US Elections

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  • Re: US Elections

    Thanks, Tom. That was interesting reading. That blog reminded me of something I heard on Fox News (on Sirius) a week or ten days before the election. Trump was speaking in Michigan and Fox played the full tape of his speech - about 15 minutes or so. At the start of his remarks he engaged in some of his usual nonsense but then he settled down and started speaking coherently and, to my great surprise, intellingently about different policy issues. I'm not saying that I agreed with everything he said but it did occur to me that the point that you and others had been making was true (i.e. that biased mainstream media reporting was casting Trump in an excessively negative light by focusing on his 'jackass' comments rather than the substance of what he was saying).
    "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." - Aesop
    "Only the dead have seen the end of war." - Plato
    "If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination." - Thomas De Quincey

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    • Re: US Elections

      Originally posted by Peter McKillop View Post
      Thanks, Tom. That was interesting reading. That blog reminded me of something I heard on Fox News (on Sirius) a week or ten days before the election. Trump was speaking in Michigan and Fox played the full tape of his speech - about 15 minutes or so. At the start of his remarks he engaged in some of his usual nonsense but then he settled down and started speaking coherently and, to my great surprise, intellingently about different policy issues. I'm not saying that I agreed with everything he said but it did occur to me that the point that you and others had been making was true (i.e. that biased mainstream media reporting was casting Trump in an excessively negative light by focusing on his 'jackass' comments rather than the substance of what he was saying).
      Agreed that Trump is not a dummy.....and he knew how to communicate and get press coverage and support by outlandish statements.

      But it is his substantial policies, that he and others have thought out and hold, that is scary. They are going to implement their ideologically pretty far right agenda, since they have total control. Look at the team Trump is hand-picking - others are much more qualified, and being passed over......he is picking his ideological peers, and sharing power with them.

      I fear that the 25% who elected them may in a very short while, wonder what they've done, not only to Democrats, but also themselves.......they will see things they didn't know they were voting for......and there will be no stopping the Trump team (they control not only Administration but Congress (House of Representatives and Senate).

      Bob A

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      • Re: US Elections

        It's funny how for some people, democracy works only if they like the result...

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        • Re: US Elections

          Originally posted by Mathieu Cloutier View Post
          It's funny how for some people, democracy works only if they like the result...
          Yes, and it's "funny" how Donald Trump -- he who infamously said he may not accept the results of the election -- is calling the Wisconsin recount paid for by Jill Stein (Green Party) a SCAM.

          Guess what Trump would be doing if he had lost the election? If you said "paying for recounts".... DING DING DING!
          Only the rushing is heard...
          Onward flies the bird.

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          • Re: US Elections

            Originally posted by Paul Bonham View Post
            Yes, and it's "funny" how Donald Trump -- he who infamously said he may not accept the results of the election -- is calling the Wisconsin recount paid for by Jill Stein (Green Party) a SCAM.

            Guess what Trump would be doing if he had lost the election? If you said "paying for recounts".... DING DING DING!
            I thought the Left contained much better people. Non-violent, big believers in big government, accepting of all sorts of diversity. Guess not, eh? ;-)
            "Tom is a well known racist, and like most of them he won't admit it, possibly even to himself." - Ed Seedhouse, October 4, 2020.

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            • Re: US Elections

              Originally posted by Paul Bonham View Post
              Yes, and it's "funny" how Donald Trump -- he who infamously said he may not accept the results of the election -- is calling the Wisconsin recount paid for by Jill Stein (Green Party) a SCAM.

              Guess what Trump would be doing if he had lost the election? If you said "paying for recounts".... DING DING DING!
              My statement works for Trump, his supporters and their opponents.

              It's democracy. People voted in an open election in a free country and we should just acknowledge the result and move on.

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              • Re: US Elections

                Originally posted by Paul Bonham View Post
                ...this is getting tiresome.
                I can think of at least one person for whom it is getting quite worrying, no? :)

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                • Re: US Elections

                  Originally posted by Paul Bonham View Post
                  Similarly it is meaningless to even contemplate an all powerful God "already knowing what he is". Or in Brad Thomson's case, talking about such a God "someday" having full self-realization.
                  I disagree, I do not believe that it is meaningless to talk about a God in the process of developing toward full self-realization. In fact, I think it is meaningless to talk about a God that is already all-everything. And I think that you yourself have proven this, my contention, with the arguments you present. You argue that both Time and Infinity as concepts are important to our discussion. I agree completely!

                  Let us suppose for the sake of discussion that God does exist as Infinite and outside of Time. What does it mean for God to exist outside of Time? Well, it means that all of Infinite Time is eternally present to God. It means that God does not have a past or a future, but only an eternal and unchanging present. It means that God does not change. It means that God by definition CANNOT change. A being that cannot produce change cannot be said to have any power. A being that cannot be said to have any power cannot be said to exist.

                  So, if we place God outside of Time we define Him/Her out of existence.

                  Therefore, if God does exist, God must have power, and be capable of change. Thus, only an evolving God, only a God that exists IN time is possible. Only a God that can be said to have a past that is no more and a future that is not yet can be said to possibly exist.

                  And this is not inconsistent with Christianity. Elijah asks Jehovah not to kill any more of his enemies, and Jehovah CHANGES his mind and agrees with Elijah. Of course the Bible demonstrates a God that is learning over time, that is achieving self-realization over time.

                  Do we not call God, FATHER TIME?

                  So why would we want to put Him/Her outside of Time?

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                  • Re: US Elections

                    Originally posted by Brad Thomson View Post
                    Do we not call God, FATHER TIME?
                    She prefers to be known as Mother Nature!

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                    • Re: US Elections

                      Originally posted by Bob Gillanders View Post
                      She prefers to be known as Mother Nature!
                      S/he prefers to be called S/he!

                      Comment


                      • Re: US Elections

                        Originally posted by Brad Thomson View Post
                        I disagree, I do not believe that it is meaningless to talk about a God in the process of developing toward full self-realization. In fact, I think it is meaningless to talk about a God that is already all-everything. And I think that you yourself have proven this, my contention, with the arguments you present. You argue that both Time and Infinity as concepts are important to our discussion. I agree completely!

                        Let us suppose for the sake of discussion that God does exist as Infinite and outside of Time. What does it mean for God to exist outside of Time? Well, it means that all of Infinite Time is eternally present to God. It means that God does not have a past or a future, but only an eternal and unchanging present. It means that God does not change. It means that God by definition CANNOT change. A being that cannot produce change cannot be said to have any power. A being that cannot be said to have any power cannot be said to exist.

                        So, if we place God outside of Time we define Him/Her out of existence.

                        Therefore, if God does exist, God must have power, and be capable of change. Thus, only an evolving God, only a God that exists IN time is possible. Only a God that can be said to have a past that is no more and a future that is not yet can be said to possibly exist.

                        And this is not inconsistent with Christianity. Elijah asks Jehovah not to kill any more of his enemies, and Jehovah CHANGES his mind and agrees with Elijah. Of course the Bible demonstrates a God that is learning over time, that is achieving self-realization over time.

                        Do we not call God, FATHER TIME?

                        So why would we want to put Him/Her outside of Time?

                        Brad, I was not arguing that God is or ever will be outside of Time. And I agree totally that time = change and change = time. My argument was that just as we can never attach a definite static unchanging number to Infinity, we can never attach a definite, static unchanging power to God. God and Infinity are one and the same.

                        Where we do seem to differ is this: you wrote in a post somewhere in this thread "God, optimistically, WILL eventually get to the point of being all of the above, and when this happens we are back in Eden." So you are thinking (or you WERE thinking) that while God isn't fully powerful right now, there will come a time when S/he is fully powerful, fully self-realized.

                        But now in this latest post of yours, you are arguing against your prior statement. Now you are saying that if a day ever comes when God is all powerful, it means God is outside of time and by definition must no longer exist, a view with which I agree. The only conclusion is that your view has changed since that prior post.

                        So if we are both in agreement that God can never be all powerful, then it remains for Vlad Drkulec to defend his view that God must already be all powerful.
                        Only the rushing is heard...
                        Onward flies the bird.

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                        • Re: US Elections

                          Originally posted by Mathieu Cloutier View Post
                          ......we should just acknowledge the result and move on.
                          I wonder if you would say that if someone were to hack into your bank account and remove your entire balance. Wouldn't you like to know that your bank could audit and find that your money disappeared because of a hack, and would restore your balance to you?

                          As Trump himself said throughout the campaign: "There are bad people out there, very bad people."
                          Only the rushing is heard...
                          Onward flies the bird.

                          Comment


                          • Re: US Elections

                            Originally posted by Paul Bonham View Post
                            ... "There are bad people out there, very bad people."
                            I can picture him saying that with his little hands up making those 'ok' signs he's so fond of. :)
                            "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." - Aesop
                            "Only the dead have seen the end of war." - Plato
                            "If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination." - Thomas De Quincey

                            Comment


                            • Re: US Elections

                              Originally posted by Paul Bonham View Post
                              I wonder if you would say that if someone were to hack into your bank account and remove your entire balance. Wouldn't you like to know that your bank could audit and find that your money disappeared because of a hack, and would restore your balance to you?

                              As Trump himself said throughout the campaign: "There are bad people out there, very bad people."
                              Well, that's just not the same. What you're describing here is a criminal act.

                              The US election is a very complex, decentralized system and it would be very hard to hack it.

                              Had Hillary won, would you believe the election has been hacked? You complain just because you don't like the result. And yes, I agree that Donald Trump would have done the same in that regard.

                              Comment


                              • Re: US Elections

                                Originally posted by Mathieu Cloutier View Post
                                Well, that's just not the same. What you're describing here is a criminal act.

                                The US election is a very complex, decentralized system and it would be very hard to hack it.

                                Had Hillary won, would you believe the election has been hacked? You complain just because you don't like the result. And yes, I agree that Donald Trump would have done the same in that regard.

                                Uhhhh.... I think if the U.S. election were provably hacked and the hackers were caught and brought to the U.S., they would be charged with a criminal offence.

                                In both cases, we are talking about hacking. Banks are also supposed to be very hard to hack.

                                And it isn't a question of whether I or anyone else believed the election HAS been hacked. It is a question of whether it is believable that the election COULD HAVE BEEN hacked.

                                I am not complaining. I am commenting on 2 things: (1) the hypocrisy of Trump, and (2) apparent evidence that could point to hacking, the evidence being apparent inconsistencies where electronic voting machines were used versus where actual paper voting was done. I haven't SEEN the evidence, I'm just commenting on the reports that someone somewhere has pointed out such evidence has been found, and so yes, I believe that auditing should be done. Any electronic device that has a connected IP address can be hacked, period. There is no foolproof way to stop it, there are only ways to make it more difficult. But there are also ways to prove it happened after the fact.

                                Although I don't expect this to happen, it would be quite interesting if auditing was done and evidence of hacking was found in all 3 states (Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan). If there is evidence found in those 3 states and nowhere else, that alone is very strong circumstantial evidence of Republican interference because those 3 states all typically go Democrat and were heavily expected to do just that in this election.

                                The interesting thing would be the legal ramifications if hard evidence were found. What could be done? Would those 3 states have to vote again?
                                Only the rushing is heard...
                                Onward flies the bird.

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