Geoff > Status Update

I guess the monthly terrorist attacks and immigrant crime waves in France are just a small price to pay for "the progress of the human experiment".

Niklas wrote: "I guess the monthly terrorist attacks and immigrant crime waves in France are just a small price to pay for "the progress of the human experiment"."

No, but I'd rather live in a free and open liberal society with a certain amount of risk than a militarized police state that oppresses all difference and dissent. I'm far more likely to die being struck by lightning than in a terrorist attack.

But at the end of the day, it's all the fault of capitalism/imperialism. Seems as though Melenchon was the only candidate really willing to address that. Granted I don't know as much about the situation in France, the fact the FN would consider Trump part of their movement is immediately disqualifying.

Honestly, if you live in the US or Sweden, etc. and go out in the world every day scared you are going to be killed in a terrorist attack, you're fucking hysterical, and watch too much Fox News/InfoWars. I go to work every day within sight of the US Capitol Building, and I don't even think about dying from terrorism. I'm far more concerned with USofA citizens with handguns and drug problems than I give a shit about immigrants with hijabs. I've said it before, our crime problems and our death and murder problems are not immigrant problems. They're not problems with people having too much freedom or freedom of movement or belonging to any religion or ethnicity. They're problems of income and class and exclusion.

Geoff wrote: "...I'm far more likely to die being struck by lightning than in a terrorist attack."

Hey, lightning is just God's terror.

Or Yahweh's, or Hadad's, or something.

Niklas wrote: "I guess the monthly terrorist attacks and immigrant crime waves in France are just a small price to pay for "the progress of the human experiment"."

They are the price France is paying for its past colonial ambitions. Hopefully the total cost doesn't include a Le Pen government. I'm not sure the country can afford it.

Is this still going? Seems to pop up on my feed every other week.

Harry wrote: "Is this still going? Seems to pop up on my feed every other week."

It actually stopped 2 hours and 52 minutes ago, but you had to go and start it up again. Sheesh!

Now I'm getting notifications for it. I dislike Trump. My contribution. That is all.

Manny wrote: "Niklas wrote: "I guess the monthly terrorist attacks and immigrant crime waves in France are just a small price to pay for "the progress of the human experiment"."

They are the price France is pay..."

Best response!

Harry wrote: "Is this still going? Seems to pop up on my feed every other week."

Harry, it will never die - best just to hop on the train

https://youtu.be/mdIXrcH7QLU

Manny wrote: "They are the price France is paying for its past colonial ambitions."

Oh? So the Charlie Hebdo massacre wasn't because of perceived blasphemy against Islam, but because of "past colonialism"?

I'm curious how you think the recent terror attack in Sweden which claimed the life of an 11-year old girl, among others, was our own fault too.

Geoff wrote: "Honestly, if you live in the US or Sweden, etc. and go out in the world every day scared you are going to be killed in a terrorist attack, you're fucking hysterical, and watch too much Fox News/Inf..."

I'm not overly concerned about terrorism in Sweden, although it's certainly been ramped up in France, and it'll only get worse as the Muslim population increases.

What I am more concerned about is demographics and how it's changing Europe as we know it. I have already previously talked about how Sweden has become a less safe country, the massive social problems facing us and how the welfare state is buckling under the pressure of having to take care of a whole new underclass of people, so I won't bother going through it all again. I won't pretend to know everything that's going on in France but I imagine they are facing similar problems.

It's a very different situation than in the US and comparisons always get messy, I think. What frustrates me the most though is people who have read so many books yet still lack the empathy and awareness to even entertain the notion of why someone would vote against the established neoliberal order and instead just de-humanize them as "bad people".

Niklas wrote: "Manny wrote: "They are the price France is paying for its past colonial ambitions."

Oh? So the Charlie Hebdo massacre wasn't because of perceived blasphemy against Islam, but because of "past colo..."

You're right that comparisons are messy - and I don't know what the right represents for the average person in Sweden. In the US, the right essentially is for maintaining all the worst, exploitative, oppressive, destructive aspects of neoliberalism, while rescinding or turning back the aspects of the modern world that have egalitarian, liberating, or humanizing potential. So even if you agree that international trade deals are bad for the American worker and we need to have tighter immigration laws, etc. which are reasonable beliefs, you have to get on board with a whole load of other horrible beliefs if you vote right in the US.

Geoff wrote: "So even if you agree that international trade deals are bad for the American worker and we need to have tighter immigration laws, etc. which are reasonable beliefs, you have to get on board with a whole load of other horrible beliefs if you vote right in the US."

Agreed. This seems mostly an issue with the two party system which doesn't offer a lot of alternatives for moderate conservatives and right-wingers.

Geoff wrote: "Honestly, if you live in the US or Sweden, etc. and go out in the world every day scared you are going to be killed in a terrorist attack, you're fucking hysterical, and watch too much Fox News/Inf..."

I agree....lol...I think the problems in the US are totally internal...and nothing to do with immigrants. People need to get a grip....I am more afraid of being attacked by a citizen due to economy than by a terror attack.

Oh christ, he's so unpredictable haha

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/01/wo...

For all you folks on the fracking beat, here's the latest from my hometown. Turns out your house can fill with odorless gas and explode. Small price to pay for energy independence though.

http://www.9news.com/news/investigati...

ATJG wrote: "For all you folks on the fracking beat, here's the latest from my hometown. Turns out your house might fill with odorless gas and explode. Small price to pay for energy independence though.

http:/..."

Adelaide claims it's on track towards becoming carbon neutral. Fake news, of course. In fact Australia doesn't really exist, it's just a hoax invented by the Chinese.

Manny wrote: "ATJG wrote: "For all you folks on the fracking beat, here's the latest from my hometown. Turns out your house might fill with odorless gas and explode. Small price to pay for energy independence th..."

Wait!!! There is no Australia? Does that mean tbe same for Hawaii and the Polynesian Islands? I was so looking forward to visiting!! :(

Hawaii is some island in the Pacific where they have brown-skinned activist judges and a thriving false birth certificate industry. They say they're a state, but that's fake news too.

Manny wrote: "Hawaii is some island in the Pacific where they have brown-skinned activist judges and a thriving false birth certificate industry. They say they're a state, but that's fake news too."

lol....ok...got that straight!!! I wondered where the fake birth cetificates came from....I had thought they came from one of the Dakotas...lol

The one with the killer water hazard! Now I remember.

Wonderful, devastating article on Syria in the latest n+1

https://nplusonemag.com/issue-28/poli...

Torture is not an inevitable element of war. Its use was not universal in ancient societies, and it was banned in nearly all of Western Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries... Torture is accepted by the Syrian regime because it is currently accepted by most regimes, usually in practice and sometimes in theory, too. The Republican Party in the United States is currently one of those regimes.

David wrote: "Wonderful, devastating article on Syria in the latest n+1

https://nplusonemag.com/issue-28/poli...

Torture is not an inevitable element of war. Its use was not universal..."

Interesting observations. I certainly agree with you about the republican party as well. They more I listen to them the more I realize that they don't care if people even die because they can't get medical care. I wish I lived in a different country right now.

Congratulations to President Donald J Trump and the House of Representatives on passing the American Health Care Act of 2017, a major victory for his administration and the Republican agenda!

Also, congratulations to that falcon I saw earlier swoop down and eviscerate and devour a nest of baby squirrels - it's a major victory for the falcon agenda!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...

Geoff wrote: "https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/......"

I wonder how many of the people who voted for Trump are going to die as a direct result of having done so? If this bill passes, I'm sure we'll be seeing estimates soon. Followed in due course by actual deaths.

Manny wrote: "Geoff wrote: "https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/......"

I'm sure he'll put a nice spin on it - "Heaven's only second in comfort to Mar-a-lago, they're better off dead - it's tremendous."

Geoff wrote: "Manny wrote: "Geoff wrote: "https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/......"

Oh, I think the administration will just deny that anyone is dying as a result of the new policies. It'll be more fake news. Heck, if you can deny climate change and claim that five million of the people who voted for your opponent did so illegally, then this will be a piece of cake.

It's possible though that the American public will see it differently.

Geoff wrote: "https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/......"

Well, I only go to the doctor's every single week, partially covered by the AHCA, so I'm, um, fucked. So much for that.

Anyone tell me what a fifth of vodka is going for these days? 'Cause that's pretty much gonna have to be my new alternative.

Manny wrote: "Geoff wrote: "Manny wrote: "Geoff wrote: "https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/......"

Manny, I wish that were possible. The American public is primed and ready for this. The nihilism here and the chaos of narratives has reached proportions sufficient to the day.

God that article is bleak, Geoff...

There's something weird happening with this thread.

Cody wrote: "There's something weird happening with this thread."

The notifications? All fuxered here too.

Cody wrote: "There's something weird happening with this thread."

Goodreads is sick. Luckily Bezos is the second richest man on earth so his babies will have health care.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forrest...

ATJG wrote: "Cody wrote: "There's something weird happening with this thread."

The notifications? All fuxered here too."

No. Posts randomly deleted then reappearing. Are they going through a review process now? I thought he was a visual learner.

Hey dumbfuck Americans, when are you going to wake up and smell the con? When your parents and siblings and kids and friends start dying? When you're still under- or unemployed in a few years? When the rich start feasting even more on your fucking money (the AHCA by the way, is just another scam to filter money from the poor to the super-rich) - when is enough enough? Read the fucking print - the Republicans are literally robbing you blind and killing you and laughing all the way to their banks. Again, when is enough enough?

Cody wrote: "No. Posts randomly deleted then reappearing. Are they going through a revi..."

Your two posts above showed up in my notifications, then all notifications for this thread disappeared and reappeared about a minute later.

Geoff wrote: "Hey dumbfuck Americans, when are you going to wake up and smell the con? When your parents and siblings and kids and friends start dying? When you're still under- or unemployed in a few years? When..."

I think people are going to get it pretty soon. So a war is needed, right? Then if they complain, they're unpatriotic.

Geoff wrote: "Hey dumbfuck Americans, when are you going to wake up and smell the con? When your parents and siblings and kids and friends start dying? When you're still under- or unemployed in a few years? When..."

The answer to these questions, I'm truly afraid, is resounding silence. Or a chaos of whimpers. Either way the result will be the same.

ATJG wrote: "Cody wrote: "No. Posts randomly deleted then reappearing. Are they going through a revi..."

Your two posts above showed up in my notifications, then all notifications for this thread disappeared a..."

Yep. That's the new Ekwelist approval system.

Manny wrote: "Geoff wrote: "Hey dumbfuck Americans, when are you going to wake up and smell the con? When your parents and siblings and kids and friends start dying? When you're still under- or unemployed in a f..."

That's already in the works, no worries.

The Koreans are getting kind of nervous, as well they may. We'll be visiting soon.

Manny wrote: "The Koreans are getting kind of nervous, as well they may. We'll be visiting soon."

Ny next-door neighbors? Nah, Steve and Rose are cool.

Christopher wrote: "Very aggressive Geoff, you seem to harbor a hatred towards Mr Trump. You must like all aspects of uncontrolled illegal immigration, the masses of crime that goes with it, expensive health care, ris..."

Hey congrats Christopher, that was officially the stupidest fucking comment on this entire endless thread. Proves my point about being dumb as shit and supporting Trump. Go hand in hand like trickle down economics and increases in poverty. Good luck voting against your own interests!

"Snowflake liberals" lol at least use your own language you asshole - they even own your language. Pathetic.

Christopher wrote: "Very aggressive Geoff, you seem to harbor a hatred towards Mr Trump. You must like all aspects of uncontrolled illegal immigration, the masses of crime that goes with it, expensive health care, ris..."

Christopher,

I was going to defend your right to express your dissent from Geoff's opinion and even congratulate you for sticking up for your beliefs, but then I saw that you gave Bukowski 5-stars. So I'm just gonna slowly back away, back away...

Wait, Christopher, you live in NORWAY? How the fuck do you claim to know what it's like living in the US?

And about "aggressive" - nothing I'm doing in words is even in the same universe of aggression as what Republican policies would do to the American people in reality.