Talk about funeral strippers. How about all those who decide on cremation in Western society. You expect the gold from their dental work is included in the deceased ashes? psst, I know a dental lab that buys that reclaimed gold. We got our version too.
Except liberals/progressives control political power in Europe and all those groups remain protected.
The vast majority of "main stream Republicans" do not even know what a Liberal Democracy is .. never mind support it. The Republican party hates Republicanism and Classical Liberalism (which are very similar)... as does the Dem Party.
That they do ! China is a shining example of Totalitarianism. The difference between China and the US is that China does not make any secret of the totalitarian nature of its political structure.
Now THAT'S a statement that will make a guy sit up and take notice: China is INHERENTLY totalitarian, we are inherently a nation with a government's sole purpose to secure our inalienable rights against violation or infringement, but, we have a group of totalitarians who have seized the levers of power and seek to impose their will on us, even though all of them swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, which secures our right to follow our own will. Where we differ is that I view China as far more unstable even though as you point out, at the core of their government is the truth, they are Totalitarian, whereas for our wanna-be totalitarians, at their base, they are telling a lie and they are working within a system that was designed to defeat them. We have the tools to regain our rightful control over our government, and to do so without bloodshed, at its heart, China is an Empire, ruled by force and the Chinese People truly are the subjects of the Chinese Government. We only are to the extent that we go along with it. We are far better off than the Red Chinese. For one thing, we are privately armed. There are some estimates now that the 350 million private firearms in the possession of US citizens, spread throughout the country, might be an estimate too low by half, whatever the case, the American People as a privately armed people are one of the most powerful military forces in the world. Don't think that does not make a difference, that is why the totalitarians in our society are so focused on it.
Glad that my comment sparked notice I agree with the majority of what you are saying and did not mean to imply that there are not differences between here and China. That said while we are not like China ... we are moving towards a form of totalitarianism. One interesting anecdote on the side. I was watching coverage of the Olympics in China. The reporter was filming beside an armed soldier standing without moving like those British dudes. She had a beer in her hand and was intentionally waving the beer around so that the soldier could see it. Then she said - I guess there are some freedoms in China. Things that make you go hmmmm. Talk to Jim Rogers (one of the guru's that founded the quantum fund) and he has been saying for years that there is more economic freedom in China - markets more fair and free (talk about a comment that makes a guy sit up and take notice - how is that friggen possible). The main rule in China is "Don't mess with/speak out against the Gov't" if you follow that rule you can have a whole lot of freedom. Totalitarian communism (extreme socialism) and extreme capitalism meet at the far end of the spectrum. In both cases you have a few elite controlling most resources and means of production. We have managed to combine some of the worst elements of both into what I call an Oligopoly/Bureaucracy Fusion Monster. Regulation and tax law are used to keep the little guy from competing and to bastardize fair and free markets. Anti competitive practices, price fixing and anti trust is allowed to flourish. Individual liberty has been under attack for decades. It is now our "Patriotic Duty" to give up liberty in exchange for the illusion of security. Gov't transparency is non existent and our intelligence services are now allowed (since the 2013) to create propaganda for dissemination on US citizens. Gov't and police power is increasing at the expense of liberty. Bad law (such as prohibition) creates crime and then this increased criminal activity is used to take erode individual liberty. Our foreign policy is on big false narrative. One that the MSM willingly promotes and will not contest. They promote fear in order to put money into the pockets of .. well - their owners, which are the same owners of the defense contractors and the banks. Paid Lobbyists (ex Generals) regularly promote war. Somehow the media pundit fails to point out the inherent conflict of interest. In 2000 our Total Military Spending was roughly 300 Billion. After 8 years of Bush this rose to 900 Billion and topped 1 Trillion under Obama. Had we maintained 2000 spending levels (increasing with inflation) we could have diverted 500 Billion/year over 16 years = 8 Trillion to infrastructure, technology and ramping up our economy to compete in the third millennium. Instead this money went to feed the appetite of defense contractors and war profiteers. Sure there is a massive benefit to the pyramid builders in the Pentagon and the numerous other agencies (CIA, DIA, Pentagon, NSA, Homeland Security and so on) what do we have now 17 or something intelligence agencies ? It is not like the head of one of these departments needs much encouraging to accept and stump for (touting what ever false narrative will work) an increased budget. It is the natural outcropping of self interest and greed. Interest on our debt is 450 Billion/year (much of which fills the pockets of the Oligarchs) x 16 years and you can add another 7 Trillion to the above total. Now we have to sit through months (which is over a year now) of "Russiagate" like Russia has some influence over our electoral and political system that is greater than a raindrop in a hurricane. ... and like this influence makes a difference given that red and blue will promote the same Establishment goals... quazi totalitarian police state and a system of indentured slavery for the middle class.
They haven't established full totalitarian power yet in Europe which is their goal. There is still opposition in Europe as there is in America.
I note the drift, but I'm not pessimistic about it. Our Constitution is a powerful tool that limits central government and secures our basic rights to follow our OWN will. Parts of our Constitution are "lost" in that little attention is paid to them, or judicial findings have nullified them, but so long as they remain in the text, these now hidden gems remain waiting to be found and they will be as powerful as they were when they were first constructed. China has nothing like that going for them, few in the world do. Exactly. They are a Government with a people, we are a People with a government. I use a different visualization, though, it is also a circle: Constitutionally Secured Liberty at the bottom, Tyranny at the top, and yes, you can make the Trip from Liberty to Tyranny, by going either Left or Right;. Well, this is allowed to continue because of one of the hidden gems in the Constitution remains to be discovered. There is an interesting phrase in the US Constitution about securing our "Privileges or Immunities" but, since it wasn't in Article I, II or III, nobody could ever figure out which branch was charged with securing it. It's an odd phrase, no longer in common usage, but what it speaks to are our "Privileges" simply because we are human beings, and our "immunities" (from infringement) and it is the securing of these rights that forms the basis of our government, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, and it is securing the blessings of Liberty that is the purpose of the US Constitution, as stated in the preamble. So, essentially while the power was secured to the Federal Government, it was not assigned to any of the Branches, and we formed a nation where if the Majority of a State wanted to enslave the minority, they were free to do so. This fundamental flaw led to the Civil War and while all the Slave States were succeeded, excluded from Congress and without State Legislatures, we passed and ratified the 13th, 14th and 15th amendment to ensure that the Federal Government could never again enslave a minority by majority vote. Once the occupied States reformed their governments and applied for re-admission, the first thing they had to do, was ratify the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to regain Statehood. In the 14th amendment, the Privileges and Immunities clause was re-stated and promptly stripped of power by SCOTUS, recall that while the Congress and the State Legislatures were cleared of Slave politicians, the Supreme Court was not, and they very quickly stripped the Federal government of the power to force the States to properly respect the fundamental rights of their citizens, such as in the licensing issues that you raised, points that are right on the money. The early post 14th amendment decision on this, I think, was over whether you had to see an optometrist or an ophthalmologist in order get an eye glass prescription filled, even though the grinding of eye glass lens is much more of an artisan craft than a medical specialty. Another set of cases was over the licensing of meat packers or something like that. The regulators won, but some conservative jurists (Justice Thomas in particular) have been pointing out lately in decisions they came to using the Due Process phrase of the 14th amendment, they could have just as easily gotten there using the Priviledges and Immunity clause. That day will come, the ground work has been being laid for some time now. Well, that's the "progressive" lie that we reject. I think a thorough housecleaning is in progress. We are in the unusual position of Congress investigating gross wrong doing by the Executive Branch, while the head of the Executive Branch is livid over it, because it was all directed at him! So, where normally the President would be shielding the Executive Branch from Congressional Oversight by repeatedly and continually asserting privilege, in this case, we have the President cheering Congress on, encouraging them to get the crooked bastards! This is a unique opportunity, we need to make the most of it. \We need to end the Judicial Doctrine of "Limited Immunity" that shields crooked Judges, Cops and Prosecutors. It was asserted, it was never legislated, it arose out of case law. One thing to keep in mind is that Congress has the authority to regulate the Judiciary, except for SCOTUS, when SCOTUS is functioning under its Original Authority (Congress can regulate even SCOTUS when they are exercising appellate authority). Great stuff. I'm convinced we are not helpless and that we have the Constitutional tools to keep our government in check through peaceful constitutional means. And frankly, that we are currenly making progress on several fronts.
It's permissible as long as it's slipped in with George face down so he cannot view his shameful predicament.
I'm not convinced we are helpless either but the propaganda machine is really getting hard core and this is disturbing. I do believe that the people are starting to wake up though. The "anti establishment" movements and the election of Trump are proof that the masses are starting to wake up. The problem is that they do not know where to direct their anger .. They realize they are being sodomized but, they do not know who or what is causing the pain. Whats needed is a movement .. you talk about "The Constitution" but what is more important is the principles by which the constitution is supposed to be interpreted ... those found in the DOI. 1) Individual rights and freedoms are "ABOVE" the legitimate authority of Gov't. 2) Authority of Gov't comes from "we the people - consent of the Governed" as opposed to "Divine Right/God" as was the case in the past. Gov't (and this includes State and Municipal authorities) are not supposed to be making ANY law, outside its legitimate purview which is protection from harm- direct harm, on person on another (rape, murder theft and so on), that messes with individual liberty. Full Stop. These guys set up an amazing system - if we would just follow it. If Govt wants to make a law outside its legitimate purview (protection from direct harm)... that messes with individual liberty they are supposed to appeal to "we the people" for a change to the social contract. The bar for messing with liberty is not 50+1. There is no "simple majority mandate" with respect to individual liberty. If this were the case there would be no point in putting individual liberty "ABOVE" the legitimate authority of Gov't. The bar is overwhelming majority (at least 2/3rds) .. same as what is needed for impeachment and other things. The vast overwhelming majority wants murder, rape theft to be illegal. The bar is no different for any other law that messes with individual liberty. Both Republicanism and Classical Liberalism refer to "simple majority mandate" as "Tyranny of the majority". The above principle is not some big secret. I did not just wake up this morning and make this **** up. Every sitting member of SCOTUS should be removed for dereliction of duty - failure to interpret law and the constitution on the basis of the founding principles. We have fallen so far down the slippery slope that we no longer can see the mountain top. "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" has become "its your patriotic duty to give up your individual liberty - over a risk of harm that is 400 x less than the risk of harm from walking". Obama then changed the name of the "Patriot Act" to the equally Orwellian doublespeak - Freedom Act. "If we want increased security we have to give a little" said Obama in defending the head of the NSA lying to congress (a felony) and the other felony of mass spying on US citizens. Compare to Ben Franklin "those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security". I could go on for pages but ...this post is way too long already
Ok this is the first Ive heard of this. So I poked around.. <no pun intended > Apparently it's a thing... Not just for funerals..but everything or anything.. birthdays, weddings, whatever. The Chinese populace.. Male, female, old, young.... Love strippers. Check this picture out.. It's daytime.. Outside.. Got a lady and what could be her mom here just giggling away with a stripper. People all ages around. My respect for the Chinese just doubled.
I went to a funeral when I was in China, and they didn't have strippers. But this was 27 years ago. They took a lot of pictures and burned a lot of fake money (the idea being the funeral guests buy fake money and have it burned to send along with the dead to the next life). There was a lot of smoke from the burning of the money. No strippers.
