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Agreed. As a thing-I-can't-think-of-a-name-for, I find it impossible to oppose victimless crimes, such as downloading or viewing child porn. (At least if we agree that it truly is victimless, but I can imagine claims that it isn't, that aren't outside the realm of reason and dispassion. Feel free to ask me, if you care to know.)
As a psychology student, I find there to be nothing unhealthy, even by official standards (DSM-IV), with curiosity with child porn, any more than with rape fantasies. Humans are so goddamn sexual, we can find almost anything erotic, including things far stranger than prepubescent sex. In my personal opinion, there's nothing wrong with exploring those things. To reiterate, immorality can only be a result of actual harm caused.
As someone else alluded to, it's probably at least as likely that a person's fantasy is to be the child, rather than the adult. I found a downright brilliant piece of erotica smut that's a fine example of this. I e-mailed the author and he wrote back, but I think I embarrassed him when he realized I wasn't especially interested in his fantasy personally, or in playing it out with him online. Anyway, here it is: http://www.asstr.org/files/Collections/pza/www/stories/Cyberboy/Made_Myself_Into_a_BoySlave.html
Very strange that Miyamoto says he chose the name because he liked how it sounds, when, in my mind, it's probably about the ugliest female name out there. It's right up (or down) there with Gertrude.
And I have no idea why Nintendo chose to switch his name from Gannon, as itâ(TM)s stated in the first game, to Ganon in Zelda II: Adventure of Link, and then to Ganondorf in Link to the Past onwards. It seems that now Ganon â" one âoeNâ â" refers to his more hulking, monster form and Ganondorf to his human form.
Actually, that last bit was true from the very first game in which Ganondorf was his name. In A Link to the Past, a character calls his something like "Ganondorf, the Master of Thieves - no, Ganon, the King of Darkness".
Using "her" or "she" in this way is common and adds balance when mixed with "his" and "he". I don't care if English teachers and opponents of "political correctness" say than "his", "he", "man", etc. correctly cover both genders, because the rule itself is sexist, coming from a past when the principal actors in society were assumed to all be male.
Yes, there are a some Natives left. I still call genocide.
That conquest has been a part of human "civilization" for as long as its been recorded hardly changes what I said: the history of the United States is in many ways abhorrent, just like other places, like Britain.
I find it interesting that you sound like you're almost justifying "might makes right" just because it's an attitude that's been taken so many times. Forgive me if I'm just putting words in your mouth.
*You* may not see a need for "current-day Britain" to change, but there's obvious a lot of voters who do. I'm hardly an expert on their exact reasons, but what I do know is that Labour long ago gave up any pretense of anticapitalism.
That's the power of fascist ideology. It appeals to people's desire for fundamental change, even employing the rhetoric of socialism, with appeals to all the backwards elements lurking in established ideology (openly or hidden) - racism, nationalism, monarchy, church, etc..
If your state is threatened by revolution, like, say, Germany was in the early 20th century, a promise of radical change becomes necessary to preserve the status quo. Not that that describes modern-day Britain, but it's a nice trump card.
Of course support for "British culture" is closely related to support for the BNP. If you mean that I implied that the two go hand-in-hand, it's not. What I meant is that this is an example of how ideas the form the basis of BNP ideology (defense of British culture) can become mainstream. The difference may sound nuanced, but it's important.
As for why those in Scotland or Ireland expressing the need to preserve their culture is likely different from a British person doing the same thing, you obviously need to look at their separate histories. The question isn't "is expressing the need to preserve your national identity good or bad?", the question is "what does that expression really mean?" Context is everything.
And just what the hell is Cricket? A marvelous game, really. You see, the bowler hurls the ball toward the batter who tries to play away a fine leg. He endeavors to score by dashing between the creases, provided the wicket keeper hasn't whipped his bails off, of course.
Hey, we wiped entire races off the map and built our entire economic base on the backs of slave laborers. Among many other things. Don't start a how-deplorable-is-our-history match you can't win.
The world will be a better place without the American empire too, but don't tell that to Obama supporters who consider repairing our reputation to be the solution Bushism, rather than ending the imperialism that defined it.
Apparently the reason the BNP managed to get seats in the recent elections was not because the number of votes for them had increased
As "91degrees" pointed out, they got close to a million votes, which is frighteningly large, whatever the ratio.
it was due to disillusioned Labour supporters not turning out to vote at all
Which is hardly a separate issue. That Labour has ceased to represent any sort of left alternative is inseparable from the growing appeal of the BNP's right alternative.
It's a whites-only party that grew out of the British neo-Nazi movement. It's fascist, period. Not being a resident of Britain, I have no opinion on whether the BNP should be outlawed or not, but my bias is against such an action.
Hm... just because you say "I may well get modded to hell" doesn't mean you don't deserve it.
It was making a sincere point. My goal wasn't to incite anger, even if I knew I was risking it.
Overreaction much? It's just a tax break to promote local art.... This is xenaphobic how?
It isn't necessarily, in the abstract. And perhaps I was implying that conclusion a bit too strongly with the subject line ("Xenophobia") I used. But, as I said in my other replies above, this has to be taken in context. In this case, you've got people in Britain advocating a narrative where their society is under attack by foreigners and, in particular, the non-British culture they bring with them. To quote myself above, "Is Anglo culture under attack, or does this rallying against the invaders - the downtrodden from poorer countries - serve some other socio-political purpose?"
That there's nothing terribly offensive-sounding about this particular proposal was really my point... that it sheds some light on the mental process a person might go through before taking on views like those of the BNP that most people find repulsive.
Saying "there can be no national identity and we all have to adapt to one culture" is equally xenophobe.
Well, no, it's not. You should look up that word in the dictionary.;)
But, of course, I know what you meant, and it's not untrue, but it is a strawman argument. I didn't say anything that advocated the suppression of any culture, including $YOUR_NATIONAL_IDENTITY. But this idea of your (dominant) culture being under attack, in need of protection, cannot be judged out of context, purely in the abstract.
Also, I think the same proposition, if made by a US senator, would be applauded here.
By many, certainly. It's just as bad here (which is only hidden because our system won't allowed non-mainstream parties a chance). I don't know all the details about British politics, but there are far more blatantly xenophobic ideas being thrown around in this country than the one discussed in TFA - for instance, the movement to make English the official language.
I'd love to see unique games with diverse cultural identities.
Absolutely. I love culture.
What's so great about one multi-cultural soup? Nationalities and cultures are interesting. Otherwise you'll just end up with one uniform piece of monotony.
What evidence have you ever seen of that supposed threat being real? Here in the Bay Area, I'm swimming in multiculturalism and would probably suffocate in a more homogeneous environment.
Again, it's all about context. Is Anglo culture under attack, or does this rallying against the invaders - the downtrodden from poorer countries - serve some other socio-political purpose?
Actually, you could make a case that nationalism is inseparable from racism... but that's not at all what I said.
Only in Britain could you expect such a comment to go unchallenged.
Which comment? Mine? I'm not British (though I'm ethnically British enough to join the BNP!) or in Britain.
Many people are proud of their cultural background.
Which is perfectly fine. When that extends to contempt for other cultures, or a desire to preserve the holy purity of your own, is when it becomes a problem.
Of course, the real question is not *what* (culture), but *who* (are you trying to put down)?
With xenophobic/nationalist ways of looking at society like this - that $YOUR_NATIONAL_IDENTITY is under attack, threatened of being diluted into oblivion - being mainstream, it's a lot easier to understand how the rhetoric of the fascist British National Party - and its analogues elsewhere in Europe - could have appealed to so many voters in recent elections.
I'm definitely not putting this kid down, but lets be honest: such statements only sound profound coming from the mouth of a child. From an adult they're ordinary and mundane. Point being, he's still an 11-year-old, and 11-year-olds only regurgitate the ideas they learn. The difference, so far, is that this one is a very good learner.
Being different in school SUCKS ASS. [...] Social peers is all to often a nice waying of saying "hang out with the half wits".
And, with that, you prove that you had as much to do with defining yourself as "different" as your peers did (or that you both played a part... you know what I mean). You internalized their scorn, transformed it, and made it your own, a powerful and perhaps necessary defense mechanism (I did it too). But you're all grown up now, high school is over. Let's get over such negative thinking about ourselves and others.
we already know we have shifted over into "the Corporate States of America"
Not that I'm not proud of the revolutionary history in this country, but let's be real: the only thing "the Corporate States of America" shifted from is "the Slave States of America". Republicanism is more a form of government than a definition of who that government works for.
Slashdot Mirror
(Note: for some reason, Slashdot doesn't seem to want to include line breaks in this post)
Agreed. As a thing-I-can't-think-of-a-name-for, I find it impossible to oppose victimless crimes, such as downloading or viewing child porn. (At least if we agree that it truly is victimless, but I can imagine claims that it isn't, that aren't outside the realm of reason and dispassion. Feel free to ask me, if you care to know.)
As a psychology student, I find there to be nothing unhealthy, even by official standards (DSM-IV), with curiosity with child porn, any more than with rape fantasies. Humans are so goddamn sexual, we can find almost anything erotic, including things far stranger than prepubescent sex. In my personal opinion, there's nothing wrong with exploring those things. To reiterate, immorality can only be a result of actual harm caused.
As someone else alluded to, it's probably at least as likely that a person's fantasy is to be the child, rather than the adult. I found a downright brilliant piece of erotica smut that's a fine example of this. I e-mailed the author and he wrote back, but I think I embarrassed him when he realized I wasn't especially interested in his fantasy personally, or in playing it out with him online. Anyway, here it is:
http://www.asstr.org/files/Collections/pza/www/stories/Cyberboy/Made_Myself_Into_a_BoySlave.html
Very strange that Miyamoto says he chose the name because he liked how it sounds, when, in my mind, it's probably about the ugliest female name out there. It's right up (or down) there with Gertrude.
And I have no idea why Nintendo chose to switch his name from Gannon, as itâ(TM)s stated in the first game, to Ganon in Zelda II: Adventure of Link, and then to Ganondorf in Link to the Past onwards. It seems that now Ganon â" one âoeNâ â" refers to his more hulking, monster form and Ganondorf to his human form.
Actually, that last bit was true from the very first game in which Ganondorf was his name. In A Link to the Past, a character calls his something like "Ganondorf, the Master of Thieves - no, Ganon, the King of Darkness".
Given his background, could this mean a new era for US patent policy?
VERY SHORT ANSWER: No.
But it sounds like a nice development.
Alright, but that same rule never seems to apply when people want to talk about how great and proud our history is.
Using "her" or "she" in this way is common and adds balance when mixed with "his" and "he". I don't care if English teachers and opponents of "political correctness" say than "his", "he", "man", etc. correctly cover both genders, because the rule itself is sexist, coming from a past when the principal actors in society were assumed to all be male.
Yes, there are a some Natives left. I still call genocide.
That conquest has been a part of human "civilization" for as long as its been recorded hardly changes what I said: the history of the United States is in many ways abhorrent, just like other places, like Britain.
I find it interesting that you sound like you're almost justifying "might makes right" just because it's an attitude that's been taken so many times. Forgive me if I'm just putting words in your mouth.
*You* may not see a need for "current-day Britain" to change, but there's obvious a lot of voters who do. I'm hardly an expert on their exact reasons, but what I do know is that Labour long ago gave up any pretense of anticapitalism.
That's the power of fascist ideology. It appeals to people's desire for fundamental change, even employing the rhetoric of socialism, with appeals to all the backwards elements lurking in established ideology (openly or hidden) - racism, nationalism, monarchy, church, etc..
If your state is threatened by revolution, like, say, Germany was in the early 20th century, a promise of radical change becomes necessary to preserve the status quo. Not that that describes modern-day Britain, but it's a nice trump card.
(Yes, I'm a socialist)
Of course support for "British culture" is closely related to support for the BNP. If you mean that I implied that the two go hand-in-hand, it's not. What I meant is that this is an example of how ideas the form the basis of BNP ideology (defense of British culture) can become mainstream. The difference may sound nuanced, but it's important.
As for why those in Scotland or Ireland expressing the need to preserve their culture is likely different from a British person doing the same thing, you obviously need to look at their separate histories. The question isn't "is expressing the need to preserve your national identity good or bad?", the question is "what does that expression really mean?" Context is everything.
And just what the hell is Cricket? A marvelous game, really. You see, the bowler hurls the ball toward the batter who tries to play away a fine leg. He endeavors to score by dashing between the creases, provided the wicket keeper hasn't whipped his bails off, of course.
Hey, we wiped entire races off the map and built our entire economic base on the backs of slave laborers. Among many other things. Don't start a how-deplorable-is-our-history match you can't win.
The world will be a better place without the American empire too, but don't tell that to Obama supporters who consider repairing our reputation to be the solution Bushism, rather than ending the imperialism that defined it.
Apparently the reason the BNP managed to get seats in the recent elections was not because the number of votes for them had increased
As "91degrees" pointed out, they got close to a million votes, which is frighteningly large, whatever the ratio.
it was due to disillusioned Labour supporters not turning out to vote at all
Which is hardly a separate issue. That Labour has ceased to represent any sort of left alternative is inseparable from the growing appeal of the BNP's right alternative.
Well, Mr. O'Hitler, I believe I answered your question once or twice above, already. You're welcome to respond to that.
I wish you hadn't used the word 'fascist'.
It's a whites-only party that grew out of the British neo-Nazi movement. It's fascist, period. Not being a resident of Britain, I have no opinion on whether the BNP should be outlawed or not, but my bias is against such an action.
Hm... just because you say "I may well get modded to hell" doesn't mean you don't deserve it.
It was making a sincere point. My goal wasn't to incite anger, even if I knew I was risking it.
Overreaction much? It's just a tax break to promote local art. ... This is xenaphobic how?
It isn't necessarily, in the abstract. And perhaps I was implying that conclusion a bit too strongly with the subject line ("Xenophobia") I used. But, as I said in my other replies above, this has to be taken in context. In this case, you've got people in Britain advocating a narrative where their society is under attack by foreigners and, in particular, the non-British culture they bring with them. To quote myself above, "Is Anglo culture under attack, or does this rallying against the invaders - the downtrodden from poorer countries - serve some other socio-political purpose?"
That there's nothing terribly offensive-sounding about this particular proposal was really my point... that it sheds some light on the mental process a person might go through before taking on views like those of the BNP that most people find repulsive.
Saying "there can be no national identity and we all have to adapt to one culture" is equally xenophobe.
Well, no, it's not. You should look up that word in the dictionary. ;)
But, of course, I know what you meant, and it's not untrue, but it is a strawman argument. I didn't say anything that advocated the suppression of any culture, including $YOUR_NATIONAL_IDENTITY. But this idea of your (dominant) culture being under attack, in need of protection, cannot be judged out of context, purely in the abstract.
Also, I think the same proposition, if made by a US senator, would be applauded here.
By many, certainly. It's just as bad here (which is only hidden because our system won't allowed non-mainstream parties a chance). I don't know all the details about British politics, but there are far more blatantly xenophobic ideas being thrown around in this country than the one discussed in TFA - for instance, the movement to make English the official language.
I'd love to see unique games with diverse cultural identities.
Absolutely. I love culture.
What's so great about one multi-cultural soup? Nationalities and cultures are interesting. Otherwise you'll just end up with one uniform piece of monotony.
What evidence have you ever seen of that supposed threat being real? Here in the Bay Area, I'm swimming in multiculturalism and would probably suffocate in a more homogeneous environment.
Again, it's all about context. Is Anglo culture under attack, or does this rallying against the invaders - the downtrodden from poorer countries - serve some other socio-political purpose?
Having your own national identity is racist?
Actually, you could make a case that nationalism is inseparable from racism... but that's not at all what I said.
Only in Britain could you expect such a comment to go unchallenged.
Which comment? Mine? I'm not British (though I'm ethnically British enough to join the BNP!) or in Britain.
Many people are proud of their cultural background.
Which is perfectly fine. When that extends to contempt for other cultures, or a desire to preserve the holy purity of your own, is when it becomes a problem.
Of course, the real question is not *what* (culture), but *who* (are you trying to put down)?
I may well get modded to hell for this, but...
With xenophobic/nationalist ways of looking at society like this - that $YOUR_NATIONAL_IDENTITY is under attack, threatened of being diluted into oblivion - being mainstream, it's a lot easier to understand how the rhetoric of the fascist British National Party - and its analogues elsewhere in Europe - could have appealed to so many voters in recent elections.
I'm definitely not putting this kid down, but lets be honest: such statements only sound profound coming from the mouth of a child. From an adult they're ordinary and mundane. Point being, he's still an 11-year-old, and 11-year-olds only regurgitate the ideas they learn. The difference, so far, is that this one is a very good learner.
Or at least that's my impression.
Being different in school SUCKS ASS. [...] Social peers is all to often a nice waying of saying "hang out with the half wits".
And, with that, you prove that you had as much to do with defining yourself as "different" as your peers did (or that you both played a part... you know what I mean). You internalized their scorn, transformed it, and made it your own, a powerful and perhaps necessary defense mechanism (I did it too). But you're all grown up now, high school is over. Let's get over such negative thinking about ourselves and others.
I thought genius was defined as something like an IQ in the 98th percentile or higher.
Defined as something like an IQ in the 98th percentile according to who? The word "genius" is a lot older than IQ tests.
(and IQ is a bullshit concept anyway, but that's another matter. *throws away karma*)
we already know we have shifted over into "the Corporate States of America"
Not that I'm not proud of the revolutionary history in this country, but let's be real: the only thing "the Corporate States of America" shifted from is "the Slave States of America". Republicanism is more a form of government than a definition of who that government works for.
Ironically, a search for "bing" brings up nothing but porn sites. "Horny young vixen gets a hard binging".
By now, there's probably been more time spent by humanity playing WWII-themed games than fighting the actual war.