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Personal Bias and Boycotts

Started by Junkenstein, July 03, 2014, 02:49:58 PM

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Suu

The Tampa Bay area shut down almost every Blockbuster video in 2 counties back in the early 1990s because Wayne Huizenga owned the chain, and he bought out the MLB to get the Marlins to Miami in Joe Robbie, when St. Petersburg had a brand new dome used to bring baseball to the area. There was a massive employee walk out and then a boycott. I still boycott Miami anything, even if he has little to do with the teams anymore. That was probably one of the single most sour moments in my youth. Of course now nobody is going to Rays games, because Tampa ripped the fuck out of 275, and it's adding an hour to the commute across the bay, which was already shitty.  :argh!: So this is why I get exceptionally pissed when people say there are no baseball fans in Tampa Bay. It would be to Boston like if Fenway was in Dorchester, and you had to drive there from Providence with no access to public transportation and leave your car parked in the absolute worst end of town after making it through I-93 down to 1 lane at rush hour. I wouldn't go to fucking games, either.

Other than that, I'd boycott the fuck out of Wal-Mart if it wasn't the only store within walking distance of me.  Unfortunately I need to eat, and I don't always have access to the car to go to Market Basket, which is also a fuckton of fail these days, so in concession to the fact that I have to eat, I need to go to these stores, because it's simply not practical to drive across town to the Hannaford's.

I don't eat fast food unless I absolutely have to these days, Dunkin Donuts doesn't count. This is New England.
I admit I would eat the hell out of Chick-fil-A if it was anywhere up here, open on Sundays and liked gays, though.

I love Target, because I can't afford to get stuff made in America, but I usually buy online from Amazon or eBay for other Chinese made crap instead, because it's usually cheaper with shipping and I don't have to actually drive to Target a town over.

Hobby Lobby, even if it wasn't owned by shitheads, is full of garbage anyway and I was never impressed with their stock when I can get the same thing I need from Joann's, where I also get a VIP discount for throwing them way too much money.
Sovereign Episkopos-Princess Kaousuu; Esq., Battle Nun, Bene Gesserit.
Our Lady of Perpetual Confusion; 1st Church of Discordia

"Add a dab of lavender to milk, leave town with an orange, and pretend you're laughing at it."

trix

Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on July 10, 2014, 06:46:23 PM
ATTN: TRIX IS A BASSIST.

No, I'm just a devout believer in the Good Book (Principia Mathematica) and it tells us which numbering system is superior and all the rest will BURN IN NULL
There's good news tonight.  And bad news.  First, the bad news: there is no good news.  Now, the good news: you don't have to listen to the bad news.
Zen Without Zen Masters

Quote from: Cain
Gender is a social construct.  As society, we get to choose your gender.

trix

Err, more on topic,

I avoid Apple products (but i do have an iphone due to a really cheap offer =/)
I do not purchase games made by EA
I do not use PayPal
I do not use online Bitcoin wallets, or store bitcoins at any exchanges
I try to buy as much of my food as I can from a local farm I know run by a really great family
I avoid driving and using gas as much as in possible in a modern world without ever owning a vehicle made this century
I avoid chain stores as much as I can and try to stick with small business
I never buy clothing, shoes, or other products made by certain companies with a reputation for things like child labor or other BS practices.

There are probably more but I tend to remember them when actually shopping and seeing a brand name.  One reason I like corporate obsession with brand recognition... recognizing a certain brand reminds me to avoid that product.
There's good news tonight.  And bad news.  First, the bad news: there is no good news.  Now, the good news: you don't have to listen to the bad news.
Zen Without Zen Masters

Quote from: Cain
Gender is a social construct.  As society, we get to choose your gender.

Pope Lecherous

Quote from: trix on July 10, 2014, 07:01:05 PM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on July 10, 2014, 06:46:23 PM
ATTN: TRIX IS A BASSIST.

No, I'm just a devout believer in the Good Book (Principia Mathematica) and it tells us which numbering system is superior and all the rest will BURN IN NULL

I'm interested in numerology and number theory as it pertains to Chaos. Would you mind referring me to literature you recommend besides the Principia Mathematica? Something simple for my simple mind preferably? Thanks either way.
--- War to the knife, knife to the hilt.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

Reminded of this today... any projects connected to Uncle BadTouch, Brenton Clutterbuck, or Adam Gorightly.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Bu🤠ns

Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on July 10, 2014, 06:46:23 PM
Quote from: trix on July 10, 2014, 06:30:37 PM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on July 10, 2014, 06:21:37 PM
DON'T GO FLAUNTING YOUR BASE 10 SO-CALLED "MATHEMATICS" AT ME.

REALITY IS SUBJECTIVE, WHICH MEANS 33=3+3+3 IF I WANT IT TO.

Speak for yourself.

YOUR reality is subjective.  MY reality is reflective.
AND RUNS ON BASE 10 LIKE EVERYTHING SHOULD.
OTHER NUMBERING SYSTEMS ARE INFERIOR AND SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO BE USED.

So fuck off with your subjections and distortions of what we ALL know is REALLY good and proper... base 10 mathematics.

I knew it.



ATTN: TRIX IS A BASSIST.





trix

#36
Quote from: Bu☆ns on July 14, 2014, 04:56:02 AM

Ok sure but that guy    /|\    is fucking awesome.
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(Edit: Added the quote)
There's good news tonight.  And bad news.  First, the bad news: there is no good news.  Now, the good news: you don't have to listen to the bad news.
Zen Without Zen Masters

Quote from: Cain
Gender is a social construct.  As society, we get to choose your gender.

LMNO

Buddy Rich would fucking anybody.

Mangrove

The "Bodies" exhibit by the crazy German anatomist dude (or the rival offshoot exhibition).

I was encouraged to go see this in New York when I was at massage school. I did not for the following reasons:

a) I aced all my anatomy exams at school from good old fashion books & flash cards. Seeing cadavers is not as useful as you think, especially when you consider that the clients you work on are alive. Turns out working on living people and dessicated husks reeking of formaldehyde is not the same.

b) More importantly, the vast number of subjects in the exhibit are Chinese. Given how easy it is to get onto death row in China (and how very very hard it is to get off when you are innocent), I'm having a hard time believing that there's a torrent of adult Chinese men (and some women) whose burning ambition in life is to be turned into plastic medical mannequins. It's ok though, apparently executed 'criminals' want to help Westerners learn Science! The thought that maybe even one single person in there might've been someone on death row for a crime they didn't commit and ended up with all their flesh removed and posing naked holding a fucking golf club was a chance I wasn't going to take.

Thus, I didn't go, took the day off and went on a road trip with Mrs Mang instead. In boycotting this event I also forfeited my chance of meeting David Blaine who, apparently, hung around my classmates to remain in earshot of my anatomy teacher.

Others:

Facebook/Twitter - have never done either. No inclination to.

Walmart - Avoid as much as possible.

Dunkin' Donuts - Even if run by enlightened super-beings of the most elevated consciousness, the coffee is beyond terrible.

Amazon - Only buy from them after all other reasonable options are exhausted. I used to love being Mr "One Click" and getting all this stuff. That was until I started to talk to people who ran real bookstores, worked in publishing or are authors. The Amazon business model has made the publishing industry bland and overly conservative. The variety of what gets published has shrunk because, unless you drop a multi million unit-shifter in their lap, they have no interest. It's the literary equivalent of the music industry. Book deals are highly tied into Amazon sales rankings. One author I spoke to over 4th July weekend told me that his book was being sold through 'Amazon' affiliates as being 'used' on the day of release!

What makes it so? Making it so is what makes it so.

Mesozoic Mister Nigel

FWIW the German plastinated people tour, Body Worlds, is less shady than the other (plastinates only volunteer donor bodies who sign up while they are still alive, no Chinese prisoners). It's one of the most surreally beautiful things I've ever seen. The competitor one, Bodies, is all Chinese prisoners who did not give consent.
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Mangrove

Quote from: The Right Reverend Nigel on July 15, 2014, 05:14:35 AM
FWIW the German plastinated people tour, Body Worlds, is less shady than the other (plastinates only volunteer donor bodies who sign up while they are still alive, no Chinese prisoners). It's one of the most surreally beautiful things I've ever seen. The competitor one, Bodies, is all Chinese prisoners who did not give consent.

Thanks Nigel - this is good to know. I wasn't against the concept in principle. It was the sourcing of exhibits that bothered me. Mind you, how many museums out there are not full of plunder & bloodshed?

I think Body Worlds swings through CT every now and then, so maybe I'll get to see it and have less ick in my conscience!   :)
What makes it so? Making it so is what makes it so.