Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats
- Thread starter GasBandit
- Start date
This gun stuff and gay marriage have been placed upon the country in odd ways.
On the one hand, they're things I agree with.
On the other hand, I don't like the precedent of just tossing things in because sure, that show of power is fun when it's your side, but what about (as Gas suggested) if Trump gets elected and starts using that kind of power? I don't like it.
On the other other hand, Congress is a parasite.
On the other other other hand, there are people who take my view of Congress and apply it to the government as a whole.
So in the end, we are all simultaneously right and wrong. And that's how I passed my Participation in Government course, a requirement for high school graduation in the state of New York.
On the one hand, they're things I agree with.
On the other hand, I don't like the precedent of just tossing things in because sure, that show of power is fun when it's your side, but what about (as Gas suggested) if Trump gets elected and starts using that kind of power? I don't like it.
On the other other hand, Congress is a parasite.
On the other other other hand, there are people who take my view of Congress and apply it to the government as a whole.
So in the end, we are all simultaneously right and wrong. And that's how I passed my Participation in Government course, a requirement for high school graduation in the state of New York.
This article is bringing in amusingly varied reactions (both in comments and through messaging) from the people I would call blue tribe in my Facebook. Probably worth reading for that alone.
Oregon and the Injustice of Mandatory Minimums - The Atlantic
Oregon and the Injustice of Mandatory Minimums - The Atlantic
GasBandit
Staff member
That's a good article.
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/tea...-finding-out-there-is-no-such-thing-as-santa/
Yokel Haram's got problems that are proving to be a comedy gold mine. But it's less than a week and they're already stealing from each other. I think they'll probably start killing each other before Spring.
In other news: http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/politi...-on-isis-he-liberated-half-of-isis-territory/
Yokel Haram's got problems that are proving to be a comedy gold mine. But it's less than a week and they're already stealing from each other. I think they'll probably start killing each other before Spring.
In other news: http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/politi...-on-isis-he-liberated-half-of-isis-territory/
Last edited:
Libertarianism in action!
Sort of like Galt's Gulch, Chile!
GasBandit
Staff member
And a very not brief look at what makes them the same, at least the ruling class ones (not the voters). This extremely long article, from 2010, is being kicked around lately in conservative media channels as an excellent explanation of where the heck all the Trump supporters are coming from.
What the hell does New York values even mean... I'm usually good at parsing bigoted subtext, but I'm at a loss on this one.
Think of the NYC gay pride parade. That's what Cruz is trying to scare his constituents into believing he's going to save them from. As someone who lives in the Pennsyltuckey region of PA, I know exactly what Cruz is aiming at. A lot of rust belt/ bible belt region conservatives think New York and LA are the modern Sodom and Gomorrah.
Hey, the people in Sodom and Gomorrah knew how to have fun, and didn't have old age issues slowly seeping their life and will to live away.
So it's not about pizza being really flat and greasy?
GasBandit
Staff member
Exactly. Hillary Clinton could eat a newborn live on CNN and New York would still be the bluest of states.
But what us yokels in flyover country think of when we hear "New York values" these days is Bill de Blasio's war on large sodas. New wave nanny-statism, ridiculously high taxes, filth and rats in every nook and cranny, and cops that give cops nationwide a bad, bad name.
I've said it a hundred times - I can't fathom why anyone with the means to leave it would want to live in NYC.
Last edited:
Sooo...."European values"?
And people who live near places noteworthy can't imagine living in a place where you can't find good foreign food, have to deal with intolerant, arch-religious, xenophobic locals, have nowhere to go on a Friday night, have small time cops that can and WILL get away with murder, and have to drive for hours to go somewhere that actually has something fun to do. It's the reverse of the problem: I can't imagine EVER wanting to live in flyover country.
Though I wouldn't classify Houston as flyover country, either.
But yeah, when I think about friends who live an hour or so drive away from here, who can get only one type of food delivered, who have to take a train or car to get to a cinema, who need a car to go to a grocery store,....I wonder how people survive out there in the wild. Having 10+ different cuisines delivered at home is great. I'm already dreading having to move from here
My first time to NYC was this past August, and after living in Chinese metropolises for years (and having lived/visited others like Singapore/Osaka/Seoul/etc) I assumed it would be on a similar level.
Boy was a I wrong. Now, I'd like to preface this by saying that there were things I liked. The availability of ethnic food was fantastic--(especially authentic Chinese food which made a certain someone happy), it certainly had a grand feel and you could feel the history--but nothing else was impressive.
Like the tolls upon tolls upon tolls to get in the city, and the tolls *within* the city /mindspolde
Or how about the conditions of many of the apartments and houses. Maybe it was a function of being around Queens or something, but everything looked like it was going to fall apart, and you paid a high premium for it too.
And the subway---what an embarassment. Here it is, the middle of summer, standing in a poorly lit and filthy platform waiting for trains that were constantly late. Jun was bewildered--surely the economic hotspot in the #1 world economy would have better infrastructure than *this*.
And as GB mentioned, the taxes. For my brother and his wife (Radiation Oncology resident and Psychiatry resident respectively), going to hospitals in NYC was supposed to be a benefit. They had the highest residency salary out of all their choices. Unfortunately it's taxed into the ground and they're left with not all that much. They'd have been better off somewhere else, moneywise at least.[DOUBLEPOST=1452873189,1452872969][/DOUBLEPOST]
I don't know why everyone thinks of flyover country as a cornfield in Missouri.
We used to dream of living in a cornfield in Missouri. Would've been a palace to us. We used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish tip.
Where else can you do a half a million things, all at a quarter to three?
I lived in NYC for a while (pre-9/11) at rock-bottom rates. What I remember more than anything was the fact that airborne contaminants would stain my mucous dark grey.
--Patrick
This is basically me. I'm like a 10 minute walk from soybean fields. If I ever wanted to do ANYTHING fun, it was at least a 20 minute drive and I rarely had access to a car. I'd KILL from even a broken down bus line near my house but the lines end about 3 miles form my house.
GasBandit
Staff member
With respect to Mr. Lewis, I'd rather live somewhere that hasn't become a contest to see how high they can stack rotting garbage and convince people they're buildings.
Hah, those are an even bigger epithet 'round these parts.Sooo...."European values"?
I'll have you know, even here in Yeehawbutts, I can get multiple kinds of food delivered. And why are you so scared of cars?But yeah, when I think about friends who live an hour or so drive away from here, who can get only one type of food delivered, who have to take a train or car to get to a cinema, who need a car to go to a grocery store,....I wonder how people survive out there in the wild. Having 10+ different cuisines delivered at home is great. I'm already dreading having to move from here
Oh right. European values, heh.
I guarantee you the mexican food is better here. As for the turbochristians, the nice thing about being out here is there's a lot of "out here," and you don't actually have to deal with them if you don't want to. Nowhere to go on a friday night is a matter of perspective, I mean, we've got clubs and bars and concerts, too. Not that I frequent them, heh. As for the cops getting away with murder, that's sure as hell the pot commentating on the color of the kettle. New York cops practically make it a habit of firing into crowds, from what the news tells us.