All Three Monoliths Gone -- Two Removed By Activist Vandals (eastbaytimes.com) 119
A Reddit user found Google Earth photos showing the Utah monolith may have appeared in its canyon up to five years ago, according to The Daily Beast. But it's gone now:
Last week, a team of four people removed the Utah obelisk. One of them, a Utah adventure guide, explained their actions in an Instagram post. "We removed the Utah Monolith because there are clear precedents for how we share and standardize the use of our public lands, natural wildlife, native plants, fresh water sources, and human impacts upon them. The mystery was the infatuation and we want to use this time to unite people behind the real issues here — we are losing our public lands — things like this don't help," Sylvan Christensen wrote.
Although the statue had damaged some of the surrounding rock formations, its real cost came when hordes of tourists drove cars and rode helicopters to the remote canyon to see it, Christensen said. "This land wasn't physically prepared for the population shift (especially during a pandemic)," he wrote. "People arrived by car, by bus, by van, helicopter, planes, trains, motorcycles and E-bikes and there isn't even a parking lot. There aren't bathrooms — and yes, pooping in the desert is a misdemeanor. There was a lot of that."
"The group of four took the big pieces of the monolith and placed them in a wheelbarrow and said 'leave no trace' as they rolled it away," reports CNN, citing a photographer who witnessed the event.
The second mysterious monolith that appeared in Romania has also been "removed by parties unknown," reports the Bay Area Newsgroup. But a third monolith also mysteriously appeared 200 miles south of San Francisco in the small town of Atascadero on Tuesday, according to SFGate. Though their reporter has a theory as to why: Atascadero is a handy place. There's plenty of rugged cowboy types, and plenty of people with the room and machinery to weld and rivet some sheets of metal together. The local band when I was in high school was in fact known for riveting metal parts and tubing onto stages and cars and painting the whole thing silver...
[W]hen Atascadero saw this monolith trend hitting, someone took note of the importance of getting in fast, went out into their garage and built a monolith.
"And then, overnight, it was gone," notes the Bay Area News Group. Forbes describes the young men responsible as "Dressed in camo gear, armed with night-vision goggles and energy drinks," and at least once referencing the QAnon conspiracy theory. "One of the men even states: 'We don't want illegal aliens from Mexico, or outer space.'"
The Bay Area News Group writes: The revelation that the culprits drove five hours from Southern California to tear it down, live-streaming the trek, has angered Central Coast residents. Video shows the four young men chanting "Christ is king" as they tear down the monolith and replace it with a plywood cross. They also made racist and anti-immigrant statements...
In a statement Thursday, Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno said: "We are upset that these young men felt the need to drive 5 hours to come into our community and vandalize the Monolith.
"The Monolith was something unique and fun in an otherwise stressful time."
Although the statue had damaged some of the surrounding rock formations, its real cost came when hordes of tourists drove cars and rode helicopters to the remote canyon to see it, Christensen said. "This land wasn't physically prepared for the population shift (especially during a pandemic)," he wrote. "People arrived by car, by bus, by van, helicopter, planes, trains, motorcycles and E-bikes and there isn't even a parking lot. There aren't bathrooms — and yes, pooping in the desert is a misdemeanor. There was a lot of that."
"The group of four took the big pieces of the monolith and placed them in a wheelbarrow and said 'leave no trace' as they rolled it away," reports CNN, citing a photographer who witnessed the event.
The second mysterious monolith that appeared in Romania has also been "removed by parties unknown," reports the Bay Area Newsgroup. But a third monolith also mysteriously appeared 200 miles south of San Francisco in the small town of Atascadero on Tuesday, according to SFGate. Though their reporter has a theory as to why: Atascadero is a handy place. There's plenty of rugged cowboy types, and plenty of people with the room and machinery to weld and rivet some sheets of metal together. The local band when I was in high school was in fact known for riveting metal parts and tubing onto stages and cars and painting the whole thing silver...
[W]hen Atascadero saw this monolith trend hitting, someone took note of the importance of getting in fast, went out into their garage and built a monolith.
"And then, overnight, it was gone," notes the Bay Area News Group. Forbes describes the young men responsible as "Dressed in camo gear, armed with night-vision goggles and energy drinks," and at least once referencing the QAnon conspiracy theory. "One of the men even states: 'We don't want illegal aliens from Mexico, or outer space.'"
The Bay Area News Group writes: The revelation that the culprits drove five hours from Southern California to tear it down, live-streaming the trek, has angered Central Coast residents. Video shows the four young men chanting "Christ is king" as they tear down the monolith and replace it with a plywood cross. They also made racist and anti-immigrant statements...
In a statement Thursday, Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno said: "We are upset that these young men felt the need to drive 5 hours to come into our community and vandalize the Monolith.
"The Monolith was something unique and fun in an otherwise stressful time."
some needs to put an startgate in an place like wh (Score:2)
some needs to put an startgate in an place like where this has been placed
Sorry Dave, I can't do that. (Score:2)
2001 was a documentary of a possible future for mankind. Just as Idiocracy is as well. .The planetary alignment of jupiter, saturn and pluto is coming up and creates a gravitational resonance that excites these monoliths. The monoliths then see if we are ready to transcend to the next level of consciousness. But evidently we are not given the Trumpanzes and QCucKlan, though to be fair, one might wonder if that was what those chimps in 2001 were doing too.
I mean if you think about it, this is the Age of AI
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Of course that means if you were just one penny short of that, so-to-speak, you'd be stuck here with the morons. That'd really suck.
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On that note.. what I wouldn't give for us to discover naquadah, and develop naquadah reactors.
While I'm dreaming.. we really could use a mind like Samantha Carter.
For that matter.. where the heck are the Asgard when you need 'em? Their tech could solve pretty much all of our technological problems!
Who cares (Score:5, Insightful)
We don't know who put them there, and we don't know who removed them.
But it wasn't aliens.
A Nativity for 2020 (Score:5, Insightful)
I think it says a lot about this year that instead we got three idiots bringing with them a hammer, some plywood and a bad attitude.
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"Well, given it is close to Christmas I was sort of hoping that after a strange sign was spotted in the desert by three shepherds looking for sheep in a helicopter the next visitors would be three wise men bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh. "
And all for nothing, the kid turned bad, got sentenced to death and executed.
I'm detecting a weak attempt at sarcasm. Jesus was tried and. executed for claiming to be the Messias at a time Rome already established a king in Judea. Jesus did not raise armies to overthrow the government; he was even recorded saying that we should "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's". Another quote is "my kingdom is not of this world." The Jewish priests felt threatened that Jesus was becoming more popular than they. The one recorded act of violence was overturning the money changers' tables in
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It was activist illegal dumpers and activist waste collectors.
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“The revelation that the culprits drove five hours from Southern California to tear it down, live-streaming the trek, has angered Central Coast residents. Video shows the four young men chanting "Christ is king" as they tear down the monolith and replace it with a plywood cross. They also made racist and anti-immigrant statements...”
Believing in an interesting Christ...
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It's a Christ who draws the line at chipboard.
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“The revelation that the culprits drove five hours from Southern California to tear it down, live-streaming the trek, has angered Central Coast residents. Video shows the four young men chanting "Christ is king" as they tear down the monolith and replace it with a plywood cross. They also made racist and anti-immigrant statements...”
Believing in an interesting Christ...
Is the phrase 'We don't want illegal aliens from Mexico, or outer space.'" racist? We have laws which allow people to legally visit the USA and even immigrate here. I brought my wife to the USA on a K-1 fiancee visa. I welcome those who enter my house through the door instead of breaking a window. I believe we need immigration reform, but that should not grant citizenship to the 16+ million illegal immigrants already here; they broke the law and so there should be consequences.
I personally don't agree with
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But it wasn't aliens.
Any other year I'd agree with you. But this is 2020, how sure are you *really*.
Re:Who cares (Score:5, Insightful)
But it wasn't aliens.
No, of course not.
But for a few moments, we had something sparking people's interest and imagination amidst a combination of dystopia and near-apocalypse; for those few precious moments, we weren't completely immersed in this muck we've been stuck in for almost a full year (or almost 4 years, depending on your perspective).
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We don't know who put them there, and we don't know who removed them.
Doesn't this article tell us exactly who removed two of them?
Nobody's saying it was aliens (Score:2)
This madman must be stopped (Score:2)
"pooping in the desert is a misdemeanor"
Won't somebody please think of the dung beetles?
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"There aren’t bathrooms— and yes, pooping in the desert is a misdemeanor."
No, it is not, as long as you follow specific BLM rules and regulations. At least 100 feet from any watershed location, buried a minimum of 18 inches, etc...
So much for the tour guide having any real knowledge. I actually get paid for doing licensed trips into the desert for collecting rocks.
Oh please, he's likely referring to visible sh*t (Score:3)
"There aren’t bathrooms— and yes, pooping in the desert is a misdemeanor."
No, it is not, as long as you follow specific BLM rules and regulations. At least 100 feet from any watershed location, buried a minimum of 18 inches, etc... So much for the tour guide having any real knowledge. I actually get paid for doing licensed trips into the desert for collecting rocks.
The "tour guide" and you are likely equally knowledgeable. If you applied any common sense you would realize the "tour guide" is almost certainly not referring to people digging catholes or carrying out. Just what do you think all those tourist coming by car, bus, etc are likely to do when nature calls? Do you really have any doubt he is referring to the abundant visible sh*t and toilet paper (or whatever was used to wipe)?
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As a steward of the land, it is not only my responsibility to know the regulations, but to speak ABSOLUTELY HONESTLY about them. This guide did no such thing and thus demonstrates his lacking knowledge. He also took something without verifiable proof that it didn't have permission to be there. None was ever shown in the video.
Tour guide is just a pompous ass, like me, just more than I am.
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Plywood? (Score:5, Funny)
Video shows the four young men chanting "Christ is king" as they tear down the monolith and replace it with a plywood cross.
Plywood? I deserve better than that, you fuckers. I'm not impressed.
Engineered wood (Score:2)
Please, were so past the days of plywood. These days engineer wood is far superior to other building materials. And Romans were all about engineering. I'd like to think Jesus would have deserved the finest engineered cross they could afford. Now if you said it was an MDF cross maybe you'd have something.
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I think it's interesting how people act on their beliefs. A lot of Christians, for instance, wear crosses around their necks. Nice sentiment, but do you think when Jesus comes back, he's really going to want to look at a cross?
-Bill Hicks
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''Nice sentiment, but do you think when Jesus comes back, he's really going to want to look at a cross?''
How amazing is it that in 2020 when we can manipulate subatomic particles and know about entanglement and can't exactly explain the physics.
And there are people who believe there was a person that was conceived in a virgin, rose from the dead once, and think there's great odds that a twice dead person will once again be reincarnated. Supporting that theory is the largest tax protected business in the wor
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One of the things religious organizations do is perform charitable functions. Without them, the government would be forcibly taking your money to perform the same functions, usually with much poorer efficiency and effectiveness. That's why religious organizations should be tax exempt, like any charity.
Another thing religious organizations do is provide a power base in competition with government, thus helping reduce the abuses of powerful government. Alas, this is not always the case, and when a vile religi
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One of the things religious organizations do is perform charitable functions. Without them, the government would be forcibly taking your money to perform the same functions, usually with much poorer efficiency and effectiveness. That's why religious organizations should be tax exempt, like any charity.
If that's true, then they should have no trouble qualifying as some sort of nonprofit without the religious excuse.
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I'm not so sure about the poorer efficiency and effectiveness of government activities versus churches. In the case of the catholic church, there seems to be a lot of stained glass and gold foil that needs to be paid for alongside the charitable activities. For other churches, there seem to be a lot of mansions, private jets, luxury cars, mistresses/pool boys to pay for. Even for those charities where there isn't a lot of ostentatious ornamentation and perquisites to pay for, there's the question of how muc
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Most atheists are actually just pragmatic agnostics. They aren't taking it on faith that there is no god any more than they are taking it on faith that there isn't a tiger under their bed. It's not that they don't think that it's absolutely impossible that there's a tiger under their bed, they just think that the incredibly low probability is as close to impossible as makes no difference. There is, after all no shortage of mutually incompatible religions the world .I've heard it said that atheists really on
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Christians don't believe he will be reincarnated. The basic teaching (this is in the Nicene Creed; it's as basic as it gets) is that he ascended after the resurrection but that he'll return in the same body. In this body he was united to humanity, thus saving humanity. It cannot be abandoned without abandoning the
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I suppose that's consistent with the belief in the incorruptible bodies of saints, etc. Christians who believe in heave as a physical kingdom on Earth in the future inhabited by the risen dead have to believe in some form of reincarnation though. Clearly most human bodies are not incorruptible in death, usually falling apart into nothing. Even the "preserved" ones are clearly in no state to be re-inhabited without basically being rebuilt from scratch. That goes for the body of any saint you care to name whe
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Exactly so. Actually, that's the whole point of all that. Even the remains of the saints that aren't incorrupt are venerated. That's precisely what a relic is. The assumption is that the remains--the physical matter itself--is sacred and will be part of the resurrection.
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I feel a little of my background may be needed before diving into religious discussions. My family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1831; some stragglers on another line weren't baptized until the 1850s. This sect is Christian, but doesn't bind itself to the Nicene or other creeds.
I suppose that's consistent with the belief in the incorruptible bodies of saints, etc.
My sect believes that our bodies do decompose after death (eg. our bodies were formed from the dust and until dust will return). During the resurrection, our bodies are restored to a perfect, incorruptible
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And there are people who believe there was a person that was conceived in a virgin, rose from the dead once, and think there's great odds that a twice dead person will once again be reincarnated. Supporting that theory is the largest tax protected business in the world. I have no problem with anyone's right to believe what they care to believe or join a similar clan. But why in this day and age to we allow business designed to support similar type thought a tax free exemption?
My family has been Christian for over a thousand years. I can't grasp where you came up with the claim of a "twice dead person". Jesus died ONCE. According to Christians he rose from the dead then spent 40 days ministering before ascending to heaven WITH his physical body which doubting Thomas touched. Christians believe that Jesus will return in a chariot of fire and winder unlike his meek entrance some 2,000 years ago. Lots of predictions have been made as to when the Second Coming will occur (and all hav
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I think it's interesting how people act on their beliefs. A lot of Christians, for instance, wear crosses around their necks. Nice sentiment, but do you think when Jesus comes back, he's really going to want to look at a cross?
-Bill Hicks
I have mixed feelings about crosses. It was on a cross that Jesus died for us. I understand how people want to focus and celebrate Jesus paying for our sins. For me, though, I prefer to focus on the empty tomb. Yes, Jesus died, but that wasn't the end of the story. Because Jesus rose from the dead, so shall we. Jesus was the victor, not some piece of wood.
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I bet he will be pretty crossed. After all, he died on one,
Imagine if Jesus came later in history and was shot by a gun. Would believers wear tiny gun earrings or necklaces?
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Wise words from a carpenter.
Re: Plywood? (Score:2)
pooping in the desert is a misdemeanor (Score:2, Funny)
Wow, they have Poop-Rangers in the US?
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Not enough in San Francisco.
Vandals? (Score:2)
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Much of what the federal government claims it owns is a usurpation. It does not deserve widespread respect.
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That doesn’t matter. The owner of the land didn’t want ot there so it was a type of vandalism.
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The act of vandalism is putting something somewhere that the owner of said property doesn't want it such as spray painting a wall. So in effect, who ever raised the monoliths was the actual vandal.
Nope, the people that left the monolith was a litterer (dumped something on land that wasn't theirs). The people that removed it were thieves (took something that didn't belong to them). Vandals would have had to damage something belonging to the land owner, I guess those are the people that travelled to see the monoliths and damaged the land along the way.
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Cleaning up litter doesn't make you a thief. In this case though they do sound like dbags.
It does if you don't have the land owner's permission.
If they just took the Monolith that'd be Ok (Score:2)
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The act of vandalism is putting something somewhere that the owner of said property doesn't want it such as spray painting a wall. So in effect, who ever raised the monoliths was the actual vandal.
And replacing the monolith with a wooden cross was also vandalism.
Not sure (Score:3)
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If it was on private property, then it should be up to the property owner to have it removed and file charges against whoever built it.
And the one in Utah should have been removed by the BLM [blm.gov]. I don't think that private individuals like Christensen have any business unilaterally enforcing land use regulations. Particularly people who are in the business of conducting tours through these areas. Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.
Vegas (Score:1)
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"It showed up early this morning but we don't have any other details right now," said Cassandra Down, with Kirvin Doak Communications.
Kirvin Doak Commmunications is (no surprise here) a marketing agency with expertise in public relations, digital marketing, advertising, social media and public affairs.
The "monolith" on FSE is no mystery. Nobody "removes fingerprints" from a mysterious monolith (see pics in LVRJ article).
Merry Christmas! (Score:2)
Your MAGA, hard at work (Score:5, Insightful)
Not a monolith (Score:2)
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I suppose you take offense at lithography with aluminum and photolithography with silicon...
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Sorry to disappoint you, but hardcore etymologists should have no problem with photolithography involving silicon, deriving as the word does from the Latin for flint or pebble.
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That's a silly argument, from the Middle English gesælig, which around the 14th century meant "weak". It is not "egregious" in the original sense of "excellent".
Words mean what most people agree they mean, and most people are idiots. So now "broadband" means "high throughput", not "having no DC component, therefore frequency shiftable", because the Committee of Idiots couldn't grasp its original meaning. Likewise the idiots who use "literally" to mean "virtually" have future history on their side;
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A little confused (Score:1)
It sort of seems to me that the vandalism was putting them up in the first place???
Christmas Message (Score:5, Insightful)
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I'm not surprised at all. It's a typical religious mindless automaton reaction to me.
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Wouldn't it be ironic if people went to these people's properties and tore down things (garages, mailboxes, etc.) and replaced them with shoddy crosses. If the home owners dare touch the crosses everyone can yell how anti-Christ these people are!
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And racist comments. Don’t forget those.
Much nicer than the metal art school project (Score:2)
... replace it with a shoddy plywood cross ...
Which just means the flash floods will wash it away and being biodegradable there won't be a long term mess. Much nicer than the metal art school project. :-)
Those rocks are red for a reason... (Score:2)
Stainless steel doesn't turn red. (Score:2)
Deserts have their own charm and quite a bit of biology. They are worthy of protection just like forest.
Mechanical damage from flood waters, water saturation, etc
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Mechanical damage from flood waters, water saturation, etc
Deserts are generally not known for their high water content and only flood rarely and in established drainage channels so this will not be a fast process and rotting bits of plywood don't look good or natural anywhere. Stainless steel still degrades with time and possibly on not too different a timescale from wood in a dry environment. Whenever it does it will form more of what is already there in the natural environment.
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Where is law enforcement now? (Score:1)
LEOs are always hungry to go after the low hanging fruit... you know, EMTs chillin' at their own apartment, or drug "dealers" that have no drugs.
Here are people who VANDALIZED, STOLE, TRESPASSED, where is law enforcement now?
And... just because YOU think something is bad for the environment doesn't give YOU the right to go do all those things.
Looks like LEOs in California need to stop worrying about getting into iPhones and start handling real crime.
E
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Typical Christians (Score:1, Insightful)
Video shows the four young men chanting "Christ is king" as they tear down the monolith and replace it with a plywood cross. They also made racist and anti-immigrant statements...
It's not surprising a bunch of christians would vandalize something and then try to shove their religion down people's throats. They've only been doing it for what, 2,000 years?
Even less surprising is their racist and anti-immigrant comments. After all, that is what their religion teaches.
Re: Typical Christians (Score:2, Informative)
"Christian doctrine, which calls for obedience to the authorities, welcoming all immigrants, and that everyone is equal in God's eyes"
Read your Bible a little closer, and you'll see that it's very opposite of what you say (except for obeying authority).
Also, the Old Testament was NEVER invalidated, despite what Christians say.
Also, your god has a disturbing appitite for extreme violence, as well as the carnal habit of loving the smell of burning flesh (mentioned more than 20 times throughout the Bible).
Chri
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Oh boy, you really don't know anything about Christianity, do you? These behaviors are quite antithetical to Christian doctrine, which calls for obedience to the authorities, welcoming all immigrants, and that everyone is equal in God's eyes.
As a Christian, I would argue that Christianity does not require welcoming all immigrants. It is possible to be Christian and still distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants. Jesus taught us to give unto Cesar that which is Cesar's, meaning we should obey the laws of the land.
"There are clear precedents", and rules... (Score:3)
Rule #1: We must be puritanical scolds.
Rule #2: It's okay for us to steal and break things as long as we target people and things we say are bad.
Rule #3: Do not talk about Activist Vandal Club!
Pooping in the desert (Score:2)
I refuse to believe that that is a misdemeanor. That's just ridiculous.
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Pooping in public lands in the desert is just as inappropriate as pooping in your neighborhood park, especially when people not only leave their piles of crap there but also mounds of used toilet paper. Then tack on the fact that poop and toilet paper don't decompose in the desert climate and stay there a long, long, time. If people had common sense enough not to do it, then there wouldn't be an issue; however, they don't, and they crap all over the place, and it has to be criminalized.
Its about visible sh*t (Score:2)
I refuse to believe that that is a misdemeanor. That's just ridiculous.
The misdemeanor is for the people who leave sh*t and TP visible on the surface. Its just a form a litter at that point. Plus health concerns.
Dig a cathole or carry it out and there is no problem.
Re: Pooping in the desert (Score:2)
Remember folks, always bring your binoculars to the desert to scan for the fuzz before dropping your pants!
Re: Pooping in the desert (Score:2)
I think the real concern is that some random person might see your wee wee when you are answering nature's call out in the vast, wide desert.
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I don't know if I'd call them vandals (Score:2)
Damn, the nuts can't leave anything alone (Score:2)
"Video shows the four young men chanting "Christ is king" as they tear down the monolith and replace it with a plywood cross. They also made racist and anti-immigrant statements.."
Proof positive of why we need to reopen the mental institutions.
If "heaven" really is filled with these fucks, everybody is screwed no matter what.
That include the wilderness ... (Score:2)
Damn, the nuts can't leave anything alone
That includes the wilderness, which is not a proper venue for sophomore art school projects.
Pieces of Stainless Steel is Now a Thing? (Score:2)
How sad. (Score:3)
Sad, sad, sad.
No wonder alien civilizations hide from us. Too many buzz-kill embarassment humans on this planet, why would any self-respecting aliens want to associate with us?
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Well, they tried to announce their presence.
Then a bunch of people said "It doesn't look like the movie", something something illegal aliens, and dismantled it.
Soooo. Idiots (Score:3)
"may have appeared up to five years ago" ? WUT? (Score:2)
The Reddit link merely states that the thing was NOT installed MORE than five years ago. The words are: "It was installed sometime after August 2015."
That is a BIG DIFFERNCE from what is stated in the post, that it "may have appeared in its canyon up to five years ago".
Or does yo mamma's Facebook page "show your mother may be a whore" ( because it doesn't show she isn't one ) ?
They were vandalism anyway (GTFO) (Score:2)
Modern art sucks; the garbage man (or in this case the metal scrapper) is the only person who is honest about its worth.
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WRONG! (Score:2)
Stop reporting on them. (Score:2)
Wrong dimensions, all of them (Score:2)
Until the dimensions are correct, I'll not be convinced it's aliens.
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Yep, looks like things done by kids that could not be bothered to do any research