Dangermonk doesn't seem to be around.  Does anyone know how to get ahold of him?

The solipsism in me is pretty sure I'm the only person who is confirmed real. 

What about "redskin"?  That always seemed like it would be offensive to me if I had been an indigenous person and/or had feelings.

News Story

lol@ "the power to shut people up". You kids learn quick. If you do something wrong/bad/stupid and get caught or called out on it; it's always the person who called you out on it's fault.
 "I don't think calling you a nigger is disrespectful at all, you nigger. It's your fault that the word is offensive; not mine, nigger."

 Nice. Not only do you appear to be a bigoted asshole; but a rather not-to-bright one at that.
 No one is "shutting you up", etc, etc, Ms Pelosi. I only suggested that you just blatantly insulted another member with a racial slur and should apologize. If you don't; that's fine; it only demonstrates your character.

I never said you were shutting me up.  I said that I'm allowed to say whatever I want.  On this specific website you have the power to stop me.  You haven't; which is great.  As for my free-speech bit, I don't blame people for getting angry at certain words.  If I run up to an African American and scream, "Fucking NIGGER!"  I expect that person to be offended/hit me.  I'm saying that tone and intent matter more that a series of letters.  Calling my comment a blatant insult is a stretch.  Wunderkind said she wasn't sure who was being serious and who wasn't.  Your blowing this way out of proportion. 

And by the way, I already apologized in private message.  It seems that you're the one looking for an apology however.  If I've somehow insulted you let me know, and I'll pass one along.  Wunderkind seems old enough to fight her own battles though.

I am nobody.

And we prefer Native American or American Indian before just "Indian", but as long as you're not calling me a "prairie nigger" or a "redskin" I'm generally unoffended. Unless I'm being intentionally contrary because I just don't like you.

Who made you the spokesman for Savages?  You can somehow tell what all Indians like to be called?

How about you write a story about a society that is based on science and efficiency?  People are manufactured in batches and assigned to castes.  The traditional family unit is gone, and everyone is raised collectively.  When people sleep they are fed subliminal messages.  To maintain happiness people enjoy a new wonder drug that prevents them from thinking bad thoughts.  Discontented people are a pushed off into the wild and forced to be "savages." 

There, I've done most of the work for you.  Just flush it out a bit, and you've got a great story on your hands. 

Or... we could just screw the whole rediculous PC "system"(which mostly just changes the definitions of term every other week) and simply call whites "whites" blacks "blacks" indians "indians" and asians "asians". as soon as the terms are accepted by the general public, they magically become offensive, creating an endless cycle. this needs to stop.

How about giving everyone a number assignment?  Whites or Caucasians will be 1... for obvious reasons.  Blacks or African Americans will be 2.  Asian or Orientals will be 3.14159265, because they love math.  Native Americans or Indians will be 0 because we've almost completely wiped them out.  If we simply switch to numbers we can stop arguing semantics. 

Sorry for the bland essay title.  Linkidoo

This article has thus far produced a 576 post shit storm on Fark, and now I bring it to you. 

The valedictorian of my high school was one of the whitest girls I ever met.  She had pale skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes.  I used to call her "Marion the Aryan"... I know, I shouldn't have found that so amusing.  Anyway, Marion was from Zimbabwe, her parents were there as missionaries when she was born.  Technically, she was an "African American." 

I suppose the debate comes down to what exactly is that term "African American" is meant to imply.  It seems that most feel it is simply a nice way of saying "black," not as a way of describing an American with origins in Africa.  I don't doubt this guy was being an attention whore, but did he cross some sort of magical PC line?

That being said, I liked the movie aside from the gratuitous camera shaking that took place.

The shaky camera thing was big on The Shield, and I liked it there.  It's over done though. 

I thought they did a good job introducing the characters, especially for those who may have never seen the original series.  I can understand why they chose to do an alternate timeline with this movie, it allows for both Spocks to be in the movie, as well as some license with the storyline.  I admit it, seeing Leonard Nimoy on screen as Spock touched me.  It's like seeing an old friend.

I dislike the fact that they destroyed Vulcan, for personal reasons as well as for the "how is this going to effect the future / how can certain things happen now" factor.  I also dislike that his mother is killed, but that's me being a softy. 

I'm okay with it when Star Trek uses an time travel to explain why things happen the way they did.  I was hoping they would use the time travel to establish the traditional canon.  Seeing Vulcan destroyed though pissed me off, and I spent the rest of the movie waiting for the "oh, let's prevent this from ever happening" moment. 

On the subject of Nimoy, I saw him in one of the trailers.  I never imagined he'd play Spock though.  I thought he was going to play Sarek.  That's actually one of the reasons I didn't want Shatner in the movie, I was worried they'd have him play an older Kirk.  If you want to give Nimoy a part, don't have him play Spock.  If I were going to put Sean Connery in a Bond movie tomorrow, he sure as hell wouldn't play an older Bond.  It's a good thing I didn't cast Never Say Never Again.  The whole Spock and Future Spock thing was just ridiculous.  I'm surprised they didn't give Nimoy a goatee. 

I don't want to sound like a snobby Lord of the Rings fan... but...

What the hell, the entire movie was an alternate timeline?  Time travel plays a large role in Star Trek, but I'm not happy with the entire movie setting up a completely new canon.  This makes a sequel difficult because they either have to rejoin the timeline or just ignore traditional canon and run with a new franchise.  I would have preferred if the movie ended with the alternative timeline ending/rejoining the traditional one.  Star Trek has done it before...

I suppose wiping out the movie and resetting history at the end would have pissed off most of the audience though.  People had connected with the characters stories to that point, and to re-rewrite the canon at the end would have thrown people off.  It seems the producers were working really hard to widen the appeal of Star Trek, and they did a good job with this movie. 

Thoughts?

Nope.

Quit yesterday... been smiling ever since.  I've sort of picked up a gig as a research assistant to my advisor.  I need to fill out some paperwork to make it official.  Not as many hours, but overall, I'll enjoy it more. 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Normally I'd just use the "Let's Bitch About Our Jobs" thread, but this is special.  After being told my long hair is unprofessional (even though it isn't listed in our appearance guidelines) I refuse to get a haircut before Thanksgiving and so, I will be quitting after clarifying the matter with my boss's boss.  I've got load of other issues, this is just the kick in the ass I need to finally quit the job I've hated for so long.

First off, I work as a campus safety officer.  I'm a student who locks buildings, yells at drunks, and prevents the school from burning down.  Oh, and I write parking tickets when I'm bored or angry at freshmen.  I'm good at my job.  I've been here almost 2 years.  I've got tenure over my current boss.  Which brings me to "all the reasons I wanted to quit before today" -

1. My boss is a prick.  He threatened to fire me for not saying "hello" in the morning when he got in even though I was coming off a 12-8AM shift and he never made an attempt to say hello to me either.

2. My boss told me I couldn't ride my bicycle while at work unless I was certified.  Then he let his favy fave employee ride a bike without a word.  The two officers that can use a bike while at work never actually took a certification course.  They had a stupid two day training course and didn't have to participate in any drills they didn't want to.  So, yeah, they're more qualified than me to RIDE A FUCKING BICYCLE....

3.  My boss loves strippers.  Okay, I do too... Anyway, another employee (female) was at a strip club in Toledo one night with some friends.  They were there for half an hour when my boss walked in with his wife.  I don't mind that.  I guess they have a healthy, open relationship.  I still find it funny though.  He asked her the following Monday to keep it between them, but she'd already let it slip to everyone before that meeting.

4.  The new uniforms we got suck.  Hate them.  We look like Smokey the Bear fucked a nazi.  They don't breath very well either. 

5. "Team building exercises."  Whenever someone wants to do something stupid with a large group of people, it is referred to as a "team building exercise."  I had to go to Cedar Point with 90% of the staff and I wasn't even paid.  Now, the response we got was that with the price of a ticket and food, we were getting a better deal not being paid.  Fuck you.  At least when I'm paid, I can determine how to spend MY money.  I would never choose to waste my fucking money on Cedar Point if I were given the option.  The real kicker.  I was force to go, but other people who didn't have excuses were allowed to skip.

6. My boss has been hostile to me for a while.  Ever since the "hello, good morning, may I blow you" incident, my boss has been really mean to me.  And by that I mean, I get shit while everyone else gets unicorns and puppies.  I tried to tell him that anyone on campus has the power to access some of our wireless surveillance cameras.  He immediately went, "AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS!?!" ...like I did something wrong in ACCIDENTALLY FINDING THEM.  Cock sucker... I was trying to do him a favour and he acted like I'd broken a fucking rule.

7.  I missed a shift accidentally because my grandma (who's now dead) was in the hospital.  There have been people who've skipped numerous shifts on purpose and not gotten fired.  Today, in the meeting about my appearance, he seemed pissed off that I didn't know I was working and would rather spend time visiting my about-to-die-grandma rather than rushing in to work a shift that would have been over by the time I got there. 

8. My hair.  I have long hair.  I plan to cut it.  I plan to cut it over Thanksgiving break.  That's too long a wait for my boss who got his haircut from a 50's movie.  There are girls in the office with long hair.  It in no way affects my performance.  It is simply "unprofessional" for a man to decide that he doesn't always want a buzz cut. 

9. They want the safety dept. to be a police force.  We're not cops.  They seem hell bent on pushing the dept. in that direction though.  I'm 100% opposed to this.  If they want to do it, fine.  Do it, but I'm not going to start acting like I'm here to shove rules down college students throats.

Tomorrow I've got a meeting with the head of the Student Life Offices.  I will clarify the ruling on my hair with her.  If it is unacceptable and it needs to be cut before Thanksgiving, I quit.  Oh, and losing me will be another set back to the dept, but I'll post on that later...