yoink

To be fair I agree with him on this, in principle. Summarize what can be summarized.

Is it just me that thinks the 'Post New Message' screen is really poorly designed and could do with a functional update? The main point of that screen, the editing window where you actually write your post, only makes up about 1/16th of the total real estate. It's almost like it was supposed to be a 'quick reply' interface you see on some other forums. Why do I need a big chunk of the screen taken up with 'Recent Forum discussions' when I'm writing a new post, for example? Could we not make the window big enough that you can actually keep track of what you're writing? It doesn't even work well on mobile formats at the moment.

The book is by Bob Woodward, some of the stories in it are about John Dowd. OK OK! This is what I get for posting before having coffee. Moving on, I get that staffers think they're doing the best for the White House by limiting the presidents access to papers, but to me that's a real worry. If this is true, these are people I don't know who are effectively and unilaterally deciding policy. That's wrong - even if the policy itself is wrong.

No - I screwed up that post. Book by a reporter with access to insiders, one of whom stopped him from testifying.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bob-woodwards-new-book-reveals-a-nervous-breakdown-of-trumps-presidency/2018/09/04/b27a389e-ac60-11e8-a8d7-0f63ab8b1370_story.html?utm_term=.212c07818f98 Yet another 'tell all' book... But overall a pointless book - those who believe Trump's a nutcase will say 'well, yes. It's obvious', while those who are Trump fans will scream 'lies by someone bitter for being criticized!!' The idea that staffers are taking papers away from the president so he can't see or sign them is terrifying though.

It's not a lack of confidence in a reserve that people have. It's a lack of confidence in how a main will potentially deploy in an untested and continually changeable scenario - in the deployment system itself in a particular configuration. If a cutaway main would always clear a deploying reserve there would be many fewer people suggesting keeping it, but it seems to entangle frequently enough that it causes this debate. I've thought for a while that it's pretty much a 50/50. Do whatever comes to you and hope you get lucky, but of course we can't teach that. Prevention is FAR the best option.

Of course he did. But he's wrong. That's just lazy thinking. The internet doesn't cause obesity. If it did then you'd see the same obesity figures around the world (as the internet is available everywhere). It's illogical and bad science to suggest that. Poor parenting, poor diet, the easy availability of cheap food laced with sugars, the 'ready meal' microwaving culture of dinners - all these things have an impact in obesity. So do dozens of other factors. If you start believing someone (who with the greatest respect doesn't have any qualifications to state how the internet and obesity are linked) just because they're in a profession you respect then you're not doing yourself justice in analyzing a problem. Listen to a SF recruiter about the problems he faces, sure, or about how best to recruit people. Those are his areas of expertise, but listen to sociologists, nutritionists and doctors when it comes to healthcare and obesity rates in society.

I absolutely get the importance of having a support structure in maintaining a healthy mental profile. I'm simply saying that gun advocates seem to point out that gun violence a mental-health issue without ever seeming to go into detail about HOW that would be enacted, probably because they know how impossible it would be... Suggest the impossible and nothing will happen, which is exactly what they want. "Look! I'm helping by suggesting alternatives!" Pretty much the only possible way for it to be done would be: 1) For everyone who wanted to own a gun to have regular, mandatory mental health screenings (once a year maybe). 2) To have a database that is linked between those screening results and gun sales. 3) To prohibit private gun sales that don't reference the database with severe sentences. 4) To have some sort of 'social reporting system' in place where people can report others after a significant event who they think might be unsafe to hold a gun license which would then require a renewal of their mental health check. 5) To have a dedicated federal agency to keep track of all of this. and even all of this wouldn't necessarily stop all of the mass shootings and would never be accepted by people who believe in their rights to access to firearms. Mental health is an important factor in gun crimes, sure. But then so are the actual guns themselves...

Fair enough. I've edited the original post to comply more directly with the rules here. However, personally and not aimed at any one particular poster, I think that anyone (hypothetically) taking the proud position that David Duke is more left wing then them is probably unbelievably racist and is not in full command of their faculties. If Bill said that then I'd think the same of him, for example. However, the rules need changing IMO. Support (even indirect) of that type of position can be seen as tacit approval of it. The first amendment doesn't apply here. Somethings are beyond the pale and should always have a light shone on them.

Are you serious, Bill??! You’ll defend this guy’s right to deliberately troll this place, but when he says something that is abhorrent and is proud of it, then gets called on it, you take HIS side?? Politics is one thing, but I won’t sit quietly and tolerate people lauding racist scum. You shouldn’t either. No one should.

You are so far right that David Duke looks like a Democrat. Coming from you I view that as a compliment. Thank you! Holy shit. You just said that you see someone saying David Duke, a white supremacist, white nationalist politician, white separatist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, Holocaust denier, convicted felon, and former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan as further left than you is a compliment. HOLY. SHIT.

Still waiting for the explanation of this particular nonsense, Rush. How do sea walls designed to protect against climate change protect from the political bullshit that is climate change as you state?

Trump fanatics. Try convincing Rob that the Bible is a made-up, fictional book. You’ll have as much luck convincing Rush that Trump tells outright lies.

Because he made a horrible job of it. Most people (you know, people with some decency), tend to look at a mans life and try say something positive in a eulogy. It's just a nice thing to do. What's the point of bashing a dead man? That doesn't mean he didn't make mistakes, or that he would have made a good president. That you would use this as some kind of internet political point scoring says far more about you than anyone else in the thread.

I’m honestly curious, how do you think mental health problems might be identified and prevented across 600 million people before they become an issue?

True enough. But people with mental health issues aren't unique to the US. Every developed nation in the world has them. Depressed teenagers?? Jesus - that's probably 80% of all teenagers everywhere. What IS unique to the US is the prevalence of guns and the access people have to them, and that's why this problem is only seen in one first world country... So yeah, the sick people wanting to lash out won't go away but you have to admit, it would be much harder for them to murder a bunch of people if they didn't have access to items designed specifically for that purpose. As difficult as the gun control issue is to contemplate, it's a lot easier than to proactively prevent mental health issues.

Even IF you think something as detestable as this, simple, basic human decency and decorum should suggest to you that you don't actually say it to anyone; let alone tweet it to the world, let alone do it the day after the man's death. I give it a day before Ward denies she said it, says something about 'respecting McCain as a strong opponent' and has an underling fall on their sword.

Relax, There’s one in The Bonfire. Only contentious threads need to be in here and there’s only one person on the planet who might be enough of a dick to say something contentious about Senator McCain. I don’t think he posts here.

It's a video game event. Those things are more dangerous than cigarettes. No wonder people are getting shot there. Guns don’t kill people, video games do. #BanVideoGames!!

Jacksonville shooting at video gaming event https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45315970 Thoughts / prayers/ It's a tragedy / nothing can be done etc etc. Has anyone seen the new Matt Groening cartoon on Netflix? Thoughts? Oh, and should I have sushi or pizza for dinner tonight?

Maximum lunacy.

It would have to be a pretty fucking specific TV show to deal with the workings of paying off porn stars via dummy corporations and the legality of it in relation to campaign finance and a presidential election. I'm not sure I remember an episode of Sesame Street quite like that.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45285585 “Impeach me and the market crashes”, says Trump.

Sadly I think you're right. Even if Trump got caught red handed breaking the law and pissing on the Constitution, the Republican majority wouldn't vote to impeach him. Can we at least agree that that is REALLY bad news - putting party before country?

Firstly, no, I don't think it's Trump's final days. I just don't see him getting impeached. Second, I'm not convinced impeachment would be best for the country anyway. There would be riots from the armed masses who support him and think the investigation is a hatchet job, and his replacement is arguably worse. Mitigate his catastrophic impact for the rest of his term and hope the Dems pull something out of the bag is my hope.