SkepticalOne

So goes the narrative. In reality, approximately 70% of people in ICE detention and those removed do not have any criminal convictions.

Sexual discrimination is a major issue in America.

Yes ma'am.

Debby wrote:

What a waste to go to hell for eternity when Jesus offered salvation.

Thank you for the clarification. I'm not a Christian. I do not believe in the Biblical Literary Universe. Thanks for your concern though!

Healthcare should be a universal right.

You'll get no argument from me.

Debby wrote:

Death after if the person is going to hell. What a waste of time and resources.

I dont know what you mean.

Polytheistwitch wrote:

People argue the weirdest things to try to justify their religious belief or lack thereof. What it comes down to or should come down to is you've had some type of experience that leads you to believe that there is something more than yourself out in the universe. That's it. Nothing else matters. Nothing about your life matters. How how you die doesn't matters. It's all irrelevant.

Agreed.

So, if there is not currently a "a multi-party democracy," in the United States, why doesn't the DSA want to register as another political party to add to the existing "multi-party democracy?" Why are they so shy? Answer: DSA wants a communist state, not a democratic republic.

Thats a HUGE leap, and it doesnt follow. The group wants to expand the House, institute proportional voting, rank choice voting, bring more parties to elections, and, uh, *checks notes* ...Communism? Nothing about any of the aspirations they list hint at communism. This is crazy talk.

Rowland sufficed that team’s findings by writing “errors in parallax from varying angles of measurement and atmospheric conditions at the respective points of observation”.

Rowland is advancing the measurements of the 1919 eclipse didn't validate Relativity because the bending of light was due to the sun's atmosphere rather than gravity. This would also mean that all other instances of 'lensing' must be due to ...ugh, not gravity.

This is a problematic position refuted by many observations. The Bullet Cluster and time delay lensing represent two specific counters. Atmosphere isnt a reasonable explanation in these cases. Observations of the Bullet Galaxy Cluster reveal lensing completely separated from hot plasma. ie. gravity is responsible for the lensing rather than refraction. Even more damning for the refraction faction is time delay lensing. Distinct images with the same supernova background arrived months apart. Refraction cant explain this, but light traveling completely different gravity warped pathways through space does.

[...] Hawking said “a case of knowing the result they wanted to get, not an uncommon occurrence in science” regarding the 1919 solar eclipse General Relativity Theory investigative team of Dyson, Eddington, and Commelin.

This is from Hawking's book "A brief history of time" written around the same time the Royal Greenwhich Observatory reanalysed the 1919 photographic plates and found the data selection was scientifically sound. He never integrated these findings into his opinions. As a science communicator, this was irresponsible on his part.

Regardless, Hawking accepted general relativity. His career was built on expanding General Relativity. He famously used it to show the universe must have started with the Big Bang (Penrose-Hawking theorems). So, if you agree with Hawking, you accept the Big Bang is the best explanation of the evidence.

We already have fair pay for equal work

Untrue. Not globally. Not in the US.

Balanced sharing of home care happens in successful marriages which do exist and is not something hypothetical, so again there is already equality there

I really expected you to balk at this one. Kudos!

Comparable numbers of men and women in leadership roles is not pragmatic to pursue.

Untrue. Women have established themselves as competent leaders utilizing more effective aspects of leadership. It is time to move passed the antiquated sterotypes and accept we need men AND women leaders. [Link]

I don't know how you inferred that you were supposed to feel pity for me based on my statement.

I misread your words. Apologies. In fairness, though, this thread is about a particular man having difficulty finding dates.

If we look at a list of all the wars that have been documented, how many have been fought by men and how many have been fought by women?

This is a non sequitor and does not refute the reality of prominent roles women have played in human cultures.

It is basic biology and psychology to know that men are usually stronger and more assertive and aggressive, and women tend to be more submissive and weaker.

Another non sequitur. Being stronger, assertive, and more aggressive is not a prerequisite for leadership. It is not even necessarily true leaders in groups made up exclusively of men will be the strongest, the most assertive, or aggressive. Leadership has many facets (creativity, compassion, diplomacy, risk taking, resilience, etc) and the type of group determines the type of leader.

This is such a vague statement in context of either supporting your side or negating mine.

I argue feminism has made America stronger by allowing more people control over their own lives. If America is truly the 'Land of the Free' with 'liberty and justice for all', then feminism is about as American as you can get.

🤣🤣🤣

FLRW wrote:

Yes, that is a picture of me, Sidewalker, Ebuc, SL, and SkepticalOne at our Club.

I'm the chunky one...

When the grandpa looks down to see what happened, he sees 3 balls bunched on the ground about 5 feet away, beside him.

You've twisted this analogy to avoid an easy answer which is applicable to our expanding universe.

I think it is telling you won't answer my question. You have no explanation for an expanding universe do you?

No one would care if humanity went extinct.

No one tell the humans...

SatanLucy wrote:

They should hurry up with making sex robots. Humanity needs them. We can no longer put up with having to chase fussy women.

...and thats how humanity went extinct. Men preferred sex with mindless robots over the opposite sex with icky thoughts of their own.

What does equal status look like in practice? Does anyone know? Women don't act the same way as men, but they'd hold the same positions and be viewed the same way? Women in politics lead with emotion as is known by their psychology which is not the best form of decision-making.

Equal status for women looks like fair pay for equal work, balanced sharing of home care, comparable numbers of women and men in leadership roles, the same choice of body, etc. etc.

Not for nothing, our current president (a man) leads with emotion. There is a very short list of people (man or woman) who would not be more emotionally stable than him. He is a weak individual.

Now we have more depressed single women who regret not getting married because they're fed this lie that they need to focus on business and "male pursuits" to be viewed as equal.

You poor thing.

Now the average person has to make more money because the amount of workers has gone up by pushing more women into the workforce.

That makes no sense. More workers should equal more product/services, profit, and pay.

There was a test done on horses and zebras. Male zebra has sex with female horse but does not impregnate the female. Later the female horse has sex with a male horse, and guess what, the offspring had stripes.

This is an old wives tales that has been disproven.

https://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/towardsdolly/2013/01/18/star-of-the-stripes/

Wars are largely fought by men. There are female warriors, but men make up the majority. Men are also physically more dominating, are more assertive, are more commanding, more adventurous. All things that add to being a dominant human more than a female would be. Just because there are examples of female domination does not mean that they tend to be the dominant group. The men are usually the ones in control and hold sway over decision making.

You are pointing to norms of one culture to dismiss norms of others. It doesnt work like that my friend. The roles you present as immutable are nothing of the sort.

What community is that? Is it made up entirely of men? If not, then perhaps the ideals and statutes are incomplete.

The US society for example. What feminism has accomplished is anti-American, and American ideals and statutes are imperative to uphold.

We will have to disagree. America is stronger with independent people who have control over their own lives. Ideals and statutes which allow for this are about as far from anti-American as one can get.

I disagree because some are instituted by God

I'm unconvinced gods humans worship aren't human constructs as well.

You have a leap of faith that the Universe is expanding at a rate that traces back in time 13.8 billion years ago to a Big Bang, not scientific fact.

You have no good evidence for the Big Bang.

Thats not a leap of faith, friend. It is an inference to the best explanation. Applying general relativity and thermodynamics in reverse, an initial hot dense state best accounts for the expansion of the universe and the cosmic microwave background.

You didn’t answer the question (I am genuinely curious). How does your ideology explain the expanding universe?

Are you saying that the ideals are human constructs and/or they are silly contrived customs?

Ideals and customs are human constructs. Some are silly.

The current feminist views have enabled women to feel a sense of superiority and entitlement over men.

Feminism has allowed women to glimpse equal status. Potato/potatho 😉

I'm saying is practicality in the instance that perhaps the woman waited and thus respects the concept of marriage more thus having a more secure, unified relationship with the husband.

There is nothing wrong with wanting a partner to have shared values.

When I said biologically with children in mind, there is a theory-

This is an unwarranted belief ...unless youre a fly. It has never been confirmed or observed in humans or mammals of any kind.

What do you mean by "domineering"? Men are by nature the dominant counterpart

I think you might be confusing culture with nature. Anthropology reveals matrilineal and female-led societies, female warriors, and women with primary authority.

Domineering describes someone who is bossy, arrogant, overbearing. Someone who tries to control other people with no consideration of their feelings. Being this type of person/partner would make marriage seem like slavery.

Let's not discriminate here. I love Catholics and those door-to-door salesmen Christians.

I think the person for you probably does too.

When I said destroy, I meant ruin and degrade the statutes and ideals of the community.

The feminist movement has brought about terrible outcomes, and we can talk about that if you're interested

What community is that? Is it made up entirely of men? If not, then perhaps the ideals and statutes are incomplete.

Skipper wrote:

Semantics aside, did his post imply women don't have similar concerns dating? The post is written from a male perspective cause he's a man, but I don't see anything implying these problems only exist from that perspective.

This is what I was going to say

This is an unnecessary defense. I am merely suggesting men and women deal with these same challenges. Sometimes, others fall short of what we need in a partner, and sometimes we are the one found lacking.

Manosphere tells me to act tough, be dispassionate, not truly care for the woman, and and spread my genetic information across the nation.

Dumb advice.

Feminism tells me to be nice and put the woman on a pedestal (who then resents me for not being more "manly" per se.)

That's not what feminism tells you. That's feminism as seen through a patriarchal lense. Feminism tells you to treat women as equals.

Seriously, it is hard to find a woman who doesn't have too much sexual angst, knows what she wants, is mature, respects herself, and is not entitled.

Do you think women don't have the same concerns?

How do I know my wife will not divorce me?

As someone that has been married for 27 years, let me assure you, you don't. Marriage takes two, so does divorce.

How can I find a virgin (which btw is practically and biologically the best kind of wife with children in mind)?

Unimportant. Virginity is not a prerequisite of pregnancy. If it were, multiple children with the same partner would be impossible! 😉

How do I find a woman who does not think marriage is slavery?

Don't be a domineering partner.

Is their reluctance because they have a hard time trusting me as a man because they know the ideas I am exposed to?

You are kinda giving off a vibe that you might be in demand to a smaller select group.

I know much of the toxicity of the despicable cultures comes from trying to upset the natural order and destroy the purpose of man.

Case in point...

If you destroy the men you destroy the society. That's what the bad societies truly want.

Societies that want to destroy society are indeed bad...and non-existent.

Trying to figure out these relational virtues is a big reason we are in this life right?

It seems to me relational virtues (love, forgiveness, generosity, and boundaries) aren't the meaning of life so much as prerequisites for living with other people.

I think it is fair to say living in groups is our nature, but our purpose is individually determined.

To me, 'doing' is more about virtues and loving and serving others, but I know thats often associated with Christianity but id think it has broader applicability to everyone?

While these virtues are often attributed to Christianity (by Christians) they predate the Biblical writers. There is broader applicability.

some some people focus on simply existing and partaking in life, and some are more focused on engagement... or as I call it 'being versus doing'.

This resonates. Life is a ride on the river. You can coast along and let the current do the work or take an active role in piloting. We probably all do both.

The universe is expanding - this is a verifiable fact. Trace this expansion back in time and you get to a single dense beginning 13.8 billion years ago. If not the Big Bang, then how does one explain the expansion?

How well our internal beliefs correspond to external facts of the world is truth. Truth is the bridge between our mind and reality.

Question - why do you bother to provide a quote and then address something entirely different? Are you okay?

Again, the contract is between the employer and the employee, not taxpayers. I get that corporations *can* take advantage of a third party, that doesn't make it right. We may just have to agree to disagree on this one. 🙂

I'm just saying it's not a loophole, it's something the government would obviously consider when writing the law.

I disagree. Providing necessities to those in need would obviously be considered. Anticipating corporations would have taxpayers subsidize 5% of their payroll is not something that would obviously be considered.

Part 10 of the DSA rant does not mention race, so I do not, either.

Maybe you weren't aware, but the readers can scroll to the top of this page to see a rant, your rant, about race - 2 paragraphs worth.

it's companies negotiating for the best labor price they can get as they've always done.

The 'negotiation' is between the employer and the employee - not the employer, the employee, and taxpayers.

And as I said, the companies are likely reducing the burden on taxpayers by employing people rather than doing nothing.

If the goal is truly reducing the burden on taxpayers, then perhaps corporations shouldn't be able to avoid paying taxes. Amazon paid an effective tax rate of 1.4% for their 77.7 billion profit in 2025. For perspective, the lowest rate an individual can pay for federal income tax is 10%. These individuals make less than $12,000 a year. Amazon is heavily involved in tax code lobbying. Some of that profit goes to overpowering individual voters and effecting tax code to their advantage.

The Government Accountability Office analyzed the data from 15 state agencies across 11 states and found 12,350 Amazon employees were enrolled in SNAP, and 11350 were covered by medicaid. In the states listed in the report, Amazon employs 273,600 employees. Assuming overlap between these two groups, roughly 5% of Amazon employees are in public assistance. 5% of amazon employees in the US is ~55000. Between the two programs, the government provides roughly $13000 per year per individual. Using these rough numbers, the US government spends ~715 million to subsidize Amazon.

So, Amazon pays an small amount (respectively to their profit) for taxes, and half of that might be going to take care of their employees. Is this theft? Maybe not. Is it right? No.

https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108703

So, not theft. The point of the woodchipper/fireplace analogy is that just because a situation is mutually beneficial as opposed to totally charitable, does not make it theft, since it's benefiting the employee, not harming them. It could be theft if the contract was nonconsensual, but as you said, it's a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Context. As I said in the sentence immediately following the one you segregated:

It's the government taxing people to pay the employee, so if anything the government are the ones stealing?

Are you being intentionally obtuse? The problem isn't taxation, but that taxpayer funds are being used to (effectively) increase profits for a private company - an entity that may or may not pay taxes. As I see it, this is very clearly a manipulation of the system. Does it rise to the level of 'theft'? Yes, I think it does at least in essence.