Messages

Oh, shit. Are you still working on this? Damn. You will have to give me some time to catch up. At least a decade.

Just stopped by to grab a copy of this. I am thinking about writing another chapter. Yeah, I know, 14 years or something. I blame Covid. He's such a bastard.

But you brought up the 60s. Activism didn't get us everything it should have maybe, but we got a LOT anyway. Where would race relations be without the stuff you guys did in the 60s? Where would women be?

Yeah, when I was a kid, "coloreds" couldn't drink out of the same
drinking fountains as me. I remember that kind of thing sometimes
when I see blacks and whites mix (here in Indiana) without anybody
batting an eye. We've come a long way. Still, we could lose it all
tomorrow. And the problem stills exists. It's just no longer spoken
out loud. It's just "understood."

Them saying they were sorry never bothered me. What else was there
to say? If they didn't say something everyone else would think they
were an asshole. "Why didn't you at least say you were sorry, asshole?"

What made me want to shout "FUCK OFF" in their faces was the "advice"
I would get. You won't get this because it is your grandmother. But when
your spouse dies and you are really, really broken up, people will come
up to you and say, "It'll be better in time. I know it doesn't seem like it
now, but this will pass."

Yes, I know. In time my pain will lessen.

BUT THAT DOESN"T DO ME A FUCKING BIT OF GOOD RIGHT NOW YOU
SHIT! RIGHT NOW IT HURTS LIKE FUCK AND YOUR CONDESCENDING
LITTLE PLATITUDES JUST MAKE IT WORSE BECAUSE WHAT YOU ARE
REALLY SAYING IS "GET OVER IT. YOU ANNOY ME." GET THE HELL AWAY
FROM ME, YOU SCHMUCK.

I feel better now. Time has passed. I have moved on.

Oh, and my condolences, Rev. Just a few little words and doesn't mean
much, I know, because, hey, it's just the internet. But I remember what
your pain is like. And I am sorry you have to go through it, too.

Deep in the mystical sylvan forest, a small, weary gnome crawls out of a hole in the ground and walks up to the magical voice amplification device. A bunny sits in the bushes, her eyes a glow. Several other creatures rustle in the bushes.



Want to know the dirty little secret of flame wars?

You can't win.

Oh, you can lose, but you can't win.

No matter how many posts you make; no matter how devastating your
argument; no matter how unassailable your logic; no matter how many rules
of logic you violate; no matter how virtuous your position; no matter how
obscene your language...

You can't win.

The other guy can always make one more post saying, "Ha, ha. You're a
jerk."

You can't win, but the real secret is: neither can they.

You can lose. You do that by declaring you have lost. You flounce. You
quit. You concede. You make a last post.

They can't make you lose. You can only do that to yourself.

They never lose because they refuse to admit defeat.

So guess what? If you refuse to admit defeat, you can not lose either.

Period.

You can't win because you can't make them lose. They can always make
another post after all of yours. They can make lots of posts after your
last one, especially if they have a posse full of fanbois.

But you can't lose. Just make another post. Just say, "Ha, ha. You're a
jerk." That's all it takes.


The biggest mistake you can make, of course, is to go into a flame war
thinking you can win.

Don't try to use logic or moral suasion in a flame war. Does you no good.
Flame wars are fought at the lowest intellectual level human beings can
bring themselves to.

Flame wars are full of false accusations, spurious logic, school yard
bullying and piling on. They satisfy the needs of a primitive area of the
brain which just wants to bludgeon something and prove its superiority. It
doesn't care why. It just knows it feels better when it hits something.

In order to fight a flame war you have to disengage the higher function of
your brain and lower yourself to that primitive level where bashing
anything that isn't currently sucking up to you is all you care about.

It may feel good, but ultimately it is not about anything but bashing.

If you find yourself in a flame war, just opt out. Let the trolls exhaust
themselves. Ignore them. Post as you wish. Be yourself.

Sure, they may "follow you around" making annoying, obscene posts.
Ignore them. Tell yourself they are nothing but jackasses. (Remember,
they can't win.)

Eventually people forget what the flame war was all about (if they ever
knew.)

Eventually those who persist in flaming become viewed for the asses they
are.

Eventually the trolls becomes bored. Once they realize they can't win,
they move on.

And then, make one more post. Say anything. And you didn't lose.


Don't expect the mods to "intervene" in a flame war. Nothing they can
really do except try to persuade the parties to give it up. And we all know
how well that works.

Don't expect Mgt to intervene. All she can do is ban people. That's a
crude weapon she doesn't want to use. She wants everyone to feel free
to post on her forums.

Don't expect other posters to jump in with posts full of devastating logic
and moral superiority in your defense. Logic, morality, even popularity
are useless. Trolls don't care who's right. They only care about winning.

But they can only win, if you decide to lose.

So decide not to lose and go on with your life.

After all, it's only an internet bulletin board, somewhere out in virtual
space. It's not like any of this is real.

Or did you mistakenly come here thinking this was a "real" religion?




Oh, Yeah. I almost forgot. Ha, ha. You're a jerk.

I ain't touching no squirrel. The last guy to touch a squirrel around here
got accused of pedophilia and run off. I ain't touching no squirrel.

It's all the evil mods' fault!








Oh wait  

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

[Mice Infected With Bubonic Plague Missing]

Mice Infected With Bubonic Plague Missing
Sep 15 1:04 PM US/Eastern

NEWARK, N.J.

Three mice infected with the bacteria responsible for bubonic plague apparently disappeared from a laboratory about two weeks ago, and authorities launched a search though health experts said there was scant public risk.

The mice were unaccounted-for at the Public Health Research Institute, which is on the campus of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and conducts bioterrorism research for the federal government.

Federal official said the mice may never be accounted for. Among other things, the rodents may have been stolen, eaten by other lab animals or just misplaced in a paperwork error.

If the mice got outside the lab, they would have already died from the disease, state Health Commissioner Fred Jacobs said.

The possibility of theft prompted the institute to interrogate two dozen of its employees and conduct lie detector tests, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported Thursday.

The FBI said it was investigating. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also investigating, the newspaper reported.

University officials did not immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday morning.

The mice were injected as part of an inoculation and vaccination experiment, investigators said.

Health officials say 10 to 20 people in the United States contract plague each year, usually through infected fleas or rodents. It can be treated with antibiotics, but about one in seven U.S. cases is fatal. Bubonic plague is not contagious, but left untreated it can transform into pneumonic plague, which can be spread from person to person.

The incident came as federal authorities investigate possible corruption in the school's finances. The FBI is reviewing political donations and millions of dollars in no-bid contracts awarded to politically connected firms.

Great pictures. Good eye for composition. Kid's cute, too.

Many years after I read the book (which at the time I thought was
really great, mostly for the myth building the "witches" did) I picked it
up and started to read it again.

It was really boring. I didn't finished the first chapter.

I forgot...it's some Dune thing...it's been a while since I read that book...

I believe you, AC.

Really! I DO!

Hoshiko claimed to have enjoyed it...

See?

That proves my point.

Pint? What pint?

Er, I mean...

Point? What point? You had a point?

Now I understand why Kerry Thornley went batso. He took this shit
seriously.

what about 'freaks' rather than hippies?

Back in the early 70s, freaks were anybody who smoked pot and hippies
were the people who dropped out. Just thought I would clear that up.
Do you care? When did we ever start, you say. Okay. Okay. You don't have
to shout.