(January 8, 2016 at 12:25 am)TheRocketSurgeon Wrote: Pony, did you choose your name after the female character in the Robert Salvatore novels?

Nope. I chose it because I like MLP. Thinking about changing it though, the only thing that puts me off doing so is it displays your previous username under your new name.

(January 6, 2016 at 3:53 pm)CapnAwesome Wrote:

(January 6, 2016 at 2:28 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: You realize that force doesn't require violence, only the threat of it, right?

I think you need to understand the terms being used here. If I point a gun at you and demand your wallet, that is taking your wallet by force. Simply because I didn't shoot you doesn't mean force wasn't involved.

As for "terrorized", I didn't say anyone was.  What I said was that this is a textbook case of terrorism, which it is.


Yes.  Here's that first paragraph:


That isn't a comparison.  That is pointing out the assumptions most  Americans hold. I've emphasized where that point is made.


You'll need to change your name to Captain Dumbass if that's the takeaway you got from my post.  Really, I had thought you were smarter than this.

Nobody is terrorized, no force was used, there has been 0 violence and you haven't had your coffee yet or something. If you think they should be labeled at terrorists, what do you think the government should do? Go in and shoot them all?

I would put good money that if these guys were left wing you guys would have no problem with them.

I think there's simply a misunderstanding of a linguistic nature, here. But you tend to overexagerrate some statements. Like is they were left wings, liberals wouldn't have a problem with them. That's ridiculous, to say the least. First of all, we can't even imagine leftists doing something like this, no matter how regressive they may be. Second of all, if they did, I think it's pretty safe to say everyone would assume they lost their minds.

(January 7, 2016 at 12:41 pm)downbeatplumb Wrote:

(January 6, 2016 at 3:53 pm)CapnAwesome Wrote: Nobody is terrorized, no force was used, there has been 0 violence and you haven't had your coffee yet or something. If you think they should be labeled at terrorists, what do you think the government should do? Go in and shoot them all?

I would put good money that if these guys were left wing you guys would have no problem with them.

This is a armed group that has taken over government property. Why you defend them escapes me.  If they'd done this in the UK the armt would have gone in.

Even if someone is wrong, I guess there will always be a feeling that at least someone has to defend them. I agree with that sentiment, and some people are just the sort to step up and do that in such situations.

(January 7, 2016 at 9:33 pm)CapnAwesome Wrote:

(January 7, 2016 at 1:08 pm)Faith No More Wrote: These guys have made it extremely well-known that they are perfectly willing to use violence to achieve their goals and occupy the building "for years" if necessary.  It's not as if they're simply protesting with weapons on their backs.  They've openly admitted they are planning to use their guns if they're demands are not met.

That definitely sounds like terrorism to me, even if it doesn't rise to the level of what we see from ISIS or such.  I don't know if you can say definitively that if these were black men involved in armed insurrection against the U.S. government they would be dead by now, but I'm certain there would be a much stronger reaction, not to mention Fox News shitting bricks.

This is the problem with labeling them terrorists. What do you think the government is supposed to do if terrorists seized federal land? Obvious the government would go in with force and wipe them out. Is that what you think should be done to people who haven't committed any acts of violence? Are we the thought police that we are willing to use force against people for future crimes?

That's a very good point and I agree with you on that.

(January 7, 2016 at 12:41 pm)downbeatplumb Wrote:

(January 6, 2016 at 3:53 pm)CapnAwesome Wrote: Nobody is terrorized, no force was used, there has been 0 violence and you haven't had your coffee yet or something. If you think they should be labeled at terrorists, what do you think the government should do? Go in and shoot them all?

I would put good money that if these guys were left wing you guys would have no problem with them.

This is a armed group that has taken over government property. Why you defend them escapes me.  If they'd done this in the UK the armt would have gone in.

It's the US though, they seem to be fucking crazy over there. Seems the authorities in Britain are far more sensible.

(January 8, 2016 at 12:27 am)Pony Wrote:

(January 8, 2016 at 12:25 am)TheRocketSurgeon Wrote: Pony, did you choose your name after the female character in the Robert Salvatore novels?

Nope. I chose it because I like MLP. Thinking about changing it though, the only thing that puts me off doing so is it displays your previous username under your new name.

Boy did I miss on that one!

Jilseponie is a female fighter-sorceress in the DemonWars Saga series, by fantasy author Robert Salvatore (most famous for his Dark Elf novels, about Drizzt Do'Urden), and usually goes by the nickname "Pony".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_DemonW...ndon_Ursal

(January 8, 2016 at 12:36 am)TheRocketSurgeon Wrote:

(January 8, 2016 at 12:27 am)Pony Wrote: Nope. I chose it because I like MLP. Thinking about changing it though, the only thing that puts me off doing so is it displays your previous username under your new name.

Boy did I miss on that one!

Jilseponie is a female fighter-sorceress in the DemonWars Saga series, by fantasy author Robert Salvatore (most famous for his Dark Elf novels, about Drizzt Do'Urden), and usually goes by the nickname "Pony".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_DemonW...ndon_Ursal

I googled it immediately when you asked me. The novel looks interesting.

(January 8, 2016 at 12:38 am)Pony Wrote:

(January 8, 2016 at 12:36 am)TheRocketSurgeon Wrote: Boy did I miss on that one!

Jilseponie is a female fighter-sorceress in the DemonWars Saga series, by fantasy author Robert Salvatore (most famous for his Dark Elf novels, about Drizzt Do'Urden), and usually goes by the nickname "Pony".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_DemonW...ndon_Ursal

I googled it immediately when you asked me. The novel looks interesting.  

Meh, it's alright. There are many more interesting authors than Salvatore. I do like Pony, but my personal favorite female character in a fantasy novel is Paksenarrion, in the (available as a 3-in-1) trilogy The Deed of Paksenarrion, by Elizabeth Moon.

Edit to Add: I feel silly for forgetting...if you love MLP, you would completely love the Heralds of Valdemar series, by Mercedes Lackey. Start with Arrows of the Queen. The series involves magical, telepathic "horses" that bond with human riders, the Heralds. It's a Young Adult series, but actually deals with quite a few serious issues, like rape, domestic violence, etc. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed them.

Okay that's it for me. Going to bed. Long day, early rise for me. Bleh. Self-employment sucks, sometimes.

(January 8, 2016 at 12:13 am)Minimalist Wrote: Perhaps you missed Post #39 in the flurry but in spite of the fact that the cops are not supposed to go in with guns blazing they seem to do it quite often.

If the fuckers resist arrest, particularly if they are pointing guns at the cops, why should the cops not act to protect themselves?

Min, since when in the world are you in the side of the police against anyone??? Fuck the police.

(January 7, 2016 at 11:32 pm)Pony Wrote: The authorities should shoot these cunts dead already and stop wasting everyone else's time, or if you're for a less extreme option - put a blanket reporting ban on the situation and cut their access to food and water. Simple.

That's fucking nuts. Think about the implications if that were to happen, for a moment. Imagine a situation where a similar blanket reporting ban would happen during a government takeover by neo-nazis and tell me if you can appreciate freedom of press more.

(January 8, 2016 at 12:00 am)Minimalist Wrote: How about if the cops do what they are supposed to do even with minority suspects?  Walk up to the door and tell them they are under arrest?  If they resist at that point all bets are off but our police are not supposed to be sturmtruppen.

I agree and don't understand what's happening over there. There must be nuances to all this that escape me because I'm an outsider. I'm pretty sure, though, that these guys have been kind of insignificant so far and that's exactly why no one applied force to remove them from the federal building yet. It's not like they pose a real threat to America. If the authorities thought for a second that they did pose a significant threat, they would be removed from the area in mere seconds, and rightly so.

(January 8, 2016 at 12:04 am)CapnAwesome Wrote:

(January 8, 2016 at 12:00 am)Pony Wrote: Excuse me. I exist as well you know, and in fact just a couple of posts above I also suggested that we cut their access to water and food and also place a blanket reporting ban on the situation. They will eventually fuck off themselves without any real force required.

You also said that the cops should just shoot them. A blanket ban on reporting the situation?? Jesus, so now freedom of the press needs to be repressed also?? What the fuck happened to the ACLU branch of the left wing? It's all been replaced by this frightening, authoritarian sponsor of state violence.

She's not really serious, I don't think.

(January 8, 2016 at 12:04 am)Pony Wrote:

(January 8, 2016 at 12:04 am)CapnAwesome Wrote: You also said that the cops should just shoot them. A blanket ban on reporting the situation?? Jesus, so now freedom of the press needs to be repressed also?? What the fuck happened to the ACLU branch of the left wing? It's all been replaced by this frightening, authoritarian sponsor of state violence.

I support and donate quite a lot to organisations like the ACLU and the EFF actually. It was just a suggestion, probably not the best but as I keep fucking saying - there is a less extreme option there.

It was a really bad suggestion. You can't justify it and never did, you just gave it. We can dismiss it just as easily.

(January 8, 2016 at 12:07 am)CapnAwesome Wrote:

(January 8, 2016 at 12:04 am)Pony Wrote: That's what they seem to do with minority suspects, so why the fuck not? And plus you obviously didn't read my less extreme option, did you?

And it is morally wrong when they do it to minorities too! It's wrong then and wrong now. It doesn't change depending on the ideology of the people in question. The police shooting people for potential crimes or violence is wrong. No matter what. I just can't believe how utterly fucked up you guy's morals are on this.

Capn, most of the times, when people say stuff like this, you can be pretty sure they're either confused about something or emotions got involved and they distort their own real meaning a bit to suggest something more than they would with a clear head. It's no use getting too worked up about it. Rather, wait for cooler heads to prevail.

(January 8, 2016 at 12:36 am)Pony Wrote:

(January 7, 2016 at 12:41 pm)downbeatplumb Wrote: This is a armed group that has taken over government property. Why you defend them escapes me.  If they'd done this in the UK the armt would have gone in.

It's the US though, they seem to be fucking crazy over there. Seems the authorities in Britain are far more sensible.

Really? You guys still have royalty, for fuck's sake.