Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel peace prize • Hacker News Board

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel peace prize

#101

Post by Pxtl » Wed, Jan 29, 2014, 3:57 PM UTC

CWuestefeld wrote: post #67

ck2 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you respect Manning, please stop saying "he" and "guy".

This is clearly something that we as a society are going to have to wrestle with. It seems reasonable to me that this person, having XY chromosomes and all the hardware that go with them, may be correctly referred to using masculine pronouns. There's something to be said for respecting the wishes of the individual in how they'd like to be addressed. But there's definitely a point at which that drifts off into absurdi…

There's a time and a place to be pedantic, and this really isn't it.

Transgendered people go through a heap of terrible, terrible crap and the least we can all do is give them the dignity of using their identified pronoun. If anybody has earned that respect, it's ms. Manning.

I mean really, how the heck does it hurt anybody to say "She" instead of "He" after you've been informed that's not how she identifies? Does it really matter that much? Obviously the extreme SJW flamewar reaction you usually see on misgendering is excessive, but after being politely informed that's not how she identifies, how are you harmed by going along with it?

Will the ghost of Plato arise and smite you down for failing to properly class something?

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel peace prize

#102

Post by hrjet » Wed, Jan 29, 2014, 3:58 PM UTC

School-Cotton wrote: post #76

CWuestefeld wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is clearly something that we as a society are going to have to wrestle with. It seems reasonable to me that this person, having XY chromosomes and all the hardware that go with them, may be correctly referred to using masculine pronouns. There's something to be said for respecting the wishes of the individual in how they'd like to be addressed. But there's definitely a point at which that drifts off into absurdi…

It seems pretty simple to me. If you ask me to describe my best friend, I might say he's smart, studied this or that in school, speaks such-and-such languages, likes such-and-such music, and so on. His height and weight would be pretty far down the list of things I find important. Similarly, we think of our mind as being our "self" in a much more fundamental way than our toes. If a person is female in their mind but…

I would say the the catch phrase in your argument is "best friend". If the person you were describing wasn't your best friend, you might automatically focus more on the physical aspects, since you wouldn't know the intimate details of their mind.

That said, I am not advocating deliberate misuse of pronouns; I am just saying the topic may not be as simple as it seems.

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel peace prize

#103

Post by calibwam » Wed, Jan 29, 2014, 4:01 PM UTC

plq wrote: post #68

Lazare wrote: post #17

Some may find the list of people who can nominate someone for the Nobel peace prize interesting. From their website: Members of national assemblies and governments of states; Members of international courts; University rectors; professors of social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology; directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes; Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;…

> The only real news here is if he wins... Nitpicking a bit maybe, but he obviously can't win without being nominated. So this is still news.

The Nobel Committee will consider any nominee, but it may also consider other entities that it seem fit. So in a way, you don't have to be nominated.

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel peace prize

#104

Post by sergiotapia » Wed, Jan 29, 2014, 4:02 PM UTC

krzyk wrote: post #99

sergiotapia wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In all honesty, Obama got it for being the first black president - it was a HUGE deal, remember that.

I assume that there are a lot of black presidents e.g. in Africa, I don't think a lot of them got that award.

Don't be unnecessarily obtuse - of course I meant the first black US president.

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel peace prize

#105

Post by guelo » Wed, Jan 29, 2014, 4:02 PM UTC

timsally wrote: post #70

ck2 wrote: post #25

Everyone has already forgotten Pfc. Manning rotting away for 35 years. I saw a "free Snowden" sign the other day which I thought was asinine.

> Everyone has already forgotten Pfc. Manning rotting away for 35 years. Please represent the facts accurately. Manning is eligible for release in 7-8 years. I'm willing to make a long bet ( http://longbets.org ) for $300.00 that Manning does not serve 35 years, or "rot away for 35 years" as you put it. Are you up for it?

I'd take the bet if you'd be willing to take the position that he'll be released in 7 years. Betting hat he'll be paroled somewhere between 7 and 35 years is silly.

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel peace prize

#106

Post by praptak » Wed, Jan 29, 2014, 4:02 PM UTC

nivla wrote: post #96

Lazare wrote: post #17

Some may find the list of people who can nominate someone for the Nobel peace prize interesting. From their website: Members of national assemblies and governments of states; Members of international courts; University rectors; professors of social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology; directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes; Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;…

> I believe Bush was nominated repeatedly. Ha even bizzaring, Adolf Hitler was once nominated. [1] [1] http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/facts/peace/

Getting nominated is pretty low bar, Joseph Stalin has also been nominated.

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel peace prize

#107

Post by kaffeinecoma » Wed, Jan 29, 2014, 4:03 PM UTC

valarauca1 wrote: post #100

nivla wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I believe Bush was nominated repeatedly. Ha even bizzaring, Adolf Hitler was once nominated. [1] [1] http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/facts/peace/

Hitler was TIME magazine man of year, and for a decent while in America Fascism was mildly popular (circa 1930's). Its strange looking back on a that time (Post Holocaust and WW2). American Newspapers applauded the works of fascists claiming, "They got the trains to run on time."

Being Man of the Year isn't necessarily an honor. From Wikipedia:

  Person of the Year (formerly Man of the Year) is an annual 
  issue of the United States newsmagazine Time that features 
  and profiles a person, group, idea or object that "for 
  better or for worse...has done the most to influence the 
  events of the year."

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel peace prize

#108

Post by valarauca1 » Wed, Jan 29, 2014, 4:04 PM UTC

coldcode wrote: post #22

Maybe we can get someone to nominate the NSA for the peace prize. Would make for fun commentary.

Well theoretically all this global spying and bombing targets from remote controlled airplanes piloted half a world away should be making a safer more peaceful world right?

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel peace prize

#109

Post by mironathetin » Wed, Jan 29, 2014, 4:06 PM UTC

That is a great way to make Snowdens life a little safer.

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel peace prize

#110

Post by ck2 » Wed, Jan 29, 2014, 4:07 PM UTC

timsally wrote: post #70

ck2 wrote: post #25

Everyone has already forgotten Pfc. Manning rotting away for 35 years. I saw a "free Snowden" sign the other day which I thought was asinine.

> Everyone has already forgotten Pfc. Manning rotting away for 35 years. Please represent the facts accurately. Manning is eligible for release in 7-8 years. I'm willing to make a long bet ( http://longbets.org ) for $300.00 that Manning does not serve 35 years, or "rot away for 35 years" as you put it. Are you up for it?

After the aggressiveness of the current administration, you think there is a chance the next administration might come along and say "nope, they need to serve the full 35 years".

The sentence is 35 years. They could legally be forced to serve the full 35 for any reason. As far as I am concerned that is the weight being hung around their neck, not the imaginary eight.

And eight years in prison is an insanely long time, don't forget the terrible health care and dangers from other inmates. You can lose all your teeth and die from infections very easily if someone decides to just let you rot.