patrick.net

rando says

There's not much on the radio aside from NPR.

Forget radio. There are excellent podcasts.

I agree NPR is the only interesting radio, and I'm just as annoyed as the next guy by the perpetual lecturing. I just stopped listening.
I now listen podcasts exclusively in my car.

rando says

There's not much on the radio aside from NPR.

We listen to Audible.

Just finished this one:

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/How-to-Fail-at-Almost-Everything-and-Still-Win-Big-Audiobook/B00FTUQFO6

rando says

Tell me more about how you handle this bar closing jackpot time...

That's when you make the big bucks, when somebody sloshed wants to go from a club in Allston to their house in Quincy... So I started putting a sheet down, and I sold it to passengers as "Guaranteeing their cleanliness, I change the sheets every shift." Really it was there so if they barfed, I'd toss it in the trunk and get a new one.

rando says

True about the talking, on both sides. My Irish relatives in particular can just talk forever, no particular topic or audience needed.

Oh yeah, it's a yakking on both sides on my Fam also.

My mother is also a Catholic, and a false convert to Judaism, she buried the Saint Joseph Statue to sell her house, and loves Mother Angelica. hahahaha
The funny thing is that her father, my Granddad, was a German Protestant who converted to Catholicism b/c of Jan Pavel II.

My little (I say that knowing she's like 35 now) adopted Korean cousin went to school on Saint Patrick's day, and they were like "Siobhan, you're Asian, aren't you?"
"No, I'm IRISH!!"

Dan says "All people and groups are discriminated against including white men. If you can't acknowledge this, then you are the bigot"

I'd say all people and groups feel like they are discriminated against including white men. Because that's the way our society works today. If you're not feeling sorry for yourself, then you can't join the Trump pity party.

joeyjojojunior says

I'd say all people and groups feel like they are discriminated against including white men. Because that's the way our society works today. If you're not feeling sorry for yourself, then you can't join the Trump pity party.

Whereas the democrats are all like "Fuck Race and Gender and shit, you goddamn Redneck Stale Pale White Male Evangelical Religious Freak Scumbags! Stop being Islamophobic, too! Discriminating on religious grounds is bad!"

joeyjojojunior says

I'd say all people and groups feel like they are discriminated against including white men. Because that's the way our society works today. If you're not feeling sorry for yourself, then you can't join the Trump pity party.

Well, if you want Trump to be a two-term president, you keep right on bashing and trivializing all white men. I'm sure you'll vote they way you want them to if you just shame them enough.

Patrick says

his morning as I woke up they talked about "whites moving into the center of San Francisco, and poverty moving out to the suburbs"

Well yeah...they are moving there to live on the street...Better dumpster pickins in SF than there are in fremont.

rando says

My mom's dad was a Russian Jew, and my mom's mother was Polish, but converted to Judaism for the marriage

Ever been to Russia or Poland?

Thunderlips is Tovbot2 says

Jan Pavel II.

blast from the past

Jan Pavel II was the man

Damn quincy to allston is 30 minutes thats a long cab ride

Thunderlips says "Discriminating on religious grounds is bad!"

Isn't that kind of one of the United States' core beliefs? Why the US was founded in the first place?

Dan says "Well, if you want Trump to be a two-term president, you keep right on bashing and trivializing all white men. I'm sure you'll vote they way you want them to if you just shame them enough."

I don't think I was trivializing all white men. I was pointing out how people from all races and creeds in the US seem to have become babies that believe everyone is out to get them and see injustice around every corner. Instead of understanding that life isn't fair and that just because something bad happens-it doesn't mean there is a conspiracy against them.

People finally woke up recently to realize MSM is fake news, thanks to the internet and social media on the iphone. This train is already outside the door and not stopping anytime soon.

ddshutlz says

What about the fact that most urologist are dudes? Do you feel women are under represented there? Why not also make that your issue

most ob/gyns are women, what's your point?....moreover, outside of ob/gyn, most women dont want the surgery lifestyle, although urology is generally more relaxed than general surgery

many women don't like going to male ob/gyns; similarly, many men might not feel comfortable talking to a female urologist.

ddshutlz says

Do you feel women are under represented there?

How much do women openly acknowledge that mens health, is in fact, an actual issue?

ddshutlz says

What about the fact that most urologist are dudes

looks like you missed the point, which was, that mens health is generally regarded as the realm of urologists but that NOT ALL mens health issues are SURGICAL, which is a urologists bread and butter.

BayArea says

rando says

My mom's dad was a Russian Jew, and my mom's mother was Polish, but converted to Judaism for the marriage

Ever been to Russia or Poland?

Yes, both. Russia in 1985 in college, and Poland in 1988 to visit my grandmother's village. It was great, people still remembered her and I was very warmly welcomed.

And of course NPR wakes me up today with a story about Muslims being "Jesus-like" and then a story about the first woman surfer at mavericks, her absent father, and her crippled mother.

NPR is identity politics all day, every day.

rando says

NPR is identity politics all day, every day.

maybe they should discuss bathing and it's multitude of benefits

joeyjojojunior says

don't think I was trivializing all white men. I was pointing out how people from all races and creeds in the US seem to have become babies that believe everyone is out to get them and see injustice around every corner. Instead of understanding that life isn't fair and that just because something bad happens-it doesn't mean there is a conspiracy against them.

Finally! You said something I can agree with! For this sad situation I blame three sources of our racial discontent.
1) The media: biggest offender by far, makes everything about race or gender or sexual orientation, and are the first to blow up a story that makes people aware of discrimination or perhaps even unintended discrimination. It's fucking ridiculous and a good reason to tune out!
2) The direction the election has gone with race baiting and accusations flying every which way, mostly from Democrats about how everyone is a damned racist bigot now if they didn't vote for Hillary.
3) Obama: he was supposed to be this unifier of the races, half white half black, popular at least at first, well spoken and seemingly inclusive. Then he went full on black and embraced every negative black attitude, possibly as cover to disguise the fact that he was pursuing policies that disadvantaged blacks further! At every turn he's made it about race, supported race baiters, gave a platform to BLM and supported black criminals who got their stupid asses shot by the police. If anyone else did this it wouldn't be a big deal, but as the POTUS his actions carry special weight. He sets the tone, and he's given license to the rioters and BLM and racists everywhere to be as awful as possible in the name of hating on the white man over imagined sleights and wrongs. In this atmosphere, many of my white friends have given up on not being racist and just say whatever they like!

Is NPR now just a crowd funding scam?

1. I think you have to be careful in that not reporting discrimination doesn't stop it. Just because you don't see it on the news, doesn't mean it's not happening. But I agree that the new agencies have certainly decided that discrimination stories get clicks.
2. I disagree with this statement but it's not worth rehashing again.
3. I disagree with this one too. You seem to be blaming POTUS for turning on the light so you can see the cockroaches--he didn't create them. What your friends have decided is to stop hiding their racism from the general public--the racism was obviously already there.

joeyjojojunior says

1. I think you have to be careful in that not reporting discrimination doesn't stop it. Just because you don't see it on the news, doesn't mean it's not happening. But I agree that the new agencies have certainly decided that discrimination stories get clicks.

It's not happening any more or less than it has in the past 20 years and it is so miniscule that most people never will see an example of it and have to rely on often fake social media stories to enforce their belief/narrative. Everybody is racist by nature, very few openly exhibit it. The majority of those very few are just jerks, bullies that use this to be mean to others, mostly kids and teens, like they tease other kids for their looks or anything else. This has always been the case, has always been condemned and will always happen as kids can be real psychopaths as they grow up and test boundaries. What changed is the response. We now call the police and appeal to bullshit public figureheads instead of dealing with it and making ourselves and our kids stronger. A very tiny fraction are actual supremacists that want to change the laws and regress and they will never gain the upper hand in any of your or your kids lifetime. Instead these purported and often completely unverified stories are used to push a thought police agenda and make it easier for the masses to control themselves and gang up on each other and strengthen government grip on free thinkers. As a result of this fake discrimination bullshit peddled by the media many have been rendered completely unable to resolve these issues among themselves and their communities, and they have become completely reliable on some external moral authority of great force, who decides who's a winner and who's a loser. Sounds familiar? Look no further than any brutal dictatorial regime in history. And the left is pushing it.

Excellent analysis Mell! I think that you're exactly right. This is thought police in action looking for free thinkers to oppress. In this age of information, where most facts are as close to you as the device in your pocket, the only way to suppress information to questions is to silence those who question.
Facts might be stubborn things, but the most valuable thing you can teach someone is to ask questions.

joeyjojojunior says

Isn't that kind of one of the United States' core beliefs? Why the US was founded in the first place?

The point isn't religious freedom, it's hypocrisy:

Regressive Democrats:
Evangelical= Bake that Cake, and pay for Partial Birth Abortions! Fuck your Religious Beliefs, ignorant white trash.
Muslim= Who cares if they engage in FGM and support the death penalty for Gays and Apostates? Stop being intolerant of the Religion of Peace! Multliculturalism is wonderful!

mell says

As a result of this fake discrimination bullshit peddled by the media many have been rendered completely unable to resolve these issues among themselves and their communities, and they have become completely reliable on some external moral authority of great force, who decides who's a winner and who's a loser. Sounds familiar? Look no further than any brutal dictatorial regime in history. And the left is pushing it.

I second Quigley. That's Brilliant Mell.

The sheer number of fake hate crimes, that are reported without skepticism even when it doesn't add up, is very high.

Think of how many people think Matthew Shepard was killed for being gay, rather than for his money and drugs by other gay drug-users desperate for a fix.

Thunderlips says "The point isn't religious freedom, it's hypocrisy:

Regressive Democrats:
Evangelical= Bake that Cake, and pay for Partial Birth Abortions! Fuck your Religious Beliefs, ignorant white trash.
Muslim= Who cares if they engage in FGM and support the death penalty for Gays and Apostates? Stop being intolerant of the Religion of Peace! Multliculturalism is wonderful!"

Wow--how little you understand. Democrats never tell Evangelicals how they must live their lives. They are free to not have an abortion as their religion dictates. They are free to not have homosexual relationships as their religion dictates. They cannot, however, try to impose their religious beliefs on the entire population, including those who don't share those same beliefs. Democrats are actually the ones who are NOT hypocritical.

And I do care if Muslims support the death penalty for Gay and Apostates. That's wrong and why we have laws against it.

Here are some truths which NPR will certainly never speak. A very strong case based on facts can be made for each one:

1. Racism does not exist. By racism here, I mean the systematic denial of economic opportunities based on race.
2. Black people commit violent crime at 10 to 20 times the rate that others do. Most so-called "racism" is simply fear of violent crime, with some statistical justification.
3. White privilege does not exist. If it exists, where are my checks from the white people's agency, and why are there so many white homeless people?
4. All sexism lately is sexism against men. Women are a special protected class with extra rights that men do not have.
5. Feminism makes women unhappy. The more feminist women have become, the less happy they have become as a direct consequence.
6. Marriages with traditional gender roles are happier, last longer, and have more successful children.
7. Diversity harms societies by lowering mutual trust.
8. Almost all terrorism is committed by Muslims explicitly in the name of Islam. By terrorism, I mean the deliberate murder of random unarmed civilians.
9. Homosexuality is learned, not genetic. Identical twin studies show a very low correlation of identical genes with identical outcomes.
10. The Indians died of smallpox and other diseases, not murder. Actual murder was an insignificant cause of their depopulation.

Anyone want to add other facts?

joeyjojojunior says

Democrats never tell Evangelicals how they must live their lives.

They criticize Evangelicals all the time, but go out of their way to find excuses for non-Westerners.

joeyjojojunior says

And I do care if Muslims support the death penalty for Gay and Apostates. That's wrong and why we have laws against it.

Should a Presidential Candidate take millions of dollars from Regimes where the death penalty for Gays and Apostates is on the books, and has actually been carried out in the recent past?

http://www.executedtoday.com/2011/03/13/2005-a-gay-couple-in-saudi-arabia/

ISIS is really just Saudi Arabia that carries out judements and penalties in the streets instead of a courthouse and execution block.

11. White Slavery affected tens of millions of Europeans, and continued by the Ottomans and North African Muslims until well into the 19th Century, ending only with steam-powered European Naval ships. As late as the Civil War, wealthy Europeans left money to redeem Christian slaves in Algeria and Tunisia. The word "Slav" and "Slave" are related. America's first military action after Independence was to liberate the ship, crew, and cargo taken by a Muslim Pirate-Despot.

"They criticize Evangelicals all the time, but go out of their way to find excuses for non-Westerners."

Nonsense. Democrats criticize Muslims who deserve criticism. Obama has targeted more Muslims than Bush did. Dems criticize people who deserve criticism.

So, have you given up on your bullshit argument from before about freedom of religion then?

Patrick--those aren't facts. I'm not going to go through every one debunking them, but it's sad that someone as intelligent as you actually thinks those are facts.

MMR says

it takes a lot more to get a man to go to doctor but if they do, they are more likely to follow the recommendations

Sure, but do you agree that once men DO get to the doctor, are they taken less seriously because they are not loud enough and do not have a whole sisterhood behind them that will spam yelp and angieslist or whathever with endless bitching unless the doctor acknowledges their ailment does SOMETHING?

MMR says

it takes a lot more to get a man to go to doctor

This is because women love to exercise the mother of all double-binds: If you don't go, they can nag you about it. And if you do go, they can chastise you for being afflicted with the "man-flu". Winning!

joeyjojojunior says

Nonsense. Democrats criticize Muslims who deserve criticism. Obama has targeted more Muslims than Bush did. Dems criticize people who deserve criticism.

What?! This big story a few months ago.
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/10/12/wikileaks-top-clinton-aides-take-aim-at-catholics-evangelical-christians/
This is a major Democratic Communications Person, who not only was Deputy White House Press Secretary, White House Communications Director, President of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, and Press Secretary to the Edwards Campaign AND before that the entire DNC. This is one of the highest Democrat Officials in the country.

Nicolas Kristof of all people recognizes mocking Evangelicals is common place in the Media, and that it's shaped American Attitudes
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-a-little-respect-for-dr-foster.html

As for drones, Obama drone bombs civilians (aka "Military Age Males" implying every dead male over 13 is guilty of being a terrorist) and the same media that excoriated Bush for civilian casualties gave Obama a near total pass, with criticism beyond the hard left/civil libertarians pundits/orgs rare and tepid.

Obama called a huge swath of the country that Trump just won "Bitter Clingers".

That anybody debates there is a sneering attitude towards Evangelicals in the Press is simply beyond belief.

joeyjojojunior says

Patrick--those aren't facts

Just making a statement doesn't disprove another statement. Who do you think you are? CNN? The way this site works is this: arguments are respected, but vigorously debated. Ad hominem attacks are ridiculed. Propaganda is dissected and left to die on the operating table. Which will you be peddling?

Whenever a house is on fire, fire trucks come. Therefore, Patrick believes that firetrucks cause fires.

rando says

1. Racism does not exist. By racism here, I mean the systematic denial of economic opportunities based on race.

2. Black people commit violent crime at 10 to 20 times the rate that others do. Most so-called "racism" is simply fear of violent crime, with some statistical justification.

"Just making a statement doesn't disprove another statement. Who do you think you are? CNN? The way this site works is this: arguments are respected, but vigorously debated. Ad hominem attacks are ridiculed. Propaganda is dissected and left to die on the operating table. Which will you be peddling?"

Yep--I'm not trying to disprove it. Certainly I didn't make an ad hominem attack. Just pointing out that his post is clearly not full of facts.

"That anybody debates there is a sneering attitude towards Evangelicals in the Press is simply beyond belief."

Did you read my post? Did I ever say that? I said Dems mock folks that deserve mocking.