US Election & Presidency

(21-02-2018 19:47 )The Silent Majority Wrote:  Or somebody panics and shoots some poor kid carrying a pool cue.

I think American society is actually regressing under Trump.

Why don't they just go the whole hog and replace the courts with Thunderdomes...

Considering that American cops (who are supposedly well trained) kill quite a lot of unarmed individuals, a teacher with a Rambo complex is a bad idea. I hate to think that we would see a stressed teacher losing their shit and killing their pupils/workmates.

I would say things are going both ways, those who are ignorant are getting more so, but lots of women and sensible sorts are voting and running in those special elections, with a few taking areas where Trump did well. Hopefully female voters will lead to Trump's downfall.

Is it wrong that I'd watch that, it would be a horror show, but still...two men enter, one man leaves...

(21-02-2018 09:31 )Charlemagne Wrote:  Donald Trump recommends a ban on bump stock gun modifications Which turns semi automatic rifles into sub machineguns.

Is he reacting to the protests from the youth of America or is he just fobbing them off

Also the White House has announced age restrictions for buying AR-15 rifles are being looked at.The current age limit for buying an AR-15 is 18, but it is 21 to buy a handgun.

Only reason why its happening is because cunt jnr is in India Daddy gone rogue and Ivanka prob got to him

(21-02-2018 20:10 )HannahsPet Wrote:  Ivanka prob got to him

I think Melania will have a hell of a lot of leverage at the moment too...

If anyone has Netlfix Bowling for Colombine is Michael Moore's documentary on guns, if you haven't seen it give it a watch and if you have but its been awhile give it a watcha again. The opening scene has him going into a bank and asking to open the account that you get a gun with, he then literally fills out a form and gets is handed a gun.

In it though he explores many different avenues of what might lead to The US's gun violence epidemic. What is interesting though is that it does not pin everything on gun control, he visits Canada who whilst they have stricter gun laws than the US many Canadians carry weapons and the rate of gun ownership is certainly a lot higher than that of Australia and The UK. What he does examine whilst in Canada is how people in that country are less fearful, he visits the suburbs of a busy city to find that many of the residents have their front doors unlocked, something you would not see in The States (in fact how many movies and TV shows have you seen where they either keep the chain on or stay behind the storm shutter when answering the door). He then looks at how the news media operates in The US, how it perpetuates a narrative of fear and how this leads to the stockpiling of weapons and that they are more likely to pull the trigger. Makes sense if several countries got together in a quiet room and one of them farted America would have jumped 10 feet in the air and emptied a magazine before the smell hit your nostrils

Seriously WTF apparently you can shoot chicken but you cant choke it

(21-02-2018 22:07 )southsidestu Wrote:  What he does examine whilst in Canada is how people in that country are less fearful, he visits the suburbs of a busy city to find that many of the residents have their front doors unlocked, something you would not see in The States (in fact how many movies and TV shows have you seen where they either keep the chain on or stay behind the storm shutter when answering the door). He then looks at how the news media operates in The US, how it perpetuates a narrative of fear and how this leads to the stockpiling of weapons and that they are more likely to pull the trigger.

Interesting. I remember reading a long article about this a few years ago in the New Yorker. Fascinating to see how deeply engrained some of these foibles are in the political culture. It goes right back to the origin stories of the two countries.

The USA fought a revolutionary war for its independence; Canada's independence came through an act of British Parliament.

The American Constitution idealises the individual's "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"; Canada's talks about collective "Peace, Order and Good Government".

The mythical American hero is the rugged, lawless cowboy; Canada's in the crisply uniformed Mounted policeman.

Americans want a "melting pot" where everyone assimilates and identifies as American; Canadians want a "cultural mosaic" where people stay true to their ethnic or cultural origins.

And these big cultural differences go all the way back to the 18th Century, when Loyalists to the crown -- who were against the American Revolution -- all fled north to Canada. That emptied the United States of (small 'c') conservatives, making the US a monolithically ultra-liberal country, while Canada ended up with a much wider political spectrum.

250 years later, the consequences are still being felt in things like health care, gun violence, crime rates, immigration, etc...

(21-02-2018 22:07 )southsidestu Wrote:  If anyone has Netlfix Bowling for Colombine is Michael Moore's documentary on guns, if you haven't seen it give it a watch and if you have but its been awhile give it a watcha again.

I don't doubt the sincerity of a project to show up the USA's hunger for guns, but Michael Moore is just a fat Louis Theroux.

I'd again point out Dunblane (at least) was 3 years before Columbine, and BfC (and Michael Moore's output generally) is as Americo-centric as the groups they tend to kick at, however valid.

ISTR watching Mark Thomas shows in the mid-90s attacking the sale of weapons, which covered wider zones than just the USA.

I don't know what his weight has to do with it but I wouldn't say there is anything wrong with an American documentary film maker doing domestic movies, it is a good angle that the person behind the film would do something that is close to their heart/have a vested interest in, it can give it a sense of authenticity. As someone who sees themselves as a bit of an internationalist it would be good to see Michael Moore do documentaries on issues in other countries as he has a high reputation amongst many Americans and it would be good to see him use that platform to raise international awareness.

However I would not say that his lack of focus on international issues devalues the merit of the films that the has made, Bowling for Colombine is about The US gun problem, it is the only country in the world that has this level of gun violence so whilst there is things to be learned from other countries which he looks at in Canada and Australia the focus needs to be on The US because that is where the issue is. Fahrenheit 9/11 looks at the war on terror which whilst it has had a global response has very much been driven by the Bush Administration and US foreign policy. Capitalism a Love Story looks at the global financial crisis but focuses on The United States because it started with the subprime mortgage crisis which was dominated by the American Companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the international banking crisis was triggered by the collapse of American investment bank Lehman Brothers

So whilst is movies are American Centric and it can be frustrating watching the United States proclaim themselves the centre of the Universe there is valid reason in his movies as to why America is the man focus, it's not necessarily i'm an American so I will make movies about America

Seriously an hour of trump listening to these kids and there parents and the only thing he could come up with is arming teachers