All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[wjowski]

Mass shooter claims he did it because he was a virgin and women would not have sex with him!

WARNING VIDEO IS DISTURBING!

All my claims about sexual frustration being the root of female hostility are now vindicated.

I'm thinking maybe being an entitled psychopath had more to do with it.

[Charles RB]

The EU Parliament vote is basically Night of the Bastards - if you're a party that was anti-EU, you got votes even if you're otherwise a dodgy little stain (the Front National for god's sake). Well, that's the will of the European people. If and when bad things happen, that's what the majority wanted and will have to lump it.

[Lucette]

I'm thinking maybe being an entitled psychopath had more to do with it.

Agree.

There's also a strange narrative come into play that the Greens are being virtually ignored even though they've planted new Councillors all over the country, with Bristol and Liverpool being notable for this, and that Labour (who made a lot of massive gains and came out top) had a complete disaster?

It is not just media savviness behind it. Even in Canada with the NDP as the Official Opposition, the media tends not to cover them when Question Period (ie Prime Minister's Questions) is not in session. Instead they will cover that the leader of the third party (which has traditionally been the first or second party) has a new dimple.

[Pinsir]

I'm thinking maybe being an entitled psychopath had more to do with it.

He probably was not a psychopath (that means he can't feel empathy), sure he was deranged too, but his philosophy was of the MRA/Nice Guy branch.

Still why is it that we never get feminist shootings?

[PwrdOn]

He probably was not a psychopath (that means he can't feel empathy), sure he was deranged too, but his philosophy was of the MRA/Nice Guy branch.

Still why is it that we never get feminist shootings?

That probably has more to do with women being less likely to commit murders in general. I can certainly envisage a sexually frustrated woman blaming men for all of her problems in life, but I'd imagine she'd express that in ways other than by directly attacking them.

[Pinsir]

That probably has more to do with women being less likely to commit murders in general. I can certainly envisage a sexually frustrated woman blaming men for all of her problems in life, but I'd imagine she'd express that in ways other than by directly attacking them.

Well first point is that that obviously feminism is not a gender exclusive ideology. The Weather Underground was anti-segregationist, even Black Power ideology despite being mostly white, yet they still used violence. Also there have been a few feminist shootings, Valerie Solanas shot Andy Warhol for instance.

My problem is that certain ideologies attract certain people to them. There have been studies for instance that connects proponents of free market capitalism with conspiratorial thinking. Certain ideologies promote conspiratorial thinking, violence, and people with mental conditions. MRA/Nice Guy proponents think they live in a world where women are conspiring against them in judicial, cultural, and personal matters so it is certainly an ideology that invites crazies into it.

[Mikekerr3]

CenturianSpy covered it. I'd say the other part - and it links in - is that if climate change is real, and it's really going to change that much, then a lot of things would need to change and some of those things will go right to the heart of conservative ideologies. Economic models, certain businesses, and the idea of small governments and greater national independence (climate change would require large-scale, collective action) would all have to be chucked.

Imagine how the left-wing might react if a military threat was coming up and we'd definitely need to bring back national conscription & have more guns in society and have new anti-spy laws in order to fight back effectively - but we can't see the threat yet so it's easy to wave it away.

Throw in the huge economic disruptions that fighting it will cause, WTF are the folks that mine coal, And work in the oil industry supposed to do when those are curtailed/ended? Work in factories that have moved overseas? Work three jobs for **** wages just to try and keep their heads above water, that is if those jobs are available?

They have no reason to trust the folks running things from either party? Neither has shown tha they give a damned about the people in the working/middle class? Republican care about the rich and take care of the Democrats care about the poor and take care of them and the rich.

Both parties are perfectly willing to sell out for cash as the bipartisan support for NAFTA and the like shows all to well.

What would help if you could show how it would effect them, or even their grandchildren and then show them what the difference between action and inaction would be. For Example, what difference is there going to be for a factory worker in OH, a miner in WV, A roughneck in TX if we act now or fail to act or even thier grand children, You can't expect people to accept harm to themselves and their kids without providing hard and pretty personal reasons why they should make that sacrifice.

[PwrdOn]

Well first point is that that obviously feminism is not a gender exclusive ideology. The Weather Underground was anti-segregationist, even Black Power ideology despite being mostly white, yet they still used violence. Also there have been a few feminist shootings, Valerie Solanas shot Andy Warhol for instance.

My problem is that certain ideologies attract certain people to them. There have been studies for instance that connects proponents of free market capitalism with conspiratorial thinking. Certain ideologies promote conspiratorial thinking, violence, and people with mental conditions. MRA/Nice Guy proponents think they live in a world where women are conspiring against them in judicial, cultural, and personal matters so it is certainly an ideology that invites crazies into it.

It's a bit of a complex issue though, right? Whatever the exact form of the "patriarchy," it's certainly not an institution in which all men participate and benefit from equally. You have a relatively small group of men who are actively trying to keep women from encroaching on their position, and a much larger group for whom the ideals of masculinity are more of a burden than a privilege, and it's this second cohort from which most "men's rights activists" are likely drawn. Fairly or not, the majority of feminist rhetoric falls on the latter group because they make for easier targets. After all, it's much easier to go after the Dorito-munching geek than the handsome and wealthy CEO. So if you have this whole group of people whose experience with women mostly involves being shunned and ridiculed, it's not surprising that they aren't going to be very open to the suggestion that they somehow benefit from male privilege. This doesn't justify their behavior of course, but it does help to explain it.

And you can definitely see this kind of attitude just by browsing this board. Lots of times hobbies like comics and video games are really the only refuge for these kinds of people to reclaim what's left of their manhood, which is why you see such dramatic overreaction to criticism from the likes of Anita Sarkeesian and Janelle Asselin. Of course, the content of such media isn't exactly the most accurate guide for young men on how to impress and attract women either, so that can create all sorts of problems as well.

As an aside, I also don't like the way we are so quick to dismissively label people as psychopaths or sociopaths or whatever. If someone truly has a mental illness then it's not really fair to hold them accountable for their actions since they wouldn't have much control over them. I imagine most of these crimes are committed by people with perfectly functioning minds whose attitudes are probably far easier to correct than we think, and we probably should make more of an effort to do that rather than just labeling them as irredeemable hopeless cases.

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

My problem is that certain ideologies attract certain people to them. There have been studies for instance that connects proponents of free market capitalism with conspiratorial thinking. Certain ideologies promote conspiratorial thinking,

All ideologies promote that to some extent.

[Pinsir]

All ideologies promote that to some extent.

But certain ideologies do so more than others. Pretty much any study I've seen shows Tea Partiers or Libertarians are more likely to believe that Global Warming is a hoax, the IRS deliberately targeted them, Obama is a Muslim/Kenyan/Communist, etc. What conspiracy theories are the domain of the American left? 9/11 Conspiracy theories were popular during Bush, but since Obama's election that has recided mostly to the libertarians.

Conspiracy theories are a tool used for those without power so it makes sense that as ideologies fall and come into power, those who lose become more conspiratorial. However, the left was never as crazy as the right is now because conspiratorial (specifically anti-Science and Christian fundamentalism) had been part of the framework for decades. Once one allows for conspiratorial thinking it becomes that much easier to add more and more because you have pretty much debased yourself from any practical tool of discerning truth.

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

What conspiracy theories are the domain of the American left? 9/11 Conspiracy theories were popular during Bush, but since Obama's election that has recided mostly to the libertarians.

You got a source on that?

Once one allows for conspiratorial thinking it becomes that much easier to add more and more because you have pretty much debased yourself from any practical tool of discerning truth.

Conspirational thinking=speculation about the nature of power aliences/shifts. Almost any speculation can be called a conspiracy theory.

[sunofdarkchild]

I haven't seen it reported much in the American press, but there was a shooting at a Jewish museum in Brussels on Saturday that left 4 dead and is said to be similar to a 2012 terrorist attack on a Jewish school in France. The 4th victim died in the hospital.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27558918

[Lucette]

He probably was not a psychopath (that means he can't feel empathy), sure he was deranged too, but his philosophy was of the MRA/Nice Guy branch.

Still why is it that we never get feminist shootings?

The pseudo nice guys ruin it for real nice guys who are having a rough patch because every woman has met one, felt sorry for him because the last person hurt him - and then later figured out that there were reasons why they left. This shooter was in therapy since he was seven, his parents warned the authorities after they saw his videos but he was able to convince the police that his parents were over reacting. He is like Marc Lepine, this one (see Montreal Massacre). The female version tends to be the black widow who marries men, kills them and takes their money.

I think that the reason why there are few female shooters is the difference between the way men and women commit suicide. Basically, these mass shootings are people who either plan to shoot themselves or to commit suicide by cop and - they are murder /suicides.

There are many feminisms - and much disagreement between them. Bring up the subject of the sex trade or transpersons or house husbands or Idle No More and you will get a variety of opinions.

[king mob]

The Greens got some stories but were overshadowed by UKIP - they just seem appallingly bad at playing the media game, they don't get attention or mockery. If and when they get that sorted out, they should do really well. They've had slowly, steady, competent growth and some actual policies, they aren't going to be thrown into the spotlight while still eating their own socks like UKIP or the BNP.

The thing is the Greens are amazingly media savvy. More so than UKIP who are a shambles, but the media ignore them because they don't make as good telly or copy as UKIP, nor will they make the story which seems to be the 'UKIP earthquake', which was barely a rumble at the local level. Now the European results are a different thing, and they've won the election in England but the Scottish results are still due and they're going to be very interesting.

They're stuck to the south-east and part of the north (and big in Essex), but never the larger cities in both. That's most of the country ignoring them - most of the south-east and north too, let's be frank, they're still the opposition in all councils. Or as one analyst puts it, "highest in wards with more older people, fewer graduates and few ethnic minorities." And for a party that's obsessed with ethnic minorities and immigrants, that's not a good sign. Kinda says people don't care if they actually meet this scary different people.

It's what should be UKIP breeding ground in the cities that have, on the whole, rejected them. To give an example, just a couple of miles away from me here in Bristol is a place called Easton which is white working class and multicultural, It's an area UKIP have seriously spent a lot of time and by the looks of the billboards on every corner, a lot of money on. They failed to make a dent.

So yes, there's a large amount of working class people who are white who rejected what UKIP stand for.

And we've seen them face hostility when they travel to Scotland and Farage makes a tit of himself when talking about Scotland; Northern Ireland wasn't any more interested than it is with the other national parties; unless Wales is going to buck the trend, UKIP should think about changing half of their name. There's something about him that doesn't translate well outside of England, even where there are old people, few graduates, and few minorities. Maybe it's that he sounds like a posh English person trying to pretend he's a pint-of-ale man.

Farage knows nothing about the politics of Scotland or indeed, anything but England. The fact UKIP would dissolve the Scottish Parliament and return Scotland and Wales to being fiefdoms of Westminster, something people aren't too happy about.

I've got Five Live on and there's a steady stream of UKIP voters bleating on about why they voted UKIP and they're all saying UKIP are 'anti establishment' and 'of the people'. They're all entirely from the South.

[king mob]

The EU Parliament vote is basically Night of the Bastards - if you're a party that was anti-EU, you got votes even if you're otherwise a dodgy little stain (the Front National for god's sake). Well, that's the will of the European people. If and when bad things happen, that's what the majority wanted and will have to lump it.

Still, the good news is that Nick Griffin got voted out. He's been on Twitter trying to work out how to change his Twitter name without starting a new account.