James

I always take "organic" to mean that the thing is made from an organism, and find the implication that all "non-organic" things are actually robotic. Look at me, I'm eating robot food. The gears and valves make it tastier. The problem with the organic fad is that it's a label that's very easy to latch onto without actually fully understanding why it's desirable in the first place. We have this vague idea that natural things are good and that artificial things are bad, particularly if chemicals are involved. Of course, there are natural chemicals, but whatever. I guess the craze for nature is a reaction to over-emphasis on technological solutions for everything, but the black-and-white view that all things natural are good and all things artificial are bad is lazy and ridiculous. I mean, if you want to live in the woods and gather food without the use of tools, whatever, go for it, but all human society is, to a certain extent, inherently artificial. Sure, be cautious about the artificial, but don't write it off, and don't forget to be similarly cautious of the natural. Modern medicine good, diseases bad. This clip is very briefly relevant, and interesting in a more general sense. And Screenwipe, the programme it comes from, is good.

I'VE HEARD IT SAID that if we were all to switch to free range everything, there wouldn't be enough space in the country (well, this one (England (where I am (I like parentheses))), anyway) to provide for us all. The solution, of course, would be to consume less animal produce. But since we're being conscientious, why not just go the whole hog and turn vegetarian? I agree that it's good to have concern for an animal's well-being, but it seems a bit peculiar to do things in half measures, and I'm not sure if you* can really be absolved from blame for being nice about all the killing you're* responsible for. I am a meat-eater, but I tend not to think too hard about the ramifications of that, because I can't really justify it to myself to a satisfactory level, but I don't think I have the willpower or inclination to give meat up. In short, I might be kind of a bad person. But not that bad, because I don't consider animals anywhere near equal to humans. Or maybe I'm just making excuses for myself. One appealing stance to take (particularly as an atheist) is that if the animal feels no pain and has no knowledge of its own death as it approaches or as it happens, then why does it really matter? The risk with this, of course, is that it kind of opens door to killing people willy-nilly, as long as it's done in a "humane" fashion. I can't really get down with shooting guys in the back of the head as long as they don't see it coming. You could argue that such acts are not free of consequence, because people are parts of networks and communities that would be profoundly affected by their loss. But that would make it OK to track down some homeless guy who everyone's forgotten about and shoot him in the back of the head, which is still NOT COOL. Or you could just destroy the whole world without guilt, as long as it was instantaneous. One could respond that this would be denying people their futures, but you could make the same argument about the animals, and we're back to square one. Unless you place them in a different category entirely, rather than simply at a different point on the same continuum. Sorry, I tend to assume that the world needs to know what I think, even if it doesn't actually want to. * Non-specific

I don't think my boss actually knows what it is. Because I listen with an earphone. Because I'm a considerate human being or something. And it's not filtered because we're a small company with no time for that kind of nonsense. But yeah, being able to get away with that sort of stuff is what makes my job tolerable, I think. My condolences to those of you who have to actually pay attention to what they're doing all day.

I think I'm allowed to laugh half-heartedly at the stupid things my colleagues say, which I do, but only because I have a profound aversion to awkward silences (such behaviour only encourages them, of course, so it's a habit of self-punishment). I think my boss objects to continuous private sniggering. I don't know, I think it's a small price to pay to keep me from losing my mind to boredom (or just falling asleep). To my boss' credit, he's declined to ban it outright. I think he blames it for things are actually the result of either tiredness or incompetence, though. Or maybe he's just jealous because his interests aren't as hilarious.

HELLO. I initially came to the forums to see if I could find the URLs for some of those alternative domains, but before I got around to doing any actual looking I saw that there was a thread about Chris Morris, which I felt compelled to post in, even though I had nothing significant to say, so I signed up without even looking at the Gaming forum, AND THAT IS WHY I DID NOT POST IN THIS THREAD FIRST I'm very sorry. Anyway, Idle Thumbs is the single auditory substance that causes me the most difficulty at work: I've been chastised on two occasions for laughing to myself, which is apparently disruptive. I suppose it is, but it's no worse than the woman who sits opposite me and keeps telling me the petty ways she's going to get back at her husband for not running some errand, or the guy who sidles up to my desk, chuckling to himself, silently begging me to ask him what's so fucking funny. BUT I DIGRESS. All this talk of Gordon Freeman's sociopathy and ethereal goatses has me in near-painfully stifled hysterics. I could stop listening, of course, but I don't enjoy my job or my co-workers enough to do that. Basically, you guys are on the verge of getting me fired. Consider this awful post my revenge.

An oldish friend of mine described it as a "hate shrine".

Paedophile in space Paedophile disguised as school Both from the first three minutes of the special, I'm afraid. The latter is followed by a favourite line of a friend and mine: "We must catch this man, he really is a shit." I think I actually prefer the special, although that might just be because I'm impressed by the newer and fancier production values. I am, after all, an utter imbecile. I even have tolerance for the IT Crowd, so apparently you can pretty much disregard everything I say. Except for those two links, which are indisputable facts. I enjoy most of Morris' efforts, including the recent ones, but then read online that they're all wrong and not good at all, which makes me doubt my own opinion and become a bit depressed about the whole affair, because I'm a incapable of forming any decisions of my own. Then I watch them again and decide I do kind of like them after all. But maybe that is just the desperate desire not to be disappointed. Maybe I'm just deluding myself. OH GOD, WHATEVER WILL I DO. Which is why I tend to avoid places like Cook'd and Bomb'd. Oh, that's also because forums tend to eat up monstrous chunks of my time. I'm bad at managing that sort of thing. Wait, is this a forum? OH SHIT. In conclusion: Facts. EDIT: Oh shit, now this post is completely pointless. You know, as opposed to mostly.