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Saturday, September 07, 2013

Pauvre con

What does: "casse toi pauvre con" mean in english? - Yahoo! Answers

""con" is most likely one of the trikiest words to translate from French in any other language.
Instead of trying to do such a thing about what has been said, let me just give you a few examples of how wide the implicit sense can change depending on the sentence, the adjectives used and the situation.

A "con" is literraly an "asshole". Now is the words does translate as "vagina" in slang, it's hardly ever intended to mean this. "con" is a concept by itself... it's just exists as it is, there's no real French synonym for the word.

A "jeune con" is a young fool. Someone that's young of age and has not lived enough years yet to have had life educating him.

A "petit con" is more like a "little moron". It can be a kid that keeps messins around. One will mostly use that expression when already quite pissed off. If used to refer at someone older than a young kid, it can also mean that one person considers another to be a "petit con" because that last one acted quite stupidly in reference to his age, causing trouble.

A "gros con" is the classical insult. When you treat someone on being a "gros con" it just means you consider he's a plain moron, that he lacks any kind of delicacy, politeness, education, brains... The word "gros" ("fat") just adds to the expression implying that the person is coarse and rude.

A "sale con". Well, if usually the word "con" implies the person is a bit stupid (or just acted stupid), in this expression there's no reference to any brains. A "sale con" translates better in an "evil bastard". A "sale con" is someone who acted or talked in such a way that other people got harmed for no good reason.
One would say that of someone that's been acting despicably. It's one of the worst qualifications one can put on someone else as it's not a conjonctural instul, it implies a real flaw in the personnae.

A "vieux con" is an "old fart". Most of the times it's a gently used expression that means no real harm. Of course you won't say it to the face of the elder you refer to.
Still, sometimes this can imply more than just gentleness and mean that the personn aimed it might be either a bit senile or living in the past and hanging in there despite everything.

A "pauvre con"... that one expression i finally have to treat :)
It's an extremely conjonctural expression. Depending on the atmosphere, the context and everything it can range from a buddy joke to a raw insult.
I won't translate it as it's quite hard to find the words, but when used by Sarkozy it just meant to show all the disrespect he had for that person in front of him that tried to insult him. "Pauvre con" refered there at some (supposed) incapacity of that man to use his brains correctly to come up with a better judgment.
basically, if that man hates the President, why would he stand there? He'd better spend his time someplace else than in the cheering crowd.

Now, quite often one can use the word "con" in a gentle and friendly way. To treat your friend a "con", "pauvre con", "gros con" usually means the sam kind of thing as slap on the cheeks. Just being buddies.
I'll call my best friend "cons" from time to time in the discussion just as one would say in the US something like "dude, you' re a dick" in the best possible way :)"


« J'ai sans doute les défauts de mes qualités, mais il est difficile, même quand on est président, de ne pas répondre à une insulte. Ce n'est pas parce qu'on est le président qu'on devient quelqu'un sur lequel on peut s'essuyer les pieds »

Friday, September 06, 2013

How Pornography is Humanising

Thea Pilarczyk's answer to Jobs: What's something that is common knowledge at your work place, but would be mind blowing to the rest of us? - Quora

"The first job I got out of college...the only job I could get...was working for a website that streamed adult videos on demand...

My job was as a "Describer"...I would watch the videos all day long, take screenshots, and then try to write the most enticing copy that I could (which often all ended up sounding the same, and used far too many exclamation points). I got pretty good at it...I used to be able to get through about 20 movies a day...

I had never seen a company so serious about avoiding sexual harassment charges...

Most smart employers (in the tech, entertainment, or advertising industries) actually value someone with adult industry experience. Adult distribution companies are far and beyond the most innovative; pioneering new advancements in media formats, payment models, and website features.

It's the adult industry that always determines the winners in the format wars. VHS vs. Betamax, Blu-Ray vs. HDDVD, and even the success of the DVD are all thanks to porn.

The company I worked for pioneered video on demand online, and created a successful digital rights management (DRM) system to avoid piracy before companies like Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, and Amazon ever even tried it. They also pioneered micro-payments before any Facebook or iOS games did.

Adult companies are flush with cash, so they can afford to take risks and try new things. So if you can get past the content, there is a ton of amazing stuff you can learn from companies like that. At least, that's what I tried to focus on during my time there, and how I spun it in future job interviews. It worked too, I don't regret my experience...

Johan Sundström: After changing jobs, did you ever do anything to resensitize and humanize your relation with sexuality (or however you would categorize the impacted part of your perceptions about things) — human awareness institute workshops, spiritual retreats or similar, and if so, what felt the most valuable to you?

... I did feel rather desensitized by it, as I said. But I wasn't dehumanized; rather, it was the opposite. I saw more humanity watching those films non-stop for eight hours a day, five days a week than I have ever seen in such a condensed timeframe since. Even some bold documentaries I've watched haven't held the same amount of raw humanity that I saw in most of those movies...

[I got to] rediscover sexuality in my own way. One good thing those films taught me is that sexuality and desire come in many forms, and that each is valuable, no matter how odd - or even gross - it may seem to me. It also taught me that there should be no shame in what you find attractive...rather, that you should celebrate it.

That sort of leads into my point about the humanity in porn...if ever there was a great equalizer, perhaps it is human sexuality. Aside from pure and unstaged violence (which I've had the fortune not to view), I can't think of anything that is more raw and basely human than people engaging in consensual, sexual acts.

This may sound ironic given the stereotype that most people think of: women with perfect hair, plastic surgery, and more makeup than skin, who were obviously hired for abilities other than acting. And of course there's the men with perfect muscles, no body hair, and faces that are cropped out of the frame so that they can be anyone...a blank canvas on which to project oneself. There doesn't seem to be much raw truth in that.

The thing is, these types of films are popular and well-known, but they make up only about 10% of the overall content at a site like the one I worked for. It may even be closer to 5%. Remember I said that we had to watch it all - amateur, alternative, and films that were "off the beaten track," so to speak. Those glossy hetero-normative films are the most well-known because they are the idea of what is normal and acceptable in this country, as far as sexuality goes. ("If you're going to do something as taboo as watch people having sex, then it should be Caucasian hetero sex between thin, perfect-looking young people with all of their limbs.") But just like most culturally acceptable things in this country, it happens to be in the minority.

I saw things that opened my eyes to parts of human nature I never even thought about. I watched films where there was no nudity, no intercourse, nothing but fully clothed women in a field, acting like waitresses for one another and having tennis matches...and yet it was strangely sensual.

I saw people of all shapes, sizes, ages (18+), races, sexual orientations, self-identities, and defects. I guarantee you that there is no other entertainment genre on Earth that is as inclusive as adult films. There is a role for anyone.

Once I saw a girl with whom I graduated high school in a starring role, which made me think about my friends, my neighbors, and my community very differently.

I began to understand other parts of the world by seeing what kind of films they produced...both what was popular and acceptable there, and what was banned but produced there anyway with great enthusiasm. I understood how Brazil views transsexuals before I ever learned that they speak Portuguese (both of which I learned at this job, by the way). I won't mention what I learned about Japan.

I learned that relationships of a different kind than my own aren't to be looked down upon. As an example, I was fairly naive about homosexuality. What I did know, based on the poorly informed opinions of my former classmates in middle and high school, was that homosexuals were deviants and perverts (as I said, stupid and naive). So naturally, I had some anxiety about watching such films, expecting them to be harsh and disturbing. But what I saw completely blew my mind: compared to the hetero films I saw, where women were routinely used as objects, the partners in gay films were far and away more loving, caring, and considerate of one another - as if they really cared. These films seemed like lovemaking, rather than carnal needs being met. The difference was striking, and completely changed my view of homosexual relationships.

I saw films that...well, I won't describe them here because this is a PG site. I've gotten too close to the line already...hopefully I haven't crossed it. (That happens sometimes after having gone through this experience - I get to talking about it, and I forget that not everyone is as comfortable with it as I've become.) But suffice it to say that I learned pornography is not always about sex - more often it's about pleasure, and the definition of pleasure covers a wide range indeed.

I'm rambling now, and have more than answered your question. But it brings me to some conclusions I wish to share. These are the worldly things that I learned while watching porn for eight hours a day, five days a week, for a year:

  • To be tolerant of others. When you're forced to view acts that you're taught are deplorable, you begin to see the humanity in them. You begin to see the humans behind them. You learn to accept that the points of view which differ from your own are valid, even though you may still disagree with them.
  • That everyone deserves a chance. It doesn't matter how old, fat, scarred, or inexperienced they are...it doesn't matter where they're from, what race they are, or what they were or were not born with. Anyone can be very talented if you just give them a chance to show it.
  • That the people dominating a situation aren't necessarily the ones in control. Often the people who try to look like they're in charge are actually the ones with the least amount of influence.
  • That it's possible to be feminine and womanly without sacrificing any power.

These are the lessons I learned which, I would like to think, have made me a better human. So I can't rightly say that I have ever wanted to "recover" from this experience, and go back to being who I was beforehand. Who I am now is too valuable."

Thursday, September 05, 2013

Peace for our time

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"Libya & Syria (Obama)
Iraq & Afghanistan (George W Bush)
Panama, Iraq, Somolia (sic) (George W Bush)
Beirut & Grenada (Reagan)
Vietnam (Nixon)
Bosnia & Kosovo (Clinton)

'War becomes perpetual when it is used as a rationale for peace' - Norman Solomon"


Unfortunately, the maker of this poster forgot other important examples:

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Korea (Truman)

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The South (Lincoln)

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Pearl Harbor (Roosevelt)

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Poland (Chamberlain)



I'm not sure why people think "roll over and surrender" is a recipe for peace.

"Peace for our time", though, maybe.

Or, perhaps, the true answer is that War is only Evil when a Western Power is the 'aggressor'.

Serina Wee Video

So apparently there's a Serina Wee Video floating around out there:

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Stalkers of the World, Unite!

"She didn’t want to like him more than he liked her.

“We’ll figure it out.” He set his hand down on the book of fairy tales, seeming to notice it for the first time. “You were reading this?”

She nodded. “I was kind of surprised to find it on your bookshelf. I didn’t really read fairy tales when I was a kid. I thought they were … I don’t know, too juvenile? But they’re different than I thought. Darker. So far, I think ‘The Little Mermaid’ is my favorite.”

“You like sad endings?” he asked.

“Maybe.” Mira swallowed. She hadn’t thought of it like that, but maybe it was true. She didn’t love the romance in the story; she loved the yearning, the despair, the mermaid’s noble sacrifice. It stabbed her heart and made her feel in a way that happy endings didn’t.

Because if you could love someone, and keep loving them, without being loved back … then that love had to be real. It hurt too much to be anything else.

“Sad endings are what I know,” she said."

--- Kill Me Softly / Sarah Cross


On a non-stalking/Romantic theme:

"“What about you?” she asked, to change the subject. “What’s your favorite fairy tale?”

Grimacing, Felix stretched out on the bed. “I don’t really like fairy tales.”

“But … you have this book.” It didn’t fit with the rest of his stuff. Why would he keep it if he didn’t like it?
“It’s been in the family a while,” he said. “My dad would be annoyed if I threw it away. And I used to like them. But I guess the novelty wore off. I got sick of reading about torture and dismemberment and … happy endings that get handed out at random, to people who don’t deserve them.”"

Realising your dreams

"Dreams that do come true can be as unsettling as those that don't." - Brett Butler

***

Today:

US woman, 64, makes history with Cuba-Florida swim

"Diana Nyad swam into the history books Monday, completing a marathon three-day crossing from Cuba to Florida to become the first person to do so without a protective shark cage.

The 64-year-old American, who left a Havana yacht club early Saturday, arrived on a Key West beach to realize her lifetime quest after four previous attempts failed amid stormy weather and jellyfish attacks.

"I've got three messages," a visibly exhausted Nyad, her face puffy and sunburned, told cheering crowds as she walked ashore.

"One is, we should never, ever give up. Two is, you never are too old to chase your dreams."

"Three is, it looks like a solitary sport, but it's a team," Nyad added in a nod to her supporters"


In July, a month and a half ago:

Susan Taylor dies during English Channel charity swim

"Susan Taylor, 34, from Barwell, Leicestershire, died in Boulogne on Sunday after she "suddenly collapsed" on the final part of the challenge.

She was doing the 21-mile (34km) endurance test to raise money for Rainbows Hospice in Loughborough and Diabetes UK...

In the statement, the family said: "Susan was an experienced long-distance swimmer and had prepared tirelessly for the challenge...

"She was a very good swimmer; you used to see her going up and down in the fast lane at the pool and all the staff there knew her and got to know what she was doing"...

Earlier this year Ms Taylor spoke to BBC Radio Leicester about her determination to complete the challenge.

She gave up her full time job as a chartered accountant to dedicate more time to training and often swam for up to six hours a day.

The idea of first swimming the Channel came to her as a child.

She said: "A lady said to me, when I was going to a swimming gala, would you swim the Channel when you're older? I can remember looking up to the old lady and saying 'yes I would'.

"For some reason I decided I hadn't achieved that goal so I decided to charter a boat and swim the Channel."

"I'm quite a determined person so when I decided to do it I do what I say I'm going to do," she added...

Irish swimmer Paraic Casey, 45, died while attempting to swim the Channel in July 2012."


Survivorship bias: the dirty secret of motivational shit.

And in this case, it's literally survivorship bias.
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