Merv's Politically Incorrect Audio Blog

Well stated and your point is taken. If however these issues are "problems" to be "solved" apart from the spin (i.e. abstract and idealistic beliefs about history and human nature for example), where are the leaders who recognize this and bring forth these virtues in action? As near as I can tell, they are all thinking in "spin" terms and I fully suspect that whatever legislative actions congress/Biden enacts in the next two years, they will not be sober reflections of a hierarchy of problems. Instead they will reflect the deepest thoughts and desires of this very spin. Hope I am wrong, but I see no evidence that those at the levers of power will not think and act idealistically. AOC, BLM (the one I am talking about) will write the bill and Biden will sign it...

 

@crenca has an Obama shrine in his house and has a crush on AOC.

On a serious note, I wanna add a new Constitution Amendment to ban any NY natives from being president. No offense to my fellow natives, NY'ers are known to ruin stuff and make it worse..just look at our state!

 

I disagree. There needs to be a proportional response to show future would-be Trumps that there are consequences to trying to overthrow the US government or overturn an election. W. Bush, a war criminal who preemptively attacked another country on the basis of outright lies has already been rehabilitated. If we let that happen with Trump, if we don’t learn the lessons of this administration, this country will become an authoritarian dictatorship at some point, likely in our lifetimes.

Biden is a classic neoliberal. He might get pushed a little by the left wing of the party but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the one to actually get us into a war with Iran. He’ll pay some lip service to wealth inequality and then the Democrat majority congress will pass more laws that benefit corporate interests and he’ll sign them. He said he’s against Medicare For All. He said he’s against marijuana legalization federally. His whole schtick is that he’ll bring the country back to normal, but normal hasn’t been working for a long time.

 

And in my adult lifetime, its been that way since at least HW, if not Reagan. Although one of Reagan's nicknames was Teflon Ron, so the ruling classes have been playing the spin game for a much longer time (they were just more discreet about it back then).

 

Ah shucks don't do that! Don't retreat into some grand, mechanistic, and idealistic 'Theory of History', in this case the Progressive one

I want to hear more about the hierarchy of problems and a pragmatic/prudential governance that serves the majority and not the elite and their self serving ideals!

 

Have you noticed something about the Capitol Hill riots? In the country as saturated by guns as the US they came without guns. And I would like the things to stay this way.
If you think that the way to avoid future would be Trumps is to prosecute Trump, think again.

 

Bringing it back to music. I am reminded of the words of a Mark Knopfler song...

The boss has hung you out to dry
And it looks as though
they'll punish the monkey
and let the organ grinder go

I think in this case the Organ Grinder needs his balls repositioned atop his head. Lee

 

You might be right.....but Canarsie I heard is getting gentrified. Then again, if it wasn't for Bayview Houses in front of the Belt Pwky then it would be closer to $800k volume value. Still don't wanna be near there at night.

Thankfully most weren't dumb enough to bring in their guns in Capitol Hill, but some were dumb enough to leave pipe bombs and other junk.

 

Uhhh there was an armed standoff between Capitol police and rioters. At least some of them had guns.

 

"An armed standoff took place at the House front door at about 3 p.m. ET, and police officers had their guns drawn at someone who was trying to breach it." That's CNN the most "trusted" source in news. If you read the entire piece there is nothing about guns in the hands of rioters. Do not amplify BS

 

Calm down. I stand corrected. I read over and over nothing but “armed standoff” which to me means guns vs guns.

 

Csn I just say that I really enjoy discussing politics as it’s something I think about quite a bit but don’t have anyone to talk to about in my life right now. This thread is a unique opportunity to hear from people with very different political views which challenge my own and force me to think through my own theories more thoroughly and put thoughts to words. Which I usually don’t have the time or patience to do justice to but it’s still a good thing.

But this really isn’t personal. Someone just made it very personal snd I find that sad, unfortunate and well, rather pathetic.

I think @YMO is off his rocker politically but I just sent him a pair of 3k$ iem’s to listen to and I completely trust him.

it would be nice if we could all separate political views from the person as a whole. We’re all completely insane obsessing so much about headphones and let’s remember we all have that in common first and foremost.

 

Sadly, it's rare to find reporting on the possibility of the Capitol breach being a false flag operation by antifa or similar group. It'll be interesting what facts come out as a result of investigations and prosecutions, if any.

The whole Parler thing with regard to Apple, Google, and Amazon (AWS) is sick and dangerous. Hopefully there will be a RICO investigation by the FBI, but I doubt it. This will become the new norm. It's looking like Orwell was off by 37 years in the novel Nineteen Eighty Four.

President Reagan said it best in a Memorial Day speech:

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

The events of last week disgust me.

----

At this point, I wonder how many remember that by the end of 2019 everyone was saying "when will this crappy year finally end?". But then 2020 happened and it was even worse. I don't see it getting better in 2021…so buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride. Harder, faster than 2020.

At least it won't be "Trump this, Trump that" 24x7. Or hell, maybe it will be, because it's certain that everything will be great with dems holding congress and the executive…and the quote-news-quote has to have something shitty to report.

 

Maybe Republicans can stop saying it is the right of Businesses to refuse service to customers.

Note: I'm pretty wacky to say (which I do believe) that a Business can refuse service to anyone. I do believe a Business can refuse service based on sex, race, beliefs, religion, etc. However, that doesn't mean they can't be shield from any blowback and maybe go out of business over their decisions.

I know AWS does business with the Federal Government (and I bet other State Governments). Perhaps a good Court Case on this one is needed to see if doing business with the Federal Government restricts them from "censoring speech." We already know from the Hobby Lobby ruling that a Private-Held Company can impose their beliefs in things like contraception. Perhaps a Part II is needed here.

So far when Pager U and Tulsi Gabbard sued Google over their "censorship," they lost pretty hard. I do believe if Trump/Parler attempt to go to Court over thing, most likely they will lose hard. Even if it goes to the Supreme Court, I'm not convinced that they would side with Trump/Parler for example over the point that these are Private Businesses. Who knows.....

 

I recognise that this all falls under contract law, and yeah, "terms of service". I also think it's unfortunate we've gotten to a place where ~5 companies control > 90% of the information flow in the US; but because of that, it serves the public interest to have open discourse and no censorship, which is also a legal standard.

IMO, if the companies are going to exert editorial control over the content they allow to flow through their systems, they shouldn't receive section 230 protections because they're acting like a broadcaster or publisher which are both subject to slander and libel law. However, if the companies choose not to exert editorial control (or set up shell companies to do the same under the guise of a "fact checking" label), they should be protected by section 230, like a telecom company.

Either they're providing a conduit for information, like a telecom company, and can benefit from 230 protection, or they're providing a moderated (and thus opinionated) platform, like a publisher, and cannot benefit from 230 protection. Shouldn't have it both ways.

 

The Amazon move is the most interesting and dangerous. AWS is hosting, among others, CIA data engines, it was the big news when IBM lost the bid to Amazon. I do not expect them to be insane and take down CIA servers because, for example, Bazos finds the CIA covert operations objectionable but... he redefined the play for web hosting services.
I hope that the bank executives took notice that if they lend to the companies that are not environment friendly well... they may be a subject to behavioral correction by their cloud services providers. That gold companies may not be able to process their payroll because their consultations with local indigenous people did not meet Mr. Bazos high standard. Or because their bigger competitors put enough pressure on Amazon that it simply would make financial sense for Mr Bazos to drop one client and keep another. Where are Twitter servers running?

If I was looking for server hosting I would put in the contract the cancellation clause that would make even Jeff think twice, or I would just go somewhere else.

 

@rhythmdevils youll prob have to dunk those fancy pants iems in bleach when you get them back, but on the plus side, they’ll be protected against covid as the still-commander-in-chief trump suggested.

 

That is the whole point of section 230. You can say 230 should be repealed, or it should stand, but you are the one who can't have it both ways.