The We Hunted the Mammoth Pledge Drive is almost over! Please donate, if not for me than just for the chance to SPITE THE HONEY BADGERS! Thanks!
The ongoing tragicomedy that is the Honey Badger Brigade’s Calgary Expo lawsuit continues to get even more tragicomical! Well, not so much the “tragic” bit, just that “comical” part.
The last time we checked in with the Brigade — that GamerGate-loving, feminist-hating gang of mostly lady YouTube blabbers — they had filed some sort of legal document charging the people in charge of the Calgary Expo with some kind of bad wrongness for tossing them out of the aforementioned Calgary Expo back in April.
They also charged The Mary Sue, a website in the United States that actually has no power over the staff of any expos in Calgary or indeed anywhere else in Canada, with somehow contributing to or causing the expulsion.
Well, The Mary Sue has responded to the Brigade’s legal filing, and the response is a doozy. Happily, the Honey Badgers have put it online for us all to enjoy.
The Mary Sue’s lawyer begins by pointing out that they are — ahem! — headquartered in New York, which is pretty clearly not located in Alberta, Canada, where the lawsuit was filed. (I am reliably informed that Canada is actually a whole other country from us.)
Then The Mary Sue’s lawyer gently reminded the court — and, more to the point, the Honey Badgers — that TIME MOVES FORWARD, not backwards, and that an article that appeared after the Honey Badgers were tossed from the Expo could not have caused them to be tossed from the Expo.
In regard to breach of contract, this claim is not just unfounded, but it is simply impossible based on the timeline of events. The Mary Sue could not have induced the Calgary Expo (“the Expo”) to evict Plaintiff because the aforementioned article was published after Plaintiff’s eviction.
Yep. Apparently the Honey Badger’s fancy disbarred lawyer got the dates mixed up. But hey, the law isn’t about these little details.
There’s more to The Mary Sue’s response, but that’s pretty much the best bit, in this Time-Space continuum at least.
Yesterday, Hannah Wallen of the Honey Badgers — she’s the one who isn’t Karen Straughan or Alison Tieman — posted their official response to the Mary Sue’s letter. It did not mention what we can only call the Honey Badger Time Paradox, but instead tried to distract readers with some new charges against the dastardly Mary Sue.
Mary Sue claims a lack of involvement in Calgary Expo’s choice to expel the Honey Badgers from the event. However, in response to questions on twitter following our expulsion, the expo’s staff referenced The Mary Sue’s article about the event.
Ok, but the Mary Sue article was published after the expulsion, so it could not have caused the expulsion.
The Mary Sue’s prior and existing relationship with Calgary Expo is further demonstrated by an April 15th article promoting the Mary Sue sponsored cosplay contest which was to take place at the event.
Ok, but the Mary Sue article was published after the expulsion, so it could not have caused the expulsion.
Mary Sue weekend editor Sam Maggs was the first person to respond to Britany le Blanc’s first tweet objecting to “MRAs in the audience” at the women into comics panel.
Ok, but the Mary Sue article was published after the expulsion, so it could not have caused the expulsion.
Sorry, Ms. Wallen, but your little sleight of hand is no more effective than this dude’s not-quite-flawless disappearing act.
Just a reminder: the Honey Badgers raised more than $30,000 to cover the legal costs of their patently ludicrous lawsuit.
In my last post I noted that
MRAs and other antifeminists … have wasted literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on causes and projects and people that have pissed away their money without accomplishing anything of value … .
This would be one of those causes.
If you’ve got money burning a hole in your wallet, here’s a much better option:
Let me relate a personal tale, and hopefully this will make sense to you.
For many years now I’ve been active within the atheist movement. It’s a cause which means a lot to me (I grew up in an unhealthy religious family) and I get a lot out of fighting for secularism and its associated causes. There are many atheist speakers and writers whom I respect highly and whose talks and books I’ll eagerly consume. Naturally there are many atheists who are also feminists, and we had a nice overlap going there; many of the atheist thinkers I really admire (Greta Christina, for example) are also ardent feminists.
It wasn’t until I started getting into movement feminism in 2012 (anyone who was an atheist in 2012 knows why) that I really started talking to feminists who weren’t atheists. More interestingly, I discovered that many of them didn’t believe in gods but nonetheless didn’t self-describe as atheist.
“Your opinions on the matter are basically identical to those of Hitchens,” I would say. “You might enjoy reading him.”
“Even if I agree with Hitchens on that point,” they would reply, “I can’t enjoy his work knowing that it’s written by someone who hates me.”
“He hates you?” I would say. “Oh. I never noticed.”
Or even worse: I would say that “I don’t think he hates you,” and then wouldn’t understand the chilly silence that followed.
It took me a while to be enlightened, but when I was I suddenly felt very ashamed. Hitchens’s work is magnificent but it’s shot through with a tremendous loathing for women; and because I am not myself female and he was subtle enough to never explicitly say the words ‘I hate women’, I’d never noticed. For me to encourage a woman to read his work is awkward and ignorant at best, and actively cruel at worst, since I’m forcing a woman to confront the fact that some content that she might otherwise enjoy is unavailable to her because there are people out there that loathe her just for who she is.
I still enjoy Hitchens to this day, but I’m not going to pretend that he isn’t a colossal misogynist; and if he gets slammed by feminists around me, I’m not going to defend him.
I’m also going to remember, every time I see his books on my shelves, that unless the writer is crude enough to straight-out say it, I’m very bad at spotting hatred when it isn’t aimed at me (especially when that hatred is in a piece I’m enjoying, which means my guard is down.)
On the other hand, like most people I am very good at spotting hatred when it is aimed at me. This means that when I’m with my religious friends I get to experience the situation the other way around: they will recommend a speaker or a writer to me.
“No thanks,” I’ll say, “That person hates me.”
“They hate you?” they’ll say. “Oh. I never noticed.” Or worse: “I don’t think they hate you.” And then they won’t understand the chilly silence that follows.
This doesn’t mean they’re bad people. It just means that like all people, they’re bad at spotting hatred when it isn’t aimed at them, and I am good at spotting hatred when it is aimed at me, and it is difficult for them to come to terms with the fact that someone they like and enjoy can also contain hatred.
That’s my story. Let’s cast our eye back on this thread.
“You should listen to Honey Badger Radio,” you said. “It’s really good. You’d like it.”
“No thanks,” people replied, “The people who make it hate me.”
“They hate you?” you said say. “Oh. I never noticed.”
This doesn’t make you a bad person. It makes you human. Being human is totally acceptable, but it means you need to acknowledge your blind spots, and that’s one of them.
I’m not going to tell you to stop listening to Honey Badger Radio any more than the people here are going to tell me to stop reading Hitchens. If you enjoy it then by all means keep enjoying it. However, try to use it as a learning experience like I did with Hitchens: use it as a way to teach yourself to spot hatred even when it isn’t aimed at you.
How much of the fact that Orange Tango’s actually listening to EJ is due to EJ being the single most patient person in the history of the species, and how much of it is due to knowing that EJ’s another white dude? Because he barely even skimmed Dhag’s equally-patient post.
I haven’t lied about anything. Here is the video dhag is talking about and its less than 2 minutes long
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLxN0aMHw1c
Skeptorr is an Israeli and he is talking about the stabbing attacks that are happening in his country and the fact that a Swedish politician said the police were wrong to shoot these stabbers dead.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34513691
@SFHC
Thankyou kindly, and yes, the alcohol-fuelled family holidays have begun. The bubbly has long since been unstoppered so I will bow out of this conversation before I say something stupid(er?).
Thank you EJ yes that does make sense to me.
My psychic prediction: Orange Tango Drinker understands nothing that EJ (The Other One) said.
Further psychic prediction: Proof of this will emerge in the next few hours.
More psychic predictions: In the Northern Hemisphere, the number of hours of daylight will continue to decrease for a few days. Do not panic. Thereafter, they will start to increase and will do so for some months. The number 6 comes up for that. So 6 months or so.
Also, in many countries I see parties, parties, and more parties from now until roughly January 3, 2016. Presents will be exchanged.
The year 2016 will be a good one for cats. They will continue to sweet-talk their human parents into premium cat food, fancy toys, and fluffy pillows.
Also, in 2016, the MRM will continue to be a thorn in feminists’ side. Do not panic.
Their days are numbered — but I’m not getting an exact figure on this.
You mean that the hated daystar hasn’t finally been defeated? Sadface!
Hey, I take offense at that prediction. My birthday is the very day past that deadline!
Ah, who am I kidding, you don’t need to be psychic to know that nobody ever comes to my birthday parties. *goes sulking and eating ice cream in the corner*
My birthday is on 3 January, Anarchonist. We should celebrate together! Summer babies are the best ones.
I for one am shocked that the three non misogynist MRAs are in fact, anything but non misogynist. Shocked!
Repeatedly calling women cunts for daring to disagree with them is misogynist.
Comparing child support payments to rape and slavery is both misogynist and racist. Not only does this MRA make that comparison, he describes making women choose between their children and being raped with clear and obvious glee. Fucking disgusting.
When this was pointed out, all otd did was double down. This can only lead me to conclude that he is a misogynist too, not someone who just didn’t that some people he likes have issues with women. Oh, and iirc, he never backed off his comparing of FGM to male circumcision either.
In short, fuck you, OTD.
My birthday is January 8! Is that too late? :/
@ EJ I was just catching up a bit with this thread and read your post – essay – some pages back.
And all I can say is – wow, thank you for saying it so well, so articulately and so beautifully. Bless you for that.
And when that day comes when gender traits are an a la carte for every one of us, hope we meet up at the buffet.
@EJ
Oh, come on, don’t make me have to start writing Walter-esque you/OTD slash too. :p
What the hell? Refute what I said, don’t make some passive-aggressive assumption. You don’t know what you would be missing out on. Being circumcised or not is not instrumental in knowing what is lost or not, being informed about it is what drives proper opinions on the subject. If anything, people who have been circumcised would know more about what is lost, because they would have to live with any damage caused- but there is no damage. There is minimal risk, and also benefits. Your logic makes absolutely no sense.
Of course I can because I know what its like to have a foreskin
AH, BLOCKQUOTE MAMMOTH! ITS BACK! HELP SAVE MEEEEE!
Nparker, I’m impressed by your Blockquote Mammoth whispering skills.
We haven’t seen the like in… weeks.
Re: circumcision
Wouldn’t the absolute best judge of whether or not that little bit of skin is crucial to their life and future happiness be someone who was circumcised as an adult?
Because they would actually know what it’s like to have it both ways?
Like, I can try and imagine being without my left pinky toe all I want, but that doesn’t mean I actually know what it’s like without that toe. I’d imagine it would make shoes harder to find, and would have some impact on my walking/balancing at first (because my pinky toe has calluses and thus apparently is currently used in those activities), but…
…I don’t know what it’s like to be sans toe.
@contrapangloss
The people who get circumcised as adults report that it does reduce sensitivity and sometimes that’s why they do it. Whether it’s a positive or a negative depends on the person and their partners.
@Rabid Rabbit:
My young lady and I are curled up in a warm place. She just read that piece of EJ/Moocow slash and was laughing so hard that she couldn’t breathe.
She would, I think, urge you to write more; my own opinion on the matter is different but I recognise that I have little say in the matter.
@bluecat:
Thank you, and I hope we can destroy gender essentialism together.
@contrapangloss:
I know a guy – not really a friend, more a massive asshole in my social circles – who was circumcised as an adult. Without getting into TMI, he found erections painful beforehand but much easier afterwards. So for him at least, it worked out.
Fun story: When Paradoxy was evaluating herself spiritually over the course of a few years after High School and during College (and during this period she thought of herself as Agnostic), she thought she might agree with the Atheist mindset when it came to spirituality. She wasn’t sure if there was a God(s), but Atheists on the surface seemed rather rational, and, having seen some of the more irrational sides of Theism, that was something that Paradoxy liked.
So, she went and read some of their members’ stuff, and she found a lot of religion-bashing, which she wasn’t fond of. Paradoxy knew there were a lot of perfectly nice Religious Folk of all walks of life, and she didn’t think it was fair of them to bash people for finding comfort, purpose, and community in their religions. She knew this obviously couldn’t be all Atheists, but it did seem to be a lot of them across the many things she read from many different places. So she put those aside.
While she continued reading, Paradoxy also found a lot of misogyny.
Now, Paradoxy being a woman, thought it would be best if she didn’t side with people who actively hate her, either through micro-aggressions or outright sexism. That would lead to nothing but trouble, and Paradoxy being a newbie feminist, she figured she’d avoid confrontation and just not even go there.
Paradoxy concluded that even if she didn’t believe in a God(s), she didn’t feel like this was the place for her.
And that’s the story of how Paradoxy didn’t become an Atheist.
Another Fun Story: Paradoxy’s Grandma Intention recently got one of her toes removed because it was, for as long as anyone can remember, curling over the Big Toe on that same foot.
This made it difficult for her to wear closed shoes, especially during the colder months. The doctors gave her two options: She could have a few (expensive) surguries to get the toe straightened (which Grandma Intention knew someone who had had that done, and it didn’t work for them), or she could just have the toe removed.
Grandma Intention said “Fuck it, I’m old, cut it off.”
And she’s been feeling much better ever since. Especially since she can now wear whatever shoes she pleases.
@EJ
There’s a theory supported by at least some evidence that this was among the reasons that Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette didn’t have children for so long. Apparently her brother had to come along and suggest he have a small operation for the sake of the kingdom. Of course, Louis was also terribly shy and unlike basically every other male in his family didn’t have that much interest in the business, or knowledge of how to go about it, which may have been a factor as well.
Glad to know my little tale had the intended effect.
On the subject of the usage of the word “c*nt”, allow me to quote from here:
If you want to use a word that’s a slur for the meaning of the slur, there are plenty of adjectives in the thesaurus. You don’t need to use that one specific word. English is a huge fucking language with millions of words. Expand your vocabulary and quit using slurs period.
I know it’s hard, I had to learn myself how to stop using words like “r*tarded”, which I used regularly when I was younger, oblivious to their history and how it effected others. It took a lot of time and effort, but I’ve managed to cut that word out of my vocabulary entirely. And with effort, so can everyone else.
And if you want to question if it’s okay to say said slur, it’s better to err on the side of not being an asshole and just learn not to fucking use it.
Nonsense, they’ve accomplished the most important thing of all, for the people doing them: they’ve taken money from Internet randos and paid the bills for the MRAs.
See also the OGs of this, the American conservative movement.
Anarchonist, EJ (The Other One), dhag85
Hey, Happy Birthdayz, January-born people!
I have a prediction:
The year 2016 will be a kickass year for January-born peeps. There will be challenges, to be sure, but you — January babyz — are totally up to them. Just use those fierce brains and willpower of yours. Also, there are many potentially delightful things to come for you. Of course, you’ll have to do your part to make them come true, you lucky January babez!
P.S. Kittyz will continue to be of the utmost importance in your lives.
@Matt
[T]hey’ve taken money from Internet randos and paid the bills for the MRAs.
See also the OGs of this, the American conservative movement.
I like the way you think.
What I dislike: the way the OGs are trying their hardest to take over the US government — and scoring some important wins.
It’s feminists and other people of goodwill (all of whom respect women) who will save planet Earth, our one & only home.
Thank you, Kat. I like your predictions. Can we make you our official resident astrologer?