Link Fester

Like a link fest, only more so. Feel free to share items of possible interest in the comments and then bicker about them, as I believe is the custom. By the way, did you know that violence, when indulged in by leftists, isn’t actually violence, but merely “symbolic speech”? 

If all else fails, the reheated series and greatest hits are there to be poked at.

Comments

[Peter H]

It could happen to anybody:

https://twitter.com/CalebJHull/status/1025384749286735872

[dw]

By the way, did you know that violence, when indulged in by leftists, isn’t actually violence, but merely “symbolic speech”?

"Huffington Post's hate and extremism reporter lashed out at Vox on Monday because the media outlet dared to report on violence committed by antifa over the weekend"

http://dailycaller.com/2018/08/13/huffington-post-reporter-antifa/

[ftumch]

Will repost this here then:

https://twitter.com/SirBasilBrush/status/1028590825025032192

[David]

Will repost this here then

I’m not familiar with the kind of thing I’m seeing.

[WTP]

Will repost this here then:

Since you reposted this, I gotta ask....not that I expect a straight answer anyway...That is a joke, right? That person is not seriously running for some office? I really can’t tell anymore. As a Florida man, I will vouch for the authenticity of taking your gator to the liquor store though. Liquor stores can be dangerous places. Better safe than sorry, I say.

[PiperPaul]

Fester

[Pogonip]

Heard back from Globetrotting Relative, who agreed with Umair Haque, with the caveat that Relative got various perks and subsidies when stationed overseas so may not have been aware of the true cost of everything.

Everyone else who’s weighed in thinks Umair’s full of arugula.

[Captain Nemo]

Will repost this here then

David, please pass me the brain bleach. The one in the cupboard, behind the good whisky.

[David]

Here’s a thing.

Vice and Independent contributor Isobel Yeung interviews Islamic scholar and Afghan member of parliament Nazir Ahmad Hanafi.

Via Dicentra.

[ftumch]

WTP: honestly, I don't know. Twitter is weird and wonderful, but sometimes just weird.

Re: Florida Man. Much like "peak Guardian", we'll never achieve peak Florida Man.

[ Edited. ]

[David]

ftumch,

By all means talk about the prospect of Idris Elba as the new James Bond. But I don’t care for sambo jokes.

[Peter H]

Modern hair styling:

https://geekologie.com/2018/07/another-day-another-hair-stylist-cutting.php

Wonder if it works on pubic hair also. Sorry... I'll get me coat.

[Richard Cranium]

Fester Bestertester https://goo.gl/images/AbyWRn

[Joan]

Vice and Independent contributor Isobel Yeung interviews Islamic scholar and Afghan member of parliament Nazir Ahmad Hanafi.

Does Islamophobia trump rapey misogyny?

*consults pyramid of oppression*

[David]

Does Islamophobia trump rapey misogyny?

I’m sure someone somewhere has been fretting rather neurotically about just that.

[Charlie]

Vice and Independent contributor Isobel Yeung interviews Islamic scholar and Afghan member of parliament Nazir Ahmad

Strange how she doesn’t get all shouty and go grrrrrl with him/them. Am I the only one cynical enough to have the thought that, hypothetically, were this a similar situation with a nice “Western” interview subject, there would have been a lot of fireworks/getting in his face/confronting toxic masculinity/fascism etc etc? But presumably with this fellow, where there is presumably rather less guarantee of civil behaviour (maybe not by much, but by enough) all of a sudden the fighting the patriarchy bravery seems to evaporate.

I still don’t entirely understand what the likes of Pussy Riot (or whoever) are on about, but at least I can tip my hat in the general direction of the fact that they have actually risked something getting in the faces of people who have a track record of cracking heads. As with my admiration for Peter Tatchell.

[R. Sherman]

I’m sure someone somewhere has been fretting rather neurotically about just that.

No doubt, said fretting is accomplished by lots of mental references to Edward Said, random words like "authenticity" and tongue-clucking about require a POC to engage in unpaid emotional labor.

[R. Sherman]

"requiring"

Bugger. More coffee.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

By all means talk about the prospect of Idris Elba as the new James Bond.

Ian Fleming wrote that Bond resembled Hoagy Charmichael, "He is very good-looking. He reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael..."

It is only a matter of time before they will try to cast a lesbian Muslima Bond, but only if she is sufficiently lesbian.

[David]

Ian Fleming wrote that Bond resembled Hoagy Charmichael,

I don’t have any strong feelings on whether Mr Elba would make a good Bond, but it seems to me that there’s an issue of consistency, or inconsistency, as touched on here by Douglas Murray:

The same logic that saw Sierra Boggess [hounded] off West Side Story [for not being Puerto Rican] can just as easily be used to insist that all future Prince Hals or Isoldes should be white. Casting can either be colour blind or colour-obsessed. It cannot be both.

And it occurs to me that whether or not Bond can suddenly become black, or a woman, or gay or whatever, may depend on the estate of Ian Fleming.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

An unwell person, and yet the Danes wonder why they have this problem.

The unwell person takes up a game.

Observation of note:

JOTUS ‏ @AlrightMister 13h13 hours ago

Replying to @GarbageHuman_

Luckily, 380 of their personalities are pastry chefs.

[jabrwok]

By all means talk about the prospect of Idris Elba as the new James Bond. But I don’t care for sambo jokes.

I think I missed a post. Or David ate one of the eggs and is seeing things that the rest of us can't see.

[Pogonip]

Ain’t nobody fool enough to eat the “eggs.”

[David]

Today’s word is hardcore.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Casting can either be colour blind or colour-obsessed. It cannot be both.

There has to be some common sense (that will be the day), and altering well established literary characters for the sake of wokeness is idiotic - a black Huck Finn and a white Jim makes no sense at all. An Ainu playing an historical figure like Julius Caesar doesn't either (other than an all Eskimo troupe playing to Eskimos), Nicole Kidman as Patton, Idris Elba as Queen Victoria, Tom Cruise as Cetshwayo kaMpande and Hellen Mirren as Lord Chelmsford. Some space opera in the year 3957, who cares.

Over here in the realm of streaming TV we have Britbox and Acorn which feature, as one would guess from the name of the former, Brit (And Aussie and Kiwi) shows. If an illegal alien from outer space were to arrive and watch nothing but these two services, it would get the impression that nigh all senior cops, detectives, judges, lawyers, doctors, etc., etc., are either women, POCs of one type or another, or some combination thereof.

I would guess that "colour(and gender)-obsessed" has already taken place, and the situation in the US in no better.

[Hal]

Oops.

So this will be the source of the next Disney pirates movie, mebbe???

[Pogonip]

Anyone up for figuring this one out?

http://stuartschneiderman.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-reductio-ad-absurdum-of-metoo.html?m=0

[Governor Squid]

If an illegal alien from outer space were to arrive and watch nothing but these two services, it would get the impression that nigh all senior cops, detectives, judges, lawyers, doctors, etc., etc., are either women, POCs of one type or another, or some combination thereof.

Except if they're crooked. You know right away that the doctor/cop/judge/whatever is guilty if he's played by a 50-ish white guy.

[John]

Ref Schneiderman's post: the academic harasser (Avital Ronell) of the innocent young Nimrod has graced the world with the following quote:

“To make things 'perfectly clear' is reactionary and stupefying. The real is not perfectly clear.”

If that's what it takes to be a philosopher star.... (Googles PoMo generator)

[Pogonip]

I’ve always thought there must be a law in California requiring that judges be played by black actresses. Can’t remember the last time I saw a judge played by anyone BUT a black actress.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Can’t remember the last time I saw a judge played by anyone BUT a black actress.

"Inherit the Wind" or "To Kill a Mockingbird" ?

[PaoloP]

NYT: "Some Online ‘Mobs’ Are Vicious. Others Are Perfectly Rational"

https://tinyurl.com/y9lm63jr

Guess which is rational.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Guess which is rational.

The Amazing Criswell will take a wild stab and guess that The Times has the definition of "rational" exactly 180 degrees off...

The Johansson “mob,” for instance, was dedicated to challenging a fault in the status quo, punctuated by trans actors’ insights into the ways Hollywood was embracing their stories but still boxing them out of participating in telling them...

The Gunn mob was led by a clutch of far-right men who only frame themselves as outsiders and use as their weapon the most thoroughly accepted norm they can find: that pedophilia is indefensible.

Gee, that was hard to predict; so many cliches, so little time.

[PaoloP]

"a clutch of far-right men who ... use as their weapon the most thoroughly accepted norm they can find".

It's not completely clear, but it seems the "far-right"'s fault is lack of originality: the good mob, NYT summer edition, is one which tries to open new exciting avenues in identity politics. Of course, being offended by pedophilia is a thing for white, pale, stale males.

Hilarious.

[Governor Squid]

They lost me at "some mobs are rational." I mean, if your mob is rational, you've kinda missed the entire point of forming a mob in the first place.

[Pogonip]

I meant, outside the classic movie channels.

[PaoloP]

As is often the case with the left, words have a fluid political meaning: in this case "rational" does not means "in accord with well defined reasons and their mutual interrelation following the rules of logic"; it means "in accord with progressive values which it's important to push forward right now". While poor dumb far-right outsiders(!) are stuck with boring pedophilia, which everybody already knows it's wrong.

[David]

Of course, being offended by pedophilia is a thing for white, pale, stale males.

There’s not much kudos attached to being repelled by paedophilia. It’s practically stuffy. Whereas feigning outrage that an actress isn’t transgender enough to play a transgender person, or gay enough to play a gay one, or gay in quite the right kind of way, is terribly modish.

If you want to signal your status, your elevation, you can’t be seen wearing last season’s colours.

[Daniel Ream]

I would guess that "colour(and gender)-obsessed" has already taken place, and the situation in the US in no better.

The CW is a good example. HBO is getting there - the number of white male characters in Westworld is tiny, and the ones that exist are inconsequential or evil.

The Stratford Festival - allegedly the largest Shakespeare Festival outside Stratford-on-Avon, but I suspect they're taking the piss - has gone all in on the gender and race swap casting. To the point of the absurdities of a female Julius Caesar and Prospero, and a black Coriolanus and Harold Hill (did they just not notice they accidentally remade Six Degrees of Separation?) Not at all coincidentally, ticket prices have plummeted as low as $13 a seat this season.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

I meant, outside the classic movie channels.

Wherein you rest your case...

To the point of the absurdities of a female Julius Caesar...

So much for absurdities above being absurdities.

In the same vein, via The People's Cube, WWII videogame to replace toxic male characters with females.

According to Gabrielson, "Nearly one quarter of the paratroopers on D-Day were self-identified females, and almost as many were transgendered. If a bunch of neck-bearded misogynists can't get over the inclusion of these diverse characters on the battlefield, then we will just have to dispose of all male characters altogether and rid our fan base of toxic gamers."

Today parody, tomorrow, to quote Red Square, "Resistance is futile. You will comply."

[WTP]

So not being sure if that was parody or not from Muldoon (failed to read to the end) I went looking for corroboration on what is new in Battlefield V and found this review from the Verge (The Verge was founded in 2011 in partnership with Vox Media, and covers the intersection of technology, science, art, and culture, in case you didn't know):

DICE is returning to World War II with Battlefield V, and it’s doing so with the help of feeemales. Following the game’s reveal trailer and confirmation that it will include women, some fragile fans have confirmed they’ve never read a book by protesting what they see as “historical inaccuracy.” Please, keep your women out of my war games!

Online, this infantile cry has rallied around its own hashtag — #NotMyBattlefield — and it is full of users shrieking about political correctness. “Hey...good job making a shitty unrealistic SJW ‘WWII’ game!” wrote one on Twitter.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/24/17388414/battlefield-v-fans-game-women-world-war-2-history

Not being a player, I...uh, I mean my friend, for one welcomes women into WWII video games. So how do these games work? Do you just shoot people and blow them up or do you get to kick the living daylights (or other stuff) out of them? 'Cause I've read...uh, I mean my friend has read...all kinds of history books, especially in regard to war and especially WWII, and am...or my friend is...well aware of what happens to women when war rolls through their 'hoods. How realistic does it get? Asking for my friend. He's not infantile in the least.

[Darleen]

Cats ... jacking up your stuff for at least a 1000 years

[Hopp Singg]

David, please pass me the brain bleach. The one in the cupboard, behind the good whisky.

There's good whisky?!

[R. Sherman]

. . .[M]y friend is...well aware of what happens to women when war rolls through their 'hoods.

I have some elderly female relatives (by affinity) who were teenagers on the wrong side of the Elbe in April of 1945 who might speak to that issue.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

So not being sure if that was parody or not from Muldoon...

Unless annotated with "Prog Off", anything from the Cube is parody, hard as it is to tell anymore.

Gabrielson mentioned plans to put more focus on the game characters' fashion accessories and body jewelry, as well as to include rainbow-colored tanks on both sides. "History is changing and our fans must change with it," he said...

[Red Square comments] The effectiveness of female soldiers will greatly increase if the enemies put up a sign over their trenches saying, "THIS UNIFORM MAKES YOUR ASS LOOK BIG."

[fnord]

DICE is returning to World War II with Battlefield V, and it’s doing so with the help of feeemales.

=========
To steal err... borrow a phrase from the previous post:

DICE; for the best in corrective entertainment.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Take a break from the insanity. Pairs with a nice scotch.

[Ted S., Catskill Mtns., NY, USA]

The headline says it all: Women on inflatable rainbow unicorn rescued from Minnesota lake

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Food review of note.

[Joe Ego]

"The Gunn mob was led by a clutch of far-right men who only frame themselves as outsiders..."

As compared to a clutch of trans who found their identities primarily on being outsiders as sexual deviants.

This really seems like projection. The writer assumes all right-thinking people are on the side of the trans actors/activists. So the majority just needs some good old challenging of their status quo and they everyone will be happy.

This is contrasted with (far-right!) men who have a problem with real, imagined, or constantly-joked-about pedophilia. Men who, though using a "thoroughly accepted norm", are supposedly calling themselves outsiders. The twisting of the language is really quite amazing when any thought is put into reading it.

I think the most noteworthy part is the way previous stories have already prepared the ground for readers (and probably the writer) to just gloss right over the idea that any involvement Gunn might have with pedophilia deserves no further scrutiny. We are expected to completely trust various reporters and occasional coworkers, who have professional and/or ideological reasons to support Gunn, when they tell us that this one joke was purely in jest and never mind the long string of similar jokes you're never told about.

"...and use as their weapon the most thoroughly accepted norm they can find: that pedophilia is indefensible."

As compared to those attacking with the use use of the most thoroughly accepted norm they can find: that not explicitly applauding and supporting trans activists is indefensible.

This compares to "challenging a fault in the status quo" which is part of the default progressive paradigm. Status quo bad. Change good. Truth to power. Challenging! No justice, no peace. Etc. I'd apologize for your nausea but we're all here by choice.

Also note the writer allows that pedophilia is indefensible. So mark it down for future wrongthink, comrade.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

In the future, everyone will be a nazi for 15 minutes.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

In the future, even the alleged anti-nazis can't recognize the nazis...

“There they are! Nazis!” someone shouted, as a knot of about two dozen helmeted, masked, jackbooted marchers clomped through the back of the crowd down H Street NW. A sneak attack!

“Go home, Nazis!” some counterprotesters shouted, as the crowd began to turn and surge toward the militant-looking group.

“Wait! No!” someone yelled, one hand up.

“They’re on our siiiiiiiiiiiiide!” another love and unity demonstrator shouted.

“Stop!”

I'm surprised the reliably red Washington Post reported that.

[Ten]

Jordan B. Peterson on the archetypal symbology behind the restaurant Burger King - https://youtu.be/-BDgQMGs7Mc

"...he provides ... burgers!"

[Adam]

"There's good whisky?"

You mean there's BAD whisky?

[Pogonip]

I never liked Jim Beam, found it harsh. The Glen brands—Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, another Glen I can’t remember—are reliably good but expensive. Fortunately a little Glen goes a long way.

[Hopp Singg]

You mean there's BAD whisky?

You're right, of course. I will report to the hench-lesbians for correction and two fingers.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

I will report to the hench-lesbians for correction and two fingers.

You might want to specify two fingers of booze, if you catch my meaning, if you get my drift.

[Hal]

I will report to the hench-lesbians for correction and two fingers.

You're supposed to use your own knife, I believe.

Accurate counting is very important.

[Daniel Ream]

So much for absurdities above being absurdities.

At least they're sticking to something like historical staging. Two years back they staged an odd abridged version of the Henrys where the Archbishop of York and all his men were played by women in black hoodies wearing Anonymous-style Guy Ffawkes masks. I have no idea what the hell that was supposed to mean.

[TomJ]

The Glen brands—Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, another Glen I can’t remember—

Glenmorangie? A fine drop. I am informed by a former comrade in arms from North of the Wall that the correct pronunciation is GlenMORangie rather than the more common GlenmorANgie.

[Ray]

James Bond is an upper class lad acting the thug and is part of a tradition that includes The Toff and The Saint, although I expect this is not obvious to the younger viewer. From this perspective Daniel Craig (who always calls to mind Nigel Planer's skit about not trusting actors with two first names) is not particularly convincing Bond as he comes across as a thug acting upper class. I can't see that Idris Elba would be much of an improvement, although I expect he would make a great M. If they wanted to cast a black actor my vote would go to Lennie James as Q. Naomie Harris was great in Pirates but in Bond she might as well be carrying a sign saying "Token black person".

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

...the correct pronunciation is GlenMORangie...

Having heard the same from a similar source, that is, I believe, correct, except he dropped the A after MOR, but that may have just been him or some regional thing. He was also appalled by our apparent savagery by using ice.

[Governor Squid]

Via Iowahawk, another study of desirable traits in men and women as measured by activity at a large online dating site.

It starts with the common observation: "The researchers determined that while men’s sexual desirability peaks at age 50, women’s starts high at 18 and falls from there."

The bit that really caught my eye, though, was this: "Dr. Bruch also found that a man’s desirability increased the more education he attained. For women, that benefit ended with an undergraduate degree — and postgraduate education, in fact, made them less desirable."

The researchers hypothesized that graduate degrees were an indicator that the potential partner was highly committed to school and career, and less committed to relationships and family formation. While this may be true, I tend to believe that the reason has a lot more to do with the severely educated women and their attendant behaviors as documented so thoroughly by our esteemed host.

[George]

@Governor Squid

Studies of desirability or preferences based on analyses of activity on online dating sites strike me as having at least one major flaw: people who use online dating sites are hardly representative of the wider population. That isn't a criticism of people who use online dating sites - you do whatever works for you - but it does mean that you have to take the wider applicability of these things with more than a pinch of salt.

[Governor Squid]

You're right, of course. Everybody knows that severely educated feminists are totes hawt.

[pst314]

severely educated feminists are totes hawt

There was a joke in the seventies that feminists thought mens' heart rates should increase not when they saw a woman who was beautiful but when they heard a woman spout Maoist cant.
...It was a joke because it was true.

[TDK]

Vice and Independent contributor Isobel Yeung interviews Islamic scholar and Afghan member of parliament Nazir Ahmad Hanafi.

I notice this now shows Twitter Account suspended.

[David]

I notice this now shows Twitter Account suspended.

The clip in question can be found here.