Terrible Editorials, Opinion Pieces and Letters to the Editor

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SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

Boondock Saint posted:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/opinion/13friedman.html

So if I'm reading this right, according to Friedman, we're all hosed unless we either work in social media or are willing to reconsider our jobs/roles every three months.

I don't even...

I think his point is everything is fine and everybody under 35 should just invent their own facebook if they have a problem being wage slaves working in shipping depots for online shopping sites.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2011 04:01

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 16:55

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

calmasahinducow posted:

Awesome example given that no soldiers are allowed to carry guns at fort hood.

There were people with CC at the Giffords shooting. If I recall correctly, one of them later said he didn't draw because he didn't know who was doing what and it makes sense.

Let's imagine you're nearby during the Giffords attack.

You're standing somewhere doing a thing, you hear shots and screams so you think to yourself "Finally my chance!" and you pull your gun out and leg it to the commotion, where you see a people running everywhere, people on the ground crying/dead and man with a gun aiming at somebody and obviously about to shoot. You can't see who he's aiming at but that's not important because you've only got one moment in time to act and save somebody's life. You remember your classes and your drills, you pull out your weapon you sight carefully, you breathe out and squeeze the trigger. Man with gun gets hit, drops, grats you're a hero!

Except.

The guy you just show was another CC holder just like you who was also responding to the shots and screams(also one of your bullets went through the almost-hero and killed a kid half a block away).

Does anybody have any way this could be avoided while still relying on random people possessing weapons as a way to deter crime?

# ¿ Jul 28, 2011 09:28

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

Kelly is far too self aware to be real.

# ¿ Nov 9, 2011 04:05

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

loving native animals messing with my pet toy dogs. Coyote's should just lay down in the street and die!

# ¿ Jan 12, 2012 02:47

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

PainBreak posted:

Frank Taylor

Poor argument against sonograms

Re: Caller-Times' editorial on Jan. 12 opposing required sonograms before abortions.

I guess I didn't get the memo appointing you guardian of the women of Texas. For your information, the women of Texas make up a majority of registered voters in the state and no legislator, governor or attorney general can hold office against their will.

If the state leaders you denigrate are displeasing to women, they hardly need any help from you to do something about them.

The people of Texas, male and female, have a right to make laws governing abortion in this state. Their elected representatives, male and female, have the right and the duty to enact laws that reflect the will of their constituents and not that of self-righteous newspaper editors. You, evidently, would like to overturn the democratically expressed will of the people with the usual liberal artifice of legislation from the bench.

As for the case you make against required sonograms, it is laughable. If the women required to take the sonograms are so well-informed, why are they pregnant with an unwanted child in the first place?

You make much of the inconvenience of sonograms to pregnant women. Apparently, the gruesome deaths inflicted on the babies they are carrying don't bother you at all. Nor does the well documented post-abortion emotional distress and guilt suffered by many of the women you purport to speak for.

With guardians like you, who needs enemies?

They make a good point. Emotional distress can often follow terminating a pregnancy. Perhaps the answer is more stigmatization and guilt?

# ¿ Jan 22, 2012 05:29

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

Pungent Mammy posted:

Nobody understands you like I do Ayn Rand

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/02/02/happy-birthday-ayn-rand-why-are-still-so-misunderstood/

That really was a terrible opinion. The Edison comparison was great and, I assume, more accurate than intended.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2012 03:17

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

Dr. Tough posted:

Not even Glenn Beck is far enough to the right

I love that Arpaio's response to being investigated for being racist and corrupt as gently caress is to investigate Obama for being black.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2012 03:23

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

I tired to find some source for the quote by Omar Ahmad but could only find crap from wnd etc. Usually a lot of information in these things is total bullshit, I wouldn't be surprised if it's mostly cribbed from a recent email the writer received, but I do like to be sure.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2012 03:13

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

RPZip posted:

I really can't feel anything but pity for Michael Reagan. ts12 missed one.

Given that, and the apparently distant father aspects (graduation story) it's really not at all hard to see why he'd idolize and internalize protecting his father's image and reputation. Poor guy.

I always thought Michael Reagan's whole deal was him trying to make up for not being the biological child of St Ronald by being more Reagan than Reagan. Witness his biological child, Ron Reagan, who is an atheist and progressive and doesn't give a poo poo.

e: I say progressive but of course I mean isn't into all wars, every war, and doesn't call homosexuality/muslims/rights the biggest threat to the US etc.

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Mar 28, 2012

# ¿ Mar 28, 2012 06:11

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

a 10th grader writing in for a class assignment posted:

I�m really trying to prove a point here, and that point is that I don�t believe that NASA sent men to the moon because of these images that I have seen. Well at least not now. The only way to find out if they did go to the moon is to prove that the American flag is still on the moon. That is the only proof that they can show the world. I hope this article really got you thinking about what NASA is capable of doing. You don�t have to believe it; I just hope it gets more people thinking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_experiment

Probably doesn't count because it's not a flag.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2012 03:12

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

a foolish pianist posted:

From the Chronicle of Higher Education's Brainstorm Blog, by Naomi Schaefer Riley:

EDIT: forgot the URL - http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/the-most-persuasive-case-for-eliminating-black-studies-just-read-the-dissertations/46346

I followed the link because the piece by Lastasha B. Levy sounded very interesting and the name seems familiar but either the site is getting hammered to poo poo or they took the entire website down out of embarrassment. I did find this response to Riley's article though, it's great.
http://tressiemc.com/2012/05/02/the-inferiority-of-blackness-as-a-subject/

An excerpt form the link posted:

I want to talk about how Schaefer Riley constructed her argument.

She begins by responding to an innocuous article highlighting the work of doctoral students who just happen to be black and who just happen to be studying issues that impact black people.

Doctoral students.

That�s Schaefer Riley�s target: a group of accomplished, intelligent black doctoral students.
Schaefer Riley went after, arguably, the most powerless group of people in all of academe: doctoral students who lack the political cover of tenure, institutional support, or extensive professional networks. She attacked junior scholars who have done nothing but tried to fulfill the requirements of their degree program and who had the audacity to be recognized for doing so in academia�s largest publication. Their crime is not being loving* invisible.

For that, for daring to be seen and heard Schaefer Riley eviscerates the hard work of doctoral students.
And she does not even afford them the respect of critiquing their actual scholarship. That is beneath her. She attacks the very veracity of their right to choose what scholarship they will do. In effect, she attacks their right to be agents in their own academic careers.

She eschews their dissertation titles as laughable. She pokes fun at their subject matter. She all but calls them stupid.

And The Chronicle of Higher Education let her.

Everybody go give it some love.

e: better link

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN fucked around with this message at 04:42 on May 4, 2012

# ¿ May 4, 2012 04:34

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

If that cop had gun those two people handing out free tickets would be dead right now. I assume aggressive is code for black?

# ¿ Aug 10, 2012 07:44

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

I agree that race needn't be a factor in these sorts of things and don't possess any strong conviction that it does in this case. It's just, you hear enough fantasies about pulling guns in noble self defence against crazed thugs etc. For all I know, Wawra himself is black, not to suggest that would make race being a factor an impossibility. Ugh so many caveats. I'm the worst poster, it took me 20 minutes to type this, the main point is if he have gun I don't like their chances.

Prism posted:

Given Calgary's demographics, Chinese is about four times as likely, followed by Indian and Filipino.

Of course, now we're apologizing for him, as Canadians are incapable of not apologizing for anything:

http://www.canada.com/news/calgary/Give+Walt+Wawra+break+comments+about+Nose+Hill+gentlemen+some/7067730/story.html

That's sad, I don't think anybody should apologize to or for a strange man for not letting him carry around his precious. The way it looks to me is that, even if the two people who approached him and his wife were not working for the Stampede giving out tickets, nothing happened. The point of a "if he have gun" story is that something horrible happened to somebody that could have been prevented by somebody having a gun but nothing happened in this story (unless you count being momentarily bothered by another person while walking in a public place), but it very well might have if Wawra had been armed.

# ¿ Aug 11, 2012 12:38

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

VideoTapir posted:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/09/daily-chart-13#comments

Fuel prices and declining disposable incomes couldn't have anything to do with a drop in tourism.

Speculation, what's that?

People like that are the absolute worst. They take every advantage of living in a modern welfare state on their way up only to turn around and try and tear the whole structure down when they've got all their use from it instead of paying it forward. Yeah let's copy the US, less rights and more wage slavery please. Cheep beer will be no small comfort when it's all we can afford to live on.

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN fucked around with this message at 03:24 on Sep 30, 2012

# ¿ Sep 30, 2012 03:19

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

So like, if I buy 15 people drinks I can just indict people or whatever? Because I want to indict this dude i know for being an rear end in a top hat. Instead of drinks could you do it online with a circle indictment, I'll vote to indict yours if you vote to indict mine. I'd rather do it on Judge Judy instead of the peoples court email me ya0if4n@aol

# ¿ Nov 24, 2012 12:16

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

What if you were operating on Reagan's brain and you had to run home to change a nappy, huh? Huh!

# ¿ Nov 26, 2012 04:35

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

Dude's got a beard for a beard.

# ¿ Dec 5, 2012 17:31

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

Guilty Spork posted:

And hey, an article about how there's allegedly a scam that abuses people's charity (or "handouts") and general desire to do at least a tiny bit to help fellow human beings not die in the streets, therefore, what? We should stop helping homeless people entirely? Are we supposed to believe that the scam artists outnumber the people in genuine need?

It's just an excuse to never help anybody, it justifies their apathy.

# ¿ Apr 19, 2013 05:30

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

Sweet fanfic. Could have used more sephiroths.

# ¿ May 10, 2013 09:30

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

Jack Gladney posted:

I wonder how this is different from America's relationship with guns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Switzerland#Army-issued_arms

B-but Swiss people are ~~hitlerlly~~literally blue helmeted euro-thugs?

# ¿ May 27, 2013 16:01

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

Humbolt squid will eat their wounded I think.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2013 02:59

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

quote:

�In my 33 years, we�ve never had a better quality of life,� Barrett said. �We�ve never had it so good. If we don�t get ahold of slowing the growth, we will become an entitlement-based, a health care provider-based Corps, and not a war fighting organization.�

An entitlement-based, a health care provider-based Corps.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2014 11:30

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

INH5 posted:

People often say this, but I rarely see any actual evidence being presented for it. Personally, I'm skeptical of the idea. There is clearly a correlation between societal attitudes and media content, but correlation does not prove causation. On the one hand, there are clear and observable causal mechanisms for societal attitudes to result in the production of certain kinds of media content, because people tend to buy entertainment media that fits their preexisting attitudes, and to a lesser degree creators are likely to put their own attitudes into their work. On the other hand, the idea that media imposes particular social values on the viewer relies on hypothetical psychological mechanisms that have not, to my knowledge, ever been solidly demonstrated by empirical evidence.

Especially since people are clearly capable of ignoring some aspects of the media they consume. For example, studies have found that people exposed to DARE programs are actually more likely to do drugs later in life than people who were not. And that's an example of kids at a supposedly impressionable age being presented with a very clear message of "drugs are bad and you should stay away from them" in a controlled environment. It was also accompanied by a big push to put the same kind of message into popular kids shows, among many other things.

But if you have any evidence I haven't seen, then by all means tell me about it.

How would you explain something like isolated rural towns having the same views on things they would not otherwise? Minorities they would never come across for example.

# ¿ Sep 30, 2014 08:30

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

I assumed Obama (or any other Democratic president) keeps SS at arms length so when they're compelled to testify after his term, nothing of any import comes out.

# ¿ Oct 2, 2014 06:53

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

When they talk about breaking an led, do they mean just breaking the housing? Or is it the actual tiny led itself? How would you even break that?

# ¿ Oct 8, 2014 09:31

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

goku im piss posted:

That's a clever comparison, but it still doesn't change the fact that demonizing a part of the voting base that is usually sympathetic to your cause is really not a good idea, unless you didn't give a poo poo about those votes in the first place.

Who demonized what now?

# ¿ Nov 19, 2014 09:56

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

MaxxBot posted:

Crazy is the default from this guy but this is just so bizzare and incoherent I had to post it. Apparently the reason people have dirty, nasty, depraved sex like rimjobs and blowjobs is because of feminism. Before feminism people only had missionary, lights-off, partially clothed sex which is obviously the most enjoyable kind.

Feminism and Sex: ‘Bad, Dumb, and Desperately Unfun and Unsexy’

Whoa, like something straight out of hellthread. I even followed the link just to make sure it wasnt.

# ¿ Jan 14, 2015 22:26

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

Jack Gladney posted:

He's also disgusted by the idea of a white person dating a black person:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Stacy_McCain#Controversy

For some reason, the original article has been taken down.

Something about one person holding both those opinions makes me wonder...

http://theothermccain.com/2014/10/16/the-gamergate-hate-hoax/

quote:

Thursday, the feminists got themselves a front-page puff-piece in theÂ New York Times, after Sarkeesian cancelled a university speech in Utah claiming she felt unsafe because of a threat.Â Click here to see the threat. You tell me if that looks legit. It looks phony as hell to me, but here’s the thing:Â I DON’T CARE IF IT’S REAL OR FAKE.

What’s important to me is that we learn the truth. I want an all-out law-enforcement investigation of these threats, I want some arrests and prosecutions, and I want to know the names of the responsible parties, because I’m sick and tired of this bullshit aboutÂ “Oh, we’re courageous feminists and people say mean things about us on the Internet! Help! Help! We’re victims!”

People say mean things about me on the Internet every day, but that’s not a front-page story in theÂ New York Times, is it?

Of course. :roflolmao:

E: The comments immediately derail to defending the 2nd ammendment.

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN fucked around with this message at 01:34 on Jan 15, 2015

# ¿ Jan 15, 2015 01:31

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

I just read a breitbart article about the poor state of gay theatre these days what the gently caress.

# ¿ Feb 4, 2015 22:42

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

The Dark One posted:

Breitbart.

Sounds like some healthy relationships. :goleft:

# ¿ Nov 3, 2015 04:23

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

GlitchThief posted:

yikes

# ¿ Jun 9, 2016 06:23

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 16:55

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

MaxxBot posted:

This is my least favorite type of person, people who wrap themselves in a cloak of progressivism to spout bigoted opinions. She cites racism and sexism over and over and repeatedly plays the victim, all in defense of terrible anti-LGBT views.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/juno-dawson-glamour-magazine-terf-gender-identification-feminism-germaine-greer-a7403016.html
How can Juno Dawson call herself a feminist when she's labelling women as TERFs?

Breastfeeding becomes “chest feeding,” vaginas become “front holes,” and there are no pregnant women,

# ¿ Nov 16, 2016 15:16

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