Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Mike]

Is it racist to say Sharpton is racist? I just want to get a ruling from the PC police before I do that.

[hack]

As you may know linesman has warned me multiple times about what appropriate language means here, so ask him. I just like calling bullshit for what it is. Not my problem if I've touched a nerve.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Sorry ..... it must have gone over my head or I just ignored it but what exactly are you calling bull-shit on?

[Mike]

Jeff, when you figure it out let the rest of us know please.

[Rob F]

Originally Posted by Optimus Prime
It was simply outrageous to listen Jackson & Sharpton paint Zimmerman as a "pseudo-racist" for purely financial gain over the last year. Martin's death was tragic but frankly there is no war on black men, at least not by white men....shameful.

Last year, the Scripps-Howard News Service studied half a million homicide reports and found that killings of black victims by white attackers have actually dropped over the past 30 years, from 4,745 during the 1980s to 4,380 during the first decade of the 2000s.

There were nearly twice as many white victims killed by black assailants: 8,503 in the 1980s, and 8,530 in the 2000s.

Easy solution, if I were a WIZARD or Pseudo-Wizard with power to enact such rules and regulations governing what is OK since everyone murders: Whites may only kill whites and blacks may only kill blacks. Craig James may only kill 5 Hookers (CJK5H), as long as they are white like him.

[hack]

This Sharpton and Jackson business. I really did think the rule around here was no politics. Now I know just to stay out of this thread, but the hypocrisy is remarkable so I remarked on it. Initially in a sort of indirect jokey way, but it seems a few people object to having the sound of their words described. Not my problem if I touched a nerve, but with the current regime of double standards and discretionary whathaveyou, you're prone to that.

[Rob F]

We just spent 2 nights at the Little River Indian Casino in Manistee as part of a study group we belong to (didn't gamble). What an eye opener! Hundreds of addicts glued to slot machines, completely oblivious to their surroundings. A typical gambler was a 60 something white haired overweight cigarette smoker sitting for hours repeatedly punching in the enter button as the screens rolled.

Most of the employees are locals and non-Indians and this casino supports the local Ottawa tribe numbering a little over 4000. But at what cost?

Our surprising takeaway was how this casino has destroyed the local economy of Manistee. Our tour guide used to own a bar there and said the casino wrecked his business and has sucked out most of the jobs from the local food and entertainment establishments. The city itself looked quite dead although I'm not sure how bad it really is because we were not there on a week-end.

Not at all surprising Doc, I've heard the same thing about other small towns with casinos that don't have a somewhat diversified economy. While Mt. Pleasant has not been significantly negatively-affected (relatively speaking) being that it's a college town, there seems to be plenty of anecdotal evidence that casinos do little other than sucking $$$ out of local economies much more than contributing positively to the overall economic pictures of the surrounding area where they are located.

Locally here in SW Michigan, it'll be interesting what happens with the two current and one soon-to-be-opened casinos in this area. Four Winds Casino has been up-and-running in New Buffalo (a town that has gotten a huge influx of Chicago $$$ every summer for decades), I think they opened about a half-dozen years ago. The same tribe of Pottawotomie Indians then opened a satellite casino midway between Watervliet and Hartford and will be soon opening another satellite casino near Dowagiac in the near future. My bet is that neither will benefit those nearby little towns; already, more businesses in Watervliet have boarded up in the last year or two and there seems to be nothing positive to report as a result of that casino being located nearby.

Bottom line? If there are only 'X' # of $$$'s to go around, they simply are getting re-directed. Basically, casinos act as life-sucking parasites unless there is enough diversity in any local economy to withstand the negatives that they bring. Maybe I'm over-simplifying the equation, prove me wrong!

[Hannibal]

This Sharpton and Jackson business. I really did think the rule around here was no politics. Now I know just to stay out of this thread, but the hypocrisy is remarkable so I remarked on it. And linesman is, as he knows, free to delete whatever he chooses to.

You were commenting on what you perceived as racism, not just the presence of politics.

[Hannibal]

Not at all surprising Doc, I've heard the same thing about other small towns with casinos that don't have a somewhat diversified economy. While Mt. Pleasant has not been significantly negatively-affected (relatively speaking) being that it's a college town, there seems to be plenty of anecdotal evidence that casinos do little other than sucking $$$ out of local economies much more than contributing positively to the overall economic pictures of the surrounding area where they are located.

Locally here in SW Michigan, it'll be interesting what happens with the two current and one soon-to-be-opened casinos in this area. Four Winds Casino has been up-and-running in New Buffalo (a town that has gotten a huge influx of Chicago $$$ every summer for decades), I think they opened about a half-dozen years ago. The same tribe of Pottawotomie Indians then opened a satellite casino midway between Watervliet and Hartford and will be soon opening another satellite casino near Dowagiac in the near future. My bet is that neither will benefit those nearby little towns; already, more businesses in Watervliet have boarded up in the last year or two and there seems to be nothing positive to report as a result of that casino being located nearby.

Bottom line? If there are only 'X' # of $$$'s to go around, they simply are getting re-directed. Basically, casinos act as life-sucking parasites unless there is enough diversity in any local economy to withstand the negatives that they bring. Maybe I'm over-simplifying the equation, prove me wrong!

Casinos produce nothing. They are a pure zero sum game.

[hack]

You were commenting on what you perceived as racism, not just the presence of politics.

Most definitely. Are you pretending they are mutually exclusive?

[Rob F]

Most definitely. Are you pretending they are mutually exclusive?

I see and understand where you're coming from, hack, and while I agree that we have to ban politics as a specific matter of discussion on this forum, we have always allowed more leeway when it comes to discussing such things as current events, religion, casinos, guns, etc. Is it possible to discuss such subjects without some of the opinions and statements going borderline political? Honestly, I don't think so. Those sort of things are deeply intertwined to the point that there is always gonna be some "connecting the dots" when being discussed. As I see it, its unavoidable peripheral stuff and I'm willing to let it go unless and until the focus goes over the "line" into politics. So far, I'm not seeing it here.

Like politics, overtly racist stuff and full-blown trolling will get close scrutiny, up to and including deletion. If I feel I have to delete something because it's too far over the line, so be it. I hate the entire idea of censorship, but if there is gross misconduct on anyone's part, then they've already made their own bed.

Can't we all just get along?

[DennisT]

But again, .. as grand imperial pooh-bah of this forum, I reserve the right to comment any way I please. And I will delete anything I don't like, or pisses me off.

Stupid attitude and perfect recipe for more evacuations.

[hack]

I see and understand where you're coming from, hack, and while I agree that we have to ban politics as a specific matter of discussion on this forum, we have always allowed more leeway when it comes to discussing such things as current events, religion, casinos, guns, etc. Is it possible to discuss such subjects without some of the opinions and statements going borderline political? Honestly, I don't think so. Those sort of things are deeply intertwined to the point that there is always gonna be some "connecting the dots" when being discussed. As I see it, its unavoidable peripheral stuff and I'm willing to let it go unless and until the focus goes over the "line" into politics. So far, I'm not seeing it here.

Like politics, overtly racist stuff and full-blown trolling will get close scrutiny, up to and including deletion. If I feel I have to delete something because it's too far over the line, so be it. I hate the entire idea of censorship, but if there is gross misconduct on anyone's part, then they've already made their own bed.

Can't we all just get along?

Thanks, Rob. I think on my end, I can respect what offends linesman (and a few others) and stay away from a few things. It would be nice if he had respect for others. Not everyone shares his sense of right and wrong, but nobody wants to find himself in a thread in which out of nowhere there's some seriously offensive shit going on. Since we all have somewhat different ideas of what that means, I say either adopt the full spectrum of political correctness or none of it. Or if we can't just be adults about it we could have a ``Thread for Linesman to Avoid'' and a ``Thread for Hack to Avoid'', so to speak.

As for me, I'm fine to shrug off a barb or two headed my way, and so should others.

[Dr. Strangelove]

But again, .. as grand imperial pooh-bah of this forum, I reserve the right to comment any way I please. And I will delete anything I don't like, or pisses me off.

Stupid attitude and perfect recipe for more evacuations.

The plan is that the new policy, where everything is run according to liney's whim, will see an explosion of new participants.

How's that going, by the way?

[Dr. Strangelove]

And Hack, I did think about commenting last night on the board's group of middle-aged white guys doling out "advice" to the black community and how they need to stop complaining about racism...but then I decided to just keep quiet.