The All Things Political Topic - As a Bright Lord bears Beacons of flame.

[Gorth]

2 hours ago, BruceVC said:

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2021/10/furious-diner-left-stunned-by-37000-bill-at-salt-baes-new-london-restaurant/

Imagine having the money to spend about $51K on a meal.....a single meal for 4 people ( and it doesnt matter they are complaining. They still ordered it )

Now that is outrageous and an example of ostentatious and egregious consumption

They might not have kept track of their spending

 

But there are places for the top 1%, there you don't ask about the price. Luxury clothes, Jewelry, Furniture, Cars, fancy restaurants etc. How about a $80000 Cognac to take home for tonight's dessert?

https://luxurylaunches.com/gastronomy/a-80000-cognac-remy-martin-opens-the-worlds-first-louis-xiii-boutique-2.php

 

[Raithe]

Indigenous Community Demand Fox News Firings After Racist Comments - Comic Sands

Surprise Surprise...

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, Raithe said:

Indigenous Community Demand Fox News Firings After Racist Comments - Comic Sands

Surprise Surprise...

Campos-Duffy went on to assert Christopher Columbus—long wrongly credited with "discovering" the United States and the Western—is "the first victim of cancel culture."

What the ****?

[Darkpriest]

Seems people in NYC are cancelling Jefferson

This is too funny... 

Brits probably wish he was cancelled this few hundreds years ago

[HoonDing]

It's not like every Founding Father wasn't a terrible human being.

[BruceVC]

29 minutes ago, Darkpriest said:

Seems people in NYC are cancelling Jefferson

This is too funny... 

Brits probably wish he was cancelled this few hundreds years ago

What do you mean Dark ?

[Gromnir]

47 minutes ago, HoonDing said:

It's not like every Founding Father wasn't a human being.

fixed

jefferson were an eloquent and educated man who were a major contributor in the creation o' what would become modern democracy. he were also petty and bigoted and am willing to bet he had bo and bad breath. 

"cancel," whatever that means, is often an overreaction but am recognizing the mythologizing o' historic figures is making the zealous efforts to find and highlight flaws is kinda predictable and perhaps even admirable on some level. if the initial teaching were more balanced and nuanced, more real, then there wouldn't be so many people decrying the "lies" and "falsehoods" which has become ingrained in the national mythology. 

the founders weren't saints. individually the founders were self-interested men with unique character flaws (sometimes amusing flaws, but all too often terrible flaws) who thought they could do better not only for themselves but for their country. 

HA! Good Fun!

[Raithe]

It's always hard to do a "they were men of their time" and have that aspect of it's really awkward to judge people by the morality and ethics of a time several hundred  years different.

As I posted in the weird but interesting thread, Columbus was judged horrible by the people of his own time.

However, with the founding fathers (and speaking as a Brit), they had equal amounts of genius, flair, pettiness, hypocritical attitudes, and innovative beliefs. But the Americans have really pushed the mythologising sainthood aspects of them over time. So it's kind of interesting to see some of this peeling back of who they actually were.

But still, it's all trying to examine people in the context of their time and the cultures around them, not the standards we have now.

[Gromnir]

28 minutes ago, Raithe said:

It's always hard to do a "they were men of their time" and have that aspect of it's really awkward to judge people by the morality and ethics of a time several hundred  years different.

 

we specific don't do that. jefferson, for example, were highly educated and as such his exposure to questions o' racial equality were different in kind and quality compared to george washington. 

men. human beings. individuals.

am not thinking americans got some kinda monopoly on mythologizing historical heroes and villains, but am gonna admit we got far too many who do not have any awareness that waht is being taught in schools and with monuments and national symbols is mythology and the current knee-jerk defense o' one end o' the political spectrum perpetuating the mythology is unfortunate and self-serving, 'cause like jefferson, many o' the most public recognizable folks pushing the mythology is self-aware and not ignorant rubes.

HA! Good Fun!

Edited October 19, 2021 by Gromnir

[BruceVC]

On 10/18/2021 at 12:43 AM, Hurlsnot said:

It is weird that you call this a liberal sentiment. Like, is it a conservative sentiment that only some people are good enough to succeed in life? "Hey kids, your potential is limited, so just kick back and accept your lot in life." 

One of my nieces is 13 and attends an excellent public sector school. In the province they live they just had a Maths Challenge where schools let the best Math kids compete in tests. Their were initially 2500 kids who competed in a test and then the top 400 competed in another round 

And out of this 400 they awarded and recognised  the top 100. 10 got gold, 20 got silver and the rest go bronze. 

My niece got bronze and we very proud of her, do you think this is wrong and all 2500 kids should have got bronze medals? How does this help anyone when our societies no longer want to recognize gifted kids or excellence when it comes to different subjects and skills?

 

 

[ComradeYellow]

Shared territorial concern, opposition to US intervention prompt Russia’s support to China on Taiwan question - Global Times

Russia (somewhat surprisingly) doubling down on support for China regarding the Taiwan question.  Moscow calculates two things:

1) Taiwan will cede to China with minimal resistance on its own terms.

2) The U.S. will not intervene unless they go full throttle in their defense of Taiwan aka near total warfare.  Moscow doesn't think that the U.S. will.

My opinion?  If China absorbs Taiwan right now there is a good chance the U.S. will retaliate in force.  However, with the serious underlying social issues brewing up in the U.S., there's a good chance they could get away with it sometime in the near future.  The current domestic issues in the U.S. are far too severe and dire to simply put them aside and unite against the Red Dragon. 

[BruceVC]

9 minutes ago, ComradeYellow said:

Shared territorial concern, opposition to US intervention prompt Russia’s support to China on Taiwan question - Global Times

Russia (somewhat surprisingly) doubling down on support for China regarding the Taiwan question.  Moscow calculates two things:

1) Taiwan will cede to China with minimal resistance on its own terms.

2) The U.S. will not intervene unless they go full throttle in their defense of Taiwan aka near total warfare.  Moscow doesn't think that the U.S. will.

My opinion?  If China absorbs Taiwan right now there is a good chance the U.S. will retaliate in force.  However, with the serious underlying social issues brewing up in the U.S., there's a good chance they could get away with it sometime in the near future.  The current domestic issues in the U.S. are far too severe and dire to simply put them aside and unite against the Red Dragon. 

Of course the US wont go to war with China over Taiwan , this is an absurd suggestion

We care about the sovereignty of Taiwan but not that much to risk a real war that would have a hugely negative impact to the importance and sustainability of   globalisation that both the US and China are part of. But their will be additional criticism and economic sanctions against China and the CCP will continue to be seen as a  problematic member of the international community

Where you would see a possibility of Western military intervention is if China invaded Australia or something similar but thats not going to happen because despite all the recalcitrance from  the CCP they seem to stick to undermining Democracies and " independant " regions  within their own territory that they feel are historically theirs like Tibet, HK and Taiwan 

 

[Gorth]

The world still needs to up their own chip production before they can sit idle by and watch China invade Taiwan...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-world-relies-on-one-chip-maker-in-taiwan-leaving-everyone-vulnerable-11624075400

Even if Qualcomm "only" produces 12% of the worlds chips by now (down from 37%), its still something that currently sits in 60% of the words cars...

Not that I'm a proponent of cars mind you. Best thing ever was the the total lockdown where the streets were empty and the air felt fresher. A memory of a world freed from cars that will stick with me

[BruceVC]

16 minutes ago, Gorth said:

The world still needs to up their own chip production before they can sit idle by and watch China invade Taiwan...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-world-relies-on-one-chip-maker-in-taiwan-leaving-everyone-vulnerable-11624075400

Even if Qualcomm "only" produces 12% of the worlds chips by now (down from 37%), its still something that currently sits in 60% of the words cars...

Not that I'm a proponent of cars mind you. Best thing ever was the the total lockdown where the streets were empty and the air felt fresher. A memory of a world freed from cars that will stick with me

 Taiwan is a successful and well run economy and they do produce certain important products so yes this impact if they invaded and ruined by China, like HK, needs to be considered 

[Hurlshort]

6 hours ago, BruceVC said:

One of my nieces is 13 and attends an excellent public sector school. In the province they live they just had a Maths Challenge where schools let the best Math kids compete in tests. Their were initially 2500 kids who competed in a test and then the top 400 competed in another round 

And out of this 400 they awarded and recognised  the top 100. 10 got gold, 20 got silver and the rest go bronze. 

My niece got bronze and we very proud of her, do you think this is wrong and all 2500 kids should have got bronze medals? How does this help anyone when our societies no longer want to recognize gifted kids or excellence when it comes to different subjects and skills?

 

 

I do not think everyone should get a medal. I think everyone should have a chance to compete. In a gifted program, only the top students are even given the chance.

I also don't think these game show style competitions are all that important to the educational process as a whole, but that is an entirely different can of worms. 

[Amentep]

I was on the math team in high school, and competed in state wide tournaments, and we lost.  And we didn't get any medals or awards.

And it didn't scar me for life.  Being on a math team in high school, however...  

[Gromnir]

47 minutes ago, Amentep said:

I was on the math team in high school, and competed in state wide tournaments, and we lost.  And we didn't get any medals or awards.

And it didn't scar me for life.  Being on a math team in high school, however...  

'course you weren't scarred. converse, not being able to endure the ordinary and everyday competition o' adult life mighta' scarred you.

first team on your high school football team is the gifted program for football players. those players get more attention from coaches. more coaching and more opportunities to make plays means a better chance to get recruited by power conference d-1 programs, and the cycle only continues and becomes more savage. we mention 'cause we find amusing hurl actual used an nfl team as an example to support his position-- the worst player on the 49ers had to survive years o' the most bitter and unforgiving competition simple to make an nfl team. most real world jobs involve competition, although not to the degree a pro football player had to overcome. a minor ankle sprain limited your participation during spring practice o' your sophomore year at usc or alabama, and that were enough to prevent you from ever being a starter? didn't start in spite o' being all-everything in high school and chances you get drafted by the nfl is approaching zero? not fair? is real. 

am fine with hurl pov as he is teaching middle schoolers, but at some point we are not helping kids by sheltering 'em from real world brutal. yeah, as an educator hurl should be more concerned with actual educating kids in subject matter as 'posed to shattering their illusions, and is not much evidence the gifted programs produce smarter students. if you start with high achieving kids, is not exact a surprise those kids end up achieving at a greater rate, yes? the results o' gifted programs is dubious, but am also recognizing educators got blind spots, and they selective ignore how they themselves teach math classes. at some point in high school, kids who didn't achieve in math are taught separate from the kids who did. and guess what, the kids taking calculus in high school is more likely to attend college than are the students taking remedial maths. 

no doubt we waste a great deal o' human capital by stressing competition as 'posed to maximizing potential o' everybody. tragic. unfortunate, until hurl manages to alter society as a whole, he is stuck educating kids many o' whom is going to eventual join a workforce where the jobs which offer the best compensation also require competition which far exceeds whatever you experienced on your math team.

 HA! Good Fun!

Edited October 20, 2021 by Gromnir

[BruceVC]

 

@Gfted1

 

https://thefederalistpapers.org/us/chicago-mayor-lightfoot-claims-police-union-trying-induce-insurrection-vaccine-mandates

Gfted1 what is the real story in  your opinion about your major? She seems to have really alienated the police in Chicago with her overreach around certain BLM objectives, like saying all the police are racist and supporting defunding,  that I have always felt are unhelpful and antagonistic

Or is the loss of confidence in her from the Chicago police not related to BLM outcomes and is it something else? I know you guys have high levels of gun related homicides related to gang violence but what do most people you know think about her and the job she is doing  ?

[Gfted1]

I personally think shes doing a good job, but I have friends and business owners who feel she, and Gov. Pritzker, are the devil incarnate. Regarding the police and vaccinations, imo, every single public employee should be vaccinated or handed their walking papers.

[BruceVC]

Just now, Gfted1 said:

I personally think shes doing a good job, but I have friends and business owners who feel she, and Gov. Pritzker, are the devil incarnate. Regarding the police and vaccinations, imo, every single public employee should be vaccinated or handed their walking papers.

Yes I agree vaccines in any job that is public facing need to be mandated and that includes both private and public sector

But I do think part of the push back from the police is not so much about vaccines but rather because she doesnt have their confidence anymore 

[ComradeYellow]

Brooklyn Lawyers Plead Guilty in Firebomb Case - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Lawyers gone lawless.

I mean yeah keep up the good fight, Lord knows we need less controlling whitey f**** running around

However, risking 10 years in prison...yeah that's not for me, call me old fashioned but I'd rather fight on a battlefield than in the streets.

[Guard Dog]

With regard to the whole Jefferson, statue, founding fathers thing, they were men shaped by the times they lived in. As are we all. Declaring most people "good" or "bad" without consideration of the world they lived in does them a disservice. There are exceptions of course. 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

23 minutes ago, Guard Dog said:

With regard to the whole Jefferson, statue, founding fathers thing, they were men shaped by the times they lived in. As are we all. Declaring most people "good" or "bad" without consideration of the world they lived in does them a disservice. There are exceptions of course. 

We're alwaya been shaped by the world we live in though. The whole thing seems to be a bit of a dodge, because you can find people in ye olden tymes that concluded such things were bad. I mean it's impossible to speak for people who've been dead for centuries, but I'm pretty sure that the people who were owned by the founding fathers had a pretty good idea that the concept of slavery was ****ed before phrenology got debunked.

To be specific to Jefferson, the more you learn about the guy the slimier he is. I grew up being taught he was a brilliant hero, then learned about Sally Hemmings which brings both pedophilia and rape to the table, then of course the usual racism. I don't blame people who don't want to honor a guy like that with statues regardless of him being from a time when such was socially acceptable.

[Raithe]

On the tangent from Jefferson...

Indy100 - Trump ridiculed after getting basic piece of history about the US constitution wrong

So many people so quickly responding with the "uh. Jefferson was in  France. He never wrote it."

 

[Guard Dog]

1 hour ago, Raithe said:

On the tangent from Jefferson...

Indy100 - Trump ridiculed after getting basic piece of history about the US constitution wrong

So many people so quickly responding with the "uh. Jefferson was in  France. He never wrote it."

 

Correct me if I'm wrong here but I'm pretty sure that was Madison.

In other news Trump once again showed how classless he is in trashing Colin Powell right after he passed. Not that Powell should be exempt from criticism but c'mon man. We haven't even had the funeral yet.  De mortuis nihil nisi bonum