leh-nerd skin-erd

Huh. His position can be summed up as “Crisis?…look I don’t want people living outside in Minnesota…”? Did they move Minnesota to Texas?

Up-oh, now it's your turn. I'm not mad about anything, I just prefer a different set of outcomes when I go home at night. On the other hand, there are a whole lot of people marching in that segment, and they likely could lend their blood/sweat/tears/money to helping those dealing with crime and poverty directly.

Welp, I didn’t follow all the hubbub leading up to the exchange, but my feeling has always been the moderators leave this place alone in virtually every case. I felt that way back when the initial purge took place, and I enjoyed interacting with many of the people who moved on. Emotions can run high here, but at some point there should be lines that are not crossed. While I think the job of moderating the board generally is thankless and something I would avoid like the plague, the response was unnecessary. Then again…. “Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill, especially by brainwashed asshats.’ – Buddha

I would think the Soviet-style would be described as government mandated, not inspired. Apologies if I wasn’t clear, but it was really more about the proximity to the people marching in the streets with masks and smoke bombs, and stackable living in general.

When @Roundybout talks about shoehorning the masses into government inspired stackable shoe boxes, this type of activity is what I envision on the streets from time to time. I get that waking to the Starbucks for a venti matcha(whipped cream on the side) and a scone is of value to some people, I just prefer a quieter, less intifada-y evening with people I care about.

Um, yes...everywhere.

It's a shame this is the story. The real story was the 31 year old store owner, family man and contributing member of society that was shot in the face and murdered. Btw, when you mentioned the other day that the family of the Missouri inmate suggested that life in prison was acceptable punishment for the guy you declared innocent, this family supported the execution.

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/695476-citizens-to-shift-up-to-648000-policies-to-private-insurers-starting-next-month/ Insurance companies apply actuarial science to a market, it's not an emotional decision. If a company can thrive, the market improves. If the environment (regulatory, financially) offers promise, they push forward. Prayers up for the good people of Florida.

Well, actually, "all sides" is inaccurate here. One of the sides involved would be the people ultimately entrusted with decision-making here, and it seems they rejected the arguments made by other stakeholders and went with the results determined by the jury. That said, I misunderstood your perspective and thought you were of the mind the process was unfair and weighted against the defendant. I assumed that because you twice mentioned that those ultimately in charge were "sick".

I don't know about declarations of innocence, but questions about the prosecution of the case certainly exist. I'm against the death penalty, so either way it's a shame it was carried out in this case. Btw, it seems as of you're suggesting that the system is rigged to benefit some at the expense of others. Some people feels that is heresy when applied to other situations and sliding application of justice.

Sure, life is complicated and young people are awfully blissfully unaware of the dangers of life while being absolutely certain they have it all figured out. Still, I’m hard-pressed to refer to the dead or victimized as stupid, anymore than I would a young woman out for a run being victimized in some horrific way. I’d probably go with catastrophically naive. It doesn’t change the standards, nor the best practice(s) shared for consideration by your friend.

Same rules apply if you helilawnchair into a musical festival, rape, shoot, bomb, dismember kids out doing what kids do, and kidnap/enslave/rape/execute a few for kicks. Some people will support you because the right type of target was struck. Some people will try and blow up your iPhone. Tell your friend, either way, it won’t be boring.

I'm with @Dochere, Frank. What needs splaining? She celebrated the human form, and an entire of generation of American males probably celebrated, too.

It's telling that your default is to assume fear drives thought processes over things like quality of life, upbringing, personal experience etc. You covered a lot here, too, jumping from grimy to edgy to young v old (or more experienced youngsters as I call 'em), to LGBT issues. You limit your growth following this path. Some people just like grass my man. On the bright side, I'm sure you're doing your part unhomlessing those folks in your sphere.

You called those towns 'wonderbread', certainly not a term reflective of tolerance and/or the fact that different areas are for different people. And, wth is 'whitewashing'...keeping the streets clean? Nice store fronts? Btw---on my google map, at the corner of East Chippewa and Main...there was a Friday's. Are you young hipsters getting grimy at night and ordering the Pot Stickers and Jack Daniels Chicken Thumbs for lunch ion Saturdays?

I just did a google search for Main and Chippewa, looked about and can’t think of a reason I’d want to live there. It looks nice hoping. Then I googled Elma and East Aurora and thought both looked pretty nice to me. I don’t understand the need to trash someone’s choice of where to live because it doesn’t offer what you’re looking for. 🤔

Allowing terrorism to perpetuate and flourish isn't a great deterrent, either.

I don't have access to the story, but it's absolutely awesome to hear. Stepping back a bit, I've been out of WNY for several decades but visit frequently. It's always home to me. Lately, the past few years or so, I've spoken with people who'd children live/attended school in Buff and how much they enjoyed it. The first time I heard that sentiment a couple years back, I nearly fell off my chair after many, many years of "Ohh...you must love snow...".

I don’t know about getting “red-pilled”, I think he’s simply articulating a centrist, sane and reasoned perspective on what used to be a pretty mainstream thought process on such things.

Sociologists have suggested for decades that life would be so much more efficient if everyone liked the same things in movies, clothing, food, and entertainment. Imagine a world where shag haircuts, sweater vests and boot-flared blue jeaned-wearing people sat down for a nice meal of lab-grown sirloin, asparagus, and brown rice was the order of the day. After that, you catch a Mary Tyler Moore sitcom and Carson re-runs. Maybe, some day. (I’m betting pecan strain on that chest pain. It’s an epidemic in WNY).

It’s telling of course that our education system in some cases leaves this sort of education out of the curriculum.

My wife started her business in the early 90s and would have qualified as a MBE had such things been around, or had they been around, had she known about such things. I think sensible programs operated by professionals, with mentors to guide, coach and encourage make an awful lot of sense in moderation. The challenges can be that like anything else, power can corrupt, insiders can benefit to the detriment of those in need, and those who operate inside government entities often have very little real world business acumen. Not always, and certainly not exclusively….but it’s interesting to me that in many cases, municipal/state government(s) are at least somewhat responsible for erecting the barriers to entry. I’ve also worked with a few individuals who took advantage of local business incubators. I love the idea.

I wasn’t knocking that thought process, Doc, I just disagree that it matters to any degree. I think people vote on matters that impact them at home, not dog and pony shows and moderators that seem to have their thumb on the scale. Biden showed us, as does Harris, that running a non-traditional campaign where you hide from any real scrutiny can work fine. As for missed opportunities, there certainly is that. However, if upon consideration of strengths/weakness of the candidate, perhaps Trump feels it plays to her strengths and not his. Why do that given he’s already done two debates? Btw, your thoughts on a debate with “fair” moderators spells out the reason that I think, generally, people don’t vote based on debate performance. Besides, if an independent witnessed a debate that revealed the network and moderators were unfair, biased etc and voted in spite of that, I’d question how independent they are to begin with. You could be right, of course. We’ll see.

Let it go, Irv. Trump has debated the chosen candidate of the Democrat party 2x in 60 days. He lost one. He won one. The people who post here are going to trend partisan with the occasional center left or center right participant. Biden virtually imploded in the first debate Trump participated in, had he stayed in the race, I would think every poster here on the left would have cast a vote for him regardless. Trump had a bad day the other day, it's not changing any poster who supported Trump the day before. I'd think most people realize that debates are largely an exercise in political gasbaggery. As Frankish routinely suggests on issues, no one really cares, and I'd be hard-pressed to think any independent considering Trump would refuse to vote for him because he skipped debating a dem for the third time. Btw, in that regard, I would humbly suggest that Trump focus specifically on that issue--that the dems created a sh*tshow on rolling with Biden when he clearly was well past the expiration date, that Harris was complicit in covering up the true nature of Biden's decline out of her own self-interest, and that it was a complete abdication of true leadership. @Doc Brown, a reasonable enough poster, mentioned the other day it gives the appearance of cowardice. I understand that may be the perspective of some, but l don't see it that way. He's done two debates. He was nearly assassinated in a scenario so confoundingly improbable it almost seems it had to be an inside job (and I don't think it was, but any movie plot in the scenario given would be laughed at in the theater as completely implausible), stood up, defied the shooter and has simply kept moving right along. Consider, too, that Harris has avoided any significant press conference and sit down with media members, not unlike Biden in 2020. Her one foray into the public eye had her sitting down for a friendly interview with a guy who really could have been her beloved grandad helping her make the case that she deserves a job she's applying for. So, Trump takes a tactical cue from the dems and makes his case based on the debates he's participated in. If the dems wanted three debates, perhaps they and Harris shouldn't have propped up Glass Joe the first time around. This is about the independents, and the Harris-Biden record over the past several years. It's going to be interesting.

Here’s the thing. No one owes you an explanation or to seek your approval on the morality grift you want to run with. That you think it’s incumbent on Trump supporters to meet your arbitrary Andy-Standard reveals a lot more about you than them. I’ve discussed an engaged on issues I have with Trump multiple times. On the whole, it’s hard to find many of you offering a whole lot of deep dive into the Biden/Harris dem platform. That’s because you’re as partisan, worship the ticket and the politics as much as any moderate Trump supporter in the country. Here, we see the double dip. You have the vapors over distrust in the media, while complaining about media sources that don’t meet the Andy-Standard. You think that makes you objective, I think that makes you naive and more than a tad myopic. Onto “…if a dem did this…”, we don’t have to guess how you would respond. Some variation of “slippage”, “special rules for elected”, “a kindly elderly man who forgets things”, “our guy groped but did it nicely” “…no reasonable prosecutor…”, “sure his family corp has pretty obvious ties to China but that’s not at all uncommon” and whatever variation of slop you’ll be offered and accept. In others words, Andy, you’re just another partisan in a sea of partisans.