fear-mongers everywhere

Hunter’s father is running for president, and he’s implicated in his son’s dealing. Cry about it.

After making sure I wouldn’t see anything illegal, I I finally took a look at the Hunter Biden images leaked by the Chinese dissidents, and for the most part they are just nude selfies and pictures of himself banging young hookers while smoking crack. Accusations of pedophilia and incest linger, but cannot be published for obvious reasons. Apparently the laptop was sent to the FBI back in Dec. 2019 with no action take as of yet. Guilliani brought his own copy to the Delaware police recently, claiming there was illegal images on there. The Delaware police sent the copy to the FBI. My guess is we’ll hear nothing of it.

As a matter of principle I don’t like how Bannon and his friends are leaking Hunter Biden’s private affairs. His degeneracy, as ugly and predictable as it is, is his own business.

What we can say is that any claims of “Russian Disinfo” is complete horseshit, itself the wildest disinformation, and spread by the most useful of idiots. But the most staggering of blows is the media blackout on the subject. A media who spent weeks searching through Brett Kavanaugh’s year book or Trump’s tax documents will not touch this story.

The famed “anonymous” has been revealed to be Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s chief of staff Miles Taylor, who is now a CNN contributor.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/miles-taylor-former-dhs-official-and-adviser-to-john-kelly-is-anonymous

Amy Coney Barrett was just sworn in yesterday. She is Trump’s third Supreme Court appointee. Another originalist on the court is a good thing in my estimation. But the political hand-wringing is equally as fascinating and satisfying.

Your interlocutor’s argument is a homunculus argument because it raises the question as to exactly what is sensing “perception” or “experience” (or whatever medium we wish to posit), and how it is able to sense at all. This leads to an infinite regression because it lacks any grounding in a self. It's selves all the way down. So when you ask who or what is experiencing this "perception" you might find he is unable to provide a decent answer. Besides, one cannot perceive perception any more than he can observe observation, employ employment, or legalize legalization. Nominalizing verbs often confuses things whenever the verb collides with its noun version.

I think it is the other way about: the solipsist requires leaps of faith. He must believe, against all evidence to the contrary, that he is not in direct contact with the rest of the world, like a fish in a fishbowl. He must then conjecture how he indirectly receives information through what I assume is some curating interface, possibly prone to error and deception, maybe run by an evil demon, but no less able to project “experience” onto what is surely a veil. Most likely he does not think about how solipsism could be possible at all.

Maybe try extending your notion of self to the very surface of your skin, no more no less. I think solipsism is impossible to believe on such a basis. Only then is one able to conclude that he is in direct contact with the rest of the world, and that it can be known.

Right, all those alcohol-swigging, 15-year-old journalists. Only a pervert would pretend such a person was 15.

I’m not a republican.