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There is no intellectual basis for the policies of the progressive left anymore. Even the marxist part of the party is at odds with the critical race theory nonsense. "Reason" implies that there are such things as right answers. Debate is a form of multi-party reasoning, so if you're entire ideology is based on falsehoods, debate is a threat. The only logical thing the left does these days is stifle debate. Reminds me of the conservatives when they were nonstop railing against gay marriage. A bunch of small-government warriors demanding the federal government protect their religious ceremony from copy cats. Funny seeing the parties completely switch which one gets to be insane over 20 years.

It's not nearly as bad here. Some threads get a little echo chamber-ey but there's nothing stopping more liberal users from chiming in if they want to. And they usually do. In contrast, my comments which aren't even that conservative would be blocked for even a slight deviation from the orthodoxy. Or the grave crimes of asking a probing question or playing devils advocate. Trust me it's much better here, but that isn't to say we can't be careful and always think critically to ensure we don't go in that direction too.

Got a story for you guys. This is going to be long and a little out of left field but I figure where better than to share it in this thread so I'll just go ahead. I have accidentally conducted a decade-long free speech experiment in the comment section of one of the most liberal leaning "news" sites in the world, and here are my findings. Let me explain. So there I was in college back in the 2010 timeframe and I got turned on to this fringe leftist news website called motherjones. Some of you might know it. They used to run an actual print magazine too. If you haven't heard of them just go check the site right now, they're running articles about how opposing dc statehood is racist, how much people like that Biden is "boring" and other standard leftist tropes. Compared to the bias in the MSM it's nothing particularly new or interesting, they've just been doing it shamelessly and for a lot longer. When I got turned on to this site in college I would read the ludicrous articles for fun and I immediately gravitated toward the comment section. It was a hive of activity with 40-50 comments on an average article and sometimes hundreds on the popular ones. I made an account and immediately started debating people. I never intended to troll, I simply enjoyed being in the minority there and trying to pick apart other peoples ideas. I became kind of addicted to playing political devils advocate in an ideologically homogenous place. Other quasi conservatives came and went, mostly trolls, but I was a semi active commenter for 7+ years. I had some legitimately good debates with people and I like to think I changed a few minds and had my mind changed about a few things too. The first time I noticed a change in the comments section was a few years back when they got rid of disqus (comment hosting software) and moved to a comment moderation/hosting service call coral. Coral is run by ... drumroll... Vox. So I think you can already guess where this story is going. The pitch was that the new moderation software was going to crack down on hate speech and inappropriate content. At first there was very little change, but then other users started complaining that the moderation was flagging them for profanity. I was always very careful not to swear in comments and didn't have an issue at first. But then I started having comments sent to moderation for no apparent reason. Moderation simply for cordially disagreeing or posting a mainstream opposing viewpoint. Some of my comments made it through the filters (with extremely careful wording) but then it got weirder as I noticed the bile filled responses to my comments weren't being blocked at all. Name calling, ad hominem attacks, death threats, and every label from nazi to the literal devil were thrown my way, laced with profanity the entire time. All the while More of my comments started getting blocked. Meanwhile comments from bots for porn sites and money scams started passing through the filter too. It became increasingly obvious that the sole purpose of the moderation was to shut down any opposing viewpoint no matter how it was presented. I tried making a new username but after 3 or 4 posts the moderation figures out you aren't a flaming liberal and just blocks anything new you submit. I noticed on my main account they even went back in my comment history and retroactively deleted some old comments of mine. It's simply not worth even trying to engage anymore because the moderation wall won't let anything through. So what is the motherjones comment section like today? Well it's 6-9 commenters that log on every day to violently agree with each other and say that conservatives are evil and the source of all problems. There are no dissenting opinions and the tone from the regular commenters is increasingly self-congratulatory. It's one of the most severe political echo chambers I've ever seen and a perfect microcosm of what our political discourse has become. Now I'm not going to complain that my speech is being infringed because of course motherjones is a private company that can do what it wants, but there are lessons to be learned here. 1. echo chambers are insidious. It's easy to look into another echo chamber and see the stupidity for what it is, but we need to be incredibly cautious with our own information diet to not end up in one ourselves. 2. Diversity of opinion is good for business. These days motherjones is always running some kind of pathetic donation campaign to stay afloat. I saw first hand what their idiotic moderation did to their comment section engagement and I'm sure those anti-speech tendencies are torpedoing the rest of their business. 3. Go to motherjones if you want to read some truly entertaining leftist nonsense. But I'll warn you, it will make you mad and you will want to comment. Don't waste your time.

Wait...so did he make his flight?

Blue Texas is like fusion power plants. Fourty years away, and probably always will be. Trump was extremely strong in the Rio Grande valley,he far exceeded the predictions of the Smart Ones. Now that Biden has thrown the border into chaos all the democrat elected officals are begging his handlers to do, something, anything, to show that they give a shit about the people who live and work down there. Harris donated a comic book. This week there was a Congressional runoff for a vacant seat near Fort Worth. There were eleven candidates. Two Republicans won and will face each in the election. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-backed-candidate-heads-runoff-texas-special-congressional-election-2021-05-02/

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/personal-diversion-lands-air-force-pilot-in-hot-water/

The new PSDM just dropped today with a 5 October 2021 deadline and the board meets 16-18 November. Best of luck for everyone applying!

Hi all, In the past few years I have honoured to witness some excellent lowfly from the guys and gals of the USAF, and in turn they have recommend that I share some of the snaps with you here. Keep up the great work, and if you are ever in the position of planning a lowfly sortie in the UK and would like some high quality photos then drop me a DM and hopefully we can sort something out. Discretion assured, many thanks for looking, enjoy the photos.

One of the Chuavin jurors looks like he lied to the judge about his knowledge of and bias towards the trial. On the record and under oath that "he only had a vague knowledge of the case." (paraphrased) Photos/social media of him a few months BEFORE being selected showing him wearing a "Get off our necks" shirt and his comments on a local radio show this week where he says "We need to take action by being part of the system." Just can't help bragging on taking down the "man," even if that bragging adds bigly to an appeal's overturning of the some or all of the charges.

Now that Jenner is opposing Newsome for the governor of California...she's out of the LGBT club.

You can’t reason with the far left (and right)—they’re the same people who think that it’s racist to require an ID to vote and it’s like Jim Crow, but yet requiring that same ID to purchase a gun is just “common sense”. We even have people on this site who support such nonsense. The difference I see is that for the most part it’s the left that has gotten far more extreme with their views in the last 10+ years. Remember when the left was against illegal immigration, and now if you even say the words the left will call you a racist? Just one of many examples. And sure there are examples on the right—the abortion issue for one. But again, which side has seen the greatest change in the last 10+ years? I think it’s obvious.

Doesn’t sound like you and others have been in agreement with much of what’s been posted over the last several years (and vice versa)...so no, not like bops.net.

No, it was the government jumping in front of the parade. If you think the very famous incident you are citing was at the beginning, rather than the end of the process that led to the civil rights of black people being recognized and enforced in America, you are mistaken. Where does government get it's power from? How well does it work when the government does something that the majority opposes? Were all the civil rights advocates voted out of office during the next election cycle? The government could have stepped in 50 years earlier, why didn't it? Remember that Jim Crow laws were *governments* forcing private citizens to segregate their business. Those laws were passed because citizens were desegregating on their own.

My point is it was enforced violation of individual liberty by government. Arguing about which government body gets to be big government misses the point that big government is a danger to individual rights. The state having a monopoly on the legitimate use of force is (I think) necessary, but it carries risk that must be mitigated. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Which was a more local government than the federalized troops who ensured desegregation. After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students. Not exactly a case of the locals fixing a problem.

Until a student can fly an ILS half as well as I can...we can differ the non-precision approach stuff. RNAV, PBN, or otherwise. ~Bendy Edit: I’d still teach them about it, but not so much as to clutter their pretty little nuggets. Edit2: Damn, it’s been a hot second since I read my first post on here.

The irony of a free press is that it is simultaneously a democracy's/republic's greatest defender and greatest threat. When the press does its watchdog role faithfully against the government irrespective of who is in power, it is vital to our system of governance. But when it decides to become merely the propaganda arm for one political party, then it is dangerous.

But it was the state enforcing segregation. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Congratulations dude. When did your board convene? Curious how long it may be to hear results when mine convenes.

BLM, teachers unions,Twitter, Facebook, ANTIFA, the media, etc...