She could fall out with her sen in an empty room
The touchy subject of race, racism, and race relations Page 4
She? The cat's mother? And what is 'sen'? Sorry chum if you find it hard to take a woman who doesn't bow to a thicko man. Brains over brawn chummy. Strangely the excellent electricians we have here don't pretend they're Einstein. Nor do they talk down to people. Nor, dare I say it, do they lick the arses of unknown Americans. Let's hear it when you have something original to say, rather than just a resentful chauvinistic post (consult the dictionary if that's difficult for you).
The title of this thread was quite inspired then...
Touchy subject indeed!
Quote: lofthouse @ 16th February 2018, 10:16 PMI disagree with a lot of stuff DaButt comes out with - but I have always been able to sense that he's a decent sort of chap
I'd sit down and have a beer with the fella!
I dont think we need to be getting personal
Cheers. I'll continue to be polite, even if others won't. It's in my nature. We can get together for a beer the next time I'm in the UK, but I must warn you that two of the forum members that I met last time are now deceased. Perhaps I'm cursed.
You are missed, Dave and James. 
Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 17th February 2018, 9:39 AM
I don't get the joke, but that's a nice redfish. Fishing for them is so popular here in Texas that you can even get a license plate that features them:
Quote: Briosaid @ 16th February 2018, 8:49 PMYou know Da Butt, I've just been telling someone how you fit right in to the stereotype American of the 50s and 60s - a know-all who thinks he's superior to everybody else on the planet.
I've never written, said, nor thought such a thing. It only exists in your imagination.
Quote: Briosaid @ 16th February 2018, 8:49 PMLet's look at another aspect - we're always hearing how many upmarket wonderful jobs you had - 'I was in the forces', I was in journalism', I ran the space programme single-handed (obviously I'm exaggerating there) , I have a super-duper IQ.What happened to all these wonderful jobs? When I hear this kind if shit, I have 2 questions - is he lying, or was he sacked? Fess up.
Upmarket? I've never described my jobs as such, and I think of them as decidedly mundane. I've also worked at a burger joint and one summer I picked up dead fish on a beach, if that helps.
As I said earlier, I have never been fired from a job. So now, as promised, I present photographic evidence of my mundane jobs in the military, satellite communications, and journalism. Hold onto your hat, because this is going to get...boring.
1) A 1987 photo of me taken as I was completing 12 months of Army training in satellite communications. One of the schoolhouses is in the background, along with one of the types of satellite antennas upon which we trained.
2) I don't have any photos of me at work at the newspaper, but one of the photographers took this shot of me and my kids for an article about single fathers that ran on Father's Day.
3) A much skinnier me being awarded an Army Achievement Medal for work that I did while temporarily assigned to Panama. Four months later the United States invaded and deposed Manuel Noriega, although I had left the Army by then.
4) A portion of my enlistment papers. It's hard to read because it's a carbon copy, but it shows that I scored in the 98th percentile in the Armed Forces Qualification Test. I told you I is smart!
5) A certificate I received from NASA for work on the GALEX (Galaxy Evolution Explorer) program. Here's one of the thousands of photos taken by the spacecraft:
And here's a letter proving that I was not fired from my job, but rather laid off (after 13 years!) upon the sudden cancellation of a contract:
I hope these images satisfy your need for proof. If they don't, I guess you'll just have to keep on doubtin'.
I won't comment on your and Keewik's argument (you know I disagree with you on many points though), also I don't think we needed proof for your statements, no one doubted your claims...I only wanted to say it's nice to see the face behind your online persona.
You look like a member of a British synthpop-group from the 80s in pic 1. 
Quote: DaButt @ 17th February 2018, 6:06 PMI don't get the joke, but that's a nice redfish. Fishing for them is so popular here in Texas that you can even get a license plate that features them:
I'm not sure if there's even a joke in it, he probably just posted a pic of himself in younger years...look, he's even wearing the same shirt as in his avatar pic. Hello, young Goodlad!
I hope no one's expecting me to post a picture of myself - jealousy is a terrible thing.
Quote: Briosaid @ 16th February 2018, 7:30 PMOh, how right you are, except for people like Davida.
Thanks, but I'm certifiable! Just not in the way you're talking about.
Quote: Gordon Bennett @ 17th February 2018, 7:04 PMI won't comment on your and Keewik's argument (you know I disagree with you on many points though), also I don't think we needed proof for your statements, no one doubted your claims...I only wanted to say it's nice to see the face behind your online persona.
It's a one-sided argument as far as I'm concerned. I'm not usually the arguing type.
I'm now much older, fatter and balder than I was in those photos.
Quote: Gordon Bennett @ 17th February 2018, 7:19 PMI'm not sure if there's even a joke in it, he probably just posted a pic of himself in younger years...look, he's even wearing the same shirt as in his avatar pic. Hello, young Goodlad!
I'd never thought of him as a North American fisherman, so there must be a joke in there somewhere...
Quote: beaky @ 17th February 2018, 7:23 PMI hope no one's expecting me to post a picture of myself - jealousy is a terrible thing.
That's not you in your avatar photo?
Quote: DaButt @ 15th February 2018, 9:45 PMNo, I don't. I have a problem with biased media outlets. I worked in the newsroom of a daily newspaper for almost a decade and the bias among the staff was palpable. None had ever voted for a Republican, none had ever served in the military, none had ever fired a gun, none were religious, and all of them were white. Not exactly a cross-section of America, and their bias crept into their reporting. They were good people and I'm sure they thought they were impartial, but they weren't.
I doubt you have much of a handle on my worldview, since I'm essentially a centrist. Way back in my college days our professor had us take one of those political compass tests and I came in square in the middle. It still happens these days: I'm as liberal as I am conservative, and as libertarian as authoritarian. Maybe that's why I've always been able to get along well with almost anyone.
I've seen racism (from people of many races) with my own eyes and I've been the victim of racism. I know that no race is better or worse than any other race, so I have no time for it in my life. I just try to see people as individuals and in my eyes they're all good people until they show themselves to be otherwise.
I agree with all of the above and have said so here many times. My gripe is with the concerted effort to portray white American cops as racists who are out to kill African Americans. The fact that cops kill twice as many whites as African Americans seems to be ignored, as is the fact that many of the killings are done at the hands of non-white officers.
You aren't biased, you just have a problem with 'biased media outlets', and by that you mean media outlets with media produced by people who haven't been in the military, have never fired a gun, were not religious, and were white. Right. So if someone falls into all of those categories then they can't help their 'bias' from creeping into anything they create/write/produce? Do you realize that would rule out MOST academic papers and articles written by PhDs?
There are a lot of ad hominem arguments in this thread, and that's just rude. It's a discussion, so point out problems with the reasoning or veracity of what the others say, but don't attack them! (not directed at Dabutt. Dabutt has been the victim of this). In any case, it still sounds like you're biased against trusting or finding anything valid that's said or written by someone with the worldview of 'white, non-religious, gun-avoiding, non-military' person. If you're going to exclude that demographic you have to lose more than I think you'd be willing to give up.
The reason I don't see your argument regarding twice as many black people being shot as white people is because as someone else pointed out, only about 13% of the population is black. Proportionally blacks are much more likely to be killed by a police officer than white people. That's the disparity. You write this off saying that Black people are more involved with drug trade, gangs, and violence. And where did you get that presupposition? Sounds an awful lot like a stereotype...a particularly racist one at that. Surely it's a lot more complicated than that. If that's where the buck stops and we just decide to blame black people for being stupid enough to get into drugs and gangs and get shot, then we fail to help people who are ensnared in drugs trade and gangs from getting help and lessening the more fundamental problems that likely led to those people becoming involved in those illegal acts, which at root, are problems which stemmed from racism.
Your instinct is like mine. All races are equal, and I choose to see people as individuals and I will only judge them negatively when they've done something to deserve it. But with that viewpoint you're blinding yourself to a very real problem that exists in society and the damage it does to individuals who don't have the option to think of racism as trivial. People whose livelihood, and safety, and reputation, and self-image can all be very negatively impacted by other people's racism. No one is accusing you of being racist, but it does seem like you want to write off racism as not being your problem. It's everyone's problem.
Quote: Gordon Bennett @ 17th February 2018, 7:04 PMYou look like a member of a British synthpop-group from the 80s in pic 1.
Give a little respect...
Great pics Dabutt. I don't like to argue with anyone and don't like to see other people rowing especially when the chances are they could otherwise get on if they saw past the differences of opinion.
Quote: DaButt @ 17th February 2018, 7:46 PMI'd never thought of him as a North American fisherman, so there must be a joke in there somewhere...
It's a very easy joke to get I thought. Some on here not just Stephen like to do a spot of fishing and one or two on here are easy catches, especially the one Stephen had landed who bites on absolutely everything. The only quibble I have is with the choice of pic as a piranha would represent her much better.
