"For Rappy" by Niki2

America loves a winner!

Was hoping for nekked pics of Jessica Alba.

So much for hope.

Dandy job of ignoring me, though. A credit to your strength & character. And maturity.

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

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Saturday, May 19, 2012 4:40 AM

M52NICKERSON

DALEK!

Ignoring you by posting a thread for/about you?

I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.

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Saturday, May 19, 2012 4:56 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Like I said, I reserve the right to mock him. I also NEVER said I would ignore him, only that I wouldn't take his bait, I wouldn't attempt to converse WITH him, and I'll remind others the futility of responding to him from time to time. That's my position. He can lie all he wants about me saying I would ignore him; it is a lie.

I also agree with Sig, and think it would be great if those who can't resist taking his bait were to respond in one post, so we could go about the actual business of RWED for which (I posit the reason most of us came here) rather than have a slew of posts about ridiculous things only meant to find SOMETHING bad about Obama/Dems/progressives/etc. to say, and to bait others into responding. That's my opinion and I hold to it.

This certainly may be a useless attempt; will unquestionably be if nobody agrees with Sig and I about the absurdity of "debating" someone who is only here to get attention, and that's okay with me. But I'm willing to try. End of story.

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Saturday, May 19, 2012 5:07 AM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Memo to self:

"OK, Self, turn up Control to Max. Respond with outrage in new direction."

Now all I gotta do is remember in the heat of the moment.

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Saturday, May 19, 2012 5:39 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Gonna use this thread FOR RAPPY.

Rappy, you say that Saddam "had" WMD. Hmm... let's see:

After you got over your shock of not finding batteries of WMD deployed north, east, west and south somewhat of Baghdad...

After you stopped insisting that a few leftover part of nuclear centrifuges buried in someone's rose garden constituted a viable nuclear weapons program...

Once you stopped claiming that Saddam had trucked his entire WMD arsenal out of Iraq...

Since the thousands of soldiers and specialists scouring the Iraqi countryside reported that no viable WMD or WMD programs could be found...

After Bush himself tossed up his hands and said Yep, I guess I was wrong!...

What are you left with? About 400 random assorted parts of deteriorated weapons - none of them newer than about 1990- found in abandoned hidey-holes?

Tell me son, was THAT worth a direct-cost $800 billion-dollar invasion? To tell you what Hans Blix was telling everyone just before we invaded?

Get ahold of your fears, son. They're leading you to irrationality.

--------

And now, I'll wait for the usual irrational response.

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Saturday, May 19, 2012 5:42 AM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Gonna use this thread FOR RAPPY.

Rappy, you say that Saddam "had" WMD. Hmm... let's see:

After you got over your shock of not finding batteries of WMD deployed north, east, west and south somewhat of Baghdad...

After you stopped insisting that a few leftover part of nuclear centrifuges buried in someone's rose garden constituted a viable nuclear weapons program...

Once you stopped claiming that Saddam had trucked his entire WMD arsenal out of Iraq...

Since the thousands of soldiers and specialists scouring the Iraqi countryside reported that no viable WMD or WMD programs could be found...

After Bush himself tossed up his hands and said Yep, I guess I was wrong!...

What are you left with? About 400 random assorted parts of deteriorated weapons - none of them newer than about 1990- found in abandoned hidey-holes?

Tell me son, was THAT worth a direct-cost $800 billion-dollar invasion? To tell you what Hans Blix was telling everyone just before we invaded?

Get ahold of your fears, son. They're leading you to irrationality.

--------

And now, I'll wait for the usual irrational response.

Hello,

Even if the weapons existed and were somehow evacuated, it still represents the colossal failure and proves the pointlessness of the conflict. Because if he did evacuate/disseminate his WMD program on the eve of war, then it means we caused the very dissemination of terrible materials that we had hoped to prevent.

There is no narrative where the war proves to have been a good idea.

--Anthony

Note to Self:
Raptor - women who want to control their reproductive processes are sluts.
Wulf - Niki is a stupid fucking bitch who should hurry up and die.
Never forget what these men are.
“The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.” -Thomas Szasz

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Saturday, May 19, 2012 7:08 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Quote:
Originally posted by ANTHONYT:
There is no narrative where war proves to have been a good idea.

Edited for truth and clarity.

-F

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Saturday, May 19, 2012 10:16 AM

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Don't you think it's time to have an intervention here; something to break us of the RaptorAddiction which is going on in RWED? I sure do.

Yes, Niki. Time to have an intervention of some sort. Start by posting a thread, JUST for me, huh? Just to break y'all from the RaptorAddiction.

Crassic!

You're a piece of work.

LOL.

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

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Saturday, May 19, 2012 11:35 AM

OONJERAH

This thread is for responses appropriate to Raptor?
But ppl can put them in here and let Rappy threads fall off the board?
A noble experiment, yes?

OTOH, it could just be a place to spread vicious ridicule about him.
Not that anyone would . . .

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Saturday, May 19, 2012 11:43 AM

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by Oonjerah:

OTOH, it could just be a place to spread vicious ridicule about him.
Not that anyone would . . .

Ridicule, falsehoods, insults... lies ?

Yeah. No one would EVER sink to such levels here.

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

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Saturday, May 19, 2012 1:03 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

I note for the record that this thread is "for" rappy, not "about" rappy. It is a sequestered place to engage rappy on topics which might otherwise spam the forum. I also note for the record that rappy hasn't responded to my WMD post, which was directed specifically to him.

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Sunday, May 20, 2012 7:35 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Wow. Rappy has no interest in engaging in a rational discussion in a thread devoted entirely to him.

Ergo, he really is only interested in spamming the board.

Up until now, I was on the fence as to whether rappy was deluded to the point of unconscious missionary zeal, or whether he was consciously gaming the system. Now I know.

Thanks rappy.

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Sunday, May 20, 2012 8:07 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Quote:
Originally posted by Oonjerah:

OTOH, it could just be a place to spread vicious ridicule about him.
Not that anyone would . . .

Ridicule, falsehoods, insults... lies ?

Yeah. No one would EVER sink to such levels here.

Don't be ridiculous; of course you'd sink to such levels! Falsehoods, insults, lies - that's what you're known for, you silly child!

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I've not watched the video either, or am incapable of intellectually dealing with the substance of this thread, so I'll instead act like a juvenile and claim victory..." - Rappy

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Sunday, May 20, 2012 8:13 AM

KWICKO

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Wow. Rappy has no interest in engaging in a rational discussion in a thread devoted entirely to him.

Ergo, he really is only interested in spamming the board.

Up until now, I was on the fence as to whether rappy was deluded to the point of unconscious missionary zeal, or whether he was consciously gaming the system. Now I know.

Thanks rappy.

That is why Rappy is only useful as a target of ridicule, the butt of jokes. And since he's nothing but a troll, it's a role he's happy to fulfill.

He only sees in black and white. He is incapable of comparing two or more similar things and deciding their veracity based solely on their merit; he can only judge something's value and worth based on what he is told to think about it by his party superiors.

He exists only as a caricature of everything that is wrong with the conservative movement. I've often suspected that he's really a liberal at heart, posing as the most ridiculous of over-the-top conservatives, much like Chris used to do to AJ Lynch with his "RightStuff" identity.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I've not watched the video either, or am incapable of intellectually dealing with the substance of this thread, so I'll instead act like a juvenile and claim victory..." - Rappy

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Sunday, May 20, 2012 8:47 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Oonjerah:
This thread is for responses appropriate to Raptor?
But ppl can put them in here and let Rappy threads fall off the board?
A noble experiment, yes?

OTOH, it could just be a place to spread vicious ridicule about him.
Not that anyone would . . .

I agree with you. This seems to not be in the vein of appreciation threads that we've seen recently, it is more like an attack thread. I may not agree with Raptor all the time, but I'm troubled that there's some need for a personalized attack thread for anyone on this board.

Raptor's not a troll, he just has a lot of cognitive dissonance around his beliefs where he basically takes things by the issue and can be for or against depending on the day and circumstances, but that doesn't mean he doesn't believe them at the time he's saying them. It makes him frustrating for you all to argue with, yes, but that is not a troll.

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Sunday, May 20, 2012 11:40 AM

America loves a winner!

Sig, we've had that discussion before . Many times & many different ways. Not sure what hope to achieve.

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

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Sunday, May 20, 2012 12:14 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

RAPPY, I'm hoping to achieve some kind of RATIONAL discussion with you.

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Monday, May 21, 2012 12:06 AM

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
RAPPY, I'm hoping to achieve some kind of RATIONAL discussion with you.

We're not going to reach an agreement on this issue,so I fail to see why you're so intent on belaboring the point.

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

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Monday, May 21, 2012 4:38 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Byte, the intention of this thread was simple; a place where people could respond to Raptor to avoid the "Yes you DID!", "No, I DIDN'T" back and forths that threads turn into more often than not. It was not put up as an attack thread. What it turned into after I put it up is not my responsibility, but that was not the intention. Just so's you know.

You're welcome to your opinion of why he posts what he does, but we'll have to agree to disagree as to his motives and why he posts the things he does.

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Monday, May 21, 2012 4:54 AM

Okay, not intentional. I guess that's okay, intention counts a lot with me.

But of course AuRaptor isn't going to participate if he feels like he's being kettled and ambushed. Who would? Would any of us be sincere responding to a thread if, in the original post, our names were there instead of "Rappy"?

I guess I just don't see this working as intended. And hasn't this been tried before, cornering a member on the board to pin them down on some issue or another? Has it ever worked?

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Monday, May 21, 2012 5:14 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
We're not going to reach an agreement on this issue,so I fail to see why you're so intent on belaboring the point.

Because there is only one reality, one world, one truth. None of us sees all of it, but our success as individuals and as a species rests on our ability to figure it out.

I know people who lost a shitload of money in the stock market, not once but three times. And yet, because they have been told by the authorities that stocks are the best investment, they continue to invest in stocks. (Meanwhile, I invested in gold and foreign currencies and got a nice return).

The world is not as we are told, nor as we wish it, nor as we fear it. It is as it is. If you want to see it clearly... which BTW has a nice survival value... then you HAVE to set aside your assumptions and fears and desires because those only cloud perception. Fear and stress, by the way, are well-known to limit the scope of one's thinking. It does sharpen perception of the "perceived" threat, OTOH it also tends to get people blindsided because they might not see the REAL threat. (BTW- I acknowledge that there are existential threats. But since our ability to respond is limited, I suggest that we focus on the ones that really matter.)

Part of that process of learning about the world is listening to others, and testing their models (and yours) against the real world by banging what you (and they) "think" against what actually happens. Then you get to talk about it, and if the other person seems to have a better grasp on what happened, you get to ask them why. A productive exchange of ideas. It's that simple.

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Monday, May 21, 2012 5:18 AM

Quote:
Because there is only one reality, one world, one truth.

...Actually I disagree on a philosophical basis. But philosophy is rarely relevant.

See you all in a few hours. Maybe.

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Monday, May 21, 2012 5:22 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Well, BYTE, you are free to disagree. This is one of those a priori assumptions that can neither be proven or disproven. OTOH, my philosophy says you won't live too long if you disagree about something really fundamental, like the reality of the truck bearing down on your or the necessity of food for continued survival. So- best of luck. I really mean that.

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Monday, May 21, 2012 5:28 AM

STORYMARK

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
...it will only work if the "usual suspects" (Mike and Story, that means you!) use it.

Hey now, Ive barely acknowledged the chump for going on a week now.

But I like the concept of this thread. Like a Rappy-centrril Troll Country.

"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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Monday, May 21, 2012 7:29 AM

KWICKO

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Well, BYTE, you are free to disagree. This is one of those a priori assumptions that can neither be proven or disproven. OTOH, my philosophy says you won't live too long if you disagree about something really fundamental, like the reality of the truck bearing down on your or the necessity of food for continued survival. So- best of luck. I really mean that.

Breathairians are dying to prove you wrong!

Besides, gravity, like evolution, is only a theory...

Yes, I am enjoying myself today. I'm in a mood. My black dogs are upon me, and life is but a joke.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I've not watched the video either, or am incapable of intellectually dealing with the substance of this thread, so I'll instead act like a juvenile and claim victory..." - Rappy

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Monday, May 21, 2012 10:41 AM

Quote:
Well, BYTE, you are free to disagree. This is one of those a priori assumptions that can neither be proven or disproven. OTOH, my philosophy says you won't live too long if you disagree about something really fundamental, like the reality of the truck bearing down on your or the necessity of food for continued survival. So- best of luck. I really mean that.

Been there, done that.

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Monday, May 21, 2012 10:47 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Been there, done that.

And yet you're still here. So you blinked. You accepted ENOUGH of reality to keep yourself alive. Good.

Quote:
Breathairians are dying to prove you wrong!

I knew someone whose daughter was a breatharian. They found her starving and hallucinating at a bus terminal in Seattle.

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Monday, May 21, 2012 10:58 AM

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Quote:
Because there is only one reality, one world, one truth.

...Actually I disagree on a philosophical basis. But philosophy is rarely relevant.

See you all in a few hours. Maybe.

There may BE only 1 reality, but that's not to say that our understanding, or comprehension of it all is equal, or that even our view of the exact same events have to be exactly the same.

1 team wins the Super Bowl, and it's seen by some as an incredible victory, while those on the losing end see it differently, and may say the game was lost because of the refs, or poor play on their part. I got all sorts of examples like this, in politics, science, etc... which throw a curve ball into ONLY one truth point of view.

I mean, I'll be honest, I do 'get' what you're trying for here, and I actually promote a version of that myself. Sure , it does hold true in some instances, but not across the board, in all discussions.

There are some things we just don't know. We SAY this or that happened, but that's not always the full story.

The Titanic sank after hitting an ice berg. We KNOW this, but for decades, the story of the details were wrong. There was no giant, hundred foot long gash in the side of her hull, ripped open as she slammed against the ice. Yet that's exactly what we were told. Did any one's life get spared because our understanding of the 'how ' and 'why' she went down change? Nope. Everyone who died that night is still dead. And in the same manner. Doesn't change much for them, but to us, and history, it's still important.

" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

"The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

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Monday, May 21, 2012 11:04 AM

Quote:
And yet you're still here. So you blinked. You accepted ENOUGH of reality to keep yourself alive. Good.

I'm getting a little TIRED today of having to defend myself from accusations of being a coward. I'm only still HERE because I haven't found the right CAUSE yet.

Does anyone else want to chime in and insult me?

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Monday, May 21, 2012 12:27 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
There may BE only 1 reality, but that's not to say that our understanding, or comprehension of it all is equal, or that even our view of the exact same events have to be exactly the same.

If we are perceiving the same thing and we're accurate and complete about it then, yes, our view HAS to be the same. There is only one version of events: the real version.

Quote:
1 team wins the Super Bowl, and it's seen by some as an incredible victory, while those on the losing end see it differently, and may say the game was lost because of the refs, or poor play on their part. I got all sorts of examples like this, in politics, science, etc... which throw a curve ball into ONLY one truth point of view.

But although there may be as many opinions as people about this game, there are only a few REAL reasons why one team lost and the other team won. Maybe the problem was fitness, not motivation. Maybe the problem was poor team communication, not individual skill. The insightful coach will be able to suss out opinion from fact, work on the real problems and develop a winning strategy for next year. The unsuccessful coach will be fooled by opinion and focus on trivial factors and continue to lose. If your opinion lines up closely with reality, you will be able to respond appropriately to events. If not... not.

Quote:
I mean, I'll be honest, I do 'get' what you're trying for here, and I actually promote a version of that myself. Sure , it does hold true in some instances, but not across the board, in all discussions.

Well, I have a significant problem with your version of what you say you're doing here. There are two things that you do rather frequently that cause serious problems with understanding reality.

The first is that you pick ONE fact to hang on to. It's often an honest fact which is true in the strictest sense... Saddam had WMD (he did) ... but it is often contradicted by many other facts (But they were scraps of old weapons which didn't constitute a credible threat to anyone). So grabbing one tiny scrap of fact is usually wildly misleading. That's not comprehension, that's justification.

Reality isn't limited to one single fact, or one small event. In order to develop a realistic view of the world, you have to be able to explain ALL of the facts, or at least explain how the other facts aren't relevant. You have almost never done that, and it's gotten you in trouble over and over again.

You also contradict yourself frequently. One of the quickest and easiest ways to check your understanding of the world is to look for internal consistency. If you find your self saying that Obama is a Muslim Marxist then you either don't understand the words you're using or you haven't done the most basic of logic checks.

Quote:
There are some things we just don't know. We SAY this or that happened, but that's not always the full story. The Titanic sank after hitting an ice berg. We KNOW this, but for decades, the story of the details were wrong. There was no giant, hundred foot long gash in the side of her hull, ripped open as she slammed against the ice. Yet that's exactly what we were told. Did any one's life get spared because our understanding of the 'how ' and 'why' she went down change? Nope. Everyone who died that night is still dead. And in the same manner. Doesn't change much for them, but to us, and history, it's still important.

I would say that we don't know ANYTHING, at least not in its entirety. We know enough about gravity to calculate planetary orbits and satellite launches, but do we know how it is related to electromagnetic forces? Despite our lack of COMPLETE knowledge, some of are closer to the truth than others on some areas. Some of try to understand and add to our intellectual capital.

In your example, knowing about the Titanic did make a difference, and not just to history. Among other things, we now require that there be enough lifeboats for everyone.

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Monday, May 21, 2012 12:45 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
I'm getting a little TIRED today of having to defend myself from accusations of being a coward. I'm only still HERE because I haven't found the right CAUSE yet. Does anyone else want to chime in and insult me?

I'm not accusing you of cowardice. Since I don't want to push you any further on this topic, let's just drop it. You win, okay?

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Monday, May 21, 2012 12:48 PM

...Well, now I feel like an ass.

There's no winning. :(

I'll quiet down now.

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012 7:41 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Byte, please don't feel that way. Disagreements are normal here, nobody "wins" anything, tho' it's quite possible to "lose" when people act like ACTUAL asses (you know who I mean, and you are defnitely NOT among them!). We're people, we're fallible, and we misunderstand one another. That's all, really.

Sending good thoughts...

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012 8:07 AM

DREAMTROVE

It does not matter what political frame of mind you come from, our political parties still represent minority points of view. It is simply not possible to stand on one side and eschew the other and create an agenda which the people, collectively will accept. For this reason, I use Mike and Rap as my benchmarks. If they do not think that it is a reasonable idea, then it will not get done. I could stand on a corner yelling "half the country is wrong" until the cows come home, but it's still not going to accomplish anything.

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012 8:08 AM