PJ @pj@qoto.org

It would be funny if it wasn't tragic how shallow-minded conspiracy the(r)orists really are:

>Forrest Tower, a B.C. Wildfire Service information officer, is no stranger to conspiracy theories.
In 2021, Tower was the subject of a theory that alleged he was a government-hired actor and not a real person, given how well his name suits his job.
"[It was] going around that a fire information officer with my name couldn't possibly be real," he said, adding while it was funny at first, theories can affect emergency operations.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/wildfire-conspiracy-bc-1.6855332

>Back in 1968, Republicans endorsed youth involvement in politics.

I wonder what happened that the "baby boomer kids" whose protests in '68 helped this "softening" of the conservative establishment are now the most conservative "MAGA" supporting part of the GOP?

https://couriernewsroom.com/news/the-1968-republican-party-platform-was-woke

> The commander in charge of reforming the Canadian Armed Forces' culture says military leaders are considering limiting alcohol consumption at holiday events.

Really? Why not ban alcohol consumption for military personnel altogether? After all, you don't want them misbehaving when out of uniform as well.

Not being able to hold your liquor and a tendency to sexual misconduct should be disqualifying factors for entering the military anyway.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canadian-armed-forces-alcohol-sexual-misconduct-1.6839933?cmp=rss

What happened to CNN and Politico?

https://qoto.org/@Pat/110289591378736001
I thought it is. Isn't it why they are hunting him?

Firing guns "for fun" outside of properly regulated firing ranges managed by community-sanctioned gun clubs in good standing should be banned and criminalized. Period.

>The search for a Texas man who allegedly shot his neighbors after they asked him to stop firing off rounds in his yard stretched into a second day Sunday, with authorities saying the man could be anywhere by now.
The attack happened near the town of Cleveland, north of Houston, on a street where some residents say neighbors often unwind by firing off guns. 🤔

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/texas-mass-shooting-suspect-could-be-anywhere-sheriff-says/ar-AA1ax9Fj

Interesting🤔

>In reality, the region the Big Apple comprises most of is far and away the safest part of the U.S. mainland when it comes to gun violence, while the regions Florida and Texas belong to have per capita firearm death rates (homicides and suicides) three to four times higher than New York’s. On a regional basis it’s the southern swath of the country — in cities and rural areas alike — where the rate of deadly gun violence is most acute, regions where Republicans have dominated state governments for decades.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/23/surprising-geography-of-gun-violence-00092413

The rise of the #civilizational #empire

>“Chinese believe that the ultimate test of a good political system is not ***procedural democracy***, but to what extent it can achieve good #governance or ***the substance of democracy***.”

And We at the CPP are the only ones able to define what *good governance* entails and what is the *substance of democracy* because we were never wrong before.🙄

https://www.noemamag.com/china-rises-as-the-ideal-civilizational-state/

Only in the *United States of America* (and only for protection):

>Today, the AR-15 is the best-selling rifle in the United States, industry figures indicate. About 1 in 20 U.S. adults — or roughly 16 million people — own **at least one AR-15**, according to polling data from The Washington Post and Ipsos.

At least it is not a fully automatic gun. I wonder if the mass shooting problem would disappear if the other 19 people also had one of those.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2023/ar-15-america-gun-culture-politics/

This was already tried numerous times throughout history. It is beyond me why would someone think ***civilization states*** may work in this day and age. "*Civilised*" or not, a state is as good or bad as the relationships it maintains with its own people and its neighbors.

>#Culture is what every tribe and community developed to affirm its sense of #identity. Some cultures established #states with clear #borders that further nurtured their cultures (and) were led by **“men of prowess”**: chiefs or priests, princes or kings, even emperors.
#Civilization began with the idea that the “*civilized*” had to confront the “*barbaric*.” **Men of vision** set out to *find meaning in life beyond their own borders*. They ranged from prophets and teachers who inspired those with wealth and power to spread their message to everyone.

https://www.noemamag.com/modernizing-ancient-civilizations-for-todays-planetary-challenges

Why would you want to "*toughen up*" a highly sensitive [precise instrument?

>1️⃣ #HSPs are naturally more empathic and caring to the needs of other people
>2️⃣ HSPs are trusted by their peers because of their honesty and conscientiousness
>3️⃣ HSPs notice little details that others might miss
>4️⃣ HSPs are very creative and can appreciate things at a deeper level
>5️⃣ HSPs have more insight into their mental and emotional processes
>6️⃣ HSPs feel more connected to the world around them
>7️⃣ HSPs feel positive emotions more deeply

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/highly-sensitive-person-7-reasons-why-being-an-hsp-is-a-strength-according-to-a-neuropsychologist

>#Fundamentalism attempts to give to non-scientific ways of #knowing the status that is given to #science, but it omits the #openness of science to new #evidence that is essential to that status.

M.C. Bateson - in *Legacy for Living Systems*, pg 22

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4020-6706-8

>For millions of viewers, “it’s just a Pavlovian response to put on Fox News at eight o’clock,” Lawrence said. “Tucker needs the eight-o’clock hour on Fox News way more than Fox News needs Tucker.”

https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-communications/watching-tucker-carlson-for-work

The scale of importance runs probably in this order:

1️⃣ #Health
2️⃣ #Education
3️⃣ #Defense

A healthy and educated population is better equipped for defending a society that assures those basic needs are satisfied.

As long as there is no room for economic #exploitation or political #manipulation in such a society.

Finally, someone who recognizes #Education of the general population is as (if not more) important as #Defense.

https://www.the74million.org/article/a-darpa-for-k-12-omnibus-bill-includes-substantial-new-funds-for-education-rd/

I was wondering where #NoemaMag and Maçães got the idea about the "decline of Western liberalism":

https://www.ft.com/video/a49cfa25-610e-438c-b11d-5dac19619e08

>***The illiberal promise*** is that once we’ve dispensed with liberalism’s inconvenience, uncertainty, and constant rumbles of public dispute, you will end up empowered. Your morals will be enshrined in law. Your culture will be propagated by the government. Your friends will be rewarded and your enemies punished.
>But a litany of wars, inquisitions, and purges show that for almost everyone, this promise is a lie. Without liberalism, you probably won’t end up empowered. You’ll end up bearably oppressed, if you’re lucky, or persecuted or dead if you’re not.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-liberalism-in-us-will-only-lead-to-violence

I would not dismiss ***Western #Liberalism*** so fast as Bruno Maçães, Portugal’s former secretary of state for European affairs does in this propaganda article from #NoemaMag.

Western Liberalism was on its "deathbed" many times but somehow always managed to defeat any #Civilization #State lined up as its replacement, with either nationalist (#Fascist) or inter-nationalist (#Comunist) roots.

https://www.noemamag.com/the-return-of-civilizations/