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SmokeyTheBear

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Posts posted by SmokeyTheBear

  1. On 5/21/2021 at 7:32 AM, Red Five said:

    Could something like The Colbert Report even exist today? 

    He was on a podcast Smartless and actually talked about it a bit. Highly recommend a listen as it was a hilarious episode. But he point blank said that he couldn't do Colbert in the current climate. 

  2. 11 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

    I agree with you. What you are saying is reasonable and constructive. Systems and laws that are race neutral on their face, yet have a disparate impact on blacks need to be addressed like the example you brought up of different penalties for crack and powder cocaine. Same thing for the huge disparity in generational wealth, which is why I support reparations in the form of downpayment assistance so that the American dream of owning your own can be reality for those that suffered directly or from the aftereffects of redlining. What I find objectionable is that CRT, as weaponized, is designed to put Americans into 2 warring camps of oppressor/oppressed. If you are white, to be a true anti-racist "ally" it seems that you have to atone for your heritage and through a performative self-flagellation, where you are expected to say nothing good about our country, its founding or its heritage. CRT is infused with Marxism - an ideology responsible for the deaths of millions. Having your kids at a Christian school being indoctrinated by Marxist claptrap is intolerable considering the contempt Marxists have for Christianity. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa did it right. Statements and discussion of the horrors of apartheid and bringing those to justice. But the aim was reconciliation through restorative justice. That is what anti-racists should be pursuing instead, especially at a Christian school.

    1. I don't know why we are talking about Christian schools. You made the choice to indoctrinate your kids in that system so you can control that problem. 

    2. No one is asking anyone to do anything you have highlighted around atonement. That's pure projection. Maybe you need to understand why you feel that that is thrusted upon you because I view this (as a white privileged man) in that I need to adjust my worldview as it pertains to what my experience is vs those less fortunate, especially in terms of race. Then take that introspection and see if there is anything in my control that I can do to mitigate any unconscious biases in my daily life. That's it. If you do that, you are helping solve the issues. 

    We're at a weird time in our lives where we lived before the internet. Where our singular experiences were what dictated what our reality was. Now we have so much more information that highlights issues not evident in our immediate orbit. You can either ignore this new information, or take it on so it's not a problem for our children. 

  3.  

    25 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

    Damnit I said in the post you quoted it is a failure and should have been done away with decades ago. No one wants the war on drugs to end more than me.  I would legalize them all.  And spend a fraction of the money it costs treating addicts.  

    You and others here continue to say there have been and are issues, but instead of wanting to actually fix it, you just want to flippantly solve it in a half assed way by throwing money at it. As a lifelong Longhorn fan, I know that that is rarely a cure to the issue. This takes everyone in the society realizing they are all part of the same community, and that community is sick. Sick because of traditions and laws that were made by those in your closed community. When powerful rich white men make laws (which is what has happened since America became America), those structures tend to lean towards benefiting those who make the laws. And when the community sees a black man kneeling in protest of injustices, did you say "I know there injustices in his community and I applaud his bravery in making sure our society addresses it"? No, you said stand up for the flag and play ball. That little thing over and over and over, throughout all facets of life is what needs to be addressed and it takes both the individual and the institutions to fix. But instead, you advocate pushing your kids into christian right-leaning schools, and by doing so, you are ensuring that these issues remain because all they see is what you see......which is an incomplete picture. 

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  4. 2 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

    And plenty of the Congressional Black Caucus along with black ministers were some of the biggest supporters of enhanced penalties and lengthy sentences for heroin in the 60s and 70s and crack cocaine in the 80s and 90s.  It was destroying their communities.

    Black support for the drug war didn't just grow in New York. At the federal level, members of the newly-formed Congressional Black Caucus met with President Richard Nixon, urging him to ramp up the drug war as fast as possible. But the drug epidemic was especially bad in New York, and especially in black neighborhoods.

    "The silent black majority of Harlem and New York City felt constantly accosted by drug addicts, by pushers, by crime," said Michael Javen Fortner, a political scientist and historian from Rutgers University who recently wrote on the issue.

    https://www.wnyc.org/story/312823-black-leaders-once-championed-strict-drug-laws-they-now-seek-dismantle/

    When President Ronald Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 into law — the law that punished crack cocaine dealers far more harshly than powder cocaine dealers — Harlem's Rep. Charlie Rangel stood right behind Reagan. Crack dealers, many of whom were black, got harsher sentences than those who dealt powder cocaine, many of whom were white. And Congressional Black Caucus members pushed Reagan to create the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

    Then came the massive 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which included longer sentences for first-time offenders. An influential group of black pastors wrote to the Congressional Black Caucus, "While we do not agree with every provision in the crime bill, we do believe and emphatically support the bill's goal to save our communities, and most importantly, our children."

    https://www.investors.com/politics/columnists/drug-laws-racism-democrats-support/

     

    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2016/02/why-many-black-politicians-backed-the-1994-crime-bill-championed-by-the-clintons.html

     

    The war on drugs is a giant mess. And should have ended 20 years ago or more when it was obvious it was a loser.  But a whole lot of people share the blame for it.

    Cool. So should we accept that it was a failure and try to fix the mess? Or should we recoil into our safespace and say, "I'll hand you a little bit of money to make things square. Now stop bitching about your situation."

  5. 1 minute ago, Macklemore said:

    The America that I was taught to love is one where we strive for equal opportunity for everyone. Have we failed to do so for most of the existence this country. Absolutely.  That is why I have stated that systemic racism is historical fact and effects of something like redlining is still felt to this day. Also in an earlier post, I said that I would support reparations in the form of downpayment assistance/subsidies to families who suffered as a result of it. That is "legacy" systemic racism - that does not exist today. For example, I don't believe a black person that goes to UT for undergrad and law school is going to be discriminated against in law firm recruiting because of their color of skin. There is discrimination when hiring summer associates which applies to everyone - grades. There is a very angry, hateful edge to this shit and I hate how it is seemingly designed to create tribalism and resentment when racist attitudes are unacceptable to the vast, overwhelming majority of people. Where do Asians fit in this oppressor/oppressed matrix. How about Jews - persecuted for millennia and now they are an oppressor. It is construct that addresses a white boogeyman overlord pulling the strings when the fact is that this country is more diverse than it ever has been with successful people of every color and religion.

    Because we still have systems (especially in justice) that knowingly or unknowingly tilt towards impacting certain races and incomes vastly different than rich white folks.

    The drug war was an example I brought up earlier. Fair intent to get drugs off the streets but what happened was a whole generation of black males got incarcerated for minor crimes leading to a generation of black kids without fathers. You had different penalties for those who had cocaine rather than crack. White guys getting busted with pot had their hands slapped while black people with pot got max penalties (this is from personal experience). 

    This doesnt necessarily stem from some nefarious body making racist laws (it might), but it is something we need to accept and address and look to see if other parts of our lives have these imbalances. 

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  6. 2 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

    Because that is not how these examples are being framed.  Certainly not my brothers who son has sever learning disabilities and god damn well isn't privileged at all other than he was born into a 2 parent household  and is being told he's an "oppressor"

    And if a teacher is telling a grade student that they are an "oppressor", then yeah, fucked up. The framing of this is based on anecdotal evidence and not anything substantive to have a fit about. You are choosing to latch onto absurd hearsay rather than reality. 

  7. 1 minute ago, Macklemore said:

    The first and most important priority any parent has is to give their children the best opportunity to succeed in life. Sending your kids to a nice, private, Christian school in Houston is a good way to do it. Kids with educated parents with similar socio-economic backgrounds forming bonds with other kids and being primed to get accepted into prestigious universities, which will open doors for them the rest of their lives. There is zero problem with that and any parent that has the opportunity and means to give their child that should be commended for doing so. There is nothing more important than securing an excellent education for your kids. Paying an arm and leg in tuition for private school and making that sacrifice, you bet your ass that a lot of people would be pissed off at a CRT curriculum that is divisive and disconcerting to kids at a young age. You want to teach your kids how to be grateful for their private school and nice lifestyle - take them to volunteer at the Star of Hope or the Houston Food Bank. What I don't fucking want is some 20 something teacher to tell me that my kids and I are oppressors.

    And no one is saying that. What they are saying is, "hey kids, yall have a great life and your parents have given you what you need and more to succeed in life. Now, let me tell you about the others in this world and how your experience doesn't necessarily relate to 99% of the current human experience. And if you are white, nothing wrong with that, but you may want to know that your experience will more than likely be better than anyone elses."

    Why does that scare you? How does that take from you? Your mindset perpetuates the issues because you would rather build a bubble around yourself and your children rather than accept the obvious and work to address it. And now they will grow up oblivious to the issues because they only got a small controlled view of the world, skewed thru your fear. 

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  8. 10 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

    We discuss it at home all the time.  And give thanks for all our blessings before every meal and before bed.

    What I have a problem with is assigning victim or oppressor status collectively to a group based on their skin color. One of my best friends at my kids' school is half Mexican and half Lebanese.  He has a Mexican surname and looks like a Mexican.  Fairly dark skinned.  His wife is a beautiful blonde woman with blue eyes.  Their son looks just like dad and the daughter looks just like mom.  One day the son comes home very upset.  His teacher had the class line up by race.  Whether they were white, brown, asian or black as measures of their privilege.  He had no idea what to say.  These are young kids at a Christian school.  I see no reason to separate the kids by race.  You are dividing kids when no division really exists.  These kids are not racist.  It is difficult for any kid growing up these days to be a racist.  We want it to be discussed from a biblical perspective.  That we are all created in God's image.  That Jesus was a person of color and loves us all.  Anyone can be racist because sin can arise in all of our hearts. We are brothers and sisters.

    Certainly as the kids get older, racism and the legacy it leaves until this day should be discussed.  Slavery, Jim Crow, Civil Rights leaders, etc. Got zero issue with that being taught in elementary or junior high.  

    As to material privilege, at our school all the kids are privileged in one way or the other.  We have many billionaire and multi hundred million net worth families. One of my daughter's good friends has a "party house" no one even lives at on River Oaks Boulevard.  I would say we should all be thankful for our material blessings, that someone will always have more and someone will always have less, and to be generous helping the less fortunate since Jesus taught not to store up treasures on earth, but to store up your treasures in heaven.

    Most of our parents simply do not want our kids being guilt tripped about shit they had nothing to do with and have no control over (past racism, the color of their skin, or they families' perceived wealth).

    Here is your problem: you view everything thru the lens of "your" community rather than the community at large. You want to protect your kids and send them to a school that will only teach a very narrow view of the world, surrounded by others from the same socio economic bubble. How can you teach kids that reality doesn't match your specific community, that they are privileged, if no-one in their bubble shows them that they are in a bubble? That is what I assume that teacher was trying to show them; that there are other structures out there that a majority of the human race has to deal with that your community is largely immune from. That is uncomfortable and it is obviously very uncomfortable to you. I'm a middle-aged white male who is not as privileged as you, but privileged compared to 90% of the rest of the world. And just because I benefited from the structures that we are looking to balance today, doesn't mean I'm racist. What makes you you, is understanding the disparity yet being too uncomfortable to want to address it so you stay in your privileged and closed community while yelling "class warfare" when called out. 

  9. 1 hour ago, Johnny Sack said:

    Every kid at the school is privileged, including the black and brown ones.  We aren't paying for our kids to be indoctrinated with leftist class warfare bullshit.

     

    1 hour ago, Johnny Sack said:

    Our community disagrees.  And won't be doing it.

    Chefs kiss

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  10. Once he became President, he opened himself up to way more scrutiny from different agencies that would have left him alone if he remained a private citizen. He undoubtedly tried to shift his grift game to the new situation but just doesn't surround himself with capable enough people to implement his grift in a way that could be hidden while (ex)President. I think there will be plenty of things that come out from his private dealings, but the things that may stick are the things that come out from campaign funds handling and trying to filter them thru his org. 

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  11. 26 minutes ago, Revolution512 said:

    And the environmental impact is what?

    To what? The German pipeline? Dont know. Personally, I wish globally that we would scrap all plans to expand infrastructure around non-renewables in favor of renewables. That wasn't GR's concerns with the tweet and a wholly different discussion though. I'm not defending this decision by the Biden administration, just pointing out the absurdity of it being some gotcha or both sides moment. Germany has autonomy to make decisions that are best for them, has done more to combat climate change than our country, and didn't back out of the Paris Climate Agreement like the previous American administration. 

  12. 12 minutes ago, GRHorn said:

    Biden’s domestic energy policy hurts us, while his foreign energy policy helps our enemies. Specifically the one that this whole board had a coordinated freak out about for 4 years. You’re right. Nothing to see here. 

    I don't agree with helping Russia in any way until they have leadership change and I'd be very interested to see what other parts of the deal are not public (eg: German help in some way). However, decisions for a pipeline here are different than decisions for a pipeline in some other country. Tying them together to make this out like some grand hypocrisy is the joke here. 

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  13. 1 minute ago, Lagunamadre said:

    They don't. One is a natural gas pipeline that is the main supply for Germany's nat gas. The other would be moving Alberta oil sands crude (worst environmental impact of any oil exploration) from Canada to tie into the existing Keystone line. Keystone phase 1, 2 and 3 are in operations and moving oil as we speak. Keystone 4 wasn't ever coming close to Oklahoma, so not sure what Oklahoma jobs it would have possibly provided. 

    It was a rhetorical question because  Grhorn was spreading that around as some gotcha. Appreciate the response. 

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    High

    3 hours ago, BBQ2Bayou said:

    Do you always use the pax with flower or switch it up? I have the same Pax 2 and am still experimenting with vaped bud vs. a regular bowl. 

    Do you you guys that vape bud see a big difference feeling wise?  Besides the obvious smell and inhale difference. Seems like the vape doesn't make me quite as lazy as bud in a regular bowl, but that very well might be psychological  

    So I mostly use the pax for flower unless I'm looking for a heavier and quicker high, then I go for a spoon pipe. My wife is asthmatic so the pax is a great tool for her to get high without the particles that could trigger her condition. I notice a softer high on pax and a high that slowly builds. 

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