schlagging.com

Racists and a-holes

Posted on January 16th, 2008 by Josh.
Categories: politics, internet.

Have you ever been to azcentral.com?

It’s a local news site, run by the local NBC station and The Arizona Republic.

I like the site, so that I can keep up with local happenings. But man oh man, do I loathe their commenting system.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice commenting system. The people, however, ruin it.

My first indications occurred some time ago when I noticed the flame wars between fans on any UA or ASU related article. Mostly, the comments had to do with calling Tucson “Northern Nogales” and their desire to “send it back to Mexico”. Oh, and the altering of Wildcats to “Mild Rats” is oh so clever, too. Whatever.

Stupid sports bickering is one thing. But I DARE you to find me an article that doesn’t have comments from someone, somehow relating the article back to illegal immigration - NO MATTER what the article is about. For instance, this weather report.

The internet is such a stupid place, sometimes.

2 comments.

Mass Effect = Porn?

Posted on January 16th, 2008 by Josh.
Categories: games, movies, music, politics.

The “Sex-Box” Race for President

This has got to be one of the most biased, uninformed articles I’ve ever read about video games. Dare I say, this guy is on par with Jack Thompson.

He makes assumptions about a game he has neither played nor seen (Mass Effect = virtual sex game? What??? Where?). He then goes on to berate the gaming industry, which has given this game the equivalent of a movie’s R rating. Why doesn’t he spend the same effort going after the MPAA, then, for their movie rating system. It clearly must be inadequate.

Why don’t these people understand that when it comes down to it, you can’t put this responsibility solely on the sources of our entertainment. They do their part, in placing ratings and warnings on their products. It is down to each individual parent to take the responsibility to watch what their kids are doing and to figure out what their kids are listening to, watching, and playing.

Simple as that.

0 comments.

People kill people

Posted on April 20th, 2007 by Josh.
Categories: politics.

I have admit - I agree with the saying often quoted by NRA cardholders: “guns don’t kill people; people kill people”.

I just read an article which made the argument that less people would die from guns if they were taken away from the public. This is probably true, to a point. Plenty of people would still die of bullet wounds. If someone wants something, they’ll be able to get it. Drugs, guns, whatever. Criminals will still pack heat, no matter what the law says.

As a counterpoint, I read an article about how horrible things would be if guns were taken away from us. In it, the author argued that ‘good people’ would not be able to own guns to protect themselves. Criminals would run rampant without fear of retaliation. Things would turn to chaos. Give me a break. It wouldn’t be that bad. There are plenty of other countries in the world that do not allow its citizens to own guns, and it’s not like that at all.

What would happen is that many people would be out of a hobby. People collect guns to display them. People own guns to go hunting. Plenty of people own guns so that they can go to a shooting range and have fun practicing their aim - for no other reason than recreation. Spend a day near a gun club and you’ll see that there are a lot of people passionate about shooting some bullets through a paper target.

I guess it’s the sort of thing we wouldn’t know the outcome of unless it actually happened. How many less people would really die? How many less gun related crimes would actually take place?

Maybe I’m just stubborn, but I don’t buy it. Gun control laws are in place to try and regulate who can and cannot own a gun. In my opinion, that’s enough.

2 comments.

Propositions are fun!

Posted on September 5th, 2006 by Josh.
Categories: politics.

First off, don’t just go off of what I am about to say. Go here and decide for yourself: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/2006_Ballot_Proposition_Analyses/

Now, on to the issues.

Proposition 107 needs to die. It outlaws gay marriage. I don’t understand homosexuality. Is it a choice? Is it genetic? Who cares! What matters is that people will be gay and want to marry each other. Let them. It doesn’t have to be a holier than thou religious issue. It should be about their legal right to be recognized by society as a legal union (if they want to call it something else to appease the right wingers, fine). It should also especially be about their right to the economic benefits of marriage. Our society needs to stop telling people what they can and cannot do. As long as it isn’t hurting anybody, who cares?

Proposition 201 gets my thumbs up. It puts a state-wide ban on smoking in public places. The only exceptions are retail tobacco stores that are physically seperated and independently ventilated, non-public clubs, designated hotel rooms, and outdoor patios.

Proposition 206, however, is bullocks. It’s called the “Arizona Non-Smoker Protection Act”. Sounds good, right? Wrong. It’s not about protecting non-smokers from second-hand smoke. It’s about over-ruling city laws which ban smoking. It gets away with its title by declaring essentially the same things as Prop 201, but at the same time it also specifically allows restaurants and bars to let smokers to light up as they please. Three million dollars have been raised to support this proposition. Can you guess where that funding came from? That’s right. A tobacco company: R.J. Reynolds. Really, they’re just trying to confuse voters. The lesson? Read the details of what you’re voting on, not just the titles.

There are other propositions, but these ones take precedence to me. If you are going to vote, please do review the above link before you make your choices.

0 comments.

Fuck the mujahedeen

Posted on February 10th, 2006 by Josh.
Categories: politics.

I’m getting sick of reading stories like the current one about Jill Carroll - the reporter who was abducted by terrorists in Iraq.

Do they really think that they’re getting anywhere by kidnapping innocents and chopping their heads off? Correct me if I’m wrong, but we are yet to truly negotiate with these bastards. We can NOT negotiate with them if they are doing things like this. If we do, then that shows them that their acts of violence and brutality are effective means of getting what they want. And then it will continue to happen when they are unhappy or want something to happen. That simply cannot be allowed.

They are creating this holy war - making it out as though we are trying to rid the world of Islam on the behalf of Christianity. It’s ludicrous. It’s not a religious war - it’s about many things - but that’s not one of them. Say it’s about money. Fine. Say it’s about freedom and democracy. Fine. But to make up your own visceral religous cause, and use that to justify being despicable humans who kill the innocent? That’s fucked up.

</rant>

0 comments.

Totalitarian, eh?

Posted on September 27th, 2005 by Josh.
Categories: politics, quizzes.

You are a Social Moderate (41% permissive) and an… Economic Liberal (31% permissive) You are best described as a: Totalitarian Take The Politics Test

0 comments.