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I didn't really play Mario Bros. But this is too cool to not post - the bassoon kids are alright.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gXh83hNnWw

Zenpatista is just an American chasing a dream.  He's just running with the top down and the music up.  He's just trying to smile and say "welcome to America," but he speaks through a shotgun and your head falls off.  He's just shaking hands with the severed arm of the future.

Would I deprive a starving person of food? No. Do I not tend the sick and give water and refreshment to those with thirst? Of course.

What, then, would you have me do for those with other needs? John Lennon said it, love is all you need. This is what is given to all. And it's given at high velocity to those that demand it.

Fact:  The commander of The Tucson Irregulars, one "Remy" (probably not his real name), carries the title of "The Tongue."  He even LOOKS like a tongue.  If a tongue had hair.  And eyeballs.  None of his teeth point the same direction and he has been observed eating an apple through a chain link fence.  Once, when cornered by the FBI, he lost all cohesion and poured down a storm drain.  Despite all this, he is as human as you or I (assuming you also live in Tucson, obviously), it's just that we all live in a yellow submarine.  Only it's baby-shit brown, takes up 1000 square miles, and none of your rules apply here.

When dealing with someone from Tucson, ask them to show you their tongue.  If it looks back at you, it's Remy and you have been contacted by the irregulars.  He may or may not at that point attempt to do immoral things.  Because he's a tongue.

Remy is an asshole. He talks and talks and talks. All you hear is the blathering. He usually starts out making sense but every now and then he says something spacey enough to throw you onto a tangent. By the time your brain has recovered you realize that he's still talking and something has happened. You start to wonder if you'll do anything to shut him up. Sometimes you tune out the verbal onslaught and find yourself napping or daydreaming but that's when the screaming starts. Not a lot, just a jolt here and there. At that point, you're not even sure if he's the one doing the screaming. Apparently, it was during one such time that I signed up for the Irregulars. Rumor has it that he used to be a college instructor but drove his class catatonic during the first lecture. Some of the students still haven't recovered. There is no known corporal punishment in the irregulars. Just the comically labeled "scolding".

ps. Signing up didn't stop the talking.

"Trust No One" is the motto of science. In the big picture, it means that I don't have to believe your results. I can do the experiment myself. In fact, it means that I don't have to believe all of your detailed conclusions either. Although I do need to trust and believe your results. I don't mind reading your conclusions and I respect that you're probably the best person to interpret your results - in a well-regarded peer reviewed journal that is. However, I reserve the right to think about what your results mean in my own twisted vision of how things work. It's a complicated, messy and beautiful world and you're not going to figure anything out by taking someone's half-baked conclusions for granted.

I like all of this


it's like there's two tiers of knowledge - what's given to you, and what you create in yourself

Yes! Results and Conclusions really shouldn't be mixed. One of the great tragedies of modern scientific publishing is merging the two sections together. It makes it too easy to accept the entire paper. There was a famous professor here who used to teach, "there's something wrong with every paper - we just don't know what." That wrong bit is almost always in the conclusion. The trick is to get young scientists to be careful between these two sections, especially when reading someone else's paper. The results are irrefutable. I mean, maybe you messed up the experiment or didn't set it up correct, but the data is the data. What you think it means, however, and how you interpret it is an entirely different thing. You may be correct in your conclusions, but you may only be close to correct. 

So, too much nitrogen base /can/ replace ammonium sulphate?

No, not really. But there's enough other sources of nitrogen and sulfur that the critters can limp along. They're doing a lot better with proper food.

When I am at a computer that isn't acting like it's full of Russians and randomly rebooting, I will tell you the tale of how I got a 102% in freshman physics because I got all the experiments wrong.  So tomorrow, when I'm supposed to be working.

I'm hoping it involves being on fire and discovering that it's a productive, pleasurable and time-melting state. I mean, I'm remembering you got sent on an impossible assignment? But I can't remember any of the details. You should write it up!

Once again, I learned the value of "Trust No One". This is the most important thing I teach science students. It's a generic response to "I tried everything and nothing works." It's certainly better than what I'm muttering through clenched teeth when I hear those complaints....

"Trust No One" is the lab motto. New students (young scientists) sometimes react against this. It's nothing personal. It's just that after a life time of messing up experiments, I've learned that every single experiment works. Every. Single. One. It's just that they don't always work out the way *you* want them too. Why don't they always work out? Well, that involves troubleshooting which takes time, money and experience. Something went bad - the reagents, the equipment, the protocol.... something got roached. After running through the troubleshooting game for a decade or two you start finding a trend to the problems. "I borrowed so-and-so's water. He said it was sterile." Or, "I thought all the cuvettes were the same." Or, "The pressure filter was slow so I used the suction filter - it was weird how foamy it got." Well, that explains why I'm not able to purify the protein. The protein won't be purified now because it's been turned into latte-topping.

"Trust No One" is the motto of science. In the big picture, it means that I don't have to believe your results. I can do the experiment myself. In fact, it means that I don't have to believe all of your detailed conclusions either. Although I do need to trust and believe your results. I don't mind reading your conclusions and I respect that you're probably the best person to interpret your results - in a well-regarded peer reviewed journal that is. However, I reserve the right to think about what your results mean in my own twisted vision of how things work. It's a complicated, messy and beautiful world and you're not going to figure anything out by taking someone's half-baked conclusions for granted.

"Trust No One" means taking responsibility for your own actions, experiments and thinking.

Today, I learned that transgenic yeast cells will still grow when you use 4x too much "yeast nitrogen base" and zero ammonium sulphate in the synthetic growth media. I saw the comment on the jar about needing to add ammonium sulphate. Instead, I trusted the notebook from the student who started the project. The manual didn't specify much in the way of media and my cells grew anyway. Slowly, and to a smaller extent than expected.

"Trust No One" indeed.

As something of a side issue from the OP, I wanted to enunciate some of the reasons I keep coming back here, to this den of discordia. First, there are some great discussions in the archives. Educational and erudite, fun and vindictive and gleefully savage at times. There's a lot to be gleaned from there. Second, I very much liked the rants in Or Kill Me and the content of the BIPs and now Holy Nonsense. I think this should be required reading for adulthood.

But the real reason I keep coming back is that there are a lot of examples of clear thinking in the face of "whataboutism" and other nonsense. I've been confronted with a ton of crap arguments in my time and I've been the kind of guy that just lets things lie. But sometimes, I get this sick feeling that a conversation online or at work just wasn't right. And at the time I usually hold my tongue and don't call out the BS. Honestly, I don't usually see it clearly as BS until later - sometimes hours or even days later. So, I'm frequently impressed by people's ability to quickly jump back with an on target counterpoint. This doesn't seem to have much to do with discordianism, but everything to do with arguing clearly and knowing yourself and your values. That's a huge advantage to the old guard PD over the meme kids.

The idea that there's a pending civil war or at least unrest continues to bother me. I wanted to thank you for posting some numbers. It helps me see that I'm not too far different in opinion. I'm glad Mueller's case is building a deep foundation. I'm hoping it's so clear that even the deniers have to accept Trump's presumed guilt. I'm just worried a substantial number of militias will go nuts, declare it all fake news and count on getting pardoned if they do anything illegal.

It seems also likely that these camps will persist, unseen, while we figure out WTF is going on in the US.

Where do you think the various institutions would side? I'm hoping most of the national guards (i.e., state militias) would follow the state rather than federal or presidential edicts. Border patrol and ICE seem pretty happy with their first class tickets on the Trump train. Local law enforcement? I dunno, Tucson is remarkably "cool" about a lot of things. Our PD to the north are pretty awful though.

Unrelated note - I'm ok with comments about my writing. It's something I wish I was better at and I'm hoping for feedback. Please PM or post.

I think the meme kids who have embraced Discordianism have their own lessons to figure out. This site is there for them if and when they grow up a bit and decide to stop being edgelords. Eris doesn't care about them and I think it'd be unwise to assume she cares about me either. Discordianism in all it's variants will likely go on, thankfully.

To the OP question - I don't have the hubris to think I'm going to, or able to "save" Discordianism. The situation reminds me of all those old surf rats who knew that putting an iron cross on your board was sure to piss off the squares (yes, I'm old). Many of them didn't know about Nazis or fascism, they just wanted to honk "the man's" nose. Surfing as a culture has morphed and evolved but also persisted. I suspect the same will happen with Discordianism.

That being said, I think there's something valuable and important to the concept of horrormirth as a coping mechanism in dark times. Has Trump sold us out to the Russians and we're witnessing the rebirth of state funded, internal fascism in the US? Sure. But that doesn't mean we can't laugh at the fucker and poke fun at his hypocrites.

I am humbled by your efforts QG. I can't think of anything else to say other than that you have my lasting admiration for your courage and will.

I am currently only accepting compliments on the writing :P

Good. I can do that.

Your writing is written by a wonderful person. And the writing itself is similarly wonderful. I am pleased to share my planet with you.

Me too. I'm sure a lot of people feel the same on this. It captures a lot of what should be in a pamphlet on "how to protest". It really needs to be widely shared.

I like how the sentences go from short to long to short in places. It feels like the reader is on the subway - stop and go - and then it's a mad rush out to the gathering area. It's hard to read it without tearing up. I've had to read it quickly in spots because the words get blurry. It's hard to compliment the writing without also complimenting the writer and the action. I very much like the imagery. The details make it seem like you're there. Somehow I imagine a little kid shaking the hand of a politico and looking polite but serious. There's a great motivational and inspirational quality to it all.

I can publicly admit to signing petitions but I don't think they really do anything. It's a click or two - doesn't take long but equally doesn't have any chance of doing anything. I remember getting fired up about W years ago and petitions were how I got connected with groups that were actually doing things. Nowadays it seems like a lot of people are angry but *still* not ready to scream for impeachment. Or an end to citizens united, or unwarranted wiretaps, or drone bombing with "collateral damage", or any of a ton of other issues.

The "shame" chanting in the restaurant though - brilliant.

I'm honestly worried that the lines are drawn up for the next civil war. I'm hoping that Mueller is smart enough to make the case solid and timed right. I hope to hell he knows what he's doing. But at this point I think an impeachment will bring militia uprisings and martial law a very near inevitability. We are knee deep in the fascism now and people be walking around like, "meh".

It's a good thing that Hillary would be just as bad.  Or words to that effect.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/advocates-say-detained-migrant-parents-are-told-if-you-want-to-see-your-children-agree-to-leave/ar-AAz9JOi?ocid=spartanntp

Yeah - HRC would *clearly* have been just as bad. She would have those kids sold off to the pizza kitchens. </sarcasm>

Oh you poor fellas. What's wrong? Wife is all up in arms over kids in cages and you just can't seem to explain why you "know better" and "just vote the way you're told"? #Trumpjail is what they're calling it now. Ooh, better not let her hear that! You'll really catch it then!

Look, you chanted it. CBP heard you. Well, it's not my fault you weren't more specific. Loud and clear you were. 100+ decibels of riotous, roiling hate - completely ignorant of the rule of law. Well, now you get to own it. "Lock her up", you shouted. Chanted along with the mob mentality of the rest of the inmates. We couldn't have mean mommy as President. It was difficult enough for the previous 8. Aw, poor broflake. When you were chanting "Lock her up" I guess CBP got a little confused? Maybe they think this is OK because they were distractedly drooling over their new wall? Oh didn't you hear your glorious yellow-stained (that's not gold y'all - just saying) leader did an in depth study with local and regional law enforcement and leading border experts? Psyche!! Hahaha yeah right. No, my "friend", what you got was what you wanted. You screamed for this. Hollered yourself hoarse for it. Presidents are package deals and you got the entire thing. Now you get to own it.

Now look, I know you may be thinking "What about this?" and "What about that?" "What about how Hillary colluded with the aliens to hide the evidence of her killing spree at the Vatican....?" Nope. Uh-uh. Sorry dude. "B-B-b-b-but Obama bombed weddings!" OK. I'll agree with you on that one. And he got a peace prize to boot. Sheesh! But here's the thing. Obama was a President of the US and all that that entails. I'm cognizant of the huge (yuge) number of drone bombing assassinations carried out President Obama. Do you think they stopped? No. Does that make them all "correct"? No. But before Obama we hadn't had a decent president in a *long* time. I'm not making excuses. However, if there is one thing a decent electorate can handle, it's the subtle, nuanced (or hypocritical and not-so-nuanced) flavor of the proffered shit sandwich that is US politics. Go on. Take a bite. Nutty? Find a corn kernel or two? That's presidential right there.

No, we don't deal in "Whatbaoutisms". We don't stoop to "But but but..." Why? Because there is still a difference between the presidents. Some are a complete shit show, literally trolling their base from a porcelain throne while children rot in #Trumpjail. Others may have been the best president we've ever had. Room for improvement in Obama? Oh hell yes. But still possibly the best president we ever had. Probably not better than Carter though. And HRC would probably have given him a run for that title. She too would probably have done a great many things that piss me off but she would easily have been better than the current circus.

But right now? Kids in camps? and your "news channel" arguing *for* it? Are you agreeing with them? This administration is different. Exceptionally worse - like worse than Nixon. God, I miss Nixon. Instead of locking up Hillary for crimes she didn't commit and wasn't tried for, y'all locked up little girls for the crime of having a parent that wanted asylum. "Lock her up" indeed. Own it you savages. That's all on you. Little kids sleeping in cages in space blankets. Space blankets. That reminds me, did you hear about "space force"?

So I got stuck cleaning out a walk in fridge / freezer. The freezer room in the back has been especially full of surprises. This is in an old (1960s era) biological science building. So far, I've encountered a lot of mold, tritium labeled sugars, highly toxic proteins (like ricin, but from a different plant), and an open vial of 32P labeled ATP. The good news is that the tritium labeled stuff was barely radioactive and sealed up correctly. The 32P-ATP was about a decade old so probably no longer at the 100 mCi on the label and even the original amount is not bad if you're handling it correct. As a wise man often says, "This is all normal." What I really wanted to share was this pic though. https://postimg.cc/image/x8j85dpgt/

I don't know this Kang character, but my compliments on the Easter egg.

I like this a lot. Sometimes when the card transaction takes longer than usual, I picture a bunch of AIs screwing with me. Like there were two "teenage" AIs trying to compete and see how long they can make a meatsack wait at the checkout before freaking out.

Don't ask me how one "pictures" AIs bickering. I'm hoping Dok will bring that to life.

It's even better that they're doing this for my own sake. "Let's make Z wait 10 seconds extra so he avoids stubbing his toe on the asphalt in the parking lot that's about to be kicked to the curb by the car of a driver we've distracted by playing a song he hates and making him swerve a bit as he adjusts his radio."