YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
― Buddha Siddhartha Guatama Shakyamuni
This nation, as well as most nations, fall far short of actualizing these sage words of advice from Buddha Shakyamuni. True 2600 years ago and remains equally so today. Especially in trump's MAGA USA.
ReplyDelete"Les non-dupes errent!" - Jacques Lacan
ReplyDelete"those who do not let themselves be caught in the symbolic deception/ fiction and continue to believe their eyes are the ones who err most"
In Pensées, Blaise Pascal argues that custom (habit, culture, and repetition) shapes human belief and behavior far more powerfully than pure logic or intellectual reason. He famously writes, "Custom is our nature," suggesting that what we consider natural is often just deeply ingrained habit.
ReplyDeleteCore Concepts of "Custom" in Pensées
Second Nature: Pascal suggests our primary nature is malleable. Custom acts as a "second nature" that can completely overwrite or define the first.
The Machine (The Automaton): Humans are not purely rational. We have a mechanical, bodily side—the "machine"—that is trained through physical repetition, ritual, and social conditioning.
Persuasion Beyond Logic: Reason can provide a temporary proof, but it is easily forgotten. Custom provides the day-to-day stability that keeps us convinced.
Source of Identity: Pascal points out that custom is what makes people become Christians, Turks, soldiers, or artisans. It is a product of geography and environment, not objective truth.
Role in Religious Belief
Pascal uses this psychological insight to offer practical advice for those who want to believe but lack faith. He advises them to bypass the intellect and train the "machine":
Act as if you believe: Take holy water, go to mass, and mimic faithful actions.
Train the habits: Physical rituals naturally deaden intellectual skepticism over time.
Align the faculties: True conviction requires both the mind (reason) and the habit (custom) working together.
---
"Virtue is a habit, and not a faculty or a passion."
- George Boole, "An Investigation of the Laws of Thought"
Now that's something that will fry the circuits in the closed minds of white Christian nationalists and other fundamentalists.
ReplyDeleteAny appeal to reason instead of faith scares them. Critical thinking is Satan's domain to them.
"Physical rituals naturally deaden intellectual skepticism over time."
DeleteThe same goes for rituals based on myths or false beliefs.
At least Pascal understood how Trump rallies deaden intellectual skepticism.
His "wager" is a fallacious game of self interest based on the premise there's a Christian God with the only sure winners being the clergy and conservative rulers, no matter how many children they molest or innocent people they punish.
from "The world as oppressors and oppressed", by Dave W.
Delete"Shooting Protestors and Concentration Camps for Peaceful Immigrants: and Other Conservative Values", by Joe Conservative
Delete"Protecting Pedophiles Is Anti-Woke", by Joe Conservative
Delete"MAGA Patriotism: Beating Cops to Overturn Elections", by Joe Conservative
Q.E.D.
DeleteYou gotta love the kayfabe. Faces vs Heels.
Delete-FJ, placing your faith in qoutes rather than Iin logic and reason confirmed by your own observation and experiential knowledge?
ReplyDeleteThat would ceetainly explains a lot.
Do you understand quantum physics, Les? if you think you do based on your own observation and experiential knowledge, then you clearly don't.
Delete"Virtue is a habit, and not a faculty or a passion."
- George Boole, "An Investigation of the Laws of Thought"
Yes I do. And your ignorance and reified authoritarian whack job beliefs simply proves you DON''T.
DeleteYou have a quantum day now ya hear?
I fully admit that I do not understand it, even after 30 years working at NASA. My observations and experiential knowledge wasn't nearly enough.
Delete:)
DeleteHere's your Monday Moment of Zen...
ReplyDeleteYesterday, while on Meet the Press and discussing voter fraud, Sen Roger Marshall of KS was presented with the same evidence I've repeatedly cited here and elsewhere that since the 1980s, the conservative Heritage Foundation, nor anyone else, has found not found any evidence of voter fraud at a level that would have changed any election and only 100 total instances of non citizens voting.
When asked by the host to cite just one example of fraud that the "Save America Act" would have prevented, Marshall stated "Yeah, right, I guess we just look at this differently, I think again I'm going back to the election process needs to be trustworthy, that the election process is important to the survival of this nation..."
What is a sitting Senator saying when our elections have been repeatedly shown to be free of fraud and fair, talking about when he says our elections need to be trustworthy?
When pushed to again to cite evidence of fraud, Marshall conceded during the interview that "fraud will never end our democracy," but argued that the primary issue is the belief or fear among "some" Americans that "fraud is possible."
He states "some Americans" believe fraud is possible and as such, for them, in politics, "the perception here is reality."
Maybe he needs to consider why some Americans don't trust our elections and why they believe something that is not true..
Because it sure isn't because of non citizen voter fraud, facts or, as he himself conceded, evidence.
A Zen moment indeed when a politician accidentally tells the truth.
Mob Don seems to have broken all Ten Commandments. He'd break more if he could find some. His peasants still worship him. Go figure
ReplyDeleteIt is simple, uncomplicated, and for thinking individuals requires only a moment of thought. It's about control, power, and an attempt to guarantee white privilege remains the entrenched reality in America for the foreseeable future.
ReplyDeleteRacists and white supremacists fear at their core the changing demographics of a nation that always been a melting pot of ethnicity, cultures, religions, and beliefs. It happens to be the very reason this nation is what it became. Unfortunately the. Moron in. Chief and his worshipping MAGA cult see things through their white supremacy lens.
...Oppressors and Oppressed, redux.
DeleteSimplicity provides no answers. It obscures more than clarifies.
Actually -FJ... YOU provide no answers. Only trollish BS.
DeleteI don't know why Joe Conservative keeps coming here. Well, besides reporting on what I post to his favorite echo chamber hostess. No one is allowed to disagree with the person who runs that blog, so Joe is very comfortable posting there.
ReplyDeleteZ and I often disagree. She simply insists that people disagree politely. She's a lot more tolerant of right wing rants than left wing ones, though. The opposite is true here.
DeleteBut then again, she was forged at FPM, back when it was always a no-holds-barred political knock-down drag out forum. Before "moderators" ruined it. When posters like mr. ducky, socrates, et al drove the conservatives crazy...
"She simply insists that people disagree politely."
DeleteThat's not true. She simple insists that you do not introduce facts that contradict her ideology. I've read enough of her commentary to know that anyone who criticizes Trump or the Trumpublican Party is labeled as "haters." She's also allows her commenters to use racial slurs against minority politicians and others.
No matter how politely one would present counter arguments at her blog, she would not allow those counter arguments. She will not tolerate pushback to what she posts.
That's why I call her blog an echo chamber.
"When posters like mr. ducky, socrates, et al drove the conservatives crazy..."
Yeah. Having facts and evidence does that to conservatives these days. I'll bet she and her pals actually believe Democrats (or as her hero, Trump, calls them "Dumocrats,") cut up the Reflecting Pool, because the biggest lying liar to inhabit the WH told them so. LOL!
Facts that contradict the narrative....Sounds familiar...
DeleteAnd she probably believes the pool narrative based on the message that was burned into the ground less than 50' away from it...
The vandals signed their work.
No -FJ... Z does not simply agree that people agree agreeably. She she's disagreements from libs as inherently "nasty" Never have I ever attacked anyoe there, or at her old site, with any language calling them unAmerican, idiots, America haters, commies or worse. But that is standard and language, as it was at AOW for how favored commenters could treat dissent.
DeleteShe and her crew regularly call ppl like us America haters and more.
You're as misguided as she, and the rest of the crew there is.
She simply insists that you do not introduce facts that contradict her ideology.
ReplyDeleteShe also allows her commenters to use racial slurs against minority politicians and others.
She sure as hell does all of that. Little of value is to be found on her rightwing Christian Nationalist trump worshipping weblog. But, it's a great site for those who submerge themselves in rightwing propaganda.
How many racist slurs are made here against Trump every week? Kayfabe is Kayfabe. Holier than thou Kayfabe is the most ridiculous kind.
DeleteThere he goes again. The racist white criminal president is the "real victim" of racism. This is the voice and ugly dark heart of white nationalism.
DeleteMAGA Jews are the most vile of racists. -FJ and Stephen Miller would make Himmler proud.
“Calling Donald Trump "orange" is generally not considered racist because orange is not a recognized race, and the term typically targets his personal use of makeup or tanning products rather than a natural, race-based skin tone.”
DeleteBesides, Donald Trump has used every racist trope and slur against anyone he believes does not show him enough undying fealty.
Have you forgotten the pictures of Mr. and Mrs. Obama as apes that he reposted? He calls, women piggy, stupid, ugly, fake and every other epithet that can be hurled against anyone who is superior in intellect to him.
How noble of you to defend the biggest bully, taunter, abuser, and troll to ever defile the Oval Office. I guess you weren’t around when Trump‘s UFC fighter called Michelle Obama, a man. I don’t remember you running here and whining about that personal slur to the former First Lady. But here you are, ever the defender of Trump‘s delicate feelings.
-FJ... list them. Please list the "racist slurs" made here against Trump "every week".
DeleteI'm sure they will match up nicely to Halfrican, Magic Negro, Watermelon man, Mike, Mooch, Moslem, Obammy, and more, all on regular display at other blogs when the name Obama comes up.
Please tell us what "racist slurs" we've used here that rise to the level we've seen used towards the Obamas.
Balls in your court -FJ.
Kayfabe... give me a break.
Dave M., we know that -FJ and Joe Con do not try to engage in a dialog. Very often, whenever I post something against Trump and Trumpism, they come running with "whataboutisms" instead of addressing the subject.
DeleteTheir "raison d'etre" is and always has been contrariness and being a disrupter.
My question is, what moral and leadership qualities do those remaining Trump supporters seen in him?
You won't interpret them as racist, because its' "acceptable racism". Calling white people "white supremacists" is perfectly acceptable. Implying they are "racist" for having pride in their heritage if white, but not if black, is another. It's the double standard.
DeleteTo answer Shaw's criticism I see the most essential quality in DJTs leadership is a willingness to take calculated risks. That's something that "surplus salaried" bureaucrats have "learned" NEVER to do. Take responsibility for being "wrong". What a concept. OWNERSHIP. And we know how much socialists and communists hat PRIVATE OWNERSHIP!
:White supremacy is defined by major institutions, such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), as the belief that white people are inherently superior to other races and should dominate society. Applying this label to someone who explicitly advocates for these ideas is an assessment of their expressed beliefs, not an act of racism.
DeleteDonald Trump doesn't "take calculated risks." He operates on impulse and his "gut feelings." Just look at the Iran War debacle, the Reflecting Pool fiasco, his failed tariff policies, his hideous deportation and mass ICE operation THAT KILLED AMERICAN CITIZENS ON THEIR STREETS! The freezing of federal grants and the gutting of the federal workplace.
Only a blind cultist could possibly think those are "calculated" risks. Explain Trump's "calculation" behind not understanding how Iran had the power to close the Strait of Hormuz and disrupt the entire economy on the planet. Everyone knew this "calculated" risk but the willfully stupid Trump.
Trump has never ever taken responsibility for any eff-up of his in his miserable-failure of a life. He learned that tactic from his mentor, Roy Cohn. And Trump himself has said never admit a mistake and never apologize.
Your claims about Trump in you comment are not just illogical; they're laughable. And I often wonder why you feel the need to defend such an obviously psychologically damaged and immoral human being.
The ADL is the LAST organization qualified to define "racism", give Israel's Jewishness Supremacist apartheid ethno-State.
DeleteAnd people stupid enough to interfere in ICE's deportation operations deserve what they get, IMO.
The risks taken in Venezuela seem to have paid off. It never would have happened under Biden.
DeleteDJTs leadership...Take responsibility for being "wrong". What a concept.
DeleteThis is a joke, right?
As if... Since when has Trump or his Cartel EVER taken responsibility for being wrong? Why not start with taking responsibility for his vandalism by SUVs on the reflecting pool?
The ADL is correct in defining racism in this instance. You’re incorrect.
DeleteAs for Venezuela, your on the side of criminality and the Felon-in-Chief’s crimes:
Leading international law experts and the United Nations classify the U.S. military invasion of Venezuela and the abduction of its head of state as violations of international law. These actions have drawn widespread legal and geopolitical scrutiny, with key issues including:
Crime of Aggression: Legal scholars widely categorize the U.S. military strikes in Caracas as a violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which strictly prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any sovereign state.
Violation of Sovereignty: Experts state that abducting a foreign leader (Nicolás Maduro) from his own country, and subsequently declaring that the U.S. will "run the country," circumvents normal, treaty-bound extradition procedures and usurps state sovereignty.
Immunity of Heads of State: Under long-standing international law standards, sitting heads of state have legal immunity. The United States' circumvention of this has raised serious concerns about setting a dangerous precedent for the global rules-based order.The operation prompted immediate international debate, with a United Nations Human Rights Council investigative team noting that while Maduro's government has been accused of serious domestic human rights violations, that does not legally justify a military intervention that violates international law.
Like the international bully and felon in the White House, you believe laws and treaties are for other people. And, it appears, you believe the ends justify the means, which is a philosophy that every tinpot dictator and tyrant believes as well.
The means matter just as much as the ends. Using unethical means—such as violating human rights, torturing, or breaking international law—often undermines the intended moral goal and damages a state's long-term reputation, something Trump never thinks about, evidently.
Joe C said to my request to list the "racist slurs" that are allegedly posted here every week, "You won't interpret them as racist, because its' "acceptable racism".
DeleteYou don't know that Joe because you've not posted any examples.
Enter into the conversation Joe, Farmer, or -FJ. You made a statement and then when challenged, hid behind your dodge.
I for one would love to hear all the "racist slurs" we make against Trump here AND see your reasoning, not some video of someone else.
Step up. You made your charge, now defend it with evidence.
I take the kayfabe man's utterances with a grain of salt. Cultists are Cultists and their belief in the cult leader becomes their identity.
ReplyDeleteLOL -FJ!
ReplyDeleteCalling a white supremacist racist or a racist a white supremacist is truth telling when their words and actions clearly demonstrate over time that that is exactly what and what and they are. The malignant narcissist and many, if not most, in his inner circle have done exactly that, -FJ.
Your neoracism shines through once again, Les. Do you feel good about yourself? Not being the "racist" and all.
DeleteWoke buffoons...
Yeah, Les,
DeleteDon't you know only white MAGA cultists are the "real victims" of racism today?
Why can't you be a classic racist like -FJ and MAGA, for Pete's sake! ;-)
Whatever you wish to believe is fine by be minus man. Because you see, your ideology is garbage to me. Your support for a fuc*ing criminal president and his filthy agenda is ALL that I need to know about you. Nothing else is needed.
DeleteYou're right. I am woke. But not in the way your ignorance interprets it So again, your views are but garbage, worthless nuggets of your inability to see reality as it is.
So, minus man, you have a nice day. Don't fall and break your nose wandering around on your delusions
So no conservative whites have ever been victimized by white democratic patronage DEI neo-racists such as yourselves?
DeleteLet's whine some more poor whittle white supremacist. Eh jc?
DeleteNo, no they have not, but they have in your self-victimization mind, as most white supremacists do.
DeleteWhite supremacists frequently view themselves as victims of "reverse racism" and systemic discrimination due to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. They often reframe the beneficiaries of DEI as the true oppressors, pointing to these programs as evidence that white people are being actively marginalized.
"Victimization is the process of being harmed, exploited, or subjected to cruel treatment by an external event or individual. It typically consists of three main elements: the event itself, the resulting harm, and the psychological aftermath>"
Many observers and civil rights groups argue that white supremacists are not oppressed, but rather face necessary societal, institutional, and legal consequences due to their advocacy of hate, exclusion, and violence. From this perspective, public backlash, loss of employment, or social ostracization are viewed as accountability measures rather than discrimination.
Except for Scott Turner, Trump's cabinet is lily white.
The Trump administration is predominantly white. Analysis by the Brookings Institution indicates that approximately 90% of Senate-confirmed individuals in the Trump administration were white.
DeleteRacial Representation: Research into his Cabinet appointments shows that a significant majority are white, with people of color making up a smaller fraction of the top posts compared to other recent presidencies.
Gender Representation: The administration is also heavily male-dominated, with women making up roughly 16% of confirmed positions.
The levers of power in America are firmly in the hands of conservative white males.
What in the hell are you whining about?
Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party, has ALWAYS been about a political patronage system. That's why Democrats love immigration and DEI. They've gamed DEI and immigration into a political patronage system and weaponized government service as a result. That's why they call it "The Swamp"!
DeleteTammany Hall doesn't exist. Tell us who the bureaucrats are running the federal government NOW! Musk and his DOGE goons fired thousands and Trump and his people filled Washington DC MAGA loyalists. It's now a MAGA patronage system being weaponized government service.
DeleteIt's Trump's Swamp now.
It appears that the hypocrite Republicans LIKE the Swamp so long as their people are swimming in it.
Deletelol! The beneficiaries of DEI policies are 99.9% progressive DEMOCRATS. Self-respecting minorities would be offended if you told them that they got the job because of the skin colour or politics. DEI hires are PROUD to be democrats weaponizing government agencies against conservatives.
ReplyDelete”DEI initiatives aim to benefit broad underrepresented demographics—such as women, people of color, and individuals with disabilities—rather than members of a specific political party. While these beneficiaries hold diverse political views, the Democratic Party strongly champions these policies.”Pew Research Center
DeleteYour opinion is not a fact.
White voters make up approximately 79% to 85% of the Republican coalition, according to demographic data from the Pew Research Center and election exit polls like AP VoteCast.
DeleteWhat better way to prevent conservatives from entering government and corporate leadership positions than to discriminate LEGALLY against whites? It's a weaponized political patronage system, no "social justice".
What proportion of civil servants are registerd Republicans?
DeleteRegistered Republicans account for roughly 26% of the federal civil service, compared to about 50% for Democrats and the remainder identifying as Independents.
for comparrison:
In the U.S., 27% of adults identify as Democrats and 27% identify as Republicans, with 45% identifying as political independents. When accounting for partisan leanings, 47% of Americans align with or lean toward the Democratic Party, while 42% lean Republica
27% didn't become 50% by accident.
And right on cue, -FJ plays his patented "white victim card".
DeleteHow many people of color and women lost their jobs from racist DOGE crooks and other MAGA racists like Hegseth? No matter. "Those people" don't count as much as -FJ, the "real victim".
-FJ exhibits the core nature of authoritarians and fascists. They find joy in inflicting and seeing the "lesser" people they hate suffer.
Because, after all, fascists have always been the "real victims".
No wonder he loves Trump.
-
Self-Identified Polling: A poll by the Government Business Council found that 40% of federal workers identified as Republicans or Republican-leaning independents, compared to 44% who identified as Democrats.
Delete(That's almost even.)
Agency-by-Agency Splits: Even in departments considered the most "Republican-leaning"—such as the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Transportation—the political split between Democrats and Republicans was generally even.
Democratic bureaucrats are 8 percentage points more likely than Republicans to have a post-graduate degree, which may make them more likely to be both hired and promoted within a merit-based system. Democrats are also less likely to quit over time: after ten years, they’re 4.5 percent more likely to still be part of the civil service than Republicans or independents.
It appears that because Democrats tend to be more educated, certain jobs are more likely to hire them.
SOURCE
Our authoritarian victim has no issue with the fact his fellow authoritarians make up most or law enforcement.
DeleteA study published in the American Journal of Political Science found that roughly 69% of officers nationwide identify as Republican or leaned right, compared to about 31% for Democrats.
And that's why the Gestapo was what it was, and why the DOJ and FBI are appeasers of their boss's criminal behavior.
They are -FJ's tribe of thugs and racists.
lol! So DEI isn't needed for Democrats to be over-represented in Government. So why doesn't diversity mandate the preferred hiring of Republicans?
Deletebtw - 8% of the ~25% of the workforce with graduate degrees translate to a further 2% Democrat advantage. So at most, they should be 29% of the workforce, not 27%.. How did they get to 50% again?
Education.
DeleteOnly 54% of civil servants hold college degrees.
DeleteDemocrats hold a 13-point advantage Pew Research Center. Roughly 55% of college-educated voters lean Democrat, while 42% lean Republican Pew Research Center.
Add another 7% to 29% Democrat advantage and you get 35% Democrat.
The probability of a 35% demographic filling 50% of the entire US federal civil service by pure random chance is effectively zero percent.
Even with the baseline rising from 27% to 35%, the massive size of the federal workforce—approximately 2 million civilian positions—makes it statistically impossible for random selection to deviate that far from the population average.
Still 15% off.
Only 54%? That's notably higher than the overall U.S. civilian workforce (40.4%). Additionally, nearly 22% of federal workers hold advanced degrees (Master's, J.D., Ph.D.).
DeleteYou're trying to imply some sinister plot that fills civil service jobs with Democrats, when the simplest answer is that liberal leaning people seek higher education more than conservatives; and therefore, they get hired more than people without higher education for civil service jobs.
Pew Research:
"People with liberal political views tend to seek and attain higher levels of education at significantly higher rates than conservatives. This phenomenon, often described as the "diploma divide," has grown increasingly prominent over the past two decades.
As a general rule, there are significantly more Democrats with post-graduate degrees than there are Republicans. This phenomenon is a core component of what political scientists call the "diploma divide"—a major realignment over the last few decades in which highly educated Americans have increasingly moved toward the Democratic Party, while voters without college degrees have moved toward the Republican Party.
Data from major non-partisan research tracking this breakdown reveals the following trends:
The Partisan Breakdown Among Postgraduates According to demographic polling from the Pew Research Center:
The Postgraduate Divide: Approximately 61% to 65% of registered voters with postgraduate degrees identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party."
You're a conspiracist, seeing sinister plots in anything you disagree with.
The simple answer, again, is people with advanced degrees tend to get hired, since Liberals/Democrats with advanced degrees outnumber Conservative/Republicans with those degrees, they get the jobs.
That's not a sinister plot.
I'm not taking this discussion any further.
The Heritage Foundation proposed reviving Schedule F, an executive action to reclassify tens of thousands of career civil servants as political appointees so they could be replaced with loyalists.
ReplyDeleteI guessing you have no problem with that?
Given the current Democratic advantage in Civil Service? No, i have NO problem with it. A president deserves a workforce that won't actively or passively undermine his policies.
DeleteSo, you're for it when a MAGA Republican is in office but not when Democrats are in office?
DeleteWhat would be the difference, given the current ridiculous imbalance?
DeleteLaugh all you like poor whittle white supremacist jc. Soon, very soon, your goon white supremacist presnit and his fuc*ing white supremacist regime will be out of office. Hopefully with their as*es lounging in a federal penitentiary with hardened criminals. Which is where they belong. Where they can do no more harm to Americans. Real Patriotic Americans.
ReplyDeleteWhen democrats and democratic socialists are running things it will be a very good thing if they actually weaponize the DOJ against all the trump regime's goons this time. Putting them where they actually deserve to be. In prison.
And, poor whittle whittle supremacist jc, Shaw is right. You're a goddamn hypocrite with your last comment. And EVERYONE who reads your caca knows it. Everyone that's not a blind, deaf, and dumb MAGAt.
Guys... let's not lose sight of the perfidiousness of the postings by Joe C, -FJ or whatever name he is.
ReplyDeleteHe claimed Shaw and all of us are guilty of making racist statements against President Trump every week. Then when challenged to cite specific examples, he demurred, saying we'd never interpret his examples as racist.
That's classic -FJ, et al. make a bold claim, offer no back up, then ignore any calls for evidence to back it up.
Why are we even dealing with him. Let him comment, but why engage faithfully? He never reciprocates.
Even that would be more than any of us get on the Poop Deck of the Mothership.