Offside Chat Archives (2014-2021)

Peter Thompson4 said:It’s easy for people living abroad to talk, but what about the locals right here in the States who keep voting for these absolute thieves? Instead of this party just quietly fading into irrelevance, they’re still running circles around us back home. 🤦
Way to go, Republicans 👋
Maybe for once we’ll actually get someone in office who genuinely wants to see some positive change in this godforsaken country 👍

You can find the rest of the answer in this table...

http://m.sibenik.in/izbori-2015/joso...eks/49844.html

Back when the Republicans held power from 1990 to 1999, the number of retirees jumped by 460,000. During the Democrats' term from 2000 to 2003, it went up by 43,000, and under the later Republican administration, it grew by about 170,000. That’s exactly why we're seeing one retiree for every single worker now, with the average retirement age dipping below 55...

The Republicans definitely bought social stability much more effectively than the Democrats did, especially by creating jobs within the federal government. That’s exactly why people flock to them... though a certain segment just votes that way because they aren't particularly well-informed...

Honestly, this whole situation with the bridge might actually be the best-case scenario. The Democrats definitely don't have the political capital to pull the trigger on those necessary reforms themselves, and the Republicans are just way too bogged down by corruption at the top...

It would be pretty ideal if the Democrats and Republicans teamed up to form a coalition government. I’d love to see someone like Bernie Sanders or Mitt Romney take the lead as Prime Minister, while the GOP just pulls the rug out from under Trump and picks a steady leader—maybe someone like Joe Biden or Mitch McConnell—to finally move on from all those old-school figures like Donald Trump or Nikki Haley... but we'll just have to wait and see...

No, there's no way he'll let someone else take the Prime Minister's seat—he'd honestly rather lose the election than agree to that. 🤣

It’ll happen to the Republicans first, though it won't be because of the party leadership—it'll be those people pulling the strings in the background who decide it's time to pull the plug.

From what I can gather, those folks over at the Reform Party don't actually care who holds the office of Prime Minister; their eyes are strictly on pushing through their agenda. I think Petrov even mentioned that the specific leadership was never really his priority.

There’s talk going around about the bridge wanting the Prime Minister role, though I honestly think it’s all just speculation for now. At the end of the day, the real priority is seeing them present a solid platform and push for the specific reforms they want from their coalition partners—like insisting on putting actual experts in key positions where they belong...

mellowotter36 said:Of course nobody voted for the Democrats when they didn't even bother to show up out there.

I'm glad someone finally pointed this out 👍

Look, after the presidential election, they didn't have anything left to go after there—that's just how it is. It's not like the Republicans were the only option on the ballot; they could've gone with any third party or whoever else. But instead, they stuck with the GOP and local machine politicians 🤦

On another note, I have to say I’m pretty satisfied with how Željka Markić performed in the elections. Hopefully, she’ll just fade back into the margins and stay out of the spotlight now.

Ronald's movie just hit the torrent sites 👍

The Barca fans are practically vibrating with anticipation. 👍

mellowotter36 said:Ronald's movie just hit the torrent sites 👍

👍
Man, it’s been forever since I sat down to watch some mindless, stupid comedy ☕

Maybe even Sarah isn't actually that crazy

And just like that, the media blitz for the Reform Party starts. You can totally see how much airtime they're getting. It’s obvious they’ve got some massive logistical backing behind them. My gut feeling from the jump is that this whole thing is a specific project—and honestly, it’s definitely not an DNC project because those guys just aren't capable of pulling something like this off.

🤣
I guess I just don't get what they mean by "not capable." Like, if they think the party is too honest to play dirty, then they're being pretty naive, because Zoki is out there buying votes like he's at a backyard BBQ on a Sunday afternoon. But, if they actually mean they lack the muscle to pull it off... well, then what kind of reforms can we even hope for?
First off, this feels like major butt-hurt because, man, it sucks they didn't make it into Congress. Personally, I'm bummed because their platform is actually solid. As for the Reform Party, I really think if they can just stay united, they’ll become the third major power in the country. Unlike a lot of other parties that have to start small at the local level and slowly build up, these guys already have local influence. They've basically already made it to the national stage, so it's really just a question of how they’re gonna use that leverage.

It seems to me like the Bridge party is just this colorful patchwork quilt made up of every semi-successful local independent group you can find, regardless of their actual political ideology. Honestly, I have no idea how long they can actually stay under one roof.

I don't buy the idea that this is some GOP project either—they definitely don't have the bandwidth for something like that. Besides, the GOP has spent the last twenty years systematically dismantling every right-wing competitor just to maintain their own monopoly. Why on earth would they suddenly launch a movement that would snatch away a huge chunk of their voter base and give those people the option of cutting a deal with the Democrats?

James Anderson5 said:Maybe even Sarah isn't actually that crazy

Let Claire burn it all down if she wants. Who can blame her when her entire platform is built on nothing but weed?

I had Lovrinović as a professor for several courses, so I know exactly where he stands regarding both the Republicans and the Democrats (just like how I know that at his book launch, only people like Marić from the GOP ☕, along with Coric, showed up—and they’re just colleagues from the same department). As for Petrinina's views? I don't even need to bring those up.

It's just as easy to conclude that the leaders of the Bridge Party are all die-hard conservatives. But honestly, is that the only thing they actually have in common?

Anthony Jackson2 said:Look, after the presidential election, they didn't have anything left to go after there—that's just how it is. It's not like the Republicans were the only option on the ballot; they could've gone with any third party or whoever else. But instead, they stuck with the GOP and local machine politicians 🤦

On another note, I have to say I’m pretty satisfied with how Željka Markić performed in the elections. Hopefully, she’ll just fade back into the margins and stay out of the spotlight now.

Let's be realistic—the GOP and figures like Bandić are the ones most deeply embedded in that overseas community. Those two options are always present there, actively engaging with that demographic. That simple kind of grassroots promotion always pays off for them, yielding almost phenomenal results in every election cycle. It's how the GOP and similar groups managed to build their voter base among Americans living abroad—even if they were heavily skimming funds back during the war when aid was being sent to the homeland...

And what are the other parties doing? Nothing. They just complain about a disconnected diaspora, trying to use that as a way to camouflage their own incompetence. These parties aren't even capable of presenting themselves to that voting district, let alone organizing a single campaign rally outside the States, much less actually leading a nation 😁

It’s good to see both the GOP and the Democrats struggling. There's no point in celebrating too early, but perhaps our political culture has finally shifted away from a complete standstill...

Has anyone actually messed around with this Dream Lab app yet? If you have, can you please just tell me if the damn thing actually works properly or if I'm just wasting my life on it?

Peter Thompson4 said:Has anyone actually messed around with this Dream Lab app yet? If you have, can you please just tell me if the damn thing actually works properly or if I'm just wasting my life on it?

[/I]

It reminds me of how they used to do things with SETI, where people could help analyze deep space signals from their own home computers because the main servers couldn't handle all the data. Computers were way weaker back then, though. Nowadays, I'm not sure how much sense that makes... feels more like a clever marketing move for a carrier like Verizon.

As far as I know, I haven't heard anything bad about them being unreliable...

Honestly, this feels more like a blatant Verizon commercial than anything else they’re actually trying to promote.
All I really care about is making sure they aren't crawling all over my phone, stripping away my private data and photos like some kind of digital scavenger. If they weren't such a massive privacy nightmare, maybe I'd actually bother downloading the app and trying to help out where I can, but why would I?

I just stepped out for a quick shower, but what the hell happened during that USA vs. France game? Was there a bomb or some other crazy shit going on?

Peter Thompson4 said:I just stepped out for a quick shower, but what the hell happened during that USA vs. France game? Was there a bomb or some other crazy shit going on?

Spectators, fearing a terrorist attack that occurred near the stadium, rushed onto the field due to the chaos unfolding in the streets.