The Al Realpolitik Institute of Sulfur Mining & Extraction

[Simfan34]

Church today was actually disgustingly New Rite. The music all sounded like some jazz club and they were actually clapping during the dismissal. I just left at that point. It was completely inappropriate and lacked solemnity. The only nice thing about it was the fact the deacon was smartly dressed in a traditional cassock and surplice, which was right up my alley.

[Simfan34]

Scott needs laid.

So do Simi and Gully.

Says the man who makes fun of a woman he doesn't know in his sig by calling her a 'slut' (not to mention once stating rhetorically here to her 'Make me sandwich'. I believe the word 'Bitch' might have been involved).

[Simfan34]

Challenge: Which of these is a Plath poem and which is an emo song?

Um that's not much of a challenge at all.  The first one demonstrates a solid grasp of the English language, its vocabulary and imagery, the sonorances and associations you can evoke by putting certain words near other words, and all that jazz which adds up to "poetry".

The other is, like, something 20RP12 would write.

C'mon.

I mean, seriously, do you really think people will confuse your pet emoviolencers for someone who is able to use words and phrases such as "snake-figured almanac" and "magnanimous"?  You think we're really gonna have a hard time telling the difference?

[Simfan34]

That has got to be the most beautiful ownage I've ever seen.

Good call by the mods.

[Simfan34]

I am choosing to read Snowstalker's and CELTICEMPIRE's posts here as self-aware self-parody of the "when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" mindsets all-too-inherent to many ideologues, rather than serious suggestions.

Doing so is a good strategy for preserving one's basic faith in humanity.

>implying that you aren't an ideologue

Can we please stop pretending its possible for someone to approach issues from a 'non-ideological' standpoint, or pretending that being 'non-ideological' is possible?

Fine, then, it is part and parcel of my ideology to acknowledge the contingency and complexity of actual life, and be wary of "pat" solutions that don't at least give lip service to the details of the solution at hand*.  If that sort of care and nuance is inherently ideological, then okay, I will wear that label with pride.  

But, really, it's not actually necessarily ideological in the specific way that you're implying, and if it is than you're really just insulting yourself.  I choose to believe that, if you tried, you could come up with a solution for Syria [or insert other country/region/issue here] that both acknowledged (and demonstrated an understanding of) the unique sorts of challenges it faces, and tried to incorporate a Marxist [or insert preferred approach here] approach into a contextual, on-topic answer.  

The problem is that those folks didn't even try.  They just parroted talking points that could be cut and pasted into any situation, anywhere.  Do you seriously not see the problem with that?

*I might extend that further, actually, to say that I don't believe perfect consistency to be even possible, and I furthermore think that the effort to twist reality to create the appearance of perfect consistency is something that has caused great harm over the years.  That is an ideological thing to say, and I acknowledge as such, and you would be right to label it as such.  It is also superfluous to my task of proving that Snowstalker and CELTIC are being tiresome knuckleheads with their "solutions" here.  One does not need to commit to capital-P Pragmatism to point out when the proverbial Magic 8-Ball is broken.

[Simfan34]

No, not in the way the OP is inquiring about. I tend to avoid protests due to their negative messages and single-sidedness on complex issues. Plus, to be honest I do not see the point of it in a town like mine where about two-thirds of the voting population is either conservative or reactionary.

I do however walk out during the middle of speeches at local meetings, candidate fundraisers, party functions, etc. whenever the message digresses into very partisan, cynical, or bigoted comments concerning the opposition. I've also stopped attending the weekly meetings held by a local secular humanist group on account of their verbal violence towards believers and nearly did the same for a non-profit benefiting children after its president told a guest speaker that "we fight against the Muslim each and every day," in that case only really sticking around because most of the members are decent and the charitable causes taken on are worth putting up with occasional discomfort.

Rather than protest out on the streets I tend to stay very active on a local newspaper's website, and at some point will be begin posting on a blog that will often criticize established policy in conjunction with a campaign for office.

A long winded way of admitting your moral (and physical) cowardice.

[Simfan34]

The "ban boy" meme really needs to die. While he strongly supported banning opebo (hardly a position held by Gully alone), I don't recall him making multiple ban calls. Maybe that's because he's not like BRTD, who reacts with childish hostility to everyone not sharing his ridiculously narrow worldview.

[Simfan34]

Not really "hot", but good looking.

I certainly wouldn't push her off the bed.

I hate it when I have to push women out of my bed, so can totally relate to that conundrum. When did it last happen to you?

[Simfan34]

One should always assume the worst when it comes to police behavior.

So open minded and fair! Good thing we have people like you to remind us what a true progressive really is!

[Simfan34]

No, we are the real Republicans.

[Simfan34]

ITT: a series of posters calling for a newborn baby to have its head cut off.

[Simfan34]

Doesn't matter, they all deserve to be shot.

Spoken like a true facist

cause of death: fourth-degree sick burns

Eh, while I'd usually excuse the misspelling, it took me a while before my mind saw "fascist" rather than "racist", and that left me scratching my head.

[Simfan34]

A different shade of the same horrible grey.

That is exactly what I think about Limas and Hakud, or whatever they are called.

Such a slick drive-by acid-throwing as to be criminal- even if I don't agree!

[Simfan34]

Then progressively implement a socialized economy for the benefit of all.

Well, THAT is cruelty. Greeks do not deserve the mass murder you are proposing.

[Simfan34]

That depends. Is your content-generation algorithm proprietary? You don't want to find yourself in legal trouble.

[Simfan34]

Liberal = whatever I agree with

All BRTD, all the time!

[Simfan34]

Of course it does but I strongly disapprove of it. Women are the superior gender.

OK if a man stripped me, spanked me, whipped me, poured candle wax on me and then made me suck and lick his feet, that'd be a horrifying and traumatic experience.

But when a woman does that...oh YEAH.

[Simfan34]

LOL. You do realize that I'm 50% of German ancestry?

If your being of German ancestry means you can't be anti-German, does your Catholic ancestry mean you can't be anti-Catholic?

[Simfan34]

An oldie but a goodie:

Thomas from NJ at least takes his religion seriously, which is more than you can say of BRTD, who goes to church for the beer and CHRISTIAN HARDCORE EMOVIOLENCE

[Simfan34]

It wouldn't be such a tempting target if he didn't bring it up so much. But his religion is one of his favorite topics, up there with Ingress, hardcore shows, and, uh, women's feet, so you can't help but hit him over the head with it whenever the opportunity arises.