Whoopsie, we accidentally released the 77 pages of documents showing you were involved in criminal activity...so you get to go free I guess? Rules for thee and whatnot.

Whole god damn day was foggy as fuck. I spent my Saturday alone in a warehouse, wasn't surprised at the fog during the 9:30 drive...was somewhat surprised when I left at 4 pm that is was no less thick. Surprise sort of just faded into acceptance.

Prophecy foretells that some day the bright ball will shine again...

My guess is a lack of political will to do so. It's hard enough to get new political agendas passed in some cases without the added burden of trying to introduce something to take care of a law that is currently unenforceable, and would also appear to be unenforceable post removal of protection from the consequences of that law.

My second guess, and it could be mixed with my first, is that unless you have a really solid party majority you could be inviting a voter response for tackling a wedge issue and it might not be perceived as worth it if the law is unenforceable anyway.

Wait...whether or not the WTO rulings were made by elected officials or not has no bearing on whether the tarrifs were legal under WTO rules. That's the best my country could come up with in rebuttal? Take that weak sauce elsewhere and remove the tarrifs.

Fool me three times...can't fool me again?

And there we go. You're equating my statement that the words used are incorrect to infer that I don't support my own community. Well done.

This isn't about my personal feelings on equality, it's about someone equating sovereign countries responses to violent behavior from other countries to those same countries who are not engaged in violent behavior.

So, my country (US) has a real problem with prison over population, we charge people way too often for minor infractions that then result in long sentences. Now if you were to say The US can't complain about China's over charging people and giving them long sentences, I'd agree.

But, l feel like this would be more akin to saying America is hypocritical for condemning Chinese internment of Uighors because the US also locks people up. Neither is good, but one is significantly, unequivocally worse and to say that they are equal does not comport with how I understand the world around me.

My response was tuned into what l inferred (due to the posters comment history) was the poster using gay rights as a vehicle to shit on the west, and not a serious concern with the lgbtq community in general.

I've already apologized to the poster (assuming my inference was incorrect).

And again l must point out that no western country has ever found the simple act of not recognizing same sex marriage to be outrageous. They have however, condemned all of the actions I have pointed out, actions the link explicitly points to.

Therefore when I point out the difference, I'm not saying that the behavior of one excuses the behavior of the other. I'm saying that the accusation does not hold up in the face of the facts.

Ah. Ok, I see what's happening here. You are assuming that my responses imply I agree with Japan's stance. I do not. Without relying too heavily on flying any particular flag, I assure you this kind of stuff very much matters to the community I am part of.

Now, let me try to really clarify what I'm saying. Let's say, hypothetically, the WC was being held in Qatar, and Qatar's only stance on lgbtq matters was they didn't recognize same sex marriages. And let's assume the western world condemned them for it, called it outrageous behavior. Ran all of the stories we are currently seeing about it. Then today, news comes out that Japan has taken the same legal stance on not recognizing same sex marriages, but the western world withholds it's opinion on the matter.

If that were the case, I'd completely agree with your statement. My issue with your statement is that, to the best of my knowledge, no western country has ever considered the act of not recognizing or legalizing same sex marriage as outrageous. Should they is a different conversation. My personal feelings however, do not carry the weight of sovereign power statements on other countries behavior.

Your comment thread is full of anti western sentiment, and so be it. But to me, you seemed to be making more of a statement about your feelings on the west, rather than a statement on your feelings on Japan's findings. If I have read that incorrectly (and you're not just hiding behind the question you just asked) then l owe you an apology.

It's not hyperbolic, the actions that I mention are the actions that gather outrage from western countries. Name a western country that was outraged that the US did not secure gay marriage until 2015.

I'll leave a link to Human Rights map of anti LGBTQ countries, see if you can find the interesting connection between them.

https://features.hrw.org/features/features/lgbt_laws/index.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAm5ycBhCXARIsAPldzoWvZDvlEGZF3TszeT68vKgT2M9f_BSUbvo6THHPrW07DpO5zBQl4BQaAtvvEALw_wcB

One that seems to have shot over your head too. So, let me break it down for you.

Unless you are going to make the argument that killing, raping, beating and jailing people for being gay is the exact same treatment as not extending same sex marriage rights in a country that otherwise has no policy towards homosexual behavior , then asking why one set of actions will get condemnation on the world stage and the other won't is more about bias towards the west than any real concern over alleged hypocrisy.

Clear enough?

The article says nothing about western views on Japans laws. You did. And asking a non related question, you open yourself to an answer. If you're going to play dumb to support your comment sections well established anti western views, that's your right here, but don't try to act like it isn't glaringly obvious what you're doing.

No western country is outraged because nothing outrageous is happening in Japan. Gay people are being tortured, raped, beaten, jailed and executed in non western countries and those actions bring condemnation from most governments that support human rights globally.

Name a western country that outlaws being gay, that beats, rapes, and executes gay people. Your whataboutisim game is weak.

*Edit: For clarification, I'm not agreeing with Japan's legal opinion on the matter. I was attempting to point out what I considered to be a hyperbolic statement more concerned with having an excuse to shit on the west than with lgbtq rights.

Lost faith. I still think of myself as spiritual, that there is (hopefully) more than just this fleeting existence. But as far as buying into any hierarchical structure that claims to speak for a supposed god...yeah, not doing that.

Yeah...l had high hopes for this pope, but he turned out like the rest in my living memory, all talk when it comes to structural sexual abuse in it's own system, now it's attacks on ethnic basis and borderline Russian apologist behavior to boot.

Left the church in my teens, and shit like this always reminds me that it was the right call to make.

Jesus, what an fucked up thing to read about. Assuming this was intentional on the part of the driver. Not the first time cops have fucked someone up seriously by doing exactly this.

That statement isn't even about legal slavery ( which to be clear, you are absolutely correct about) it's more akin to why it costs 16 bucks to get a warm bud light at a ball game. Because, what other option do you have at the ball park?

Now, treating prisoners in the same manner is loathsome and immoral. The amount these outside groups charge prisoners for the ability to stay in contact with family is parasitic in just the worst ways imaginable. And, it speaks to the lack of humanity the owners of these contract companies have, as well as the lack of humanity those running the facilities have.

Ah, unfettered corruption and American law enforcement...mix in treating the prison population as no more than a literal captive audience for capital gains and it just has this nice cozy American feel to it.

I promise you, a vast majority of those farmers will happily take the money, still bitch about student loan debt cancelation, vote Republican in the midterms and not lose an ounce of sleep over the mental gymnastics involved.

Storage concerns probably. Also, bear in mind, America produced, on average, 18.6 million barrels of oil every day in 2021. We consumed about 19.8 million barrels a day during the same period while also exporting around 8.5 million barrels a day.

For a variety of reasons, like refinery setups and taking part in the global economy around import/export, we have chosen to leave ourselves susceptible to OPECs rigging of the global market prices...I'm sure its also just a coincidence that petroleum companies just happen to make record profits when costs are high. Almost as if they don't just raise the pump price to cover increased cost.

Damn dude... yeah, you'd definitely be a SME in that area, if you think odds are they skate, then l'm entirely inclined to accept that.

Stay safe man. And thanks for doing what you do.

Holy shit...I had heard it was somewhat loose down there, but that's just fucking nuts! I wonder how many incidents like this don't make the news because no kids got hit? Not that I had any intention of visiting Florida, but now l know to avoid at all costs.

First shooter may have fucked himself though, arrest affidavit states he "was just trying to get out of the situation" and thought he had shot a tire, or the rear of the other vehicle after a water bottle was thrown at him. Those aren't the actions/statements of someone in immediate fear for their life.

Second driver has a better chance even though he returned fire at a vehicle that was fleeing the scene. Im hoping that since two kids were shot a jury will find these fucks guilty, but sadly, given what l said to open, with it being Florida you are probably correct and they could both skate to do this shit again some day.