All purpose news and politics thread part VII: News & Politics Total Landscaping

[Mister Mets]

I don't think that people who still genuinely believe what he says are the sharpest thinkers, so he might just get away with it with his loyal fanbase.

I think most of his supporters don't believe it. They know it's lies, just as if you catch their hand near your pocket, they'll say it's innocent.

I remember a piece about how many of the people who support Putin are in a culture where they think hard work is done by suckers, and their goal is to live as well as possible while doing as little as possible. We see it in the shamelessness of the Russian media and the apologists.

One weird thing I've noticed in conversations about Russia and Ukraine is how Russian apologists try to invent their own arguments rather than going with what the Russians claim. I remember Tucker Carlson on a podcast with Lex Friedman (which I recommend as an example of how platforming a bad person can allow them to show how gross and stupid they are) ignoring Putin's claims of denazification and focusing on arguments Russia wasn't making, which still wouldn't justify starting a war.

Huh? They very much are transphobic. UK politicians are pretty open about that, even more so then US ones at times.

You and the guy from the UK may be talking past one another if you're looking at the willingness of some politicians to say gross things, and he's looking at legislation.

[AnakinFlair]

Saw a video on Facebook where the lights on that ship winked out before it hit the bridge. The only saving grace was that it happened around 1:30 in the morning when there was very little traffic on the bridge. If that happened, say five or six hours later in the middle of morning rush hour, it would've been a monumental disaster with heaven only knows how many lives lost.

Apparently, the crew of the ship radioed the harbor master that they had lost control of the vessel a bit before it hit the bridge. They were then able to shut down the bridge to prevent any cars from going on it as a security measure, which thankfully worked. Not sure why the construction crew was still on the bridge; it could be they just didn't have time to evacuate.

[shooshoomanjoe]

Ed Piskor is being accused of grooming.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Apparently, the crew of the ship radioed the harbor master that they had lost control of the vessel a bit before it hit the bridge. They were then able to shut down the bridge to prevent any cars from going on it as a security measure, which thankfully worked. Not sure why the construction crew was still on the bridge; it could be they just didn't have time to evacuate.

That would be my guess. If those workers were suspended over the side of the bridge, tethered to lifelines, there was no way in hell they could've gotten to safety in time before the collision. Those poor devils were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[zinderel]

If you're saying the GOP is running a KKK connected man for governor, the implication is that he has some kind of support worth speaking of. That's not the case. It's pretty easy to get on the ballot. This guy was a candidate for Senate in 2022, where he got 0.2% of the vote (1,139 votes out of 655,675.) I don't know if it was his buddies on Stormfront, or people who meant to vote for someone else.

As I noted in the post you didn't quote, the United States has shifted to a system where parties have little control over who's on the ballot.

This has some advantages. In New Jersey, the candidate of the Democratic party machine was the Governor's rich wife and she dropped out of a primary against a more impressive candidate when it became clear the machine wasn't enough to help her win.

There are arguments for getting rid of primaries, and bringing back the smoke-filled room where a small group of people make the big decisions with the idea that ordinary people should only have to pay attention to politics in November.

But we wouldn't be able to have it both ways. Giving the political machine more power to remove someone from the ballot will be used for corrupt ends, although a counterpoint is that the party has incentives not to do that because it'll hurt in the general election.

As for what I respond to, there's a finite amount of time and I didn't think an argument about whether removing pride flags from military bases is a hateful goal was going to be productive.

Jesus Christ. You just can’t help yourself, can you?

If we wanted to look at the specifics in this case and not your loaded framing of the situation, we would examine how many other posters share the same behaviors you've displayed. Those behaviors being (and not limited to these, which aren't in any particular order): Ignoring Evidence Posted, Playing Dumb to the point of Pretending not to Understand basic things like arithmetic, Sealioning, Refusing to Post Requested Evidence, Innumerable Double Standards, Lying about & to other posters while refusing to accept the evidence of your own posts, Gaslighting, Saying others should call out people who are wrong on the facts but when you are called out you frame it as a personal attack, Saying others can't ask you to spend your time a certain way and yet wasting other's time by deliberately not replying to specific posts/points within them, Shifting Goalposts, Excusing Bigotry in some you agree with politically, Refusing to admit you are wrong on so many occasions, and far more which have been brought up with your own posts & others as evidence in the past.

I believe that if other regular posters shared those behaviors and/or the view that they are acceptable, they would have been permanently banned long ago. Those behaviors have nothing to do with political beliefs even if I feel they are influenced by your political bias and encouraged by others who share your political beliefs.

BTW, I think that if you were actually focused on specifics and being on the factually correct side of an argument as you've claimed, you'd be more focused on the facts and specifics of this situation instead of making such an easily disproven post.

Thank you for being the calmer voice through all of this. At this point, he’s going on Ignore. I’m not wasting any more time or energy on his slippery, hate excusing, condescending ass.

I wish you luck.

[Dalak]

I don't think my framing is loaded,

And then you proceed to address none of the behaviors brought up, while attempting to gaslight presenting me as being "angry & evasive".

When I was discussing your behavior in the post you started replying to - I'm not limiting it to me. The posters I can name from memory who you've at least mischaracterized their arguments (And/or Played Dumb, Sealioned, Gaslit, etc) enough for them to comment on it in the past are thwhtGuardian, WBE, WPP, Tendrin, Kirby101, babyblob, Catlady in training, zinderel, CaptainEurope, aja_christopher, Tami, Adam Allen, and others that have faded from my memory for whatever reason (Stopped interacting with you, stopped posting, etc.). I apologize to each of you if you don't want me bringing you up (As well as to any who think they should be included) , but I'm trying to make a point about how often this behavior is engaged in. Behaving in the ways I've discussed with others is very rude & insulting to them. That's not getting into how many of them you've lied about and claimed that them pointing out where you won't accept/post evidence or are factually wrong and won't accept it is them attacking you unfairly (More than 2).

In addition, this behavior is shown on a multitude of subjects: Transphobia in the GoP, to Anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry in the GoP, Racism in the GoP, The acceptance of lies and liars in the GoP, what the open embrace of Trump & the politicians who do what he tells them to do means for the GoP, the attacks upon elections & voting by the GoP, the 'moderate' status of voting for Ron DeSantis, the dangers of bribing SCOTUS Justices, the dangers of how much Violence is being accepted by the GoP, the dangers of conservatives vilifying CRT/DEI/Pride Week Education/Teachers/Scientists/Reporters/Immigrants/More, the dangers of the promotion of the Great Replacement Theory by conservatives, and FAR more.

I could go on, but this is already a gish gallop by necessity. Now, back to The Week - Lots of mischaracterization, lies, and gaslighting going on to avoid acknowledging the simple fact that the study The Week brought up didn't say what they said it didd, and that they haven't cited any other studies/theories (That you love to bring up to confuse the issue) other than the one which specifically doesn't come close to "1-in-20" unless you add in results that don't qualify and round up where you shouldn't if you want to remain factual.

While you technically replied to these posts, you've never actually refuted what's contained in them:

Thank you for finally linking it. The change to the nature of the question and the inclusion of gender non-conformance explains much. This was pointed out last time.

Here's the actual breakdown.

7C) Which term do you use to describe your gender identity?
Trans/Gender
Cis Men Cis Women Non-conforming Total
Freq. Pct. Freq. Pct. Freq. Pct. Freq. Pct.
1 Woman or female 56.5
2 Man or male 39.4
3 Trans woman 0.2
4 Trans man 0.3
5 Genderqueer 0.5
6 My identity is not listed 0.5
7 Agender 0.3
8 Genderfluid 0.5
9 Non-binary 1.9
10 Intersex 0.0
Valid responses = 12

->In other words, once again, the statistics do not bear out the breathless fear of conservatives who want us to protect white womanhood. That's what this is really about, after all.<-

can you tell me if they were brought up as boys/girls? Can you tell me how they were assigned at birth? Can you tell me anything other than they were anonymous students who said they were Genderfluid/etc?

As it is impossible to do so from the data provided, you know exactly how The Week inflated their numbers in order to make the transphobic lie quoted here:

Everything else is used to disguise that fact & how you refuse to admit it,

And as Tendrin also noted how this was all a lie when the Study was actually posted years ago, I'm not the only one to notice. Nor have I ever claimed to be, but it seems suspicious to frame it like I am out of some self-importance/whatever.

To sum it up again:

[CaptainEurope]

NBC NEWS plans to drop ex RNC-chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor following on-air revolt from NBC/MSNBC talent. Execs are deliberating over details; announcement pending. Meanwhile, McDaniel is seeking legal representation.

https://x.com/DylanByers/status/1772...790547271?s=20

That was quick.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

https://x.com/DylanByers/status/1772...790547271?s=20

That was quick.

Hopefully, NBC News learned a lesson from that debacle.

[Tami]

Hopefully, NBC News learned a lesson from that debacle.

They already have Michael Steele and Nicole Wallace, among others. That should be enough diversity.

[CaptainEurope]

Is Mulvaney still working for CBS?

[CaptainEurope]

Stroke of genius or just stroke?

[Dalak]

With regards to the bridge collapse, it looks like the ship lost power, raised alarm at the port, that they tried to evacuate the bridge, and the ship collided with it despite the crew trying to deal with the power outtage. Kind of a worst-case-scenario for everyone involved.

No bridge could survive a ship colliding with a main support pillar after all.

On the other topic: puberty blockers are safe and effective. They have been prescribed to cis children suffering from precocious puberty for decades. Their use in trans children is 'off label', but the effects and side effects and mechanics are well understood. Given that these medications will still be routinely prescribed to cis children, it is safe to say that transphobia is still the root cause here. Of course it is. The Tories are looking to suffer a major beating in the next UK elections and they're targetting trans people because transphobes are noisy losers.

Puberty blockers do require constant testing to be able to react in time to possible side effects - there have been cases of extremely early osteoporosis in some who have taken them. I don't think it's enough to try to ban them, but anyone on them needs to keep up on testing. You never know if you are going to be that unlucky one out of a hundred (or whatever the actual number is).

Apparently, the crew of the ship radioed the harbor master that they had lost control of the vessel a bit before it hit the bridge. They were then able to shut down the bridge to prevent any cars from going on it as a security measure, which thankfully worked. Not sure why the construction crew was still on the bridge; it could be they just didn't have time to evacuate.

That would be my guess. If those workers were suspended over the side of the bridge, tethered to lifelines, there was no way in hell they could've gotten to safety in time before the collision. Those poor devils were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The question I have now is if this accident was due to negligence by the owners of the boat, or just random chance.

On Puberty blockers, if the side effects are known and the testing can prevent the case of serious reactions (for the most part) I still don't see a reason for a ban.

Qualified Unit Endorsing Extreme Radicalism. Q.U.E.E.R.

That would be a terrifying unit to face on the battlefield.

https://x.com/DylanByers/status/1772...790547271?s=20

That was quick.

Hopefully, NBC News learned a lesson from that debacle.

They already have Michael Steele and Nicole Wallace, among others. That should be enough diversity.

And now they'll have to pay out I don't know how much $ over this idiocy, when they should have known from the get-go this wasn't going to end well.

[Dalak]

Stroke of genius or just stroke?

https://i.imgur.com/Wmy1T4w.jpeg

Quit disinformating!

Is it just me or is he trying to make it sound like he's offering a public option?

[AnakinFlair]

https://x.com/DylanByers/status/1772...790547271?s=20

That was quick.

I watch MSNBC every day. Every single one of their commentators did a segment last night on how they were against McDaniel being hired by NBC. I think Rachel Maddow's went over 10 minutes.

[numberthirty]

I watch MSNBC every day. Every single one of their commentators did a segment last night on how they were against McDaniel being hired by NBC. I think Rachel Maddow's went over 10 minutes.

They should ask her if she is fine with getting a check from the same folks who employ Nicole Wallace and Jim Cramer...