Shit that Pissed Me Off – 8/29

Swimwear Company Massively Photoshops a Model’s Body and Gets Caught

I think we all get that standards of attractiveness/beauty are messed up in the fashion world.  Here, you can see how much work went into taking someone who looked fine and creating a lie about her body.

What is most upsetting is the company’s apology.  In essence they used the “everybody does it” argument.  They took down the photoshopped picture but they didn’t put up the original picture to replace it.

OMG!! Look at her fail to sell swimwear because she’s not thin enough!!!!

Then they admitted that they made the changes to sell a product.

Well that’s honest, I guess.  What they fail to recognize is the product they are selling when they do something like that.

They are no longer selling swimwear.  They are selling body image.  They are telling young women who look like Meghan Kausman that they aren’t thin enough to wear this product.  Their apology indicates that they are completely OK with that.

I know (and I hope most of us do) that advertising is inherently dishonest.  Fruit Loops have never been a healthy addition to a balanced breakfast.  Pick up trucks don’t have great gas mileage.  Ever.

Things are getting out of hand, though, when a size 8 is too fat to sell a swimsuit.

9 Year Old Girl Shoots Her Instructor with an Uzi

What the hell kind of person thinks it’s a good idea to give an Uzi to a nine-year old?

I’ve read gun rights advocates saying that little kids use guns all the time.  Mine do too.  I’ve got Nerf guns scattered around my home.  If the zombies can be stopped by Nerf darts, I’m going to be able to fuck them up.

A real Uzi for a nine-year old?  Don’t you think that is just a little bit stupid?  Who needs to know how to fire an Uzi?

Please note I said “needs” and not “wants.”

I know gun rights advocates will say the same old stuff.  Cars kill more people than guns do, for instance.

Yeah.  Exactly.  We won’t let a nine-year old drive a car either.

Handing that kind of weapon to a kid may well be legal.  It may well be exercising your second amendment rights to a gun.  It is also irresponsible.

Feminist Vlogger Forced Out of Her Home By Death Threats

Anita Sarkeesian has been making a series of videos exploring the tropes of women in video games.

So people have a problem with this.  Which, in itself, is fine.  Disagree with her.  Be annoyed that her Kickstarter made a lot of money while your Kickstarter wasn’t even supported by your mom.  Engage in a civil debate.  Provide a cogent argument to detail what you think she got wrong.

I just think we all need to agree that “fuck you bitch, I’m going to cut you” is not a cogent argument.

Mic Dropped!

The moment you start threatening someone instead of debating someone, you are done with the conversation.  Your relevance should be nothing more than a police record.  Attempting to silence your opposition through threats of force is not debate.

It’s bullying.

Which is kind of ironic given the gamers going after Anita probably have some experience with bullies.

A Different Kind of Radical Feminist Thinks We Should Reduce the Male Population “For Peace”

This lady is crazy.  No question.  I don’t mean that in any sort of misogynistic “bitches be crazy” kind of way.  I mean her perspective on things is skewed to the point that she probably needs therapy and maybe some medication.

Yet she is the kind of person people point to when they talk about what is “wrong” with feminism and that’s the problem.

Let’s get this straight – she represents somewhere around %.0000000000000000000000000000000000000001 of feminists.  And I rounded up.  It is easy to dismiss her as crazy but the problem is that there are too many people who won’t do that.

The kind of world she suggests is a sort of dystopian fantasy that would eventually be brought down by Tom Cruise.  Because it is almost always Tom Cruise.

Is that what she wants?  Does she want her future to be taken down by a Scientologist????

Mystery of Death Valley Sailing Stones May be Solved!

This is wicked cool.  Science is awesome.

How does this happen???? Click the link and find out!!!

But it’s one more thing science has managed to explain.  That has to be upsetting someone.

Not me.  But someone.

Online Store Scams People With Ridiculous Complaint Clause

I would suggest against purchasing something from Onlineaccessoryoutlet.com but in the wake of a lot of negative press, it would appear their website has been taken offline.

So here’s the deal: they have a term of sale (that the buyer is never instructed to read) that says if you have any problem with their service and complain to anyone, they will charge you at least $250.

So assume you order something and they never ship it.  Or ship it to the wrong address.  And you complain but they argue that they shipped it.  So you tell your credit card company to reverse the charge.

Uh-oh!  Complained to the credit card company!  That’ll cost you $250!

It is a scam and it is illegal but people fall for it because they don’t understand law.  Most lawyers don’t understand the law.  Hell, most judges don’t understand the law.

What puzzles me is this idea that negative scores are a bad thing.  If you are any good at business, you need to understand that negative feedback is an opportunity.  It is an opportunity to improve your business model by listening to feedback.  It is an opportunity to turn someone who hates your business into someone who loves it.

Sure, there are people who will never be satisfied.  Most other people recognize those douchebags and ignore what they have to say.

Charging people for saying negative (but honest) things is cowardly.  If you can’t take the criticism, get off the internet.

A Good Person Passed Away

Good people pass away all the time.  I don’t know most of them.

I wrote some thoughts inspired by my friend Robert Schug earlier this week.  They weren’t intended as a memorial or eulogy.  I will leave that to people who knew him better than I.

But I will certainly miss his joyous personality and his boisterous laugh.  He was larger than life and it would appear that life could no longer hold on.

Photo by Peter Verrant

If you are so inclined, Robert’s partner Steven is in need of help to pay for Robert’s memorial service and burial.  You can contribute through a Gofundme campaign.  I believe that part of this money will also be used to help Robert’s parents come back to town for the memorial service.

Robert is gone.  We can do no more for him.  The best we can do is help those he left behind.