Politics

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  Politics Sub Forum
  • Duluth  

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  The quarterly reminder about some of the rules Please don't post memes that say people with different views are stupid and/or evil. These will be deleted A few of these have been getting removed recently. They don't help conversation and what some find funny others get pissed at. This rule was added during the Hillary/Trump campaign and a couple of threads were just getting spammed with memes about retard Trump and Hillary's death count etc etc Spam There's few complaints about this too. Some of the threads are just getting the latest twitter outrage dumped into them. No real discussion takes place. Just be aware that this pisses a lot of fellow posters off and makes people put threads (or the entire sub-forum) on ignore. ...and this is still annoying a lot of users If you are being evangelical and trying to win converts to your 'side' perhaps consider that a NZ sports forum is probably not the best place for your mission. Also don't just dump your favourite twitter posts of the day into threads here. Again it crowds out the conversation
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  Black Lives Matter
  • MajorRage  

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  @MiketheSnow said in Black Lives Matter: On a mate's facebook page I'm not racist, you know that, my gran was black. Teaching people what they should know goes both ways. We've had to forget that we were once the slaves of the Romans, then the bloody Vikings, and white people are still being sold as slaves today. African countries are still selling black people today. ISIS and Al-Qaeda gain a lot of revenue from this activity. Don't hear of people wagging fingers at them. Slavery was made legal through a law suit brought to a Virginia court by a black slave owner. At least 10 of the first 20 slave owners in America were black. Yep. From my OU studies, I recall some of the most vociferous opposition to the abolition of slavery came from the African potentates who were raiding their enemies and kidnapping people to sell. They petitioned Parliament & the King to keep slavery going. The other common (and current) myth is that "capitalism & the free market" was responsible for slavery. One of the most powerful arguments used by abolitionists against slavery was that it is the opposite of a free market, was inefficient, costly and stopped capitalism from operating properly. Much of the opposition to abolition actually came from the churches
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  NZ Politics
  • taniwharugby  

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  @nzzp said in NZ Politics: @Godder I know, right. It's like competition in our electricity market, just a bit unusual. Streamlining really important. I'm not one for centralising stuff, but markets your can't opt out of are a bit weird to me. Water, electricity, health... Competition means scrimping on stuff like infrastructure improvement
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  US Politics
  • booboo  

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  Some members of the Democrat party have put forward the BREATHE ACT. This is a summary of its proposals. Section 1: Divesting from police Divesting from agencies like the DEA and ICE as well as moving federal resources away from incarceration and policing Eliminate ankle monitors End civil asset forfeiture, which even some conservatives say is readily open to police abuse End life sentences and mandatory minimum sentences Develop a "time-bound plan to close all federal prisons and immigration detention centers" Decriminalize and retroactively expunge both state and federal drug offenses Section 2: Community safety Offer a 50 percent federal match for projected savings when states and/or local jurisdictions close detention facilities, including jails End cooperation with immigration authorities Ban "pretextual" police stops and searches, even where police obtain consent. It's not clear how the lawmakers would define a "pretextual" police stop Abolish police gang databases, as well as armed cops and metal detectors in school Forgive all outstanding court debt Tie state grants to intervention programs that involve specialists other than police responding to some 911 calls Section 3: Allocating new money Create a plan to close youth detention centers Pilot programs for universal basic income Develop curricula that examine the political, economic, and social impacts of colonialism, native genocide, and slavery Create tools to promote environmental justice, including by subsidizing "community" energy solutions Provide lifetime education for illegal immigrants and the currently incarcerated Ensure all communities have safe access to water Eliminate state laws that bar formerly incarcerated people from serving as guardian for their own children or others in their community, Section 4: Holding officials accountable Pass the Commission to Study Reparation Proposal for African-Americans Act and establish commissions to "design reparations" for mass incarceration to include those caught up in the War on Drugs, border and police violence and the "systemic violation of the U.S. Government’s treaty obligations to Tribal nations" Enfranchise all incarcerated individuals Guarantee private right of action for recovering damages when a federal official has committed a constitutional violation Allowing local and state resident voting for illegal immigrants
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  Political Memes
  • Tim  

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  @MiketheSnow Anguilliforme fish, but I was wondering what Dr King's different set was until Honey helped me out with that. All clear now. Morays are actually quite scary...
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  Aussie Politics
  • mariner4life  

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  @barbarian said in Aussie Politics: What it means broadly is the best local candidate is often overlooked in favour of local stackers. This impacts the supply chain of future leaders, as you want the backbench to be a breeding ground of talented people rather than a cesspool of local hacks. How do you fix it? Tighter rules around membership, perhaps. More central oversight in candidates maybe. But there is no easy answer as both of those things can have unintended consequences. The line pretty clearly is if the member is aware they hold membership and pay the fee themselves - then it's fair game. It's not exactly clear why rigorous membership checks haven't been put in place if there is a genuine effort to stamp this out - particularly around preselection - when the two major parties have ~50,000 members each in 150 federal divisions. It's pretty obvious cash membership payment should be out with unique bank account or credit card required. If anything the Liberal system with the higher membership fees and state executive having a hand in things is weighted too much to the 'best candidate' - I would argue some returns in the blue-ribbon seats where Howard ministers retired have been pretty safe and underwhelming, particularly out of NSW. The Labor system obviously is clearly worse with each faction 'owning' various seats and the gender targets - but they probably still get as much of their top talent in the door despite the hackery.
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  The Politics Quiz!
  • MajorRage  

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  Seems about right.
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  Brexit
  • sparky  

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  @Victor-Meldrew boom! Called it!
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  Jeffrey Epstein
  • Tim  

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  @MiketheSnow said in Jeffrey Epstein: Not saying all are culpable, but the rumour mill is sayig some are capable One thing's for sure about this list, none of them will get in trouble. Even if this broad sings like a canary and lays it all out with diagrams, every fluffybunny on that list is going to deny and deny ala Prince fuckface. If a trial happens it'll drag for years and what's the best she's already been given a plea deal and they all double down on what a despicable, conniving yet charming monster Jeffery was. We won't get our pedophilia pound of flesh. And not one of them didn't know about Little St James' reputation before or after getting on his plane. Not saying they did anything but they all knew the stories, so that'll be their first lie.
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  British Politics
  • canefan  

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  @pakman said in British Politics: @Bones said in British Politics: @Rembrandt said in British Politics: Defund Eureka! Now I know why blonde haired, blue eyed Bonesetta is always trying to get me to go for a "nice walk" and I instantly recoil. Are you sure she's yours? Around about 100% she's not! But I can understand you asking that question what with certain practices in the ME throughout the ages.
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  Royal drama
  • MajorRage  

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  @canefan said in Royal drama: @Tim said in Royal drama: "Many a good man has been put under the bridge by a woman." - Charles Bukowski. What's Harry's IQ, 90? Lower? Seems like a nice fellow but not the sharpest tool in the shed And that’s in a shed full of blunt spoons.
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  Your favourite conspiracy theories
  • jegga  

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  Canadian Politics
  • jegga  

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  @rotated are we sure that wasn't Trudeau in one of his more favoured costumes?
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  Cannabis referendum
  • jegga  

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  @JC said in Cannabis referendum: @Kruse Akira is more dangerous than alcohol or cigarettes, and more awesome than weed. He should definitely be legalized. Dangerous ground there on a contentious issue. Lets stick to the safe discussions like abortion and religion.
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  Covid Economics
  • Tim  

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  @Godder I was gonna say ol' Gareth has been banging that drum for years then I saw the link address...
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  Kim Jong Un Ill After Surgery
  • Hooroo  

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  @R-L if he had Covid, he probably created the vaccine, while he was ill!
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  Oil Price
  • sparky  

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  @Catogrande I did actually see the press conference when he said it. Whether he follows through, or is able to, we will see. If it doesn't happen then someone will call him on it no doubt.
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  Jussie "MAGA Country" Smollett
  • Rembrandt  

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  This is from Newsweek and funnily enough they appended a video of Jussie. RACIST THREATS AND ATTACKS THAT RATTLED A CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY CAMPUS WERE FAKED, POLICE SAY [...] Dominguez Peña, who was living in campus housing and named in the threat, found her parked car emitting smoke. Someone had tried to start a fire with a backpack inside the vehicle. The university cancelled all remaining classes that day and the La Verne Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation stepped in to investigate. The back-to-back incidents rattled the community, forcing the administration to hold town hall-style meetings and cancel more classes the following week. But no arrests were made. Some students blamed the university for allowing racism to fester and warned that it would only be a matter of time before another racist attack. Two months later, Dominguez Peña reported she was attacked by a masked individual who placed a bag and rope over her head, groped her and slammed her head against the railing in a dormitory stairwell. All the cases remained unsolved—until March 9, 2020. After nearly a year of investigations involving multiple agencies, the LVPD said at a press conference that Dominguez Peña, 25, had faked the threats against herself and others in ten total separate "incidents." The same day, she was arrested on felony charges of making criminal threats and perjury, as well as seven misdemeanors related to electronic impersonation and filing false police reports. [...] https://www.newsweek.com/racist-threats-attacks-that-rattled-california-university-campus-were-faked-police-say-1497533
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  Conservative vs Progressive Family Values
  • No Quarter  

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  Back to OP I'm chief cook & bottlewasher in my house when I'm not away in Japan for the winter. My partner Nerys has the full-time job out of the house. I get up every morning to walk the dog then back to make her breakfast and lunch if she wants to take one to work. Then through the week it's cleaning, shopping, cooking. That's my role. To support her. The lady from Brisbane is doing the same thing. Unlike a lot of partners these days, she doesn't want her cake and eat it too.
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  Christchurch Gunman in Mosque
  • Hooroo  

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  @Godder said in Christchurch Gunman in Mosque: @Hooroo said in Christchurch Gunman in Mosque: @Godder said in Christchurch Gunman in Mosque: @Hooroo said in Christchurch Gunman in Mosque: @Godder said in Christchurch Gunman in Mosque: He might the first to get life without parole. We really need to question the system if he doesn't. If he doesn't get it, nobody will. The main question for the court is whether he could ever be released on parole safely. Some things we do in life don't deserve that question to be asked. The rule of law requires it, but the ideology and actions suggest someone who can't safely be released ever, so the judge can justify it easily enough. That also means he can't be deported, but that's worth it IMO. Good. After the debacle with releasing the Rainbow Warrior bombers, I don't want anyone being let loose from NZ until they've served their time. And this clown will find life harder on New Zealand soil. Should just be cemented into his cell for life.
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  Harvey Weinstein
  • Salacious Crumb  

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  Tommy Robinson
  • Bones  

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  @Siam said in Tommy Robinson: @MajorRage you haven't seen the footage either. If it were anybody else, that video would be edited and on news in every country. Don't get all shitty about it, you're simply commenting without seeing all that's available. That footage is tv gold and entirely topical. The guy did a good thing, it's all simply what depersoning someone looks like. In this modern world of equality. The above has no relevance to anything I wrote. Which were my observations. You can argue anything you want fella, but you can't argue my observations, unless you are calling me a liar. As for getting shitty ... best grab a mirror mate.
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  Scandinavia thread
  • jegga  

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  @Catogrande 40! years ago I spent a couple of months hitching through Scandinavia. In those days lager was 5 quid a pint!!! Nevertheless everyone was very generous. I seldom got a lift without an accompanying meal and a beer - which was awkward as your host would offer you a can and then not have one themselves as it was too fucking expensive. There were also a reasonable number (in the 20's) of people dying every year when their backwoods stills exploded. Ferries were packed with people getting absolutely shitfaced for the day on duty frees.
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  The Folau Factor
  • Virgil  

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  Israel Folau remains very good at what he was always best at, retrieving the ball in the air. Catalans Dragons are capitalising on his presence - a try in his first match last week and a last minute catch and pass to set up a try and secure an unlikely win this weekend. Not bad for a bloke who hasn't played anything for near a year. Catalans boss lauds ‘special’ Israel Folau after Dragons comeback win Fox League March 2, 2020 9:16am by Josh Luckhurst https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/super-league/nrl-2020-israel-folau-steve-mcnamara-catalans-vs-hull-super-league/news-story/2cae3648c10cb82af71c6262d086bbc8 Catalans boss Steve McNamara has hailed Israel Folau’s contribution after he helped the French team to a last-gasp 34-29 victory at Hull. The 30-year-old Australian was the centre of attention in what was his first English Super League appearance in England since signing a 12-month contract with Catalans after he was sacked by Rugby Australia last May for making homophobic comments on social media. He struggled to make an impact as Hull ran in 24 unanswered points either side of the break and looked set to return to winning ways as the hosts moved 28-10 ahead. Catalans responded with three quickfire second-half tries to level the scores but the hosts thought Marc Sneyd won it with a drop-goal three minutes from time. However, Folau produced a superb catch to regain possession from a short Catalans kick-off, which resulted in fellow Australian James Maloney crashing over for the match-winning score to the delight of boss McNamara. “To come up with the short kick off and for Izzy to go up there and take it one- handed and it gives us a chance to win it, we are obviously happy with the end result,” McNamara said. “He is a special player and it was a special catch. I thought we under-used him during the game, I thought we could have used him more. “I thought he was solid today without being spectacular. But he comes out with a really good play to give us a last chance. “Without a doubt, he is a real talent. We didn’t give him any area today, we never kicked the ball to him but he worked hard for the team, which is formidable. “He is more of an attacking threat and I was disappointed that we didn’t kick the ball for him more - we never got that right.” McNamara admitted he did not see his team winning when they trailed by 18 points with 22 minutes remaining, Hull head coach Lee Radford was gutted to watch his team squander their sizeable second-half lead. “I thought we did enough to win the game, probably twice. It’s heart-breaking in that manner of the last play of the game as well,” Radford said. “I think they got a bit of wind in their sails and we didn’t break the back of that. That is something we have to get better at. “Today I thought we did enough to get the result. It’s sort of two steps forward and one step back.” When asked if you can coach against Folau’s late catch, Radford added: “You can, but unfortunately we don’t have anyone who is 8’2” in our team and anyone who can jump that high in our team, so it’s very hard to replicate.”
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  Climate Change #3 & Other Environmental Issues
  • TeWaio  

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  @Siam said in Climate Change #3 & Other Environmental Issues: ( based on median GDP over 80 years) 5 trillion US dollars. For 5 million people to pay for ( I don't even know how many millions that is each) Maybe US1 million each. (if 5 trillion is 5 million million) To reduce the temperature even based on the most scary calculation by the climate alarmists. It would be so small (less then 0.01 degrees) And there are nil restrictions on China (easily the biggest CO2 producer. NZ in comparison is tiny) and India. But lets destroy the NZ economy (esp farming). And send billions overseas to a fund where the money isn't accounted for. And use climate change to justify more tax etc.
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  Aussie Bush Fires
  • Rembrandt  

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  Yeah, it's a bit humid... The "feels like" just ticked over 40 again. No rain in sight. It's Feb in the tropics and I am considering putting the sprinklers on.
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  Ricky Gervais At Globes
  • Baron Silas Greenback  

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  Racism in NZ
  • raznomore  

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  Sorry to resurrect an old thread but wasn't sure where to post this. I found this article really interesting - makes me think about race in a different way. Would be interested to read his book. https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/26/fight-racism-using-science-race-genetics-bigotry-african-americans-sport-linnaeus?__twitter_impression=true
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  Iran, Syria, and the rest of the ... Middle East
  • Tim  

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  Not a good time to be a leader in the Iranian military https://m.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-News/Iranian-commander-gunned-down-in-front-of-his-own-home-614978
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  Student Loans
  • canefan  

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  Supposedly if you dispute that there's a debt at all, they can't collect without a court order or similar. All a bit messy - I went to university 1998 so had the full whack of interest and can relate. Not sure what the answer is, because it's a loan and to be repaid, but the lender can literally change the law around the obligations after the loan was made, can arrest for default, take from wages etc, and it's only wiped by death or bankruptcy, where other unsecured loans are also wiped by No Asset Procedures, so it's not exactly a standard loan.
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  South americas meltdown
  • jegga  

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  In a perfect world Owen Jones and Sean Penn would read this https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/01/19/784178950/his-dad-died-in-a-venezuelan-hospital-what-he-saw-in-the-morgue-still-haunts-him
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  European Politics
  • Tim  

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  @JC Sounds super reasonable. I do wonder what the 'bold' climate policies are though. Kind of a genius move calling yourself the Greens campaigning on climate to keep the extremists from calling you Nazis while at the same time having libertarian and conservative policies. Hard to imagine a Green party interested in preserving the environment as opposed to creating a gulag archipelago.
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  Guns?.........or is that the least of the problems?
  • El Toro supremo  

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  Fascinating long read. Here’s the headline, intro & link: The Surprisingly Solid Mathematical Case of the Tin Foil Hat Gun Prepper Or, “Who Needs an AR-15 Anyway?” As gun policy discussions unfold in the wake of mass shooter incidents, they routinely end in three buckets. There’s the “tyranny can never happen here” bucket, which the left has mostly abdicated in the wake of Trump winning after they called (and still call) him a tyrant. There’s the “you can’t fight the army with small arms” bucket, which is increasingly unsound given our ongoing decade-and-a-half war with Afghani tribal goat herders. And there’s the “what the hell do you need an AR-15 for anyway?” bucket, which, by its very language, eschews a fundamental lack of understanding of what those people are thinking. I am not a prepper. But I know a few. Some of the ones I do know are smart. They may not be doing as deep an analysis as I present here, on a mathematical level, but the smart ones are definitely doing it at a subconscious level. If you want to understand the perspectives of others, as everyone in my opinion should strive to do, then you would do well to read to the end of this article. To get where we’re going, we will need to discuss the general framework of disaster mathematics. [...] https://medium.com/s/story/the-surprisingly-solid-mathematical-case-of-the-tin-foil-hat-gun-prepper-15fce7d10437
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  Hong Kong
  • Rembrandt  

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  Trump meddling? https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3039673/donald-trump-signs-hong-kong-human-rights-and-democracy-act?utm_content=article&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1XvbPsMsGuRTUy40K_LybAA5dnoG21L_WhcC3gBrDehhet4GlRXtqEv7o#Echobox=1574897558
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  Baghdadi gooooooooone
  • sparky  

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  @JC said in Baghdadi gooooooooone: @jegga said in Baghdadi gooooooooone: Jamie Lee Curtis has an interesting take ... and a great rack. Had . Had a fantastic rack . For an alleged hermaphrodite
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  Edward Snowden
  • jegga  

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  About 2/3rd through, taking my time and re-listening to parts as I think its probably pretty important. Pretty fascinating story although pretty unsurprising really. I do wonder if the existence of the Constitution might in time right these wrongs, at least it gives some sort of a firm foundation to work back toward.
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  Euro qualifier stopped twice for Racism
  • Rembrandt  

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  @MajorRage you colonials really have come a long way in the humour department.
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  Mexican Cartels
  • Tim  

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  Well for some silver lining to this horror from my absolutely overly-privileged 1st world position...at least 'Narcos' will be good for a few more seasons.
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  Should the Crusaders change their name?
  crusaders • • Duluth  

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  @Chris said in Should the Crusaders change their name?: @Kirwan said in Should the Crusaders change their name?: So what ended up being decided? Keeping the name, losing the sword? At the moment sword and knight gone from the Logo for 2020 name stays for next season but under review for 2021 Ahh, the weasly chicken shit way of changing the name.
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  French Politics
  • jegga  

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  All other outlets seem to be towing the "motive of the knife attack is unclear" line , the daily mail may be a rag but at least they actually did report on it https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7533375/Knifeman-attacks-police-officers-Paris-police-station.html