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hayden_horn

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Posts posted by hayden_horn

  1. Quote
    so·cial·ism
    ˈsōSHəˌlizəm/
    noun
     
    1. a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

    we could, you know, start with the ACTUAL definition. 

  2. 1 minute ago, Ghost of LL said:

    Or Carnegie Mellon University or Stanford University.  Or for that matter any number of hospitals, libraries, and parks.

    When was the last time you heard of that kind of philanthropy?

     

     

     

    And no--paying the difference between a utilitarian TXDOT-funded bridge over the Trinity River and one designed by an overrated Spaniard doesn't count.

    the thing was, and this is to your point, i think, there was a high minded mentality to make an actual impact on society - your noblesse oblige that you reference. yeah, these guys are called robber barons because of how they approached their business, however, they would turn around and be lavish on the other end trying to make a positive impact. it was a sense of balance for these guys. rockefeller would crush his competition with a ruthless efficiency, he would buy refineries to close them and put people out of work, just the worst side of business conduct possible. he sought total control over means of production and got extraordinarily rich doing it. he was a colossal asshole.

    however, he is also said to have said "think of giving not as a duty, but as a privilege." he philanthropic contributions are almost immeasurable, and to list them out would take me forever. you see bill gates and warren buffet doing that. and...maybe some others? everyone gives to charity, but not at the scale that rockefeller did.

    “The best philanthropy,” he wrote, “is constantly in search of finalities—a search for a cause, an attempt to cure evils at their source.”

    you just don't see that today.

  3. 1 minute ago, Ghost of LL said:

    From what I understand we're now approaching (and may have exceeded) Gilded Age levels of wealth inequality.  

    But regardless, I disagree with your conclusion.  The robber barons were indeed rapacious.  But there is are two critical differences:

    1) The Gilded Age rich used their enterprises to feed their greed.  The desperately wanted the government not to interfere with their fleecing of the masses (whether it be by breaking up trusts or imposing safety/workplace standards or permitting labor organization).  

    In contrast, the rich today use the government directly to increase their wealth by transferring it from the poor, instituting subsidies (both direct and indirect), and regulating out competition.  

    2) Both out of a belief in American meritocracy and out of a sense of self-preservation, the robber barons spent more on philanthropic endeavors and supported some limited progressive public policies.  For the most part, we don't see that today.  

    Instead, the very rich today are dead set against any change.  They act as though they can keep a hold of this pressure cooker by just tightening down the clamps further.  It's the same thing the Russian aristocracy thought in 1910.  They were wrong.

    used to be we got institutions like vanderbilt university. now we get trump university.

    • Like 3
  4. 2 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

    It really is a shame that most of the nutjobs didn't make the migration over. The politics board is boring as shit. I need someone to come in and bomb threads about how eugenics has many modern day applications and always make sure to type out "Barack Hussein Obama". 

    And none of the pizzagaters made it over either, which means that they must be too busy liberating child sex slaves from pizza joints to post. 

    i don't think it's a shame at all. fuck them. they were terrible, disingenuous posters who brought the whole community down.

    we need conservative voices. i think the old place was way more conservative than most conservatives did, because they thought it was full of liberal nutjobs. but that's because they were terrible, disingenuous posters.

    i think this place is a bit more "liberal" for lack of a better term, but that is to say, it's not really all that liberal at all. it's just less conservative, and far more anti-trump, because every single day he's proving how unfit he is for the office, and yet the gop keeps supporting his shitstain of a presidency.

  5. 3 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

    I don't think I agree with this.  

    I say this as a former conservative myself--and I say "former" only because I don't think conservatism in any coherent form exists anymore--conservatives never adhered to the nihilism that  distinguishes Trumpism.  And I think it is rooted in the newfound and astonishing rapaciousness of many of the very rich in this country.  That's a new development; it's a characteristic unique to the baby-boomer generation.  This concept of "I'm going to get everything I can and fuck everyone else"--we haven't seen that before.

    It used to be that there was a sense of noblesse oblige among the insanely rich.  Sure--to some degree it was patronizing and patriarchal.  But at the same time, it resulted in private philanthropy that built hospitals and schools.  It resulted in a governmental structure that funded the government from the people with sufficient funds for the purpose.  There's still some of that around with people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, but they're outnumbered now by the likes of the Mercers and most of the Waltons.

    And I'm not going to tell you that it was purely a noblesse oblige brought of altruism.  It came from a peculiarly American idea that people of merit could rise above the station of their birth through talent and hard work.  And that through the rise of such people, the entire society is benefited--especially the rich who might benefit from their talent and hard work in the course of their rise.  

    That sense informed conservatism for more than a century.  Conservatives supported policies that encouraged work and furthered a meritocracy, and they disapproved of policies that disincentivized work (e.g., certain welfare programs) and undermined merit-based advancement (e.g., certain affirmative-action programs).  Yeah--there was the support of "liberty" that is peculiar to that class that has the time and money to enjoy the fruits of "liberty" if the government would just ignore your eccentric behavior.  And yeah--there was a loathing of anything that had the whiff of socialism.  But there was also a recognition that society had to be governed by certain norms, and that the poor needed a hand up from the government in order to be in a position to advance (though programs such as public education).

    What's unique and different about Trumpism is that all of that is gone.  It has been replaced with a morality of absolute solipsism among our upper class.  Steal everything you can now before you die, because who cares what happens after that?  And to get away with that, they have imbued the society with a sort of nihilism that tells people that nothing is really true; nothing is really right; nothing is really false; nothing is really wrong; nothing is really real.

    And ultimately, there is a real and abiding loathing of the poor.  Real, deep-seeded hatred.  I don't get it.  I'll never understand it.  But it's there.

    And somehow, notwithstanding that, they've gotten people who they would regard as "poor" to adopt their nihilism, to their own detriment.  So yeah--cancel all the programs that keep you from crippling poverty, all so that a rich guy in Manhattan can have a few million more.  And don't worry about the debt--that rich guy will be dead long before it's a real problem.

    Yeah--none of that is consistent with conservatism; at least not the conservatism I grew up with under Reagan and Bush.  It's more the conservatism of the early 20th Century Russian aristocracy.

    this is an extremely thoughtful post, and underlines sort of where i am at with republicans. the old saying goes "the older you get, the more conservative positions you'll take." i've found the opposite, as i used to identify far more with republicans. 

    but nihilism is a good way to point out what's going on with the power structure in this country. as well as the "real, deep-seeded hatred" of the poor. being poor sucks. people act like it's lobster and iphones. it's not. it sucks.

  6. venezuela and north korea are not socialist. i'm kind of cross posting from the other political compass thread.

    venezuela and north korea are dictatorships with central economies. calling them socialist is like allowing north korea to self-style as a democratic republic. just because they wrap themselves in socialist ideology does not mean that they are socialist. 

    i know it's an annoying distinction for those of you with domestic political axes to grind, but i think it is important to note.

    • Like 1
  7. 3 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

    I don't think racial or cultural homogeneity is a requirement for such a system to work. I think it makes it easier to establish the system in the first place, because wealthy capitalists use racial/cultural issues to drive a wedge between labor to keep it from organizing effectively. 

    i think we have a culture here, and that trying to say that culture is a wedge is a conservative trope. i guess i'm agreeing with you.

    american black folks are part of american culture. like white folks, and like all the folks. it's part of why europeans laugh at american obsession with genetics and heritage. i once had an irishwoman ask me about it. i said something like "most of my heritage is in the UK. i'm part irish, part scottish, part english, with some welsh in there."

    she laughed in my face and said i was none of those things. "you're american, what more could you want?"

    she went on to say if europeans tried to trace and anchor their genealogy it would be a fool's errand.

    we keep cutting american culture into different demographics. that's led to an incredible splintering of the voters. honestly, most hispanics and older black folks are conservatives. why don't they vote republican? because there's a doorman at the big tent entrance.

  8. venezuela is a fascist country. this is a common misconception when countries or strongman leaders wrap their ideology in socialist colors. 

    the same goes for nazi germany, the soviet union, and any number of strongman dictatorships with a central economy. 

  9. oh, man, that's going to leave a mark. they put a picture of the first lady and her seal on an intro page and her "be best" logo on the end of an identical flyer.

    i'm starting to feel sorry for her. either she's chronically stupid, or her people keep setting her up as a plagiarist.

  10. On 5/4/2018 at 10:45 PM, austingirl said:

    I first heard of these guys after the Santa Barbara shooting. So delusional. And creepy, honestly. 

    This is my favorite "she doesn't owe you anything" article. Spoilered because long.

      Reveal hidden contents

     

    Dude, enough with the entitlement. She doesn’t owe you shit.

    Why are you telling her to smile? Are you owed a smile? No, you are not. You aren’t owed shit.

    I had a guy ask me for my phone number when I was getting out of my car to get gas. I told him “I’m sorry I have a boyfriend.” So he slit my convertible top open while I was inside paying. – Amanda

    She doesn’t owe you a smile, a wave, her phone number, a date, a second date, a kiss, a blowjob or a fuck. It doesn’t matter if you complimented her, bought her drinks, took her to dinner, gave her a ride or made her a mix tape. She doesn’t owe you shit.

    On a date that was going not too well I decided to leave. Dude followed me to my car and pushed up against me trying to get me to kiss him. When I said no and tried to get away he said “fuck I bought you a beer.” – Amber

    Even if you married her and paid for everything it doesn’t give you possession over her body. Slavery is illegal, and marital rape has been against the law in all 50 states since 1993.

    “I tried to fight him but I couldn’t land a blow from being so drunk. When he was done, he put out two cigarettes on my thighs. I asked him why, and he said, “you owed me and you shouldn’t have fought.” – Anon

    I keep saying “you,” but perhaps it’s not you, because #notallmen, amirite?

    For the truly good men, realize that I’m using the royal “you” in this context for effect. If you too are sick of the way women are treated like pretty things to be possessed, please keep reading, because these comments contain lessons all men must learn.

    And now, back to our regularly scheduled rant.

    When I was 19, I had consensual sex w/ a guy a little older than me, and it was great. Til he wanted to go in the backdoor and I said no. To which I was flipped over, held down by the back of my neck and told “You have to learn to listen”. – Suzzett

    She doesn’t owe you an explanation as to why she doesn’t want to go out with you. She doesn’t owe you conversation. When you catcall her she is under no obligation to acknowledge your presence, because she doesn’t owe you shit.

    I run outdoors … the catcalls, sexual remarks etc happen almost every day. Just last week, this guy blocked my path to start talking to me … he complemented my running and asked for my number. I (very politely) told him I need to get back to my run … and then the insults started. I had to push him off the path and run fast just to get out of there. – Sue

    She shouldn’t have to explain that she has a boyfriend, or make one up. “No” is a complete sentence, not the beginning of a negotiation process. If you continue to pursue her, she doesn’t have to eventually give in to your “charms.”

    Numerous times…Meet a guy, exchange numbers, light flirting by text, into unsolicited d*ck pics, into “you saw mine, let me see yours”. When I say that’s not really my thing, he’s gets super pissed saying “that’s not fair.” – April

    This isn’t what you’ve been conditioned to expect. You watched Leonard pursue Penny on Big Bang Theoryand it worked out for him. Kevin James had two babes in Zookeeper and has a hot wife in King of Queens, and he’s not even rich. The nerd got the girl in Revenge of the Nerds via outright rape. Guys getting the girl via relentless stalking has happened innumerable times in movies. Getting back to the banging on Big Bang Theory, the weasel-like Howard has a hot wife and on a recent episode the overly nerdy Raj is alternating between the beds of two beautiful women.

    Just because I was a drunk 13 year old who stupidly allowed you to fondle me did not mean you had the right to then fuck me when I said no and cried through entire experience. – Natasha

    It’s enough to make any guy thinks the world owes him a model or three. But it doesn’t owe you something, and neither does she.

    Many women live in fear of guys who pursue them, and many are practiced in deescalating. They’ve been hassled and catcalled and groped and stalked and even assaulted. They’ve been told to smile and insulted for their looks and called a bitch and a slut and told to loosen up … and much, much worse.

    Had a guy pull up to me in his car while masturbating when I was 18 and on my courier job. A friend/coworker had the same guy approach her and when she called the police, the dispatcher just laughed. – Stevie

    They have been treated like possessions by strangers as well as by men they know so many times that their lives can’t help be affected by it. Some are desensitized, and others become hyper sensitive. So what can you, the good man, do about it?

    At our neighborhood pool in my bikini because I feel comfortable wearing one. Neighbor I barely know asks me how many kids I have, I told him 3, and he looks me up and down and proceeds to comment on how good my body is. I don’t care what the fuck he thinks about my body! Ewwwww!!! – Stacey

    Stop turning a blind eye. Believe what women say, and admit that rape culture is a real thing. I know some people call bullshit on that term, but after reading the comments in this piece what the hell else would you call it?

    In marriage counseling with a Christian counselor. My then husband complained that I wouldn’t have sex with him anymore. The counselor looked me in the eye and told me my marriage wouldn’t be falling apart if I were fulfilling my duties as a wife. – Kristine

    Call out rape culture wherever you see it. Don’t be a bystander to such harassment. Help make the harassers feel harassed and perhaps they’ll rethink it.

    After one bad date, he parked outside of my house for weeks, following me every time I left the house. The police were not helpful. – Heather

    Be an ally to women, not just another adversary. They get enough crap from police and security guards and church leaders and parents and significant others who think they were asking for the abuse. Don’t participate in victim blaming. Put the blame where it belongs: on the perpetrators.

    A guy I (briefly) dated in my 20’s berated me for an hour because I didn’t swallow. Like ingesting his semen was supposed to be some kind of honour. I think he thought it was a gift he was giving me. He actually called me ungrateful. – Sarah

    These comments are from me asking for examples of harassment on my Facebook page. I didn’t realize what I was in for, thinking I might get a dozen replies. Was I ever wrong. Reading through every word of the several hundred responses, many sent via private message, was a daunting task that made me feel sick.

    My church leader told me I had to forgive the person who sexually abused me. And I had to repent for having seduced him, when I was six. I was told if I didn’t forgive him, he’d go to hell and it would be my fault, and that I owed him the freedom that being forgiven gives a person. – Polly

    This article includes only a sample of the comments / messages I received. I would ask that you endeavor to read as much as you can to gain better understanding into this rampant problem. Also, a follow up article was written based on the many comment this piece received titled “Feminism And The Men Who Refuse To Understand.” It’s worth checking out.

    Thank you in advance.

    When I was 18 I moved in with my boyfriend out of love and financial necessity. It was my first sexual relationship and started out consensually, but soon became forced several times a week. I would beg, “not tonight” and was told, that I lived in his house and he pays a larger portion of the bills (I was in college full time) and this was expected. – Amanda

    Family friend offers to drive me home from college. Whole 4-hour ride home (he took the long route) I am fighting off his hands being in places I don’t want them. – Niki

    I was just starting my career in fire/rescue and one of my substitute instructors began calling me and asking me to meet him outside if class as well as using me to demonstrate how to physically assess trauma patients. When I refused his advances he began giving me failing grades. – Shannah

    When I was 21, a man at least 40 years my senior asked me if I had a fat pussy while out at the bar. When I looked at him in what I’m sure was complete surprise and disgust, he proceeded to tell me he could tell through my pants that I had a fat pussy. – Becky

    I hooked up with this guy once and later saw him at a party where he kept grabbing me in a hot tub and asking me to “sit on his lap”. I said no and kept moving eventually getting away from him. He found me in a room then blocked the only exit, not letting me out until I had sex with him. – Ellen

    That time I went on a date and when he drove me home, I didn’t want him to come up. So he raped me. I then told my priest who said it was my fault for tempting him. I’m an atheist now. – Tanya

    When I was in college, I went out on a date with a friend. Despite my protests, he insisted on paying for dinner. He became furious when I wouldn’t go back with him and have sex, insisting that it wasn’t fair because I “owed” him sex since he paid for dinner. – Elizabeth

    Once when I was in college wearing a short shorts on a very hot day an old man said to me “open up let me SUCK it…but make sure you wash up in the river first” That felt so dirty and nasty. – Marsha

    My life has unfortunately been riddled with harassment from men starting when I was 7 and it has ranged from unwanted comments and requests from boys to molestation to catcalls, being followed, obsessions and even assault. – Melissa

    On two separate occasions guys have whipped their dicks out after giving me a ride home. Mere acquaintances. – Sandy

    One time I was at the bar with a friend; we were chatting at a table when two men approached us. One of them then proceeded to rub my arm, uninvited, and asked me to dance. I moved my arm and politely declined. He persisted. I declined again, a bit more firmly. He became more aggressive in his pursuit, raising his voice and attempting to use his physical presence in an intimidating manner. I finally snapped: “I don’t want to dance with you! Fuck OFF!” At that point, he spit on me. – Shashanna

    If I wanted a better shift (bartender in college) I needed to “date” the manager. – Keri

    I’m a lesbian. Was out in public with my girlfriend. Man asks us to kiss each other so he can watch. Asked for a threesome after I told him to fuck off. – “Scruff”

    At a church youth group. 15 years old. Older guy groped me. Tried to force me to kiss him. Very shaken, told the leaders, was blamed because my belly was showing a little & I dressed “alternatively.”– Hani

    I have a neutral facial expression (a.k.a. resting bitch face) and I am constantly told (by men) that it wouldn’t break my face to smile. – Andrea

    If I turned down sex, my ex-husband used to tell me it was my “wifely duty” … Then he made me do it anyway. He genuinely thought he was being kind afterward when he’d pat my sobbing shoulders a couple times and thank me for a job well done. – Heidi

    20yo – I’m in the military. Everyone wants to either fuck me or harass me for fun. I am entirely defined by my gender. – Lauren

    “Erin, you have really nice legs. When will you be wearing a skirt to class next?” – my high school computer teacher. In front of the whole class. – Erin

    Online dating … The unsolicited “dick pic” has become something that you have to actually state UP FRONT that you DON’T want or it comes whistling into your messages. These are usually followed by “let’s see yours”. – Maureen

    I once turned a guy down for a second date so he stalked me for two years. – Samantha

    It makes me really sad how, often, the last defence we have is to say we have a boyfriend, whether that’s true or not. Like your desire to be left alone is only valid if another guy has perceived “rights” to you, it’s not enough that you don’t want this person’s attention. – Jodie

    I had a former soldier try to use his service and unpleasant experiences in Iraq to guilt trip me into going out with him. It’s amazing how quickly his “traumatized warrior who just needs love” shtick turned into “bitter misogynistic curse-spewing douchenozzle” after I turned him down. – Sarah

    Asked me why I wear my hair so short. Told him I liked it that way. His parting salvo was “because guys prefer long hair on women”. Hurrah for unsolicited advice from random fuckfaces on the street. – Julia

    Last night, on my way home from the train station, a man smoking out his window greeted me with “Evening” as I walked past. I smiled slightly, trying to be friendly/prevent further interaction/get home. Which got me called “stuck-up fat cunt!” – Jennifer

    I was walking from work to the bus stop one afternoon when a guy pulled up along the side walk and leaned out to talk to me. He said how pretty I was, had nice hair and asked me my name. I responded as I always did, “Thanks, my guy agrees,” (whether I have one or not); he then yelled at me “just asked your name you fucking fat bitch!” – Kimberley

    When I was 15 I was cat-called and ignored it. When the guy was unhappy about this, he walked over and asked for my phone number. When I ignored him again, he beat me up until I had a concussion. – Kelsie

    If I crash on your couch, you do not have permission to grope me while I am sleeping. – Bethany

    “I have condoms. And we (group of 10+ guys) want to test them and you are the lucky one.” (I did not feel lucky.) – Chantal

    My brother tried to sell me to a dope dealer for a night because he owed him money. – Julie

    I ignore a man’s so called compliment “hey beautiful” and he punishes me by throwing his milkshake at my back. – Ellie

    My ex husband was under the impression that so long as I was “his” wife he was owed any amount of sexual favors he deemed necessary. – Amanda

    I used an online dating site, and took a friend to meet a guy. After meeting him I wasn’t interested, told him so, and stopped contact. He proceeded to call me a stuck up slut who led him on and who deserved something for his efforts. – Catherine

    My supervisor at work asked me out. Every day. For two years. While we were alone in his car on our daily trip to make bank deposits. – Amber

    I developed early and had breasts at 11; my face was still that of a child but that didn’t stop many drivers slowing down to make some disgusting comments. To this day I still freak out when a car stops by me when I’m walking. – Sara

    I met a guy once; he got into my car and refused to get out until he could cop a feel. He said kiss me or show me your tits. I said I would scream if he didn’t get out. He lunged toward me and I laid on the horn. He still managed to cop a feel. Asshole. – Sara

    When I was 12-13, I was molested by a family friend for 2 years. – Sara

    I have been groped 7 times while shelving books. – Jill, a librarian

    I was on the subway and some dude kept hitting on me. I told him I wasn’t interested and turned around. Guy grabs my butt, so I shove him back. He then smacked me across the face hard enough that I actually stumbled backwards. – Kaleena

    Or the guy who tried to speak to me and I ignored on my way to the toilet who followed me and blocked my path exiting the toilet to ask why I was so rude ignoring him. – Kathryn

    I stopped taking public transportation because of men. – Rebekah

    Walking into Target a guy continued to catcall me, whistle and try to get my attention. I ignored him and continued walking without making eye contact. Then he finally said, “f u you whore, you ain’t that cute anyway.” – Crystal

    Ahh the days of the C train..I’ve had more than my fair share of hands and hardons rubbed on my ass. – Tiffanie

    Guys (even friends ) being pissed off when I cut my hair. – Patricia

    I’ve been catcalled too many times to bother trying to count. (I’m not even old enough to drink yet.) – Juliet

    When I was out with a friend in Paris at age 19 a group of men approached us and then one grabbed my head and pushed it towards his crotch and they all started laughing. – Jennifer

    Random guy coming and hugging me several times … I called security. They said he was a good-looking guy, so why wouldn’t I just go along with it? – Patricia

    Just the other day I was out running and two guys stopped JUST to leer/watch me run by and said “Helloooooo” as I ran past – forcing me into the middle of the fucking road to get by them. – Stevie

    So many times. Even now, in my mid-forties, I’ve gotten comments about how I shouldn’t wear loose clothes because apparently, people are entitled to the spectacle of my butt. – Patricia

    Apparently having visible tattoos gives strangers the right to touch you. – Melissa

    I’m a lesbian on a gay dating site that seems to get a lot of straight men posing as lesbian women. I get way too many dick pics. – Ari

    A guy saw my extensive chest piece, breathed “whoa, nice tattoo,” and yanked down the front of my shirt to get a better look. He did not understand why I was upset, and was very defensive, as if it was perfectly acceptable behavior to pull down a woman’s shirt to her sternum. – Ariana

    When I was 18 my boss (grocery store) stuck his hands down the back of my pants and asked it I liked it. – Lindsey

    A long-term close friend pulled out his penis and held my hand on it until I started screaming. – Zoe

    I don’t like having to ‘smile’ in order to get my order and pay for my eggs or coffee. – Nina

    A guy (I thought was a friend) helped me once to get out of the house I had been living in with an abusive partner. He let me stay on his couch and one morning tried to rape me. He said after all he did for me he earned it. – Anon

    I’m carrying three bags of groceries home one day and this guy on a bike rides up beside me and asks if I need help. I say no thank you, I’ve got it. He calls me a bitch and says that I should be grateful that any man offers to do anything for me. – Danielle

    My former boss pointed at me, in front of his wife, and said “That’s going to be my next wife.” As if I was simply property that he could claim. – Andrea

    He told me to hang up my ongoing phone call so he could get my number. When I told him no and that I have a boyfriend, he got angry, accused me of making up a fake boyfriend, and pointed out that I didn’t have a ring on. – Christine

     

     

    here's the thing: all sex is transactional, whether we like to admit it or not. and this isn't a "you're paying for it some way" hot take, i mean it seriously.

    as a chivalrous guy, i frequently sprung for drinks or dinner when i was dating. i would be lying if i said that there wasn't some soft expectation buried in that chivalry. i honestly think that's natural, so some of the anecdotes up in that article bother me. an unwanted advance is not an assault. i would argue that if girls want to be on the left side of the equation, then they stop accepting drinks or dinners from guys. that takes you from the sum of the equation to the math part of the equation. it also empowers women.

    however, some dudes are total assholes, and rape culture absolutely exists, no matter what slorch tries to claim. and both men and women are a part of that culture. there is a reason that baylor and penn state went on for years. hell, even women counselors at baylor tried to bury the rapes that existed there. that's how ingrained it was.

    it exists when guys like slorch claims it does not. we are all part of it to varying degrees, whether it's my soft expectation that enough dinner dates would get me a bedroom date. to deny that it exists is folly. because slorch feels somehow victimized in the castigation of rape culture, it must not exist? that's ridiculous.

    but it brings me back to my point: all sex is transactional. whether one pays a hooker, or pays for dinner, or even facilitates a free flow of ideas about philosophies of life, there IS a trade of some kind made before the pants come off. virtually no sex occurs without some transaction. so the part of the article above that annoys me is "she doesn't owe you shit." it's a two way road, and we owe each other any number of things. by accepting invitations to expensive dinners, by accepting invitations to hotel rooms, women put themselves back at the sum part of the equation, instead of the empowered left side of the equation. if a girl accepts my invitation to my hotel room, i would expect she knows why i'm asking. that doesn't give me free reign to do whatever i want once she crosses that threshold, however, and if at any time she wants to stop, things need to stop - i want to be clear on that front. but there ARE sexual expectations out there.

    anyways, just a few thoughts i was having over the weekend.

    tl;dr: boys and girls in america have such a sad time together; sophistication demands that they submit to sex immediately without proper preliminary talk. Not courting talk — real straight talk about souls, for life is holy and every moment is precious. - kerouac

  11. Just now, victory88 said:

    Is this a movie that needs to be seen in IMAX 3D or is a normal movie theatre fine?  

    i'm biased, because 3D exhausts my eyes and overwhelms my ADHD, but i saw it in a normal theater at alamo drafthouse and was very happy. 

     

    • Like 1
  12. 18 hours ago, DanRydell said:

    Was the Watson nephew thing actually true or was it just something some random Jeff Ward caller said and everybody ran with? 

    i don't think it was ever properly vetted, but the caller sounded damn credible. 

    there is no doubt that it was massively underbid, which is demonstrated by the shitshow still going on. so it was a sweetheart deal of some kind.

    • Like 1
  13. i don't know if this has been posted, but holy shit, trump is more of a disaster than normal. this is definitely not turning out like he and rudy initially thought:

    https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/04/politics/trump-giuliani-facts/index.html

    Quote

    (CNN)President Donald Trump publicly undermined his attorney Rudy Giuliani on Friday, saying the former New York City mayor had only a loose grasp of the Stormy Daniels business when he spoke about it earlier this week.

    A clarifying statement from Giuliani issued four hours later did little to illuminate the matter. Instead, the series of pronouncements only lent further confusion to an issue that has deeply undercut the administration's credibility and has fueled the impression of a West Wing in crisis.
     
    "He''ll get his facts straight," Trump stipulated of his longtime friend on Friday morning, before adding: "There has been a lot of misinformation. I say, You know what? Learn before you speak. It's a lot easier."
     
    Calling Giuliani a "great guy," Trump nonetheless insisted his attorney wasn't fully up to speed when he told an interviewer that Trump had reimbursed another lawyer for hush money paid to Daniels, an adult film actress who claims she had sex with Trump in 2006. Trump has denied the encounter.
     
     
    "He really has his heart into it. He's working hard," Trump said of Giuliani, before adding: "He's learning the subject matter."
     
    By midday, Giuliani had issued a statement he said was "intended to clarify the views I expressed over the past few days." But it did little to spell out when precisely Trump knew of the payment, or how involved he was in reimbursing Cohen.
     
    "My references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President's knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters," Giuliani wrote.
     
    He asserted the payment would have been made "whether he was a candidate or not."
     
    Trump sought to clarify the matter during a pair of morning appearances as he departed for Dallas, where he will address the National Rifle Association. He spoke first outside the South Portico, as his Marine One helicopter was idling nearby, and again under the wing of Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews.
     
    It was his first time speaking about the matter after Giuliani sat for an interview this week and claimed Trump had paid back his lawyer Michael Cohen for the $130,000 hush payment to Daniels, an adult film actress whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford.
    Trump seemed to initially back up Giuliani's statement on Twitter the morning after his interview. But he reversed course on Friday.
    "Everything said has been said incorrectly," he said. Giuliani, who announced he was joining Trump's legal team 15 days ago, "started yesterday," the President insisted.
     
    "When Rudy made the statements -- Rudy is great -- but Rudy had just started, and he wasn't totally familiar with everything," he said.
    Trump had previously said he wasn't aware of the payment. He told reporters aboard Air Force One a month ago "no" when questioned about his knowledge of the arrangement.
     
    He grew indignant on Friday when pressed about the shifting version of events.
     
    "We're not changing any stories," Trump demanded on the Andrews tarmac. "This country is right now running so smooth and to be bringing up that kind of crap, and bringing up witch hunts all the time, that's all you want to talk about."
     
    As reporters interjected, Trump chided them -- "excuse me, excuse me" -- and insisted they review what he'd said.
     
    "You take a look at what I said. You go back and take a look," he ordered. "You'll see what I said."
     
    The remarkable series of appearances did little to clarify matters, which have served to erode the credibility both of the President and his aides, who insisted Trump knew nothing of the hush payments.
     
    Trump, however, said there should be no confusion.
     
    "It's actually very simple," he declared without explanation.

    fucking incredible

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