The all things Political Topic - For who in this dark, dream-haunted Land dares Resist the righteous flame of Wrath And Doom themselves to despair and death?

[Amentep]

Old thread:

Last few posts:

  

29 minutes ago, Malcador said:

I don't see making sure someone understands how to operate, maintain a firearm and things like being aware of the laws around its use as arbitrary.  Wouldn't help in this case as you can't train out stupid, but would help ensure you have quality gun owners.  Based off the ones I see on Youtube there's a fair amount of chaff to cut

 

 

16 minutes ago, Guard Dog said:

You guys know I’ve pointed this out before but if people were serious about ending gun ownership in America at least on the scale that it currently exists it would be very easy to do. In fact you could probably do it within three generations. Do two things:

1) Stop trying to ban it. It puts peoples backs up and makes everything in the NRA propaganda true. Every time the word gun control comes up the NRA gets 100 new members. If you want to put out that fire take away the fuel. Tell the gun control tyrants to STFU. 
 

2) Stop glorifying firearms. They are in the video games. They’re in the movies. Walk into any Walmart and they’ll be at least 100 different toy guns on the shelf. Change the culture. That will dampen the appeal.
 

People in rural areas are ALWAYS going to have firearms. They are a part of life. The average family in the suburbs does not have to protect livestock from predatory animals. People will still want a firearm for self defense. Mainly in the home. But the numbers will begin to diminish and the number of firearms people like that purchase will begin to go down.

The third amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits the government from quartering soldiers in People’s homes. This has not happened since the revolutionary war. The third amendment solves a problem no one has. The second amendment can go the same way of the third if people begin to lose interest in firearms. That’s how you get rid of guns in the United States. or at the very least seriously reduce the numbers of people who have them.

 

14 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Drivers licenses could honestly use a similar mechanism. It's just so tough to meaningfully implement it in a way that people will ever respond to in a responsible/positive manner (especially in the growing idiotocracy that is the U.S.) as opposed to just seeing it as a series of hoops they have to pass so they can continue being idiots every other day but the one they're being trained not to. It's easy enough to train a monkey...but in this case, you're trusting that the monkey will remain consistent to their training without any kind of supervision for years at a time and hoping that they won't deliberately decide to get themselves bit and go completely rabid in the interim.

 

7 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

If my years of college have taught me anything, it's that the dumbest mother****ers in the world could pass a test and retain no knowledge at all.

The big problem with gun control in the US is who would enforce it. Given the last year plus some, I trust them less than I trust the Nigerian prince who would email my parents with offers of millions in cash back when I was a young'un.

 

[Bartimaeus]

Speaking of gun control...

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/06/02/deputy-involved-shooting-reported-in-volusia-county/

1. 14 year-old girl and 12 year-old boy that are foster kids run away from home for a few hours.
2. Boy is diabetic and will die without regular insulin.
3. Decide to break into someone else's home and find AK-47, shotgun, and handgun and a pile of ammunition just sitting out.
4. They go HAM and open fire against police while verbally threatening to kill them.
5. Backup is called, a shootout ensues and the older girl is shot twice, including once in the chest, survives - miraculously, no-one killed during any of the action.
6. Apparently, police have been called for matters relating to the specific foster home ("Florida United Methodist Children’s Home") 289 times over the past year.

Somewhat predictably, it all happened in Florida.

Edited June 2, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Malcador]

See, this what happens when people play GTA.  Jack Thompson tried to save us.

[Guard Dog]

9 minutes ago, Malcador said:

See, this what happens when people play GTA.  Jack Thompson tried to save us.

We didn’t get this way playing Mrs Pac-Man and Qbert!

[Gromnir]

gd suggests talking 'bout bans is a problem. okie dokie. 

the no compromise folks ignore history and indulge in a level o' hypocrisy regarding firearms they is unwilling to admit or surrender.

am not gonna do the full history lesson again. there is a belief from the no compromise folks that the Constitution has been an absolute bar on government enforcement o' gun limits and prohibitions back to 1787 and perhaps even the bible. (not kidding on this. is a common refrain from the no compromise folks to quote bible verse in support o' the second amendment.) is fiction. much o' US history saw gun prohibitions as commonplace and many o' those prohibitions would be considered draconian by any gadsden flag waving honk o' 2021. any sorta limit on state and local gun prohibitions weren't a thing until post ww1 and very well may be direct linked to the nativism o' that time. regardless, history is not on the side o' the no compromise folks. the fiction o' the steady and unholy assault on gun rights by libs which has only been prevented by patriots and true americans is myth and fantasy. period. but again, have repeated the history a dozen or more times and some folks continue to ignore or reimagine.

furthermore, the no compromise folks is almost never the absolute libertarians they claim to be. these folks want the government protection from their neighbors who is engaging in dangerous activities. doug is storing toxic chemicals on land adjacent to bob. how long before bob is demanding the government step in and end such nefarious activity? safe stored toxic chemicals is no danger to bob. is only unreasonable people who is not safe with their potential lethal chemicals who is a danger to bob, yes? is unfair to punish every person 'cause o' the irresponsibility o' a few folks, yes? no. is a whole list o' behaviors doug could engage which bob would protest. bob wanting to be free from the dangers o' doug is how we get laws; enforced courtesy and all that. democracy at work. if there is enough people who agree with bob, then we get a new law. nevertheless, for some inexplicable reason, the no compromise bobs feel different 'bout firearms. you can't make any law 'bout firearms 'cause then there will be another and another and another. bob isn't worried that laws against toxic waste dumping will lead to the eventual prohibitions 'gainst his ownership o' household bleach, but firearms is different, 'cause the libs or history or the bible or...

pretend as if there is no solution ignores the obvious: take handguns out of the equation. is a common sense approach and like it or not the militia stuff in the Constitution were a revision added to an earlier draft which woulda' been a more expansive bar on government limits. this observation may upset a few o' the liberals, but the weapons most clear protected by the second amendment is stuff such as the ar-15 and hunting rifles, 'cause those is exact the kinda weapons one would expect members o' a militia to own and maintain. yeah, every time there is a mass shooting people howl and wail 'bout "assault rifles." *snort* the thing is, and we has posted these statistics as well so many times am no longer having the patience to do so, rifles and shot guns (even with the mass shooting events) represent a small fraction o' deaths caused by firearms each year.  rifles and shotguns account for fewer american deaths per year than blunt force weapons such as baseball bats and human weapons like fists and feet. 

the no compromise folks have little defense 'gainst history, hypocrisy and handguns.

HA! Good Fun!

 

 

[Guard Dog]

As I told you in the past. I’d make that deal. No handguns (with a reasonable carve out for antiques and muzzleloader) and protection for shotguns and rifles with the current federal restrictions on caliber and action in place. 
 

And let that be the end of it

[ComradeYellow]

1 hour ago, Malcador said:

See, this what happens when people play GTA.  Jack Thompson tried to save us.

There may be some truth to this, I do remember being a bored teenager when GTA III came out (I had played the prior two but this was something else!) and thinking about the quick mindless fun it would be to steal a car and go on a rampage.

There's a darker side to human nature that can be triggered, and it's especially easy in a society that worships blatant corporatism, especially in those days where the $$$ dogma was unquestionable.

[Guard Dog]

9 minutes ago, ComradeYellow said:

There may be some truth to this, I do remember being a bored teenager when GTA III came out (I had played the prior two but this was something else!) and thinking about the quick mindless fun it would be to steal a car and go on a rampage.

There's a darker side to human nature that can be triggered, and it's especially easy in a society that worships blatant corporatism, especially in those days where the $$$ dogma was unquestionable.

Nobody ever stole a car after playing Dig Dug or Asteroids!

[Gromnir]

1 hour ago, Guard Dog said:

 

And let that be the end of it

sure. just as soon as you give up the following:

your agreement handgun prohibitions make sense while simultaneous claim any firearm prohibition is a bridge too far creates an impasse.

and again, there weren't a firearms ideology until recent. history tells us americans took a common sense approach to firearms. people noticed that gun violence happened more often in towns and so those americans passed laws restricting gun possession in towns. gd has it bass ackwards. were the gun rights folks who developed a kinda faith around gun ownership which made reasonable debate improbable... and they got to no compromise pre dig dug. no compromise, as the label suggests, is making difficult to find some kinda workable solution with the goal o' less people getting shot for stoopid reasons. 

HA! Good Fun!

 

[Zoraptor]

Looks like Netanyahu is gone as Israeli PM. Pretty big achievement being so polarising that near diametric opposites Naftali Bennet and Joint List join forces just to get you removed- and almost no tears being shed internationally since Bibi was near universally loathed by everyone. Next step for him, prison, with any luck.

Then again, 8 parties and with the Joint List outside the formal coalition doesn't exactly scream stable government. You can pretty much guarantee there will be attempts to split one or more off starting 5 minutes before the deal was formalised.

[Bartimaeus]

1 hour ago, Zoraptor said:

Looks like Netanyahu is gone as Israeli PM. Pretty big achievement being so polarising that near diametric opposites Naftali Bennet and Joint List join forces just to get you removed- and almost no tears being shed internationally since Bibi was near universally loathed by everyone. Next step for him, prison, with any luck.

Then again, 8 parties and with the Joint List outside the formal coalition doesn't exactly scream stable government. You can pretty much guarantee there will be attempts to split one or more off starting 5 minutes before the deal was formalised.

Legitimately thought it'd never happen.

...Of course, what happens next is even more important than simply ousting him.

Edited June 2, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Gorth]

4 hours ago, Zoraptor said:

Looks like Netanyahu is gone as Israeli PM. Pretty big achievement being so polarising that near diametric opposites Naftali Bennet and Joint List join forces just to get you removed- and almost no tears being shed internationally since Bibi was near universally loathed by everyone. Next step for him, prison, with any luck.

Then again, 8 parties and with the Joint List outside the formal coalition doesn't exactly scream stable government. You can pretty much guarantee there will be attempts to split one or more off starting 5 minutes before the deal was formalised.

As long as he goes to jail and stays there for good, they can argue, split, breakup, devolve into parliamentary chaos for all I care. The world will be just a little bit better for it.

[Zoraptor]

Apparently all the putative government's MKs are getting heightened security due to death threats. It's a tiny theoretical majority so an assassination is being treated as a real possibility.

[HoonDing]

I'm sure the next PM won't be a killer of women and children.

[ComradeYellow]

1 hour ago, HoonDing said:

I'm sure the next PM won't be a killer of women and children.

Yeah honestly we should not expect much from a Gen X software entrepreneur with a party called "New Right" or something.

More of the same, but less polarizing, is the trend.

[BruceVC]

18 hours ago, Zoraptor said:

Looks like Netanyahu is gone as Israeli PM. Pretty big achievement being so polarising that near diametric opposites Naftali Bennet and Joint List join forces just to get you removed- and almost no tears being shed internationally since Bibi was near universally loathed by everyone. Next step for him, prison, with any luck.

Then again, 8 parties and with the Joint List outside the formal coalition doesn't exactly scream stable government. You can pretty much guarantee there will be attempts to split one or more off starting 5 minutes before the deal was formalised.

Well they have 7 days or so to confirm the new political alliance that should unseat Netanyahu but what a strange alliance it is. Bennet has demonstrated more right wing and extremist comments that Netanyahu ever did but yes they have one thing in common....they want him gone 

[ComradeYellow]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57327177

Xi Jinping calls for more 'loveable' image for China in bid to make friends

Xi Jinping told senior Communist Party officials it was important to present an image of a "credible, loveable and respectable China", according to a report by state-run news agency Xinhua.

"It is necessary to make friends, unite and win over the majority, and constantly expand the circle of friends [when it comes to] international public opinion," he was quoted by Xinhua as saying. He said the country should be "open and confident, but also modest and humble" in its communication with the world. Mr Xi also said the party's propaganda organisations must make it clear that Beijing wanted "nothing but the Chinese people's happiness and good fortune".

Edited June 4, 2021 by ComradeYellow

[BruceVC]

4 hours ago, ComradeYellow said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57327177

 

Its good news that the CCP wants to changes the current trajectory of its  image, it is its own worse enemy as mentioned in the article around its belligerent and controversial actions in several examples

They need to work primarily on the quote below 

He said the country should be "open and confident, but also modest and humble" in its communication with the world.

 Im not sure the CCP understands what that really means, the words are real but its the implementation that concerns me 

[Darkpriest]

Interesting article as it seems to reinforce the perception that heavily tax burdened states are losing people and tax base, which will only accelerate their debt spiral and a fall into a disfunctional state in disrepair. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/new-irs-data-reveals-which-states-won-and-lost-battle-people-their-wealth

Also, why artificially pushing for higher labor cost (i.e. gov driven) in the times of global and remote workforce are not really good as a policy and has a potential for backfiring

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/yellen-big-push-offshore-us-labor

 

 

 

[ComradeYellow]

15 minutes ago, Darkpriest said:

Also, why artificially pushing for higher labor cost (i.e. gov driven) in the times of global and remote workforce are not really good as a policy and has a potential for backfiring

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/yellen-big-push-offshore-us-labor

I still think the best solution is not to try to curb the private sector but to create a more robust public sector where the government controls key strategic resources and employees any citizen who wants a job.

I mean we've already tried the whole "Bleed the rich and raise the wages" routine which led to stagflation which led to harsh right wing pushback manifested in the ilk of Reagan and Thatcher.  Maybe we should try to redirect that energy into 21st century solutions.

[Gromnir]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-police-make-arrests-on-tiananmen-square-massacre-anniversary-11622793577

[Gromnir]

fox news and the far right's war on wokeness suffered a defeat, and on memorial day no less. 

Veteran's mic cut during speech as he speaks about Black community's role in history of Memorial Day

 

HA! Good Fun!

[ComradeYellow]

Yeah anyone who's been to an American Legion knows that they're a pack of old white drunken racists.

What's pathetic here is that the American "Left" (lol) didn't seem to grasp the full extent of the rotten underbelly until it took a Donald Trump election victory,  and even then they decided to blame it on Russia and workers (two very easy, convenient and vulnerable targets) rather than accept the fact that a good healthy portion of the population are stupid far right bigots.

[Skarpen]

13 hours ago, ComradeYellow said:

I still think the best solution is not to try to curb the private sector but to create a more robust public sector where the government controls key strategic resources and employees any citizen who wants a job.

I mean we've already tried the whole "Bleed the rich and raise the wages" routine which led to stagflation which led to harsh right wing pushback manifested in the ilk of Reagan and Thatcher.  Maybe we should try to redirect that energy into 21st century solutions.

Your solution was tested extensively throughout 20th century around 100 million people paid the ultimate price. I would rather repeat Thatcher and Reagan. 

[ComradeYellow]

2 minutes ago, Skarpen said:

Your solution was tested extensively throughout 20th century around 100 million people paid the ultimate price. I would rather repeat Thatcher and Reagan. 

...Way to strawman, if you read my post you will see that I was actually defending the idea of leaving the private sector alone and simply adding some government jobs into the mix, and creating a more balanced economy.

I don't think anyone with a properly screwed on head wants pure absolute socialism in the 21st century, where consumer goods flood the market en masse.  An employment safety net by the government is sufficient.