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Mole

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Everything posted by Mole

  1. This is a fair point. This broke my brain in a way I can't fully articulate. I'm still trying to understand it. I think it has something to do with our shared values. Our government has been cruel since its founding, so Trump's cruelty isn't a new thing, it's just a different brand. Toddler law is horrifying and terrifying, but so are so many things we've done throughout our history. That's not an excuse or whatabout for horrifying policies, it's just a question of degree rather than kind. It's easy to settle into a quasi both sides cynicism. This military thing isn't simply name calling, it's an open rejection of the foundational and remaining bipartisan values that we all tend to exalt: selfless sacrifice for the common good. Military funerals and cemeteries are meaningful because of the values they represent. Trump's statements are a plain rejection of these values. If you see Trump as a human-like manifestation of our national character, this is disturbing in different way than the kids in cages were. They were far more cruel to the kids, but it represented cruelty towards an outsider or perceived enemy. Even if I don't agree, I can understand how a person might end up at that conclusion. But if my country doesn't even aspire to our own values any more, I'm not sure what to even do with that. I can understand the cruelty even if I hate it; this breaks my brain. Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. I do know this aroused a very different kind of anger.
  2. There are absolutely unhealthy things about this country’s relationship with its military. There’s the over-the-top hero worship; there’s politicization where criticism of policies or lack of proper respect to the symbols of patriotism is recast as disrespect to the people who serve (see Kap taking a knee); and of course there are the endless and perpetual wars. There’s a real discussion to be had there, but as you noted, this isn’t what’s happening and isn’t the place. This is profaning the core values of everything we should hope to aspire to. There’s no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend. It doesn’t say “there’s no greater loser.” Any post-hoc justifications of this is 100% dishonest.
  3. Neil Young’s Trans is a beautiful album.
  4. I like the Beatles and think they were the most important popular music group of their era, but I still think they’re wildly overrated.
  5. I’ve learned something about myself over the past few months. Nothing brings up my righteous anger like profaning the sacred. Places of worship are sacred places to me and the tear gas photo op introduced me to a new kind of political anger. Military cemeteries and fallen servicemen are sacred to me and this feels the same. Unlike some, I appreciated when he skipped the WWI memorial because he had no business there, but his articulated disgust towards actual selfless service short-circuits my brain.
  6. In order to lie effectively, you need to tell the truth once in a while, otherwise everyone can always assume that you’re lying.
  7. More on the military poll https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/08/31/as-trumps-popularity-slips-in-latest-military-times-poll-more-troops-say-theyll-vote-for-biden/
  8. Does the gig come with the power to send blinking mail icons?
  9. I’d love to hear “goodbye and good luck” after voting.
  10. Wait, that’s not a joke? As a joke it’s pretty funny. As a serious point, it’s even funnier.
  11. I teach college students; they tell me all sorts of insane things — terrifying personal (non-sexual) things that no one should ever hear — but I haven't heard a word about the period... until now, from an old man on the internet. I haven't noticed any avoidance in any student writing either, just lots of misplaced homophones. The worst part of the em dash: typing it. I can never remember how to type it [the em dash], so I Google, copy, and paste as needed.
  12. 1. I love semicolons; they’re very powerful tools. 2. I don’t mark off for terrible grammar so much as make them resubmit until it doesn’t suck. Time is a powerful motivator. Measure twice, cut once. 3. I’m on team single space after a period. Likewise, I don’t lament the decline of calligraphy or complain that reading and writing is killing oral traditions. A flexible mind can adapt to better ways of communicating. 4. Effective communication should reflect its mode. Academic writing should be pedantic and indecipherable; emails should be clear and passive aggressive; texts should maximize efficiency and gifs.
  13. If you view the police issue as not just a national issue but rather a widespread series of local issues, the players and owners wield enormous economic and cultural influence in their respective communities. If the players can get the owners to put pressure on the right people, many issues could be resolved locally.
  14. This post confuses me, but it isn’t the punctuation. Of course the open parenthesis causes my brain to hiccup a little bit, but that’s the least confusing part.
  15. That’s my memory as well. That thread was a wild ride.
  16. I feel like there’s a generational divide here. I’m 40. At no point in my life have ever seriously considered the possibility that SS would be there for me when I retire. It’s always just been one more tax to me. Just a young to old generational transfer of wealth. Of course I’d rather not burn it down right now though.
  17. A good friend of mine became hooked on pain pills after a back injury. He ended up in a Christian recovery program after his life spiraled out of control. The day he got home, he threw out all “secular” media and would only consume Christian music/movies/tv/books. It seemed like a very limiting perspective to me, but I respect someone doing whatever it takes to stay out of that pit. He’s still going strong and doing well many years later, so I guess it’s worked for him. Not all things are profitable nor do they edify, so there’s wisdom and honor in figuring that out and pursuing it.
  18. There’s a good discussion of the discomfort some feel with CCM here: My own experience and views on the music has evolved quite a bit over the years. I still generally avoid listening to it, for many of the reasons listed above, but I’ve grown to see its value. I spent a few years playing this music at a church that was a pretty wild scene and found it extremely musically and personally gratifying. Some of my most cherished memories are playing that music. The issues discussed on the video (tamping down of the joyful noise) were not present at all, so that may have been the difference. Also, having taught beginners who only want to learn that style of music, being able to teach them to play all the songs they love in about 15 minutes is actually a very powerful thing. On the other hand, a few of the groups make me physically ill to listen to (dizziness, headaches, etc). No other music around the world does this. The groups that do this to me are also associated with some of the more manipulative churches, so I’ve wondered if there’s some spiritual element that causes my reaction. I can hear it in the music before I even know who it is.
  19. Fab Five Freddy told me everybody's fly DJ spinning I said "My My" Flash is fast, Flash is cool François c'est pas, Flash ain't no dude
  20. I’m starting to see more of the religious republicans positioning themselves as persecuted (even more so than the typical persecution complex). It all feeds into the insane feedback loop. I’ve seen people that I was close with, that were generally normal and reasonable people disengage from reality and go down these crazy paths over the past few months. The next few months will be wild and will likely rip us apart.
  21. Wanker Bob, that sounds like a you problem.
  22. I guess Wanker Bob isn’t a fan of Yellowstone.
  23. Yep. Actively funneling government money into his pockets and actively accepting bribes by foreign parties seeking to influence him through his properties, using the force of the federal government to cover for his criminal dealings, etc.
  24. I agree. The concepts surrounding things like “once saved, always saved” render flat the depth of scripture. There’s too much biblical discussion of people falling away, endurance to the end, working out salvation with fear and trembling, etc. to boil it down to trite truisms like this. The “once saved, always saved” crowd often tries to wave this away with something about people falling away having never been saved in the first place, but that seems like a distinction without a difference. According to Jesus, yes. See Matthew 20, the parable of the workers of the vineyard. If God gives me a wonderful and undeserved gift, why should I be jealous if someone “less deserving” gets the same gift? It’s not my gift to give.
  25. In too many cases, virulent racism is the law. Also, the character arc of Curt Schilling is pretty amazing. Bloody sock to a fraudulent and racist scam.
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