It comes back to the question of who gets to choose? In your opinion Falun Gong is harmless but that is clearly not the opinion of the Chinese Government. So should it be you who chooses whether an organisation should be outlawed? How about me?

As a thought experiment, suppose we say that the U.S. government should request their diplomats to tell China to lay off the Falun Gong dudes because they're OK really... what do you think they will be told when they say this?

I completely agree that comparing Falun Gong to rape or theft is ridiculous, but comparing it to, say, running an on-line poker operation, some drug offenses, public nudity, or similar activities is a fair comparison. In each case the activity has no violence, no victim, and is against the law... but who chose which activities were legislated against and which were permitted?

People in U.S. prisons aren't always there for violent crimes, that is correct. However, they are in there for other crimes like theft, burglary, rape, molestation, etc. Comparing those crimes to the practice of Falun Gong is ridiculous and it's even more ridiculous to compare China's treatment of Falun Gong practitioners to the U.S. imprisonment of thieves and rapists.

If the U.S. suddenly decided to ban Islam and put all Muslims in prison camps, your comparisons would be justified. As it stands, they are just silly because they completely ignore what Falun Gong actually is and why it's being banned by the Chinese government.

Except the reasons behind the bans are completely significant. Hamas wasn't banned because of ideological differences. It was banned because the organization has a history of violence against both military and civilian targets. Conversely, Falun Gong was banned because it went against the status quo and China was threatened by its growing popularity. There has never been a case of someone committing violence in the name of Falun Gong.

There's no reason to put quotes around "security" or "public order" when referring to the reasoning behind the Hamas ban because those reasons are historically justified.

Wait, wait, wait, did you just compare Falun Gong to Hamas? Hamas, a violent resistance movement with a history of deadly attacks against both military and civilian targets? Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline about bettering oneself and attaining spiritual enlightenment. Being a member of Hamas is in no way similar to practicing Falun Gong.

I would argue that even one is too many.

There are currently 166 remaining detainees at Guantanamo, although 6 of those do face charges you could count it as 160 detained without pending charges.

Membership of Falun Gong is illegal in China, just like being a member of Hamas is illegal in the U.S., and as far as I know it is membership of the organisation (or, more specifically, activism) that is likely to get you sent to a re-education through labour camp.

Both China and the U.S. have lists of prohibited organisations, and in both cases cite public order as the rationale.

In any case, is it really worse to discriminate on the basis of beliefs than to discriminate on the basis of skin colour, bank balance, proficiency in English, intelligence, or any of the other things typically discriminated against?

p.s. Just to make clear, I'm not endorsing either type of discrimination.

Wow, what a complete and utter gong show. It's actually painful to watch, so embarrassing...

rock on, @lurgee>> ^lurgee:

\m/ \m/

I turned up my volume in time to hear GONG haha

"Bang a Gong" for Education!

This is Gong Show material, and I happily ran up and hit the gong repeatedly.

>> ^deathcow:

>> ^HugeJerk:
Nope, it's a sphere.>> ^MrFisk:
So the Earth is round?


gong!
it's an oblate spheroid, a rotationally symmetrical ellipsoid

The deviation in Earth's curvature is tiny - just 1 part in 300, according to Wikipedia, so it's functionally indistinguishable from a sphere. And if you were to inflate a billiard ball to the size of the Earth, the billiard ball would be less spherical than the planet.

oh, nice
>> ^Trancecoach:

They're singing bowls and the concept has been in use for millenia.

You picked a good vid for your first time! And, yes, it is FUN!
In reply to this comment by dzonny:
Thanks! My first sift -- this is FUN!
In reply to this comment by Boise_Lib:
*quality

>> ^Jinx:

>> ^probie:
As much as I like the idea behind this, there's something very discordant about the sound they produce. Like its out of tune or something. Wind chimes sound much better to me than this.

I imagine that if you made the bowls the right size you could get them to resonate at the right notes in a scale.


Exactly my thought.
Maybe use different material for the bowls--some glass, some metal.

Yeah,.. some tuned metal bowls might be cool..
>> ^Jinx:

>> ^probie:
As much as I like the idea behind this, there's something very discordant about the sound they produce. Like its out of tune or something. Wind chimes sound much better to me than this.

I imagine that if you made the bowls the right size you could get them to resonate at the right notes in a scale.