Nicholas Hawkes, 39, Becomes First in England To Be Jailed for Cyber Flashing (sky.com) 159
A man has been sentenced for cyber flashing in England for the first time. From a report: Nicholas Hawkes, 39, from Basildon in Essex, was jailed for 66 weeks at Southend Crown Court today after he sent unsolicited photos of his erect penis to a 15-year-old girl and a woman on 9 February. The older victim took screenshots of the offending image on WhatsApp and reported Hawkes to the police the same day.
Cyber flashing became a criminal offence in England with the passage of the Online Safety Act on 31 January. It has been a crime in Scotland since 2010. The offence covers the sending of an unsolicited sexual image to people via social media, dating apps, text message or data-sharing services such as Bluetooth and AirDrop. Victims of cyber flashing get lifelong anonymity from the time they report the offence, as it also falls under the Sexual Offences Act.
Cyber flashing became a criminal offence in England with the passage of the Online Safety Act on 31 January. It has been a crime in Scotland since 2010. The offence covers the sending of an unsolicited sexual image to people via social media, dating apps, text message or data-sharing services such as Bluetooth and AirDrop. Victims of cyber flashing get lifelong anonymity from the time they report the offence, as it also falls under the Sexual Offences Act.
you dick... (Score:2)
When to send a dickpic (Score:4, Insightful)
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The appropriate time is when the recipient has specifically asked for it. Any OTHER time is inappropriate.
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The appropriate time is when the recipient has specifically asked for it. Any OTHER time is inappropriate.
A girl did actually once ask me but I declined. I didn't necessarily want that picture floating around out in the wild. Besides, I figured it was easy enough to find photos of similarly proportioned subjects [savetheredwoods.org].
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The appropriate time is when the recipient has specifically asked for it. Any OTHER time is inappropriate.
A girl did actually once ask me but I declined. I didn't necessarily want that picture floating around out in the wild. Besides, I figured it was easy enough to find photos of similarly proportioned subjects [savetheredwoods.org].
Exactly. You don't want a pic like that floating around on the internet. What if you run for public office one day?
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Exactly. You don't want a pic like that floating around on the internet. What if you run for public office one day?
If we're talking American politics, that isn't exactly the career killer it once was. I don't think we're too far off from politicians including links to their OnlyFans.
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Exactly. You don't want a pic like that floating around on the internet. What if you run for public office one day?
If we're talking American politics, that isn't exactly the career killer it once was. I don't think we're too far off from politicians including links to their OnlyFans.
We'll have a stripper, prostitute (real, not metaphorical), or porn star in a federal or major state office in the next decade. I'll guarantee it. Probably out of Vegas or Southern California. And yes, OnlyFans will be involved.
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That's already happened.
https://www.washingtonpost.com... [washingtonpost.com]
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https://apnews.com/article/sus... [apnews.com]
she'll be back...its sad what is happening to this state.
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Italy already elected a porn star.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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I don't see how a hernia picture is going to attract voters...
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Hi Anthony, sorry about Huma but you know she was fugly anyway even you could do better.
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Are we talking about the redwoods?
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savetheredwoods.org
Well played, sir.
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savetheredwoods.org
Well played, sir.
The real question is how many people still didn't want to risk clicking the link.
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The approprite time to send a dickpic is... Never.
Oh, finally an article where the fact that I'm a gay man is on-topic for once. Back when I was single (which admittedly, has been over a decade so maybe attitudes have changed in the interim), sending pictures of one's junk was like saying "hi". Course, the issue here is that it truly is never appropriate for an adult to send dick pics to someone who is underage, so if the law was limited in scope to just that it really wouldn't be a problem.
But when you've got the hypothetical situation involving two adu
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No. Just no.
Forcing images of your genitals on someone without consent is akin to assault. This is not dependent on age, sex, gender, or sexual orientation.
It's called the age of consent, dude.
If you send a dick pic to someone you don't already know wants it, you're clearly doing things out of order.
"Hi" has to come before sexual advances, with a lot of other stuff in between.
Re:When to send a dickpic (Score:5, Insightful)
If you send a dick pic to someone you don't already know wants it, you're clearly doing things out of order.
Yeah, that's the idea, speedrunning all the bullshit and just essentially saying "Like what you see, hit me up. Don't? Hit the X up in the corner and move on." Grindr made a fairly successful app out of this sort of thing. Again, when I was single, most gay guys seemed largely okay with it.
Heck, I didn't really have a problem with it either, because it made it really easy to tell who wasn't looking for anything long term. If you're starting a conversation with your dick, you're in all likelihood not who I was looking to settle down with. Criminalizing the behavior, however, seems excessively harsh. Some guys clearly are into the whole no-commitment casual sex thing, and who am I to judge them if they're happy?
Obviously, that's not what happened in TFS. Some perv with a prior history of getting pervy with minors send a picture of his junk to a minor. That's an indefensible behavior and in this case the application of the law was well justified.
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Heck, I didn't really have a problem with it either
That makes you (or the gay community?) the strange one. Flashing has always been sexual harassment. Using a phone doesn't make it any less so. If you like being sexually harassed then more power to you, maybe write in your profile "dick picks welcome" just so everyone is clear that you are okay with it and you want to "speed run" your hook-ups.
Some things in life should be opt in, not opt out.
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A few straight guys have already posted here saying they don't really mind unsolicited nudes from females. Gay guys are still just guys, so it's pretty much the same mindset - different gender.
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Notably, factors in his sentencing included one recipient was 15 and he had already violated conditions of parole for a previous offense.
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I must take exception to that. I am not a crook [wikipedia.org].
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I don't know, maybe to a tele-health provider who is 1) expecting it and 2) currently assisting you with some medical issue related to your dick. About the only time I can see how it would be a reasonable thing to do.
And no sending such material to your SO is NOT a reasonable thing to do. Its the *internet* and mile-high-tech-stacks with data replicated all over the f'ing place people... Exactly none-of-consumer oriented communications devices are secure...
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And no sending such material to your SO is NOT a reasonable thing to do.
If you're not texting each other some naughty bits every now and then, it sounds like you might need to put some spark back in your relationship. Just sayin'.
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Not even Carlos Danger?
I never understood dick pics (Score:3)
It makes no sense that someone would send a photo of their wiener
When I send a Dick pic, it's always the official presidential portrait of Richard M Nixon
Re:I never understood dick pics (Score:4, Funny)
It makes no sense that someone would send a photo of their wiener When I send a Dick pic, it's always the official presidential portrait of Richard M Nixon
You'd get kicked off of a lot of dating sites for using such an old picture. Next time, try Cheney.
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Nah, man, Dick Grayson. Everybody loves Batman!
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By which I assume you me Liz
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It makes no sense that someone would send a photo of their wiener
Considering that most male porn seems to be aimed at the gay demographic, unless that's what you're going for it's probably not going to have the outcome you're desiring. And even then, if you're not a 20 y/o twink [urbandictionary.com], you'll probably just be told to please put the wrinkly sausage away.
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I prefer to use Dick Pick, the creator of the PICK database system, though sometimes I'll use Dick Trickle if I know they're a nascar fan.
how the times have changed (Score:2)
Re:how the times have changed (Score:4, Informative)
Reddit, in it's pre-IPO attempt days, used have entire subs dedicated to things like this
(VERY NSFW Warning) They still do. [reddit.com] If it wasn't clear from my tag, that sub contains exactly what the name suggests, so if you don't want to see a bunch of dick pics - don't click it.
The women who received the pics (Score:2)
If Marjorie Taylor Greene shares Hunter Biden's... (Score:3)
"picture", who is the flasher, her or him?
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The offence covers the sending of an unsolicited sexual image to people via social media,
So, share a link to goatse and go to jail, basically? That is harsh.
Re:If Marjorie Taylor Greene shares Hunter Biden's (Score:4, Insightful)
That is harsh.
Maybe. But it's pretty to avoid, all you have to do is NOT send porn to people who didn't ask for it. Literally easier to not do it.
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Don't send porn to minors. Adults should realize they'll probably be exposed to this stuff sooner or later on the internet and that's why social media platforms have features where you can block people whose behaviors don't align with your own personal moral standards. No reason to involve the law unless it's a situation like the one in TFS where a minor was the recipient, or the person continues to stalk/harass you by various means after you've blocked them.
Re:If Marjorie Taylor Greene shares Hunter Biden's (Score:4, Insightful)
Adults should realize...
Nope, I respectfully disagree with you. I'm pretty liberal as far as sex stuff goes. If it's done between to two (or however many suits your fancy) consenting adults, none of my business. The key is the "consenting" part. If I haven't asked you for a dick pic, it's non consensual, and inappropriate. Period. No room for further discussion.
Now, whether a violation should involve the police or not, I guess it would all depend on the situation. Bare minimum it should be reported to the service provider. Maybe if these troglodytes start getting their accounts closed they'd get the hint. Me, personally, I probably wouldn't call the cops. If I were feeling particularly vindictive, I'd probably screen shot it, blur out what needed to be blurred out, and forward it to their mom. (After receiving her consent, of course.)
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If someone sent me an unsolicited dick pic, I'd respond with "I'm in a committed relationship so you're barking up the wrong tree." If they continued to persist, I'd block them. I don't really find it any more offensive than how most straight guys don't seem to mind if they get a random picture from a woman of their breasts. Law enforcement would only be involved if blocking the sender didn't stop their use of other forms of continued harassment.
Of course, being a middle aged gay man who is not a public f
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When I was single and I'd get them sent to me, I always figured it was like Nigerian scams. The technique must work some of the time, otherwise they wouldn't bother to do it. It never really dawned on me to ask them if they ever actually had any luck with it. Also, the sort of people who sent out unsolicited nudes never seemed all that eager to engage in small talk anyway - that was typically what they were trying to avoid in the first place.
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No reason to involve the law unless it's a situation like the one in TFS where a minor was the recipient
It seems you have a problem with the terms "consent" and "unsolicited". So I imagine you're not okay with randomly raping other adults because sooner or later they'll take a dick anyway. So I'm curious on the scale of sexual harassment, where do you arbitrarily draw a line where you think it's okay to harass someone?
It may shock you to know that flashing someone in real life is a crime too. Why are you suddenly okay with it just being a picture?
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Okay let's run with your "online threats are equivalent to real-life ones" logic. Let's say someone threatens me online. Am I now justified in using deadly force against them under Florida's stand your ground law?
See, a real life threat is far more severe than someone "dicking" around on the internet (at least as long as a minor isn't involved).
As for harassment, that begins after someone has been blocked and continues to find ways to evade the block.
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Slashdot wisdom is that people were asking for it by not reading the link before clicking. Goatse if they're lucky, a malware site if they're not. I remember one time I ruined a Windows install within 1 minute of it being installed, by going to the wrong website. Link awareness doesn't seem to be such a vital internet survival skill anymore, thanks to improved OS.
Best way to handle it (Score:2)
This makes perfect sense. Sending unsolicited dick pics is pretty much the same things as flashing in person, so the charges should be pretty much the same.
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This makes perfect sense. Sending unsolicited dick pics is pretty much the same things as flashing in person, so the charges should be pretty much the same.
So, you're saying they should have beads thrown at them. The question is, how do we do that through the internet?
Gonna need to build more jails (Score:4)
I don't think some men appreciate just how many pictures of penises women tend to receive unsolicited. Young, old, any woman I know who has spent any appreciable amount of time online and especially on any type of dating site has gotten a few dick pics, some on a daily basis. I don't quite know what the imperitvate or thought process is on that. Do some men really think a penis is just gonna make women swoon for them?
I guess flashing is an accurate term, it's about the thrill of disgust but seriously men, if women, or anyone want's to see our penises they will ask. If they don't the answer is probably no. Maybe overall this type of law is a good thing, we don't seem to grasp that concept.
"The female body is a work of art. The male body is utilitarian, it's for gettin' around, like a jeep."
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I don't think some men appreciate just how many pictures of penises women tend to receive unsolicited. Young, old, any woman I know who has spent any appreciable amount of time online and especially on any type of dating site has gotten a few dick pics, some on a daily basis. I don't quite know what the imperitvate or thought process is on that. Do some men really think a penis is just gonna make women swoon for them?
I guess flashing is an accurate term, it's about the thrill of disgust but seriously men, if women, or anyone want's to see our penises they will ask. If they don't the answer is probably no. Maybe overall this type of law is a good thing, we don't seem to grasp that concept.
"The female body is a work of art. The male body is utilitarian, it's for gettin' around, like a jeep."
I'm not at all the typical guy, but I can't imagine being so egotistical that you see your own tackle and think, "Yeah, man! I gotta share this with someone!" Like, male genitals just ain't that attractive even to people that like male genitals. I can't imagine getting a dick pic and thinking better than, "What an uncouth idiot." Though, likely, it would be much, much worse.
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Like, male genitals just ain't that attractive even to people that like male genitals.
I would assume most straight guys aren't much into male genitals. Seems to be the defining characteristic of being a straight male. Now why women generally don't go as gaga for dicks as gay guys do, I haven't a clue. Seems like one of human evolution's cruel pranks being played on you heterosexuals.
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cruel pranks being played on you heterosexuals.
Yup, there's quite a lot of these when you break it down lol.
Also do most gay men go "gaga" for dicks or is it just indifference.? Like, I like a vagina, i like how it feels and smells and such, but just looking at it without the context of the woman it's attached to? Neither here nor there, it's not really "attractive" taken by itself.
I like to think back to Troy McClure... [frinkiac.com]
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Also do most gay men go "gaga" for dicks or is it just indifference.?
A very, very common camera framing on those live cam sites for gay porn is just a shot of some guy's crotch. Obviously, it has to be attached to someone who is height weight proportionate, not too hairy, and relatively "youthful" (meaning 20s, early 30s) looking to land that cam entertainer on the front page of the popularity rankings. Oh, and I almost forgot, it has to be large. Like almost comically so, to the point of where if you actually stopped to think about it you'd realize it probably wouldn't a
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You know it's a thing in hetero porn too but like every poll of women shows it's not a top priority and most share the same opinion you do so it's so it seems to be just a thing men do for men, which is in it's own way humorous.
Same for asses, some men go bonkers for women's butts but i'll stick up for us men too, we can have very nice asses. Superior in many ways.
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I can't imagine being so egotistical that you see your own tackle and think, "Yeah, man! I gotta share this with someone!"
It's the thought that someone else sees it that is erotic to some. Maybe some find a higher excitement, or a necessary condition of the excitement, for the viewer to be a prohibited person (such as a minor).
This bears some similarities with exhibitionism. No one reasonable would think that flash opening their raincoat in a women's bathroom is going to get them a girlfriend; but such men don't do it out of being reasonable or with the intent of actually getting a girlfriend. It's more that they get excitemen
Re:Gonna need to build more jails (Score:4)
>The female body is a work of art. The male body is utilitarian, it's for gettin' around, like a jeep.
This is a cultural, not absolute, value.
We should be just as upset by unsolicited female nudity, but due to the aforementioned culture we typically are not. On the three occasions where I have received such things from women... I did not complain.
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Yup, we should be, but like you said, we're really not. That's just reality.
Hell on Twitter (or ughh, "X") I am flooded with OnlyFans spam with unsolicited naked pictures. Now I can just smirk and block those and think nothing of it, but it those were all dicks? I'd probably be a bit more upset.
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get to know some classier people.
"Magic 8-ball, generally if someone uses the term "unsolicited" especially in regards to social media and dating sites, would we generally assume using American English that they know the person already?"
Pics or didn't happen (Score:3)
He has to do hard time (Score:2)
... and with all that time on his hands maybe he can stay out of trouble.
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... and with all that time on his hands maybe he can stay out of trouble.
Now that he's in jail, he'll get his, in the end.
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He's in for a long, hard term.
Public hair (Score:2)
Imagine that showing your hair in public were an offense.
Oh sorry, shouldn't have used the irrealis 'were' where it's a real offense in some places.
Re: Public hair (Score:2)
I just wanted to point out that sensitivities differ among cultures while adding some spice which is probably wasted on most.
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Some Muslim countries forbid women to show their hair in public.
What a knob he will forever be known (Score:3)
First in England? (Score:2)
I think the US passed this milestone a long time ago.
98 and counting ... (Score:2)
This is an article I would have glossed over, but then I noticed it had already garnered 98 comments. The Slashdot feed has all kinds of interesting and pertinent news today, but this got more comments than any. For a tech savvy group, tech dick pics are not news, they have been around since copiers and faxes.
Just goes to show you that fart jokes, poo jokes, dick jokes will always get people engaged.
Have you noticed that \. look like an erect dick and ball?
The cyber flash opportunity (Score:2)
If you flash digitally, you can ask Midjourney to produce an enhanced version of your peepee for pence. Years ago when Stanley Kubrick digitally enhanced Malcolm McDowell for his nude scene in A Clockwork Orange, this cost a fortune.
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It's one year per inch.
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Sounds pretty average, really.
Re:66 months (Score:5, Funny)
Well then. I should be in and out in no time at all.
The story of my love life, actually.
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I would say this is Jimmy Savile’s account but he’s dead.
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Nobody ever wrote a song called Fuck The Fire Department
What about pyros?
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Good, he's been forgotten. Though in America he was never well known because he was on British media and we know how Americans can't keep up with other English speaking countries (we are big on Spanish telenovelas though).
Re:66 months (Score:5, Insightful)
Also if everyone, with their dick out is going to be jailed, we will probably have to build more jails.
Is it really that hard for people to not send random people, particularly minors, pics of their junk?
Re:66 months (Score:5, Informative)
It is 66 weeks. Otherwise he could have gotten off with less if he had killed somebody.
Re:66 months (Score:5, Informative)
66 weeks, not months.
The maximum sentence is 2 years (S187(6) Online Safety Act 2023).
He pled guilty, which would reduce the sentence, but he was already on the sex offender register for a previous offence against a child which would increase the sentence.
It's 66 weeks (Score:2)
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66 weeks is 1 year and 14 weeks.
It's also three weeks short of the perfect sentence for such stupidity. What a missed opportunity.
Re:66 months (Score:4, Insightful)
Are men incapable of not having their dick hanging out? Is it too difficult to not send a dick pick to someone who hasn't asked for it? Are you implying that men are the weaker sex because they can't control their urges?
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Some men I think are not capable. I'd say it was a rare mental illness, except that evidence shows that the condition is not that rare.
Proper response should be ridicule, which may cure it. "What the hell, was it bent like that since birth or did you slam the car door on it?", "Hedwig, is that you?", "I don't blame you, I wouldn't want that in my pants either."
Re: 66 months (Score:2)
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Courts in US and UK generally have formulas, in order to get consistent sentencing rather than leaving all discretion to the judge. So plug in the number of offences, type of offences (one victim being a minor changes things), is this a first time offender, etc, etc.
It's not his first or even second sex offence (Score:2)
I don't fully understand the sentencing for this act, not that it is excessive, it's just unclear how anyone arrives at that number?
Well from TFA he was already a registered sex offender for another crime involving a minor and under a community service order for that plus he had a suspended sentence from another previous sexual offence. Frankly, at this point, 5.5 years seems low but it may be close to the maximum for this latest offence plus whatever sentence he had suspended.
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I don't fully understand the sentencing for this act, not that it is excessive, it's just unclear how anyone arrives at that number?
Two cases, the woman who filed the complaint resulted in him getting a 6 month summary conviction. The 15 year old girl ended up getting him the maximum 5 year sentence.
Also if everyone, with their dick out is going to be jailed, we will probably have to build more jails.
Good. Maybe people will learn to not send unsolicited dick picks. It's it really so difficult to not sexually harass someone over the phone?
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Err scratch that, he didn't get the maximum for the child, it was 66 weeks not 66 months.
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Where are you getting the idea OP is horrified?
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woke leftist
I'd like to pay tribute to the immense flexibility of the word "leftist", having seen roman_mir's posts on socialism destroying economies [slashdot.org], monopolies [slashdot.org], plastic bags [slashdot.org], and just about everything else.
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A fictional person being horrified is claimed.
That fictional person is then classified as a leftist.
Then some other person who is not fictional is mentioned as n
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I think roman_mir is automatically -1 for a long and sordid history of (among other things) threats against other posters. Do NOT get him started on Libertardianism, it's one of his touch points, he's a true fanatic.
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Flouride in the water used to be an issue with the John Birch Society :-) They saw leftists literally under their beds (dust bunnies most likely).
Re:66 months (Score:4, Funny)
Same for all CRT "education" at grade levels before high school.
Kindly describe what CRT is. Then point to the area on the doll where you think it hurt you.
Re:66 months (Score:4, Informative)
CRT has always been post-graduate discussions, until someone got triggered and thought it was in the kindergartens (or wanted to garner votes through the tried and true method of causing panic).
Re:66 months (Score:4, Informative)
CRT isn't taught in any schools, let alone most colleges. The people who complain about it would typically benefit from taking a course.
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> Nobody ever wrote a song called Fuck The Fire Department
Fuck the Fire Department, by Vincent E. L. (with lyrics and funk)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Another example of ArchieBunker (a) being wrong and (b) unable to do basic research?
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