REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Happy shiny flawed people

POSTED BY: DREAMTROVE
UPDATED: Sunday, April 3, 2011 06:18
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Friday, March 18, 2011 5:36 AM

DREAMTROVE


Not really a real world event, but a thought I wanted to share. All of the talk about flawed people reminds me of my early role playing days.

I don't play D&D. I haven't for years. I played for like 2 years in the 70s. But I did get hooked on the role playing trip, and I've been playing many games over the years. To non-gamers, I often say "Oh we're playing D&D" just to avoid explaining what shadowrun et al are.

Every time I play a game, I pick up ideas that I carry to the next game as mods. Some of you probably played Champions. Well, there was a nice balance feature of "disads" Disadvantages that a character had to take, if they wanted to buy a more powerful superhero, which almost everyone wanted to do.

I found this worked really well in any genre of role playing. Let some players have the powerhouse characters they want, but at a cost. They had to pay for it with points, gotten through disadvantages. This yielded an unexpected result:

The disadvantages themselves were the more interesting part of the character. A character with a disadvantage needed to do something to either overcome it, or use it to his or her advantage. A character with a power, by contrast, was the opposite. They became boring. They didn't *have* to think, and so they didn't. I have a powerful mind-ray. I don't need to talk my way out of this one. ZAP!

It's not "I can kill you with my brain" that makes River interesting, it's that she can't control her brain at all.

The reason people can come up with so many historical figures with flaws is not just that we're all flawed. Many, many of these important people were much more seriously disabled than is common. Beethoven was deaf. Why do we listen to Beethoven? He's more interesting. He had to play it all out in his head. It changed his music (sure, he wasn't always deaf, so he knew what music was) But why have we heard Beethoven at all? Because, for most of us, we had a music player of some sort, which is ultimately derivative of a phonograph, which we have because Edison was also deaf. Edison, though, was deaf from the age of 7. In order to hear Beethoven, he needed to invent the phonograph. Sure, there were other things going on in each of these stories, but it's a universal concurrent theme within them:

Necessity is the mother of invention.

Perfect people don't invent things. There's no need for them to do so. Even people we think of as perfect are flawed: Ever watched the olympics and noticed the number of stories that go something like this: Well, he has been swimming since the age of nine, when he lost the ability to walk.

Nothing wrong with perfect people, but what would the world be like if that was all there were? No mentally ill people would ever see something different. No handicapped people would ever invent labor saving devices, or new ways to communicate.

Francis Galton wrote that the problem with civilization was that it enabled everyone to survive. Often I find that it's people's concept of "problem" that leads them astray. I wonder if perhaps a tribal society by itself leads to a situation where everyone can survive, and if civilization is the end result of what the flawed people create.

Just a thought.


That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Friday, March 18, 2011 7:27 AM

FREMDFIRMA



One of the things that makes the study of history, especially of our founding fathers, so terminally boring is in fact the whitewashing of their flaws and resultant deification.

I mean, come on, Ben Franklin was a damn party animal, mad scientist, master of espionage AND got more ass than a toilet seat - he was like James Bond and Q all rolled into one...

Perfect people are fucking boring.

-F

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Friday, March 18, 2011 8:48 AM

DREAMTROVE


Quote:

Originally posted by Fremdfirma:

One of the things that makes the study of history, especially of our founding fathers, so terminally boring is in fact the whitewashing of their flaws and resultant deification.

I mean, come on, Ben Franklin was a damn party animal, mad scientist, master of espionage AND got more ass than a toilet seat - he was like James Bond and Q all rolled into one...

Perfect people are fucking boring.

-F



Some day the truth will come out and we'll learn that actually Sally Hemmings wrote the Declaration of Independence

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Friday, March 18, 2011 9:36 AM

WULFENSTAR

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg


For some reason, I thought this thread was about me.

Continue.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"



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Thursday, March 24, 2011 9:44 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht


Yes indeed, Ben Franklin loved the ladies, and the ladies loved him. :)

You're right about River, which is part of why I don't read stories where she is no longer touched, where she is now stable or in remission. Because there are plenty of stories about psychic assassins out there, but how many touched psychic assassins do you know?

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Friday, March 25, 2011 1:52 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Rappy, the difference between you and happy shiny flawed people is that the flawed people are those that either overcome or work around their disabilities. For you, it's your power of delusion, which overcomes plain-as-day facts. Feel free to start working on that disability any time!

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Friday, March 25, 2011 2:09 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by SignyM:
Rappy, the difference between you and happy shiny flawed people is that the flawed people are those that either overcome or work around their disabilities. For you, it's your power of delusion, which overcomes plain-as-day facts. Feel free to start working on that disability any time!



Why are you addressing me ? I haven't even replied in this thread yet, until now.

???


And what are you even talking about ? Why are you fabricating a contrary position on an issue I've not even commented on in the first place ?

Isn't overcoming and working around pretty much the same thing ? Under what context are you even having this 'debate' with yourself, and why are you trying to make me take an opposing side. What am I opposing ?

What delusion are you even talking about ?

Life is full of obstacles, and we all deal w/ them every day.




( On a side, note, I kinda like that REM song, Shiny Happy People. Many hard core REM fans hate it, but I think it's a fun song. I can't help it. I'm pretty sure it has something to do w/ Kate Pierson, adding her talents to the song. )

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Friday, March 25, 2011 4:37 AM

DREAMTROVE


Simple: She's deflecting any future characterization of her past statements about "correcting" humanity as alliance

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Friday, March 25, 2011 1:15 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
( On a side, note, I kinda like that REM song, Shiny Happy People. Many hard core REM fans hate it, but I think it's a fun song. I can't help it. I'm pretty sure it has something to do w/ Kate Pierson, adding her talents to the song. )




I wish Kate and REM would do more work together. Something about her voice with Michael Stipe's just really works together.

I loved "Me In Honey" from the same album (Out of Time).





"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Friday, March 25, 2011 1:21 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Fred Snyder and Kate are damn near magical, imo.

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Saturday, March 26, 2011 4:12 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


DT: The only people who are "flawed" and "happy" and "shiny" in your 'verse are of libertarian kind. Anyone who thinks differently may be "flawed" in your book, but suddenly not so "shiny". Libertarian hypocrisy much? Might want to look into that.

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Saturday, March 26, 2011 7:20 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Never much cared for Schneider, but Kate's voice goes damned well with just about anybody.

Dang, who knew she was 62?!

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Saturday, March 26, 2011 9:41 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by SignyM:...



Forgetting something ?

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Saturday, March 26, 2011 5:37 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

Forgetting something ?

Er... am I?

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Saturday, March 26, 2011 5:57 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by SignyM:
Quote:

Forgetting something ?

Er... am I?



Yeah, an explanation for THIS -

Originally posted by SignyM:

Rappy, the difference between you and happy shiny flawed people is that the flawed people are those that either overcome or work around their disabilities. For you, it's your power of delusion, which overcomes plain-as-day facts. Feel free to start working on that disability any time!



You posted that before I had even replied to this thread. I had made no comment ( and still haven't ) on 'shiny flawed people', and yet you oddly felt compelled to attack my (imaginary ) position on the matter anyways.


And you've still not adequately addressed the 'greedy' remark you made, in another thread.


So, yes. You've forgotten a couple of things.

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Saturday, March 26, 2011 6:08 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Funny, but I thought I saw your post before I posted. In fact, it was "your" post that caused me to reply. Maybe I'm so good I can see the future?

I prolly thought Wulf's post was yours. For some strange reason you, Wulf, Kaneman and Kaneman's various sock puppets tend to blur together. Sorry if I mistook you.

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Saturday, March 26, 2011 7:23 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by SignyM:
Funny, but I thought I saw your post before I posted. In fact, it was "your" post that caused me to reply. Maybe I'm so good I can see the future?

I prolly thought Wulf's post was yours. For some strange reason you, Wulf, Kaneman and Kaneman's various sock puppets tend to blur together. Sorry if I mistook you.



That's pretty weak, even for you.

Sounds to me like I'm in your head. Wonder why.

Huh.

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Saturday, March 26, 2011 7:43 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Really? Why would I be thinking about a deluded little man? Add that to your list delusions, thanks.

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Saturday, March 26, 2011 8:29 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by SignyM:
Really? Why would I be thinking about a deluded little man? Add that to your list delusions, thanks.



Who is this deluded little man now ? You got others on your mind, in addition to me ?

2 timin' hussy!

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Saturday, March 26, 2011 11:23 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


HAHAHA! Touche!

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Sunday, March 27, 2011 8:28 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Okay Rappy, you deserve an explanation of why I think you are "greedy". I didn't want to get into it because it would take a long time to explain and I don't think it would do much good.

I think you're greedy because you fundamentally believe two things: (1) "Greed is good" and (2) "Acquire by any means possible".

"Greed is good". Now personally, I don't think that societies SHOULD be based on endless individual self-sacrifice. If a person can't identify WHY they're engaged in a society... if they can't put a finger on what THEY get out of it and decide that they're getting out at least as much as they're putting in over the long run, they should quit. It doesn't quite work that way: habit, fear of the unknown, and the desire for acceptance propel pernicious economies forward whether they meet the "individual rational self-interest" test or not. BTW- I think it possible for everyone to get out more than they're putting in. That is the beauty of harnessing non-human energy sources, technology, and the division of labor.

It's the "Acquire by any means possible" paradigm I have a problem with. Time and time again, Rappy, you have stood up for Goliath against David. The big against the weak. You believe in "competition" even when the playing field is so uneven there is no competition possible. This lack of fairness is the flip side of charity; two sides of the same coin, like light and dark. "Charity" could not exist without an extreme imbalance in power; I find it interesting that the notion of "charity" comes to the fore during Victorian times when few had much, and many were destitute.

So to me, "charity" is the handmaiden of "greed", not is opposite. A view of charity, from Victorian times:

Quote:

Pity would be no more
If we did not make somebody poor
And Mercy no more could be
If all were as happy as we.

And mutual fear brings peace,
Till the selfish loves increase;
Then Cruelty knits a snare,
And spreads his baits with care.



William Blake
www.kalliope.org/digt.pl?longdid=blake1999041345

Anyway, I have thing to do, people to see, places to go. I hope that explains.

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Sunday, March 27, 2011 10:53 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Who defines what 'greed' is, and at what point do you have the right to FORCE another to act or 'give up' a portion of what they have to those who did not work for it ?

The 2nd part, acquisition " by any means possible " isn't what i believe in at all. First, we live in a society which is based on the rule of law, not of men. ( I think we can agree it doesn't always work out that way, but it's what we strive for, by in large.) And while I agree w/ the charity part of your post, sadly, we've also made it far too convenient to slide and just let others carry the load.

Point is, you're trying to pursue this dream of 'fairness' which simply cannot exist in the natural world. There IS no 'level' playing field. We may be born equal, and should be seen that way in the eyes of the law, but that's not the same as guaranteeing that we all have exactly equal lives, and be promised equal outcome of results. Some may have to work more, study harder,just to keep up. That's simply how it is in the real world. Doesn't mean they're less of a person, but not everyone can win the gold medal, be the class valedictorian, or be CEO. There's room for anyone to succeed, just not everyone.

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Sunday, March 27, 2011 11:11 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
Quote:

Originally posted by SignyM:
Funny, but I thought I saw your post before I posted. In fact, it was "your" post that caused me to reply. Maybe I'm so good I can see the future?

I prolly thought Wulf's post was yours. For some strange reason you, Wulf, Kaneman and Kaneman's various sock puppets tend to blur together. Sorry if I mistook you.



That's pretty weak, even for you.

Sounds to me like you I'm in your head. Wonder why.

Huh.



Try that again. In English.




It amuses me that those most vocally in favor of English being the "official" language here are so bloody bad at using it.

Besides, if you make English the official language, you'll have to start spelling it "colour", "humour", and "aluminium". Wulfie will really hate that!

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Sunday, March 27, 2011 11:21 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
Who defines what 'greed' is, and at what point do you have the right to FORCE another to act or 'give up' a portion of what they have to those who did not work for it ?

The 2nd part, acquisition " by any means possible " isn't what i believe in at all. First, we live in a society which is based on the rule of law, not of men.



That's the point at which you LEGALLY have the right to FORCE another to act or give up a portion of what they have for someone who did not work for it - when you pass a law saying it's so.

You say we're a nation of laws, and a law is nothing but the government's use of force (or threat of force, which the law defines as the same thing) to take from you or give to someone else. For instance, a speed limit GIVES others a sense of safety, but TAKES from me precious time out of my life (quite literally takes time off my life, according to the Theory of Relativity!).

That war that you support in Iraq? You took from me to pay for it. You stole from me thousands of dollars of MY money to pay for the murders of hundreds of thousands of innocents, and you did this by force, and by law. And you never uttered a word against it.

Quote:

There's room for anyone to succeed, just not everyone.



Interesting take on it. So for you to "succeed", others must lay down and die.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Monday, March 28, 2011 5:43 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht


Good point about Wulf and British spellings, they do bother him so and I don't know why.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Monday, March 28, 2011 11:40 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by Kwicko:
That war that you support in Iraq? You took from me to pay for it. You stole from me thousands of dollars of MY money to pay for the murders of hundreds of thousands of innocents, and you did this by force, and by law. And you never uttered a word against it.



I took nothing from you, and it sure as hell wasn't 1000's of $$'s or 100's of thousands of innocents. Please, stop grabbing phony #'s out of thin air if you want to have a big boy talk on the issues.

Bush went to Congress and got approval for that action. Something Barry neglected to do.

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 1:31 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Of course you took from me. You and those who supported the war took money directly out of the pockets of those who didn't, and of every American. It's pure socialism, redistribution of wealth. And of course it's thousands of dollars. The price tag to the American taxpayers for just the Iraq war (not including Afghanistan) has now topped well over one trillion dollars. That's a far cry from the "seventeen billion" the Bush Administration claimed it would cost. Of course, it's gone on significantly longer than the "matter of days" Rumsfeld cited, too.

The fact that Bush left it out of the budget doesn't mean we don't have to pay for it, you know.

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 3:39 AM

DREAMTROVE


Mike is correct.

I usually skip your little love spats here but the words "socialism" next to "redistribution of wealth" caught my eye, because it's a common liberal fallacy, touted by John McCain when he was trying too hard to elect Obama.

Here, however, Mike is right, this is the only kind of distribution of wealth that actually happens in socialism: from the people to the elite.

In this case, Mike is the people, and the elite is made of many things, but one major part is the military industrial complex, which you, Rap, are a part of, and so yes, it pays your salary, Mike, a much as you might hate to admit it, pays your salary.

Now, you may think you do work for that money, and I'm sure you do, but what makes it a socialist system is that you are doing work that Mike does not want done, and yet he must pay for it anyway.

You may think that Mike is wrong that this work should not be done (military intelligence, whatever) but thats irrelevant. In a true free market system, you would only be paid by those who *did* want the work done. Hero would pay you, but Mike would support something else, like a public transportation system or something.

This is not the way it works, though. The decision of what work would be done was ultimately made by governmental financial and military advisors over whom Mike had no control, and yet he is forced to pay for it to be done. That's not a free market, that's socialism.


That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 5:46 AM

CANTTAKESKY


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
Bush went to Congress and got approval for that action.

That action being the use of physical force to take Kwicko's money and spend it on killing people he doesn't want to kill.

Just because Congress approves something doesn't mean force wasn't involved. Congress also approved the tax code and public assistance.



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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 7:25 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Mike is wrong.

He said " thousands " of his $ went to fund the Iraq war. Even over 10 years, I doubt that much of his tax $ went exclusively to the Defense Dept.

And he also said that "100,000's " died via his fundung. Nonsense.


" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 9:02 AM

BYTEMITE


The numbers are fairly irrelevant, and not really the point here.

But Kwicko's numbers don't seem very wrong to me. I don't earn much, but I pay at least 750 in taxes a year and I don't get much return. Over ten years, even as low as 15% of that will add up to over a thousand.

And as for casualties just from the Iraq war:

Quote:

Documented civilian deaths from violence, Iraq Body Count – 2003 through October 10, 2010: 98,380–107,369 recorded and 15,114 new deaths added from the Iraq War Logs


And that's not counting US or coalition force deaths, or deaths from regional destabilization from the war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 10:37 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!



This falls under the same category as a few killed by the NOPD = 5,000 black males shot in the head by the National Guard, and then their bodies being dumped into a swamp.



Claiming that anyone's tax $$'s went to " murdering 100's of thousands of innocents " is patently absurd. If those lives really DO mean anything, then there's no need to inflate the number of ACTUAL deaths to cartoonish levels. It serves no legitimate purpose, what so ever, and actually takes away from what ever point that's trying to be made.

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 11:39 AM

MAGONSDAUGHTER


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
The numbers are fairly irrelevant, and not really the point here.

But Kwicko's numbers don't seem very wrong to me. I don't earn much, but I pay at least 750 in taxes a year and I don't get much return. Over ten years, even as low as 15% of that will add up to over a thousand.



I pay about that much every fortnight, plus a goods and services tax, plus local council rates (about 1000 a year)!!!!!!

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 1:48 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by dreamtrove:

I usually skip your little love spats here but the words "socialism" next to "redistribution of wealth" caught my eye, because it's a common liberal fallacy, touted by John McCain when he was trying too hard to elect Obama.

Here, however, Mike is right, this is the only kind of distribution of wealth that actually happens in socialism: from the people to the elite.



It's also the only kind of redistribution of wealth that occurs in capitalism. They're more alike than they are different.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 2:09 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by canttakesky:
Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
Bush went to Congress and got approval for that action.

That action being the use of physical force to take Kwicko's money and spend it on killing people he doesn't want to kill.



Not only that, but killing people who posed no threat to me or my country whatsoever.

Quote:


Just because Congress approves something doesn't mean force wasn't involved. Congress also approved the tax code and public assistance.




And healthcare reform.

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 2:27 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
Mike is wrong.

He said " thousands " of his $ went to fund the Iraq war. Even over 10 years, I doubt that much of his tax $ went exclusively to the Defense Dept.



You can "doubt" all you want, but you have less than zero evidence to back up your claim that I'm wrong. THOUSANDS of my tax dollars have indeed been used to pay for the war in Iraq, in which hundreds of thousands have died. You might have doubts about how many thousands, but all it takes to make me right is for that number to be more than ONE thousand of my tax dollars. Given what I pay in taxes (and I'm NOT complaining about paying my taxes!), and given what proportion of tax revenue goes to the military, and given what proportion of military spending goes to the war in Iraq (whether it gets put in the budget "officially" or not), then thousands is a conservative estimate.

Given that the Congressional Budget Office and the Pentagon both admit that the price tag for the Iraq debacle has now surpassed one trillion dollars (that's NOT including things like "entitlements" such as veterans' benefits, disability pay, or any other "socialist" benefits that we give our soldiers - those are FUTURE debt obligations; I'm speaking of CURRENT spending on this particular little adventure), the idea that a trillion dollars divided by 320 million people would equal "thousands" is very conservative. It's more likely that that number is tens of thousands, if not more. Not just money I've already paid, but money I'll be forced to pony up to pay for this crime against humanity for probably the rest of my life. And yours. And your children's. And theirs.

Quote:


And he also said that "100,000's " died via his fundung. Nonsense.



I said taxpayer dollars were used in this war, and that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died.

Quote:

That war that you support in Iraq? You took from me to pay for it. You stole from me thousands of dollars of MY money to pay for the murders of hundreds of thousands of innocents, and you did this by force, and by law. And you never uttered a word against it.


My money was absolutely used to pay for murder, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been murdered. Ask a prosecutor how well the "I didn't mean to kill everyone in the bank when I was robbing it, I was just trying to kill the guard" defense usually works out.

This was a criminal act, perpetrated with my tax dollars and yours. And it's socialism, plain and simple. You are advocating taking my money away from me by force to pay for things YOU want - death, murder, assassination, war. You're advocating taking that money and paying for the healthcare of people who won't buy their own. I'm speaking of the people of Iraq here, who now have socialized healthcare, paid for by us. So you're using my money to shoot Iraqis, and then using more of my money to try to patch them back together so you can shoot at them some more.





"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 2:34 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:

This falls under the same category as a few killed by the NOPD = 5,000 black males shot in the head by the National Guard, and then their bodies being dumped into a swamp.



Claiming that anyone's tax $$'s went to " murdering 100's of thousands of innocents " is patently absurd. If those lives really DO mean anything, then there's no need to inflate the number of ACTUAL deaths to cartoonish levels. It serves no legitimate purpose, what so ever, and actually takes away from what ever point that's trying to be made.




Hundreds of thousands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War

The fact that you don't like the truth and don't want to be forced to face the horrors of what you've wrought does nothing to take away from the validity of the number.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 2:41 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Kwickie -

The day you and the truth are introduced to each other, will be a very special day indeed.

You claim that your tax $$ was spent in the murder of 100's of thousands of Iraqis. Unless you paid for al Qaeda, you're a fucking idiot and a liar.

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 2:45 PM

CANTTAKESKY


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
Claiming that anyone's tax $$'s went to " murdering 100's of thousands of innocents " is patently absurd.

It's disputable, depending on how one defines murder, and how many of those murders were caused by tax $$ and US policies. But it is not patently absurd.

Now between the 150,000 estimated by WHO to have suffered violent deaths, to the 600,000 violent deaths estimated by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, to the 1.2 million deaths attributed to the US occupation (80% of this number is said to be directly US perpetrated) estimated by the Opinion Research Business, there is room to debate that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died as a result of our tax $$.

WHO estimate
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17970231

Johns Hopkins study
http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/press_releases/2006/burnham_iraq
_2006.html


ORB study
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/1-over-one-million
-iraqi-deaths-caused-by-us-occupation
/





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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 3:07 PM

BYTEMITE


...Did you miss that was the Iraqi CIVILIAN bodycount from WIKIPEDIA? Apparently from 2003 to 2010 it IS approximately in the 100,000 range.

But seriously, nevermind. Some arguments aren't worth having.

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 3:19 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
Kwickie -

The day you and the truth are introduced to each other, will be a very special day indeed.

You claim that your tax $$ was spent in the murder of 100's of thousands of Iraqis. Unless you paid for al Qaeda, you're a fucking idiot and a liar.



OF COURSE we paid for Al Qaeda! Your tax dollars and mine - millions of dollars, paid to Al Qaeda as bribes, in order to get them to NOT attack U.S. forces for a time. Hell, that was under the Bush regime, when you supposedly were either "with us or against us". Seems Al Qaeda found ways to be both.

Seriously, how can you not have heard of this? It's all been well-covered and well-documented. You should read more.

But nice move on jumping right to the name-calling and personal insults. You rarely (if ever) do that, according to you. ;)

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 3:22 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
...Did you miss that was the Iraqi CIVILIAN bodycount from WIKIPEDIA? Apparently from 2003 to 2010 it IS approximately in the 100,000 range.

But seriously, nevermind. Some arguments aren't worth having.




And nearly every study cited puts the 100,000 estimate at the LOWER range of estimates.


I'd like to thank Rappy for bringing this issue back to the fore. Too many either have forgotten, have willfully ignored and distorted, or simply never knew the depths to which this country would sink in its depraved desire to engage in ForeverWar ForeverMore.

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 4:41 PM

BYTEMITE


I've been grumbly lately, don't mind me. No matter what the numbers are it's not like we can change what's past.

Though I'd like to see congress and president do better. I hold them to a higher standard than we've seen in, heck, the last 80 years probably. In the very least the last thirty years. It feels like america started the most recent decline in the eighties, with a brief boost from the dot com boom in the nineties but domestic and foreign policy still going downhill. Until here we are now.

It mostly seems to be the fault of the baby boomer and my generation, so I guess we have to fix it.

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011 4:59 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Well, certainly we can't change what's past by simply claiming it never happened and calling anyone who provides links to show it DID happen a "fucking idiot and a liar".

You can't change the past, but you CAN learn from it. Heck, sometimes you can even not repeat it. Or so I've heard...

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Wednesday, March 30, 2011 2:36 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Quote:

Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
...Did you miss that was the Iraqi CIVILIAN bodycount from WIKIPEDIA? Apparently from 2003 to 2010 it IS approximately in the 100,000 range.

But seriously, nevermind. Some arguments aren't worth having.



No one's questioning whether or not there's been a high body count. Of course there was, it was the focal point of a considerable land war. But only a fraction of those deaths are the result of the US's collateral damage, and NONE of them were targeted ( murdered ) by our military. Terrorist bombers targeting civilians.The terrorists, THAT is who murdered, not the US military.

And 100,000 is not multiples of that number. You can't intellectually state that if there's 'near' 100,000 casualties, that that's the same as several 100,000. It's beyond inane.

I'm sure there'll be similar attention to Obama's body count, for HIS 'kinetic military mission', right ?

Right ?


Of course there will be.

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Wednesday, March 30, 2011 2:57 AM

CANTTAKESKY


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
But only a fraction of those deaths are the result of the US's collateral damage, and NONE of them were targeted ( murdered ) by our military.

ORB says 80% of their 1.2 million figure was "directly US perpetrated."

Quote:

Terrorist bombers targeting civilians, THAT is who murdered, not the US military.
Certainly, they did their share. But minimizing our hefty portion of the responsibility in favor of blaming them is not accurate. For example, take this source:

Quote:


http://www.iraqbodycount.org/analysis/numbers/plos-2011/

The most indiscriminate effects on women and children in Iraq were from unknown perpetrators firing mortars (DWI = 79) and using non-suicide vehicle bombs (DWI = 54), and from Coalition air attacks (DWI = 69).

(and this)

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pme
d.1000415


The highest average number of civilians killed per event in which a civilian died were in Unknown perpetrator suicide bombings targeting civilians (19 per lethal event) and Coalition aerial bombings (17 per lethal event).



As you can see, undisputed coalition air attacks constitute a very significant portion of the civilian violent deaths.

Quote:

And 100,000 is not multiples of that number. You can't intellectually state that if there's 'near' 100,000 casualties, that that's the same as several 100,000. It's beyond inane.
That is because you are ignoring all the other studies that list 150,000 to 1.2 million.

Besides, grammatically, if there is 150,000 (as WHO says), "hundreds" of thousands is correct. Anything more than 100,000 makes the word "hundred" plural. But we don't even have to resort to this technical point. If you average the many figures from ALL six studies, you end up with truly, hundreds of thousands.

Saying that hundreds of thousands is NOT absurd. It is not inane. It is merely debatable, as all statistics are.





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Wednesday, March 30, 2011 3:21 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Sorry, but such 'body count' polls are dubious, at best. These are the same folks who blamed all the deaths and illness of children on the 10 years of sanctions which had lead up to the war.

Not Saddam's fault.

Not the UN's fault, who was dealing under the table with Saddam, in the most corrupt multi-national scam the world's eve seen....no. The 'blame' for all that misery rested squarely on the U.S.

Horse hockey.

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Wednesday, March 30, 2011 3:46 AM

CANTTAKESKY


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
Sorry, but such 'body count' polls are dubious, at best.

Ok, so you dispute the figures. Fair enough.

But you can't blame Kwicko for making estimates based on numbers published by reputable institutions.

Debate is one thing. Debate the validity of those numbers all you want.

But pretending those numbers don't exist is another thing. Calling him an "idiot and liar", "patently absurd," and "inane," and then comparing his sourced estimate to an unsubstantiated accusation by McKinney is wrong.



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Wednesday, March 30, 2011 7:19 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


One last time...

I never said there wasn't a large death toll.

I don't accept the estimates of deaths attributed directly to US action, while ignoring terrorist attacks.

The plural of 100's of thousands is NOT 1.25 . A unit of 100,000 x 2 or 3, minimum , would meet the requirement for Kwickie's remarks to hold true. Sorry, but baseless hyperbole and grand exaggeration on this matter won't cut it.


" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

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Wednesday, March 30, 2011 7:44 AM

CANTTAKESKY


Quote:

Originally posted by AURaptor:
I don't accept the estimates of deaths attributed directly to US action,

That is fine. But must you insult those who DO accept these estimates published by reputable sources? Is it right to say those published estimates are "baseless hyperbole" and "grand exaggeration"?

Quote:

A unit of 100,000 x 2 or 3, minimum , would meet the requirement for Kwickie's remarks to hold true.


Let's look at those numbers in those 6 studies.
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Casualties_of_the_iraq_
war


151,000
601,027
1,033,000
110,600
102,661 (rough average of 98,170 to 107,152)
150,726

Avg: 339,735. Even this should meet your criterion of 100,000 X 2 OR 3.

Again, you may not agree with these estimates. Certainly, these numbers are subject to debate.

But citing estimates from published, reputable sources is not "patently absurd" or "baseless hyperbole." You are trying to accuse Kwicko of inventing these numbers, even though we are showing you hard evidence that he is citing these numbers from reputable sources, and NOT pulling exaggerations out of his ass.

I think you owe him an apology and acknowledge that SOME sources have found the US to be responsible for hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths. Then we can move on to debating if these sources are correct or not in their findings.




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