THE HEAVENS—Saying that the various belief systems had a “good run” over the last few millennia but that it was probably time for humans to get by on their own, the Lord Our God, He Who Is Seen And Unseen, proclaimed Monday that He would begin slowly weaning humanity off religion. “Religion was definitely helpful for humans when they first started out, but now it seems like it’s pretty much served its purpose—time to take the training wheels off,” said God, who argued that while the transition from religion might be difficult for a large segment of the population, ultimately humankind would be better off without it in the long run. “It’s not like I’m going to get rid of religion all in one go or anything; I’ll wind it down gradually over the next 500 years or so. Really, when you take a ...
Citing "people familiar with Apple's plans," the report says Apple continues to try to secure programming for the service. Also, the tech giant lacks "the computer network capacity in place to ensure a good viewing experience." The new service likely won't be revealed until 2016. (Permalink)
What’s curious about Remilia’s achievement is that, following her impressive showing this week, she might quit while she’s ahead. In a statement posted on the Renegades subreddit yesterday, Remilia said that her only goal was to help carry a team to the LCS—not actually participate in it. She wanted to do this in part to prove that a woman could make it this far in League’s pro scene (emphasis added):
in the end though the competition doesn’t mean much to me. i don’t care to be the best in the world. i love playing with a team and accomplishing stuff and being recognized for it. when i set out initially, i wanted to be the first girl in LCS. that was what motivated me. that dream i had i accomplished and yet it is being challenged in such a heartless way. i really honestly truly hate so many people. if you want my honesty, everyone that tries to take away from what i accomplished, well i will always spite them. i’m always extremely salty when dealing with fans on mediums like twitter and reddit, i met some really cool fans in person at the studio for sure.
i just want it to be known that i accomplished my goal for real, and i accomplished it for me, my teammates, and girls in esports. that’s it. no one else. don’t fucking put me on some lgbt agenda or some bullshit and bring that up. that’s not me, i don’t believe in that. i don’t want messages acknowledging that part of my life, sorry.
She added in the comments below her post that she will “weigh playing in the LCS along with my other options but some things are just looking so much better.” Her many fans are practically begging her to keep on fighting in the LCS come next Spring.
Why quit when she’s so far ahead? Many League observers have been speculating that it has something to do with the amount of harassment Remilia has received throughout her career at the top of the League of Legends ladder. People on Reddit and Twitter have gone to extraordinary lengths to try and reveal numerous aspects of her personal life that she, like anybody in her position, would prefer to keep private.
That fact that she’s one of the, if not the most successful and visible woman in an almost entirely male-dominated space doesn’t help either. League of Legends, like many large and highly competitive video game communities, can often be seen as an all-boys club. Even when woman are actually recognized as Challenger and pro-level players, they’re still consigned to positions on a team that are seen as the “girl’s role”—namely, support.
Remilia has had it so bad in the past harassment-wise that she’s changed her gaming handle and deleted all of her social media accounts. She’d actually requested that Riot not focus any cameras on her during the deciding game this week when it was being live-streamed—though she later noted on Reddit that she “felt really comfortable on stage,” so she ended up staying on-camera to celebrate with the rest of her team post-game. The Twitch chat during the match was still very ugly at times despite her not being featured. Commenters were regularly chiming in to call her “it” and any number of sexist epithets.
When she said “i really honestly truly hate so many people,” and “don’t fucking put me on some lgbt agenda or some bullshit and bring that up,” then, many people took that to refer to the bilious harassment she receives, much of which focuses on her sexuality and gender identity. It’s tempting to then leap to the conclusion that she’s decided to step down from the LCS position she just earned because she doesn’t want to face even more harassment. But it’s difficult and probably not very fair to read too much into an emotionally charged series of statements she made shortly after playing the game of her life. Numerous attempts to reach Remilia for comment on this story were unsuccessful.
Regardless of what Remilia chooses to do next, she’s already accomplished something historic for herself, her teammates, and “girls in esports.” So for that all I can say is: GG, Creveling. GGWP. (Permalink)
What up, kids. It’s your boy DJ Fearwax coming at you with a RADICAL analysis! (haha, see what I did there?) Today I’ll be looking at the different forms of shitposting, their historical development, and their relations to one another.
First thing’s first, my broletariats, we have to find out where the word ”shitpost” came from. After all, ideas have a material basis and don’t just spring up out of nowhere! That Hegel dude’s exclusion of materialism from his dialectics was totally bogus.
Early shitposting
As a dialectical response to low-quality posts on the something awful forums, the users on that site began using the term “shitposting” to describe posts or threads deemed of low quality. Its first recorded use was by user “OhSNAP!Tray” in April of 2007
This term became widely used on many different websites, but the definition was much different from our modern conception of shitposting.
Early on, shitposts were considered to be worthless. Absolutely garbage posts that contributed nothing to the discussion or the website. Oftentimes they would be filled with racist vitriol and/or unfunny jokes that tried way too hard. Or they could just describe low-quality posts in general.
This here is a good example of the “Classical Shitpost”
As you can see, these posts are absolutely atrocious. They’re just goofy dudes throwing whatever inane shit that comes to their heads on the internet.
Something I believe is important to note: Classical shitposts are almost never intentional. They arise out of failed attempts of wit, humor, or other constructive content. They are by definition, merely shitty posts.
This wiggity-whack shit was an important stage in the dialectical development of the shitpost though, because it lead to-
Ironic Shitposting
As the shitposters seemed to have free reign over places like something awful and 4chan, a counter-shitpost movement began. These were shitposters dedicated to mocking and humiliating the classical shitposters. This form of shitposting is hallmarked by forced memes, mocking posts that are commonly seen on the website they were posted, and lots and lots of bad design/syntax choices. The subreddit /r/circlejerk was and in some cases still is in the forefront of this movement. Their whole schtick is making fun of shitty posts that are seen in Reddit’s most common subs.
Even tumblr makes ironic shitposts which mock its own internal culture. For example, this is an excellent specimen of a tumblr-specific ironic shitpost.
This post is obviously a response to the shy, hushed tone of voice that many tumblr users seem to type in, accompanied with odd self-depreciating descriptions the bloggers make of themselves.
Ironic shitposting wasn’t without backlash though, which gave rise to the phrase-
This cool chick was used to explain to the users of 4chan that although they were making fun of bad posters, there was very little functional difference between being a fuckwit and pretending to be a fuckwit.
A gnarly lesson that 4chan could apply to the rest of the website (HEYOOOOOOOO)
This tide of ironic shitposting, got brought to places like tumblr and twitter and would be decontextualized from the culture they were critiquing. As a result, many ironic shitposts just became humorous non-sequiteur. This decontextualization of the ironic shitpost gave way to our current understanding-
The Modern Shitpost
The modern shitpost is very much in the same tone as the ironic shitpost, but much more genuine in intent. The purpose of the modern shitpost is more for the amusement of the writer than for any social critique. The modern shitpost comes in many forms and styles, and might be one of the most diverse developments in the history of shitposting. Some of the most common types of modern shitposts are as follows.
Type 1. The Realist Shitpost
The realist shitpost is a shitpost that details some thought or experience of the author, and while it may have the tone of a shitpost it is still grounded in reality. In the narrative of the shitpost we are under the assumption that the events described within the text take place in our world.
Giving a narrative where a farmer names his horse “Mayo” for the sake of a pun or implying that anyone actually likes the beach boys may be out of the ordinary, but it’s still working within the frame of our real world.
Type 2. The Surrealist Shitpost
The surrealist shitpost is grounded in a reality, but not necessarily ours. It has its own internal logic within the shitpost, but that internal logic may be strange or alien to the reader. This disconnect in reality is often what creates the humor.
The biggest pioneer in Shitpost Surrealism needs no introductions. He is internet-renowned for his strange posts. I am of course talking about dril.
Dril and other surrealist shitposters have much in common with dadaism. Their posts give a picture of an odd world where people holler about anubis during sex and make swords out of dead animals. It takes the reader on a journey where the rules of our universe aren’t in full effect.
Type 3. The Vulgar Shitpost
This format has a tendency to straddle the line between realist and surrealist. The purpose of the vulgar shitpost is to shock and disgust. The humor in the vulgar shitpost is often Ren and Stimpy style grossout humor in the form of a tumblr post.
And while he doesn’t have a tumblr to my knowledge, I must give honorable mention to Filthy Frank for being one popularizer of this type of scatological internet humor.
Type 4. The Communist Shitpost
The Communist shitpost is a variant of shitposting that originates with Anarchist and Marxist blogs. Much of the time these posts are dedicated to mocking reactionaries and making in-jokes about leftist philosophies.
Some pioneers in this field include post-teenager, genderkills (now, sadly defunct), and myself (shameless self-plug).
The humor arises from serious political philosophy being applied to non-serious subjects. While most people consider their personal politics to be a dry subject, Communist Shitposters treat their ideology like a big joke. Unlike the more bourgeois forms of political humor that entirely revolve around making fun of the other side, a large portion of Communist Shitposting involves the shitposter poking fun at themselves. Much in line with communist philosophy, all pre-conceived notions of what is considered “respectable” are called into question.
Type 5. The Neoclassical
The Neoclassical shitpost is a post that is made in earnest, but is unintentionally amusing. Exactly like the classical shitpost, the shitposter through some social goof has made a bad post. Unlike the classical shitpost though, the result has a tendency to be more hilarious than cringe-worthy (or perhaps hilarious out of sheer cringiness). Think of your grandmother’s minion posts on facebook, or conservatives unironically taking pictures of themselves shirtless with their guns. Or….
In Conclusion
The material conditions of the internet where just about any square can come and post their shitty discourse, lead to the development of the modern shitpost. In a more regulated or traditional discussion avenue, it’s unlikely that we would have seen anything like the shitpost, because the thesis>antithesis>synthesis that lead its creation would have never taken place without the original bad posts on something awful and 4chan.
Catch ya later broletariats, DJ Fearwax over and out.
Carly Fiorina waded into the politics of vaccinations on Thursday, explaining to a group in Iowa that she believes parents should have the option not to vaccinate their children.
The Republican presidential candidate appeared to be sticking to the party line in her position, explaining that vaccines should be a matter of personal and religious freedom. She recounted a story about feeling pressured by a school nurse to allow her young daughter to receive a vaccine for human papillomavirus.
Mrs. Fiorina said that in cases of highly contagious diseases with proven vaccines, schools should be allowed to prevent students from attending. But, she added, that should not be the rule in all cases.
“I think when we’re talking about some of these more esoteric immunizations, then I think absolutely a parent should have a choice and a school district shouldn’t be able to say, ‘Sorry, your kid can’t come to school’ for a disease that’s not communicable, that’s not contagious, and where there really isn’t any proof that they’re necessary at this point,” Mrs. Fiorina told reporters, according to a report in Time magazine. (Permalink)
The 2015 NWSL championship final will reportedly be played in Portland.
According to SoccerWire.com, the NWSL and U.S. Soccer decided that the championship game would be played at Providence Park, where the Portland Thorns have drawn more than 13,000 fans per game on average since the league's inception in 2013.
In past years, the NWSL championship game has been played at the home field of the "finalist with the most regular season points." Despite leading the league in attendance numbers, the Thorns, who finished the regular season in third place in each of the league's first two seasons, have never hosted an NWSL playoff game.
Portland Timbers and Thorns owner Merritt Paulson said on Twitter Friday that the decision for Portland to host the championship game is not yet "official," but the decision for the NWSL championship game to be held at a pre-determined site was made before the start of the season.
The NWSL has not yet officially announced the rule change and championship game venue.
Paulson said on Twitter that the Thorns volunteered to host the championship game after the league said it wanted a qualified, pre-determined site to host the title game this year.
The NWSL championship game was moved back to October 1 after the NWSL announced a broadcast deal with FOX Sports in June. The game, which will take place nearly three weeks after the semifinal round, will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1.
There is no guarantee that the Thorns will even make playoffs, let alone make it to the championship game and have the opportunity to play for the NWSL title in front of their home fans.
The Thorns are currently in fifth place in the NWSL standings with just three games to play. The top four teams in the standings will earn playoffs berths. (Permalink)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Telecommunications powerhouse AT&T Inc has provided extensive assistance to the U.S. National Security Agency as the spy agency conducts surveillance on huge volumes of Internet traffic passing through the United States, the New York Times reported on Saturday, citing newly disclosed NSA documents.
The newspaper reported that the company gave technical assistance to the NSA in carrying out a secret court order allowing wiretapping of all Internet communications at the headquarters of the United Nations, an AT&T customer.
The documents date from 2003 to 2013 and were provided by fugitive former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the Times reported.
The company helped the spy agency in a broad range of classified activities, the newspaper reported. (Permalink)
On The Nightly Show, host Larry Wilmore made fun of those protesters, saying, “These women are from Black Lives Matter, who had an issue with the Sanders campaign not paying enough attention to their agenda. Now, ladies I agree that Black Lives Matter, but black manners matter as well.” (Permalink)
meanwhile, in tech TW: judging women for miscarriages in the workplace
He wanted his grandmother to stop smoking, he recalled in a 2010 graduation speech at Princeton. He didn’t beg or appeal to sentiment. He just did the math, calculating that every puff cost her a few minutes. “You’ve taken nine years off your life!” he told her. She burst into tears.
He was 10 at the time. Decades later, he created a technological and retail giant by relying on some of the same impulses: eagerness to tell others how to behave; an instinct for bluntness bordering on confrontation; and an overarching confidence in the power of metrics, buoyed by his experience in the early 1990s at D. E. Shaw, a financial firm that overturned Wall Street convention by using algorithms to get the most out of every trade. (Permalink)
Last week, Good Ventures — Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz's foundation — gave $25 million to GiveDirectly, which transfers cash directly to the poor in Kenya and Uganda. Devex interviewed GiveDirectly co-founder Paul Niehaus about how this money will be spent and how it will enable the nonprofit to build support for direct cash transfers as a new form of global development.
The Government: we need children to run the military
Bonzo: welcome to battle school
the only thing you need to know about life up here is that we only have two kinds of swearing
"fart face" and vicious racial slurs
Ender: oh
Bonzo: we'll kill you as soon as look at you
but we'll never say "shit"
Peter: now that Ender has gone to space to become a general, we must do our part to change humanity
Valentine: absolutely
what should we do
Peter: let's leave comments about political theory on the internet until the government offers us jobs
From graduation to garbage job (literally): One twentysomething’s struggle
Jackie Roche is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer from New England, currently living in Minneapolis, MN. She specializes in nonfiction comics. For more of her work, visit jrocheworkshop.com or follow @jrocheworkshop on Twitter.
if anyone has not seen it yet this is my fav youtube channel and their videos are just them acting as werner herzog, david lynch, and crispin glover and i really do not know why this amuses me as much as it does
An anonymous reader writes: The NY Times has a lengthy exposé on the working conditions within Jeff Bezos's Amazon. "Even as the company tests delivery by drone and ways to restock toilet paper at the push of a bathroom button, it is conducting a little-known experiment in how far it can push white-collar workers, redrawing the boundaries of what is acceptable." Over 100 current and former employees were interviewed for the article, and they painted a picture of a demanding and punishing workplace that people tolerate in exchange for the ability to create. "In contrast to companies where declarations about their philosophy amount to vague platitudes, Amazon has rules that are part of its daily language and rituals, used in hiring, cited at meetings and quoted in food-truck lines at lunchtime. Some Amazonians say they teach them to their children." Of course, this attitude causes problems for people whose lives don't allow them extreme levels of effort: "The mother of the stillborn child soon left Amazon. 'I had just experienced the most devastating event in my life,' the woman recalled via email, only to be told her performance would be monitored 'to make sure my focus stayed on my job.'"
