- 28,470
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- Johnnypenso
The Queen is just a person and Queen because she won the birthright lottery. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here.
America - The Official Thread
- Thread starter ///M-Spec
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- 5,051
- Netherlands
That is material for another discussion concerning the legitimacy of Monarchies. Replace "queen of England" with the Pope (if you religious).
The point I was making is that he is nice as any human being should be and grew up from modest beginnings. So opening doors is something he is probably accustomed to in contrary to royalty or Holy people.
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- 2,620
- Lincoln, NE
- huskeR_32
Fresh off their attempts to steal a U.S. House seat, Republicans in North Carolina are now trying to rush through a law that would mandate Republican control of county-level election boards:
Two things are pertinent here, of course:
1. Elections happen in even-numbered years, and
2. Democrats have more registered voters than Republicans (it's not even close - Dems have 27% more registered voters in the state than Republicans, and all demographic trends point to that remaining the case for the foreseeable future).
This is what it looks like when a party realizes their voters will not bat an eye at any shameless power grab.
NC H1117
Two things are pertinent here, of course:
1. Elections happen in even-numbered years, and
2. Democrats have more registered voters than Republicans (it's not even close - Dems have 27% more registered voters in the state than Republicans, and all demographic trends point to that remaining the case for the foreseeable future).
This is what it looks like when a party realizes their voters will not bat an eye at any shameless power grab.
- 28,470
- Windsor, Ontario, Canada
- Johnnypenso
Bezos is a "child of privilege" in modern vernacular. His stepfather (from age 4) was an engineer working for Exxon and his maternal grandfather was a regional director for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission who did well enough to retire early to a 25,000 acre ranch where Bezos spent most of his summers. Doesn't mean he isn't a nice guy, but he's definitely not from "modest beginnings" as we would normally define it.
- 5,051
- Netherlands
You are arguing for arguing sake. I perhaps misused modest. (in perspective with royalty).
According to Wikipedia his beginnings are more modest though:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos#Early_life
- 5,588
- Dahlonega, GA
- ryzno
I think Trump is Atheist or something.
I'm watching 41s funeral and every time they have a lead prayer he and wifey stand but do not say anything(participate) during the prayers.
I don't know just watched another lead prayer Jeb and Jr didn't say anything.
Interestingly enough I did see the Obama's pray.
I'm watching 41s funeral and every time they have a lead prayer he and wifey stand but do not say anything(participate) during the prayers.
I don't know just watched another lead prayer Jeb and Jr didn't say anything.
Interestingly enough I did see the Obama's pray.
Keef
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- Dayton, OH
- GTP_KeefRacer
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I spend most of my time on Reddit these days, usually avoiding politics. But Lady Liberty is feeling a way right now and this morning I found a pretty rad post on the Politics sub (which is a cesspool by the way). It's a timeline of all the screw-ups of Michael Flynn, the guy who just got let of scott-free by the Department of Justice because he gave so much information that, despite his own very serious, arguably traitorous mistakes, there are fish so much bigger than him to fry that he'll likely see no punishment at all.
That thread also has an enormous list of news articles as sources.
Everybody needs to take a step back and really grasp how big of a deal this is. There is an actual conspiracy going on between our president, other politicians, and foreign leaders. The conspiracy is so deep that when the CIA recently briefed the Senate on these investigations, they only chose 8 senators to meet with and left all the others in the dark. I think it's because the rest may be compromised or untrustworthy for some reason. However, there were senators, particularly Chuck Schumer and Rand Paul who have been publicly furious that they were left in the dark by the CIA and are demanding public testimony by the CIA on whatever info they've got.
Our government is about to indict itself, and I think our president is going to get impeached, among many other changes. I have no idea what could come of this with regards to foreign countries but once we get our own people straightened out I can imagine very serious economic and military penalties for Russia and Saudi Arabia, et al.
Pleeeaassse let the American system work. It's the best in the world and our government needs to prove to itself, its citizens, and the rest of the world that our system is the best for a reason.
That thread also has an enormous list of news articles as sources.
Everybody needs to take a step back and really grasp how big of a deal this is. There is an actual conspiracy going on between our president, other politicians, and foreign leaders. The conspiracy is so deep that when the CIA recently briefed the Senate on these investigations, they only chose 8 senators to meet with and left all the others in the dark. I think it's because the rest may be compromised or untrustworthy for some reason. However, there were senators, particularly Chuck Schumer and Rand Paul who have been publicly furious that they were left in the dark by the CIA and are demanding public testimony by the CIA on whatever info they've got.
Our government is about to indict itself, and I think our president is going to get impeached, among many other changes. I have no idea what could come of this with regards to foreign countries but once we get our own people straightened out I can imagine very serious economic and military penalties for Russia and Saudi Arabia, et al.
Pleeeaassse let the American system work. It's the best in the world and our government needs to prove to itself, its citizens, and the rest of the world that our system is the best for a reason.
- 5,051
- Netherlands
- 28,470
- Windsor, Ontario, Canada
- Johnnypenso
Just pointing out the inaccuracy of your statement. We both read the same source so I'm not sure how it was even possible for you to come away from reading that Wikipedia article and not think that he had a privileged upbringing.
- 5,051
- Netherlands
His beginning was modest. There is no inaccuracy in my statement. Just agree to disagree.
- 1,971
- Seattle, WA
Just a business man. Bezos is the wealthiest person on planet earth who is worth 145 Billion dollars, yes that's with a 'B' not a 'M", Queen Elizabeth by the way is worth 520 Million dollars. But the emphasis on this story is not money or how much he is worth. If you know anything about Jeff Bezos, then you would know about his main customer service mantra. He is literally obsessed with customer service and that is a good thing, actually not good, that is a great, wonderful thing and a huge contributing factor to Amazon's success.
You can read more about Jeff Bezos' lessons on customer service here: https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2013/06/jeff-bezos-lessons.html
The reason why I found the story noteworthy is that Jeff clearly leads by example, he exudes the customer service mantra that is famous for. Sometimes the smallest things have the largest impact on perception of a person, CEO, a company, and that fact is not lost on me.
- 1,971
- Seattle, WA
I have a friend that has worked there for over 15 years, he seems happy with his job. I'm sure their wages are competitive with other companies in their business sector. The only issue I've ever had with Amazon as a company is that their business model is killing retail stores, but it would be grossly unfair to blame them for all of it. E-commerce in general has been killing retail for years.
- 5,051
- Netherlands
Bezos is the wealthiest person on planet earth who is worth 145 Billion dollars, yes that's with a 'B' not a 'M", Queen Elizabeth by the way is worth 520 Million dollars. But the emphasis on this story is not money or how much he is worth. If you know anything about Jeff Bezos, then you would know about his main customer service mantra. He is literally obsessed with customer service and that is a good thing, actually not good, that is a great, wonderful thing and a huge contributing factor to Amazon's success.
You can read more about Jeff Bezos' lessons on customer service here: https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2013/06/jeff-bezos-lessons.html
The reason why I found the story noteworthy is that Jeff clearly leads by example, he exudes the customer service mantra that is famous for. Sometimes the smallest things have the largest impact on perception of a person, CEO, a company, and that fact is not lost on me.
Bezos only became that rich untill relatively recent. So its a good thing money didnt change him that much. Royalty are born in privilege for multiple generations. They probably have always had someone open doors for them for the majority of their lives.
I have met some millionairs and 1 billionair in my lifetime and the ones I have met arent so different as regular people. I think that especially is true for the people who got rich from the Tech sector, which is relatively "new" money. Like Alibaba's Jack Ma who is a very nice guy.
I have also met people from a historically rich background (old real estate and/or commodities) and also royalty they tend to act more privileged and arrogant people often associate with superrich people.
Its a nice story though! Would you have said or asked something if you were there?
- 1,971
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@PocketZeven Most likely I would've smiled and just said thank you (for opening the door). I don't generally bother famous people, CEO's, celebrities or whomever. Now if it was a famous musician , then I might ask them a question about an album or a song or playing style. I asked Dick Dale once about the thickness of his guitar strings after watching once of his shows, which he smiled and told me his High 'E' string is .016 gauge. The guy practically has piano strings on his guitar, very, very thick gauge strings. That is a man's guitar lol.
- 5,051
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- 1,971
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This perception really stems from the aftermath of Roe V Wade, basically Prolife Vs Pro Choice. The assumption is that you can't be religious if you support pro choice (and we all know how reliable assumptions are), the faulty logic tree would be as follows:
If you are a Democrat then you must support pro choice -->If you support pro choice then you are not religious --> if you are not religious then you must be an Atheist.
And that is how the trouble with labels begins, life is far more nuanced than that. Here is an interesting one, I had co worker a few years ago. He would be best described as a Conservative, Atheist that was pro-life. But therein lies the problem with labels, He wasn't pro-life because of religion, he was pro-life because he believed in personal responsibility. In other words, if you were dumb enough to have unprotected sex that resulted in a pregnancy, then you should take responsibility for your self, don't take it out on the child, have it and adopt it if you can't raise the child but by no means should you abort it on the account of your dumb choices. Personal Responsibility. That was his pro life view. The first time I heard him say it, I thought... well there is a new one
. But it also taught me a lesson. Not everyone is pro life because of religious reasons and by that same token, not everyone is pro-choice because of the lack of religious beliefs either. Nuances are rather interesting, makes our world more colorful and interesting.
Danoff
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In other words, if you were dumb enough to have unprotected sex that resulted in a pregnancy, then you should take responsibility for your self, don't take it out on the child, have it and adopt it if you can't raise the child but by no means should you abort it on the account of your dumb choices. Personal Responsibility. That was his pro life view. The first time I heard him say it, I thought... well there is a new one
That's my parents' take on abortion as well. I find ridiculous. Children are not a punishment. Should the penalty for your dumb choices be an abortion (which is not exactly a fun time), or raising a child.... lemme think on that...
Edit:
You're irresponsible and make poor choices. You should raise a child...
*facepalm*
Edit 2:
Let's bring an unwanted child into the world...
*facepalm*
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- 1,971
- Seattle, WA
He would argue that you can put the child up for adoption. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by his opinion. In a way it does make a little bit of sense that an Atheist would value life more than a religious person would (one that believes in an afterlife of some sort), and therefore would be seemingly more inclined to be pro life. If one chance at life is all you get, then I can see how he would think that way and want to protect life, especially the unborn who can't speak for themselves.
Edit:
I forgot to mention that he was a completely unsympathetic ass about it too. Literally no sympathy for the people that had unprotected sex that resulted in the pregnancy in the first place. You could counter him with something like: but what about the mom, what if she is a teenager with her whole life in front of her? Should she have to bear a child for 9 months, take time off school to have a child she does not want? To which he would say "tough luck, it's your mistake, not the child's" and he had even less sympathy would-be teenage father "Play grownup games and you get grownup prizes, time to be a man and pay for your mistakes and make it right." and he would usually finish with something like "Look, you can have sex but don't do it unprotected if you don't wants kids (yet or ever)".
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Danoff
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Doesn't fix it. Creating children that need adoptive families because you're of the opinion that someone made a poor choice while having sex and that an abortion is not a severe enough punishment for them is ridiculous. It's indefensible really.
This is the real reason, the other bit, about it being a punishment, is just a distraction. The real reason is that this person feels that the unborn have rights, possibly from the moment of conception. I get why religious people think that (mystical souls and all), I don't get why Atheists think that. Why someone thinks a clump of cells has rights is baffling to me. You can back the reasoning up to before conception to see how absurd it gets.
"You two could have had sex and created a child, and that child needs to be protected, so get busy".
Actually scratch that, I'm in favor. I can think of some hypothetical children that deserve a chance at life.
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It's interesting how many "pro-life" people are only bothered about the part of life before it's alive. Once it's born, leave it to be resented by both parents as "punishment" for their "mistake", or send it through the foster system wondering why its biological parents didn't love it, it's all good. Create a human with major psychological trauma for the rest of its life to punish the people who created it, just so long as nobody aborts anything. And then when it becomes a school shooter, blame the screwed-up kid. Or videogames. Or the parents. And guns, natch.
Really, it should be "pro-birth".
Really, it should be "pro-birth".
- 1,971
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To his credit, he did adopt a child that was the result of an unwanted pregnancy (despite having several biological children of his own) so at least he backed up his views with an action that had a positive effect on a child's life. All I know is that the mother was a Hooter's girl and the father was locked up in the Pen. He also seems like he is a good dad to the kid.
Danoff
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- Mile High City
That just makes his position more inexplicable.
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Danoff
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- Mile High City
I get the part where he loves his adopted kid (presumably) and is (presumably) a good father. But he could have adopted another kid and loved that one. There are more kids that need homes than there are homes. I know firsthand, I've seen the kids that don't get adopted (granted not in the US), when I adopted my daughter and toured her orphanage (or is that second hand because I saw them and wasn't one of them?). There's not a lot of demand for an abandoned kid with down syndrome. Granted, there are people who will take those kids in and, well they're just maybe some of the most amazing people on Earth. Just imagine for a moment that every adopted kid could take one step forward because a set of parents who didn't want to have a kid were allowed to have an abortion. There'd be one more home for the kid on the end who doesn't need to be institutionalized for life.
It really assumes that the pregnancy was going to go well too. I wonder if your friend would back his position up if that pregnancy turned out to be a down syndrome kid, or threatened the mother. Or maybe he'd do an about face and say that the embryo needed to be protected but only if it was going to have a set of medical conditions that he considers to not be severe enough to render it too much of a punishment for unprotected sex.
Ok, I think I should get off the soapbox now.
- 1,971
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I wonder too, I don't really talk to him any more. He was actually a former co-worker, it should be mentioned that I am not the biggest fan of this individual because of the way he ended his tenure at my place of employment. Basically he tried to sabotage the company on the way out, started a competing company and tried to steal employees (which didn't work). I don't believe in burning bridges, if you want to leave then put in your notice and just leave, but some people are vindictive that way.
- 2,620
- Lincoln, NE
- huskeR_32
That's somewhat true, I suppose. I was hoping @ryzno had a better reason than that, though.
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That doesn't really explain anything. Why is it interesting that a man who has always professed to being a Christian would pray? Do you think he was lying every time he said that? If so, why?
Not sure what comment it warrants. He didn't pray, so what?
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Did he ever have anything to say about unwanted pregnancies that resulted from the failure of whatever birth control might have been used? Hard to describe that as the result of irresponsible behavior.
- 1,971
- Seattle, WA
No, we didn't delve that deeply into it, but it's a great point. This is very relevant, I have a friend that I've known since Kindergarten, I would describe him as agnostic, not that it matters. I remember standing at the airport, we both had just graduated and we were on our way to Mazatlan for a Senior Trip, he turned to me and says "my girlfriend is pregnant" I said wait, what? The part that came next I will never forget, he then tells me that it was Prom night, she was on the pill but he still decided to use a condom anyway for added protection, they weren't really promiscuous, so it was their first time or close to it. He is a very honest guy so I doubt he was being untruthful, but how does using both of those methods fail? I mean the pill has a 97% effective rating and the Condom is 99% I think (if used correctly). It sounds darn near impossible but who knows what really happened.
Long story short, she came from a catholic family, he married his girlfriend, I was the best man, they had the kid and eventually one more child. They are still happily married to this day, I would say they bucked the trend. I just saw his whole family this year (unfortunately it was at a funeral) and they are all doing great, the boys are all grown up.
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