[Vengeance]

On Tuesday, Sean Smith, a Foreign Service Information Management Officer assigned to the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, typed a message to the director of his online gaming guild: ”Assuming we don’t die tonight. We saw one of our ‘police’ that guard the compound taking pictures.” The consulate was under siege, and within hours, a mob would attack, killing Smith along with three others, including the U.S. ambassador.


Gamer dies in Libya


For some reason it makes me sadder that he was a gamer and a internet nerd.

[Coco with marshmallows]

I read the link.

Then i started reading the comments.
(and this next part is undoubtedly not suitable for the Inn, perhaps Discussion - mods?)

and i'm sorry to issue such a sweeping statement but -

Spoiler

The FUCK is wrong with those people? (in the comments section)

A guy dies, and within half a dozen comments its turned into a political pissing match between two packs of pig ignorant fuckwits representing allegedly opposing viewpoints.

Is the bipartisanship of US politics THAT important?

(apologies for any offence caused)

[worry]

You have no idea, coco. Comments sections are a political cesspool. I don't mean to flatter, but this board's Discussion forum is by far the most civil online discussion area I've ever seen.

And Vengeance, I get what you mean. It's not so much the gamer thing, but his clear gallows humor during the situation that I really admire. Some people might consider it denial, but I think it's the opposite, it's just dealing. And then the worst comes.

[Gnaw]

Cocoreturns, on 12 September 2012 - 09:12 PM, said:

I read the link.

Then i started reading the comments.
(and this next part is undoubtedly not suitable for the Inn, perhaps Discussion - mods?)

and i'm sorry to issue such a sweeping statement but -

Spoiler

The FUCK is wrong with those people? (in the comments section)

A guy dies, and within half a dozen comments its turned into a political pissing match between two packs of pig ignorant fuckwits representing allegedly opposing viewpoints.

Is the bipartisanship of US politics THAT important?

(apologies for any offence caused)

Worrywort is right Coco. It gets worse though. This is an election cycle.
I'm spoilering this because it sickens me. But if I thought of it some "journalist" will too.

Spoiler

"He was on jabber when it happened, that's the most fucked up thing," Gianturco wrote. "In Baghdad the same kind of thing happened – incoming sirens, he'd vanish, we'd freak out and he'd come back ok after a bit. This time he said 'FUCK' and 'GUNFIRE' and then disconnected and never returned."
Coming soon to a website, newspaper, or Fox News station near you: 'Obama Ambassador playing video game while fellow Americans gunned down". I really, really, really hope I'm wrong, but I won't be a bit surprised if I'm right.

I think I'll go take a shower now.

[Obdigore]

worrywort, on 12 September 2012 - 09:44 PM, said:

You have no idea, coco. Comments sections are a political cesspool. I don't mean to flatter, but this board's Discussion forum is by far the most civil online discussion area I've ever seen.

And Vengeance, I get what you mean. It's not so much the gamer thing, but his clear gallows humor during the situation that I really admire. Some people might consider it denial, but I think it's the opposite, it's just dealing. And then the worst comes.

I don't think it was denial, but I imagine that, a position in that position in that area of the world, he has dealt with stuff like that before. I know these attacks were orchestrated in an attempt to get the US to do something rash, and I'm glad Obama has not, but fuck me if I don't feel like we should send an entire MEU over to shake hands and root out the extremists who whipped their (generally illiterate) followers into a frenzy over a video no one but them was paying any attention to, just so they would get attacked and probably killed, so they would inspire other muslims around the world to fight the great western satan.

But maybe I'm reading too much into the situation.

Anyway, the fact that mittens attacked barbar over this less than 2 hours after any news stories broke pisses me off, and makes me happy that it is currently seeming to blow up in his face.

In addition -> http://imgur.com/a/tlCyI

This post has been edited by Obdigore: 13 September 2012 - 04:35 AM

[Shiara]

Thank you for the link, Obdi. Regular news is too busy with the fear-mongering to bother with stuff like that.

[Obdigore]

Ive heard unconfirmed reports that at least 10 Libyan military personal died along with two US security force people while taking the consulate back from the terrorists. I've seen no confirmed reports of that anywhere either.

[Primateus]

I read some of the comments. It's simply pathetic. American citizens are lying dead in a foreign country, attacked by bullies and extremists and these people are raving about politics? It's pathetic and, quite frankly, unworthy of the memory of the deceased.

[Kanese S's]

Obdi's link was a much needed booster for my faith in humanity.

[Mason of Death]

Kanese S, on 13 September 2012 - 08:45 AM, said:

Obdi's link was a much needed booster for my faith in humanity.

This. It was refreshing to see. R.I.P.

[Gnaw]

Kanese S, on 13 September 2012 - 08:45 AM, said:

Obdi's link was a much needed booster for my faith in humanity.

Agreed. Of course my faith in humanity always needs a boost.

[Kanese S's]

I just learned that Chris Stevens' parents (well, his mother and his stepfather), were among the guests at my grandparents' 50th anniversary party some years ago.

[Terez]

worrywort, on 12 September 2012 - 09:44 PM, said:

You have no idea, coco. Comments sections are a political cesspool. I don't mean to flatter, but this board's Discussion forum is by far the most civil online discussion area I've ever seen.

I agree, but to be fair, the reason it's so civil these days is that we kind of ran off the conservatives a few years ago.

[Vengeance]

Terez, on 13 September 2012 - 06:56 PM, said:

worrywort, on 12 September 2012 - 09:44 PM, said:

You have no idea, coco. Comments sections are a political cesspool. I don't mean to flatter, but this board's Discussion forum is by far the most civil online discussion area I've ever seen.

I agree, but to be fair, the reason it's so civil these days is that we kind of ran off the conservatives a few years ago.

Shin is still around and I like him so lets not run him off.

[Terez]

ha, Shin is almost too centrist to count. And his relative lone-warriorness might have something to do with why he doesn't post as often as he used to. The DB is essentially a liberal echo chamber these days, with a few exceptions. At least, from the American perspective; American conservatives are a special breed.

[worry]

Shin is busy with some form of humanoid baby he's captured and Stormy is busy wackin' it to the latest Darwin Awards list or whatever in between job applications. And Nico is off gallivanting with some lousy Objectivist broad. Silencer is like the closest thing to a conservative around these days and he barely qualifies in American terms since he's not insane.

[amphibian]

worrywort, on 13 September 2012 - 07:14 PM, said:

Shin is busy with some form of humanoid baby he's captured and Stormy is busy wackin' it to the latest Darwin Awards list or whatever in between job applications. And Nico is off gallivanting with some lousy Objectivist broad. Silencer is like the closest thing to a conservative around these days and he barely qualifies in American terms since he's not insane.

How are you so knowledgeable for a relative newbie? It's a witch! Witch!

But yeah, the reason why the political discussion is so civil here is because the truly right-leaning people have mostly gone away (I almost said "left" here).

[Morgoth]

Yeah, sometimes you guys make me feel right wing by comparison

[Terez]

And I probably should have made the distinction earlier that this isn't necessarily because conservatives are inherently trouble-makers; I wasn't trying to imply that. There may be a real trend there, but when you're in an echo chamber it's probably safe to assume that it's just because there's simply very little ideological disagreement. And while I have a hard time imagining a conservative echo chamber where everyone is nice to each other, I can imagine it a little better outside of a political context (i.e. a Christian forum or the like with no agitators).

[amphibian]

Honestly, the conservatives I've seen are less nice to each other than the liberal people amongst themselves that I've seen. I think there's a rock bottom of snootiness buried in American political conservativeness and it isn't pleasant to deal with in social situations for anyone.

But we're getting off topic here.

I am 95% sure that the videos that provided the "spark" for the riots were fake and that the imams and community leaders who whipped up the riots knew it was such, but went ahead and did it anyways. There was a case in Pakistan recently where an imam tried to get the community all pissed off at a girl with Down's Syndrome because she "burned pages of a Qu'ran while making a fire from scrap paper." It turned out that she gathered paper alright, but the imam planted scraps of a Qu'ran he burnt himself into the remnants of the fire and then got on his soapbox.

These are the kind of tactics that are being used to hurt and to defame the good people out there that are trying to effect positive change (not limited to Americans, Libyans or really any nationality).