BruceVC

Don't have an overly rosy view of military folk.Why is that? I'm curious. Well the idea that just because Kelly is a former Marine isn't going to mean he'll get Trump into shape. Soldiers can be as venal or kiss ass as everyone else, especially at high ranks I would imagine. Then there's the sheep dog and sheep style nonsense but that stuff comes from useless meshback types so not much to be done there No, Kelly won't whip Trump into shape. Only Trump can do that and he does not strike me as the kind of man who oozes self control. And without a doubt all kinds can be found in military uniform. Even the bad kinds. In my own experience they seem to top out at Major and Staff Sergent in the Officer and NCO ranks respectively. One thing the military does better than any other organization I've ever been part of is reward competence and weed out incompetence. If you can rise to the General ranks then you can find your ass with either hand and are probably free of serious character flaws. But I took your comment as more of a general one rather than specifically applying to the current administration. That is why I was curious. I dont expect Kelly to change Trumps behavior, thats not going to happen and Trump studiously continues to do things that are considered controversial But there seem to be many things that are inconsistent at the White House under the Trump presidency. Things like contradictory public comments from different people, the various factions and who has direct access to Trump could be improved I think Kelly will bring discipline and hopefully curtail the chaos and bedlam we sometimes see around certain messages that come from WH And my personal wish is for the Trump presidency to stop blaming and attacking the media ....its unnecessary and just creates hostility and this " us against them " mentality

So Scaramucci is gone ostensibly because of what Kelly requested Lets see how the White House is run under Kelly, he has 45 years service as a Marine and that can surely only improve things around general decorum ?

This is a very good post and again demonstrates your empathy around subjects that most people don't care to understand or would rather just insult You are very consistent and to be honest you don't understand transgender and you never will but that's normal for most people All my gay friends are men or lesbian women, none of them particularly like or associate with transgender, they don't understand some of the transgender views. I have spoken at various gay clubs on principle to transgender people but apart from a courteous hello we didnt chat long Anyway thanks for the military explanation, why would a gay man be threatened in the army in your era, what I mean is he would be physically the same as you and others ?

No transgender people in the military, not sure they were so much of a distraction to affect the combat performance. I think t was more of a cost savings move since gender reassignment surgery was becoming a covered benefit. As much as I abhor discrimination of any stripe the military is a different animal than the rest of society and the rules that apply are different. But I suspect the pols will make much more of this than the story deserves. I believe I read there were less than 10 "transgendered" service members in all four branches. This study from 2014 estimated over 15k, but can't say how accurate it is. "Our estimates suggest that approximately 15,500 transgender individuals are serving on active duty or in the Guard or Reserve forces. We also estimate that there are an estimated 134,300 transgender individuals who are veterans or are retired from Guard or Reserve service." https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Transgender-Military-Service-May-2014.pdf Another utterly unnecessary and deplorable decision by Trump so he is seen as " the greatest president the USA " has ever seen He cant pass tax reformation, build the wall or repeal Healthcare so lets attack the LGBT community ...the favorite target of bigots and people who are insecure and critical of people different to them And its not enough that someone can fight and die in hellholes like Syria and Iraq as they are patriot ...no now there sexual orientation is suddenly an issue. Its pathetic but at least his supporters now at 38% will continue to say how great he is

@ anyone who is Polish or can confirm this The article I posted about the veto says the Polish ruling believes the following....is this objective of "impossibilism " valid The attempt by Poland's Law and Justice party to take control of the judicial system should be seen as part of a wider campaign to dismantle democratic checks and balances on the government’s actions, from its takeover of state media to its capture of the country’s constitutional tribunal. Jarosław Kaczyński, PiS’s leader, has developed a theory known in Poland as ‘impossibilism’, the idea that no serious reform of Polish society and institutions is possible due to these checks and balances, and what he describes as the vested interests of liberal elites and foreigners intent on exploiting the country.

No, the Republican motto is "We're dumb as rocks, and we do whatever our corporate masters tell us." Isn't that to long of a motto for dumb as a rock party? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/24/poland-president-to-veto-controversial-laws-amid-protests Sharp_one whats wrong with your ruling party? Why do some members of your government think they should have the right to appoint members of the supreme court and judiciary....this was an unacceptable expectation that was set and would never be tolerated in a Democratic institution like the EU That wasn't the real problem Bruce. The real travesty was the idea that they would appoint all of the new judges. That went too far even for some of their own supporters. I cannot tell you how much better this veto decision was for the overall economic sustainability of Poland Well done people who took to the streets

Of course not, you're Volo, you defy classification. It's been like that for what, 16 years now? But even the definition of what constitutes " alt-right " is nebulous, Breitbart has many different types of people who frequent it and they definitely don't all share the same ideological view of things like SJ and the way overall white people are judged or criticised. Some people on Breitbart consider it a refuge from perceived SJ criticism For example what is your definition of someone who is "alt-right " Oh that's simple. The alt-right are the alpha males and their women and everyone else are beta males (lefties and libruhls) or cuckservatives (center/right not quite alt-right) and feminists. *sigh* You make me laugh I like your opinions on topics....I imagine most feminists would be horrified to be associated with the alt-right but you get people who claim to believe in a better world and SJ yet they are equally as divisive and offensive as your Milo type of personality

injurai Im glad you have been sticking around these forums, its always appreciated to read perspectives from different people I know the views around politics and similar subjects from all the regular members as I have been active on these forums for about 5 years. If you don't mind sharing can you summarize your opinion on SJ or perhaps how you feel about the state of politics in Western countries I always like to understand how members feel about things like populism or the state of Democracy in the world I have very liberal views on many topics but this is shaped by where I live and my commitment to addressing the Apartheid legacy in South Africa so I dont expect many people to understand where Im coming from around ideology from which is okay as we all have different life experiences

Of course not, you're Volo, you defy classification. It's been like that for what, 16 years now? But even the definition of what constitutes " alt-right " is nebulous, Breitbart has many different types of people who frequent it and they definitely don't all share the same ideological view of things like SJ and the way overall white people are judged or criticised. Some people on Breitbart consider it a refuge from perceived SJ criticism For example what is your definition of someone who is "alt-right "

WOD I have never considered you a hardcore Trump supporter, there arent any on this forum but I do value your opinion as someone who represents the US in more conservative circles from a Republican perspective You seem to be more critical or frustrated with Trump, what has he done or not done that has shaped your opinion lately on him? My view on Trump since he became president has improved but I am primarily concerned with US foreign policy. I am constantly surprised how the Trump strategy domestically just seems to be so counterproductive ....there are several things he does that surprise and or frustrate me as they not necessary For example, why do his supporters have to always make these sycophantic comments about him being " the best or the greatest at everything ...yes apparently he likes his surrogates to support him in that way but to me it just comes across as insecure and false

No, the Republican motto is "We're dumb as rocks, and we do whatever our corporate masters tell us." Isn't that to long of a motto for dumb as a rock party? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/24/poland-president-to-veto-controversial-laws-amid-protests Sharp_one whats wrong with your ruling party? Why do some members of your government think they should have the right to appoint members of the supreme court and judiciary....this was an unacceptable expectation that was set and would never be tolerated in a Democratic institution like the EU Well your president has prudently vetoed, I dont think he wanted to but he had no choice, these proposed laws. I imagine you must be feeling very embarrassed by what your government tried to do? EU cannot do jack, because to do anything they would need consensus of all the countries and Visegrad group would never allow to do anything to one of it's members. Polish ruling party as all socialistic parties just want more power for themselves and less for everybody else. President could of course just sign those, what do you mean he had no choice? He was widely criticizes for signing everything his party sent to him. That's why it was such a shocker home and abroad he did those two vetoes. Personally I think it was due to his private conversation with Donald Trump. There were thousands of people who took to the street in protest, I imagine the signing of these new laws would have been very bad for the popularity of the ruling party in the next election. So Andrzej Duda’s decision was about political expediency and survival rather than he cares personally if these laws are reasonable I do think Trump influenced this decision in some ways but the concern about populism sweeping through the world in Democratic countries is not much of a worry to me anymore. We can see from the local elections in Austria, Netherlands and France that the majority of people in the EU dont support this

No, the Republican motto is "We're dumb as rocks, and we do whatever our corporate masters tell us." Isn't that to long of a motto for dumb as a rock party? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/24/poland-president-to-veto-controversial-laws-amid-protests Sharp_one whats wrong with your ruling party? Why do some members of your government think they should have the right to appoint members of the supreme court and judiciary....this was an unacceptable expectation that was set and would never be tolerated in a Democratic institution like the EU Well your president has prudently vetoed, I dont think he wanted to but he had no choice, these proposed laws. I imagine you must be feeling very embarrassed by what your government tried to do?

I like Kushner but my verdict is definitely uncertain on Scaramucci ....he is nauseatingly obsequious to Trump but that may be part of his strategy to generally rebuild a better relationship with the media. In other words he has to pay the constant public homage to Trump that is expected from all Trump supporters but he will work behind the scenes to create a more robust and constructive working environment from the White House around communication strategy

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-sanctions-idUSKBN1A70L0 Now this is an interesting story, Democrat and Republican lawmakers working together to ensure Trump cant limit sanctions against Russia

volo the USA is a free society. It has free speech, free media and freedom to vote for who you want amongst other things common in almost all Western societies You still haven't defined what "true freedom " is so its impossible to really continue this type of debate with you

You know we have a problem when the US president starts looking into " if he can pardon himself " http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-defends-pardoning-everyone-did-nothing-wrong-640678

volo dont be afraid of the truth, Russia did interfere in the US election with an intention to undermine Clinton and assure that Trump won I can explain anything about this you may not be clear on?

Im glad Spicer is gone but he had an almost insurmountable task trying to decipher and ameliorate the mercurial and confusing tweets and comments of Trump...no one would get that one right as White House Press Secretary for Trump, especially in the beginning of his presidency I like Anthony Scaramucci, he seems to understand and respect normal engagement and interaction with institutions like the Media, it will be great to start to move away from the world of " alternative facts "

Im sure you remember my personal experience with my niece and drug addiction, I have learnt and believe the best way to help people who are addicts is to follow a strict and uncompromising approach You dont cut them off like her family did but rather keep an open door but only if they are prepared to go to rehab. So you absolutely support them around getting to rehab and helping them on that initiative only The addict must want to take that first step to getting clean, if they aren't prepared to do that you have to keep your distance Under no circumstances must you support them if they aren't in rehab or prepared to go. So if they chose to live on the street and do drugs that has to be there reality Yes this is also a good overall point, this is very common is SA There are real examples of homeless people who need to beg to survive. Poverty is there only outcome and its about survival For other people being homeless is something they could change through concerted effort

I didnt play BG1 but BG2 was the best RPG I have ever played, I did play IWD1 and it was great....not excellent but great It seems strange to have not played POE yet, I agree...better late than never I suppose I normally wait till the first or second patch to be released than I play, in this case it appears I fell victim to an artful Time Elemental and after he manipulated the time stream it appears I am still waiting for those patches...what year is it ? Thanks for the helpful tips

I know for a fact that there are people in South Africa who chose to live on the street as it gets them a decent income from begging 2133 is making the classic " SJ assumption 101 " , he means well but he lives in a first world country and thinks there is no such thing as beggars who want to live on the street and staying poor

Trump is much more of an embarrassment and has created real consternation and discord in the USA He is not a dictator and has done several positive things in the USA but we still have to wait for his 4 years to end I doubt Hilary would have created such a dysfunctional, dichotomy in the USA around left and right wing? U would also agree our media's unhealthy obsession with him has also lended to our embarrassment and discord as well? I strongly dislike the man and even moreso as our president, BUT would we really be embarrassed/outraged/etc AS MUCH if our media didn't latch onto every action/speech/etc and twist it even further? Would we have all the street parades we've had without the media poking even further and beyond? The scienctists so far seem to be the only ones who "justly" from his actions in office to protest. You do make some valid points. But to put things in context, I watch loads of news channels and on channels like CNN it would appear that they are always talking about Trump and criticizing him or analyzing his comments Yes its constant but its because he seems to always make controversial comments yet I have to say I only watch selectively times so I dont get bored So if I have to screen a channel like CNN then you must find it exaperastating

Trump is much more of an embarrassment and has created real consternation and discord in the USA He is not a dictator and has done several positive things in the USA but we still have to wait for his 4 years to end I doubt Hilary would have created such a dysfunctional, dichotomy in the USA around left and right wing? There would be plenty of dysfunction to go around. Just a different sort. But at least we are spared the shrieking chorus of "misogyny, misogyny!" very time the congress controlled by one party opposed something a President of the other party wanted to do. Like how they cried "Racism, racism!" the last 8 years? Its strange but there was a time before the election where I would disagreed with some of this post but now I basically agree, I cant handle another SJ crusade like we saw in the election where it missed certain developments and alliances. The outcome was 9 months where I was glued to many news networks watching in " horror and contempt " as Trump insulted every minority I knew....yet he didnt really and I felt I had been hoodwinked and Trump won https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/04/28/trumps-first-100-days-what-has-president-trump-done-so-far/?utm_term=.6a9c1ddc6e33 I wont lie I just searched for this as I needed to find a few examples and I was battling

Not every day... but often. I'm not just posting to read my own words though. I am trying to convince the half dozen or more posters here that are receptive to it to think about the country outside the Republican/Democrat binary death trap. In the last 25 years we've had two Republican Presidents and two Democrat Presidents and Congresses controlled by either and both parties along the way. The tax rates are relatively stable and social change with a few notable exceptions has been pretty predictable. The economy goes up, the economy goes down because it is largely beyond the control of those whose hands are on the levers of power. Did Obamacare bring healthcare to all Americans? No, all it did was FORCE everyone to BUY insurance and tax half the people to subsidize the cost for the other half. And the price only goes up. The Republican version does the same thing essentially with the added benefit of raising the cost further because of high risk pools. So Republicans, Democrats, round and round it goes but not much changes right? No, the number of incarcerated Americans per 100k has risen from 800 to over 1450 in the last 20 years. Shootings by police have spiked in the last 20 years. The number of property seizures due to imminent domain and civil asset forfeiture has increased four hundred times since 2005. Not to mention the domestic spying, warrantless wiretaps, data seizures, hell they even want to know what library books we're reading. And overseas on non stop parade of interventions, air strikes, bombings, invasions, and drone strikes. That is not to say all of them are unnecessary, just that it never ends. The last US President to not order US forces into combat (not counting declared wars or UN actions) was Herbert Hoover. So the big things the Dems & Repubs have in common are no matter who wins Americans gradually become less free and we become more entangled in overseas conflicts that cost money and lives and pays us back... nothing really. A wise man once said if you find yourself in a hole the first step to get out is to stop digging. If any country ever needed a fresh perspective, this one does. That's why I keep reminding everyone. I can understand you repeating the general point, it is one of those posts you can easily repost and its always interesting to read

Trump is much more of an embarrassment and has created real consternation and discord in the USA He is not a dictator and has done several positive things in the USA but we still have to wait for his 4 years to end I doubt Hilary would have created such a dysfunctional, dichotomy in the USA around left and right wing?