Mason Riggle

Perhaps 'desire' is nothing more than the path of least resistance. Water flows in the direction it 'desires' to flow.. the water doesn't 'have' desires.. it flows according to 'desire'.. the path of least resistance.

It seems useful to view 'freedom/no freedom' as a paradox, or duality, just as you would view 'nothing/something' (non-existence/existence).. Why is there something instead of nothing? Isn't it the case that the very notion of 'something' only makes sense in light of it's opposite, which is 'nothing', and the opposite is also true.. what do we mean by 'nothing'? Well, this 'nothing' concept only has meaning when contrasted with it's opposite, which is 'something'. 'No freedom' is what we find when we see only one side of the paradox. Side A) For any purely determined system, there can be no deviation whatsoever in the 'unfolding' or 'playing out' of that system. Zero Freedom. But what we also find, is that this 'seemingly determined' system is also 'seemingly infinite', and given this 'unconstrained' nature of the determined system, every possibility has the potential to play out.. Side B) infinite possibility.. a.k.a. freedom.. a.k.a. God/you/everything.. This type of 'infinite freedom' doesn't really make any more Universal sense than 'no freedom' does, and so it is that this 'free will/no free will' duality arises, a yin/yang situation, which seems to be the same way 'nothing' divides itself up, becoming 'something'. If you are fine with paradox, the 'free will/ no free will' conundrum just becomes another, 'of course that's how it is.. both are true, and not, simultaneously'.

He's definitely vilified as an aging cooky 'socialist'. Heavy stage orange/blue tribalism. People are solidly 'Christian' or 'Republican' or 'Libertarian'. Liberal and Democrat are dirty words, insults.. And everyone not 'with them' is seen as the enemy, to be defeated at all cost. Words like 'antichrist' are used literally, and there is always an overarching 'agenda' attached to the motives of anyone who isn't in lock step with their team. The most openly racist people I find myself among (mostly in my family) are the most ardent, outspoken, and unwavering Trump supporters. The real die hards also seem to be the ones most likely to be on public assistance/unemployed and also most likely to believe in conspiracy type stuff like big foot, flat earth, faked moon landing, and baby eating.

Well.. You'd be wrong. I live in a rural conservative county, complete with our own rodeo. I'm surrounded by Trumpers. My family, coworkers.. All pro Trump. I'm drowning in 'the other side' I got to here all about Michelle, Obama's tranny wife, I got to here him called a nig***. I got to hear all about 'the muzzies' and how much fun it is killing them... I have no desire to view things from the perspective of 'the other side.. I have more than glimpsed it.

A zinger.. Like the payments to porn stars, the cheating on his wife, the bankruptcies, the failed businesses, the pussy grabbing, the ease with which he hurls personal insults, the pettiness... The real shock is that anyone can find this person anything other than morally corrupt. You don't have to do anything illegal to be a shit person.

@Bodigger at least 100 million people in the US think Jesus is going to return in their lifetime. It's no mystery that 63 million are easily duped by 'one sided' or narrow minded arguments and candidates such as Trump.. It's not a 'struggle' to understand how people could vote for Trump any more than it's a struggle to understand how 1 in 4 Americans think the Sun goes around the Earth.. there are a lot of stupid people out there. Just be sure to recognize which way the arrow points in the evolution of consciousness.. and the direction the spiral moves. It's not an easy task to drag the status quo into higher states.. but it's fairly easy to recognize what the status quo is.

@giglio I'm not sure where to start... and I'm not sure it's useful to waste everyone's time responding to most of this... but here goes. Is it though? It seems I'm not the only one who makes this stretch... “There’s very clear evidence, as reflected in the memo of the call, that President Drumpf specifically asked the president of Ukraine to help in the process of digging up dirt on Joe Biden,” says Elliot Mincberg, a former chief counsel for oversight and investigations of the House Judiciary Committee, who is now a senior fellow at a liberal advocacy group People for the American Way. “That is clearly asking a foreign national to provide something of value to his campaign and that’s illegal under federal law.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Campaign finance law states: “It shall be unlawful for a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a federal, state, or local election.” Campaign finance expert Trevor Potter, who is president of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, says this: "the president’s call violates this rule and serves as a “classic case” of a candidate illegally requesting help from a foreign government." “The president, who is a candidate and has a campaign, asked a foreign government — which is included in the definition of a foreign national — for a favor, for help in a way that would benefit his campaign, harm his opponent,” he says. “And that would fit within the ban on soliciting foreign national contributions or taking anything of value.” An investigation into Joe Biden conducted by the Ukrainian government qualifies as a “thing of value” contributed by a foreign entity, he says. Ah yes, let's believe the guy who is counting on Trump for $391 Million in Military Aid to confirm whether or not he was pressured. I'm not sure you understand how blackmail works... This is a huuuuge stawman.. nobody is 'protecting Biden' because he's a candidate. The US is attempting to protect it's elections from interference and corruption, which Trump's behavior clearly is (his singling out Biden, and no other person, as the target of an investigation, all the while holding $391 Million in congress approved military aid hostage). You can't place the relatively minor 'everyday' corruption above National Security, because undermining national security is vastly more important to US Citizens than Corporate Corruption, although both are unacceptable. You wouldn't authorize the local Sheriff's Office to start conducting unlimited 'warrantless' searches of people's homes just for the 'Noble Cause' of eliminating 1 notorious pot dealer... this isn't to say pot dealing is good and can't be investigated.. you just can't undermine the rule of law itself in order to do it. I'll just take it you don't believe the FBI, who laid out in a 400 page report what happened in 2016. A total of thirty-four individuals and three companies were indicted by Mueller's investigators. Eight have pleaded guilty to or been convicted of felonies, including five Trump associates and campaign officials. Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who had been appointed as National Security Advisor by the incoming Trump administration, was convicted of making false statements to FBI investigators about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition, and he was dismissed from his position. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight felony counts of tax evasion and bank fraud,[14] pursuant to his earlier lobbying activities for the Party of Regions of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich.[15][16] He later pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud and obstruction of justice; in total, he was sentenced to over seven years in jail.[19] In February 2018, Mueller's team indicted thirteen Russian citizens and three Russian entities, including the Internet Research Agency (IRA), for conducting social media campaigns about the U.S. elections,[20] and twelve members of the Russian GRU cyber espionage group known as Fancy Bear, for hacking and leaking DNC emails. You choose to ignore the evidence. Ya think? There are good reasons even innocent people are not allowed to interfere with investigations of themselves. Shall we just dismiss the actions of every person accused of a crime which they feel they didn't commit? How well do you think that defense will play out in court? Not 'anyone' would be frustrated, as you later point out only low consciousness people do this. Mature people, they type of people you want as President, do not behave this way. This is a strange defense of Donald Trump, which just seems to be more evidence that he is not fit for the office of President, regardless of his guilt or innocence. Obstructing an Official Investigation is not a good look for the supposedly innocent. Obstructing an investigation into foreign corruption surrounding US elections does not personally instill me with much confidence that Trump is all about 'rooting out corruption and getting to the bottom of what happened'.. Was there interference by Russians or not? Was the investigation 'bogus', or was this investigation warranted? The investigation clearly outlined ways the Russian's, who, by all appearance at the very least, were in contact with Trump Campaign officials, vehemently attempted to influence US elections. The investigation also clearly outlined the many ways Trump and his team attempted to obstruct this investigation. Yes, I'm glad you pointed out the larger picture of all of this, which is that it doesn't really matter if the now infamous 'phone call' violated any specific laws. This is exactly why tossing out all of these side bars, what-about-isms, and 'musings' about WHY Trump is unfit for office, really don't have much to do with the fact that he IS unfit for office.. they reek of desperate 'justification' for the indefensible actions of Donald Trump.

Well.. that was supposed to be a link to a video.. let me try again. If no video appears below, it is TED Talk from Dance Choreographer Wayne McGregor you may or may not find interesting.

@giglio Obviously.. Did you read the parts of the law that I highlighted in red??.. I will try presenting it again, this time I will highlight the sections of the law that relate to this in greens... (a)Prohibition It shall be unlawful for— (and then here it gives 2 options.. 1 or 2.. the second one applies) 2) a person (Donald Trump) to solicit (to ask for), accept, or receive a contribution or donation described in subparagraph (A) here is subparagraph (A) a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value (an investigation into a political opponent), or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election; or (B) of paragraph (1) from a foreign national (Volodymyr Zelensky).

The 'free-rider' problem may be an unavoidable trade off that comes with having any type of organized society. Every man for himself seems to be a losing strategy when compared with teamwork. A team where several members are not contributing, yet still accessing the benefits of working as a team, is generally preferable to a team of 1. Obviously, a team where everyone contributes is ideal, but unrealistic, as not every member of a society will be capable of contributing at the same level. "Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members -- the last, the least, the littlest."

“What you took to be the thinker of thoughts is just one of the thoughts.” - Alan Watts

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/52/30121 52 U.S. Code § 30121.Contributions and donations by foreign nationals ( A (a)Prohibition It shall be unlawful for—(1)a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make—(A) a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election; (B) a contribution or donation to a committee of a political party; or (C) an expenditure, independent expenditure, or disbursement for an electioneering communication (within the meaning of section 30104(f)(3) of this title); or (2) a person to solicit, accept, or receive a contribution or donation described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) from a foreign national. (b)“Foreign national” definedAs used in this section, the term “foreign national” means—(1) a foreign principal, as such term is defined by section 611(b) of title 22, except that the term “foreign national” shall not include any individual who is a citizen of the United States; or (2) an individual who is not a citizen of the United States or a national of the United States (as defined in section 1101(a)(22) of title 8) and who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as defined by section 1101(a)(20) of title 8.

@Bodigger Yes, my personal opinion is that Obama did not exhibit behavior that gave me the impression he was Narcissistic. This isn't to say he isn't a narcissist or unwell. I am giving you the opportunity to persuade me that my assesment is wrong.

@Bodigger Let me first just point out that Donald Trump is currently sitting in the Oval Office, and Obama is not. Obama's state of mind may have been relevant 4 years ago, but it's not 'the other side of the story' when talking about Donald Trump. There really is no 'other side' to the topic 'Trump is not well' besides taking the stance that 'Trump is well', which you don't seem to be taking. As I've explained, it's not simply a partisan talking point. George Conway, a Republican, recently wrote an almost 12,000 word article outlining his experiences with Donald Trump and his concerns over his 'Fitness for office' which I linked to above. I don't recall ever seeing anything like this from Democrats surrounding Obama's state of mind. Was Obama guilty of giving 'political' answers, giving 'non-answers', and deflecting from questions? No doubt. Did his supporters engage in the same types of deflective behaviors when presented with Obama's shortcomings? Again, without a doubt. This is not a Republican/Democrat issue. The extent to which Donald Trump exhibits behaviors which are classic signs of Narcissism and Self Delusion are at a level unlike any President in recent history. Here is just a small sample of quotes from Trump that display his narcissism in plain view. "In my great and unmatched wisdom" "I think nobody knows more about taxes than I do, maybe in the history of the world." "There's nobody bigger or better at the military than I am." "I think I'm much more humble than you would understand." ... if you don't mind.. for comparison, perhaps you would like to provide some evidence that rises to this level of narcissism that you suggest Obama is guilty of.

@Serotoninluv It seems like Trump himself is rather adept at deflection as well. He's great at giving 'non-answers' and changing the narrative. I'm not sure why so many people do not notice this.. perhaps I'm hyper sensitive to it, having lived with and having been a victim of an extreme narcissist. To me, it's completely obvious when someone is engaging in this type of behavior, which is a huge red flag for me when it comes to Trumps mental state. It's a classic sign of 'self-delusion' that you will notice easily in many 'religious' people when confronted with contradictions in their beliefs.. they instantly go into deflection mode. And you're right.. we all do it, to some extent or another, as long as there is some form of 'ego' which is trying to preserve itself. Projection is another classic defense mechanism of the ego . I'm not engaging in 'x behavior'.. you are.

@Bodigger perhaps you should start another thread about the implications of applying new standards to government officials if this is your legitimate concern. Once again I'm left with the feeling that everything that came after '[you're right, it's not new] is just distraction and noise. It's as if I've stated that my car is blue and I don't like blue cars, and you point out that my car is, in fact, red, and not blue.. and then I say, yes it's red, I get that.. but I really don't like blue cars, which is what I really want to talk about, instead of the fact that I'm completely wrong in my original assessment of my own car.

@Bodigger always good to be able to laugh at one's self! As far as setting new standards, I'm not sure this is anything new. There was plenty of public concern surrounding the mental decline of Reagan and both Bushes towards the latter end of their presidencies, when signs and symptoms of aging began to show.

Exactly. And in diagnosing what the problem with your car might be, if any, it serves no useful purpose to point out other cars which may also be not working.

Bodigger, ^Notice the 'what-about-ism' that's going on in your thought process here.. 'but then I thought, [what about] people such as'.. and notice that this is not really related to the topic at hand, which is Trump's mental health. The thread on which you are replying is literally titled 'Trump is Not Well', yet instead of offering up any defense of this assessment, or adding any insight to it, your default move is to think (and say), 'yes, but what about..' which only appears (to me anyway) as an attempt to distract from the topic at hand. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I agree with this assessment.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/george-conway-trump-unfit-office/599128/ "At 11,337 words “Unfit for Office” is a massive, deep-dive, example-filled investigation into President Donald Trump’s “mental stability and connection with reality” – or lack thereof. That it’s written by noted conservative attorney George Conway, husband to White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, should give it even more credibility."

@giglio also, let's not distract from the topic of this thread, which has everything to do with Trump's mental state. We have plenty of evidence which suggests Trump is suffering from some type of mental decline on top of any personality disorders/mental illness (giant ego) he might be experiencing. His inability to form complete coherent sentences without rambling from topic to topic. His unprecedented use of 'twitter' to announce policy, as well unleash barrages of often times confused, confusing, and self contradicting statements. His slurred speech. His mispronouncing or inability to pronounce certain words. His bizarre 'wandering' around. And the list goes on and on.

Here is a classic stawman 'everybody was so sure that he colluded'... no.. everyone suspected that the Russians interfered in the 2016 elections, which there is plenty of evidence to support, and Trump did everything in his power to obstruct any investigation into Russian interference, essentially aligning himself with a foreign power. There is no legal term 'collusion', so obviously there will be no evidence of 'collusion'. According to the FBI's 400 page report, there was laid out evidence of no less than 10 instances where Donald Trump committed obstruction of Justice, and where it not for his position as President, Trump could be indicted on these charges. They named him and 'Unindicted Co-Conspirator'. Actually we have years and years of Trump being in the public spotlight by which we may judge him. It's perfectly reasonable to 'pre-judge' a person based on the persons past behavior. Leo's video blog isn't a court of law where everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. This is a false assumption. 'Lashing out' is what Narcissists do when called out on their lies. People who are innocent and accused of doing something wrong welcome an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the accusation. They wish to bring light upon the evidence to show their innocence. They do not begin engaging in smear campaigns,character assassinations, and cover ups. This is not at all similar. Democrats (and others) have known since before Trump even announced his candidacy that he is a corrupt narcissist with a long history of using his powerful status and money to serve the interests of one person.. Donald Trump. There is plenty of evidence, in the form of Trumps own words, law suits, first hand accounts, etc. that Trump is unfit, and undeserving of the office of the Presidency. The constant degrading of Obama by Republicans seemed to have everything to do with their 'blue/orange' tribalism. This 'blue/orange' tribalism does also account for some of the negative behavior we see towards Trump, from people who simply have an aversion to classical Conservative ideology, but most of the criticism of Trump comes from more independently minded people, who also criticized Obama for his shortcomings. Many of the people involved in the current 'Impeachment' are life long republicans, Trump appointees, and non-partisan players. Many of the criticisms and accusations of Trump are coming from within his own party, within his own administration even. We have never seen anything like this. If Donald Trump was 'just trying to root out the corruption from the 2016 campaign' he has plenty of resources at his disposal to do so which are legal. That the phone call was 'also about other things' doesn't make the part about Biden go away or become unimportant. The President of the United states clearly asked a Foreign nation to 'look into' an American Citizen, who he named, by name, who just happens to be the front runner to run against him in 2020. There are NO other examples of Trump singling out ANY other individual for investigation in this 'crusade to root out corruption', and this should give you pause to reflect on what exactly his real intentions are, and should be a glaring beacon of the 'crime' he has openly committed, along with the many instances of 'obstruction of justice' he continues to engage in, which is an impeachable offense on it's own.

When one attempts to 'do nothing', one realizes that 'awareness' is all there actually is.. there was never anything 'to do' in the first place other than 'be aware of what is'. Attempting to 'do nothing' is a path to mindfullness.. it's how to 'wake up' from the dream that there is something 'to do'.

@cetus56 It's beyond 'easy'. It's infinitely easy.