basso, respectfully, I've made the point over and over that there is no indication that rhetoric from either side motivated the shooting, but you've still falsely accused me of it more than once. please don't lecture others on evenhanded debate.
OP is exactly right, but ultimately the content of the thread proves how fruitless it is. People still trying to score political points, blame, or wallow blissfully in their tunnel vision. Too many people are too buried too deep in their 'side' to come up for air at this point. And, all due respect, you guys have let it come to this point Jeff. I understand the desire to stay as 'hands off' as possible, but ultimately, as things continue to grow, the inmates eventually start to run the asylum. This board is very, very good at showering trolls with exactly what they want.
this about sums it up. <object width="480" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.xtranormal.com/site_media/players/jwplayer.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="flashvars"value="height=390&width=480&file=http://newvideos.xtranormal.com/web_final_lo/4afec852-1cf2-11e0-a9f7-003048d69c21_8.mp4&image=http://newvideos.xtranormal.com/web_final_lo/4afec852-1cf2-11e0-a9f7-003048d69c21_8.jpg&link=http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/8251389&searchbar=false&autostart=false"/><embed src="http://www.xtranormal.com/site_media/players/jwplayer.swf" width="480" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="height=390&width=480&file=http://newvideos.xtranormal.com/web_final_lo/4afec852-1cf2-11e0-a9f7-003048d69c21_8.mp4&image=http://newvideos.xtranormal.com/web_final_lo/4afec852-1cf2-11e0-a9f7-003048d69c21_8.jpg&link=http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/8251389&searchbar=false&autostart=false"></embed></object><object width="480" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.xtranormal.com/site_media/players/embedded-xnl-stats.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.xtranormal.com/site_media/players/embedded-xnl-stats.swf" width="1" height="1" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object>
I have not seen that. Not a poster here is making that claim. They may have when the news first broke, and let's face, it's understandable. But right now, who is making that claim? And you should give credit that politicians on the left have not made that claim either. Just as there are tea party idiots on the right that think Obama was born in Indonesia, there are folks on the left who are ridiculous as well. But look at the leadership, and you don't see those sorts of claims.
So, active moderation then? But then you lose clicks, and thus might hurt Clutch's ability to generate revenue and keep the site going. Jeff did a blog a month or so ago about how Negativity fuels the internet, proof is right here and in the GARM after a loss. It generates more clicks.... The only sensible option is active moderation, IMO. DD
I don't know that I qualify as a "left winger," but I am certainly further left than, say, Refman on most issues and I was banned once for crossing the line when admonishing t_j (totally worth it ). I'm pretty sure Batman has been banned at least once too.
The identity of the new mod could remain a secret, just create a moniker, "TheNewMod" and let them have at it.
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You can stand by your feelings all you want, but I've never seen any evidence of crazy people being made into terrorists or assassins by rhetoric, extremist or otherwise. Some terrorists are sane and do what they do for a cause that they feel is worthy (i.e. Timothy McVeigh, Lee Harvey Oswald), and some are plain crazy (i.e. Loughner and John Hinckley). There are some that bridge the gap, like Nidal Hassan, that are a little imbalanced and that magnifies the cause in their eyes. The fact that you believe that extremist rhetoric leads to terrorism and assassinations, and are using this incident to make that point is just confirmation bias. Don't believe me? Substitute in "violent video games" or "gangsta rap music" in for "extremist rhetoric". See if this doesn't sound just like something that someone else with a completely different candy stick would say. I believe that the extremist rhetoric can be a bit of a release. I don't have any evidence for that, and I certainly don't expect you to believe that. But I'd love for you to step away from the issue and examine why you feel the way you do, and if you'd feel the same if it were something different. You're a teacher in LA Schools, right? Would you have the same feeling about extremist rhetoric if it was in reaction to your school board trying to severely cut school funding? I think you're letting your politics get in the way of your logic.
According to his friend, he had been obsessed with Giffords since she gave him a non-answer to his nonsensical question in 2007. According to his classmates and teachers at community college, he had acted out and threatened violence in class, and shown signs of schizophrenia. That seems to be the motivation. He did clearly use the internet, because he posted some things on his myspace page about the government controlling his grammar and too many illiterate people just before he did it. I'm not a radical libertarian in any way. (OK, maybe compared to this board, but someone has been posting a Reason article virtually every day lately, and I'd guess he's more libertarian than I am.) I think the GI Bill is great. I should have added the caveat that while our government doesn't make that much difference for the majority of Americans, it's making a huge difference for many Afghans right now. War is serious business, and it is part of politics. And that taken to either extreme, eliminating government or expanding government power to oppressive levels, can lead to Somalia or North Korea. I don't think either of those is ever being debated here. What I meant is that for the relatively narrow band of political talk in this country, it doesn't make much difference for very many people. People get into politics to make a difference, but that difference is mostly on the margins. That's why, when I've worked on losing election campaigns, we smiled, congratulated the winner, and threatened to get them next time.
Now, I've only just recently started to actively post in the D&D and I've noticed it's almost as bad as the NBA Dish's T-Mac thread. Two sides: members zealously defending their own side and violently attacking the other. They do not accept nor respect their respective opponents' reasons so they just blindly attack and that is ALL they do. That is exactly what happens here in the D&D. Some of you people just google just random-ass fact on the internet that has NOTHING to do with anything, but hey; if it makes Obama or Palin look like a complete asshat, then let's roll with it right? It's funny how someone starts a thread about a shooting; a national tragedy caused by a SINGLE insane person. It was NOT motivated by politics or religion or any of that crap. And SOMEHOW, Muslims get involved. Seriously, wtf? And then all this crap about gun control and this other bull****. First of all: one instance does not speak for the whole situation. Just because the Clippers happen to beat the Heat once, does not mean they are automatically better than them or could possibly do it again. It is what it is, a random occurrence. It's also saddening to see the lot of blindly devote yourself to your political side. NO respect at all for the other side, and you completely ignore all legitimate facts that do happen to come up and you counter with a random fact that probably has nothing to do with whatever fact was proposed. I mean is it really that hard to come up with your OWN opinion? Don't blindly defend your affiliation like a zealous moron.
