Lord of the Trolls
Mark Shea might not quite be the most ludicrous idiot alive (judge for yourself), but he earnestly shares the following warning — received from one of his readers. I’m putting the whole story here, because Shea’s credulity about it is so radically humiliating I can only assume he’ll want to take it down.
The Dark Enlightenment Exposed
I first heard about the Dark Enlightenment (aka “Neo-Reaction” or just “Reaction”) last year, the year after I graduated from college and was interning at a conservative think tank. I briefly become involved with the Dark Enlightenment and then left the movement in disgust. Here is what I learned:
- The Dark Enlightenment is controlled by what the media call “Sith Lords”. You have more public Lords like Mencius Moldbug and Nick Land, but there are even some Lords up higher whose names are not revealed. They say the Master Lord says ‘Et Ego in Arcadia’ which is an anagram for ‘Tego Arcana Dei’ (“I hide the secrets of God”).
- But only the media call them ‘Sith Lords’. In Inner Speak, they will often use phrases like the Men of Númenor or the Eldars.
- I never met any of the higher Eldars, but I did once meet an Eldar in Training. I don’t know his real name but people called him Legolas. He had long blond hair, was dressed like a 19th century count, and wore a pendant that had both a Christian Cross and Thor’s Hammer on it.
- The movement is a weird mixture of ethno-nationalists, futurists, monarchists, PUAs (“pick-up artists” like Chateau Heartiste), Trad Catholics, Trad Protestants, etc. They all believe in HBD (what they call “human biodiversity” i.e. racism) but disagree on some other minor points.
- The religious people in the movement (both Christians and pagans) practice what is called “identitarian religion” (religion that doesn’t deny ethnic identity).
- Some of the rising stars of the Dark Enlightenment on the internet seem to be Radish Magazine, Occam’s Razor Mag, and Theden TV.
- The Dark Enlightenment allegedly has millions of dollars of money to play with. They have a couple big donors. One is rumored to be a major tech tycoon in Silicon Valley. They actually had a private 3-day meeting on an island which was furnished with a French chef, etc. Different forms of formal attire were required for each day (tuxedos, 3-piece suits, etc), and some weird costumes were required too (capes, hoods, etc) — which sound like a pagan cult. (I wasn’t at this function but heard about it.)
- I was initiated into the first stages of the Dark Enlightenment, which involved me stripping down naked so people could “inspect my phenotype”. I was then given a series of very personal questions, often relating to sexual matters. I was then told to put on a black cape. (I really regret doing this but at the time I was younger, more impressionable and eager to please.)
- For the initial oath taking, everyone must swear on a copy of Darwin’s Origin of Species, just to show their fidelity to HBD. After that, for the later oaths, seculars will swear again on Darwin, while Christians will swear on the Bible, and pagans on the Prose Edda or Iliad.
- At one of the meetings I heard someone continuously chanting “gens alba conservanda est” (Latin for “the white race must be preserved”) and then others were chanting things in Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse and Old German, but I don’t know those languages so I can’t remember exactly what they were saying.
- They also have all their own secret handshakes, and their own terminology [like the Cathedral (“political correctness”), thedening (“re-establishing ethnic group identity”), genophilia (“love of one’s own race”), NRx (“neoreaction”), etc.].
- On the philosophical level, this movement is not entirely original. Much of it is borrowed from the Identitarian movement in Europe. They also all detest democracy. They are not trying to be a “populist movement” but are only trying to convert other elites to their way of thinking.
This whole movement is like a secret cult, which is why I left. Also, because of the valiant and brave efforts of people on the net exposing this movement, I saw this cult for the evil it truly is. Please stay away from it.
(Thanks to Alex for pointing me at this.)
ADDED: It’s been a big day for NRx exposure. (This one’s via @realmattforney.)
ADDED: The post at Shea’s blog has already gone — but too late to rescue the bearded one from an eternity of shame. … And now it’s back up again, hard to keep track. [Please, please Gnon, let Shea be trying to do a Dan Rather and brazen this out.]
ADDED: Some essential developments here (at Shea’s place) and here (at Occam’s Razor). I’m strongly sympathetic to this:
This is the best thing ever written: http://t.co/L32lO3BiUj
— Wesley Morganston (@nydwracu) February 13, 2014
This is hilarious. It has to be a parody?
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admin Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 12:19 pm
“It has to be a parody?” — What gives you that idea?
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Mark Warburton Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 4:55 pm
@Admin VXXC beat me to it.,,,, The handling, probing ‘incident’ …*shudder*
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Puzzle Pirate (@PuzzlePirate) Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 5:34 pm
It’s not parody! Nick Land really is “hiding the secrets of God”! Can’t you see that? Are you that blind? Wow, just wow!
Nick keeps it tight but I’d be willing to share the secrets of God. For just $99.99 the secrets of God can be yours. I accept BitCoin, all major credit cards, and gold bullion. Please send all inquires for the Secrets of God to my email address: ThisIsNotAScamISwear@gmail.com
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{etype Reply:
February 14th, 2014 at 2:23 pm
I used to be a complete failure at everything I tried in life… finally I got smart and sent $99.99 for the ‘Secrets Of God’.
Long story short – now I’m a total success. You can be too!
What the fuck is he talking about?
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Orthodox Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 12:13 pm
Ah, I see a reader sent it in to him. I thought he went insane and wrote it himself.
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admin Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 12:47 pm
OK, I better make that clearer.
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It’s got to be parody.
It is the most Hilarious Troll ever.
Unless it isn’t.
Where’s MY CUT? MILLIONS?? I’m from Jerzy. Where’s my cut? and no I’m not putting on a cape naked, and keep your hands off my phenotype you freaks.
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 12:01 pm | QuoteWait…wait…if it’s not parody, it means LessWrong staged this for young phenotype handling purposes. Entryist indeed.
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 12:02 pm | Quoteoh no, the conspiracy is revealed. now we have to regroup and redesign the costumes.
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admin Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 2:41 pm
This is going to keep Radish busy.
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That sounds great. Where do I apply for initiation?
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 12:06 pm | QuoteCome grasp the mighty phenotype of our leader…
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 12:24 pm | Quote@Valvar,
From the sounds of it see this Friedman freak. Prepare for Entry.
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 12:31 pm | QuoteNo one’s exposing their Phenotype while I’m around!!
http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/500x/45968851.jpg
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 12:36 pm | QuoteCan I apply for initiation please?
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admin Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 2:42 pm
You need to apply upstairs, to the Hooded Masters.
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This is a comment over on that site
“This is the result of reaching the end of the ideological line and asking questions like: why does every Republican president move the country further to the left? The most oft cited text is: Liberty or Equality by Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, which is a criticism of democracy by an Austrian Catholic. Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg is not as strong a book, but in the same vein.
It is very funny to watch progressives try and figure out what it is. Sort of like cave men trying to understand how a TV works and thinking the images that come through are the important part, not the electronics inside the box.”
The important part of NRx/DE whatever is not the message, but the method of analysis that led to it
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 1:17 pm | QuoteI never got my costume QQ
Did I miss a vital meeting of the cabal where the rich guy sponsoring us handed them out?
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Puzzle Pirate (@PuzzlePirate) Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 5:50 pm
Don’t worry, Hugo Boss is working on a second run of the uniforms. Just pay your monthly dues and you’ll get yours by end of March.
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Calm down all of you.
All initiation requests have to go through VXXC, who has a very complete bootcamp ready for all eager juniors.
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VXXC Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 11:33 pm
I’m only taking women, young nubile women at the moment. We have to have Diversity first.
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How come I never get invited to these kind of parties?
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 1:57 pm | QuoteOk, who blabbed?
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 2:42 pm | QuoteThis Easterling’s betrayal goes deep. If you take the first line of each sentence that he wrotes, it spells out the sacred oath of the ultimate degree of our Sacred Brotherhood of the Rosy-Crossed San Greal Sang Real: “I am Become Hobbit, Destroyer of Wargs.”
Fool! Jedi scum! I swear in the name of the racial Holy Trinity–in the name of Whiteness, and White Privilege, and Mitt Romney–this insult shall be avenged!
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 2:43 pm | QuoteEven if he won’t, his readers will:
Where or not the reader “tricked” Mark or not, you can tell, something of the truth is mixed in it, with the people already parading in this thread indicative of the DE’s ideology.
And that, btw, is how the DE works. It plays games like that, putting a bit of their ideology in the things they write to play on others. Then they find out who they can attract with their play, and get the real ideology going.
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 3:17 pm | QuoteThey forgot the part about the custom capes and bespoke jackboots.
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 4:08 pm | QuoteI tried to warn him out of Christian charity, only to find I’d been banned from commenting there.
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admin Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 5:34 pm
It’s delicious all the way down.
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Lesser Bull Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 9:12 pm
I got banned with just one comment. Woot, the force is strong with this Sith Lord.
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Challenger Grim Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 9:32 pm
And yet peeps like HornorSilk talk about how “censoring” the DE is.
Hypocrisy, thy name is chez shea.
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Challenger Grim Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 9:42 pm
Aaaaaand now?
Comments on that article are GONE. First time I’ve seen them completely removed.
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Challenger Grim Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 10:02 pm
Comments are back but now they are closed.
Me thinks someone’s pride was wounded…
Lesser Bull Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 11:18 pm
@Challenger Grim,
you know what they say, the Devil, that proud spirit, cannot bear to be mocked.
Challenger Grim Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 11:23 pm
Oh now that he’s joined the comments on his followup, it’s getting better.
See, now he’s too saintly to have avoided this.
Lesser Bull Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 11:42 pm
Of course he’s too saintly. In a world where lies are the established religion, gullibility is a virtue.
VXXC Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 11:35 pm
Yeah he banned me after one comment. After telling me “Thanks for revealing your racial obsession sin of pride and hatred of the Church.”
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Challenger Grim Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 11:44 pm
He’s been turning his blog into such an echo chamber, one starts to suspect that the reason he warns against so many “cults” is because he doesn’t like the competition.
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R7 Rocket Reply:
February 15th, 2014 at 12:41 am
I got banned before Mark Shea got tricked by a troll. I think it was his first post regarding DE where I was banned.
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Surely we’ve stumbled upon a wealth of T-shirt slogans here? Every cloud….
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admin Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 5:36 pm
It’s a whole T-shirt industry. I wouldn’t know where to start.
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Antisthenean Reply:
February 14th, 2014 at 7:19 am
“Sponsored by Silicon Valley”
“Eldar in Training”
“Don’t Bother Me, I’m Thedening”
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Lesser Bull Reply:
February 14th, 2014 at 3:29 pm
Sauron is My Sith Lord
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*Tunic* slogans, if you will, good Sir.
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Lesser Bull Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 5:35 pm
Tunic *arcane inscriptions of power”
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Alrenous Reply:
February 15th, 2014 at 1:39 am
http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1313
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The best part is that when the Neoreactionaries really do form a secret society, we now have the perfect false flag to hide behind.
“Secret society? You mean with the robes and island and the private French chef? Yeah, Mark Shea fell for that line of bullshit already. You just got trolled, son!”
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admin Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 5:35 pm
Finding the supportive tech-billionaires seems to be the major stumbling block at this point.
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it’s ironic to hear this from a progressive in the 21st century
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Challenger Grim Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 7:23 pm
The true irony is his closing line.
Let’s all see how well Shea takes to being mocked…
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Challenger Grim Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 7:47 pm
Annnnnnnd… TIME!
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markshea/2014/02/on-getting-punked-and-what-matters.html
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Lesser Bull Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 8:34 pm
I love the argument that his gullibility just proves how awful the dark enlightenment is, otherwise how could he have swallowed such implausible shit?
“Inspect my phenotype”?!! I’m going to love that forever. It’s got to become a thing.
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 7:25 pm | QuoteThis is a very real and very ironical critique of NR. Had me cracking up at times. Of course, it doesn’t touch on whether certain NR intellectual premises are true or false (such as HBD). My best guess is that the writer of this piece is intelligent enough to see that Shea’s not so sharp and takes amusement in seeing establishment discussion of NR, and so our host’s post title is spot on.
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 7:31 pm | Quote[…] Outside In has more here. […]
Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 8:18 pm | QuoteLooks like a Radish prank. Guerrilla tactics for promotion always work on the gullible. When the Cathedral ignores you, prank it. This will keep you in the media 24/7.
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 8:48 pm | QuoteWhat gives all this particular piquancy is that Mr Shea has built up quite a reputation over the years as a merciless mocker of occult conspiracy theories:
For all my angry Trad geocentric readers
Here’s a thread (and indeed a blog) where you can meet like-minded people and, who knows, maybe even fall in love! Why not devote your extremely valuable contributions to civilization to *that* blog? You’ll no longer have to put up with my neo-Catholic bowdlerization of the True Faith. You’ll be very happy there and will find enough paranoia and sinister patterns of dark conspiracy to keep you occupied for a very long time to come. You’ll get valuable insights on (…) intricate webs of connection between JPII, Soloviev, sinister Masons, and ultra-obscure New Age philosophies, and all sorts of wonderful comment box conversation that will be right up your alley. You’ll be much happier there than reading my infuriating stuff.
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Challenger Grim Reply:
February 13th, 2014 at 11:48 pm
His comments on his “followup” are entering farce territory.
So like… if someone complained about how all Catholic were pedophiles, then Mark & his cronies showed up there to defend the claim, someone could then claim that they just proved how obsessed Catholics are with pedophilia.
Someone should explain to him that the REAL reason he gets called a leftist is because he plays their “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” game so well.
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[…] trolled, “A Reader Writes of his Experience Among the Dark Enlightenment Types” (much hilarity ensues) UPDATE: “On Getting […]
Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 9:37 pm | QuoteConfession time:
http://occamsrazormag.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/the-dark-enlightenment-exposed/
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 10:23 pm | Quote“Irenist • 3 hours ago −
Mark, please replace the KKK link with one to the Wikipedia article about the KKK. Clicking on the KKK website is going to get one of your readers fired when IT flags the click and reports it to HR. Heck, if I wasn’t reading at home today because I am watching my sick kid, it easily could have lost me my job. Please think about people reading at the office as a quick break between tasks when you’re posting. It’s part of your job”
He complied instantly.
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 11:50 pm | Quote“DE ideology is an enemy of the Faith.”
Hey, any publicity..especially amongst despairing Catholics..is good now.
Go ahead. Make NRxn your personal bugaboo.
I wanted to tell him I’m actually not obessed with race. That’s your party Prog.
Mind you apparently any deviation from “the Faith” is “the sin of pride”.
His standard comments are “obesesed with race” and “sin of pride” and “enemy of the Faith”.
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Posted on February 13th, 2014 at 11:54 pm | Quoteso how does it feel… to be “a loose association of racist nuts with theories ranging from transhumanism to the re-establishment of the Holy Roman Empire”?
feels pretty good
*puts on sunglasses*
yeaaaaahhhhhhhh
*ghostbusters theme*
*pimp walk*
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Posted on February 14th, 2014 at 12:06 am | QuoteThis wins… something. Golden double standard perhaps?
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Posted on February 14th, 2014 at 12:17 am | QuoteCatherine wins internet.
https://twitter.com/tipsfromkatee/status/434073799965687808
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Will Newsome Reply:
February 23rd, 2014 at 9:52 am
It’s Cath*a*rine, peasant.
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Oh, and for anyone seriously intrigued by any of this, look at what I just found:
http://sithacademy.com/
If it’s a joke, it’s pretty elaborate.
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VXXC Reply:
February 14th, 2014 at 1:40 am
@Valvar
“Woe to him who wants to put himself on a level with the Creator and escape fighting”
Dude. I think it was a bad idea to show me that Sith Link.
Catholicism may save me. Yes. Come back…
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SGW Reply:
February 15th, 2014 at 8:41 am
Good to know that we have the dark side of the force on our team. Not sure how Palpatine and Vader would feel about psychedelics, but I certainly like the idea of them being high on something other than the dark side.
http://seanthesorcerer.blogspot.nl/2013/11/psychedelic-neoreaction.html
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But Seriously Folks…
I left this over at Vox. Comments on this degenerated to 300, mostly on Race. Here is my View.
======================================
“Progs,
Look up and tell us” no legs.” Especially the Race issue. You ran with it the last 50 years and now it’s being turned on you. This is actually unfortunate but necessary, as ugly things are in War. I’m against it, but I accept it as part of the price of escaping the Rule of the Mad.
Dark Enlightenment means something has gone terribly wrong with the Enlightenment, and that’s you Progress. You are Nihilists. And yes we have at last noticed you mean us all the harm you dare. Which ..isn’t enough. You have done the entire Nation and the West great harm. Now that Bankruptcy is revealing all truth..here comes what can only be called “Reaction”. Of course we’re reacting. To you.
And we’re coming.
The Pendulum swung out to the Left of Pluto, and is now swinging back. Really it’s not relevant what happens in the Democratic party, or the captive oppo GOP. It’s relevant what the Majority in the West does, and it will do whatever it has to survive. ”
http://www.thedarkenlightenment.com/the-dark-enlightenment-by-nick-land/
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Posted on February 14th, 2014 at 1:28 am | QuoteBad news.
The smokescreen failed:
http://occamsrazormag.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/the-dark-enlightenment-exposed/comment-page-1/#comment-2852
On to Operation Weasel.
I’m going to skype with Legolas in 15 min for further instructions.
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Alrenous Reply:
February 14th, 2014 at 1:40 pm
A real NRx would know that skype is pwned, not secure.
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Lesser Bull Reply:
February 14th, 2014 at 3:38 pm
That’s what a first-level real NRx would think.
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Alrenous Reply:
February 14th, 2014 at 6:38 pm
If we own skype, you’re gonna get in trouble for blabbing.
Lesser Bull Reply:
February 15th, 2014 at 8:34 pm
Dayum, you’re right. Hopefully the advanced NSA-bot known as Nick Land will twig and delete it.
AWC Reply:
February 14th, 2014 at 4:00 pm
“A real NRx would know that skype is pwned, not secure.”
Skype is not Skype. The owls are not what they seem. See Eldar decree 129874.34.B1
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Lesser Bull Reply:
February 14th, 2014 at 4:59 pm
NB: like all Eldar decrees, the numbering is in duodecimal
I haven’t received the latest decree. Did you guys send out the budgerigars?
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Posted on February 14th, 2014 at 5:35 pm | Quote@LanaExactly what I was thinking. No mention of weasels or kitties though.
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Posted on February 14th, 2014 at 7:50 pm | Quote[…] Mark Shea; getting trolled hard. Although, I must say, I do want to try out “Hey girl! I want to inspect your phenotype” some […]
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