The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

[Jonicont]

Switzerland??!! Switzerland is imposing sanctions on Russia? Unless I'm missing something, this is a huge deal for the Swiss and after hundreds of years makes the country's banking system no longer the safety valve/port in a storm that it has always been. I assume that will have negative consequences to its collective bottom line. I would love to have been a fly on the wall as that decision was being made.

They must have some Illuminati info we're no privy to

[beantownbubba]

Switzerland??!! Switzerland is imposing sanctions on Russia? Unless I'm missing something, this is a huge deal for the Swiss and after hundreds of years makes the country's banking system no longer the safety valve/port in a storm that it has always been. I assume that will have negative consequences to its collective bottom line. I would love to have been a fly on the wall as that decision was being made.

They must have some Illuminati info we're no privy to

Had you written that in Latin I'd be sure you're right.* As it is, you're probably right..

*Leaving aside the question of how I would have understood it.

[beantownbubba]

Guess what? I'm disgusted and I'm sure you're surprised.

Biden gave his State of the Union address at 9 pm last nite. It lasted a little over an hour. By about 11:30 I had already seen multiple editorials and opinion pieces from major publications and pundits. No doubt these were highly thought out, carefully considered works of scholarship and not just predetermined knee jerk reactions perhaps even based on what Biden was expected to say rather than what he did say. Is there really such overwhelming demand for this kind of instant analysis and reaction? I would say that I find it useless, but it's really worse than that - it's not neutral, it's negative, dragging down public discussion and debate on important issues beyond what we expect from social media. Feh!

[Zip City]

Guess what? I'm disgusted and I'm sure you're surprised.

Biden gave his State of the Union address at 9 pm last nite. It lasted a little over an hour. By about 11:30 I had already seen multiple editorials and opinion pieces from major publications and pundits. No doubt these were highly thought out, carefully considered works of scholarship and not just predetermined knee jerk reactions perhaps even based on what Biden was expected to say rather than what he did say. Is there really such overwhelming demand for this kind of instant analysis and reaction? I would say that I find it useless, but it's really worse than that - it's not neutral, it's negative, dragging down public discussion and debate on important issues beyond what we expect from social media. Feh!

One of my (few) Republican friends on Facebook posted what was basically a bullet point list of the SotU rebuttal, though claimed it was entirely his own thoughts.

The programming runs deep

[tinnitus photography]

does anyone really get anything out of the SotU? it's all a bunch of lame posturing, no matter what capital letter is next to the person's name at the podium.

[cortez the killer]

does anyone really get anything out of the SotU? it's all a bunch of lame posturing, no matter what capital letter is next to the person's name at the podium.

Terrible, awkward political theater. Plus, Biden is a poor public speaker.

[RolanK]

We received a letter from the school our boys are attending today, with the heading (translated from Norwegian): “Nuclear Incident Preparedness”.

I miss the good ole times when we only had a pandemic to worry about.

[beantownbubba]

We received a letter from the school our boys are attending today, with the heading (translated from Norwegian): “Nuclear Incident Preparedness”.

I miss the good ole times when we only had a pandemic to worry about.

That will get your attention. I sincerely hope they're not still teaching kids to duck under their desks (well, I don't know if that was ever the "plan" in Norway but it was here).

[RolanK]

We received a letter from the school our boys are attending today, with the heading (translated from Norwegian): “Nuclear Incident Preparedness”.

I miss the good ole times when we only had a pandemic to worry about.

That will get your attention. I sincerely hope they're not still teaching kids to duck under their desks (well, I don't know if that was ever the "plan" in Norway but it was here).

Just an information letter about handing out iodine tablets in case of fallout. Now curious to hear what the anti iodine conspiracists might have to say about this.

[beantownbubba]

Now curious to hear what the anti iodine conspiracists might have to say about this.

Hmmm... Why am I laughing?

[beantownbubba]

Guess what? I'm disgusted and I'm sure you're surprised.

Biden gave his State of the Union address at 9 pm last nite. It lasted a little over an hour. By about 11:30 I had already seen multiple editorials and opinion pieces from major publications and pundits. No doubt these were highly thought out, carefully considered works of scholarship and not just predetermined knee jerk reactions perhaps even based on what Biden was expected to say rather than what he did say. Is there really such overwhelming demand for this kind of instant analysis and reaction? I would say that I find it useless, but it's really worse than that - it's not neutral, it's negative, dragging down public discussion and debate on important issues beyond what we expect from social media. Feh!

In keeping with the "it's better to be fast than accurate or thoughtful" theme, the WaPo published an article today called "One Week of the Ukraine War, analyzed." Seriously? It's hard enough to analyze a war after it's over and the outcome is known, but the WaPo is going to "analyze" the war without knowing how it's going to end and while the "fog of war" still covers the actual action on the ground. Actually, I'll leave it to the Post; this is the lead paragraph of the article:

"Russia’s massive assault on Ukraine is just over a week old, but it’s still possible to draw some tentative conclusions about the conflict and the various actors involved, even if the duration and outcome of the war are not clear." I'd say that no, it's not really possible "to draw some tentative conclusions" if you care about accuracy because "the duration and outcome of the war are not clear."

[chuckrh]

Had some more communication from my friend in Poland. To date, Poland has taken in 800,000 & the number is rising rapidly. Also, many in Poland are starting to take iodine tablets since Russia started firing missiles at the nuclear reactor. The fear is if it catches fire there could be another Chernobyl type incident. Needless to say, things are getting uglier over there quickly.

[beantownbubba]

Had some more communication from my friend in Poland. To date, Poland has taken in 800,000 & the number is rising rapidly. Also, many in Poland are starting to take iodine tablets since Russia started firing missiles at the nuclear reactor. The fear is if it catches fire there could be another Chernobyl type incident. Needless to say, things are getting uglier over there quickly.

Sooner or later, the Ukraine war will end. The refugee/immigrant situation will continue and will pose incredible challenges to the host countries, wealthier countries not in the immediate path of immigration and most of all for the immigrants themselves. The humanitarian cost of any war is staggering but it seems particularly obvious in this case. Speaking of which the refusal of Russia to allow civilians to flee war zones is especially dastardly. I assume w/out knowing that their thinking is that pictures and statistics of civilian casualties will sap morale and will. I suspect it will have the opposite effect. Empathy/sympathy/understanding of human beings have never been Putin's strong point.

The entire basis of post WW II anti-nuclear proliferation has been "trust us, WE are the responsible countries, other countries are not." Chernobyl put that theory in doubt, recent events leave it in tatters. If it's clear that Russia can't be trusted to act responsibly when it comes to both nuclear weapons and nuclear power, the entire world wide nuclear control regime is in serious danger of toppling.

[beantownbubba]

Voter fraud, Republcan style. Meaning this actually IS voter fraud. Slimy is as slimy does (see, e.g., his misrepresented academic achievements).

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-des ... not-reside

[305 Engine]

Had some more communication from my friend in Poland. To date, Poland has taken in 800,000 & the number is rising rapidly. Also, many in Poland are starting to take iodine tablets since Russia started firing missiles at the nuclear reactor. The fear is if it catches fire there could be another Chernobyl type incident. Needless to say, things are getting uglier over there quickly.

Friend in the Czech republic reports that people are bulk buying iodine there. I'm told the last French cache of medical supplies to Ukraine included a lot of iodine tablets.

Best to be in the safe side I guess!

I've read that a German billionaire has block booked hotels on the Polish/Ukraine border and allowing refugees to stay there free for at least 3 months.

[beantownbubba]

I've read that a German billionaire has block booked hotels on the Polish/Ukraine border and allowing refugees to stay there free for at least 3 months.

I hope this is true because, why not? But it does once again/still/always bring up the essential lottery-like nature of life. I've seen it written this week that the only difference between "us" (by which I assume the writer meant those of us in the prosperous, peaceful West) and refugees is luck. That seems right to me. We can now add to that observation that the only difference between refugees killed by a cruel rogue regime on the way to refuge, refugees living in tents in mud filled temporary villages where they line up for water, bathrooms and everything else and refugees who live in hotels is ... luck. That's not a criticism of the billionaire in question or of the people getting the benefit of his largesse, it's simply to point out the frighteningly random nature of things.

[Jonicont]

Hey Bubba--this is from twitter

Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR)
@HC_Richardson
Hey .
@drivebytruckers
: you're getting me through a great writing session today (as you often do). Thanks!


Drive-By Truckers
@drivebytruckers
·
2h
Replying to
@HC_Richardson
Made my day. Your hard truths but historical perspective and calming voice have helped us keep (somewhat) sane in these things insane times. Thank you!

[beantownbubba]

Hey Bubba--this is from twitter

Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR)
@HC_Richardson
Hey .
@drivebytruckers
: you're getting me through a great writing session today (as you often do). Thanks!


Drive-By Truckers
@drivebytruckers
·
2h
Replying to
@HC_Richardson
Made my day. Your hard truths but historical perspective and calming voice have helped us keep (somewhat) sane in these things insane times. Thank you!

Most likely the coolest post in the history of this thread. Thanks, doc. I had no idea but it makes complete sense to me. I assume she's not going to make it to homecoming but maybe the Boston show in late April?

[beantownbubba]

In the absence of a sex thread I guess sexual politics goes in the politics thread. This article reads like an anthropological study of an obscure and faraway culture for someone of my age and/or outlook. I have no idea whether the author paints a broadly accurate picture. But geez, is this what it's really like out there? I find this so sad and regrettable. Heartbreaking, really. At the end of the day and without wanting to trivialize an important subject, it seems like yet another example of a worthy and meaningful attempt to address a real problem, i.e. the requirement of consent as a way to reduce/eliminate sexual violence, being watered down to its minimalist, formalistic, least useful meaning and application as it is adopted broadly in the culture. Consent is surely necessary for "ethical sex," but it's hardly the only condition.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... 3ade2bffd5

[beantownbubba]

Worth reading and thinking about.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/opin ... 029039208a

[tinnitus photography]

i dunno, i kept thinking about the point of criticizing someone for exercising their freedom of speech and that the person talking was someone like MGT.

these comments are closer to my feelings on the topic:

Republicans: We are literally passing laws banning teaching materials and hope to prosecute librarians. "The left": We call JK Rowling a TERF on Twitter because she doesn't support transgendered people and we think you should boycott her products. NYTimes Editorial Board: BOTH SIDES are against free speech! Think about this one a little harder NYT.

A comprehensive coverage of the major issues surrounding free speech in America today. Except for one thing…

The unstated problem is perception of error. The question is really what passes for ‘wrong.’ It is possible to have different versions of wrong. Nobel laureate physicist Wolfgang Pauli, when reviewing another’s research paper commented, “This isn’t right, it’s not even wrong.”

It is possible for your wrong to be wrong.

For example, you say the earth is flat. That is plainly wrong.

I say the earth is a sphere. That is wrong. The spin of the earth bulges the circumference at the Equator about 37 miles longer than through the poles. The earth is spheroid.

These facts are trivial. The point is if you think the wrongness of the flat earth is the same amount of wrong as the spheroid earth, then your wrong meter is way off.

When the progressive left is wrong, it is wrong with things like the extent of ‘defund the police.’ When the right is wrong, it is with democrat pedophile cannibals.

See my point?

So the editorial board wants to paint the article as each side having excesses. Another article on false equivalence. Yawn.

[tinnitus photography]

and i found this tweet which also mirrored my thoughts on this piece:

[John A Arkansawyer]

The Dangers of Short Form Content

[cortez the killer]

and i found this tweet which also mirrored my thoughts on this piece:

That’s a good one. After reading your previous post, I was going to the exact same tweet.

[beantownbubba]

I think the NYT editorial addresses the literal scope of the First Amendment (i.e. it restricts only the government) well enough to make the comments addressed to that point above superfluous.

I expected the false equivalence argument even though I hadn't read any of the responses to the editorial. It's an easy criticism to make but imho misses the point of the editorial. To say that because I'm not with the government I can say what I want when I want w/out consideration of the impact or that I don't care if assholes get offended or if you can't take the heat stay out of the kitchen is imho to say a lot more about those who refuse to acknowledge that, like the free marketplace of commerce, the free marketplace of ideas is badly damaged and in need of some support than it does about the robustness of free speech. Or put another way, I have my doubts about the truthfulness of anyone who says that s/he has not modified their speech in response to the current environment and I think that (the modifications, not the truthfulness per se) is a problem worth addressing.

[tinnitus photography]

are we talking about speech in a private or a public setting? do you personally know anyone who has been 'canceled' via the former?

either way, i don't see the false equivalence you are ascribing.

[beantownbubba]

are we talking about speech in a private or a public setting? do you personally know anyone who has been 'canceled' via the former?

either way, i don't see the false equivalence you are ascribing.

Ummm, now I'm really confused. You included among your quoted comments a direct statement that the Times editorial was making false equivalencies. Another of the quotes didn't use that term but basically said as much. Or, IOW, I thought you were ascribing false equivalence and that I was saying that while the false equivalence argument "Is an easy criticism to make" (and therefore implicitly is not totally wrong) I thought the editorial distinguished between different problems w/ somewhat similar effects but which are not equivalent.

[beantownbubba]

are we talking about speech in a private or a public setting? do you personally know anyone who has been 'canceled' via the former?

There may be some definitional quibbles as to what is exactly "canceled" but yeah, I'd say I see it all the time, including regular monthly excruciating get togethers w/ some of my best friends where we walk on eggshells around each other w/out managing to talk about anything meaningful for 4 hours at a time. I also know that there are certain topics that I self-censor to a significant degree, far beyond, say, appropriate scrubbing for civility or whatnot.

[Jonicont]

are we talking about speech in a private or a public setting? do you personally know anyone who has been 'canceled' via the former?

There may be some definitional quibbles as to what is exactly "canceled" but yeah, I'd say I see it all the time, including regular monthly excruciating get togethers w/ some of my best friends where we walk on eggshells around each other w/out managing to talk about anything meaningful for 4 hours at a time. I also know that there are certain topics that I self-censor to a significant degree, far beyond, say, appropriate scrubbing for civility or whatnot.

Get some different best friends

[beantownbubba]

are we talking about speech in a private or a public setting? do you personally know anyone who has been 'canceled' via the former?

There may be some definitional quibbles as to what is exactly "canceled" but yeah, I'd say I see it all the time, including regular monthly excruciating get togethers w/ some of my best friends where we walk on eggshells around each other w/out managing to talk about anything meaningful for 4 hours at a time. I also know that there are certain topics that I self-censor to a significant degree, far beyond, say, appropriate scrubbing for civility or whatnot.

Get some different best friends

Yeah I would if they’d stop moving to places like North Carolina.