But as stupid as it is, I think calling it the downfall of our society might be a little extreme. When it’s happening in EVERY city, EVERY day, then I might start to worry. As of today, I’m still not having my door broken in for midnight raids… Still able to drive anywhere I want without showing my papers… Still own a shiteload of firearms… Stupid shit like over-zealous stings are just that…stupid shit. Shine the light of publicity on the cockroaches involved, set off a virtual bug bomb, and continue on with our day. Easy.

…

Speaking of “y’knows…” We were watching a History Channel special on the mythology of Star Wars last night, when my least favorite Star Trek captain, Avery Brooks (because he was a prickly asshole, not because he is black, kthx), is asked to provide his opinion on something. He does, in typical, I’m-really-much-too-cool-for-this fashion, and codas with, “y’know what I’m sayin’?” (Aside: The very best response ever to this stupid question occurred in this movie.) Why, yes, Avery, we *do* know what you’re saying, seeing as how we’re having an actual conversation on the matter, so kindly stop being redundant. And no, you’re *so* not cool.

When I’m Queen, anyone using that phrase will be gifted with a baseball bat to the knees.

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Do you know why internets people get tetchy when someone comes along asking a truly stupid question (even if the n00b in question does not believe the question to be stupid)? Because the Intarwebs is vast…and it’s fully indexed…and there are literally hundreds of search engines out there that will take you right to the answer in question.

The trouble comes when the n00bs don’t even try to sort it out for themselves, don’t bother to even *look* for the answer. The Intarwebs is a frontier, albeit a frontier to which everyone has access. No life-threatening trek across wild, Indian-infested prairie was required, therefore no self-reliance was engendered. The whingy, do-it-for-me crowd arrived in the “Wild West” un-savaged by mountain lions, un-festooned with Sioux arrows, and un-inclined to do anything for themselves.

Which makes those of us who have bootstrapped ourselves into guru-dom regularly reach for the RTFM button.

And that’s Internets Rule #1: Google it first, lest you be declared “an ass.”