Credo

The terms trans and non-binary are not interchangeable.  A lot of people are muddying the waters with the misuse and identification of people in these categories.  The Nashville shooter identified as trans.  Some have reported that there have been 4 trans shooters.  That is not true.   

One of them was reported as non-binary by the attorney. His family and friends said he NEVER identified as anything but straight.

1 minute ago, Salerno said:

What's the medical term for "bat faeces crazy"?

I'd suggest something closer to 'detached from reality'.

 

I had an exchange on social media with someone complaining about transgender people being mentally ill.  I explained that Gender Dysphoria is a mental illness diagnosis, but many of the right-wingers deny them treatment.  Untreated mental conditions are a red flag.   It's especially sad when treatment is available and denied.   

"4 shooters out of over 300 mass shooters since 2009 are transgender or non-binary. That's just 1.3 percent of all shooters," Anthony Zenkus, a lecturer in social work at Columbia University, wrote on Twitter. "You just proved our point: 99 percent of mass shooters in the United States are cis gendered."

https://www.newsweek.com/mass-shootings-transgender-perpetrators-1790854

I don't think it would require a very extensive search to figure out a few diagnosable conditions afflicting MTG.

20 minutes ago, markclover said:

Political movies aren't suitable for kids.  It should be removed.

 

 

It's not a political movie.  

Of course, the police are scared of those assault-style weapons.  It would be suicide to face one of those weapons.  They are pretty much helpless when confronted with those weapons.   Dead officers aren't of any value in a crisis.   

8 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Why you don't elect people with obvious, current, health issues:

Reported in news outlets ... Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has missed nearly 83% of Senate roll call votes

Interesting that you would resurrect a month-old thread to cast aspersions on a senator who is in the hospital.  Just to answer your question, why don't you stop running candidates who are as out of touch as Dr. Oz?

The ability of the big fish to pay their way out of prosecution is a problem in most of the countries that decide to wage a war on drugs.  Drugs are big money.  Very big money.  I remember that during the 80s, talking to a friend from Miami about how a fair number of law enforcement had suddenly gotten rather wealthy -- nice big boats, a new house, nice cars.  It's not that they were inherently dishonest cops, but the cartels could pay big bribes, and that kind of money gets hard to overlook.   

A friend who worked with Customs and Border Patrol along the Mexican border said it's much safer for some less-than-honest officials to get paid to simply ignore a particular vehicle crossing the border.  

In countries where bribes will get a person into serious trouble, the low level dealers don't have the money to pay the kind of money to get them out of trouble.  

Almost everyone has a price.  It's just a matter of finding out what it is.  

More victims killed with assault-style weapons:

The suspect was armed with at least two assault-type rifles and a handgun, officials said.

47 minutes ago, JensenZ said:

When you're worth well over $200 billion (at the time he put in the offer), and you're the richest person on the planet (today he's ONLY worth $191 billion and the 2nd richest), it's quite possible that making more money is not your only goal in life. Twitter is a hobby for Musk.

 

It's incredible how many haters are coming out of the woodwork, suggesting he's dumb or doing stupid things. It reminds me of all the hate he received on this forum during the cave rescue in July 2018. I didn't hear any praise when he became the world's richest a few years later.

 

 

It's not about hate.  I certainly don't hate Musk.  I also don't admire him.  He is well out of his own lane on Twitter.  It may be a hobby for him, but for many, it's a source of news and information.  

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Perhaps the lower sum is the real value and the problem was what he paid for it?

The question is, who determines the value of the company?  I don't see any independent source giving a figure.

17 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

Can you elaborate? I don't see how this results in a tax deduction.

I am not a billionaire, so I don't know, but they usually have some angle.  Maybe capital gains?  

I get suspicious when I see something that was purchased for $40+billion and now has been valued, by the buyer/owner, at such a low figure.  Who did this valuation?  

I am sure glad that all this terrible weather, including an increase in the frequency and intensity of tornadoes, the massive rains, snow and flooding isn't caused by Climate Change.   At least that's what the climate deniers would have us believe.

Does he just get to make up a number for the value of the company?  This sounds like a nice, big tax deduction.   

I don't think Andrew's book would be nearly as successful or as interesting as Harry's.  I read Harry's and found it interesting and slightly insightful.  Andrew, might want to consider a pictorial book of his social life -- that would be a hit.

3 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Yeah, don't forget that other Trump nothing burger served up to the dullards in Iowa back in 2016 "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?"

 

As evidenced by the Capitol riot, it's not Trump who's the danger, it's his dullards.

The dullards would be a lot less dangerous if they didn't have someone leading them and pointing them at targets.   

I fully support trans rights.  They deserve to be in a category of their own.  It is up to the governing bodies to decide how these situations should be handled.  

7 hours ago, Tippaporn said:

Create a crisis and then step in to provide the solution.  An age old tactic.  It all leads to social engineering and all for a price to be borne by those who can least afford it.

As @placeholder a lot of people in the Southwest of the US are suffering.  It's interesting that the right-wingers who have built in unincorporated areas and had nearby cities provide water because their wells are dry are wanting the government to force the cities to provide them with water.  The cities say they can't.   These are the same people, from the same places, who don't want the government telling them what to do.  Apparently, it's OK for them to decide what others have to do.  It seems to me it's just a matter of who gets to do the 'social engineering'.   

The bigotry, racism and nationalism around everything having to do with Covid has been extremely detrimental to fighting the pandemic.  The refusal to use the existing mRNA vaccines is a good example.  

I hope this proves to be effective.   

I am SO done with the pandemic, but that doesn't mean it's not done with me or us.  

5 hours ago, eisfeld said:

What makes you think so? Do you have any basis for this claim whatsoever? The collector is the FDIC through their receiver bank.

 

I am not saying the loans were not a problem or that SVB was a good bank. Just not for the reasons you stated. And that's why I say you are misleading people with your posts. They read like a Fox News report. There is plenty bad to say about SVB but let's keep it to the facts.

I am not sure what is misleading.  There is a link to the original article.   It sounds like a lot of people got loans that they wouldn't ordinarily get.   

On 3/17/2023 at 12:42 AM, placeholder said:

What's interesting is that when word leaked out that a researcher had unearthed and downloaded this data from a Chinese database, the data disappeared from the web shortly thereafter. The Chinese govt has consistently denied that Covid-19 began with them, whether from a lab or from a wet market. At one point they were blaming frozen salmon from the United States as the source.

Thanks.  I had sort of forgotten that the CCP has denied it even started in China.