What is Digg?86 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+90Komrades,
If you live in Amerika, you keep your mouth shut. When will you learn? - flippinjeremy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+72This country is falling apart. One person at a time.
Situations like this (a man getting fired for talking about something at the wrong place/time) don't help, and slowly but surely we will lose all of our freedoms. It may sound crazy to some people, but it WILL happen, I guarantee. - ajcerqueti, on 10/12/2007, -3/+32More and more, when it comes to guns, terrorism and general violence, a common-sense, measured and reasonable response seems to be totally out of the question. I feel uncomfortable banding around words like Fascism, but there seems very little option when this seems to be standard procedure, treat everything as if it's a threat, and crush it with impunity. Whether it's over-zealous airport security staff, or the ridiculousness of Jack Thompson, more and more knee-jerk reactionaries seem to be finding voice and power, and striking against every day common sense. By artificially raising everyone's sense of insecurity by maintaining an elevated Threat Level, the US Government allows these idiots to feed on everyone's worst fears. Which is where they seem to want us. Scared, pacified and unable to argue. I, for one, have had enough of it.
"People should not fear their government, their government should fear the people." - V
Please Digg this, support Matt and maybe somehow we'll all find a voice to let them know enough is enough. - LopsidedZebra, on 10/12/2007, -1/+29if you laugh then the terrorists have already won.
- xTRUMANx, on 10/12/2007, -7/+31Enough with the Ron Paul plugs already.
As for you Mike Gravellers, I'm watching you.
points index and forefinger at eyes and then proceeds to point at Mike Gravellers - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19It's Ironic, innit?
Dick Cheney actually shot someone in the face and does other things that actually harm people (like, EVERYONE in America), and he still has his job. Matt's not gonna go postal on anyone, c'mon!
People need to stop having these knee-jerk reactions to everything - it really makes everyone look bad! - zombiedepot, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20I've heard of some bad reasons to be fired, but this takes the cake. Some people are too scared these days. I mean, you have a higher chance of dying in a car accident than getting blown up by terrorists, or shot.
Logically, you'd think firing a person you saw as a threat would probably make them even more of a danger. Good thing he wasn't a psychopath because I highly doubt job termination is going to stop a "terrorist". - MrBabyMan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19The forum link provided here should probably have pointed to this article:
http://www.fleen.com/archives/2007/05/03/breaking-news-3/
The offending comic:
http://www.threepanelsoul.com/view.php?date=2007-04-24
His post firing response:
http://www.threepanelsoul.com/view.php?date=2007-04-30 - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18http://www.duggmirror.com/political_opinion/Webcomics_Terrorism_Whaa#c6494751
Also,
@konrad9
Yes it does...
Did you even read the article?
"To top it all off, he was later visited by police detectives for making a comic about his experience, because it was a 'borderline terroristic threat.'" - JuanNavarro, on 10/12/2007, -3/+20Ah god.
I'm actually SCARED now.
I work for an airline, and even though I do comics of ***** talking DOGS with Machine Guns and chicks beating the ***** out of each other, I can only imagine the ridiculous ***** that might happen if they wanted to construe it another way.
*****. - MrSpontaneous, on 10/12/2007, -4/+19Sorry for the comment spam, but here's the story direct from his blog:
http://matthewandian.livejournal.com/6951.html - classicalcomp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15The reply is priceless.
Thank god we don't have the ability to talk about important issues in a humoristic manner. *sarcasm
It's just humor people, or social satire. Why can't we talk about all issues in a variety of ways without others thinking that there is criminal intent behind it.
All us nappy headed hoes need to get a life and start to laugh again. - doddilus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14edit: in response to MrSpontaneous' link since its apparently different from the original
so they immediately fired the guy who they suspected was going to shoot up the place?
yea thats the right choice... - anonym41414, on 10/12/2007, -5/+19Your index finger is your forefinger, Einstein.
- MrDandy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Let me get this straight... the cartoonist works with the Navy, presumably for a military contractor. And these same people he works with are suddenly squeamish about guns? WTF?? Ironic that they're likely the ones who build and distribute the biggest weapons, and are generally gun rights advocates. OK I'm generalizing, but it sounds like a paranoid mindset to me. As in, if you are thinking about ways to destroy enemies all the time, you are bound to see them everywhere. Why didn't somebody try something crazy, like say, TALKING to the guy? Instead, in this society we have been trained to run to the authorities over the slightest thing. Crybabies are the biggest terrorists.
- dotlizard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12free speech isn't free. it costs you your job. or your teaching degree. or your eligibility to cross the border.
*****. - MiDri, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I feel you man, I work at tech support for the airport desks (I don't directly work for airlines, but am federally employed) I'm afraid they might dig something up from my past that I said in jest as a 14 year old or something and take it seriously.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I'm more a Mike Gravel or Bat-Man type, myself.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8@MrSpontaneous: "Sorry for the comment spam"
AUUGHHH!!!!! It's NOT f-ing comment spam when you post a link that is completely ON F-ING TOPIC!!!!!!
[graphic of head exploding] - bennybertow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8"If you live in Amerika, you keep your mouth shut. When will you learn?"
You will still get arrested for crimethink! - hplasm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7You just mentioned shooting someone in the face. You are fired!
O. So am I. See you in the Gulag. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6The comic didn't get him fired- the comic got him POLICE at his door, after he calmly accepted the firing. THAT'S a free speech issue.
- Spanktacular, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6George Carlin = Fighting for peace is like ***** for virginity.
Oh, and the country's always been ***** in one way or another. This is really just a new wave of a cross between Puritanism and McCarthyism. It really sucks, but we've been sucky in the past, too.
Don't forget the media hype that the VT shootings were the worst mass murder in U.S. history. That's just a flat-out lie. - Netrilix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7kirealwi: I'm pretty sure he drew the comic because he was fired, not the other way around. Before the whole thing went rapidly downhill, he didn't think the conversation was even worth mentioning. But then he was brought up before his bosses, fired, and then he drew the comic to show what happened. Then he was later visited by police, to end off the story. I guess they figured his comic was meant to show that he was going to go into his former office and start shooting.
- Konrad9, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6My bad. The article linked to was down at the time, and I didn't see a mirror.
I didn't see any information about the police visiting him in the comic or blog. - kirealwi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Yes, the article makes it clear that he was fired after the webcomic was written. As well as the content of the webcomic itself. The title of the article comes from...
"To top it all off, he was later visited by police detectives for making a comic about his experience, because it was a “borderline terroristic threat.” " - crazylax42, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7anyone who knows anything about guns would find that comic atleast worth a smile. Anything can be misused. All it takes is a psycho to make everyone think GUN=BAD. All that aside, I'm pretty sure the first amendment covers this guy too. Or are we being selectional with the Bill of wrights now? Is that another clause of the Patriot act that I missed?
- canha, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I think that americans are just over reacting with everything. You can't not even make an inocent joke and you already get linked with al-qaeda.
America used to be a good country, now it's just full of sh*t.
I'm not saying terrorists are right - killing inocent people is wrong, no matter what you motive is. But this whole "let's fight for peace" is just plain bull. - yeediddy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I fear for Tycho and Gabe.
Will they come for Piro soon? We all know "warmth" is due to global warming.... - Illustrious, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5My fellow Americans, we are giving pussies everywhere a bad name. We need to stop living in fear of "threats", start accepting that risk is a fact of life, and stop being so damned scared of each other (let alone the rest of the world.) We can't just have Big Brother haul away everyone who makes us nervous, not if we want to be the country that we grew up thinking we were.
- Spanktacular, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@Netrillix
Isn't being fired from a government contract by the military commanders in charge of said project for what he said the government telling him he can't say those things? I mean, this wasn't a job at Innatech. It was a Navy contract. He was first let go from the project by the Navy... - cyberjacques, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5So, which is it? Will you campaign against the publication of his "insensitive" comic, or will you defend his freedom of speech with your life?
I think this world needs a lot more "insensitive" people these days. This namby-pamby attitude is going to get us all killed. Get out of your comfort zone before someone removes you from it by force. - Luocorn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I'm a little confused here, how is that comic insensitive to you? It has absolutely nothing to do with the Virginia Tech shootings, it's about how he wanted to buy a gun for target shooting and got fired for talking about it and making a joke about how safe the gun actually was. Are you saying that anyone who talks about guns and how a gun can kill is insensitive? Or is this reaction just leveled at him?
- Netrilix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Well, it seems like he was working more in a desk job around more sensitive people. It's not like some guy wearing camo and carrying a rifle was the one doing the complaining. More likely Nina from Accounts Payable. (Office Space reference).
Other than that, I agree with you. They should have talked to him, instead of just running to authorities and blowing it out of proportion. - MadMaxx426, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Not only did you go on a tie rant about some religious *****, you did it in the wrong ***** topic.
Niiiice. - motbob, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8He didn't get fired because of a webcomic. He got fired for talking about shooting someone in the face, and then he wrote a comic talking about why he was fired.
Again, the webcomic was written AFTER he was fired. - Spanktacular, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@Netrillix
Did you read any of the stories? He was a programmer. He was about as far from Nina in Office Space as a physicist is from a monkey.
Oh, and the systems on which they were working are designed to kill people. Rush Limbaugh has only ever said one thing I agree with. "The purpose of the military is to kill people and break things." - quaunaut, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6@konrad9
Yes it does. Read the actual page, not the one someone else linked to. Says right there:
4 cops showed up to his house because the webcomic bordered on terroristic threat.
Edit: Darn you pwill. - flippinjeremy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7It's funny, you just don't understand it.
- anescient, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4***** this.
***** this.
There I said it twice.
***** this. - tampersanda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@Netrilix
What about the part where the police showed up on his doorstep? - maeon3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4In a land of deception, telling or implying the truth is a crime.
- curtlbc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3doubleunplusgood thoughtcrime
- arcnes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3How is his comic insensitive? It does not make light of the shootings. In fact he has since said he did not mean it as such. As a college student at George Mason, I feel sorry for the events that happened at VT. It is however not O.K. to come down on everyone else. I personally was harassed by campus police because of an over-reaction to the incident.
- tacroy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3He didn't reference the event. It had nothing to do with the event, other than happening around the same time. He even mentions that he wants a .22 because it's only good for target shooting and wouldn't be able to hurt a human badly....
- krazyjosh5, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4After being in contact with Matt, he had this to say:
'As in the comic, I didn't really know about the shootings when I was talking to my coworkers about getting a rifle. I didn't even know until today that he used a .22.'
It was a misunderstanding. - popefugu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This has all happened before and it will all happen again.
For those of us who lived through Columbine (over a television set from two time-zones away), this is nothing new. In 1999, almost immediately after the Littleton shooting, schools across the country enacted "zero-tolerance" policies, limiting the students' freedom of expression. Black clothing was "discouraged," particularly black coats, since the Littleton kids had dressed in all black and referred to themselves as the "trenchcoat mafia." - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Who do you think buys into alarmism and sensationalism? The majority. The problem here is that everyone insists on sameness among the population. People who are different are targeted. It has everything to do with the majority.
- ElcyionCoire, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4None of this is about the "majority", it's all about Bush's terror-spinning propoganda. terrorists are supposed to be everywhere... it was only a matter of time before we not only feared an unkown enemy, but also feared our fellow americans.
This is a god damned shame. -
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