Welcome to Thunderdome

ITT: a lot of mildly triggered old dudes that feel their actions don't matter and have no hope they will ever change the world. Sorry you all got broken so early.

I guess I still have hope and my will remains strong. Maybe the years ahead will reverse that.

Don't worry. There are plenty of kids to yell at for walking on your lawns.

Let's see how you feel in 18 years when you realized you only hurt yourself and your actions meant nothing.

You might see me as jaded. I see myself as experienced.

Cakedaddy wrote: Let's see how you feel in 18 years when you realized you only hurt yourself and your actions meant nothing.

I totally get it - it's just that at 34 I've yet to feel that powerless over ANYTHING and never felt that I couldn't help change or signal boost opinions I thought could push culture forward for the better.

But between Leisher on Domestic Violence, Gordon on Pollution, and you on EA, it's the same attitude. "Why try if I can't see the fruits of my labors immediately?"

Never-mind that Leisher has x number of girls, Gordon has a kid who scuba dives, and you have a gamer son. I just don't get the apathy.


Short term example: when I get really pissed at a brand I blow them up on Twitter, and damned if it doesn't seem to work nearly every-time.

I spoke a month ago ago about being mad at a Popeyes near me for being understaffed. Well damned if I didn't blow them up on Twitter for it and I drove by just last week to a big "HIRING" sign in their window. Felt good.

I blew up Delta Airlines when they dented a hard-case I use for spearfishing. Included a picture and broadcast it to the world. Damned if a $200 dollar check didn't arrive in the mail a few weeks later. Felt REALLY GOOD.

e: Only the NFL seem immune. I tried hard to throw the Lions some love and get those Refs removed but that juggernaut doesn't seem to give a shit about viewer opinions. Lion's fans even made billboards calling them out and I've heard no movement on that at all.

Troy wrote: But between Leisher on Domestic Violence

Your prism is warped and broken if you think I was advocating domestic violence. I've been in a physical altercation with someone who punched a woman in my presence. I've also talked more than one woman into exiting relationships where the guy hit them. I've also never in my life hit a woman.

The guy who yelled at a bunch of reporters wasn't advocating domestic violence. He was being a dick because they signed a guy with that past, who had paid the price the league deemed appropriate, yet the team still got tons of questions about it. That eruption was clearly pent up frustration due to said questions. I've said multiple times that he was a dick, I guess I should be calling for him to be executed to prove I don't support domestic violence?

I want to know more about the story. I know the target of his rant wasn't the woman wearing the DV bracelet. (And honestly, even if he saw the bracelet, should he have known what it meant by the color?) How often did that woman call and email him about this specific pitcher? Did she harass him? Seems likely for someone to vent in that matter.

And FYI, this is an entirely different situation than one I have railed on throughout my life. It happened when Tom Osbourne was coaching the Cornhuskers. Lawrence Phillips dragged his girlfriend by her hair down a flight of stairs and then rammed her face into a metal mailbox. Osbourne let Phillips play despite that lingering over his head. When asked if he would have let Phillips play if it had been his daughter, Osbourne said "yes". THAT is bullshit. That was defending DV. That was putting his own interests ahead of the law, the young woman, and even Phillips. Phillips needed punishment and education. He got neither and I think he's back in jail now. Or dead.

And I think that's where you are confused regarding my position. Huge difference between someone being a dick in the moment and venting versus a calculated defense of a heinous crime. I still believe simply suspending, fining, and educating the guy who ranted was far more appropriate than just firing him.

Again, who did that help? I guess making him spend some time with abused women, learning about their struggles, and then making him go talk to little league teams about not committing DV would have hurt society more?

I'm also still waiting for you to explain what the appropriate punishment should be for the pitcher who actually committed the violence. Should he never work again? I'm seriously interested in your answer here.

I'll tell you where I stand: He's clearly a piece of shit. He should go to jail. He should be forced to get educated on the damage he does/did. But let's say he's completely cleaned up his act and made all the amends the woman and society deem appropriate. I think he should then be allowed to work where his skills fit.

See, where you want to "scorch the Earth", I want to get people on the same page. You don't eliminate hate with hate. "Evil begets evil" and all that.

I'll fully admit it's a really fine line and my stance will paint me as a hypocrite from time to time, but there are no black and white lines in life. Everything is gray.

And don't worry, I won't be out there picketing to get you fired since you are clearly an ageist and were name calling all of us old guys. I'll also assume you didn't see Gordon's silver bracelet...

So much text.

There is an difference between saying that I wouldn’t want someone to play on a team that I supported vs. playing at all.

Would I be angry at the Panthers if they brought a football player in with that background? Yes - and I would let them know that. The Panthers have historically gone for high character players ever since Rae Carruth tarnished the brand so badly.

Do I think that player should never be hired by a team ever again after serving their suspension? No - but that doesn’t mean I want them on a team I cheer for and share values with. The Raiders exist, for example.

And you don't seem to understand my stance on the environment at all.

I wish you would turn your magic anger to something that matters. I'm glad you got Popeye's to hire peeps, though. That's just good chicken.

If you want to change the world, start by using your freaking turn signal.

Troy wrote: So much text.

I wanted to be very clear with my position since you apparently thought I wore a Ray Rice jersey every day. And, to be fair (toooo beeee faaaaiiiiirrrr), your previous post wasn't exactly bullet points.

And in all that text, I forgot one additional joke:

Troy wrote: I blew up Delta Airlines

I would rephrase that...

Back to the topic at hand, I hate that Big Ben has two rape allegations against him. The interwebs has gone out of their way to claim they were both credible, but the first lady had text messages on her phone proving no rape occurred and it was a cash grab. The second one was far more credible and seemed like a spoiled athlete who thinks he's King Shit of Fuck Mountain overreaching with a young woman. However, no charges were ever filed and that's what I have to lean on to support him as a player. It truly helps that he is a completely different person now.

I don't think our viewpoints on the offenders of things like rape and DV are different.

And yes, writing companies works very well. The Kroger near my home stocks Dark Chocolate Dove Bars because I wrote them. I'm currently trying to get them to stock Mateo's.

Vince wrote: If you want to change the world, start by using your freaking turn signal.

Absolutely not. So you can speed up and close off the open spot I was trying to merge into? Fuck that. I'm just going to merge into it.

I wish we could get billboards near construction areas illustrating the zipper merge.

I've been boycotting EA regardless of the fact that I'm not seeing any pay off. So, fuck you! Now, if I was just buying their games even though I hate them, then you'd have a point. My point is. . . eliminating straws helps the environment about as much as my boycott of EA hurts EA. I feel good about myself not supporting a really really shitty company. But I'm not under any illusion that I'm making a difference. You shouldn't kid yourself thinking that no plastic straws is making a difference. Or, that firing one inconsequential, expendable guy is making a difference for domestic violence. He's not even an offender. He was just an idiot that said "I told you so" to the wrong person.

GORDON wrote: I wish we could get billboards near construction areas illustrating the zipper merge.

And that the lane ends where, well, you know, where the lane ends. Not some imaginary area way before where the lane ends where people non-verbally agree that the lane ends because that's when they decided to get over and now they want everyone else to get over too.

Cakedaddy wrote:

GORDON wrote: I wish we could get billboards near construction areas illustrating the zipper merge.

And that the lane ends where, well, you know, where the lane ends. Not some imaginary area way before where the lane ends where people non-verbally agree that the lane ends because that's when they decided to get over and now they want everyone else to get over too.

There's one of those spots on my daily commute, and I have the nerve to zip by the long line of cars waaaaay before the lane is closed. I never have trouble merging in with my blinker on, but I do get honked at/swerved at, sometimes.

Cakedaddy wrote:

Vince wrote: If you want to change the world, start by using your freaking turn signal.

Absolutely not. So you can speed up and close off the open spot I was trying to merge into? Fuck that. I'm just going to merge into it.

You basically antifa.

I didn’t provide financial advice to someone cuz his reddit username is f3m1n15m15c4nc3r

Heh.

Obama speaks on cancel culture

"This idea of purity and you're never compromised and you're always politically 'woke' and all that stuff. You should get over that quickly. The world is messy, there are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws. People who you are fighting may love their kids. And share certain things with you."

Obama went on to note that he is bothered by a trend he sees "among young people particularly on college campuses" where "there is this sense that 'the way of me making change is to be as judgmental as possible about other people and that's enough.'" Added Obama: "That's not activism. That's not bringing about change. if all you're doing is casting stones, you're probably not going to get that far. That's easy to do."

Couldn't agree with him more.

Honestly, it's very cool that he, of all people, is speaking out against cancel culture.

I approve of that message.

He sued a bunch of nuns.