All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[CaptainEurope]

Now it's real:

DeSantis holds event with Dark Brandon. Video: https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1577735255892451328

[Anthony Shaw]

We're getting closer to promoting eugenics again as Republican ideology all the time.

Don't Khaaaaaaan me, Bro.


Sorry, I could not resist.

[Tami]

Posting this because it is just too dumb

First, the remark. In her new book “Confidence Man,” @maggieNYT
writes that during the transition Mark Meadows asked Ron Klein, “How many days a week is Vice President Biden gonna want this daily brief?”

Klain was "dumbstruck by the question.”

After Klain said Biden wanted to be briefed every day—saying that was how Biden had done it as vice president—Meadows countered,
"No president ever does that. That’s never happened.”

[Tami]

Some of the stuff came out after the primary.

Granted, voters did know that many of them had Trump's support.

People wouldn't necessarily do it intentionally, so it's not an example of Homo Econimicus rationally weighing the tradeoffs as much as much more complicated feelings. There's bias against the overweight, but plenty of people are fat because of poor lifestyle choices. Likewise, many people have psychosomatic disorders (and it's usually not based on a conscious decision).

It is also supported in some communities. I'm curious about the other ways to be hip and trendy, that will get largely young people affirmation.

This is an interesting question about what percentage we would expect to be some variation of LGBT.

These are slightly different categories, which has implications in terms of how it's expressed. This is especially the case of bisexuality, as some people will identify themselves that way without it affecting their life in any discernible way (IE- a woman married to a man may be bisexual, but she's not interested in cheating on her spouse with a man or a woman) while for others it's a big part of their lives.

When it comes to trans issues, there is a category difference between people who need medical interventions and people who don't, which leads to different policy considerations. This question seems to be asking about whether we think the people would be LGBT in all circumstances, although in some environments they wouldn't have the language for it (IE- someone who identifies as nonbinary in Canada in 2022 might use different terminology if asked to be honest about their perspective if they grew up in 1990s Lithuania or 5th century China, although they would still have a sense that something is amiss.)

It would be apparent that there isn't an evolutionary advantage to being gay, transgender, nonbinary or whatever. On the other hand, type one diabetes is fatal without medical intervention, but over one in 200 American adults is diagnosed with it.

Roughly ten percent of the population is lefthanded, which seems to have limited evolutionary advantage either way.

This is a good question about what percent of the population is LBGT. I'll be curious what the consensus is in twenty years.

May I offer you a reading list?

Homosexual Behaviour in Animals: An Evolutionary Perspective

An alternative hypothesis for the evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour in animals

Why Is Same-Sex Sexual Behavior So Common in Animals?

Apparently, Mother Nature would disagree with your assessment.

[Mister Mets]

May I offer you a reading list?

Homosexual Behaviour in Animals: An Evolutionary Perspective

An alternative hypothesis for the evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour in animals

Why Is Same-Sex Sexual Behavior So Common in Animals?

Apparently, Mother Nature would disagree with your assessment.

This is likely to continue to be a subject for study. I'm not sure we have evidence that all of what's going on with animals is functionally similar to what's going on with humans. Indiscriminate mating would explain bisexual or nonbinary individuals, but it doesn't apply to much of the LGBTQIA2S+ population, which is more discriminating than animals.

A great bit of trolling, showing that sometimes Twitter can be good for something:

A joke has started I think two days ago, by some Polish twitter user about Kaliningrad (that piece of russian land between Poland and Lithuania) becoming part of Czech Republic after a successful referendum. It has now gone viral, with an "official" twitter account of the region: https://twitter.com/KralovecCzechia
and an official website: https://visitkralovec.cz/#news

A lot of real accounts have joined in on the fun, offering train connection, delivery, job searching, etc. for the new region. Even some government accounts have posted comments which looked as if it was a real thing.
Amazing!

That's awesome. With Kaliningrad not bordering Russia (it's a province; one description is that it's a bit like Russia's Alaska) this makes as much sense as the current status quo. Honestly, Kaliningrad's days as part of Russia are likely numbered.

Kids don't need to understand what cross dressing means in the context of 'Drag Culture', they just need to learn that people who dress up differently than they (Drag) or 'like' people they aren't used to (LGBT) aren't to be hated for it. What does that teach them about sexuality that the nuclear family unit shown in media doesn't? As they continue to grow and learn more about more mature relationships you can educate them about LGBT ones at the same time in the same manner. BTW you asked for Modern so I found modern for you. You might have missed it as I edited in later.

As for arguing past one another, I'll believe that when you stop making negative comparisons to LGBT issues, defending clear transphobes, and demanding proof that people being more comfortable reporting themselves as they are isn't abnormal.

This is a change in goalposts from the earlier point that Bugs Bunny is understood as drag, and that to suggest it seems to be more inspired by vaudeville is so outrageous that it deserves to be called out and condemned a week later.

It's a different argument to say that kids have a different understanding of the context. That's not a point I was disputing.

My reference to audience includes adults as well as older minors.

Don’t know how different US theatre scene is to UK, but drag acts and other cases where men played women or women played men have been a staple of various forms of entertainment for at least last hundred years and nobody I know “bats an eyelid”.

The most obvious example is the annual Christmas pantomime (specially designed for kids, of course) where roles like the Ugly Sisters are invariably played by men, and Prince Charming played by a woman.

Over the years a fair number of male comedians on tv comedy shows have regularly played women in comedy sketches…Les Dawson and Roy Barraclough often did for example. Again growing up when (alas) I attended an all boys school playing women roles in plays didn’t stress anybody out…it was just seen as a challenge to acting ability.

Pantomines and drag culture appear to be different modes of expression.

It seems unlikely that the standard male comedian who regularly plays women in comedy sketches is going to be a guest judge on Ru Paul's Drag Race.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Posting this because it is just too dumb

Talk about facepalm eliciting stupidity from Meadows.

[Kirby101]

WPP, how is Fetterman only up by 4% over Oz? Oz is a cringe worthy candidate and a loathsome man.can you explain your State.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

WPP, how is Fetterman only up by 4% over Oz? Oz is a cringe worthy candidate and a loathsome man.can you explain your State.

Oz got the Trump seal of approval, and he’s a Republican. Sadly, that’s all it takes, despite his being a carpetbagger from New Jersey, a TV snake oil salesman and, allegedly, a puppy killer. As much as I don’t want Oz in the Senate where he’d be nothing more than a rubber stamp for Mitch McConnell, I’m more concerned with keeping Doug Mastriano, a straight up right wing lunatic (who, by the way, was in DC on 1/6) out of the governor’s office. He’s by far the greater threat to my state.

[Tami]

Oz got the Trump seal of approval, and he’s a Republican. Sadly, that’s all it takes, despite his being a carpetbagger from New Jersey, a TV snake oil salesman and, allegedly, a puppy killer. As much as I don’t want Oz in the Senate where he’d be nothing more than a rubber stamp for Mitch McConnell, I’m more concerned with keeping Doug Mastriano, a straight up right wing lunatic (who, by the way, was in DC on 1/6) out of the governor’s office. He’s by far the greater threat to my state.

Here's praying that Pennsylvania can pull the same miracle that NJ did when Murphy won re-election.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Here's praying that Pennsylvania can pull the same miracle that NJ did when Murphy won re-election.

From your lips to God's ear.

[Mister Mets]

WPP, how is Fetterman only up by 4% over Oz? Oz is a cringe worthy candidate and a loathsome man.can you explain your State.

It's an open election in a swing state in a cycle that is favorable to Republicans. In addition, Fetterman had a stroke and seems to be less than transparent about his recovery, allowing for the argument that he would not be able to function as a Senator. It doesn't help that he dodged debates, and agreed to just one of them well after early voting began.

So. Herschel Walker paid for an abortion in 2009 and the woman kept the receipt for the abortion, a copy of the cheque Herschel signed and the get-well card he sent her... Herschel still says it did not happen. His formerly supportive influencer son Christian is losing it and calling his dad a horrible person while airing dirty laundry.



And Dr. Oz is a puppy killer.

An interesting factor is that Christian Walker (not the lead of the Bendis/ Oeming series Powers) had a reputation as a conservative activist. This is not a case of a progressive college kid attacking an accomplished parent over a political disagreement. It's a guy who thinks Ron DeSantis is the best Governor in the country saying you shouldn't vote for his dad to be a Republican Senator in a swing state.

https://twitter.com/ChristianWalk1r/...66431764393984

Oz got the Trump seal of approval, and he’s a Republican. Sadly, that’s all it takes, despite his being a carpetbagger from New Jersey, a TV snake oil salesman and, allegedly, a puppy killer. As much as I don’t want Oz in the Senate where he’d be nothing more than a rubber stamp for Mitch McConnell, I’m more concerned with keeping Doug Mastriano, a straight up right wing lunatic (who, by the way, was in DC on 1/6) out of the governor’s office. He’s by far the greater threat to my state.

The Trump endorsement explains why he won the primary, but I do suspect a generic Republican like Dave McCormick would be leading right now.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The Trump endorsement explains why he won the primary, but I do suspect a generic Republican like Dave McCormick would be leading right now.

Republican voters don’t want generic, they want fruit loops like MTG and Boebert. While Oz is far smarmier than either of those harridans, he fits right in with the deplorables who make up the GQP these days. Unfortunately, Trump also endorsed Mastriano, and that guy worries me considerably because he’s looking like Ron DeSantis 2.0, something my state doesn’t need after eight years of calm and stability with Tom Wolf.

[Tendrin]

I think there are going to be a *lot* of surprises on both sides of the political aisle in this cycle.

[Gray Lensman]

Oz got the Trump seal of approval, and he’s a Republican. Sadly, that’s all it takes, despite his being a carpetbagger from New Jersey, a TV snake oil salesman and, allegedly, a puppy killer. As much as I don’t want Oz in the Senate where he’d be nothing more than a rubber stamp for Mitch McConnell, I’m more concerned with keeping Doug Mastriano, a straight up right wing lunatic (who, by the way, was in DC on 1/6) out of the governor’s office. He’s by far the greater threat to my state.

Don't forget that Fox has also gone all in on stopping Fetterman at all costs. They've mentioned him more often than any other swing race Democrat - some other news site did a mention count and came up with 6 times more. And since this is Fox and a Democrat we are talking about you can be sure the mentions were all negative.

[Tendrin]

Don't forget that Fox has also gone all in on stopping Fetterman at all costs. They've mentioned him more often than any other swing race Democrat - some other news site did a mention count and came up with 6 times more. And since this is Fox and a Democrat we are talking about you can be sure the mentions were all negative.

Yeah, Fox News and the conservative press that follows its lead has been relentlessly attacking Fetterman for months now. It doesn't have to make sense, it just creates a 'guy is a problem' air.