Messages

Roger, you're right. It makes me wish I had the wherewithal to write a suitable addendum, but I'm afraid that I've lapsed in that capacity for too long to make it worthwhile. But i still feel the need to comment. It's strange the way these things work, the various perceptions we all have that make us react in a way that others find objectionable, while they in turn, seem objectionable to us. Further, it is these things that we cling to, and hold in our minds long after the rest, the good and the neutral, are forgotten. Without conscious intervention, we're mere calculators of sleights and insults. We must all take care to keep this in mind.

Hello, I'm Phox, I'm back (possibly) from a lengthy hiatus. What did I miss?

It's possible, due to the regional power dynamics at the time, that certain Canaanite city-states would copy Egyptian cultural traditions and power structure, as a means to appeasing them and showing themselves as supportive of the Pharoh.

This, alongside the pesistent warfare in the region, and propaganda supporting such warfare, as to where and what really occured.

But I'm not an expert on the region or its history.  Maybe Phoxxy would know more, if she's available to comment?

It's a bit before the time period I'm familiar with, I'm afraid. I think that you've made as good a hypothesis as I could, at any rate, Cain.

Welcome to the club, Twid. My beard has been going grey at an alarming rate.

A cautionary tale for you, my Wiking friend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV5w262XvCU

Well, it's good that she's not (apparently) in trouble. You did warn her to be careful not to slip on the Jameson bottles that coat the runway, didn't you?

Correct answers have been edited into the thread opener.

Scores are:

Pent:  0/20.  No cynicism at all.  Hopeless believer.
Cainad:  1/20.  Unicorn poop huffer.
Paes:  0/20.  Where do You People come from?
Twid:  2/20.  RAINBOWS.  UP YOUR ASS.
Richter:  1/20.  I am bitterly, bitterly disappointed.
Wallified:  1/20.  I expect better from Eskimos.
Deepthroat Chopra:  1/20.  Have fun in pleasantville.
Hunter Durden:  0/20.  I don't even KNOW you anymore.
Nigel:  I have high hopes here...Lemme go grade it...AW SHIT, 1/20.  I AM SO ALONE!
LMNO:  2/10.  I am giving up hope, here.
Regret:  1/20.  Fucking Belgians.
Sano:  1/20.  This isn't going well.
Phox:  1/20.  What ARE they teaching in schools these days?
Trix:  0/20.  Don't quit your day job for stand up.
Holist:  0/20.  Hungarians are supposed to be cynical, dammit!
Pope Tom:  0/20.  WTF, BOSTON?


Okay, Twid and LMNO are tied for SUCKING ASS.

Elimination round tomorrow.  One question, one answer each.




I think the problem here was everyone was trying to give some answers that would make them look wise.  This wasn't a test for wisdom, it was a test for bitter cynicism.  So you all failed.  WHICH IS HARDLY SURPRISING!

I am unsurprised by this result.

Nope.  Wrong.  Another one of those Belgians.

Didn't we just have some asshole from Norway recently (Not Waffle, of course)?

I'm not an asshole?

No, no, he merely meant to differentiate you from the other asshole from Norway. If he just said "another asshole from Norway", then we would have all thought "Waffles?" (and also, as i recall, Lenin, yes?) But he curtailed that by specifying he meant someone who is not you. Probably your Prime Minister.

[no]

I'm gonna leave this thread here for a little while longer just so I can identify who most of the obvious trolls and assholes here are.

You have no idea where you are right now, do you? 

Okay, there are a couple of ways to interpret that post;

A: I'm really, really baked
B: I just walked in to the wrong alley, buster
C: ?
D: Profit

Which one is it?

All of the above, depending on which side of the cage you're on.

I bet you thought that sounded really profound. :P

Profound? Not in the least. A half-assed answer to a half-assed question, more like.

What was half-assed about my question? There were several ways to interpret the comment. I'd say not only wasn't my question half-assed, I even made an effort outlining several different scenarios making it a fully assed question.

Nah. If you'd been assed to look around this place in any sort of detail, you'd realize the whys and wherefores of that response. And you know, I'm going to give you some honest advice here, because, I think you deserve at least a chance. You've found your way into a very old community. Some of the members here have probably been Discordians since before you were breathing, and some of them were here before this forum was.  There is a distinct bond here, and fully developed culture with its own traditions and customs.

To be blunt, we've been around long enough to have had our fill of iconoclasm for the sake of iconoclasm. We are not impressed by any old anecdote. We have, in fact, seen zanier people than you. We have long record of success in board wars, numerous trolling expeditions and safaris, and more than a few other little trophies on our belts. We're ALL trolls and assholes. We don't really have a whole lot of patience for repeats of past failures, but new ideas are always welcome. We are bitterly divided on a number of issues. We will get pissed off at you over something. We will tear you to pieces until there's nothing left, or until you build a better you. We won't stand for shenanigans, unless their our own, and your mileage may vary. To make a long story short, we are perfectly happy to have you, but only if you check your preconceptions at the door.

Who are we?

[no]

I'm gonna leave this thread here for a little while longer just so I can identify who most of the obvious trolls and assholes here are.

You have no idea where you are right now, do you? 

Okay, there are a couple of ways to interpret that post;

A: I'm really, really baked
B: I just walked in to the wrong alley, buster
C: ?
D: Profit

Which one is it?

All of the above, depending on which side of the cage you're on.

I bet you thought that sounded really profound. :P

Profound? Not in the least. A half-assed answer to a half-assed question, more like.

[no]

I'm gonna leave this thread here for a little while longer just so I can identify who most of the obvious trolls and assholes here are.

You have no idea where you are right now, do you? 

Okay, there are a couple of ways to interpret that post;

A: I'm really, really baked
B: I just walked in to the wrong alley, buster
C: ?
D: Profit

Which one is it?

All of the above, depending on which side of the cage you're on.

1.  What is freedom?

     Nothing.

2.  What is science?

     The best attempt possible to explain the universe.

3.  What is religion?

      Rejection of the merely real in favor of the possible and/or unreal. 

4.  What is insanity?

     Inability to mesh reality and perception.

5.  What is neurosis?

     The barbarians at the gates of reason.

6.  A fish is to water as the mind is to. . . ?

     The fish.

7.  What do all the evils in the world have in common?

     They are perceived.

8.  And who commits them?

     The eye of the beholder.

9.  What are the two great keys to lifelong happiness and what great modern thinker discovered them?

       Accepting that it is neither fair nor pleasant, and refusing to accept the words of others without thinking. Thomas Hobbes.
   
10.  To whom is all religious, moral, political, scientific and artistic preaching directed?

       Anyone who will listen, the gullible, and the converted.

11.  What is the most important information in any message?

       What is the larger intent?

12.  Why do some people believe in God?

       As an excuse for not accepting empirical data.

13.  Why do other people not believe in God?

       As an excuse for acknowledging the limit of knowledge.

14.  Who has the hardest belief system?

       Those who struggle to change theirs.

15.  What's a black hole?

       The brightest part of the universe.

16.  Name the only two humans in history whose theories on the nature of reality were correct.

         Hobbes and P.T. Barnum.   

17.  What is the greatest enemy of truth? (this one is worth 4 points)
        Itself.

Hm. I'm of mixed feelings on this. Before y'all jump me, let me explain.

In a larger business setting and you find that you're in an awkward relational or emotional situation with an employee, you kind of have to suck it up... but you also have a built-in support network of other coworkers and management. When you are a small business owner such as a dentist or, as in my own case as a small glass supply business, you are working alone with maybe one to five other employees present at a time.

I am a firm believer in small businesses (under, say, 50 employees) being able to let employees go for issues as trivial as personality clashes or sexual distraction. Working with a guy or chick you hate (or like too much) could make a huge difference in the bottom line... at that level, you're talking about YOUR business, YOUR ability to focus, in relation to your business success. You CAN'T get away from them in a small business that size. I let go of a guy who simply bugged the shit out of me. If I had been unable to let him go (we're still friends BTW) I would have gladly collapsed the whole business and sacked everyone in order to not work with him anymore.

Yeah, I cannot fly with this one, sorry. Mostly because I have been the young girl (17) who was being sexually harassed by her boss (and when I finally worked up the courage to report him I was asked what I did to make him think his behaviour would be welcome, but that's a different story). I cannot get on board with the idea that because Person A finds Person B sexually attractive, a feeling that is not reciprocated, Person B should lose their job. Seriously, why should I be punished -- lost my freaking job -- because my boss has decided I'm fuckable?

I've worked in small businesses where I've been attracted to someone. I've also worked in small businesses with incompetent, bigoted assholes. I think it's harder with the personality clashes, and I do see your point there Nigel, although I think there should be a time limit on it. In this case, the woman had worked in this dental office for ten years, so I'm not sure how she suddenly became such a distraction that he had to let her go. But in cases where you're attracted to a coworker? You suck it the fuck up and move on. It is possible to maintain a professional working relationship with someone you want to drag into bed; I've done it more than once (and hell, Pæs and I work in the same office!)

This woman's argument that she couldn't have been let go if she had been a man is, in this context, flawed because it assumes that business owners are never attracted to men. She presumes that there is never a situation in a small business setting where a business owner could be attracted to a male employee to such an extent that it jeopardizes the well-being of the owner and therefore of the business. That's manifestly incorrect.

Agreed, and that argument struck me as a little odd. I got what she was trying to say -- that it was a gender-based firing because her presumably heterosexual boss wouldn't have wanted to stick it to her if she'd been a man -- but the argument as she made it is flawed.

Here's the thing, though: It's perfectly possible for someone to A) grow bored with their marriage, B)find someone attractive whom they've spent ten years working with, and C) decide that after having such feelings for a long enough of period that it is affecting their productivity. It's not clear that there was any sort of sexual harassment going on before hand, and the woman claims that there was none. So, it's one of those things where, it's actually, I believe, perfectly acceptable. It SUCKS, but let's be honest here, if I was in a committed marriage, didn't want to fuck it up, and had the option of either not going into work for fear of lacking the self restraint necessary to maintain said professional relationship, or letting the person in question go, then Imma go with option B, sorry.

Maybe you, personally, can maintain that decorum. Not everyone can. Recognizing that and admitting it is not a fault. If the scenario had played out differently, and he spent the next five years making unwanted advances, and fired her anyway, which would be worse?

[no]

I'm gonna leave this thread here for a little while longer just so I can identify who most of the obvious trolls and assholes here are.

You have no idea where you are right now, do you? 

He lives a ren minste walk from me mum.  I was walking the family dog, who got loose and started wreaking havoc in Harket's yard. He stood on his porch laughing while I ran after that damn dog, and offered me coffee when I caught dog.

I like your version better.

Because Twid's version is the only possible scenario. You made the other part up. To sound less metal. You humble, metal, bastard, you. 

regret and RWHN -:lulz:

Rotary World Help Network?

When you say toppling the government, do you mean government in the sense that an American would say it or that a Brit would say it? Half the time when a Brit says government, they actually mean administration. But those Brits can't speak English and don't know the difference, of course. So do you speak English or not?

I mean government. I have a new system to put into place. And I speak abstract, mostly.

...
....
.....
......
.....
....
...
..
.


Imma get out my pokin' stick.