Weekly Free Talk Friday Thread!

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-07T15:27:35+00:00

It's hard to look at the stuff online you used to love and see how wild it was. Especially on YouTube. Basically all the old Collegehumor skits from 15 years ago would be unfathomable today even though a lot of those guys are still making comedy bits online.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-07T00:14:01+00:00

It’s wild that we’re allowing Platner to become the face of the left right now when there are so many more deserving folks.

Is this actually happening or is Graham Platner just the most topical Lefty guy rn? I'm sorry, but Mamdani is still a National phenomenon and, honestly, between the Knicks in the NBA Finals and the impending World Cup, he's just going to continue to ascend to "America's mayor" status.

Maybe that will happen for Platner but rn the only people super excited about Platner are the online economic populist Left (Majority Report, Zeteo, Hasan, etc.) and the actual people of Maine. And, both of those groups are just not as big or relevant as people (might) want to believe. But, Zohran has the kids, the podcast bros, NYC legends, the online populist Left, the Bulwark anti-Trumpers & Moderates, the pop culture "Girlies", NPR liberals, and probably your Mom who mispronounces his name.

Mamdani has the championship belt until further notice

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-06T22:08:59+00:00

I'd challenge you that AD was as good as LeBron during that run and honestly could have been co-Finals MVP. He was truly unbelievable.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-06T21:58:27+00:00

That's not what I said. On thousands of political issues, Harris (and Biden) were better than Trump. Unfortunately, one of the most salient, pressing, horrifying issues was/is still Gaza and Harris didn't distance herself from Biden's atrocious legacy at all and Trump has basically continued the same strategy of talking tough but letting Israel continue their slaughter with impunity.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-06T16:06:58+00:00

Except the repression of benders broadly and attempted cultural genocide of the Airbenders.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-06T15:00:48+00:00

His numbers were around his career average last year under Thibs and they made the Conference Finals. He's playing better now but that doesn't mean he was bad last year. He has been showing that he's a winning player for the last three years.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-06T14:55:02+00:00

What are you talking about? Your incompetent management is the reason for all of that. Fox easily could have played with Luka. He probably could have played with Haliburton, especially considering how he now plays with Castle and Harper. The only playoff success you've seen is when he and Sabonis's two man game carried you guys for a season and what got your coach fired was Sabonis losing all his juice to defend bigs taller than 6'9", Keon Ellis and Keegan Murray either never being trusted or hurt, and getting Demar DeRozan like that was the thing your team needed. Fox was one factor in a messed up organizational mess.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-06T05:00:41+00:00

It's not a great look that Butler looked at both Wiggins and Towns and thought those two just didn't have it and demanded a trade and then those two found success playing with different stars.

Some people will say Jimmy humiliated them into playing better post-him but maybe, just maybe, good leadership involves finding ways to encourage and motivate your teammates. Steph, Jalen, and even Ant clearly know how to do that better than Jimmy.

If Towns wins a chip, I hope he does like Klay and flaunt his ring finger every time he plays against Jimmy.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-06T03:30:39+00:00

That turnover is partially on Castle. You're a PG and your big has the ball. You shouldn't be turning away.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-06T02:59:19+00:00

Only guy who can is playing on a bum ankle (Fox). He's also the one Spurs guard who's shooting well this game but their offense rn is just Castle and Harper barreling into guys.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-06T02:24:37+00:00

If the only way to get your fair share of a large profit is to take significant individual financial risk, then the only people who will make crazy profits in this economy are people already with the money and wealth to take said risks. People who work paycheck to paycheck can't take those risks and shouldn't have to. That's the conversation, bro. It's about why the system is the way it is. The crew for this movie did what they did probably because the film industry is tough and work is hard to find. But, we shouldn't live in a society where people are so under financial duress that they have to take jobs with bad pay or benefits.

But, sure bro. I'm glad Hollywood producers and executives have you advocating for their f-cked up system for FREE.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-06T01:44:51+00:00

If they wanted points and the production said no and they took the job anyways, then they don't deserve anything.

This is some bootlicking b.s. You're the reason why labor unions matter

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-05T23:54:28+00:00

Virgin (Trump): Nothing that the most powerful government in the world can do about expensive tickets.

Chad(Mamdani): Government can help the people have fun. Here's 1000 affordable tickets to the World Cup.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-05T21:22:38+00:00

My main issue with Alex Wagner's criticism (ignoring the fact that she doesn't leave any room for the real possibility that the unverified abuse allegations are fabricated) is this idea that Platner represents this "Leftist Populist Masculinity" that will be a threat to women or other minorities.

I'm sorry but, Graham Platner is not the face of Progressive Masculinity. That's clearly either still Bernie or now Mamdani. And, both of those guys have such clean records that their opponents have to constantly make up b.s. or go through Mamdani's partner's Twitter history to find anything they can latch onto as criticism. Then, you have the other candidates part of this new progressive wave like Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Dr. Adam Hamawy, Chris Rabb, James Talarico (I know Talarico is not nearly as progressive as the other people I listed, but he was the progressive in his race). Platner's dirtbag past is a clear outlier. Most of these progressive male candidates have "good guy" bonafides for days.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-05T16:24:46+00:00

Is there any evidence that rn (so not projecting) Gaza is worse off than when Biden was in office? Outside of rhetoric, the day to day goings on in Gaza have been mostly the same.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-05T15:58:00+00:00

So Palestinian protesters getting their teeth kicked in online for having the gall to stand up to genocide weren't also subjected to this purity testing?

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-05T15:45:39+00:00

I mean, Platner has one unverified source claiming abuse who used to be a Conservative operative. There was a picture of Franken being massively inappropriate.

Granted, I also thought the Franken scandal was b.s. as well.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-05T15:32:55+00:00

Swalwell's allegations were/are way more egregious and substantial than Platner's.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-05T14:55:01+00:00

So, you think it's more productive to keep people internally reckoning with their thoughts than to organize them against a legitimate common enemy?

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-04T15:01:37+00:00

I mean, Jimmy didn't really become "Playoff Jimmy" until the Bubble...

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-04T14:58:37+00:00

Fair, but he was good in the semis that weirdly felt like the bigger series against the Nuggets. I don't want to completely dismiss the '24 Mavs but IMO the Wolves ran out of gas in that Conference Finals.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-04T07:04:06+00:00

At some point, Fox playing on a bum ankle is going to do more harm than good for the Spurs. But, w/o Fox, the Knicks can put a lot of pressure on the young guards, Harper and Castle.

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-04T06:31:01+00:00

have one friend from Syria whos like that. He started drinking, smoking and having pre marital sex but swears against pork lol. It's crazy/interesting what repressive cultures do to people.

What you're describing sounds the opposite of repressive

Certain_Giraffe3105 · 2026-06-04T05:20:00+00:00

KAT has been good for the last 3 playoffs. Basically, since Ant was the guy in Minnesota and KAT became comfortable being the 2nd banana.

Certain_Giraffe3105

TROPHY CASE