Showing Up: Fight the Internet for the Soul of Critical Mass!

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 7, 2010 at 10:25pm

notoriousDUG said:

I spread love every where I go.

H3N3 said:

Uh Oh, Dug came back. Just when we were getting all lovey-dovey.
Since there will clearly be no group hug at this point, it's time to break out the
complaint generator. I'll start with 3 paragraphs.

5 paragraphs for you.

===

My complaint about Notorious DUG

As poorly qualified as I am to open students' eyes, minds, hearts, and souls to the world around them, I hope you will bear with me while I begin this sincere and earnest attempt. And please don't get mad with me if, in doing so, I must focus on concrete facts, on hard news, on analyzing and interpreting what's happening in the world. Let me begin by saying that you might say, "Notorious DUG views moral relativism as a succedaneous religion that authorizes him to impose a particular curriculum, vision of history, and method of pedagogy on our school systems." Fine, I agree. But there are two kinds of people in this world. There are those who send the wrong message to children, and there are those who pave the way for people of every sex, race, and socioeconomic status to fulfill their own spiritual destiny. DUG fits neatly into the former category, of course. Although he is trying to portray himself as a great philosopher on par with Wittgenstein or some such personage, some reputed—as opposed to reputable—members of DUG's flock quite adamantly claim that there is an international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids. I find it rather astonishing that anyone could assert such a thing, but then again, he who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. Of course, people like DUG who do in fact perpetrate evil inaugurate an era of haughty Dadaism.

I do not wish to endorse prætorianism but rather to illustrate that I avouch that we should let DUG prattle on about how the Earth is flat. At this point, such exsufflicate jibber jabber is harmless enough, albeit a little unsettling. Nevertheless, it does demonstrate how the problem with DUG is not that he's churlish. It's that he wants to control, manipulate, and harm other people. When a political condition of greed, massive corruption, and diversity of objective is coupled to a social condition of drugs, violence, and discontent, therein exists the perfect environment for DUG to prevent people from thinking and visualizing beyond an increasingly psychologically caged existence. It may seem at first that I undeniably gainsay his notion that principles don't matter. When we descend to details, however, we see that while DUG is out breaking down our communities, the general public is shouldering the bill. Sadly, this is a bill of shattered minds, broken hearts and homes, depression and all its attendant miseries, and a despondency about DUG's attempts to fight with spiritual weapons that are as dodgy as they are sanguinary.

While it's true that my motives are unimpeachable, the more important point is that one could truthfully say that his decisions are ill-advised. But saying that would miss the real point, which is that while he manufactures crises over misoneism, DUG's club has been making my blood curdle. We are in trouble when hitherto reputable people destroy the natural beauty of our parks and forests, right? Right. Insipid Comstockism is a disgrace to humanity but it cannot be eliminated by moral lectures or by pious intentions. No, it can be eradicated only if we extirpate allotheism root, trunk, and branch. I have observed that those who disagree with me on the next point tend to be unsophisticated and those who recognize the validity of the point to be more educated. The point is that when one examines the ramifications of letting DUG sacrifice children on the twin altars of exhibitionism and greed, one finds a preponderance of evidence leading to the conclusion that he seems to assume that he should delegitimize our belief systems and replace them with a counter-hegemony that seeks to regulate alarmism because "it's the right thing to do". This is an assumption of the worst kind because I am aware that many people may object to the severity of my language. But is there no cause for severity? Naturally, I believe that there is because he claims that his paroxysms enhance performance standards, productivity, and competitiveness. I would say that that claim is 70% folderol, 20% twaddle, and 10% another macabre attempt to fleece us.

Some people think I'm exaggerating when I say that DUG bases his publications on the belief that his words are all sweetness and light. But I'm not exaggerating; if anything, I'm understating the situation. He has blood on his hands. Yet DUG pretends to be an innocent lamb who has our best interests at heart. We all know the reality: If he really had our best interests at heart, he wouldn't turn positions of leadership into positions of complacency. He accuses me of being a liar. The only proven liar around here, however, is DUG. Only a die-hard liar like DUG could claim that it's perfectly safe to drink and drive. The truth, in case you haven't already figured it out, is that I do not have the time, in one sitting, to go into the long answer as to why he got a little carried away with his impulsive, abhorrent reportages. But the short answer is that he tries to make us think the way he wants us to think, not by showing us evidence and reasoning with us, but by understanding how to push our emotional buttons.

My current plan is to make technical preparations for the achievement of freedom and human independence. Yes, he will draw upon the most powerful fires of Hell to tear that plan asunder, but he has delivered exactly the opposite of what he had previously promised us. Most notably, DUG's vows of liberation turned out to be masks for oppression and domination. And, almost as troubling, his vows of equality did little more than convince people that when people say that bigotry and hate are alive and well, they're right. And DUG is to blame. At the end of this journey, I want to be able to say that I tried my best to investigate the development of clericalism as a concept, so to speak. DUG uses big words like "cinematographical" to make himself sound important. For that matter, benevolent Nature has equipped another puny creature, the skunk, with a means of making itself seem important, too. Although DUG's squibs may reek like a skunk, DUG's unsavory insults often resemble an inverted fairy tale in that the triumph of innocence comes at the start and the ugly sisters of communism and sesquipedalianism enter on stage in triumph for the final curtain. In short, stereotyping and victim-blaming is not more respectable when it is performed by a member of the group being demeaned. What you really need to do to be convinced of that, however, is to study the matter for yourself. I'll be happy to send you enough facts to get you started. Just write to me.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on March 7, 2010 at 10:48pm

When I try to read those I get headaches.

but I'm flattered anyway.

H3N3 said:

notoriousDUG said:

I spread love every where I go.

H3N3 said:

Uh Oh, Dug came back. Just when we were getting all lovey-dovey.
Since there will clearly be no group hug at this point, it's time to break out the
complaint generator. I'll start with 3 paragraphs.

5 paragraphs for you.

===

My complaint about Notorious DUG

As poorly qualified as I am to open students' eyes, minds, hearts, and souls to the world around them, I hope you will bear with me while I begin this sincere and earnest attempt. And please don't get mad with me if, in doing so, I must focus on concrete facts, on hard news, on analyzing and interpreting what's happening in the world. Let me begin by saying that you might say, "Notorious DUG views moral relativism as a succedaneous religion that authorizes him to impose a particular curriculum, vision of history, and method of pedagogy on our school systems." Fine, I agree. But there are two kinds of people in this world. There are those who send the wrong message to children, and there are those who pave the way for people of every sex, race, and socioeconomic status to fulfill their own spiritual destiny. DUG fits neatly into the former category, of course. Although he is trying to portray himself as a great philosopher on par with Wittgenstein or some such personage, some reputed—as opposed to reputable—members of DUG's flock quite adamantly claim that there is an international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids. I find it rather astonishing that anyone could assert such a thing, but then again, he who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. Of course, people like DUG who do in fact perpetrate evil inaugurate an era of haughty Dadaism.

I do not wish to endorse prætorianism but rather to illustrate that I avouch that we should let DUG prattle on about how the Earth is flat. At this point, such exsufflicate jibber jabber is harmless enough, albeit a little unsettling. Nevertheless, it does demonstrate how the problem with DUG is not that he's churlish. It's that he wants to control, manipulate, and harm other people. When a political condition of greed, massive corruption, and diversity of objective is coupled to a social condition of drugs, violence, and discontent, therein exists the perfect environment for DUG to prevent people from thinking and visualizing beyond an increasingly psychologically caged existence. It may seem at first that I undeniably gainsay his notion that principles don't matter. When we descend to details, however, we see that while DUG is out breaking down our communities, the general public is shouldering the bill. Sadly, this is a bill of shattered minds, broken hearts and homes, depression and all its attendant miseries, and a despondency about DUG's attempts to fight with spiritual weapons that are as dodgy as they are sanguinary.

While it's true that my motives are unimpeachable, the more important point is that one could truthfully say that his decisions are ill-advised. But saying that would miss the real point, which is that while he manufactures crises over misoneism, DUG's club has been making my blood curdle. We are in trouble when hitherto reputable people destroy the natural beauty of our parks and forests, right? Right. Insipid Comstockism is a disgrace to humanity but it cannot be eliminated by moral lectures or by pious intentions. No, it can be eradicated only if we extirpate allotheism root, trunk, and branch. I have observed that those who disagree with me on the next point tend to be unsophisticated and those who recognize the validity of the point to be more educated. The point is that when one examines the ramifications of letting DUG sacrifice children on the twin altars of exhibitionism and greed, one finds a preponderance of evidence leading to the conclusion that he seems to assume that he should delegitimize our belief systems and replace them with a counter-hegemony that seeks to regulate alarmism because "it's the right thing to do". This is an assumption of the worst kind because I am aware that many people may object to the severity of my language. But is there no cause for severity? Naturally, I believe that there is because he claims that his paroxysms enhance performance standards, productivity, and competitiveness. I would say that that claim is 70% folderol, 20% twaddle, and 10% another macabre attempt to fleece us.

Some people think I'm exaggerating when I say that DUG bases his publications on the belief that his words are all sweetness and light. But I'm not exaggerating; if anything, I'm understating the situation. He has blood on his hands. Yet DUG pretends to be an innocent lamb who has our best interests at heart. We all know the reality: If he really had our best interests at heart, he wouldn't turn positions of leadership into positions of complacency. He accuses me of being a liar. The only proven liar around here, however, is DUG. Only a die-hard liar like DUG could claim that it's perfectly safe to drink and drive. The truth, in case you haven't already figured it out, is that I do not have the time, in one sitting, to go into the long answer as to why he got a little carried away with his impulsive, abhorrent reportages. But the short answer is that he tries to make us think the way he wants us to think, not by showing us evidence and reasoning with us, but by understanding how to push our emotional buttons.

My current plan is to make technical preparations for the achievement of freedom and human independence. Yes, he will draw upon the most powerful fires of Hell to tear that plan asunder, but he has delivered exactly the opposite of what he had previously promised us. Most notably, DUG's vows of liberation turned out to be masks for oppression and domination. And, almost as troubling, his vows of equality did little more than convince people that when people say that bigotry and hate are alive and well, they're right. And DUG is to blame. At the end of this journey, I want to be able to say that I tried my best to investigate the development of clericalism as a concept, so to speak. DUG uses big words like "cinematographical" to make himself sound important. For that matter, benevolent Nature has equipped another puny creature, the skunk, with a means of making itself seem important, too. Although DUG's squibs may reek like a skunk, DUG's unsavory insults often resemble an inverted fairy tale in that the triumph of innocence comes at the start and the ugly sisters of communism and sesquipedalianism enter on stage in triumph for the final curtain. In short, stereotyping and victim-blaming is not more respectable when it is performed by a member of the group being demeaned. What you really need to do to be convinced of that, however, is to study the matter for yourself. I'll be happy to send you enough facts to get you started. Just write to me.

Permalink Reply by Vilda on March 7, 2010 at 10:53pm

Dug, you've got tattoo's right? Let's see 'em in the inked group!

Permalink Reply by Pete Fein on March 7, 2010 at 10:58pm

Good thing you're already on The Chainlink then. What about the rest of the bicyclists in this city? Or are they just stuck in the past and not worthy of our attention?

heather said:

Wait... what? a flyer for what, Critical Mass? Live in the now. If I found a flyer on my bike I would be annoyed that someone was wasting paper in such a random way.

Pete Fein said:

Pretty much. When was the last time you found a flyer on your bike? When was the last time you saw a flyer on anyone's bike?

Permalink Reply by Pete Fein on March 7, 2010 at 11:02pm

And thus peace was achieved on earth. Seriously people, is that all you care about?

Marrrrk. said:

I went. I had fun.

The End.

Permalink Reply by Pete Fein on March 7, 2010 at 11:06pm

It's a sad day when someone gets criticized because they didn't "go with the flow" in a thread about Critical Mass. Lord knows I've given y'all enough other reasons to give me a hard time.

Gabe said:

I'm kinda bummed this thread persists. Pete comes off as a douche since more than one person from the WPCM had a great time and he bounced cause it would appear he was uncomfortable or perhaps unwilling to just go with the flow.

BTW I don't ride a fixie and i detest whining so I'm not sure who Robert was talking about. Maybe Pete?

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on March 7, 2010 at 11:08pm

I'm pretty sure the whole point of the event is to have fun...

So yeah, there ya go.

Pete Fein said:

And thus peace was achieved on earth. Seriously people, is that all you care about?

Marrrrk. said:

I went. I had fun.

The End.

Permalink Reply by Pete Fein on March 7, 2010 at 11:16pm

As I said earlier, if that's all you're taking away from Critical Mass, we're doing something wrong.

People, am I on crack here? In this thread, we've had CM described as usually a drunken clueless mob, the point of which is to have a good time. Is that all we are/were/want to be? Does anyone else who's been at this more than a few months see a problem here?

notoriousDUG said:

I'm pretty sure the whole point of the event is to have fun...

So yeah, there ya go.

Pete Fein said:

And thus peace was achieved on earth. Seriously people, is that all you care about?

Marrrrk. said:

I went. I had fun.

The End.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 7, 2010 at 11:28pm

Pete, I'm not sure if you're looking for a deeper understanding or just to wear everyone down.
But what I can offer having witnessed a progression that you haven't is that there are a few revolving events, such as Midnight Marauders, F'in Bike Club, the Tweed Rides, that have a similar model, and these rides have drawn their attendance heavily (and in some cases exclusively) from an active core of chainlink participants (who are just as active and cohesive and "real life" as the core of CCM participants was back in the day).. So for lack of other expectations or direction the ride you were on took basically the same form, since that's what these folks experience several times a month.
I think the real problem here is that you were spoiled by one of the best CM rides on the planet during its nadir. Many large cities would declare their CM ride an unbridled success if it came off like last Friday's WPCM ride (and don't forget it's March?).

Pete Fein said:

As I said earlier, if that's all you're taking away from Critical Mass, we're doing something wrong.
People, am I on crack here? In this thread, we've had CM described as usually a drunken clueless mob, the point of which is to have a good time. Is that all we are/were/want to be? Does anyone else who's been at this more than a few months see a problem here?
notoriousDUG said:

I'm pretty sure the whole point of the event is to have fun...

So yeah, there ya go. Pete Fein said:

And thus peace was achieved on earth. Seriously people, is that all you care about?

Marrrrk. said:

I went. I had fun.

The End.

Permalink Reply by Vilda on March 7, 2010 at 11:30pm

Hey Pete, I've been at this for more than a few months. ;-) CM is what YOU make it. You make it more than others. If there are no leaders, and no followers then there is going with the flow. More spiritual than you would think.

Taking a line from the movie Say Anything "YOU MUST CHILL!"

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 8, 2010 at 2:09am

I think the real problem here is that you were spoiled by one of the best CM rides on the planet during its nadir.

Whoopsie . . . I just looked up nadir; make that "zenith" please.

Permalink Reply by Lee Diamond on March 8, 2010 at 7:42am

Pete,

Of all the silly, silliness that exists on the internets, your ranting about them on the internet may be the ultimate incongruity. Evoking Alex Wilson as if he might agree with you on your nonsense crusade is a hoot.

Leaders lead.

Losers pick other efforts apart.

For the record, there are gobs of people on the Chainlink that are active promoters of cycling, organizers of cycling events, map makers, ride leaders, ride originators....leaders....doers.

Be one of them by taking your angst and doing something useful with it instead of tearing down something as if you were some loser Republican senator proud of their obstructionism and their year-long binge of complaining and accomplishment of nothing, which they consider the ultimate accomplishment.

Offering your complaints about things that don’t meet your expectations has been super helpful to the community. Thanks for leading.


Cheers - Lee

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