As the Bible tells us, dragons named for basic colors are evil, while dragons named for metallic colors are good.
Or maybe that was the Monster Manual. Whatevs.
I accidentally left the hand-shaped cursor right in the middle of the screen. It added much, I'd think, to my viewing experience--due to its exact location, the tiny extended index finger appeared bent on picking the noses of zealots. Best was right at the end, as the camera slowly pulled in. The finger crept almost flirtatiously toward the nose of concerned Christianity.
Coincidentally the green dragons were also DFHs, as they could exhale poisonous gas.
We used to have Stewardship Sunday several times a year at my church. I guess that was an old fashioned 70s thing. We also used to have aerobics at my church, in the early 80s.
Like a fool, I kept waiting for anything approaching an argument to surface....
Do they know how crazy they sound?
On Christmas Eve, the priest at the Church I went to (not my regular church) specifically mentioned the need to stop global warming and carbon pollution, eradicate poverty, and provide universal healthcare, and then pounded his fist on the pulpit, and shouted "The Revolution starts now!" Which would probably have been more compelling if he wasn't wearing a brocaded robe and preaching to a crowd of (for LA) old-line WASPs.
I'm guessing the Koch boys put some funds into this one, one way or another.
Is it just me, or is the credit to rightwingwatch.org at the end really confusing? They're reposting it because they disagree with it, but they didn't edit it to make that clear, they just put their name on the end. That's... odd, right?
You can tell always tell if it's a right wing watch, because the big hand is on the proletariat, keeping 'em down.
Here's a step toward understanding that money trail.
4: We also used to have aerobics at my church, in the early 80s.
Apostate! We had Jazzercise.
You can tell always tell if it's a right wing watch, because the big hand is on the proletariat, keeping 'em down.
I laughed at this.
I was impressed by was entirely about defining an enemy, without any of that hippy liberal shit, like reasoned arguments and illustrative examples.
Some words missing from 14 - you might be able to figure out which ones.
At the end, the woman says, "We must exercise wise dominion over God's creation," or something like that. But interpreted by a reasonable person, that's basically equivalent to what a lot of moderate environmentalists would say, minus the God part. Most of the preceding arguments go directly against the wise stewardship thing, including ignoring the science behind global warming. So I guess the Christian audience is supposed to either ignore that last bit or take it as some sort of opposite-day code for "grab as many resources for yourself as you can with no regard for future generations."
And the thing about caring for the poor was just a non-sequitur. Care for them how? by letting their low-lying island countries be flooded by rising sea levels? by letting them breathe the gold-dust-and-saffron-infused exhaust of your hummer?
Like Spike in 14 said, logic is for hippies.
17:Nah, logic is for liberals. Hippies said things like "Make Love, Not War" and understood slogans and rhetoric.
I thought it was terrific work. Grab 'em by their hearts and crotches, and their minds will follow.
The low-information watcher after seeing this will ask you why environmentalists want to hurt poor children. Your answer? You have ten seconds, or fifteen words.
"They don't"
"But the guy who said it was a minister, a Man of God. Are you saying religious people are liars? He didn't look wicked. She was right about you environmentalists. You hate religion."
"Go fuck yourself, lying fuck." With six seconds and ten words to spare.
And the thing about caring for the poor was just a non-sequitur. Care for them how? by letting their low-lying island countries be flooded by rising sea levels? by letting them breathe the gold-dust-and-saffron-infused exhaust of your hummer?
It's a similar thing as the "environmentalists banned DDT worldwide, killing countless poor people" canard; straightforwardly translate the policies sought in rich countries to poor ones where they're inappropriate, assume that's what environmentalists are doing, ignore relevent distinctions. The underlying argument here is that most of "the poor" are better served by fast economic growth than they are by the marginal decrease in GHGases from doing "their part" of a need-blind global policy to limit climate change. Put that way, it's sensible; but the qualifications needed to make it sensible reveal how silly the concern is. It's not like India or China are on the verge of imposing massive carbon taxes as a tithe to the Green Dragon.
It's not like India or China are on the verge of imposing massive carbon taxes as a tithe to the Green Dragon.
And its not like this is a claim being made by a group that is particularly sympathetic to Indians and Chinese in other contexts.
Coincidentally the green dragons were also DFHs, as they could exhale poisonous gas.
I was tempted to put in a comment about the green dragon's acid breath corroding the souls of the righteous, much earlier in the thread--thank god I didn't; how embarassing it would have been to make such a mistake in public, confusing black & green breath weapons!
Here comes Peter Cottontail
Hopping down the money trail.
Hippity hoppity warming's on its way!
And scaring little children to acheive your political ends is reprehensible indeed.
I haven't watched the video, but
At the end, the woman says, "We must exercise wise dominion over God's creation," or something like that. But interpreted by a reasonable person, that's basically equivalent to what a lot of moderate environmentalists would say, minus the God part.
Yes, exactly. Liberal Christians have been pushing that message for longtime.
Most of the preceding arguments go directly against the wise stewardship thing, including ignoring the science behind global warming.
Yes, exactly. Liberal Christians have been pushing that message for longtime. Some don't think correct, don't think deeply, misunderstand. Read books.
So I guess the Christian audience is supposed to either ignore that last bit or take it as some sort of opposite-day code for "grab as many resources for yourself as you can with no regard for future generations."
No, I don't think either one. They are supposed to hear it, andtrust that it's being said in good faith by decent Christians, and therefore be reassured that the people pushing this message aren't heartless bastards intent on grabbing as many resources for themselves as possible with no regard for future generations (even though that's exactly what they are, of course), whores, whores, and therefore trust that the rest of the message is all correct and not think too critically about any of it.
No sound here at work, so I haven't watched it yet, but the freeze-frame of the embedded video, in my browser, is a woman wearing a blue suit and an expression that is the ultimate mix of condescension and loathing. Her face says, "You stupid fucks, why did you go and try to think? Just send me your money, that it and I can cooperate to do the thinking for you."
I read the first of the Left Behind books in high school, in part to keep tabs on those whom I by then knew consciously as an enemy faction and in part because a friend assured me it was a ripping yarn regardless of religion. That friend turned out to be wrong and I was stunned at how overtly the book attacked the notion of "stewardship" as an expression of faith, explicitly condemning environmentalism as a Satanic attempt to distract people by holding up animals - animals! - as more important than people. The aggression with which it pushed an agenda of consumption, abuse and short-term obsession with its impending apocalypse was shocking, even for a novel about that apocalypse. What wasn't at all shocking was how ready some of my peers were to ingest the book as less a work a fiction and more a technical manual.
The videogame was supposed to be a reasonably entertaining strategy game. If I found out for sure that I could play as the forces of Satan, and win, I would happily buy it used.
...people by holding up animals - animals! - as more important than people
There is an obvious way to rebut that charge and make it clear that you are interested in the environment as a whole. Whenever you do something to help the environment, do something horrible to individual animals that aren't ecologically significant. Every time you protect some endangered species, you could kill 4,000 of some type of bird we have way too many of. Just for an example.
You could kill 4,000 of some type of bird we have way too many of. Just for an example.
Between this and covenant marriages, Arkansas just might be heaven.
Also, none of that big-city bias against using snuff between courses.
Between this and covenant marriages, Arkansas just might be heaven.
They also just had a huge fish kill. Arkansas: the Natural State.
Slightly sketchy moment of worry: is this video a right wing production, found and put online by Right Wing Watch? Or is it a composite of bits of anti-environmental video assembled by Right Wing Watch, if you see the distinction? Neither one is wrongful on RWW's part, but if it's the latter, than our carping about the video's failure to make any arguments doesn't actually work.
I haven't actually watched the video, so I'm clear on that count.
but if it's the latter, than our carping about the video's failure to make any arguments doesn't actually work.
I tend to think its not a composite, based on the assumption that if the original source material did make arguments, the arguments would probably be silly enough to make it on to the "best of" reel.
35: I don't think 11 makes it clear. But it does link to the Resisting the Green Dragon website.
But it does link to the Resisting the Green Dragon website.
Where the video RWW posted is the first thing to pop up.
So we are looking at an ad, produced by Resisting the Green Dragon, for a longer video that they ahve made. Perhaps there are rational arguments in the longer video? I'm not holding my breath.
It doesn't feel like a composite to me, because the formatting is consistent and flows smoothly. If it were a sabotage composite you'd introduce scary, shadowy, ragged cuts to emphasize your distrust of the soundbites.
Of course, why even bother making arguments when you can just repeat assertions over and over again. Its just as effective, and harder to debunk.
At times it is totally surreal that your opposition just takes your own reasons and tacks them incoherently on their own preference. How do you engage in any sort of productive discourse?
I know this is an age-old question. Just sometimes it seems bizarrely alien and new all over again.
38: Duh, I am an idiot. Not a RWW production, and the RTGD people can be blamed for it.
Although I totally had myself convinced that no one could be making themselves look that bad on purpose. How wrong I was.
41: Sometimes I find it terrifying that there is an enourmous industry devoted to using exclusively tribal appeals to convince people that those I most identify with are enemies. Other times I drink.
Her face says, "You stupid fucks, why did you go and try to think? Just send me your money, that it and I can cooperate to do the thinking for you."
Oh, come on. I bet one could easily freeze-frame Nancy Pelosi with the same expression.
What wasn't at all shocking was how ready some of my peers were to ingest the book as less a work a fiction and more a technical manual.
So they were fiercely determined to sit back and do nothing as the Antichrist depredated the world? (All I know of Left Behind is from Fred Clark, obvs.)
I'm not holding my breath.
rob helpy-chalk: content to sit idly by, spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
I'm releasing carbon dioxide and methane. Multitasking.
Hey, this is completely off-topic but I'm going to be buying a new TV in the next week or two to replace my lumbering, slowly expiring CRT clunker. I'm looking at LCDs in the 40" range, and cost is a big consideration. Any suggestions on brands to avoid or consider?
45.1: Likely. On the other hand beardy guy can't deliver the "green dragon" line without giving up the game. He's not as good as, say, Perkins.
Perkins also has the best scenery, with his little presidential address style background.
"Green Dragon" sounds like some kind of absinthe related cocktail.
48: Go to Best Buy, the one by WalMart between Chapel Hill and Durham, and ask for Gary. Say, "The owl hoots when the storm ends" and tell him how big of a screen you want.
And when he asks you if you have the cables you need, tell him to go fuck himself. Some things are constant.
Yeah, whatever you do, don't spend more than $10 on an HDMI cable.
I don't know if anecdata is very helpful, but I've been perfectly happy with my Vizio TV.
I could only bear to watch the opening, but I liked how they used "so-called" to mean "called only by us" ("the so-called Green Dragon").
More helpfully, but only because I set the bar so low, we have a 40" Sony (something like that size) that seems to work just fine.
So they were fiercely determined to sit back and do nothing as the Antichrist depredated the world?
No, they would be in heaven at that point.
this is completely off-topic but I'm going to be buying a new TV
Off-topic? LED-backlit LCD televisions consume less power than fluorescent-backlit LCD televisions. Boom! Back on-topic.
I don't even have an TV. Except the 40" one and the small one.
16: At the end, the woman says, "We must exercise wise dominion over God's creation," or something like that.
Also should be noted that "dominion" is a religious-right code word for "when we finally get to take over from the Godless heathens".
Also should be noted that "dominion" is a religious-right code word for "when we finally get to take over from the Godless heathens".
OK. It's also a King James code word for "Fuck you, Nature. You answer to us."
No, they would be in heaven at that point.
True, but in that case they wouldn't be in the market for technical manuals.
My TV is Energy Star compliant! It's the best!
62: for some people heaven wouldn't be heaven without technical manuals.
48: Hey apo, I am sending you the Consumer Reports write up on LCDs. (My brother swears by Samsungs in this category. Amazon frequently has specials.)
for some people heaven wouldn't be heaven without technical manuals.
What if they had the Dwarf Fortress wiki?
Thanks, oudemia. You're the best!
Hey, this is completely off-topic but I'm going to be buying a new TV in the next week or two to replace my lumbering, slowly expiring CRT clunker. I'm looking at LCDs in the 40" range, and cost is a big consideration. Any suggestions on brands to avoid or consider?
I just splurged on a Samsung LE40C750 (stop sniggering at the back) and I'm absolutely loving it so far. The picture quality, especially on 1080p content is amazing. Even on SD (digital) content it looks way better than my previous LCD. It's kind of a halfway house between Samsung's medium-high end LCD range (so it has loads of HDMI inputs, a great display, internet connectivity, a Freeview tuner and so on) and the low end of its 3D range (so the 3D is a bit crappy). If you're not interested in 3D at all (I only went for it because I have a PS3) you could knock £100 off the price, and if all you care about is the picture, there are models at the bottom end of the LE40C range which sacrifice some of the connectivity frills but still have much the same display quality.
What with the Freeview stuff, the equivalent model probably goes under a different name in other countries, but it shouldn't be hard to find via Google.
By "technical manual" I mean that they were happy to believe in the sort of hyperactive spiritual/supernatural world it describes: lots of angels and demons wrestling over the important question of whether Aunt Hattie makes it to church on time, lots of talk of how meditation allows the soul to vacate the body so that demons can possess people, that sort of bullshit. They did not go out and wait for death or Rapture, no, but they did let it convince them of a universe in which they, personally, were way more important and endangered than any long-term egghead shit like a dying species or the ozone layer. It described the mechanisms of a cosmology they could find appealing for its slavish devotion to the question of their own personal fate while it also constantly threatened them with eternal damnation if they allowed themselves to be distracted by recycling programs.
Oh, come on. I bet one could easily freeze-frame Nancy Pelosi with the same expression.
Yes, or anyone else. If I'm unfairly projecting my stereotypes of the Christian Right onto her, okay, guilty as charged, but they do seem so very eager to meet me halfway on that particular judgment. As to this person in particular, having now dug out headphones and listened to the first minute and a half or so I feel perfectly comfortable asserting that it ain't all in my head.
As for TVs, we have a Samsung LCD that I adore. Very crisp images, loads of inputs and SD looks just as good as it did on the old CRT. I am super-impressed.
The great thing about LCD TVs is that you can hang them on the wall up high enough that they don't get 8,000 finger smudges on them (assuming the fully grown people in your household don't touch the TV screen).
Mark me as another person who recently joined the HDTV world with a 40-inch Samsung backlit LCD and I am quite happy with it. I had hoped to get it in time for the World Cup this past summer, but instead waited for the price to come down a bit on the model I wanted.
72: As others have said , in general SD looks pretty decent on the thing, the worst is freaking Fox Soccer Channel, which is HD, but Comcast does not offer it in HD so it manages to suck (has nothing to do with the TV, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to whine).
couldn't pass up the opportunity to whine
Mouseover text?
So Freeview is just some fancy marketing name given to the combination of free over-the-air broadcasts in the UK, or is it something more? I get NBC, ABC, Fox (not Fox News, Fox the network), and PBS for free over-the-air, along with the concomitant sub-channels (the CW and some crazy B-movie channel, and a bunch of extra versions of PBS). Is it something comparable in the UK?
Since they have to pay a special BBC-tax on their televisions, or something, I should hope they get a fair amount of free over-the-air TV in return. I guess I should have just let someone who actually knows the situation post about this, instead. Too late now. I guess I'll go grocery shopping!
If you're willing to make a bunch of somewhat minor sacrifices you probably aren't willing to make, HD projectors are surprisingly affordable!
Oh, I get CBS, too. Gotta have my weekly dose of crankery via Andy Rooney, you know.
So Freeview is just some fancy marketing name given to the combination of free over-the-air broadcasts in the UK, or is it something more?
Freeview is basically over-the-air (aka terrestrial) digital. It's mostly free, but there are certain channels which you can pay extra to get. Frankly none of them are worth bothering with. I'm pretty sure the UK uses a slightly different digital standard to the rest of the world, though, hence the need for different models, at least the digital tuner bit.
77: You mean like having an office/classroom style digital projector in your house? That's be cool.
Oh, I should add, it's something like 50 TV channels (including a lot of shopping/music video/time shifted crap, but with about a dozen channels with worthwhile, unique content), plus all the digital radio stations.
80: I mean like having a digital projector that's designed for 1080p signals in home use, but basically yes.
77: Would 4,000 birds be enough minor sacrifices?
82: Like the ones that people use to put PowerPoint slides up on the wall of the conference room?
77: A friend of ours uses an HD projector and his living room wall. It makes for a many-feet-across television. It's also pretty cool for projecting maps during D&D. Mmmmm.
83: that and a willingness to sacrifice some brightness and color accuracy during the daytime, yes.
85: we have a projector and a roll-up screen attached to the ceiling. It's completely awesome for movies, and when we aren't using it it's totally out of the way. The only downside (besides it looking kinda washed out in the daytime) is that it's kind of embarrassing watching stupid, time-wasting TV on a screen with a 10' diagonal.
Not to play to stereotype, but for real, Sifu: curtains.
Meh. I'd rather have a nice, open, sunny apartment than be able to watch movies on the big screen at noon.
I'm with Robust: we're tired of watching you have sex.
Yes, or anyone else. If I'm unfairly projecting my stereotypes of the Christian Right onto her, okay, guilty as charged, but they do seem so very eager to meet me halfway on that particular judgment. As to this person in particular, having now dug out headphones and listened to the first minute and a half or so I feel perfectly comfortable asserting that it ain't all in my head.
Fair nuff. Also presumably the YouTube still was drawn at random (maybe the exact middle of the clip) whereas politically-motivated unflattering stills are carefully selected.
...so I feel perfectly comfortable asserting that it ain't all in my head.
Positivist.
A friend of ours uses an HD projector and his living room wall.
I just took a walk with that friend.
73: Too true. TJ watches Fox Soccer Channel a lot, and half the time I just marvel at the horrendously bad picture quality. Fuck you, clown Comcast.
The great thing about LCD TVs is that you can hang them on the wall up high enough that they don't get 8,000 finger smudges on them (assuming the fully grown people in your household don't touch the TV screen).
The corrollary downside being that if a (poorly socialized) four year-old were to throw something at the screen and knock it off its mount, the resulting fall would almost certainly prove fatal to the TV. The upside of having an indulgent parent is that the incident did not prove fatal to the four-old in question.
96: Are you sure you attached it right?
96: When that happens with the newest models, it's known as 240 Hurts, because it's four times as painful as breaking a standard-definition television.
But the mount for our TV is strong enough that I don't see how anything a 4 year-old can throw would knock it down. I could see a Wii controller going through the screen, but that's another matter.
It wasn't my child nor my set. I still have the thick-screened type of set that rests squatly on a servicable platform.
I have no idea how securely it was attached to the wall in the first place. It is a small wonder, however, that this child is still alive. This incident came at the end of a week that included a roof collapse followed by the discovery of a previously undisclosed and fire-damaged section of attic. Aside from the dangers of filicide, the boy has managed to pull a sizable fish tank down from a shelf and send several other items to a floor-based end.
101: Bad puns created people who aren't me is a problem for society as a whole.
The only downside (besides it looking kinda washed out in the daytime) is that it's kind of embarrassing watching stupid, time-wasting TV on a screen with a 10' diagonal.
That's actually an upside, in my book; helps you commit to only watching Quality Entertainment.
Then again, this is from someone so paralyzed by only doing worthwhile things that he doesn't get out of bed.
And: whoa, the first chapter of "Broom" is pretty heavy. God, I hate men.
Samsung and Sony both make a good LCD. If you have a Costco membership or know someone who does I'd recommend buying there for the 2 year warranty. We bought a Sony and it's been great.
"The only downside (besides it looking kinda washed out in the daytime) is that it's kind of embarrassing watching stupid, time-wasting TV on a screen with a 10' diagonal."
I think watching tele on iPads is still considered cool.
I have a smallish relatively inexpensive Samsung from Costco. It even works across the border, although I'm going to have to get an antenna if I want anything in HD. My included-in-rent cable doesn't include HD, and there's no way I'm paying for an upgraded package, especially with the crappy selection they have here.
It even works across the border
Yeah, America's Hat uses the standards of the ATSC, just like they use Region 1 DVDs, and the 120V/60Hz standard. It would be a total clusterfuck if they didn't.
If only they allowed ESPN across the border too. But you know, world junior hockey semifinals are much more interesting than the BCS games.
This thread exemplifies what's wrong with American politics. Instead of worrying over fears of a well-funded, lunatic right wing or our impending environmental catastrophe you guys settled for a discussion of consumer electronics.
We're largely powerless in both realms, but I suspect our purchasing power and networks give us more pull in steering the direction of consumer electronics.
I don't even own a lunatic right wing.
I don't even own a lunatic right wing.
Try eBay, they often go for five or ten dollars. but you have to arrange carriage.
I'm pretty sure that locally-sourced, artisinal lunatic right wing is available in NC, apostropher.
I don't even own a lunatic right wing.
I just got an artisinal breakfast (McDonald's) and at the counter was a young, skinny, white guy with a shaved head. He was wearing a field grey trench coat with four stars pinned to each shoulder strap (epaulette?). The coat was obviously not military issue as it was thin and cheap looking. He had a hat that looked an lot like a Wehrmacht officer's cap with obvious insignia removed. I never saw him wear the hat. It was on the counter upside down. You could see that he'd used newspaper inside the sweatband to get a tighter fit.
Anyway, breakfast went well because I had a coupon.
118. How many right wing lunatics do you need to make a lunatic right wing?
This guy may have just been regular lunatic or in a play with a very early showing.
The coat was obviously not military issue as it was thin and cheap looking.
OK, this made me laugh.
122: big time. The infamous Chinese Fighting Trousers, for example.
Anyway, the coat looked barely thicker than a flannel sheet and it is well below freezing.
Probably is authentic then. The Wehrmacht wasn't known for its ability to issue decent winter clothing. See: the Ostfront, passim.
114: Agreed. CE discussion is inarguably a better use of everyone's time, and there is no shortage of Unfogged freak-out threads.
FWIW, I'm enjoying our 46" Panasonic Viera quite a bit. I can't remember if it's LCD or plasma at the moent, but it was $800 with a free wireless-Internet-connectable Blueray player that gives us streaming Netflix. Check Best Buy for the bundles they offer. If you have time, you might want to wait until they're pushing the MLB version of NFL Sunday Ticket--I think they make pushes around then.
The great thing about LCD TVs is that you can hang them on the wall up high enough that you end up in physical therapy for your neck problem.
He had a hat that looked an lot like a Wehrmacht officer's cap with obvious insignia removed. I never saw him wear the hat. It was on the counter upside down. You could see that he'd used newspaper inside the sweatband to get a tighter fit.
Maybe he was just paying tribute to True Grit.