Quotes of the Moment II

[Nephew Twiddleton]

A friend asked me about Vietnam for her history paper:

The Vietnamese voted for a Communist government. The United States intervened in free elections. Not out of interest for the will of the Vietnamese, but because the US would not tolerate the spread of Communism. The US was stuck between a rock and a hard place. American policy was to promote democracy and prevent the spread of Communism. Vietnam democratically chose Communism. But our priority was to prevent the spread of Communism so we said fuck democracy. That is one of the things that you must always remember about the United States. We will abandon our high minded principles if it suits us. We are, in fact, notorious for that. We don't actually care about democracy. We have supported dictatorships as long as they were pro-American. We still do. We only tolerate democracy in other countries so long as the government involved is pro-American, and pro-capitalist.

In fact, that is the most important, underlying theme to American history. How does this benefit the government, and the people who tend to get elected to office? And how can those people spin it in order to look like they are in favor of democracy? How, indeed, can politicians say that it is our duty to intervene in another country's affairs because we don't like it? How do you legitimize the death of our soldiers at that point?

[Cain]

Actually, the "democracy" thing is entirely post-Reaganite feverish imaginings of the Neocons.

Look at NSC-68, or the Long Telegram.  There is no mention of spreading democracy or freedom to oppose Communism.  It was all containment, all the time.  The preferred US method was to support dictatorships, in South Korea, in South Vietnam, in Chile etc.

And there was never democracy in Vietnam.  It was a French colonial puppet and then, when the French admitted they had lost, it was partitioned into a Communist North and with an Emperor in the South, who was deposed by Ngo Dinh Diem and ruled as dictator.

[Lenin McCarthy]

At the dinner table with my family yesterday we made up proverbs, one word at a time:

"Big words can often make small children scared"
"Because the world bleeds in sorrow when the horses cry, everybody wants to be together"
"The sun goat is making mischief. Mornings rarely tempt torturists."

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The boyfriend, referring to his engineering team:

The sickness has flamed through their cube farm like salts through a goose.

I don't even know what that means, but it's positively lyrical. Dating a geek cowboy is full of moments.

[Bu🤠ns]

I realize he was a bit of a warmonger but this is pretty relevant for me atm...


"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."


― Theodore Roosevelt

[Reginald Ret]

I realize he was a bit of a warmonger but this is pretty relevant for me atm...


"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."


― Theodore Roosevelt

This explains the rampant apathy about the horribleness that is reality when combined with 'Everyone is a critic now.' No-one actually does anything anymore, we all just post about it on facebook.

[Suu]

Actual text I just received from a number I don't know:

"He came in me again last night. "

My response, "Well, I hope you're using a condom. You have the wrong number."

[Bu🤠ns]

I realize he was a bit of a warmonger but this is pretty relevant for me atm...


"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."


― Theodore Roosevelt

This explains the rampant apathy about the horribleness that is reality when combined with 'Everyone is a critic now.' No-one actually does anything anymore, we all just post about it on facebook.

totally....I'm now gonna this on facebook

Actual text I just received from a number I don't know:

"He came in me again last night. "

My response, "Well, I hope you're using a condom. You have the wrong number."

maybe it's one of those home automated garages that send out updates.


Burns,
always looking on the denial side of life.

[Sister_Gothique]

Dolphins are the Ted Bundy of the sea.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Actual text I just received from a number I don't know:

"He came in me again last night. "

My response, "Well, I hope you're using a condom. You have the wrong number."

I've been trying for the last couple of days to conjure a scenario where that isn't a completely scary thing to text someone. But I can't come up with ANY non-fucked-up explanations for why someone would text that to someone else.

[Salty]

Some old yuppie lady:
Where's that from?

Me:


Her:
Your tattoo, Give Me Freedom.

Me:
Or Kil Me, *point to my other arm*

Her:
Oh! *turns away horrified*

Me:
*lean in behind her*
Lee Harvy Oswald said that.

Her:
*a solid mass of pure terror that won't face me*

[LMNO]

You're a bad man, and you do bad things.

[hooplala]

That story brought me great joy.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Me:
*lean in behind her*
Lee Harvy Oswald said that.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

"There's nothing like the sound of a child's laughter, unless it's 3am and you have no children."
- Vicky, at work.