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SmokeyTheBear

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by SmokeyTheBear

  1. 13 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

     


    No shit life is a risky proposition in every way.

    But while all risks can’t be ELIMINATED, almost all can be MITIGATED. I don’t live my life in fear. Far from it. But I’m also not a dumbass. I wear a seatbelt. I don’t walk down dark alleys in unfamiliar cities when I can walk on well lit streets. And a million other things that have a very low cost, but mitigate risk.

    Wearing a mask is absolutely one of those things.

    And while we mandate literally thousands of other things….we literally PROHIBIT schools from mandating a low-cost risk mitigation measure.

    We can’t make our schools perfectly safe from Covid. But we can make them safer, with a very minimal effort. Except, you know, we can’t. Because psychotic sociopathic reasons.

     

    These are the same folks who will never be mugged or in some shootout, but will be all too happy and proud to carry a gun. 

  2. 8 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    Have we identified any school that had one minute of critical race theory taught in the classroom yet?  

    Um, yeah. Swam's best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy on surly, who knows this kid who's going with a girl who heard that some school made the kids feel guilty about their status in the cast system. I guess it's pretty serious.

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    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Haha 5
  3. 31 minutes ago, Lobo said:

    The Nazi German State, or Greater German Reich lasted for 12 years.  Obviously it was an evil regime, but it had 12 years of staying power.  The cowardly and incompetent Confederacy lasted a mere 4 years. 

    It was never about 'hatred', it was never about 'heritage', the Confederacy has 'history' because it was born from such gross idiocy and ineffectiveness that we study it as  stunned students of time.  But for some reason, our awe of this hiccup of humanity was taken as a reason to re-celebrate 'Empowered Stupidity' by some.  We study the Nazis because they conquered huge chunks of 3 continents in 12 years (6 years of buildup, 6 years of warfighting).  The Confederacy lost their war, their ideology, their grip on slavery, and their secession effort in matter of a couple years.  And why did that happen?  It wasn't the fighting spirit of the Union Army.  It wasn't because they weren't well-supplied (they were).  It wasn't politics or propaganda. 

    The South lost for the same reason we have rebuilt most of Europe twice, Japan, the South Pacific, the Middle East, and huge swaths of Africa---infrastructure, robust economies, effective governments, militaries, judiciaries, educational systems, medical care, etc.  But in 150 years---from Louisiana to South Carolina and the states in between---the American South continues to languish in poverty, illiteracy, and corruption.  Why?  Because they celebrate and empower stupidity.  It's a virtue, not a liability.  So they can have Gaetz, and Trump, and DeSantis...and they can choke on the misery they have invited upon themselves.   Egg 'em on, let 'em rise up again so we can make a fucking mass grave the size of the Florida panhandle.  Fuck 'em all. 

     

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  4. Just now, Anastasis said:

    I searched and have not seen the specific data I asked about.  Thus I asked about it.  You banged your fingers on your keyboard and found something in google that is not relevant, and then tell me that my query is easily addressable in google.  You don't have a point, just clown shoes. 

    I think I quoted many points from the article relevant to this and other threads around how many don't have IDs (granted, didn't take into account your qualifier), legislation that disenfranchises voters, and that do so disproportionately for certain races. You're welcome. 

  5. 13 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

    That doesn't address my question.  My question was how many registered voters do not have photo IDs. You provided a link to the first thing that you found on google, but it is not responsive. Try harder Smokey.

    Presumably there is a large overlap of individuals that are either unable or disinterested in getting a photo ID and those that are disinterested in registering to vote. Just trying to get a grasp on the magnitude of the actual problem here. These data suggest that the number of people that are unregistered and don't really care about voting likely cuts into that number quite a bit.

    https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2017/06/why-are-millions-of-citizens-not-registered-to-vote

    Official statistics vary, but a conservative estimate, calculated using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Voting and Registration Supplement, indicates that 21.4 percent were not registered to vote in 2014.1

    ei_why_are_millions_of_citizens_not_regi

    My point being that if you had enough gumption to ask the question, you could search and provide the answer with a simple Google search. Larger point is that there shouldn't be any hurdle to vote, especially ones that disproportionately impact certain groups of potential voters. 

  6. 1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

    Has anyone actually seen a number as to how many registered voters do not have a photo id?  

     

    First hit on Google:

    https://www.aclu.org/other/oppose-voter-id-legislation-fact-sheet

    Quote

    Millions of Americans Lack ID. 11% of U.S. citizens – or more than 21 million Americans – do not have government-issued photo identification.1

    Obtaining ID Costs Money. Even if ID is offered for free, voters must incur numerous costs (such as paying for birth certificates) to apply for a government-issued ID.

    Underlying documents required to obtain ID cost money, a significant expense for lower-income Americans. The combined cost of document fees, travel expenses and waiting time are estimated to range from $75 to $175.2

    The travel required is often a major burden on people with disabilities, the elderly, or those in rural areas without access to a car or public transportation. In Texas, some people in rural areas must travel approximately 170 miles to reach the nearest ID office.3

    Voter ID Laws Reduce Voter Turnout. A 2014 GAO study found that strict photo ID laws reduce turnout by 2-3 percentage points,4 which can translate into tens of thousands of votes lost in a single state.5

    .... 

    Minority voters disproportionately lack ID. Nationally, up to 25% of African-American citizens of voting age lack government-issued photo ID, compared to only 8% of whites.6

    States exclude forms of ID in a discriminatory manner. Texas allows concealed weapons permits for voting, but does not accept student ID cards. Until its voter ID law was struck down, North Carolina prohibited public assistance IDs and state employee ID cards, which are disproportionately held by Black voters. And until recently, Wisconsin permitted active duty military ID cards, but prohibited Veterans Affairs ID cards for voting.

    Voter ID laws are enforced in a discriminatory manner. A Caltech/MIT study found that minority voters are more frequently questioned about ID than are white voters.7

    Voter ID laws reduce turnout among minority voters. Several studies, including a 2014 GAO study, have found that photo ID laws have a particularly depressive effect on turnout among racial minorities and other vulnerable groups, worsening the participation gap between voters of color and whites.8

    What would happen if we applied CRT to our election system?! 

    • Hook 'Em 1
  7. Trump was a circus sideshow and couldn't get elected until he did. Apathy towards him, his supporters, and whoever carries the water of the crazies after him will only blow back in our faces. Healthy skepticism of that whole wing of politics is warranted and needed so it can't latch onto whatever the latest conspiracy is that will drum up enough support to do the next crazy thing. 

    • Hook 'Em 3
  8. Timely article 

    https://apnews.com/article/gun-background-checks-blocked-record-high-sales-e0c3105b6632740b8f15858cd930441a?utm_medium=ap&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=socialflow&s=09

    Quote

    The number of people stopped from buying guns through the U.S. background check system hit an all-time high of more than 300,000 last year amid a surge of firearm sales, according to new records obtained by the group Everytown for Gun Safety.

     

    The FBI numbers provided to The Associated Press show the background checks blocked nearly twice as many gun sales in 2020 as in the year before. About 42% of those denials were because the would-be buyers had felony convictions on their records.

     

    The increase in blocked gun sales largely tracks with the record-setting surge in sales that took hold along with the coronavirus pandemThe increase in blocked gun sales largely tracks with the record-setting surge in sales that took hold along with the coronavirus pandemic and has continued into this year, through historic demonstrations against police brutality, deep political divisions and an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.ic and has continued into this year, through historic demonstrations against police brutality, deep political divisions and an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

     

  9. 50 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

    Yeah, availability to guns and mental illness is an issue in many cities, races, communities and classes. That's why something should be done about it. Allowing easier availability to the gun is not the solution. Thanks for highlighting how pervasive the problem is in our country. 

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