Notices by Display Name (alper@sfba.social)

@evan @scott you are now doing straw man combos. Please ask someone you trust to read this thread and get their opinion. You're consistently putting words in other people's mouths. He was adding to the conversation and you gave a straw man response as if he said something really dumb, which he didn't. That's what prompted my response and you responded to me with more of the same.

@evan @scott because it doesn't make any sense. No society would reduce their overall standards to not help the poorest. "We're wealthier but since we have to have equality let's burn our wealth and all be poor". Does it make sense? So I'll go out on a limb and say that's not what he meant.

@christineburns @GreenSkyOverMe people hoped. Western corps and govs went in to extract resources for cheap instead of helping a democracy flourish. Gehry's titanium Guggenheim facades were possible thanks to an oligarch taking control of titanium mines (from workers it belonged to) and flushing markets with a lot of titanium to make some quick money. That in turn disgusted Russian people and they turned to a strongman, an ex-kgb who stepped in at the perfect time, ordered his intelligence service to bomb random apartments in Moscow to manipulate public sentiment. Once he won he didn't care if it came out. Without acknowledging responsibility nothing will change.

@pluralistic we'll watch the next big protest never happen due to lack of common communication channels. We'll think that a lot of people don't care. That's why dictators and wannabes happily invested in the Twitter black hole purchase. Fragmentation is the goal. What's the next best thing to the assumed benevolent dictator who owns and may sell the place we (a much much larger we) meet and organize?

@TOrynski @ATLeagle @Brad_Rosenheim people who don't want to change anything sure don't like change discussed so they shift it to talk about something else. And that's normal. You want a protest that will paralyze them so much that they won't fight to derail the conversation. That doesn't exist. Anything that's effective they'll try to frame differently. You do your protest and let other people do theirs. That brings us to what you're doing instead other than criticism of other people's protests which is exactly what fossil fuel lobby wants you to do. Did you damage any private jets yet?

@WhistlerInTheDarkAges
Obvious proof that it is not a culture war but an all out class war.
Hence they call it a culture war.

@jeffjarvis the headline could/should have been. "DONALD TRUMP REGRETS FAILING HIS COUP ATTEMPT
Says he could have done more to block the peaceful transfer of power"

@aral but did the transfer happen? I think that's when the system should flag it for human check, not when you enter as a setting up step.

@freemo plus no matter how righteous your cause may be the state has the monopoly on violence, at least legitimacy of it. Hence all oppressive govs want violent uprisings. They are weak against peaceful protests but the moment violence is in play the whole world lines up to support the "legitimate" violence. See recent history of Israel, Turkey, Russia, SA, UK, Spain, China etc.
And Rittenhouses will always walk free.

@freemo does this suggest you are not at all concerned with the level of gun violence in the US? Because the laws change when there is a problem and many believe that there is. I cannot accept that Sandy hook is the price to pay. I'm able, some are and some aren't. They cannot fight. The whole point of civilization is that we protect our weakest. Half of America is armed to the teeth and specifically for a civil war. Outcomes are only getting worse.

@freemo yes. An amendment shouldn't be a big deal since there are many already.
Tyranny argument is not realistic since 1)not just muskets anymore, huge asymmetry 2)state is more likely to use armed civilians as a fear tactic (personally witnessed in protests in Istanbul where armed "civilians" opposed (chased down with machetes and guns) the peaceful protestors and never got caught by the police (a miracle!)

@freemo hunting or defense in wildlife (or even dangerous jobs) in many countries are valid reasons to apply and get a permit. Do you have safety concerns and need your gun in Netherlands?

@freemo absolutely. I'm trying to imagine possible scenarios that the original intent could play out. I don't see a use. State tyranny cannot be the reason, at least for those who really are oppressed. I'm all ears if you believe that it is needed.

@freemo I will never understand the gun infringement issue. Otherwise 💯

@ArneBab @katzenberger next step you'll say it was Palestinians that elected that government that Israelis are protesting against.

@ArneBab @katzenberger they sure are not elected by Palestinians. So yes, some do protest and yet many give the power to and support the government.

@ArneBab @katzenberger I agree. I think the problem you're not noticing is the symmetry. My response was about that. Maybe not clear enough but being blocked vs getting murdered for something someone else did is another symmetry.

@aral @carrideen well said/written. I also was raised in a secular Muslim household in Turkey and by 14 I was "agnostic" (read shy atheist) and by early 20's straight up atheist. Now almost 50, after seeing what islamists did to the country and the culture there, it drives me up the wall when I hear people say islamophobia here in the (supposedly) very liberal SF bay area. They think they are being open minded. Like you said, it is a stupid shield just like Russophobia.

A black hole bending the fabric of the universe. #cats #catsofmastodon #caturday