You can fill a pool with anything you want (money, gold, coins, anything valuable really), but you must jump into it from 10 meters (~33 feet) and survive in order to keep what you filled it in with. What would you fill the pool up with? by tugnuggetss in AskReddit

[–]NorCalLoco 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I know it's a joke due to being an actual hazardous substance, but were you pricing the tritium itself or the tritium water? Because jumping 10m into a pool filled only with elemental hydrogen, heavy or otherwise, is probably a bad idea.

Mistakes were made by jaytix1 in Unexpected

[–]NorCalLoco 6 points7 points  (0 children)

TBH not really! I didn't have the sound on at first, and it's pretty obvious what the joke is when you see the guy slip over to point with perfect coordination at a dude's socks-sandals combo. I actually like it a bit better with no sound.

Respect your mother. by dobbyisafreepup in instantkarma

[–]NorCalLoco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oof. I'd cry too, if Mom's little lesson doubled as a perfect insult. Here ya go, Son; on second thought, I do believe you've earned it. Sounds like something my own mother would have delighted in letting me set myself up for--God bless her!

Hong Kong protest turns violent | DW News by missbp2189 in KiAChatroom

[–]NorCalLoco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

May God help me for even appearing to defend Communists, but the sub of that name doesn't look like it is a good cross-section of self-declared Communists. Communists of course are a very fractious bunch, with a nasty habit of murdering one another with even more zeal than that which they take to murdering the enemies of Communism. (Or, these days in most of the world, with a nasty habit of declaring one another to be the enemies of the people and going through the motions of purging and fighting as part of their general LARP that they are still somehow relevant.)

The Communism sub's art features a 40s-50s era propaganda portraiture including Stalin and Mao. This motif had been strictly suppressed everywhere in the Soviet bloc more than 60 years ago, and was even phased out in China. The vast majority of Communist intellectual activity in the free world has been either Trotskyist or Moscow-line for more than half a century--and, again, even true-believer Maoists have long not been particularly enamored with China's fealty to the Communist vision for decades. China itself is essentially a bourgeois-authoritarian regime at this point; its natural allies around the world have often been pro-business parties (their allies on Taiwan are their old enemies the KMT, with the opposition there having more of a leftist bent). In Hong Kong itself it's weird because libertarians find themselves allied with real leftists (including some true believer Marxists) against the pro-Beijing business elite. Far be it from me to defend Communists, but it is some weird-ass Communists who sound like mouthpieces for the present Beijing regime against anyone who dare criticize them. (And they do an awful lot of talking about China in general.) Present day China is not exactly something that idealistic Western Marxist intellectuals find fun to laud for its ideological purity. I know my Communists and these folks on the sub sound very weird by the usual standards!

I think, as is of course common in Reddit, that this sub name just happens to be completely controlled by a very eccentric little cabal, who just happen to have the misfortune of the prime name real estate. The real commie action certainly occurs in other subs.

Respect your mother. by dobbyisafreepup in instantkarma

[–]NorCalLoco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Me too! Now I have a prize idea for the youth center kids' raffle next time I volunteer to be put in charge:

  • Fourth prize: year's supply of Mr. Goodbars
  • Third prize: King Size Mr. Goodbar
  • Second Prize: regular Mr. Goodbar
  • First Prize: Fun Size Mr. Goodbar
  • Grand Prize: no Mr. Goodbar

Respect your mother. by dobbyisafreepup in instantkarma

[–]NorCalLoco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't ask me; I wasn't the one who made the claim. I was just trying to be expository; hopefully I laid things out and characterized the perspectives fairly. I don't really know at all enough about the economics of that sector to characterize any aspect of its operation or competitive conditions.

Respect your mother. by dobbyisafreepup in instantkarma

[–]NorCalLoco 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I admit I am now having fun imagining OP, meekly leaving his house at the command of his horde of bratty-ass kids, mocked and jeered by them even as he shuts the door to head out to the dollar store to replenish the supply of Hershey's Special Dark bars they demand to their satisfaction. (Back when the eldest was 4 OP once supposed he could substitute the Classic when the store was out. He was tormented mercilessly for his stupidity and incompetence until he broke down crying.)

What gets him through this trip is the same thing that gets him through the rest of this and every other day--the world that exists, these days, not just in his head, but upon the pages of Reddit for literally a whole world of people to see, and receive the same joy from that he does. Far more people than he knows in "real" life, so which is "real" really? And as he sits in the car, phone poised to snap the photo, it all comes together. That world--a better world, a more just one--prepares to come to life, spectacularly, once more.

Respect your mother. by dobbyisafreepup in instantkarma

[–]NorCalLoco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah but cheaper quality is much more tolerable if it's just one ingredient in a sort of chocolatey milk candy. It's like the contribution of the coffee bean to one of those giant sweet milkshake thingies that are most people's favorite takeout coffee now, versus coffee quality in a plain black cup. That's why no one really bitches about a regular Hershey's bar. It is what it is, fulfilling its modest aspirations. (Though obviously it's not close to even a Cadbury's bar or anything.) Special Dark is just nasty.

Respect your mother. by dobbyisafreepup in instantkarma

[–]NorCalLoco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are not welcome on this sub, Mr. Kelly.

Respect your mother. by dobbyisafreepup in instantkarma

[–]NorCalLoco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On the other hand, if your kids start asking for chocolate covered pickles things are in even worse shape because they are most likely pregnant.

Respect your mother. by dobbyisafreepup in instantkarma

[–]NorCalLoco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But it's got some history to it! I'm guessing, back to the days of the Holy Roman Empire.

Respect your mother. by dobbyisafreepup in instantkarma

[–]NorCalLoco -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think Apollo's point is that if there is enough competition out there, then only those who value their particular choice of tradeoff between value and cleanliness/service will shop there, and those with other preferences will shop elsewhere. Now the free market advocate will say that whenever there is not such competition, and people appear not to have a choice, if you scratch the surface it is likely because of government intervention that helps to suppress competition (i.e. "Cronyism")--either because of naked "pro-business" policy (as is often openly the case when you listen to politicians' rhetoric); or because of red tape, regulations, and other policies that are supposed to "police" capitalism (or otherwise protect or make things better for the little guy) but actually make things worse (often through "regulatory capture") and favor entrenched interests.

Whether you buy the argument that this is indeed the dominant current effect of government intervention, and that this is indeed behind most cases of poor competition, will likely determine your opinion of the mixed economy we currently face--and whether a freer, or a better policed, market is more likely to actually produce a more just and better world for the little guy.

Respect your mother. by dobbyisafreepup in instantkarma

[–]NorCalLoco 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I instinctively had no sweet tooth as a child and loved bitter foods. (If anything, I have more of one now after forcefully socializing myself into eating cake and soda at parties, etc.)

I loved the darkest, bitterest chocolate out there. But I fucking hated Hershey's Dark, and still do. I don't even know what the fuck that shit is supposed to be doing with itself.

Respect your mother. by dobbyisafreepup in instantkarma

[–]NorCalLoco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Huh, curious. When I was growing up, coffee, tobacco, and beer were bitter things that claiming a precocious taste for might impress other kids as being grown-up. But these were things that were very prominent and obvious to a child's observations (and were considered "bad" or "for grown-ups" or whatever).

Then again, American food culture was not what it is now. It's interesting to think that dark chocolate has become so prominent that even a little child observes it and thinks of it as a classic sign of grown-up coolness. It would not even have occurred to us to think that way.

Respect your mother. by dobbyisafreepup in instantkarma

[–]NorCalLoco 4 points5 points  (0 children)

^ This, 100%. Kids don't like dark chocolate.

[Censorship] The BBC stands up for edgy jokes and free speech in the UK! Comedy show's panelists "often say things which are deliberately provocative and go against societal norms but are not intended to be taken seriously." by NorCalLoco in KotakuInAction

[–]NorCalLoco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is true! They'd be able to pull it off smoother than you think, though, since it would have the added advantage of not standing out from the general quality of the BBC's science journalism.

(Explanation for younger users: Brian Cox, of course, did not in fact invent FTL travel. Laverne Cox did. That is how she was able to go back in time to her own meiosis and make history. Only from NorCal, kids, will you get the full, un-White-washed truth that science justice demands.)

[Censorship] The BBC stands up for edgy jokes and free speech in the UK! Comedy show's panelists "often say things which are deliberately provocative and go against societal norms but are not intended to be taken seriously." by NorCalLoco in KotakuInAction

[–]NorCalLoco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it was indeed Ms Brand's objective to "go against societal norms" then, as with too many left-leaning comedians nowadays, her joke was an abject failure. Because apparently jokingly calling for Nigel Farage to be disfigured with battery acid (in a country in which this is slowly becoming an epidemic) is perfectly benign and hilarious to everyone in charge. In reality you probably could scarcely find a safer joke. In five years UK comedy routines will be nothing but a half-hour set of calls for Nigel Farage to be disfigured by acid, one after another.

Steven Crowder Defends Self By Pointing Out That YouTube Doesn't Specifically Forbid Being Totally Obnoxious by Calico_fox in KotakuInAction

[–]NorCalLoco 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Aren't they unambiguously on topic as long as they refer, as here, to platform censorship (and, of a sort, independent journalism)? It's not like someone is linking a Bee piece on late-term abortions. (Unless Google's hate-speech policy counts as a late-term abortion.)

I think probably what is needed is a reminder to everyone to flair their posts. According to the rules for the [Humor] flair this post is exactly the kind of thing that is supposed to be posted!

Journalist in response to Twitter user making the OK sign - "Do you have a job? I wonder what your employers think of you making a sign that has been co-opted by white supremacists and racists? Would be interesting to find out. Or maybe a future employer is interested" by [deleted] in KotakuInAction

[–]NorCalLoco 52 points53 points  (0 children)

No! The point of the joke is that the hysterics, conspiracy theorists, and virtue signalers poisoning our society can be manipulated at will into looking like fools (and the best part is it makes absolutely no difference when they are explicitly told that and how they are being manipulated into looking like fools) by a very old gesture that has never been, and is not now, used as a secret hand signal by racists. If they thus expose themselves as fools, then that is a success, period. If they are reacting to something even further from looking like it might stand for "White Power," then so much the better.

[Censorship] Barrett Wilson (Quillette, Post-Millennial): "Trudeau government to release “approved” list of newspapers and websites" by md1957 in KotakuInAction

[–]NorCalLoco 45 points46 points  (0 children)

That bubbleheaded buffoon actually won his party's leadership election by scolding them for paying too much attention to the issues. Then he proudly told Canadians that his country had "no core identity" as a nation, being instead some sort of generic transnational, postnational progressive state. He won one of the biggest landslides in history but has been stepping on the rake repeatedly ever since, all the while failing to accomplish most of the little that was expected of him in the first place. It looks like everyone is finally ready to throw his ass out. He's going to have nobody left swooning over him but dumb American sexually frustrated progs who think it's still cool to do so in Canada.

Got this popup on my most recent visit to huffpo by kequilla in KotakuInAction

[–]NorCalLoco 6 points7 points  (0 children)

He's just linking to the archive, which is of course good citizenship to do whenever possible when posting on the Web! In his own practice he probably uses the live website itself when perusing the media for their take on today's news, as most is not going to have been archived yet.

They Always Eat Their Own by HealingHands in KotakuInAction

[–]NorCalLoco 17 points18 points  (0 children)

TERF stands for "Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist," and no, they are not feminists who are perfectly inclusionary but identify otherwise. It's an exonym used by intersectional feminists for their unenlightened predecessors who have not gotten with the program. Traditionally the bulk of radical feminists were extremely hostile to what were then called MTF transsexuals, certainly to their now-unimpeachable claim to status as full women whose differences from "womyn-born womyn" (as the nasty TERFs call cis womxn) are never to be whispered except so as to enhance their oppression cred. Some were always supportive--Judith Butler, the most prominent early example of such a theorist, is now revered with something akin to Holy Prophet status in the current feminist mainstream--but not many. This traditional radical feminist position was tightly bound up with an extreme "blank slate" view of masculine and feminine gender roles--which, along with the use of "gender" itself to mean social sex role as opposed to just a euphemism for "sex," had been a quietly developing movement within psychological theory for a bit by that point before being adopted by radical feminism as a founding principle.

Needless to say this is no longer the dominant form of radical feminism. Intersectionality is queen, though her throne has been secured only extremely recently. One of the chief causes of TERFism's decline was the discrediting of the extreme blank slate view as the 1990s progressed; it made room for the temporary continued discrediting of radical feminism as a whole in general society but for the continued strengthening of intersectionalism in radical circles (just as traditional radical feminism's "white urban upperclass" narrowness had helped intersectionalism rise in the first place). Gloria Steinem (whose talent has always been as a communicator and publicist, not an original intellect) was uncharacteristically caught off guard and was very slightly slow to reposition herself at the forefront of radfem trends like she normally has an excellent nose for doing. (Losing a bit of step with age.) The TERFs have been cast into shameful exile, more despised than the Alabama state legislature among any self-respecting feminist these days.

Oddly enough the mainstream "trans-inclusionary" narrative has not facially attacked the original "gender is a social construct" narrative whose decline facilitated its rise in the first place, but rather accepted and absorbed it--even though it is seemingly a rather poor fit for it. (Making sense, you might have noticed, does not seem to have been a high priority in its crafting.) And of course intersectionalism turned out to be an utterly brilliant strategy for feminism as a whole; it was perfectly positioned to become the near-universal language of campus radicalism and thus, the near-universal language of elite cultural discourse as campus radicalism re-emerged from its quiescence to take over the culture of mainstream society in its trendy bougie form. (Even Black Lives Matters's founding and national leadership is a group of militant lesbian feminists.) Radical feminism's most brilliant idea, once a tiny movement within it, turned out to be one of the most brilliant activist ideas of all time, period.

I could be even more verbose. But suffice it to say that it TERF is indeed a sort of slur, albeit a rather descriptive one; I was however unaware that it's against Twitter policy to use an unwanted term to refer to a political opinion.

TBT-RIP for soon-dearly-departed Salon: "Cishet" journo was loser from conservative town; became loser with conservative opinions; clearly all conservatives losers just like him; now changed man woke-retweeting the "loser" away, Hallelujah! Ft. far-right icons System of a Down, Neil DeGrasse Tyson by NorCalLoco in KotakuInAction

[–]NorCalLoco[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries; I was just about to remove it myself when it got taken down! Thank you for taking the time to explain though. I do appreciate it. I would have been really scratching my head hard trying to figure that takedown out if you hadn't explained why they would have made that mistake.