tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post1897291115833872385..comments2024-03-20T12:34:55.100-05:00Comments on Stonekettle Station: Bang Bang Crazy, Part 8Jim Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-29977878820259691982013-12-06T15:52:50.129-06:002013-12-06T15:52:50.129-06:00Did you see this?
http://thepeoplesrecord.com/pos...Did you see this?<br /><br />http://thepeoplesrecord.com/post/69124491418/iceland-grieves-after-police-kill-a-man-for-the<br /><br />Wierd, eh?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-71907878084954474762013-11-12T18:29:47.885-06:002013-11-12T18:29:47.885-06:00I respectfully disagree: that the law has already ...I respectfully disagree: that the law has already been passed is immaterial, laws, acts and codes are constantly modified, amended and repealed, it's one of the great strengths of our system. This one has already been so treated via executive order and Health and Human Services regulation.<br />I have absolutely no objection to revisiting the Ptriot Act or any other law, act or regulation.<br /><br />ShadowAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-11287762815726976322013-11-11T17:42:15.999-06:002013-11-11T17:42:15.999-06:00Anonymous Freeportguy, here's a response to yo...Anonymous Freeportguy, here's a response to your question.<br /><br />First, though, let me say up front that I'm not trying to defend the idea of having a gun for personal protection. I'm addressing only your logic because, metaphorically speaking, the gun called your argument isn't loaded.<br /><br />However astronomically talented and trained Chris Kyle may have been, his was still only one case out of very, very many. Your argument may easily and rightly be used to disarm the claim that having a gun for protection confers absolute and total immunity upon its bearer. People making that claim, though, actually aren't smart enough to be making many claims at all, so on that front, it's kind of a moot point. You, though, seem to be trying to make the point that the failure of this sort of protection in one case somehow invalidates the practice of this sort of protection in all cases, and this just doesn't work. True, a single exception can completely destroy a supposed but faulty rule, but that destruction most surely does not establish the validity of any equal and opposite rule : proving that a mode of protection isn't perfect doesn't simultaneously prove that that mode of protection is useless.<br /><br />To answer your question from another angle : I don't believe being special or not special has anything to do with the efficacy of the given mode of protection. I believe far more relevant is the simple law of averages. Mathematically speaking, a highly talented and trained person with a weapon has more protection than the same person unarmed, whether the weapon be a rifle, a shotgun, a handgun or a sharp stick. On average, the better the weapon, the better the defense. This is pretty well inarguable. It's simple fact.<br /><br />In short, if the people you're asking can't answer this question, it's because they have insufficient critical thinking skills, not because the question is so potent or meaningful. Modern America isn't exactly the Land of Awesome Thinkers some of us seem to think it is.<br /><br />Again, all I'm addressing is your logic. Your position may be fine, but your support for it as stated above simply doesn't exist.Jim Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13230254319767101467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-16041376313172624062013-11-11T17:08:52.165-06:002013-11-11T17:08:52.165-06:00I saw that. It's eloquently written, and your...I saw that. It's eloquently written, and your comparison to rape is a very good one. One could write an ugly victim-blaming paragraph like your imaginary paragraph - and it does sound like Ms. Burger may have skewed in that direction - or one could, without dishing out improper blame in past occurrences, remind young women that getting drunk with young males then going to isolated places with them does increase the risk of being raped. A Slate columnist got bashed a few weeks ago for making just that point, in fact, but unfairly in my opinion, since women who place a high priority on avoiding rape might want to hear all relevant facts even when they are ugly.<br /><br />Politically, my interest is in the long term. I read a fine article online about British historians of imperial and civilizational collapse. One, I think Arnold Toynbee, argued that empires thrived by extracting wealth from peripheral states and using some to keep their own proletariat happy. When empires cease to be profitable, because they overextend themselves or face more effective resistance, the domestic trickle-down slows and the domestic proles stop enjoying the benefits of empire while continuing to bear the costs (e.g., military service), so become increasingly fractious. The ruling class tries to maintain control with escalating repression at home and brutality abroad, leading to more rage and desperation, until finally, "the internal proletariat and external proletariat make common cause" - I imagine they often do so accidentally while continuing to spew hatred towards each other - to pull down what's left of the system. <br /><br />I'm sure that everyone who contributed to the fall of Rome, except the Roman elite, were at the time called criminals, traitors, or terrorists. Still, from a historical perspective the most salient fact is that Rome fell. If you take it as a given that soon the United States will not be dominating most of the world, the urgent question becomes, will the United States exist in its present form fifty years from now? If not, given present attitudes, one of the most likely means is a civil war, something I devoutly hope not to live to see, especially given the nature of the most likely secessionists. The best hope of avoiding such a fate is probably for the ruling class to accept loss of power gracefully and gradually, but this seldom happens. In trying instead to tighten its grip at an escalating cost, the U.S. government is following a historical pattern that leads to catastrophe more often than salvation. <br /><br />To me, if nuts who attack the government are to be looked at any differently than nuts who attack anyone else, they ought to be seen as canaries in the coalmine. Only a few losers are so disaffected now, but what might the numbers look like after another few decades of decline and increasing poverty, with the government offering nothing but bullshit and teargas in response?<br /><br />DeweyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-72836316957009463832013-11-11T16:17:48.429-06:002013-11-11T16:17:48.429-06:00Bruce - I unfortunately felt compelled to do the s...Bruce - I unfortunately felt compelled to do the same. Jesus she is spinning a tale, and whining, and pretending she didn't say what she DID in fact say. <br /><br /> I'd have had more respect if she'd said either 1.) I'm sorry, I was wrong; or 2.) Fuck you all I stand behind my TSA=Nazi argument. <br /><br />When did integrity get to be such a rare trait? Oh, hell, Cruz, Tea Party, NRA, birthers, bengazi-wampus....never mind<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-81947026225931493082013-11-11T12:44:26.160-06:002013-11-11T12:44:26.160-06:00I'm a little late to the party. Last week was ...I'm a little late to the party. Last week was rough. But I still feel the need to comment, because my husband is a TSO (Transportation Safety Officer), and he has a very good grasp of what he is doing and why he does it. He does it so that some jackwagon with a hunting knife and a grudge doesn't stab the woman in row 14 who kinda sorta reminds him of his ex-wife. He does it so that some kid with a system full of coke, a pocket full of weed, and a head full of resentment doesn't live out the fantasy he came up with in chemistry class. He does it so that someone (or someones) who thinks America is the devil doesn't get the chance to broadcast that hateful bullshit across the world in the form of mass murder. I'm thinking all of those are perfectly ethical reasons to do a job that doesn't pay well, subjects him to constant abuse from the general public, and only occasionally allows for the admiration of adorable toddlers or the petting of puppies. He is polite, professional, dedicated, and patient. I know not all TSOs are, but that shouldn't be surprising, considering how much vitriol they receive every day. My husband is a stand-up guy, loyal, thoughtful, generous, and kind. <br /><br />I don't give a rat's ass what this lady's background is, if she thinks my husband deserves to die for doing something that everyone in this country cried out for (before they got slightly inconvenienced and decided it was the root of all evil), if she thinks I deserve to lose my husband and my children deserve to be without their father, then she is extremely unbalanced and needs mental health intervention every bit as much as that guy with the gun at LAX.RR Kovarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05165990070862127913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-71171446080513641922013-11-11T09:12:24.411-06:002013-11-11T09:12:24.411-06:00MORE fun with words...
MORE fun with words...<br />WAAngelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09648350652247863788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-63253114417005669672013-11-11T09:09:37.404-06:002013-11-11T09:09:37.404-06:00You had me at " the paranoia-porn fetish site...You had me at " the paranoia-porn fetish site, Infowars "<br />WAAngelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09648350652247863788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-11559732649024556332013-11-11T01:26:11.066-06:002013-11-11T01:26:11.066-06:00As I said, the woman has a problem with integrityAs I said, the woman has a problem with integrityJim Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-67732538638550324382013-11-11T01:24:32.289-06:002013-11-11T01:24:32.289-06:00It appears to be workingIt appears to be workingJim Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-26429119493219275562013-11-11T01:00:42.090-06:002013-11-11T01:00:42.090-06:00But they did. She replied, and was as evasive with...But they did. She replied, and was as evasive with me as she has been with you and Carmen, if not even moreso.<br /><br />Sigh.Raven Onthillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06634556869209594389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-18040399015043753902013-11-11T00:14:39.756-06:002013-11-11T00:14:39.756-06:00There's still that "Least you think that ...There's still that "Least you think that I'm reading too much into..." part.MonaLisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13543209628295760693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-12700435249902810272013-11-10T23:35:02.273-06:002013-11-10T23:35:02.273-06:00"One side refusing to have meaningful discuss..."One side refusing to have meaningful discussions..." About what? Giving congress a second crack at a law it had already passed without passing any additional legislation? <br /><br />Yeah, let's discuss that. How 'bout we do that with the Patriot Act RIGHT FUCKING NOW. How about the wiretap immunity law? Let's get right on that, 'kay?<br /><br />This "both sides" nonsense is pure bullshit.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08492976083075624478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-39449659333859937492013-11-10T22:43:19.392-06:002013-11-10T22:43:19.392-06:00Testing...Testing...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04030183484519562752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-79492037281548575192013-11-10T22:32:37.358-06:002013-11-10T22:32:37.358-06:00(((((hugs))))) ... Just 'cause I'm sad tha...(((((hugs))))) ... Just 'cause I'm sad that you've had to write EIGHT of these darn things and nothing much is changing. <br /><br />Well, you are, at the very least, accomplishing one very positive thing. There's even a meme going around for it. A quote along the lines of: 'I didn't post this thinking I could change your mind, I posted it to let people who think like I do know that they aren't alone'. Conniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03667481504650498976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-50505579788738372252013-11-10T21:40:37.162-06:002013-11-10T21:40:37.162-06:001- Everyone is missing the main point. The TSA has...1- Everyone is missing the main point. The TSA has committed the Ultimate American Sin: they are ... inconvenient<br /><br />2- Dammit Jim, (and you may read that in your own best Dr. McCoy voice) because of you, I followed that link & actually READ Ms. Burger's rambling pile of crap! I now must excuse myself and go shower. <br /><br />BruceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-91072118936857584892013-11-10T20:38:55.819-06:002013-11-10T20:38:55.819-06:00That is exactly right... the racists and the xeno...That is exactly right... the racists and the xenophobes and the misogynists love to cry "tyranny" when they don't like the race or gender of a political leader. <br /><br />When the political leader is a 'god-fearing' white man, who's super friendly to business and high on de-regulation, well then, domestic surveillance programs are just the price of "freedom." [insert eye-roll here]Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00691281434278658447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-9365856627527647892013-11-10T20:11:31.033-06:002013-11-10T20:11:31.033-06:00Your analysis of Burger, makes me think of this re...Your analysis of Burger, makes me think of this recent incident, where the response of 40 "Tea-Patriots" (patriots in their minds only) respond to a group of 4 mothers trying to recruit for Mothers Against Gun Violence by surrounding them, fully armed to the teeth, in the mall parking lot. <br /><br />http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/11/10/2921121/dallas-gun-advocates-protest-restaurant-gun-control-advocates/<br /><br />They are literally acting like the very armed tyrants they imagine. Today, it is no longer inflated euphemistic rhetoric to say that the Tea-Party agenda has embraced the tactics of terrorists. When these people, actually come armed and willing to kill unarmed civilians that they don't agree with for their beliefs, these people have actually become terrorists, and the scariest sort of terrorists, domestic terrorists, using intimidation and violence while hiding behind the very laws and freedoms they insist are being threatened or taken away. <br /><br />they actually believe that the only freedom they have is at the end of their gun barrel - their 2nd amendment solution. "Freedom" for them doesn't mean freedom for others, it means "their" freedom, theirs and theirs alone, everyone else is either implicitly taking "their" freedoms, or an agent of an imagined fascist government. "Tyranny" to them means a democracy where their ideology is seen as laughable and is marginalized by the majority of others; their candidate didn't win the election? "TYRANNY." Can't legally buy an aircraft mountable mini-gun? "TYRANNY." Affordable health care for the poor, young, or underprivialged gaurunteed by the government, and protections against losing health insurance just for being sick? "TYRANNY.""TYRANNY.""TYRANNY." [insert over the top eye-roll here]. "Republic" to them means State and local authority above Federal law; "screw the sick, the poor deserve to be poor, and the failing economy is due to immigrants" (And while I am loath to compare those I don't agree with to Nazis, the tea-party rhetoric is EXACTLY the rhetoric used by Hitler and the Nazi party shorty before they rose to power and took over the government) ... <br /><br />They have become so convinced by their own invented version of history that they have come to insist that their persecution fantasies are the one and only reality.<br /><br />These people actually believe that they are "protecting" civil liberties by intimidating 4 unarmed mothers in a mall parking lot, surrounding them, armed and ready to use deadly force. These are the acts of fascists in the making, certainly not people interested in concepts like "justice" or Freedom" or even "democracy." <br /><br /><br /><br /> Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00691281434278658447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-17902189660677923452013-11-10T19:11:01.184-06:002013-11-10T19:11:01.184-06:00Burger is an idiot. The SPLC has an article up ab...Burger is an idiot. The SPLC has an article up about this shooter. It's a worthy read. He identified with the 'Patriot Movement', much like McVeigh did. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-27417984027784197052013-11-10T17:59:01.772-06:002013-11-10T17:59:01.772-06:00Hey, if the apologists conceded that Jim was right...Hey, if the apologists conceded that Jim was right, then the next step would be to admit that maybe, just maybe, they were also guilty of some contemptible thinking. And we can't have that!Never Ben Betterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17814767173601107270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-70849456663067970252013-11-10T17:56:56.741-06:002013-11-10T17:56:56.741-06:00I said this at Jim's Facebook entry on adding ...I said this at Jim's Facebook entry on adding the addenda, and decided to put it (with one small elision) here, too: <br /><br />Having reread your essay, as well as the comments and your addended responses, I am put in mind of what Gandalf said when Frodo exclaimed that Gollum deserved to die: "Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends."Never Ben Betterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17814767173601107270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-53913180084234463772013-11-10T17:35:16.509-06:002013-11-10T17:35:16.509-06:00Hey Jim, the term you're looking for is "...Hey Jim, the term you're looking for is "Narcotizing Dysfunction" as per my sociology book... "The phenomenon in which the media provides such massive amounts of coverage that the audience becomes numb and fails to act on the information, regardless of how compelling the issue."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369144094245153063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-10739798787625363512013-11-10T16:11:50.133-06:002013-11-10T16:11:50.133-06:00I've put up a few remarks on her blog. I suspe...I've put up a few remarks on her blog. I suspect they will go nowhere. Personally, I indict the absolutism of right-wing thought in creating both the TSA and Ciancia and I believe it is all, in the end, extensively rationalized panic.Raven Onthillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06634556869209594389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-71133949631608526812013-11-10T16:10:12.698-06:002013-11-10T16:10:12.698-06:00HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
frecklesHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!<br /><br /><br />frecklesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-25306211534822489202013-11-10T15:52:51.696-06:002013-11-10T15:52:51.696-06:00I think she's using the the Nazis as an exampl...I think she's using the the Nazis as an example of authoritarianism, which isn't—quite—calling the TSA Nazi.<br /><br />She's eliding the role of the radical right propaganda that our society is saturated with in creating Ciancas. If the media tell enough people that violent self-defense against abuses of state power is legitimate then, sure enough, some people will decide to be violent against what they perceive as abuses of state power. <br /><br />Looking back at <a href="http://thoughtsonliberty.com/author/rachel/" rel="nofollow">her history on ToL</a>, her thinking has a lot of internal contradictions; I wonder which way she will jump when the <a href="http://highclearing.com/index.php/archives/2011/09/26/13704" rel="nofollow">Great Squidger</a> comes down.Raven Onthillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06634556869209594389noreply@blogger.com