"a fresh call for a federal data analytics centre"

And how much will be misspent on the design and implementation of that?

It actually wouldn't surprise me if Matt has privileges here.

"The are the potential consequences of getting serious cooties from that poster whenever addressing him."

Many have speculated that that poster is someone with admin privileges on this site. I've also seen some people speculate the same thing about yourself...

"Can a person be racist against their own race?"

Of course you can.

Bill:
"You're talking as though every ICE operation is simple and risk-free when you really don't know what they deal with."

You're sounding like the type of person who made excuses for and objected to any criticisms of the military in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal. But I'm guessing you probably didn't have any problem with federal law enforcement being attacked as "jack-booted thugs" under different presidents. (I remember G Gordon Liddy and others using that phrase under Clinton in the '90s.)

Laura:
"No actually it isn't racist. Oopsie Daisy"

You're not any more credible than Bill here. We all know the person who said it was being racist, just like certain posters here regularly troll with antisemitic stuff and least one other regularly uses a anti-Chinese slur without consequence.

"I don't know about you, but I don't base my behavior on the poor behavior of others."

You must be very different IRL than you are on here, then. >:-)

(Granted, most of us probably are.)

Roots by Alex Haley is highly controversial because the author marketed it as a meticulously researched, non-fiction genealogy, but it was later revealed to contain extensive fabrications, historical inaccuracies, and plagiarism.

The controversy stems from several major issues:

Plagiarism: Haley was sued by author Harold Courlander for lifting significant portions of his 1967 novel, The African. Haley settled out of court for $650,000 and admitted to using passages from the book.

Fabricated Genealogy: Investigations revealed that Haley's reported ancestral link to the village of Juffureh and his famous ancestor, Kunta Kinte, lacked documentary evidence. The oral traditions he relied on were largely debunked as inaccurate or tailored to what Haley wanted to hear.

Historical Inaccuracies: Historians and genealogists, such as Elizabeth Shown Mills and Gary B. Mills, found numerous geographical, historical, and factual inconsistencies throughout the timeline of his family's saga.

Blurred Genre Lines: Although the book was originally presented as absolute fact, experts realized it was closer to an autobiographical novel. Haley himself coined the term "faction" (fact plus fiction) to describe it, but this did not stop critics from condemning the deception.

Despite the controversy, Roots is still widely recognized for its cultural impact and for bringing the brutal realities of the transatlantic slave trade into mainstream American consciousness.

Yes, garlic does repel mosquitoes. I ate some raw garlic and also crushed some in our tent when camping recently. Never got bit. Garlic is really good for the immune system too.

"Time to revolt."

Are you revolting?

"Intellectually honest people look at the bigger picture and give more weight to the popular vote as a metric of how liked/disliked a candidate is."

Intellectually honest people who are pragmatic will give at least as much weight to how capable a candidate is at winning elections. If you're ignoring a candidate's ability to pull in a majority in 30 states, accounting for almost 60% of the electoral vote, then you're living in lala land.

As I've said, I never voted for him and never would.

"I disagree. They should have to rationalize why they did it............but they don't actually have to."

They have to rationalize it to themselves, at least. Like pretending that Biden or Harris were worse.

"based on your skin tone."

That's the only thing you see when looking at people, apparently.

A cynic would say "The voters get the government they deserve."

" It's Berenstain"

Yes, but they had a son, so there is a Berenson connection.

Bernstein is even further off the mark than Berenstein.

" They're calling her black because most white folks would cross the street if they saw her approaching from a distance."

What are you basing that on? It seems like you're reimagining her as a stereotypical poor black person, rather than the way she actually looks and dresses.

" Black isn't her nationality. It's her skin color."

Asian isn't a nationality either, smartass. She presents with more Asian-American and European-American traits then African-American ones. By any metric, she's less black than Obama.

" This is America.

Don't overthink it"

I bet you probably think that's a nationality too.

I'm not overthinking it. You're being anti-intellectual.

" That would be Bernstein Bears."

Nope. That's the Mandela Effect playing tricks on you.

I thought Berenson was a family of bears.

"It was hardly a resounding loss."

She received even fewer electoral votes than Clinton did eight years earlier. So yeah, it was a pretty clear, unmistakable defeat.

People who voted for Trump in 2020 or 2024 have to rationalize why they voted for an F-grade candidate over a C or D grade candidate.

"And a black woman"

It's funny how Asians don't even exist on many Americans' radars, at least consciously. Kamala's more Asian than Black. Her first name is literally of Asian origin, while her last name is European.

I had to dig deep down into the article to even figure out what it was on about. A lot of wonkish and procedurial stuff - that probably was a bigger factor in it not being widely covered by the "mainstream media" than some implied conspiracy to try to suppress it.

Is this really a huge win for free speech? Do you think it will actually stop the government or corporations from overreaching and abusing their powers against individuals and smaller businesses?

Ha.

AI is currently in the same stage as things like astrology and alchemy were before they eventually became astronomy and chemistry. They served useful but limited purposes, but were disasterous when people tried to apply them beyond their limitations. Unfrotunately, it's going to take a huge systemic failure before society decides to take it out of the hands of those driven by short term business greed.

Divide your age by 3 and add 11.

Doing business in China has always been a honeytrap.

She's looks as bipolar as she sounds.

"Your post is basically saying AOC should run because people from the past have lost."

So you're saying she shouldn't run? If she's really as unqualified as you think, then she'll flame out in the primaries.