The Refuge of the Toads

#13621

Well. Ninjad by the wrestling dude. I am Tigzy's bubbling bile duct.

#13622

PETA is both a big lobbying group and a self-righteous cult of virtue-signalling fuckheads. No surprise you'd end up with a confluence of corruption, grift, and moral debasement. They mostly just perpetuate their own existence, and their goals are inherently unrealistic just so they can never be met.

#13623

Tigzy wrote:Well. Ninjad by the wrestling dude. I am Tigzy's bubbling bile duct.

PETA attracts the more extreme of animal rights activist who are happy to do counterproductive things like being against fur so they throw paint on fur coats. Which or course just mean we now have to make more fur coats.

#13624

jimhabegger wrote:I'll be trying to answer some questions that keep coming up about my motives, intentions, attitudes and behavior in the Slyme Pit. I'm not sure how soon I'll be ready to post those. For now I just want to respond to a feeling some people might be having, that there's something disrespectful and insulting in my attitudes and behavior here.

I have the same feeling, that there's been something disrespectful and insulting in my attitudes and behavior here. I'm not sure yet what to do about that, but I thought I should at least acknowledge it.

How did you find a woman willing to fuck you?

#13625

Sunder wrote:PETA is both a big lobbying group and a self-righteous cult of virtue-signalling fuckheads. No surprise you'd end up with a confluence of corruption, grift, and moral debasement. They mostly just perpetuate their own existence, and their goals are inherently unrealistic just so they can never be met.

Full disclosure: Carrie Ploppy's endorsement is enough to put me off PETA.

#13626

Also, let me just get this out there because I feel like I gotta make this clear: I do not and will never support the right's incredibly poor policies for countering terrorism, but until the left offers fucking something other than apologetics in response, the right is going to keep winning. Nawaz knows this and has said as much. So we can keep playing defense and losing on the terror issue as we've been doing for the past 20 fucking years or more, but goddammit at least cut the fucking whining when the Trumps and Cruzes of the world claim an easy victory because they're the only ones proposing literally anything.

I know, I know, your delicate sensibilities can't countenance the fact that the unwashed masses would choose to go with bad policies over no policies at all. The heathens. Gosh if only everyone was as smart and sensible as you are.

Anyway, I'm beyond sick of it all.

#13627

jimhabegger wrote:I'll be trying to answer some questions that keep coming up about my motives, intentions, attitudes and behavior in the Slyme Pit. I'm not sure how soon I'll be ready to post those. For now I just want to respond to a feeling some people might be having, that there's something disrespectful and insulting in my attitudes and behavior here.

I have the same feeling, that there's been something disrespectful and insulting in my attitudes and behavior here. I'm not sure yet what to do about that, but I thought I should at least acknowledge it.

I'm glad to hear that some of your "feelings" correspond to reality. Your disrespect for and repeated insulting of my intelligence is, indeed, wearing quite thin. I'm surprised that you could detect this in yourself. Well done.

#13628

jimhabegger wrote:I'll be trying to answer some questions that keep coming up about my motives, intentions, attitudes and behavior in the Slyme Pit. I'm not sure how soon I'll be ready to post those. For now I just want to respond to a feeling some people might be having, that there's something disrespectful and insulting in my attitudes and behavior here.

I have the same feeling, that there's been something disrespectful and insulting in my attitudes and behavior here. I'm not sure yet what to do about that, but I thought I should at least acknowledge it.

Well it would be slightly more respectful if you would answer the baby eating question.
When you go out to eat, do you still choose to eat Chinese?

#13629

Sunder wrote:The usual apologetics shit going on at Hemant's where his guest blogger approvingly quotes Shaun King to let those mean old 'Publican doodieheads have it.

That fuckwit Lauren Nelson is a full blown SJW, who is claiming in the comments that there's no such thing as racism against white people etc etc etc.

"

#13630

comhcinc wrote:
jimhabegger wrote:I'll be trying to answer some questions that keep coming up about my motives, intentions, attitudes and behavior in the Slyme Pit. I'm not sure how soon I'll be ready to post those. For now I just want to respond to a feeling some people might be having, that there's something disrespectful and insulting in my attitudes and behavior here.

I have the same feeling, that there's been something disrespectful and insulting in my attitudes and behavior here. I'm not sure yet what to do about that, but I thought I should at least acknowledge it.

How did you find a woman willing to fuck you?

I want this in the FAQ btw.

#13631

Mr Shrimptastic rage quit his comedy routine :lol:

http://imgur.com/gmX8nBd.jpg

No one listens to reason when it comes to Islam. So, back to important stuff: curb stomping his momma and grandma.

#13632

jimhabegger wrote:I won't answer questions about Baha'i beliefs and practices in general, or even about my own beliefs and practices, except in the context of what I want to discuss in my thread in the Bottomless pit, but I will try to answer some questions that keep coming up about my motives, intentions, attitudes and behavior here. I'll be working on a FAQ.

What jimhabegger won't tell you, the the reason for this. Ordinary Baha'is are not authorized to talk about the doctrines. First, because they actually do not know them themselves. I really doubt if a white Western convert really can understand the origins of Baha'ism in any meaningful manner, without spending significant amount of time trying to understand 19th century Iran and millennial Shi'a movements. Which, trust me, is not a simple undertaking. Second, the doctrines are very obscure, which make very little sense to most people not immersed in the millenarian movements of the late 19th century Islam. Finally, Baha'is are notoriously anti-intellectual, with everything they do needing vetting by their National committees, and, for serious things, by the Universal House of "Justice" itself. For example, they control access to literature and publishing, having control of a lot of the original documents. One may want to read up about the "Kalimat Press incident" if one is so inclined.

Incidentally, this obfuscation, destruction of original documents, anti-intellectualism, blind adherence to directives, was started by the mad megalomaniacal Baha'ulla himself. After the murder of his rivals, he sought to destroy and hide all literature and documents which challenged his absurd ideas.

Finally: I would not be surprised if someone from their leadership comes to the Slymepit and starts harassing me and slandering me for pointing out the notorious character of their founder. Its a common Baha'i tactic, pretty analogous to the Scientilogy tactics to smear their detractors rather than answer them or address their concerns. This character assassination has been going on for a long time, and they even have international committees to monitor internet content for doctrinal purity.

TL;DR: Baha'is are a cult. jimhabegger is a cultist. Asking him questions won't work as nothing you say will perturb him. He is just a religious version of Steersman (PBUH & HRDs).

#13633

jimhabegger wrote:... For now I just want to respond to a feeling some people might be having, that there's something disrespectful and insulting in my attitudes and behavior here.

I have the same feeling, that there's been something disrespectful and insulting in my attitudes and behavior here. I'm not sure yet what to do about that, but I thought I should at least acknowledge it.

I see now that my attitude has been unfriendly to most people here, maybe everyone, from the very start.

#13634

H. Korban wrote:I really doubt if a white Western convert really can understand the origins of Baha'ism in any meaningful manner, without spending significant amount of time trying to understand 19th century Iran and millennial Shi'a movements.

But presumably a non-white Western convert can indeed understand the origins of Baha'ism in a meaningful manner?

Dude, you're okay, but you do have a tendency to slip up with these racial bio-essentialist mishaps. You might say it's a bit...anti-intellectual.

#13635

Incidentally, if anyone wants to see the anal control which Baha'i leadership has on their followers Internet activities, one may consult:

http://bahai-library.com/author/Bahá'%C ... net+agency

In particular, one may read on their advice on how to deal with opposition. No more proof is needed to understand the cult-like mentality of these people.

#13636

One question I have for people who dislike Israel is how they feel about Cyprus.

#13637

free thoughtpolice wrote:
Fuck it I give up. You're right welch. It was a real good thing that the big chick pounded on the skinny little kid and wasn't assault at all and had no chance of permanently damaging her and assault should be legalized because the victims are always asking for it and need to be taught a lesson.
Bullying is really cool too and too fucking bad if some sadistic bastard happens to ruin someone's life, it could have just as easily happened from skiing or taking a bath.
Oh and if someone gets punched then falls back and dies the person that threw the punch didn't cause it. :drool:

wow, a multistage strawman. You don't see those often.

Things you claim I say/mean that are unsupported by you know, my words:

"It was a real good thing that the big chick pounded on the skinny little kid" didn't say that at all. Said skinny kid was stupid as fuck for pushing her buttons like that. I still say that. Didn't say it was good that Ugly beat on skinny, just that skinny made the wrong bet that day.

" wasn't assault at all" You're not very good at this.

"had no chance of permanently damaging her " I literally never came close to this. I said you were overhyping the chances of it happening, and the data I was able to find in five whole minutes of looking seemed to agree. Even your data didn't really back your claims about "one-punch deaths" being common as...well a common thing I suppose. You never provided any way to tell HOW common. But it's real common. You know a guy.

"assault should be legalized because the victims are always asking for it" Anger makes you hallucinate. Who knew!

"Bullying is really cool too" someone's projecting hard.

"too fucking bad if some sadistic bastard happens to ruin someone's life" that would be the reason I gave for not pushing people's buttons. Because you literally don't know when you just pushed the "punch until you can't lift your arms" button. It looked just like the "Flip the asshole off and be done with it button" too!

"it could have just as easily happened from skiing or taking a bath." Actually, based on the actual numbers I was able to find, you're safer getting punched once than skiing. Rather a lot safer. And if taking a bath and slipping and falling in the bathroom are the same things in your world...well, many things are explained.

"Oh and if someone gets punched then falls back and dies the person that threw the punch didn't cause it." SPIN MAGIC WHEEL OF BULLSHIT, SPIN!

Dude, seriously, no one ever said there was NO RISK. What the evil mean :hankey:-yheads who weren't patting you on the bum WERE saying is that you were overstating the risk rather a lot, and given your idea of "data" was "some news articles talking about a few random incidences", it was your assumption that no one would actually look at your claims seriously and maybe go look on their own for you know, better data that screwed you. Yelling it louder doesn't change things.

in conclusion: :dance: :dance: :dance:

#13638

Keating wrote:One question I have for people who dislike Israel is how they feel about Cyprus.

The tree? They are okay but I prefer dogwoods.

#13639

CaptainFluffyBunny wrote:
welch wrote:
CaptainFluffyBunny wrote: Golly gee, how exactly would you get that sort of data? You would need to know all sorts of virtually unknowable data. But, as has been pointed out, it is not that uncommon. At what point does risking somebody's life become worth it to you? But hey, as a bonus it's not just death.
https://student.societyforscience.org/a ... ay-harm-iq
It really didn't seem to me that either of those girls had much to spare in the IQ department. There is a lot of unquantifable damage done, period. It should be discouraged, even to the point of incarceration.

And stop being such an asshole. It doesn't help make your point.
Nor did the links I pointed out that showed only 488 "one punch" deaths in boxing between 1960 and 2011. Or that in terms of head injuries, Skiing and bicycling are FAR more dangerous than even THE PUNCH OF DOOM, and that the real risk in things like boxing and football isn't from random freak accidents, but from getting your bell rung year after year after decade.

You know, that data you claim is so fucking hard to find. I mean, it helps if you actually look, but I can see how google is just so hard.
You're concentrating so hard on the one punch and ignoring the links on brain damage in teens, especially teen girls in fighting. This is because when you already "know" something and are contradicted, you go complete asshole. Seriously, look at your pattern of behavior. You don't seem like a bad guy, but you just go complete prick on people sometimes. Usually for no fucking reason. I have a temper, but dude, you have issues. So you go back on ignore. Hope you work your shit out.

"you're such a prick". Whiny code for "WHY DO YOU KEEP NOT AGREEING WITH ME!" Funny, now you have provided allll these links that last you said, were impossible to find. You should pick a story and stick with it. Again, (and god, if you are ignoring me, thank you for that gift), NO ONE IS SAYING IT NEVER HAPPENS.

That's your own projection. But thus far, you have been overstating the FUCK OUT OF THE PROBLEM. Talk about not helping your own case. Sheesh.

Finally...You know, you say you ignore me, yet you keep replying. You should ask someone who knows how to actually ignore someone how that works. Like Ophelia.

#13640

Shatterface wrote:I really hope that some student wakes Gabriel up from his park bench to lecture him on his white privilege.

http://i.imgur.com/wgO5DF2.png

#13641

fuzzy wrote:
welch wrote:
I'd still count the good silverware before he leaves.
I don't think I'd have the spoons to do that.

I nominate this for a Best Post Evah.

#13642

Fixing the link for you H. Korban.

Internet Guidance
http://bahai-library.com/author/Bah%C3% ... net+agency
https://archive.is/apqYy

Responding to Criticism and Opposition on the Internet
http://bahai-library.com/bia_responding ... opposition
https://web.archive.org/web/20150927123 ... opposition

Baha'i Responding to Criticism & Opposition on the Internet wrote:It is incumbent upon all men, each according to his ability, to refute the arguments of those that have attacked the Faith of God.4

[indent]4 Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 329, (section CLIV)[/indent]

Baha'i Responding to Criticism & Opposition on the Internet wrote:Given the remarkable scope and achievements of the Bahá’í community, particularly its evident spiritual vitality and visible commitment to social betterment in all parts of the
globe, it is inevitable that the aims and purposes of the Faith will be misunderstood,
challenged and even vilified. In this regard, the Universal House of Justice advises:
[indent]In correcting misrepresentations of the Faith made by those who are hostile to it, our obligation is to set forth Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings cogently and courteously, but firmly, supporting them with rational proofs.[/indent]

Baha'i Responding to Criticism & Opposition on the Internet wrote:Diversity of expression and creative give and take are essential aspects of Bahá’í community development. Without diversity, unity is impossible—only uniformity can be the result. For this reason, individual exploration of the Bahá’í teachings is valued for its potential contribution to community discourse and advancement. Here, the Internet affords novel ways of fostering such investigation and learning.

H. Korban,
I read through the document that would seem applicable, but I don't see anything untoward about it.

#13643

This is happening in my neck of the woods, shows what a bunch of vicious assholes the SJW mob can be. They are harassing woman and trying to destroy get business, all for the crime of holding up a "Latinas for Trump" sign at a Trump rally on Saturday.

http://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/tr ... r-business

Trump thanks Latina supporter; now mounting backlash threatens her business
Megan Thompson, KGUN9.Com Digital Staff
6:06 PM, Mar 21, 2016
10:08 AM, Mar 22, 2016

KGUN
SHOW CAPTION
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - It has been two days since she took center stage, next to the GOP front runner Donald Trump in Tucson.

Ever since she showed her support for the billionaire, she has been harassed at her business.

Before thousands of eyes were on her Saturday afternoon, Trump spotted not her, but her sign which read "Latinos support D. Trump."

While KGUN9 was inside Sammy's Mexican Grill, the phone rang several dozen times, many calling Betty Rivas and her family racists, vulgar names and threatening their business.

Betty Rivas and her husband Jorge - own the restaurant in Catalina, and she posted a photo of her and Trump on stage on her own Facebook page. But, she says some of her friends must not have agreed, sharing the post and putting her family business at the center of this controversy.

Many of the Facebook posts we came across today were vulgar in nature. We captured screenshots of several that were later deleted from the Sammy's Mexican Grill Facebook page. They can be viewed above in the media player.

But, Rivas told KGUN9, she's shocked at all the controversy this sign has created because - she took a similiar sign to the Bernie Sanders rally in Tucson. That's right - she has not even decided who she is going to vote for.

Despite all the drama though, Rivas does not regret making that sign and going on stage at all.

"I haven't done anything wrong; I have the right to say what I'm thinking - I can go listen to Hillary, I can go listen to Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders because I'm within my right - I didn't do anything wrong," she said.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department visited the restaurant and now has an open investigation.

It is also worth looking at the video embedded in the article to get a better picture of the woman that these apples are trying to destroy.

#13644

The Yeti wrote:It is also worth looking at the video embedded in the article to get a better picture of the woman that these apples are trying to destroy.

Clearly she hates latinas and immigrants.

#13645

H. Korban wrote:Incidentally, if anyone wants to see the anal control which Baha'i leadership has on their followers Internet activities, one may consult:

http://bahai-library.com/author/Bahá'%C ... net+agency

''The only thing worse than anal control is lack of anal control''
-- Oscar Wilde

#13646

I've come to believe more than almost anything else than the left's biggest roadblock is itself. From Obama negotiating against his own position on healthcare and costing us any hope of single-payer, to tone-deaf Islam apologetics, and to the general trumpeting of virtue signalling behavior at the expense of trying to actually win support and promote the policies it wants to see in action, the left rarely actually gets beaten by the right. It just throws the match.

The right doesn't have to win. They just have to wait for the left to lose.

#13647

So what is it with Gabriel's nose?

Is he wearing a false one for a bet or is it a prosthetic he wears having lost his real nose to syphilis contracted from someone's knee?

Allegedly.

#13648

Whats a hankeyhead?

#13649

CaptainFluffyBunny wrote:
free thoughtpolice wrote: Fuck it I give up. You're right welch. It was a real good thing that the big chick pounded on the skinny little kid and wasn't assault at all and had no chance of permanently damaging her and assault should be legalized because the victims are always asking for it and need to be taught a lesson.
Bullying is really cool too and too fucking bad if some sadistic bastard happens to ruin someone's life, it could have just as easily happened from skiing or taking a bath.
Oh and if someone gets punched then falls back and dies the person that threw the punch didn't cause it. :drool:
I provided a link about brain damage and teen fighting to Welch, but he is instead blathering on about the one-punch thing, conviently ignoring that it would be near impossible to get quantifiable data without knowing the total number of fights, and ignoring a whole swath of data about brain injury. When he gets a mad-on, he is every bit as ideological as Steersman and just as likely to change his mind. I was hoping he had reformed in his sabbatical from the pit, but he has reverted to form.

Right before I put him on ignore, I noticed he refused to Google for his PETA claim, moments after mocking me "Google is hard." If he acts like this in real life, I truly pity him. Put him on ignore and be a happy bear.

Sigh. I didn't provide the PETA death van links because they are honestly depressing as fuck. That was me being nice. Okay, fuck you then here, read that shit:

http://www.whypetaeuthanizes.org/death-squad/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-j- ... 79220.html (this one has pictures, you'll be wanking for weeks)
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/04/09/pet ... a-shelter/

Hope your hardon is as big as you want it to be.

Now, on to your CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE...lordy, again, try to be nice. from https://student.societyforscience.org/a ... ay-harm-iq:

For their new study, the pair has just analyzed data from the long-running National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Between 1994 and 2002, it collected information about 20,000 U.S. adolescents and young adults. Funded by the U.S. government, this study asked questions about health and behavior. It started when the participants were in middle- and high school. Most were followed for eight years, until some were as old as 25. On several occasions, the boys and girls took an IQ test. They also were asked, at that time, if they had been hurt badly enough in a fight, during the past year, to need treatment from a doctor.

During the study, at least 1 in 10 males and nearly 1 in 20 females reported being the victim of such serious violence at least once. Some participants reported many such injuries. Levels of violence among U.S. teens have been falling in recent decades. Still, current rates “remain staggeringly high,” Beaver told Science News for Kids.

He and Schwartz compared IQ scores for the study participants over time. And those IQ scores dropped among people who had reported being victims of serious fighting-related injuries. The pair’s findings will be published soon in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Note, there's a lot missing in that. Like details. But still, interesting, if you take IQ tests seriously, and there is good reason not to. But still, let us set that aside for the moment.

How much of an IQ drop was recorded?

On average, each serious injury from fighting was linked to a drop of not quite 2 IQ points, they found. But the drop differed by gender. Among boys, each injury logged during the study was linked to a drop of 1.62 IQ points. Girls experienced a drop almost twice that for each serious fighting-related injury that they reported. The girls’ higher vulnerability may reflect their bodies having less protection from injury, Beaver and Schwartz say.

So that's not bad. and the researchers agree:

How big a deal is a 2-point drop in IQ? “That’s a good question,” Beaver says. “If I took away one of your IQ points, would you be the same person? Yeah. If I took away four, would you? Probably. But if I took away six or eight?” Now, he says, that change could well be big enough to show an obvious difference in an individual’s cognition. (That’s the ability to think and reason.) And in the new study, participants who reported having sustained 10 or more serious injuries from fighting tended to experience a roughly 19-point drop in IQ over an 8-year span.

Now, let us look at that last bit. Wow, 19 points. that's a fuckton in terms of IQ, but, now look at what caused that: *ten or more serious injuries from fighting*. The period of the study is 8 years, and the article isn't clear if those injuries were limited to the 8 year period, but it is a HUGE leap to go from "one random punch" to ten serious fighting injuries in an 8-year period. That's a rather large goalpost shift given that we're not talking about multiple fights a year, but single incidents causing death or major brain damage.

I would be absolutely not surprised to find out that getting in seriously injured in one or more fights a year for 8 years will cause brain damage. But that's about what pro boxers deal with, and that's not a single random incident, that's a pretty regular course of "getting the fuck beat out of you."

However, there's a problem with this study, and to its credit, the article includes that:

The data used by the Florida State team did not log the particular type of serious injury that each victim sustained. Some might have broken bones, bruised ribs or received cuts that needed stitching up. But there’s no reason to suspect such injuries should affect IQ, Beaver says. Instead, “Our general interpretation is that the IQ effect will have been the result of a hit in the head.”

Well that's a bit odd. It would seem to me that the kind of injury matters. Because if a broken leg can cause an IQ drop, then we need to rethink a LOT of things.

Other scientists agree:

But Thomas W. McAllister says that’s not a safe assumption. He’s a psychiatrist at Indiana University School of Medicine, in Indianapolis. The data analyzed by the Florida State researchers “did not distinguish brain injury from other body injuries,” he notes. Even some head injuries, such as cuts, would not be expected to cause brain injury. Moreover, he observes: “Fighting can be associated with a variety of other issues that can impact cognition.” Among these mental threats to thinking and learning that can be triggered by fighting, he says, are depression, drug abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder.

So using the 1994 to 2002 data to determine that fighting harmed IQ through brain injury “would be difficult,” concludes McAllister.

There's some interesting bits about organized sports, and how if you stop getting hit for a while, some of the damage can heal itself. But there's another issue with the study, in that evidently, IQ can just kind of change during teen years on its own, which may exacerbate things:

At least one British study recently showed that IQ may change — even dramatically — during the teen years. Brain scans attributed those changes to increases or losses of gray matter. This tissue in the brain processes information (in contrast to white matter, which serves more as information highways for the brain). If findings from both the new study and the British study hold up, that may suggest that fighting can damage gray matter or impair the body’s ability to preserve its function.

however, even in a website with "science" in the name, reports ON studies are poor substitutes for the studies themselves.

Fortunately, the main study is available: http://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054- ... 9/abstract

It's quite interesting to read, but like a good study, it's not claiming the final word:

The findings of the current study should be interpreted with caution due to three key limitations. First, the physical injury measure used in the current study likely underestimates the effect of head injuries on subsequent cognitive performance. Because the measure used takes all fighting-related physical injuries into account, it is quite likely that some respondents suffered injuries to body regions other than the head.

That's something I wish they would have been more careful with: how much head injury vs. other injury affects things, because head injuries are kind of different than say, a broken finger:

In this way, the actual impact of each serious head injury on cognitive performance may be significantly greater than the results of the current study indicate. Second, the current study only examined a measure of verbal IQ. Although verbal IQ measures are used quite frequently in the literature [32], future research should examine the potential impact of serious injuries on additional IQ measures.

They also acknowledge the weakness in only measuring IQ twice:

Third, due to limitations of the Add Health data, the current study only examined IQ at two time points. Examining the potential effects of serious injuries over a longer period of time would provide a more detailed description of the long-term effects of such injuries on cognitive performance and other related life outcomes.

Also, given the time frames they talk about for data collection, (1994 and 2002) I'm curious if the questions raised by the "leaded gasoline as a primary cause for rising/falling crime rates" studies might affect things, given the effects of lead on people, and the time frame involved. (Note: i don't buy into the LEAD CAUSED ALL TEH CRIMEZ thing, but I've yet to see a reason to fully dismiss it as A cause. Just not THE cause. Longish write up about it here: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/ ... ren-health)

So no, the study is not the "definitive final word" on the issue, and you've now moved the goalposts from YOU WILL DIE OR BECOME A VEGETABLE IT IS TOTALLY COMMON FROM JUST ONE HIT to "if you regularly get into fights and get severely injured across an eight year period that stands a good chance to cause you some long term problems"

No one is disagreeing with the latter point, because NO ONE WAS ARGUING THAT POINT. It was...

AGAIN...

your overstating the ONE RANDOM PUNCH WILL KILL YOU OR CAUSE YOU BRAIN DAMAGE as a common, totally normal and expected thing that I and a few others are disagreeing with. Hell, even the data I pulled showed that regular head trauma over a longish period will yes, cause you problems. But that is really not the same as one random punch.

So which one are you actually talking about? regular trauma (i.e. one or more fights per year that require medical treatment by a doctor or ER staff), or just one random punch, (i.e. Fuck dude, I was just standing there and the motherfucker hit me)? Because the two are not the same.

#13650

Jan Steen wrote:http://i.imgur.com/QnDAwo0.jpg

In a sane world this consistently brilliant strip would be reposted on atheist and skeptic blogs as widely as Jesus & Mo.

#13651

ffs wrote:Whats a hankeyhead?

A bandana?

#13652

Tigzy wrote:
H. Korban wrote:I really doubt if a white Western convert really can understand the origins of Baha'ism in any meaningful manner, without spending significant amount of time trying to understand 19th century Iran and millennial Shi'a movements.
But presumably a non-white Western convert can indeed understand the origins of Baha'ism in a meaningful manner?

Dude, you're okay, but you do have a tendency to slip up with these racial bio-essentialist mishaps. You might say it's a bit...anti-intellectual.

Don't take it personally. If white converts can not understand it without study, does not mean non-white converts can understand easily either. If I start pointing out every single permutation of things, one will see a verbal combinatorial explosion, surpassing Steersman's (PBUH & HRD) most grotesque verbal diarrheas.

No harm in acknowledging the obvious fact that the life we live in the West is very different than people live in say Iran and India. Religion plays a very important role in those societies. When I studied Iranian shia'ism it was not very difficult for me, as I already was well versed in Islamic history, and, more importantly, in the technical vocabulary of Sh'ia islam, as I come from a Shi'a background myself. I have sat in many, many religious sermons, and taken numerous religious classes, specially on esoteric aspects of Shi'a Islam. I don't know you, but assuming you grew up in the West, its not possible for you to fully understand this culture unless you live it. I lived it. I wet to the mosque 30 days in Ramadan and dozens of days rest of the year, fasted, offered midnight prayers, wept on the Passion of Hussain, gave my Oath of Allegiance, etc etc etc. I left it all, but the experience did shape me, in a way which it did not shape you.

Yes, you can learn it too. Its just that its a very steep learning curve, and, unless you convert and immerse yourself in it, it will remain just a academic topic for you. Thats all. No "bio-essentialist mishaps" meant.

#13653

H. Korban wrote:Incidentally, if anyone wants to see the anal control which Baha'i leadership has on their followers Internet activities, one may consult:

http://bahai-library.com/author/Bahá'%C ... net+agency

In particular, one may read on their advice on how to deal with opposition. No more proof is needed to understand the cult-like mentality of these people.

I know a few people that had convert parents. Back in the late 1960s, early 70s the Bahai were doing an outreach thing with musicians, trying to look cool to the kids and promoting peace and uniting humanity. They advocated for esperanto as a universal language.
Their approach is that this is a great thing, join, no need to explain. To my knowledge, that campaign got few if any converts. 40+ years later when I asked about what the core beliefs of Bahai were to my friend that had grown up in it and she didn't have answer and seemed to have only a vague idea of what it's all about.

#13654

free thoughtpolice wrote:http://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury ... facts.html

10.7% of traumatic brain injury is caused by assault, about 19% caused by unknown, so assault may be slightly higher.
How big is the problem?

In 2010, about 2.5 million emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, or deaths were associated with TBI—either alone or in combination with other injuries—in the United States.
TBI contributed to the deaths of more than 50,000 people.
TBI was a diagnosis in more than 280,000 hospitalizations and 2.2 million ED visits. These consisted of TBI alone or TBI in combination with other injuries.
Over the past decade (2001–2010), while rates of TBI-related ED visits increased by 70%, hospitalization rates only increased by 11% and death rates decreased by 7%.
In 2009, an estimated 248,418 children (age 19 or younger) were treated in U.S. EDs for sports and recreation-related injuries that included a diagnosis of concussion or TBI.3
From 2001 to 2009, the rate of ED visits for sports and recreation-related injuries with a diagnosis of concussion or TBI, alone or in combination with other injuries, rose 57% among children (age 19 or younger).3
Another thing. It doesn't fucking matter whether more of these injuries occur from sports. There is a big difference between an accident that happens during voluntary activity and injury that is criminally inflicted on someone.
Way to not fucking get what people are saying and then changing the subject and pretending it somehow disproves an unrelated point.
Are you deliberately trolling or are you really that non self aware?

I thought you were ignoring me, or is that the other tit?

Anyway, now that the data is flowing...again, how do your "common" one punch kills fit into that. As comhinc has said, y'all were the ones bringing this up as though someone just punching you anywhere from the point of the chin up stands a good chance (as of yet, completely undefined) of killing you or making you into a vegetable.

According to this link that YOU PROVIDED, almost 55% of all TBI are caused by falls and motor vehicle accidents. Of that, just under eleven percent is caused by assault. Also, the definition of TBI here is rather a lot wider than the one you've been using:

Those who survive a TBI can face effects lasting a few days to disabilities which may last the rest of their lives.

So these stats include ALL injuries, including the ones for which "I got better". That's a rather wide range.

Now, when you go here: http://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/data/rates.html, they do break out deaths at least for TBI, and you see that between 2001 and 2010 there were around 18 TBI-related deaths per 100,000 people per year.

That's not exactly what I would call "frightening" since again, only around ten percent, or say, two of those would actually be caused by assault. So the risk of death from random punch is...well, rather low. I mean, it sucks if it happens to you or someone you know, but, according to the data you provided, it's not something that is going to be a common result.

Over and over, you and the other tit keep insisting that your "one punch kill" is frighteningly common, but over and over, you keep failing to show that, and instead produce results that show more problems if you're getting your bell rung somewhat regularly over a longish period of time (a thing no one is arguing against), or if you hit your head in some other fashion, like falling down or being in a vehicle accident.

It's not a matter of trolling, it's a matter of your own data not really proving the thing you say it is.

#13655

comhcinc wrote:
CaptainFluffyBunny wrote:
You're concentrating so hard on the one punch and ignoring the links on brain damage in teens, especially teen girls in fighting. This is because when you already "know" something and are contradicted, you go complete asshole. Seriously, look at your pattern of behavior. You don't seem like a bad guy, but you just go complete prick on people sometimes. Usually for no fucking reason. I have a temper, but dude, you have issues. So you go back on ignore. Hope you work your shit out.

To be fair you are the one that brought up the one punch kill thing. Both Welch and I have ask for data showing this is a significant issue.

I see where you moved on from this point but you never really gave a final word on the one punch kill thing. And I want to point out while it would be impossible to get hard exact numbers on the number of fights to see exactly what the stats are, we do have the ability to make some educated guesses.

Again just remember you are the one that brought up the one punch kills.

THANK YOU. Jesus. if they want to argue that regular incidences of head injury, i.e. regular fights serious enough to make you get real medical treatment (as opposed to going home and taking some tylenol) over a prolonged period of time will cause long-term problems, even death, and that would include fighting, my response to that is "no shit sherlock, have you seen Muhammad Ali lately?" Or really, any boxer with a long, active career. (Mayweather, it's hard to tell. He started out stupid, so would you notice the difference?)

But that wasn't the thing I was arguing. I've been arguing the concept that death from a single punch is some common-assed event. No one has shown that outside of...lived experience. Which according to them doesn't count. Except when it works for them.

Fuck, the data about multiple head traumas over time with no real ability to rest is solid as fuck. It's this one punch bullshit that's the argument point.

#13656

deLurch wrote:Fixing the link for you H. Korban.
H. Korban,
I read through the document that would seem applicable, but I don't see anything untoward about it.

I know I will be accused of "bio-essentialist mishaps". But: its hard, for those not steeped in this, to understand the manner in which messages are passed by religious organizations like Baha'is, or Islamic groups in general. Nothing untoward is meant directly, but one needs to read between the lines. Also, please read the experiences of Juan Cole, a very prominent professor and Baha'i convert, who left the cult. He documents the sinister control which the Baha'i top leadership have on the Internet and other activities of their followers.

Incidentally, this use of indirect speech is not uniquely Islamic phenomena. For example, Leo Strauss, considered by many to be the intellectual father of modern neocon movement, has also talked about this, in particular, in his book "Persecution and the art of writing".

I will give an example. When 9/11 happened, the CAIR said "We condemn terrorism". You may say this is very good statement. However, in Islam, one needs to condemn individual acts and not general principles. They did not say "We condemn Osama bin Laden and his so-and-so specific actions". Which, in a believer's mind tells that they actually support bin Laden. When I was a kid in madrassa, the priest would tell us that asking someone to forgive you is not enough. One has to say "Please forgive me for so-and-so thing I did no so-and-so place and date". Specificity is needed. Otherwise, it means your contrition is not sincere. Same is with these "guidelines". They say more than is obvious on a casual reading by someone not in the know.

#13657

Sunder wrote:PETA is both a big lobbying group and a self-righteous cult of virtue-signalling fuckheads. No surprise you'd end up with a confluence of corruption, grift, and moral debasement. They mostly just perpetuate their own existence, and their goals are inherently unrealistic just so they can never be met.

If their goals were able to be met, they'd have to live with not being needed, and that means the money would stop.

#13658

Matt Cavanaugh wrote:
VickyCaramel wrote:
Matt Cavanaugh wrote: 1) In your tally of # Palestinians, do you include the Nth generation ones born outside of Israel/Palestine?

In a rush, sorry.
There was a study recently, it counted all Palestinians, but separately, I think there are 6.2million in, and 12million out. 12 may be the total?
CIA factbook sez:

Israel total pop = 8,049,314 (includes Golan Heights & East Jerusalem)

Jewish 75% = 6,040,000
Other ("mostly Arab") 25% = 2,010,000

Gaza counted separate, at 1,869,055 -- 99% moslem, 0% Jewish.

So, Fatah's rump PA + Hamas' seceded Gaza = 3.9 million Palestinians, vs. 6 million Israelis.

So, under a two-state solution, it seems prima facie reasonable for Jews to get ~ 3/5 of the land.

Unless the estimated 6 million ethnic Palestinians born & living elsewhere are allowed in. But since Israel is 92% urbanized (per CIA Factbook), it's unclear where you'd put them, unless you moved somebody else out. And the PLO's objective for decades was to promote high birth-rates in the Palestinian camps to arrive at just this scenario. (It's interesting to note that 63% of the population of Gaza is under age 25, compared to 45% in Israel.)

Since Hamas' charter insists on the establishment of an Islamic state to replace Israel, it's impossible to arrive at any bargained solution with them. The Fatah constitution also calls for the elimination of Israel, yet Arafat on behalf of the PLO signed the Oslo agreement, recognizing Israel, and Fatah had participated in the two-state roadmap.

My observations:

One-State Solutions:
* Jewish majority-dominated Israel with a Palestinian minority underclass: untenable (been there, done that);
* Islamic Palestine with either a Jewish underclass, or the expulsion of the Jews: intolerable;
* Secular Palestine: inconceivable;
* Blended Israel/Palestine: unacceptable to both sides;

This leaves the only option the two-state solution, with a Palestinian free-state within Israel, much like the Irish Free state of 1920 within the UK. Perhaps some day this could evolve into something better.

I see no viable solution that includes any significant number of ethnic, foreign-born Palestinians immigrating to Israel/Palestine.

As Vickie observes, reducing inequalities & hardships Palestinians suffer would go a long way toward defusing tension. This cannot, however, be done with Gaza until Hamas is removed from power. Barring that, Gaza must be treated as a belligerent entity, in a state of war with Israel, with its blockade both a valid act under international law, and the most prudent & non-escalatory course.

Fatah should get the carrot, Hamas the stick, & Israel should move forward with a two-state solution exclusive of Gaza.

I think you have your maths wrong. It looks like you have added the number of Palestinians in Israel with the number in Gaza, and missed the West bank.

But lets take a more recent number (I have found the CIA fact book be surprisingly inaccurate) and in plain English.

The census estimated that by the end of 2015, the total number of Palestinians in "historical Palestine" -- meaning the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and Israel -- was around 6.22 million, compared to 6.32 million Jews.

http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769606

In addition to this, it is worth noting that large numbers are Israelis are not resident in Israel, any Jew is entitled to Israeli citizenship, and large numbers have taken advantage of duel citizenship... as has the Israeli government in order to boost the numbers. So it is very possible that there are already more Palestinians in historic Palestine than Jews.
And yes, there are around 6 million Palestinian refugees.

But lets forget the refugees exist. Lets forget that many Israelis only visit every 5 years...

Lets say the numbers are 50/50. Can we achieve peace?

Lets get a few things straight. What the PLO has as policy, and what it would be willing to negotiate over are two very different things. The right of return is a strong bargaining chip because it is 'non-negotiable', but it is negotiable, in the same way that the Irish Republic's claims to Ulster were non-negotiable. We managed to have peace several times without them giving up the claim.
Likewise, Hamas can be negotiated with. Keeping in mind that Israel created Hamas quite literally, they funded them, armed them and ensured they got into power. I am not saying they are a puppet, but Israel ensured they got where they are, as an extreme religious rival to the secular PLO. Israel assassinates their moderate leaders and ensure they keep the fanatics. This means they are now pretty unpopular with their constituents. But it is not an insurmountable problem.

Also, an Islamic state does not mean something like THE Islamic State, after all, Turkey is an Islamic state. I read Hamas' original manifesto (because I was told it contained all sorts of horrors) and it really isn't all that bad.

I have to stress, we are looking for a solution, not a perfect solution.

So it's 50/50, the Palestinians are ready to negotiate... let me tell you why it ain't going to happen.

Israel doesn't want a negotiated settlement. It does not want the war to end. In fact it would like an excuse for it to extend beyond it's current borders.

There are two important factions within (and without Israel) one is the religious nutters who are useful idiots. They want all of Israel plus the river to river stuff mentioned in scripture. The second are the realists who know that most of Israel is actually worthless desert without even the most basic of natural resources like water.

In 1947, the Jews took the cities and the desert. But the areas or highest Palestinian population were the areas which were fertile. This is why Israel keeps getting bigger in the name of 'buffer zones' and defence. Even if there was a genocide tomorrow and the Israelis wiped out all the Palestinians, I would bet my life that they would soon be finding excuses to invade Syria, Southern Lebanon and possibly Jordan.

To cut a long story short, all the water within Israel flows towards the Palestinian areas, or toward Jordan. River's make up the borders, so Israel isn't actually in full control of them. There is good reason that they took the Golan heights. They are trying to build a 1st world nation in a desert capable of supporting some olive groves. They use more water per capita than any European country, an in their rush to industrialize they polluted what little they had.

They also need Jerusalem. Not just to keep the fanatics at home happy, but the fanatics abroad that support them. So they can never give up that claim. Which is not going to make the rest of the Islamic world happy.

You also have to remember that Israel gets a shit ton of money from America. It is hard to calculate, but aside from all the cash, unsecured loans that are never repaid, the aid, grants, and all the other bullshit... It gets American weapons free, which means it isn't having to spend money on them, but also Israel gets the right to manufacture American weapons, which it then sells internationally in direct competition with American weapons. And I am not sure how common this is, and I doubt we ever will, but Israel uses it's access to the west to spy on us, gain military and political secrets, which it then sells to the Chinese or Russians! Since the 1980s when they were selling Western technological secrets to South Africa, they have been caught doing this numerous times. Since we are talking about stealth technology, nuclear secrets and such, this trade is worth a considerable amount of money.

As long as they can claim that they are the victims, they are the ones being harassed and bullied, they can keep getting away with it. Israel is a major centre for online fraud and money laundering, arguably worth billions, which Israel seems to turn a blind eye to as long as it brings in money. You could argue that as long as Israel is a special case protected by outside pressure by America, this too will continue.

If anything looking like a permanent peace broke out in the Middle East, Israel would finally be asked to stand on it's own two feet, and it isn't clear that it is ready to do that yet. Even if it is, it wouldn't be the most stable economy. And if peace broke out there, you could possibly have peace in Lebanon and maybe Syria. These countries, especially Lebanon would be rivals to Israel which could cause it concern... it is no accident that Israel find reasons to bomb Lebanon banks, the Lebanese are very good at banking.

There are just hundreds of small reasons that add up to why the current situation benefits Israel, better than if they were to move in any direction to peace except via total victory.

As for reducing Palestine's suffering, most people really don't grasp that they are doing the exact opposite. They bomb infrastructure from police stations to schools. They make movement impossible with road blocks or road closures, or settler-only roads. They wait till the Palestinians have finished building houses before they knock them down. They fly planes, helicopters and drones over Palestinian areas at all hours of the day and night to cause noise pollution. They pump raw sewage into their water supply, they target their water tanks.
It is a campaign or intimidation which has lasted decades, and during an incursion it's a free fire zone. Palestinians are allowed to leave, but if they do they can't come back.
So what do you think is really going on?

And while I am waffling, I want to address the idea that "Israel is a democracy and even Palestinians are allowed to vote". The reality is that much like in the West Bank, the Palestinian settlements that they couldn't ethnically cleanse were ringed with settlements which stopped them from expanding. No building permits are ever issued (I think one was issued in 1968) so most Palestinians live in overpopulated ghettos which means there is no real need for gerrymandering. Assuming a Palestinian manages to register to vote and his paperwork doesn't go missing, it is usually the case that they will have to travel to a Jewish area in order to cast their vote. However, during elections there are usually security alerts which will probably mean that the Police will set up security checkpoints, close roads or even besiege their settlements.

Assuming a Palestinian can get into a voting booth, they are going to be very limited on who they can vote for. Israel's constitution in evolution (which is code for "we can change it on a whim") makes it very clear that Israel is the Jewish state. Anything which threatens this statement can be outlawed. In practice this means that any Palestinian political party can be outlawed for suggesting any policy which doesn't further the 'Jewish State'. Individual politicians have to walk on egg shells or they can be banned, silenced (no platformed) and essentially accused of treason and imprisoned. That sounds like hyperbole, but there are certain issues that Israel can suddenly decide are state secrets, so technically it is possible.

I am not putting all the blame on Israel, the Palestinians have done some really dumb things over the years... although they have less options to work with. But the only real reason there is no peace is that Israel wants war until it wins, and this situation suits the US just fine, or it did until recently. Unless the US tells Israel to play fair, the only outcome I can see are a win for one side and disaster for the other, and long term i don't think it looks good for Israel.

Meanwhile I know that bored Israeli soldiers will take potshots at the Palestinian kids playing football, and just trying to be kids and lead something of a normal life. There will be Israeli schoolgirls throwing rocks and the Palestinian women while soldiers look on. The IDF will be setting their dogs on old ladies, heavily armed settlers beating the farmers in the olive groves... every day, on and on. And I feel I have already done my time documenting this shit. So now I will try not to think about it for another couple of years. It's just a pity that it is the SJWs that have taken up the cause, and Ironic because there are so many similarities between Israel and SJWs.

#13659

Shatterface wrote:
fuzzy wrote:
welch wrote:
I'd still count the good silverware before he leaves.
I don't think I'd have the spoons to do that.
I nominate this for a Best Post Evah.

seconded.

#13660

ffs wrote:Whats a hankeyhead?

a synonym for poopyhead.

#13661

Matt Cavanaugh wrote: Fatah should get the carrot, Hamas the stick, & Israel should move forward with a two-state solution exclusive of Gaza.

My prediction is that there will be no peace till one side exterminates the other. End of discussion as far as I am concerned.

#13662

Nugent has a post up excoriating Cenk and friends for being terrible as usual:

http://www.michaelnugent.com/2016/03/19/yelling-turks/

#13663

free thoughtpolice wrote:I know a few people that had convert parents. Back in the late 1960s, early 70s the Bahai were doing an outreach thing with musicians, trying to look cool to the kids and promoting peace and uniting humanity. They advocated for esperanto as a universal language.
Their approach is that this is a great thing, join, no need to explain. To my knowledge, that campaign got few if any converts. 40+ years later when I asked about what the core beliefs of Bahai were to my friend that had grown up in it and she didn't have answer and seemed to have only a vague idea of what it's all about.

Funny you should mention that. I was looking into the Baha'i faith, and reading a few blog posts about them. Evidently the higher ups were not too pleased with who their rapid recruiting process was bringing in.

https://www.fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/Ex16.htm
https://archive.is/ri6gR

So many people were enrolling in the Baha'i Faith, coming to firesides and meetings that it attracted the attention of the National Spiritual Assembly and they began to send people to investigate our activities. I found out decades later that the more conservative Baha'i administration at that time were alarmed at the number of "long hair hippie types" and African-Americans who were enrolling into the Baha'i Faith.

That may have put the kibasch on the whole rapid expansion in the US. But then again, 60's & 70's in the US. Who else did they expect they were going to be able to recruit into a new religion.

#13664

http://i.imgur.com/JUiFb6f.jpg

:bjarte:

I hope PZ had his tissues ready.

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

Doesn't ring true when PZs OP studiously avoids the term Moslem - until he can discuss the real victims of this attack.

This is a horrific attack, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were connected to Abdeslam’s gang of fanatics, since he was captured in Brussels. The people responsible must be tracked down and arrested, but I would hope that we can all retain the civilized values that the terrorists are trying to destroy. That means not abandoning the law — Donald Trump is already advocating more torture. It means focusing on the perpetrators, and not tormenting the innocent.

I fear already that this event will be used to excuse doing great harm to Muslims who were not involved and deplore the bombings as much as I do.

#13665

Keating wrote:One question I have for people who dislike Israel is how they feel about Cyprus.

I would insist that Turkey GTFO before their was the slightest chance that they be allowed to join the European Union,
but unfortunately none of us actually get any say in the European Union's business because our votes count for nothing.

#13666

Myers supports the rule of law. But fuck the police. Also, where laws are inconvenient, like due process, they're not really all that important.

#13667

H. Korban wrote: If white converts can not understand it without study, does not mean non-white converts can understand easily either. If I start pointing out every single permutation of things, one will see a verbal combinatorial explosion, surpassing Steersman's (PBUH & HRD) most grotesque verbal diarrheas.

[snipped for blah]

There was no need for every single permutation of things. Quite the opposite, in fact. You specified 'white western converts' when you could have simply stated 'western converts' without the 'white' preceding it. Why didn't you?

#13668

Tigzy wrote:
welch wrote:Fucking PETA is just as evil.
How so? I know they're pretty damn ridiculous, but I'm not aware of them doing any really nasty shit.

Dig deeper.

#13669

Keating wrote:One question I have for people who dislike Israel is how they feel about Cyprus.

Worst event on the WRC calendar. Why FIA hasn't dropped it is beyond me. But what the heck does this have to do with my disdain for the State of Israel?

#13670

VickyCaramel wrote:
Tigzy wrote:
welch wrote:Fucking PETA is just as evil.
How so? I know they're pretty damn ridiculous, but I'm not aware of them doing any really nasty shit.
Dig deeper.

I bet you say that to all the girls.

#13671

fuzzy wrote:
Shatterface wrote:I really hope that some student wakes Gabriel up from his park bench to lecture him on his white privilege.
http://i.imgur.com/wgO5DF2.png

OK, buddy, here you go!

#13672

deLurch wrote:
VickyCaramel wrote:
Tigzy wrote: How so? I know they're pretty damn ridiculous, but I'm not aware of them doing any really nasty shit.
Dig deeper.
I bet you say that to all the girls.

I might look like Danielle Muscato, but rest assured, 100% bloke here.

#13673

Lsuoma wrote:
fuzzy wrote:
Shatterface wrote:I really hope that some student wakes Gabriel up from his park bench to lecture him on his white privilege.
http://i.imgur.com/wgO5DF2.png
OK, buddy, here you go!

Oh, and post it in the image thread, or your PAM rank goes bye-byes!

#13674

Breaking in Seattle, man up a tree:

live coverage: Man up a tree

Settle in with some popcorn. The action never stops in Seattle.

#13675

MacGruberKnows wrote:Breaking in Seattle, man up a tree:

live coverage: Man up a tree

Settle in with some popcorn. The action never stops in Seattle.

Man or Bigfoot?

#13676

Latest news about man up tree:

Man still up tree

Will be breaking into regularly scheduled Slymepit stuff with updates of Man in tree

Yep, he's still there.

#13677

comhcinc wrote:
CaptainFluffyBunny wrote:
You're concentrating so hard on the one punch and ignoring the links on brain damage in teens, especially teen girls in fighting. This is because when you already "know" something and are contradicted, you go complete asshole. Seriously, look at your pattern of behavior. You don't seem like a bad guy, but you just go complete prick on people sometimes. Usually for no fucking reason. I have a temper, but dude, you have issues. So you go back on ignore. Hope you work your shit out.

To be fair you are the one that brought up the one punch kill thing. Both Welch and I have ask for data showing this is a significant issue.

I see where you moved on from this point but you never really gave a final word on the one punch kill thing. And I want to point out while it would be impossible to get hard exact numbers on the number of fights to see exactly what the stats are, we do have the ability to make some educated guesses.

Again just remember you are the one that brought up the one punch kills.

I do remember. I also am on my phone can only have one tab open at a time, which makes posting links somewhat tedious. That was just the extreme end of what can happen in a fight. Do read my original post.

#13678

comhcinc wrote:
MacGruberKnows wrote:Breaking in Seattle, man up a tree:

live coverage: Man up a tree

Settle in with some popcorn. The action never stops in Seattle.

Man or Bigfoot?

Will have to wait for the news conference, or the post mortem.

#13679

H. Korban wrote:
Tigzy wrote:
H. Korban wrote:I really doubt if a white Western convert really can understand the origins of Baha'ism in any meaningful manner, without spending significant amount of time trying to understand 19th century Iran and millennial Shi'a movements.
But presumably a non-white Western convert can indeed understand the origins of Baha'ism in a meaningful manner?

Dude, you're okay, but you do have a tendency to slip up with these racial bio-essentialist mishaps. You might say it's a bit...anti-intellectual.
Don't take it personally. If white converts can not understand it without study, does not mean non-white converts can understand easily either. If I start pointing out every single permutation of things, one will see a verbal combinatorial explosion, surpassing Steersman's (PBUH & HRD) most grotesque verbal diarrheas.

No harm in acknowledging the obvious fact that the life we live in the West is very different than people live in say Iran and India. Religion plays a very important role in those societies. When I studied Iranian shia'ism it was not very difficult for me, as I already was well versed in Islamic history, and, more importantly, in the technical vocabulary of Sh'ia islam, as I come from a Shi'a background myself. I have sat in many, many religious sermons, and taken numerous religious classes, specially on esoteric aspects of Shi'a Islam. I don't know you, but assuming you grew up in the West, its not possible for you to fully understand this culture unless you live it. I lived it. I wet to the mosque 30 days in Ramadan and dozens of days rest of the year, fasted, offered midnight prayers, wept on the Passion of Hussain, gave my Oath of Allegiance, etc etc etc. I left it all, but the experience did shape me, in a way which it did not shape you.

Yes, you can learn it too. Its just that its a very steep learning curve, and, unless you convert and immerse yourself in it, it will remain just a academic topic for you. Thats all. No "bio-essentialist mishaps" meant.

IOW you have to immerse yourself to gain some measure of understand. If you have done this from birth then you have an appreciation that someone who has only been told about or read about is not going to appreciate.

For example, no one ever told me one day that I was no longer allowed inside the women's quarters. Yet by the time I was eleven I knew that as a boy I was too old to enter them again.

*shrug*

I observed Ramadan for two years on my own. Not the same as going to a Mosque, or participating in the other activities associated with it. Including the ones that Phil's neighbors observe that keep him awake at night, because they make so much noise he has difficulty getting to sleep.

OK. Here is an exercise for you. Try explaining Easter, the rituals & traditions to a non-Christian. Watch them slowly back away from you ... as if you are insane and/or they are hearing the most amazing and incomprehensible nonsense they have ever heard in their life.

#13680

In a troubling turn of events, the Man up a tree is showing less signs of life than the tree.

Stay tuned, this could be bigger than Timmy down the well.