Posts made by flozen

From the past few years, there are so many studies about the decline of (particularly white) Christianity in the United States, and its loss of political and social clout, that this site would crash if I were to compile a comprehensive list.

For starters:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/white-christians-now-minority-u-s-population-survey-says

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-religious-right-is-right-to-be-scared-christianity-is-dying-in-america

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/opinion/trump-scaramucci-evangelical-christian.html

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/way-more-americans-may-be-atheists-than-we-thought/

Really, darlings, I just can't go on.

http://www.newsweek.com/lonzo-ball-liangelo-ball-lavar-ball-basketball-711547

I think I'm having difficulty staying completely neutral in judgment, due to the one player being from the (in)famous Lavar Ball "dynasty," that blowhard father with the ridiculous statements, and above all, the rapacious sneaker lines:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2732690-lavar-ball-teases-lavar-icci-big-baller-brand-shoe-1500-or-higher-price-tag

Which is to say, I would have been fine with a trial in China, particularly if the video evidence is compelling.  Three people don't all make the same "walked out absentmindedly" mistake.  Terrible, entitled ambassadors for the U.S.

As a Gator alum living through an awful football season – precipitated by nine players being suspended for credit card fraud for silly purchases -- it never ceases to amaze me how student athletes can jeopardize their careers over such idiocy.

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/9/26/16358578/florida-gators-football-players-charges-allegations-credit-card-fraud

Dead people might feel no pain.  But in your example, as applied to the executed person, his brain might know he's dead for a short time:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mind-works-after-death-consciousness-sam-parnia-nyu-langone-a8007101.html

(This, of course, allows his malevolent "brain force" to take over the body of a nearby living person, then gain murderous revenge on everyone who took him down.  At least, in the movies.)

And we're already revisiting the topic of executing criminals and the whole sureness of guilt thing?  It was quite the divisive flashpoint only a few days ago.

I can't speak to all of the points, but I did find two interesting articles that slightly broaden the theme:

There's a lot of pregnancy in the Navy!

http://dailycaller.com/2017/03/01/exclusive-deployed-us-navy-has-a-pregnancy-problem-and-its-getting-worse/

…and maternity leave provisions in the Army have been expanded:

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2016/03/01/army-s-new-maternity-leave-policy-is-now-official/

(One could ask, how to address the first?  And second, are the expanded provisions overdue – or overly generous?)

As far as a specific connection between enlisted women, and increased pregnancy rates during wartime as an "escape clause," I'd ask to see the solid research on that, before going further.

You may be aware of the three UCLA Basketball players who were detained by Chinese police on November 7, on allegations of shoplifting from a Louis Vuitton store – ironically, occurring during a sports "goodwill tour."

And while the young men might have been subject to a three- to 10-year sentence -- depending on interpretation of Chinese criminal code -- they went home today, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had sought the help of Chinese President Xi Jinping.  Trump later told reporters, “What they did was unfortunate.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-ucla-china/ucla-players-depart-china-after-trump-asked-for-xis-help-idUSKBN1DE0E6

Do you think the President was correct to ask the favor of President Xi?  Or, should the case have proceeded?  Does "unfortunate" convey the right message to our youth?

Do you feel that, whatever the sport, American athletes deserve this level of intervention overseas?  Or, was there something in this particular drama that made it "especially deserving"?

I am all about the preservation and promotion of credible news outlets – those that employ time-tested, verifiable fact-checking and reporting methods.

The following Forbes article highlights some of these media:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/berlinschoolofcreativeleadership/2017/02/01/10-journalism-brands-where-you-will-find-real-facts-rather-than-alternative-facts/#21609a24e9b5

So, I would point to The Economist, BBC, The New York Times, National Public Radio (NPR), and TIME, to start.

There's the National Review (for my conservative fix), The New Republic (as antidote), and wire services like Reuters, The Associated Press and Bloomberg.

And Vogue.  But not YouTube.

@cteavin:

You're not going to answer the question yourself?

Yes, Frederick, please respond.  The highly regarded contributors of YouTube deserve the credit.

I love the nostalgic tone of your post, Dene.

Tuesdays are generally Movie Nights at my place, the guys and a few fun gal pals.  We like obscure cinema, foreign films, so I usually collect and store them on an external, portable hard drive – that also contains a fair amount of gay porn.

When I'm clicking icons, with previews of various films from which to choose, i always sneak in a gay porn, mid-scene.  On the curved Samsung, it's really quite a sight.

Everyone squeals in real or mock embarrassment.  I think the longest one has played is two minutes.  And none of the girls have asked to me to burn a thumb drive, lol.

@raphjd:

If you look at my down votes, you will see the same 6 people (only shows the top 6) for Fred.   Someone, I won't mention Flozen's name (oops, that just slipped out),  in this thread is in my top 6 down voters.

I'm glad you noticed.  I assign Thumbs Down for a variety of reasons, but chief among them are:

• Potty mouth

• Absence or weakness of citations

• Intentional leading of threads off-topic as a diversion when "losing"

• Inability or unwillingness to evaluate new facts presented by others

Well, the list could go on and on.

@Frederick:

Another thing about the THUMBS system is that it doesn't identify who is clicking on UP or DOWN, it only shows who is applying a vote.  There are exceptions to that in which I can tell who is voting down, but I'm not giving that secret up in open chat.

Oh, then let me share the "secret" so you don't burst an artery.

At the bottom of the Forum page:

https://forum.gaytorrent.ru/

…you will find the Gaytorrent.ru Forum - Info Center

For lovers of endless minutiae, it has several areas, including:

Users Online

…which provides data, such as:

35 Guests, 7 Users (1 Hidden)
Users active in past 15 minutes:
flozen, burple, Payer, drox, kawong, waspaint

(names mildly altered, except mine, even though it's public record)

The number of Users Active is generally under a dozen, and rarely are there more than 1 or 2 who specialize in the Politics and Debate Forum.

And thus, you can guess with some certainty which member gave you a thumb or other emoji, but there are some further contingencies.

First, obviously, you need to be online during the 15-minute period in question.  Second, to know the "type" of mark received, you must have to know the exact number of each thumb/emoji you possess at any given time, thereby revealing the "plus one" just received.

Sad?  Obsessive?  Did I mention, sad?  I'll let you be the judge of that.   :blownose:

@Frederick:

@flozen:

Go, Quietly.

I wish there were a button to tag messages as SPAM. 
And if the message is not actually spam, then the person doing the tagging gets tagged for a false report.

What makes your unfunny opening – with racial overtones about Kapernick and the ghetto -- any more deserving of inclusion than my honest suggestion of what to do with this type of drivel?

Good Question!

Go, Quietly.

@raphjd:

So what you are saying is, your "facts" are the same as mine, just from the opposite side.

IDENTITY POLITICS

Once more, may we return to the subject of the thread?

Look, from my first response on page one, I said:

"And yes, it seems like ALL sides are playing identity politics, so no one here has the higher moral ground."

While ct and I tagged ALL four candidates with playing identity politics of one stripe or another, you just couldn't step away from the white guy long enough to recognize, "Hey, this 11th-hour bid could be political opportunism by a white candidate to use his "identity" as a wedge between the other, multi-ethnic candidates."

Can you even acknowledge the possibility now?  The mere possibility?

It's late, and goodnight.

@raphjd:

What facts did flozen bring?

Geez, at least you are consistent in your complete unwillingness and/or inability to process facts that don't fit your bare-bones, YouTube-scented narrative.

Before my post, you presented zero facts on the City Council's history and the current candidates, including their credentials and prior relevant political experience (or for one, his complete lack thereof).  Those are among the facts I brought, and they matter.

I don't often speak from this perspective, but as a former grad teacher with a Masters' Degree in Mass Communication, I find you have an utter lack of discernment for what details are pertinent when evaluating a news report, and when creating (and later, defending) your thread posts.

So, it's no wonder you can't recall the details of my facts, or generally, ANY facts – you simply don't rely on them.  And there's the pity.

So, each sock has a different user name, despite being "puppeteered" by the same member?  And they "talk" to each other, in order to create faux dialogues – the illusion of multiple members holding the same opinion, and ganging up, against you?  And only you?

IF the GT systems are so good at detecting these dupes, I'm unclear why you would be discussing them in the public forum first, rather than taking a corrective action.  It sounds like we are only getting part of the story, which, actually is pretty common in certain people's accounts, these days.

I was pretty amazed at this Queerty article, in which a straight woman said she was obsessed with gay porn, to the exclusion of any other erotica:

https://www.queerty.com/woman-become-completely-dependent-gay-erotica-needs-help-20171112

So, it got me thinking as follows:

Have your platonic female friends ever inquired about wanting to watch gay porn?

If so, did you loan them some take-home man-smut from your library?

Or, did you watch a bit together, and offer some explanation and commentary?

If none of the above, is it because the whole concept makes you queasy?

Wise words, US dude.   :cool2:

Pot was a staple of my college days, but I didn't get laid (in a small town) with enough regularity to report on any pot-sex synergy.

Anybody else enjoy a toke, followed by a poke?   

@JohnAllenson:

You are conflating Free Speech with Protected Speech.

To use the old chestnut:  "Calling out 'Fire' in a crowded theatre is Free Speech.  It is not Protected Speech."

I do not believe that Free Speech is an absolute.  There are political theorists who consider Free Speech to be an absolute:  therefore no Slander/Libel laws, no Sedition Laws, no Incitement Laws.

A reflection on free vs. protected speech is always welcome, but I would like to see this level of thoughtfulness as directly applied to the thread's narrative, which, condensed, is "protest as pee."

And while I'm indulging a bit as the Devil's advocate, I still need to ask that if political pissing is OK, what about the other body fluids?

@Frederick:

You did lie about it.   You were not aware that I could tell who was downvoting me, and you kept denying it.  You were lying.

Where is my denial of giving you a thumbs down?  What specific words did I use to lie to you about thumbs?

As well, kept denying it?  You've got multiple instances on record to share with us?

Quite sure you're able to follow this line of simple logic.  But you made a claim out of thin air (because it sounded good), and when pressed, you've got nothing.

You're boring me, and collectively, we're boring all passers-by.  So I'm done with it.

Well, the connection was so obvious, for me it raised the question, "Just because a member makes so many low-brow remarks, should they continually pass without reproach, so that they become the "new normal?".

Returning to the thread:  If pissing on the statue is permissible as political free speech, I'm still drawn to the most direct analogy, which is "What other bodily fluids are also in this protected class?"

Maybe people could spit on the statue without causing much of a kerfuffle.

But, would it be fine if people were to fling poop at it, like chimpanzees?  They use this as a form of communication, often to express anger.  So, perhaps there's a reason to protect this action for humans who want to express their political anger, as well?

https://janegoodall.ca/our-stories/why-chimpanzees-throw-poop-at-us/

I'd like to hear feedback from someone who feels that pissing does qualify as protected, and their thoughts on spit, poop, HIV-infected blood, etc.  To me, they occupy points on the same continuum.