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 No.14036[Reply]

File: 1721801868514.jpg (236.23 KB, 1080x1528, 135:191, Screenshot_20240724_011221….jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

I could link this story but don't want to think about the circumstances any more than I already have.

I want to exercise at least a little bit of political empathy these days, since it's 2024, but I genuinely can't begin to understand why Republicans support this sort of thing and view it as just the way of tradition because of "law and order". Anybody that a police officer perceives as being in the way or otherwise a problem doesn't seem to have any freedoms in America? I guess? Maybe I should simply shut up and accept the nature of conservatism, with state power and authority being without question?

If you're in danger from criminals, should you actually call the police for assistance? Is there a point? Aren't they highly likely to hurt you, at worst, or even, at best, to refuse to actually lift a finger to defend you?

Am I being too cynical? I feel the instinct to embrace anarchism at times. Nobody will save victimized people except themselves? Perhaps? Maybe the most hardliner of the far left extremists who don't even want like, say, the ATF, CIA, FBI, etc to exist are making sense?
11 posts omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.14061

File: 1722031973028.png (298.29 KB, 718x720, 359:360, Screenshot_20240726-181120….png) ImgOps Google

>>14059
Watch more carefully.  You can see the water from the pot splash on the ground.

 No.14062

File: 1722032044557.jpeg (34.47 KB, 641x526, 641:526, GTIr7XhXsAAl-g2.jpeg) ImgOps Google


 No.14063

File: 1722032060885.jpeg (45.78 KB, 785x680, 157:136, GTIr7XhWcAAI_YT.jpeg) ImgOps Google


 No.13097[Reply]

File: 1712385402273.jpeg (213.47 KB, 1290x1218, 215:203, tr6ft0jfoosc1.jpeg) ImgOps Google

Do you ever think we're going to see a time where birth control will be banned?

I have to wonder how many people are currently in favor of it, together with porn lately there seems to be a vocal push to get rid of both.

(also divorce)

(twitter source for OP https://twitter.com/LizzieMarbach/status/1775882953790230666)
12 posts and 6 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.13623

idk... i think many people against birth control r more against the culture that seems to frequently surround birth control use rather than birth control itself

 No.13624

>>13623
This is definitely true. It can oftentimes be a "For me, not for thee" kind of thing.

 No.14060

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/26/texas-teenage-birth-control-lawsuit

Are we going to assume a republican president will turn this around?

 No.14009[Reply]

File: 1721587116819.png (90.26 KB, 423x423, 1:1, Screenshot_2024-07-21_14-3….png) ImgOps Google

It's Joever!

https://x.com/JoeBiden/status/1815087772216303933
5 posts and 2 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.14022

>>14011
Republicans hate everybody who's not a Republican with the seething fire of a thousand suns.

Democrats don't hate anybody with very few exceptions and their primary motivation is to work on winning over Republicans because they think that the other party is full of kind and smart people who're just mistaken.

This is why Democrats are pathetic, wimpy, cowardly, spineless, hypocritical, weak, contradictory, and all around useless while the Republicans are an efficient pack of highly determined and emotionally strong fanatics with round male parts the size of watermelons.

It's hard to put into words for me as a Democrat how much psychological effort and time I've wasted as a result of me trying not to hurt the feelings of Republicans and to otherwise ruin myself on the inside trying to make nice with them.

As 'Spaceballs' put it:

>

 No.14053

>>14009

..a good stopping point for those who follow politics too much. we wont hear bidens name nymore, and we all already know wat trump is about. political agnosticism is the way.

 No.14056

File: 1721924925407.png (976.65 KB, 980x1357, 980:1357, Screenshot_20240725-122735.png) ImgOps Google


 No.13924[Reply]

File: 1721245655986.jpg (89.19 KB, 1080x1182, 180:197, image0.jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

I'm wondering why this is something that Congressional Republicans don't have to apologize for
49 posts and 5 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.14018

>>14017
Birds groom themselves and eachother.
You can groom someone into becoming your successor.


The definition is much wider than the sexual predation one and the sexual meaning is most certainly not the original definition.

 No.14020

Honestly... I'm just about done... emotionally...

It's now eight decades after Hitler, the Nazis, and the Holocaust.

I know that the world is full of idiots who still agree with their brainless claims that Jewish people, gay people, bisexual people, disabled people, and transgender people are inherently more likely to be child molesters.

And many of these idiots happen to decide to live in America.

At this point, I strongly believe that normal people who just want to live their regular lives should just tell those extremists to f**k off.

 No.14023


>>14018

Obviously the word grooming in older than that, however, in the context of a post #MeToo movement consciousness of sexual groomers, especially pedophilic groomers has absolutely entered general public consciousness before the right adopted the term as a buzz word for transgender people in 2022.

This act of playing dumb about that was done first by professional opinion-havers like Ben Shapiro back then. It's not fooling anyone anymore.

 No.13671[Reply]

File: 1719295264260.jpg (40.45 KB, 704x396, 16:9, cropped_using_insulin_on_c….jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

If somebody has come down with a serious medical condition such as diabetes, pneumonia, tuberculosis, or even a form of cancer, and they simply don't have the funds to pay for treatment, then what in exact detail should happen to that person? Particularly given that those four major ailments still now kill a large number of people?

For more information about the cost of managing diabetes in particular, see: https://www.goodrx.com/conditions/diabetes/true-cost-of-diabetes
40 posts and 14 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.13999

>>13997
You seem to fundamentally not understand "rights" as a concept to where I'm not sure if we even should talk anymore. Like all I can say here is that you should look up a physical history book and crack it open or maybe watch a bunch of full online documentaries showing how the very ideas were thought up in the first place.

 No.14002

>>13999
Did you honestly think rights were a magical law of the universe that defaults such things as true?

I find it ironic you tell me to consult a history book when they'll all tell you the same as well.
Rights are not something absolute and inherent in this world. They only function as a matter of moral philosophy. Which of course is the basis for most those whom explored and examined such things.

 No.14021

>>14002
Is it possible for you to open up a book of some kind and understand what the word "rights" means?

You seem to think that all forms of all ideas expressed throughout time are all just empty and arbitrarily found opinions that're all equivalent.

Which I guess would make sense if you're somebody who's cynical to the point of mental illness, but me and the other normal people out there don't live like that.

Stalin claiming to have the "right" to kidnap the Tatar children during the early 1900s versus the NRA claiming to have the "right" to resist an absolute state ban on handguns are not the same thing. For example. It's not just a matter that everybody has opinions and all opinions are the same. Jesus Christ. Get over yourself.

 No.13727[Reply]

File: 1719847212960.jpg (192.15 KB, 1080x1887, 360:629, Screenshot_20240701_101820….jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

Last Friday night, a thirteen-year-old kid in New York State was playing outside with a realistic looking toy designed to replicate a Glock 17 type handgun. He was with another young boy outside. After nearby cops mistook the two for adults, the kid apparently appeared to pull the pellet gun as if it was a real weapon. He is now dead at the hands of the then (in my opinion, justifiably) terrified police officers.

https://www.npr.org/2024/06/30/nx-s1-5024161/utica-police-shooting-nyah-mway

What should be done to prevent tragedies such as these from happening? Isn't something significantly wrong when a fake firearm can be easily mistaken for a real one? Or maybe a ban just isn't workable? Perhaps it's even unethical? Even if these are decent toys for adults, well, how to deal with children using them?

Note that the screenshot here is from a hobbyist company that sells similar products.
2 posts omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.13730

>>13728
Yes. I agree. The OP image in particular is kind of terrible in that as somebody myself who used to work for a police department (not as a police officer) I can picture being scared to death of somebody pulling it out.

 No.13732

>>13727
Sounds like a parenting issue, not really a toy issue.
At 13 years old, you'd have to be pretty stupid to point anything that looks like a weapon at our trigger happy modern cops.

Then again, this is New York, so for all I know they could've planted it and made up a story...

 No.13733

>>13729
Indeed.

 No.13986[Reply]

File: 1721354353447.png (354.89 KB, 1080x1115, 216:223, Screenshot_20240718-140205.png) ImgOps Google

For a while, people have been subject to "cancel culture" attacks for not complying with woke orthodoxy.  Now it seems that the shoe is on the other foot, and leftists are getting fired for expressing disappointment that the bullet missed.

What is the best strategy to restore a culture of free speech?  Should the right immediately refrain from attacks, or should a tit-for-tat strategy (i.e., defect followed by cooperate) be used?  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tit_for_tat#Game_theory
7 posts omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.13996

>>13990
>Like weird losers throughout the internet will literally spread naked pictures of their former partners plus stolen credit card numbers as well as disgusting threats of sexual abuse and even more.
I'm pretty sure all of that is blatantly illegal, and pretty much universally taken down when retorted.

 No.13998

>>13996
It's very obviously both morally wrong and illegal. It's that American law enforcement generally being so incompetent and mediocre, especially in management terms, doesn't enforce those laws anywhere near how things should be.

It's sort of like the principle that if people rarely put any clean toilet paper into a bathroom then there might as well not even be a bathroom existing there at all.

 No.14001

>>13998
I guess I'd agree.
American law enforcement does little well. Save maybe escalating encounters.

 No.13963[Reply]

File: 1721286926214.jpg (61.99 KB, 768x400, 48:25, I ANIT SICK JACK.jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

>Trump moves his head at the last second preventing his brains getting blown out on live tv
>Few days later
>Biden shouts I ANIT GOING NOWHERE ONLY A MEDICAL EPISODE COULD GET ME TO DROP OUT!
>Biden comes down with Covid


Who said politics is boring?
2 posts omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.13967

File: 1721298796830.jpeg (24.57 KB, 555x553, 555:553, yfw.jpeg) ImgOps Google

>>13966

Based centrism strikes again

 No.13969

File: 1721300398121.jpg (41.74 KB, 630x630, 1:1, 2754021_0.jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

>>13967
The absolute truth.

 No.13971

>>13966
I do think it's funny that Biden supposedly has covid but doesn't wear a mask.
But yeah, sure, shouldn't cheer the death of folk.

 No.13683[Reply]

File: 1719543270619.png (678.17 KB, 961x975, 961:975, Screenshot_20240627-225210.png) ImgOps Google

Biden seems to have done poorly in the debate...
He is down 10 percentage points in the presidential predictions...
49 posts and 17 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.13804

"Vice-President Trump"
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/11/joe-biden-press-conference-updates.html

:twi5: :twi5: :twi5:

 No.13805

File: 1720752539616.jpg (352.2 KB, 2560x1707, 2560:1707, Cassidy - Bernie Sanders t….jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

Bernie Sanders for president!!

 No.13936

Looks like Biden is getting Stumped

 No.13794[Reply]

File: 1720407558842.png (407.38 KB, 1080x772, 270:193, Screenshot_20240707-225554.png) ImgOps Google

I've seen a lot of complaints about the Electoral College in the US, but France is really taking it to the next level here!
7 posts and 3 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.13803

File: 1720744438858.png (364.74 KB, 686x909, 686:909, Literally-Hitler-And-The-L….png) ImgOps Google

Whether they're in Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, or whatever other place in Europe, to be truly honest, my instinct is to just go "fuck those people".

Eight decades after World War II and the Holocaust. It's long past time to pretend that there isn't a clear moral line between good and evil. Freedom and tyranny. Love and hate. Progress and regression. Yeah.

If I'm truly, deeply honest, after reading accounts of those who participated in the Nazi oppression directly such as the excellent but haunting book 'The German War', then I kind of wish there was some way that the conflict had worked out differently so that Berlin could've gotten nuked as well as those two major cities in Japan. Because the Berliners deserved it. They seriously did. Anybody with any doubts should spend just a few minutes looking up the screenshot's aforementioned group: the SS.

 No.13806

>>13803
With European far right, there is a clear reason why they are so popular.
It is however frustrating that you can't have a legit party that brings forth their valid points, while staying away from blatant Nazi apologizing, Putin cock sucking or diving into archaeo-conservative talking points.

 No.13836

>>13806
I realize that an important part of maturity and getting older is recognizing that a gigantic percentage of both Americans and Europeans think that Hitler and the historical Nazis were unfairly demonized. And you just have to accept this fact. Nothing will decrease the raw total of those large numbers. Same as accepting something like losing your hair, your joints hurting, bad breath coming upon you, and the like. I guess. Still. It just fucking sucks.

 No.13743[Reply]

File: 1719911219680.png (1.01 MB, 980x1235, 196:247, -country-boy-music.png) ImgOps Google

Do you think that the notion that your happiness is largely determined by where you live, particularly your kind of house if you're in one, and also what vehicle you drive, particularly your large truck or van if you've got one, like... does this all really matter?

Do these two things for the most part make you happy anywhere near people are told they do?
1 post and 1 image reply omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.13745

Money doesn't buy happiness, but it helps foor the bill.

To me a large part of happiness is being comfortable living a lifestyle you desire.

Having a house that is paid for, so you don't have to worry about rent, a house that is well enough equipped to not have a lot of bills for upkeep, and a car that gives you mobility to go wherever you like, whenever you like, that is also stable enough to not require worries about repairs, those go a long way into happiness for me.

Though, of course, there is a point to which it probably no longer matters how large your house is or how large your truck is.

If you prefer a lifestyle "on the road", you may prefer a larger truck and may be satisfied with a smaller house.

 No.13746

>Do you think that the notion that your happiness is largely determined by where you live

So, yes.  If you live in a swamp filled with diseased mosquitoes you are probably going to be less happy than if you lived on a nice temperate beach.  Your environment can have a big impact on your mood, though a lot of that is up to personal taste, too.

>particularly your kind of house if you're in one, and also what vehicle you drive, particularly your large truck or van if you've got one, like... does this all really matter?

This, much much less so.  Like there's definitely a lower threshold you should try to pass.  It's better to have shelter than not, and while transportation isn't strictly important, the ability to receive goods can be, unless you're fully self sufficient, but that can be difficult depending on your environment, refer to my first statement up above.

>Do these two things for the most part make you happy anywhere near people are told they do?

The people telling you that this makes you happy are the people selling you those things.  Real estate vultures and car salesmen are notorious for scamming people in a variety of ways, too.

 No.13751

>>13743
I think it plays a part. It's the 'hierarchy of needs', basically. Shelter is vital, as is the means to move from A to B.
I think a level of self reliability is vital to happiness, as else, you constantly have stressors.

 No.13521[Reply]

File: 1717024673669.jpg (357.87 KB, 1080x1895, 216:379, Screenshot_20240529_181146….jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

Do you ever wonder if in the future medication-resisting bacteria and viruses will cause an apocalypse type situation, someday, with something like half of the people where you live passing away? Or is this paranoia? Or maybe it's a matter of investing into medical services enough?

My instincts say that the disease risk to humanity alongside the AI risk to humanity are both serious and not at all a matter of paranoia but also are exaggerated, with there being less than 1/3 a chance of eventual human extinction. Maybe I'm just wrong?
10 posts and 5 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.13616

File: 1717794865171.jpg (819.41 KB, 1024x1024, 1:1, 525863d3-c322-4caa-909a-36….jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

A chiral-mirror version of cyanobacteria might lead to the extinction of most existing life on Earth...

 No.13632

I miss ebola..

 No.13725

File: 1719808665305.jpg (151.01 KB, 1050x1903, 1050:1903, EhnUXtBUwAEiEqp.jpg large.jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

>>13521
I don't think there's value in worrying about it. It's a big what-if and not one most people can do anything about.

But then I struggle with depression and culling unproductive thoughts is part of how I cope with that. So maybe y'all are seeing some kind of value I don't here.

 No.13468[Reply]

File: 1716449653487.jpg (1.63 MB, 2000x1672, 250:209, YOO This dude giving me a ….jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

>Absolute monarchys and benevolent dictatorships are the best ways for a country to function

This is what I unironically believe and I won't elaborate
11 posts and 3 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.13716

>>13703
>>13703
>To be fair, monarchies do seem to have a better track record of it than such things as we have now.

To be fair, they also had absolutely authority over the contents of official history books

 No.13717

>>13716
Only within their own sphere of influence, and really, it's not like there were proper history books for many, so much as collections of letters, dealings, reports, and so on later folk compile.

 No.13718

>>13717
>Only within their own sphere of influence

Uh huh. And where do the majority of historical of sources about a specific monarchy tend to come from?

>and really, it's not like there were proper history books for many, so much as collections of letters, dealings, reports, and so on later folk compile.

And how much of that is both available and sufficient to draw any conclusions, and how do you account for the biases of those later folk in selecting what to preserve and compile?

 No.13678[Reply]

File: 1719373636922.jpg (90.51 KB, 623x633, 623:633, Q_MBzibFrK95NA_bFGKFUB7pgW….jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

Is it me.. or are people low key racist here?

 No.13679

Maybe?
I've seen some pretty wild stuff here.
Though it depends a lot on what you call "racism".

 No.13680

>>13678
Depends what you mean by "racist".
If you mean "doesn't tow the far-left/SJW line on racial issues", then yes.
If you mean "supports racial discrimination", then mostly no.(Although some might support racial discrimination in university admissions.)

 No.13681

Pretty much.

 No.13601[Reply]

File: 1717531193617.png (145.4 KB, 676x600, 169:150, medium (1).png) ImgOps Google

Is English the greatest language in the omniverse, or is there value to spreking different languages?

Ist Eaglisch dijn masgrätan täl ent dijn omnimundo, oft ist dar stok ent sprek tälän altrá?
10 posts and 5 image replies omitted. Click reply to view.

 No.13631

>>13604

yes, or wat about ancient greek?

>>13608
>>13609

...that sounds kind-of like normative cultural ethical relativisism-think to me

>>13601

eh, it's alright

 No.13633

File: 1718431332922.jpg (34.17 KB, 1000x1000, 1:1, Grimm.jpg) ImgOps Exif Google

>>13631
>...that sounds kind-of like normative cultural ethical relativisism-think to me

It's just historical linguistics. Like how a lot of European nobility spoke French regardless of their holdings or how Italian is a homonculus a bunch of cities invented to pretend to be a country.

 No.13634

>>13631
When you think about it greek works well as a language of science because of it's highly synthetic nature.

Like. We call it a telephone, derived from Greek τῆλεφωνή. This is not the name of the device the ancient greeks used to call each other. Rather Greek words can be synthesized on the fly without an exact dictionary definition, so you can describe inventions that there is no name for succinctly without being cringe.

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