Jump to content

Brisketexan

Legacy Members
  • Posts

    55496
  • Joined

  • Days Won

    338

Brisketexan last won the day on December 3

Brisketexan had the most liked content!

Reputation

136229 Surly 1%

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

  1. Dear god, please let that be real, and please let an army of giant cats come down to earth and
  2. Magnified and quoted for truth. That's the dirty fucking secret of "the rule of law." In the end, it ultimately depends on enough people involved acting in good faith. There will always be a complete and total criminal class that actively works against the rule of law. Say, 3-5% of the population. When that number increases, hitting a critical mass that's probably a LOT lower than any of us would like to imagine (think something like 7-8%), and even lower if that percentage includes those in actual power.....then it's fucking over. Every system we have -- every single one -- depends on some modicum of good faith among a large majority of people. Shit, see the "failsafe" of impeachment and the Senate voting to convict. It presumed that the Senate -- our "higher, august body" -- would put themselves above craven politics and act in the interest of the Republic. Whoops. The rule of law is precisely as strong as the willingness of a marginally sized group of perhaps 3-4% of the population to actually follow it. That's it. That's what stands between a Rule of Law Republic and a lawless autocracy. And we're well past the tipping point. Sweet dreams!
  3. A lot of this. Had this happened in a vacuum -- as in, had any of the previous 6 or so US presidents ordered such a seizure -- it would be a pretty ordinary story, pretty legitimate all things considered. In a vacuum, I actually think it's a fair exercise of our sanction power. But as it is part of the pretext to create a completely unnecessary war in Latin America solely to distract from a criminal president's criminal presidency and his habit of lusting for and fucking underage girls and lots of other shit, then it goes in the pile of "corrupt shit done for bad fucking reasons."
  4. But that's not what's happening. Motte and Bailey fallacy. I mean, textbook example. What is actually happening is that the administration (1) has created one of the largest militaries in the world, (2) that military is literally one of the best-funded militaries in the world, (3) it has deployed it entirely within our borders, (4) it acts indiscriminately against people regardless of their actual legal status, (5) instead acting against people based on their ethnicity, then - often after assaulting and/or significantly detaining them -- putting the burden of proof on THEM to prove that they are citizens, (6) all while they are also acting against people who are currently here with legal status (you don't get to skip past the revocation of legal status for Haitian refugees, Venezuelan refugees, etc.....and you don't get to skip past the fact that they are nabbing people who are FOLLOWING the law, have status, and are showing up to immigration appointments). Oh, and don't forget (7), they want to deny even fucking tourist visas to ordinary, law-abiding people, if their social media has anything on it that even hints at "gee, this Trump guy kinda sucks." So, add fucking "thought police" to the fucking resume. If what ICE was an ordinary law enforcement body, and all it was doing was (1) arresting known illegal immigrants while acting as law enforcement not a fucking occupying military force....and that's it...we wouldn't have nearly the issue that the other fucking numbers in my list above create. We've done this item (1) before, under both Dem and Repub presidents. It works. We are doing something WAY different than that, and you know exactly why. The fucking administration has openly declared that it is acting to create a white ethnostate, using terrorist tactics, and by the way is also ready and willing to deploy that military force against anyone who dissents against he regime.
  5. Man, our summer schedule sucks (I mean, not to complain about these things, they'll be a blast). Wedding in new england weekend of June 13, graduation in scotland the weekend of the 26th. So... We could see Norway on Tuesday June 16th in Boston (we could just stay over a couple of days in Boston after the wedding) v. Bolivia/Suriname/Iraq. We have Norwegian friends, could be cool to see them play. Or, we could hop down and do a weekend in Monterrey, and see Tunisia v. Japan on the 20th. No connection to either team, but Monterrey's stadium is beautiful, and my wife has never been to Monterrey (shit, I haven't been in 40 years). I mean, presuming we get any tickets to any of them.
  6. And don't forget to add "and impossible to seek any recourse for, civilly or criminally," thanks to Elon and his boys. They can crank out as much AI bullshit as they want, intended to engineer the results of elections, corporate governance, shareholder votes, etc. etc.....with absolute, total, 100% immunity. Zero laws. Zero regulations. Total license to use AI to do whatever they want. Because they are the lords of us, and don't you peasants forget it. This circumstance brought to you by a political class that will serve up the people on a silver platter to their billionaire masters at every opportunity.
  7. Yeah, how is the headline not "Moron who repeatedly falls for cons upset about being repeatedly conned?" YOU LITERALLY FUCKING VOTED FOR THIS EXACT OUTCOME. WHEN YOU VOTE FOR A CONMAN, YOU VOTED FOR CONS.
  8. On the bright side, if AI and its champions of it being completely unregulated and unfettered have their way, "the rest of our lives" really won't be very long. So, cheer up! It's almost over!
  9. "I can't fathom someone wouldn't support a candidate who will fix potholes and keep taxes steady but also believes that entire categories of people are subhuman and openly despises even the bare notions of constitutional due process." There are things you can compromise on, and accept as imperfections. "Yeah, he's exactly who I want on transportation, taxation, and education issues, but I really don't like his stance on environmental regulations" is really, really fucking different than "Yeah, he's exactly who I want on transportation, taxation, and education issues, but he wants to create a gestapo not bound by any laws or notions of humanity and decency and deploy them against anyone he deems to be a 'suspect' ethnic group." Shit like that is a deal-breaker for decent human beings.
  10. FIF Surly.
  11. When that happens, I'll tell Sinema "up until now, I thought you were a worthless human being, but then......"
  12. Goddammit. I usually put a pretty sharp eye to avoid AI garbage, and here we are. We genuinely live in a post-truth world. It's over.
  13. Having watched the last 10 years unfold, and the incredible backbone and pushback of respective populations, I offer the observation that not only are they not a problem like the assholes in this admin say, latinos and black people are the absolute fucking best that America has to offer. Want to know what makes America great? Fucking rock-solid heroes and heroines like this gal. THAT is America. We told King George to GTFO, we tell ALL authoritarian pieces of shit to GTFO. It's "We the people," assholes, "not "You the Dickheads."
  14. Man....the number of cunts and level of cuntiness in this new era is staggering. You go girl, I guess. Before, we were an assholocracy, now women are catching up, and we're also a cuntocracy. So....congrats, ladies....
  15. And as a follow-on on that, there's striking a balance. People who have immediate needs for basic elements of life: food, shelter, etc.....you have to help them have those in the immediate term as a baseline, but you want to be thoughtful as to degree and term. Because your most EFFECTIVE charity is creating connection, facilitating education and work, and equipping people to advance themselves. That said, a kid who is cold today needs a coat today. A person who is hungry today needs to eat today. If at all times you are focused on doing things to help that actually maximize the best outcome for the person on the receiving end, then you're doing it both for the right reason and are more likely to be doing it in the right way.
×
×
  • Create New...