How long until Joe Biden becomes president? 

 

If all goes well (I don't really care), Joe Biden will be president in:

 

182 days, 10 hours, 15 minutes...

 

But this is an eternity... The Democrats and the liberal media will pile as much dirt on Trump as they can between now and then, like they have done anyway before Trump passed the post — and the said Democrats will unfortunately soil themselves in the process, while Joe Biden fades away in his own memory dumpster... And the Vice-President is:...

Reactions to globalization, the Trump presidency, and the coronavirus pandemic have turned discussions of American conservatism increasingly into discussions of “nationalism.” Regrettably, terminological confusion is rampant. Both “conservatism” and “nationalism” are words of many and even contradictory meanings. 

The strengths of post-World War II American intellectual conservatism have been widely heralded. As for its weaknesses, one trait stands out that has greatly impeded intellectual stringency: a deep-seated impatience with the supposedly “finer points” of philosophy. Making do with loosely defined terms has made conservatism susceptible to intellectual flabbiness, contradiction, and manipulation.

This deficiency is connected to a virtual obsession with electoral politics. William F. Buckley’s path-breaking National Review was an intellectual magazine, but its primary purpose was to prepare the ground for political victories, most of all for capturing the presidency. The desire to forge a political alliance among diverse groups pushed deep intellectual fissures into the background. Having a rather narrowly political understanding of what shapes the future, most conservatives thought that the election and presidency of Ronald Reagan signified the “triumph” of conservatism; but the triumph was hollow. The reason is that in the long run politicians have less power than those who shape our view of reality, our innermost hopes and fears, and our deeper sensibilities. A crucial role is here played by “the culture”—universities, schools, churches, the arts, media, book publishing, advertising, Hollywood, and the rest of the entertainment industry—which is why America kept moving leftward.

For post-war so-called “movement” conservatives, conservatism meant chiefly limited government, a free market, anti-communism, and a strong defense. These tenets were all focused on politics, and vastly different motives hid behind each of them. Why were these tenets called “conservatism”? Rather than point to a few policy preferences, should that term not refer to a general attitude to life, a wish to conserve something, the best of a heritage? One thinks of the moral and cultural sources of American liberty and constitutionalism. But, outside of ceremonial occasions, most movement conservatives placed their emphasis elsewhere.

A striking example of philosophical messiness and confusion is that the conservative movement even incorporated clearly anti-conservative ideas, specifically, the anti-historicism advanced by Leo Strauss and his followers. Strauss championed what he called “natural right,” which he saw as sharply opposed to tradition. He called the latter “the ancestral” or “convention.” To look to them for guidance was to be guilty of the great offense of “historicism,” by which he meant moral relativism or nihilism. History, Strauss insisted, is irrelevant to understanding what is right. Only ahistorical, purely abstract reason is normative.

Hampered by a lack of philosophical education, many Straussians have been oblivious to the far-reaching and harmful ramifications of this anti-historicism. By blithely combining it with ideas of very different origin, they have concealed, even from themselves, its animosity to tradition.

 

 

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https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/definitions-please/

 

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"The Age of Deceit"

Jeffrey Epstein, who died by apparent suicide in a Manhattan jail last year, had lots of powerful connections including presidents, royals, and businessmen. The highest-profile man to be involved in the case is Britain’s Prince Andrew, who vehemently denies charges of sexual abuse brought by Epstein’s alleged sex slave.

One of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers has claimed that the late financier forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew in order to get incriminating information on the royal.

The woman alleged that Epstein had instructed her, then a minor, to “report back on the details of the sexual abuse” by the prince, according to court documents filed in December 2014.

She believed it was part of a broader effort by the New York sex predator to farm out young girls to powerful people to “ingratiate himself with them for business, personal, political, and financial gain, as well as to obtain potential blackmail information”.

The woman was identified in the filing only as Jane Doe #3 and elsewhere in the same case as Virginia Giuffre. She was one of the first women to publicly accuse the millionaire of sexual trafficking and abuse.

Giuffre claimed Epstein had made her have sex with Prince Andrew three times in the early 2000s when she was 17. The Duke of York, who was once close with Epstein, strongly denied the accusations, but the scandal that followed forced him to step back from his royal duties. He is currently under immense pressure from US prosecutors and lawyers to testify to the FBI, but has allegedly been uncooperative so far.

Among other men who she claimed sexually abused women and girls at Epstein’s behest were former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, former Senator George Mitchell, French modelling scout Jean-Luc Brunel and lawyer Alan Dershowitz.

Dershowitz helped Epstein negotiate a lenient plea deal for soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008, which helped him avoid more serious federal charges and serve just 13 months with a six-day-a-week work release.

In her depositions, Giuffre mentioned another prince, a “well-known prime minister” and a Spanish “president”, whose identities are yet to be revealed. All of the men she mentioned have denied any wrongdoing.

She has also accused Ghislaine Maxwell, a British media heiress and Epstein’s long-time confidant, of trafficking and sexually abusing numerous girls including minors, together with her paedophile pal.

The revelations make part of her civil defamation lawsuit against Maxwell, who has accused her of lying. Though it was settled out of court in Giuffre’s favour in 2017, lawyers for Giuffre and other alleged victims have battled back and forth to make many of the documents public. Maxwell was arrested last month and has pleaded not guilty pending trial next July. Her charges, which include sex trafficking and perjury but not sexual abuse, carry up to 35 years in jail.

 

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/world/202008011080032915-epstein-made-teen-girl-have-sex-with-prince-andrew-in-blackmail-bid-court-docs-claim/

 

 

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See also: https://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/37218

US President Donald Trump was abruptly led out of a news briefing by a Secret Service agent, after shots were fired outside the White House.

The agent walked on stage as Mr Trump was speaking and whispered in his ear.

Mr Trump was heard to say "Oh!" and "What's happening", as he left the room. The White House was placed on lockdown during Monday's incident.

The president returned nine minutes later to say the situation was under control and a man had been shot. 

The US Secret Service confirmed the incident, saying there had been "an officer involved shooting at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Ave". 

It said "a male subject and a USSS officer were both transported to a local hospital", adding that "at no time during this incident was the White House complex breached or were any protectees in danger".

President Trump told reporters he believed the US Secret Service had shot a suspect, who was armed "from what I understand".

He said did not know if the person harboured any ill intentions towards him.

"It might not have had anything to do with me," the president said.

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53731624


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