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4chan Gives 90-Year-Old Vet a Great Birthday
Hugh Pickens writes "Members of 4chan aren't known for doing things that are cute and heart-warming and when they decide to go after someone, it's typically to subject them to ridicule. But not this time. Someone at 4chan decided that the Internet should get together and wish 90-year-old WWII veteran William J. Lashua a happy birthday, and soon Lashua's local branch of the American Legion was deluged by birthday calls from people as far away as Sweden. The account someone set up for Mr. Lashua's birthday on Facebook had 3,956 'likes' and over 500 comments, most of which wished him a happy birthday and thanked him for his military service. It's not clear how 4chan originally came across a photo of Lashua, but a member of the site posted a snapshot of a flyer that was on the bulletin board at a store in Ashburnham, Massachusetts asking for guests to attend the nonagenarian's birthday on at the American Legion hall and the post took off. In contrast to their usual behavior, 4chan members 'were giving him nice phone calls and sending him nice notes' and discouraging those who wanted to do something stupid or mean. 'They were all being.. well, shucks, awful nice.'"
Massively honoring a WWII veteran is supposed to be done on November 11. This is Labor Day weekend in the USA right now. Please, next time attribute your time off to do stupid things to the right source.
They're still a bunch of basement dwelling pedophiles and people who took V for Vendetta way, way too seriously.
As 4Chan would say; DIAF.
Thank you William J. Lashua.
All bets are off, grandapa! You may have beaten the Nazis, but you ain't seen nothing yet.
Brought to you by the same people who love Caturday. Sometimes the Internet Hate Machine puts a yellow van back together.
In these uncertain times... you never know what the /b/tards might do.
April 1st so soon?
Reply to That ||
Reddit did it's part as well, example
4chan being nice?!?
I do believe this was foretold in the bible as one of the signs of the end times.
REPENT!! THEN END IS NIGH!!
You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
well, it evens out, the anonymous collective can't be dicks all the time
who prays for Satan? Who in 18 centuries has had the humanity to pray for the 1 sinner that needed it most? ~Mark Twain
While WWII might indeed evoke fairly bad memories in those who were actually there, Happy Birthday, and Thank You mr. Lashua.
I live in Italy and if it wasn't for people like you I'd probably speak German or Russian now, and concepts like individuality, freedom of speech, personal rights might be alien or completely twisted in my mind/society.
The power of 4chan and Anonymous is tremendous. It must be held carefully. This is one good example of how to put this power for good instead of evil.
--
# Canmephians for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.net";
As an oldfag over at 4chan, let me tell you this:
Anonymous does whatever he fucking feels like, whether it is sending an old man birthday cards or bullying a child. There is no rhyme or reason to it because Anonymous is a disorganized swarm made up of people of all ages and cultures. "Anonymous" is a constantly rotating, relatively small sample of a large, global population.
Trying to predict Anonymous is pointless. There is no command structure, no ultimate goal. Most of the activities partaken that affect the outside world start as pet projects of individuals and gain traction through spamming and samefagging (because everyone posts anonymously, it is easy to pretend to be multiple people to take advantage of the group mentality there).
This particular incident was started by someone close to the man in question and spammed endlessly over the course of several days leading up to the event. It was a shameless abuse of /b/ as his personal army, but it succeeded because it was relatively novel and interesting.
His name is Jack Vaughn.
He was a prize fighter, a diplomat, and the second Director of the Peace Corps.
Read a very interesting story about his life at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Vaughn
Happy Birthday, Jack, from RPCVs around the world.
I thought this started out as a post on Reddit - not 4chan. But I could be wrong and certainly don't want to piss off 4chan.
This is the cancer that is killing Slashdot.
As shocking as it is it should prove something. Anon only attacks those who deserve it or when public ridicule is in order. No one could see any reason to make fun of this ederly hero who, at first, appeared to be as if he wasn't going to have many friends or family attend the party...and when many anon wanted to attack him in a negative away, anon wasn't going to have it. Anon is not a horrible entity. Anon is more like the little voice in side everyone's head that they usually silence...and as has been proven in the past...the power of many anon can be used for evil...or on the occasional case, used for good. Didn't anon help identify the girl who was throwing puppies in to the river? Anon is great, anon is good. Anon is everything and nothing at the same time. Is anon god? Sometimes it's vengeful, sometimes it's good. Who's to say? Just don't piss anon off.
And now, every time someone rightly says that 4chan is nothing but a batch of juvenile asshats, they'll trot out this one story as a counterexample.
Think about it... Have they attacked anyone who hasnt deserved it? Scientology, a loud mouth little girl, an animal abuser... They love kittens... and obviously people who risked their lives fighting the scourges who threatened freedom. I look forward to seeing what battles they wage in the future.
maybe they just got confuse.
The event happened yesterday, there are pictures from it. You should have included a link to them: http://imgur.com/a/3Jc87/MP8VI
So like... what? Has 4chan become the Internet Love Machine now?
Some 4channers may have their tails between their legs, or wishing to bolster the reputation of the board as a whole.
While references are difficult given the nature of the 4chan board structure, my understanding is that from the recent "Puppy Thrower" video(the east european girl, not the US soldier of some time ago), several innocent people were outed wrongly, including a 13 yo german girl.
The dynamics from this sort of thing, would be similar to a political party rift. You get those that need to, in genuine good concience, act outside the party norm. I see this incident as related, I could be wrong.
In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
Question is, does he understand what just happened?
When the foot seeks the place of the head, the line is crossed. Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe.
So How will Fox News report this? The terrorists of the internetdoing good things? Am curious.
4chan is just an Internet Amusement Machine. Anonymous does whatever amuses it.
Sometimes that involves posting pictures of dead cats or trolling 11-year old internet girls who show their boobs on tinychat (see Jessica Slaughter), sometimes that involves wishing an old man a happy birthday or organizing anti-Scientology protests.
I have personally seen Anonymous engage in some unusual behavior. For example, someone recently was asking Anonymous on /b/ to troll a high school kid because his Mom had just died and he was homosexual. Anonymous decided that would be a dick thing to do and decided that it would be more fun to troll the person making the request. Anonymous immediately set about trying ascertain the identity of the troll so that they could harass him.
Anonymous is unpredictable. There is no central organization and there are no rules. Anonymous just does whatever it thinks might be fun at the moment.
I'd say it was the subsequent generation, and/or the military's involvement that diminished our rights.
We of course, let them too.
When even the high numbered slashdotters get laid - now that's when I drag the lawnchair out to a primary target and slather on the 3 million sunblock...
I know a most of the news stories that mention 4chan are generally in the negative, but people in that community do tend to do a lot of good, and much of it is rarely publicized. People attribute Anonymous to this large collection of like-minded individuals doing whatever they please but it's really couldn't be further from the truth. "Anonymous" is a loose many-minded collection of individuals who don't agree with each other. You'll get those trying to harass others and many stepping in to stop it, and you'll get those trying to do good and many stepping in trying to stop it.
I'm helping to close 4chan and bringing legal action against moot. Basically I've been documenting the massive amounts of CP that is posted on this site. I time how long the threads remain active after they are reported (sometimes hours) and I log how many CP topics are posted in a day. My case is simple. 4chan has mods and its easy to solve the CP problem but moot doesn't want to because CP is a BIG part of the appeal of this place. So I'm creating an overwhelming body of evidence to take to the FBI and the State Attorney General's Office. (Moot and I live in the same state. So I can SUE him. Which I'm going to do.) My plan is to ruin him utterly. I really hope the case destroys his life. He fucking deserves it for all the CP he's allowed to be spread through this web site. 4chan is the largest distributor of CP on the web. Fuck you moot, fuck you 4chan. See you in court faggot.
that's got to be some of the most quick witted attorneying we've seen, even though it failed.
What TF is 4chan? Is this news?
I'm not an expert, but I play one on slashdot.
It's not nice in the same way robbing a bank to buy him a really nice present isn't.
No, you're wrong. Robbing a bank is not expected behavior or the acceptable, average day at the bank.
Being a dick, spamming, etc., are the acceptable average day at 4chan. You should know.
And get off our lawn. It's not acceptable here.
(snip)
...but I wouldn't want to visit a board where it has caught on. /b/ anyway so what do I know...
Then again, I don't like hanging out at
Then you really have no viable leg for propping your argument, and thus, you're guilty of violating Wheaton's Law.
It only seems nice until you realise that William J Lashua's family specifically asked that random strangers do NOT show up. It was an event reserved for family and friends, and the internets basically gatecrashed what was supposed to be an old man's birthday party.
It is nice of these people to take time to acknowledge the birthday and contributions of this veteran. However this is just one man who they took time for, they could have directed their efforts in a more wide-reaching manner. After all, we do still have many WWII (and other war) veterans who are worthy of praise, thanks, and acknowledgment.
If they really want to help the veterans, my first suggestion would be to look into helping the Veterans Administration (VA). The various resources of the VA - especially their hospitals - are scattered around our country and often stretched thin. Regardless of your position on government-funded, government-aided, or government-provided health care, the VA is the hospital of choice for a great number of great people. If you want to thank and help our veterans, your local VA can direct you to ways that you can do that. You could volunteer to help veterans get to their appointments, you could advocate for better resources for the hospitals, or do any number of other things. I wouldn't be surprised if your local VA would even appreciate volunteers to come and visit with the hospitalized family-less vets.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Um, unfortunately, your understanding of history seems to be a bit skewed. I think I remember reading in texts that the US fought on the European front long before pearl harbor. But I guess you're allowed to be a buckethead, given as we helped liberate most of Europe. But it was nice you ended it with a happy birthday for someone who served his country.
Ferengi rule of acquisition #76 Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
Literally a random act of kindness.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
The summary is wrong. No one is a member of /b/.
This guy did not need the handout, the poster was more or less a joke/notice to let the many people that do know him they should come to his party. The very fact he knows so many people was the reason for the notice, it was the most practical way to notify the large number of people he knows.
If the guy was a "lonely old man with no friends left", do you think he would book out a town hall to hold his party?
http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/d9zmp/dear_internet_on_behalf_of_the_lashua_family_i/
"He has 7 children, many grandchildren, and even great grandchildren. In his younger years he was a foster parent to dozens of foster children."
I can't help but think these donations and effort could have been directed to people more in need.
I.O.U One Sig.
The Internets are doomed, DOOMED I say!
So a guy had a birthday. Thousands, if not millions of other people have had birthdays, this guy is...not special. Like um..Racquel Welch just had hers.
But maybe I just don't buy into the Greatest Generation BS. You know who was also of their generation? The same folks on the other side!
Sharpie in pooper?
That's what it is called
Toshiakis never have done this. 2ch's VIP folks did donation to Chile as a counter-attack of Korean DDoS to 2ch servers but apart from that, we were just morphing Akasan or Mageres("Unforgivable Angles"), drawing OS-chans, and registering them to Akinator.
That is all.
What the hell are you on about? /b/oard.
There is more to 4chan than that
November 11 is the end of WW1...
Ebaumsworld did real good.
See subject above. Between 4chan bbs' membership largely being immature as 1 of their main tendencies, their capacity for homosexual behaviour and the ability to spread HIV and AIDS around their members as they do, you have 2-3 of their main "qualities" well in hand and described perfectly.
Booom....whoosh.
Boy, did you miss the point of the story.
You're just sorry little sour pussed fuck, aren't you. Someone does something and you go on about how it wasn't enough. Bet you're hit at parties.
Does anyone else find the idea of 4chan doing something 'nice' to be completely TERRIFYING? I mean like, I get their usual shenanigans... But I can't even begin to wrap my head around this. I am scared shitless. Because who knows what they'll do next...
Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
looks like he had a great birthday! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzqNkIkj3rE
Offering praise to 4chan for this is like cheering for a 14 year old kid who just figured out how to not shit in his pants.
I remember the United States declared bankruptcy in 1933, and needed a war to get the population on a mobilizations scheme to assure the retention of viable industry that would've been exported as a result of creditors. I remember reading that US Navy threatened Japan with sanctions if they invaded Philipines and such, which the United States had no right for it's agency to say and do because *it* (the United States singular, not plural of the First Judiciary Act) had no interest as a claimant. So the United States staged Hawaii to be an immobilized weakened possibly-aggressive neutral collection of the greatest threat in the Pacific Ocean as a target for Japan to think about anhilating (and they did), just so the United States can come-around to declare war.
Apparently in the Constitution of the United States, war is the only activity that must be done to keep the Unitd States in existance or else The 48 united States of *America* are the ones that have the original exclusive cognizance and jurisdiction. Few know the United States are not the States of America because it's a foreign nation and corporation animated from the District of Columbia. That's why we have the War against Poverty, Drugs, Education, and the one thing they'll never declare war against is Apathy because just like the American Medical Association they only want to assure their verry existance by targeting the individual symptoms rather than the original cause of the problem.
without prejudice
Hi. Durring WW2 in my country, my mother joined the army when she was 8 years old. That's where she met her future husband, Commander Muhammad. I believe his penis was as long as her forearm, but they worked it in.
All the CP on 4Chan is the kind that is concealed in evidence repositories in government offices held by prosecutors and such. When you see that kind of gruesome and implicit material posted on 4Chan, then that proves the government officers are funneling it around between them in their enjoyment and as-well trying to entrap others by punnishing the 1st-amendment world in polluting it onto all the Bulletin Boards.
If someone posts CP on a Bus Station bench, do you blame the bench and remove it that everyone is required to stand-up in waiting for the bus? Do you blame spelling errors on the pen or him that wields the pen?
You shouldn't have thrown that puppy, bitch!
As for denial, one victim is enough already. That settles it. Let them talk on the details as they want, they are details.
Some Holocaust deniers argue that it happened at a much lower scale than commonly believed.
While a small number of murders still sucks, it's better than a large amount of murders. So discussing scale is important.
Yes, Holocaust denial is an interesting test of free speech.
Do anti-Holocaust-denial laws martyr such people (at least in their minds) as "OMG my free speech is being stifled"?
NB - I think denial's at least as nonsensical and illogical as other conspiracy theories, with higher gravitas
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.