Kyle

You’re in a better position to answer that.

Yeah, that's pretty universal. I am under no impression that I have some kind of unique or special powers. All of us see what we want to see...

Uppity folks really get under your skin don't they. I'm surprised a so-called crazy person that does not matter is taking up so much space in your head. Why do you think that is?

This is largely where I landed. As I said in my first post, I could GAF about his opinion but respect anyone willing to be independent. The reaction to his comments on this thread and elsewhere (vs. other crazy stuff he said about George W. Bush and Katrina or other uniformed celebrity opinions for that matter) is curious. Plantation comment not withstanding, it does feel very much like get out of line, you have to deal with the master. It is obviously pricked a nerve with many closeted racists who fear getting uppity.

I’m guessing this is designed to be an emotional deflection to distract from your outrage over Kanye being uppity and speaking out of turn?

Guessing you prefer Al Jolson?

Exactly. I tried to make that explicit in my original post but did not do a great job. I'm not evaluating the content of what he said, but I appreciate anyone who expresses an independent or iconoclastic POV regardless of the context.

He must be getting too uppity for you.

Seriously. Kanye could have said literally the same thing next to Obama and the same people calling him mentally ill would be endorsing him for president in 2020.

I don't have my doctor of psychology, so I cannot comment on whether he is mentally ill. Does not change the fact that he has the courage to speak against the grain. I mean look how he's being attacked for a thought crime. Anyone who expresses a diverse opinion is not tolerated but ad hom'd - he's mentally ill, so ignore.

This is what scares many - independent thought. While I have not thought much of him or his music and think he's a megalomaniac loon, I admire anyone willing to express publicly a diverse opinion and face the fascist wrath of his peers. Again, I make no value judgment on the content, but I appreciate anyone willing to not just parrot the simpleton party line on any issue or any party (group, organization, etc.) Free speech and independent thought no matter how inherently correct or incorrect terrifies many.

FUIA - Mini-Kiss. Lava Cantina. 10/20.

A lot of really good thoughts on this thread. My guess is the root of the problem is there is not enough money spent on social services. That likely is an easy distraction, and my guess would be that if everyone paid 99.99% income tax there would still be homeless and hungry people. The challenge as noted above IMHO is finding the right incentives, the right way to execute / deliver, and a holistic perspective that includes regulatory, social, and cultural implications. Unfortunately, government is just not really good at that.

Agreed, but I feel better about myself. (calm down fascists, #nosexist)

This is my favorite story of the year so far. I'm hoping this does not become the great civil rights struggle of 2019.

About as far as I get to that is Marlboro menthol 100s.

I can only speak for me, but I echo sentiments of some others around apathy. I am a Poli Sci major and politics traditionally has been a big part in my life. I used to love debating an discussing issues, and because I am an independent moderate, I usually could have fun engaging folks on both sides of the isle. Personally, the tone has become filled with so much hyperbolic hate that it is just not fun anymore. I do not get emotional around politics - I am analytical by nature and like for the numbers to drive the conversation; but as an example this board is 99% emotional screeds so set in a bias that conversation is virtually impossible. In addition, sources of information have all come out of the closet in terms of feigning objectivity, so it is even hard to find decent sources of data without spin. I'm not the smartest guy in the room, but I need more than simpleton talking points that lack nuance and factual basis. On top of that, we've become so tribal that principles and issued do not seem to matter - basically whatever T-shirt the person is wearing describes whether 99.99% agree or disagree. I mean, is it the ultimate Bizarro World that we liberals want to suspend due process and bemoan the U.S. is no longer a superpower while conservatives are supporting tariffs and trade wars? It just seems like neither party really has any principles anymore outside the culture war and individuals change positions based on who is supporting or opposing something. Okay. Rant over. I do miss the days of discussing principled politics over Marlboro Reds and cheap whiskey, but the Internet has pretty much turned everyone into know-it-all donkeys that believe Socratic debate is screaming louder than the other guy and calling her more outlandish names.

Sunday afternoon. Gentle hangover. Craving some Arby's. Sweetheart went to get it but of course brought home 100 packets of ketchup but no Arby's or Horsey sauce. I thought enough Taco Cabana fails had conditioned her always to check.

Same song, different verse: http://fortune.com/2018/10/08/google-plus-facebook-data-breach/ Irony of the highest order: "Google neglected to report the breach to the public, allegedly out of fear that the company would face regulations and damage to its reputation, according to sources and documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal."

I don't even want to ask what those snowflakes are upset about - probably democracy. The street block really needs to stop. I'm all for protesting, but shutting down a street is potentially dangerous.

Three for me.

I get it. I may be wrong, but I suspect in 20 years most will be doing more business with China than Latin America, but I could be completely wrong - especially given proximity. I have no issue with any language, like I said earlier I wish more schools offered more options.

I get it. I have nothing against Spanish; I wish more schools would offer Mandarin. Fully agree on your last point - I married one of them there Messican senoritas.

NSIS. My PC point is that schools waste way too many resources IMHO teaching Spanish vs. a useful language like Mandarin.

No shit. Capt. Obvious, but this never has made sense to me. Hey Marcus, let's outsource our key technology to a country that wants to destroy us. Kind of important to have a manufacturing infrastructure whether technology or equipment.