Brodie

Well, the GG morlocks paid actual money for a dildo and then sent it to Chris Kluwe. Because that'll show 'em. It is now being auctioned off for charity. People, I'm torn. While it might be that I would be overjoyed if they were to clump together like a Katamari and then roll into a volcano, at this point they are serving as a perfect example of why changes need to be made in our culture. They are like a weakened strain of a cultural disease and, maybe, they will eventually be consumed like some sort of vaccine. Or something. I dunno. I'm done for the day. Cheers, dear sane people! May all your enemies be as clueless as Gamer Gate.

This has bothered me for a while now so I'm glad to see that someone else feels the same way. I actually unfollowed Brianna a while back due to my feed being clogged with her engaging with GG people. I have always found it cringe inducing to watch someone attempt earnest communication with people who are actively trolling them. Drives me crazy. There is just nothing to be gained there. That said, I'm glad that level-headed people try to reach out and educate in situations like this, I really am, because my desire to interact with anonymous internet jerks is non-existent.

just did. thanks for the reminder

HAHA! Edit: I had other thoughts but they were off topic and, upon reflection, malformed.

i don't...i just....wow.... seriously, how the fuck does someone turn a blind eye to this shit? how?

I agree with this. I have not been so conflicted by something like this in recent memory and it's causing me to challenge my preconceptions on a few things. Stimulating, even as it is troubling.

Re:Serial In conversations regarding Serial I often seem to run into the idea of 'Well, if not Sarah Koenig then who will tell this story?'. I find it problematic, the implication being that all stories must be told. This is an idea that I object to rather strongly. The collective ‘we’ only seem to get high and mighty about this when the story in question has been sold to us effectively. We don’t care about interviewing the parents of some missing girl from a farm community outside of Fresno and we certainly don’t come back years later and try to interview her friends and family. No. We only care when it’s easy to care because the story excites us, and then we have the audacity to pretend that we are upholding some grand dedication to truth and justice by demanding it be told to us. It’s ugly, privileged, middle/upper crust bullshit and I hate it. Lets look at this from the perspective of the Lee family, who declined to be interviewed. Their options suck. They didn't want this but now have the choice between having every aspect of their lives and pain picked at by the myriad fumbling fingers of millions of anonymous internet people, while, at the same time, having their culture and community criticized, OR they can sit back and watch as some white-lady outsider parades their daughter’s memory around for the amusement of that same faceless mob. Their kid was murdered and they have to go on living with that every day, but now people are coming out of the woodwork to play amateur detective and make moral judgments on nothing but hearsay, half forgotten memories and whatever a google search will turn up. This must be a fucking nightmare for the them. On the other side we have Adnan who certainly does seem like a good candidate for an Innocence Project review- his case was poorly handled; as are quite a few cases. Fine. Sure. Do that. Hopefully he didn't actually do it. This must be a beacon of hope for his family who probably see this as an opportunity to get their son back. Good for them, at least their kid is still alive. Who hurts more? Is that a useful way to look at how a story should be told? I have no idea. But the question does inform my overarching opinion that Sarah Koenig, whom I consider to be a capable (if not a little sheltered) journalist, seems to be using these people’s stories to make points about things like reasonable doubt and the fallibility of our justice system. I absolutely agree that points like that should be made but I dislike the fact that, after all is done, she has basically ended up using the pain of minority communities as a tool to communicate her message to her audience, an audience who does not seem to have a lot of overlap with those communities. Edit: I [could be/often am] wrong in my thinking about this.

Edit: moved to Serial thread because I was being long winded.

'Detergent' is a fairly broad category. I assume Merus was referring to liquid Tide or similar although it could be supposed that dry detergent might lend a certain granular treachery to an incline if liberally applied. However, seeing as the original statement was in response to concerns about a company's decision being a potentially slippery slope; and seeing as said company has since reversed the decision in question- I think that some sort of initially slippery but quick drying agent would be of greater service to the underlying metaphor as it continues to evolve. E.G. Person 1 could opine: "I see this position to be something of a 'slippery slope'" Person 2, being Merus in this case, could then respond: "Actually, the slope appears to be covered in something akin to quick drying plaster that, while initially sketchy, will soon provide safe enough footing for an ascent."

truly the footing can be described as tenuous at best.

quoted for truth.

yes.

I listened to the first one and got a kick out of it, pretty excited that there is a second episode.

After the last episode I can't help but think that Adnan's defense may have been structurally correct but the presentation was absolutely terrible. It's sad to me that this plays such a large part of our culture's approach to justice but there it is, it's a show and if you are not a good showperson then your case is at a disadvantage. In light of that- his lawyer being grating, nervous and generally unlikable probably did him no favors.

Re: Far Cry 4 discussion, I think being a little harder on Far Cry 4's portrayal of ethnicity & culture in general is absolutely fair in the wake of Far Cry 3's absolutely egregious levels of poor decision making; from their initial marketing to their lead writer's weak 'you just don't get my art' responses to criticism. From what I've been hearing it seems that maybe they made some different choices this time, which is good, but lets not forget that they set the bar pretty damn low last time around.

I played Fallen Enchantress and liked it for a while. Looks like it will be the last purchase from Stardock. Gross.

i'm in there too. yay! imagine a world where they go find a corner and keep to themselves, blocking any who attempt contact, slowly getting crazier and crazier. then, one day you are knocked out at the wheel of your time machine and wake up in the distant future......

didn't make this connection before but yes.

As an adult I tend to be cynical. However, I'm trying to keep in mind that when I was 8 and saw the original my little mind was completely blown and all I wanted to do was grow up to be a paleontologist.

Between the strawman caution mongering (this GMO/AI/Virus/Techonology we just made up is super scary, science is badguys) and the constant reheating of old ideas- I have very little interest in seeing most new films. Unless Samuel L Jackson's severed arm is listed as a supporting actor i'm gonna have to pass on this.

Maybe only on the inside. I think it's the combination of the Lord Vetinari facial hair and the disillusions of being a massive intelligence that pulled it into mind.

Aurini, the Cosmo Lavish of the internet. (see Making Money by Terry Pratchett)

Wizard Island is in the middle of Crater Lake, OR. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crater_Lake

Same. I can't help but get the feeling that the events in questions are happening on the periphery of an episode of The Wire, what with so much inconsistency and events that don't add up. There's this feeling that any added data could change everything and that is exciting. I really hope they make more. I agree, stories like this should be told and this is hardly the first time something of this nature has entered the public consciousness. It's just that after the events of the past few months I suppose I think about this sort of thing more than I used to. Here here! At least it should be disinfected, if such a thing were possible. What is the digital equivalent of diluted bleach and a hose?

Jon Cole pointed me here and, from what I've read, I'm not alone in my unease. I like this show, i'm going to finish listening to it but, well, I am filled with disquiet. So, I started a separate topic to discuss this.