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Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

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Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#291

Post by lazide »

andrepd wrote: post #285
adastra22 wrote: post #20

OP, some context from the other side might be helpful. Yes, there are fines for American companies if they do business with Iranians. That's how sanctions work as I'm sure you're aware. But the story doesn't stop there. If an American finds out they are transacting with a sanctioned individual, or citizens of a sanctioned country like Iran or North Korea, the stakes go up: $1M USD fine and up to 20 years in federal p…

> the stakes go up: $1M USD fine and up to 20 years in federal prison. Oh and that's a personal risk -- you, the manager or executive in charge, and anyone else who is in the know on the transaction is now facing 20 years in federal pounding-in-the-ass prison If only this notion of personal criminal responsibility was applied to other types of private company criminality (2008 gfc, cartelization in many industries, t…

That’s because in one case you’re doing something the gov’t doesn’t like, in the other…

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#292

Post by thaumasiotes »

onraglanroad wrote: post #270
thaumasiotes wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That link doesn't say 3/4 of prisoners. It says 3/4 of incarcerated workers. Incarcerated nonworkers aren't counted at all. It also doesn't say that they report being compelled to work. It says they receive benefits from working that they don't receive without working. The fact that voluntary workers get their sentences reduced doesn't convert them into involuntary workers.

You're both wrong about the number of prisoners. The link clearly states 2/3 of prisoners are workers and 3/4 of them report being compelled to work. That works out at 1/2 of all prisoners. Trying to spin this as benefits is...odd: "they are required to work or face additional punishment such as solitary confinement, denial of opportunities to reduce their sentence, and loss of family visitation."

> "they are required to work or face additional punishment such as solitary confinement, denial of opportunities to reduce their sentence, and loss of family visitation."

"Denial of opportunities to reduce their sentence" means that prisoners with jobs are considered to be better candidates for sentence reduction by various means. That's true, but it doesn't come anywhere near "being compelled to work".

The ACLU doesn't provide any numbers on who reports being compelled to work. They provide a large number that includes some things that qualify as coercion and some that are entirely innocuous. This is the "prison forced labor" analogue of reporting that large majorities of female undergraduates suffer sexual assault on campus, where the definition of sexual assault includes "unwelcome sexual remarks".

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#293

Post by itake »

xeyownt wrote: post #260
jwr wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

So you vote AGAINST the guy at power, and you're responsible? Broken logic.

how did their feet vote?

The last time (and current time) a president was in power that I didn't agree with (and didn't vote for), I left. As a citizen, I can't fully escape taxes, but I will be my darnedest to reduce my taxable burden when I don't approve of the government.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#294

Post by lazide »

pessimizer wrote: post #289
bambax wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in federal pounding-in-the-ass prison Ha ha ha, it's so funny and harmless to make fun of people in prison, because they all deserve it, right? And the US is a free country? Sorry but this just makes me incredibly angry.

It's simply bizarre that dreams of US "justice" involve interracial homosexual rape fantasies. Of course the interracial part that creeps in is a reminder that the US is not free. It still hasn't paid for hundreds of years of hard forced labor from many individuals. The guilt from this causes it to act strangely.

If this is the weirdest thing involving the US you’re aware of right now, I’d highly recommend continuing to ignore the news.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#295

Post by pessimizer »

dash2 wrote: post #278
ivell wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The leadership of countries under sanctions rarely change their behavior due to sanctions. However the effect on the population of the countries is that they turn against the countries applying the sanctions. It becomes easier for the leaders to sell the sanctions to their populace as the enemy action. If the West is expecting any revolution due to sanctions, I have not seen it. However, sanctions do have a symbolic…

On the whole, I’m inclined to agree, but didn’t South Africa eventually end apartheid because of sanctions?

Sanctions from individuals. The US did the opposite, and supported South Africa no matter what. Just like Israel - In both ways. Israel supported South Africa, and the US supported Israel. The dramatic sanctions against US citizens for refusing to buy from Israel and endorsing that people not buy from Israel are meant to prevent such a horrible thing as the fall of Apartheid from ever happening again.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#296

Post by bambax »

slg wrote: post #64

>Iranian IPs are blocked here, due to your decision to arm Russia with drones so that they can indiscriminately massacre civilians. The "your decision" in that response is really off-putting. I know the law is what it is with sanctions like this. However, it is a failing of basic human empathy to blame other common citizens of a country for the actions of their government while we almost certainly do not endorse all…

It's also interesting if the comment comes from a US person, given that the US are primarily responsible for the political situation in Iran.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#297

Post by abc123abc123 »

tsimionescu wrote: post #266
Keirmot wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sanctions have a theoretical basis behind them. In the Western Political Philosophical Canon, leaders and elites are expected to strive for the Common Good. From that perspective, sanctions aren’t meant as “torture for fun,” (as you put it) but as a way of creating pressure so governments change their behavior without having to resort to war. They’re basically a tool to raise the cost of bad actions and make it more…

The poster above was pointing out that this is a double standard. You don't expect a US citizen to risk their livelihood to help an Iranian, but you then expect an Iranian citizen to risk their livelihood AND life to topple a regime that is doing things that the USA doesn't like. So, you either take personal responsibility for enforcing sanctions yourself, or you admit that sanctions are a form of collective punishme…

[flagged]

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#298

Post by pessimizer »

lazide wrote: post #294
pessimizer wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's simply bizarre that dreams of US "justice" involve interracial homosexual rape fantasies. Of course the interracial part that creeps in is a reminder that the US is not free. It still hasn't paid for hundreds of years of hard forced labor from many individuals. The guilt from this causes it to act strangely.

If this is the weirdest thing involving the US you’re aware of right now, I’d highly recommend continuing to ignore the news.

You seem to love your television. I'm a middle-aged black American, I don't think Jimmy Kimmel and tariffs are worse than the what slavery and the US justice system has done to black people. I can understand if you're worried about your favorite programs being disrupted, though.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#299

Post by tgma »

lukan wrote: post #287
tgma wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If that would be true, they would be a democracy. I am positing perhaps they are a democracy. Many of the "educated people" in question that the GP suggests "hate" the government, may say so but their actions nevertheless are directly and indirectly benefiting the Mullahs. Democracy does not mean good, or effective, or not evil. It might be a collective compromise towards mediocrity and stagnation.

"I am positing perhaps they are a democracy." Then maybe take a closer look into how their system works. Every candidate has to be approved by the Mullah's. So the Mullah's are effectivly in control. Still, there are differences with the candidates. Would I vote under such conditions? No idea, I am struggle to find a party representing my views and I am in a western democracy.

The Democrats in the US have Superdelegates effectively vetoing candidates. So is the media and funding apparatus and the deep state by holding potential blackmail material.

To be clear, I am not defending their system. I am suggesting democracy is not a panacea that automatically guarantees prosperity. Far from it.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#300

Post by bambax »

pessimizer wrote: post #289
bambax wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in federal pounding-in-the-ass prison Ha ha ha, it's so funny and harmless to make fun of people in prison, because they all deserve it, right? And the US is a free country? Sorry but this just makes me incredibly angry.

It's simply bizarre that dreams of US "justice" involve interracial homosexual rape fantasies. Of course the interracial part that creeps in is a reminder that the US is not free. It still hasn't paid for hundreds of years of hard forced labor from many individuals. The guilt from this causes it to act strangely.

The US obsession with "security" is striking (not least in IT). I recently realized it has its roots in the fact that Americans are invaders and slave owners. They have this constant fear of being killed in their sleep by the people they stole the land from, and the slaves who live with them.

There's an Irish comedian who has a bit that goes like this "As an Irishman I don't have white guilt. At all. In Ireland we had potatoes on the ground. We picked them up ourselves. We didn't steal people from another continent to come do it for us. That would be insane."

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