Phligm Phlagm

[philmophlegm]

Here's a clever way to make interstellar travel real.

"Around 50% 'hold authoritarian views'". Sounds shocking. What’s more shocking is the ignorance of the researchers (three politics professors no less, albeit from second rate universities) as to what constitutes “authoritarian”. Authoritarians would presumably favour powerful state control, right? You know, like Stalin or Hitler or Mao. Not according to these three clowns. Apparently “ideological sympathy for… rolling back the state” is an authoritarian point of view. Incredible.

Thankfully I wasn't the only person to spot this.

Did you own a copy of Buckaroo or MouseTrap when you were a kid? There's a good chance it was assembled by Irish slaves. Seriously.

The new president of the National Union of Students sounds like a lovely girl.

The Game of Thrones Mock Draft.

The Stevland Angus Appreciation Society

Brave socio-political commentary in 'My Little Pony'. Yes, really.

The man who put 50p on Leicester City to win the Premier League at 5000/1 and cashed it out for 45p after one match (which they won 4-2).

Richard 'fuckwit' Murphy had to publically apologise to Lord Ashcroft and make a donation to his charity for being wrong. I wish the legal system could force him to make an apology every other time he’s been wrong.

Paramount is trying to claim copyright over the Klingon Language. The Language Creation Society's legal reply is wonderful.

Why are we so understanding towards the crimes of Communism? A suggestion I’ve seen elsewhere is that International Labour Day should be replaced with a day of remembrance for the victims of communism and socialism. Good idea.

Gerry Adams apologises for tweeting the word "nigger". I’m amazed at the fuss about this. Might it not have occurred to the twitter commentariat that heading a terrorist organisation responsible for the deaths of 1,800 people is ever so slightly worse than typing a naughty word into social media?

10 things the bookies thought were more likely to happen than Leicester City winning the Premier League.

When the US Navy had flying aircraft carriers.

Comments

[allaboutweather.livejournal.com]

Cruz just dropped out of the race.

[knirirr.livejournal.com]

Indeed, the statement that authoritarians might want to roll back the state jumped right out at me. How would such people plan to enforce their views upon the general public without one?

[prester-scott.livejournal.com]

It's clear enough why there is so much sympathy for the crimes of communism: the West is full of communists. Or adherents to closely related ideologies.

Good for MLP.

[allaboutweather.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday Phil!

broken link

[phina-v.livejournal.com]

Link for things more likely than Leicester City win doesn't seem to be working.

Re: broken link

[philmophlegm.livejournal.com]

You're right - fixed!

[jane-somebody.livejournal.com]

prince_eldarion, age 10 and, of course, not a girl* is a huge fan of My Little Pony, at least partly because he enjoys all the 'meta' around it, mainly in the form of youtube videos (yes, from some of the "bronies") that analyse all sorts of aspects of the show, character development, world-building etc. He doesn't really have the context to understand this particular article, but otherwise I think he would appreciate it.

*A definite plus-side to Asperger's is the lack of the social-conformity/peer-pressure impulse to do what 'society' says is 'appropriate' for certain genders or age-groups, instead being more likely to think for oneself and choose one's own preferences. Obviously socialization is useful in terms of getting along with other people by accepting some rules of acceptable behaviour/ good manners etc, (and these things are an issue for many ASD people) but there is a lot to be said for being immune to the herd mentality of many pre-teens and teens (and, yes, many groups of adults too.) We have had a lot of discussion in our house about where equality/fairness is important on a macro-level eg marriage equality, racial segregation, and where on a more micro-level it is more important to treat people as individuals and consider their unique needs etc. (I know you and I, PP, don't agree on probably many issues, but I think there are some common grounds!)