2023-12-31
Temu Is a Chinese Scam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hcbm5u6ZQGY&t=443s
What happens if we stop buying products reportedly made with slave labor? What happens to the slaves? Does the CCP set them free? Not likely. Maybe they would kill them.
Likewise, what happens to children if people don't buy products made with child labor? Children likely work these jobs to survive.
We only have second-hand information about the bad labor practices in other countries. Claiming the moral high ground by not buying products from countries could create unintended consequences. On what basis can people claim that the result will be positive?
Countries are poor because they have bad economic systems along with authoritarian governments that create those systems. Refusing to trade with these countries doesn't help impoverished people unless you are trying to create a revolution by making people suffer more. However, more often than not, revolutions lead to a different authoritarian in power.
Free trade can help impoverished people, although that depends on how repressive the government is. Free trade also can lead to political change by helping people rise out of poverty.
China is a military threat and that would have to factor in our decision on whether to trade with them. Economic interdependence could prevent war, but it also bolsters an authoritarian regime, That regime is not likely to go away just because we reduce trade with China.
2023-12-30
Watch "This is bad— American kids CAN'T READ 🍎📚" on YouTube
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Albert
If you can't read, you can't compete. The inability to read in this country is getting worse and worse. I noticed a year or so ago that Kroger placed identifying your vegetable or fruit choice by pictures ahead of spelling it at the self-checkout. If you can't read, now what?
2023-12-29
The single greatest failing of the human species
The single greatest failing of the human species is the tendency to believe almost anything without good evidence. There are many cults where you can see this. People lack the ability or are unwilling to step back and look at things objectively. People don't question what they hear. Humans have a strong tendency toward Confirmation Bias, where if something supports their narrative, they will take it as gospel.
Things have been said about the COVID pandemic and vaccines that are not supported by the evidence. I see many sources claiming that it has been proven that the vaccines don't work and are dangerous. However, the data shows a much lower rate of death among the vaccinated. It doesn't mean that the vaccines are perfectly safe or effective, but the evidence shows that you are much safer taking the vaccines.
I have multiple friends who think that vaccines are part of a conspiracy to kill off the human race. One of my doctors has encountered this and called these people paranoid.
Fear is the most powerful emotion and our greatest motivator. It is normal for people to have fears and be wary. This makes them susceptible to fearmongers. Many sources claiming to be scientific and objective are really just playing to people's fears.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
2023-12-27
A Film Depiction of a Coming Civil War...
There used to be common ground, that despite disagreements over policy, we were mostly united in the belief that the United States is a good thing, was founded on good principles, and is a force for good in the world. In the last decade or so, we have seen the rise of a significant number of people, including the majority of young people, who do not believe this and want to tear it all down.
If we do not have some common shared beliefs, then we will be at each other's throats.
2023-12-23
2023-12-22
The Global Empire of Palestine - Tablet Magazine
The salient fact is that the crushing military defeat suffered by the Palestinians will hardly matter, as long as the world's one superpower—alongside Europe and the Gulf Arab states—stand ready to rebuild whatever Israel destroys. By continually revitalizingthe Palestinians, by giving them new life, the stewards of global affairs have engendered something that by definition cannot survive in nature on its own: a society that celebrates death as its highest value. The Palestinians claim that it is their perseverance and faith, their willingness to suffer great losses, that ensures their ultimate victory. But the source of their steadfastness—their ability to replenish their arsenal and refurnish their tunnels and other military infrastructure—is, in fact, a luxury repeatedly afforded them by the U.S. and its European partners. Had world powers simply allowed Israelis and Palestinians to make war, the party of permanent resistance would have had two choices—change radically or perish entirely.
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/global-empire-of-palestine
2023-12-21
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2023-12-15
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2023-12-11
2023-12-08
2023-12-07
2023-12-06
Japanese vs American Sports
2023-12-02
2023-12-01
Who won DeSantis, Newsom debate? Freedom – and Florida
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2023/12/01/desantis-newsom-debate-fox-blue-states-losing/71746426007/
All the YouTube videos I saw this morning claimed that Newsom won the debate and it was bad for Desantis' political career.
Conservative sources are saying the exact opposite.
Can Trump win in 2024? Biden is doing his best to make it happen
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2023/11/26/biden-trump-2024-election-battleground-polls/71667419007/
I question whether Biden will make it to a second term.
NEW Hans Niemann Chess Cheating Accusations
Either Hans Nieman is cheating or he soon will become a world top 10 player.
Human beings can be sociopathic, and humans also have a great capacity for delusional thinking. I have met many narcissistic chess players, and these people can be extremely annoying. I am pretty sure that narcissism is more common among chess players because competition appeals to people's egos.
This describes Nieman whose egotistical statements have turned opinions against him. Someone like him might feel entitled to win regardless of ability. In this case, a person could justify cheating because they think they are not getting the recognition they deserve. He could be motivated by a desire for acclaim.
I hope Nieman is the next great chess talent, but I don't know if this is true.
If I have time, I will analyze his games from this tournament.
2023-11-30
2023-11-29
2023-11-21
2023-11-20
2023-11-19
Why Socialism Always Fails
A pyramid scheme is ultimately unsustainable because it is based on faulty principles. Likewise, collectivism is unsustainable in the long run because it is a flawed theory. Socialism does not work because it is not consistent with fundamental principles of human behavior. The failure of socialism in countries around the world can be traced to one critical defect: it is a system that ignores incentives.
Meanwhile, you have food lines under socialism.
Socialists point to a false sense of victimhood.
Yet, nobody starves to death under a free market. There are many programs, public and private, to help the poor and there is an abundance of food.
Meanwhile, you have food lines under socialism.
Elbert Hubbard
"Prison is an example of a Socialist's Paradise, where equality prevails, everything is supplied and competition is eliminated."
2023-11-18
People Are Doing Something Very Dark With AI-Generated Jesus, Expert Warns
To be clear, the various talking Jesuses posted by the Daily Believer account don't seem to be asking people for money in the vein of its evangelical predecessors, but the videos do ask viewers for something almost as good and well within TikTok's rules: comments, subscriptions, and shares, a sort of unholy trinity [!!!] for the streaming set.
Those who believe in God, the robotized white Jesus tells viewers, will get everything their heart desires — as long as they comment "I believe" and send videos to friends.
And if they don't, they may be subject to God's wrath, because one of the Daily Believer's animated Jesuses reminds viewers in its most popular video — "Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
Those who believe in God, the robotized white Jesus tells viewers, will get everything their heart desires — as long as they comment "I believe" and send videos to friends.
And if they don't, they may be subject to God's wrath, because one of the Daily Believer's animated Jesuses reminds viewers in its most popular video — "Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
I don't think that many religious people would take this seriously.
2023-11-17
This Is Easily the Most Important Speech Jordan Peterson Has Ever Done
I differ from Peterson in that we cannot reliably assume the supernatural. There are many different opinions on what the divine means, so we cannot reliably assume that a higher power has expectations of us.
We live in a society where we think that people should be good, but not all cultures share this view, or they disagree on what good means. However, we think that societies work better when people aren't cruel, cooperate with each other, and show compassion.
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There are different ways to interpret Jordan Peterson's comments.
People often associate Perterson with the political right because he tells people to take responsibility for their lives, which is part of the point of his speech. He rose to fame by arguing against more extreme leftist ideology.
However, he describes himself as leaning liberal, although I am not sure of what he means by that.
To some extent, his speech sounds like a far-left utopian ideal, because he says if we just sacrifice our lives for others then there is no goal that we can't achieve. We can end absolute poverty, have a shining city on a hill, and achieve our personal pinnacle.
I'm sure that the path to Utopia is a little more complicated than that.
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The best speech I have heard Jordan Peterson give is this one...
He speaks at such a high level, it forces me to pay close attention to keep up.
2023-11-15
The Full Rand Paul: On Covid, the Lab Leak, and Anthony Fauci
0 seconds ago
This comes across as a conspiracy theory. If there was something to this then there would be indictments already.
I see a problem in Rand Paul's logic. If I am wrong I would like to know because this is such an important issue. The NIH gave the Eco Health Alliance $3.4 million to study the risk of coronaviruses from bats. The Eco Health Alliance gave $600,000 to the Wuhan lab, reportedly to catalog bat viruses. I read everything I could about this, and the grant had nothing to do with gain of function.
However, the Wuhan lab may have been doing Gain of Function Research, so Rand Paul claims that the NIH funded Gain of Function Research at Wuhan. Apparently, it wasn't on our dime, so I don't think that you can blame Fauci for it.
2023-11-14
2023-11-13
2023-11-10
My biggest fear for Star Wars... and it seems likely to happen
@john2001plus
1 second ago
To put Star Wars in context, in 1977 I was 17 years old. We were living during the Cold War, where the Soviet Union could be viewed as the Evil Empire, while the fight against the Nazis during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War didn't seem like ancient history, but were still relevant in our minds. The thought of nuclear annihilation also felt like a very real possibility.
We were going through the worst economic decade of my lifetime. Some people might look at the events that followed 2008 as being the worst, but the American economy was much more robust in 2008 and able to eventually rebound. However, the 1970s was just one piece of bad news after another. The country felt like it was in a giant malaise.
Then came Star Wars in 1977, which to my 17-year-old mind felt like a godsend. It was a metaphor for a hopeful battle against all the evils that plagued us.
Star Wars became an important part of my life, and it influenced my career toward computers and video game development. To this day, Star Wars feels like a part of my personality.
At my more advanced age of 63, I notice how violent Star Wars is. This didn't seem like much of an issue in 1977 when the characters were fighting Space Nazis, because the 1970s felt like an existential struggle against the forces of evil. For example, Star Wars calls light sabers an elegant weapon, but how elegant is cutting people in half or cutting their heads off? It would be like calling a battle axe an elegant weapon.
All this makes me wonder how relevant Star Wars is to our current time? The 20th century was by far the most violent in history, which made mechanized murder on a mass scale feel more normal. I think that there was less regard for the individual, which is something we take to extreme levels today.
I feel far less threatened by outside forces today than I did after 9-11, or in the 60s, the 70s, and the 80s.
We can still fantasize about a struggle for survival between good and evil, but good and evil in the modern world are less distinct from one another.
This makes me think that Star Wars has to change to remain relevant. The original movie gave us 1970s characters in a futuristic setting. The recent series Andor did a great job of giving us modern characters in the same setting and feels more relevant to the time we live in.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
2023-11-09
2023-11-08
100KM/H IMPACT 🤯 Extreme High Diving!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Wfmci8V0In0
This woman has a bunch of high-diving videos. What she does is dangerous. I'm sure that it would kill me.
The Hostility of the Left and the Arab World Toward Israel (and Why You Should Care)
It is a mistake to say that Hitler and other Fascists were far-right. The Nazis were socialist at least in name. Mussolini started as a Communist and a Marxist. Mussolini's slogan: "Everything in the state nothing outside of the state." American leftists adored Mussolini before the war. After the war, the big lie was that these people were somehow associated with the right.
In the United States, there are hate groups that call themselves right-wing. These people are few in number and don't represent the political right.
Fwd: They eat everything—and they’re invading America’s Southeast.
From: National Geographic
National Geographic | National Geographic
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