Category: Other

For my economist followers out there: Read this from CNN, “Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to continue with his unorthodox policy of cutting interest rates to reduce sky-high inflation if he is re-elected on May 28. … ‘I have a thesis that interest rates and inflation, they are directly correlated. The lower the interest rates, the lower the inflation will be,’ Erdogan told CNN. ‘In this country, the inflation rate will come down along with the interest rates, so that we will come to a point where people will be relieved. I say this speaking as an economist. This is not an illusion.’”

Whaaaa? Erdogan is an economist? Really? Given his lack of understanding of basic monetary theory, I doubt it. So, let’s check the Wiki, shall we? From the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Wikipedia page under the education section, “According to his official biography, he subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences (Turkish: Aksaray İktisat ve Ticaret Yüksekokulu), now known as Marmara University’s Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. According to the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the website of the presidency, he would have graduated in 1981 but Marmara University was established only in 1982. Several sources dispute that he graduated, since a graduation certificate has never been presented.” “Graduating” with a degree — I assume a Bachelor’s of some sort — from a school with “Economics” in the name does not — I repeat — does not make him an “economist.” Sorry, but I prefer my economists earn their title the old-fashioned way: Attianing a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics. And a Master’s in Economics does not make one an economist, either. I love how everyone takes a few economics classes and calls themselves an economist.

Only 51 percent of RepubliKKKlans think he should be removed from Congress, yet 59 percent believe he should resign. In those two numbers, you can see the hypocrisy and inherent contradiction that is the RepubliKKKlan Party. In theory, those two numbers should be identical. If RepubliKKKlans believe Santos is unworthy to be in Congress, then it should not matter if he quits or is forced out. And of those two numbers, the 51 percent number is more concerning and tells me Santos is safe in his seat. He ain’t going nowhere! He’s not resigning and won’t be forced out because McCarthy needs his vote. It’s not rocket science, and it’s that f***ing simple. And, apparently, RepubliKKKlan voters are pretty squishy on holding Santos accountable. So, nothing will happen no matter what the MSM wish-casts to the rest of us because we’re dealing with RepubliKKKlans, who have no shame or moral values. Welcome to stupid America!

It would appear that Allied nations are coming around to the notion of giving Ukraine fighter jets — finally. But, naturally, this is something that should have been considered and granted a year ago. As I have been saying from the beginning, this drip, drip “allowance” of weapons that NATO has been doling out every few months to Ukraine has been pathetic and an embarrassment to the West. One would think Ukraine apprehends what equipment they need to achieve victory, yet donor nations always hesitate to believe them. Eventually, they end up conceding, usually a day late and a dollar short. You name it. Tanks, air defense systems, and longer-range missiles have all been on Ukraine’s wish list of needed war materiel. And now, jets appear to be next. Imagine how much sooner this war could have been wrapped up with a Ukraine victory if the pusillanimous Allied nations actually grew a pair of f***ing testicles and gave Ukraine the sh*t it asked for when it asked for it instead of making up a bunch of B.S. excuses why they couldn’t provide said needed equipment. Such B.S. excuses include: Ukraine’s military is incompetent and not sophisticated enough to operate the West’s systems, we’re not “there” yet, let’s “wait and see,” we (the West) know better what you (Ukraine) need, and Russia might get mad, among others. All stupid excuses and all wrong.

Imagine the lives that could have been saved. The destruction of cities that could have been ameliorated if NATO acted timely and with confidence. But, no! NATO has been so preoccupied with not “offending” and “upsetting” Putin and Russia that they approached arming Ukraine gingerly when they should have plowed everything into Ukraine immediately rather than Zelenskyy having to spend months begging heads of state for help.

According to The Montana Free Press, “Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte on Tuesday announced signing four abortion restrictions into law, including an immediate ban on dilation and evacuation abortions, the most common type of procedure after about 15 weeks of pregnancy. The governor’s office said other bills signed this week included two restrictions on Medicaid coverage for abortion and stricter regulations for clinics. … Gianforte’s sanctioning of the long-standing conservative agenda also came days after the Montana Supreme Court upheld a nearly 25-year-old legal precedent allowing abortion access under the state Constitution’s right to privacy.”

Two important points here. First, Montana’s state supreme court found a constitutional right to an abortion, but, of course, that will never stop RepubliKKKlans, who want a total ban. But such a complete ban cannot be overt. It must be achieved through subterfuge and beguilement. RepubliKKKlans will skillfully proclaim a 15-week ban is the new national consensus, and it is more than double the oppressive 6-week ban that many red states are enacting. Montana RepubliKKKlans will convince their women of the generosity of their “pragmatic” legislation. But that is where the second point comes into play. Notice in the suite of abortion legislation that Gianforte signed the “stricter regulations for clinics” reference. This is where the state will effectively ban all abortions. This is what other red states did while Roe was still the law of the land. Many conservative states made clinics impossible to operate, with some states only allowing one abortion clinic to operate in the entire state. This will be Montana’s aim. Technically, abortion will be legal up to the “generous” 15-week threshold, but you just won’t be able to find someone to perform it. And women will just accept it because no one cares — enough. Welcome to stupid America!

From The Hill, “A digital traffic sign in Orlando, Florida, was hacked Wednesday to display a concerning call to ‘Kill All Gays.’ Photos of the altered sign, which was placed at a cross-section in Orlando’s Lake Nona neighborhood, were posted to social media and reported in the Orlando Sentinel.”

Feinstein returns to the Senate clearly diminished. I will be the first to admit that I called for her to resign, but that was before I learned any newly appointed replacement would still need RepubliKKKlan consent to fill Feinstein’s open seat on the Judiciary Committee. Now, I say bravo for her return, and I will go one step further: Keep her on life support until the next election cycle. I don’t f***ing care if they have to roll her in on a gurney, hooked up to I.V.s, and on oxygen with a defibrillator standing by just in case she needs to be revived. So long as she can cast her f***ing G.D. vote! I don’t care if she’s not in her right mind as long as she votes correctly on Biden’s judicial nominations. I don’t care if she has a whisperer by her side — ala Gríma — at every waking minute of her workday if that’s what it takes to keep her on track to vote for Biden’s judicial nominations. I don’t care. I don’t care. I don’t f***ing care. The only thing that matters is that she remains alive — in whatever diminished capacity — to vote. Democrats cannot afford to make another RBG mistake! But I’m sure they will because I live in stupid hell. Welcome to stupid America!

From The Hill, “Confidence in the Supreme Court has reached its lowest level in 50 years, according to a long-running survey. Just 17 percent said they had a great deal of confidence in the high court in 2022, down from 26 percent the year before, according to the General Social Survey, run by NORC at the University of Chicago. … The survey comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s historic decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last June, which triggered over a dozen abortion bans at the state level. More recently, the high court has faced calls for new ethics rules following ProPublica’s reporting on Justice Clarence Thomas’s close relationship with GOP megadonor Harlan Crow. Crow reportedly paid for several luxury vacations with Thomas, which the justice did not disclose.”

This is what Americans wanted, so now they have it! Full-f***ing-stop! I’m sorry, but no one can convince me otherwise. This is, in part, why Americans voted for traitor trump. How many times did he say during the 2016 presidential campaign that he would only nominate anti-Roe justices? How many f***ing times? And he did exactly that! But do you really think uber-conservatives will only stop with abortion rights? Of course, not! People should have known this when they voted for RepubliKKKlans, and if they were too stupid to envision the worst, then that’s on them. And a big f***ing oh well! Morons of America are stuck with this SCOTUS for decades to come; imagine all the damage they will do to our democracy in the meantime. A theocracy is coming, and this is what people voted for — like it or not.

And don’t be so naive to think these polling numbers will deter the six theocratic justices. They don’t care. Witness the latest set of ethics scandals by Thomas. What has been the reaction of the justices? Nothing. Roberts has essentially told Americans to f*** off; there is nothing to see here. “Trust us! We’re not corrupt!” (As they take our rights away and give more power to RepubliKKKlans.) They have explicitly said that they don’t consider poll numbers in their judgments; it’s purely about the law, aka how to use the law to roll back our rights. This is their singular mission. But America is just too f***ing stupid to care, nor can they really do anything at this point. Americans f***ed up bigly! RepubliKKKlans and Democrats are equally to blame. RepubliKKKlans have been telegraphing a theocratic takeover of SCOTUS for decades, and Democrats never took RepubliKKKlans’ efforts seriously. Welcome to stupid America! Americans get precisely the government (and SCOTUS) they deserve and desire. Oh, well! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In South Carolina according to CNN, “South Carolina House members approved a controversial bill late Wednesday that would ban most abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, after having spent the last two days in contentious debate on the legislation. … Democratic lawmakers had filed more than 1,000 amendments to the legislation and vowed to make fellow legislators consider all of them, while Republicans said they would stay to work on the bill for as long as it took [and the did]. … The bill will now head to the Republican-controlled state Senate, where lawmakers will consider changes made by the House. The Senate passed the initial version of the bill back in February.”

Then in North Carolina according to CNN, “North Carolina’s Republican-led General Assembly moved Tuesday to ban most abortions after 12 weeks, voting to override a veto from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. … Republicans in the state gained a veto-proof supermajority last month when then-Democrat Cotham switched parties. Cotham, who had campaigned in favor of abortion rights as a Democrat and sponsored legislation earlier in the legislative session to codify Roe v. Wade, was one of the Republicans who voted for the abortion ban. She was joined by the other Republican lawmakers identified by Cooper in voting to overturn his veto.”

Hmmm…how can this be? I thought the end of Roe would inspire women to take to the streets to demand legislatures preserve their rights to bodily autonomy. What’s happening instead? Red states and RepubliKKKlans are barreling forward with rolling back women’s rights to healthcare no matter what the majority want because they can. In fact, North Carolina will go so far as to have their Manchurian candidate run as a Democrat and then “suddenly” switch parties to achieve a veto-proof RepubliKKKlan supermajority. I don’t believe in coincidence. Cotham was a long-game play to rig the system, of course. And, again, where are the women protesting this deception and subterfuge in North Carolina? Where are the marches? Where are the boycotts? Crickets! Nothing! Nada! Zilch! For a segment of the population that is supposed to be exercised by the constant attack on women’s freedom, they sure are passive about their freedoms being rolled back. As I have been saying ever since the abortion issue intensified: Abortion rights are always someone else’s problem. Oh, sure, women will readily vote to protect their rights if it’s explicitly placed on the ballot as an initiative or amendment, but other than that, forget about it. Voters just let their rights be taken away without a second thought.

And don’t be fooled by the likes of the “common sense” or “pragmatic” abortion restrictions North Carolina enacted, for that is just the beginning, f***tards. The true goal is a total abortion ban or a 6-week ban, which is, in effect, a total ban. Look to Florida for that game plan. Anticipating the end of Roe, Flordia had a 15-week ban in place and ready to go. Do you think they stopped there as if that was not radical enough? Fast forward to last month, DeSantis signed into law the 6-week ban with little more than a blimp of notice or outrage. I keep telling you f***tards, no one cares, least of all women. I will give North Carolina until next year before a 6-week abortion ban bill is introduced, and the rest will be history. And don’t think voters will punish RepubliKKKlans in the 2024 elections. Even if voters elect more Democrats as a consequence of a 6-week ban, it won’t be enough to reverse that legislation. Once a 6-week ban is in place, it will be permanent; RepubliKKKlans are willing to make that sacrifice: Giving up a seat or two to Democrats. But it’s still a long way from RepubliKKKlans losing control of the state House and Senate because this is the government people want! This is the M.O. of the RepubliKKKlan Party as sure as the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West. And guess what? No one f***ing cares. RepubliKKKlans will do whatever it takes to ban all abortions everywhere, and women will let them. Mark my words, morons! Welcome to stupid America! People get the government they deserve and desire! Oh, well! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I just watched a CNN interview with John Bolton. Usually, that guy is a neo-con extremist, but he said something about NATO’s support of Ukraine in its war against Russia’s illegal invasion that rang very true. He expressed dismay over NATO’s lack of a coherent plan to help Ukraine end the war, that debates over which military hardware to supply or not supply in a piecemeal fashion meant that partitioning and rationing of such systems diminished their collective effectiveness. In short, NATO is failing Ukraine’s efforts to end the war by not giving the country what it needs when it needs it. Bingo! It is a version of what I’ve been saying: NATO should have given Ukraine everything immediately instead of debating and negotiating what to send and when. The tank controversy is a prime example. Ukraine has been begging for tanks from day one, and it took NATO nations a year to finally acquiesce when they could have complied earlier, potentially allowing Ukraine to beat back Russia months ago. The same can be said for fighter jets and air defense systems. (And don’t let the “training” of Ukraine pilots as an excuse persuade you — it’s a stupid excuse.) This “just in time” method of supplying Ukraine has always been ridiculous and only nearly has not been a complete disaster. It likely caused the war to drag on longer than needed. NATO has been and continues to drag its feet, and this really only reinforces my initial intuition; NATO seems more intent on making sure Ukraine does not win outright for fear of angering Russia. NATO should be flooding the zone with everything much earlier.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a German philosopher, cultural critic, poet, philologist, and composer. His work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy, and he is among the most widely cited philosophers of all time. His work included a radical critique of religion, morality, contemporary culture, science, and society, along with related ideas such as nihilism and existentialism.

Nietzsche began his career as a philologist before turning to philosophy. He became the youngest person ever to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in 1869 at the age of 24. However, he resigned from his teaching position in 1879 due to health problems.

Nietzsche’s major works include Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883–1885), Beyond Good and Evil (1886), The Gay Science (1882), and On the Genealogy of Morality (1887). His writings have been translated into more than 20 languages and have influenced a wide range of thinkers, including Sigmund Freud, Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, Albert Camus, and Michel Foucault. Nietzsche’s most famous work is Thus Spoke Zarathustra, a book of aphorisms that was published in four parts between 1883 and 1885. In Zarathustra, Nietzsche presents his philosophy of the Übermensch, or “overman,” a new type of human being who is free from the constraints of traditional morality and religion.

Nietzsche’s philosophy is often characterized as a form of existentialism, which emphasizes the individual’s responsibility for creating their own meaning in life. Nietzsche’s philosophy is also often associated with nihilism, which is the belief that life has no inherent meaning or purpose. However, Nietzsche’s philosophy is more complex than either existentialism or nihilism. He argued that humans are not free to create their own meaning in a vacuum. Rather, they must create their own meaning within the context of a particular culture and history. He also argued that life does have some inherent meaning, even if it is not always easy to find. He also challenged many of the traditional assumptions of Western philosophy, such as the belief in a rational and ordered universe.

Nietzsche’s work has been highly influential in a wide range of fields, including philosophy, literature, psychology, and politics. He has been praised by some for his insights into the human condition and his critique of traditional morality. However, he has also been criticized for his elitism, his misogyny, and his apparent advocacy of violence. Nietzsche’s philosophy has been both praised and criticized. His critics have accused him of being a nihilist, an immoralist, and a madman. However, his supporters have argued that he is a profound thinker who has challenged us to think more deeply about the meaning of life.

Nietzsche’s work remains controversial today, but there is no doubt that he was one of the most important philosophers of the 19th century. His ideas have had a profound impact on our understanding of the world and our place in it.

Here are some of the key concepts in Nietzsche’s philosophy:

• The death of God: Nietzsche argued that the traditional belief in God is no longer tenable in the modern world. He believed that the death of God would lead to a crisis of meaning, as people would no longer have a transcendent source of values.
• The Übermensch: Nietzsche’s concept of the Übermensch is a new type of human being who is free from the constraints of traditional morality and religion. The Übermensch is a creator of values, rather than a follower of them.
• The will to power: Nietzsche believed that the will to power is the fundamental force in human nature. The will to power is the desire to dominate and control others.
• Eternal recurrence: Nietzsche’s concept of eternal recurrence is the idea that the universe is cyclical and that everything that has happened will happen again, an infinite number of times.

Here are some of Nietzsche’s most famous quotes:

• “God is dead.”
• “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
• “What does not kill me makes me stronger.”
• “The truth is ugly. But beauty can be used to make ugliness more bearable.”
• “Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think.”