Friday, June 22, 2012

WTF: 6.22


Welcome to the first edition of WTF: What the Fridays.  In these articles, Nik and I will find some of the more outrageous or controversial topics and weigh in on them as only we can.  You are encouraged to send your favorite links throughout the week and we will give credit where credit is due.  Feel free to email them to shrimpman53@yahoo.com with the words WTF Link as your subject heading.

6.19.2012

Furries:  Not just for creeps in costume anymore, or not
-Matt

I realize that we are supposed to be all PC and “everybody gets a chance to shine” and all of that BS, but I have seen Furries in action.  In fact, this time last year, my brother and I were down in Pittsburgh for a baseball game that just happened to be on the same weekend as the abovementioned convention.  Stopping to take a piss in a parking garage bathroom and having to people in giant cartoon animal costumes come in right behind you is enough to make the slowest pisser squeeze it out quick and quickly walk away.  I have been to comic conventions where costumes are the norm and people generally don’t bat an eye (unless your camel-toe is sticking out – get that shit together ladies, there are kids present) but nothing beats the sheer strangeness that is a group of people in one place that like to dress up in, basically, fuzzy mascot costumes.  Keep looking for that respect buddy, good luck with that.
I realize that “furries” also applies to the people with an affinity for anthropomorphized animal characters, and because the Eat @ Shrimpy’s cast are technically anthropomorphized animals I shouldn’t talk shit.  But I can throw stones in this glass house because I’m not currently dressed as a fuzzy wolf with large anime eyes while doing it.

Spam and you
-Nik
An actual e-mail that I got in my Spam box a few days ago. I never click on the links, but sometimes I'll look at the previews to read them for a good laugh. Every word choice and mis-spelling is from the actual e-mail.

Subject: URGENT RESPONS NEEDED PLEASE!!!
From: into@ Mr song chen
Date: 6/19/2012 3:56 PM
To: Recipients <info@Mrsongchen>

Complement of the day,

  Kindly accept my apology for emailing you without your consent. you might be apprehensive about my email as we have not met before,My name is Mr. Song Chen; I am the Head of Operations at Dah Sing Bank, Hong Kong. My business proposal for you is to assist me transfer US$12.8Million from my bank in Hong Kong to a foreign bank if willing. I intend to give 40% of the total funds as compensation for your assistance.

This money was deposited by my client Mr. Yoshi Yuu, who lost his life with his family in the massive Earthquake and Tsunami disaster that destroyed avast area of Japan on the date 11th March 2011. According to the law in my Country, after nine months the Hong Kong Government will come for the funds if nobody applies to claim the money. I will notify you on the full transaction on receipt of your response if interested, Please send me your full names and your private phone number via my private  E-mail: (mrsongchen2010@live.com )

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,
Mr. Song Chen
   /

            A gem. One of the best I've seen in a while. I even got all the way to "...assist me transfer..." before I saw anything blaringly bad. I was quite impressed. It's got the silly tragedy story. The boat-load of money. The ridiculous amount that the scamee will receive for their "help". (40% of $12.8 million is $5.12 million. That's an exorbitantly generous amount.)
            Whenever I get these e-mails, my first reaction is to read and chuckle, which I do, and then my next response is to wonder: "Why the hell would anyone fall for this? How could they?" But they do. People are scammed this way every day. Why don't they write it better to fool more people? It doesn't make sense!
            And then I stumbled upon this piece that opened my eyes to it all!
            And it all makes sense. You want to write incredibly poorly to weed out all but the most gullible. The only way that your scam's going to work is if you get someone who, grammatical and spelling mistakes aside, despite the lack of logic or common sense, unquestioningly offers his/her services to selflessly help this poor gentleman in need of securing a metric crap-ton of money. Anyone with an inkling of duh in their noggins is going to say "Wait a sec...would a banker really be sending me this poorly written e-mail? A complete stranger to help with their financial woes? However do they know to trust me?" So, if no doubts trickle through the mark's noodle, then that's the person they want for the scam.
            Pretty genius, really. Gives me a new-found respect for someone putting so much thought into something so devious. Who knew you'd need to know human psychology in order to launch a successful phishing scam? When someone falls for it, do we feel bad for them? Do we pity them or do we think about it in terms of a more Darwinian approach? If they're that gullible, do we just say "Well, serves 'em right then."? I know this is a silly example, but with new technological advancements, it really calls into question a matter of ethics and how they develop, or devolve, with things changing at such a quick and constant pace.

6.20.2012

Get a real job, damn dirty hippie
-Matt

The most telling quote in this article is from his friend that states that he “doesn’t want responsibility.”  Come on man, twenty-nine degrees?  I have three and don’t use any of them, I can’t imagine staying in school for the rest of my life and not getting anything out of it.  “Well he has all of that knowledge” you say.  A) some of his degrees are in the highly sought after subjects of home economics and library science, and B) all the knowledge in the world will not save him from his inevitable demise. 

“I have twenty-nine degrees!”
vs.
“I am a bus”

Guess who wins.

Your daily dose of fatass
-Matt

Yup, that’s right.  If you just threw up in your mouth a little bit then congratulations, you are not a fat bastard.  If you just licked your lips in anticipation then please, find your nearest supermodel and have her explain to you how to put your finger down your throat.

6.22.2012

This week’s outrage, until next week, then it will be something else


Matt:
While I am sure that this woman will enjoy her vacation, it will not do anything to stop the douchebags that actually caused the psychological torment.  Yes, it is nice that she is able to get a vacation out of this and that she is able to know that there are still good people out there that care about others.  That’s all well and good.  What does this teach the boys that actually did this though?  Don’t post your torment of others on youtube.  The only way to get through to their little pea-brains is to do something that will equally scar them.  Kick them out of school?  That sounds like a decent idea.  What is the punishment for this kind of bullying if it is enacted on another student?  Honestly, the school should just line the boys up against a wall and allow the victim to punch them all in the face.  Maybe getting your ass kicked by a grandma would cause you to rethink your life path, douchebag.  She has recently come out and said that she doesn't want the boys to be punished, that she just want's an apology.  That's all well and good, and makes her look like the bigger person, but have you seen forced apologies?  Look at any athlete that got caught doing something he wasn't supposed to do.  They are not genuine, and these apologies will not be either.  It's time for the school to step up and do the right thing, and if the parents have a problem with it they should be criminally charged with harassment.  
             I'm not even going to touch on the ridiculous and completely American response of throwing money at the latest cause because Nik sums it up so well below, but I do want to know what the parents of the little shits are doing, have done, for the victim.  I could care less about random strangers trying to atone for their bullying past by ponying up a hundred bucks, I want to know what is being done for this woman by the people responsible.

Nik:
            This has blown up in the news. It is a town right next to where I work, so all day I've heard "Did you hear about the kids on the bus?" or "Did you hear about the bullying in Greece?" And, honestly, I hadn't heard of it until today when everyone had mentioned it. I don't watch the news, so the only exposure I have to it is reading MSN.
            It truly is a despicable, disgusting thing, that this woman, almost 70 years old, has to put up with constant harassment from belligerent little shits. We all know that it's tragic. That's not my point here. I just want to comment on a few things.
            1) Good for her for not pressing charges. She's being the bigger man. And everyone can appreciate that. But, having dealt with the stupidity of high school kids while subbing for two years, and being unrelated to the story in any way, I can be angry for her. Those kids need a good ass-whooping. They need to be taught respect. And the best way to do that is to ship those bastards to military camp. Seven years of structure and hard labor. If they think they're all hot and tough, wait until drill sarge gets a hold of them. Those mewling little shits will get everything that they deserve.
            2) During his interview with the victim on TODAY, Matt Lauer is quoted as saying: "As a parent, let me apologize for those children because what they did was despicable." Not okay. You cannot speak for them. You cannot nullify their crimes, nor can you make it all better. You're a news personality, nothing more. Stop trying to play for audience sympathy and do your job. If you take a stance saying what they did is bad, you should be making a public demand that they themselves issue a public apology.
            -Amen Nik, it seems more like a daytime Emmy grab than actual journalism. -Matt
            3) As of the writing of this article, an online fundraiser has been set-up and raised over $450,000 for her to go on vacation. This is really an amazing thing, that people can come together and do this unified gift of charity for this woman. That being said, is there really nothing better to donate $450k to? I'm sorry. I'm probably being insensitive, but come on. This country wastes tons of food a day, and hundreds upon hundreds of children starve each day, and we're raising money so that this lady can go on vacation because she got picked on? How about the school gives her a paid week off, and that money gets sent to a charity? Okay, let's get her a fruit basket too. It's 9/11 syndrome all over again. For the months after 9/11, everyone flew flags, wore red-white-blue and was super nice to each other. The years leading up to that, no one gave a shit. Only when it's in the forefront of our mind do we care. Then 9/11 scarred over and now no one's an American zealot anymore. Does anyone do anything for Katrina or tsunami victims? What about that earthquake in Haiti? Nope. So, instead of looking for a tragic cause that is a constant, this case is the new fresh wound to throw money at.
            When things like this bullying case happen, any new tragedy or appalling event, I think that media and lay-person alike need to stop and think about how a proper reaction should be, or at least stop and think before they act. This can be a learning opportunity for everyone, that things can actually be changed in the long run. We can learn so much from their mistakes.

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