It’s very strange: Australians are freaking out over Tony Abbott eating a raw onion. It’s a country full of giant spiders and poisonous everything, and it’s onions that have you boggled?
That’s the standard discouragement offered to young people getting tattoos. The thing is, though, that it’s not a criticism of tattoos: it’s a criticism of getting older, with your skin getting thinner and more wrinkled, and your body shape changing. As one of those aging (as are we all) people, I just have to say, “bullshit!”
There’s a cheesy country-western song that is getting quite popular. I admit, I’m not fond of the genre; while there’s the occasional spark of brilliance or great performer, most of it is smug white folks crying about how miserable their lives are while blaring out either fist-pumping patriotism or treacly self-pity. It’s still the music many people grew up with, though, so it’s fine if you like it. You don’t have to rationalize why you like it here, OK?
But some things need explaining. This new song, Pissed Off Rednecks Like Me” is getting a lot of undeserved attention because it is “controversial”. It isn’t — it’s dumb. It feeds a lot of bigotry, though, so bigots are enjoying it.
Let me explain why a lot of people detest Jamie Jones’ terrible little ditty. We’ll just go through the lyrics.
You never know when you might get tested.
An Indian bride has walked out of her wedding after her bridegroom-to-be failed to solve a simple maths problem, according to police in Uttar Pradesh.
The bride asked the groom to add 15 and six. When he replied 17, she called off the marriage.
Reports say the groom’s family tried to convince the bride to return, but she refused saying the man was illiterate.
Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.
— Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015
Death had a statement: “THE DEATH OF THE WARRIOR OR THE OLD MAN OR THE LITTLE CHILD, THIS I UNDERSTAND, AND I TAKE AWAY THE PAIN AND END THE SUFFERING.”
This is Thunderdome, the unmoderated open thread on Pharyngula. Say what you want, how you want.
Status: UNMODERATED; Previous thread
One of those days…I was trapped at home most of the morning. We’re in that transitional stage where the snow and ice melt during the day, but then freezes solid overnight, almost instantaneously, so it was kind of pretty — sidewalks covered with rippled ice, for instance — but just too dangerous to walk on. So I stayed home and pounded together some cheap furniture I’d ordered to fill in a gap in our bedroom. That’s right, I spent my birthday doing manual labor.
Because once a year, Iris Vander Pluym posts her birthday greetings.
The Pharyngula spam queue is…empty! It has never been empty since the move to FtB, so it’s a noteworthy event.
