George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on Amazon • Hacker News Board

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

#191

Post by WalterBright » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 6:58 AM UTC

dllthomas wrote: post #24

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…

> 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…

> Lying isn't usually a crime

It also isn't lying if the person saying it believes it to be true.

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

#192

Post by afterburner » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 6:58 AM UTC

vixen99 wrote: post #86

banku_brougham wrote: post #4

This is amazing. The womens marches over the weekend and these seem to be an indicator of a very sudden awakening.

Why would a march be more significant than the votes of 62 million people? I agree that an awakening is overdue given that for instance, America’s child poverty levels are worse than in any developed country anywhere, including Greece and only Slovakia, Chile, Mexico and Turkey have worse infant mortality rates. Median adult wealth is 27th out of 27 high-income countries; internet speed and access is 16th out of 34 c…

You're bringing up the popular vote? You know Clinton won that, by 3 million votes?

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

#193

Post by jupiter90000 » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 7:00 AM UTC

azernik wrote: post #180

jupiter90000 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

From my (quite far-left) perspective, I would be very okay with that outcome. The Presidency's most unchecked power is in foreign policy, where Trump truly scares me. Pence as President would not change the balance of power in Congress, which is where most of the social and economic decisions (where I really have problems with Pence) would be made. Putting on my non-partisan hat, though, I am nervous about the preced…

Is there something about Pence's track record that suggests he'd be better for USA on foreign policy?

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

#194

Post by VickBear » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 7:01 AM UTC

jdavis703 wrote: post #167

korrach wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And a falling asleep as soon as a better clown takes control. Trump is marginally worse in content but infinitely worse in presentation. I mean ffs Obama care was a heritage foundation proposal and that's his shining achievement, it would be like Lincoln abolishing slavery by buying all the slaves and then making them work to pay off their freedom.

I think you're seeing two pieces of outrage over Trump. The first is the predictable liberal outrage: he's proposing policy that conflicts with what liberals want. Then there's the anger and fear from what appears to be fascist, authorities tendencies in Trump. That's one reason why a President Pence doesn't scare me (and apparently others who are calling for Trump's impeachment). Sure Pence won't work for liberal in…

Where is Trump actively working to gut free press, due process, and a free and fair voting process? Can you share sources with those claims?

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

#195

Post by mrbrowning » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 7:01 AM UTC

flukus wrote: post #170

mrbrowning wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unsurprisingly, the answer to "would you react the same way if a totally different thing happened in a totally different context?" is: no.

It's not a totally different thing, it's the same thing with male genitalia instead of female. We don't know if the context would be totally different or not.

It's not a totally different thing, it's the same thing with me driving on the left side of the road instead of the right. We don't know if this would cause horrific, fiery tangles of flesh and steel or not.

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

#196

Post by downandout » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 7:02 AM UTC

oculusthrift wrote: post #161

downandout wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump has been in office for 4 days. Conflict of interest laws do not apply to US Presidents, so the business interest argument is moot. We don't impeach Presidents because a loud group of people dislikes the fact that they lost an election. We impeach Presidents when they commit crimes, which he has not done and hasn't even been in office long enough to do.

Yeah I guess to you breaking the Foreign Emoluments Clause in the Constitution is nothing. And its funny you say that when that is exactly why they impeached Clinton.

They impeached Clinton for committing the crime of perjury, so your comparison makes no sense. With regard to the Foreign Emoluments Clause, Trump is donating all proceeds from stays in his hotels by foreign officials directly to the US Treasury. I am not a constitutional lawyer, but apparently he has been advised by those who are that this solution solves that particular legal issue.

I realize that this issue will never be solved in the minds of Clinton voters, but as long as it legally resolves the problem, opinions simply don't matter.

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

#197

Post by Fricken » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 7:02 AM UTC

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…

He was voted in by the people, through a legitimate democratic process. Democracy works. Freedom of speech works. 1984 didn't get it right. It's not the government that needs to be feared. It isn't the big evil corporarions. It's the people. The mob.

4chan ran a more effective propaganda/misinformation campaign than any dark shadowy corporate entity. Our insitutions are less than stellar, but at least they are run by adults. Americans are run by bedtime stories and mass hysteria generated by their own delusions, the manifestation of which now occupies our highest office.

1984 was a warning against communism, but China has a brighter future than we do. Nobody wrote a science fiction novel taught in high schools warning us against democracy in the age of decentralized peer to peer media. Government surveillance isn't ruining lives, but a poorly worded tweet can.

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

#198

Post by refurb » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 7:03 AM UTC

jeffgreco wrote: post #182

refurb wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people living below the poverty line - US is 36th out of 162 countries, behind Morocco and Albania You do realize how ridiculous that stat looks right? Are you arguing the poor are worse off in the US than in Morocco? And let me guess, the poverty stat is excluding income transfers? I swear to god politics has gotten even nuttier in the US than it has been. And it was nutty before! Facts don't matter, crushing your o…

People living below the poverty line seems to be discussing # of people, not their quality of life. Whatever study this is presumably controls for poverty line country-by-country. So: sure, ridiculous if you came to the stat looking for "worse off," I guess?

and for people living below the poverty line - US is 36th out of 162 countries, behind Morocco and Albania.

What else could that comment be claiming? It wouldn't really make much sense if the claim was "more people live under the poverty line in the US than Morocco, but they are among the most wealthy people in the world."

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

#199

Post by flukus » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 7:07 AM UTC

Lramseyer wrote: post #162

flukus wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will this awakening by introspective at all? Because punishing wrongthink seems to be endemic with third wave feminists and modern "progressive" groups.

I thought the exact same thing myself when I saw this news. It made me think of this: https://medium.com/@aristoNYC/social-justice-bullies-the-aut...

My favorite is http://reddit.com/stormfrontorsjw

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

#200

Post by pavanred » Wed, Jan 25, 2017, 7:11 AM UTC

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…

I really wish people and the media stop over emphasizing about every gaffe and focus on real news stories. For instance, the "alternative facts" comment/incident is being talked about everywhere, from TV news channels to news parody shows to talk shows to social media etc. But, at the same time it seems like there is so much more important news that one would think deserves more attention like the executive orders, withdrawal from TPP, revival of oil pipelines, changes in healthcare spending etc. I even just saw news articles headlining on the guardian now about agencies being banned from sharing information on social media or to reporters and few journalists getting felony charges after covering the protests around the inauguration.

It almost makes me wonder if it would be a good idea if there was a website that covered the latest gaffe and the corresponding actual news worthy story that was lost out on optimal coverage because of it.

Edit: I couldn't find this before but here is an interesting article I read yesterday [0]. It's an opinion piece by Alexey Kovalev. - "I’ve reported on Putin – here are my tips for journalists dealing with Trump".

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/23/report...