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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Euodiachloris Since: Oct, 2010
#47601: Jan 19th 2013 at 3:46:49 PM

You didn't know that Nelson Mandela was a terrorist? Really? <seriously surprised>

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#47602: Jan 19th 2013 at 3:48:18 PM

Maybe we learned about that and I forgot. I learned about him 3 years ago so I might have forgotten although that sort of thing is something I would expect myself to remember. There might have been some vague references to him fighting against the government but most of us probably assumed he behaved more like MLK.

edited 19th Jan '13 3:49:08 PM by Kostya

Baff Since: Jul, 2011
#47603: Jan 19th 2013 at 3:48:42 PM

[up]

Some would argue against it:

Texas Textbooks' National Influence Is a Myth

Nontheless after reading this article I was left with the impresion of a Suspiciously Specific Denial.

The article its ilustrative of why Texas will in the future not have so much influence, theoretically, and because of this, the author argues, the whole idea of the influence of the Texas Board of education in the present and the past of textbook making is a myth.

edited 19th Jan '13 3:50:15 PM by Baff

I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Bluesqueak Since: Jan, 2010
#47605: Jan 19th 2013 at 3:49:43 PM

Kostya - Yes, really. Schools generally tend to prefer to concentrate on his later achievements or his earlier life, rather than the period when he became convinced Civil Disobedience wasn't going to work.

Baff - Of course the Tea Party was a criminal act (the word 'terrorist' wasn't invented back then). The American Revolution ended up having many good results, but it started off by destroying what would be nearly a million quids worth of tea. Serious Business indeed. evil grin

edited 19th Jan '13 3:51:31 PM by Bluesqueak

It ain't over 'till the ring hits the lava.
Baff Since: Jul, 2011
#47606: Jan 19th 2013 at 3:51:57 PM

[up]

I had never tought about it that way.

I can imagine those british

"Sir, I am sorry to inform you that a group of hooligans have stormed the port in Boston"
"You dont say? And what has been the result of such pitiful enterprise?"
"They...they have thrown all the tea into the sea sir"
"...for the love of god... those rascals!"

edited 19th Jan '13 4:02:05 PM by Baff

I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.
Bluesqueak Since: Jan, 2010
#47607: Jan 19th 2013 at 3:53:47 PM

[up]Baff, you have just described the British Government's genuine reaction...

It ain't over 'till the ring hits the lava.
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#47608: Jan 19th 2013 at 3:55:22 PM

I probably laughed harder than I should have at that.

DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#47609: Jan 19th 2013 at 4:00:28 PM

Energy Secretary Steven Chu to leave Obama administration

We've lost another one!

edited 19th Jan '13 4:00:59 PM by DeviantBraeburn

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
Baff Since: Jul, 2011
#47610: Jan 19th 2013 at 4:02:36 PM

[up]

I oficially dont really like anyone in the Obama administration anymore sad

I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#47611: Jan 19th 2013 at 4:05:35 PM

[up]Not even Biden?

He's the erratic grandpa that everyone wants.

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
Baff Since: Jul, 2011
#47612: Jan 19th 2013 at 4:06:09 PM

[up]

Oh, I forgot Old Joe!!!

Biden, who called an emergency press conference at the White House Saturday, said members of the U.S. armed forces who sacrificed their lives in the service of their country deserved a death-defying stunt that involves clearing the 246-foot-long monument on a "souped-up" Harley-Davidson XR-750.

[1]

“My name is Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.,” said the vice president, his voice choking. “Over the years I have been made an object of mockery and ridicule. I have seen pictures of me in the most humiliating positions you can think of plastered across newspapers all over the world. I have been treated as a punch line. A dope. A fuckin’ jester among kings. But don’t be fooled. I am also a man who has touched sorrow. And I am a son of a bitch who has spent nearly seven decades on the razor’s edge and lived to tell the tale. I may not say it often, and I may never say it again, but I wish to say to you now that I am also a man worthy of love. And worthy of respect.” “Thank you all so damn much,” Biden added. “I just…I love this country, man.” Wiping his eyes, Biden then descended from the table and sat back down as the tearful and blindsided audience attempted to make sense of what they had just witnessed.

edited 19th Jan '13 4:14:30 PM by Baff

I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.
Pykrete NOT THE BEES from Viridian Forest Since: Sep, 2009
NOT THE BEES
#47613: Jan 19th 2013 at 8:12:20 PM

The guy's got a good sense of humor, but the fact that he's seriously going along with the video games investigation should tell you he's not really all that good.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#47614: Jan 19th 2013 at 8:25:06 PM

No one is perfect but the Supreme Court has declared video games protected under your Constitution. Thus it won't go anywhere.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#47615: Jan 19th 2013 at 8:27:00 PM

Pykrete, the response to video games is endemic in nearly all politicians over a certain age, so I wouldn't actually hold that against him. Particularly as he's the first one in the Obama administration who came out FOR gay marriage, which puts him near the top in terms of awesomeness. And it's not like he's focusing on the videogames thing alone, because he's taking the idea of gun control in general very seriously instead of blaming it on one thing alone.

Regarding the thing about Texas textbooks: This is the first I've heard about anyone actively rejecting what the publishing companies here in Texas publish. Which means it's also the first I've heard about Texas losing influence in that regard. So it's not a myth so much as something that wasn't actively addressed in a serious fashion for a good long while. My main worry about this is it's going to end up with some states getting severely damaged and neutered history texts. Especially Texas.

DevilTakeMe Coin Operator from Wild Wasteland Since: Jan, 2010
Coin Operator
#47616: Jan 19th 2013 at 8:40:11 PM

[up] I would say his focus is on gun violence, with gun control being more or less the primary issue he's discussing with various groups. The Executive Branch is mostly passing the buck to Congress to debate and legislate gun control itself.

Glove and Boots is good for Blog!
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#47617: Jan 19th 2013 at 8:45:14 PM

Since CDC has been banned from conducting research into the causes of gun violence (until Obama's executive order last week), it can reasonably be said that there is a lack of thoroughness in the studies of the links, if any, between violent media and violent crime. Therefore, conducting said studies is in the best interests of all involved, because it can put the notion "video games = violence" to bed officially, and it can establish other things like "access to guns = violence", thus giving credence to the efforts of gun control advocates.

New Media Are Evil continues to plague our society and video games will continue to be scapegoated probably until we get a significant representation of political figures from my generation and younger. I'm 37 and have played games since I was 9. I'm at the lower boundary of when people typically get into national politics.

edited 19th Jan '13 8:45:32 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
OhnoaBear I'm back, baby. from Exiting, pursued by a... Since: Jan, 2011
I'm back, baby.
#47618: Jan 19th 2013 at 8:48:41 PM

I'm fairly sure that the only thing that is going to stop Video Games from getting scapegoated is the rise of the next New Media.

And I wonder if there is an organization equally equipped bot more reasonably named to head the data collection for gun violence than the Center for Disease Control...

"The marvel is not that the Bear posts well, but that the Bear posts at all."
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#47619: Jan 19th 2013 at 8:49:07 PM

Rallies across U.S. assail Obama's proposed gun curbs

Guns and American flags. Its so patriotic that its starting to turn me on.

edited 19th Jan '13 8:55:31 PM by DeviantBraeburn

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
DevilTakeMe Coin Operator from Wild Wasteland Since: Jan, 2010
Coin Operator
#47620: Jan 19th 2013 at 8:51:27 PM

[up][up][up] Or, it can establish the reverse. The assumption being made is that the studies will show something one way or another, even though other studies already show how such things happen, and that if "such and such agency does the studey" then no one can refute it.

It's like networks and polling, it becomes the written word, even when there's plenty of evidence to the contrary.

What can the CDC do that other institutions cannot?

I've been a video game player since I was very young as well, and have had experience for just as long. By all accounts, I should be some sort of mass murdering, mentally deranged sociopath according to people pointing fingers in each direction. But I certainly am not a danger to myself or anyone else.

[up] That said, there will always be people who give legitimate gun owners and video gamers bad names.

edited 19th Jan '13 8:52:35 PM by DevilTakeMe

Glove and Boots is good for Blog!
Lascoden ... from Missouri, USA Since: Nov, 2012
...
#47621: Jan 19th 2013 at 8:55:46 PM

[up][up]

Elsewhere on Saturday, five people were wounded by gunfire in accidents at three separate gun shows around the United States.
Wow...just...

boop
OhnoaBear I'm back, baby. from Exiting, pursued by a... Since: Jan, 2011
I'm back, baby.
#47622: Jan 19th 2013 at 8:56:17 PM

The CDC is very, very good at collecting and analyzing international data regarding death and disease and then interpreting that data in a meaningful way. It's probably the best organ for that purpose the US currently has.

"The marvel is not that the Bear posts well, but that the Bear posts at all."
DrunkGirlfriend from Castle Geekhaven Since: Jan, 2011
#47623: Jan 19th 2013 at 8:59:00 PM

[up][up] That's not unheard of. It just never makes the news. Keep in mind, ignoring suicide, 35 people die each day from getting shot.

edited 19th Jan '13 8:59:05 PM by DrunkGirlfriend

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian
DevilTakeMe Coin Operator from Wild Wasteland Since: Jan, 2010
Coin Operator
#47625: Jan 19th 2013 at 9:02:03 PM

[up][up] Then again, there is some perception that the CDC may not be open to certain avenues (such as firearms or weapons of any kind)as legitimate options. When they put together their Zombie Survival Guide (a fictional scenario around which to create an emergency preparedness kit), there was some questions on what to do if people encountered zombies in their fictional scenario, and they didn't offer any suggestions for driving away zombies.

edited 19th Jan '13 9:02:39 PM by DevilTakeMe

Glove and Boots is good for Blog!

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