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George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

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Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#101

Post by legodt »

mattnewton wrote: post #90
legodt wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I and a lot of other progressives take issue with it because it is trans-exclusionary and continues the long tradition of mainstream feminist demonstrations or expressions being explicitly for a white, cisgendered audience. I think OP was being mysoginistic and wasn't thinking this, but there is criticism on the left of the symbol as well. That said, now is not the time to start infighting with people just starting t…

The hats were meant more as a symbol of feminine solidarity and to reclaim the word pussy though right? It's not trying to be anatomically correct, and afaict doesn't inheriently exclude trans people any more than it excludes progressive mens issues or the black lives matters movement. I am honestly asking from a position of near total ignorance. edit: Is it just that it's more a missed opportunity to pick a more inc…

You're not wrong, but there is more context. There is a near inexhaustible list of feminist art that defines womanhood as an anatomical feature or set of features, and seeing this March that is ostensibly for all women be so tone deaf to this existing fault in the feminist community shows a real lack of understanding of what it takes to truly be intersectional. This is what makes the symbol exclusionary to non-binary or transgendered women, it's continuation of a trend of exclusion. During second wave feminism, this was so common a phrase grew out of it- TERF, Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist. A prominent example is Gloria Steinem. For decades, the gender-nonconforming have been written out or excluded from the feminist movement at large, and this was a major opportunity to unify everyone for possibly the first time.

A more inclusive symbol could have been chosen.

Q: The hats were meant more as a symbol of feminine solidarity...?

A: The solidarity excluded a major group that has historically been discriminated against even by progressive causes

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#102

Post by Sgt_Apone »

flukus wrote: post #53
shard972 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "alternative facts" I think people are taking this and running at breakneck speed without stopping to look at what they actually mean by this. After watching the first few press conferences and Kelly Anne's interviews where she said that, it seems clear to me they weren't trying to say there were more people physically at the inauguration in their "alternative facts" but what they are referring to specifically is t…

Has anyone actually done an unbiased comparison? I've seen the picture but there are plenty of possible explanations for that. And people seem to be reading far to much into it in any case.

You can watch the full timelapse PBS compiled that shows from start to end of the inauguration[1]. It's nowhere near the numbers they were trying to suggest.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdantUf5tXg

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#103

Post by knieveltech »

anon363764 wrote: post #68
rattray wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't Reddit.

That's too bad that you lack a sense of humor. Try looking in lost-and-found.

I'm kinda with you but it just isn't reddit. HN typically detests humor or satire, with notable exceptions. Then again I think it may be a sign of the end times that HN is entertaining a political thread.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#104

Post by rdtsc »

beloch wrote: post #17

I must admit, I'm really confused by how impeachment works in the U.S.. Clinton was impeached for perjury and abuse of power because he took advantage of his position (and a political intern) and then lied about it. Now we have a president who is not giving up his business interests while in office and who has already told some absolute whoppers, including the release of official press releases that were nothing but…

Sounds like by that measure we should have impeached every President we've had so far. They all at some point probably told lies.

Also just because Clinton was impeached doesn't mean he was removed from office. Those are different things.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#105

Post by tossraccount33 »

shard972 wrote: post #32
beloch wrote: post #17

I must admit, I'm really confused by how impeachment works in the U.S.. Clinton was impeached for perjury and abuse of power because he took advantage of his position (and a political intern) and then lied about it. Now we have a president who is not giving up his business interests while in office and who has already told some absolute whoppers, including the release of official press releases that were nothing but…

> "alternative facts" I think people are taking this and running at breakneck speed without stopping to look at what they actually mean by this. After watching the first few press conferences and Kelly Anne's interviews where she said that, it seems clear to me they weren't trying to say there were more people physically at the inauguration in their "alternative facts" but what they are referring to specifically is t…

Fair enough.

What's mental gymnastics do we jump through to wave away their claim that 5 million fraudulent votes were cast?

Or how about now it's coming out there is no IRS audit. It was just an excuse to hide his tax returns?

IMO, there's plenty on display throughout Trump's life to show he has no interest in anything that doesn't improve his own image.

Sure, give them a couple here and there; broken clock is right twice a day as they say.

But:

1) This is a petty as fuck argument to make when the world is fracturing itself in pieces over this shitshow.

2) This is a distraction to avoid them having to have serious conversations, since it's pretty obvious they're clueless.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#106

Post by maxerickson »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #84
maxerickson wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they are just taking their sweet time with it because he is well enough aligned with their agenda. The second a big enough scandal comes up, away we go.

I think you have it backwards. The second he is no longer aligned with their agenda, they will clutch their pearls, blow up one of the existing scandals, and away we go.

That too, but I think a big enough scandal will be used regardless of alignment. Pence isn't unpredictable.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#107

Post by flukus »

sigmar wrote: post #93
flukus wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has anyone actually done an unbiased comparison? I've seen the picture but there are plenty of possible explanations for that. And people seem to be reading far to much into it in any case.

>Has anyone actually done an unbiased comparison? I've seen the picture but there are plenty of possible explanations for that. What better way to compare attendance of an outdoor event other than photos? There are also DC metro numbers, but they don't seem necessary as we have high-resolution images. >And people seem to be reading far to much into it in any case. Seems emblematic of bigger issues. Such as: unwilling…

> What better way to compare attendance of an outdoor event other than photos?

Someone posted a good list of possible ways this could be misleading yesterday: http://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blogs/there-are-l...

As far as reading too much into it, I meant that the election of the first black president was a much bigger deal then the 40 somethingth white old dude. I'd expect trumps turnout to be lower and I'm not sure why it would be news in the first place.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#108

Post by davesque »

dpweb wrote: post #47

Its right to question which direction the country is headed, but i have to wonder what damage is being done to the nation's psyche with all the apocolyptic imagery. What's it like to feel in constant crisis. It makes people scared all the time and drives divisiveness. Its as dangerous as anything the prez may have planned.

It's a tricky question. On the one hand, you can try to calm yourself and avoid living in constant paranoia which could be a net gain. On the other hand, you can risk the water slowly coming to a boil all around you without your noticing. I've tried to remain as calm as possible throughout all of this, but I can't get the image of the frog on the hotplate out of my mind. I seem to recall that people who lived through the rise of Nazi Germany described things in that way. No one really realized how insane things were getting until it was too late.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#109

Post by willvarfar »

g00gler wrote: post #100
knz wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've probably all seen the emoluments clause raised as one way he may be breaking the law. I'm not a legal expert but I would assume, if it's true, that breaking the Constitution would be illegal? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_of_Nobility_Clause "The Title of Nobility Clause is a provision in Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution, that ... restricts members of the government from r…

So, wasn't Hillary Clinton breaking the Constitution when she was accepting donations from Saudi Arabia at the Clinton Foundation while secretary of state?

So does Hillary get to spend the foundation money on herself?

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon

#110

Post by noobermin »

jupiter90000 wrote: post #72
dllthomas wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm really confused by how impeachment works in the U.S. Impeachment requires a crime. Lying isn't usually a crime, and as best I can tell hasn't been one any of the times Trump has done it (.. yet?). It also hasn't been a crime any of the times Obama has done it. Failure to give up business interests is breaking precedent and confounding ethicists, but also doesn't seem to be illegal. When we come up with somethin…

Do people really want him to get impeached and convicted, with Pence being the successor? Seems like a terrible idea...

Going to take off the objective hat and talk as a liberal. The answer I give to this is for the US, the President is both the head of state and the head of government. As is clear from recent articles about Trump's manner in the white house, his team is very much making many of the small policy decisions while Trump gets to strut out as the figurehead.

So yes, Trump stepping down wouldn't mean much difference when it comes to his role as a head of government since his team seems to be handling that, but the head of state is still a very important role. Don't forget, he said,

"I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything ... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything[,]"

essentially describing sexual assault, emphasized by me. Not to mention his poor demeanor, his lack of likeability, his unpopularity, the fact he was a reality-TV star. Having such an individual represent the nation is an embarrassment and does not inspire confidence in the nation nor does it abroad. Understand, no international body would respect Trump if he weren't the President. He does not prop us up as a country, he receives respect because we prop him up, and even then, he still depreciates his image by trying to project and strengthen his fragile pride and by involving himself in frivolous engagements on Twitter.

So yes, having a different head of state would be beneficial for us, at least in our view. It would not make much of a difference in terms of actual policy, but it would give us with a better representative, which isn't a difficult bar to exceed.

EDIT: I almost forgot, despite the politics of it, I do personally feel that a conflict of interest as a President is detrimental to the role as the head of government. We have already seen for example his orders on DAPL, which he still owns some shares of, a direct conflict of interest. And worse, of course, there are his foreign investments, which is worse from a national security standpoint. Sorry, but a head of government should represent us, not their own personal financial interests. You don't even need all my feeling about Trump as a figurehead, although that is important, but his conflicts of interests are a significant issue with him as an elected official.

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