Current Riots in America (June 2020)

[The Unabashed Pragmatic]

Lots of shootings and Trump calling the guard to WI. 

We're not in Kansas anymore.  

 

[The Unabashed Pragmatic]

5 hours ago, Peter said:

You are somehow "warped." Sigmoid Fraud

You're boring. And I'll bet you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich--you're the lousiest bicycle driver in the whole world.

[The Unabashed Pragmatic]

5 hours ago, Peter said:

You are somehow "warped." Sigmoid Fraud

Warped?  I'll show you warped.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

6 hours ago, The Unabashed Pragmatic said:

Not at all.  The despair you detect might be your own reflection in my words.  You may not enjoy hearing what I have to say perhaps.

U,

Well, I do quake in my boots before the might of your rhetoric.

 

6 hours ago, The Unabashed Pragmatic said:

I want to pass something along to my grandchildren and make it even better than I had it. 

This is bullshit and you've said so yourself.

You want your grandchildren to live under the tyranny of Vladimir Putin.

Here are your own words, several times.

On 7/30/2020 at 11:32 AM, The Unabashed Pragmatic said:

I want Vladimir Putin to come over here and take over.  The USA and Russia together would be an unstoppable force for good in the world.

and

On 7/30/2020 at 12:33 PM, The Unabashed Pragmatic said:

Putin doesn't have to take over with violence.  We can elect him in 2020.  

and

On 8/19/2020 at 1:07 PM, The Unabashed Pragmatic said:

I'm voting for Vlad' Putin.  He's my guy.  'Make America Russia Again'.

You wrote that. I didn't.

I don't want Putin to take over.

You do.

I don't want Putin to be elected.

You do.

I don't wish that world for your grandchildren.

And I'll have the good sense to ask what you did not. Is that really the world you want for your grandchildren?

Now's a good time to look at that question about what your words convey.

Oh, I forgot.

The despair in your words I see is a reflection of my own hypocrisy and fear... Your brilliance makes me uncomfortable because they make me look at truths about my own shortcomings that I prefer to hide from myself...

 

Carry on, oh great communicator...

Michael

[Dglgmut]

Those quotes all sound facetious to me.

[The Unabashed Pragmatic]

5 minutes ago, Dglgmut said:

Those quotes all sound facetious to me.

Bingo.  

[The Unabashed Pragmatic]

6 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

U,

Well, I do quake in my boots before the might of your rhetoric.

 

This is bullshit and you've said so yourself.

You want your grandchildren to live under the tyranny of Vladimir Putin.

Here are your own words, several times.

and

and

You wrote that. I didn't.

I don't want Putin to take over.

You do.

I don't want Putin to be elected.

You do.

I don't wish that world for your grandchildren.

And I'll have the good sense to ask what you did not. Is that really the world you want for your grandchildren?

Now's a good time to look at that question about what your words convey.

Oh, I forgot.

The despair in your words I see is a reflection of my own hypocrisy and fear... Your brilliance makes me uncomfortable because they make me look at truths about my own shortcomings that I prefer to hide from myself...

 

Carry on, oh great communicator...

Michael

I'm not even going to help you pretend you did not know my Putin stories were wisecracks.  Nor was I accusing you of despair.  It was only a suggestion.  No despair going on here.  

All that being said, I'm curious... what makes you think Putin is such a tyrant?    

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

3 hours ago, Dglgmut said:

Those quotes all sound facetious to me.

D,

They didn't sound facetious to me.

They sounded dumb.

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

1 minute ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

They sounded dumb.

btw - I've seen this a lot online.

It's a form of macho posturing to a small group instead of facing down and undermining a real enemy.

One gets to have an unearned allure of rebelliousness without any danger.

Michael

 

[The Unabashed Pragmatic]

39 minutes ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

btw - I've seen this a lot online.

It's a form of macho posturing to a small group instead of facing down and undermining a real enemy.

One gets to have an unearned allure of rebelliousness without any danger.

Michael

 

Danger is my game.  Fun. Busted a hundred thugs and threw their thug asses in jail; rapists, murderers, robbers, punks, et. al.  Outdoor adventurer.  Driven my mountain bike across three states, driving night and day.  Lived in several Asian countries, where I was the only White boy in the whole village.  Lived just like they did.  Climbed and hiked all over North America in the most remote places I could find.  Armed and unarmed security in the most violent neighborhood in Clark County, NV, elbow to elbow with thugs and Metro, survived ten years of it--unscathed.  Survived three months in the Amazon River Basin, nobody but me, a handful of science guys and the wild Indians, scrounging for food, .  Survivalist excursions, dog sledding up North, winter survival excursions well below forty degrees farenheit.  Dozens more fun activities to add to my resume.  

And did it all on my own, on my own dime.  No military or other agency backing me or paying my way.  No barracks to go home to at night.  Just me.  Alone.  All of it.  Unscathed.  

Come on up to Brookings County whenever you feel ready, fella.  I've got a rigorous, dangerous activity schedule made just for you.  Let's put you to the test.  

Come on up.  It's still summer.  That'll make it a little easier on you... you hope.    

Bring a good pair of boots. 

 

[The Unabashed Pragmatic]

58 minutes ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

D,

They didn't sound facetious to me.

They sounded dumb.

Michael

I thought to myself as I was reading your drivel, "Does this clown actually think I'm serious about this Putin, BS?  Nah.  That can't be.  Nobody's that fuckin' dumb."  But here you are.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

31 minutes ago, The Unabashed Pragmatic said:

I thought to myself as I was reading your drivel, "Does this clown actually think I'm serious about this Putin, BS?  Nah.  That can't be.  Nobody's that fuckin' dumb."  But here you are.

U,

You're starting to cross the line.

First warning.

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

35 minutes ago, The Unabashed Pragmatic said:

Danger is my game.

Right here on OL.

Gimmee a break!

Michael

[Jules Troy]

I need more popcorn..

(cowbell is hurting my ears)

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

50 minutes ago, The Unabashed Pragmatic said:

Danger is my game.  Fun. Busted a hundred thugs and threw their thug asses in jail; rapists, murderers, robbers, punks, et. al.  Outdoor adventurer.  Driven my mountain bike across three states, driving night and day.  Lived in several Asian countries, where I was the only White boy in the whole village.  Lived just like they did.  Climbed and hiked all over North America in the most remote places I could find.  Armed and unarmed security in the most violent neighborhood in Clark County, NV, elbow to elbow with thugs and Metro, survived ten years of it--unscathed.  Survived three months in the Amazon River Basin, nobody but me, a handful of science guys and the wild Indians, scrounging for food, .  Survivalist excursions, dog sledding up North, winter survival excursions well below forty degrees farenheit.  Dozens more fun activities to add to my resume.  

And did it all on my own, on my own dime.  No military or other agency backing me or paying my way.  No barracks to go home to at night.  Just me.  Alone.  All of it.  Unscathed.  

Come on up to Brookings County whenever you feel ready, fella.  I've got a rigorous, dangerous activity schedule made just for you.  Let's put you to the test.  

Come on up.  It's still summer.  That'll make it a little easier on you... you hope.    

Bring a good pair of boots. 

 

This guy should threaten some high school kids or something to make himself feel better.

And, to be honest, I don't want this kind of shit on OL. 

I ran out of time to babysit. Seriously. I'm behind in my work trying to keep this dude relevant to what OL is for.

So I'm restricting him for a while.

 

EDIT: Done. 

Let's see what, if anything, comes through the pipeline. But at least I don't have to be a hall monitor to kindergarten among adults any longer.

Michael

 

 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Just for the record, this guy is what a real badass looks like.

Mike goes after the bad guys and takes them out.

He does his Twitter thing, and he's full of bluster, but you won't see him posturing about being a badass to get oohs and aahs from the people who read him on Twitter. For the badass part, he goes and kicks the shit out of bad guys.

That's what badasses do.

And look what he says about weapons in his video, especially the AR-15. He's afraid of them. That's doesn't mean he won't fight. It means he looks at reality first, not just the story in his head.

That's what a badass does.

Michael

[Ellen Stuttle]

1 hour ago, The Unabashed Pragmatic said:

I thought to myself as I was reading your drivel, "Does this clown actually think I'm serious about this Putin, BS?  Nah.  That can't be.  Nobody's that fuckin' dumb."  But here you are.

For the record, I, too, thought he meant the Putin stuff.

Ellen

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

A note to OL readers:

I hate moderating people. And I don't mind bickering. (Discussion is better, but bickering is part of the human condition.  )

So I don't want you to worry about a ban-hammer coming down on you for speaking your mind.

Recently, I have had to moderate two people in close succession. That is not a pattern of power forming.

I don't want posters to threaten other posters here. Nor do I want posters to bully other posters with silly macho mindgames. 

And there's the traffic cop thing. You don't get to bash the traffic cop (unless you're Merlin.  )

And even then there's a lot of flexibility in it all.

But those are boundaries. Most everybody here on OL never gets near them.

Michael

 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

24 minutes ago, Ellen Stuttle said:

For the record, I, too, thought he meant the Putin stuff.

Ellen

Ellen,

This raises an interesting question about writing. When a person frames a point in one way, then later says he was joking, but humor was not evident in the original framing, he's actually owning up to saying he doesn't mean what he says.

For example, which should we take as his true meaning--as meaning what he says, (1) what he said initially or (2) when he said it was a joke? We can't take his word for either since he has already owned up to his word being inconsistent on purpose. And nobody knows him well enough to know when he is bullshitting or horsing around.

Being a clear writer is hard work, especially when addressing strangers. It's a learned skill, not just blurts.

But I'm speaking more to the reader here than you.

I think you, as an editor, know this better than I do.

Michael

 

[Ellen Stuttle]

10 minutes ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

So I don't want you to worry about a ban-hammer coming down on you for speaking your mind.

 

Michael,

Reassuring you:

I doubt that any of the regulars would worry about your starting to use "a ban-hammer" (I like that, ha).

Jon - unfortunately - went into a self-destruct tailspin.

And this new one - soporifically in his effect on me - alternates between kvetching and bragging.  Not attempts at actual discussion.  Add the daredeviling quality of his latest. Good idea to restrict him, IMO.

Ellen

[Ellen Stuttle]

2 minutes ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Being a clear writer is hard work, especially when addressing strangers. It's a learned skill, not just blurts.

But I'm speaking more to the reader here than you.

I think you, as an editor, know this better than I do.

LOL.  I know it well.

And "Unabashed" has an awful lot to learn about being a clear writer.

Ellen

[Jules Troy]

First he is a scientist..in FOUR disciplines no less.  Then he is a world travelled warrior slopping in the mud with the best of them.  Keyboard warrior wannabe maybe?

Racist bigot?  Mostly...

 

Your gungfu is weakkkkkkk grasshoppa!

[Ellen Stuttle]

1 hour ago, Jules Troy said:

First he is a scientist..in FOUR disciplines no less.

I'd forgotten that, but, now you mention it, I think he did say something about being a scientist.

Mr. Everything.  But completely lacking in (ta-da, are you ready, Michael?) a sense of story.

Ellen

[Brant Gaede]

5 hours ago, The Unabashed Pragmatic said:

Danger is my game.  Fun. Busted a hundred thugs and threw their thug asses in jail; rapists, murderers, robbers, punks, et. al.  Outdoor adventurer.  Driven my mountain bike across three states, driving night and day.  Lived in several Asian countries, where I was the only White boy in the whole village.  Lived just like they did.  Climbed and hiked all over North America in the most remote places I could find.  Armed and unarmed security in the most violent neighborhood in Clark County, NV, elbow to elbow with thugs and Metro, survived ten years of it--unscathed.  Survived three months in the Amazon River Basin, nobody but me, a handful of science guys and the wild Indians, scrounging for food, .  Survivalist excursions, dog sledding up North, winter survival excursions well below forty degrees farenheit.  Dozens more fun activities to add to my resume.  

And did it all on my own, on my own dime.  No military or other agency backing me or paying my way.  No barracks to go home to at night.  Just me.  Alone.  All of it.  Unscathed.  

Come on up to Brookings County whenever you feel ready, fella.  I've got a rigorous, dangerous activity schedule made just for you.  Let's put you to the test.  

Come on up.  It's still summer.  That'll make it a little easier on you... you hope.    

Bring a good pair of boots. 

 

You don't drive a mountain bike. You ride it.

--Brant

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

3 hours ago, Ellen Stuttle said:

Mr. Everything.  But completely lacking in (ta-da, are you ready, Michael?) a sense of story.

Ellen,

LOL...

That's right.

In fact, he constantly failed the first lesson in Storytelling for Persuasion 101.

You have to identify an enemy your audience also thinks is an enemy, then weave your story around beating that enemy.

Duh...

This guy constantly made his enemy out of the people he wanted to read him and admire him.

 

Total fail on that point.

He needs to find people who think we are bad, then tell stories of him trouncing us to them. They will then go, "Ooh" and "Aah..."

 

Why does the image of that goddam plagiarizer of years past keep coming to mind?...

Michael