Bleeding from the Bunghole

[Southern]

Meanwhile, Melody RepreHensley is yapping away on Twitter all day long, saying stupid crap all the time and crying harrassment and PTSD at the first sign of disagreement, and CFI still won't the her incompetent butthead.

Power differential. How does that work again?

Haven't she died already? Jesus fucking Christ, talk about a repetitive yapper.

[Aneris]

What happens there, PZ and Miri both writing something critical on feminist topics at the end of the year? By march someone may be looking into "Patriarchy". Of course, they largely avoid applying their findings to their own situation/community around them and of course, they won't acknowledge that others have pointed out similar issues before, which they have vehemently opposed due to their own previous straw-manning. By June their views will turn out largely the same as what is discussed here, and the differences must then be even more explained by allegedly bad "general conduct".

As for the most hootworthy baboons - well, Ed Brayton notwithstanding, it's been a slim year.

Tizgy, you seem to be missing out most of the things. There was a drama every two weeks, and I think the bulk of comedy material was created this year. Everything from "my brain is harassing me", to all the Oolon exploits, everything Twitter (no?), The Block Bot, Shmeargate, Tablegate, Lindsaygate, Nugent (twice), a dozen renditions of Benson complaining about harassment because Welch wrote something here, Oggy Double-Standards, Caine's murder fantasies and native american heritage project, wholly invisible rhetorical assassins, The (mis) adventures of Monsignor Vacula, T-Shirt-Elevatorsign-Gate, Rocko's Dramatic Readings, the Outrageous Bjarte craze, Gefan's many awesome videos, catchy music videos with Paddy Brown, all the awesome photoshops of Gumby, Ape+Lust and Dick Strawkins (mainly), ... each of these often with many side-issues. Just off the top of my mind.

[windy]

Interesting background.

At Hacker News, the hacking of disqus was largely ignored, and the problem of disqus' and gravatar's being used to track people was great pooh poohed.

Can you find me an article in english or swedish or whatever that discusses what happened?

Swedes uncover Disqus user security breach and The Swedish group that blew the lid on hateful online comments talk about the "hack" etc. They basically found the old gravatar weakness in Disqus, and went on a data-mining spree.

It's kinda vague how they linked the emails to actual persons however. They claim it's been done with 100% legal means, with public information, and this is to some degree is supported by the fact that Martin Fredriksson from Researchgruppen also run the company Piscatus, which focuses on OCRing and creating a searchable database of_all_ documents that the government, courts, etc make public. Which in Sweden is A LOT of documents since most stuff that the government does is supposed to be open to the public.

Even if the information was collected by legal means, keeping and publishing the register could still be illegal under Sweden's personal data laws.

I'm not sure if "Researchgruppen" made any effort to control if the people on their list have actually been making racist comments, since I've seen comments from a couple of people who claim they've been arguing against racism or on neutral matters on the "hate sites" and their personal information ended up on the list anyway.

And they claim they're only focusing on the most active commenters, but on their website they've listed, for example, a 66 year old woman who's made a total of 3 comments, and a 53 year old man with 1 comment :doh:

(the website is at: http://avkodat.research.nu/)

[ianfc]

I borrowed a mate's Caligula VHS tape and accidently taped over a very nice lesbian scene with about 30sec. of a Paul Keating political rant. He became quite vocal and aggressive, but we made up.

[Mykeru]

Tis that time of year again...when one can look back 'pon the last twelve months and reflect. Upon such things as the evanesence of life and the transience of human wishes; the peek of spring, coy within the dour shade of winter's cast; and, of course, the most lulzworthy moments in the crazy ga-ga lands of FTB, Skepchick and Atheism Plus.

I was doing the VOs to one of those videos you might recall I used to make and doing my run-down of FTB dumb-shittery.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, and the principle that if you have a list of five things, drop the weakest two, I had to cut out Richard Carrier and Stephanie Zvan. But I can, in the finest tradition of Ophelia Benson, do a little cut n paste.

From the editing room floor:

Richard Carrier His early recognition was in the field of writing excruciatingly parsed monographs that proposed the Jesus of the Gospels isn't historically accurate and may not have even existed, so he's no stranger to going way out on a limb. I'm waiting for his multi-volume polemic proposing the earth shattering theory that the bobbing up and down game you playing in a swimming pool as a kid wasn't actually invented by Marco Polo. A master of Bayesian Analysis which, in his hands, is a methodological conceit that proves, once and for all, that you can deal yourself a winning hand if you have the skill to cheat at cards. He likes to present Bayes Theorem in such a needlessly and self-consciously "Oh, look at the clever shit I do" manner that even professional mathematicians slow clap. Promoting himself as having the "intellectual artillery" of Atheism Plus, Carrier reveals himself to be a first-order lightweight mortally afflicted with Dunning Kroeger syndrome.

(Cite: http://irrco.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/a ... d-carrier/)

And

Stephanie Zvan: Nasty, vindictive, intellectually dishonest, all rounded edges and ham sandwich hiding places. The most hypocritical of a profoundly hypocritical bunch, who would eat the last TWO slices of pizza even if one of them was halfway in your mouth. Stephanie thinks doxxing people is the worst thing in the world, unless its her doxxing someone, but she's justified because she claims the person she's doxxing is like a serial killer. She's against threats and harassment, except when it's directed at someone she thinks has it coming. Once you listen to 15 minutes of Zvan just making shit up you can predict her entire lifetime's repertoire until her tragic demise, along with a potted petunia, watching the ground rush up to meet her, wondering if it was going to be her friend.

[Lsuoma]

But, speaking of cute, something from WEIT that Windy may specially enjoy:

OMG, those sounds! :lol: Love it!

Steers is a dick.*



*Teddy is so cute it hurts

Make sure you check out his pumpkin noms too:

[youtube]_dnB3IapeAA[/youtube]

[Mykeru]

Steers is a dick.*

However, he's very safety-conscious.

http://photos.imageevent.com/motorbiker ... k-head.jpg

[Aneris]

Mike Eru, +1 for the Douglas Adams reference.

[ROBOKiTTY]

An edit button, my kingdom for an edit button.

Which kingdom you got?

KiTTYLand, of course.

[Brive1987]

Tigzy, there have been so many "gates" (ie 'whatevergate') that they roll into one, but Carrier and Melody certainly stand out as the funniest unselfconscious clowns this year; great summary - I'd forgotten Dick's dick reference! And his momentary PTSD over the down-voting.... :P


Mykeru - "watching the ground rush up to meet her, wondering if it was going to be her friend". :lol: :lol:

[Semi]

Alright. It doesn't really register how ridiculous the situation is, until you read this statement by Sacco:

"Words cannot express how sorry I am, and how necessary it is for me to apologize to the people of South Africa, who I have offended due to a needless and careless tweet ..."

Due to a single tweet, while she was still airborne, the internet blew up, more than 130,000 tweets was dedicated to her name and she was ultimately fired. For a single tweet. Unbelievable.

If the right to speak an unpopular opinion without legal or commercial consequence is not yours, then in what possible sense can the term "freedom of speech" even apply? If you cannot speak pseudo-anonymously on Twitter without being doxxed, exposed, fired and harassed for a TWEET... If this is not censorship and bullying, then what is censorship and bullying, and how is it different?

All the damn "free speech technically means something else" lawyers. Yes, I know it refers to something else. We say the word "free speech" as a shorthand for a number of legal speech rights which are granted to US citizens. A big part of the problem here is these rights seem to not extend entirely into the business sector, which is being abused by anti-speech bullies to remove a citizen's rights to speak by threatening monetary consequences rather than legal consequences.

The new definition(s) of freedom of speech seems to be:

You have the right to speak, unless what you says offends anyone, anywhere.
You have the right to speak, until you diverge from mainstream politics and are labeled a radical.
You have the right to speak, unless you have a job, in which case anyone who hates what you say can contact your employer and bully him or her into firing you.
You have the right to speak, unless you hold a position of importance anywhere, in which case anyone who hates you can contact the organization and bully them into firing you.
You have the right to speak, unless someone misinterprets your innocent comment into something that offends them.
You have the right to speak, unless your opinion is unpopular.
You have no right to speak an unpopular opinion in public.

So you can speak, as long as what you say is boring, mundane, conforms to all the conclusions already reached by others around you and fits within two-party political thought.

But if you know anything about how the entertainment business works, then you know what happened to the Ducktard(tm) Phil Robertson is par for the course and completely expected.

You see, when you are plucked out of a fetid swamp and given the opportunity for your own reality show with major money behind it, you sign a Long Form Contract. Undoubtedly there are sections in that contract that spell out what you can and can't do in the public sphere as long as the agreement is effective and the company (A&E, in this case) is putting gobs of money in the form of production budgets, promotion and marketing behind your reality show.

Remember, no one would have given a shit what the Ducktard said before his show was a big hit, but because of A&E's investment in the show and him, he now has large public audience. A&E basically strapped rocket boosters to this guy and sent him into the stratosphere, career-wise.

Think of A&Es investment in Duck Dynasty as building brand equity.

And because of A&E's investment, they absolutely don't want to be put into a position of defending every stupid thing Robertson says, especially to sponsors and advertisers, thus the behavioral clauses in the Contract that limit what the Ducktards can say to ruin that brand equity and investment.

Basically if you trash the Brand, you get fired. Not so hard to understand.

I am not saying it's right or wrong, but that's how it works when you sell yourself to a corporation to be a star.

[another lurker]

And don't forget what happened to the Dixie Chicks when they criticized GW Bush. It works both ways. The Defenders of Freedom on the right shat all over them.

[Semi]

And don't forget what happened to the Dixie Chicks when they criticized GW Bush. It works both ways. The Defenders of Freedom on the right shat all over them.

Musical artists are a little different in the sense that their relationship with their label is not at all like the relationship between A&E and Duck Dynasty, especially for established artists. IIRC, the Dixie Chicks' label stood behind them; it was the radio stations and other media outlets that got all hot and bothered, along with some of their "fans."

[Really?]

And don't forget what happened to the Dixie Chicks when they criticized GW Bush. It works both ways. The Defenders of Freedom on the right shat all over them.

Hey, let's not forget the distinction the wingnuts made about that. Natalie Maines was on FOREIGN SOIL when she lamented that she was from the same state as the man who lied the country into a war that cost thousands of American lives, tens of thousands of Iraqi lives and trillions of dollars.

She was helping the terrorists win by expressing political dissent.

[acathode]

Even if the information was collected by legal means, keeping and publishing the register could still be illegal under Sweden's personal data laws.

I'm not sure if "Researchgruppen" made any effort to control if the people on their list have actually been making racist comments, since I've seen comments from a couple of people who claim they've been arguing against racism or on neutral matters on the "hate sites" and their personal information ended up on the list anyway.

And they claim they're only focusing on the most active commenters, but on their website they've listed, for example, a 66 year old woman who's made a total of 3 comments, and a 53 year old man with 1 comment :doh:

(the website is at: http://avkodat.research.nu/)

Publishing it is very unlikely to be a crime, the freedom of press is in general very lenient. Keeping a register over Swedish citizen though, that's sketchy as hell, and there are some quite hard regulations around that. If it goes to court AFAIK it will in general come down to if Researchgruppen get "covered" by the protection and leniency that journalist have, if not, then they're in some deep shit.

As to if they've checked that all the people are racist - no, they haven't. There is A LOT of things on these sites in the comment sections that is clearly racist, no doubts about it. There's also LOADS of people who comment there who only are "racist" if we use the SJW standard, by saner standards they are just people who want to reduce the amount immigration, for a whole host of non-racist reasons, for example because they don't think our economy can sustain the amount of immigrants we receive, or because they think that the integration have completely failed.

Unfortunately, to quote what a Swedish professor of political science recently wrote in a blogpost - "The opinion corridor - the buffer zone where you still have some wiggle room to express an opinion without having to receive a fresh diagnosis of your mental state - is very narrow in Sweden". Or, to put it another way, the SJWs have dominated the public debate and space in Sweden for quite some time. It's lead to a climate where even asking a question like "How much immigration can Sweden handle?" is considered racist.

So the people who want to discuss things like immigration or gender equality, but who don't have opinions that are SJW pre-approved, are pretty much banished from the public debate. So they turn the only option left to them if they still want to express themselves and read news that isn't SJW filtered - "alternative" sites, forums like Flashback, or news sites like Avpixlat, Exponerat, etc. Where they will rub shoulders with true racist and nazis, and most likely get quite desensitized to actual racism after a while. Then the SJWs whine even more, because "racism is increasing!!"... no shit you dumbfucks, you're the damn cause!

But yeah, these non racist people are now also in the same register, alongside with people who just went to those sites to argue against the racists, because they had notions that in a democracy you should be able to counter the arguments from people you despite, not just scream "RACIST!" and hope they go away.

[Mykeru]

Tigzy, there have been so many "gates" (ie 'whatevergate') that they roll into one, but Carrier and Melody certainly stand out as the funniest unselfconscious clowns this year; great summary - I'd forgotten Dick's dick reference! And his momentary PTSD over the down-voting.... :P


Mykeru - "watching the ground rush up to meet her, wondering if it was going to be her friend". :lol: :lol:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SqhhJb_P3Kk/S ... -whale.jpg

[Brive1987]

Tigzy, there have been so many "gates" (ie 'whatevergate') that they roll into one, but Carrier and Melody certainly stand out as the funniest unselfconscious clowns this year; great summary - I'd forgotten Dick's dick reference! And his momentary PTSD over the down-voting.... :P


Mykeru - "watching the ground rush up to meet her, wondering if it was going to be her friend". :lol: :lol:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SqhhJb_P3Kk/S ... -whale.jpg

Naturally I'm a fan of the 'trilogy of four'! Teen of the eighties and all that. The whale imagery 'for some reason' nicely dovetailed with the "oh the Zvanity" 'shops. :lol:

That said I'd like to Vogonise all departing staff who begin / end their farewell email with 'thanks for all the fish". Ugg.

[Matt Cavanaugh]

I wonder if one could make soap from ashes and smeg?

I'm the one with the wood stove and a dozen geldings, so I'm guessing this is my action item.

[Lsuoma]

And in good news, Alan Turing has been granted a posthumous royal pardon.

[Brive1987]

Caine is sitting in her wigwam drinking rape juice and trying hard to forget that she ended up in the freezing badlands:

Almont, ND:

Partly cloudy. High -8F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Currently -12 °F (Feels Like -30 °F). Cloudy skies this evening. A few snow showers developing late. Low -12F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 40%.

I’m having red wine. Zinfandel, in my toasty warm house. I’m pretending outside doesn’t exist.

Looks like someone lied on her census form in 2010 ;)

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

Now lets see .... "Whoever, when answering questions described in subsection (a) of this section, and under the conditions or circumstances described in such subsection, willfully gives any answer that is false, shall be fined not more than $500."

Bah humbug.

[Liesmith]

And in good news, Alan Turing has been granted a posthumous royal pardon.

Wow, yet another example male privilege making a man exempt from the law.

:bjarte:

[Lsuoma]

And in good news, Alan Turing has been granted a posthumous royal pardon.

Wow, yet another example male privilege making a man exempt from the law.

:bjarte:

http://gumbercules.com/lovethispost.jpg

[Brive1987]

.

Oh fuck. Alex has a post up about how unprivileged he is despite an Oxford education. That guy, for all his possible hardships as a child is one twisted hate filled broken dolly.

He truly embraced the spirit of thanksgiving. His good fortune has only served to make him even less of a human. His mum would be proud.

Most shocking of all, his hair is apparently professionally styled. Now if that isn't a wanton hedonistic expenditure of money ... what is?

If this post was unexpected, I know why. With my tweedy prose, unfashionable vowels (the ‘a’ amuses friends and enemies alike) and Latin postnominals, I’m something of a caricature – but ‘caricature’ is the word. Look closely for the giveaways: teeth affluent parents would have set in braces, hair only recently cut by professionals, voice without the real upper crust’s affected twang. I spot signs like these from a mile away: a partner of Hiddleston’s or Redmayne’s ilk, like the boys on Queen’s Lane who used like water, would mean a barrage of emotional slaps in the face, a reminder in Wystan Auden’s words that they lived in mansions while I lived empty-stomached in a hole.

Try telling me I oughtn’t resent that. Try.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/godlessness ... res-about/

[Badger3k]

.

Oh fuck. Alex has a post up about how unprivileged he is despite an Oxford education. That guy, for all his possible hardships as a child is one twisted hate filled broken dolly.

He truly embraced the spirit of thanksgiving. His good fortune has only served to make him even less of a human. His mum would be proud.

Most shocking of all, his hair is apparently professionally styled. Now if that isn't a wanton hedonistic expenditure of money ... what is?

If this post was unexpected, I know why. With my tweedy prose, unfashionable vowels (the ‘a’ amuses friends and enemies alike) and Latin postnominals, I’m something of a caricature – but ‘caricature’ is the word. Look closely for the giveaways: teeth affluent parents would have set in braces, hair only recently cut by professionals, voice without the real upper crust’s affected twang. I spot signs like these from a mile away: a partner of Hiddleston’s or Redmayne’s ilk, like the boys on Queen’s Lane who used like water, would mean a barrage of emotional slaps in the face, a reminder in Wystan Auden’s words that they lived in mansions while I lived empty-stomached in a hole.

Try telling me I oughtn’t resent that. Try.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/godlessness ... res-about/

It sounds like he is using that as a reference mark for his hatred, not that he had that done. While I hope his mop isn't professionally styled, I've heard of some that are styled to (for example) make it look like you just got out of bed, so it might be possible. However, the hatred and jealousy and resentment seems to be the defining characteristics of the SJWs. If they didn't have someone to hate, they might have to look at their lives and only have themselves to blame.

[JacquesCuze]

.

Oh fuck. Alex has a post up about how unprivileged he is despite an Oxford education. That guy, for all his possible hardships as a child is one twisted hate filled broken dolly.

He truly embraced the spirit of thanksgiving. His good fortune has only served to make him even less of a human. His mum would be proud.

Most shocking of all, his hair is apparently professionally styled. Now if that isn't a wanton hedonistic expenditure of money ... what is?

If this post was unexpected, I know why. With my tweedy prose, unfashionable vowels (the ‘a’ amuses friends and enemies alike) and Latin postnominals, I’m something of a caricature – but ‘caricature’ is the word. Look closely for the giveaways: teeth affluent parents would have set in braces, hair only recently cut by professionals, voice without the real upper crust’s affected twang. I spot signs like these from a mile away: a partner of Hiddleston’s or Redmayne’s ilk, like the boys on Queen’s Lane who used like water, would mean a barrage of emotional slaps in the face, a reminder in Wystan Auden’s words that they lived in mansions while I lived empty-stomached in a hole.

Try telling me I oughtn’t resent that. Try.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/godlessness ... res-about/

I was seven before I listened intently to contemporary music (a copy of Cher’s ‘Believe’ bought in a fit of decadence), and half way through my teens before I paid real attention

My seven year olds were listening to KidsSongs and Radio Disney not Beyonce or Cher.

The cost of a bottle of champagne, even from the cheap end of the shelf, would for us have meant an extra two or three days’ food. The hatred stirred in me by seeing one used as a water pistol is as incommunicable as our thriftiness back then, but prompts even now a hot, breathless nausea and impulse to lash out.

Misanthrope has issues. People have been using bubbly as water pistols during celebrations for a zillion years.

Most shocking of all, his hair is apparently professionally styled. Now if that isn't a wanton hedonistic expenditure of money ... what is?

However, my take is that he used to cut his hair himself, probably with a nail clipper some guv'ner gave him along with some foul pudding in the street and a kick in the ass. Now he is going to Great Clips.

[youtube]GTil0-smOJQ[/youtube]

[JacquesCuze]

[youtube]hEQDllvuy1I[/youtube]
[youtube]M4CVZnGJIzQ[/youtube]
[youtube]-HazQlWgdzg[/youtube]
[youtube]TxnUcpL3iPk[/youtube]

[Badger3k]

You can get champagne for less than $10 pretty easily, especially if all you want to do is pour it out in celebration and not drink it. If that was two or three days food, then he really was not eating anything. Might explain the underdeveloped center of intelligence.

[Guest]

In other words the cosmological constant has to be 'fine-tuned' for a persisting universe with the properties this one has. To say that it is fine-tuned for life is like saying that bricks were invented specifically for the purpose of of propping up the fence post opposite my door. You still have the cart and the horse in the incorrect order. If you know the laws governing the creation of universes then maybe you can proffer an opinion on what's unlikely and what isn't, until then you don't get to say. As to the 'problem' question, that depends on what you mean by the word.

Uncle. I give up. Virtually every cosmologist on the planet thinks the fine-tuning is a serious problem for physics, but most of you think the scientists are wrong--and that your late-night-dormitory philosophical "reasoning" trumps consensus scientific expertise. Bully for you.

wait youre making a list and checking it twice?

different principle, dude

[Liesmith]

Everyone in the Pit should apologize to Heddle...he walked in here expecting an in-depth scientific discussion of a problem with modern physics, and instead he got people arguing against him without even using peer-reviewed papers. This is not in keeping with the high standards of discourse outlined in the Pit bylaws. The next time a scientist wants to discuss something with you, you sit down, shut up, and listen.

[Jan Steen]

I lived empty-stomached in a hole.

Luxury.

[JacquesCuze]

I lived empty-stomached in a hole.

Luxury.

Nice minimal four Yorkshire men reference!

[Mykeru]

Meanwhile:

LiveLeak.com Armed robber terrorizes passengers aboard Seattle bus.png

Perp pulls gun, guy grabs gun, other guys tackle perp, women run away, except one who remains in a managerial position.

I have to say, I was impressed with the guy who grabbed the gun. Perfect move, make sure it's pointed at the perp's innards, then keep pushing him back so he can't fix that.

Also, pausing to make sure the phone is in the pocked? Kind of badass. "Hold on motherfucker, This is my NEW phone...there, nice and safe. Now to beat the fuck out of you."

From the "If at first you don't succeed" file:

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Quick question for the learned Pitters:

What is the purpose of that plastic-cased piece of metal on certain power chords? You know, the one seen top right just before the chord's head:

http://www.wegotserved.com/wp-content/u ... G_1589.jpg

I guess it might be weight related, but I'm really not sure.

[Tony Parsehole]

Wasn't Oolon's appearance on Newsnight earlier this year? That's got to be in the top 3 lolz list.

[Mykeru]

Quick question for the learned Pitters:

What is the purpose of that plastic-cased piece of metal on certain power chords? You know, the one seen top right just before the chord's head:

http://www.wegotserved.com/wp-content/u ... G_1589.jpg

I guess it might be weight related, but I'm really not sure.

Those are ferrite beads used to damp electromagnetic and radio interference from computer cables and devices and, not, say "Voice of America". You can pop them off and the cord will still work, but perhaps not as well if you've got a lot of electronic noise. I've done it when using a little USB mini-SD cord that I wanted to fold up tightly for carrying.

If you pop them off, save them. You can string them together and make a lovely set of ass beads. Pro Tip (from Steersman) there.

[Hunt]

[quote="Brive1987"
Most shocking of all, his hair is apparently professionally styled.
[/quote]

With secret sauce mousse.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Those are ferrite beads used to damp electromagnetic and radio interference from computer cables and devices and, not, say "Voice of America". You can pop them off and the cord will still work, but perhaps not as well if you've got a lot of electronic noise. I've done it when using a little USB mini-SD cord that I wanted to fold up tightly for carrying.

Thanks a muchy! Ali destroyed her laptop screen when closing it with one of those in the way. Now I know it was for a just cause.

[Jan Steen]

Top three FTB lulz of 2013

1. For me the funniest moment of the year was when Peezus’ long-awaited book turned out to be a collection of recycled blog posts instead of the masterpiece that would elevate him to the ranks of Dawkins and Hitchens. The icing on this mouldy cake was furnished by Greg Laden who in his review brazenly lied that it was not a collection of blog posts. I still think it was close to being fraudulent on Peezus' part to urge his Horde to order the book in advance without divulging that it was to be as original and exciting as a rerun of Top Gear.

2. Ogvorbis emo-trolling the Horde comes a close second. His post in which he breaks off mid sentence was a sublime piece of trolling. You have to admire a guy who can manipulate a crowd of deranged SJWs to such an extent that they proclaim their eternal love for him, smother him in “pounce hugs” (whatever those are), and even suggest that he can babysit their kids, right after he confessed that he had raped three young girls as a twelve-year old.

3. The ‘poetry’ of Yemisi. Laughing about the excruciatingly bad writings of the deluded poet almost makes me feel guilty, seeing how proud she seems to be of her work. She never fails to add the copyright sign to her name, as if there was an actual danger that some even more deluded soul would attempt to steal her crap and pass it off as their own crap. Laughing about Yemisi poems is a bit like laughing about squirrels being fed to a shredder*. Maybe we shouldn't do it. Laughing, I mean. And feeding squirrels to a shredder.

* Dutch airline KLM once seized an illegal shipment of Chinese squirrels and couldn’t think of something better to do than literally shredding the poor creatures. See:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/airli ... 87522.html

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

My top 1 FTB lulz of 2013:

-The Slymepit

[Suet Cardigan]

Article of the day on Encyclopedia Dramatica is Patriarchy

https://encyclopediadramatica.es/Patriarchy

[Pitchguest]

I was buying some last minute presents yesterday (late as always), when this mother and her husband was bothering some clerk about toys and the apparent need (must!) to have that one toy. I overheard them saying something like, "She already has that doll. I NEED the doll with the BIKINI. She HAS to have the one with the bikini. Oh, and while we're at it, let's get some of these cheaper ones." And this was a mother, mind you. The husband was just there for support, it seemed, as well as oddly enough pitching in when the toys - or dolls - wasn't expensive ENOUGH.

Other parents there were, too, scrounging for things to buy, some almost having panic attacks when they couldn't find a specific item. Games. Toys. Colouring books. Materialism at its finest. It was, frankly, obscene to witness. The worst of the bunch being the mother looking for the very specific Barbie doll with the very specific bikini. *shudder*

[Scented Nectar]

I must share the bleakness. Winters here sometimes look like black and white films. Colour saturation fades with the overcast iciness. I don't know why this happens. Here are some pics from yesterday morning of nearby trees after they've been through an icy, freezing rain, winter storm.

http://www.scentednectar.com/slimepit/PIC_0218.png

http://www.scentednectar.com/slimepit/PIC_0219.png

http://www.scentednectar.com/slimepit/PIC_0220.png

[Southern]

But if you know anything about how the entertainment business works, then you know what happened to the Ducktard(tm) Phil Robertson is par for the course and completely expected.

You see, when you are plucked out of a fetid swamp and given the opportunity for your own reality show with major money behind it, you sign a Long Form Contract. Undoubtedly there are sections in that contract that spell out what you can and can't do in the public sphere as long as the agreement is effective and the company (A&E, in this case) is putting gobs of money in the form of production budgets, promotion and marketing behind your reality show.

Remember, no one would have given a shit what the Ducktard said before his show was a big hit, but because of A&E's investment in the show and him, he now has large public audience. A&E basically strapped rocket boosters to this guy and sent him into the stratosphere, career-wise.

Think of A&Es investment in Duck Dynasty as building brand equity.

And because of A&E's investment, they absolutely don't want to be put into a position of defending every stupid thing Robertson says, especially to sponsors and advertisers, thus the behavioral clauses in the Contract that limit what the Ducktards can say to ruin that brand equity and investment.

Basically if you trash the Brand, you get fired. Not so hard to understand.

I am not saying it's right or wrong, but that's how it works when you sell yourself to a corporation to be a star.

Wow, wow, wow. I had to look this up to make sure you guys weren't trolling. So the current "big thing" in America TV is a show about rednecks that hunt ducks? And apparently one of those rednecks is a bigot? Shocking. Not the "redneck says bigoted things" part, mind you, but that after Honey Boo Boo, America is still pointing and laughing at rednecks in national television.

What a dreadful, soulless place. What a small-minded, repetitive people.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

I was buying some last minute presents yesterday (late as always), when this mother and her husband was bothering some clerk about toys and the apparent need (must!) to have that one toy. I overheard them saying something like, "She already has that doll. I NEED the doll with the BIKINI. She HAS to have the one with the bikini. Oh, and while we're at it, let's get some of these cheaper ones." And this was a mother, mind you. The husband was just there for support, it seemed, as well as oddly enough pitching in when the toys - or dolls - wasn't expensive ENOUGH.

Other parents there were, too, scrounging for things to buy, some almost having panic attacks when they couldn't find a specific item. Games. Toys. Colouring books. Materialism at its finest. It was, frankly, obscene to witness. The worst of the bunch being the mother looking for the very specific Barbie doll with the very specific bikini. *shudder*

We managed to buy the crappiest presents this year. Yeah, my nephew's getting a silicon wallet.

[AnonymousCowherd]

Sometime back I linked to Popehat's tweet "Mini-signal for now: looking for strong pro bono California counsel to respond to defamation threat in important case. Write me." At the same time that PeeZus stated that Popehat was helping him. Yes, that states California counsel, not Minnesota, but Shermer's lawyers are in Cali and for various technical legal reasons, I would expect them to try and sue in Cali if they go that far. So, I think it is pretty likely that Popehat did help PeeZus.

Hearing this (I hadn't seen that tweet when you posted it) I've definitely lost respect for Ken. What possible reason could he have for helping PeeZus with this? I've seen Ken defend any number of bloggers when they are threatened with lawsuits based on what are clearly opinions. PeeZus' accusation was nothing less than a defamatory statement of fact.

IANAL (and IANAM*) but one problem with Popehat's overly legalistic interpretation of the right to free speech is that it tends to promote the idea that, unless the "right" is set out in the Constitution of a Bill of Rights etc, it doesn't exist.

This was something actually argued by opponents of a Bill of Rights in Oz a while back. As a result, it's easy to say "well, the only protection in the Constitution is against interference from government in your free speech, but not from anybody else". But that misses the point. If the Constitution only speaks of no governemnt interference, it is assuming there is a "right" of free speech which can be interfered with, and which exists independently of the Constitution - which therefore doesn't grant any right of "free speech" at all, it just set limits on who can interfere with it.

The same reasoning can be applied to (and I hesitate to mention it) the Second Ammendment. It just limits governemnt interference in the right to bear arms, it doesn't grant that right in itself, as it appears to assume that right existed prior to the Amendment.

Thing is, the Constitution itself seems to have the objection covered. "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." So if it isn't in the Constitution, it doens't mean that it doesn't exist as a right, and people who construe it that way are being, well, not legalistic enough.

Not that I know the first damn thing about this shit, however.

*Merkin

[Mykeru]

I was buying some last minute presents yesterday (late as always), when this mother and her husband was bothering some clerk about toys and the apparent need (must!) to have that one toy. I overheard them saying something like, "She already has that doll. I NEED the doll with the BIKINI. She HAS to have the one with the bikini. Oh, and while we're at it, let's get some of these cheaper ones." And this was a mother, mind you. The husband was just there for support, it seemed, as well as oddly enough pitching in when the toys - or dolls - wasn't expensive ENOUGH.

Other parents there were, too, scrounging for things to buy, some almost having panic attacks when they couldn't find a specific item. Games. Toys. Colouring books. Materialism at its finest. It was, frankly, obscene to witness. The worst of the bunch being the mother looking for the very specific Barbie doll with the very specific bikini. *shudder*

Yes, there was a simpler time.

[youtube]08AM2lGgYxk[/youtube]

I want a talking Mr Hankey for Xmas

[youtube]CCPKtjlbowY[/youtube]

Have a shitty holiday season.

:hankey: :hankey: :hankey: :hankey: :hankey: :hankey:

[AnonymousCowherd]

which is exactly what I've been saying. (Except I have been less exacting in my fine-tuning, only crediting the cosmological constant with 100 instead of 123 orders of magnitude of fine-tuning, but what's another 23 decimal places among friends?) The again, I'm a Christian and Tegmark is an atheist--so it doesn't count when I say it. Anyway--perhaps Tegmark should be the first one you contact. It would be a nice holiday gift.

Have considered this? http://goo.gl/tMcDj

I'm sold. There is a problem in physics, so god exists just the way Calvin said. It's all so clear now. Did you know that if you line up all the constants of physics in reverse (Phoenecian) alphabetical order and multiply them by 666 to remove the divison caused by seitan, they reveal the true reading of the apocryphae? No? Then no admittance to the physics tea-room for you.

By the way, isn't it amazing how my legs are exactly the right length to reach the ground and therefore prevent me floating in direct contradiction of the laws of physics? Therefore, Woden.

And no, I won't take it to the other thread. This is just mumbling on, not a meaningful contribution to that erudite debate.


I think I'm done now.

[Tony Parsehole]

[AnonymousCowherd]

I must share the bleakness. Winters here sometimes look like black and white films. Colour saturation fades with the overcast iciness. I don't know why this happens. Here are some pics from yesterday morning of nearby trees after they've been through an icy, freezing rain, winter storm.

http://www.scentednectar.com/slimepit/PIC_0218.png

http://www.scentednectar.com/slimepit/PIC_0219.png

http://www.scentednectar.com/slimepit/PIC_0220.png

I have to say I love this stuff. It is still what Xmas should be like for me. Now I just have to sit in the sunshine, drinking Large Hadron Collada*'s and waiting for the cricket to start. Not Xmas at all, really.

* Open a chilled young coconut. Reserve half the water (bugger that, chug it!). Add a large shot of white rum, ice and pineapple juice. Top with dark rum. Curacao, grenadine, maraschino cherry and paper umbrella all optional. Drink fast enough to get the rum atoms to smash. The coconut is just there to give weight to the drink, so it must be full of Higgs bosons.

Whatever you're doing this time of year fellow 'pitters, stay safe and wobble only slightly. See y'all next year.

[AnonymousCowherd]

I was buying some last minute presents yesterday (late as always), when this mother and her husband was bothering some clerk about toys and the apparent need (must!) to have that one toy. I overheard them saying something like, "She already has that doll. I NEED the doll with the BIKINI. She HAS to have the one with the bikini. Oh, and while we're at it, let's get some of these cheaper ones." And this was a mother, mind you. The husband was just there for support, it seemed, as well as oddly enough pitching in when the toys - or dolls - wasn't expensive ENOUGH.

Other parents there were, too, scrounging for things to buy, some almost having panic attacks when they couldn't find a specific item. Games. Toys. Colouring books. Materialism at its finest. It was, frankly, obscene to witness. The worst of the bunch being the mother looking for the very specific Barbie doll with the very specific bikini. *shudder*

We managed to buy the crappiest presents this year. Yeah, my nephew's getting a silicon wallet.

I tried the "it's all too materialistic and we don't want to buy crap, so let's have Jewish Xmas this year!". That went over like a turd in a punchbowl.

[mary (abbie's ilk)]

http://i40.tinypic.com/105phd0.jpg

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

We managed to buy the crappiest presents this year. Yeah, my nephew's getting a silicon wallet.

I tried the "it's all too materialistic and we don't want to buy crap, so let's have Jewish Xmas this year!". That went over like a turd in a punchbowl.

We have an excuse: we're poor. And Ali is Jewish. No flaws in our Xmas plans whatsoever.

[Brive1987]

Just turned 12.00. Sitting on the crapper - merry Christmas cunts :dance:

Now for the standard tradition. Wrapping presents till 2.00am while watching the recorded carols from Melbourne while eating mince pies and custard.

Have a good one!

[TheMan]

Just turned 12.00. Sitting on the crapper - merry Christmas cunts :dance:

Now for the standard tradition. Wrapping presents till 2.00am while watching the recorded carols from Melbourne while eating mince pies and custard.

Have a good one!

Not that's "fine tuning" for you. I'm also sitting on the crapper having just finished making a ricotta zucutto and currently typing with one hand while a puck at a little scab on my inner thigh caused by an ingrown pube.

Seasoned greetings to all.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Weirdly accurate page from Encyclopedia Dramatica:

https://encyclopediadramatica.es/Victim_complex

[Sunder]

I was buying some last minute presents yesterday (late as always), when this mother and her husband was bothering some clerk about toys and the apparent need (must!) to have that one toy. I overheard them saying something like, "She already has that doll. I NEED the doll with the BIKINI. She HAS to have the one with the bikini. Oh, and while we're at it, let's get some of these cheaper ones." And this was a mother, mind you. The husband was just there for support, it seemed, as well as oddly enough pitching in when the toys - or dolls - wasn't expensive ENOUGH.

Other parents there were, too, scrounging for things to buy, some almost having panic attacks when they couldn't find a specific item. Games. Toys. Colouring books. Materialism at its finest. It was, frankly, obscene to witness. The worst of the bunch being the mother looking for the very specific Barbie doll with the very specific bikini. *shudder*

We managed to buy the crappiest presents this year. Yeah, my nephew's getting a silicon wallet.

I tried the "it's all too materialistic and we don't want to buy crap, so let's have Jewish Xmas this year!". That went over like a turd in a punchbowl.

At some point our family managed to decide that we're only obligated to get presents for the kids and the adults can get stuff for each other at their discretion but don't expect it.

[Tribble]

David Futrelle (from the "manboobz" site) comes to mind. Short of that, I suppose some more might be found in FTB comment areas. Hurry up though. It's holiday season and they're selling fast! :lol:

They're only good for rendering into lard or making into pet food. Too old, too tough, too fatty to eat. Kind of like old breeder sows.

What about using them as fertilizer for crops? They all seem to have a very high bullshit content.

:lol:

Well, it's kind of tough to dispose of cretins that way. You can't compost them because they'll attract pests and add too much nitrogen to the compost pile, consequently over-heating the pile while killing the beneficial bacteria and stinking as it rots.

I think the only way to make them fertilizer would be to run them through the wood-chipper and spread them raw... Which has its own problems.

[zenbabe]

I must share the bleakness. Winters here sometimes look like black and white films. Colour saturation fades with the overcast iciness. I don't know why this happens. Here are some pics from yesterday morning of nearby trees after they've been through an icy, freezing rain, winter storm.

<beautiful pictures snipped>

Picking up what you're laying down, Scented. Where I live, the disappearance of color happened a month ago, and there's already been like over 9000 feet of snow.

[youtube]rWmbuKSWLDE[/youtube]

But, you know.
There's this thing, to distract us for a few seconds, from the cold and the greys.
The jolly christmas version :occasion-santa:

[youtube]IEc8k4LUQ7g[/youtube]

[Tribble]

Meanwhile, Melody RepreHensley is yapping away on Twitter all day long, saying stupid crap all the time and crying harrassment and PTSD at the first sign of disagreement, and CFI still won't the her incompetent butthead.

Power differential. How does that work again?

It's just bizarre. It's like complaining that eating shit sandwiches taste bad and make you sicky then making yourself a fresh shit sandwich every day for lunch...

[Tigzy]

Wasn't Oolon's appearance on Newsnight earlier this year? That's got to be in the top 3 lolz list.

Yeah, but that's just lulz based upon what he looks like. Which is fair, because he's such a twat. However, not really enough substance there for a review, despite the fact that Ooley physically appears to be filled with enough substance to make him appear as a sausage about to burst.

Richard Carrier His early recognition was in the field of writing excruciatingly parsed monographs that proposed the Jesus of the Gospels isn't historically accurate and may not have even existed, so he's no stranger to going way out on a limb. I'm waiting for his multi-volume polemic proposing the earth shattering theory that the bobbing up and down game you playing in a swimming pool as a kid wasn't actually invented by Marco Polo. A master of Bayesian Analysis which, in his hands, is a methodological conceit that proves, once and for all, that you can deal yourself a winning hand if you have the skill to cheat at cards. He likes to present Bayes Theorem in such a needlessly and self-consciously "Oh, look at the clever shit I do" manner that even professional mathematicians slow clap. Promoting himself as having the "intellectual artillery" of Atheism Plus, Carrier reveals himself to be a first-order lightweight mortally afflicted with Dunning Kroeger syndrome.

:lol:

What is the purpose of that plastic-cased piece of metal on certain power chords? You know, the one seen top right just before the chord's head:

Thank you for that wooo-hoooo! moment when I took the concept of you being a musician and related it to power chords, leaving me to attempt to parse what you were saying as regards 'plastic-cased metal' in relation to you being involved in symphonic heavy rock:

http://www.boredwrestlingfan.com/wp-con ... -balls.gif