Written by nikarg on 05.02.2021 at 00:05

This thread will remain open as long as people refrain from insults and personal attacks.

I understand, it's just that this topic has already brought out a shitstorm or two.

FYI, the comment above yours calls someone "certifiably retarded".

Written by WorpeX on 04.02.2021 at 06:36

Written by Metal Spartan on 03.02.2021 at 21:59

Hansi is a coward for not standing by his good friend of 30 years. Without getting too political, instead of immediately dismissing Jon Schaffer as a lunatic, people really should be questioning why and how we got to this point in the U.S. Although polling is unreliable, in this case I do believe that 89% of people in this country are fed up or do not like the direction this country is headed. That tells you something. Hope Jon can recover from this and come out with more awesome music.

Instead of just making up numbers, you could take the real numbers. 51.3% of the US population, some 81 million people are actually pretty happy with the direction this country is going in. Oh wait, that doesn't support your made up claims.

I could not disagree with this claim more. This takes the premise that our democracies are perfect, that every one has the possibility to express they true, sincere opinions on everything and that the result is always a good representation of the population.

However, this is not the case. The options we can chose from are very limited. Even in France (where I vote) where we always have 10-12 parties represented in presidential elections, I feel that no one is truly representing my opinions. And in 2017, our president won just because the population massively voted AGAINST an extreme right party, not for him. It meant in NO WAY that 60% of our population was happy with the result nor the way the country is run.

So while I agree that making up this 89% number is a bad idea, using the election results and claim that it represents the amount of people who are "happy" with it also feels very wrong to me.

Written by Liafev on 05.02.2021 at 16:17

I could not disagree with this claim more. This takes the premise that our democracies are perfect, that every one has the possibility to express they true, sincere opinions on everything and that the result is always a good representation of the population.

However, this is not the case. The options we can chose from are very limited. Even in France (where I vote) where we always have 10-12 parties represented in presidential elections, I feel that no one is truly representing my opinions. And in 2017, our president won just because the population massively voted AGAINST an extreme right party, not for him. It meant in NO WAY that 60% of our population was happy with the result nor the way the country is run.

So while I agree that making up this 89% number is a bad idea, using the election results and claim that it represents the amount of people who are "happy" with it also feels very wrong to me.

That's a great point! I hate the 2 party system in the US. I voted 3rd party in 2016 and while I liked the candidate I voted for at the time, I did ultimately regret my decision later. It definitely felt like I threw my vote away instead of participating in the election. Had Hilary ran again in 2020 I would have voted for her and while I wouldn't have necessarily been happy had she won, I definitely would still have been happy that Trump was out of office.

Written by nikarg on 03.02.2021 at 19:47

Written by Scornmare on 03.02.2021 at 17:08

There is no death penalty in Russia. Perhaps you should learn more about another country before spreading a lie publicly.

As far as I know, Russia has implemented a moratorium on capital punishment since 1996. However, the death penalty is still included in the current penal code of the Russian Federation for certain crimes. Am I wrong? Because if I am not, Bad English is not spreading a lie, he said "might", he did not express a certainty. If a country retains the death penalty in law, even though there is a moratorium, there is always a possibility that this moratorium can be lifted.

In Russia, the death penalty is included in the criminal code, according to which sentences are imposed. But in fact, the death penalty is impossible under the article of the Constitution, which cannot be changed even in a referendum. To execute a person in Russia, you need to abolish the current Constitution and adopt a new one. So everything that is said here with the postscript "might" is just speculation. By this logic, I can say that in any country they can abolish the Constitution and introduce the death penalty. I understand that many people live with the idea of ​​Russia as an empire of evil and a dictatorship, but we do not kill or eat people here.

Written by Bad English on 03.02.2021 at 21:51

Written by nikarg on 03.02.2021 at 19:47

Written by Scornmare on 03.02.2021 at 17:08

There is no death penalty in Russia. Perhaps you should learn more about another country before spreading a lie publicly.

As far as I know, Russia has implemented a moratorium on capital punishment since 1996. However, the death penalty is still included in the current penal code of the Russian Federation for certain crimes. Am I wrong? Because if I am not, Bad English is not spreading a lie, he said "might", he did not express a certainty. If a country retains the death penalty in law, even though there is a moratorium, there is always a possibility that this moratorium can be lifted.

I said might and yes they still have it, but USA did not arrest Baiden supporters, but in Russia Navalny was sentenced, Belarus brutally abuse protesters.... Its a difference. Peaceful protests, and I believe in Russia they can open life fire if such things happen in cremlin of Putin palace. Just saying... And I don't wanna go much on politics, and provoke...

Yes, those who supported Biden were not arrested. Like many of those who ransacked shops and private property during the summer protests. Not to mention, someone could blame you on social media with absolutely no evidence and thereby ruin your life and career.

Well, if we talk about the fact that someone there would open fire on people in the Kremlin ... It's like if I said that you have churches on fire at every step in Norway. Absolute speculation.

Your ideas about another country are based on rather primitive propaganda.

Written by Starvynth on 04.02.2021 at 01:20

Written by nikarg on 03.02.2021 at 19:47

As far as I know, Russia has implemented a moratorium on capital punishment since 1996. However, the death penalty is still included in the current penal code of the Russian Federation for certain crimes. Am I wrong? Because if I am not, Bad English is not spreading a lie, he said "might", he did not express a certainty. If a country retains the death penalty in law, even though there is a moratorium, there is always a possibility that this moratorium can be lifted.

Thank you for shedding some light on this matter. I would even go as far as to say that the death penalty has never really been suspended in Russia, it has only been given a new name: governmentally authorized assassinations. The list of those sentenced to death is pretty long (Alexander Litwinenko, Anna Politkowskaja, Julija and Sergej Skirpal, Alexej Nawalny, Juri Schtschekotschichin, Selimchan Changoschiwili...) and even if one does not believe that every sentence was passed by Putin himself or approved within the walls of the Kremil, the accumulation of these and similar cases in the years after 1996 is more than striking.

But let's get back to topic...
I'd say that Hansi's decision to terminate the cooperation with Schaffer was necessary, justified and proportionate. It's not just Hansi's personal reputation being at stake, holding on to Schaffer would in the long run also harm Hansi's family environment (AFAIK he's married with one son) and affect Blind Guardian's future success. I believe that unquestioning loyalty to long-time friends is a most admirable trait, but if the question is whether to be loyal to a militant Oath Keepers nutcase or to your fellow band members who did not invade the Capitol, then the answer should be very clear.

Do not forget that Putin personally ordered the assassination of John F. Kennedy)
I will not argue with an expert on domestic politics of this level from Germany.

WorpeX- I probably only trust 5% of politicians and they are definitely NOT democrats. Also that 51.3% you say who supposedly voted for the demented, corrupt, 50-year career politician Beijing Burisma Biden is veeeeerry questionable with all the evidence of fraud that is out there that judges for some reason refuse to look at (maybe they're being threatened?), but that's a whole other conversation for another place. I'd rather talk metal.🤘

Written by Scornmare on 05.02.2021 at 17:52

Written by Bad English on 03.02.2021 at 21:51

Written by nikarg on 03.02.2021 at 19:47

Written by Scornmare on 03.02.2021 at 17:08

There is no death penalty in Russia. Perhaps you should learn more about another country before spreading a lie publicly.

As far as I know,
Yes, those who supported Biden were not arrested. Like many of those who ransacked shops and private property during the summer protests. Not to mention, someone could blame you on social media with absolutely no evidence and thereby ruin your life and career.

Well, if we talk about the fact that someone there would open fire on people in the Kremlin ... It's like if I said that you have churches on fire at every step in Norway. Absolute speculation.

Your ideas about another country are based on rather primitive propaganda.

May I ask where are you from?

Written by WorpeX on 05.02.2021 at 17:01


That's a great point! I hate the 2 party system in the US. I voted 3rd party in 2016 and while I liked the candidate I voted for at the time, I did ultimately regret my decision later. It definitely felt like I threw my vote away instead of participating in the election. Had Hilary ran again in 2020 I would have voted for her and while I wouldn't have necessarily been happy had she won, I definitely would still have been happy that Trump was out of office.

Yeah strategic voting is also a big issue .. And it gives polls way too much influence on elections because people just vote for the candidate that can win rather than the one they really want.

I've recently actually been super interested in voting systems actually, and I realised that there are others ways to vote that would express the citizens' opinions way better. My favourite one by very far being this one:
https://blog.open-agora.com/en/understanding-majority-judgement-polling-in-slack/

I realise it's not too easy to grasp so it would take time to introduce for country-wide elections, starting by a long phase of explanation. But basically here's the idea:
Instead of picking one candidate only, one can give a "grade" to all candidates. Then the winner is the candidate which has the best median.

The advantage is that it kills strategic voting since you can give a grade to all candidates, so you could have given your candidate a 5/5, Hillary 3/5 and Trump 0/5.
The other advantage is that at the end of the vote, we do not just have a winner and a looser, but a rather granular picture of the electors' opinons, we could see how many people actually find the winner amazing or just okish and so on ..

I hope this system could be implemented everywhere someday.

Written by Liafev on 05.02.2021 at 19:31

Yeah strategic voting is also a big issue .. And it gives polls way too much influence on elections because people just vote for the candidate that can win rather than the one they really want.

I've recently actually been super interested in voting systems actually, and I realised that there are others ways to vote that would express the citizens' opinions way better. My favourite one by very far being this one:
https://blog.open-agora.com/en/understanding-majority-judgement-polling-in-slack/

I realise it's not too easy to grasp so it would take time to introduce for country-wide elections, starting by a long phase of explanation. But basically here's the idea:
Instead of picking one candidate only, one can give a "grade" to all candidates. Then the winner is the candidate which has the best median.

The advantage is that it kills strategic voting since you can give a grade to all candidates, so you could have given your candidate a 5/5, Hillary 3/5 and Trump 0/5.
The other advantage is that at the end of the vote, we do not just have a winner and a looser, but a rather granular picture of the electors' opinons, we could see how many people actually find the winner amazing or just okish and so on ..

I hope this system could be implemented everywhere someday.

Not the only system that is just "1 vote 1 party", but almost all of them are better than what's currently in place. But the two parties are quite ok with the way things are so I don't expect any change.

Written by JoHn Doe on 05.02.2021 at 19:38

^ can we get back on the music, please

This thread is not so much about music would say. It's more about political opinions (and Hansi distancing himself from stupid ways to express political opinions).

Written by RaduP on 05.02.2021 at 19:37

Not the only system that is just "1 vote 1 party", but almost all of them are better than what's currently in place. But the two parties are quite ok with the way things are so I don't expect any change.

I wouldn't say it's "ok" actually. I think there are maany people who feel misrepresented by their politicians, and this two parties system just allow the voters to chose the other party when one did shit, though they know both do shit anyway. At least with majority judgement, we could give bad grades to everyone, and with many parties, we would maybe have a good alternative option amongst 5-10.

Written by Metal Spartan on 05.02.2021 at 00:57

Written by aeonnumb on 04.02.2021 at 21:33

Written by Metal Spartan on 04.02.2021 at 09:15

WorpeX and Lanthros: believe whatever the hell you want.

Traitors like Jon belong in jail. Hansi did the right thing like every sane person would do.

Traitors like Jon? If you wanna talk about traitors, why don't you mention the 95% of corrupt and career politicians in Washington (including Biden, the Democrats and most "Republicans") who have sold out our country, who are lining their pockets and pretend to be a friend of the people? These weasels are NOT your friends. They make people reliant on the government so they can have power over YOU. That is not America.
A lot of metal bands who go the political route talk about fighting against corrupt govt. Surprised to see quite a few people on this site having such high approval of our politicians.
Btw Worpex, polls have showed that around 90% of people in the U.S. are unhappy with our leaders. Nothing made up...look it up.

Whataboutism is a deflection mechanism when you don't have any arguments on the actual issue which is that a mob of loonies stormed the capitol in order to terrorize and kill politicians form both sides, because they believed Trump's lies about the elections. No one from the people you mention did any of these things, so yeah your points are irrelevant and do not answer the main issue, which is why Jon will spend years behind bars.

Written by Liafev on 05.02.2021 at 19:41

Written by JoHn Doe on 05.02.2021 at 19:38

^ can we get back on the music, please

This thread is not so much about music would say. It's more about political opinions (and Hansi distancing himself from stupid ways to express political opinions).

two pages of discussion for this predictable news?!

Written by Metal Spartan on 05.02.2021 at 01:02

Written by Druss on 05.02.2021 at 00:22

That's a damn shame, relistening to III for the MSA made me appreciate once more how much I love that album and the band in general. Understandable tho.

At first I thought III was their worst album, but it is slowly getting to the point where I love it now. Dark Side of Her Majesty and Split are absolutely great songs.

Agreed, at first I thought some of the songs were a bit ordinary, but its grown so much on me, I pretty much enjoy every song now. Its certainly better than their second for me, and probably on par with their first now in my mind, if not better.

Quote:

Written by aeonnumb on 05.02.2021 at 19:59

Whataboutism is a deflection mechanism when you don't have any arguments on the actual issue which is that a mob of loonies stormed the capitol in order to terrorize and kill politicians form both sides, because they believed Trump's lies about the elections. No one from the people you mention did any of these things, so yeah your points are irrelevant and do not answer the main issue, which is why Jon will spend years behind bars.

Call it a deflection mechanism all you want. What I said is relevant to the subject on who is a traitor to this country and who is not. Did you know there is video of law enforcement actually opening the doors and letting the protesters into the Capitol? Jon went into the Capitol with bear spray which is even less damaging than pepper spray. Definitely didn't go in with the intention of killing anyone.

The 2nd amendment was put there in order for the people to keep an out-of-control tyrannical govt in check and to hold corrupt politicians accountable for their actions, even to arrest them if those in the system refuse to do their duty and are only looking for their own interests and power. I'd say Jon, with his "lethal" bear spray, was holding the right people accountable. We're talking about politicians who allowed and even encouraged BLM and Anqueefa (Antifa) riots, who were taking their anger out on businesses and regular citizens, across the U.S. to happen over the whole summer during a time when businesses and people were already hurting from draconian lockdowns. These politicians have blood on their hands. And these same politicians are saying Trump incited violence? Even when he called for them to peacefully protest when they reach outside the Capitol area?

How much more do they think citizens are gonna take? Is it really THAT surprising that the Capitol breach happened?

Btw, call them lies all you want. There are 1000s of affidavits, video proof, proof of dead people voting, illegals voting, out-of-state people voting, ballot systems that can be hacked into (there was a special on that today that shows there was 100% proof the computer systems were rigged) to show that there was MAJOR fraud in this election. Again, judges for reasons unknown refuse to look at the evidence.

Damn, so much for not getting into the politics...

Out of control tyrannical government??? where did you see that. Again, Jon will probably go to jail for what he did. You can read the charges yourself. Keep deflecting.

I'm liking this.

Written by aeonnumb on 06.02.2021 at 01:36

Out of control tyrannical government??? where did you see that. Again, Jon will probably go to jail for what he did. You can read the charges yourself. Keep deflecting.

Thought that was common knowledge. Do a search for "reason for the 2nd amendment" and you'll get your answer.

Keep deflecting, eh?... and you can continue going the leftist route and accusing me of something I'm not doing.

I encourage anyone who is still reading these comments to watch this short video. These are the politicians and media people who are the true traitors to the Republic that Schaffer was talking about:
https://rumble.com/vdclld-trumps-vs-left-wing-democratic-incitement-what-the-media-wont-show-you.html

No thanks, conspiracy youtube videos and facebook groups is usually where these deluded people get all there news and info from.

Written by Metal Spartan on 06.02.2021 at 02:05

Written by aeonnumb on 06.02.2021 at 01:36

Out of control tyrannical government??? where did you see that. Again, Jon will probably go to jail for what he did. You can read the charges yourself. Keep deflecting.

Thought that was common knowledge. Do a search for "reason for the 2nd amendment" and you'll get your answer.

Keep deflecting, eh?... and you can continue going the leftist route and accusing me of something I'm not doing.

you live in a parallel universe and you cannot address a single argument on the issue. You deflect and throw conspiracy theories. I m sorry i m losing my time. If you think you can persuade anyone with such logic from the gutter. I m not considering myself being left under any circumstances

Quote:

Written by aeonnumb on 06.02.2021 at 16:04

you live in a parallel universe and you cannot address a single argument on the issue. You deflect and throw conspiracy theories. I m sorry i m losing my time. If you think you can persuade anyone with such logic from the gutter. I m not considering myself being left under any circumstances

Nope, you made a statement saying Schaffer is a traitor...I addressed that. In typical leftist fashion, though, when you don't get the answer you like, you demonize and accuse the other person of doing something or being something they're not, like a conspiracy theorist. This even after I just presented facts that YOU cannot address. You're right, with you it's a waste of time. If there are still others with more logic reading these comments, they'll at least consider what I'm saying.

I considered what you say and think you are a conspiracy theorist. I told you what Jon did and what the official court charges are (which clearly making him a traitor) and you started on the conspiracy theories, BLM, that i m a leftie etc. How on earth you addressed this??

Reading the laziness and stupidity of some people in this thread is just tiring.

I don't understand why Hansi, a man who has called Jon a friend for almost 30 years, is just throwing said friend under the bus. I mean he's had to have known Jon's beliefs before all of this, so why not just bail on the "crazy political nutjob" years ago?

Written by Aries Rising on 07.02.2021 at 14:02

I don't understand why Hansi, a man who has called Jon a friend for almost 30 years, is just throwing said friend under the bus. I mean he's had to have known Jon's beliefs before all of this, so why not just bail on the "crazy political nutjob" years ago?

Because Jon didn't act on his political belief in such a way before.

None of what I said is conspiracy theory...it's conspiracy fact. Everything I mentioned, including BLM, pertained to the subject of traitors. You say you're not a leftie, but with the way you're talking, you're definitely not a rightie or even a "centrist." You believe Jon's a traitor while I think he's a patriotic American. Of the 6 charges he was accused of, I'd say most of them are bullshit. It still is questionable if he actually used the bear spray, but if he did, that should only get him a "bear" minimum sentence since it is not that harmful to humans. If he used it on police, yeah I'd say that is pretty dumb, but that hardly makes him a traitor as you stated. He should only use it on corrupt politicians...and they'd be getting off easy.

After watching Schaffer's mini-interview as he was marching toward the Capitol, it's nearly impossible to deny anything he said about what is happening in this country.

Go back to school? Nah, I prefer not to see these poor ignorant kids getting brainwashed in front of me by some liberal professor. I do believe you need to go back and read the Constitution and why it was written though.

Every day I wake up and I am grateful that I'm not an American.

Written by RaduP on 07.02.2021 at 19:29

Every day I wake up and I am grateful that I'm not an American.

At its core, America is a great country, which is why so many people from other countries want to live here. Land of freedom and opportunity as they call it...unless leftists start taking over...which they have.

Do I agree with Schaffer's actions ? No, regardless of my political view I think they were stupid and reckless. I don't think he was aware of the impact of his actions.

Would I stop being Schaffer's friend because of this ? No, I wouldn't. There is nothing wrong about having different views. That is not what friendship is about.

That said, It's a weird move by Hansi but he is free to do whatever he feels its the best for him.

Will I stop admiring both Hansi and Schaffer's work ? individually or as a group ? No. Music and Politics have their own places and people shouldn't mix both. Hansi decided to mix both, which I think it's a mistake.