What's the deal with your nickname? How did you get it? If your nickname is self-explanatory, then tell everyone when you first started using the internet, and what was the first thing that made you say "wow, this isn't just a place for freaks after all?" Was it a website? Was it an email from a long-lost friend? Go on, spill it.
A little while ago I stopped turning my phone on or checking my email. It's been great for my mental stability. MetaFilter? Not so much, it's kind of like 5-dollar therapy for me.
A Brief Primer Regarding My Politics or How I Learned That Adults Are Big Jerks!
Look, I do care about politics, sometimes. I mostly like to piss people off. I used to be a libertarian but I think they are mostly quacks. I dislike zealots, be they liberal or conservative. I try to shock people because that's like a 5% chance of reaching them, whereas being conciliatory is about a 2.5% chance, in my experience. I don't want to upset everyone, I just tend to be abrasive. Yes, I do enjoy it sometimes. Sure, call it trolling, but when I do it, tis only because I care.
It's not all about me. I just want a break from politics. I find it particularly annoying when someone manages to wrangle a political comment, say, in a thread where it is completely out of context, especially if the existing content is interesting. Like having a nice conversation with friends about movies and some idiot fratboy walks in and says 'dude did you totally see that naked chick in the window?' It's kind of like that; it tends to annoy me severely.
Insult whatever you perceive to be my sexuality, my race, my creed, my socio-economic background, my education, my age, my level of experience, my romantic liasions (which are many albeit admittedly all too often short lived) or my politics. I don't really care. I don't think it detracts from what I or anyone else has to say. I don't give two shits where you're from, I read the comment before I read the username. If you want to create a boogeyman stereotype of me that makes it easier to cope with my comments, go right ahead! I just want you to be happy.
In case you are bored and want to keep reading, let's do a little checklist on stupid 'hot-button' issues that people seem to freak out about a lot:
Civil liberties post-War on Terror: the laws that were on the books were good enough pre-9/11. The problem is myopic, bureaucratic dickwaving from a bunch of clean-cut graduate students who care first about their careers.
Bush: inarticulate but smarter than he looks, unfortunately. Smart enough to do damage, that is. Boy howdy.
Clinton: could have had a beer with him for sure even if I'd disagree with him a lot.
Abortion/Euthanasia: pro-life mostly, not really sure. It seems more humane most of the time to me, because living is sort of the point of our silly little existence, right?
Capital punishment: On a bad day, I think few deserve to live, but that makes for poor state policy. The death penalty is too big for states to handle, it should only be used in the most extreme cases (bin laden?)
Religion: teach science, that is, evolution. Keep metaphysics to classes dealing with same, or clearly delineate in a syllabus. Leave prayer out of public schools. We don't need anymore scary nationalistic rituals. Seriously, I don't like admitting I'm an atheist because so many of my 'kin' are immature Christian bashers who can't do anything but piss off normal people.
Gay rights: the more the merrier.
Drugs: legalize weed, for sure. I've seen what meth does and think legalizing that would be terrible, however.
Taxes: don't really like them.
Guns: if you've never shot a gun, you should before you start making assumptions about every 'gun-toting redneck' out there. It can be a fun hobby.
Foreign Policy in General: mind our business, work with other countries, promote free-trade and sensible development, hold the UN accountable for it's own human rights abuses and corruption. Less using of foreign countries as military satellites. I dunno, I'm pragmatic?
Environment: when I was a libertarian was against it because of the govt regulation/costs but as I got older I realized that people are often too lazy, stupid, or evil to put in the extra effort to do the right thing. I think it's worth the cost to try and protect our future. Unfortunately I think more attention needs to be paid to air and water quality, Global Warming has practically turned into an industry. Once I can afford it, I'm buying a hybrid and getting low-energy bulbs for every light in my apartment. I have been timing my showers for water efficiency since Grade 3.
Animal Rights/etc: we are animals. Whatever we do is by definition 'natural' so spare me the claptrap about causing pain. Nature is violent, shit dies and gets killed all the time, intentionally or due to cataclysm. I do think humane treatment is a very good thing, however, Peta can blow it out their collective ass.
Well, wasn't that fun?
This profile now featuring even more awesome. One day I will add neato CSS formatting!
This is what we talk about when we talk about
MySpace.
Remember, politics is the only thing!
Che, Jobs, Zinn, Carlin, Trotsky, Abu-Jamal, LaRouche, Comic Book Guy, all probably less obnoxious than you
