Ozoneocean wrote:

You know the biggest lesson we need to take fro conspiracy thinkers?
It's that we're all vulnerable. No matter how smart, questioning, and clever you are, there's no vaccine against falling into that way of thinking.
I think we just have to be constantly vigilant to a degree and fact check some of our thinking.

But if we ever think we're immune to conspiracy- that's how you know you're probably a believer XD

A fool thinks he's a wise man, but a wise man knows he's a fool.

For instance, all knowing oracle Google says the original Spider Woman was Jessica Drew, but any fool knows it was a librarian called Valerie, who appeared in 1975 with a very smart afro.

Andreas_Helixfinger wrote:
This reminds me of Alex Jones back in the 2010's talking about chemicals in the water turning the freaking frogs gay:P If I'm not mistaken this comes from an old cycle of conspiracy theories back in the USA of the 1950's about the soviets putting chemicals in the americans drinking water, that was designed to brainwash them or to deteriarate their masculinty or something like that.

The same kind of conspiracy theories that inspired the amazing character that is the United States Air Force Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper in the black comedy film Dr Strangelove (1964). A man who after having sex with a woman experienced a sense of emptiness, from which he drew the brilliant conclusion that it was all because of a global communist conspiracy to sap and impuerify all of our precious bodily fluids, which is why he had to go ahead and nuke the russian motherland😂

Not to defend that clown Alex Jones, but he was talking about Atrazine.

bravo1102 wrote:

Battle Beneath the Earth (1967) Renegade Chinese general. I found it on YouTube and watched it again.

Nice one. I watched it this morning and now wonder if that is what a typical day working for The Boring Company is like.

elektro wrote:

Andreas_Helixfinger wrote:
This reminds me of Alex Jones back in the 2010's talking about chemicals in the water turning the freaking frogs gay:P If I'm not mistaken this comes from an old cycle of conspiracy theories back in the USA of the 1950's about the soviets putting chemicals in the americans drinking water, that was designed to brainwash them or to deteriarate their masculinty or something like that.

The same kind of conspiracy theories that inspired the amazing character that is the United States Air Force Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper in the black comedy film Dr Strangelove (1964). A man who after having sex with a woman experienced a sense of emptiness, from which he drew the brilliant conclusion that it was all because of a global communist conspiracy to sap and impuerify all of our precious bodily fluids, which is why he had to go ahead and nuke the russian motherland😂

Not to defend that clown Alex Jones, but he was talking about Atrazine.

I think Alex was conflating the Atrazine story and the gay bomb story that Andreas mentions. Because he was always talking about “gay” frogs. The chemical only works on male frogs and only hinders physical sexual development- not changing their sexuality. So you're both right. ^_^

—————–

Wow, I heard a bit of Adele's speach at the Brit awards (on a news headline). What a horrible speaking voice. I was shocked. She sounds like a 12 year old. How embarrassing. o_o

She's not alone though. Many singers have terrible speaking voices.

Ozoneocean wrote:
Wow, I heard a bit of Adele's speach at the Brit awards (on a news headline). What a horrible speaking voice. I was shocked. She sounds like a 12 year old. How embarrassing. o_o

She's not alone though. Many singers have terrible speaking voices.

Ever heard of the metal band Death? While performing, Chuck Schuldiner would have this growl (and later screech) going on. His speaking voice, however, sounded like a surfer dude.

Ozoneocean wrote:


Wow, I heard a bit of Adele's speach at the Brit awards (on a news headline). What a horrible speaking voice. I was shocked. She sounds like a 12 year old. How embarrassing. o_o

She's not alone though. Many singers have terrible speaking voices.

Have you not seen concert footage? The mockney banter is a huge part of her stage persona.

Ironscarf wrote:

Ozoneocean wrote:


Wow, I heard a bit of Adele's speach at the Brit awards (on a news headline). What a horrible speaking voice. I was shocked. She sounds like a 12 year old. How embarrassing. o_o

She's not alone though. Many singers have terrible speaking voices.

Have you not seen concert footage? The mockney banter is a huge part of her stage persona.

I watched some on incognito mode on youtube (I do not want more of that stuff recommended to me haha). It was very mokney, like watching someone copying an episode of East Enders.
The speach I heard on the radio though was different, she was imitating that British Caribbean style of talking almost, almost like Ali G, but in the way that children do it.
-Though her singing voice is very much an imitation of an American black woman so I suppose she just doesn't know when to drop the personas…

@Electro- Hahaha, yeah, death metal is all about fake personas and pretend voices so the contrast with his real one has to be super striking XD

That's so sad about Russia invading Ukraine :(

After the weakness of Yeltzin and the damage he did to Russia they really needed a strong leader like Putin to rebuild them but he's a dinosaur now. Russia doesn't need him anymore. He's a relic… Russia is healthy and the world has moved well past his old car war ideas.

And now he's drawing his country into war to justify his existence. It's awful.

Ozoneocean wrote:
That's so sad about Russia invading Ukraine :(

After the weakness of Yeltzin and the damage he did to Russia they really needed a strong leader like Putin to rebuild them but he's a dinosaur now. Russia doesn't need him anymore. He's a relic… Russia is healthy and the world has moved well past his old car war ideas.

And now he's drawing his country into war to justify his existence. It's awful.

In order for the czar to be strong – there must be war. War unites the people behind the czar in the crusade to save kindred Slavs from those who would oppress them. Putin is using the old Russian autocratic playbook. It's all scripted ahead and usually plays out the same. This is a 18th-19th century play that is out of place in today's world. But Russia has always liked to gobble up its neighbors and hard words don't always work.

So It looks like the next chapter of this horror show that is the 20s could be all out world war. I've been prepping for this for the past 4 months but now that it's here I'm a little freaked out. I'm a not so far from China over here.

lothar wrote:
So It looks like the next chapter of this horror show that is the 20s could be all out world war. I've been prepping for this for the past 4 months but now that it's here I'm a little freaked out. I'm a not so far from China over here.

And North Korea…
I'm pretty sure that if things start collapsing like dominoes then NK will jump at the chance.

Let's just hope it stays contained to Russia and Ukraine because Xi Ping is as nutty and Putin.

Only a matter of time before he reaches Dover. I might get a head start and take up the balalaika.

All this “I stand with Ukraine” stuff has felt off to me and now I finally know why:

It's like when you get into a fight and all your friends are with you and they say they've got your back and encourage you and give you support… but when it comes to the actual fight they all back away.
You're facing this huge, angry person and you hear faint messages of support from people who are never going to step in an actually help you against that person.

And you just want to tell them to **** off.

…
That's what all this “I Stand with Ukraine” says to me.

None of these people stand with anything. They're just cheering from the sidelines. I don't expect them to go and fight, in fact that would be worse, but I also don't think that should be saying what they are.

If anything they should be saying that stand against Putin and that stand with the civilians of Ukraine instead of gleefully talking about war and nationalism and heroics while taking zero part in it.

Trump Inc. “Why Ukraine?”

Basically, Ukraine is loaded with private interests on both sides. Money has been taken, people have been sent to prison, Presidents have been ousted and impeached. This has been a long time coming.

Yeah, there's a lot of corruption and stupidity there. It goes back years… Like Putin's ambitions for Ukraine.

At the moment the pro Ukraine propaganda is crazy in all the news services but there's a lot of really dumb pro-Russian propaganda trying to paint civilian casualties in Ukraine as “false flag” operations. It's sad.
Aside from all the propaganda though it's pretty stark that Russia is absolutely in the wrong.

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I've been looking at the Quail's Random list on the front page for comics to do a Friday Fashion Spotlight feature on and I came across a few that stopped updating in the 2010-2012 sort of period.

A lot of them had a message that went- “Thanks for the feature and all the support but I'm leaving because I don't like this site anymore, find me at ”X“, which is better…”

Ironically “X” is pretty much invariably a dead site because DD just kept going while those sites they left for died :(
(they left DD for dead but their alternative died instead)

One has to admit that DD was on life support for a few years there. It nearly died and it got some first class treatment. As its heart fluttered someone was there with the paddles and got a regular heart beat going again.

People come and people go. The earmarked page for DD on my phone is the credits page for the 2018 DD awards. So I am reminded of this every time I click on the link to see how many people have moved on. It's scary, even heart rending.

bravo1102 wrote:
One has to admit that DD was on life support for a few years there. It nearly died and it got some first class treatment. As its heart fluttered someone was there with the paddles and got a regular heart beat going again.

While those others DID die XD

Ozoneocean wrote:

bravo1102 wrote:
One has to admit that DD was on life support for a few years there. It nearly died and it got some first class treatment. As its heart fluttered someone was there with the paddles and got a regular heart beat going again.

While those others DID die XD

They didn't have you oz. Take a bow.

If no one has told you that you are unbe-fuckingly awesome today let me be the first of many.

It's really astounding when I stop and think about it. Thank you.

And I mean awesome literally as in inspiring awe. Like wow. What this guy accomplished. Mouth agape. You know I'm not an idle flatterer, I work very hard at it but some people deserve tons of praise and you're one of them.

bravo1102 wrote:
They didn't have you oz. Take a bow.

If no one has told you that you are unbe-fuckingly awesome today let me be the first of many.

It's really astounding when I stop and think about it. Thank you.

And I mean awesome literally as in inspiring awe. Like wow. What this guy accomplished. Mouth agape. You know I'm not an idle flatterer, I work very hard at it but some people deserve tons of praise and you're one of them.

Thank you! I'm blushing

It's only been two weeks and people seem to REALLY want to start a world War 3 with Russia.
You see the commentary and news constantly downplaying Russia's military effectiveness and encouraging active participation of NATO.

It's so easy to forget that most people knew very little of the world outside their own immediate interests and don't think further than next week.
NO, war with Russia is N O T a good idea. No, Russia is not a little paper tiger. No, Russia will not be easily beaten back in a limited conflict.

War between Russia and the UN would unleash hell. They're ignorant for wishing and imagining otherwise. China and North Korea are just waiting for their chances to start their own adventures… Less so NK, but when China goes after Taiwan they'll be oh so much closer to shelling South Korea. :(

The last time someone said Russia was a paper tiger and would fold under an attack was 1941.

bravo1102 wrote:
They didn't have you oz. Take a bow.

If no one has told you that you are unbe-fuckingly awesome today let me be the first of many.

It's really astounding when I stop and think about it. Thank you.

And I mean awesome literally as in inspiring awe. Like wow. What this guy accomplished. Mouth agape. You know I'm not an idle flatterer, I work very hard at it but some people deserve tons of praise and you're one of them.

I was one of those who jumped ship when the last lot bought the site. I really thought that was the end of days, but what you've been able to achieve in keeping the boat afloat and bringing it back from the brink is nothing short of heroic.

If it wasn't for you Oz, the wreck of this site would have been found parked next to Shakleton's recently rediscovered tub.

War between Russia and the UN would unleash hell. They're ignorant for wishing and imagining otherwise. China and North Korea are just waiting for their chances to start their own adventures… Less so NK, but when China goes after Taiwan they'll be oh so much closer to shelling South Korea. :(

I'm wayyyyy too close to Russia.. North Korea and china as well.

lothar wrote:

War between Russia and the UN would unleash hell. They're ignorant for wishing and imagining otherwise. China and North Korea are just waiting for their chances to start their own adventures… Less so NK, but when China goes after Taiwan they'll be oh so much closer to shelling South Korea. :(

I'm wayyyyy too close to Russia.. North Korea and china as well.

Same here. Only when it comes to Russia, but only that makes my life more interesting. Especially now, when Russia proved that they have no problem with hitting target close to border of my country. So maybe those people who live on social media would be so kind and shut up with their support of the current thing.

PS
Kitty reminds everyone that kitty is not a NATO facility. Kitty just wants to draw naked vixens. Please, do not bomb the kitty.

Wildcat Arren wrote:

lothar wrote:

War between Russia and the UN would unleash hell. They're ignorant for wishing and imagining otherwise. China and North Korea are just waiting for their chances to start their own adventures… Less so NK, but when China goes after Taiwan they'll be oh so much closer to shelling South Korea. :(

I'm wayyyyy too close to Russia.. North Korea and china as well.

Same here. Only when it comes to Russia, but only that makes my life more interesting. Especially now, when Russia proved that they have no problem with hitting target close to border of my country. So maybe those people who live on social media would be so kind and shut up with their support of the current thing.

PS
Kitty reminds everyone that kitty is not a NATO facility. Kitty just wants to draw naked vixens. Please, do not bomb the kitty.

And Bravo1102 is a member of NATO so I have no worries even if ethnographers and linguists have suddenly changed my ethnic background of Rusyn from Slavonic Russian to Carpathian Ukrainian.

Hello all. I'm trying to make a comeback after over a year of hiatus. At the end of 2020 my youngest was diagnosed with several food allergies.
Then both my kids spent the first half of last year alternating being sick. We ended up overnighting in the hospital twice with the youngest. After a near miss of going to the hospital last month, he we finally diagnosed with asthma and given an inhaler. He is doing better now, and I think I'm starting come out of my funk.
Now I'm going to try to catch up on a years worth of comics and possibly look into doing the Drunk Duck Awards this year.

That's great new Niccea. There's no worse feeling than when your little ones are suffering and there's nothing you can do. Good to have you back in whatever capacity you can manage and long may your tribe prosper.

Welp, that was cool. I just saw the spacex launch here a few minutes ago. 12:42am FL. Even though I got to get up in the morning for work, I still get a kick watching launches from Cape Canaveral. Some what cloudy but still cool to watch. This pay load is holding 53 Starlink satellites which will go over Ukraine and other countries in a few hours. (Don’t know why the time next to my name is so off). Oh well, good night folks or rather good morning.

Welcome back Niccea!

cdmalcolm1 wrote:
Welp, that was cool. I just saw the spacex launch here a few minutes ago. 12:42am FL. Even though I got to get up in the morning for work, I still get a kick watching launches from Cape Canaveral. Some what cloudy but still cool to watch. This pay load is holding 53 Starlink satellites which will go over Ukraine and other countries in a few hours. (Don’t know why the time next to my name is so off). Oh well, good night folks or rather good morning.

wowswes!

It is raining, so here is a story for a rainy day…

I was riding around town on public transportation with my friend, and it was not until we were off the bus that my friend realized their cell phone was missing, most likely still on the bus. The following hour was spent dialing a missing phone's number that would ring three times before going to voicemail. Eventually after an hour, and almost giving up, I made one last phone call and I was connected to a man's voice who had picked up the phone from the bus I was riding.

The stranger and I made plans to meet up a at a gas station at a busy intersection to make the phone exchange. He said he could be there in ten minutes, I asked if we could meet there in two hours, and he agreed.
(At this point the worst case scenarios of such an anonymous meeting had already run through my head, and I went through with it anyway.)
As planned, I made it to the intersection and dialed the number once again (no answer); a second time (no answer); and a final third time (he answered). I told him I was standing next to the propane containers at the gas station closest to the bus stop, he said he was on the bus and would be there shortly.

About three minutes later, a man wearing a straw hat, a broken plaid mask hanging by a single cord, and a weathered jacket started walking towards me. It looked like he had experienced a decade of hard years of living in inconsistent housing. I greeted him by his name, he greeted me by mine. He handed me the phone that had dropped on a bus three hours earlier and then he asked for a favor. He wanted me to get in contact with his sister, so she could load up his bus pass. I sent his sister a text followed by a photograph of his hand holding the bus pass.

I thanked him for his honesty and integrity and how difficult and rare it is to find these days. I am thankful for having had this experience it taught me a powerful life lesson: Treat everyone with dignity and respect.