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The Old Hack

Political Discussion Thread (READ FIRST POST)

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Anarchy isn’t about there being no law—it’s about there being no unaccountable authorities. It is often said that governments are granted a monopoly on coercion for the purpose of law enforcement and peacekeeping. Anarchy is when nobody has  a monopoly.

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A lot of reformist and revolutionary thinkers before the 20th Century advocated for Anarchy, believing people would never accept their enlightened rule unless all previous societal institutions were first eliminated.

Trouble is that there are a lot of people who want to eliminate the powers-that-be.  But these fellow Anarchists may not be inclined to support your Utopian vision afterwards. 

 

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Many of those people would like to become the new Powers-That-Be themselves, or else somehow maintain the ensuing power vacuum such that there would be no Powers at all for the near future.

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Anarchy is a messy thing to think about.  A lot of "libertarians" like to think that they are anarchists, but they still want contract law. 

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Trump and his sycophants are calling the legal actions against him a 'witch hunt'. Point of order, Madams and Sirs, I believe this is unfair to actual witches.

A witch put Hansel in a cage. Trump had many children forcibly separated from their parents and placed in cages; it's a question of scope.

Witches are frequently portrayed as green. Trump's orange hue is in a different segment of the spectrum.

There has been of yet zero attempts to burn Donald Trump at a stake. I'm not saying I would object, but it is still a distinction between two different classes of individuals. (If Donald Trump is burned at a stake, I'd suggest for safety purposes that the fire department be present with a tank truck full of foam suppressant spray suitable for a hydrocarbon fire. With Trump's diet, I would not rely on a fire hydrant to put him out.)

The witches in Macbeth are prescient and foretell future events with some accuracy. Trump is essentially a clueless self-promoting grifter who has no sense of what's around the corner.

Too bad he doesn't live in Oz, where Dorothy's house could fall on him.

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1 hour ago, ijuin said:

Trump is probably better described as the Wizard—a charlatan who has his supporters convinced that he can work magic, while he gets other people to do his dirty work.

"They've exposed my fraud. Send me money!"

"Dorothy's not my type. Can you believe what she's saying about me?"

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19 minutes ago, mlooney said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Belgorod_Oblast_attack  

On 22 May 2023, two Ukraine-based Russian opposition partisan groups, the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, claimed to have attacked targets in Grayvoronsky District of Belgorod Oblast.

I view this with mixed feelings. Small victories aligned with Ukrainian interests, perhaps, and it's nice they have allies within Russia. The actual impact on Russia seems minimal, the population in the affected area is being displaced, and while from one point of view it should give the average Russian pause, Putin is going to double down and the same average Russian will see him as justified in doing so. How the Ukraine response will affect how they are seen on the world stage, and could run counter to their own interests. Those participating would probably be better off fleeing Russia.

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Well they, in theory, aren't controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces.  They, however were armed, at least slightly, by the UAF.  The did start in Ukraine, so fleeing Russia was already done.  Most people are seeing it as a raid, not an attempt to take and hold territory.  I agree this might not be the best optics for Ukraine, but it shouldn't be a deal breaker.  

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So renegade warlords and private armies are attacking soft targets "In the name of X" without X's knowledge or consent. 

Wasn't this kind of warfare out of style in Europe even before the Compact Corsican rewrote what war was supposed to be? 

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1 hour ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

So renegade warlords and private armies are attacking soft targets "In the name of X" without X's knowledge or consent. 

Wasn't this kind of warfare out of style in Europe even before the Compact Corsican rewrote what war was supposed to be? 

We remember him as short, but he wasn't actually short. I don't recall where I  read that, but if I stumble on it, I'll post it.

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I think we all know that Monsieur Bonaparte was about average height for his time.

The confusion came about because late medieval France used a unit of measurement that was a little longer than the English inch.  But the English translated those units as "inches" anyway.

This led to the popular view among the English of a short Napoleon.  This may have also contributed to the Emperor's willingness to adopt the Metric system.

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The French Imperial Foot was 1/3 meter long (33.33 cm vs. the British foot of 30.48 cm). Thus, being five feet, two inches tall in French feet was five feet, eight inches in British feet, which was average for a Frenchman born about 250 years ago.

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21 hours ago, ijuin said:

The French Imperial Foot was 1/3 meter long (33.33 cm vs. the British foot of 30.48 cm). Thus, being five feet, two inches tall in French feet was five feet, eight inches in British feet, which was average for a Frenchman born about 250 years ago.

The Moderator: Is this a political foot? *scratches head*

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I do not want Trump to run again; unfortunately, the other scrapings at the bottom of his barrel do not look much better. InSantis appears to be the 2nd in line for the GQP nomination, first if they come to their senses regarding the Mango Liar from Mar Lago.

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3 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

The Moderator: Is this a political foot? *scratches head*

Oh, sorry, that was in response to Darth Fluffy and the Pharaoh discussing Napoleon’s reputed short height.

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What happened to our previous generation of heinous politicians of the recent past? Where did Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz drift off to? [<< Please note, preposition at end!, dammit. I will not write 'To where did ...', you pedantic twit. Who talks like that?] I don't miss them, but it's odd to see entirely new flotsam.

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Ted Cruz is still being a pain in the ass in the senate.  <Google> So is Marco Rubio.  Your right, why have they dropped below the radar?

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Re: Saints on armor plates, that is so odd, but makes sense in their cultural context. They are old school religious, embracing one of the few benefits of religion, cultural identity. (You may recall that I am a believer. I try to avoid religion. If you don't understand that, you should be able to grasp, 'people are the problem'.)

The attention to detail is impressive. I can believe they go through the trouble of having each piece consecrated. I find it harder to believe they have each piece painted individually; they must have access to art they can apply, like a decal or sticker.

The Ukrainian Catholic Church acknowledges the primacy of the Pope, they are not independent like the Russian Orthodox. I wonder if that is part of the animosity?

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