The Junk Drawer

CunningCanuk

Well-Known Member
I like Mehdi, he's a smart guy, but humorless and seems to have no sense of one either. While I don't oppose "political correctness", it can get a bit annoying and narrow minded as the is right at times. Humor changes over time and I wonder what he would have said about Richard Prior's stand up act? Humor is a cultural and even a generational thing these days with the pace of social change, so sometimes old farts like Maher might get a bit out of bounds according to some. Bill has been a liberal and supporter of liberal causes for a long time and a bit more tolerance from people who call themselves liberals would be in order, liberal means free after all, free to be who you are and free to tell other people when they are outside the bounds, while at the same time shrinking the boundaries

I’m with Mehdi, Bill Mayer is an asshole.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
I’m with Mehdi, Bill Mayer is an asshole.
Bill can be an asshole, but he is a comedian, not a politician. His brand of humor is going out of fashion, but a lot of humor seems to have gone out of fashion, especially on university campuses. I don't agree with everything Maher says, but I find his humor funny at times. I think his old man beef about the issue comes from so many comedians being banned or protested at campuses over one thing or another, some of it sheer bullshit. Perhaps some wounded people are too sensitive, I mean even calling Trump an idiot will offend almost half of America and some will squeal very loudly on social media.

Cartoons of the prophet or movie depictions of him will offend many Muslins and some will kill people over it. Should a western secular country pay any attention to such nonsense? Should people who don't believe in that shit live in fear of those who do? Likewise every time Nova shows a program about evolution they will get hundreds or thousands letters of complaint from "Christians". Peoples feelings are hurt in all cases and people are hurt in some cases. Freedom is variety, but also a balance and there ain't no accounting for taste.
 

Sativied

Well-Known Member
Not unexpected:


Not the key part but:

Where does Europe stand on weed legalisation?
Europe has long taken a conservative approach to the legalisation of weed. The drug is illegal to sell and consume across Europe, with the exception of Malta, where it became legal for personal use in 2021.

Several European countries, including Austria, the Netherlands and Portugal, have decriminalised the possession of small amounts of cannabis. Luxembourg announced plans to legalise in 2018, but had to backtrack after coming up against EU laws. There’s a chance this could become Germany’s fate too.

While the Netherlands has become known for its relaxed attitude to smoking weed, with the government tolerating the sale of the drug in its “coffee shops”, its use and cultivation still remain illegal in wide society. Therefore, the Dutch model technically still respects EU law. [it’s more the other way around, the EU law had to respect the ‘model’ we already had].

Germany’s plans could push the EU to change this history of cannabis conservatism, and if it manages to do so, other countries could quickly follow suit.

On its platform, the Finnish Green League Party said it will “utilise the experiences of Germany” for its weed policies in the future.



As I suggested in other threads/topics, Germany has an above average influence in the EU and this could certainly bring the inevitable legalization (and strict regulation) closer. But, what they want to do is likely to be delayed a few times more. The UN convention and international laws don’t have to be an obstacle as Canada has shown, but for now the EU isn’t going to allow it without setting requirements that are impossible to meet. Like preventing export across open borders with 8 other EU members and Switzerland. To get the EU (including German EU politicians) to go along they first have to figure out who their main opponents and then make deals. Whether EU will legalize anytime soon basically depends primarily on how bad and fast Germany wants it.
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/infrastructure/3839747-these-are-the-states-americans-are-moving-to/

this seems to be confirming that magats are moving out of blue states and moving to red states.
that could be a good thing. it will cut out a LOT of gerrymandering in blue states, and cram all the republican reps into fewer states, which means less of them in total. California is losing a ton of magats...wonder what that will do for mccarthy's chance of getting re-elected in 24?
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
Even when things work out ok, life exhausts you.
My step daughter was pregnant. They already had two girls and wanted a boy, and got one this time, but he scared the shit out of all of us.
She had to go in for an emergency C section a couple of days ago, 5 weeks early. The placenta separated from her uterus and the baby wasn't breathing on his own.
An ultrasound found a shadow on his brain, and an mri showed blood from a subarachnoid hemorrhage. They were worried that he had a minor seizure, and put him on a breathing tube.
He's now off the tube, breathing on his own, and they said the hemorrhage has stopped and did no damage, but it was a tough couple of days.
I'm not a very emotionally expressive person, and i had to just walk away from people several times.
I've made the argument before that the cult of child worship is silly, and i still feel that way, but i would have been broken if he had died, or been seriously impaired...
Guess it's a lot easier to be objective from a distance.
 
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