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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Mar 14, 2019 15:50:34 GMT
Third time's the charm, right?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2019 16:04:31 GMT
Fourth for me
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Post by Do You Like Veggies? on Mar 14, 2019 16:05:25 GMT
Hmmmm, maybe? At this point I feel like anything could happen.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2019 16:35:50 GMT
Third time's the charm, right? Can't find my charm bracelet. No matter, I'm giving it a shot.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 19, 2019 23:22:47 GMT
Random thought: there's no such thing as a random thought. Improbable and surprising, sure. But not random.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 30, 2019 13:11:23 GMT
It's not a random thought, just an interesting story I came across in NYT. But I can't imagine it warrants a thread.
A fossil site discovered in North Dakota appears to have been created as a direct result of the asteroid that struck the Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago (eventually killing the dinosaurs). So scientists have a direct look into that day: four feet of sediment and remains deposited on what was once a lake. Tiny spheres of molten glass and clay called tektites "rained" from the sky, clogging gills and killing wildlife, but also helping entomb everything; amber and sediment quickly coated all of it, preserving the fossils.
It is linked with the Yucatan event at least partly by unique chemical "signatures" in the tektites.
Talk about an incredible snapshot of (pre-)history!
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 3, 2019 13:44:38 GMT
Less a random thought than question: tomorrow is Independence Day (in the US; sorry, Wata, you may have to sit this discussion out). What, if anything, do you like to do to celebrate? Or skip?
I'm not a big holidays guy, as you probably have figured out over the years. That said, I really do appreciate this day. The older I get, the more I read, and the more aware I become about the rest of the world, I truly feel a sense of gratitude for being born in one of the best possible times and places for some random working class guy to have been born. The faults we have, or had, or will have, are unfortunate, but in most cases have been worse, or are worse elsewhere, or could be much worse. It's not to say that a life in Canada, or Western Europe, or Oceania, or the developed and free parts of the Far East would be such a terrible life: that's obviously not true. But I do feel fortunate to have been dealt the hand I was dealt. So happy Independence Day.
That said, I won't go watch fireworks anywhere. I enjoy the fireworks themselves, but the traffic, the crowds, the gnats and mosquitos (this being Minnesota) ... no thank you. In fact, as fireworks laws have loosened in recent years, the booming and cracking of individuals' festivities are a bit of an annoyance at all hours of day and night around the fourth lately. It's kind of my "get off my lawn" moment. (The dogs aren't fans either.)
On the other hand, being a lover of both cooking and eating, I'm sure I'll engage in that all-American pastime of grilling some delicious meat!
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 3, 2019 13:54:26 GMT
I actually have to work on the 4th Of July, but our office is closed on Friday the 5th.
I stopped going to fireworks years ago. I once read in the local newspaper how much the city had to pay for the annual fireworks display and it blew me away. Seems like the money could be better spent!
Each year, over the 4th of July weekend, my sister has her annual family cookout/pool party. This year it is Saturday. She has a nice big pool, a lot of land to play games, a fire pit, and she goes all out with the food and drinks. The whole family tries to make it, and it's a nice, full day - and night actually. Each year I get more and more embarrassed when I have to take off my shirt and display my excess baggage.
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Post by kds on Jul 3, 2019 14:08:21 GMT
On a typical 4th of July, I'll watch the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on ESPN. Then, I'll light the grill while having some American brews and listening to The Beach Boys, Buffett, and various other summer fare. I'll typically grill hot dogs and burgers.
I don't seek out fireworks anymore, but I no longer have to. They do a big display in my neighborhood that I can easily see from the house. And (much more annoyingly) our neighbors will set off illegal ones right up until it's a noise ordinance violation.
When my son is a little older, we'll probably walk over to the fireworks area as they also have food vendors, games, and live music.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 4, 2019 14:15:10 GMT
Despite the fact that as far as I can recall, I've never heard a gunshot in my 10 years in this neighborhood, last night I kept being startled by "gunshots" that, of course, after a few seconds of reflection, I realized were people shooting off fireworks.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 4, 2019 14:47:15 GMT
Speaking of 4th of July, I can't get over this Nike/Kaepernick/Betsy Ross controversy. What the heck is going on?! It's a shame that this is what I'm thinking about today, but I can't wrap my head around it. Since when is that flag offensive? The 13 stars in a circle, really? Sheriff John Stone Are the Sixers going to have to rebrand over this? Should all yacht flags be confiscated and disallowed? I understand that hate groups often adopt historical symbols and that the Betsy Ross flag apparently wasn't immune to this in a few instances, but how many people were even aware of that prior to this controversy? I'm reading articles where experts weren't even aware of any such connection. This is crazy, right? Am I wrong?
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 4, 2019 15:25:30 GMT
Nope, you're not wrong (as far as I am concerned). Even the Anti Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center, two organizations that track hate symbols and groups, both said they don't consider that version of the flag to be a hate symbol. (And especially in the case of the SPLC, I have some SERIOUS disagreements with how political some of their targets seem to be, such as considering the Muslim moderate/reformer Majid Nawaz to be an Islamophobe.)
My understanding is that Kaepernick's complaint wasn't even about hate groups using the flag, but rather just that that version of the flag represents a time in which slavery was legal. Well, that is true. But does that mean people have to disassociate with everything that exists or existed in a time in which something evil occurred? That would literally disqualify everything, ever. Nothing in the history of the world symbolizes a perfect time and place, because there haven't been any. Which flag would be appropriate? (None, obviously.) Which symbol?
I can grant that someone might personally be offended by that flag ... but only in such a way as that someone might personally be offended by anything, anywhere, anytime. We can't organize our thoughts and actions to pander to each individual's potential offense taken. In fact, expecting me to do so offends me. Which, by this logic, means nobody else should expect it.
One of our inner-ring suburbs last week announced suddenly that to promote an open and welcoming environment, they would stop opening each city council meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Nobody, as far as anyone can tell, had actually complained or requested this action. The council simply decided there was something threatening about the Pledge.
Now, I am not actually a fan of such rituals. I don't care for pledging myself, especially to a state or a symbol like a flag. I don't like how religion was inserted into the pledge to combat (purportedly atheist) communism during the '50s. But that said, the move to stop saying it was similar to the flag-on-shoes situation: offense was basically invented to cater to a brand of political action that starts with the position of "USA is in the wrong" and goes from there. Down with the establishment and all that.
It's like a bunch of college freshmen, excited by their seemingly transgressive "new" ideas, have been handed the keys.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 4, 2019 15:28:14 GMT
Speaking of 4th of July, I can't get over this Nike/Kaepernick/Betsy Ross controversy. What the heck is going on?! It's a shame that this is what I'm thinking about today, but I can't wrap my head around it. Since when is that flag offensive? The 13 stars in a circle, really? Sheriff John Stone Are the Sixers going to have to rebrand over this? Should all yacht flags be confiscated and disallowed? I understand that hate groups often adopt historical symbols and that the Betsy Ross flag apparently wasn't immune to this in a few instances, but how many people were even aware of that prior to this controversy? I'm reading articles where experts weren't even aware of any such connection. This is crazy, right? Am I wrong? Yeah, I see it is being claimed that Nike knew exactly what they were doing with this Betsy Ross Flag sneaker, and that they were actually trying to start a controversy which would, in effect, attract attention and help marketing.
It's getting to the point where these hate groups can choose or select any historical "symbol" and attach something negative to it. Anything "in history" is fair game to them, and if nothing is really apparent or associative, they'll manufacture it. Pretty sad, huh?
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 4, 2019 15:37:51 GMT
It's getting to the point where these hate groups can choose or select any historical "symbol" and attach something negative to it. Anything "in history" is fair game to them, and if nothing is really apparent or associative, they'll manufacture it. Pretty sad, huh? This is exactly the issue. And by expanding the base of what's forbidden, it makes it meaningless to be forbidden. If the American flag is equivalent to the Betsy Ross American flag is equivalent to the Confederate flag is equivalent to the Nazi flag, then the two possible paths for a person are either having an unhealthy amount of rage built up at everything (e.g. activists), or (more often) to water down the disdain for the truly worst symbols and ideas, just to become numb to everything.
And inventing an argument against is simple, if the logic used on this Betsy Ross flag is our logic. For example:
The Beach Boys' Friends is offensive and should be off limits because it represents a time of race riots, anti-Civil Rights sentiment, and political assassinations in this country.
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Post by B.E. on Jul 4, 2019 15:51:30 GMT
Yeah, I see it is being claimed that Nike knew exactly what they were doing with this Betsy Ross Flag sneaker, and that they were actually trying to start a controversy which would, in effect, attract attention and help marketing. I hadn't heard that. Man, if true, that's incredibly distasteful. My understanding is that Kaepernick's complaint wasn't even about hate groups using the flag, but rather just that that version of the flag represents a time in which slavery was legal. Well, that is true. But does that mean people have to disassociate with everything that exists or existed in a time in which something evil occurred? That would literally disqualify everything, ever. Nothing in the history of the world symbolizes a perfect time and place, because there haven't been any. Which flag would be appropriate? (None, obviously.) Which symbol?
Agreed. The focus should be on what the flag actually symbolizes (freedom, not oppression).
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