SydBarrett

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Posts by SydBarrett

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  42

  How do you feel about Brexit?

  by SydBarrett in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the "independent scotland" thread got me thinking on this.

  there are a lot of brits on this board.

  what are your thoughts on brexit?

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  SydBarrett

  Britain is part of Europe (a continent).

  Britain is not part of the EU (a supra-national political entity which came into existence in the early to mid 1990s).

  Please don't conflate Europe and the EU. It's a fairly common mistake.
  
  I'm aware of both of those things. I was referring to the 'splendid isolationism' and strain of Euro-skepticism in Britain, especially after 1815. The wishing to seem to be a major part of Europe without wanting actually to take part that dominated the 19th century. Even in WW1, if the Belgians had made a slightly different choice and chosen to allow the German army passage through their country unopposed on the way to France, it's unlikely Britain would have gotten involved, because there would have been no violation of Belgian neutrality to obligate them.
  
  That's all I meant. Of course Britain is geographically part Europe, but there has historically been ambivalence about how much it wants to involve itself in continental things. The luxury of being an island.
  
  
  
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  103

  I'm now turned off by this site

  by purrpurr in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in one form or another i've been a member of this site for almost 10 years.

  in the past this was a great place for debate, news and support for ex jws.

  i logged on several times a day and posted several times a week.

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  SydBarrett

  What's the throughline from Goldwater to today re the cultural divide?
  
  Even though he lost in 1964, his campaign was the beginning of the far right elements of the republican party being much more dominate compared to more 'traditional' centrists like Eisenhower or Rockefeller. Rockefeller was famously booed during his speech. Today, they'd label him a RINO. That sort of thing.
  
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  103

  I'm now turned off by this site

  by purrpurr in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in one form or another i've been a member of this site for almost 10 years.

  in the past this was a great place for debate, news and support for ex jws.

  i logged on several times a day and posted several times a week.

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  SydBarrett

  "Right Wing Media learning from Covid that sensational hate filled nonsense is really the only way to get yourself notice"
  
  It goes back way further than that. In the United States at least, the current divide started with the 1994 mid-term elections. If you really wanted to stretch it, you could take it back to 1964 and Barry Goldwater.
  
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  11

  Poll says Gen Xer's would like to return to pre-internet

  by SydBarrett in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  according to a new harris poll shared exclusively with fast company, most americans would prefer to live in a simpler era before everyone was obsessed with screens and social media, and this sentiment is especially strong among older millennials and gen xers.. asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was “plugged in”—meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones—77% of americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.. .

  what would you consider your ideal level of the internet?

  as a gen x'er, i would not want to go back to the per-internet world, but i would like to go back in some specific technologies.

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  SydBarrett

  "I like the faster speeds and having so much information at my fingertips."
  
  
  I do too but so much of the good stuff is pay-walled now. It's understandable, but for a while a lot of newspapers and magazine had their archives available and searchable to anyone. As a history nerd, it was interesting to go back and read how people were reacting to historical events before they knew the outcome. It gave a feel for what it must have been like to live through the times. You can still do it, but you've got to break out the credit card for whatever archive you want to search.
  
  It's also a shame IMO, that dowloading music pretty much killed the LP format. It's gone back to a singles market like the 1950's. May not seem a big deal to some, but I thought it was a cool art form and there's no point anymore in a band even attempting a 'Dark side of the Moon' or 'Abbey Road' or 'Siamese Dream' or 'Ok Computer' or whatever because no one is gonna buy it. They're just gonna download the hit single.
  
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  103

  I'm now turned off by this site

  by purrpurr in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in one form or another i've been a member of this site for almost 10 years.

  in the past this was a great place for debate, news and support for ex jws.

  i logged on several times a day and posted several times a week.

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  SydBarrett

  "The woke aren't going away. I'm tired of it too."

  
  

  IDK. I think it may have reached it's zenith. It's an odd situation for me. I've always been on the left of the political spectrum and still consider myself that. But then one day the bar gets moved so far away you're just like "these people have lost their damn minds".
  
  I really think it's mostly social media. I still have faith that the vast majority are slightly left center or slightly right center and could hold civilized discussions about their differences if the 2 crazy ends weren't constantly pouring gasoline onto everything.
  
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  103

  I'm now turned off by this site

  by purrpurr in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in one form or another i've been a member of this site for almost 10 years.

  in the past this was a great place for debate, news and support for ex jws.

  i logged on several times a day and posted several times a week.

  1. 
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  SydBarrett

  So why are populists "mushheads"?

  You don't think the woke ideology is dangerous?

  
  It's possible for one to be fed up with both ends...
  
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  11

  Poll says Gen Xer's would like to return to pre-internet

  by SydBarrett in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  according to a new harris poll shared exclusively with fast company, most americans would prefer to live in a simpler era before everyone was obsessed with screens and social media, and this sentiment is especially strong among older millennials and gen xers.. asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was “plugged in”—meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones—77% of americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.. .

  what would you consider your ideal level of the internet?

  as a gen x'er, i would not want to go back to the per-internet world, but i would like to go back in some specific technologies.

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  SydBarrett

  According to a new Harris Poll shared exclusively with Fast Company, most Americans would prefer to live in a simpler era before everyone was obsessed with screens and social media, and this sentiment is especially strong among older millennials and Gen Xers.

  Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was “plugged in”—meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones—77% of Americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.

  
  
  What would you consider your ideal level of the internet? As a Gen X'er, I would not want to go back to the per-internet world, but I would like to go back in some specific technologies.
  
  I loved smartphones when I got my first one in 2009 or so, but for the most part, i'd gladly return to landlines and an answering machine. I miss being able to leave the house and be unreachable till I got home. Yeah, you can turn off your phone or just not answer or reply to texts, but it's not the same. People now have the expectation that you will be reachable in a reasonable amount of time.
  
  I also miss the quirkiness and individuality of the late 90s internet, before it got so corporatized. Yeah alot of those self created webpages were garish and buggy, but it was fun.
  
  Modern social media is a scourge.
  
  On the plus side, if you're job searching, the modern world is much better than the days of physically mailing resumes or even driving around hand delivering them.
  
  I guess my ideal would be the very early 2000's. The internet still had personality. Flip phones were available and affordable if you felt you needed one for an emergency, but people weren't chained to them. It was becoming affordable for average income people to ditch dial up and get broadband. I got my first 1.5MPS broadband connection in late '99 if I remember correctly.
  
  What are your thoughts?
  
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  55

  "Independent" Scotland joke!

  by BoogerMan in

  1. social
  2. current

  humza yousaf, scotland's first minister, said: "scotland, i'm afraid, is suffering because we are not independent.

  " https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-66012834.

  try telling that to scotland's tourists and many island communities: the ferry services are dying month by month, and the two new overdue & over-budget ferries justify a serious legal/criminal enquiry.. any bunch of incompetents who can't provide a small country with a ferry service and a legally binding contract to build 2 new boats - having controlled scotland since 2007 - has no credibility in claiming they could run a country!.

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  SydBarrett

  "That's my concern about the obsession with devolution too."
  
• 
  55

  "Independent" Scotland joke!

  by BoogerMan in

  1. social
  2. current

  humza yousaf, scotland's first minister, said: "scotland, i'm afraid, is suffering because we are not independent.

  " https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-66012834.

  try telling that to scotland's tourists and many island communities: the ferry services are dying month by month, and the two new overdue & over-budget ferries justify a serious legal/criminal enquiry.. any bunch of incompetents who can't provide a small country with a ferry service and a legally binding contract to build 2 new boats - having controlled scotland since 2007 - has no credibility in claiming they could run a country!.

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  SydBarrett

  Anyone from the UK care to explain what the scottish independent people are upset about and how they feel separating will improve their life?
  
  I know how one has to be careful of slippery slope arguments, but i'm gonna make one, or ask one anyways.
  
  Lets say that in the US Civil War, the south won and successfully became an independent nation with a capital in Richmond. Then 30 years later, Georgia felt they were getting a bad deal and themselves left and became a former state, now a small nation.
  
  Then 30 years later, the people of Savannah get upset at how the government at the capital in Atlanta is running things, so they leave and now there is east and west georgia. Then the people in college park in Atlanta get upset at the Mayor for seemingly favoring Buckhead and the city of Atlanta is split in 2. Then the people on the North end of Buckhead feel like they are being shafted by the South end. Then a few years later, the people on arden road feel they need to be a separate nation from those snobs over on dover road.
  
  Then the Johnsons at 11 dover road get all upset at how the Clarks across the street at 14 are doing things...
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  103

  I'm now turned off by this site

  by purrpurr in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in one form or another i've been a member of this site for almost 10 years.

  in the past this was a great place for debate, news and support for ex jws.

  i logged on several times a day and posted several times a week.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  SydBarrett

  "Maybe you scrolled past the WoMD / Iraq War discussions? It was like fight-club at times"
  

  
  I remember reading all those discussions very well.
  With 20 years of hindsight, it's amusing and also depressing to go back and re-read all the right wing chest thumpers of 2002-2003 so certain about how urgent it was to invade Iraq.