Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats

Frank

Frank

I hate rapid firing this kind of shit, but holy fucking hell. Belarus's government should be sanctioned into the fucking ground for this. They faked a bomb threat and forced a passenger plane to land under threat from a MIG-29 to arrest someone onboard for organizing protests, which apparently carries the death penalty.

www.theguardian.com

Belarus accused of ‘hijacking’ Ryanair flight diverted to arrest blogger

Roman Protasevich is wanted for organising last year’s protests against Alexander Lukashenko
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

Holy shit. I thought he was trying to escape and they were trying to stop him, but no, he does not even live in Belarus right now, having exiled to Poland for years.

He was only flying over Belarus while traveling from Greece to Lithuania, so the Belarus government used the fact the plane was flying over Belarus airspace to do the threats, grounding, and arrest, even though the plane at the time was closer to it's destination airport then to Minsk, where the plane was rerouted.

I don't even think Putin would try something as overt as this.
 
ScytheRexx

ScytheRexx

I honestly don't know how much more I can take on this planet guys.

I stumbled on facebook groups that believe Hilary Clinton, James Comey, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Melinda Gates(?!?) were all executed by Trump back in 2018, and to prevent war from breaking out, all of them were replaced with actors. They actually believe an actor working for Trump is right now acting as the President. Can anyone tell me when tickets to Mars go on sale? I might need to start over.
 
Dei

Dei

ScytheRexx said:
I honestly don't know how much more I can take on this planet guys.

I stumbled on facebook groups that believe Hilary Clinton, James Comey, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Melinda Gates(?!?) were all executed by Trump back in 2018, and to prevent war from breaking out, all of them were replaced with actors. They actually believe an actor working for Trump is right now acting as the President. Can anyone tell me when tickets to Mars go on sale? I might need to start over.
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So you can be an indentured servant to Elon Musk?

Also I recommend not using Facebook. Find a different way to communicate with people you actually care about on there.
 
Frank

Frank

On the topic of Bill and Melinda Gates.

Fucking lol.

1621968957984.png


Draw and quarter all billionaires and the top 1% of millionaires too just in case they get too big for their britches.
 
Dei

Dei

Frank said:


Fuck. Remember how they made Michael Phelps start after everyone else because he was so good at swimming? Oh right, this only happens to POC.
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The official word is that they don't want to rate it too high because it would be too dangerous for most other gymnasts to do, and they don't want them to feel pressured to risk injury trying to keep up. It's still kind of bullshit, but realistically, Simone Biles is going to win by a large margin regardless.
 
blotsfan

blotsfan

I was under the impression that she was too old at this point to be the best in gymnastics. They usually talk about how they just get one, and there was an extra year.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Dei said:
The official word is that they don't want to rate it too high because it would be too dangerous for most other gymnasts to do, and they don't want them to feel pressured to risk injury trying to keep up.
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Isn’t this the same sort of reason they gave for the way they treated Surya Bonaly?

—Patrick
 
Dei

Dei

blotsfan said:
I was under the impression that she was too old at this point to be the best in gymnastics. They usually talk about how they just get one, and there was an extra year.
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I mean they say that, but plenty of gymnasts have done more than one Olympics. And Simone Biles is single handedly rewriting a lot of the playbooks for the sport because of the multiple stereotypes she's breaking down. And I don't just mean race, I also mean the idea that female gymnasts need to be a certain body type to succeed (yes, she's short AF, but she is also more built than a lot of gymnasts typically have been), and that the younger gymnasts have a competitive edge over gymnasts with more experience. Again, black women and taller women have been gymnasts, but Simone Biles is easily the most skilled gymnast of her generation, and probably even farther back than that, and it will probably change the sport of gymnastics the same way changing the design of the uneven parallel bars did. It will take a few years, but I imagine gymnasts will catch up to her level eventually, because they always do.

PatrThom said:
Isn’t this the same sort of reason they gave for the way they treated Surya Bonaly?

—Patrick
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Yes, sort of. But they aren't telling her she can't do those things, just that they won't count as highly as they should. It would irritate me more if it cost her a gold medal, but TBH I don't see that happening. In this case, it feels more like one of those mercy rules in Little League where once you are ahead by so many points they stop keeping score so you don't utterly crush the other teams spirit.
 
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HCGLNS

HCGLNS

Frank said:


Fuck. Remember how they made Michael Phelps start after everyone else because he was so good at swimming? Oh right, this only happens to POC.
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They did it to Gretzky. Didn't work, and made the game worse, but why not let gymnasties fuck up their sport.
 
drifter

drifter

blotsfan said:
I was under the impression that she was too old at this point to be the best in gymnastics. They usually talk about how they just get one, and there was an extra year.
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Taken from a Reddit thread about her accomplishment:

She's 24. That's considered old for most gymnasts historically, but there has recently been a significant uptick in elite gymnasts sticking around into their mid-20s and the current code of points might be better suited for older gymnasts, who are typically more powerful than 15-17yos, who dominated when the code of points favored grace, dance, and flexibility. The oldest gymnast who will be in Tokyo is in her 40s. The 2005 World Champion (Chellsie Memmel) was competing today too.
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And someone else pointed out that on top of her incredible strength, she is equally, if not more, skilled

The general consensus among fans, sports pundits and fellow gymnasts is that she is already the indisputable and sole GOAT of the sport, even if she were to retire right now.
She’s won the most world/Olympic medals, most of them gold. 3 of the 4 skills named after her (not counting this vault because she needs to compete it successfully at an international competition first) are the most difficult skills on each of those apparatuses.
Personally, my fave stat of hers is that she has the longest medaling steak on balance beam of any gymnast at this level: she has been on the podium for every beam event final starting with the 2013 US Championships.
Elite beam has the highest turnover of medalists among the 4 women’s gymnastics apparatuses, because there’s a good deal of luck involved. Simone has minimized that luck factor better than anyone. And it shows how much finesse and precision she has, because beam, in particular, is an apparatus that can’t be brute forced, but requires a delicate touch.
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Squidleybits

Squidleybits

With my immune issues, I’d run from one of those patches! Or limp with purpose.

I have my first shot and will get the second, but it will be less effective for me. Some protection is better than none.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
figmentPez said:


Texas is so fucking scared of people voting.
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Texas Republicans*. And with good reason. Even before he became Fled Cruz, Ted Cruz came within 2% of losing to Beto O'Rourke. Now the party is spiralling the drain, and they see the writing on the wall - the only way their party can continue to win elections is to undermine democracy.
 
Tress

Tress

So let me get this straight:

President Trump routinely disrespects the family of fallen soldiers, calls former POWs “losers,” and golfs on Memorial Day. Conservatives think that’s all great.

Vice President Harris has the audacity to tweet “Enjoy the long weekend!” on Friday and conservatives are outraged?

Yeah, that’s not misogyny or hypocrisy at all. Nope. :rolleyes:
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
You think the GOP aren't nazis and that it's all just hyperbole? Reports are that Arizona has started buying ingredients to start executing prisoners by gas chamber. The ingredients make Zyklon B.
 
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