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UK.gov To Treat Online Abuse as Seriously as Hate Crime in Real Life (theregister.co.uk)

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service has pledged to tackle online abuse with the same seriousness as it does hate crimes committed in the flesh. From a report: Following public concern about the increasing amount of racist, anti-religious, homophobic and transphobic attacks on social media, the CPS has today published a new set of policy documents on hate crime. This includes revised legal guidance for prosecutors on how they should make decisions on criminal charges and handle cases in court. The rules officially put online abuse on the same level as offline hate crimes -- defined as an action motivated by hostility or prejudice -- like shouting abuse at someone face-to-face. They commit the CPS to prosecuting complaints about online material "with the same robust and proactive approach used with online offending." Prosecutors are told to consider the effect on the wider community and whether to identify both the originators and the "amplifiers or disseminators."

157 of 307 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Mashiki · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The above is now considered "hate speech." You get to go first.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  2. What happened to sticks and stones? by sandbagger · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Turn off the computer.

    Go outside.

    It's only crybabies and bullies calling names. What happened to the island that once said 'here and no further' and stood alone against fascism? They're now cowering because someone used strong language.

    Did someone put something in the water?

    --
    ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
    1. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      That island you speak of hung one of the chief "sticks and stones" types at Wandsworth Prison.

      Lord Haw-Haw

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's not that easy. With the internet and social media playing an increasingly important role in the life of our kids, and the fact that the internet never forgets, you can easily destroy someone's life permanently that way.

      Think back of your youth. I guess everyone here has done something they're not really proud upon, maybe even something that was the talk of the school yard for a while. But it blows over. Eventually. And people forget about it.

      Remember the Star Wars Kid? That's been like a decade ago. Want to bet that you can still find videos today? What do you think, how easy he probably has it, finding a job with that reputation, hell, finding someone who'd want to date and maybe even marry an internet meme?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

      As a Canadian, I'm pretty comfortable with where we usually draw the line - somewhere around "riling up people to cause harm".

      What bothers me is that phrase in the summary... "anti-religious". Wow. So blasphemy laws then, where you're required by law to treat somebody's dangerous delusion with respect?

      I say put some radical Jews, Muslims, and Christians in a room and let the lawsuits fly...

    4. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      That we could agree on.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    5. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      The first time I probably won't. Only after the "don't you know who this is?" questions start.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but when everyone has all of their dirty laundry aired so to speak no one is going to care. We might see a kind of neo-Puritanism for a while and a few witch trials to go along with it, but eventually it will settle down because everyone's cringe-inducing crap from their younger years will be online and you know the old saying about people in glass houses.

    7. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by TimothyHollins · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How does riling up people to cause harm differ from riling up people for a laugh? Can a prosecutor tell the difference? How many 14-year olds will get sent to youth care because an angry SJW decided that "someone had to take a stand against racism, bigotry, and transphobia"? What happens when the "right to be offended" finally overturns the "intent matters" clause?

      You see the lunacy of the "anti-religious" point. I think all the points are the same, and just as easy to twist when you want to condemn someone. For those that care about the slippery slope stuff, this new ruling opens up a highway to the SocJus nation.

    8. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There's is a populist effort now to curtail the freedom of speech.

      In 1930s, it was the popular-right Nazis. Now, it's the popular-left-socialists. (and I say this with a grain of salt, as I do support some form of socialism). But yeah, if you look at some of the initial tactics, they're no different. Nazis didn't become Nazis on day one... they first became extraordinary popular---so popular that anyone who disagreed with them was afraid to question them.... this is what's happening now! (e.g. Google dude dared to question the current-state-of-affairs, and got fired and perhaps became unemployable due to that... would YOU question something you don't agree with?).

    9. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by Archtech · · Score: 1

      Nice coinage! I like it.

      --
      I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
    10. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      The first time I probably won't. Only after the "don't you know who this is?" questions start.

      I'd just ask her, myself. But, hey, I'm an old fogy, so what do I know, right?

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    11. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by Bert64 · · Score: 1

      Hitler had it wrong, he shouldn't have sent his planes...
      He should have sent some strongly worded letters insulting the brits instead.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
    12. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Unlikely. Far more likely we'll not get to hear who airs someone else's dirty laundry and what laundry becomes the dirty one depends again on groupthink and popularity.

      Do you really want to live in a world like that?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    13. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      That island you speak of hung one of the chief "sticks and stones" types at Wandsworth Prison.

      Lord Haw-Haw

      They also chemically castrated Turing for breaking the law. You'll have to forgive me if I don't automatically think that their laws are always justified.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    14. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      And, again, "eventually" is never on the internet. It's trivial for someone to dig up some drunk video of you that you thought was funny back when you were 16.

      The internet doesn't just know what you did last Summer, the internet knows what you did in the Summer of 69. And it never ever forgets.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    15. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Problem is,

      An ideology that says, where possible, men and women should be assumed to be the same, treated the same

      immediately conflicts with

      in the short term measures are needed to balance that out

      People that demand equality for men, for atheists, for white people are getting demonised and shouted down, and yes, sacked.

      This is astonishingly dimwitted

      This is ironic.

    16. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      What does riling people up have to do with this law?

      It's specifically about the use of homophobic, racist and sexist language. You can annoy people all you like, just don't call them a faggot or a nig nog while doing so.

      Personally I think that's still too much and the law should require a higher bar, but it's not what most people where seem to think it is.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    17. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by TimothyHollins · · Score: 2

      "Riling up" was in response to GP.

      You have given a great example for both how this law should look and how it should not look.
      You say that one should specifically avoid words such as faggot and nig nog. The latter is an excellent word to avoid, and I would have no problem with putting that into a specific law ("One may not the use the word nig nog specifically"). The former shows the problem.
      Faggot can mean many things. In old English it means a bundle of sticks, or the person that gathers the bundle of sticks. In British it can mean a cigarette butt. In large communities on the internet it means, I don't know really but something like "person" or "you". It can also be a reference to a homosexual, either used in a denigratory manner towards homosexuals, or used in a non-denigratory manner between homosexuals.

      So when you prosecute someone, how do you determine which context was used? Perhaps it's crystal clear, but perhaps it's not. How do you stop someone from using this law outside of its intended context? How do you stop it from being used for political or ideological agendas?

    18. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      You missed the "call them" bit before the world "faggot". You have to use it as a homophobic insult for it to count, and the law doesn't enumerate such insults.

      As for who decides, ultimately it is a jury. Aside from the question of it is a good idea to prosecute people for these kinds of insults alone, the main issue is that even if a jury finds you innocent the CPS' poor judgement can cause you serious problems.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    19. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by KingBenny · · Score: 1

      so that means big government gets to decide who can say what when and how with how many caps and exclamation marks and maybe what kind of mojis ?
      Orwell weeps, how about some education instead

      --
      Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?
    20. Re:What happened to sticks and stones? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      The alternative is that you get a person's life ruined by making one mistake in his life.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  3. Become a government informer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Inform on your friends and family, fabulous prizes to be won.

  4. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Are you really publicly hating on people based on their political opinion?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  5. Re: Good, nazis need to pay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And by Nazis you mean anyone who disagrees with you, even just a little bit.

    Violence begets violence. Remember that you condoned it when it happens to you or someone you care about. You have ceded the moral ground entirely, and are just another violent extremist.

  6. Was this inspired by the Rust community? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Was this inspired by the Rust programming language community, by any chance? The Rust Code of Conduct and the Rust Moderation Team (which enforces the Rust Code of Conduct) both form the foundation of the Rust community, and have for some time.

    It's all really quite odd. Despite claiming to be "committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, religion, or similar personal characteristic", in my opinion the Rust community is one of the least tolerant programming language communities I've ever seen. For example, it's absurd how they'll downvote you at Reddit or Hacker News, for instance, if you dare to express anything that might be considered criticism of Rust, no matter how slight.

    This stuff coming out of the UK sounds a lot like the hypersensitivity we've seen from the Rust community.

    1. Re:Was this inspired by the Rust community? by Archtech · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Are you trying to bully the Rust community??

      [Irony alert].

      --
      I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
    2. Re:Was this inspired by the Rust community? by gweihir · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The idea is to enforce tolerance by threat of violence. Of course, "tolerance" here does mean "strict and unquestioning adherence to the principles laid out by the authorities". In effect, they have redefined "tolerance" to mean extreme intolerance of anything not explicitly allowed. A tried and true technique, as, for example, nicely illustrated in 1984 by Orwell.

      Ultimately, this fails, because a community that cannot handle criticism can never produce anything good. Obviously so, as no critical discussion can take place there. The other effect is that anybody really competent leaves sooner or later because no smart person can work in an anti-discourse, anti-meritocratic environment. At the end, these "communities" collapse because they cannot perform.

      The utterly dysfunctional "Rust Community" is an excellent reason to not touch this language at all.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    3. Re:Was this inspired by the Rust community? by Mashiki · · Score: 2

      The utterly dysfunctional "Rust Community" is an excellent reason to not touch this language at all.

      Should also be a shining example of why you don't let people who contribute nothing, write codes of conduct that will fundamentally fuck up your project so bad that not even fire can save it.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    4. Re:Was this inspired by the Rust community? by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, that ability will be a major future factor in whether a FOSS project can survive. May mean that technologically inferior projects make it because they keep the SJWs out successfully.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  7. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Opportunist · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Back in the day you could also shoot commies, only had to go to South East Asia. You could also just shoot every Chink there if you felt like it, nobody really asked. If someone did, just say you think it was a commie. Or in other words, if he runs, he's a VC, if he doesn't, he's a well disciplined VC.

    Ah, yes, good ol' times...

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  8. Nobody has the right not to be offended... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    All those hatin' on haters are haters.
    People gonna hate.
    People gonna hate haters.
    People gonna hate haters hating.
    People gonna hate haters hating haters.
    ad-nauseum..

    1. Re:Nobody has the right not to be offended... by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 5, Insightful

      People who smugly claim to only be intolerant of intolerance (sometimes stated intolerables), without a hint of sarcasm, will never cease to amaze me. It's like they can't follow the most basic logical premise.

    2. Re:Nobody has the right not to be offended... by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 1

      Or maybe, just maybe, they are aware of the apparent logical inconsistency and use the expression in a knowing way with a little wink of the eye (which you see as smugness), understanding that the world is a complex place with many different shades of morality and meaning and no absolutes. It's not sarcasm, but it's also not a paradox unless you're no better than a natural language parser.

      Thinking that there are no absolutes is where the road ends for logic. See my last sentence ;-) The world is indeed a *very* complex place but even analog control systems have absolute limits.

  9. Online isn't the same by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It should be obvious to everyone that insulting or even threatening another person online is not the same as an in-person threat.

    The person threatening or insulting you online can't actually do anything to you unless they can somehow pinpoint your physical location.

    It boggles my mind how the UK can in any way equate these two activities as in any way comparable. They aren't. Period.

    1. Re:Online isn't the same by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      I'm not clear. Are you saying "Issuing a threat on a computer" should have no legal consequence at all? There's been enough incidents of doxing and online stalking and bullying to suggest that "threat by computer" isn't merely a bit of fun that should be ignored, and there are cases where such activity may, at least in a few cases, rise to the level of criminal activity.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:Online isn't the same by Archtech · · Score: 1

      Doxing and stalking are crimes in their own right - the use of a computer is irrelevant. As for "bullying", that's an extremely subjective thing. Every day, millions of people feel they are being bullied at work - but just let them try to convince a policeman, a court, an industrial tribunal, or even their manager or HR rep.

      --
      I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
    3. Re:Online isn't the same by Cederic · · Score: 1

      http://uk.businessinsider.com/... documents things that only happened online.

      There were very real offline consequences.

      https://vault.fbi.gov/gamergat... is 170 pages of collateral from an FBI investigation into things that happened online.

      It boggles my mind how the UK can in any way equate these two activities as in any way comparable. They aren't. Period.

      Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. That doesn't stop them having offline consequences, and doesn't stop the police assessing whether the law has been broken.

  10. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    There was essentially an undeclared war between the US and China during the latter stages of the Korean War. So far as I recall, the Chinese weren't directly involved in the Vietnam War at all, so I assume you're talking about the Vietnam War, where, y'know, South Vietnam was a US ally.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  11. Re: Good, nazis need to pay by Suiggy · · Score: 2

    Huh? There's nothing wrong with using violence to get peace. Antifa and ISIS are good. CNN said so.

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/18/...

  12. "Hate Crime" by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Hate Crime

    Is that a bellythinkful thoughtcrime?

    --
    Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
  13. Hate speech by krouic · · Score: 2

    When did I miss the episode where hate speech and hate crime became synonyms ?

    1. Re:Hate speech by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In a number of European countries, hate speech is lumped in with hate crimes. Try being a public Holocaust Denier in Germany or Austria.

      Not every country has the First Amendment, and the UK has traditionally had more restrictions on speech than the US.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:Hate speech by Jahta · · Score: 1

      When did I miss the episode where hate speech and hate crime became synonyms ?

      Well you may have missed this episode, which is an important reminder that freedom of speech does not grant you some magical immunity from the consequences of what you say. You only have to look post-Trump USA, and post-Brexit UK, to see how racist (or sexist, homophobic) rhetoric has real world outcomes. As the WWII slogan says "careless talk costs lives."

    3. Re:Hate speech by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

      Save that even in Liberal Democratic countries, the limits to freedom of speech will vary. As I said, a number of European countries have some pretty sharp limits on "hate speech", and even in my own country, Canada, there's a level of hate speech which can lead to prosecution (though it is pretty rare, and usually has to be contingent upon the prosecution proving some tangible and relatively immediate harm). The UN Declaration of Human Rights simply does not have the free speech protections that the First Amendment does.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    4. Re:Hate speech by Max+Sinister · · Score: 1

      I'm German and don't think this is that wrong. This isn't just an opinion or an insult. It's a denial of a pretty big fact and as important for some people a a thing can be,

    5. Re:Hate speech by fafalone · · Score: 1

      Ever since the far left extreme progressives declared that words were "literal violence" and they were therefore entitled to defend themselves from that violence by starting violent mobs to stop some right-wing nutters from speaking. They're really alienating loads of people who are very liberal but don't agree with throwing free speech and due process out the window; I can already see Darth Cheeto to be reelected in 2020 for that reason. That's why you've got those jackasses saying things like how they would just love for the left to keep hammering identity politics.

    6. Re:Hate speech by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      Much like the hatred for white males, which has been festering over the last couple of decades, has led to a resurgence of white nationalists.
      Remember, your speech has consequences too.

  14. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Suiggy · · Score: 1

    Satire my friend. Someone has to point out the hypocrisy.

  15. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Are you really publicly hating on people based on their political opinion?

    If someone says "I'm a Nazi, I directly support the policies of Hitler" then I have no problem hating on them.

    Fair enough. Of course the vast majority of people being called Nazis currently do not meet that definition. They just happen to be anywhere to the right of what the Democratic party dogma.

  16. It's just routine leftism. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Did someone put something in the water?

    What we're seeing is exactly what we should expect to see when a society has been infected with leftism.

    Leftism is an ideology that involves a small elite who use a false sense of victimization, combined with control over information and the expression of ideas, to manipulate a much larger "disadvantaged" lower class.

    Many Western nations have slowly fallen victim to leftism. It has started in academia, which we've gradually seen shift more and more to the left. At this point many institutions of learning could be classified as extremely leftist. This has resulted in around a generation of students who have been exposed to leftism from their earliest of years, through to their mid-20s.

    Now these people have entered the workplace, and society at large. They've become more involved with politics. And so we've seen everything go to hell. That's the natural consequence of widespread leftism: the total destruction of the society which it has infected.

    It doesn't matter if we're talking about the USSR, Mao-Era China, Cuba, Venezuela, Columbia, or other failed Central American and South American states. Leftism always destroys society. Western society is just as susceptible as those others were.

    1. Re:It's just routine leftism. by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There is no single "leftism". There are a whole series of political and economic ideologies that fit into the "Left".

      True of the "right" as well. Useful thing to keep in mind when you're hating on the "right"....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    2. Re:It's just routine leftism. by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      I agree, which is why I don't think being Republican is being a Nazi. I do think being a White Nationalist, however, if not outright making you a Nazi, makes you a pretty goddamned close neighbor.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:It's just routine leftism. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "Nazi" is short for "National Socialist".

      They were leftists.

  17. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    I'm talking about the general sentiment the US displays towards East Asia in general. Basically you have a bunch of Chinks, they all look the same and some get used as temporary allies while someone else gets bombed. At the onset of WW2 it was China being the buddy to get a kick at the Japs, after that it was the good ol' North vs. South game. Twice, for good measure.

    But take a look at how the US treated its allies.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  18. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And that's exactly what is not happening. The label "Nazi" is being issued by people trying to silence their opponents by slapping that label onto them.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  19. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    That would be a switch, considering the Allied Powers spent a good six years shooting every Nazi they could find, and then had some trials in Nuremberg to hang or imprison the rest of them.

    It took the Germans a few more decades to remove Nazi influence from daily life.

    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/20/why-there-are-no-nazi-statues-in-germany-215510

  20. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Mashiki · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Political speech is protected in most places remember? You know what that means don't you? Yep, it's a two way street! The rules you use against someone else, will inevitably be used against you.

    Ah, the good old days. Where people understood that freedom of speech means, you also have to defend distasteful and hateful speech. Not because you agree with it, but to protect your own.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  21. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    Very hard to pull off, Poe's law is in full effect.

    Strange how it went from being a far right problem to being a far left problem. But I guess it's just an extremist problem altogether. There is no insane statement, claim or demand that would not be made by them, so making it in jest will be taken serious.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  22. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The thing is, the alt left calls anyone who doesn't toe their line a Nazi. The word has thereby changed meaning.

  23. Re: Good, nazis need to pay by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    I don't recall CNN defending Antifa, and where exactly did the say ISIS was good?

    The fact is that since before the Civil War, the phenomena of counter protests against racists have occurred. Some Abolitionists chose to be more vocal in their denunciations of slavery and white bigotry. Most people think John Brown, for instance was pretty naive and deluded in believing he could create a slave revolt, so his actions are condemned largely as sadly futile, but he still was on the right side of the debate. It's the same with Antifa. Their methods are counterproductive, and show a tendency towards the ends justifying the means, but their view of the evils of fascism, well, whatever their methods, I can't disagree with their views.

    And that's where the attempt at moral equivalency between Nazis and Antifa fails. Both are thugs, but only one holds a perverse racist ideology.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  24. Re: Good, nazis need to pay by Iamthecheese · · Score: 2

    By lumping all the people at the rally in with the Nazis who were also at the rally you're deliberately closing your eyes to important, pertinent facts. You are becoming as willfully ignorant as those you hate. Ignorant in precisely the same way. If X is with Y all X are Y.

    --
    If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
  25. Just wait until the pendulum swings back by DeplorableCodeMonkey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A MP from Labour had to step down because she wanted to have an uncomfortable conversation about incidents like Rotterham and then was forced to do the ritualized "so sorry, I'm such a racist, I'll go live in a secular convent while I do penance." All because she had the audacity to notice that apparently Rotterham is a large data point in a bigger trend.

    Suppressing speech like this with force may make you feel noble, but it's not going to go away. Others will notice, others will talk. Eventually, the pendulum will swing back and the force it swings back on the smug, self-righteous inquisitors will be a function of how much force they put into the swing when it was on their side. The leaders celebrating this today could very well find themselves facing serious retribution.

    1. Re:Just wait until the pendulum swings back by Suiggy · · Score: 2

      You've just been reported to the authorities for spreading this hate fact.

    2. Re:Just wait until the pendulum swings back by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Actually, that MP has been widely supported and her forced resignation condemned. It's true that she could have worded it better, but she definitely has a lot of support now. It may even have boosted her career in the longer term, and it certainly damaged Labour's leader for taking that action.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:Just wait until the pendulum swings back by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 1

      Eventually, the pendulum will swing back and the force it swings back on the smug, self-righteous inquisitors will be a function of how much force they put into the swing when it was on their side. The leaders celebrating this today could very well find themselves facing serious retribution.

      People forget how quickly it can swing too. I recall a few years ago when Obama was in office how quick liberals were to jump on if you don't toe our line on gay marriage we will withhold Federal funds. Fast forward a few years and the liberals are out of power and sanctuary cities were under threat of having Federal funds withheld. Funny how then it was suddenly immoral to withhold funds. Since the root cause of the instability is not being addressed (declining middle class / severe inequality / too much social change in a short span) expect more oscillations. Also expect that whatever you do to others will be done to you in time. The moral of the story is to not be too mean to others, don't be so quick to condemn and try and punish.

    4. Re:Just wait until the pendulum swings back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      With respect, this as dumb as "Oh, so when YOU imprison people for murder, that's OK, but when WE imprison people for being Democrats, suddenly imprisoning people is wrong? Typical hypocrites!"

      Why is it OK to withhold funds from cities that persecute homosexuals and transexuals? Because the government is meant to be protecting people from persecution, and cities are not supposed to persecute their citizens.

      Why is it NOT OK to withhold funds from cities that don't do ICE's job for them? Because (1) that's not a city's job, and (2) because cities have 100% legitimate reasons to not do ICE's job for them, namely that it makes prosecuting real crime infinitely harder if witnesses are going to worry that they themselves will lose everything they own and be separated from their families permanently if they come forward.

      The issue isn't withholding funds. The issue is punishing cities over something they shouldn't be punished for. Ever.

    5. Re:Just wait until the pendulum swings back by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      I don't see any oscillations happening any time soon in America. The Democrats have continued to lose election after election while spending lots more money.

      Its the Internet age - when your actions dont match your words - people wont vote for you - The least-liar wins current elections. This may change, or who the biggest liars are may change, but the Internet has brought a paradigm shift away from the Mass Media narratives holding anywhere near as much sway as they once did.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    6. Re:Just wait until the pendulum swings back by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Glad to see that you missed the point. In both cases the root issue is go against the Feds and get penalized. When that is acceptable policy it's only a matter of time before it gets used against "your view". Not unlike how having vaguely worded hate speech laws could be used against [insert favorite cause] someday.

    7. Re:Just wait until the pendulum swings back by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 2

      I don't see any oscillations happening any time soon in America. The Democrats have continued to lose election after election while spending lots more money.

      Control flips, largely on the economy. In 2008 the Democrats won full power and in 2016 the Republicans won full power. Since the 1% will continue to squeeze the rest of us ever tighter expect public anger to cause it to flip again and again. Also expect more extreme people with each swing of the pendulum as the population becomes more desperate. At some point the system will topple because something has to give but there are several more "swings" I expect between now and then.

    8. Re:Just wait until the pendulum swings back by Cederic · · Score: 2

      Although lets face it, someone guilty of domestic violence should never have fucking been shadow minister for equality in the first place.

    9. Re:Just wait until the pendulum swings back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Glad to see that you missed the point. In both cases the root issue is go against the Feds and get penalized.

      Actually, that's the point that was explicitly and expressly rejected. It's not missed, it's being thrown out as trash.

      When that is acceptable policy it's only a matter of time before it gets used against "your view".

      Blah-blah-blah. Unless you are advocating for a powerless government, your position here is disingenuous.

      Of course somebody like Trump would attempt to use coercive means, why wouldn't he? Because somebody else didn't do it? Hardly. You know he has no such scruples. In fact, the reality is that if Obama did something that could be used to excuse his behavior, Trump will do it, and if Obama didn't do something, that same argument will be used by Trump to do something.

      Your argument is merely a false presentation that attempts to drive the righteous to impotence by deceit, not legitimacy.

      A tiresome attempt, that only belies your lack of virtue.

      Not unlike how having vaguely worded hate speech laws could be used against [insert favorite cause] someday.

      Every law can be used against someone, somewhere, properly or improperly. Specific wording is as abusive as vague.

      Like I said, your point is rejected. It's nothing more than bullshit, meant to exploit some naive stupidity, not a real and genuine sentiment you hold anyway.

  26. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Bert64 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Referring to a german as a nazi is no less of a racial insult than any other.

    Holding nazi beliefs is no different to believing in a religion. It may seem stupid and irrational to the rest of us but those who believe it usually do so blindly and will "feel offended" if you question their beliefs.

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  27. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Mashiki · · Score: 1

    rather than outright saying the Communists are the master political race and those who don't agree should either be eliminated, enslaved or exiled.

    Ah yeah, good times huh?

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  28. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Mashiki · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In the good ol' days, those same nazi's, fascists and authoritarians were also allowed to speak their garbage publicly. Until war broke out remember? Dust off a history book, you're arguing to ban/block speech because it's expedient. Hell the NYT even had glowing articles in the defense of not only nazi's but fascists, in those years.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  29. It's not though. by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    You can't really harass someone online, because there is nothing forcing them to read the shit you write. Furthermore, most online services provide effective mechanisms for blocking a-holes. Also, computer systems keep a record of all messages, making harassment criminal complaints much easier to prove. (Has anybody gotten away with online harassment be using an anonymous proxy service?)

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  30. Governments are quite different... by Archtech · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... they don't hate anyone - although you might think otherwise to hear or read some of their statements.

    No, when governments kill individuals for resisting them, or millions for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, they don't do it out of hatred - or any emotion.

    It's icy cold. Just business.

    --
    I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
    1. Re:Governments are quite different... by gweihir · · Score: 1

      And exactly that is what makes governments the most immoral and evil constructs known to man. If not kept on a tight leash, they will go off the rails and ultimately establish fascism. Unfortunately, current generations in the west have no idea what that means and are cheering them on.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:Governments are quite different... by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      Pretty sure Hitlers actions proved that he was more interested in Killing The Jews than he was in Winning The War.

      I posit this simple argument:

      If Hitler was rational he would have enslaved all the Jews and used them to bolster his war machine. Instead when things were going bad on the war front he significantly ramped up the killing.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
  31. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Locke2005 · · Score: 2, Funny

    All New! "Swastiki" brand torches by Tiki Brand! Get yours today! All the skinheads are carrying one... do you want to feel left out?

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  32. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by MightyMartian · · Score: 1, Insightful

    And where did I say Nazis shouldn't be allowed to spew their hate? Providing they're not conspiring to commit acts of violence, they have that right, in the US at least (your mileage will vary in other countries). What I refuse to do is to normalize Nazi speech. They have the right to say it, and I have the right to judge them on their speech, and to act upon on my judgment within the constraints of the law (ie. not allow my property to be used to assist them in their speech).

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  33. Re: Good, nazis need to pay by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

    You didn't actually read the article you linked, did you?

    The article presents the facts about what happened and there are quotes from people who are for and against the behavior of Antifa, but the article itself avoids making any judgements.

  34. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Bert64 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's a political opinion when it's a political opinion...
    If you voice your support for hitler, and your desire for all non aryans to be exterminated then that's an opinion.
    If you actually try to implement that policy then it's more than an opinion.

    Also you will see many countries which implement racist policies, for instance the education system in malaysia has a quota system controlling the number of available places based on your ethnicity. Many african countries also have active policies of handing resources traditionally held by whites over to black residents.
    While these policies clearly don't go as far as the original nazis did, many of todays neo nazis also advocate watered down ideology which only promotes preferential treatment for aryans rather than the absolute extermination of anyone else.

    It's only really in the west where nationalism is frowned upon, many other countries openly want to promote their own people and ideologies at the expense of others. Immigration is also largely a western issue, the number of people permanently migrating *to* other countries is relatively small and generally tightly controlled by the government.

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  35. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Mashiki · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nazi speech is not political, it is hate crime. And remember, while religions are protected - even muslim, yet, ISIS speech won't be protected.

    And now we get to see how easy it is to label something a hate crime. "You said so." And now to restrict, to censor, to hide, to let it fester. To show people "yes, we really are being persecuted. Join us because we do have answers ye downtrodden!" Living in Canada and having seen "hate crime" law in action, where the CHRC(Canadian Human Rights Commission) manufactured evidence to go after political opponents, this is why the censoring of non-harmful speech is so dangerous. It's one of the reasons that Section 13 of the CHRC was revoked.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  36. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Since when did being Neo-Nazi get downgraded to merely a "political opinion"?

    Since the alt-left started calling people nazis over any deviation from feminism and identity politics.

  37. Re: Good, nazis need to pay by Bert64 · · Score: 2

    Most people in germany during the 1930s were not nazis either...
    They were normal, honest hard working german citizens living in a country that was falling apart and facing huge problems, where none of the established political parties were willing to do anything about it. So they voted for the only party that offered a solution, even if that solution wasn't ideal it was the only one they had.

    Sound familiar? Because history is repeating itself... Society is rapidly falling apart and the only parties promising to do anything to help the average person are the extremeist ones.

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  38. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That is total bullshit. No one is saying every Republican is a Nazi.

    Sorry, you are being too reasonable.

    Plenty of the "Alt-Left" on Twitter think all Republicans are Nazis - there is even a hash tag - #RepublicansAreNazis

    https://twitter.com/hashtag/RepublicansAreNazis?src=hash

    And more besides the hash tag:

    https://twitter.com/search?q=REPUBLICANS%20ARE%20NAZIS%20-not&src=typd

    And a writer at The Guardian says Republicans do "the bidding of white supremacists"

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/19/republican-party-white-supremacists-charlottesville

    So, QED, your statement is untrue. Plenty call *all* Republicans Nazis.

  39. I have a bad feeling about current times by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The UK is putting in place more and more laws against free speech, bordering on thought crime.
    The US is implementing the ministry of truth as we speak. Worse yet, the citizens are asking for it.
    People in formerly communist countries must be shaking their head.

    1. Re:I have a bad feeling about current times by gweihir · · Score: 2

      Defending freedom of speech and thought is so yesterday. Obviously, a police state and even more so, a totalitarian state is much preferable as there people will only behave well (as defined by the government) or else.

      The stupidity and lack of understanding of history expressed in this is truly staggering. Apparently the fascists were not a historical accident, they are alive and well and can be found in the Government.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  40. Sounds like a field day for trolls by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    Internet troll's new hobby: Baiting the UK's Crown Prosecution Service. Good luck trying to track some anonymous person down who is behind 7 proxies (or at least a VPN or Tor, or is using free WiFi from some random cafe or coffeeshop).

    1. Re:Sounds like a field day for trolls by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      'Casus belli'

      LOL don't you think the trolls know that already, and furthermore know that regardless of what they do, the powers-that-be already have an agenda written down in ink and are going to implement it regardless of who does what? 'Fuck the police' is a thing, and they'll think that they may as well have their fun while they still can. Also, good luck to the UK Government, being drawn into an endless game of Whac-a-Mole (or perhaps 'Whac-a-Troll' is more appropriate here), because that's what it'll turn into: they can hide and pop up elsewhere faster than the cops can keep up; that's not even counting the 'word filtering' game of using creative and ever-changing codewords and abbreviations to get your meaning across. Where do you think 7334 (leet) came from? If the UK wants to take a fire axe to the entire UK Internet and destroy it, then that's what'll happen, they'll end up killing off any and all websites that you can possibly leave any sort of comments on. As usual, government and law enforcement types just don't understand the technology of the Internet.

  41. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Apart from some trolls most of the people using the term "nazi" were warning the right that there were actual Nazis in their midst. Then Charlottesville happened and suddenly it dawned on people that the warnings were justified, and that there were actual Nazis and KKK wizards among them.

    --
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  42. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by vandelais · · Score: 1

    What if he surfs?

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  43. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not what the poster said cupcake. Leftists have lumped all people who are centrist or right of center as part of hate groups and Nazi sympathizers. Don't try to deny it. Hard left communist progressives had their say but not for much longer. The US is still a center right country and payback is hell. The media is not your friend and you don't have good representation in government now.

  44. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by king+neckbeard · · Score: 2

    Everybody who was just okay with having Nazi flags around them was labeled a Nazi. Had half of the right wing crowd been telling the Nazis to fuck off, you might have a point, but I've seen no indication that that was the case.

    --
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  45. Re: Good, nazis need to pay by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

    If those people didn't want to be lumped in with Nazis, they should have told the Nazis they weren't welcome.

    --
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  46. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The people being called Nazis are, well, Nazis

    MightyMartian is a Nazi rightfully being lumped in with their more vocal ideological neighbors.

    See how easy this is? The more you challenge the assertion, the more you are a Nazi.

    You are also stupid, hand-wringing piece of shit.

  47. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

    And at no time did you have to, as a private citizen, tolerate hate being spewed into your air.
    I give you the Klan march in Skokie.
    Gov't banned the march
    ACLU sued, won, Klan marched
    Skokie citizens turned out in droves, making the Klan SLINK instead of STRUT
    Legal as church, moral as saving a drowning dog.
    The thing the Nazis at Charlottesville forgot is that you don't get to silence the opposition by MURDER.
    So now the Nazi bastards are going to be watched, and POUNCED upon every time they display a gun against persons NOT carrying guns, under the Menacing laws.

  48. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

    What slope?
    Nazis carrying guns and threatening may still be shot.
    Leave the threats, or the guns, or the guns and threats behind.
    Because self-defense is still cool

  49. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

    Like driving into non-violent counter protesters, because the countering view was successful at vilifying the Nazis?
    yes, that pretty much makes for a clear case of Political Murder and the various persons involved subject to reprisal

  50. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    Yup. Too bad this is not what we're talking about now.

    What happens now is that everyone who dares to be critical of full blown left wing rhetoric gets slapped with the NAZI! label.

    50 years ago, anyone not doing the "USA fuck yeah!" dance was labeled COMMIE! The actors change, the strategy stays the same.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  51. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That is total bullshit. No one is saying every Republican is a Nazi.

    Other than FAIR and Salon magazine. I can find more references if you like...

  52. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Informative

    When there is only two sides to choose from, and I don't want to choose the side that wants to silence those that disagree, you will end up with very, very odd bedfellows...

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  53. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

    There are only two sides to join in marching/protest. But that doesn't mean you are obligated to take a side. these people willingly sided with Nazis, and it's not as if anybody is surprised by their presence at this rally.

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  54. Great! Now do the same for... by gweihir · · Score: 1

    ... enemies of freedom, privacy, etc.!

    Oh, wait, they would need to round up most of the GCHQ and of the Government. So that is not going to happen as Justitia has long since stopped being blind in the UK.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  55. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

    Yeah, except for you failed to correctly identify the actors. The new McCarthyism is claiming that everyone that you don't like is a Russian spy/shill. But it's not the "full blown left" that makes that claim. It's the corporate Dems.

    The only group consistently conflated with the Nazis are Nazi sympathizers, and understandably so. This is, of course, excluding clickbait headlines and the internet's general tendency to call everything they don't like Nazis.

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  56. Re:Good to know by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

    HURR DURR I DON'T KNOW ABOUT HISTORICAL POLITICAL REALIGNMENTS HOLLYWOOD IS RUN BY REPUBLICANS.

    This text is to undermine slashdot's anti-caps filtering. I'm just typing this so I can properly mock you with liberal usage of caps lock.

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  57. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by benjfowler · · Score: 1

    Never mind the fact that "McCarthyism" WAS actually invented by the Russians to make it harder to criticise them or their dirty tricks. What's known about Joe McCarthy is still highly classified.... they'd do a lot of good if they just came clean about what kind of hold the Russians had on him and why he acted the way he did.

    I would take ANY accusation by Russia and their allies of 'McCarthyism' with a fist-sized grain of salt. Because it would'nt be the first time they've deployed dirty tricks to shut down criticism of their imperialism and reaction.

  58. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

    Allies of Russia aren't really using the term. It's enemies of the corporate "left," because the corporate left are the ones making everything big and scary about Russia to distract from the fact that their party lost to a candidate less popular than lice.

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  59. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    The alternative is pretty much saying that you don't give a shit about whether you can voice your opinion. I'm honestly surprised that Nazis would stand on that side of a fence, but just because those assholes have hijacked a topic means now that I cannot actually have that opinion myself? By that logic, all it takes for any kind of topic that I do not want you to be for/against, I only have to make sure that some asshole group is for/against a topic and by actually considering the topic important I may lump you into a group with the assholes.

    I think last time this was attempted was when they tried to discredit MLK.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  60. Why would the medium matter? by Layzej · · Score: 1

    And where did I say Nazis shouldn't be allowed to spew their hate? Providing they're not conspiring to commit acts of violence, they have that right,

    Right. And the article doesn't say anything about changing the rules, It just says that they will apply the rules regardless of the medium. I would have thought that would go without saying. Death threats are death threats. "But I did it on the internet, not IRL!" can't really be a defense... can it?

  61. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

    Very few people had Nazi flags in that protest,

    So marching around carrying torches chanting Nazi slogans doesn't make you a Nazi. You're only a Nazi if you carry a flag. Got it.

    --
    The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  62. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by king+neckbeard · · Score: 2

    No, I'm a free speech absolutist, but I can support someone's right to free speech without supporting them or their particular marches. Many people at the rally crossed multiple state lines, so they probably weren't coming to just to support the free speech of Nazis, unless they were working for the ACLU.

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  63. You might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. by Max+Sinister · · Score: 1

    Not good. Even if it works, while the number of the offenders may fall, but those remaining will radicalize. Although in the first place I wonder how they're gonna enforce this.

  64. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by CronoCloud · · Score: 2

    That's a cop-out. If someone doesn't want to be lumped in with the Nazi's then don't march with them, do a protest a different day.

    Now sure, most republicans aren't Nazi's...but...some of the same Republicans condemning Nazis were quite willing to turn a blind eye to racism or use racist dog whistles over the years. Including practically every neo-confederate southerner in the Republican leadership.

    Even back in 2008, many Republicans turned a blind eye or condoned the nativist "know nothing" elements of the "Tea party". The "tea party" basically being the "heralds" of the modern "alt-right"

  65. Almost by s.petry · · Score: 3, Interesting

    (declining middle class / severe inequality / too much social change in a short span)

    These things are inexorably linked due to the ideology behind them. There are, and has been for a couple thousand years, 2 competing ideologies. One where the State is the most important part of society, and the other (which the US is founded upon) that the individual is the most important part of society. The USA succeeded because of ideology enshrining the individual. Now that we have a mass of politicians pushing for (and obtaining to a large degree) socialist/communist programs we are getting what others who taut the Statist ideology get. A 2 class system with the Peons and the Government Elites.

    Compare Locke to Marx, or Hegel, or Dewy, or Crowley. The latter 4 all tell you that the individual is nothing without the State, while the former tells you that the State is nothing without the individual. (Same lesson from Plato, Cicero, and to a large extent Aquinas and Luther). The far left ideology is where we get concepts like "The living Constitution", and yes "Socialized" programs from the Government. The State, and the few elites allowed to run the State are all powerful. Everyone else is simply a servant of the State. (See Socrates' Allegory of the Cave [unadulterated version])

    Europe as a whole is just getting this by the bucket full. People are supposed to be afraid to push back and take control, that's part of the movement selling you Statism as a religion. People are supposed to be brain washed, because that is how you keep control. People are supposed to be poor if they are in the "wrong think" camp, because if you have money you can push back.

    It's too late to continue to claim "it can't happen here", because it's been happening. The push now, and we see it in the US, is to try and turn back from the coming cliff. Let us see if you can prove Rand wrong, or if you all fall to communism.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re: Almost by s.petry · · Score: 2

      The State is not supposed to "change", confused AC. The State is supposed to be a body established by rule of law. This is why we have a Constitutional Amendment process which we are supposed to use to change the role of the State. Authoritarians can not exist following the rule of Law in the USA. We have this thing called a Separation of powers, which can only be omitted when people start talking about a "living constitution" which is directly opposing "rule of law".

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    2. Re: Almost by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The State is not supposed to "change", confused AC.

      Wow, I will be sure to let the Founding Fathers know this, they were totally wrong to rise in Revolution, reject the Articles of Confederation and institute their own Constitution.

      In reality, of course, the state IS required to change, it is necessary for it to change, and opposing that is the first recourse of the dictator. Life is change. Death is your path.

      The State is supposed to be a body established by rule of law.

      Thomas Jefferson reminds you otherwise, that the state exists under the consent of the governed, and that it is the People who established the Government, nothing else.

      This is why we have a Constitutional Amendment process which we are supposed to use to change the role of the State.

      James Madison reminds you that the Constitution was not instituted by law, but by an act of Individuals who sought to correct their prior mistakes, yet had no lawful authority to do so.

      Authoritarians can not exist following the rule of Law in the USA.

      Authoritarians love the false morality you espouse, it is so easy to corrupt, in fact, it is they who have abused it regularly and consistently. That is why you choose to embrace them, though, entirely and utterly, through hypocrisy and falsehood, through abuse and exploitation, through oppression and dishonesty.

      It is funny, how you end up on the wrong side of history by citing it.

      We have this thing called a Separation of powers, which can only be omitted when people start talking about a "living constitution" which is directly opposing "rule of law".

      Keep telling yourself that lie, it lets you be beholden to tyranny and oppression. There is only one power, the People, and all are beholden to it. Notice how you fear to even admit it, though it is the directly stated in several of the State Constitutions. You want to suborn that, under false pretensions and hollow virtues, for your own covetousness, because most of all, you fear the People, you despise them, because you know when they are free, they are something you cannot exploit so easily.

      You much prefer to put the People in chains. Bind them. Constrain them. Keep them from stopping your malignancies, because you are the one who hates the power that liberty offers.

  66. Re:Good to know by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

    The two parties switched roles on racism in 1964 and you know it. The northern liberal wing of the Democrats basically purged the most racists. The Democrats which were once the "regional party" of the south and rural conservatives became the urban party and the Republicans went Southern thanks to the Civil Rights act and Nixon's Southern Strategy.

    Which is why there are modern Southern Republicans who openly say that if Jefferson Davis was alive today he'd be a Republican.

  67. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Rockoon · · Score: 1

    How about the Apartheid in Israel?

    Shit doesnt get much more mainstream that having two classes of Citizens entirely based on their religion.

    There are the Jewish. The most rights and freedoms.
    There are non-Jewish that are Citizens. Significantly fewer rights and freedoms.

    There are also the non-Jewish that are also non-Citizens. Fewest rights and no freedoms. All their rights are subject to the timely whims of the Israeli military, but I cannot hold a country to account for how it treats its non-citizens unless its extremely heinous.

    This is a "Western" supposedly "enlightened" country here, not some 3rd world shit-hole, and its got bigotry baked right into the law. We can argue about if its right or wrong, but its a fact.

    --
    "His name was James Damore."
  68. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by s.petry · · Score: 2

    The same slope you fell down. Anyone carrying a gun and threatening may still be shot. You seem to be promoting this against a single group based on your bias. What happens when your group happens to be the victim of someone else' bias?

    I seem to remember a famous quote about this. Something along the lines of "First they came for the Socialists, but I was not a Socialist".... This is why we have History.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  69. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by mi · · Score: 1

    All nazis will pay the toll.

    Don't forget the Communists/Socialists. A T-shirt with Hitler on it is no better than one with Che Guevara.

    Light post for both, right?

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  70. Re: Good, nazis need to pay by mi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    An imaginary group said all that, eh?

    Let's play a game. You name a group and/or a prominent person, who did not endorse/vote for Hillary Clinton, and I'll find a group and/or a prominent person denouncing him/them as a "Nazi".

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  71. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by mi · · Score: 1, Insightful

    No one is saying every Republican is a Nazi.

    In denial much?

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  72. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by mi · · Score: 1

    Everybody who was just okay with having Nazi flags around them was labeled a Nazi.

    There were far more Communist symbols and slogans around — and Communists are far more murderous than even the Nazis were. Was it Ok to shoot the Communists in Charlotteville and elsewhere? How about driving cars into their crowding?

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  73. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by chihowa · · Score: 1

    This is a "Western" supposedly "enlightened" country here, not some 3rd world shit-hole, and its got bigotry baked right into the law. We can argue about if its right or wrong, but its a fact.

    No we can't, which is sort of the point. Bigotry has an objective and well-defined definition, which changes with the political landscape to make sure that only the right "wrong people" are guilty of it. Anything but glowing support of Israel or Israeli policy is anti-semitism and hate speech.

    Censor yourself or we will do it for you.

    --
    If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
  74. Examples please by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    And not just the occasional nut job feminist running a class on Gender Studies at your local community college. Show me a government agency using the label Nazi to directly attack an opponent. Bonus points if you can do it in the United States instead of Germany (who might just be a wee bit paranoid when it comes to Nazi's resurgence).

    See, this is what gets me about the right. They're absolutely enraged that somebody with no power whatsoever (a professor, a low level bureaucrat, their postman) is a whackjob and somehow blitheringly unaware of the massive power exercised by billionaires, mega pastors and all of Wallstreet. I chalk it up to the fact that they can see their English teacher giving them a 'D' or the lady at the DMV who tells them that they need to fix their catalytic converter while the billionaire and his mega pastor friends who just screwed them out of a job, health care, clear air and water and education for their kids are far, far away...

    --
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    1. Re:Examples please by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      A government agency? Please don't be silly, who cares about the government?

      You don't need the government to fuck up your life. All you need today is someone writing your employer that you're (insert label here) and an employer who would rather fire you than deal with even the possibility of some loudmouth creating bad PR.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  75. Re:Good to know by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

    The DNC nominated Al Gore Jr, the son of the racist.

    Yes, but Gore Jr is not his father.

    The DNC nominated Hillary Clinton, who said Byrd was her mentor.

    Yes, one of her many mentors in the Senate which she was in LONG after Byrd had apologized for his earlier membership in the Klan. Which IIRC, he did in the 1970's.

    Along with their support of Planned Parenthood, an organization that was started with the hope of aborting the blacks out of America according to their founder, Margret Sanger.

    That alt-right talking point was investigated and proven to be false.

    Go ahead, keep calling me names.

    I literally did no such thing. Look if you want to try to deflect from the Republicans being soft on bigotry by saying something like "Nuh uh, you are!" You're going to get laughed at by anybody with even the slightest knowledge of politics over the decades.

  76. Doxing happened by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    and the need to exist and maintain an online presence. It's 2017. The online and real world started overlapping in disturbing ways over a decade ago. Turn off your computer and go read some of Bruce Sterling's books. Or if you really want old fashion read up on Henry II. Pen mightier than sword and all that rot.

    --
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  77. Re: Good, nazis need to pay by MostAwesomeDude · · Score: 2

    I think that Weird Al endorsed Bernie, but I'm not sure. I can't find anybody calling him a Nazi, although his song lyrics have referenced Nazis often enough that it complicates searching.

    I like corner cases. Who has called Jill Stein, who almost certainly did not vote Democrat, a Nazi? I've found several nasty rants excoriating her, but nobody notable calling her a Nazi.

    This game is fun! Your turn.

    --
    ~ C.
  78. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by not+flu · · Score: 1

    South Africa does too, only thing holding them back is that 90% of the farms given to blacks fail.

  79. Re: Good, nazis need to pay by mi · · Score: 1

    I think that Weird Al endorsed Bernie, but I'm not sure.

    Well, I sure, that he voted for Hillary at the end.

    Who has called Jill Stein, who almost certainly did not vote Democrat, a Nazi?

    Ah, I forgot to mention this explicitly, but, of course, people calling others "Nazis" are exempt. And Ms. Stein did that arguing against "another Clinton in White House".

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  80. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by lgw · · Score: 1

    You seem to be stretching the definition of Nazi a bit far. About half the people at the Alt-Right march in Charlottesville were some sort of "white nationalists", but were any of them neo-Nazis? Pretty sure none of them were actual Nazis unless George Soros put in a surprise appearance.

    What you should be asking is "why did the other half show up, willingly associate with white nationalists when they weren't themselves"? The answer of course is you and those just like you: you've abused terms like racist and Nazi so much that no one one the right (outside of DC) cares anymore if you call them that. "Why not march with racists and Nazis - I'll be called a Nazi racist anyway, so there's no downside in making common cause".

    A dangerous new political coalition is forming and it's your fault.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  81. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by reboot246 · · Score: 1

    Back in the good old days (and still today) the New York Times was a left-leaning publication, so of course they loved the Fascists. And, yes, Fascism and Nazism are on the left. Just because they fought against the Communists doesn't mean they're right wing. They're all evil siblings and the offspring of Satan.

  82. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by king+neckbeard · · Score: 1

    Your questions are non-sequiturs. Would I feel reasonable calling those marching around those carrying communist symbols "communists?" Yes. That said, the protesters were more diverse, as people form many walks of life, including Republicans, are anti-Nazi. You can argue that there were shitty people in the protest groups, but this was a rally about white supremacy from a bunch of spoiled dipshits that aren't pure anything. But none of that has anything to do with your questions.

    --
    This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  83. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Opportunist · · Score: 2
    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  84. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    No, they spent six years killing Werhmacht soldiers. They had no idea if those soldiers were Nazis or not.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  85. Re:jurisdiction by AHuxley · · Score: 2

    Re: "will other countries extradite citizens to face the music in the UK" Extradite would be difficult. Requesting a list of all UK users would then allow for UK users to be discovered in the UK.
    A UK person living outside the UK using a VPN to comment on UK issues? Just ensure a return to the UK for any reason. The legal system will be waiting. Commonwealth nations and EU nations have agreements to support courts in the UK in many matters?

    Finding a VPN that works in some nations could be an issue for UK users.
    Once a site starts getting traction expect the UK courts and security services to start trying to collect all UK users ip's.
    Different methods to make an average VPN covering an OS or browser show its UK ISP ip by requesting new connections a bit different to VPN supported http/https.
    People without a VPN protecting their entire network could be discovered with a list of simple browser or application/OS supported networking requests.
    Their UK isp ip would then be logged.
    UK based CC payments to another nations VPN from within the UK would also be an issue to track if the status of using any type of VPN product in the UK was to change.
    The main ability to detect an UK ip using a VPN service would be the legal agreements between the UK and the VPN nation.
    The UK requests full international treaty support for a criminal facing many years in prison?
    The VPN host nation could be obligated in their own nation to request the VPN to log the UK users given the nature of the request and any international/UK treaty they have to fully support.
    For that full list of UK VPN account users the UK gov/mil would be very thankful to that nation.
    Once that UK ISP and ip is found that user can be discovered in the UK.
    The UK user lists will be extradited, discovered or logged.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  86. Re: Good, nazis need to pay by ToasterMonkey · · Score: 2

    An imaginary group said all that, eh?

    Let's play a game. You name a group and/or a prominent person, who did not endorse/vote for Hillary Clinton, and I'll find a group and/or a prominent person denouncing him/them as a "Nazi".

    Mike Pence
    Mitch McConnell
    John McCain
    Mitt Romney
    John Kasich ...

    I mean, really ... I listen to an AM radio station ALL DAY, I know what stupid game you're playing. Every day it's New York Times said this, no good rotten failing New York Times said that, trying hard to be victims and beet pills.

  87. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

    I didn't call the Tea Party Nazi's, I used the word "nativist" and "know nothing" and I called them the "heralds" of the alt-right. know your history.

    And there was PLENTY of bigotry coming out of self-identified tea-party people, though I wouldn't call them Nazis

  88. Re: Good, nazis need to pay by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

    40,000 people showed up, threw bottles of piss on them, beat them with clubs, and called them Nazis.

    I doubt all 40000 did any such thing. maybe a few dozen tops?

  89. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Mashiki · · Score: 1

    It's almost as bad as your hypocrisy, since you were wailing over the mere existence of BLM not even a year ago, and are still pretending that you are opposed to rioting and vandalism.

    You mean that organization that calls white sub-human, and caused the death of people? I can see why you'd post as a AC. Got a good idea who you are too, there's only 3-5 people on /. who have their panties so much in a twist over what I write.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  90. Re:Good to know by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

    As for Sanger Story. Go ahead and keep defending the worst of the worst.

    That's the story that was proven FALSE.
    http://www.snopes.com/margaret...

    In his 1992 book American Extremists: Militias, Supremacists, Klansmen, Communists & Others, author John George writes that this quote was âoeevidently concocted in the late 1980s for the purpose of trying to make the early birth control advocate seem a racist and anti-Semiteâ and that âoethis fabrication has been kept in circulation by antiabortion and anti-birth control groups.â

    yeah anti-abortion and anti-birth control groups...like Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church and the newspaper it owns.....the Washington Times.

  91. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Mashiki · · Score: 1

    Apart from some trolls most of the people using the term "nazi" were warning the right that there were actual Nazis in their midst.

    You apparently don't know that democrats in the US have been using this as part of their playbook since the 1960's. So have leftist political organizations in the UK, and in Canada since at least the 1970's.

    Then Charlottesville happened and suddenly it dawned on people that the warnings were justified, and that there were actual Nazis and KKK wizards among them.

    What warnings were that? When people get swarmed, they'll defend themselves? Or that when people show up wearing face coverings all in black just like the KKK did, they'll violently assault people because they have a facade of anonymity and belief that no one will discover who they are. Strange how you don't seem to be concerned about the G20 protest that just happened in Germany, where thousands of those nice little antifa people decided to show up and riot, just for the sake of it. Hey remember what happened during the last charlottesville gathering? There were a whole 50 kkk members, who were swarmed by 500 people. How about in socal? When 5 nazi's were swarmed by 80 people? Multiple people were stabbed in both cases, and in both cases violence was started by the "counter protesters." Just like at Berkeley...3 times, twice in Seattle. You figure out why people are showing up to defend themselves yet?

    Or have the same belief that islamic extremists who've basically made terrorism a common occurrence in Europe, in the same group.

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    Om, nomnomnom...
  92. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Mashiki · · Score: 1

    Even back in 2008, many Republicans turned a blind eye or condoned the nativist "know nothing" elements of the "Tea party". The "tea party" basically being the "heralds" of the modern "alt-right"

    So let's see if we can figure out the bullshit of the alt-right. We now have: It was created by the tea party, by 4chan, by 8chan, by gamergate, by MRA's, by /pol/ and I think two or three other groups.

    And you wonder why nobody except those in a media hysteria bubble take what's being said seriously? You've been crying wolf for over a decade.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  93. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

    There's no slope here. If Antifa mutates into an armed thug battalion, something which has never happened, they get the same treatment.
    What part of RULE OF LAW don't you get?

  94. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

    Oh, humanity!
    SOMEONE give this guy an Insightful +5!!!

  95. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by s.petry · · Score: 1

    There's no slope here. If Antifa mutates into an armed thug battalion, something which has never happened,

    Well now, your bias is showing. Antifa has caused many millions of dollar in property damage, assaulted thousands of people, yet been given a free pass by democratic politicians.

    I get rule of law just fine, you are simply blind to any facts which harm your side. (There are many dozens of examples like Berkley, but you don't care.

    You are a bigot!

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  96. Re: Good, nazis need to pay by lgw · · Score: 1

    No, those are neo-Nazis. Actual Nazis are quite old these days, and don't get out much, but there are a few Hitler Youth still around.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  97. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

    All right “one“ of the “several“ heralds. Is that good enough for you? None of us are saying that the alt-right has only one source.

    It is racist channers, right wingers in /pol/, tea partiers, gamergaters, nativists, so-called libertarian tech-bros complaining about h1b “indo-chimps“ and so on and so forth making common cause.

  98. I think it's safe to say private orgs have a right by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    not to associate with Nazi's. I suppose you could make the argument they should be a protected class (similar to Blacks, Latinos, Women and possibly Homosexuals and religions). I think you'd have a hard time making that argument. For one, Nazis have a history of advocating violence, racism, and solving racial issues with violence. For another, there's no reason to identify with Nazis besides that. There are plenty of other groups that you can identify with that lack the stigma of violence and racism.

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  99. Re:I think it's safe to say private orgs have a ri by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    The point here is not to associate with Nazis, the point is that someone who wants to harm you associates you with them and tells your employer that you are one, which will get you easily into hot water without you ever even considering associating with anything resembling a conservative, let alone an extremist conservative ideology.

    All it takes today is to speak your mind and make it something that someone who is easily offended doesn't like to hear.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  100. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by dcw3 · · Score: 1

    How many lives has the US and how many trillions of dollars have we spent. I'm sure we're doing it to grab the land, or the oil. Oh yeah, that didn't happen. I've spent 40 years of my adult life in and around the military, a dozen of those overseas supporting allies. So let me just say that your opinion is just a bit off.

    --
    Just another day in Paradise
  101. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by dcw3 · · Score: 2

    And while they shot a lot of them, many others were not. My great uncle was drafted into the German army. Fortunately for me, his older brother, my grandfather, had immigrated to the U.S. before the war. I met this uncle back in the 80s when I got stationed there with the USAF. Speaking to his wife my great aunt, their first real interaction in the war was when the Americans invaded, and as the linked article points out, she didn't see what all the fuss was about, Germans were doing well under Hitler...this lead to some long discussions between us on who she thought was doing all the labor, and who were those people in Dachau. She at least seemed to finally comprehend the problem. Somehow, him and many others I came across between 80 and the fall of the wall, had avoided the bullet between the eyes.

    --
    Just another day in Paradise
  102. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by dcw3 · · Score: 1

    Bravo. And this is why the idea of "hate crime" needs to die. Crime is crime period. Going down the path of being thought police is destined for failure. For example, let's just say we decided to make racism a hate crime. And now, you have to determine if we should convict Trump. You can certainly point to tweets, that could be interpreted as being racist. And while I think he's a loon, those are interpretations, and not judged the same by the vast majority of his followers. Even the NY Times couldn't find blacks that know him who would call him racist. Far too often, we attempt and fail at figuring out other peoples intentions when they haven't flat out stated them.

    --
    Just another day in Paradise
  103. Re:Good, nazis need to pay by Mashiki · · Score: 1

    That's right Mashiki, demonize them some more. Scream your rage. As I said, their mere existence offends you.

    No demonetization required, they dug that hole all on their own. All on their very own, just like all extremist groups do.

    Oh my, Mashiki, the thing you need to do is ask yourself why you don't care what you write?

    The question you need to ask yourself is, why do you care so much? Almost sounds like you have an inferiority problem. Maybe you should try the "freedom of speech" path instead.

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    Om, nomnomnom...