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361
The Flood / Let's talk about Jon Snow
« on: June 21, 2015, 01:33:54 PM »
So I'm actually starting to think he's legitimately dead, at least his human body. He's a skinchanger so he definitely became Ghost when he died, but it's known that skinchangers lose the ability to warg when their body dies; they live out their life as the animal, with just a faint memory of their past life.

Let's look at how GRRM resurrects main characters: Catelyn Stark becomes Lady Stoneheart, playing a relatively small role, enacting revenge for her family's murder; The Hound finds peace tending to the dead at Quiet Isle monastery; The Mountain becomes a Frankenstein's monster-type soldier.

Each time a character is brought back, it's because they were important enough to deserve a bit more than just death and in doing so, their character arc is better resolved. Of course Melisandre could revive him, though I think we're starting to see that her power and interpretation of events is often a sham. And what purpose does Jon serve? Is he going to rally the Night's Watch and stop the invasion? Nope, the Wall will fall, and the White Walkers are gonna fuck shit up. They have to; that's the overarching conflict of the series, and is ultimately going to bring the characters together and decide which faction ends up on top.

I have no doubt that the GoT producers could successfully cover up Jon's resurrection, but I just don't think it's going to happen in any plot-defining manner.

362
The Flood / Series with perfect endings?
« on: June 20, 2015, 03:56:25 PM »
Most shows either long outlive their time and just sort of fizzle out, or try to force an abrupt and disappointing end. Post some series you've seen that ended perfectly. I'll start:

The Office
YouTube


Scrubs
YouTube



I've heard Mad Men's ending was great, but I haven't finished it because half of the last season isn't on Netflix yet.

363
The Flood / Kung Fu Panda 3 is happening
« on: June 19, 2015, 10:05:54 PM »
YouTube


This belongs in Serious for its numerous cultural and artistic themes.

364
Serious / Take down the flag
« on: June 19, 2015, 05:57:15 PM »
A white guy killed a bunch of black people, so now it's time to take down the Confederate Battle Flag, which is also the state flag of South Carolina.

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/remove-the-confederate-3?source=s.icn.fb&r_by=2130022

What're your thoughts on this?

365
Serious / US bans trans fats
« on: June 16, 2015, 04:16:05 PM »
No, not obese Bruce Jenners.

In 3 years, companies are expected to have reformulated their food products to exclude trans fats. Trans fats are the "bad fats", in the sense that they are solid at room temperature and pose a significant health risk to consumers. Heart disease is the leading cause of death here, so I'm actually totally behind this long-awaited ban.

Specific foods will require petitions to be approved for trans fat ingredients. I'm thinking this will include things like butter or lard.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-16/u-s-bans-trans-fat-in-a-boost-for-palm-oil-and-a-blow-for-pie

366
The Flood / Parks and Rex
« on: June 13, 2015, 08:34:48 PM »
Didn't suck. Wasn't great. Terrible characters and writing, but the last fight at the end was worth it.

367
Serious / Getting angry about oil spills
« on: June 11, 2015, 04:57:18 PM »
Just saw a post on Facebook about a celebrity complaining about taking his daughter to the beach in Santa Barbara. She got oil on her feet, and he personally blamed the executives for animal deaths and his daughter being scarred for life.

Of course, this is probably after he drove his gas-powered car, typing on a computer and living in a house powered by oil and coal, in between tours where he flies on jets that burn a hundred thousand pounds of fuel each day.

It's so easy to bitch about oil because it's dirty and dangerous and makes people rich, but oil spills happen, often by no real fault of anyone in particular. I'm all about nuclear power and less reliance on oil, but oil is never going away, at least not in the foreseeable future. So let's be adults about disasters, and instead of shaking our fists at rich executives, deal with our problems with as little hypocrisy as possible.

368
The Flood / Meta's porn folder
« on: June 10, 2015, 07:10:43 PM »


Probably looks something like this.

369
Serious / If you're a man, you're part of rape culture
« on: June 07, 2015, 07:08:39 AM »
https://medium.com/human-parts/a-gentlemens-guide-to-rape-culture-7fc86c50dc4c

Prepare yourself.

Some guy posted the following comment, and was subsequently shut down by several women telling him his viewpoint is invalid because he's a man:
Spoiler
Quote
The better article is the primary source this guy cited: http://www.oneinfourusa.org/statistics.php

The secondary picture of the facts given by this guy is riddled with rigid gender categories and further bound up in some uncritical acceptance of gender essentialism. Statements like "How are you part of rape culture? Well, I hate to say it, but it’s because you’re a man" or "women spend most of their social lives with ever-present, unavoidable feelings of vulnerability" are sweeping generalizations that reduce any person of that gender's agency to null. In fact, according to the language used here, rape culture is some primordial, foundational feature of reality that can't be escaped, even if we do (and should) give proper deference and respect to each individual's sexual agency and identity. Yet, it's not the everyday man who walks down the street who perpetuates rape culture - according to the same stats cited by our author, fraternity males are three times more likely to engage in this kind of injurious behavior. Indeed, the ones who commit these acts are usually men who premeditate the act, use alcohol to incite the situation, and are generally of malicious and manipulative disposition. So it should be unsurprising that these specific types of behavioral disposition in men would correlate closely to the profile of a rapist or someone who perpetuates rape culture. Yet, these individuals are in no way representative of the entire male population. To even call it "rape culture" is to accept its socially constructed and malleable nature. The solution is not to blame men in a monolithic swath, nor to victimize all women as by-definition vulnerable in the same breath - the crux of the rape culture issue is completely in the hands of the small minority of chauvinistic and manipulative men who have been brought up (and will bring their children up) in that constructed social reality, all of which further propagates the problem. These types of psychological deficiencies - like racism - are not essential or necessary features of the physiological and sociological features that make a man "a man."

Aside from my problem with camping gender into inescapably rigid binaries that propagate some sort of necessary psychological features to each party, I will say that any and all articles that properly cite harrowing rape statistics are on the right track. Just be wary of statements and arguments that would revoke your agency to defect from these regressive "cultures."

My question about this whole discussion is, how is this conversation happening in modern America? If anyone dared to write a similar article about white people being victimized by racial minorities, like being scared to walk down the street at night and pass some black guy in a hoodie, they'd get called a racist. But here it's perfectly okay to say that all men need to do whatever they can to make other women feel comfortable in their presence.

By the definition presented in the article, we do not have a rape culture. Rape is universally vilified, reporting rates are on the rise, rape laws are as sophisticated as ever, and are still improving. Name one popular television show or movie that normalizes rape rather than making it the most heinous act one person could do to another -- and let me clarify that I'm only referring to women getting raped, since male rape is a running gag in Hollywood.

I really don't take part in these discussions usually, but this article just stood out.

370
The Flood / What're you drinking?
« on: June 06, 2015, 09:46:18 PM »
It's Saturday. Time to drink.

Mine: Glenlivet 12, neat.

371
Serious / All philosophies are metaphysical
« on: June 04, 2015, 06:26:27 PM »
Some are just more honest about it.

One of us, Meta.

372
Gaming / Bloodborne: wrong ending
« on: June 01, 2015, 08:58:16 PM »
Obviously endgame spoilers for those that haven't finished the game.



I got all four umbilical cords and ate them, but after killing Gehrman I ended up with the bad ending where the hunt begins again, replacing him as the hunter's guide. What possible other actions were there? All optional bosses were killed, as well.

nvm, I'm a scrub and only ate two. The others were in my inventory. I had a save file uploaded before the fight so it's not a big deal.

373
The Flood / Game of Thrones in 5 minutes
« on: May 31, 2015, 07:56:47 PM »


Who's ready to throw some books in the trash?

374
Serious / Women should be in infantry
« on: May 30, 2015, 09:01:20 PM »
Women in Ranger School fail to finish grueling course
Quote
All eight women vying to become the first female Army Rangers failed to complete the requirements to go on to the next phase of the grueling course, the Army said.

The women were admitted to the two-month class as part of a broader effort by the Pentagon to lift the ban on female soldiers serving in "ground combat" jobs, such as the infantry.

Initially, 19 women had volunteered to enter the course when it was opened to women last month. Of those, 11 failed to complete the first four-day phase of the course.
Fourteen women have tried, and failed, the Marines’ Infantry Officer Course. Here’s why.
Quote
But there came a point when I could not persuade my body to perform. It wasn’t a matter of will but of pure physical strength. My mind wanted more, but my muscles quivered in failure after multiple attempts. I began to shiver as I got cold. I was told I could not continue.

“If members of our military can meet the qualifications for a job — and let me be clear, I’m not talking about reducing the qualifications for the job . . . then they should have the right to serve,” then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said when he rescinded the direct-combat exclusion rule last year.

Last IOC in Marine infantry experiment drops female officers
Quote
The two-and-a-half year period in which the Marine Corps' Infantry Officer Course became gender-integrated for research will end without a single female graduate.

The final iteration of IOC to accept female Marines on a volunteer basis began April 2 with two female participants. One was a volunteer and one was a member of the newly integrated ground intelligence track.

Both were dropped that same day during the grueling initial Combat Endurance Test

...Only if they meet the standards. Which they can't. Sorry ladies; it's not sexist to say that the well-above-average woman cannot meet the standards of strength of endurance required. And that's not disparaging -- the vast majority of men can't, either.

375
Gaming / Bloodborne co-op: help me kill Ebriatas
« on: May 30, 2015, 10:59:01 AM »

Level 84, stuck on Ebrietas. If you're >94, I can level up a few times with the echoes I already have or farm some more quickly. Random matches keep dying, and I've fought this boss at least ten times solo. Can't survive the charge attack.

Hop on and help a turkey out. Username's HurtfulTurkey. I'll make a password once I know someone's willing.

376
The Flood / Waffle House vs. IHOP
« on: May 25, 2015, 09:13:40 AM »
It's Memorial Day so everything is closed except chains. My town is garbage so the only breakfast chains it has are Waffle House and IHOP. Convince me that one is better than the other.


377
The Flood / Protect your kids from Sep7agon predators
« on: May 23, 2015, 05:59:19 PM »
YouTube


Is your child sexting? Getting stalked by predators on Yugioh chatrooms? Going to the Hooters website? Well then you need Spector Pro. You can spy on everything your child does online, including all the shitty porn sites he goes to because he doesn't know how to find the good stuff.

I'm happy knowing that I'm safe from all the memes and child predation of the internet.

378
So there's been a bit of backlash against the black actor being cast as a character that has always been white. His family is white in all iterations of the comic, and is white in all iterations of shows and films. In the film, Franklin Storm is black, and his wife is presumably white. Sue Storm is very fair-skinned, Johnny is very dark-skinned. Whatever. Genetics and stuff. Here's his response:

Quote
“Sometimes you have to be the person who stands up and says, ‘I’ll be the one to shoulder all this hate. I’ll take the brunt for the next couple of generations.’ I put that responsibility on myself. People are always going to see each other in terms of race, but maybe in the future we won’t talk about it as much.”

I'm sure there really are racists out there that oppose black people being cast as anything, but it doesn't seem like the issue is with Jordan being black, but the characters significantly diverging from the past. I personally don't care (if I recall, Nick Fury was originally white and nobody had an issue with Sam Jackson filling the role), and I think he'll do really well in the role, but I think he's being a bit dramatic about the racism of the situation.

379
Gaming / Controller died in Nightmare of Mensis
« on: May 20, 2015, 06:32:18 PM »
Apparently PS4 controllers require a bit of time charging before you can use them after being drained. Kind of a shitty design, IMO. I'm standing at the second lamp waiting to be invaded. RIP.

380
The Flood / Walkways are oppressive, apparently
« on: May 14, 2015, 09:50:32 AM »
Some kids at my university signed a petition to change walkway signs from saying Walk Only Zones. Basically they implemented this policy in high traffic areas to prevent bikes, scooters, or golf carts from causing accidents with pedestrians. But now people are saying it's oppressive, and a form of microaggression, because some people are disabled and can't walk.


381
Serious / We need the Patriot Act and the NSA.
« on: May 12, 2015, 11:46:14 AM »
I realize I'm not going to sway anyone completely, and that there's a lot of cultural distrust of the NSA and the Patriot Act. All of that is good, and you should be skeptical and resistant to what appears to be heavyhanded Big-Brother type domestic surveillance, but I want to lay out some details that a lot of people seem to not know.

First off, our surveillance practices are severely outdated. We as a country, and our representatives as a legislature, have failed to allow our intelligence programs to evolve with changing technology. The anonymous, autonomous analysis of metadata is less sophisticated and more hamstrung than modern data mining applications which you consent to on a daily basis through various social media and search platforms. In addition, the courts have ruled that no citizen can reasonably expect absolute privacy through the use of third-party telecom providers since 1979, and in fact this is the basis for police wiretap warrants, which are representative of the same process the NSA goes through to actually see data of calls or texts, except the approval process is more rigorous for the latter. It is incontestable that we as a global society have opted for faster flow of data and more personalized connections across the web, be it joint accounts over various platforms to simple targeted advertising we opt into on a daily basis.

It's a widely held belief that the NSA is abusive in its use of collected data; after all, didn't Edward Snowden's leak reveal a slew of illegal activity perpetrated by the government? Actually, no. The only misuse of NSA information was at the hands of Snowden himself. There is zero evidence of any abuse of data or violation of regulatory policies. In addition, the recent court ruling against certain metadata gathering practices did not say they were a violation of the Constitution.

I mentioned that metadata is sorted autonomously and anonymously, and that's true -- but what's striking about this isn't the potential for massive violation of privacy, but rather the complete opposite. The NSA doesn't even have the authority to use analysis algorithms to find suspicious trends, and in order to actually do a manual search on these records the NSA has to demonstrate a "reasonable, articulable suspicion of terrorism or another threat to national security." And of the 320 million citizens and tens of billions of calls and texts sent each year, the NSA only conducted 170 searches last year. Chances are your state's police department conducted far more searches, with far less significant reasons for doing so, in numbers orders of magnitude higher last year.

To put this in perspective, Google has more refined (and legal) databases and search functions than the NSA. One of the Muslim extremists participating in the attack in Garland sent a tweet with the hashtag #TexasAttack, and nobody in any law enforcement department saw this until after the attack. Meanwhile, one of dozens of advertisement programs will have already analyzed the hashtag and directed targeted advertisements at the user before the tweet even posted. President Obama himself, now decrying the NSA programs, recognizes that 9/11 may very well have been prevented if our intelligence programs weren't decades behind and had been able to have access to metadata -- and he's right. 9/11 was a massive ongoing operation and it may very well have been prevented or lessened if we didn't willfully and ignorantly handicap our intelligence agencies. In a time where the director of the FBI predicts thousands of grassroots Islamists in Americe already, it is important to recognize the need for these programs.

382
Serious / Hillary Clinton's sweeping ties to corruption
« on: May 10, 2015, 09:40:44 AM »
This is a WSJ Op-Ed piece which is behind a paywall, but copied in its entirety below. I've  placed the introduction and closing remarks in spoilers (because I don't think they're necessary to read), for those that don't want to read the whole article. The author is commenting on a recent book called Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich. Emphasis has been added to quoted passages.

Spoiler
I have read the Peter Schweizer book “ Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.” It is something. Because it is heavily researched and reported and soberly analyzed, it is a highly effective takedown. Because its tone is modest—Mr. Schweizer doesn’t pretend to more than he has, or take wild interpretive leaps—it is believable.

By the end I was certain of two things. A formal investigation, from Congress or the Justice Department, is needed to determine if Hillary Clinton’s State Department functioned, at least to some degree and in some cases, as a pay-for-play operation and whether the Clinton Foundation has functioned, at least in part, as a kind of high-class philanthropic slush fund.

I wonder if any aspirant for the presidency except Hillary Clinton could survive such a book. I suspect she can because the Clintons are unique in the annals of American politics: They are protected from charges of corruption by their reputation for corruption. It’s not news anymore. They’re like . . . Bonnie and Clyde go on a spree, hold up a bunch of banks, it causes a sensation, there’s a trial, and they’re acquitted. They walk out of the courthouse, get in a car, rob a bank, get hauled in, complain they’re being picked on—“Why are you always following us?”—and again, not guilty. They rob the next bank and no one cares. “That’s just Bonnie and Clyde doing what Bonnie and Clyde do. No one else cares, why should I?”

Quote
Mr. Schweizer writes of “the flow of tens of millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation . . . from foreign governments, corporations, and financiers.” It is illegal for foreign nationals to give to U.S. political campaigns, but foreign money, given as donations to the Clinton Foundation or speaking fees, comes in huge amounts: “No one has even come close in recent years to enriching themselves on the scale of the Clintons while they or a spouse continued to serve in public office.” The speaking fees Bill commands are “enormous and unprecedented,” as high as $750,000 a speech. On occasion they have been paid by nations or entities that had “matters of importance sitting on Hillary’s desk” when she was at State.

From 2001 through 2012 Bill collected $105.5 million for speeches and raised hundreds of millions for the foundation. When she was nominated, Hillary said she saw no conflict. President Obama pressed for a memorandum of understanding in which the Clintons would agree to submit speeches to State’s ethics office, disclose the names of major donors to the foundation, and seek administration approval before accepting direct contributions to the foundation from foreign governments. The Clintons accepted the agreement and violated it “almost immediately.” Revealingly, they amassed wealth primarily by operating “at the fringes of the developed world.” Their “most lucrative transactions” did not involve countries like Germany and Britain, where modern ethical rules and procedures are in force, but emerging nations, where regulations are lax.

How did it work? “Bill flew around the world making speeches and burnishing his reputation as a global humanitarian and wise man. Very often on these trips he was accompanied by ‘close friends’ or associates who happened to have business interests pending in these countries.” Introductions were made, conversations had. “Meanwhile, bureaucratic or legislative obstacles were mysteriously cleared or approvals granted within the purview of his wife, the powerful senator or secretary of state.”

Mr. Schweizer tells a story with national-security implications. Kazakhstan has rich uranium deposits, coveted by those who’d make or sell nuclear reactors or bombs. In 2006 Bill Clinton meets publicly and privately with Kazakhstan’s dictator, an unsavory character in need of respectability. Bill brings along a friend, a Canadian mining tycoon named Frank Giustra. Mr. Giustra wanted some mines. Then the deal was held up. A Kazakh official later said Sen. Clinton became involved. Mr. Giustra got what he wanted.

Soon after, he gave the Clinton Foundation $31.3 million. A year later Mr. Giustra’s company merged with a South African concern called Uranium One. Shareholders later wrote millions of dollars in checks to the Clinton Foundation. Mr. Giustra announced a commitment of $100 million to a joint venture, the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative.

It doesn’t end there. When Hillary was secretary of state, Russia moved for a bigger piece of the world uranium market. The Russians wanted to acquire Uranium One, which had significant holdings in the U.S. That meant the acquisition would require federal approval. Many had reservations: Would Russian control of so much U.S. uranium be in America’s interests? The State Department was among the agencies that had to sign off. Money from interested parties rolled into the foundation. The deal was approved. The result? “Half of projected American uranium production” was “transferred to a private company controlled” by Russia, which soon owned it outright.

What would a man like Vladimir Putin think when he finds out he can work the U.S. system like this? He’d think it deeply decadent. He’d think it weak. Is that why he laughs when we lecture him on morals?

Mr. Schweizer offers a tough view of the Clinton Foundation itself. It is not a “traditional charity,” in that there is a problem “delineating where the Clinton political machines and moneymaking ventures end and where their charity begins.” The causes it promotes—preventing obesity, alleviating AIDS suffering—are worthy, and it does some good, but mostly it functions as a middleman. The foundation’s website shows the Clintons holding sick children in Africa, but unlike Doctors Without Borders and Samaritan’s Purse, the foundation does “little hands-on humanitarian work.” It employs longtime Clinton associates and aides, providing jobs “to those who served the Clintons when in power and who may serve them again.” The Better Business Bureau in 2013 said it failed to meet minimum standards of accountability and transparency. Mr. Schweizer notes that “at least four Clinton Foundation trustees have either been charged or convicted of financial crimes including bribery and fraud.”
Spoiler
There’s more. Mrs. Clinton has yet to address any of it.

If the book is true—if it’s half-true—it is a dirty story.

It would be good if the public, the Democratic Party and the Washington political class would register some horror, or at least dismay.

I write on the eve of the 70th anniversary of V-E Day, May 8, 1945. America had just saved the world. The leaders of the world respected us—a great people led by tough men. What do they think now? Scary to think, isn’t it?


Basically, this alleges that there is a demonstrable string of evidence that the Clintons' have continued to exert massive amounts of power in global politics, raking in money simultaneously, while taking advantage of Hillary's positions as a senator and more importantly, Secretary of State. Punctuated by the recent scandal of Clinton's deletion of emails during her tenure in the State Department, this paints a very foreboding picture of the Clintons, and I urge anyone that is considering voting for her to reconsider.

383
The Flood / Triggered IRL
« on: May 04, 2015, 07:42:42 PM »
YouTube


Guy sings a funny song about being a rape baby and the manager breaks down into tears and yells that she's offended. 

384
Serious / Hume's Fork is self-refuting
« on: April 28, 2015, 01:08:55 PM »
Reference of who Hume is and some of his general ideas:

YouTube


In addition, Hume developed a method of classifying concepts as either empirical or abstract, with various subcategories therein, essentially boiling down to a conclusion that certainty cannot exist through the scientific method, and only those statements which are tautological can be certain. There are many essays on this, and many interpretations of it (the best attempt to deconflict his statements was done by Kant, in my opinion), but ultimately this is what Hume has to say about science and philosophy:
Quote
If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.

Ironically, Hume seems to have backed himself into a corner with this, since this statement isn't tautological, and at best it's merely sensory data he's interpreting. At worst, and most likely, it's little more than the same sophistry he urges us to commit to the flames. So it is self-refuting, and can be disregarded.

My hope with this thread is that you will go look up whatever you need to respond, but will refrain from specifically looking for rebuttals to this claim (though there really isn't a satisfactory one so far).

385
The Flood / Would Jedi bake a cake for a gay marriage?
« on: April 26, 2015, 07:30:45 PM »
Jedi are against marriage in general because love leads to the dark side (because reasons), so would the Jedi refuse to bake a cake for a gay marriage, or would they assert their rights under the Republic to refuse service?

386
The Flood / First pic of Jared Leto as the Joker (prepare yourself)
« on: April 24, 2015, 08:42:17 PM »


Well, shit.

387
The Flood / Babyfurs
« on: April 24, 2015, 07:02:59 PM »


So this is a thing.

388
Gaming / Watching Halo: Nightfall for the first time
« on: April 23, 2015, 05:48:38 PM »
Did it get that name because it's supposed to put me to sleep?

389
Serious / Parental rights of rapists
« on: April 19, 2015, 03:53:43 PM »
Scenario 1: A man rapes a woman, she gets pregnant and gives birth. Under any circumstances, should the rapist have any amount of custody over the child, and should he be required to pay child support?

Scenario 2: A woman rapes a man, she gets pregnant and gives birth. Who should get custody over the child, assuming both want it? Should the woman have to pay child support?

390
The Flood / I flew a plane today
« on: April 16, 2015, 08:58:58 PM »
I didn't even Allahu Ackbar into anything. Such a disappointment.

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