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mcgeo52 comments on Sep 7, 2021:
He didn't say where they planned on spending their eternal life, but I guess that after Mississippi even hell would be an improvement.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:
To me, being forced to live in MI would be experiencing hell without dying first.
Schools become political 'battlefield' in culture wars Trump cultivated
linxminx comments on Sep 7, 2021:
Education has been a battle ground for politicians for decades. If I had a dollar for every political speech I've heard over the years that included, "...it's time for our kids to be #1 in the world! It's time for public education to be reformed and lead the world in math and technology! It's ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 8, 2021:
@linxminx Same here. We have a handful of cities, college towns in most cases, where there is sanity and blue voters, but the vast majority of the state is rural areas full of rednecks who never went to college-not that you have to do so to be or become intelligent, but in most cases you need to in order to escape the brainwashing of rural life- and conservative Christians. As some have said, those Iowans who are part of the minority who live in those cities are surrounded by "150 square miles of reality". I would not be able to live in NE outside of Omaha or Lincoln, and in Iowa there are only a few cities that I consider to be liveable, at least not without heavy use of booze or drugs...
Taliban Parade Shows-Off Plundered U.S. Weapons of War | NewsMo - YouTube
creative51 comments on Sep 7, 2021:
They would have never gotten the military hardware and equipment if we had never invaded in the first place. We were WRONG to have ever gone in.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 7, 2021:
It's why they call it blowback.....
Schools become political 'battlefield' in culture wars Trump cultivated
linxminx comments on Sep 7, 2021:
Education has been a battle ground for politicians for decades. If I had a dollar for every political speech I've heard over the years that included, "...it's time for our kids to be #1 in the world! It's time for public education to be reformed and lead the world in math and technology! It's ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 7, 2021:
My state is so firmly red that I have serious reason to believe the legislature and governor intend to limit the curriculum to only fit what the religious conservatives want taught, as well as the further de-funding of the public schools and state universities in favor of continued vouchers and the transfer of funding from public K-12 schools to private schools for children. They have already prohibited local mask orders by school boards and banned teaching of critical race theory.
Why Won’t People Take Low-Paying Jobs?
JonnaBononna comments on Sep 7, 2021:
People have no obligation to supplement one's desire to own a business with their life. If you can't afford to pay a living wage, you can't afford to own a business.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 7, 2021:
What I said above. What really kills me, also, is how many small business owners, who are wannabe rich types, who dream of becoming a big business, drink the Repub Kool-Aid and actually identify with all the Repub donors who are fat cats and corporations, as if the Repub Party actually cares about small businesses. They don't, and in fact, classwise, the small business owner has more in common with blue collar and middle class workers, in the class war, than they do with the top1% that the Repubs serve. But you can never get them to drop their delusions of grandeur and their worship of their betters. Suckers....
I would never encourage anyone to attack a site that had to change its server because of past ...
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 7, 2021:
As Monty Python would say, " Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean?, say no more"......
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 7, 2021:
@glennlab And we wouldn't want to encourage law-breaking in the already lawless state of Texas.... You know that you are speaking just like a good Repub, or maybe even a minion of Cheney during W.'s reign....
Does anyone do charity or community service with a group not affiliated with religious ...
Organist1 comments on Sep 6, 2021:
How about Habitat for Humanity? I'm not sure if there are religious connections, but I haven't heard of any.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 6, 2021:
I think there are some, but it's probably very low key or soft-pedaled.
Does anyone do charity or community service with a group not affiliated with religious ...
HankSherman comments on Sep 6, 2021:
I support the ACLU
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 6, 2021:
I would suggest that or Planned Parenthood.
Plans for $400-billion new city in the American desert unveiled
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 6, 2021:
Probably hopes that he and other rich fucks will live there in the future and be able to escape the apocalypse that engulfs the rest of America.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 6, 2021:
@Charlene Well, we can always hope for that, as they'll surely deserve it.
We may never know.
OldGoat43 comments on Sep 6, 2021:
Operating in stealth mode.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 6, 2021:
They are always in stealth mode.
Recently I met a woman on a dating site and this progressed to the point of her coming to visit me ...
BitFlipper comments on Sep 5, 2021:
Good for you! That deal started to stink as soon as the niece was mentioned.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 6, 2021:
@BitFlipper The first person I met face to face from Our Time, four years ago, was a transexual. I met them at a movie theater and I still saw the movie with them, but then told them as we parted ways I was not interested in further contact. Looking back, I should have been more critical and skeptical about the few profile photos this person had, but at the time, the photos did appear to be that of a woman. If I had done a phone call before meeting them, I probably would have immediately picked up that it was a tran person, as the voice was very low and masculine, sounded a lot like Harvey Fierstein, in fact. I didn't come away upset, just wary about ever meeting anyone again that seemed at all sketchy on their gender identity, and if I ever had doubts about any future members, that I would insist on a phone call first.
Hi everyone.
DenoPenno comments on Sep 5, 2021:
Abortion is not birth control and only a rich lunatic would be trying to use it as such. The entire argument is posed as a religious thing but is really about having total control over women.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 5, 2021:
Well put. As Emma Goldman said long ago, if men could get pregnant, abortion would not only be legal, it would be a sacrament, which would shoot the whole religious argument against it, as it really is all about controlling women and keeping them in their place as inferior and subordinate to men.
Don't say yes, when you can say no by constitutional law and human rights.
dkp93 comments on Sep 4, 2021:
Lol that you feel citizens having obligations and responsibilities is part of some new "warped reality."
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 5, 2021:
He is a combination of the usual Libertarian bullshit combined with ant-vaxer conspiracy theories.
Recently I met a woman on a dating site and this progressed to the point of her coming to visit me ...
racocn8 comments on Sep 4, 2021:
If they won't talk to you live, they're probably a guy trying to scam you. I've encountered that dozens of times on various dating sites. Some of the sites actually have women working phones to keep you on the sites, and they always send you a bunch of "I'm interested in you" when your membership ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 4, 2021:
I agree with you and that is not paranoid. I have also experienced lots more interest from women soon before my paid subscription was due to run out. I trust the dating sites about as far as I can throw them, but there are no better options in my situation. Maybe it would be different if I were in the mainstream for my local area in culture and lifestyle, as it leaves me with a very small dating pool around here of compatible single women.
Where is the best place to meet members of the opposite sex?
ClassicalRebel comments on Sep 4, 2021:
It's easy to meet people, they are all over the place, finding one you can have a relationship with is the problem.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 4, 2021:
Ta Dum.... there's always a smartass with a clever answer to the ?
If it works a good idea
JonnaBononna comments on Sep 3, 2021:
I say again, Evangeliban.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 3, 2021:
True, they want the same kind of Sharia law here as there is in Islamic countries, only theirs is under the religion of Christianity, same misogyny.
I’m becoming increasingly concerned at what damage to the long term health of large numbers of ...
MichelleGar1 comments on Sep 3, 2021:
One of my dearest friends barely survived COVID-19, he didn't have any underlying conditions, now he does. He was in a coma for 6 months and had to learn how to walk again, he's depends on an oxygen tank and his doctor's give him 3-5 year's more to live. I saw him and his wife last week and he seems...
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 3, 2021:
@Castlepaloma There's some truth in that. I have no doubt that some of Trump's motivation for letting Covid run wild was that his rich donors wanted Covid to kill many seniors and reduce the payments that would otherwise by made by Social Security. While the Dem Party is also not really that friendly to SS, the Repubs have always been against it and want to eliminate it completely.
i really am surprised how satisfying it can be to block persistent stupidity.
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:
I am approaching near five dozen total blocked, but I suspect many of them have left the site, so it may actually be much smaller than that on active members. But I have enjoyed every block I make. I call it customizing my site experience.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 3, 2021:
@Gwendolyn2018 Fair enough. It's interesting that nobody else weighed in. I guess they were enjoying their popcorn and watching too much to intervene....
i really am surprised how satisfying it can be to block persistent stupidity.
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:
I am approaching near five dozen total blocked, but I suspect many of them have left the site, so it may actually be much smaller than that on active members. But I have enjoyed every block I make. I call it customizing my site experience.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 3, 2021:
@Gwendolyn2018 I will have to disagree with you on some of this. Women constantly tell me on dating sites that they want to be treated with respect from men on there, so are you saying they are entitled to a one-way street on that? I don't think so, I have as much a right to respect as they do, and it should not have to be earned over some long period of time by proving it to them individually. Sorry, Gwen, that is unfair and I will not agree to that double standard. Maybe it fits for your individual experience, but it is not a fair norm to impose. I also have the right to suggest how a woman can make their profile consistent with what they are telling me when they reject me, after that they can take it or leave it, but I do have the right to make the suggestion. And the dating site must agree, as they have never scolded me for doing it. I think I owe women on dating sites respect, until they individually prove that they don't deserve it. If everyone on dating sites followed your standards and practices, the sites would be even worse than they already are in behavior. To me, it's not very impressive that you had only several men decline to reply to your messages to them. Try my experience instead, where I get no reply to probably 85% of my first messages to them. There's no comparison, but since you are female, you aren't put in the position like I am of having to do almost all the pursuing, or else have to accept not connecting with anyone on a dating site. As far as looks, it goes without saying, but that still doesn't stop many women on my dating site from saying it in their profile essay how " there has to be chemistry, some kind of physical attraction, etc.". Well, fucking duh, how dumb do they think we are? Both genders feel that way and those that deny it are lying. But there is an unspoken agreement by about everybody that we're not supposed to be blunt and tell someone we reject on a dating site that it is due to their looks. So some people, not me tho, dress up or hide their rejection of someone on looks by pinning it on some other lame excuse or reason. If a woman asks me why I am not interested in her, I simply say I don't think we're a match or not compatible enough. If they insist on me being more specific, I tell them it's about looks, because I treat adults as adults, and if they ask for the truth, then I trust them to be sincere in the request and able to handle the truth. If they turn out to be lying about that, unable to handle it, or get upset about it, that's on them, not me. As for religious preference, you are probably right in that most of the women who answer the religious preference part of their profile with "No preference" instead of something more accurate like " Christian, Catholic", etc are probably unthinking about ...
I’m becoming increasingly concerned at what damage to the long term health of large numbers of ...
MichelleGar1 comments on Sep 3, 2021:
One of my dearest friends barely survived COVID-19, he didn't have any underlying conditions, now he does. He was in a coma for 6 months and had to learn how to walk again, he's depends on an oxygen tank and his doctor's give him 3-5 year's more to live. I saw him and his wife last week and he seems...
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 3, 2021:
Only in America is someone who gets seriously ill and needs lots of expensive care and hospital stays forced to pawn their dignity and rely on fundraising efforts from friends and neighbors to pay their bills, often even in cases where the patient had good health insurance. They have to beg from their neighbors when it should be covered by the government, but the private drug companies and the private healthcare system are solely about sucking every dollar they can out of people before they die, rather than about making them well or serving the public. The only country in the developed world where medical bankruptcies are common. That by itself should be enough to make most Americans open to trying socialism, but too many are still brainwashed against it and the corporate media is too powerful in preaching against it.
OF COURSE IT'S UNAPPROVED FOR FIGHTING COVID!!! IT"S A FUCKING HORSE DEWORMER!!! Joe Rogan tests...
MrDragon comments on Sep 2, 2021:
Good. Instead of Herd immunity they'll end up with herd and gene pool thinning. Very good, very good indeed.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
I am all for thinning the herd of the stupid and insane Trumpers and anti-vaxers, who are not to be confused with the ordinary folks who are mentally-challenged or mentally ill. We can only hope it improves our politics as well, same way with secession of the red states.
OF COURSE IT'S UNAPPROVED FOR FIGHTING COVID!!! IT"S A FUCKING HORSE DEWORMER!!! Joe Rogan tests...
BDair comments on Sep 2, 2021:
And he cured himself in two days.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
@glennlab I took the monoclonal antibodies, Regeneron, to be exact, after I got Covid in Dec., despite being careful ever since it arrived last year. And the Regeneron did cure my fever immediately, as well as shorten my illness and likely also prevented me from developing more serious symptoms. So he did not prove that the anti-worming drug cures Covid if he also used the other antibody drug. And he is an ass to have chosen to not protect himself against Covid in the first place.
JC said it best:
gigihein comments on Sep 2, 2021:
chasing the carrot on the stick. Happiness is an inside job
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
True. Money, in adequate amounts, can usually buy security, as well as provide more options in life, but happiness must come from within. And it may also require some intangibles.
I am single and I want to mingle
BitFlipper comments on Sep 2, 2021:
If I send you my email will you send me some nude photos? And then will I get an email from Instagram with a code to reset my password - and will you ask for that code? Or will you ask to meet me - but only after I provide my credit card number "so you will feel safe".
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
Sounds like you have memorized their playbook, Dave... But hey, you may still get the nude photos anyway, as a hook, if there's any way for them to send them to you thru Agnostic.
Sad: Can we send Abbut in to help cleanup? [dailykos.com]
Redheadedgammy comments on Sep 2, 2021:
Abbott, nor any rethug running that state gives a shit about the people of the state. I truly wish we could kick that state out of the Union!
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
Between this and the new abortion ban law in Texas, I just wish this state would secede, altho I would feel bad for Sticks48 and other cool members here from Texas if it forced them to move or caused them problems.
Sad: Can we send Abbut in to help cleanup? [dailykos.com]
nicknotes comments on Sep 2, 2021:
That "deep cleaning" is a farce. Covid is airborn.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
@Charlene True, but the deep cleaning is a farce, as the virus will be back as soon as school resumes again without masks as there will be continued spread from kids who are asymptomatic and still coming to school.
i really am surprised how satisfying it can be to block persistent stupidity.
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:
I am approaching near five dozen total blocked, but I suspect many of them have left the site, so it may actually be much smaller than that on active members. But I have enjoyed every block I make. I call it customizing my site experience.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
@Gwendolyn2018 I am also pretty damn proud that I have never ghosted or stood anyone up in my whole damned life. How many other men can honestly say that? So I will not gladly or meekly get punished for what other men have done to someone. I have earned my right to be treated fairly and respectfully on dating sites, until I personally have done something to provoke someone and therefore deserve any mistreatment.
i really am surprised how satisfying it can be to block persistent stupidity.
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:
I am approaching near five dozen total blocked, but I suspect many of them have left the site, so it may actually be much smaller than that on active members. But I have enjoyed every block I make. I call it customizing my site experience.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
@Gwendolyn2018 Finally! I would like to take credit for it, but I can't and it would be wrong to do so, but another guy on Agnostic said it well, if I can accurately quote him. He said that everyone on dating sites should approach each new person they encounter by giving them a clean slate to start. Of course, I would add what you and I also seem to agree on, which is that it is wise, prudent, and fair to at the same time keep in mind what patterns or types of behavior you have encountered in the past, in order to not get tricked or conned by people who present a fake front or lie about themselves, etc. As Reagan said, " Trust, but verify".... Some men, and women, are jerks and they will never change. Some men never appear to actually read the profile info on the women they message, and I hear about this all the time from women on Batch. And it also apparent that they, as well as some other men, just use a scattershot approach and message tons of women indiscriminately, just looking for sex I suppose, and don't care how incompatible on paper they are with most of the women they message. But what's funny is how often I get polite replies of rejection from women who I messaged because, at least on paper, they appeared to be compatible for me and also seemed to be compatible for them, at least based on their profile info, but most likely they rejected me either because their profile info was inaccurate or I just didn't cut it on looks for them, the latter of which is always the impolite wild card. And I never send a nasty reply to those rejections, altho sometimes I do point out inconsistencies between what is in their profile and any reasons they may give me for rejecting me that don't square with their profile info and preferences. I, in those cases, politely suggest that they revise their profile info or preferences to match their actual preferences. Sometimes they take it well and other times they resent it and get snippy. But, for example, if your trait preferences say you have no preference regarding religion in who you are looking for, and you send me a rejection message, no matter how polite, saying I am not a match for you because I am an Agnostic, I am going to tell you that maybe you should change your preferences on that trait and exclude Agnostics and Atheists. I am not calling them a liar on their reason for rejecting me, but I am asking them to be consistent. And I don't think I am out of line to do that.
i really am surprised how satisfying it can be to block persistent stupidity.
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:
I am approaching near five dozen total blocked, but I suspect many of them have left the site, so it may actually be much smaller than that on active members. But I have enjoyed every block I make. I call it customizing my site experience.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
@Gwendolyn2018 I don't blame you or other women for being wary. I am wary of certain types of women I continue to see on Batch. But I don't pre-emptively mistreat them or act badly to them after I begin trading messages with them. As far as men who cannot respect clear messages or boundaries that you put out there in your profile or messaging, I don't know what to say, some people are just plain arrogant or rude and they really don't care what others want or respect others. I am not like that, and I only treat others badly in retaliation against them personally after they have wronged me, not for what someone else has done to me.
i really am surprised how satisfying it can be to block persistent stupidity.
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:
I am approaching near five dozen total blocked, but I suspect many of them have left the site, so it may actually be much smaller than that on active members. But I have enjoyed every block I make. I call it customizing my site experience.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
@Gwendolyn2018 Maybe I am comparatively lucky compared to those women, but it still is not right, and I will not just take it lying down. Wrong is wrong, and I still have a right to be pissed when I am mistreated. Your opinion is noted and is your right, as mine is also. And just because other men have been assholes to women, it does not justify them mistreating other men, like me, who are different than that or innocent of that stuff. Mistreatment by others does not justify projecting that on others or taking it out on innocent parties who have not mistreated you. I don't buy that argument of revenge against a whole gender for what others have done. If someone cannot give each new person they encounter a clean slate to start with, they are not emotionally healthy enough to likely be capable of a good relationship and thus, are maybe not ready to date and shouldn't be on a dating site in the first place taking their own shit out on innocent parties. BTW, I have not done any of the things you catalogued other men doing, so I don't deserve mistreatment by women I have not wronged in the first place before they treated me poorly. And I do not consider any simple message of rejection mistreatment.
i really am surprised how satisfying it can be to block persistent stupidity.
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:
I am approaching near five dozen total blocked, but I suspect many of them have left the site, so it may actually be much smaller than that on active members. But I have enjoyed every block I make. I call it customizing my site experience.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
@Gwendolyn2018 I only get angry when they have strung me along or lied to me in past messages. It's not to much too ask for people to be honest and straight with you, even if they do reject you in the end. I'm sure most people on dating sites want to be treated that way as well, instead of with games and lying. I respond politely to those that reject me also, as long as they treat me fairly, honestly, and with courtesy. Simple golden rule stuff, which unfortunately is rare on dating sites, as people think they deserve it, but owe strangers nothing. Very hypocritical.
My daughter in law came over wearing a shirt that said: UNMASKED UNMUZZLED UNVACCINATED ...
anglophone comments on Sep 1, 2021:
It's funny how people change their tune when they or their loved ones are dying of Covid-19. Numbskulls the lot of them!
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
@Redheadedgammy When the hospital is overcrowded and can't serve everyone promptly, the Covid deniers and anti-vaxers who get infected should be triaged to the back of the line for service. This is not only completely ethical under the Hippocratic Oath, but is also completely legal. It would serve them right, and if they suffer or die from it, too fucking bad. They made their choice and nobody who innocently got sick should be left to wait for treatment while these assholes get helped. The innocent should be helped first over treatment of the defiant.
U.S. Capitol Police prepare for a rally in support of Capitol riot - Axios
Beowulfsfriend comments on Sep 2, 2021:
I hope the Capitol Police show up in riot gear. And yes, I know that doing so can help inflame a situation. However, let's see how much the "we love the blue crowd" responds.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
I think you meant "we love the blue", right? I agree, they should show up in full riot gear and be just as hard-assed with them as they always are with the BLM protestors, and if it results in battle, then let it happen, and defeat them with overwhelming force. Let them know that if they want to restart the Civil War, the fed government is not going to just roll over and let them win, like they did on Jan. 6. If they don't do that, then we will all then know that Biden is just as willing to let fascism win as Trump was.
U.S. Capitol Police prepare for a rally in support of Capitol riot - Axios
Barnie2years comments on Sep 2, 2021:
I hope this time they have plenty of National Guard troops and backup. And teargas as well as full magazines of rubber bullets and real ones for when the insurrectionists star firing back.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
I hope that this time not only do they have those things, but that they treat them exactly the same way that BLM protestors got treated every time last summer, with tear gas and rubber bullets, no matter how peaceful they are. Time for some payback and equal treatment. Now that Trump is gone, if these people still get the kid gloves treatment, you will have proof positive that Biden is all talk about supporting BLM and all the other identity politics stuff that passes these days for actual change and progress from the left.
i really am surprised how satisfying it can be to block persistent stupidity.
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:
I am approaching near five dozen total blocked, but I suspect many of them have left the site, so it may actually be much smaller than that on active members. But I have enjoyed every block I make. I call it customizing my site experience.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
@Gwendolyn2018 It is a bit like what I do on dating sites, when someone has rejected me or when I confront someone I have been messaging with about their game-playing or whatever dishonest stuff they have been pulling on me, I tell them off in a final message on the dating site, then block them after I see they have read it, altho they often beat me to the punch and block me right after they read the tell off message, beating me to the punch. No matter, I still know that way that they got the message and read it, judging by their reaction. I do enjoy getting the last word in, or the last poke in the eye, so to speak, whether it's on here or on Batch. I know that few people are willing to do tell off messages on paid dating sites, due to the risk of getting reported and banned on there, but sometimes I just can't help myself and don't feel like just being polite and taking it from them after they are dishonest or mean in how they have treated me there. Usually it involves someone who has been breadcrumbing me, by stringing me along with intermittent messaging, and pretending to show just enough interest in getting to know me or meet in person, but ultimately either never meeting me in person. My guess is that in these cases the woman is either just out for the ego strokes from men and has no real intention of meeting anyone in person or dating anyone, or, it could even be, as Sticks 48 has shared with me about his own online dating experiences, that the "woman" is actually a plant by the dating site to fool men into thinking there is more potential in the dating pool than there actually is. Before I actually tried online dating, I heard stories about that from single men and women who had, and was inclined to dismiss that as paranoid thinking, but nowadays, it doesn't seem far-fetched at all.
i really am surprised how satisfying it can be to block persistent stupidity.
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:
I am approaching near five dozen total blocked, but I suspect many of them have left the site, so it may actually be much smaller than that on active members. But I have enjoyed every block I make. I call it customizing my site experience.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
@Gwendolyn2018 I don't need to know they saw the post about blocking them, it's more for the benefit of the observers.
i really am surprised how satisfying it can be to block persistent stupidity.
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:
I am approaching near five dozen total blocked, but I suspect many of them have left the site, so it may actually be much smaller than that on active members. But I have enjoyed every block I make. I call it customizing my site experience.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
@Gwendolyn2018 I think that in my case they usually know, as I also usually tell them in advance that I'm going to do it. That way it is also clear to the other members observing the spat what happened.
Can US Elections Really Be Stolen?
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:
Most eligible voters in America are either too demoralized to even think that their votes matter in fed elections, and of those that still do vote, they buy all the propaganda from the corporate media that voting third party is always a wasted vote, etc. And as long as that message remains so ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
@William_Mary I hope you are right.
We keep trying to put band-aids on societal issues that require tourniquets.
LenHazell53 comments on Aug 28, 2021:
This is very one sided. Service industries are there to provide a service, one that is paid for, often by other service employees who themselves have had to put up with toxic customers and have done so. Now entitled behaviour and bullying is NEVER acceptable from anyone, and the answer is simple, ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 2, 2021:
@LenHazell53 As I have said many time, Iowa is a very backward state when it comes to social progress.
Fauci Says Only Way to Herd Immunity May Be Through Natural Infections - Second Nexus
TomMcGiverin comments on Sep 1, 2021:
And yet, after the deaths begin piling up, the Repubs and Trumpers will still put the blame on Biden for it, somehow...
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 1, 2021:
@OldMetalHead Good. I hope it does thin their numbers at the polls. I call that self-imposed voter suppression, and it's entirely legal and poetic justice as well.
We keep trying to put band-aids on societal issues that require tourniquets.
LenHazell53 comments on Aug 28, 2021:
This is very one sided. Service industries are there to provide a service, one that is paid for, often by other service employees who themselves have had to put up with toxic customers and have done so. Now entitled behaviour and bullying is NEVER acceptable from anyone, and the answer is simple, ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 1, 2021:
I don't think that applies equally here in the US, compared to the UK. The customer here is often a psycho or a bully, and they do not deserve to be coddled. They deserve clear rules that are always enforced, and also the clear message that if they don't like it, go patronize another business. And if enough businesses in a given industry adopt this, then the government does not have to get involved and regulate behavior, as eventually the assholes realize they have to conform to reasonable rules that an industry has adopted, or be left out of mainstream business and services. And it works. Here in my state, I still remember how much whining and outrage happened when smoking was finally banned from almost all public places as well as most businesses that served the public. In some ways it was similar to the protests over mask orders, but it eventually was accepted because almost all the business owners, even tho they were Repubs by and large, realized this was not going to be defeated or dropped by government, and that there was no competitive disadvantage to complying, since all the businesses were in the same boat, so they enforced the law and very soon the whining smokers gave up fighting it. And finally, non-smokers like me, who were by far the majority of the public and the voters, finally were able to visit bars and restaurants without having to risk second hand smoke and the diseases that come with it. Sounds to me a lot like the Covid situation. This new law, called the Clean Air Act of 2008, was passed back when my state was still a blue state, but privately, most of the Repub legislators in the state supported it, and only put up token opposition to it, since they knew most of even their base supported it. But it was also long before Trump and all the current bullshit on the right about my liberties, my freedoms, etc.
Focusing on the Problem!!!!!!: Is there any legal way to shut these bastards up? [theguardian.com]
SnowyOwl comments on Aug 31, 2021:
Usually there is a lone gunman involved in these sorts of scenarios, at least in the US of A.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 1, 2021:
@SnowyOwl Whatever that means, I guess so.
Focusing on the Problem!!!!!!: Is there any legal way to shut these bastards up? [theguardian.com]
SnowyOwl comments on Aug 31, 2021:
Usually there is a lone gunman involved in these sorts of scenarios, at least in the US of A.
TomMcGiverin replies on Sep 1, 2021:
In the US, the way it goes is this: Assassinations of those on the right are rare, and usually unsuccessful, that is because in those cases it truly is a lone gunman nutcase making the attempt. In assassinations of those on the left, they are way more frequent, and they usually succeed. Why? Because the publicly identified shooter is usually a patsy to provide a cover story and even when they are the real shooter, they always have help from a government agency with the hit.
Jim Jordan gets schooled while attacking Dr Fauci
Lauren comments on Aug 31, 2021:
Jim Jordan is a bully who never communicates, he just shouts people down. He's had entirely too much latitude these past five years, and needs put down like the mad dog he is. Or at least jailed for his part in the insurrection.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 31, 2021:
@Lauren I don't pretend to know it all, esp. about medicine. But I do know that I trust in and believe in science more than in religion or conspiracy theories about Western medicine. As someone with a couple of inherited heart conditions from my parents, I, like you, am glad that Western medicine can at least help me cope with the conditions, even if there is no cure for one of them. My quality of life is much better because of that help. The woman I wrote about is also home schooling her daughter, why I don't know. She says it is not because of her fearing the kid would get Covid attending school in person. But even this friend is already admitting that she is emotionally overwhelmed keeping the kid at home instead of attending school. We'll see how long she holds up.
Church annoyed after...
Barnie2years comments on Aug 31, 2021:
Hardly makes up for the thousand of religious fake bills these clowns have been leaving laying around and even using as tips, for decades.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 31, 2021:
If there were any justice in the restaurant business, those who leave fake tips would be permanently thrown out and banned from the place if they showed up and were recognized by the wait staff that they cheated, but that will never happen, as restaurant owner and managers will continue to gladly exploit and not support their wait staff of low wage and tip slaves. I am happy tho, that with Covid and The Great Resignation lately, some of these restaurant owners are starting to have trouble filling their wait staff positions and realizing that they might have to start treating them decently in order to not have constant turnover.
Jim Jordan gets schooled while attacking Dr Fauci
Lauren comments on Aug 31, 2021:
Jim Jordan is a bully who never communicates, he just shouts people down. He's had entirely too much latitude these past five years, and needs put down like the mad dog he is. Or at least jailed for his part in the insurrection.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 31, 2021:
@Lauren I have only one friend, and no family members, who won't get vaxed. Her reasons for that are that she is a Libertarian and very anti- government. She also doesn't trust traditional Western medicine. I only see her at karaoke shows in bars, a hobby that we share. I am willing to take the risk of being around her at karaoke, because she has two young kids who can't be vaxed yet, anyway, so I know that she is being very careful to avoid Covid, at least for their sake. If she does get Covid tho, and then either transmits it to me or refuses to get vaxed after getting Covid, I will no longer be willing to sit around her at karaoke. Because that would be the ultimate choice of her putting her ideology ahead of my health and safety as a friend.
I don't drink however I found this amusing.
TomMcGiverin comments on Aug 30, 2021:
I haven't drank alcohol since 1996. Originally, it was because my late wife was married to an alcoholic before she met me, and she asked me to stop drinking so she could feel more emotionally secure with me, but after 2010, I no longer had any choice in the matter, as I had developed atril ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 30, 2021:
Thanks Larry.
I don't drink however I found this amusing.
mischl comments on Aug 30, 2021:
I drink, mostly just as my doctor recommended. A glass of dry red wine in the evening two to four times a week.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 30, 2021:
@mischl Glad you are still able to safely enjoy that. We all need our vices and pleasures, otherwise, why is life worth living?
I don't drink however I found this amusing.
mischl comments on Aug 30, 2021:
I drink, mostly just as my doctor recommended. A glass of dry red wine in the evening two to four times a week.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 30, 2021:
Wish I still could drink socially. I have to settle nowadays for NA beers and once in a while fake champagne this is NA grape juice.
I work in "member" service for a federal credit union.
dkp93 comments on Aug 29, 2021:
That poor, dumb, pitiful man is about to learn a very expensive lesson.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 29, 2021:
This sounds so much like that reality show on WE TV, Love After Lockup, where the vast majority of released cons are just using their free world partners as tricks, meal tickets, or ATMS. It's not that surprising, when I see what happens with online dating, that some people are willing to just break down and try to buy someone's company and involvement with them, but it seldom seems to actually work, at least not as long as the person being bought has any other options, such as going back to prison or finding a better arrangement. Even those are probably tho better options than staying poor in a hellhole of a third world country.
I work in "member" service for a federal credit union.
TomMcGiverin comments on Aug 28, 2021:
I guess for every scammer there is at least one poor sucker like this guy. Sorry you ended up in the middle of this train wreck in progress. This guy is probably not very good looking or at best average-looking, and he is clearly seeking a modern version of the old mail order bride. How sad, as the ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 29, 2021:
@GeorgeRocheleau I suppose sometimes it actually ends up in mutual love, but I'm sure it usually ends up being more of a business arrangement. I would be curious what usually happens when the mail order bride gets older if her looks really fade...
I work in "member" service for a federal credit union.
TomMcGiverin comments on Aug 28, 2021:
I guess for every scammer there is at least one poor sucker like this guy. Sorry you ended up in the middle of this train wreck in progress. This guy is probably not very good looking or at best average-looking, and he is clearly seeking a modern version of the old mail order bride. How sad, as the ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 29, 2021:
@GeorgeRocheleau They usually have to be. I am not judging them, but the reality is that they are participating in prostitution-lite...
Opinion | Professors indoctrinating students?
Wangobango3 comments on Aug 29, 2021:
I am surprised that they made it through high school without ever having a black teacher. I guess that is how the powers that be want it.I don't think the USA will ever overcome it's racist inclinations. The only solution is to apply the law in every situation where race has displaced constitutional...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 29, 2021:
@Beowulfsfriend Growing up in Iowa, I sometimes heard the half serious jokes that most rural-raised kids had never seen any blacks in person, nor any Jews, unless they saw them in a museum on display, lol.
Can US Elections Really Be Stolen?
TomMcGiverin comments on Aug 29, 2021:
They can always be stolen as long as most of the voting is done electronically with touch screen voting machines and no paper receipts, instead of paper only ballots so there can be accurate recounts. I would prefer a mix of mail in ballots and paper in person ballots, instead of what we have, but ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 29, 2021:
@William_Mary Can't disagree with any of that. The Venezuala voting system sounds good, way better than America's.
Well, boy did I get played.
racocn8 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
You can't expect equality, especially in such a dishonest and contrived exchange. Good luck any way. Keep trying. It IS worth it. Sort of.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 28, 2021:
@RonWilliam53 Fuck you, time to block.
Robert F. Kennedy’s sons support release of dad’s assassin
TomMcGiverin comments on Aug 27, 2021:
I sadly have to agree with you. Like what really happened on 9-11, the American public will never get to know the real stories behind the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK, nor even about Paul Wellstone or Mel Carnahan, probably all of which involved the assistance of the CIA or military ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 28, 2021:
@David1955 You are right about all of it and covered all of it. Here in the US we are completely screwed between the system, the corporate media, and the sheeple behavior of the masses.
Because as we all know EVERYONE can be a PERFECT person ALL the time.
Gwendolyn2018 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
I am careful with what I say because I have been hurt too many times in the past by insensitive things people said to me when I was young and impressionable. I don't get hurt any longer, but I have been known to make some caustic comments to people who make such comments. The comments don't even ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
You make a good point, Gwen. Most of us, including me, have our moments when we carelessly or thoughtlessly make a rare remark that is in bad taste or accidentally mean or hurtful. But I think there is a difference between that and someone regularly or frequently saying things that are mean, hurtful, or insulting to others who are worse off or less advantaged, etc. If that happens regularly, then you know it is the person's true character, and an ugly, nasty one at that. I have no time or interest in involvement with those people as friends, much less as a significant other, because it is only a matter of time until they begin mistreating and abusing you verbally and emotionally.
Because as we all know EVERYONE can be a PERFECT person ALL the time.
Druvius comments on Aug 27, 2021:
It is distressing that someone in the public eye can indeed lose their job or even ruin their career with a single ill considered tweet. Still, this phenomena predates the Internet, if one is the public face of anything, one needs to be careful of what they say or do in public. Look up Fatty ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
I think you have a very healthy perspective on this. I personally don't give a fuck about celebrities and the rich and powerful, as far as their personal lives. They may as well live on a different planet than peasants like us. They don't know shit about us or care about any of us, in most cases, so why do so many of our fellow peasants get so concerned or enamored with them? I have never understood it, unless it just gives them some free entertainment or a chance to live vicariously thru them a more interesting or better life than they have as a peasant. However, having said that, I do care about their personal lives, esp. how they have treated others who had less fame, money, or power than them if they chose to become involved in politics. In that situation, they do have an effect on my life and that of fellow peasants, and their character, at least involving the public and others less powerful, as well as how corrupt they are, matters big time to me, as well as their policy positions, in who I will support or vote for.
Well, boy did I get played.
RonWilliam53 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
Online dating is just like real world dating-unless somene says he/she is talking exclusively to you, assume they aren't. Same with if they meet for coffee or whatever. They're certainly not assuming you are. Quite frankly, anyone deciding after a text or two that "this is the one" ain't dealing in...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
@RonWilliam53 That may very well be true, Ron, but it still does not excuse or justify women being cruel, dishonest, and manipulative to men like me whose only crime is being sincerely, respectfully, and appropriately interested in getting to know them and possibly dating them. In my opinion, if a woman is so damaged, fearful, and guarded towards men, maybe they shouldn't be on dating sites and should stay off them and leave the rest of us the fuck alone....
Well, boy did I get played.
racocn8 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
You can't expect equality, especially in such a dishonest and contrived exchange. Good luck any way. Keep trying. It IS worth it. Sort of.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
@RonWilliam53 Who said I was considering "paying back" any innocent parties, Ron? I approach each new woman in the dating process with as much of a clean slate as other people do, probably more than other people do. How about you, paragon of mental health as you claim to be? You're not my therapist and you aren't qualified to be anyone else's. Piss off...
Well, boy did I get played.
racocn8 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
You can't expect equality, especially in such a dishonest and contrived exchange. Good luck any way. Keep trying. It IS worth it. Sort of.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
@racocn8 I have seen it from both genders. Once went to a singles dance and met a guy who was leaving right as I was coming in. We chatted a minute or so about how the event seemed to be shaping up, and he told me that after being there about 15 min., that he was leaving for, as he put it, "somewhere with better prospects", which I suppose meant a bar or dance club with single women that were better-looking. I judged him to be about an 8 in looks, while I am a 5 or a 6 at best. I met a woman later at that dance that seemed like an 8 to me in looks, who was there before this guy left, but apparently he wanted a 9 or better. So, you're right, people are strange, as the Doors sang, or different as you say. The woman who was an 8 was someone I danced with a few times, chatted with and traded phone numbers, but she turned out to be a stuck up game player who made plans to meet me the next week, but then ghosted me. I wish her and the guy that left had gotten together, they might have deserved each other, lol.... The dating site research seems to match my own experience, including what I have heard from single women on Batch as well as on Agnostic.com. Women seem to have somewhat higher standards, in general, than men regarding looks and who they choose to date and eventually have sex with. And that does not work well for average-looking men like me, as most women seem to focus their sights solely on the men who are 8s or better in looks. As a guy I know posted on FB in a discussion on looks and dating, he said that research on Tinder showed that most women put all their interest in men who were 8s and 9s in looks, who were not really interested in LTRs with these women, but after some experience and sex with these great looking men, the women ended up disappointed with not being able to land these men in LTRs, but still developed high expectations for looks and great sex from other men, thus continuing to ignore and reject men who were average-looking, while wondering "Where are all the nice guys and good men?". So they end up unhappy and alone, with their overly high standards for looks and sex, while the average looking guys end up feeling the same, unhappy and alone while being left alone on the sidelines. Sure as hell matches my experiences with online dating.
Well, boy did I get played.
racocn8 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
You can't expect equality, especially in such a dishonest and contrived exchange. Good luck any way. Keep trying. It IS worth it. Sort of.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
@RonWilliam53 Fuck you, Ron. I am not an incel, just a man with a healthy comfort with my emotions, including anger. I vent, let it out, and then move on in a day or so. So easy for you to judge not being in my shoes. Fuck off or I block you. I really doubt you would react that much differently emotionally if you were in my shoes on this incident, way to blame the victim, Ron. She is the horrible and defective person, not me. Just because you may not have the guts to openly share your feelings of hurt and anger openly here when you are wronged in the dating game, doesn't mean I am an incel just for sharing them. Maybe that's why this group is so inactive lately, because too many members of the group feel intimidated that if they openly share their bad experiences and openly share their emotions about it, they will instead be blamed for their mistreatment and bashed by smug arrogant folks like you. So they stay quiet and don't post here anymore. If the genders were reversed in this incident, and I was a woman who called the man who played me a prick, would that make me some kind of female incel, according to you? I doubt it...
Well, boy did I get played.
RonWilliam53 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
Online dating is just like real world dating-unless somene says he/she is talking exclusively to you, assume they aren't. Same with if they meet for coffee or whatever. They're certainly not assuming you are. Quite frankly, anyone deciding after a text or two that "this is the one" ain't dealing in...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
I have always understood that, and have been on dating sites for almost four years now. I know that it is all like gays in the military during the Clinton era, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, as far as who else someone is seeing or messaging from a dating site. But that still doesn't include or excuse someone continuing to make excuses for not meeting you in person or stringing you along about eventually meeting you in person when they secretly have no intention of meeting anyone else in person from the dating site except their top pick from the litter, which is clearly what this woman was planning from the git go. She just wanted to have at least several choices to meet once she finished her move, was settled in, and then ready to meet men in person. She planned from the beginning, clearly, to set this up and leave several men waiting on the side while she met her first pick and would then come back to the men in waiting only if the first guy didn't work out. What a selfish, lying, manipulative bitch!
This guy has balls of steel! He goes right in the belly of the beast to expose the Trumplicans for ...
silverotter11 comments on Aug 26, 2021:
This is great!! So much ignorance packed into 6 minutes.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
@Barnie2years This is true, because those people figured that Trump would protect them from being prosecuted or punished, and they were probably right about that.
Well, boy did I get played.
HippieChick58 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
I don't remember the exact number of times I've been corresponding with some male from a dating site and we've scheduled a meeting, and I get ghosted. It isn't exclusive to gender. It is a shitty way of doing business and a waste of my time, which is why I dropped out of dating sites. The last dude ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
And the real kicker, the added pity of it, is that if you message someone who behaves this way thru the dating site, and tell them off in your message, no matter how accurately and fairly, for their own misconduct, even if you are not threatening or insulting in your language, you run the risk of them reporting you to the dating site and being banned from the site for violating the site's TOS, because the site only cares about money and maintaining it's paid membership. They don't care about it's members being treated fairly and courteously by other members when it comes to ghosting, lying to other members, etc. You are completely on your own regarding that, and the dating sites will not takes sides against a member just because they choose to, as you say, do business in a lousy way. Their TOS allows completely for that and they won't get involved in policing or sanctioning people for that. So when another site member wrongs you, you are just supposed to take it, without telling them off, and just block them, without confronting them, because that would violate the TOS, no matter how appropriately you do it thru a message sent to them. I think that double standard is bullshit.
Sturgis South Dakota has had a1500% increase in covid cases
Mooolah comments on Aug 26, 2021:
Folks leave town during this abomination in the Black Hills. The problem is the spread. These are the people spreading the disease. As knowingly dispensing HIV or syphilis, they are the irresponsible who belong in solitary confinement.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
@Mooolah I agree with you about the flaws of living out in the country. I would not like the isolation and the lack of law enforcement closed by. I do not like the idea of depending on neighbors for my safety, instead of cops. And it is much easier to kill somebody stealthily and get away with it out there, as you say.
Well, boy did I get played.
HippieChick58 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
I don't remember the exact number of times I've been corresponding with some male from a dating site and we've scheduled a meeting, and I get ghosted. It isn't exclusive to gender. It is a shitty way of doing business and a waste of my time, which is why I dropped out of dating sites. The last dude ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
I understand and don't blame you, but who knows how many years I have left to live, and I don't want to spend all the rest of them alone. I am retired and not interested in volunteering just to have the opportunity to meet single women thru that. And I already tried joining groups to meet women and that doesn't work either, any better than a dating site, as it also provides way fewer potential opportunities, numerically, than a dating site. Finally, a married friend that enjoys discussion way more than me, has continued to attend meetings of groups like your humanist group, and he agrees with me that those groups are pretty useless for meeting single women my age, as very few of them ever show up and all the women my age at those meetings are there with a partner. I have never ghosted anyone from a dating site or stood anyone up for a date in my whole fucking life, and I am very proud of that, but it seems that for many men and women, those behaviors are not only acceptable, but even seen as healthy and guilt-free, since to them dating behavior is all about one's personal comfort and convenience, with no regard for others or their feelings. In the old days, we called that selfishness and immaturity. Nowadays, it's seen as realistic and being appropriately protective of one's personal comfort zone. Sticks 48 has told me that in his short experience with a dating site, I won't share which one, he discovered that there were fake profiles of some women, who were good-looking, that were actually plants from the dating site, put on there to sucker men into thinking there were more women on the site than there actually were, to get more paid male members, even tho these women were staffers of the dating site and they never ended up meeting any of the men they messaged with for the site they worked for. Four years ago, before I ever tried online dating, I was already fairly cynical about big business, but even then I would have been skeptical of whether that kind of claim was true, but after my own experiences with online dating, it seems entirely believable and probably likely with most dating sites. I have even been told by a local woman, who I used to know from a Meetup group for singles that I used to attend with her, that she used to get solicited by matchmaking businesses to meet male clients for them just so they could claim they had a pool of women who were interested in meeting the business's customers for dating and relationships. She turned them down.
I find it interesting that many atheists, including ones on this platform, give up their belief in a...
Diagoras comments on Aug 27, 2021:
I'm certain just as conservative atheists or even conservatives overall have different views within the same group that liberals do. Do I need to explain to you the strategy and purpose of coalitions? I am progressive because I would like my tax dollars to support the side of several issues that ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
I am a socialist, or what they call these days, a progressive, but in no way does that mean I follow a herd mentality with them. For example, I get fed up with the obsessive focus of some progressives on PC culture, to pretty much the exclusion of any focus on class warfare and economic inequality. I get sick of people on the left who use PC as a weapon against anyone who is not as extreme as them in their virtue signaling and their strict adherence to being PC in all speech, etc. Progressives these days are the same people that used to be called socialists, before the term was corrupted, stigmatized, or damaged by decades of propaganda and lies lumping it in with communism, etc.
Well, boy did I get played.
racocn8 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
You can't expect equality, especially in such a dishonest and contrived exchange. Good luck any way. Keep trying. It IS worth it. Sort of.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
@racocn8 I have an old story that can top yours about the woman calling you obese. Back in the early 90s, before internet dating, I met a woman once thru the voice personal ads, which was truly blind dating, as you never saw them or any photos before you met in person. I arranged to meet her in the lobby of a science center to watch a laser show and then go out for coffee afterwards. She looked in thru the glass doors to see me sitting there waiting for her, like I told her I would. So she came in and told me bluntly that she usually just looks in the door before meeting a man from an ad and if she is disappointed in his looks, she doesn't come in and just stands him up. As if I am supposed to be flattered and positively impressed by that? She then told me that she was disappointed in my looks, to my face, and she would usually have just left me there, but she wanted to be nice, so she decided to at least watch the show with me. What a bitch, like she was doing me a favor out of pity or some noble virtue on her part. I watched the show with her, but I was seething inside, and I let her have it on the way out of the building. And trust me, while I am a 5-6, this woman was an 7- an 8 at most, so where did she get off feeling entitled to stand up any man that didn't meet her looks standards, when back then I was probably a 7, with the full head of hair and athletic body I had back then. Like her shit didn't stink?
Well, boy did I get played.
racocn8 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
You can't expect equality, especially in such a dishonest and contrived exchange. Good luck any way. Keep trying. It IS worth it. Sort of.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
@racocn8 So far, I have resisted the urge to pay back the rest of the gender for what these bitches have done to me, including the four different women who stood me up in a four month period a couple years ago before Covid, from Batch. I really try to give each new woman a clean slate, but at the same time, I rightly recognize red flags from my previous experiences and do my best to avoid being played or conned. Easier said than done on both counts, not being conned or not holding similarities against new women. All this proves Sticks 48 right, it truly goes both ways. This woman was a recently retired career school teacher and coach. I can only imagine what kind of role model and influence she was on her school kids and athletes about ethics, integrity and teaching kindness. Maybe she was phony enough in her roles there to be a good influence, but I doubt it. My guess is that, like many pols and business people, she compartmentalizes a lot in her life and that allows her to be so selfish and callous to others in her personal relationships outside of work.
Well, boy did I get played.
racocn8 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
You can't expect equality, especially in such a dishonest and contrived exchange. Good luck any way. Keep trying. It IS worth it. Sort of.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
@racocn8 Well, my latest experiences, with her, the two other women I mentioned, and another one that messaged back and forth with me a few times, then video chatted with me, then told me she was going to be busy the next week and to message her this last Mon. after she was over that busy week, well, I messaged her on Mon., no reply, then on Wed. she blocks me, both on Batch and FB, where we went to video chat after the video chat on Batch didn't work on her end. So I knew her full name and her occupation, lawyer, and called her office, left a VM telling her how shocked and hurt I was that she blocked me on FB and Batch with no warning or explanation, and that I felt I deserved an explanation. She got on Batch later that evening, I don't know how she removed the block on there, maybe she contacted customer service, I dunno, but she replied to me that she had accidentally blocked me on Batch, while trying to block another man. Didn't say anything about blocking me on FB as well, so I really don't believe her, since her law specialty is probate, estates, and trusts, which is very precise, detailed work and she is very smart. So I pretended to accept her apology, but I think the reality is that she decided in the week after the video chat to dump me before meeting me in person and was too embarrassed to admit it after I called her and confronted her in the VM, she felt too guilty about it, since she knew my recently deceased father professionally as well.
Well, boy did I get played.
racocn8 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
You can't expect equality, especially in such a dishonest and contrived exchange. Good luck any way. Keep trying. It IS worth it. Sort of.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
Do you agree that she was just making excuses after she finished her move to the new town and was putting me and probably some other guys off? Wouldn't you be damned angry at her?
Well, boy did I get played.
racocn8 comments on Aug 27, 2021:
You can't expect equality, especially in such a dishonest and contrived exchange. Good luck any way. Keep trying. It IS worth it. Sort of.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 27, 2021:
She was being dishonest and she engineered a contrived, manipulated exchange. You got it exactly right. Or are you talking about the structure of dating sites in general. I'm sure she was playing several guys at once and had only the intention of meeting her first pick and then letting the other guys die on the vine, never planning to meet them unless the first guy didn't work out as hoped.
I find it interesting that many atheists, including ones on this platform, give up their belief in a...
David1955 comments on Aug 26, 2021:
That's quite a piece of false assumptions about atheists, and conflation of issues. I assume you did mean atheists and not non religious people generally - atheists and agnostics -- and while I've read some rants against atheists, this one takes the cake. I might say I find it's agnostics who often ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 26, 2021:
What he said..
This guy has balls of steel! He goes right in the belly of the beast to expose the Trumplicans for ...
silverotter11 comments on Aug 26, 2021:
This is great!! So much ignorance packed into 6 minutes.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 26, 2021:
I have always come away with that reaction to all his videos of right wingers, just jaw-dropping in their ignorance, stupidity, and paranoia. You sometimes wonder why they all aren't mouth breathers and how they have lived as long as they have. I have also concluded the only way Jordan has never been punched out at one of these rallies is that he has cameras on him all the time to document any possible assaults for later use by the cops or in lawsuits against the attacker, otherwise, these fools would have beat the crap out of him long ago. So they are smart enough not to physically attack someone on camera, I'll give them that.
Sturgis South Dakota has had a1500% increase in covid cases
Mooolah comments on Aug 26, 2021:
Folks leave town during this abomination in the Black Hills. The problem is the spread. These are the people spreading the disease. As knowingly dispensing HIV or syphilis, they are the irresponsible who belong in solitary confinement.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 26, 2021:
Sometimes I really wish it was legal and constitutional in the US, for the rest of us to be able to force these assholes into quarantine, with each other and away from the rest of us, until the virus is under control and we reach herd immunity. I mean, why would they be unhappy, surrounded by only their kind and not having to deal with libs and others who aren't like them? Wouldn't that be, for them, like reaching paradise early? Nope, they would still bitch about their rights and freedom to make the rest of us sick and be obnoxious jerks to others who aren't like them. It's what they live for and what their whole identity is all about. If only we could keep them in group quarantine until they are all either dead, vaccinated, or free of Covid.
Find out what's been happening as we review the last two weeks worth of news regarding atheism and ...
Leelu comments on Aug 14, 2021:
Spam? Is this a spam account?
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 25, 2021:
@Leelu Fuck you. Looks like about everybody here agrees that you are in the wrong, not that you ever care about that...
Find out what's been happening as we review the last two weeks worth of news regarding atheism and ...
Leelu comments on Aug 14, 2021:
Spam? Is this a spam account?
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 25, 2021:
@Leelu And as always, fuck off.....
Well folks it's been pretty well confirmed that I will be dying of cancer is spread now from my ...
TomMcGiverin comments on Aug 25, 2021:
I am very sorry to hear this. It takes guts to come out publicly about one's dying, and I admire you on that. Hope I have the same when my time comes, if there is any advance notice.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 25, 2021:
@oldFloyd I can only hope. I hope it is in my sleep after my quality of life has been permanently diminished for a while.
Find out what's been happening as we review the last two weeks worth of news regarding atheism and ...
Leelu comments on Aug 14, 2021:
Spam? Is this a spam account?
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 25, 2021:
@Leelu And there are no blocks in General Forum or Community Senate, so we have to put up with each other, but you are still a bitch....
It Took Divorce to Make My Marriage Equal | Glamour
TomMcGiverin comments on Aug 24, 2021:
This kind of essay makes me so glad I never had kids, because working out a marriage of equals can be hard enough without bringing kids into the mix, but almost all the women in my state end up so brainwashed with the farmer's daughter mentality, that never having kids never occurs to them, or if it...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 25, 2021:
@HippieChick58 I think your sense of balance and independence with your family is very healthy, but rare in the Midwest, and I'll leave it at that.
Find out what's been happening as we review the last two weeks worth of news regarding atheism and ...
Leelu comments on Aug 14, 2021:
Spam? Is this a spam account?
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 25, 2021:
@creative51 You will never get her to admit when she is wrong. I know, and ended up having to block her.
Is it Information or Misinformation?
JonnaBononna comments on Aug 25, 2021:
I didn't know it was a thing. I'll have to check it out and get back to you!!
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 25, 2021:
@Unity I haven't seen the film, but I already knew Bernie was robbed of the nomination, and that his people got bashed for crying foul, not the winning side that cheated. The corporate media never sides with a progressive in a fight against a corporate Dem.
It Took Divorce to Make My Marriage Equal | Glamour
TomMcGiverin comments on Aug 24, 2021:
This kind of essay makes me so glad I never had kids, because working out a marriage of equals can be hard enough without bringing kids into the mix, but almost all the women in my state end up so brainwashed with the farmer's daughter mentality, that never having kids never occurs to them, or if it...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 25, 2021:
@HippieChick58 Another woman here on Agnostic explained it really well, I think, about what I am dealing with in my local dating pool. She said that most women who get divorced and live in the Midwest have all their identity wrapped up in their role as a mother, and so they retreat and hide behind their adult kids and grandkids, clinging to them for comfort and purpose after the divorce, and that's why they appear "family-oriented" and even use that term in their profile essays on dating sites. To me, that is a red flag, that the woman does not have any balance in her life, is not independent enough in a healthy way from her family, and I want nothing to do with her. The woman on Agnostic who was explaining this said she had seen this many times with divorced female friends of hers and said the problem is not me, but the culture and its influence on women in my dating pool. She also said in most cases these family-oriented women are clinging to their families after their divorce and having way more contact with their kids and grandkids than the family actually desires from them, lol. It is sad and pathetic that their divorces leave them so hurt, scared of men in general, and afraid of another close relationship with a man, that they retreat into excessive contact with their family to avoid potential hurt and disappointment again. Too bad that they never get the kind of therapy post-divorce that they need and would help them get on with their life.
The King Master nailed it
BD66 comments on Aug 23, 2021:
And the new guy is even worse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DbE2SmV2bs
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 25, 2021:
@BD66 Feel free to post it there. You'll probably get crickets for a response.
The King Master nailed it
BD66 comments on Aug 23, 2021:
And the new guy is even worse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DbE2SmV2bs
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 25, 2021:
@HippieChick58 There is a Biden Pinata group, and I am even a member of it, but it has been noticeably inactive for several months. I'm guessing that's either because the conservative Agnostics haven't been able to come up with anything substantial to bash him on, except maybe the tired old stuff about his son Hunter, or maybe they just think it will be a waste of time to post it there. Either way, it is sort of interesting how that's gone so far. The guy who originated it is a lefty, like me, but he doesn't seem that interested in censoring anybody...
From the past, remember this we didn't learn anything
HippieChick58 comments on Aug 24, 2021:
Sadly our education system is failing, the meds work fine. Making America Great Again needs to start with our schools. Teach true history, teach critical thinking skills. We shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel when there is a public crisis. There shouldn't be public crisis of this sort.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 24, 2021:
@silverotter11 Nurture is clearly more important than genetics in many cases, such as yours... You two had the same background, but something or someone prompted you to break away, while the other stayed in that world. Interesting...
Update: This afternoon, I watched the live video webcast of the memorial service for my former ...
Deb57 comments on Aug 24, 2021:
I have never worried about Big Brother. I know exactly what flags they might pull up on me based upon my lifetime of interests and activities, and there are a few. All I have to say is that whomever gets stuck monitoring me will need a big supply of caffeine to keep from nodding off. If they ever ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 24, 2021:
Believe it or not, the guy at the memorial service read an excerpt from the FBI file that said the deceased "was a member of several subversive organizations, including the Democratic Party".. Sounds like McCarthyism and Hoover at their finest. And Deb, cruel fuckers that they are, if they took you to jail for being subversive, they would just have the cats put down. Because you and my coach Mike, were both cat lovers, which in my experience, is usually a sign of being good folks.
It Took Divorce to Make My Marriage Equal | Glamour
TomMcGiverin comments on Aug 24, 2021:
This kind of essay makes me so glad I never had kids, because working out a marriage of equals can be hard enough without bringing kids into the mix, but almost all the women in my state end up so brainwashed with the farmer's daughter mentality, that never having kids never occurs to them, or if it...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 24, 2021:
@HippieChick58 I respect those that chose different, but I haven't enjoyed being so roundly rejected by women, both when I was a young man, and pretty much left out of being considered for LTRs by women then who only wanted men willing to become stepfathers or make babies with them. I wanted no part of either, but it was tough on me emotionally to be rejected so often for anything beyond casual dating. It's hard being part of such a small minority in my local culture. And now the same thing is happening to me long after the age of having or raising children, even by women who also, like me, ended up not having kids, probably because they are doubtful that their own extended family will be there for them in old age to comfort them and take care of them, so they are hedging their bets by only choosing men with kids, to date, even when they and I are in their 60s. I am fine with dating someone who does or does not have kids, all other things being equally compatible with them, but I am not making that a priority in who I choose to date. If only most of the women in my local dating pool on Match were were so open-minded, but few of them are. And I know this for a fact as when I view a woman's profile on Match, I can see what preferences she is looking for in a partner regarding their kids situation. And few of them include No kids in their list of preferences regarding that trait. As if there is really any sure thing that the in-laws from whatever man they choose are going to be there for her when she gets old and sick..... From my point of view, why not take a chance on dating me, a childless man? If she's with me long enough, she will inherit whatever money I have left, plus, if she's still in decent shape, she might well be able to find another man with kids and extended family who will look after her after I am dead. So why be so tunnel-visioned and focused on the near future so much about inheriting a family of in-laws as soon as possible thru a dating relationship now? To me it all seems way too pessimistic and sort of desperate on their part... Can I get an amen, Paula?
New here! How is everyone!
bb54165 comments on Aug 22, 2021:
Doing great, just joined this tonight.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 23, 2021:
Good luck with that, chief, if you are here to date. It appears you have only one woman with a compatibility rating of over 50% that lives anywhere in your area of WI, and she hasn't been on this site for over a month or two. All the other few women who meet that criteria, haven't been on here for a year or more. Rotsa ruck, and welcome to my local dating situation on Agnostic. Maybe you and the Texas gal can get together for a LD romance, lol...as that is all that is available to most of us from this site. Except for a very lucky few here, you need to join a real dating site, like Match or POF, and pay for it, to have any actual chance of meeting people to date online.
New Rule: Your Phone is Turning You into an Asshole | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) - YouTube
Mooolah comments on Aug 22, 2021:
I still do not have a phone except the hard line. No pictures of me on the internet. I hate the intrusion & obsession, face recognition tech etc. People whine about not paying the rent & then have these unnecessary contraptions. Toys are unnecessary. I subscribed to Discovery +for the 7 day free ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 23, 2021:
@Mooolah I have not used You Tube and have no real interest in it. Many of my favorite films are docs.
New Rule: Your Phone is Turning You into an Asshole | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) - YouTube
Mooolah comments on Aug 22, 2021:
I still do not have a phone except the hard line. No pictures of me on the internet. I hate the intrusion & obsession, face recognition tech etc. People whine about not paying the rent & then have these unnecessary contraptions. Toys are unnecessary. I subscribed to Discovery +for the 7 day free ...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 22, 2021:
You speak so much truth and I am with you on all of that. I only recently got Netflix, after all my friends were nagging me to get it, but only because it costs me nothing, using the subscription of a friend who came over and installed it on my TV using my wi-fi I already had for my laptop. I still have only used it a couple times to watch anything, as I already watch too much TV with my satellite Direct TV, and continue to have plenty of movies I record and watch later from TCM. I would rather spend most of my waking hours at home doing phone calls with friends, reading, or getting out into the world to hear live music, sing karaoke, watch live theater, etc. Netflix is a nice option to see some movies that I miss in the theaters when they come out or certain movies that never come out on home video or end up on TV, such as Springsteen Live On Broadway, which I finally got to see, but little else is on there that really interests me much.
New Rule: Your Phone is Turning You into an Asshole | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) - YouTube
BufftonBeotch comments on Aug 22, 2021:
Our great-grandparents watched a giant radio every evening, Stared at a radio. Some of the favorite radio performers were tap dancers and ventriloquists. Think about that just a minute.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 22, 2021:
@BufftonBeotch My beef is not so much that smartphone addiction is a waste of time and ridiculuous. My beef is that it is leading to shorter attention spans, greater rudesness and self-centeredness, an absence of face to face social skills, and the further atomization of society, including the family. Those things were probably already happening, but the addition of smartphones and social media have greatly sped up the process, made it even more convenient and impersonal to behave worse, and also provided an excuse for people to blame it on their phones and not own up to their own conscious personal choices to let the new tech become so important in their lives. Because there is a personal choice involved, and mine is to reject the new tech as much as possible, and I don't think my personal willpower or self discipline are that extraordinary. BTW, I bet the old practice of the family sitting around the radio or television probably didn't really atomize or take away from family interaction or relationships, in fact, it may have enhanced them in some ways.
Scammer messaging me wants to know how I can tell he's a scammer.
TomMcGiverin comments on Aug 20, 2021:
Is that on a dating site, Deb, or on FB?
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 21, 2021:
@Deb57 I thought so, but wasn't sure.
"I heard the news today, oh boy.
Budgie comments on Aug 21, 2021:
Sir PTerry said that a man is not truly dead until his name is no longer spoken. When the ripples from the actions of these men have finally stopped. So while you talk of them and while you embody the best of them they live on.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 21, 2021:
I agree with that. It's like the Mexican Day Of The Dead. After no one who is alive remembers you, only then are you truly dead to the world.
"I heard the news today, oh boy.
TomMcGiverin comments on Aug 20, 2021:
Thank you for all your supportive reactions. It makes me realize how many of you are much like my old friend and coach, which is always good for me to be reminded of, that I am not alone in being a square peg in a round hole culture, at least where I live and probably also where a lot of, if not all...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 20, 2021:
@Petter Sad, but true.
"I heard the news today, oh boy.
TomMcGiverin comments on Aug 20, 2021:
Thank you for all your supportive reactions. It makes me realize how many of you are much like my old friend and coach, which is always good for me to be reminded of, that I am not alone in being a square peg in a round hole culture, at least where I live and probably also where a lot of, if not all...
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 20, 2021:
@Petter You have a point, many Americans are now identifying as non-religious, but I bet you that relatively few of them live in the Midwest and particularly in Iowa in general and esp. where I live. My city has tons of churches, and even a Bible college. Way more churches than bars, which tells you something about the local culture. There is also almost no entertainment here for mature, educated thinking adults, as high school sports are the main entertainment here, same as in some small, rural podunk town. There really is no nightlife here and they roll up the sidewalks at 9 pm., figureatively. They may as well as practically everyone is young families and old retired folks. That is why I drive to Des Moines or West Des Moines for all my entertainment, culture, and seeing my local friends, because they all live there.
"I heard the news today, oh boy.
Mooolah comments on Aug 20, 2021:
How fortunate you were to have such a mentor. We are all flawed in some way. To be a positive influence on a young life is a most valuable gift.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 20, 2021:
It really is and for me, someone like him, a true fellow non-conformist, is very rare in Iowa and the Midwest in general, as the mainstream culture is so militantly about enforced politeness, conformity, etc.
"I heard the news today, oh boy.
Pralina1 comments on Aug 19, 2021:
So he is not really dead Tom , in a way , through u and your actions and your character , part of him will remain alive . And as u passing and sharing his lessons along to others , parts of him will remain alive even longer . I am sorry u feel his loss and the sadness today . 🙁🙁🙁
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 19, 2021:
Thanks Pralina. If I may share a song with you, by one of my old fav bands, The Velvet Underground, I have been thinking of this song all day and evening after I got the news. The song is called Last Night I Said Goodbye To My Friend. It was written and performed, just once, by the three surviving members of the band, just months after the death of their other founding member, when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1996. Listening to the song on You Tube has always choked me up. I hope the song moves you as well, if you give it a listen. And yes, I agree that none of us is completely dead or gone for good, as long as we are remembered and live on in the hearts, character, etc. of those we have influenced or loved. However, once all of those people are gone, then were truly gone for good and probably forgotten as well, for the most part, with the exception of the famous and infamous.
Not a lot of difference is it
powder comments on Aug 17, 2021:
The difference is the Taliban are the winners.
TomMcGiverin replies on Aug 19, 2021:
@powder I could be a starry-eyed idealist on this, but I really think the vast majority of eligible voters in America are sick of the corruption of both major parties and have figured out that both of them are only responsive and interested in serving the rich and corporations, and are sick as well of the legalized bribery that is American politics, esp. at the federal level. So if a third party could raise the kind of money that Sanders did, poll as high as he did for their candidate, I think they could convince the voters to drop the duopoly for them, and at least try it for one cycle. Because most voters, esp. the ones who stopped voting, really want a better choice and would risk voting for it if they thought their vote for it would actually make a difference.

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Agnostic, Atheist, Humanist, Secularist, Freethinker, Spiritual
Open to meeting women
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