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james_davis_nicollSeen via londonkds
The tragic shooting
Memetic prophylactic warning
in Tucson, Arizona over the weekend, which left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a coma and six others dead, has been universally condemned both by Democrats and Republicans, as you would expect in any civilized society where violence and assassination with semi-automatic weaponry are considered inappropriate responses to political differences. But while even Sarah Palin -- a forceful opponent of Giffords who once published an infographic targeting Giffords through gun sights -- was publicly calling for "peace and justice," at least one member of the retail comics community had a different message: "1 down, 534 to go."
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Date: 2011-01-11 05:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 06:08 pm (UTC)So now I feel dirty.
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Date: 2011-01-11 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 06:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 07:06 pm (UTC)Can someone explain to me why people who think the US is too socialist want to move to Canada or NZ?
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Date: 2011-01-11 07:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 07:19 pm (UTC)cryptozoic lifestyle?
Date: 2011-01-11 07:30 pm (UTC)Re: cryptozoic lifestyle?
Date: 2011-01-11 07:52 pm (UTC)http://www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/frugal-living-homesteading/
Re: cryptozoic lifestyle?
Date: 2011-01-18 11:09 pm (UTC)NZ's a popular target because it's English-speaking and majority white.
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Date: 2011-01-11 07:31 pm (UTC)What The ...
Date: 2011-01-11 07:39 pm (UTC)I mean sure, we are slowly trending right at this point, but that's only because we've got a right wing (by US standards, shockingly far left) party in power right now that are slowly trying to move us more right, but are limited by the fact that they keep having to pull back on most of their ideas out of the risk that people will march on parliament with torches and pitchforks.
Socially I think we're moving more left, in part because we've been looking at the US and going 'gah!'.
-- Brett
Re: What The ...
Date: 2011-01-11 09:09 pm (UTC)Re: What The ...
Date: 2011-01-11 09:40 pm (UTC)Major political problem we've got currently is a lot like the US problem, a two party system where one party is evil, and the other hasn't recovered from loosing the last election and their best leader, so is almost entirely dysfunctional, leaving the evil party with no serious competition.
Though we're not nearly as much of a two party system as the US, in that we have several third parties with some real power, and the only thing keeping the current group in power is a coalition with two minor parties (which is kind of funny given how much the two minor parties in question hate each other, but are playing nice for the moment, I'm waiting to see when that one explodes).
What we don't have is anything like the political rhetoric in the US currently. Nothing like the Tea Party, and while political types (on both sides) regularly go on the record with with blatant outright lies and don't get called on it, anyone pulling out anything that even got close to "the other side doesn't deserve to exist" style talk, or even vague hints at violence, would get repudiated by both sides (and they really would mean it).
The real problem with the current party in power is they have a really worrying habit of looking at ideas that the US has tried (working or not) and thinking we should do it to. For example we've gotten Three Strikes laws (though a tamer then some overseas versions, all three strikes have to be serious violent crimes), and they seem to be trying to work their way towards Fire at Will laws (they are about to bring in laws that make it legal to fire somebody, for no reason at all, within the first 90 days of hiring them).
So you know, their are good and bad bits.
The 'libertarian paradise' thing confuses the heck out of me though. I'll admit, this is the first I've head of it.
-- Brett
Re: What The ...
Date: 2011-01-12 01:03 am (UTC)I mean, I hate training people, and I have trained some serious no brained losers, but SHOOTING them?
Ok, long day, very tired. Sorry. But it was funny.
Re: What The ...
Date: 2011-01-12 01:15 am (UTC)I hadn't though of it that way, but that is fairly amusing.
-- Brett
Re: What The ...
Date: 2011-01-12 06:20 pm (UTC)How refreshingly honest!
Do they hand out cookies to their minions and everything?
Re: What The ...
Date: 2011-01-12 07:34 pm (UTC)A bunch of the stuff they are doing can only be blamed on active malevolence or blind stupidity, and they aren't stupid.
Okay, to be honest, it could just be them being really ideological to the point of stupid ... but a bunch of their stuff really does come across as an obsessive focus on helping rich people get richer, and screw everyone else, so yeah, evil.
-- Brett, who is a hopeless optimist, and always votes for the Greens, who are the most powerful minor party, but hated enough by both of the major parties that they are unlikely to ever get anywhere near real power.
Re: What The ...
Date: 2011-01-11 09:42 pm (UTC)Re: What The ...
Date: 2011-01-11 09:47 pm (UTC)-- Brett
Re: What The ...
Date: 2011-01-11 10:13 pm (UTC)Re: What The ...
Date: 2011-01-11 10:24 pm (UTC)Though that's probably an exaggeration. Though I have walked on some of the places that keep getting used in films and TV series (it's public land when they aren't filming on it) and I have to say, it's fairly damn pretty.
-- Brett
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Date: 2011-01-11 07:43 pm (UTC)Ah... a David Friedman fan then.
If memory serves, didn't the whole Icelandic thing pretty much fall apart into feuding and family strife and they basically begged the Danish King to come in and fix it for them?
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Date: 2011-01-12 12:51 am (UTC)I suppose in that environment, if someone ends up rich enough to pay arbitrary amounts of weregild, the system either breaks down, or that person becomes king.
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Date: 2011-01-12 01:11 am (UTC)Another bit I found amusing is he invokes the Church's definition of a Just War without, apparently, having read it.
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Date: 2011-01-12 09:11 am (UTC)Yes, the violence against, "citizens" was, relatively low; unless your families were feuding, in which case it could be pretty brutal until/unless both sides could do enough harm to make an appeal to the Althing worthwhile.
But the thralls? If one reads the sagas they were killed just to relieve frustration.
I'll pass.
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Date: 2011-01-11 07:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 06:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 07:12 pm (UTC)If you were a loud and active complainer about the rhetoric being too violent, then definitely.
Violent metaphors sure are attractive. I'm thinking how it'd be fun to watch his place burn. And I really shouldn't be (my standards apply to me).
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Date: 2011-01-11 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 09:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 11:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 08:06 pm (UTC)(there's an *amazing* frozen custard place about a block from there. I will buy you any flavour you'd like.)
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Date: 2011-01-11 08:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 08:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 09:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 09:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 08:10 pm (UTC)