Top LGBT Rights Lawyer Sets Himself on Fire

[Shift-4]

 

[nuckin_futz]

^^^^^^ I bet that's what the bystanders were saying.

 

 

Playlist could use a little Canadian content ..........

 

 

[189lb enforcers?]

[Canuck Surfer]

On ‎4‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 2:56 AM, coastal.view said:

i kinda think this guy was no longer healthy .. sounds somewhat depressed actually

Yes unfortunately. 

 

The weight of the world on his shoulders? The likely result of him, admirably & literally, trying to take on what he felt was wrong in this life. 

 

I guess he no longer felt he could handle it, or make a difference?

 

Hope he has some peace.

[riffraff]

 

[taxi]

23 hours ago, Rob_Zepp said:

I could not disagree with you more.  I see people all at the same table all looking down at their damn devices versus looking into the eyes of their tablemates and having real human interaction.    

 

I think social media is ruining human interaction.  Apparently you think it is great.    

Go for Tinder or whatever all you want.   I will do it the old fashioned way.    

Young people multitask a lot more than previous generations. They can hold a conversation and look down at their phones occasionally. 

[Alflives]

6 minutes ago, taxi said:

Young people multitask a lot more than previous generations. They can hold a conversation and look down at their phones occasionally. 

Why not focus their attention on those they are with in that moment?  

We are a selfish society.  Maybe that's one of the reasons for this man's suicide?  Maybe he saw a society that has no future, because of the selfishness?

[Kragar]

10 minutes ago, taxi said:

Young people multitask a lot more than previous generations. They can hold a conversation and look down at their phones occasionally. 

Occasionally???

 

If Pavlov were alive today, he wouldn't need animals for his research.  The world comes to a brief standstill with a simple ringtone.

[riffraff]

2 hours ago, taxi said:

Young people multitask a lot more than previous generations. They can hold a conversation and look down at their phones occasionally. 

Disrespectful and rude.

 

 

[taxi]

8 minutes ago, riffraff said:

Disrespectful and rude.

 

 

If you guys are seriously making the argument that the internet and technology somehow creates a net decrease in social interactions, you're just flat out wrong. As someone who is young enough to remember the challenges in organizing anything when dependent on landlines and snail mail, I know for a fact that's simply incorrect. Even going to a movie or meeting someone for dinner in the early 1990s was a huge challenge. You had to contact them while they were in their homes. Then set a very specific time and place. Then hope that they showed up. It wasn't possible to explain simple things like a delay in traffic until after the fact. You'd go weeks or months at a time without interacting with people unless you saw them daily at work or school. It was incredibly easy to lose touch with people.

 

But yes, sometimes people look at their phones in public....

 

 

[riffraff]

2 minutes ago, taxi said:

If you guys are seriously making the argument that the internet and technology somehow creates a net decrease in social interactions, you're just flat out wrong. As someone who is young enough to remember the challenges in organizing anything when dependent on landlines and snail mail, I know for a fact that's simply incorrect. Even going to a movie or meeting someone for dinner in the early 1990s was a huge challenge. You had to contact them while they were in their homes. Then set a very specific time and place. Then hope that they showed up. It wasn't possible to explain simple things like a delay in traffic until after the fact. You'd go weeks or months at a time without interacting with people unless you saw them daily at work or school. It was incredibly easy to lose touch with people.

 

But yes, sometimes people look at their phones in public....

 

 

I just totally disagree.

 

People lived less rushed lives.  People actually had an attention span and lived in the moment.

 

watch this years super bowl half time show.  JT is up in the stands, singing and dancing in the aisle right next to a pre-teen/early teenage boy.  Kid is on his phone the whole time trying to get a selfie - barely looking at JT, who is most likely super awesome to this kid.

 

nobody pre smart phone era would have acted like this.  If I was high five distance away from   My teenage rock idol, my jaw would be on the floor and that rock star would have my unwavering attention.

 

if you haven't lived like that you'll never know.

 

now I sit at a poker table twice a

month and 3/10 guys are texting or playing some game on the phone.  It's weak AF.

 

go out on a date.  Leave your phone in the car.  Focus on that person.  Reap the rewards down the rioad.  I challenge anyone.

[taxi]

3 minutes ago, riffraff said:

I just totally disagree.

 

People lived less rushed lives.  People actually had an attention span and lived in the moment.

 

watch this years super bowl half time show.  JT is up in the stands, singing and dancing in the aisle right next to a pre-teen/early teenage boy.  Kid is on his phone the whole time trying to get a selfie - barely looking at JT, who is most likely super awesome to this kid.

 

nobody pre smart phone era would have acted like this.  If I was high five distance away from   My teenage rock idol, my jaw would be on the floor and that rock star would have my unwavering attention.

 

if you haven't lived like that you'll never know.

 

now I sit at a poker table twice a

month and 3/10 guys are texting or playing some game on the phone.  It's weak AF.

 

go out on a date.  Leave your phone in the car.  Focus on that person.  Reap the rewards down the rioad.  I challenge anyone.

It sounds like you're having trouble adapting to technology and what it offers. That's painfully obvious as you picked a notoriously awful example to illustrate your point. That kid probably had no idea who Timberlake was. He couldn't even sing along to one of the choruses of his most popular songs. You're obviously romanticizing the past too. If you're trying to tell me that 12 and 13 year olds all had amazing attention spans 25 years ago, you're lying to yourself. I was a 12 and 13 year old 25 years ago, and I can tell you that's simply not true. 

 

The only thing the Timberlake selfie kid illustrates is how screwed up your generation has left the economy. 30 years ago his ticket would have gone to a true fan. Now the only people who can afford things like that are people with rich parents. Social mobility is gone. You'd better hope you were born into a family with lots of property and wealth or you're going to have a very tough go at things. 

[riffraff]

13 minutes ago, taxi said:

It sounds like you're having trouble adapting to technology and what it offers. That's painfully obvious as you picked a notoriously awful example to illustrate your point. That kid probably had no idea who Timberlake was. He couldn't even sing along to one of the choruses of his most popular songs. You're obviously romanticizing the past too. If you're trying to tell me that 12 and 13 year olds all had amazing attention spans 25 years ago, you're lying to yourself. I was a 12 and 13 year old 25 years ago, and I can tell you that's simply not true. 

 

The only thing the Timberlake selfie kid illustrates is how screwed up your generation has left the economy. 30 years ago his ticket would have gone to a true fan. Now the only people who can afford things like that are people with rich parents. Social mobility is gone. You'd better hope you were born into a family with lots of property and wealth or you're going to have a very tough go at things. 

Agree to disagree.

 

re bolded:  maybe for some or even most but not all.

 

i wasn't born into anywhere near what you describe.  It hasn't been easy but I'm actually doing very well.  I don't have a university education.  And I'm very proud of my accomplishments relative to what I think you're trying to describe.

 

even more enriching was the experiences gained by travelling through 18 different countries over 3+ years with no phone or Internet.  Sure met a lot of people, and lived the hell out of life as it came.

 

Edit

 

proudly not on Facebook and haven't been since 2008

[taxi]

17 minutes ago, riffraff said:

Agree to disagree.

 

re bolded:  maybe for some or even most but not all.

 

i wasn't born into anywhere near what you describe.  It hasn't been easy but I'm actually doing very well.  I don't have a university education.  And I'm very proud of my accomplishments relative to what I think you're trying to describe.

 

even more enriching was the experiences gained by travelling through 18 different countries over 3+ years with no phone or Internet.  Sure met a lot of people, and lived the hell out of life as it came.

 

Edit

 

proudly not on Facebook and haven't been since 2008

You seem to be missing the point.

 

It used to be much easier to do well, regardless of who your parents were. Now it's far more difficult. Try taking whatever you did, and multiplying the cost of living, education, housing, food, etc...and not substantially increasing wages. 

[Tre Mac]

Has 'Trial by fire' been used yet?

 

42 minutes ago, riffraff said:

I just totally disagree.

 

People lived less rushed lives.  People actually had an attention span and lived in the moment.

 

watch this years super bowl half time show.  JT is up in the stands, singing and dancing in the aisle right next to a pre-teen/early teenage boy.  Kid is on his phone the whole time trying to get a selfie - barely looking at JT, who is most likely super awesome to this kid.

 

nobody pre smart phone era would have acted like this.  If I was high five distance away from   My teenage rock idol, my jaw would be on the floor and that rock star would have my unwavering attention.

 

if you haven't lived like that you'll never know.

 

now I sit at a poker table twice a

month and 3/10 guys are texting or playing some game on the phone.  It's weak AF.

 

go out on a date.  Leave your phone in the car.  Focus on that person.  Reap the rewards down the rioad.  I challenge anyone.

I agree.  It's easy for me to leave the phone at home because honestly I get maybe 2 texts a week(yeah it's sad).  But I find it incredibly rude when even my friends are texting mid conversation, and if it's a date well the coitus better be worth it(it usually is.... for them). 

[riffraff]

1 hour ago, taxi said:

You seem to be missing the point.

 

It used to be much easier to do well, regardless of who your parents were. Now it's far more difficult. Try taking whatever you did, and multiplying the cost of living, education, housing, food, etc...and not substantially increasing wages. 

I definitely agree with this 99%...many economic challenges facing the youth of today and our children in the near future.

 

im here to say that "making" it or achieving a reasonable lifestyle is possible.  It takes some honest commitment to some sacrifice at times.  But with a real will there can be success.  

 

Good convo taxi.  I won't get into much more on a forum as far as personal specifics 

 

I think much of our discussion comes down to individual experiences and it appears that our opinions are fairly parallel in some ways.

[Cerridwen]

2 hours ago, taxi said:

If you guys are seriously making the argument that the internet and technology somehow creates a net decrease in social interactions, you're just flat out wrong. As someone who is young enough to remember the challenges in organizing anything when dependent on landlines and snail mail, I know for a fact that's simply incorrect. Even going to a movie or meeting someone for dinner in the early 1990s was a huge challenge. You had to contact them while they were in their homes. Then set a very specific time and place. Then hope that they showed up. It wasn't possible to explain simple things like a delay in traffic until after the fact. You'd go weeks or months at a time without interacting with people unless you saw them daily at work or school. It was incredibly easy to lose touch with people.

 

But yes, sometimes people look at their phones in public....

 

 

Mein Gott!!!!!! How did those of us alive in those times EVER survive???????? Or have a social life????? Or meet for dinner??????

[Kragar]

3 hours ago, taxi said:

If you guys are seriously making the argument that the internet and technology somehow creates a net decrease in social interactions, you're just flat out wrong. As someone who is young enough to remember the challenges in organizing anything when dependent on landlines and snail mail, I know for a fact that's simply incorrect. Even going to a movie or meeting someone for dinner in the early 1990s was a huge challenge. You had to contact them while they were in their homes. Then set a very specific time and place. Then hope that they showed up. It wasn't possible to explain simple things like a delay in traffic until after the fact. You'd go weeks or months at a time without interacting with people unless you saw them daily at work or school. It was incredibly easy to lose touch with people.

 

But yes, sometimes people look at their phones in public....

I wouldn't say there's a net decrease in social interactions.  Much the opposite.  Smart phones make things easier for all those things you list.  It helps a lot to be able to text or call home when one of us is at the store and has a quick question for the other.  I've had some good (and not so good) conversations here on CDC that I likely wouldn't have had with people in person.  My wife and I even met online, and we're close to starting our 3rd decade being together (in person), so that's gone well too.

 

That doesn't change the fact that some people's attempts at multitasking are rude.  I would further argue that there is a huge decrease in the quality of social interactions due to the overuse/dependency of technology. 

 

Too many people are addicted to their smartphones, to the point where they would rather lose sleep and read a text now rather than wait until morning.  They ignore live people and incoming calls in favor of texting and other social media.  They are more worried about the number of likes and virtual friends than they are about the quality of live relationships. 

 

On an individual level, well, that's their choice.  But as a society, it is hardly a good trend.  It's not healthy (lost sleep, "text neck").  And, how often are electronic communications misunderstood due to lack of tone, visual cues, and inability to articulate thoughts in that medium (and the reader to pick up on that in real time)?

 

Many people (rightly so, IMO) criticize Trump's overuse of social media.  Many people need to look at themselves as well.

 

That said, I'm shutting down for the day.  Time to watch some hockey and spend time w the family.

[Rob_Zepp]

7 hours ago, taxi said:

Young people multitask a lot more than previous generations. They can hold a conversation and look down at their phones occasionally. 

ah, no.   Human evolution is not that quick.  For example, today when a early 20's women walked right into a car I was in as she walked into the street against a red looking at her damn phone.     I am not "old" per se but can say that anyone who thinks they can "multi-task" better than the previous generation is an accident waiting to happen.

[nucklehead]

On April 19, 2018 at 10:52 AM, taxi said:

Young people multitask a lot more than previous generations. They can hold a conversation and look down at their phones occasionally. 

I think you mean, look down and have. A conversation occasionally.