Skeptical

That's actually really cool. Folk metal, but the vocals remind me of Static X, or even Fafara.

Slayer: Disciple.

That's why you should get a dog too big to steal. Believe me, not many people would want to screw around with 80+ pounds of muscle and teeth with an amazingly high pain threshold and very little fear.

Even after a string of what could be seen as "Gay, straight, or lying" posts? I hate everyone equally :grin: Just reminded me. Not related to the thread at all. I did not intend to imply that people were lying about their sexual orientation, just that in my experience bisexuality seems to be a stage on the way to homosexuality. (Note: small sample group - less than ~5 people - no formal records, no outside corroboration.)

At that point, doesn't it become a freedom of speech issue? We can't/don't yet arrest people for "thoughtcrime" so really, the freedom to make your opinions known is still the most important part of a functioning democracy and the base of healthy social dissent. Or just personal taste. If someone expresses an opinion it doesn't necessarily mean that everyone else has to accept it, and they still have the freedom to express an opposing opinion. It's only a freedom-of-speech issue if one side becomes regulated by a government. Though personally, I dislike straight guys that overemphasize their heterosexuality. If anything they're more annoying because it's encouraged of them. Both sides can be pretty bad. No, regulation of speech by non-governmental organizations such as the media, religious institutions, schools, corporations, etc., is still a violation of freedom of speech. That sounds an awful lot like censorship to me, although I am curious to see how it is justified. It hardly seems inferior than the traditional stance of justifying one's position through humorous dismissal of others arguments.

That made me angry. Now some little girl doesn't get her cat, some cat doesn't get a home with a girl who loves her, and the animal shelter is stuck with another cat. Everyone loses, because some dip[cabbage] followed the rules too closely?

I have nothing but anecdotal evidence to offer in support of it, but my hypothesis is that stating one's sexual orientation as bisexual is likely a step towards homosexuality, a stage when sexual confusion must be very difficult to sort through. One again, I have nothing but anecdotal evidence concerning that.

At that point, doesn't it become a freedom of speech issue? We can't/don't yet arrest people for "thoughtcrime" so really, the freedom to make your opinions known is still the most important part of a functioning democracy and the base of healthy social dissent.

WTF. If I was a cat, I'd be happy to be owned by a little girl who wanted to hug me. Background info we're missing here?

Unless the neoliberals abolish minimum wage, not for a long while. It's likely to become more and more automated, in my opinion, but when service-sector workers make so little money, it's hard to justify the expense in switching to more automated systems.

Directly the result of this thread: I consumed a Big Mac yesterday, for the first time in a good many years. It wasn't quite as horrible as I remembered, but it's still certainly not food, although I was informed by a friend that it was "improperly prepared". (Actual quote: "[bleep] dude, that Mac is all [bleep]ed up and [cabbage].")

Piracy. Huge penalties because you have created copies of a few songs.

That didn't read as sarcasm, but I'm uncertain since I've never denied any of those things.

Don't worry, your elitist [cabbage] isn't wasted on us simpletons. We get more irritated with you than we let on. I was poking fun at myself. And I'll admit it: I have very little tolerance for what I consider stupidity. People have been coddled (myself included) by feel-good-television and well-meaning parents, who have taught them that not only do their views need to be tolerated, they also need to be respected or agreed with. I have no idea where this paradigm of compromise and extreme tolerance comes from, but deny it with every fiber of my being. Have the strength to stand up for your (logically reached) conclusions about the world, and fewer of us will need to allow others to speak for us.

The tools for conducting DDoS attacks are also getting more sophisticated. But I partially agree: really, they need to work towards something, instead of just angrily lashing out.

Ah. The irony: my inability to distinguish between the regularly encountered form of idiocy and the particularly irritating brand of idiocy that trolls employ results in me contributing idiocy of my own. More or less on topic, I do find it interesting that the Glen Beck & Misinterpreted Adam Smith crowd demands smaller government, less taxes, governmental involvement, etc., at which point they promptly switch to proclaiming their right to decide whether or not a woman must carry a child, no matter how accidental or ill-advised the pregnancy is. And I know for a fact that there is a particularly impressive brand of idiot that supports the Catholic Church in denying abortions in response to incestuous, under-age rape.

Parents pretend that they're using it as a punishment, whereas in reality, they're using it as a method to express their anger. And that's exactly what you want to teach your children: that violence, pain, punishment, anger, guilt and fear of authority are all inextricably linked.

When you're going to bed, and you have no idea what you did with your time all day.

Transmission by Static X

Your assumption that a child inherits their parents skills is grossly distorted: I would not go so far as to say that there is no link, but consider the fact that children of great musical acts are not all great musicians themselves, the same with writers, artists, etc. I do understand that you find that fascinating piece of information (can you detect my disdain of a celebrity-obsessed culture?) relevant to the topic, but I still consider it irritating to find a perfectly on-topic, flowing debate interrupted by a post that seems to have no purpose other than interrupting. My lack of pop-culture knowledge does seem to be a considerable handicap: what chances at discovery, moments of wondrous contemplation to be had in concerning myself with the pseudo-religious worship and endless interest in the rise and nearly inevitable fall of those whom we raise above us on merit of their... celebrity. I feel quite open-minded: I have considered your "culture" evaluated it, and then decided that it is not for me, and is likely not in the best interests of humanity. Will I deny you the opportunity to continue with it? Never, and would support your right to do so as vehemently as my own right to abstain from it.

I like accents: they're a part of English (of any language, really), and a reminder of its roots, and evolution around the globe.

I find tattoos attractive, but usually not the girl that they're on attractive. Nice teeth are very attractive.

When we stop letting idiots own guns, we will no longer have teenagers shot for egging cars or children shooting themselves or others while playing around with a relatives gun. If you want to own a gun "like your daddy did" please don't pretend that it's because you think it will stop criminals: it never has, and it never will. In a back alley, someone pulls a gun on you: you manage to pull your Tek-9 out from underneath your jacket at shoot some crackhead in the face before he pulls the trigger, all so that you don't have to hand over a Visa that can be canceled within 10 minutes.

I'm not sure that they factored in immigration that causes way too many problems. Or a huge populace. Except statistics don't support those "problems", and I don't think that the American population has reached critical levels yet. But that's alright, we'll just alter the fundamental rights and values of what used to be the most free society in the world because a few Republicans are afraid of brown people.

And that is the reason that the American Dream is dead: Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.... for me and my own.