Der Feuervogel aufersteht.

Why does anyone think they can still get away with selling one 13-episode season of anime for $70?

I thought it was Funimation who was trying to sell Mouretsu Pirates for that price ($140 for the full series! What is this, 2003?), but, no, it's Sentai, which is one of the things ADV exploded into. Though Funi's trying to sell a single season of Black Butler or Fam for $70. I liked Fam, but not $140 worth, maybe not the $80 RightStuf is selling it for. $60, I think.

Pursuant to a discussion I was told I'm not allowed to have in comments on someone else's facebook post because I'm "imposing my opinions in [their] space" and I "must" pursue it in my own space (see question below), I'm thinking about writing a post about the gross assumptions of economic and able-bodied privilege in the slow food movement. And, yes, for fuck's sake, I want fucking comments on it; it's not a fucking imposition to discuss something.

Also thinking about organizing all my ho-shit and planning stuff for Operation: Move to Berlin in a single post for future reference, rather than having a bunch of random shit bookmarked (or not bookmarked at all, leaving me to try to remember which terms I put in google to get the link I'm looking for).

Question: Is it "imposing your opinions in someone else's space" to comment disagreeing with an article they linked to, or a post they wrote? Is one obligated to comment on one's own facebook or LJ, rather than use the fucking convenient "comment here" button?

I have always believed that it is passive-aggressive sniping to, for example, write a post for the sole purpose of disagreeing with someone, even if you don't say "Person X says blah." You can twist their words, especially if you don't link back (because that person's journal is f-locked, or because 95% of your friends aren't friends with them on facebook, or whatever). If you sit back and don't engage someone directly, but passive-aggressively snipe them through posts similar to my first paragraph*, that's just not cool.

Aside from that, it results in a very disjointed "conversation," which some of the people who read LJ A but not LJ B (and both are locked) cannot participate in.

*which I did on purpose

Yesterday, a friend on twitter retweeted this link. The title, as the writer intended, made me go, "Oh, shit." Then I read the article and thought, "What a fucking load of horseshit."

The comment I left (which, I guess, didn't need approval, because it appeared right away; I wonder if it'll get deleted later):

This is some serious anti-science fearmongering, and sadly, far too many people who read it don't have the basic knowledge to critique your fear-based commentary.

Injectable vitamin K is a prescription drug. Do you know what else is a prescription drug? Injectable vitamin C. Injectable caffeine (yes, it exists). Injectable chemotherapy. Hint: all injectable drugs require a prescription. You can buy a calcium supplement with added vitamins D and K (brand name: Viactiv) at most major drug stores.

Molybdenum is a necessary trace mineral that's found in the soil. It's a cofactor in DNA metabolism, and deficiencies have been linked to esophageal cancer. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-molybdenum-deficiency.htm

Acetone (your apparent problem with bromelain) is also a natural part of the human body's metabolic processes. Anyone who's done Atkins has purposefully generated acetone (one of the ketone bodies), and the human body can metabolize it. No, that doesn't mean you should go out and drink a bottle of it, but in the trace amounts left from processing and extraction are well within the amount a healthy body can handle.

Most Americans reading this guy's blog don't have the basic science education necessary to see that what this guy's basically saying is OMG CHEMICALS!!! BE AFRAID!!! My bachelor's degree is in chemistry (and German), and I'm a pharmacist (PharmD). The OMG-ONOEZ!CHEMICALS!! argument has never flown with me.

But you know what? Most Americans maybe took chemistry in high school. Many Americans never went to college, so they never had an opportunity to learn more science. Of the Americans who went to college, how many were science majors? Half? A third? And even if they had to take a science class or two to fill a distribution requirement, how many took chemistry over, like, biology, geology, or astronomy (which was the most popular non-science-major science distribution filler at my liberal arts college)? It's easy to see how so many people are suckered by these anti-science hucksters and fearmongerers. (And the global warming denialists, the anti-vaxxers, and other such types.)

Which gets back to a conversation in the car on the way back from Atlanta on whether college qua college has value. I say it does, because schools are failing to teach real thinking skills. A good college (or even community college) curriculum ought to emphasize thinking critically and synthesizing information: taking something from one of the courses in your distribution requirements and applying it to your major, or vice versa.

Knowledge -- and the ability to see when someone is bullshitting you that comes with it -- is power. Saying that only a certain class of people deserves access to knowledge is denying them the power to avoid being deceived. Saying that education is utterly useless for certain types of people implies that those people deserve to get the wool pulled over their eyes by snake oil salesmen.

Bullshit.

This is my journal.

I can use it in whatever way I want.

People telling me how I may or may not use something for which I have paid money is not on.

But due to the comments on the LJ xpost of this, I apparently have to make it explicit.

COMMENTING RULES
1. DO NOT use slurs against marginalized groups. This includes lame and retarded.

2. BY NO MEANS DEFEND your usage of these slurs, because meanings change/etymology/it's a minority opinion/wtfever. If you do, I reserve the right to call you an asshole, a privileged jackass, or a jerk.

Thank you.