Ohio is scaring me. Who scares you? NJ edition.

ml1 said:

RealityForAll said:

Who are "Them big boys"?

My top four in pic attached.

given the song is written from the POV of a person who worked in the mills, it would probably be some combination of corporate executives, politicians and union leaders. I'm figuring your list of four might be your idea of a joke. 

Please provide your list of "executives, politicians and union leaders" so that we may compare them to my list.


RealityForAll said:

IOW, who are "Them big boys"?

ml1: Some combination of corporate executives, politicians and union leaders.

RFA: Names! I want names!


RealityForAll said:

Please provide your list of "executives, politicians and union leaders" so that we may compare them to my list.

this HAS to be a joke. 


Who is Miss American Pie, and who were them good old boys? I've heard there's a road we "wind on down" where our shadows are "taller than our souls" -- which road is this? If one gets tired walking on that road, can one rest for the night at the Hotel California?


Let's ask a large language model.

me: Are you familiar with the song Youngstown by Bruce Springsteen?

ChatGPT: Yes, I am familiar with the song "Youngstown" by Bruce Springsteen. It is a song from Springsteen's 1995 album "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and was written in response to the economic decline and factory closures that affected the city of Youngstown, Ohio in the 1980s and 1990s. The song tells the story of a family struggling to survive in the aftermath of the loss of their jobs and the shuttering of the steel mills that were once the backbone of the city's economy. The song is a poignant and powerful reminder of the human cost of economic downturns and the need for communities to come together to support one another in difficult times.

me: The song references "them big boys" who did "what Hitler couldn't do". Who are them big boys?

ChatGPT: In the song "Youngstown" by Bruce Springsteen, the lyrics refer to "them big boys" who did "what Hitler couldn't do." It is likely that the "big boys" referred to in the song are the corporations and business interests that played a role in the economic decline of Youngstown, Ohio in the 1980s and 1990s. The reference to Hitler likely refers to the devastation and destruction wrought by the Nazi regime during World War II, and the comparison is meant to highlight the devastating impact that the economic downturn had on the city and its residents. The song is a commentary on the effects of corporate greed and the need for communities to come together to support one another in difficult times.

me: Provide specific names for the "big boys"

ChatGPT: I'm sorry, but I am not able to provide specific names for the "big boys" referred to in the song "Youngstown" by Bruce Springsteen. As a language model, I do not have access to any external information or the ability to browse the internet. My responses are based solely on the information and context provided by the user in their question. In this case, the reference to "them big boys" is likely a general term used to refer to the corporations and business interests that played a role in the economic decline of Youngstown, Ohio in the 1980s and 1990s. The song is a commentary on the effects of corporate greed and the need for communities to come together to support one another in difficult times, but does not provide specific names of individuals or companies.


PVW said:

Who is Miss American Pie, and who were them good old boys? I've heard there's a road we "wind on down" where our shadows are "taller than our souls" -- which road is this? If one gets tired walking on that road, can one rest for the night at the Hotel California?

we should all be suspicious of whomever put the bomp in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp.


I believe there’s similar speculation about the true country and mountain/river etc locations in George Ezra’s ‘Shotgun’ (Australia? Brazil? South Africa? etc) Further, his interviews on the the subject have contradicted his own (recorded) answers. I’ll entertain your speculations, grounds for these and further musical theories from his later works. 
Thank you.  question question question


PVW said:

Let's ask a large language model.

me: Are you familiar with the song Youngstown by Bruce Springsteen?

ChatGPT: Yes, I am familiar with the song "Youngstown" by Bruce Springsteen. It is a song from Springsteen's 1995 album "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and was written in response to the economic decline and factory closures that affected the city of Youngstown, Ohio in the 1980s and 1990s. The song tells the story of a family struggling to survive in the aftermath of the loss of their jobs and the shuttering of the steel mills that were once the backbone of the city's economy. The song is a poignant and powerful reminder of the human cost of economic downturns and the need for communities to come together to support one another in difficult times.

me: The song references "them big boys" who did "what Hitler couldn't do". Who are them big boys?

ChatGPT: In the song "Youngstown" by Bruce Springsteen, the lyrics refer to "them big boys" who did "what Hitler couldn't do." It is likely that the "big boys" referred to in the song are the corporations and business interests that played a role in the economic decline of Youngstown, Ohio in the 1980s and 1990s. The reference to Hitler likely refers to the devastation and destruction wrought by the Nazi regime during World War II, and the comparison is meant to highlight the devastating impact that the economic downturn had on the city and its residents. The song is a commentary on the effects of corporate greed and the need for communities to come together to support one another in difficult times.

me: Provide specific names for the "big boys"

ChatGPT: I'm sorry, but I am not able to provide specific names for the "big boys" referred to in the song "Youngstown" by Bruce Springsteen. As a language model, I do not have access to any external information or the ability to browse the internet. My responses are based solely on the information and context provided by the user in their question. In this case, the reference to "them big boys" is likely a general term used to refer to the corporations and business interests that played a role in the economic decline of Youngstown, Ohio in the 1980s and 1990s. The song is a commentary on the effects of corporate greed and the need for communities to come together to support one another in difficult times, but does not provide specific names of individuals or companies.

some bots are pretty smart, aren't they?


yay!


That train derailment is scary isn’t it? 


Sure is. About 70 miles from me (as the car drives).


Voters in Ohio reject GOP-backed proposal that would have made it tougher to protect abortion rights (AP)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio voters on Tuesday resoundingly rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have made it more difficult to change the state’s constitution, setting up a fall campaign that will become the nation’s latest referendum on abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned nationwide protections last year.

The defeat of Issue 1 keeps in place a simple majority threshold for passing future constitutional amendments. It would have raised that to a 60% supermajority, which supporters said would protect the state’s foundational document from outside interest groups.

While abortion was not directly on the special election ballot, the result marks the latest setback for Republicans in a conservative-leaning state who favor imposing tough restrictions on the procedure. Ohio Republicans placed the question on the summer ballot in hopes of undercutting a citizen initiative voters will decide in November that seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the state.

Other states where voters have considered abortion rights since last year’s Supreme Court ruling have protected them, including in red states such as Kansas and Kentucky.

PVW said:

even though they wanted the special election in august…there’s a wave coming that will surprise quite a lot of people. They are not fully understanding just how pissed off people are with them over the abortion issue. That’s why I keep saying democrats are going to sweep these conservatives away next year. 


Yeah, it was worse than the 60% requirement. They also tried to change the signature requirement from 44 counties to all 88 counties which pretty much would have made amendments impossible to even get on the ballot.

It was a good day out here today.


drummerboy said:

Yeah, it was worse than the 60% requirement. They also tried to change the signature requirement from 44 counties to all 88 counties which pretty much would have made amendments impossible to even get on the ballot.

It was a good day out here today.

Definitely a good day, but still scary that 1.3 million people voted in favor of curtailing their voting rights.


yahooyahoo said:

drummerboy said:

Yeah, it was worse than the 60% requirement. They also tried to change the signature requirement from 44 counties to all 88 counties which pretty much would have made amendments impossible to even get on the ballot.

It was a good day out here today.

Definitely a good day, but still scary that 1.3 million people voted in favor of curtailing their voting rights.

as much as people on the right talk about how much they care about "liberty" and "freedom", and suggest that's the natural state for humans, it's not true for a lot of people. The desire to dominate others is a very strong motivator as well, and for some it's more important than than "freedom." It's evident in the support in this country and others for authoritarians.

for 1.3 million people in Ohio, the appeal of dominating women was stronger than their own rights.


Also interesting is that about 3M voted in this election whereas in last year's August election, it was fewer than 700K.


interesting thread about how MAGA tried to turn a minor voting problem in Cuyahoga Falls (my new hometown) into a voting corruption scandal.



“This measure was a blatant attempt to weaken voters’ voices and further erode the freedom of women to make their own health care decisions. Ohioans spoke loud and clear, and tonight democracy won.”

– President Joe Biden


Is it better to be born, into an uncertain future, or murdered in the womb? 

Or, perhaps, better yet, to be allowed to live and flourish in a loving home with parents who will thank God every day for having you in their lives?


mtierney said:

Is it better to be born, into an uncertain future, or murdered in the womb? 

Or, perhaps, better yet, to be allowed to live and flourish in a loving home with parents who will thank God every day for having you in their lives?

I had been thinking of asking you, do you support any exceptions?


mtierney said:

Is it better to be born, into an uncertain future, or murdered in the womb? 

Or, perhaps, better yet, to be allowed to live and flourish in a loving home with parents who will thank God every day for having you in their lives?

Forcibly separating children from parents, prohibiting medical treatment to help vulnerable young people whose gender differs from their sex, and opposing efforts for people to earn enough to support themselves and their families with dignity seem the opposite of wanting people to "be allowed to live and flourish in a loving home," and yet here you are, consistently supporting the party of wanton cruelty.


mtierney said:

Is it better to be born, into an uncertain future, or murdered in the womb? 

Or, perhaps, better yet, to be allowed to live and flourish in a loving home with parents who will thank God every day for having you in their lives?

on the flip side, how cruel is it to use the power of the stare to force women to carry a pregnancy to term?

In general it's terribly cruel. But then there are the specific cases that ramp the cruelty up to 11. Like 12 year old girls, or rape victims, or women carrying fetuses that aren't viable outside the womb. 

It's misogyny taken to the extreme. 


PVW said:

Forcibly separating children from parents, prohibiting medical treatment to help vulnerable young people whose gender differs from their sex, and opposing efforts for people to earn enough to support themselves and their families with dignity seem the opposite of wanting people to "be allowed to live and flourish in a loving home," and yet here you are, consistently supporting the party of wanton cruelty.

The righteousness of giving children the choice of their gender — and teachers are encouraging this — is now under scrutiny by pediatric healthcare givers. Parents are becoming activists, telling local Boards of education that it is their job to give the kids reading, writing and math skills, but not change the sexual orientation of their children.

Irreversible surgical procedures on teens without parental support should be considered crimes! 

My earlier post addressed adoption over abortion. I really don’t understand your response.  What “wanton cruelty”? Who is “forcibly separating children from parents?” Who is preventing people “ to earn enough to support themselves?”

I think all your cut and pasting over the past few days  has affected your  thinking.


mtierney said:

Irreversible surgical procedures on teens without parental support should be considered crimes! 


To which procedures do you refer?  


mtierney said:

PVW said:

Forcibly separating children from parents, prohibiting medical treatment to help vulnerable young people whose gender differs from their sex, and opposing efforts for people to earn enough to support themselves and their families with dignity seem the opposite of wanting people to "be allowed to live and flourish in a loving home," and yet here you are, consistently supporting the party of wanton cruelty.

The righteousness of giving children the choice of their gender — and teachers are encouraging this — is now under scrutiny by pediatric healthcare givers. Parents are becoming activists, telling local Boards of education that it is their job to give the kids reading, writing and math skills, but not change the sexual orientation of their children.

Irreversible surgical procedures on teens without parental support should be considered crimes! 

My earlier post addressed adoption over abortion. I really don’t understand your response.  What “wanton cruelty”? Who is “forcibly separating children from parents?” Who is preventing people “ to earn enough to support themselves?”

I think all your cut and pasting over the past few days  has affected tour thinking.

I'm not sure of the factual basis for the bolded items above.  I favor adoption over abortion, but also recognize this also puts demands on a woman for nine months that could interfere with caring for other children, keeping a job, using up sick days for doctor appointments, etc., while the father can just up and leave or have no financial / job risks.   Personal decisions should be made by individuals, not Big Brother. China enforced a one-child policy for too long and it's now promoting cash benefits for having more than one child, which isn't working because housing costs are so high and women have more equal abilities to support themselves. I think if the US provided adequate support for childcare the number of abortions would drop significantly, but Republicans are only concerned with children until they're one day old.  


For a lot of women, being forced to carry a pregnancy to term goes well beyond what you might call "inconvenient" meaning no health and serious financial impacts and into the territory of a traumatic experience.  I don't think the government needs to tell women what to do with their pregnancies.  I further believe that virtually all women would feel this way if they found themselves with an unplanned pregnancy.


mtierney said:

The righteousness of giving children the choice of their gender — and teachers are encouraging this — is now under scrutiny by pediatric healthcare givers. Parents are becoming activists, telling local Boards of education that it is their job to give the kids reading, writing and math skills, but not change the sexual orientation of their children.

Irreversible surgical procedures on teens without parental support should be considered crimes! 


you are being lied to. This is not happening 


mtierney said:


My earlier post addressed adoption over abortion. I really don’t understand your response.  What “wanton cruelty”? Who is “forcibly separating children from parents?” Who is preventing people “ to earn enough to support themselves?”

There are any number of awful, anti-family, anti-human policies you've supported and continue to support. I picked three for that post:

1. The barbaric ripping of children away from their parents at the border undertaken by the Trump administration

2. The escalating, ugly Republican attacks against trans people, especially against children

3.The long standing antipathy to all worker protections that's long been a hallmark of the Republican party (and, keeping with the theme of Republican hatred of children, these days this now even includes rolling back child labor laws!)

The Republican party is shockingly cruel and anti-family. And yet, so many of its members have the gall to call themselves pro-life.


ml1 said:

you are being lied to. This is not happening 

As if she cares. Lies, truth, makes no difference to her.


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