StrangeSox

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 22, 2015 -> 04:16 PM) Certainly not from our beloved central overlords in government. Which is the point. Why make the assumption that Iran must be influencing anti-gay Muslim attitudes, then? Why couldn't it be the same non-governmental source that's influencing non-Muslim anti-gay attitudes?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 22, 2015 -> 04:08 PM) Considering it is illegal, I am going with not many. Right. Germany can have war memorials, 'heritage' and historical understanding without flying Nazi flags. It doesn't completely prevent neo-Nazism but at least it doesn't provide tacit support for it, either. How many Nazi flags fly at WWII memorials period?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 22, 2015 -> 03:09 PM) I think Islam itself is a whole different ballgame as the religion is also a political structure. The government in regions dominated by it is entirely religious-based, so it is hard for people to separate them. So take the 2 guys that tried to kill Pam Gellar recently. You have a mixture of both. They were most likely acting on their own, using their interpretations of religion as the basis of the actions. But where are they getting those interpretations from? Imans, CAIR, whole governments etc. When they throw people off a roof in Iran for being gay, and a Muslim here does something anti-gay, well. Iran didn't tell him to, but he sure got the idea is was A-OK from somewhere, and it wasn't just from some corner anti-gay Muslim. Where do Christians (and other non-Muslims) who do terrible anti-gay things get their ideas from?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 22, 2015 -> 04:01 PM) Yeah, because screaming 'Quit flying that flag on top of the state capitall!' sounds just the same as 'remove that flag from your war memorial'. On how many war memorials does Germany proudly fly the Nazi flag? edit: I do like the portrayal of people who don't want the state to fly the flag of treasonous slaveholders and white supremacists as 'screaming' though.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 22, 2015 -> 03:29 PM) How about getting the words at least correct as it isn't 'flying on the state capital', but in a memorial park on capital grounds. it was removed from the capital building a few years ago. Distinction without a difference.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 22, 2015 -> 03:51 PM) Correct. But I do applaud that they are taking them down. That said, it has next to nothing to do with this shooting in my mind, other than the fact that they both involve racism. That's a stretch of a connection for me. Dylan Roof embraced that flag and the ideology it has conveyed from when it was first used in the name of the preservation and expansion of slavery to resisting the civil rights movement of the 20th century to modern-day white supremacy.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 22, 2015 -> 03:13 PM) I do agree that the institutionalized religion into government is a key difference. What about the institutionalized racial supremacy that flying a confederate flag on a state capitol represents?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 22, 2015 -> 02:13 PM) If you are a nature person, or hiker, get out to Red Rock Canyon. It is a half hour from the strip, and worth the trip. Yeah, we were just in Vegas a couple of weekends ago for my brother's wedding and took a half-day trip out there. Cool place. Can't really offer too much on top of what the others have already said. We stayed at the Luxor because 1) we had free rooms and 2) the wedding was at Mandalay Bay. If I were to go again, I'd definitely pick something on the strip and closer to the center. The recommendation to not stay south of MGM seems pretty solid. Definitely good advice to stop at a liquor store and make your own drinks/beer ahead of time, that can get really expensive really fast. If anyone wants to earn free nights at MGM properties (or discount meals, show tickets etc), you can check out MyVegas on facebook.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 22, 2015 -> 12:30 PM) Was an actual threat made? Did it deal with "terrorism?" I don't see how it's illegal for someone to be arrested for writing a racist manifesto on the internet. A building was burnt down. I was questioned because a high school friend of mine who's a (non-violent) animal rights activist was a person of interest. He got on the FBI's radar because he organized some door-to-door pamphleting at one point. The FBI has kept tabs on and broken up other right-wing militia, white supremacist and left-wing environmentalist plots in the past. They do this frequently for Islamic terrorism. This isn't necessarily an endorsement of their methods in general or in any particular case, but they absolutely keep tabs on people who write terrible things on the internet.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 22, 2015 -> 12:11 PM) They don't have the man power nor the legal authority to do anything about it though. This is false. I have first-hand experience.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 20, 2015 -> 01:33 PM) So again, what's your solution? Great we got rid of a dumb flag. You think that's stopping this guy from his hate? Should we start up some thought police? Keep tabs on anyone that has posted terrible things on the internet? Just wanted to point out that, for better or worse, this is literally what the FBI does (as well as keeping tabs on people who engage in certain types of political activity).

Trump was born into wealth and has made numerous terrible business investments.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Oct 6, 2011 -> 04:06 PM) This is obviously a "We're going to suck for 3 to 5 years so who cares" move. Prescient

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 20, 2015 -> 01:08 PM) We turn our backs on the hatred people spew on a daily basis then when it comes back in the form of a terrorist with a gun we raise our hands and say "oh how could we have known". ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yeah how stupid to examine and expose the horrible ideology behind his killings, just chalk it up to an unknowable mystery and move on.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 20, 2015 -> 12:56 PM) Except everywhere else in the developed world. We could also keep tabs on violent white supremacist groups, but some people have a problem with that.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 15, 2015 -> 10:49 AM) Bethesda went last night. Fallout 4 does look incredible. Doubt anything could ever top Fallout 3 though. FO:NV was better than FO3

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 20, 2015 -> 12:25 PM) So which is it, the confederate flag didn't cause this or the confederate flag and its history and all it represents caused (sorry, "motivated") this? This isn't very confusing. The confederate flag didn't cause this, but it is the self-adopted symbol of the ideology that did. Just like the Nazi swastika didn't cause the Holocaust but it's a symbol used by neo-nazis to mark their ideology.

But according to some we can't possibly know his motivation.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 19, 2015 -> 09:21 PM) Chris Sale should demand a trade. Trade the poor guy to a contender. He deserves a shot.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 19, 2015 -> 02:12 PM) I suppose but if it didn't cause or contribute to it why is it imperative they take it down? The symbol itself isn't a source but a representation. The swastika didn't cause Nazis to commit genocide, but it's a powerful symbol of their atrocities. Similarly, the confederate flag didn't cause the confederates to commit treason in the name of slavery or to violently oppose desegregation in the following generations, but it remains a symbol of those beliefs.

Nobody is saying that the flag created his hatred or racism, but it is absolutely a symbol of it. Why do you think he chose to wear the South African and Rhodesian flags?

Whole lotta love for Ventura in August 2012.

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