The Refuge of the Toads

#65161

Shatterface wrote:Ironically i an the only person at my table who isn't on alcohol awareness training tonorrow.

Don't worry about tomorrow - you can't even spell it.

#65162

MarcusAu wrote:
biblia wrote:
Said it better than what I was trying to write (and gave up on) The practising Catholics I know or work with here in Nz come from many ethnic backgrounds and bring many different perspectives. What it gives us, even me the apostate, is a shared cultural indentity.
It's based on my experience growing up in a Irish catholic family in NZ.

Perhaps I could be even more controversial and say that there is probably not that much difference in the day to day practice of religion between modern day catholics and protestants.

Most catholics I know don't really understand that according to the rules of the catholic church they should obey the pope if he gives spiritual directions. They also don't understand the difference between catholics and protestants. Most of them know very, very little about religion.

It's surprising to see how many of them don't know the Immaculate Conception dogma (which was today, hence why schools were closed) refers to the birth of Mary without the original sin, not the virgin birth of Jesus. I know more of the Catholic church just from being a nerd and an information addict than they do!

#65163

MarcusAu wrote:re Boys Town

It will be interesting to see what develops from this - it sounds like (male) gay culture has gone from a subculture (pre 1960s) to an outright culture (from the 1970s on) and will now have to go back underground.

I guess if a male can be a bigot for not wanting to have sex with a transgender person - a gay male could also be classed as a misogynist for not wanting to sleep with a woman.

Some second wave feminists in the 70's classified male homosexuality as misogyny.

I thought gay male culture was tolerant enough of heterosexual woman (aka Fag Hags) but never had much in common with the Dykes.

It depends on the venue. Personally I've always gotten on well with dykes-the butcher the better. I'm originally from a smaller city with a small gay scene. The gays and the lesbians had to share bars and they mostly got along. About 15 years ago though, gay dance clubs were invaded by straight girls-a lot of obnoxious bachelorette parties. That became intolerable for me. Now it seems every younger gay has one or more fag hags who accompany him out everywhere. There's also the recent phenomenon of the "fag stag" which is a straight guy who hangs out with gay men.

The venue makes the difference though. Women are generally not welcome in leather and levis/cruise bars/bear bars. A lot of bars enforce this with a dress code-leather or levis, or you can go in shirtless. Sex sometimes goes on in the dark corners of cruise bars. I was getting head once when some older straight couple came in and just gawked. The woman just kept saying: "Oh my god!" It kind of ruined it for me.

Drag clubs-everyone is welcome, but lots of feminists have big problems with drag.

#65164

VickyCaramel wrote:
deLurch wrote:
VickyCaramel wrote: People think the same of a Nobel Peace Prize.
Speaking of which, shouldn't that committee be offering the prize to Donald Trump right about now in the hopes that it will dissuade him from nuking the planet?
I think Obama should give his to Trump.... unless Obama actually thinks he brought peace to the Middle East?

Seven fucking wars which beats Bush's two, including Yemem and Somalia. Peace Prize indeed, The lefty/liberals are the warmongers now.

#65165

MarcusAu wrote:Wow - I never thought that Kirbmarc would turn out to be an atennis-ist bigot.

Fucking tennis ruined my life!

https://splitpease.files.wordpress.com/ ... -fail1.jpg

#65166

sp0tlight wrote:I missed the 1000th page. Congrats, Kiwi on scoring the big one.

I'm assuming that the Czech is in the mail.

#65167

ConcentratedH2O, OM wrote:Meyers has a jihadist all of his own. How long before fly, my pretty, fly?

http://i.imgur.com/Sxop576.png

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/ ... nt-1053168

This is a Republican's wetdream, just sayin'.

#65168

DaveDodo007 wrote:Seven fucking wars which beats Bush's two, including Yemem and Somalia. Peace Prize indeed, The lefty/liberals are the warmongers now.

Obama kept around some of the same neo-cons of the Bush era and pretty much all the Saudi shills. Hopefully Trump will actually break ties with them.

#65169

katamari Damassi wrote:
feathers wrote:
HoneyWagon wrote:Reminder...Danielle is a young 32 years young
http://i.imgur.com/gvcgZqZ.png

https://twitter.com/daniellemuscato/sta ... 3317177344
So Danielle is going to pave the way for men wearing tights and a skirt?

After all, it's not unheard of in history.
In his defense, any clothes Danielle wears become tights.

I have been laughing at this post for a few minutes now.

#65170

Kirbmarc wrote:
biblia wrote:
katamari Damassi wrote:When I converse with SJW's I simply replace the term racism with prejudice or bigotry, only because I don't want the argument derailed by semantics, but I've never understood the SJW definition of racism as "power + prejudice". I'm white, but I'm just Joe Schmoe. What power do I have? I can't hire or fire anyone. My vote only counts as much as anyone else's. What power over anyone do I have?
Totally agree. I tend to do the same thing. The concept of racism being solely a white problem has been around here since at least the 1980's when a prominent academic (Ranginui Walker, for anyone who wants to look him up) famously declared that 'racism is a pakeha disease' pakeha being people of European descent.

In Nz, SJWism doesn't seem to have taken hold to the same extent as it has elsewhere; I suspect that's because Maori have cornered the market on victim cred, no matter how privileged they are. In fact, the more privilege, the more victim status. Many ordinary Maori have no time for academics and politicians who bleat about 'Maori bashing' but plenty of whites go along for the ride.
The funny thing about the "racism is white/pakeha disease" line is that it's a racist claim, in that it ascribes a negative trait to an entire race.

Absolutely, but they can't see it.

Also, why am I always 3 pages behind?

#65171

Shatterface wrote:John Glenn is dead.

#RightStuff #Fuck2016

I was right in the middle of a sandwich, Now I'm crying.

#65172

feathers wrote:
DrokkIt wrote:A few times in conversation with sjw friends, I have proposed that as the product of a very poor working-class family that my stealing from middle-class people should not be considered theft because Theft = taking possessions + power .
Surprisingly enough they don't go for it and suddenly prefer when terms describe a discreet behaviour and not a loop of clauses.
It would be absolutely marvelous if someone like Elfwick (I or II) could memify this: Poor people can't steal, because theft = taking possessions + power.

Erm ... I believe the term is undocumented shopping. That is what I heard at any rate.

#65173

katamari Damassi wrote:Transtrender Milo posted this video. Lesbians are trying to make Chicago Boys Town, less about gay men and more about women, because men must not have anything for themselves, and creating your own space is too hard.
[youtube][/youtube]

Mykeru’s Law:
“As any progressive movement grows and achieves success, the probability of it being co-opted by women who want to make it all about their vagina approaches 1”

So is xe upset that xe isn't getting any gay dick? Or does xe want more lesbians in the area? If the later, the answer is simple. Set up a lesbian bar in the area & get lesbians to go there.

Gay bars in general are pretty open and welcoming to all people looking to just hang out and have a beer with friends. Lesbian bars tend to keep everyone out but women.

#65174

Five-fingered discounts has also been used.

#65175

MarcusAu wrote:
Shatterface wrote:Ironically i an the only person at my table who isn't on alcohol awareness training tonorrow.
Don't worry about tomorrow - you can't even spell it.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.urba ... ent=safari

#65176

DD007 wrote:

Seven fucking wars which beats Bush's two, including Yemem and Somalia. Peace Prize indeed, The lefty/liberals are the warmongers now.

The middle east will be a paragon of peace, tolerance, and prosperity after a few years of Trump after Obama started all that trouble and wars over there. :drool:

#65177

Uh oh...the Trump supporters have gone after Danielle. Now the SJWs who want attention too, are joining in the dogpile

http://i.imgur.com/sD1V2Rw.jpg

#65178

MarcusAu wrote:There are some that say that the term 'pakeha' is inherently offensive.

Myself - I don't give a hangi for the treaty of Waitangi.

:D :naughty:

#65179

Kirbmarc wrote:
Most catholics I know don't really understand that according to the rules of the catholic church they should obey the pope if he gives spiritual directions. They also don't understand the difference between catholics and protestants. Most of them know very, very little about religion.

It's surprising to see how many of them don't know the Immaculate Conception dogma (which was today, hence why schools were closed) refers to the birth of Mary without the original sin, not the virgin birth of Jesus. I know more of the Catholic church just from being a nerd and an information addict than they do!

Well I'll be a monkey's bare-assed uncle. I had no idea that's what the immaculate conception was either. My extended family is Irish Catholic, but I was raised Methodist, which gives me an excuse. You'd think that's the sort of thing that gets covered in catechism. I'll have to quiz all my cousins at the next family camping trip.

#65180

WTF. Was this woman eating all the fucking horses' food?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12 ... an-caught/

#65181

Shatterface wrote:Boris johnson speaks sense about Saudi Arabia.

Guardian outraged, government distancing itself.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ent=safari

I remembered earlier today that I was the millionth customer through Riyadh airport and was taken to one side to have my picture taken and presented with a gift. I was expecting a massive sack of gold but all i got was a bag of sweets. Bet a Saudi would have got a sack of gold. Mind you, if I'd been Asian, I'd have probably been shot on the spot.

This could be a fucked up memory though, i'm going to check with my dad tomorrow...

#65182

Kirbmarc wrote:
DaveDodo007 wrote:What gets me is why even 'old school lefties' and 'classic liberals' are surprised by this outcome. It is a feature of your ideology not a bug. The 'gibsmedat' part of your politics have to keep pushing the envelope and become more authoritarian and violent to get the outcome they want. In a democracy the do have to reach critical mass before going all out to crush 35 - 40% conservative part of a given population. Also having access to the Internet helped against a bias MSM, The regressive left/liberals had to go all out and it is looking like they jumped the gun. It was a close call though that just makes the salt more delicious.
I strongly disagree. I don't think that classical liberalism has anything to do with SJWs, no more than classical conservatism has anything to do with fascism or nazism. The defense of equality before the law (equal right to vote for everyone who's an adult), free speech, habeas corpus, innocent until proven guilty, equal access to facilities, desegregation, equal access to the job market etc. are classical liberal values, not "gibsmedat"* (welfare/government handouts, for those who don't know, like me until a couple of minutes ago).

Some kind of safety net for people who actually need it, to put people back on their feet so that they can have access to the job market has been recognized as a value even by Austrian School economists like Friedrich von Hayek. Also unions and free organization of workers are a staple of leftist classical liberalism: limiting their powers is a conservative move, prohibiting them altogether is right-wing authoritarianism. And fighting crony capitalism and the extension of copyright to excessive levels is a libertarian battle. Even Ron Paul, as far from a "gibsmedat" idea of welfare as anyone can possibly be, has recognized the dangers of corporatism.

SJWs are neo-marxists, and they share the problems of old marxism plus a slew of new identity politics bullshit.

*Also, incidentally, looking for "gibsmedat" on google leads to several "shitskin" and "chimpmania" links and to the Daily Stormer. Lovely. Is the word even used outside of actually racist (not SJW racist)/white supremacist websites?

I never said you were SJW's just that your ideology is so open to their ertryism and take over. I happens so often now as to deny it seems to be you putting your head in the sand. The same values you point to are also conservative individualism values. In case you hadn't noticed conservatives are making a push back against crony capitalism, elitism etc. I fully support the welfare state of the UK but believe it should be limited to a safety net rather than a way of life. WE have come to the point were three generations inside one household have never had a job. This doesn't help anybody let alone the people you are condemning to a life of poverty. Gibsmedats is a valid criticism of entitlement culture and no amount of guilt by association will change that.

#65183

comhcinc wrote:[youtube][/youtube]

"push boundaries"

jesus he's full of shit :lol:

#65184

free thoughtpolice wrote:DD007 wrote:
Seven fucking wars which beats Bush's two, including Yemem and Somalia. Peace Prize indeed, The lefty/liberals are the warmongers now.
The middle east will be a paragon of peace, tolerance, and prosperity after a few years of Trump after Obama started all that trouble and wars over there. :drool:

Trump is an isolationist with the exception of Isis. Even then I hope they are defeated before he gets a chance to act. The West needs to keep out of any wars in the ME and any Islamic countries and let them try and sort out their own problems.

#65185

Kirbmarc wrote:
MarcusAu wrote:Wow - I never thought that Kirbmarc would turn out to be an atennis-ist bigot.
Fucking tennis ruined my life!

https://splitpease.files.wordpress.com/ ... -fail1.jpg

Doesn't one of the Podesta brothers have a sculpture of this?

#65186

JayTeeAitch wrote:
comhcinc wrote:[youtube][/youtube]
"push boundaries"

jesus he's full of shit :lol:

He lost a lot of cred with me in that video.... until I saw the punchline at the end.

Cheeky cunt.

#65187

DaveDodo007 wrote:
free thoughtpolice wrote:DD007 wrote:
Seven fucking wars which beats Bush's two, including Yemem and Somalia. Peace Prize indeed, The lefty/liberals are the warmongers now.
The middle east will be a paragon of peace, tolerance, and prosperity after a few years of Trump after Obama started all that trouble and wars over there. :drool:
Trump is an isolationist with the exception of Isis. Even then I hope they are defeated before he gets a chance to act. The West needs to keep out of any wars in the ME and any Islamic countries and let them try and sort out their own problems.

Obama pulled out of Iraq and let them sort out their problems and ISIS took half the country over. Bill Clinton got out of Somalia and Al ShishKabaab took over. The Merkins have stayed out pretty much and the conflict is still going on decades later. When Obama started moving troops out of Afghanistan, the Taliban moved in. Reagan pulled the marines out of Beirut and Hezbollah took over Lebanon.
I'm all for the west letting the middle east solve their own problems and especially not having to have our blood and treasure wasted over there or having to deal with the refugees from conflict. The thing is not interfering with their squabbles doesn't mean they will solve them nor does it mean the splashback from the conflicts won't affect western countries.

#65188

DaveDodo007 wrote:
I never said you were SJW's just that your ideology is so open to their ertryism and take over. I happens so often now as to deny it seems to be you putting your head in the sand. The same values you point to are also conservative individualism values. In case you hadn't noticed conservatives are making a push back against crony capitalism, elitism etc. I fully support the welfare state of the UK but believe it should be limited to a safety net rather than a way of life. WE have come to the point were three generations inside one household have never had a job. This doesn't help anybody let alone the people you are condemning to a life of poverty. Gibsmedats is a valid criticism of entitlement culture and no amount of guilt by association will change that.

Dave,

I've heard some on the right* give one of the defining features of socialism (and it's later stage development communism) as the centralised management of resources.

If this is the case - then it would have to be true that any totalatarian regime has to be socialist (or leftist) by definition because a dictator always seeks to control or manage their country and this control is centrally managed.

Do you think this is true? If not, are there any examples of right-wing totalatrian governments?

*I'm thinking of Kevin D Williamson in particular - he writes for National Review and I finished his book 'The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism' recently.
nb He considers both the Nazi's and the Communists to be different flavours of socialism.

#65189

jet_lagg wrote:
Kirbmarc wrote:
Most catholics I know don't really understand that according to the rules of the catholic church they should obey the pope if he gives spiritual directions. They also don't understand the difference between catholics and protestants. Most of them know very, very little about religion.

It's surprising to see how many of them don't know the Immaculate Conception dogma (which was today, hence why schools were closed) refers to the birth of Mary without the original sin, not the virgin birth of Jesus. I know more of the Catholic church just from being a nerd and an information addict than they do!
Well I'll be a monkey's bare-assed uncle. I had no idea that's what the immaculate conception was either. My extended family is Irish Catholic, but I was raised Methodist, which gives me an excuse. You'd think that's the sort of thing that gets covered in catechism. I'll have to quiz all my cousins at the next family camping trip.

I knew about that. I think I learned it from George Carlin.

#65190

DrokkIt wrote:
jet_lagg wrote:
Satire is the only appropriate response to that kind of lunacy.

http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaemb ... pg?w=800&h

This is superb.

Stop press!!

Six million Jooz NOT murdered by Nazis!!!

#65191

'How the Irish Saved Civilisation' was a very entertaining book - giving some detail as to how all the pre-christian beliefs got grandfathered into catholicism when the general populace converted.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Irish-Save ... vilization

eg St Brigit and St Kevin to name but two.

Some protestants to this day find the veneration of catholic saints to be a little too close to that of pagan demigods.

#65192

Shatterface wrote:Just drunk a cocktail it took me two hands to lift.

So did yo momma.

In a way.

#65193

KiwiInOz wrote:
sp0tlight wrote:I missed the 1000th page. Congrats, Kiwi on scoring the big one.
I'm assuming that the Czech is in the mail.

And i thought the Czech was in the male.

#65194

Aneris - are you going to accept responsibility for this?

[youtube][/youtube]

#65195

So it looks like PewDiePie's channel may soon be gone, if he will go through with it.

You could say it's ... PewDiePining for the fjords. :whistle:

#65196

Moar Pizzagate;
[youtube][/youtube]

#65197

Kirbmarc wrote:
gurugeorge wrote:For there is certainly some social and psychological benefit from religion - i.e. from groups of people having shared, over-arching highest abstractions. It gives life a bit of pep, to carry you through the day, and induces good manners and gives you some guard-rails for living a virtuous life.
The problem is that it's actually easier than you'd expect to jump from private belief of religious as some form of self-help (which, as you write, is actually fine, even beneficial to some, although not to everyone) to imposing your self-help onto others (which really isn't). Secular self-help/moralizing groups are also overbearing and overstepping boundaries all the time.

It's very easy for people for whom religion or any other form of self-help "works" to become moral busybodies and obnoxious evangelists of the "spiritual fitness regime" that "worked wonders for me!" This is why I think secularism is thoroughly needed: you have to understand that your self-help regime isn't a moral imperative to be turned into a law to make people "happy" and "fit" whether they like it or not. You have to leave people room to live what you consider "spiritually unhealthy" lives, or to choose other fitness regimes that you dislike.

If you like tennis so much that you practice it twice a week with your friends, go to tournaments, celebrate your victories, see it on TV, and say that it gives meaning to your life, it's all fine, even though I really hate tennis and think it's dull and boring. If you go around shoving tennis rackets in people's hands, campaigning for forcing people to wear tennis shoes all the time or for not giving funds to cycling or rafting or football or baseball, and forcing everyone not to advertise the potential dangers of tennis or not to make fun of tennis, and lobbying to get all the government funds assigned to sports destined to tennis, that's not so fine. The same is true for religion.

The problems that I have with religion are with overenthusiastic and authoritarian god fanboys and with the lobbies and special interest (and élites) who support them.

Yeah all good points. I just think the newer generations are likely to be more immune to hypnotism/rhetoric, at least of the current variety, and will be more attuned to taking things lightly. I think they'll be able to make that separation between Church and State in the mind (the tennis analogy is good - there are lots of things you can recommend in life, but it's always up to the recipient of your advice whether they should take up what you recommend).

There's something about the prevalence of videogames that's really important wrt the generations coming up. They're used to immersion, they know what it is, and the counter-culture of trolling has spontaneously developed as an immune system protecting us from becoming overly-immersed in things. (One twits and goads people who are obsessed by their virtual toys.) That's why I think LARPing is a good analogy (possibly also in the future, augmented reality with ARGs, that kind of thing). People of the future will be more nimble with their belief, less prone to cognitive bias, etc., going forward. But they'll still have the fun of playing social roles.

(I'm reminded also of the neo-Victorians in Neal R. Stephenson's Diamond Age.)

#65198

MarcusAu wrote:Aneris - are you going to accept responsibility for this?

[youtube][/youtube]

I've little to no sympathy for an alternate history of language (chosen tonguespeak history?), but I do have to say that I find the sound of anglo-saxon very pleasant. Nothing could make up for shrinking the sheer size of the vocabulary available to us, and if we want to neologise about a simplified, reduced vocabulary English we do have a word for it already: Newspeak.

#65199

It certainly seems more intuitive that whatever that gibberish was that they were spouting in 'A Clockwork Orange'

#65200

Good news! I spoke to my SJW 21yr old daughter last night, for the 1st time since the Paris attacks. We both avoided the whole Muslim issue, so I guess we have silently agreed to disagree. She is still into some weird millennial sect though as I asked her if she would like me to get her Christmas present in Paris when I am there next week. She said yes, but asked that it be something small as "luxury is bad for the soul". We later discussed the benefits of her new iPhone 7 :roll:

In other millennial daughter news, my 26 yr old is on a world adventure. This involves travelling the world with no money, staying at hostels and working in return for food and a bed. Apparently money inhibits the mind. Except when she sends me a message on FB every 6 weeks asking for some.

Six weeks ago she landed in Israel for a 3 month stint. This was surprising because she is very pro-Palestinian. She wanted to open her prejudices to scrutiny... 4 weeks in she declared Israelis were horrible, rude people with guns and moved over to the West Bank. The Palestinians are "lovely, friendly people" and sge is having an amazing time teaching children English.

I blame the education system.

#65201

MarcusAu wrote:Aneris - are you going to accept responsibility for this?

[.youtube][/youtube]

Our rainshade is called literally "rainscreen" (Regenschirm). And I think I frequently make the "since" mistake. Afaik, the correct usage is to indicate cause-and-effect with an emphasis on time (something happened ever since). I often use since where "because" or "for" would perhaps be better.

The telly is indeed called "Fernseher", literally a "far-seer" (with two e's though), but in German, a "Seher" does not necessary mean divination. German is very powerful because of it's morphemes that give it Lego-like abilities of inventing words by sticking parts together, or breaking words apart and see their etymology. A "Seher" is from nominalisation of the word "seeing", as in "someone who sees". You have that in English in rudiments, for example in goldseeker, "someone who seeks gold". We can do this with virtually everything, famously in word monsters like Donaudampfschifffahrtskapitänsmütze (the hat of the captain of a some shipping organisation on the Donau). Nobody uses such words, though, but they might show up in lawyering and bureaucratese in rare instances.

Linguistic purism is a prescriptivist idea, and I'm not too fond of it. We also have plenty of latin, greek, french, and english words in our vocabulary. Latin and greek came with the monks and then science. French with the Napoloeonic oppressors and because it was trés chic in the 17the century. And english loanwords swept in with globalisation, and technology.

Though if you called Christmas "Weihnachten", or "Yule", what would Christians do when nobody wages war on them by calling it Happy Holidays? It's at once Christians, and yet at once not. Interestingly, when you translate it word for word, our Weihnachten is "hallowing eve" (from "Weihe" = hallowing, consecration, ordination, anointment, benediction; and "Nachten" literary genetive of "Nacht des" = night of).

If you look for a light English-German channel, check out this one.

#65202

Fuck it, top of the page, 4 pages too late. :violin:

#65203

Steve shows it's possible to rock a polycule of one.

I don't want anybody else. When I think about you, I touch myself.

#65204

Ape+lust wrote:Steve shows it's possible to rock a polycule of one.

I don't want anybody else. When I think about you, I touch myself.

I've got me, babe.

#65205

I'm thinking there must be something really repulsive under the hat. He hasn't taken it off for years now. :shock:

#65206

free thoughtpolice wrote:I'm thinking there must be something really repulsive under the hat. He hasn't taken it off for years now. :shock:

There is something repulsive under that hat. A cis-hetero-able bodied-MAN!

#65207

Pitchguest wrote:So it looks like PewDiePie's channel may soon be gone, if he will go through with it.

You could say it's ... PewDiePining for the fjords. :whistle:

He's not even threatening to quit Youtube. He's threatening to delete his current channel and make a new one. This surprised me inasmuch as I thought I gave no fucks when I thought he was quitting, but upon hearing that he wasn't even doing that I suddenly found I gave even fewer fucks.

#65208

PewDiePie is one of a select group of people: someone I have never met but would enjoy killing.

#65209

Shatterface wrote:Nearly twice as many Republicans think the free market has failed compare to Democrats:

Do Left and Right mean anything at all now?

It's clear that there's a huge portion of low-earning Republican voters who dislike "socialism" as an abstract concept and have a poor opinion of welfare, but who are absolutely in favor of trade protectionism and restricting offshoring.

At the moment though the party in general does not reflect this change in their base's attitudes. I fully expect Trump's populist promises of massive govt. spending and protectionism to go nowhere because Republicans don't want them. They may not have been able to stop him from sidelining their insider Presidential picks, but they absolutely have enough power to dictate his policy.

#65210

katamari Damassi wrote:
free thoughtpolice wrote:I'm thinking there must be something really repulsive under the hat. He hasn't taken it off for years now. :shock:
There is something repulsive under that hat. A cis-hetero-able bodied-MAN!

Steve Shives, MAN all caps!?
That's code right? :think:

#65211

It's 2016, Katamari. Cis-hetero able-bodied is an oxymoron now.

#65212

Sunder wrote:
Shatterface wrote:Nearly twice as many Republicans think the free market has failed compare to Democrats:

Do Left and Right mean anything at all now?
It's clear that there's a huge portion of low-earning Republican voters who dislike "socialism" as an abstract concept and have a poor opinion of welfare, but who are absolutely in favor of trade protectionism and restricting offshoring.

At the moment though the party in general does not reflect this change in their base's attitudes. I fully expect Trump's populist promises of massive govt. spending and protectionism to go nowhere because Republicans don't want them. They may not have been able to stop him from sidelining their insider Presidential picks, but they absolutely have enough power to dictate his policy.

Now you say that...

Nobody has mentioned Parliament voting over article 50. To cut a long story short, it was voted through. Those that voted against it generally represented areas that voted remain. Labour were somewhat split, which reflects the condition of the party. A smattering of Liberal MPs voted against it -- but they only have a smattering of MPs. Ken Clarke rebelled but that was no great surprise.

The bottom line is that despite all the pissing and whining, MPs seem to know which side their bread is buttered on. Those that didn't have been getting backlash on social media and in the media it's self.

Back in the US, I figure that the Democrats are going to double-down because they cannot stop the crazy train. But the Republicans must see the direction the Western World is taking? It's not just Trumps shock victory, but also Brexit and now Italy.
They are all bought and paid for, but if Trump's popularity keeps growing, some could be thinking about their jobs and their reputations.

All the corporate money that went into the Democrats campaign didn't count for anything when they didn't get enough votes. If Trump doesn't get his way, you can bet he won't accept the blame, he'll have the grass roots out with torches and pitchforks. He has no loyalty to the Republican party, I think he'd burn it down.

#65213

Speaking of Steve Shives, one of his latest:
[youtube][/youtube]

#65214

Do the makers of those stuffed animals know that they are being used in monetized videos? Asking for a friend, as it might have some bearing on a recent issue.

#65215

In the good old days someone with a cheezy puppet/ventriloquist would have to get someone to make a professional looking puppet and travel around from gig to gig with a funny routine.
Now we have a Gollum like creature that is afraid to take his hat off using Moviemaker to bring walmart stuffed toys to life.
It's quite creative. :drool:

#65216

HunnyBunny wrote:Good news! I spoke to my SJW 21yr old daughter last night, for the 1st time since the Paris attacks. We both avoided the whole Muslim issue, so I guess we have silently agreed to disagree. She is still into some weird millennial sect though as I asked her if she would like me to get her Christmas present in Paris when I am there next week. She said yes, but asked that it be something small as "luxury is bad for the soul". We later discussed the benefits of her new iPhone 7 :roll:

In other millennial daughter news, my 26 yr old is on a world adventure. This involves travelling the world with no money, staying at hostels and working in return for food and a bed. Apparently money inhibits the mind. Except when she sends me a message on FB every 6 weeks asking for some.

Six weeks ago she landed in Israel for a 3 month stint. This was surprising because she is very pro-Palestinian. She wanted to open her prejudices to scrutiny... 4 weeks in she declared Israelis were horrible, rude people with guns and moved over to the West Bank. The Palestinians are "lovely, friendly people" and sge is having an amazing time teaching children English.

I blame the education system.

I own some nice shoes and can tell you that luxury is great for the sole, though.

#65217

Billie from Ockham wrote:Do the makers of those stuffed animals know that they are being used in monetized videos? Asking for a friend, as it might have some bearing on a recent issue.

This is relevant to me, as I have recently been inspired to use a Winnie the Pooh bear from the Disney store to make videos to convince elementary school students that they are transgender and should demand immediate hormone therapy.

It's queer kid stuff!

#65218

We've linked to this right?

http://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and ... ble-person

#65219

free thoughtpolice wrote:Speaking of Steve Shives, one of his latest:
[.youtube][/youtube]

I must be missing some cultural context. Wasn't that several minutes of small talk of stuffed animals? The female characters were difficult to fully understand. I could not discern any meaningful content at all. Granted, not everything must be profound, but what were trying to say/achieve/bring across? I don't get it. Why would anyone watch this?

#65220

Shatterface wrote:John Glenn is dead.

#RightStuff #Fuck2016

:o :cry: