Saturday, October 04, 2014

On The Octopus & dmarks Friendship (A Cyberspace Peeve)

I don't have pet peeves; I have whole kennels of irritation ~ Whoopi Goldberg (11/13, 1955) an American comedienne, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as psychic Oda Mae Brown in the 1990 film Ghost.

If you read this blog it is likely you know I am not a fan of the blogger known as dmarks (real name Dennis Marks). Although you most like are not a regular reader (as this blog as few, if any). In which case I will outright tell you that I do not like Dennis.

The reason is because Dennis lies. He lies frequently and he lies often. Frankly I think his lying is pathological. Meaning Dennis lies but he believes his own lies. Or he believes many of them. Others I have a hard time believing he thinks are true. Because they are so pernicious, vile, ridiculous, etc.

Recently I attempted to alert a Progressive blogger known as Octopus to the truth about Dennis when he named Dennis as a friend (for "calling out antisemitism"). The post itself was an account of extremely bad treatment that Shaw Kenawe received upon visiting the site of a Rightwinger. EXTREMELY bad. Most of it coming from the known racist Radical Redneck (who also revealed himself to be quite the misogynist with his comments directed at, and harassing emails sent to this exemplary Progressive blogger).

Anyway, I decided that I'd relate an experience I had with another blogger (Dennis) who treats people he disagrees with badly by lying about them. While also alerting Octopus to the true nature of his friend".

Dervish Sanders: Looks like this commentary is generating a lot of laughs over on another blog, the proprietor of which has previously noted that Octopus literally makes his skin crawl. And he's done more than one commentary disparaging Liberals he does not like, Shaw included. And one of the commenters there who is also "a friend of this forum" said "Shaw has no integrity", [and] that she "has become quite unhinged lately"...

I admit I am more biased against this "friend", but I have been subject to quite a few dishonest comments from him. This "friend" says both bin Laden and Stalin are "heroes" to me, I defend antiSemitism, support sex crimes against children, am an apologist and supporter of domestic violence, and that I strongly favor abortionists being given the power of... executioner... by killing children after they are born out of nothing more than a sick thrill of bloodlust... Link (10/2/2014 AT 12:17pm).

Dennis replied with a comment indicating I was "whining" about being caught praising Stalin (TADM #5). So I asked Dennis where this "praising" had taken place (it had not, by the way, and this is an example of what I meant above when I referred to ridiculous lies). Dennis later deleted his comment and "apologized" to Shaw for taking the "troll bait"... meaning my comment - defending myself against the lying of Dennis - was a TROLL in the mind of Dennis.

Despite this obviously lie, it was yours truly that got chewed out by Octopus!

Octopus: Consider yourself "caught". This post is NOT ABOUT YOU and your peeves in Cyberspace! It is about HARASSMENT and THREATS aimed at Shaw. This post is also about a kind of hyper-partisanship that HURTS [and] about anger and resentment that causes good people to forget their COMMON DECENCY and HUMANITY. There is no reason to heckle, jeer, provoke, and taunt people just because you were misquoted or slighted. It makes you NO BETTER THAN THE CULT. (10/2/2014 AT 4:12pm).

Hmm. I guess he has a point. Perhaps I should apologize to Octopus' friend Dennis? No, wait... first the question has to be asked - does alerting Octopus to the fact that Dennis is not as good of a guy as he thinks he is amount to heckling, jeering, provoking and taunting?

I say HELL NO! In my comment I emphasized with Shaw by relating a similar experience I had with a blogger who harassed with unending lies (and continues to harass). I mean that literally. Dennis repeats his lies over and over. The lies I mention above have and are brought up continually on the blogs of Willis Hart and rAtional nAtion (to a lesser extent) for literally years.

And I never said Octo's post was about me. I addressed Octo's statement that Dennis is a friend of the Swash Zone. How could anyone consider a dishonest person like Dennis a friend? Dennis has lied about me, yes, but he has also lied about other bloggers who dared stand up to him (and not back down after a few comments and allow Dennis to have the last word).

For example, Dennis had the following to say about the blogger John Myste for daring to defend Affirmative Action.

Dennis Marks: Myste, You were clearly making and defending racist statements, including that all blacks were inferior and "damaged". Not only that, you were too stupid to realize that such views are by definition strongly racist. Good riddance, Grand Wizard of the Myste. And don't let your white robe get caught on the door on the way out. (12/9/2012 AT 10:58am).

Dennis' comment, in addition to being exceedingly repugnant, is complete fiction. John Myste never said any of these things, as Mr. Myste points out in his defense of himself.

John Myste: I request that anyone who reads DMarks last comment, read the entire thread, so it will be obvious that he made up a position for me that I don't hold. (12/10/2012 AT 7:25am).

John Myste is ENTIRELY correct with his charge that Dennis "made up a position for me that I don't hold". This is what Dennis Marks (dmarks) does. He makes up positions for other people that they do not hold. And he brings them up again and again, referring to them as if they are factual.

Dennis Marks: African-Americans just need an environment of economic opportunity, and don't need affirmative-action quota policies that treat them as if they are inferior beings (damaged, in the words of that Myste guy) that can't compete on a level playing field. (2/1/2014 AT 7:30pm).

Note that this is nearly 15 months after John Myste left the blog of Willis Hart (and did not return), yet Dennis continues lying about him.

Another example...

Dennis Marks: Fox News is in a position of being a voice of dissent against the most powerful ruler on the planet. In this they deserve support. Damn those like that Progressive Soup guy who want Fox silenced. That's bootlicking. (2/4/2014 AT 2:40am).

The "Progressive Soup Guy" is a blogger known as Malcolm Bondon. Granted, this charge of "bootlicking" is quite a bit milder... but Malcolm never said he wanted Fox "silenced". He wrote a blog post concerning Fox Nooz's "decision to make a big deal over the recent White House performance by rapper Common". Malcolm disagreed with what Fox Nooz said. That was what his post was about. He never said Fox should be "silenced". This is a total fabrication of Dennis.

This, by the way, is a commentary on Progressive Soup from 5/16/2011. So why the hell is Dennis still referring to it 33 months later? And on the blog of someone (Willis Hart) who never commented on Malcolm's blog? Dennis commented on the PS blog and I commented on it as well. Both Dennis and I left comments (and argued) on Malcolm's blog about Common/White House story. But Willis (to my knowledge) never did.

And, in regards to this conversation, Dennis references it again on 9/5/2014, almost 40 months after the conversation on Progressive Soup.

Dennis Marks: wd... thinks it is great to call black people the N word and use other slurs. (9/5/2014 AT 3:38am).

This stupidity refers back to a comment by Malcolm (once again in regards to the Common/White House story) in which he said "simply using the N-word in lyrics is not bashing black people". Malcolm was talking about the rapper Common) using the N-word in his raps. I agreed with Malcolm that it was not "bashing".

And, as a White person I feel that it isn't for me to say if Black people can "take back" the word by using it themselves. I'll leave that for the African American community to hash out (some are for and others are against it). I certainly never said it was "great to call black people the N-word and use other slurs". White people are absolutely not allowed to use the word. I (as a White man) wouldn't use it, in any case.

(Note: see TADM #59 for an expanded commentary on the subject of Dennis' problem with racism and SWTD #175 for more informaton regarding the conversation that lead to Dennis referring to "that Progressive Soup guy" as a bootlicker).

Lastly, I must call bullpucky on Octo's statement that Dennis "deserves kudos for confronting anti-Semitism", given the fact that Dennis wanders into antiSemitic territory himself when criticizing Jewish people who have views he does not like. The following repugnant comment from Dennis in regards to Norman Finkelstein, a Jewish man whose parents were both Holocaust survivors.

Dennis Marks: Forget his [Finkelstein's] genocidal hatred of Jewish Israelis. This man is one of those Holocaust-deniers. The kind of person WD defends, probably with the usual "calling people who dare criticize Israelis antisemitic" canard..... Yeah, these people are antisemitic because they criticize Israelis for not hurrying up and being ashes scraped out of industrial ovens (12/8/2012 AT 7:25pm). Note: Dennis deleted this antiSemitic comment after I linked to it in TADM #37. See here for a screengrab.

Dennis might have deleted the comment, but it was NOT because he retracted anything or came to the correct realization that what he said was antiSemitic. He deleted it because I linked to, and apparently Dennis gets some "amusement" out of deleting his comments when I link to them (TADM #40).

As for the comment itself... a Jewish man whose parents were Holocaust survivors criticizes "Israelis for not hurrying up and being ashes scraped out of industrial ovens"?! This crosses a line and is antiSemitic itself. There is simply NO excusing such a despicable fabrication, in my strong opinion. Mr. Finkelstein is a critic of Israel who is an advocate for the two state solution. He believes in Israel's right to exist and does NOT have any kind of "genocidal hatred" for his fellow Jews living in Israel.

(Note: see SWTD #234 and TADM #61 for expanded commentaries on the subject of Dennis' problem with antiSemitism. Also see here for a screenshot of the now deleted comment above which I grabbed before Dennis removed it).

So, in conclusion, and in regards to the chewing out by Octopus... I do not consider such lying (the examples I give above) to be "misquotes" or "slights", which is how he characterizes Dennis' offensive perjurious slanders (not "peeves"). This is another example of someone (Dennis) forgetting his COMMON DECENCY and HUMANITY... which is why I submitted the comment.

And, NO, I did not think the post was about *me* or *my* "peeves in Cyberspace". I responded with an on-topic comment. Octopus mentioned Dennis and labeled him a friend, and THAT is what I was responding to... as well as the meat of the commentary and how the lying of Dennis related to it. Dennis lies not just about *me*, but about others who dare disagree too strongly with him. And continues telling his lies for years after the original disagreements took place!

Lastly, in regards to these vulgar comments directed at Shaw, I am absolutely "with the program", if by that you mean I'm in agreement that such behavior is unacceptable and should be called out. I NEVER said anything to indicate I was not. In actuality I agreed with everything Octopus wrote in his commentary.

Except his thinking that Dennis is a friend. In regards to Dennis, it is a fact that he harasses people by making up positions for them to hold (as John Myste said). Positions that paint those Dennis targets as terrible people. But I guess Octopus wishes to keep his head in the sand in regards to this unfortunate reality about his friend Dennis.

Which will only encourage Dennis to continue this type of behavior, sadly. In fact, the comments by Octo likely made Dennis smile, and further convinced him that he only calls 'em as sees 'em. Including a comment by him on Progressive Eruptions (in response to my comment calling him out) where he claimed to have "caught" me "praising Stalin". That actually happened, in Dennis' imagination... now reinforced by Octo. So, thank you for that, friend of Dennis.

(Note: my last line is meant to express my disappointment and not anger. I still think Octo is a good person and I agree with him in most cases. Just not in regards to his giving kudos to Dennis. Dennis deserves no kudos, only condemnation and shaming - along with the Radical Redneck, an individual who is clearly worse - in his bigotedness. But comparing one to Radical is a very low bar).

SWTD #271, dDel #21. See also TADM #61

25 comments:

  1. Well... I can sympathize, even if no one else does. It was one of those coincidences. Right before (O)ct(O)pus wrote his defense of Shaw, I just happened to visit Lisa's blog. Like channel surfing in a fit of desperation. The funny thing is that I noticed RN and Will Hart commenting on her blog like it was perfectly normal. Much to his credit, RN had already lambasted Lisa and swore he would never show up again. I left a stupid comment to the effect that Will Hart was no genius, but why the hell were intelligent people commenting on Lisa's blog? dmarks was not on the thread.

    So the next morning, all of this evidence shows up against Lisa. I mean, I had not visited her blog for at least two years. I have read, I can't remember where, much of the hateful vitriol directed against Shaw. Fat ass and that sort of thing. Extremely misogynistic. And like I stated at the Swash Zone. Against a truly nice person who tries to see the best in just about anybody.

    So the next thing that happens is that dmarks' new friendly self-portrait avatar is having this wonderful lovefest with everybody but me, and I'm so totally jealous. Well, not really. But I did say hello. I mean, everybody wants to be loved, right?

    The reason I am responding to your post is because I appreciated you pointing out that Will, "Take No Prisoners/Contra O'Reilly" really did totally disrespect and hate on Shaw, somebody that I really like. I would never actually seek out and read his blog. He is a fathead. Will is a total fucking dick. I don't really have a quarrel with dmarks.

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  2. Anyway...

    Wasn't it that psycho, Steve, with the black and white collie avatar, that really took all of these guys to task for anti-semitism?

    Thanks for pointing out dmarks' delusional positions on affirmative action. It doesn't mean that he's a racist any more than Rush Limbaugh is a racist.

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    1. Yes, Steve is the one. First he accused RN, then he said Shaw was guilty for "protecting" RN. Then he said I was protecting Shaw and therefore also an anti-Semite when I said I didn't want to discuss it any further. Then he sent me a bunch of comments about me and RN having sex in which he called me gay a lot. Perhaps Octo would like me to send him the comments so he can write a post about it?

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  3. Well, I have a quarrel with dmarks, as detailed in this post. dmarks doesn't give any grief to anyone unless they refuse to back down (or give up and let him have the last word). It does not happen that often, although there have been people other than me who have become targets of his lies.

    BTW, Will Hart mentions you in a post on his blog... It seems that "Flying Douche-Bag" made him quite angry by strongly inferring he is a racist. Apparently this had something to do with a conversation on the rAtional nAtion blog. Do you know what he's talking about? I looked for the exchange he referred to (between him, you and "Octoschmuck" on the "rAtional" blog) but couldn't find it.

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  4. I'm sure it was some time ago. I don't give that guy the time of day.

    Come to think of it, I do remember something vaguely. It was at RN's place. I forget the setup, but I told him that he was spending way too much time on right-wing blogs. He acted like my comment was completely false. He told me that he never visits right-wing blogs!

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  5. Dervish Sanders: “I don't have pet peeves …

    Then perhaps you missed the gist of this comment:

    I could never understand the appeal of bilateral symmetry and the tricks played on the bicameral mind, which experiences the world only in terms of binary opposites - right versus left, day versus night, good versus evil, us versus them, and raw versus half-baked – where everything is experienced in stark black or white terms with no subtle shades of grey in between” [my bold].

    I refer to extreme examples of ALL OR NOTHING THINKING that causes partisanship to degenerate into DEMONIZING. Just because someone disagrees with you – even strenuously - does not make them evil or your enemy, nor does it make you right in every instance. You have way too much ego invested in partisan arguments and have lost all sense of balance and proportion.

    Nor is your attitude particularly constructive: Opinions change with respect to time. People learn and grow, change their minds, see things from a different perspective. When you antagonize people and turn them into virtual “enemies,” you freeze them forever into an ice block of past grudges. Your attitude does not accommodate change.

    Seventy years ago, Germany was a country where the worst mass genocide in history took place. Seventy years later, Germany is a country where HOLOCAUST DENIAL is punishable as a crime. Think about that!

    In your worldview, dinosaurs never evolved into birds, primates never evolved into human beings, algae and fungi never joined forces into a symbiotic relationship called lichens, and the fine art of compromise and consensus does not exist. Because you hold grudges, demonize people, and remain stuck in time … incapable of growth and change.

    Will-the-Shrill is another blogger who holds grudges and renders himself incapable of acquiring new knowledge - and incapable of change. Do you prefer being seen in this light?

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  6. Octo: Comment read, published... and disagreed with. Politely, as I am not the kind of person who is "equally unpleasant in every engagement". And me remembering a past comment by you is not, by the way, me holding a grudge. It's just me remembering something that perplexed me (and still perplexes me).

    dmarks accused me of "endorsing" child rape and wife beating (among other horrible things), for crying out loud! But I guess someone accusing another blogger he disagrees with for ideological reasons of being EVIL falls into a "gray area" for you. And I'm "demonizing" dmarks for objecting to him saying these terrible things. Jeez.

    There was even a discussion on Willis Hart's blog concerning the possibility of me being a registered sex offender... because I defended Anthony Weiner (wrongly. I know that now. But I had a hard time believing he would do something so stupid). The ringleader was Rusty, but dmarks agreed with the consensus and brought it up a few times after that. NONE of this is a "joke", BTW. dmarks is completely serious.

    See me in any light you choose. I can't control what you think and I'm not going to say I'm wrong when I do not believe I am.

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  7. And I would have thought that dmarks would be too embarrassed to accuse me of "praising Stalin" on another blog not used to his idiocy, but HE SAID IT. Proof that he actually believes these things. No rational discussion can be had with such a person.

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  8. Dervish Sanders: “I am not the kind of person who is "equally unpleasant in every engagement".

    Then why did you start, and continue to maintain, dedicated web logs that bash named persons in a stereotypic ad hominem style? When I hear conservative and libertarian bloggers say “both sides do it,” I know to whom they refer. More than juvenile and stupid, this becomes an EMBARRASSMENT for other liberals: “dmarks, the badly behaving fecal-obsessed blog defecator.

    This is the same kind of uncivil and dishonest stuff that has been the subject of my last two posts. My experience with Dmarks and RN is different than yours. I found that when you treat them with respect as fellow human beings, they repay you with dignity and respect in kind. You WILL NEVER discover this side of them – and learn this lesson - when you continue to antagonize them. Anger begets anger; hyperbole begets hyperbole, and you will remain forever mired in this muck unless you break this cycle of FIXATION that borders on obsessive-compulsive disorder.

    This is an ETHICAL and MORAL ISSUE, not some silly game. More to point, you cannot grow emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually as a person without humility.

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  9. BTW, "Dennis" is NOT Dmark's first name. If you apologize and promise to behave yourself, he might tell you his real name.

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  10. That is fricking hilarious Octo. *I* should apologize to dmarks. BTW, I didn't say "I don't have pet peeves" as you incorrectly quote me. That was Whoopi Goldberg. I'm actually peeved about something right now. That is you lecturing me. At the very least you should be giving the exact same lecture to dmarks. I actually do get your point, but, as I already pointed out... forget it.

    FYI, the kind of uncivil and dishonest stuff you refer to is honest stuff. The line you object to comes from dmarks as well as RN continually calling my blog a shitbowl and refering to comments from me as "floaters" and deleting comments of mine as "flushing". I could give examples, but you clearly don't care what transpired.

    Why don't you go apologize to Radical Redneck for the post you wrote "bashing" him? Or perhaps I should get some humility and just admit I endorse molesting children?

    I just so happened to have already collected these, so I WILL give examples...

    dmarks said...
    By the way, Will. Someone forgot to flush.
    FEBRUARY 16, 2013 AT 5:07 PM
    Willis accidentally publishes a comment I submitted.

    dmarks said...
    Thanks for flushing.
    FEBRUARY 16, 2013 AT 6:50 PM
    Comment after something I said was deleted

    dmarks said...
    FEBRUARY 17, 2013 AT 9:15 AM
    Will, I think you need to flush again.

    dmarks said...
    Was beginning to smell like a Carnival cruise around here. Much better now. Thanks.
    FEBRUARY 17, 2013 AT 9:42 PM
    Willis accidently published comments by wd, which caused Dennis to talk about "flushing". This comment after Willis "flushed".

    dmarks said...
    Sewage overflow again, Will.
    FEBRUARY 18, 2013 AT 8:30 AM
    A reference to Willis accidently publishing some of my comments instead of deleting them. Dennis sees them and refers to my comments as "sewarge overflow".

    dmarks said...
    WD, the hardest writing fool, is the sh*tbowl surfer in his House of Many Canards. The man of a thousand flushes.
    SEPTEMBER 21, 2014 AT 5:31 PM

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  11. BTW, does Octo think it is OK to say - in regards to a Jewish critic of Israel - that "these people are antisemitic because they criticize Israelis for not hurrying up and being ashes scraped out of industrial ovens"? Is that OK in Octo's mind? Here dmarks is referring to someone who - while a harsh critic - does support the two state solution. Surely dmarks could disagree with the guy without resorting to such vile lies. But perhaps Octo thinks this is another example of "confronting anti-Semitism"?

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  12. Damn son......you make friends wherever you go.....

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  13. Rusty shouldn't talk. He argues with rAtional nAtion on Willis' blog and even dmarks calls him out. Rusty fits right in on Lisa's blog, however. Perhaps he should pull up stakes and make Lisa's his new home. Personally I think he's a perfect fit.

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  14. Sorry that old Rusty thinks Lester is a pompous bullshit artist,its just my opinion. And,of course I think Dervish is a fool of the first order who is content to suck on the public teat.

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  15. Libertarians like our “Friend” irRational Nation USA opposed anything and everything that anyone one but themself says, but they would think up something else just to impose their ideals on everyone else.. as if everyone else were stupid and just didn’t understand the issue...Just like the old standard –Liberals way...“Do as I say, not as I do”?
    And deep town inside their heartless body, many of these stupid people that call themselves “Libertarians” ( just to be different) won't admit it but inside that booth they pull the lever for Liberals like Obama and say they voted for Gary Johnson! Kind of like a Homo who won’t come out of the closet.

    Then while wearing a Ron Paul shirt they will pat themselves on the back cursing Obama and say that they did whatever they could to defeat him.

    You can say what you will about the Liberal turds, but at least they are honest in their demented, irrational, unhinged, and wacky world, but the Ron Paul, and Gary Johnson Turds like these can't even muster that much..

    They don't even have the BALLS to take a REAL stand!!

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  16. [1] This post has nothing to do with RN. Octo also named RN as a "friend" with his post, but my post does not bring that up at all. This post is not about RN and your comment is way off topic, ISIF.

    [2] This kind of bogus criticism feeds RN's ego, as he views it as validating his point of view. He sees himself as one of the few who "gets it". But RN is NOT an Obama supporter! He did not vote for Obama. Your claims to the contrary are complete nonsense, ISIF.

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  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  18. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    Replies
    1. Restoring ISIF's comment from my Google email...

      I Said It First

      I Said It First has left a new comment on your post "On The Octopus & dmarks Friendship (A Cyberspace Peeve)"...

      I really can't tell just who are bigger idiots and Morons, YOU, the ass wipe you call "The Great OCTO, who is a complete jerk-off and POS, or the irRational Nation USA.

      I guess that we'll just call it a tie.

      Posted by I Said It First to Sleeping with The Devil at 10/14/2014 6:39 AM

      Delete
  19. Well...........

    As far as the biggest dick. And I don't mean the one you pee with. How about the idiot who chooses as an avatar of a photo of an actor impersonating Rush Limbaugh smoking a huge puff off of a cigar?

    From wasting hundreds of hours on blogs, I have learned that bacon and cigars are symbols of American freedom as interpreted by conservative bloggers. Mostly to the point that when a liberal friend makes a bacon joke, I instinctively kick his ass for hating on Americans. And I am only kidding that the Chinese Crested is a friend.

    I can only hope that you sir, as do I, cannot wait for the imminent death or diagnosis of terminal cancer for our mutual friend, Rush Limbaugh.

    Unless you are fundamentally different than myself.

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  20. Oh yeah...

    And always blog for truth and light. Sorry!

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  21. Hey Flying Asshole, using some celebrities photo as your avatar is NOT impersonating them.
    Just how Stupid can you be?
    Don't answer that, I already found out.

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  22. dmarks lost ALL credibility when he wrote those stupid and untrue comments about Lisa on irRational Nations blog.

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  23. I think Dmarks is hilarious. I follow him around. He completely makes up positions for people and then debates the position he made up. It is fun to watch. People just get so mad.

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