And "being happy" is often seen as a short-cut by way of bribery or chicanery. So, it is profoundly cultural. After all, taking a bribe isn't interfering with anyone...?
The average human also commits sin. Just about everything we DO is "cultural," because our actions are based on our beliefs about those actions. But talk of "the average human" is beside the point, when most of the grief is easily accomplished by a minority. Zambia excels in church attendance and piety. Doesn't stop the corruption at all. Nor does it dispel the fears of witchcraft. Or prevent men from cheating on their wives and/or beating them.
I don't see your point. Voting out the bad guys or shooting them would be a conclusive way of dealing with them. Corruption happens because there is a tacit acceptance of corruption at the cultural level. It also happens because the existing institutions are more concerned with self-aggrandizement than service, and the people become desperate...and therefore resort to bribes to grease the wheels. Everyone is poor in Zambia. The police are not paid. The doctors are not paid. The teachers are not paid. Yet, they are there, and the service suffers. I don't think you have much experience of corruption.
How is that even pertinent? African nations are not happy with being bullied by the U.S. to adopt repugnant western habits such as sexual perversion, or to be put on an "Us vs Them" list regarding support for Ukraine. Russia does not meddle with African national politics. Nor does China (excepting the usual corruption).
Last I heard, Trump and Q were part of us. We weren't doing so well before their appearance. It only reinforces the truism that corruption must be cleaned from within.
Plausible, in that Massachusetts spans latitudes of 41-43 degrees North, and the OTV-6 mission has an orbital inclination of 44.6 degrees. So, it would have the ability to pass over Massachusetts. But only for a matter of minutes during a pass, and then it would take a long time for the orbit to retrace that pass. So, you would have to compare the timing down to the minute in order to establish that it was overhead when the event occurred.
The "bare minimum" will never be enough. We have seen so much "mission creep" in our lifetimes, we should be wiser than that. Pull out the bad U.S. elements, I agree. But we have too much on our plate to "sort them out" according to our lights.
Here's another point: We did not create the corrupt natives. They were home-grown. If the people cannot curtail or eliminate corruption on their own, it will simply never happen. You want an example in progress, go to Zambia. Wonderful place. Wonderful people. But profuse moral cowardice and casual corruption. Easily disguised as business deals.
Some of this is explained by the situation among blacks in America as being the re-institution of the Plantation System to the benefit of Democrats. Instead of harvesting cotton, the Plantation System harvests votes. And all the old slave-breaking techniques are in play: deprive the families of fathers, inculcate a culture antagonistic to education or self-improvement, allow members of their own race to run herd over them, and identify a rigid racial identity link with political doctrine.
Let's cut to the chase. What will happen in that event would be more properly the U.S. declaring Haiti as a protectorate under U.S. governorship, for the institution of law and order, and the conduct of honest elections. I think you can see that we have a lot of work to do on our part, before we can step into another nation's life.
Or possibly not. Dambisa Moyo has argued in her books on economics that the "they need help" motive behind aid to Africa has resulted only in dependence and corruption and precious little advancement. She is Zambian but is essentially persona non grata in Zambia because her argument is a direct attack on the prevailing government ethos of seeking "investment" which really turns out to be selling off the national resources for pennies, so long as the government officials receive substantial kickbacks. It continues daily.
It's simple: The DS types are all white racists---and feudalists. We see it all the time with Democrats, the historical party of race slavery. The only informal racist attitudes I ever heard from anyone were from my then in-laws family, all declared Democrats. You see it in India, where the Dravidians, all dark as can be, are declared to be Sudras, the lowest social caste. Even in Africa, there is a preference system among Africans that esteems lightness of color.
More complete nonsense. I take it you have nothing to say to the questions I asked, and facts I related. No surprise. When you have no argument, throw an insult. That pattern seems to be all too prevalent on this page.
And I asked you how you knew. You have refused to say. I was merely being generous to explain my point of view. I guess, as always, your kind ends up with insults.
The other kind of stimulus could have been an electric spark. Easy to accumulate a charge if you are wearing the right shoes and the carpet is of the right materials. People don't think about it. It is instantaneous and can affect the nervous system.
But his vacant stare and immobility really suggests something like a stroke or a TIA. Something happened to completely disrupt his concentration. It could have been a sudden wave of dizziness. (Something that has been afflicting me for 2-3 years, which I now think is a side effect of my diuretic. But the distraction is real, and disruptive.)
Edit: I got a chance to review the video clip. Too fast to conclude much about the woman's touch, but his expression was alarming. If he hadn't remained standing and balanced, I would have taken it as the mask of death.
Exactly the attitude that needs a red pill. I would be curious to know how you would "know" the answer?
Here's my take: In scripture, God sends Satan "into the world." But the "world" is not identical to the Creation, or it would be a usurpation of God's sovereignty. The "world" has an odd usage in the Bible; it pertains to all that is of human making, and the reality we construct for ourselves. A kind of spiritual egg to live within, apart from the omnipresence of God. So, this is where Satan dwells, within us. He has no part in the aspects of nature, the seas, the trees, the winds, the sands. He dwells within us, each and every one of us, for the sake of our corruption. And a chief heresy is for him to convince us that by looking inward we find God. We find him. Works like a charm. We don't need to "find" God. God is all around us. He is present at our elbow, attending. He is present in the beauty of nature. We can always and immediately talk with Him (he urges us to do so). It is NOT a conversation that happens between our ears. In the Bible, Satan is largely impotent when it comes to touching on the Creation. He finds his method to be spiritual possession of God's creatures---mainly man, because man knows sin and therefore is attuned to Satan's temptations and ways of thinking. Anyway, that is what coheres with what the Bible tells us. Please consider it.
Yes...and all my discussion above was in defense of it. Thanks for taking it into consideration.
I see your point, but you are talking about a voter who is functionally incapable of writing. Let's use the backup plan of an approved "helper" who can write for the benefit of the dysfunctional voter. There are plenty of people who are without hands and may be physically unable to write...or to make other marks on paper.
I don't see how adding a box would help. If the written part was illegible, how can that validate which box was selected? The ballot would have to be tossed. But if the written part was legible, the box is not needed. It just adds useless complexity. Better to emphasize LEGIBILITY. Do you really think there would be a problem distinguishing between "Trump" and "Biden"?
There could be two proctors to agree on what the ballot contains and to enter the tally. If no agreement, the ballot is set aside for further adjudication if there is a voting margin smaller than the rejected ballots.
But the point is not to construct the system mechanics. The point is to eliminate machine reading of pre-constrained data entry modes. (In other words, defeat the fake insertions by inherent ballot design.) It may be possible to machine read a written name, but I think this is only possible with machines that have been "trained" to recognize handwriting from samples.
It would help if you were coherent. What plan from 1983? (And who says I don't believe it---whatever it was?) What faked pictures? How do you know they are fakes? (Answer: you don't. Evidence does not matter to the pure of folly.) Was there "so much radiation"? Most of the radioactive material was carried up in the mushroom cloud. Anything left would have decayed to harmlessness within weeks. The cities were, in fact, becoming functional again and I don't recall any need to evacuate survivors. (Read "The Effects of Nuclear Weapons" by Samuel Glasstone.) No carpet bombing. Again, that would have required a massive bomber formation...which didn't happen. Hitler got rid of Hitler. Winners may write the history books, but it is up to you to prove that they lied anywhere. Basically, all you have proven is that you are totally ignorant about that part of history.
My father walked the ruins of Nagasaki in November of 1945. It was no fake. But you, on the other hand, are the Real Thing.
It wasn't an uprising, except in the western press. It was a peaceful demonstration, until the Russian forces acted rashly, then the whole thing spontaneously ceased. PMC Wagner will largely be relocated to Belarus, but some remain in the Donbass. Some 30 top Wagner people including Prigozhin had a 3-hour interview with Putin to explain their complaints and criticisms about how the war is being handled on the front. 3 hours...no journalist gets that kind of attention.
So, back to the objectives. It would help if you weaned yourself from the western media, who are all in bed with Ukraine, a proven liar and purveyor of hoaxes.
Ah, I miss the good old days, when Congressmen would take out their disputes by beating each other with their canes.
It is the cross we bear. I was in a grocery checkout line and the box boy noticed the cover of a tabloid I had purchased (referencing Trump) and he made some gratuitous remark that he didn't like Trump. I just said "Too bad." He didn't leave it there, but also added that he liked President Biden. I said "That's your problem." He had no answer and just bagged the groceries.
Uh, the Russians took 17-20% of Ukrainian territory very quickly, which was their objective (protection of Donbass Russians). They have been achieving their other objectives quite handily (destruction of Ukrainian military potential and eradication of the Nazi elements). Why do critics always try to score the Russians according to their fantasy of what their objectives are, instead of by what the Russians declare to be their objectives? Another objective was to keep Russian casualties to a minimum, which they have done (the Ukr-Russia kill ratio is about 7-8 to 1). It takes more time, but time is for free. The Ukrainians are running out of cannon fodder, cannon ammo, and cannons...and they are now running out of time.
No differences. Authentic turbofan sound. You can see structure within the cockpit. What are you guys drinking?
Prove it. The damage was done by one bomb and one airplane. To do anything like it with conventional weapons would have required a massive attack by a formation of bombers. That some strong structures may have "still stood" is no argument, since you evidently have only a mythological understanding of a weapon you imagine doesn't exist.
No "carpet bombing" leaves behind flash shadows of victims, or grease spots. That's what my father saw in Nagasaki, November of 1945.
The only people who believe nonsense would be you. What a massive denial of reality.
Nonsense. Corruption works because there are people willing to be sold. Where do you think these people come from, if not from the prevailing culture?
Zambia took a risk with Hakainde Hichelema (known as "HH" for short)...but their alternative was the known plunderer and drunk, Edgar Lungu. How has HH turned out? Not well. He disdains any regard for the people at large, looks to arrange big deals with big donors, and suffers corruption embarrassments within his administration and close family. Supposedly an elder in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. It didn't take any salesmen to create HH.