dgandhi US

Member Profile

Real Name: Dan
A little about me...
I live in Pittsburgh. I mostly comment, and rarely sift.

Member Since: March 22, 2007
Last Power Points used: May 16, 2009
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Comments to dgandhi

rgroom1 says...

i saved that when i saw it.
if you have an email, i can send it to you.
WTF?!?!?! How do you screw up an ad that much?!

In reply to this comment by dgandhi:
My favorite is a diet add where the before picture is the body of a black lady, and the after picture is the body of a white lady. I decided I'm going to save it if I see it again, but no luck so far.

siftbot says...

Congratulations on reaching new heights on VideoSift. You have earned yourself 17 stars, earning you status of Bronze Star member. You have been awarded 1 Power Point for achieving this level. Thanks for all your contributions.

imstellar28 says...

In reply to this comment by dgandhi:
In reply to this comment by imstellar28:
I've long advocated a simple annual income tax according to this sort of formula:

Income after tax = $15,000 + 0.6 * (Income before tax)


What do you call someone who is forced to work for no wages?
What do you call someone who has 100% of their wages forcefully taken?
What do you call someone who has 40% of their wages forcefully taken?

I hope you sleep better at night knowing you are "only" 40% slave....or that you "only" spend 40% of your life in slavery.

100% or .01%...there is no moral difference...


What do you call someone who demands that money is printed, regulated, and protected for free?
What do you call someone who demands the use of infrastructure of their country/economy for free?
What do you call someone who demands that their property be protected free of charge?

Money, infrastructure and crime prevention, including the welfare system, are services rendered, if you use them, pay for them.



But how can you force a service on someone and then force them to pay for it? For example education--I am forced to pay for education--but what if I am home schooled? I am forced to pay for welfare, but what if I never use it or agree with it? I am forced to pay for the war in Iraq, but I don't agree with it nor do I want to pay for it....what then?

winkler1 says...

agreed.

I'm using swaptree these days, which I like even better than bookmooch. It has 3 and 4 way trades, all media types, and it's basically immediate gratification, not accruing points.

In reply to this comment by dgandhi:
>> ^rustybrooks:
Libraries are for communists


which is why libraries are AWESOME.

BookMooch seems a lot like craigslist, an idea implemented by a geek, who already has enough money, to solve a problem that the market does not seem to be able to solve efficiently.

schmawy says...

Of course it's not true. Quite the opposite. I just have difficulty accepting anything that contradicts my basic belief that love is the only true currency in life. Of course belief is so uncool 'round these parts.

dystopianfuturetoday says...

Word.

In reply to this comment by dgandhi:
In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:

I have no research to back this up, but I do believe that living in a racist culture rubs off on EVERYONE, even smart, compassionate people like you, dgandhi (and Smibbo). I'm talking about subtle, internalized, culturally acceptable racism that you might not even recognize as racism if it were pointed out to you.

Take the NAACP for instance. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an organization dedicated to fighting racism, uses the racist term 'colored' in its name. The word was culturally acceptable at the time, but that doesn't make the implication that black people are 'colored' people any less offensive.

The issue with "colored" is not that the word is magically offensive, but that it, in the current cultural context is an anachronism to a time when people were considered property. Since the NAACP was named when this connotation did not exist, it is not offensive, because it lacks the context that would make it offensive.

I don't have a problem with analyzing the words people use to discover how they think, but you can't do that, such as in your example, when you disregard the context. Words are not racist, but they do, at times communicate, either intentionally or unintentionally, racist beliefs.

This is internalized racism, and I'd wager that even an intelligent, forward thinking person like you has internalized racism/sexism/classism locked away somewhere in your brain.

While I find your examples lacking I don't declaim internalized racism, I made the point to aknowledge that in my experience it takes forms more subtle then crass words. Sociologists do all sorts of studies to measure how much we undervalue certain members of our society, this is a race/sex/classism that benefits people in my privileged position at the expense of others. I have never turned down a job because I knew I got it over someone else largely on the basis of my race or sex, but it has happened.

My only real disagreement with your position is that the institutional form of racism, the one that gets me jobs other people are better qualified for, is more common and more difficult to deal with then the word play that you are focusing on. People in the anti-racist movement tend to call what you are talking about "bigotry" and the institutional form "racism", I think it confuses the issue when people equate racism with nasty words when it's most profound effect is on the inequality of opportunity.

It doesn't make us bad people, we are a product of our time.

Remain vigilant.

I agree that we should remain vigilant, that is why I wanted to mention institutional racism on your post, as that is the form I most often encounter, and people most often ignore.

gorgonheap says...

True, cows of different breeds can be more aggressive then others. Most all of the cows I've driven have been Angus, which are known for their mild temperament.

I think you bring up a good point about environment. I lived on an Indian Reservation for a while and dog there ran wild, no owners and were often abused and riddled with disease. They acted different then more domesticated dogs in that if you turned your back they would charge you. Usually turning to them and pretending to bend down would cause them to scatter and regroup at a safe distance. For those dogs it was a harsh upbringing and survival was much more paramount then it would be for another dog.

In reply to this comment by dgandhi:
In reply to this comment by gorgonheap:
Just wanted to clarify some things you seem to be ignorant about. If a cow had horns it would not "happily impale" anyone. Cows are herbivores and have a lot of natural predators. It's in their nature not to seek confrontation with other animals. Most cows need to be dehorned anyway because the horns grow into the skull and eventually kill the animal prematurely.

Chances are that your friend who was once charged was doing something to the calf that seemed threating to the mother. After calves are weened mothers become significantly less protective. In fact unless a cow has a young calf I've never seen one become aggressive or defend itself from an attack. I say this because I've worked on a dairy farm since I was 5 and been a ranch hand for close to 5 years.

The cow in question was grazing with her calf in the jungle in Mexico. Folks let the cows forage in the jungle, they leave the horns on them, and according to the locals, the cows do kill things that mess with them. I was walking down a trail, saw the cows, didn't think much of it, until I heard this snorting/stomping, turned around, charging cow, horns pointed at me. I half hid behind a small tree on the path edge, stuck out my hand, made some WHOA! type sounds, and the cow stopped. She would scrape and snort in an obviously threatening manner when I tried to keep walking down the path where I realized her calf was. I ended up turning around and going the other way.

I submit to you that cows raised in a more hostile environment may be more prone to aggression then you are likely to see on a farm. I'm not saying she was a genius, I'm just saying she was not to be trifled with. This event is on the short version of my "If I hadn't noticed I'd be dead" list.

dystopianfuturetoday says...

In reply to this comment by dgandhi:
On your list of "racisms" I only come anywhere near the calling Christians Morons one, but I assure you that I reserve that for morons who happen to be Christians. While I do agree that we all have racism "issues" I find that they are more often systemic, rather then interpersonal.

Since I will be assumed to be more competent then somebody else because I am white, or male, or from an upper middle-class family I find the unaknowledged affirmative action of racism a much more prevalent form of racism then crass bigotry, which you seem to think everyone is prone to.

GH: I don't know if I'm the token vegan who needs to respond to your jab, but allow me to assure you that a cow who has not had her horns snipped would happily impale you, or a wolf any day of the week. I say this as somebody who was once charged by a horned overprotective momma cow, I would not mess with her.

P.S. since GH wants to eat others on the basis of intelligence how about everybody post your IQ/SAT scores so we know who to roast over the spit next

IQ: 135.

I have no research to back this up, but I do believe that living in a racist culture rubs off on EVERYONE, even smart, compassionate people like you, dgandhi (and Smibbo). I'm talking about subtle, internalized, culturally acceptable racism that you might not even recognize as racism if it were pointed out to you.

Take the NAACP for instance. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an organization dedicated to fighting racism, uses the racist term 'colored' in its name. The word was culturally acceptable at the time, but that doesn't make the implication that black people are 'colored' people any less offensive.

This is internalized racism, and I'd wager that even an intelligent, forward thinking person like you has internalized racism/sexism/classism locked away somewhere in your brain.

It doesn't make us bad people, we are a product of our time.

Remain vigilant.

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