Rhino

16 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

Did you read the article? What is the issue here? The company said "yes, were going to change these labels". What's the harm in doing that?

How are the names racist? They used certain names to market certain foods and correspond them to the culture they are from. Are Jose Ole taquitos racist because they have Jose in the name? Give me a break.

6 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

What jab did he take at you? He reacted to a video you posted.

Did you not see all his emoticons? That's him being snarky.

2 minutes ago, Silent Hill said:

What's their skin color have to do with anything? I see what you're trying to do but I don't see where they lied about anything. 

@MrWunderful is doing exactly what @spacepup told the rest of us not to do - to take petty jabs at one another. You don't get a free pass just because you're a mod.

Here's the latest SJW crusade. Trader Joe's is racist everyone! https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/19/us/trader-joes-food-labeling-racist-petition-trnd/index.html

53 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

Look, look!!! Black people said it so its True

Did you even watch the video?

2 hours ago, Silent Hill said:

I've yet to see compelling statistics/evidence that point to systemic racism. All I keep seeing are people pointing to disparities in crime, poverty, education, wealth, etc. and claiming systemic racism without acknowledging the many other factors that result in disparities. If police were magically defunded and it resulted in no unarmed black people being unjustly killed next year, there would still be the same disparities in every bucket. So what's the plan to dismantle the other "systemically racist" issues I wonder? Remove some more logos? More statues? Rename some more sports teams? 

Lastly, BLM started by protesting police brutality and instead of focusing on police brutality as a whole, they chose to make it about race, even when the example killings were not proven to be driven by racism (especially "systemic"), thus increasing the unnecessary racial divide. Factor in their mission statement and claims of being Marxists, you start to understand why a lot of people are not in favor of the movement itself.

The BLM movement is a sham. 

16 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Check-in time with our fearless leader.  Any great messages for the masses?  Hope for the pandemic or looming shutdown(s)?  Game plan for ANYTHING?

...of course not 

Lol what other country is he comparing the U.S to for COVID-19?

I forgot one. Epstein really didn't kill himself.

1 hour ago, arch_8ngel said:

It isn't just "in-group loyalty" between cops that is the problem.  There are major issues with city and state attorney willingness to bring charges, to where there is a systemic problem that fundamentally fails to hold police accountable.

It all compounds on itself, combined with a continual erosion of public trust.

It's hard to prove a cop didn't feel like their life was in immediate danger at the time of the incident. That's why it's so hard to "hold police accountable". Should the cops involved in George Floyd's death be held accountable? Absolutely. Should the cops involved in Rayshard Brooks' death be held accountable? Not at all since they did nothing wrong. They're 2 completely different cases but the public villainizes the cops in both cases. In one case you have cops kneeling on an already detained guy's neck for a long time. Excessive force and they didn't let up when he said he couldn't breathe. They need to be held accountable. In the other case, you have a dude who punched cops, stole a cops taser, and then pointed that taser at cops. Cops justifiably used lethal force because their life was in immediate danger. You don't have 5 seconds to see what's going to happen once that guy is pointing a taser at you. All it takes is 5 seconds for him to now go grab that downed officer's gun and now you have a very serious problem. 

3 hours ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

Imagine the amount of children in a should district that need professional assistance to live their daily lives. The school districts have signed legal binding documents to ensure those students get that assistance. 

There is an element of safety that comes with those children being in the care of trained professionals for 8 hours a day. I think a lot of districts are making decisions based on their students who need school the most which are those who are ID or need other life skills. 

Don't get me wrong, I do not want to go back into the classroom for the foreseeable future. I get sick as hell every year, even in the face of a flu shot. The amount of viruses I'm exposed to is massive and they'll only compound on top of w.e symptoms COVID will give me. I run a low grade fever about 2 days a week from October to April so temp checking would get rid of about half the staff on a wkly basis. 

But I can see where districts are coming from. They want to keep the interest of their those who need school most which isn't me or the kids in my classroom. It's the kids you never see and the teachers & professionals doing the Lord's work with our population that have special needs.  

The situation sucks either way. Maybe some middle ground? Like certain teachers and parents sign waivers saying they understand the risks of COVID-19 but will do in person teaching regardless. 

6 minutes ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

There or law suits because we're not in school. Meeting 504 and IEP requirements and accomodations online for teachers who can barely meet them in the classroom is a problem.

My distrists is in several lawsuits just bc of the 8 weeks of ungraded, completely optional distance learning. I can't imagine how many more will come once the work is graded and attendance is mandatory. 

Its going to be a hot mess. Safety always comes first though.

Friends is a sh!tty show. 

The big bang theory is a sh!tty show.

Golf is not a real sport. 

Nascar is not a real sport.

Football is the best sport. 

Anti-vaxers are idiots.

Anti-maskers are idiots. 

No one cares that you're a SJW. 

No one cares that you're gluten free.

Mushrooms don't belong on pizza.

Minecraft is not a real game. 

You consume far more sugar in a day than you think you do. 

Dogs > cats.

If you want to lose weight, don't consume 4000 calories a day. 

GoldenEye 007 is the worst FPS ever made. 

8 hours ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

I had my superintendent and assistance superintendent send an email Tuesday proposing their plan for a full in person reopen, no alternating days, no online option aside from the one the district has always offered, nothing but business as usual. 

The school board met Thursday and unveiled their plan to reopen which included no in person classes. They had 3 phases, starting with no in person classes, followed by alternating schedules and finally a full reopen once vaccines are made available to the public. 

Talk about a divide! We're one of the bigger districts in the state and we're always in the running for state champs in baseball so we do get a lot of eyes on how we handle things. But damn. I still have no idea what I'm going into come August.

Funny thing is, we have a zoom meeting scheduled for 2 wks before school starts bc it's too risky to meet in person and may potential all be meeting in person 2 weeks later If only Americans understood irony.

Vaccines won't be ready for another 6-12 months. Opening up schools in person means putting kids and their relatives' lives at risk. I foresee lots of lawsuits if schools open in person this fall. All it takes is one death from COVID-19.

1 hour ago, MrWunderful said:

Oh man I would love to just stand outside a walmart to see the “masks are mind control” folk rage about not being able to spend their unemployment checks on diet dew

When did so many people become anti-vaxers in the U.S? Not wearing a mask because it "takes away your freedom" is the same thing as refusing to get a vaccine for your kid so they can attend school. Both a vaccine and a mask are aimed at lessening the spread of a disease and protecting not just you but those around you. WEAR A FUCKING MASK. (Not directed at you. It's directed at any idiot who refuses to wear a mask in public.)

1 hour ago, arch_8ngel said:

Going to depend on the state and public-vs-private.

The school (in coastal VA) we're registering for as a backup for the fall claims they'll definitely be open with smaller class sizes and various risk management efforts they've been using during the summer for summer child care. (my younger kid will be going there for Pre-K anyway)

And the public schools are attempting to prioritize getting the youngest kids back in first, though it would be challenging whether or not they do every-other-day or all remote. 

But we'll see where things are in a month and a half.

Seems like a super smart idea to me. Let's open everything back up when we're spiking and setting all time records left and right. What could go wrong?

15 minutes ago, ThePhleo said:

Ok I don’t watch the news anymore...wtf you talking about unmarked vans.

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/17/892277592/federal-officers-use-unmarked-vehicles-to-grab-protesters-in-portland

27 minutes ago, Doctornick said:

Yeah I thought that was fake at first.  Unless you're literally planning some sort of massive attack or terror incident, that shit doesn't belong in a free country.  That's literally Russia levels of insanity 

Don't forget China and their concentration camps they have right now. Yes that's really still a thing in the 21st century. https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang_re-education_camps#:~:text=As of 2018%2C it was,internment camps which are located

16 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

That sounds reasonable! Btw, you are preaching to the choir with me. And I know there are plenty of other things that need to be addressed as well. 

I'm not directing it at you. If we all simply just be better people, that'll help a ton with all problems.

14 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

While it may be unrealistic to expect unlawful killings to be brought down to zero -- what CAN be done is to hold police accountable for 100% of unlawful killings and break up the culture of closing ranks around bad cops.

Better and reliable enforcement mechanisms need to exist for bad cops.

The difficulty of the nation and the court system is determining which ones are unlawful. I think that's definitely where some of the controversy comes from. Just look at the Michael Brown incident as a prime example. 

36 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

Defund the police. 

That could be part of the solution sure. I hope you don't think that will magically solve all problems though. It's a cultural problem at its roots. We all need to change how we treat people and change those around us. 

36 minutes ago, MrWunderful said:

Why isnt anyone upset at the white nationalists, actually killing people at protests?

 

Why isnt anyone upset with the federal government sending law enforcement into cities to whisk people into to un-marked cars, with no rights?

Well those are both disturbing. 

No way schools are in person this fall.

13 minutes ago, spacepup said:

I think most people would agree that anyone dying at the hands of police (or anyone else), is a tragedy.  Now, obviously there are some situations where it may have been necessary in order to prevent future harm, save lives, or stop a horrible incident.  I'll be the first to admit that there ARE absolutely situations where perhaps lethal force was the only practical means necessary of diffusing a situation, as terrible as it may be.  

A white person (or any other type of person) dying unjustly at the hands of police, is definitely an unfortunate tragedy, worthy of reflection, discussion, accountability, and so much more.  But talking about black people dying in similar fashion, is not an attempt to completely invalidate those other deaths.  It is a specific discussion, and a specific issue, that is being highlighted because of the disproportionate rate at which it is happening, when compared to the total population.  There are numerous studies to this effect, and it doesn't take long to find the data.

People are angry, and passionate, and fueling this discussion right now, because they have been trying to highlight this problem for further analysis, discussion, change, and in many people's minds, nothing has happened, or not enough has been done.  It is still happening.  The disproportionate deaths are still happening.  And yet again - NO - this does not invalidate the horrible tragedy of a white (or other) person dying also.  

So - we've identified the issue - now what?  Many people have differing opinions - and we can't even agree on the WHY, much less the WHAT to do about it.  As for the why, I believe it's incredibly complicated and our history absolutely plays a significant role in the why.  I don't think it can be brushed off with some extreme view of "all cops are evil racists" or "black people are dangerous criminals."  And even if those were true, or partially true, WHY!  If we truly believe that white people and black people (and everyone else) are all born human, and that we all share the same humanity, then what is going on in our society, that these disproportionate issues are occurring?  The answer, perhaps, lies in some of the systemic social issues we have, and we should be talking about that!  And now people are trying to talk about that.  And they want more than 'just' talk.

This isn't a problem we can just fix with a law, or a singular process.  But I refuse to believe that there is absolutely nothing we can do to address this issue.  And when people won't even acknowledge that it's an issue, that shows me we have much left to do.  And a focus on addressing this issue, does NOT mean that there are no other important issues!  There are battles for those as well, and people are fighting those.  

What should we as a society do to stop systemic racism, or to start, lessen the severity of it?

6 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

Show me one person who isn't upset by that. Talk about trolling... 

Because systemic racism is a problem. 

Because systemic racism is a fucking problem.

No they aren't. Do research. They are protesting systemic racism. Which is a GIANT PROBLEM.

You guys don't get it. You don't and you never will because you don't see systemic racism as a huge issue, and no amount of patterns, facts, evidence, etc, show to you will change that. It's hopeless. You talk about wanting the country to come together and then deny systemic racism. The first step to fixing these issues is identifying the problem. 

 

I said nearly as upset. You're not a very good troll. 

Yes systemic racism is a problem. 

I'll ask in another way. If police are viewed as being problematic, why do we focus almost only on certain acts of cop mistreatment when it's against black victims? Systemic racism is a problem. The defund the police movement is against police. BLM is for racial equality. The defund the police movement only gained serious traction after George Floyd. It never would've happened if George Floyd was white. 

Controversial question incoming. Why don't people get nearly as upset when a white person is innocently killed by police? Why is it only when it's a white cop killing a black person? In both instances we as a society only seem to highlight and get worked up about the cases where a black person is the victim. However, in both cases, the police screwed up and innocent lives were lost.