Fixing a Few Memes

I came across some memes and other images in the past day or so that looked like they needed some fixing. I just thought I’d share.

First, we have a meme from a Facebook page called “The Advocates for Self-Government” (h/t Jason):

"Up until 1913 Americans kept all of their earnings. Despite this, America still had schools, roads, colleges, vast railroads, subways, and an army & navy. Tell me again why people need to be extorted?"

It shows a scene from a New York City street, circa 1913*. The text offers a pretty standard revisionist history of the United States prior to the Sixteenth Amendment, suggesting that the U.S. was doing just fine without federal income tax. Then, of course, it throws in the “taxation = theft” bit, which I’m not even going to bother refuting here because the people who make that argument are incapable of feeling intellectual shame. Continue reading

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Fool Me Once on Social Media…

If you don’t know by now that you should always Google the subject matter of a meme before re-posting it, then you are either (a) too young to use a computer yet, or (b) hopeless. That said, it is now becoming clear that you shouldn’t always trust a debunking of a meme.

A series of images making their way around the web show huge numbers of people piling onto some rusty, rickety ships. The description often accompanying the image suggests that these are Syrian (or Libyan) refugees headed for Europe, with sinister suggestions for what that implies…

Via Ahmet Aykac / Facebook Continue reading

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This Week in WTF, July 17, 2015

– Everyone does romance in their own way: Cats purr to indicate happiness and contentment—or whatever passes for those in the warped mind of a cat, anyway. Humans purr, for the most part, to imitate cats in a semi-sarcastic manner. Now we know that some species of spider make purring noises as a form of seduction—except not ironically, the way humans might (indirect h/t Alice). Spiders don’t have ears, though, so they actually do it for the vibrations. You can make your own joke about that last bit.

Personally, I like to think that spiders are learning all of our best movie quotes from the tactile impact of sound waves coming from televisions, and repeating them to each other in spider code.

"Adult female Phidippus audax jumping spider in Nashville, Tennessee" by Kaldari (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons, modified by me (dialogue from "Say Anything")

– Today in “not a scene from a Japanese horror film”: A mom is seen pushing her son in a swing. For a rather long period of time. Possibly since the previous evening. Turns out her son is dead. She didn’t seem fully aware of this, though. I’m not going to make any jokes here.

– “Is your iPhone on fire, or are you just happy to see me?”: A man in New York claims that he suffered severe leg burns after his iPhone 5c exploded in his pocket. I’m glad I skipped the 5 and went straight from 4s to 6. Continue reading

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Monday Morning Cute: Mood

This doesn’t really depict my mood on a Monday morning, and it’s not “cute,” per se, but here it is anyway:

(h/t Karnythia)

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Monday Morning Cute: Onward!

The road ahead may be difficult, but with courage, determination, and a noble steed, you may accomplish great feats.

Just be careful your enthusiasm doesn’t keep your steed from also seeing the road ahead.

(h/t Sam Sykes for the picture)

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Fear Leads to Anger; Anger Leads to Marmots

A friend posted this bit of wisdom to Facebook the other day:

'Angry is just sad's bodyguard.' Liza Palmer

Via Mentors Channel / Facebook

While I like the sentiment, I don’t think it tells the entire story. Anger and sadness are linked, most certainly, but anger is also a byproduct of fear. That’s the sort of anger that is most dangerous. Even Yoda agrees with me. Actually, I probably stole the idea from him.

I thought I’d expound a bit, in the form of a meme and a Big Lebowski reference: Continue reading

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Not ALL Men!!!!!!111!!!!!1!!!!!!!

The “Not All Men” meme may be the greatest thing on the internet in months, and that’s saying a lot (relatively speaking, of course).

not-all-men

The universe holds immutable truths: matter cannot be created or destroyed, an object in motion will stay at motion unless acted on by an outside force, and any time a woman points out sexist bullshit, some hero’s opinion will gallantly ride in on a fedora, chiming in “Not All Men!”

Now, thanks to the internet’s collective sillybrain, Not All Men! has gone from an irritating trope to a funny, giddy skewering of point-missing folks whose knee jerk reaction as part of a privileged group is to defend themselves against implications that they, as members of the complained-about privileged group, might be complicit in the status quo. It’s defensive bullshit that doesn’t really do anything but prove the bearer of Not All Men is more concerned with saving face for themselves than, you know, actually acknowledging the concern that another person is expressing.

I guess the meme has been around for a while, but I’m old and unhip. I still think lolcats are funny.

Seriously, though, dudes: if someone says something about “men,” and it describes something that you don’t personally do, try to imagine how your listeners might receive your abrupt assurances that not all men (i.e. not you) are like/do that. If it’s really such a concern that people know you’re not like that, then show, don’t tell.

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Ticketed for Littering

Pun Dog may be the greatest meme in the history of the internet of at least the last few days.

Via BuzzFeed/Imgur

Via BuzzFeed/Imgur

That is all.

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