To be clear: Grant wasn't so much warning about another Civil War as professing the need for public, non-sectarian, non-religious schools...

To further quote:

"Encourage free schools, and resolve that not one dollar of money appropriated to their support, no matter how raised, shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian school. Resolve that the State or Nation, or both combined, shall furnish to every child growing up in the land, the means of acquiring a good common-school education, unmixed with sectarian, pagan, or atheistic tenets. Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private school supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate. With these safeguards, I believe the battles which created the Army of the Tennessee will not have been fought in vain."

Civil War hero & eventual President Ulysses S Grant said in an address in 1875 (at the Annual Reunion of the Army of the Tennessee in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 29, 1875):

"If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence (e.g.: another Civil War), I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s, but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition, and ignorance on the other." Citation Here

Ummm.... was the "Drunken President" also prescient?

Back in 2020, Fox was sued for slander by Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model whom Tucker Carlson had accused of extorting hush-money from Donald Trump.

The facts are that she had never contacted Trump, or his associates, about any payments - instead, receiving payment from David Pecker - owner of the National Enquirer - who paid for her "story" solely so he could quash it.

In defending Carlson, Fox's own lawyers stated:

• Carlson's comments were "loose, figurative or hyperbolic"
• Cited an earlier court finding where a nonjournalist's use of the word "extort," proved nondefamatory because it was mere "rhetorical hyperbole, a vigorous epithet." (Essentially: Tucker Carlson is not a journalist)
• Cited another earlier precedent where Don Imus won a case more than two decades ago because an appellate court ruled that "the complained of statements would not have been taken by reasonable listeners as factual pronouncements but simply as instances in which the defendant radio hosts had expressed their views over the air in the crude and hyperbolic manner that has, over the years, become their verbal stock in trade."

More damning: the PLAITIFF alleged in a brief that "a reasonable viewer of ordinary intelligence listening or watching the show ... would conclude that [she] is a criminal who extorted Trump for money" and that "the statements about [her] were fact." - But, the Fox lawyers responded to that claim - quoting here: "that the reasonable viewer would do no such thing."

For the record: the judge agreed & dismissed the lawsuit.

Tucker Carlson is a bloviating, exaggerating, hyperbolic caricature of a journalist... but he is, nevertheless, a primary source of "fact" for many of the Trumpites you see here and elsewhere...

I can therefore... legally... claim and infer that they are not "reasonable" people!

@najo124

I believe you are not creating a valid .torrent file in the first step in the process... you'll have to look at your client program to debug that step...

@perro2492 said in IF "we" get PURGED?:

Because all of us have our porn saved somewhere, if the page goes, everything can be found somehow someday right? Is there a backup plan?

What are you referring to?

If the site goes down, there is nothing preventing you from keeping all the porn you've downloaded.

If the site were to be "taken over" by the "porn-sharing-police", the only thing they'd get are IP addresses... which, for many of us, aren't our HOME addresses, but rather VPN or cloud-hosted IP addresses.

If I've missed the mark, what exactly are you concerned about?

To the point of the topic...

YES: Pfizer (and other Pharma companies) have pills that have a tiny chip in them... the value of this is to be able to see if the patient ACTUALLY TOOK the pill.

The transmitter doesn't stay for long - it is NOT absorbed by the body - so, like so much of what you put INTO the alimentary canal, it cycles through your stomach and intestines and makes its way OUT within 2-3 days. Also, its more of an RFID kind of tech - after all, there is no power supply!

This is not the same as some kind of super-tiny microchip in the vaccine (whose needle is smaller than a human hair follicle!) that can be used to spy on you!

(Those will be in the COVID-25 booster liquid-gels that the Nazi secret-police will force down your throats!)

@geobear40 said in “Pfizer CEO: New Pill Will Have a Microchip That Transmits Info Once You Swallow It!”:

@eobox91103 said in “Pfizer CEO: New Pill Will Have a Microchip That Transmits Info Once You Swallow It!”:

Let's see: The Food and Drug Administration is part of the US Dept. of Health and Human Services, which reports to the president of the US. Who was that in 2017? Must have been a nasty liberal socialist communist.

The FDA is an independent agency or so that is what the current nasty liberal socialist communist tell us. LOL

No, the FEDERAL RESERVE is an independent organization... the FDA, as was correctly noted above, is one of the 11-or-so agencies under the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)

But, don't take MY word for it, why not ask the HHS website?

@eobox91103 said in Anyone having trouble getting on gay-torrents.net?:

@mdx8472 This is the link I use, from which I get prompted for a username:password: https://www.gay-torrents.net/torrentslist.php

That link works for me - you need to reset your password

@lololulu19 said in US science teacher arrested for vaccinating 17-year-old student:

Also.... it is curious.. where did this teacher obtain the vaccine?

An obvious question - one of many... this is WRONG on so many levels!

Even if it is the real vaccine.. it is doubtful it was "active" because those vaccines must be stored at extremely low temperatures.

The storage has to remain far colder than just sub-zero... but it's not that cold when it is injected! (Injecting even that small amount of fluid - at -100°F would cause massive tissue damage!)

The specifics (from the CDC) are:

• The mRNA vaccines are stored long-term (and shipped) in freezing temps between -90°C and -60°C (-130°F
  and -76°F)
• Those vaccines are then de-frosted and "mixed" - after which, they can be stored in refrigerated temps
• Once mixed, vaccine can be left at room temperature
  (2°C to 25°C [35°F to 77°F]) for up to 6 hours. (This is what happens at Pharmacies and Dr. offices that distribute vaccines - which is how some people "cut in line" in the early days - showing up at the end of the day to get doses that had already been prepared, but not administered - and if not administered, would go to waste after 6-hours.

But again, this overlooks the BIG PICTURE: What was a school teacher doing with COVID-19 vaccine supplies?

And.. even if she did manage to steal a super sub zero refrigerator.. the current vaccines are useless against the current strains of Covid. They might as well take all the current vaccines and just flush them down the toilet.

Total hogwash - not being AS EFFECTIVE against Delta, and now Omicron is a far cry from being ineffective at all.

Not only are the current vaccines not protecting from the current strains.. it seems like they might actually be inducing illness where there was none!

Completely false - no study has shown that any one, much less all, of the authorized (1 of which is fully approved) vaccines pose any significant risk or danger... none!

This is not just my opinion.. it is the fact.. which can be seen by looking at the death rate which WAS 300 per day in the USA for a month.. but has now climbed back to an average of over 1400 per day. I was at my doctor's office last week, and she was saying pretty much the same thing, without me even bringing the topic of covid up.

Conflating death counts with vaccine effectiveness is like confusing weather with climate...

The death counts are rising because the new Omicron variant is far more virulent than its predecessors! That's a characteristic of the new variant, not the validity of the vaccine!

What you should look at instead is the rate of deaths among those who are infected! This RATE is far lower than it was in the early days of the pandemic. That is because the vaccines ARE doing (still doing) what they are designed to do (what ALL vaccines are designed to do): reduce the severity of infections.

So, rather than people dying, they're getting cold-like symptoms and getting better (yay vaccine!)... of course, the un-vaccinated are getting sick and going to the hospital... where many of them are dying, but even the unvaccinated aren't dying at the rates previously in this pandemic - because Omicron (which is now prevalent almost everywhere) is far more contagious, but also far less deadly....

@iaman said in Onlyfans should have gone under...:

onlyfans is not a porn site, you shouldn't sub if you don't care about that person

OnlyFans was created to be a forum for artists to create/sell access to their works (originally intended to be art and music) without the need for the "art establishment"...

As has been noted, it turned out that the "art" most people were interested in was pornographic.

At first, OF tried to "turn a blind eye", which failed - 75% of their content providers are peddling pornographic material.
Next, OF tried to "purge the porn", which failed - 75% of their content providers are peddling pornographic material!
NOW they are simply sitting back and squeezing the "goose that laid the golden egg" for as long as the ride lasts...

As for complaints about the contributors, that's like going to the Mall Management to complain that your Mrs. Fields Cookies were stale! If the content sucks, you're following (paying for) the wrong providers! OF is just the "mall management" (or, perhaps more accurately: the flea-market management!) - they are not responsible for the quality of, nor any real part of, the contents that are "for sale"!

For what its worth: I agree that most content on OF is of little to no real value... and when you factor in the time it takes to obtain the material, it's even of negative value!

I can't remember the last OF content I even bothered to D/L from here, much less pay for! But that's not OF's fault! Just like those ultra-cheap socks you bought at the flea market that fell apart the first time you tried to wear them aren't the flea market's problem!

We are losing so many of the greats!

RIP

@raphjd said in Facebook uses 1st Amendment in lawsuit:

@bi4smooth

Why are you calling Facebook's TOS a "public relations statement"?

There TOS says that fac checks are "accurate and well researched" which is why there is no right to appeal. At the same time, they claim that their fact checks are simply OPINION.

Obviously, as you are an agent of the CCP/DNC, you love Facebook since they are doing your bidding.

I have no skin in that game: I have no Facebook (or any other Meta) account.

"Terms of Service" statements are not legal arguments!

Let's drop this... you can't get past the blanket statement: Facebook = bad so there is no point. If they came out against child molesters, you'd find a negative spin, so there is no point in taking this farther...

@mdx8472 said in Anyone having trouble getting on gay-torrents.net?:

It seems that there's a 404 error problem with gay-torrents.net and if you try any of the workarounds, you are prompted that your username/password is incorrect.

Does anyone have any word from mods or admins from there about it?

If you go to gay-torrents.net "wrongly" (that is: without the https or just to the main site) you will sometimes get errors - and that's on purpose! The site owners don't WANT to be so easily found (or discovered)...

Use the full URL to the torrent part of the site: https://www.gay-torrents.net/latest/ and use your login information... you should get in without a problem...

But don't forget: these torrent sites are really part of the "dark web" you see on the news! We're sharing - mostly in violation of copyright - files that we have no real right to share! As such, the site owners have to balance:

• attracting new members (which means new content)
• NOT attracting accidental, copyright-holder, or law-enforcement members (who want to stop the sharing)

In other words: make the site easy to get to if you know where you're going, not so easy if you're just looking around!

@mrker1234 said in Is anyone on PrEP? Any side effects?:

@bi4smooth The CDC report, which tries to be the most stringent source, also states "Some health departments in the United States and some health organizations in Europe and Canada are offering guidance for “on-demand” PrEP as an alternative to daily PrEP for gay and bisexual men at risk for HIV."

Sometimes it is simple math. I'm older and have sex very occasionally. I wouldn't go on PrEP if it meant taking 365 pills a year instead of the 40 I use for the 10 weekends I may have sex. That amount of chemicals being ingested unnecessarily seems to be even riskier than depending on just condoms.

Obviously everyone's mileage may vary. I'm looking at almost a 90% reduction of chemicals in my body. Someone having sex every week or several times a month, will have significantly less benefit to going "on demand".

Please don't take my comments wrongly: PrEP - no matter how you take it - is doing something to protect one's self, and I APPLAUD that! It's wonderful that we have options, and the science is continuing!

I agree that the CDC often takes an overly cautious tone - but it's the opinions of the FDA that matter here: they control the ability of physicians to prescribe the medications. (Two very separate federal agencies, with different goals, methods, and agendas!)

I choose to continue to take my PrEP daily - even though I've been in a monogamous relationship for a little over 2-years now. It's not that I don't trust my partner, it's that I'm unwilling to risk HIV - either with him or anyone else - period! I'm 58... and I presume I'll take daily PrEP until my dick falls off and my ass closes up! (Always the optimist!)

@eobox91103 said in WA hello :

One can also send private messages (called "chats") to other members, which is safer for personal information such as email addresses or even physical location. This isn't a hookup site, but I've met a few other members in person and it was a good (non-sexual) time.

Careful there - because of abuse in the past, new members are restricted from direct messaging for a period when they first join... I think it's 6-mo... maybe a moderator will see this and clarify, but I'm sure there is a block on new members and the chat function...

@raphjd said in Facebook uses 1st Amendment in lawsuit:

@bi4smooth

AGAIN, since you are slow.

Facebook claims publicly that their fact checks are "accurate and well researched" which is why there is no appeal.

HOWEVER, in the lawsuit, they are claiming that the fact checks are nothing but opinion.

Which is it?

You truly cannot read, can you?

Making a "public relations" statement to "defend" your actions is NOT THE SAME as making a legal argument...

Maybe BOTH are true: maybe the fact checks are based on truth/fiction, and maybe they're protected because those decisions can be called an opinion...
Maybe BOTH are false: maybe the fact checks are based on political bias, and those actions are not protected...
Maybe... Maybe... Maybe...

My point is: this is now before a court and a jury... how 'bout we let them decide? With ALL the facts that the plaintiff and ALL the facts that the defendant care to muster!

Of course, you, with your Russian troll masters and your Tucker Carlson blood transfusions (oops: opinion transfusions), naturally think you already have all the information you need: Facebook = bad Why should you need data or testimony to back that up?

@raphjd said in France’s Macron Stuns As He Declares Un-Vaxxed ‘Not Citizens’.:

You get no argument that me that the "rich and powerful" often flout the same rules they seek to enforce on everyone else! But why limit that to COVID-19? That has always been the case (look, for example, at all of the "fair labor" standards - that exempt Congress!)

That doesn't make it any better when they do it with COVID rules, but it also shouldn't stand-out just because it's COVID!

Getting back to the point of the article: The stupid statement - which was not an official declaration, just something said, albeit to intentionally upset the un-vaccinated, to call attention to the issue.

He (Macron) has been lambasted by both sides... let's just say it was like a racist joke that wasn't all that funny to start with, wasn't taken well, and wound up offending everyone... when all you REALLY wanted was a chuckle...

@geobear40 said in The truth about liberal media:

@raphjd
It is only about women because they are the weaker sex and need to be protected (a sexist would say) or maybe it's the Liberals adding to their litany of is-ims. The MSM thinks they can put out a sexist story that plays on peoples emotions but it's OK because they are in the RIGHT. If Joy Reid with her raciest rants are ok then what's wrong with a bit of sexism

Sorry, @geobear40 - and this should shock no-one, but will indeed shock many - I agree with @raphjd

When the statistic is that 51% of the population makes up only 25% of the homelessness, then something is askew.

Your diatribes about the poor aside, your virtual assault on women is laughable... and clearly something akin to an original thought - because it has literally no basis in reality.

Statistically speaking, in America, the chances are pretty good (well over 50%) that your mother didn't get pregnant with you on purpose. It was, maybe, a happy accident - but an accident, nonetheless.

Personally, virtually all of my children was mine - on purpose - ... because I adopted them. I would venture to say that most, if not all, of their biological parents were probably surprised by the pregnancy that created them (which explains why they were such terrible parents!)

@wils said in Seeding rate dropping drastically:

I can't help but notice what a tricky system this is. But whatever keeps the lights on, or in this case, the site running...

So I think y'all are making invalid assumptions... specifically, you appear to be under the completely false assumption that you're downloading "content" directly, or even indirectly, from the site!

When you download a torrent file from the site, you download a "description" of the files that make up the torrent's content:

• file name(s)
• checksums for each block (blocks can be of varying sizes)
• address(es) of the trackers

The final item there - the address(es) of the trackers tells your torrent client program where to go to find sources for the torrent's contents... the "tracker"...

The tracker acts as an "introducer" between the parties:

• The tracker keeps lists of "seeders" - not just usernames, but IP addresses and ports - who have the contents of the torrent
• The tracker provides this information to "leechers" upon request (assuming your ratios and other account settings are good!)

After that, it's all up to the seeder and leecher... ALL of their communications (which means every BYTE of the contents of the torrent) are made by direct connections between the seeder(s) and leecher(s)...

Again: the site - including the tracker - has no torrent contents! Only the .torrent files themselves, that provide a "guide" on where to find the contents! After that, you have to contact each seeder individually and request the parts of the file(s) that you need!

@mrker1234

While there IS some evidence that the 2-1-1 dosing of PrEP can work, it has not been studied well...

On the cited CDC page, it states clearly: "This type of use is not currently part of CDC’s guidelines for PrEP use, which still recommends using PrEP as prescribed for those at risk for HIV. Taking PrEP as prescribed is currently the only FDA-approved schedule for taking PrEP to prevent HIV. When taken as prescribed, PrEP is highly effective for preventing HIV."

That said, my perspective about PrEP is that it's use allows the individual to TAKE CHARGE of THEIR OWN sexual health! Rather than "trusting" the partner to accurately report their own HIV status and/or maintain constant and proper condom use, the person who chooses PrEP asserts a level of control previously unavailable.

If YOU are comfortable with the 2-1-1 regimen for PrEP, then that's your decision! Good for you for at least taking control! Unlike COVID-19 masks and vaccines, the only person you're "protecting" with PrEP is yourself!

In reference to the original question: I've been on PrEP since 2015 - over 95% compliant (never missed more than 1 single day, but have from time to time lost a day in the shuffle of day-to-day life!)... and I have had no noticeable side effects.