Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Ridiculous MetaTalk Post

Some days I'm convinced that most ardent proponents of vocal fry are misogynists who don't want women to be taken seriously. In all honesty, vocal fry and uptalk make me ashamed to be female.

What the fuck? You know, men "commit" vocal fry, too. So you can just be ashamed of being an asshole now.

posted by easter queen at 10:18 AM on November 16, in thread 23919



Dude.

But I think the person to whom you're responding was pointing out that it was odd and suspect that people thought that this would be a good thread to mention all the other things that bugged them.

I know exactly why I responded to that threadperson, and I don't appreciate it being explained it to me as if I didn't understand, when I already explained /why/ in my above comment and reply to that person? I see the connections being made between all the frustrations, because they ARE connected. They are all micro-aggressions. I quite literally posted a link that explored the link between all of them. Now I'M frustrated, because I can't tell if you actually understood that I was making a point about how microaggressions and links to debasing feminity are connected, and I am unsure if you are understanding that, and now I have to do the emotional labor of asking? Like, sure, you said that "I made a good point" but trying to explain what I was doing to me is...insulting? I'm getting really upset here, and now I'm going to have to leave because I'm really pissed, because everything about this strikes a really sour tone. Was I just mansplained to? Feeling disoriented.

The link that odinsdream posted above is exactly what I was relating to.

posted by yueliang at 1:25 PM on November 16, in thread 23919



microaggression! microaggresion!

posted by telstar at 3:24 PM on November 16, in thread 23919



it's fascinating to watch newer members

It used to be, but I think they'll be posting differently now that they know an experienced and unbiased member is watching them with such interest.

posted by michaelh at 4:05 PM on November 16, in thread 23919




It used to be, but I think they'll be posting differently now that they know an experienced and unbiased member is watching them with such interest.


Uh, I want to be charitable, so I'll give you a chance to clarify: were you trying to be a dick?

posted by Xavier Xavier at 4:44 PM on November 16, in thread 23919



Wait, what?

posted by Xavier Xavier at 4:48 PM on November 16, in thread 23919



Whatever. New members throwing shit at jessamyn (of all members!) is the new normal?

posted by Xavier Xavier at 4:52 PM on November 16, in thread 23919



You know what sucks? Men shouting at the TV when something happens to the sports team they like or hate or just are watching because it's the only sports team on.

This is a valid complaint. I try not to, but you do not know the pain of being an Eagles fan.


EFFFFF UUUU MILES AUSTIN!!!!!!

posted by Drinky Die at 7:23 PM on November 16, in thread 23919



You know what sucks? Men shouting at the TV when something happens to the sports team they like or hate or just are watching because it's the only sports team on.

Seriously. I hear this a lot from men who are Packers fans. Those men are the worst.

posted by hal_c_on at 7:34 PM on November 16, in thread 23919



You know what sucks? Men shouting at the TV when something happens to the sports team they like or hate or just are watching because it's the only sports team on.

posted by Joseph Gurl at 6:19 PM on November 16, in thread 23919



Do they get the option to change the channel?

posted by clavdivs at 6:23 PM on November 16, in thread 23919



You know what sucks? Men shouting at the TV when something happens to the sports team they like or hate or just are watching because it's the only sports team on.

I'm pretty sure I never managed to get into supporting team sports because of all the yelling. As a kid I went on a father-son bonding-type thing to see the local rugby team he supported play, and found, strangely enough, being surrounded by burly men 3 foot taller than myself yelling ferociously at other men I couldn't really see tackling each other to not be an experience I was particularly keen to repeat. Sure, it's a cultural norm, but I would have much preferred quiet polite clapping. I will happily watch tennis for this reason.

posted by Jon Mitchell at 7:23 PM on November 16, in thread 23919



Reaction to the Paris Terror Attacks, Part Three

Well, saying that "argue your side and then declare this is a derail" is a derail is true, so I'll stop.

posted by eriko at 7:49 PM on November 14, in thread 154694



I really don't think that a nation which has a period of its own history called the "Reign of Terror" and then in the twentieth century passed the Statuts des juifs actually finds something like the Khmer Rouge developing in its colonial possessions so incomprehensible.

Nor should the U.S., accustomed to pumping unlimited amounts of guns and money into a place to achieve political and military leverage in pursuit of "American objectives" without regard to what's actually done with all the weapons and wealth and influence conferred, (in fact, heck, if it's used for rapacious capitalism and consolidation of power in a tiny class of people who then get whatever they want, that's just spreading the American Way!) act all flabbergasted and surprised every time we yet again turn some part of the world into the Heart of Darkness as though we're using that book as a script.

posted by XMLicious at 9:19 PM on November 14, in thread 154694



My comment got deleted so I will leave specific examples out. If anyone felt as though by mentioning things from French and American history I was blaming the people of Paris for being attacked that is not what I was saying at all.

My point is that we shouldn't redact our own histories so that this sort of violence is something that only the alien Other from beyond civilization does and which we ourselves are wholly unfamiliar with, and hence merely has to do with the Other's alien nature; nor express surprise and treat as unforseeable the fact that again and again over the decades circumstances somewhere overseas that are permitted to fester, in ways that areas nearer to home wouldn't be, subsequently degenerate into chaos and butchery.

posted by XMLicious at 12:08 AM on November 15, in thread 154694



While it is a pain in the ass, Singapore is 3-4 hour drive from Kuala Lumpur.

This is less of a big deal than it is being made out to be


God bless you.

posted by cendawanita at 12:53 AM on November 15, in thread 154694



Gee, I guess logic wins the day! Well played!

posted by Wolof at 4:55 AM on November 15, in thread 154694



Careful now, emotion may derail us here!

posted by Wolof at 5:00 AM on November 15, in thread 154694



Wolof, can you go easy on the sarcasm? I don't think it's a great tool to use here.

posted by Too-Ticky at 5:01 AM on November 15, in thread 154694



Saturday, November 14, 2015

Reaction to the Paris Terror Attacks, Part Two

Yeah, well there are plenty of other potential fucking assholes who do have internet access and look at all kinds of websites and see the infamy of their predecessors. But this thread isn't about that so I won't comment further.

posted by Beti at 10:02 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



No, I think I'll call them exactly what they are, which is "fucking cowardly terrorists". YMMV.

posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 10:11 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



I wonder what color glass the Syrian desert will be when this plays out to its nasty end.

Isis can go fuck themselves.

posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 3:53 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



Since Isis wants to be a "state" now I sincerely hope that France does treat this as an act of war by such a state and acts appropriately.

France has already bombed IS. Perhaps they should turn Syria 'into glass' and see what Russia has to say about that.

posted by colie at 4:17 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



US soldiers killed at least 100,000 Iraqis.

On top of all the ones they porno-tortured, DVDs of which are available in any middle east market. And still people ask 'why do they hate us?'

posted by colie at 4:24 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



Since this is still standing in spite of flags – it would be nice if "the Syrian desert" (there are also mountains in Syria where Daesh are active) were NOT turned to glass since people other than Daesh members live there.

I would also appreciate – since clearly flags aren't being listened to (I'm not only referring to the one comment) – if this thread were a lot less death wish and a lot more informative? I had hoped that would go without saying, as was the case in the 9/11 thread?

posted by fraula at 4:25 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



I would also appreciate – since clearly flags aren't being listened to (I'm not only referring to the one comment) – if this thread were a lot less death wish and a lot more informative?

Yes, I completely agree.

posted by winna at 4:48 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



I've been tweeting about Scott Anderson's great book "Lawrence in Arabia." How is it relevant? Read the book to find out.

I didn't know till 5 minutes ago that 40 people in Beirut were murdered the other night. Nothing in my Twitter feed Friday morning. Huh.

posted by Sheydem-tants at 5:15 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



On average 36 died by gun violence yesterday in the US. The US has experienced 288 mass shootings in the last year. Shall we apply all these imagined proposals against refugees and Muslims to target young white men responsible for so many terrorists acts in the US?

posted by humanfont at 6:03 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



Respectfully, Sir Rinse, that event is only related by time. A coordinated terrorist attack such as what happened in Paris last night takes many months to prepare and was planned long before the drone strike on Emwazi.

posted by AGameOfMoans at 6:09 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



I just screwed up the link cause I'm on my phone, but there was a tweet apparently from an Isis Twitter account naming Rome, London, Washington and others next.

posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 6:10 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



Klaxon - did they also call lots of people apostates and proclaim the rise of a new caliphate with peace and enough to eat?

Because that's what they do. Pay it no heed, and don't help it spread. Don't find the link.

posted by cromagnon at 6:15 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



But equating such actions to the actions of a terrorist state like ISIS and their actions - such as what happened last evening - is not only a false comparison but does great injustice to the victims of such terrorism. We did not force the hands of terrorists to do the things they did last night - they, and the people behind them, take all the responsibility for that on their own heads. I do not remotely accept blaming the victims here.

“The story of terrorism is written by the state and it is therefore highly instructive . . . compared with terrorism, everything else must be acceptable, or in any case more rational and democratic.” - Guy Debord

Read Living Under Drones: Death, Injury and Trauma to Civilians from US Drone Practices in Pakistan and tell me that you can draw a bright, clear line between the indiscriminate murder of civilians it describes and what happened last night.

ISIS and Western elites are both parasites on decent people in the states they occupy, mirror one another in their depravity and nihilism, and are dependent on each other to exist.

posted by ryanshepard at 6:19 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



LeRoienJaune: I will, in fact, advocate Western imperialism as a preferable alternate to the present genocidal anarchy of the Syrian civil war.

I'm not going to waste my energy explaining to you why advocating for Western imperialism is a repugnant and racist remark. Go fuck yourself.

angrycat: I'm reminded of something the great Dexter Filkins wrote about 9/11: the evening of the attacks, he got around the perimeter and somewhere near the towers site came across some human remains on the street. I think he had just returned from the Middle East and he wrote something to the effect of the mind-scrambling feeling that what he was seeing a scene that he had come across in say, Lebanon.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Oh I see, you can't even remember what he wrote, so you'll just name some random country in the vicinity of "middle east", because surely our street corners are all strewn with random human remains.

Yeah, go fuck yourself.

angrycat: Because similar to NYC in 9/11, I guess the ME has been horrifically dropped on the head of Parisians, and what good can come of this, I wonder.

What the fuck is even supposed to mean.

posted by xqwzts at 6:28 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



Poland says it cannot accept migrants under EU quotas, following attacks in Paris

Presumably they were being asked to take French migrants, since the only attacker so far identified was French just like the Hebdo killers.

posted by colie at 6:38 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



LeRoienJaune: I will, in fact, advocate Western imperialism as a preferable alternate to the present genocidal anarchy of the Syrian civil war.

Advocating for Western imperialism is a racist comment.

angrycat: he got around the perimeter and somewhere near the towers site came across some human remains on the street. I think he had just returned from the Middle East and he wrote something to the effect of the mind-scrambling feeling that what he was seeing a scene that he had come across in say, Lebanon.

Making an offhand claim about some country you couldn't even be bother to look up being strewn with human remains on the street is a racist comment.

angrycat: Because similar to NYC in 9/11, I guess the ME has been horrifically dropped on the head of Parisians, and what good can come of this, I wonder.

This sentence, in all its absurdity, is a racist comment.

dazed_one : Could we bring back the Ottomans?

Yes, let us bring back the empire that tortured, murdered, and starved the whole region. I will allow others far calmer than I am right now the opportunity to explain to you Turkey's involvement in this shit show. Turkey, the NATO member, that has been arming, supplying, treating, and supporting ISIS for the past few years. Let's bring them back. Perhaps it would be better if you actually alleviated your ignorance on the matter before commenting. This is a racist comment.

posted by xqwzts at 6:45 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



self-deleted - mods feel free to delete this please :)

posted by AGameOfMoans at 6:52 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



Because there are too many to point out: http://metatalk.metafilter.com/23891/We-need-to-have-a-discussion-about-racism

posted by xqwzts at 6:57 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



dazed_one - perhaps this is not the right time for such arguments ?
posted by AGameOfMoans at 9:52 AM on November 14 [+] [!]


It's an uncomfortable discussion, to be sure, but when western nations are trying to figure out how to respond the horror in Paris, perhaps that is the moment to discuss the reasons why it happened and what the outcomes may be?

posted by dazed_one at 6:59 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



Randomly attacking random people in a shopping and restaurant district *on purpose* is way worse in intent than anything GWB did.

Really?

I tend to look at numbers. Ordering a military action that results in the death of 100,000+ civilians is not worse than the killing of 200+ innocents (or 3000+ innocents for that matter)?

That implies that an Iraqi life is worth no more than 3000/100000 that of a western life. Is this the argument?

posted by Artful Codger at 9:05 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



That implies that an Iraqi life is worth no more than 3000/100000 that of a western life. Is this the argument?

You forgot to reduce: that's .03, or 3%.

posted by pullayup at 9:16 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



That implies that an Iraqi life is worth no more than 3000/100000 that of a western life. Is this the argument?

I see your point, but I guess I'm arguing that intents matter more than outcomes. I don't think even Dick Cheney thought "hey, maybe we'll hit some little Muslim kids in a playground, that'd be a bonus!". But I think ISIS's ideology is precisely that. The more collateral damage, the better. There's a mythical sky god that thinks we're the chosen people and wants us to ... kill people so our random sub-sect-of-a-sub-sect can sit in a pile of rubble and cut off each other's hands and shit? I'm sorry, theirs is just objectively an incorrect world view. I don't buy cultural relativism in this case. Some cultures in the world are trying to progress beyond primitivism. Do they fuck up? Yes. Are there bad consequences for climate, resources, etc? Yes. But is the *primary goal* to kill unbelievers? No. I would rather live in a global corporate state with a new iPhone shoved down my throat every year forever than in one where people want to just randomly kill me for no reason (hopefully we have other choices). Yes, in the US we have mass shootings for other reasons, but the broader culture sees them as bad and struggles to prevent them. ISIS is building a culture specifically around murder, rape, and destruction as end goals. There's no amount of past suffering that excuses that.

posted by freecellwizard at 9:18 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



Really?

I tend to look at numbers. Ordering a military action that results in the death of 100,000+ civilians is not worse than the killing of 200+ innocents (or 3000+ innocents for that matter)?

That implies that an Iraqi life is worth no more than 3000/100000 that of a western life. Is this the argument?


It appears the above commenter was arguing moral culpability on the basis of intent, not of effect, although that distinction can be blurry. What is not known is the counterfactual: how many more innocent lives would have been lost had the military intervention not been undertaken. (The answer may have been more, and it may very well have been less.)

Regardless, I think drawing such comparisons, one way or another, is not particularly helpful. The loss of innocent life in any context is a tragedy.

posted by ageispolis at 9:21 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



This attempt to pile on statistics about whose country has done what strikes me as nothing more than victim blaming and shaming.

posted by humanfont at 9:40 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



It's also no longer a peace symbol if you do that. The effect is accidental.

So was Lisa Simpson Giving A Blowjob. Doesn't mean the effect isn't there.

posted by eriko at 11:43 AM on November 14, in thread 154694



Did you know 44 people were killed in a suicide bombing in Lebanon yesterday?

Did facebook have a check-in for this? Or does that only happen when people get killed in mostly white countries or ones with lots of tourism.

(i really struggled with how to phrase this in a way that didn't sound flip, but that feature makes me really angry because it does consistently seem to be applied that way. One of the only times i've seen it pop up outside of that was during the storm in mexico... where a lot of my friends were on vacation)

posted by emptythought at 2:44 PM on November 14, in thread 154694



Reaction to the Paris Terror Attacks, Part One

I live between the Bataclan and Charlie Hebdo. I don't even know what I feel anymore nor if I should watch the news or just switch my computer off for a few hours...

posted by OrangeCat at 3:05 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



I just posted this to Twitter a few minutes ago, but it's relevant here too: The only thing worse than what's going on tonight is what the FN is going to make of this tomorrow.

posted by LMGM at 4:44 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



The only thing worse than what's going on tonight is what the FN is going to make of this tomorrow.

I don't know what the FN is but are they gonna kill over a hundred people?

posted by MisantropicPainforest at 4:47 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



I'm guessing FN = Fox News

And they will probably use this as another excuse to hype Islamophobia and general racist xenophobic garbage.

posted by Jacqueline at 4:49 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



I don't know what the FN is but are they gonna kill over a hundred people?

It's the ultra conservative party in France. They'll do their best to make the lives of immigrants actual hell as per usual.

posted by poffin boffin at 4:51 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



A typical terrorist gesture to cause mayhem amongst the populace but no real damage to the state. Asymmetrical warfare for political effect and little else. I'm sure it sucks to be in the middle of it though...

posted by jim in austin at 5:39 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



for example the operational history of the SOA

Solutions By Oracle®?

posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:53 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



I grieve for Paris. I also grieve for Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Chad, Palestine, Somalia, Niger, Burundi, Central African Republic, Yemen, and Ukraine.

posted by Ragini at 5:54 PM on November 13, in thread 154694




If the past pattern is any indicator the attackers are unlikely to be refugees. Recent attacks in France have been carried out by longer term French residents who were radicalized. The refugees are probably among the strongest allies in fighting these radicals because they have already been brutalized by these assholes.


Unlikely to be refugees. Highly likely, however, to have been men who blended among the refugees to come in after having been indoctrinated and trained in Syria.

posted by ocschwar at 6:03 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



Highly likely, however, to have been men who blended among the refugees to come in after having been indoctrinated and trained in Syria.

Highly unlikely. A French Muslim travelling to Syria at this time and then back to France is going to raise eyebrows, especially if their radical beforehand. Who travels to get indoctrinated?

posted by MisantropicPainforest at 6:06 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



I grieve for Paris. I also grieve for Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Chad, Palestine, Somalia, Niger, Burundi, Central African Republic, Yemen, and Ukraine.

#Alllivesmatter

Perhaps we could could hold off until we're certain who the attackers are before we foist our values onto this.

posted by Maugrim at 6:07 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



I grieve for Paris. I also grieve for Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Chad, Palestine, Somalia, Niger, Burundi, Central African Republic, Yemen, and Ukraine.

Gross.

posted by Maugrim at 6:13 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



About Hollande saing "we are going to lead a war which will be pitiless", we should remember that Bin Laden's organizations was destroyed pretty soundly. Afaik, current Islamic extremists mostly operate in Islamic countries, so France has little to wage war on.

Now ISIS has influenced a handful of marginalized Islamic youths in western nations, but that's not the same material support. What if we learn that ISIS mailed these guys their guns? Is France going to attack Syria? That's ridiculous, even by U.S. standards.

I donno what Hollande means by "war", but maybe tighter surveillance of Islamic religious figures in France, maybe more effective gun control, maybe more effective efforts to confront marginalization, maybe tighter screening of travelers from Islamic nations, maybe efforts to reform Islam itself by promoting ultra-left Islamic thinkers. What else could he mean?

I'm not too worried about the national reaction : It's France, not the U.S. It's approx 150 ordinary people, not 3000 rich people working in finance. It's guns, not planes. It'll be much harder to blame foreigners. Attackers are likely French themselves. etc.

posted by jeffburdges at 6:23 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



It's approx 150 ordinary people, not 3000 rich people working in finance.

That is a sick sentiment and you should be ashamed.

posted by Xavier Xavier at 6:24 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



not 3000 rich people working in finance.

Uh, excuse me?

posted by MisantropicPainforest at 6:26 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



Jeffburdges: firstly, the 3000 victims of 9/11 also included firemen, policemen, waiters and restaurant staff, and security staff.

Secondly, people who work in finance are also "ordinary people".

Thirdly, if I hadn't had a broken answering machine, I very well may have been in the Twin Towers and may have been a victim myself, and I assure you I am most definitely ordinary.

In the words of my French comrades - manger de la merde, abrutis putain.

posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:27 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



(sorry, lobstermitten, I think we crossposted)

posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:28 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



@jeffburdges France is already doing air strikes against Daech/ISIS.
I'm pretty sure this is the enemy we'll be after.

posted by Tobu at 6:29 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



Not picking a fight, but do we have to let "rich people" stand uncorrected? 411 9/11 victims were emergency workers, police, firefighters or first responders; 70 civilian Army and Navy staffers, and 55 active duty military. Among the others were many workers in finance firms but also people working in the offices of a telephone utility, a foodservice company, two health insurance companies, the state DOT, some local TV stations, the WTC itself, along with an unknown number of undocumented workers in the restaurants. And a bunch of random folks on a place. Some rich people were among the victims (and even they are mourned still) but it was not a tragedy that struck only the elite.

posted by Miko at 6:43 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



Yesterday: Lebanon is holding a day of national mourning after at least 41 people were killed in two suicide bombings in the capital, Beirut. The Islamic State (IS) militant group says it was behind the attacks in Burj al-Barajneh, a mainly Shia southern suburb and Hezbollah stronghold. The bombing is the deadliest in the capital since the end of Lebanon's civil war in 1990.

Less than a month ago: The so-called Islamic State has emerged as the main suspect behind the deadliest bomb attack in Turkish history, which killed almost 100 people in the capital Ankara on Saturday.

posted by gwint at 7:14 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



gwint: France is the US's oldest ally (we probably wouldn't even be a country without their help) and this is a predominantly American site, so IMO it's quite understandable that we're more worked up over a terrorist attack in Paris than similar attacks in countries that we're not as close to.

Meanwhile, given relative levels of internet access and English proficiency, we almost certainly have far more French MeFites than either Lebanese or Turkish MeFites.

If you think those other terrorist attacks are deserving of more attention then make a new FPP about them.

posted by Jacqueline at 7:23 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



gwint, what is your point?

posted by MisantropicPainforest at 7:23 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



I am not gwint, but I took it to show how these sorts of terrorist activities are increasing in both frequency and the number of victims.

posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 7:29 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



gwint: I do not believe in comparative pain, nor do I believe that this thread is the place to introduce things that are not germane to the immediate subject at hand.

posted by PlantGoddess at 7:29 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



I don't believe that's the case.

posted by Justinian at 7:29 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



I think Americans should show support by changing the name of one of our beloved side dishes, "Freedom Fries" to a name honoring the French in some way.

posted by Drinky Die at 8:58 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



Maybe we can not make stupid jokes in a thread about a massive terrorist attack.

Jesus try to have some sensitivity.

posted by winna at 9:24 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



Navelgazer : I think the ghettoization of Muslims in France couldn't have helped this, but France isn't to blame here.

Oh please, elucidate me on the history of french muslims.

posted by durandal at 9:37 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



this was an ISIS attack on a peaceful people. The world ought to be in full out war against these assholes. You may not like him but Trump said what we all now feel. BOMB THE SHIT OUT OF THEM! Long live France. I am sorry for your loss. May God redeem your family in this tragic event.

posted by shockingbluamp at 9:50 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



well..my comments were edited by mods that are I guess are in favor of the innocent being killed. Way to go Mods. Rest well in your ISIS paid for beds.

posted by shockingbluamp at 9:58 PM on November 13, in thread 154694



Innocuous Comment Deleted Before it Could Sully this Really, Really Important Thread

I have a really hard time teasing apart "aromantic". All the definitions I looked up online seem to be kind of circular around "romantic", which seems to include the same properties aromantics might have, but different in some way that is never clearly explained. Romantics gets "crushes", aromantics get "squishes", etc...

I will admit that this may be my distaste for taxonomy as explanation, however.

Also, I kept accidentally reading it as "aromatic", which changed the meaning of text considerably... :-)

posted by smidgen at 1:12 PM on November 13, in thread 154683



A Handful of MetaTalk Deletions. Ho-hum.

I lived in Arizona for many years, and it gets targeted quite often as well

Arizona is a super garbage state tho. Continue shit-talking at will. Nice scenery, terrible people.

posted by Squeak Attack at 11:56 AM on November 13, in thread 23915



Cortex and the Fuck Kittens. New mixtape dropping this January.

posted by Xavier Xavier at 11:14 AM on November 13, in thread 23915



"Klang, #notallmichiganders, dude. I've got good friends in Howell (aka "howelltucky", walled lake (aka " waltucky"), and Milford (aka "mildewtucky"). You can take howell's racist history and spin it up; you can call all Michiganders a bunch of teabaggers, you can have your own opinions, but keep that shit to yourself. You just put ME in that shitty little picture of Michigan, and that sucks.

I don't need to hear it and quite frankly it's what sciatrix is trying to address. Got problems with michigan politics? Great. Make a post. Got problems with racism in michigan? Great. Make a post. But please stop with the dismissive drive by bullshit, please, and thanks.
"

Dismissive drive-by bullshit? In the spirit of comity: learn to fucking read, Juggalo.

I didn't call all Michiganders a bunch of teabaggers — I said they'd elected a generations' worth of them. Maybe you're defensive because you're a Kerry Bentivolio voter (you do have friends in Milford)?

The point wasn't that I was lumping all people from Michigan in as racists (though god knows Howell doesn't need me to "spin it up"), it was that many of the stereotypes about The South also apply to Michigan, which is far enough north that you can drive south to Canada.

So instead of borrowing trouble here and implicitly impugning the quality of the Michigan public schools by putting YOURSELF into that "shitty little picture of Michigan," how about spending more time reading and less time getting Better Made dust in your keyboard?

If you're not satisfied by this reply, great, how about you follow your own advice and make a separate MeTa post about it?

posted by klangklangston at 1:19 PM on November 13, in thread 23915



My sons are both Japanese citizens (as is my wife), and are functionally bilingual. I have been intimately connected to Japan and Asia for twenty years. I work as a Japanese-English translator (among other things).

My children have experienced some discrimination in Japan, and my wife has experienced racism in Canada. I'm interested in the construction of race, and how different cultures define race.

I'm also interested in how we raise "third culture" kids.

posted by Nevin at 1:07 PM on November 13, in thread 23916



"rap" "music"

posted by shakespeherian at 2:05 PM on November 13, in thread 23915



I just wanted to address the notion of punching up versus down. I live in New York, and from my point of view, such a huge amount of the worst parts of our culture in the US comes from the south. I look around me up here, and I don't see a bunch of perfect people, but holy crap, as a whole? We get it kinda right, sometimes.

To me, I feel like the south, POLITICALLY has been punching down on me and mine for decades if not centuries. I know there's hundreds of thousands and millions of amazing people there (many of which are my close relatives), but there seems to be a never ending tide of awful garbage spewing from the damn place that I don't know how anyone's gonna stop.

...ANYways:

Sorry, Southerners, I've said mean shit about you sometimes (never on Metafilter). I shouldn't and I'll try not to in the future. I know you've got some great people down there, and i know a lot of MUCH better people than me are caught in the crossfire fighting battles I thankfully never will.

Cheers!

posted by quadbonus at 7:51 PM on November 13, in thread 23915



I disagree with your framing of my comment, LobsterMitten. I explained where I was coming from, admitted I was wrong, and promised not to do something again ever that I've never done here before ever.

Whatever, I guess my tone of voice is just not allowed here.

Peace

posted by quadbonus at 8:13 PM on November 13, in thread 23915



Friday, November 13, 2015

Reaction to the Charlie Hebdo Massacre, Part Two

Hopefully we can hear more from some of the French or Francophile mefites who do have the context.

B-b-but 'Mericans got opinions!

posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:15 AM on January 8, in thread 145914



It strikes me that you, cotton dress sock, have come into a tinder box and are lighting matches at speed. Unlike the cartoonists you're vilifying, however, your use of a sock puppet indicates you're quite unwilling to face the minor social consequences to your real Mefi account.

posted by gilrain at 9:02 AM on January 8, in thread 145914



It strikes me that you, cotton dress sock, have come into a tinder box and are lighting matches at speed. Unlike the cartoonists you're vilifying, however, your use of a sock puppet indicates you're quite unwilling to face the minor social consequences to your real Mefi account.

I invite you to evaluate the embarrassing volume of output under this account and consider what kind of time I'd have to use another one. Nice ad hominem.

posted by cotton dress sock at 9:06 AM on January 8, in thread 145914



whereas whether or not a certain sliver of the left are narcissists seems to exclusively be an ad hominem charge against a vaguely defined group, and I don't see how it forwards any discussion at all.
posted by maxsparber at 6:28 AM on January 8 [7 favorites +] [!]


Unsurprising.

posted by jayder at 9:07 AM on January 8, in thread 145914



Actually, it's about ethics in french political cartoons.

posted by malocchio at 1:50 PM on January 8, in thread 145914



And I think that's fascist "with us or against us" Bush era neocon bullshit.

Ah, the name-calling always helps improve threads like this. (Does the "fascist" bit mean the thread is now officially godwinned?)

posted by aught at 2:17 PM on January 8, in thread 145914



And I think that's fascist "with us or against us" Bush era neocon bullshit.

Well you couldn't be more wrong, but I've come to expect no less over the course of reading your contribution here.

posted by walrus at 2:20 PM on January 8, in thread 145914



Everybody with their frickin' panties in a twist: Maybe (just maybe) this is just a story without a moral? Consider (for the love of FSM) the possibility that "some insane people murder some mildly annoying people" is not the kind of story that should inform our philosophies of life. No amount of debate will turn this into a meaningful thing. And certainly not this debate. Which, given the normally ridiculously high level of discourse at MF, doesn't bode well for the rest of the planet. D'oh.

So I don't know, but this might be the most rational reaction I've heard so far (translated from German):

"This could never happen at our magazine. We have only 6 editors."
- Tim Wolff, Titanic Magazine

posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 3:24 PM on January 8, in thread 145914



#NotAllIslamists

posted by rr at 3:31 PM on January 8, in thread 145914



It's eerie how closely his remarks resemble the "I condemn the killings, but..." comments coming from liberals in this thread.

The are not liberals, they are leftists, i.e the principle of freedom of speech is less important to them than the principle of ranking moral order based on which rung of the oppression ladder participant identity groups belong to.

posted by dydecker at 5:33 PM on January 8, in thread 145914



That's not a very nice thing to say.

posted by Justinian at 5:39 PM on January 8, in thread 145914



Sort of relevant: Saudi Blogger To Be Publicly Flogged For Insulting Islam
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi blogger who was sentenced last May to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes will be publicly flogged for the first time after Friday prayers outside a mosque in the Red Sea coastal city of Jiddah, a person close to his case said Thursday.

Raif Baddawi was sentenced on charges related to accusations that he insulted Islam on a liberal online forum he had created.
[...]
London-based rights group Amnesty International has said that Badawi is to receive 50 lashes once a week for 20 weeks.

posted by Joe in Australia at 8:21 PM on January 8, in thread 145914