So... it's that time again! Start with Trump's most recent rant? This one may have an actual impact on his numbers? Zero chance he's President, even before this, but maybe this will be the one that gets him out of the way of the election?
Okay... I was definitely wrong about Trump's numbers. Essentially zero negative impact from his tirades. I expected him to fade by now, drastically - but he has staying power. I thought there was 0 chance he won the Republican nomination but I'm willing to back off that assumption and not only be surprised if he doesn't fade, but I think I may be surprised if he isn't the Republican candidate in the general election. It will make for an interesting election cycle. I can't wait. Terrible that Hillary is assuredly the one that will make it from the left. I don't know that Id vote for anyone left on the Democratic side I'd cast a vote for, but I'm sure, like Tim mentioned in an earlier thread, that a Sanders v. Trump debate season would be much watch TV.
I was going to wait til the Primaries got underway, but what the heck... I will only contribute an observation and a thought-- With the greatest economic recovery in U.S. history roaring into it's seventh year, it's hard not to notice the lack of employment and employment opportunities, as well as the lagging economic numbers. Which has got me wondering, is it possible that Republican Party voters are so concerned about the possibility of a Demimonde Party win that they have decided to forgo working or looking for work and have reduced their participation in economic activity to drive the numbers down in the hope that bad fiscal and economic and employment numbers will affect the outcome of the 2016 election cycle..?
I wonder if Donald realises most terrorist (90%) attacks in the US, are carried out by extremist Christians rather than Muslims?
Considering that Christianity as presented by Christ Himself, and later in the writings of the Apostles Paul, Peter, John, and Christ's brother James, Christians are to show the love of God to all, love your neighbor as yourself, turn the other cheek, do good to those who hate you, return kindness for violence, and so on, it is difficult to properly justify killing and terrorizing in the name of Christ. Also, the links that provide this supposed "most terrorist (90%) attacks in the US, are carried out by extremist Christians", show that many on that list did not have any direct links with Christianity or Christian groups. There were people with racists tendencies, which in itself is not a causal relation to Christianity. I come from a family that has voted for the Democrat Party for generations and many of them spout racist comments whether they are religious or not. And while some attacks were praised by isolated groups claiming to be Christian with members numbering in no more than a few dozen, again, that doesn't prove that the person carrying out the attack was Christian, only that some group or other condoned the attack and thought that it was proper. A little research shows that Christian beliefs had no bearing on some on that list, or their actions. However, those who did claim Christ and Christianity, went after a specific person and then surrendered themselves to authorities. I would also point out that these were lone persons acting on their own who carried out individual attacks, often spur of the moment, versus large, organized, militant groups who were mutually bound by the belief that their attacks were justified by holy writings that said they should visit violence and warfare on their enemies, as opposed to other holy writings that say to turn the other cheek, but that may start a flame war, and put in me danger of being reprimanded by the Princess.
I like pretty, Christian princesses. I'd like pretty, Muslim princesses, also.....if I could see their faces.
Or maybe Donald and perhaps you Pookie, believe the Christian moderates who walk into abortion clinics with guns and kill people, are not really terrorists because they're doing God's work.
And yet people do Pookie and they have done for over a thousand years of blood soaked Christian history. No single organisation in the whole of humanity, has killed more people than the Christian church. Take a look at my signature and think about what it means, Pookie. The killing of John Gott by the British judicial system happened within living memory, in what was at the time, the most advanced and supposedly civilized nation on the planet. He was killed by the Christian state for the repeated mocking of it's religion. Christian love does not and never has extended toward those not of their faith. Christianity is intolerant and exclusive. You as a Christian believe the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ, which means you immediately condemn 70% of the world's population. But not content with the eternal punishment of most of humanity in the imagined afterlife, Christianity has always sought to punish in this life too. Christianity has only in the latter half of the 20th Century and the first part of this century, focused more on teachings of love, forgiveness and tolerance. This is not a reflection of any inherent goodness of your religion. The fact of the matter is, this change in attitude, has come primarily from the growing influences of secularism and a growing pluralism of religions. Christianity has had to adapt it's teachings, to make them more palatable in an ever growing market place of competing ideas and philosophies. It is secularist morality, which has helped curb and moderate the evils of your religion. What you mean to say here Pookie, is moderate Christians (which I personally do not believe exist) have disowned the actions of extremist Christians. Antisemitism is very much a Christian tendency. Blame for the killing of Christ has fueled countless pogroms, expulsions and massacres throughout the ages. The holocaust, humanities darkest and most evil occurrence is a direct consequence of Christian intolerance and it's inability to love it's neighbour, forget and or forgive.
A Crusade to take over and convert Anglican England, I say! (Oh, wait, the secularists have pretty much already accomplished that, effectively. Never mind.)
Not quite Tim, secularism has not taken over yet. While few people profess to faith and belief in the supernatural, we still suffer the humiliation and indignity of living under the establishment of church and state. This means 27 unelected Bishops still enjoy their feudal rights and sit in the National legislation of the House of Lords and pass laws of the land over the rest of us. Until we have a system more like France's I shall not be happy. If people were to believe Donald, they'd believe we have been overrun by Muslims rather than secularists. He talked absolute garbage when he warned America that because of Muslims, there are parts of Britain that even the police dare to enter. Our country is so safe, most of police don't even carry tasers let alone guns. A fact of life living here that most of you Americans can't even imagine. Well here is a warning from me. This one is based on fact rather than any fanciful, made up BS of your Presidential wannabes. Don't go to certain parts of Manhattan because there is a chance you'll meet Donald.
God's work?? Really..? Maybe you should take the time to read my post again. I did not give any support to Donald Trump, and even the briefest of perusals of my past posts would show that I have never given any support to Donald Trump. I also pointed out that if one is claiming to do God's will as presented in the New Testament they will follow Christ's example and act in a non-violent manner. Also, as I mentioned those that did walk into abortion were individuals acting on their own. Unlike those other large, well organized groups of people who are bound together by the belief that their particular holy writings command them to engage in violent actions against their enemies, and large numbers of people who are armed and trained for that specific purpose and have the global network necessary to pull it off. Yes, they have. And as I said, they certainly did not act correctly in the name of God and certainly not in the name of Christ. The way advocated and laid out in the New Testament is to return good to those who do evil and who wrong you. And also to spread the Gospel. However, nowhere does it say to kill those who don't accept the Good News. Instead the instruction was simply to continue to do good to them, pray for them, or as Christ said to shake off the dust of your feet against them, and leave their ultimate fate to God. And I agree with you about your signature. That was done by a group of people who wanted to exert power over others, and who seek to use religion and the name of God and Christ as the blunt tool to do that. They were probably the same type of people who want us to believe that America was founded as a Christian nation because some random church group managed to make it to the American continent and survived the first winter. No, I meant that many on that list did not have any direct links with Christianity or Christian groups. And I said that because many of the supposed "Christian Terrorists" that are constantly touted were simply people who acted out for racists reasons, and there are plenty of stupid people who think that if you are racist then you must be either religious or at the very least on the right. Never mind how many agnostic, atheist and leftist persons are racist, much like the members in my family that I mentioned. To make that point clear, the only difference between most of the racist people that I have known in my life and Archie Bunker is that Archie Bunker voted for Richard Nixon and these people don't get the irony... And maybe you didn't notice, but the Holocaust was not carried out in the name of Christ like the Crusades. The Jewish people were a handy scape-goat for the economic problems Germany was suffering. Hitler, who engaged in many pagan and Germanic mythology and mysticism ideas and practices, tapped into the antisemitism that already existed in Eastern Europe at the time, and used that as a means to rally people to his cause. Again, similarly as I mentioned above, antisemitism is hardly relegated to religious folks. I stand by my original premise. If one is going to claim to be a follower of Christ, then they will act in the manner put forth by Christ: Love your neighbor as yourself, do good to your enemies, return good for evil, turn the other cheek, pray for those that despise you, etc. Or, perhaps to make it a little more understandable, how far can a person stray from the basic tenets of their belief system and still consider themselves a follower of that religion. For example, how much pork can be consumed, or how many graven images of the Prophet Mohammad can be produced, or how many copies of the Quran can be defaced by a Muslim and still be considered an adherent to Islam in good standing???
One could ask the exact same questions about pork and graven images to Christians. If you take the Bible literally as the immutable word of God, then you have to accept anyone found with a picture of Jesus or who has enjoyed eating peperoni pizza, is going to Hell along with all the Jews, Muslims and the entirety of Asia.
New York Magazine recently reported that having billions of dollars is not enough to buy the election anymore. Sssoooo... Bad new for the people who have donated billions of dollars to Madame Secretary Rodham Clinton??
Unfortunately, with the circus that the Republican nomination has been, along with there only being one serious (and, ultimately, not all that serious) candidate opposing Clinton, she isn't being challenged to answer important questions as to how she would govern.
The British public don't seem to like Trump very much. Half a million people have signed a petition, demanding him to be banned from the UK and branded as a racist hate preacher. (Although we might let his hair in on an entertainment visa). Questions have been raised in the Houses of Parliament in support of this ban. Israel doesn't want the embarrassment of him visiting their country either. But it's not all bad news because Russian President, Vladimir Putin likes him. Putin even went as far as to say of Trump, "He is a bright and talented person without any doubt". and "an outstanding and talented personality". One never got the impression Putin ever thought much of Obama. On the world stage Putin appears to have run rings all around Obama and outmaneuvered him at every turn. The commonly heard phrase is, "Putin's been playing chess while Obama's playing checkers". So what do you think Putin really sees in Trump?
In a recent interview, President Obama said that he was not aware of what the American people are thinking and feeling because he doesn't watch enough cable news. Seeing as how he generally watches CNN, MSNBC, and C-Span, does this mean he doesn't watch enough Fox News..?
The numbers are in, and they show that more people tuned in to watch each of the Republican Candidate debates than the Demimonde Candidate debates. Even the lowest viewing audience of the Republican candidates seems to have been larger than the largest viewing audience for the Demimonde candidates. Could this show that there is more interest in the Republican side than the Demimonde side???