This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. That’s some pig.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. That’s some pig.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Not a great start to the final day of the DNC.
John Kerry’s comments about the first and second World Wars as well as the continued “American Exceptionalism” are *fucked up*.
@ Tony: Thanks for the kind wishes! Clearly your powers of well-wishing are supernatural, because that was about the best interview I’ve ever done in my life.
We’ll see, still a second round, and 17 applicants for 2 positions, but it’s always a good sign when you talk way past the scheduled time, you’re told you would fit into the office really well, and the preliminary interview goes into discussions of pressing needs and concerns of the office…
“So what you’d be doing is –”
“Well, if we hire him”
“Well, yeah that, but I think he’d be really good at…”
Oh fuck you Amazon. I just want that book on my goddamned Kindle, not my phone!
The Gaff-o-matic is up.
stay between the lines Joe.
get a call about the 9th grader failing math. I asked about it. Well the teacher only considers assignments complete if the student goes to the board in front of the entire class and shows the solution. My daughter said she would puke all over the place if she did that. I suggested she puke into the teachers purse and all over her desk. Dunno why the teach is doing that, sounds like a complete waste of time (or I’m getting embellished, hard to tell)
Patrick:
Ha ha.
It’s awesome you’ve come away from that interview with a positive feeling.
It sounds like you sold yourself quite effectively.
Oh come on, Rev. If Biden isn’t making us laugh, what the hell is he good for?
Oh I’m a big fan of shoot from the Hip Joe. Its just the size of the stage here.
Ah, he’s doin’ okay, so far. :)
Joe Biden does fine… the “gaffe” thing was a mostly made up false equivalence thing to make Sarah Palin seem less stupid.
@ Tony: Yep! It’s a good feeling, since I’ve been looking for steady work for … longer than I care to admit.
*jumps up and down*
I don’t know what I did to deserve this but being linked to is [i]so cool[/i]
For some reason it also got posted on the Slymepit and now I have my FIRST TWO MRA COMMENTS! And for some reason I am deliriously happy about that.
/Squee
Oh he has his moments. They’re never anything huge, but they’re there.
Sorry Rev. let me try again, in the voice of a creepy/lispy little girl on a scary alien world:
“Joe Biden does fine… the “gaffe” thing was a mostly made up false equivalence thing to make Sarah Palin seem less stupid at night. Mostly…”
Just a Lurker and Improbable Joe—
JAL wrote:
Bloody hell, I have to drive to the airport during Obama’s acceptance. Guess I’ll have to watch it without reading any of this here, when I get back to the Bluegrass State, where my vote won’t matter (at the federal level). :(
Congrats, Tony. Now you will be able to afford to find a nice young man, settle down, buy a house and have 2.5 children. Live the American dream. Movin’ on up…
I just want you folks to know… thanks. I fucking HATE having my hand out all the time, you know?
I haven’t seen my parents for 2 years, and I had to ask them to cancel their visit to see me for my birthday so they could send me the money they were going to use for gas instead. My father-in-law’s health is failing, and we had to borrow money from them too. We still owe money on my wife’s wedding ring, and they’re threatening to come get it. The car is close to repossession too, with two payments left.
Joe Biden just shifted gears and hit a moment of sensitivity where it almost seems like he’s *not* going by a script.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand he lost me.
God talk. Oh for the sake of fuckity fuck!
He moved me with the talk about our veterans. It really looked like he was going to cry.
Then he had to end the speech with the completely unnecessary (yet sadly expected) god BS.
Joe, I’ve been where you are. It’s total shit. Just shit. Fuck anyone who gives you grief over it. They’ll have their hand out too when their time comes. We all do. We all need some help at one time or another.
Joe, please check your email.
Your gmail, that is, Joe.
I just had the weirdest thing happen. Okay, maybe not the weirdest but it’s up there for me.
Why would an author like a review that gave them one star and slammed them pretty hard?
I won a second book in a series so I read the first before getting it and reviewed both books. I mean I even said I wouldn’t have finished the two books unless I had won the second. I hated about pretty much everything in the book. There were things I thought could have been good but I hated it.
It had creepy rape slave issues, lack of information/follow through, the characters fell flat and I was bored or sick reading the sex scenes. I felt badly since the book was autographed and came with bookmarks straight from the author but I couldn’t lie about it.
Yet the author liked both reviews. I’m confused and feel badly. I mean that must have hurt, right? Putting all that time and effort into the books then getting a bad review. Yet she liked it. I don’t get it and it’s making me feel just awful.
JAL:
Maybe she’s just happy for constructive feedback?
Thanks for the Kindle Buffet link, btw. I’ve already downloaded a new book! :)
JAL, there’s been a lot of nastiness in the publishing business lately over authors interacting poorly with critics and fans who leave negative reviews, and other authors publishing positive reviews under multiple sockpuppet accounts. Maybe the author in question is trying to do better?
QFFT.
Joe –
I’m in a pretty good place right now, only because my parents have picked me up and put me back on my feet again several times. And all they have asked of me is that I help pick other people up, which I try to do. You have said that you plan to pass it along when you are back on solid footing. That’s what a community does.
Audley,
Your welcome! I’m so glad I found that. It’s nice getting free books legally.
Oh, huh. Didn’t know anything about that. It makes sense. I didn’t get mean and say she shouldn’t write ever again or anything. I did detail it out and give lots of why. I’d like to think it was constructive but I don’t know.
Props to that author then. I was debating on messaging the author, but now I know I will.
Thanks you guys! I really couldn’t see past how badly I would have felt reading that, if I was the author.
Thanks folks…
It has been tough, especially on my wife. She uprooted us from where we’d lived for 7 years, I had to drop out of school, and we moved into this overpriced shitty house in a pad part of town, and then she got fired from three jobs and we’re in all this trouble and she blames herself for it and at one point really seemed to think that I would divorce her over all of this. There’s nothing I can do to help really, except to be supportive and not dump anything negative on her and add to how bad she already feels. At this point I’m hiding in my office and being quiet and letting her disappear into the book she’s reading and check out for a few hours.
Um.
While away last weekend, Daisy told me about something that broke my brain. To the extent that I am only just now picking it back up.
Apparently dimethyl sulfoxide, DMSO, is used in woo-y circles as a topical anesthetic.
WHAT.
Tony, congrats on the Gainful Employment! Your prospects look excellent!
–
And Tony, you could meet me at no penalty, ’cause I don’t have a degree, either. We could feel intimidated together!
–
PatrickG, may your luck have been good.
:)
(Later) And may the good luck continue.
–
Indeed.
<singing> We all need…somebody…to leeeeean on. </singing>
–
Oh, I can top that. In the ’80s, DMSO was peddled as a medicine. I had family members who asked me to score some from the lab for them — they planned to use it as a kind of deep penetrating liniment.
I was horrified. No, they sure didn’t get any from me.
I was using it all the time in fixatives and stuff…I was ultra-cautious with it, since it could carry all kinds of nasty stuff right into your tissues.
I’m bouts to fry chicken.
Josh, how much buttermilk do you go through in a month?
YEP, its absorbed through the skin (taking all that’s in through too), and never will go undergo double blind testing as a metabolite, dimethylsulfide, has a characteristic odor/taste making it impossible to be tested against a placebo.
*gapes*
Jebus, PZ.
hahah oh my lord. I’ve gotten several physical copies of books lately and have gotten my old books from my friend who’s been storing them for awhile. I love books but they are a hassle and heavy when moving on the bus.
So anyways, with all my books now I need bookshelves. Well, we looked to see if anyone was getting rid of one or if we could make one for me. I know have bookshelves made out of empty 24pk soda boxes. It works but it looks hilarious. XD
Joe-lots. Tonight I just had yogurt that I thinned out with water and lemon juice. About a quart a month. I do deep fry, but only a couple times a month because I try to keep my fat intake down for heart reasons.
Tonight I’m experimenting. I pulled the fatty skin off the chicken parts, brined them, then dipped them in breading made with my normal spice mix and half/half whole wheat and white flour. We’ll see how they turn out.
Deep frying doesn’t have to be a dietary nightmare if you:
1. Cook at the proper temp. so the food steams rather than soaking up grease
2. Aren’t frying up a saturated fat nightmare like mozarella.
Obviously, Little One needed shelves as well, so she has her own too. She’s decorating all of the boxes as we speak. XD
However, I am reminded of an old lab exercise manual I was handed a few years ago when I was a TA. I was told, “Go through this, see if there’s anything in here that we could use for the students nowadays.”
So I found the following experiment:
Experimental rationale: demonstrate the filtration properties of the human kidney.
Design:
1. Each student shall be given 100 mL pure DMSO.
2. Each student shall then drink 100 mL pure DMSO.
3. Over the next 72 hours, each student shall collect their urine.
4. Each student, from their collected urine, will distill at least 99.5 mL pure DMSO.
Now! As an experiment, demonstrating kidney function? Sound. Works great. Your kidneys (if you’re healthy) are in fact that efficient.
Unfortunately, that last 500 μL is a bit of a problem.
Lord. A good friend of mine STILL uses DMSO as a linament and CANNOT be convinced that it’s dangerous as fuck. She’s frustrating as shit. At least she’s in her mid-70’s (sorry to say) and near the finish line. She’s otherwise rational, but since her dad was a “Homeopathic Doctor” she’s completely bullshit on that count.
Please. They’re chickens. This was an individual living being whose life has been ended. Don’t disrespect them.
I would guess, though, that Josh is only going to cook a single chicken, though. Or, more likely, a segment of a single chicken.
Drink 100ml of that stuff? Ick. Just a drop on the skin, and seconds later you’re tasting that greasy garlic flavor.
Stephanie, Jason, Greta, Jen, and Ophelia have some wretched commenters posting on some of their threads. I just responded to one of them (@Almost Diamonds) and it made my blood boil to read the crap written by Jim.
I’m soooooooooo glad to have you all here. The first thing I read after leaving my response to Jim, was ImaginesABeach @26 , which really brought a smile to my face. It was the perfect antidote.
Esteleth:
That was my thought as well. If Josh were going to fry multiple chickens, I imagine he’d have said so.
Just a vague sniff of the very high boiling solvent is enough for me. And I taste it the rest of the day.
As horrible as DMSO is, I would handle it all day, every day, over β-mercaptoethanol. Damn that shit stinks.
Yes, the singular/plural distinction’s extremely important.
Also important, if you’re going to discuss this, is reading
Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer
The Lucky Ones, Jenny Brown
The Sexual Politics of Meat, Carole J. Adams
Why We Love Dogs,…, Melanie Joy
Oh, and the fact that “chicken,” meaning “meat,” isn’t the same as “a chicken,” which refers to a being.
SC’s right about that. I don’t have a well-worked out ethical justification for my diet. I’m conflicted about it and suspect I don’t live up to the standards I should.
Oh, another place I find free books is this Goodreads group: Giveaways.
You don’t have to be a member to look through and get the books. Or at least I’ve never see that happen. It’s a bit more cluttered and there’s a bunch of different kinds of giveaways in there. There are some free on kindle for a limited time kinds and then there’s the kind that want to you like the book, author etc on facebook to enter. It leads to direct author sites or to Amazon free or book publisher sites, etc.
But if you want or have time to meander through it, there are free books in there.
Goodreads has it’s own section for giveaway directly through their site but you have to register and if you don’t review a free book you won, you have less of a chance to win more. But hey, I take what I can get and don’t mind so throwing it out there.
“I’m bouts to fry parts of one or more ex-chickens.”
Thank you, Josh. I’m touched, but not at all surprised, by your response. :)
@Esteleth
Organic chem classes for me was truly an experience in horrible smell. The worst one was thinyl chloride (or was it bromide, I don’t remember). Holy crap, it felt like my throat was burning.
Oh, and people, never drop a vial containing a mixture of organic compounds and hydrochloric acid. You will regret it. A lot.
I’m sorry for jumping on you like that, SC. Rather uncharitable of me.
Thanks. No problem.
By the way, if anyone knows of an atheist; skeptic; anarchist; vegan; animal rights; psych rights; foodie, dance, and design geek forum I’d love to hear about it.
:P
So I got an email back from the guy I sent the 13 euthanised snakes to; NONE of them were crypto +! My adults are all safe/clear! I could dance I am so happy even though I’m sad to have lost so many animals.
I just heard back from that author I was talking about. She was totally okay, appreciated my honesty and my detail. How awesome is that? It makes me want to become a fan though I hate the two books she has out.
rowanvt:
That’s awesome news!
****
JAL:
Perhaps the author will improve in the future and produce books that are of higher caliber. Maybe the constructive criticism you gave her will play a part in that.
Ann yes, insomnia old friend.
I will kill you with chemicals.
Taking two weeks off from working out has completely fucked my ability to sleep.
May I suggest Ambien, Chimpie? Or at least a double dose of the usual benzos.
Rev:
I hear you about the sleep.
Without a job, I haven’t gone to bed at a reasonable hour in almost a month. I was awake until 730 this morning.
Good morning.
To look at the I’m ready to be divisive thread or not to look. Ugh, it’s too early for this shit.
Starting back working out Monday. I’ve had pharyngitis / sinus infection and took two weeks off because if I didn’t my head would have exploded.
It’ll help but I may have to double up on the Ativan tonight. I got shit to do tomorrow.
Fucking meetings on bringing this company we bought onto our systems by end of November.
Let the stress begin!
Errrr
Continue!
Pop that ativan, Chimpie baby. Give yourself eight hours and a cup of coffee and you’ll be ready for the world.
At this point it’ll be 4.5 hours, but it’ll have to do
I’m not conflicted about eating chicken meat. Chickens are a little more mobile and a little cuter than rutabagas, but there’s nothing whatsoever less ethical about eating chickens than eating rutabagas. I’ve killed a few on the farm – enough to know I’m capable of it if I want to eat – not surprisingly I prefer the convenience of getting them from the market already killed, plucked, and chilled, but then I also prefer the convenience of getting root vegetables from the market already trimmed and washed off. I work on a ranch and it’s not a miracle where either animals or vegetables come from. It’s all life and it all comes from previously existing life. It’s silly to privilege the kind of life with eyes or legs over the kind of life with leaves. Actually it’s privileged to the point of immorality to advocate vegetarianism for everyone. Okay for those in the modern west who can afford to eat tasty varied vegetarian diets and not feel the lack, horrible for those in other places where raising a scrawny pig on scraps or hunting the wild grazers who can convert inedible scrub into edible protein makes the difference between malnourished families and healthy families. I don’t even like humans – I hate humans in general and would be much happier if 9/10s of us just evaporated tonight, leaving nearly the whole planet to wild animals and plants – but since we are here and can’t just evaporate, we should raise chickens on stuff people don’t like to eat and then we should eat the chicken meat. (And the pig meat, too) There’s a good reason why it tastes so good.
Good morning
YAY for Tony
I’m so glad you found a job and I’m even happier that it has some kind of future upwards perspective. Let the good times roll!
+++
I have a question of the medicine folks:
So, my thyroid doesn’t work well and I need to take L-Thyroxin. Now, my grandma’s thyroid works too well and she has to take L-Thyroxin as well.
I’m sure there’s an explenation for that, but I don’t get it…
Yay! for Tony.
I’m kinda sorry you’re moving to management.
When I still actually went to bars, I’d follow the bartender.
If my favorite bartender switched to another bar, that’s where I’d go to drink.
…?
Thanks Giliell.
****
chigau:
Thank you.
I know what you mean. That’s something I’ve considered. I’ve made quite a few friends as a bartender, specifically by being behind the bar and making drinks for them. Many of these friends have followed me around to various bars.
One of the deeply ironic things about being fired from my last job is the number of people who literally credited me-in front of other members of the staff (including managers)-with being the primary reason they come back.
Two incidents immediately come to mind:
1-in the last few years, I started regularly making up new shots or drinks if a guest requested something new. If they liked the it, I would let them name it. Then I’d write the recipe down in a notebook and give them a copy of it.
People absolutely *love* that idea.
2-A young couple were sitting in the dining room one night a few months ago. They came in during a martini special and had never had martinis before. Both the man and woman requested a dirty martini. When the server told me this, I decided not to put the olive juice in the martinis. Instead I put it on the side. I also gave the server a side of cranberry juice. That way they could sample both and see which they prefer. I’ve found for many people, a dirty martini isn’t quite what they’re looking for if they’ve never tried one before. As I watched the couple, they used the olive juice first and didn’t like it, but they liked the cranberry juice. As it was slow, I decided to make a short list of martinis they might like to try in the future, whether they came back or went to another bar, or wanted to make them at home. I wrote down the recipes for 10 martinis and walked to the table and gave it to them.
I honestly do not think I’ve ever seen two people that excited. They literally told me, the server, and two managers how much they appreciated that I did that. As they left, they even handed me a tip (even though I really didn’t do much for them). It made my day that I was able to do something so small (to me) that resulted in an extremely pleasant experience for them.
The secret to getting biscuits to rise is to have the mildly deranged penguin glare at them. They rapidly rise, and run off.
The pancakes just explode.
Monty Python’s Graham Chapman honoured with (unofficial) blue plaque:
Curiosity‘s tracks on Mars imaged from orbit. (Also in The Grauniad.)
Gahan Wilson has a film project looking for Kickstart funding: “Cowboy Zombies.”
rowanvt, that’s great news about the snakes. I’m very sorry about the ones you lost, but I’m glad at least you know your adults (and so your breeding lines, yes?) are all right!
RowanVT, I hope that your project to produce sweet Corn snakes is successful.
then they’d be Sweet Corn snakes? Anyway, bittersweet congratz RowanVT that the rest of your snakes are absolutely safe.
—
and congratz Tony! All that being a decent person is paying off.
—
PZ: mind some suggestions for future cutesy Lounge mastheads? Via Hoydenabouttown:
Baby echidna puggles:
http://taronga.org.au/news/2009-01-15/zoo-gives-echidna-puggle-helping-hand
http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/aleksandr-pushkarjov/view/682142/?page=1
Platypus puggles (with bonus linguistic nitpicking!)
http://cboye.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/puggles-and-the-evolution-of-language/
In The Grauniad, there’s a hilarious take on Eastwood at the thug-a-thon (and also on Chuck Norris’s video warning that if Obmama is reelected, USAlien will fall into the evil grip of “socialism … or something much worse” (see Ed’s blog)), Clint Eastwood lambasted President Obamachair and Chuck Norris warned of 1,000 years of socialism. Here’s some of the Eastwood bits (I’ve added a hyperlink to a bit of British slang):
Can I get some feedback on a tentative, well…sort of response to this letter in my local paper?
Dear Editor
Those calling for a law restricting abortion to “protect women and babies” really need to re-assess their priorities. Like with alcohol during Prohibition, restricting abortions by law will just drive them underground. The rich will be able to find willing doctors for the right price, and anyone else desperate enough will be left to die bleeding in their bedroom, or in a […]. If we really wants to protect women and babies, rather than limiting access to abortion we should be supporting better access to and education about sexual health, including contraceptives and, yes, abortion.
As a graduate of a local school I can attest that the sex education I received was awful, meant more to strike fear and shame into students than to actually educate them about their options. Everything about contraceptives was as negative as possible, double that for abortion, while adoption was promoted as an amazing cure-all with the assumption that every baby gets magically adopted into a wonderful home right away. I learned more facts about sexual health and contraceptives from my own research than I learned in that class, which I was told was district standard. I can’t help but wonder how many Langley students have had their futures cut short, how many children are suffering in poverty, because of this.
We would be protecting far more women and babies if we taught our women about their options, than if we continued to drive them into unknown territory with only shame and fear.
[Setár]
Oh, shit. The […] placeholder is there because I remember reading about wards in Canadian hospitals specifically for women with, erm…symptoms relating to illegal abortions. I just can’t remember what the term was.
Oh, double shit. Was putting my HS on there a bad idea?
Setar: Noted and email sent.
Reminder to self: headbanging too hard really really fucks with the eyes’ ability to focus.
White Zombie – Creature of the Wheel is the song in question.
Setár, small typo: If we really wants to protect women… → If we really want to protect women…
-nods- thank you, blf, corrected.
—
Fucking hell. CBC Victoria operates on 90.5 FM. The closest NPR broadcaster is on 90.3. And CBC’s transmitter is way more powerful. Fucking hell, is it really going to be impossible for me to get NPR here aside from internetz?
Looks good, Sétar. One very tiny phrase change, maybe – “if we taught our women” – could be replaced with something like “if we ensured that women and men are taught” or just “if women and men were taught” (to avoid the “our women” construction)?
Oh, and the second half of the sentence would have to be adjusted to match, of course, if you did. Oops, I missed that.
opposablethumbs, no need to rephrase. Just removing the possessive (“our”) from that phrase would suffice.
(The comma in that sentence is also inappropriate since it’s a single clause)
So, this youngish lady presented today with shortness of breath, coughing after eating/drinking and inability to lay flat. Xray showed fluid in the lungs/pleural space, so we stuck a needle in and aspirated. Out came pretty much milk. A liter of it. Even smelled like milk. Most likely a chylothorax(lymphatic leak into the pleural space). Can’t say I’ve ever seen one of those before. Unfortunately, it often means cancer somewhere, if it wasn’t caused by chest trauma.
Also, lady goes “haven’t opened my bowels for a week after procedure X”. So, load her with stuff from both ends…6 hours later, no result. Hmmmmm. Finger up the back passage, nothing there. Xray, nothing there. What the hell. She doing this for fun?
Anyway, finished scanning my old photos and watched Obama’s speech. All good. Now they just have to reelect him.
Setár, I don’t suppose it would be useful to point out that the letter to which you are responding is not actually asking for a law to protect women and babies. Abortion is safer than childbirth for women and there isn’t actually a baby involved, just a fetus that might have the potential to be a baby someday.
Here’s my source for my assertion that abortion is safer than childbirth, not that I expect to be challenged on that here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22270271
I should admit, I have this on my desk to read in full but so far have only read the abstract.
Post egg-salad flatus.
Sooo, just got a big fat parcel of stuff, which means I can soon start on the baby quilt for a friend.
Hope she spawns a girl so I can dump all our clothes on her :)
I’m also hoping that tonight Urban Threads will release the 9th design of their “too cute” series and make it a pack in which case I’m going to change plans.
Which reminds me of the customers reviews I read of interlining:
2 stars: Everything perfect, very good quality (why do you give only 2 stars then?)
1 star: much thicker than I expected (duh, if it says 3 cm, what did you expect and how is your inability to read and/or take out a ruler the fault of the company?)
Rev:
Goddamn, I wish I could.
But I got almost 6 hours of sleep last night. Woo!
Azkyroth:
Jorts are so passé. :p
She doing this for fun?
You might have a genuine Munchhausen’s on your hands?
On behalf of the rest of humanity, I’ll express my relief that you can’t kill and eat us, too.
And now I’ll join sg in trying to get some distance from this thread.
Setar, at risk of distracting from the main point, would it be worth adding that adoption is horrifically dangerous to the mental health and sometimes the physical health of the birth mother? It’s not all sunshine and roses even if the baby manages to find a truly loving home (which is less likely if it is in any way “damaged”.)
90# rorschach no twisted gut or the pain would be enormous. Maybe type 2 adenocarcinoma? (guessing mind, In no doc)
Gilliel, did you ever find out the answer to your question re: l-thyroxin?
Esteleth
So far not.
All these years later, if you Google “Chuck Norris is batshit crazy”…
My blog should be the first result. Does that make me famous?
@ ibyea:
I can’t decide whether to laugh uproariously or wince in sympathy. Maybe I should just do both.
@ cicely: Thanks for the kind wishes!
Improbable Joe,
if your local bank has worked out how to receive money from Europe without adding an astronomical surcharge, you can contact me at Dimetrodon61 [“a inside ring”] yahoo.se . Then I’ll contact you through the lounnge to verify your identity.
— — — — — — —
California Spending More On Prisons Than Colleges http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/06/california-prisons-colleges_n_1863101.html
Family literacy project exceeds expectations http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-family-literacy.html
— — — — — — — —
During a two-day planning event in a convention centre, we had a presentation of the “Operation Smile” project to give children and adults in third-world countries free surgery for a cleft lip /cleft palate. fascinating.
The reason why a hypothyroidism (too little thyroid hormone production) and hyperthyroidism (too much) are both treated with l-thyroxin is because thyroid hormone is produced from a feedback loop. The presence of thyroid hormone in the blood suppresses the signal that the pituitary gland produces that commands the production of more thyroid hormone. So, if someone’s thyroid is overactive, in many cases dosing them with hormone is enough to finally convince the pituitary to stop sending out “make thyroid hormone” signals.
Thanx, Esteleth
So, off to see grandma. That would be really fun if my mum didn’t live there, too.
A Moment of Mormon Madness aimed at the bare shoulders of little girls.
Photo at the link.
Makes one wonder what mormons thought of the dress Michelle Obama wore when making her speech on the first night of the Democratic National Convention. Probably just confirmation that she is married to the anti-christ.
What are “jorts?”
Jean shorts.
…why do I have the incipient sense that my learning a new cutesy slang term is about to be followed by wanting to punch something will remain an unbroken pattern?
Jean shorts. I was making a joke, but obviously, I’m not too good at it. :(
Lynna:
I can’t be the only person creeped out by the obsession with little girls’ clothing and modesty, can I? I mean, modesty exists because sexuality is bad and to demand that girls cover up their shoulders… ick. Won’t even finish that thought.
Okay. Because I’ve heard the claim that “denim shorts” are no longer acceptable to wear, but it’s the dumbest fucking idea I’ve encountered that was connected to neither the Republican party nor SacLink in at least a month.
“Denim” and “shorts” are so basic and functional that treating them as unacceptable would be like insisting that “bread” no longer be served with dinner. It’s not just an error, it’s practically a category error.
I think it’s okay as long as they’re not too short cutoffs.
I hate jean shorts. On me. What is the point of having shorts that hold heat and get abrasive when damp because sweat is at the core of why I need shorts to start with. Gimme something lighter thanks.
Cut-offs as previously worn by someone a size or two bigger, so they’re looser than I like to wear jeans, are handy when it’s hot (I like things I can mistreat a bit without their tearing, plus sturdy pockets).
How neoliberals respond to direct criticism: like theologians. DON’T SWEAR! DON’T QUESTION ME! ACCEPT MY IDEAS! YES I’M BEING SKEPTICAL! GET AWAY FROM MY NICE SHINY IVORY TOWER YOU PATHETIC SOCIALIST!!!!!!!!
We need to go after theologians less and neoliberals more, because the latter run the system that is killing us slowly.
That’s comparatively reasonable.
Several scattered folks have mentioned wanting to write speaking-out posts without exposing themselves to the inevitable hate backlash. For instance, blueaussi:
Ophelia just responded in comments:
https://proxy.freethought.online/butterfliesandwheels/2012/09/more/#comment-273713
Gratuitous pussy pic.
She just got a clean bill of health at the vet’s the other night. She also got blood drawn. When we got home, she didn’t “speak” to me for a whole hour.
Pteryxx, #383:
Those are Southern foods, not strictly African-American foods, so nobody would bat an eye.
Also, this being Louisiana, there would probably be spicier foods as well.
Even more disgusting is the classism of many foodies. Not all, certainly, but many. Alice Waters is one of the worst examples (and there’s also her inability to understand that not all regions of the U.S. have California’s growing climate).
Josh, #385:
There’s also the fact that he’s a white male baby boomer. To borrow your phrasing, it’s not universal, but the belief is certainly widespread that old white hippie dudes think they invented social justice and that nobody who didn’t live through Teh Gloriuss ’60s can do it right. Also, the white middle-class Second Wavers who still don’t get why women of color are often critical of movement feminism.
Once upon a time, they didn’t trust anyone over 30. Now they want us to get off their lawns. But they’re totally our allies.
Janine:
Wingnuts are probably spinning it as prejudice against “flyover country” or “
ruralREAL America” as I type this.Also, Randy Newman is a national treasure.
ImaginesABeach: I studied French for nearly five years, Spanish for maybe one, Italian for maybe two… and I’m fluent in none of them. The trick is immersion, and the people here for whom English is an second tongue likely have to use it much, much more often than either of us have to use French.
Sorry to hear about your job, Dhorvath. Glad you have things lined up.
Tony, congratulations!
SC, thanks for reminding me that I need to buy bacon. Because I need MOAR PIG in my freezer.
“Respect chickens”…. lol. What Hotshoe said at #67. And apparently articulate and cogent disagreement with you on the subject is enough to send you fleeing.
@ 76, Opposablethumbs-
Yes, the negative status of those little ones that were in the direct contaminatory line from Heck means my breeding lines can be re-established. I went around work last night hugging everyone, I was so happy that my adults were not doomed to a horrible illness/death.
@ 77, Markita-
I can make my Sweet Corns again! I’ll be pairing up the original two that gave me my Lia and hope that I can get some really calm little ones to hold back.
@78, Pteryxx
Isn’t it a delightfully horrible pun? Love my Sweet Corn (snakes).
Good news, indeed! It doesn’t replace the ones you lost, but at least it’s something salvaged from disaster.
–
I’d say I respect chickens quite a bit. They do an enormous amount of good turning bugs and leaves and scraps into meat and eggs. But it goes beyond that. Some people who grow their own food keep chickens despite being vegetarians or not liking eggs just for the compost provided along with the pest control.
Chickens are hardy, adaptable, and extremely easy to house and feed. They provide a ready food source for people all over the world.
I’d also argue that the factory farm method of chicken keeping is inadequate and unacceptable, and that life shouldn’t be treated like a product on a production line, but I’ve gotta get packed for a quick camping trip and don’t have time for those particular complexities.
In an interesting twist on my job situation, the store I worked for until yesterday is a franchise of a small chain of bike shops here on the Island. In addition to my regular daily wrenching duties I have been doing some side work on website updates for the chain so I thought it correct to notify the chain owner that I had quit. I did this shortly after walking out yesterday and I just got off the phone with him again today.
He called both to assure me that he wants to retain the web work I can offer and also to offer me shifts at the original store, at least as a transition, or possibly leading in to a more permanent relationship. This was not quite unexpected, and may not work for me given the extra commuting time, but certainly a welcome option.
I feel conflicted. I know he runs a far tighter organization and I would welcome being able to lean on a larger and better established staff rather than trying to support one that can’t seem to stabilize. However, it also makes me feel uncomfortable because of the way it will feel to my former employers. I am not particular anxious to push them down, and can’t work my head around this.
Oh! Did someone say “gratuitous pussy pic“? ;)
Hmm, really quiet in here. Are you all out there devouring trolls?
So, my hopes about the “Too cute” designs was shattered. :(
But I made myself a wicked black gothic lace choker. With bling.
rowan
What good news about your snakes.
Also: yay for healthy snakes!
Yeah the Doc says it was just a rash and not to worry…
Oh wait
Audley: Eeeee, kitteh. >^..^<
Hooray for snakes!
Also kitty-pics!
Yay everything good! Boo everything bad! Less caffeine for Joe!
Daisy:
She has got to be the weirdest and most friendly cat I’ve ever owned. :)
Also, was it Maggie or Harley (the tortie) that was all up in your bidness when you visited?
It was Maggie. Harley deigned to let me pet her, but Maggie was all over me like a cheap suit. :)
That’s my Maggie! Always makin’ new friends.
(Sometimes Harley is affectionate, but I think friendliness is weighed against the likelihood that the new person will feed her.)
OMFG. Trigger warnings ahoy.
A cop in Flagstaff, AZ will get no jail time for groping a woman at a bar.
BTW, Judge Jacqueline Hatch is a Brewer appointee.
Entering a bar is like signing a blank contract
I consent to _________________________
date, address Beatrice
I love watching cats clean between their toes. It’s always such SRS BSNS.
no no no no no NO NO NO NO NO NO. NO. NO I DID NOT VOTE FOR THIS. WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN. WHY DO WE HAVE NO FUCKING RECOURSE. FUCKING HELL.
So, when is Canada closing the embassy and consulates in US?
Lovely shoes from the 1920’s. I leave it to you to find the delightfully tasteful shade some of them were available in. *shudder*
Audley, I tried. I really tried, but I couldn’t resist a little Halloween fabric – I’ll make a little sleep pillow out of it to go with the quilt. :D (It does have dark green in it!)
Iran? The States seem pretty keen to bomb just about anyone, lets cut ties there.
So, when is Canada closing the embassy and consulates in US?
They can’t do that because the US really is a threat to world peace and security and therefore Canada is scared of the US. So much easier to posture at an essentially defenseless country than to go after the one with the majority of the world’s weapons of mass destruction, including nukes.
THEY HAVE NUKES!!!!! THAT THEY WANT TO THROW AT ISRAEL, LOCATION OF SOME OF ISLAM’S GREATEST HOLY SITES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Setar: Do they? I thought there was quite a lot of effort to make sure that they didn’t have nukes. Oh, well, if the US or Canadian government says they do they must, after all the US’s statements about Iraq’s nuclear program turned out to be so accurate that surely no one could doubt further proclamations of the same type.
Though I will say that if I were a member of the Iranian government, I’d want nukes. Compare the way the US treated fellow members of the “Axis of Evil” Iraq and North Korea if you wonder why.
WOLVERINES!!!!!!
Caine:
Hee hee, I just checked your blog. :)
♥!
Audley – I believe you recently commented on liking something by Scalzi. I also believe you have the ability to read them on a device, rather than on paper. You may want to be aware that many of his novelettes (and books by other authors) are currently on sale in eBook form by the publisher. I bought a bunch for my nook yesterday at 99 cents each. You just choose the book, and it asks you which of 3 booksellers you want, Amazon, B&N or kobo ebooks.
http://subterraneanpress.com/featured_titles/subpress_ebooks_on_sale_for_.99_to_2.99
Are there, in fact:
1) still ‘pay phones’;
2) that accept change (rather than credit/debit cards);
in USAia any more?
–
Somebody needs to get to work on a cat-to-human translator… my kittyboy has been upstairs saying “OW? OOOOW!” over and over again. He’s decided that there’s a 2×4 rug upstairs next to the bed that is the one and only place where he’s happy to accept a belly rub, and the fact that we live downstairs seems to have his brain tied in knots.
Just popping in to say:
CONGRATULATIONS TONY!
and yay/sorry to Rowan, in the desired proportion.
Ms. Daisy Cutter
I’m disappointed in that judge. The misogyny’s not complete without a comment about the length of the victim’s skirt.
—
Off for some Hudsonville ice cream, brb.
I already asked once about which English test is the best for foreigners, but I can’t find that thread anymore.
So sorry for asking again.
I was planning to take IELTS. Thoughts?
Uh-oh, looks like my state is okay with implying non-christians can’t expect equality. They’ve posted the 10 Commandments in the Capitol:
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/ten-commandments-displayed-at-state-capitol/nR5Bj/
Somewhere in the article it notes that the legislators “passed a law”, and somehow that makes this okay.
Well, my grand experiment in Android tablets has been a rousing success from my pov, and I’ve now decided to dump laptops altogether in favor of a desktop and tablets.
I’ve got the tablets dialed, but it’s been a LONG time since I tried to assemble a desktop from scratch.
this desktop machine would be used as a file server, photo editor (photoshop), run databases (mssql), and of course, be a competent rig for gaming.
so, anyone make recommendations on:
-chipset/motherboards
-hardrive (needs to have fast read more than fast write, and be at least 1000gb, and have a decent longevity)
-video card that will be able to run the latest games decently (not necessary for it to be top end, but at least say, be able to run the latest in “high”, if not “very high” graphics options)
-monitor (should be at least 23 inch)
-cases/power supply
thanks muchly.
#150 watry Im more concerned that they have decided that teachers cant collect unemployment for the time they are laid off in the summer.
The law was worded so it cant hang by itself it must be hung with a group of other nonsense (excluding the magna carta and the bill of rights)
Thanks, ImaginesABeach! I’ll check that out. :)
Tonight’s menu (in penance for last night’s fried chicken):
Fresh swordfish steak ($7 US a pound y’all. . screamin’ sale) seared.
Topped with sauce of diced grape tomatoes from my garden cooked with olive oil, lemon, garlic, salt, and chives from my garden.
Served with a quick sautee of julienned zucchini and spinach seasone with oregano.
In an effort to follow through on my resolution to get louder and angrier following the loss of Jen from our online ranks, I made a ‘nym-ed twitter account. (Irony?) So a lot of you folks may have a new follower. Now I just have to figure the dang twit-system out…
Thanks for following me, Portia! I’ll follow you now. Hijinks and hilarity to ensue.
:D :D :D
*goes a-hunting for @portia on the tweet machine*
♫ I will follow you
Follow you wherever you may tweet. . ♫
…I just found out that Portia is the goddess of justice. I have a few feelz about this. One the one hand, Justice! Yay! On the other, deity. Ha. (ooooh I thought of something to put a comma after my nym for)
Esteleth, yay for twittering! Thanks for following me you two. I will strive to be worthy.
I have solved a problem!
Problem: when I eat chips and salsa, I always dribble salsa on my shirt.
Solution: eat topless!
Solution #2—get a handmaiden. Then write a bawdy and lusty romp about it.
Tonight :
Resh caught wahoo marinated in lime, cilantro (don’t hate), garlic, olive oil, s+ p
Grilled over wood coals
Mango lime salsa
Lemon slaw
Guacamole
And sweet soy / prickly pear reduction.
Tacos
Booya
“F”resh
Josh, huh, I think I’d need 2 or 3 handmaidens to deal with the girls.
Hehehe, Esteleth. The “girls” being one’s BN’s?
Coolest VW Bug ever. Want.
Fucking awesome, Caine.
But. . that’s not a real VW bug. It’s a “new beetle.” Hiss/Scorn at the water-cooled intruders!
That’s super cool, Caine!
—
Slightly related, I drove my aunt’s manual transmission beetle this week. I’m very proud of my practicing things that don’t come easy. And I’m getting better at it!
Josh:
Yeah, I know, but…TURTLE!
*puzzled*
BN’s? This is slang I don’t know.
I was referring to those monstrosities I carry out front.
Here at Casa La Redhead, dinner was Italian Wedding Soup, MC shrimp scampi, and garlic bread. Total time for 2 people, less than 30 minutes. The Redhead didn’t finish her garlic bread.
BN’s-Big Naturals?
Baby Nursers?
Ah, yes. The Big Naturals.
*does a little shake*
Eep!
*furiously fastens and restrains the bouncing and flailing*
Whoa Esteleth, stop sexually harassing me!
Good for you, Portia!
I used to very much enjoy driving my manual transmission beetle(s). There are some cars that just don’t seem right with a manual, but an old beetle works.
I recently got back to a manual transmission in my little pickup truck, and was thinking today that it is a nifty skill.
Here’s a hint for a stick shift: If the knob buzzes your hand too much, slip some baby socks over it for padding. (If they slip around, put a balloon over the knob first for some grip.)
—
Speaking of manual skills, I can now pick out _O Holy Night_ on my ukulele from memory. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRAwrsxI4PI isn’t me, but that’s the tabs (my uke sounds much nicer).
It was one of my goals, as my wife can sing it beautifully. I need to learn to strum it now, as picking doesn’t go well with singing.
I do recommend a ukulele for quiet time by yourself.
I don’t recommend letting a cat sleep on a ukulele, though. I had to install a hook today, as the cat found the padded spot where I
keepkept the uke on top of the bookcase.The ground just shook…yep, it was an earthquake. Way to go, Esteleth. Your immodesty is affecting the…stuff…that affects earthquakes. And stuff.
Thanks, Menyambal! And thanks for the tips. It is a new Beetle, (Sorry, Josh!) so that’s not really a problem. I have wanted an old bug for a long time though. Someday, maybe.
Congrats on getting the song down!
Speaking of cats, here is Morph The Cat trying to decide if that frog tastes good enough to be worth the trouble.
Size reference for the frog
He pretty quickly aborted the recon mission and went off to find a much tastier small rodent. The leap he made after sniffing at the frog was hilarious.
Speaking of cats, I’m going to try desperately to post a link to a picture without fucking it up too bad.
Here’s cat #3 Lucy, in… here we go with the linky-dink… KITTEN HEAVEN!
Boobquake Strikes Back
Has anyone seen a little, lost comment of mine? Might answer to the name of “Pay Phone Query”, last seen allegedly having “already been made”, but certainly not appearing here in the Lounge even once?
(I supppose it could be invisible….)
Possibly the Things are eating my electrons again.
–
Improbable Joe @ #181
Thank You for sharing that sweet picture. Your kitten looks like a cat we had a long time ago. Happy memories. sigh
Stenographers to power
Best description of the majority of the media I’ve heard in a long time
ednaz,
Glad I could remind you of good times. Our cats are our kids, along with our dog.
Thanks, Portia.
Dinner here was popcorn and cheese, the traditional Friday night for my wife and I. Big bowl of popcorn, plate of cheeses, little bowl of pickles and veggies, and beverages of choice. On the couch with some video, and the cats tearing the place up.
The girl cat just did her imitation of Puss from the Shrek movies. The bit where he stands up and makes his eyes real big—she looks like that in dim light, sometimes. It is startling to see that peering up over the edge of the bed.
Hello Everyone! I’ve been reading Pharyngula (and several other Free Thought Blogs) for quite a while now. I’m trying to de-lurk.
I’ve always devoured books and now the Internet.
Hope to join in the conversations. Glad to be here.
*waves awkwardly*
I thought my ol’ dad was the only one who liked cheese with popcorn! I haven’t had that since I was a kid. Very tasty. Usually go for brewer’s yeast sprinkled on top these days. Enjoy!
Google Doodle
:) :) :)
Hi ednaz! Welcome :) Obviously cat-talk is in vogue at the moment. We’re very deep *nods wisely*
Holy shit a fairly reasonable republican on Maher?
Welcome Edaz!
Hi ednaz!
grog?
Error: word combination nonsensical, please try again.
BN’s=Big Naturals, yes!
Manual transmissions=FTW. My 66 Plymouth is a three-on-the-tree.
VW Bugs—They have a magical, distinctive smell of German vinyl that gives me goosebumps of nostalgia.
Howdy, ednaz, and welcome in!
–
Hi Joe,
If we ever live in the country again, or even just have a big-ass yard, I would love to add kitties and a dog to our family.
So cool you and your wife are surrounded by so much love.
Welcome aboard, Ednaz!
gah.
a) it’s painted as a red-eared slider, one of the most obnoxious invasive vertebrates all over the planet. It’s like driving a car decorated as a brown treesnake. OK, not quite that bad.
b) water-cooled is bullshit; here I’m with Josh.
I miss my many Vdubs. Lifetime: Bugs: 2 64s, 1 67, 1 71; buses: 1 71, 1 74. I went with Jeeps after my longtime 71 bus gave up but man. All my life.
Chas: I saw my first VW extended cab pickup at an antique engine show today. Very cool.
Ednaz, welcome!
Josh, Big Naturals FTW! Every time I see/hear it, I think of Sarah Silverman offering to scissor Romney supporter Sheldon Adelson in exchange for a $100 million donation to Obama.
Chas, I actually have aching dreams about the 67 beetle my parents had as a family car when I was a tot. And the lemon yellow VW fastback my next-door neighbors had. Sigh.
Welcome in, Ednaz!
Chas, don’t care. TURTLE. Besides, it could also be painted as a different type of turtle. Whoever did that one, most likely did it for the colour.
We’ve had several ’50s bugs, all split window and two ’67s. The person who owns the house next door has a ’67 sitting in their shed. Been there for years.
Joe, yes! Sarah Silverman cracked my shit up with that.
Hi portia, Rev. BigDumbChimp, chigau and cicely!
Grog? Yes, please! Thank You, chigau.
Mmmmmm.
I’m about mere seconds away from going into an incredibly long and stupid rant about how Punisher: War Zone is at least in the top 5 best comic book movies ever. I’m not kidding! I’ve got three keyboards here!
Apparently twitter is an aphrodisiac…all these people* advertising orgies have started following me.
*Alright, two, but it’s still “people.”
Hi Josh! Hi Caine!
Delurking – successful – Hooray!
Portia, I want an invite to an orgy! Not that I would actually go, but it would be an honor to be nominated… :)
Joe, it really depends on the participants, whether it’s an honor. But as soon as I get one, I’ll refer the invite to you just for your bucket list. haha
The last Real Bug I rode in had a small electric heater, plugged into the dash, with an extension cord, to defrost the rear window.
:)♥
Sometimes I just want to scream. I signed up at the Atheism+ forum to add to a list documenting harassment of women by atheists and skeptics, and this douchebro pops up to argue with me about how the harasser doesn’t perceive himself as harassing women so obviously I can’t say for sure that it was harassment. Argh!
Along those lines:
The same sort of thing was flung at gay men in San Francisco today by a District Attorney who told us:
So it was the dead gay man’s fault for being murdered? What the hell is wrong with these people?
American exceptionalism? If you get what you want, it is because you’re chosen by God, and if bad things happen it is because you’re a shitty person who deserves it. It permeates our culture from top to bottom, and may run even deeper than the dreaded Patriarchy… after all, if you deserved to be treated with respect you’d have been born a straight white Christian man, and obviously if you’re not those things you must be meant to be shit on.
hardly ever watch movies but now I haz a new movie star lust http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XhrhBKb3Hv0/TkWV9QJpTSI/AAAAAAAABZU/6OzjmeJ5uos/s1600/Colombianamovie.jpg&imgrefurl=http://medellin-colombia.blogspot.com/2011/08/la-colombiana-trailer.html&h=162&w=121&sz=9&tbnid=luHMwpbYMxr-4M&tbnh=0&tbnw=0&zoom=1&usg=__dlFtNTTsx2xuiH1w3OAo1c7RY8I=&docid=hy9lGkgnPSWWNM&sa=X&ei=fbhKUN-WK5SK8QS8joHQCQ&ved=0CGkQ1Rc
Zoe Saldanas
broboxley,
That is the ugliest link I’ve ever seen!
NEW THREAD.