The Off Topic Topic

[DGuller]

Speaking of breakdown of order, right on cue a homeless man gave a fitting example about half an hour ago.  I'm walking home from work in a Flatiron district of Manhattan, definitely not a seedy place.  From afar I see a homeless man engaging in motions that look like masturbation. 

As I walk past him and take a look, yep, that's definitely his penis lying on his stomach.  He either finished or had trouble getting started, but it was there for everyone to see.  I don't know if that was a common sight a decade or two ago, but it definitely wasn't in my experience, and not something I would imagine possible in that kind of neighborhood.

[garbon]

Speaking of breakdown of order, right on cue a homeless man gave a fitting example about half an hour ago.  I'm walking home from work in a Flatiron district of Manhattan, definitely not a seedy place.  From afar I see a homeless man engaging in motions that look like masturbation. 

As I walk past him and take a look, yep, that's definitely his penis lying on his stomach.  He either finished or had trouble getting started, but it was there for everyone to see.  I don't know if that was a common sight a decade or two ago, but it definitely wasn't in my experience, and not something I would imagine possible in that kind of neighborhood.

Yes, I noticed it felt a bit rougher on my most recent visit and heard the same from friends still there.

I thought the new mayor was the law and order candidate. What has he been doing?

[Admiral Yi]

I find it hard to believe all BLM protestors actually wanted no police as the media are keen to pretend.

This is another one of those mind boggling comments that make me wonder what planet you are from.

Do you sincerely believe this to be a true statement?

[Sheilbh]

From the Hindustan Times

4 snake charmers, upset over earnings after performance, release snakes in train
By
Haidar Naqvi
Sep 10, 2023 03:51 PM IST

KANPUR: Four snake charmers, disappointed with their earnings after a performance on board the Chambal Express in Uttar Pradesh, released the reptiles in the compartment to scare a group of passengers after a heated exchange late on Saturday evening.

For the next 30 minutes, there was chaos in the unreserved compartment as passengers scrambled to get onto the upper berths. Some also hid in the washroom till the nightmare ended, said a passenger Dheeraj Kumar.

Kumar, who lives in Malakpura village of Mahoba district, said the snake charmers boarded the train, which operates between Howrah and Gwalior, at Banda station and got off at the next stop 60 minutes later, Mahoba. The performance started soon after as they flipped the lid of a basket and a snake emerged, swaying as they played their gourd flute.

Once the performance ended, they asked the passengers for money.

"Some people gave the money, some declined," recalled Kumar. It is not clear how but the snake charmers got into an argument with some persons who had refused to pay. At one point, they suddenly released the snakes in the compartment," he said, giving people a scare of their life.

Somebody called the railway control room.

Akhilesh Pratap Singh, the officer in-charge of the Government Railway Police at Mahoba station, said they received information about snakes being released from the railway control room.

The snake charmers eventually caught the snakes they had released and got off the train moments before it entered the Mahoba station, the train's next stop after Banda.

Singh said: "We spoke to the passengers at Mahoba railway station and they confirmed the incident. The snakes did not bite any passenger but did cause significant distress," he said.

Security personnel did conduct a comprehensive search of the compartment - and the adjoining ones to be sure - but the snake charmers hadn't left any behind.

Singh said the train, which was headed for Gwalior, was allowed to continue its journey.

The snake charmers will be identified soon, he said.

[DGuller]

I find it hard to believe all BLM protestors actually wanted no police as the media are keen to pretend.

This is another one of those mind boggling comments that make me wonder what planet you are from.

Do you sincerely believe this to be a true statement?

My recollection was exactly the opposite.  The media was trying its best to pretend that "defund the police" was actually a complex 27 point proposal by BLM wonks and had nothing to do with defunding, policing, or even theing.  I also remember the response being "yo, STFU New York Times, by defunding the police we meant defunding the police". 

To be honest, for me personally, it's a good test of the willingness of a person to be objective, wherever it takes them.  How much contortion are they comfortable with while rewriting the history of that perfectly disastrous slogan?  Obviously it's a test only applicable to left-sympathetic people, but I find it to be a pretty reliable one when it is applicable.

[crazy canuck]

Whatever the reasons, there is definitely a perception of a gradual breakdown of order where I live.  I feel like it's a slowly brewing situation where law abiding citizens feel increasingly unsafe and powerless.  Scared and powerless people are what right wing voters are made of, and frankly it's hard to blame them when left wing local governments abdicate the very basic responsibility all governments have.

This from the guy who says he is objective

[Josephus]

So Mexico has proven the existence of 👽 and no thread on Languish 👽🤣

[grumbler]

I mean - mostly not.

"Defund the police" was a pretty vague term as a policy slogan, but no you can find several articles from 2020-2021 saying "when we say defund the police we mean exactly that - get rid of the police'.  They'd often also talk about getting rid of prisons.  They were all very vague and hypothetical about what would come after, however.

Defund the police is not a vague term.  "Defund," "the," and "police" all have unambiguous meanings.

The issue with defund the police was the conundrum it created for supporters of left wing protest culture.  The people who think we have a moral obligation to listen to the voices of THE PEOPLE and accede to their wishes when they are raised in outrage.

I don't have that problem.  An idea is good or bad on its merits, regardless of how loud the person shouts it.

Defund the police is absolutely an ambiguous phrase.  "Defund" means "to stop providing money or as much money to pay for something." OED  "The" is the definite article, meaning it refers to one thing.  There is no one thing that is "the police" and even the term "police" is ambiguous:  are FBI agents (or DEA or border patrol or whatever) "police?"  Are Military Police "police?"

Like "woke," I doubt that you will find any majority support for any definition of "defund the police" among those who  sincerely use the phrase.

[Tonitrus]

I keep seeing those photos of the recapture of that escaped murderer in Pennsylvania and wondering how it looks like it was Ukrainian army that nabbed him.

[HVC]

I keep seeing those photos of the recapture of that escaped murderer in Pennsylvania and wondering how it looks like it was Ukrainian army that nabbed him.

Every cop in a 10 mile radius wanted their photo op

[Josquius]

I find it hard to believe all BLM protestors actually wanted no police as the media are keen to pretend.

This is another one of those mind boggling comments that make me wonder what planet you are from.

Do you sincerely believe this to be a true statement?

Yes?
I don't see the issue with it at all. You actually do believe all BLM protestors want literally zero police?

[Admiral Yi]

Yes?
I don't see the issue with it at all. You actually do believe all BLM protestors want literally zero police?

I have not asked them.  What I have not read or seen is any reporter writing or saying "every BLM protestor wants to entirely eliminate the police." 

[Maladict]

So Mexico has proven the existence of 👽 and no thread on Languish 👽🤣

Languish doesn't want to believe.

[Josquius]

Yes?
I don't see the issue with it at all. You actually do believe all BLM protestors want literally zero police?

I have not asked them.  What I have not read or seen is any reporter writing or saying "every BLM protestor wants to entirely eliminate the police." 

A quick google doesn't throw up this verbatim quote, but then I never claimed it as one. The spin the media gives to defund the police is quite clear however.

[Barrister]

Wasn't the defund the police thing more about defund the current police and recreate them from the ground up to better represent the communities they serve ala Northern Ireland?

I mean - mostly not.

"Defund the police" was a pretty vague term as a policy slogan, but no you can find several articles from 2020-2021 saying "when we say defund the police we mean exactly that - get rid of the police'.  They'd often also talk about getting rid of prisons.  They were all very vague and hypothetical about what would come after, however.

I don't think that is accurate.  You might find that on right wing sites and FOX saying that is what was meant, but it's bullshit.

It is clearly meant as a movement to remove funding for police to do things that would be better done by other social service agencies.  But that of course would mean providing appropriate funding for those other agencies.  If one wants to talk about common sense - there it is, but of course anathema to conservatives.

Much easier for conservatives to dumb down the idea into the notion that people just wanted to get rid of the police.  Whether it's because right wingers have lost the ability to think in a nuanced way, or they are just willfully ignorant is an open question.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/opinion/sunday/floyd-abolish-defund-police.html

Please note this is in the NY Times from June 2020 - not FOX.

Like I said it's a very vague slogan.  Some wanted to reduce (but not eliminate) funding for police.  Some wanted to rebuild police forces.  And some wanted to abolish the police.  Right wingers absolutely used that one faction to attempt to tie it to the Democratic Party, but it was based in reality - some (not all) Democratic activists really wanted to abolish the police.