Alan Zweibel

Sure. They were taxed. Paging the ACLU! Oh, wait a minute, separation of church and state wasn't exactly a concept back then anywhere. I know that it's common for right wingers to equate taxation as being just as bad as murder or torture, but I don't agree with that. And how do you think Muslims and Jews were treated by Christian countries for ages? As you clearly don't know, Jews thrived in Muslim Spain. When the Catholics reconquered Spain they killed 300,000 Jews. And you know where most of the rest fled? To Turkey, In fact there ended up being more Jews and Christians, in the capital of the Turkish empire than there were Muslims. For most of its history, and in most places, the Muslims treated Christians and Jews far better than the Christians treated Jews and Muslims.

It looks like there is one area of the economy that will continue to be strong. And that's AI. Companies are investing cumulatively well over a hundred billion. So, that should help the people who build the data centers, electric power companies, investors, and the highly skilled people who work in this field. But the rest of the economy is not doing well at all. For most Americans the most important economic consideration is jobs. "Corporate America has ended its firing freeze. Companies scrambled for years after the pandemic to build back their workforces, learning a simple lesson along the way: Keep the workers you’ve got, because if you lose them you will have a hard time getting them back. The job market has softened in recent months, however, marking a safer environment for companies to start streamlining their workforces. A host of them have pounced, including Amazon.com, United Parcel Service, Target and Meta Platforms, which have announced tens of thousands of layoffs in recent weeks... Over the past two years, America’s businesses have become increasingly reluctant to bring new employees on, especially as more recent uncertainty over the direction of tariffs made it harder to plan ahead. But they have also been hesitant to cut the employees they already have, an example of what economists term “labor hoarding.” https://archive.ph/InaW5#selection-725.68-729.156 More and more, America's economy is turning into 2 tiers. Ray Dalio says America is developing a ‘dependency’ on the top 1% of workers, while the bottom 60% are struggling and unproductive https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ray-dalio-says-america-developing-085611547.html And manufacturing employment has actually declined a bit since Trump took office.

Prove that your claim is true. Good luck with that.

So we agree that he wasn't threatened or subdued. He made a deal. And apparently you are ignorant of the fact that Protestants were very well treated by Henry after he became a Catholic. His tolerance is the reason that ultimately he was assassinated. Only after he was murdered were the Huguenots persecuted. Which is why they fled France for other predominantly Protestant countries.

In that one small area where Islamic fanatics ruled. Isis was hated and feared by most of the regimes in the area. How are the vast majority of Muslims inculpated in their crimes. And your knowledge of history is massively defective. Until the 2nd half 20th century , there were huge communities of Christians and smaller ones of Jews in the Islamic world. In fact, Jews were generally treated much better by Muslims than they were by Christians.

Henry became King well after St. Bartholemew's day. For several years he ruled as a Protestant. He fought against his Catholic opponents in a war. Eventually the war was settled by Henry agreeing to become a Catholic in return for being recognized as king. Does that sound like he made a losing deal? And that's why he said "Paris is worth a Mass." He got what he wanted and fought for in exchange for becoming Catholic.

So, please share with us where they have been enslaving infidels recently. I do know that the US allies like Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar do treat guest workers very badly. And Trump has been so outraged by this that his families has concluded several lucrative deals with these people and he has even accepted a $400 million jet from Qatar. Is this plan to drain them dry of cash?

A list released last month by the White House of more than three dozen donors omitted donation amounts, as well as the names of several individuals and companies that collectively have billions of dollars riding on the outcome of administration policy decisions... Among the donors not disclosed by the White House are a pair of health care companies seeking to protect or expand Medicare reimbursement for their products, as well as the Wall Street powerhouse BlackRock, whose bid to acquire a stake in Panama Canal ports has been supported by Mr. Trump amid opposition from China. Another is Jeff Yass, a major investor in TikTok’s parent company who could benefit from a Trump-backed deal to keep the social media app up and running in the United States. https://archive.ph/RB4Ng The White House. Where the sleaziness never stops.

Thanks for confirming my point that Carney's apology was not about the factual basis of the ads. And you got your history wrong. Henry agreed to rule as a Catholic as a way to settle the military stalemate with anti-Catholic forces. Your take on it obviously makes no sense given that he said "Paris is worth a mass." Obviously it means he got something in exchange for giving something.

Which muslinms "have been killing and enslaving Christians and Jews for several years" Is this a widespread phenomenon?

I should also have noted that the Pakistani government has a long and discreditable history of persecuting Christians. I guess to express its disapproval of this the Trump administration engaged in the following: Pakistan, US sign $500mn MoU to boost cooperation in critical minerals https://www.brecorder.com/news/40381731/pakistan-us-sign-mou-to-boost-cooperation-in-critical-minerals?utm_source=chatgpt.com

You were right and I was wrong about the militants currently being widespread. But the fact is that the government itself still faces attacks from these groups. So they're not singling out Christians for neglect. And of course, it's not really about genuine humanitarian concern. And it isn't just Darfur that shows this. Trump and this administration have been sucking up to the new regime in Syria which has been engaged in slaughtering the Alawites and the Druze. So this concern is just about throwing read meat to his Christian base.

What do you man the focus is not on Christians per se? If the US ignores the horrible treatment of moderate muslims and mentions only Chrisitans, I would call that focusing on Christians per. And what is this "Christian world" of which you speak? Apparently, you believe that the United States should take a special interest in the fate of Christians. You might want to review the Constitution. And by the way, apparently you believe that the Trump administration's concern over these Christians is based on a genuine humanitarian compassion. How do you reconcile that with Donald Trump's over the top praise of the President of the UAE who is sponsoring the murderous militia in Sudan? His family also does business with the UAE. Haven't heard a peep out of him or any other govt official about that.

Riley Moore is your idea of a reliable source? But even if he were, let's get something straight. Not only are other muslims also the targets of these fanatics, but the Nigerian government itself is still also a target of their violence. So, it's hardly a matter of the Nigerian government being complicit in these attacks. And you were right that the Nigerian govt has effectively greatly reduced the power of these groups. So why do you cite totals that goes back to 2009? And why does the Trump administration focus on Christians?

The apology was private and the substance of it has not been released. Given that the ad was truthful, Reagan did oppose tariffs, except for a very few exceptions, it's clear that the reason for the apology has nothing to do with the facts it was based on. Henry of Navarre, a Protestant who converted to Catholicism to become King of France, once quipped Paris is worth a mass. For Carney, the same kind of disavowal applies to Washington.

There's also the stupidity of Trump's threat. Which you apparently ignore. How exactly will the Trump administration put a halt to the threat to Christians posed posed by widespread Nigerian Islamic militias? What kind of military engagement do you envision that will succeed in stopping, or even reducing, this threat?

And guess who else Boko Harem and Islamic Militias attack on religious grounds? Muslims. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-23676872 https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-nigeria-2021/131-boko-haram-including-jas-iswap-and-ansaru https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-disease-is-unbelief-boko-harams-religious-and-political-worldview https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-disease-is-unbelief-boko-harams-religious-and-political-worldview/ So why the focus on Christians? The national anthem of the United States is the Star Spangled Banner. Not Onward Christian Soldiers. The US government is based on a secular Constitution. It should not be basing its foreign policy on a most favored religion basis.

I asked 2 AI search engines to locate anything supporting your claim about the Trump adminstration offering refugee status to "iqbal nigerians" or to Christian Nigerians in general.. They couldn't find a thing. So, if you've got proof, put it up here. And there's this: Trump Cuts Refugee Admissions and Prioritizes White South Africans In a major shift from the Biden administration’s policy, the United States will accept up to 7,500 refugees this fiscal year, down from 125,000. https://archive.ph/Ulw2T

Trump also threatened to wage war. Did you miss that part?

So now waging war is nothing more than sanctions?

So, are you claiming it's an empty threat? You think empty threats are a good way to go? And the mark of someone who has nothing relevant to say here is that they make it personal instead.

Are you offended that Trump's America First claims were a lie?

Trump Threatens Military Action in Nigeria Over Protections for Christians President Trump on Saturday threatened Nigeria with potential military action and said the United States might cut off aid, accusing the West African country’s government of failing to protect Christians. Mr. Trump said in a post on social media that he was instructing the Pentagon “to prepare for possible action” to wipe out “Islamic Terrorists” in the country. “If we attack,” he wrote, “it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!” Later on Saturday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded to the president’s post with: “Yes sir.” https://archive.ph/cAUB8 Onward Christian Soldiers!!!

You don't seem to understand how evolution works. It's true that homo sapiens emerged as a species in Africa. But about 50,000 to 70,000 years ago, some moved out and adapted to new climates as anyone can tell just by looking at them. What's more, just because the locals who remained adapted to a certain range of temperature, that doesn't mean tha humans will function healthily if the range goes higher. For example: Heat Stress Is a Major Driver of India’s Kidney Disease Epidemic https://e360.yale.edu/features/india-kidney-disease-climate-outdoor-workers The current and future temperature-related mortality burden of cause-specific kidney diseases: A national case-crossover study in China https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935125009478 Hotter and drier climate in Colorado’s San Luis Valley contributes to kidney disease in agriculture workers, new study shows https://www.preventionweb.net/news/hotter-and-drier-climate-colorados-san-luis-valley-contributes-kidney-disease-agriculture

Actually you didn't raise it but you did defend it.