Business woman beheaded after husband refuses to pay ransom

[lyman]

I'm sorry Bodyman .... but after such a long diatribe.... you sound like a guy on mushrooms .... tone it down... make a statement.

Most here don't have the ability to concentrate that long and absorb what you have to say ......

I chuckled at this comment ,

almost LOL'ed,

cause he is right,,,


waiting for a monkey pic

[togor]

Red you're falsely conflating border security with a concrete monolith in the desert. Republicans in my dad's day would not be so easily confused. Probably you and half the guys here were voting Democrat then. Hey how come you weren't calling for a wall in 2000? Something fishy here.

[Bodyman]

Ahhh, ...

There are many facets to liberals and conservatives. Where you see magnetic poles, north and south, I'm inclined to see more of a colorwheel. For example there are social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, small government conservatives. Social liberals, economic liberals, etc. The Republicans of my youth were clear eyed about Communism and not given to policies ruled by sentiment. They believed in science and practical, pragmatic thinking. They sure as heck would have no use for Trump's demagoguery over the wall, or his attempt to evade the will of Congress. As for the current makeup of the liberal and conservative tribes, for all we know it shifts even as we breathe. My own view is that there is a growing slice up for grabs that are neither enamored of the far left or the GOP's surrendering to Trump and his xenophobic and increasingly reactionary base. But the center is hard to hold and I do not respect relief anytime soon.

My favorite experiment these days is LIGO, the two laser interferometers that were built on opposite sides of the country to look for gravity waves. Combined with a less sensitive experiment in Italy, the 3 points define a plane in space. And so when a signal was detected at all 3 locations, they could calculate a vector back in space corresponding to the source direction, and direct telescopes throughout the world to examine the sky in that direction. Sure enough, emissions in other EM bands were seen. It was the collision of two black holes, and among other things it confirmed that gravity waves travel at the speed of light, as Einstein predicted. Far from being the work of priests espousing given knowledge of a deity, this is superb work of science and worthy of the Nobel prize.

Ahh, you see there is a center. Excellent.

I wish this could be simple but it just isn't.

It is the extreme polarization and outright hate of our domestic political landscape that is new today, and is a shame. Actually I will go further and say it is unconscionable and almost criminal, and we cannot allow it to continue at any level, even this one. Overlay the arrogance with which it is done and it will lead to nothing but disaster. I see it predominantly on the left (mostly because I am their target), but that is historically true of liberalism as well (that is, to devolve into hatreds and divisiveness to gain power). From the outside we are a shining beacon of Liberty and Equality unlike any that has come before, but with the hateful media crying at us daily, from the inside we appear to be the most hateful people ever to walk the earth, all so the media can get their guys in!

Hence my disgust, ...

You say xenophobia but I see over and misuse of those terms as more hatred on the left. It is one of my pet peeves about domestic politics; throwing around words such as 'xenophobia' - it is a polarizing conclusion declared from 'on high' and may as well be used while actually hucking spittle at the subject because it has the same meaning. Likewise, and seriously, the 'hate has no home here' signs are actually hate signs directed at those who disagree so they can be dehumanized, minimized, marginalized, and then ignored, ... or worse, hated - the signs actually are ad hominem attacks that are used to, and meant to, silence contrary opinions. People understand these things and are deeply insulted by them, even when they don't know the Latin term for it, they just know they don't hate even though they don't want a porous border. And even though they can't discuss it in academic babble, many dems still see their party heading down that slippery slope at breakneck speed - not sure where they are going, they just know it is away from them, ...

The Dem party cannot see this currently and are unable to move to the center because of it. Instead they continue the same mistake and embrace the mouthy radical left all the more as they unthinkingly abandon that center. Ultimately they will end up representing nothing but the failures of the progressive/communist side of your spectrum. And continuing to spew such cutesy divisiveness, which is intentionally deepening divides and inciting hatred to motivate their base - the radical left! This is my biggest reason to hold them in contempt; the polarization, the division, the hatreds - they are all intentional in their effort to grab power, and it is how you end up with places like Auschwitz or Cambodia and Oncga, ... Hatred as a political tool is uncontrollable and it is absolutely necessary that it be confronted when it appears (and why I say Smollet should be investigated and if true, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law without any hesitation).

What does all this mean? It means currently there is a real opportunity for any prostitute, err, ... politician, ... who can identify the center, and I scan the horizon looking for them, along with much of the rest of the country. We already may have grabbed at a sword electing Trump but many people feel we are no longer drowning, ... But seriously, is there one basic factor that differs between Conservative and liberal? Are they really just artificial terms meant to divide for the sake of power? Or is it more likely that science and religion are really the same thing, ...

Sorry, I never know where these are going to go either.

Best all

(I don't think Sand like the riddle of the Sphinx, ... but I think this is actually down to the two of us reading it anyway, ... and that poor guy in the cubicle farm somewhere outside of DC, adding it to my file - time for a refill, your coffee is cold, ... And can you imagine if I actually did do shrooms, ... ).

[Vern Humphrey]

You say xenophobia but I see over and misuse of those terms as more hatred on the left. It is one of my pet peeves about domestic politics; throwing around words such as 'xenophobia' - it is a polarizing conclusion declared from 'on high' and may as well be used while actually hucking spittle at the subject because it has the same meaning. Likewise, and seriously, the 'hate has no home here' signs are actually hate signs directed at those who disagree so they can be dehumanized, minimized, marginalized, and then ignored, ... or worse, hated - the signs actually are ad hominem attacks that are used to, and meant to, silence contrary opinions. People understand these things and are deeply insulted by them, even when they don't know the Latin term for it, they just know they don't hate even though they don't want a porous border. And even though they can't discuss it in academic babble, many dems still see their party heading down that slippery slope at breakneck speed - not sure where they are going, they just know it is away from them, ...

The Dem party cannot see this currently and are unable to move to the center because of it. Instead they continue the same mistake and embrace the mouthy radical left all the more as they unthinkingly abandon that center. Ultimately they will end up representing nothing but the failures of the progressive/communist side of your spectrum. And continuing to spew such cutesy divisiveness, which is intentionally deepening divides and inciting hatred to motivate their base - the radical left! This is my biggest reason to hold them in contempt; the polarization, the division, the hatreds - they are all intentional in their effort to grab power, and it is how you end up with places like Auschwitz or Cambodia and Oncga, ... Hatred as a political tool is uncontrollable and it is absolutely necessary that it be confronted when it appears (and why I say Smollet should be investigated and if true, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law without any hesitation).

You could easily substitute the word "Nazi" above and be just as correct. What we see is a rabid socialist movement (as in "National Zocialism") employing the tactics used in Germany in the '30s and early '40s.

They even have their own Brown Shirts -- Antifa.

[S.A. Boggs]

You could easily substitute the word "Nazi" above and be just as correct. What we see is a rabid socialist movement (as in "National Zocialism") employing the tactics used in Germany in the '30s and early '40s.

They even have their own Brown Shirts -- Antifa.

Be careful Vern, you are hurting Togor's feelings and "he" will marshal one of "his" many "voices" to form a rebuttal. Wonder how many minutes this will take for one of the "voices" to be heard or in Togor's case "herd."
Sam

[togor]

Bodyman you may have to ask Sid for a diagnosis. One observation about the two camps that has some merit for me is that the camp on the right is much more tribal in its outlook, that it places emphasis on group survival, whereas the camp on the left is more a coalition of people with different ideas but sufficient common goals to justify an association. Trump plays the tribal chieftain well, with his emphasis on personal expressions of loyalty to the cause. This explains complaints about RINOs from folks who are otherwise silent about government picking winners and losers in the economy with highly specific manipulations of taxes (aka the Trump tariff policies)--a practice that is obviously anything but Conservative. I think Red himself once observed that on policy Trump is anything but a conservative in many respects, but Trump certainly has taken over the Conservative political apparatus and is using it towards his own ends.