I have several cousins in the Rockford Illinois . Most have a gun in the home for defence . The only one I know of that has a licence to carry it out and about , is the most unassuming one of the lot . She did become a bible basher when she got divorced , decades ago,. She gave her home to the church , so maybe she’s not all there .
From the Americans I've met, and the American politics I've seen on social media it seems to fall in to 2 distinct categories 1) The government don't want me to have a gun therefore I need one. They're pretty sensitive about government over reach and their rights being infringed. Probably our fault. 2) Protection. If criminals have guns then they damn well want one to protect themselves with. The hero fantasy probably is just that, a nice fantasy. Looking at the people who believe they're going to stop an active shooter they're not going to make it up the stairs much less pursue and neutralise him
We have hindsight with a lot of the examples you’ve listed. At what point did those individuals cross the line and at that point is it too late. Bin Laden for example was pretty much a one and done in comparison to Hitler and Putin. I guess we take the reaction to Charlie Kirk, a man with unpalatable views, but no real power or influence. In an alternate reality, might he have ascended and become a future president who might then have then used that power to harm others and the world has dodged a bullet(pardon pun) The other complication is are those people purely figureheads of an ideological movement which would happen anyway or were they actually a cult of personality. Essentially would the Nazis have “succeeded” without Hitler or would Himmler or another member of the party lead them to power and beyond?
An alcoholic gets almost zero sympathy and zero understanding. People look at you like a (EDITops I shouldn't have typed that word) I'll replace it with look at you like a fool f you stay on the soft stuff and you are continually tortured with "go on just one" and people thinking you're just talking stupid and exaggerating. I have spent the last 10 years telling my wife to stop buying me beer, which she does but then often does it again. I do not go to any shops if I can help it or I will come back with a bottle of Port (my "favourite" tipple) and that will go in the night, yum, yum. But she will often moan about me not going to a shop and I am forced to (because she won't that time.) Covid helped a lot because I stopped going out............and now I still don't go out I am now limited to every now and again one off slip ups that are one day events rather than a continual day after day failing. It is almost impossible for most people to understand that someone who is pretty normal (like me) has an actual problem as the culture in this (and my wife's) country is that people normally get drunk on occasion, some more than others with a "what is he like" chuckle.
I think it's amazing we can't agree whether Baz should be between the sticks on Sunday, so we've decided to solve the issue of whether Machiavelli was right instead. Go on lads.
She should have not gone to jail. Anyone actually doing it (after seeing her words or not) should be prosecuted. She was a nobody that let some loose words slip. She was not trying to prompt people into action. It was bad actors that jumped on that post and spread it round that could have motive to incite things. Like I say. There would be several politicians or political commentariat that would be in jail if prompts to attack or kill Tories or right wingers were viewed in the same way her post was!
I think you underestimate this. The new breed of commentariat / social media influencer has vast amounts of real power and influence. They might not have access to the nuclear button or power over the generals but with their reach they can mobilise large amounts of people very quickly. People like Owen Jones can post up about everybody coming to X location on a certain day and protest for all they are worth and they use their huge followings to apply "vocal" pressure on those that make policy. It is lobbying if you like but much more powerful than just a CEOs chosen team constantly pestering political bodies. If someone with a million followers encourages a pile on or barrage of online or in person "lobbying / protest" which is more akin to harrasment / bullying then it can very quickly influence things higher up. Those who shout loudest are very often a minority, albeit a large number, that shouts while the majority are not talking at all until they realise policy just changed to suit the minority! Again this is not a left wing thing. Both sides have very powerful AND influential online personalities these days and they are all very good at fast talking, "debating" quite prepared to double down rather than admit they are wrong and quite happy to unleash their follower's wrath on anybody if they want to! They are the very epitome of "power and influence." Their followers, viewers, supporters look up to them, are easier to be led because of this hence influence in terms of thinking and actions. That is exactly what power and influence is!
BREAKING: Journalist and college professor Stacey Patton goes viral by penning a stunningly powerful statement about how she was on Charlie Kirk’s “digital hit list” and recounting the horror that he inflicted on her. We cannot allow this tragic assassination to whitewash Kirk’s legacy… “I am on Charlie Kirk’s hit list,” Patton wrote to her 215,000 followers on Facebook. “His so-called ‘Professor Watchlist,’ run under the umbrella of Turning Point USA, is nothing more than a digital hit list for academics who dare to speak truth to power. I landed there in 2024 after writing commentary that inflamed the MAGA faithful. And once my name went up, the harassment machine roared to life.” “For weeks my inbox and voicemail were deluged. Mostly white men spat venom through the phone: ‘bitch,’ ‘c*nt,’ ‘n****r.’ They threatened all manner of violence,” she continued. “They overwhelmed the university’s PR lines and the president’s office with calls demanding that I be fired,” Patton wrote. “The flood was so relentless that the head of campus security reached out to offer me an escort, because they feared one of these keyboard soldiers might step out of his basement and come do me harm.” “And I am not unique,” she added. “Kirk’s Watchlist has terrorized legions of professors across this country. Women, Black faculty, queer scholars, basically anyone who challenged white supremacy, gun culture, or Christian nationalism suddenly found themselves targets of coordinated abuse,” Patton wrote. “Some received death threats. Some had their jobs threatened. Some left academia entirely. Kirk sent the loud message to us: speak the truth and we will unleash the mob!” she continued. “That is the culture of violence Charlie Kirk built. He normalized violence. He curated it, monetized it, and sicced it on anyone who dared to puncture his movement’s lies,” she wrote. “And now, in the wake of his shooting, there’s all this national outpouring of mourning, moments of silence, yellow prayer hands, and tributes painting him as a civil debater,” Patton continued. “But the truth is that Kirk and his foot soldiers spent years terrorizing educators, trying to silence us with harassment and fear!” “And now the same violence he unleashed on others has come full circle.” “But what i find especially jarring is the dissonance in public mourning for a smug white man whose life work was actively hostile to certain groups,” she continued. “Kirk spent years demonizing LGBTQ people, mocking gun survivors, spewing racism about Black folks, and pushing policies that literally shorten lives.” “It is so revolting to watch a bipartisan wave of grief sweep over this hateful racist as if he was a neutral community servant,” she concluded. This is pure unvarnished truth from Patton. Charlie Kirk did not deserve what happened to him, but nor did his victims deserve the hell that he unleashed on them. If Americans are going to build a more peaceful future for ourselves we must condemn political violence while also condemning the hateful, bigoted rhetoric that made Kirk a multimillionaire.
Exactly but there are a lot of these in both sides! People think I and others "pick on" Owen Jones but the guy does the same. Hope not hate do the same. Anyone they disagree with they unleash their followers! There are tck tokkers that go after celebrities they deem "not vocal enough" on the Palestine issue and name a celeb that people go after because they weren't "vocal enough." This is exactly what power and influence is......control over people! And do as we say to the extent we say or we will ruin you! I said this in January: There is a massive focus still in this country on "right wing press" or "GB News" when the thing to worry about is youtube, Insta, Tik Tok and other social media that a lot of us do not see!
Talking of stigma, I gave up alcohol 4 years ago. The first thing people say is ah so you had a problem. No, I just wanted to. That question I think also stops people from giving up as they are worried people think they had a problem.
John Crace's politics sketch's always cutting. Well worth a read. https://www.theguardian.com/politic...-back-as-junior-ministers-take-the-mandy-flak
Very good point actually. I think most of us here are of a certain age demographic, so probably don't engage as much with this type of thing (though the switcheroo of Os's opinion is a genuine test case that happened in front of our eyes). Unfortunately that poison has seeped into society almost completely now, and it's impossible not to feel its impact, even if you're not on TikTok or spend much time on X.
Quite possibly mate, we have a very strange relationship with alcohol in this country where it's found odd if you don't drink so people make assumptions. I find that conversation frustrating at times as my problem isn't specifically with alcohol but with drugs as a whole. I could easily go a long time without drinking alcohol but I'd be consuming something else instead (or vice versa). People tend to argue that surely I could still have an occasional drink if I didn't have a specific problem with it but unfortunately it's not that simple lol.
Drink is so normalised in this country that every time I have a medical (yearly at work) the HCP almost always assumes I'm lying when I put my average weekly units at 0. Now I do drink when I'm on an away day which doesn't involve driving but it's not something I ever do at home, and I've never been to my local pub. I agree with Libs that if it was invented today, it'd 100% be marked as a class A drug. Absolutely no doubt
In defence of alcohol, it was once a key part in the good health of Western society. While Eastern cultures developed around boiled water with herbs in (tea), the West made water drinkable through fermentation. Not sure we still have that need today, however!
Quelle suprise, be interesting to see how this develops https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce845w70g0yo Good to know the mistress "loves it there." I remember Led By Donkeys exposing he hadn't even held a surgery in Clacton - while had travelled to the States multiple times and had been paid 40k to speak at an international tax avoidance and "passport shopping" jaboree in Kula Lumpur.
I cause confusion by trying to give an honest reply which is 0 or 30+ depending on which week. A folk festival in August is very different from a wet week in Feb looking after small children. Sadly those recording the info do make assumptions so at times I've been put down as a raging alcoholic or pious potential fibber. It would be so much better if they asked people if they are happy and comfortable about their alcohol consumption. I suspect Sunday followed by 4 days of fun at Butlins Bognor will increase next week's total a tad.
The press will eventually get him. If Raynor was forced to resign , the same rules need to apply to Farage.
