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Remember when Democrats worked on legislation to protect whistleblowers who revealed COVID relief shenanigans in 2021? Neither do I.

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If Gen Z is gonna get drafted to fight for our freedoms in foreign lands....we are FUCKED.

These kids need a three-day rest just to deal with pronouns they don't like--they need special counseling every time something happens in the news--we're going to send them to other countries to face people with real guns???

We are FUCKED.

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They will be issued puppies in basic training.

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The Biden administration conducts and directs multiple lawsuits and charges against his main political rival, the person who has been beating him in polls for quite a while now, and they use their lawfare to make ads showing that they've successfully politicized the Judicial system in the United States? Yeah. Protecting democracy sure looks a lot like tyrannical authoritarianism to me.

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The Selective Service has always registered US male citizens when they are 18 so if conscription is necessary, they already have that information. Reason is not very smart if they think this is a new dig at Gen Z and Congress is creating a tempest in a teapot.

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Ferguson’ s Pity of War. Read it.

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Re "10 Stories we are Following "(week June 16), #7 "Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare"should be moved into the Steven Pinker discussion:: "Why Smart People Believe Stupid Things." I suggest you ask Steve Pinker about TFP's unexamined "very true take" on Oliver's views. Consider instead a Santa Claus story, a deliberate deception emerging from political scandal 400+ years ago. Makes one wonder what other "foolery" (A Shakespeare word) TFP repeats because it fits publication ideology. (For a recent look at the controversy, see Elizabeth Winkler, "Shakespeare was a Woman and Other Heresies: How Doubting the Bard became the Biggest Taboo in Literature."(Simon& Schuster, 2023)

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Well, that’s unsettling.

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founding

TFP is my go to source for news I can trust.

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Ferguson's column was a good start. It confirmed my biases. But after covering all those bases, where does he go next?

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The Steven Pinker interview was unwatchable. For starters, he believes Osward shot President Kennedy, which a reasonable amount of investigation would show was false. See, for example, Dead Wrong by Richard Belzer, which examines the autopsy reports.

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Yeah, I don't know either way, but between Jack Ruby, the sealing of documents for decades, etc., there is certainly room for doubt. What kills me is Pinker acting like it is an unassailable FACT that Oswald acted alone. Even if the chances are 99% that this is true, saying that it is TRUE and that you are foolish to believe anything else, is why the line between reality and conspiracy has become so blurred.

The reality is that labeling things as conspiracy theories has become just a new tool of the left to shame or marginalize anyone who has a different opinion.

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The key is the autopsy report and testimony of medical personnel at Parkland Hospital.

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Getting Ferguson is better than the Dodgers signing Ohtani. Ferguson probably not making quite as much $$$$$.

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Back in 2010, when Ferguson dumped his wife of 16 years (and their 3 kids) to marry Ali, he was earning £5 million a year as a celebrity historian and author. I expect he earns a lot more than that now.

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Ohtani signed for 700 million, and 'dumped' may be a little extreme. I will admit I am a Ferguson fanboy though.

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Jun 19·edited Jun 19

Oh, I watch Ferguson on GoodFellows every time a new episode comes out. But I have liked him less since finding out his marital history. And frankly I’ve never heard of Ohtani, so I’ll take your word for his mega millions. That said, Ferguson doesn’t know everything. The last episode of GoodFellows that I watched, Stephen Kotkin magisterially disabused Ferguson of the notion that Putin had been “provoked” into invading Ukraine and Trump would stop him. Kotkin explained to Ferguson that Putin had been forced to invade Ukraine after Biden became president because Putin had been counting on Trump just giving him Ukraine. Ferguson was visibly stunned that Kotkin disagreed with him, and bear in mind that Kotkin is Stanford’s Russia expert, not Ferguson.

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The interview with Steven Pinker was excellent. Thanks for that!

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Ah, TFP is bringing in white British men, just like WaPo. :)

Seriously, keep ‘em coming. Love those accents.

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It is truly astonishing that the Biden people have not yet figured out what will and what will not turn voters against Trump. Usually they do stupid shit that steers voters toward Trump. Like banana republic trials. Or now this, spending $50 million on ads to remind Americans that Trump is a convicted criminal. How many ways is this stupid? 1. Everyone in America already knows Trump was convicted. It's changing virtually no one's minds. 2. Continually drawing attention to the fact that he legally went after his chief rival during an election year is not a good play for Biden.

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Well, at least Niall Ferguson isn't related to Bari. But they are board members together.

Exactly how mainstream are you trying to get? If you want to impress as not another mainstream publication, grab someone with something to say, like Russell Brand. Not someone who will repeat McCain foreign policy.

And he won't be popular with the coastal elite audience being sought.

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“ Well, at least Niall Ferguson isn't related to Bari.”

And he’s neither gay nor Jewish. The spell is broken!

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Jun 19·edited Jun 19

Yes, but he is (1) supporting Bari’s new university, and (2) married to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Indeed Ferguson left his first wife and kids to marry Ayaan Hirsi Ali and have kids with her. He never mentions his first family anymore (I watch him on GoodFellows, a round table discussion forum by The Hoover Institution at Stanford). To the extent that Ferguson spends half the year in California and the other half in the UK, he can wow the west coast and hobnob with Oliver Weismann. And TFP is in love with Ayaan, the second wife, so there’s that.

Ferguson met Ali at a Time magazine gala in 2009, had a months long affair with her, and then up and dumped his wife of 16 years (and their 3 children) in Feb 2010 to marry Ali. His first wife was then Fleet Street editor Susan Douglas, which meant that Ferguson was ostracized for several years in UK social circles. Ferguson is a celebrity historian. Back in 2009 he was estimated to be earning £5 million a year.

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Wow, I’m now even less excited to hear what he has to say.

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Too bad Douglas Murray’s gay, as he would be a perfect mate for Ayana Hirsi Ali. They could discuss the latest ways Islam has ended civilization for all of us over tea!

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And they would both be right!

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So are you an Islamophobe too, or just happy that they are?

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Both. I assume you’re an Islamic scholar fluent in Arabic

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So much content! Awesome!

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