rogpodge

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Viewing 15 posts - 571 through 585 (of 636 total)
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  • in reply to: Immigrants in an SUV crash #4444
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    I’m not sure the reference to “buses” was some weird racist dogwhistle.  My read was it was an effort to say that the accident may have been a vehicle transporting farm workers to work (and thus a violation of labor laws) as opposed to human trafficking.

    https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/california/story/2021-03-03/cause-of-crash-that-killed-13-still-a-mystery-as-is-why-25-people-were-packed-into-suv

    This article also refers to “buses” in this context.  While I agree that the media uses trigger words, particularly in headlines, to shade the news, I don’t think this is a proper example of the practice, nor is it a Fox-specific issue.

    in reply to: Please keep Rocky in your thoughts #4263
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    Yikes.  I hope we’ve gotten much better at treating COVID.  What other symptoms is he experiencing?  Did his wife’s symptoms completely clear?  Here’s hoping for a quick recovery.

    in reply to: Governance by Executive Order #4240
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    What is more surprising is that a bunch of lawyers didn’t line up to challenge each and every one of them.

    in reply to: Which way for stocks? #4220
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    Sigh.  The Fed’s job is not to prop up the stock market, a complaint I’ve had since Bush II.  We have asset bubbles in everything, but at least we don’t (currently) have a bubble in bad debt (that I’m aware of).

    I bought some REITs during the pandemic crash in my Roth accounts.  I bought some tech as well.  But I have little confidence in the current stock market, I just feel like inflation, higher energy costs, and other factors will result in a rebalancing of the economy.  At the same time, the international economies aren’t exactly in great shape, and there aren’t that many asset classes that look attractive.  Maybe crypto?

    in reply to: The state of journalism #4175
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    “Saratoga (NY) Living” decided to publish a hit piece saying that the Barstool Fund gave $200,000 to Saratoga’s oldest Irish pub, then stating about Dave Portnoy, “But he’s anything but a do-gooder.”

    Still terrible.  Glad he’s pushing back.

    in reply to: Twitter suspends trump permanently #4166
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    The background is, Twitter decided to unilaterally remove accounts supporting the current dictator ahead of an election, including official government accounts.  Of course, the dictator then suspended internet access to Twitter, Facebook, etc., WHICH PROBABLY HURTS THE OPPOSITION MORE THAN SHUTTING DOWN THE PRO-GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS.  In addition, it gives the current government an election interference talking point that will probably increase support for the current government.  Then Twitter decides to tweet that open access to the internet is a human right, which will be thrown back at them during the access lawsuits that are coming.  Really brilliant legal strategy, guys.

    in reply to: Trump’s Speech on January 6th. #4165
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    This is a thread from the NY Times which provides a timeline of January 6.  These are the same people who put together the Kyle Rittenhouse timeline that shows it was self-defense, showing that someone is able to do actual investigative journalism at the NY Times and present the facts without judgment.

    This comports with my view that the President’s speech does not constitute “fighting words,” let alone incitement.

    in reply to: Twitter suspends trump permanently #4144
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    Do we have a free market in this space?  In any space?

    in reply to: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised #4130
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    Our institutions have failed us, and I don’t see them getting better.  The media is fomenting division, and has lost all credibility.  Our politicians are choosing to energize their base / the extreme elements of their parties, rather than trying to find common ground.  The Biden, but especially the Harris speech yesterday showed that they aren’t interested in unity.

    I will wait and see regarding why Congress was stormed, and who brought lead pipes and hit a Capitol Officer with a fire extinguisher.  I want evidence, not the knee jerk accusations of the media or the defenses proffered by the organizers.  I believe that the main Stop the Steal organizers acted in good faith, but that they should have anticipated that agitators would take advantage of the situation and worked to stop it.  The President should have anticipated this as well, and been very clear that no violence would be tolerated.

    What is the path forward?  I believe we need to de-politicize the media, and we need social media to figure out a more even-handed means of moderation.  There’s a saying that politics ruin everything, and we’re seeing that play out right now.  Everything is viewed through the lens of politics, and as a result, people pick and choose their tribe and engage in a severe form of tribalism we haven’t seen in a long time. Our media is an extreme for of this.  Journalists no longer investigate, they form narratives and try to find evidence for their narrative.  Here’s an example:

    I chose a more neutral tweet about this incident.  A few things: 1) the reporter could have easily asked the officials in the various counties why senior citizens were waiting in line… you know… doing journalism; 2) Desantis is correct that her main question was why are there problems and the answer is high demand; and 3) the part of the question she wanted was basically a no-win question that is completely improper for a journalist… trying to get Desantis to say that Florida doesn’t have a plan (which is false).  But this played out in a polarizing way on Twitter, because the journalist then made this about herself “getting bullied” by Desantis.  Desantis could have been better about answering, “Look, our state’s plan is to get this vaccine to as many people as possible, but if you look at each county’s plan, some of the counties haven’t made good distribution plans, and we’re doing what we can to maximize vaccinations without micromanaging them.”

    But our media / journalists are no longer journalists.  They’re propagandists pushing an agenda, with no in between.  There are no more Jim Lehrers.  For example, do you know who Roy Ball is?  Twitter does.

    Now there’s additional video of him yelling at another woman during the rally.  As far as I’m aware, the rally in Los Angeles got heated, and there were several incidents (and the incident involving the woman he’s holding may have been a mistaken identity that lead to something a lot worse).  Still, journalists and celebrities immediately called for his firing, were successful, and have not apologized or acknowledged that they jumped to a conclusion based on a photo and a bunch of tweets.  We live in a mob-rule society where anyone can have the mob whipped into a frenzy against them at any moment for anything.

    Not only is this perpetual state of outrage making us unhappy, it’s also affecting our ability to take a breath, wait for evidence, and then evaluate the evidence. The media and Big Tech are to blame, but they have no sense of self-awareness, and no incentive to self-correct (because the financial incentives are to continue pushing up engagement numbers and short term dopamine hits for clicks).  What’s the way out?  I’m not sure, other than we need to de-politicize everything.

    in reply to: Vaccines into arms. . . . #4108
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    Well, a couple things.  1) Israel basically said, old people first, but if the vaccine is about to expire, anyone can get it, and 2) governors / locals didn’t want to take the same approach.  In fact, NY and CA both stated by executive order that there would be fines and license revocations for people who didn’t administer the vaccines according to schedule, then enacted all sorts of byzantine standards for administration.  Add onto that licensing requirements, and boom, barely any vaccines get distributed.

    He’s right here.  This is ridiculous.  The more people, based on risk profile, vaccinated, the better.  No dose should be wasted, and more vaccinations is better than no vaccination.

    in reply to: Why do we negotiate with law breakers? #4046
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    San Diego used to be a conservative / Republican town because of the heavy naval presence.  Now it’s a battleground, with the school system getting rid of grades because they are racist?

    An Anti-Racist Education for Middle Schoolers

    As for why Seattle and Portland allow CHAZ related anarchy, it’s because their voting bases have elected explicitly anti-police leaders.  They’ve changed the rules of engagement (with Ted Wheeler taking over the police department), and as a result, de-escalation and appeasement are the priority.  What happens when you appease any group that wants to seize power?  They seize more power.  At some point, the neighborhoods demand eviction, and then a painful balancing / negotiation occurs.

    Here’s a fun analysis of why this is all happening.

    It’s because journalists and activists are in their own self-justifying echo chamber.

    in reply to: The stimulus and moral hazard. #4040
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    I’m assuming this is for staff salaries, not for Congress (they can’t raise their pay without an intervening election).  But there’s a LOT of pork in this bill.

    Back in the good ol’ days, the media would have been all over the pork, but today… they won’t report on it, leaving it for people to get outraged on Twitter (and some congressmen and congresswomen to tweet about it).  They’re setting us up to accept “modern monetary theory” and make government such a large part of our economy, that politics will consume our lives.

    in reply to: Trump’s lame duck activity #4033
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    Huh.  It’s as if big tech knows how a Biden administration will work.  This lobbying firm is suddenly awash in clients.

    Amazing.

    in reply to: Trump’s lame duck activity #4029
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    The story is relevant to lame duck activity because 1) there’s a potential Special Counsel appointment, and 2) the difference in media coverage / high tech suppression of the story will demonstrate that the media and the tech companies actively interfered in an election.  Furthermore, it looks like the media will basically take a nap for a few years as it takes PR / damage control narratives from the DNC.

    in reply to: Trump’s lame duck activity #4022
    Avatarrogpodge
    Participant

    [quote quote=4010]\I’m not sure what Hunter Biden has to do with this, but it is not surprising that his name gets dropped in a response to a thread about Trump. Can’t let an opportunity go by without mentioning Hunter Biden. [/quote]

    Hunter Biden is accused of selling access and influence.  Why is he relevant?  Because he is accused of selling access to, and the influence of… Joe Biden.  Not just selling access and influence, but selling access and influence to China, and committing actual interference with the Ukrainian justice system.  There is evidence for this, and it was suppressed by the media and Big Tech.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Wisconsin_gubernatorial_election

     

Viewing 15 posts - 571 through 585 (of 636 total)