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Long Enough Timeline

13

Posts

  • PharezonPharezon Struggle is an illusion. Victory is in the Qun.Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Urian wrote: »
    People love to whine.

    I think if everyone lived on their own in the mountains for a few years, then lived in society, they would think everything is perfect. If you're used to the best America has to offer, of course you're going to think were all fucked because the standard you were used to may have dropped a little bit or things aren't as good as they always were in your given spectrum of influence.

    They would think everything is fucked up.

    Pharezon on
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  • laughingfuzzballlaughingfuzzball Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Pharezon wrote: »
    Always be pessimistic. That way, if something good happens, you'll be pleasantly surprised. And if the worst happens, well, you saw it coming.

    Pessimism is a form of delusion. While it tends to be more compatible with reality than the opposite extreme, it's also more likely to lead to apathy, nihilism, and "emotions hair". I prefer to base my outlook on reality, rather than a pre-ordained response.

    "emotions hair"?

    Yes, "emotions hair".

    It is the kind of hair for people with emotions.

    laughingfuzzball on
  • Vann DirasVann Diras Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Seph wrote: »
    yes people love to whine when 15 police with sub machine guns come into their home refusing to show a warrent at 9:00 in the morning

    not quite certain that's what he was talking about

    but yeah I read about that today at work. It is seriously fucked up.

    "Oh hey I hear you might protest at the RNC. well uh I'm just gonna bust down your door and bring in my 20 buddies here and arrest you. Warrant? nah, we don't need those, we have automatic weapons."

    Vann Diras on
  • TheRealBadgerTheRealBadger Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Pharezon wrote: »
    Always be pessimistic. That way, if something good happens, you'll be pleasantly surprised. And if the worst happens, well, you saw it coming.

    Pessimism is a form of delusion. While it tends to be more compatible with reality than the opposite extreme, it's also more likely to lead to apathy, nihilism, and "emotions hair". I prefer to base my outlook on reality, rather than a pre-ordained response.

    "emotions hair"?

    Yes, "emotions hair".

    It is the kind of hair for people with emotions.

    I know I've heard this term recently but I can't figure out where. I suspect it came from a webcomic?

    TheRealBadger on
  • -smash-smash Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Pharezon wrote: »
    Always be pessimistic. That way, if something good happens, you'll be pleasantly surprised. And if the worst happens, well, you saw it coming.

    Pessimism is a form of delusion. While it tends to be more compatible with reality than the opposite extreme, it's also more likely to lead to apathy, nihilism, and "emotions hair". I prefer to base my outlook on reality, rather than a pre-ordained response.

    "emotions hair"?

    Yes, "emotions hair".

    It is the kind of hair for people with emotions.

    This post goes well with your avatar.

    -smash on
  • laughingfuzzballlaughingfuzzball Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Pharezon wrote: »
    Urian wrote: »
    People love to whine.

    I think if everyone lived on their own in the mountains for a few years, then lived in society, they would think everything is perfect. If you're used to the best America has to offer, of course you're going to think were all fucked because the standard you were used to may have dropped a little bit or things aren't as good as they always were in your given spectrum of influence.

    They would think everything is fucked up.

    Take the Waodani.

    They were heavily isolated. People knew where and who they were, but generally stayed away because they killed on sight. Friendly outside contact was first made in the 1960s. At that time, the homicide rate was above sixty percent. Death by old age was entirely unheard of. They were as close to the "naked savage" stereotype as people have ever actually gotten.

    Some time later, when a couple of them heard about aerial bombings in WWI (they like old movies), the general reaction was "Dude, that's fucked up".

    While society doesn't create evil in humanity by any means, it allows it to operate on a much larger scale.

    laughingfuzzball on
  • laughingfuzzballlaughingfuzzball Registered User regular
    edited August 2008
    Pharezon wrote: »
    Always be pessimistic. That way, if something good happens, you'll be pleasantly surprised. And if the worst happens, well, you saw it coming.

    Pessimism is a form of delusion. While it tends to be more compatible with reality than the opposite extreme, it's also more likely to lead to apathy, nihilism, and "emotions hair". I prefer to base my outlook on reality, rather than a pre-ordained response.

    "emotions hair"?

    Yes, "emotions hair".

    It is the kind of hair for people with emotions.

    I know I've heard this term recently but I can't figure out where. I suspect it came from a webcomic?

    I think it was used in Achewood, in reference to roast beef.

    laughingfuzzball on
  • Metzger MeisterMetzger Meister It Gets Worse before it gets any better.Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    You know what?

    FUCK.


    PROTESTORS.


    YOUR OPINION IS DIFFERENT THAN MINE SO I AM GOING TO HOLD UP SIGNS WITH CURSE WORDS ON IT AND LET YOU KNOW HURF DURF

    I DON'T AGREE WITH WHAT YOU'RE DOING SO I'M GOING TO BE A HUGE ATTENTION WHORE AND RUIN A PERFECTLY GOOD PARK WITH A BUNCH OF MY RETARDED BUDDIES.


    The few times that protest HAS been successful, it's been protesting something that was probably going to happen anyway, i.e. the ending of segregation and the ending of the Vietnam war.

    Metzger Meister on
  • FabricateFabricate __BANNED USERS regular
    edited September 2008
    Protests are usually just used to bring an issue to the publics attention.

    Quit gettin' mad at signs.

    Fabricate on
  • JedocJedoc In the scuppers with the staggers and jagsRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Bullshit. What makes you think segregation would have ended as soon as it did without the protests of the civil rights movement? What little progress there was in race relations from the end of the Civil War to the 1960s was slow, bitter, and largely ignored by the general population.

    Protesting is an invaluable tool for people with no other voice.

    The fact that it's also a way for overprivileged douchebags to get out in the fresh air and show each other how edgy and countercultural they are is irritating, but it doesn't change the first bit at all.

    Jedoc on
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  • Metzger MeisterMetzger Meister It Gets Worse before it gets any better.Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Jedoc wrote: »
    Bullshit. What makes you think segregation would have ended as soon as it did without the protests of the civil rights movement? What little progress there was in race relations from the end of the Civil War to the 1960s was slow, bitter, and largely ignored by the general population.

    Protesting is an invaluable tool for people with no other voice.

    The fact that it's also a way for overprivileged douchebags to get out in the fresh air and show each other how edgy and countercultural they are is irritating, but it doesn't change the first bit at all.

    name three things in the last twenty years that protest has accomplished on the scale of the civil rights struggle and i will give you a medal and die choking and ten dozen salty dicks.

    Metzger Meister on
  • JedocJedoc In the scuppers with the staggers and jagsRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    By those narrow standards, you're right. The last couple of decades have been remarkably stable, and the country probably wouldn't be much different if everyone had stayed home and watched television. Although I personally feel like it's a pretty good idea to keep a few protests going just to make sure the people in charge will still allow it.

    In any case, that's a far cry from saying that protesting is useless, especially when you listed a stunning counterexample right there in your own argument. Growing up in an era where massive protests weren't really necessary is not an excuse for ignoring the times when it was. And it will certainly be necessary again, so it's just as well that the malcontents are keeping in practice, even if it is for largely useless stuff.

    Jedoc on
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  • laughingfuzzballlaughingfuzzball Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Protesting with signs and chants and logo t-shirts and whatnot is rarely effective at anything other than bringing an issue to light. Even then, it's only more effective than other means at dispersing undetailed information very quickly at a local level. It used to be useful for bringing media attention, but that doesn't work as well now since it's been so overused. Everyone already knows that there's a war on and people are running for president.

    laughingfuzzball on
  • Vann DirasVann Diras Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I will agree that the typical "get some signs and yell outside" protests aren't very useful in this day and age. They make bring to light an issue, but oftentimes knowledge does not lead to action in this country.

    However, shit like the sit-ins and bus boycotts of the segregation era? That hit the institutions in their wallets, where it really hurts. And those protests were absurdly successful because of it.

    In closing, you have a stupid opinion about protests and you should feel kind of bad about it.

    Vann Diras on
  • Metzger MeisterMetzger Meister It Gets Worse before it gets any better.Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I will admit that I was wrong about successful protests of the past. I was wrong.


    Fuck kids my age who think they know how to solve the world's problems though (i.e., with a sign.)

    Metzger Meister on
  • JedocJedoc In the scuppers with the staggers and jagsRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I think we can all agree with that. Let's get drunk and go pick fights with hippies.

    Peace, love, and the back of my hand, bitches.

    Jedoc on
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  • Metzger MeisterMetzger Meister It Gets Worse before it gets any better.Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    we will take patchouli-scented dreadlocks as trophies of the day.

    Metzger Meister on
  • laughingfuzzballlaughingfuzzball Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    sit-ins and boycotts work well on and immediate, local level. Something is likely to happen right now. Whether or not it'll keep happening after tomorrow is less certain. People can hardly ever get their shit together well enough to organize anything broader than a local thing.

    The "shouting with signs" thing didn't stop being effective because of "this day and age". It stopped being effective because people started doing it wrong. You want a single, clear message that people either are not generally aware of or don't often think of presented in a way that forces people to pay attention. Everyone is aware of and thinks of the war, and a half dozen soccer moms napping in lawn chairs next to ink-jet paper signs isn't going to get anyone's attention. Don't get me started on the "Darfur" t-shirts. As much as I hate to say it, the "Anonymous" thing was a relatively well-run protest.

    The war is a large-scale political process. If you want to end it, you need large-scale activism within the political framework, and nobody's willing to do that because that's hard and expensive. They'd rather make a sign that nobody who can do anything cares about and keep voting in nice, safe moderates that refuse to support or oppose anything significant.

    laughingfuzzball on
  • TheRealBadgerTheRealBadger Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Wellington is completely overrun with hippies. I used to eat my lunch on the lawn outside Parliament now and then. There'd be a protest there at least once a fortnight. They really ruin the atmosphere when you're trying to have a quiet lunch in the sun. Except one time when MC Murkwon from Rhombus showed up with a PA system and freestyled about the Iraq war. That was pretty cool.

    TheRealBadger on
  • Metzger MeisterMetzger Meister It Gets Worse before it gets any better.Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    it would have been awesome if some old reedy motherfucker from parliament just came out and destroyed him in a rap battle.

    Metzger Meister on
  • TheRealBadgerTheRealBadger Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    That would be one way to win my vote.

    TheRealBadger on
  • laughingfuzzballlaughingfuzzball Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Want a good way to get peoples attention?

    Burn things.

    People pay attention when things are on fire.

    laughingfuzzball on
  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Want a good way to get peoples attention?

    Burn things.

    People pay attention when things are on fire.

    How unfortunate such actions are relegated to the realm of illegality, under that devilish term arson.

    Terrendos on
  • laughingfuzzballlaughingfuzzball Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Terrendos wrote: »
    Want a good way to get peoples attention?

    Burn things.

    People pay attention when things are on fire.

    How unfortunate such actions are relegated to the realm of illegality, under that devilish term arson.

    If fire is wrong, I don't want to be right.

    Also, if your bra, flag, draft card, or effigy qualifies as a "building", there is something terribly wrong or terribly right.

    laughingfuzzball on
  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Terrendos wrote: »
    Want a good way to get peoples attention?

    Burn things.

    People pay attention when things are on fire.

    How unfortunate such actions are relegated to the realm of illegality, under that devilish term arson.

    If fire is wrong, I don't want to be right.

    Also, if your bra, flag, draft card, or effigy qualifies as a "building", there is something terribly wrong or terribly right.

    Merriam-Webster's definition of "arson:"

    Main Entry: ar·son
    Pronunciation: \ˈär-sən\
    Function: noun
    Etymology: Anglo-French arsoun, from ars, past participle of arder, ardre to burn, from Latin ardēre — more at ardor
    Date: circa 1680
    : the willful or malicious burning of property (as a building) especially with criminal or fraudulent intent


    I don't think you'll get in legal trouble for burning your own stuff, but according to that admittedly loose definition burning any of those things would technically qualify as arson.

    EDIT: Unless by "as a building" they don't mean "a building, for example." That's how I read it, but they could mean "property (a building or similar)" which would be different.

    Terrendos on
  • laughingfuzzballlaughingfuzzball Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Terrendos wrote: »
    Terrendos wrote: »
    Want a good way to get peoples attention?

    Burn things.

    People pay attention when things are on fire.

    How unfortunate such actions are relegated to the realm of illegality, under that devilish term arson.

    If fire is wrong, I don't want to be right.

    Also, if your bra, flag, draft card, or effigy qualifies as a "building", there is something terribly wrong or terribly right.

    Merriam-Webster's definition of "arson:"

    Main Entry: ar·son
    Pronunciation: \ˈär-sən\
    Function: noun
    Etymology: Anglo-French arsoun, from ars, past participle of arder, ardre to burn, from Latin ardēre — more at ardor
    Date: circa 1680
    : the willful or malicious burning of property (as a building) especially with criminal or fraudulent intent


    I don't think you'll get in legal trouble for burning your own stuff, but according to that admittedly loose definition burning any of those things would technically qualify as arson.

    Last time I checked, Webster's wasn't incorporated into any legal system.

    Under common law, arson only applies to burning the dwelling of another. In most countries, "dwelling" has been expanded to include any building, real property, or similar. It's occasionally expanded to include all property, but in practice small pieces of property are generally covered under "destruction of property". It can only be applied to one's own property when unlawful intent is established.

    Burning one's own personal items may be included under criminal mischief, threat to public safety, or similar blanket charges, or even creative charges, like leaf-burning ordinances, but if it's arson in any country with ties to English common law (which includes all English-speaking countries, and therefore all countries where the term "arson" has any meaning), there are some unusual circumstances.

    laughingfuzzball on
  • TheidarTheidar Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Don't forget the ever popular insurance fraud for burning your own house.

    Theidar on
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  • TerrendosTerrendos Decorative Monocle Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Uh huh, well I'm not a lawyer and I don't make a habit of reviewing legal documentation (except to prove to a friend that in my state there is no way for a woman to be legally convicted of rape; for some reason it has to be called forcible sodomy; while in and of itself an interesting story this nonetheless remains superfluous to my point.) Forgive me for trying to watch over your back. When you first suggested burning things, my mind went immediately to you setting things like buildings on fire. I suppose I wasn't thinking like a protester, but then I have no big grievance with this country and as such am relatively inexperienced in that thought process, though admittedly it would not have hurt for you to be more clear for those of us uninitiated in such circles.

    Regardless, I said the words "technically qualify as arson," not "legally qualify as arson." I even said that I doubted that you would get into legal trouble. The only erroneous statement that I have made, then, would be the "How unfortunate such actions are relegated to the realm of illegality, under that devilish term arson" one. As fire is notorious for spreading, especially in drought conditions such as those I've recently been experiencing where I live, there is always a chance that such a fire of protest as a burning flag might spread and cause damage to any nearby buildings. I wouldn't want you to go out protesting, accidentally set fire to a building, and be charged with whatever the legal term would be for inadvertent arson, so I saw fit to warn you.

    In the future, I will make sure not to try and stop you from doing stupid things; stupidity is, after all, the right of all individuals, which is why I let my friends vote Democrat. (*rimshot*)

    Terrendos on
  • IvarIvar Oslo, NorwayRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    the_end_is_not_for_a_while.png

    Ivar on
  • JansonJanson Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Things rise and fall, and always have

    A few will suffer but the majority will contentedly plod along

    Janson on
  • DeicistDeicist Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Running out of oil in the next 50 years or so is going to be a fucking laugh riot.

    Especially since you know no-one's going to do anything serious about moving to a none oil based economy until the very last minute.

    Fun times.

    Deicist on
  • GoatmonGoatmon Companion of Kess Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Want a good way to get peoples attention?

    Burn things.

    People pay attention when things are on fire.

    GrabOnFire.gif

    Goatmon on
    Switch Friend Code: SW-6680-6709-4204


  • IvarIvar Oslo, NorwayRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    That is the best way to avoid being grabbed by ninjas

    Ivar on
  • bongibongi regular
    edited September 2008
    I've been hoping for some sweet third world living

    Make it happen, Bank of England!

    bongi on
  • Tweaked_Bat_Tweaked_Bat_ Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Jedoc wrote: »
    I can see China doing good things for America. As a country we only really seem to shine when we've got someone to strive against. Otherwise we just go around the beach kicking sand into smaller countries' faces and then acting all wounded when people call us dicks for it.

    If China takes off like they seem to be, America might have an economic rival that can spark a new sense of pride and vigor in our society. I have especially high hopes for a resurgent space race, since Russia seems to have crapped out on us as a catalyst.

    Or we might do the England thing and retire to our place in the countryside, and then all the really important stuff this century will take place in various parts of Asia. I can see it going either way, easily.

    Uh I think China has already taken off... they will probably slow down to around 5-7% annual growth leading up to 2020 (as oppose to the 9% + these last years), but they will eventually be the leading powerhouse, regardless of what the US does... I don't think "US might have an economic rival" is even an issue here. They will have an economic rival, who will overtake them sooner or later, anyway. India will pick up pretty solidly too.

    I mean, face it, they have the largest population, and are now experiencing what the rest of the Western world experienced 15-20 years ago... they will be the big guys in the future, not the US. Either way I agree that the US will no longer be able to strut around kicking sand in people's faces like they previously did.

    I think the future will be about the shift in global power away from a lot of the modernised Western countries (namely US), and focusing more on the Asian region (China, Korea, India). Seriously that place will explode, and if we don't play nice and all get along, some serious shit will go down.

    Tweaked_Bat_ on
  • Tweaked_Bat_Tweaked_Bat_ Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Also Russia has been "improving" quite a bit since when shit fell apart in the late 80's/early 90's... someone should probably keep an eye on them moving forward, they have potential too.

    Tweaked_Bat_ on
  • bongibongi regular
    edited September 2008
    I'm personally more worried about the environmental impact of all of these economies expanding more than anything

    bongi on
  • SzechuanosaurusSzechuanosaurus Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited September 2008
    So apparently Rednecks originated from Scotland.

    I'm not sure what to do with this information.

    Szechuanosaurus on
  • Peter EbelPeter Ebel CopenhagenRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Bomb the shit out of them.

    Peter Ebel on
    Fuck off and die.
  • GafotoGafoto Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    So apparently Rednecks originated from Scotland.

    I'm not sure what to do with this information.

    Pretty much the entire population of the US south is scotch-irish.

    Gafoto on
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