BruceVC

Volo we have made this discussion before, white people typically haven't been the victims of historical or systemic abuse in society. I mean look at the history of developments like Colonialism We aren't the victims of racism. There is no reason we should get defensive with a little humor, you must learn to laugh at yourself. I know there is a certain perspective on these forums that white people in the modern age are beset as a race by some nebulous and insidious forces but I don't buy it and I reject the notion that the white race as a whole is under some kind of attack?

I'm against using the words white, CIS, popcorn and clown None of those words are offensive, to any people if at all, and therefore its not relevant to see them in the same way n**r is used. So I don't get your comparison or point ?

Good information and I don't have an agenda. I didn't expect you to reveal your name, I was just wondering if the practice still exists. I have to be honest I would love to know your oglala name, unless of course its confidential for some reason?

Okay Zora lets keep this simple. Russia credit ratings are now what is known as junk http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/26/investing/russia-credit-rating-junk/index.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/20/moodys-downgrades-credit_n_6724766.html Do you think this has any impact on a countries economy? What I mean by that is do you think " junk status" means anything?

Its really irrespective what words use to mean, its what they symbolize now that matters

This is an accurate breakdown of the various political groups and there vested interests in the outcome of the Iranian negotiations

I know your word. Working with South Africans for more than a decade, it's hard not to learn a bit about some aspects of South Africa, even if not visiting the country itself. It is indeed considered more offensive than the 'n' word by an order of magnitude. South Africa not only had white/black racism in the past, asian immigrants and day labourers were considered third rate human beings, despised by both whtie and black people. Not sure what their status is today in modern South Africa. Phillipinos are considered slaves and personal property in many Arab countries. Newly rich Chinese are some of the worst bigots you can run into today. Feel free to add to the list. It is indeed not limited to a particular group of people. Good post and you offer some accurate insights into the whole South African perspective of what is considered offensive So most progressive South Africans try really hard to not use any derogatory words to describe other racial groups. You could argue we are oversensitive but I just believe its better to not say anything that would be considered racist or historically insensitive. And that doesn't mean you cant criticize people when its valid , its just how you say it. The biggest issue I find nowadays is that previously disenfranchised racial groups, like some black South Africans , have no issue with unintended racist or bigoted comments. For example racism and sexism is a big no-no in our culture but many people are fine with homophobia and xenophobia when it comes to other African economic immigrants who come to South Africa looking for economic opportunities There is the mistaken and annoying view from some sectors that racism can only be practiced by whites against blacks. And of course this needs to be corrected which the media attempts to do

You're speaking for all of South Africa now? Well for the majority of reasonable people it is known in South Africa that in public certain words are intolerable Are people still insensitive and use offensive words? Yes but there is no credible debate that tries to make allowances for the usage of historically unacceptable words I imagine that excepting those who live under rocks or are genuinely mentally disabled in some manner, 100% of the reasonable and unreasonable people are aware that some words are not acceptable in many public atmospheres. Profane and other tabooish words in culture X generally are known to all within that culture after a young age. As for there being a credible debate or not. Credibility with such things would be in the eye of the beholder. For you, I imagine that if Piers Morgan had a debate of such things on his show, or Obama said we should have a debate on such things, etc, they would be credible. Good points raised and you are right. If Obama or Piers Morgan really had this debate I would consider it credible but we both know they would never insult the intelligence or sensitivities of people by suggesting that there is a place in society for the n***g word ( or other offensive words ) ...don't you think?

"Up to" 40%; omitting the "up to" significantly changes the meaning because one says "this is the exact figure" and the other says "this is the maximum figure". and again, what were the Context you most obtuse and paranoid o' putin parrots? in the same quote you hypocritically complaint o' irrelevant but missing verbiage, you left out how putin agreed that sanctions were having a significant impact, which, *sigh* you repeated denied. blame all on oil drop alone? HA! the 40% were evidence that even russians were admitting the impact o' western sanctions on the collapse o' the ruble. we might as well add the following to every post responding to you: your inane response, "complete ignores actual problems o' the crisis, but nice try." your attempt to distract with irrelevancies after you make ridiculous assertions is amusing but predictable and tediously repetitive. we wish there were a way to add the chastisement you selective lifted from your quote o' Gromnir and add it to all responses to zor. sadly, the board software doesn't allow such. am not sure if you is doing on purpose or not. very repetitive, is plain to see that you don't know how to read graphs, don't understand basic economics and clearly don't get that predictions o' a russian fail in 6-12 months is hardly more or less compelling that russia is facing a sever economic crisis in 6-18 months. ... "*to whit: use 'everyone agrees with me' argument" nope. we said nobody agrees with you. is a difference. we keep need pointing these simple things out o you. is tiresome and should be unnecessary. oh well. go ahead and keep channeling timmy. HA! Good Fun! Zora you make a lot of sense on certain topics but any suggestion that sanctions aren't hurting the Russian economy on certain levels just makes you sound silly and like an intransigent fanatic. You should be able to recognize certain political and economic realities without feeling the need to dispute them ?

You're speaking for all of South Africa now? Well for the majority of reasonable people it is known in South Africa that in public certain words are intolerable Are people still insensitive and use offensive words? Yes but there is no credible debate that tries to make allowances for the usage of historically unacceptable words

I don't see the importance of this particular difference. People think that Iran is the same ethnic group as other countries in the Middle East, they aren't. They are Persians and do see themselves historically different and they have there own political agenda which is understandable So for example if you look at the original 9/11 hijackers not one of them was Iranian, this should tell us that when it comes to Iran we can't see them as following the same ideology as ISIS or AQ. That's why it is significant

Then they should really raise some hell to get rappers to stop saying it and ganstas, maybe they could get Al Sharpton on board. But if they're the kind that just gets offended when its non-black that say then that **** is racist I hear what you are saying and it may seem strange because the argument " if a word is so offensive it should never be used by any racial group " surly applies ? In South Africa we have a very offensive word to describe black people, I'm sure most of you are familiar with it. It starts with a k. Anyway you will lose your job in the public or private sector if you use this word, you wont get prosecuted but its really considered socially unacceptable to use this word in any public forum Black people normally don't use this word to describe each other but there have been cases of the odd black politician using this word and having to apologize afterwards But the point is in South Africa we accept that words matter and can be very hurtful

I wish you would stop saying that, these types of posts imply that the current Saudi government is actively funding terrorism. Wealthy Saudis support and fund different types of extremism but that's not the same thing as the Saudi government supporting them Saudi Arabia has been an ally to the West in fighting Islamic extremism, they have arrested hundreds of extremists within there own country and given the West information about extremist plots. And yes its not because Saudi Arabia loves the West its about self-preservation as the House of Saud is also a target of the ideological objectives of AQ and ISIS So in summary Saudi Arabia is a friend to the West in the War on Terror even though it may not seem like it is at times

Also true, Cant has raised a more philosophical point around the meaning of words and provided us with irrefutable proof that of course words matter..or how would be able to communicate ?

No you guys are horribly misinformed if you really consider Iran the same as ISIS or Al-Qaeda, there are many differences that include Firstly Iranians aren't even Arabs, they are Persians Iran is a sovereign and internationally recognized country, it has its own boarders and political aspirations. ISIS and AQ have none of these Iran like every country has moderates and hardliners in its government. There are people in Iran that want peaceful Uranium enrichment and an end to sanctions ISIS and AQ have no reasonable political objectives that any government will agree to I'm not saying that Iran is is peaceful and benign country, there history and current activities have clearly demonstrated this is not the case But they really should not be considered a country of irreconcilable Islamic extremists because that view would be unhelpful to important peace negotiations The reality is you can negotiate with Iran and find compromise, you cannot negotiate with the likes of ISIS or AQ

Nah, words matter even though it may seem like people contradict themselves when a certain racial group uses a word that other racial groups can't use Words symbolize things that can represent something very historically offensive, so don't ever think words don't matter

Yeah this whole incident is appalling and just needs to be unequivocally condemned But two students have been expelled and no one is defending what happened so we are seeing the correct response from society ?

Dreamfall its a game that is being released in Chapters, it was funded through KS

Oh my hat but season 3 of Vikings is AMAZING !!! They have somehow managed to improve on the previous seasons and have introduced an irrefutable supernatural link

Nice post, well I'm confidant if there is anyone who has the patience and fortitude to help your wife complete her fitness program is it you, so keep up the good work because it obviously wont always be easy

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/07/europe/russia-nemtsov-murder-arrest/index.html Yeah so it appears to be Chechen's who are responsible. I think there is some doubt about whether this is true. Ramzan Kadyrov, the Russian appointed head of the Chechnya republic, is also questioning these arrests as he is saying the people arrested were all " proud Russian supporters " So we need to see how this unfolds

This was a significant day in South Africa, on that popular radio talk show I listen to there were several sessions dedicated to prominent women who have contributed towards our society. This was also used as an opportunity to discuss gender equality and how we see as South Africans view it. The basic premise being we have done well in our efforts but work still needs to be done

What a joke... Mmmm,.....this is a bit of a disappointment. I wont lie I am partial to the attire of booth babes. And I imagine that will now change as people will complain about this or that

I like your's Bruce you are very entertaining, self aware, and intelligent. But anyway there should be a ton of people around here soon. Be interesting to see how that changes things. Thanks Valmy, thats a nice thing to say

Kuchera's already got the same kind of safe place in Polygon, no ? Interesting, so Intel started advertising again, I wonder why they felt the need to be surreptitious about it I wonder what would happen if we went back in time to that original article and said to Leigh " don't use the word gamers as it will be misunderstood " how different things will be ?