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Thread: The Spiral of Violence - Page 29







Post#701 at 03-25-2010 08:03 PM by annla899 [at joined Sep 2008 #posts 2,860]
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Quote Originally Posted by James50 View Post
This one is so weird it has to be true. Still scary.

Eddie Adams, Florida Republican Candidate, Gets Burned http://bit.ly/9SxrGd

James50

That is just horrible and I don't care who's doing it. Disgusting.







Post#702 at 03-25-2010 08:34 PM by Bob Butler 54 [at Cove Hold, Carver, MA joined Jul 2001 #posts 6,431]
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Left Arrow Health care reform anger takes a nasty, violent turn

CNN Reports Health care reform anger takes a nasty, violent turn

No real surprise here.







Post#703 at 03-25-2010 08:37 PM by Odin [at Moorhead, MN, USA joined Sep 2006 #posts 14,442]
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Looks like Cantor was lying his ass off.
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.

-Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism







Post#704 at 03-25-2010 09:01 PM by Ragnarök_62 [at Oklahoma joined Nov 2006 #posts 5,511]
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Quote Originally Posted by Bob Butler 54 View Post
CNN Reports Health care reform anger takes a nasty, violent turn

No real surprise here.
Quote Originally Posted by CNN
Democratic officials and liberal Web sites are also upset that Sarah Palin used an image of crosshairs in a Facebook post this week listing 20 vulnerable Democrats who voted for the legislation. She plans to target them this election year with money from her political action committee.
Read more about Palin's targeting effort
Palin's team is fighting claims that she is encouraging threats of violence. One House member mentioned her Facebook posting during a Wednesday meeting on safety concerns, a Democratic source told CNN's Dana Bash. Mention of the map brought audible groans to the room, the source said.
An adviser to Palin responded by pointing to several instances in which the former Alaska governor has urged supporters to focus their energies on civil debate and action at the ballot box, not extremist activities.

Talk about "Going Rogue". Sorry, but nothing good comes from mob rule.
MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP

There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."







Post#705 at 03-25-2010 10:55 PM by Rose1992 [at Syracuse joined Sep 2008 #posts 1,833]
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Quote Originally Posted by James50 View Post
This one is so weird it has to be true. Still scary.

Eddie Adams, Florida Republican Candidate, Gets Burned http://bit.ly/9SxrGd

James50
Quote Originally Posted by Bob Butler 54 View Post
CNN Reports Health care reform anger takes a nasty, violent turn

No real surprise here.
To reply to the speculation on the 2010 thread, this is our Bleeding Kansas.







Post#706 at 03-25-2010 11:04 PM by Roadbldr '59 [at Vancouver, Washington joined Jul 2001 #posts 8,275]
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I keep putting it off...

...but I really ought to learn how to properly handle and maintain a firearm. The day may very well come when I'll need one to defend my life, my loved ones lives, and my property. As it stands right now, I'd be a sitting duck.
"Better hurry. There's a storm coming. His storm!!!" :-O -Abigail Freemantle, "The Stand" by Stephen King







Post#707 at 03-25-2010 11:06 PM by herbal tee [at joined Dec 2005 #posts 7,116]
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Quote Originally Posted by Rose1992 View Post
To reply to the speculation on the 2010 thread, this is our Bleeding Kansas.
I think so too.

--------------- slightly off topic ----------------------------------------------------

And I also think that the Kansas-Nebraska Act began the Civil War 4T in 1854.

For the record, I suspect that the true season of that saecular winter was the 16 years from 1854 to the Grant inaugural in 1869. Once Grant becomes president, classic nomadic tycoons like Rockefeller and Mellon made the Guilded Age happen. A hard winter had turned into an austere spring that was cold for many.
Last edited by herbal tee; 03-25-2010 at 11:14 PM.







Post#708 at 03-25-2010 11:13 PM by XerTeacher [at joined Dec 2005 #posts 682]
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Quote Originally Posted by James50 View Post
This is for you and Chas88. The last 5 minutes of the "Bridge over the River Kwai." This great battle you are yearning for may well end up like this. Loyalties confused, everyone dead or wounded, everything wrecked, and one of the main characters mumbling as he is about to die: "What have I done?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7O5agx5Ot0

I sympathize with the guy muttering "madness, madness".

James50
I hear you. I'm usually a pacifist, James50, but I've recently been harassed on a local forum that I've been a member of for 7 years. All of a sudden, people began to take potshots at my race, gender, educational level, etc. over the past few months. They said I was arrogant and... "uppity." It was the strangest thing, but I appeased people by apologizing, and don't plan to spend much time there in the future.

Things are growing unsafe. Seriously, I feel as if my little corner of the world is like Rivendell or Lothlorien in the Third Age of Middle-earth. There are places that I used to feel safe traveling that I wouldn't travel to alone anymore in this skin. Maybe it's all in my mind, but the world has definitely changed. It's enough to encourage me to speak softy, but carry a great big stick.

I'm reminded of Claude McKay's poem, "If We Must Die"...

If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursed lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!

O kinsmen we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
http://www.wsu.edu/~wldciv/world_civ...r_2/mckay.html
XerTeacher ~ drawing breath since the Summer of Sam
"GenXers are doing the quiet work of keeping America from sucking." --Jeff Gordinier







Post#709 at 03-25-2010 11:29 PM by Chas'88 [at In between Pennsylvania & Pennsyltucky joined Nov 2008 #posts 9,432]
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Quote Originally Posted by XerTeacher View Post
I hear you. I'm usually a pacifist, James50, but I've recently been harassed on a local forum that I've been a member of for 7 years. All of a sudden, people began to take potshots at my race, gender, educational level, etc. over the past few months. They said I was arrogant and... "uppity." It was the strangest thing, but I appeased people by apologizing, and don't plan to spend much time there in the future.
Agreed on the pacifism bit. I am also sorry to hear that you've been attacked recently, even if it was only on a forum--it still hurts. Glad to see that you're posting again, though.

Things are growing unsafe. Seriously, I feel as if my little corner of the world is like Rivendell or Lothlorien in the Third Age of Middle-earth. There are places that I used to feel safe traveling that I wouldn't travel to alone anymore in this skin. Maybe it's all in my mind, but the world has definitely changed. It's enough to encourage me to speak softy, but carry a great big stick.
Agreed. I've been feeling the same about walking around in cities & towns very late at night. Even here in "quiet" Gettysburg, where recently we've been getting Townies drive-thru the campus @ night, shouting profanities & insults at the students--I often get the weight related ones--and throwing trash at us as well. Things are really starting to get nasty, and I'm starting to notice that my valley at home is not only a quiet realm away from all of that, but it's also suffocating in its own sense. Especially since I'm stuck in it taking care of Dad when I'm home.

It's also interesting because I also get this feeling when I'm at Boy Scout camp believe it or not. But in that case it's not the place, but the people who are causing that. Since I started working there in 2005, it has increasingly undergone a microcosom "Crisis". The Boomers took over the camp from the Silents and have been all about making the camp "customer friendly", worrying over the slightest thing that goes wrong, and micromanaging everything. They also aren't as "forgiving" as the old Silent who used to run the camp was. There are finer and finer lines being drawn each year at the camp and it's becoming more and more defined, authoritarian, & rigid each year. As you can imagine, it doesn't inspire a general feeling of safety or comfort.

I'm reminded of Claude McKay's poem, "If We Must Die"...

http://www.wsu.edu/~wldciv/world_civ...r_2/mckay.html

Cool poem.

~Chas'88
Last edited by Chas'88; 03-25-2010 at 11:45 PM.
"There have always been people who say: "The war will be over someday." I say there's no guarantee the war will ever be over. Naturally a brief intermission is conceivable. Maybe the war needs a breather, a war can even break its neck, so to speak. But the kings and emperors, not to mention the pope, will always come to its help in adversity. ON the whole, I'd say this war has very little to worry about, it'll live to a ripe old age."







Post#710 at 03-25-2010 11:44 PM by Wes84 [at joined Jun 2009 #posts 856]
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Quote Originally Posted by XerTeacher View Post
Things are growing unsafe. Seriously, I feel as if my little corner of the world is like Rivendell or Lothlorien in the Third Age of Middle-earth. There are places that I used to feel safe traveling that I wouldn't travel to alone anymore in this skin. Maybe it's all in my mind, but the world has definitely changed. It's enough to encourage me to speak softy, but carry a great big stick.
First of all, I am glad to see you posting again. I have always enjoyed reading your posts, and hope to see you here more often.

As for your point, I have had the same feelings based on my own experiences. Nothing bad has happened to me, but I do not feel as comfortable in my small community as I had in the past. This is primarily due to me being a progressive in a conservative leaning area. If I didn't have my family, this forum, and the university as an escape, I probably would be going crazy right now.







Post#711 at 03-25-2010 11:46 PM by 85turtle [at joined Dec 2009 #posts 362]
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Cantor (R-VA) was completely lying about violence against him

Richmond Police Investigate Cantor Building Vandalism

March 25, 2010

The Richmond Police Department is investigating an act of vandalism at the Reagan Building, 25 E. Main St., Richmond, Virginia. A first floor window was struck by a bullet at approximately 1 a.m. on Tuesday, March 23. The building, which has several tenants including an office used by Congressman Eric Cantor, was unoccupied at the time.

A Richmond Police detective was assigned to the case. A preliminary investigation shows that a bullet was fired into the air and struck the window in a downward direction, landing on the floor about a foot from the window. The round struck with enough force to break the windowpane but did not penetrate the window blinds. There was no other damage to the room, which is used occasionally for meetings by the congressman.

The Richmond Police Department is sharing information about the incident with appropriate law enforcement agencies.
At this time there are no suspects.
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo...-vandalism.php

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/arti...s_Not_Targeted
MBTI: INTJ (rational-mastermind)

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Clip from the 1st scene
Clip from the 2nd scene

Chuck vs. the Honeymooners (3x14)
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Post#712 at 03-25-2010 11:54 PM by Wes84 [at joined Jun 2009 #posts 856]
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Quote Originally Posted by Chas'88 View Post
Agreed. I've been feeling the same about walking around in cities & towns very late at night. Even here in "quiet" Gettysburg, where recently we've been getting Townies drive-thru the campus @ night, shouting profanities & insults at the students--I often get the weight related ones--and throwing trash at us as well. Things are really starting to get nasty, and I'm starting to notice that my valley at home is not only a quiet realm away from all of that, but it's also suffocating in its own sense. Especially since I'm stuck in it taking care of Dad when I'm home.
~Chas'88
That's terrible.
What other types of insults are they giving? Are they racial, political, or sexual?
Is there anyone on the campus or in the community trying to put a stop to this?







Post#713 at 03-26-2010 12:24 AM by K-I-A 67 [at joined Jan 2005 #posts 3,010]
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Quote Originally Posted by XerTeacher View Post
I hear you. I'm usually a pacifist, James50, but I've recently been harassed on a local forum that I've been a member of for 7 years. All of a sudden, people began to take potshots at my race, gender, educational level, etc. over the past few months. They said I was arrogant and... "uppity." It was the strangest thing, but I appeased people by apologizing, and don't plan to spend much time there in the future.

Things are growing unsafe. Seriously, I feel as if my little corner of the world is like Rivendell or Lothlorien in the Third Age of Middle-earth. There are places that I used to feel safe traveling that I wouldn't travel to alone anymore in this skin. Maybe it's all in my mind, but the world has definitely changed. It's enough to encourage me to speak softy, but carry a great big stick.
For what it's worth, I've never viewed you a being arrogant or uppity. You have always come across to me as being quite genuine and openly honest about your views and takes on things.







Post#714 at 03-26-2010 01:29 AM by Chas'88 [at In between Pennsylvania & Pennsyltucky joined Nov 2008 #posts 9,432]
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Quote Originally Posted by Wes84 View Post
That's terrible.
What other types of insults are they giving? Are they racial, political, or sexual?
Is there anyone on the campus or in the community trying to put a stop to this?
They've been known to insult some of our black students & a few girls (calling them sluts & whores).

Last night I caught their license plate number and reported it to the campus police. They're aware and are doing "as much as they can". Still it doesn't stop me from imagining setting up a trap that'll send their red pick-up flying off the road and land them right into the little creek behind the fraternities aptly named "the Tiber"--(we always see things from the fraternities floating in "the Tiber" that we'd rather not know exactly where they came from). Ahh, one can imagine.

~Chas'88
Last edited by Chas'88; 03-26-2010 at 01:32 AM.
"There have always been people who say: "The war will be over someday." I say there's no guarantee the war will ever be over. Naturally a brief intermission is conceivable. Maybe the war needs a breather, a war can even break its neck, so to speak. But the kings and emperors, not to mention the pope, will always come to its help in adversity. ON the whole, I'd say this war has very little to worry about, it'll live to a ripe old age."







Post#715 at 03-26-2010 06:10 AM by Wayneh56 [at Canada joined Mar 2010 #posts 495]
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The problem with violence is that it tends to escalate, in a one up sort of way. Acts of violence and retribution get worse and more deadly with every incident.

Those who incite violence, or even condone the use of violence to achieve their own goals, are wrong. It's the responsibility of everyone, regardless of their position on the artificial and very simplistic left-right scale, to speak out against violence and threats of violence of all types.

In a 4T, events can spiral out of control very quickly should the turning take a violent direction. 4Ts can be very violent, but they can also be times when people who disagree on policies can agree to unite toward peace and condemning violent acts of all types. Instead of inciteing violence and retribution, it is better to work toward peaceful solutions. There are so many problems in America needing solutions that taking extreme positions does little to solve them.

There are workable solutions that can be achieved with imagination and creativity. Instead, we have polarization and threats. That is not healthy for America or for any of its citizens, regardless of their political positions.







Post#716 at 03-26-2010 09:14 AM by Odin [at Moorhead, MN, USA joined Sep 2006 #posts 14,442]
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Quote Originally Posted by XerTeacher View Post
I hear you. I'm usually a pacifist, James50, but I've recently been harassed on a local forum that I've been a member of for 7 years. All of a sudden, people began to take potshots at my race, gender, educational level, etc. over the past few months. They said I was arrogant and... "uppity." It was the strangest thing, but I appeased people by apologizing, and don't plan to spend much time there in the future.

Things are growing unsafe. Seriously, I feel as if my little corner of the world is like Rivendell or Lothlorien in the Third Age of Middle-earth. There are places that I used to feel safe traveling that I wouldn't travel to alone anymore in this skin. Maybe it's all in my mind, but the world has definitely changed. It's enough to encourage me to speak softy, but carry a great big stick.

I'm reminded of Claude McKay's poem, "If We Must Die"...



http://www.wsu.edu/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/mckay.html
Christ Almightly! Stay safe, XT.
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.

-Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism







Post#717 at 03-26-2010 09:17 AM by James50 [at Atlanta, GA US joined Feb 2010 #posts 3,605]
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Quote Originally Posted by 85turtle View Post
Cantor (R-VA) was completely lying about violence against him
It is important to be skeptical. I am glad this looks like almost nothing. Still, I think the venom ("completely lying") toward Cantor is a little off. A place he meets is found with a window smashed and a bullet on the floor. The man is not a ballistics expert. Given the current climate, if I had been him, I would have assumed the worst as well. And the question still remains, where did the bullet come from?

One thing we can do to avoid the Armageddon, the thought of which seems to energize both left and right, to is at least try to assume people's good intentions.

James50
Last edited by James50; 03-26-2010 at 09:20 AM.
The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected. - G.K. Chesterton







Post#718 at 03-26-2010 09:18 AM by James50 [at Atlanta, GA US joined Feb 2010 #posts 3,605]
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Quote Originally Posted by Wayneh56 View Post
The problem with violence is that it tends to escalate, in a one up sort of way. Acts of violence and retribution get worse and more deadly with every incident.

There are workable solutions that can be achieved with imagination and creativity. Instead, we have polarization and threats. That is not healthy for America or for any of its citizens, regardless of their political positions.
You are speaking my language!

James50
The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected. - G.K. Chesterton







Post#719 at 03-26-2010 09:47 AM by Brian Rush [at California joined Jul 2001 #posts 12,392]
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The reason many of us are more worried about the right in terms of political violence is not because the left is incapable of it (jeez, didn't the Awakening prove to the contrary?) but because at this time the right is losing the political battle, and it's Crisis-era normal (and a visible projection) that they're going to go on doing so for a while. The left has no reason to turn to violence; the political process is working for us.

Moreover, all of the semi-organized militias around the country are right-wing. So it's a reasonable fear that as progressives continue to win, as the effort to repeal health-care reform fails, as Republicans fail to score a big win this year, the right may come to see revolution as their only course of action. That isn't going to happen before the fall elections, I think, and it may not happen at all; we may see nothing beyond relatively minor things such as are occurring right now. I'm not willing to bet on it, though.
"And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?"

My blog: https://brianrushwriter.wordpress.com/

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Post#720 at 03-26-2010 10:02 AM by KaiserD2 [at David Kaiser '47 joined Jul 2001 #posts 5,220]
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It's funny listening to Roadbldr. I learned to shoot an M-16 in basic training for the Army Reserves. In fact, I became extremely good at it--I was one of the best shots in the company. But that was an extremely structured environment. You loaded, took your rifle off safety, and fired only on command, and woe betide the soldier who did anything unauthorized. And despite everything that is happening, I cannot imagine wanting a firearm in my home or using it now. This impulse is probably at the heart of my long-running disputes with Neil Howe, who not only expects, but in some sense would welcome, a fairly large-scale war as part of the 4T. I've lived through enough war, thank you. I also believe that civilization has reached the stage where we should be able to leave lethal violence to our duly constituted authorities. It may indeed be a great challenge to deal with whatever may come up here at home over the next ten years.







Post#721 at 03-26-2010 10:25 AM by TnT [at joined Feb 2005 #posts 2,005]
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Quote Originally Posted by kurthi View Post
The word "bet" is not a declarative statement of fact.

1bet
Pronunciation: \ˈbet\
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: 1592
1 a : something that is laid, staked, or pledged typically between two parties on the outcome of a contest or a contingent issue : wager —often used figuratively in such phrases as all bets are off to stress the uncertainty of an outcome b : the act of giving such a pledge
2 : something to wager on
3 : a choice made by consideration of probabilities <your best bet is the back road>


Therefore I have nothing to prove. you can disprove to your hearts content.

As a relatively new "member" of this forum, I would caution you: Weasel words like these will not get you off the hook on this forum.
" ... a man of notoriously vicious and intemperate disposition."







Post#722 at 03-26-2010 10:38 AM by kurthi [at SE PA joined Mar 2010 #posts 19]
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Quote Originally Posted by TnT View Post
As a relatively new "member" of this forum, I would caution you: Weasel words like these will not get you off the hook on this forum.

Thank you for the "warm" welcome to the forum. As a new "member", I will attempt to take your warnings to heart.
There is a difference between a man who knows all and a man who is a know it all. Nobody likes a know it all!

SCTV “Mr. Know-It-All: The Life of Nostradamus







Post#723 at 03-26-2010 10:39 AM by James50 [at Atlanta, GA US joined Feb 2010 #posts 3,605]
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Quote Originally Posted by Brian Rush View Post
The reason many of us are more worried about the right in terms of political violence is not because the left is incapable of it (jeez, didn't the Awakening prove to the contrary?) but because at this time the right is losing the political battle, and it's Crisis-era normal (and a visible projection) that they're going to go on doing so for a while. The left has no reason to turn to violence; the political process is working for us.

Moreover, all of the semi-organized militias around the country are right-wing. So it's a reasonable fear that as progressives continue to win, as the effort to repeal health-care reform fails, as Republicans fail to score a big win this year, the right may come to see revolution as their only course of action. That isn't going to happen before the fall elections, I think, and it may not happen at all; we may see nothing beyond relatively minor things such as are occurring right now. I'm not willing to bet on it, though.
As you know, I am not near as sanguine about dem prospects this fall, but we will find out soon enough. I think the big concern on the right is that some of the violence buzz is being ginned up to silence and discredit criticism from the right. Like I keep saying - be skeptical about news reports. Some of it is political theatre.

As far as betting on something: in a 4T, any bets are risky. Despite our best efforts, the future is unknowable.

James50
The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected. - G.K. Chesterton







Post#724 at 03-26-2010 10:40 AM by ASB65 [at Texas joined Mar 2010 #posts 5,892]
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Originally Posted by XerTeacher
I hear you. I'm usually a pacifist, James50, but I've recently been harassed on a local forum that I've been a member of for 7 years. All of a sudden, people began to take potshots at my race, gender, educational level, etc. over the past few months. They said I was arrogant and... "uppity." It was the strangest thing, but I appeased people by apologizing, and don't plan to spend much time there in the future.

Things are growing unsafe. Seriously, I feel as if my little corner of the world is like Rivendell or Lothlorien in the Third Age of Middle-earth. There are places that I used to feel safe traveling that I wouldn't travel to alone anymore in this skin. Maybe it's all in my mind, but the world has definitely changed. It's enough to encourage me to speak softy, but carry a great big stick.
This is the most distrubing thing about the environment in which we are living in this country right now. Legally we have freedom of speech in this country, however, as noted, people are afraid to exercise this right for their own personal safety. Scary, scary times.







Post#725 at 03-26-2010 11:41 AM by Silifi [at Green Bay, Wisconsin joined Jun 2007 #posts 1,741]
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Quote Originally Posted by wtrg8 View Post
We are now allowing an intent to do something rule the day. .
Doesn't intent to do something always rule the day?

Yes, people should be held responsible for taking part in irresponsible actions, but you can't claim that someone's been targeted unless there is actual targeting being done. Targeting requires intent.

And I find it very hard to believe that there exists a shooter that is so awesome that he knows how to arc a bullet into a window.
-----------------------------------------