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MelodicAthlete


				

				

				

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MelodicAthlete


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2022 November 14 23:11:08 UTC
				


				
					

					
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 3, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Anyways, shoutouts to this whole debacle for rekindling my fear of women, and quenching my fear of missing out.




Meet women in real life, they're not crazy IRL like they are on reddit.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 5, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Correct.  Clinton clearly set up her server to evade FOIA and got kid gloves treatment from the FBI.  But she at least played along with the investigation a little bit and could feign some ignorance.  Trump was brazenly defiant and they literally have a recording of him breaking the law.  All he had to be was 10% less stupid but he couldn't pull that off.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 26, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


When the complainant is of the wrong color (white or yellow), the courts will interpret these requirements VERY strictly and the cases won't go anywhere.




I don't think this is the case after today.  Any lawsuit like this would get national attention and won't get quietly swept under the table.  I know progressive judges can go off the rails sometimes, but it's still considered a mark against you if your rulings get overturned by a higher court.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 5, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You're not going to see me defend Clinton's server, clearly it was wiped to preclude any further evidence gathering.  The FBI should have simply seized the server, not asked her politely to hand over hand-picked "relevant" emails and then allow her to erase it.  But she complied with that very lax standard.  Also her apparent motive (FOIA noncompliance, mixing government work with business) is worse than Trump's, which is purely his ego.


If Trump had complied by handing over the physical documents when asked, I doubt he would have been prosecuted.  His defiance and his stupidity are major factors here, he admits to committing a crime on tape, which makes it so easy to prove in court.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Israel-Gaza Megathread #2
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This is the point.  There is no way this becomes a major international story that dominates discourse if we knew what we know today about the location and size of the blast.  But the misinformation got out and we're dealing with the fallout.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Israel-Gaza Megathread #2
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
What makes you think "hospital workers" will be given the freedom to come up with an authoritative statement that is independent of Hamas' messaging on this?  Did Hamas allow 3rd party investigators in to survey the blast, collect shrapnel fragments, etc?  If this were an Israeli strike, isn't it in their interest to allow outsiders to investigate the site?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Israel-Gaza Megathread #3
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Saying that it's protected expression is correct in both cases.  This is different than celebrating the guy who ran over Heather Heyer, which is the equivalent of what many on the pro-Hamas side ("this is what decolonization looks like" sentiments) did the day after the 10/7 attacks. I'm sure you can find people who supported the Charlottesville driver, and I agree they shouldn't get jobs at big law firms and should be deplatformed from social media.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Israel-Gaza Megathread #2
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There is no way this event would have been front page news, knowing what we know now.  "Parking Lot bombed, 30 killed" doesn't have the same ring as "Hospital bombed, 500 killed".


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Israel-Gaza Megathread #2
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Hamas is either covering up evidence or they're missing a golden PR opportunity.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 26, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Admissions offices are ideological, I just don't think they're this suicidal.  I don't think this decision is some silver bullet, but any "tinkering" that Universities will do will make them targets for lawsuits.  Affirmative action will continue in some form, but it's going to be much more marginal as opposed to a heavy thumb on the scale.  There is only so much Universities can accomplish without explicitly using race as a criteria.


I'm pretty cynical, but many posters here are taking it too far.  If you're opposed to affirmative action, this is a good day not only for the decision but for the embarrassingly bad arguments put up by Harvard, UNC, and the dissenting justices.  It's also a wildly unpopular policy, so the public will back up the decision.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 26, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There is going to be a lot of legal scrutiny for any institution that tries to implement the old system by other means.  How does a University actually implement this policy without incriminating texts/emails?  A University can't have emails to their admissions officers that "being from a black community is hardship wink" or they'll be violating the Civil Rights of other applicants.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 26, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
That's true, but now it's unconstitutional and a violation of Civil Rights.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Israel-Gaza Megathread #2
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The big picture here is that Hamas claimed a hospital was bombed by Israel and 500-800 people were killed.  Mainstream outlets, including NYT, ran with that narrative.  A hospital was not bombed and I don't think there is a credible estimate on deaths.  The downstream effects of this misinformation included widespread anti-Israel demonstrations in the Middle East and cancelled meetings between Arab and Western countries.  The NYT faced a lot of backlash over this and isn't exactly a disinterested party.  Israel being responsible for the blast would help them save some face.


Let's say the NYT knew everything it knows now.  Would "parking lot bombed, 30 people killed" have caused this much ruckus.  Instead, ISRAEL BOMBS HOSPITAL is what is anchored in the minds of Middle Easterners.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 6, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Based on these notebooks, we're not looking at another Unabomber.  "Retarded Angry Kid" seems correct.  Extremist rhetoric sometimes trickles down to these types and has tragic results.  Various shootings have been done by Alt-Right Retarded Angry Kids in recent years.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Israel-Gaza Megathread #2
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Anyway, I'm sure if a Tamir had hit the hospital, Hamas would be parading the pieces through the streets by now.




This is really is the most important piece of evidence.  Within minutes of the blast, this was international news.  If it had been an Israeli missile, wouldn't Hamas be highly incentivized to allow Western investigators full access to the debris the next day?  Have they done anything like this?  If instead, they hastily scrubbed the area of any evidence, that points to them being responsible.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 26, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I know these institutions seem like hiveminds, but there has to be some level of actual coordination to pull off affirmative action as it has been practiced.  If Universities attempt an end run around the ruling, then the whole admissions process will be open to discovery and one email or whistleblower will blow the whole thing up.  I know Middlebury and Harvard PR teams have put out statements to this effect, but I think cooler heads will prevail.  University endowments are a big fat target for lawsuits and alumni donors won't appreciate it being ransacked for progressive brownie points. Universities won't be able to operate in the shadows knowing that they will need to meet a strict scrutiny standard for their admissions process.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 24, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yeah my comment was mostly alluding to this.  He has no influence over conservatism, but perhaps progressives who read the NYT might think he speaks for "the conscience" of conservatism.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 24, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This is like "other ways of knowing" for the wealthy.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 26, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Right, and with this decision there will be a lot of pressure for UC to become less enthusiastic about skirting the law because it just takes one admissions officer or dean of whatever to say the quiet part out loud in an email.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Israel-Gaza Megathread #3
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The mirror here would be mainstream conservatives saying that KKK/Neo-Nazi types are a negligible % of the right.  If you're a mainstream conservative, you find these people embarrassing and don't want to be associated with them.  It's psychologically easier to pretend they just don't exist rather than acknowledging that a troubling group that votes the same way you do.


A problem here is the disparate treatment in mainstream culture.  After Charlottesville, nobody on the right defended the tiki torch people.  Media falsely attributed the Fine People quote to Neo-Nazis in an effort to tie them into the broader political right.  Contrast that with rediscovered staunch free speech principles and special support groups set up for people literally celebrating terrorism and cheering on Hamas.  "Stupid college kids" are a very important group when it comes to mobilization, so in theory it should be easier to albatross the political left with their existence.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 26, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There will continue to be bias, but I think the difference now is that there is actual clarity in the law and monetary consequences for the losers.  Any kind of wink-nod policies are going to have to survive potential whistleblowers and legal discovery.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 14, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
For what it's worth, you're right on the nose with his career earnings in the NFL:
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/carolina-panthers/michael-oher-5484/cash-earnings/


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 23, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yes it does.  Unless you mean the following:
Jews are unsafe in Gaza.  But if Hamas were to take over Israel, they would change their behavior.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 26, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Doesn't this ruling mean that White/Asian applicants have a pretty good shot at suing and winning a discrimination lawsuit against a University implementing such a system?


A University needs to get the message to dozens of employees in the applications office but somehow not have any emails/text messages that could come up in discovery.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 5, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Two things can be true at once:


    

  1. 

    Democrats, Establishment media and the USG bureaucracy hate Trump.  They have put a lot of thin gruel in front of the public for 7 years, with 3 years of breathless Russiagate coverage and a sham impeachement over Ukraine.  Conservatives rightly became desensitized about the boy who cried wolf.
    

    2. 

  2. 

    Trump legitimately does reckless things in pursuit of his ego.
    

    3. 



As someone who resented the media/natsec agencies for (1), I really don't see how anyone can defend what Trump did with the documents scandal.  He is literally on tape talking about sensitive national security documents with a journalist while admitting it's not declassified.  As much as the establishment is after him, I think no former President would have gotten away with taking natsec related documents and then refusing to turn them over.