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  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    FoxRox wrote: »
    FoxRox wrote: »
    I agree with you we have a lot more freedom here than many other places and people do easily forget that. Maybe who did draw this is an entitled ingrate; I don't know. I don't read into this too far though and think of it in a lighter sense than you do. Part of being in this country is we can enjoy making light of politics and the system and that's all the pic does for me.

    It's just not in my nature to be light with things like this, as it's real and matters and because I love history I'm closer to it.

    Political cartoons can be funny and poke fun, but the message of the above seems to lack frivolousness and seems to say quite emphatically that our country is run by fascists and communists with little sense of lightness or joking. Until the president starts burning down newspaper builds, killing off his political competition and throwing dissenters into jail for saying something against him, I'll have to disagree. The nation of Stalin and Hitler this ain't.

    Political cartoons are often exaggerations; same thing here. Only a moron would really think our nation is as messed up as that. Obvious exaggeration so I didn't expect it to raise such offense. Oh well

    Again, I'm quite familiar with the concept of a political cartoon, considering I have a cartooning background. It just doesn't have the tonality or cleverness they sometimes too, and simply read as a manifesto graphic. You say that only morons believe the above, but I'm sure a decent amount of those who voted and supported Trump fall directly in line with his thoughts on the nation, of how the press is a giant oppressive conspiracy, that all mainstream news is fake news and that everyone in the government is collectively manipulating the strings against the common man without their control or say. His whole winning ticket was, "I'm different than the Washington scum," and that creates an us vs. them mentality where the citizenry view their government and everyone in it as the enemy is a crass generalization.

    You seem to think I was upset at you for posting it, but I wasn't and only would be if you believed it (to save you the trouble of replying, I don't think you do either). It read as a very serious message not at all in touch with something like a political cartoon was, and that kind of warped thinking is what leads to cop murders and massacres when one is manipulated into thinking things that aren't reality. Recent events perhaps set me off, but it does come back to the desire for people to snap out of these delusions if they truly hold weight in them. When you see so many people blindly accepting what's fed to them on a plate you just want them to take their own incentive for once and seek out what's the truth (though this does get difficult at times). But we live in a time of misinformation and overdramatics or exaggerations (Trump is the worst thing ever, our country will never heal, Washington wants to kill us, etc) so it's not always so easy.
  • edited August 2017 Posts: 1,469
    I'm another who thinks what's been going on here is a huge overreaction (Nazis around every corner and under your bed). Part of me thinks this will fade, but another part worries a bit, are people becoming too soft, drifting too far left? I suspect part of it might result from the alleged Russian collusion not proving itself out yet, when people had hopes pinned on that getting Trump out of office, and so they're grasping for straws with the white hate speech thing, any way to show their opposition. And I don't think there's been a full acceptance yet of the Democratic loss in the election nearly a year ago. Yes, Trump has been very reactionary, but actually I'm amazed things have gone this well with him in office so far. I think the main opportunity for many Americans is to stop worshiping a president (like Dem's seemed to do with Obama) and focus on their own individual power, potential and usefulness--and Trump is certainly giving them that opportunity. On the flip side from admiring a president is that you also don't have to put a president down to take back and use your own power either. I also think the focus on "white rights" right now is a semi-natural pendulum swing from what was a greater focus on people of color and "we are the world" themes during the Obama years. The pendulum just needs to find its natural balance point.
  • Mendes4LyfeMendes4Lyfe The long road ahead
    Posts: 8,395
    Thrasos wrote: »
    I'm another who thinks what's been going on here is a huge overreaction (Nazis around every corner and under your bed). Part of me thinks this will fade, but another part worries a bit, are people becoming too soft, drifting too far left? I suspect part of it might result from the alleged Russian collusion not proving itself out yet, when people had hopes pinned on that getting Trump out of office, and so they're grasping for straws with the white hate speech thing, any way to show their opposition. And I don't think there's been a full acceptance yet of the Democratic loss in the election nearly a year ago. Yes, Trump has been very reactionary, but actually I'm amazed things have gone this well with him in office so far. I think the main opportunity for many Americans is to stop worshiping a president (like Dem's seemed to do with Obama) and focus on their own individual power, potential and usefulness--and Trump is certainly giving them that opportunity. On the flip side from admiring a president is that you also don't have to put a president down to take back and use your own power either. I also think the focus on "white rights" right now is a semi-natural pendulum swing from what was a greater focus on people of color and "we are the world" themes during the Obama years. The pendulum just needs to find its natural balance point.

    Very true.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Thrasos wrote: »
    I'm another who thinks what's been going on here is a huge overreaction (Nazis around every corner and under your bed). Part of me thinks this will fade, but another part worries a bit, are people becoming too soft, drifting too far left? I suspect part of it might result from the alleged Russian collusion not proving itself out yet, when people had hopes pinned on that getting Trump out of office, and so they're grasping for straws with the white hate speech thing, any way to show their opposition. And I don't think there's been a full acceptance yet of the Democratic loss in the election nearly a year ago. Yes, Trump has been very reactionary, but actually I'm amazed things have gone this well with him in office so far. I think the main opportunity for many Americans is to stop worshiping a president (like Dem's seemed to do with Obama) and focus on their own individual power, potential and usefulness--and Trump is certainly giving them that opportunity. On the flip side from admiring a president is that you also don't have to put a president down to take back and use your own power either. I also think the focus on "white rights" right now is a semi-natural pendulum swing from what was a greater focus on people of color and "we are the world" themes during the Obama years. The pendulum just needs to find its natural balance point.

    A lot of truth there, @Thrasos. I don't like Trump at all, but he is very much open season no matter what he does and I'm honest about the fact that I've read many stories taking him to task that made me roll my eyes by how lazily he was being attacked.

    I read a New York Times blip that criticized his behavior when, as an Irish journalist was near him in the oval office, he was on the phone with a head of Irish government and asked him if his press was nice to him while complementing the girl on her nice smile. The writer took that as a sign that, in complimenting the woman on her appearance, Trump didn't think women had any place in jobs as serious partners or didn't respect them beyond their looks.

    My main argument here is that the media doesn't need to target Trump for innocuous and trivial things like the above. If you give him a day he'll say or tweet something for you to write about, no problem. It's stuff like that that has led to the backlash towards media outlets and given to the rise of alternative news sources that don't stoop to such levels.
  • Posts: 1,469
    Well said @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7. It's what many Republicans wanted--someone from outside Washington--and they got him! And while many Dems are "outraged", I saw a new SurveyMonkey poll showing many Republicans support Trump's view of the violence in Charlottesville ("many sides were responsible").
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    1epplw.jpg
    Indy finds it easy to criticise Nazis ....... Trump finds it a little harder. ;-)
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Thrasos wrote: »
    Well said @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7. It's what many Republicans wanted--someone from outside Washington--and they got him! And while many Dems are "outraged", I saw a new SurveyMonkey poll showing many Republicans support Trump's view of the violence in Charlottesville ("many sides were responsible").

    @Thrasos, I could see what Trump was trying to say there, but his lack of fine speech in the league of a Lincoln or Kennedy really did him in because his vocabulary and speech patterns lock him into forming very rudimentary sentences lacking the nuance and clarity that would save him a lot of trouble with the media. As he is now, he's too easy to ridicule and take to task because of his problems with verbal expression. I can't imagine him having any hope of delivering any speeches of acclaim to the levels of "What you can do for your country" or "Yes we can," and that will hurt him immensely.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    These guys rarely write their own speeches.
  • Posts: 7,653
    These guys rarely write their own speeches.

    Trump has not yet had a speechwriter that could make him say coherent things at all. Even his twitter account does not serve him any better.

    I would say that Trumps only interest in America must be his own company's interest otherwise he cannot be bothered. And like any Republican he seems to consider women a second-rate creature. His views on women are somewhat insulting.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    SaintMark wrote: »
    These guys rarely write their own speeches.

    Trump has not yet had a speechwriter that could make him say coherent things at all. Even his twitter account does not serve him any better.

    I would say that Trumps only interest in America must be his own company's interest otherwise he cannot be bothered. And like any Republican he seems to consider women a second-rate creature. His views on women are somewhat insulting.

    If that were true, @SaintMark, he's done a rubbish job of it, with many of his interests falling apart or being abandoned by his past associates. My uncle worked under one part of Trump's "empire" from New York for years and shortly after the man's presidency began his reputation poisoned things so much that the business fell apart and his employees fled like workers from a collapsing mine.

    Trump puts up that he's never been so successful (the move of an egotist), but his ignorance and foolishness on such a grand scale is killing any brand he had left. Can't say I have sympathy, though.
  • edited August 2017 Posts: 1,469
    I think there are pluses to being a highly reactionary president, which is how I see him--a person like that can react quickly and decisively to various events. But that can also be a big weakness, and it seems to me that a lot of presidents, especially admirable ones, have evinced a broader view of things and operated on a much more even keel. Luckily, he has former Marine general John Kelly as his chief of staff, and you would think Kelly's experience would help anchor Trump somewhat, but with Trump's formidable ego, that can be questionable. As always I come back to the saying "it is the way it is", and the country continues to take it a day at a time.
    I can't imagine him having any hope of delivering any speeches of acclaim to the levels of "What you can do for your country" or "Yes we can," and that will hurt him immensely.
    I totally agree! You may know he's supposed to speak to the nation Monday night about his plans for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, so while that probably won't give him a chance to make a memorable speech, I'll still be interested to hear what he says and how he says it. I also wonder if he'll address the current tenor in the country, white rights protests and counter-protests. @Thunderpussy --Indy's the man! (after Bond, right?)
  • Posts: 12,466
    What the heck happened to the site?!?
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,968
    FoxRox wrote: »
    What the heck happened to the site?!?

    THINK ON YOUR SINS.
  • PropertyOfALadyPropertyOfALady Colders Federation CEO
    Posts: 3,675
    I don't know!
  • Posts: 12,466
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    FoxRox wrote: »
    What the heck happened to the site?!?

    THINK ON YOUR SINS.

    No, Mr. Silva!!! What did I do?!? Was it not ranking SF first?!?
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    Under attack from a former member, then? ;)
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,968
    It was a psychological experiment to see if you lot could last 24 hours without me.
  • PropertyOfALadyPropertyOfALady Colders Federation CEO
    Posts: 3,675
    My immediate thought upon seeing the homepage:



    :D
  • Posts: 12,466
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    It was a psychological experiment to see if you lot could last 24 hours without me.

    Do I get a cookie?
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    My immediate thought upon seeing the homepage:



    :D

    "The uploader has not made this video available in your country."

    Ha! :D
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    edited August 2017 Posts: 40,968
    @FoxRox, here you go!

    giphy.webp
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    From what I understand the version of Vanilla software this place runs on was 2.3, and this month a version 2.3.1 came out that fixed some issues, so perhaps what happened was an update period that took the site out of commission for a while? Hard to say. We've had these issues in the past, but I don't think the forum has ever been down for so long at a time.
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    I don't know about you people, but I'm going to retreat into my childhood home, fill it with deadly traps and buy a shotgun.
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,092
    Anyone else having issues with profile page? On my profile page it says I am signed out and can't edit my profile...
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Anyone else having issues with profile page? On my profile page it says I am signed out and can't edit my profile...

    I good, @Fire_and_Ice_Returns. Perhaps try logging out from the list below the big "MI6" logo on the front page at the top left, and trying logging in again to see if it works then?
  • 007Blofeld007Blofeld In the freedom of the West.
    Posts: 3,126
    I'm glad the mi6 community is back up and running I tried logging in and for some reason a weird message came up and said error and site crash I was a bit worried cause I couldn't get on now looks like things are back normal I wonder what happened anyone know?
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,092
    Anyone else having issues with profile page? On my profile page it says I am signed out and can't edit my profile...

    I good, @Fire_and_Ice_Returns. Perhaps try logging out from the list below the big "MI6" logo on the front page at the top left, and trying logging in again to see if it works then?

    Thanks just tried that and logged back in and having same issue, logged out on profile page and when I click on home page I am logged in and can access topics as normal.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    I'm just glad the threads and everything is safe. I was worried this would be another KTBEU situation where all the content was lost! Very reassured this night.
  • edited August 2017 Posts: 684
    I'm just glad the threads and everything is safe. I was worried this would be another KTBEU situation where all the content was lost! Very reassured this night.
    I was hoping the party hadn't ended! Being that I've more or less only just arrived. ;)

    Glad we're back.
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,092
    I wiped my browsing data and cleared cache, logged in again and the issue is resolved... very odd
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