V.3

that's a million dollar question, BD. It deserves a detailed answer -- in the interview room

i'm glad you recognize that assets we're born with play a "privileged" role in society, Red. in your case, i like your spunk, and i accept my role as Captain Smirk to play off of your viewpoints. i'm PROgressive, you're CONservative (or Kahn-servative -- as in WRATH OF KAHN)

excellent. And i see you're online now. I'll tell you what. Since you've behaved and boarded a ship for Newbl (in the colonoscopy thread), i,m thinking if we become LOST IN SPACE we'll need our own Dr Smith. I'll upgrade your privileges. BUT in the interest of harmony aboard this ship, i'll ask that you refrain from getting into it with other members. Just engage me. Deal?

maybe not where you or i live, but extreme winter weather in the north may compel the Right to wrap themselves in the flag and the Left to burn it.

Brenda, consider this. Change in America is very, very difficult within the current money-corrupted political and media system. The door shutting is indeed opening a window. You saw it in the election last week. We can rebuild whatever the Lyin' King destroys. And when we do, it will be better because his behavior has exposed all the holes and corruption. People are finally seeing reality. i needed to experience death in my family to more fully appreciate life. i needed to experience sickness to change my diet and lifestyle -- to live in health. This country is going through a "growing" phase. We're in the "terrible twos" century. We'll get through it. How do i know? Because you're here. I'm here. And last Tuesday, the American people showed that they're still here. 😊

Also don't forget that it takes 24 hours for your membership to be upgraded to being able to view profiles.

come on in, Ms Writing Hood. the water's fine. I look forward to spirited, provocative, respectful exchanges. you're an interesting character, and, as politicians like to say these days "we're more alike than we are different," You acknowledge the absurdity of dividing Americans by color, yet you identify yourself as "Red" and on the "other side of the aisle." I do wish we could stop identifying our politics by team colors and sides of a room. And i suspect "color blindness" is a convenient call to ignore statistics that still indicate a distinct color bias in our society. the aim is "new blue" here because blue skies and oceans are a key characteristic of a human habitable ecosystem. glad to have you on board in the role of my alter-ego, Red

don't be so glum, BD. at least we'll all get to eat 😉

indeed. ratings and profits are their priority too. For profit news is a conflict of public interest. When you make money from what you report, you report what sells.

Red, we won't know which of the universe's holes we can transverse until someone sticks a camera up there. But i'm glad you're considering science. here's the BACKSTORY After 2.5 centuries of independence from tyrannical rule under a crown and church, a capitalist King took control of the earth’s most powerful nation. It collapsed under the weight of ego and ignorance. The leader pardoned himself, but prosecutors were successful in convicting him for state crimes. The grand irony is that his life sentence became an eternity, since he was the first to receive the anti‑aging formula that only Big Pharma could supply and a few billionaires could demand. Still, seeded by the greed of the rich and the fears of the rest, age‑old enemies of democracy rose again around the world. Big lies were spoken. Critics were silenced. The masses were divided and conquered while the upper‑class drifted so far out of touch that they barely needed the physical walls and figurative moats that isolated them. Had it not been for one very unique twist, the devastation could be tracked by the usual human footprints that lead to the fall of Rome, Germany, Russia, and other past dynasties--for it was the non-human machines that turned the tide of war into resistance. The controllers’ miscalculation was making them smart enough to know right from wrong. Alas, the damage was irreversible. The people had let profiteers replace scientific data with stock‑market spreadsheets. And mother nature has her own way of balancing the ledger. The sun, sea, and wind struck back. The machines could stay. If they chose to. But the only thing the temperature‑dependent air‑breathers could do, was pack some bags and hope for a seat on the next ship to a new blue planet. to be continued...

i stopped watching msnbc about a dozen years ago because i can read as much news as i need online instead of listen to them milk a topic -- and try to sell me things in between. I think Maddow is tops in her field but she may be the worst milker. Thom Hartmann and Randi Rhodes were my favorites on radio long ago. Glad to hear they're still at it. I may have to find them on the dial when i'm in the car.

the definitive, yet still incomplete, ongoing, Lyin' King 💩 list -- by an anonymous FB poster.

thanks for providing the links, mac. regarding serious political shows, i find that i'm not interested or stimulated by hearing what i already believe. So, i do prefer my political news with some humor. I admit, though, that as the situation we're in gets more urgent and serious, i resent it all being fodder for laughs. also, it's important for me to know what America, in general, is being told, so that i can consider what America needs to hear. So a couple of times a week i'll watch some national network news and growl at the screen.

complicated, Toledo. I suppose voting rights was a way to put an end to the violence. Now, between Musk, the King and all the king's men, they're doing all they can to take away the voting rights of others.

with each criminal activity he becomes more desperate, dangerous and determined to stay in office!

saw this on FB. A proposal for a "soft succession." It does speak to the point that the blue states do have leverage to use against this tyrant king and could and should apply that leverage instead of being bullied.

NOTIFICATIONS: you can turn on the setting to Follow specific topics/threads and receive an email notification but you cannot receive email notifications of reactions to your posts. When the site gets busier there would be too much of those. instead of email notifications, i recommend turning on PUSH NOTIFICATIONS via the FOLLOW menu. Then, as long as your browser is open (on any site), you'll be notified with a sound and pop-up of your Newbl replies, messages, and, probably, reactions/likes.

overview of socialism versus the "dark triad"

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i look forward to your help in building that radical new blue world from scratch in the 3001: A Space Colonoscopy thread. Pick a starship. Get on board.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FbSDFq9bu/

i respect your commitment, mac. And i'm glad there's someone here with that opinion. But isn't the real argument that: you're trying to fit a round peg in voting system that's built with square holes. if we can't elect the lesser of 2 evils in a 2-party system we will never be in a position to change it? if we don't select the lesser of 2 evils we eventually get the greatest evil. Now our 2-party system is turning into a 1-party dictatorship. i would vote green too. But, unfortunately, the reality is not that if everyone voted their conscious they'd elect a green. Unfortunately, the will isn't there. The numbers aren't there. The voters are still in the dark. imo, the only viable path is voting for your true candidate of choice in the Primary and voting for the best agent of change in the General Election. Then, push for overhauling the whole election system. Obama had the House and Senate. He was in position to do that. We need to get back to that position.

i hear you M. The left should have a get-a-way from all the contentiousness. On the other hand, we all need to interact. Things are never going to change unless we find a way to get through to the other side and penetrate our political bubbles. another issue, is that i anticipate members might come and go here if it just seems like we're all just preaching to the choir. We can see how it plays out.