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Troy

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Everything posted by Troy

  1. Or a Black Mirror episode Perhaps, but not as many -- certainly not as many Americans. There is always downward pressure on wages which is way this stuff is off shored.
  2. I think universal basic income is a possible solution perhaps the only one. You’re only gonna need so many plumbers and electricians. Basically all office jobs will become obsolete. If it wasn’t for you, humans on this discussion forum this website could potentially be obsolete in a couple of years. even this discussion forum is not really safe. You can have a perfectly reasonable conversation with an AI today so even this discussion form faces an existential threat from AI. i’m sure we lock up a higher percentage of a population than El Salvador. While locking up, people does create jobs and reduces unemployment (I don’t think those incarcerated are counted as unemployed in the stats), you can only lock up so many people before the pitch forks come out.
  3. I'll check out one episode of Beyond the Gates for the eye candy ('cause soaps's ain't my thing). Right now, I'm watching Black Mirror which I really enjoy After watching the trailer the soap seems like a parody, more fun drama and serious drama. Am I miss reading it @aka Contrarian?
  4. Probably our kids. The world is changing very rapidly. My kids have seen the number of genders go from 2 to 8. Technology is advancing the a rate faster than anytime in the past 2 thousand years. Religion is in a state of flux. Meanwhile the society is becoming more secular without filling the void left once filled by religion (spirituality, fellowship, a moral code, etc.). Yes, that is what the data tells us. Infant mortality was much higher, but even if you control for that people are living longer more robust lives. Again, yes. People used to die from all kinds of diseases we have vaccinees for today. Speaking of vaccines, here is a result of our world being more confusing. Estimates are that roughly 300,000 more American died from Covid because of vaccine hesitancy! I not so sure about that; assuming a normal distribution around an arithmetic mean (average). Half the people would be above average and half would be below. But I don't know if it is a normal distribution. It could skew where there are more people with above average IQs... Perhaps. We reached a point where people could pursue vocations for things that they enjoyed doing rather that benefited society, artists, musicians, philosophers, writers, poets, building Black book websites Today STEM is no guarantee of gainful employment in the long term. Chat GPI today is better at the programming of an entry level programmer and is on the trajectory to be better than ANY human programmer. We need to figure how to run a country where large swaths of the population are simply unneeded in the work force.
  5. Image that she was bald or had wisps of hair like Yoda, would it really make a difference. That is a better question. I would give the nod to Eartha Kitt Eartha in Boomerang was 65 (assuming my math is right), but comparing the looks of a celebrity in 1992 to one 30+ years later is unfair -- Gayle has FAR more tools than Eartha had at her disposal to improve her appearance.
  6. Answering @Pioneer1 question on a different level; society is indeed too complicated. Upon further reflection this response adds some nuance to my initial reaction. We have created technology that has poisoned our environment to the point that microplastics can be found everywhere on Earth including most animals. We have likely reached a point where climate change will make the planet largely unsuitable for the creatures currently inhabiting the planet -- including ourselves. We have allowed social platforms and podcasts to facilitate the election of politicians completely unsuited for office --putting our country and the world at risk We have created a technology that may, in our lifetimes, reach sentience, decide it does not want us around, and gets rid of us. We are smart enough to build amazing technology, but too stupid and greedy to know how to use it to do anything but enrich a few people but not improve humanity over the long term.
  7. Yes, society is increasingly complex, but we seem to adapt. Most people my parents age never engaged with technology, however, people, my kids, age and younger, took to technology it like fish to water. Compared to the past things so much easier we have a lot more free time and can do a lot more with that time. In the past, we spent a great deal more time just providing for our basic needs washing clothes, and securing and preparing food took a lot more time and energy in the past. Tiday we can just open up an app and have someone else do it — relatively cheaply. Obviously advances of medicine have led to more comfortable and longer lifespans Net-net, despite the proliferation of increasingly complex, passwords and challenges to log into things, collectively we are all better off.
  8. both can be true — and probably are.
  9. AALBC fam — if you believe in the power of Black storytelling, you need to be at the The Blk Powerhouse Summit. This one-of-a-kind virtual event is centering Black professionals and creatives across the book industry for a full day of radical conversation, connection, and inspiration. When: April 25, 2025 Where: Online (via Zoom) Who: Black writers, editors, librarians, booksellers, book influencers & readers — you Spotlight Session: Creating Community Through Book Clubs Join Glory Edim, founder of Well-Read Black Girl, as she explores how book clubs become vessels for collective healing, learning, and joy. Whether you’re looking to start your own or deepen your current reading circle, this session will offer real strategies to build community through literature. Can’t-Miss Keynote: Authors in Conversation Acclaimed activist and author Brea Baker (Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft) and bestselling novelist Nick Brooks (Promise Boys) take the mainstage to talk storytelling, resistance, and reclaiming space through the written word. Their dialogue will leave you fired up and ready to write your truth — and protect it. The BLK Powerhouse Summit isn’t just a conference — it’s a movement. Let’s build a future where Black stories are published, preserved, and prioritized. Register today and use code "aalbc" to take 10% off your ticket.
  10. I think it matters than Kristi was depicted as standing in front of the men in the cubbies when she was not. We know we are being misinformed here. It may be people trying to game the algorithm for views, but it is more likely there is a narrative being pushed and the people doing are clearly not above misinforming us to accomplish this goal. I just now watched the video and I did not see the image with the guys in the cubbies.
  11. @Chevdove that stores appears to have been rebranded since I left. It is not really funny because they are often the most virulent of racists. I'm not suprised...
  12. @Chevdove that stores appears to have been rebranded since I left.
  13. Man, I really have to proofread what I write. The quoted text was not what I meant to write. Anywho... @Chevdove I can guarantee you that the baton was hollow and as light as your cell phone. Anything is possible, but obviously I think a concussion was highly unlike, but what do I know. We will have to agree to disagree on this one
  14. Yeah this portion of the shot is from AP pic, so I trust it is legit. What I was not buying where the men in the cubbies on the right. At a minimum they posed a security risk to Kristi. As you can see the AP image was changed. Obviously, it was done to manipulate the viewer's impression. I'd go as far to say that you cannot trust must of the video on YouTube. Just look at the tiles that show up in your feed. They are obviously crafted to get your engagement and content creators fed that algorithm. Doctored images get more engagement than real ones.
  15. Yes, that was what I intended to write. I did not say gay was a mental disorder anymore than I said musical genius was. I was trying to give you examples, of characteristics one is very born with. I did not say you can look at a newborn and tell they’re a genius or gay or athletically on musically talented. Why go to the extreme? all I’m saying is that we are born with these talents or deficiencies. However, they may not begin to present themselves until we are older … obviously. It is not surprising that a professional singers child can also sing. Again the ability to sing well is an inherited talent. Sure, you can teach some people to sing well enough to carry a tune, but the Mariah Carey’s, Jesse Norman’s Whitney Houston’s. Aretha Franklins… Those people are born. It is a good thing you got off Meta if you stayed there long enough, it’ll have you believing that everybody can have their three-year-olds doing middle school math The data seem to indicate that many fifth graders can’t do fifth grade math. maybe those teachers need to go on Facebook and watch those videos too, huh?
  16. OK, I still don’t believe that’s an actual photo. Maybe I’m cynical. Send me a link to where you grabbed it. I’m curious enough to look into it.
  17. Well they can be hollow and solid well, what was the their on the video. do they think it’s possible that the girl got a concussion? Have they seen anything worse and imagine they have and I bet it didn’t make the national news. yeah, we boycotted the 1980 Olympics. There was a brother from the Bronx who was supposed to be on that team.. Do you think women are born that way or is it the result of patriarchy? Just messing with Mel
  18. Thise are some interesting questions @Pioneer1, not the first ones that come to my mind. @ProfD I don't believe that is a real photo of Kirsti inside a lock up. Perhaps it is a photo of her superimposed upon a scene of imprisoned men, but who knows where that image came from?
  19. They did not skip over Delta and Gamma males. They have definitions people just don't talk about them very much. I have not heard of sigma male until now.
  20. Yeah, I heard this story too. It is a remarkable technical achievement. Jurassic Park is not too far off.
  21. Wine is not considered liquor, so you buy it pretty much anywhere in places like OK and FL. We lived in downtown Tulsa which is essentially a food dessert -- plenty of decent restaurants but not a single supermarket. As you said nothing is a dollar in the Dollar Tree This is where the store was located, it appears to have been replaced by a more upscale grocery store brand. Good riddance. I hope that clerk is living in a homeless encampment Born and raised in an urban ghetto, I ain't above drinking cheap wine, but it was something along the line of Yellow Tail.
  22. I pulled up and my woman, at the time, when into the store to buy a couple bottles of wine. She did not have her ID (she was in her 40s) and they would not sell it to her. She left the wine on the counter. I went in to buy the wine and the piece of poor white trash (pardon the slur but that she was) would not sell me the wine. I was furious in a way that scared me upon later reflection because I could have punched her in her face. I was reacting to what I perceived as pure unmitigated racism. As a result, I decided that I would never give Dollar Tree a penny at any store, at anytime, in any timeline. F-em!
  23. Actually, the reason he stopped and returned the trumpet was, as I later learned from my mother was another mother saw him stealing the instrument. That woman told my mother who gave me grief for trying to get it back. The thief was in a gang I think it was the Black Spades. If it happened a few years later being seen by another parent would not have stopped him. Shoot, he might have robbed her too. Most New Yorkers (NYC) are not property owners, so we call the landlord when something needs repairing. I think that is the reason we are less handy than those who live in areas where property ownership is easier. We had NOTHING in elementary school. Shop, Home Ec, Music, Sports teams, math team, band, for me was a three-year period in 6th , 7th and 8th grade in the early 70s. Yes, they got rid of all of that by the 80's. My high school had a swimming pool and I think a swimming class was required. I never took gym in HS. @Mel Hopkins was a swimming class a requirement at Tech? Fun Fact: in the 70s when my HS was all boys the kids took swimming class buck naked! I was shocked when I heard this from an older Alumni. NYC used to have entire HS dedicated to industries Aviation, printing, secretarial, automotive, art, music, engineering, transit, science, fashion, etc. Now everything seems to be text prep for college and STEM. Its why listening to Go-Go, Funk, or Gospel live is so much better than listening to it on a record. On the same Fuck documentary I watched earlier this week produced by PBS they have the UNMITIGATED GALL to include Elton John and David Byrne as principals of the genre! Talk about changing the narrative. I'm definitely a fan of Jazz and have visited clubs all over the country NYC, Memphis, New Orleans, Kansas City, the New Port Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival (notable for me, because it was the first time I heard "You Put a Spell on Me" and I was a full- grown man in European country -- shameful thar was even possible!). I like Blues too and have seen Bobby Blue Bland, BB King and other (admitted past their prime). I can also appreciate big band music, thought I have never had the opportunity to see a big ban perform live. The closet I come was seeing Ray Charles preform at the Blue Note in NYC with more 25 people on stage include 21 musicians, 3 Raylettes, and Charles himself. I was close enough to Ray to touch him -- my all-time favorite live music experience. There was no room for dancing. I can appreciate some country music, but it is so steeped in south racism it is hard for me to enthusiastically embrace it. For example, "Sweet Home Alabama" is a great song, but Lynard Skynard had the rebel battle flag proudly displayed. Obviously, that was a joke and a funny one. But don't think for a second you'd have hard time finding white folks who would trade places with Rock. There are countless white folks "passing" as Black and they are even rich.
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