zigzag

How refreshing.... a politician that doesn't claim to know it all.

Well, your opinion of AOC is definitely in the minority. I don't know if academics demonstrate a person's IQ, but she has a pretty strong academic record- two bachelors degrees (economics and international relations), *** laude from Boston University. Not too shabby. Your former president has been called an idiot by one of his own former secretaries of state and a former chief of staff. I think they'd know. And, he refuses to prove his genius by releasing his Wharton Business School transcripts. I think it is likely AOC knew more about geography, politics, and world events than Trump (before he was elected) while she was in high school. It has also been my experience that when a person has to proclaim their intelligence, it's because people seem to believe they don't have any. I believe Trump used to credit himself for being a very stable genius when he is obviously neither. Another thing I've noticed about people who claim to be brilliant, and that is, a person can have a great ability to learn or have a great memory for facts and events, but not have the ability to properly assess the data or draw logical conclusions from it. It also seems to be the case in the media where a person will cite the data that supports an agenda without telling the whole story or fully explaining why the conditions for an outcome exist.

Since when does being qualified mean anything? Our last two republican presidents couldn't string together one coherent sentence. You guys are a mess. I'm getting out of this circle jerk before I get any on me.

I brought it up because BLM riots are commonly referenced by right wing nuts when people bring Jan. 6, as if 1/6 was justifiable. Notice I didn't bring up QAnon. Edit: "'seditionist insurrection' I'm not condoning that behavior at all ... but it was a protest. No one was armed. No one was killed except one of the protesters. " Well, supposedly there were two bombs placed outside of party headquarters that were defused. And the one "protester" who was shot was attempting to force her way into a chamber where votes were being counted in order to change the outcome of a constitutional, democratic election. It is a blessing no one else was shot. I find it amazing that police showed such restraint when you consider over 100 were treated for injuries by "protesters."

Point taken. How about in the name of diversity?

Not condoning that behavior at all, and they should be prosecuted. But look at their reasons... a reaction to unnecessary force against black men resulting in the repeated deaths of unarmed black men. No matter how you frame it, that is just wrong. If you want to compare that to the riot on the capitol, rioters were trying to change the results of a popular democratic and electoral college vote based on the lies of a corrupt, authoritarian president. That was a seditionist insurrection against fairly elected new president and administration. Court after court, recount after recount has confirmed that. If you believe otherwise, you are being scammed.

If you look at the realities of US history, there have been struggles between the haves and have-nots from our very beginning, but it has been particularly true just before the war between the states (or as southerners like to call it, the war of northern aggression on the south). Some believed that giving the vote to the poor, non-property owners and Blacks would result in too much monetary power in the hands of the government, who in turn would use taxes to benefit have-nots... their perception of socialism... instead of benefiting private enterprise and wealthy property owners. Certainly, there has been legislation to benefit Blacks to try to level the playing field, and it remains debatable as to how effective or fair that has been, or how much legislation has actually been a detriment to those it is intended to benefit or those it has discriminated against. There is little doubt that that legislation has generally benefitted those it was intended to help. I find it interesting that fortyyears and txogre chose Blacks and Black policy to attack while there are so many other policies and activities to complain about. I suppose critical race theory upsets people because whites feel that they're being unfairly targeted. There is no doubt that the history being taught has been white washed to show the "best" sides of America. I think the goal of critical race theory is to teach all sides with an emphasis to cover ground that most history taught in public schools has traditionally eliminated. But the fact is, our history is riddled with events where have-nots of all races and ethnicities have been targets of oppression by the haves. We have been in a cultural war between the wealthy and the less fortunate in the history of western "civilization," and it amazes me that it gets framed as a race war. Love of money and power are the problems. Tribalism is the result.

Happy for you, Tman. A long time coming. Congratulations.

The Gibson Lounge... the place I love to hate. Gotta get outa here.

We've got all kinds of wars going on: cultural, racial, intellectual, rural/urban, rich/poor, dem/republican. It'd be nice just to try to get along, but the media (social, news, etc.) won't let us. It's making them money.

Oh, boohoo. Didn't seem to bother you when Trump was personally benefitting from his charities or republican senators were stock trading based on insider information. The easiest thing in the world is cherry picking scum bag politicians and celebrities from both sides.

Archie Bunker stopped being funny.

We used to think Archie Bunker was a stupid, bad joke, too. Now he's mainstream, and his mentality has become normalized. We also used to think fascism and Naziism was contrary to what we are as Americans. FDR was elected four times. Today, he would be considered a communist.

No doubt they're overpriced.

This was the first guitar forum I joined over twelve years ago, and was stated earlier, it was brutal back then. But there were also A LOT more active members and a lot more diversity and knowledge. This place is pretty tame in comparison... many members have left or been banned... most of the good ones. If people were banned here that probably should be for breaking rules, there'd be no one left, including me. (I've been threatened in PMs by one former, banned member.) Dang, this place is only a shell of what it used to be, and probably one of the least active of any guitar forum out there (Kiesel might be worse). If it weren't for several active posters here that I like and respect, I wouldn't come around at all. (And I'm certain I wouldn't be missed, not that I even care.) These days, I only post when I see stuff I can't let slide or I have something I think would be of interest to say, but like a huge majority of members, I've mostly ignored this place. I don't share but one interest with most of you, and that's guitars. And has been stated by a few members in the past, after 12 years of discussing guitars, what's left to say that hasn't already been said. So bite me. 🙃

That looks bad. Make sure you've kept all of the paperwork at sale. If it is too late to return it to the seller, take pictures, contact Gibson customer service and send them pics. They will advise you from there. Looks to me like sloppy work on the fretboard, binding and frets. If Gibson thinks it's bad enough, they'll tell you to ship it to them for evaluation. If they're serious enough to tell you to ship it and pay that shipping cost, it is very likely they'll agree to replace it.

I might be wrong, but I believe that when Moderna and Pfizer vaccines first came out, they were promoted to be around 90-95% effective. J&J less so. Not sure what "effective" meant, but early on, they were highly effective at reducing severity, hospitalizations, and death. Still are. As the virus mutated and vaccine effectiveness was diminished over time (necessitating boosters), those numbers may have dropped slightly, but I haven't seen the data (nor am I really interested). Look, I've said too much already, and I'm as frustrated by all this as anyone. I just wish everyone would do their parts to protect themselves and others. I'm sick (see what I did there) of the politicization and the rebelliousness of those who feel they possess some moral high ground against taking vaccines or inconvenient behavior modification for the common good.

I live in SC, and I know what you're talking about. But look at Australia to see how they handles the pandemic. They went weeks with only several cases while we were peaking here. I've seen where some insurance companies are considering not covering hospital bills for those not vaccinated. Not a bad idea perhaps. That would scare me into getting a vaccination. Unfortunately, you can't police others. You can lead a horse to water.... You just have to take personal responsibility to protect yourself and wait for this thing to die down or mutate into something less devastating. One positive thing, though. Immunologists are using this RNA technology to develop vaccinations for ALL viruses and say any new vaccine could be ready for mass consumption in less than six months.

I stand by everything I said in all of my posts and the numbers, sparky, and I disagree with your opinions on the motives of the all-inclusive "media" and "government." I just don't happen to be as cynical. But, my beef is not with you. My problem is with anti-vacciners. I realize that they have their rights and their personal freedoms. But, IMO, the overwhelming majority them are not acting in their own best interests or the interests of others. I have no sympathy for them. I believe if everyone had acted more responsibly early, this pandemic might not have been as devastating and deaths could have been prevented. And I don't need a scientist or data to back me on this (even though they do), just my own common sense. I find it interesting that those in the highest offices in the state and federal levels (and there is little doubt whom I'm referring to) were speaking out against vaccines publicly, but privately, they were getting them, all while promoting unsafe and unproven treatments. It's outrageous. Now excuse me while I go drink some bleach; I've got a dentist appointment in the morning, and I want to make sure I'm not contagious.

Numbers don't lie, sparky. Just because you don't like it or are confused by it doesn't make it a lie. While everyone may have an agenda, not everyone stands to profit, and there are many who are just trying to do the right thing with the information they have. Just ask the doctors and nurses on the front lines. We are in big trouble if no one is credible. The problems started when it became political. Politics screws up everything. When the polio vaccine came out, people lined up without their political BS, got the vaccination, and polio was virtually wiped out. Thank you science. Though we may be dealing with covid now like we deal with the flu, there is plenty of evidence that the vaccine is working to significantly reduce the severity. The data proves that people are better off by just shutting TFU, and getting the vaccine. Try to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

You're kidding, right?

To paraphrase Bertrand Russell: I'd never die for my beliefs. I could be wrong.

Almost 900K dead in the US, and over 5.5M dead around the world. Probably at least ten times more hospitalized. Looks a lot like a conspiracy to me. I didn't know you could hypnotize people to die. Unvaccinated are twenty times more likely to die. Clapton should just shut up and play his geetar.

Did you put a slug in it?

You're welcome, sparky. I heard a cover band do an excellent job with it recently. And yes, the vulgar practice of digging up and dishing out dirt for profit to an eager and hungry public that eats up sleaze, rage, and bad behavior like manna.