The Oldiesfreak Deluge of Absurdity, Ignorance, and Bad Posts III

[Antonio the Sixth]

Enthusiasm about war is definitely creepy.

[Antonio the Sixth]

No, I don't want other nations dictating my own's internal politics, thank you very much.

Your government is murdering you but what you care about is your national sovereignty? Please.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I'm pretty sure that the Pinochet regime has caused more than 3000 deaths.

[Antonio the Sixth]

The only thing which will prevent (or deter) future crimes like this is to allow unrestricted purchase of firearms, and allow unrestricted open or concealed carry of firearms by the law-abiding.

A big government response, like longer, harsher sentences, drastically increasing the prison population, and making more piss-ant crimes felonies won't do the trick.

And have something like stand your ground laws too.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I cannot manage to express how sick this post made me (fortunately, Al beautifully expressed it for me).

Dubai is a city that used its wealth to build bigger and grander than any city before it. Dubai dreamt big when most of the world was stuck in malaise, stagnation, and small-mindedness. I have an affinity for skyscrapers, urbanization, modern and even futuristic architecture, and great projects that reshape the face of the Earth. Dubai has built true wonders, rising up from the sand and dust to create something awe-inspiring.

It seems to me that most of the criticism of Dubai is founded upon "human rights abuses." These criticisms seems rather ethnocentric to me, but more than that, as far as I know, none of the South Asian workers who built Dubai were forced to go to Dubai. Much like sweatshops, the conditions are not anywhere close to ideal, but they are probably better than whatever conditions they would be facing otherwise. I'm not saying that the way they treat their workers is good, but it's hardly unique. There are similar conditions in many cities across the world, and there have always been such conditions, but Dubai is thrust into the spotlight because it's new, unique, and an emergent urban power.

Surely we can appreciate the Pyramids or the Great Wall of China or the Golden Gate Bridge or the Three Gorges Dam while recognizing the hardships that the workers who built it experienced. How many people died accomplishing such marvels? Does this somehow make them less beautiful or less grandiose? I don't believe so. I view Dubai along similar lines. Dubai has it's problems as any city does, but few have ever done so much, so big, and so fast as Dubai.

[Antonio the Sixth]

whitefeelings.txt below -

I get the sense that if I pretended I was white my posts wouldn't be as infuriating to Republicans...

It would actually be even more infuriating. Hypocritical white assholes who get on their soapbox to lecture people who have more important things to be thinking about as to how they should be sorry for their 'privilege', when of course the very same people will most likely have lived the same privileged existence. Take some advice, if people from minorities find this sort of thing 'tin-eared' and hurtful, they should grow a thicker skin and stop whining. It is perfectly acceptable in our society to insult a ginger person for 'having no soul', or to insinuate that every Roman Catholic is a paedophile who lurks in a confessional box waiting to molest choir boys. Blacks, homosexuals and other 'oppressed' minorities need to grow up and realise that, yes, people can be insensitive, or deliberately hurtful, but that in the end that is not and should not be a crime. Threatening someone is, blackmailing them is, but not making an insensitive joke or a slip of the tongue. Do you really think racism (and sexism and all the other 'isms' and phobias) will be reduced by having a hissy fit every time someone makes a comment like this, a clue: no. It will be reduced by not forcing people to constantly be on edge, fearing that they will lose their career and prospects and then held up to media ridicule if they make an insensitive or hurtful remark.

Now, I'm a very privileged person, at least by global standards. But I'm not shutting up because of this.

Wow. Those poor white people who "lose their career and prospects and then held up to media ridicule" for being racist... It's so sad.

[Antonio the Sixth]

White tears? Really? That's a pretty weak joke.

Anyway, to Mr. Cavaliere, it is sad that people lose their jobs over a few ill-chosen words. I don't really see what is so terribly controversial about that.

You know, there are certain words that the simple fact of uttering says enough about one's character. Whether one regrets saying them (of course it's easy to regret what you've said when it elicits a negative reaction) changes little to the deal.

[Antonio the Sixth]

That thread keeps flooding us with crap.

positive, they actually attempted to advance the black race and fought capitalism and degeneracy. i wish us europeans had an equivalent.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Totally absurd

I'm 20 and never have dated a girl. It doesn't have to make your life miserable.

Oh, so you want me to feel miserable? Thanks but no thanks.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I consider 0°C to be "pretty damn cold out", but that's just me.

lolminnesota

[Antonio the Sixth]

Totally absurd

I'm 20 and never have dated a girl. It doesn't have to make your life miserable.

Oh, so you want me to feel miserable? Thanks but no thanks.

Coming from you, that's priceless.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Capital letters are pointless and should be abolished.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I consider 0°C to be "pretty damn cold out", but that's just me.

lolminnesota

lolitaly/france

seriously wtf.

Put on a damn coat and sweater. It was -20 (Celsius) this morning and I was fine biking to work. In fact, I was sweating.

I hate warm clothing. The only thing I hate more than warm clothing is cold itself.

If you polar bears are fine with these temperatures, great. But for normal humans, cols is horrible.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Jesus, I hate libertarians.

This was a hard decision for me, but Reagan.

Both fought for freedom principles though. Mandela for social freedom, Reagan for economic freedom.

[Antonio the Sixth]

The title of this thread is exactly why liberals will continue to lose Appalachia.

TNF wins the thread. As has been said before, at least the GOP pretends to care about rural whites. The Democrats approach is "STFU about guns, coal and abortion and do what you're told you ignorant rube".

How exactly does the GOP pretend to care about rural whites?

Like I said: guns, abortion, coal.

So who cares if they and their children go hungry die early due to lack of healthcare, as long as they have their guns and stop zygotes from getting terminated?

Clearly the people of Appalachia are focused on the most important issues in their lives.

The issue is that Dems don't reliably support anything that would alleviate poverty, so why bother voting for a party you disagree with on everything else?

Republicans want to gut food stamps, Democrats don't.
Republicans want to privatize Medicare/Social Security, Democrats don't.
Republicans want to gut Medicaid and reject expansion, Democrats don't.
Republicans want to gut public education and financial aid, Democrats don't.

But clearly, saving the "life" of a blastula is more of a pressing issue than those. I guess I'm just too "elitist" to understand.

Edit: The real issue is that the voters never get the consequences of their vote because the national Democrats save them from their own stupidity by blocking the GOP from destroying the programs that sustain their livelihood. Give Republicans total control of the country for a decade, and even Utah and Texas will be solid D.

Wrong thread.

[Antonio the Sixth]

These sorts of threads tend to bring out the closet racism that pervades a large chunk of white liberals.

...you're right, but I wouldn't make this kind of comments just yet if I were you. Think Jake bashing Libertarians.

[Antonio the Sixth]

LOL Cathcon LOL

[Antonio the Sixth]

I was just asking if Leahy was dead. There's nothing Absurd, Ignorant, or Bad about that.

Inquiring about a fact which should be obvious to anyone vaguely familiar with the subject is the very definition of ignorance.

[Antonio the Sixth]

True Leftism at its worst:

Better GOP dominance than dominance by the current Democratic Party, which on the one hand manages to silence opposition from progressives to it enacting a neoliberal agenda. The Obama administration is a far more reactionary one than even the Bush administration, with the deterioration of the social safety net proceeding at full speed under Obama, as well as the continued obliteration of human rights in the face of a now larger and more powerful (as well as legally sanctioned - Thanks Obama!) national security state. Obama has governed markedly to the right of Bush throughout his tenure. A Democratic Party in his image is a danger to literally every progressive, and should not be welcomed or supported with open arms, as it's primary goal is the implementation of neoliberal policy outcomes with a 'progressive' veneer.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I'm certainly no fan of Chavez or Maduro, but calling them fascist does sound pretty absurd to me.

[Antonio the Sixth]

    Like most Western leftists, I take the view that our society's peak was the period from about 1933 to 1969, the point where we achieved the most progress in the pursuit of social and economic equality. But starting in the late 1970's and late 1980's, I'd say, the decline has begun and continues to this day. We've become a civilization of individuals, who seek to ignore what, as Kennedy said, they can do for their country. Instead, the plutocratic stranglehold on civilization has been accepted and the chasm between rich and poor continues to widen, while both heads of the individualist beast preach to us to live for ourselves, be it through the accumulation of wealth at the expense of others or the pursuit of mindless self-indulgence at the expense of others (and ourselves).

    Like most Western leftists, I take the view that our society's peak was the period from about 1933 to 1969

our society's peak was the period from about 1933

1933

1933

1933

he can't be real

[Antonio the Sixth]

The left-wing approach got Greece into this mess in the first place. Besides, it's not like Greece actually tried the right-wing approach. Ireland and Portugal are doing far better today than Greece is. Now the former two actually just did what was required of them while Greece...eh, not so much. But hey, if Greeks think they're going to be better of with Syriza, fine with me.

lol

[Antonio the Sixth]

Words can't express...

I'm going to assume western Ukraine is more fiscally conservative, and eastern Ukraine is more socially conservative?

Oh my God.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Funny how LBJ haters seem to assume that 1) Vietnam was exclusively LBJ's doing, as opposed to a hot potato every US president (and before that, French PMs) had been passing over for the previous 20 years 2) things would have gone very differently with someone else in the White House, despite the fact his policies made consensus among the US political establishment at least until 1968.

[Antonio the Sixth]

If Grimes speaks out against gay marriage, the national party should completely pull the plug on all of her funding. Drop her from the ballot if possible.

Would we run a racist if it meant we might win? Of course not. Anti-gay bigots shouldn't be treated any differently.