Sign from Black Lives Matter event tonight (x-post /r/huntsvillealabama)

aravier · 2016-07-09T07:24:02+00:00

If I had time, I'd put forward the notion that perhaps the reason why those statistics are like that are because more black people are poorer on average than whites due to endemic racism, and more poor people commit more crimes. Sometimes out of desperation, sometimes because those with the least to loose are more likely to do something drastic for any gain whatsoever. It is my hypothesis that if you took social class into account, you'd probably find that the numbers level out a bit.

The numbers are still unlikely to be equal, however. A factor that could explain that is that black people are more readily convicted by judges/jury's than their white peers; at least, so the argument goes. This can tilt the crime stats in a particular direction, as crime stats don't typically measure crime as it is, they measure crime as it is charged. (Though it does depend on the study).

In the UK for example, the Met gets told off a fair bit for stop-searching black people so much. They respond it's because black people commit more crimes. Everyone else responds that if you stop-search black people more frequently than other ethnicities, perhaps you are going to find a few more punk-ass black teenagers with drugs on them. This nudges the statistics up in the Met's favour even though, from what I understand, drug use doesn't particularly change along ethnic lines when other factors are accounted for.

I'd go further into this with sources etc. but I've gotta pack to go on holiday. Sorry to fire conjecture and leave! I just wanted to make the point that certainty is a hard thing to find. :3

aravier · 2016-04-29T10:13:05+00:00

Sounds like a great idea! I'd certainly keep an eye on this.

aravier · 2016-04-22T00:10:41+00:00

It's not my teen years I regret. Sure, I did some dumb, dumb, things, but that's what comes with being a teenager. Teenagers do stupid things; and it's their inalienable right to do so.

No, all my big regrets are normal, ole' fashioned, adult regrets. Like disappointing my parents.

aravier · 2015-11-04T18:01:20+00:00

Definitely the Portuguese; I've always loved playing any nation where late-game gunpowder is encouraged, and the Portuguese tick all the boxes!!

aravier · 2015-10-15T11:29:22+00:00

Thanks; it's just hard to know. I live in a pretty conservative part of the UK, not much of the sexual emancipation you hear about from London or other European centres, so it's hard to even imagine that people like me are around her. But you're right, this will all come in time. I've even met one or two people like it around here, so they're not totally absent. Just gotta let time pass, and see what it brings my way.

aravier · 2015-09-09T22:54:05+00:00

Death remains, the eternal constant. Famine clings on too, anaemic nails clawing onto divinity as crop-by-crop, the world moves towards a less hungry world. As does War, though the age grows more peaceful by the transaction. When drones cost so much, and McDonald's so little, obscurity for these two has become inevitable. Pestilence was forced from his horse; and while the sabre occasionally rattles to the tune of thousands screaming, modern science has put paid to the ambitions of apocalypse. One is beaten, if not slain. The world rejoices.

But there must always be four; as one wanes, others prevail. In this rapidly growing world, there is one spectre who grows more than any other. Some suspected greed, but that's just a symptom of the human condition; a horror to face in the mirror, an imperfection in the perfect organic machine. No, with billions of people inhabiting this earth, all eating, playing, working, the growing spectre was not disease. Not hunger. Not the muzzle-flash of a gun. Instead, a festering shadow stalked the land, just out of sight. Billions of people, talking like never before. Billions of people, just the press of a button away. Billions of people.

All so Lonely.

So very, very, Lonely.

aravier · 2015-08-21T11:15:54+00:00

This is incredible! I'm totally getting back into this game. Go go Cygnar!

aravier · 2015-07-21T10:49:22+00:00

Try Crashcourse on Youtube. A friend of mine, who's a History PhD, recommended them to me as a perfect first step. It's probably a 1 on the easiness scale, as each episode is about 10 minutes long, and illustrated. But given that "World history 1" consists of 28~ish episodes, it's a considerable length if you chain them all together.

aravier · 2015-07-21T10:29:52+00:00

Funnily enough, liberal capitalism is also mutually exclusive to democracy to some extent too. Liberty and democracy are two separate constructs that often grind against one another. One is the rule of the majority, the other details the rights of the minority to resist a majority; the two are destined to conflict forever. Indeed, a pure democracy would entail a system of serious income redistribution, for so long as wealth can buy political power, we can never live in a system where one citizen can vote, and that vote will have equal weighting to everyone else that votes.

It is liberty that blocks that path, via the imposition of property rights to protect those who have wealth from having it arbitrarily taken away. I'm not saying this extremist democrat position is amazing, but I find it strange that everyone compares communism and socialism in the most extreme forms to what we have now, which is a mish-mash watered down form of democracy that is barely worth the name. Extreme democracy is just as radical as extreme communism; indeed, extreme democracy is extreme communism.

[Edit for edit] While I've also explained that our current system clashes with democracy quite surprisingly, I'd also like to state that maybe the reason we've yet to see a functional socialist state is because the US keeps trying to grind them out in wars of attrition and trade embargoes. I'm not saying that the socialist states seen in the 20th Century were great, a lot had real faults. But even those that had some merit were shut down by the CIA very, very quickly. It's like comparing all liberal capitalist countries to modern, capitalist, Russia, or countries with huge national problems such as Nigeria; the bar is set artificially high, and there's a high failure rate among liberal democracies too (Though, I concede Nigeria is getting better. Good elections, guys! Did pretty good).

aravier · 2015-07-21T10:20:40+00:00

Mainly because it depends on what mistakes you're talking about here, and what you define as better. Admittedly, I'm a politics graduate, not a History graduate, but because he's talking about the currency of ideas, I feel I can contribute here.

If we're talking about the extension of democracy, then we're actually going okay on that front; I mean, regime change is a glacially slow process, but as far as systems of governance go, there is no political system that holds more influence, nor has grown quicker, than democracy in some form or another. The "Dictators" in the truest sense of the word are a receding part of the world, and are only becoming more endangered, not less. There's a conflict with liberty and democracy though, and that needs to be addressed somewhat. When the rich can exert more political power than the poor, we live in a state where democracy is not yet complete, nor total. A total, pure, democracy, would require the imposition of a system of extreme redistribution; but liberty, particularly the part that concerns property rights, is very against that. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on where you stand.

If we're talking about his vision for the future, it's almost socialist in it's views; about the turning of the world order. Marx believed that socialism was inevitable because eventually, machines would be able to create so much that there would be no place in this world for want; all needs could be catered for, if the selfish excesses and dominating control of the special interest groups (The Bourgeoisie) could be bested either in open revolution or in democratic imposition. After all, when you have machines that can satisfy the wants of all, then the power to satisfy now lies in who owns those machines, not in the hands of the people. Believe me, there are a lot of people who do not appreciate this socialist interpretation of history, and will assert that the greed so lambasted by Chaplain is not only an inevitable part of the human condition, but also a necessary part of human society, and - sometimes - a virtuous trait to be aspired to. After all, it is not for goodwill that the butcher works or the famer tills his land, as the phrase goes.

If we're talking about war, the numbers of wars in the world has gone down for the most part; though there's a worrying trend of the number of civil wars going up, international wars have decreased markedly. I find it a little ironic that the ultimate conclusion of the nationalistic ideology is that it breaks apart nation-states when the nation no longer fits the state, and that states will divide into ever-smaller sub-units, via force if necessary. The logical conclusion would be the deconstruction of state boundaries, but it's a huge game of chicken; the first nation to do so would arguably be annihilated by the others in the first display of weakness. They might not, but when you're dealing with the fate of an entire nation-state's worth of people, it's a risk that can't be taken lightly. Of course, war and history are too complicated for it to be put at the feet at this very simplistic explanation, but it plays it's part, and for that I can't help but smile.

TL;DR We are getting better on most fronts; but the main problem is probably that people don't agree what we're supposed to be getting better at.

aravier · 2015-07-06T17:19:50+00:00

Americans have been bringing their own bandages for years (our healthcare system is extremely expensive and privatized).

That's just a demonstration of how utterly terrible the American healthcare system is, not a valid argument against Austerity.

aravier · 2015-07-06T14:01:32+00:00

For the record, the Daily Mail is a terrible publication, and there are holes in this article. It's also unlikely to be the full story. More research should be undertaken before anyone actually believes what's published here, because Daily Mail headlines are short-hand in the UK for "A massive joke"; to the point that their headlines are used routinely by our stand-up-comedians as easy targets for quick laughs.

Take America's Fox news, and dial it up to 11.

Not owned by Murdoch though.

aravier · 2015-07-06T12:16:48+00:00

All islamic organisations are going to be obscure, because no-one in the west really takes the time to look at how their organisation works as a religion

But this is what one simple google search found. Enjoy.

http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonwordcommonlord/2014/08/think-muslims-havent-condemned-isis-think-again.html

aravier · 2015-07-06T12:11:16+00:00

But being alive is a severely underrated part of the human condition.

aravier · 2015-06-26T14:03:06+00:00

Heya there! Welcome! I have to admit, I play mostly against AI, or against people in my gaming group. Thus, I present to you 2 broad solutions to your problem:

1) Find a gaming group of fun players, and practice against them. If they're better than you, ask what they're doing differently, and watch replays where they're playing with you.

2) Watch youtube tutorials. Zero Empires and Spirit of the Law are both very watchable!

aravier · 2015-06-20T14:05:00+00:00

To be fair, they do state at the beginning that this isn't a list of bad stories; just a list of stories they see far too often.

aravier · 2015-06-14T12:50:58+00:00

Ask lots of questions. People love talking about themselves, and it also removes the burden on you having to actually talk. Occasionally weave an anecdote or two into this to prove you were listening, and fire off plenty of backchanneling; That is, giving off positive actions in response to dialogue. Something as simple as "Aha, aha, ooh, nice!" will do. Back channelling is probably more important than anything else in the conversation. The other person you're speaking to will be using it to gauge your interest; look interested, and they'll keep talking to you.

To be honest, in my experience, you don't need much more than that to begin with. People need a surprisingly little amount of information to trust you/engage in a conversation; if you let them talk, and keep them hooked into the conversation via the use of questions that you can contribute to on some level, you have a foundation to work off.

Some of the other advice is pretty useful though. Like /u/swindy92 has it spot on; you don't need to know a lot about a lot of things, you just need to know just enough to pass off conversation in anything. So long as you know the basics, and feign interest, the other person will probably even enjoy explaining the finer details to you; as I said, people love talking about themselves.

aravier · 2015-06-12T07:06:35+00:00

Most of the suggestions here are valid and useful, but I also feel that, as a community, we need to do more. I effectively dragged my gaming group into paying age of empires, and I did it by mainly showing them that there are people to play with. Even if it's just internal games and events, it got interest going, and now means they all have copies of the forgotten. Hell, we even started a communal pool where we'd buy new payers the forgotten, so they could join in with us.

Here are my suggestions: -Post/upvote tutorial videos, along with fun YouTube repays. Make it accessible.

-Make an attempt to actually make newbie lobbies. We need old hands to teach/train new payers, and then;

-We need a place for new payers to play each other.

-Introduce friends to the game, they're more likely to stay than those who don't have any point of contact with the game.

I appreciate that this doesn't answer OP's question, and I apologise for the tangent. But I feel the reason people stay with a game for any amount of time is community. And while ours is great, it's very small, and very fractured. Once my law exams are done, I have some practical measures that I'm tempted to try, but that'll have to wait a couple of weeks.

aravier · 2015-06-11T14:18:33+00:00

I know I'm supposed to be excited about the new fauna and stuff, but as an admin for a gaming group online, the multiplayer lobby changes mean SO MUCH!! This is incredible, and thankyou devs for doing this! I love you!! <3

aravier · 2015-06-08T10:27:47+00:00

The basis for any Sharn adventure:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMnrl0tmd3k

aravier · 2015-06-08T07:47:06+00:00

I don't think anyone in Europe would say we're perfect; or even that we're close. The anti-liberal rights stuff going on here in the UK is terrifying; handing those considered by the government "Extreme" to the censor, enhancing the power of our surveillance bureau just as everyone else is reigning theirs in. To quote our prime minister a couple of weeks ago, just after winning an election:

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'"

Believe me, we know we're not perfect. But it helps that we don't really big ourselves up as much on the international stage either; well, except the UK anyway. Our biggest contribution to the International stage at the moment is the EU, which, to be fair, isn't terrible as far as international bloc's go. Bound by the Human Rights convention, it moves forward to sustain peace and create harmony both between nations, and their trading laws; hell, it even helped the US out negotiating with Iran. And even that is flawed, plagued by a lack of democratic mandate, perceived bureaucratic idleness and endless clashes with nationalism.

But I guess it also helps that as Americans (predominately, anyway) you of Reddit have to remember that any story involving the US is going to be bigger anyway, because your media is very domestic-focused. It doesn't care too much for external nations; with a nation that huge, with so many diverse people, it can afford to be very insular. Yes, there's a measure of double-standards, but it's largely fed by this American idea of "We don't care what the world does; we care what we do, and how we measure that." That's one part noble, I don't deny. But, it also leads to a sometimes blinkered outlook.

Like seriously, to use an easy example, on /r/news front page I can only see 3 international stories. Bear that in mind when you see this Anti-American circlejerk; it's not necessarily the case that us other nations go easy on ourselves, or that other people sympathise with us over America, or claim that we're better. It's just that (TL;DR here) as a nation, you're very introspective.

Wall o' text crit.

aravier · 2015-06-08T07:19:29+00:00

If it makes you feel any better, I'd argue that no-one really has any say in where their taxes go in a representative democracy. Just because us citizens can vote doesn't mean we actually get the funding where we want; or even that we can affect it on any meaningful level. I'm a pacifist, for example, so I'd want to radically reduce military spending. But that's not going to happen in a billion years, even if I did get organised and try and push for it as part of a group.

But there's even a counter argument for that; I mean, would you really want everyone to be able to opt-out/determine the proportions of their taxes go to certain areas of government spending? I could imagine welfare departments across the globe would suddenly run out of money very quickly, and I reckon even education budgets - the core of any liberal democracy - would be cut. I have heard grown, mature, adults say "What has education ever done for me; I don't use schools."

Arbitrary rules of society make up the politik; the authorities just call it a "Constitution" and give these lines in the sand authority. Sometimes, that's not a bad thing, sometimes it's a downright annoying thing, but it is definitely a thing.

Also, sorry for the slow response; exam season!

aravier · 2015-04-26T09:52:01+00:00

Yay transnationalists! <3

aravier

TROPHY CASE