James is certainly building on the work of others. For me it was my first exposure to the philosophical basis for the views.
For example, James was the first time I was aware of the Marxist desire to tear down the institutions of the state and the connection to the Hegelian dialectic.
In Australia, the Australian Aboriginal population is massively over-represented in convictions for crimes of violence.
There is a certain kind of person who points to the results and cries: "Racism!"
That kind of person's solution to the huge conviction rate is: "Stop convicting Aboriginals! That will reduce the prison population."
It is utterly divorced from reality.
Women are more than 30 times more likely to blow-out a hip ligament under a heavy load. Like, say, marching with a 90 pound pack.
Having women in combat roles either means eating the injury rate or accepting them having men carry their gear for them.
Boxer braids were good enough for the Spartans. They are good enough for try-hard chicks with guns.
And, like the Spartan, they can do each other's hair.
Women are competing for men. Almost all of them want to compete for the 1% Turbo-Chad.
History has shown us that a women would rather live a life of leisure as wife number 51 in a harem than actually have to work her ass off and sacrifice for her family.
I was watching an Australian Economics Analyst on YouTube. He has done independent research, as.the government is useless. He said that Australian household purchasing power has dropped by 30% since 1990.
That is just staggering.
Shadowrun is amazing, though I strongly feel that the rules went down-hill after 3rd edition with the disconnect between stats and skill advancement.
I played a campaign from the early 1st edition adventures all the way through Bug City and Super Tuesday to the Renraku Archology Shutdown.
It was a blast.
You would fight Nega Scott Pilgrim?
Educational programs.
Things that are too dangerous to do IRL.
A crash course in trauma surgery. Battlefield medical training. Explosives construction from easily available ingredients. Fabrication of shaped charges using hydro-forming of steel.
Then I would move onto training that requires equipment that I can't afford. I would start with precision rifle shooting. With the cost of ammo it is easy enough to go through several thousand bucks a day.
No, it just proves that the wells are working right now.
I am getting sick of .pol being right about absolutely everything. It fucking sucks.
Stiltman did nothing wrong!
Trump was completely transparent with one of the earliest investigations of Epstein and his bullshit.
His accounts were verified by testimony of Epstein 'models' at the time.
He visited Epstein's NY property. He enjoyed the conversation of the other celebrities there. He refused all offers of food or massages (or "massages') from the ladies.
Later Trump got into a beef with Epstein about some real estate thing, and hated his guts.
If Trump is going soft on this matter, it is to protect the Israeli interests, rather than to protect himself.
In the Bronx.
I doubt Trump abused children ...
It is impossible that he did. Trump is a germaphobe and he is paranoid that he'll be blackmailed.
He is one of the most upright politicians of the last 100 years. He is certainly the most honest politician of my lifetime. This isn't because he is a virtuous man (although he is much better than most) it is because for his entire career he has been utterly convinced that his enemies will attempt to entrap him in some shady bullshit so they can leverage him to do their bidding.
In hindsight he was 100% correct.
No, if you were a younger man I hope you'd have more self respect.
32 year old 403s with body counts in the hundreds and more baggage than some regional airlines. You still have to put up with all that to get a mediocre screw. All the time you are with her, she is comparing you to Chad Thunderstroke and his golden penis.
The juice isn't worth the squeeze.
The Commandments in the Bible has "Do Not Murder" pretty front and center. A sinner, yes, even a murderer, must stop sinning to receive forgiveness. On earth, with humans, that forgiveness is manifest in the ability to participate in the community rather than be incarcerated or killed.
You seem to mostly be mad that God isn't showing up to solve the problems of Justice and Punishment.
We left that behind when we (humans) were thrown out of The Garden. Now we are, for better or worse, masters of our own fate. With meaningful decision comes the benefits of all of the positive and negative outcomes.
God stepped back after the Great Flood. If you want justice, then go and get it. Build a community in which Justice is a supreme value. People have built new, better communities all the time. You want less corruption? Run for office. Trump did, and his team has uncovered vast corruption and they are setting out to address it. Things can be improved.
Don't blame God for not solving your problems. Our mortal understanding of God is our personification of an infinite universe and all that goes with that. We don't want a universe that makes choice literally impossible. It isn't better.
I don't disagree; and Israel totally deserve to be called to task for their bullshit.
But that wasn't the campaign promise, and ripping Israel a new one wouldn't excuse Trump from not holding the rich and powerful accountable for having sex with underage girls on Epstein's island; which is what the MAGA base want to see.
They are sick to death of the rich and powerful being able to skate no matter how evil they are. There is a list of the bad guys. Why are they not held to account?
Without forgiveness, then the community must turn their back on the sinner and cast them out forever.
If sin can be forgiven, if the sinner changes their ways, stops sinning and strives every day to earn forgiveness, then they may be permitted to contribute to the community, and the community can care for them in turn.
Is it enough? That isn't up to us. God will judge them soon enough.
If they will not stop sinning, then they are excommunicated and cast out. There are not unlimited chances to earn the forgiveness of the community.
Also, bear in mind that Jesus was very clear that people should obey the law. The role of the church is to care for the spiritual needs of a community, not the need for law and justice. That is left to a different, mortal authority.
This is why priests attend and counsel prisoners to be put to death. Even if they have never sinned again, that doesn't erase the past nor undo the judgement of the law. Even if they die with their soul in a state of grace, they are still put to death. What comes after that is up to God.
Jesus is very clear. First you stop sinning, then you show repentance, only then will absolution be given.
As for how that is applied in practice:
People who don't stop sinning are excommunicated. They are denied absolution and the sacrament and are unable to be part of the congregation (Christian church community) until they have stopped sinning.
Lots of churches are too soft to do any of these things, but when done effectively, we are talking about public shaming, shunning and the peril of damnation unless a person changes their ways, makes amends and gains the forgiveness and acceptance of the congregation again, as lead by a priest.
Being utterly exiled from community used to mean more when cities and towns were smaller, but being cut off from your community should be absolutely brutal, if wielded effectively.
It wasn't evidence.
Trump got a security briefing that Epstein was a Mossad honeypot that the CIA was complicit in helping.
The people on the list are patsies. They may have done naughty things with slightly underage girls (seventeen or whatever) but that was more-or-less entrapment and most of it was just stuff like massages. The scale of their crimes doesn't matter. Even clear evidence that anyone is on the list is enough to destroy them.
The right move is to rip into Israel for breaking uncountable laws and trying to leverage prominent individuals into supporting Israel over the USA.
Such a move would be foreign relations dynamite and it still wouldn't satisfy the MAGA base, who want rich people to be held accountable for the first time in history.
The crime only goes down while the criminals are in prison.
When you work out that it costs $300 a day (or whatever) to keep people in prison, life in prison for thousands of people starts to sound expensive.
For the greatest social benefit, society should just hang them.
Even if they won't hang them, flogging them publicly for every offense after 10 would be an effective deterrent for most crimes. A quick, medically supervised, same day flogging and then kick them back onto the street.
Seriously, pay for it.
I am not joking. Paying a professional is a much less risky way to get your rocks off. Professionals that run off to the police don't get repeat business. There are websites that give reviews to ladies of negotiable affection in places it is legal.
In any state or territory where there are "Yes means yes" or "affirmative consent laws" the onus is on the man to prove that they had consent at every stage, and that consent was never withdrawn. It reverses the presumption of innocence.
Casual sex is just not worth it. Either go on an overseas trip (and be careful about where) or just save yourself until marriage.
Yet "Just let them go" has been one of the recommendations handed down by inquiries and commissions basically forever.
Go read a summary of the major findings and recommendations of the Black Deaths in Custody inquiry.
The Inquiry found that Aboriginal Australians die in custody at a slightly lower rate than other demographics; but they spend so much time in prison that they will probably die there of unrelated causes.
Go see and how the recommended to address the problem.