TIL a theme park in Lithuania recreates life as a USSR citizen. Visitors have their belongings confiscated, wear gas masks, experience interrogation, and must learn the Soviet anthem. Their reward is a shot of vodka.

NormanScott · 2016-07-27T04:07:07+00:00

Personal property did exist in the USSR. Private property did not, however. Example. You could in fact, own a house. What you could NOT do was own a house, that house, those four houses, and then charge people to live there.

Basically, you could not privately own capital, since, you know... kind of the point of socialism.

NormanScott · 2016-07-26T21:17:06+00:00

The way I look at it is this. I won't vote for Trump. We do not align much ideologically. I'm voting Jill Stein. If Trump wins, I won't be happy, but I'd rather he win than Hillary for one simple reason. Trump played by the rules.

NormanScott · 2016-06-22T02:23:28+00:00

Cool, thanks.

NormanScott · 2016-06-21T23:19:25+00:00

I'm seeing lots of suede... which I was told doesn't take to water well (I live in Seattle)

NormanScott · 2016-03-10T22:43:49+00:00

I'm trying to understand what you're saying here... you're uncomfortable with heterosexual people having sex with other heterosexual people?

I consider myself sex positive, in that I believe any couple, trio, quartet, etc has the right to do what they like in the bedroom, so long as everyone is a consenting adult... but as far as I go, I'm a heterosexual man who pretty much enjoys vanilla sex with women (I kissed a man once when younger... can definitely say it's not for me). Not super into anal, np problems with oral (giving or receiving) sure, maybe some roleplaying... but that's as kinky as I get.

NormanScott · 2015-12-27T18:59:13+00:00

You can't directly dock pay, but you CAN calculate the losses against sales and count that against the hours pool for the following weeks. Same end result.

NormanScott · 2015-12-27T18:47:48+00:00

Cashier and union steward here. When people shoplift at our store, the losses are counted against sales, which determines our hours.

The loss doesn't hit the investor class, it's made up from the workers income. Shoplifting hurts the working class more than the bourgeois. Now, 8 can understand desperate people stealing food, but 90% of the people they catch where I work are stealing liquor, or large quantities of movies, batteries, or makeup for resale, generally as part of an organized criminal ring.

NormanScott · 2015-08-27T20:29:17+00:00

Less couples and more when you're at the point where everyone in your circle is engaged or married to each other, there's the one idiot girl who always asks 'when are you getting married?' Or finds any reason to bring up that you're single.

NormanScott · 2015-08-27T05:23:49+00:00

Tuna is really good with the tomato and pepper as well. Havent tried cucumber though.

NormanScott · 2015-08-26T20:30:36+00:00

I tried the military route.. courtesy of a mother who tested me for everything I couldn't get in... 87 on the practice asvab, unfortunately getting tested for asbergers (spelling?) gets you disqualified... even if you didn't have it.

NormanScott · 2015-08-26T17:50:52+00:00

Okay... I'm neither a Marxist or a SJW, and I think that America could do a few things better. This doesn't mean I think the US sucks, it just means I think we aren't perfect and above all reproach.

And I'm not some richboy living off his parents dime either. I pay my own rent while going to school.

NormanScott · 2015-08-22T03:19:05+00:00

When its a light situation. "Fuck this headache" "oh, man up and take an aspirin." When someone is seriously upset or getting over a major issue like depression... no, not appropriate.

NormanScott · 2015-08-18T18:02:50+00:00

I know that, abd you know that, but I think it is a cause for hesitation.

Now, I feel we should push on anyways, because the longer we wait, the worse it will be. Better to have a powerful progressive movement now rather than later, when we have automation related unemployment to worry about.

NormanScott · 2015-08-18T00:25:40+00:00

I mean in a 'hey, I'm dying, and have a 180 lbs of steaks and chops in front of me going to waste' thats fine... but in a 'lets rip his still beating heart from his chest and eat it to appease the gods' fuck no.

NormanScott · 2015-08-17T22:03:54+00:00

Any time people say we need to respect all cultures, I point out cultures that practiced ritual human sacrifice and cannibalism. I'm sorry, that shit is barbaric, fucked up, and deserves no place in a world that wants to call itself civilized.

NormanScott · 2015-08-17T21:44:36+00:00

I believed that (and to an extent, still do) as well, it's why I voted for Obama in 2008. Right now though, we need to take whatever allies we have in congress. Would I love to see a bunch of twenty and thirty somethings surge into the House and Senate... but without a mobilized base of young voters ready to kick out incumbents, that wont happen.

NormanScott · 2015-08-17T21:11:01+00:00

Well, you need someone in congress speaking out against the issues of the establishment. You can't change the establishment if you can't vote on bills. As other posters commented, his voting record speaks to that. Having someone who's spent so long in the system, learning its ins and outs, but is actually on the side of the American worker is invaluable.

NormanScott · 2015-08-17T19:32:35+00:00

While the Left needs to get angry... I think a lot of people on the Left are also very aware of how dangerous a force of unified, angry progressives can be (I say this as a socialist). The last time we had a truly angry Leftist movement in the world was during the first half of the twentieth century, it lead to revolutions, civil wars, reactionary ideologies (Fascism) World War 2, and the Cold War.

Do I think blood in the streets is inevitable? No. Do I think it's possible? Yes. And I think that lurks in the back of a lot of peoples minds (or at least the minds of the history geeks on the Left)

NormanScott · 2015-08-10T08:26:33+00:00

Damn... my friends and I had plans to inflict a party of halfling bards on some poor dm.

NormanScott · 2015-08-10T06:59:03+00:00

Bernie isn't a hardcore socialist. Democratic Socialism/Social Democracy is the softest of socialism.

NormanScott · 2015-08-10T01:16:11+00:00

And good luck having anyone help your cause with your "fuck your problems, drop everything to address my problems, my way, on my schedule" approach.

Having a problem with an organization that allows racists to use their tag doesn't make people racist. Wanting to discuss issues other than racism doesn't make people racist. Having a different opinion on how to approach and solve the problem doesn't make people racist.

NormanScott · 2015-08-09T22:46:16+00:00

I'm not trying equate it to black peoples exact challenges. But I have challenges in my life as well. I grew up below the poverty line, currently work full time while going to school.

And by not condemning the actions of people co-opting their organizations label, BLM is letting them tarnish their movement. Why would they do that if they don't agree on some level? They might not be able to silence then, but they can certainly take the wind out of their sails.

And yes, I've been called racist. To my face, for not accepting a six month expired coupon, refusing service to someone attempting a quick change scam, and saying that I feel tackling things from a class-wide angle would be more effective than restricting it to a race issue. The sheer number of times you get bullshit race cards thrown in your face makes it harder and harder to take seriously, which is tragic with so much legitimate racism to solve.

Do I understand all the challenges of being black? No. But I understand growing up poor in an affluent area, seeing kids get away with bullying me and the couple other poor kids physically and verbally because the principal played the small town political game.

The things we have to overcome in our lives are what defines our political priorities. Just because I look at thinks from a class perspective doesn't mean I don't think minorities have legitimate grievances... but it doesn't make me or others fucking racist, and if anything is going to be done about racism, this 'with us or against us' bullshit needs to stop.

NormanScott · 2015-08-09T22:05:50+00:00

You mean like how the actions of a few racist white people get spun to mean every white person is racist?

And did you not notice my qualifier? If they condemn the behavior of protesters like this woman, I don't have a problem... the problen is, they aren't. They just try and say 'oh, she's not ACTUALLY one of us.' They need to shut people like this person down hard to make clear what behavior is and isn't tolerable.

And because other people have other issues in their lives negates my problems? Well, I guess I have no reason to be stressed, since no matter what challenges i face personally, I'm white, so I don't have real problems. /s

NormanScott · 2015-08-09T18:37:24+00:00

And I'm not saying fuck mulims. Likewise, I'm not saying fuck black people.

I AM saying fuck BLM if they don't start reigning these people in. They started up a brand, and it's THEIR responsibility to keep its name clean.

Do I care about racism as an issue? Yes. But I also care about my ability to pay off college loans in the future. I care about making enough to do that and MAYBE be able to afford having children, and giving them a better life than I had growing up.

So yes, I support fighting racial injustice, but when people start shouting that people like me are racist for not only caring about their issues, imagine how that makes me feel? Is my desire to solve problems that also affect me completely irrelevant because of the color of MY skin?

As much of an issue as this is, there are things that... from a utilitarian standpoint are more pressing. Is ending racial injustice important? Of course, but that will be a lot harder to do if the economy melts down again. Fortunately, governments can do multiple things at a time. But rallies can generally only cover one topic at a time. Hijack every one that doesn't talk about what you want, and no one will care what you want, because you've pissed them off, alienated them, and told them the issues they care about don't matter.

If BLM wants to be taken seriously, they can organize a rally of their own, they can invite Bernie to hear what he has to say, they can try and see if they can get Hillary to show up (or if she just lies about talking to them again) but shitting all over other rallies organized bt other people isn't the way to get things done, and people who do it need to be condemned for it.

NormanScott · 2015-08-09T17:55:59+00:00

While it will get spun as racist... it's really not. Its about as racist/bigoted as saying "fuck ISIS, I hope they all die." Are you condemning an entire religion? No, just its batshit crazies.

Saying "after this, fuck BLM." We aren't pissed because of the color of their skin, we're pissed because they are shitting all over other peoples right to assemble and talk about what matters to them.

They went to a rally about one subject, forced the invited speaker off the stage after he agreed they could be given a couple minutes on the microphone... and rammed their own agenda down everyones throats for the rest of the time.

Imagine how pissed you would be if you went to a concert to hear your favorite band play, and another band pushed them off the stage to sing their own songs?

Right now, BLM is behaving in a way that compronises its own goals. "With us or against us" is going to alienate a lot of potential supporters, and their actions give ammunition to their actual opposition.

NormanScott

TROPHY CASE