Give Me a Urinal or Give Me Death!

#8101

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:We started recording the final bass for our new album this week end.

I know, no one cares, but it's still better than the ongoing discussion...

Depends. Does your album have a swastika on it?

#8102

deLurch wrote:
rayshul wrote:I'm so fucking sick of listening to workplaces talk about diversity.
I ain't pointing a finger here because I don't talk about my job but fuhfhfufhfuhfuhfk
Do what everyone else does. Go through the mandatory training. Keep your mouth shut. Don't engage in the Q&A afterwards, HR is watching and those influenced by SJW rhetoric are ready to squeal.

If you are lucky, your workplace will replace those "training" sessions with 15 minute web based training sessions designed by lawyers intended to keep you from stepping over the legal/sueable lines, and to cover the company's ass in case anyone tries to sue.

People can't shut up about diversity. Every fucking conference, every fucking thing. I talk on here about being raised in a colourblind household with feminist parents and it raised me to be perfectly normal right up until the point everyone wanted to talk about fucking bullshit like this.

#8103

KiwiInOz wrote:
rayshul wrote:I'm so fucking sick of listening to workplaces talk about diversity.

I ain't pointing a finger here because I don't talk about my job but fuhfhfufhfuhfuhfk
You could liven the place up by making outrageous diversity requests; surely as a woman of female persuasion who also happens to be a darker shade of off-white they would have to listen to you and bend over backwards.

It makes my life shit, though. People know I'm brilliant and everyone loves me, but when they talk about this diversity bullshit I BECOME THE DIVERSITY HIRE. It diminishes everything I've fucking achieved.

#8104

Kirbmarc wrote:Something we can all agree on. Sean Spicer is a dumbass:

Still, he's sort of right. Amazingly, despite all other atrocities committed during WWII, no chemical weapons were used on the battlefield.

Hitler understood that chemical warfare is more of an indoor activity.

#8105

rayshul wrote:
KiwiInOz wrote:
rayshul wrote:I'm so fucking sick of listening to workplaces talk about diversity.

I ain't pointing a finger here because I don't talk about my job but fuhfhfufhfuhfuhfk
You could liven the place up by making outrageous diversity requests; surely as a woman of female persuasion who also happens to be a darker shade of off-white they would have to listen to you and bend over backwards.
It makes my life shit, though. People know I'm brilliant and everyone loves me, but when they talk about this diversity bullshit I BECOME THE DIVERSITY HIRE. It diminishes everything I've fucking achieved.

Well, maybe THAT'S what you should tell them? It's a completely legitimate grievance and may shut up some of the do-gooders. And if they don't shut up, you can always revert to calling them sexist or racist.

I see no downside.

#8106

Maybe Rayshul should just start identifying as 'White'.

#8107

Easy J wrote:Semi-relevant to one of the current conversations going on here:

[youtube][/youtube]

Came to post this very thing.

I think he THINKS he's still left wing, but the emergent scene of youtube commentators that he is involved with aren't.

In this video Sargon says "abortion is the least important right" noting that "women will just have to raise their kids or use birth control" - this is the most old-school Tory style thing he's said and it's deeply ignorant of how unwanted pregnancy is a problem, he's considering it purely from a position of personal responsibility.

I

#8108

Keating wrote:That reminds of a story from Denmark. The Australian embassy was hosting Prince Charles and Princess Diana. The embassy staff were concerned because the lift they'd be riding in had a plaque saying "I fahrt" (in motion), and this could potentially make Charles uncomfortable. They solved this problem with scotch tape. Later, while Charles was riding in the lift, he got curious peeled back the tape and then said "Oh, I see" in his great British way, and put the tape back.

Even clearer, we don't write the h, so it would have been i fart. Fortunately, our roads have

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

#8109

DrokkIt wrote:Came to post this very thing

I think he THINKS he's still left wing, but the emergent scene of youtube commentators that he is involved with aren't.

In this video Sargon says "abortion is the least important right" noting that "women will just have to raise their kids or use birth control" - this is the most old-school Tory style thing he's said and it's deeply ignorant of how unwanted pregnancy is a problem, he's considering it purely from a position of personal responsibility.

As I wrote Sargon is no longer left wing. I harshly disagree with him on abortion rights, as on many other issues, even though I agree with him that the identitarian left is nuts and that immigration and cultural isolation of muslim communities is an issue that needs to be addressed by policies of control and integration instead of being swept under the carpet as the product of racist scaremongering, or even worse responded to with filo-islamist policies like many in the UK Labour are promoting.

He's not "far-right", though, more of a conservative libertarian if that's a thing. More similar on many issues to Maggie Thatcher or Ronald Reagan than to Adolf Hitler, to name a few names. He supports self-determination for the UK and less immigration, but not Geert Wilders' style Qu'ran bans. He's very much about personal responsibility and defending British traditions and institutions rather than focusing on race. There's no corresponding position to Sargon's in the left, or even among political parties in Germany, and that's why I think Aneris is confused about Sargon and pegs him as a fascist/nazi.

#8110

Center-right political parties in Germany tend to be more interested to regional/confessional interests than with a general idea of "German values". Germany has a Nazi history which needs to be addressed pretty much all the time national values are mentioned. The UK has no similar issues and support for British values is much less "problematic".

#8111

MarcusAu wrote:Maybe Rayshul should just start identifying as 'White'.

Funnily enough I do in a way - I identify as a friend, who is a straight white male, and he identifies as me. Then we get into internet arguments with other people. I support him as an ally to a strong black woman. It brings the kek.

#8112

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote: Well, maybe THAT'S what you should tell them? It's a completely legitimate grievance and may shut up some of the do-gooders. And if they don't shut up, you can always revert to calling them sexist or racist.

I see no downside.

It's easier to keep your mouth shut and avoid shit.

#8113

We have a coded language. Neat. http://archive.is/fijl6

Free speech from that Jewish psychologist guy, literally forgot his name. Star Sex Codex? Fuck. I closed the tab. http://archive.is/studJ

Gamergate where are they now lol they're literally all rapists https://twitter.com/i/moments/851713200537993216

#8114

/dispatchesfromKIA

#8115

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:
Spike13 wrote:Special place.
Needs to wear diapers and be kept away from sharp objects?

By the time we were done there, that was us... lol

#8116

Kirbmarc wrote:
DrokkIt wrote:Came to post this very thing

I think he THINKS he's still left wing, but the emergent scene of youtube commentators that he is involved with aren't.

In this video Sargon says "abortion is the least important right" noting that "women will just have to raise their kids or use birth control" - this is the most old-school Tory style thing he's said and it's deeply ignorant of how unwanted pregnancy is a problem, he's considering it purely from a position of personal responsibility.
As I wrote Sargon is no longer left wing. I harshly disagree with him on abortion rights, as on many other issues, even though I agree with him that the identitarian left is nuts and that immigration and cultural isolation of muslim communities is an issue that needs to be addressed by policies of control and integration instead of being swept under the carpet as the product of racist scaremongering, or even worse responded to with filo-islamist policies like many in the UK Labour are promoting.

He's not "far-right", though, more of a conservative libertarian if that's a thing. More similar on many issues to Maggie Thatcher or Ronald Reagan than to Adolf Hitler, to name a few names. He supports self-determination for the UK and less immigration, but not Geert Wilders' style Qu'ran bans. He's very much about personal responsibility and defending British traditions and institutions rather than focusing on race. There's no corresponding position to Sargon's in the left, or even among political parties in Germany, and that's why I think Aneris is confused about Sargon and pegs him as a fascist/nazi.

His views are generally closer to what we'd call 'one-nation conservatism' (or 'red tory' if we were being unkind) in that it's based in a pragmatic response to what he sees as problems AND he generally holds that society is 'organic' and therefore it's wrong to force changes.
The Labour party of the Blair years had a lot of ministers with this outlook (although the dominant ideology was neoliberalism), it's fair to say that the left/right divide has lost a lot of it's meaning in the UK.

#8117

In case anyone is interested, united airlines stock took a beating yesterday.
Reports of 955 mil. Dollar Loss other reports of 255 mil. Shaved off company value.( the discrepancy may be due to price throughout the day)

Once again proving that it is never a good buisness move to have your paying customers beaten.( unless you are a dominatrix)

#8118

KiwiInOz wrote:
KiwiInOz wrote:
Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:Oooooh, goodygoodygooood:

[youtube][/youtube]
Skux life ftw.
Oh, and Cate looks hot as Hela.

I was nearly going to post that. And use that puin. The last Branagh Thor was dull but that's
Hela in the original Kirby/Buscema antler head gear.
Hela!
HELA!

#8119

The fact that most of the "diversity" training appears geared towards grade schoolers doesn't help.

Given the litigious society we live in,I can understand a company "covering their ass", but some of those sessions are insufferable.

#8120

It's made by a new zealander

#8121

If it's made by a Kiwi - and it's not Pavlova - don't bother with it.

#8122

rayshul wrote:Free speech from that Jewish psychologist guy, literally forgot his name. Star Sex Codex? Fuck. I closed the tab. http://archive.is/studJ

Scott Alexander wrote:This is even more pressing in the context of growing partisanship and tribalism. Because the debate centers on mostly-leftist areas like universities, conservatives are turning free speech into a conservative principle. This is a disaster, because something being a conservative principle pretty automatically means that being against it is the quickest way to become popular. If people actually care about free speech, the number one thing they can do right now is very loudly shout about it every time a liberal is silenced. We should be having giant free speech parades supporting everyone who’s punished for supporting Palestine, just to make sure liberals don’t get the impression that free speech is a weapon pointed at them.
I very much agree with that and it surely is a far better strategy for the left than decrying free speech, but Alexander is missing a subtle point in his own argument, I think. Yes, conservatives are turning free speech into a conservative principle, but why is that happening? Alexander answers to this question himself when he points out that universities are "mostly leftist". Why did this happen? Why did ideological uniformity dominate universities? Why is there little to no political diversity in certain fields?

I suspect that this is because certain fields, especially, but not only, the humanities have become increasingly politicized. Sociology and anthropology have been dominated by far-left Marxist activists like James Blaut, the one who called Jared Diamond's book "eurocentric" basically for daring to suggest that the environment of Eurasia favored certain economic and social development over others just like other environments shaped other societies, instead of being a matter of Evil White Supremacy vs. the meek non-whites who were more Attuned to Nature. History is also very politicized. Philosophy departments are dominated by postmodern neo-marxists. Everyone who had nonconforming ideas has been pushed out through peer pressure and accusations of racism/sexism/bigotry in general.

In this context free speech has become a conservative issue because of decades of cultural domination of extreme leftist ideas in academia, which subtly or openly discouraged more conservative or simply less leftist people to study certain academic fields. The leftist bent of certain sectors of academia has degenerated to the point the most extreme leftists are eating their own and identitarian SJWs are on the top of the food chain, to the detriment even of other less identitarian leftists.

Scott Alexander wrote:If Charles Murray sincerely believes what he says, thinks it’s important, and thinks that saying it makes the world a better place, then he is exactly the sort of person whom free speech exists to defend. And if someone in a college reads The Bell Curve, likes it, and wants to learn more, then free speech exists to defend them too. But if your thought process is “Who’s the most offensive person I can think of? Charles Murray? Okay, let’s invite him to give a big talk, put up flyers everywhere, and when people get angry we’ll just say FREE SPEECH”, I worry that you are drawing from the commons for no reason. And that sometime later, when people need to use the commons for things they actually believe, there won’t be any left. People will have gotten so reflexively hostile to the idea of “free speech” that they’ll reject even the barest amount of tolerance for even slightly divergent views.
I disagree with Alexander here. I don't think that provocation happens for no reason. Offensive people, provocateurs, people who test the limits of free speech are necessary to preserving a healthy environment for free speech by avoiding the same kind of drift I've described above about universities. Without someone daring to say what's taboo people tend to take the limits of speech for granted and to be less likely to see massive drifts towards other extremes.

We need right-wing people to balance out left-wing people. We need Milo Yannopoulis to balance out Zarna Joshi. We need Charles Murray to balance out Cornelia Fine or Nick Matte.

The extremely predictable consequences of anti-political-correctness activists marching under the banner of free speech are that a large part of the social justice movement now thinks of free speech itself as the enemy, that Twitter personalities make mocking references to “freeze peach”, that increasing numbers of people say the First Amendment “goes too far”. Meanwhile, pundits have perfected the argument that since the First Amendment only applies to the government it’s great and praiseworthy for everyone else to restrict speech as much as they want, leaving a pro-free-speech side whose arguments too often come down to “well, it’s in the First Amendment, so you’ve got to respect us” kind of flat-footed.

I think Alexander is mistaken about the origin of both the disgust of the social justice movement for freedom of speech and of the anti-PC activism. The modern social justice movement sees free speech as dangerous for minorities from the get-go. The identitarian, regressive left is all about regulating speech. That's what political correctness is about, and it's been spiralling out of control. SJWs see every work of art as "problematic". Extreme SJWs see the using of expressions like "blind to reason" or "a stupid idea" or "falling on deaf ears" as "marginalizing" blind people, people with cognitive issues and deaf people, and so as contributing factors to the oppression of "neuroatypical" or disabled people, in some extreme cases (like the Atheism Plus forum) as "justification of a genocide of neuroatypical and disabled people". Calling people who immigrated into a country against its laws "illegal immigrants" is frowned upon even though it's a neutral description of a fact, and the new PC alternative is "undocumented immigrants".

There's a crazy euphemism treadmill and speech control issue out of control in the identitarian left, and it shows a lot in academia. In this climate of ever more strict policies over what can and cannot be said the anti-PC activism is actually a breath of fresh air, and a reaction to an Orwellian derailment of discourse. The "freeze peach" memes on the left are the reactionary protection of a censorious status quo in the left, not the response to an overstepping of a common boundary from the right.

It's not a coincidence that Milo Yannopoulis, the king of right-wing anti-PC trolls, is openly gay. It's hard to imagine a reactionary right-wing project being propagated by a gay man. What's going on is that the PC left has tried so hard to censor un-PC speech that anyone who disagreed has welcomed provocateurs like Milo, who's a troll, as a way to undermine the authoritarian PC left.

The left really needs to get a grip on reality and dial back on the identitarian/SJW/Regressive bullshit. There's a potential to reform the left along the lines of defending individual rights (like the right to abortion), pointing out the issues with corporate crony capitalism and lobbying/donors, advancing important and sorely needed reforms which deal with promoting alternative source of energy to fight climate change, promoting or protecting a system of healthcare which works for individuals instead of for Big Pharma and Big Insurance. There's also room for rethinking international alliances (especially those with the Saudis and other Gulf State) and for regulating immigration according to your country's needs and in favor of integration instead of following corporate interests and/or misguided and divisive projects which create ghettoes of people which don't integrate.

But the problem is that leftist ideologues are too concerned with "offense", with bullshit outrage over petty, really unimportant issues (shirts with scantily clad women on it, jokes about crying women or about dongles, sexism in video games etc.), with an already failed effort to punish wrongthink rather than to deal with real issues. The left has become obsessed with protecting offended feelings, not rights. So provocateurs, trolls, boundary-pushing people are needed to show that people don't simply implode when confronted with offensive material.

There's a caveat, though. In order to reform the left has to learn that violently or loudly protesting speakers is counterproductive and stupid. They have to understand that treating people who disagree with you as a personal threat is paranoid and insane. They have to learn to take the joke, so to speak. They have to learn that Pepe the Frog isn't going to kill them.

This is very hard when even clever, insightful leftist commentators are all too willing to accuse people of being secretly racist and using coded language. Even if someone is actually secretly racist and bigoted the fact that they have to cloak their racism and bigotry shows that their ideas aren't accepted. Obsessing over what people "really" think, trying to see "deep" meaning in joke and memes, is counterproductive. It's better to accept people's expressed opinions at face value, to listen closely to what they want, to what they say they support, rather than to wonder about secret nazi conspiracies.

#8123

rayshul wrote: Free speech from that Jewish psychologist guy, literally forgot his name. Star Sex Codex? Fuck. I closed the tab. http://archive.is/studJ

I read that this morning with great disappointment. The concept that it's the speech you don't agree with that you must protect must have flown right over his head. Mind you, some psychiatrists do have a tendency to look down upon psychologists, so he may be unable to listen to what Peterson has to say. As for Charles Murray, his manner - that of a self-satisfied fat cat - is off-putting, but he does have some excellent insights and I don't think for a moment he is the racist that some people paint him as. He simply reports what he finds and seems to feel that honest discussion is more useful and respectful than declining to talk about uncomfortable matters, or even worse, choosing to believe what you would like to be so rather than what is so.
Scott Alexander's approach to the issue would leave the field to the thought-controllers. Ignoring and refusing to argue with a lone idiot is reasonable, but when such idiocy is threatening to become the dominant mode of (not) thinking it must be countered. I did see one comment in which someone said something to the effect that it is funny how often tactical advise boils down to 'run away'!

#8124

MarcusAu wrote:re The Walking Dead and zombies in general.

After approximately a year or so - enough zombies would have been either actively dispatched or would have deteriorated to such an extent - that they would not longer be a major concern for the survivors.

At some point it would become anther feudal / pioneer post-apocalypic setting - not that much different to any other except that extra care would have to be taken with sick or dying people.

It's been 2 or 3 years and the zeds are still a threat so your premise fails.

Thank me in beer.

#8125

free thoughtpolice wrote:Ayaan Hirsi Ali's new book is available for free download:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/anjuli/2017 ... -new-book/

Your intent is magic. PZ still snaffles a proportionate amount.

http://archive.is/eWtqT

#8126

I think I'm comic book movied out... I don't get the " oooh I got to see that!" Feeling anymore. More like the , " that'll be nice to watch when it comes out on video /streaming " feeling.

Oversaturation... I think we have crossed the line.

#8127

Obviously, things are going better in the UK than Australia (apart from Sargon being identified as a 'One-Nationist')

Good luck in dealing with the dis-intered on top of all the other poisonous wildlife.

#8128

screwtape wrote:
rayshul wrote: Free speech from that Jewish psychologist guy, literally forgot his name. Star Sex Codex? Fuck. I closed the tab. http://archive.is/studJ
I read that this morning with great disappointment. The concept that it's the speech you don't agree with that you must protect must have flown right over his head. Mind you, some psychiatrists do have a tendency to look down upon psychologists, so he may be unable to listen to what Peterson has to say. As for Charles Murray, his manner - that of a self-satisfied fat cat - is off-putting, but he does have some excellent insights and I don't think for a moment he is the racist that some people paint him as. He simply reports what he finds and seems to feel that honest discussion is more useful and respectful than declining to talk about uncomfortable matters, or even worse, choosing to believe what you would like to be so rather than what is so.
Scott Alexander's approach to the issue would leave the field to the thought-controllers. Ignoring and refusing to argue with a lone idiot is reasonable, but when such idiocy is threatening to become the dominant mode of (not) thinking it must be countered. I did see one comment in which someone said something to the effect that it is funny how often tactical advise boils down to 'run away'!

Well, it's easy to have that concept flying over your head if you're convinced that certain people should have no right to express their opinions because their opinions are inherently oppressive. The trend that some opinions shall not be tolerated was very strong among certain sectors of the left long before the Provocative Right Wing Offense.

For example laws which have prohibited certain symbols or certain dumb and highly bigoted opinions and memes have been so deeply ingrained in certain national ethical playing fields that anyone who criticizes those laws is unthinkingly assumed to working for a bigoted agenda. Inviting the people who express those horrible opinions is tantamount to treason and implies guilt by association, even if they're only invited to talk about and support their rights to express their stupid and bigoted opinions, even if there's zero support for their stupid and bigoted opinions. Even remotely suggesting that the laws which curtail certain opinions might have something in common with political correctness, in their censorious intent, not in the content of what's censored, is taboo and defined as a manipulative tactics.

Those laws are now a common good in certain countries and anyone who criticizes them is automatically cast in a bad light, and even the most clever and insightful thinkers from those countries seem unable to distance themselves from their national ethos to look at those laws from a more general Enlightenment values perspective.

#8129

Pansy arsed old world Anglos. It takes empire and red dirt to make a hard core society.

#8130

Spike13 wrote:I think I'm comic book movied out... I don't get the " oooh I got to see that!" Feeling anymore. More like the , " that'll be nice to watch when it comes out on video /streaming " feeling.

Oversaturation... I think we have crossed the line.

All I can see is a green screen and CGI. I'm so sick of CGI.

#8131

Kirbmarc wrote:
<snip> The left really needs to get a grip on reality and dial back on the identitarian/SJW/Regressive bullshit. There's a potential to reform the left along the lines of defending individual rights (like the right to abortion), pointing out the issues with corporate crony capitalism and lobbying/donors, advancing important and sorely needed reforms which deal with promoting alternative source of energy to fight climate change, promoting or protecting a system of healthcare which works for individuals instead of for Big Pharma and Big Insurance. There's also room for rethinking international alliances (especially those with the Saudis and other Gulf State) and for regulating immigration according to your country's needs and in favor of integration instead of following corporate interests and/or misguided and divisive projects which create ghettoes of people which don't integrate. <snip>

There are any number of real problems the left could fix. The problem is that they lack the philosophy to do so. This is why I am voting less for left leaning politicians and more toward the right.

For starters, the left prioritizes access over cost. This is a big mistake in my opinion. If more was done to reduce cost of healthcare or cost of education, then access would improve. Most voters think the government wastes a great deal of money... and the government does waste a great deal of money. They also excessively regulate which drives up costs. They also provide corporations with exclusivity and monopoly power which also drives up cost. So, unless the left changes to a cost control philosophy, they will never fix healthcare, education, etc.

Regarding warming.... most people don't give a shit. I would argue that they don't give a shit for good reason. People don't believe that climate change is as big a risk as some scientists are saying. "Science" has a pretty bad track record when making these sweeping claims about impending catastrophe. Many people remember "The Population Bomb". They also remember that it was supposed to be a low-fat diet that made us healthy. Now common people see that the government is doing a bunch of shit that will increase energy cost. This is not trivial to most people. Energy cost is a big part of most people's budget. "Them thar fancy-talking white-coat scientists is gonna cost me more money!" I am satisfied that warming is a low priority in politics right now. Once someone actually makes a good climate model then I will listen. Till then.... burn that fuel baby. Keeping energy affordable helps real people across the world.

On the topic of "crony-capitalism" the left has no good ideas either. The left likes to create a regulation environment. This actually helps big corporations. The regulations are intended to improve fairness but many reg just increase costs that corporations pass on to consumers. The left would be smart to encourage free markets, but the right is actually better at this. At least the right says they are free market and that markets are good. The left actually thinks markets are bad. It is a complete joke. I actually had an argument with one of my leftist friends about school vouchers. The philosophy behind vouchers is that schools compete for money and will thus improve their performance. Improved performance allows a school to make a profit. Of course, my lefty friend said that it was wrong for a school to make a profit so this was one reason he didn't like vouchers. WTF. Honesty.... they are fucking communists.

I supported the left on social issues for the most part. Gay marriage, legal pot, etc. These topics are the reason I used to reliably vote Democrat. The problem now is that they jumped the fucking shark on this shit. The stuff Obama did leveraging title IX to put in University rape kangaroo courts is nothing short of vile. Horrible stuff. I am done with these fuckers until they start to remember what liberty looks like.

#8132

ERV wrote:
Spike13 wrote:I think I'm comic book movied out... I don't get the " oooh I got to see that!" Feeling anymore. More like the , " that'll be nice to watch when it comes out on video /streaming " feeling.

Oversaturation... I think we have crossed the line.
All I can see is a green screen and CGI. I'm so sick of CGI.

I watched Aliens a couple of weeks ago. What a fantastic movie! After I finished watching I couldn't get the thought out of my head that I have not seen a sci-fi action picture as good as Aliens.... since I watched Aliens. Modern movies are mostly shit.

I think the problem is that movies are more and more formulaic. Except for a few independent movies, modern movies don't have the vision of artists. They are all formulated.

Think of the great movies you have seen. Everyone has a different list based on your tastes. But.... the one thing in common with all these films is that the director and writer had a passion... a kind of insane dedication to making a great piece of art.

Alien, Aliens, The Shining, 2001, Citizen Kane, Fargo, Brazil.... my favorite movies are all created by crazy OCD artists. I haven't seen very many truly great movies made in the last few years. Maybe I'm just getting old.

#8133

Democrats are also failing to address crime. I would like to pick the kids up today without having to drive by a tarp-covered bleeding corpse. Like I did yesterday.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/loca ... 85319.html

#8134

DrokkIt wrote:

His views are generally closer to what we'd call 'one-nation conservatism' (or 'red tory' if we were being unkind) in that it's based in a pragmatic response to what he sees as problems AND he generally holds that society is 'organic' and therefore it's wrong to force changes.
The Labour party of the Blair years had a lot of ministers with this outlook (although the dominant ideology was neoliberalism), it's fair to say that the left/right divide has lost a lot of it's meaning in the UK.

This is what I was saying in an earlier thread, there is no left v right in the traditional sense anymore, no bosses v unions like there was back in the day, north v south divide, old Labour v old Conservative. Politics is far more nuanced now, more than it has probably ever been.
I'm in my mid 50's brought up in a Labour household (even though I'm a Southerner) my dad was a union rep many years ago, my mum canvassed for the local Labour party but I haven't voted Labour for years & the way Corbyn and his Marxist cronies are taking the party I can't see me voting for them ever again. That hasn't made me a Tory though, not that I don't hold to some of their policies but I just don't trust them, never have, maybe that's just my previous biases but I just can't bring myself to vote Tory.
What is also I think often forgotten is that far from Brexit being a right wing Nationalistic jingoistic wet dream as perpetuated now by the new loony liberal/left, the EU was always seen as detrimental to Britain by old traditional socialists and was for many years vehemently opposed by nearly all the trade unions.

What I believe in now is what I think is right or wrong and not what is right or left.

#8135

Spike13 wrote:I think I'm comic book movied out... I don't get the " oooh I got to see that!" Feeling anymore. More like the , " that'll be nice to watch when it comes out on video /streaming " feeling.

Oversaturation... I think we have crossed the line.

I love comics, but things that make them good (heavy stylise-ation, space for *good writing*) often do not translate to the screen very well. The results are often painfully shallow and given to crowdpleasing tropes, and that gets tiresome.

#8136

Spike13 wrote:Don't get me wrong, I love the show.(Walking dead) bit ...

Another thing that gets me is , they live in a world where a scratch or a. One can kill them and they run around in tank tops and shorty shorts... no body armor, nothing... also, you would think that close combat meter weapons would be standard issue.

I gave up on The Walking Dead a couple of seasons ago and haven't looked back. There's just too many high quality shows being produced that expose the untalented and lazy writing on The Walking Dead for what it is.

#8137

Speaking of Comic Book movies - I'm a fan of the Dan Clowes sub-genre:

[youtube][/youtube]

#8138

Spike13 wrote:In case anyone is interested, united airlines stock took a beating yesterday.
Reports of 955 mil. Dollar Loss other reports of 255 mil. Shaved off company value.( the discrepancy may be due to price throughout the day)

Once again proving that it is never a good buisness move to have your paying customers beaten.( unless you are a dominatrix)

On the bright side, they've solved their overbooking problem.

#8139

With regards to Thor - there's something about the actors 'Asgard' (read faux-Brit / sub Fraser-Crane) accent that puts me off.

I've just finished listening to Neil Gaiman read his audiobook Norse Mythology (good pronunciation throughout) - and I would really enjoy a movie / TV series retelling of these stories - especially if the actors had Swedish or Icelandic (or pan-Scandinavian in general) accents.

#8140

Damn - trouble in paradise. When my life is going well it is a fantastic life.

But, my wife is starting to break down. She talked about suicide last night. She has had suicidal thoughts off and on throughout her life so this is not a giant surprise to me. The puzzle is what to do next.

Her fibro and sciatica pain has gotten worse lately. She has never enjoyed exercise, so the increased pain has basically shut down any exercise for her. She has put on a lot of weight in the last year. She gets mad at me saying that I don't encourage her to exercise, but when I do even suggest she walk the dog with me she gets angry. She lashes out on this topic because she is frustrated. She tells herself constantly that she needs to change... and try to exercise more, but she always makes an excuse to not exercise when she has the time. She basically tortures herself.

She also feels scared because of her sister's stroke. To a great extent, she knows she is heading down the same path. She is so upset by her sister's stroke that she makes excuses to not visit her in the hospital. She just tries to put the whole thing out of her head. When I tell her I will go to the hospital with her and help with stuff she gets angry with me. She says this is not my problem and that she doesn't want me to work on it.

She was crying last night saying that everyone else problems were keeping her from working on her own health. The thing is that when everything is running smoothly, she still doesn't work on her own health. She takes a bucket of pills, but she doesn't know what they do or what the side effects are. When I try to talk to her about what she is taking and if we should change her meds she gets angry with me and says she doesn't care to think about her pills.... she just takes what the doctor tells her to take. Fucking hell.

She started using a new medication for weight loss that is a daily self-administered shot. It is supposed to reduce your appetite. It made her so nauseous that she couldn't function for about a week. I complained to her saying that it is no wonder you loose weight with these shots... the nausea guarantees that you will not eat. Well.... of course... she got mad at me about that.

Some times I think about walking out on her.... but I am so fucking dedicated that I could never really do it. I couldn't live with myself if I left. I think I am kinda screwed. This is not gonna get much better. I will be the tortured dedicated husband.

#8141

Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:Oooooh, goodygoodygooood:

[youtube][/youtube]

Reminds me of Flash Gordon from the 80's.

But nowhere near as sexy.

[youtube][/youtube]

#8142

John D wrote: I watched Aliens a couple of weeks ago. What a fantastic movie! After I finished watching I couldn't get the thought out of my head that I have not seen a sci-fi action picture as good as Aliens.... since I watched Aliens. Modern movies are mostly shit.

I think the problem is that movies are more and more formulaic. Except for a few independent movies, modern movies don't have the vision of artists. They are all formulated.

Think of the great movies you have seen. Everyone has a different list based on your tastes. But.... the one thing in common with all these films is that the director and writer had a passion... a kind of insane dedication to making a great piece of art.

Alien, Aliens, The Shining, 2001, Citizen Kane, Fargo, Brazil.... my favorite movies are all created by crazy OCD artists. I haven't seen very many truly great movies made in the last few years. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Looking over the Best Picture Winners since 2010, most have already been all but forgotten (The King's Speech, The Artist, Argo, Birdman, Spotlight) compared to the winners twenty years before that (Dances with Wolves, The Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Schindler's List, Forrest Gump). Not sure why he huge drop in quality. My hunch is that the likes of HBO, Netflix, Amazon Prime and some basic cable channels are siphoning art-house type talent out of the movie industry, and for their major releases studios want lowest common denominator focus group tested "sure things". So both the smaller stuff and the bigger stuff is much worse than it used to be.

#8143

John - sometimes I think it's the worry that paralyses any decision making.

Perhaps you can do something to distract her - like watching good comedy and having a laugh. Then afterwards, with all the negative emotions put aside (for the meantime at least) - you could make a suggestion like walking the dog etc.

I'm sure that where you are beats the alternative though.

#8144

jugheadnaut wrote:
John D wrote: I watched Aliens a couple of weeks ago. What a fantastic movie! After I finished watching I couldn't get the thought out of my head that I have not seen a sci-fi action picture as good as Aliens.... since I watched Aliens. Modern movies are mostly shit.

I think the problem is that movies are more and more formulaic. Except for a few independent movies, modern movies don't have the vision of artists. They are all formulated.

Think of the great movies you have seen. Everyone has a different list based on your tastes. But.... the one thing in common with all these films is that the director and writer had a passion... a kind of insane dedication to making a great piece of art.

Alien, Aliens, The Shining, 2001, Citizen Kane, Fargo, Brazil.... my favorite movies are all created by crazy OCD artists. I haven't seen very many truly great movies made in the last few years. Maybe I'm just getting old.
Looking over the Best Picture Winners since 2010, most have already been all but forgotten (The King's Speech, The Artist, Argo, Birdman, Spotlight) compared to the winners twenty years before that (Dances with Wolves, The Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Schindler's List, Forrest Gump). Not sure why he huge drop in quality. My hunch is that the likes of HBO, Netflix, Amazon Prime and some basic cable channels are siphoning art-house type talent out of the movie industry, and for their major releases studios want lowest common denominator focus group tested "sure things". So both the smaller stuff and the bigger stuff is much worse than it used to be.

You make a good point. There is some real quality in some of the cable and Netflix stuff. I really enjoyed Madmen, Orange is the New Black, and Breaking Bad. Maybe this is where the passion is these days.

#8145

jugheadnaut wrote:Looking over the Best Picture Winners since 2010, most have already been all but forgotten (The King's Speech, The Artist, Argo, Birdman, Spotlight) compared to the winners twenty years before that (Dances with Wolves, The Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Schindler's List, Forrest Gump). Not sure why he huge drop in quality. My hunch is that the likes of HBO, Netflix, Amazon Prime and some basic cable channels are siphoning art-house type talent out of the movie industry, and for their major releases studios want lowest common denominator focus group tested "sure things". So both the smaller stuff and the bigger stuff is much worse than it used to be.

That's a legitimate hunch. I suspected that as well, although I also think that some of the popularity factor is nostalgia. For example Forrest Gump and Dance with Wolves are rather cliched and formulaic movies but are looked upon with favor because they were part of the early adulthood experience of the generations which today rule the movie industry.

Also the Academy Awards have gone more and more towards a trend of rewarding what are very niche, "hipster-ish" movies in general which lack appeal with the general public (Argo with its minimalistic approach to a decades-old event which hasn't left that big of an impact, Birdman with his experimental, surreal style, and The Artist is a mute, black and white movie which is a call-back to old mute, black and white) while the movies of twenty years before were more "mainstream", could be pinned down to a specific genre (Dance with the Wolves and Unforgiven are westerns, The Silence of the Lambs is a horror) or were about events that were part of the collective knowledge and experience of all viewers (Schindler's List is about the holocaust, Forrest Gump is about the American Dream and American history in general).

#8146

Rayshul: I had one of these posters up in my work area, but it got taken down by HR and I got spoken to about it.

https://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/div4.jpg

But now I work in a secure room that nobody except my team has access to, and it's gone straight back up.

In fact, I now have all five of these up:

http://divisionoflabor.com/wp-content/u ... 810134.jpg

#8147

Despair Inc has been selling demotivational posters for some time

https://despair.com/collections/demotivators

#8148

Here's a favourite:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0535/ ... 1414017238

#8149

jugheadnaut wrote:Not sure why he huge drop in quality. My hunch is that the likes of HBO, Netflix, Amazon Prime and some basic cable channels are siphoning art-house type talent out of the movie industry, and for their major releases studios want lowest common denominator focus group tested "sure things". So both the smaller stuff and the bigger stuff is much worse than it used to be.

An episode of the Bret Easton Ellis podcast-- maybe interviewing horror director Eli Roth?-- discussed how it's now hard to get a mid-sized movie released in theaters($5-20 million), due to piracy + people waiting to watch at home. They discussed a cult horror film from a director respected in the genre-- which was already available as a bootleg streaming torrent... by the time the rabid line-up-outside superfans were walking-out of the debut midnight showing.

The budget has to be zilch (kickstarter-sized) or the film has to be a surprise from an unexpected newcomer (so piracy is ambushed by the legit release), or the budget has to be big enough to hire bankable stars + licensed superhero-robot-remake-sequel + a huge spectacle release which draws the passive crowds too lazy to pirate.

Passionate cinephile audiences dont pay for Exorcist-sized films anymore.

#8150

free thoughtpolice wrote:jugheadnaut:
Agreed. The White House Press Corp all but announced from the get go that they were going to have an adversarial relationship with him, and so nothing that comes from them can be trusted from them as being free of spin.
I guess you and I have been watching news coverage from equal but opposite universes. Does your Sean Spicer have a goatee? :think:

Definitely works the other way as well. The difference is that spinning is to be expected from a press secretary (it's basically part of their job description), while the press is expected to present things accurately. Trump takes some blame as well in the adversarial relationship, but it's largely in response to the unprecedented biased press he received during the campaign and the open declaration by many members of the press that they regard their job primarily as undermining him. The Washington Post still has the hysterical and hyperbolic 'Democracy dies in Darkness' subheading beneath their masthead, playing into the a-historical nonsense that we're on the cusp of a fascist takeover, while Slate crows about not 'normalizing' Trump, meaning not reporting on him like he's a legitimate president.

An annoying thing for me about the current situation is that even though I dislike Trump and oppose many of his policies, due to the feckless press and moronic knee-jerk #resistance brigades in the social media, my first reaction when I see a negative Trump news story or Facebook post is to be deeply skeptical of it and try to fact check it myself.

#8151

Atomic Blonde is another upcoming comic book movie. The trailer looks good - but for all I know, there may be nothing left for the movie itself:

[youtube][/youtube]

#8152

John D wrote:Damn - trouble in paradise. .

It sounds like your wife is stuck in a conditioning loop where the visceral rewards of Not Trying to improve herself are more powerful than the abstract rewards of exertion.

One small idea to encourage exercise: what if you drive her a short distance from home, then she walks back. This would let her remain passive, until she was in a place where passivity is not the default. She has to actively walk-home to return-to rest.

It could get her over the intitial mental hump of "can't", & remind her she Can do things-- enough that the end of the walk might be the best time to discuss things which need to be fixed... & get a more-receptive response.

If my rosy scenario can't happen without her 'getting even' later--- her acting-out to punish you for trying to improve things-- then that's a bigger problem than her just falling apart... she's actively dragging you down too.

This is harshly worded, but it came to mind when i read your description:
http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2012/06/ ... _look.html

#8153

DrokkIt wrote:
Spike13 wrote:I think I'm comic book movied out... I don't get the " oooh I got to see that!" Feeling anymore. More like the , " that'll be nice to watch when it comes out on video /streaming " feeling.

Oversaturation... I think we have crossed the line.
I love comics, but things that make them good (heavy stylise-ation, space for *good writing*) often do not translate to the screen very well. The results are often painfully shallow and given to crowdpleasing tropes, and that gets tiresome.

Yeah, okay, I kinda agree.

But then there's Deadpool.

#8154

Good good old Godfrey

#8155

Trolling James Wood is not really an achievement. Way too easy.

#8156

KiwiInOz wrote:
KiwiInOz wrote:
Phil_Giordana_FCD wrote:Oooooh, goodygoodygooood:

[youtube][/youtube]
Skux life ftw.
Oh, and Cate looks hot as Hela.

Damn right. She's really rocking that Goth mom look. She's nearly 50 too!! :o

Film looks a lot of fun. Will deffo go see.

#8157

How to become a singularly special star of the moment (NOT):

Join the other 46,000 pasty white faces bleating "Me-me-me-MEEEE!!" to the question, "Who loathes themselves enough to validate this made-up horseshit?"

http://imgur.com/358endy.jpg

#8158

Coronation Street. Jesus fucking wept. I can't even.

#8159

Indy trainings going well. :dance:

#8160

Oglebart wrote:
Yep I remember seeing that show at the time, and the tweets from the other guests and Neil at the time indicated that Jones just turned it off like a tap. It's pretty obvious he's trolling imo. You have to agree he's having some success.

I do! He's not only hugely successful on YouTube, he's now even part of the White House press coterie of trusted news purveyors. It's is so postmodern and meta that I literally can't even.

I'd like him better if I thought he was some gonzo concept genius like Andy Kaufman, but he isn't. He's just a loud-mouthed attention whore who saw a niche in the market.

Everyone's trolling now. Just saw this sex tip column from Cosmo posted on TumblrInAction "12 Compelling Arguments to Never Give Another Blow Job."

The tag line is "Because you can't have meaningful conversations with a penis in your mouth."

That's still better advice than their usual "pretend his penis is a Twix bar and you're scraping the caramel layer off with your teeth."

https://archive.fo/NnViA