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  • in reply to: Bernie, Jill, Nader, Trump… #45793
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    TYT (The Young Turks for the less internet media savvy, a progressive online news channel that has recently crossed 4 Billion views on YouTube) recently ran a poll for Sanders supporters on their app and in their YouTube video. With over 20,000 responses, the verdict was 17% would vote for Hillary, 83% Never Hillary.

    The hosts were shocked at the disparity. They’ve discounted the validity of the “lesser of two evils” argument over and over, but I don’t think they thought their viewers really took it to heart.

    Also, a vote for Jill Stein isn’t wasted. If we can get her to 15%, that puts her on the national stage.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Bernie, Jill, Nader, Trump… #45662
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Viva Dr Jill Stein!

    That answer your question?

    And I’m in the swingiest of states, FL.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    When they said “the lesser of two evils” and “hold your nose and vote”,
    I don’t think people who casually support Hillary have any idea how bad she is.

    She’s Obama without the charm, heart, and humanity and with loads more personal ambition.

    I cringe at the thought of that first White House Correspondents Dinner…
    &
    I’ve got some kind of worrisome head cold and I’d rather have that than watch Hillary try to be funny for 15 minutes…

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Goff the Week 1 Starter? #45642
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    I bet on ROD that Keenum would throw the first pass.

    I still expect to lose that bet, but I may not.

    The Rams will have to balance a big question. The WANT to play Goff…in a BIG way.

    What happens if Keenum has them winning? Do they bench Keenum if they’re winning? That means sitting the #1 overall pick in the draft. Moreover, what happens if Keenum starts having a truly stellar year?

    No, the Rams can’t take the chance. As much as they don’t want to fail, they also can’t take the off chance that Keenum is super successful. It’s not likely at all, but if Keenum were to light it up, they’d have a QB controversy which is the last thing they need.

    They bet on the #1 overall kid and they’re going to sink or swim with him.

    I fully expect them to have Goff run with the #2s for extended time for the first two pre-season games and if he looks good enough, they’ll try him with the #1s for the third game with plans to start him.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Mannion Taking Advantage of OTAs #45641
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    If only his work meant a damn for the Rams.

    He’s purely playing for the Rams to recover a draft pick and to play for his next team.

    I hope he does well wherever he ends up in a few years. He might be the backup in 2017, but there’s no chance he stays past his initial contract.

    Be nice if they developed all of them in case Goff doesn’t work out (like RG3 didn’t work out, although the reasons he didn’t work out almost certainly wouldn’t apply to Goff).

    Shrug. Doesn’t matter. Is what it is and it will work out or it won’t and we have a good enough defense and a stud running back that even with spectacularly bad QB play, we’ll still likely win between 6-7 games…

    Life goes on…

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: little glints of optimism for the offense #45637
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    This was according to the Turf Show Times, notoriously a funnel for Fisher’s happy talk.

    • This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by Mackeyser.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Hillary and Trump on actual issues #45628
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    It’s bullshit. Her emails reveal that she was a major player in negotiating TPP.

    She’s a pathological liar.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Funny, Mannion has actually gotten reps because Foles is staying away (no one predicted that), but no mention of him other than who else will be ignored…

    Why am I not surprised? /sigh

    The only way he doesn’t start is if he gets injured or throws worse than Tebow.

    I gotta call his bluff on this one.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: little glints of optimism for the offense #45591
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    I read a few tweets, it was a Rams site tweeting. Basically…

    “Rams OTA closed to media: Rams offense making forward strides.”

    “Rams OTA open to media: Rams offense making backwards strides.”

    The gist is that Fisher is engaging in happy talk yet again and when people look for themselves, it’s pretty evident that things clearly song look good.

    It’s really early and I surely hope this team gets things turned around, but this isn’t the right way to start…

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Tom Hayden supporting Hillary #45590
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    She’ll probably pick one of the young Castro brothers, more likely Joaquin as he went to Stanford then Harvard Law and is a Congressman from Texas.

    His brother went to Stanford Law and is the current Secretary of HUD in the Obama Admin.

    Joaquin is more of a stump politician, tho both do it. Both are DLC Dems that will deliver the Dreamer vote.

    Nothing progressive about them, really. Perfect Hillary pick.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Intelligence memo to Obama on the emails #45589
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    You know, I know zip on this ’email scandal’ thing. Zero. Nada.
    I havent read a single solitary word about it.
    And i don’t intend to.

    I couldn’t care less whether she “committed a crime” or not
    by sending or receiving “classified” emails.

    I mean to me, the CIA in and of itself is a Crime. The whole entire organization has a long history of assassination, torture, butchery spying on pacifists, derailing democracies, dealing in narcotics…etc, etc, etc. And the FBI aint no better. Or the NSA. All those secret shadow organizations are anti-democratic and rife with corruption.

    I dont care what Clinton did with some emails. What Clinton has done that is perfectly LEGAL is what appalls me. Her support of the mega-corpse, neoliberalsim, the big-banks, goldman-sachs…etc. All THAT stuff is enough for me to loathe her. And Obama. And Bush. And all the mainstream Dems and Reps.

    I could go on. But i have to plant some milkweed seeds.

    wv curmudgeon

    I haven’t read much about it until I found this. I knew she had used a private server, and that she deleted 30,000 personal emails, but that’s it.

    And I don’t really care about the email issue either because whatever she did is nothing compared to what she plans to do if she is president both domestically and internationally. You know…invading Libya and Iraq is a smidge worse than mishandling classified documents (though she could potentially be blackmailed by nasty people).

    The reason I care about the above is that it shows a lot of high up establishment intelligence people are telling Obama that this is really, really bad news, and postponing it, or trying to sweep it under the carpet, could be devastating to her, the party, and the country. To me that means that this scandal is a real scandal – as opposed to so many Clinton scandals over the decades – and I would like to see her destroyed politically. Prison time would be a bonus. And the sooner, the better. That’s why I had interest in it.

    I’m a hardware engineer. Part of my job is email admin- I build these machines and configure the client and setup the end users. I can tell you what she did was egregious and illegal. Also, pretty ignorant with a lot of arrogance mixed in. The only reason I can see in maintaining private server is to hide shit. To assume she could do this with no repercussions was arrogant. To assume the box couldn’t be hacked is ignorant. And most likely our adversaries were reading her mail. Also, email is forever. There’s a copy around somewhere, even if she did a DOD format on the drives (it would be at least two).

    The part of this I just don’t understand is “why”? Most government – State, Mil, etc- systems are more secure- by light years- than anything a private firm could put together on the fly, which this appears to be. And she used Clinton in the domain name. She could have just used her State account for both personal and private stuff and nobody would be the wiser, and it would have been way more secure. Probably would have violated the user policy in place, but most folks up that high don’t bother with such things.

    I’ve had clients who wanted me to do really stupid shit before, but this takes the cake. Arrogance and ignorance. I could cost lives, too.

    As a former network and multimedia engineer, yes, you’re right about the server. She violated 18 USC 793 (f) multiple times. That’s a Class A felony and by my count, there’s at least 22 clear violations that were not of the SBU variety.

    Anyone else at State with this situation would already be in prison.

    As for why, it’s perfectly clear. She wanted to illegally avoid FOIA requests as well as obstruct Congressional Subpoenas. With a private server, Congress couldn’t just compel another agency to hand over her information.

    She’s guilty in a prima facie way because Guccifer, the hacker, pled guilty in federal court to hacking her server.

    That makes her guilty under the Espionage Act 18 USC 793(f) which covers negligent handling of or improper securing of or allowing sensitive materials to be stolen.

    That she had Special Access Program information on that server is unconscionable. That level of information is typically so secret that people have to be “read in” and be granted ultra special access and only for that program. These are typically intelligence programs that can take years to develop, cover the intelligence for a region or a very deep cover mission and the value of these programs rises into the Billions, not to mention the exposure creates existential threats to our national security.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Nick Hanauer On Bill Maher #45588
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Is there a step between what we have now and Billy’s Star Trek utopia?

    I mean, I’m down with the utopia, but I have a feeling we’re gonna need at least one intermediate phase… (The incrementalists would say it’s a thousand and insist on a glacial time frame…)

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: time to take the political compass poll again #45586
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Here’s mine. It’s -8.38, -7.54.

    So, other than ozone and bnw and maybe dak, I guess that makes me the Thatcher of the group…LOL.

    I’ve come a LOOOOONG way from my initial days of the Herd when I was in the top right quadrant a lil bit…

    I’d say I’ve changed, but it’s not so much that as I just finally got right with my principles and core fundamental beliefs in a real way as it relates to all human beings on the planet.

    As I had to confront the truths beyond all sorts of borders, I got to where I am today and I’m never going back.

    I decided that I’m not only going to vote for Dr Jill Stein, but I’m gonna donate enough to get a t-shirt so I can wear it around town.

    Do Greenies make cool Tees? I’ll wear a whack Tee, but it’d obviously be better if it were cooler.

    • This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by Mackeyser.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Tom Hayden supporting Hillary #45416
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    I think so too and it would be a shame.

    It would make Warren an apologist for Clinton’s neoliberal economics and we’d lose a very progressive Senator,one of the few willing to forcefully hold Wall Street to account.

    Who else will grill regulators and Wall Street CEOs on obvious corruption and weak tea oversight both internal and external?

    Warrens ONLY role will be to deliver enough Sanders voters to win the election, then they’ll send Warren off to the Hinterlands and make her so inconsequential that Joe Biden will look like he did something…

    It’ll be a vacation at least… From her principles if not from the hard work of the people in the Senate.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Most Dangerous Organization in Human History #45316
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    It’s definitely the Girl Scouts.

    My budget, health and stress levels are endangered during cookie season… And just the mention of Thin Mints send me into mini withdrawal.

    During sales they are everywhere and they have infiltrated every walk of life.

    The NSA wishes it had the Girl Scout network and the Cartels wish they could move as much addictive product.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: So if Trump wins you want to go to Canada? #45017
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    The thing about Trump , the ban Muslims racist shit, he cannot do without a constitutional amendment.Hillary can and will take us to war just as she has done in the past. If you listened to her disgusting speech at AIPAC you know the extermination of Palestinians will continue but she actually knows how to do it where Trump will sink or swim but he doesn’t know what the hell he is doing. Neither one even knows a working class person, much less prepared to fight for them.Trump is a climate change denier and Clinton is a pro-fracking privatizing Mexico’s oil shill for all the worst corporations on the planet. Would you like a migraine or a toothache ? If and when Bernie is out Jill Stein is the only sane choice.

    That’s what grabs me. I totally to NOT support Trump.

    However, I am also completely UNMOVED by the fearmongering of the Clinton campaign.

    Half to most of Trump’s ideas he can’t do without Congress and they won’t do it. So he can be a boogeyman…boogey, boogey, boogey!

    What scares the shit out of me is that Hillary Clinton can totally do most if not all of the shit she wants to do and that’s up to and including the NO FLY zone in Syria that equates to a proxy war with Russia that could become an outright war with Russia seeing as there’s no way Russia ever gives up their only blue water port in the Med which means they’ll never let Assad lose power unless they have a plan of succession in place that allows them to keep that port.

    Sec Clinton has already said she wants to go back to Libya AND go back into Iraq to fight ISIL. As far as I’m concerned, she’s a fucking warmongering nutjob.

    If one cares about ALL human life, it’s actually a serious argument that Hillary Clinton is the more dangerous of the two choices.

    I’ll be desperately hoping for the good Lord, the Universe and or Lady Luck to step in and elevate Bernie Sanders. If (and likely when) that doesn’t happen, I’ll just vote Jill Stein with a clear conscience and try and survive like I did with the other corporatist warmongers that came before.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: buzzing #45016
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    There was this one summer that the Cicadas were SUPER loud in PA when I spend the summer there.

    I mean, I wanted to scream “SHUT THE FUCK UP” loud and I was kinda young. If it was 34 years ago, then I was 13. I thought it was earlier because I didn’t think I spent much time with my dad that summer, but maybe it was 34 years ago.

    Is it possible there’s a NY/NJ/Eastern PA grouping that’s on a different cycle?

    Also, if you watch Silicon Valley, the show on HBO, they had a thing about Cicada bugs in Season 2.

    Btw, as someone who worked for a dot.com, even though I was in SoCal…holy shit. That show…I binge watched all three seasons over two nights and I totally get why so many in Tech watch it and DON’T laugh…they just nod…

    I highly recommend it.

    Who would have thought so many good ideas would vector from cicadas?

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Death of Clintonism, Victory of Sandersism #45015
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Well the main point is that politics is pornography for polite society.

    When Supreme Court Potter Stewart said regarding obscenity, “I know it when I see it” in Jacobellis v. Ohio, he unwittingly said something profound.

    By every definition of obscenity and pornography, politics fits the definition and description.

    As I describe, even as a sex act may be described as obscene, it is fitting to ask is it less obscene for consenting adults to engage in carnal acts than for disinterested politicians to trade the well-being or maybe even the survival of a constituency for personal or professional considerations or those of a contributor?

    Is it any less obscene for the mass media to make sport of such obscenity, the trade in human suffering?

    I know we live in hypocritical times. I know that in just about every room I walk into, almost everyone has or does enjoy oral sex and not by a little, but to openly talk about it would be considered obscene. Talk about the amount technique, body positioning, etc would be frowned upon in nearly every venue.

    And yet, in almost ANY venue, one could detail any story in which some social program was cut and children went hungry or battered women’s shelters were closed or veteran’s services were curtailed and that story could be openly bandied back and forth like a badminton shuttlecock at a fourth of July picnic.

    Politics is porn for polite society. It’s a process by which policy is subverted in favor of monied interests. Rather than refute this and rebuke those who trade in this, most of the nation seems content to observe it. Some observe and feel good because they feel bad about it (which is the same cop out as saying, “I’m not really into porn because I only like the romantic stuff”) all the way to the other spectrum which is only too quick and happy to blame any misfortune on the victim (that’d be the rape porn folks).

    Politics is porn for polite society. Actually, it’s worse, like I was saying because unless it’s non-consensual (in which case it’s a crime), it’s consenting adults engaged in entertainment. Politics is the harming of masses of people by the selling off, bargaining away or outright giving away their rights, lands, treasures, or even lives.

    So why does the average person do it? Because the MSM has convinced the average person that this is what political engagement looks like. Any porn star will tell you that porn isn’t what real sex looks like. It’s a caricature. Throw on fancy graphics and lots of people with quick segments with people who are photogenic and who argue, but ultimately enforce this status quo narrative and people think they’re being informed and that they are engaging in the process. So now, they can freely and without guilt discuss openly the murder of children by the US Government abroad or homeless Veterans in the same breath as a school bake sale. They can feel good that they’re talking about it (well, really it’s the meta in that they’re usually talking about talking about it). That’s the gratification part.

    That in our lives there’s even ONE freaking candidate who steadfastly keeps sticking with the issues and stays on POLICY and away from the political porn is just …mindblowing.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Exploitation of Veteran's Day #45003
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Billy, yes, there wasn’t consensus among the US Generals.

    However, the Japanese leadership wasn’t unified. Thus, the thesis of the article isn’t tenable, which is to state unequivocally that the entire Japanese heirarchy wanted to surrender and THEN the US dropped two bombs.

    That’s not what happened. The Japanese government wanted to find a way to surrender, but the military refused. The US was NOT going to sign a surrender and then fight guerillas. It demanded unconditional surrender which meant the military had to go along. Period. Prior to the dropping of the first bomb, they weren’t on board.

    The military was horrified with the results of the first bomb, but it never occurred to them that we’d ever do it again. And then we did. That second bomb showed the Japanese military that we not only would drop a second bomb, but would continue to drop them until surrender came. The Japanese military knew all was lost after Nagasaki and the unconditional surrender came.

    But to conflate “Japanese leadership” prior to the first bomb dropping is just not historically accurate.

    Yes, absolutely, prior and after, there were misgivings and outright doubts about the rationales and necessities involved in dropping the bombs.

    The American Generals weren’t the only voices involved. The Japanese Generals had something to say about it.

    Now, if the Japanese Generals hadn’t been belligerently attached to their “to the last man, woman and child” philosophy and mutinied, trying to kill the Emperor and stage multiple coups, then the whole thing wouldn’t be so complicated.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Exploitation of Veteran's Day #45000
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    As for the OP and the exploitation of Veteran’s Day…

    You wanna know the best way to honor Veterans?

    Fully fund the VA including the necessary Mental Health infrastructure, keep our military out of capriciously engaged non-declared wars around the globe and actually PAY active duty personnel a living wage while in the service AND PAY veterans the monetary benefits they need in addition to the other non-monetary benefits they need once they’ve “borne the battle”.

    It’s all too easy to spend a BILLION dollars on a plane that still doesn’t work and other weapon systems that were always going to be boondoggles, but when it comes to paying active duty personnel or vets in any way, it’s like pulling fucking teeth.

    22 Vets a day commit suicide. Twenty Two.

    That’s a damned scandal.

    Honor Veteran’s day? Make Veteran suicide and Veteran homelessness zero.

    I don’t mind the cookouts, but honestly, what percentage even gives a shit?

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: buzzing #44990
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Exploitation of Veteran's Day #44988
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    One must remember that “Japanese leadership” isn’t a unitary term.

    There was the Japanese government that DID want to surrender and there was the Japanese military that did NOT. As things got bleak, the Japanese government’s control of the military became more and more tenuous which is why they tried to kill the Emperor. Without the Emperor, the Military could stage a coup and take control.

    Thus, the unconditional surrender HAD to include the support of the military, which it did NOT include prior to the first bombing.

    Was the eventual war over? Yes.

    Is it possible that the military could have been swayed equally with a purely military target? Possibly.

    Even at the time, the horror was undeniable and the rationales were difficult at best to reconcile.

    None of that changes the reality of the situation at the time.

    I’m not saying that the US had no choice, but to bomb Japan and specifically civilian targets. Not in the slightest am I saying that.

    But to paint “Japanese leadership” as monolithic and singular in mind and purpose at the end isn’t historically accurate. To not acknowledge that the Russians annexed Japanese islands (the Russians still are in possession of them, btw) in the north and desperately wanted to invade and were planning an invasion isn’t historically accurate. The Generals’ “to the last man, woman and child” strategy has been historical fact for quite a long time.

    It’s one thing to say in the aftermath, even immediate aftermath, when even the Japanese Generals’ resistance crumbled, that the bombs weren’t necessary when all one has to face is the horror, aftermath and havoc that atomic weaponry wreck. It’s quite another when prior to the bombs’ dropping and one is faced with Russian invasion in the north, split Japanese leadership (so any Treaty may be in vain if the military mutinies and fights to the last) and an American military and population that was terribly weary of all-out war that the choice is drop a few bombs OR… prepare for an invasion that may cost a LOT of American and Japanese lives that would dwarf Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

    Worse, such entrenched warfare on both sides would have made any attempt at passing a Marshall plan nearly impossible so late in the game.

    I dunno what alternatives Truman actually had at his disposal in the moment. However, it’s oversimplification to say that “the Japanese had already surrendered and the Americans just committed an unnecessary war crime”.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Exploitation of Veteran's Day #44982
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    I’m increasingly impressed with Jacobin. I’m rarely impressed with content these days, but overall, they continue to impress.

    I do think the article glosses over the very real logistical nightmare of a Russian invasion and that while the Japanese Prime Minister admitted that there was no viable plan to repel, that wasn’t the end.

    As we also know, there was a “to the last man, woman and child” strategy that the Generals wanted to deploy. So deeply were they committed to it that they tried to assassinate the Emperor in order to prevent him from surrendering.

    Thus, as in all things, it’s just a lot more complicated than saying the Americans were amoral warmongerers.

    The Russians, as we’ve seen with contested islands with Japan to their north, have not and will not give back territory. The only reason Berlin is united and Germany is united is that the Eastern Bloc of the Soviet Union disintegrated, NOT because Russia would ever cede any territory. That’s never going to happen, especially under Putin. Thus, if the Russians had invaded, Japan would have been a partially occupied country that the Russians would still occupy…unrepentantly.

    Which puts the dropping of the atomic weapons on morally dubious grounds. Very true. However, it is NOT historically accurate to say that “they were going to surrender, anyway.” That’s just not factually correct.

    Moreover, between repeated attempts on the Emperor’s life (at some point if we invaded, the General’s would have likely succeeded), and an imminent Russian invasion, the Japanese were caught in a vice.

    The Russians WERE coming and they wanted to invade in the worst way. The Japanese government DID want to surrender. That much is true. The Japanese military DID NOT want to surrender and the militaristic society that had been fostered such that it bred officers that allowed the Rape of Nanking were not only not going to surrender, but they were going to spend every last Japanese person in defense of the homeland if that’s what it took. Any conqueror would just take the land, but no Japanese would be left to be a conquered people.

    Are the estimates of Allied losses in an invasion of the Japanese homeland understated? It’s hard to say because the Japanese were fierce fighters the closer the Allies got to the Japanese homeland. Iwo Jima was a great example of this.

    Anyway, the Americans also realized that they needed to shock the Japanese so much that they needed to obliterate aspects of a culture.

    Yes, the firebombing of Tokyo killed more people than the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. That’s lost on people who don’t take the time to learn. However, the very nature of HOW people died due to the atomic bombings was so horrific (as if dying in a fire wasn’t bad enough), that even the Generals realized that any resistance was futile.

    The Russians didn’t invade. The Japanese were allowed to save face (they literally had no other choice). The Americans didn’t have to invade.

    Only because it prevented what would have amounted to Japanese mass suicide and a Russian invasion that would still be causing geopolitical issues today do I say that it was the best of all the bad options.

    That didn’t make it a good, right or moral option and I agree with the author on a fair number of points.

    But to leave out pertinent history means not telling the story properly and that means not really telling the story at all in this case.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: happy birthday TSRF #44971
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Happy Birthday, TSRF!!!

    Enjoy!!! Rams and Pink Floyd cake? Crazy!

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Death of Clintonism, Victory of Sandersism #44970
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    FYI, there’s a youtube channel called “liberal redneck”. It’s really something…funny and enlightening, challenging and thought provoking, the author of the channel (or whatever you call the content creator) embraces being a redneck AND being liberal and challenges the notion that one excludes the other.

    I think the grad student is dead on about her critique.

    The DLC’s embrace of the professional class has only FURTHERED neoliberalism which had been the sole domain of the Republican “trickle down” crowd since Reagan got elected.

    With both Clinton’s not just embrace of the professional class, but the embrace of the professional class to the exclusion of the working class, it allowed the DLC to fashion a message that co-opted the Republican financial message with social moderation. Basically, they could be Republicans that weren’t openly racist, antagonistic assholes. They didn’t engage in openly hostile dog whistle politics. They nominally tried to fix social problems, etc. People could get dirty stinking rich AND feel good about helping brown people…over there…somewhere.

    It became de rigueur to play politics with social and financial policies without taking into account the consequences.

    I came up with a quote for that (I do have the time for such contemplations…)

    Politics is pornography for polite society. It is the observation, embrace, acceptance and engagement in social intercourse and/or engagement of governmental processes regarding the non-consensual violation of the people for the express purpose of self-gratification.”
    William Keyser

    When policy makers engage in politics, we truly see obscenity displayed before the masses.

    No three way or German fetish was more obscene than a white man in bad suit giving an uninspired speech enumerating badly articulated and poorly thought out reasons as to why a program that actually helps people in need should be cut, leading to a direct increase in children going hungry or a direct increase in women being exposed to harm or a direct increase in veterans going homeless or direct increase in Active Duty Service Members’ deployment length…

    The DLC Dems who made the “compromise” seem fucking incredulous that young people see the hypocrisy and obscenity of what they’re continuing to propose.

    At least the Republicans are only proposing obscenity. And even if the obscenity is worse, for some, that’s the difference. There’s such an aversion to hypocrisy that they’d rather choose extra obscenity than be part of any hypocrisy.

    Worse, the Clinton campaign is in full attack mode online for anyone who has issues with her obscene policies.

    In word and deed, it’s tribal, traditional “party first” politics where policies are secondary (if they rank that high). So, when someone points out to the Clinton Campaign that their policies are harmful, truly harmful…the reaction is visceral, defensive and feral. And it’s not on policy. They don’t defend the policy. It’s all about fearmongering about a Trump Presidency and about how everyone needs to get in line.

    Which is kind of funny because the criticism all along is that DLC Dems are Republican lite and Bill Clinton’s own quote is “Democrats want to fall in love. Republicans want to fall in line.” The Clinton Campaign is desperately making the argument that Dems need to fall in line and are making NO arguments about falling in love. Compounding that dilemma for them is that Bernie Sanders has said that he’ll be “against Trump”, but if Clinton wants to WIN his supporters, she’ll have to earn them herself using…POLICY. Which has them freaking out because all along the Clinton and surrogates online have promoted the idea that “to the victor go the spoils”. Actually, they’ve used those exact words so often that it looks coordinated as if through Correct the Record as if it’s a building meme with Clinton supporters.

    This whole thing is looking to become a steaming pile of clusterfuck and anyone’s who’s either in the bottom 80%, of color or disadvantaged or serves their country is going to get completely shit on no matter who gets in. The only difference will be where the shit meteor hits.

    So, in that vein, I can see why some folks would want to be further away from ground zero from the massive shit meteor strike, but it’s still going to be catastrophic for nearly everyone…

    Saying Hillary Clinton is the “lesser of two evils” is overstating it. Different evil, maybe. Lesser? Tell that to the families who lose loved ones in the military due to her sending troops to Libya or back to Iraq or staying in Afghanistan or who continue to lose jobs due to manufacturing jobs going overseas. Lesser of two evils is a false narrative. In order to believe that you have to diminish the power of flag draped coffins and why we have them.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Happy Birthday PA Ram #44828
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Happy Birthday!!! and those are some great cakes!!!

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Migraine headaches #44372
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Due to the lesion in my brain, I have migraines every day. Some last a few hours. Longest lasted 12 weeks.

    Super long story short: yes, look for triggers.

    1) HYDRATION. It’s amazing how often people’s migraines are triggered by dehydration.

    2) FOOD. Dairy. Caffeine (it’s in everything including soda, candy and even shower gel). Nuts. Chocolate. Gluten. NITRATES/NITRITES (cured meats like ham, any kind of sausage and hot dogs wreck me). Phenalalanine (artificial sweetener Aspartame in every gum, tons of diet sodas and “sugar free” foods and tons of other stuff. DEFINITE KNOWN MIGRAINE TRIGGER). And that’s just a primer, not a comprehensive list. As much as I hate keeping logs, it’s important to keep a log of everything that is consumed down to the last chip is known.

    3) MIGRAINE LOG. Lord this one hurts to write because it means having to be present in the middle of the pain. Imagine having to describe your nausea while wretching. It’s like that with a migraine. But it’s crucial! The doctors need to know if there are any auditory issues (I have tinnitus), visual issues (I have super bad vertigo and some migraines cause me to mostly lose vision in one eye) as well as specifically the type of pain: exactly where, when, for how long and what type.

    I’ve had sharp pains so intense they felt exactly like being hit in the head with a baseball bat and I actually thought that’s what happened…or something akin to that as I fell to the ground. I’ve had dull, throbbing pains, burning pains, aches…

    A person new to the sensation won’t have the vocabulary to describe it even if they know every word in the English language. It unfortunately takes time.

    3b) As part of the Migraine Log, if she’s menstruating, she’ll want to keep very good track of her cycle. Many women with migraines have found a hormonal component and, thus the migraines synch with various times of a woman’s cycle. It’s not the same for all women, either.

    As far as advice…

    Have her sleep hygiene be as pristine as possible. She can google sleep hygiene. Cool room, no phone before bed, stuff like that.

    ALWAYS WEAR SUNGLASSES OUTSIDE! for those who can vascularly trigger, very bright light can be a trigger. Also stay away from strobing lights.

    Look for a good migraine group online. They are always going and knowing that one is not alone and personally getting to read about how others cope can really help. Family and friends may have no way to relate. As well, it may help her to build a vocabulary more quickly to describe what is happening with her body. I know it took me years to describe that my migraines affected my entire spine. I just didn’t know how to describe it.

    As for medications, normally a triptan is recommended. I was on Sumatriptan, but the doc will pick which is best. They can come oral, injected or nasal. They might have patches now, but I dunno. Oral is for occasional migraines. They take 20+ mins to get into the system, which is why the headache log is crucial. Injected usually is only given at the ER. The nasal version was the only version that worked for me as it absorbs straight into the bloodstream through the nasal membrane and relief was super fast. It didn’t end the migraine, but took the piss out of it. That said, the taste of the back drip was enough to gag a maggot. So not kidding.

    Of course, they offer opioid pain relief even to kids, usually codeine, although by 15, they may graduate to Percocet. I’ve had to be on many of them for short stints and that one was the worst. My stance as always is no to opioids, find ANY other way.

    Sorry if that’s too much to start. Ask me anything. I’m glad to share anything I’ve learned.

    • This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Mackeyser.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Jill on Bernie, Money in Politix, and Obama… #44293
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Well, prior to Jan 2016, you never saw that.

    Liberals have co-opted the progressive label in bullshit fashion.

    Liberals didn’t have the fucking balls to even be called liberals 10 years ago (not being mad at you, I just have no patience with liberals… it’s just weak tea that’s often made with contaminated water. They try to justify it by saying that some of the tea is organic… like that makes up for the contaminated water… fucking morons)

    Don’t mind me. I’m a little agro. Just got back from BJJ and got a lil adrenaline goin’… I’m a little jacked. Kinda frustrated that getting back is slow, but super glad that I’m back, breaking a sweat and tired enough that typing this is an effort…LOL.

    Anyway, I hear you about folks like Chomsky and Cornell West. I don’t tend to get too tied up in definitions.

    For me, I see the progressive label (if one absolutely HAD to do that) as encompassing the LEFT and Left-adjacent. If there were an analog gauge, it would be Right, Center, Liberal, Progressive in the bold parts.

    I realize that there are liberals who in such a scenario would be pretty close to progressives and progressives who’d be pretty close to liberals. Life is messy that way.

    But as an example, I said AT THE TIME of the Bin Laden raid that I was NOT happy that he was killed and that I would have preferred that he be captured and tried in a criminal court (not a military court). We lost any claim to moral superiority a thousand times since Nuremburg and this was an opportunity to try to not only reclaim it in some small measure, but to openly acknowledge that it was wrong to fight the atheistic Communists in Afghanistan by fostering fundamentalist Islamic extremist “freedom fighters”.

    I do acknowledge that in this political climate that current liberals THINK that they are progressives.

    Give it a minute. The courage of their convictions last about as long as the weather here in Florida…which means about 10 minutes…

    That’s one thing Conservatives and Progressives have in common, at least. I guess that’s why once I saw the evidence, I essentially made the swing all the way from right to left.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Also stopping by to say Hi. #44273
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Well, it begs the question, who does the dirty jobs? who does the dangerous jobs? who does the thankless jobs?

    Yes, in ANY system, there are just really SHIT jobs, some literally, some figuratively. Not everyone will be able to just grab a guitar and do bad Stairway to Heaven remixes and say, “I’m working”. Will the collective be able to FORCE someone to work?

    If not, does that just mean there will be job postings and people just have to fill in where needed? Lemme just say, that will suck really fast because there’s no growth in that. No personal growth, no learning.

    I really can’t stress this enough. ANY system has to get over the “I have no fucks to give” threshold. Capitalism is brutally honest about how it does it. It uses a medium of exchange. It doesn’t require you to give any fucks. You give bucks. Don’t have any bucks, you get nothing.

    However, in any co-op, that requires some kind of buy-in on SOME level. It REQUIRES participation and investment. Well, how does one solve the conundrum when people are NOT moved by the “local” ideology. Sometimes local groups aren’t a great fit. Is travel free? Is information free? Can a person find a fit with zero or near zero discomfort and displacement? If not, then there will be tremendous tension. Group dynamics are MASSIVE and they matter.

    Flat organizations are great until that one alpha male or alpha female asshole picks up his or her head.

    Flat organizations are fine with strong individuals who don’t want to be ruled and feel comfortable with sharing responsibility. Not everyone fits that personality type. Some are Alpha types who will constantly try to be “in charge”. Others (a “beta” if you will, will constantly try to shrink into the background. It is no more appropriate for the Alpha to be allowed to be in charge in a flat org than to force the Beta to be in charge who is unprepared or ill-equipped.

    Aldous Huxley addressed this in Brave New World, iirc.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    in reply to: Jill on Bernie, Money in Politix, and Obama… #44268
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Well as someone who was a Republican, I can say that there’s a YUGE difference between liberals and progressives. Just massive.

    Liberals are fine with compromises that progressives just aren’t.

    Liberals are fine with lapses in principle that progressives just aren’t.

    Liberals are fine with hypocrisies that progressives just aren’t.

    I mean, Hillary Clinton is a center-right Dem… a moderate liberal.

    She’s fine with the compromise of a national $12/hr minimum wage with $15/hr in certain designated higher cost of living zones. Progressives aren’t. She’s fine with the compromise that’s the ACA. Progressives know that Single Payer is the only sane and fiscally responsible answer and thus, aren’t fine with such a compromise.

    She’s fine with amassing hundreds of millions in personal wealth, aggregating billions in her “charity” which includes taking money from dictators and furthering the designs of the very firms that nearly crashed the WORLD’s economy while at the same time and in the same breath criticizing others for doing the exact same thing. The hypocrisy is astounding. IOKIYAR… well, when it comes to economic hypocrisy, IOKIYAL. Mitt Romney’s candidacy ENDED when that video came out about the 47% which wasn’t really about him dismissing “the lower classes”, but was a super inartful way of saying that he didn’t have access to 47% of the electorate. And he didn’t. But if Romney got slammed for wanting a car elevator in his home in La Jolla. Okay. However, he didn’t run a “charity” that took money from dictators. Can anyone IMAGINE what the MSM would have done with THAT??? Romney takes $$$ from Dictators!!! However, the liberals are A-OK with this hypocrisy. Progressives aren’t.

    She’s fought for children here in the US…but at the same time, is proud of the tough sanctions on Iran even though those mostly hurt children. She says she cares about the Climate Crisis, but rather than push innovation and actual GREEN solutions to emerging markets that would put America as a leader in Green energy and Green technology, she’s pushed FRACKING around the world. She’s fine with that hypocrisy. Progressives aren’t.

    I realize that often in political discourse, there are distinctions which are essentially shades and not really distinctions.

    This is not one of them. If it were, the Sanders candidacy where progressives are really speaking out AGAINST the Democratic Liberal establishment wouldn’t be a thing. The reason this is such a shock is that the Dems have become such a center-right party that when progressives ACTUALLY speak out, it’s almost foreign. Moreover, the Dems still THINK of themselves as custodians of that progressive legacy. They aren’t.

    But there is NO WAY one can put people like Any Goodman, Cornell West, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and other progressives and just “shade” them with DLC corporatist moderate liberals like Hillary Clinton and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who just helped kill a bill that would regulate pay day lenders.

    I appreciate the sentiment, but I would have to respectfully disagree on point that progressives aren’t simply a stronger flavor of liberal.

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

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