'THINK' While It's Still Legal...

Bismillah! German dark beer is the best!

Guinness Stout !

Aye, Guinness is good for you.
Seriously, none of those namby-pamby IPA’s for real men. If it is to be beer, than dark it shall be!

Hey, what's wrong with IPA?! Anyway, apart from that, I totally agree with you lol. None of this fizzy lager nonsense. Although Guinness does tend to bloat you a bit, despite having all those purported vitamins.

It is. German and Belgian.

I always forget that. Yanks don't get the joke unless you announce it with trumpets and fanfare lol.

Hear ye, hear ye! I'm about to make a joke! Listen up! (If you announce the joke, it's not funny ffs. That's the whole point. You're supposed to use your common sense lol.)

They take everything so literally lol. Are they all autistic or sth? They'd get slaughtered in Australia. Don't get sarcasm at all lol.

🤣 That dude needs to lighten up. I hope you got chance to call him a right wanker and gave him a jolly good dressing-down before you got the boot.

The forum declined fairly rapidly after my departure. There was another fella that was pretty big there also in keeping that thing alive, and his ouster two weeks later did the rest.

On the other hand, the owner probably didn't care because he was the only mod, so it just meant less work for him to do.

Are you missing all of the parallels to America? Open borders with criminals on the streets given a slap on the wrists (or less) prior to their return to 'do it again', placing citizens last, and the one I addressed in the meme, freedom of speech.

🤣

Free speech, we can talk about whatever we want. Unlike the UK.

FYI UK ain't in the EU these days, bro.

But yeah, I agree that's super f**ked up.

I bet there are still some things you can't say or do without getting in trouble. Free speech isn't infinite.

Europeans all live in fear these days so don't expect them to ever tell you what they really think. You get sent to the gulag for that shit.

Sure, you can’t incite a riot, you can’t yell fire in a crowded theater. Other than that you can say what you want. There can be other consequences like getting punched or losing your job but not arrest by the gestapo.

I think it's similar in lots of European countries too.

Free speech is never absolute as you've demonstrated. You can't yell "Fire!" in a movie theater. You can't walk around town naked or wear a T-shirt that says sth ridiculous like "G*s the J*ws" or "L*nch the N-word".

So you don't have 100% free speech. You never did, I'm afraid.

There are limits. People forget this way too much. 100% free speech isn't a thing. It never was.

Freedom comes with responsibility.

Society has rules.

Free speech has limits. 100% free speech is only free for who?

Where does my freedom to insult you end and your freedom to be protected from harassment begin?

Big ethical debate.

Anyway the UK is not quite there yet. Some disturbing laws, yes. But ask your British friends It's not Russia or Afghanistan.

I am free to criticize who I like. No laws against it. No limits to my speech to protect others feelings. Europe can’t say that. There is no such thing as hate speech, only speech you hate. Government controlling speech is a slippery slope. It’s sad that these ideals are lost on societies that used to promote and defend free speech.

I am free to criticize who I like. No laws against it. No limits to my speech to protect others feelings. Europe can’t say that. There is no such thing as hate speech, only speech you hate. Government controlling speech is a slippery slope. It’s sad that these ideals are lost on societies that used to promote and defend free speech.

I guess that's handy if you can truly say whatever you want. Although does that really mean *anything*? Can you shout the N-word at someone at the mall and face no consequences? Or call for violence against someone in public? Can you stalk and harass people and threaten to harm them and you're protected by free speech? Actually curious.

I agree it can be a slippery slope. I don't agree with people getting banged up for 2 years for an emotional FB comment. That's too extreme and could arguably backfire.

That's the govt. A lot of people don't agree with that either btw. Myself included. I want protections, but not to go overboard.

I deeply value my freedom to speak my mind too. I don't wanna live in a police state.

You can go to downtown Watts and scream the N-word if you want but the only protection for your actions is from arrest. If you are assaulted those that assault you can be arrested for such. The point is you determine if you want to do that not the government telling you what you are allowed. Primarily freedom of speech is integral to have the freedom to criticize and express dissent. Don’t think the flood of immigration is actually bettering your country. You are free to say so, or to march against it without arrest or penalty. Want to criticize the president or congress, go ahead it’s your right. It’s the most valuable right we have and why it’s the first amendment. The 2nd most valuable is the 2nd amendment. These are not rights granted by government but are inherent rights of all free men.

Brits live in a police state. It's true.

That's why you'll never see a Brit show their face on camera in case they get in trouble with the Stasi.

Anyway, I actually agree the recent govt has got trigger-happy with human rights and that is genuinely worrying.

They also don't have to worry about getting murdered in Walmart by some nutjob with a gun, which happens every week in the US. Freedom lol.

In any case, Brits can still say what they want and Americans won't understand it anyway cuz they don't get the joke.

They can say what they want but might get arrested for it. Killed with a gun or stabbed in London with a knife. Dead is dead.

🤣🥳

Guns are extremely hard to get hold of in the UK unless you're a farmer or join a riifle club or something, unlike the US, so it's much more likely to be a knife.

And it's not the leftie thought police or the govt stabbing you; it's some gang member. Capital punishment hasn't been a thing for decades.

And London may have a big chunk of the total population (and GDP) but it's not representative of the whole UK. Completely different culture and circumstances to a lot of the rest of the country.

Right because traitors in the UK have allowed their capital to be colonized. Point is danger is danger and perpetrators will commit crime with whatever tool they have without regard to laws for law abiding citizens.

Please define "traitors" and "colonized". London is a very multicultural and cosmopolitan city. 40% of Londoners were born outside the UK.

It's still very much British though. English is the language of daily life everywhere. British law still applies everywhere and English is the de facto language everywhere even though 300 languages are spoken in London (800 in New York, apparently – one of the most linguistically diverse places on earth, along with Papua New Guinea). The UK government is still in charge. In actual colonies, it's different. London hasn't been annexed by China or Russia quite yet. Although their billionaires have bought up a ton of property.

Also, London is not the whole UK. Might as well be its own microstate (some of them actually wanted that lol, and with 9 million people and a huge economy it could be quite a successful country). Go even 1 hour away and it's a different planet (by car, that is – might take a bit longer on public transport lol). The difference is striking.

Criminals will often use whatever they have at their disposal, yes. But the fact guns are so hard to get hold of makes a big difference. Unless you're the Hulk with Matrix reflexes, there's only so many people you can physically kill with a knife or machete before you get taken down.

But give a skinny weed with a vendetta an automatic weapon and see the difference. Mass shootings are common in the US. They're almost unheard of in Europe and I don't think most people worry about being killed in a shooting. It's just not a thing. And when it is, it's huge news and remembered for years.

And yet you cling to the Second Amendment like it's Gospel, because you believe it keeps you safe and free.

This is a huge cultural difference between Europe and the US.

In the US, everyone having access to guns = freedom from tyranny and it's baked into your cultural mentality and Constitution. In Europe and other countries, *not* allowing everyone to have access to guns = freedom. Europeans feel safer precisely because they know most people *don't* have access to extremely lethal weapons and only specially trained police officers, soldiers and members of gun clubs and so on are able to own a gun (after careful vetting). I think this is a cultural difference that both sides may never agree on. But I know which one I prefer.

Ya sure, London is fine and so is Paris. I wouldn’t expect a kings subject to support the 2nd amendment or individual rights or freedom of speech. I’m sure those ideas are very foreign to you.

Allow or ban? No ban on thought in the US should be allowed.

Should we allow holocaust denial?

Of course, that’s free speech always has been.

Should we allow our leaders to deny the holocaust?

If they want to, may not play well or enhance their political Career, but sure why not? Are from the Uk or Europe?

America

So you are aware of our tradition of free speech.

I personally think people should be able to challenge anything without being imprisoned, no matter how potentially offensive, even if it goes against what most science or consensus agrees with. As long as it's limited to questioning something and doesn't stray into actual hateful speech against anyone which could incite violence.

If you want to believe the world is flat, or the moon is made of green cheese, or Bill Gates is a lizard, or Trump is the Messiah, or Covid is a hoax and vaccines shouldn't ever be taken, then I think you should have the right to that, even though I disagree with you.

Some countries like Germany take a different approach due to their history.

If you want to deny the Holocaust (whether that's deny it even happened, or that it just didn't kill as many people), I personally think you shouldn't be arrested for that. But you should also be free to be criticized, debunked, and ridiculed to high heaven if you got it wrong. And you shouldn't be able to complain too much if people debunk your claims. Although equally they shouldn't be allowed to harass you or incite violence against you for your views.

I'm not aware the UK has a ban against Holocaust denial. You may be thinking of Germany.

🤣 TIL the internet = America.