White Lives Don't Matter - apparently (1 Viewer)

[Isaac]

Blocking streets is usually illegal unless there is a prior arrangement. Obviously..
Jumping on people's cars or intimidating is generally discouraged too.
Nobody is saying legal protests can't occur.

 

[ColinEssex]

Rant - I am sick and tired of these stupid people marching and chanting on about whatever their beef is. You get blacks, you get poofs, trans something people, gender something people, men dressed as women and women dressed and looking scarily even a mugger would think twice. Men should be like men and women should look like women. There was even a 5year old boy saying he wanted to be a girl and liked wearing dresses!
These days, you can't say two words to a black without them banging on about racism. Poofs must have a strange brain, men fancying men and kissing in public turns the stomach.
There was an interview with a girl who says she doesn't recognise male or female, she had a word for it which I forget now, she definately needs medical help.
Jesus Christ, we are in the middle of a global pandemic killing thousands every day, yet these idiots bang on about discrimination and stuff just because you might look at them.
Forget the marching - get out there and do some good, get a job, start your own business, it's up to you to improve your lot. Governments can't fix everything, we have to do our bit,
Col

 

[NauticalGent]

...rant over? You never said...

 

[ColinEssex]

...rant over? You never said...

For the time being.
Col

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Col, two comments:

First, I agree that marching around and ranting is non-productive activity. You want equality? People only need to learn just a tiny bit of psychology to know that change comes from within. Whether it is breaking a drug habit, an alcohol habit, a tobacco habit, or some other equally bad habit, you have to "hit bottom" in order to find the motivation to stop. Once it is within YOU to stop, you can go forward and do constructive things.

Second,

Poofs must have a strange brain

If you do the following web search, you would find out that (sadly) you are right: Homosexual + brain scan

If you do the search (and include the plus-sign to do it) you will find some UK articles from the 1990s where a medical research team was playing around with Positron Emission Tomography (a.k.a. a PET scan). They discovered that when they mapped human brains, there were distinct structural differences between males and females. In phase two of their study (I presume after they got more grant money), they widened the population of their scans - and found that it was possible for a "male" brain to be found in a female body and a "female" brain to be found in a male body. After further investigation, it was learned that all such cases were homosexuals.

Here's where the problem comes in. The brain's physical configuration doesn't change based on a decision you made. The brain grows in utero to whatever configuration it is going to have when you pop out of the womb. The research suggests that part of the problem therefore is that long before you could even MAKE a choice, you are destined to have or not have gender dysphoria based on whether your body gets mixed or uniform signals. And it has LONG been known that the BRAIN is the ultimate sex organ. If it says GO then you go. If it says NO then you move on to seek another partner. And it is that way from birth.

I have known many gay people because in New Orleans there was an active public sub-culture in the French Quarter where I played music to work my way through college. I also met a lot of gay folks in college. Uniformly, they report that it is not a choice for them. Many of them go so far as to say they feel as though they were born into the wrong body. I try to not speak ill of homosexuals because for them, life has dealt them a crap hand. Like in bridge or poker, it isn't the cards you are dealt - it is what you do with them. So I just get out of their way and let them strive.

I am still forgiving - but perhaps less so - for people who had choices like drugs, alcohol, or tobacco and they got sick from excessive use thereof. Starting down that road WAS a choice. But for the gay/straight dichotomy, there was no choice.

My best friend in college was lesbian. People were always asking why I hadn't married her, but I knew better and respected her wish to "stay in the closet." So I helped her with the illusion. I had many gay friends in my gaming circles - Dungeons & Dragons or Magic: The Gathering - and found them to be decent people who just happened to have slightly different tastes than my own. And I have a gay stepdaughter. She got a degree in IT, has certifications as a UNIX system admin and a security admin, owns her own home, is a U.S. Air Force veteran including reserve activation during Operation Desert Storm (in a comm unit). She pays her taxes, supports battered women's shelters, and stays out of trouble. She and her (female) spouse got married a while back when that became legal in the USA. The two of them are perfectly normal in all respects except one. What ticks ME off is that so many religious extremist IDIOTS condemn them for what is essentially a condition of birth. Which might help some of you better understand why I sometimes go ballistic on fundamentalists if they show up here.

 

[AccessBlaster]

♀♂ is there a third symbol? Asking for a friend.

 

[Isaac]

for people who had choices like drugs, alcohol, or tobacco and they got sick from excessive use thereof. Starting down that road WAS a choice.

Not entirely as simple as that, but I know what you mean as compared to the other thing.
As to the other thing, I personally think everyone goes through a time in their adolescence when they could go either way if prompted. With some more pre-disposed than others, sure. The changes in brain scans are no more persuasive than the brain scans that have been done on meth addicts, where it is proved that the addiction has lodged itself in the part of the brain that has nothing to do with choice or reason, and has everything to do with survival instincts similar to hunger, fight, etc....that brain scan is true, but probably wasn't always that way. Perhaps even more persuasive is that that part of the brain for addicts was changed quickly by a super humanly powerful chemical, whereas the other thing is probably changed slower by behavior and exposure. I think it's clear just from our life's experiences that sexuality is hugely influenced by childhood. Take these celebrity type lesbians who adopt 2 children and by the time they are 13, both of those children say they are gay. Anyone looking at that situation, vs. the overall odds, who doesn't then question their "it's 100% genetic" belief, isn't being honest with themselves, I don't think. It appears to be quite evident that children who are strongly encouraged to fully embrace only their birth assigned sexuality, vs. children who are encouraged to question everything and 'find themselves' in that regard, the two camps get on very differently. Of course society has everyone too scared of being labeled "homophobic" at this point for very many people to be doing a diligent study and parental interviews on this point....and it might be impossible to get honest data from people....Or, conservatives have done these studies and they are probably nowhere to be found except if you hunt for them. But it appears obvious enough without a study.

So I actually would conflate the two to some extent. Just as the "it was entirely their choice" has been shown NOT to be completely true for many addicts, and there exists a strong propensity among some since early childhood(!)....it also appears that exposure and encouragement has an enormous amount to do with pursuing either natural vs. alternative sexuality.

Now on Colin's rant. The only part I'll focus on is the 'get a job the government can't do everything for you'. Regardless of the exact words, that general sentiment is what we need more of teaching from a young age, rather than some people are only teaching their children to view themselves as victims, which is a notoriously self fulfilling prophecy. Interestingly, MANY groups of people have been persecuted and oppressed either throughout history (Jewish people) or specifically in the USA in the earlier days (immigrant Italians, African Americans), but it made all the difference how they chose to continue living after that point. Some seem to have closed the door on the past and worked hard and had no trouble succeeding, in large part. Others, less so. To be fair the causes are probably a mixture of several things, but personal choices surely factor in. Strong families seem to be a big factor in success so we must encourage that in our society as much as possible.

 

[Pat Hartman]

All you have to do is to compare the success rates of legal immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean to inner city blacks in the US to see how looking at yourself as a victim keeps you down on the plantation. This isn't a money problem. Baltimore schools have one of the highest per capita spending ratios in the whole country and students fail standardized testing at an alarming rate.

So, I agree with Colin, you have to stop seeing yourself as a victim to to out into the world and make something of yourself.

 

[Steve R.]

All you have to do is to compare the success rates of legal immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean to inner city blacks in the US to see how looking at yourself as a victim keeps you down on the plantation. This isn't a money problem. Baltimore schools have one of the highest per capita spending ratios in the whole country and students fail standardized testing at an alarming rate.

A very true statement. During the late sixties I drove taxicabs in the Washington DC area to pay for college. The difference between native born Blacks and those who immigrated from other countries was very palatable.

 

[ColinEssex]

Have you seen those weirdos marching and fighting with police for gay/ lesbian and other woofters rights? When they grow out of it, they'll realise they need to get a decent job, mortgage etc. Then maybe they'll act like normal people as opposed to people just doing things for attention. Or maybe get psychiatric help to cure them.
When I was growing up in Bristol (the dodgy end) just having semi-skimmed milk was considered a sign of homosexuality. Even if you talked 'posh' you got beaten up in school.
BTW, I never thought Pat would agree with me, I always thought she thought I was a total moron and a lesser person.

Col

 

[Steve R.]

BTW, I never thought Pat would agree with me, I always thought she thought I was a total moron and a lesser person.

@ColinEssex Seems that the changing political climate here has given you a following.

 

[AccessBlaster]

@ColinEssex surprised you haven't take a swing at this > The Slightly Obscure Music Discussion And Quizzy Thread being you are a musician in your own right.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I have seen the beginnings of some studies that should REALLY set off the black community. Now that we have a fairly large data set of infections and deaths for which the demographics and situations are well known, some deeper analysis is starting to show an interesting trend.

If you cull the data to eliminate situations that would have forced certain types of congregating (e.g. nursing homes and prisons), this limits your statistics to the general population. If you do this culling, COVID-19 is far more deadly to black people than to white people including on a roughly 3x higher infection rate and a higher death rate of those infected. The study appeared in the New Orleans Advocate for this date. This link might or might not stay up long.

3 out of 4 hospitalized coronavirus patients were black, Ochsner study finds. But why?

Black coronavirus patients made up three-fourths of those hospitalized in Louisiana's largest health system, according to a new study, underscoring the disproportionate toll COVID-19 has had on the state's black

www.nola.com

It was a preliminary study by the Ochsner Hospital group and apparently has not yet been peer-reviewed for journal publication, so it needs more work. But if this is true, then I wonder how the Black Lives Matter groups will convey their displeasure to the corona virus for its racism.

 

[ColinEssex]

Doc, it's obvious what the blacks will do - blame white people. The Orange clown blames the Chinese, good job they're not black. It seems Americans are good at blaming other people.

Col

 

[ColinEssex]

@ColinEssex surprised you haven't take a swing at this > The Slightly Obscure Music Discussion And Quizzy Thread being you are a musician in your own right.

I've had a look at it, but as always with these quizzy things, it is very USA orientated, so you can have a USA famous singer/person but we / I have never heard of them in the UK. Don't forget it's even difficult for us to understand USA state abbreviations. So USA only famous people we have little hope.
Col

 

[Micron]

I've had a look at it, but as always with these quizzy things, it is very USA orientated,

Now, now... I had to look because I was sure that's not entirely true. I gave up looking at the solutions after 18 pages of posts, but I found that these British bands were the answers to clues:
Clash, Incredible String Band, Yes, Phil Collins, Elton John, Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Jethro Tull, U2, David Bowie...
Besides, even if it's native to your country, that doesn't guarantee you've heard of the artist/band. That's where your interpretation of the clues and Google comes in.

 

[Jon]

I may be missing the point here, but on all these Black Lives Matter marches, which presumable are primarily against racism, why is the name of their movement discriminatory against Jews, Chinese, Asians and so on? Why is it only Black that counts? This came to mind as I saw a line up of people taking the knee, and they all said "End Racism" on their t-shirts, except one person, who was the only black there, had one saying, "Black Lives Matter." To me, that looked like everybody except the black guy wanted to end racism against everybody, while the black guy was only concerned about racism against blacks. Everybody was saying end racism, while the only black guy there seemed just concerned with black lives.

Is my thinking off kilter here? Why march just for black lives, when minorities of all colours can experience racism?

 

[Steve R.]

I may be missing the point here, but on all these Black Lives Matter marches, which presumable are primarily against racism, why is the name of their movement discriminatory against Jews, Chinese, Asians and so on? Why is it only Black that counts? This came to mind as I saw a line up of people taking the knee, and they all said "End Racism" on their t-shirts, except one person, who was the only black there, had one saying, "Black Lives Matter." To me, that looked like everybody except the black guy wanted to end racism against everybody, while the black guy was only concerned about racism against blacks. Everybody was saying end racism, while the only black guy there seemed just concerned with black lives.

Is my thinking off kilter here? Why march just for black lives, when minorities of all colours can experience racism?

You are not off kilter. We are in a situation were only one side (the far left) seems to define what is right or wrong. That is so insulting. Unfortunately, there is almost no push-back.

When people disrespect the flag and anthem of the USA that has been defined as a courageous act by the far left. But remove Black Lives Matter graffiti or display the Confederate flag and you are called a racist plus a variety of other vile names. Not to mention that some on the political far left proclaim that they have the "authority" to physically attack a person that they disagree with as an act of "self-defense", a ludicrous proposition; but one that is unfortunately becoming more prevalent. Those who are conservative have a right to be offended by the actions of the political left and to have their viewpoints respected by those on the political left.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

It is the microcosm of gay rights and women's rights repeating itself. I have to sometimes wonder if it isn't ALL derived from our saurian genetics. We inherited a lot of "triggers" through evolution including "fight or flight" mechanisms as one big example. Territoriality derives from hunting groups that wanted to chase out anyone impinging on THEIR hunting grounds, mostly as a matter of survival. Since of course in a hunter-gatherer society, it takes so many acres of land per person to be able to survive. It was only after the development of agrarian societies that the human "survival footprint" got small enough for villages to be meaningful.

With all that evolutionary baggage, I wonder if part of it is that we are SO naturally aggressive as to NEED someone to look down upon. I wonder if racism isn't merely saurian territory protectiveness rearing its ugly head like T-Rex from 65 million years ago. We survived by being predators - but how can we survive if we have no one left to be our prey?

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

That is so insulting.

I find the whole thing insults my intelligence and my instinctive moral values.

I wonder if part of it is that we are SO naturally aggressive as to NEED someone to look down upon.

I agree, there's so much we don't know about the human mind. I know I feel inferior to some and superior to others. It's the natural order of things. If someone I feel superior to happens to be black, am I a racist? I definitely feel superior to the black people that are committing violent acts and indeed the white people that attach themselves to these blacks, they are the most confusing!

I've also seen some impressive statements from black people, families who have lost loved ones in police shootings. They are definitely far superior to me and most others in their messages of keeping calm, not getting involved in violence, and that everyone is equal.