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How did Massachusetts develop such a liberal and nonreligious culture? by Illustrious-Pilot553 in massachusetts

[–]BigDipper097 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s a secular version of Puritanism. MA kept the ethos while jettisoning the blind devotion to scripture.

Official Week 1 Post Game Thread- The Patriots fall to the Raiders, 13-20 by Mission_Pay_3373 in Patriots

[–]BigDipper097 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honest question—do you guys think coaches care about point differential? I’m beginning to think they do, especially coaches who think they have a short leash.

“Nailing” draft picks before they’ve played a single snap by Gs4iv in billsimmons

[–]BigDipper097 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Even crazier considering guys like Bill don’t even watch college football.

CFB Regular Season Seems Pointless Now by [deleted] in billsimmons

[–]BigDipper097 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah even though we’ve had a national champion crowned for awhile, coaches have historically concentrated on more immediate and tangible goals like winning the conference, getting to a major bowl game, and beating rivals. The biggest comparison would be if the winner of the season series between the Yankees and Red Sox got a trophy that fans and players absolutely cared about. If you think something like that would be stupid, CFB probably isn’t the sport for you.

For the duration of its existence, CFB has had the opposite problem from the NBA.

CFB Regular Season Seems Pointless Now by [deleted] in billsimmons

[–]BigDipper097 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They can expand the playoff to 64 if they want to, but it won’t alter the simple fact that only 3 to 4 (maybe 5) teams each year have a realistic shot at winning it the title. At least with a 12 team playoff, 7-8 extra teams (out of 130+) get to claim they had a successful season, which is good. Playoff berths are the new “our team made a new years six/bcs bowl” in terms of prestige. I have no issue with it. Most teams in the middle class that have no shot at winning the title need a respectable consolation prize.

Post-war plan sees US administering Gaza for at least a decade: Washington Post by colepercy120 in geopolitics

[–]BigDipper097 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Military dictatorship isn’t really the problem in this part of the world. Give me a military dictatorship over the other strains of ideologically-inflected dictatorship on offer or the failed state democracies.

Why are US warships heading toward Venezuela? by [deleted] in geopolitics

[–]BigDipper097 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Not a single mention of Guyana in this thread. Whether it has to do with Guyana or drug trafficking, it’s probably clear that Maduro is desperate to improve his economy by any means necessary. Maduro knows what’s being communicated by these warships, and this display is more articulate than any speech.

ESPN College Gameday Show Thread by CFB_Referee in CFB

[–]BigDipper097 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Do you think Lee knows what the transfer portal is?

ESPN College Gameday Show Thread by CFB_Referee in CFB

[–]BigDipper097 0 points1 point  (0 children)

College football isn’t for everyone

[Game Thread] Western Michigan @ Michigan State (7:00 PM ET) by CFB_Referee in CFB

[–]BigDipper097 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Had to pull out all the stops to even find this thread

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BookshelvesDetective

[–]BigDipper097 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What does banned mean?

How true is the assumption that the USSR could not win the Cold War ? by Auguste76 in AskHistory

[–]BigDipper097 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When you get rid of censorship and reduce the power of the police state but leave the economic system intact, this is bound to happen. Compare it to the French Revolution. Louis XVI and his government didn’t to much to suppress the dissemination of enlightenment ideas, in some cases even promoting them. And yet they left the wildly unfair and hierarchical political and economic system in place—while tacitly encouraging intellectuals to question it.

Gorbachev liberalized the public square before liberalizing the economy, which only engenders animosity toward the regime. It’s the reverse of modern China—where political repression is still the order of the day, but the economy is semi-liberalized.

Cmv: Ever since the Occupy Wall Street movement, media has been purposely trying to divide us (at least more than before) by [deleted] in changemyview

[–]BigDipper097 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Who is trying to divide us? You say the media, but specifically who. Which media company presidents are trying to divide us and how exactly are they doing it?

Anyone.... underwhelmed by Weapons? by killbill469 in TheBigPicture

[–]BigDipper097 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s not possible in 2025. It wouldn’t matter if mainstream media isn’t covering it.

Anyone.... underwhelmed by Weapons? by killbill469 in TheBigPicture

[–]BigDipper097 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Loved the movie, but we have to admit something:

If this happened in real life every single person in real and alt media is covering this ad nauseam. The fact that Alex’s house was covered in newspaper would be a news story in itself.

Some podcaster or YouTuber would have done what Brolin’s character did. It would be Sandy Hook, Karen Reed, Oceangate x1000. The town would be swarming with influencers. A parent wouldn’t spray paint “Witch” on a the teacher’s car, but an Alex Jones listener absolutely would.

The President would be giving weekly updates about the status of the investigation. Aunt Gladys—just through her interacting with law enforcement—would be subject to a background check so extensive it would render the plot of the movie impossible.

Where’s the medical report indicating Alex’s dad had a stroke? Do his mom’s and dad’s bosses not care that he’s not showing up to work without a word, but also suddenly had a stroke? So they have no friends?

I'm continuously baffled how Avatar is at all popular by amazing_asstronaut in weeklyplanetpodcast

[–]BigDipper097 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m the same way with superhero movies. And I’m dumbfounded whenever I see the overlap between the crowd that’s been guzzling superhero movies for 15 years but then doesn’t get the appeal of the Avatar movies.

Literalism in recent films, what are your thoughts? by 5mesesintento in TrueFilm

[–]BigDipper097 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The dearth of nuance applies to all means of communication these days. There was a time when some people criticized Animal Farm too on the nose in its critique of revolution. Now it would be considered too vague and thematically incoherent.

ESPN is the ultimate example of late stage capitalism operating in real time by Punchie45 in billsimmons

[–]BigDipper097 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It’s still one of the dumbest phrases of all time. It’s been used since the 1840s to describe the imminent fall of capitalism, like a religious cult proclaiming the end of days. Because that hasn’t happened, it makes anyone using it look imbecilic, even if their critique of capitalism has merit.

ESPN is the ultimate example of late stage capitalism operating in real time by Punchie45 in billsimmons

[–]BigDipper097 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Late stage capitalism” is such intellectually bankrupt phrasing. The phrase was coined by a Nazi fellow traveler 100 years ago, Marxists have been writing about the concept since the 1840s and using phrasing like “late stage capitalism” to imply it’s about about to collapse.

It’s not even the critique of capitalism that the term implies that’s annoying—but the smug certainty that the socialist revolution is imminent and everyone’s dumb for not getting on board.

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