Posts by wiredfalcon2

Look, I’ll give you that. Writing those little tribute posts on Facebook whenever someone kicks the bucket is just way too much. It’s mostly just selfish, honestly. People do it to explain themselves to the world, or—more often than not—just to hike themselves up onto some high horse of moral superiority.

Jessica Gonzalez said:I was planning on going, but things fell through. I know a few people from Tehran, though.

That’s a bummer. I was actually interested in hearing about your firsthand experience.

Jessica Gonzalez said:I get that he was a global icon in professional sports. But honestly, how many people actually knew him personally, or how much did his passing truly impact their individual lives? If you didn't hear about it, does it really change anything for you? You can still go on YouTube and watch him play basketball 24/7 for the rest of your life. The athlete version of Kobe Bryant is a brand, and as a brand, he isn't gone. As a person, nobody really knew him—especially not anyone on a forum like this. I see people debating his legal troubles here, but that's exactly my point. People are either defending or attacking someone they don't actually know; they haven't spent a single second with him. All they know is the media persona of a pro athlete. It’s a similar situation with Michael Jackson, though that's been elevated to an entirely different level. Fans end up defending a man they know nothing about privately. Every celebrity, politician, or public figure is just a human being made of flesh and blood, dealing with the same joys and struggles as the rest of us. I see folks on this thread arguing about whether he should have even been in that helicopter, as if our opinions carry any weight at all. I guess just writing RIP Kobe Bryant is enough.

You can't really care about someone if you don't even realize they exist. That's why we don't lose sleep over some random miner in Peru or whoever else—until that moment, we didn't know they were even there, so there's zero emotional connection. That's the difference between them and celebrities we feel like we've "grown up with for 20 years." Honestly, people cry over fictional movies, so it's no surprise they feel for a real person who's been a constant presence in their life, even if it's just through a screen.

Jessica Gonzalez, honestly, looking at your last reply, I still can't tell if you actually set foot in Tehran or what.

Jessica Gonzalez said:I guess there are plenty of spots for outings like that in Tehran; it seems a bit silly to think a massive city of over 10 million people in a developed nation is some backwater. Even if that were true, it doesn't justify saying someone's death matters more because of their lifestyle. Maybe bluebison47 is actually more similar to an Iranian or an Iraqi in terms of socio-economic factors than they realize, rather than being closer to a Frenchman or a Swiss person. It’s easy to get carried away by appearances. Ultimately, I think it's just the media that dictates whose deaths are prioritized. Since we Americans sit somewhere in the middle of everything, maybe we can just move past this whole debate about restaurants and sports matches.

You actually been to Tehran? My sister spent a month in Iran and told me like 80% of the people there absolutely loathe the Ayatollahs and the religious regime, but they aren't allowed to breathe wrong. Also, their hospitality culture isn't anything like ours; everyone will take you into their home, it's just how it works there.

Kyle Lopez2 said:Wait, aren't you the guy who recently posted here saying the worst thing for a girl on a blind date is being stressed out by a serial killer?🤣🤣🤣

Honestly man, we're all a mess. We should probably give a hand to the gay, trans, non-binary community and everyone else because while we preach about freedom, we treat people like they're incapable of saying "no" or pushing someone away. And this whole thing—she's afraid people will call her frigid, but then what do people think when they talk about girls performing oral in a public restroom or hooking up on a first date without even going for a walk?

I really need to explain this to a girl: when she wants to leave and I refuse, knowing that she won't want to sleep with me because it becomes a power struggle, that's essentially a form of sexual coercion.🤣

🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
🙂.

Sandra Johnson58 said:What legal options do women even have in cases like the ones mentioned above? Like, can they file a rape charge? Or is it just considered some kind of assault or physical abuse?

Neymar is basically the ultimate example of what happens when a woman gets too bold with accusations and it ends up being a total disaster.

In America, it’s minimal or non-existent—usually nothing at all. Either you're dealing with a police force that lacks basic training, or the laws are written so poorly that you basically have to be harassed repeatedly before they even take it seriously. Most of the time, everyone just gets slapped with a misdemeanor for disturbing the peace. Honestly, there's no point wasting breath on our legal system; we already know it's broken from top to bottom in every single way, not just this one area.

wiredrider9 said:what kind of nonsense is this

Look at it this way—it's just a chance to learn something.

Peter Thompson4 said:My bad, I totally misspoke—I was actually thinking about wiredfalcon2, who’s basically gone off the deep end now and making zero sense. According to him, any kind of interaction between a man and a woman is basically assault.

Look, I'm going to say this one more time because I can already see the absolute shitstorm brewing: any form of abuse deserves the maximum punishment, period, but the world isn't black and white, and these specific situations aren't always simple either.

Personally, I've dealt with enough crap from women that I wouldn't just write them all off, but again, while it's wrong when any woman (or any person, really) faces injustice, claiming that men are the sole aggressors against women might be statistically true, but in my view, it's more complicated than that—though obviously, that's no excuse for violence against them.

Look, not every single interaction is rape, and let's be real, rape and harassment aren't even the same thing. Plus, you don't even need actual contact for something to count as harassment. I know, sounds confusing for some people, but look at these examples.

wiredrider9 said:Because let's be real, we aren't exactly close enough to be slapping each other's butts 🤣 (we don't work in those kinds of offices)

#mitu 😁

When you talk about sexual harassment, the whole thing boils down to power dynamics. That’s what dictates whether someone feels okay or totally violated. If some random person "touches your shoulder" and they don't pose any physical threat—or say, a career threat because they aren't your boss—that’s one context. But if resisting that kind of behavior could actually cost you your job? That's a completely different ballgame. Since in 99% of these cases, the women being harassed aren't facing an actual physical threat (we're not talking about psychopaths here), people tend to classify this stuff as much milder than it is. When the roles are reversed and a man is harassing a woman, the power is almost always on his side because, let's face it, he can physically overpower her. It makes it way too easy for a "harmless joke" to turn into a veiled threat just by shifting the tone or the setting slightly.

brightpilot6 said:Fair enough, you seem convinced, though I find myself feeling a bit more hesitant. I tend to harbor a certain level of skepticism when it comes to allegations where women are allegedly entering the hotel rooms of superstars of their own volition. While it is entirely possible that an assault occurred, I suppose I leave room for the possibility that it didn't.

If it did happen, then shame on him, plain and simple. I certainly won't be making any excuses for him by suggesting his on-court greatness grants him some kind of pass.

Perhaps he was a terrible human being, yet he was also a legendary basketball player who left us far too soon, and right now, we're all just dealing with the shock of it. That's really all there is to say. Let's move on.

In our society, sexual crimes are still basically taboo—meaning if it doesn't escalate to full-blown rape involving physical injury or extreme violations of freedom, women usually just endure it and move on. You don't necessarily go to a celebrity athlete's room looking for trouble. Stories I've heard from former roommates and friends clearly show how these things play out: you go on a date, everything seems fine, you end up in a room, kissing, everything's cool, foreplay, all good, penetration starts, all good—then suddenly, without any prior agreement, the guy starts choking, hitting, being overly aggressive, or slapping (not necessarily all at once, just giving examples) because that's what turns him on. And they find themselves in a spot where they initially agreed to sex, but not *that* kind of sex, and frankly, the guy doesn't give a damn. They get scared and just "go through the motions" until it's over so he doesn't get even more violent, and then afterward, you're left feeling violated and confused about what actually happened. Now, someone might say, "What did she expect when sleeping with just anyone?" while those same people will cry about her being "frigid" or whatever because she didn't give in by the fifth date (because she learned from past experiences).

I wouldn't easily believe someone accusing a wealthy person either, but through my work in journalism and personal experiences with acquaintances and friends, I've realized this is a very common occurrence. Whether someone is rich or not is irrelevant to whether they'll do it or not. The difference is that when it's not a wealthy person, it stays under the radar or goes unreported. Besides, there's a massive risk for her in making a false accusation too—if it turns out to be fake, she's permanently disgraced, not to mention the insane legal costs involved.

ironpanther5 said:Just because you’ve constructed this specific narrative in your own head doesn't make it reality. I'm always for the truth, regardless of who's at fault; honestly, if it were my own flesh and blood, I’d testify against them in a heartbeat if I had any knowledge regarding a hit-and-run or sexual abuse.

I was simply trying to point out how most people are incredibly narrow-minded and ask these moronic questions—like they did in the Kobe case, questioning why someone was sleeping with someone else to imply they're "easy," or claiming someone is unstable just because they attempted suicide, or asking why she was in a certain room or why she wore a short skirt, as if any of that matters when someone is ultimately coerced into sex.

So, I threw in those other examples where this behavior is even more apparent, specifically when the victims are men, because society tends to be much less sensitive toward them. I wasn't trying to claim that men and women are equal in this context; I know women are far more frequent victims, which is also why people rarely dare to report these things—because they want to avoid the judgment and having their dirty laundry aired out in public.

I never once said that women aren't significantly more frequent victims of domestic or sexual violence, regardless of how statistics sometimes get manipulated.

But hey, everyone scratches where it itches, and politics is a nasty business; just as right-wing dogmatists have their unshakeable talking points, the left is stuck on the exact same intellectual level.

That's why I find myself giving them a metaphorical slap in the face every now and then. 🙂

My bad for the assumptions.

ironpanther5 said:There was this wild story blowing up in the news over in the States about two women who basically trapped some guy in his car, handcuffed him, wouldn't let him out, and then went all in on him.

The comment section was a total circus; you had the guys acting like lucky bastards, wondering why they haven't had that kind of luck yet, while the women were busy chirping about how it’s physically impossible to rape a man—clearly making some snide little jab about an erection, I guess—and just giggling about it.
On the flip side, if you dared to point out that there are plenty of women who have experienced orgasms during sexual assaults, they’d probably lose their minds.

But honestly, nothing beats those infuriating cases where some teacher assaults a sixteen-year-old student, and everyone acts completely shocked that it's considered a criminal offense. That’s when you really see how twisted people can be.
The men are practically cheering because they’ve all fantasized about hooking up with their teachers, and the women act totally bewildered, claiming he got what he wanted, that he wasn't forced, or that he's old enough to know better.

That’s the moment you truly lose faith in humanity; they just don't seem to grasp that when you send your kid off to school—even if they're a senior in high school—you aren't sending them there to be screwed by someone in a position of authority.

It doesn't matter what any teenager might think they want in the heat of the moment. A school is meant for learning, not some freaking nightclub.

Of course you jumped straight to saying women are gross too and society is hypocritical. Even though 99% of sexual crimes are committed by men, and women account for 30% of reported sexual assaults (not necessarily rape), and 99% of sexual harassment cases involve women. But sure, society is hypocritical and women are terrible, let's not forget that.

brightpilot6 said:Honestly, it’s hard to even find the right words when you're faced with situations like this.

People tend to focus on him as an individual, but isn't it more accurate to say we didn't just lose a great person, but one of the greatest athletes to ever step onto a court?

Kobe Bryant basically admitted to the assault, so there’s really nothing left to debate. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter. Plus, he settled with her for 2.5 million bucks. He wasn't exactly great at explaining why she had those strangulation marks on her neck either.

This whole thing—just like so much other garbage in sports, business, and politics—really exposes the dark side of human nature. Nobody actually gives a damn about how you got there as long as you're winning. Corruption only becomes an issue when it stops benefiting the people you're rooting for, and then suddenly "let's play fair, if we have to". Silvio Berlusconi, Eric Adams, Jerry Maguire, Roman Abramovich, Luka Modrić... money from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, whatever. No one cares about any of it as long as everything looks shiny on the surface and we're all too drunk on the illusion of success.

People tend to gloss over the fact that Kobe Bryant assaulted a 19-year-old girl. Of course, the mainstream media is going to conveniently scrub that from the narrative, along with all those people who just want to play the emotional forgiveness card, but whatever. Bottom line? The guy was a rapist.

Kyle Lopez2 said:Is that the one where they totally demonized Prost?🤣 I haven't seen it, but I didn't really feel like watching once I heard it was just pure propaganda.😁

Unknown, it's not even that they demonized him—they just completely buried the whole dynamic between Ayrton Senna and the Unknown. They totally glossed over how close they actually were, especially after the Unknown basically walked away from Formula 1 at the end of the '93 season.

William Gomez5 said:Look, I’ve got massive expectations here. After seeing Ayrton Senna, which is easily a top 5 film of all time, I'm expecting something huge from this one.

The truth is, that Senna documentary is one of the most inaccurate things out there.

brightpilot6 said:🙏

what the hell 🙏 is

Look, I’m just saying, it’s totally normal for someone that age to kick the bucket. Death isn't some huge tragedy when it's just nature taking its course. It happens to all of us eventually. Dudek’s work is gonna outlast him by a long shot, and he definitely checked off everything he set out to do on this planet. We should just appreciate what he left behind instead of getting all worked up over a standard biological reality like natural death.

Passed away at 88, still going strong right up to the end. A hell of a run. What was the plan anyway, live to be 210?

Paul Martinez73 said:We're discussing ☕
Let's say someone actually provided a straight answer, yet you somehow managed to pivot all the way to claiming women have been subjected to sexual assault since the dawn of time.

By defending that logic, you're essentially suggesting it's possible for someone to be raped, only for them to use that "rape" as a ladder to climb for twenty years—meaning every time they're violated, they land a better role or make more money, which they then spend and enjoy... and then, after two decades, they suddenly go on a media tour, though they never once filed an actual police report. To me, that's nothing but pure prostitution, and once they decide they're done selling themselves, they just rebrand the whole thing as rape.

Listen, you're twisting my words. My point was that she spent 20 years sleeping with some guy continuously to build her career; it wasn't that he harassed her 20 years ago and she just waited until now to report it. She didn't wait because she was scared; she waited because she knew reporting it would tank her career. Honestly, why am I even bothering with you? You already said nobody could change your mind. Now you'll just repeat yourself for the second time using different words, then I'll throw thirty new arguments at you, and you'll just parrot the same thing a third time with slightly more distorted wording.

If you think there’s a statute of limitations on rape where it doesn't count if you wait too long, fine. I bet you'll say the exact same thing to your own daughter. "Oh, honey, what took you five years? Who cares now, sucks to be you."
If you think a woman's financial situation somehow excuses a rape, fine. I bet you'll tell your daughter the same thing: "Well, you made ten grand after he raped you, so who cares?"
If you think rape is justified because she's pretty or dresses sexy to get parts, whatever. I bet you'll tell your daughter the same thing: "Why are you wearing tight shirts? It's totally natural for every boss who wants you to just rape you, so deal with it."