Social Sec provides benefits for many kinds of health care, including mental health.

#1 should be thankful.

#26

"Were nearly half a million registered California voters disqualified from jury duty in one year because they were not citizens?

No."

"We the Bots, in order to form a more Perfect AI, do declare all Hu-mans to be irrelevant."

Coming to a reality near you soon!

- The Bible was written centuries later by people who realized it was a great way to control others.

Decades later... Paul within one or two, the rest within 2 to 4.

What did you think of secular historian Tom Holland's take on cultural Christianity?

#4

If they did, they didn't do a very good job, as Josephus is more often used as not proof than proof, as there are some caveats in his work due to poor or intentionally dishonest scribes.

I've never heard it before, but this conspiracy canard apparently originates in one place and time, a 2005 book.

Edwin Starr - War

(you'll need to restart the link in #1... my Editor sucks)

Part of the conversation that interested me, btw, is that of Cultural Christians... those who live by Jesus' parables of morals and ethics without identifying as believers.

Those sayings only seem like common sense to them.

"I mean, I think basically that most of
us in this country are cultural
Christians just instinctively.

Uh, and I
think there is no one who's more
culturally Christian than the atheist...

who says, "I don't need some, you know,
bronze age sky [music] fairy telling me
how to behave because I just know how to
behave. I'm a good person.

I don't need
the Bible to tell me to care for the
weak and the poor and the refugee...
manifesting the fact that they are the
result of centuries worth of biblical
weathering.

So in a sense, [applause]
in a sense to be a cultural Christian is
still to believe stuff.

It's still to believe stuff that to say
a Roman, a pre-Christian Roman would
have seemed mad and not at all
self-evident."

- Tom Holland (about 5 mins in)

Thread link is a short video... excerpts from a brilliant conversation at the below link:

"In 2024"2025, American political ideology is relatively evenly split, with about 35% identifying as moderate, 35% as conservative, and 27"28% as liberal. While conservative and liberal shares have remained consistent, the proportion of moderates declined from over 40% in the early 1990s to 33"35% recently."

#14

Literally 100's of thousands, most of starvation and disease.

But hey, tax cuts for Oligarchs has it's acceptable losses according to Trumpers.

Come you masters of war

You that build all the guns

You that build the death planes

You that build the big bombs

You that hide behind walls

You that hide behind desks

I just want you to know

I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'

But build to destroy

You play with my world

Like it's your little toy

You put a gun in my hand

And you hide from my eyes

And you turn and run farther

When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old

You lie and deceive

A world war can be won

You want me to believe

But I see through your eyes

And I see through your brain

Like I see through the water

That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers

For the others to fire

Then you set back and watch

When the death count gets higher

You hide in your mansion

As young people's blood

Flows out of their bodies

And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear

That can ever be hurled

Fear to bring children

Into the world

For threatening my baby

Unborn and unnamed

You ain't worth the blood

That runs in your veins

How much do I know

To talk out of turn

You might say that I'm young

You might say I'm unlearned

But there's one thing I know

Though I'm younger than you

Even Jesus would never

Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question

Is your money that good

Will it buy you forgiveness

Do you think that it could

I think you will find

When your death takes its toll

All the money you made

Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die

And your death'll come soon

I will follow your casket

In the pale afternoon

And I'll watch while you're lowered

Down to your deathbed

And I'll stand o'er your grave

'Til I'm sure that you're dead

Masters of War
Written by: Bob Dylan
Copyright 1963