Bleeding from the Bunghole

[Tigzy]

Also, in my search for an adequately trippy GIF, I stumbled upon this very disturbing thing: http://www.heavy.com/social/2013/09/tri ... llusion/3/

Reality as directed by Chris Cunningham. Merry Xmas, one an all!

[Tony Parsehole]

Also, in my search for an adequately trippy GIF, I stumbled upon this very disturbing thing: http://www.heavy.com/social/2013/09/tri ... llusion/3/

Reality as directed by Chris Cunningham. Merry Xmas, one an all!

That is fucking weird. Beats my contribution by a country mile:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3745/1153 ... 7ffc_o.gif

[Tony Parsehole]

I din't make that BTW. Just stole it from 4chan.

[Jan Steen]

Black Christmas

I’m dreaming of a black Christmas
Black snow falling on black Santas
The King of the village calls me a witch
Thinks that I make his loins itch
The truth is, I’m just gay
But that’s enough to make you stray
In this stupid Nigerian countryside
Which should be avoided far and wide
Where they have no internet connection
No bloggers to give direction
Where nobody reads Yemmynisting
They would give me a fisting
If they knew what I was up to
What I think is here taboo
But in this dense spiritual fog
No-one ever reads my blog
And there's one more painful truth:
The black snow is actually soot.

BY © JEMISI STEEN

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Fucking yahoo. We had a change of plans for Xmas eve, and it turns out the whole familly is coming to MY place. Kill me now, please.

[Scented Nectar]

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.

Hmm, maybe it's best to just not use them at all in that case. They are bad through and through. :)

Additional disclaimer for recipe a few pages back: Only do this where cannibalism is legal, and also, wait until they die a natural death to prevent those silly anti-murder laws from getting in your way.

[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.

<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.

rWmbuKSWLDE

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:

IEc8k4LUQ7g[/youtube]
More pics soon. This morning, the clouds opened up a goatze in the sky, making all the ice on the trees all twinkley and xmasy. Christmas is waging a war on me! And then, after that, the clouds shot through, leaving a sunny sky to make it all even MORE twinkley and xmasy. Everywhere I look, it's beautiful, sure, but ruins my plans to be all scroogey about xmas decor. *sniffle*

That porcupine is extremely cute. :)

[Scented Nectar]

Ok, trying this again without the quotefail...

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.

rWmbuKSWLDE

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:

IEc8k4LUQ7g

More pics soon. This morning, the clouds opened up a goatze in the sky, making all the ice on the trees all twinkley and xmasy. Christmas is waging a war on me! And then, after that, the clouds shot through, leaving a sunny sky to make it all even MORE twinkley and xmasy. Everywhere I look, it's beautiful, sure, but ruins my plans to be all scroogey about xmas decor. *sniffle*

That porcupine is extremely cute. :)[/quote]

[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*

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.

Here's one thing my family's tried for the past three or four years, to subvert materialism (also because we're cheap - and it's more fun): First decide a set amount of cash you buy for gifts. 10 bucks is enough. 20 if you're feeling generous. Then go out and buy the cheapest nonsense items you can find (they don't all have to be nonsensical, but for the most part), wrap them in gift paper (no labels) and put them all under the tree. When it's time to exchange gifts (or whatever tradition you have), you sit yourselves down and put all your presents on a table. Each roll a die. Highest number wins. That decides who's going first in the orientation. Then roll it again, just the once this time. This number decides if you get to pick a gift from the table. Then just roll that number and you get to pick a gift from the pile.

Once all the presents on the table are gone, unwrap them, set a timer (30 minutes or so) and then do it again. When the timer runs out, the gifts you have you get. That's it. Might not be ideal, but for us it's fun. It also makes me less anxious about buying the "right" gift.

[Brive1987]

In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit. Alex.

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

Cue hysterical laughter.


Did I say wrapping presents till 2.00am? Make that 3.00am.

Merry bloody Christmas.

I know, I know - first world problems. :violin:

[rpguest]

Fucking yahoo. We had a change of plans for Xmas eve, and it turns out the whole familly is coming to MY place. Kill me now, please.

just use some ferrite beads to suppress their high frequency noise

[Gumby]

Also, in my search for an adequately trippy GIF, I stumbled upon this very disturbing thing: http://www.heavy.com/social/2013/09/tri ... llusion/3/

Reality as directed by Chris Cunningham. Merry Xmas, one an all!

That is fucking weird. Beats my contribution by a country mile:
[.img]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3745/1153 ... 7ffc_o.gif[/img]

Yours was cool too. I found this a few years ago and always like it:
http://www.animateit.net/data/media/jun ... n15dt2.gif

[Southern]

Fucking yahoo. We had a change of plans for Xmas eve, and it turns out the whole familly is coming to MY place. Kill me now, please.

Can't you shoo them away with a broom? It's just family.

[Tony Parsehole]

In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit. Alex.

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

Cue hysterical laughter.

LOL!
"Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was Alex Gabriel's hole, and that meant lots of artfully placed Absinthe paraphernalia, incense sticks and a wall-sized poster of Blood On The Dance Floor.

[Tony Parsehole]

Also, in my search for an adequately trippy GIF, I stumbled upon this very disturbing thing: http://www.heavy.com/social/2013/09/tri ... llusion/3/

Reality as directed by Chris Cunningham. Merry Xmas, one an all!

That is fucking weird. Beats my contribution by a country mile:
[.img]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3745/1153 ... 7ffc_o.gif[/img]

Yours was cool too. I found this a few years ago and always like it:
http://www.animateit.net/data/media/jun ... n15dt2.gif

OOOooooo....*Save image*

[Matt Cavanaugh]

Here in the Sierra foothills, we have a terrible drought -- the grass has barely come in. Temps in the low 60s during the day, low 30s at night. aka, " colic weather" .

Preparing the house for Xmas with 6 atheists. Xmas eve: far too many stocking presents accompanied by a Mediterranean mezze buffet. Xmas day: the big presents and I'm making ossobuco with free range 2 yo beef shanks.

Best wishes for an happy Natali Sol Ivictus to my many, special friends at the Slymepit. Over this past year, you've been great company for this secular anchorite, providing congeniality, stimulating conversation, fascinating information, thought-provoking insight, and many truly pants-wetting incidents of humor!

'Pitters have the most fun of anyone!

[Ericb]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_brzqHU0Eoy0/T ... etings.jpg

[another lurker]

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...

Because twitter is her space and damnit, a little PTSD won't force her to leave her personal corner of the internet. (which just happens to be all of the internet but hey, who' s counting).

[screwtape]

IANAL (and IANAM*) .....snip.....
*Merkin

Talking of merkins and Duck Dynasty - apparently A&E sell fake beards so that those so inclined can wear them and pretend to be rednecks. Two weeks ago a lovely lady that I've known for nearly thirty years came in for a pap smear, behind the curtain she took the fake beard from her purse and placed it in the appropriate spot as she climbed under the paper sheet. No doubt the hoots and cackles could be heard down the street when I sat on the stool and lifted the sheet. :shock: Now that is being perky!

[Jan Steen]

Is there a limit to PZ Myers's hypocrisy? No, there isn't. Just days after he scolded an atheist blogger for writing a fantasy in which he cannibalized creationist Ken Ham, Peezus describes a post by Richard Carrier contra William Lane Craig as follows:

Richard Carrier is carving William Lane Craig for Christmas.

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

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/ ... round-ftb/

:hankey: It's okay when we do it.

[Scented Nectar]

It's a conspiracy. My camera lens and the sky's lighting dynamics are in on it too!

http://www.scentednectar.com/slimepit/00020-1.png
A goatxe appeared in the overcast sky, making the icy tree branches all twinkley and xmasy.

http://www.scentednectar.com/slimepit/00020-2.png

Then the sun pooped out of the goatxe in the sky...

http://www.scentednectar.com/slimepit/00020-3.png

Then, I used the telephoto setting, which played prisms with the sun peaking through, AND IT MADE THE TREES LOOK LIKE THEY HAVE XMAS LIGHTS ON THEM. I did not play with these pictures at all other than to resize them and add borders.

Look at this next one, a wild xmas evergreen, living in nature without xmas lights its whole life, and now looking like it's covered in the things!

http://www.scentednectar.com/slimepit/00020-4.png

Even the deciduous trees are part of this conspiracy...

http://www.scentednectar.com/slimepit/00020-5.png

http://www.scentednectar.com/slimepit/00020-6.png

Merry, happy, winter, vacation time thingy, Pitters! :)

[acathode]

Because twitter is her space and damnit, a little PTSD won't force her to leave her personal corner of the internet. (which just happens to be all of the internet but hey, who' s counting).

Wasn't it Ophelia who tried claiming that since she was a blogger, internet was her workspace, and therefore workplace harassment laws applied to the whole internet, so anyone talking negatively about her anywhere was harassment?

In any case, Ophelia completely going off the deep end claiming that pretty much EVERYTHING in the universe was harassment is also another one for the "2013 lulz list".

[Jan Steen]

Merry Christmas, Pitters and Lurkers.

http://media.heavy.com/gallery/cats-in- ... rees/7.gif

[paddybrown]

It's a conspiracy. My camera lens and the sky's lighting dynamics are in on it too!

You're colonising the trees' lived experience, you terrible person you! Did they give enthusiastic consent to being photographed with apparent Christmas lights on? You know that's not okay.

Photos are very pretty though. Not that excuses you.

Anyway, a hearty Merry Christmas to the pit. Unless a hearty Merry Christmas triggers you, or course.

Can't remember if this has been posted already, but if it has, I don't care.

[youtube]oiSn2JuDQSc[/youtube]

[mikelf]

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.

See, that weather doesn't need to be bleak. You just need to find the beauty in it. For example, we had an ice storm here in Oklahoma a few days back and I walked around with my camera looking for interesting shots. After seeing your post complaining, I knew that there was a shot I took of ice covered prairegrass that you would enjoy.

Here it is:

http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o74 ... ba0302.jpg

[Za-zen]

On this eve of some hijacked pagan festival, rebranded as the day that the creator of the universe ended his nine month retreat in the womb of a virgin, i have decided to retreat back, as the world is overrun with arseholes such as myers and WLC, charlatans/fraudsters and confidence tricksters such as Robertson and Watson.

I see them all as the prime enemy of mankind, ideologues and profiteering conmen. Naive ignorants may view myers to craig, or watson to robertson, as polar opposites. That's because they are looking at their clothes, rather than their species.

[Jan Steen]

To get you in the proper mood.

http://i.imgur.com/Cq0y25c.jpg

More creepy Santas:

http://imgur.com/gallery/40JTb

[Really?]

IANAL (and IANAM*) .....snip.....
*Merkin

Talking of merkins and Duck Dynasty - apparently A&E sell fake beards so that those so inclined can wear them and pretend to be rednecks. Two weeks ago a lovely lady that I've known for nearly thirty years came in for a pap smear, behind the curtain she took the fake beard from her purse and placed it in the appropriate spot as she climbed under the paper sheet. No doubt the hoots and cackles could be heard down the street when I sat on the stool and lifted the sheet. :shock: Now that is being perky!

Excuse me? People who AREN'T part of redneck culture will reduce that vibrant community to a a BEARD you can PURCHASE at a drug store? How dare they engage in such brazen acts of cultural appropriation?

It's a culture. Not a costume.

[Jan Steen]

On this eve of some hijacked pagan festival, rebranded as the day that the creator of the universe ended his nine month retreat in the womb of a virgin, i have decided to retreat back, as the world is overrun with arseholes such as myers and WLC, charlatans/fraudsters and confidence tricksters such as Robertson and Watson.

I see them all as the prime enemy of mankind, ideologues and profiteering conmen. Naive ignorants may view myers to craig, or watson to robertson, as polar opposites. That's because they are looking at their clothes, rather than their species.

Let's dedicate this one to Myers and Watson:

http://media.heavy.com/gallery/jack-nic ... -gif-5.gif

[Jan Steen]

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

[free thoughtpolice]

Over at Ed Brayton's, a blog about a repentant rapist that has come to Jesus.
The fool needs to convert to feminism if he wants to truly be forgiven!

Criminal Justice

by Ed Brayton

An Alabama man who admitted to raping a teenage girl served five years in prison, then was released to probation and mandatory counseling. But now he says that he’s found Jesus and is all better now, so he shouldn’t have to comply with the terms of his guilty plea.

[Scented Nectar]

It's a conspiracy. My camera lens and the sky's lighting dynamics are in on it too!

You're colonising the trees' lived experience, you terrible person you! Did they give enthusiastic consent to being photographed with apparent Christmas lights on? You know that's not okay.

Photos are very pretty though. Not that excuses you.

Anyway, a hearty Merry Christmas to the pit. Unless a hearty Merry Christmas triggers you, or course.

Can't remember if this has been posted already, but if it has, I don't care.

oiSn2JuDQSc

Yes, I asked for their consent. Well, almost. Sort of. I told them Baby It's Cold Outside, and well, they didn't say no, did they? 8-)

Baby It's Cold Outside (Disco Version)
[youtube]hVQv7naXrk4[/youtube]

[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.

See, that weather doesn't need to be bleak. You just need to find the beauty in it. For example, we had an ice storm here in Oklahoma a few days back and I walked around with my camera looking for interesting shots. After seeing your post complaining, I knew that there was a shot I took of ice covered prairegrass that you would enjoy.

Here it is:

http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o74 ... ba0302.jpg

Nice! I'm just fake complaining though. But, it was literally freezing when I briefly stepped out onto the balcony to take those pictures! First world problems. I came back inside and it's toasty warm. :D

[Gefan]

Is there a limit to PZ Myers's hypocrisy? No, there isn't. Just days after he scolded an atheist blogger for writing a fantasy in which he cannibalized creationist Ken Ham, Peezus describes a post by Richard Carrier contra William Lane Craig as follows:

Richard Carrier is carving William Lane Craig for Christmas.

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

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/ ... round-ftb/

:hankey: It's okay when we do it.

My attention was drawn to the last line in Peez's post, wherein Taslima Nasreen's TV series was cancelled before it was aired.

I'm picturing the studio meeting where the pilot of "Batty, Rad-Fem, Size-Queen Theater" was screened.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com ... N6KwRME%3D#_=_

[Steersman]

On this eve of some hijacked pagan festival, rebranded as the day that the creator of the universe ended his nine month retreat in the womb of a virgin, i have decided to retreat back, as the world is overrun with arseholes such as myers and WLC, charlatans/fraudsters and confidence tricksters such as Robertson and Watson.

I see them all as the prime enemy of mankind, ideologues and profiteering conmen. Naive ignorants may view myers to craig, or watson to robertson, as polar opposites. That's because they are looking at their clothes, rather than their species.

In my more charitable moods – it’s the season after all – I tend to look at those types of polar opposites as cases similar to “Tuco” in “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” and his priest-brother. There was one brief scene with the two brothers where the former suggested - with some though not entirely credible justification - that each of them had dealt with their grinding poverty in the best ways open to them, each to become a thief or a priest – each to “prey-upon” – so to speak – others only marginally less destitute than they were.

Some justification for arguing that if our economic systems were more rationally designed and implemented then there might be fewer cases of those types of depredations. Unlikely to completely forestall all of that of course as there seems to be no shortage of psychopaths – like Benny Hinn – who, even if they were as rich as Croesus, would still try to cheat a widow out of her last farthing.

In any case, Merry Xmas/Winter Solstice to all.

[Lsuoma]

Teddy Bear doesn't want to share!

[youtube]UGz8jcbJjRw[/youtube]

[free thoughtpolice]

Teddy Bear doesn't want to share!

[youtube]UGz8jcbJjRw[/youtube]

Greedy little fucker. I say kill it and use it's corpse to anally rape an MRA.

[AndrewV69]

You people are killing me. Fuckers!

Anyway, Camile Paglia: Duck Dynasty uproar ‘utterly fascist, utterly Stalinist’

this is the level of punitive PC, utterly fascist, utterly Stalinist, OK, that my liberal colleagues in the Democratic Party and on college campuses have supported and promoted over the last several decades,” Paglia said. “This is the whole legacy of free speech 1960’s that have been lost by my own party.”

Also, there is a Reactionary backlash in full roar. Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson Won't Back Down Amidst Growing Support

However, an alarming number of big name politicians and religious campaigners have emerged from the fray to lend their support. Though Robertson issued what is effectively an apology, saying in a statement: "I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We are all created by the Almighty and like Him, I love all of humanity. We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other," the star has refused to retract his incendiary remarks.

Apparently the "Duck Dynasty" backlash shows red-state spending muscle

After cable network A&E suspended Robertson for his remarks, a curious thing happened. Unlike other celebrity scandals involving offensive remarks (think of Paula Deen’s admission of using racist epithets), Robertson’s fans are waging a vigorous counterattack against the public outcry over his remarks. Support is so strong that Cracker Barrel reversed its decision to halt selling “Duck Dynasty”-branded gear.

Finally, Twatter has thrown in the towel and is now :

Palin apparently had something to say but in addition to suffering from Benson copypasta I also have a full blown case of ReGreta right now so I could not be arsed to look into it.

[John Greg]

I posted the following on Miri's post (http://freethoughtblogs.com/brutereason ... ment-48845):

Miri, your post is a very long, and interesting, one, and I do not feel that I can comment on the whole thing in the necessarily limited space of a blog comment, so I will just focus on what I feel is the most problematic aspect: so-called rape culture.

Because you said "For reference, here’s a great introduction to rape culture", I felt it appropriate to explicate, so to speak, McEwan's supposed comprehensive definition/explanation of rape culture. Doing so will reflect on your own comments about rape culture -- an accurate, realistic definition of rape culture helps to clarify any and all discussion of same.

So, here goes. I do not think that a blog comment thread is the appropriate or most constructive/useful place for a comprehensive rebuttal, so for brevity's sake I have used only the first eight paragraphs from McEwan's list (the rest of the list does allow for similar clarifications), and I have truncated each of her paragraphs (http://www.shakesville.com/2009/10/rape ... e-101.html).

Rape culture is encouraging male sexual aggression....

No. That is encouraging male agression, which is prevalent, to varying degrees, in many, but not all, human cultures, sub-cultures, and societies. It is also viewed as highly toxic and dysfunctional by an increasingly large cohort of both men and women.

Rape culture is treating straight sexuality as the norm....

No, because so-called straight culture is the norm: it is typical. All other sexualities, to use your word, are accurately labelled deviant. That is not to use a condemnatory definition of deviant: using the word "norm" or the word "deviant" or "deviation" is not, in this instance, a judgement call. It is to use the simple yet accurate definition of deviant, meaning, to deviate from the norm; from that which is typical -- for specificity, the judgement call can easily be removed from that definition.

Rape culture is rape being used as a weapon, a tool of war and genocide and oppression....

No, that is rape used as a tool of war, as part of the overarching campaign of destroying, in any and all ways possible, the enemy. It is war culture, not rape culture.

Rape culture is 1 in 33 men being sexually assaulted in their lifetimes....

No, aside from the questionable figures, that is men being sexually assaulted. If society at large condoned and encouraged such behaviour on a common, regular, daily (and tacitly legal) basis and made it the overarching norm rather than the exception, which it most certainly does not, then it could be called rape culture.

Rape culture is 1 in 6 women being sexually assaulted in their lifetimes....

No, aside from the questionable accuracy of such figures, that is women being sexually assaulted. If society at large condoned and encouraged such behaviour on a common, regular, daily (and tacitly legal) basis and made it the overarching norm rather than the exception, which it most certainly does not, then it could be called rape culture.

Rape culture is victim-blaming. Rape culture is a judge blaming a child for her own rape....

No, that is victim blaming, which may be toxic but does not reflect overarching social or cultural norms anymore. It is also one judge, not all judges, not even a majority of judges. If society at large condoned and encouraged such behaviour on a common, regular, daily (and tacitly legal) basis and made it the overarching norm rather than the exception, which it most certainly does not, then it could be called rape culture.

Rape culture is judges banning the use of the word rape in the courtroom....

No, that is only some judges doing so. To be rape culture would require all, or a substantive majority of judges to so behave to the degree that it became a part of law. If society at large condoned and encouraged such behaviour on a common, regular, daily (and tacitly legal) basis and made it the overarching norm rather than the exception, which it most certainly does not, then it could be called rape culture.

Rape culture is boys under 10 years old knowing how to rape.

No, that is a wild deviation from the norm. If society at large condoned and encouraged such behaviour on a common, regular, daily (and tacitly legal) basis and made it the overarching norm rather than the exception, which it most certainly does not, then it could be called rape culture.

The biggest problem with the majority of McEwan's claims is that they misconstrue single or rare occurrences as common norms: in other words, inaccurate and dishonest reportage on McEwan's part.

To fully, or even largely, accept McEwan's definition of rape culture demands rejigging of a vast array of words, common cultural practives, single incidents as general, and so on. And, in all seriousness, using McEwan to provide an explanation of rape culture is rather like using Dave Mabus to explain atheism: rationality, honesty, and reality do not join the party. Also, as most of the rational world knows, McEwan is several crackers short of a full communion.

It is awaiting moderation.

[John Greg]

Correction: It has, for now, been accepted and posted (http://freethoughtblogs.com/brutereason ... ment-48845).

[James Caruthers]

The outrage is stupid, the outrage backlash was also stupid. I do think that public figures should be allowed to have some freedom in expressing their views. Just as certain questions are illegal to ask in a job interview, requiring an employee to forever muzzle their personal and political opinions as long as they work for that company should be illegal. It amounts to a gag order and Robertson is not a PR representative. It's a fucking redneck show and he gave a redneck opinion when someone ELSE asked him for it. I was raised by and around rednecks and what he said is not shocking or unusual in any way. The outrage against him sounds like it comes mostly from college liberals who have never had to accept true diversity of thought before. Unfortunately, the backlash against the outrage is also stupid, since it seems to come largely from conservatives, anti-gay zealots and mainstream party Republicans, none of whom generally support freedom of expression, free speech or the right to protest (atheist displays during Christmas) when those things offend their personal sensibilities.

The letter-of-law legality on businesses ordering employees to not speak political opinions when asked seems like an unjust right granted to businesses which they should not have. Imagine how Hensley would feel if CFI told her she is no longer allowed to talk about feminism, under penalty of being fired. When the trend of business-approved censorship is all in one ideological direction, and not the other, it creates an effective censorship. I would argue it IS a violation of the First Amendment, because business and government are no longer separated as they once were. The business of government in the USA has been business, ever since at least the Reagan administration. Any business that receives government funds, subsidies or tax breaks should not be allowed to tell ANY of their employees what is or is not acceptable to say. Simply put, if the government has a general set of ideological principles which are in vogue, and businesses follow that set pretty much to a T, this is little more than a clever run-around of the letter of First Amendment law.

When business and government are completely separated, government-approved monopolies broken and anti-trust laws enforced, then we can return to the discussion of how much employee speech a business should be entitled to censor.

[Tribble]

Over at Ed Brayton's, a blog about a repentant rapist that has come to Jesus.
The fool needs to convert to feminism if he wants to truly be forgiven!

Criminal Justice

by Ed Brayton

An Alabama man who admitted to raping a teenage girl served five years in prison, then was released to probation and mandatory counseling. But now he says that he’s found Jesus and is all better now, so he shouldn’t have to comply with the terms of his guilty plea.

Well... At Pharyngula a child rapist found self-flagellation and got hugs, offers of child sitting and acceptance into their community. So I'm thinking Rapist Saved by Jesus has some supporters there and that they need to support and welcome him too. Because, after all , being sorry for raping someone is all you need to do...

[Tribble]

I posted the following on Miri's post (http://freethoughtblogs.com/brutereason ... ment-48845):

Miri, your post is a very long, and interesting, one, and I do not feel that I can comment on the whole thing in the necessarily limited space of a blog comment, so I will just focus on what I feel is the most problematic aspect: so-called rape culture.

Because you said "For reference, here’s a great introduction to rape culture", I felt it appropriate to explicate, so to speak, McEwan's supposed comprehensive definition/explanation of rape culture. Doing so will reflect on your own comments about rape culture -- an accurate, realistic definition of rape culture helps to clarify any and all discussion of same.

So, here goes. I do not think that a blog comment thread is the appropriate or most constructive/useful place for a comprehensive rebuttal, so for brevity's sake I have used only the first eight paragraphs from McEwan's list (the rest of the list does allow for similar clarifications), and I have truncated each of her paragraphs (http://www.shakesville.com/2009/10/rape ... e-101.html).

Rape culture is encouraging male sexual aggression....

No. That is encouraging male agression, which is prevalent, to varying degrees, in many, but not all, human cultures, sub-cultures, and societies. It is also viewed as highly toxic and dysfunctional by an increasingly large cohort of both men and women.

Rape culture is treating straight sexuality as the norm....

No, because so-called straight culture is the norm: it is typical. All other sexualities, to use your word, are accurately labelled deviant. That is not to use a condemnatory definition of deviant: using the word "norm" or the word "deviant" or "deviation" is not, in this instance, a judgement call. It is to use the simple yet accurate definition of deviant, meaning, to deviate from the norm; from that which is typical -- for specificity, the judgement call can easily be removed from that definition.

Rape culture is rape being used as a weapon, a tool of war and genocide and oppression....

No, that is rape used as a tool of war, as part of the overarching campaign of destroying, in any and all ways possible, the enemy. It is war culture, not rape culture.

Rape culture is 1 in 33 men being sexually assaulted in their lifetimes....

No, aside from the questionable figures, that is men being sexually assaulted. If society at large condoned and encouraged such behaviour on a common, regular, daily (and tacitly legal) basis and made it the overarching norm rather than the exception, which it most certainly does not, then it could be called rape culture.

Rape culture is 1 in 6 women being sexually assaulted in their lifetimes....

No, aside from the questionable accuracy of such figures, that is women being sexually assaulted. If society at large condoned and encouraged such behaviour on a common, regular, daily (and tacitly legal) basis and made it the overarching norm rather than the exception, which it most certainly does not, then it could be called rape culture.

Rape culture is victim-blaming. Rape culture is a judge blaming a child for her own rape....

No, that is victim blaming, which may be toxic but does not reflect overarching social or cultural norms anymore. It is also one judge, not all judges, not even a majority of judges. If society at large condoned and encouraged such behaviour on a common, regular, daily (and tacitly legal) basis and made it the overarching norm rather than the exception, which it most certainly does not, then it could be called rape culture.

Rape culture is judges banning the use of the word rape in the courtroom....

No, that is only some judges doing so. To be rape culture would require all, or a substantive majority of judges to so behave to the degree that it became a part of law. If society at large condoned and encouraged such behaviour on a common, regular, daily (and tacitly legal) basis and made it the overarching norm rather than the exception, which it most certainly does not, then it could be called rape culture.

Rape culture is boys under 10 years old knowing how to rape.

No, that is a wild deviation from the norm. If society at large condoned and encouraged such behaviour on a common, regular, daily (and tacitly legal) basis and made it the overarching norm rather than the exception, which it most certainly does not, then it could be called rape culture.

The biggest problem with the majority of McEwan's claims is that they misconstrue single or rare occurrences as common norms: in other words, inaccurate and dishonest reportage on McEwan's part.

To fully, or even largely, accept McEwan's definition of rape culture demands rejigging of a vast array of words, common cultural practives, single incidents as general, and so on. And, in all seriousness, using McEwan to provide an explanation of rape culture is rather like using Dave Mabus to explain atheism: rationality, honesty, and reality do not join the party. Also, as most of the rational world knows, McEwan is several crackers short of a full communion.

It is awaiting moderation.

I seriously doubt that it will see the light of day.

[Tribble]

Correction: It has, for now, been accepted and posted (http://freethoughtblogs.com/brutereason ... ment-48845).

lol. Should have read this post...

[John D]

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.

Heddle is a douche and I have blocked him. This makes me happy. Merry Xmas to all!

[katamari Damassi]

In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit. Alex.

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

Cue hysterical laughter.

LOL!
"Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was Alex Gabriel's hole, and that meant lots of artfully placed Absinthe paraphernalia, incense sticks and a wall-sized poster of Blood On The Dance Floor.

This genuinely made me LOL.

[Badger3k]

In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit. Alex.

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

Cue hysterical laughter.

LOL!
"Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was Alex Gabriel's hole, and that meant lots of artfully placed Absinthe paraphernalia, incense sticks and a wall-sized poster of Blood On The Dance Floor.

This genuinely made me LOL.

I've seen that pic enough that I shouldn't have to ask, but he's not wearing one of those fake-glasses-and-nose things, is he?

[another lurker]

Is it just me, or was it painful to read Alex Gabriel's wordy, convoluted life-story. For someone who apparently studied English at Oxford, he is talented at the 'look at me I am so pretentious and hard to read ie smarter than you' style of exposition. What's wrong with just speaking plainly????? (answered my own question; clear and concise writing lacks the much needed pretension).

Just wanted to bitch about it.

[Guest]

LOL!
"Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was Alex Gabriel's hole, and that meant lots of artfully placed Absinthe paraphernalia, incense sticks and a wall-sized poster of Blood On The Dance Floor.

This genuinely made me LOL.

I've seen that pic enough that I shouldn't have to ask, but he's not wearing one of those fake-glasses-and-nose things, is he?

As I read at the pit, http://freethoughtblogs.com/godlessness ... taken-for/

Most frequently in the hair-explosion that assailed me mid-puberty, I’ve often been imagined to be Jewish, having as I do a nose not totally unlike the prostheses of actors playing usurers in Shakespeare’s London. (More awkward Grindr conversations have begun with people asking if my glasses came attached.) Between the rough ages of fourteen and sixteen, a range of classmates – usually those sticking sharp things into my back during maths lessons – addressed me principally as ‘Jew’, prefaced with ‘dirty’ or suffixed with ‘boy’ at times, graffitiing these phrases onto exercise books, bag and personal effects of mine. I see now that the ‘Gypsy kid’ name-calling I’d had earlier, while actually accurate (at least more so), was of a piece both with these incidents and with my being determinedly misspelt and mispronounced, efforts to contextualise my foreignness: my skin, hair, nose and name specifically, beside the stated fact itself of the descent these symptomised, all of them raced.

[Steersman]

Correction: It has, for now, been accepted and posted (http://freethoughtblogs.com/brutereason ... ment-48845).

Good post there John; particularly liked the closing shot at McEwan – “one cracker short of a full communion”, indeed. I wonder whether PZ will nail that one too – I think it would help greatly if the FftB-crowd were to be a little more forthright in condemning the crazies in “feminism”; to assert, pace Benson, that it is not misogny to connect “virulent” with “feminism”.

In any case, while I certainly agree that all three of the models that Miri referred to are more than a little problematic, including the “rape culture” one you addressed, I would have argued, if Miri hadn’t been more interested in dogma than dialog, that the “gender as larglely a social construct” model is the one with the worst consequences and implications as it seems to undergird or motivate much of the others.

[welch]

The outrage is stupid, the outrage backlash was also stupid. I do think that public figures should be allowed to have some freedom in expressing their views. Just as certain questions are illegal to ask in a job interview, requiring an employee to forever muzzle their personal and political opinions as long as they work for that company should be illegal. It amounts to a gag order and Robertson is not a PR representative. It's a fucking redneck show and he gave a redneck opinion when someone ELSE asked him for it. I was raised by and around rednecks and what he said is not shocking or unusual in any way. The outrage against him sounds like it comes mostly from college liberals who have never had to accept true diversity of thought before. Unfortunately, the backlash against the outrage is also stupid, since it seems to come largely from conservatives, anti-gay zealots and mainstream party Republicans, none of whom generally support freedom of expression, free speech or the right to protest (atheist displays during Christmas) when those things offend their personal sensibilities.

The letter-of-law legality on businesses ordering employees to not speak political opinions when asked seems like an unjust right granted to businesses which they should not have. Imagine how Hensley would feel if CFI told her she is no longer allowed to talk about feminism, under penalty of being fired. When the trend of business-approved censorship is all in one ideological direction, and not the other, it creates an effective censorship. I would argue it IS a violation of the First Amendment, because business and government are no longer separated as they once were. The business of government in the USA has been business, ever since at least the Reagan administration. Any business that receives government funds, subsidies or tax breaks should not be allowed to tell ANY of their employees what is or is not acceptable to say. Simply put, if the government has a general set of ideological principles which are in vogue, and businesses follow that set pretty much to a T, this is little more than a clever run-around of the letter of First Amendment law.

When business and government are completely separated, government-approved monopolies broken and anti-trust laws enforced, then we can return to the discussion of how much employee speech a business should be entitled to censor.

as i've said to some friends, I find a rich, rich irony that the people so indignant that Martin Bashir was treated the way he was for his remarks are so eagerly calling for Robertson's head. And vice-versa.

[John Greg]

Steers said (http://www.slymepit.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... 66#p152866):

Good post there John; particularly liked the closing shot at McEwan – “one cracker short of a full communion”, indeed.

Thanks Steers. I do appreciate your saying so. I too quite like the communion jab.

I also feel that McEwan's only about an inch away from saying that because approximately half the human race is born with a dick, that too is rape culture. I mean most of the rest of her blather makes about the same kind of sense.

As to the other bits of Miri's post, I must admit to having not read them ... yet. I intend to, but not yet. These days, I've got to gird my loins to read longwinded TFB posts.

Hmm, I guess that's rapey isn't it. Ah well. So it goes.

[Tony Parsehole]

In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit. Alex.

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

Cue hysterical laughter.

LOL!
"Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was Alex Gabriel's hole, and that meant lots of artfully placed Absinthe paraphernalia, incense sticks and a wall-sized poster of Blood On The Dance Floor.

This genuinely made me LOL.

Just doing my bit to spread Christmas cheer.
For all he goes on about listening to Dusty Springfield and The Pointer Sisters he's just the type of woe-is-me emo twat that loves cringe shite like this:
[youtube]4bEDM4bsfWg[/youtube]

[Tony Parsehole]

Is it just me, or was it painful to read Alex Gabriel's wordy, convoluted life-story. For someone who apparently studied English at Oxford, he is talented at the 'look at me I am so pretentious and hard to read ie smarter than you' style of exposition. What's wrong with just speaking plainly????? (answered my own question; clear and concise writing lacks the much needed pretension).

Just wanted to bitch about it.

He's painfully verbose; some writers, like Dickens and Hitchens can pull it off and make florid sentences into an art. Alex Gabriel, the poor cunt, isn't one of them.

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

Most frequently in the hair-explosion that assailed me mid-puberty, I’ve often been imagined to be Jewish, having as I do a nose not totally unlike the prostheses of actors playing usurers in Shakespeare’s London. (More awkward Grindr conversations have begun with people asking if my glasses came attached.) Between the rough ages of fourteen and sixteen, a range of classmates – usually those sticking sharp things into my back during maths lessons – addressed me principally as ‘Jew’, prefaced with ‘dirty’ or suffixed with ‘boy’ at times, graffitiing these phrases onto exercise books, bag and personal effects of mine. I see now that the ‘Gypsy kid’ name-calling I’d had earlier, while actually accurate (at least more so), was of a piece both with these incidents and with my being determinedly misspelt and mispronounced, efforts to contextualise my foreignness: my skin, hair, nose and name specifically, beside the stated fact itself of the descent these symptomised, all of them raced.

I will have to call bullshit on his claims of "Jew" insults. "Fucking clown" may be more accurate.

Family finally left the premises. I survived. It was South-West French food, and there was way too much of it. I mostly got truffle products (olive oil, mustard...) and will use them as soon as I recover from that diner. I still have a mountain of dishes to take care of.

[welch]

LOL!
"Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was Alex Gabriel's hole, and that meant lots of artfully placed Absinthe paraphernalia, incense sticks and a wall-sized poster of Blood On The Dance Floor.

This genuinely made me LOL.

Just doing my bit to spread Christmas cheer.
For all he goes on about listening to Dusty Springfield and The Pointer Sisters he's just the type of woe-is-me emo twat that loves cringe shite like this:
[youtube]4bEDM4bsfWg[/dumbtube]

Da Fuque? That's worse than every video made in the 80s.

[dogen]

[
Just doing my bit to spread Christmas cheer.
For all he goes on about listening to Dusty Springfield and The Pointer Sisters he's just the type of woe-is-me emo twat that loves cringe shite like this:
[youtube]4bEDM4bsfWg[/youtube]

WHAT NEW DEVILRY IS THIS?

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

I just watched the first 26 seconds and witnessed a Sith lord offering some woman a Surlyramic. No thanks.

[dogen]

Is it just me, or was it painful to read Alex Gabriel's wordy, convoluted life-story. For someone who apparently studied English at Oxford, he is talented at the 'look at me I am so pretentious and hard to read ie smarter than you' style of exposition. What's wrong with just speaking plainly????? (answered my own question; clear and concise writing lacks the much needed pretension).

Just wanted to bitch about it.

I'm more blown away by the hideous display of first-world privilege. He got one of the best educations in the world, with no-doubt significant financial support from the state, and all he can do is whine about seeing tossers dousing each other in champagne.

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.

Fuck that shit, I spent my time getting hot and nauseous in college bars (70p for a pint of Strongbow!), at bops and at donner kebab vans.

[welch]

Is it just me, or was it painful to read Alex Gabriel's wordy, convoluted life-story. For someone who apparently studied English at Oxford, he is talented at the 'look at me I am so pretentious and hard to read ie smarter than you' style of exposition. What's wrong with just speaking plainly????? (answered my own question; clear and concise writing lacks the much needed pretension).

Just wanted to bitch about it.

I'm more blown away by the hideous display of first-world privilege. He got one of the best educations in the world, with no-doubt significant financial support from the state, and all he can do is whine about seeing tossers dousing each other in champagne.

His privilege doesn't count. Because he's the bastard child of groucho and ronald mcdonald.