U.S. Politics

[HanoiVillan]

9 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

"If they ever get up there, they're in trouble, 'cause there's no way to get down. Maybe a magic carpet..." - Donald J Trump on his fantastic idea for a wall.

Not going to be particularly well guarded or maintained then, is it. 

[tonyh29]

1 hour ago, StefanAVFC said:

FWIW, pretty much my entire close family and my closest friends, bar one, hold very similar opinions to me. But I wouldn't be as one-eyed to think that now makes my/their opinion the only one.

Going OT a little but Mike said the same thing in another thread 

I just find it interesting , I mean my close friends are all from school , from football  clubs I've played for , I'd say it was 50 / 50 ... my friendships formed with them over many years before any of us could even vote or express a political opinion  .. if I extended it further to friends I see regularly it might swing a little but not much , maybe 52 - 48 

I just wonder how someone ends up with a friend base of pretty much everyone with one view ( same applies to Ruge with his 95% rule not just you and MJ ) ... 

friendships aren't  built around political leanings are they ? Even socialising... I mean i went for dinner the other week around my Iranian friends house and he went off on a rather awkward( awkward as in he was very passionate and I really wanted to say something flippant  )  anti Assad rant but it doesn't change my friendship status , if anything it gave me a very interesting perspective on his view on Syria as a Iranian and a Muslim ( all be it not a very strict one ) ... how can people see both sides if they are only exposed to a 95 % ? 

 

Edited February 2, 2017 by tonyh29

[jon_c]

I think we should all stop arguing and take a moment to remember the victims of The Bowling Green Massacre. 

[StefanAVFC]

3 minutes ago, jon_c said:

I think we should all stop arguing and take a moment to remember the victims of The Bowling Green Massacre. 

They're completely absurd. There's twisting the truth and there's totally making up a terrorist attack to justify shit.

[jon_c]

1 minute ago, StefanAVFC said:

They're completely absurd. There's twisting the truth and there's totally making up a terrorist attack to justify shit.

What are American journalists and politicians doing? Could you imagine if someone like Milliband, hell even Cameron had done something like this? 

It would've finished them. I mean Labour got destroyed by our press when their leader ate a bacon sandwich awkawdly.

[Keyblade]

16 minutes ago, jon_c said:

What are American journalists and politicians doing? Could you imagine if someone like Milliband, hell even Cameron had done something like this? 

It would've finished them. I mean Labour got destroyed by our press when their leader ate a bacon sandwich awkawdly.

American press is meek, and are in the process of being beaten into submission by this administration.

[Rugeley Villa]

9 hours ago, StefanAVFC said:

 

I'm also still waiting for this.

 

I could not find the link I was after which was a well presented survey not one of these far right ones. There is plenty of anti Muslim links online but I would not use one of them as a fair example. 

[Rugeley Villa]

8 hours ago, tonyh29 said:

Going OT a little but Mike said the same thing in another thread 

I just find it interesting , I mean my close friends are all from school , from football  clubs I've played for , I'd say it was 50 / 50 ... my friendships formed with them over many years before any of us could even vote or express a political opinion  .. if I extended it further to friends I see regularly it might swing a little but not much , maybe 52 - 48 

I just wonder how someone ends up with a friend base of pretty much everyone with one view ( same applies to Ruge with his 95% rule not just you and MJ ) ... 

friendships aren't  built around political leanings are they ? Even socialising... I mean i went for dinner the other week around my Iranian friends house and he went off on a rather awkward( awkward as in he was very passionate and I really wanted to say something flippant  )  anti Assad rant but it doesn't change my friendship status , if anything it gave me a very interesting perspective on his view on Syria as a Iranian and a Muslim ( all be it not a very strict one ) ... how can people see both sides if they are only exposed to a 95 % ? 

 

Good point. I know a few bad apples who are blatantly racist but also some decent people who are a bit more level headed and a huge majority are pro Brexit, pro Trump over Hilary Clinton and are generally anti left. Rugeley and the Cannock chase area was one of the biggest votes for Brexit. Tbf immigration is pretty low in my area but I can definitely say it's anti immigration. 

[Chindie]

Anti immigration areas are often areas largely untouched by it (not a hard and fast rule of course). People fear change and fear what they don't know. 

I also suspect Rugeley's racist radar night be slightly skewed to the right, and thus blatantly racist would a larger group to most people looking in than he might think.

[Rugeley Villa]

2 minutes ago, Chindie said:

Anti immigration areas are often areas largely untouched by it (not a hard and fast rule of course). People fear change and fear what they don't know. 

I also suspect Rugeley's racist radar night be slightly skewed to the right, and thus blatantly racist would a larger group to most people looking in than he might think.

You're possibly right.

[MakemineVanilla]

9 hours ago, tonyh29 said:

Going OT a little but Mike said the same thing in another thread 

I just find it interesting , I mean my close friends are all from school , from football  clubs I've played for , I'd say it was 50 / 50 ... my friendships formed with them over many years before any of us could even vote or express a political opinion  .. if I extended it further to friends I see regularly it might swing a little but not much , maybe 52 - 48 

I just wonder how someone ends up with a friend base of pretty much everyone with one view ( same applies to Ruge with his 95% rule not just you and MJ ) ... 

friendships aren't  built around political leanings are they ? Even socialising... I mean i went for dinner the other week around my Iranian friends house and he went off on a rather awkward( awkward as in he was very passionate and I really wanted to say something flippant  )  anti Assad rant but it doesn't change my friendship status , if anything it gave me a very interesting perspective on his view on Syria as a Iranian and a Muslim ( all be it not a very strict one ) ... how can people see both sides if they are only exposed to a 95 % ? 

 

In Adam Curtis's documentary HyperNormalisation he reaches the same conclusion when explaining the Brexit-Trump phenomena.

He typically blames Internet algorithms for ensuring that people only hear opinions they agree with but I think it is clear that it is people, who choose what they are prepared to hear or read and who shut-down any discussion/opinion which does not confirm their resolutely defended belief-system. 

It is not a matter of freedom of speech, it is more a case of freedom to agree.

 

[snowychap]

1 hour ago, jon_c said:

The Bowling Green Massacre

This story is a prime example of biased balls.

[StefanAVFC]

1 hour ago, Rugeley Villa said:

I could not find the link I was after which was a well presented survey not one of these far right ones. There is plenty of anti Muslim links online but I would not use one of them as a fair example. 

Doesn't that tell you everything?

[mjmooney]

10 hours ago, tonyh29 said:

Going OT a little but Mike said the same thing in another thread 

I just find it interesting , I mean my close friends are all from school , from football  clubs I've played for , I'd say it was 50 / 50 ... my friendships formed with them over many years before any of us could even vote or express a political opinion  .. if I extended it further to friends I see regularly it might swing a little but not much , maybe 52 - 48 

I just wonder how someone ends up with a friend base of pretty much everyone with one view ( same applies to Ruge with his 95% rule not just you and MJ ) ... 

 

 

That's a good question. I guess it depends what you mean by 'friends'. I have plenty of acquaintances (and some family members) who have relatively right wing views. But it's true that the dozen or so I would count as my closest friends, the ones I socialise with regularly, by choice, are those whom I feel the most comfortable with. And that tends to mean similarity of experience, age, tastes, class background, and, yes, politics. So yes, that tends to mean sixty-something, white, heterosexual, working class background, university educated, football fan, reader, music lover, real ale drinker, atheist, socialist. Take out the beer and football, and the women are similar. Of course there are some that don't match every element of that profile, but is it really surprising that I feel happiest in the company of people with whom I have a lot in common? 

Edited February 3, 2017 by mjmooney

[Rugeley Villa]

30 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

Doesn't that tell you everything?

Not everything is bullshit online about Islam.

Edited February 3, 2017 by Rugeley Villa

[StefanAVFC]

Just now, Rugeley Villa said:

Yeah I was making the whole thing up.

Close.

No. That the only links or data you could find were (self-admittedly) far-right sites that aren't credible and don't present a fair example.

[Rugeley Villa]

Just now, StefanAVFC said:

Close.

No. That the only links or data you could find were (self-admittedly) far-right sites that aren't credible and don't present a fair example.

I've altered my original post. Of course a lot of stuff is made up its the Internet but Islam is far more violent than any other religion.

[StefanAVFC]

2 minutes ago, Rugeley Villa said:

I've altered my original post. Of course a lot of stuff is made up its the Internet but Islam is far more violent than any other religion.

And we're back in the circle again.

I'm bored of it. You're entitled to your opinion but time and time again your evidence is either anecdotal and flawed, made up or based totally on conjecture. The one time you tell us you'll get us some sort of study/link to back your point up, you can't do it.

I have zero sympathy with your situation. You're not going to get blown up by a Muslim with a bomb. Rugeley isn't suddenly going to enact Sharia Law.

You live in an incredibly white town, with hardly any immigration so to hold the views you do makes zero sense. It's based purely on paranoia. I've lived and worked in big cities, surrounded by people all all colours, faiths, languages and have never had a problem. Right now, I have a Catholic Pole to my left, an Orthodox Greek to my far left and an Algerian Muslim to my right.  

If I have a problem with the people, it's because they're a word removed. it isn't because they're a word removed because they're a Muslim, or Greek, or whatever else. The examples such as Munich, Nice, Paris are isolated examples based on people being words removed. Like Oklahoma City, or the pub bombing, or Quebec. 

Yes, Islam has its makings in violence. As does Christianity. Yes, Islam proposes some awful, oppressive positions on various demographics, as does Judaism. It isn't perfect, far from it. I find the idea of Islam gross, but then again, I find religion as a concept gross. The issue comes when you're labeling people coming here who are fleeing warfare, as an 'invasion of Europe'. It screams white-supremacy. 

You're ignorant. The people around you who share your opinion are ignorant. I'm sorry, it isn't an insult. It's a fact. I don't blame you or hate you for it. If your only interaction with Islam is what you read in the Mail then you're going to hold the opinions you do.

Get out of your white-skinned bubble, see the world, meet the people and hopefully you'll start changing your mind. 

Because the longer you stay in your bubble, the more divided people will be.

[NurembergVillan]

Right on cue, Sunday is Visit My Mosque Day!

Quote

#VisitMyMosque Day on 5 February 2017 will see over 150 mosques across the UK holding open days and welcoming in their neighbours of all faiths and none.

http://www.visitmymosque.org/

I'm going to take me nipper.  The nearest mosque to me is serving up samosas and cake.  Yes please!

[blandy]

13 hours ago, ermie123 said:

 .....No rational arguments or debate just you're wrong and that's it.  I wont get into the Berkeley University argument as its pointless debating anything on here.....

Satirical genius, that line.