If thou gazest long into the Pit, the Pit will also gaze into thee

Skep tickle wrote:I'd searched earlier for news online about John Greg, nothing had turned up, but I'm sorry to report that on another try just now this bad, sad news turned up:

Obituary

Jesus. :cry:

Ericb wrote:

Clarence wrote:Well, I know the past year or so has been uber-shitty for many on the 'pit'.

Now , it's struck me as well.

I lost my grandmother this January.
I didn't say anything about it here that I recall because I hardly ever bring my real life to social media (except for my opinions).
Plus, she was 93 and had been slowly dying since her accident and operation over the previous months. So it wasn't unexpected. She had a long life.

Now my mom has died. At 72, when most of the women on her side of the family at least hit 80. With no warning, no obvious physical health issues. The only consolation is that it seems to have happened in her bed, while she was sleeping.

So now I'm dealing with arranging a funeral for the first time in my life.

And while not as important to me as family, Prince and David Bowie died this year as probably 99 percent of you know. I know some people here have been struggling with lack of a job or personal illness and while I haven't said anything to ALL of you , I have read about and sympathized with each and every one.

2016 is turning out to be a really shitty year :(

jugheadnaut wrote:Sorry to add to the downer vibe today, but my own piece of bad news for 2016 is that I had a moderate stroke in the first week of March. The good news is that now, about eight weeks later, I've made something approaching a full recovery. My main issue at this point is that concentration requires more effort, and if I do it for more than 5-6 hours at a time, I get very tired.

Brive1987 wrote:http://i.imgur.com/N7SRIYw.jpg

feathers wrote:

Brive1987 wrote:[.img]http://i.imgur.com/N7SRIYw.jpg[/img]

Imagine finding that at the end of the tunnel.

Skep tickle wrote:I'd searched earlier for news online about John Greg, nothing had turned up, but I'm sorry to report that on another try just now this bad, sad news turned up:

Obituary

Jesus. :cry:

Clarence wrote:Thank you, Hunnybunny and Skeptickle.

I'll try to stay off here until I can come back and not infect anything with sadness.
I wish you guys and gals who cared for & knew John Greg the best, and I hope you can avoid any heartache of your own this year.

Don't worry about me. I'll be back when I can be my normal funny or sometimes obnoxious (hopefully more funny) self.

comhcinc wrote:So not to take away from people's mourning but I hey I have a job interview tomorrow. This has the potential of being something good.

Brive1987 wrote:I got a distinction for my first history essay in 26 years.

Brive1987 wrote:I've got no idea what this all means. I am however disappointed to learn that a Shoe0nHead fetish is something to be embarrassed about. :roll:

Now, what about all this Trump state winning business? My son tells me that Trump is close to getting all the pledged votes he needs.

Brive1987 wrote:I've got no idea what this all means. I am however disappointed to learn that a Shoe0nHead fetish is something to be embarrassed about. :roll:

Now, what about all this Trump state winning business? My son tells me that Trump is close to getting all the pledged votes he needs.

Hunt wrote:

Brive1987 wrote:I've got no idea what this all means. I am however disappointed to learn that a Shoe0nHead fetish is something to be embarrassed about. :roll:

Now, what about all this Trump state winning business? My son tells me that Trump is close to getting all the pledged votes he needs.

Unfortunately Trump seems to be continuing his Sherman march, after a brief hiccup. Adding to the bad news, Hillary seems to be wiping the floor with Sanders, so it looks like it's going to be Trump vs. Hillary. Trump thinks he can "easily beat" Hillary. To say that the alt-right is having spontaneous ejaculations right now would be an understatement.

Old_ones wrote: Plus, Cruz would make an even worse president than Trump. He's an ugly theocrat who would rather shut down the government than have it spend money on education. I would rather have PZ Myers as president than Ted Cruz.

Brive1987 wrote:

Hunt wrote:

Brive1987 wrote:I've got no idea what this all means. I am however disappointed to learn that a Shoe0nHead fetish is something to be embarrassed about. :roll:

Now, what about all this Trump state winning business? My son tells me that Trump is close to getting all the pledged votes he needs.

Unfortunately Trump seems to be continuing his Sherman march, after a brief hiccup. Adding to the bad news, Hillary seems to be wiping the floor with Sanders, so it looks like it's going to be Trump vs. Hillary. Trump thinks he can "easily beat" Hillary. To say that the alt-right is having spontaneous ejaculations right now would be an understatement.

But there's no figures that suggest Trump could have a run in the actual election. Are there? :shock:

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:

Old_ones wrote: Plus, Cruz would make an even worse president than Trump. He's an ugly theocrat who would rather shut down the government than have it spend money on education. I would rather have PZ Myers as president than Ted Cruz.

I hope you're not serious.

Hunt wrote:Unfortunately Trump seems to be continuing his Sherman march

Hunt wrote:

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:

Old_ones wrote: Plus, Cruz would make an even worse president than Trump. He's an ugly theocrat who would rather shut down the government than have it spend money on education. I would rather have PZ Myers as president than Ted Cruz.

I hope you're not serious.

His stents would immediately blow (not a death threat) and we would have his VP as president, President Watson.

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:

Old_ones wrote: Plus, Cruz would make an even worse president than Trump. He's an ugly theocrat who would rather shut down the government than have it spend money on education. I would rather have PZ Myers as president than Ted Cruz.

I hope you're not serious.

Now, there are still 10 states left to vote. And it is looking more and more likely that Trump will lock that delegate majority down outright. He's ahead in recent polls of the two most important remaining states to vote — California and Indiana — and if he wins those two states handily, he gets his majority.

HunnyBunny wrote:

comhcinc wrote:So not to take away from people's mourning but I hey I have a job interview tomorrow. This has the potential of being something good.

The Pit is counting on you for some good news Com. No pressure or anything.

Jughead - Sorry to hear of your stroke. Good news that the recovery is going well.

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:

Old_ones wrote: Plus, Cruz would make an even worse president than Trump. He's an ugly theocrat who would rather shut down the government than have it spend money on education. I would rather have PZ Myers as president than Ted Cruz.

I hope you're not serious.

Brive1987 wrote:This is what I'm reading

Now, there are still 10 states left to vote. And it is looking more and more likely that Trump will lock that delegate majority down outright. He's ahead in recent polls of the two most important remaining states to vote — California and Indiana — and if he wins those two states handily, he gets his majority.

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/26/11512666/p ... a-maryland

It sounds seri-arse.

Brive1987 wrote:Remember you dress for the job you want not the job you have.

Ie no PJs.

Good luck.

Keating wrote:Friendly advice - don't take Hitchens with you.

screwtape wrote:So sad to lose someone talented, funny and insightful, and especially when it need never have happened. It's the waste of it that appalls us when a suicide occurs, along with the guilty suspicion that we should have done more. Three of my colleagues out here in the middle of nowhere have killed themselves since I arrived thirty years ago (I trust there is no connection) and another three have drunk themselves to death. Always a shock, even when you can see the possibility coming.

Unrelated matter: a review of a book I have ordered to improve my mind. Fascinating stuff about the influence of various British migrations into America and the on-going influence on American society:
http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/04/27/bo ... ions-seed/

Brive1987 wrote:

Hunt wrote:

Brive1987 wrote:I've got no idea what this all means. I am however disappointed to learn that a Shoe0nHead fetish is something to be embarrassed about. :roll:

Now, what about all this Trump state winning business? My son tells me that Trump is close to getting all the pledged votes he needs.

Unfortunately Trump seems to be continuing his Sherman march, after a brief hiccup. Adding to the bad news, Hillary seems to be wiping the floor with Sanders, so it looks like it's going to be Trump vs. Hillary. Trump thinks he can "easily beat" Hillary. To say that the alt-right is having spontaneous ejaculations right now would be an understatement.

But there's no figures that suggest Trump could have a run in the actual election. Are there? :shock:

Novelist Ian McEwan recently summed up the impulse to see two categories: “Call me old-fashioned,” he told an audience, “but I tend to think of people with penises as men.”

I’m 9 years younger than McEwan, which I guess makes me one of those young whippersnappers. I’m still kind of peeved at this tendency to ascribe certain regressive views to entire generations, as if old people get excused from simple humanity, and are all done with learning and growing. I’m not planning on turning into a simple-minded fool in the next few years (not that it can’t happen!).

But right now I can say I don’t think like Ian McEwan.

I tend not to think about people’s penises, or lack thereof.

I’ve met thousands of people, and so far, none of them have introduced themselves by showing me their genitals. I don’t think that would be a particularly helpful revelation, anyway; I’ve found a bit of conversation to be far more revealing.

I tend not to characterize people into one of two groups by the degree of enlargement of their embryonic genital tubercle, either. That seems a kind of crude and useless taxonomy. In general, lumping humanity into men on one side and women on the other seems like a useless distinction that ignores a tremendous amount of nuance.

I’m going to start thinking of people in terms of their blood groups. I really should start hanging out with more type O people, in case there is a tragic accident and I need a transfusion. I’m incompatible with those A and B people, and those ABs, just forget it. But at least I’ve divided humanity into four arbitrary subsets, rather than a mere two.

Call me old-fashioned, but I tend to think of type O people as potential blood donors.

That’s not dehumanizing, is it?

Brive1987 wrote:Myers demonstrates his boho creds

Novelist Ian McEwan recently summed up the impulse to see two categories: “Call me old-fashioned,” he told an audience, “but I tend to think of people with penises as men.”

I’m 9 years younger than McEwan, which I guess makes me one of those young whippersnappers. I’m still kind of peeved at this tendency to ascribe certain regressive views to entire generations, as if old people get excused from simple humanity, and are all done with learning and growing. I’m not planning on turning into a simple-minded fool in the next few years (not that it can’t happen!).

But right now I can say I don’t think like Ian McEwan.

I tend not to think about people’s penises, or lack thereof.

I’ve met thousands of people, and so far, none of them have introduced themselves by showing me their genitals. I don’t think that would be a particularly helpful revelation, anyway; I’ve found a bit of conversation to be far more revealing.

I tend not to characterize people into one of two groups by the degree of enlargement of their embryonic genital tubercle, either. That seems a kind of crude and useless taxonomy. In general, lumping humanity into men on one side and women on the other seems like a useless distinction that ignores a tremendous amount of nuance.

I’m going to start thinking of people in terms of their blood groups. I really should start hanging out with more type O people, in case there is a tragic accident and I need a transfusion. I’m incompatible with those A and B people, and those ABs, just forget it. But at least I’ve divided humanity into four arbitrary subsets, rather than a mere two.

Call me old-fashioned, but I tend to think of type O people as potential blood donors.

That’s not dehumanizing, is it?

Brive1987 wrote:This time last year Trump was a joke. Is there any chance there could be a general fingers up to party politics? Could the FBI thing bite HC? Someone needs to be updating the risk register.

Clarence wrote:My, my , my.
What is Dean Esmay, formerly of A Voice for Men fame doing these days?

http://deanesmay.com/2016/04/26/god-and ... n-atheism/

"My work began when I realized one day that, far from being just another in a long line of faddish “Deepak Chopra” style New Age cults, the “New Atheist” movement was being taken seriously by millions, including influential media figures, and was particularly popular with young people. This “New Atheist” cult began in the early 2000s with the likes of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and the late Christopher Hitchens, but has now expanded into an almost full-blown Church of its own, with scientists like Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Lawrence M. Krauss, and Jerry Coyne, along with popular and cynical entertainers like Seth MacFarlane, Penn Jillette, Stephen Fry, Bill Maher, Tim Minchin, and even the late Bill Hicks and George Carlin who, like Hitchens, remain popular even in death. All are people who all act or have acted as professional, well-paid atheist proselytizers for their atheist faith–often passing off vicious remarks at religions and religious people as “brave” while knowing full well not one hair of their heads would be so much as mussed by most of the religious groups they attack.

As you may have guessed, I am not a fan of the modern atheism. As an ex-atheist myself, I think today’s atheism is a dogmatic cult phenomenon, led by cult leaders and proselytizers peddling pseudoscience, anti-intellectualism, and general intolerance..."

Wow, sounds like the Slymepit, right?

I'm wondering if he is on crack.

Brive1987 wrote:This time last year Trump was a joke. Is there any chance there could be a general fingers up to party politics? Could the FBI thing bite HC? Someone needs to be updating the risk register.

Brive1987 wrote:The Orbit has 21 blogs. 8 of them haven't posted since April 10, and 5 of these were last updated in March.

What is wrong with these people?