BruceVC

Are you trying to imply that the best way to address the inequality of wealth is to get more US citizens out in the fields picking vegetables? Because that would be ridiculous. You can't improve your economic situation if you can't get a starter job because you can't compete with below minimum wage, tax evading illegals. Used to be lots of good jobs for Americans in the construction industry, not any more. It's not just illegals either, it's all the H2 and H1B visa holders driving down US wages. Build the wall and enforce the law. I also expect him to put US interests first. Fair enough, the Trump wall can be built if the USA pays for it....it just seems to be a complete waste of time and resources

Volo thats an unfair and unreasonable characterization of my motives Why would you think I dislike my own gender? I just dont believe men are victims in society

^Ladies and gents, Poe's law in action. You think? His answer seems reasonable and rationale ?

article date: May 24, 2006 current date: June 13, 2016 post rating: perfect 5/7 I wouldn't expect Bruce to understand elementary statistics or arguments based on them, but failure to count along his fingers is a new low. It's little gems like this that leave little room for doubt that it's a troll account. Sorry I was 1 year off, doesnt change the fact its horribly outdated and inaccurate

Not necessarily This guy lived in the USA for years so he would have had an Internet presence but the question is how long before the attack did he keep using the Internet and who did he communicate with in the days before. o But Gfted1 the suggestion to use Prism more aggressively is viable. I'll be honest I dont understand how you guys who live in the USA arent insisting on it. These should be the ONLY questions people are ruminating on Does the USA face real threats domestically from extremists : YES Is there are a way to improve surveillance and increased monitoring : YES Will this increased monitoring impact me as a US citizen : NO Will this increased monitoring access my data : YES There hasn't been a single case I know of where Prism has been abused, yet people have this irrational fear of something that wont actually use there data to find real threats If there was no threat from ISIS I would say its not needed but Gfted1 can you tell me what the issue people have with Prism?

Nope No this article is utter nonsense, its not just 9 years old at the time no one knew about Prism You can tell the author doesnt know about the real capabilities of Prism because he says the USA "Secretly monitoring the email messages and phone calls " .....no mention of forums and social media Plus the author is from Norway...what does he know about the NSA

I am paying more than that by a good deal. But it isn't about the 'rich' not paying their fair share, it's about the fact you cannot grow any wealth below a certain income level, while those at the top are able to grow their wealth extremely fast. Clearly the solution is more low wage illegal immigration. WOD lets say Trump is elected president What are the things you absolutely expect him to do?

Hate to dispute any point about Gun Control in the USA but if we honest I dont think a terrorist attack by an ISIS affiliate is about the availability of guns? Because this type of person has made his mind up to attack the USA, so the getting of a gun will just be a formality But the other various shootings were about easy gun control, like Sandy Hook? 'Affiliate' that just means some moron who wanted his 15 minuites of fame. Who knows why anyone does anything. Whether his dog spoke to him and told him to kill, or God. Same difference. I hear you, it does seem pointless But ISIS does have a mandate to attack certain Western countries...yet all these attacks do is galvanize support within the USA to destroy ISIS entirely Why provoke the USA .....I'm sorry but this just confirms how shortsighted and stupid these groups are

Well I said nothing about a crusade, I called for teaching tolerance. People freaked out about my rather short statement, but I think I'll go all in anyways. Everyone is quick to jump on the ISIS bandwagon on this, but this guy didn't target Americans in general or make a political statement, he went after a gay nightclub. This is an attack on the LGBT community by a religious nutjob. Just because he is Muslim, instead of Christian, doesn't mean you just ignore the role religion played in this attack. Honestly I'm probably not doing a good job explaining myself, but I think this article does a better job expressing what I'm trying to get across: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/orlando.shooting.why.christians.must.not.stay.quiet/88192.htm I think you making an important point but I just want to be sure I understand it That article is correctly raising attention to violent attacks on the LGBT community? I have huge respect for any religious group that is prepared to support the LGBT community...its not that common to see

Good greif, i hope that you're joking. @ gfted1 okay you win, best comment of the week @ meshugger Can I tell you Gfted1 suggestion is not silly but can be implemented successfully, we just need to consider a few things together..anyone can comment? Once again the Americans are fortunate to have the worlds most effective and comprehensive system to analyze data..Prism It can be tweaked but the real questions should be things like Would this type of lone wolf use the Internet to communicate his plans Would he actually communicate with anyone Prism can do extraordinary things but the data or device has to be on a TCP/IP connection

Shes a big fan of Jameson's Charhouse so the family and extended family are gathering there tonight. Having a 16yo is a study in being ignored. Yes, shes allowed to date and I absolutely meet the boyfriends. State. Gfted1 is it your wife who has the big family that you see over Xmas? Listening to your stories its nice to see a happy family doing normal things that are appreciated I wanted to get married and have kids but these things dont always work out, also I would want to be in love to have a family ..and I'm finding love haaaaaaaaard to find in the flesh pits of JHB

Nice one What are you doing to celebrate, whats it like having a 16 year old? Do you allow her to date and do you meet her boyfriends...sorry for the questions I am just interested

Gromnir before you go I want to ask you something I may be wrong but it has taken you a long time to comment about Trump, I was expecting you to start attacking his policies much earlier. IMO your view on these matters carries a lot of credibility Arent you concerned by his demagoguery? And what about his general vitriol towards Latino's? Can he actually deport 11 million people and build the Trump wall?

Hate to dispute any point about Gun Control in the USA but if we honest I dont think a terrorist attack by an ISIS affiliate is about the availability of guns? Because this type of person has made his mind up to attack the USA, so the getting of a gun will just be a formality But the other various shootings were about easy gun control, like Sandy Hook?

Sexism is a two-way street, Bruce. The notion that men can't feel embarrassment at having their sex tapes leaked is no less stupid and harmful than the overall societal view that ties women's worth to their perceived purity. Yes my friend, of course I know sexism is two way. Thats a physiological fact but the whole Hogan issue for me is about the moral and social decision Hogan made when he had sex with his wifes friend .....I am not surprised he felt embarrassed But I am not really convincing anyone about my point, let me try this another way. Bill Cosby is a sexual predator, how would you feel if he was also filmed and he decided to sue a company like Gawker ? So in other words does the character and actual deeds of a person matter when they get offended and decide to take legal punitive steps? For me it does because I would ask "you who raped over 50 women now are offended by a leaked video "

Guys I am really enjoying this series but most of you seem unreasonably negative? I dont over analyze each episode..maybe thats why, besides for me the real story will be in the next book

Let me explain why you are wrong. The fact that you personally dislike Hogan's actions is immaterial. No matter what you may personally feel about Hogan or his morality, he is entitled to have his privacy respected in the same manner you expect Lawrence's privacy to be respected. The concept is simple Bruce, it's called equal protection under the law and it applies to everyone or it applies to no one. As a champion of equality I would have expected you of all people to understand and embrace that concept. That you don't is surprising. So you're dead wrong on this. As for the folks employed at Gawker.com, no one (except possibly the editor) has lost a job yet. If they do lose their jobs, you can blame Denton and his wanton disregard of privacy. Yes, you are technically correct as usual. I understand the concept of "equal protection under the law " But that has never been my issue, my point is you cannot possibly compare the personal embarrassment that Jennifer must have felt compared to Hogan. So lets not debate the law and rather look at this from a social perspective? I am still surprised you guys refuse to see a difference ?Its as clear as day to me? Oh I don't doubt you understand it. I just don't think you believe in it. If you did, this discussion would have ended some time ago. Social perspective? Sorry but no. Let's stick with the law because the social perspective varies based on who you are talking to. I get that you don't like Hogan or think he is amoral and that's fine, It's immaterial. And frankly I think you're being awful presumptuous trying to imagine what Hogan or Lawrence's feelings are. In any case, it just doesn't matter a bit. Gawker violated his privacy. Now they are paying the price. It's that simple. Well you say I'm being presumptuous but I say my opinion is based on a typical human response to the situation So for example lets say we take 8 people on this forum and they go away together to stay in a log cabin in ....Norway. If you said to me " Bruce how many of these 8 people will be keen to swim at 4 am in the freezing lake next to the cabin " even without asking them I will say " none, who wants to swim in a freezing lake " ? Its logic ...dont think I'm a genius Yes I dont like Hogan, you right. He comes across as morally bankrupt ...I dont see Jennifer like that so that may make me bias but I still think Hogan is an attention seeker who after having sex with his wifes friend and the video being leaked now is " offended " But to be honest I am sure why I seem to be defending Gawker because they also lack morals and have embarrassed people purely for readership points...so maybe I should retract my original view because if this is about morals then Gawker is also lacking?

Well I enjoyed DA2, it was fun but Bioware took noticeable shortcuts ...but that game had the love of my life ...Isabela

Let me explain why you are wrong. The fact that you personally dislike Hogan's actions is immaterial. No matter what you may personally feel about Hogan or his morality, he is entitled to have his privacy respected in the same manner you expect Lawrence's privacy to be respected. The concept is simple Bruce, it's called equal protection under the law and it applies to everyone or it applies to no one. As a champion of equality I would have expected you of all people to understand and embrace that concept. That you don't is surprising. So you're dead wrong on this. As for the folks employed at Gawker.com, no one (except possibly the editor) has lost a job yet. If they do lose their jobs, you can blame Denton and his wanton disregard of privacy. Yes, you are technically correct as usual. I understand the concept of "equal protection under the law " But that has never been my issue, my point is you cannot possibly compare the personal embarrassment that Jennifer must have felt compared to Hogan. So lets not debate the law and rather look at this from a social perspective? I am still surprised you guys refuse to see a difference ?Its as clear as day to me?

Good insights Indira But why do you think this attack is not ISIS related? It is ISIS related in the sense that becomes the tribute for the attack. Would he still have attacked the gay club if ISIS didn't exist? I doubt it as the reality of ISIS and its campaigns have definitely emboldened certain people to act in there name...so for example if this wasnt a real attack to support ISIS he wouldn't have announced it? The USA has had many attacks like this that weren't extremist related but I do consider this logically one ? That is a clever question! I must admit that Daesh propaganda on the world wide web certainly may act some kind of trigger for a loose cannon on the brink of exploding. In that sense, it may be considered as Daesh-realted. Still, even without anything like Daesh, he may have done the vile deed anyway. This question of yours also applies to the Breivik case at Utøya in Norway. If it wasn't for all those extreme right forums, would he have done it then, and even more interestingly, would he have done it on that scale and with those twisted political "stamps of approval"? EDIT: Speaking of triggers; As for the role of violent video games in this kind of crimes, I'd say it's pretty much no role whatsoever. (I do recall the absurd PnP RPG debate and devils and demons in the 1980s. *Shiver*) Still, as with any kind of story/media, scenarios and acts taking place in any kind of media may inspire culprits. But, so what? I mean, then those cave drawing way back in the Stone Age, where some elder probably told a violent story or two, pointing towards, say, an atlatl, are just violence-inducing and harmful as GTA. The linkage is quite bizarre. Our brains are hard-wired to copy others. We are copy cats, all of us. Every poet is a thief. You are a thief! Yes that Brevik example is a good one and I think applicable, you take his actions and what he expects from his jail cell with computer privileges . He almost thinks he is a celebrity and I am of the opinion the various right wing rhetoric influenced his choices. I am not blaming the Internet at all but sometimes access to all this information can be abused

I think quiet the opposite. The more ways to channel your emotions safely the better. ? I was just joking because we know there is no link between video games and people who commit violence

This is a very interesting point but it shouldn't concern us too much because this type of attack cannot really be prevented as its a lone wolf attack. So the reality is in a world where groups like ISIS exist you will always have a small segment of the Muslim population who will for inexplicable reasons align ideologically with ISIS and be prepared to attack the country that gave them a home

There it is again. And then they complain that gamers are so defensive. Games are still not out of the woods and censorship is still on the table. And regardless of whether this was a religious extremism attack Islam needs to get the same treatment as everyone else does on the question on human rights. People are ready to show up with pitchforks to a christian bakery but tremble before islamism. Fighter can you say with absolute certainty that violent FPS games are not at least a contributing factor ? In fact my advice is you should stop playing any violent game as you dont want to commit violent acts....or do you think you know the difference between gaming and reality?

Good insights Indira But why do you think this attack is not ISIS related? It is ISIS related in the sense that becomes the tribute for the attack. Would he still have attacked the gay club if ISIS didn't exist? I doubt it as the reality of ISIS and its campaigns have definitely emboldened certain people to act in there name...so for example if this wasnt a real attack to support ISIS he wouldn't have announced it? The USA has had many attacks like this that weren't extremist related but I do consider this logically one ?

Not sure we are on the same page, I acknowledge the video was embarrassing for Jennifer...thats why she wanted to take it down Oh no need to worry about me passing unreasonable judgement, a video of you having sex with your partner being posted online would be basically embarrassing for anyone? I would think this would be obvious?