Aeschines lived in Japan for eight years!

[even sven]

In case you guys missed it, Aeschines lived in Japan for EIGHT YEARS! That apparently entitles him to spout any amount of barely diguised racist (oh wait, it's not racist- he just hates Islam) bullshit he wants, and then say either

A: I lived in Japan for EIGHT YEARS!!!!111oneOMG
B: You are just brainwashed by the PC police

Whenever he is called on it. Aeschines lives in a bizarre world where "debate" means "saying whatever wierd stuff comes to his head" and then resorting to such time-worn debate tactics as "my daddy is the vice president of his company, so I know what I'm talking about" and "your just a big wrong doodyhead." His debate style goes beyond fallacious and in to a strange dark realm where logic falls apart at the hands of his malformed childish ego.

His quote-by-quote rebuttles (which he makes second after every post- doesn't he have a job or something?) can be kind of funny, if they didn't inspire quite so much nasea. He can reply to ten different quotes in one post, and never actually engange the argument. I'm really baffled as to what sort of joy he gets out of this. It's like the time I went to New York and a barber said he'd give me a free haircut and ended up shaving my head- he's got to be getting off on this somewhow. I've never met someone who can so so little in so much. Maybe thats just what eight years in Japan does for you.

You've really got to read this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=311620&page=1&pp=50) to understand.

Although he refers to himself as part of "we the left" (ack! who invited him here!) his real beliefs are somewhat, errrr, strange. He thinks that Japan was better of with feudalism (and I guess he should know, as he was there for eight years), for example. He's like some kind of freaky Bush-Bashing Pro-Life Ultra-Darwinian Ayn Rand who believes in ghosts.

Now for your enjoyment, I'll include a diverse selection of Aeschines quotes, from which we can glean his immense personal knowledge of subjects ranging from what life was like in the 1950s to the nature of the afterlife. If only we spent eight years in Japan, we too could be worthy to join in these conversations.

On social decline and martinis:
We don't have that confidence today. We are become, to put it frankly, a sad and wimpy society. We don't feel the momentum they felt then. We're afraid of losing what we have.

Looking at media from the 1950s--books, magazines, records (but not so much movies, which sucked until about 1960)--there really is a whole different vibe to it. Real adulthood. A kind of sophistication that we lack. They drank martinis and watched TV unselfconsciously--it was just the way things were.

On the supremacy of the MBA:
But I'm not cynical about MBA programs because of my good experience at Purdue. These are not PhD programs in which one pursues esoteric, useless research for 6 or more years so that one can write a paper that no one will ever read. No, MBA programs last just 2 years, teach many practical and concrete subjects, and make you put into practice your knowledge as you go though lots of case studies, projects, and teamwork. It's about as good as education gets.
On the attributes of the afterlife:
The afterlife is not a world "set up" by God. Rather, it is an organic and *real* world just like our own.
On that guy that shot the wounded unarmed Iraqi:
I feel a lot sorrier for the soldier just doing his duty and probably living in abject fear and misery every day who has to top it all off with this media circus, than for the Islamofascist insurgents, wounded or otherwise.
On the primal origin of descrimination against bowties:
I like bow ties. I can tie a bow tie. I sometimes wear a bow tie. But if I were to show up at an interview wearing a bow tie, I think that would almost completely prevent me from getting a job in today's climate. They would think, "Hmm, this Aeschines seems competent and nice enough, but if we had to chose between a guy who wears bow ties (which isn't a totally orthodox thing) and a guy who wears a regular tie, who are we gonna pick? Yeah, why take chances: let's take a regular tie guy."

Yes, it's that picky. Yes, it's fricking retarded. But this is due to our primitive primate psychology and ain't going away anytime soon
On America's electorate:
I don't think an "educated electorate" is possible
On "Jewdar"
I for one have extremely poor Jewdar. Unless it's obvious, a Jewish name won't seem Jewish to me, and I can rarely tell by appearance. Further, almost all my eperiences with Jews have been positive. Once, however, I lived in a building with a gal who seemed to live up to every possible prejudice against her group: extremely Zionist, racist against African-Americans, taking a rather exclusive attitude toward gentiles, etc. (and she was not religious; it was her identity with the Jewish ethnic group that was very strong). I was surprised because I had thought that such attitudes were not real, were merely the what prejudiced people said existed.
On the Palastinians:
Arafat was a terrorist scumbag.

I also have no sympathy for his cause. While I think the whole Zionist program was a mistake, I don't see any need there for a Palastinian state. They're Arabs after all, and wouldn't they be just as at home in Jordon?

But those poeple just seem totally hooked on violence and their own pathetic little cause. Bleh.
On a divided America:
The Hillbillies vs. the Advanced Minds
On the supernatural:
And yes, it's already been proven that ghosts exist, so it is also possible
On the intellegence of the Japanese, who he lived with for eight years:
So, IQ tests say that a particular, easy-to-identify and extremely homogeneous ethnic group, the Japanese, is on average more "intelligent" than the rest of the planet. I've lived with that group and just haven't seen it. That's one reason I doubt that g means much.
On why women get abortions:
A. People, mainly women, who need a cause, get into the whole feminism, my-body-my-body! screeching, and find a purpose in life in the whole sick business.

B. Worse, yet closely related to A, the people who find meaning in the evil of abortion itself. A woman is not truly a woman or a feminist until she's had one, etc. I disagree with the conservatives and the religious right on almost everything else, but they've got this pegged absolutely correctly. It is a deep evil, a shame on our culture and country.
On the unexpected results of gay marriage:
And this is intertwined in another reality: the fact that this debate ends up being not about sexuality at all. For the right of two gay men to marry implies that two straight men could also marry--for whatever reason.
On space travel:
I have little doubt that one day we will invent the technology to travel faster than light.

My fear, however, is that the technology will be so powerful we might end up blowing the entire planet to kingdom come.

My guess is that the technology will involve folding space, as in the book Dune.

[LifeOnWry]

On the unexpected results of gay marriage:
And this is intertwined in another reality: the fact that this debate ends up being not about sexuality at all. For the right of two gay men to marry implies that two straight men could also marry--for whatever reason.



I have no idea who or what you're on about here, so I have no actual opinion on anything you've said, but the above caught my eye. Thanks for posting it - I hadn't seen it before and now I will have the giggles all night as I try to puzzle it out.

[even sven]

Here are some more. It's kind of fun, the more I read, the more I kind of like the guy for being so kooky, but now his attitudes towards women are skeeving me out:

On thirteen year olds:
That's the thing: it is OK, biologically speaking, for 13-year-olds to become parents. Peope used to get married at that age.
On anal sex:
Let's see, a hole without any natural lube--unless you consider diarrhea a lubricant. No sir, a simple twat suits me just fine.
On Islam:
As for Islam itself, the less said the better. Wait a few thousand more years, and this virus too will be purged from the mind of man....
On overweight women:
Let's be plain about another thing, however: truly obese women (and men) are gross-looking and typically get to do the hog bounce only with another hog. Personally speaking, women who walk around dripping lipids and complaining about how shallow men are because they don't dig the flab are clueless self-kidders.
On Japanese women:
Try Japan, where you'll find the most self-centered, pampered, and insulated-from-reality gals on the planet. It is the feminine dark side writ large.
On what men want:
Good looks and a personality that matches their own. What they don't want, generally, is a woman taller than they, much higher in caste, much higher in age and experience. In short, they don't want a woman who is *above* them, or more dominant. They also don't look to women to be providers, though economic reality means that most women have to work outside the home these days. (But it's an *issue* when the woman makes more than the man, for dominance reasons.)

[ninetypercent]

Those are some very reasonable replies!!

[treis]

Where are you getting all of these quotes from?

[Sublight]

Aeschines is completely wrong, and I can prove it very simply:

I've been in Japan for TEN years.

End of discussion.

[gobear]

Well, I was in South Korea for six years, AND I vacationed in Japan, so my argument must be supreme!

Ilbonin sagigun wae da!

[yBeayf]

I don't agree with some of what Aeschines posts, but I really don't see what's so kooky or pitworthy about these replies of his that you're pulling up. Seriously -- I was reading your list of examples and kept waiting for the point. Am I missing something? Is this your way of dealing with boredom? Do you have a secret crush on him?

[Typo Negative]

Well, I was in South Korea for six years, AND I vacationed in Japan, so my argument must be supreme!

Ilbonin sagigun wae da!
Well, I've been watching Japanese anime porn for half my life......

[Abbie Carmichael]

The Hillbillies vs. the Advanced Minds

Oh, that war would be over in about 10 seconds. The "Advanced Minds" are too scared of guns to own one.

:D

[Miller]

He thinks that Japan was better of with feudalism (and I guess he should know, as he was there for eight years), for example.

Dude! Japan was totally better when it was feudal! There were, like, samurai and ninjas and shit! Ninjas kick ass! They could totally flip out and, like, kill everyone in the room!

[Guinastasia]

Isn't he the one who said that voting for Bush was a sign of a mental disorder...and he was serious, it wasn't hyperbole?

[Incubus]

I support a goverment that advocates the use of ninjas.

Who else will protect us from pirates? Pirates fucking hate ninjas! :D

[zetafunction]

The Hillbillies vs. the Advanced Minds

Oh, that war would be over in about 10 seconds. The "Advanced Minds" are too scared of guns to own one.

:D
Too bad they invented the atomic bomb.

Go away, anti-intellectual fundie.

[Wolfian]

Dude! Japan was totally better when it was feudal! There were, like, samurai and ninjas and shit! Ninjas kick ass! They could totally flip out and, like, kill everyone in the room!

Linkety link. (http://www.realultimatepower.net/)

I got so pumped up after posting this that I headbutted my dog and we both thought it was awesome.

[Abbie Carmichael]

Too bad they invented the atomic bomb.

Go away, anti-intellectual fundie.

Judging from your other posts, I'm wondering exactly why I'm supposed to give a rat's ass what you think.

But just so you can mark your calendar: April 28th. Get yourself some Viagra, a pair of tweezers and an electron microscope and maybe you can have yourself a little jerk-off fest on that day.

[Jeep's Phoenix]

My Pit thread inspried a Great Debates thread which inspired a Pit thread. I'm rather impressed. :cool:

I took a geology class a few semesters ago that was taught by a professor who frequently visited Japan. He tried to teach us Japanese in addition to geology.

[zetafunction]

Judging from your other posts, I'm wondering exactly why I'm supposed to give a rat's ass what you think.

But just so you can mark your calendar: April 28th. Get yourself some Viagra, a pair of tweezers and an electron microscope and maybe you can have yourself a little jerk-off fest on that day.
What in the hell are you babbling about?

[blowero]

Fuck - that was funny, even sven.

[cckerberos]

I don't agree with some of what Aeschines posts, but I really don't see what's so kooky or pitworthy about these replies of his that you're pulling up. Seriously -- I was reading your list of examples and kept waiting for the point. Am I missing something? Is this your way of dealing with boredom? Do you have a secret crush on him?

I didn't get it either... but I assumed it was just because I only have 3 years of Japan experience.

[Rune]

I guess he’s just big in Japan. Me, I’ve never been anywhere near so I recon I completely missed the point.

“We don't have that confidence today. We are become, to put it frankly, a sad and wimpy society.”

I think this is correct to some extend. Western society is less convinced of its own superiority, overprotective parents are a real problem.

“The afterlife is not a world "set up" by God. Rather, it is an organic and *real* world just like our own.”

What’s the matter with this? Without knowing where he has his inside knowledge from, “set-up” could easily be seen as a rather condescending expression.

”I feel a lot sorrier for the soldier just doing his duty and probably living in abject fear and misery every day who has to top it all off with this media circus, than for the Islamofascist insurgents, wounded or otherwise.”

Me too. Good riddance to that terrorist idiot.

“Arafat was a terrorist scumbag.”

yup

“And this is intertwined in another reality: the fact that this debate ends up being not about sexuality at all. For the right of two gay men to marry implies that two straight men could also marry--for whatever reason.”

Haven’t thought of that, but I suppose it is true. Two straight men could choose to marry – for instance for tax purposes, friends seeking to make inheritance easier, someone seeking to getting into the country, or just for kicks. So what.

“No sir, a simple twat suits me just fine.”

His personal preference. Don’t know why he felt a great need to share it with the world, but I guess he’s allowed that, even if he has been to Japan.

“As for Islam itself, the less said the better. Wait a few thousand more years, and this virus too will be purged from the mind of man....”

That’s what I see all the time on these boards when the talk is about Christianity, so that can’t be so bad.

“truly obese women (and men) are gross-looking”

Oh yeah.

“Good looks and a personality that matches their own. What they don't want, generally, is a woman taller than they, much higher in caste, much higher in age and experience. In short, they don't want a woman who is *above* them, or more dominant. They also don't look to women to be providers, though economic reality means that most women have to work outside the home these days. (But it's an *issue* when the woman makes more than the man, for dominance reasons.)”

Tall is sexy, I’d love a woman who was taller than me. Also one who earned more than me, we don’t have castes around here but if we had I’d like her to be up there on the top.

[Eonwe]

I lived in Japan once. In 1960. For twenty minutes.

[HMS Irruncible]

I lived in Japan once. In 1960. For twenty minutes.

And you know what's funny? They still call me by YOUR name.

[Hamlet]

Well, I was in South Korea for six years, AND I vacationed in Japan, so my argument must be supreme!

Ilbonin sagigun wae da!Thanks for the laugh!

The OP stated: In case you guys missed it, Aeschines lived in Japan for EIGHT YEARS! That apparently entitles him to spout any amount of barely diguised racist (oh wait, it's not racist- he just hates Islam) bullshit he wants, Oddly enough, gobear and I went around the propriety of stereotyping in a different thread when gobear said: "Sorry, guys, but James M isn't so much a frat boy as he is a spoiled Korean man. The Korean culture turns out guys like this by the truckload: their mothers baby them into adulthood, then their girlfriends and wives continue the process so that the average Korean guy is always dependent on someone else to take care of him.

And, no, it's not a "broad brush" comment--it's as much a part of Korean culture as going to the noraebang and eating kimchi are." The trainwreck of a thread is gobear actually says "Hey, pal, I lived there for nearly a decade, I speak the language, and I know what the place is like." (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=246902)

When I read the OP, the very first thing that sprung to mind was "Hey, that's just like gobear!" And then to see gobear posting, I got a nice belly laugh.

[HMS Irruncible]

I am really wary of other foreigners in Japan... there are a lot of interesting globetrotting people, but there are also many who seem to think they've entered the Nerd Elysian Fields which in itself validates anything they might say, do, or think.

"I've lived here 12 years, I say we piss in the street."
"Hell, I've lived here 12 hours, I say we piss in the street."
(pissing in street ensues)

Good times.

[Scott Plaid]

Sorry to hi-jack the funnies, but I think I have realized something important about Aeschines.


He claims to be liberal
He wears a bow tie
He hold opinions exclusively, to the exclusion of new information
Only he can criticize his favorite culture.
I think he’s Tucker Carlson! :D

[Harborwolf]

Only one way to be sure. Hold up a picture of Jon Stewart. If he hisses and recoils in horror, then it's true.

[gobear]

Well, you're totally right, Hamlet, I was being foolish in that thread.

[Merijeek]

Judging from your other posts, I'm wondering exactly why I'm supposed to give a rat's ass what you think.

But just so you can mark your calendar: April 28th. Get yourself some Viagra, a pair of tweezers and an electron microscope and maybe you can have yourself a little jerk-off fest on that day.

It's amazing.

Just when you think the second dumbest cunt in the world (Ann Coulter still reigns supreme, of course, and susanann seems to have vanished) can't possibly get any more stupid or any more cunt...

-Joe, impressed

[Arwin]

Though I don't think all your examples of quotes are equally good (the one about two straight men marrying is a point I made myself, which he may even be referring to), I agree with the general picture of him you sketch here, even sven. The guy is all over the place sometimes.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Aeschines is a trifle daft.

But, aren't we all?

Still, he probably benefits by a Pitting, every year or two, just like the rest of us.

< smacks Aeschines with a wet trout >

[audiobottle]

Well, I was in South Korea for six years, AND I vacationed in Japan, so my argument must be supreme!

Ilbonin sagigun wae da!
I don't suppose you could write that in Korean characters, can you? I'm not so good at reading Korean in Western format. I've got the first part, but I'm not sure how the American vowels transfer to the Korean ones.
Oh, and regarding the pit: yeah, some of what he said is pretty ridiculous. Some of it doesn't really seem to be that ridiculous at all. Meh. Of course, my Japanese experience consists of one small trip there when I was little and the odd hour or so waiting for my connection from/to Korea.

[gobear]

I don't suppose you could write that in Korean characters, can you? I'm not so good at reading Korean in Western format. I've got the first part, but I'm not sure how the American vowels transfer to the Korean ones.
Oh, and regarding the pit: yeah, some of what he said is pretty ridiculous. Some of it doesn't really seem to be that ridiculous at all. Meh. Of course, my Japanese experience consists of one small trip there when I was little and the odd hour or so waiting for my connection from/to Korea.

I don't have Hangul font loaded on my keyboard (and I checked in both Word and Foxfire for it, and we're not able to download anything at work, unfortunately) It's the long "O" and the H patch'im (not the Roman H, but the Korean vowel combination that looks like an elongated H). The patch'im is pronounced "AY" to form wae (pronounced "WAY" and is an insulting term meaning "dwarfish" [Apparently, it's what the Shilla used to call the Japanese]) and the verb particle da is added for emphasis. "Japanese are cheating dwarves!" Maybe I should have used sangnom or kaeseki instead.

I'm sure Hamlet will correct my undoubtedly incorrect Korean, since he clearly knows so much more than I.

[audiobottle]

Ahhh... I see now. I get most of my colloquial Korean from the yunsaeguk I rent from the local store, so I must have missed the wae. I definitely got the sangnom and kaesaeki. I am impressed with your knowledge of Korean grammar.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

The Hillbillies vs. the Advanced Minds

Oh, that war would be over in about 10 seconds. The "Advanced Minds" are too scared of guns to own one.

Err...sweetheart, that war IS over. Hate to break it to you.

Daniel

[gobear]

Err...sweetheart, that war IS over. Hate to break it to you.

Daniel
Eh, I don't know, Given the popularity of the Chimp in charge and the tenor of the GOP leadership lately, I'd say the Hillbillies are still in the fight.

[Elysian]

I am really wary of other foreigners in Japan... there are a lot of interesting globetrotting people, but there are also many who seem to think they've entered the Nerd Elysian Fields ....

:eek: They have that in Japan? I must go there! That would be, like, totally awesome!

[kidchameleon]

I support a goverment that advocates the use of ninjas.

Who else will protect us from pirates? Pirates fucking hate ninjas! :D

Commie pinko ninja-lover! Everyone knows you can't trust ninjas, pirates aren't all subtle and stealthy and shit. They just want a good time.

And to flip out and kill ninjas.

[SteveG1]

Yeah. And pirates have those cool hooks and all the treasure. :D

[Princhester]

Sorry I'm still not getting it. How long? Where?

[Scott Plaid]

Sorry I'm still not getting it.They have really long, flash swords, unlike the ninjas.How long? Very longWhere? Either in the guts, or the arms. (I had another answer, but it's TMI.

[Genghis Bob]

Eh, I don't know, Given the popularity of the Chimp in charge and the tenor of the GOP leadership lately, I'd say the Hillbillies are still in the fight.


Hmm. . . gobear, I interpreted LHoD's post to mean, "the Hillbillies have already won."

[Merijeek]

Hmm. . . gobear, I interpreted LHoD's post to mean, "the Hillbillies have already won."

I kind of figured he was referring to that little tiff from 1861-1865.

Oh, and Bob, try not to use abbreviations. I think it makes lil' Abbie's (oh, sorry, abbie's) text-to-speech converter go apeshit.

-Joe

[vetbridge]

I guess he’s just big in Japan.

With apologies to Tom Waits:

I got the style but not the grace
I got the clothes but not the face
I got the bread but not the butter
I got the winda but not the shutter

But I’m big in japan I’m big in japan but heh I’m big in japan

I got the house but not the deed
I got the horn but not the reed
I got the cards but not the luck
I got the wheel but not the truck

But heh I’m big in japan I’m big in japan I’m big in japan


Oh, and Aeschines is welcome to hang out with me anytime.

[Quartz]

And now for a serious response. Even Sven, that you disagree with him is no reason to Pit him. His initial argument in the cited thread is reasoned, the other cites seem reasoned too. Just because you disagree with him doesn't mean he's wrong; it doesn't mean he's right either. That you take umbrage is a sign that you need to step back and take a deep breath.

[ouryL]

In case you guys missed it, Aeschines lived in Japan for EIGHT YEARS! That apparently entitles him to spout any amount of barely diguised racist (oh wait, it's not racist- he just hates Islam) bullshit he wants, and then say either

A: I lived in Japan for EIGHT YEARS!!!!111oneOMG
B: You are just brainwashed by the PC police

Whenever he is called on it. Aeschines lives in a bizarre world where "debate" means "saying whatever wierd stuff comes to his head" and then resorting to such time-worn debate tactics as "my daddy is the vice president of his company, so I know what I'm talking about" and "your just a big wrong doodyhead." His debate style goes beyond fallacious and in to a strange dark realm where logic falls apart at the hands of his malformed childish ego.

His quote-by-quote rebuttles (which he makes second after every post- doesn't he have a job or something?) can be kind of funny, if they didn't inspire quite so much nasea. He can reply to ten different quotes in one post, and never actually engange the argument. I'm really baffled as to what sort of joy he gets out of this. It's like the time I went to New York and a barber said he'd give me a free haircut and ended up shaving my head- he's got to be getting off on this somewhow. I've never met someone who can so so little in so much. Maybe thats just what eight years in Japan does for you.

You've really got to read this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=311620&page=1&pp=50) to understand.

Although he refers to himself as part of "we the left" (ack! who invited him here!) his real beliefs are somewhat, errrr, strange. He thinks that Japan was better of with feudalism (and I guess he should know, as he was there for eight years), for example. He's like some kind of freaky Bush-Bashing Pro-Life Ultra-Darwinian Ayn Rand who believes in ghosts.

Now for your enjoyment, I'll include a diverse selection of Aeschines quotes, from which we can glean his immense personal knowledge of subjects ranging from what life was like in the 1950s to the nature of the afterlife. If only we spent eight years in Japan, we too could be worthy to join in these conversations.

On social decline and martinis:

On the supremacy of the MBA:

On the attributes of the afterlife:

On that guy that shot the wounded unarmed Iraqi:

On the primal origin of descrimination against bowties:

On America's electorate:

On "Jewdar"

On the Palastinians:

On a divided America:

On the supernatural:

On the intellegence of the Japanese, who he lived with for eight years:

On why women get abortions:

On the unexpected results of gay marriage:

On space travel:

I give you seven out of nine yuks! :D

:p
:p
:p
:p
:p
:p
:p

[scule]

I'm not sure I get this one either. All those quotes seems either neutral or misguided. But then I've only been to Japan for a week, so I guess that means I'm borderline retarded. Of course, then everyone else who hasn't been at all is full on retarded.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Aeschines is a trifle daft.

But, aren't we all?

Still, he probably benefits by a Pitting, every year or two, just like the rest of us.

< smacks Aeschines with a wet trout >Pardon me but this doesn't look like the quay at Teddington Lock.

[Kythereia]

Excuse me, I came into this office for an argument!

(And the OP doesn't seem to be providing much of one, either...)

[Lute Skywatcher]

Arugments? You want room 12A.

[audreyayn]

I think his point is that he said all those things in a thread about abortion? I'm not sure. I got a little into the thread and shouted "But ethnicity and culture aren't the same thing!" and ran for it.

[Scott Plaid]

I think the point is that he seems to have some really bizarre views of culture, and that makes it hard to have a discussion. That or the OP really hates to talk to Aeschines. I know I do.

[Bryan Ekers]

I dunno, at first I thought Aeschines was just a fuzzy-headed but harmless New-age boob, but in recent weeks he seems to have become nasty, as though Jupiter was misaligned with Mars or his crystal collection got scuffed, or something.

[Loopus]

Excuse me, I came into this office for an argument!
No you didn't.

[furt]

Well, you're totally right, Hamlet, I was being foolish in that thread.
Meh. If I'd been around I probably would have taken your side in that.

[Spectre of Pithecanthropus]

Maybe it would be a good idea to defer further comments until Aeschines can show up and defend himself.

even sven, I can't get myself worked up into a lather over your target. Surely there's some lower-hanging fruit around here?

[HMS Irruncible]

Maybe it would be a good idea to defer further comments until Aeschines can show up and defend himself.

even sven, I can't get myself worked up into a lather over your target. Surely there's some lower-hanging fruit around here?

I agree. You can make anyone look like an asshole if you take their comments out of context and create a compendium of them (kindly don't do this to me, as there is too much rich material out there).

I do resonate with the offense of "guy thinks he can say any loopy thing about culture or racism because he lives in Japan." Strange things happen to the minds of expatriates, and unfortunately it is often the belief that one is more "worldly" and thus better able to see past bourgeois prejudice and cultural limitations than the poor boobs who never left home. To a very minor extent this is true, but many people take it way too far. I think in Japan it's even worse because for various reasons, you're unlikely to run into anybody who will call "bullshit." (Needless to say, some types of people absolutely thrive and flourish in this sort of environment). But it's not malicious. It's sort of the expatriate's mental illness. It should be treated with compassion, not derision.

[Scott Plaid]

No you didn't.Man:Yes, I did. I came here for a good argument.
Mr Vibrating: No you didn't, you came here for an argument.
Man: Well, an argument's not the same as contradiction.

The above Monty Python skit was exactly how it felt to argue with Aeschines. even sven ain't exaggerating, in my eyes.

[bump]

Tall is sexy, I’d love a woman who was taller than me. Also one who earned more than me, we don’t have castes around here but if we had I’d like her to be up there on the top.

Hee hee... you probably envy me quite a bit. I have both! My girlfriend is both taller by an inch, and makes more money than I do. (I'm 6'1" and she's an attorney.)


On the supremacy of the MBA:
Quote:
But I'm not cynical about MBA programs because of my good experience at Purdue. These are not PhD programs in which one pursues esoteric, useless research for 6 or more years so that one can write a paper that no one will ever read. No, MBA programs last just 2 years, teach many practical and concrete subjects, and make you put into practice your knowledge as you go though lots of case studies, projects, and teamwork. It's about as good as education gets.


Well, from a certain point of view, a practical program like a MBA program *is* about as good as education gets. An MBA prepares you for (ideally) a management role in a company. As such, it has more in common with a professional degree like medicine or law. It's definitely no less difficult, and possibly more difficult than most other Master's degrees (I should know, I have one of each). Just because it's not a research degree doesn't somehow make it less worthy than one that is. And comparing a MBA with a PhD is kind of idiotic anyway- MBAs should be compared with other Master's degrees.

[even sven]

The guy is no Collunsbury, or anything. Mostly I came in to pit how he started this bizarre argument, and then posted every five minutes to refute everything everyone else said with the unelaborated statment that he lived in Japan for eight years so he knows what he's talking about, occasionaly wierd accusations that the dozens of rational people (really, not a single person backs him up here, and I think very few even really understand what he's saying) in this thread being brainwashed by PC, and a lot of "Uh, thats not what I want to argue right now" stuff. He's got the debate skills of a very spoiled and slightly psychotic twelve year old.

It was only while doing my research that the pieces of the Aeschines puzzle came in to place. He's not evil, but his ideas are odd enough to make for some good light spring reading.

[ouryL]

The guy is no Collunsbury, or anything. Mostly I came in to pit how he started this bizarre argument, and then posted every five minutes to refute everything everyone else said with the unelaborated statment that he lived in Japan for eight years so he knows what he's talking about, occasionaly wierd accusations that the dozens of rational people (really, not a single person backs him up here, and I think very few even really understand what he's saying) in this thread being brainwashed by PC, and a lot of "Uh, thats not what I want to argue right now" stuff. He's got the debate skills of a very spoiled and slightly psychotic twelve year old.

It was only while doing my research that the pieces of the Aeschines puzzle came in to place. He's not evil, but his ideas are odd enough to make for some good light spring reading.

Maked you wonder if he's married to wonderwench! :eek:

[furt]

The guy is no Collunsbury, or anything.I'd consider that a plus for him.

[Shalmanese]

Man, that NattoGuy really is a kook, just look at the post he made in this very thread:

I ... look like an asshole. ...kindly ... do ... me.

I ... thinks he can say any loopy thing about culture or racism. Strange things happen to ... boobs. ... but many people take it way too far. ...in Japan. ... [A]nybody ... will call "bullshit." [S]ome people absolutely thrive and flourish in ... mental illness.

;)

[blowero]

Aeschines is really losing it now in the other thread. He says I'm jealous of him, and when I scoffed, he asked me "What are your accomplishments, blowero?" I think he actually believes that's relevant to his GD topic. Maybe I should post my resume. :D

And here's what he thinks about this pit thread:

My defenders quickly arrived, the pitters backed down, and the thread sank from sight in one day. Total vindication and sweet victory.

I mean, that gets a really big WTF??? I'm looking through this thread trying to see where that happened, and the only place I can think of is in his mind.