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  1. Brisketexan

    Brisketexan

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    wildcat09

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Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/28/20 in all areas

  1. The only way he’s destroying Twitter is if he starts running the company.
    27 points
  2. I absolutely hate seeing what has happened in Minneapolis. I hate seeing the rule of force and violence replace the rule of law. I hate seeing businesses destroyed, I hate seeing the places where people work torn apart. But what I hate most of all is that this outcome was completely predictable, and entirely avoidable. Some of my thoughts from the other thread that seem appropriate here: What we see is not people behaving “reasonably.” The death of the rule of law is the death of reason. We can choose to govern ourselves as men: that requires laws and rules, uniformly and equally applied to all. Or we can choose to govern ourselves as animals: might makes right, exercise power however it pleases you. The powers that govern Minneapolis chose poorly. They chose - via the armed branch of the government, the cops - to govern by law of the jungle. They purposefully invoked that law. So law of the jungle is what follows. Treat people like animals, they’ll act like animals. ---------------------- We can simplify what's happening in Minneapolis even further. Just ask this simple question: in this society, does the rule of law apply? When the powers-that-be demonstrate that no, the rule of law does not apply (by repeatedly demonstrating that the armed branch of the powers-that-be is not subject to the rule of law), then the question is answered rather definitively. So, once it has been stated that in this society, the rule of law does not apply......imagine all of the shit that flows from that. Yeah, it's "Lord of the Flies" type shit. "Civilized society" is merely a collection of mutual agreements to behave a certain way. The veneer is paper thin. When some of the most fundamental of those agreements (like the agreement that there are protectors, employed and paid on behalf of society, who will uphold and enforce the law) are breached, the whole damned thing falls apart. This is "human society 101" - it's how collections of human beings behave, and the consequences of certain behaviors. Shit, imagine that you had a contract with a particular group of people - let's call them "Aggies." And every time you tried to enforce your contract (using the rule of law) against the Aggies, the Aggies all circled their wagons, winked at their friends in the courthouse, and your case was promptly dismissed. Over, and over, and over. You've now provided lots of product to the Aggies, but they haven't paid you -- like they promised, like all contracts promise. And you can't get satisfaction through the rule of law. What do people who have agreements to provide product for payment, but no access to the rule of law, do to enforce their agreements? Check out any drug deal shootout -- that's EXACTLY what it looks like when you have agreements and obligations that can only be enforced by rule of the gun (you can't exactly sue a drug dealer for failing to deliver the promised product). That's what you'll have to do to get the Aggies to pay you. You know how a lot of you point to shitty social situations and say "it all starts with the parents?" You're not wrong. When parents break the trust of their role -- to nurture and guide their children -- things go to shit in a hurry. Well, the analog here is pretty spot-on -- when the protectors break the trust of their role, and become the perpetrators of violence, all while using the badge as an impenetrable shield from legal consequences...things go to shit in a hurry. This outcome is 100% predictable, 100% consistent with human nature as we have known it for thousands of years, and 100% preventable. Abide by the social contract, and we can live by rule of law instead of rule of force. Abandon the social contract, and this is the inevitable result.
    26 points
  3. There is so much insanity in this Twitter kerfuffle. First, the head of state is complaining about being “censored“ by a private company. Second, the alleged censorship is that the company allowed the president’s full statement to publish but added its own statement. Third, the president’s solution to this supposed censorship of him is to use the force of the state to punish the private company for publishing its own statement — that is, for the state to actually censor the private company. As always, Trump and his moron followers completely fuck up every single aspect of the analysis. I’ve never seen a group of people who show such consistent ability to get the exact wrong answer every single fucking time. It’s Orwellian doublespeak come to life.
    24 points
  4. Always love it when posters claim something has been scrubbed from the internet and their proof is a link to something on the internet.
    22 points
  5. A guy goes in for his annual checkup. The doc comes in with the test results. “I’m afraid I have some bad news. You have cancer and Alzheimer’s.” The man replies, “Well, at least I don’t have cancer.”
    19 points
  6. How long do you think can murder minorities in broad daylight and be surprised that they want to burn shit down when nothing comes of it?
    14 points
  7. I don't even know where to start with this.
    14 points
  8. SIAP - Chris Rock on "bad apples"
    13 points
  9. Whites of all stripes, holding hands in unity: "We were going to really take the murder of black people seriously, then an Auto Zone was set on fire."
    13 points
  10. The concern that keeps me awake at night is this: Trump is a cornered rat. Seriously, his way of thinking and being in the world is pure narcissism, indulging in impulses of the moment, and acting only out of fear/anger. He is governed by his amygdala and pure selfishness - functionally, he's an animal. There is literally zero thought or concern for any other human being. And the noose is tightening and he's losing control. He can no longer control the narrative of a country falling apart. He is seeing the prospect of re-election dwindle. He's getting more terrified and frantic by the moment. And that is dangerous as fuck for all of humanity. Because there is literally no limit to what erratic, impulsive act he will commit to protect himself/act in his self-interest. The months between now and the election may be the most dangerous in all of human history. We'll be lucky if all he does is accelerate his erosion of global norms and the rule of law. That is our BEST case scenario. If he loses the election, then the months between the election and January 20, 2021 will be the most dangerous in human history. He will have no limitations, and no need for restraint, as the goal of re-election would be gone. An enraged animal, with no restraint. The chances of a nuclear first strike (say, against Iran) are as high as they've been since the Cuban missile crisis. Not because of any diplomatic crisis, but because we have a fucking madman with his hand on the button, he has chosen to govern by his madness, and those who could restrain him have chosen to indulge him. He has no leash, no limits, no controls. At this point, we have to hope that there are members of the staff, maybe even Secret Service agents, who are willing to sacrifice their careers (and likely their lives) to stop him if he decides to indulge in deadly madness. Trump has been disastrous and dangerous thus far. But the months to come are going to make what's happened thus far pale in comparison. You should be terrified.
    12 points
  11. Eh, fuck off with that. You know what finally brought about change to the LAPD? Massive rioting. As has been noted upthread, violent resistance is the basis on which America and Texas were founded...The tree of liberty is watered with the blood of patriots, as Jefferson memorably noted.
    12 points
  12. Spent Tuesday tuna Fishing out of Oregon Inlet, NC. 14 fish, 30-50 lbs. each, lost 2 to sharks, which gets really bad in the Summer according to the mate. Foggy as shit (50-100 yds visibility) on the ride out, and never really got that warm, We were 40 miles out (2 hour run at about 22-24 knots) still inside the Gulf Stream. Up at 3:30- back at the dock at 4:30. Going out of the harbor is a really choppy run in to 6-8' swells as water running into Back Bay meets water running out. One of our guys had that worried, greenish caste about HIS face till we got out in open water, and it laid down a bit, 1-4' very spread out seas, and a nice slow breeze all day. Vacuum sealed steaks, bites, and a few half loins. I got tuna for the year now. That first batch below was fucking great Paul Prudhomme Seafood Magic on butter coated slabs 10-15 seconds per side, paired with a wasabi, soy, teriyaki, worcestershire sauce for dipping. This week is bites, steaks, and tacos, and probably some tuna salad.
    11 points
  13. Just think, if Coronavirus had just fact checked one of his tweets back in January, he would have had a plan in place to fight it within 24 hours.
    11 points
  14. Target always has nicer looters than Walmart.
    11 points
  15. The protest started out peaceful. Protesters were literally kneeling and sitting in the street outside the precinct holding signs. The cops escalated the situation when they began indiscriminately firing tear gas and nonlethal rounds at peaceful protesters. It’s not even remotely clear which fires were started by the protesters, and which were started by outside agitators or the cops themselves. What is clear is that the whole thing happened because (1) the cops murdered someone and the other cops refused to arrest the murderers, and (2) cops react violently every time black people protest anything. At several points along the way, the cops could’ve prevented this entirely or deescalated the situation once it began to go bad. They didn’t, because cops love to encourage black people to riot, because it gives cops an excuse to crack down with a heavy hand.
    11 points
  16. Can anyone post that meme of Trump as Karen?
    10 points
  17. If the colors were reversed in the George Floyd death (white guy accused of forgery killed slowly by four black police officers), I shudder to think of what kind of response would occur with the flag waving, militia-prone, gun toting Trump gorillas. I mean, they marched on state houses around the country with AK-47s because they couldn't get a haircut or eat at Cracker Barrel. Can you imagine a bunch of black people toting automatic weapons in a similar protest in response to Floyd? They'd be fucking massacred. This country is full of hypocrisy and class warfare, and when the downtrodden get fed up the privileged scold them for their "terrorism."
    10 points
  18. Dude stop it. A first year medical student knows you don't put infectious patients near other high risk people. Assisted living facilities are chock full of them.. they're called senior citizens. No direction from the federal gov't is needed to NOT make that grossly ignorant call. I'll say it again as a mayor or gov. of your state you don't need the federal gov't to tell you what basic life safety decisions you should be making about your own citizens.
    10 points
  19. I don’t post that often. I feel a strong urge to notify everyone that this is the dumbest post I’ve read since I started lurking 7 years ago. That is all.
    10 points
  20. I’m hearing more and more older conservatives turn on Trump. A family friend who has been very outspoken with his conservative views announced he wouldn’t vote for the guy. My parents now can’t stop talking about what an asshole Trump is. I think this confluence of Trump and a plague has turned my mom (who, along with my formerly Fox-addicted dad, voted for that fucker in 2016) into a full-blown progressive. She’s livid about the Minneapolis cops murdering that dude, ranting and raving about how bad police have gotten. It’s... shocking. And a welcome change. If we survive the next 7 months, this whole Trump shitshow might have been worth it just to snap some of the Fox News zombies back into the real world of sanity.
    9 points
  21. The Governor of New York threatened to sue the Federal Government if they tried to enforce a lockdown in his state in late March.
    9 points
  22. Sending covid patients to nursing homes is not a bad decision. It’s voluntary manslaughter. One of the things we knew from the beginning is that covid killed mainly old people. Anybody with half a brain cringed upon reading that covid patients were being sent to nursing homes.
    9 points
  23. Texas A&M has now spent more weeks in quarantine than they have as the #1 team in the AP Poll.
    8 points
  24. You've got a real Susan Collins vibe going lol. I'm sure you're VERY concerned
    8 points
  25. Let me say as I've always said, and I will always continue to say, that riots are socially destructive and self-defeating. I'm still convinced that nonviolence is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and justice. I feel that violence will only create more social problems than they will solve. That in a real sense it is impracticable for the Negro to even think of mounting a violent revolution in the United States. So I will continue to condemn riots, and continue to say to my brothers and sisters that this is not the way. And continue to affirm that there is another way. But at the same time, it is as necessary for me to be as vigorous in condemning the conditions which cause persons to feel that they must engage in riotous activities as it is for me to condemn riots. I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation's summers of riots are caused by our nation's winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention. - MLK, "The Other America", 1967
    8 points
  26. JFC would you guys shut the fuck up and stay on topic? Upon further review of that Georgia DPH page it seems lab testing has been flattish on the aggregate. So we may be seeing more cases. Unfortunately the hospitalizations number is not reported as a trend, only a number. That would be nice to know. It does look like the hot spot in Southwest Georgia has cooled.
    8 points
  27. UT Permian Basin. In your undergraduate days, it was known as Apache Territory.
    8 points
  28. I've had CNBC on in the background for the past few months WFH. Basically, all day every day. It's an addictively ridiculous network. The menagerie of hosts they have come and go throughout the day. Some are at home, some aren't, and some rotate. There's always something going on. "Breaking News!" Scrolls at the bottom. Dumb quotes all day from hedge fund guys from places like "North Point Capital" or something. Occasionally, they'll have CEO's from various companies and they bring some good insight. (The hedge fund guys are generally the same. "Market has found it's bottom. V shaped curve!" Shit like that. Joe is fairly Trumpy. Kept saying this was like the flu from the beginning. He's paired with Cramer who is a fucking idiot. ARS is a smarmy liberal. Would fit in well here. I like all the female hosts throughout the day. They generally have some snark to them and are on point. Still laugh at this:
    8 points
  29. Hey doofus, howz' about you call out the drive by passive aggressive, "I'm not touching you I'm not touching you", political posts from your friends in the Cabal, which I'm assuming you're trying out for here.
    8 points
  30. Flip that shit around and have a suspect kill a cop on camera by kneeling on his neck for 7 minutes. Somehow I doubt the police would drag their feet in making an arrest.
    8 points
  31. Alright, which one of you magnificent basterds is this?
    8 points
  32. Someone should call the police.
    8 points
  33. I just want him gone. He has turned everyday into a nightmare for millions of our fellow Americans. I have never felt vitriol or hatred towards the President of the United States in my entire life, but this grifter changed that. I despise every single thing about him and his followers who cheer him on, including the ones who post on this website. They all deserve a terrible ending when their number is up.
    7 points
  34. Nah, you were there for Atwater. You are the anecdote. This ain't new. This is the fruit of many years of growing this poisonous tree. The base chose Trump. If it took this level of toxicity to get a response from some, there was a level when it was tolerable. Trump is not saying something new. He's just saying it out loud. Atwater had to dog whistle. Trump just had to break that norm one time and it was over. Broke the seal on the high proof bottle of xenophobia and racism and gave them a strong pour. All the others on the stage were not capable of being as shameless. Seriously, it's his super power. Max Boot was right. Anyhow, I'm glad you figured out that the Republicans were not where you wanted to be. Maybe some day they might come back to reality, but that long journey into chaos didn't start with any of those guys.
    7 points
  35. You’re the one who started it yet again this morning until your thread Karen came your defense.
    7 points
  36. All their preparations for post-society life were for naught. The machine guns, the Jim Baker slop buckets, the makeshift bunkers. None of those prepared them for the apocalypse. It turns out that they couldn't even go without a haircut for a month before they begged for society to come back. Maybe Jim Baker should start selling Flowbees.
    7 points
  37. I was banned for saying Cuomo at the time is was suggested, was wrong for rejecting quarantine for his state. I was correct. Now you shut the fuck up and go back to stroking Hugo
    7 points
  38. I stand corrected in that someone is bothered by this, but it's still extremely low in what matters to me. American history has always been to meet violence with violence so these riots are on the cops that killed that guy. This is a natural progression. give me a break about terrorism. that cop did more to hurt America in 10 minutes than burning 100s of stores could do.
    7 points
  39. 7 points
  40. Nothing is getting sucked in your home tonight
    7 points
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