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TahoeHorn

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Everything posted by TahoeHorn

  1. Instead of a law about portraits we need a law about signs and pictures in government offices or billboards on the highway. When I go to a national park, a rest stop, the drivers licence office, the passport office and dozens more I see some sign with the picture of some government official. As soon as we get a new official thousands of old signs come down and new ones go up. When driving across a state line it's not important to me to get welcomed to a new state by the current Governor. I don't need to know which President is in charge of the passport office. When tabulating the ego purchases portraits rate low.
  2. I don't know if this is serious or not but I live with my dad who is almost 93, and the question is very real. For example, when do I start sitting in with him when he talks with his doctor. Today I don't. But I drive. The list is long of decisions I will have to make regarding when to "take over" a responsibility.
  3. There are many non-Trumpkins who are thrilled Hilly is not Prez. And I mean THRILLED!!!!
  4. How should society treat people in the 18-21 age group? Or maybe it's 16-25. We have a lot of discussions around making contracts, entering military service, voting, driving, buying alcohol, buying cigarettes, buying guns, and even renting a car and getting good insurance rates. Society doesn't really have a coherent way to treat teens and young adults. What's your answer? One of the major societal problems is what I call 16 year old boy disease. You know better but you do it anyway. I had it. Virtually every boy has it. If you have it bad enough you ruin your life for good. Most of us have had a number of life experiences which were caused by 16 year old boy disease for which we could have died or gone to prison. But we were lucky. Most of us are pretty much cured of 16 year old boy disease by 25. At 21 we are partially cured. Girls have much milder cases and get cured more quickly. Most get cured by 21. Anyone with a bad case of 16 year old boy disease shouldn't be engaging in potentially life ruining activity - activity which requires moderation and judgement to avoid bad consequences. And they shouldn't be making decisions which impact the lives of others. Should age be the sole basis for determining the rights of young adults? And what age? I don't have a good answer. But I am troubled that we are not consistent. When I was a boy most everything except military service was 21. But the Vietnam War seemed to be the impetus for a lot of change (If you're old enough to ...). I'm inclined to think the old way may have made more sense.
  5. I'll buy that. And I'm fine with the bump stock ban. I'm sure there are others here and there.
  6. I'd like to combine the background s I'll go for that with one amendment. I'd like your "TSA pre-check" to be the basis for a "good citizenship card" which has multiple uses. You need it to buy a gun; you need it to avoid thorough checking when flying a plane and you need it to vote. It's possible that the rare person might qualify to do one but not the other but the background check should be consolidated. I don't want one type of background check (e.g. to buy a gun) to encounter high cost and delays, while another (e.g. voter registration) to be a quick farce or non-existent. We need to be sure that people with a "good citizen card" aren't felons, aren't mentally ill and so on. Support me on my voter check and I'll support you on your gun check. Deal?
  7. There could be some productive discussion about gun control. But I don't think people want one, and many people can't hold a productive discussion on anything. I am nominally in the "pro gun" camp but would entertain any gun control proposal I thought would benefit the nation. But every proposal I hear is simple-minded and affects law abiding citizens while not impacting the criminals. One simple-minded proposal I hear is an "assault weapons ban". The last one we had didn't work. And it was idiotic. It was idiotic because it had a definition of an assault weapon which was absolutely silly. The proponents of the bill knew it was silly but did it to appease their angry constituents who didn't know better. They were played. Until you precisely define assault weapons the proposal has no meaning. And there is no definition that will have an impact without severely impacting lawful gun owners who want a gun for legitimate purposes. The difference between a hunting rifle and a scary looking gun is just cosmetics. The devil is in the details, and the proponents know that an honest proposal would never pass. They know the only way to pass a bill is an emotional stampede to pass something that is toothless. Just like before.
  8. I started to say that, but decided to lower my smart ass index a tad. But it's still funny.
  9. https://www.wsj.com/articles/democrats-hasten-to-challenge-citizenship-question-on-census-1522183609
  10. Should illegal aliens be counted in the Census? Should the number of illegal aliens be used in apportioning seats in the House of Representatives? Of course they should be counted. Hell, we count toilets. Of course they shouldn't count in apportioning seats in the House.
  11. You don't understand my political discussions off this board. I talk about who will man the phone bank for the special election, what the poll watchers are seeing, and who will get the media to look at our cake for our celebration of the club's 400th consecutive monthly meeting. If I talk politics it's fairly polite and among Republicans. If it's with elected officials it's a carefully crafted pitch on a topic I think I can have an impact on. For example I implored a few representatives who understand the need to convert our retirement system from defined benefit to defined contribution. We didn't discuss the issue. We discussed who was backing it, who was opposing it and what had to be done to make it a higher priority. I would never discuss something like Nazi advocacy groups off this board. Shit like that is not real life to me. Only nuts like it or think it's a big problem. There are hundreds of nutty groups. I do read a lot about politics but I don't read the talk radio kind of crap. Anything I do along those lines is here.
  12. I might just fade into Bolivian. - Mike Tyson
  13. You missed the point. I do not believe that one should take the position, as you are, that one should only be allowed to present, or listen to, "facts". For example, many of the positions of the Black Lives Matter group are demonstrably false. But they believe these positions. They are a relevant part of society, just like Christian fundamentalists are. Just because I don't believe that Michael Brown had his hands up, or that the Earth is 6,000 years old doesn't mean that it isn't important for me to know what these folks think. And if I had a kid I wouldn't shield him from these thoughts. I tell his ass to read about it and understand these folks better.
  14. I expect to get purged. This stuff always behaves like a pendulum. The GOP in Alabama is getting stronger and more conservative. Optimism is a funny word for this. I view it like a skilled playing poker. You play the hand the best way you can, and if you do it well over and over you will win. In any given period my view (center right, pro capitalism) may fair poorly. But my view is probably the best position nationally for long-term success. So the key is just to keep playing the cards as best as possible. I don't expect 100% success or quick success. I expect to fold bad hands. But I believe in the long run I will win.
  15. Shouting down occurs on both sides. For example I hear anger at evolution. If I had a kid they'd lear what scientists have to say about evolution and what Christian fundamentalists have to say about creationism. You don't have to believe anything. Across the board, I believe in understanding the views of various parties in controversial topics. I don't support being forced to listen to anybody. I'll pick an advocate who is polite (reading versus listening accomplishes this) and knowledgeable. If you can't listen to, or read about, a position you find objectionable you have a problem. If you can't be polite while doing so you have a problem. If you can't spend a day watching Fox and a day watching MSNBC without getting upset you have a problem. There are some ideas which should not be permitted to be expressed. Our laws do an excellent job of defining what these are. If your personal behavior deviates very far from the law in what kind of speech you think should be permitted you have a problem. Again, there is a BIG difference between speech that is allowed to willing recipients and speech that is foisted upon the unwilling. Almost no speech qualifies for the latter.
  16. I don't know. I'd have to guess. Passenger rail doesn't seem to work. Freeways in rapidly growing areas are some of the very best bets.
  17. Tom Parker looks to me to be the new darling of the Alabama pro-life movement. He has long been a big player. Tom Parker is running against Lyn Stuart for Chief Justice. Stuart is the current Chief Justice. Tom Parker is a current Justice. (I will vote for Stuart.) I hear absolutely nothing positive about Roy Moore. That may be because the Moore supporter's rallying cry is to attack Richard Shelby, who, if you remember, said he would write in a different Republican. (I think he decided to follow my lead.) Perhaps they won't venture positive comments about Moore until they get concurrence on denigration of Shelby. But I suspect they have all moved on from Moore. Some want to purge the Shelby types (which includes me). But I think most are ready to try to find a way to produce results. They're smart enough to know that a civil war is not the way. And I think there are various factions of the social conservatives who have their guy. Another possibility for them is Scott Dawson. He is a candidate for Governor, and is backed by Mike Huckabee and the Hobby Lobby founders. Dawson has ten times the charisma of Parker but Dawson is dynamic and funny, not angry. Some want the angry type. Parker has the requisite righteous indignation. Stay tuned.
  18. My life is in Huntsville. I live in a rural area. I am active in a civic club which is about a third Black and our projects help kids who are, I would guess, disproportionately Black.
  19. - I don't know what stormfront is. - I think we have a massive amount of law on who can have a website. It is good law, and stormfront, and anybody else, should comply with the law. - Nobody should have access to all public forums.
  20. Nope. The opposite. I'm advocating an aggressive exchange of ideas. Attacking me isn't an idea. Did you read the article? Do you have a different view to present?
  21. You have no understanding of my civic involvement.
  22. There is a difference between providing the speaker a forum, and allowing him to speak in any forum. I support the former but not the latter. To paraphrase Ron White I don't believe anyone should be permitted to rape my ear. The speaker gets a chance to speak in a forum where a potential listener can avoid listening. If you venture into the forum you have to compete with ideas.
  23. I've never promoted white supremacy.
  24. https://www.city-journal.org/html/opening-minds-campus-15784.html How do you feel about "opening minds"? How do you feel about safe spaces? I'm a huge supporter of being exposed to ideas you don't believe in. I think you should choose what those are, not have them foisted upon you by others. But you should be aggressive in seeking out sophisticated thought on topics of interest, or in the national news. I think the idea that shouting down people with views you don't share or attacking them personally is horrendous. I do not feel threatened by opposing views and don't understand why others do. One of the main reasons I come to these boards is to try to get a better feel for people who can't stand to hear opposing views. I am particularly interested in people with Left wing ideas who are intolerant. Living in the Bible Belt I get exposure to the other kind in my daily life.
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