Jesus made this hot rod happen. Blame Jesus for my hot rod.

Yeah, some people are just naturally better suited to use the word than others, right?

I think it also blocks any use of the (sigh) c-word. I wanted to use it in a post about Australia, and if it isn't germane and appropriate in THAT context, I certainly don't know of a better one.

Probably, yeah. I do tend to dig in on analogies. In the case of batting practice, even just practice, you're still subject to harsh opinions and ridicule if you're pulling boners. Your teammates and coach are invested in your ability to do a specific thing correctly, and if you can't, then you'll be subjected to…

A batter swinging against a pitching machine is, practically speaking, alone. But when they start dealing with other people, they have to forgo the comforts of a 'safe' environment and face coaches, trainers, managers, etc., who will not hold back harsh and honest criticism, or at least they won't hold it back if…

A baseball player perfects the minute details of technique by engaging in what is essentially athletic masturbation. That's the athlete alone, going through the motions to grind in the proper reflexes. They learn to play the game, though, by going out and competing. They face other athletes, other teams, who will…

But part of being able to debate effectively and respectfully is the ability to deal with confrontation, and indeed, to confront truly lousy arguments in turn. I'm not sure I can see how it's possible to teach students in a safe environment to interact with an unsafe world.

While I respect your intent, I think that a classroom that acts as a safe space will by its nature tend towards shutting down real debate and coddling the students. Part of education is learning how to make and articulate judgments about the world, including judgments on the quality of ideas or opinions expressed by…

Students dealing with trauma are absolutely entitled to safe spaces, no doubt, but classrooms are not therapy sessions.

I don't deny the necessity of helping victims of trauma, but the classroom is not the place to be gently rehabilitated. The instructor's chief obligation is to help the students engage with the material, not to modify the curricula to better suit people's feelings.

I think it's fair to say that trigger warnings have their place, as long as they're used to facilitate engagement with the material rather than give people a path away from it.

Um, they technically didn't build the Stargate, they uncovered it from a site in Egypt and then moved it to Cheyenne Mountain so Snake Plisken/MacGyver and Ultron could get frisky with primitive humans on other worlds.

Agreed. He isn't the most naturalistic of actors, but he's got a good dose of that meaty charismatic sense of self-awareness which makes him a real asset in a comedy.

I had trouble believing that Singer was any kind of rapist, but a good friend and I agreed that we could totally see him casting-couching someone. It's sleazy sure, but more within the realm of belief for my friend and I, since we both agreed that there are X-Men we'd suck dick to play in a Bryan Singer production.

I'm forced to respectfully disagree. He kind of looked the part sometimes, but otherwise failed to sell me on any kind of personality or internal motion in the role.

I always remember Adams writing that the key to good alien names was to come up with a word or phrase too obscene to print and then stretch it out of shape until it's too absurd to twist a shit over.

In hindsight, Basque wasn't the most marketable choice.

The quantities of nostalgia may be comparable, but the quality of the prequels remains awful, while the oridge tridge remain 85 per cent excellent.

Aw man, I went to wikipedia to look this up and saw his fraternity stuff.

So, we're filming a documentary about the amateur porn industry and some of the exploitative methods used to produce that material. We'd like to interview you, but first you'll need to prove that you're a knowledgeable source.