Veer

[Matador]

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for personal freedom. Especially in the case of abortion. But, again, if there's no family to help with the psychological aftermath of an abortion, who will help?

I just don't like personal freedom misused as an argument to limit strictly needed rules.

This 10000000%. Personal freedom always seems to end when someone disagrees strongly enough.

In any case, with the current contingent of Federalist society hacks on the Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade will die as precedence in early-to-mid May of 2022 when Dobbs v. Jackson is decided.

 

[living sounds]

In any case, with the current contingent of Federalist society hacks on the Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade will die as precedence in early-to-mid May of 2022 when Dobbs v. Jackson is decided.

It might well be the necesssary catalyst for the Democrats to finally rebalance the composition of the Supreme Court away from the current radical ideologue majority.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Funny how one man's radical ideologue is another's constitutional originalist. The democrats have talked about packing the court before but that would surely blow back on them with a central right leaning population. Speaking of SCOTUS I actually suggested in posts right here that Garland should get a vote years ago (because I was afraid Hillary could win and appoint somebody worse), but Garland is revealing his team politics bonafides by sic'ing the FBI on parents arguing with school boards against teaching hate (CRT).

Right now everybody is watching the VA governor's race for evidence of a shifting political tide.

The ultra liberal NYC mayoral race is expected to be won by a former police officer who will stop defunding the police at least in NYC.

Interesting times.

JR

PS; The most remarkable SCOTUS anecdote recently is Katy Couric admitting that she edited a TV interview with Ruth Bader Ginsberg RIP to (cough) protect her... . RBG was arguably the most powerful woman in America at the time and didn't need protection from woke'sters. The reality is Couric probably did not personally agree with RBG's criticism of atheles athletes taking a knee and disrespecting the country.

 

[cyrano]

The reality is Couric probably did not personally agree with RBG's criticism of atheles taking a knee and disrespecting the country.

What does that mean, John?

I tried googling atheles, but it only leads to products for athletes.

 

[living sounds]

Funny how one man's radical ideologue is another's constitutional originalist.

Yea, admittedly that was a clever rebranding and obfuscation trick. But constitutional originalism makes as little sense as critical race theory.

The democrats have talked about packing the court before but that would surely blow back on them with a central right leaning population.

Just because they keep repeating the idea of a "centre right country" on Fox News does not make it factual. And it is surprisingly (for the unsuspecting European) heterogenic.

PS; The most remarkable SCOTUS anecdote recently is Katy Couric admitting that she edited a TV interview with Ruth Bader Ginsberg RIP to (cough) protect her... . RBG was arguably the most powerful woman in America at the time and didn't need protection from woke'sters. The reality is Couric probably did not personally agree with RBG's criticism of atheles taking a knee and disrespecting the country.

Didn't know that and wouldn't have expected such a comment from the justice. Pretty tone deaf, authoritarian viewpoint IMO. And she should have retired during Obama's presidency. But nobody's perfect, that's a thing many people today do not get.

 

[living sounds]

PS: It would have been something else if she had called it "stupid" because of the backlash it would ignite. But she seems to have been of the opinion that protesting isn't necessary because they were already in a better position than they were if their ancestors had not been taken as slaves and shipped to the US. All I can say to that is wow.

 

[shabtek]

you euro people are better informed and more articulate about my country than we are!

 

[JohnRoberts]

What does that mean, John?

I think I stated it clearly enough. I am more accustomed to ya'll lecturing me about such things.

I tried googling atheles, but it only leads to products for athletes.

I thought you hip guys would already be well aware of these protests. I could actually fix my typo in your post, but that wouldn't be fair.

In new memoir, Going There, Couric writes that she cut out a part of their interview where Ginsburg said that those who kneel during the national anthem are showing 'contempt for a government that has made it possible for their parents and grandparents to live a decent life.'

The published story, which Couric wrote for Yahoo! News in 2016, did include quotes from Ginsburg saying refusing to stand for the anthem was 'dumb and disrespectful', but omitted more controversial remarks.

Disrespecting the American flag is protected speech... I served in the army to protect Kaepernick's right to show his a__ (a southern phrase). Curiously the public voted with their feet to stop watching NFL games. Even the NBA (basketball league) has removed all the BLM signage from their courts and games.

Coincidentally another NBA player has ticked off China with a call for Tibetan freedom. Not the first time. China blocked Houston Rocket's games over a GM's comment supporting HK (anybody remember Hong Kong?). High profile players tried to suck up to China after that (presumably to protect their sneaker sales) but without success. Now a NBA player (Kantor the Celtic center) has China blocking Boston Celtics games in China. Besides Kantor's support for Tibet, he is very critical of Erdogan, his Turkish parents are not planning a family reunion there with him any time soon.

JR

 

[shabtek]

not everybody watches the football etc. they play on fox

 

[JohnRoberts]

I don't want to read too much into short term trends but NFL TV ratings appear to be up this season, despite overall TV still losing viewers to streaming (down 9%). I never watched football but it was impossible to ignore the changing player drama. They are our modern day gladiators.

JR

 

[shabtek]

rupert murdoch NFL mind control

 

[cyrano]

You're right, Shabtek. I don't watch TV even and I know nothing, zero, nada about football, or soccer, or tennis, or any other sports...

Anyhow, if it's about nationalism, again, I'm out. Don't want anything to do with nationalists of any kind. They're all nazis to me anyhow.

 

[expat]

Huh?? This is English we are talking about. There is near zero correlation between the spelling and the sound. Only Americans use phonetic spellings Think about through, rough, thorough, though - they all end in 'ough' but everyone is pronounced differently. What about no and know; completely different spelling but sound identical. I sometimes wonder how English became so widespread.

Cheers

Ian

It's the grammar - I speak French and Italian and wow is English grammar easy!

 

[ruffrecords]

It's the grammar - I speak French and Italian and wow is English grammar easy!

This is because after the Norman conquest, the gentry spoke French and all legal documents were in Latin. English was spoken by the common people who were a mix of Angles, Saxons, Danes, Celts etc and over many years, because they were simple folk, the form of the language became simplified.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Newmarket]

This is because after the Norman conquest, the gentry spoke French and all legal documents were in Latin. English was spoken by the common people who were a mix of Angles, Saxons, Danes, Celts etc and over many years, because they were simple folk, the form of the language became simplified.

Cheers

Ian

I took a look at this 'resurrected' thread and saw that phoneticism was mentioned previously. So I suggest that we all adopt the language of Welsh/Cymraeg...???

 

[JohnRoberts]

Trying to clean up off topic veers, I'm dumping them here.

JR

 

[living sounds]

I was talking about abortion not rape... rape is obviously a crime.

We got a recent reminder about modern society, a sexual assault occurred on a SEPTA train in Philadelphia, while multiple onlookers recorded it on their phones, instead of calling police or helping the woman.

When onlookers just watch, it reinforces the need for police.

There was an iconic case back in 1964 (Kitty Genovese ). Reportedly 38 neighbors ignored her screams for help. Now street violence is becoming increasingly common. There was another iconic case of vigilantism in 1984 when an individual (Bernhard Goetz) shot 4 young men on a subway who allegedly tried to rob him. Public sentiment was mixed but he ended up serving 8 months.

JR

And there we have it, the reports - again - were not true:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...-police-bystanders-filming-mistaken-narrative

 

[JohnRoberts]

And there we have it, the reports - again - were not true:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...-police-bystanders-filming-mistaken-narrative

Believe what makes you feel better. The incident was 40 minutes long and the video that circulated was much shorter. The Guardian headline says "not true", while the body of the article says "not entirely accurate".... The (alleged) rapist is being prosecuted so that part appears to have some basis in fact, the only call to police came from one off duty transit worker, so the vast majority of bystanders took no action. It is very easy to say how we would behave differently in such a situation but that is impossible to know. I'm sure we are all braver in our own minds. They make movies about individuals to step up in such situations. I saw one recent video of an ex-military type who was in a small store when some puke came in wielding a handgun gun to rob the place. He disarmed the creep before he knew what happened.
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Just a week ago a woman was punched in the face on a crowded subway car as onlookers watched. I suspect violent events like this have always happened but now that everybody has a camera phone, these images become viral.
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In Japan a man stabbed 17 subway passengers before setting the car on fire.
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In Brooklyn some disgruntled miscreant threw a molotov cocktail into a deli, a bystander stopped him from throwing a second one into the deli. Thank you bystander.
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It is disturbing to see all the street violence that is now being recorded and shared. I don't pretend to have easy answers. This requires a combination of effective policing and upgraded mental health services. IMO no cash bail trends and decriminalizing former crimes is giving bad actors license to run amok. Pretty much the opposite of "broken windows" policy to reduce crime.

I am glad I do not live in a city (been there and done that).

JR

 

[JohnRoberts]

For elections to watch Minneapolis is voting to replace the police department with something different. I am optimistic about NYC improving, Minneapolis not so much, I hope the proposal to replace police fails, but that's democracy for ya..

JR

 

[hodad]

Speaking of vaccines, it was a good night for police in some areas... NYC elected a pro police mayor (while both candidates running were pro police), and Minneapolis voted down dismantle and replace the police department initiative.

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The world series victory is especially sweet in light of the all star game brouhaha. If the MLB commissioner isn't embarrassed he should be, when he awards the Braves their trophy.
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Good night for police does not necessarily equal a good night for ordinary citizens. I recently came across video footage of cops during the Minneapolis protests--I don't think those thugs with badges deserve a good night.

*Our stupid and sleazy governor will certainly continue to snipe at MLB about the All-Star Game--doesn't change the fact that he and the Ga. GOP have worked their tails off to curtail voting rights--especially those of people of color. F*ck them. Seriously. I live in a state that is currently 50-50 Dem/Republican, and the Rs are doing their level best to assure that control remains pretty much exclusively in the hands of the White conservative Christians--democracy be damned.

**I guess I've earned your political pokes at my state, John--turnabout is fair play, I suppose. But as you can see, I'm certainly not going to shy away from expressing my viewpoint on it