Sheep can be intimidating. I remember the first time I met a couple of sheep: They had dark black heads and the giant ball of wool made them look 500lbs. I reacted just like I would if it were a doberman pincher when they came at me.

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The first Shift novella was not great, but the later ones get much better - and tie the whole Wool story together.

I just read the whole WOOL series a few weeks ago. Pretty damn good, and I don't usually like post-apocalyptic fiction. The Shift series (prequel story), sadly, wasn't nearly as good.

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This is a trailer for a book - which is something I didn't know happened. It's also my favourite book series at the moment. If you like your futures dystopian - this is for you. Hugh Howey is also a bit of a self-publishing rock star - as he reportedly pulls in 6 figures a month for his eBooks like Wool. 20th Century Fox just bought the film rights - should make an awesome movie.

"You know things are bad when someone on the terror watch list...." Please Xiaelao, spare us the insulting terminology, no such fucking thing as terror.

No, you know things are bad when you have such a completely bullshit phraseology as "Terror Watch List", "terror alert level (insert color here), "no fly list", etc. The term "gun control" is being replaced in the U.S. media with the psycho-cyberdine phraseology, "gun safety", because these cunts are helpless to conceal their own fuck-ups.

...a few more that have become entrenched in the lexicon of acceptable terminology for verbal camouflage, friendly fire, collateral damage, and other euphemistic language designed to conceal reality....
It killed Carlin to watch it-"Poor people used to live in slums, now the economically disadvantaged occupy sub-standard housing in the inner cities."

Wool + Eyes = Pull

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Best Book: Wool. If you like your dystopian post-apocalyptic SF - this is the one.

Best Movie: I enjoyed Argo, Looper and Cloud Atlas - though in general I think this was a poor year for the kinds of films I like.

Best game: As a casual gamer, dare I say, Bad Piggies? ;-)

TV: Will second Breaking Bad - I've actually gotten in to the final season of Merlin with the kids. Also, Season 2 of Game of Thrones and season 3 of Downton. Poor Cousin Matthew!

Music: This year has been a year of nostalgia - I'm listening to almost no new music except the latest from Kate Havnevik.

Let's address those, shall we?

So first you're going to stab, choke or bludgeon me?

You're welcome to try, son.

You have to get close to me. You have to over power me. You have to do this in a way that stops others from stopping you. I don't for a second believe you're capable of that.

You want to poison or bomb me?

This takes dedication, planning and materials. None of which the average unstable individual usually has. Are there a few dyed in the wool nutjobs with resources? Sure but there's a lot less of them, and having to procure the materials for the acts makes it a lot easier to catch them.
It's almost as if controlling bomb and poison making materials worked...

The US attitude to guns is what scares me the most. There are plenty of people in other countries with guns, but almost all of them have guns for a specific reason, like hunting or target shooting.

Only in the US have I met people who own guns for "home defence". As such, you get people who really don't have a clue how to safely operate a gun and who believe it's a magic talisman that keeps them safe. It's bullshit, and frankly, it's time you grew the fuck up and realised you're not in an action movie.

I must be delusional. I find myself agreeing with you. Sifters make strange bedfellows.>> ^Yogi:

>> ^PostalBlowfish:
It's hilarious to me that people can say something like that without mentioning George W. Bush.

It's hilarious to me that Democrats think George W. Bush was so bad when they Revere Clinton who is responsible for 500,000 Iraqi deaths.
Take the wool off of your eyes, our leaders are all bastards doesn't matter what stripe.
Also Clinton supported the Genocide in East Timor.
Jimmy Carter doubled funding to those committing the Genocide by the way, and he won a Nobel Peace Prize. So has Obama, who has been committing targeted assassinations in foreign countries.

You ignore certain people to condemn others even though both are responsible, and you tell me to get the wool off of my eyes. Cute. I knew there was gonna be a special kind of butt ache on the internet today.

>> ^PostalBlowfish:

It's hilarious to me that people can say something like that without mentioning George W. Bush.


It's hilarious to me that Democrats think George W. Bush was so bad when they Revere Clinton who is responsible for 500,000 Iraqi deaths.

Take the wool off of your eyes, our leaders are all bastards doesn't matter what stripe.

Also Clinton supported the Genocide in East Timor.

Jimmy Carter doubled funding to those committing the Genocide by the way, and he won a Nobel Peace Prize. So has Obama, who has been committing targeted assassinations in foreign countries.

>> ^VoodooV:

gee, shiny resorts to harassment? color me shocked!
I'm sorry, but ill say it again, people like shiny need to be kicked out of here. It has nothing to do with conservatism or religion, these people simply don't contribute to civil discourse. I know plenty of conservative/religious people who are capable of engaging in civil debate and discourse, Shiny or QM, and others aren't among these people
They drop their talking points and move on to the next sift. That's not debate, that's not discourse. And you certainly can't have rational discussions with someone who no matter what, thinks you need to be saved and doesn't view you as an equal human being and him and his god are always correct and you're always wrong. It's not conducive to rational discussion and quite frankly, it's simply not healthy, period.
And yes, it is trolling.
Remember that even though they seem to be an endangered species, there are actual rational right wingers out there. You may disagree with them, but they can actually debate civilly without regurgitating Fox News or Theistic propaganda.


This is such an old response and thread, but I thought I'd say it anyway as I really want it said in here.

I've met, actually, a great many people that are very set in their theistic mindset, but like you said they also don't think I'm going to burn in a pit of fire come the end of time; in fact quite a few of them would be morally outraged if such a thing occurred--as they literally know, like me, that the difference between believing in God and not, is merely a thought away (or you could say, one neuron connection/pathway away).

There are a few that believe in fire and brimstone type things, but they only--typically--reserve it for the greatest of crimes (like an Adolf Hitler or Pol Pot). Even fewer still that believe that there is a harsh judgment remaining for a lot of people, but they tend to believe that there is a way to "return" or to repent there--in the "lake of fire" and come back a new person.

BUT, the ones that think there IS a hell, absolute and horrifying in all it's glory, these are ALSO the very same people that cannot have a rational discussion with you. It's very strange. It's as though their ability to actively decide whether actions in play are moral or not are by definition an unanswerable question until they have been told by someone ELSE what that answer is: either the Bible, other religious members, or talk show hosts, and you get my picture. THESE are the dangerous people.

It reminds me of the story in the Old Testament, in Numbers 15:32-36 (for those that wish to read it). Now I know many *newer* religions, get around this stuff by saying they use the New Testament (it has it's fun stuff too, but for now, let's just do this one) due to Christ's Salvation and his, yada yada yada yada yada--I heard this for a long time myself as a Mormon and in some Catholic services I went to.

This guy collects what is essentially firewood on the Sabbath (this was back in the day when not having a fire active in your house/hut/tent/whatever at night could literally mean death--in case you've never been out camping/hiking, fires are VERY important and are a DAMNED LUXURY with our matches, steel wool, sleeping bags made to hold in heat, and other items that make a night in the wilderness go by--gently and one could say comfortably fun).

Instead of just collecting this firewood, making a meal and going to bed, this guy gets caught for working on the Sabbath and is taken to Moses and Aaron. So we all know what that little commandment this is, the one EVERYONE disobeys now (It goes by either of these two definitions and there are more versions--trust me: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. -OR- Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.). So God buzzes Moses on the iGodphone™ and tells Moses the bad news, or well the good news and the bad news. The bad news is that "unnamed villager" will be taken outside the encampment, with what sounds like most of the people and then stoned to death. The good news, is they get to stone someone (sorry, but back then and with the regularity of which stoning happened I really think people enjoyed it when these edicts came on down...)!

SO, I've seen this tale said many a time and I CANNOT believe the amount of heads I see move up and down while this is repeated. They LITERALLY agree with cold-blooded murder in the first-degree, for GATHERING FIREWOOD!!! In the damned ages BEFORE the Dark Ages-life SUCKED! You NEEDED FIRE!!! It wasn't a question of maybe I'll skip it tonight it was a matter of when do I start it up--every night! So you can see why people like this can be dangerous as someone from on high that they think is their leader gives them what essentially is a crime, they don't think to long about it--they act, and carry out whatever truly horrifying act it was.

This has been abused by many Cult leaders, like the "Alien Comet riders" or also known as Heaven's Gate in California or something even MORE horrifying like Jonestown (something that was horrific--there are some GREAT documentaries on this to watch,; I suggest looking for them) or something semi-recent like (straight from wiki), "The 778 deaths of members of the Ugandan group Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, on March 17, 2000, is considered to be a mass murder and suicide orchestrated by leaders of the group.", so you can see while large religions don't do these WILD events they DO slowly in fact do smaller and incrementally increase their crimes.

You might ask what crimes, but it is literally crimes that we can point to that are AGAINST the VERY FABRIC of your own teachings. Use the Golden Rule in your life and get rid of the authority driven craziness, it will only lead you to sadness, if you're a zealot--fight it within yourself.
--------

So, anyway, what I'm saying is that I very much agree that there ARE many people that are theistic believers (not just Christan ones mind you) that are GREAT to talk to and many times you don't even have to argue with them you can have laid back conversations with them--it's amazing who you run into.

BUT, for the people I mentioned they are nearly lost causes. I don't know exactly what their problem is but it does have something to do with the fact that they MUST be told a "truth" by a "high-ranking-official" for them to change a stance. They are TRUE believers, ZEALOTS to their cause and dangerous.

A little bit the same as you said @VoodooV, but I thought I'd add a few more nails into that coffin.

What are the laws of logic and where do they come from? How do you account for them?

>> ^kceaton1:

This video was o.k., not really that funny not that great. I'll upvote, but really the conversation underneath is more interesting.
It's interesting to me how much we use logic and it's precepts in our daily lives: "Should I drive (trust) my car to work?", "Should I walk over this suspension bridge?"., etc... -- and so on...
BUT, when it comes to religion we don't DARE use logic against it. I finally used it on mine and was out very quickly (and for shiny, it was a subject much as they are bringing up TO YOU, not what would exclusively be brought up against a Mormon as I know you LOVE to do that do SO VERY MUCH).
Logic is humanities greatest WEAPON. You can fight GODS with it, because they cannot merely pull the wool over your eye's to become the ONE and TRUE champion. Others will come together and they will see the errors in the ways a "God" is trying to manipulate, "reality". Sometimes this must even make you ask the question (if I was a believer) is Satan actually the REAL God and we are merely getting a book of events from the winner .
History is shaped by the winners not the losers, you might do well to remember that fallacy as well--it is another bullet hole possible in the Bible. Otherwise I agree, if you cannot use logic as your friend you will never exceed or go BEYOND your expectations., as many have said.

This video was o.k., not really that funny not that great. I'll upvote, but really the conversation underneath is more interesting.

It's interesting to me how much we use logic and it's precepts in our daily lives: "Should I drive (trust) my car to work?", "Should I walk over this suspension bridge?"., etc... -- and so on...

BUT, when it comes to religion we don't DARE use logic against it. I finally used it on mine and was out very quickly (and for shiny, it was a subject much as they are bringing up TO YOU, not what would *exclusively* be brought up against a Mormon as I know you LOVE to do that do SO VERY MUCH).

Logic is humanities greatest WEAPON. You can fight GODS with it, because they cannot merely pull the wool over your eye's to become the ONE and TRUE champion. Others will come together and they will see the errors in the ways a "God" is trying to manipulate, "reality". Sometimes this must even make you ask the question (if I was a believer) is Satan actually the REAL God and we are merely getting a book of events from the *winner*.

History is shaped by the winners not the losers, you might do well to remember that fallacy as well--it is another bullet hole possible in the Bible. Otherwise I agree, if you cannot use logic as your friend you will never exceed or go BEYOND your expectations., as many have said.

Why hello there @shinnyblurry, we meet again (sort of). You know, it's kind of funny that while I was watching this video I was suddenly struck by the memory of our last encounter and expected that I'd see your responses to this video (and other people). Either way, no hard feelings about our previous encounters or anything.

If you can believe it, you've inspired me in a way. Not in the way that I imagine you might hope though. I don't really get into debates/arguments with died-in-the-wool believers anymore. Especially those who claim person divine revelation. There isn't a whole lot to be said at that point because most people aren't interested in attempting to falsify their own experiences. They especially aren't interested in attempting to falsify experiences that they deems profoundly meaningful to them personally, giving them new meaning to their life which I can understand. That kind of debate/argument cannot bear fruit unless something like education standards or public policies are at stake.

I'm sure you remember my whole standpoint on the god(s) thing, so I wont repeat myself, I mostly wanted to say Hi

I will say this though; personal revelations aside, "I don't know" followed up by skeptical inquiry is a far better answer and process to interacting with questions that we simply cannot, or haven't yet, verify objectively. I just can't accept that personal revelation is good enough to determine whether or not something is true. The probability of being incorrect about an experience is astounding. Humans are pattern seeking and creating machines. The answer "I don't know" is extremely hard to rest on for most humans because there is a biological need to fill in the blanks of our knowledge, and we do that by looking for patterns which may or may not be there. It was far better to believe that a predator is in the bushes when they rustle than to employ investigative powers thus taking the risk of being eaten. The studies on these phenomenon are amazing and it's amazing to see how easily humans will accept an an answer that doesn't make logical or empirical sense in order to avoid being in the position of "I don't know". It requires a lot of mental rigor to maintain "I don't know" as a placeholder. It goes against human biology. There is also less cognitive dissonance felt if investigation can be halted. When a belief is strongly held, it's fascinating how many self justification techniques are used to maintain that belief. There is a lot of literature and research that strongly suggest that superstitions follow from the urge to provide an answer rather than resting at "I don't know".

Anyone can say that they "know" because of some personal revelation, but does that mean that what they believe is actually true? Is personal revelation actually good enough?

Either way, it's all very fascinating stuff and there are a lot of books out there which cover all of the techniques that humans use in fooling themselves, to self justify beliefs, and in preventing cognitive dissonance.
>> ^shinyblurry:

>> ^A10anis:
It is NOT a choice between "god and nothingness," It is a choice between childish myth, wishful thinking, and divine slavery based upon brain washing and fear, or the choice of reality, based upon logic, free thought, education and common sense. Faith is simply faith. After all, if god existed, faith would not be necessary, he would be fact.

That's a very unsophisticated analysis, A10anis, and very biased as well. It's really a big surprise that you've attributed rationality solely to your viewpoint. Based on what? You've made all sorts of claims here, but nothing to substantiate them.
It is a clear choice between a Universe that was created intentionally, with meaning and purpose, and a Universe that is a product of chance, without meaning and purpose. What other choices are there?
Another question is, how would you know which one you were in?
Faith is simply faith. After all, if god existed, faith would not be necessary, he would be fact.
That's a false dilemma, A10anis. A couple of them, actually. Clearly God can exist and require our faith at the same time.

>> ^dannym3141:

>> ^EMPIRE:
oh for fuck sake... HOW??? how can you walk around and breathe at the same time with such an obviously useless brain?
Seriously, is this guy borderline retarded? And if he is who was the moron who let him work at a place with highly flammable liquids?

Imo, we live in a world where we're pretty much wrapped in cotton wool. Stub your toe? Make a claim.
We're an arrogant race.. we think everything is safe, and we think we're automatically the top of the food chain whilst forgetting the hard work that got us there <img class="smiley" src="http://videosift.com/cdm/emoticon/tongue.gif">
When you think about it you realise that behind all these laws and safety regulations and stuff, we're just animals surviving. We've developed some cool ways to do it in style, but that's still what we are.
If you got dumped on an earth with no sign of human technology, would you be fucked? I think 95% of us would be!


Lately, I'm finding myself getting pissed off when something happens to a bit of tech due to some bizarre unforseeable occurance and then a few seconds later calling myself a moron because there was no way for the designer to do anything about it.