The Pitters' Place

LSK

The public transit system in Seattle is a perfectly serviceable one. There are also plenty of taxi services, Uber -- or, depending on where you live, you could walk many day-to-day places. Rent is definitely high -- it's true of Bellingham too (where I live now; it's north of Seattle by about 1.5 hr...

LSK

Hey there John. I don't have an Xbox; I'm a PS3 owner. I'm not particularly a Sony loyalist; I just tend to like their game libraries better. Haven't made the transition to the PS4 yet, but I plan on. The game sounds right up my alley actually. The Last of Us was very much a flashbulb kind of gaming...

LSK

If you can handle gray, rainy falls and winters (get a seasonal affective disorder lamp) -- and make it till the almost unparalleled summers (high temperatures in the mid-70s Fahrenheit and low tempeartures in the mid-50s) -- then Seattle is the place for you. Population approximately 650,000, so it...

LSK

I've seen this advertised, and I'm interested in it. Have you played any of the Resident Evil games? Is it comparable to them at all? I think the game's director is the same fellow who created the Resident Evil series.

LSK

FFS, I just experienced a huge range of deep emotions working through this thread. I forgot how touching those Inception scenes were... and how uplifting the end of Shawshank Redemption is. The final scene of Brokeback Mountain is also a highlight. I've seen that movie three times now, and no matter...

LSK

I think it's because, increasingly, leftist political dialogue is framed—or at least predominantly concerned with—identity politics, and I think identity politics are distinctly illiberal. My impression of identity politics as illiberal is bolstered by the fact that, also increasingly, anyone who di...

LSK

I really like Patrick Wilson. He shows up all over the place, including in starring roles, but he's still not a name you hear often. I recently watched this movie, Stretch —awful, annoying, and nowhere near as clever as it thinks it is—but Wilson starred in it, and man, in spite of the film's obnoxi...

LSK

Interesting—but I'm not impressed. You don't get to argue against an orientation model of human sexuality without making reference to modern empirical psychology: you know, the work of people who actually study human attitudes and behavior. But that's precisely what this guy has done. Citing some qu...

LSK

I think the second part of that was what I was actually trying to put into words when debating my brother, but didn't manage to - i.e. objective relative to a standard, which can still be objective even if the standard is not. Like how north/south/east/west are objective directions on Earth even th...

LSK

Anakin, you would definitely benefit from a course on meta-ethics, which would expose you to a variety of resources about the very topics you introduced in your OP. The questions you're struggling with are the very ones that are agonized over by moral philosophers working in meta-ethics. (A variety ...

LSK

Absolutely wonderful. It's moments like this that manage to reignite the flames of "human solidarity" in my cold, dead, cynical, rugged-individualist heart.

LSK

This is going to sound hostile, but I hope you'll believe me when I say that I don't mean it that way: I can only engage with what's actually said, not with some third party's vague interpretation of the "deeper point."

LSK

Fallen is one of my favorite movies where the bad guy wins. "I wanna tell you about the time I almost died..." Great cast too. Denzel Washington, Donald Sutherland, John Goodman. The director, Gregory Hoblit, does pretty well with "B-movie"-type genre flicks. Primal Fear and Fra...

LSK

The abortion rate is at its lowest level in nearly 40 years—which is significantly linked to a general reduction in overall pregnancies. So, the question becomes: why has there been a reduction in overall pregnancies? Is it because people are fucking less, or because they know how to use contracepti...

LSK

This is nearly all wrong. [1] You've challenged the idea that "The West values freedom of speech" with a couple broad claims: The West violates freedoms internationally but promotes those same freedoms domestically White people disproportionately hold positions of power and influence—and t...

LSK

Reply #25 It really doesn't matter how many people in the world consider depictions of Muhammed blasphemous. But some are willing to bring violence to people for it. Is it worth it? Is someone's defense of their so-called freedom of speech worth losing lives? Is freedom of speech worth anything if i...

LSK

"Given the sinister nature of rape culture in this country, and the looming threat of sexual violence, does it really make sense for women to behave like drunken sluts?"

LSK

So, it looks like one of the stars of this show is a prominent "ex-gay" activist: http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/01/08 ... x-g/202062

That doesn't bode well for the social message of the show.

LSK

Happy to clarify—I did not, in fact, mean that we should feel compelled to support the specific content of the blasphemy but rather the act of the blasphemy (whatever its content).

LSK

http://www.juancole.com/2015/01/sharpening-contradictions-satirists.html This article makes the point that the terrorists may not have been motivated by attacking free speech or being offended by the drawings per se , but instead by a hope that the attack would provoke an overreaction and intensify...

LSK

Yeah, it looks like it resets on each new page. But I'm still very impressed and thankful that you added the function. Thanks, Gendo!

LSK

At last, an idea we can surely all come together around: Donald Trump is scum.

LSK

Would it really surprise anyone if a Japanese guy, walking around his hometown in California suddenly sees in a store window a cartoon like that, and he gets angry about it? No, this wouldn't be surprising. He's entitled to his anger. If he subsequently went and murdered the publishers of that cart...

LSK

You were being inconsistent, Castor, which can be confusing. I value clarity in conversations because the points being argued can be easily lost. I don't think I've behaved in a way where rolling your eyes at me and calling me pedantic and childish is fair. It's certainly no way to engage in a discu...

LSK

Liszt's post, and your summary of it, make a different point altogether than " Charlie Hebdo 's actions weren't harmless," which is victim-blaming. I agree that imperialist foreign actions do great harm and that they should be objected to (just as murder-catalyzed-by-blasphemy should be o...

LSK

Liszt's post, and your summary of it, make a different point altogether than " Charlie Hebdo 's actions weren't harmless," which is victim-blaming. I agree that imperialist foreign actions do great harm and that they should be objected to (just as murder-catalyzed-by-blasphemy should be ob...

LSK

When people who are willing to do violence threaten that violence in response to blasphemy (or other free speech actions that Westerners tend to value), that blasphemy deserves our special protection and support. I don't understand. We should all support a racist publication when they're threatened...

LSK

The cartoon Sikax most recently posted with the bullets going through the building and hitting the mosque suggests that Islamophobia and harm to Muslims is caused by these terrorists actions. No, harm to Muslims is caused by racism and Western Imperialism. These are not exclusive. Attitudes aren't ...

LSK

Would it really surprise anyone if a Japanese guy, walking around his hometown in California suddenly sees in a store window a cartoon like that, and he gets angry about it? No, this wouldn't be surprising. He's entitled to his anger. If he subsequently went and murdered the publishers of that cart...

LSK

sikax, you're assuming attitudes and motivations, though. In the case of Charlie Hebdo , we do have evidence to demonstrate that they explicitly knew what might result from their actions. But we don't have that kind of information about our drunk girl. Some will have more awareness than others. I do...

LSK

I actually think your position in the larger post above (posts really should have numbers...) is an interesting one. And you're surely right that the systematic disadvantage that Arab Muslims face in France is a very relevant factor (not, of course, the only factor though) in explaining why attacks ...

LSK

You're confusing fundamental differences in beliefs about the political organization of society—for example, which values we prefer in a given hierarchy of values—with, basically, ignorance. Disagreeing about the function and importance of "free speech" in society is not the same as "...

LSK

What I think he's saying is:

"[Insult your position. Follow up by describing my position by its most desirable elements, implying that you and your vision of society are opposed to these elements.]"

You know, like an ideologue.

LSK

Thanks! I wasn't sure what you preferred on the board.

LSK

I don't think it's victim blaming to point out that their cartoons are not harmless. It is irresponsible to not look at the big picture. As Gypsy-Vanner notes, let's consider the intoxicated rape victim (and change just a few words): "I don't think it's victim blaming to point out that [their ...

LSK

I think it's also important to distinguish between the roots of Islamophobia and justifications for Islamophobia...the things that racists point to to say, "see? we were right to be racist!" We should be careful not to play into their games...not be distracted by their justifications. Und...

LSK

I actually liked his apology. Straightforward. Admits he was in the wrong. It makes him look genuinely forgivably human, rather than wretchedly human. Of course, he may still be the latter. But the apology was a breath of fresh air compared to the many political apologies that read: "I'm sorry ...

LSK

The Frederick News-Post's editorial on Delauter is the first thing I read when I woke up this morning. Great way to start the day. http://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/politics_and_government/kirby-delauter-kirby-delauter-kirby-delauter/article_da85d6f4-fa3c-524f-bbf6-8e5ddc0d1c0a.html Note the let...

LSK

Killing people for publishing cartoons because those cartoons offend certain religious sensibilities is "the problem" here. Prejudice against Muslims, and the way in which some Western nation-states conduct their international affairs, are also problems, but dragging them into this convers...

LSK

Calling it propaganda is just a semantic way to dismiss it, given the connotations of "propaganda" in common parlance. As for whether these cartoons constitute egregious insult, I'm confused why that's important here. So what if that was Charlie Hebdo 's intention? What are we supposed to ...

LSK

sikax wrote:It's one thing that Islam conflicts with Western values and it's another for a Western newspaper to deliberately satirize Islam to the point of egregious insult.

I'm not sure what you're trying to convey here—that Charlie Hebdo should not be in the business of offensive satire?

LSK

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/world/europe/charlie-hebdo-paris-shooting.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0 PARIS — Masked gunmen with automatic weapons opened fire in the offices of a French satirical newspaper on Wednesday in Paris, the police said, killing 12 people and then escaping in a car. Presi...

LSK

From that list, I'd say I'm most looking forward to Pan Our Kind of Traitor (John Le Carre adaptations have been amazing so far) Child 44 (that cast!) Victor Frankenstein The Martian (provided Ridley Scott doesn't ruin it) Truth (I can't not watch political drama) Ex Machina (I really like Alex Garl...

LSK

If these men didn't value their relationships with their wives at all, then I think it would be irresponsible for TLC to promote the show. But even considering the extreme case—that these men are, in fact, exclusively same-sex attracted, don't have any romantic desire for their wives, and are in the...

LSK

That explains why I haven't noticed. I don't register subtle differences in color very well. I'll try out that feature though.

LSK

Is there a quick way to differentiate between the two that I just haven't noticed yet?

LSK

That show is probably unforgivably stupid in the same ways that most reality TV shows are unforgivably stupid, but I don't quite understand what's controversial about it. So long as the show isn't promoting so-called "reparative" therapy—which is ineffective and sometimes harmful—what exac...

LSK

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