Raffles Wilberforce Mansfield

@rolypolyistaken There is a bit of an “exit fee” if you annul your citizenship. But yes, the alternative to paying taxes is renouncing your citizenship and leaving the country or incarceration.

@green__bean15 @FelonSkunk37088 @carmuner @christopherhale fixhomelessness.org/2025/gov-newso…

@Readythinkable @FelonSkunk37088 @carmuner @christopherhale no it’s way more effective than anything we can do voluntarily

I think about this weekly.

@FelonSkunk37088 @carmuner @christopherhale Actually, many do provide free or reduced cost care to the poor or needy. Can’t speak for all. And many were founded by religious orders specifically for at purpose. Has government involve made medical care more affordable?

@Readythinkable @carmuner @christopherhale Wow, I didn't realize that if you go to a hospital named St. Something, it's FREE! Except, nah... they are mostly funded by- wait for it- government subsidies & government programs like Medicare & Medicaid.

@FelonSkunk37088 @carmuner @christopherhale Do I have to dig up information on positive impact of religious organization or just point to governmental failures? Salvation Army

@Readythinkable @carmuner @christopherhale Again with that word "seem". Show me some DATA on homelessness to show that "institutions with names staring in St." have done more good than the government. DATA.

@FelonSkunk37088 @carmuner @christopherhale I guess that lends credence to your views on what Christian views should be. Ever go to a hospital that had “Saint” in its name? Or “Holy” or the name of some denomination?

@Readythinkable @carmuner @christopherhale Do you realize how things "seem" to you doesn't really reflect any reality? I know if I needed help,the last place I'd want to go is to a church. My experience w churchers is that they're condescending & judgey. I'd suffer in silence before submitting to them. Many feel the same.

@FelonSkunk37088 @carmuner @christopherhale schools with names that start with Saint or have the words “holy” in them). Plus countless local initiatives.), seem to have a lasting and positive impact addressing real needs and helping people escape addition and hardship.

@FelonSkunk37088 @carmuner @christopherhale What has the state of CA spent on ending homelessness? How would you rate their success? Religious founded organization (Alcoholics Anonymous, Young Men’s Christian Association, Salvation Army, Hospital’s whose name begins with “St.” or include the words Methodist, Presbyterian

@Kbrooks2080 @carmuner @christopherhale Don’t have a great stat in it, but guessing somewhere north of the 67% of the general population who indicate they have made donations to a church. Do you have a better breakdown?

@Readythinkable @carmuner @christopherhale What percentage of Catholics are making the donations and volunteering. It’s not really that different lol

@FelonSkunk37088 @carmuner @christopherhale I think one of the primary objects is the compulsory nature of it. The second is that it seems less effective than voluntary efforts. Third it tends to displace voluntary efforts and engagement.

@carmuner @christopherhale Why on earth would any christian object to helping the poor MORE by using the massive engine that government can provide? It's not about you and punching your selfish ticket to heaven, you know.

@Kbrooks2080 @carmuner @christopherhale That’s a bit different then “that aren’t doing that really…”

@carmuner @christopherhale Yes. A lot of them do amazing work, yet there is still ample need and it’s only growing right now.

Corporate tax increases are always paid by the customer! Corporate tax increases always result in fewer jobs! Tariffs are just corporate taxes. It would be nice if Republicans and Democrats both understood this.

This one is going to agitate some folks. I’m certain of it.

@8nousername8 @CollinRugg @Nsol001 I hope that is the evolving consensus. I think there is general agreement there was a failure of “the system” to remove the individual from society at large, it’s a question of whether it was a failure of the legal system or the social services system.

Hey Colin, I read that this man made a call to 911 because he was hearing voices telling him to do things he didn’t want to, however, police ignored him and did not take it seriously and then this ended up happening. This man doesn’t need jail, he needs to be locked up in a secure mental health facility for the rest of his life to ensure the safety of everyone. He is sick and your hatred should lie at the feet of the emergency services who failed him because they also failed this young lady who didn’t deserve to die like this

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles argues that Americans need to have more "compassion" for the homeless after homeless man, Decarlos Brown Jr., stabbed a woman in the throat. Lyles appeared to come out against arresting homeless maniacs, arguing that "we will never arrest our way out" of these issues. "We will never arrest our way out of issues such as homelessness and mental health..." Lyles said in her initial response after the brutal k*lling of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska. "I want to be clear that I am not villainizing those who struggle with their mental health or those who are unhoused." "Mental health disease is just that — a disease like any other that needs to be treated with the same compassion, diligence and commitment as cancer or heart disease..." "Also, those who are unhoused are more frequently the victims of crimes and not the perpetrators. Too many people who are on the street need a safe place to sleep and wrap-around services to lift them up." "We, as a community, must do better for those members of our community who need help and have no place to go." Total lunatic.

Freedom doesn’t guarantee virtue. It guarantees choice. Some will choose wisdom, some will choose folly. But only in freedom can virtue mean anything, because a “good” forced at gunpoint isn’t good at all.

Imagine the media blaming George Floyd on the person filming it happening.

@OliverStrawhat Doing anything with the pedestals would be good. Leaving the spaces empty is a failure and sends the wrong message.

Maybe something like this could be done with the pedestals of the former Confederate monuments. instagram.com/reel/DOOH0CyjY…

Every new power President Trump claims for the Executive Branch will be doubly abused by the next Democratic administration. This is the opposite of draining the swamp.

If it is called the Department of War, can we finally acknowledge it commits Acts of War, which require Congressional Declarations according to our Constitution?

@scottlincicome @TheAtlantic Nice to see the Atlantic acknowledge that Peronism is a bad thing.

My latest @TheAtlantic reviews how Trump's 2nd-term economic policies - import substitution, "emergency" declarations, personal dealmaking, fiscal/monetary recklessness, & govt control of private enterprise - increasingly resemble post-war Argentina. That's not a good thing.

Reliant on coal countries: 🇿🇦 South Africa: 69% 🇨🇳 China: 55% 🇮🇳 India: 55% 🇮🇩 Indonesia: 45% 🇻🇳 Vietnam: 45% 🇵🇱 Poland: 42% 🇵🇭 Philippines: 40% 🇯🇵 Japan: 27% 🇦🇺 Australia: 26% 🇹🇷 Türkiye: 25% 🇰🇷 South Korea: 23% 🇺🇦 Ukraine: 22% 🇲🇾 Malaysia: 19% 🇩🇪 Germany: 19% 🇹🇭 Thailand: 14% 🇷🇺 Russia: 11% 🇺🇸 USA: 10% 🇮🇹 Italy: 5% 🇬🇧 UK: 3% 🇫🇷 France: 2% % of energy consumption by fuel in 2022.