Toxn

USA! USA! USA!

Dear readers,
 
It has come to my attention that a shameful incident occurred in South Africa recently.
 
Accordingly, and on behalf of my entire country, I wish to apologise unreservedly for this dishonourable display by my fellow countrymen.
I cannot rectify this wrong, but I can promise this: that the next time one of our citizens is boneheaded enough to mug someone on national television, he shall at least be armed to the teeth.
 
We cannot see from the footage whether these reprobates were packing heat of some sort, but barring evidence to the contrary we are forced to conclude that they carried out an otherwise unremarkable crime without posing an immanent threat of bloody, screaming death to the citizens they robbed.
This will not stand. 
 
As a South African citizen, I can assure you that these men - who convey the impression of being lazy simpletons rather than properly murderous hell-spawn - are not in any way representative of the dark tide of mind-searing criminal horror that daily washes across our beautiful landscape. Given the way in which these disgraceful felons have besmirched our national character, I can promise everyone in the international community that we shall do all that is within our power to reform them.
At the very least we will ensure that, the next time they engage in antisocial behaviour, they shall be capable of brutally murdering the presenter and camera crew.
 
I close by humbly begging your apology, and beseeching you to forget this terrible incident. I ask that you continue to think of us in the way that you always have: as a dystopian nightmare of war-torn city blocks; ravaged by unhinged, violent lunatics and isolated amidst a sea of tragically fragile natural beauty.
 
Finally, if you feel as I do then please support us in this time of national shame. You can do this by donating weapons and remedial training materials to the underprivileged youth who are most in danger of growing into morons who mug people with their fists on camera. Remember that every starving, uneducated child has the potential to commit a violent, untraceable murder spree if given the proper instruction and an AKM.
 
You, too, can make a difference.
 
Thank you,
 
Toxn

Dear readers,
 
It has come to my attention that a shameful incident occurred in South Africa recently.
 
Accordingly, and on behalf of my entire country, I wish to apologise unreservedly for this dishonourable display by my fellow countrymen.
I cannot rectify this wrong, but I can promise this: that the next time one of our citizens is boneheaded enough to mug someone on national television, he shall at least be armed to the teeth.
 
We cannot see from the footage whether these reprobates were packing heat of some sort, but barring evidence to the contrary we are forced to conclude that they carried out an otherwise unremarkable crime without posing an immanent threat of bloody, screaming death to the citizens they robbed.
This will not stand. 
 
As a South African citizen, I can assure you that these men - who convey the impression of being lazy simpletons rather than properly murderous hell-spawn - are not in any way representative of the dark tide of mind-searing criminal horror that daily washes across our beautiful landscape. Given the way in which these disgraceful felons have besmirched our national character, I can promise everyone in the international community that we shall do all that is within our power to reform them.
At the very least we will ensure that, the next time they engage in antisocial behaviour, they shall be capable of brutally murdering the presenter and camera crew.
 
I close by humbly begging your apology, and beseeching you to forget this terrible incident. I ask that you continue to think of us in the way that you always have: as a dystopian nightmare of war-torn city blocks; ravaged by unhinged, violent lunatics and isolated amidst a sea of tragically fragile natural beauty.
 
Finally, if you feel as I do then please support us in this time of national shame. You can do this by donating weapons and remedial training materials to the underprivileged youth who are most in danger of growing into morons who mug people with their fists on camera. Remember that every starving, uneducated child has the potential to commit a violent, untraceable murder spree if given the proper instruction and an AKM.
 
You, too, can make a difference.
 
Thank you,
 
Toxn

Dear readers,
 
It has come to my attention that a shameful incident occurred in South Africa recently.
 
Accordingly, and on behalf of my entire country, I wish to apologise unreservedly for this dishonourable display by my fellow countrymen.
I cannot rectify this wrong, but I can promise this: that the next time one of our citizens is boneheaded enough to mug someone on national television, he shall at least be armed to the teeth.
 
We cannot see from the footage whether these reprobates were packing heat of some sort, but barring evidence to the contrary we are forced to conclude that they carried out an otherwise unremarkable crime without posing an immanent threat of bloody, screaming death to the citizens they robbed.
This will not stand. 
 
As a South African citizen, I can assure you that these men - who convey the impression of being lazy simpletons rather than properly murderous hell-spawn - are not in any way representative of the dark tide of mind-searing criminal horror that daily washes across our beautiful landscape. Given the way in which these disgraceful felons have besmirched our national character, I can promise everyone in the international community that we shall do all that is within our power to reform them.
At the very least we will ensure that, the next time they engage in antisocial behaviour, they shall be capable of brutally murdering the presenter and camera crew.
 
I close by humbly begging your apology, and beseeching you to forget this terrible incident. I ask that you continue to think of us in the way that you always have: as a dystopian nightmare of war-torn city blocks; ravaged by unhinged, violent lunatics and isolated amidst a sea of tragically fragile natural beauty.
 
Finally, if you feel as I do then please support us in this time of national shame. You can do this by donating weapons and remedial training materials to the underprivileged youth who are most in danger of growing into morons who mug people with their fists on camera. Remember that every starving, uneducated child has the potential to commit a violent, untraceable murder spree if given the proper instruction and an AKM.
 
You, too, can make a difference.
 
Thank you,
 
Toxn

Dear readers,
 
It has come to my attention that a shameful incident occurred in South Africa recently.
 
Accordingly, and on behalf of my entire country, I wish to apologise unreservedly for this dishonourable display by my fellow countrymen.
I cannot rectify this wrong, but I can promise this: that the next time one of our citizens is boneheaded enough to mug someone on national television, he shall at least be armed to the teeth.
 
We cannot see from the footage whether these reprobates were packing heat of some sort, but barring evidence to the contrary we are forced to conclude that they carried out an otherwise unremarkable crime without posing an immanent threat of bloody, screaming death to the citizens they robbed.
This will not stand. 
 
As a South African citizen, I can assure you that these men - who convey the impression of being lazy simpletons rather than properly murderous hell-spawn - are not in any way representative of the dark tide of mind-searing criminal horror that daily washes across our beautiful landscape. Given the way in which these disgraceful felons have besmirched our national character, I can promise everyone in the international community that we shall do all that is within our power to reform them.
At the very least we will ensure that, the next time they engage in antisocial behaviour, they shall be capable of brutally murdering the presenter and camera crew.
 
I close by humbly begging your apology, and beseeching you to forget this terrible incident. I ask that you continue to think of us in the way that you always have: as a dystopian nightmare of war-torn city blocks; ravaged by unhinged, violent lunatics and isolated amidst a sea of tragically fragile natural beauty.
 
Finally, if you feel as I do then please support us in this time of national shame. You can do this by donating weapons and remedial training materials to the underprivileged youth who are most in danger of growing into morons who mug people with their fists on camera. Remember that every starving, uneducated child has the potential to commit a violent, untraceable murder spree if given the proper instruction and an AKM.
 
You, too, can make a difference.
 
Thank you,
 
Toxn

Dear readers,
 
It has come to my attention that a shameful incident occurred in South Africa recently.
 
Accordingly, and on behalf of my entire country, I wish to apologise unreservedly for this dishonourable display by my fellow countrymen.
I cannot rectify this wrong, but I can promise this: that the next time one of our citizens is boneheaded enough to mug someone on national television, he shall at least be armed to the teeth.
 
We cannot see from the footage whether these reprobates were packing heat of some sort, but barring evidence to the contrary we are forced to conclude that they carried out an otherwise unremarkable crime without posing an immanent threat of bloody, screaming death to the citizens they robbed.
This will not stand. 
 
As a South African citizen, I can assure you that these men - who convey the impression of being lazy simpletons rather than properly murderous hell-spawn - are not in any way representative of the dark tide of mind-searing criminal horror that daily washes across our beautiful landscape. Given the way in which these disgraceful felons have besmirched our national character, I can promise everyone in the international community that we shall do all that is within our power to reform them.
At the very least we will ensure that, the next time they engage in antisocial behaviour, they shall be capable of brutally murdering the presenter and camera crew.
 
I close by humbly begging your apology, and beseeching you to forget this terrible incident. I ask that you continue to think of us in the way that you always have: as a dystopian nightmare of war-torn city blocks; ravaged by unhinged, violent lunatics and isolated amidst a sea of tragically fragile natural beauty.
 
Finally, if you feel as I do then please support us in this time of national shame. You can do this by donating weapons and remedial training materials to the underprivileged youth who are most in danger of growing into morons who mug people with their fists on camera. Remember that every starving, uneducated child has the potential to commit a violent, untraceable murder spree if given the proper instruction and an AKM.
 
You, too, can make a difference.
 
Thank you,
 
Toxn

Dear readers,
 
It has come to my attention that a shameful incident occurred in South Africa recently.
 
Accordingly, and on behalf of my entire country, I wish to apologise unreservedly for this dishonourable display by my fellow countrymen.
I cannot rectify this wrong, but I can promise this: that the next time one of our citizens is boneheaded enough to mug someone on national television, he shall at least be armed to the teeth.
 
We cannot see from the footage whether these reprobates were packing heat of some sort, but barring evidence to the contrary we are forced to conclude that they carried out an otherwise unremarkable crime without posing an immanent threat of bloody, screaming death to the citizens they robbed.
This will not stand. 
 
As a South African citizen, I can assure you that these men - who convey the impression of being lazy simpletons rather than properly murderous hell-spawn - are not in any way representative of the dark tide of mind-searing criminal horror that daily washes across our beautiful landscape. Given the way in which these disgraceful felons have besmirched our national character, I can promise everyone in the international community that we shall do all that is within our power to reform them.
At the very least we will ensure that, the next time they engage in antisocial behaviour, they shall be capable of brutally murdering the presenter and camera crew.
 
I close by humbly begging your apology, and beseeching you to forget this terrible incident. I ask that you continue to think of us in the way that you always have: as a dystopian nightmare of war-torn city blocks; ravaged by unhinged, violent lunatics and isolated amidst a sea of tragically fragile natural beauty.
 
Finally, if you feel as I do then please support us in this time of national shame. You can do this by donating weapons and remedial training materials to the underprivileged youth who are most in danger of growing into morons who mug people with their fists on camera. Remember that every starving, uneducated child has the potential to commit a violent, untraceable murder spree if given the proper instruction and an AKM.
 
You, too, can make a difference.
 
Thank you,
 
Toxn

Little did they know that the lions were South African and simply wanted to hijack the car.

I know what you mean. I was just pointing out that that dude was a goner in any case.
I'm still plugging for a reduced backblast system which ejects a whole bunch of confetti or something out the back. Or else a bunch of 'this burning tank brought to you by...' stickers.

Little did they know that the lions were South African and simply wanted to hijack the car.

Little did they know that the lions were South African and simply wanted to hijack the car.

SA! SA! SA!

A fact which, fittingly enough, nobody expects.

A fact which, fittingly enough, nobody expects.

I think part of the problem is that the African colonies were never integrated beyond the extractive stage. This is also the reason why things collapsed as swiftly as they did: there was no entrenched infrastructure, no large minorities that were also culturally assimilated into the homeland and no local training systems for the ruling/administrative class. The African colonies, with a few exceptions, were set up to be almost completely hollow, with no built-in functions beyond the production and shipping of primary resources to the core area.
 
This also explains why so many post-colonial African countries had/have so many issues. When all your infrastructure (physical and social) was being brought in on a boat and set to simply haul off as much of your stuff as possible, then it is no wonder that you don't want to simply switch over to another servile relationship with the same set of masters and don't have the means to do anything else. That all of this somehow gets turned around and blamed on Africans is one of the constant infuriations of my life.
 
Finally, I should note that nations have a strange magic: even the most broken, chopped-up, frankensteinian countries very rapidly develop an identity and an urge to preserve and expand it. African countries, even saddled as they are with fucked up colonial borders, seem not at all interested in returning to the pre-colonial status quo. 

I'LL SEE YOUR 'INQUISITION' AND RAISE YOU A 'KNIGHTS HAD TO BE HOISTED INTO THE SADDLE'.

Geez, we could be doing this one for a while.
 
It doesn't help that 'medieval' is a real lumper sort of term - it covers a shit-ton of history, area and development.

Yes, even architecture.
Yes, even when they're given the blank slate they always want, even when they are doing it for charity.
 
As someone who has a few friends studying architecture, I have a theory. Modern architects serve two purposes: 1) to stamp the designs on ugly, inhuman Tuscan-styled security complexes  and 2) to make their universities obscene amounts of money in fees and project costs (which have been rising nigh exponentially for the last few years) while studying.

This is old news to the well-informed, but part of the problem is also simple psychology. Nobody in the navy wants to be stuck as captain of a patrol boat, even if swarms are more efficient. And nobody in the airforce wants to be stuck as a drone jockey. So you are always going to have people in both organisations pushing for big ships and manned aircraft.

This is old news to the well-informed, but part of the problem is also simple psychology. Nobody in the navy wants to be stuck as captain of a patrol boat, even if swarms are more efficient. And nobody in the airforce wants to be stuck as a drone jockey. So you are always going to have people in both organisations pushing for big ships and manned aircraft.

Hilariously, humans are one of the few examples of sexual selection on both genders: men have oversize penises and more physical dymorphism (debated) while women get overlarge boobs and hip/buttock fat.
There are functional aspects to this (eg: fat deposits indicating reserves needed for reproduction) but like a lot of sexual selection it runs on its own logic.
We like boobs because we like boobs, basically.

It's an interesting subject, to be sure.
 
I've said this before as well, but part of the problem with anything biotech-related is that we're literally too ignorant to know what might work or not. We're tinkering with a complex system that lacks anything like a human regard for logic or structure, and we have no way at present to make coherent sense of all the pieces we've found. This article, which I can send to anyone interested (because of course Springer took something publically available and put it behind a paywall), gives a nice analogy for the problem.

Yeah, post-human society of any sort gets very weird very quickly.
I'm actually pretty jazzed about the prospects for some research/technologies (biosystematics, tissue culture and printing, machine-neuron interfaces, whole genome engineering) but feel that we too often wax lyrical about the boring or impossible stuff.
Kind of like how material science folks wince every time nanotech gets mentioned.

As a geneticist and as someone who has looked into this one pretty thoroughly, all I can say is that that poster is adorably naïve.
 
The problem with aging is that it's not a disease. It's a syndrome. Tackling one area of age-related illness (heart disease, for instance) simply means that another one comes along a bit later to fuck your shit up (dementia, cancer). In the end, you'll simply have an exponentially increasing series of interventions attempting to fix problems as they come up.
 
Once you bring genetic engineering into the picture (this is a ways into the future at best), you can see some major gains. This book, for instance, argues that mitochondrial engineering could up lifespan to something like 300 years. Past that, though, and you reach some fundamental limits to what cells (especially neurons) can handle before going caput.
 
The problem is akin to someone arguing for a design of car which never breaks down and never needs maintenance: you can do it, but you end up throwing the entire concept of 'car' out of the window in the process.
 
 
Ahahahahahahahaha. No.
 
We are so far from even being able to simulate a neuron, let alone a neural pathway, that the idea of copying your billions of neural pathways without loss of fidelity and then simulating you is just an appeal to magic.