No one believes me when I say this, but I first heard it as a (admittedly sardonic) self-descriptor, and I swear that, like Teabagger, it was at first a self-descriptor that the opposition picked up on and eventually owned.

Re: how to criticize without being an asshole, some thoughts based on my own observations, with the goal in mind actually being potentially changing minds and behaviors, not just keeping the moral high ground:

I'd just like to promote this link. Kinda dense but a really good explanation of this stuff. tl;dr: lots of social-justice activists think that bigotry is systemic and intractable, but can be solved with enough self-examination and self-determination, a setup that's inherently contradictory.

Gawker is such a weird place. They want so badly to be the conscience of the internet, but their old instincts as a gossip/paparazzi site keep showing through. I don't mean just that the material is vapid (it sometimes is, but not always), but that they see their targets as essentially non-real people, playing a role…

I don't think it's hard to understand at all. It's a lack of empathy that everyone's guilty of now and then, but it's a more noticeable flaw in people who claim to be fighting for empathy.

At some point it just becomes the old-school desire for a witch-burning under a new name, though. Does going scorched-earth on some random schmoe because they made a bad joke solve anything? Not really.

If that was the same case, that was also the one that the NY Post put on its front page.

Snarky? On this website? Those bastards.

Oh, fuck.

Kamina.

That bit where he jumped on the fake grenade in the first movie was legit great.

Any zombie apocalypse story. People that wish those were real are completely bonkers.

Well, given where you're stuck now, pretty much anything would be a step up.

How dangerous the place is shouldn't be an issue. You're already dead! Besides, if that's got you worried, just pick a world where the good guys always win and no one ever dies.

I'll take a Midwestern city over a coastal one and save $300 a month on rent, thank you kindly. People who think there's no civilization between LA and New York are just as dumb and provincial as the rednecks they love feeling superior to.

Don't knock leopard-print spandex. I'm wearing it right now.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it on the merits, it's just funny coming from someone decrying the tweeification of rock music.

Also, I don't get the idea that pleasant and uninteresting = bad. I don't know why someone would expect or even want every new song they hear to blow their minds.

It's like, is this how rock bands dress now? Something's gone terribly wrong. The three of them together look like an awkward Christmas photo.

Oh yeah? Well, I bet you have tons of sex and will live a long life and die peacefully surrounded by your loving family. Nerd.