USA Politics

[The Flash]

I'm beginning to think Trump may be paying off certain right-wing alternative media sources to propagate his campaign.

You're beginning to think that?

 

[Dr. Eddies Wingman]

You're beginning to think that?

Haha

With all his talk about others being crooked - takes one to know one.

 

[bearfan]

This is a very simplistic view of the problem.
Apple is an industry giant and their market share, in current system, allow them to shape laws and technology as they please.

They are now discarding usual headphone jack for some DRM'ed proprietary standard. If they succeed, headphone jack equipped smartphones will become 'niche' in a few years, raising the pricetag.

Do you all remember what Microsoft used to do, what kind of business practice they had, in 1990s? Let me refresh your memory; embrace, extend, extinguish

Their market share is not really that big, then factor in Android consists of many manufacturers of the actual phones.

 

[RTC]

You're beginning to think that?

Well, I've always been one to scorn conspiracy theories as it always carries a presumption of guilty until proven innocent. But this is unquestioning loyalty to a candidate whilst considering the other two main candidates to be villains.

I've probably thrown out the term "regressive left" a lot out here, which are left-leaning people who have a fixation on political correctness, and are thus allowing a dangerous ideology like Islam to fester. But I'm realising that the reactionary movement to this from alternative media like Infowars and Breitbart, publications like The Daily Express, many on the alt-right who take satirical sites like Encyclopedia Dramatica as the actual truth (there's some sad irony there), which I've decided to dub as the retrograde right, as much, much worse. These people are now on the political offence, and while I don't think a Trump win would be the end of America, I do think that what his victory will represent will be a massive step backwards from our perceptions and political discourse since WW2. Brexit was also a symptom of the populist right movement, and the electorate being treated like children on matters that are extremely complex.

I'm starting to becoming increasingly more authoritarian as of late. I still believe in liberal values, but this vitriol thrown at the state is becoming out of hand.

 

[bearfan]

and the electorate being treated like children on matters that are extremely complex.

Zero disagreement there

 

[The Flash]

The thing with the left is that it has recently started to gone insane with the political correctness, limiting free speech stuff. It's still salvagable and since I adhere to social liberalism myself, I take greater offense in my political idealism being flooded with ideas that don't represent not only me, but most people who consider themselves liberals.

The right however, has been filled with insanity for a long time now. It doesn't come off as surprising to me as a result. The conspiracist nutjobs, historical revisionists are in bigger numbers in right politics than their left counterparts.

Alt-right psychos throw shit at regressives -deservedly- for looking for things to get offended by, and for being too sensitive, but they're even worse with their constant fearmongering.

 

[The Flash]

Gary Johnson was just on the news here, with a recent gaffe of his. His answer upon being asked about the situation in Aleppo was "What is Aleppo?"

That's an unacceptable error, leave the situation aside, Aleppo is a city of great historical importance.

 

[bearfan]

I think it is safe to say no one in the US had ever heard of it until recently ... of course you can say the same about Hillary not knowing C=Classified in her emails

 

[The Flash]

I think I wouldn't be too harsh to say that the GP in U.S. is atrocious at geography.

In any case, a politician not knowing where Aleppo is, let alone what Aleppo is, is unacceptable.

 

[RTC]

To be honest, it's just a random reference. Just saying "Syria" would get the point across, I've not seen political commentators call it "Aleppo" in specific terms.

 

[The Flash]

To be honest, it's just a random reference. Just saying "Syria" would get the point across, I've not seen political commentators call it "Aleppo" in specific terms.

Who cares if political commentators don't use the city's name. Aleppo is a strategic location in Syria. It was the biggest city in the country up until the Civil War. Its control is a key aspect of fixing the problems in Syria. This is a candidate for the President we're talking about.

One error of course wouldn't make him a less favorable candidate than Trump or Hillary. But it's a terrible gaffe nonetheless.

 

[Mosh]

Of all the candidates who ran this year, I would only expect Hillary to know what Aleppo is because of her tenure as SoS.

 

[bearfan]

Once they said Syria, Johnson gave an answer specific to Syria Really I do not think it is a big deal, but this kind of thing gets a lot of press for sure

 

[RTC]

Who cares if political commentators don't use the city's name. Aleppo is a strategic location in Syria. It was the biggest city in the country up until the Civil War. Its control is a key aspect of fixing the problems in Syria. This is a candidate for the President we're talking about.

One error of course wouldn't make him a less favorable candidate than Trump or Hillary. But it's a terrible gaffe nonetheless.

I understand that the situation in Aleppo is more complicated than say, Raqqah (which is a matter of pushing back ISIS), but it really could have been a general question about Syria considering whether it came down to supporting Assad, the Rebels or the Kurds.

 

[Albie]

We the consumer

This is a very simplistic view of the problem.

Perhaps it is, but it really is that simple. If folk turned to Apple and said, no thanks we're good with our lPhone 6/5, Apple would be in trouble. But the public won't and I blame the public for buying into it. I don't own a single Apple product for that reason.

 

[The Flash]

Once they said Syria, Johnson gave an answer specific to Syria Really I do not think it is a big deal, but this kind of thing gets a lot of press for sure

This is not about what he says as it pertains to the situation. It's about the fact that he uttered the words "What is Aleppo?" I mean come on. I understand this is not a huge deal in terms of his profile as a candidate, but the gaffe itself is nothing miniscule.

I will be blunt, if you don't know what Aleppo is, you don't know what the fuck you're talking about in matters concerning Syria and just going off of generalities.

 

[bearfan]

This is not about what he says as it pertains to the situation. It's about the fact that he uttered the words "What is Aleppo?" I mean come on. I understand this is not a huge deal in terms of his profile as a candidate, but the gaffe itself is nothing miniscule.



Says a lot about the level of political knowledge on the field.

It says that he does not know Aleppo by name ... which is trivia, the issue is Syria. Though you probably find virtually every Presidential candidate does not know everything about everything in the world, probably moreso those that where governors .. who by default deal more with domestic issues.

 

[The Flash]

It says that he does not know Aleppo by name ... which is trivia, the issue is Syria.

This is exactly my point, it's not trivia. Aleppo is crucial to understand the situation in Syria. As I said, you don't know what you're talking about aside from generalities if you don't know what Aleppo is. It was the biggest city in the country for crying out loud, its deterioration as a city is one of the key aspects of the civil war.

 

[bearfan]

This is exactly my point, it's not trivia. Aleppo is crucial to understand the situation in Syria. As I said, you don't know what you're talking about aside from generalities if you don't know what Aleppo is.

I meant the name Aleppo is trivia, the situation in Syria is the issue. I do not think it is a big deal, you obviously do ... I think we can probably leave it at that.

I'd probably add that in the grand scheme of US election issues, rightly or wrongly .. Syria is really far down on the list.


FWIW

“I blanked. It happens, and it will happen again during the course of this campaign,” he said. “Can I name every city in Syria? No. Should I have identified Aleppo? Yes. Do I understand its significance? Yes.”

He later said on Fox News' "Your World with Neil Cavuto" that he's "going to make mistakes going forward."

"I would make mistakes as president, but I'd be transparent," he told Cavuto.

The battle for Aleppo has become increasingly complex. According to Reuters, Iraqi Shiite militia members are preparing to join, while opposition forces battle Assad’s military for control. Assad’s regime was recently accused of another chlorine gas attack in a rebel-held area of Aleppo.

In an interview with Bloomberg Politics’ Mark Halperin, Johnson said he felt “horrible” after his TV flub.

“I have to get smarter, and that’s just part of the process,” he said.

House Speaker Paul Ryan brushed off the Aleppo blank in an interview with Hugh Hewitt, Politico reported.

“Well he is an isolationist, Hugh,” Ryan said. “Let’s give him the credit of the doubt on that.”

 

[The Flash]

I meant the name Aleppo is trivia, the situation in Syria is the issue. I do not think it is a big deal, you obviously do ... I think we can probably leave it at that.

No we can't leave it at that because you're ignoring the point I'm making. Aleppo is crucial to the "situation in Syria". You can't not know what Aleppo is and think you know something about the situation in Syria, aside from generalities like "Yeah it's pretty bad". Not at an intellectual level, anyway.

Again, I'll say it bluntly: I don't give a fuck what your potential policies about Syria are if you don't know what Aleppo is. You're full of shit.