I found a new hiding place…

 

Interesting article on patheos.com. This stuff/channel is right down my alley (things I like to think and wonder about).  Here is an excerpt, maybe the conclusion, from the article:

Are Humans and Other Animals Altruistic?

Songwriter Tom Waits says, “We are monkeys with money and guns.” If the Eastern worldview is correct that “self” is a construct, soul is a fiction, and free will is (at least, largely) an illusion, then any bright line between humans and other animals blurs or disappears, and the world becomes much more understandable.

It seems reasonable to me that “unselfish” behavior in animals or humans can be similarly and variously explained by some combination of altruism, protective instincts, and reciprocal behavior. Why would we assume that humans are different than other animals, that humans are inherently “good” or “bad,” or that altruistic behavior in humans or other animals is NOT natural?

What is the “special sauce” that makes humans different from other animals? Some people think that we have “free will.” Why did you decide to get out of bed? Were you awake, bored or hungry? We call that agency or choice or will. Why did your dog decide to get out of bed? Was he awake, bored or hungry? We call that chemistry or conditioning or circumstance. Simply instincts.

What is the difference between the “choices” that we make and the instincts that drive behavior in other animals? Why would we assume that humans are NOT subject to the same instincts?

So, what do you think?  Does anything there strike your fancy?  Or, as an old prof of mine used to say, "Questions, comments, war stories?"

(by PrimalSoup)

Updates: Blog; Pedophiles; More pedophiles; GOP's inherent authoritarianism

In the last few months, activity here has fallen off a cliff. Is it time to wrap things up at DP? DP could be left as an obscure relic of better times before America reverted to the historical human condition norm of tyranny, corruption, bigotry, misery and superstition.

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On Sept. 16, 2025, morally rotted MAGA loyalist Kash Patel, head of the FBI publicly told a senate committee that there was no evidence that Epstein trafficked any underage girl for sex to anyone except himself. In view of solid evidence of pedophile sex trafficking, it's completely reasonable to believe that Patel was lying to protect Trump. But there's probably nothing anyone will do about it. So the Epstein sex scandal will pass into forgotten history despite all the evidence that Epstein trafficked underage girls to other men for pedophile sex. MAGA and Trump will continue to deny anything illegal was done by themselves. History will be whitewashed.

MAGA used to stand for tyranny and kleptocracy. It's now fair and balanced to say it stands for tyranny, kleptocracy and pedophilia.

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Trump, being the most brilliant biomedical scientist the human species has ever produced, said yesterday that acetaminophen in Tylenol causes autism. As usual for the most brilliant biomedical scientist the human species has ever produced, consensus expert science opinion is  different. The experts say that acetaminophen does not cause autism. Science is being whitewashed to whitewash Trump's pedophilia.

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A research paper published in the Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy describes what we all already know. The paper, Direct Democracy Backsliding, 1955-2024, asserts this unsurprising observation: The strongest predictor of anti-direct-democracy proposals is Republican control of the state legislature.

The author also comments: I find little evidence that legislators sought to restrict direct democracy for strategic reasons, either to forestall future adverse policy outcomes, or in reaction to past adverse outcomes. What this means is that elected Republican politicians as a whole (1) prefer a more system with limited direct democratic participation, regardless of specific policy outcomes, (2) Republican politicians have an ideological preference for restricting direct democracy as a matter of democratic theory, not tactical calculation, and (3) Republican politicians are systematically opposed to democratic processes and not responding to particular policy threats, e.g., woke, DEI, immigration policy, etc. The pattern reflects long-term institutional preferences, not short-term strategic maneuvering.

The dictator's dream: Lock 'em up right now, damn it!

Politico reports that Trump instructed one of the leaders of his personal law force cadres, Attorney General Pam Bondi, to get on the stick and get people he hates prosecuted and behind bars. He commented that the lack of criminal charges against critics he really hates was “killing our reputation and credibility”. 

In a social media post he apparently reconsidered and deleted, he wrote this which, was addressed to “Pam”: “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” He specifically mentioned the unacceptable lack of criminal charges against Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. He really hates those three.

Reporting by other sources corroborates what Politico reports, e.g., NBC News. The Fox News headline was blunt: Trump hounds Bondi to prosecute adversaries in now-deleted social media post: 'They're all guilty as hell'. 

Trump's deleted post is archived at this link.

The deleted post that dictator Trump

didn't want us to see

Q1: Is there any rational reason or evidence left to not believe that Trump is a vicious, lying, corrupt, vindictive dictator who opposes democracy, the rule of law and civil liberties? 

Q2: Is there any solid reason left to take seriously the opinions of rank and file Trump supporters who still support him because they believe he is fighting for them, democracy, the rule of law and civil liberties against evil Democrats, socialist tyranny, liberal pedophiles, etc.? 

Note to Ronson

Hi ya,

I got your SOS. I don't know what's going on with you and Disqus. Who did you rile up this time?

You seem to have been completely wiped out by Disqus. I can't even open up your account page any more. I can open the account page to your old Ronson6 account: https://disqus.com/by/disqus_FlxHXrDL3A/. Is that account working?

Or, is your computer hacked and some random reprobate did the dirty deed, done dirt cheap?

Do I have your email? I don't recall getting that from you.

Added note from Disqus:

Try this:

Regarding their inability to log in, they can try clearing cookies, cache and history on their browser, using all time as the time scale.
They also need to make sure that their browser is allowing all cookies/third-party cookies, or else that Disqus.com is whitelisted to allow all cookies.
Settings can change after an update.
They can also try using a different browser to see if they can log in OK there.