Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
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User ID: 290
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
2d ago
some hatred cannot be negotiated with
But Mr Kirk could be! That was his whole thing!
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
2d ago
The problem is that, for the left, fascists and Nazis are the worst thing they can think of--secular counterparts to demons and devils. There is nothing redeemable about Nazis, and they shall be given no quarter. They are like orcs and goblins, enemies you can kill without moral qualms. They are not to be humanized, sympathized with, or shown in any way to be reasonable. Nazis are the villains of your story when you just need someone for the good guy to punch and shoot. Violence against Nazis is always righteous. This is the only culture I have ever known, and this messaging about Nazis has been drummed into me and everyone else by decades of movies, books, TV shows, videogames, and whatever else.
From UNSONG, by Scott Alexander, (interlude ח):
But – okay, personal disclosure time. When I was little, six or seven, I thought Nazis were a kind of fictional monster. You’d see movies where the heroes fought zombies. You’d see movies where the heroes fought vampires. And then you’d see other movies where the heroes fought Nazis. Zombies spoke with a silly slow droning voice and said BRAAAAAINS a lot. Vampires spoke with a silly Eastern European accent and said “I VANT TO SUCK YOUR BLOOD” a lot. Nazis spoke with a silly German accent and said “HEIL HITLER” a lot. Zombies dressed in ragged clothes that were falling apart. Vampires dressed in stylish black capes. Nazis dressed in brown uniforms with snazzy red armbands. In any case, the point was that they were this weird subspecies of humanity that didn’t follow normal rules, that was out to kill everybody for unspecified reasons, and you could shoot them without feeling guilty.
The trouble with otherising the Nazis is that one then fails to notice when one is making the same mistakes that led Germany down that skull-lined path.
their version of a Nazi is likely worse than the real Nazis were
Certainly doesn't leave any room for an Oskar Schindler or a John Rabe.
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
7d ago
Either you believe trans women are women or you believe trans women are men.
I believe that whether a transwoman is a man or a woman depends on why you're asking.
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
11d ago
...until the neighbour of whichever country to which he moves decides that they would like more clay....
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
11d ago
If he ends the war, and loses ground, there's a good chance he doesn't live for very long afterwards.
The war ending with territorial gains by Russia leads to a greater likelihood of further wars of territorial aggression, which in turn leads to a greater likelihood of a Third World War.
Therefore, if Mr Zelensky ends the war and loses ground, there's a good chance none of us live for very long afterwards.
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
12d ago
Something about leopards and faces....
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
15d ago
People are concerned about Trump doing the fake version of fascism ... because they think it's the real version of fascism ....
Or they're concerned that the former is a Camel's Nose for the latter.
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
21d ago
"We can neither confirm nor deny any dealings with that individual."
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
21d ago
Fuentes is Bozo the Clown.
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
21d ago
At some point, an axe made an appearance.
Was the axe wielded by a poltergeist?
Or was it the anthropomorphic axe from this cartoon by Tom Gauld?
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
22d ago
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.
-Rudyard Kipling
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
1mo ago
Was [L]emuria ever a science hypothesis?
Originally, it was attempting to provide a mechanism for how lemur fossils were found in India and Madagascar. (For today's lucky 10,000, lemurs are a tree-dwelling mammal related to monkeys and apes.)
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
1mo ago
Which is why I really would prefer there to be some 'objective' "test of willpower" element involved. If you force them to endure some sort of uncomfortable experience without giving in to temptation or dropping out before the finish, its MUCH harder to rig the system.
Yes, this could be the literal equivalent of The Gom Jabbar (but with less severe consequences). If you can't endure a couple minutes of excruciating (but not injurious) pain... I DARESAY you probably aren't 'mature' enough to handle real life.
One problem with that is that some people are born with high pain tolerance and would be able to pass such a test well before they are even close to mental maturity, while others are born with low pain tolerance and could not pass such a test at any age despite having far better judgement than the former.
(Another issue is that the entire point of improving society is to reduce the amount of human suffering [some would include animal suffering in this] in the world, and such measures would be a gigantic step backwards for very uncertain, if any, benefit.)
Edit: Would a society, which officially considers those with lower pain tolerance to be lesser, be willing to offer a child undergoing chirurgery for a malfunctioning gallbladder pain management beyond 'bite the leather strap'?
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
1mo ago
I think the actual best option, with the benefit of hindsight, would have been to carve out a New Israel US state somewhere around Nevada (1920 population density: 0.27/km^2) or New Mexico.
Or Sonora, per the Cooper Plan?
yeah disinformation is bad, but acktually the media and journalists are spreading it, not witches on twitter ad 4chan
One of those irregular verbs from Yes, Minister; 'I'm questioning received dogma, you're spreading misinformation, he's lying.'.
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
2mo ago
Does that mean the Maya were right after all?
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
2mo ago
So let me get this straight: he's covered literally to his head in tattoos, he sells drugs, he's a drunk and a junkie, he's violent with the criminal conviction to back that up, and he just straight-up violently murdered a guy with a samurai sword over a disputed drug debt. But he's such a loving partner and father!
The contradiction is not as irresolvable as it may, at first glimpse, appear; it is far more common than one would assume that someone will be benevolent to their family or close associates, while displaying unbounded cruelty to those they have convinced themselves deserve it.
This cuts across distinctions of personal appearance; the same pattern, with substitution of variables, describes the Nazi concentration-camp guard ('he's a sub-human weakening the Aryan¹ Race'), the Soviet gulag guard ('he's a wrecker trying to derail the Revolution on behalf of the capitalists'), the United-Statesian ICE agent ('he came into our country rather than obey our command that he quietly starve or be murdered in his place of birth'), the person of hair colour and pronouns in the cancel-mob ('he's a cishet-white-male schistlord who used a term² on the naughty-no-no-word list') and the seller of disfavoured substances ('he didn't pay me the money he owed me, thus violating the Non-Aggression Principle').
Focus less on "Which personal aesthetics mean that this person is or isn't safe to associate with?" (cf. Goodhart) and more on the Parable of the Good Samaritan³, as interpreted by Fred Clark. (Patheos, April 2017)
¹...despite him being of Romani origin, and thus more Aryan than the Germans.
²...which was actually the preferred nomenclature five years ago.
³If Jesus were telling the story today, would it be the Good Palestinian?
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
2mo ago
The cost of obesity is enormously high economically, medically and aesthetically.
The cost of fat-shaming, in human suffering, is higher.
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
2mo ago
What is shame for? Why do we have it? To bully people into doing things that are pro-social. There's a reason why fat people are shamed and it's not just because of cruelty for cruelty's sake, there's value in it as well.
But the value is vastly less than the cost, even before one takes into account the low effectiveness.
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
2mo ago
Note that "marg bar _____", while literally translating as "death to _____", is often used as an idiomatic expression of general hostility; compare how N. W. A. were not expressing carnal desire for the local constabulary.
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
3mo ago
He could have been motivated by a (real or perceived) personal or professional slight which he blamed on the individuals targeted.
Like with Charles Guiteau shooting James Garfield?
Celestial-body-NOS
Supra tumulum tuum, astra nobis.
3mo ago
2: Stop signs are periods, not commas.
3: Where do you live where they have letters in the speed limits? All the ones I've seen are made out of numbers!
I'm wondering, I suppose, whether there's a way we can employ shame in a truly good way as a society? Can we somehow shame people without turning into monsters ourselves...?
Public shaming is a very dangerous weapon, and, if its use is normalised, can easily change targets to things that aren't anyone else's business (e. g. hair length in the 1960s).
Therefore, if it is employed at all, it should be reserved for situations of exceptional moral gravity, of a degree far beyond that attained by any of Aella's lifestyle choices; her father's parenting practises, or the making of excuses for them, would rise to that level.
(Also, the Third (Protestant)/Second (Catholic) Commandment, while commonly interpreted as an injunction against shouting 'G-dd-mn it!' when Mr Hammer meets Mr Thumb, might more accurately be rendered as 'Thou shalt not carry the name of the Lord thy God in vain', i. e., do not claim divine endorsement for your personal prejudices/power-complexes/&c. Thus, calling one's sadistic child-rearing programme 'God's Way' could be argued to be far more blasphemous than the output of Andres Serrano or Chris Ofili that drew so much controversy from Concerned Citizens.)
That's not how I remember it; I recall that '
Clear Channel' EDIT: 'Cumulus' radio removed them from the airwaves, many people sent them nasty letters, and one pundit told them to "shut up and sing" (how would that work, even?).More options
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