What can a dress tell us about how people can't accept reality?

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Friday February 27, 2015 · 8:30 AM PST

2015/02/27 · 08:30

If you've been under a rock for the last day, day and a half, you may have missed the intense online discussion over a dress. It wasn't what Madonna was wearing when she fell at The Brits 2015. It wasn't a dress worn by a red carpet actress at the Oscars.

It's this dress.

The stupid question (which isn't so stupid after all) is this: what color is this dress. Say it out loud.

Some of you said gold and white, some of you said blue and black. But how can there BE such a big difference in opinion? This has made tech sites, the news in the UK and Australia and even celebrities on Twitter are talking about marital strife over this image.

So: how is this a great example of how people (and I'm thinking of climate change deniers and anti-vaxxers here, but I'll give my example as a climate-change denier) can believe something that isn't so? More, below the fold...

ShawnGBR

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Tuesday February 11, 2014 · 7:02 PM PST

2014/02/11 · 19:02

One of my customers sent me a slip of paper for Christmas. Bitcoins. Well, not a whole Bitcoin; I was given ฿0.05. From the time I spent looking into it to the time I luckily cashed it in for a gift card, this is my experience with the thing. And for those of you that don't want to read on, here's the TL;DR version... did anyone ever give you old Turkish Lira as a present and just left it up to you to figure it out? It's like that, but with iPhone apps!

...being a millionaire has its privileges. Jackpot! 777 all the way! Oh...

My foray into the world of cryptocurrency, below the fold.

ShawnGBR

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Thursday March 24, 2011 · 7:16 PM PDT

2011/03/24 · 19:16

I'm guessing that, as this is a political forum, most of you have already seen this ad set in a fictional future Beijing.

Don't worry if you haven't; I'll link a YouTube version of it 'below the fold'.

In the video, a college professor / Justin Bieber headset user tells his class of the failings of past civilizations and empires, and the folly of America. Specifically: how stimuluses lead to us becoming their bitches, and how healthcare is a baaad thing. The usual conservative talking points. So I'm going to go through this scaremongering piece of crap, methodically, and dismantle it using something we Liberals and Progressives like to call facts.

More below the fold...

ShawnGBR

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Friday January 21, 2011 · 5:26 AM PST

2011/01/21 · 05:26

Political conversations at work are fun. So you can guess my surprise when Eric finished his telling of Jared Loughner and the numbers 6/18 with the lovable line "just another Leftist."

Ah, buzzword bingo. "Really? The guy writes 'I can't trust this government' and he's a leftist? Aren't we government lovers, Eric?". Hence this diary.

You see: I've made diary entries before that have been very useful in later discussions because they're timelocked. I posted that people should get out of the stock markets in December of 2007, and the Republicans would claim our victories as theirs, but it wasn't anything mystical. I simply used past events to see what was fated to happen.

So I'm timelocking Jared Loughner. Already, the right wing (not just Eric) have claimed Loughner as the antithesis of everything they stand for.

Just like they did with this guy...

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ShawnGBR

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Wednesday November 03, 2010 · 5:25 AM PDT

2010/11/03 · 05:25

OK, that got your attention. But seriously, give him what he wants.

EXACTLY what he wants.

Why? WHY?!? Because in this instance, the old expression holds true: be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.

ShawnGBR

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Friday August 27, 2010 · 5:29 AM PDT

2010/08/27 · 05:29

Ozzy Osborne once said "I was born f$%&ing scared". Hard to believe, I know. Ozzy. A man that has removed the heads from dead bats and live doves with his teeth, was banned from Texas for peeing on the Alamo while wearing a woman's dress, has been blamed for teen suicides. If you'd have thought there was ONE crazy mofo in the world that don't afraid of nothing (sic), that would be the guy.

But apparently not. He was born scared. But was he? Is anybody? Is that something we can answer on this Science Friday? Is this...

...a scientifically accurate assessment?

So (and apologies to BardoOne, who wants me to do a Diary on Pet Care For The Raptured!), I'm going to answer that question. Can people really be born scared? And, as this is the Daily Kos, does that have a connection to these people voting one way or the other?

The short answer is, well, one that will answer the question for you. "Here's the answer, bye!" is not happening.

The long answer below the fold...

ShawnGBR

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Thursday August 26, 2010 · 5:34 AM PDT

2010/08/26 · 05:34

Before I begin: take a deep breath and relax, this is NOT A SUICIDE DIARY ENTRY. Life is definitely worth living. I'm even planning on going to London in 2012 to see some Olympic stuff. Greenwich Park, here we come.

That is, of course, unless the religious fundamentalists get their way...

title=

...more below the fold.

Poll

81 votes Show Results

Rapture in 2011?

81 votes Vote Now!

Rapture in 2011?

Heavens YES.

17 votes

Flying Spag Monster NO!

64 votes

This is why you should question every conservative word.

ShawnGBR

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Tuesday August 24, 2010 · 4:43 PM PDT

2010/08/24 · 16:43

You've seen the [f]right[ened] wing's tactic. Hammer one statement or short snippet of video or talking point over and over again in the vainglorious hope that someday, MAYBE, it will stick.

Even if the facts don't tally with their catchphrases: call CARS a failure when the industry called it a success, mention TelePrompTers as a failing even though there are pics up the Wazoo of Republican politicians reading from the glass screen. Compare Obama to Carter on the subject of employment, even though the Republicans haven't had a champion as good as Carter (3.1% increase per year) since the early 1920s.

It always pays to question conservatives on their hatred, their talking points, their cognitive dissonance. Because occasionally, just occasionally, you get to show one person just how fucked up their world-view really is.

More below the fold.

ShawnGBR

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Friday July 16, 2010 · 10:44 AM PDT

2010/07/16 · 10:44

My time is short. I'll be brief.

Everything you have been told is a lie. Apart from this. Or is this a lie? -No-. -Yes-. Wait. Definitely no. There's a conspiracy that goes ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP. It goes SO far up, it FORCES random words IN a sentence to display IN upper CASE letters.

Here are the REAL DETAILS of the Deepwater Horizon accident. Keep this information alive. I know they're after me and it's just a matter of time.

Details through the rabbit hole...

ShawnGBR

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Wednesday March 24, 2010 · 5:22 AM PDT

2010/03/24 · 05:22

It's a new day in America. Barack 'The Duke' Obama defeated the Republican Napoleons at Waterloo, and The Law Of The Land stands.

But not according to Republicans. Attorneys General in thirteen states (McKenna in Washington state, McCollum in Florida, Corbett in Pennsylvania, etc.) are filing lawsuits against the healthcare reform. Because they'll be DAMNED if an eight year-old stroke victims can't be denied for profit reasons (and yes, they do exist). It's no surprise that many of these men are seeking higher office.

There's just one problem for the Republicans in trying to determine freedom versus goods and services in America.

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This guy.

ShawnGBR

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Saturday March 20, 2010 · 5:23 PM PDT

2010/03/20 · 17:23

We all know there's going to be a lot of crap from the Republicans and con.serv.ative li.bert.arians in the coming months and years regarding healthcare, whichever way the vote goes tomorrow (fingers crossed, guys).

One of the things they'll try to do (if we DO get reform) is show a single person's example of not being covered, or waiting for an appointment, or any other thing that isn't unicorn farts, and try and pass it off as failure. So I thought I would tell you of everything that is leading up to a simple annual eye exam that I will be getting. All covered by private insurance through work. And how it will nullify their future talking points. Because it's how the system is right now.

More on the other side of the hyperlink...

ShawnGBR

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Saturday February 20, 2010 · 3:23 PM PST

2010/02/20 · 15:23

Before I begin: this isn't a joke. And I'm not talking about dollar for dollar... there's no way you'll pick a random homeless man that just happens to be a hobo on his days off from sealing multi-million-dollar deals. Tax is calculated and paid as a percentage, and that's how both parties and ther spokespeople talk about it too. So who pays the highest percentage? The hobos of America, or the Limbaughs of America?

title=

The answer, below the fold...

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What can a dress tell us about how people can't accept reality?

Bitcoin - it's like exchanging Turkish Lira, without the glamour. Or security.

Why we have nothing to fear from the worst professor in history...

Right wing's murderous denial.

Let's give Rand Paul exactly what he asked for.

The [F]right[ened] Wing.

Well, so long world, been nice knowing you.

This is why you should question every conservative word.

What REALLY happened at the oilcano site...

Republicans don't know Duck about laws and freedom.

Healthcare, one day before the House vote.

'Limbaughs' or 'hobos': who pays the higher rate of tax?