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Bat Guano

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Everything posted by Bat Guano

  1. First, last, and most: get the big money out of politics. Small donations from actual individuals are fine. Big bribes from corporations and the ultrarich are just that, bribes, and they come with an implied or explicit quid pro quo. Always, without exception. Make donations over a certain amount (let's say $1000, adjusted periodically for inflation) illegal. I don't consider money to be speech any more than I consider speech to be money, and I don't get paid for spouting off on street corners, so it's not a First Amendment issue, and I'm as close to an absolutist on actual 1A issues as you're likely to find. Public financing of elections, the only exception being the small donations from individuals. Bottom line: make the government accountable to the people. I don't know if it ever has been, but it's a necessary step. This by itself would solve most of the problems we're seeing. Not all, and it would take some time for the pathologies that have been bred into the current system to work their way out, but in time we would have a healthy political corpus without the influence of the root of all evil.
  2. Just had to dispose of a pair of underwear at work. Thread is on the wrong board. This is definitely Serious Bidness.
  3. Is it Francine that's up next?
  4. ^^^ This. I think any variety of jalapeno will turn red when it's ripe.
  5. Interesting. So you dreamed you were eating a habanero pizza? Seriously, the interesting part is the morphine connection to vivid dreams and the endorphins released by the peppers. Since I don't have access to any morphine it's worth a try.
  6. Maybe we should be. Seems like there's a pretty good argument that Russia committed acts of war.
  7. I just can't get past this. I'm not trained in legal precedent and case law, but this looks like a straight-up case of 'aid and comfort to the enemy' to me. Anyone think it's not? Keep in mind the context - this was in response to a question about whether he believes our own intelligence agencies or said enemy.
  8. Yeah, they've won the battle, but it ain't over and they can still run up the score a hell of a lot more.
  9. So is it time to revisit speculation on what kind of pressure Putin has on Trump? I don't think he cares that much about the piss tape. It's got to be something that can flat out ruin Trump financially. Maybe there's a carrot on the other end, some kind of big payoff (Rosneft deal, maybe something else?) but I have to think he's got some massive financial stick that's going to come down on Trump if he steps out of line in any way.
  10. Jesus. Haven't been keeping up with this thread, just the actual news. I never thought I'd see a president of the United States come out as a traitor.
  11. Chill, my dude. By 'get' I meant 'get on the show.' As in, it would be entertaining to watch those particular individuals interact with SBC, in my opinion. Your opinion may be different, and that's fine. Or you may be projecting. Either way, see my first sentence.
  12. Rhymes with Charles Manson. And there's a resemblance there. Seriously, about the Molotovs - you say you don't want to kill him, and I didn't say you should light the molotov, but if the police were to find a real one amongst the fake ones the neighbors already are well aware of being scattered about his property, then they might be prompted to take some more decisive action. Somewhat unethical, I admit, but I betcha it'd be effective.
  13. This is a work of art. The bologna perfectly sliced to lay flat and glistening with hot grease; the mustard expertly applied with an almost negligent disdain; and the jalapeno cheddar cheetos - there are no words. Truly a masterpiece. The bar is set, and it will be harder to clear than ever before.
  14. Replace the fake molotov cocktail with a real one.
  15. He needs to get Ted Nugent. Although if he got Mitch McConnell I'd get Showtime.
  16. My usual routine at work is to make a pot of green tea, using the good whole-leaf stuff from the Asian market, about midmorning, and letting it cool for a couple of hours before pouring it over ice for my lunch/afternoon beverage. It's good. Check it out. ETA: when you use good whole-leaf green tea, you can make multiple pots from the same batch of leaves. After the first one they won't have as much caffeine, but green tea doesn't have much to begin with so it's not a big difference.
  17. Agree with all this, but it may be useful to expand on some of the ways people fool themselves by aligning with a party and ideology to the exclusion of all else, with a bit of armchair psychology thrown in. I've been having long, detailed political and current-events discussions by email with a small group for decades, mostly driven by one hard-right former conservative, now Trumper. He's all in on the Fox and Breitbart talking points, and sends out various blog posts in that vein every day. Yes, really - every day; I read most of them, just to stay in touch with how these people think (or "think," to be more accurate). I used to argue against the more ridiculous ones, mustering facts and logic and all those things that are supposed to matter, and I found it was counterproductive - when this guy is confronted with sound arguments against his team, he hardens his position. His arguments usually consist of stuff that Fox or Breitbart or their ilk made up, which are easily disproved, and accusations that Obama or Clinton or some other Democrat or random lefty did something worse - you know, the kind of stuff you see on this board all the time. I eventually realized that he literally cannot admit any wrongdoing or malfeasance on the part of his team; when I force him to see a lie that he believed, he'll deny it or downplay it (he says Trump 'sometimes stretches the truth.' That's as far as he'll go). One time I got him, in the course of defending some R initiative or other, to argue in favor of hypocrisy. After that he stopped communicating with me for several years; I think I actually made him see that he'd become exactly what he thought he was fighting against, and he didn't like it, although he wouldn't admit it. There have been several psychological studies showing that conservatives are motivated by loyalty to their group over most or all other considerations, while liberals are at least somewhat open to rational argument. This is considered to be the main difference between the 'sides,' along with cons being driven by fear and favoring authoritarianism and established hierarchical structures, and libs being more compassionate, empathetic, and impulsive. So the way I see it is that the hardcore Trumpers cannot give an inch on their team; once they start accepting the validity of any criticism of one of theirs, they'll have to ask themselves how many other things they have been told, and believe, that will turn out to be untrue. That's why they retreat to the echo chamber: it's not entirely the other way around, although of course there is plenty of feedback, but they create the echo chamber as much as the echo chamber creates them.
  18. And... he was. Worthless fatass loser cop then quit. Officer Resigns After Ignoring Harassment Over Puerto Rican Flag Shirt
  19. No, certainly not a political hit job. Because that kind of touching doesn't go on at pretty much every strip club across the country many times every day. JFC.
  20. Stood in line next to Dennis Rodman at Black's barbecue one time. That's kinda like pissing, isn't it?
  21. Would your thinking change if you knew that animals have an innate sense of fairness also? (Maybe you do already; this is a well-known phenomenon.)
  22. Europeans were always at war with each other, far more than the folks from any other geographic region. It is the most blood-soaked continent in human history, by far. This tradition of war was a big part of what led to their technological advancement; war tends to drive technical innovations. Finding the best way to kill your neighbors is a good way to figure out shit like chemistry and physics, so you can apply those principles to weapons. So maybe that warlike mindset is necessary to the rapid advancement of technology. (Playing devil's advocate here, obviously, and the 'necessary' is an overstatement - but I think the point stands). That mindset is also what drives the malfeasance, so you can't have one without the other. Doesn't make it right, though.
  23. Interesting question. Does the end justify the means? In general, the answer has traditionally been no. I think that is an appropriate answer here, too, and it sort of answers your second question - the malfeasances were not justified, and this implies they were not necessary. As for the first, I don't really know in depth how much brutality and exploitation occurred in the course of other conquests than WWEM, so it's hard to measure. As for the third question, it's pretty clear that brutalizing conquered people does not advance enlightenment of the oppressors; quite the opposite. One example is European treatment of the Native Americans. Early on in the conquest of North America, before the European settlements became large and powerful enough to be dominant, they were less nasty to the natives than they would be later on, further west. There was a good amount of communication, and the Euros actually got some good ideas from the natives - notably the portions of American governmental structure borrowed from the Iroquois. In general it's never good for the soul to oppress and brutalize, and that applies to cultures as much as it does to individuals.
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