The Refuge of the Toads

[HoneyWagon]

If anyone cares (and I do think it would be useful to have an agreed-upon hashtag for the Orbit folk), I've created a thread where people can put their Orbit hashtag suggestions. After a few days I'll put them all in a poll and we can elect the winner. Or, just tell me to fuck off.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=488

Thanks! I hope we get more than a few months use out of it, lol

[Cnutella]

[youtube]ygEV5TDCwms[/youtube]

I don't know anything about Mundane Matt, but dat body language tho at 0:33.

[HunnyBunny]

Apparently she and Alyssa live near me. I will be on the lookout and ready for action (i.e. make a quick getaway)

I don't think you'll have to move fast to put a few blocks between you.

I also have psoriasis with the arthritic component, although not as bad these days with the latter. Have you tried coconut oil? Works great on the itching, but don't get any on the non-scaly parts. Tends to burn a bit on regular skin.

Yes, I alternate it with a high potency vitamin D lotion. Only problem is my dog seems to like the taste of the coconut oil. Best thing I've found though is high dose EPA fish oil - (to get about 3.5-4 g per day of the EPA / DHA it usually works out to 7-8 gms of a good fish oil). I started taking it for the arthritis as the studies looked promising, but the psoriasis improved a lot as well.

[Guest_84d94f98]

Any bets for when they have their first internal civil war? It's bound to happen sooner than later. It's in their nature to eat each other eventually as they get more puritanical.

I say 9 months of keeping a lid on it.

A more interesting question would be who gets into a battle over what.

The transactivists tend to throw conniption fits over anything and everything. So the potential from their reader base might be somewhat high. However Zinnia Jones seems to be more even keeled, so I won't expect internal conflict shit to come from her.

"Abelist language" shit gets thrown around all of the time. But given that is Ania Bula's pet issue and she is self admittedly high all of the time, I doubt she will have the spoons to make a big deal out of it.

Muslim bashing stuff does seem to get people in trouble, but their current set of female ex-Muslim bloggers have stayed out of trouble so far, I suspect it will stay calm on that front.

Alex Gabriel is just a flat out spaz with a huge victim complex who will throw a shit fit for any or no reason what so ever. I expect him to be the first to cause real shit. And will probably be the first person booted off their new network.

However, I think the bio of the American Humanist Social Justice Coordinator shows real promise.

-Soylent f98

[comhcinc]

So 48% of US adults read at a fifth-grade or lower level? :o We are truly screwed.

Is that down? What is the high?

[HunnyBunny]

*snip*

Without that scaffold, I detect a certain boredom and lack of topics for the newbie writers. A lack of purpose and focus. I mean Caine has written about a bird, her lost meds, her car breaking down and how exciting this all is.

I reckon Cainaji was super pissed when she saw that her blog name ("Affinity") was not at the top of the alphabetical FfTB listing on Meyers's sidebar because someone else called theirs "A Trivial Knot", and the *space* between A and T pushed it above hers.

Yeah, she definitely dug up a few rat bones to curse that guy.

Let us just pause for a moment and digest the fact that a post about a late-arriving parcel has 13* comments.

Including this lovely wee composition:

Lofty says
March 16, 2016 at 7:20 am
*snip*
If parcels had voices what tales would they tell? Dark stories of endless warrens and bumpy trips in giant bags, jabbed by sharp corners of poorly wrapped items, and the final cry of joy as the end recipient hugs the box and thanks the ever polite delivery guy for his little part in the long journey.

Desperation, I smell you from here.

*coincidentally, 13 comments is approximately 13 more than Zvan got on 99% of her posts at FTB

[comhcinc]

[youtube]ygEV5TDCwms[youtube]

I don't know anything about Mundane Matt, but dat body language tho at 0:33.

He is a tool that puts out quicky videos in the hope of making an easy buck.

The guess that posted it was probably him.

[d4m10n]

[youtube]ygEV5TDCwms[/youtube]

Holy shjt. That's terrible.

[d4m10n]

Looking forward to the police report, like any proper skeptic.

[Guest_84d94f98]

He is a tool that puts out quicky videos in the hope of making an easy buck.
The guess that posted it was probably him.

Guest c29 posts here regularly enough and does not pump Mundane Matt's videos all of the time. While your proposal is still plausible, I consider it unlikely.

https://google.com/search?q=site%3Aslym ... t_0048cc29

-Soylent f98

[Guest_84d94f98]

Looking forward to the police report, like any proper skeptic.

While Mundane Matt is boring as hell, and churns out 3 videos a day of low information hot topic "WTF" commentary each day hoping to get lucky in terms of traffic, I have not noticed any tendencies from him to bullshit travesties for attention.

But by all means wait for your police report.

For me it is inconsequential, because if he was swatted or not has no bearing on my life and would not cause me to take any significant action beyond our having this discussion here.

-Soylent f98

[Brive1987]

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

[Guest_84d94f98]

https://i.imgur.com/aRhRyHS.jpg

[youtube]QwbLc4mi23o[/youtube]

-Soylent f98

[Darth Cynic]

So two things I noticed.

The about author section was about as long as the blog post.

She has not updated her picture to the current chucky version.

Any time I see that pic I immediately think of everyone's favourite undersea peanut.

[youtube]NIPVyH5ABww[/youtube]

[comhcinc]

He is a tool that puts out quicky videos in the hope of making an easy buck.
The guess that posted it was probably him.

Guest c29 posts here regularly enough and does not pump Mundane Matt's videos all of the time. While your proposal is still plausible, I consider it unlikely.

https://google.com/search?q=site%3Aslym ... t_0048cc29

-Soylent f98

Fair enough. I bow to your research.

I watched the vid and Matt is still a tool.

For those of you without the spoons. Matt is claiming that he was filming a video, but not really because pro youtuber had forgot to push the record button, and a swat team showed up at his house, knocking on his window and coming in his house and getting mud on his cat puke.

Then he says a lot of unimportant stuff then claims that those trying to stop his awesome youtubing will not succeed.

[ConcentratedH2O, OM]

Let us just pause for a moment and digest the fact that a post about a late-arriving parcel has 13* comments.

Including this lovely wee composition:

Lofty says
March 16, 2016 at 7:20 am
*snip*
If parcels had voices what tales would they tell? Dark stories of endless warrens and bumpy trips in giant bags, jabbed by sharp corners of poorly wrapped items, and the final cry of joy as the end recipient hugs the box and thanks the ever polite delivery guy for his little part in the long journey.

Desperation, I smell you from here.

*coincidentally, 13 comments is approximately 13 more than Zvan got on 99% of her posts at FTB

Parcels are people too, you fuckwit.

[jet_lagg]

Looking forward to the police report, like any proper skeptic.

I don't see the point in playing by skeptic rules in a debate when it's clear one side has no interest in adhering to said rules. If the "threats and harassment" suffered by Sarkeesian, Quinn, Wu, and so on are real, then so is this. It has identical evidence.

Now, if certain parties want to cease the bullshit and start acting like adults, I'll happily concede incidents like this (all of them, not just the ones that support my side) are questionable.

[d4m10n]

Looking forward to the police report, like any proper skeptic.

I don't see the point in playing by skeptic rules in a debate when it's clear one side has no interest in adhering to said rules.

Not about to change my evidential standards to suit someone else, especially not the "listen and believe" contingent.

I like Matt. I hope he's telling the truth. And I'm waiting for evidence.

[Skep tickle]

I enjoyed this review of Zootopia at "Scrappy Deviation - Benny Vimes' Blog" at the orbit. I mean that.

I haven't seen the movie, but my reaction to what I've seen about it is (even after reading Benny Vimes' review) more like reelgirl's commentary based on ads for the movie. Note, though, that reelgirl had a more positive impression after seeing the movie though she still felt the main character was what she terms a Minority Feisty.

So, anyway. Thanks to Benny Vimes for describing the radical inclusion he (and others) saw in the society shown in the movie.

[Guest_84d94f98]

Looking forward to the police report, like any proper skeptic.

I don't see the point in playing by skeptic rules in a debate when it's clear one side has no interest in adhering to said rules. If the "threats and harassment" suffered by Sarkeesian, Quinn, Wu, and so on are real, then so is this. It has identical evidence.

Now, if certain parties want to cease the bullshit and start acting like adults, I'll happily concede incidents like this (all of them, not just the ones that support my side) are questionable.

If d4m10n desired to blog about it, or run around telling people that Mundane Matt was abused, I could see the need for more evidence. But if he is not going to take any action based on this information, proof becomes inconsequential.

-Soylent f98

[Cnutella]

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

Heh, they're going to have to really stir the pot if they want to make more than a couple of bucks a month.

[jet_lagg]

We're not talking about personal standards of evidence. We're talking about community standards of evidence. If I'm expected to take SJW's lived experience at face value, then I demand SJWs take Mundane Matt's lived experience at face value, on pain of hypocrisy.

[blitzem]

Apparently she and Alyssa live near me. I will be on the lookout and ready for action (i.e. make a quick getaway)

I don't think you'll have to move fast to put a few blocks between you.

I also have psoriasis with the arthritic component, although not as bad these days with the latter. Have you tried coconut oil? Works great on the itching, but don't get any on the non-scaly parts. Tends to burn a bit on regular skin.

Yes, I alternate it with a high potency vitamin D lotion. Only problem is my dog seems to like the taste of the coconut oil. Best thing I've found though is high dose EPA fish oil - (to get about 3.5-4 g per day of the EPA / DHA it usually works out to 7-8 gms of a good fish oil). I started taking it for the arthritis as the studies looked promising, but the psoriasis improved a lot as well.

Oh yeah? I will have to give it a shot. Do you have a recommended source, like cod-liver or the stuff they use in vitamin E gel caps? I am always on the lookout for stuff to try in order to deal with this crap. I will try the Vit D lotion as well.

Cheers.

[d4m10n]

We're not talking about personal standards of evidence. We're talking about community standards of evidence. If I'm expected to take SJW's lived experience at face value, then I demand SJWs take Mundane Matt's lived experience at face value, on pain of hypocrisy.

Fair enough. The day I demand that others simply listen and believe, I'll try to do the same.

[HunnyBunny]

It did occur to me that PZ might use this opportunity of so many 'onboarders' to slip in a little something or rather, someone, he strongly supported back in the day. Someone he 'regretfully' played a part in removing. Given that all the other people who had a hand in the regretful removal have moved on now...

He wouldn't....would he?

Hello there
Hi everyone ,

I am a little overwhelmed at being selected to blog here. Trying to get used to it -:

Let me introduce myself. I am from India. When not blogging or trying to propagate a rational world view in the Indian society both online and offline , I work as a doctor practicing medicine 8-10 hours a day , 6 days a week in a small town in the south of the country.

My posts here will be mostly about issues faced by freethinkers in India , about its religions, politics, threats to scientific temper and secularism , gender , caste etc. I may also write about world politics , science , clinical medicine , pseudo science and anything that I find interesting.

Opinions I express here are just drafts , which can be edited and altered if there are strong evidence to back such a change. So I welcome discussions in a civil manner so that all of us can reach a logical , rational , evidence based view points on most issues.

A word about blog title. Many would be wondering what is this Nastik in the title. Nastik means atheist in many of the Indian languages.

So bye for now and HAPPY READING !

Surely not... :think:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160317043 ... llo-there/

[The Yeti]

It did occur to me that PZ might use this opportunity of so many 'onboarders' to slip in a little something or rather, someone, he strongly supported back in the day. Someone he 'regretfully' played a part in removing. Given that all the other people who had a hand in the regretful removal have moved on now...

He wouldn't....would he?

Hello there
Hi everyone ,

I am a little overwhelmed at being selected to blog here. Trying to get used to it -:

Let me introduce myself. I am from India. When not blogging or trying to propagate a rational world view in the Indian society both online and offline , I work as a doctor practicing medicine 8-10 hours a day , 6 days a week in a small town in the south of the country.

My posts here will be mostly about issues faced by freethinkers in India , about its religions, politics, threats to scientific temper and secularism , gender , caste etc. I may also write about world politics , science , clinical medicine , pseudo science and anything that I find interesting.

Opinions I express here are just drafts , which can be edited and altered if there are strong evidence to back such a change. So I welcome discussions in a civil manner so that all of us can reach a logical , rational , evidence based view points on most issues.

A word about blog title. Many would be wondering what is this Nastik in the title. Nastik means atheist in many of the Indian languages.

So bye for now and HAPPY READING !

Surely not... :think:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160317043 ... llo-there/

It certainly is a possibility, but if that is him he toned down his lying quite a bit. The old Avi would have claimed he worked 72 hour shifts, 8 days a week.

[Steersman]

The Orbit has already gone full Atheism Plus forum. (archive link).

Language shapes our perception and when we make disability an insult, when we make ability an insult, we are implying that there is something wrong with being that way. It adds to a system that treats people with disabilities as being less than human. In some cases people go so far as to imply that people with disabilities don’t have feelings or don’t feel pain. Moreover it creates a perceptions, a link between being disabled and being otherwise incompetent.

*snip dumb shit*

Ania has made an appearance here before - as a bit part in Caruthers fat-shaming obsession. Can't think why.

The following link is not safe for anyone with a delicate stomach: http://capitalnews.ca/world-stage/wp-co ... e-edit.jpg

She is a woman that got handed a shitty pair of diseases at aged 18, and has gone to make whinging about them her entire life's work. Yes, I know, walk a mile in a person's shoes before criticising. Even though Ania wouldn't walk a mile, much easier to beg on the internet for the Uber fare.

Fortunately I have walked in those shoes, and continue to, having also been handed the same auto-immune diseases plus another for good measure, Psoriasis + psoriatic arthritis + Crohns. And she can fuck off with her 'I'm disabled, donate to my patreon', I know many people with Crohns, who all somehow cope with their disease, have jobs, study, families. My arthritis is classed as severe because of the number of joints involved, yet I have never even thought about calling myself disabled. I still walk at least 3 km every day, it helps with the fatigue side of the diseases. I don't work, although not because of these diseases, but I do volunteer at a shelter for abused foreign domestic helpers here in HK. Ania goes to bed for days, and yells at doctors who won't give her the meds she wants when she wants them.

I read pages and pages of her blog once, in the hope of gaining some insight. The only insight I got was into the mind of a person completely self-centred and wrapped up in her own importance. In other words a millenial narcissist doing the only thing she is fit for, bitching on the internet. Because pointing out that using the word 'crazy' is ableist is so important to humanity. she's a perfect fit with The Orbit of course.

Here's a talk of her's about those nasty MRAs

[.youtube]icHiDn6ruJ4[/youtube]

Here's a recent article full of whine, with a lovely video: http://capitalnews.ca/world-stage/2015/ ... alizaiton/

Sorry to hear about the tough row you have to hoe - though I see you don't mope and wail about it as Ania seems prone to do. Reminds me of a woman I used to work with year's ago - the boss' daughter - who had pretty much the same set of conditions but, like you, she simply got on with her life the best she could; and did rather well with it as a matter of fact.

But had been thinking of suggesting that you might weigh-in there with that perspective, and then thought to do something similar myself - with predictable results: was in moderation but has apparently disappeared into the great beyond (surprise, surprise). For posterity:

OP:

Blind/Deaf/Lame/Autistic/Bi-Polar or any other impairment/condition as pejorative: I feel like this is should be self-explanatory, but when you use something like a condition that people actually experience as a pejorative you are making it clear that having that identity is negative. That there is something wrong with being blind, or being deaf, or lame, or autistic, or bi-polar, etc.

Which seems to be the crux of your argument, the other words you’ve listed merely being additional cases-in-point. However, while I sympathize with the “difficult” hand you’ve been dealt, I think that that statement, and related ones, comes across as being a rather imperious ipse dixit, a papal encyclical, a rather dogmatic insistence that your opinion – and that is all that it is – should hold sway over everyone else.

In addition, it kind of looks like a case of looking at the issue and situation from the wrong end of the telescope. For instance, while I’m not a big fan of gratuitous insults – people generally have earn them before I’ll let loose with one – I think you’re failing to differentiate between conditions and behaviours that are congenital, and those over which we might reasonably be expected to have some control. As you kind of suggested in the above, throwing stones at someone who is actually blind – or a cretin, or an idiot, or a crazy – looks petty at best, and very few if any of us are boorish enough to do so. But when the terms are clearly meant in a metaphorical sense? To suggest some pigheadedness, or some serious flaws in a person’s perspectives or rationalizing?

I think y’all are seriously barking up the wrong tree by insisting on a particular interpretation that holds very little if any water.

As Kirbmarc, among others, has recently suggested, with such narrow-minded dogmatism, it's hard not conclude that the Orbit is going to come to the same fate as AtheismPlus. People who don't learn from history and all that.

[JackSkeptic]

Looking forward to the police report, like any proper skeptic.

While Mundane Matt is boring as hell, and churns out 3 videos a day of low information hot topic "WTF" commentary each day hoping to get lucky in terms of traffic, I have not noticed any tendencies from him to bullshit travesties for attention.

But by all means wait for your police report.

For me it is inconsequential, because if he was swatted or not has no bearing on my life and would not cause me to take any significant action beyond our having this discussion here.

-Soylent f98

He reported the doxxing of someone by....doxxing them. He is either a complete idiot or does not actually give a toss about what he claims to believe in.

[Guest_84d94f98]

It did occur to me that PZ might use this opportunity of so many 'onboarders' to slip in a little something or rather, someone, he strongly supported back in the day. Someone he 'regretfully' played a part in removing. Given that all the other people who had a hand in the regretful removal have moved on now...

He wouldn't....would he?

Hello there
Hi everyone ,

I am a little overwhelmed at being selected to blog here. Trying to get used to it -:

Let me introduce myself. I am from India. When not blogging or trying to propagate a rational world view in the Indian society both online and offline , I work as a doctor practicing medicine 8-10 hours a day , 6 days a week in a small town in the south of the country.

My posts here will be mostly about issues faced by freethinkers in India , about its religions, politics, threats to scientific temper and secularism , gender , caste etc. I may also write about world politics , science , clinical medicine , pseudo science and anything that I find interesting.

Opinions I express here are just drafts , which can be edited and altered if there are strong evidence to back such a change. So I welcome discussions in a civil manner so that all of us can reach a logical , rational , evidence based view points on most issues.

A word about blog title. Many would be wondering what is this Nastik in the title. Nastik means atheist in many of the Indian languages.

So bye for now and HAPPY READING !

Surely not... :think:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160317043 ... llo-there/

Well let's see.

Here is his FTB page:
https://freethoughtblogs.com/arun/author/arunmadhavan/
His username on FTB is his real name.

Let me introduce myself. I am from India. When not blogging

So that means he has been blogging. Searching his name from FTB, I come up with this blogging website that was last updated March 2nd, 2016.
https://arunnm.wordpress.com/about/

I am Dr Arun Njanappilly Madhavan (Dr Arun.N.M) a practicing doctor, a specialist in Internal medicine living in Kerala, South India. I am trying to think rationally in this blog. I am interested in Politics, Sociology, History, Literature etc etc apart from Health, my own field. I am an atheist and a feminist and have a Left liberal political view.

Who's blog links to this:
nirmukta.com/2015/05/29/ancient-indian-beef-charitha/
Which contains this picture:
https://i.imgur.com/XLPiVy0.jpg

This in no way appears to be the same person as the plagiarist.

It also does not appear as if he has a history of blogging regularly.

I wish Arun much success with his new blog. I hope he knows what he got himself wrapped into with the FTB network.

-Soylent f98

[HunnyBunny]

*snip*

But had been thinking of suggesting that you might weigh-in there with that perspective, and then thought to do something similar myself - with predictable results: was in moderation but has apparently disappeared into the great beyond (surprise, surprise). For posterity:
*snip*
As Kirbmarc, among others, has recently suggested, with such narrow-minded dogmatism, it's hard not conclude that the Orbit is going to come to the same fate as AtheismPlus. People who don't learn from history and all that.

No comment that contradicts Ania's disabled oppression narrative will see the light of day. Disagreement is harassment, you know the rules by now. Sometimes she bitchblogs about the gainsayers, but never directly links to anything that casts her in a bad light.

she doesn't appear to be using a blockbot on twitter though. We may get one pot-shot off before the inevitable block. :P

[HunnyBunny]

Well let's see.

Here is his FTB page:
https://freethoughtblogs.com/arun/author/arunmadhavan/
His username on FTB is his real name.

Let me introduce myself. I am from India. When not blogging

So that means he has been blogging. Searching his name from FTB, I come up with this blogging website that was last updated March 2nd, 2016.
https://arunnm.wordpress.com/about/

I am Dr Arun Njanappilly Madhavan (Dr Arun.N.M) a practicing doctor, a specialist in Internal medicine living in Kerala, South India. I am trying to think rationally in this blog. I am interested in Politics, Sociology, History, Literature etc etc apart from Health, my own field. I am an atheist and a feminist and have a Left liberal political view.

Who's blog links to this:
nirmukta.com/2015/05/29/ancient-indian-beef-charitha/
Which contains this picture:
https://i.imgur.com/XLPiVy0.jpg

This in no way appears to be the same person as the plagiarist.

It also does not appear as if he has a history of blogging regularly.

I wish Arun much success with his new blog. I hope he knows what he got himself wrapped into with the FTB network.

-Soylent f98

Oh well, a girl can dream. There have been sightings-in-the-wild of Avi on reddit, but nothing recently. He is such a narcissistic, sexist cunt, he will turn up again somewhere.

[Guest_84d94f98]

He reported the doxxing of someone by....doxxing them. He is either a complete idiot or does not actually give a toss about what he claims to believe in.

I am going to cast my vote for idiot.
1. Your stated claim that he reported the doxxing of an individual by doxxing them.
2. In the above video, he claims he discovered that fact that he was not recording his the video he thought he was until after having been raided. I wonder how often he does that.
3. His videos are slow, boring and lack any insight beyond "Look at this! I just saw this. Look at this."

- Soylent f98

[Skep tickle]

Learned something else from the orbit, about another schism area. This time from Niki, though really it started with wondering what she was talking about & thus poking around some more to see what others had to say.

Niki's post: No, Hoteps, I do not "Overstand" your nonsense

Recent articles elsewhere:
Anti-Hotep: Signs You’re Dating A Hotep Brotha

One of the unexpected consequences of the Black Lives Matter movement is the rise of the Hotep brotha — you know the black power fist-pumping type pushing up on you under the guise of pushing forward the black agenda. These men claim to be woke and all about the black community, but once you peel back the layers you start to notice black power means black male power and his logic is riddled with misogyny, homophobia, and plenty of other beliefs that don’t suit black women.

Pro-Hotep: What is this Hotep Twitter that receives so much backlash from Black Lives Matter and feminism (bolding not carried through in quote below)

The birth of Hotep Twitter can be credited to Feminism. I have no problem giving them that credit and in a way, I’m thankful. ...

<snip>

Now, how did we {get} to Hotep being a slanderous phrase? We can definitely credit this to Feminist & LGBT Twitter. Any person who disagrees with their groupthink will be deemed Hotep in a derogatory manner. ...

[Skep tickle]

Read some more, some of the Hotep stuff is pretty unusual (including in the pro- link I posted above), and at least some of those who self-identify as Hotep seem to be pro-nuclear-family & fairly conservative. Didn't see MRA/MGTOW leanings (but didn't dig all that much). But as with "MRA","Hotep" seems to be used as a slur, to signal to allies that the person so-labeled should be seen as morally bankrupt.

[Steersman]

*snip*

But had been thinking of suggesting that you might weigh-in there with that perspective, and then thought to do something similar myself - with predictable results: was in moderation but has apparently disappeared into the great beyond (surprise, surprise). For posterity:
*snip*
As Kirbmarc, among others, has recently suggested, with such narrow-minded dogmatism, it's hard not conclude that the Orbit is going to come to the same fate as AtheismPlus. People who don't learn from history and all that.

No comment that contradicts Ania's disabled oppression narrative will see the light of day. Disagreement is harassment, you know the rules by now. Sometimes she bitchblogs about the gainsayers, but never directly links to anything that casts her in a bad light.

she doesn't appear to be using a blockbot on twitter though. We may get one pot-shot off before the inevitable block. :P

I didn't have any high hopes or any expectations much beyond "banned (with extreme prejudice!)". But I think it's important to show the flag, and I also think evidence of being banned and such will do more to discredit them than will silence - or trolling. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil ...." and all that.

[rayshul]

Looking forward to the police report, like any proper skeptic.

I don't see the point in playing by skeptic rules in a debate when it's clear one side has no interest in adhering to said rules.

Not about to change my evidential standards to suit someone else, especially not the "listen and believe" contingent.

I like Matt. I hope he's telling the truth. And I'm waiting for evidence.

Feel like I'm in the same boat with damion. Been fucked enough times by lack of evidence.

[free thoughtpolice]

Brive wrote:

Without that scaffold, I detect a certain boredom and lack of topics for the newbie writers. A lack of purpose and focus. I mean Caine has written about a bird, her lost meds, her car breaking down and how exciting this all is.

I for one would like to be more charitable to Caine here. I like birds and found much of her content quite enjoyable. Also, don't you get excited when your car breaks down?
Brive- you're my fellow dudebro, let's not get too cynical here. :hand:

[free thoughtpolice]

Read some more, some of the Hotep stuff is pretty unusual (including in the pro- link I posted above), and at least some of those who self-identify as Hotep seem to be pro-nuclear-family & fairly conservative. Didn't see MRA/MGTOW leanings (but didn't dig all that much). But as with "MRA","Hotep" seems to be used as a slur, to signal to allies that the person so-labeled should be seen as morally bankrupt.

It seems the Hotep crew has little credibility with mainstream activists like Gazi Kodzo:
[youtube]G9Y0X8_4TDM[/youtube]

[Guest_84d94f98]

"Democrat legislators want leader of Hispanic commission to resign"
wibw.com/content/news/Democrat-legislators-want-leader-of-Hispanic-commission-to-resign-371972052.html

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW)-- Governor Sam Brownback has been asked to request the resignation of the leader of the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission.

WIBW Radio reports the commission's director, Adrienne Foster, is being asked to resign because of comments she made to the Kansas City Star, apparently supporting Donald Trump’s candidacy for President.

Three Democrat lawmakers, Louis Ruiz of Kansas City, John Alcala of Topeka and Ponka-We Victors of Wichita, sent a letter to the Governor’s Office expressing displeasure over Foster’s support of Trump.

The letter states that Foster has diminished her position within the organization.

They also claimed that Trumps’ comments against Latin Americans are “inaccurate and highly inflammatory and discriminatory.”

It’s unclear if the governor will acknowledge the letter's request for Foster's resignation.

-Soylent f98

[Skep tickle]

...I have walked in those shoes, and continue to, having also been handed the same auto-immune diseases plus another for good measure, Psoriasis + psoriatic arthritis + Crohns. ... I still walk at least 3 km every day, it helps with the fatigue side of the diseases. I don't work, although not because of these diseases, but I do volunteer at a shelter for abused foreign domestic helpers here in HK. ...

Sorry to hear the hand you've been dealt, but glad that you've been able to stay active, have benefited from that, and have found some other approaches that help.

__

As a general comment: besides the disease itself, other factors that play into the experience of any illness include (a) the person's condition otherwise (overall health & fitness, other conditions aka 'comorbidities', etc), (b) support & resources, and (c) attitude & coping. Some of that is outside the person's control, but some of it can be managed, at least at some times & to some degree. (And other times you can use a thesaurus to find synonyms for "some".)

The "attitude & coping" part seems to get less attention than the others, but it can make a big difference in living with a chronic illness - accepting the condition & the things you can't change about it, trying some changes to see what improvements might result (& seeing them as bonus, rather than taking them for granted), engaging (when you can) in activities that you find meaningful, staying active but pacing activity to avoid over-fatigue or marked pain flares, etc.

In poking around to read about the "hotep" situation I've learned that supposedly one way you can identify someone who's hotep is that they quote Maya Angelou (or at least have her as their profile picture). I'm not Hotep, but this quote from her from the "pro-Hotep" page I linked above seem appropriate right now:

What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.

(The last 2 words of the quote are "Don’t complain." I left those out.)

[Skep tickle]

Oh, hey, FT has changed the banner.

[Skep tickle]

Read some more, some of the Hotep stuff is pretty unusual (including in the pro- link I posted above), and at least some of those who self-identify as Hotep seem to be pro-nuclear-family & fairly conservative. Didn't see MRA/MGTOW leanings (but didn't dig all that much). But as with "MRA","Hotep" seems to be used as a slur, to signal to allies that the person so-labeled should be seen as morally bankrupt.

It seems the Hotep crew has little credibility with mainstream activists like Gazi Kodzo:
[.youtube]G9Y0X8_4TDM[/youtube]

By the 4 min mark, we've learned that black men are all sick, sexist, and patriarchal, and this is bad, and to fix it they need to listen to black women. (And to his advice, apparently.)

Then, right after 4:00 he refers to young women as "young girls". :think:

[Brive1987]

Brive wrote:

Without that scaffold, I detect a certain boredom and lack of topics for the newbie writers. A lack of purpose and focus. I mean Caine has written about a bird, her lost meds, her car breaking down and how exciting this all is.

I for one would like to be more charitable to Caine here. I like birds and found much of her content quite enjoyable. Also, don't you get excited when your car breaks down?
Brive- you're my fellow dudebro, let's not get too cynical here. :hand:

After a hard day burning witches the workers could relax and a pleasant time was had by all.

http://i.imgur.com/8rmi6je.jpg

[HunnyBunny]

As a general comment: besides the disease itself, other factors that play into the experience of any illness include (a) the person's condition otherwise (overall health & fitness, other conditions aka 'comorbidities', etc), (b) support & resources, and (c) attitude & coping. Some of that is outside the person's control, but some of it can be managed, at least at some times & to some degree. (And other times you can use a thesaurus to find synonyms for "some".)

The "attitude & coping" part seems to get less attention than the others, but it can make a big difference in living with a chronic illness - accepting the condition & the things you can't change about it, trying some changes to see what improvements might result (& seeing them as bonus, rather than taking them for granted), engaging (when you can) in activities that you find meaningful, staying active but pacing activity to avoid over-fatigue or marked pain flares, etc.

The 'attitude & coping' part does make a big difference I think. And it is where I see millenials failing, and in part where the whole social justice warrior / oppression culture comes from. Society appears to have raised a generation with massive amounts of self-esteem, that has transitioned into narcissism in many cases, but failed to produce any tangible benefits.

As a parent of children ranging from 27 to 12, I have witnessed many schools trumpeting the self-esteem is all song. To the extent on not uses an 'x' to denote a wrong answer, because being wrong makes them feel bad, it's the effort that counts. To all the children on sports day getting medals, because everyone is a winner. To incomprehensible reporting schemes that tell you nothing about your child's academic progress but everything about how they are feeling about themselves.

In theory, it sounds great, instilling children with a sense that everyone matters. But somehow, it has been twisted into only 'I matter' and inculcating children with an overriding sense of their own worth has become a disaster. We have a generation of needy attention seekers, incapable of surviving in a world that does actually judge them, continuously. They simply cannot cope with being told their paltry efforts are not good enough. And they most definitely cannot cope when life's inevitable bumps in the road come along.

[Hunt]

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

The Orbit is like Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs) formed by packaging junk bloggers from FtB. When will the bubble burst?

[MarcusAu]

I was only aware of one American Hotep
[youtube]pXGP07vrab8[/youtube]

It came out in 2002 - and must receive bonus points for including a trans-black character

[Satan]

Also, Hillary is a moderate and anyone who has worked hard, as she has, to get where she is, isn't going to respect these snowflakes.

Maybe, but she has a bad habit of repeating SJW talking points given the opportunity. Don't forget her infamous claim that women are the true victims of war because their husbands die. Anyone who would say that must be at least marginally SJW-friendly.

[piginthecity]

RIP Lady Penelope.

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/thu ... 0922064450

The thing I liked about Lady P. were the occasional slightly sexist jokes her expense. Such as when she packed "only a few things" for the weekend - and the last shot was of Parker surrounded by about a million bags accompanied by the "wah-wah-waaaaah!" music. Also she once had to walk through a swamp in stiletto heels and was a complete hazard driving the pink rolls Royce when Parker went on strike.

It was almost as if us little boys were being instructed in how to laugh at women !!

Surely not !

[HunnyBunny]

Anjuli has a new post up, this time tackling the migrant rape issue.

This post is going to have Giliell's knickers in a big knot: Anjuli has forgotten to blame the victims. Instead she has chosen to allude to the fact that migrants bring their culture of sexism, homophobia and general willingness to stone, main & kill in the name of Allah, with them.

Trigger Warning: acceptance of facts ahead.

Following the organised and coordinated mass rapes of women by gangs of Muslim men in Cologne and several other European cities at New Year, much has been written and said about the dishonesty and cowardice surrounding much of the discussions. I will not go into that here. I just want to highlight three points about migrants that often get mangled in all this.

1. Migrants are a financial net gain to an economy, not a drain on it, as often assumed
2. Refugees are often determined, highly-resilient people
3. Migrants do not leave their norms and values behind when the flee to a new land

I agree with all of these points, with a caveat on #1 regarding the economic issues that also come with an influx of cheap labour.

On point 3, Anjuli has expanded with an experiential example:

I once had a job teaching English to asylum-seekers in the UK. They were from Cameroon, Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq, Iran and Turkey. One day one of my students (the only Iranian) suggested the following discussion topic: “What would you do if your child told you he or she was gay?” The class erupted in a near-riot. Every single one of my students had fled persecution and death in their own countries. Every single one of them, except the Iranian, complained that we did not persecute and kill gays in the UK. Once they’d calmed down and the discussion actually got underway, some said they’d have nothing to do with those children. Most said they’d kill them. One, the quietest, most petite woman in the class (hijab and all), said, “I’d take them on holiday to Africa and have them killed there.”

https://web.archive.org/web/20160317073 ... -migrants/

Please, people that aren't blocked by Giliell on twitter, on no account give her a link to this. Giliell thinks that the migrant's problems are on a par with the holocaust, I wouldn't want Anjuli silenced like Jamila Bey was.

The refugee situation is tearing my heart out. Of course I now have many of those kids in my classes, a large number of the older boys being kids who came here alone. And now those bastards all across Europe are cutting them off. Let’s face it: they might play offended when Beatrix von Storch fantasises about shooting them, but they are obviously ok with them starving, drowning, freezing and dying of diseases. In 50 years they will look back at this time and wonder how that could happen the same way they’re now looking at the Holocaust.

Oh, and great news folks, Tony has moved the hug box over to the orbit, so one less website to have to visit. http://the-orbit.net/progpub/2016/03/14/speakeasy-10/

[rayshul]

The 'attitude & coping' part does make a big difference I think. And it is where I see millenials failing, and in part where the whole social justice warrior / oppression culture comes from. Society appears to have raised a generation with massive amounts of self-esteem, that has transitioned into narcissism in many cases, but failed to produce any tangible benefits.

Rebecca Watson and many of the others from their Orbit cohort are Millennials at the very top of the Millennial pool - the first generation to hit 18-20 in the year 2000. I'd never really thought about the year of birth having anything to do with SJWs... but it is interesting to notice that almost every friend I've made outside of school (e.g. all the people from not "good" class backgrounds) have succumbed to this bullshittery.

From that generation, I can pretty much predict a person's susceptability to SJWness depending on how successful as a human being they are.

Generally success is like -
* They have a job
* They don't live with their parents or are dependent on someone
* They have a fulfilling relationship - either with close friends or with a long term partner or family
* They have an enjoyable hobby they like to devote time

Race, class, gender and sexuality really don't factor at all.

[AndrewV69]

Trigger warning - Hugh Jackman - Wolverine - Korean Language TV show. You have been warned!!!


So I am cruising around youtube yet again apparently in places I should not be (sometimes it asks me if I want to change my language to Arabic or Russian or Korean or something) and I came across this:

Hugh Jackman was in Korea, and made an appearance on TV for a show inviting guys who thought they had a physique like his in Wolverine to strut their stuff.

[youtube]-BU3CU76hi4[/youtube]

[feathers]

Over at FTB, 'Mitch Buchannon' :clap: has asked Dick why he didn't join The Orbit. Carrier responds, letting us all know what a brave and selfless soul he is:

Richard Carrier says
March 15, 2016 at 10:02 pm
...
This place is the best fit for me. But I’m already a big fan of The Orbit.

We should establish a Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahhaf Award for the Most Pig-headed Denier in the Face of the Truth.

[feathers]

So the New Frontier blog on FTB is supposed to be a place where some of the candidates who didn't make the first round cut for new blogs can show off their mettle. As PZ said:

We are also bringing in a few of those inexperienced people at a time in a group blog (in case you were wondering what that “New Frontier” thing was about) to get experience, but we didn’t want to have a group blog of 10 people in which all the voices would get lost in the cacophony.

So far, New Frontier has only one post. I am wondering how many fee-fees were bruised by rejection?

Indeed, you can't reject people because they're inept writers. That's not inclusive and non-intersectional of shoddy authors and will severely trigger them.

[Kirbmarc]

Some people are too SJW to troll.

[Shatterface]

RIP Lady Penelope.

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/thu ... 0922064450

The thing I liked about Lady P. were the occasional slightly sexist jokes her expense. Such as when she packed "only a few things" for the weekend - and the last shot was of Parker surrounded by about a million bags accompanied by the "wah-wah-waaaaah!" music. Also she once had to walk through a swamp in stiletto heels and was a complete hazard driving the pink rolls Royce when Parker went on strike.

It was almost as if us little boys were being instructed in how to laugh at women !!

Surely not !

In the recent CGI reboot she wore red instead of pink because sexism. Fucking pain in the eyeballs when you saw her wearing red in her pink Rolls Royce.

[rayshul]

Some people are too SJW to troll.

Holy shit

[InfraRedBucket]

*snip*

Without that scaffold, I detect a certain boredom and lack of topics for the newbie writers. A lack of purpose and focus. I mean Caine has written about a bird, her lost meds, her car breaking down and how exciting this all is.

I reckon Cainaji was super pissed when she saw that her blog name ("Affinity") was not at the top of the alphabetical FfTB listing on Meyers's sidebar because someone else called theirs "A Trivial Knot", and the *space* between A and T pushed it above hers.

Yeah, she definitely dug up a few rat bones to curse that guy.

She's gonna be even more mad when bloggers Aardvark and
AAA 123 24 HOUR PLUMBING arrive.

[Shatterface]

Some people are too SJW to troll.

Holy shit

''Sorry for breathing''

[AllanW]

So I am cruising around youtube yet again apparently in places I should not be ...

Yeah. I'd stick to that story too ...the word 'cruising' gives it away.

:)

[VickyCaramel]

[youtube]ygEV5TDCwms[/youtube]

Holy shjt. That's terrible.

Looking forward to the police report, like any proper skeptic.

I would tend to take Matt at his word.

But I doubt this is terribly relevant to us. It's unlikely to be SJWs or have any political motive.
Although he is critical of Sarkeesian, he has also had personal disagreements with "internet celebrities" from the gaming scene.