JadedWolf

I guess that proves bunnies are smarter than horses.

I just noticed I wrote "then" when I meant "than". I'm going to grammar hell.

Okay, let me play devil's advocate here. I will admit that I may not see all the nuances in this cartoon, so perhaps for someone with a more South African perspective there is more offensive stuff in this cartoon then I can see. But would you say this cartoon is worse than say, the Danish cartoon that caused a lot of outrage among muslims? The one that very few people in the west thought needed an apology, and that was defended on the grounds that even if we didn't agree with the message itself, most of us felt that the cartoon maker was free to publish in the name of free speech? I don't see the clowns cartoon to be any more or less offensive. Stereotypes and exaggerations are exactly what these kinds of cartoons thrive on. If a cartoonist wants to draw a Turk they give him a fez and a mustache, if they want to draw a Dutch girl she's going to wear wooden shoes, a silly hat and possibly smoke a joint. And you can certainly imagine that these kinds of stereotypical images will cause offense to some people. So the question is where to draw the line. If we accept that these kinds of cartoon will always cause offense, do we start to make exceptions? Do we say, well, we can make fun of everyone - but not of these guys, that would be too much? And personally, I am wondering how much of ANC's rage is actually directed at the perceived racism, and how much about the fact that they don't like what the cartoon actually said about what they were doing.

You hear that a lot. It almost sounds like it would be logical. "Well, they call themselves socialists, so they must be, innit?" Hitler was decidedly anti-Marxist and had no interest in getting the means of production in the hands of the proletariat. The reason his party was called the National-Socialist party was that there were many Germans who were supporters of the S.D.P., the social democrat party. Hitler figured they would have more chance of getting these German votes if they called themselves socialist, with the little twist of putting "national" in front of it. And certainly, the nazi regime did have some overlap with socialism economically, but at the heart it was a completely different ideology. It was more related to fascism, with a focus on racial theory and minority exclusion, and it had very little to do with social equality and worker's rights.

So uhm... Don't read their tweets?

Only solution is to dissolve and only keep the European bleeding beating heart: the Benelux. If we're talking fantasy dissolutions, I could see a slimmed down union of Germany, Benelux, Scandinavia and Finland working. I guess Austria could come in too, if they promise to behave. It won't happen anytime soon though, the sheer amount of money involved in dissolving the E.U. at this point is enough incentive for politicians to keep the whole thing together even when they may not support the European project in their hearts.

The European Parliamentary elections to me represent everything that's wrong with Europe - you get to vote for a very weak parliament (the European Commission is much more important, but we don't get to vote directly for it) with your only choice being local parties (it's a European election, why are there no European parties? it makes no sense). In the Netherlands, we have 9 different parties all vying for the 26 seats we get to fill. Then when these parties get a few seats, they disappear in the faceless European blocks which I am sure most Europeans couldn't even name. At the very least, the parties of these blocks could try to have a common political program for voters to browse before the election, so that they would actually know what they are voting for in reality. How can you expect anyone to be enthusiastic about this parliament? As for the rise of the anti-Europe parties and the reasons behind it. Sure there is a lot of misinformation going about when it comes to Europe coming from anti-Europe parties, but the real problem is the complete inability of the political establishment to account for their actions. It's up to them to be more transparent and to find ways to involve people in Europe so that they feel that Europe is not just a project for multinationals and the elite but for everyone in Europe. Sadly, looking at the political parties in my own countries, local parties dare not even speak out too openly in favour of Europe fearing a backlash from the electorate, so they prefer to speak critically of Europe while behind the scenes they sign at the dotted line every single time. I'm actually very much in favour of European cooperation but when I imagine a union of cooperating European states this certainly isn't what I would have in mind.

"Kate is crushed when her boyfriend inexplicably leaves her -- and even more shocked when he sends her a diary kept by his enormous freshwater creatures." I'd be shocked too, and very amused. "Celebrity baker Buddy Valastro pushes contestants' baking skills to the limit for a $50,000 cash prize and a chance to work at harboring a serial killer." Sign me up! http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/netflix-summary-bug-accidentally-creates-hilarious-new-films-1449183

Went to a "jazz festival" in Amersfoort with my brother, and enjoyed some La Chouffe's, a "sneeuwwitje" (beer with 7-up) on advice of my brother (didn't do much for me) and a weizenbier while listening to number of live bands playing anything from gypsy music to didgeridoo and very little actual jazz. The sun was shining, music was playing and we sitting at a table outside having a few beers and having fun. To anyone ever coming this way: don't spend so much time with the tourist zombies in Amsterdam. Lots of places outside of Amsterdam have beautiful city centres, like Amersfoort, which are a lot cleaner and less crowded. This message was brought to you by the Dutch tourist board.

I guess by now this is old hat, but I had a good laugh when I saw this: A prominent Russian blogger, Rustem Adagamov, tweeted a picture of priests wearing full ceremonial robes with the message: “The ROC categorically opposes bearded men in dresses!”

That is how it is in the majority of Europe as far as i know. I'm from Europe, and i don't know many countries here that take legal action against someone because he is a bigot. Until we vote Bruce for EU president of cource. Except we don't get to vote on presidents, they're forced upon us. Luckily they're really not of any consequence.

Really? You should. I don't know about how old Bruce is, but it could very well be he's young enough not to have had any part in Apartheid, so if that's so I wouldn't hold him responsible for something he has had nothing to do with. Just like I wouldn't hold young Germans responsible for what happened during the second world war.

I actually like Bruce. From what I can see from his posts I think he has his heart in the right place. That's exactly why I am so puzzled that he seems to have an outlook that I find very difficult to understand.

Well, speaking for myself as a man, when I am in a game (or on a forum) and I see some guy making a stupid comment to a woman I put this jerk on my ignore list. I don't try to start a discussion with him on why I think he should change his ways because if I did he would probably spam me with expletives. I also really don't see how I should be held responsible for jerks just because - and excuse me for putting it crudely- I happen to have a sausage between my legs and they do too. Not all guys do, so that's not a terribly sound argument. That said, why not? A mild inconvenience (oh no, you have to ignore him when you would do that anyway?) in exchange for making it clear to that individual that his behaviour is not condoned by fellow men? (I think perhaps you underestimate the cognitive effect that social shame can often have, particularly as regards that particular sort of male ego.) In real life, mayhaps. On the internet? Nope - they can be totally anonymous and piss people off, and they get off on that. And the more people show that they dislike it, they more they get off on it. So that's why in the end ignoring them hurts them more.

Well, speaking for myself as a man, when I am in a game (or on a forum) and I see some guy making a stupid comment to a woman I put this jerk on my ignore list. I don't try to start a discussion with him on why I think he should change his ways because if I did he would probably spam me with expletives. I also really don't see how I should be held responsible for jerks just because - and excuse me for putting it crudely- I happen to have a sausage between my legs and they do too.

You agree with SusurrusParadox saying to Nonek, who in my mind has not shown any sexist behaviour here at all: "You need to change your behaviour, and that of fellow men, so that people don't feel the need to have a separate safe space."? What is implied here is that Nonek is responsible for the jerkish behaviour of other men, even though he has done nothing of the sort. And he should change that, presumably by being very ashamed of himself for being male and agreeing with whatever SusurrusParadox thinks is the best solution. Sorry, but I don't subscribe to this, and neither should you. I don't think Nonek is a sexist at all, in fact he has only been polite to the various ladies on these forums when I've read his comments. Paradox doesn't know Nonek so his comment to me was more of a general statement around how to address the issue. But Paradox is also an outsider so I can understand how if he didn't know Nonek he would have thought Nonek was being dismissive, hence his seemingly acerbic statement. I don't think we should look to crucifying Paradox, if you leave out the whole cavemen comments he makes some good points? Which is exactly why I responded as I did, giving him the advice not to alienate those who might otherwise be his allies, which resulted in one of your comrades poking fun at me with a hilarious meme.

You agree with SusurrusParadox saying to Nonek, who in my mind has not shown any sexist behaviour here at all: "You need to change your behaviour, and that of fellow men, so that people don't feel the need to have a separate safe space."? What is implied here is that Nonek is responsible for the jerkish behaviour of other men, even though he has done nothing of the sort. And he should change that, presumably by being very ashamed of himself for being male and agreeing with whatever SusurrusParadox thinks is the best solution. Sorry, but I don't subscribe to this, and neither should you.

So, with this kind of tone, do you really believe that you're going to achieve anything? Because quite honestly, I think you'll achieve exactly the opposite. By generalizing and finger pointing, you turn off rational people who might otherwise actually listen to what you have to say. Just a word of advice. No you won't get through to someone like Bester by being nice. Either he thinks its funny to troll and be utterly dismissive of serious issues of social justice or he is being serious. Either way I don't care what he thinks. And SusurrusParadox is right, its exactly attitudes like Besters that lady gamers want there own space and frankly can you blame them He was talking to Nonek, he wasn't talking to Bester. What I object to is the implication that every single man is responsible for all the misdeeds done by some men who are jerks. By the way, these same jerks who annoy women in games are probably jerks to pretty much everyone. While I don't object to separate spaces for women who want them, I think the real problem is taking care of this jerkish behaviour in general. For me the problem is lack of moderation and lack of punishment of jerkish behavior. So rather than targeting all men just because of the fact that some men are jerks why not try to get game makers to enforce moderation to get rid of jerkish behaviour. To be honest no one has ever said all men are sexist jerks, this is what people like Volo say as a deflection mechanism instead of having to acknowledge there is a problem that needs to be discussed and addressed. Its a Strawman argument. Most men treat women very well and respect them but we do have a real problem with sexism and misogyny from some quarters "You need to change your behaviour, and that of fellow men, so that people don't feel the need to have a separate safe space."

So, with this kind of tone, do you really believe that you're going to achieve anything? Because quite honestly, I think you'll achieve exactly the opposite. By generalizing and finger pointing, you turn off rational people who might otherwise actually listen to what you have to say. Just a word of advice. No you won't get through to someone like Bester by being nice. Either he thinks its funny to troll and be utterly dismissive of serious issues of social justice or he is being serious. Either way I don't care what he thinks. And SusurrusParadox is right, its exactly attitudes like Besters that lady gamers want there own space and frankly can you blame them He was talking to Nonek, he wasn't talking to Bester. What I object to is the implication that every single man is responsible for all the misdeeds done by some men who are jerks. By the way, these same jerks who annoy women in games are probably jerks to pretty much everyone. While I don't object to separate spaces for women who want them, I think the real problem is taking care of this jerkish behaviour in general. For me the problem is lack of moderation and lack of punishment of jerkish behavior. So rather than targeting all men just because of the fact that some men are jerks why not try to get game makers to enforce moderation to get rid of jerkish behaviour.

So, with this kind of tone, do you really believe that you're going to achieve anything? Because quite honestly, I think you'll achieve exactly the opposite. By generalizing and finger pointing, you turn off rational people who might otherwise actually listen to what you have to say. Just a word of advice.