Non-Presidential News Stories That Don't Deserve Their Own Thread Thread

[JL25and3]

Not going to respond for the most part because John did it better than I ever could but I will add that I don't believe you intended to imply that we need to keep some people hungry so others can show them empathy but that sure is the way it came across.

Yes, I didn’t mean to suggest that that was the intent of False's post. I was jumping straight to underlying implications, which , unfortunately, I think we’re unintentionally present.

[False1]

Yet, even with food banks, here we are, lacking it. One problem is that the food banks are run and staffed by the people who already have empathy. They don’t develop it in those who don’t.

There will always be a need for volunteers and for charity. There will always be house fires and pediatric oncology units; there will always be suffering.

Maybe what you’re talking about is a sense of community. The institutions that supported that no longer do so in the same way. Public libraries have been starved. Local newspapers are gone, or reduced to wire feeds. Churches no longer seem to serve that function, and some are divisive rather that unifying. I grew up - and again live - in a suburb that was once a self-contained small town; we shopped right here for groceries, clothes, shoes, hardware, stationery, toys, and so on. No longer. I don’t know if those community structures can or will ever be replaced.

Whether you put it in terms of empathy or community, the idea that we need to exploit people's lack of food in order to build or maintain them should be shocking. The suggestion is essentially that starving people are performing a public service, and that we need to keep them starving for the good of others. People might just have to find other ways to learn to be decent.

Finally, the system doesn’t work. Many, many children still go to bed hungry. People are homeless and bankrupted by medical care and lose jobs for lack of child care and, and, and. Charity can pop up and put a finger in the dike here, or there, but there are too many leaks. Take care of everyone, not just the hundred people who pick up food at a local food bank.

My goodness John. Did I say that it is good that people go hungry? Just stated out loud a few posts earlier the commitment I make personally with my own time and money at the local level to trying to ensure fewer go hungry. I also said I'm all for more federal aid to help provide more food security for those that need it. I also said that I'm ok with abuse of programs if it means that those in true need receive it. This is a cheap shot, and I wouldn't expect it from you.

I wish no one was hungry, but wishing ain't getting the job done.

And I have a personal testimony that your statement that food banks and other types of community service don't develop empathy is inaccurate. Obviously it's not an end-all solution to hunger or to shifting entire communities' perspectives on doing more for those in need, and I wasn't positioning it as such. I'm not sure why my comment that local communities will lose something if the federal government somehow magically decides to care for 100% of everyone's needs.

[False1]

Not going to respond for the most part because John did it better than I ever could but I will add that I don't believe you intended to imply that we need to keep some people hungry so others can show them empathy but that sure is the way it came across.

Well thank you for at least giving me that degree of confidence. I guess I'm poorly wording what I'm trying to say. Little surprised at the reaction. Sometimes the problem with food insecurity isn't solely lack of resources. Sometimes there are issues in the home, spousal abuse, neglect of kids, misappropriation of aid, misuse of aid in terms of nutritional value, etc. Food banks and soup kitchens are uniquely helpful in some circumstances that won't be solved by more SNAP funding for example. To say it out loud, I'm ALL FOR and increase in SNAP. Also, food banks reallocate tons and tons of perishable food items that would otherwise go to waste and fill up landfills and contribute to climate change.

Maybe subconsciously I'm really just trying to do a PSA for people to engage in their communities now while this problem exists with as much inertia as they will yelling at politicians who clearly are not solving the problem any time soon, or to burn as many calories actually helping those they emphatically state they care about through volunteerism as they do castigating family and friends who lead the opposite direction politically.

[False1]

Yes, I didn’t mean to suggest that that was the intent of False's post. I was jumping straight to underlying implications, which , unfortunately, I think we’re unintentionally present.

The suggestion is essentially that starving people are performing a public service, and that we need to keep them starving for the good of others.

You really think that is my suggestion?

[JL25and3]

You really think that is my suggestion?

I think those are the unintended implications. I don’t think you’d actually suggest that.

[Maynerd]

Maybe what you’re talking about is a sense of community. The institutions that supported that no longer do so in the same way. Public libraries have been starved. Local newspapers are gone, or reduced to wire feeds. Churches no longer seem to serve that function, and some are divisive rather that unifying. I grew up - and again live - in a suburb that was once a self-contained small town; we shopped right here for groceries, clothes, shoes, hardware, stationery, toys, and so on. No longer. I don’t know if those community structures can or will ever be replaced.

Superbly stated. I think the loss of a sense of community is one of the great tragedies that's occurred in our lifetime. I still go to the Public Library. Some people are surprised, as if they weren't even aware libraries still existed. I get my local newspaper, actually printed on paper, in the driveway every morning. I find it 1000 times more satisfying than the on-line version of the same paper. I have a membership in my local zoo, and a local museum. I've done the Scout Leader thing (for over 20 years), School Board. Lions Club. I participate in my community.

And when Mrs Maynerd and I attend a local event, I'm shocked at the number of local friends and neighbors who react by saying "how did you know about that?"

Like you, I was raised in a suburban community, and I live in one now. As a kid, far more people were involved in the community, rather than just residents. It made for a much better environment. My Father died suddenly when I was just 8 years old. I probably didn't fully appreciate it for a few years, but there was ALWAYS someone who stepped in (usually without being asked) to help with school projects, or that Father-Son dinner for the Cub Scouts, or whatever else came up that my Mother might have been ill-equipped to handle. Community.

It seems insignificant, but back then, folks spent some of their idle time sitting on their front porch, talking, reading, or whatever. And you'd greet neighbors as they'd pass by, and chat for a bit. Front porches have been replaced by back-yard decks (surrounded by privacy fences). You don't greet your neighbors and chat with them any more, because you don't know them by name, and you rarely see them. Maybe you wave as the garage door opens and they pull out of their driveway. That's a poor excuse for a community.

I don't know how we get that back. I pity those who never experienced it.

[RhodyYanksFan]

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/s...66542683279362

PA GOP Gov candidate Steve Lynch today: “Forget going into these school boards with freaking data. You go in to these school boards to remove them. I’m going in with 20 strong men and I’m gonna give them an option - they can leave or they can be removed.”

Isn't this how the Handmaids Tale started?

[YFIB]

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/s...66542683279362


Isn't this how the Handmaids Tale started?

Why do all these "conservatives" hate democracy?

[Texsahara]

Superbly stated. I think the loss of a sense of community is one of the great tragedies that's occurred in our lifetime. I still go to the Public Library. Some people are surprised, as if they weren't even aware libraries still existed. I get my local newspaper, actually printed on paper, in the driveway every morning. I find it 1000 times more satisfying than the on-line version of the same paper. I have a membership in my local zoo, and a local museum. I've done the Scout Leader thing (for over 20 years), School Board. Lions Club. I participate in my community.

And when Mrs Maynerd and I attend a local event, I'm shocked at the number of local friends and neighbors who react by saying "how did you know about that?"

Like you, I was raised in a suburban community, and I live in one now. As a kid, far more people were involved in the community, rather than just residents. It made for a much better environment. My Father died suddenly when I was just 8 years old. I probably didn't fully appreciate it for a few years, but there was ALWAYS someone who stepped in (usually without being asked) to help with school projects, or that Father-Son dinner for the Cub Scouts, or whatever else came up that my Mother might have been ill-equipped to handle. Community.

It seems insignificant, but back then, folks spent some of their idle time sitting on their front porch, talking, reading, or whatever. And you'd greet neighbors as they'd pass by, and chat for a bit. Front porches have been replaced by back-yard decks (surrounded by privacy fences). You don't greet your neighbors and chat with them any more, because you don't know them by name, and you rarely see them. Maybe you wave as the garage door opens and they pull out of their driveway. That's a poor excuse for a community.

I don't know how we get that back. I pity those who never experienced it.

I would say you don't. But I also think there were similar concerns at the turn of the 20th century as we moved from farm to factory. We need to build new communities that work better with current lifestyles and it probably will happen organically. It won't look like what you know or want but it will look like what the people involved need.

[DrNick]

Superbly stated. I think the loss of a sense of community is one of the great tragedies that's occurred in our lifetime. I still go to the Public Library. Some people are surprised, as if they weren't even aware libraries still existed. I get my local newspaper, actually printed on paper, in the driveway every morning. I find it 1000 times more satisfying than the on-line version of the same paper. I have a membership in my local zoo, and a local museum. I've done the Scout Leader thing (for over 20 years), School Board. Lions Club. I participate in my community.

And when Mrs Maynerd and I attend a local event, I'm shocked at the number of local friends and neighbors who react by saying "how did you know about that?"

Like you, I was raised in a suburban community, and I live in one now. As a kid, far more people were involved in the community, rather than just residents. It made for a much better environment. My Father died suddenly when I was just 8 years old. I probably didn't fully appreciate it for a few years, but there was ALWAYS someone who stepped in (usually without being asked) to help with school projects, or that Father-Son dinner for the Cub Scouts, or whatever else came up that my Mother might have been ill-equipped to handle. Community.

It seems insignificant, but back then, folks spent some of their idle time sitting on their front porch, talking, reading, or whatever. And you'd greet neighbors as they'd pass by, and chat for a bit. Front porches have been replaced by back-yard decks (surrounded by privacy fences). You don't greet your neighbors and chat with them any more, because you don't know them by name, and you rarely see them. Maybe you wave as the garage door opens and they pull out of their driveway. That's a poor excuse for a community.

I don't know how we get that back. I pity those who never experienced it.

I will ask a guy I work with that question, but I already know his answer. It might be because just last month he had a 2 week stretch where he worked 150+ hours between his 2 jobs. And he was kinda forced to do this because they laid someone off in his department taking the staffing from 4 to 3. Sure he could say no to the OT, but his landlord just jacked his rent sky high, so he has either ridiculous rent to cover of will need to quickly save a large amount to cover first/last of a new place. Maybe people are just too damn exhausted working 2 or 3 jobs.

[DrNick]

Superbly stated. I think the loss of a sense of community is one of the great tragedies that's occurred in our lifetime. I still go to the Public Library. Some people are surprised, as if they weren't even aware libraries still existed. I get my local newspaper, actually printed on paper, in the driveway every morning. I find it 1000 times more satisfying than the on-line version of the same paper. I have a membership in my local zoo, and a local museum. I've done the Scout Leader thing (for over 20 years), School Board. Lions Club. I participate in my community.

And when Mrs Maynerd and I attend a local event, I'm shocked at the number of local friends and neighbors who react by saying "how did you know about that?"

Like you, I was raised in a suburban community, and I live in one now. As a kid, far more people were involved in the community, rather than just residents. It made for a much better environment. My Father died suddenly when I was just 8 years old. I probably didn't fully appreciate it for a few years, but there was ALWAYS someone who stepped in (usually without being asked) to help with school projects, or that Father-Son dinner for the Cub Scouts, or whatever else came up that my Mother might have been ill-equipped to handle. Community.

It seems insignificant, but back then, folks spent some of their idle time sitting on their front porch, talking, reading, or whatever. And you'd greet neighbors as they'd pass by, and chat for a bit. Front porches have been replaced by back-yard decks (surrounded by privacy fences). You don't greet your neighbors and chat with them any more, because you don't know them by name, and you rarely see them. Maybe you wave as the garage door opens and they pull out of their driveway. That's a poor excuse for a community.

I don't know how we get that back. I pity those who never experienced it.

Just wanted to add one more thing. Maybe I dont want to know my neighbors. Hell, I live in Florida...the crazy is dialed up to 11 here. LOL

[Yankee Tripper]

I will ask a guy I work with that question, but I already know his answer. It might be because just last month he had a 2 week stretch where he worked 150+ hours between his 2 jobs. And he was kinda forced to do this because they laid someone off in his department taking the staffing from 4 to 3. Sure he could say no to the OT, but his landlord just jacked his rent sky high, so he has either ridiculous rent to cover of will need to quickly save a large amount to cover first/last of a new place. Maybe people are just too damn exhausted working 2 or 3 jobs.

Will no one think of the poor landlords?

[YankeePride1967]

No link yet as it was just announced live on the 4:30 EDT Press briefing. As of 3:30 pm EDT the last plane left Afghanistan with the last of the evacuees ending our 20 year occupation

[Yankee Tripper]

No link yet as it was just announced live on the 4:30 EDT Press briefing. As of 3:30 pm EDT the last plane left Afghanistan with the last of the evacuees ending our 20 year occupation

It's on twitter, I'm sure a "real news" org will run a story soon.

So 79,000 evacuated by US military and 123,000 total with US and others.

I'm sure Republicans will be introducing legislation to accept Afghani Refugees any minute now.

[YankeePride1967]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...-live-updates/

here is one