Monty - I said I'd get back to you on the question of pleasure derived from the misfortunes of

[Ashberto]

those whose opinions I despise. I'm not saying this has never happened, just that I'm struggling to think of examples where I have. Presumably these 'despised' opinions come from the mouths of politicians, commentators, and random blowhards on the internet.

I avoid much of the detail of contemporary politics, as I generally find it dull, predictable, bland, uniform and depressing. Hence I am not very familiar with the characters involved and their ups and downs.

Likewise, I don't actively seek out columns of opinion-writers who might infuriate in troll-papers like the Mail and Guardian, just for the sense of outrage that many seem to enjoy experiencing. So I care little about these people and what happens to them.

Online, in forums and blog comments I might experience more annoyances, but these days I generally avoid going to war with people. In the past I used to get involved, and there was one individual about 15 years ago who I used to scrap with on usenet (a brutal place), over a specific political issue. He used to regularly falsely accuse me of being all sorts of other people that I wasn't, while he was operating multiple accounts to give himself sock-puppet supporters. He once seemed to threaten me with sending the Mujahideen round for a visit.

It turned out that he was the one that eventually got a visitor, some stalker he'd upset and attracted from his shenanigans elsewhere, who seemed a geniune nutcase. The point is - I got no pleasure at all from this, and found it genuinely creepy, however much of a loathsome dick I found him. Nor did I get pleasure from news of another misfortune that struck him, with serious problems with a property he'd bought. Perhaps I would laugh if he had hit his thumb with a hammer, but serious problems around safety, security and family livelihood are another matter.

Now, I can chuckle at the odd self-c**ting on AWIMB, and probably little bit enjoy the pain and confusion that Wenger-haters might get when we're doing well, but surely you can see the difference between an emotion in ones head, passively experienced, and an active campaign to go out on Twitter etc to destroy or damage a person's life.

[Monty91]

So, presumably, say you were hiring for a job and had two identical candidates, save for one who you knew to hold deeply racist views, you would not be swayed towards the alternative candidate?

In other words, you wouldn't make a choice that negatively impacted on his family livelihood based on an opinion that he holds?

[the splendor of antigone]

historic duty to provide the class-'unconscious' with the diagnosis of their alienation and exploitation :judge:

The truck to Siberia will be picking you up momentarily. :wave:

[Ashberto]

The party in its wisdom will see to my re-education.

[Berni]

mitigate against his employment.

[Ashberto]

If it was against the Scotch/French/Russians* then no-one could have any objection, surely.

But really, I admire your persistence and creativity in conjuring up extreme scenarios. Apart from the fact that racists tend to be a bit thick, and assuming that the job involved more than picking up bags of cement, I have relationships with the rest of the workforce to think about, and as I live in a global city where even the native population is highly diverse, I'm not going to employ a racist f**ktard to mess up my business.

And yes, if you insist, I would feel some pleasure at making this decision, but as much for reasons of good judgement and smug sanctimony as anything.

*Insert acceptable prejudice here. This post equates national and racial prejudice.

[Monty91]

of your business, Elton John may think the continued success and social acceptance of IVF-hating, frock-designing bum boys Dolce and Gabbana is to the detriment of society :shrug:

Why is your position any more of a pragmatic, socially progressive stance than Elton's?

On the contrary, all you seem to care about is your f**king business, you massive corporate c**t.

[Monty91]

[Berni]

Goebbels wasn't thick, was he? Indeed, there have been plenty of intelligent racists. These days, though, the intelligent ones just hide it better.

[Luis Anaconda]

and the people behind it. Blimey - bit of an eye opener, I can tell you.

[Berni]

And it was across political lines.

Marie Stopes, George Bernard Shaw, HG Wells and Churchill were just a few of its adherents.

[redgunamo]

[Berni]

fellow humans, I think.

When we're not killing them, of course.

[Luis Anaconda]

put in place in certain states. Probably shouldn't have been but there you go

[Berni]

Like when they gave all those black people syphilis just to see what would happen.

[Monty91]

since at the time he gained power, there were numerous other far more evil, calculated individuals in Germany and elsewhere who may well have taken his place with far more disastrous consequences (in terms of numbers dead)?

I recall that some of the sterilisation plans knocking around had the potential to be far more efficient killing machines than the Third Reich could muster.

[Luis Anaconda]

Bit like saying Thatcher was forgivable because she kept Keith Joseph from power. That might actually be a good point though

[Ashberto]

Also, since Gerbil's day, racism has become a little less acceptable among the educated classes. After all, slavery was an acceptable way of building yourself a stately home once.

[Berni]

[Ashberto]

This is like herding cats.

[Monty91]

Think I heard him recount it on some podcast yonks ago.

[Monty91]

be,) you are at the very least complicit in what you claim to oppose :shrug:

[Ashberto]

THOSE OPINIONS ARE BAD FOR THE JOB ANYWAY SO YOUR EXAMPLE SUCKS.

Lets face it, all things being equal between candidates, we'd appoint the person we preferred for whatever reason. If such a reason was because we prefer people who aren't neonazis, this isn't the same as going around trying to destroy people for considerably lesser offences.

[PSRB]

[Monty91]

earning a living, why not employ them and convince your staff that they should judge them purely on their ability to do the job?

Why should it be some other poor f**ker (who may not be aware of his views) who gives this chap a job? In a fair world, someone's got to employ him, as you say. So why not you?

[redgunamo]

Sentiment is for Valentine's, and the like.

[redgunamo]

[Ashberto]

with?

And that not doing this somehow invalidates opposition to a culture (from the State and the Twitterocracy) of attacking any expression of The Wrong Thing with a view to destroying the heretic?

[Ashberto]

[Trixie Popsicle]

I still can't get my head around racists. I mean, you hate someone because the colour f their skin etc. What a bloody lame excuse.

[Nicosia Gooner]

[Snin]

beautifully put,clear, concise, truthfull and endearingly honest well done Sir A imo

[Snin]

"Members of the Montbaur flying club where Lubitz renewed his glider license last month said he was pleased to have gained a job with Germanwings.

"He was happy he had the job with Germanwings and he was doing well," longtime club member Peter Ruecker, told AP. "He was very happy. He gave off a good feeling."

Ruecker said that Lubitz had a girlfriend. "I can't remember anything where something wasn't right," he said."

So far there is no true indication of a man ready to commit suicide and take 150 people along with him. The story of a suicide/mass murder is the product of this single French Prosecutor who is grabbing his fifteen minutes of fame with sensational claims which newspapers and TV are eager to parrot to attract audience. But not all the parts of the story are substantiated just yet. That the cockpit door was closed is a given, because of security rules. But since the digital flight recorder for the aircraft has not been recovered, there is no factual basis to claim that Lubitz intentionally altered the flight controls, or was even conscious in the cockpit. As other media have reported, the cockpit voice recorder only hears the sounds of the Captain outside the cockpit trying to get in. There are no recorded noise from within the cockpit. Hopefully the DFR will be recovered in a usable condition soon.

There have been previous crashes of airlines blamed on suicidal pilots, such as EgyptAir 990. But behind the headlines of a crazed lone-nut pilot there were indications that EgyptAir 990 was carrying a cargo to Egypt (along with high-ranking Egyptian military officers) that a third party did not wish to arrive.

[Snin]

bully feel to them. inteligence in one area can often mean either gaping holes in inteligence in others or hatreds and percieved injusctices can subvert , divert and manipulate inteligence to give a one sided doctrine where ones failings and weaknesses are turned and magnified onto others . Also once his has happened one can quickly feel very powerful as uneducated masses brought up with a culture of racism to blame on ones lack of success will then look upon this 'clever' racist as a powerful leader. This adulation and respect can quickly give the bullied, weak clever individual filled with hatred a powerful platform to wreck havoc on others indescriminatley , in effect they treat all others with scorn but see the self benefits of using this thick uneducated mass

[Snin]

racism is just a massive public weakness..tbh as :mrt: would say..these days i just pity the fools..its fear..plain and simple.

also ignorance is VERY different from inteligence

[Snin]