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Post by B.E. on May 19, 2021 23:04:23 GMT
I actually read my morning email from NYT today. It's about the public opinion on abortion. Apparently, we are pretty equally divided on the issue and, unlike other issues, opinions haven't changed much over the years. Anyway, this graph surprised me: Notice how, on one side, "legal in only a few" is a more popular response than the more extreme "illegal in all", but, on the other side, "legal in all" is more popular than "legal in most".
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Post by Kapitan on May 20, 2021 12:01:04 GMT
"Legal in most" coming in last is interesting, but maybe makes sense: once you've concluded abortion is ok in most circumstances, what's holding you back from saying all circumstances? A person who gets to "most" certainly doesn't have moral qualms about it, so why not just go the last step?
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Post by Kapitan on May 22, 2021 12:42:26 GMT
Minneapolis suffered its 29th homicide of 2021 last night with the shooting of a man on the north side. Last year the city had 84 homicides, the second-most in city history (to 1997, when gang violence spiked and led the NY Times to coin the nickname Murderapolis).
The scary part is, we're just getting into "murder season," which sounds grim but is true: violent crimes in the city always spike in late spring through the fall, while weather is warmer. So that we've got 29 already is a bad sign.
There have even been three children shot in the past week or two. At least one has died.
Contrary to popular belief around the country, Minneapolis has not "defunded" its police.
It's true there has been a strong campaign about it locally, including from our (abysmal) city council. However, only a few minor restructuring moves have happened so far, such as our park police cutting ties with the city police. This increase seems to me to be more about criminals taking advantage of an anti-police sentiment. (Reports of resisting arrest increasing are also common.) Something more like a real defunding the police might be on the ballot this November, though.
EDIT - Jesus Christ. In the time I typed that, a story of another early-morning shooting was published. TEN people were shot, two killed, outside a nightclub. Five men, five women shot. Two of the men died. The city's murder total is now 31 for the year.
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Post by Kapitan on May 25, 2021 14:14:20 GMT
I've signed up to attend a virtual meeting tonight for a local chapter of Braver Angels, a group devoted to depolarizing the country. I've seen several of their podcast discussions in the past and especially am a fan of their primary spokesperson John Wood Jr.
To date, as much as I've followed politics and cultural issues, I haven't been very active in them outside of donating to causes I believe in, having personal conversations with friends and colleagues, and of course voting. I'm especially not a protester type. And frankly I'm lazy, so I haven't been one to join this or that, to attend meetings, and so on.
I'm not sure whether I'll actually join this organization, or participate in any real way. But I figured I could spare an hour or so on a Tuesday evening to check it out.
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Post by Kapitan on May 28, 2021 11:46:02 GMT
Increasingly I don't understand this world. A 27-year-old man died in Minneapolis this week when he was trespassing beyond boundaries on the bridge and attempting to put graffiti on the Stone Arch Bridge, a beautiful, 150-year-old structure that connects the historic riverfront mills on the edge of downtown Minneapolis with a park on the other side of the Mississippi River. If you've watched a Vikings, Gophers, or Wolves game, it's often used in the shots they broadcast going to and from commercials. The man was known as a graffiti artist and had tagged his signature on something like 2,400 structures around the city. It's a sad thing that he died. However, there is a glowing feature about him in the paper and a call to name a city park after him. He was always smiling, the feature says. That there is even discussion to honor someone specifically known for his (criminal) vandalism--winning smile or not--makes no sense to me at all. A second of three children recently shot died yesterday. Perhaps we should elect the killer mayor.
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Post by kds on Jun 1, 2021 18:12:44 GMT
So, today is the first day of June. June is Pride Month, a monthly celebration of the LGBTQ community.
Each year around this time, a fascinating and sad phenomena plays out on Facebook (and probably other social media platforms). Many corporations honor Pride month by adding a rainbow to their profile logo or offering a Pride themed product or promotion. And, good God, does it get a reaction. There's the predictable "Well, I'm not giving this company my business anymore," which is pretty harmless next to some of the vile hatred that some people are shockingly comfortable enough to post under their own given names.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 1, 2021 18:59:43 GMT
There might be no better example of human progress in recent decades than acceptance of people living openly as LGBTQ and facing little overt discrimination. That it has become overwhelmingly acceptable to conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats, is worth celebrating, especially considering the awful historical treatment of those people.
Really that it stands out now when someone does say egregious things online now says a lot. Just as the use of the N-word wouldn't have elicited much response 50 years ago but is egregious now, I think something similar is in effect in this area.
Honestly I more pity than hate those few stragglers mentally living in a bygone era. They aren't intentionally choosing to be wrong or evil, but if they haven't seen the light yet, one assumes they likely won't.
I do have to admit, though, after saying all that, that I'm not such a fan of corporatized Pride celebrations, mostly because I don't like corporatized anything. All it really means is, "congrats, we see an avenue to profit off of you! Buy our rainbow-striped shit!" But I don't get worked up over it. I just don't like it.
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Post by kds on Jun 1, 2021 19:07:04 GMT
There might be no better example of human progress in recent decades than acceptance of people living openly as LGBTQ and facing little overt discrimination. That it has become overwhelmingly acceptable to conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats, is worth celebrating, especially considering the awful historical treatment of those people.
Really that it stands out now when someone does say egregious things online now says a lot. Just as the use of the N-word wouldn't have elicited much response 50 years ago but is egregious now, I think something similar is in effect in this area.
Honestly I more pity than hate those few stragglers mentally living in a bygone era. They aren't intentionally choosing to be wrong or evil, but if they haven't seen the light yet, one assumes they likely won't.
I do have to admit, though, after saying all that, that I'm not such a fan of corporatized Pride celebrations, mostly because I don't like corporatized anything. All it really means is, "congrats, we see an avenue to profit off of you! Buy our rainbow-striped shit!" But I don't get worked up over it. I just don't like it.
I have mixed feelings about the forced corporate celebrations. On one hand, I get it. Maybe putting a rainbow on the label of one of your beers shifts a few units off the shelf. But, on the other hand, it feels like pandering at times.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 1, 2021 19:19:58 GMT
Yeah, the pandering aspect is big for me. Just generally, anything that says "we, X Corporation, are on your side! We believe what you believe!" I think that's bullshit. They "believe" what their cost-benefit analysis says has the biggest upside or lowest downside. Just like 25 years ago, almost no companies would advertise with explicitly LGBTQ images or messages. They would have if they thought it would sell, but they didn't think so.
So that's all. Rather than falling for any company being on (or against) me or my side, I'd rather just keep a more cynical (but I think realistic) view that they are just trying to sell me things. They're not my friends, they're not my family. They have no beliefs outside of profits.
EDIT - to be clear, though, it's better that companies have come around (which also means they think the public has come around) than if they hadn't. I don't mean to obscure that point.
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Post by kds on Jun 1, 2021 19:28:11 GMT
Yeah, the pandering aspect is big for me. Just generally, anything that says "we, X Corporation, are on your side! We believe what you believe!" I think that's bullshit. They "believe" what their cost-benefit analysis says has the biggest upside or lowest downside. Just like 25 years ago, almost no companies would advertise with explicitly LGBTQ images or messages. They would have if they thought it would sell, but they didn't think so.
So that's all. Rather than falling for any company being on (or against) me or my side, I'd rather just keep a more cynical (but I think realistic) view that they are just trying to sell me things. They're not my friends, they're not my family. They have no beliefs outside of profits.
EDIT - to be clear, though, it's better that companies have come around (which also means they think the public has come around) than if they hadn't. I don't mean to obscure that point.
I think it's important to keep that realistic view. It's also one of the reasons I can't get behind supporting or boycotting a company because of something they said, since its likely based on some sort of marketing metrics than any virtue.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 1, 2021 19:45:23 GMT
You've reminded me of a somewhat relevant story (speaking of corporate boycotts). Hopefully I can get it mostly accurate after several years...
Back when our former Sen. Mark Dayton was running for governor against current Rep. Tom Emmer and corporate contributions around political donations changed due to the Supreme Court's ruling on Citizens United, Target Corp. gave some money either to Emmer's campaign or to a PAC supporting Emmer. And either because Emmer opposed same-sex marriage or the PAC did, many people in Minnesota were angry with Target.
Some (like two) of my most politically active, leftist friends chose to boycott Target.
But realistically, Target was (and is) seen like the center/left discount store, just like WalMart is seen to the center/right. The people we're talking about already "boycotted" WalMart just as a matter of identity or principle--just like most WalMart shoppers quite likely preferred it to Target for reasons of identity.
Target felt no pain, it just lost very few shoppers. And those shoppers--they are the ones who felt pain. They were suddenly trying to find a place that sold cheap packages of socks, or a new plunger, or a baseball bat, and realizing that small mom-and-pop stores had no variety, but had significantly higher prices.
Even if it had been a bigger boycott, what would happen? Target would have laid off workers. Sure, it would hurt their bottom line, but it wouldn't hurt the people responsible for the decision in question: they would remain very well compensated. It would just mean a bunch of minimum-wage employees lost their jobs.
I can't say I would never boycott a business. But as a general rule, I just don't think you're punishing who you think you're punishing when you do it. With small businesses, sure. But with massive corporations? They're going to find ways to deal with whatever hardship you impose on them--and odds are you won't actually impose any hardship on them whatsoever; you're just finding personal satisfaction in your actions.
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Post by kds on Jun 1, 2021 19:51:24 GMT
I'd forgotten about that Target fiasco, but a good friend of mine's girlfriend at the time actually chose to shop at Target at the time because she thought they were against same sex marriage. (She was not the most enlightened individual I'd ever met).
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 3, 2021 11:43:37 GMT
I awoke to what I consider good news this morning: the city of Minneapolis is clearing an intersection that has come to be known informally as "George Floyd Square," the intersection where he was killed just over a year ago.
It had been blocked off by activists and protesters ever since the incident, even coming to be something like the famous Seattle autonomous zone you may recall from last summer: police and medical personnel were not welcomed into the blocked-off area and gangs were more active than usual there.
All politics aside, purely on a practical level, this intersection is a relatively major residential throughway. Chicago Avenue runs south from downtown through the city, while 38th St runs east and west. They are both the sort of major roads that a person would take if he wasn't jumping onto a freeway. For the past year, traffic has been diverted onto residential streets, causing a certain amount of havoc.
What's more, people living in or near that intersection have had their peace and quiet interrupted by literally constant occupation of activists and gangsters. I've seen and heard numerous interviews with people who are supportive of the causes in question, but still have been calling for the intersection to be cleared for their own safety and peace of mind.
Thankfully, the clearing has been going on without any incidents. Police have (surprisingly) not had to be involved (yet).
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 3, 2021 12:25:57 GMT
Well it is apparently heating up at GF Square now... More activists have predictably rushed to the scene to protest the clearing of the intersection. Still no police: security, such as it is, is being done by an activist/community group of peacekeepers comprising former gang members. I support the concept, but there's only so much a citizen group has authority to do, however noble the intentions.
This also shows the splintered interests of activists. Some were reportedly involved in the decision to begin clearing the scene, including the aforementioned group of former gang members/peacekeepers. Others have no intention of cooperating, ever, and presented an absurd list of "demands" last year that they still stand behind.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 3, 2021 22:03:22 GMT
Immediately upon being cleared by city workers, activists parked cars and piled pallets and various material to re-block the intersection. Jesus Christ. There comes a time for consequences. People should start being arrested over this.
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