Posts made by brianboru72

@raphjd:

Enjoy your echo chamber.

I guess you mean like social media is the left's echo chamber.     The same goes for most media outlets.

This forum section is only an echo chamber for the right because leftists can't handle conservatives having an equal footing in the conversation.   Liberals only like it when they can get conservatives banned for wrong think in places like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

You won't see liberals on Vid.om, Minds.com and whatnot because they can't handle that they don't auto ban "bad" people, as defined by the left.

Liberals are spoiled brats, who can't handle not getting their way.

You misunderstand. Let me clarify- by echo chamber I mean a place where only one set of views are represented (the ones that conform with your own views). Celebrating the disappearance of dissent (which mhorn was doing i.e. "there are no liberals left") is an example of being myopic because you tend to lose perspective when there is no one to question your views or challenge how you think.

This is the damage that you inflict on yourself by enforcing the echo chamber where only your views and the views that mirror yours are allowed or seen. BOTH SIDES are guilty of this. And it can exist in any forum or social media. It's NOT exclusive to the left. I have friends on both sides of the political spectrum who sadly choose not to maintain any connections with those who disagree with them.

Personally, I have worked hard to avoid it on Facebook by NOT unfriending or unfollowing people who have views I disagree with. It's not easy. Sometimes you want to just weed them out because you can't get over how stupid or ignorant you think they are. But as I said, if I were to do that, then I wouldn't be exposed to other views, to dissent. I would risk stagnating and being blind to my own failings and not be able to understand how my opponents think. If you can't allow opponents to challenge your views, then your position must really be fragile.  

In the end, you decide for yourself how open or narrow minded you are. You can silence the voices you disagree with but you would only be hurting yourself in the long run.  

For Fred- Please give Obama a rest. He is no longer president and shifting the dialogue to his failings does NOT erase the failings and almost total lack of substance and achievements for Trump. Come up with something new, or better yet, maybe acknowledge the fact that the current POTUS is NOT perfect, and has NOT been doing as good a job as he would want us to believe.

Oh- and as a final note, for those of you (you know who you are) who like to engage in silly reputation manipulations on this forum, have at it! I know how much you need me to post something new so you can deduct reputation points from me. LOL! I await hitting the red zone.
Just remember though- no matter how high your green bar, you can't change or remove the stain of all the thumbs down votes you've earned.  >:D  :laugh: :laugh:

Oh, don't be silly mhorn- the "liberals" just realized you weren't worth taking seriously since engaging with you is an exercise in futility.

Enjoy your echo chamber. You earned it, and the president who has the record lowest approval rating within his first 200 days in office, and who hasn't managed to pass ANY single major piece of legislation to date.  :laugh: :laugh:

@Frederick:

@brianboru72:

They said the same about the House bill and it still came back and passed. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope they give up on the so-called "Better" Care Reconciliation Act and start fresh. Hopefully without being so MEAN to poor people.  :blink:

I applaud the Senators who didn't crumble to pressure and stood their ground on principle.

Something you said caught my eye…  you are saying that the Republican's plan is "MEAN" to poor people. 
How's this for being mean?  Obamacare REQUIRES everybody to purchase health insurance.  The premise is that the people who don't need or use the insurance will subsidize those that do.  Is that fair?  Seems to me.. requiring people making minimum wage to purchase health insurance is mean.

You raise a good point. But what is the alternative? From what I have read and know about how insurance works- you need a large pool of both healthy and unwell people to buy into it for the system to work. Yes, the healthy subsidize the unhealthy- but that's how insurance companies can afford to keep everyone covered. And while it MAY SEEM UNFAIR to the healthy- the logic behind the whole system is that EVENTUALLY the healthy will wind up being sick so they will reap the benefits of the system in turn.

If only the sick got insurance the whole system would just collapse. It's like paying it forward- yes you are healthy today and you're paying for some sick guy- but eventually it will all come around and benefit you when it's you or a loved one who is suddenly struck down by an illness.

REQUIRING people to buy in, even when they don't need it yet, is the only way to keep things going. If you allow them to opt out- the system would fail. That's why the Trumpcare proposals wind up causing so many millions of people to lose their coverage.

They said the same about the House bill and it still came back and passed. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope they give up on the so-called "Better" Care Reconciliation Act and start fresh. Hopefully without being so MEAN to poor people.  :blink:

I applaud the Senators who didn't crumble to pressure and stood their ground on principle.

Come on- it's not enough for you that Trump himself has accused the Russians of hacking during his meeting with Putin? That's right. Of course Putin denied it, but then would a cheater admit to cheating?

Plus let's add the fact that the latest bombshell straight from Trump JR. where he ADMITS to meeting Russian operatives to get dirt on Clinton.

And if that still isn't enough for you, then how about the US Intelligence agencies? Do you have faith in them?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/10/21/17-intelligence-agencies-russia-behind-hacking/92514592/

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/us-intelligence-agencies-picked-up-conversations-by-russians-involving-trump-as-early-as-2015-report/article/2628464

Maybe individually they wouldn't be too big a problem- but when incidents start piling up- the evidence of interference becomes apparent.

Try to get recommendations from friends and family to hook you up with someone looking for something more serious. Get into some clubs or join some activities which will allow you to meet more like-minded guys who are into more than just a casual one night stand.

And of course there's always online dating- where you can specify that you're looking for a more serious relationship. Good luck!

Aside from being busy with work lately, it's become apparent to me that there's very little interest in meeting at some sort of middle ground specially with some of those active posters here.

I well and truly applaud your attempts at civility royal- however it's apparent to anyone who takes the time to read responses here just which posters aren't interested in civil discourse and just want to toss insults around to puff up their lack of substance.  :laugh:
Also- I find it very suspicious how the manipulation of forum reputation has gone in a very one-sided direction- quite the opposite of what people upvote and downvote. Maybe there's something to look into there, I'll leave it to admin like raph to look into.

More power to you royal, and those of you who still continue to engage in a more or less civil manner. Maybe when I've got more time I'll engage here again. Pax!  ;D

@Frederick:

Democraps had 8 years to get Osamacare right.. and they failed.  They are offering zero input on how to fix it now.  If it was up to the moonbats, the best thing to happen would be for millions to lose their insurance, and BLAME the republicans.

What don't you understand here- that Obamacare IS the culmination of their 8 years of hard work- and it was the best they could come up with. Is it perfect? Of course not! But the point here is that they aren't willing to toss it all away just because the Republicans have come up with something they CLAIM is better, but after analysis has proven time and again that it is WORSE than Obamacare.

The fact is- Trumpcare will leave millions uninsured if it's passed, which is why almighty Trump himself has admitted to it being "mean" and asked the Senate to come up with something more generous. We'll see where that goes.

As for the original question for this thread- they have shown just how inept they are by being unable to pass anything meaningful in all this time they control everything. and they need to blame "obstructionist" Democrats just to give their gullible base some reason not to turn on them.

If you go over the more detailed accounts, you will see that there is a QUALIFIER to the statement that Trump was not being investigated. And the qualifier is- AT THAT TIME>  In other words, the reassurances Comey gave were with the caveat that it wasn't a blanket thing that would last forever. If the ONGOING investigation found evidence that linked Trump to the illegal collusion with the Russians, THEN he would be under investigation.
Only time will tell if the Trump administration becomes buried even deeper in this scandal. The independent investigator will see to that. And leak or no leak- for as long as the investigation still continues, Trump is still not totally in the clear, and the media will keep reporting on this, as they should.

It's a long road to 2018- and I just hope the Democrats manage to get their act together, learn from past mistakes, and really win big. It's the only way things can get back on track.
The big tragedy of the last elections was that Trump got voted in at a time the Republicans controlled both the House ans Senate. And they refuse to choose country over party which is in the words of their dear leader- SAD!  :blownose:

@raphjd:

Please stop using "tard".

I'm sure you can find another descriptive name for the other side.

Thank you! I really agree with this. Stick to liberals and conservatives. Let's keep some level of maturity even though things can get heated. You don't earn any extra points for insulting your opponent in such a childish way. I wouldn't mind seeing some sort of sanction if this is ignored repeatedly. It adds nothing to the discourse.

Or I don't know- how about just calling them liberals. Just as conservatives should be called that. There's nothing wrong with exercising a bit of maturity even when we engage in heated debates and discussions. It's hard to keep things civil, but then nothing worthwhile is ever easy.

Have a special spot for Almond Joy.  ;D But I'd go for most dark chocolates- preferably with almonds or hazelnuts.

@mhorndisk:

Your post has absolutely nothing to address to corruption. You just have opinions to express… It's really just dumb.

It's really clear that engaging with you has become an exercise in futility- and yet- here I will try on the off chance it may get through to you.

Saying someone has opinions to express and dismissing them as dumb, makes you a hypocrite. Why? Because you also scatter your opinions all over the forum. So- either you admit you are also dumb because of all your "opinions to express", or you open yourself up to the idea that opinions aren't automatically dumb just because you don't like them.

Also- in your opinion- do you think Trump has ever made a mistake or done anything that would make you think he's wrong? If so, please share what it is. If not, then consider that you're saying he's the most perfect human being who ever lived, and perhaps that is a bias you need to work on. Just a thought.

Aside from adding my vote for honest communication the way many others have already stated here, I think a very important question you need to ask yourself before taking this whole thing up with him is: What are you prepared to do if he absolutely refuses?

If he is not and will not be open to the idea- you will either have to decide that he is more important than your sexual freedom and stick it out with him, OR you go your separate ways since it will never work if only one of you feels strongly about being monogamous.

Either way, you acted like an adult and had a discussion with him about what you want out of a relationship.

As fun as it would be if masturbation could be considered even as a mini-workout- it is a stretch and will do you no favors in terms of weight loss. It's a nice bit of cardio I guess, and it gets your heart rate up- but can never be a substitute for actual exercise.

As for testosterone levels- there will be an immediate, temporary drop after you ejaculate- but it recovers quickly with rates being affected by your age and fitness levels.

Blah blah blah Hillary!
Blah blah blah Bill!
Blah blah blah we have no other defense for the growing evidence against the Trump administration- let's use the Clinton shield again!  ::)

It gets tiresome engaging in these threads when the go- to defense of the other side never changes. 

@aadam101:

Wow! An online petition!  This is really serious! lol

You know this thread is really desperate when it tries to keep a silly debunked conspiracy theory going which even FOX NEWS has decided isn't worth pursuing because it's just too ludicrous.  :laugh: It's the stupid pizzagate nuttiness all over again.

The Nixon investigation which led to his removal from office took 2 years. This independent, formal investigation has just started this week.

Give it time. And really, if he wasn't hiding something, why is he acting so scared? Why did he, BY HIS OWN ADMISSION, fire Comey because of "the Russia thing." He miscalculated because he's not smart enough to be less obvious about his motivations. He causes most of the damage to himself.
This is political drama at its best.  :laugh:

@royalcrown89:

FACT: Hillary Clinton lost the election and isn't currently under FBI investigation as the president!  :cheers:

It's really sad how these Trump snowflakes like mhorndisk and Frederick keep using Hillary as a human shield for their pathetic loser Trump. They keep trying to deflect but they don't realize that using Hillary will not work on the independent investigation now underway regarding the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. What they fail to realize is that using Hillary to shield Trump just makes the case that there is no intelligent defense for his brand of ineptitude.

And as #45 heads off on his first trip abroad as president- people are already preparing to treat him like the big baby he is to avoid a Trump tantrum.  ::) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/nato-donald-trump-four-minute-time-limit-keep-us-president-attention-span-meeting-a7738626.html

BTW nice new sig royal.