Pop Quiz:

Which former president of the French Go Federation is standing as a candidate for le Front National?

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North Lecale

Could've been worse: A current president of the French Go Federation.

I really favour political neutrality for any sports organization. Even in the best case, a political affiliation could scare off (or annoy away) over a third of potential participants. Sport is supposed to bring people together.

Still, it's a bit unexpected to join such a divisive party. I'd thought the culture of western go was all about including anyone at all, regardless of ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability, nationality or culture.

Every political party is divisive.

I firmly believe that one of our big problems in society is that we treat politicians as somehow above us, and as people whose opinions on every topic under the sun is somehow important, when in the vast majority of cases they're no brighter than the rest of us.

Most of them are above us only on the megalomaniac any psychopath index. I see nothing wrong with the premise of this thread. Good riddance if you ask me: the go world does not need such people around.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

Well, for those who don't know, the FN is the most divisive of the large French political parties. They have historically hated on Jews, though they've migrated recently to blaming muslims instead. They're not divisive just because they have a political platform.

Of course, they're careful not to say anything which could get them convicted for incitement. I wouldn't want to give them the benefit of doubt, though. They're quite clear what kind of people they want in charge of France, and it's a bit more narrowly defined than just "french citizens".

They might be perfectly legal, but I really don't like them.

That said, it's quite likely that the person who is the subject of this thread is in fact still able to show up and participate in go events. Being inclusive means being inclusive, after all. As weird and uncomfortable as that may seem. I've never heard of anyone being banned from go for their political leanings, anyway.

Thanks; I didn't know.

I think I am right in saying that nobody, absolutely nobody, realised that he had these political leanings when he was elected - not that there is particularly much crossover between national politics and Go politics

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North Lecale

No matter what your personal opinion of the FN is, I find it very disturbing that a go player is being publicly denounced for his political opinions in this forum. I think our forum rules quite explicitly forbid that.

Please don't start mixing go and politics.

Do they really? I think there are rules of that nature about forum members, but is this go player a member?

It would seem rather strange to me to allow the denouncing of people who can't defend themselves here, but allow it of those who can respond.

Btw Java, why have you chosen the colour of your signature to be one which clashes so horribly with this forum's background?

Why, because I like lime green of course. I thought that the rules were no longer enforced, given the topics I have seen some admins discussing. I will change the thread title to let readers make up their own minds on the merits of this "political first".

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North Lecale

I like gravy, but I don't pour it on a cake.

»Dem Faschismus keinen Fußbreit!«

That’s German and says “Not a foot’s width for fascism!”.

I’m all for “denouncing” fascists, nazis, evildoers of any kind, everywhere. If they want to change their ways, I’m all for helping them out as well, but otherwise they are enemies of all humanity.

In my opinion you are doing exactly this with your comment that, IMNSHO, pretends that there can be to separate persons in one — the Go player and the person with opinions.


And …


Have you actually ever tried it?

I’ve once (accidentally) tried salt potato w/ vanilla sauce — and to my astonishment it was delicious

Some also don’t like the British meat w/ peppermint sauce … I’ll take the mint sauce but leave away the meat

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“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali ★ Play a slooooow correspondence game with me on OGS?

Wow, you sure are quick to condemn. What exactly has this person done to be labelled a nazi and enemy of the humanity?

The Front National is the third largest political party in France. They certainly are a right wing party and against immigration, does that makes them enemies of all humanity?



Some things are relevant in some contexts and not in others. I thought this announcement out of the blue to be quite distasteful and not relevant to go. Apparently you thought that was useful information. Let's agree to disagree.

Posts in the Off Topic forum are not supposed to be about Go.

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North Lecale

There are two issues here

1) we are not supposed o discuss politics on the board, even when the discussion is simply stating obvious points such as: anti-Semites and racists have no place in civilized society. I agree with this point, and the thread should probably be closed for that reason.

2) A supposed problem with denouncing anti-Semites behind their back or without listening to their responses. This is just silly. I believe in free speech and even do not approve of the French laws concerning racial hatred. But we are under no obligation to give time to Le Pen and his ilk.

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Occupy Babel!