Israel deny entry for American congresswomen

Quote: Gandler

Right, that strain of Communism was against traditional religions.

You can argue that some of the strains were religious (North Korea) in the way that citizens were forced to worship the Leader as a God, which mythical stories about everything from their birth to amazing feats, etc..... True communism is essentially a religion is the way Leader Worship and ways of life are pushed onto followers.

There is a difference between a policy of forced atheism, and a secular country, which protects freedom of religion and freedom of speech...…

I have not seen a strain of communism that is anything but a policy of atheism as communism requires obedience to the state above everything else. NK is more a cult of personality than religion. The USSR Satellites that allowed a bit more religion were dragged into communism by the USSR, so you can see how their leaders would be more pragmatic there.

Cuba remained Catholic I guess, not sure how much atheism they pushed.

Quote: AZDuffman

I have not seen a strain of communism that is anything but a policy of atheism as communism requires obedience to the state above everything else. NK is more a cult of personality than religion. The USSR Satellites that allowed a bit more religion were dragged into communism by the USSR, so you can see how their leaders would be more pragmatic there.

Cuba remained Catholic I guess, not sure how much atheism they pushed.

We are getting a little more semantic. I was only saying that in many ways communism emulates religion with forced hero worship and forced public mythical narratives.

Cuba is interesting, it was similar to the USSR, pushed atheism, but less physically aggressive than Russia. Russia also remained with large Jewish and Christian communities. It is hard to force ideas away, people just will get more private with their beliefs. The worst way to get rid of a bad idea is by force. That is why I am all for debate, and do not want any restrictions on speech.

Quote: Gandler

We are getting a little more semantic. I was only saying that in many ways communism emulates religion with forced hero worship and forced public mythical narratives.

Cuba is interesting, it was similar to the USSR, pushed atheism, but less physically aggressive than Russia. Russia also remained with large Jewish and Christian communities. It is hard to force ideas away, people just will get more private with their beliefs. The worst way to get rid of a bad idea is by force. That is why I am all for debate, and do not want any restrictions on speech.

I see communism more divided there. Stalin and the Kim nuts for sure do that. After Stalin the USSR went the other way and made the state above the leader. Cuba was always strong Catholic as most former Spanish colonies. Some left Cuba to practice voodoo.

Quote: Gandler

That is misleading. In God we Trust was adopted in the 1950s to replace "As many One" which I feel was a much better motto. That was not the motto for most of U.S. history, it was pushed into place by religious advocates (a decision I feel was wrong, but before my time).

But, yes obviously I mean secular government. The U.S. has no official religion, and the government was crafted specifically to be secular for very good reasons.

They added "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 as well.

Much to the dismay of Sheldon Adelson, most Jews are Democrats. As noted in the chart above, in the 2018 midterms, Democrats received 79% of the Jewish vote. Furthermore, of the 37 Jews currently serving in the US Congress, just 2 are Republicans.

Earlier today, Trump insulted Jews by saying that any Jew who votes Democrat is ignorant and greatly disloyal. And since most Jews vote Dem, Trump just insulted the vast majority of American Jews.

Obviously Trump's goal here is to convince Jewish voters that because Omar is a Dem, that means the Dems are a bunch of anti-semites. But by emphasizing this, Trump has backed himself into a corner: if the Dems are the party of anti-Semites, why do Jews keep voting for anti-Semites? (By the way, if the Dems are the party of anti-Semites, why do professional Nazis like David Duke and Richard Spencer always vote Republican?)

Now, suppose you're a politician (Trump) trying to win over a skeptical demographic (Jews). Do you:
A) Say nice things about them?
Or
B) Insult them?

The correct answer is A.

Quote: Gandler

There is a difference between state influence and state run (owned) media.

https://www.usagm.gov/ "U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), formerly known as the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). The USAGM/BBG budget for 2018 was $804 million."

Quote:

I don't want to go down that rabbit hole, but there was a lot of legitimate speculation that Hussein had chemical and/pr nuclear weapons (and he did end up having chemical weapons).

But, now we are way off topic. A country has a right (some would say a duty) to bar entry to tourists whose sole purpose of their visit is to do it harm.

FWIW, I have absolutely no issue with Israel or any other country barring any visitors they choose. And that includes the USA's right to bar anyone they choose.

Quote: petroglyph

https://www.usagm.gov/ "U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), formerly known as the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). The USAGM/BBG budget for 2018 was $804 million."

FWIW, I have absolutely no issue with Israel or any other country barring any visitors they choose. And that includes the USA's right to bar anyone they choose.

I am aware, but that is not a channel in the sense that RT, AJ, or Fox is a channel. It is very clear broadcasting (generally in areas where messages of freedom need to be heard like Cuba, Asia, etc....)

There is an American section "Voice of America", but it focuses on objective news.

I know for a while the Tropicana (AC) had RT as its default channel (in hotel suites), and I watched a lot of it, you would think it were an American news company if you did not know better. The same can be said about AJ, both are very sleek and newsy looking.

Quote: Gandler

I am aware, but that is not a channel in the sense that RT, AJ, or Fox is a channel. It is very clear broadcasting (generally in areas where messages of freedom need to be heard like Cuba, Asia, etc....)

There is an American section "Voice of America", but it focuses on objective news.

I know for a while the Tropicana (AC) had RT as its default channel (in hotel suites), and I watched a lot of it, you would think it were an American news company if you did not know better. The same can be said about AJ, both are very sleek and newsy looking.

Anyone that holds a pen has a bias. RT also broadcasts financial programs in laymens terms. I've been watching a docu -series on a Russian sailing school, and a variety of intellectuals discussing foreign issues on Crosstalk, I like it. I can't stomach our msm's loop-feed propaganda https://youtu.be/hWLjYJ4BzvI , with hundreds of channels repeating the same thing over and over. Is that what you want for your news?

RT is Russian financed. They cover a variety of things, where else would people get that exposure? They certainly haven't turned me against America or into a puppy kicking commie.

People need exposure to many different sources to be able to pick up on the spin. I don't give any of them carte blanche.

Quote: Gandler

Quote: fleaswatter

Why does this not surprise me?

AOC, Omar, Tlaib Silent as Palestine Outlaws LGBT Activity in West Bank

Wow Gaza has always been bad.

Now there is reason to root for the Settlers to take back the West Bank.

The truth is, and many fellow liberals have trouble accepting this, Palestine (Gaza more so, but really both territories) is not a good place to be gay or be an atheist if you value your life. They have a backwards culture, it's as simple as that, and people will still defend them.

Palestine culture revolves around being professional victim and pretending to be oppressed by Isreal.....

"Dr. Gabor Maté, a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, offers a personal and historical perspective on anti-Semitism, Zionism, and Israel-Palestine"

Quote: petroglyph

Quote: Gandler

Quote: fleaswatter

Why does this not surprise me?

AOC, Omar, Tlaib Silent as Palestine Outlaws LGBT Activity in West Bank

Wow Gaza has always been bad.

Now there is reason to root for the Settlers to take back the West Bank.

The truth is, and many fellow liberals have trouble accepting this, Palestine (Gaza more so, but really both territories) is not a good place to be gay or be an atheist if you value your life. They have a backwards culture, it's as simple as that, and people will still defend them.

Palestine culture revolves around being professional victim and pretending to be oppressed by Isreal.....

"Dr. Gabor Maté, a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, offers a personal and historical perspective on anti-Semitism, Zionism, and Israel-Palestine"

I can't listen to it all right now, but hearing the intro and knowing who that guy is, he is probably going to say something along the lines of anti-Semitism is being used to shield Isreal from criticism.

I would argue that is simply not true, Israel gets endlessly lambasted by the U.N...

But, also not relevant to my view (and not a claim I ever made). I think the Palestinian governments are corrupt, backwards, and dangerous, and used as a proxy by Islamic powers in the region.

Israel should govern the whole territory and make everyone a citizen. I know this would make it a Jewish minority country (which they don't want) so this is wishful thinking. There is a reason Arabic and Islamic Isreal citizens are far happier than Palestinians (not a race issue).

Isreal has seceded off too much territory after their victory in 1967, that was their first mistake, that was a prime opportunity to legitimately expand after defeating all of their neighbors, but they tried to make peace with countries who just tried to wipe them out.... And, it backfired hard.