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IluvPitties

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Member since: Sat Dec 16, 2017, 03:22 PM
Number of posts: 3,181

Journal Archives

Can people redeem themselves in the social media era?

All of this crap about Joy Reid having some, well, misguided or inappropriate posts in the past makes me wonder if we are abandoning the concept of redemption in our society.

Assuming Joy's posts are hers, I feel she deserves credit for having become a better human being throughout the years and standing for what is right. Maybe an apology should be given, but this idea of one having to carry with your past forever assumes there is no room for error and for learning in life.

Barack Obama started his presidency being against same-sex marriage, and ended his presidency being the greatest advocate the LGBTQ community has had in the WH. People can and do change, and nobody is perfect.

Don't let old posts or pictures ruin a great present and a promising future. Redemption is possible and necessary for the progress of humanity.

Given the great changes in the political landscape in the last decade...

How do you think the following 4 individuals would have fared politically if they ran for the Democratic nomination in 2016, or on the general election against Trump:

A) Mike Gravel
B) Howard Dean
C) Dennis Kucinich
D) John Edwards

I just sense their political fates would have been quite different in this day and age.

Trump or Harding?

I have always read about the Harding administration being one of the most corrupt in modern American history. Well... is Trump worse? Was Harding worse?

History buffs, please enlighten me! Thanks!

White judge berates sick black woman in court. Woman dies a couple days later.

In case you think racism is dead, or that our justice system is fair.

[link:https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international/Broward-Judge-Accused-Of-Bullying-Defendant-In-Wheelchair-480455951.html|

The American far-right is in the bed with Russia for 2 reasons

If you have followed the white supremacist movement for some time, you will notice that they have, for decades being fixated with the idea of Eastern Europe and Russia being promised lands for white people. Several American white supremacists have been traveling to these areas for decades, some of them even marrying women from these countries. Russia, since the fall of the Soviet Union, has been taken over by far-right Christian, xenophobic ideologues, and it has been more and more hostile to its minorities as time goes by. Add to that the hostility they have shown towards Muslim minorities in their territory, and you have the perfect match for our far-right ideologues.

Add to that the desire of Russia to cripple the US economically and to finally become the world's main superpower. They have realized that the other moral weakness of those in the far-right is apart of their xenophobia is their greed. Our far-right is in love with money, and they want it no matter what. Russia has presented itself as the ideological and financial backbones of the American far-right, and the Republican Party has allowed this train of thought to take hold of them. Mainstream American conservatism has decided to follow the lead and example of present day Russian "soft" fascism, and they are, without realizing it, willing to sell our Nation down the drain just to satisfy their desire to establish a white American, Christian ethnostate, run by a select group of corrupt oligarchs.

From Donald Trump to Paul Ryan, from Steve Bannon to Sean Hannity, from Ann Coulter to Laura Ingraham, what you are witnessing is the ascension of white supremacism in the American political landscape... and Russia is their financial backer, their moral compass and their overseer.

How close are we to the end of the Trump presidency?

I sense it is unraveling quickly and might be over before the year ends. What do you think?

Al Gore 2020?

Why or why not? Watching him with Van Jones, sounds like the great president we currently don't have...

For those DUers in FL or with relatives down here

Who are you suppoting for Dem gubernatorial candidate and why? Don't know much about any of them, so I'm hoping to learn a bit about them through this thread.

While America pays close attention to the Stormy-Trump "affair"

Take a look at how a true American hero is humiliated and kicked out of this country. The true victims of Trump are not the Storms or the McDougals of this world, but heroes like Heather Heyer, who never got the hero treatment she deserved from this administration, or this gentleman right here:

[link:https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/03/25/us/us-veteran-deported-to-mexico/index.html|

I bet we won't hear Sean Hannity or Tucker Carlson standing up for him.

Were you a Toys R'Us kid? Let's share our stories!

Given the demise of the largest toy mega store, I feel the need to reflect on its impact on those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s.

In Puerto Rico, it was on a Saturday morning back in 1990. I was watching cartoons while Mom made breakfast, when I saw an ad that would mark my childhood forever. "The world's largest toy store is coming to Puerto Rico! Thousands of toys all under one roof! Don't miss it's grand opening and become a Toys R'US kid!" A friendly giraffe character played with super happy American kids and a song came up about not wanting to grow up, and I was sold. I told Mom about it, because nobody could miss such an important event. I assumed all children of Puerto Rico would be there, so I couldn't miss it.

On Monday, all kids at school were talking about how many toys their parents were going to buy them at the opening day. Others speculated about how big this place was going to be. Bigger than our school? Maybe 30 stories high! Some kids had family in the States that reported that you could spend a whole at Toys R'US and you wouldn't be able to see all of it. In the meantime, we all learned the store's jingle in Spanish, in order to prove to each other we were worthy of being called Toys R'US kids.

Finally, the opening day arrived, and hundreds of kids and their parents stood in line under the hot Caribbean sun to get in. I was one of them along with Dad, who very sternly warned me that we couldn't not afford to buy much. Still, I saw people leaving the store with their carts full of toys, so I had great hopes. Then, our turn to get in came, and there it was. A toy store.

A pretty generic, impersonal toy store with lot's of overpriced toys and little of the magic I saw on TV. I went to the WWF toys section, and saw my poor Dad grimacing at the ridiculous prices for the action figures I collected, looking at me nervously, thinking I would be wanting him to do what so many parents were doing that day: spending excessive amounts of money so that their kids could brag at school that they got an early Santa Claus visit thanks to Geoffrey the Giraffe. Dad was shocked when he heard me say: "This is just another store. You can buy me action figures somewhere else later!" He smiled, proudly, and said to me: "Go ahead, get one. Just remember what you learned today- all stores are the same crap. They just want for you to buy more than what you need, and to get in debt."

That was my first and last visit to Toys R'US. At age 7, it was the first time I truly felt like a victim of mass marketing. Still, I enjoyed the advertisement and sang the jingle for years to come. From time to time, I still do.

Farewell, Toys R'US, and thanks for the lesson, the memories and the Big Boss Man action figure. You will be missed.
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