Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats

[Null]

The kind of people who have the drive to take the power they desire are often also the kind of people to decide that certain rules don't apply to them. This is seen in a variety of situations.

Also, the age of consent is very much a an artificial cultural construct, and not a biological fact. In Austria, Germany, Portugal and Italy, the age of consent is 14. In Korea, it's 13. In the Phillipines, it is apparently 12.

Be that as it may, the age in the US where you are considered an adult is 18. Many states do have a lower age of consent, though those are often conditional (ie the lower age of consent doesn't apply if the partner / potential partner is over 18). I remember Dr. Drew on LoveLine saying that the average* age of biological adulthood for young women is around 16, and that he considered 15 and younger to still mentally, emotionally, and physically to be a child. I think we can agree that, in this day and age, in the USA, no one over 16 should be having any kind of romantic contact with a 13 year old.

* - I don't know if his average was mean, median, or mode, or how biological maturity was determined, though I think it had something to do with stabilized hormone levels and scans of the brain; perhaps by age 16 it had developed enough to be considered 'adult'.

 

[PatrThom]

In other news, Apple has been granted a patent for technology that emits an infrared signal that disables Apple products from being able to record videos or take pictures. Supposedly they did this in response to people taking videos and pictures instead of watching concerts. And while I think that's pretty great for that, I think there's a LOT of room for abuse with this technology. Like police getting a hold of this to prevent anyone from recording them or criminals disabling security cameras (the tech could be altered to cover more than just Apple products.)

Here's a link, for anyone who is curious.
I don't expect this is a thing that will cause much issue, as it is something which should be easily defeated.

--Patrick

 

[Dave]

I'd rather continue to be a nobody than to be like these guys. To paraphrase the bible, "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"

 

[PatrThom]

I'd rather continue to be a nobody than to be like these guys. To paraphrase the bible, "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"

It shall not profit a man
If he gain the whole world
And lose his own soul
Can't ever hear that quote without remembering where I first heard it.

--Patrick

 

[GasBandit]

Be that as it may, the age in the US where you are considered an adult is 18.

I was not disputing what the law is, but rather pointing out that it is an arbitrary cultural construct in response to what was admittedly probably a rhetorical question about how someone could do this.

The only reason that we consider sex with someone under the age of consent to be revolting is because we are societally programmed to do so, and cultural programming takes to some better than others.

See also: NAMBLA.

 

[Dei]

But I mean, teenagers are so... Young... And annoying... And I can't even stand being near them, never mind having sex with them.

 

[Null]

I was not disputing what the law is, but rather pointing out that it is an arbitrary cultural construct in response to what was admittedly probably a rhetorical question about how someone could do this.

The only reason that we consider sex with someone under the age of consent to be revolting is because we are societally programmed to do so, and cultural programming takes to some better than others.

See also: NAMBLA.

It's also about abuse of authority and the ability to choose. As a minor, someone underage cannot give consent to an adult because they don't have the authority. Someone with authority and power, using someone who cannot consent, is by its very nature a predatory act. And that makes it repulsive.

And just because something's a social construct doesn't make it a bad thing. Humanity survives because of social constructs. Civilization depends on social constructs. If not for social constructs, we'd still be hunter-gathering, with knapped flint or obsidian being the apex of technology. Or, more likely, extinct, because individuals are less likely to survive an ice age than a social group that functions together and shares resources.

 

[GasBandit]

But I mean, teenagers are so... Young... And annoying... And I can't even stand being near them, never mind having sex with them.

He probably thought of a way to shut them up.

It's also about abuse of authority and the ability to choose. As a minor, someone underage cannot give consent to an adult because they don't have the authority. Someone with authority and power, using someone who cannot consent, is by its very nature a predatory act. And that makes it repulsive.

Again, all of that is "nurture, not nature," and specific only to our culture and this time period.

And just because something's a social construct doesn't make it a bad thing.

Oh, I'm definitely not saying that. I'm not trying to justify, I'm trying to explain. Some think desires that adhere to cultural programming are innate to human nature, when often the opposite is true : Humans, without the benefit of societal programming, cultural brainwashing, and a social structure based on rules can easily revert to feral beasts whose impulses are to kill everything they can't fuck. Social and cultural constructs are the very basis of civilization, as you say - but that doesn't mean they are automatically applied to each human in utero. You have to teach a child right from wrong. You have to teach a child not to hit, to share, to be reasonable, when their obvious initial predilection is to do the contrary.

 

[Null]

He probably thought of a way to shut them up.

Again, all of that is "nurture, not nature," and specific only to our culture and this time period.


Oh, I'm definitely not saying that. I'm not trying to justify, I'm trying to explain. Some think desires that adhere to cultural programming are innate to human nature, when often the opposite is true : Humans, without the benefit of societal programming, cultural brainwashing, and a social structure based on rules can easily revert to feral beasts whose impulses are to kill everything they can't fuck. Social and cultural constructs are the very basis of civilization, as you say - but that doesn't mean they are automatically applied to each human in utero. You have to teach a child right from wrong. You have to teach a child not to hit, to share, to be reasonable, when their obvious initial predilection is to do the contrary.

Okay, fair enough. Trump definitely seems like he was never taught any of that - he obviously feels justified in doing whatever, and has no concept of consequences.

 

[Calleja]

It is pretty obvious that the majority of people in power are precisely the people that should be furthest from it, the sociopaths and morally bankrupt, but it's the only kind that actually seeks powerful positions. It's a vicious circle.

Presidencies and Prime Ministries and whatnot should be seen as an obligation, not a privilege. It'd be an interesting exercise to make it a position with low salary and little privileges, so only those who really want to make a difference actually end up there. Every politician should study Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus at least, like a test to be eligible to be eligible. Or something.

 

[GasBandit]

Okay, fair enough. Trump definitely seems like he was never taught any of that - he obviously feels justified in doing whatever, and has no concept of consequences.

Affluenza, for sure.

 

[AshburnerX]

It is pretty obvious that the majority of people in power are precisely the people that should be furthest from it, the sociopaths and morally bankrupt, but it's the only kind that actually seeks powerful positions. It's a vicious circle.

Presidencies and Prime Ministries and whatnot should be seen as an obligation, not a privilege. It'd be an interesting exercise to make it a position with low salary and little privileges, so only those who really want to make a difference actually end up there. Every politician should study Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus at least, like a test to be eligible to be eligible. Or something.

The Order of Cincinnati approves.

 

[GasBandit]

A 19 year old palestinian broke into an Israeli home and stabbed a 13 year old American citizen to death in her bed. Long past time to drain that swamp, and put to rest any notion of there ever being a possibility of a so-called palestinian state.

Japan's top court has approved blanket surveillance of all muslims in Japan.

 

[AshburnerX]

Did this get posted? Supreme Court rules that Pharmacies must dispense Plan B medication to women.

The justices' order leaves in place rules first adopted in 2007 following reports that some women had been denied access to emergency contraceptives that are effective when taken within a few days of unprotected sex. Pharmacies must fill lawful prescriptions, but individual pharmacists with moral objections can refer patients to another pharmacist, as long as it's at the same store.

A 19 year old palestinian broke into an Israeli home and stabbed a 13 year old American citizen to death in her bed. Long past time to drain that swamp, and put to rest any notion of there ever being a possibility of a so-called palestinian state.

Japan's top court has approved blanket surveillance of all muslims in Japan.

Not surprised on Japan; they're infamously suspicious of gaijin to the point that even Japanese citizens of foreign birth (and those descended from them) are tracked and recorded by the government differently than full-blooded Japanese.

 

[Null]

Did this get posted? Supreme Court rules that Pharmacies must dispense Plan B medication to women.





Not surprised on Japan; they're infamously suspicious of gaijin to the point that even Japanese citizens of foreign birth (and those descended from them) are tracked and recorded by the government differently than full-blooded Japanese.

Hell, descendants of Koreans taken by the Japanese as POWs / sex slaves during World War II are still considered foreign citizens and have to carry a passport inside Japan, even if they're 3/4 Japanese, were born in Japan, only speak Japanese, etc.

To quote a friend of mine, who spent many years teaching in Japan and is married to a Japanese woman, "The Japanese did not *invent* racism, but they have embraced it as their own."

 

[blotsfan]

A 19 year old palestinian broke into an Israeli home and stabbed a 13 year old American citizen to death in her bed. Long past time to drain that swamp, and put to rest any notion of there ever being a possibility of a so-called palestinian state.

I'm Jewish and support Israel's right to exist, but come on man.

 

[GasBandit]

I'm Jewish and support Israel's right to exist, but come on man.

Yasir Arafat walked away from the Camp David Accords, which would have given the palestinians everything he asked for, because its only requirement was that it be recognized that Israel has a right to exist. "Well, that was a long time ago. Since then, surely they ha.." Since then, the Palestinians have made Hamas their official governmental entity.

There is no peace that they will accept that does not include all the Jews gone.

And the neighboring Arab nations don't take in Palestinian refugees because they're too useful. It serves the desires they dare not speak out loud to have a perpetually "victimized" palestinian underclass ever more willing and eager to violently attack Israel at the slightest opportunity.

 

[blotsfan]

Hamas is slime and must be removed, and I hold no love for the surrounding arab countries. It doesn't change though that there are people in the west bank and gaza strip who are being treated like shit through no fault of their own.

 

[GasBandit]

Hamas is slime and must be removed, and I hold no love for the surrounding arab countries. It doesn't change though that there are people in the west bank and gaza strip who are being treated like shit through no fault of their own.

And how does that support the concept of a palestinian state in a way that won't further endanger the lives of Israelis?

 

[Frank]

It shall not profit a man
If he gain the whole world
And lose his own soul
Can't ever hear that quote without remembering where I first heard it.

--Patrick

I don't even have to look at that link to know it's Castlevania. Oh shit, I'm wrong!

 

[GasBandit]

Concealed carrier stops mass shooting outside SC nightclub.

 

[Frank]

Concealed carrier stops mass shooting outside SC nightclub.

More like insane wild west incident happens in 2016. 4 people shot.

 

[GasBandit]

More like insane wild west incident happens in 2016. 4 people shot.

When seconds matter, the police are minutes away.

 

[Dave]

Yay! A good gun nut who was in the right place at the right time! Totally makes up for all the BAD gun nuts who kill people.

 

[GasBandit]

Yay! A good gun nut who was in the right place at the right time! Totally makes up for all the BAD gun nuts who kill people.

I'm not saying it "makes up" for anything, I'm just trying to even out the signal ratio here a little. Notice this got a tiny article on the website of a local TV station.

If the good guy hadn't been there, it might have been on national news, and posted in the mass shooting thread.

Kinda makes you wonder how many other such situations are stopped in a similar manner that don't get any media attention, either.

 

[Dave]

I'm not saying it "makes up" for anything, I'm just trying to even out the signal ratio here a little. Notice this got a tiny article on the website of a local TV station.

If the good guy hadn't been there, it might have been on national news, and posted in the mass shooting thread.

Kinda makes you wonder how many other such situations are stopped in a similar manner that don't get any media attention, either.

I saw that story in several locations. The NRA and gun nuts in general do their level best to make sure this stuff gets reported.

 

[GasBandit]

I saw that story in several locations. The NRA and gun nuts in general do their level best to make sure this stuff gets reported.

Were any of those several locations a cable news network?

 

[blotsfan]

And how does that support the concept of a palestinian state in a way that won't further endanger the lives of Israelis?

I guess I was more against "drain that swamp" which sounds awfully similar to "bomb them all to hell" (a concept I've sadly heard too much in the Jewish community).

 

[Dave]

Were any of those several locations a cable news network?

On that you do have a point. No.

 

[GasBandit]

I guess I was more against "drain that swamp" which sounds awfully similar to "bomb them all to hell" (a concept I've sadly heard too much in the Jewish community).

To "drain the swamp" is to alter the environment incubating an undesirable situation. Originally literally a way to fight malaria, to drain the swamp where mosquitoes were breeding. The palestinian communities in gaza and the west bank are a metaphorical swamp, breeding terroristm. It's long past time for surrounding nations to take in palestinians as refugees, so that those that don't want to assimilate into Israeli society can begin assimilating into others. But the whole "this is our land" thing needs to be done and settled. There is no palestine. They lost the war, and then lost legitimacy.

 

[Charlie Don't Surf]

this thread rules, we have old men describing how it's just arbitrary randomness to not fuck 12 year olds, and also ann coulter-esque mass genocide jerkoff fantasies

32-year-old Jody Ray Thompson pulled out a gun after getting into an argument with another man

this is not a heroic concealed carry person saving a mass murderer. at all. this is just armed people causing bloody chaos because it's normal to bring murder into dick-waving contests

 

[GasBandit]

this thread rules, we have old men describing how it's just arbitrary randomness to not fuck 12 year olds, and also ann coulter-esque mass genocide jerkoff fantasies



this is not a heroic concealed carry person saving a mass murderer. at all. this is just armed people causing bloody chaos because it's normal to bring murder into dick-waving contests

I ever take comfort that you disagree with me. I start to worry when you don't. But as long as Charlie opposes me, I am confident in my positions.

 

[Null]

More like insane wild west incident happens in 2016. 4 people shot.

So it was still a mass shooting*, just not a massacre.

* - as in an incident where 4 or more people are killed or wounded by firearms. The FBI only considers incidents in which 4 or more people were killed to be mass shootings. So if 30 people get shot, but only 3 die, that wouldn't be a mass shooting by FBI reckoning.

 

[Null]

How the fuck is that a pun?

 

[Charlie Don't Surf]

How the fuck is that a pun?

Spoiler

abortion