Caitlin Writes about What's Wrong with Modern Feminism

This Is Everything That Is Wrong With Mainstream Feminism

Outlets like MSNBC and Politico have been excitedly running headlines titled “The military-industrial complex is now run by women” and “How women took over the military-industrial complex”. Apparently four of America’s five top defense contractors are now women, whose names I will not bother to learn or report on because I do not care.

These headlines are being derided by skeptics of the establishment mindset for the cartoonish self-parody of the corporate liberal mindset that they so clearly are, and rightly so. Pretty much everything in American mainstream liberalism ultimately boils down to advancing mass murder, exploitation and ecocide for profit while waving a “yay diversity” banner so that the NPR crowd can feel good about themselves while signing off on it. But the fact that these stories exist and have an audience can also be blamed more specifically on the failures of mainstream feminism.

A lot of men (and the occasional cultishly servile woman) like to bitch about the problem with modern feminism as though it is something that hurts men, threatens men, demonizes men, or robs men of their place in society or anything else they feel entitled to. This is all dopey nonsense which amounts to nothing other than a childish temper tantrum over men losing control over women that they never should have had in the first place; it’s people whining about losing their slaves. That imaginary piffle is not what is wrong with mainstream feminism. What is wrong with mainstream feminism is exemplified perfectly in a mass media parade celebrating the rise of women to the top of the most depraved industry on earth.

The problem that true feminism seeks to address is not that there aren’t enough women at the top of the corporate ladder, or that Americans refused to elect a woman to do the bombing, exploiting and oppressing in 2016. The problem has always been that we’re trying to value women with a value system created by a few very powerful men. By leaving in place the value system created by patriarchy (i.e. capitalism), we are now valuing women but only for their ability to play men’s games. Nobody has ever become a billionaire by being a mother, even the very best mother in the world, and nobody ever will because capitalism was designed by men, for men, to value men’s qualities. This has created a species-threatening imbalance because inequality is baked in to the system. When men reluctantly allowed women out of their house-shaped cages in the sixties, they did so on the condition that they would not change a thing about themselves. Women could play, but it was the women who had to change. As usual.

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mimi's picture

and have no 'bock' to rewrite it. Just saying that she hit the nail on the head with it. She has the hammer ... and I would want one too.
[video:https://youtu.be/qXBbIZlokB4]

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Bisbonian's picture

@mimi

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

The Aspie Corner's picture

and serve the Market and the Holy Profits. Goody.

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Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.

Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.

detroitmechworks's picture

Just put a couple token plates at the table and watch the underclass kill each other to join.

Because here I was all set to write a rebuttal to the minor points I disagreed with, when I realized, that there's no point. Have your delusions of what is going on in my head, whatever, I don't need to correct that. What I need to correct is the system that thrives on escalating tensions.

So, with that in mind, I disconnect. I'm not responsible for anybody else's behavior but my own and those I choose to associate with. I cannot change the world, nor would I try. I find that people who try to do tend to kill a lot of people in one way or another.

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

feminism today. In the 60s, it was throwing off shackles. Today, it is about having the power to shackle others.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

@dkmich I only have two thumbs and this comment gets both-UP!

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

mhagle's picture

It’s interesting to go back to seminal texts like Germaine Greer’s “The Female Eunuch” and see how much time feminists spent back then thinking about how women could be paid for domestic and child-rearing work. Fifty years ago, feminists of the time could easily see how financial abuse runs rampant through marriages because women don’t get paid for the majority of their work. They could see how if women were to ever be truly free, that had to be fixed. If you’re not getting paid, then you’re not able to leave, and if you can’t leave, you’re a slave. Despite all of feminism’s gains, today if you dare suggest that women be paid for bearing children, you will be jeered at. It was decided somewhere along the line that, fine, you can be a fake man if you want to, but don’t expect us to value YOU.

It's part of the argument for universal basic income. Paying care givers. The Leap Manifesto (leapmanifesto.org) included a plan for it, however there doesn't seem to be anything happening on the website. I wish I could find it, but economist Richard Wolff said in an interview that there is a high level of substitance abuse among women of my generation because basically they were expected to do two jobs . . . mom and outside the home work.

My husband had the ability to retire at age 51, so he became Mr. Mom and I continued to teach. He took the kids to school and to the park after school - stuff like that - but being the good old boy (his mom was their slave) he didn't embrace most of the other mom chores. No meaness on his part . . . just didn't know how. Wore me out though.

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Anja Geitz's picture

@mhagle

try and raise children and make a living back in the 1970's made a deep impression on me. Perhaps seeing them struggle so, along with other issues I had about making that kind of commitment, kept me from having children of my own. I don't regret my decision and was always vaguely amused when men told me that I'd change my mind once I found "Mr. Right". An observation that seemed steeped in romantic ideology rather than what was actually happening in real life for most of the women I knew.

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

mhagle's picture

@Anja Geitz

I was 41 and 44 when I had my kids. The actual natural childbirth thing was not hard on my bod, but it's clear I am older and more tired than other younger moms. My daughter, 19, says she definitely doesn't want to think about kids until she is 35.

I see the role of homemaker as very important, not necessarily a female role but best shared. When I was working I had to hire a bunch of the homemaker stuff. I actually enjoy being home and doing it myself now.

A couple of my best friends happily never had kids. They have been beautifully really important to my children.

I don't regret my decision and was always vaguely amused when men told me that I'd change my mind once I found "Mr. Right". An observation that seemed steeped in romantic ideology rather than what was actually happening in real life for most of the women I knew.

Yes . . . it is absolutely romantic ideology!!

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Anja Geitz's picture

@mhagle

Limits women to having children at an age when we are either still trying figuring ourselves out, or while we are trying to make a living.

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

mhagle's picture

@Anja Geitz

Grievous.

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Deja's picture

@mhagle
. . . as I watched two aunts, my grandma, a teen female cousin, and my mom frantically working in my grandma's kitchen to get Thanksgiving food on the table, as their male counterparts all sat on their asses, not just watching the game, but chiming in every few minutes to ask if it was ready yet. I was too young to actually help, rather than hinder, so I stood there, and decided what I was watching was some serious bullshit.

None of the men were lazy. They all worked hard at their paying jobs, but so did all the women in the kitchen except for my teen cousin and one aunt. The men weren't the ones who declared all meal prep, and cleaning were "women's work", at least it was not something that was ever discussed in front of me. No, the matriarchs, through the years, in my family, set it up that way.

Your mother-in-law never taught your husband how to do things for himself, just like my great-grandma did to my grandpa, and my grandma perpetuated it by not teaching him, either. My mom and the other "working" aunt got help with things like laundry and dishes from their husbands; and years and years later, my grandpa would even help with dishes. It's better in society than it used to be, but it took a pretty long time.

I made sure my son could cook and clean up after himself, rather than be "served" by someone who's just as tired as he is. As soon as he was tall enough to reach the controls, the Laundry Fairy moved out of my house, and he did his own laundry.

I think the vast majority of men, today, are more than happy to help, and do things around the house, provided they were not trained by their mothers to be helpless. Not a lot of Archie Bunkers left, at least I hope not. Sure hope no one is raising any Ediths, too!

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Anja Geitz's picture

@Deja

I think the vast majority of men, today, are more than happy to help, and do things around the house, provided they were not trained by their mothers to be helpless

I saw a little boy at our store no older than 4 years old quietly stand beside his baby sisters stroller until his mother was finished at the check out stand. When I remarked on how well behaved he was and asked her how she managed to get him to do that, she smiled and said, 'A lot of practice".

Of course this kind of behavior is more of the exception then the rule. More often than not children his age fall into one of two categories: they are either very interactive when they get to the register asking a lot of questions, or they are pulling things off the shelves and running around while their mothers repeatedly yell at them.

Operant conditioning requires a consistency and a set of personal skills that I think many parents are either too distracted or insecure to acquire.

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Deja's picture

@Anja Geitz
My kids and I were complimented on their behavior a few times, by perfect strangers (once on a plane), and I've done the same.

Side note: My son, at about 12, sitting in the waiting room for a school physical at the Dr's office, actually leaned over to me and whispered, "Sounds like somebody needs an ass whooping" because of a little boy torturing everyone else in the tiny waiting room with his fit throwing screeching, and his inept, spineless mother. (He was referring to a spanking by the kid's mom -- we call 'em ass whoopins in my family.)

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Anja Geitz's picture

@Deja

Yeah, disciplining children can be a creative skill many parents don't possess. The same can also be said for many dog owners. Sadly, when dogs grow up and become unmanageable because of behavioral problems not related to biology, many owners just give them away.

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

mhagle's picture

@Deja

But thankfully he has learned some on his own. Just brought me supper in bed. Kids are learning to cook on their own and doing some laundry, cleaning, and maintaining the house.

It's all coming around. Slowly.

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Anja Geitz's picture

@mhagle

What did he bring ya?

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

mhagle's picture

@Anja Geitz

Leftovers but still tasty. Smile

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

but she gets this wrong:

A lot of men (and the occasional cultishly servile woman) like to bitch about the problem with modern feminism as though it is something that hurts men, threatens men, demonizes men, or robs men of their place in society or anything else they feel entitled to. This is all dopey nonsense which amounts to nothing other than a childish temper tantrum over men losing control over women that they never should have had in the first place; it’s people whining about losing their slaves. That imaginary piffle is not what is wrong with mainstream feminism.

On the contrary Caitlin. The casual and callous dismissal of the very real and heartfelt critiques of many men towards the divisive and demeaning message of modern feminism is EXACTLY why the movement has lost significant ground over the last three decades.

Somewhere along the way, feminists decided that they could gain more power by shaming men into acquiescence than by using more positive methods of persuasion. In the process, the movement has not only lost many male (and female) allies, but continues to give its enemies all the ammunition it needs to discredit and ridicule important issues of equality and reproductive freedom.

Chasing otherwise sympathetic men away from the movement by diminishing and demeaning their opinions is no way to generate the necessary support for change. Unless feminists ditch the mean girl act and start actually trying to court those outside their core constituency, progress on their issues will continue to languish.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

dance you monster's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

. . . women are not getting all men on board because they aren't being sweet enough in their pitch to you.

Isn't that a lot like saying (just a fer-instance) that banksters and corporate CEOs are not doing more to alleviate income inequality because we plebes aren't kissing their asses enough?

Men aren't relinquishing power because they benefit from holding onto that power, just as those bonus-huckstering CEOs do. Men screwed women over, for millennia. Why the fuck should women be nice to men to reverse that trend? Seems to me that women need more pitchforks.

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snoopydawg's picture

@dance you monster

. . . women are not getting all men on board because they aren't being sweet enough in their pitch to you.

I don't think I'd have been as polite. Thank you.

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The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt

dance you monster's picture

@snoopydawg

This wasn't my first, or second, phrasing.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@dance you monster @dance you monster

Try being a bit meaner next time. Maybe that will help your cause gain more adherents.

Or, you know, not.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Deja's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger
What would get you on board? What tone, voice, speech, action, displayed by women would get you to say, "You're right; you've been treated as a class lower than men for centuries. How can I help turn that around?"

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@Deja

in terms of gender equality and reproductive freedom.

Why insult me for it just because I don't happen to have a vagina?

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Deja's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger
I know, not a real word, but still. Who insulted you for not having a vagina?

Why insult me for it just because I don't happen to have a vagina?

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@snoopydawg happen to be a (I assume)Sarcastic country song with the line," it's hard to kiss those lips at night, that chew your ass off all day long".

Honey, vinegar
Bees?
@Not Henry Kissinger issue is very similar to the one I have; these Different 'movements' all need allies in the 'camp' of their 'oppressors', yet very seldom are we 'engaged with' as apposed to being scolded, being screamed at, or being ignored.
My point being, while men Have run 'roughshod' over women(and continue to do so), if women just want to be the new 'rulers' instead of true equality, equity, or whatever other term one would use for 'cooperation', 'sharing', 'power structure' between the sexes, then what's the point?
I'm all for women taking charge, grabbing the reins of power-just not if its replacing male psychopaths with female ones ala Her, or four of the top five defense contractors now run by women.

The System needs to Change

I THINK we can agree on That Much. Where it goes from here we All Gotta Work On.

I'm Willing.
Bring a cudgel and I walk. I can bang my head well enough on my own, thanks.

fuck

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@snoopydawg

What did I say that made you want to be rude?

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@dance you monster

Isn't that a lot like saying (just a fer-instance) that banksters and corporate CEOs are not doing more to alleviate income inequality because we plebes aren't kissing their asses enough?

Unless you think all men are banksters and CEOs, which is patently absurd.

But hey, keep attacking potential allies with nonsensical analogies.

The Pussy Grabber thanks you.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Anja Geitz's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

Somewhere along the way, feminists decided that they could gain more power by shaming men into acquiescence than by using more positive methods of persuasion

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

mhagle's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

. . . is that we need to change from capitalism to a work-together society. In view of the climate situation, we must do that anyway.

I experienced a glimpse of that in childhood growing up in an upper-midwestern farm family. Farmers or not in my extended family wives and husbands were feisty but worked as a team. My mom was educated but chose to be part of the farm operation. The teamwork thing wasn't perfect but cool.

Currently in our society the male/female dynamic is fucked up. For the reasons both you and Caitlin mentioned. There is tremendous pain on both sides.

Yes . . . and no shaming! Unproductive, destructive, the lowest of negative emotions.

All we can do is love and heal in our sphere of influence. Our family, our friends, our neighbors.

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@mhagle

we need to change from capitalism to a work-together society. In view of the climate situation, we must do that anyway.

But you don't get to a 'work-together society' by diminishing and ridiculing the feelings of half that society.

Caitlin sees the goal but she's clueless about the path.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

@Not Henry Kissinger That Caitlyn’s clueless about How to get there.
Don’t we All have to throw shit at the wall to see what sticks?
Just not at each other.

fuck

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@Tall Bald and Ugly

This is all dopey nonsense which amounts to nothing other than a childish temper tantrum over men losing control over women that they never should have had in the first place; it’s people whining about losing their slaves.

If Caitlin thinks this type of ridiculous rhetoric (slaves? really?) is going to gain more feminist support among men, she truly is clueless.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Anja Geitz's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

And I don't believe she is trying to convince you of anything if you are already on board with gender equality. I also don't believe those who are not on board are her audience either.

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@Anja Geitz

Nobody's her audience unless they agree with her on everything.

OK then.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

@Not Henry Kissinger shittin' me, right? I don't know Where or How you roll for work, but that is Exactly what I've heard from guys; Damn woman needs to get off her ass and do some laundry, feed the kid, clean the house, insert chore here; grown(supposedly) men absolutely amazed that I do laundry when we work through a weekend and don't make it home for two or more weeks.
Of course, these same guys will tell me that the govt can't Create jobs-as we work on a Govt Created Job-so no bonus for thinking skills with a lot of them.
Maybe it's not couched as civilly as some would have it, but then, it wouldn't be Caitlyn.
Ymmv

peace

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

Deja's picture

@Tall Bald and Ugly
Guess I was wrong. You work with some!

. . . that is Exactly what I've heard from guys; Damn woman needs to get off her ass and do some laundry, feed the kid, clean the house, insert chore here; grown(supposedly) men absolutely amazed that I do laundry . . .

At least you weren't raised to be helpless, like my grandpa and your coworkers.

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@Deja @Deja me wrong, they're shirt off they're own back types for you, and they understand society is changing and they gotte learn to roll, but They Don't Know How! They(We) trying, fucking it up as often as not, unfortunately, but hey! Ya don't walk without face planting on occasion. And they're not Stupid. Uneducated in many ways, yes. Ignint' make a stone look soft at times, but Not unintelligent.

Edit to add; when I was ten my Ma told me at least one man in her life was gonna know how to do his own laundry. Never forgot, or stopped doing my own. Hell! With my work, nobody else Wants their clothes washed with mine. Can't blame 'em.

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

CS in AZ's picture

@Tall Bald and Ugly

Thank you.

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@CS in AZ see my face plant comment above.

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@Tall Bald and Ugly @Tall Bald and Ugly

But next time I'd appreciate it if you'd address what I am saying instead of making up a bunch of strawmen stereotypes and congratulating yourself on knocking them over.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

@Not Henry Kissinger I DID address the 'slave rhetoric'. It's called HYPERBOLE for a reason.
But oookay, I still like discussing things with you. And I'm not out to slice&dice anybody.

peace

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

No, you don't.
And I'm gonna leave it that way.

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@UntimelyRippd

is mean, nasty invective marinated for decades in IP divisiveness?

Probably best then.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

@Not Henry Kissinger Take a binger and Relax. . . I'm thinking we're talking Past each other, not To each other.
No offense intended Or taken, ya dig?

peace

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

@Tall Bald and Ugly
what he thinks i think, when he doesn't know what i think.

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.