^^ Hence my disappointment. Trying to defend Richard Dawkins when he is saying something which is basically intentionally offensive is like standing in a wading pool clutching a lightning rod during a thunderstorm. And the wording was awful. He really should have been a bit more sensible. Just a bit.
So, Stephen Fry has finally responded to the uproar over the Dawkins tweets. It's a lot more in-character than said tweets, to say the least, and while I am still very disappointed in him for the initial statements, I can at least say that I understand why he said them in the first place. (I also wish that he had acknowledged that the wording of those initial statements was, well, dodgy, but eh.)
I dunnnooooo. I like Fry, but some of the arguments he laid out are a tad, erm, problematic.
So, Stephen Fry has finally responded to the uproar over the Dawkins tweets. It's a lot more in-character than said tweets, to say the least, and while I am still very disappointed in him for the initial statements, I can at least say that I understand why he said them in the first place. (I also wish that he had acknowledged that the wording of those initial statements was, well, dodgy, but eh.)
I dunnnooooo. I like Fry, but some of the arguments he laid out are a tad, erm, problematic.
(assuming you're talking about the blog post, not the initial tweets)
i dislike that he used the term 'islamofascism' which is a misleading right-wing smear rather than a description of any real ideology, but the post itself seems fair to me
Islam is fine, but actually militant anything is scary
Well first off there's the whole "Islamophobia isn't actually racism because Islam is practiced by a large amount of people."
It is, but that is missing the point. Islamophobia is connected to racism because it where the whole 'Arab terrorist' stereotype comes from. Regardless of the fact that most muslims aren't Arabian and even fewer are terrorists, that is the general push of that form of bigotry. And yes, it is a religion not a race, but most people who fit under that term use it to justify racism towards brown people.
Then there's the whole 'Islamophobia means fear of Islam and I'm not afraid of it". That's like when homophobes say that homophobia only refers to people with an irrational fear of homosexuality, not the forms of bigotry that people actually use it for. It's a pointless semantic argument.
There's a bit more but here are a few points at least. Hope any of this makes sense.
This is true, although in his defence I will point out that he singles out the kind of racial stereotyping and fear-mongering associated with Islamophobic rhetoric from the far right as reprehensible. Throughout he seems to draw a thread between those people (the British National Party, etc.) and Islamic extremists as two groups of people who act violently out of hate and ignorance, both being wretched and dangerous.
In Fry's defence, he is defending his own fear of Islamic extremists, not Islamophobia in general. Admittedly, he doesn't acknowledge the connection between Islamophobia and racism and he really should; i can see how in that light the 'Islam is a religion not a race' part is obfuscatory and potentially dangerous.
i feel i must correct you on one point, though, Zersk, which is that Fry didn't say 'Islamophobia means fear of Islam and I'm not afraid of it' - his point was that he is afraid of it, at least in its more extreme forms.
Though, that may be opening a semantic can of worms that's probably best left unopened.
Hey guys! I’ve been teasing it for a while, but here it is: the 300 Followers Celebration Giveaway! (Creative name, yeah, but with these things I don’t think the name’s that important.)
Anyway, as a way of thanking you guys for all 4+ years of all this fantastic Tumblring, I’m giving away the Humble Indie Bundle 9 through Steam, because I figured since I could download the games without necessarily using Steam someone else could have fun with the keys that came with the games. So yeah!
You can’t have these things without rules, I guess, so here they are:
A Steam account is kind of a necessity to play the games, so get one before entering. Wouldn’t want to send you a bunch of keys you couldn’t use, right?
Since this one’s meant for my followers, I do request that you at the very least follow me before you enter. I promise you’ll like my blog! It’s rated #1 in Not Terribleness!
Giveaway blogs are a no-no. They make it unfair for everyone else, so if you use one I reserve the right to deny the prizes.
All likes, reblogs and replies count, but remember that Tumblr only makes one of each show up.
Reply within 48 hours!
Alrighty. The giveaway will end at 11:59 EST on October 18 and I’ll be picking the winners on my birthday, October 19, so get to it!
I've never liked the word "Islamofascist". It sounds like the sort of word someone coins when they're angry at a certain group, and they need an adjective to describe how awful they are, but their vocabulary is lacking and so they grab the first word they can think of. You could call them "Islamodoodyheads" and it would make more sense!
It is a pretty annoying neologism. There are better words to describe individuals, like "delusional totalitarian cretins hiding behind their faith as an excuse for being awful people."
It also doesn't help in my case that it reminds me of Eric S. Raymond, who was a pretty well-respected Linux guru back in the day (if a bit up his own ass), but went Bat Fuck Insane after 9/11 and became a crackpot. :P
In fifth grade we were making little clay statues and mine came out shitty so I left a big air pocket in it so it would explode when the teacher put it in the kiln and it exploded so hard it destroyed ten other kids’s statues and they were all on the verge of tears I thought it was really funny I still do
god every time this ends up on my dash i get hella pissed, srs fuck this person with a rusty spoon what a cunt
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
I don't really like the new "Posts" icon
Like I guess it's supposed to be a simplified version of the traditonal document-with-folded-corner icon
But it just looks like an office building, or a document that somebody has inexplicably cut a small rectangle out of
Without further ado, here’s Ze Winners of the giveaway!
As promised, Central Avenue has won the Humble Indie Bundle 9 on Steam and her choice of either of Humble’s current bundles (base games only), as well as a terrible drawing of her choice.
Clevmeister will receive his choice of either of Humble’s current bundles, as well as a terrible drawing of his choice.
Finally, Sean/Ake/etc. will be getting a terrible drawing of their choice, to round out our winners.
Thanks for playing, everyone! Hopefully we’ll get to do this again sometime. :D
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
Ooh sweet, I won a thing! I think that's a first. :D
Well then it’s a good thing I hate sports *slams button*
The year is 2027. It is Super Bowl season. The football players that have been selected for this year’s culling huddle in a sad, discontented mass in the middle of an overgrown stadium. The stink of fear mingles with the smell of fresh earth, an unholy bouquet for a terrible day.
Then they begin arriving, singly and in groups. Their claws glint in the harsh stadium lights, and there is blood matted into their fur. The football players put on their game face, but the hollowness of their eyes betrays their true hopelessness. There is no use fighting, other than to make a brave showing.
After all, everyone knows the bears always win.
Years pass. Teams deliberately lose games so they won’t be against them. Eventually, the Goverment starts a programme, to lessen prison overcrowding. Prisoners are selected at random, or so they say, to put on the jerseys and play the bears. None of them ever come back, and crime drops to almost zero. All is well, until there are no more prisoners. The goverment does not know how to choose, but they know that the Super Bowl must go on, and the bears must always win, and choose they must.
Thanks tumblr
The Superbowl Games
you people need to write a novel
I don’t know if you guys know that The Bears are an actual superbowl team or if you just choose to ignore that for substituting in real bears.
I am 99% sure they know that and are purposefully ignoring it and substitutng it with real bears.
Those football players are dying but at least Sasuke is real.
Unpopular Opinion: I kind of like the 'Spirited Away has some analogies to a whorehouse' theory that's been bashed on my dashboard over the last week or so.
I get that it's representative of the 'introduce dark concepts into lighthearted camp' trend that gave us 'Rugrats is Angelica's hallucination of dead babies' or 'X is a dream by Y who's in a coma'. I get it. Giving something the 'deep symbolism' treatment doesn't usually work.
But I think that the Spirited Away theory actually adds some depth in a way that fits with the story.
I always thought it was at least partly, on some level, a metaphor for the slave trade; and the loss of culture and identity (losing memories and name) that come with it. Eventually you can buy a ticket on the train out of there; and that's what keeps many of the workers working.
But I agree that if any of these theories are true, they are facets and interpretations of the story.
And, well, I think that having to work; having your memories and name stolen from you; being owned by a person who can take your voice away and losing your parents, I think that's dark enough; especially with those big heads in the background at feasts (are those also someone's parents?!) that Spirited away is showing horrors and doesn't have to just hint at anything.
But, on the other hand, I think that the cheerfulness of Lin and Komaji; and the attitudes of the other workers really seem to not be what you'd expect from slaves or prostitutes. They don't seem broken or dispirited; and I really doubt that Haku would send Chichiro somewhere so awful as that.
Y'know, saying that you dislike organised religion doesn't make you one in the same with Richard Dawkins. I really don't like all this back and forth smugness about religion and the lack thereof. There are plenty of smug religious people and smug atheists, but there are also quite a few smug anti-anti-religious people who act as if not being anti-religious automatically makes them sensitive and worldly
No, but saying that you dislike organized religion is a good way to hurt the feelings of those involved in organized religion. Also, seeing as how religion (or lack thereof) is so central to the lives of certain people; that it is an integral component of their identities; I can understand why people would take it personally.
Talking smack about religion: No good.
Talking smack about the lack of religion: No good.
Talking smack about Richard Dawkins: No good.
Talking smack about -insert jerkface religious person-: No good.
I can see it as a bit of Stockholm Syndrome. Slavery, yes, but not slavery to the point where it'd be better to wander around on the outside without a master.
That's a viewpoint that one could argue, but I think going any farther on that point would be pointless devilish advocacy, so let's just stop here and acknowledge that the whorehouse analogy is by no means perfect.
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
Apparently, when you start a new blog, Tumblr likes to congratulate you for small numbers of posts
Comments
(assuming you're talking about the blog post, not the initial tweets)
i dislike that he used the term 'islamofascism' which is a misleading right-wing smear rather than a description of any real ideology, but the post itself seems fair to me
Islam is fine, but actually militant anything is scary
It is, but that is missing the point. Islamophobia is connected to racism because it where the whole 'Arab terrorist' stereotype comes from. Regardless of the fact that most muslims aren't Arabian and even fewer are terrorists, that is the general push of that form of bigotry. And yes, it is a religion not a race, but most people who fit under that term use it to justify racism towards brown people.
i feel i must correct you on one point, though, Zersk, which is that Fry didn't say 'Islamophobia means fear of Islam and I'm not afraid of it' - his point was that he is afraid of it, at least in its more extreme forms.
Though, that may be opening a semantic can of worms that's probably best left unopened.
the implication appears to be that Anonymous is not founded on any noble idea but rather trolling and ethnic slurs
contrast Anonymous as a protest movement with Anonymous as in people who append -fag to everything
That would make sense.
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
Without further ado, here’s Ze Winners of the giveaway!
As promised, Central Avenue has won the Humble Indie Bundle 9 on Steam and her choice of either of Humble’s current bundles (base games only), as well as a terrible drawing of her choice.
Clevmeister will receive his choice of either of Humble’s current bundles, as well as a terrible drawing of his choice.
Finally, Sean/Ake/etc. will be getting a terrible drawing of their choice, to round out our winners.
Thanks for playing, everyone! Hopefully we’ll get to do this again sometime. :D
It is gonna 8e Vriskaish. There are dice involved.
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
catbountry:
The year is 2027. It is Super Bowl season. The football players that have been selected for this year’s culling huddle in a sad, discontented mass in the middle of an overgrown stadium. The stink of fear mingles with the smell of fresh earth, an unholy bouquet for a terrible day.
Then they begin arriving, singly and in groups. Their claws glint in the harsh stadium lights, and there is blood matted into their fur. The football players put on their game face, but the hollowness of their eyes betrays their true hopelessness. There is no use fighting, other than to make a brave showing.
After all, everyone knows the bears always win.
Years pass. Teams deliberately lose games so they won’t be against them. Eventually, the Goverment starts a programme, to lessen prison overcrowding. Prisoners are selected at random, or so they say, to put on the jerseys and play the bears. None of them ever come back, and crime drops to almost zero. All is well, until there are no more prisoners. The goverment does not know how to choose, but they know that the Super Bowl must go on, and the bears must always win, and choose they must.
Thanks tumblr
The Superbowl Games
you people need to write a novel
I don’t know if you guys know that The Bears are an actual superbowl team or if you just choose to ignore that for substituting in real bears.
I am 99% sure they know that and are purposefully ignoring it and substitutng it with real bears.
Those football players are dying but at least Sasuke is real.
☭
B̤̺͍̰͕̺̠̕u҉̖͙̝̮͕̲ͅm̟̼̦̠̹̙p͡s̹͖ ̻T́h̗̫͈̙̩r̮e̴̩̺̖̠̭̜ͅa̛̪̟͍̣͎͖̺d͉̦͠s͕̞͚̲͍ ̲̬̹̤Y̻̤̱o̭͠u̥͉̥̜͡ ̴̥̪D̳̲̳̤o̴͙̘͓̤̟̗͇n̰̗̞̼̳͙͖͢'҉͖t̳͓̣͍̗̰ ͉W̝̳͓̼͜a̗͉̳͖̘̮n͕ͅt͚̟͚ ̸̺T̜̖̖̺͎̱ͅo̭̪̰̼̥̜ ̼͍̟̝R̝̹̮̭ͅͅe̡̗͇a͍̘̤͉͘d̼̜ 
⚢
#winning
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
But I agree that if any of these theories are true, they are facets and interpretations of the story.
And, well, I think that having to work; having your memories and name stolen from you; being owned by a person who can take your voice away and losing your parents, I think that's dark enough; especially with those big heads in the background at feasts (are those also someone's parents?!) that Spirited away is showing horrors and doesn't have to just hint at anything.
But, on the other hand, I think that the cheerfulness of Lin and Komaji; and the attitudes of the other workers really seem to not be what you'd expect from slaves or prostitutes. They don't seem broken or dispirited; and I really doubt that Haku would send Chichiro somewhere so awful as that. No, but saying that you dislike organized religion is a good way to hurt the feelings of those involved in organized religion. Also, seeing as how religion (or lack thereof) is so central to the lives of certain people; that it is an integral component of their identities; I can understand why people would take it personally.
Talking smack about religion: No good.
Talking smack about the lack of religion: No good.
Talking smack about Richard Dawkins: No good.
Talking smack about -insert jerkface religious person-: No good.
Talking smack in general: No good.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Yeah, let's stop there.
And, well, did anyone find the tumblr that said you could make a dinosaur head out of Africa and South America?
bertholdtfubar:
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
☭
B̤̺͍̰͕̺̠̕u҉̖͙̝̮͕̲ͅm̟̼̦̠̹̙p͡s̹͖ ̻T́h̗̫͈̙̩r̮e̴̩̺̖̠̭̜ͅa̛̪̟͍̣͎͖̺d͉̦͠s͕̞͚̲͍ ̲̬̹̤Y̻̤̱o̭͠u̥͉̥̜͡ ̴̥̪D̳̲̳̤o̴͙̘͓̤̟̗͇n̰̗̞̼̳͙͖͢'҉͖t̳͓̣͍̗̰ ͉W̝̳͓̼͜a̗͉̳͖̘̮n͕ͅt͚̟͚ ̸̺T̜̖̖̺͎̱ͅo̭̪̰̼̥̜ ̼͍̟̝R̝̹̮̭ͅͅe̡̗͇a͍̘̤͉͘d̼̜ 
⚢
i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
byrdsfly:
THIS IS MY HOLE
IT WAS MADE FOR ME
DONT YOU FUCKIGN DARE