Most Americans are Christian, yes, so by that measure, we are a "Christian Nation". But we were built on the Enlightenment values of reason and logic, not religion. That's why our Founders were able to look forward and know that all governments become corrupt.
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@JohnnyTurnips@tuuu28283 Buying and building yourself change the costs dramatically, though. If you're buying into a development, the developer and the town take on a lot of the costs because they benefit eventually.
@tuuu28283 To build from scratch, plus the cost of the land, and the red tape for regulations? Probably around $300,000 in NC, if you can get rural enough, and if utilities already exist.
I’m gay.
I’m also an American.
This summer, my focus isn’t on Pride Month. It’s on the 250th anniversary of the United States and the freedoms that make it possible for all of us to live our lives as we choose.
I don’t need a corporation, a political movement, or a month on the calendar to validate who I am.
I’m grateful to live in a country where I can speak freely, think freely, love who I love, and chart my own path.
Here’s to 250 years of liberty - and hopefully many more 🇺🇸🦅
🚨Just in: Spencer Pratt has fallen to 3rd place in the Los Angeles mayoral race
Nithya Raman is now strongly favored to face off against Karen Bass in the general election
🛑 When the Supreme Court, including Liberal Justice KBJ, holds that the Biden DOJ weaponized the system against Jan 6ers,
those “claims” become “FACTS, AS A MATTER OF LAW”.
Like Welker, you should be fired for nonetheless widely publishing that these ADJUDICATED FACTS are “false claims”.
Trump & Jan 6ers should all sue every last one of you for defamation as this is clearly MALICE (aka, reckless disregard for the truth).
@JeffBezos
@Scott_Wiener Yes, so why didn’t you scream about it when a Stage IV Cancer patient was propped up in the US Presidency?
Instead, you all swore he was perfectly healthy & you helped con a Nation while unelected criminals around that sick man tried to destroy it. 😡
🇯🇵 The Council of Imams in Japan have put out a statement condemning "discriminatory statements against Muslims in Japan".
The statement claims that Muslims play a fundamental role in Japanese society, are peaceful, wish to co-exist. It also repeats numerous times that criticizing Islam or Muslims should not be acceptable.
I think one of the biggest issues most Japanese people are realizing here is the complete inability of Muslims to simply accept that they might in the wrong. They simply can't police their own side. Instead of accepting the criticism and doing something about it they point the finger at Japanese people and "online misinformation".
All these types of statements are doing are increasing opposition to Islam in Japan.
ELECTION INTEGRITY: California is blocking a federal audit of its voter rolls as US Attorney Bill Essayli opens fraud investigations into the LA mayor race & other elections. Ballot harvesting with few restrictions makes tracking each ballot impossible. The state's resistance proves the point.
Albertans have already spoken once.
In 2021, 61.7% voted to remove equalization from the Constitution. The message was clear: Alberta wanted a fairer arrangement. Premier Kenney took that result to Ottawa and to the other premiers.
They ignored it.
No reform. No negotiation. No meaningful response. Nothing changed.
That is the lesson Albertans should carry into the next referendum. Some questions send a message. Others create leverage.
The other October referendum questions may express Alberta’s frustration, but they do not legally require Ottawa to do anything. They can be acknowledged, dismissed, delayed, or forgotten.
An independence referendum is different.
It forces Canada to confront the question it has avoided for too long: whether Alberta will continue paying the bills while others make the decisions.
This should not be about party labels or political personalities. It should be about jobs, homes, housing, services, and whether Albertans have enough say over the future they are being asked to fund.
Get informed. Compare the claims. Then vote.
In the 1970s, Ethiopia's Marxist regime attempted one of the largest social engineering experiments in African history. Millions of peasants lost control of their land. Hundreds of thousands were forcibly relocated.
A decade later, up to a million people were dead.
After seizing power in 1974, the Derg abolished private land ownership and organised peasants into state-controlled Peasant Associations and producer cooperatives. Farmers were compelled to pool their land, livestock and labour under collective management. At the same time, the regime launched large-scale resettlement programmes, forcibly relocating over half a million people from the northern highlands to southern and western regions.
Both policies destroyed agricultural incentives. Without ownership or the right to keep the fruits of their labour, peasants had little reason to work hard or invest in the land. Production collapsed. The regime’s rigid central planning and forced grain deliveries made the situation worse. When drought hit in the early 1980s, the country was already in economic freefall.
The consequences were horrific. The 1983–85 famine killed as many as one million people. While drought played a role, the famine was massively worsened by collectivisation, forced resettlement, and the government’s refusal to allow free movement of food and people. Entire communities were uprooted, often with lethal results.
Ethiopia’s experience under the Derg offers a stark lesson. Private property is not an abstract concept that enlightened governments can “abolish” in pursuit of equality or progress. It is the foundation of production, individual responsibility and ultimately human survival itself.