The Refuge of the Toads

#23641

Sometimes I can't even fucking believe the shit some people can suggest with a straight face.

[youtube]yKHjT4ASMio[/youtube]

I'm willing to bet anyone who's ever worked with this woman, particularly any of them who've ever had children, hates her guts.

#23642

Wasting my time in a scrum with an ex-fundie plusser who conflates secularism with atheism. (& whose endless simpering over the athei-seculist movement not serving him the same Warm & Fuzzies of this old fundie church is quite annoying.)

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rivers/201 ... 2676991811

Going to the barn now to tackle real, instead of virtual, piles of shit.

#23643

screwtape wrote:
Lsuoma wrote:The purchase of our retirement home completes on Wednesday.

<<Removing images to avoid self-doxing...>>
Our retirement home was bought a few years back, and our son lived in it for his undergraduate degree. Since then it has been occupied by close friends who pay all the upkeep rather than rent. It's small and cheap to run, and is in a university town that would allow lots of facilities and activities. You can sit in lectures for free as long as you don't intend to gain credits. It's in the next door province, but is actually closer to the missus' work, and she still works and intends to continue for some years yet as she enjoys it. Current problem is how to get rid of all the stuff that has accumulated in this house over the last thirty years, which turns out to be not so much my problem as I remember the joy of the feeling of freedom when all my worldly possessions fit into one trunk and a grip back in 1976. How does one strip one's missus of 90% of her stuff?

Yeah, we're at the life stage where decrapifying is necessary.

#23644

Bourne Skeptic wrote:
Brive1987 wrote:I'm still really bummed about JG too. I see his name on the Pit's front index and constantly see his comments online when 'researching'

What makes his situation especially poignant is that the decision was entirely pragmatic - a cold indictment on our society. So far as I can tell he wasn't mad or sad. He had just hit 'Park Lane with hotels' once too often and there was no getting around Go!.

If there was ever a need for a soft social net it's for people who are functional but just need a small boost.
It's a shame he never reached out to get professional help. There are resources available for people in crisis here in Canada. If he had contacted Canadian Mental Health and told them he was suicidal they would have tried to help. He also could have received financial assistance. Unfortunately many people(men especially) suffering from mental health problems find it difficult to ask for help.

It becomes a vicious circle, the worse things get, the harder it is to reach out for help, and they slowly lose all hope.

It sucks :(

In PM conversations he said he had tried the social services &/or mental health services approach in the past but his view was that they had nothing to offer him. He felt he needed a long-term solution to his financial situation, not temporizing measures.

#23645

screwtape wrote:
Lsuoma wrote:The purchase of our retirement home completes on Wednesday.

<<Removing images to avoid self-doxing...>>
Our retirement home was bought a few years back, and our son lived in it for his undergraduate degree. Since then it has been occupied by close friends who pay all the upkeep rather than rent. It's small and cheap to run, and is in a university town that would allow lots of facilities and activities. You can sit in lectures for free as long as you don't intend to gain credits. It's in the next door province, but is actually closer to the missus' work, and she still works and intends to continue for some years yet as she enjoys it. Current problem is how to get rid of all the stuff that has accumulated in this house over the last thirty years, which turns out to be not so much my problem as I remember the joy of the feeling of freedom when all my worldly possessions fit into one trunk and a grip back in 1976. How does one strip one's missus of 90% of her stuff?

I sympathize. I moved a year ago, and while this is not my "retirement" house, we are tryng to downsize. My wife and I both have too much stuff. We have gotten rid of quite a bit of stuff, but it is tricky to pare down. Most of my stuff is related to hobbies that I may take up again one day. The good thing about this is that I can keep most of this in the attic. My wife however, has mountains of pictures and scrap booking crap. You can't store it in the attic because it will be ruined.

As a result we have about two dozen tubs still piled in the spare bedrooms. It is really hard to find the motivation to go through everything.

I did hear a good speech by an organization specialist once. She suggested taking EVERYTHING you have out of storage. Put everything into piles. The piles are keep, store, and dump. Once you get everything into store and keep piles (and get rid of the rest), figure out where and how you want to store things. Don't put anything back till you have a strategy and a place for everything. If you don't have enough space, you have to get rid of more shit.

#23646

Rising freshman: "Please don't make me live in a safe space"

#23647

screwtape wrote:It was from "Planet of the 2001 Monkeys".

History of the World: Part 1

[youtube]TE_YBBEp4nQ[/youtube]

#23648

Skep tickle wrote:
Bourne Skeptic wrote:
Brive1987 wrote:I'm still really bummed about JG too. I see his name on the Pit's front index and constantly see his comments online when 'researching'

What makes his situation especially poignant is that the decision was entirely pragmatic - a cold indictment on our society. So far as I can tell he wasn't mad or sad. He had just hit 'Park Lane with hotels' once too often and there was no getting around Go!.

If there was ever a need for a soft social net it's for people who are functional but just need a small boost.
It's a shame he never reached out to get professional help. There are resources available for people in crisis here in Canada. If he had contacted Canadian Mental Health and told them he was suicidal they would have tried to help. He also could have received financial assistance. Unfortunately many people(men especially) suffering from mental health problems find it difficult to ask for help.

It becomes a vicious circle, the worse things get, the harder it is to reach out for help, and they slowly lose all hope.

It sucks :(
In PM conversations he said he had tried the social services &/or mental health services approach in the past but his view was that they had nothing to offer him. He felt he needed a long-term solution to his financial situation, not temporizing measures.

Maybe it's the eternal optimist in me, but I think as long as I'm alive there's hope things can get better.

#23649

Proof of the Historic Richard Carrier
[youtube]IgoB2JMEowc[/youtube]

#23650

comhcinc wrote:
CaptainFluffyBunny wrote:
comhcinc wrote:
If you would have said he must disagree with that you would have caught him in a logic trap and we would be done with him.
I fear he is actually quite, quite mad. While I don't believe in internet diagnoses per se, does anybody have a better explanation?
He is an idiot.

These two things are not mutually exclusive, are they?.

#23651

Skep tickle wrote:
Bourne Skeptic wrote: It's a shame he never reached out to get professional help. There are resources available for people in crisis here in Canada. If he had contacted Canadian Mental Health and told them he was suicidal they would have tried to help. He also could have received financial assistance. Unfortunately many people(men especially) suffering from mental health problems find it difficult to ask for help.

It becomes a vicious circle, the worse things get, the harder it is to reach out for help, and they slowly lose all hope.

It sucks :(
In PM conversations he said he had tried the social services &/or mental health services approach in the past but his view was that they had nothing to offer him. He felt he needed a long-term solution to his financial situation, not temporizing measures.

I trust your compassion, Bourne, but I read depressingly-familiar subtexts in your comment. I think my former-friends believed similar things about me, at my lowest moment, when they decided to take a pass on entangling themselves with trying help me. I don't mean to single you out for shame by using your words as an example. But your words are clear & direct, which makes it easy to unpack & question them.

First, the assumption that he "never" reached out for help. The implication is that he didn't exhaust his options before quitting, so he's merely a victim of his own stubborn foolishness. But, apparently he did reach out to social services & mental health pros-- previously. Maybe he had good reason to not trust trying that route again. This is going to get wordy & TMI, but...

In my case, I hired a couples-counseling therapist, only to find-myself being lectured about why "women bring men to counseling". I kept reminding the therapist I has sought him out & was paying the bill, but that couldn't 'stick' in his mind. Months later, when a neighbor heard my gf crying-- they called 911-- so police could "check" whether domestic violence was happening. But-- thanks to the Violence Against Women Act, police no-longer "check" and declare such calls "unfounded" if they find no evidence of abuse. They automatically remove the male to jail & impose a restraining order, even when the woman says she doesn't want one. That was a huge mess to untangle, which required ex & me to violate the restraining order/ to coordinate fixing it. And-- after I got out of jail/ when I couldn't go home/ & was sleeping in an alley-- I called the therapist to explain-why we'd have to stop coming to counseling-- until the restraining order & court case was dismissed. The therapist immediately said he'd have to end all contact with me, as a matter of professional policy. I said I could use some mental health help, due to my distressing circumstances. He claimed that it would be unethical to see one-partner when he had been hired to counsel us both-- in case I might seek to win advantage by being seen alone. Ok. But then he contacted my gf & offered to see her alone. This was just the last straw with the mental health profession, for me. I had to erase considering them a source of "help" from my mind, so I wouldn't keep being disappointed. Another anecdote: a few years earlier, different therapist-- I was bicycling to the therapy appointment & was made-late when a box truck started chasing me, a few feet behind my rear wheel, as-if to run me over. The driver was toying with me, to scare me. I got-away, but seconds-later, I was still pedaling so hard that the bike chain snapped & I crashed to the ground. I went to the first police car I could see & told the cops & tried to describe the truck. The cops claimed it "wasn't illegal". (It is: vehicular menacing). I proceeded to therapy, where I was lectured for being late. When I explained the reason, the therapist accused me of exaggerating & said I might have a personality disorder. I kept paying that asswipe & going-back! I was 'reasonable' & thought he had no reason to know I was telling the truth, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt (which he hadn't-given me). I don't know why John Greg didn't go back to get social & mental health services, but I can't assume he didn't try that route & find it an asylum of dangerous, mediocrity-- corrupted by SJW dogma.

Sentiments like "there are resources available for people in crisis" can be excuses to not help a friend. Outsource the problem to Big Brother. Yes, men don't seek help. But is it because we're particularly stupid & stubborn/ or because we recognize the system isn't our friend?

A few nights ago, John Greg was on my mind, because he chose to die rather than move from the apartment he was losing. I'm not looking forward to leaving my little room & the "can't can't can't" part of my brain would rather die than keep struggling forward into an unknown future. The worst part of feeling so low again was realizing "oh shit/it's back". I had hoped rock bottom was behind me. Not something that could return & haunt me.

Fortunately, that panic passed & I've been reminded that the world isn't entirely bleak. The thought of a 2,000 mile hobo bicycle trip (or trip in a shitty, uninsured van with bogus license plates) isn't romantic, like when I was young. But there will be glorious moments, between the harrowing moments.

You're right about this part: "It becomes a vicious circle, the worse things get, the harder it is to reach out for help, and they slowly lose all hope." Hopefully my next risky gambit will break the vicious cycle. I don't went to end-up like John Greg, deciding to cash-out rather than roll-the-dice again.

#23652

Lsuoma wrote:
screwtape wrote:
Lsuoma wrote:The purchase of our retirement home completes on Wednesday.

<<Removing images to avoid self-doxing...>>
Our retirement home was bought a few years back, and our son lived in it for his undergraduate degree. Since then it has been occupied by close friends who pay all the upkeep rather than rent. It's small and cheap to run, and is in a university town that would allow lots of facilities and activities. You can sit in lectures for free as long as you don't intend to gain credits. It's in the next door province, but is actually closer to the missus' work, and she still works and intends to continue for some years yet as she enjoys it. Current problem is how to get rid of all the stuff that has accumulated in this house over the last thirty years, which turns out to be not so much my problem as I remember the joy of the feeling of freedom when all my worldly possessions fit into one trunk and a grip back in 1976. How does one strip one's missus of 90% of her stuff?
Yeah, we're at the life stage where decrapifying is necessary.

Okay you have convinced me. I'm selling the kids.

#23653

Matt Cavanaugh wrote:Wasting my time in a scrum with an ex-fundie plusser who conflates secularism with atheism. (& whose endless simpering over the athei-seculist movement not serving him the same Warm & Fuzzies of this old fundie church is quite annoying.)

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rivers/201 ... 2676991811

Going to the barn now to tackle real, instead of virtual, piles of shit.

Wasn't aware that Galen fellow was a blogger but then who isn't these days?

#23654

Matt Cavanaugh wrote:Wasting my time in a scrum with an ex-fundie plusser who conflates secularism with atheism. (& whose endless simpering over the athei-seculist movement not serving him the same Warm & Fuzzies of this old fundie church is quite annoying.)

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rivers/201 ... 2676991811

Going to the barn now to tackle real, instead of virtual, piles of shit.

Heh. Galen Broadarse. Probably not that much of an ex-fundie in reality - he simply swapped Jesus for Peezus. Frequently seen popping up in various comments sections across t'web simply to defend Peez to the hilt. Bit of a twat and extremely boring with it. How that dull fucker got a plush Patheos gig I'll never know.

#23655

Holy shit: baby. 9.5 lbs!

#23656

Steersman wrote:
http://1850516970.rsc.cdn77.org/wordpre ... 4-1080.jpg

In true pit form that monkey/ape appears to be beating a dead horse. :drool:

#23657

NoGodsEver wrote:
comhcinc wrote:
He is an idiot.
These two things are not mutually exclusive, are they?.

No they are not, but a mad man can at least be fun.

#23658

Service Dog wrote:Holy shit: baby. 9.5 lbs!

Is that considered big? All my kids were bigger than that. My youngest being the biggest at about 11.5.

#23659

Steersman wrote:
Brive1987 wrote:I make a tongue in cheek picture with just enough 'model' for it to operate on a couple of levels. The monkey/ape/humanoid thing using a primative tool was a fucking joke - pitted against RW.
And latsot is supposed to have known that, how? Mind reading?

A useful link.

Humour (in Commonwealth English), or humor (in American English) is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement.

People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. Most people are able to experience humour—be amused, smile or laugh at something funny—and thus are considered to have a sense of humour. The hypothetical person lacking a sense of humour would likely find the behaviour inducing it to be inexplicable, strange, or even irrational. Though ultimately decided by personal taste, the extent to which a person finds something humorous depends on a host of variables, including geographical location, culture, maturity, level of education, intelligence and context.

#23660

free thoughtpolice wrote:
Steersman wrote:
[.img]http://1850516970.rsc.cdn77.org/wordpre ... 4-1080.jpg[/img]
In true pit form that monkey/ape appears to be beating a dead horse. :drool:

:lol: Not just dead, but decayed to nothing but bleached bones. But reminds me of an amusing cartoon (see! I have a sense of humour! ;-) ) I saw ages ago in a Playboy magazine. It showed a "walking" skeleton, literally, that was wearing sort of dreadlocks/ringlets than some women (one assumes) have a predilection for. And the caption was, "Bo Derek with absolutely nothing on at all" ... :rimshot:

#23661

The thing about you people (yes you heard me!) arguing with steerlter isn't that he will never admit he is wrong. That's pretty common on the internet.

No what gets me it you know he is just going to keep arguing and he is going to do it in the most annoying way possible.

What exactly are you getting from it?

#23662

comhcinc wrote:The thing about you people (yes you heard me!) arguing with steerlter isn't that he will never admit he is wrong. That's pretty common on the internet.

No what gets me it you know he is just going to keep arguing and he is going to do it in the most annoying way possible.

What exactly are you getting from it?

I'm easily amused.

#23663

Kirbmarc wrote:
Steersman wrote:
Brive1987 wrote:I make a tongue in cheek picture with just enough 'model' for it to operate on a couple of levels. The monkey/ape/humanoid thing using a primative tool was a fucking joke - pitted against RW.
And latsot is supposed to have known that, how? Mind reading?
A useful link.

Humour (in Commonwealth English), or humor (in American English) is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement.
....

Fine. But the point is that not everyone finds certain "jokes" particularly funny for any number of reasons. For instance, many women don't find rape "jokes" particularly amusing. A humourless bunch ....

#23664

Kirbmarc wrote:
comhcinc wrote:The thing about you people (yes you heard me!) arguing with steerlter isn't that he will never admit he is wrong. That's pretty common on the internet.

No what gets me it you know he is just going to keep arguing and he is going to do it in the most annoying way possible.

What exactly are you getting from it?
I'm easily amused.

Really? Well could you take it to another thread?

#23665

Brive1987 wrote:But Steers you are right I have an axe to grind. I don't like SJW and the threat they pose to rational thought and the damage they cause. You will find a lot of that around here.

"Oh why can't the English learn to speak?" Or at least learn how to use a dictionary:

have an ax to grind also have an axe to grind
1. to have a selfish reason for saying or doing something: The best reporting is done by people who don't have an ax to grind. After you get the same complaints from a number of people, you begin to think it may not be just people who have personal axes to grind.

I'll agree with you that many SJWs and much of the SJW dogma are highly problematic at best. But I don't think that that justifies being unfair, putting your thumbs and whole forearm on the scales, or engaging in "in-group morality, and out-group hostility".

#23666

comhcinc wrote:
Kirbmarc wrote:
comhcinc wrote:The thing about you people (yes you heard me!) arguing with steerlter isn't that he will never admit he is wrong. That's pretty common on the internet.

No what gets me it you know he is just going to keep arguing and he is going to do it in the most annoying way possible.

What exactly are you getting from it?
I'm easily amused.
Really? Well could you take it to another thread?

Why don't you take all of your blathering and picayune comments to one yourself?

#23667

Because people like me and are interested in what I have to say.

#23668

comhcinc wrote:
Service Dog wrote:Holy shit: baby. 9.5 lbs!

Is that considered big? All my kids were bigger than that. My youngest being the biggest at about 11.5.

Anything over 8.8 is considered "high birth weight". Over 11, docs worry about whether vaginal birth is healthy. Shoulders might get stuck.

#23669

Preggo is 5' or 5'1". With the kid in her, she looked like BB-8 robot.

#23670

Service Dog wrote:
comhcinc wrote:
Service Dog wrote:Holy shit: baby. 9.5 lbs!

Is that considered big? All my kids were bigger than that. My youngest being the biggest at about 11.5.
Anything over 8.8 is considered "high birth weight". Over 11, docs worry about whether vaginal birth is healthy. Shoulders might get stuck.

She was the only one delivered via C section.

Weak vagged yankee women!

Tell her congrats and that I don't mind if they name the kid after me.

#23671

BoxNDox wrote:
feathers wrote:
Mark Oppenheimer wrote:Mr. Taunton runs the Fixed Point Foundation, which organizes debates between Christians and atheists. In September 2010, five months after Mr. Hitchens’s diagnosis of cancer, he and “Hitch” drove the 13 hours from Mr. Hitchens’s home in Washington, D.C., to a Fixed Point debate in Birmingham, Ala. The next month, after an event in Billings, Mont., they took a seven-hour trip to, and around, Yellowstone National Park.

As Mr. Taunton drove, Mr. Hitchens read aloud from the Gospel of John and mulled over the precise reason Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus. “Where is grace in the Old Testament?” Hitchens asked at one point, in Mr. Taunton’s telling. “I see it in the New Testament, but God is different in the Old Testament,” Mr. Hitchens observed, leading to a discussion of God’s covenant with Abraham.

Based principally on these conversations, Mr. Taunton concluded that Mr. Hitchens was seeking — and that he was, at least, open to — the possibility that Christianity was true. Perhaps, Mr. Taunton writes, Mr. Hitchens “used his position as a journalist as a kind of professional cover for a very personal inquiry” into the faith.
And that, it seems, is the extent of his evidence. How can this fill a whole book, I wonder. But certainly people who manage to devote whole libraries of books to a speculative higher entity and his endeavours in human affairs should have no trouble with that.
What a load of nonsense.

Many years ago I worked as the technical director for a production of the musical "Fashion". The work included a bunch of trips to various suppliers in and around downtown Los Angeles to pick up fabric, lumber, lighting equipment, and so on. I ended up spending quite a few hours in a panel truck with one guy who was nice enough, but both very religious and very loquacious.

I've been an atheist since third grade Sunday school. But religious school plus my own reading have given me a pretty good knowledge of the bible.

And when you have to spend many hours in close quarters with someone who really wants to talk about God, saying at the outset that you're a lifelong atheist and think the bible is a nasty bit of work didn't seem like the greatest idea. So instead I called on my knowledge and we spent the time discussing the lessons Jesus taught and how they should be interpreted today. I never said I was a believer though.

I'm pretty sure that the guy, if asked, would have described me as on the path to faith, or something along those lines. But being able to talk the talk doesn't mean you're walking the walk.

That was the last time I worked as a technical director though. Not because of the guy in the truck - I actually enjoyed the conversation. It was the dozens - hundreds - of phone calls I had to make to arrange to get all that stuff. To this day I actively dislike calling people I don't know.

From God Is Not Great:

I have probably sat up later, and longer, with religious friends than with any other kind. These friends often irritated me by saying that I am a "seeker," which I am not, or not in the way they think.

Maybe I'm judging the book too harshly without reading it, but this sort of thing was addressed by Hitchens himself. He was a free thinker, thus he read as much as he could and tried to treat all ideas with a level of respect (even prima facie absurd ones). That's not to be mistaken with sympathy for Christianity. On the contrary, it would be hard to imagine someone who hated religion more without allowing it to drive them to dogmatism.

#23672

comhcinc wrote:The thing about you people (yes you heard me!) arguing with steerlter isn't that he will never admit he is wrong. That's pretty common on the internet.

No what gets me it you know he is just going to keep arguing and he is going to do it in the most annoying way possible.

What exactly are you getting from it?

Someone mentioned a while back he conforms to the Ferrous Cranus trope.

http://www.flamewarriorsguide.com/warri ... cranus.htm

To answer your question:

Sometimes out of pure frustration Philosopher will try to explain to him the failed logistics of his situation

or

Therapist will attempt to penetrate the psychological origins of his obduracy

#23673

jet_lagg wrote:
<snip>

Maybe I'm judging the book too harshly without reading it, but this sort of thing was addressed by Hitchens himself. He was a free thinker, thus he read as much as he could and tried to treat all ideas with a level of respect (even prima facie absurd ones). That's not to be mistaken with sympathy for Christianity. On the contrary, it would be hard to imagine someone who hated religion more without allowing it to drive them to dogmatism.

That's why dogmatic authoritarians, like the SJWs, can't understand what he was doing.

SJWs are so incredibly sure that they're right that they never even bother to know the ideas of those who disagree with them.

This is the reason why they can't understand nuance, why they think that anyone who's not a leftist is some sort of thug who wants to rape, pillage and burn the world, why they consider the Slymepit (which is overwhelmingly populate by anti-authoritarian progressives) to be on the same level of the KKK.

They can't expose their minds to thoughtcrime, so they don't even know what thoughtcrime really is.

#23674

This guy is a scientist!
[youtube]T85d7ST2yxU[/youtube]

#23675

Kirbmarc wrote:
comhcinc wrote:The thing about you people (yes you heard me!) arguing with steerlter isn't that he will never admit he is wrong. That's pretty common on the internet.

No what gets me it you know he is just going to keep arguing and he is going to do it in the most annoying way possible.

What exactly are you getting from it?
I'm easily amused.

Really? I often thought to myself as I was posting a reply to Steersman, this one, surely he can see the merits of this one. It is clear. Any fool can plainly see it. He must back off, realize his position is at odds with reality and acknowledge his mistake. He has been schooled already by others, perhaps even better, but this simple argument will seep through. There is this need in people (or at least myself) to imagine that people must make sense on some level. Even though I really do know better and realize I'm being an idiot.

I imagine it was what chronic gamblers must be like. I'd swear off talking to him, deride anybody that did as well-intentioned but foolish, and then I would do it again. Like an idiot, thinking that he even could change his mind. Now I'm sure he can't. There is less chance of getting him to admit his errors than to have Little Paul renounce his divisive stupidity and give up the limelight. Steers exists only to argue, whether to be simply contrarian, for the attention or some other design is for him alone to know.

#23676

And the sock puppet ninja says it more succinctly. I need coffee, but I am thoroughly encatted.

#23677

comhcinc wrote:

Okay you have convinced me. I'm selling the kids.

[youtube]DbsMZecRgbI[/youtube]

#23678

MarcusAu wrote:
comhcinc wrote:

Okay you have convinced me. I'm selling the kids.
[youtube]DbsMZecRgbI[/youtube]

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/87/8714c161 ... 499b61.jpg

#23679

MarcusAu wrote:
comhcinc wrote:

Okay you have convinced me. I'm selling the kids.
[youtube]DbsMZecRgbI[/youtube]

4ChildrenforSale.jpg: (85.48 KiB) Downloaded 310 times

This one always gave me a sad. I often wonder what became of the children.

#23680

Kirbmarc wrote:
jet_lagg wrote:
<snip>

Maybe I'm judging the book too harshly without reading it, but this sort of thing was addressed by Hitchens himself. He was a free thinker, thus he read as much as he could and tried to treat all ideas with a level of respect (even prima facie absurd ones). That's not to be mistaken with sympathy for Christianity. On the contrary, it would be hard to imagine someone who hated religion more without allowing it to drive them to dogmatism.
That's why dogmatic authoritarians, like the SJWs, can't understand what he was doing.

SJWs are so incredibly sure that they're right that they never even bother to know the ideas of those who disagree with them.

This is the reason why they can't understand nuance, why they think that anyone who's not a leftist is some sort of thug who wants to rape, pillage and burn the world, why they consider the Slymepit (which is overwhelmingly populate by anti-authoritarian progressives) to be on the same level of the KKK.

They can't expose their minds to thoughtcrime, so they don't even know what thoughtcrime really is.

You can't expect people who brag about getting petty errands done on a Saturday to actually put in the effort to read anything.

As to why it would matter even if Hitchens actually made a full deathbed conversion, well, it wouldn't. But they're so invested in the hero-worship lie they perpetuate that they're convinced that attacking the man weakens his arguments.

#23681

JackSkeptic wrote:John Greg's death has really bothered me. I don't know why, I didn't know him at all.

If ANY of you scumbags or anyone looking in has issues please talk about it. Wearing our hearts on our sleeves is for narcissists and self righteous bigots who enjoy virtue signalling. Humour is the best medicine and this place has it in spades.

But always remember people do think of you even if they never say it. You mean a lot more to others than you may ever realise or appreciate. So don't be a selfish bastard and top yourself or I'll be pretty pissed off.

Thanks for saying this. I haven't had much to do with the 'Pit since the posts about JG's death. It's absolutely not the 'Pit's fault, of course, just ... I don't know what to think. :(

#23682

Service Dog wrote:
Skep tickle wrote:
Bourne Skeptic wrote: It's a shame he never reached out to get professional help. There are resources available for people in crisis here in Canada. If he had contacted Canadian Mental Health and told them he was suicidal they would have tried to help. He also could have received financial assistance. Unfortunately many people(men especially) suffering from mental health problems find it difficult to ask for help.

It becomes a vicious circle, the worse things get, the harder it is to reach out for help, and they slowly lose all hope.

It sucks :(
In PM conversations he said he had tried the social services &/or mental health services approach in the past but his view was that they had nothing to offer him. He felt he needed a long-term solution to his financial situation, not temporizing measures.
I trust your compassion, Bourne, but I read depressingly-familiar subtexts in your comment. I think my former-friends believed similar things about me, at my lowest moment, when they decided to take a pass on entangling themselves with trying help me. I don't mean to single you out for shame by using your words as an example. But your words are clear & direct, which makes it easy to unpack & question them.

First, the assumption that he "never" reached out for help. The implication is that he didn't exhaust his options before quitting, so he's merely a victim of his own stubborn foolishness. But, apparently he did reach out to social services & mental health pros-- previously. Maybe he had good reason to not trust trying that route again. This is going to get wordy & TMI, but...

In my case, I hired a couples-counseling therapist, only to find-myself being lectured about why "women bring men to counseling". I kept reminding the therapist I has sought him out & was paying the bill, but that couldn't 'stick' in his mind. Months later, when a neighbor heard my gf crying-- they called 911-- so police could "check" whether domestic violence was happening. But-- thanks to the Violence Against Women Act, police no-longer "check" and declare such calls "unfounded" if they find no evidence of abuse. They automatically remove the male to jail & impose a restraining order, even when the woman says she doesn't want one. That was a huge mess to untangle, which required ex & me to violate the restraining order/ to coordinate fixing it. And-- after I got out of jail/ when I couldn't go home/ & was sleeping in an alley-- I called the therapist to explain-why we'd have to stop coming to counseling-- until the restraining order & court case was dismissed. The therapist immediately said he'd have to end all contact with me, as a matter of professional policy. I said I could use some mental health help, due to my distressing circumstances. He claimed that it would be unethical to see one-partner when he had been hired to counsel us both-- in case I might seek to win advantage by being seen alone. Ok. But then he contacted my gf & offered to see her alone. This was just the last straw with the mental health profession, for me. I had to erase considering them a source of "help" from my mind, so I wouldn't keep being disappointed. Another anecdote: a few years earlier, different therapist-- I was bicycling to the therapy appointment & was made-late when a box truck started chasing me, a few feet behind my rear wheel, as-if to run me over. The driver was toying with me, to scare me. I got-away, but seconds-later, I was still pedaling so hard that the bike chain snapped & I crashed to the ground. I went to the first police car I could see & told the cops & tried to describe the truck. The cops claimed it "wasn't illegal". (It is: vehicular menacing). I proceeded to therapy, where I was lectured for being late. When I explained the reason, the therapist accused me of exaggerating & said I might have a personality disorder. I kept paying that asswipe & going-back! I was 'reasonable' & thought he had no reason to know I was telling the truth, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt (which he hadn't-given me). I don't know why John Greg didn't go back to get social & mental health services, but I can't assume he didn't try that route & find it an asylum of dangerous, mediocrity-- corrupted by SJW dogma.

Sentiments like "there are resources available for people in crisis" can be excuses to not help a friend. Outsource the problem to Big Brother. Yes, men don't seek help. But is it because we're particularly stupid & stubborn/ or because we recognize the system isn't our friend?

A few nights ago, John Greg was on my mind, because he chose to die rather than move from the apartment he was losing. I'm not looking forward to leaving my little room & the "can't can't can't" part of my brain would rather die than keep struggling forward into an unknown future. The worst part of feeling so low again was realizing "oh shit/it's back". I had hoped rock bottom was behind me. Not something that could return & haunt me.

Fortunately, that panic passed & I've been reminded that the world isn't entirely bleak. The thought of a 2,000 mile hobo bicycle trip (or trip in a shitty, uninsured van with bogus license plates) isn't romantic, like when I was young. But there will be glorious moments, between the harrowing moments.

You're right about this part: "It becomes a vicious circle, the worse things get, the harder it is to reach out for help, and they slowly lose all hope." Hopefully my next risky gambit will break the vicious cycle. I don't went to end-up like John Greg, deciding to cash-out rather than roll-the-dice again.

Saying he never reached out was an assumption. I wish he had gotten the help he needed from family, friends or the system.

As a former social worker I guess I still look at things from that perspective. Old habits die hard.

#23683

comhcinc wrote:
Weak vagged yankee women!....

Naw. You down-south sister-fuckers got the undersized babies & the supersized cesarian stats.

http://www.ncsl.org/portals/1/ImageLibr ... appc11.gif

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_TLN3D8ugIMI/S ... s_2007.jpg

Despite your region's relative-lack of Asian/Pacific Islander tinypeople.

https://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_ ... _asian.jpg

#23684

BarnOwl wrote:
JackSkeptic wrote:John Greg's death has really bothered me. I don't know why, I didn't know him at all.

If ANY of you scumbags or anyone looking in has issues please talk about it. Wearing our hearts on our sleeves is for narcissists and self righteous bigots who enjoy virtue signalling. Humour is the best medicine and this place has it in spades.

But always remember people do think of you even if they never say it. You mean a lot more to others than you may ever realise or appreciate. So don't be a selfish bastard and top yourself or I'll be pretty pissed off.
Thanks for saying this. I haven't had much to do with the 'Pit since the posts about JG's death. It's absolutely not the 'Pit's fault, of course, just ... I don't know what to think. :(

I try not to get morose about it, even though I know one of the last things he must have done is check here before checking out. I didn't know the man as well as I would have liked, but I am certain he would have wanted us to soldier on.

#23685

Bourne Skeptic wrote: As a former social worker I guess I still look at things from that perspective. Old habits die hard.

What's your assessment of how well the system works? I have very-little real information. Just my few bad experiences.

#23686

If there is a contest for the most annoying baboon I nominate an idiot called doublereed. From the comments on a Mano Singham post about religious terrorists:
https://archive.is/B0jDA

#23687

CaptainFluffyBunny wrote:
4ChildrenforSale.jpg
This one always gave me a sad. I often wonder what became of the children.

Google is your friend and so am I.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake ... e2082.html

#23688

BarnOwl wrote:
JackSkeptic wrote:John Greg's death has really bothered me. I don't know why, I didn't know him at all.

If ANY of you scumbags or anyone looking in has issues please talk about it. Wearing our hearts on our sleeves is for narcissists and self righteous bigots who enjoy virtue signalling. Humour is the best medicine and this place has it in spades.

But always remember people do think of you even if they never say it. You mean a lot more to others than you may ever realise or appreciate. So don't be a selfish bastard and top yourself or I'll be pretty pissed off.
Thanks for saying this. I haven't had much to do with the 'Pit since the posts about JG's death. It's absolutely not the 'Pit's fault, of course, just ... I don't know what to think. :(

No one can be blamed for John's death except John. He gave up. I offered to pay him to do, what for him would be an easy job and he refused. I am sorry that he is gone but I am not going to blame anyone.

#23689

Freethought Police is a Pacific Islander... who knew a bear could be pacific?

I have always known him As Ian.

But is he a SciBear?

#23690

Ape+lust wrote:
HoneyWagon wrote:OT, but here is the list of people SO FAR that will be appearing at CSICON in Vegas this October (replacing TAM this year for all intents and purposes)
http://www.csiconference.org/
http://i.imgur.com/VBHbaJc.png
Even George Hrab, the MC for the last 5 or 6 TAMs will be there.

Friends were noting the lack of the more well known SJW types (so far)...which is a good sign
No FTBers, no Skepchicks, etc.
But also no Dunning, Shermer or Radford either.

Also interesting...no Novellas...SGU was a staple at TAM, with them doing live streams during TAM and rinsing money with a VIP lunch.

It is still early, so waiting to see who else gets added.
Senathapy is a Skepchick. Low key, not a party chick.

She's the one (with SciBabe) who wrote the critique of I Fucking Love Science and got kneecapped by Rebecca for it. I don't know why she's still over there.

Senapathy's contributions to the Skepchick network appear about once a month. She also writes for Forbes and has a book out. She's scheduled to speak at WiS4 as well as CSICon.

In other CSICon news, the Friday evening event is the dinner show Tournament of Kings, kinda like WWE set in medieval times.

#23691

dog puke wrote:Freethought Police is a Pacific Islander... who knew a bear could be pacific?

I have always known him As Ian.

But is he a SciBear?

?

#23692

free thoughtpolice wrote:If there is a contest for the most annoying baboon I nominate an idiot called doublereed. From the comments on a Mano Singham post about religious terrorists:
https://archive.is/B0jDA

Did he seriously use fundamentalist as a category in and of itself?

It's an adjective describing how literally they interpret their scripture ya tard.

#23693

free thoughtpolice wrote:
dog puke wrote:Freethought Police is a Pacific Islander... who knew a bear could be pacific?

I have always known him As Ian.

But is he a SciBear?
?

Just riffin' on the last 20 pages of hammers vs. screwdrivers.

Sometimes I feel misunderstood.

#23694

I am still a huge fan of small, local atheist/skeptic conferences. In the South, in the Midwest, in small-ish-er towns, conferences are a great way to bring isolated-feeling like-minded people together, and for a day or two, not feel so isolated irl for their 'non-standard' thoughts.

I am 100% over these vanity meetings, though. 100%.

While SciBabe spent her weekend having a 'potty mouth' (careful with that shtick, its an antique) and SGU were taking selfies with Bill Nye, over 100 people rode 200 miles to fundraise for HIV here in ATL.

After I get this next paper submitted, Im going to email Shermer and see if he would be down for riding next year, maybe leading a 'skeptic' team. Recruit people at the next DragonCon skeptrack. Wanna take a selfie with a 'famous skeptic'? Volunteer or get your ass on a bike.

#23695

CaptainFluffyBunny wrote: I try not to get morose about it, even though I know one of the last things he must have done is check here before checking out. I didn't know the man as well as I would have liked, but I am certain he would have wanted us to soldier on.

Yes, soldier on we must, when there are still annoying baboons and SJWs with their internetz and RL antics. Speaking of which - any 'Pitters in South Korea? PeeZus is headed your way ... :fpig:

#23696

BarnOwl wrote:
JackSkeptic wrote:John Greg's death has really bothered me. I don't know why, I didn't know him at all.

If ANY of you scumbags or anyone looking in has issues please talk about it. Wearing our hearts on our sleeves is for narcissists and self righteous bigots who enjoy virtue signalling. Humour is the best medicine and this place has it in spades.

But always remember people do think of you even if they never say it. You mean a lot more to others than you may ever realise or appreciate. So don't be a selfish bastard and top yourself or I'll be pretty pissed off.
Thanks for saying this. I haven't had much to do with the 'Pit since the posts about JG's death. It's absolutely not the 'Pit's fault, of course, just ... I don't know what to think. :(

I think we could benefit from your input (or example / inspiration) in the other thread.

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=501&p=359335#p359335

#23697

Alex has followed the leader and "ditched" his comments section at the Orbit. http://archive.is/HP9c9

'Without the application of outside force any enclosed system's natural state is decay'. Or however it goes.

............

Test for Steers.

Does Alex ditching comments that never appear constitute self referential humour? Simple Y/N is required input.

#23698

Service Dog wrote:
Bourne Skeptic wrote: As a former social worker I guess I still look at things from that perspective. Old habits die hard.
What's your assessment of how well the system works? I have very-little real information. Just my few bad experiences.

That's a broad question to answer.
In my experience, the vast majority of the people doing social work are caring, compassionate people that sometimes have their hands tied by bureaucracy. For the most part, the system in Canada works well. The government puts a lot of money into social programs here.

#23699

[youtube]3WpqSJe89Lc[/youtube]

#23700

ERV wrote: After I get this next paper submitted, Im going to email Shermer and see if he would be down for riding next year, maybe leading a 'skeptic' team. Recruit people at the next DragonCon skeptrack. Wanna take a selfie with a 'famous skeptic'? Volunteer or get your ass on a bike.

You can count me in if I can find a bike for a fat fuck like myself that I can afford.