Comments

  2. James Birkett says

    Well, wearing yellow spandex certainly would complete the Pharangula superhero outfit. You’d need a name for your flying superhero alter ego of course…

  5. kristinc says

    We’re having a Very Tantrum Weekend at chez kristinc. Mr Kristin and I are cracking down on our adorable, intelligent, but spoiled 7-year-old. (YES, you have to pick up your things or there will be consequences. NO, crying and howling will not change it. NO, you may not go play in the bouncy house across the street if you’ve lost your shoes and NO, I will not find your shoes for you.)

    I will not be drinking because alcohol + depression is doubleplusungood, but please hoist one for me if you can indulge.

  6. says

    That is how I’ve always wanted to commute to work. I mean the iphone is awesome and everything, but I’ve been waiting for my goddamn jet-pack-of-the-future since at least fourth grade.

    Now that I work from home, though, it might be a bit of overkill.

  8. Brother Ogvorbis, Fully Defenestrated Emperor of Steam, Fire and Absurdity says

    That’s a really cool video. I found myself trying to remember the geologic sequence in the western end of the canyon. I think (and I may be wrong, here) that we are looking at (top to botom) the Kaibab Limestone (late Permian), Hermit Shale, the Coconino Sandstone (aeolian, not fluviolacustrine), a thinned Supai formation (mixed fluviolacustrine shales, sandstones and limestones), Redwall Limestone (it’s actually creamy white, but the red from the Supai washes down) and a thickened Temple Butte Limestone (which is a gentle purple). If I remember correctly, the Bright Angel Shale and Tapeats Limestone, as well as the Precambrian Vishnu Schist, are well below the river level in this area. Of course, the early morning light makes it harder to see the colours.

    At the same time, I also found myself getting a little pissed off while watching. The Hualapai Nation, who were dumped into an area which is totally unsuited for any form of agriculture, too warm for logging or any other form of viticulture, minimal mineral resources, and not enough moisture for pastoral activities (sheep or cattle). In short, the Hualapai Reservation is an economic dead end.

    The Nation has embraced tourism (the ‘Grand Canyon Skywalk’), gambling, and renting their part of the Grand Canyon out to anyone who wants to make a buck doing something that the NPS would say “Not only no, but hell no” to. Unfortunately, the money to create the skywalk and the casino came from outside investors and the tribe makes almost no money, other than the wages paid to the workers (and the wages are really low). Prior to the gambling and the skywalk, one of the very few sources of income for the tribe was a per-person fee charged to each person participating in a whitewater rafting or dory trip using the road which wended up from the river to the highway, via the reservation.

    So, once again, we (the European settlers (and yes, I am a descendent of a whole line of them, including quite a few who worked for the BIA in the DOI back in the mid to late 1800s and were thus definately in the screwer camp (the Native Americans were in the screwee camp))) have pushed a nation into an economically unviable area and are now busy exploiting them via investments which create jobs.

    Shit. Sorry ’bout that. Having gone to school with kids who spent at least part of every year on the resevations (Hopi, Navajo, and Havasu), I have a rather jaundiced view of the reservation system and the benevolent care of the BIA.

  9. says

    kristinc 5:

    I will not be drinking because alcohol + depression is doubleplusungood, but please hoist one for me if you can indulge.

    One? I have so got you covered.

    Depression is horrible, and I hope you are getting effective help for it.

    Hope you hang in there for the sake of yourself, your kid, and the rest of humanity.

  13. Brother Ogvorbis, Fully Defenestrated Emperor of Steam, Fire and Absurdity says

    I think I just had an orgasm.

    Or was it another earthquake?

  14. Carlie says

    My favorite line (not a spoiler): “Guilt! Guilt! More guilt! Isn’t there anyone in the universe I haven’t screwed up?”

  15. says

    I will not be drinking because alcohol + depression is doubleplusungood

    Well, I disagree. I found it much better than depression by itself. And these days, I just drink because I’m bored most nights.

  16. randomfactor42 says

    You’d need a name for your flying superhero alter ego of course…

    “Squidnunc.”

  19. chigau () says

    Iris Vander Pluym
    Please do not try to tell me how my body works.
    —–
    Rorschach

    I found it much better than depression by itself.

    I’ve never said this before but
    QFT.

  20. Carlie says

    I actually really liked that. I really did. And I’ve been hating on Moffat for all of the crap and discontinuity and rewriting his own storylines etc.

    But I really, really liked that.

  23. starstuff91 says

    Just watched the new Doctor Who. My mind is currently on the wall across the room.

  28. Philip Legge says

    Of course, ABC Australia isn’t showing the new Who until next Saturday, so I’ll have to stick fingers in ears, say “la la la la can’t hear you“ and ignore the Endless Thread (at least until the horribly slow torrent finishes)…

  29. chigau () says

    I live across the street from my office. I’d take the scenic route.

    I sleep downstairs from my office. Scenic route includes the dirty dishes in the sink and the piles of laundry.

    Did I have a point?

  31. says

    There are Doctor Who spoilers up there, isn’t it? I guess navigating the thread isn’t safe for now.

    @Carlie
    I always have thought the show lived and breathed discontinuity and plot holes. Even as I first watched the first four season of New Who.

  32. Snowshoe the Canuck says

    The new episode answers so many questions and confirms a few wild guesses of mine. Fezzes and top hats are cool! OOOOPS, should have put SPOILER ALERT at the top.

    I just bought Unearthly Child which was much better than I thought it would be. I haven’t seen many of the 1st three Doctor episodes. Why did the doctor have to leave Galifrey? Was it ever explained?

  34. Carlie says

    Not really any spoilers above – the comments are ambiguous enough, I think.

    I just posted in the other thread, but the AV Club has reviews of a lot of the classic Who and new Who. And, of course, Television Without Pity – some of Jacob’s recaps are pieces of art all in their own.

  35. starstuff91 says

    Harry Dean Stanton, Sean Penn, Elvis Costello, John Cryer, Charlie Sheen … what do these actors have in common?

    Most of their DNA? They all have Y chromosomes? They can’t pass on their mitochondrial DNA to their offspring?

  37. says

    So, once again, we (the European settlers)… have pushed a nation into an economically unviable area and are now busy exploiting them via investments which create jobs.

    Shit. Sorry ’bout that.

    Sorry about what?

    The invaders wiped out 90% of the Natives with smallpox and the like, then claimed it was *god’s will*. While the Native People were being destroyed, they were force-fed “treaties” that ruined them further.

    I’m leaving out the reprehensible wars here. (See “Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America” by Kerry A. Trask.)

    It pisses me off to no end that to this day, Sovereign Nation status is still being exploited by self-entitled, over-moneyed Euros and Organised-Crime Syndicates.

    Something that pisses me off more?

    Why can’t Indians just be Americans like the rest of us? Why should they have some special privilege to operate casinos?

    State governments are cutting into the action as I write this.

    /end rant

  39. Randide, ou l'Optimisme says

    Harry Dean Stanton, Sean Penn, Elvis Costello, John Cryer, Charlie Sheen … what do these actors have in common?

    May I assume you are looking for a deeper answer then “They have all been on “Two and a Half Men”?

  40. Snowshoe the Canuck says

    If I knew jet packs were on the market now, I wouldn’t have bought a new car. I have 2 ways to get to work:Freeway construction or via a bridge reconstruction that is 10 months overdue would be a thing of the past. One question: how many cup holders does the standard model jet pack have?

  42. says

    The SciFi pay TV channel over here is currently showing Doctor Who episodes with Tom Baker from the 70s, not really my cup of tea I have to say. They “haven’t aged well” is the term I think.

    So you East Coast people still have power then, I take it ? I hope everyone’s safe !

  43. Brother Ogvorbis, Fully Defenestrated Emperor of Steam, Fire and Absurdity says

    Kamaka:

    I was apologizing because it was a total nonsequitor and was only a free-association by me from the video. And I think your 90% number may be way too low.

    Good night.

    Tomorrow, I still have to go to work. Even though there will be zero visitors, and it will be hazardous for some of my coworkers to get there, we’ll still be open.

  47. says

    So you East Coast people still have power then, I take it ? I hope everyone’s safe !

    Some. So far. Hasn’t hit here yet. My Kindle is charged.

    (People who work at Staples have a bad rep, but they were so sweet and helpful. In fact, they were like, “Enjoy your new Kindle!” like it was a motorcycle or ticket to Fiji or something. …But then I started to use it, and it is like those.

    …Well, OK, I’d be happy to have my Kindle in my backpack on a motorcycle in Fiji…)

  49. Owlmirror says

    @starstuff91

    @ Owlmirror
    Why are those things?

    Those are the equations from:

    Styer DF. 2008. Entropy and evolution. Am J Phys. 76(11):1031-1033.

    That PZ posted about here, which I was looking up for references to post in the response to Bryan Fischer’s repeated idiocy.

  51. First Approximation (formerly Feynmaniac) says

    Those are the equations from:

    Styer DF. 2008. Entropy and evolution. Am J Phys. 76(11):1031-1033.

    That PZ posted about here, which I was looking up for references to post in the response to Bryan Fischer’s repeated idiocy.

    I remember that. It was the thread with Teno Groppi. That was a fun chew toy!

    One of my favourite quotes:

    Aren’t you at least curious as to whats in the Bible pertaining to future technology?

    Here was one of his examples:

    We read about Joshua and his battle at Jericho. Joshua 6:3-4 – And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. Today the military has developed devices that use high frequency sound waves to cause nausea and disorientate an enemy.

    And speaking of Godwin:

    You people need to get a life and escape out of the realm of satans control. You know, I veagly remember one of Hitlers tactics of control….. The same idea of evolutionist thinking seem to be very prevelent here and working in the fields of science.

    Good times.

  52. speedwell says

    I’m confused, what is the song that was playing for most of the video? My friend WANTS that song. BAD.

  54. says

    FWIW, I can’t parse that triple negative either, and wouldn’t have appreciated that snarky response either. But then, I don’t remember the context of that argument, and who you dislike is not really my concern. I was confused at the random hostility though, and that’s explained now

  55. says

    FWIW, I can’t parse that triple negative either, and wouldn’t have appreciated that snarky response either. But then, I don’t remember the context of that argument, and who you dislike is not really my concern. I was confused at the random hostility though, and that’s explained now

    chigau, like pteryxx, is an opportunistic troll.

    Have at it, FB.

  60. 'Tis Himself, pour encourager les autres says

    Speedwell #52

    I’m confused, what is the song that was playing for most of the video? My friend WANTS that song. BAD.

    It’s Adiemus by Nazca.



  61. says

    whatever. last i checked, admitting to not understanding something is not a personal attack.

    Oh. FFS. First, ML didn’t entirely misunderstand me. She (snarkily) did understand, or she wouldn’t have “translated” it, which was a statement in context. Then chigau opportunistically threw in, as is chigau’s obnoxious habit. If you think in the context of that argument about real issues that such picayune nonsense about disingenuously misunderstood triple negatives was significant, then you’re stupid. It was a bullshit tangent.

  62. says

    @Snowshoe
    I think the second Doctor’s last story, The War Games kind of explains it. It is not very detailed, but he still gives a reason. Although if you are going to watch that, be ready to watch 10 episodes.

  63. otrame says

    I started this last night on a whim in the Paula Kirby thread and decided to put this edited version here.

    Because I can’t seem to kick my addiction to enumeration:

    Scoresheet for Chewtoys
    1. Insults community on first comment (1-5 points). Add a point if PZ is explicitly insulted.

    2. States that we are mindless followers of PZ (1-3 points, depending on how insistent they are on this point). Mention of echo chambers, add 1 point to base score.

    3. Lays claim to superior education (1-6 points, depending on degree of arrogance and appeals to their own authority) Inclusion of actual, accredited institution of higher education that has conferred degree(s) with dates, subtract 1 point from base score.

    4. Claims to have written extensively and convincingly on a proof of God’s existence (1-5 points depending on just how pathetic the attempt to get people to read their stuff is). Failure to provide links add 1 point; writings can only be viewed if paid for, add 2 points to base score.

    5. Claims atheism is a religion, and it takes more faith not to believe in God than to believe in God*. (1-5 points, depending on whether any attempt is made to give an example—thus the flat statement “atheism requires more faith than religion does” unadorned gets a 5). Versions that substitute “evolution”, “the big bang”, and/or “science” for “atheism” are acceptable and are scored in a similar fashion.
    6. Insists atheists are 1) living empty lives; 2) hate God; 3) pretend not to believe in God so we can be really, really naughty (1-8 points, the more variations on this theme the higher the score).

    7. Does not answer any questions from community members (1-3 points) Replies of “answers are in my writings” (see 3, above) add 1 point to base score.

    8. States as obvious facts things that have repeatedly been shown, in peer-reviewed journals, to be false and refusal to acknowledge any comment pointing this out (1-8 points depending on degree of frustration engendered).

    9. Complains about insults and bad language (1-10 points depending on how hard pearls are clutched and whether fainting couch is used) If they insist that the use of obscenities by opponents prove they are correct, add 2 points to base score.
 If they use “ad hominem” as a synonym for “insult”, add one point.
    10. States that they have done all they can in this den of vipers (or equivalent phrase) and that they will now leave, then continues to argue (1-5 points depending soon after they flounce that they return).


    ———-
    Extra points to add to overall score.
    –Misspells Myers, add 2 points.
    –Sticks the flounce, subtract 2 points
    ———-

    Anyone who can think of better things to score, let me know.

    *Tis Himself provided this one. Good call.

  65. chigau (opportunistic troll) says

    otrame
    Looks good but it’s really complex.
    Do you have a spreadsheet?

  66. otrame says

    Do I have a spreadsheet. Hell, I have a spreadsheet that shows where to get recipes for various things to cook in WoW. Of course I have a spreadsheet.

  67. otrame says

    Oh, and BTW, Tom Baker was my first Doctor, so you guys aren’t allowed to say mean things about him. Ever. (or if you do, I will assume that you are suffering from a) ignorance; or b) temporary insanity and I won’t hold it against you.)

    As for the newest version, I was afraid at first that someone that young might be able to do the “nutter” part and possibly the “wise” part, but could he do “The Oncoming Storm”? Answer? Why yes, and very well. So I am happy.

  69. says

    She (snarkily) did understand, or she wouldn’t have “translated” it, which was a statement in context.

    bullshit. she did exactly what I’d have done when unsure about a meaning: rephrased it into what I thought it meant, and ask for confirmation. In fact, I was taught to do exactly that when not entirely sure about what someone else meant.

    If you think in the context of that argument about real issues that such picayune nonsense about disingenuously misunderstood triple negatives was significant, then you’re stupid.

    fine, I guess I’m stupid. I find making sure I understood what someone is saying especially important in conversations that matter.

    Then chigau opportunistically threw in, as is chigau’s obnoxious habit.

    as opposed to everyone else on pharyngula. I guess we’re all opportunistic trolls, with the possible exception of Sastra.

    I’m fucking sorry I asked.

  70. chigau (opportunistic troll) says

    otrame

    Of course I have a spreadsheet.

    Ah. You are after me own heart.
    I have spreadsheets for everything.
    My first DVD catalog had 35 columns.
    Then I came to my senses.

  72. says

    bullshit. she did exactly what I’d have done when unsure about a meaning: rephrased it into what I thought it meant, and ask for confirmation. In fact, I was taught to do exactly that when not entirely sure about what someone else meant.

    Your poor little brain – please help it!

    I find making sure I understood what someone is saying especially important in conversations that matter.

    *whoosh*

    as opposed to everyone else on pharyngula. I guess we’re all opportunistic trolls,

    Nope. The record is there.

    How sad.

  73. says

    Your poor little brain – please help it!

    and this is indeed why a lot of people do not read your posts.

    Nope. The record is there.

    indeed it is; and it is one of everyone on pharyngula having at some point been an opportunistic asshole to anyone else on pharyngula. but you’ve always had a hard time seeing that, even when you’re the target of that behavior

  77. says

    and this is indeed why a lot of people do not read your posts.

    Did you not catch the reference to ML’s comment?

    Probably not.

    And you know you read my posts. Give it up.

    indeed it is; and it is one of everyone on pharyngula having at some point been an opportunistic asshole to anyone else on pharyngula. but you’ve always had a hard time seeing that, even when you’re the target of that behavior

    Blather.

  78. Therrin says

    onunun gung jnf njrfbzr jura gur fghag thl ghearq naq qrpxrq gur qevire

    Ok done with the spoilers; wish more TV could be like this, though, especially having the behind-the-scene bits. I walked in on my brother watching Jersey Shore in Italy last night, quality worked hard to stay off-camera.

  79. Crudely Wrott, Pats Death's Head, Nods, Smiles and Leaves says

    I just had a rare, complete conversation with my aspy nephew who just popped in toward the end of the Jetman video. He and I are in total agreement: We’d both strap on that wing in a heartbeat.

    Is sad, though, that he is so apprehensive about Irene. The idea of extreme weather bothers him badly. One of the reasons I’m trying to stay awake is because he is such a night owl. He and I are the only ones awake in the house. I’d like to ride out the storm with him. Might enhance our tenuous relationship.

    @Audley — I cheered too when Mr. D. came home. :)

  82. chigau *** says

    Crudely Wrott
    Stay awake.
    You and nephew could really bond. (absent any disaster)
    —-
    I am with you two.
    I’d put on that wing without a second thought.
    also
    nice funeral for Helen.

  83. says

    There’s no point in claiming that this was purely about a misunderstanding, or really about a misunderstanding at all.

    of course not. people can’t both disagree with you (and be wrong) and make stupid quips about misunderstanding something, no they must do it because of their inherent desire to be assholes to you. because that’s how reality works.

    but that’s just more blather from the stupid person. I shall take my poor brain and do something useful with it, elsewhere [/flounce]

  84. says

    of course not. people can’t both disagree with you (and be wrong) and make stupid quips about misunderstanding something, no they must do it because of their inherent desire to be assholes to you. because that’s how reality works.

    but that’s just more blather from the stupid person. I shall take my poor brain and do something useful with it, elsewhere [/flounce]

    Uh…OK.

  85. Crudely Wrott, Pats Death's Head, Nods, Smiles and Leaves says

    chigau: “I am with you two.”

    Thanks. Means much. Thanks again.

    Heathens are often the kindest people I meet. Of course, there are exceptions that test the rule; who the hell glued a hair across SC’s ass? And how come SC can’t deal with it without stinking up the thread?

    I’m not going to review umpty-ump comments to find out. I needn’t know but such shit does make me so very weary. Way tired. Too tired to do more than be glad that few have such problems with getting along with others on an adult level.

  86. says

    Of course, there are exceptions that test the rule; who the hell glued a hair across SC’s ass? And how come SC can’t deal with it without stinking up the thread?

    Crudely, I don’t know what you’re talking about. You might want to review the comments over the past several months, including the responses to your personal posts.

  87. tohellwithyourturtle says

    Bullshit. You don’t have the balls to do that. If you want to prove that you do possess the fortitude to do such I hereby invite you to rappel with me. You can tie the rope off, put on the harness, and whatever else you want to do. Buy your own gear if that makes you happy. I want proof that you can follow through. Jump off of a cliff (safely) and I’ll take your boast seriously.

  88. Crudely Wrott, Pats Death's Head, Nods, Smiles and Leaves says

    Whups! Forgot to recommend the following Hurricane Brewskis:

    Bass, world’s first Pale Ale, first brewed in 1777.

    Red Hook Pilsner. “May not look it, but has a dark side.”

    MMmmmMMMMmmmm, Goooooood.

  90. tohellwithyourturtle says

    Classical Cipher, *sigh* some of us want more than posturing. *sigh again*

  93. Crudely Wrott, Pats Death's Head, Nods, Smiles and Leaves says

    SC, I have enjoyed responses to my comments here for several years. Almost all have been supportive, agreeable, funny, instructive, clarifying and constructive. I can’t recall any that made me go off on a tirade.

    There are always things in the threads that I am unaware of because there simply is not time to review several month’s worth of comments just to discover someone’s personal gripe.

    If there is a crucial element that I am ignorant of that is simply an effect of the sheer volume here. Nonetheless, sequential comments that are posted in order to prove that someone else is responsible for the poster’s sense of being treated unfairly on the internet are tiring and fruitless.

    I will retract my statement that your comments here are “stinking up the thread”. I shall substitute the statement that they are lending to the thread a pedestrian cachet.

    Only my opinion and you are, as always, free to call it what you will. I do know that you often post comments that are interesting and intriguing.

    For now I recommend a liberal application of Ulg* to the affected area.

    *Ulg: from The Phantom Tollbooth. Does the opposite of Glue.

  94. kristinc says

    I … do not think I have the libretto for this part of the program. *confused*

    Anyway. I’m making English muffins from scratch right now. (Yes, at almost midnight, why do you ask?)

  95. says

    If there is a crucial element that I am ignorant of that is simply an effect of the sheer volume here. Nonetheless, sequential comments that are posted in order to prove that someone else is responsible for the poster’s sense of being treated unfairly on the internet are tiring and fruitless.

    That’s fine, CW.

  96. Crudely Wrott, Pats Death's Head, Nods, Smiles and Leaves says

    That’s fine, CW.

    I’ll take you at your word, SC.

  97. tohellwithyourturtle says

    Talk about picking uninteresting fights.

    Isn’t that the point here? Why else would one cry and refuse to man up? I suspect that your “intestinal fortitude” in meatspace is inversely proportional to your chutzpa on the internet. I’m sorry you are a coward, but I’m sure your boasts help you get by. Keep telling yourself that you are awesome, maybe you’ll believe it someday.

  98. Classical Cipher, OM says

    Isn’t that the point here? Why else would one cry and refuse to man up? I suspect that your “intestinal fortitude” in meatspace is inversely proportional to your chutzpa on the internet. I’m sorry you are a coward, but I’m sure your boasts help you get by. Keep telling yourself that you are awesome, maybe you’ll believe it someday.

    Ah, fuck. Look at this pathetic, tedious loser of a troll. In the lounge trying to pick fights, but only able to provoke yawns. What a sad – and yet thoroughly uncompelling – display.

  100. says

    Hallo everyone. Work, work, work. Not the work I should be doing, but moving stuff about and cleaning up the usual mess my house is, ’cause Kamaka will be here Tuesday. :D

    CW:

    from The Phantom Tollbooth.

    Oh, one of my most favourite books of all time. Gee, I haven’t re-read that for almost 5 years now. Time to take it off the shelf again.

    SC, your marathon grudge holding is well known, and you’re free to hold grudges all you like, however, I don’t think you need to be all nasty to everyone who isn’t interested in who you’re hatin’ right now.

    Okay, gonna read for a bit then it’s back to work. Thunder is grumbling, another storm is moving in.

  103. tohellwithyourturtle says

    Satire? Very weak satire, but yes.
    @Caine, could you be any more boring? I know you’re trying, but if that is the best you can do…Cupcake, you’re not as smart as you think you are.

  104. says

    I’m not going to review umpty-ump comments to find out. I needn’t know but such shit does make me so very weary. Way tired. Too tired to do more than be glad that few have such problems with getting along with others on an adult level.

    Ah. So you’re a lazy asshole willing to attack others on the basis of limited knowledge. Got it.

  105. Classical Cipher, OM says

    tohellwithyourturtle, satire?

    If I recall correctly, tohellwithyourturtle’s been here for a bit, making infantile dominance displays in the Markuze threads and generally being boring as hell. I could look it up but I’m paralyzed with not caring very much. Too exhaustingly dull to be satire. Could be a failed attempt.

  106. tohellwithyourturtle says

    I love how my reply is delayed which allows cupcake, I mean Caine, to imagine victory.
    Try harder sweet muffin; as if you can.

  107. says

    SC, your marathon grudge holding is well known, and you’re free to hold grudges all you like, however, I don’t think you need to be all nasty to everyone who isn’t interested in who you’re hatin’ right now.

    Against whom specifically have I held a marathon grudge? I would love to know.

  108. says

    turtlebrain seems a rather dim pathetic loser who spends his or her time trolling internet blogs. Banning it would not lose us any information.

  109. tohellwithyourturtle says

    Is the idea of an iconoclast too much for you to handle? Does it piss you off so badly that somebody thinks differently than you (albeit very slightly)? Why do you feel that you must insult me for poking at you? Are you that thin-skinned?
    In short what you are saying is “waa waa.” Grow the fuck up and learn to look at yourself with a sense of humor before you wig the fuck out. In short, grow the fuck up and lose the persecution complex.

  110. Midnight Rambler says

    SC @61:

    Then chigau opportunistically threw in, as is chigau’s obnoxious habit. If you think in the context of that argument about real issues that such picayune nonsense about disingenuously misunderstood triple negatives was significant, then you’re stupid. It was a bullshit tangent.

    Goddammit. My irony meter is smoking again. The projection detector probably needs to be replaced.

  111. John Morales says

    tohellwithyourturtle, hm.

    Well, I can see why you focus on your meat self, anyway. :)

  112. Therrin says

    Since you know me so well, let me know when I’m done wigging. Is it alright if I try a bit of toupeeing while I’m at it, or would that fuck up my growing?

  113. Classical Cipher, OM says

    SC, right now you seem to be lashing out at everybody (including parties who are clearly not involved in any kind of fight with you that they know of) in a way that’s really disconcerting. I get the sense that you’re frustrated, but I don’t understand if you’re reacting directly to something that’s happening in this thread or simply airing long-held grievances. (I know about some of these because of being around for other threads or looking them up, but I know I’ve missed a lot of context and other stuff along the way.) Anyway, I don’t mean to presume, but is everything all right? Are you?

  114. Midnight Rambler says

    tohell:

    Is the idea of an iconoclast too much for you to handle?

    So you’re saying you’re just here for the purpose of being annoying? Thanks for clarifying that.

  115. tohellwithyourturtle says

    turtlebrain seems a rather dim pathetic loser who spends his or her time trolling internet blogs. Banning it would not lose us any information.

    You state that with the same authority that I use to state that you rape babies. Which is none. What’s really cute is the fact that you assume to know the reason for my moniker. You would fit in well on conspiracy sites where random bullshit and insults are taken as truth.

  118. says

    Does it piss you off so badly that somebody thinks differently than you (albeit very slightly)?

    I haven’t seen any evidence yet that you are capable of thinking. What I do know is that you are stinking up my living room with your obnoxiousness. So how about finding another blog to vent your vacuous vapors ?

  119. tohellwithyourturtle says

    I love my meatself! Tiny though it may be, it pleases me when combined with my hand.

  121. tohellwithyourturtle says

    So you’re saying you’re just here for the purpose of being annoying? Thanks for clarifying that.

    Not a problem sweetheart.

  122. Therrin says

    Yeah it’s installed, I’m waiting with bated breath to hear the story of The Turtle That Done Wronged Him. Hopefully it’s a picture book.

  123. says

    Interesting interview with Behe’s son.

    Leo seems to have come to his senses regarding real evidence for design of life, the universe. Good for the science side, if nothing really new to us.

    He seems to be more or less disowning his earlier implications of the elder Behes as having been oppressive to him over his break with Michael’s nonsense (creationism, theism). No explanation of the earlier claims, though (was he exaggerating, in fact, or did M. Behe back down due to publicity–or other scenarios?), so I expect the truth will be lost in the murk of history.

    Glen Davidson

  124. tohellwithyourturtle says

    I haven’t seen any evidence yet that you are capable of thinking. What I do know is that you are stinking up my living room with your obnoxiousness. So how about finding another blog to vent your vacuous vapors ?

    You’re so cute! Anger due to glibness, that’s a new tack to take. Unfortunately, you lack the capacity for reasoned thought, so you missed that.

  126. tohellwithyourturtle says

    Yes, turtles are cool, I have one in my kitchen in a 20 gallon tank. However, regardless of fact, you want to denigrate somebody for…what exactly? What do you know about my pets? What do you know about the reasoning behind my moniker? What was that? Assumptions? I thought so.

  127. John Morales says

    tohellwithyourturtle

    I love my meatself! Tiny though it may be, it pleases me when combined with my hand.

    I hope it’s less inept than your cyber-wanking.

    (Does it take you just as long to get off?)

  129. Classical Cipher, OM says

    That’s the best picture I’ve ever seen in my life.

    While giggling aloud, I second that. Hereby showing approximately everybody.

  134. Classical Cipher, OM says

    Moving on.

    Me too. Hey, weren’t you one of the folks talking about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo x threads ago? I started reading it today because of that conversation. It’s awesome. So, uh, if that was you, thanks, I guess?
    (I tried to watch the movie last night. Got about an hour in before realizing that it was not an appropriate late-night movie choice for me. Maybe we’ll give it another go after I read the book.)

  135. tohellwithyourturtle says

    Awww, rorschach is anally hurt because he was wrong. Damn you internet!!!11!one!!1

  136. Midnight Rambler says

    Go here to get a killfile of your very own!

    Thanks very much indeedy! I think I saw that before but neglected to install it.

    How does “secret comic sans” work?

  137. Crudely Wrott, Pats Death's Head, Nods, Smiles and Leaves says

    Well, then.

    In the light of parts of the foregoing and in deference to the human condition, not to mention the uncertainty with which our foibles are so unpredictably manifest, I hereby propose the establishment of

    The League of Thickening Hides and Duck

    membership in which may be summarily assumed by any aspirant who qualifies themselves by showing proficiency in the following two skills:

    1) Developing calluses on those parts that are subject to abuse and irritation from causes not readily avoided so as to provide a cushioned barrier to unexpected abrasion.
    2) Emulating the feathers on a duck’s back off of which the foulest waters are shed.

    It has been observed that such skills greatly contribute to equanimity and a sort of resonant harmony that some people say they experience both inwardly and outwardly. I once heard an adept describe “not beating up and not beating down” as “living inside the interstices of personalities while trying to leave ’em slow but leave ’em laughing without instinctively grabbing the shitty end of the stick”.

    No dues or novel behavior are required. Members are not required to adopt flags or secret handshakes.

    The benefits of membership are self evident. Ask the duck and look at the hands of laborers.

    Ignorantly and cruelly submitted for your consideration,

    Crudely Wrott

  138. Midnight Rambler says

    I just saw the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movies a couple of weeks ago. Freakin’ awesome. I was planning to just watch one before going to bed and then ended up staying up until 5 AM to see them all in succession (they’re among the few movies I want to see that are available for streaming on Netflix). Now I have to read the books.

  139. says

    Got about an hour in before realizing that it was not an appropriate late-night movie choice for me.

    Why ever not ? It can’t be worse than reading the book at night, where you might as well not go to work the next day because you didn’t get any sleep in ! The Hollywood/Daniel Craig version is due to start filming in September btw…..

  140. Classical Cipher, OM says

    How does “secret comic sans” work?

    You use the blockquote cite tag above, and the thing in the quotation marks is “creationist”. It should make whatever you’re quoting appear in comic sans, with the creationist gumby behind it. But only to you and those people in the EXCLUSIVE SECRET COMIC SANS CLUB.(My prodigiously powerful powers of explanation are fading for the evening, so if that didn’t make sense, I apologize.)

  141. tohellwithyourturtle says

    @Rorschach: I hope you are loaded because I just ruptured myself laughing at your whining. Cheers!

    *picking a rib up off of the floor*

  142. Midnight Rambler says

    Damn, not only is Behe’s son an atheist, he was flipped by reading Dawkins!

  143. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    Doctor Who? Doctor Who started yesterday and I FORGOT?!?!
    I was convinced it was starting (continuing) in September. Damn.

  144. says

    Classical Cipher:

    I tried to watch the movie last night. Got about an hour in before realizing that it was not an appropriate late-night movie choice for me. Maybe we’ll give it another go after I read the book.

    The movies are outstanding, Noomi Rapace is perfection as Lisbeth as is Michael Nyqvist as Blomkvist. That said, I had a very difficult time with the first movie due to certain themes and scenes. Definitely not a late night while alone flick for many of us.

    The books are wonderful too, I enjoyed all three.

  145. Midnight Rambler says

    (My prodigiously powerful powers of explanation are fading for the evening, so if that didn’t make sense, I apologize.)

    Nope, got it (no implications of the above, just testing :)

  146. says

    Rorschach:

    Why ever not?

    I can’t speak for CC, but the rape scene was very difficult for me to get through (it wasn’t easy reading, either).

    The Hollywood/Daniel Craig version is due to start filming in September btw…..

    I couldn’t be less interested in a Hollywood version. Some things simply don’t need to be done.

  147. Classical Cipher, OM says

    Why ever not ?

    Cos of that scene an hour in.

    It can’t be worse than reading the book at night, where you might as well not go to work the next day because you didn’t get any sleep in !

    Hehe, that’s projected for tonight and tomorrow… I’m trying to tell myself not to pick up the Kindle again, but it’s a losing battle.

    The Hollywood/Daniel Craig version is due to start filming in September btw…..

    Right now, I’m so (yes, prematurely, but I think fairly) in love with Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth that I kinda cringe at the thought of the Hollywood version.

    The books are wonderful too, I enjoyed all three.

    Oh thank goodness! I had this lingering worry that they could not maintain the level of awesome that I was currently experiencing for long.
    Goodnight to all! Hugs to the hugworthy! (Y’all know who you are :))

  148. says

    Ah, yes of course. Sorry for not thinking of the effect of that rape scene. My bad. And I agree, Noomi (who declined the role for Hollywood) is the only person who can possibly play Salander.

  151. Midnight Rambler says

    And I agree, Noomi (who declined the role for Hollywood) is the only person who can possibly play Salander.

    Hmm…I’m not sure about that. Granted, she was incredible, but if you look at a random picture of her she doesn’t necessarily jump out as the one to play that role, and it doesn’t look like she had a big career before then. So I wouldn’t necessarily write that off.

    I’m more worried about dumbing down everything and reducing it to action scenes. OTOH, I did hear that Let Me In, the US remake of Let The Right One In, was at least as good as the original, so that gives me hope. Especially given how much they fucked up the subtitles for the DVD of LTROI (supposed to be fixed, but it’s still what you get streaming on Netflix).

  152. says

    OTOH, I did hear that Let Me In, the US remake of Let The Right One In, was at least as good as the original, so that gives me hope.

    I agree, that movie gained some momentum in the remake IMO, but I saw the remake first and then checked out the original, so I might be biased…You couldn’t really go wrong with that one though, the story was just too good.

  155. says

    @kristinc
    I’m currently reading this
    I’m not thorough it yet, and I’m far from really having changed my ways, but so far it’s good read, makes sense, gives another view on your children and has, I think, already helped me getting over this negative emotions I’ve been having.
    I like how the author constantly tries to make you see your kids’ actions in a positive way. Your kid picks a fight? Hey, cool, your kid wants to interact with you!

    Two problems so far:
    -Mr. can’t read it because it’s in English and so far my attempts to “educating him” haven’t had the desired effects. I can understand him, I wouldn’t want to have my behaviour constantly criticised and I can’t really translate all of it for him.

    -It makes me see much clearer what my own mum is doing right now and has always done. My sis just wrote that she’s being ignored. It’s something she always did and boils down to “I want you to hurt as much as you can until you crawl back to me and beg for my love”

    Chigau O:
    Many happy returns

    Well, I disagree. I found it much better than depression by itself. And these days, I just drink because I’m bored most nights.

    Ehm, you know that’s a bad road to go down.
    I’m rather sensitive about this right at the moment. But you’re an intelligent adult, you have a choice and it’s yours to make.

    otrame:
    Like your list :)

    Hmm, there seems to be an illegal agreement between companies that produce organizer boxes and companies that produce sewing supplies like horribly over-priced boxes to store your thread in.
    All the boxes are like 5mm too low to store the thread in…

    The Hollywood/Daniel Craig version is due to start filming in September btw…..

    Yuck
    As much as I like Daniel Craig, but that just doesn’t come anywhere near the character

  161. 'Tis Himself, pour encourager les autres says

    Good morning, all.

    I won’t be sailing today because the rain is a mite heavy and the boat’s in a storage shed. So as long as I have power and an internet connection, I’ll be inflicting myself on you poor people.

  162. triskelethecat says

    Morning, ‘Tis. I can understand why you aren’t sailing today!

    Glad PZ banned the boring turtle. I like turtles and this one was just an insult to all.

    Can anyone tell me why greasemonkey isn’t working in FtB? I have it installed and enabled, and it is working for Sciblogs but I don’t get the options to kill/hide in FtB.

    Going to get motivated to do some packing up. Bibliophiles should NOT move…

  163. says

    I may never catch up with The Endless Thread (or anything else for that matter), but here are a few better-late-than-never comments:

    Patricia, so glad to hear the doctors found that they had removed benign bits from your bits.

    Walton, welcome to the USA. We specialize in welcoming guests from the UK with hurricanes.

    ‘Tis Himself, I loved your contributions to the Tax the Rich thread. Especially this one. As I often do, I sent a copy of your comments to my excellent progeny. They will never be free of their mother as educator.

    Brother Ogvorbis, I have enjoyed numerous comments on various threads (though some of your jokes were bad, and I don’t mean that in a good way). This discourse on the goodliness and usefulness of fire was much appreciated. I just returned from an extended trip in Idaho’s Pioneer Mountains and White Cloud Peaks areas. The number of dead trees is disconcerting. Looks like flash fuel for fires. I was dismayed to see that bug-eaten, rotten-looking treescapes extended to above 9000 feet elevation. If trees are dead-by-means-other-than-bugs (Douglas-fir beetle, I think — but why the specific name when lodgepole pines and limber pines and other conifers are also infested?), anyway, if trees are dead by the usual, non-bug-related means, they can be really beautiful additions to the landscape.

  164. Tigger_the_Wing says

    I won’t be sailing today because the rain is a mite heavy and the boat’s in a storage shed.

    Lovely understatement there, ‘Tis!

    Thanks all for the turtle/tortoise pics. Nothing like a good belly-laugh before sleep! =^_^=

  165. says

    I don’t understand if you’re reacting directly to something that’s happening in this thread or simply airing long-held grievances.

    I made a comment to chigau. I can’t stand chigau. I did nothing to chigau or pteryxx, yet they’ve taken a number of opportunities to snipe at me. Jadehawk asked about it, and I pointed her to an example, which she then proceeded to defend (and to defend the original comment by ML, which was also obnoxious in context). This was surprising as Jadehawk recognized what was going on at the time.

    I’m not saying any more about it, as I’m sure PZ doesn’t want it dredged up again. I’m happy to go back to ignoring chigau as long as there’s no further sniping at me.

  166. Dhorvath, OM says

    Seems like a lot of effort for such a short commute. Maybe if they streamline the gearing up. Oh, and Adiemus, very nice.
    ___

    Doctor Who is science fiction fairy tales, if you are trying to squeeze continuity into it, your are trying too hard. I don’t expect much except a vague sense of possibility and a character who is offbeat with some normal companions to ground him. No, I have not seen the new season, I will at some point and I have little doubt that I will enjoy the brain candy.
    ___

    tohellwithyourturtle,
    The hell? This is a risk versus reward situation. Rapelling isn’t flying, it’s cool, and yes too scary for many, but it’s bounded far more than a personal jet aircraft. I do scary shit too, I just don’t understand what point you are trying to make.
    Ah, I see, trolling. Well, nice to see you go then.

  167. opposablethumbs, que le pouce enragé mette les pouces says

    Tax the rich thread – quiet over there now; just wanted to say thanks for the educational opportunity, especially ‘Tis (whose excellent summary has been copypasted into an .odt for me to re-read). This was a particularly brilliant thread, up there with the best.

  168. Frere Ogvorbis, temporarily dry says

    tohellwithyouturtle:

    Note the gravatar I use. I am already repelling*. That is me at age 6.

    * if I grabbed a quick shower, would I be less repelling?

  169. Dhorvath, OM says

    Hey, I finally got an ad for something I would like. Telescopes. No money to act, but that would suit just fine.

  170. Sili says

    Harry Dean Stanton, Sean Penn, Elvis Costello, John Cryer, Charlie Sheen … what do these actors have in common?

    They’re all listed in comments 33, 35, 39 and 170.

  172. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Colin Powell ripping Cheney a new one for being a grumpy, dishonest, headline seeking old fuck on Face the Nation.

    Pretty entertaining.

  173. drbunsen le savant fou says

    Bibliophiles should NOT move…

    Ramen to that. Halfway through my last move I started wondering whether building a robotic book scanner would be easier.

  174. Katrina, radicales féministes athées says

    Bibliophiles should NOT move…

    The reason I started reading e-books ten years ago is precisely because I’m a bibliophile and we move every three or four years. Unfortunately, because I was an early adopter, I have probably six different (DRM) file formats and can’t buy a dedicated reader for less than the cost of a netbook. So my netbook is my reader.

    Still, it weighs much less than the equivalent boxes of books.

  175. theophontes says

    @ DrBunsen [last TET]

    * picks up stick
    * hefts stick in hand
    * looks meaningfully at Classical Cypher
    * throws stick in a long, high arc way way way over there —>

    Aaah yes … Spawnphontes returns from the land down under with my new ‘rang tomorrow (not that I would fling it at CC though). Oh happy days!

    (That description looks too much like my experience with boomerangs to date. I have thrown money at the problem and hope for something in return…)

    Q: I’ve waved it all over the place.
    A: Have you tried …er … throwing it?

  176. says

    triskelethecat:

    Can anyone tell me why greasemonkey isn’t working in FtB? I have it installed and enabled, and it is working for Sciblogs but I don’t get the options to kill/hide in FtB.

    If you right click on greasemonkey, you should see at the top ‘killfile’ and ‘FtB killfile’. I had to uncheck ‘killfile’ in order to get the FtB one to work. At any rate, make sure you have ‘FtB killfile’ checked.

  177. Sili says

    Colin Powell ripping Cheney a new one for being a grumpy, dishonest, headline seeking old fuck on Face the Nation.

    Perhaps. But does he have any Weapons of Mass Destruction?

  181. Randide, ou l'Optimisme says

    Date canceled. Hockey canceled. Not enough wreckage outside to bother looting.

    I’m just whining.

    Again.

  184. Moggie says

    Bibliophiles should NOT move…

    I’m seriously considering getting one of those little Fujitsu ScanSnap scanners, sawing the spines off my paperbacks, and scanning them in. There are beautiful books I need to keep, of course, and others I won’t part with for sentimental reasons, but the bulk of my old books would be fine in electronic form.

  185. changeable moniker says

    @IndyM, so much more amazing I put it as the 1st link. ;-)

    @me, “Non-1st”?! “Subsequent”. That was the word I was looking for …

  186. IndyM says

    @Changeable Moniker

    I’m braindead this morning! Sorry for not noticing. I think Irene addled my brain…

  189. Midnight Rambler says

    I had to uncheck ‘killfile’ in order to get the FtB one to work.

    Funny, it works for me with the old one enabled. I never understand how all these things interfere with each other. I can watch every flash video except for the PBS ones (but PBS Kids works!). The flip side is that apparently whatever difference causes it to fail is the same thing that Comedy Central uses for their ads, because I can watch the Daily Show but don’t get any ads. On my work computer, I get both the ads and PBS, even though as far as I can tell all the settings are the same.

    changeable: I think if you just type in the link it embeds, but doesn’t if you code it, using a href=”url”>text/a> (add a “<" before the "a href" and "/a" to get it to work; the nohtml tag doesn't seem to work).

  192. says

    A Jewish Rabbi who claimed to have rescued a bunch of Holocaust-era scrolls has been outed as a criminal. Link

    Excerpt:

    A Wheaton-based rabbi who claimed he was the “Jewish Indiana Jones” and told daring stories of rescuing sacred Torah scrolls he said had survived the Holocaust was indicted Wednesday on two counts of mail and wire fraud.
         Menachem Youlus, 50, surrendered himself and his passport to authorities at the federal courthouse in New York Wednesday morning and was released in the afternoon on $100,000 bail.
         According to the U.S. attorney’s indictment, Youlus defrauded his own charitable nonprofit organization, Save a Torah Inc., and synagogues and individual contributors of hundreds of thousands of dollars from 2004 to 2010. Court documents further claim that Youlus embezzled $145,000 from Save a Torah by depositing checks made out to the organization directly into his account.
         The indictment indicates the money went to pay for personal expenses and for his children’s private school tuition.

  193. Patricia, OM says

    Lynna – Thanks, yep benign is great! But, I’ll join today’s whine…my doctor left the country on vacation after leaving me a voice mail that I need further treatment. No explanation, so now I get to live with the dread of more punches?!? Who knows.
    /whine

    -0-

    Otrame – could you make your list into a bingo card so we can all play?

  194. Patricia, OM says

    That secret comic sans stuff is making me feel like a second class poster. Just for the record I checked, Mercury is no longer in retrograde, it should work. *SNORT*

  197. says

    my doctor left the country on vacation after leaving me a voice mail that I need further treatment. No explanation, so now I get to live with the dread of more punches?!? Who knows.

    WTF? I would sue the doctor for unnecessary cruelty while practicing medicine. Sheesh.

  198. says

    Jadehawk asked about it, and I pointed her to an example, which she then proceeded to defend (and to defend the original comment by ML, which was also obnoxious in context). This was surprising as Jadehawk recognized what was going on at the time.

    that’s of course bullshit, on both accounts. I didn’t defend chicau, only pointed out that she’d behaved no different than most of us. especially at that time, where everyone was hating on everyone for everything and anything. And what I “recognized” at that time was an emotionally predicated uncomprehension of a very specific argument (the one that’s in the first of only three comments by me on that subject). Nothing about MK (who also made only two comments on that subject, both of them WAY below the average vitriol-level for inter-pharyngula sniping; so low in fact that I’m not seeing it), nothing about that particular triple negative, which I had only gotten after MK translated it (I hadn’t even noticed your sniping at her, because like I said, everyone was sniping at everyone back then).

    don’t claim I’m doing/did something that isn’t the case.

    anyway, I see it’s time for a break from the Thread again.

  199. triskelethecat says

    @Caine: the weird thing is I don’t have the little monkey face on the bottom of the screen any more. I have it on the toolbar, but right-clicking doesn’t give me the options you are talking about. Maybe because I’m on a Mac? If I hit the drop-down arrow, I get checks next to Enabled and Killfile. No option for FtB killfile. Do I need to download something I’m missing?

  200. raven says

    Lynna:

    People complaining about moving their books should have to move my rock collection.

    Sounds both ominous and interesting.

    My natal family once accumulated around 1-2 tons of rocks. Then we had to move. We left near as I can tell 3/4 of them behind. I’m still upset over it and it happened nearly a half century ago.

  201. says

    Serial litigant Toni Patricia Irons Burley’s suits against U.S. government and President Obama were dismissed. This article has links to the judgements. Two of them contain these statments:

    A complaint may be dismissed under 28 U.S.c. § 1915(e)(2) as frivolous when it describes fantastic or delusional scenarios, contains “fanciful factual allegation[s],” Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319,325 (1989), or lacks “an arguable basis in law and fact.” Brandon v. District of Columbia Bd. of Parole, 734 F.2d 56, 59 (D.C. Cir. 1984). This complaint qualifies for such treatment. A separate Order of dismissal accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.

  202. Jessa says

    triskelethecat:

    From the drop-down, select “Manage User Scripts”. Is FtB killfile in there? If so, click “Enable” If not, it didn’t install, and you will need to try again.

  203. says

    Good evening
    Today we celebrated gran’s 85th birthday in the hospital.
    I think it did her good, seeing the kids and everything (and getting out of the bed, for that matter).
    Only I’m expecting a visit from my daughter tonight, since she was pretty upset about the whole hospital thing with tubes and monitors and all that jazz.

    BTW, do religious people really find it comforting if other people offer to pray for them?
    As we brought gran back to her bed, the woman next to her had two visitors, also elderly women who were just saying good-bye to the “not dying right now” patient. So one of them said “bye then, I’ll pray for you” Maybe it’s just that it’s the first time in Germany that I heard somebody offer prayers for somebody who isn’t dead yet, but to me it sounded mightly like “you’Re dead already, you just don’t know it, any I really think you could do with somebody giving you good references up there”

  204. says

    Triskelethecat:

    No option for FtB killfile. Do I need to download something I’m missing?

    Hell if I know. (Helpful, ain’t I?) Give a shout out to SG (if you spot him posting anywhere today) or possibly Owlmirror, who might know what’s going on.

  205. says

    Triskelethecat:

    No option for FtB killfile. Do I need to download something I’m missing?

    Probably. Have you installed the first script on this page, “killfile for freethoughtblogs.com”?

  206. Patricia, OM says

    Lynna – How could I sue my doctor, she has sweet baby jesus and all the saints on her side.

  208. Patricia, OM says

    Giliell – I’ll pray for you. Means, I don’t give a shit about you enough to do anything bothersome or worthwhile to help you. So I’ll just go home, talk to myself, and feel smug. Please fuck off and die, so I don’t have to bother to come see you again.

    I speak christian fluently. ;)

  209. Audley Z. Darkheart OM (OS), purveyor of candy and lies says

    Hey everybody,
    Just wanted to update you all on my situation:
    The storm has passed (finally) with no major damage in my city. However, my neighborhood is being evacuated due to flooding. Right now it’s not mandatory, but Mr Darkheart and I are on our way to my parents as we speak.

  213. Dhorvath, OM says

    Changeable Moniker and IndyM,
    I have a problem. I have been trying for a decade and a half and I still can’t pedal kick. Landing to a fakey manual? Gah, he is not playing with the same tools as I am.

  215. Brother Ogvorbis, Fully Defenestrated Emperor of Steam, Fire and Absurdity says

    Making a Pea salad for dinner and thinking of you all…

    Is it yellow?

    Audley:

    Be safe, drive carefully, and watch out for the idtiots (there are lots of us out here). I hope your homestead stays dry. Barring that, I hope it stays where it belongs.

    Work closed at 12:30 and we all went home. I drove through an amazing downpour accompanied by 30 to 50mph winds. And as I arrived at home, the rain let up and the wind began to die down. Amazing.

    Locally, we had virtually no damage in town, though the south end is being evacuated because of on creek. Wife and I did a quick lookie-lou up in the mountains and the flooding and downed trees are impressive.

  216. cicely, Inadvertent Phytocidal Maniac says

    Making a Pea salad for dinner and thinking of you all…

    Don’t be thinkin’ of me with your mind reeking of peas!
    –
    Audley, glad to hear/read the lack-of-damage report. Travel safely, stay dry and not-uncomfortably warm.
    –

  217. Audley Z. Darkheart OM (OS), purveyor of candy and lies says

    Thanks, everyone. :)

    Our neighborhood butts up against the Mohawk river. The river will crest sometime tomorrow– our house *should* be above the flooding, but I didn’t want to risk it and get stuck.

    My parents live on top of the highest hill in the county, so no fear of flooding here.

  218. Brother Ogvorbis, Fully Defenestrated Emperor of Steam, Fire and Absurdity says

    Audley:

    Are you anywhere near the Gilboa dam? Apparently, the damn dam has broken.

  219. Patricia, OM says

    Pea salad sounds good. There’s an appalling amount of pea discrimination around here. A-peaism will make baby jezus cry.

    I’m making tomato, basil, and onion salad. My peas are long gone.

  220. chigau () says

    My peas are long gone, too.
    But I have broad beans. and potatoes. and tomatoes. and maybe 4 jalapeños.
    and a fucktonnne of apples.

  222. says

    that’s of course bullshit, on both accounts. I didn’t defend chicau, only pointed out that she’d behaved no different than most of us. especially at that time, where everyone was hating on everyone for everything and anything.

    What does this even mean? She jumped in to take a shot at me, piling on to a series of personal attacks. What you said was:

    FWIW, I can’t parse that triple negative either, and wouldn’t have appreciated that snarky response either. But then, I don’t remember the context of that argument, and who you dislike is not really my concern. I was confused at the random hostility though, and that’s explained now

    You didn’t even remember, and couldn’t be bothered to refresh your memory of, the thread in question, but you presented the comments (chigau’s was the one at issue) like they were perfectly justified in the context.

    And what I “recognized” at that time was an emotionally predicated uncomprehension of a very specific argument (the one that’s in the first of only three comments by me on that subject).

    What you recognized was that I was being personally attacked by several people. That was the context for ML’s remark and chigau’s snipe. Here are your words:

    criticism? Only two people have offered actual criticism. Everyone just got angry and/or attacked SC personally.

    —

    Nothing about MK (who also made only two comments on that subject, both of them WAY below the average vitriol-level for inter-pharyngula sniping; so low in fact that I’m not seeing it), nothing about that particular triple negative, which I had only gotten after MK translated it (I hadn’t even noticed your sniping at her, because like I said, everyone was sniping at everyone back then).

    If she had said that in an ordinary context, it would have been different. She inserted her request about my sentence structure in a context in which I was being attacked from a number of directions, merely for presenting an argument people didn’t like. It was thoughtless at the very least.

    don’t claim I’m doing/did something that isn’t the case.

    I’m not.

    anyway, I see it’s time for a break from the Thread again.

    Don’t bother. I’m going myself. I am still angry about that thread and that so many people were willing to countenance the personal attacks and piling on – which people like pteryxx and chigau seem to creepily revel in – for my terrible crime of making an argument. It was not right. When Brownian, who was arguing with me IIRC, pointed out how bad it was, Caine’s response was “Brownian, okay, whatever. I’m not in this to fight.” I appreciated Ogvorbis’ apology, but his behavior didn’t really warrant it; other people’s did. When Algernon said that there were people who had it out for me, your response was to point out the irony given that I had said prior to that that I didn’t think people were doing that. No one suggested that people intentionally ganging up on me for whatever reason was unacceptable or later criticized the people who had gone after me.

    I was having an argument with Josh, but I wasn’t piling on to anyone or hating on everyone for everything. If I do that, I want people to call me on it so I can stop and apologize. That’s not OK with me regardless of who the target is.

  224. chigau () says

    2 out of 4 of my mother’s siblings are schizophrenic.
    They were actually diagnosed in their 50’s.
    I’m scared.

  225. Audley Z. Darkheart OM (OS), purveyor of candy and lies says

    Oggie,

    Are you anywhere near the Gilboa dam? Apparently, the damn dam has broken.

    That’s the problem– we aren’t directly affected by Gilboa blowing up, but the Scoharie creek is a tributary for the Mohawk river. So you add that problem with the 5+ inches of rain we got today and BAM! my beautiful historic neighborhhod will be flooded tomorrow.

  226. Brother Ogvorbis, Fully Defenestrated Emperor of Steam, Fire and Absurdity says

    my beautiful historic neighborhhod will be flooded tomorrow.

    On a suck scale of one to ten, your town may be at an eleven. But if your house is up high, that reduces the suckiness.

    Listening to the news today, Wife and I were reminded of a comment heard on CNN as Katrina approached New Orleans: “All people in low areas get high immediately.”

    Not sure how being high will stop one from drowning. I mean, it might make it less of a bummer, dude, but it would still megasuck.

    Well, off to pick up Girl at Girl’s Boyfriend’s house so we can give GB a ride up to his college. I most likely will not be returning tonight so, goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

  227. Audley Z. Darkheart OM (OS), purveyor of candy and lies says

    Oggie,

    On a suck scale of one to ten, your town may be at an eleven. But if your house is up high, that reduces the suckiness.

    It’s not up very high, we’re just above “normal” flood stage. But this has gone far beyond “normal”, even though the latest news reports are claiming that the Gilboa dam has not been breached. At this point, I really don’t know what to expect.

    Apparently, the river is expected to crest around 8:00 tomorrow morning. Hopefully, this means I’ll be able to get back home soon.

  228. says

    Chigau:

    2 out of 4 of my mother’s siblings are schizophrenic. They were actually diagnosed in their 50′s.
    I’m scared.

    Don’t be. Schizophrenia can be dealt with these days, and it’s your aunts and uncles, right? What about your cousins and so forth? Late-onset schizophrenics often have less severe symptoms. You can read a bit about it here (it’s the second entry, scroll down a bit).

    One of the things that helped to make my childhood a fucking hellpit was A’s conviction that I would be schizophrenic because my father had schizophrenia. She started randomly having me institutionalized starting when I was 7 years old. :shakes head:

  229. Dhorvath, OM says

    Pea salad? PEA? Salad? The apocalypse is nigh, storms, flooding, and wind are just distractions. Pea salad is the sign.

  230. chigau(***) says

    Caine

    She started randomly having me institutionalized starting when I was 7 years old.

    That is so fucking awful.
    ——-
    I actually feel quite safe. My brother (full sibling) and I are OK so far.
    My Aunty/Uncle: thing one is dead (in xir sleep), the other is still crazy after all these years. But living in the real world.

  232. says

    The hurricane didn’t hit Cambridge badly. No flooding or power outages here, and the wind hasn’t been too intense. The cafeteria was even open for lunch, so I didn’t have to exhaust my supply of emergency granola bars and Diet Coke. Hope all east coast Pharyngulites are safe.

    (It’s actually much more pleasant for me than the hot, humid weather earlier this week. I don’t cope well with the heat.)

    Also, Boston is awesome. I went on a Super Duck tour on Friday (pictures coming soon, whenever I can get a new USB cable for my camera). I’m settling in well on this side of the Atlantic.

    (Though I can’t help missing the comforting feeling of living in a monarchy. :-p)

  233. says

    I know I’m smart
    But a madman’s all they see
    Now there’s finally a person
    Who might love me for me
    She holds my heart
    Just like the way that I held hers
    The one from the cadaver
    Igor just disinterred
    Left nothing to chance now
    Double checked every stitch
    The Tesla coils are charging up
    Igor, throw the switch
    Hard work and science
    Are what I have to give
    And all I’m asking in return
    Is that you live…

  234. Patricia, OM says

    MORE rampant discrimination and Apeaism!

    How dare you assert that the humble and lovable Pea is the spawn of the appockylips. *Snort*

  235. Randide, ou l'Optimisme says

    Walton, what kind of camera? Where are you at in Boston? Tell me it’s a Kodak EasyShare M853 and I can hook you up.

  236. Patricia, OM says

    Sooo, Benjamin, does your poem mean you’re in love?

    -0-

    Walton – Fear not, there are plenty of Queens here in America.

  238. Therrin says

    “Hundreds complain over ‘pointless’ Torchwood sex scenes”

    Didn’t I bring that up like three months ago?

    Ahh no, it wasn’t the scenes I mentioned, it was the one with two men. *faints daintily*

    Hey, spoilers! We’re still playing catch-up!

    It only goes downhill in JudgementMiracle Day. It got a little better last ep, but I feel like this whole thing would be solved in 45 minutes if only Mr. Smith would show up (probably will in the end, anyway).

  239. Patricia, OM says

    You’re just jealous because we Peaists are know to be sweet little blossoms, and cuddle together in pods. Heathen!

  241. Patricia, OM says

    Wow, I’ve got some privileged American guilt here.

    Naughty and I cleaned out our freezer this evening, we threw away enough spoiled, freezer burned and unidentifiable food to keep a Somali family for months.

    We are both the children of Depression era babies, so we soaked up their food hoarding habits. What a waste, I need to do better. *hangs head*

  242. says

    My natal family once accumulated around 1-2 tons of rocks. Then we had to move. We left near as I can tell 3/4 of them behind. I’m still upset over it and it happened nearly a half century ago.

    You can’t have too many rocks.

    And my rock collection pales beside that of my brother, the geologist, miner prophet, and custom jeweler, Steve.

    I once earned the undying respect of a Syrian doctor by giving him some perfect skipping stones.

    The densest rocks I have are probably my small boulders of Teton jade (which are not really jade, but rock that almost made to the category of jade). I have some nugget sandstone that requires the muscle of two men or three Lynnas to move. Petrified wood is quite heavy, but my pieces are relatively small, probably 40 pounds at the heaviest. I have quite a bit of jasper, malachite, azurite, geodes, plume agate, obsidian, volcanic tuff, and other nearly worthless stuff that I dearly love. I have a small amount of real jade. I have about 30 pounds of mica in thick “books.” Maybe a ton of river rock, some of which have been eroded into nice shapes. Gypsum, mudstones, rippled sandstones, “moki marbles,” boytroidal quartz, fossils, jasperoids, schist with interesting dendritic patterns, crystals, opal ….

    All of my rocks that are actually jewelry grade end up at my brother’s shop. Have to make money off my obsessions.

  243. says

    How could I sue my doctor, she has sweet baby jesus and all the saints on her side.

    Sweet baby jesus and all the saints aren’t worth one Pullet Patrol.

  244. Patricia, OM says

    Benjamin – Maybe you’re looking in all the wrong places.

    Events full of women – dog shows, horse shows, knitting shops, knitting events. er, there’s a Pharyngula group going to Rhinebeck (east coast).

    That’s assuming you’re looking for women that might be interesting.

  245. chigau () says

    Last year I put my 20+year accumulation of random-pretty-stones onto our (unpaved) driveway.
    It was a relief.

  246. Patricia, OM says

    Lynna – The Pullet Patrol ™ underwent a metamorphosis while you were gone. There is a new Patrol, all fuzzy down, and just getting feathers. They are giving Nerd no end of trouble behind the bar. The little shits chicks are everywhere.

  247. chigau () says

    Patricia, OM

    Naughty and I cleaned out our freezer this evening, we threw away enough spoiled, freezer burned and unidentifiable food to keep a Somali family for months.

    Jeez. Don’t you make soup or stew? ;)

  248. says

    In case you were all waiting with bated breath for Glenn Beck’s take on Hurricane Irene, he has weighed in with the pronouncement that it was a blessing from his Heavenly Father and business advisor.

    Conservative radio host Glenn Beck told listeners Friday that Hurricane Irene, the Category 1 storm that’s working its deadly way up the Eastern Seaboard, is “a blessing from God.”
         Beck has long urged his fans to stockpile food in their homes in anticipation of a global food disruption. He said Irene should be construed as a divine warning for those who have ignored that advice.

    How many warnings do you think you’re going to get, and how many warnings do you deserve? This hurricane that is coming thorough the East Coast, for anyone who’s in the East Coast and has been listening to me say ‘Food storage!’ ‘Be prepared!’
    … If you’ve waited, this hurricane is a blessing. It is a blessing. It is God reminding you — as was the earthquake last week — it’s God reminding you you’re not in control. Things can happen. Be prepared and be someone who can help others so when disaster strikes, God forbid, you’re not panicking.

    The Washington Post reports that in encouraging home stockpiling, Beck, a convert to Mormonism, is echoing Mormon church teaching. The church encourages members to build home storehouses of food that could last for at least three months….

  249. says

    Fuzzy little shits behind the bar … sounds like something from the 60’s. Nerd is the chick wrangler, eh? That’ll keep him out of trouble.

    If we could bring in a couple of hawks, we’d have a show. (not serious — little chicks can stop cringing — that shadow is just the light over the pool table swinging during earthquakes, hurricanes, and Nerd’s exertions)

    Forgot to provide a link for the full story on Glenn Beck’s latest tap dance on the edge of the abyss of madness: Linky thingy.

  250. triskelethecat says

    @Nightjar (205): No, apparently that script did not install correctly. Went from your line and now it works. Thank you!

  252. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    Getting the FtB killfile installed was a bear. Took awhile to find the new script menu that didn’t take me to the website with the normal greasemonkey scripts. Finally got it load the file. Oops, only the header. Had to do a copy/paste to get the rest of the file, and save it. But, it worked!

  254. Patricia, OM says

    chigau – Of course I make soup and stew, but not in 90 degree weather. A lot of what we threw out was old stock, snippets of left over meats for stew & soup, and fruit. It only lasts so long.

    Just this week I put up five, one gallon bags full of peeled, sliced peaches for pies this winter. If they don’t all get used then next fall out they will go.

    Our pantry, that could make a Mormon blush, gets cleared out everytime the Postal carriers or local schools do a food drive. So that isn’t wasted. I just feel bad about the frozen stuff.

    We donate all of our extra eggs to our local food banks, they thank jesus for them.

  255. says

    Some almost-ex-mormons reported in today on the LDS Church’s latest propaganda push:

    The bishop called a rather impromptu 2nd hour meeting, and asked that all over age 14 attend, rather than go to their regular sunday school classes.
         The focus of the meeting was about mormon.org profiles. Our stake (and who knows how many others) had a training yesterday … Basically, we’re all to “sign up” and have our profiles in to mormon.org by 9/15….
         The bishop did a PowerPoint presentation to outline the content of yesterday’s training. Basically, the church has a “perception problem”! A study (or studies) done in 2009 and involving focus groups showed that others perceive mormons as weird, secretive (28%), cultish (39%), sexist (20%), controlling (38%), conservative (38%), pushy (9%), anti-gay (24%), and family-oriented (44%), among other things. The studies also showed that if people were introduced to individual mormons and got to know them, their negative perceptions softened.
         Two PR firms have been hired, and the church is rolling out a “Missionary Media Initiative” starting in October. It’ll start out in 8 areas — San Antonio/Austin, TX; Indianapolis/Ft. Wayne, IN; Omaha, Lincoln-Hastings, NB; Seattle-Tacoma, WA; Spokane, WA; Denver, CO; Atlanta, GA, and Phoenix, AZ.
         The initiative, to run from October through mid-March, will involve 30-second TV ads and signage on billboards, buses, etc. In the Phoenix area alone, they’re planning to use 30 billboards! The other focus of the initiative is, of course, social media–FaceBook, YouTube, and Twitter.
         Originally the focus of the mormon.org profiles was to be those 18+, but as of yesterday that’s been changed to 14+. … People can search for profiles by inputting first name, ethnicity, location, etc….
         I decided not to share my concerns about profile ownership during the public meeting, but afterward shared with the bishop and one of his counselors (I told them that this was a “dealbreaker” for me). My point to them was that not being able to own your profile or remove it would be confirmatory of the perception of the church as controlling and pushy.

    Here’s a website where one can view most of the TV ads: http://www.boncom.com/mormon/internet/

  256. Patricia, OM says

    Nerd – Have you figgered out how to do the comic sans?

    The Patrol ™ was out today in the yard. It’s still pretty scary for them.

  257. says

    Here’s the website where one can create one’s own Mormon Profile.

    http://mormon.org/create/

    All we need are a bunch of Membership Record Numbers (accessed on your temple recommend, or through your Ward clerk). Anonymous should be able to come up with those.

  259. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    Nerd – Have you figgered out how to do the comic sans?

    I had comic sans before PZ turned it on. I haven’t tried that yet with the latest script. I upgraded to OSX Lion, and it is a different beast. I can’t find my user library file at the moment. Still a work in progress.

  260. chigau () says

    Patricia, OM

    five, one gallon bags full of peeled, sliced peaches

    oh my
    oh my. Can I come to your place?
    One year I turned all my freezer-bottoms (non-meat) into 1 cup units of gruel™.
    Since my cooking tends to be BIG pots-of-stuff I can slip a cup of gruel™ into almost anything.

  261. raven says

    Lynna:

    Petrified wood is quite heavy, but my pieces are relatively small, probably 40 pounds at the heaviest. I have quite a bit of jasper, malachite, azurite, geodes, plume agate, obsidian, volcanic tuff, and other nearly worthless stuff that I dearly love. I have a small amount of real jade. I have about 30 pounds of mica in thick “books.” Maybe a ton of river rock, some of which have been eroded into nice shapes. Gypsum, mudstones, rippled sandstones, “moki marbles,” boytroidal quartz, fossils, jasperoids, schist with interesting dendritic patterns, crystals, opal ….

    Sounds like quite a collection to say the least.

    I’m guessing you are in the 5-10 ton range. And aren’t going to be moving for a long time.

    I wouldn’t call jasper, geodes, and plume agate, “worthless”. What kind of opal and jade? I have a few pieces of common opal, just white in color and something I found at the beach that looks like jade. Some miscellaneous fossils of ancient mammals, cephalopods, and petrified wood.

    In one place, I found some green tinted wave polished stones that looked like jade. Eventually, one low tide I found a seam of it that was being eroded out. It turned out to be chrysoprase, quartz with nickle that has a green tint to it. There were a few boulders but they were too big to move.

    I was told by a geologist that there are diamonds in Wyoming, in metamorphic kimberlite. She said they are hard to get to though.

  262. says

    I’m pretty excited about the mormon video/TV ad featuring Normon Tolk, who tells us, “I believe in God and His physics.”

    Normon is the tight-lipped white guy, with white hair, that unaccountably shows up three times in the picture menu here: http://www.boncom.com/mormon/internet/#E

    Couldn’t get Norman’s video to load, so I’ll just have to take his word concerning god’s physics.

    Considering that there is one black face in the entire LDS Quorum of the Seventy, plus Quorum of the Twelve, plus First Presidency (all the top dogs), there’s a surprisingly large percentage of dark-skinned people featured in the mormon.org ads.

  264. says

    Raven, the one piece of real jade that I have came from the Granite Mountains in Wyoming.

    I guess most of my collection is not exactly “worthless,” but it’s worth more to me than I could get for it in money.

    My favorite piece of Idaho opal is not the usual type, but is instead a lovely green. Scroll down on this page and you’ll see actual-size photos of some of the pieces of opal, plus two examples of stones cut for rings. The blog entry provides other photos and a description of the area where I found the green opal.

  265. says

    Hello there. Hope all the US east-coast people are ok!

    Over here in a moment of “What the FUCK were they thinking?”, a couple of guys dress up as their favourite soccer player. In blackface. Arguably their intentions were good and they were merely ignorant of the broader context. But international airline Qantas also fails to spot the problem, and gives them tickets to the footie as a prize!

  267. Patricia, OM says

    chigau – I live in the wonderland of food. Orchards of all types, including nuts, vinyards and miles of grains. Salmon and trout fisheries, Pacific coast shellfish, beef, lamb and wild game herds. Flocks of game birds, wild herbs and fruits.

    My little brother and I alone can gather enough Elderberries in one day to fill two barrels to make wine. Free. The Cherry wood that some of you use in your BBQ’s gets burned here by the railroad car load every fall because the farmers simply need the room to pile this years prunings.

    If only… if only we could get the surplus fruit wood prunings to those that need wood the deforestation would be greatly curtailed…if only.

  269. says

    Cath:

    I don’t know how race relations work in Oz, but I don’t see it as inherently insulting in this particular situation. Does Australia have a history with blackface-as-racism similar to the States’? (After all, that’s what would lead to the “are you crazy, or just plain stupid?” reaction here in the US.)

    I know intent isn’t magic, but intent should be taken into account when it comes to the repercussions. It makes the difference between labeling someone a racist and simply swatting them and saying “hey, that’s stupid, don’t do it again”. And that goes for both the two guys and for Qantas.

  270. Classical Cipher, OM says

    Greek and Latin are not playing nicely in my brain. They are both trying to drive each other out. I think they’re doing a good job. :(

  272. chigau () says

    Classical Cipher, OM

    Greek and Latin are not playing nicely in my brain.

    Maybe you could add another playmate … Mandarin? Tagalog?

  273. Patricia, OM says

    Lynna – Out here we have geodes (I hope that is right). Also called Thunder Eggs ™. My family has one. Grandpa plowed up the thing in the potato field about a 100,000 years ago. We have kept it all this time, and speculated whether it is a petrified mushroom or a dinosaur egg. Great fun for our family. It’s a dread family treasure, kept wrapped in leather, and stored in a secret box. *makes woohoo face*

    Truth – Mom & I took the big round rock thingy to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) and the scientists there identified it as a thunder egg. It’s common here. It hasn’t been sawed open.

    We haven’t told the kids yet, they think it’s a wicked fun dragon egg. ;)

  274. Classical Cipher, OM says

    Maybe you could add another playmate … Mandarin? Tagalog?

    Horribly, I actually do have to add another playmate, but my options right now are German and French. After that, whichever one I didn’t choose, then Italian, then I can think about a language of my own choosing.

  275. says

    No, we don’t have the exact same history of racism as the US. But we do have our own kind, and anyone of middle age could have seen the Black & White Minstrel Show on Australian TV back in the 70s. I’d say those two guys can be excused; they might not have been born then. It’s even quite cute, in that they were pretty much cosplaying their hero.

    But not QANTAS, who really should care about its international reputation. Serious PR fail there.

  276. Patricia, OM says

    *moron alert*

    The rats thread needs some help. Put on your helmets, the stoopity is crushing.

  277. says

    Recently, I found a really horrifying video from CNN in which they interview a victim of torture in Libya by one of the Gadaffis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swht21KfotU

    Don’t watch it if you are squeamish because the injuries left on the victim is unbelievable. I can’t even fathom the amount of pain that person must have experienced.

  278. orangeutan says

    @Nerd of Redhead

    I can’t find my user library file at the moment.

    Same place as it is under 10.6, 10.5, 10.4 and so on. They’ve just hidden it in the Finder.

    Use the Go to Folder option in the Finder to go to ~/Library

  279. Wowbagger, Madman of Insleyfarne says

    Cath the Canberra Cook wrote:

    But we do have our own kind, and anyone of middle age could have seen the Black & White Minstrel Show on Australian TV back in the 70s.

    Ah, crap. I remember seeing that; I guess that means I’m middle-aged now.

    Unrelated: Cath, are you going to the GAC next year?

  280. says

    So apparently Jason Ball will be speaking at the GAC 2012. Funny how that works when you’re in the organising committee ! Maybe my toddler could give a short address too, on secularism in Australian kindergardens, or the tyranny of the tooth fairyists.

    *eyeroll*

    Google+ has specified that people who don’t want to use their real names can go fuck themselves.

    Thanks for that link CC, it’s becoming clear to me that Google can shove its “identity service” up its ass, I wish everyone would just unregister from G+ now and show them the finger.

  281. says

    Wowbagger, I haven’t yet bought a ticket. There’s a possibility I might be going to Japan with friends, so it depends a bit on their timing. “Japan in the spring” is the general plan, which should mean late March-early April for cherry-blossom time. Very close to the mid-April GAC, so ummm, maybe, TBC. Perhaps I should try to convince them of the beauty of Autumn foliage in the gardens of Kyoto. Or to do the trip next year, so I can go to Scandinavia in northen summer instead.

    And if you were a teen in the 70s, then sorry, but you are middle aged. The nice government will soon be sending you invites to a party where will they give you drugs and stick a camera up your bum. And if you’re female you get to have your breasts mashed, too. The kinky bastards. Wheee!

  282. Patricia, OM says

    Rorshach – So you are in the medical field, this is an imposition, but my doctor left the country on vacation, I’m scared shitless. I got a benign fucking punch, and scrape test for cervical and endrometrical cancer, but she left a voice message that I need to come in for “further treatment”.

    That sounds perfectly stupid to me. If the whole thing is benign then what the fuck further treatment could I possibly need?

    Sorry I don’t know – won’t offend me. Anything else as pure speculation would be cream on my strawberries.

  283. says

    Patricia IANADr and I hope I’m not being scary, but “benign” to me means not a negative result, but a positive finding that that there is actually something present. But it’s luckily not a malignant tumour. A benign tumour might still need removing, especially if it’s mechanically awkward and causing harm by pressing on things?

    I’m having my own scares, too. I googled one of the many things my doc is testing me for and found scary mortality stats. ARGH! Breathe, repeat mantra “OMMMMM Google U is not an authority, Google U is not an authority…” I have a bunch more tests, including an EKG, on Friday.

  284. theophontes , flambeau du communisme says

    @ Lynna # 257

    I followed your link and suggestion and have now registered with the LDS. Problem is I cannot set up a profile as I get the following:

    OOPS! Sorry, the page cannot be found,… blah, blah,blah

    (Link)

    Is that a server problem on their side or are they just lying for jeeebus again? If I’m not allowed a profile why aren’t they just honest about it?

    Here is my official registration: (Link)

    Any suggestions welcome. I need to haz me teh holy web presence…

  286. Birger Johansson says

    The bishop used Powerpoint?! Hasn’t he read any Charles Stross stories? Power Point is the perfect medium for letting the Old Ones fry your brain, using the optic nerve as point of entry once the presentation material has been compromised.
    — — — — —

    Anyone of middle age will also remember the brief period of sanity in US political discourse, between Nixon and Reagan (sigh). And the moment The Moral Majority got working on TV content, the Saturday Night Live material got bland and unfunny.

  287. says

    I am currently experiencing a serious decline in productivity, after coming across Criminal Intent season 8…
    Seriously, Jeff Goldblum, wtf ? He would have been better off playing the Mentalist, given the scripts they wrote for him for CI….

    I got a benign fucking punch, and scrape test for cervical and endrometrical cancer, but she left a voice message that I need to come in for “further treatment”.

    Patricia, I’d hate to comment on that without knowing the biopsy results, sorry….Who would know what they want from you ! Over here, if a doc is on vacation they have someone to look after their patients while they’re gone ?

  288. drbunsen le savant fou says

    The Cherry wood that some of you use in your BBQ’s gets burned here by the railroad car load every fall because the farmers simply need the room to pile this years prunings.

    Chthulhudammit. They could at least chip it and mulch it. No-one’s heard of soil conservation around there?

  289. says

    Good morning

    Patricia:

    We donate all of our extra eggs to our local food banks, they thank jesus for them

    That’s a funny name for a chicken.
    But I know what you mean. I was partly raised by people who lived through the war and the post war era (remember, in Germany that’s what for you is the Great Depression). My grandparents built a house in the early 1960’s on a miner’s income, so it was grandma’s job to make ends meet. The original garden layout consisted of a smal luxury part for sitting around in warm weather, a vegetable/potato garden part and an orchard for fruit and hay for the rabbits (in my time only our pet rabbits). So summer and autumn would be full of harvesting, canning, pickling and freezing.
    Oh, and baking. One of my fondest childhood memories is when around this time gran would make prune cakes. Usually a whole day long, like 4 or 5 at once because it freezes well. But the best thing was that the left-over yeast dough would then be used for making “Apfeltaschen”, a small apple pasty. To this day I can’t get used to the comercial idea of making them with puff pastry.

    As for your doctor:
    They don’t think. I have no idea how many times I’ve witnessed this before, since it’s routine for them, and since they actually know what this means, they don’t remember that for their patient it’s probably a major thing.
    So they scare people shitless.
    With my second daughter, I needed to go to the university hospital regularly (like every other week) for in-utero check-ups because she has only one kidney.
    Gyn-ward means looooong waiting times. Emergencies can’t be planned, so it might happen that the doc would leave you with a “I’m really sorry, I need to go” while you’re swimming in ultra-sound lube.
    One day, I couldn’t help but overhear the almost hysteric phone-call of another woman with her partner. During the regular second trimester scan, her gyn had detected that the kid has a third kidney and without explaining anyhing had sent her to the university hospital immediately.
    There, the people saw a routine case, nothing to worry, no emergency of any kind, and since she didn’t have an appointment, she was put at the end of the waiting list.
    So the poor woman was waiting there for hours without anybody telling her anything. I did my best to comfort her, sharing my newly acquired wisdom on kidney-related problems with her.

  290. says

    As for your doctor:
    They don’t think. I have no idea how many times I’ve witnessed this before, since it’s routine for them, and since they actually know what this means, they don’t remember that for their patient it’s probably a major thing.
    So they scare people shitless.

    It’s not professional pride but your referencing of anecdotes, hearsay and folk tales that lets me conclude that you are a clueless idiot.

  291. says

    It’s not professional pride but your referencing of anecdotes, hearsay and folk tales that lets me conclude that you are a clueless idiot.

    So, you mean if I’ve witnessed this not only once, but about, say, half a dozen times, when doctors, not through ill-will or maliciousness, suck at communication and scare their patients, when there are wide-spread complains about doctors not using language the patient can understand and then leave them to the dangers of google-university, confused and afraid, that’s all just anectodata.
    BTW, what I’ve written is an anectdote. Not hearsay nor folk-tales. I could also rely on hearsay, which would be the experiences of my sister who’s a nurse and spends a hell lot of time “translating” what the doctors told her patients and their families. Which is not her job and not what she’s beeing paid for.
    So, your inability to get the easy terms anecdote, hearsay and folklore correct lets me conclude that I’m happy that you’re not my doctor because I’d dread what you’d do to the more complicated medical terms.

  292. says

    Wait, what, Neil deGrasse Tyson is in Melbourne in 3 weeks ? And also Michael Shermer ? And Hitchens via video link ? Well, I be going ! It’s a Think Inc. event, not that I’ve ever heard of them. But, it sounds good !

  293. says

    So, you mean if I’ve witnessed this not only once, but about, say, half a dozen times,

    You’ve witnessed something (or so you say) 6 times and are prepared to draw a general rule from it, and argue based on these 6 anecdotes ? You really are an idiot.

  294. says

    You’ve witnessed something (or so you say) 6 times and are prepared to draw a general rule from it, and argue based on these 6 anecdotes ? You really are an idiot.

    Is your reading comprehension on a vacation?
    You generally seem to have a better grasp than that.
    Those are the times when people were actually frightened to death by what their doctors failed to communicate. That’s six people who suffered severe stress for hours to days. That’s people crying in fear and no, I’m not exagerating.
    Those are not the cases where people are only just worried and confused.
    Tell me, was that due because the doctors failed to think about what they were communicating and thereby caused the suffering without intention or ill-will, or is it because they knew what they were doing and didn’t care?
    I’d say that my interpretation is more generous.
    Did you know that there’s a website now in Germany where people can send their diagnosis to a medical student to have it “translated”?
    Do you think that’s a stupid idea or that this is maybe an attempt to:
    A) help people now
    B) prepare our next generation of doctors so they can communicate better?

  295. Tigger_the_Wing says

    Cath,

    I’m having my own scares, too. I googled one of the many things my doc is testing me for and found scary mortality stats. ARGH! Breathe, repeat mantra “OMMMMM Google U is not an authority, Google U is not an authority…” I have a bunch more tests, including an EKG, on Friday.

    Ugh. I sincerely hope it isn’t that, then. If there’s anything I can do, please let me know?

    Giliell, if I were to list the times that doctors have failed to give me information over the decades I would have to write a ridiculously long post. I don’t think it is malicious (usually) but when they know that there is nothing serious wrong, or something that can be safely left for a while, I feel that they might fail to remember that their patients don’t necessarily know that and will be worrying.

    Patricia, almost the exact same thing happened to me a couple of months ago. I had an MRI looking for stroke damage/brain tumour and when I called the GP a few days later, as requested, for the result – I found out she had been seconded to another practice for a month! Well, I assumed that if the results had been bad, she would have informed another member of the practice and asked them to take over so I made the appointment for when she got back; only to be told the day before that her secondment was being extended for ten days. So I made another appointment, only for that one to be cancelled on the day when she called in sick. I eventually got the results a whole seven weeks after the MRI. Had I been expecting a bad result, or been told beforehand that I was going to need treatment, I would have been in terror!

    Rorschach, I think you are being hard on Giliell. I am aware that ‘everybody knows someone who has had at least one such experience’ isn’t any sort of scientific study. We are probably all aware that many or most doctors are thoroughly overworked and I don’t think that she was attributing malice to any of them, but it is still a widespread problem that doctors don’t always communicate with their patients adequately even though the old days of the paternalistic medic withholding information ‘in the patients’ interest’ are supposedly long gone. A quick Google Scholar search for ‘doctor patient communication’ returned 460,000 results. I skimmed a few and it appears to be a longstanding and recognised problem.

  298. Audley Z. Darkheart OM (OS), purveyor of candy and lies says

    Work has been closed due to flooding. I am still safe and snug at my mom’s. She made me coffee!

  299. Carlie says

    Doctor-patient communication is definitely a problem in the States, and has been linked to our high number of lawsuits against doctors as well. We simply don’t train doctors in how to communicate with their own patients; many med schools are now starting to realize that and instituting courses in bedside manner to try to ameliorate the problem.

    Thanks for the link, Classical Cipher. I guess that clears things up. Fuck google.

  300. says

    It’s also not only medical profesionals who have this problem. It happens wherever people with a specialized vocabulary meet the public.
    Only if my car mechanic calls me and leaves a cryptic message that there’s something wrong with the fluxcompensator, I won’t be worried that much.

  301. Carlie says

    I know there have been a lot of good links posted about why pseudonyms are important; I found this one that Geek feminism compiled as well, if anyone needs a quick compilation link for ammo when discussing it.

  304. Audley Z. Darkheart OM (OS), purveyor of candy and lies says

    One more thing:
    My office is in a neighborhood that was under a mandatory evacuation last night– I couldn’t get there even if I wanted to try. My neighborhood wasn’t under a mandatory evac when I left, but a few hours later, police and city emergency employees were going door-to-door and asking people to leave.

    Now they’re saying that the flooding won’t be as high as first thought, so hopefully my house will stay safe and dry.

  307. says

    Tigger, thanks for the thought, but of course there’s nothing really to do. Doc & pathology do tests, work lets me go part time, Bloke helps with transport and buying food when I’m too tired. All seems sorted as far as it can be.

    Come to my b’day party! I’ve sent you & Kel an FB invite. Warning: house not wheelchair friendly.

  309. Therrin says

    The nice government will soon be sending you invites to a party where will they give you drugs and stick a camera up your bum.

    Some of us (with) lucky bums get to start early. =)
    —
    Patricia,

    Could you ask the medical office for a copy of your file? If there’s something the doctor wants to follow up on, it should be written there, and theoretically records are available to patients.
    —

    During the regular second trimester scan, her gyn had detected that the kid has a third kidney

    Part Timelord? Bonus!

  310. Brother Ogvorbis, Fully Defenestrated Emperor of Steam, Fire and Absurdity says

    Good morning.

    Has anyone else ever noticed that, following on the heels of a tropical system, the weather tends to be absofuckinglutely beautiful? Today is in the mid-70s, breezy and sunny.

    Wife is heading off to her annual training in how to work her street corner (the union contract requires it). Then we head up to the farmer’s market. And after that, we are going to head over to the Skinner’s Falls area of the Delaware River and look at Really Big Waves.

  311. Tigger_the_Wing says

    Cath, I’m so glad you have everything sorted (but the offer still stands if I can help in any way).

    Thank you ever so much for the birthday party invitation; I shall be delighted to come! =^_^=

    Katherine, I wish you could come to Australia too.

    I didn’t expect to like it, but it was far, far better than I had thought. Arrived in February 2005 thinking to stay for a few months and we’re still here!

    P.S. Cath, if I can help with accomodation for interstate visitors to your party, let me know. Don’t worry about the wheelchair; I can manage with sticks when I don’t have a great deal of walking to do.

  312. says

    @Tigger:

    The only reason I can’t move to another country is that I have neither a support structure in another country and that I don’t have enough money. If I had one or the other I’d be fine, but since I have neither, I can’t leave.

  313. Moggie says

    DIY book scanners.

    To be honest, I doubt whether I have the patience to build one of these and then have to turn the pages by hand while scanning, but for non-destructive scanning without spending large sums of money, it’s pretty neat.

  314. Moggie says

    There’s a new Buddy Jesus in town, and this one looks like he works out:

    A very muscular brand of Christianity

    Apparently, those uppity women have over-feminised Christianity (because of their dominance of church hierarchies, I suppose), and consequently manly men are staying away from church. The solution: a rebranding of Jesus as a muscular, tattooed hunk with come-to-bed eyes, who the guys can fantasise ab- I’m sorry, I mean: who the guys can look up to as a role model. Because how can you respect a spiritual leader who has inadequate upper body strength?

  315. Squigit says

    Well, Thread, my weekly whining:

    As I mentioned before, I”m separating from Husband. Best Friend was supposed to come get me and whatever of my things will fit in her car (anxiety=no public transportation for me…she doesn’t understand but whatever). Friend was delayed by Irene but now says she’s too busy. I’m stuck here until I can find another way to get home.

    Also, where have all the jobs gone? I can’t even get anything in retail!

    *hugs* to all those dealing with other issues, too.

  316. says

    My daughter got back into her apartment in Battery Park City today, after having evacuated for a couple of days. She said there’s some flooding in the area, but it’s not as bad as was expected. There are also a few downed trees. Her employers gave her the option of working from home today.

    On an entirely different subject, I’m supposed to be helping Global Health Equity Foundation in their search for a grant writer. GHEF is a 501(c)(3) organization, and they’ve done some good work, but are really just getting started on some of their bigger projects. If you know anyone who might want to subcontract to write grants for them, please let me know. You can contact me at lynna [at] artmeetsadventure [dot] com.

    And on yet another subject, (and this is an unimportant, niggling little thing, but since it involves correct use of language, it’s really bugging me), in the audio book for Master and Commander the readers do not cheer “Huzzah” as expected. It sounds like they are saying something close to “Hooray!” but it’s spelled “ooay” in the book. Any naval experts out there who can clear this up? See page 249 in the book.

  317. opposablethumbs, que le pouce enragé mette les pouces says

    Could anyone say how/where you put text in so that it shows up when someone hovers over your gravatar?

    /technosaur (I wish)

    I want a sekret message too! (actually I want to credit the person I got the image from – it’s a detail from a bigger image all about there being no rabbits in the Precambrian)

  318. opposablethumbs, que le pouce enragé mette les pouces says

    Squigit I’m really sorry your friend has let you down. It must be really … unsettling, to use the understatement of the decade, to be all set to go and then have to put all your plans on hold – especially with regard to your child. I hope she comes through after all, or you find an alternative.

  319. Butch Kitties says

    Funny that Adiemus should be the background music for the video. Every time I play that music before bed, I have the most kick-ass-awesome lucid dreams about flying.

  321. Audley Z. Darkheart OM (OS), purveyor of candy and lies says

    Good news, everyone!

    The river has crested and my house was not in the flood zone. Yay! As of right now, the neighborhood is still closed off to traffic*, but I should be able to go home in a couple of hours. :)

    *The whole county is still under a state of emergency, so emergency crews can get this place cleaned up.

  323. Audley Z. Darkheart OM (OS), purveyor of candy and lies says

    Kat,

    (Does anyone else automatically translate “Good news, everyone!” into Professor Farnsworth’s voice?)

    That’s what I was going for. :D

    According to the news at noon, the major arteries have re-opened. Which means I can go back home now, yay!

  324. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    Caught a glimpse of MTV awards. That Bieber kid (whom I still haven’t heard signing) thanked God, but not only God! Also, Jesus Christ. While he was at it, he should have included the Holly Spirit, just so none of God’s multiple personalities get offended.

  327. says

    @Audley and Lynna
    Good to hear about your /daugher’s houses.

    @Squigit
    That’s bad :(
    Any other friend/family member who could help?

    Talking about sucks, I wanted to meet sis today, but she couldn’ come. She had to fill in for a colleague whose son has been knived down by neo-nazis for looking “foreign” :(

  328. britomart says

    One of my old high school buddies has a friend with a project. Any ‘militant atheists’ want to be on a reality religious tv show ?

    http://jimhendersonpresents.com/save-me/

    “Get Ready For Religious Reality TV

    Are you passionate about your beliefs?

    Do you sincerely want others to come to your beliefs as well?

    If so, we invite you to apply for a different kind of reality television show.

    Jim Henderson Presents is developing a show called “Save Me!” that will bring people with a wide variety of religious beliefs such as fundamentalist Christians, Campus Crusade for Christ, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, militant Atheists, end of world Warners and Hare Krishna practitioners, etc. together in one house.

    We want true believers who will go to any length to spread their message, whether that’s saving people from hell, warning people about the end of the world or simply “saving” people from religion altogether.

    Actors need not apply! We want real practitioners — people who are willing and able to spend several weeks living in close quarters with others for no pay while spreading a personal faith message to millions of people.

    Contestants will play for the opportunity to have their message heard and possibly win converts, as well as the chance to win a significant cash prize that will be donated to the cause or organization of the winner’s choice.

    Jim Henderson Presents thinks that spirituality and religion should be thoughtfully and playfully explored just like race, money, politics, and sex. But someone needs to provoke and guide this public conversation. It is not currently taking place in any venue or vehicle that is taken seriously by a broader audience.”

  329. illuminata says

    It’s not professional pride but your referencing of anecdotes, hearsay and folk tales that lets me conclude that you are a clueless idiot.

    . . . is rorschach an M.D.? Is that why he’s getting needlessly bent out of shape at Gillel for saying something true?

    The only reason I can’t move to another country is that I have neither a support structure in another country and that I don’t have enough money. If I had one or the other I’d be fine, but since I have neither, I can’t leave.

    There’s that and they just don’t want us. Without a white collar job you’ve been at for years in specific industries they have a need for, and lots of money – forget it.

    Maybe we should set up a Pharyngula “green card” matrimony program. ;)

  330. says

    @britomart:

    Erm… why include an atheist in a house full of evangelizing religious people? I certainly don’t care to try to “preach” my “belief” other than to say I’m an atheist and I can’t be convinced otherwise so don’t try.

  331. illuminata says

    Erm… why include an atheist in a house full of evangelizing religious people?

    Because atheism – excuse me, MILITANT atheism – is a religion, silly!

  332. says

    Patricia

    Out here we have geodes (I hope that is right). Also called Thunder Eggs ™. My family has one. Grandpa plowed up the thing in the potato field about a 100,000 years ago. We have kept it all this time, and speculated whether it is a petrified mushroom or a dinosaur egg. Great fun for our family. It’s a dread family treasure, kept wrapped in leather, and stored in a secret box. *makes woohoo face*

    Yep, “Thunder Eggs” it is.

    The woo factor is pumped up thanks to a Native American legend involving Thunder Spirits who threw spherical rocks at each other. They stole the rocks as “eggs” from the nests of Thunderbirds. One of the most goddamned idiotic myths I’ve heard. And an insult to the nodules or geodes.

    Some Thunder Eggs are blah and worthless when sawn open. Some are filled with opal, or with crystal structures. In other words, variety of size, of filling, and of worth is all over the map.

    The spherical rocks form in rhyolite, welded tuff, and other formations prone to pockets or cavities, and also easily affected by percolating gases and fluids (or, some say, colloidal gels).

    I have often thought the “eggs” might serve well as weapons, but I would want a better way to throw them than just my arm strength.

  334. says

    Theophontes @284, I’m looking into the problem with posting your sacred profile on mormon.org. Will let you know if I come up with an answer.

  335. Janine, The Little Top Of Venom, OM says

    One of my old high school buddies has a friend with a project. Any ‘militant atheists’ want to be on a reality religious tv show ?

    I have always wanted to be the “villain” in a “reality” show. I so want to let a person who thinks that I am “evil” use editing to show me in a really bad light.

    This a a losing proposition.

  337. cicely, Inadvertent Phytocidal Maniac says

    How dare you assert that the humble and lovable Pea is the spawn of the appockylips. *Snort*

    I would never claim that the Pea is the spawn of the appockylips.

    The Pea is the harbinger of the (Equine) Apocalypse.

    Embrace apeaism. It’s the only rational position. The Peas cannot save you from the Horses, and wouldn’t if they could.
    –

    The river has crested and my house was not in the flood zone. Yay!

    Yay indeed! :)
    –

    (Does anyone else automatically translate “Good news, everyone!” into Professor Farnsworth’s voice?)

    Yes.

    I believe it is a “thing”.
    –

    She had to fill in for a colleague whose son has been knived down by neo-nazis for looking “foreign” :(

    :( :( :(
    –

  340. Muse says

    @Kat

    What should I add to jambalaya to make it vegetarian? I usually just put sausage and chicken in it… what can easily replicate those flavors or add more delicious flavors?

    Perhaps smoked paprika?

  341. Audley Z. Darkheart OM (OS), purveyor of candy and lies says

    And I am home! Double yay!!

    I’m off to take pictures of the flood– there are some streets that got hit pretty badly. Have a good afternoon, everyone!

  342. opposablethumbs, que le pouce enragé mette les pouces says

    Re the gravatar, thank you Katherine Lorraine! Most obliged to you :-) (PS hope you don’t mind my saying – I love it that your beau is Beau. J’imagine qu’il est beau, aussi)

  343. says

    @Muse:

    It’d be a bit boring as the trinity plus tomatoes and rice… needs… more.

    @opposablethumbs:

    Actually Beau isn’t his name. I use Beau in the way that people here use Wife or Spawn or such – so as not to put a name to him in case he wouldn’t want it said.

  344. Psych-Oh says

    Audley – YAY! Glad you can return home!

    Katherine – you need something that will give it that smoky flavor. I am not sure what that would be.

    Sorry all, but I am a Peaist, through and through. Especially when they are fresh, young, and oh so sweet.

    I am working at home again (waiting for yet another electrician). Of course, my family loves it because I end up cooking yummy meals when I am stuck in the house. Right now, the cornbread is a-baking and the smell is driving me insane!

  347. says

    Pedophile, FLDS Prophet, and general all around god-addled dunderhead, Warren Jeffs, has been hospitalized. He was in prison in Texas, where he apparently fasted himself into a collapse.

    …Jeffs was taken to the East Texas Medical Center in Tyler in critical condition.
         “Jeffs has not been eating/taking in fluids as he should,” Texas prison spokesman Jason Clark said in a press release. “He indicated he was not on a hunger strike but fasting. The inmate also has other medical conditions that have risen to the level of needing hospitalization.”
         Jeffs, 55, was sentenced to life in prison two weeks ago after a jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting two girls, ages 12 and 15, whom he took as polygamous wives.
    Jeffs is serving his sentence in a solitary cell in Palestine, Texas because the media attention on his case and the fact that his crimes were against children make him a possible target of violence from other inmates.
    This is not the first time prison fasts have landed Jeffs at a hospital. While he was awaiting trial on accomplice to rape charges in Utah, Jeffs had to be force fed following self-imposed fasts several times and had open sores on his knees from long periods spent praying. Until now, he had been healthy while imprisoned in Texas….

    Link to story in Salt Lake Tribune.

  348. Muse says

    @Kat ah so you’re asking about bulk not about flavor. The makes more sense now. The smoked paprika was for the flavor.

    I might add tempeh or a firm mushroom like a portabella.

  350. Richard Austin says

    Random pea note: I bought a bag of snap sugar peas the other day, and have been snacking on them raw (in place of something like potato chips). I’m not sure why I decided to do this, but they’re pretty good. So, I think I’m forced to pick a side in the P.Sativum wars.

  351. Minnie The Finn says

    Um. A friend of mine just told me to “count my blessings; things could be worse”. So here goes:

    – thank you, o Lord, for making my sister’s cancer worse than what was diagnosed at first. At least it’s treatable with chemo, unlike worse forms. So, she’ll only be sick until Christmas and lose all her hair _again_, even though she was first told that radiation would be enough. I’m sure she’ll consider this a blessing, too.
    – thank you, o Lord, for my menopause, with raging symptoms, combined with my ever more fragile mental health, producing some rather, uh, interesting outcomes (from a psychiatrist’s point of view, I’m sure). It could be worse, I could have diabetes and, I dunno, cancer, too, maybe? And lose a leg or two, while you’re at it? (Thank you for giving the big C to my sister, too, as a constant reminder that whenever you feel like piling on the shit, I’m right there on the genetic firing range).
    – thank you, o Lord, for my financial situation, which makes me unable to refuse any work offered, with the result of no holidays for little Minnies this year, which really, really works wonders on my aforementioned mental ‘health’.

    —

    Ok, only kidding. Being a heathen atheist means I don’t have anything or anyone to thank for these, um, challenges in my life – and I’m sure that in the end they will make me so much stronger and more awesome as a person. As my friend so kindly told me. She must get these little pearls of wisdom from Reader’s Digest. Or the bible. One or the other.

    While waiting for that to happen: Life, please stop sucking. I’m really tired of all the shit and could really use a break.

    —

    Thank you all for the use of your cyberspace for airing personal grievances. I’d use FB, but for obvious reasons (clients, family etc. as friends) I have to filter what I say out loud there.

    On the good news: I’ve fried and frozen approx. 8 pounds of boletes today. They will re-emerge as kick-ass mushroom soups, quiches & stews throughout the winter. The cellar’s jam-packed with spuds & carrots, most of the herbs are frozen, too (and there’s a LOT of them), and the chillies are almost ready to harvest. Also, gallons and gallons of black & red currant cordials on the shelves, not to mention various jams, jellies and pie fillings made from raspberries, wild blueberries, gooseberries, cloudberries, berries-I-don’t-even-know-if-they-have-an-English-name… Ima one happy hamster. Come on, winter, I’m ready!

  352. Richard Austin says

    Minnie: you could vent in the PET group on fb; lotsa folks do that. It’s private, so no one outside the group can see any posts in it.

    But here works too.

  354. Minnie The Finn says

    Katherine:

    how about smoke/barbecue marinated mushrooms, for both bulk and taste? That would be a substitute for sausages (not their texture though). Whatever could replace shrimp, I have no idea whatsoever. Tiny crispy strips of seaweed for the taste?

    Oh, and for bulk, and wonderful texture: nuts. Toasted or not. Peanuts, walnuts, pistachios, almonds…

  355. Minnie The Finn says

    Richard:

    so I could, come to think of it. Seems I just have a ‘do not trust’ attitude towards FB at the moment (I have used PET for venting and TMI before, funnily enough).

    Oh well, you lot got it this time, enjoy =)

  356. Rey Fox says

    Does anyone else automatically translate “Good news, everyone!” into Professor Farnsworth’s voice?

    Why else would one tag “everyone” onto the end of “good news”?

  358. Psych-Oh says

    Minnie – Many hugs to you for your crappy situation. I am jealous of your berry stash.

    I was just asked to be on my State’s Disaster Advisory Council! I am so excited! I know I have no time, but I will make time and figure it out- because this is so important to me.

  359. Richard Austin says

    Regarding “Good news, everyone!”, I get it in double-dose: In World of Warcraft, in Icecrown Citadel, there was a boss fight with the boss based on Farnsworth. So, you’d hear quotes like, “Good news, everyone! I’ve fixed the poisoned slime pipes!” at the start of fights.

    Which means, if you die and try again, you hear it again. And when you’re learning the fights and dying 15-20 times a night, you hear it over. And over. And over. For hours.

    (There are reasons I don’t play WoW any more; this isn’t one of them, but for others it is.)

  360. Audley Z. Darkheart OM (OS), purveyor of candy and lies says

    Pictures have been taken and posted to the fb. Not surprisingly, the bars in my neighborhoos are open (even if all the streets are closed), so I’m having a beer.

  361. says

    @Richard Austin:

    Yesterday I was watching someone’s Let’s Play of Clive Barker’s Clive Barker’s Jericho (by Clive Barker.) It was a pretty entertaining game to watch, but at one point it became extremely annoying since the characters have about two lines they spout per special ability.

    Hearing “Alright, chiquita, come and get it” (something like that) for the eighth time in a few minutes got really dull.

  362. Dhorvath, OM says

    I gave it a go with their new free to level twenty thing. Still didn’t like it, didn’t even feel different to how I remeber it at launch.

  363. Dhorvath, OM says

    Katherine,
    That game disappointed. Maybe I should have tried the pc version, but it was not fun on my 360.

  364. Minnie The Finn says

    Psych-Oh:

    thanks for the hugs, and conga rats! Meaningful things are important. Think of it this way: taking the position in the Council will force you to give up something that is _less_ meaningful, _less_ important in your life. Ergo, you’ll still be busy, doing just the same amount of things, but it will be better things, and things that you care for more =)

    Hint: hire a cleaning lady. Delegate minor things. Trust on other people’s ability to perform the tasks that you do so brilliantly yourself, even though their best might not be your best at the beginning.

    This is what I’m teaching myself now. I have started to pass on a lot of work to Aleksi (my business-partner-to-be) even though I know that he’s not quite on the same guru level as myself. How would he learn if he never gets a chance? The same with the spawn: when they do dishes, the result may not be quite as spotless as when I do it myself but then, what the hell. Perfection isn’t the only acceptable state. They’re learning, while I have the advantage of decades of practice.

    Which is why I recently accepted a translation job, which isn’t quite as lucrative as my language technology end of business – it’s something I want to do, instead. Book translating is paced very differently from what I do most of the time. It’s not hectic (except for those few days before deadline – be prepared for some righteous cursing before the end of the year!), and it spans over a longer time (three months in this case). So, I trust I will enjoy it, and it will be a door towards more challenging (and maybe more lucrative) translation jobs. An investment, so to speak.

  366. opposablethumbs, que le pouce enragé mette les pouces says

    I thought Beau might be a nickname – it’s just so neat that it’s an actual name too, though.

  367. Dianne says

    Also, gallons and gallons of black & red currant cordials on the shelves, not to mention various jams, jellies and pie fillings made from raspberries, wild blueberries, gooseberries, cloudberries, berries-I-don’t-even-know-if-they-have-an-English-name… Ima one happy hamster. Come on, winter, I’m ready!

    Can I move in with you? I especially want to try berries-I-don’t-even-know-if-they-have-an-English-name.

  368. Owlmirror says

    @Lynna, re: Hooray!

    OED sez (for the etymology of hurrah):

    Forms: Also 16- hurra, 17 hurrea, whurra, 18 hooray, ( hooroar), hourra.
    Etymology: A later substitute for HUZZA v. (not in Johnson, Ash, Walker; in Todd 1818), perhaps merely due to onomatopoeic modification, but possibly influenced by some foreign shouts: compare Swedish, Danish, Low German hurra!, Dutch hoera!, Russian ura! whence French houra; French hourra is from English. Middle High German had hurr, hurrâ, as interjections representing rapid whirring motion (compare hurren to rush), whence also a shout used in chasing. According to Moriz Heyne in Grimm, hurrah was the battle-cry of the Prussian soldiers in the War of Liberation (1812-13), and has since been a favourite cry of soldiers and sailors, and of exultation. In English the form hurrah is literary and dignified; hooray is usual in popular acclamation.

  369. Dhorvath, OM says

    I am not convinced that MMO are where my interests lie, but I was on my battlenet account making sure my system specs were up to date for the diii beta and thought I would give a go. What I really don’t get is 1.5s per attach. I mean, I got over slow games when I was ten, any game that I can get up and go for a drink mid combat, well, lets just say it doesn’t excite.

    JEricho game play was relatively quick, but very repetitive, I don’t think the game was remotely ready to street.

  370. Owlmirror says

    Any ‘militant atheists’ want to be on a reality religious tv show ?

    *volunteers Sastra*

    (They’ll never know what hit them.)

    Jim Henderson Presents

    I at first read this as “Jim Henson Presents”, and wondered, “Will there be muppets?”

  372. Minnie The Finn says

    Re Beau(s):

    A friend of mine (ex-colleague, but we keep in touch) has the same first name as his beau – they’re both called Keijo. They are constantly bombarded by two types of jokes:

    1) Keijo in Finnish is pronounced something like Key-oh, so it’s a small step to Gay-oh.

    2) Keiju is Finnish for a fairy. The little sparkly one with wings, you know?

    They are both considering changing their first names when they get married – the paperwork will be easier then, as (at least) one of them will be likely to change his family name as well.

  373. says

    @Minnie the Finn:

    I dated a girl with the same name as my sister for a while, got confusing really quickly.

    “Kevin, what are you doing up so late on the phone?”
    “Talking to Erin.”
    “Your sister?”
    “No, girlfriend.”
    “Oh, right.”

  374. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    An “entertaining” read.

    Albert Einstein, of my father’s persuasion if not of his party, once wrote despairingly, “The tyranny of the ignoramuses is insurmountable and assured for all time.” But the coalition that poisons this struggling republic is an unnatural one, made up of rich cynics who supply the money, and poor ignoramuses who supply the votes. They have nothing in common, except that the cynics will say anything and the morons will believe it. There must be something, optimists insist, that could drive a wedge between the exploiters and the exploited—some irresistible revelation, some fraud or contradiction so flagrant that the most obtuse voter could see how callously and criminally he’s being used.

    How about Ayn Rand? The latest Republican poster boy, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, stole the media spotlight with a slash-to-the-bone budget proposal that Fox News heralded as the Magna Carta of fiscal responsibility in America. I lack the expertise to take on Rep. Ryan’s budget digit-for-digit, but I place considerable confidence in the opinion of the Times’ Paul Krugman, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2008. “The proposal wasn’t serious at all,” Krugman wrote. “In fact, it was a sick joke. The only real things in it were savage cuts in aid to the needy and the uninsured, huge tax cuts for corporations and the rich and Medicare privatization. All the alleged cost savings were pure fantasy.”

    That sounds about par for the current Republican course, with fresh infusions of tea party belligerence and unreality. But what frightened me most about Rep. Ryan was the report that he is an avowed disciple of the writer/ philosopher Ayn Rand, and has declared in public that Rand is “the reason I got involved in public service.”

    Good grief, she’s back. She died in 1982, but someone neglected to drive a stake through her heart. A passion for the prose and philosophy of Ayn Rand tells us a great deal about an individual, none of it good. There are few surer signs of a poor reader, a poor thinker and an unpleasant person than a well-thumbed copy of Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead. In 2005, Rand’s acolytes gathered in Washington for a symposium to celebrate her 100th birthday—the occasion for Rep. Ryan’s disturbing confession—and I admit I’d give anything to see the seating chart. If there were some way to ban everyone in that room from holding public office, we could probably turn the United States of America back toward the generous light of reason.

  375. Minnie The Finn says

    Kate:

    Oh yeah. I once dated two guys in a row with the same name… my family never caught on. But then, the two guys only lasted about three months put together. As my granny used to say: on sil ottoo mut ei sil oo pittoo – she has the lure but not the net =)

  376. says

    Owlmirror @368. Thank you.

    I still can’t find the “ooay!” used in Master and Commander, but am betting that it is just an alternated spelling.

  377. Richard Austin says

    Dhorvath:

    Rogue has a 1 sec global cooldown rather than 1.5, but yeah. That’s actually done just to prevent people from “spamming” attacks; pretty much any multiplayer game has some kind of cooldown on abilities.

    I’m playing Rift now, which is a bad thing for someone with ADHD – I swear those damned rifts like spawning on top of me.

    If you’re on Battlenet, do you do Starcraft at all? I’ve been trying to find people to play with and/or against (and I hate the competition in the ladders).

  379. says

    Rev BDC @374, thanks for that link. Very interesting indeed. To your excerpt, I’ll add:

    What strikes Wolff’s narrator most forcefully is her [Rand’s] utter lack of charity or empathy, her transparent disgust with everything she views as disfiguring or disabling…

    Says a lot about the psychopathology of Rand.

  380. Minnie The Finn says

    Aye is something I hear regularly even nowadays from Irish and Scottish people – it’s not obsolete by any means. They do pronounce it slightly differently, though. (Please don’t ask me to explain the difference, I just hear it in my head, no way can I explain it in words.)

  381. Dhorvath, OM says

    Richard,
    I live to spam. Gimme whirlwind or charged bolt and I am a giddy kiddy.

  382. Dhorvath, OM says

    And I don’t seem to be quick enough on the strategy front to excel at RTS. I am more a horde and onslaught kind of player than a tactical player.

  383. Richard Austin says

    Dhorvath:

    Oddly, that’s how I play SC (at least when I’m playing maps and not the campaign). But then, I usually do Protoss, and that’s their typical game plan: build up defenses and “turtle” while you move down the tech tree to get the really awesome units (“Carrier has arrived.”), and then mow down the competition.

    And that’s why I dislike the ladders: my play style takes time, and most people seem to want a 5-minute game. I’ve actually had people yell at me in chat because I was 1) successfully defending myself against their early attacks and 2) not immediately retalliating. About 25% just surrender outright because they don’t want to play “that kind of game.”

    Oh well, my search for SC2 friends continues…

  384. Owlmirror says

    (following up on #370)

    It’s time to spew out dogma
    It’s time to fight the fight
    It’s time for True Believers on the “Save Me!” show tonight
     
    We propagate our faith
    Because we know we’re right
    And everyone else is wrong on the “Save Me!” show tonight
     
    Why did we have to come here?
    Was this a good idea?
    Now everyone is fighting
    Over just whose God is real!
     
    And now let’s get things started…
     
    Why don’t you get things started?!
     
    It’s time to get things started…
     
    …on the most salvational inspirational ostentational presuppositional…
    This is what we call the “Save Me!” Show!
     
    *blatt*

  385. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Looks forward to SWTOR and now The Secret World (assuming Funcom can actually pull off an MMORPG launch that doesn’t fall flat on its face).

    Well looking forward to at least for the first couple months of each game after which I’ll get bored or RL will distract me enough to not care.

  389. Birger Johansson says

    I thought it would be fun to dissect bloopers in the scripts of otherwise good films*. (*the bad ones are so full of it that it would not make any sense in reviewing their physics mistakes)

    A deleted scene from the Alien Quadrilogy. The crew of Nostromo listens to alien message and gets some information about the planetoid.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8cbFX6yRUo Planetoid: Just 1200 km!? Not nearly enough to hang on to atmosphere! Rotation: 2 hours! It should be disc-shaped with a rotation that rapid!

    Pitch Black (Trailer 2000) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-itu1C5oB5I Even if one of the suns is eclipsed, the rotation should bring them into daylight after a while. Barricade yourself for some hours, then go to the escape craft! In theory the rotation could be too slow (consider Venus) but the film shows sun two (or three) rising when they expect dusk, so the rotation cannot be much slower than Earth’s.

    Another beef I have is the ecology. One night of rainfall in 22 years cannot power a planetwide ecology. And even if the “locals” spend the time in hibernation, the ratio of time hunting food/hibernation is ridicilous. And where did those skeletal behemoths get their food before they died?

    Signs (of mediocricy) – The Alien confrontation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY_LBAVWRMU 1950s-era alien! Silly actor in rubber suit. As for “harvesting” humans, Campbell pointed out the silliness of that idea in the late 1930s when he took over Astounding Science Fiction. Could potentially have been a fun low-budget film, but ruined by those mistakes.

    Juggling: http://www.xkcd.com/942/ :)
    — — — — — —

    Muppet true believers: WIN!

  390. Therrin says

    #365 Katherine Lorraine

    League of Legends is so much more fun than World of Warcraft and it’s free :D

    Friend of mine invited me to try League, the one map got boring pretty quickly.
    —
    #369 Dhorvath

    What I really don’t get is 1.5s per attach. I mean, I got over slow games when I was ten, any game that I can get up and go for a drink mid combat, well, lets just say it doesn’t excite.

    Not really sure what to make of that, other than to say it’s pretty different at higher levels (certainly don’t have time to afk midfight). It does take some time invested to get there, which I’ll be the first to admit can be better spent elsewhere. =) I prefer the healing role to DPS, much more interesting than rotation/priority focus.
    —
    Katherine Lorraine

    My latest review on my Blog (my latest post, actually) explains it.

    Brt after shower.

  391. says

    Good evening

    @Minnie
    All the huggs you want. I’m envious of your berries. Do you have by any chance some elk-meat, too?

    @Same first names
    That nearly ended my relationship with the now Mr. Giliell before it even began. He shares his first name with my cousin. Unfortunately, with my very close and very damaged cousin who at that time was known to call every other week asking for help because he screwed up big.
    So when Mr called for the first time when we were still kind of unsure whether we were seeing each other, and if whether we were seeing a friend or a friend, I was taking a shower and my dad answered the phone. Mr said his name and asked if he could talk to me.
    Dad told him that no, he should call later because I was taking a shower and asked him if he called because he’d crashed the car or been caught with drugs.
    Fortunately he did call again.

    My brother in law and his beau share the same first name, too, and it’s a source of eternal missunderstandings.

  394. Minnie The Finn says

    Giliell:

    I’m afraid elk meat is unavailable for me at the moment. Don’t know the local hunting societies that well. But I will do my damnedest to change the situation next year. If I win the lottery (as I have planned) and become a landowner, I am within my rights to shoot any elk that happen to pass by. We’ve spotted several of them this summer, and I can always say that they were nibbling on my salad beds, hence, they were pests, which means I can kill them =)

    Sure, elk meat is available for non-hunting folks, too, but the prices are way beyond my sphere.

    The name of the berry I couldn’t figure out is bilberry. Looks like blueberry, only bigger. Taste-wise, it is quite bland, but contains humongous amounts of vitamin C. Excellent when added to other berries with a tangier taste, like redcurrants.

  395. First Approximation (formerly Feynmaniac) says

    Haha

    If nothing else, Hurricane Irene leaves us with the legacy of a fine fake-Twitter account, @ElBloombito (aka “Miguel Bloombito”), which takes satirical aim at the Spanish-language announcements that New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg appended to the end of his many hurricane-related press conferences.

    Some Tweets:

    Muchos trees esta falling downo. No stando under los trees. Que splat!

    El hurricano esta mucho worse. No vamos en el street. No es cute! Remaindo where tu are locatedo!

    Nueva Yorko will get through el hurricano por que nosotros el besto personas de la earthador.

  396. Psych-Oh says

    Minnie – Thanks! And that is good advice. I have to rearrange priorities. Your new project sounds perfect for you!

  397. Dhorvath, OM says

    Therrin,

    Not really sure what to make of that

    I am. The speed of action made me feel like an observer, not a participant.

  398. Minnie The Finn says

    Weed Monkey: Hartola (and Helsinki) says hi!

    And now I’m off to my cot, wearing my bunny pajamas. See you all tomorrow, I’m going to sleep for the next ten hours or so (if I’m lucky).

  399. Dhorvath, OM says

    Weed Monkey,
    Okay, that was funny. Seitan, Seitan, Seitan, Seitan. Jugga Jigga wugga.

  400. Therrin says

    I am. The speed of action made me feel like an observer, not a participant.

    How far did you get, levelwise?

  401. says

    Minnie:
    If you succeed, please tell hubby how to win the lottery, it’s something he’s been failing to do for about 20 years now.
    Friends of our family migrated to Sweden and found out that unless you hunt yourself there’s hardly any meat to buy at all.

    @Stupidity in films:
    Zombies never ever really eat anybody. They just bite and infect.

  402. Dhorvath, OM says

    Giliell,
    You may not be watching the same zombie films I do.
    ___

    Therrin,
    How many hours is it fair to play a game that you don’t find engaging? I played three evenings and one afternoon away trying to pin down what it was I found so dispiriting because ten million subsribers must be onto something, right? Now I get that WoW classes are supposed to be different, I understand that warrior in WoW speak is a damage sink, not a wmd, but my warrior was boring. I have never felt so bleah about an axe swinger before, and that’s a basic archetype character, isn’t it? It’s no great loss, I got to try it for free this time, not like when I paid to play when it first came out. I am just ill suited to the mechanic.

  404. Therrin says

    Dhorvath,

    I wasn’t asking to say something silly like, You obviously didn’t give it enough time, more for a frame of reference. I don’t like RTS games because I have to start over every time; if it’s a progress-oriented game (ie. not Tetris), it should persist. Diablo was good like that, quick to enter and gearing progressed.

    I’m not a sycophant who feels everyone who doesn’t like Warcraft just hasn’t played enough. The system focuses on least common denominator, expecting that the player knows nothing about gaming and giving little bits at a time. I stuck with it initially (for me, that was during Burning Crusade, not beta) because I had some friends I was catching up to.

    Speaking of free trials, time to check out Rift.

  405. says

    Dhorvath: I admit to not watching a lot of them, but it struck me most obvious in Resident Evil (I probably should have clarified).
    It’s explicitly stated that the infected only heed their most basic instincts for food, yet instead of going for the other lurching zombies, they’re going after the fast armed living group.
    Whenever any of them falls prey to the zombies, they are sure to come back. They go any length to get that yummie fresh meat into their mouths but then they lose interest. Now one could argue that the infected hunt in a group and therefore don’t attack their fellow mindless eating machines, but they still don’t start eating anything if it’s lying around after the group killed them for good.

    *yawn*
    Off to bed now

  406. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    Isn’t there some rule that zombies only eat fresh meat? And if that goes even further and they can only eat meat from live people, that would explain why dead people are “whole” enough to come back as zombies.

    Or, if they simply prefer fresh over a bit on the rotting side, they could mindlessly leave barely eaten corpses for fresh ones, therefore enabling their “zombification”.

  407. David Marjanović, OM says

    O hai! Wasn’t able to check in yesterday, because we came home too late, and I was very tired and had a headache. I got to do quite a bit of driving, perhaps more than ever before in total.

    Lots of dried-up cornfields in the Po delta.

    Perhaps it’s old news, but brokenSoldier has been sighted!

    Today morning I found out I finally have access to a journal I wanted access to since it was founded in 2003. I spent the rest of the morning on a downloading spree. *bliss*

    Watched the Enterprise episode where T’Pol almost gets mind-raped by Evil-Vulcan Guy With The Sleaziest, Creepiest Smile In The Galaxy. Nice educational aspect. At the end, T’Pol envies Archer in particular and humans in general for having enjoyable dreams; to a lesser extent and in a more specific way, that’s how I feel about some of present female company. :-)

    No idea when I’ll catch up.

    Hugs and chocolate for kristinc. Keep explaining, he’ll understand it sometime.

  408. Squigit says

    Woo hoo! Transportation problem solved: Mom and Mom’s best friend are coming to get me this weekend!

    Should I apologize to Friend for being pissed that she backed out on me?

    Also, Husband (soon-to-be-ex) took my car key out of my purse today and I didn’t know it until I needed to go somewhere and couldn’t. O.o Why is he suddenly being an ass? /whine

  409. Dhorvath, OM says

    Therrin,
    Oh well, maybe I will give it a go too.
    ___

    Katherine,
    LoL is player vs player? And teams?

  413. Dhorvath, OM says

    Katherine,
    I don’t know if that’s for me either. Competition where a good performance on my part can impede someone else’s experience doesn’t do good things to me. How does the game handle loosing a map?

  415. Squigit says

    Dhorvath,

    Well, he’s just never been this much of an ass. He’s very, very passive and will avoid conflict at all costs. I wasn’t expecting him to take the car away from me while I’m still living here and helping to care for our son…however, he is going to help with transportation costs and give me some money until I can find employment where I’m moving so family doesn’t have to completely support me.

    Still, I fucking HATE being dependent on anyone, most of all him. Gah.

    In other news: this article on mandatory drug tests for welfare recipients is good. I mean, it’s just nice to see it in print.

  417. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    Sorry, broken link

    *hands Squigit a glass of swill, and the book Best of Tpyos*

  418. Psych-Oh says

    Anyone know how to fix a running toilet that doesn’t have a float in it? I can’t seem to find the right instructions on the internet.

  420. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    Anyone know how to fix a running toilet that doesn’t have a float in it?

    By float, you mean the old ball at the end of a lever? Nowadays, the float is around the tube that comes up from the water inlet. It will need replacing every 5-10 years.

  421. Dhorvath, OM says

    Squigit,
    Sorry to hear that you have encountered new behaviour like that. Sure would be nice to have someone who helps consistently with hard times. Hugs if you want ’em.

  422. ChasCPeterson says

    Anyone know how to fix a

    The noun is irrelevant.
    1. hit with a hammer
    2. if still not working, duct tape
    3. if still not working, WD-40
    4. if still not working, hit with bigger hammer

  423. Dhorvath, OM says

    Chas,
    Umm, actually, if it’s loose, duct tape, if it’s tight, WD-40, if it’s still not working get a bigger hammer: it’s broken anyways.

  424. says

    Dhorvath -“How does the game handle loosing a map?”

    Well, if you spread it out and show it to all the other players … oops, sorry. All hails Tpyis!

  425. says

    Not only do religious fundies want to make a list of all atheists, they also want to prevent evolutionists from voting.

    In an article in the July/August newsletter of the Creation Science Association of Mid-America, the question, “Should Evolutionists Be Allowed to Vote?” is addressed, and then answered with a firm, “No.”

    Tom Willis states in the newsletter that evolutionists cannot, by their very nature, interact properly with other human beings. And, in Tom’s opinion, this includes so-called Christians or other religious persons who profess to agree with the Theory of Evolution.

    Excerpt below:

    They do not and can not know the purpose for Man. In fact, all of them believe Man has no purpose.
    Therefore, they cannot make informed judgments about how men should behave toward each other, or what would be “good” or “bad” for any group of men to do, or not do.
    Thus, they have no sane foundation upon which to base “laws” or rational for insisting that other men obey the laws.
    Thus, the religion they profess to believe renders them incapable of participating in any decision about what men ought to do. But, that is the purpose of all law.
    Therefore, in a sane society, evolutionists should not be allowed to vote, or influence laws or people in any way! They should, perhaps, make bricks to earn enough to eat.

    As “Christian Dem in NC” writes in the Daily Kos:

    Just in case you’re wondering–this isn’t coming from a fringe kook. This is coming from the president of the Creation Science Association of Mid-America. In other words, we have the leader of a mainstream creationist organization saying that evolutionists don’t belong in our society. Whether you’re a creationist or an evolutionist, this is simply unacceptable.

  426. says

    I’m reading a book called Value wars: the Global market versus the life Economy by John McMurtry.

    I’m plodding my way through the work as one of his talents McMurtry writes in academicese with great alacrity making understanding what he’s trying say sometimes a chore. Aside from his arcane loquaciousness a few problems present themselves to me and would like to call on the Pharyngula braintrust for additional commentary and insight.

    First, he dances with conspiracies and goes all 9/11 truther loopy in the introduction. I was going to pitch the text right there but kept going, wending my way through this labyrinthine text. We all have our little quirks, right?

    He goes on to analyze and provide a fairly coherent and radical critique of the current state of capitalism (err…corporatism) in our society. All fine and good, but then I also think this is the guy who was speaking on the one of the Zeitgeist movie-trainwrecks and being associated with that particular venture does not do much for his credibility.

    McMurtry’s Wikipedia entry is unhelpful and does little other than naming his awards and books he’s written. Is this guy a crank? Cross referencing him with other radicals (Chomsky,Zinn etc.) puts him in the same ballpark, but I still have nagging doubts about him and was hoping you could help.

    Thank you in advance. :)

  427. psanity says

    ‘Scuse me. Regular reader, occasional poster, here.

    I see by the internets that Vermont is flooded and smashed by what’s left of Irene –kind of unexpected. Has anyone heard from Josh OSG, who was generously offering safe harbor to the coastal Pharyngulites? Hope he’s OK, and the also the rest of everyone in the wake of that monster.

    By the way, I haven’t been able to keep up with the Thread, or any of them really, because it’s been just too depressing without killfile. I mean, all that hard work, weeding and pruning, taking the most advantage of MRA threads to cull the diseased foliage, all gone for naught. I just noticed a couple hints that a killfile solution has been found — if so, somebody please, please re-post that, so I can catch up again. Pretty please with tentacles on top.

  428. says

    Pedophile, FLDS Prophet, and general all around god-addled dunderhead, Warren Jeffs, has been hospitalized. He was in prison in Texas, where he apparently fasted himself into a collapse.

    As scary, twisted and abusive as Warren Jeffs is, I can’t help feeling pity. Imprisonment in Texas, with the current state of the criminal justice system there, is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. (Given the overcrowding, horrific conditions, and prevalence of violence and abuse in many US prisons.) Even child-molesters are human beings, and are entitled to dignity and humane treatment.

  429. Cephas Borg says

    I just saw PZ on the Mr. Deity channel. I laughed so much I nearly choked.

    And I loved the sushi reference. Anathema, surely?

    Just sayin’. I know I’m years too late and way behind the 8-ball, but I really, really enjoyed hearing PZ for the fust time.

  430. Brother Ogvorbis, Fully Defenestrated Emperor of Steam, Fire and Absurdity says

    I see by the internets that Vermont is flooded and smashed by what’s left of Irene –kind of unexpected.

    Actually, it was not unexpected. On Wednesday and Thursday, the National Weather Service was showing railfall accumulation predictions of 4 to 12 inches for an area from the western Adirondaks to the New Hampshire/Maine border (the wide area was because of uncertainty about the track). The governor of Vermont, and the emergency management agency for Vermont, were planning for massive flooding two days before the flooding happened (as were the states of New York, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachu . . . you get the picture). I remember seeing the accumulated precipitation predictions on Thursday or Friday and thinking that Northern New England, which has already had a really wet summer, is in deep cop.

    The resident neocon in our office has been spouting off about the unreliability of the NWS, and how it should be privatized to make it more efficient and reliable, for a couple of days. Why does he think it unreliable? Because they keep having to revise the expected track as new information comes in.

    Just because the national news, including The Weather Channel, were not giving dire warnings about flooding in Vermont does not mean it was unexpected. It means that there were more populated areas that were also being threatened which garnered most of the attention.

    My sympathy goes out to Vermonters (and all other affected by flooding), but the implication that this was unexpected, either at the state or national level, is, in my opinion (please note that, this is my opinion), nonsense. And it feeds right into neoconservative antigovernment privatization efforts which would make the United States a third world oligarchical hellhole.

  431. Psych-Oh says

    Chas – do not come over and help…

    Nerd – A-ha! Yup, that’s how it works!

    How many Psych-Ohs does it take to fix a toilet? Answer: More than we have in the house.

    With Nerd’s advice, the hubby and I poked around in the tank and discovered that it needs a new “float” and probably a new stopper and valve. I just turned off the water supply for tonight and will deal with it tomorrow, since we have more than 1 bathroom.

  432. psanity says

    Thanks, Brother Ogvorbis. I figured they weren’t completely unprepared, but I hadn’t seen any “before” coverage. To be fair, I guess they’ve been a little busy. My FSM, though, some of the photos are awe-inspiring. The sheer volume of water is astounding.

    Coverage by the commercial weather channels/websites is indeed arbitrary. You would think, for example, that there is a mysterious no-weather area between the Cascades and, about, Denver.

    I hear you about the anti-public-everything people. We get a lot of that here (MT), and sometimes I wonder how often these people were dropped on their heads when young. We live in a place where the _normal_ weather can kill you, and NOAA and USGS are our friends.

  433. Tigger_the_Wing says

    …National Weather Service was showing railfall accumulation predictions of 4 to 12 inches for an area from the western Adirondaks to the New Hampshire/Maine border (the wide area was because of uncertainty about the track).

    Very appropriate offering to Tpyos there, given the source (Brother Ogvorbis). (Is 4 to 12 inches the usual size of rails in that area? Or is there always uncertainty about the track?) =^_^=

    Nevertheless, I hope that everyone in the path of the hurricane survived the railfall/rainfall with minimal damage or inconvenience and those without power will have it back soonest so as they can report back here.

    Giliell, that poor young man (sister’s calleague’s son)! :-(
    I hope that he wasn’t severely injured and recovers soon – plus that his attackers are caught and put away before they can hurt anyone else.

  435. Ibis3, féministe avec un titre française de fantaisie says

    I wasn’t aware there were so many fans of the Doctor here. I guess I know where to come to squee next Saturday night.

  436. starstuff91 says

    I wasn’t aware there were so many fans of the Doctor here. I guess I know where to come to squee next Saturday night.

    Yes. EEeee! Did you see last Saturday’s episode?!

  437. Owlmirror says

    Tom Willis states in the newsletter that evolutionists cannot, by their very nature, interact properly with other human beings. And, in Tom’s opinion, this includes so-called Christians or other religious persons who profess to agree with the Theory of Evolution.

    I knew that name looked familiar. PZ wrote about him more than once a while back (Willis has been spouting the same malevolent loony blather for a long time), and Willis even left a sneering turd of a comment, here.

  439. cicely, Inadvertent Phytocidal Maniac says

    Zombies never ever really eat anybody. They just bite and infect.

    They’re only there for the braaaiiinnss. The rest of the body is useless to them, but valuable to the zombie virus as a vehicle. There’s something there for everyone/thing!
    –

    Why is he suddenly being an ass? /whine

    and

    Well, he’s just never been this much of an ass. He’s very, very passive and will avoid conflict at all costs.

    Crouching Jerkface, Hidden Asshole.
    –

  440. Carlie says

    They’re only there for the braaaiiinnss.

    They’re not unreasonable; I mean, no one’s gonna eat your eyes.

  441. Patricia, OM says

    Psych-Oh – Naughty Marvin says there is an adjustment thingy on the float you are describing, and you need to lower the float by a quarter to half an inch. The adjustment thing is a spring clip affair, a sideways V shape wire attached to the side of the float.

    You can pinch it further together with your fingers.

    (Trust me it sounds better when he says it)

  443. Patricia, OM says

    OK – amend that toilet advice. That is for the old style. The newer ones, like Nerd said, have a round doughnut float around a stem. On the top of the stem is a round thing attached to a piece of plastic that has a phillips screw on top. You screw that thing up or down to adjust the float.

  445. says

    Catch her eye when she’s pouring my coffee and search my head for an opening line
    But I see by the look on her face if I keep my mouth shut I’ll save some time
    What if the best I can be just isn’t good enough?
    Isn’t it better not to know?

    I quit
    I’m done
    ‘Cause I don’t think it’s gonna turn out okay
    It’s no fair
    It’s no fun
    If every time it’s going to end the same way

    Me zero
    Big bad world one

  446. Patricia, OM says

    Nerd are we low on swill? Normally it’s served in buckets and troughs. I’ve been too busy trying to reline the trebuchet sling with skunk pelts, and forgot the swill tubs.

  447. cicely, Inadvertent Phytocidal Maniac says

    They’re not unreasonable; I mean, no one’s gonna eat your eyes.

    So, what you’re saying here is that the eyes don’t have it?
    :D
    –

  448. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    Toilets with running water can be caused by a number of things. The float mechanism is the first place to look. The main height is adjusted during installation, and isn’t likely to change. Sometime a little more pressure is needed to shut off the water, and the adjustment screw Patricia mentions will do that job. It you still can’t get it to stop, replace the unit. Its made almost totally out of plastic, so it will eventually deform and need replacing every few years. The rubber gasket is the weak link, and I haven’t seen a replacement kit for one. Besides, they are generally fairly cheap.

    If the water runs intermittently, the problem tends to be with the flap. The flap can be slightly off its moorings, or the moorings have slipped, but usually with that being the case, you don’t get tight enough seal for the water to run intermittently. Sometimes things get caught under the flap. Usually the chain which pulls it up, which can be tied up. Nylon zip ties work wonders for this. Being made of rubber, it still will need to be replaced every so often as it does deform. A good time to put in a new one is if you replace the float mechanism. Takes an extra couple of minutes, and you’re good for several years.

  449. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    Nerd are we low on swill?

    No, traffic has been lighter since the move, so we are OK. The Pharyngula Labs bottomless purse technology also gives a lot of storage space for the counter space it occupies.

  450. Patricia, OM says

    Rorshach – Thanks for the answer to my question. I did call my doctors office, but the same nurse said there were no more notes, and my doctor won’t be back until the 8th of September. Since that’s the day of my appt. that’s pretty much the end of that. So end whining too.

  451. Patricia, OM says

    That’s good advise on the toilet innards Nerd.

    Because I’ve never had to deal with children mucking about with everything I had no idea the little darlings would put toy soldiers and dinosaurs down the tank…. after mysterious toilet running for days, you guessed it, one of my great nieces had dropped a Barbie shoe in there it interfered with the flapper.

  452. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Argh. I have a comparatively frivolous complaint to make.

    As some of you know, we here in the state of Vermont in the US are having the worst flooding since the deluge of 1927 that devastated our state. The capital is under water, people in dozens of towns are stranded as the roads are washed out (we’re a rural state, and many towns are connected to the rest of the state by only the most tenuous roads).

    I’m very fortunate to live on high ground and have had no damage to my home, and no cellar flooding, for which I’m very thankful.

    All the human drama duly acknowledged. . .we lost several of our covered bridges. That hurts. Part of what makes Vermont such a wonderful place to live is the continued existence of our Colonial era villages and towns. Rather than tearing old buildings down to make way for “progress,” we carefully preserve our Colonial villages and the town square, as well as our later Victorian towns. The businesses on Main Street change, but they do their trade in the same handsome buildings that have stood there for a century or two.

    This is one of the few places in North America where you can walk along a country road and see a real, honest-to-Pete working covered bridge over which pedestrians and cars can move.

    So, the complaint:

    The Huffington Post re-ran a video that’s made all the rounds. It’s the covered bridge in Bartonsville being swept away by the storm. A couple happened to be there filming it on their phone, and started weeping. The woman said “shit!” several times as she cried. Oh, and there was a “fuck” too.

    And. . . .HuffPo puts up a disclaimer above the video – “warning: profane language.”

    Fuck you, HuffPo. Fuck you prudish American media consumers. Losing some of our historical landmarks—structures that help define our lives as New Englanders—is an obscenity. Crying out in frustration is not.

  453. SallyStrange says

    You know what, Josh? Thank you. I saw several comments on that video saying something like, “If you are going to film the destruction of a historic bridge in an idyllic countryside [ed: the “idyllic” really stuck out] then make sure your language suits the occasion.

    I was like, “It fucking DID suit the occasion.”

    —————-

    I have an internet crush on Katherine Lorraine for her tireless efforts at getting people to remember that “retard” and “you have a small penis” are stupid, discriminatory insults.

    —————

    I’ve been working the Champlain Valley Expo! It’s kinda cool. Today I met a guy who’s been working fairs and concerts for his entire life basically and has “so many children he doesn’t want to say how many because you’d call me a slut”. $8.50 an hour, it’s almost an insult. But hey, I’m making more than unemployment this week.

    ——

    StrangeBoyfriend is moving to DC at the end of September.

    :( :( :( :(

    It’s an amiable break-up with the possibility of getting back together in 6 months to a year depending on how we are both feeling and doing at that time.

    This has been coming for a while I just haven’t wanted to discuss it much. I still don’t. I’m just putting it out there so that when I freak the fuck out at the end of the month, you know why.

    Unconventional relationships. Yay. :-/

  454. SallyStrange says

    …I just noticed that HuffPo deleted my comment where I told that stupid so-and-so (without profanity of course) that the woman’s response was appropriate, and that the disapproving commenter was likely not from Vermont.

    Fuck HuffPoo.

  456. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Sally, we’ll just have to comfort each other. There, there. . . I’m sorry about Strange Boyfriend. It’s awful.

    Everything’s awful this week. Glad you understand about the covered bridges and all (though I know household core relationships are way more important, believe me) cuz I’ve shed some tears. I hope those poor stranded people get some help soon. . . too many Vermonters have been flooded out of their homes repeatedly over the past year.

  457. Katrina, radicales féministes athées says

    Josh, some of the related videos were just too painful to watch. I’m with you, losing historical landmarks is the worst. We have such relatively young landmarks here, too. They should have centuries ahead of them.

    This one is painful to watch, too.

  458. Ibis3, féministe avec un titre française de fantaisie says

    I’ll commiserate about the bridge too, Josh. If an expletive isn’t appropriate at such a moment, then it never is. Fucking puritans.

    @starstuff: I did! (Though I distinctly remember them talking about putting Hitler in the cupboard. Did they shoot an Americanised version of the scene, I wonder? Or maybe I’m just misremembering it.)

  459. starstuff91 says

    @starstuff: I did! (Though I distinctly remember them talking about putting Hitler in the cupboard. Did they shoot an Americanised version of the scene, I wonder? Or maybe I’m just misremembering it.)

    What do you mean? The episode that aired on BBC America had a scene in which Rory puts Hitler in the cuboard (after punching him in the face!).

    Just an aside here: I hate Latin. How did anyone actually speak this language every day?

  460. SallyStrange says

    Thanks Josh. I shall definitely be in need of some commiseration. When the time comes. Fuck, I am so in love with that man.

  462. Patricia, OM says

    SallyStrange –

    Fuck, I am so in love with that man.

    That is breaking my heart before it even happens.
    Dammit.

  463. starstuff91 says

    What in the fuckus shiticus maximus do you mean by thaticus?

    Haha. But no, seriously, it’s the worst dead language I’ve ever learned (admittedly that’s not a very hard title to earn, since I’ve only learned Latin). Endings… so many endings. If I have to decline one more adjective to make it agree with a noun I’ll lose my mind.

  465. Ibis3, féministe avec un titre française de fantaisie says

    @SallyStrange I’ll give you a hug and tell you that the months of separation will pass by so quickly you’ll be amazed. I really hope things will work out for you after that.

    @starstuff The comments up above suggested that the Doctor told Rory to put Hitler in “the closet” rather than “the cupboard”. I thought maybe they did that Harry-Potter-translation-into-American-English thing.

    I love Latin. I studied it for years, and did two summers of Latin immersion in Rome. I, along with a couple of friends, were stuck at Monte Casino after the last bus had left, and we had to hitch a ride with a couple of old Italian ladies. I knew next to no Italian so I spoke to them in Latin instead. The communication gap wasn’t too bad. :) There’s no way I could do it now without a refresher however.

  466. starstuff91 says

    @starstuff The comments up above suggested that the Doctor told Rory to put Hitler in “the closet” rather than “the cupboard”. I thought maybe they did that Harry-Potter-translation-into-American-English thing.

    I checked the episode (I recorded it). They say cupboard in the BBC America version.

  468. Patricia, OM says

    starstuff91 – Oh come on Latin is such great fun. People fuckus it up all the time, and get howled at if they misquote it – watch this:

    Non illigetimati corrubundom bastardi

    somebody knows the correct quote for that horrid mash up of Don’t ever let the bastards get you down that I just completely fucked up. And if you love that, wait til you see Pharyngula Phrench. It’s oh la, la luscious.

  470. Patricia, OM says

    Holy shite!!

    Sorry!

    PZ the secret comic sans isn’t the only thang that needs to be fixed.

    Sorry everyone. Dammit. :((

  471. says

    Good morning

    Tigger:
    The criminals punished? Are you kidding? Those are neonazis who, by definition, can’t exist. Not only will this turn out to have been a normal fight amongst youngsters, they will also tell the world why it was essentially the kid’s own fault.
    Do I sound bitter? I’ve seen it happen too many times. It’s probably like a poor black woman accusing a rich white man of rape. That can’t happen either.

    Sally:
    *hugs if you want them*
    Mr and I have been sperated for 9 and the again for 3 months. And honestly, the last times was a blessing. Because I was wondering if I was in love with him or being in love, and somehow, since you don’t have to stay with your first boyfriend anymore, I somehow though I mustn’t stay with him and that I was missing out on something and so on and the seperation really helped me to find out what I really wanted myself.

    Zombies: Well, in resident evil they didn’t even eat the brains. They never ate anything. It didn’t make sense (but on the other hand, there wouldn’t have been a plot if it did)

  473. theophontes , flambeau du communisme says

    @ Lynna

    [mormon profile] I sent you an email.

    @ Patricia

    Non illigetimati corrubundom bastardi

    Illegitimi non carborundum.

    /pedantry

    (comments not going through….)
    /thumbs

  475. says

    My youngest (2½ year old) has taken to making smalltalk while I change his diaper

    “Nice weather. No rain”

  476. says

    SQB:
    Any chance that this is exactly what somebody he knows says? My kids, especially no #1 have the terrible habbit of mirroring me, especially when it’s something I shouldn’t have said (like constant nagging).
    It’s really funny to hear myself, intonation and everything in the voice of my kids.
    My little one (not yet 2) is becoming a girl *shock grasp*. If her sister has piggy-tails, she needs them, too and she doesn’t care about the fact that she doesn’t have much hair for them. When her sister put on her new dress for kindergarten, she needed to wear hers, too. As soon as she came back home she asked me “dress take off, please”.

  477. John Morales says

    [image] Ecologically friendly Lord Ganesh

    Indian artist K Surya Prakash puts the final preparations on an ecologically friendly idol of the Hindu God, Lord Ganesh, made from paper cups, at his workshop in Hyderabad on August 29, 2011. Prakash and five helpers made the five metre high Idol for the upcoming Ganesh festival starting September 1, by using 30,000 paper cups to minimise harm to the environment when they are thrown into the river.
    (AFP: Noah Seelam)

  478. says

    Giliell, no, not this time. Both of them do it at times, though. Luckily, nothing embarrassing so far. Especially the youngest can be quite the echolaliac at times.

  480. David Marjanović, OM says

    Obviously not caught up.

    Just an aside here: I hate Latin. How did anyone actually speak this language every day?

    The way it was spoken, as opposed to the things the poets did to the word order, it wasn’t much harder than Russian. OK, it was full of irregular verbs, but we’re used to that from English, German and so on.

    Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur. Nothing in there that you couldn’t do in Russian, except for the passive maybe.

  481. Carlie says

    The comments up above suggested that the Doctor told Rory to put Hitler in “the closet” rather than “the cupboard”.

    I probably translated it directly in my head as they said it. Yeah, to me, a cupboard is the small thing up on the wall you keep cups and dishes in. Hitler wouldn’t fit in one.

    Sorry, Josh and Sallystrange. It sucks when people don’t understand and then mock pain. :(

    Sally, MrC and I did most of our dating separated. It sucks, but it can be done and isn’t necessarily the end. I wish you luck with it.

  483. says

    Nothing in there that you couldn’t do in Russian, except for the passive maybe.

    I’m reading Pinkers’ “The Language Instinct” with interest atm. Intriguing that there would be retards with a full concept of language and grammar as well as highly intelligent people suffering from total language fail. Also that children do not get their language skills from their peers or parents, but just naturally expand on a preexisting talent.

  485. Moggie says

    Carlie:

    I probably translated it directly in my head as they said it. Yeah, to me, a cupboard is the small thing up on the wall you keep cups and dishes in. Hitler wouldn’t fit in one.

    Cupboard or closet, I just love that they had an episode called “Let’s Kill Hitler” and made Hitler a minor character in it!

  486. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    Cupboard or closet, I just love that they had an episode called “Let’s Kill Hitler” and made Hitler a minor character in it!

    Yeah, I liked how they made him totally irrelevant. A couple of hours after watching the episode, I suddenly remembered him. Like, wait… what about Hitler?

  487. Carlie says

    I liked how not only was Hitler a red herring, but they left him in the cupboard/closet. I kind of wanted a shot at the end of the door with a feeble “Hello?” coming out of it.

  488. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    In case there exists someone who hasn’t watched the episode yet, this is a SPOILER for Doctor Who, but I have a question:

    How come Melody only knows her name is Melody Pond and hasn’t heard of River Song? I thought she was raised by people of that forest planet who named her River Song because they didn’t have right words for her real name. Or did I get that completely wrong and she actually got involved with them later and someone else had her from the moment of kidnapping to the time she came to live as Amy and Rory’s neighbor and friend?

  489. Antiochus Epiphanes says

    SallyStrange: Sux. Sorry. If it’s any consolation, my wife and I were separated by ~700 miles for two years…it was lonely for the both of us, but I think we developed a sharpened appreciation for each other. YMMV. Good luck with that, anyway.

    DDMFM: Funny how Caesar can be read easily with one or two semesters of Latin, but not Cicero even if you were born a patrician.

  490. Carlie says

    I thought she was raised by people of that forest planet who named her River Song because they didn’t have right words for her real name.

    She got raised by the evil kidnap people, who apparently include both what we thought were The Silence the species, but is The Silence the religion that includes that species and eyepatch woman. The forest planet people were just part of the army that was gathered together to try and help out. They mentioned on the episode prior to this one that she would probably be raised on earth because it had the right ecological environment for a human. The River Song name just came from the one soldier who embroidered the cloth for her. Amy and Rory and the Doctor knew the name River Song because of the cloth, but River herself only knew of the name once they told her about it in this episode (and then started using it).

  491. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    Oh, so I mixed up my villains and the timeline. Thanks for the explanation, Carlie.

  492. Therrin says

    what we thought were The Silence the species, but is The Silence the religion

    THAT was a kick I didn’t see coming.

    On her upbringing, I assume the Doctor-killing suggestions were implanted relatively quickly, since she spent so much time with Amelia. Likely those happened (following is mostly supposition)

    juvyr fur jnf va gur fhvg, juvpu vf qbhoyl vagrerfgvat orpnhfr gung zrnaf fur zvtug unir npghnyyl nyernql xvyyrq gur qbpgbe ol gur ynxr (vs V unq qbar gung, V jbhyq unir gnxra n fubg ng zlfrys gbb), hayrff gurl cynl gung Bu ybbx, gur fhvg vf ertrarengvat vgfrys gb or ernql sbe nabgure crefba pneq.

    Add spoiler show/hide button to wish list.

  493. Therrin says

    Oh, so I mixed up my villains and the timeline.

    The whole personal timelines aspect is one of my favorite parts of the show. And they tie it together so awesomely.

  495. says

    Irene gave me two good lessons in the-universe-not-being-about-me.

    1) While we were waiting out the storm I was ignoring the personal emails we were getting, including two from an old friend in Illinois. Turns out she was letting people know that the “routine” lump biopsy turned into the discovery that cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.

    2) Just yesterday I was sitting in the Jiffy-Lube watching a news special on the storm while my car was being serviced. They spent a long time dealing with the devastation in Vermont, and it was then – only then – that I remembered that my next door neighbor and her daughter vacation there every year at this time. It’s so routine that we hadn’t even talked about it. Don’t even know where they stay. I’ll corral their son when he comes around today, but damn.

  496. Squigit says

    If I have to decline one more adjective to make it agree with a noun I’ll lose my mind.

    Oddly, while most of my classmates where having trouble with verbs, the noun-adjective ending agreement was the most difficult thing for me to get. Especially when, for example, you’d have a fifth declension noun and a, say, second declension adjective. The endings weren’t the same and it drove me crazy! I barely passed Latin in college because of it (prof would make our tests difficult; the most points were the first section where we had to decline 4 nouns and adjectives together).

    Crouching Jerkface, Hidden Asshole.

    *snort*

    StrangeBoyfriend is moving to DC at the end of September.

    :( :( :( :(

    :( :( :( :( I’m sorry. :(

  497. Moggie says

    Carlie:

    I liked how not only was Hitler a red herring, but they left him in the cupboard/closet. I kind of wanted a shot at the end of the door with a feeble “Hello?” coming out of it.

    Can’t wait to see what the Downfall-subtitling meme crowd makes of this…

  498. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Batshit asshole quote of the week.

    “I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, ‘Are you going to start listening to me here?’ Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we’ve got to rein in the spending.”

    —-Rep. Michele Bachmann, GOP

  499. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Oh and more at this link from her compatriot in evil dumbfuckery, Beck.

    How many warnings do you think you’re going to get, and how many warnings do you deserve? This hurricane that is coming thorough the East Coast, for anyone who’s in the East Coast and has been listening to me say ‘Food storage!’ ‘Be prepared!’ […] If you’ve waited, this hurricane is a blessing. It is a blessing. It is God reminding you — as was the earthquake last week — it’s God reminding you you’re not in control.

  500. Moggie says

    This God of Bachmann’s is a really poor communicator. If he hates government spending, why try to deliver that message via an event which will cause a lot of government spending? Maybe, Michele, God’s trying to tell you that he really likes FEMA?