Messages

My favorites are Petty Tyrant, The Deluded, and The White Sheep. Every time I walk down the sidewalk to the transit center, I can't help but laugh when I pass the tall "No Littering, $500 Fine" sign planted in the grass, with trash scattered all around it. I should take a picture and post it here, now that I think about it :-)

I'll see what I can find. Thanks!

I was hesitant to post anything this personal, but I figured since LTHE sought advice about collections, this would be okay. If not, I won't be offended if it's removed.

I have been trying to find a job for the last 17 months, and on top of that my requests for unemployment are repeatedly denied (I am still trying to this day). My degree is in art but I've since found out it's essentially useless in landing me a job. So, I'm applying to everything I can think of (most hourly pay jobs). The more time goes on, the more I'm made to feel like it's my fault... that my resume doesn't have the precise wording needed... that I don't say the exact right words during the interview... that I don't do something right... etc. etc. I've been to enough resume building and mock interview classes to realize that if you ask 100 different people their opinion of your speaking abilities and resume wording, you'll get 100 different answers. I'm really, really tired of it. I'm asking for any job, minimum wage, no benefits, the lowest common denominator, because I'm really desperate here. I have full availability and can work any and all hours, so I'd think that'd be appealing to employers, but it doesn't look like they care.

I know magic can't happen, and I don't expect it to, but I figured someone here might know something I don't in regards to seeking employment.

Again, the art kicks ass but they're all terrible strawmen like you said. It's sad that many on YouTube have seen by now (e.g. your two-part video) that there are options out there BESIDES current-system vs. government-run (sucky vs. sucky) and STILL cling to this bill of goods.

The art kicks ass, you gotta admit.

http://www.leftycartoons.com/the-24-types-of-libertarian/

Don't worry, I've identified all the strawmen already but I did want to point out that associating Libertarians with incognito Republicans seems to be a common theme. Admittedly though, most of the types in the cartoon have nothing to do with libertarianism and easily apply to other political views of those who wish to co-opt the term libertarian.

This was posted on PZ Myer's blog by the way. I don't have the kind of endurance some of you have for posting comments; maybe this will be fun?

Update: Many people in the comments have said a virus appears when clicking on the link. Never happened with me, but just in case, someone in the comments uploaded the comic to an Image Shack link (can't remember which comment but go to the blog entry comments and it's there).

In my defense, I didn't have time to read the whole article.

What article are you referring to?

Look in the comments of that video, though, and see how many lies are being told about me and this place. That might partially explain why many people don't want to come here.

*Sigh* even glorious occasions like the Pwnage Olympics are never free of litter, from users with names like "clownporn1" no less.

[yt]xEVMfG8z490[/yt]

I'm so tempted to replace the last word of the song title with something more fitting, but I think that may be dancing on an edge that even Gumba Masta wouldn't approach

Agreed, well done on winning the educational round!

I myself don't know enough on many of the issues (ESPECIALLY economics) to even try a heated debate, and even then if I'm proven wrong I'll concede the point (once I understand why I'm wrong of course). Being proven wrong doesn't matter to me (that's why I'm here and not on LoR), and I only wish more out there felt the same.

Well put. I have another one that's a keeper:

""Nobody can convince me?" Bells should go off in your head when you hear those words. That's his* bullshit idea of skepticism. A real skeptic demands to be convinced, with evidence." (Emphasis mine) *Quoting some conspiracy nut in the episode in question
--Penn Jillette, from the Conspiracy Theories episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

It never made more sense to me why people have such contempt for conspiracy theorists. It's not that their beliefs are ludicrous necessarily, it's that they don't want to entertain the possibility of being wrong, ever. They state things such as "you can say anything you want to me, but nothing will change my mind." There's nowhere to go from that. There's no discussion to be had. Their wanting the conspiracy to be true means more to them than ascertaining that which is actually true. So, no different than creationists, really.

Also, thanks for the corroboration of the voting quotes. I never thought of it that way.

"If you vote, you can't complain."--Dale Everett

Isn't that supposed to be "If you don't vote..."? Unless there's some irony I'm not seeing.

[false positives]

I don't consider this a favorite quote, just funny considering when it was written (1989, in the second edition). I recently finished The Selfish Gene and found this endnote on computer viruses:

What is less easy is to know how to combat them. Unfortunately some very expert programmers have had to waste their valuable time writing virus-detector programs, immunization programs and so on (the analogy with medical vaccination, by the way, is astonishingly close, even down to the injection of a 'weakened strain' of the virus). The danger is that an arms race will develop, with each advance in virus-prevention being matched by counter-advances in new virus programs. So far, most anti-virus programs are written by altruists and supplied free of charge as a service. But I foresee the growth of a whole new profession—splitting into lucrative specialisms just like any other profession—of 'software doctors', on call with black bags full of diagnostic and curative floppy discs. I use the name 'doctors', but real doctors are solving natural problems that are not deliberately engineered by human malice. My software doctors, on the other hand, will be, like lawyers, solving man-made problems that should never have existed in the first place. In so far as virus-makers have any discernible motive, they presumably feel vaguely anarchistic. I appeal to them: do you really want to pave the way for a new fat-cat profession? If not, stop playing at silly memes, and put your modest programming talents to better use.

What's funny, is that it's exactly how he predicted it, but worse. It's not only the constant arms race between virus/anti-virus, but false positives: anti-virus programs (which are themselves viruses) which infect your computer and subsequently offer to remove the virus for a price! I can't tell you how common that shit is getting and how desperate it's making people to pay to make it go away, only to have it come back. I literally chuckled when I read the "software doctors" part.

The eyes are really the first thing that jump out at me. They're just odd for a hominid, especially one that was supposedly able to interbreed with us. Certainly just because it looks unbelievable doesn't mean that it is; after all, there's the platypus. I searched the guy also, and opinion seems pretty evenly divided on him. If he's actually trying to corroborate his theory I think it's great. It's not like he's Timecube guy or anything.

[yt]pKB-wWK_K_Y[/yt]