And I certainly don't love you all. I hate you all with a passion. Especially you. — S

To be frank I've heard this apologetic spiel from you before — Maw

Thoughts? — ssu

And they could be jiving too

What? Apparently that's North American slang. I'm unfamiliar with it. It can mean to taunt or sneer, to talk nonsense, or be in accord, agree. I'm not sure what you meant. — S

Christ on a bike, you're doing it to me now. I think I'll go back to talking to S about Mars Bars. — Baden

Yeah I definitely don't think 180 Proof would approve of the xenophobic propaganda expressed on Fox News, or by Trump or other right-wing groups and organizations. — Maw

Yeah, no one is asking you to change your views overnight, but we've had this conversation for about a year now. — Maw

Tiff's whole rant here is no different from Fox/Trump propaganda. — Maw

What's your real issue with here, Tiff? — S

Legal or illegal? — Benkei

That's barely more than 200 people a day. If the great, and wealthy USA does not have the resources available to process 200 immigrants a day, then perhaps that's where the problem lies. I'm sure the money's there, what's with the attitude? — Metaphysician Undercover

The number of migrant families crossing the southwest border has once again broken records, with unauthorized entries nearly double what they were a year ago, suggesting that the Trump administration’s aggressive policies have not discouraged new migration to the United States.

More than 76,000 migrants crossed the border without authorization in February, an 11-year high and a strong sign that stepped-up prosecutions, new controls on asylum and harsher detention policies have not reversed what remains a powerful lure for thousands of families fleeing violence and poverty.

I'm sure the money's there, what's with the attitude? — Metaphysician Undercover

While I am not wildly enthusiastic about millions of people migrating across our borders for jobs or asylum, there are certainly reasons why this is happening. First, the US has a long history of fucking over Central American and other countries south of the Rio Grande. We've interfered on behalf of United Fruit and other corporations, as well as various banana republic fascists and their friends. So it is not at all surprising that these countries are in bad shape in ever so many ways. — Bitter Crank

Secondly, we are singularly an economic and civil beacon on a hill. Where else are dissatisfied people going to go--Venezuela? — Bitter Crank

Third, this is our Dress Rehearsal for far larger future population movements owing to global warming. The closer one is to the equator, the sooner and the worse it will be for heat, weather, crop failures, diseases, etc. Europe has had its dress rehearsal, as have a bunch of other places. Bangladesh is so pleased with the Rohingya flood, that they are thinking of moving them to a large sand bar in the Bay of Bengal where conditions will be even worse than where they are now. — Bitter Crank

NOBODY LIKES MASS POPULATION MOVEMENT!!! Certainly not the people who are forced by fascism, war, heat, drought, and starvation, and certainly not the relatively poor people a thousand miles up the highway who aren't that much better off. — Bitter Crank

From the article: — praxis

“It creates the perception of a crisis,” Stancliff said of ICE’s highly visible mass drop-offs of families without onward travel arrangements. “It creates the perception that we are overwhelmed by people being released from detention.”

Edit: your problem, then, notwithstanding your discomfiture, is not with desperate people, but with governments that are not doing the job, or even trying to. — tim wood

Even a moment's thought - I mean real thinking - reveals that the current discussion is nothing about solving and everything about posturing, not mattering what evil is accomplished. — tim wood

An administration dedicated to immigration reform would stand a better chance of achieving reform, I would think. — praxis

How do you explain the year on year reduction of illegal entry in the US through the border if the system is broken? — Benkei

I don’t think anyone is opposed to immigration reform. Unfortunate that our divider-in-chief puts all his energy into fulfilling a stupid campaign promise. — praxis

Apparently you are describing a real problem — tim wood

Have a go: what's the problem? How would you solve it? — tim wood

With respect, I am wrong more often than you think. But when I play devil's advocate and all I get is ridicule and argument from authority, I smile quietly and shake my head a little.

Often I wonder if my reply to someone was actually read. Seems every so often they are more scaned than read. Looking for some word steam in them to be quoted back with an argument, often little to do with the idea in the post. It is the equivalent of not listening in a discussion, just thinking about what you are going to say next, and waiting for the other person to stop making noise so you can talk again. It all stems from the same issue in my opinion. It comes from the objective being trying to win an argument instead of participating in an exchange of ideas. — Rank Amateur

Not to mention what happens in each case when they jump on your lap. — Banno

I'll buy one here and think of you guys there while I eat. — Sir2u

So 2050, 31 years from now is the end of times? I'll mark it on my calendar along with all the other end of times predictions that have come and gone. — Hanover

I want "bantery" posts anyway, even if we're "strictly" doing philosophy. I prefer chatting to message board posting partially for this reason. It's the pits when people babble on and on for hundreds of words in a very unfocused. rambling manner, broaching what's essentially a couple handfuls or even tens of different issues in the process . . . and almost every single long post does that. — Terrapin Station

I'm hungry. — Waya

Today is a day off from work, and for that i am grateful. — Waya

(We have a email you can send bits to) — Ben92

The article got my back up very early on: "And now researchers have discovered it also can promote ethnocentrism, potentially fueling xenophobia, prejudice and violence."

I doubt it very, very much. There aren't any "ethnocentrism" hormones or neurotransmitters; no chemical to make people prejudiced. There are neurotransmitters, hormones, and other chemicals that are required to express/experience love, lust, hate, generosity, greediness, and so on. The brain can not play tic-tac-toe or add 2+2 without neurotransmitters being on hand.

If people spontaneously spout ethnocentrism or sexism, or whatever, it is probably an instinctual (genetic) trait. Neurotransmitters don't "cause" thoughts as much as they facilitate the processing of thoughts.

It would not be surprising if a hormone or neurotransmitter played contradictory or peculiar roles. I use eyedrops to control intraocular pressure (glaucoma) which is derived from a female hormone. Beats me. If you give a man testosterone to boost circulating male hormone (in hopes of getting buffed faster) it often backfires because if the testicles notice there is enough or more than enough T in the blood, they cut production. Better to let them make it themselves. — Bitter Crank

I am still alive. :chin: — Waya