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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Know-age Since: May, 2010
#98926: Aug 18th 2015 at 10:13:47 PM

he never said human sacrifice was strictly a bad thing, did he?

Aprilla Since: Aug, 2010
#98927: Aug 18th 2015 at 11:04:03 PM

I moved my comments to the US Culture thread.

edited 18th Aug '15 11:08:14 PM by Aprilla

BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#98928: Aug 19th 2015 at 3:13:15 AM

your body is better served with a consistent routine of 8 hours of sleep
But sleep is un-American!!
(i.e. not staring at glowing boxes for hours on end as soon as you get home)
I hope you were chuckling at the irony of posting this on the internet.
who are too lazy to get actual jobs
Or who can't find jobs, even minimum wage, because companies have decided to "cut costs" by closing needed branches and businesses.
Hitting kids in the head with footballs.
Wait what?
Blood currently oozing out of her mouth and her... who knows what.
I saw something that she was going up in the polls following the debate and Trumps twitter feud.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#98929: Aug 19th 2015 at 5:27:16 AM

@BAFFU: You forgot Kasich: Too nice to be a Republican.

Gabrael from My musings Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Is that a kind of food?
#98930: Aug 19th 2015 at 6:07:54 AM

Refrain from using sexist remarks to disparage female candidates. Their arguments are fodder enough.

"Psssh. Even if you could catch a miracle on a picture any person would probably delete it to make space for more porn." - Aszur
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#98931: Aug 19th 2015 at 6:13:24 AM

@Blueninja: Rubio threw a football and it accidentally got a kid in the face. The usual kind of thing that happens when you're just fooling around at a picnic type event. Not really a big deal except that it was done by a presidential candidate this time.

Srsly, accidents happen and the kid didn't look to be hurt badly.

BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#98932: Aug 19th 2015 at 6:22:10 AM

[up] That's kind of what I thought he meant but I hadn't heard anything about it and wanted to make sure.

I imagine that if Rubio gets three wishes and becomes Pres, that kid will run around bragging about the time the President hit him in the face. [lol]

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#98934: Aug 19th 2015 at 6:46:14 AM

Most Americans support Planned Parenthood. Reuters poll

Americans broadly support providing federal funding for free women's health exams, screenings and contraception services, a Reuters/Ipsos poll has found, suggesting that Republicans could be in risky territory if they continue criticizing Planned Parenthood as a key part of 2016 campaigns.

Support for federal funding of Planned Parenthood itself to provide those women's health services was even stronger, according to the Reuters/Ipsos released on Wednesday.

The non-profit's image has taken a hit, the poll found, after an anti-abortion group earlier this year began releasing videos purporting to show Planned Parenthood officials negotiating prices for aborted fetal tissue.

Of the participants who had seen the videos, 44 percent said their views toward Planned Parenthood had become more negative.

Still, the strong support for federal funds to help Planned Parenthood provide screenings, pregnancy tests and prenatal services indicates Republican presidential candidates should tread carefully addressing the issue on the campaign trail.

"We have so many young people having babies when they're babies themselves, and if they can get some kind of birth control or help or education, anything to stop that trend would be very good," said Renee Harrison, 57, of Waldo, Wisconsin.

Harrison said she is a Republican but was not happy with the party's stance on Planned Parenthood. "I may have to not vote Republican," she said.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll shows they should be cautious on women's health issues.

Seventy-three percent of respondents said they supported federal funding for an unnamed group to provide women's health exams, 69 percent backed federal dollars for prenatal services, and 59 percent were in favor of it for contraception.

When the question was asked a different way, more participants said they backed federal dollars for Planned Parenthood specifically to provide those services.

edited 19th Aug '15 6:58:18 AM by AngelusNox

Inter arma enim silent leges
Aprilla Since: Aug, 2010
#98935: Aug 19th 2015 at 7:13:52 AM

I hope you were chuckling at the irony of posting this on the internet.

I said "for several hours" for a reason, meaning that the "I don't have time" excuse doesn't hold water when you've wasted what could have been a good 45-minute cardio/resistance session on a 3-hour debate about something that quite frankly can wait. If anything, you'll probably have a clearer head and a cleaner argument when you come back to TV Tropes or wherever else you frequent. The people on bodybuilding.com and crossfit forums can debate just as much as we do and yet...

But yes. I did chuckle.

edited 19th Aug '15 7:19:47 AM by Aprilla

BAFFU Since: Dec, 2012
#98936: Aug 19th 2015 at 7:29:46 AM

Let's face it, Trump is going to win this (the Republican primary).

edited 19th Aug '15 7:30:00 AM by BAFFU

SciFiSlasher from Absolutely none of your business. Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#98937: Aug 19th 2015 at 7:51:58 AM

[up] But if he does, then that means the majority of the other candidates will not give him their support because they hate him. And let's face it, Trumps supporters are pretty much all angry white Southerners and the only women who will be voting for him are the same angry white people who want DEM JERBS back.

"Somehow the hated have to walk a tightrope, while those who hate do not."
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#98938: Aug 19th 2015 at 7:54:35 AM

News of the Hour: Aprilla hates the internet! Disparagingly refers to modern technology as "glowing boxes"! Is our local linguist professional ignorant on scientific advances? More on FOX NEWS

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#98939: Aug 19th 2015 at 7:55:15 AM

I hope Bernie Sanders surpasses Hillary Clinton in the primary and ends up being the candidate. In Sanders vs. Trump, I think a lot of people may stay home if they really dislike both candidates, but I can see people being more willing to vote for an open socialist than an open asshole.

JackOLantern1337 Shameful Display from The Most Miserable Province in the Russian Empir Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Shameful Display
#98940: Aug 19th 2015 at 7:58:05 AM

[up] Haha open asshole[lol]

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.
carbon-mantis Collector Of Fine Oddities from Trumpland Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Married to my murderer
Collector Of Fine Oddities
#98941: Aug 19th 2015 at 8:11:50 AM

Mmm, if Sanders gets the nomination there will be quite a few southern democrats who will likely abstain from voting. The internet gives him a somewhat vocal fanbase, but the old guys and baby boomers that head things up on the ground still have issues with associating openly with someone carrying the whole "socialist" stigma as openly as he does.

From what I've gleaned from some state level conservative politicians in casual chatter is that they're hoping for a Sanders nomination over Hillary for just such a scenario. In the last state elections here in NC the ultra radical republicans scored a major victory by firing up their base with almost ridiculous amounts of propaganda centered around Obama while the democrats stayed apathetic with the whole "my vote won't matter" bullshit (NC has an almost even 50/50 split between registered dems and repubs. but the 2014 republican turnout was much higher than the dem one).

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#98942: Aug 19th 2015 at 8:14:21 AM

Both Clinton and Sanders stand to alienate some blocs of Democratic voters: Clinton because she's perceived as a "sell-out to Big Business"; and Sanders because he's perceived as "too radical". Neither of those statements is true but you can believe that the primary will largely be about them, further polarizing the Democratic voter base in a time when they need to be standing together.

edited 19th Aug '15 8:14:42 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#98943: Aug 19th 2015 at 8:20:59 AM

The Democrat voter base ain't the only fractured voter base! Human beings in general want many different things. There is no single "left" or "right".

edited 19th Aug '15 8:26:16 AM by BonsaiForest

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#98944: Aug 19th 2015 at 8:26:32 AM

Both sides want candidates who will fire up their voters and bring them to the polls. The problem is that both sides notionally incorporate vastly disparate groups of voters, and a candidate who really fires up their base is equally likely to drive the other party's base to the polls to oppose them.

For example, more Democrats will vote against Trump than would ever vote against, say, Jeb Bush, despite their actual politics not being that different.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#98945: Aug 19th 2015 at 8:30:30 AM

A new CNN poll shows that Trump may be competitive in the general election...

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/19/politics/2016-poll-hillary-clinton-joe-biden-bernie-sanders/index.html

Now Clinton still has an edge over Trump, and narrowing is to be expected as the race goes on. But the fact that Trump hasn't crashed over the shit he's said...

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#98946: Aug 19th 2015 at 8:33:33 AM

Aprilla had a great quote I'd been thinking about:

"When people fall in love with what seems to be a perfect theory or a set of rules, they sometimes come to love those rules more than they love people or places. In fact, they start to see the messy reality of life as interfering with the beauty, the imaginative beauty, that exists only within their texts, only in their sacred texts, whether it be economic texts, or religious texts or some dream of racial purity. I think we need to fear people who love systems more than people because the flipside of that love is the hatred of anything or anyone that interferes with the realization of that system. This is the other thing about dangerous utopias. They can’t coexist with other ideas. They need the whole stage.”

- Naomi Klein

I can think of many examples throughout history, but a modern political example - even if it isn't directly part of our political process (you see no candidates expressing it, for instance) - is the manosphere.

From what I've seen of them, they flip out at the existence of things like married unmanly men, egalitarian marriages that succeed really well, happily married gays (some, like my brother, are apathetic towards gay marriage), and anything that is a threat to their utopian worldview of submissive feminine women and masculine controlling men and people being happy in their limited roles. So they gotta attack anything that might prove them wrong.

The love of "perfect" ideas really does seem to lead to a reflexive need to protect them from uncontrollable elements like human randomness, and other competing ideas that are successful. Human beings just can't be controlled though; they can't be expected to not have wants or needs that the "perfect" system can't give them.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I think the sheer difference of human needs and wants will prevent ANY inflexible system from succeeding. You can't force either inequality or equality; some people will want to know "their place", while others will want total freedom to decide, and others will want something more inbetween. Any totalitarian or anarchic system would be a disaster in the making.

There is no perfect system. Only ones with individual good ideas that can be taken from them.

edited 19th Aug '15 8:34:22 AM by BonsaiForest

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#98947: Aug 19th 2015 at 8:34:07 AM

[up][up]I expect that the "anti-Trump" vote has yet to be fully engaged, and Clinton and Sanders have yet to go big time with their debating/campaign spending. There's a lot of ramping up on the Dem side that will occur in the months to come, whereas the Republican side is in full-blown party mode.

[up] You show the beginnings of wisdom, grasshopper.

edited 19th Aug '15 8:35:17 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#98948: Aug 19th 2015 at 8:42:59 AM

Also on the subject of imperfect or horribly flawed systems having good ideas, my brother showed me a website that had a list of ideas to see if you agree or disagree with them. I clicked "agree" to every one of them and clicked to see the results. It then claimed I was a libertarian, as every single one of those, like marijuana and gay marriage legalization, were libertarian ideas.

Sorry, but I am not a libertarian. They just had certain reasonable ideas that I really liked. The more I learned about their philosophy, the more I disliked it... save for those particular ideas.

When Democratic voters are asked which candidate they trust to handle the economy, race relations, foreign policy and the income gap between rich and poor Americans, Clinton tops the list each time.

???

I trust Sanders far more to handle the income gap between the rich and the poor. That's kinda his big thing.

BAFFU Since: Dec, 2012
#98949: Aug 19th 2015 at 8:51:55 AM

Lets just take a moment to appreciate the fact that the next democratic nominee will be either a woman or a jew.

Even the Republican field has two second generation cuban-americans, a woman, and an african american.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#98950: Aug 19th 2015 at 8:54:15 AM

Libertarians have some great ideas, but no way to make them happen given human nature. I've read Heinlein; I've dreamed of a world in which personal responsibility is key and you can shoot someone who cuts in line, but unfortunately it wouldn't work, because the ratio of assholes to nice people is too high. Any environment that allowed the nice people free reign to murder all the assholes would have the same reciprocal effect, and the assholes are, by nature, more inclined to violence, so they'd probably win.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

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