The Refuge of the Toads

[feathers]

Is welfare a bear gift? Probably sometimes.... maybe most of the time. A bear gift.

Did she mean: Greeks bearing gifts?

(I'm paining my brains as to what Danish expression she could have in mind)

Oh wait, bjørnetjeneste, lit. "bear service", after a La Fontaine fable about a bear trying to be nice and smashing his friend's head trying to squash a fly.

[MarcusAu]

Did she mean: Greeks bearing gifts?

Bearing can speak for xirself

[youtube]7Aiz3C3sFdA[/youtube]

[Brive1987]

I've just realised that the maelstrom voices of the pit almost perfectly resonate with my internal status quo.

"Do you hear the voices too"

[rayshul]

:hankey: s

We have plans for Rayshul. Oh yes, we have plans ......

AWESOME

I might drop by Melbourne mid yearish to see the folks.

I'm 5 more beers down the track. But seriously let "us" know.

Even though the inaugural meeting took place at the Hyatt Canberra.

Fuck that man, would love to meet pitters but Canberra's a fucking hole

[Phil_Giordana_FCD]

The last Clive Barker book I read was Mr B. Gone, and I found it way bellow par. Especially the extremely annoying "burn this book" gimmick.

[Keating]

There are people in Sydney and Melbourne I need little excuse to visit, with enough warning.

[Bhurzum]

Have you seen Stephen Bissette's artwork for the comics adaption of Rawhead Rex? Not the most subtle of things - the monster is basically a giant ambulatory penis (retractable foreskin and all). A male counterpart to Vagina Dentata.

Sounds like it's a pretty accurate depiction of the beastie. If I remember correctly, Barker said the name "Rawhead Rex" was a not-very-subtle nod towards the concept of a giant penis-monster with a taste for human flesh.

"Monster on the rampage stories are about the phallic principle. Large males run around terrorising women. Basically, I wrote a story about a ten foot prick which goes on the rampage. I even put it there in the title - Rawhead Rex - and there's a scene about two-thirds of the way through where the vicar has an image of a skinned dick in his head.' - Clive Barker

http://www.clivebarker.info/rawheadrex.html

:lol:

[John D]

Is welfare a bear gift? Probably sometimes.... maybe most of the time. A bear gift.

Did she mean: Greeks bearing gifts?

(I'm paining my brains as to what Danish expression she could have in mind)

Oh wait, bjørnetjeneste, lit. "bear service", after a La Fontaine fable about a bear trying to be nice and smashing his friend's head trying to squash a fly.

Cool. I will discuss this with her to see if this story is the origin of the phrase. Perhaps bear favor or bear service is a better translation than bear gift.

[Bhurzum]

The last Clive Barker book I read was Mr B. Gone, and I found it way bellow par. Especially the extremely annoying "burn this book" gimmick.

Agreed. I was mildly disappointed by it too but it's there in my collection.

If you've not read it, give "The damnation game" a read, it's one of his early works and is pretty good. It's surprising how many Barker fans let it slip through the net.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3460 ... ation_Game

[feathers]

Sounds like it's a pretty accurate depiction of the beastie. If I remember correctly, Barker said the name "Rawhead Rex" was a not-very-subtle nod towards the concept of a giant penis-monster with a taste for human flesh.

I have precisely the weapon to defeat it.

http://www.watson.ch/imgdb/7f53/Qx,B,0, ... 2229911223

From http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116791/

[Bhurzum]

I have precisely the weapon to defeat it.

From http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116791/

I had to look twice :lol:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wCcNOw4Cvvc/hqdefault.jpg

[Brive1987]

Fuck that man, would love to meet pitters but Canberra's a fucking hole

Don't look at me I'm just a visitor. Will do the Westin Sydney on demand.

[Cnutella]

I remember reading that Clive Barker bought the rights to a story written by a journalist in Florida. The original feature was a well-written recounting of the folklore of homeless children, who had supposedly woven their own mythology syncretized from urban legends, Santeria/Catholicism, horror movies and traditional folklore. It was about as bleak as you might imagine and reframed the uncertainties and trials of being homeless into a bigger narrative of a battle between good and evil.

If you haven't already read the original story, Myths Over Miami, I'd definitely recommend it.

There's some question about its authenticity. I haven't seen any folklorists weigh in either way (make of that what you will).

[Tribble]

Partly I just talk out of my ass because I am frustrated. I don't know how to fix these problems because no one has good ideas.

Welfare reform. What's happening with blacks is what's happening with all economic 'under-classes.' The very short story is this:

Single parent (women) families produce horrible demographic conduct results relative to income level. For example, black children from poor two-parent homes have a statistical profile (education, criminal behavior, etc.) the same as an upper-middle class white children from single parent (female) homes. And it's just not on the sociological aspects we care about on a societal level. Single parent children have higher suicide rates, higher accident rates (such accidental poisonings), more health problems, more behavior problems, etc., etc., etc.

So, clearly, it's not just economics effecting the results. Nor is it 'stay at home moms.' Because that doesn't seem to make any significant difference.

Welfare, while it had its well meaning aspects, had an unintended consequence. That is, a poor, but not destitute family coudn't qualify because the earning levels were too high. So it encourage absentee parents (abandonment, divorce) as a way to game the system. Rather than clumsily explain it, I did a google to find an article (though I'd never read it before) that expresses my observations and understandings I've been putting together for the past 30+ years. (Ever since I learned about perverse incentives in Econ 102 and started applying the concept to social behaviors, programs, etc.)

The most devastating by-product of the mushrooming welfare state was the corrosive effect it had (along with powerful cultural phenomena such as the feminist and Black Power movements) on American family life, particularly in the black community. As provisions in welfare laws offered ever-increasing economic incentives for shunning marriage and avoiding the formation of two-parent families, illegitimacy rates rose dramatically.

For the next few decades, means-tested welfare programs such as food stamps, public housing, Medicaid, day care, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families penalized marriage. A mother generally received far more money from welfare if she was single rather than married. Once she took a husband, her benefits were instantly reduced by roughly 10 to 20 percent. As a Cato Institute study noted, welfare programs for the poor incentivize the very behaviors that are most likely to perpetuate poverty.

The marriage penalties that are embedded in welfare programs can be particularly severe if a woman on public assistance weds a man who is employed in a low-paying job. As a FamilyScholars.org report puts it: “When a couple's income nears the limits prescribed by Medicaid, a few extra dollars in income cause thousands of dollars in benefits to be lost. What all of this means is that the two most important routes out of poverty—marriage and work—are heavily taxed under the current U.S. system.”

And so marriage became a penalty. But without marriage, households fell apart throwing kids into the single-parent households which, at every income level, produce far worse results. So what you see is the end result of 50-years of well-meaning but perversely incentivized social support.

Also, while that essay was about blacks, it's happened to poor whites, too. They behave the same way. It's just poor whites are a smaller fraction of the white demographic, and is generally not concentrated in urban ghettos but spread more thinly through the population (urban, suburban, rural), that many of the ill-effects haven't been able to reach the toxic levels you see in blacks.

However, I have every reason to believe that if poor whites were ghettoized/concentrated, we'd be talking about them in the same way we're talking about these tribalistic 'honor culture' black ghetto thugs as they exhibit many of the same characteristics but lack the concentration to take it to the level you see in the crime-ridden, urban-black-ghetto areas.

And, FWIW, I advocate CHANGE in Welfare programs, not the abolishment. They need to incentivize two-parent households. Or at least not penalize them. And if they do, it'll take generations to correct. You can't fuck up on this scale and think 'oh, it'll be okay in a couple of years.'

[Tigzy]

<snip>
Still, it's not as bad as Greg Laden's infamously ludicrous effort. Ye gods, that was some funny shite:

She was discontinuity personified when she walked into that dark and dingy tavern, this den of mean scruffy men with beards. She was very white, except her hair which was off white, and of medium height and somewhat stocky build with very large head. She was clad in an enigmatically loud pastel pants suit, wore eye glasses that could have doubled as the marquee for a casino on the Las vegas strip, and sported a hairdo that went all the way to the top, and money. You couldn't literally see the money, but you could tell it was there...

Now quietly departed from Amazon, it seems. Oh well.

:laughing-rollingyellow:

This is real?

Hell yeah. Here's my review, from way back, of the sample I downloaded (cos after reading that, there was no way I was gonna fork out for that pile of shit): viewtopic.php?p=22678#p22678

Afterwards, there was some discussion if Greg had actually written a comic novel. The only conclusion I, and others, could reach was that he had, albeit unintentionally.

[Brive1987]

Cunt Myers is complaining that attractive lady Melania plagiarised her recent speech. No excuses.

Avicenna.

[Tribble]

Ein 17-Jähriger hat in einem Regionalzug bei Würzburg mehrere Reisende attackiert und dabei vier von ihnen schwer verletzt. Er war laut Polizei mit einer Axt und einem Messer bewaffnet.

Why won't Germany pass stricter assault rifle bans?!

How many people died? How many would die if he could get a gun easily?

If the gay nightclub is any answer, at least 50.

[Tigzy]

It is an insult to publishing to say that this terrible book was published or that "Wandering in the Woods Press" is a publisher. It is a woman who turned the terrible manuscript into an .epub for Amazon and spent five minutes making sure the formatting was acceptable for the Amazon filters before cashing this dummy's check.

http://archive.is/2IEUq

Wandering the Woods Press is where you go when you are too stupid to google "How do I turn my doc into an epub" and too bad a writer to realize that your prose is irredeemable shit. Unlike a real publisher, this FTB newbie paid for the services, which is not what happens when you attract the attention of a real publisher.

Ah. Well that explains a lot. :lol:

[AndrewV69]

It is time for me to go to bed... but I just had a nice walk with my Danish exchange student and she explained they have something called a "bear gift". A bear gift is something that looks like a good gift, but it is worse in the end. She said it is like when parents do everything for their kids when they are young, but then the kids can't take care of themselves when they are adults. A bear gift.

Is welfare a bear gift? Probably sometimes.... maybe most of the time. A bear gift.

Did she mean: Greeks bearing gifts?

(I'm paining my brains as to what Danish expression she could have in mind)

I think it's like giving someone a Lion or Tiger (or even a Bear) cub as a present.

It would be fun for the first 6 months. But after that it's a hell of a responsibility that you have placed on them.

It is a huge commitment for sure. For example Stephan is a Russian Brown Bear:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/05/ ... 299754.jpg


Stephan is not even as big as Brutus who is a Grizzly:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/04/ ... 34x456.jpg

And there are more examples out there.
http://www.vegmomos.com/php/uploads/201 ... -jpg-1.jpg
http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/ima ... 1346772805

Video of Stephan
[youtube]sCtAXeOJ3N4[/youtube]

[Tribble]

Former FTB blogger now working as political speechwriter?

As if I'd expect anything but from those two phonies?

[Tribble]

Sociologists Manning & Campbell say Honor Culture exists when there's a vacuum of impartial authority, so citizens have to settle their own differences through acts of courage, including violence & duels. When social institutions exist-- informal ones such as customs, or formal ones like courts-- Honor Culture gives-way to Dignity Culture.

Neither the US or the UK is a lawless failed state. Pikeys have an honour culture, because they reject the rule of law, because they are criminals. There is little sign of this honour culture giving way to dignity culture because they will keep rejecting the rule of law as long as there is profit in being outlaws.

It's the same story with the mafia, much the same with honour killings in the muslim community. It isn't an absence of authority, it is a rejection of it.

Well said.

[Tigzy]

Clive Barker fans - anyone read The Scarlet Gospels yet? I downloaded a sample, which featured Pinhead being a massive twat to a bunch of sorcerers, and it was very good stuff indeed. However, the reviews have been utterly scathing, and they frequently make the point that the rest of the book simply does not live up to the sublime nastiness at the start. Be interested to know if any fellow Pitters can recommend...well, at least something about it. Given the brilliance of Barker's earlier work (Imajica - damn, I just did not want that story to end), I'm definitely curious about it, but don't really want to end up paying for something which might well turn out to be unmitigated shit.

[Tigzy]

Damn, Melania Trump really does have that James-Bond-bad-girl thing going on there. Quite splendid, despite obviously having a head filled with absolutely nothing.

[AndrewV69]

<chop>
And, FWIW, I advocate CHANGE in Welfare programs, not the abolishment. They need to incentivize two-parent households. Or at least not penalize them. And if they do, it'll take generations to correct. You can't fuck up on this scale and think 'oh, it'll be okay in a couple of years.'

My 1st year I used public transport a lot and thus was introduced to the hoi polloi of Canukistan. Some of the things I learned shocked me and this was one of them.

I was informed by several women during conversations at bus stops etc. that they were subject to inspections and if evidence was found that a man lived with them, such as a can of shaving cream their welfare benefits were cut.

Some of the women freely confided that if they wanted an increase in benefits all they did was to get pregnant.

I was astounded to say the least.

[John D]

Damn, Melania Trump really does have that James-Bond-bad-girl thing going on there. Quite splendid, despite obviously having a head filled with absolutely nothing.

She was surprisingly good last night and is better at reading off a teleprompter than the Donald is. Haha. She is clearly the most fuckable potential first lady in history. My Danish exchange student asked "Is this the kind of woman you call a gold digger?" Haha.

[Tribble]

If you let pharmacies sell all these drugs at low prices, you should wipe out organized crime overnight if the price is right....

I'm afraid it's not that simple. Illegal drugs trade is a multi-billion-dollar industry sector with a number of extremely rich and powerful criminals behind it. Those arch-crooks are not going to suddenly become well-adapted, taxpaying business men when drugs become legal and prices fall. They will just find other criminal activities that may ruin society even more than some illicit drug trade and consumption.

You could think of protection rackets, kidnappings, armed robberies and other horrors that don't even require much in the way of material investment or logistics the way drugs production does. Where I live the drugs trade seems to be contained to a shady subculture which you can easily steer clear of. You can still let your children play in the street without direct supervision or walk into a supermarket without getting a gun on your head, most of the time.

When prohibition was dropped in the US and moved to government supervised licensing, legitimate businesses could, once again, operate in the alcohol business. This change pretty much ended the criminal participation in the production, distribution and sale of alcohol.

However, many states didn't drop all of prohibition at first. And to the extent the did not, they continued to have problems with organized crime, bootleggers, etc. over the years.

So, there's no reason to believe it wouldn't be the same for drugs. Especially as we do have real-world case studies that confirm the legitimization, with some state regulation, does work to cut organized crime out of the drug trade.

[Tribble]

Cunt Myers is complaining that attractive lady Melania plagiarised her recent speech. No excuses.

Avicenna.

Ah, I'm glad to see he's found a new job as the Trump Family Speech Writer. Good on him!

[Bhurzum]

I remember reading that Clive Barker bought the rights to a story written by a journalist in Florida. The original feature was a well-written recounting of the folklore of homeless children, who had supposedly woven their own mythology syncretized from urban legends, Santeria/Catholicism, horror movies and traditional folklore. It was about as bleak as you might imagine and reframed the uncertainties and trials of being homeless into a bigger narrative of a battle between good and evil.

If you haven't already read the original story, Myths Over Miami, I'd definitely recommend it.

There's some question about its authenticity. I haven't seen any folklorists weigh in either way (make of that what you will).

That was a pretty interesting read, thanks mate.

(I've sent a link to the blonde commissar, verdict to follow)

[Tribble]

<chop>
And, FWIW, I advocate CHANGE in Welfare programs, not the abolishment. They need to incentivize two-parent households. Or at least not penalize them. And if they do, it'll take generations to correct. You can't fuck up on this scale and think 'oh, it'll be okay in a couple of years.'

My 1st year I used public transport a lot and thus was introduced to the hoi polloi of Canukistan. Some of the things I learned shocked me and this was one of them.

I was informed by several women during conversations at bus stops etc. that they were subject to inspections and if evidence was found that a man lived with them, such as a can of shaving cream their welfare benefits were cut.

Some of the women freely confided that if they wanted an increase in benefits all they did was to get pregnant.

I was astounded to say the least.

Last time I checked up on the policies, we had the same thing in the US. If Social Services finds out that a man is living with them, benefits are cut. It's just stupid. You're just causing yourself more problems down the road as you create a permanent under-class.

[Bhurzum]

Clive Barker fans - anyone read The Scarlet Gospels yet? I downloaded a sample, which featured Pinhead being a massive twat to a bunch of sorcerers, and it was very good stuff indeed. However, the reviews have been utterly scathing, and they frequently make the point that the rest of the book simply does not live up to the sublime nastiness at the start. Be interested to know if any fellow Pitters can recommend...well, at least something about it. Given the brilliance of Barker's earlier work (Imajica - damn, I just did not want that story to end), I'm definitely curious about it, but don't really want to end up paying for something which might well turn out to be unmitigated shit.

I'll just drop this here.

[youtube]jt95PcDHXp8[/youtube]

:whistle:

(I've got a hard copy, well worth the money!)

[Tigzy]

I'll just drop this here.

[.youtube]jt95PcDHXp8[/youtube]

:whistle:

(I've got a hard copy, well worth the money!)

I don't do audiobooks and I don't support ripping off writers either, so I'll pass on that, thanks.

[Shatterface]

The work of Clive Barker has been a strange addiction of mine for many years - books, poetry, artwork, the lot! I think I may have mentioned it before but his short story "Dread" (taken from "Books of blood") is the only thing to successfully give me the creeps as an adult.

I used to love The Books of Blood and In The Hills, The Cities is still one of my favorite horror short stories, that and his Raymond Chandleresque Valentine stuff. I re-read them a few years ago and they han't aged so well although they were rightfully a gamechanger for horror fiction.

Also, I think they're one of the few examples I know of where an author launched an entire career off an anthology of short stories.

Don't kill me with acid-soaked hooks!

I've met Barker. The only VHS movie I've kept after upgrading to DVD and then Blu-Ray is my signed copy of Hellraiser.

I have the limited edition Hellraiser Scarlet Box Blu-Ray from Arrow which includes his early short films. That sold out very quickly.

I think he has health issues that have restricted his output in recent years. IIRC, the recent Hellraiser novel is largely written by Mark Miller.

[Snapfingers]

Partly I just talk out of my ass because I am frustrated.

You've re-won my sympathies.

You could choose to wear pants that fit.... just sayin. What is the deal with fucking baggies? Why does your tribe want to look like that? Is it just to piss off taxpayers like me????? "Pants on the ground... pants on the ground... lookin like a fool with your pants on the ground."

Are they still sagging in Detroit? That has peaked, here.

I see it as normal rebellion. Everybody should go thru a phase of rejecting the received wisdom of their upbringing. Explore the boundaries of propriety & received wisdom. Then make an informed decision to retreat back to The Shire, or establish new boundaries.

Yeah,it doesn't seem like a phase for the underclass... perpetual juvenile delinquency. But maybe that's an appropriate response to being perpetually infantilized by a welfare state? A symptom not a root cause?

I'd also speculate that dressing like a neat 'good boy' is associated with mommy controlling how a child looks-- so offending mommy's tame sensibility is an early form of asserting independence/ which evolves into a symbol of masculine virility... being strong-enough to resist the nanny state's crummy employee-uniform.

Also-- playing a game you can't win is a losing proposition. So intentionally-losing is a way to subvert that outcome. There are little details of the 'right' way for a classy person to present themselves-- which a trashy person can't correctly emulate. So they veer the opposite way & pretend (or convince themselves) they never wanted to win the gold medal, anyway.

It is time for me to go to bed... but I just had a nice walk with my Danish exchange student and she explained they have something called a "bear gift". A bear gift is something that looks like a good gift, but it is worse in the end. She said it is like when parents do everything for their kids when they are young, but then the kids can't take care of themselves when they are adults. A bear gift.

Is welfare a bear gift? Probably sometimes.... maybe most of the time. A bear gift.

Actually it's a "bears favour" or "bears service", a very common danish expression. It's from a La Fontaine childrens fable about a bear wanting to swat a fly from his masters head and using a boulder to do it. Good intentions, bad outcome.

[Shatterface]

When prohibition was dropped in the US and moved to government supervised licensing, legitimate businesses could, once again, operate in the alcohol business. This change pretty much ended the criminal participation in the production, distribution and sale of alcohol.

However, many states didn't drop all of prohibition at first. And to the extent the did not, they continued to have problems with organized crime, bootleggers, etc. over the years.

So, there's no reason to believe it wouldn't be the same for drugs. Especially as we do have real-world case studies that confirm the legitimization, with some state regulation, does work to cut organized crime out of the drug trade.

The media portrays the drug industry as if drug dealers are all like Pablo Escobar. The reality is that most drug dealers earn less than minimum wage. It's not a path out of poverty, even for those who don't sample their own product.

[Matt Cavanaugh]

It is a huge commitment for sure. For example Stephan is a Russian Brown Bear:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/05/ ... 299754.jpg


Stephan is not even as big as Brutus who is a Grizzly:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/04/ ... 34x456.jpg

And there are more examples out there.
http://www.vegmomos.com/php/uploads/201 ... -jpg-1.jpg
http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/ima ... 1346772805

Video of Stephan
[youtube]sCtAXeOJ3N4[/youtube]

How soon before there's a Steph-on-Grizzlee, who identifies as a 500 lb bear?

[Shatterface]

Man 'knifes French woman and her three daughters' in Alps resort

An eight-year-old French girl was fighting for her life after she, her mother and two sisters were stabbed at a holiday resort on Tuesday by a Moroccan-born man.

Initial reports claimed the man struck because he was angered by the women being "scantily dressed," but a local prosecutor later denied this.

Raphaël Balland, prosecutor of Gap, said: "I wanted to quash the rumour currently doing the rounds because on no account did this man make such comments about the fact that the attack may have been motivated by the victims' dress code."

The man was arrested after the attack at the Alpine resort of Colombe, near Laragne, in southern France.

The 8-year-old was rushed to hospital in Grenoble with a punctured lung, according to initial reports.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07 ... um=twitter

[John D]

Man 'knifes French woman and her three daughters' in Alps resort

An eight-year-old French girl was fighting for her life after she, her mother and two sisters were stabbed at a holiday resort on Tuesday by a Moroccan-born man.

Initial reports claimed the man struck because he was angered by the women being "scantily dressed," but a local prosecutor later denied this.

Raphaël Balland, prosecutor of Gap, said: "I wanted to quash the rumour currently doing the rounds because on no account did this man make such comments about the fact that the attack may have been motivated by the victims' dress code."

The man was arrested after the attack at the Alpine resort of Colombe, near Laragne, in southern France.

The 8-year-old was rushed to hospital in Grenoble with a punctured lung, according to initial reports.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07 ... um=twitter

Clearly... the man must have attacked and nearly killed an unarmed woman and her young children because his Turkish coffee was served too cold. The man never said he did it because of her inappropriate clothing... so this cannot be the reason. #coldturkishcoffee.

[Skep tickle]

Former FTB blogger now working as political speechwriter?

Proof that Trump is truly a troll. After the above went viral he copies the tweet Obama used after Michelle's speech

See replies to that tweet, seems one may be fake.

[Service Dog]

Sociologists Manning & Campbell say Honor Culture exists when there's a vacuum of impartial authority, so citizens have to settle their own differences through acts of courage, including violence & duels. When social institutions exist-- informal ones such as customs, or formal ones like courts-- Honor Culture gives-way to Dignity Culture.

Neither the US or the UK is a lawless failed state. Pikeys have an honour culture, because they reject the rule of law, because they are criminals. There is little sign of this honour culture giving way to dignity culture because they will keep rejecting the rule of law as long as there is profit in being outlaws.

It's the same story with the mafia, much the same with honour killings in the muslim community. It isn't an absence of authority, it is a rejection of it.

'Failed state' is a useful criteria to apply.

I see a contradiction between claims that urban areas were so similar to failed states-- that Judge Dredd policing was necessary/ while denying that the same failure was sufficient-- for Dignity Culture to have degenerated into Honor Culture.

Yes, it's possible that black advocates are 'crying wolf', downplaying the viable Dignity Culture so they can exploit it as Victimhood Culture. That definitely occurs. But the 'tough on crime' Giulianis and Clintons 'cry wolf' & exaggerate Victimhood as-well, to lobby for more taxpayer funding, more authoritarian police, judicial, & penal power, less civilian oversight.

This suspicion is confirmed by glancing at wikipedia's entry for 'failed state', where I see the term is regarded as having-been applied opportunistically. Don't forget that Giuliani was a republican presidential front-runner & his police commissioner Bernard Kerik was sent to Iraq as Interior Minister of the occupation, to apply his crimebusting theories to an actual failed state. The Clintons' domestic crimefighting profile mirrors Hillary's interventionist foreign policy.

Granting the obvious-- that the US as a whole isn't a 'collapsed state'-- there are still plenty of intriguing sub-gradations to consider. Localized 'failed cities', 'weak states', 'war torn state', "Another type of state that has been traditionally put under the umbrella term 'failed state' could be an 'authoritarian state'." 'Doomed state', 'terrorist black hole', 'fragile state', 'rogue state', 'societal collapse', 'mafia state', 'pariah state', 'banana republic', 'anarchy' & 'ochlocracy' aka Mob Rule.

I am not a bleeding heart liberal making 'blame society' excuses for individual criminal behavior. But I think we're playing with fire the more we deviate from idealistic models of individual civil rights, presumption of innocence, limiting exercise of state power.

I'd point to the US prison system as a place where authoritarian power is firmly established, but so removed from mature self-governance, that the convicts default to Honor Culture among themselves. And yes of course mafia factions thrive there. 'Tougher prisons' aren't the answer, because the prisons aren't purged of honor culture or gangs in Russia or the Phillipines.

I suspect Perception plays a disproportionate role in Honor Culture behavior. BLM propaganda says they're oppressed & hopelessly disenfranchized, so disruptive revolt is the only recourse. One black son with a Honey Boo Boo mother, no father around, crappy education, gang bullies terrorizing his block, and imposters like Kanye West turning subcultural alternatives into deadends... is living in his own personal failed state.

I, with a much better head start in life than that, have experienced authoritarian corruption firsthand, enough that my trust in the wisdom of the state is tarnished & I no-longer trust socialized 'liberal' solutions to provide prosperity without Orwellian consequences. Or maybe I'm a Pikey willfully rejecting a perfectly good society, feigning victimhood.

[CommanderTuvok]

Cunt Myers is complaining that attractive lady Melania plagiarised her recent speech. No excuses.

Avicenna.

I am amazed that PZ didn't take 3-4 days to realise it was plagiarism.

[Service Dog]

I think I am going to have start taking tips from Service Dog on how to present myself as a political artist.
http://spencertunickcleveland.com/project-synopsis/#!

In addition to the bozo newage feminism, that's a paltry turn-out for a Spencer Tunick nude event. Compared to:

http://thecitypaperbogota.com/wp-conten ... tunick.jpg
https://photogrist.com/wp-content/uploa ... unick3.jpg
http://resources2.news.com.au/images/20 ... tunick.jpg

[paddybrown]

<chop>
And, FWIW, I advocate CHANGE in Welfare programs, not the abolishment. They need to incentivize two-parent households. Or at least not penalize them. And if they do, it'll take generations to correct. You can't fuck up on this scale and think 'oh, it'll be okay in a couple of years.'

My 1st year I used public transport a lot and thus was introduced to the hoi polloi of Canukistan. Some of the things I learned shocked me and this was one of them.

I was informed by several women during conversations at bus stops etc. that they were subject to inspections and if evidence was found that a man lived with them, such as a can of shaving cream their welfare benefits were cut.

Some of the women freely confided that if they wanted an increase in benefits all they did was to get pregnant.

I was astounded to say the least.

I used to work with a woman whose husband owned a chain of hardware stores. They claimed they were separated and he lived with his parents so she could work part time and claim benefits available for single parents. This was a prosperous middle class couple, doing very well for themselves, and they were gaming the system because they could. It's not just an "underclass" thing.

[BoxNDox]

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/07/14/ ... xth-cover/

Frank Cho was one of a number of A-list comic book artists, commissioned by DC Comics to create 24 variant covers for the first year of their relaunched twice-monthly comic books....But possibly not with Wonder Woman writer, Greg Rucka. And, as a result, Frank Cho is walking off the title after its sixth issue – and variant cover.....
He tells Bleeding Cool,

All the problem lies with Greg Rucka.

EVERYONE loves my Wonder Woman covers and wants me to stay. Greg Rucka is the ONLY one who has any problem with covers. Greg Rucka has been trying to alter and censor my artwork since day one.

Greg Rucka thought my Wonder Woman #3 cover was vulgar and showed too much skin, and has been spearheading censorship, which is baffling since my Wonder Woman image is on model and shows the same amount of skin as the interior art, and it’s a VARIANT COVER and he should have no editorial control over it. (But he does. WTF?!!!),,,,,

Pictures in the article.

Greg Rucka wrote a pair of mystery/adventures back in the late '90s called Finder and Keeper that were really quite good, perhaps even close to great. (Think of a Dennis Lehane-like approach but with a more mystery/adventure tone and not as dark.) He started to go off the rails into bad spy/assassin/conspiracy nonsense with Smoker, and completed the transition with Critical Space, which was grade A dogshit. His attempted another series around the same time with Shooting at Midnight, which didn't quite work.

I've picked up a couple of his later efforts since then, and while they haven't been as irredeemably awful as Critical Space, they didn't rise to the level of "good" either.

I don't do graphic novels much if at all, but I did try one of his early Batman efforts, and wasn't impressed.

Given the place his writing has wandered off to it doesn't surprise me at all that he's a tool in other ways.

[Lsuoma]

Cunt Myers is complaining that attractive lady Melania plagiarised her recent speech. No excuses.

Avicenna.

I am amazed that PZ didn't take 3-4 days to realise it was plagiarism.

It's our fault - we didn't point it out to the dishonest, lying cunt.

[Service Dog]

I know nothing of Danish idiom, so I'm going to pretend that it's a tradtional proverb based on...

My ex taught dance at a Danish college for a year. The only other American was a snarky gay dance dude.

They trolled the Danes by pretending to be excited about 'Sock Day' approaching. What? You've never heard of it?
In the US, it's one of our biggest holidays. Everybody celebrates it. We're very proud that socks were invented in America.

They cooked a Sock Day meal. As per the tradition, the guests all had to wear tube socks on their hands the entire time-- eating & drinking & playing ridiculous games of dexterity, without thumbs.

The guests mocked the whole thing, as typical American foolishness.
Some were not happy to learn they'd been out-smart-assed.

[Lsuoma]

And now, fuck it, I have a cuntingly painful case of sinusitis which is making my teeth ache like there's no tomorrow.

[Scented Nectar]

I used to love The Books of Blood and In The Hills, The Cities is still one of my favorite horror short stories, that and his Raymond Chandleresque Valentine stuff. I re-read them a few years ago and they han't aged so well although they were rightfully a gamechanger for horror fiction.

Aye, time can be a harsh mistress. Mind you, I'm a wee bit odd when it comes to books and movies - if I like something, it often becomes "timeless" in my eyes and will provide countless return sittings. I used to drive my ex-wife crazy with my book and video/dvd hoarding but I'm nowhere near as bad these days. My GF loves my book collection (90% fiction, a few art books, some poetry) and is constantly raiding my dvd collection for the night-shift at work. Needless to say, her co-workers think I'm a psychopath.

Don't kill me with acid-soaked hooks!

It's a fine line that separates pleasure from pain...

http://localtvwhnt.files.wordpress.com/ ... =all&w=770

(Sorry, Scented, blocks and all that good stuff!)

The visuals don't hurt at all compared to the traumatic memories. Have you ever stepped barefoot on those things? All pain and no pleasure at all. Although, at least those lego's have better graphics than minecraft - there are round bits to balance out the cubism. Ok, that part's the pleasure. I found it. :)

[BoxNDox]

The bulk of incarcerations are due to non-violent drug offences.

If we want to kill off this type of "honor code" which is really just a prison based honor code, we (the US) needs to stop sending off so many black men to prison for drugs.

We cannot legalize pot fast enough in the US. It is the best way to change the culture.

Pot legalization is a necessary first step but not sufficient. Decriminalization of drugs in general is also necessary, and sadly, we're a long way from that.

[VickyCaramel]

Sociologists Manning & Campbell say Honor Culture exists when there's a vacuum of impartial authority, so citizens have to settle their own differences through acts of courage, including violence & duels. When social institutions exist-- informal ones such as customs, or formal ones like courts-- Honor Culture gives-way to Dignity Culture.

Neither the US or the UK is a lawless failed state. Pikeys have an honour culture, because they reject the rule of law, because they are criminals. There is little sign of this honour culture giving way to dignity culture because they will keep rejecting the rule of law as long as there is profit in being outlaws.

It's the same story with the mafia, much the same with honour killings in the muslim community. It isn't an absence of authority, it is a rejection of it.

'Failed state' is a useful criteria to apply.

I see a contradiction between claims that urban areas were so similar to failed states-- that Judge Dredd policing was necessary/ while denying that the same failure was sufficient-- for Dignity Culture to have degenerated into Honor Culture.

Yes, it's possible that black advocates are 'crying wolf', downplaying the viable Dignity Culture so they can exploit it as Victimhood Culture. That definitely occurs. But the 'tough on crime' Giulianis and Clintons 'cry wolf' & exaggerate Victimhood as-well, to lobby for more taxpayer funding, more authoritarian police, judicial, & penal power, less civilian oversight.

This suspicion is confirmed by glancing at wikipedia's entry for 'failed state', where I see the term is regarded as having-been applied opportunistically. Don't forget that Giuliani was a republican presidential front-runner & his police commissioner Bernard Kerik was sent to Iraq as Interior Minister of the occupation, to apply his crimebusting theories to an actual failed state. The Clintons' domestic crimefighting profile mirrors Hillary's interventionist foreign policy.

Granting the obvious-- that the US as a whole isn't a 'collapsed state'-- there are still plenty of intriguing sub-gradations to consider. Localized 'failed cities', 'weak states', 'war torn state', "Another type of state that has been traditionally put under the umbrella term 'failed state' could be an 'authoritarian state'." 'Doomed state', 'terrorist black hole', 'fragile state', 'rogue state', 'societal collapse', 'mafia state', 'pariah state', 'banana republic', 'anarchy' & 'ochlocracy' aka Mob Rule.

I am not a bleeding heart liberal making 'blame society' excuses for individual criminal behavior. But I think we're playing with fire the more we deviate from idealistic models of individual civil rights, presumption of innocence, limiting exercise of state power.

I'd point to the US prison system as a place where authoritarian power is firmly established, but so removed from mature self-governance, that the convicts default to Honor Culture among themselves. And yes of course mafia factions thrive there. 'Tougher prisons' aren't the answer, because the prisons aren't purged of honor culture or gangs in Russia or the Phillipines.

I suspect Perception plays a disproportionate role in Honor Culture behavior. BLM propaganda says they're oppressed & hopelessly disenfranchized, so disruptive revolt is the only recourse. One black son with a Honey Boo Boo mother, no father around, crappy education, gang bullies terrorizing his block, and imposters like Kanye West turning subcultural alternatives into deadends... is living in his own personal failed state.

I, with a much better head start in life than that, have experienced authoritarian corruption firsthand, enough that my trust in the wisdom of the state is tarnished & I no-longer trust socialized 'liberal' solutions to provide prosperity without Orwellian consequences. Or maybe I'm a Pikey willfully rejecting a perfectly good society, feigning victimhood.

This song popped into my head earlier.... because of the weather.

[youtube]tSnJzKKgtdE[/youtube]

Yep, in Jamaica they had to send in the army to try and sort out the rude boys.
You ended up in ghettos here in England too, I am told there were similar areas in France.

...meanwhile when my family came to this country we also stayed in one area, kept our own language and culture for several hundred years -- not integrating. It wasn't called "the French ghetto". Not far away to the North, the Jews arrived... nobody called that the Jewish Ghetto. The place is still full of orthodox Jews who are barely integrated either.

Here's the irony, it is rumoured that one of my great, great grandfathers was a big figure in organized crime, well connected with the Jewish mafia. All we know is that he got real rich real quick with no apparent explanation. I'll never know for sure because he never wore a white fur coat, carried a silver cane and went round popping caps in people's asses. If he was a crook, he was pretty damn secretive about it.

Lets face it, this is something about black people and their culture. You mentioned blues earlier... and if you read blues history you will know that more than a fair share of them were also hustlers and pimps, a few of them met their end face down in a gutter with an ice-pick in the back of the neck. There was a crime culture in America which was well established over a century ago.
Somehow it is a pattern that got repeated in the UK and other places. We have drive-by shooting here too, it's most likely to be blacks involved.

You could blame racism, but how does that work? Jews and asians have managed, it is not all roses as cases like Rotheram demonstrate, but it's not quite the same thing.
You could blame it on policing, but police forces across the US, let alone across the world have different methods and yet we see similar black crime culture.
You could blame it on their race (if you were brave enough), and suggest they are inherently criminal, but I am sure there are exceptions that disprove the rule. I could be wrong but I don't hear about lawlessness on most of the Caribbean Islands. (having said that I just looked up crime in Barbados and St. Lucia and it isn't a fantastic situation).

I don't know, but I am not going to look for external influences that could work as a magic bullet. I am definitely swinging to the idea that black people have a problem that they need to sort out.

[Eskarina]

And now, fuck it, I have a cuntingly painful case of sinusitis which is making my teeth ache like there's no tomorrow.

At least a stroke is not painful (I know from own experience). :twatson:

Get well soon, FT.

[d4m10n]

[feathers]

Stephan is not even as big as Brutus who is a Grizzly:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/04/ ... 34x456.jpg

How soon before there's a Steph-on-Grizzlee, who identifies as a 500 lb bear?

At least we know who's going to adopt it. See above.

[Matt Cavanaugh]

I think I am going to have start taking tips from Service Dog on how to present myself as a political artist.
http://spencertunickcleveland.com/project-synopsis/#!

In addition to the bozo newage feminism, that's a paltry turn-out for a Spencer Tunick nude event. Compared to:

http://thecitypaperbogota.com/wp-conten ... tunick.jpg
https://photogrist.com/wp-content/uploa ... unick3.jpg
http://resources2.news.com.au/images/20 ... tunick.jpg

Spencer Tunick, one-trick pony.

[Matt Cavanaugh]

The bulk of incarcerations are due to non-violent drug offences.

If we want to kill off this type of "honor code" which is really just a prison based honor code, we (the US) needs to stop sending off so many black men to prison for drugs.

We cannot legalize pot fast enough in the US. It is the best way to change the culture.

Pot legalization is a necessary first step but not sufficient. Decriminalization of drugs in general is also necessary, and sadly, we're a long way from that.

Legalizing hard drugs is an atrociously bad idea.

[feathers]

http://localtvwhnt.files.wordpress.com/ ... =all&w=770

(Sorry, Scented, blocks and all that good stuff!)

The visuals don't hurt at all compared to the traumatic memories. Have you ever stepped barefoot on those things? All pain and no pleasure at all. Although, at least those lego's have better graphics than minecraft - there are round bits to balance out the cubism. Ok, that part's the pleasure. I found it. :)

You know the definition: foot (n): instrument to detect Lego bricks in the dark with.

[feathers]

Here's the irony, it is rumoured that one of my great, great grandfathers was a big figure in organized crime, well connected with the Jewish mafia.

I somehow think you meant great-great-grandfather there. What difference a few dashes make...

[Malky]

We have plans for Rayshul. Oh yes, we have plans ......

AWESOME

I might drop by Melbourne mid yearish to see the folks.

Two pieces of advice, Rayshul

1) It already is mid-yearish.

2) Run

Isn't this Gregorian Calendar privilege showing hsre? Chinese calendar is not mid year yet and appropfiate to where Raydhul lives.

:naughty:

[katamari Damassi]

The last Clive Barker book I read was Mr B. Gone, and I found it way bellow par. Especially the extremely annoying "burn this book" gimmick.

I was a fan back in the 80's. I recently picked up Cold Heart Canyon as a beach read. It has moments of brilliance in it but over all it wasn't frightening or disturbing on any level, and I rolled my eyes a lot. I almost didn't finish it.

[MarcusAu]

Legalizing hard drugs is an atrociously bad idea.

Surely you could do with the occasional does of ketamine

[youtube]AA6c3vvTS2Q[/youtube]

[katamari Damassi]

I read that new Ghostbusters director Paul Feig would like to do a Logan's Run reboot. Now THAT would've bee a good movie to do a gender switch on, and play with your gender politics. I would go see that movie.