@ Scorpion | Jun 25 2022 1:12 utc | 201
Since I expect corruption and welshing on promises from my (American) politicians, I can’t say I’m inclined to hold AMLO to higher standards. Myself, I’d rather he be one of those violently anticlerical Mexican presidents from the 1930s or so, but the fact that he stands up to Uncle Gringo at all, even if it’s just for show (now really, what does he think he can do for Julian Assange?), is remarkable — and quite possibly dangerous.

Posted by: malenkov | Jun 25 2022 1:17 utc | 203

RE: the alleged theft of the election AND in the manner in which it has been alleged, there has emerged literally zero substantive proof of the claims that don’t also point to meddling in favor of Trump. Keep in mind, Scorpion, Trump’s claims that the election was to be stolen from him in 2016 and the “millions” of “illegals” who supposedly voted for Clinton, but never materialized in numerous investigations including Trump’s own White House commision’s report HERE.
Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jun 24 2022 20:54 utc | 159
I’m not sure what standard of “substantive proof” you had in mind. But if the apparent irregularities raised by observers of one party are consistently ignored or the observers ordered to leave their precincts, that suffices to taint the process and therefore the result. There is copious documentation of this, including a precinct (I believe in Detroit) where a news photographer recorded the placement of opaque material on the inside of a precinct’s windows.
That numerous government investigations proclaimed the 2020 election to be fair is a reflection of the rot in those investigative bodies rather than of the election.

Posted by: David Levin | Jun 25 2022 1:30 utc | 205

There are problems with the simple course that you outline, which assumes that the Court is going to throw away all self restraint and legislate. For that is what a declaration that life begins at a certain point will amount to. [snip]
Posted by: bevin | Jun 25 2022 1:30 utc | 203

But in fact the courts have quite a history of legislating. The most notable example actually comes from the “liberal” side, namely the series of court rulings mandating a specific remedy — namely, busing a quota of black kids to white schools and vice versa — in order to rectify the unequal quality of education in a given school district’s public schools. This reached its apex in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. Certainly you can’t tell me that there’s a constitutional mandate for school busing in a document that does not acknowledge a right to education in the first place.

Posted by: malenkov | Jun 25 2022 1:50 utc | 207

@ 206
The Supremes are obviously limited in their legislative powers, including busing and abortion.
ARTICLE III
Section 2
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;–to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;–to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;–to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;–to Controversies between two or more States;–between a State and Citizens of another State;–between Citizens of different States;–between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.//
Incidentally, schools are now more segregated than ever as a result of deep racial discrimination.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 25 2022 2:15 utc | 209

I am reading at a number of web sites over the past few days about the US/China words/actions around the Taiwan Straits. They keep accusing each other of violating, or not, international law/norms/etc.
This looks to be the focus of the China/Western battle escalation. I see China as enforcing their position on the Taiwan Straits clearly and with sufficient force to end the empire claims and efforts to control Taiwan. I still believe that the force that China uses will not be military but there may be a neutering of one or more navy ships….I think I read somewhere/when that you can EMP a ship’s electronics but no link
I put the above in context of the Russia/empire conflict that I see climaxing soon because it will be either nuke time or capitulation time in Ukraine/NATO by the time of the NATO meeting, IMO
And I put all of the above within the context of the civilization war we are in about public/private finance which will be won as soon as an alternative to the current US dollar is formalized and implemented…..the end of fiat money again for a while, maybe permanent.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jun 25 2022 2:32 utc | 211

@ 203 bevin
This is it, bevin. My last comment to you. Because you seem both incapable of reflection and lacking in your understanding of our three branches of government.
The supreme court does not legislate or make laws. It interprets the constitution to the best of its ability when a case is brought before it.
Declaring that life begins at conception is an indisputable fact and you don’t have to be a biologist to affirm this.
The secondary aspect to this question is: what kind of life is it? Well, obvious inimitable human life.
If the court is somehow overtaken by Biden nominees in the near future, they will play semantics with this fact, but I don’t see this happening (stacking the courts and increasing the number of slots) without a realization from the patriots that our constitution is being usurped, in this case, by what you refer to as a politically-alive legislative body. Iow, the supreme court will have overriden the other branches of government and all bets are off.
But the clock is ticking.
The fact that I have said before that the globalists in the empire are caught in a pincer, by the Russians abroad and by the American conservative at home, is reflected in watershed moments such as these. Instead of the focused energy of a United States to carry out its globalist plan, the elites will be trying to arrange the pieces with a fractured American discourse. It is a beautiful thing to behold.
Once again, the bad faith of so-called anti-Empire fighters in here reeks to high-Heaven.
I will be drinking a frosty beer tonight!
Lord have mercy!

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jun 25 2022 2:46 utc | 213

@ rjb1.5 | Jun 25 2022 2:11 utc | 207

in order to crush the US state, people should marry the illegals and defend them as family. with their lives.

That’s a nice sentiment, but let me guess . . . you’ve never married a foreign national? You get interviewed not once but twice by USIS in order to determine whether the marriage is “legitimate” or just for the sake of a green card. If USIS isn’t sufficiently charmed by your paperwork or otherwise doesn’t like you, the process can be, well, daunting. I was lucky; we could submit more than 600 pages of correspondence, a scrapbook’s worth of photos and testimonials — and the agent was, shall we say, sympathetic.

everything about the “states’ rights” argument in the US is about denying universal rights. it’s inherently fascistic.

Well, the USA is inherently fascistic — at least it has always wanted to be, and it may finally get its wish.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Jun 25 2022 2:11 utc | 207

Posted by: malenkov | Jun 25 2022 3:02 utc | 215

I believe there is a simpler route: Congress + President can create new Law which may make moot any given prior SCOTUS ruling.
Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 25 2022 2:52 utc | 213

That’s possible in some cases but hardly all of them; a law cannot render constitional something that SCOTUS has declared unconstitutional, for instance. Under the present conditions, however, the likelihood of any such law’s passing is remote at best. SCOTUS leans heavily Republican, and Republicans can filibuster anything in the Senate (but would hardly have to, thanks to Sens. Sinema and Manchin).

Posted by: malenkov | Jun 25 2022 3:06 utc | 217

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1E1TvboDFc
Hong Kong an excellent piece by CGTN Einer Tangen. I still remember when I was studying in HK in the early 60s…. My only wishes to see… China revokes Cathay Pacific and HKSB licenses…. that will end once and for all and repay parts of the the crimes of Anglo-Saxon’s opium treaders…. the sufferings of millions of Chinese (my ancestors too) lives for generation and many more generation to come… Good one Einer Tangen.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-06-21/Historical-narratives-vs-the-Truth-about-Hong-Kong-1b2RX2bL03e/index.html

Posted by: JC | Jun 25 2022 3:29 utc | 219

malenkov | Jun 25 2022 3:02 utc | 214
forget all that. we are not asking their permission. not filling out their forms.
guns, remember? that’s what the guns are for. so the modern cowboy homesteading on the fascist frontier can defend the homeland/homestead. and i’m referring to indocumentados. people already here.
again, we don’t need their permission. fuck their lawyers. i’m sorry you had to deal w/all that. i’m aware of that crap.
btw, there’s the practical issue of eugenics: among the illegals, there’s people who’ve basically walked from Chile and Brazil and Chiapas, people who can pick peaches in the Georgia sun…and people here who basically can’t walk down the Wal Mart aisle.
they need to interbreed, to be blunt. do it for america. do it for the troops.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Jun 25 2022 3:32 utc | 221

@ NemesisCalling | Jun 25 2022 2:46 utc | 212
Declaring that life begins at conception is an indisputable fact and you don’t have to be a biologist to affirm this.
Fact is, the embryo is part of the woman and it is her prerogative to shed herself of it if she doesn’t want it. If there is a silly law against it, history tells us the woman will abort anyhow perhaps at the hands of some amateur and she may well die of it. Or perhaps she gets stuck with a young one she hates, we read about that. That’s when theories about “indisputable facts” don’t do us any good. How smart is that? Anyhow it is only born human beings who are subject to criminal laws (except perhaps in Texas).

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 25 2022 3:42 utc | 223

Posted by: bevin | Jun 24 2022 17:10 utc | 114
States’ legislatures will decide in the USA as they do in Europe. Which has surprised some career “activists”, mostly because democracy is not well understood, they can’t pick out their elected representatives in a line-up much less mobilize enough signatures to force a referendum for an either statute or constitutional amendment on which “progressives” can agree.

Posted by: sln2002 | Jun 25 2022 4:01 utc | 225

I can see the scene now:
“Honey, I’m late again. Swing by the courthouse will you and get a conception certificate. Make up a name, we can always change it on the birth certificate.”
–more jobs in the courthouses!!

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 25 2022 4:23 utc | 227

I was looking at Scandinavia on my World map, and I couldn’t help but notice that Norway, Sweden and Finland look like 2 dicks and 1 ball.
My question here is : who’s the next country gonna step into the Russian grinder ?
Finland ? Lithuania ? Poland ? is there a dark horse ? Grenada or Panama maybe ?
Are they gonna airlift 100,000 ISIS guys from Idlib ?

Posted by: featherless | Jun 25 2022 4:29 utc | 229

Ukraine loses some ground so now abortion is the shiny object in western media…
The main problem facing the west is how far we are removed from the natural world. Synthetic cultures and synthetic societies.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 25 2022 4:39 utc | 231

Don Bacon | Jun 25 2022 2:15 utc | 208
malenkov | Jun 25 2022 2:30 utc | 209
You’re both incorrect for the simple reason, SCOTUS does not enforce any opinion, or interpretation, of disputed facts. Neither does SCOTUS legislate; “activist courts” is a fallacy that politicians promote. If states’ and fed legislatures do not remediate offending statute–or–states’ and fed executive agencies do not enforce court orders, petitioners are SOL and as would seem similarly situated complaints on the side lines. Until further notice, ie. atty comes along to file and litigate error of an inferior court application of a state or federal supreme court ruling. This happens a lot, every day, every year, passing without notice by MSM yella sheets. SCOTUS “constitutional crisis” docket per term increased from 1,195 in 1950 to 7,000-8,000 in the 21st century. Of those, cert is granted to, say, 10% of cases that merit review of increasingly narrow, abstruse interest to the associates du jour. LANDMARK decisions of HISTORIC scope just don’t fall off trees anymore. But when they do, the press typically misses the arguments, the split decisions, and flogs “topical villainy” like a rented mule. SCOTUS hasn’t approached “liberal” controversies for 60+ years, because the modus operandi of judgment is conservative by definition: stare decisis.
The US is the most ignorant, litigious nation on the planet.

Posted by: sln2002 | Jun 25 2022 6:07 utc | 233

In this modern western society that the majority of us commenting here live in, where is the celebration of family? Father, mother and children?

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 25 2022 7:21 utc | 235

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jun 25 2022 2:46 utc | 212
So by your strict definition a pregnant female who suffers from a miscarriage would be guilty of murder.
Clearly you have absolutely no idea about women’s health issues during pregnancy . Or for the fact that a majority of Republican party members . Including the usual bribed under the table male chauvinist advisors and hangers on. Associated with the geriatric elected Republican politicians.
Missed Miscarriage Statistics
1. As much as 1 percent of all pregnancies will result in a missed miscarriage.
2. At least 20 percent of pregnancies are likely to result in a miscarriage.
3. The overall risk of miscarriage is 17 to 22 percent.
4. The risk after the gestational sac develops is as much as 12 to 15 percent.
5. The risk of miscarriage is 9.4 percent after a heartbeat is detected at 6 weeks. The percentage drops to 4.2 percent at 7 weeks, 1.5 percent at 8 weeks and 0.5 percent at 9 weeks.
6. The risk of miscarriage increases 12 percent after age 30. It increases to as much as 39 percent after age 35 and doubles after age 40 (about 78 percent).
7. People with partners over 40 years old increases the risk of miscarriage by as much as 60 percent.
8. The risk of miscarriage increases by as much as 43 percent with partners of age 35. The risk increases to as much as 90 percent with partners at age 50.
9. The risk of miscarriage increases to 88 percent when the father is over 50 years old.
10. The risk of miscarriage doubles for people who need more than 1 year to have a successful conception.
By your definition the current over crowded and under resourced USSA prison system. Would require a mega expansion. For all female detention facilities.. To hold a minimum of 100,000,000 females of child bearing age. Plus an in annual increase of 25% minimum. For the crime of murder. The average jail time between fifteen to thirty years.
Tragic the worlds biggest jail USSA is set to expand the prison system to incarcerate more than one third of it’s population.
Interesting times ahead . The declining empire of evil will become the country of super size me female only gulags….
Question In the USSA where 63%+ of the voters are females. Now what could possibly go wrong on “Super Tuesday” mid terms election of all Republican Party male chauvinists candidates?
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Or , you reap what you sow…….
More pop corn required……….

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Jun 25 2022 8:29 utc | 237

In this modern western society that the majority of us commenting here live in, where is the celebration of family? Father, mother and children?
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 25 2022 7:21 utc | 234
????

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jun 25 2022 8:42 utc | 239

@watcher | Jun 25 2022 0:13 utc | 150

If you are talking the beginning of WWII ie 1939, Hitler did have most of Europe.
Italy, Austria,Germany, Hungary to start with, plus the fellow travelers less publicly, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Portugal probably Ireland.

No. Norway was attacked on April 9., 1940 and as the government was escaping the German Nazis after gaining a few hours of delay after sinking of the Blücher warship at Drøbak, the traitor Vidkun Quisling performed the first radio transmitted coup d’etat under the wings of the German Nazis.
Vidkun Quisling`s speech on April 9th 1940 (with english translation)

Posted by: Norwegian | Jun 25 2022 8:52 utc | 241

This comment on a previous thread says this:

Douglas Murray says that Latin America is where you find old European culture more than in modern Europe. I’m not sure I agree but it is a good point.

Now it’s gotten me even more curious about Latin America (and Mexico in particular).
It’s no secret that the Latin American nations use Civil Law (practiced in continental Europe, Russia included) instead of Common Law (practised in the US, the UK and Canada). The Spanish and Portuguese languages, unlike English, also retain the differentiation between formal and casual you and grammatical gender, so I can see where Mr. Murray is coming from to some degree (unless I was looking at it too much).
But there are other things which have yet to be certain with regards to what the Latin American nations inherited from Spain and Portugal:
1. If you tried to look up a list of countries where Sunday is the first day of the week v.s. Monday, the most prominent image would be a map showing most Latin American nations as ‘Sunday-first’ along with the USA, Canada and Japan, whereas Spain and Portugal are ‘Monday-first’ as with the rest of Europe.
How and when did they diverge?
2. It has been said that ‘direct speech’ is normal in Russia, Poland and Germany, and while I don’t know about the rest of continental Europe, let alone Spain or Portugal, I have seen Anglophone expats/tourists mistake it for rudeness, so clearly the Anglosphere is out of the question.
Where do most Latin American nations stand in this sense?
3. I’ve heard that ‘small talk’ is not done in Russia or Germany. Assuming it’s a mixed bag in the European continent, is ‘small talk’ a thing in Spain and/or Portugal? In Latin America too?
4. I’ve heard that in Russian culture, smiling is supposed to express actual happiness or amusement, not just be a polite gesture. In other words, if you smile at strangers, they’d think you’re crazy, insincere, etc.. Does a similar social stigma exist in Spain and Portugal as well? And Latin America too?
These are the questions I have in my mind so far. I hope I’m not creating any trouble for anybody.

Posted by: joey_n | Jun 25 2022 9:00 utc | 243

@Peter AU1 | Jun 25 2022 4:20 utc | 191

This is an odd military operation. Ukraine is the only military force apart from Turkey nato have.

Well, Ukraine is not in NATO, so that leaves only Turkey.

Posted by: Norwegian | Jun 25 2022 10:19 utc | 245

@psychohistorian #97
Sorry, but “My Body, My Right” went out the door with vaccine mandates.

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 25 2022 12:11 utc | 247

@malenkov #104
I haven’t looked at this closely, but the impression I get is that the Roe v. Wade thing is not specifically anti-abortion so much as it is a direct attack on the federal vs. state delineation that Roe v. Wade is presumed upon.
Or in other words: Roe v. Wade and other rulings presumed on a line of federal power vs. state’s rights which is not ironclad, and thus the clarification of that line would erode the Constitutional basis of the federal government’s right to impose laws in a number of areas on states.
If Congress had passed a law enshrining Roe v. Wade, this would not be an issue but the original ruling was pure lawfare. And as such, I can’t be too sympathetic since the proponents of such have had literally 50 years to remedy the weakness.

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 25 2022 12:19 utc | 249

@Bad Deal Motors On #178
The GCM models are all heuristic. As in many of the runs are literally junk – they go negative temperature.
The “validation testing” you speak of consists of filtering out all those runs which the authors find unacceptable as well as presetting early parts of runs to the historical record.
It is literally like rolling dice over and over again until you get the results you want.
So no, they are neither consistent, nor reliable, nor scientific.
They are “science-y”.

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 25 2022 12:28 utc | 251

Posted by: joey_n | Jun 25 2022 9:00 utc | 242
1. Sunday first or Monday first
No idea where they diverged. Spain is monday-first. Portuguese is sunday-first. Portuguese don’t even name the workdays, from monday to friday they’re just numbered.
2. Direct speech
What in fuck is direct speech?
Is it the difference between the above sentence and, say, “May I ask what in fuck direct speech is?” or “Could you please tell me what in fuck direct speech is?”
3. Small talk
In spain it’s for certain a thing. In fact a social skill. Doesn’t mean everybody likes it or all situations are appropriate.
4. Smiling at strangers
A thing in spain, again, not everybody does it; but nobody would find it odd unless it’s overacted. Don’t act like a toothpaste ad and you’ll be OK.
——
My own contribution: Latin-American spanish speakers frequently use, in everyday speech; words that to European spanish-speakers sound technical or high-cultured; and it is not a result of the speaker’s education or class background. Whereas in Spain simpler, more vulgar terms would be used.
I cannot give you any specific examples, but latin-american spanish lexicons often come across as slightly more refined than the european spanish one. Your mileage may vary.

Posted by: Arganthonios | Jun 25 2022 12:40 utc | 253

And back to the COVID:
peer reviewed paper notes that increase in serious adverse events, overall, for mRNA vaccinated are higher than COVID vaccine reduction of adverse events from COVID – ssrn.com

Pfizer and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were associated with an increased risk of serious adverse events of special interest, with an absolute risk increase of 10.1 and 15.1 per 10,000 vaccinated over placebo baselines of 17.6 and 42.2 (95% CI -0.4 to 20.6 and -3.6 to 33.8), respectively. Combined, the mRNA vaccines were associated with an absolute risk increase of serious adverse events of special interest of 12.5 per 10,000 (95% CI 2.1 to 22.9). The excess risk of serious adverse events of special interest surpassed the risk reduction for COVID-19 hospitalization relative to the placebo group in both Pfizer and Moderna trials (2.3 and 6.4 per 10,000 participants, respectively).

Or in other words, if serious adverse effects are the category to be judged: the mRNA vaccines did more harm than good – at least in the Phase 3 trials for Pfizer and Moderna.
Ouch.

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 25 2022 12:57 utc | 255

More fun with “alternative” energy:
Dutch Power Grid Can’t Handle Influx of Electric Car Charging Points

By 2025, there will be some 3,000 neighborhoods in the Netherlands where no new electric car charging points can be installed, knowledge center ElaadNL said to BNR. The growing demand for electric vehicles and accompanying charging stations is quickly overloading the power grid, grid operators confirmed to the broadcaster.
According to Rutger Croon of ElaanNL, the power grid in some 3,000 neighborhoods won’t have room for more charging stations within the next three years. Unless smart charging – when vehicles connect digitally to the grid and only charge when less power is used, like at night – is the only option.

Dutch penetration of EVs: 4.3% according to wiki.

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 25 2022 13:14 utc | 257

@Bemildred #255
Why is it that state’s rights are always bad, and federal government always good?
—
Please avoid the bullshit trap that hardliner advocates (on both sides) try to prime the sheeple with.
Posted by: c1ue | Jun 25 2022 13:17 utc | 257
Well I didn’t say that nor do I think that, but I would say the problem comes from what they (state’s rights) have been used for in the past. Like slavery.
The problem is local control is generally good, but not always.
I favor lots of local control, as long as it is not used to abuse people.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jun 25 2022 13:23 utc | 259

The point of having our present US system is that mistakes can be made, and corrected.
Posted by: c1ue | Jun 25 2022 13:29 utc | 259
So, are we in a bad mood today? About SCOTUS antics? Well, never mind. Sorry I bothered you. I suppose Roberts is not too happy either, his court got away from him.
I think all children have an interest in parents who a.) want them, and b.) have the means to support them in childhood. So no I am not anti-abortion.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jun 25 2022 13:41 utc | 261

@Bemildred #255
Why is it that state’s rights are always bad, and federal government always good?
—
I operate from the assumption that, with relatively meager exceptions, both states and the federal government are evil, and their bodies of laws codifications of iniquity and inequality. I therefore judge issues on their merits, not on the basis of state or the federal law.

Posted by: malenkov | Jun 25 2022 13:46 utc | 263

I think this is a correct inference from the Court’s decision, and your last sentence points to something I’ve yelled myself hoarse about over the years: The Dims don’t really care about the matter except to the degree that they can emotionally blackmail people into voting for them because of it.
Posted by: malenkov | Jun 25 2022 13:41 utc | 261
It is great for fundraising too, ever green.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jun 25 2022 13:47 utc | 265

Posted by: malenkov | Jun 25 2022 13:46 utc | 262
c1ue said that, not me.
All I said is Clarence is aiming at state’s right arguments. And state’s rights rights arguments have played a big role here in the past. You read into that whatever you like.
People here are so reactive.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jun 25 2022 13:54 utc | 267

Is it OK if I like puppies?
No, I guess not.
Well, never mind.
I’ll just leave now.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jun 25 2022 14:00 utc | 269

@Bemildred #266
If you had only said “Clarence is aiming at state’s right arguments”, I would have no issues with that.
However, that isn’t all that you said.
You added

I guess he misses Jim Crow.

That is a dog whistle and certainly insulting to Justice Thomas personally. Nor did you stop there – you then followed up with:

I would say the problem comes from what they (state’s rights) have been used for in the past. Like slavery.

thus making it very clear that your first statement wasn’t a throwaway.
To which I responded with several specific examples of US Federal government abuse of power. Or in other words, power is always going to be abused at some point.

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 25 2022 14:19 utc | 271

@Bemildred
You still don’t seem to get it – I have specifically refrained from using dog whistle terms, and instead have tried to show that your references are inaccurate and unhelpful.
Here is an example where I don’t refrain:
You said

I favor lots of local control, as long as it is not used to abuse people.

Devout people believe that abortion is murder, and murder is the ultimate abuse of people.
Anyone who advocates for open abortion is a babykiller.
Do you see how this works now? This is an exact replica of the dog whistle tactics used by extreme advocates on all sides, and citing Clarence Thomas as “missing Jim Crow” is either repeating dog whistle nonsense you heard somewhere else or worse, you creating your own.

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 25 2022 14:26 utc | 273

@malenkov #221
Can you provide a reference to this day 40 reference?

Why sure! Here’s the essay on abortion from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
As for the embryo-vs-fetus matter, that’s modern knowledge based on what we now know about gestation. Poeple back then knew little more than jack shit, but it didn’t stop them from theorizing and (sometimes literally) pontificating, of course.

Posted by: malenkov | Jun 25 2022 14:41 utc | 275

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 25 2022 14:31 utc | 273
“I have a lot of problems with it – including that humanity didn’t have MRIs or ultrasound 2000 years ago, so how could they possibly know Day 40? Modern women don’t even know they’re pregnant until they take a test…
Did they even have the conception of embryos, 2000 years ago? Anatomy as informed by dissection wasn’t even a thing until 2 or 3 hundred years ago.”
Dr.Hua To, around 100 AD (?) performed heart and other organ transplants. He abandoned the practice because he felt it inferior medicine rightly arguing that a good doctor wouldn’t let his patients get so ill as to need one. Of course it might be helpful in battlefield situations.
I also suspect he had rejection issue although herbal antibiotics kick ass. I went to the only Daoist Medical University in the West (and almost the entire world because CCP outlaws anything vaguely religious which qigong-based medicine is regarded as) and had a bad abscess one day. I went to the clinic to see if they had anything otherwise would have to go to dentist to get prescription for antibiotics. They gave me a formula from plants (pre-prepared) and one day later the abscess was gone and none of the friendly intestinal flora were killed off (I don’t think).
The head doctor there was a (female) Daoist lineage holder. She studied plant medicine with her grandfather walking through famous mountains in China. She can tell the medicinal properties of any plant anywhere in the world simply by looking (at where it grows, shape of leaves, color etc.), smelling and tasting. There are detailed ancient texts in many traditions about fetal/ embryo development.
A long time ago we lived in caves and butchered animals for meat. Some of those animals were pregnant and had fetuses in them. Men, stupid as they are, also noticed how womens’ bellies swelled over time and then after the baby came out they want back down. Being not entirely idiots they figured out that the baby came from inside the mother, just like with animals.
Our conception of the ancient world has been deliberately dumbed down by modern scientists who wish to cover over their ignorance about so many things by telling the story that they represent the cutting edge, that everything before was greatly inferior. It’s simply not true.
Of course there were many things they didn’t get. Just as there are many things we don’t get. Hence modern materialist science absurd proposals that mind doesn’t exist and that all life forms on the planet are the result of random mutations even though they haven’t found a single evidentiary example existing today amongst living creatures all around or in the fossil record. Pure fiction! But try to dispute it and all sorts of headaches come your way. (Though not on this open-minded forum, thankfully!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Tuo
In earlier times people had far more developed sense perceptions (like many blind people for example) and also studied the natural world much more deeply resulting in uncanny ability to know things which nowadays we consider impossible to do without machines.
For example this story in the wikipedia article:
“For example:
The governor of [Guangling], Chen Deng, had an illness which caused him to be distressed by a feeling of stuffiness in his chest. He also had a red face and no desire for food. [Hua Tuo] took his pulse and said, “Your honour, there are several pints of parasitic bugs in your stomach and you are on the verge of developing an ulcer. This was caused by eating raw fish.” Whereupon he prepared two pints of a decoction for the governor, [Hua Tuo] had him drink one pint first and then after a little while had him finish the remainder. In the space of time that it takes to eat a meal, the governor vomited up three pints or so of parasites. They had red heads and were all wriggling; half of their bodies looked like raw fish slices. The discomfort that he had experienced was immediately relieved. “This sickness will erupt after three years. If you are attended by a good doctor, he will be able to save you.” The sickness did indeed erupt after the specified period. At the time, [Hua Tuo] was not in the area and the governor died as [Hua Tuo] had said he would if he did not have a good doctor.[15]”
He correctly diagnosed the parasites without being able to see them visually. He also correctly predicted they would return in 3 years.
Modern medicine is fantastic at some things. And does more harm than good with many others. MRNA vaccine tech being one of the latter, clearly!

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 25 2022 15:04 utc | 277

t is literally like rolling dice over and over again until you get the results you want.
So no, they are neither consistent, nor reliable, nor scientific.
They are “science-y”.
Posted by: c1ue | Jun 25 2022 12:28 utc | 250
Oh no look a fallacy argument to authority. I fell of the chair laughing so hard. Ha Ha
At the dawn of age of science. The common theme for science has not changed .
Back in 1950, those not literate in science. The big tobacco theory “Smoking is good for you and healthy too” .TV Ad Dr so and so recommends blah blah unfiltered “X” brand cancer sticks. No empirical peer reviewed evidence supplied. end result millions of preventable deaths from assorted cancers. Since 1950……
Basic conspiracy theory 101. Oh look type in key words “Commercial, Food, Factory fire”. Oh look at all these recent random fires at food production facilities! There is a bound to be a match since a structural fire event occurs every 23 seconds/24/7/365 in the USSA .Crackpot theory number one conspiracy theory some one/ some group is using Arson. Close enough. No tests no validation checks. Eliminate the inconvenient fires where it is self evident. Crackpot theory one is a goer. No peer review , No data anomalies. No other inconvenient information supplied . No checks needed to cross reference against “Insurance America’s annual report Cause of Structural Fires USSA”
To validate crackpot theory number one. Is both too hard and time consuming. Discard data where the cause is published. Instead I as a layperson will spread crackpot theory number one around . Also employ paid shills to spread said untested crackpot theory number one. To fool other ignorant fools. As they are all too gullible and lazy. Lacking in the necessary mononeurons to question more…….. …..
That my friend is the science of how denial works by spreading worthless trash conspiracy theories in all social media ,blogs and twatter. All because we are fare too lazy to question more unlike real scientist in the real world.
For example one of the greatest myths created by the USSAF propaganda machine and published often . In western mainstream media. Was the mythical seven Migs-15’s shot down for the loss of one F-86. The ratio was closer to unity. Even Hollywood propaganda reruns continue to spread that myth around to this day…..
You may try often but alas as joeyess said in 2009. in his youtub song “The dirty F….. Hippies Were Right” The global icecaps are melting at an alarming rate .
Denial is not a river in Egypt

Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Jun 25 2022 16:02 utc | 279

@malenkov #274
I read through your reference: there is no mention whatsoever of “embryos” until 1800s era.
There is reference to abortion, but those are clearly of fetuses – i.e. significant swelling of the uterus which doesn’t occur until 16-20 weeks, i.e. 4 to 5 months in out of 9 months.

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 25 2022 16:38 utc | 281

Tenth Amendment (part of the Bill of Rights):

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Writings of the time and since make it clear that the individual states were intended to be the “social laboratories”. The Federal system was not.
If you live in the USA, I trust you will find, as I have, that one can talk with and influence the legislature of one’s state far more easily that one can influence the US Congress.
And it was my state that partially protected me from federal malfeasance during the pandemic.
The fact is that the states are more responsive to the people. The degrees of separation aren’t technically any different between the individual and the local, state or federal levels – if you think in terms of ballot box – but in practice the ability to talk with and influence the governing bodies of those three levels are vastly different.
~~
Personally I suspect that SCOTUS will be immensely relieved to hand abortion back to the states, where the people can more effectively decide. It was always a hot potato on their desk. The Supreme Court totally botched the abortion issue (I read all the original decisions), and it was always a matter for a legislature – but Congress didn’t want to touch it (or so I surmise).
ps…I haven’t read this latest judgment or studied this issue in any way since the earliest decisions, including now.

Posted by: Grieved | Jun 25 2022 17:46 utc | 283

@ Grieved | Jun 25 2022 17:46 utc | 283
Yes, but the case hinged less on the Tenth Amendment than on the Ninth, which is about rights not specifically enumerated in the Constitution, which are to be retained by the people; and the Fourteenth (sec. 1), which limits state power to abridge privileges, immunities, life, liberty, or property. The “liberals” on the court maintain that these rights evolve over time and continue to evolve; and criticized the Court’s majority ruling for implying that we should use the understanding of citizen rights that prevailed in 1868 (if not, indeed, 1791) — absent any subsequent constitutional amendment, of course. Because there was no pro-abortion consensus in 1868, the Court (once again paraphrasing from the liberals’ dissent) chooses to refer the question back to the states via the Tenth Amendment.
In this regard the concurring opinion by Thomas is more consistent than the Court opinion. In overturning stare decisis, the majority argument seems to be “because life,” although the question of what is or isn’t life is not, according to the that very majority opinion, not the Court’s business. Thomas argues in terms of rejecting all rulings based on “substantive due process claims.” Thus while the majority takes pains to note that its ruling doesn’t call cases like Griswold, Lawrence, or Obergefell into question (see especially Kavanaugh’s rather frantically worded concurring opinion in this regard), Thomas states in no uncertain terms that those judgments be overruled. Curiously, there is an inconsistency in Thomas’s concurring opinion, as he doesn’t include Loving v. Virginia among the substantive due process claims he rejects. Hmm, wonder why.

Posted by: malenkov | Jun 25 2022 18:08 utc | 285

at Grieved | Jun 25 2022 17:46 utc | 283
Last night (UTC+2) I wrote this at another site. Sleeping on it, it still reflects the profound sadness expressed within. The original court decision was justly made as the courts also write law through their judgments and, incidentally, in the power of a jury also in their decisions, the original court was on sound principle, contrary to present claims by sitting justices writing the decision, Alito’s ignorance exposed.
The problem the original court faced was the political impasse the Congress faced in addressing the issue, making resolution through legislation politically poison and unavailable, the court took the issue on. Whether one agrees with or doesn’t agree with abortion, the only person competent to make that decision is the mother, maybe aided by medical competent practitioners. No one was forced to do the procedure or to perform it against their interests. That universality has disappeared now. We are back to the hodgepodge of state laws that the original court gave equality of medical access to all citizens. YMMV
Link address:
https://www.theautomaticearth.com/forums/topic/debt-rattle-june-24-2022/page/2/#post-110301

Remember this day, Friday, 24 June 2022, another day for the Infamy Files if anyone recalls the disaster that began on that day giving birth to Infamy.
Of sources of conflict that nurture emotion, few can surpass birthing. Many times conflict does not occur and supportive emotions exist. It is the times conflict does happen that engender the greatest emotions; conflicts arising from countless wells, no law can be written to address the smallest number of conflicts, no morality can provide justice, no court can hear even the smallest fraction to adjudicate equality.
There was a wisdom found by the court that found in Roe vs. Wade that found a sweet spot to the conundrums. Instead of a national law which could not be written, for political and legal reasons; or relying on the various states to try local legislation creating a hodgepodge of conflicting laws that would in effect make a citizen effected in one state fully empowered while in another a similar citizen became second or third class in receiving equal treatment under the law, the court removed law from entering into the citizen’s exercise of their options, and it removed legal liability from those medical services that would provide the needed assistance.
That is what was destroyed by judicial ideologues pretending morality today. Roe vs. Wade cannot be restored now. A citizen in Mississippi will not be equal to a citizen of California, or anywhere else anymore as state laws governing the fraught issues surrounding birth will vary in scope and quality of latitudes of considerations given, and the courts will be inundated with suits for exception and equity in untold conflicts. Keeps lawyers employed.
Like prohibition, this decision will profoundly affect the nation in unforeseeable ways, changing life like prohibition did. The lesson of prohibition has been forgotten but is still able to reteach that lesson now that absolute morality has reared its head again. Be damned careful what you wish for, you may deserve getting it.

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Jun 25 2022 19:02 utc | 287

@Arganthonios (253)

2. Direct speech
What in fuck is direct speech?
Is it the difference between the above sentence and, say, “May I ask what in fuck direct speech is?” or “Could you please tell me what in fuck direct speech is?”

Yes, that’s what I’m thinking of, minus the expletive.

Posted by: joey_n | Jun 25 2022 20:29 utc | 289

Something bevin might like – though he’s probably already read it:
https://declassifieduk.org/exclusive-jeremy-corbyn-on-the-establishment-campaign-to-stop-him-becoming-pm/
“CAMPAIGN TO STOP HIM BECOMING PM
The former Labour Party leader sits down with Declassified for his most candid interview yet – on the British media, UK military and intelligence services, Israel, Keir Starmer, Julian Assange and Saudi Arabia.”
via an old friend’s site at https://sitrepworld.info/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Not the first person to be blocked by the Establishment and won’t be the last. Unless….. Eurasian Reset?!

Posted by: Scorpion | Jun 25 2022 21:11 utc | 291

@Formerly T-Bear #287
You said

The problem the original court faced was the political impasse the Congress faced in addressing the issue, making resolution through legislation politically poison and unavailable, the court took the issue on.

Therein lies the rub, doesn’t it?
It is interesting how the Supreme Court “interfering” in a legislative matter that was deadlocked – i.e. there was not a clear public mandate, one way or the other – was acceptable in the 1970s but that the Supreme Court “interfering” again in the same legislative matter, which is equally deadlocked, is unacceptable now.
To many, including myself, the Supreme Court’s activist judgments in the 1960s and 1970s cannot be blessed if you condemn the same activism, only in a different direction, today. This seems hypocrisy of the highest order.
Furthermore, it is equally a false dichotomy to equate the present environment – where secularism is unquestionably holding sway – vs. the environment in the 1970s: before women started working in large numbers, before the radical decline of religion in American life, etc etc.
There is no possibility of an abortion equivalent to the 18th amendment happening today – which is why I find it so utterly ludicrous that somehow Supreme Court machinations which swung one way before, and another way way, is somehow the end of the world.
The reality is that the situation on the ground is not going to change for the vast majority of Americans.
Those most desirous of abortions and most not-anti-abortion are in the deep blue cities – they will have the exact same environment before.
Those most offended by the mores of abortion will still live surrounded mostly by their like minded.
And those who live surrounded by a majority of opposite opinion, will move or temporarily relocate to obtain services where they are freely available.

Posted by: c1ue | Jun 25 2022 21:58 utc | 293

Funny stuff from Tom Q.
State legislation is far easier to impact than federal.
Proximity is everything in state law.
For example: I grow weed for a living.
When the city/county I lived in did not provide liberal laws for producing cannabis,
I moved to a city/county that did.
When the state I lived in wasn’t liberal enough with its cannabis laws,
I moved to another state.
People act as if there is no mobility, or options for the individual.
As I said, the extrapolations required to form an argument against the individual states prescribing their own laws are off the planet.
Don’t like em, move your ass to another state.
And don’t forget to vote.

Posted by: Cadence calls | Jun 25 2022 22:25 utc | 295

@ Cadence calls | Jun 25 2022 22:25 utc | 295
On the other hand, the fact that American have become progressively more mobile over the years has significantly reduced the individual states as distinct cultures and repositories of distinct traditions with which its residents feel a deep identification. The idea that your right to an abortion, your right to vote if you’re an ex-felon, your right to toke, or roll coal, or (until recently, and perhaps soon enough again) your right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation, should vary from state to state impresses an increasing number of people as a bureaucratic inconvenience or, given our lack of historical sense, just plain arbitrary.
As we can see, the pace of change at the state level does tend to be less glacial than at the federal level. But I’d be surprised if a majority of Americans still regard their state of residence as much more than an administrative entity they pay taxes to.

Posted by: malenkov | Jun 25 2022 22:53 utc | 297

Don Bacon | Jun 25 2022 3:29 utc | 220
“The Taiwan Strait is international waters”
Not exactly a universal “truth”.

Posted by: Doesitreallymatter | Jun 25 2022 23:42 utc | 299