And they're not stopping with flag removal. The Memphis mayor has called for the remains of Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife to be relocated. Nothing like removing the parts of history you don't like.
If that's the way this keeps going, I'm going to have to learn new names for half the streets downtown.
Juice Edit: This is where we draw the line in this thread. Posts should foster conversation, not just be off-topic ranting.
This is like a game of "where will it end?" and I'm losing... over and over again. Apple Removes All American Civil War Games From the App Store Because of the Confederate Flag
Two things to improve politics in your country: More than just TWO parties to choose from, and no more electoral college. This is just too fucking much. Removing things from sight doesn't mean the memory of it is gone or that it no longer exists. When they banned smoking ads it didn't make people forget that they smoke. I want a pool now: how long before stores start banning Dukes Of Hazzard seasonal sets? I mean, with the exception of that shitty season when their cousins took over and there was no General Lee.
General Forrest is one of the reputed founding members of the Klu Klux Klan. He is a terrorist, a traitor, a murderer, and the cause of mind boggling suffering to American blacks and to the post-war south he claimed to love. As far as I am concerned they can burn his corpse and scatter the ashes into the sewer. To celebrate that man, outside of military acumen, is a kick in the face to 150 years of Americans. But, yes, moving his grave is an empty gesture.There is a public interest in keeping his grave there. I didn't reply to yesterday's question of whether removing Forrest's statue, and the larger question of the confederate flag's removal, is worth expending any energy or time on. To say either symbol stands for culture, heritage, or pride is to accept a distorted view of reality fomented by a bitter, losing side. To remove the flag from a state capitol, a place where equality under the law is to be cherished, is not an empty gesture. Fly it on private property all you want. To remove a statue of a man who murdered free black people in the same town that honors him, is not an empty gesture to the black community. You asked what could this possibly do affect the black community? As if a change will occur overnight after 150 years of ostracization, economic and educational disenfranchisement, it is a helluva long road. These two gestures, however small they may be, are not meant to make everything okay instantly, that's not the point of the media focus. It is a societal wrong that should have been ameliorated 50 years ago. But to say they are not a step in the right direction is completely disingenuous. That flag is a symbol of everything I just mentioned, whether you like it or not, and is a galvanizing symbol for the actions of Storm Roof, whether you like it or not. With a little luck the media will continue to focus on all aspects of this crap, not just the goddamn flag. That, I can agree with you on. However... That is so heinously stupid. I want to meet the pants shitting snowflake who first brought that up. Warner Brothers is also re-painting The General Lee from Dukes of Hazard. Who cares about the fucking car? Sen. Toomey out of Pennsylvania, a Republican, brought up discussing gun control legislation yesterday. Can the TV media please talk about that? 24 hour news cycle is a sensational canker on America's dick.
The nature of the US electoral system (first-past-the-post, nationalized Presidential elections) will pretty much always lead to two parties. Wiki "Duverger's Law". Game theory something-or-other.
Except the overall knowledge level of the average citizen is increasing, texting a lot actually increase vocabulary and this mythical golden era that we're supposedly losing actually fucking sucked for large classes of people. Idiocracy was a funny enough movie, but is basically exactly wrong sociologically.
Reading comprehension. It helps sometimes. The video was a joke in regards to Apple pulling Civil War games. It was a way of saying "everyone is acting like a bunch of idiots," and also "I agree with you, Nett." In no way was it a comment on the current state of anything beyond that isolated circumstance. Like I said, reading comprehension. Context is everything.
You quoted a movie whose premise is "people are constantly getting dumber." You described it as a documentary. Nowhere in the movie does it even deal with issues of over-censorship. Trying saying what you mean instead of making allusions to things you clearly didn't understand very well. Edited to correct typo. Maybe we are getting stupider.
Chill, dude... I got that he was making a sarcastic reference, and not providing a thesis-level analysis.
Then somebody needs to shatter the cycle. Two parties have split your country into two halves that refuses to back down or admit any wrongdoing on their side, no matter what happens. Shit like that isn't going to heal, it NEVER will. The great divide just keeps growing wider.
I just discovered that a scientist from Monsato is doing a Reddit AMA tomorrow. https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/3b54ex/tomorrows_ama_with_fred_perlak_of_monsanto_some/ Thought some people around here might be interested, especially since he's an active research scientist, and is also wanting to talk about the business practices of the company.
Joe Rogan had a food scientist on his podcast a few weeks ago. Really interesting stuff. His name is Kevin Folta. Just thought it might be an interesting addition.
It's just really easy to imagine the worst and then parrot the crap that people believe, rather than hearing the actual facts behind the matter and educate yourself on the matter. It's funny how even a little bit of education can radically change someone's opinion on a subject.
The Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act in a 6-3 decision yesterday. Here's a link to the actual opinion.