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Vinnie

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Sometimes your day job gets in the way. He did tweet recently that he'd spent two days writing so there is hope...
 

hayman

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Whoa, tell us what you really think, Scott.:D
 

Robin Reeve

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Mark certainly puts the right priority on his job at the ADL.
Informing about the increase of antisemitic crimes and of supremacist movements is more important even than the best game in the world.
And the level of hate that usually bursts against Mark when he posts here - whatever he posts - doesn't help him to interact on this forum.
 

Aaron Cleavin

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Mark certainly puts the right priority on his job at the ADL.
Informing about the increase of antisemitic crimes and of supremacist movements is more important even than the best game in the world.
And the level of hate that usually bursts against Mark when he posts here - whatever he posts - doesn't help him to interact on this forum.
I actually think both Paul and Scott were being supportive of Mark in their posts as is quite appropriate. Mark is a man of strong intellect and opinions ( many of which I agree with), and those types are going to find enemies as well as friends.
 

Robin Reeve

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Paul is not a polemical poster, anyway.
Scott is supportive to Mark today.
When he opposed him, he was not among the worst forumites.
I am speaking of rabid, hate filled attacks which go much further than respectable opposition.
If Marks posts something here some day which expresses his opinion, you will probably see what I am speaking about.
 

Paul M. Weir

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I actually think both Paul and Scott were being supportive of Mark in their posts as is quite appropriate.
That indeed was my intent.
Paul is not a polemical poster, anyway.
You clearly have not read much of mine in the Politics forum :p!

I do sometimes find Pitman's style quite annoying, but having said that, his opinions are usually worth careful consideration at the very least. He, however, is the type who you would serve you very well in a civil rights case. While I miss his reviews, I recognise his time is far better spent in his 'day job'.
 

Vinnie

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It was on;ly once I started following his Twitter feed that I understood how he would find some of the posts here frustrating. When yopu deal with that sort of thing in real life, having it impinge on your relaxation must be very frustrating.
He, more than most of us, must have seen the effect of unchallenged hate speach.
 

Philippe D.

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You clearly have not read much of mine in the Politics forum :p!
I admit I don't follow the Politics forum, but if your posts there are very different from what they are here, then it's even better; it speaks volumes of your self-restraint in that you keep comments to the appropriate forum at all times.
 

Ganjulama

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I admit I don't follow the Politics forum, but if your posts there are very different from what they are here, then it's even better; it speaks volumes of your self-restraint in that you keep comments to the appropriate forum at all times.
It would be nice if others were so considerate :). I don't come here for politics. That is why there is a politics specific forum.
 

Michael Dorosh

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It was on;ly once I started following his Twitter feed that I understood how he would find some of the posts here frustrating. When yopu deal with that sort of thing in real life, having it impinge on your relaxation must be very frustrating.
Yeah, free speech is a bitch.
He, more than most of us, must have seen the effect of unchallenged hate speach.
People often see what they want to see, particularly if it is good for their business.
 

Aaron Cleavin

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Yeah, free speech is a bitch.
Free as in Beer, as in Sex, as in Speech?

Free speech is not an unconditional freedom, the bounds and conditions are tortuous to establish.

There are also freedoms not to be subject to hateful abuse, not to be subject to repeated does of propaganda with no basis in fact,
not to have sleep destroyed by loudspeakers at night, not to be subject to teenagers in the house with Death metal at 110db (and here we start to get boundary conditions, is 70db OK?)

Now as I type this I think I maybe, as above, we should move the discussion to the politics forum, so if you wish to continue a well spirited conversation on this please do start a thread there.

People often see what they want to see, particularly if it is good for their business.
I'm not sure I understand this, if you imply that Mark is seeing hate in speech where there is none in order to stir the pot I would beg to disagree and suggest you offer evidence. Sometimes challenging small things that were not intended as slurs is actually quite important.
For example many year ago Mark challenged my usage of a three letter abbreviation which I did not have an awareness had a really pejorative connotation in the USA and I was glad to be made aware of this
 

Michael Dorosh

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Free as in Beer, as in Sex, as in Speech?

Free speech is not an unconditional freedom, the bounds and conditions are tortuous to establish.
I'm confident we agree on this.

I'm not sure I understand this, if you imply that Mark is seeing hate in speech where there is none in order to stir the pot I would beg to disagree and suggest you offer evidence.
Jordan Peterson would say it so much better than I ever could. I have no specific examples of Mark directly doing that, really just thinking in general terms of the trend of the pendulum swinging too far these days into what we can - and in some cases, are compelled - to say.

However, I took a quick peek at his Twitter feed mentioned above. I see a series of links to an article to someone in Arizona - a public servant - who stated that the culture of the US is changing due to immigration, and that the character of the country is changing as a result.

On its face, that statement seems reasonable, and we are experiencing something like it in Canada. I've certainly heard it expressed that those of European ancestry will be outnumbered as a proportion of the overall population if present rates and origins of immigration continue.

On it's own, this statement is mostly just mathematical facts. The effect on culture, I'm not willing to say, if the culture changed, could be a good thing, but who knows if it would even affect our culture at all. If someone wanted to make the argument that it would, I should think it reasonable to go ahead and let them do so. I'd say it's important to assess the impacts of public policy and to do that, you must be free to have the discussion.

Nonetheless, the news sources reporting on the fellow in AZ chose to interpret the comments as hate speech and as racism.

I think it's dangerous when you start seeing race as an issue in matters where race is actually incidental. Or telling people you can't even talk about major issues for fear of causing offence.
 
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JRKrejsa

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In spite of being quite political, I rarely post here, or in the politics section about politics.

ASL is one of the ways I relax, I don’t want to fight here.

It is also one of the few places where Americans of different political convictions still meet and talk. I wish there were more.
 

Paul M. Weir

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I admit I don't follow the Politics forum, but if your posts there are very different from what they are here, then it's even better; it speaks volumes of your self-restraint in that you keep comments to the appropriate forum at all times.
Why, thank you for that!

In the non-politics sections I try to provide facts, both to pad out readers' knowledge and to stimulate their own curiosity and research/reading. I do provide my opinions with some emotion thrown in, but mainly of the type like "The Japanese were insane to start their conquests, they didn't have a chance" or "Zittadelle was doomed from the start", that type of thing.

In the politics I have gone from discussing the nature and limits of the universe and what is reality, to very, very bitter condemnation and ridicule of "INDIVIDUAL 1". I can look at history with a cold if jaundiced eye, time blurs the pain of those involved, but what is happening now, to people still alive (eg Kiddie Kages) does get my anger up.

I only get emotional about things that I might have some chance of affecting, however utterly miniscule the influence my diatribes might possibly have. It helps keep me sane.
 
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