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DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#188626: May 12th 2017 at 2:02:17 PM

This is not the hill I want to die on. There are so many more important issues. Like police shootings.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#188628: May 12th 2017 at 2:08:28 PM

Gun control is an issue but it's probably one of the least important things we could focus on right now.

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#188629: May 12th 2017 at 2:12:38 PM

I dunno about one of the least important considering the death rate compared to developed countries.

edited 12th May '17 2:12:59 PM by MadSkillz

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#188630: May 12th 2017 at 2:15:33 PM

What issues are less important?

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#188631: May 12th 2017 at 2:16:59 PM

Something more local: State officials get slammed for the Oroville Dam spillway failure at Sacramento hearing Seems like the Oroville Dam was already a problem child before the spillway crisis, including a fire and various valve problems.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#188632: May 12th 2017 at 3:10:34 PM

I'd have posted this way earlier but I had a power outage for a few hours.

I kinda disagree with that, should is awfull thing to said but them you will ban things for the implication it can bring rather for what they are saying, also I find very naive the idea they will stay in their bubbles just like that.

The implications of speech are just as harmful as the overt speech itself. But unlike the overt speech the implications require more nuance but still deliver the same message.

It didn't take long until everyone started accepting that Jews were responsible for all the woes in certain countries from which the idea of simply removing them at one point became acceptable, all thanks to years upon years of conspiracy theories and bullshit made up facts and outright racism being a commonly accepted knowledge.

Same thing with the idea of black people being more animalistic and more prone to violence in order to justify their status as a marginals or why it is acceptable for cops to shoot black men over perceived threats created by those notions.

I keep tabs on those people for a while and I know how they abuse the free speech laws to get away with awful stuff. Specially the alt-right speech tactics to persuade people to join their ranks.

Such as spamming black-on-white and black-on-black crimes to create the notion that black people are inherently violent, news over feminists or LGBT activists who did something stupid and paint them as the norm, creating the notion that those groups want nothing but the destruction of while heterosexual males as a group, use code words and dog-whistles where you have (((globalists))) and (((Wall Street bankers))) be the stand in for Jews, including spamming how many Jews own or a related to media groups, news papers and news channels in order to discredit any source other than them as being Jewish manipulation of the public opinion.

Just take a look at this: https://www.dailystormer.com/

It isn't even subtle on their bigotry and yet it is completely legal under the US law to host a website outright using derogatory terms for several ethnic groups. Daily Stormer alone wouldn't fly on any country with even the most rudimentary hate speech laws.

Then you have Global Research, Zero Hedge, Prison Planet and Breitbart with several degrees of fake news and specially Breitbart that not only has news and content that incites hatred towards specific groups but also has been a den of false allegations and slander.

None of those news websites would survive the scrutiny of having any sort of regulation that demanded that their content is verifiable or truthful.

Websites like Storm Front and White Honor wouldn't be allowed to be hosted and accessed, the Resistance Records wouldn't be allowed to even exists. Germany and France for example removed Stormfront from their access list on Google. Which by itself helps keeping it out of reach of people who don't know about that festering hole existence and get sucked by their noxious bile.

I have some hopes now that Google and Facebook are seeking ways to warn about the reliability of certain websites and combat the spread of fake news but I'll believe they are addressing the issue when I see it.

Then you have an Orange Moron in the White House who got in there because he fooled enough people who already think that minorities are taking their hard earned money to be welfare queens, that Muslims are violent religious extremists and that immigrants are nothing but criminals or job thieves, that he and he alone could make things better for them and make those people they don't like disappear.

That is because the news feed and social feed of those people had a lot of bigoted news or messages tailored by racists and nationalists to appeal to their own biases, instill fear of the other groups besides themselves and sell them the message that their life style, their identity and their faith is under threat.

The reason for those laws are to prevent more and more people from being sucked into those bubbles and making the occasions whenever those bubbles burst to be more manageable and their consequences less harmful.

Can we block everything? No. Can we prevent people from entering those places? No. Can we stop people from spreading harmful/bigoted/false content with laws and regulations? Yes to a fair degree.

As sad as it is, the racists have lost a lot of room to operate as they used too in the live society, they have regained the lost room on the internet, organized themselves with the help of anonymity and abusing the hate speech laws not being permissive over the web and they are now coming back to the outside.

edited 12th May '17 3:14:36 PM by AngelusNox

Inter arma enim silent leges
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#188633: May 12th 2017 at 3:17:09 PM

Not surprised. Local and environmental groups earlier had pointed out they said there were problems with the dam but we're ignored by state officials.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#188634: May 12th 2017 at 3:19:49 PM

Well, they were complaining mainly about the auxiliary spillway. The hearings suggest that the principal spillway, its gates and the powerplant also had problems.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#188635: May 12th 2017 at 3:37:12 PM

I personally like the way my state (Massachusetts) does gun laws. In order to buy a gun, you must take a gun safety course and get a licence to carry. The idea is not to prevent people from buying guns, but to make sure people know how to use them safely, and keeping them out of the hands of Criminals.

edited 12th May '17 3:38:21 PM by megaeliz

danime91 Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#188636: May 12th 2017 at 3:52:38 PM

Seriously, one would think the process to purchase a gun should be at least as demanding as the process to get a driver's license.

MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#188637: May 12th 2017 at 3:53:28 PM

Seems to be very accurate.

Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#188638: May 12th 2017 at 3:54:59 PM

And simultaneously abolish the second amendment. Gun ownership should be a privilege at best not a right.

Bear in mind I'm speaking as a Briton, so I'm not naturally inclined to favour gun ownership for the general population (which isn't the same thing as a full ban - the UK has some of the strongest gun laws in the world, but even we don't have a blanket ban).

However, this is a disturbing. If the only way to have gun control in the US is by abolishing an Amendment, then don't do it.

Abolishing an Amendment, any Amendment, creates precedence. By all means, you should ensure the Amendments are interpreted to cope with a modern world, but you do not want to start this kind of precedence without stringent checks and balances in place to protect the Constitution from abuse, such as may be possible in the current climate, under the current leadership.

At the moment, Americans point out that Trump would have a harder time than he thinks in doing something like abolishing the First Amendment. However, had an Amendment (such as the Second) been abolished within recent decades, it would be that much easier to get rid of any others that fall foul of the political winds of the day.

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#188639: May 12th 2017 at 4:05:26 PM

There is a specific process for changing any part of the constitution, including the amendments, and it isnt easy.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
MadSkillz Destroyer of Worlds Since: Mar, 2013 Relationship Status: I only want you gone
Destroyer of Worlds
#188640: May 12th 2017 at 4:06:15 PM

You're never going to abolish the Second Amendment in the next 50 years.

You'll see people rise up to rebel and confirm right-wing fears.

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#188641: May 12th 2017 at 4:19:36 PM

@Wyldchyld: It's already been done in the form of the prohibition amendment being revoked.

Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#188642: May 12th 2017 at 4:45:09 PM

It'd be very hard to repeal any of the bill of rights, and would be seen as a serious attack on American society.

Mind you, I'd argue obe can do adequate gun control even with the 2nd amendment.

Leviticus 19:34
TheAirman Brightness from The vicinity of an area adjacent to a location Since: Feb, 2011 Relationship Status: Historians will say we were good friends.
Brightness
#188643: May 12th 2017 at 5:23:27 PM

Gun control =/= gun ban, and the failure of certain groups to understand this very basic fact is a major problem. People who live 30+ minutes from the nearest police station, even while speeding have a genuine need to be able to defend themselves. The only people with a need for a 100-round drum for their shotgun are the military and people who shoot up schools. But God forbid we dedicate even one brain cell to defending the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

PSN ID: FateSeraph | Switch friendcode: SW-0145-8835-0610 Congratulations! She/They
CenturyEye Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign? from I don't know where the Yith sent me this time... Since: Jan, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
#188644: May 12th 2017 at 5:23:47 PM

Yeah abolishing the 2nd amendment isn't necessary as much as overruling Heller. The right to wave a gun wasn't much of a hot topic until that case.

edited 12th May '17 5:27:14 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#188645: May 12th 2017 at 5:27:48 PM

Somewhat related to the idea of social change and differing needs of rural people that may be going unadressed: Changing Demographics Reshape Rural America.

Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#188646: May 12th 2017 at 5:57:00 PM

Sorry to get back here so late, but...

No, they dont feel betrayed by Trump, thats why they still support him. They feel betrayed by the likes of Cruz or Rubio. But Im assuming that Trump isnt running in four years. In that case, its wide open, and theres an opportunity to win some republicans over.

Here's the thing: I seriously doubt many of the republican base are ever willing to move their votes from Republican. All elections have always been too close, an until the hardcore demographics literally dies of old age I don't think thats ever going to change.

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#188647: May 12th 2017 at 5:59:06 PM

[up] The ideological ones won't. But even with indoctrination a lot of people only support republicans out of habit. If you have the right platform and make an effort, you can get them to vote democrat at least for their local government. Steve Bullock and that other senator from Iowa prove that to be true, and that's exactly what they said.

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#188648: May 12th 2017 at 5:59:37 PM

An opinion piece that outlines the dilemma the Republicans are in: Pro-Trump Republicans will get nothing, not even retention of a House majority: '...You do wonder when a political survival instinct will kick in. Perhaps the tribal instinct and abject fear of Trump’s wrath will keep elected Republicans tethered to the failing president through next year. At that point, the potential for a wave election for Democrats looms large. If Trump is still around by November 2018, a thrashing at the polls may be the only thing to persuade Republicans to walk away from Trump."

No new facts, but it summarizes the situation pretty well.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
Aszur A nice butterfly from Pagliacci's Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
A nice butterfly
#188649: May 12th 2017 at 6:02:15 PM

Again, I think it's just too ambitious to say for sure even with the example of Steve bullock and that guy from Iowa, but if you can help me, can you tell me what % of votes did Bullock and the other guy got over the republican candidate?

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#188650: May 12th 2017 at 6:08:45 PM

According to that article Elle posted, Bustos won by 20 points.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.

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