Official Current Affairs & Politics Thread II

[NyCeEvO]

How do you review 42,000 pages in a night?

I ask the same thing when any bill filled last minute changes is rushed before Congress to approve.

How can anyone in good conscience pass anything without reading the documents themselves?

It's not even a left or right thing; it's about your conscience and moral compass.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

[MrDollarBills]

Looks like this thread isn't being trolled at the moment, so I think I might try to drop in again, plus read more of the updates here. It can get a little overwhelming at times, particular since my tank is full with various issues already, like China and even Western Civ as a whole. But I'll try. I mean the midterm elections in particular seem pretty //fluffing// important, for one.

Anyway, here's a little rant du jour...

So, one thing I often muse on in a head-shaking kind of way is the common idea of being a "proud conservatism" that many Americans seem to Trumpet and/or lovingly embrace.

So then-- fine. You're proudly proclaiming yourself a "conservative?" Okay then, but here's a question-- what is it you're "conserving," exactly? What does your identity word of CONSERVATIVE actually mean? ((Perfectly fair question, amirite...?))

For example, are you concerned about SUSTAINABILITY? Because, yeah... that seems like a pretty dang important thing to be concerned about in the age of GCC, ocean acidification, shrinking fresh water sources, microplastics contamination of the air, sea and land (a recent issue in the news), overuse of antibiotics, fracking and related activities causing both groundwater contamination and increased seismic activity, etc, etc, etc. I.e., stuff that we kinda need to take care of in order to have a future.

Oh yeah, I know-- "don't worry, we'll figure it out in the future!" (funny how that's been the working response since the start of the industrial age, with the stakes ever higher and the problems ever worse)

But again, setting that little bit of 'extremist liberal overreaction' aside, what DOES a "conservative" think they're actually conserving, anyway? Because it obviously wasn't the bulk of the natural, stupendously-beautiful American environment, nor the original peoples here who could have gone on living with said environment for an almost endless amount of time... nor was it historically equal rights (or even human decency) for women, African slaves, various minorities, and a range of outsiders across the greater portion of American history. (The list goes on, but I guess the point is made)

So anyway yeah, it just seems weird to me sometimes-- the way I've normally just nodded my head on the usage of the word so utterly automatically. "Ah, so you're a Conservative. That means a certain rough set of beliefs and opinions about what's best for America, and that sort of thing. No problem. We'll just proceed from there and I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and you can go ahead and own the word. Cool, cool..."

But then for some reason I stop and think about it one day. And then it seems more like a proud, self-proclaimed "conservative" is basically just saying stuff like... I dunno... "all I really care about is money, covering my rump, and my own uncompromisingly narrow vision of right-and-wrong." So for me it's like...wow. Where the hell were my real listening skill this whole time?

Rant du jour be done! Peace.

I think american conservatism has gotten skewed over the last several years thanks to far right wing extremism and the rise of the evangelical loonies.

Technically, conservatives believe in:

1) Limited government

2) Free market capitalism

3) Individual rights and freedoms

4) being responsible for yourself.

Now I can sit here and rattle off numerous things that I've seen over the last 15 years that say that American conservatives have not held true to these beliefs at all, especially in government, but that's another subject entirely, nor am i trying to make it like I want to trash conservatives. As long as you're not a morally bankrupt piece of crap, I respect people's right to have the views above. I also believe in individual rights and freedoms...especially civil rights and the amendments to the constitution.

So when you have people who have little to no respect for the civil rights of minorities, women, and lgbtq+ folks, want to burn sneakers because a black man expressed his 1st amendment right to protest peacefully, and openly attack the media and journalists for reporting facts and truth, I question whether they are actually real conservatives at all.

[MrDollarBills]

Already a school shooting in Rhode Island. Day 1. didnt take log. simply heartbreak and frustrating. This is no longer news. this was buried on the headlines because only a couple kids got shot/killed. we've gotten to the point where school shootings are no longer front page news

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/teen-dies-after-being-shot-outside-providence-school/1420328145

This sounds gang related to me. a fight breaks out, a kid gets shot dead. the shooters flee, and then later on one of the persons of interest in the first shooting ends up getting shot? yeah.

All of this needs to be addressed. I don't care if its some white dude mass shooting people, or some gang related coward pulling out a gun during a fist fight and shooting someone, all of it needs to be addressed. This is all entirely mental health issues mixing with easy access to guns. Period. The gun violence in America transcends race/ethnicity. And it needs to change. Why are men, especially white, black, and latino, doing this **** in America?

This is not normal. This doesn't happen in any other 1st world country besides the United States.

I'm sorry, but this country's collective view of itself is out of wack. America is **** ed up. What's the difference between drive bys in the hood urban areas of the US and some dude rolling up on a dirtbike in the favelas in Brazil blowing someone's head off over beef or drug money?

Not much when you look at the poverty driven lives that lead people towards really bad decisions (MENTAL HEALTH) and an easy access to firearms. and this doesn't cover the people who aren't in poverty who choose to commit mass murder.

When I was growing up you just had to stay out of the bad areas of town, and the dark alleys

now grammar schools and high schools are danger zones

what a country

A **** hole.

My parents come from 3rd world countries. Neither place has as much murder that happens here in the United States. School children aren't getting massacred. Police men aren't killing civilians en masse with impunity.

Americans need to drop the jingoism and face facts. This country is not in good shape right now.

[MrDollarBills]

Booker true to his word releases the documents:

Read on Twitter

I like Booker. He's a bit too corporatist Dem for my taste, but he comes off as sensible. I agree that he's been a let down at times but yesterday he was fighting to actual save the damn country and I'm glad he wasn't alone. They tried to bully him on the committee floor and he stood his ground. That is what gets things done.

[NyCeEvO]

Read on Twitter

I'm interested to see how this plays out. According to the officer, she mistook her apartment for his and she ended up shooting him for reasons that have yet to be discovered.

The initial testimonies from neighbors portray the scene in a much different light. They make it sound like an investigation was being done and they had a warrant for his arrest. Why would a cop yell "Open up!...open up!" at what they believe to be their own home?

[MrDollarBills]

White police officer who is a woman killing an unarmed black man in his own home? Oh, I'm pretty sure this will end up with her walking scot free. She'll use the Emmett Till defense and all will be well for her.

Read on Twitter

Obama must have read the excerpt from the Woodard book about Trump's despair over having to denounce Nazis.

[Prokorov]

Read on Twitter

I'm interested to see how this plays out. According to the officer, she mistook her apartment for his and she ended up shooting him for reasons that have yet to be discovered.

The initial testimonies from neighbors portray the scene in a much different light. They make it sound like an investigation was being done and they had a warrant for his arrest. Why would a cop yell "Open up!...open up!" at what they believe to be their own home?

how do you forget what apartment you live in? that holds almost as much water as "my dog ate my homework". Even if you did go in the wrong apartment dont you notice its not your stuff all over.

once you see the black man why is the first instinct shoot to kill?

[shakendfries]

Read on Twitter

rip Mac Miller - super talented dude & definitely one of the dopiest artists if his time


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[Claud]

Read on Twitter

I'm interested to see how this plays out. According to the officer, she mistook her apartment for his and she ended up shooting him for reasons that have yet to be discovered.

The initial testimonies from neighbors portray the scene in a much different light. They make it sound like an investigation was being done and they had a warrant for his arrest. Why would a cop yell "Open up!...open up!" at what they believe to be their own home?

Was she on something? How could she not tell it was her home? Dafuq.

Something doesn't seem to fit. Fishy.

[MrDollarBills]

Read on Twitter

I'm interested to see how this plays out. According to the officer, she mistook her apartment for his and she ended up shooting him for reasons that have yet to be discovered.

The initial testimonies from neighbors portray the scene in a much different light. They make it sound like an investigation was being done and they had a warrant for his arrest. Why would a cop yell "Open up!...open up!" at what they believe to be their own home?

how do you forget what apartment you live in? that holds almost as much water as "my dog ate my homework". Even if you did go in the wrong apartment dont you notice its not your stuff all over.

once you see the black man why is the first instinct shoot to kill?

They are literally conditioned to do this even though they are most likely to be killed by a white male.

This is why I think that if you're going to sign up to police a community, you must live in it and.....

wait what am I saying? She lived next door to this dude and just straight up killed him.

[gigantes]

Technically, conservatives believe in:

1) Limited government

2) Free market capitalism

3) Individual rights and freedoms

4) being responsible for yourself.

Thanks for the reply, and pardon my cropping those points in particular.

Interesting how I was kind of strawmanning a phantom Conservative who was theoretically concerned with resources, the environment, and sustainability. In reality, as you point out, I think that stuff is not really on their radar, and instead the classic idea of conservatism is more about free will with loose guidelines.

The problem as I see it is that the principles above ultimately don't work, and that necessarily limits my respect for them. Of course it's true that they did work for a period of time and certainly were of enormous benefit for capitalists and for those who wanted to treat the USA as being their personal gift from God to do with however they liked.

But resources turned out not to be finite, industrial-grade pollution doesn't clean itself up as fast as we make it, habitats which ultimately support our life on earth do not self-renew as fast as we destroy them, and even financial markets, whose health and lifespan is based on continued growth, cannot expand indefinitely in a world chock full of people already furiously using up the planet's resources.

At the end of the day, American Conservatism looks like little more than a selfish, dead-end strategy, and increasingly a failure. Unfortunately, the more ignorant you are about the state of the planet and the issues we currently face, the more it probably seems like something worth clinging to. Not to mention, that kind of ignorance is even worth pursuing for many, since it leads to greater peace of mind and self-assurance. Almost like self-medication.


EDIT: I think another way to look at it is that American Conservatism made the most sense for a different time and a different world. Notwithstanding the fact that it was always callously exploitative, you could at least see it working for a while. At least, for those it benefited.

[shakendfries]

Watch on YouTube

this dude finna resign

[Prokorov]

Read on Twitter

I'm interested to see how this plays out. According to the officer, she mistook her apartment for his and she ended up shooting him for reasons that have yet to be discovered.

The initial testimonies from neighbors portray the scene in a much different light. They make it sound like an investigation was being done and they had a warrant for his arrest. Why would a cop yell "Open up!...open up!" at what they believe to be their own home?

how do you forget what apartment you live in? that holds almost as much water as "my dog ate my homework". Even if you did go in the wrong apartment dont you notice its not your stuff all over.

once you see the black man why is the first instinct shoot to kill?

They are literally conditioned to do this even though they are most likely to be killed by a white male.

This is why I think that if you're going to sign up to police a community, you must live in it and.....

wait what am I saying? She lived next door to this dude and just straight up killed him.

When you combine racism + 0 consequences for killing blacks in cold blood + a president who backs the KKK this is what you get.

we thought body cameras would help, yet we still have cops going unconvicted getting paid vacations once the rodney king like video surfaces.

The other problem is you are putting uneducated people in a position of power and handing them a gun. my towns caps are all the dropouts and losers from my high school. i also know a NYC cop i went to college with who is the most mentally unstable person i may have ever met.

yea sure there are cops with college education and smart cops but overall cops are an uneducated bunch of people who couldnt get a job otherwise

[Prokorov]

EDIT: I think another way to look at it is that American Conservatism made the most sense for a different time and a different world. Notwithstanding the fact that it was always callously exploitative, you could at least see it working for a while. At least, for those it benefited.

Nearly everything about our political system and constitution was made for a different time.

[MrDollarBills]

EDIT: I think another way to look at it is that American Conservatism made the most sense for a different time and a different world. Notwithstanding the fact that it was always callously exploitative, you could at least see it working for a while. At least, for those it benefited.

Nearly everything about our political system and constitution was made for a different time.

^this. Laid down by rich land and slave owners. The Electoral College needs to be abolished and Senators and Representatives need to have term limits. There is no reason why the fate of this country is in the hands of men ranging from ages 60 to 80 years old.

However, I am wary of a constitutional convention ever occurring in this day and age with so many bad faith actors in government especially in the southern/midwest states.

[MrDollarBills]

how do you forget what apartment you live in? that holds almost as much water as "my dog ate my homework". Even if you did go in the wrong apartment dont you notice its not your stuff all over.

once you see the black man why is the first instinct shoot to kill?

They are literally conditioned to do this even though they are most likely to be killed by a white male.

This is why I think that if you're going to sign up to police a community, you must live in it and.....

wait what am I saying? She lived next door to this dude and just straight up killed him.

When you combine racism + 0 consequences for killing blacks in cold blood + a president who backs the KKK this is what you get.

we thought body cameras would help, yet we still have cops going unconvicted getting paid vacations once the rodney king like video surfaces.

The other problem is you are putting uneducated people in a position of power and handing them a gun. my towns caps are all the dropouts and losers from my high school. i also know a NYC cop i went to college with who is the most mentally unstable person i may have ever met.

yea sure there are cops with college education and smart cops but overall cops are an uneducated bunch of people who couldnt get a job otherwise

Psychological testing standards for cops aren't stringent enough, White supremacists have infiltrated law enforcement at the local levels where vetting isn't anywhere near the level of federal law enforcement applicants. Lots of problems. You also have the problem that prosecutors are more likely to protect killer cops instead of actually doing their jobs. Any civilian shooting in the country, especially when they are unarmed should be subjected to mandatory independent federal review. If local authorities aren't going to do the right thing to protect civilians from bloodthirsty cops than the Justice Department should take out the trash.

The woman who killed that dude in his own apartment was finally arrested

Read on Twitter

Manslaughter. They sure did take their sweet time in arresting her.

[shakendfries]

Charges won't stick, we already know how this story plays out

[Prokorov]

Charges won't stick, we already know how this story plays out

She will get off the same way the female cop did that shot the dude who got out of his truck and walked towards her and 3 other officers... the "i feared for my life" defense.

This is america, white girl >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Black dude.

[MrDollarBills]

Yeah I'll save yall the trouble, here's her future testimony:

"I was scared for my life, as I was off duty and trespassing into an apartment that isn't mine, and saw a big black man in his own home minding his business. So out of fear, I discharged my fire arm multiple times, did not administer first aid, and let him to bleed to death on his own carpet...because I was scared."

Can't wait til they put her on the stand and those tears come pouring out, because nothing melts the heart of a racist jury pool than the blessed tears of a lying white woman.

The Emmett Till Defense is a timeless strategy.

[Prokorov]

Yeah I'll save yall the trouble, here's her future testimony:

"I was scared for my life, as I was off duty and trespassing into an apartment that isn't mine, and saw a big black man in his own home minding his business. So out of fear, I discharged my fire arm multiple times, did not administer first aid, and let him to bleed to death on his own carpet...because I was scared."

Can't wait til they put her on the stand and those tears come pouring out, because nothing melts the heart of a racist jury pool than the blessed tears of a lying white woman.

The Emmett Till Defense is a timeless strategy.

Yeah, not to mention we will hear how the black dude smoked weed, get the worst possible photo of him (probably one thats not even him)looking all beat up and rugged.

we will get the white cops communion and confirmation photos from 20 years ago as she is hailed as a saint in the community