Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo — Page 489

Warbler said:

Jeebus said:

Moving over to this thread just in case.

Warbler said:

ChainsawAsh said:

Warbler said:

Seriously, I am growing very concerned about the improvements in computers and computer intelligence. It is not out of the realm of possibility that computers will able to replace every human at every job. Imagine what it will do to the economy if humans are no long employable? What if computers do take over. I’m serious.

Universal basic income. It’s going to happen. It should happen way sooner than it’s going to though, and it’s going to carry a sigma similar to welfare for far too long after it’s implemented, too.

communism?

No, not at all. And frankly, this kind of misunderstanding frustrates me because it happens too often. Not every social program is Communism—universal healthcare isn’t Communism, free college isn’t Communism, universal basic income isn’t Communism. They may or may not be good ideas, but I wish people would argue about that rather than throwing out “sounds like Communism to me!” However, I trust that you were genuinely asking, and not just throwing the word out as a “gotcha,” so I’m going to respond.

Universal basic income, if it were implemented, would serve only as a safety net. It would be a way for the Government to say “here is a bit of money so that you can meet the basic standards of living; you’ll have food and water, and you’ll have shelter, now go do with your life what you will.” This is in no way the complete abolition of private property that Communism is. Private property still exists, and capitalism is still very much in place.

We would need more than just a safety. We are talking about going to a society where computers and robots have taken over every job and made humans obsolete and unemployable. That video linked to in the Random thoughts thread showed that computers and robots are eventually going to take over for doctors. No occupation is safe.

Which is why I see universal basic income as an inevitability and a stepping stone to a post-scarcity society.

yhwx said:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/us/politics/john-kelly-son-trump.html

WASHINGTON — John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, delivered a searing, personal defense of President Trump’s phone call this week to the widow of a slain Army soldier, describing on Thursday the trauma of learning about his own son’s death in Afghanistan and calling the criticism of Mr. Trump’s condolences unfair.

In a public relations mission that was part emotional catharsis and part political attack, Mr. Kelly lashed out at Representative Frederica S. Wilson, Democrat of Florida, for publicizing the call between Mr. Trump and Myeshia Johnson, whose husband, Sgt. La David T. Johnson, was one of four American soldiers killed in an Oct. 4 ambush in Niger.

Mr. Kelly accused Ms. Wilson — who was in a car with Ms. Johnson when Mr. Trump called and is a longtime family friend — of being a publicity-seeking opportunist. He said that the congresswoman’s willingness to breach the confidentiality of Mr. Trump’s words is evidence of a broader decline in the values of an American society that no longer treats women, religion, “life” or Gold Star families as sacred.

“It stuns me that a member of Congress would have listened in on that conversation — absolutely stuns me,” Mr. Kelly said during a somber, 18-minute appearance in the White House briefing room. He said that he was so upset by Ms. Wilson’s appearances on TV news shows that he had to collect his thoughts by walking through the graves at Arlington National Cemetery for more than an hour.

He also displayed scorn for a society that he said does not appreciate the sacrifice of those in the military. “Most of you as Americans don’t know them,” he said, bemoaning that “there’s nothing in our country anymore that seems to suggest that selfless service to the nation is not only appropriate but required.”

A retired Marine general whose son Second Lt. Robert Kelly was slain in battle in 2010, Mr. Kelly has long guarded his personal story of loss even as he served as a high-profile public official. He broke that silence in dramatic fashion on Thursday, offering — from his personal and professional experience — a detailed, even excruciating description of what happens to the remains of those killed in combat, and how the grieving families back home are notified.

“Their buddies wrap them up in whatever passes as a shroud,” Mr. Kelly told an unusually hushed room filled with reporters. “They’re packed in ice, typically at the air head, and then they’re flown to — usually Europe, where they’re then packed in ice again and flown to Dover Air Force Base, where Dover takes care of the remains, embalms them, meticulously dresses them in their uniform with the medals that they’ve earned, the emblems of their service.”

He testified to the deep pain that parents feel when they get an early-morning knock on the door from an official to tell them that their son or daughter has been killed in action. “The casualty officer proceeds to break the heart of a family member,” Mr. Kelly said, his eyes reddening as he spoke.

This is fucking insane. Projection (for his boss) of the highest order. I couldn’t even finish reading it.

TV’s Frink said:

yhwx said:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/us/politics/john-kelly-son-trump.html

WASHINGTON — John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, delivered a searing, personal defense of President Trump’s phone call this week to the widow of a slain Army soldier, describing on Thursday the trauma of learning about his own son’s death in Afghanistan and calling the criticism of Mr. Trump’s condolences unfair.

In a public relations mission that was part emotional catharsis and part political attack, Mr. Kelly lashed out at Representative Frederica S. Wilson, Democrat of Florida, for publicizing the call between Mr. Trump and Myeshia Johnson, whose husband, Sgt. La David T. Johnson, was one of four American soldiers killed in an Oct. 4 ambush in Niger.

Mr. Kelly accused Ms. Wilson — who was in a car with Ms. Johnson when Mr. Trump called and is a longtime family friend — of being a publicity-seeking opportunist. He said that the congresswoman’s willingness to breach the confidentiality of Mr. Trump’s words is evidence of a broader decline in the values of an American society that no longer treats women, religion, “life” or Gold Star families as sacred.

“It stuns me that a member of Congress would have listened in on that conversation — absolutely stuns me,” Mr. Kelly said during a somber, 18-minute appearance in the White House briefing room. He said that he was so upset by Ms. Wilson’s appearances on TV news shows that he had to collect his thoughts by walking through the graves at Arlington National Cemetery for more than an hour.

He also displayed scorn for a society that he said does not appreciate the sacrifice of those in the military. “Most of you as Americans don’t know them,” he said, bemoaning that “there’s nothing in our country anymore that seems to suggest that selfless service to the nation is not only appropriate but required.”

A retired Marine general whose son Second Lt. Robert Kelly was slain in battle in 2010, Mr. Kelly has long guarded his personal story of loss even as he served as a high-profile public official. He broke that silence in dramatic fashion on Thursday, offering — from his personal and professional experience — a detailed, even excruciating description of what happens to the remains of those killed in combat, and how the grieving families back home are notified.

“Their buddies wrap them up in whatever passes as a shroud,” Mr. Kelly told an unusually hushed room filled with reporters. “They’re packed in ice, typically at the air head, and then they’re flown to — usually Europe, where they’re then packed in ice again and flown to Dover Air Force Base, where Dover takes care of the remains, embalms them, meticulously dresses them in their uniform with the medals that they’ve earned, the emblems of their service.”

He testified to the deep pain that parents feel when they get an early-morning knock on the door from an official to tell them that their son or daughter has been killed in action. “The casualty officer proceeds to break the heart of a family member,” Mr. Kelly said, his eyes reddening as he spoke.

This is fucking insane. Projection (for his boss) of the highest order. I couldn’t even finish reading it.

I didn’t read this article, but did hear the audio of his statement. After much fuming, I finally reached the opinion that this is yet another example of Trump being unfit for his job. A good leader would not just parrot everything he is told, and a good human would know how to not make consoling a widow all about themselves.

Seriously, Trump’s big take away was, “wow, Obama didn’t do this I can totally be better than him if I do this”, and not “sometimes it is better not to say something”. Trump is the one who turned this whole thing into political manuvering. What a f###ing moron.

To be clear, I’m saying that everything Kelly said applied not to his target, but rather to his boss.

i have now read the part you quoted, and i agree with you.

i still mean what i said above, but i now realize i was talking about a different part of what Kelly said (he was also explaining why Trump made the exact comments he did: http://www.npr.org/2017/10/19/558836022/watch-kelly-denounces-congresswomans-public-account-of-trump-s-call-with-widow)

Kelly then said he told Trump what his friend Gen. Joseph Dunford, now the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told him when notifying Kelly that his son had been killed in action.

"[Dunford] said, ‘Kell, He was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. He knew what he was getting into by joining, that 1 percent. He knew what the possibilities were because we’re at war. And when he died’ — in the four cases we’re talking about Niger, in my son’s case in Afghanistan – ‘when he died he was surrounded by the best men on this earth, his friends,’ " Kelly explained. “That’s what the president tried to say to four families the other day.”

perhaps in the future i should not jump to conclusions and read things? … nah

It is very depressing that we are still dealing with this shit so many years after MLK.

yhwx said:

I don’t really find it that depressing anymore.

You should. Why don’t you find it that depressing?

moviefreakedmind said:

I think being depressed kind of reveals our ignorance on the subject, because these fuckers have always been around. They didn’t crawl out from the depths of the earth last week and then commit this crime. It’s just that we’re seeing them more active these days.

Yes, I know they have always been around, I just find it depressing that we are still dealing with this in 2017. They should have stopped being around a long time ago.

SilverWook said:

NASCAR fans are really confused.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nascar/2017/08/19/confederate-flag-still-important-symbol-nascar-fans/583320001/

To some the Confederate flag is about heritage, not hate. Not saying they are right, but that is how some feel. As for the Trump flag, they’re idiots.

Btw, wouldn’t any pic of the Confederate flag be considered inflammatory?