Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[Robert Roaldi]

In his latest musings, Patrick Boyle discusses the future of truth as seen through the lens of Elon Musk's new "anti-woke" version of all the world's knowledge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkQUogcOaiU

If I had to summarize the discussion, the subtitle might be "More tech bro flim-flammery." Honestly, why do we look to these guys for any vision of anything. (And there's a podcast site that examines that very thing https://www.techwontsave.us)

[Rob C]

 Now, it could very well be that in time these wrongs will be rectified in some court judgement, which is nice I suppose. That will certainly make for some good photo ops outside the courtroom.

All it takes is another general, multi-use “pardon”, and all is serene, isn’t it?

On slavery and conquest, I suppose a generous offer of free reinstatement back in the old continent may well be included… not that I’d expect to see a rush of takers on that offer, so a safe one to make, both morally and economically, too. Britain went through a silly period of self-flagellation some years ago, similar to the US one, tearing down statues and changing names of streets and squares. All that did was confuse local people using the busses.

Supposedly out of some sense of guilt for hundred-year-old acts committed by people now long departed, it strikes me as a dangerous activity, wiping away real reminders of each country’s past. Removing statues and changing names does nothing but protect those dead guilty ones, not the other way around. Hide reality, and future generations will see Hitler-like figures as prescient statesmen, rather than what they truly were.

You gotta be careful effing the past. It can come back and bite your ass.

[Robert Roaldi]

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You gotta be careful effing the past. It can come back and bite your ass.

Great first line for a novel.

[PeterAit]

Supposedly out of some sense of guilt for hundred-year-old acts committed by people now long departed, it strikes me as a dangerous activity, wiping away real reminders of each country’s past. Removing statues and changing names does nothing but protect those dead guilty ones, not the other way around. Hide reality, and future generations will see Hitler-like figures as prescient statesmen, rather than what they truly were.

You gotta be careful effing the past. It can come back and bite your ass.

In the US it has been most concerned with things related to the Civil War. Not out of a sense of guilt, but out of a feeling that it is wrong to honor those who fought to keep people enslaved. So  statues were removed, names were changed, etc. All as it should be.

[Robert Roaldi]

In the US it has been most concerned with things related to the Civil War. Not out of a sense of guilt, but out of a feeling that it is wrong to honor those who fought to keep people enslaved. So  statues were removed, names were changed, etc. All as it should be.

From things I've read, it sounded like most of those statues were put up during Jim Crow, so the motivation for doing so was suspect. I was always a bit suspicious how so many people were suddenly interested in "history" when they were removing the statues. I'd have been curious to see how many of them had taken history electives in high school or college.

Was there similar enthusiasm for museums about slavery? That's history too.

When it comes to statues of politicians, I think they shouldn't be considered for commemoration till about 100 years after their death. That should be enough time for any dirt to emerge.

it is becoming pretty obvious to me that one of the aims of modern Big Corp is to bring back slavery, as it must seem awfully advantageous to not pay employees. This time round, they may be more clever and not restrict it to one minority or another but rather be more inclusive, even dare I say, be a bit DEI about it. We'll just see how this AI thing turns out, shall we.

[Rob C]

In the US it has been most concerned with things related to the Civil War. Not out of a sense of guilt, but out of a feeling that it is wrong to honor those who fought to keep people enslaved. So  statues were removed, names were changed, etc. All as it should be.

I wonder if that's the case. Remove all signs and symbols, and facts are lost as are their intrinsic warnings of what man can so willingly do to man. You shouldn’t hide history, but rather let it stand, visible as a warning of what can so easily be again our today or tomorrow. Whitewash removes guilt: that’s what it was invented to do for the political world.

[Rob C]

I saw, yesterday, on national Spanish news, mention of “safaris” from Italy into Sarajevo during the war, where very rich Italians, Russians and others, would pay from euros 100,000 to 400,000 to go on hunting safaris into that area. As in the film Hard Target, the targets were humans.

Apparently, though Italian courts have taken an interest, in Bosnia, judicial silence remains the code.

Don’t you just admire the human spirit? I wonder if the killer instinct truly and literally does constitute part of the successful businessman ethic?

[Robert Roaldi]

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Don’t you just admire the human spirit? I wonder if the killer instinct truly and literally does constitute part of the successful businessman ethic?

There's no bottom. We just declare "others" to be bad and we can do anything to them. Sink boats, starve children, whatever, never a shortage of apologists. Many other examples. It's easy to fall down, harder to climb up.

There are US military vessels near Venezuela. I can hardly wait: an Hispanic Vietnam! I bet the oil companies in the place are already US controlled, so why bother with bullets? Trump may have decided he needs a show or distraction for the faithful, the Canada and Greenland invasions didn't do well in focus groups. Better to shoot people slightly less white, that's easier to swallow. Venezuelans are Hispanic, so easy to use the distraction of "drugs". But I see from the news that Trump has other things to worry about this morning. He'll need another distraction this weekend.

[Robert Roaldi]

Looks like the latest Epstein revelations have distracted Trump from Venezuela.

[Rob C]

Spanish news, tonight, says the US has declared a war on drugs in the sea off South America; the flotilla is coming out of the horizon as once did the cavalry. Lots of fuel getting used up, just as global warming is showing its muscles all over this poor old world of ours. But hey, in for a penny…

[Robert Roaldi]

Spanish news, tonight, says the US has declared a war on drugs in the sea off South America; the flotilla is coming out of the horizon as once did the cavalry. Lots of fuel getting used up, just as global warming is showing its muscles all over this poor old world of ours. But hey, in for a penny…

Doesn't Hegseth have a name for the operation, "Southern Spear" or something. They must be serious then.

[Frans Waterlander]

Maybe, just maybe you should consider that more than 100,000 people in the US die every year of illegal drug overdoses.

[Robert Roaldi]

Maybe, just maybe you should consider that more than 100,000 people in the US die every year of illegal drug overdoses.

Does it not worry you that so many Americans are willing to risk jail and their lives to obtain those drugs? Why is there such a demand? And not just Americans for that matter, it's a world-wide issue, but what does that have to do with Venezuela?

Do you really believe that American use drugs because of evil foreigners. There's probably a little more to it and it's a bit hard to believe that the military can fix things. History is not on your side on that.

Were you as worried when 100,000 had died from Covid? Are you as worried about gun deaths, there are lots of those too, every year. How many more than 100,000 lives could be improved if health care in the US was more readily accessible to the less affluent? None of these things are directly related but they do all involve the expenditure of public funds so it's important to spend that money wisely.

[Rob C]

Maybe, just maybe you should consider that more than 100,000 people in the US die every year of illegal drug overdoses.

Yes Frans, one does consider the statistics, but until the market for drugs is closed, the supply will continue unabated. It's domestic housekeeping that's the answer, the solution. It will be difficult, both because of human weakness as for human greed, especially that of those in power but with a nice sideline in corruption.

In Mallorca, right now, the newspapers are filled with the story of a huge, international gang bust; it turns out that amongst those arrested are lawyers and even a police head honcho in charge of the drugs control unit. That's where any successful battle must be waged: domestically. The rest is futile showbiz designed to win votes, keep the bloodshed abroad and retain the status quo.

[Robert Roaldi]

I was just thinking that the 50 year mortgage concept is a bit like subscribing to a house.

[Rob C]

I was just thinking that the 50 year mortgage concept is a bit like subscribing to a house.

With a small difference: you are left with something more than a memory when the time is finished. Of course, you might well find yourself checking out before that mortgage is memory, and you've beaten it to that status. Think altruistic: it’s all for the next generation!

[digitaldog]

Maybe, just maybe you should consider that more than 100,000 people in the US die every year of illegal drug overdoses.

Leave it to Mr. Waterlander to muck up the facts and misunderstand the data by lumping all deaths to illegal drugs. Or observe that the death rate went down under the previous administration!

 While overdose deaths remain high in the United States (U.S.), national data show a 25.0% decline in overdose deaths from the year ending in March 2025 compared to the previous year. United States national data show persistent declines in overdose deaths beginning in 2023 (Fig. 1 Panel a). Provisional data indicate a 25.0% decline in overdose deaths from the year ending in March 2025 (77,648 overdose deaths) versus the previous year (103,529),1 a dramatic shift from relentlessly rising overdose deaths for much of the past 25 years.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667193X25002364

Frans, AGAIN:Get your facts right, then you can distort them as you please.
Your right to post Fact Free FUD (FFF) while ignoring provided facts doesn’t guarantee your right to be taken seriously.

[Robert Roaldi]

With a small difference: you are left with something more than a memory when the time is finished. Of course, you might well find yourself checking out before that mortgage is memory, and you've beaten it to that status. Think altruistic: it’s all for the next generation!

You might enjoy Patrick Boyle's take https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8FcRbLCwEk.

[PeterAit]

Maybe, just maybe you should consider that more than 100,000 people in the US die every year of illegal drug overdoses.

Where there is demand and so much money to be made, the supply will always come. Perhaps instead of blowing up Venezuelan speedboats we should focus on removing the demand for these drugs. But it's a lot easier to shoot off missiles and blow up boats then it is to improve society so people don't feel the need to become drug addicts.

[Rob C]

Where there is demand and so much money to be made, the supply will always come. Perhaps instead of blowing up Venezuelan speedboats we should focus on removing the demand for these drugs. But it's a lot easier to shoot off missiles and blow up boats then it is to improve society so people don't feel the need to become drug addicts.

Agreed, one hundred percent.

Trouble is, improving society means different things to different folks. If you are simply thinking in economic terms, how, then, do you explain the many rich people who use the drugs? I suspect it’s a mixture of peer pressure, boredom and stupidity combined with a massive lack of imagination, the latter being the most obvious protective factor any human would be expected to possess.