Were it not for Soros money and string pulling, and Obama interference, Zelenskyy would not be anything but an actor. Now he is using a script writer to play out leader. He has limited access to any but his views. Sounds like what the US is becoming. We cannot say we do not have a hellhole here, with ever increasing laws and loss of rights, with starvation on the table via seizure of farmland for CO2 collectors, with mandated vaccines which gov. and FDA covered up that they would earase the immune system,cause ADE. We are on the verge of losing this country, and Biden wants Ukraine as a money source fo Hunter and himself. Hunter is seelling access to 46 biolabs to a Calif. company. The whole goal is extermination of the masses, globally. So, since much of it is coming from US, and they hve controlled Ukraine, with Soros, it is hard to call Putin any more evil than Biden. Soros and Biden are the ones wnating one world govrnment in hands of UN.

What is relevant is that our government and the "elites" want regime change in Russia, and they will do anything to make that happen, including lying.

You are right about that!

Hopefully a summation: From AR via JG perhaps RH. Good vs Evil? Those who initiate force against another surrender their rights.
The initiation of force or threat of initiation is the onset of evil. Do not attempt to force a citizen; you may forfeit your life, citizen's choice!

There are so many products we buy that are made in China but sold by Amazon, it’s hard to actually buy american

I'm not sure where such an assertion arises, but Reality is Reality. If one wants to argue that there are portions of this Reality that we are naturally ill-equipped to detect or interact with, I would completely agree. I don't adhere to the notion of multiple Realities, however, for the simple expedient that unless we are capable of interacting with it, we can not even verify its existence in the first place. See also so-called dark matter.

Here's a question to answer your question: how does one recognize sentience? It seems to be inherent to human beings yet it is a feat we can not duplicate using instruments, ie "physical" means. Thus the question: is there more than just the physical? Is there a spiritual aspect to reality? I would argue that the presence of the individual mind is in and of itself evidence of the spiritual, for there is nothing mechanistic about the mind. The sheer uniqueness of every living person also severely undermines any notion that we are merely the product of our parents and our environment. And anyone who has run a day care or cared for small children can attest to the frustrating aspects of that uniqueness! ;)

Another question which transcends the purely physical involves the notion of romantic attraction. The very existence of same-sex attraction, itself, undermines a purely physical approach which would necessarily revolve around reproduction. And who can really identify what it is about ones' companion(s) which first attracts them (and guys, lets admit that it's more than just a nice body) ?

My brother and I buy American, unless we just can't (e.g. a DVD or microwave).

Yes it is

I do see the destruction, and I am pretty sure its a result of Russian invasion. Not sure what else is really relevant at this point. russia definitely invaded Ukraine, not the other way around. This is wrong and bad.

Actually, that is a very good article. I think sanctions should come from individuals in terms of potentially removing help from foreign governments and people who do not offer the benefit of trading. You stop dealing with people who intend harm or do not offer any benefits. Its not to hurt the other country or people, but to in the end be in the best interest of the person withholding trade.

i bet apple was worried about getting paid for its products and thats why it pulled out. I would be worried about that too if I were apple.

I dont trade with russia for the reason I dont want them to benefit from a trade that I might make with them- in order NOT to make them stronger so they can attack me later. Simple.

I think one of Putin's objectives is to secure Ukrainian fossil fuel, and ensure European dependency on Russia. One can argue this is for mother Russia, but I think it is for his cabal of subordinate oligarchs.

It really is ironic, that Russia is precisely what the bolshevik revolution sought to destroy. Too much power in government ALWAYS leads to oligarchy and totalitarianism. We are headed in exactly the same direction.

Good article. Timely:
https://reason.com/2022/04/11/canceli...

Maybe you don't know all of the details. Happens a lot with the media toady.

Nationalism. Wish we had some, but for the real USA.

well, Ukraine will not be around very long at this rate, with Putin destroying it by the day. If they love russia so much, maybe they should move there and forget about ukraine. Maybe russia will nuclear bomb the place and make it uninhabitable anyway. How anyone could love russia at this point amazes me.

If you wish to say that reality can exist independent of physical reality, can you express that opinion without using some physical means, such as vocal cords, sign language, paper, ink, typing keys, electric wires, or a computer screen?

Intention might make a difference in the case of an accident--though even then, it would make a difference
if there was negligence, and/or a callous dis-
regard of possible consequences. But,by the time a person is old enough to be mature (that is, old enough to be accountable for his actions--which, in some cases may mean voting age) he is responsible to know the difference between right and wrong. In the Objectivist philosophy, one has free will, that is the power to focus his mind honestly on the facts before him, or not. And, therefore, an adult should know what the rights of man are: that is, the right to live his life according to his own judgement, without using force against anyone else (fraud being a kind of force). And, if he crosses that line, by violating those rights (which, in someone else, are the same as his own) , his whining that he meant good by it, (such as instituting a collectivist welfare state in order to "benefit the people"), should not constitute a valid excuse.
I don't think that there is much room for questioning that Phewtin is evil.

You may be right, but many today think they are Russians anyway. I had Ukrainian friends who hated Russia, but it doesn't seem that way anymore. Ukraine is their bread-basket.

One thing about the mafia in the USA- they all used to say that war among families was NOT a good thing (not good for business,...). Putin is stupid to risk all this bad blood over Ukraine , given that he will never actually conquer the people and be able to rule them happily.

I dont think Putin is all of russia, but I would say I am disturbed by how popular he seems to be after invading Ukraine. Just makes me feel unsettled about Russians. I understand that they cant say anything bad about putin....

AR did a good job at that, probably far better than I could. I am more practical and simplistic about it. Since I first read AS in college, objectivist thinking really made so much sense to me, particularly in terms of how things would work if everyone thought the same way about treating other humans. I could get along with others and they could get along with me.

Socialism just plain never works, authoritarianism depends on the 'goodness' of the dictator, , communism doesnt work- EVER, and the halfway freedom we have in the USA doesnt seem to work, and fascism doesnt work.

I am not a real philosophical person, but for meat least, if a system of thought seems like it should work, and in fact if it does work in practice, its for me.

A very simplistic approach, if Biden, Pelosi, Clinton, Schumer, et al is against him then perhaps he is not as evil as they are. How many foreign excursions has our government involved itself with spilling the blood of Americans in the name of "national security"? Good or evil when governments get involved in the lives of it's or other peoples, it is ALWAYS the people that bear the brunt of this and suffer.

Not that I disagree (I don't) but why does one respect human rights? It is one thing to say it is the morally right thing to do, but quite another to derive the reason for that "goodness." (Another corollary is to question how one derives a human right in the first place.)

Amen to that! By "we" I meant the US, not all of us, just like "Putin" is not all of Russia.