World Politics Thread

[Crazy Cat Gentleman]

9 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

They've kidnapped Americans before, from the DMZ. Or hacked them to death.

My first thought was that they kidnapped him.

But then again... maybe not. He sounds squirrelly...

reportedly he was laughing as he crossed the border. he wasn't alone at the crossing, but he was the only one to cross.

[chasfh]

Yeah, America basically threw the guy under the bus. They have to try to bring him back, but their efforts may fall somewhat short of 110%.

[CMRivdogs]

IDK, he seems like a nice guy...

 

[romad1]

45 minutes ago, CMRivdogs said:

IDK, he seems like a nice guy...

 

How much did we trade away to get Bowe Bergdahl back?  Expect this to be a show for the NK regime.  What do you want:  free ice cream for life?  Sure thing...that plus a seat at the UNSC?  Sure thing. 

[smr-nj]

https://apple.news/ATiXe8I8-R4akar3gquy48g
 

‘No more cover-up’: Nazi concentration camps on Channel Island finally to be officially investigated

——————————————————-

Review could show that thousands more Jews and prisoners of war died on Alderney than previously thought

[gehringer_2]

On 7/19/2023 at 12:10 PM, romad1 said:

How much did we trade away to get Bowe Bergdahl back?  Expect this to be a show for the NK regime.  What do you want:  free ice cream for life?  Sure thing...that plus a seat at the UNSC?  Sure thing. 

I'd almost like to see the admin tell  NK "he's a criminal and a deserter, if you want him, you can have him" and see if they call the bet.

[romad1]

25 minutes ago, smr-nj said:

https://apple.news/ATiXe8I8-R4akar3gquy48g
 

‘No more cover-up’: Nazi concentration camps on Channel Island finally to be officially investigated

——————————————————-

Review could show that thousands more Jews and prisoners of war died on Alderney than previously thought

Everyday I learn something more about WWII and I've been reading about it for 50 years.  

[smr-nj]

10 hours ago, romad1 said:

Everyday I learn something more about WWII and I've been reading about it for 50 years.  

This is horrifying.  There is no end to the cruelty perpetrated by the Nazi regime…. And we seem to be currently staring AGAIN into the dead eyes of this kind of murderous philosophy. 
 

 

[romad1]

1 hour ago, smr-nj said:

This is horrifying.  There is no end to the cruelty perpetrated by the Nazi regime…. And we seem to be currently staring AGAIN into the dead eyes of this kind of murderous philosophy. 
 

 

Worship of strength is one of the phenomena behind the appeal of fascism.  

[Jim Cowan]

If people in Ireland pronounce 33 as torty-tree, how do they pronounce Charles the Third?

[gehringer_2]

"English Sh*t"

[gehringer_2]

Law and Justice lose their majority in elections in Poland. They may not go gently into that good night, but still a promising step for democracy in Poland.

[chasfh]

9 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

Law and Justice lose their majority in elections in Poland. They may not go gently into that good night, but still a promising step for democracy in Poland.

As long as elections are free and fair and the media is not clamped down, fascism will usually lose.

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, chasfh said:

As long as elections are free and fair and the media is not clamped down, fascism will usually lose.

so then what's our excuse? 🤷‍♀️

[Tigeraholic1]

The UN is starting to make me scratch my head….

 

[chasfh]

Cue Trump posting on his Social Truthiness thingy congratulating North Korea and calling Kim Jong-Un smart, successful, and handsome.

https://x.com/abplive/status/1727016671528059082?s=20https://x.com/abplive/status/1727016671528059082?s=20

[Jim Cowan]

In an outcome that is a surprise to no one, the far right anti-Islam Party for Freedom won more seats than any other party in national elections in the Netherlands. 

In the immediate postwar years thousands of Dutch people emigrated to Canada and took up farming, and every rural crossroads in Southern Ontario has a Dutch Reform church on it.  And though I am always reluctant to assign personality characteristics to entire ethnic groups (I will leave that to my in-laws) the Dutch Reform church in Southern Ontario is a shining beacon of white supremacy.

[romad1]

On 11/22/2023 at 10:15 PM, Jim Cowan said:

In an outcome that is a surprise to no one, the far right anti-Islam Party for Freedom won more seats than any other party in national elections in the Netherlands. 

In the immediate postwar years thousands of Dutch people emigrated to Canada and took up farming, and every rural crossroads in Southern Ontario has a Dutch Reform church on it.  And though I am always reluctant to assign personality characteristics to entire ethnic groups (I will leave that to my in-laws) the Dutch Reform church in Southern Ontario is a shining beacon of white supremacy.

The Boers in South Africa were fairly much that too. 

[Jim Cowan]

16 minutes ago, romad1 said:

The Boers in South Africa were fairly much that too. 

Yes and I think that they probably still are

[romad1]

8 hours ago, Jim Cowan said:

Yes and I think that they probably still are

So, the ideological underpinning of Dutch Reform church is Calvinist, correct?  Only a certain elect (pre-determined) group are getting into heaven?  If that's your outlook...fairly easy to move into chauvinism for your own (tribe, race, college football team) as the elect.  

[gehringer_2]

13 minutes ago, romad1 said:

So, the ideological underpinning of Dutch Reform church is Calvinist, correct?  Only a certain elect (pre-determined) group are getting into heaven?  If that's your outlook...fairly easy to move into chauvinism for your own (tribe, race, college football team) as the elect.  

fair point

[Jim Cowan]

7 hours ago, romad1 said:

So, the ideological underpinning of Dutch Reform church is Calvinist, correct?  Only a certain elect (pre-determined) group are getting into heaven?  If that's your outlook...fairly easy to move into chauvinism for your own (tribe, race, college football team) as the elect.  

Yes that probably sums it up.

[gehringer_2]

pre-destination is one of those wonderfully self-leveraging theologies. They say you can't pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - theology is probably a salient exception to the rule.

[Jim Cowan]

It always struck me that if there was a destiny planned for each of us individually then there was no need for me to put out much of an effort.

[chasfh]

20 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

pre-destination is one of those wonderfully self-leveraging theologies. They say you can't pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - theology is probably a salient exception to the rule.

I've always thought of the whole born-again thing as being related to this.

Their thing is, you can't earn your way into heaven—only by the blood of Jesus after you've accepted him as your Personal Lord and Savior™ can you ensure your spot in heaven. But the flip side of that is, and must be, that once you are saved, you can't earn your way out of heaven, either. That must mean by definition that a saved person can sin in the worst ways imaginable until the second they die, but as long as they've accepted Christ, they're perpetually golden. I guess that's why the concept that being a cruel MAGA is an unChristian way to behave bounces right off their deaf ears, because acting in we've come to believe as being "Christian" was never the point for them. Being a saved Christian is not an act, it's a condition, and if you can never lose it except by explicitly rejecting Christ, what's the incentive to act "Christian"?