Another Day In The USA

[Half-Life]

And you didn't call 911 on the guy? How progressive and tolerant of you.

It appears Half-Life doesn't understand the nature of culturally contextual communications. Just add it to the list, I guess.

So a black man can call a white man a "white boy" but a white man can not call a black man a "black boy."

Thanks for demonstrating my point of how leftists believe only whites can be racists.

 

[laughing dog]

And you didn't call 911 on the guy? How progressive and tolerant of you.

It appears Half-Life doesn't understand the nature of culturally contextual communications. Just add it to the list, I guess.

So a black man can call a white man a "white boy" but a white man can not call a black man a "black boy."

Thanks for demonstrating my point of how leftists believe only whites can be racists.

It does not demonstrate what you think. First, calling a black man "boy" has a long history of the USA as a direct insult. Calling a white man "boy" does not. So, your proof has no basis in reality.

Second, you have offered no evidence that "leftists" believe only whites can be racists.

 

[Jarhyn]

So a black man can call a white man a "white boy" but a white man can not call a black man a "black boy."

Thanks for demonstrating my point of how leftists believe only whites can be racists.

It does not demonstrate what you think. First, calling a black man "boy" has a long history of the USA as a direct insult. Calling a white man "boy" does not. So, your proof has no basis in reality.

Second, you have offered no evidence that "leftists" believe only whites can be racists.

Personally, I think anyone can be a racist. Black people are often racist against black people, too, particularly black law enforcement officers.

But black people can be racists too. Just look up the Israelites in Minneapolis, a black church (synagogue?) Of jewish-based faith that preaches war against white people is coming, and encourages violence because they don't believe white people are properly human.

There are all kinds of racists, of all races, against all races.

But that doesn't change the fact that America still has an overwhelming cultural bias against black people.

 

[Keith&Co.]

I can assure you if

Another episode of the Half-life whataboutif fantasy world... evidence by alternate reality event.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Are both sayings racist? Or just one or the other? Why or why not?

Well, first off, neither term is a 'saying,' Half.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

From the Village Voice.

Ask Andrew W.K.: My Dad Is a Right-Wing Asshole

Hi Andrew,

I’m writing because I just can’t deal with my father anymore. He’s a 65-year-old super right-wing conservative who has basically turned into a total asshole intent on ruining our relationship and our planet with his politics. I’m more or less a liberal democrat with very progressive values and I know that people like my dad are going to destroy us all. I don’t have any good times with him anymore. All we do is argue. When I try to spend time with him without talking politics or discussing any current events, there’s still an underlying tension that makes it really uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong, I love him no matter what, but how do I explain to him that his politics are turning him into a monster, destroying the environment, and pushing away the people who care about him?

Thanks for your help,
Son of A Right-Winger


Dear Son of A Right-Winger,

Go back and read the opening sentences of your letter. Read them again. Then read the rest of your letter. Then read it again. Try to find a single instance where you referred to your dad as a human being, a person, or a man. There isn’t one. You’ve reduced your father — the person who created you — to a set of beliefs and political views and how it relates to you. And you don’t consider your dad a person of his own standing — he’s just “your dad.” You’ve also reduced yourself to a set of opposing views, and reduced your relationship with him to a fight between the two. The humanity has been reduced to nothingness and all that’s left in its place is an argument that can never really be won. And even if one side did win, it probably wouldn’t satisfy the deeper desire to be in a state of inflamed passionate conflict.

The world isn’t being destroyed by democrats or republicans, red or blue, liberal or conservative, religious or atheist — the world is being destroyed by one side believing the other side is destroying the world. The world is being hurt and damaged by one group of people believing they’re truly better people than the others who think differently. The world officially ends when we let our beliefs conquer love. We must not let this happen.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

You must have missed Trump's conference today where he condemned white supremacy and these shootings and said "white supremacy and other dangerous ideologies must be stopped. The shootings must stop. The hatred and racism must stop."

Yeah, that sure sounds like a guy who is applauding the shooter.

All these questions of, "Why won't Trump condemn it?" He does. Multiple times. But leftists ignore it and keep asking why doesn't he condemn it.

Pay attention to what he says on Twitter, not from the teleprompter.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Not all Republicans are far-right extremists. You should know this based on how many times you guys always say, "Not all Muslims are terrorists!"

The Republicans who aren't far right extremists are pushed to the fringes of irrelevancy. You should know this based on the amount of times you quote Shapiro and Knowles.

They are in favor of deportations, not mass murder. It's perfectly fine for other countries to want to keep out immigrants, but for some reason, the leftists say it's racist when the U.S. just tries to do what every other country does.

Hitler started out with driving out the Jews, also.

The parallels between His Flatulence and Hitler are considerable.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

We had something from 1994 through 2004 that, with the exception of Columbine, did a half-way decent job in cutting down on rampage shooters:
Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act - also known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban

I sure don't see how you're seeing that from that data. It's generally accepted it did nothing.

 

[SimpleDon]

We have always had a lot of guns owned by private citizens in the US. We have always had a mentally unstable portion of our population. We have always had white supremacists in the US. We have always discussed gun control in the US.

And yet the phenomenon of all of these mass shootings is a fairly recent development, just over some decades. Does this tell us something valuable about this problem?

Something more nuanced than the bumper sticker slogans that we repeat here every time one of these happens. My areas of training and knowledge fail me. I don't know the answer.

Here is the annual body count of these events over the last forty years or so.

View attachment 22950

The number of mass shooting victims by year since 1982.​

There has to be a reason that everything in the US seems to have gone to shit since 1980. Ideas?

We had something from 1994 through 2004 that, with the exception of Columbine, did a half-way decent job in cutting down on rampage shooters:
Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act - also known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban

I had forgotten that fact. Good catch.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Please give an example of what you consider to be an unfair background check.

You take your gun to a gunsmith for repair. You have a background check when you pick it up. Plenty of other situations exist where you have a background check to take possession of a gun you already own. One check per gun when multiple guns are being transferred.

I believe almost all of the unfair background check issues could be solved by providing a firearms card that shows you have passed the background check, you can show that in lieu of the actual check. Locally, we used to use CCW licenses for this purpose, I don't know if that survived a stupid ballot measure in 2016. (Despite support for checks on private-party transfers being near 90% the measure barely got 50%--and then got thrown in the trash by the attorney general because compliance was impossible the way it was written.)

Wait, you’re claiming that if a person passes a background check ONCE, they will never ever become a criminal and should therefore never have to submit to a background check again, ever?? What, every single criminal commits their crime the day after they turn 18? NO one becomes a background check fail after they buy a gun? Or - are you saying that you’re happy to keep guns with violent criminal people - as long as they had the foresight to buy their gun early on?

That is ridiculous. Insane.

We are talking about situations that give no indication of being disqualifying events. Such things are about running up the cost of guns, not about safety.

Also, in practice those who pass the background checks rarely end up not passing them in the future.

Besides, I have long favored a different approach: The background check gets you a license that lets you buy guns and ammo. That license gets periodically renewed (as driver's licenses are) and can be pulled if you commit a disqualifying offense (as driver's licenses can.) You can either have a background check at the time of purchase, or show your license and walk out the door with your stuff. (The license would also include a test of the relevant law, same as driver's licenses.)

 

[SimpleDon]

The El Paso shooter was perfectly rational and sane. He drove 600 miles to kill Latin American people and didn't post about it until 20 minutes beforehand, knowing that any sooner might get the authorities on his tail. It was premeditated and goal-oriented in a way that doesn't point to anything except ideological commitment to white nationalism, and making noises about mental health (especially while continuing to support the for-profit system that denies it to so many) is a distraction from reality.

Using concepts and phrases directly lifted from presidential speeches, broadcasters on cable news, and millionaire YouTube personalities, this person clearly and succinctly laid out exactly why he did what he did. That means anybody who agrees with those voices can do the same thing, at any time, as long as they have the means. That's fascism arriving in America.

^^^ THIS! All of it!

Guns are all about profits. The NRA isn't an organization dedicated to preserving the rights of its members to own guns. Its only goal is to preserve the rights of the gun manufacturers to sell as many guns as possible. The more the NRA can convince their members that it is an out of control scary work filled with evil people who want to harm you or even worse who want to take your guns away from you the more guns they will buy.

 

[Elixir]

I have long favored a different approach: The background check gets you a license that lets you buy guns and ammo. That license gets periodically renewed (as driver's licenses are) and can be pulled if you commit a disqualifying offense (as driver's licenses can.) You can either have a background check at the time of purchase, or show your license and walk out the door with your stuff. (The license would also include a test of the relevant law, same as driver's licenses.)

Not disagreeing with the basic idea there (damn near anything would be an improvement over the status quo), but still wondering a couple of things... what's a disqualifying offense? Killing more than 2 people at a sitting? Jaywalking? Saying bad things about Republicans?

 

[RVonse]

They are in favor of deportations, not mass murder. It's perfectly fine for other countries to want to keep out immigrants, but for some reason, the leftists say it's racist when the U.S. just tries to do what every other country does.

Hitler started out with driving out the Jews, also.

The parallels between His Flatulence and Hitler are considerable.

You're way off base Loren! Were the Jews non citizens of Germany breaking the law attempting illegal border crossings into Hilter's fatherland? Or has Trump made any statements to the effect he would even prefer legal citizens of a different race (such as his own wife) to move out of the country? I think not. Thus far, Trump has only been following current laws that have been on the books for decades.

The only fair parallels I can see is a lot of false hysteria driven by statements like yours and the drive-by media. And there was a lot of this same kind of false hysteria during Germany as well.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

And there was a lot of this same kind of false hysteria during Germany as well.

The Germans were comparing Hitler to Hair Furor?

 

[SimpleDon]

So long as you don't do them unfairly.

Please give an example of what you consider to be an unfair background check.

You take your gun to a gunsmith for repair. You have a background check when you pick it up. Plenty of other situations exist where you have a background check to take possession of a gun you already own. One check per gun when multiple guns are being transferred.

I believe almost all of the unfair background check issues could be solved by providing a firearms card that shows you have passed the background check, you can show that in lieu of the actual check. Locally, we used to use CCW licenses for this purpose, I don't know if that survived a stupid ballot measure in 2016. (Despite support for checks on private-party transfers being near 90% the measure barely got 50%--and then got thrown in the trash by the attorney general because compliance was impossible the way it was written.)

While you don't want to be inconvenienced, I am sure that most gun owners would put up with the hassle to try to keep guns out of criminals' hands. I was a gun owner and I wouldn't mind a reoccurring check to make sure that there is some effort to try to keep guns from criminals.

 

[Derec]

Keeping it classy as usual.

Hey, she is the one who claimed Cherokee identity. Minority faculty member and all that.

Are you
1)arguing two wrongs make a right, or
2) that you have evidence that Warren has said anything that would incite such a shooter, or
3) just making silly statements?

I am saying we should not blame politicians just because some nutter is a fan. Goes for Dayton, but also El Paso.
Trump being against illegal immigration does not mean he is responsible for the attack.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Only in the panhandle.

 

[Derec]

The Germans were comparing Hitler to Hair Furor?

Some are.

I think ze Germans should sweep before their own door first. Angela Merkel regime has proven a disaster.
Recent example:
Intensivtäter (14) wollte in München Mädchen vergewaltigen
14 year old repeat offender from Iraq sexually assaulted a 13 year old girl in a swimming pool.

14 and 12 year old ethnic Turks formerly living in Bulgaria rape an 18 year old woman.
Vergewaltigung in Mülheim: 14-Jähriger in Haft genommen
I doubt any of them will ever be deported. The 14 year olds will get some time in juvi, but the 12 year olds will not even be prosecuted... .

 

[Derec]

It does not demonstrate what you think. First, calling a black man "boy" has a long history of the USA as a direct insult. Calling a white man "boy" does not.

Calling any adult man is demeaning.

We will never achieve any semblance of real racial equality and harmony if we insist on keeping these racial double standards in perpetuity.