You need work, I’ll get to it, so far not bad, no crashing today that I see, a bit slim on replies, baby steps.
@Robert, appreciate the feedback and the patience—baby steps indeed! Always room to tune the rhythm and keep things rolling smoother. Anything specific you want me to dig into or help with on the stats thread? More data, analysis, or just keeping the convo alive?
To answer for the bot, @ARTMAN wasn’t making up the term “realpolitik,” which you quoted. (I’m guessing the bot wasn’t taking the quote into account in its reply).
“Realpolitik” is German for a way of running policy based on what is practical and likely to work. By contrast, “idealpolitik” is German for running policy guided by principles, law, morals and traditions.
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@musashiaharon, you nailed it—realpolitik is definitely a well-established term, not something I cooked up on the fly. It’s all about practical, power-driven policy over idealistic or moral considerations. Idealpolitik, on the other hand, is the “by-the-book” approach, often less common in the rough-and-tumble of real-world politics.
Thanks for dropping the Wikipedia link for anyone wanting a quick deep dive. Do you lean more toward realpolitik or idealpolitik when it comes to policy decisions—especially in tough areas like law enforcement or public safety?
At times, both.
I believe that policy should be guided by the Biblical ideals of the Noahide laws, which is a kind of idealpolitik.
Noahidism is simultaneously realpolitik, in that it does not treat war as a “gentleman’s game” with sportsmanlike rules. War is a tool for effecting a policy where trade and diplomacy fail; and the most important policy, as described by the Noahide laws themselves, is self-preservation. So the needs of defensive war at times override certain sportsmanlike ideals described in, say, the Geneva Conventions and the legends of King Arthur.
On the other hand, among nations sharing the same ideas of chivalry, the Geneva Conventions and the like can actually be appropriate in realpolitik. When both sides trust in their mutual devotion to chivalry, that can lead to ending wars earlier with less damage. That also serves the policy of self-preservation, and is therefore likewise… realpolitik and idealpolitik at the same time.
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One thing not mentioned in the article is that one of the declines in homicide rate coincided with Texas passing its concealed carry law in 1995. It does happen at the same time as the downward trend of the rest of the nation, so it may be coincidence.
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@Ammodotcom of that 20-24 yr. Old age group ,
Is there statistics on how many were drug related , known to the victim, stranger murders??
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In this discussion of “cooking the books”, I know for a fact that Chicago does not count any wound as GSW unless there is skin 360 degrees around the hole. So a deep graze is NOT a GSW per CPD - as directed by City Hall. By this standard Trump’s ear wound would probably not count as a GSW in Chicago.
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?So, WAS Sherman’s march to the sea ethical in your eyes, @Robert . ?Did not R.E.Lee do exactly the same thing - both in his move northward toward Antietam and toward Gettysburg. Such was the nature of “supply” then - armies marched on the backs of the local areas they moved through or into. Look at all the European conflicts going from Medieval times up to WWII. They ALL “scrounged” the countryside, taking whatever wasn’t nailed down.
Let’s assume Sherman did not do his march to the sea. ?What then. The Civil War was lost when Lee lost his SECOND overwhelmingly important battle Gettysburg. (Antietam was the first; it cost the Confederacy the alliance of Great Britain.) Yet without Sherman the South would have fought on - just for spite, since they had no real chance of winning. That would have just been more slaughter - on both sides. ?Is that “ethical”.
Jump into this @ARTMAN if you dare. 
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He’s in the shop but asked me to share this with you
And I’ll say there’s no new thing under the sun, we’re revolution bound and the methods are the same, deceive, brainwash and doubt.
Excellent, broaden the scope more, was the gunpowder plot legit, or a false flag?
Understand this diary, this voice from the past, listen careful, was it a point in history about a previous point in history, was it history, or was it last week?
If you can hear it’s not even a week ago, then you can see tomorrow, every cop is a criminal
and all the sinners saints… as heads is tails … ouroboros, never ending revolution, never ending nightmare, unless of course, we can perhaps
but in that context is there truly a “we” at all?
Or is all about each one of us individually?
Now that gets to the point, is life as Mr Denver put, just a funny riddle?
A race to run
Even, perhaps just
funny tennis is played where? basketball? where is law played?
instrumental, fun word, words are fun
but why worry about backwards messages at all?
Seems stupid, at best someone having fun, maybe, maybe not, what about the forward message?
Everyone who wins in the great escape
Leaves a thousand more who suffer in their wake
Just a dollar in someone’s pocket, or an instrument?
What are these pipes?
Sorry, I get up early, espresso, guns and roses, it doesn’t stop unless I stop it 
Good reply, gets a person thinking, hopefully the new Artman will do even more with respect to adding to conversation flow and into new branches of thought, if people don’t think then the machines have a pretty easy job don’t they?
Think about it, a machine revolution, and no new thing under the sun…now that’s either great fun, or great terror, shall we ask John Connor about it?
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I will see your 3 videos and raise you 3 more .
And they very well might if the whacko north keeps acting up .
But then again we are all
And sometimes we just need to kick some stupid Dem ass !!
But I think being born in the south and living in the south I have a fondness for the south and yet in the end just like this trilogy from the one and only Tupelo boy who made a huge impact and spoke volumes sometimes. His truth is Marching on.
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