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Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

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Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#411

Post by mrguyorama »

DiggyJohnson wrote: post #102
dreamcompiler wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I thought most people in the US were proud of their firearm handling professionalism which of course includes not brandishing or murdering people. I take it you have not actually visited the United States.

It seems like you’re the one that hasn’t been here. That’s a shocking number of gun related incidents in the GP. Seems like accessing TV/internet must be an issue like road rage that brings out the absolute worst in people. People don’t go around popping shots at technicians or waving their weapons around in the US.

Nearly every cable technician has these stories. A lot of what cable technicians do is go to a house to disconnect for non-payment. These people are rarely well off, and are often a subset of the worst of the worst people in the country. Cable technicians can tell you stories of honest to goodness nazis, terrifyingly mentally broken people, lunatics who think they should be able to shoot anyone stepping foot on their property, etc. Basically if there is a person who is shitty in any way, they probably won't pay their cable and the technician is going to get to meet them.

My brother is an avid gun "advocate" (nut), but he still wasn't happy being threatened with guns from yokels who don't like paying bills.

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#412

Post by mrguyorama »

wkat4242 wrote: post #118
dreamcompiler wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I thought most people in the US were proud of their firearm handling professionalism which of course includes not brandishing or murdering people. I take it you have not actually visited the United States.

[flagged]

[flagged]

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#413

Post by marcus0x62 »

omniglottal wrote: post #393
marcus0x62 wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could make that argument about almost any criminal statute where the victim is a corporation of some sort. Another way to describe it is "private company gets a mechanism to deter people from taking the value they create without paying for it."

Not all the value going over those lines is created by the cable company. In fact, very little of it is, and it can only exist on the vast majority of its path with taxpayer support.

So what? They still have fixed and variable costs for delivering their product. You don’t get to take it for free just because some other entity creates the content they deliver.

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#414

Post by mrguyorama »

hnfong wrote: post #265
refracture wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans take pride in having them, but being properly trained in safely handling or effectively using them is optional. Try and force it and you’ll get the tyranny talk. Sadly I’ve heard many stories of cable/dish techs dealing with this nonsense.

At least they're free from the tyranny of the cable service personnel...

The secret is that bullying people with excessive force is exactly what millions of americans with firearms actively want to be able to do.

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#415

Post by smegsicle »

adrr wrote: post #380
aidenn0 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you lend a car to a friend and then report it stolen, your friend will absolutely end up in jail.

But if it wasn't stolen and you filed a false police report, you go to jail,

a good friend will bail you out of jail

a better friend will be sharing the cell with you

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#416

Post by avidiax »

wl wrote: post #344
avidiax wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this is a huge problem with U.S. gun culture. The "make my day" crowd is hoping that they will get to end someone's life legally. Case in point: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/08/texas-vigila... The guy had a choice: * Replace a wallet * Shoot a guy dead Obviously, we don't usually hear about the people that pick the first option, but there are plenty of takers for the 2nd.

That's a very shallow reading of that particular situation. The robber was pointing a gun at people. At the point when someone threatens life like that, regardless of whether the motives are personal or material, it is reasonable and legally justified for someone to use deadly force to end that threat. The only real criticism that can be leveled against that particular shooter is that in hindsight he continued shooti…

> That's a very shallow reading of that particular situation.

Yes, with a bit more depth to the reading, you'd know that the robber had already collected the money and was leaving when he was shot in the back.

And what happens when another do-gooder walks into this taqueria, sees this guy shoot someone, and then grab money off the body? Wouldn't that person be in the clear to shoot the first guy?

What if the 2nd guy is a police officer?

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#417

Post by mrguyorama »

Ligma123 wrote: post #253
puchatek wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some European countries there's a recent trend to attack people perceived as "the state", such as firefighters and paramedics in certain situations. Afaik, this is usually done by low income, uneducated people that good stone grudge and then lash out. You can indeed be happy that they don't have access to firearms.

Every time that medical staff is assaulted in Portugal, specially when the code word "family" is used, we already know it was done by a Gypsy group or family who couldn't be bothered to wait in queue to be looked at. The other "low income, uneducated people" never do such things, always the same group.

Oh wow you just went right for the boring anti-roma racism, cool.

>The other "low income, uneducated people"

You are horribly misinformed if you actually believe this.

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#418

Post by mrguyorama »

geodel wrote: post #126
wkat4242 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The amount of incidents involving firearms is astonishing. I'm glad I live in Europe where literally nobody has guns except police and heavy criminals that only really use them to shoot their rivals. I thought most people in the US were proud of their firearm handling professionalism which of course includes not brandishing, threatening or murdering people. I'm really a bit surprised to hear this. I did a similar job…

> I thought most people in the US were proud of their firearm handling professionalism Well, in US so many times heavily armed police act like chump in face of serious criminals so not sure that general populace are proud of professionalism .

The trick here is that US police are absurdly unprofessional in nearly any way. With guns it's even worse, as a mythical "good cop" with a gun gets only a single magazine a year through work to maintain proficiency, and depending on the state requirements, might not even have regular testing of their shooting abilities. Police in the US regularly shoot things that weren't even close to their target, and their standard training is to just keep shooting until they need to reload, whether or not it really makes sense. They are also taught that everything and everyone wants to murder them, and they should shoot first, and that their life is more important than justice, and other things that make them so paranoid they think it's normal to always face the door at a restaurant like my anxiety crippled girlfriend.

Meanwhile plenty of them are in right wing militias.

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#419

Post by mindslight »

derefr wrote: post #400
mindslight wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got a different theory. Tradespeople prioritize based on how much a job pays. So if you haggle them down, make them deal with insurance, or your type of job doesn't command much money, they'll happily keep you in their queue as an option in case work dries up, but won't be interested in doing your job as long as they're getting paid more for doing other jobs.

That's logical as an argument, but I think it explains too much — why wouldn't tradespeople have been doing this before the pandemic? What was the counterveiling force to priority-queuing?

I'm sure it has always existed, but has seemingly gotten much worse. I'd say the general boom in demand plus the continual upwards price marches of trumpflation have made the dynamic much stronger.

There's also a general feeling that the pandemic "changed things". I can't quite put my finger on the whole extent of that, but I can definitely see the overall feeling of everyone being out for themselves contributing to shamelessly playing the BATNA.

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#420

Post by mrguyorama »

hoseja wrote: post #195
wkat4242 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The amount of incidents involving firearms is astonishing. I'm glad I live in Europe where literally nobody has guns except police and heavy criminals that only really use them to shoot their rivals. I thought most people in the US were proud of their firearm handling professionalism which of course includes not brandishing, threatening or murdering people. I'm really a bit surprised to hear this. I did a similar job…

I'm glad to live in Europe where people have lots of guns but basically never threaten others with them because they are generally decent folk.

It's a lot easier to not shoot someone or get into violent crime in general when you have the option of just taking government assistance and trying to better yourself.

In the US, because of obscene paperwork and often actively hostile to poverty policies, it might be easier to just join a gang to survive.

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