Prozac

Correct. You and I likely have a fundamental disagreement on the role society should play/not play in making life better for all people. No worries. 🍺

Not quite. These asscheeks aren’t going anywhere. I’m affected though as my tax dollars get used to fix up out hypothetical motorcyclist (who doesn’t have hypothetical insurance). I would agree that getting a vaccine is a higher level of commitment than paying taxes, but it is a much, much lower level of commitment than donating a (finely toned) ass cheek’s worth of skin.

So if someone refused to wear a helmet and was injured in a motorcycle accident would you be ok with withholding medical care from that person due to the choice that they made? What if that person was a family member or close friend? The truth is, we deal with situations like this every day in our society. People make stupid or ill advised decisions all the time. The rest of us pay for those decisions by way of public emergency rooms, insurance premiums, restrictive public safety measures, etc. it’s part of the compromise that comes from living in a society. We don’t submit citizens to a death penalty because they make poor choices. With regard to writing off overweight people, two points: 1. Not giving an unattractive person a second look is not the same as standing by as they suffer what may be a preventable death. 2. Don’t knock fat chicks if you haven’t tried one. Everybody needs love bro. 🍻

Cool. So what’s the number? ~600k is the official number the United States claims dead. Making a claim that it’s any other number seems to be the more dishonest tack to me.

So we’re ok with the argument that an obese person’s life is worth less than a healthy person’s now? How much less? Is an obese person worth 1/2 a healthy person in our society? 3/4? What is the value you would place on an obese person’s life? Honest question. Not saying encouraging healthy living shouldn’t be a goal in our society. I’m 100% on board with ending the obesity epidemic in our country. But writing someone off ‘cause they’re fat? Seems pretty jaded, cold and inhumane.

Can you point to evidence that suggests any of the COVID vaccines are responsible for pre-diabetes or reproductive issues? Seems like there are a lot of rumors floating around but very limited solid evidence for serious side effects with the exception of a very few…and those are in line with what is considered acceptable in other vaccines and medications. Also, you may indeed know “very few” people concerned about COVID death, but this is very much a circumstantial statement. Over 600 thousand Americans have died from this disease. That is a staggering number that should be shocking to all Americans. Some of you will say that those numbers are inflated. Ok. Let’s cut the number in half. Still an abysmal result that, in any other circumstance, should have most Americans crying out for and supporting far more aggressive and potentially risky solutions. Many of us here willingly and happily went to war after lunatics killed a few thousand Americans in New York. But half a million dead and we don’t want a shot? Blows my mind.

Perhaps Anthony Faucci is part of the grand conspiracy that will have us all speaking mandarin within the next five years. Or perhaps he’s just a dude trying to do the best he can with limited and constantly changing information. Your argument sounds like the one my ten year old makes when I promised him a chocolate shake at Red Robin and all they have left is vanilla. Regardless, the vaccine works, it is safe, and it already has been highly effective in allowing us to claim much of our lives back. Just look at the countries with very low vaccination rates for proof. Sydney just went back on a full on draconian lockdown today. Australia’s vaccination rate is ~5%.

Not saying the Gen is the greatest American ever. But I find it highly unlikely that someone as thoroughly vetted as he would spend a career in the US military while being some sort of secret Marxist. It seems that the standard trope from the right these days is that anyone who might lean left is a Chinese Communist, Marxist, Socialist, ANTIFA stooge that’s part of Hillary’s grand plot to hand the United States over to the Bill Gates led cabal that runs the world. I write that tongue in cheek, but Jesus the conspiracy theories are out there these days. It must be exhausting for the true believers to keep up!

Most vaccinated people are not afraid of you spreading the virus to them. They’re afraid of you spreading it to the other anti-vaxers and prolonging the negative effects of this virus to our society. Thousands more sick and dying is tragic and detrimental to our way of life. Know the shortest way to not having to wear masks on airplanes anymore? It’s called heard immunity and we could get there in a month if you guys would come around to reason. I keep hearing about individual risk assessment. You should also factor in societal risk assessment when making your decision. It’s about more than just you.

Which content, exactly, is he “quasi endorsing”? YMMV, but in my experience senior officers don’t unknowingly endorse anything, quasi or otherwise. General officers are certainly not infallible, but they’re not dumb either. It’s quite a stretch to intimate that Milley is somehow unknowingly part of some Marxist plot against America.

As it should be. We should absolutely reap the benefits of our success in dramatically reducing the numbers of sick and dying of coronavirus. Doesn’t mean pawnman is wrong though. Vaccination is not a purely transactional “how does it affect me” issue. Yes, a vaccine will be effective at preventing negative effects for an individual. But the real effectiveness lies in vaccines’ benefits to society as a whole. Vaccinate enough people and the disease can be almost entirely suppressed. I don’t think anyone should be forced into vaccination in a free society, but I encourage everyone I know to get it just for the simple fact that I don’t want to experience any more lockdowns or public health measures that negatively affect my quality of life.

Do you really believe a four star who has given his entire adult life to service of our free market, democratic way of life is somehow secretly endorsing, or has been forced to endorse Marxist socialism? I’ll be the first to agree that general officers can be out of touch and tainted by politics, but this point of view strikes me as a bit much.

Interesting point of view. Would you agree with the idea that knowing one’s adversary is essential to cultivating an effective counter to it? That’s the contextual umbrella I understood Gen Milley’s statements to be under.

Agree on all points.

You mean like some news outlets swooned over Trump? C’mon guys. Yeah, the coverage is biased. But I don’t buy this “it’s all stacked against conservatives” bullshit. The conservative media has plenty of power. Maybe more than the liberal side. Tucker and the like have been apologists for, and are complicit in the armed insurrection of the Capitol of the United States for gods sake.

I think you’d have a good point if this was 20 years ago. I honestly don’t think there are that many people in the middle anymore. Certainly not most people. We’ve done a fantastic job of sorting ourselves into our respective tribes and anyone who doesn’t buy in fully isn’t one of “us”. I’m not leveling this argument at you personally btw. I think the discussion here is far more civil and open than in other circles (ahem…airline cockpits). But for most people (there’s that term again), sorting one’s self into tribe x and buying most, if not all of what their selling, bullshit or otherwise, seems to be the easiest choice. Neither side has a monopoly on this phenomenon. Now to address the second part of your post WRT COVID-19 origins. Yes, the “mainstream” media absolutely did the American people a disservice by not covering/dismissing what turned out to be a legitimate story. However, comma… I haven’t exactly kept my feelings for DJT a secret here, so what I’m about to say next probably won’t be a surprise. I absolutely believe that this is an excellent example as to why you don’t want someone like him as president. When so much of what comes out of his mouth is poorly thought out drivel, lies, bombast, xenophobia, middle school level insults and the like, it gets hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. Apparently there were likely a few good ideas and truthful statements that came out of the man’s mouth. It was easy for a lot of the country to miss.

That’s kinda my point: people on the right scoff Lemon. People on the left scoff Carlson. Nobody wants to admit/ can’t see that their guy is as shitty as the rest of ‘em.

I hear a TON of people on the right openly scoffing Acosta, Lemon and the like, ALL THE TIME. In many cases, rightfully so. It’s funny, but somehow people can see the bias of the pundits that they disagree with, but tend to defend the ones they agree with. The truth is that “news” hosts on all matter of televised (and internet-ized) media make a shit ton of money for themselves and their networks by keeping you (the royal you) outraged. They will spew all manner of bullshit in the name of fresh content. People have ingested so much of this garbage, for so long, that a good chunk of our country literally thinks of the opposing viewpoint as the enemy and is ready to take up arms against their countrymen. Guess who is benefiting from all of this unrest? Hint: it ain’t U.S. and A.

Uhhh, who is “they”? Last time I checked, the guy with the highest rated evening “news” show was most definitely “in the bag for a particular side”. Just not the one that supports your narrative. Here’s a newsflash: no media source is impartial. Most media is garbage. A few sources are good. We live in a free country and that fact will probably never change.

Better than all the teams getting fucked? 🤷‍♂️

Pirelli has some ‘splainin to do. Would love to see a second or even multiple tire suppliers come back to F1.

I know you probably don’t mean it this way, but it sounds like your argument is that because natural causes cause more deaths, we should turn a blind eye to mass shootings. That’s like saying seatbelts are unnecessary because you’re more likely to get taken out by cancer. FWIW, I support your right to own a firearm, but just because there are bigger killers out there that doesn’t mean that mass shootings aren’t an issue that deserves attention.

Don’t forget the cellphone holster. Also, remember your black dress socks are always approved for wear with any footwear, especially aforementioned white newbalance’s, but also with sandals and even flip flops.

No. Not even close. How do you figure a fully developed human being sustained by life support is the same as a fifty celled organism that is incapable of thought, sensory experience, or any multitude of functions or attributes that most of us would consider defining for human beings?

I don’t know anyone who argues that an embryo is not a living thing. The question is; when does that entity become a person? And, perhaps just as importantly; who do you want to make that determination? Your church? Your government? Popular opinion? The mother? The father? You can see how this subject blurs the lines between morality, theology, and philosophy. Don’t we, as Americans, place great value on keeping our government away from such fuzzy issues? People are certainly entitled to make up their own minds on the subject. I would never advocate for someone who is pro life to change their mind. But when the question of when a person becomes a person is far from settled I find the idea that the government should make that decision for me to be unacceptable and frankly un-American.