a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
OftenBen's comments
activity:
OftenBen  ·  50 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

My 'hang up' is the fact that our system is being actively used against us, in front of us, and the best we can muster is outrage when the rule of law is outright ignored by 48% of the country.

I hope MK's prediction of 25 years from now the Anti-Mcconnell reaching the peak of his/her power is correct.

OftenBen  ·  50 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

I'm waiting with bated breath to see kleinbl00 tell you about how its a non-issue that the supreme court belongs to conspiracy theorists and domestic terrorists.

OftenBen  ·  50 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

Ok.

OftenBen  ·  50 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New "Over the Top" Secret Plan on How Fascists Could Win in 2024

Ok.

OftenBen  ·  74 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 563rd Weekly "Share Some Music You've Been Into Lately"

Tibicon also known as Vietnamese Gunna has been blowing up. He was on Vietnam's got talent or some similar show and got tons of attention.

Chorus: Tibicon

How can a thatched-roofed house be worth a hundred pieces of gold

The stork flew away, the stork brought the card back to him right away

Go-go-home, father, mother, I'd be so happy if you married her

Stork-co-co-fly, fly away, stork

Oh my boatman sister

Why would you do this? ignorant

He brought with him the sound of the stork

His writing was exported into poetry

THE SUN PENT THROUGH THE RAIN, HIS SOUND IS NOT TALKING

THE WIND SWINGING OUTSIDE THE PORCH SENTENCES IN THE WEST, I'M GOOD TO HEAR IT

THE STROKE WINGS FLYING IN THE FAR FAR BRINGING SO MANY SONGS HE SENT TO HER

REMEMBER THE SONG OF HOLY HOUSE, I hope our lives will always be peaceful

OftenBen  ·  111 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: January 3, 2024

I think I'm in hell.

I am set to watch as every person I've loved goes about their own self destruction with as much vigor as seems imaginable.

My parents keep my rapist brother close and hang out with him because he works maintenance for an airline and gets them cheap cheap flights. I can't even think of how to begin to have a conversation with them about this. 'My brother is a violent rapist and sociopath, who may have tried to kill me by offering to 'fix' my brakes and left the lines open, please hold him to some kind of accountability. Please stop shoving in my face how often you hang out with him because you get to go to Arizona for cheap.'

We took in my dad's old, tubby dog because I have a ramp on my back deck and a fenced in back yard and free time to be with him during the day. He fell on new years day and his hips have been extra fucked since then. He has two rotten claws that my parents either never noticed or never bothered to treat. And yet I get texts from both parents asking me if I'm giving him the pain meds he's on for his hips. We are going to my vet on Monday for an evaluation and plan end of life care because again, I don't even know how to start the conversation with my parents of 'Hey, this dog will be passing away at my house. We need to plan for it, you need to plan on coming to visit if you want to be around before he passes.'

My spouse has decided to once again start fighting with me about stupid daily routine shit, like the months of couples therapy last year we did just didn't happen. And I'm the royal asshole for bringing up 'We have been here before. You did all of these exact things, said all of these exact things before, why are you doing it again?'

Words don't matter. Only force of personality does. Only the ability to coldly manipulate others and have them do what they need to do while believing they came up with the idea themselves. Treating people like self responsible adults only creates more animosity.

The Greeks called Cassandra's Tears a curse. They were wise enough to label the curse of prophecy that, a curse, an affliction. Basic pattern recognition is apparently a miraculous ability.

I feel angry at myself for ever thinking that cattle can be treated like equal, rational actors. People are only as self responsible as they want to be.

I don't know why I bother to push at the dark anymore. The future has no place in it for me or mine.

Edit. I don't expect or want a response. Just screaming into the void and facebook will scream back.

OftenBen  ·  143 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 556th Weekly "Share Some Music You've Been Into Lately"

Relevant.

OftenBen  ·  194 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Christians: Jesus is too woke

The slow and agonizing death of the American Church as an institution and social movement is balm to my anti theist soul.

Glad someone other than me posted it. It would have been dismissed outright as screed.

That one Russell Moore interview has gotten so much mileage it qualifies for the Boston Marathon.

Semi-related. My wife's parents pastor wrote a book. I reviewed it on amazon about a year ago and he had to spend three days in a psychiatric treatment ward as direct result. I know because he's preached on it.

OftenBen  ·  195 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: October 11, 2023

It takes all my effort not to rip strips of faux leather off my steering wheel with my teeth.

I hurt.

OftenBen  ·  270 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 534th Weekly "Share Some Music You've Been Into Lately"

Inspired me to go crate digging so to speak. Found this Breakcore Mix to Dissociate to

OftenBen  ·  280 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How Gretchen Whitmer Made Michigan A Democratic Stronghold

Video Evidence of the crimes referenced.

OftenBen  ·  280 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How Gretchen Whitmer Made Michigan A Democratic Stronghold

They should all die behind bars.

OftenBen  ·  287 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 533rd Weekly "Share Some Music You've Been Into Lately"

Saint Levant - Nails

The guy raps in English French and Arabic. Worth the look.

OftenBen  ·  313 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 530th Weekly "Share Some Music You've Been Into Lately"

I should play far cry 6. Soundtrack is excellent.

Kiki Rockwell needs more attention

OftenBen  ·  316 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Saudis buy professional golf

No more women's golf soon I would imagine.

Now do all of the family vlog channels on YouTube who's audience is entirely 40 plus year old men and whose content is entirely pre pubescent boys and girls in various States of undress.

That data is available has been proven to influence the content creation decisions of parents who put their children on the digital stroll basically as soon as the amniotic fluid is dry.

OftenBen  ·  323 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Shiny Happy People - The Duggar Family Secrets

TLC made enough money to buy time Warner out right because of Duggar spectacle.

They would have covered up murder to keep that golden goose layingm

For anyone with eyes to see the cruelty is the point.

A poorly educated population kept to short lifespans and quickened generational turnover is more easily kept invested in spectacle and noise, less capable of organized sociopolitical movement.

This is part of a concerted attack on our public institutions that once made us conceited enough to think of our country as great.

OftenBen  ·  429 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What are you Reading? Number who knows

If you're going to pick one, go with Spears.

OftenBen  ·  435 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What are you Reading? Number who knows

I feel like I do enough short story stuff to merit a read of On Writing. It only seems to get positive responses from those who read it.

OftenBen  ·  435 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What are you Reading? Number who knows

    Have you read any of those Dark Imperium books post-Guilliman's awakening?

Yup. I wanted to enjoy them, and certainly enjoyed parts. The more perspective we get from guys like Frater Mathieu and other mortals the better. But overall I felt they were pretty bland. Ultrasmurfs versus Plague Bois is only entertaining for so long. By contrast I thought Spears of the Emperor was AMAZING and is what more warhammer novels should strive towards, specifically because of its emphasis on the relationship between transhumans and mortals.

    HH grew lukewarm for me, but those new developments turned my head a bit. I don't care about spoilers, but only know the broad strokes so far.

The Horus Heresy for me is best enjoyed as a series of moments, vignettes. I LOVE the Siege of Terra series so far specifically because it takes the broad strokes that were fated to happen and gives context to the big events. I will agree though that there's lots to slog through before you get to the juicy bits.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the direction GW is taking with the franchise, mostly because they seem to be a lot more free with the IP and there's lots of other good content out there. Hammer and Bolter the TV show has been a pretty big smash hit amongst the fandom and I'm loving the Warhammer 40k: Darktide game. It's a bit barebones but the developers are committed to supporting it for a while, and its core gameplay loop is fun for me.

Cybulskie's book sounds interesting. I like that kind of side-view take on history. I may add it to my list once I'm done with War and Peace and Buddenbrooks.

OftenBen  ·  466 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: January 11, 2023

I don't think I believe in reason anymore. Just entropy.

OftenBen  ·  467 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: January 11, 2023

Glad to see you back.

Prepared to fall off the map myself.

OftenBen  ·  467 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Unexpected Heaviosity of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

This is tangentially related.

Confession: I've never actually seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I've also never seen Back To The Future, or any sequel.

It's gotten to a point now where I never even WANT to see them, because I know my response will be blase and it will be another emotional touchstone that just leaves me feeling cold and isolated because it doesn't evoke anything in me while meaning so much to most everyone else.

The art created in the 70's and 80's, even into the early 90's feels like it comes from a completely different society. I have such a hard time believing so many of the people who were contemporary to it can bear living in the present world. You can't depict a single-income household now without it seeming like obscene luxury.

I don't even know what point I wanted to make originally. I think I just hate all entertainment now that isn't live and in person, not associated with ticketmaster. I think I was trying to say something about how there is a societally norming effect of people consuming and valuing similar media, and the lack of exposure to such creates distance/tension.

OftenBen  ·  473 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 514th Weekly "Share Some Music You've Been Into Lately"

100 gecs. straight hyperpop.

OftenBen  ·  487 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: IT DIDN'T HAPPEN HERE

Since the travesty of the 2016 electoral season, my closest friends and I have been framing much of the conversation around current politics with 'How are we going to explain this to our children?'

My god daughter turned five in October. The world that I work towards creating has her in it, and my own children of some form or another.

I still don't think that I have anything like a reasonable way to describe the events of the last several years. Stating the facts outright sounds like the most shitty SNL bit imaginable.