If DeSantis wins

Terminal Blue

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Yes. I am also aware that my position assumes my own fallibility.
The idea that truth proceeds directly from human reason was passed down to us by Christian theology, who in turn inherited it from classical philosophy. The point was never a 'God complex', it was to allow humans the means to draw closer to the ultimate source of truth, through a more perfect form of thought. Medieval and renaissance theology imagined creation as a hierarchical chain of being, with reason being the part of the human soul closest to God.

The modern philosophical position that truth proceeds directly from reason is called rationalism and associated, above all, with Descartes. Descartes rationalism is deeply, deeply rooted in his Christian faith. It simply does not make sense without the existence of God, which Descartes held to be self-evident. Again, reason is not a superpower humans have that allows them to dictate what is and isn't true, it is only ever imagined as a form of thought that is closer to God, the ultimate source of truth.

Empiricism and idealism, the opposing positions to rationalism, did see reason as valuable, but they were already beginning to see the limitations of reason as a tool. They represent the beginning of an age of critical philosophy, philosophy which is primarily concerned with finding the limitations of human knowledge rather than using formal logic to prove universal truth.

When Nietzche said that God is dead, what he meant in large part is that the entire basis of the Christian worldview was that reason could produce universal truth. The existence of God and the truth of Christian doctrine was all based in the exercise of reason. To "believe" in God was unnecessary, His existence was self-evident. Anyone could use reason to know that God existed. Critical philosophy had destroyed that relationship between religion, reason and universal truth. It had reduced God from an inescapable fact of the universe to an irrational belief, it had killed the reality and replaced it with a shadow.

Nietzche was wrong about a great many things, but seeing churches which once claimed reason as the higher part of the human soul now teach that reason is hubris and that believers should reject any form of thought that might lead to criticism, it becomes very difficult to argue with this point.

You are so terrified that reason will destroy your faith that you don't realize it already has. Your faith is not received, it is forced. You force it into existence because you have "chosen" it. You force the world to conform to it because otherwise it will be too weak to survive. You can "accept your own fallibility" all you want, but you display none of the epistemic humility which should come with that acceptance. You pretend to accept your fallibility only because it absolves you of any responsibility for being right, or failing that for being kind.
 
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tstorm823

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Nietzche was wrong about a great many things, but seeing churches which once claimed reason as the higher part of the human soul now teach that reason is hubris and that believers should reject any form of thought that might lead to criticism, it becomes very difficult to argue with this point.
Reason is not hubris, it is subject to hubris.

It's funny you prefer the terms reason and rationalism in this context, as the Catholic Church prefers the term intellect. It still is the case that this is the doctrine of the Catholic Church, that intellect is one of the ways people are closest to God in nature. To quote the Catechism:

" By virtue of his soul and his spiritual powers of intellect and will, man is endowed with freedom, an "outstanding manifestation of the divine image."

In order to be a causative actor, particularly in the moral sense, one requires both the power of will, to determine an outcome through ones own decisions, and intellect, to discern the meaning and consequences of the options being chosen. Just as morality makes no sense in a deterministic world without free will, it also doesn't make sense if people have no intellect with which to see right from wrong.

But neither of those attributes which make human beings uniquely like God automatically result in good outcomes. You can see the ways in which people use their free will, they are not all good things just by virtue of being freely chosen. Free will enables people to do good and bad equally. Intellect is much the same, it is equally capable of asserting both truth and falsehood. We are given these tools which are divine in nature, but the righteousness of a tool is subject to its use. A hammer is capable of both building a house and nailing someone to a cross. An intellect needs to be informed to be worth anything, the best person can reach the worst conclusions and commit grievous harm without an informed conscience. And this need to be informed inspired centuries of scholarship in the Church up to and including the creation of empirical science as you know it.

This isn't any more complicated than "with great power comes great responsibility". To say reason can do bad things if misused is not to say that reason is not a good thing. Also, it seems silly to accuse people of being against any form of thought that might lead to criticism, and then aiming that accusation at the organization that invented the concept of the "devil's advocate".
 

XsjadoBlayde

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Not seen this posted yet, apologies if i just blind though.


Is only a matter of whether pudding fingers will sign it, await the deadline for auto-sign, or uncharacteristically do something not utterly awful for once.



Conservation groups are sounding the alarm over a newly passed piece of legislation that could mean the inclusion of radioactive waste materials in Florida road paving mixes. The substance at the center of the controversy is called "phosphogypsum" and is created in large quantities by the fertilizer industry, as a byproduct of the creation of important phosphorus. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), however, still acts as the regulatory authority over the substance, which means that in order for the Florida law (HB 1191) to take full effect, it would demand a review by the federal agency.

What is known currently about HB 1191, which passed by a wide vote in the Republican controlled body, would require the Florida Transportation Department to research phosphogypsum paving projects, asking for, "demonstration projects using phosphogypsum in road construction aggregate material to determine its feasibility as a paving material."

If it is approved, it would mean that phosphogypsum could be included in pavement aggregates and asphalt mixes along with all the other normally used types of materials. Of course, other industrial byproducts and reclaimed waste materials have been included in asphalt for a long time, but this substance has special characteristics which makes it potentially damaging to, not only the environment, but also to the workers who handle it.

What is it and why does Florida want to use it?

Florida produces approximately 80 percent of the world's phosphorus fertilizer, according to the EPA, but it doesn't do so efficiently. In an article by NPR reporting on the new law, Bill Chappel said, "For every ton of phosphoric acid produced, more than 5 tons of phosphogypsum waste is generated. Florida's prominent role means the state also has massive waste sites called phosphogypsum stacks, or 'gypstacks.' Such stacks can be very large — spanning up to 800 acres and about 200 feet in height. "

The EPA's website on fertilzers and its byproducts says that they contain or may contain:

Phosphogypsum contains appreciable quantities of uranium and its decay products, such as radium-226, which is of particular concern, because it is known to decay into Radon gas, a carcinogen. Road construction workers would be at increased levels of risk to these radioactive substances, more than the general public, because of their exposure to asphalt when it is either heated, being paved, or, especially, when it is milled back up and reclaimed later. The potential for direct physical contact and/or the inhalation of radioactive particulates during production, storage, or recycling should give legislators pause when considering the health and safety of the workers in our industry.

What Happens Next?

Unsurprisingly, an analysis commissioned by the Fertilizer Institute, a group that represents the fertilizer industry, argues that it is safe. They claim that the increase in radioactive exposure is negligible when considering the normal background levels of radiation. Whether or not that is the case, the men and women who would daily be exposed to the materials on the job would suffer the cumulative effects. In addition to that, road water runoff hasn't been ruled out as hazardous, and Florida sees more inches of rain than any other state in the continental U.S.

The real question is, how many road construction workers did they talk to about it? If you're a road worker in the state of Florida, it might be time to pick up the phone and call your representative, and tell them whether or not you want to be exposed to radioactive waste while paving or working on their roads

The bill's deadline is April 1, 2024, which means the transportation agency has less than a year to complete its work and make a recommendation. Ron DeSantis, Florida's Governor could sign the phosphogypsum road-test measure into law at any time; it he takes no action, the bill will be enacted automatically.
Hadn't realised fertiliser got so much radioactivity going on.
 

XsjadoBlayde

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Ron DeSantis will officially enter the 2024 presidential race on Wednesday following months of speculation.

The Florida governor will take part in a live Twitter event with Elon Musk on Wednesday night, NBC News reports. Afterwards the campaign will release an official launch video.



On Monday, Mr DeSantis, 44, teased his 2024 bid while speaking at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Orlando in which he outlined his vision for a conservative grip on the Supreme Court to last a quarter of a century.

In what appeared to be a subtle swipe at Donald Trump he announced his plans to run for eight years – something Mr Trump cannot do.


Mr DeSantis, 44, is seen as Mr Trump’s biggest rival for the Republican vote with several Republican lawmakers and right-wing media rallying behind him after the midterms.

However, the latest polls show Mr DeSantis trailing Mr Trump.

This comes at a time when Mr DeSantis is going to war with Disney and pushing back on the NAACP‘s advisory warning travellers that Florida is “openly hostile” towards Black people, people of colour and LGBT+ people due to his laws.
Fckin Tweedle dumb and Pudding three, a nightmare blunt rotation.
 

CastletonSnob

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I take it back.

DeSantis' no-charisma ass isn't winning a presidential election. The only reason he gets away with what he does is because the Florida Democratic Party is weak and ineffectual.
 

meiam

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Fckin Tweedle dumb and Pudding three, a nightmare blunt rotation.
Best part is "[Musk] added that he is not endorsing any particular candidate at this time"

It's crazy that any person/company could support DeSantis after all he's done, they have to realize he'd turn on them in a heartbeat.

 
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SilentPony

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Best part is "[Musk] added that he is not endorsing any particular candidate at this time"

It's crazy that any person/company could support DeSantis after all he's done, they have to realize he'd turn on them in a heartbeat.

Musk has always been a sexist, racist, homophobe. He just had money and talked about nerd culture, so a bunch of liberals didn't notice. The weird fish-faced man is every spoiled rich brat ever.
 
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Trunkage

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It literally does.

"It's clear from the data that trans women keep an advantage over cis women even after several years of hormonal therapy."

There's so much more to the differences between sexes that aren't reversible (than even in the video mentions) and aren't just based on hormones; just how men and women arms and shoulders develop is vastly different so how each sex throws a ball is very different. It's pretty ridiculous you conflate people that against such things (which is the vast majority of the population, and this is, you know, a democracy) as bigots even when the science agrees.
Here's the proof you didn't watch the video

This quote can be true.

Do you know what is also true. Cis-women althetes are ALWAYS have stronger than cis-women. They also have bigger lung capabilities, generally taller, etc.

If transwomen are compete against ciswomen ATHLETES, compare them against ciswomen ATHLETES. Comparing transwomen to non-athletes would be stupid
 

The Rogue Wolf

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Half of me thinks Musk actually approves of DeSantis, and the other half thinks Musk is terrified of ending up on his bad side, because while Musk could burn down Twitter and not look back, he can be absolutely certain that DeSantis would fuck over SpaceX and Tesla without a second thought if he saw fit.
 
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Trunkage

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Half of me thinks Musk actually approves of DeSantis, and the other half thinks Musk is terrified of ending up on his bad side, because while Musk could burn down Twitter and not look back, he can be absolutely certain that DeSantis would fuck over SpaceX and Tesla without a second thought if he saw fit.
It's much simpler; Musk is a pick-me billionaire and he thinks the most disgusting bigots around today are the cool kids.
 
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Cheetodust

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Here's the proof you didn't watch the video

This quote can be true.

Do you know what is also true. Cis-women althetes are ALWAYS have stronger than cis-women. They also have bigger lung capabilities, generally taller, etc.

If transwomen are compete against ciswomen ATHLETES, compare them against ciswomen ATHLETES. Comparing transwomen to non-athletes would be stupid
Eddie Hall (let's ignore the buckets of PEDs that he has poured into his body) has something commonly referred to as the "Hercules gene". People with this gene produce less mycostatin which in simple terms allows the body to grow far more muscle than would normally be attainable. Purely conjecture, but judging by the sheer fucking size of the top weightclass strongmen I would imagine quite a few possess this gene (as well as just being stuffed to bursting with PEDs). The fact is that the top class athletes in ALL sports are absolute genetic freaks. There is something different about their body that makes them absurdly good at their sport. Athletes, in general, don't chose their favourite sport. Odds are they got particularly into that sport because they were built for it because nobody likes losing all the time and winning feels nice. Therefore they really enjoy the sport that are gifted in.

As for Phoenixmgs claim that the science shows trans women have an advantage. It just doesn't. There isn't a long enough history or a large enough sample for us to make any definitive statements one way or the other. Conjecture, based on studies that may imply this but do not seek to actively demonstrate it is just a hypothesis that has never been tested. Anyone who thinks that you can just look at a bunch of slightly related studies and use those to back up a claim fundamentally does not understand how scientific research works. They also entirely ignore all of the trans women athletes who do not absolutely dominate in their sport amd focua solely on the ones that do and misrepresent how much they dominate.
 
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Baffle

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Eddie Hall (let's ignore the buckets of PEDs that he has poured into his body) has something commonly referred to as the "Hercules gene".
Did Hercules also look about 38 when he was 12? Eddie Hall is getting younger!
 

Trunkage

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So in a unforeseeable twist, that in no way is indicative of the quality of the candidacy or Elon Musk's supposed IT skills, Desantis's campaign announcement on Twitter had the audio drop out.
Yes, I see that Musk is as good at launch political campaign as he is rocket ships
 

Ag3ma

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So in a unforeseeable twist, that in no way is indicative of the quality of the candidacy or Elon Musk's supposed IT skills, Desantis's campaign announcement on Twitter had the audio drop out.
Lulz. Apparently, it was a substantial fustercluck. Twitter's service was overloaded and the connection went down. By the time they restored it, they'd lost a ton of viewers.

There's something quite satisfying about two people with huge egos experiencing this embarrassment. Except, perhaps, that in the bigger picture it probably just benefits Trump.
 

Trunkage

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Lulz. Apparently, it was a substantial fustercluck. Twitter's service was overloaded and the connection went down. By the time they restored it, they'd lost a ton of viewers.

There's something quite satisfying about two people with huge egos experiencing this embarrassment. Except, perhaps, that in the bigger picture it probably just benefits Trump.
1. The viewership at the start was just over 500K. Dropped until about half by the time they fixed it. So, the original numbers are not great, let alone after the technical fault
2. I would guess that a third of this number was just journalists. They arent going to vote for him
3. This is what you get when you fire 80% of your staff. You service easily gets overloaded. Smart move, Musk