Edward

Enconginator,

Not ALL of those things happened to me. Some of them were just examples that people face every day. I am not arguing about what the law is. I’m arguing about what it ought to be in places where they don’t have laws that protect vulnerable marginalised people. It is up to people in those countries to decide if they have them or not.…[Read more]

I suppose God would come down from the heavens and reveal himself before Trump would give a concession speech.

Also Encog. your argument about the Ku Klux Klan is totally fallacious. Just because a group of people supported lots of terrible things doesn’t mean everything they supported was terrible nor is it the case that if they support things for the wrong reasons that the same policy is useful for the right reasons or in the right contexts. Check out rat…[Read more]

If you really believe that human beings are all fucked up, why would you trust those same human beings with the political power to decide what ideas are “dangerous” and then use political power to shut down those ideas?h

You trust the government to limit free speech when it comes to libel, contempt, interfering with the police, causing a pan…[Read more]

Brilliant, Popie, I was looking everywhere for that map – not that the people complaining actually want resolution but it’s nice to have it saved.

@unseen there’s a thread for everything, isn’t there!  I’ve been chuckling away rereading these posts. Thank fuck it’s over though.

Glen, we have to make a distinction between hate inciting gross offence and social outrage. These two may over lap but they are not the same thing. Just because you hear people loudly complaining about say a straight actor playing a gay role or things that may seem more trivial like fat shaming, and while I agree on the cumulative that can become…[Read more]

Indeed, in addition to laws against publishing pornography, laws against fraud…

…perjury, causing a panic, inciting a crime, speech that interferes with a police investigation, libel, misleading advertising, lewdness towards children, speech that causes a public disruption, speech that is in contempt of court. All of these involve penalties…[Read more]

Okay thanks Kristina for the info. I’m sure Anne Coulter’s speech was full of accurate non-inflammatory insightful constructive meaningful information. 😉

Jake I think the US has a particularly tough process to passing constitutional change (I mean the president, 2/3 of both houses AND 34 states to get a single amendment through. Yikes. It means only under the most exceptional circumstances can any even remotely contested amendments get through.

To be honest I think the two amendments the US need…[Read more]

Indeed Christina it very much depends on the country. In some countries it is an additional aspect to a crime, in some countries though it is a crime in an of itself (especially some European countries). Saying to a resident or citizen from Latino origin in Spain “fuck off you peanut…you don’t belong here…Spain is only for Spanish blood go…[Read more]

Enconginator: North American schools can be thoroughly vicious. I did part of my schooling in Canada and I can promise you it is a different universe to most (though certainly not all continental European schools). I think all of my continental European friends had never heard of vicious relentless bullying until they watched a hollywood film…[Read more]

Hate crimes are, in most countries, directed towards people of marginalised groups, almost always those with a quality that cannot be changed (ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability). Police choose to be police and can stop being police. They are not marginalised…they have more power (and in some countries where they aren’t overly violent and…[Read more]

Unseen I never said that. I don’t know who said that. Not my quote at all.

In just about every democratic country other than the United States there is no absolute free speech law. Never has been and unlikely never will be. There are limited rights in some countries and effectively in all of them there is 99.9% free speech. In most European…[Read more]

Yeah I highly doubt there will be widespread violence. My question is: if he had a realistic opportunity to stoke serious violence (thousands of deaths) would he do it…even if just to attempt to “save face”?

Unseen I know you have this strange idea that you are gifted in brevity but as your posts grow increasingly longer (and sometimes superfluous) it does make me laugh.

Encognitaor…do you still stand by your claim that the US hyperoverspending in the military has helped make Europe safer (considering your military adventures in the Middle East has clearly made life more dangerous for us?). Considering military numbers in Europe are 50,000,000 I’m curious which country would invade Europe if the US wasn’t…[Read more]