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I’m reluctant to get involved in political discussions at the moment, mostly because I am so appalled at the State of democracy in so many countries, so all I will say is is cancel culture is the most extreme activity engaged in by the left that is infinitely preferable to me. I do however think it should be used more as a tool to draw awareness towards issues rather than to shoot down those whose opinions you disagree with. 

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39 minutes ago, markm said:

And the thing is Maher considers himself a liberal progressive that calls out members  "his own tribe" when they are being stupid. I like that. Whatever your political slant, I totally support critically looking at some of the attitudes within your side of the isle, as they say that are dysfunctional, counterproductive, etc.  There's a lot of idiocy on the edges of both liberal and conservatism it's just that on the right it's off the charts when you factor anti democratic demagoguery, an autocratic leaning party, restricting a woman's right to make decisions for her body, restricting voting, disinformation, and a refusal to believe in science, data and the like and glob onto one  unfounded conspiracy theory after another. 

 

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5 hours ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

I’m reluctant to get involved in political discussions at the moment, mostly because I am so appalled at the State of democracy in so many countries, so all I will say is is cancel culture is the most extreme activity engaged in by the left that is infinitely preferable to me. I do however think it should be used more as a tool to draw awareness towards issues rather than to shoot down those whose opinions you disagree with. 

First of all despite what the right might want you to believe, "cancel culture" is not the exclusive purview of the left. Attempting to "shoot down" people by speaking your mind on social media or somewhere and publicly rebuking them can be a reasonable response, especially if they've crossed a line or broken laws and legitimately have it coming. But imo the real problem is these spineless organizations and companies that give in to the slightest "pressure" and are so quick to sack or destroy good people who haven't really done anything wrong except maybe make a tasteless joke, or use a taboo word, or put their foot in their mouth, or think a "wrong" thought. Things where a simple apology oughtta be enough for them to move on. Or maybe they haven't done anything wrong and something was taken out of context and it's all just a big misunderstanding that's gotten out of hand.

Disposing of decent people simply because they don't want any of that public moral outrage spilling over onto them is cowardly. Most organizations are more worried about how they will look and their bottom line than what's right. I don't see how it's so difficult to use common sense to differentiate those who have actually done something wrong and really deserve some kind of punishment from those who haven't. It's essentially the modern equivalent of mob justice with no due process.

And yes, of course the American right is far worse, that goes without saying at this point. We get angry at those on the right who won't be honest enough to call out and stand up to the shit they know is wrong on their side. But yet most on the left wouldn't be willing to do it either. I guess we're all afraid it'll be seen as disloyalty or a betrayal to ever say anything against anyone on your own tribe even when we know they're wrong. We all know the left is not perfect either. Wish everyone wasn't so entrenched in their diametrically opposed positions these days. I think this two party system of ours has outlived its utility. 

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18 hours ago, blaaacdoommmmfan said:

My mum's has used the nose in poo for a cat. My mum's also a fan of if a cat's shitting on your lawn to blast them with water pistol like a super soaker. My mum believes in those methods 100%. If I had a cat I'd definitely think about those methods if they were shitting not in the ash box although I'd want to reward good behaviour with treats and hope that would solve issue. Something on lines of getting a biscuit for every poo in ash box. Phasing it out once it was a habit for them

Re dogs pooing in the house. We've normally taken the dog to the poo and talked at length with looking at them and the poo. After that point our dog has never wanted to repeat the incident. It sounds crazy and should not work but it's worked for us. 

All this rub your dog's nose in his poop business has got me to thinking. Do you think if we made you consume one of your 10kg bags of sweets all in one sitting that there's a chance that would make you sick and help you get past your sweet cravings and finally kick the habit for good? Sounds crazy, but you never know.

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3 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

I don't see how it's so difficult to use common sense to differentiate those who have actually done something wrong and really deserve some kind of punishment from those who haven't.

This, unfortunately, comes as a result of what I was talking about a bit earlier, where claiming offense is itself enough to be considered right. To apply common sense would be to "denying my lived experience" which is also offensive

 

8 hours ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

so all I will say is is cancel culture is the most extreme activity engaged in by the left that is infinitely preferable to me.

I know you didn't necessarily mean it this way, but I think that kind of downplays how devastating to a persons life this kind of thing can be. It's rarely as simple as just losing a job. If your info comes to light or is readily available, it means days, weeks, or months of harassment and threats for you, your family and your friends. It could mean people actively trying to make good on a threat. It means forever having your name tied to that kind of controversy, so good luck with your future job prospects, because that's definitely coming up in HR's google/social media search.

...and make no mistake, the mindset behind it is every bit as authoritarian/totalitarian as it is on the right...it's just dressed up in more acceptable terminology.

 

EDIT: And Whitenoise is absolutely right. This isn't a left only phenomena. The right has done it before in the 80's and 90's, and they're more than happy to try it now...they're just not as successful with it anymore.

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4 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

All this rub your dog's nose in his poop business has got me to thinking. Do you think if we made you consume one of your 10kg bags of sweets all in one sitting that there's a chance that would make you sick and help you get past your sweet cravings and finally kick the habit for good? Sounds crazy, but you never know.

That's like the old idea that when parents caught their kids smoking they'd make the kid smoke until he/she was sick then they'd never want another ciggie in their life.

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55 minutes ago, KillaKukumba said:

That's like the old idea that when parents caught their kids smoking they'd make the kid smoke until he/she was sick then they'd never want another ciggie in their life.

Or if you're drinking tequila shots until you're blotto (legless) and then you wake up at the crack of dawn lying in some grass next to a gas station (servo) near a puddle of vomit and you don't even want to hear about drinking any more tequila for the next 30 or 40 years.

 

DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS AFTER 6 TEQUILA SHOTS? Prtmium Special NOBODY DOES  | Meme on ME.ME

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That happened to me about 35 years ago. I mixed Bundy rum and bourbon in the same glass half the night, was terribly sick in the morning, blamed the Bundy, probably because that what I tasted when it came back, and didn't touch rum for about 25 years.

Happens occasionally with food too, especially when the kids were young and they upchucked in the middle of the night. I remember several times being put off eating specific foods because of what had to be cleaned up.

 

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5 hours ago, SurgicalBrute said:

This, unfortunately, comes as a result of what I was talking about a bit earlier, where claiming offense is itself enough to be considered right. To apply common sense would be to "denying my lived experience" which is also offensive

 

I know you didn't necessarily mean it this way, but I think that kind of downplays how devastating to a persons life this kind of thing can be. It's rarely as simple as just losing a job. If your info comes to light or is readily available, it means days, weeks, or months of harassment and threats for you, your family and your friends. It could mean people actively trying to make good on a threat. It means forever having your name tied to that kind of controversy, so good luck with your future job prospects, because that's definitely coming up in HR's google/social media search.

...and make no mistake, the mindset behind it is every bit as authoritarian/totalitarian as it is on the right...it's just dressed up in more acceptable terminology.

 

EDIT: And Whitenoise is absolutely right. This isn't a left only phenomena. The right has done it before in the 80's and 90's, and they're more than happy to try it now...they're just not as successful with it anymore.

I am well aware it’s not unique to the left, I would argue the right have been doing it longer and with more success, see the list of books banned in Texas for evidence. My point was more that cancel culture is not as well organised, or as readily endorsed by major political figures as the rights increased efforts to completely undermine democracy as a whole. Cancel culture when abused is a serious issue, it can have a devastating impact on people, that is why I said I feel it should only be used in the extreme cases where calling someone out for their words and actions can actually raise awareness of an important issue. 

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The wife wants to change the lounge room around today, not sure why change is important but apparently the way things have been for the last 10 years is no longer suitable. She's planned it out and measured things to make sure they fit, I'm just the cheap labour she needs to make it happen. What I am slightly worried about is that part of the move is to include the CD/DVD/vinyl cabinets I made 20 years ago. They are way too heavy too move loaded so I'm going to have to empty them, which in itself isn't problem, the problem might arise when the wife see just how full those cabinets actually are!

 

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I feel your pain. Both my late wife and my ex before her felt the need to change everything around every so often just for the sake of it. That drives me absolutely insane because I don't like change. Once I've gotten used to a configuration I don't want everything moved around, unless there's a real good reason like something's not working well the way we have it. I arrange it all the way I want it the first time and then would really like to leave it that way forever. Or not really 'forever' as I seem to move a lot, so I'm never in one place for more than about 2 to 8 years. But until we move to a new house I want everything left where it is. Both my wife and my ex would just shuffle everything around themselves when I was gone at work because they knew I wouldn't help them ruin my own home. They were also counting on my laziness, figuring I wouldn't bother to move everything back once I saw it had all already been moved. And they were right.

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20 hours ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

I am well aware it’s not unique to the left, I would argue the right have been doing it longer and with more success, see the list of books banned in Texas for evidence. My point was more that cancel culture is not as well organised, or as readily endorsed by major political figures as the rights increased efforts to completely undermine democracy as a whole. Cancel culture when abused is a serious issue, it can have a devastating impact on people, that is why I said I feel it should only be used in the extreme cases where calling someone out for their words and actions can actually raise awareness of an important issue. 

 

Texas Lone Star State |

 

Yes the entity we call "Texas" is pretty fucking scary. They're are always rumours about them wanting to secede from the union so the liberal commie elites can't put limits on them or infringe on their crazy with our commie values. This of course would be cutting off their nose to spite their face as it were. They wouldn't fare too well on their own. But you can't tell them that. Or I guess the actual powers that be in Texas must quietly know because nothing ever comes of it. But it stirs the yahoos up real good and keeps them voting red. There are a lot of US states I wouldn't ever consider moving to but Texas tops the list, ahead of other backwards looking states like Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and most of the southern and midwestern states I guess. Oh and Utah too as breathtakingly beautiful as it is because the Mormons run that state and that's scary too. It has been said that Texas is slowly moving more and more blue with each election but I can't imagine what it must be like for any sane people that are living there amongst the yahoos. But maybe in the big cities and suburbs things are different. The small amount of time I've spent in Texas I was just trucking through on the highways and byways. Most of the little truck stops in the small towns in the middle of nowhere I stopped at were like stepping into the mid 1960's, cat's eye glasses and big beehive hairdos, it was almost as if they were caught up in some wonky time warp or something and no one had come 'round to tell them it was actually 1995.

 

modern beauty shop janvier 1964 | Retro inspired hair, Mom hairstyles,  1960s hair

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It's not just a rumor, the Texas Republican party has made passing a referendum on secession part of their official platform. 

Good thing their electric grid is in such great shape, huh? They'll do fine.

I've just been asked to play rhythm guitar on "November Rain" at my buddy's upcoming wedding. I hate GnR but I love my pal. Life!

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1 minute ago, FatherAlabaster said:

It's not just a rumor, the Texas Republican party has made passing a referendum on secession part of their official platform. 

Good thing their electric grid is in such great shape, huh? They'll do fine.

I've just been asked to play rhythm guitar on "November Rain" at my buddy's upcoming wedding. I hate GnR but I love my pal. Life!

Look on the bright side, at least he didn't ask you to sing it!

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2 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

I feel your pain. Both my late wife and my ex before her felt the need to change everything around every so often just for the sake of it. That drives me absolutely insane because I don't like change. Once I've gotten used to a configuration I don't want everything moved around, unless there's a real good reason like something's not working well the way we have it. I arrange it all the way I want it the first time and then would really like to leave it that way forever. Or not really 'forever' as I seem to move a lot, so I'm never in one place for more than about 2 to 8 years. But until we move to a new house I want everything left where it is. Both my wife and my ex would just shuffle everything around themselves when I was gone at work because they knew I wouldn't help them ruin my own home. They were also counting on my laziness, figuring I wouldn't bother to move everything back once I saw it had all already been moved. And they were right.

It's when things move without my assistance that really get annoying. I've always been an earlier riser, I get up when it's dark and I don't use lights around the house because I know where everything is...or I thought I did. It only takes one step to be out an inch or two and suddenly I could be finding the wall or door frame. But if some thing has been moved it becomes a hazard. I tripped over the coffee table the other morning walking through the lounge because it had moved all of about 6 inches from the spot it had been in for as long as I remember. The wife claims she doesn't hear me swear and curse at 4:30am in the dark, but I don't know how she doesn't because I give it a red hot go!

 

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1 minute ago, markm said:

I'm watching an Australian psychological horror movie called Sweet River with ghosts, dead bodies and burning corn fields and an it's making of my think of you bumping into things in your home in the dark on the farm,,,,when a stranger wanders into your life and changes everything....moo-ha-ha-ha!

Hana's search for her son's body leads her to the sleepy town of Billing, where her investigations uncover more than she expected and threaten to expose the town's secrets - secrets that both the living and the dead will fight to protect.

Must be the bourbon. 

 

 

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4 hours ago, KillaKukumba said:

It's when things move without my assistance that really get annoying. I've always been an earlier riser, I get up when it's dark and I don't use lights around the house because I know where everything is...or I thought I did. It only takes one step to be out an inch or two and suddenly I could be finding the wall or door frame. But if some thing has been moved it becomes a hazard. I tripped over the coffee table the other morning walking through the lounge because it had moved all of about 6 inches from the spot it had been in for as long as I remember. The wife claims she doesn't hear me swear and curse at 4:30am in the dark, but I don't know how she doesn't because I give it a red hot go!

 

Now this exact scenario I’m very familiar with, so imagine my horror when I find the coffee table which has spent 10 years neatly tucked away in the corner of our lounge room suddenly smack bang in the middle of said route. At least you can see things have moved if you’re up during the day…

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I was thinking about you when I typed that post. Obviously I don't know what it's like being blind, and even before the sun comes up it's never completely dark in the house, but I reckon walking around this place some mornings feels like it would for a blind man that's never been here.

It's now 7pm and we've finally finished moving and cleaning. There's still one box of stuff that we need to go through but everything has moved and while I do agree it's opened up the lounge room a bit, at least that's the perception, I'm still dead sure I'm going to be walking into something tomorrow morning when I get up.

Seeing all those CD/DVD/LP's laid out on the bed, on the couch, on the floor and on the table was a bit of an eye opener even for me. Several times I stood there thinking about just how much money was spent on all that stuff. I don't even remember the last time I watched a DVD, which isn't surprising given that the DVD player wasn't even plugged into the power.

 

 

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You can't think of it that way though. Music is life mate. That'd be like laying out all the shits you've taken for the last 40 years and regretfully contemplating the tremendous amount of money you've spent on food during that time, and how those hardened turds (and maybe a few extra kgs around the middle) are all you have left to show for it. You needed those CD's and LP's just like you needed that food.

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On 7/1/2022 at 7:10 PM, JonoBlade said:

Cannabis is indeed a miracle plant, which I guess makes me a fan. But, I don't even bother drinking anymore let alone smoking anything. Not for any high level idealist reason. I just figured "what's the point?"

I have nothing against medical cannabis ie properly prescribed by a trained medical professional and properly dosed stuff.

 

I am anti-drugs - seen so many lives ruined by even marijuana let alone ice, speed and heroin (including a cousin who was dead before 40 due to hepatitis caught whilst sharing needles). 

 

I am even increasingly anti-alcohol to some degree and having discovered an alcohol free beer that tastes good (Heineken) I mainly drink that now.  I do drink alcohol every now and then but it's literally for the taste eg a single malt whisky or nice glass of red or a beer at the pub.  

On 7/1/2022 at 8:50 PM, markm said:

Whatever your political slant, I totally support critically looking at some of the attitudes within your side of the isle.

I agree an not just in politics but all aspects of life.  It does tend to shunt me into "outgroups" of course especially at work where "ingroups" tend to just act without any thinking whatsoever.   

On 7/2/2022 at 9:21 AM, KillaKukumba said:

That happened to me about 35 years ago. I mixed Bundy rum and bourbon in the same glass half the night, was terribly sick in the morning, blamed the Bundy, probably because that what I tasted when it came back, and didn't touch rum for about 25 years.

 

 

Incidentally last time I drank Bundy was 25 years ago and I was so bad I didn't recognise my own father when he came to pick me up.

I did recognise his leopard skin pattern seat covers!

14 hours ago, KillaKukumba said:

I was thinking about you when I typed that post. Obviously I don't know what it's like being blind, and even before the sun comes up it's never completely dark in the house, but I reckon walking around this place some mornings feels like it would for a blind man that's never been here.

It's now 7pm and we've finally finished moving and cleaning. There's still one box of stuff that we need to go through but everything has moved and while I do agree it's opened up the lounge room a bit, at least that's the perception, I'm still dead sure I'm going to be walking into something tomorrow morning when I get up.

Seeing all those CD/DVD/LP's laid out on the bed, on the couch, on the floor and on the table was a bit of an eye opener even for me. Several times I stood there thinking about just how much money was spent on all that stuff. I don't even remember the last time I watched a DVD, which isn't surprising given that the DVD player wasn't even plugged into the power.

 

 

 

I am an obsessive anti-hoarder.  If I don't use it, I sell it or give it away or chuck it.  I still own several hundred CDs and vinyl but that's what I actually listen to!  I've probably got rid of more CDs than I currently own over the course of the last couple of decades.

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19 minutes ago, Dead1 said:

Incidentally last time I drank Bundy was 25 years ago and I was so bad I didn't recognise my own father when he came to pick me up.

I did recognise his leopard skin pattern seat covers!

 

Back about that time I had leopard skin patterned covers over the speakers I had on the rear shelf of the car I had. :)

My wife claims she has weird dreams if she drinks rum. I don't drink enough to have any effects these days but at least I can drink it now if I wanted to.

21 minutes ago, Dead1 said:

I am an obsessive anti-hoarder.  If I don't use it, I sell it or give it away or chuck it.  I still own several hundred CDs and vinyl but that's what I actually listen to!  I've probably got rid of more CDs than I currently own over the course of the last couple of decades.

I donate tools I don't use, I donate electrical items I don't need, my wife is always getting rid of clothes and the like to the op shop, but I have just never been compelled to get rid of music. Some of the movies have gone over the years but CD/LP's and music DVD's I don't get rid of. I got rid of a few VHS tapes and music cassettes about 8 years ago because they were all stretched and wouldn't play, but that's it.

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