How does the World view America these days?

fuckn fuck

i think we should make it illegal to give republicans healthcare

  On 4/21/2021 at 2:46 AM, cyanobacteria said:

i think we should make it illegal to give republicans healthcare

i recall when obama was president interviewers would often ask people in the rural areas. . small towns or conservative places how they felt about Obamacare and w/o fail they'd say they hated and it was a mess and had caused harm.. then they'd ask the same people very next question "how do you feel about the Affordable Care Act?" and w/o fail.. oh we love it it's greatly expanded access to healthcare and without i don't know what i'd do. 

the branding by the republican party was effective to the detriment of republican supporters which is typical. and people are so uninformed. 

what we should deny them is fox news, OAN, NewsMax and facebook. but ya know.. mericuh. 

Sounds like they've been denied a lot of things already.

let's see how the North Korean people view America these days

  On 4/21/2021 at 7:44 AM, cyanobacteria said:

let's see how the North Korean people view America these days

https://i.imgur.com/NFK0pzn.mp4

 

 

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the end of your clip the news guy starts to say how off camera they say different shit. 

It's so nice living here. Daily shootings, wide-scale poverty, huge opioid addiction issues. Just a few off the top of the ol' noggin. 

Feelin' Fine... 

  On 4/21/2021 at 8:41 AM, Audioblysk said:

It's so nice living here. Daily shootings, wide-scale poverty, huge opioid addiction issues. Just a few off the top of the ol' noggin. 

 

Feelin' Fine... 

120+ mass shootings this year already. some report 147 but i think they define mass shooting differently. 

poverty/addiction are brutal. hoping the recent massive stimulus bill takes a bite out of some of the problems. things are pretty rough. in portland area every freeway on ramp/off ramp that has the grass triangle space between the freeway and the ramp is occupied by homeless people living in tents often surrounded by piles of trash. then along the sides of the little valley the freeway sits in are more campers and more garbage precariously perched on the slopes. the federal dollars can't get here soon enough... and many west coast cities of all sizes have the same and more problems. 

  On 4/21/2021 at 8:52 AM, ignatius said:

120+ mass shootings this year already. some report 147 but i think they define mass shooting differently. 

poverty/addiction are brutal. hoping the recent massive stimulus bill takes a bite out of some of the problems. things are pretty rough. in portland area every freeway on ramp/off ramp that has the grass triangle space between the freeway and the ramp is occupied by homeless people living in tents often surrounded by piles of trash. then along the sides of the little valley the freeway sits in are more campers and more garbage precariously perched on the slopes. the federal dollars can't get here soon enough... and many west coast cities of all sizes have the same and more problems. 

 

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Oh I feel that. I'm in Seattle and it's pretty bleak out here. I recently moved out of Seattle to a more suburban part of that area partially due to how bad it has gotten. I rented a house in a pretty sketchy spot and we had it all; people sleeping in the yard, pimps beating working girls out in front of the house, dudes shooting up on my porch, my gf's old car got stolen 3 times in 2 years. Brutal shit. 

Portland is a little more chaos than Seattle. Too many bridges and too much apathy to be as badass as Portland with that stuff. I was down there for a bachelor party in September of '19 and there was a dude meth'd out of his gourde just swinging a 8" blade at cars coming on the on-ramp. Dude proceeded to chase/stalk us (a buncha fried-out 30-somethings) for a solid 4 blocks. West coast is all kinds of fun!

  On 4/21/2021 at 8:52 AM, ignatius said:

things are pretty rough. in portland area every freeway on ramp/off ramp that has the grass triangle space between the freeway and the ramp is occupied by homeless people living in tents often surrounded by piles of trash. then along the sides of the little valley the freeway sits in are more campers and more garbage precariously perched on the slopes. the federal dollars can't get here soon enough... and many west coast cities of all sizes have the same and more problems. 

 

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Damn, I'm hoping to retire in the PNW in about 15 years or so (preferably somewhere on the sound north or south of Seattle).  I hope things get better.

  On 4/21/2021 at 9:02 AM, Audioblysk said:

Oh I feel that. I'm in Seattle and it's pretty bleak out here. I recently moved out of Seattle to a more suburban part of that area partially due to how bad it has gotten. I rented a house in a pretty sketchy spot and we had it all; people sleeping in the yard, pimps beating working girls out in front of the house, dudes shooting up on my porch, my gf's old car got stolen 3 times in 2 years. Brutal shit. 

Portland is a little more chaos than Seattle. Too many bridges and too much apathy to be as badass as Portland with that stuff. I was down there for a bachelor party in September of '19 and there was a dude meth'd out of his gourde just swinging a 8" blade at cars coming on the on-ramp. Dude proceeded to chase/stalk us (a buncha fried-out 30-somethings) for a solid 4 blocks. West coast is all kinds of fun!

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i read a discussion on reddit where people were recommending which car to buy based on how easy/difficult the catalytic converter is to steal. there's been a rash of car thefts and people starting up their car in the morning and realizing someone removed their catalytic converter. i guess the market for used catalytic converters is brisk. go figure. 

it's not like every part of portland is in the midst of dystopian trash gutter punk junky fever. it's not like the bay area.. but all summer long the portland alerts twitter feed which sends out tweets based on police scanner/police calls.. will tweet out all the weird crazy shit and the joke is that there's one of three things involved.. axe, machete, hatchet and often the person is naked or has pants around ankles and is in traffic. 

a lot of the drama happens downtown or far out east portland though shit does pop up everywhere from time to time. portland has changed a lot in the last 10 years. the areas that used to be considered off limits for people looking to buy a house have changed because of shortages, prices of houses. gresham/east portland also know as "Felony Flats" in some places is still fucked up. can read all day long about what it's like. but there is some sensationalism. the homeless and drug problems are legit bit issues that impact everyone in some way. 

  On 4/21/2021 at 3:35 PM, randomsummer said:

Damn, I'm hoping to retire in the PNW in about 15 years or so (preferably somewhere on the sound north or south of Seattle).  I hope things get better.

i think you'll be safe out on the sound somewhere. vashon island or something. 

nancy pelosi thanks george floyd for his sacrificial death

Question: How do you deal with the meth epidemic? Criminalizing drugs obviously not the answer, but you know, meth is one of those things where you kind of take the ol' drugs r bad mmmkay approach. I'm sure some of it can be apportioned to poverty/lack of economic activity, but I gotta figure that some of it is just - meth feels pretty fucking good.

  On 4/21/2021 at 8:41 AM, Audioblysk said:

It's so nice living here. Daily shootings, wide-scale poverty, huge opioid addiction issues. Just a few off the top of the ol' noggin. 

 

Feelin' Fine... 

you owe me a bowl of gumbo still

  On 4/21/2021 at 7:14 PM, chenGOD said:

Question: How do you deal with the meth epidemic? Criminalizing drugs obviously not the answer, but you know, meth is one of those things where you kind of take the ol' drugs r bad mmmkay approach. I'm sure some of it can be apportioned to poverty/lack of economic activity, but I gotta figure that some of it is just - meth feels pretty fucking good.

Not an answer per se but good take, especially when he pulls it back to the crack epidemic:

I'm sure meth feels pretty fucking good on the first hit but becomes one of those quickly diminishing returns things like all hard drugs, like days later you need twice as much to get half as high.  And I understand the withdrawal is monstrous so forget about kicking it.

I realize its not meth, but my close friend's younger brother died of a fentanyl OD a few years ago.  Only reason he had fentanyl was b/c he couldn't get heroin, only reason he got on heroin was b/c he couldn't get prescription opiates.  The prescribing of opioids (e.g. your oxycontins) by doctors *who are supposed to have your best interests in mind* IS the fucking gateway drug.  Now again I don't have an answer per se but I have to imagine dropping the entire Sackler family into an active volcano would be a good start.

  On 4/21/2021 at 7:23 PM, usagi said:

you owe me a bowl of gumbo still

COVID be damned, my mans need his gumbo and I have a debt to pay.

just mail it or something smh

  On 4/21/2021 at 7:14 PM, chenGOD said:

Question: How do you deal with the meth epidemic? Criminalizing drugs obviously not the answer, but you know, meth is one of those things where you kind of take the ol' drugs r bad mmmkay approach. I'm sure some of it can be apportioned to poverty/lack of economic activity, but I gotta figure that some of it is just - meth feels pretty fucking good.

Without a massive change in material conditions for the hoards of poor and depressed people and education about drugs in a non-draconian way: I don't think there is much to be done. The Chinese will keep supplying cartels with precursor material for fentanyl and meth and there's not much we can do about it on the supply side. People will keep gobbling up these drugs due to dependance and kicking the can of whatever relative trauma they hold. 

As cliche as this may be for me of all people to offer as a solution - legalizing cannabis and psychedelics and destigmatizing their legitimate therapeutic potential could help. 

I've always said that two things keep the gun out of my mouth. Meaningful experiences and a sense of purpose. Some people don't have one or the other, a sad lot of folks don't have either. (stoner thought) I think drugs fill the void of the complete lack of spiritual/personal fulfillment inherent in the soul-crushing reality of constant work, debt, strife and no light at the end of the tunnel. Too easy to blame it on people who are addicted IMO. 

PS. Missed you, chen

  On 4/21/2021 at 7:55 PM, usagi said:

just mail it or something smh

Dude, with how tight your country's customs are and how much weed I'm around constantly, there is no way we wouldn't both end up in jail for that package. 

"man accepts package of 5kg of cannabis Gumbo, both parties arrested" 

  On 4/21/2021 at 2:53 AM, ignatius said:

i recall when obama was president interviewers would often ask people in the rural areas. . small towns or conservative places how they felt about Obamacare and w/o fail they'd say they hated and it was a mess and had caused harm.. then they'd ask the same people very next question "how do you feel about the Affordable Care Act?" and w/o fail.. oh we love it it's greatly expanded access to healthcare and without i don't know what i'd do. 

the branding by the republican party was effective to the detriment of republican supporters which is typical. and people are so uninformed. 

what we should deny them is fox news, OAN, NewsMax and facebook. but ya know.. mericuh. 

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but also liberals are SO EMOTIONAL and IRRATIONAL

  On 4/21/2021 at 8:05 PM, Audioblysk said:

Dude, with how tight your country's customs are and how much weed I'm around constantly, there is no way we wouldn't both end up in jail for that package. 
"man accepts package of 5kg of cannabis Gumbo, both parties arrested" 

  On 4/21/2021 at 7:14 PM, chenGOD said:

Question: How do you deal with the meth epidemic? Criminalizing drugs obviously not the answer, but you know, meth is one of those things where you kind of take the ol' drugs r bad mmmkay approach. I'm sure some of it can be apportioned to poverty/lack of economic activity, but I gotta figure that some of it is just - meth feels pretty fucking good.

I have no clue. but if stuff from science fiction ever becomes reality, then I would go with some sort of counter drug that would almost instantly reduce dependence, and create some sort of permanent toxin in the person's body that would make them violently ill, possible death, if they ever touch the shit again. and give this counter drug to hospitals, paramedics, possibly even *yikes* police officers to administer to meth heads. this would get into all sorts of "let's not fuck with people's personal liberties" debate I'm sure, but if we are, you know, just shooting the shit here, then I'd say something along these lines. I think they have, or had, something similar for alcoholics, but don't think it is a permanent fix.

  On 4/21/2021 at 8:36 PM, zero said:

I have no clue. but if stuff from science fiction ever becomes reality, then I would go with some sort of counter drug that would almost instantly reduce dependence, and create some sort of permanent toxin in the person's body that would make them violently ill, possible death, if they ever touch the shit again. and give this counter drug to hospitals, paramedics, possibly even *yikes* police officers to administer to meth heads. this would get into all sorts of "let's not fuck with people's personal liberties" debate I'm sure, but if we are, you know, just shooting the shit here, then I'd say something along these lines. I think they have, or had, something similar for alcoholics, but don't think it is a permanent fix.

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they could find an ibogaine type cure and synthesize it so it doesn't require some crazy ritual w/health risks etc. it essentially removes the desire to do the heroin. william burroughs credits it w/getting him off junk. he had to go to london to do it medically. not sure of status of this treatment.. i think it's still illegal in the states. 

I just moved from Mexico City back to downtown Seattle (i'm from this area originally). In some ways it felt like moving to baghdad or something - the sidewalks and bike lanes are littered with glass here, and encampments and passing needles on the street are a daily occurance.  Mexico City could at least pay people to sweep the streets and keep the city put together on a day-to-day basis.  Not that menial jobs are the solution, but I feel like easy-entry work to get people to at least feel like members of society (along with of course free physical and mental healthcare) would go a long way.