The Battle Bar, Our Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy

Started by Nephthys3,287 pages
Originally posted by Lucius
He's an idealist, the ur example, and idealists make me wretch.

Well he's a fictional character. Escapist fantasy. Being unreasonably idealistic is not the same as it would be for you or I.

I don't agree with his ideals myself but I still ****ing love Superman.

And here we go.

Originally posted by Eminence
Unsurprisingly, you're running this in circles. Square one:

Unsurprisingly, you're making things up in the absence of a cogent argument (precisely because we are technically on the same side). For your accusations of a strawman to be accurate, I would have to have accused you of intentionally claiming I supported DADT. The only thing I've done was claim that you've given off that impression, which you have, and therefore your accusation doesn't stand.

[1] What do you believe was the primary motive of the pro-DADT faction in seeing the policy implemented, and what facts of merit supplanted its position?
This is another conversation that I will have to seriously think about, but I have a thought at the top of my head. If the military's primary goal is to ensure the utmost efficiency of their troops, and as these studies have allegedly shown that homosexuals don't impede performance or efficiency, then it is not in the best interest of the military to be prejudicial against homosexuals, wouldn't you agree? If so, your prejudice argument is out.

Your rampant straw manning lack of straw manning notwithstanding I have never said that you actively supported the policy, but that considering your apathy to the injustice homosexuals endured as part of a community you claim to universally respect that is not tantamount to the disavowal of the policy the other five of us espouse. Given this information and extending you a very generous benefit of doubt, the only logical procession is to conclude that you do, in fact, believe that there was a reasonable basis for the implementation of the policy, one that had nothing to do with the particular feelings towards homosexuals of those responsible for and supportive of the legislation: a suspicion that inclusion of homosexuals in the military would have an adverse effect on its efficacy. I have provided you with a great deal of data, itself but a modicum of what is available to anyone willing to look, concluding that this is not the case, and if we employ logic and search engines we find that no similarly exhaustive research was done before the implementation of the policy. If such research had been conducted the results would have been the same, and it would have been made incontrovertibly clear that the aforementioned suspicion is unfounded. Thus, the original concern is moot, and had some effort been dedicated to any diligent scrutiny of the assertion the only thing resembling a real reason to implement the policy would have been rendered baseless. That no evidence of remotely comparable scope or merit contradicted these findings means that the mandate to impose these rules on a select population was carried out without sufficient foundation in reason.

I advise you to look up the word apathy and apply it properly next time, instead of the emotional rant that you are continuing. Furthermore, I never said you accused me of supporting DADT, only giving off the impression that I did with these random outbursts. Furthermore, you have presented no real, specific outlined findings on these studies other than "look here", and then you accuse me of "not doing my homework." Double standards much? I will be more than happy to spend a few hours glancing over those studies if you are willing to do the same, and then we can continue this discussion. So far all you have given me is "there's no rational reason for this so it MUST be prejudice."

Was there insufficient time to determine whether trodding on the liberties of tens of thousands of uncommonly brave, patriotic and committed servicemen and women was worth the unsubstantiated security risk and [then unforeseen, no doubt] three hundred million dollar price tag?
I'm not following you here specifically because I agree with you regarding this sentiment so there's no reason to type it out.

Any way you slice it, it comes down to politics and prejudice. Even skipping past the the policy itself, why do you think the homosexual security risk was ever a topic of contention to begin with? Ignoring the opinion of the dissenting majority of the military, what exactly is it about gays that apparently discombobulates the unit dynamic? Homophobia. I understand you have a lascivious proclivity for seizing on words that accurately but unflatteringly explain particular phenomena [toward which you harbor objective but otherwise totally inscrutable sentiments, of course], but unlike "liberal retard" and "pseudointellectual" I use the term with no connotation beyond its most immediate definition: the unreasoning fear of homosexuals. At its core this is an issue of prejudice, and while it obviously wasn't my intention to go this deep, your endless repudiation of any such thing being a paramount motive here is getting unpleasantly grating.

No, it comes out to politics with prejudice being a sufficient, but not NECESSARY condition. I'm not saying prejudice didn't play a certain role in the creation and continued maintenance of DADT but you're claiming it was solely prejudice because you're somehow ruling out one other aspect. Also, I don't recall using pseudointellectual or liberal retard in the past year or so as I've outgrown those words and they tend to elicit emotional responses like yours above.

That's about as simultaneously concise and exhaustive as I think this case can be made without losing your attention or feeding you more straw, and that's a stretch. If your interest in continuing the discussion outweighs your desire to troll or take potshots, I'd like for you to at the very least answer the first question. Following that, the onus is on you to support your case, should you remain interested. You have my position detailed here to the letter; everything you might feel the need to address is in there, there is no opportunity for misunderstandings or deliberate misdirection, and I will not repeat myself. If you skirt issues, refuse to answer direct questions directly, or persist with the obscene straw manning this discussion is over. I have no more time to waste with something that is damned to be fruitless. [/B]
I'm not sure you're one to talk about losing focus on a particular subject, especially one you're particularly passionate about, as your argument goes from logical, to somewhat logical, to flat out emotional and devoid of all logic. I've explained precisely why prejudice, while probably a small portion of the problem, could NOT fully explain the reason of DADT. That is all my onus requires of me, to negate one of your assumptions. Furthermore, I'd appreciate you stop throwing out words like "straw man" until you learn to use them in the proper context. I wouldn't mind continuing this discussion in greater technical detail if you would forgo the illogical terminology and incessant emotions and focus on the issue at hand and specifically the studies you have posted.

God you're both turning me on sooooo much right now

And that's pretty much the discussion killer right there.

But not the mood killer. stoned

There isn't enough viagra on this planet for me to maintain, or even achieve a hard on with your posts/face/etc. I guess that makes me slightly heterosexual.

What about with my personality? Surely it's erection-inducing.... excellent

Originally posted by Turr_Phennir
What about with my personality? Surely it's erection-inducing.... excellent

To inmate #0908 maybe.

You can visit my cellblock anytime baby.... innuendur

Originally posted by Turr_Phennir
You can visit my cellblock anytime baby.... innuendur
Lonely, aren't we?

It's 1:32am and I'm listening to the ForceCast and talking to you, what the hell do you think?

Originally posted by Turr_Phennir
It's 1:32am and I'm listening to the ForceCast and talking to you, what the hell do you think?
AND you're in college AND it's early Saturday morning? Wow, I'm sorry man.

I don't party and my gf is currently in a mini-coma at home. 😬

Your "GF" huh. I have the perfect article for you.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-situations-that-are-secretly-terrifying-awkward-people/

Parties are overrated. And so is DOB.

Yeah, but you call her Mom.

Damn it, Canadian!!!!

Originally posted by Lord Lucien
Parties are overrated. And so is DOB.
Parties are not overrated. Shall I go into my diatribe about how college changes you and molds you into the person you will eventually become, if you use it properly? And DOB is hilarious.

Originally posted by Turr_Phennir
Yeah, but you call her Mom.

Damn it, Canadian!!!!

Whaaat?

Originally posted by Dr McBeefington
Parties are not overrated. Shall I go into my diatribe about how college changes you and molds you into the person you will eventually become, if you use it properly? And DOB is hilarious.
You can, but my own experience provides little enthusiasm for parties, college, and college parties. Parties are nothing more than noise and idiots making noise, and college was nothing more than expensive high school, just without teachers calling home if you skipped a class. And DOB's average. Like the rest of the After Hours gang, their individual selves aren't as good.

Except Swaim. That guy's awesome.

I've attempted to enjoy parties, but quite frankly they are boring as hell. I almost never drink since I get terribly sick, and like . . . I don't get it. It's boring. I don't understand how parties are fun. All I can ever think about is how people are talking about stupid shit and I just want to go home so I can read.

Originally posted by Lord Lucien
Whaaat?

You can, but my own experience provides enthusiasm for parties, college, and college parties. Parties are nothing more than noise and idiots making noise, and college was nothing more than expensive high school, just without teachers calling home if you skipped a class. And DOB's average. Like the rest of the After Hours gang, their individual selves aren't as good.

Except Swaim. That guy's awesome.

I was completely antisocial in high school and decided to just let loose in college, put myself out there and stuff. Yes, parties are noisy and full of idiots, but it's not so bad when you're barely able to walk and partake in the festivities. That's what college is for, as well as possibly learning something financially beneficial for the future. I wouldn't really compare it to high school at all, since it was the difference between day and night for me.

I've attempted to enjoy parties, but quite frankly they are boring as hell. I almost never drink since I get terribly sick, and like . . . I don't get it. It's boring. I don't understand how parties are fun. All I can ever think about is how people are talking about stupid shit and I just want to go home so I can read.

I used to feel the same way and feel like that now because I'm edging closer and closer to my 30s. But college was about experience and there was a time to read and do business, and a time to go crazy. I guess we all have different experiences but if I were to shun the parties for reading or these forums (as I did my first semester), I would have gone to a simple commuter school and paid 1800 a semester.