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Messages - Flee
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6061
« on: November 23, 2015, 05:53:12 PM »
I would assume in that you're referring to the persecution of any group that has ties to the Nazis, is antisemitic, or is racist in nature. Not necessarily, but they more or less exemplify the type. The post-WWII German standard of censorship is unlawful and a clear violation of natural and universal rights. I don't necessarily agree with what Germany does, but it definitely isn't unlawful nor generally considered to be a clear violation of our rights. Can you actually supply a good reason of why those groups should be persecuted besides "I don't agree with it" or "It offends me?"
The balancing with other human rights, national security, public safety and necessity in a democratic nation to protect the very principles that make up the foundations of our societ are among the more commonly cited ones.
6062
« on: November 23, 2015, 04:23:08 PM »
Pretty sceptical of the outcomes of these surveys as those responses can mean quite a few things.
Such as?
Pretty big difference between opposing someone's ability to criticise minorities and the harm some of their beliefs and practices might cause for our society on the one hand, and thinking that it should not be legal for people to publicly proclaim that all immigrants are filthy subhuman mudslime niggers who should be round up and eradicated.
I personally don't think the state should be able to limit free speech in either case.
I tend to disagree, but that's your opinion.
I suppose it's easy to think such in a post-Nazi era Europe but limiting free speech is one of the few cases where the slippery slope fallacy is anything but a fallacy. Sure we can tell X group that they can't preach ethnic cleansing but once one sect of free speech is broken where does that lead? When does the majority start deciding, by vote, what people can and can't say based on what "offends" them? When are people not allowed to criticize their government?
I'd agree with you if those accusations of this being a slippery slope had some real and recent evidence to them. Restrictions on the freedom of expression have been widely accepted here for decades and we do not live in a dictatorial society where simple criticism or insensitive statements are prosecuted on an arbitrary basis.
6063
« on: November 23, 2015, 03:58:21 PM »
Pretty sceptical of the outcomes of these surveys as those responses can mean quite a few things.
Such as?
Pretty big difference between opposing someone's ability to criticise minorities and the harm some of their beliefs and practices might cause for our society on the one hand, and thinking that it should not be legal for people to publicly proclaim that all immigrants are filthy subhuman mudslime niggers who should be round up and eradicated.
You don't get to arbitrarily pick and choose what can and cannot be said in the dialogue of society. Either everything should be allowed to be said, or none of it should be. The only exception should be direct incitement to violence.
We've been doing exactly that, though. Picking and choosing what can or can't be said.
And that makes it right?
For good enough reasons? Sure.
6064
« on: November 23, 2015, 03:35:39 PM »
I should also point out that the numbers increase within halls of academia. It's quite possible that up to 50% of millennial students believe in state sponsored censorship of speech considered offensive to minorities.
What kind of society you want fam?
Doesn't the article say otherwise, though? 31% out of high school, 29 in college and only 22 with a college degree think so.
6065
« on: November 23, 2015, 01:21:45 PM »
Pretty sceptical of the outcomes of these surveys as those responses can mean quite a few things.
Such as?
Pretty big difference between opposing someone's ability to criticise minorities and the harm some of their beliefs and practices might cause for our society on the one hand, and thinking that it should not be legal for people to publicly proclaim that all immigrants are filthy subhuman mudslime niggers who should be round up and eradicated.
I personally don't think the state should be able to limit free speech in either case.
I tend to disagree, but that's your opinion.
6066
« on: November 23, 2015, 01:20:10 PM »
Pretty sceptical of the outcomes of these surveys as those responses can mean quite a few things.
Such as?
Pretty big difference between opposing someone's ability to criticise minorities and the harm some of their beliefs and practices might cause for our society on the one hand, and thinking that it should not be legal for people to publicly proclaim that all immigrants are filthy subhuman mudslime niggers who should be round up and eradicated.
You don't get to arbitrarily pick and choose what can and cannot be said in the dialogue of society. Either everything should be allowed to be said, or none of it should be. The only exception should be direct incitement to violence.
We've been doing exactly that, though. Picking and choosing what can or can't be said.
6067
« on: November 23, 2015, 12:55:04 PM »
Imgur's community is really quite trash though.
6068
« on: November 23, 2015, 12:53:36 PM »
Pretty sceptical of the outcomes of these surveys as those responses can mean quite a few things.
Such as?
Pretty big difference between opposing someone's ability to criticise minorities and the harm some of their beliefs and practices might cause for our society on the one hand, and thinking that it should not be legal for people to publicly proclaim that all immigrants are filthy subhuman mudslime niggers who should be round up and eradicated.
If you honestly believe that the state has the right to suppress EITHER of those things, you have no business calling yourself a liberal.
In that case I suppose it's only a good thing that I have never considered or called myself a liberal, nor have I ever voted for a liberal party.
6069
« on: November 23, 2015, 11:47:24 AM »
Pretty sceptical of the outcomes of these surveys as those responses can mean quite a few things.
Such as?
Pretty big difference between opposing someone's ability to criticise minorities and the harm some of their beliefs and practices might cause for our society on the one hand, and thinking that it should not be legal for people to publicly proclaim that all immigrants are filthy subhuman mudslime niggers who should be round up and eradicated.
6070
« on: November 23, 2015, 11:06:07 AM »
Never actually owned any of the games myself, but I did like Samus and Fox a lot when I played 64, Melee and Brawl at friends.
6071
« on: November 23, 2015, 11:04:43 AM »
Depends on the crime, of course. Would I kill, steal and rape if I had the opportunity to do so without consequences? Nope. But I am guilty of the occasional and calculated act of jaywalking, piracy and certain traffic laws.
6072
« on: November 23, 2015, 10:53:42 AM »
Nope, a little busy now.
6073
« on: November 23, 2015, 10:51:50 AM »
Pretty sceptical of the outcomes of these surveys as those responses can mean quite a few things.
6074
« on: November 22, 2015, 05:43:09 PM »
That's about as strange as ketchup on french fries. What is wrong with you Americans?
What the fuck else would you put on french fries?
Mayonaise, like any sane person with the ability to taste would.
6075
« on: November 22, 2015, 03:41:21 PM »
That's about as strange as ketchup on french fries. What is wrong with you Americans?
6076
« on: November 22, 2015, 03:39:34 PM »
Nothing too bad. 1-2am - 9-10am.
6077
« on: November 22, 2015, 03:23:58 PM »
Never have.
6078
« on: November 22, 2015, 11:39:18 AM »
I'd prefer it if you stay, tbh.
6079
« on: November 22, 2015, 11:37:50 AM »
While petty attacks about the attractiveness of the fanbase are stupid, it is true that Star Wars is massively overrated though.
6080
« on: November 22, 2015, 07:13:47 AM »
And it's still my primary console to this day. I didn't get it until like 2008, but still lots of good times had playing games on that system. I got a free replacement when my first one kept freezing, which I still use now despite sounding like an airplane taking off in my bedroom.
6081
« on: November 22, 2015, 06:12:48 AM »
You can't be evil?
6082
« on: November 22, 2015, 03:32:56 AM »
Fight it, Lemon. Fight the sickness.
6083
« on: November 21, 2015, 06:17:42 PM »
I still have to finish that game. I love the atmosphere but the aiming is terrible.
How do you mean?
On the Xbox versions at least, aiming is just an absolute shitfest. It's slow, inaccurate and feels like you're dragging the crosshair through goo each time you look around. There are different sensitivities for the X, Y and Z axis, which makes accurate and snappy aiming an absolute pain. I looked it up and found many others complaining about the same thing, so it isn't just me. Coming from games like Brink, Rage and Fallout 3/4, the Metro games feel like I'm fighting the crosshair rather than using it as a tool of destruction.
I don't know. It's a little weird but it wasn't terrible for me. Felt like a clunkier CoD.
I just don't understand how they managed to mess it up so bad. Pretty much every console FPS gets it right at this point. How anyone could think that different unadjustable sensitivities would be a good thing is beyond me. I don't know if it's supposed to add some cinematic effect or help new players, but it plays downright terrible if you're used to good FPS aiming. It's nothing gamebreaking and you do get used to it eventually, but having to struggle with aiming not because it's different but just because it's downright bad is really pretty frustrating.
6084
« on: November 21, 2015, 05:34:09 PM »
I still have to finish that game. I love the atmosphere but the aiming is terrible.
How do you mean?
On the Xbox versions at least, aiming is just an absolute shitfest. It's slow, inaccurate and feels like you're dragging the crosshair through goo each time you look around. There are different sensitivities for the X, Y and Z axis, which makes accurate and snappy aiming an absolute pain. I looked it up and found many others complaining about the same thing, so it isn't just me. Coming from games like Brink, Rage and Fallout 3/4, the Metro games feel like I'm fighting the crosshair rather than using it as a tool of destruction.
6085
« on: November 21, 2015, 03:31:40 PM »
I still have to finish that game. I love the atmosphere but the aiming is terrible.
6086
« on: November 21, 2015, 03:24:28 PM »
I found this quote to be quite nice and I suppose showing the resilience of the Belgian people in lieu of the present situation
"My wife said not to go out today. But we were invaded by Napoleon and Louis XIV and were occupied eight times. We won't be defeated this time by terrorists," he said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/21/us-france-shooting-belgium-idUSKCN0TA03H20151121
In the words of Julius Caesar himself after his conquest of Gaul: "Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur. 2. Hi omnes lingua, institutis, legibus inter se differunt. Gallos ab Aquitanis Garunna flumen, a Belgis Matrona et Sequana dividit. 3. Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae, propterea quod a cultu atque humanitate provinciae longissime absunt, minimeque ad eos mercatores saepe commeant atque ea quae ad effeminandos animos pertinent important, proximique sunt Germanis, qui trans Rhenum incolunt, quibuscum continenter bellum gerunt."The entirety of Gaul is divided in three parts. In one of it live the Belgians, in the other the Aquitani and in the third part the Celts, in our language called the Galli. All of them are different in language, institutions and laws... Yet out of all of them, the Belgians are the single bravest and strongest of all. For they are the farthest from our culture and Rome, for they rarely have guests or vendors and for most importantly, they are constantly at war with all of the Germanic peoples. Belgium small, but Belgium stronk.
6087
« on: November 21, 2015, 03:03:52 PM »
 Back entrance to one of the train stations in Brussels that I go through pretty much every day. It apparently has a tank thing standing there now. Strange things indeed.
6088
« on: November 21, 2015, 03:00:06 PM »
Nothing major, really.
6089
« on: November 21, 2015, 02:58:39 PM »
Anyways, there do exist some reasons why Belgium's linked to terrorism lately.
1. Geography. The first and foremost reason is one that we really can't help. Brussels has become the undisputed capital of Europe and our relatively small country lies dead in the middle of other much larger nations. France to the West, a short trip across the canal to the UK, Germany and the Netherlands to the East... In just a few hours you can get to pretty much any major city or capital in the EU. Throw in open borders and national languages shared with France, Germany and the Netherlands, and the country with about as many people in it as NYC becomes a very popular place to organize crime and terrorism from.
2. Bad immigration policies before and after the end of the Vlaams Blok / Flemish Union party. This was an older political party that was arguably the most popular (very) right wing party in the history of the country. It was convicted for being openly racist and inciting hatred and shut down shortly afterwards. In the wake of this event, it's now argued that many parties ignored some migration issues. Before that, the French socialist party did everything it could do get votes of the immigrants by regulating them as little as possible, which led to a lot of problems now too.
3. Illegal weapon trade. Belgium was by European standards pretty late to adopt stricter gun control (and is world renowned for some of the guns our company FN makes) which resulted in a lot of firearm trading taking place. Most guns were surplus smuggled in from the Eastern European countries after the fall of the USSR that eventually ended up here for the reasons mentioned above.
4. Belgian bureaucracy. I'm not going to get into the history of the country, but know that it's a pretty complicated tale of two different cultures coming together with a "shared" capital in the middle. Brussels is an absolute shitshow and is home to a lot of inefficiency. It's things like this that help make a decent argument for Flemish independence, as everything would undoubtedly go a lot smoother then.
Anyways, lots of things going on right now. Probably going to result in a pretty significant overhaul some time soon. Threat level / DEFCON has been raised today and the country's more or less on high alert. Lots of military presence in Brussels and my classes on that campus have been canceled since friday. Despite what a lot of press initially portrayed, Belgium still has decent intelligence and police services that are unfortunately rather poorly funded. No doubt that this is going to be improved more soon, though, as the legislators are working on new initiatives and there's already a significant increase of almost half a billion euros for the defense and security budget with major plans for the problematic areas in the country. Very interesting times indeed, as I also wonder whether the campus will be open again on Monday.
6090
« on: November 21, 2015, 02:22:29 PM »
"Perched over Brussels stands the massive Palace of Justice, once a shining monument to democratic values, now cloaked for decades in scaffolding so decrepit it has come to symbolize Belgium's neglect for law and order. "
The Palace of Justice always has scaffolding up because it is constantly under construction. This is not because it symbolizes Belgium's neglect for law and order, but that it is the largest court in the world so once they complete one section they have to renovate another.
Yeah I thought that line was quite facetious and unsubstantiated. I think it was just their poor attempt at an analogy of sorts.
I think the analogy in question was a comparison of the scaffolding surrounding the PoJ to be a visual representation of the political and legal dissent between the two autonomous regions of Wallonia and Flanders.
Yeah, the article is pretty BS on several parts. This is the Brussels Palace of Justice. It is by far the single largest courthouse in the world. Its sheer scale is the reason it's constantly under renovation and construction. I've been there numerous times and unless you've actually seen it, it's pretty impossible to grasp the scale of the thing. It's absolutely massive.  Secondly, our "neglect for law and order"? Not going to deny this link with certain terrorists, but our legal system is pretty good and has served as an example for many other European countries in the last few decades. Like any other country in the world, it definitely has its flaws (as this whole terrorism ordeal shows), but I'm rather content with the legal system, especially after a professor of mine became our latest minister of justice. Finally, the part on Sharia4Belgium is simply incorrect. Its founder had been under surveillance for years and was already jailed for 2 years in 2012 which directly led to the end of the organization. What the article is referencing is that his jail time was drastically increased earlier this year after having definitively been condemned for inciting terrorism.
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