Non political figure found guilty of crimes

[Crungy]

What's the saying? Boss makes a dollar while I make a dime, that's why I post on company time.

I was going to say it's the new generation of shitting on company time, but honestly everyone is postin' and a-shittin' on company time.

 

[MFB]

The only J.D. I want in power is J.D. Power & Associates!

 

[BlackMastodon]

I for one am unbelievably stoked to have a major surgery in November that will leave my body unable to produce enough natural hormones to be healthy and then to have my necessary life saving healthcare and medications banned by Donald Trump if he gets back in office so I get to die from that or die when trans people get rounded up and imprisoned/ killed. Very fucking cool tbh lol

Cis people be like "damn that sucks but it doesn't affect me so good luck with that".

Come to Canada, we aren't having an election until next year.

 

[BlackMastodon]

It's interesting this thread was all about bears shortly before the JD Vance pick is announced

They were simpler times.

 

[nightsprinter]

The only J.D. I want in power is J.D. Power & Associates!

J.D. Power & Bagger Vance election ticket

Who says no

 

[TedEH]

Come to Canada, we aren't having an election until next year.

I don't know if that's better or worse. That gives us enough time to copy America's homework.

 

[tedtan]

No mention of the non-political figure’s trial for the mishandling of classified documents being dismissed by a judge appointed by said non-political figure over the BS argument that the special prosecutor doesn’t have authority to bring the trial? But lots of talk about bears.

Are we slipping? Or is this another case of Florida Man?

 

[BlackMastodon]

Not surprised in the least.

 

[StevenC]

No mention of the non-political figure’s trial for the mishandling of classified documents being dismissed by a judge appointed by said non-political figure over the BS argument that the special prosecutor doesn’t have authority to bring the trial? But lots of talk about bears.

Are we slipping? Or is this another case of Florida Man?

We used to be a real forum

 

[Caleb]

@Caleb keeps reading this thread but seems to be too scared to reply

I'm certainly not scared it would be time consuming for me to try and reply to all of you, and I'm travelling for work currently.

But I am interested to see what all of the left wing non-Americans think of our politics. I very clearly hold your opinions in high regard.

The problem with continuing to reply with you all is that it's a waste of my time and yours. None of us are going to scratch the surface of changing each others minds. We can't even agree on some basic guiding principles and ideas. I'd rather just read and think you're (mostly) all insane

 

[Big Dumb Bitch]

Hello my name is Caleb and this is my profile picture (I'm not a fascist btw I just hate minorities and support people who harm them and take their rights away)

 

[Ordacleaphobia]

Damn, people got their rights taken away? That's crazy, which ones?

 

[BlackMastodon]

Can I introduce y'all to a cool little thing called the Ignore button?

 

[arasys]

I am afraid non-political figure's VP wont certify the election results in 2028 if Democrats win.

No mention of the non-political figure’s trial for the mishandling of classified documents being dismissed by a judge appointed by said non-political figure over the BS argument that the special prosecutor doesn’t have authority to bring the trial?

It really looks like Erdogan's Turkey. That country has gotten to a point where people are no longer surprised by crazy shit because they've already been shocked way too many times, eventually turning numb.

 

[CleansingCarnage]

Does it? Unless you know exactly what you're doing, a bear can mostly shrug off a gun shot and still maul the shit out of you. Maybe it depends on the kind of bear, but I don't think this is a well thought out bear protection strategy.

Depends on the kind of gun. I know several people who have had to shoot bears and/or mountain lions, and have been to places where it's illegal to go into the wilderness unarmed. People usually carry 10mm, .44 mag, or larger rounds for bear defense, and they absolutely do work.

As a non-american, those don't sound like normal things to do with a gun. Normal things to do with guns would otherwise include: going to a range, protecting livestock from wild animals, hunting, maybe law enforcement but that's a whole topic on its own .... that's pretty much all I can think of honestly.

It's very much not a universal mindset to get ready to leave the house and go "alright, I've got my keys, my wallet, and my deadly weapon". I've known some guys to carry knives around, but they're also the kinds of people to surround themselves with other jackasses who would equally think carrying knives around is a good idea.

I personally spent a significant part of my adult life in situations where not having a weapon was a severe dereliction of duty. I don't usually carry in public because I live in a pretty quiet, low-crime area where walking into a situation where I need to defend myself with a firearm would be like getting struck by lightning. I definitely carry in certain areas and certain situations, though. Not having a knife though... that's just silly.

There's a certain type of mentality that some people have about being armed, where it's not so much out of paranoia (which is not always justified, but sometimes is) but out of a sense of obligation, responsibility or vigilance. That may sound funny to someone who can't relate to it, but it makes sense to me. (Maybe it's my background, but every once in a while I still can't shake the feeling that being unarmed anywhere is some kind of moral failing.) Of course, there are always total asshats who aren't doing anyone any good by being armed, not even themselves, but alas, they're a large part of the reason for being armed oneself.

Violence is, and always will be, inherent to the human experience and to nature itself. While it's certainly true that you can find violence if you're looking for it, so to speak, pretending it isn't a reality doesn't make you any safer.

What's more (and this is the really edgy and controversial take) is that violence confers power. (Insert any relevant quote you like from Clausewitz, Mao et al. here). I don't care what your system of ethics, morality or political ideology are, nothing will ever make that untrue. That is the history of humankind in a nutshell. Power is the ability to constrain the behavior of another into boundaries you set for them, and there are many ways of achieving this, of course. Economics, politics, culture, religion, access to resources and information. But none of those things are assured without at least the implicit threat of violence. Even in 'civilized' society, all of the systems we have in place are measures of deferment for violence, and it's implicitly understood by everyone that if you don't stay within the lines designated by authority, somewhere down that path lies a remedial and punitive violent response. That's why we have police, jails, courts, armies, security services, tax men, etc. The laws of our nations aren't worth the paper they're written on without a mechanism of enforcement.

Every government that has ever existed began as an outlaw venture of raiders, gangsters, thieves or revolutionaries, and the only difference between any of the latter and a legitimate government is the question of success. Once successful, the newly legitimized regime necessarily claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence in order to prevent any new competition from coming up behind them on the same path they forged. As such, adhering to a philosophy of being unarmed is adopting a philosophy of subservience to those who are. There are a lot of people out there with a lot of different philosophies, but at least in an abstract and historical sense, I can't really fault anyone for whom that particular type of philosophy isn't quite good enough. Those who dare and win are above my judgment anyway, because history itself has selected them as victors. (Take them to court if you wish, but that only raises the question of whose boots and barrels will compel them to arrive and abide by the verdict.)

Of course, none of this is any consolation for innocent blood spilled, if such a consolation exists at all. But that just brings us back to the part about obligation and responsibility.

Pretty abstract way to approach the issue and perhaps not the type of thoughts one would want to spend too much time brooding over, but food for thought nonetheless.

 

[nightsprinter]

I think that people of the world need to laugh more.

One great step toward accomplishing this simple step in the right direction is to reinstate the politics section so I can lurk and snicker at people insulting each other.

\m/ POLITICS THREAD 2024 \m/