-w-... As I said in Judy's journal... Freedom does not exist these days... America is lower on the freedom index than many countries these days... And a reminder... If a freedom requires oppression of others, it's not freedom, it's privilege. Those that claim to be free tend to be the ones suffering most, but cannot speak out less they suffer more...

It makes me ill how many right wingers try to claim the words "Freedom" or "Liberty" for themselves. It's the very height of hypocrisy and doublespeak. We have Moms for Liberty pushing book bans, and people pushing Christianity in the name of "Religious freedom". Those are just a couple of examples.

For all the talk about “rights” and “freedoms”, they don’t really care about rights and freedoms, they just want whatever it takes to have all the power they can get to go against the groups they don’t like, whether it’s free speech or guns or being able to vote.

-They only care about free speech when they’re the ones talking, but whenever the people they don’t like suddenly start using those same rights to give them backlash, suddenly free speech no longer matters, not for those groups.
-They only care about guns whenever they’re the ones who are armed, all so they can have whatever power enables them to shoot down people they don’t like, but when the people they don’t like suddenly start arming themselves, suddenly they don’t want as many guns around, not if it means those people now have the means to defend themselves.
-They only care about voting rights when they get to vote in their districts, but when the people they don’t like want to vote, they’ll resort to gerrymandering and all kinds of voter disenfranchisement, all to ensure that those people don’t get to have a say in how policy is made.

It’s not about rights or freedoms, it never was, it’s all about having more power over the “other” and making sure the other can’t fight back.

Well put.

We need to be able to favorite journals and comments.

This is still one of the most popular ideas for an upgrade here after all these years...

Maybe one day...

One thing that bothers me is the day Independence Day should have been celebrated is July 2, when the Continental Congress officially voted for independence.

Also, Juneteenth is in my opinion the real American independence day.

And today on July 4th, the British people declared their independence from 14 years of Tory rule.. although Keir Starmer's Labour Party is a huge downgrade from Corbyn's. Keir's Labours are like Tories in red. For a meaningful change and progress, Greens, SNP, and/or Workers Party GB are needed. Though the system will never let them win.

Can't really argue with any of that.

Starmer strikes me as rather conservative for a labour member. This is rather reminiscent of the Dems and the bipartite system here.

Corbyn was much better as far as I can see. Like here, he was attacked as an antisemite by Zionists for supporting Palestine. Pathetic.

Starmer is a centrist at best.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/2.....n-only-spaces/

Another bad news is that George Galloway, the most vocal pro-Palestine MP, lost his seat. The far-right Reform Party won 13 seats.

Not surprising. At least Labour is a major step up.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/.....-b2570453.html

https://x.com/CAGEintl/status/1721287628396347816

He's a grifter too. It's probably another "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" situation.

Oh, of course.

And I can't see anything on Xitter because I'm not on there and they recently made it so that anyone who isn't signed up there can't see anything.

And the way I see it, by calling the election early, Rishi and the Tories prefer to give power to Keir and Labours so the economic/social crisis explodes on their hands...

Certainly not impossible. didn't think of that.

How about that Macron, though? -Talk about a dumb idea...

What sort of economic/social crisis? Is there a reason to think there would be one in near future?

I'm guessing she means the ongoing crises in Britain post Brexit, which were the fault of the Tories and the right, but of course she can speak for herself on that.

Turns out that I couldn't see that because my computer was so old that I couldn't update my browser, and that's why I couldn't see that.

I recently got a new 'puter, so I can see it now.

Sadly the SNP and other meaningful parties have been drowned out. And worryingly Reform has been on the rise. I'm just really sad by the turnout.

And it's a shame that Corbyn isn't the leader of Labour party anymore. Starmer is just a centrist. About Reform we will see how much it will be on the rise and if it has a chance of becoming something like AfD in Germany.

EDIT: But I don't live in the UK so it doesn't matter that much to me anyways.

Was kind of hoping for Labour to be shafted and for it be a hung parliament. And sadly some of the worst of the worst of Reform and the Conservatives have either got in by a squeak or were voted overwhelmingly in despite 14 years of....all this.

And in my area everyone voted Tory...then again most people in my area are inbred freaks who barely know the world beyond their crumbling towns.

Farage got in. Ugh.

That was disgusting to see. And for whatever reason Suella Braverman held her seat also.

I can understand that. I'm not fond of national holidays in my country myself. I feel like I don't feel enough belonging to that group to feel any sort of importance regarding what is being celebrated.

Maybe idea of a nation overall is just unecessary and people would be better off without it.

The idea of nationhood divides us, much as borders do. I'd like to see a world where we move beyond those things. A recent example of note is with the Israel/Palestine conflict, where there are arguments about whether there should be a one state or two state solution. I'd prefer a no state solution.

Definitely a hard thing to achieve, but If we don't dream it, we'll never do it.

That's a nice thought. I am myself just not very political and so my dreams aren't too. To be honest I don't know if I feel much regarding Israel and Palestine because it's another instance of brutality in this world that seems to never end and that is impossible to run away from.

About hard to achieve dreams I just want to sleep all day. Probably couldn't do that even without the state, or it could be even harder.

I feel like I can't really avoid politics. They're everywhere. I care deeply about people, and even what happens far away ends up affecting us all. None of us are free until all of us are free.

Thank you for the link... and for a reminder (from the cosmos, I guess) that one of my duties as a scientist is to give a voice to the silent.

...yes, another Evil Plan is afoot.

You are, of course, most welcome.

I am personally dedicated to giving voice to the silent, the oppressed, and the less heard. But you may have noticed that.

And praise science!

I have indeed noticed it. That's part of why I love reading your journals.

Thank you for sharing a painful and momentous point of your personal history today,
along with the bounty of your usual and ever welcome clarity of vision
and depth of understanding!

Douglass' speech is sobering and timeless. I believe you have shared it with us
at one point, but something like that can never be brought to the public attention
too often.

I feel your stance on this, and, having started my exploration of the U.S. culture
in the years of George W. Bush, I have had my inoculation against
the angry blind patriotic rage, even though my home region
is likewise rife with examples of the same pompous belligerence.

However, looking at the U.S. from the place where brutality and tyranny,
hypocrisy, deceitful propaganda and murderous ideologies
have long thrived, I can appreciate some virtues of your country
without dismissing its sins.

While imperfect, fragmentary, disgraced and blood-stained,
controlled by the petty privileged elites disdainful of their marginalized countrymen,
the democratic systems of the Western world
do at least provide the safe haven for the humanist thought
and practices that benefit the world, although they are
far from being the only beacons of freedom and justice
shining across the oceans of our planet.

For all those artists, scientists, journalists, politicians and activists
who, although censored and intimidated,
could still do their heroic work,
and who have paved the way
for so many civic institutions
that have shaped the ethics across the world,
I can find it in me to keep a flame of gratitude
for the European and post-European countries.

I think it is possible to celebrate this day as a U.S. American
while still being mindful of the country's history,
not exclusively honoring one nation, but the ideal,
the torch of Statue of Liberty, and not the sword of manifest destiny.

But given my own attitude towards my own country,
which has also given some good to the world over the years,
I can fully appreciate the rejection of any grand and indiscriminate
festivals of unthinking praise for something so complicated
and burdened with indisputable horrifying evil.

May those who make it their life's work
to give meaning to the words "Liberty and Justice for All"
feel appreciated and righteous in their endeavors on this day.
For the rest of us, there's aspiring towards joining in their efforts.

We're not yet a fascist state, and we still have freedoms, -though they are currently being actively eroded- should we be able to preserve them.

It's an endless struggle to form a More Perfect Union. I don't really expect that struggle to ever end.

Yeah, the civic struggle to keep the higher ups grounded enough
to do their duty is Essential Maintenance, it doesn't have victory state,
except the continuing vigilance and dynamic feedback.

Very well put.