Nerds. Nerds EVERYWHERE...

[Parody Accountant]

:teasing-binkybaby:  :moon:

[comhcinc]

They did the same thing to Hulk Hogan.

Lifelong Hulkamaniac, they were dead to me then. Though I'm glad to see after all the wailing/gnashing of teeth after Jennifer Lawrence et al were hacked was not a genuine change of heart, but the usual hypocrisy from these spineless twats.

Yes they did but this is worst in my opinion. Rollins is just started his career (in the big show anyway) and something like this could ruin him before he ever gets started.

[Southern]

Anita Sarkeesian gets cameo role in TowerFall game
The controversial feminist critic will appear in an expansion pack to the successful indie archery game

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... rfall-game

Indie games are shit and they will help destroying the gaming industry, which is totally deserving total anihilation (see: rampant microtransactions, shitty games that all look that they were all cloned, general fuckwittery of game journos, etc.). The thing needs to die and reborn anew.

[deLurch]

Twice this year the skepchick site has called for new writers for their 'sister sites'
"The gig requires a moderate time commitment and offers no pay, except for (possibly) the people’s ovation and fame forever."

You would think that a regular hemorrhage of writers, plus the dissatisfaction of Elyse who wrote about bullying and being screwd out of pay & opportunities by Rebecca and Amy over the years, and the former Teen skepchick who blogged how bad it was to write for no pay and be unrecognized for the effort, they would quit bothering.

Most people don't have the time, energy and talent to put into writing quality blogs on a single subject without pay. Ophelia Benson's copy-pasta blog is an excellent example. She produces a lot, but it is mostly other people's work. Rebecca W. has a tough time coming up with content of her own. She couldn't keep the Scientific America gig going without looking over the shoulder of the student in front of her to copy their work. She barely keeps up with her own video commitments.

For some people, the opportunity and extra exposure might be good, IF they are any good as a temporary stepping stone. But the Skepchick sister sites might not have sufficient traffic to make it worth while.

[James Caruthers]

Indie games are shit and they will help destroying the gaming industry, which is totally deserving total anihilation (see: rampant microtransactions, shitty games that all look that they were all cloned, general fuckwittery of game journos, etc.). The thing needs to die and reborn anew.

So much of this.

Indie gaming used to be Kenta Cho and all this weird shit you had to download and run through translator patches and maybe you could enjoy something weird and fun. The cream rose to the top because it was such a fucking pain getting this stuff running that everyone learned quickly what games were worth it.

Also, most indie games were FREE because they were made by people who just wanted to make games.

Now, I'm not saying that it's bad that indie games are more available or that it's bad that the creators can now make money from them. What I am saying is you have to look at HOW indie games are more available and what kinds of indie games are making money.

Namely, shitty derivative trash that exploits retro hipster nostalgia to sell, and it's on a system (Steam Greenlight) with zero quality control to protect consumers from being scammed by lazy hacks who promise the moon and deliver nothing.

The entire alpha system on Steam needs to be destroyed with an admin/consumer protection hammer of justice. Very few games that SELL FOR MONEY in Alpha on steam end up being close to as good as they're supposed to.

In the old days, if an indie game was unfinished, it would be free and you'd be essentially playtesting for free. Now, you're paying your own money for the privilege of playtesting games for the dev.

Which perfectly mirrors what is happening in AAA gaming, by the way. How many patches did Dark Souls 2 have, again? I have to sit down for a 100 MB patch almost every time I boot the game up after not playing for maybe a month. But at least that's better than all the unfinished AAA games released essentially in an alpha or beta state which were NEVER patched.

Yeah, people are paying $60 for the privilege of playtesting video games. Fucking disgraceful.

Burn down the entire industry, I've got more than enough games stored up to play for the next 20 years. Playstation Classics has been pretty awesome though. $6 for a playstation RPG that used to be $100 back in the day? Yes please! Hopefully they'll get Valkyrie Profile on there eventually, since the PSP is a bit small for such a massive game.

[deLurch]

Here is a little something to help you deal with mixed up weather.

http://cdn29.us1.fansshare.com/pictures ... 209196.jpg

I don't see any point.

[franc]

Anita Sarkeesian gets cameo role in TowerFall game
The controversial feminist critic will appear in an expansion pack to the successful indie archery game

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... rfall-game

Indie games are shit and they will help destroying the gaming industry, which is totally deserving total anihilation (see: rampant microtransactions, shitty games that all look that they were all cloned, general fuckwittery of game journos, etc.). The thing needs to die and reborn anew.

Which is why I am still perfectly happy playing Doom.

[Darth Cynic]

Now, you're paying your own money for the privilege of playtesting games for the dev.

Which perfectly mirrors what is happening in AAA gaming, by the way. How many patches did Dark Souls 2 have, again? I have to sit down for a 100 MB patch almost every time I boot the game up after not playing for maybe a month. But at least that's better than all the unfinished AAA games released essentially in an alpha or beta state which were NEVER patched.

Yeah, people are paying $60 for the privilege of playtesting video games. Fucking disgraceful.

The laziness is due to the increasing ease at which consoles can access the internet. Before common console net access a developer pretty much had to have the game working because there was no fixing it later. Now they have the option to rush for release and the money because they can fix the mess later as and when the bugs are found for em.

My pet hate was what Gran Turismo turned into with the fifth installment on, however, its sales seem to be falling because of their attitude.

GT5 took shortcuts like a list of cars for which the majority were ported from the PS2 game, so were some of the tracks and they all look it next to the PS3 level graphics. They cut down the main game. Despite all the corner cutting it was still bug ridden and requiring large patches from early on as the customers became unwitting pay for the privilege beta-testers.

Unlike some titles like GTAV most patches seemed to be fixes and not adding anything new.


Never got GT6 but it continued using the PS2 cars and tracks. If I recall right it still managed a 1Gb patch out of the gate and the developers were signalling more large patches to come, for instance they knew the vehicular sounds were rubbish prior to release. Worse, however, they had scaled back in-game prize cars and credits on top of a narrow single-player game while introducing the option to buy credits to speed things up; micro-transactions in a AAA full price game.

Micros in a full price game.

Now other games have them for new skins and gear if you want them, however, GT6 is a new breed where the MTs seem to be tied to progress like they are in free-to-play games involving MTs but where you already paid full price.

[jugheadnaut]

Anita Sarkeesian gets cameo role in TowerFall game
The controversial feminist critic will appear in an expansion pack to the successful indie archery game

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... rfall-game

You'd think if they really wanted to honor her they would do more than a quarter-assed job of making the character look like her.

http://i.guim.co.uk/static/w-620/h--/q- ... 20x612.png

Yup, Anita's a swarthy women with short wavy hair and hazel eyes.
http://i.guim.co.uk/static/w-620/h--/q- ... 0x612.jpeg

All they did was take a character that looks nothing like her and added hoop earrings and a plaid...cape. Isn't that last choice sexist by Anita's definition? They substituted a loose fitting unisex plaid shirt with a cape that allows the character to show off an hourglass figure (with a spectacular thigh gap) in skin tight pants.

I'd play an archery game where you could shoot arrows at Anita, though. Whoops, was that a death threat? OK, I'd play an archery game where you could shoot arrows at Anita, but when you hit her, she wouldn't be wounded but the article of clothing that you hit would come off. Whoops, was that a rape threat? (Seriously though, I'd play that game. ;) ) OK, how about an archery game that when you hit her, she wouldn't be damaged (it is, after all, a game) but she would quote you feminist dogma ("in this game, I am being acted upon, so I am an object...") and summon a dumpy white knight to attack you. Is that the compromise? :)

[rayshul]

Twice this year the skepchick site has called for new writers for their 'sister sites'
"The gig requires a moderate time commitment and offers no pay, except for (possibly) the people’s ovation and fame forever."

You would think that a regular hemorrhage of writers, plus the dissatisfaction of Elyse who wrote about bullying and being screwd out of pay & opportunities by Rebecca and Amy over the years, and the former Teen skepchick who blogged how bad it was to write for no pay and be unrecognized for the effort, they would quit bothering.

Maybe this is a job for THE SLYMEPIT!!!

[jugheadnaut]

This has to be the most masturbatory article I've ever read (and that's saying a lot) on the subject of feminism:

http://mic.com/articles/88277/23-ways-f ... ce-for-men

Basically, everything good about the modern world we now live in is because of feminism.

The Poe just gets Poe-ier...

Since Zerlina Maxwell so brilliantly explained how...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/postevery ... pe-claims/

If the explanation is so brilliant how come the comments on Maxwell's article are literally unanimously in disagreement (disclaimer: I only enacted the labor to check the first fifty), and most in quite strong terms. Granted, popularity or lack thereof is not proof, or even particularly good evidence. But if she explained it so brilliantly, shouldn't there be at least one out of fifty commenters that gets her point and defends her? These people have no idea how deeply in the minority they are.

The Mic article gives examples, mostly valid, where the move to social equality for women has benefited society. And the brand of feminism that focuses on social equality deserves a lot of credit for this. But these advances have nothing to do with Zerlina Maxwell-style feminism.

[guest]

Twice this year the skepchick site has called for new writers for their 'sister sites'
"The gig requires a moderate time commitment and offers no pay, except for (possibly) the people’s ovation and fame forever."

You would think that a regular hemorrhage of writers, plus the dissatisfaction of Elyse who wrote about bullying and being screwd out of pay & opportunities by Rebecca and Amy over the years, and the former Teen skepchick who blogged how bad it was to write for no pay and be unrecognized for the effort, they would quit bothering.

Maybe this is a job for THE SLYMEPIT!!!

LOL. For no pay? no way.

Speaking of no pay - the SGU no longer have a link to Rebecca Watson's Skeptical Robot merch site.

In fact, it's looking rather bare with no SGU merch. YouTube videos must be more profitable, but despite the problesm with George Hrab, she's still selling his shirts.

[JackSkeptic]

]Since Zerlina Maxwell so brilliantly explained how...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/postevery ... pe-claims/

[/quote]

If the explanation is so brilliant how come the comments on Maxwell's article are literally unanimously in disagreement (disclaimer: I only enacted the labor to check the first fifty), and most in quite strong terms. Granted, popularity or lack thereof is not proof, or even particularly good evidence. But if she explained it so brilliantly, shouldn't there be at least one out of fifty commenters that gets her point and defends her? These people have no idea how deeply in the minority they are.

The Mic article gives examples, mostly valid, where the move to social equality for women has benefited society. And the brand of feminism that focuses on social equality deserves a lot of credit for this. But these advances have nothing to do with Zerlina Maxwell-style feminism.[/quote]

They live in bubbles and echo chambers so I do not think they realise how deeply unethical they come over, which is coincidentally a point I made at Nugent's earlier. They are typical dogmatists, the censorship they routinely employ hurts them as well but they fail to realise that.

It's heartening to see all the negative responses she got.

EDIT: quotes are messed up.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

We've watched the two first episodes of Better Call Saul, and so far we really like it. A few familiar characters, a few hints at the future, and Gilligan's excellent writing. That should be one hell of a show, if it goes the way of Breaking Bad.

[franc]

Just a highly pissed off note to AsiaPac folks -

Don't ever fucking deal with http://kogan.com/

aka Arthur Daley Electronics.

Cunts. Just plain cunts.

[rayshul]

#zerlinamaxwellrapedme

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

#zerlinamaxwellrapedme

I just read her piece, and subsequent comments.


WTF?!? This is fucking insane!

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Mind you, it stays in the Marcotte range of insanity, so SNAFU, as usual.

[Shatterface as Guest]

Chapel Hill shootings

You can bet this story will be spun into 'all atheists are murderers' by the same people who insist Islam is a religion of peace:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 38126.html

Shatterface

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Chapel Hill shootings

You can bet this story will be spun into 'all atheists are murderers' by the same people who insist Islam is a religion of peace:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 38126.html

Shatterface

Da fuck!!!

Okay, something's more than fucked up now. How do we distance ourselves from such fuckjobs?

[franc]

Chapel Hill shootings

You can bet this story will be spun into 'all atheists are murderers' by the same people who insist Islam is a religion of peace:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 38126.html

Shatterface

Da fuck!!!

Okay, something's more than fucked up now. How do we distance ourselves from such fuckjobs?

Who the fuck cares? Most serial/spree killers brand themselves "atheist", always have. Ask my uncle Vlad.

[Southern]

Indie games are shit and they will help destroying the gaming industry, which is totally deserving total anihilation (see: rampant microtransactions, shitty games that all look that they were all cloned, general fuckwittery of game journos, etc.). The thing needs to die and reborn anew.

So much of this.

Indie gaming used to be Kenta Cho and all this weird shit you had to download and run through translator patches and maybe you could enjoy something weird and fun. The cream rose to the top because it was such a fucking pain getting this stuff running that everyone learned quickly what games were worth it.

Also, most indie games were FREE because they were made by people who just wanted to make games.

Now, I'm not saying that it's bad that indie games are more available or that it's bad that the creators can now make money from them. What I am saying is you have to look at HOW indie games are more available and what kinds of indie games are making money.

Namely, shitty derivative trash that exploits retro hipster nostalgia to sell, and it's on a system (Steam Greenlight) with zero quality control to protect consumers from being scammed by lazy hacks who promise the moon and deliver nothing.

The entire alpha system on Steam needs to be destroyed with an admin/consumer protection hammer of justice. Very few games that SELL FOR MONEY in Alpha on steam end up being close to as good as they're supposed to.

In the old days, if an indie game was unfinished, it would be free and you'd be essentially playtesting for free. Now, you're paying your own money for the privilege of playtesting games for the dev.

Which perfectly mirrors what is happening in AAA gaming, by the way. How many patches did Dark Souls 2 have, again? I have to sit down for a 100 MB patch almost every time I boot the game up after not playing for maybe a month. But at least that's better than all the unfinished AAA games released essentially in an alpha or beta state which were NEVER patched.

Yeah, people are paying $60 for the privilege of playtesting video games. Fucking disgraceful.

Burn down the entire industry, I've got more than enough games stored up to play for the next 20 years. Playstation Classics has been pretty awesome though. $6 for a playstation RPG that used to be $100 back in the day? Yes please! Hopefully they'll get Valkyrie Profile on there eventually, since the PSP is a bit small for such a massive game.

Oh, God, yeah, the fucking broken, untested releases! I forgot about them. That fucking Skyrim for PS3, it was broken beyond belief, and Bethesda took their sweet time trying to fix the problem. I don't even know if they managed to fix it in the end. Indie games, of course, are the most egregious offenders.

And to think that people bashes NISA for releasing Ar Tonelico 2 with some unstranslated parts and a broken optional boss battle. Compared to what companies do nowdays, that was a top notch quality release. I swear, people gave shit to Victor Ireland (the ex-president of Working Designs) because his motto was "delays are temporary, mediocrity is eternal"; but WD's releases were amazing. Games could have a bug or two, but they were never broken, and their special editions were nothing short of amazing. You knew the games were released by people who cared. I'm calling it now: either the game industry brings some of that mentality back, or it will bury itself in the mountain of rubble of shitty indie shovelware games and overbudgedted AAA shooters.

[Southern]

Indie games are shit and they will help destroying the gaming industry, which is totally deserving total anihilation (see: rampant microtransactions, shitty games that all look that they were all cloned, general fuckwittery of game journos, etc.). The thing needs to die and reborn anew.

Which is why I am still perfectly happy playing Doom.

Compared to the sterile world of modern FPS, Doom is fucking amazing. No CoD can ever hope to have the same atmosphere. And the music.

[Southern]

Now, you're paying your own money for the privilege of playtesting games for the dev.

Which perfectly mirrors what is happening in AAA gaming, by the way. How many patches did Dark Souls 2 have, again? I have to sit down for a 100 MB patch almost every time I boot the game up after not playing for maybe a month. But at least that's better than all the unfinished AAA games released essentially in an alpha or beta state which were NEVER patched.

Yeah, people are paying $60 for the privilege of playtesting video games. Fucking disgraceful.

The laziness is due to the increasing ease at which consoles can access the internet. Before common console net access a developer pretty much had to have the game working because there was no fixing it later. Now they have the option to rush for release and the money because they can fix the mess later as and when the bugs are found for em.

My pet hate was what Gran Turismo turned into with the fifth installment on, however, its sales seem to be falling because of their attitude.

GT5 took shortcuts like a list of cars for which the majority were ported from the PS2 game, so were some of the tracks and they all look it next to the PS3 level graphics. They cut down the main game. Despite all the corner cutting it was still bug ridden and requiring large patches from early on as the customers became unwitting pay for the privilege beta-testers.

Unlike some titles like GTAV most patches seemed to be fixes and not adding anything new.


Never got GT6 but it continued using the PS2 cars and tracks. If I recall right it still managed a 1Gb patch out of the gate and the developers were signalling more large patches to come, for instance they knew the vehicular sounds were rubbish prior to release. Worse, however, they had scaled back in-game prize cars and credits on top of a narrow single-player game while introducing the option to buy credits to speed things up; micro-transactions in a AAA full price game.

Micros in a full price game.

Now other games have them for new skins and gear if you want them, however, GT6 is a new breed where the MTs seem to be tied to progress like they are in free-to-play games involving MTs but where you already paid full price.

Funny story about GT5: last month I fired it up again, because why not? The my brother noticed that there was a VW Bettle available for purchase. A VW Bettle! Wow, that's fucking amazing, it's a lovable car and my family owned two of them back when we were kids, so it had the nostalgia factor going on. So he run a couple of races to get the 65k credits to buy it... and it was a fucking DLC car.

Screw you, Poliphony Digital.

[Tribble]

One El Nino year it rained most of the winter, and my driveway didn't get washed away. I blame the highways contractor for this fiasco:)

When things go tits up, one's best bet is always to blame the local Government. So much more of a reliable source of the problem than any god or weather system.

The damage would have been moderate if not for the giant snowbanks that they created, which blocked the ditches, funneling all of the water down my driveway:)

And it's a private contractor, not the government. They do a shitty job on the road to maximize profit. Back in the day, they used to clear the ditches at least twice a winter, and flatten the snowbanks. Now they just leave it. The road is down to one lane because they didn't want to do a proper job clearing.

This is the fundamental problem whenever a traditional government service is taken over by private industry. And why government contracts, when well written, are incredibly detailed and specific. You can't just say 'clear the roads.' You've got to make sure it's clear the roads, shoulders, ditches, with snow banks being removed, etc.

And if you don't specify all that stuff, it won't get done. They'll just plow a single lane through the snow and create future problems. In the end, only the shady, do-as-little-as-possible contractor will benefit. Certainly not the County or whomever has contracted with them.

And, even if you do specify it, you've got to check them constantly because if you don't, they'll cheat.

[Southern]

Chapel Hill shootings

You can bet this story will be spun into 'all atheists are murderers' by the same people who insist Islam is a religion of peace:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 38126.html

Shatterface

Da fuck!!!

Okay, something's more than fucked up now. How do we distance ourselves from such fuckjobs?

Just don't be a fuckjob.

[franc]

This is the fundamental problem whenever a traditional government service is taken over by private industry. And why government contracts, when well written, are incredibly detailed and specific. You can't just say 'clear the roads.' You've got to make sure it's clear the roads, shoulders, ditches, with snow banks being removed, etc.

This is where US pseudo-libertarianism collapsed in an idiotic heap for me decades ago. From an unfinished blog that references two equal earthquakes. The difference is meddlesome building codes imposed by meddling governments -

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. -- Benjamin Franklin

Franklin's maxim has enormous value in critiquing social authoritarianism, not so much for anything to do with actual safety. It has also been reduced to trite cliche by overuse by the mindless parrots of what passes for US style libertarianism.

Consider for example the 2003 Bam, Iran earthquake as compared to the one in 1994 in Northridge, Los Angeles of slightly greater intensity -

earthquake - Bam - Los Angeles
magnitude - 6.6 - 6.7
death toll - 26,271 - 57
population - 97,000 - 9,280,600

It's pretty evident what can be achieved by sacrificing a little liberty - the right to build your house out of animal dung and straw if you damn well please in this instance - in actual benefit to the whole community you are a part of. Only the most bullet-headed and dogmatic libertarians will argue that building codes are a violation of personal rights. As annoying as they may seem to some, in this instance they translate to a fatality rate of around 27% to 0.0006% - or 45,000 to 1.

(US)libertarians fall into two categories for me. 1) Those genuinely and deliberately retarded for the sake of the faith and 2) freeloading, get rich quick, fuck the consequences parasites.

It is a loser's ideology for psychopaths.

[Tribble]

This has to be the most masturbatory article I've ever read (and that's saying a lot) on the subject of feminism:

http://mic.com/articles/88277/23-ways-f ... ce-for-men

Basically, everything good about the modern world we now live in is because of feminism.

The Poe just gets Poe-ier...

Since Zerlina Maxwell so brilliantly explained how...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/postevery ... pe-claims/

Fucking idiot.

http://i.imgur.com/kYbKq5x.png

http://i.imgur.com/o0ZSCkw.png

2-8% is "exceedingly rare"? You're either dishonest, or a fucking moron, or both. You lying fucking moron.

She made that last bit up. The FBI, when they first started in 1995 came up with 8%, but they were just starting their data gathering and hadn't refined the reporting procedures. By 1996, just a year later, as they got better reporting it went to 15%. HOWEVER, unfounded are only cases where the report is determined to be false. During the same period about one-third of the cases were closed via prosecution or exceptional means (you could extradite, the attacker died, etc.).

In between there is a HUGE gray area where the cases aren't closed and the 'victim' has refused to cooperate or they're being exceptionally vague and throwing up the red-flags that tend to indicate false reports. Yet those are not reported as false or as closed. They just sit there in limbo.

[franc]

This has to be the most masturbatory article I've ever read (and that's saying a lot) on the subject of feminism:

http://mic.com/articles/88277/23-ways-f ... ce-for-men

Basically, everything good about the modern world we now live in is because of feminism.

The Poe just gets Poe-ier...

Since Zerlina Maxwell so brilliantly explained how...

Just to be clear, idiot article never linked WashPo article, just cited Zerlina as an "expert". I fished out her WashPo gibberish for your amusement.

[paddybrown]

This is the fundamental problem whenever a traditional government service is taken over by private industry. And why government contracts, when well written, are incredibly detailed and specific. You can't just say 'clear the roads.' You've got to make sure it's clear the roads, shoulders, ditches, with snow banks being removed, etc.

And if you don't specify all that stuff, it won't get done. They'll just plow a single lane through the snow and create future problems. In the end, only the shady, do-as-little-as-possible contractor will benefit. Certainly not the County or whomever has contracted with them.

And, even if you do specify it, you've got to check them constantly because if you don't, they'll cheat.

Contracting out government services is the worst of all possible worlds. You get the complacency and inefficiency you always get with public services, where everybody knows they're getting paid no matter what, plus the corner-cutting and sharp practice of a private business trying to squeeze out as much profit as they can, plus corruption and patronage, not to mention incompetence, in the award of the contract, and the knowledge that the voters will blame the government, not the contractor, if it all goes wrong. You end up with the government propping up crap contractors who are either failing to do the job or fleecing the taxpayer (or both), rather than admit their policy was a disaster.

Anyway, glad it didn't turn out worse for you, AL.

[another lurker]

The Department of Highways does *not* hire private contractors for avalanche control along our major mountain passes.

They do it themselves, for obvious reasons.

[franc]

This is the fundamental problem whenever a traditional government service is taken over by private industry. And why government contracts, when well written, are incredibly detailed and specific. You can't just say 'clear the roads.' You've got to make sure it's clear the roads, shoulders, ditches, with snow banks being removed, etc.

And if you don't specify all that stuff, it won't get done. They'll just plow a single lane through the snow and create future problems. In the end, only the shady, do-as-little-as-possible contractor will benefit. Certainly not the County or whomever has contracted with them.

And, even if you do specify it, you've got to check them constantly because if you don't, they'll cheat.

Contracting out government services is the worst of all possible worlds. You get the complacency and inefficiency you always get with public services, where everybody knows they're getting paid no matter what, plus the corner-cutting and sharp practice of a private business trying to squeeze out as much profit as they can, plus corruption and patronage, not to mention incompetence, in the award of the contract, and the knowledge that the voters will blame the government, not the contractor, if it all goes wrong. You end up with the government propping up crap contractors who are either failing to do the job or fleecing the taxpayer (or both), rather than admit their policy was a disaster.

Anyway, glad it didn't turn out worse for you, AL.

You forgot the most important part - immunity from accountability. This is what calls for deregulation really amount to. No accountability.

US pseudolibertarians - because really, they have no interest in your personal liberty, so are oxymoronic and have no relation to libertarian origins (even mises.org wiki points that out) - want nothing other than the freedom to loot and pillage with zero risk of being held to account. That is what "freedom" means to them. They were, and are, a greater threat to civil and free society than Marxists/Leninists/Maoists could ever dream of. A cult on malignant par with SJWs.

[franc]

The Department of Highways does *not* yet hire private contractors for avalanche control along our major mountain passes.

They do it themselves, for obvious reasons.

Your typo corrected in bold.

[TedDahlberg]

I think PC Gamer has become sentient, and is trying to commit suicide...

http://i.imgur.com/vBVjS9I.jpg

[another lurker]

There was a big push a few years ago, during the Enron scandal, to deregulate the energy utilities up here. It all fell apart when Enron did. And ages ago, our Provincial Premier wanted to privatize every single thing to do with highway maintenance and building. That didn't fly, either.

But as franc says 'yet'. The contractors won't stop trying.

This reminds me of BarnOwl's link from earlier this week, regarding the Washington lawmaker who stated that a regulation requiring that people who handle food wash their hands was impinging on their freedom, and that businesses who didn't require handwashing from employees could just put up a sign saying as much. Of course...that too would be a regulation! The whole point is to NOT have any regulations, and keep it all a secret from the customer, in order to gain an advantage.

[franc]

For the cunts that think it has been boring here for a few days. Here, occupy yourselves with the Citizen Kane of rock-n-roll teenage rampage movies. Roger Corman? Need you ask?

[youtube]Rvezqj43G54[/youtube]

[franc]

There was a big push a few years ago, during the Enron scandal, to deregulate the energy utilities up here. It all fell apart when Enron did. And ages ago, our Provincial Premier wanted to privatize every single thing to do with highway maintenance and building. That didn't fly, either.

But as franc says 'yet'. The contractors won't stop trying.

This reminds me of BarnOwl's link from earlier this week, regarding the Washington lawmaker who stated that a regulation requiring that people who handle food wash their hands was impinging on their freedom, and that businesses who didn't require handwashing from employees could just put up a sign saying as much. Of course...that too would be a regulation! The whole point is to NOT have any regulations, and keep it all a secret from the customer, in order to gain an advantage.

"Deregulation" to me always makes me think of the guy that drives your garbage truck (public "sanitation" right?) being as qualified as a surgeon to write operating theatre hygiene standards...

FREEDOM!

Such a noble cause these knuckleheads promote. Have as much of an idea of "freedom" as peezee has of "liberalism".

[franc]

There was a big push a few years ago, during the Enron scandal, to deregulate the energy utilities up here. It all fell apart when Enron did. And ages ago, our Provincial Premier wanted to privatize every single thing to do with highway maintenance and building. That didn't fly, either.

Have a real horror movie -

[youtube]gxzLX_C9Z74[/youtube]

Where the Chicago School of Economics/Harvard Business School have brought us - Nirvana, apparently.

[franc]

US Pseudolibertarianism in practice. CRY FREEDOM -

http://i.imgur.com/zIPOqGX.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/NkamFmT.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/8ZMUpN9.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GJ08tfu.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/YsdPn7n.jpg

[Tigzy]

Chapel Hill shootings

You can bet this story will be spun into 'all atheists are murderers' by the same people who insist Islam is a religion of peace:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 38126.html

Shatterface

TV programmes liked by Hicks include The Atheist Experience, Criminal Minds and Friends, while he describes himself as a fan of Thomas Paine’s The Age of Reason and Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion.

The Atheist Experience? As in Dolly Dillahunty, Russell Glasser & Martin Fuckin Wagner? Which also has an FTB blog?

Hey, remember how many people condemned MRA & PUA sites for enabling Eliot Rodger?

The words 'you all have the name Craig Hicks' and 'you're all hiding it in fear and shame and cowardice' immediately spring to mind...

[Shatterface as Guest]

Chapel Hill shootings

You can bet this story will be spun into 'all atheists are murderers' by the same people who insist Islam is a religion of peace:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 38126.html

Shatterface

TV programmes liked by Hicks include The Atheist Experience, Criminal Minds and Friends, while he describes himself as a fan of Thomas Paine’s The Age of Reason and Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion.

The Atheist Experience? As in Dolly Dillahunty, Russell Glasser & Martin Fuckin Wagner? Which also has an FTB blog?

Hey, remember how many people condemned MRA & PUA sites for enabling Eliot Rodger?

The words 'you all have the name Craig Hicks' and 'you're all hiding it in fear and shame and cowardice' immediately spring to mind...

I don't know anything about The Atheist Experience 'TV show'. Is it a TV show or a podcast? Are the blog and the show related or do they just share a name?

Shatterface

[NoGodsEver]

The polic are now indicating that perhaps the shootings had to do with some sort of personal dispute the shooter had with those he shot. May not have anything to do with religion at all. But way to jump to conclusions without all the evidence, everyone! (not the people here, but the SJW's online in general)

http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/02/10/ ... .html?rh=1

[Tigzy]

Here's a screencap taken from the Chapel Hill Shooter's Facebook page. Note the books he likes on the left:

http://i.imgur.com/hqmYagf.png

And in particular, note this one: http://www.freethoughthouse.com/atheist ... of-mn.html

Were one to treat the fallout from this as many treated the fallout from the Eliot Roger killings, then t'would be fair to say that a good section of FreethoughtBlogs has blood on its hands. Rite, PZ?

@Shatterface - yup, blog and TV show, all pretty much run by the same people - Dillahunty, Glasser and wee wanker Wagner.

[NoGodsEver]

Peezus is getting unfair tweets to him asking if he is capable of such acts too. Unfair because we know Peezus would never have the physical courage to shoot anyone.

[Jiminy Cricket]

She made that last bit up. The FBI, when they first started in 1995 came up with 8%, but they were just starting their data gathering and hadn't refined the reporting procedures. By 1996, just a year later, as they got better reporting it went to 15%. HOWEVER, unfounded are only cases where the report is determined to be false. During the same period about one-third of the cases were closed via prosecution or exceptional means (you could extradite, the attacker died, etc.).

In between there is a HUGE gray area where the cases aren't closed and the 'victim' has refused to cooperate or they're being exceptionally vague and throwing up the red-flags that tend to indicate false reports. Yet those are not reported as false or as closed. They just sit there in limbo.

Asking for valid data about false rape claims is guaranteed to get you labeled a rape apologist in the current SJW influenced political climate. For that reason, it's a great question for distinguishing between actual skeptics and the entryists taking over the online skeptic and atheist movements.

I just checked out the Wikipedia article on false rape reports. I half expected it to have been edited to uselessness by the "always believe the accuser" brigade, but it did link to several studies. The rates are all over the map and none of the studies had a very large sample size.

A little more Googling turned up this detailed summary on Reddit: It's by a men's rights activist, though, which makes it immediately suspect. (Where is that sarcasm tag?)

Is anyone aware of a more comprehensive study than the FBI one mentioned?

[Tigzy]

LOL - Peez has a post up about how the Chapel Hill Shooting demonstrates why atheism needs a moral code. With the unwritten assumption that it ought to be the very same moral code that Peez himself promotes.

http://i.imgur.com/UqaeNDW.jpg

[another lurker]

Regarding false rape accusations, remember this post:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfem ... 1847874465

All men are rapists and they are especially rapists if they deny that they are rapists.

Oh, and there is no excuse for poor social skills. If you make a woman uncomfortable because you are mebtally disabled, tough shit, that's your problem, asshole.

SJWs talk a lot about ableism, but in the end, feminist feelies win the Oppression Olympics at all times.

[Southern]

Peezus is getting unfair tweets to him asking if he is capable of such acts too. Unfair because we know Peezus would never have the physical courage to shoot anyone.

Yeah, but maybe they should investigate him a little. Specially his threats of going stabby-stabby on Christians.

[Jiminy Cricket]

Peezus is getting unfair tweets to him asking if he is capable of such acts too. Unfair because we know Peezus would never have the physical courage to shoot anyone.

Yeah, but maybe they should investigate him a little. Specially his threats of going stabby-stabby on Christians.

And his threats of violence against defenseless conservative student newspapers.

Frankly, I find his mermaid fantasy to be far more concerning, especially in conjunction with some of his recorded interactions with women at conferences. If I had a daughter attending UMM, I'd definitely not want her in that lech's class. I'm surprised that no one from his department has suggested he remove that particular post yet.

[Suet Cardigan]

Regarding false rape accusations, remember this post:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfem ... 1847874465

All men are rapists and they are especially rapists if they deny that they are rapists.

Oh, and there is no excuse for poor social skills. If you make a woman uncomfortable because you are mebtally disabled, tough shit, that's your problem, asshole.

SJWs talk a lot about ableism, but in the end, feminist feelies win the Oppression Olympics at all times.

"So, basically, anytime a man says “I’ve been falsely accused,” I give them the side-eye accompanied by a heavy dose of skepticism, because every single rapist who’s been accused is going to say the same exact thing."

I guess trials are no longer necessary. Anyone who pleads not guilty is really guilty because that's exactly what a criminal is going to plead.

[Lsuoma]

The polic are now indicating that perhaps the shootings had to do with some sort of personal dispute the shooter had with those he shot. May not have anything to do with religion at all. But way to jump to conclusions without all the evidence, everyone! (not the people here, but the SJW's online in general)

http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/02/10/ ... .html?rh=1

On NPR this morning, it was explicitly reported that the police were still trying to find out a motive.

Yellow journalism is going to get every publication sooner or later. The new mantra is "Be first, even if you're not right!"

[Shatterface as Guest]

Peezus is getting unfair tweets to him asking if he is capable of such acts too. Unfair because we know Peezus would never have the physical courage to shoot anyone.

Yeah, but maybe they should investigate him a little. Specially his threats of going stabby-stabby on Christians.

Maybe the atheist voices of Minnesota ought to turn down the violent rhetoric while attention has been drawn to them.

Shatterface

[H. Korban]

Apparently the murders are perhaps due to a parking dispute:

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts ... ng-dispute

[Ericb]

LOL - Peez has a post up about how the Chapel Hill Shooting demonstrates why atheism needs a moral code. With the unwritten assumption that it ought to be the very same moral code that Peez himself promotes.

http://i.imgur.com/UqaeNDW.jpg

At some point PZ is just going to lose it and become a born again christian.

[NoGodsEver]

The polic are now indicating that perhaps the shootings had to do with some sort of personal dispute the shooter had with those he shot. May not have anything to do with religion at all. But way to jump to conclusions without all the evidence, everyone! (not the people here, but the SJW's online in general)

http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/02/10/ ... .html?rh=1

On NPR this morning, it was explicitly reported that the police were still trying to find out a motive.

Yellow journalism is going to get every publication sooner or later. The new mantra is "Be first, even if you're not right!"

Yes journalism is definitely partly to blame here. Read most of the reports that have come out so far, and they are mostly a variation on 'Atheist shoots Muslims'. Which is evidently factual, but may be irrelevant and besides the point. It may be like saying, 'Person with goatee shoots people wearing clothes'.

[dog puke]

LOL - Peez has a post up about how the Chapel Hill Shooting demonstrates why atheism needs a moral code. With the unwritten assumption that it ought to be the very same moral code that Peez himself promotes.

http://i.imgur.com/UqaeNDW.jpg

At some point PZ is just going to lose it and become a born again christian.

You mean he isn't a born again christian?


WTF... then how come...?


... but his behaviour...


... I just don't ...

[Jiminy Cricket]

PZ spake:

People are tribal. People can easily dehumanize others with the right propaganda. It has nothing to do with religion or the lack thereof, and everything to do with the messages their tribe is sending. Religion is wrong and a foolish set of ideas, but religious communities can tell their followers “kill the infidel!” or “live in peace!”, and non-religious communities can do both, too.

Non-religious communities can tell their followers "Believe me when I say that mine enemy provides a haven for harassers, misogynists, and rapists!"

I wonder how much Amazon charges to ship a mirror to Morris.

[Tigzy]

Apparently the murders are perhaps due to a parking dispute:

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts ... ng-dispute

Whatever the motive, the 'atheist kills muslims' narrative is already out of the bag now, and will likely continue under its own steam. Much like how Eliot Rodger was 'always' an MRA & PUA, despite there being no evidence which showed he had any interest in MRA stuff, and plenty demonstrating that he actively hated the PUA community.

[another lurker]

Fox News: a Christian kills Muslims, no problem, righteous!!! Or else they pretend it didn't happen.

But an atheist who kills a Muslim, omg, totes evil cuz no deity in life!!11!!1111

[Ericb]

Fox News: a Christian kills Muslims, no problem, righteous!!! Or else they pretend it didn't happen.

But an atheist who kills a Muslim, omg, totes evil cuz no deity in life!!11!!1111

Too bad PZ is such a milquetoast in real life, his internet personality would make a great token atheist for Fox News.