Panama Papers

[Brazen]

Here's the original blog entry in question which I posted on my FB wall: http://latining.tumblr.com/post/141567276944/tabletop-gaming-has-a-white-male-terrorism-problem

Not once in the entire text are the words Islamic or Muslim mentioned.

I feel for her, having joined the gaming "community" as a teenager, having to endure my female characters being graphically raped, and having animal/woman porn being shown in the background of a charity endurance gaming session.

[Martinus]

Here's the original blog entry in question which I posted on my FB wall: http://latining.tumblr.com/post/141567276944/tabletop-gaming-has-a-white-male-terrorism-problem

Not once in the entire text are the words Islamic or Muslim mentioned.

I feel for her, having joined the gaming "community" as a teenager, having to endure my female characters being graphically raped, and having animal/woman porn being shown in the background of a charity endurance gaming session.

Ok that's weird. 

Not on par with terrorism, but still bizarre.

[Brazen]

But she calls it "white male terrorism"!

Having read the article she gives a widely accepted definition of terrorism and shows exactly how the examples she gives, perpetrated by white males, fit the description. So I don't see the problem. And definitely no direct comparison to Islamic fundamentalist, IRA, Zionist,Spanish separatist or anti federal government terror. Considering one key aim of terrorism is to make a sector of society too scared to carry out its normal business, attempting to stop gamer girls gaming through threatening behaviour fits the bill.

[Brazen]

I hate to take Marty's defense here (believe me, I do!), but having an offshore account is not the same as not reporting your taxable income.  These documents tell us who has an offshore account in Panama, not the reasons they have one.  And there is also the (admitedly, very small) possibility some of them did declare such account to the proper fiscal authorities of their country.

It's tax avoidance vs. tax evasion. Good explanation here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27372841

[Martinus]

But she calls it "white male terrorism"!

Having read the article she gives a widely accepted definition of terrorism and shows exactly how the examples she gives, perpetrated by white males, fit the description. So I don't see the problem. And definitely no direct comparison to Islamic fundamentalist, IRA, Zionist,Spanish separatist or anti federal government terror. Considering one key aim of terrorism is to make a sector of society too scared to carry out its normal business, attempting to stop gamer girls gaming through threatening behaviour fits the bill.

Really? I think it stretches the definition of the word so much it becomes meaningless. And the fact that she does not make a direct comparison to actual terrorism does not make it better - it still means she compares two phenomenons of completely different intensity and scope.

[Valmy]

I feel for her, having joined the gaming "community" as a teenager, having to endure my female characters being graphically raped, and having animal/woman porn being shown in the background of a charity endurance gaming session.

Wow. How did you come to game with people like that? That is waaaay outside what is expected in a tabletop session.

[Martinus]

I hate to take Marty's defense here (believe me, I do!), but having an offshore account is not the same as not reporting your taxable income.  These documents tell us who has an offshore account in Panama, not the reasons they have one.  And there is also the (admitedly, very small) possibility some of them did declare such account to the proper fiscal authorities of their country.

It's tax avoidance vs. tax evasion. Good explanation here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27372841

I think Viper's point is that you may want to have an offshore account even if you have paid all the requisite taxes. For example, when you live in a country that does not respect private property.

[Valmy]

Really? I think it stretches the definition of the word so much it becomes meaningless. And the fact that she does not make a direct comparison to actual terrorism does not make it better - it still means she compares two phenomenons of completely different intensity and scope.

Threatening people with violence and death in order to control them sounds like terrorism to me.

[Martinus]

Really? I think it stretches the definition of the word so much it becomes meaningless. And the fact that she does not make a direct comparison to actual terrorism does not make it better - it still means she compares two phenomenons of completely different intensity and scope.

Threatening people with violence and death in order to control them sounds like terrorism to me.

It depends on how credible the threats are - which, in case of actual terrorists is supported by the fact that they actually commit acts of violence and kill people - not just threaten them. You are confusing terrorism with bullying.

[Brazen]

Wow. How did you come to game with people like that? That is waaaay outside what is expected in a tabletop session.

The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.

The early 80s was culturally and societally far more removed from the present than we remember.

[Valmy]

It depends on how credible the threats are - which, in case of actual terrorists is supported by the fact that they actually commit acts of violence and kill people - not just threaten them. You are confusing terrorism with bullying.

Threats of rape are perfectly credible in a society where tens of thousands of people are raped every year. Likewise if I carried around my open carry fire arm and kept threatening to shoot people well that would be pretty credible. People get shot all the time.

[celedhring]

I feel for her, having joined the gaming "community" as a teenager, having to endure my female characters being graphically raped, and having animal/woman porn being shown in the background of a charity endurance gaming session.

Wow. How did you come to game with people like that? That is waaaay outside what is expected in a tabletop session.

Yeah, that's pretty extreme. There's plenty more gaming girls than when I started playing in the late 80s, though. It was a pretty closed male territory back then so I can picture why things like the ones Brazen relates could happen.

[Martinus]

I am not saying it is not criminal behaviour, I am saying it is not terrorism. It's like with all those words for bad things like racism, fascism or nazi - they have become meaningless thanks to people who broaden their definition so much they cover entire ranges of behaviours ranging from simply bad to genocidal and attrocious (and ending up depriving these words of their power and making it less possible to defend against actual terrorism, racism, fascisms or nazis).

[Norgy]

I hate to take Marty's defense here (believe me, I do!), but having an offshore account is not the same as not reporting your taxable income.  These documents tell us who has an offshore account in Panama, not the reasons they have one.  And there is also the (admitedly, very small) possibility some of them did declare such account to the proper fiscal authorities of their country.

It's tax avoidance vs. tax evasion. Good explanation here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27372841

I think Viper's point is that you may want to have an offshore account even if you have paid all the requisite taxes. For example, when you live in a country that does not respect private property.

Well, for the part of DNB's Norwegian customers, it was all for tax avoidance purposes. And illegal.

[Valmy]

I am not saying it is not criminal behaviour, I am saying it is not terrorism. It's like with all those words for bad things like racism, fascism or nazi - they have become meaningless thanks to people who broaden their definition so much they cover entire ranges of behaviours ranging from simply bad to genocidal and attrocious (and ending up depriving these words of their power and making it less possible to defend against actual terrorism, racism, fascisms or nazis).

Well there is such a thing as a 'terroristic threat'.