About Political Discussions

[Gene Steinberg]

That's a good example. Of course "payola" has always existed, but I feel like there has been an extreme increase in this type of thing over the last ten years. Every time I visit a site like Gawker, Mashable, Lifehacker, Cnet, PCMag, et al. it seems to have become more blatant.

Best examples of 2013 here: The Best Sponsored Content Of 2013 | The Content Strategist

At least Huffpo is being up-front about it: HuffPost Partner Studio

I used Hannity and Maddow as examples of poor ethics because I heard they were the most extreme. I don't watch television "news", so I've only seen a few clips of them. Maddow works for the giant military contractors Microsoft and General Electric, so that's who she serves. I don't know which bank owns Fox.

All of us must grow more sophisticated at detecting bias in the "news". My kids are actually better at it than I am.

Actually MSNBC is owned by a large cable company, Comcast. Fox News is owned by News Corp.

And you can't judge the content of Hannity and Maddow by clips, which may be taken out of context.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Well, as long as my account is still active, I'll take a stab at it.
You like to point to so called fact checkers, as if they are unbiased scorekeepers with no ax to grind. I disagree. One can find fact checkers to support any side of an argument. If you could point me to a fact checker checker, I'll have a look. Until then, I'll check my own facts.

Next, you are correct about the commies being few. They are however, over represented in this forum. That is not a complaint. I welcome their presence, and the opportunity to debate them. I was simply pointing out your inconsistency in the way you moderate political discourse. As far as the anarchists being "right wing", what are you implying?
Are you trying to imply that the anarchists are in the same camp as, say, the Tea Party grandmas? Absurd.

Finally, is there a "war on Christmas"? Well, I don't know. First off, the whole "war on ..." is way overplayed. I think you might have made some assumptions about my culture that are incorrect. We don't celebrate Christmas at my house, and to be honest, the whole season is a royal pain in the butt. What I can tell you is that the majority of people that I work with are Christians, and they feel an uneasiness about the way the language of Christmas has changed. I reside in Minnesota, so those are all Democrats. If your fear is that the Republicans are going to win their votes by fabricating a "war on Christmas", you need not get your tidy whities in a twist. They'll put their beloved Democrat party above Jesus every time.

I don't know of any communists in this forum. They haven't identified themselves. Care to name one?

 

[pduchesne]

PD whats a commie ?, i mean your idea of a communist, what kind of post here comes under, a commies post, im interested, and not just picking, this is where your culture is a lot different than mine, here no-one gives a shit whether you go to church or not, or which church it is, religion, or politics NEVER come up, not in my everyday life ever, only on the internet do they enter my world.

and whats all the fear about, is a communist going to eat your kids or what, is laballing someone a commie the ultimate middle class insult, what gives ?

No fear. I recognize that we are dealing with online persona which bear little resemblance to the actual human being behind the keyboard. I would bet that if the members of this forum got together at a pub, they would stand around looking at their feet. I would exempt you from this group, and a few others, but by and large, I'd bet on it. I was referring to the Marxist sentiment which is prevalent on this forum. I was taking issue with Gene's intolerance of opinions that denigrate the Democrat party, while being exceedingly tolerant of ideologies which are even more discredited than the Republican point of view, like Marxism. Truthfully, I don't think that most people spouting commie propaganda even realize they're doing it. It's insidious that way.
Sorry for the rushed reply, gotta get back to the grindstone.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

False premise. I am not intolerant of opinions that denigrate the "Democrat" party. It's actually the Democratic Party by the way. I am intolerant of seeing people repeat lies over and over again even when the falsehoods are exposed over and over again. Facts do not have a political bias.

The Paracast is a show that, unlike most paranormal programs, actually takes a stab at exposing falsehoods and revealing truth.

 

[pduchesne]

I don't know of any communists in this forum. They haven't identified themselves. Care to name one?

flipper. Sorry flip, you seem like a genuinely good person, but your comments and ideology are decidedly Marxist. Keep in mind that commie is shorthand for Marxist, I do know the difference. If that bothers you I'll change my vernacular to suit your comfort level. It is not my intention to offend.

 

[manxman]

it would seem to be more important to you yanks to 'box' and label people, why cant flippers idea's be his OWN, why the urge to box him, this is the thing with yank and brit culture, the need to 'identify', to be apart of, box the rest of the people who do not belong in your gang, and then attack them.


................

lipper. Sorry flip, you seem like a genuinely good person, but your comments and ideology are decidedly Marxist. Keep in mind that commie is shorthand for Marxist, I do know the difference. If that bothers you I'll change my vernacular to suit your comfort level.

.................

you are not sorry, you are infact just being a 2 faced twat, and I do know the difference. If that bothers you I'll change my vernacular to suit your comfort level.
,.

..................
It is not my intention to offend.

it is your intention to offend, whereas i called you a twat as an example [more blatantly obvious example], so as to demonstrate how meaningless the bolded sentence is, you used it to deliver an ad-hom , like i say, sarcasm to offend, your 'comfort level' being the kicker.




its my opinion that this place is for the believers, non believers, and the curious in the paranormal, i couldnt give a rats arse whether flipper thinks he is the viceroy of pluto, or joseph stalin, i dont care, his shared interest in the paranormal, is all that matters, so fuck politics and climate change debates right outta the window, and let people just be themselves..

 

[Charlie Prime]

Actually MSNBC is owned by a large cable company, Comcast. Fox News is owned by News Corp.

Ha! I'm always years behind on these things.

Which multinational banks own which media corporations is an every-changing animal. I can't keep up.

Currently, MSNBC and Fox are owned by:

CMCSA Major Holders | Comcast Corporation Stock - Yahoo! Finance

FOX Major Holders | Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. Stock - Yahoo! Finance

 

[pduchesne]

I'm not a Hillary supporter. But Benghazi revealed genuine problems with security of diplomatic installations. The investigators pointed out over two dozen failures, and that's the story. The story was not the talking points, the phony claim of real-time video, the phony claim that the U.S. refused to send help, etc. etc.

One reason that the real problems aren't being mentioned by Hillary's opponents is because it will reveal another problem, which is that the Republican-controlled House wouldn't approve higher funding for security of diplomatic installations. That opens up a huge can of worms.

Hillary misled people. The republicans will take advantage of that. The democrats would do the same thing if the situation was reversed. That's how it works. Neither party gives a rat's backside about truth and what's best for the American people.

 

[pduchesne]

it would seem to be more important to you yanks to 'box' and label people, why cant flippers idea's be his OWN, why the urge to box him, this is the thing with yank and brit culture, the need to 'identify', to be apart of, box the rest of the people who do not belong in your gang, and then attack them.


................

lipper. Sorry flip, you seem like a genuinely good person, but your comments and ideology are decidedly Marxist. Keep in mind that commie is shorthand for Marxist, I do know the difference. If that bothers you I'll change my vernacular to suit your comfort level.

.................

you are not sorry, you are infact just being a 2 faced twat, and I do know the difference. If that bothers you I'll change my vernacular to suit your comfort level.
,.

..................
It is not my intention to offend.

it is your intention to offend, whereas i called you a twat as an example [more blatantly obvious example], so as to demonstrate how meaningless the bolded sentence is, you used it to deliver an ad-hom , like i say, sarcasm to offend, your 'comfort level' being the kicker.




its my opinion that this place is for the believers, non believers, and the curious in the paranormal, i couldnt give a rats arse whether flipper thinks he is the viceroy of pluto, or joseph stalin, i dont care, his shared interest in the paranormal, is all that matters, so fuck politics and climate change debates right outta the window, and let people just be themselves..

Don't get your knickers in a knot.
Flippers ideas are mostly not his own. Neither are yours or mine. Part of the human delusion is thinking we're special. We are not.

 

[manxman]

i must admit, that was a disappointing reply, now the proof of a pudding is in the eating, lets see now i have ruffled your feathers, whether you can keep this thread and our interaction/s in it, seperate, the next time a thread topic comes up that we are both interested in, because thats what happens, the fall-out spills over into what the forum is advertised as.

theres nothing paranormal about american politics or global warming/climate change, half the people here are from all around the world.
and i know we dont have to read if we are not interested, but these threads draw posters away from the core business of the forum, i dont see anything about lively american political debates on the home page do you.

you obviously get my point about flippers political leaning, having zip to do with his interest in the paranormal.

just as your political leaning means nothing to me, but your opinion and input in the other fora is as important to me as anyone else's, it was you lot that dragged me in here, i only stay because its interesting, but it could be more interesting, with everyones full focus, are you with me..

 

[pduchesne]

i must admit, that was a disappointing reply, now the proof of a pudding is in the eating, lets see now i have ruffled your feathers, whether you can keep this thread and our interaction/s in it, seperate, the next time a thread topic comes up that we are both interested in, because thats what happens, the fall-out spills over into what the forum is advertised as.

theres nothing paranormal about american politics or global warming/climate change, half the people here are from all around the world.
and i know we dont have to read if we are not interested, but these threads draw posters away from the core business of the forum, i dont see anything about lively american political debates on the home page do you.

you obviously get my point about flippers political leaning, having zip to do with his interest in the paranormal.

just as your political leaning means nothing to me, but your opinion and input in the other fora is as important to me as anyone else's, it was you lot that dragged me in here, i only stay because its interesting, but it could be more interesting, with everyones full focus, are you with me..

Sorry to disappoint. You didn't seem to be in the mood for conversation, and I'm typing this on a tablet, so my motivation was low. Technically, I was responding to Gene, and when The Man asks you a question, you gotta answer. He posed a direct question, so he's going to get a direct answer.
Your bluster doesn't offend me, and has the familiar tone of many family reunions. I'll carry no resentment to other threads.

 

[manxman]

thats the test only you will know the honest answer to in time, because you do carry-over your resentments from other threads, that waste of space climate thread, and the constant edge between you and burnt state carries over, would you have him on ignore if it wasnt for that waste of space thread, as for making it sound as a reunion, well i dont see distant strangers, such as yanks brits canuks, democrat marxist or anything else, just people, as far as im concerned we could be sat together chewing on a joint or 2, metaphorically speaking.

 

[pduchesne]

BS is on ignore because he was trying to get me banned. It's more of a self discipline thing.

 

[manxman]

did you delibrately miss the point, would you and he be at this juncture, if it wasnt for the climate thread, theres a reason most, nearly all sceptic sites do not allow climate or political threads, they know it will splinter them.

 

[Christopher O'Brien]

Actually MSNBC is owned by a large cable company, Comcast. Fox News is owned by News Corp.

I sure wish the Paracast would be bought out by some big conglomerate so Gene and I could pimp "the man's" POV and drink the corporate company-line kool-aid. At least we'd be getting paid to point out some of the lunacy in the field

 

[pduchesne]

did you delibrately miss the point, would you and he be at this juncture, if it wasnt for the climate thread, theres a reason most, nearly all sceptic sites do not allow climate or political threads, they know it will splinter them.

Not deliberately, just missed. I do agree with you, though I can't back down from a challenge. It's a character flaw that has served me well in real life, but cyber life, not as much.

 

[flipper]

I would like to thank both Gene and Don for being extremely tolerant of what I have posted. I would like to thank Gene for allowing me to post on the Paracast form. If Gene decides to ban me for what ever reason he chooses it will be a great loss to me. Gene has already provided a great service to me so I would have no complaints.

Thanks Again Gene
Flipper

 

[Burnt State]

BS is on ignore because he was trying to get me banned. It's more of a self discipline thing.

Good gracious, you should not give in to these feelings of self-persecution. i am not interested in seeing anyone banned from any space. If anything, the exact opposite. I prefer for people to let it all hang out and tell it like they see it. That way it's easier to see where everyone is coming from.

Regarding labels and boxes. I think that Manxman is accurate on this one - we really should avoid the labelling. i know it might make it easier to place people into those boxes so that they can be found on a spectrum of beliefs and positioned accordingly with regards to ourselves. Personally, i can understand that, and why we need to point out our likes and dislikes based on political spectrum vocabulary. But i think that on this forum, if you're in it for a longer haul, if might be more worthwhile to recognize that different individuals hold unique values - it's as simple as that.

While much of this life is social programming - agreed, pduchesne, i still like to think that human beings have two or three unique capacities: to be underestimated, to transform themselves, and to learn from the things that happened to them in this life, who then in turn, measure themselves by the nature of their own response.

 

[boomerang]

Sometimes we debate here with the aim of reducing a problem or issue to its most fundamental aspects. That can (stress the word can) be a good thing. And being human, we sometimes play out Monty Python's pointless "I would like to buy an argument" scenario. It would be nice a if few UFOs would buzz the White House again to pull us out of this all too frequent political funk !

 

[Han]

The way I see it is that the internet is like the "wild west", and the town of Paracast should require all those who enter to hand over their "politics" before entry and collect them when they leave town.
I try to avoid political discussions especially on t'internet, I find them tedious: because they echo the same things people have complained about since complaining started, each "parrot" thinking they are original and righteous.

In short I propose 2 solutions, either #1 a new sub-forum called something like "politics anything goes" where in a way similar to the conspiracies forum, you would expect to find "challenging" content. Or #2 Political discussion is limited to discussions where it concerns the "paranormal" i.e. the president met the "greys" for lunch, or who would the loch Ness monster vote for?

Personally I think it is very easy to find "political" forums or places to debate politics, where all the users who visit are expecting such discussion, and are willing to participate, even if its just to read.
I don't see why Gene should provide a Public political swimming pool, especially as the users have a tendency to befoul it.