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SEEKONK, MASSACHUSETTS, United States

Saturday, January 18, 2020

MAKE THE WORLD SAFER. STOP TRUMP AND HIS MINIONS. (UPDATED.)

Celebrity, Donald Trump, Gop, Famous

How should Democrats, Progressives, and Liberals Combat the Donald Trump/Republican Fascist Agenda of creating a Police State ruled by a few, Destroying and Eliminating such CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AS;

FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.

FREEDOM OF RELIGION.

...and turning the average American into a SERF, WHOSE LIFE AND WELL-BEING IS LEFT TO THE WHIMS OF THE NEW "ARISTOCRACY." 


#1-  Acknowledge that the Selfish, Self-Centered, and Dishonest also Vote, so Quit trying to Win over everyone through Fear of Confrontation.


#2-  Stop Allowing Trump and the Republicans to Hijack the Moral High Ground, when its Media Campaign is Transparent, and Easily Refuted. 
  

#3- Stand Up to the Outright Lies and Misrepresentations that are part of the Daily Drivel that spews forth from Donald Trumps mouth, which is usually little more than Irrational and Hate Filled propaganda.


#4- Never allow Statistics and Numbers to go unchallenged. The Bogus returns from the  2016 Election were a perfect example of what happens when you blindly accept results without proper examination.



#5- When Statistics are Trotted Out about possible Fraudulent Activities in Social Programs, Demand the Sources for such Claims, and what Procedures were used to draw specific conclusions.



Along these lines, make sure the following Key Points of the Republican Agenda are Studied and Examined thoroughly.


-  Corporate Bailouts that allow POOR MANAGEMENT
SKILLS TO BE REWARDED WITH A SAFETY NET
PAID FOR BY THE AVERAGE TAXPAYER.


-  Tax Breaks that allow Wealthy Individuals who
make Bad Investment Decisions to recover
their losses, paid for by MIDDLE CLASS
AMERICANS.


-  Funds Acquired Through Government Contracts,
that are Shifted to Foreign Markets with no Positive
Effects on the U.S. Economy.



-  Refusing to Raise Wages to a Minimal Level, which
Encourages Self- Sufficiency, and Decreases the 
Need for Government Aid.


...OTHER POLICIES THAT PUSH AN AGENDA THAT
BENEFITS A NARROW SET OF AMERICAN CITIZENS,
THAT ARE PUT IN PLACE TO INCREASE WEALTH AND
PRIVILEGE, AND NOT TO ADDRESS BASIC NEEDS.









APA: Submit your paper to the 2021 Eastern Division meeting.


American Philosophical Association

Participant speaking at a session
Dear DAVID,

Paper submissions for the 2021 APA Eastern Division meeting opened on January 15. All current members of the APA are invited to submit a paper for presentation at the meeting, which will be held in New York City on January 4–7. If your membership is not current, The deadline to submit is 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on February 17.
Author presenting a poster
The 2021 Eastern Division meeting will include a poster session in the exhibit area. In addition to the option to submit a paper as only a poster, authors may indicate that a colloquium or symposium paper should also be considered for a poster. The Eastern Division no longer accepts submissions as both a colloquium and a symposium. Authors must choose one or the other.

Papers in any area of philosophy are welcome. 

All the best,

Mike Morris
Deputy Director




Friday, January 17, 2020

ESQUIRE- Trump Melted Down at a Meeting With Military Leaders and Called Them Dopes, Babies, and Losers.

President Trump Announces Guidance On Constitutional Prayer In Public Schools
WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES.

(I HAVE HIGHLIGHTED PART OF THIS ARTICLE THAT PERTAINS TO SPECIFIC SUBJECT MATTER THAT
 I HAVE COVERED OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS.- DAVID MCDONALD, PUBLISHER, WWW.SEARCHINGFORREASON.NET)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Can you be impeached for knowing nothing about anything and caring less?

While even his most prodigious spokespeople teeter under Fox News questioning (!) about his relationship to Rudy Giuliani's Ukraine henchman Lev Parnas, it's worth considering that the scheme that led to the president's impeachment is just one of his various foibles. He could have been impeached, after all, for relentlessly obstructing justice in the Mueller probe. He could have been impeached for his blatant public corruption, which has reached the point where people have started renting large blocs of rooms in his hotels and not even bothering to stay in many of them. Gee, I wonder what they're getting out of it. Oh, and can you be impeached for knowing nothing about anything and caring less?
It's a question worth asking as a new book from Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, A Very Stable Genius, begins to trickle out via excerpts. A New York TIMES review calls it "a comic horror story." The latest section published in the Post details a meeting Trump had at the Pentagon where he unwittingly laid out his attitude towards, well, everything, but specifically American military power: We can make some money off this. That was the only through-line as his senior defense and diplomatic and national-security advisers tried to tutor him in basic geopolitics and American history. Money. They owe us. We can get them to pay us.
“We should charge them rent,” Trump said of South Korea. “We should make them pay for our soldiers. We should make money off of everything.”
Trump proceeded to explain that NATO, too, was worthless. U.S. generals were letting the allied member countries get away with murder, he said, and they owed the United States a lot of money after not living up to their promise of paying their dues.
“They’re in arrears,” Trump said, reverting to the language of real estate. He lifted both his arms at his sides in frustration. Then he scolded top officials for the untold millions of dollars he believed they had let slip through their fingers by allowing allies to avoid their obligations.
“We are owed money you haven’t been collecting!” Trump told them. “You would totally go bankrupt if you had to run your own business.”
The president appears to view American military alliances as some kind of protection racket. He has openly mused recently about having Saudi Arabia straight-up pay for American troops. This is not the vision of service to the American republic and its Constitution most people have in mind with respect to our military service members. This is reportedly part of a general pattern in the book wherein Trump basically does not know anything about American history, the values and institutions of a democratic republic, or even geography.

In fairness, Trump offered some refreshing pushback against military brass who insist we must have bases everywhere, all over the world, always. The map of our installations abroad is mind-blowing. They're everywhere. Do we really have business deploying our troops and assets all over the place? Do we think there have been some negative consequences for our relentless meddling and interventionism?
The Adults in the Room in this scene talked a lot about The Post-War International Order, and that's been mostly good for us, but has it been good for everyone? Are their elements of it we might, uh, revisit? (Not that this president is the one to do it. That would require some capacity for strategic thinking.) We have Iran boxed in with bases all around and we wonder why they're getting twitchy, particularly after Trump shredded the Iran Deal because Obama—despite the fact they were complying—and re-instituted crushing sanctions on their economy.
Speaking of, that came up.
Trump then repeated a threat he’d made countless times before. He wanted out of the Iran nuclear deal that President Obama had struck in 2015, which called for Iran to eliminate its uranium stockpile and cut its nuclear weaponry.
“It’s the worst deal in history!” Trump declared.
“Well, actually . . .,” Tillerson interjected.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Trump said, cutting off the secretary of state before he could explain some of the benefits of the agreement. “They’re cheating. They’re building. We’re getting out of it. I keep telling you, I keep giving you time, and you keep delaying me. I want out of it.”
I don't want to hear it! the president said of dissenting information. And that right there, folks, is a nice microcosm of this presidency, which took the Bush-era disdain for inconvenient expertise and shifted it into overdrive. Who cares if they're abiding by the deal, reached in coordination with the other Western powers over many long years? I want it gone! The repercussions for this spasm of impulsive stubbornness was merely a war narrowly avoided, at least partly due to Iran's restraint.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: "THE IRAN NUCLEAR TREATY- AVOIDING REALITY." PART 3.


Hand, Hands, Shaking Hands, Man Hand

First, Ignore the Text, and Toss Out Any Objections That Have Been Raised Denouncing the Agreement.  Go into an EXAMINATION OF THIS TREATY, OR ANY TREATY FOR THAT MATTER, AS A DISINTERESTED OBSERVER WHO HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH FINDING THE MOST EQUITABLE SOLUTION THAT WOULD BENEFIT ALL SIDES.

#1-  Listen to ALL SIDES OF THE SUBJECT MATTER TO DETERMINE WHAT EACH SIDE VALUES MOST OF ALL, AND CONSIDER THE ELEMENTS THAT SEEM TO BE OF LITTLE CONCERN TO EACH.

#2-  What Category do the Most Important Goals of Agreeing to a TREATY FALL INTO, FOR EACH PARTICIPANT?

-  ECONOMIC-  IMPROVING INFRASTRUCTURE, OR IMPORT/EXPORT 
OPPORTUNITIES.

-  MILITARY/PROTECTION FROM OUTSIDE SOURCES.

-  STABILITY-  ALLIES TO MAINTAIN GOOD RELATIONS, OR PLEDGE 
OF SUPPORT.

AMONG OTHER THINGS.

#3-  TO MEET THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF WHAT EACH SIDE IS LOOKING FOR, WHAT WILL THE OPPOSITION HAVE TO AGREE TO, OR SACRIFICE TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN?

#4-  IS ONE SIDE , OR THE OTHER, PUSHING AN AGENDA THAT THE
OTHER SIDE COULD NOT REASONABLY BE EXPECTED TO AGREE TO.
IS ONE SIDE OFFERING JUST TOKEN CONCESSIONS, WHILE DEMANDING
EXTENSIVE SACRIFICES FROM THE OPPOSITION?

As I Mentioned in an Earlier Post, GOVERNMENTS DO NOT ENTER INTO THESE NEGOTIATIONS FOR NO REASON.  EACH SIDE HAS SOMETHING THE OTHER WANTS.

This Leads us to the FINAL STEP-  IF THE SITTING GOVERNMENT PROPOSING THE FINISHED TREATY IS FACED BY INTERNAL OPPOSITION, THEY MUST ALSO BE HELD TO THE SAME STANDARDS.  OPPOSING A TREATY, OR ITS COMPONENTS, IS EASY TO SAY, BUT TO OFFER NO REALISTIC ALTERNATIVES IS JUST OBSTRUCTIONIST POLITICS.  

Date-  9/2/2015.+