Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ChairmanPoo]

I got banned from the Bethesda Softworks forums for discussing actual ecology, mentioning that chemicals found in plastics were causing declines in polar bear populations due to buildup at somatic levels effecting the large carnivores, and disrupting sex hormone production, causing male bears to have smaller than necessary penises. (and even cited research notes.)  The moderators *INSISTED* that I was saying that you needed a massive mammoth schlong to do the job, and banned me over it.

That's odd; I can't find a single reference to polar bears having abnormally sized genitalia as a result of exposure to plastic toxins anywhere in the literature, open-access or otherwise. There are references to brittle bacula caused by exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls, but no evidence of actual breakage.

If you still have that peer reviewed literature handy, I'd be genuinely interested to see if they proposed any kind of endocrinological mechanism for this.

somehow I think that if you google "polar bears with abnormal size genitalia" you're going to see a lot of furry porn. Which you wont be able to unsee

[AzyWng]

Apparently whatever you google, if you go down to the very, very final pages of what comes up, Rule 34 falls into full effect.

Hooray.

[Yoink]

Re: Sociopath

Really now?  Pointing out the actual realities of things like neonicotinoid use--

I never disagreed with you on the pesticide issue, I really wouldn't be surprised. A lot of people stick to buying (or growing their own) organic produce and supporting farms with ethical practices for just that reason - however, I'm pretty sure I'm not rich enough for that sort of thing.
That's certainly not "torpedoing holes" into arguments against eating meat, though - why would you decide that, if it's impossible to live without causing some amount of harm, there's no point trying to minimise your impact altogether?
Hell, most everything a person does causes indirect harm and suffering somehow. I just paid my electricity bill, so that those dastardly electric-mongers can continue pumping out emissions in their efforts to keep the city powered.
We have gas here, too - for all I know it's fracked, and every time I turn on the stove and cook a meal I'm indirectly supporting the destruction of entire landscapes, along with whoever lives in them. 

But as bad as such practises are environmentally, there is still more excuse for them than the meat industry. And the dairy industry, but one step at a time, eh?
Replacing current energy needs with solar or hydro or other sustainable sources couldn't happen overnight, even though I'm pretty sure the research exists to do so. Ending meat could, though, if the entire population suddenly came to their senses and realised how entirely wrong and unnecessary it was.

The whole 'insects suffering due to pesticides' reminds me of that real knee-slapper of an anti-vego argument that was inexplicably popular for a while: plants can sense themselves being eaten, so therefore it's just as cruel as eating meat. *amused snort*
Sure, insects do suffer and that's bad, I would greatly prefer to buy pesticide-free food if I was able. But they would suffer either way, and even if you put their suffering on a par with that of the entire species of hooved 'n' feathered critters enslaved in farms and factories, if you could end half of the suffering by sparing the latter group that would be excellent progress.

And personally, I care more about the various mammalian and avian victims of the meat/dairy industry. I'm sure bugs can and do suffer, of course, but I personally doubt they feel emotions beyond duty to the hive. And at least they're free to buzz their way about the countryside and occasionally get tragically stuck into a bunch of pesticide-covered crops, unlike the cows and pigs who spend their entire lives as a commodity.

Also, I haven't researched this myself yet (mainly since the whole topic is pretty gross and depressing) but I've heard that the main reason meat contains more b12 than a veg diet is because of the secondhand hormones that are pumped into cattle to keep them alive long enough to grow sufficiently fat to slaughter.


...Anyway, I just woke up and started typing this reply, so if there are typos or other weirdness (usually caused by the phone keyboard I use but far easier to miss whilst half-asleep), bear with me.
Keyboard kept thinking I meant "parricide" instead of pesticide, even after I chose the latter several times. You're supposed to learn the more I use you, damnit!

Oh man, I just remembered I bought coffee yesterday. Excellent.


Re: Avarice, I don't actually know the guy IRL (although we'd probably get on okay being both degenerate savages from the rear end of the world - Australia being the arsehole and his islands being the taint or a particularly feisty genital wart or something idk), we'd just communicated quite a bit on one of his previous accounts some time before he became Avarice.
It had been a while, so when this person suddenly popped up calling me by name I didn't think of that at first, my panicky mind instead imagining all sorts of horrifying scenarios wherein people I knew in meatspace stumbled upon my Bay12 existence.

Anyway! That's a lengthy enough post to slap y'all lewdly in the face with.
Time for coffee.

[Rolan7]

That's right, they just knew one of your names...  I remembered that as them being a RL friend.  Eesh, I'm glad my RL (3 hours away, only talk online now) friends, who know my handle, don't post here.

Bit of a WTF:  One *does*, but I don't know under what name this time.  Or maybe he's just messing with me, heh.
Some of them are likely to read this, though, maybe even family members who don't let on.  That's the scary part.

I never disagreed with you on the pesticide issue, I really wouldn't be surprised. A lot of people stick to buying (or growing their own) organic produce and supporting farms with ethical practices for just that reason - however, I'm pretty sure I'm not rich enough for that sort of thing.
That's certainly not "torpedoing holes" into arguments against eating meat, though - why would you decide that, if it's impossible to live without causing some amount of harm, there's no point trying to minimise your impact altogether?

I'm not sure if that applies to Weird (I'm tired) but it's good advice in general.  It's so easy to see a hopeless situation and just... give in.  Accept it, maybe even use it.
It gets easier every year.  +Wis, but still lower than Heart.

But as bad as such practises are environmentally, there is still more excuse for them than the meat industry. _{And the dairy industry, but one step at a time, eh?}

Size is min-capped.  To make something actually subtle, you have to apply several layers of "subscript".
But I'm glad you didn't.  Jeez, I still somewhat regret you showing me the horrors of dairy farming, and yet it's better that I know.  It matters.  I even still buy it sometimes, but I know, and I prefer to buy from the good place near my hometown.
The hometown I'm moving back to, basically.

Fakedit:  That free-range stuff is pretty cool, Weird.  I get free range eggs and occasionally local meat, but most of the meat I eat comes from fast food joints...  Supporting the practices I don't like.  It's just so cheap and convenient, and morality goes out the window when I'm hungry and stressed on a long drive.  I should bring potato chips on trips like that...

I hope you buy free range potato chips!

I want to thank you for this, it was as entertaining as it was relevant!  Also, clever deescalation with humor, something I respect (;

[TheDarkStar]

Completely unrelated:
Self-coups are a thing.

[Yoink]

Tha
Bit of a WTF:  One *does*, but I don't know under what name this time.  Or maybe he's just messing with me, heh.
Some of them are likely to read this, though, maybe even family members who don't let on.  That's the scary part.

Haha, yeah, oh man. This is veering more into Terrified thread material. 
I know one friend of mine plays DF on occasion at least, but whether he would ever bother venturing onto the forums I do not know.
That's probably the meatspace friend whom I would feel least worried about discovering this online alter-ego, though. It's odd and kind of sad how, with just the filters of anonymity (well, not really anymore, ha) and obscurity, one tends to post far more personal things on a forum such as this than they would dare to irl, safe in the knowledge that no-one they really know is likely to read it.

Jeez, I still somewhat regret you showing me the horrors of dairy farming, and yet it's better that I know.

I know what you mean. I'm pretty sure that when I first heard a vague inkling of the situation I was just about to get stuck into a big bottle of tasty iced coffee, fresh from the store. >.>
I used to drink so much of that stuff. Pretty sure my rampant addiction to iced coffee made me somewhat lactose-intolerant anyway, heh.
Happily, though, my nearest supermarket started stocking a really nice brand of almond milk (though they avoid the term "milk") iced coffee. It's rather expensive, but not too expensive to buy as a treat now and then - and for my regular caffeine needs I've started drinking my coffee black, anyway.


...That video was pretty funny. I missed it earlier.
Reminds me of a local bread brand that did a similar ad a while back... might see if I can track it down on the 'tube.

Completely unrelated:
Self-coups are a thing.

Your posts needn't be related to the current derail, haha.
On another wtf I just realised I forgot to bring my washing in. It's been out there since Friday or Saturday. Whoooops.

[Rolan7]

I mean, my friends know I get drunk pretty often, heh.  And I've linked them various times to our tabletop stories, here.
One of them is, as I mentioned, (supposedly) an active poster, despite being banned.  Not that I mind, it just makes me investigate post histories on occasion, trying to figure out who it is.
It's probably "no man", he just likes to watch us squirm.  He's our main GM, what are the odds

... They aren't the ones I worry about.

[Reelya]

Not justifiable, but the current laws are still broken and the knee-jerk self-righteous thing prevents a sensible discussion to fix them. e.g. I read about a 17 y/o "pedo" who had consensual oral sex with his 15 y/o girlfriend. Charged with the same crime as 50 y/o man would be for molesting a 5 y/o. Clearly it's broken when those two things could ever be put in the same category.

Or the 16 y/o boy who shared nude photos back and forth with his g/f. In the state he's in 16 y/o's are automatically charged as adults for sexual offenses, so he's charged as being an adult sexually exploiting a minor and transmitting child porn. The minor being himself and the porn being photos of himself. This is just kinda nuts.

Laws are so strict now and crazy in some states, that if you took a photo of your nude baby you could be technically guilty of producing / posession child porn, with mandatory sentencing. Sure, they could argue that police have discretion to not report you, but that just means it's another "harass anyone you don't like" law, which they could throw at you at random if they don't like you for e.g. being an activist.

One article pointed out that if you were walking around with a live webcam uploading under some states new laws, and you saw someone raping a kid, you'd be mandatorily guilty of transmitting child porn, with no excuses allowed (because politicians got elected on "judges are too weak" arguments), and in fact you'd get a longer sentence than the actual rapist.

[Egan_BW]

Hooray for totally proportionate retribution.

[martinuzz]

Not justifiable, but the current laws are still broken and the knee-jerk self-righteous thing prevents a sensible discussion to fix them. e.g. I read about a 17 y/o "pedo" who had consensual oral sex with his 15 y/o girlfriend. Charged with the same crime as 50 y/o man would be for molesting a 5 y/o. Clearly it's broken when those two things could ever be put in the same category.

Or the 16 y/o boy who shared nude photos back and forth with his g/f. In the state he's in 16 y/o's are automatically charged as adults for sexual offenses, so he's charged as being an adult sexually exploiting a minor and transmitting child porn. The minor being himself and the porn being photos of himself. This is just kinda nuts.

The only one molesting children in those cases, is the state.

[EnigmaticHat]

The sex offender registry is also messed up.  Since it fails to list what people did*, people who committed relatively benign crimes get lumped in with pedophiles.

*not that listing criminal's exact crimes and place of residence on the internet would be good, mind you

[Draignean]

How is the new Star-Trek this bad?

[wierd]

The vision of its creator was lost when the creator, and those who worked with him, died or left the franchise.

Now, it is just CBS/Paramount looking for money.


That's how. (It's also why fan-made tribute offerings look and feel more like the real thing, than the official offerings from the franchise holders.)

[hector13]

Bloody coin-operated washer in my apartment building is knackered again 'cause the coin insert slider thing is stuck.

Why it didn't strike the person what did it to put a fucking note on it so I don't put my washing and detergent in is beyond me.

Took them two weeks to fix the other machine that broke last time, though that was 'cause of operational difficulties rather than the incessantly fucked coin slider on this one.

I s'pose the spirit of Mondays is alive and well, even if I never have to work on them.

[Steelmagic]

My dog is afraid of fire hydrants. I don't know what it is about them, but he doesn't like.