New Testingstan

Questor wrote:I was referring to geographic/economic suitability. Your reaction proved my point.

I'll be in your neck of the woods by 6am your time. (Apparently 6:01 now).

I know. I was being ironic.

That was an hour ago now. I take it your out of my neck of the woods by now?

Oxymoron wrote:I say, it would pretty ironic yet fitting to build the "African American Homeland" in the Mississippi delta... Though I doubt the US would be insane enough to give a potentially independent nation control over one of the most important waterways of the continent, given how critical it is to the economy of the country.

Worst come to worst, maybe it could be "built" as a State of the United States ? The soviets kind of did the same thing with their Jew oblast in the far east.

Whoever it was that said it would basically be a Reservation, probably has the right of it.

But reading about the Jewish Oblast, that reads as more of a long term social engineering project then any desire to give them a place to practice their own culture.

Infinity Biscuit wrote:

The Spartan wrote:Huh?

The whole idea that rape is a religious thing just seems so almost funnily hollow when the New Atheism movement (the kind exemplified by Dawkins and a lot of SD.net) is so deeply misogynistic in all the wrong ways, which is even worse because they like to think they are and are often seen by some as at the forefront of progressivism.

Ah, I hadn't followed that enough to realize all that. I never heard of rape being a religious thing (or only a religious thing) it was generally described as a power-over-someone thing. Nor did I encounter the misogynistic side of the atheism movement. Personally, I keep it to myself (my religious views that is*) since I don't much care to be lectured or preached at and try to pay others the same courtesy so long as they don't shove theirs in my face.

*That's not to say that I'm misogynistic. I try not to be, anyhow.

it's not so ironic, considering the length the time they've been there and the critical role they had in the economic growth of the region for centuries

i wish i could find that map that shows ethnic population distribution, there's this crazy line going across the south where lots of blacks live still today because it's where so many plantations were

the plantations having been there because the land is so fertile, because of glacier movements ages and ages ago

Are you referring to me being ironic or to what Oxy said?

The Spartan wrote:That was an hour ago now. I take it your out of my neck of the woods by now?

Yup, I'm in Clearlake with relatives at the moment, before heading to Brownwood in the morning.

The Spartan wrote:Are you referring to me being ironic or to what Oxy said?

Oxy. Post took forever to go through for some reason.

Questor wrote:Yup, I'm in Clearlake with relatives at the moment, before heading to Brownwood in the morning.

Clearlake is clear (ha!) across town from me.

How are you planning getting to Brownwood? I ask because a lot of those back country highways have a lot of towns where you have to slow down going through them unlike on an interstate so you'll need to keep your eyes open so you don't get a ticket. Also, if you like mead there's a little meadery just a little out of your way just outside La Grange that's open from noon to 6 I think. Rohan meadery. (Though if you go, be prepared for the stupid GPS system to not quite get you there. My Garmin had me stopped around two miles down the road; I only found my way because I'd seen the Google Streetview and followed the road numbers.

Though, I should add, there's not really a way to get to Brownwood without driving back country highways.

I meant ironic in the sense that "it's the land so many of your ancestors were uprooted from Africa and sold into slavery for the economic benefit of, and now it's the land we have chosen to give you as a token of our guilt".

Kind of like... Well, without going too deep into Godwin territory but just to make a comparison (to give an idea of the kind of irony I'm talking about), if the land around Auschwitz had been selected to be the "European Israel" for the Jews willing to take the offer. [*]

But as I said, it's equally fitting, for the same points you said.

It would be, you know, one of these decisions that would have a lot of meanings if it was taken, most of them different depending on your point of view. The symbol would just be that big.



[*] : I'm not putting the Holocaust and the slavery of the African Americans on an equal footing, I'm simply comparing irony levels, just to be clear.

On another note, I just went back from seeing World War Z.

It was decent. The Deus Ex Machina wasn't too cringe-worthy, and it was foreshadowed a number of times during the course of the movie from the middle onward.

On the other hand, I felt that the 3D didn't add much, so if you can see it in 2D, save yourself the hassle of 3D.

Also, the fight scenes were... the best word to describe them is "confused". Shaky cam and closeups everywhere. I guess it's a good stylistic choice to carry the feeling of confusion the characters might feel, but if you get dizzy easily or are prone to seizures, that could be a problem...

All in all, it's a decent pop-corn movie : the emotional / human parts and the action parts balance each other pretty well, the pacing is good, and I didn't feel there was any preachy undertone, so that's good I'd say.

Not sure it's worth paying €10 to go see, though... But, heh, I could say that of pretty much any movies out there.


Now, to wait for Pacific Rim...

if it's foreshadowed, it's not a deus ex machina

Whatever, the plot resolution device if you want.

Oxymoron wrote:[*] : I'm not putting the Holocaust and the slavery of the African Americans on an equal footing

Why not? Because the slave trade was spread out over more time? Or is it because mass murder and centuries of enslavement doesn't matter when the victims are black?

Oh also, rejoice, in that if the movie took some inspiration from the source material, it managed to take only the good / interesting bits and pieces and left out the rest.

For example, the military is portrayed as competent, but overwhelmed. No battle of Yonkers.

adr wrote:Why not? Because the slave trade was spread out over more time? Or is it because mass murder and centuries of enslavement doesn't matter when the victims are black?

Because if you start putting anything on an equal footing with the holocaust, people start getting pissy one way or the other, simple as that. I'm saving myself the hassle of arguing over an over sensitive point I have no stake in.

no look oxy
we need to tally up the exact amounts of suffering from every horrific thing humanity has ever done, preferably using some kind of formula
how else will we know, with mathematical precision, whether Hitler or Mao or Stalin was worse?

The Spartan wrote:

Questor wrote:Yup, I'm in Clearlake with relatives at the moment, before heading to Brownwood in the morning.

Clearlake is clear (ha!) across town from me.

How are you planning getting to Brownwood? I ask because a lot of those back country highways have a lot of towns where you have to slow down going through them unlike on an interstate so you'll need to keep your eyes open so you don't get a ticket. Also, if you like mead there's a little meadery just a little out of your way just outside La Grange that's open from noon to 6 I think. Rohan meadery. (Though if you go, be prepared for the stupid GPS system to not quite get you there. My Garmin had me stopped around two miles down the road; I only found my way because I'd seen the Google Streetview and followed the road numbers.

I was planning to take the 290 to the 6 to the 84. I was asked to pick up some hats and crap.

I've played the back-country revenue speed trap game before, so I'll watch out.

Oxymoron wrote:Because if you start putting anything on an equal footing with the holocaust, people start getting pissy one way or the other, simple as that.

I just think it is sad that our society is so incredibly racist that is necessary to explicitly disclaim that you're putting the murders of ten million Black Africans on equal footing with the murders of ten million white europeans to avoid arguments.

Please tell me that is either some kind of satire, or a right-wing lunatic, and not an official twitter feed put out by the british government

tory scum aren't so good with the social networking
(I actually don't know if its real lol, but 'right-wing lunatic' is a pretty accurate description of the current government)I just checked and it's the twitter account linked to by the official Home Office page on the gov.uk website so

So the humble bundle thing is now doing ebooks
http://www.humblebundle.com/
has anyone read any of these, and are they any good?

Oxymoron wrote:Because if you start putting anything on an equal footing with the holocaust, people start getting pissy one way or the other, simple as that. I'm saving myself the hassle of arguing over an over sensitive point I have no stake in.

I always wonder why there is such an obsession with the past and history when it comes to this shit. I mean people are suffering now, and if this shit matters in some real way, we should be doing things to help those who ARE suffering. Better access to education and health care and things that matter.

Obsessing over the past seems more like wish fufillment/fantasizing or assuaging guilt (either by denial or compensation) rather than actually helping people who need it.


Edit: Someone mentioned Metahive and Its been crossing my mind lately.. is it just me, or has he gotten more 'angry man syndrome' like within the past year or so. Because I remember him being alot less nasty than this and I'm pretty sure its not that long ago.

Questor wrote:I was planning to take the 290 to the 6 to the 84. I was asked to pick up some hats and crap.

I've played the back-country revenue speed trap game before, so I'll watch out.

That's probably as good a route as any. I'm not sure I've ever driven on 84, but I've been up and down 290 and 6 more times than I can count. 290 isn't bad, but once you get north of Bryan/College Station on 6 you start running into those little towns. It's better than it's used to be, but that's not saying much.

haha, I'm watching the west wing for the first time
the incidental music is so 1990s