OT Brittney Griner Sentenced for 9 years

[tbhawksfan1]

Never trust power, no matter what flag is flying on their pole. Power didn't get to be power by doing nice things

People especially Americans really should learn what communism actually is. In communism, as defined by Marx and Engalls, there is no power or hierarchy. It is a utopic vision of society based on the notion of equality and making sure that all the people have the minimum before anyone gets more.

Communism, as defind by Marx and Engalls, has never existed in any country in the world. All of the so called communist regimes were in fact totalitarian regimes hiding behind the label of communism

Don't be educated by propaganda. A mind is a terrible thing to waste

[tbhawksfan1]

Patriotism is exactly like religious fundamentalism. What is America? America is everything and everyone in America. All that they do and all that they are is America. Patriotism is a descrimination against all of the people that don't spew narrow minded nationalistic propaganda.

A flag isn't and never will be more important than a person. An anthem is not more important than a person. A person has a right to like or dislike an anthem or a flag. If you disagree with this then you are being fascist

You guys really need to learn more words than just calling everybody fascists.

As Forrest Gump said "Fascism is as fascism does"

[elias808]

But the federal gov't can acutally change the laws in the US and fix the issue here. Sure they can also help Griner, but why not legalize it at a federal level. it makes no sense.

I think it ultimately comes down to taxing something you can easily grow yourself. No different then why you can buy alcohol but not make your own shine.

Money!!!

Same reason Juuls are banned but cigarettes remain legal.

“We don’t know if Juuls are dangerous”

Our government is a farce

ALL government is a farce. Has been since the beginning of time. The USA government doesn’t have a monopoly on politicians serving their own self interests.

[The Rebel]

Why do you want Kirilenko to die?

You can't use stars to pressure oligarchy dictators, especially one that only cares about rebuilding the Soviet Union in all it's communist glory.

Russia is no longer communist and will never be again. The ignorance is astounding.

He didn't say that it was communist. Communist is used in his post as an adjective to modify the world "glory" - to me it seems clear that he meant to allude to the prestige and glory of the USSR at that point in time when they were communist - and not related to whether they were communist currently.

Exactly the Soviet Union has never been truly communist, truth is communism is impossible in this world, but Putin has wanted to restore the Soviet Union that was and has never made that a secret.

[Nate505]

Fascism is such a lame term that has no meaning anymore. George Orwell wrote this in 1944, and is astonishing how right he is nearly 80 years later:

It will be seen that, as used, the word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless. In conversation, of course, it is used even more wildly than in print. I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley's broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I do not know what else.

Yet underneath all this mess there does lie a kind of buried meaning. To begin with, it is clear that there are very great differences, some of them easy to point out and not easy to explain away, between the régimes called Fascist and those called democratic. Secondly, if ‘Fascist’ means ‘in sympathy with Hitler’, some of the accusations I have listed above are obviously very much more justified than others. Thirdly, even the people who recklessly fling the word ‘Fascist’ in every direction attach at any rate an emotional significance to it. By ‘Fascism’ they mean, roughly speaking, something cruel, unscrupulous, arrogant, obscurantist, anti-liberal and anti-working-class. Except for the relatively small number of Fascist sympathizers, almost any English person would accept ‘bully’ as a synonym for ‘Fascist’. That is about as near to a definition as this much-abused word has come.

But Fascism is also a political and economic system. Why, then, cannot we have a clear and generally accepted definition of it? Alas! we shall not get one — not yet, anyway. To say why would take too long, but basically it is because it is impossible to define Fascism satisfactorily without making admissions which neither the Fascists themselves, nor the Conservatives, nor Socialists of any colour, are willing to make. All one can do for the moment is to use the word with a certain amount of circumspection and not, as is usually done, degrade it to the level of a swearword.

[The Rebel]

Patriotism is exactly like religious fundamentalism. What is America? America is everything and everyone in America. All that they do and all that they are is America. Patriotism is a descrimination against all of the people that don't spew narrow minded nationalistic propaganda.

A flag isn't and never will be more important than a person. An anthem is not more important than a person. A person has a right to like or dislike an anthem or a flag. If you disagree with this then you are being fascist

You guys really need to learn more words than just calling everybody fascists.

As Forrest Gump said "Fascism is as fascism does"

Funny you make up a quote by Forest Gump, when people start calling everyone that disagrees with them Fascists than I assume they have the same intellectual ability as Forest Gump.

[DiogoLandim]

I always find amazing americans POV of the world, it's kind of funny the insane level of hypocrisy.

[elias808]

Patriotism is exactly like religious fundamentalism. What is America? America is everything and everyone in America. All that they do and all that they are is America. Patriotism is a descrimination against all of the people that don't spew narrow minded nationalistic propaganda.

A flag isn't and never will be more important than a person. An anthem is not more important than a person. A person has a right to like or dislike an anthem or a flag. If you disagree with this then you are being fascist

You guys really need to learn more words than just calling everybody fascists.

It’s a super easy catch all word that requires little thought. It’s far more convenient to scream fascist then to have a productive conversation where their ideology might be questioned with reason and logic. Same goes for all the wieners that scream “communist!”. You can believe in pieces from both sides. You can hate ideas from both sides. It’s when you push a single narrative in blind faith that the trouble starts to happen.

[kuclas]

I always find amazing americans POV of the world, it's kind of funny the insane level of hypocrisy.

Of course MOST Americans love their country when compared to the rest of the world.

Obviously I don’t speak for anyone else.

Having lived in another country for 4 years. And traveling all over the world. I still believe America is the best country in the world. Of course we have problems.

But some people who criticize Americans need to look at other countries. Racism?? Other countries are way more racist than America. That’s just a start.

[tbhawksfan1]

You guys really need to learn more words than just calling everybody fascists.

As Forrest Gump said "Fascism is as fascism does"

Funny you make up a quote by Forest Gump, when people start calling everyone that disagrees with them Fascists than I assume they have the same intellectual ability as Forest Gump.

Funny.. was meant to be funny, but there is a message there. Maybe you missed it.

Like your Orwell quote. Big fan, but there really is a simple definition of fascism and it's basically in the quote. He said bully. The simple definition is anyone that will use force to force someone else to do something that they don't want to do

[Salieri]

Personal responsibility and accountability are still things in this day and age, right? Seems like a lot of people here would be those “blame Mom and Dad for every mistake I’ve made” types. She smuggled drugs into one of the worst countries to do that in. It’s not about her being black, gay or a woman. It’s about her making a very stupid choice and learning a very real lesson due to the current political landscapes in Russia.

Don’t worry, we’ll end up trading a murderous arms dealer for her and all of you bleeding hearts can be satisfied.

If it was your family member instead of her would you be in favor of trading an arms dealer? It’s a pretty callous attitude that you have.

What’s more callous is acting like the freedom of a basketball player who smuggled drugs is more important to society than keeping a murderous arms dealer in prison. Anything to make you feel like you’re “a good person” though, yeah? **** outta here with that. She can stay for the full 9 years if it keeps Viktor Bout behind bars.

EDIT: And for the record, no one in MY family would be dumb enough to smuggle an illegal substance into Russia

Careful there, you said the quiet part out loud.

With that comment, you proved that you couldn't care less about justice. The notion that one person has to suffer so another unrelated person can receive punishment is so foreign to me, I'm amazed we are using the same alphabet.

Heat3 resorted to an old trick to try and move those who have never felt empathy: ask them to imagine what if they were personally affected by this. It's a very old tactic and pretty effective, but only under 2 conditions: they have to have the capacity for imagination, and they have to be arguing in good faith so they truly envision themselves personally affected.

Well, it failed and you weren't moved. Who would have thought?

[tbhawksfan1]

As Forrest Gump said "Fascism is as fascism does"

Funny you make up a quote by Forest Gump, when people start calling everyone that disagrees with them Fascists than I assume they have the same intellectual ability as Forest Gump.

Funny.. was meant to be funny, but there is a message there. Maybe you missed it.

Like your Orwell quote. Big fan, but there really is a simple definition of fascism and it's basically in the quote. He said bully. The simple definition is anyone that will use force to force someone else to do something that they don't want to do

Ooops, I see that it wasn't you that quoted Orwell

[Fo-Real]

Isn't this the political talk that usually does not fly here?

[Ruma85]

I always find amazing americans POV of the world, it's kind of funny the insane level of hypocrisy.

Of course MOST Americans love their country when compared to the rest of the world.

Obviously I don’t speak for anyone else.

Having lived in another country for 4 years. And traveling all over the world. I still believe America is the best country in the world. Of course we have problems.

As in?

But some people who criticize Americans need to look at other countries. Racism?? Other countries are way more racist than America. That’s just a start.

[Nate505]

I always find amazing americans POV of the world, it's kind of funny the insane level of hypocrisy.

Uh huh. Compared to the rest of the world and their nuanced rational consistent takes on things. Sure thing buddy.

[lakerz12]

Never trust power, no matter what flag is flying on their pole. Power didn't get to be power by doing nice things

People especially Americans really should learn what communism actually is. In communism, as defined by Marx and Engalls, there is no power or hierarchy. It is a utopic vision of society based on the notion of equality and making sure that all the people have the minimum before anyone gets more.

Communism, as defind by Marx and Engalls, has never existed in any country in the world. All of the so called communist regimes were in fact totalitarian regimes hiding behind the label of communism

Don't be educated by propaganda. A mind is a terrible thing to waste

Yeah it hasn't existed, at least not for any extended period of time among a large population, because human nature doesn't allow it to exist.

The problem with communism is that it's simply a pre-cursor to totalitarianism. Since power hungry people will always fill the void and take advantage of those who think they're going to live in a Utopian society where everyone is nice to one another.

So please, don't imply that Communism is actually a great, realistic system that hasn't been giving a chance. It's a pipe dream.

[tbhawksfan1]

fas·cism
[ˈfaʃɪz(ə)m]
NOM
an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.

synonymes :
authoritarianism · totalitarianism · dictatorship · despotism · autocracy · absolute rule · Nazism · rightism · militarism · nationalism · xenophobia · racism · [plus]

derogatory
extremely authoritarian, intolerant, or oppressive ideas or behaviour:
"an outright ban is just fascism"
very intolerant or domineering views or practices in a particular area:
"this is yet another example of health fascism in action"

https://www.bing.com/search?q=fascism+definition&qs=AS&pq=fascism&sk=AS5&sc=10-7&cvid=04C85399EF174F19BB1812E9F164C344&FORM=QBRE&sp=6

[The Rebel]

Somewhat unrelated but related is the strange pro-Russian sentiment that is making it's way through the North American populace. Ironically through the 'freedom' convoy group that is coming.

As if none of them understand what Putin and this government is. What they've done and what they continue to do.

We are in a Christo fascist movement and a lot of people are not realizing it. You see it with the right cheering on Russia (as shown in this thread) and them hosting Hungarys PM

Nobody is cheering on Russia, they are saying that the Russian government and people have a right to make and enforce their own laws, regardless of what we think about them. If you travel to their country than it is on your to recognize those laws and follow them, if not that is on you.

I also see many including myself that are saying the people in this thread complaining about foreign laws and sentences being outrageous while ignoring the fact that there are literally people in the United States serving longer than 9 year jail terms for weed. Where is all the complaining and fighting for those people's rights?

Lastly I see a lot saying that giving up a guy called the "merchant of Death" for a **** basketball player just because she is a celebrity is a stupid deal and not something we should be doing.

[tbhawksfan1]

Never trust power, no matter what flag is flying on their pole. Power didn't get to be power by doing nice things

People especially Americans really should learn what communism actually is. In communism, as defined by Marx and Engalls, there is no power or hierarchy. It is a utopic vision of society based on the notion of equality and making sure that all the people have the minimum before anyone gets more.

Communism, as defind by Marx and Engalls, has never existed in any country in the world. All of the so called communist regimes were in fact totalitarian regimes hiding behind the label of communism

Don't be educated by propaganda. A mind is a terrible thing to waste

Yeah it hasn't existed, at least not for any extended period of time among a large population, because human nature doesn't allow it to exist.

The problem with communism is that it's simply a pre-cursor to totalitarianism. Since power hungry people will always fill the void and take advantage of those who think they're going to live in a Utopian society where everyone is nice to one another.

So please, don't imply that Communism is actually a great, realistic system that hasn't been giving a chance. It's a pipe dream.

It's a philosophy, not a system. Since it has never actually existed is can not be a system. Only an idea

[GSWFan1994]

I'll say just one thing... Yuri Bezmenov was right.