Posts made by eobox91103

@bi4smooth said in Where is the Conservative Outrage?:

I know what Conservatives believe because, pre-Trump I was a bona-fide Conservative... I'm the FIRST to admit that, under the influence of Trump, I'm re-considering that label ...

I think we can keep the "conservative" label, but with a lower-case "c" so as not to be muddled in with Trump and his kind. I have many friends in the States who believe in free enterprise, personal responsibility, and government staying within its means. These were pillars of the Republican party until the little Orange Toddler came along.

but I'm not ready to give up on Republican yet... I'm certain there *will be a Republican Party once Trump kicks it

It will take time for things to stabilise. Many people have dropped the Republican label and would be ready to come back post-Trump. As the party shrinks, though, it tends to look rather bad as those remaining are heavily skewed towards the Trump/Q mentality (or lack thereof).

and there is an actual grave for people to piss on...

Be sure to wear sensible shoes, as you'll be waiting in a long queue. I might even see you there.

@jsl76 You're quite right about Putin's agenda being carried out here. He's a very clever dictator, in that he's able to get lots of people to promote his cause without them knowing that they're doing it.

Putin knows from personal experience that governments (such as the Soviets) collapse from within rather than from outside pressure. His support of Trump in 2016 enhanced discord in the States, as well as a weakening of NATO. Not surprisingly, he also supported Brexit (to weaken the EU) and Scottish independence (perceived as weakening the UK). After the Brexit referendum, he called on PM Theresa May to rapidly implement Brexit because "it was the will of the people." Putin's support of popular preference (i.e., democracy) was, needless to say, quite out of character for him.

@jsl76 My favourite from their conspiracy theories is Hillary-Clinton-runs-a-cannibalistic-pedophile-fing-from-the-basement-of-a-DC-pizza-retaurant. At one point the conspiracy theorists identified the specific pizza place, and it turns out that it doesn't even have a basement.

But the conspiracy crowd was undaunted: Hillary and her tribe are actually space aliens who can pass through walls and exist within solid rock. Presumably the child-victims were given the same ability, perhaps by being anointed by Elvis impersonators freshly back from faking the Apollo moon landing (which was quite an accomplishment on their part, having previously organised the assassination of JFK).

@bi4smooth said in BBC bans "Are You Being Served":

I LOVE "Are You Being Served!" (I've watched a lot of old British comedy: Faulty Towers, Keeping Up Appearances, Are You Being Served... just to name a very few)... and I'm a big Dr. Who fan as well (tho I've fallen behind... WAY behind! But my favorite Dr is David Tennant - I know I'm a minority there )

Mine too! Matt Smith was OK (especially when he shared the screen with Arthur Darvill), but after that it was downhill. There's a great video on YouTube showing the Tenth Doctor's regeneration, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs_isWP71FE . The notes used to describe the choral text, Vale decim (Farewell tenth!), with vale repeated ten times. Don't feel embarrassed if a tear forms...

Fortunately, there is the Internet... nothing dies on the Internet anymore! I did a quick search - at least the first 10 seasons or "Are You Being Served" are easily available on public torrent sites...

And I have them all. BTW, The BBC suspension of Are You Being Served was five years ago--they tried a remake of it with a new cast, and its ratings were terrible. (See https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/1690113/furious-viewers-demand-licence-fee-refunds-from-the-bbc-as-are-you-being-served-remake-is-branded-truly-ghastly/ or https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/are-you-being-served-remake-panned-by-viewers-35003503.html for details.)

Remakes often fall short--can you imagine anyone other than Patricia Routledge playing Mrs. Bucket (it's boo-KAY)? The AYBS remake was sacked not because of Mr. Humphries' character--it was just bad television.

(Note aside: David Tennant and Arthur Darvill appeared together in all three seasons of the mini-series Broadchurch, also available from torrent sites. I think the first season was the best..)

@lololulu19 said in BootieJizz is a fraud:

@eobox91103 Raph is probably the only admin who would NOT ban you. If I was an admin, you would be "Gone With The Wind" and frankly my dear.. I don't give a damn!

Can't tolerate a different opinion? Sounds like arrested development to me.

By the way.. since you supposedly love facts.. there is actual video of BootieJizz packing his tricycle into an SUV.

There was no video in the posting, but you're probably pointing to one that was taken outside the West Wing of the White House, as Buttigieg's bicycle was being unpacked before he got on it to ride back to the DoT office.

Yes, I do care about facts. They are important, and much better than mindless conspiracy theories.

@john32123666 I get this problem as well from time to time. The forum software went through a major redesign/downgrade several weeks back, and many people abandoned them. (They worked fine for years; there was no reason to mess with them.)

I suggest hanging in there and trying back from time to time. They might eventually get fixed.

I'll break my rule for a moment:

@raphjd said in BootieJizz is a fraud:

@eobox91103

BTW, I love that you are keeping up your childish "I'm not talking to you" so you post to others so you can reply to me.

Such profound narcissism! I was replying to the ridiculous fiction that was ignoring facts. Notice that there is another participant in this thread. It is not all about you.

You are so mature.

Good call.

I would make two observations here:

• In a forum thread, posts should be about the topic at hand, not the other posters. There is a pattern, though, of people replying to others with insults and other derogatory comments. If I were writing forum software, I would prevent the word "you" from being used. Casting insults at others instead of discussion is childish.
• The item just above might be a moot, though, as right now the forum is pretty much useless. The clumsy user interface and the chronic log-in problems have reduced traffic to porn requests and conspiracy theorists seeking an echo chamber, with poisonous posts sent to anyone who disagrees with the Dear Leader or his minions. One would think that a Forum Administrator would notice this--and perhaps care about it.

@manhandler said in BootieJizz is a fraud:

@eobox91103 I didn't even get through the second sentence.

Not everything fits into a tweet. There are probably some online resources that can increase one's attention span.

@lololulu19 But the facts are the facts. Buttigieg rode his bicycle for the DOT offices to the White House. His security detail kept his bike and waited for him when he was inside the West Wing. When he left, some grainy video showed him getting his bike back from the security folks, and getting on it to ride back to DOT.

The conspiracy theorists concocted a story about how he faked riding his bike to work, based on that grainy video. That was pure fabrication, and when confronted with the facts, none of its supporters have admitted that they were wrong. The facts in this case have no political leaning. The idiotic conspiracy theory seems localized to nutcake right-wing fringe.

@lololulu19 Ah, classic "whataboutism." This thread is about Secretary Buttigieg riding his bike from DoTransportation to the White House. And he did that.

"Facts" don't have a liberal or conservative bias. If the New York Times says that 1+1=2, they are not inherently wrong.

@lololulu19 Ummmm... No.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pete-buttigieg-bike-suv/

https://www.factcheck.org/2021/04/video-doesnt-show-buttigieg-staging-bike-ride/

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/apr/06/facebook-posts/no-pete-buttigieg-didnt-fake-bike-ride/

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/04/pete-buttigiegs-bicycle-stars-latest-rightwing-conspiracy-theory/

@lololulu19 I have uTorrent 3.4.8 (32 bit) on a 64 bit system and it's never given a problem--no crashes, no errors. It uses about 4% of my processor/2% of my memory, and I don't see any other processes running such as "utorrentie." Maybe their newer or beta versions have some added features, but I have no complaints about my current installation.

@bi4smooth said in The left is eating itself.:

So...

• 4" of water in my cup is good! (I know it is!)
• 4" of water in my kids' playground or ball field is bad?
• 4" of water in my living room is bad, too?

I think you're on to something! You are able to see the difference between your cup and your living room. While this might be obvious to many people, there are some who can't tell the difference.
(Note that I did not make a comment about being unimpressed by 4". )
(Note that I just did.)

If only there were people who could explain this to us... someone who knew science...

Oh, but you can't trust those science-ists: In order to do their work, they often use "arithmetic." This can lead people to believe that 81 million votes is more than 74 million votes, or that 306 electors is more than 232 electors. The consequences of that would be for the Dear Leader to move to Florida and no longer have a pulpit. (But fear not, his cult members will continue to worship him. When he leaves this mortal coil, perhaps they will have him embalmed and displayed in a glass case, like Lenin, Mao, and the elder Kims. His family will probably trademark the word "Trumpsicle" and try to get royalties from it to pay off their legal bills.)

@manhandler said in The left is eating itself.:

@eobox91103 It's not difficult information to find:

https://www.climatecentral.org/news/study-finds-plant-growth-surges-as-co2-levels-rise-16094

Go to the first reference that this article cites, from GRL. The abstract of that paper states, in part, "The role in this greening of the “CO2 fertilization” effect—the enhancement of photosynthesis due to rising CO2 levels—is yet to be established."

I'm not familiar with climatecentral.org, so I don't know how much to trust them. I did find, though, an interesting page at https://www.climatecentral.org/news/report-flooded-future-global-vulnerability-to-sea-level-rise-worse-than-previously-understood. Here's part of what that page says:

Global warming has raised global sea level about 8 inches since 1880, and the rate of rise is accelerating. Rising seas dramatically increase the odds of damaging floods from storm surges. A Climate Central analysis finds the odds of “century” or worse floods occurring by 2030 are on track to double or more, over widespread areas of the U.S.

@manhandler said in The left is eating itself.:

@eobox91103 Well, the result is that vegetation has increased by 14%, and trees by 7%.

I'll ask again: Is there a reference for this? Q-anon tweets don't count.

@eobox91103 I don't see any global warming ... but where is this invisible global warming? I don't see it.

Look at https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature. (Warning: The linked webpage contains facts, and presumes that the Earth is spherical and not necessarily at the center of the Universe. This might be distressing to some readers.)

This thread has wandered off to vote-by-mail, masking, and vaccinations (somebody must have sand in his panties), but to tie off the CO2 stuff:

@manhandler said in The left is eating itself.:

@bi4smooth The basic statement by John Kerry that we need to get CO2 to zero...

No; that's not what informed and intelligent people want to do. The goal is to get artificial carbon emissions (from burning fossil fuels) to zero. The plant-animal-atmosphere-ocean carbon cycle was in balance for millions of years before humans started burning huge amounts of fossil fuels, putting billions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. This has thrown the Earth system way out of balance, and thus has led to climate change. Even if we stopped all artificial emissions of carbon today (which nobody has proposed), the surplus of carbon (as CO2) in the atmosphere and ocean would remain for many decades. It's like the "first rule of holes:" The first step to get out of one is to stop digging it deeper.

@manhandler said in The left is eating itself.:

CO2 is actually beneficial to greenery.

Yes, vegetation absorbs CO2, which it converts (along with water and sunlight) into hydrocarbon plant material, and expels oxygen. Animals (such as humans) take in O2, which they convert (along with water) into their own bodily mass, and expel CO2. This has been in balance for millions of years. But over the last century, so much CO2 has been put into the atmosphere that plants can't absorb it. The excess CO2 in the atmosphere absorbs sunlight, leading to climate change. I know this sounds complicated--do a web search on "carbon cycle" and perhaps you'll find pages that explain it more clearly.

There is more CO2, so there is more vegetation now by 14+%.

Do you have a source for this? Deforestation is rampant all over the globe.

While one might think that increasing CO2 would help plants, one can't say "if some is good, more is better." See https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2011/02/12/how-plants-could-impact-global-warming/ for a discussion.

@wald3mar said in Had an account for a while, new to the forum:

Hehe I wish that would have been so easy to download porn here lol I can't signup on the site because it says they stopped accepting new members until only the God knows when

There's a way to cash in bonus points to generate an "invitation;" I've got a zillion points and I'd be happy to do that. There used to be a way to send "private messages" so I could send you the link, but I don't think that capability exists now. Maybe some other Gentle User can show me how that's done.

But welcome! There's a lot of stuff in the forum from previous posts that you can find from the main menu.

@flozen said in First Trans Lutheran Bishop:

@eobox91103 Occasionally my brain is incapacitated, and at this moment I'm whiffing on the method to engage you via sending on Messages. Could you send a "test" over, as I know it will allow for a reply.

And as a very brief and tangential return to topic, there's a unique Lutheran church in Midtown NYC you must see on you next visit. The church owned the mega-desirable plot of land, and sold it to Citibank for a gleaming tower, with the stipulation it could construct a church in the basement. The architects did a great job with skylights that allow you to peer down or up, as the case might be.

The congregation was not particularly friendly at my one and only service, requested for my mom's visit, lol.

I don't know how one sends messages any more: It used to be (if I recall correctly) that clicking on a person's name would bring up a profile page that had a "send message" button. That doesn't seem to be there any more...or if it's there, it's very well disguised. Perhaps someone reading this knows the secret. It would be unfortunate if gt.ru made a conscious decision to eliminate private messages.

@flozen Thanks for providing that link. While it's difficult to summarise a denomination's teaching in few Twitter-esque boxes, that chart does a fairly good job. It's ironic that the items in the Missouri Synod column line up quite closely with those of the Roman Catholic Church--given that the origins of the Lutheran movement were a reformation/rebellion against Rome. The Church of England's teachings were originally virtually identical to those of Rome (except for the role of the Pope), and now the descendants of the C of E in North America are quite similar to the ELCA. (Henry VIII did not like that "L word.")

I agree that the term "evangelical" has a frightening dimension to it, because it's been co-opted by right-wing groups very intolerant of anyone outside their white middle/upper-middle class bubble. (I call their mega-churches "Jesus factories.") The "E" in ELCA is rooted in the word's original meaning (from the Greek euangelion or "good news," the origin of the English word "gospel."). It's good that they haven't abandoned the word just because it has been corrupted by others.

My pastor friend is quite straight (there really are such people), and happily married. I'm not sure I'd say he was "hot" from a homoerotic perspective, but he's a super nice guy, which is perhaps the ultimate in hotness.

You identified yourself as an atheist; I would call myself a non-theist, meaning that I don't address the question of the existence of a God because, in brief, the question isn't important to me. I see that as slightly different from being agnostic, but that's a dissertation for another time. My family has generations of anchoring in the Anglican tradition, and I'm comfortable with being part of a community of tradition, culture, inclusion, and social action. I remember hearing a priest in the (US) Episcopal church saying that his denomination was founded on the twin pillars of "the gospel and good taste." One out of two isn't bad. (That's probably less precise than another speaker who said that the church was based on scripture, tradition, and reason, forming a three-legged stool. She used the word "stool" over and over again, which became somewhat distracting.) But, as is often the case, I digress.