The Al Realpolitik Institute of Sulfur Mining & Extraction

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

It's like 100th BRTD ownage in the last three days, isn't it?

Like I said, I don't know, it could've either been pruned or I deleted it awhile ago for whatever reason, in the past browsing archives I have thought "wow that was kind of dumb" and deleted a thread. Google's caches stay around for a long time (hence the warning sometimes given that if you post something here you can't just expect to delete it later and have it be gone forever.) If you're implying I deleted it and then made the new one it would've been less work just to bump the old one you know (and you all know I'm certainly not prone against bumping old threads.)

Well we know it wasn't auto-pruned.  That doesn't happen to 2-year-old threads.

So your story is that at some point, you thought "Wow, that's a dumb poll", and deleted it, only to later repost a poll that was basically the same thing?  You're beginning to sound like Bushie... that just doesn't add up, unless you're bipolar when it comes to your views of your own polls.

Actually being "bipolar" on polls might be a good description, since my views can change on them based on a lot of things, including alcohol consumed before making them. I'm sure this isn't the first time I deleted a poll in the archive and made a similar one later.

What's also quite likely is that I wasn't bothered by the poll itself but rather something incredibly offensive that I said later in it (considering the things I said about Irish at the time you're stating it wouldn't be surprising). I know I deleted a lot of stuff with such stuff in it around late 2011/early 2012, my whole finding Jesus time. Around that era wasn't it common that I accused Irish-Americans of being Gaddafi sympathizers? That might've been it actually.

And you are not hostile to Irish Americans now?!

If there is one achievement I could give you, Zachary, it's your ability to make me understand how black people feel when idiot white racists spout off Ku Klux Klan talking points.

[Keystone Phil]

There is no point in engaging BRTD anymore. No point. Period. He is the most irrelevant person on the Forum.

[Lambsbread]

There is no point in engaging BRTD anymore. No point. Period. He is the most irrelevant person on the Forum.

Thank you for posting directly in here.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Inks has actually become a lot better ever since he quit being such a control freak in moderation:

OK, so at 33.5 miles, if you work 24 hours, that's $155/week that you keep.  If it's 40 hours, that's $295/week that you keep.

That's ridiculous to turn down.

I find this incredibly hypocritical, selfish, illogical, stupid, and irrational:

Random guy offers you money to take a trip to Kenya, and you think you absolutely must take that money.  But you go out and ASK for money from employers, and they offer you a job, and you would turn it down.

The latter is a lot bigger insult and a bigger ball of saliva in the case, because you went out and applied for that job, just to reject it.  No, what you're doing doesn't have to be conventional, but when you're stealing from people, which is what you are doing by mooching off your parents, you at least have to try to be ethical.

Does your anonymous donor follow you on Facebook?  Because if he/she does, we know you've lied on Facebook... they probably feel sorry for you and think you're genuinely in need of money for this trip.  Guess what!?  You're not in need of donors... you're in need of some self control to quit being lazy and to go out and find a job.

You play the victim, but you are one of the biggest Internet con artists I've ever personally observed.  And you're doing it in the name of charity and Christianity, making it all the more shameful.

I'll take the compliment, but I've been harsher on Bushie even when I was still modding.

[Mechaman]

Context: A Nathan post ending up in the Absurdity Mine.

Double deluge

Dumping on Shakespeare should not be protected by the First Amendment. I consider that akin to treason - worse because it disrespects the English language (which he more than anyone else in its modern form gave birth to), rather than a mere political entity.

You're one to talk. Your opinions on English verse lack all merit. In fact, I'd argue that it's very unlikely that they'll ever gain merit, since they appear to be based on an ear for poetic form so bad that I wasn't actually aware that it was possible before this afternoon.

You're acting like a particularly petty middle-schooler. This is hilarious. Goldmined.

[Antonio the Sixth]

There is no point in engaging BRTD anymore. No point. Period. He is the most irrelevant person on the Forum.

There are many thing to say about BRTD, but certainly not that he is irrelevant.

[Paul Kemp]

Everybody is playing their characters to a T in this thread.  Except Angus, needs more words sir.  That was an exceptional Tweed work in the OP Tweed...wishing to be gay....freaking classic!.  opebo was as opebo as ever, even got a "Thailand" in there.  BRTD, good work...maybe add something about hipster christians next time?  Great job everybody.  Lets call it a day.  Tomorrow we'll work on consistency again.  If you want something to work on at home, try looking at your old posts for some new ideas on subjects you haven't ran into the ground for awhile.  How long has it been since BRTD bashed South Park in a thread about Syria?  Always room for improvement guys.

We just need you to advocate for invasion of some country with a high percentage of gays for "liberation" while citing libertarian principles.

[Хahar 🤔]

The only Russian thing Snowstalker has read is Pussy Riot's liner notes.

This one doubles as a reference to a TV show nobody here watches except for me.

ooo . . . I love Bunheads    I just hadn't seen that episode yet.

You're a hero.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

The only Russian thing Snowstalker has read is Pussy Riot's liner notes.

This one doubles as a reference to a TV show nobody here watches except for me.

ooo . . . I love Bunheads    I just hadn't seen that episode yet.

You're a hero.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I had no clue that men watched that show.

[Napoleon]

I had to Wikipedia it. What good is a show that has someone move from Paradise, Nevada to a fictional Paradise, California. Real creative, people!

[Хahar 🤔]

To be fair, the actual Paradise, California is just outside Chico and nobody would want to move there.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

BRTD, why not adhere to the unwritten rule that it's HP'ish to constanty reply to everyone in your Opinion of thread?  We don't care what you think, we're polling what others think.

[Gustaf]

Ah, defending the liberty of the businesses exploiting their employees and the liberty of oppressing minorities and poor people.

I suppose this isn't the place to argue this, but you need to put more faith in the markets, my friend.

Right, so the top 10% of Americans can control 100% of the wealth as opposed to the 80% they control now.

Government and political structure has a lot more to do with the wealthy having so much money than the markets do. Absent bailouts, insider deals, subsidies, etc the people would have a lot more power. Adam Smith knew what he was talking about. Are you sure you're a libertarian?

I'm 100% sure I'm not a Libertarian and I'm wearing the avatar for ornamental purposes.

What you fail to realize is that long before Government was the "big, evil, awful" thing that Libertarians view it as, markets were making people richer than would ever be necessary. Tell me, how would the free market resolve wealth inequality? The answer is, it doesn't.

Libertarians like to believe that the free market is the answer to all of America's (and the world's) problems, when in fact it caused most of those problems in the first place. It was the free market that created wealth inequality, and encouraged/encourages it in modern society. The first "rich" people--the ones that made more money than others when America was first becoming an industrial nation--did not hold that much more wealth than say the "poorer" Americans. What happened was, the industrialization expanded and corporations were born.

Corporations exist to ensure that a sort of oligarchical system be upheld throughout the monetary system. Meaning, the CEOs of the biggest companies are ensured a lot more money than the lower classes (about 350-400 times as much money, to be exact) for doing quantities less work. They deliver a cheap, but "okay enough" product onto the market, and consumerism ensures that it is eaten up without questioning exactly what it is or how it was made.

The problem is that such a small amount of people control such a disturbingly large portion of the wealth in this country (and world) and will only end up controlling more. Is Government doing anything to stop it? Not really, and certainly not as much as we should be doing. But that's because corporations have the power of Government. We need leaders that will not be afraid to stand up to corporations and strip them of their power. The voice needs to be returned to the average citizen, and the wealth with it.

I'm not talking about full-fledged socialism, I'm talking about equality. Where the poor aren't as poor and the rich aren't as rich. No one in this world could possibly need a billion dollars for their own use. They just invest it so they can make more money that they won't spend.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

To say that oil and gas extraction is the best thing about the planet--which provides, in addition to 'one of the foundations of modern society' (which, in its present incarnation, is so wonderful--why, exactly? This is one of those things we often see asserted and seldom actually argued for coherently. Conservatives didn't used to be pat modernists, or at least weren't so insufferably triumphalist and smug about it), all of our food, all of our water, all of our air, all or nearly all of our mineral wealth including but not limited to oil and gas, all of our physical living space and nearly all of the conditions of our physical existence and sense of place and rootedness and embodiment (things about which conservatives have traditionally cared very strongly), and directly or indirectly the majority of the inspiration for our literature and music and art--is, in addition to being incredibly crass and frankly insane, in fact downright dangerous. You, of course, don't care, you rebarbative futurista worm, whether out of ignorance, malice, or both I have quite given up trying to ascertain.

This is a rather odd run on sentence, but in any case, much of Nathan's food, Nathan's water, Nathan's mineral wealth and Nathan's physical living space is of course partially dependent on oil and gas. This is especially true given that Nathan grew up in privilege and wealth not available to most of the world's population.

It's not a run-on sentence, you blithering moron. It's a very long and complex one. There is actually a difference for people who have a reasonably advanced understanding of how English works. Do you want me to make you a syntax tree? While we're on the subject of your education level, what kind of knuckle-dragging troglodyte thinks that access to oil and gas precedes access to food, water, other kinds of mineral wealth, and physical environment, or is more important to the sustenance of human societies? Or, if you'd prefer, what kind of dishonest, amoral POS pretends to think that in a valiant but failed attempt to score debating points? For that matter, how dare you pretend to give a flying [Inks] about privilege? Your own politics are almost literally fascistic. You're exactly the kind of 'conservative' George P. Grant was trying to warn us about. I think I'm beginning to see why you hate teachers so much. Yours certainly didn't do you many favors.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Oh my, that was beautiful.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

So friends, I have struck again. Non chiedo il vostro perdono perche' non avete il diritto di darmelo.

In either case, I'm sure I will be back, mostly through genuine interest in this forum - both for its informative and intramural aspects. To make this more entertaining for all of us - especially for those mods who will zealously continue the hunt (I'm looking at you, Inks) - I lay down a challenge: discover my true identity.

Given the bounty of information available to you in my previous incarnations, this should be relatively easy, especially for mods with my various "real locations" available. Think broadly, but be focused: ballet, San Francisco, Princeton, Italian...let pictures guide you.

That's all folks!

In bocca al lupo!

Indeed, it was so easy that I figured it out six months ago.

Your name is Christopher Costantini.  You studied ballet in San Francisco and Princeton, and are now a member of the Oregon Ballet Theater in Portland.  In addition to these somewhat impressive accomplishments, you're also an irritating sociopathic parasite and a chronic troll.

 

Nice hair.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

To say that oil and gas extraction is the best thing about the planet--which provides, in addition to 'one of the foundations of modern society' (which, in its present incarnation, is so wonderful--why, exactly? This is one of those things we often see asserted and seldom actually argued for coherently. Conservatives didn't used to be pat modernists, or at least weren't so insufferably triumphalist and smug about it), all of our food, all of our water, all of our air, all or nearly all of our mineral wealth including but not limited to oil and gas, all of our physical living space and nearly all of the conditions of our physical existence and sense of place and rootedness and embodiment (things about which conservatives have traditionally cared very strongly), and directly or indirectly the majority of the inspiration for our literature and music and art--is, in addition to being incredibly crass and frankly insane, in fact downright dangerous. You, of course, don't care, you rebarbative futurista worm, whether out of ignorance, malice, or both I have quite given up trying to ascertain.

This is a rather odd run on sentence, but in any case, much of Nathan's food, Nathan's water, Nathan's mineral wealth and Nathan's physical living space is of course partially dependent on oil and gas. This is especially true given that Nathan grew up in privilege and wealth not available to most of the world's population.

It's not a run-on sentence, you blithering moron. It's a very long and complex one. There is actually a difference for people who have a reasonably advanced understanding of how English works. Do you want me to make you a syntax tree? While we're on the subject of your education level, what kind of knuckle-dragging troglodyte thinks that access to oil and gas precedes access to food, water, other kinds of mineral wealth, and physical environment, or is more important to the sustenance of human societies? Or, if you'd prefer, what kind of dishonest, amoral POS pretends to think that in a valiant but failed attempt to score debating points? For that matter, how dare you pretend to give a flying [Inks] about privilege? Your own politics are almost literally fascistic. You're exactly the kind of 'conservative' George P. Grant was trying to warn us about. I think I'm beginning to see why you hate teachers so much. Yours certainly didn't do you many favors.

Nathan deserves some sort of equivalent to PS3 trophies/XBox achievements for that. Reminds me of that smackdown of CARLHAYDEN ag did a couple years ago. Brilliant, legendary. Post of the year so far.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

This is pretty good too:

Krazen, you're an arrogant sub-human weasel with more gaping deficits in logic and morality than his nation has in finances, and that is saying a lot. I could spend hours writing out exactly what it is makes you that, but even in my short experience here I realize you're so far beneath contempt that you're not worth the breath I would be wasting. You make Republicans look bad. You make the politically-minded look bad. You make politics as a whole look bad. People like you on both sides of the debate are precisely what is wrong with America and why I fear it will cease to exist within our lifetime.

F**k you to the Hell you so dearly believe in, you rancid little cumsprite.

It gets even better when you read krazen's incredibly lame response.

[Torie]

In the penultimate post above, I did not know the word "rebartative," and it's a grand one. "Barbe"is old French for beard (must be where barber comes from), and it literally means in your face (beard to beard as it were), in a confrontational and spiteful way. Fabulous - just fabulous. Thanks Nathan.

[opebo]

In the penultimate post above, I did not know the word "rebartative," and it's a grand one. "Barbe"is old French for beard (must be where barber comes from), and it literally means in your face (beard to beard as it were), in a confrontational and spiteful way. Fabulous - just fabulous. Thanks Nathan.

Rebarbative.. yeah its a good old word.  While I don't find Nathan's overall style to be precisely to my liking (Al's neither, but for me Al comes just a little closer to hitting the spot), I do wholeheartedly applaud his rehabilitations of the archaisms.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Best way of illustrating the point that quantity =/= quality I've ever seen:

[Brittain33]

Click for context.

If there's one thing I got from this rant, it's that you totally don't care what people think about Santorum. Totally.

[Lambsbread]

I'm a music elitist. Aside from that though this is something many people have strong opinions of and can be quite vocal about it.

If you want to be a music elitist, maybe you should try listening to good music first.

[Lambsbread]

I think I may have found my new favourite poster:

Right. Like by this standard if someone thinks the Twilight movies are better than The Shawshank Redemption that's just their opinion and there's nothing wrong about it. Also by this standard we shouldn't be having threads mocking Movie 43 and Inappropriate Comedy too.

Yes, because hardcore Christian emoviolence bands nobody has ever heard of are just like the Shawshank Redemption.