This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. No cute baby animal picture this time, because my wrath and fatigue will not tolerate it.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Can I send chocolate and hugs to your iPad in sympathy at the horrors of traveling or would that be inappropriate to offer to the blog owner and/or something that will get you in trouble with TSA?
You now what’s a really cute animal? Tardigrades. Really, you should post one next time.
Only if you can show me one with a knife in its teeth and an AK47 or three in its claws.
Damn, when a creature that can survive naked exposure to space isn’t badass enough you know you’re having a really, really, shitty day.
What about cosmic radiation? Wouldn’t that alter the creatures DNA making it…..?
I think I saw it in a movie fighting Godzilla.
It’s a shitty couple of weeks, more like. I’ve been gone from home for way too long — a week gone, two days at home, fly off for 3 days, home again for 3 days, fly away again — and although all the events have been fun and gone well, I’m really feeling stretched thin. The petty bickering in the previous iteration of the lounge did not cheer me up, either.
Damn, the dark overlord is really mad at us.
No cute animal.
Have a baby zebra
trinioler
Don’t make it about you or your post. Sometimes everybody else is just up to their ears in their own stuff already. Me for example.
carlie
Yay for kid moving back into town
But if they are Campbells, they’ll have soup!
Now if it was against the King’s piece, that would almost make more sense.
And PZ? I feel for you with the travelling.
I haven’t had it nearly as bad — three forest fires required a total of 16 airplane flights. Between June and September.
I’m after feedback –
For my podcast Token Skeptic: http://tokenskeptic.org/2012/09/17/token-skeptic-2012-survey/
And the Young Australian Skeptics are after feedback too: https://proxy.freethought.online/tokenskeptic/2012/10/15/help-out-the-young-australian-skeptics-you-know-you-want-to-because-youre-loved/
Help us out. It’ll help us continue. Thanks, everyone.
trinioler I was going to mention that before you send your letter you might want to check what the rules are for bus passes in your area. Back when I used to buy one youth bus passes were cheaper and the driver could ask to see proof of age, the same went for Uni student passes, they could ask to see student ID. If this woman was trying to use one of those they might have had grounds for taking it away. But then, maybe not. I’m not trying to make excuses for what was in all likelihood an act of bigotry.
Love, love, love, the Young Australian Skeptic’s podcast. It makes me wish I wasn’t an old Canadian skeptic who happens to live in Australia.
So some good news stories
1: Finally after many years, I’ve passed my viva and got my PhD
2: This one is fun, through some freedom of information requests we now have some info on how the DUP tried to get creationism into the giant’s causeway visitor centre
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/deti-silent-on-creationist-claim-1-4373646
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/documents-cast-light-on-causeway-creationist-wrangle-1-4374897
We got this information through politician of all people
http://www.andrewmuir.net/
Professor Myers, first if this question is a rehash my bad and could you please point me to your previous responses. On witch side of the life nonlife question do you put virus and why?
Ed Brayton’s blog has found a wing nut who declares Obama to be possessed by 50 lemons. Or something.
— — — — — — —
Photo candidates:
Baby intestinal parasites?
Reconstructed baby Ichystostega? The “smile” of those critters is sort of cute.
— — — — — — —
Wrath is good. Channel it.
(John Landon in “I could be wrong, I could be right” singing “Anger is an energy!!”)
— — — — — — — —
Swedish cuisine out in the countryside: “Pig blood, bear meat and whisky ‘honey’ in Rättvik” http://www.thelocal.se/43714/20121009/
(expecting comment from Finn readers saying “what kind of sissy food is that?”)
The best thing about tardigrades is that they could carry 6 bowie knives and still have two legs to walk.
“Anger is an energy” indeed: Public Image Ltd – “Rise” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPj-8_wOZcA
— — — — — — — —
Photo: baby centipede with 50 knives?
Hi fossilfishy:
The bus passes say on the back that you have to give it over to a transit employee if they ask for it, which I think is bullshit.
Its like the rules a lot of stores used to have about checking bags before you left. They couldn’t actually enforce it without breaking any laws, and I think the same can be argued here.
There is no contract signed when you buy a bus pass. No license provided with it, nothing that says the pass is the property of the transit company. And frankly, they don’t want to say that, because if they do, then they’d have to prosecute everyone who throws out or wrecks a bus pass for damaging their property.
Its an extremely grey area, that’s very open to abuse.
“…when I was going to St.Ives
I saw a man with seven knives”
-he was on his way to the Thunderdome.
Well, well, well.
How about a baby Illacme plenipes millipede with 600 knives!!!!!
trinioler
re bus passes
Did you take pictures?
Er, I think you meant John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten birger, and the song is called “Rise”. /punk pedant
Eep. I’m sorry PZ. I hope that you start feeling better soon. Travelling is really stressful and tiring and I’m sure you just want to go home by now. For what that’s worth, I’m sure that everyone who gets to see you at the various events is very happy you came.
—
Here: have an adorable jumping spider. Spiders are great because they are both cute (to me) and deadly (to flies).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsGvT2DYJMc
—
In unrelated news, today is my last day of fall break, and I only have a little work to catch up on for tomorrow. I’m hoping to have a nice day to read and relax in the beautiful fall weather.
Also, that care package my mom sent me yesterday had hot chocolate in it, which means I can make my favorite winter drink: Magic hot chocolate (aka: hot chocolate with Maker’s Mark). Mmm.
Fair enough trinioler. I for one have a huge problem with the whole bag check thing, to the point of refusing to comply. What inevitably happens is a manager gets called and I never get very far into my “You do not have the right to search me.” speech before they agree with me and say I’m free to go. I suppose one day I’ll run into a manager who doesn’t know the law and then it’ll get really fun. The cops oh so love to be called out for petty shit that cannot ever be prosecuted even if it turned out I was guilty.
Having slept and completely calmed down, I am issuing a unconditional apology for my conduct yesterday. I was stressed-out and worried out of my mind, but that is not an excuse.
Here is a picture of a kitten taking a nap with a stuffed cat.
Knowing the law, I tend to ignore the alarm, but we do have a security person who sometimes works third with us, but only rarely, and she’s quite enthusiastic about checking bags and such. Most people come back and let me look at their receipt, but if they don’t, I don’t push the issue. I will keep an eye on people who repeatedly set it off and run, though. There is enough of a minority to warrant keeping an eye out for theft. And it does contribute to higher prices, and that annoys me.
Rise. Still a damn fine song.
Pyra, I’m not sure how those alarms effect the whole thing. The law as it is written here and back in the homeland where I managed a bookstore is that you had to see the person pick up the item and leave without paying for it without ever losing sight of them. If they duck behind some shelves and you’re unwilling to lie about that they get away with it even if they later get caught with the goods. All of that makes the whole process of bag checks a bit of meaningless security theatre that only keeps honest people honest. Because you can be damn sure that the real thieves, kid’s excepted, know exactly how the law works.
From the previous thread,
David
Not sure if it’s better or worse, but it was the same man. The one who on the elevator ride up (in between those two comments) told me “I’m thinking of becoming a lesbian. I like girls a lot.”
Wow, you’re so right. I never thought of it quite like that. But it is definitely a method of control, I’ve decided. A way of having power over me, that he can say whatever the hell he wants and I can just be uncomfortable and I have to just deal with it.
And I’m worried about just how much more creative he’ll get. : p
Shit, sorry birger. I now see you made the correction yourself. Time for bed.
Fossilfishy, that’s OK.
— — — — — — — — — —
blogofmyself,
Jumping spidery thingie + baby photo = Photo of facehugger
— — — — — — — — — — —
“How Low Can Honduras Go?” http://www.thenation.com/article/170543/how-low-can-honduras-go
Fuck. Now I’m angry again.
@ PZ
By your leave my Liege: Linky.
{whisper: Does teh Ebil Oberlawd know about the Pharyngula Movie project?}
Idiotic poll news!
http://support.nationformarriage.org/public/landing/pollforce/?cdtrack_creative=27654f39-85f0-437f-92a8-52b285350f8e&cdtrack_source=3db6b64a-7523-476f-83ab-f6d50ea69417
Should Obama force homosexual marriage on everyone?
We sure, if you’re going to put it that way.
Most of the thieves we’ve had who were obvious were not exactly the brightest crayons in the box. There are those who have worked around the alarm, and the alarm is theater, which is why I ignore it most of the time. If someone willingly walks back, I look at the receipt quickly and send them on their way. The security person is a little too aggressive about it, though. Since she knows most people don’t really understand it, and she worked in high security at the airport for a long time, she’s of a different mindset than me.
Obama is forcing homosexual marriage on everyone now? Uh, okay. I’m going to have to tell all of my heterosexually-married friends and acquaintances that they’re divorced now, then pair them off.
But I don’t want to get married just because I am told I have to! I just don’t think marriage is all that great an idea for me (no matter if it’s a woman or man.) The absurdity is just to easy to make fun of.
theophontes #32:
Nice.
{Flies through in yet another random direction}
Hello All Again (just in case it was missed in the last iteration of the thread)!
{Waves}
PZ, cheer up, it could be worse.
{Insert Platitude}
{Insert Aphorism}
{Insert Comment About How They Have It Worse Elsewhere And Thus Your Troubles Are Minimised By Comparison As If This Sort Of Comment Somehow Helps}.
There. Now don’t you feel better?
;-)
Louis
Do tardigrades even have teeth?
So here is an adorable baby animal story for PZ. I hope it will sooth his frazzled nerves, containing, as it does, reptilian venom, a lovely green baby tail, some sheep and rabbit fur, a drop spindle, and one of those pesky homeschooled Spawns, the one who poked the creationist to repeat the blood libel against the Jews at last year’s Skepticon.
The Spawns and I went to the local Renn Faire on Sunday. Whilst wandering about, SonSpawn noticed some drunken college students (likelihood of being d00dbros? very very high), poking at a small snake with a small pocketknife. Upon a second glance, they were poking at an annoyed baby copperhead, with its adorable little juvenile tail, bright yellowish green, quivering back and forth in irritation. DaughterSpawn, who cares for a timber rattler over the summer at camp, stepped in bossily. I shooed the guys away from the snake, to some grumbling about interfering womenfolk. I fished a plastic canister out of my spinning bag, emptied it of the merino-angora rabbit fiber, and grabbed the largest drop spindle I had. DaughterSpawn folded the sweat jacket she was wearing into a thick pad (she probably should have made sure that PZ’s signature was outermost, but perhaps the giant gnu-A on the back was enough to contain the venom). We carefully shooed the poor beast into the canister, plonked the jacket over the top, and got a Faire employee to let us into the space outside the public area. DaughterSpawn released it to live a happy pit viper life, a couple hundred yards into the woods, near a stream. Then we went and warned the EMTs working crowd control and the vendors where the little snake was that there might be more babies about.
A biologist friend told me later that night that drunken white male college-age types constitute more than their fair share of venomous snakebites, which really does not surprise me after watching this particular performance. Copperheads are native to my area, and despite working as a naturalist and living in a rural area for 45 years, this is only the second or third one I’ve seen in the wild. Very very cute, but not something I’d want to annoy with a silly little knife.
The Mattir Fambilly is well, I’m looking forward to Rhinebeck (just me) and Skepticon (me and Spawns), and I have been completely threadrupt, for which I apologize. I will try to do better.
*Throws grog in the general direction of Louis*
I’m trying to cultivate a state of unassailable Zen to get me through to November 6, when Obama re-wins the election and I can stop listening to my stupid co-workers piss and moan about the debates and start listening to my stupid co-workers piss and moan about how society as we know it (also known as The Dollar) is going down the tubes and within the next four years we’ll be in an apocalyptic Road Warrior hellscape being forced to murder the weak so that we can get precious, precious gold/gas/what have you all for our own, mighty and deserving selves.
Fuck, people. We survived eight years of W. Remember him? Remember how he got us into two intractable land wars but didn’t put the costs of those wars on the books, so the “massive increase in the debt” that you’re pissing and moaning about has actually pretty much been there the entire time, but just wasn’t honestly accounted for? Remember how he managed to take a surplus and turn it into a sea of red ink, ironically symbolic of the blood of Americans, Iraqis and Afghanis that have been spilled over the last fucking decade? Remember him?
Yeah. We’re surviving him. You can survive a luke-warm moderate Democrat.
For fuck’s sake. I’ll be happy to buy you all crosses for you to carry all the way to Washington D.C. if it will make you feel better. At least then I might be able to get some work done.
Mythbri, when you buy crosses for them, make sure there are wheels on the base. It makes it much easier to tote them about.
Janine
It’s not meant to be easy!
mythbri:
When you figure that out, could you let me in on your secrets? Right now my plan is to save one of my bottles of whiskey specifically for that week.
@Janine #43
Or maybe I’ll buy them with “surprise lock” casters, just to mess with them. FSM knows they deserve it. ;)
Although Truly Outraged Libertarians/Republicans should be glad to feel every bit of their martyrdom, don’t you think?
@blogofmyself #45
According to the top answer on Yahoo, all I need to do is send a stranger on the Internet $5,000 and some hair and fingernail clippings.
Maybe I’ll get a rock garden or something.
Back in the nineties, in Chicago, there was a man who regularly dressed as Jesus. Or at least what some people like to imagine what he wore. He would some times walk into different places all over Chicago. (I seen him a few times at Reckless Records. I kept away from him.) Sometimes, you would see him walking down the street, dragging a tall cross. The cross had wheels.
The Chicago based band, Eleventh Dream Day, had a few lines about him in one of their songs, Figure It Out.
I saw a sidewalk Jesus
He carried a cross on wheels
He figured out, yeah figured it out
How to roll with life’s bum deals
Dianne, birger, and Louis:
The countdown to DarkFetus’ arrival is indeed upon us. I am 8 days from my c-section, but as we all know I could go into labor at any time. It’s fitting that it has been raining for the past week, I suppose.
Here’s the weird thing: Everything that needs to be done before she becomes DarkInfant is, well, done— the nursery is totally finished, all of her clothes/linens/toys/pacifiers have been washed, car seats are installed, all the paperwork for the pediatrician has been filled out and submitted, supplies for the first week that I’m stuck at home have been procured, etc etc etc. Usually, I am an Olympic level procrastinator, so now I’m just trying to keep busy by cleaning the apartment and visiting with friends & family to try and keep my mind off of OMG I JUST QUIT MY JOB AND NOW THERE’S NO TURNING BACK AND HAVING A BABY IS GOING TO CHANGE EVERYTHING AND *HYPERVENTILATE*.
mythbri, add 612 UK soldiers to that list. :(
I have something good to say. I’ve found arguments that convinced my family to vote no on the Minnesota marriage amendment. The big one was never putting rights to popular vote because rights are there to protect the minority from the majority. I was also able to dispel the separate but equal nonsense that’s often thrown around.
This was all thanks to reading this site. So.. thanks everyone.
Chigau:
I filmed the incident between the woman and the security guard in case of/to protect against police brutality.
Audley, best of luck to you and to DarkFetus during her transition to DarkInfant. I hope that everything goes as smoothly as possible.
@mythbri – take some of the wheels off the shopping carts at your local supermarket. That should keep them in a state of appropriately martyrish suffering.
And @John/#13 – I’m sorry if I’m misrepresenting you, but your question smells remarkably trollish (yes, I’m jaded…). Can you give us some context for your inquiry? I know there are a bunch of virologists here who would be more than happy to bring you up to speed if you’re on the level.
Also, on the list of things that have been taken care of:
Mr Darkheart has the email addresses of several of the regulars, so he will contact them when DarkInfant has been born and they in turn will tell all of you. Yay!
Thank you, mythbri!
@embertine #50
I know. Lots of people have been lost, and of course I didn’t mean to imply that only the U.S., Iraq and Afghanistan have suffered casualties.
These wars have cost a lot – in people, during and after.
trinioler
Good.
Do you think the Security “Guards” noticed you filming?
(I’m assuming you used your phone.)
That’s OK, mythbri, I didn’t think you were excluding others. I just googled it out of curiosity and was saddened to see the toll so high from just my little island, so I thought I’d post.
Trinioler,
As someone who has done a significant amoung of work towards becoming a BC transit driver, that does not sound like the behaviour they encourage, but the behaviour they screen for. I would certainly send the message to your local transit authority, these people are not paid for by fares, the driver’s livelihood was not threatened by this person, and they could have done so much better in many ways.
Audley
If a sit-com episode was made of DarkFetus’s birth, it would be really, really boring.
Yay! having everything done!
Chigau:
Ha! And that’s the way it should be!
Audley,
I am excited for you. Enjoy the rush if you can, if not we found frequent solace in the knowledge that newborns change fast.
chigau:
Yes, I was very open about it. I think it made him act more politely…
Dhorvath, if that’s the case, Kelowna is getting all the dregs then.
dunno mythbri a mad max post apocalyptical world might be more interesting than going to the cube farm everyday. Tell your co-workers to look at the bright side, it doesnt matter which useless dreck wins, there is stiff a few bucks to be made for their friends so they will stretch it out for another 4 years.
Dhorvath,
Thank you! The rational part of my brain knows that I’m ready for this, but the irrational worry-wart part of me is like who in their right mind does this to themselves?! I’ll be fine.
(Also, it’s good to see you around!)
Trigger Warning: Rape and violence.
We had a tragic case here in the UK a few years ago involving an over-officious bus driver.
A young women (at uni I think) boarded a late-night bus for the journey home. She was short of the fare by 20p, so the bus driver made her get off the bus and she started walking. On the way she was assaulted and raped. The bus company had a policy in place for such situations. It was for the driver to take the name and address of the passenger, and for the passenger to send payment to the bus company offices.
Guess what can get rid of ?
Horses!
I wonder if can cure teh gay.
Audley – at least you have a good exit strategy set up. You don’t have to worry about the “and it’s coming out from where and it is how big?” problem. ;)
Oh! Is that what “barebacking” is all about, then?
*wide innocent eyes*
I will not say a word about being hung like a horse.
#71 Janine, hmm how do you hang horses anyway?
You know, there is something is deadly wrong with our political dialogue given the sheer frequency of “BOTH SIDES” and “POX ON BOTH HOUSES”. It is increasingly annoying me. The latest example to raise my ire was also a “so close, yet so far” example. You see, here is an article about the absurd anti-scientific views of four politicians, noteworthy for how objectively ridiculous they are. A great idea for a comedy article, but on a site where everyone starts a spittle-flecked diatribe when things “get political”. So, of course, the situation was defused with the following:
Yeah, because mentioning the party identities of the people who say absurd, illogical shit is “the problem”. So, none of the party identities are mentioned in the article. But, surprise surprise, all four of them are Republican! How unnoteworthy! Indicative of nothing and not consistent with general trends in their party at all.
I Wanna Be A Cowboy
My nails are shorter.
The Ballad Of Irving
Blazing Saddles
The 142nd fastest gun in the west? I haven’t heard that since I was a kid. Thanks Janine.
John Wayne Is Big Leggy
I went too far with that last one.
You see, here is an article about the absurd anti-scientific views of four politicians, noteworthy for how objectively ridiculous they are.
The sad things about this article include:
1. Todd Akin comes in #4. Yep, three crazier views were found.
2. All of them were on science or health care committees. This explains much about the NIH and NSF’s funding.
3. They probably are good representatives of their districts and states.
On a related topic, I think we should consider any death of a congressperson due to illness to be a suicide. We’re very close to major advances in treatment of quite a lot of illnesses. These advances aren’t happening because the politicians are too stupid to fund the relevant agencies better. And they’re dying of it. Not as soon as “ordinary” people, but just as surely. They all could have at least a chance…and refuse to take it because they’d rather have a tax break. Suicide.
The fastest gun in the west is clearly carbonic anhydrase.
Carlie
Hee hee. That was basically Mr Darkheart’s reaction, too. :)
John Wayne’s teeth
Here is a way to raise spirits at a pep rally.
Have white people in “blackface” reenact Chris Brown’s beating of Rihanna.
If a sit-com episode was made of DarkFetus’s birth, it would be really, really boring.
Boring is good in medicine. Especially OB. Let’s keep with boring. Though I do wonder whether you might be nesting and if darkfetus is preparing for an early entry into the world…
Janine – I saw that on Twitter earlier. That was when I realized I need to institute a rule for Twitter: when I reach the third “WHAT. THE. EVERLOVING. FUCK. IS. WRONG. WITH. PEOPLE.” moment of the feed, I need to turn it off and go do something else for awhile.
mythbri:
You’re more confident than I am. With Romney having closed the gap between he and President Obama, I’m worried he actually stands a chance at winning the presidency.
****
chigau:
Oh, we can make it more difficult for them. Howzabout these wheels?
There aren’t enough WTFs in the world.
Janine;
Did anyone ever complain that he was blaspheming? I know theists love their zombie dude, but some of them are so fringe, I can imagine complaints of someone dressing up as their undead savior.
****
Audley:
Are you going to be relaxing for the next 8 days (unless you go into labor before that)? Play some Arkham or Resident Evil? Maybe catch up on all your favorite tv shows?
Also, do you think your sister is going to continue giving her after DarkFetus is born?
****
jehk:
Thank You as well.
@ anteprepro
I feel more than a little queezy.
…
How about compromise: Freshlyground (yeah, a rerun from a year or so ago… but they’re cool)
What’s sadder is that Akin probably wasn’t given his well-deserved higher rank because the author already has a reputation as too “feminist” in the eyes of the “moderate” commenters at the site. Broun’s insertion of “embryology” was probably an accident and the rest of his comment is only as moronic as every other creationist (which would be enough in a perfect world, but isn’t enough in ours). Shimkus arguing that “BIBBLE SEZ” that global warming is a lie isn’t particularly rare among the standard idiocies of Christ-flavored denialists either. Akin’s scientific illiteracy is profoundly idiotic, sexist, and rare . It was just-world fallacy denial of simple facts that should be known by anyone who got a middle school level of health education. It deserved a higher slot. But the author was probably just too afraid to make too much hay out of Akin’s comments, lest he pigeonhole himself as “that guy who cares about women being treated like people”. Obviously, the “moderates” would spin it a little more negatively.
Not just suicide, murder-suicide. Not just on the medical front, but on the crime front (which they could help alleviate if they weren’t deadset on vast income inequalities), on the climate change front, on the warmongering front. Hell, they are trying their damndest to make sure that the Poor Are Always Among Us, and that the government has no part in making sure they don’t starve to death. They favor death of people over death of their principles, and that includes their own death. The fact that their principles are fucking moronic is just the icing on the murderous, suicidal cake.
Loads of good wishes for the DarkFetus to DarkInfant event, Audley – I know you’ll probably be around the Lounge for another week, but there’s no harm in repeating them a few times! (just in case you find yourself busy a tad earlier than scheduled) :)
birgerjohanssen:
(from the Conspiracy Road Trip thread)
Curse you and your little dog too for making me look things up!
Don’t you know I like wallowing in my ignorance??
I didn’t know what smart dust was. It took entirely too long to look it up in Wikipedia. I mean seriously, I will *never* recover those 30 seconds.
/sarcasm
re the story at Janine’s link
I broke with my usual policy and read the first page of comments.
I’m sure you will all be happy to know that racism in the USA ended hundreds of years ago.
And that domestic violence is nothing to worry about.
*looks at DarkBlanket*
*notes that it is 9 inches wide*
:( :( :(
It will be done someday, I promise!
Another from the Conspiracy Thread (I did not want to derail).
Don Quijote sez:
Is this true?
I’ve seen a few people refer to PZ this way in the past, and wasn’t sure if they were making fun of his name or not.
I know people will disrespectfully screw up PZ’s name in other ways so I was uncertain.
Tony,
That’s how it sounds in my head. Zee just sounds wrong.
(In regards to my response to dianne, I hope it didn’t come off like I thought I was telling something you didn’t know. That’s just how I internet comment. I’m sure you’re well aware of everything I brought up, just saying my own A-Ha moments out loud. Sort of.)
Yep. Racism is dead and only those people who still worry about racism are the REAL racists.
The smarmy bastards who spout that kind of shit are a dime a dozen. Ridiculously common.
Here is something from a person calling herself GreenLady82.
Where the fuck do people learn this shit?
Really? And how many of these black roles were respectful and how many of them were offensive stereotypes?
Tony, Canadians and Brits have called PZ “PZed” for years. It is acceptable. No disrespect is meant.
Some people do not know the shameful history of minstrel shows.
anteprepro: I didn’t see anything wrong with your comment except that it was describing the real world and not a dystopian novel.
Hello! I’m utterly behind on everything except homework so I offer congratulations to those with happy news and sympathies to all with not-good or worse news.
—
Audley:
Best wishes for DarkFetus’s upcoming transition to DarkInfant!
—
Janine:
I saw that yesterday. Hometown pride…not so much. (I’m actually from the other side of the state border, but Waverly is part of the area called “the Valley” that included my town.)
Been combatting a lot of “it’s not really racist” and “they didn’t mean anything by it,” amongst family and friends on FB, including from my nieces who attend this school.
97% white town, 0% understanding of privilege and oppression.
Jezebel has picked it up as well.
—
Esteleth:
Sadly enough, that person happens to be related to me. She and several others cross-posted their comments on their Facebook pages along with long rants about the “sensitivity” of black people who see racism where there isn’t any. *sigh*
I’m sure there’s a word (probably German) for the sick feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realize people you love really are stupid racist shits combined with a relieved feeling that you are now far, far away from them.
Socio-gen, I have relatives who do that shit too.
*sympathy*
The Sounds Of Cylons
No, it is not by Cylon & Garfunkel.
Socio-gen, you know GreenLady82?
Portia @29: “You should–you look like one”? Always a little late with the best reply. And of course best said when you have backup.
Okay, so Greenlady thinks blackface wasn’t racist because there were no black actors to fill the roles for black characters. Conveniently, she doesn’t bother to ponder why there were no black actors, and fails to wonder what the nature of those roles filled by blackfaced white people may be, in a society where there were no black actors. I’m sure that all of those roles, that necessitate a specific skin color, in a society that puts restrictions on people of that same skin color such that people who actually have that skin color can’t fill the role, were all completely harmless, devoid of stereotypes or caricature. No racism to be found here.
Good to know. I’m not a people person, so I don’t know what might come off as a faux pas or not.
Anyway, speaking of dystopian, I think we should have a Pharyngula party game: Create a pool of Republican politician/pundit sound bytes, quotes from totalitarian leaders, and quotes from works of fiction about dystopian societies. We can all see if we can distinguish what pool the quote comes from. The only problem is that Pharyngulites would probably be familiar with the sources already, and wouldn’t be as shocked about how similar it all sounds compared to the general public. I think we would need to start it and then introduce it to the wild…
Jehk @51! Way to go! Equality rights for the win. Thank YOU for taking the time to explain to them.
Audley, sending you remote long-distance hugs for a safe birth.
Cylon & Garfunkel
I Can’t Smile Without You as sung by an old school Cylon.
The seventies left me scarred.
Janine:
Yep. She’s a cousin. (Although I suppose it’s possible that she simply quoted the comment on her FB without attribution.)
—
anteprepro:
Much of the “it was just theatrical makeup” crowd is comparing it to the Wayans brothers’ movie “White Girls.”
Because it’s totally the same thing.
Socio-gen, that FB battle does not sound pleasant. Good luck.
Too bad: I was hoping this was a *private* bunker of some end-of-civilization munitions hoarder: Bunker explodes at Camp Minden (near Minden, Louisiana). “The camp is an operable Louisiana National Guard site, which hosts a number of businesses that house explosives.” I also hope no one was near it at the time.
The blast was felt 12 miles (19 km) away.
I worked with some South Africans once. At the company Halloween party, three of them thought it was amusing to dress up as black Africans. As I never thought of being black as a role, it seemed more than a little weird. It also brought into perspective our habit of dressing as Native Americans.
Janine, it’s kind of like being scraped up one side and down the other with a cheese grater and then taking a bath in lemon juice. I’m trying to have the “what you did” conversation, but they’re hearing the “what you are” one.
Oddly, though, none of them has de-friended me yet.
Did you know that LGBT marriage will cause the rate of births from out of wedlock to go up?
WOW!
I think we should have a Pharyngula party game: Create a pool of Republican politician/pundit sound bytes, quotes from totalitarian leaders, and quotes from works of fiction about dystopian societies. We can all see if we can distinguish what pool the quote comes from. The only problem is that Pharyngulites would probably be familiar with the sources already, and wouldn’t be as shocked about how similar it all sounds compared to the general public. I think we would need to start it and then introduce it to the wild…
Good idea! Anyone remember this one (in context of survival of a nuclear war): “…with enough shovels to go around, everyone’s going to make it.” Quote from Inner Party Member O’Brien or Reagan’s undersecretary of defense?
Janine, I’d almost be willing to buy a correlation between extramarital births and increased LGBT rights – both are emblematic (at least partially) of decreased obedience to religious doctrine that commands that the only “correct” way to fuck is in a heterosexual marriage.
anteprepro:
I want to be on Lynna’s team!
The 1491s, I’m an Indian too. Mildly NSFW due to hilarous pelvic gyrations.
Dianne, I remember the quote. That was part of my teenaged self learning that many conservatives have a disconnect from reality.
Of similar comedic value, I’m sure. But I doubt that is the only point they’re trying to make.
Which is a natural complement to the argument that LGBT marriage is EVIL and UNNATURAL and will lead to the End of Society because you can’t produce babies with gay sex.
I assume “undersecretary” means that they live in the Underdark, right?
(I think I just lost at my own game. Wouldn’t be the first time)
Hey, guys! I have a hilarious joke!
Are you ready?
Okay, okay: Didja hear the one about the person who wasn’t a white, male, heterosexual Christian? (*snort, giggle*)
Turns out, that person conforms to an unpleasant stereotype!
Isn’t that a scream, everybody? OMG so hilarious. (*wipes away tears of involuntary laughter*)
Heh…Why is no one laughing? You’re all So Sensitive! :P
Did you know that LGBT marriage will cause the rate of births from out of wedlock to go up?
But…I thought we were all going to be forced to take same sex marriage partners, that we’d have no babies and the species would go extinct. Which is it? Also, I’d like Audley and Gileill for my same sex spouses after the LGBT marriage revolution comes.
Good evening!
Yeah, I survided the first of the Tuesdays of Doom, this one being the extra special ediction.
Audley
Yay, yay, yay. All the best for the last final days. Soon the DF will be a DI!
Can somebody remind me please why births out of wedlock are bad?
See, Giliell, the big sky daddy blessed us with a sex drive but it is evil to act upon into outside of marriage with your spouse. Such an act of evil can only produce evil, the bastard.
It is all so obvious.
My understanding about the bag check thing was that it was more to catch unscrupulous checkers, not customers. I know CompUSA used to have a problem of someone coming in and getting a video card or hard drive, or something and a mouse pad, and their friends at the register would then only ring up the mouse pad. They were the first place I remember that instituted the receipt check. They might not be legally able to get you for finding that you had one too many items in your bag, but they certainly could fire your friend.
I can haz a team?
I always wanted a team.
I am threadrupt, so apologies if this has already been discussed. Guess who is now supporting Todd “legitimate rape” Akin? Why, the Duggars, of course.
Oh.
How would Republicans prosecute rape victims?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#49425263
The are about to march for Todd Akin.
I will miss that parade.
I dropped “brigade” from my last statement.
Just for shits and giggle, here is reliwhat trolling it up at Ed’s blog.
Watch the whining begin.
Sorry but have to laugh. Reliwhat, who defended TAA’s treatment of Amanda Todd whines that I am harassing him.
Proud son of the south defends the confederate flag against mocking elementary school students.
Are you cretins really going to vote for Obama? Don’t you understand the value of the Consitutional freedoms he is working to eliminate? I’m an atheist by the way, but I’m astounded at how many of you people do not understand how governments tend to abuse the powers that useful idiots like you are so willing to give to them.
You don’t believe tobacco companies are so pure in intent that you would trust “scientific” reports from them on how tobacco is healthy. Why do your brains shut off when it comes to trusting government?
Maybe you have psychological need to have blind faith in SOMETHING to bring about utopia, and you must fixate on government.
Will you people at least consider the possibility that due to human nature, utopia is probably not achievable, and that therefore, at a certain point, trying to combat “bad” behavior of certain individuals (like corrupt CEOs) by giving power to government is just transferring power from one corrupt entity to another, and that would be a mistake if the latter has the force of law behind it and simply cannot be rejected (as by boycotting the corrupt CEO’s company)? Maybe the best we can hope for is to stop companies from committing outright fraud, and otherwise hold individual consumers responsible for not being total idiots (just google Caeser Barber).
Do you really want the US to sign “treaties” with the UN so that people cannot paint their houses whatever the fuck color they want? Are you aware that globally, temperatures have been *declining* for the past 16 years? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2217286/Global-warming-stopped-16-years-ago-reveals-Met-Office-report-quietly-released–chart-prove-it.html
You are aware that entropy will eventually cause all temperatures to drop to a few degrees Kelvin in any case? And how much time will ecofascist measures buy us in terms of “sustainability”? Instead of a few million years of survival from now, a few million years plus a couple hundred thousand years? Does anyone have the right to determine decide that speculative extrapolation has the force to justify destroying people’s lives *now*? I say this as someone who bikes to work, but must still buy groceries impacted by fuel prices.
Please all libtards here. Pull your heads out of your asses. I think the Bible is completely full of shit and cannot believe passages like Genesis 30 that teach that peeling twigs and putting them next to mating goats will cause the baby goats to be born with coat patterns matching your twigs.
But Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin aren’t making economic decisions based on that. They keep their religion fairly private, but secular liberals are openly saying non sensical things that rival the Genesis passage. Ceding your rights and money to government will not make you any freer or richer. It has NEVER worked and NEVER will. Will you people PLEASE pull your heads out of your asses and wake up?
Averagetruth is of below average intelligence.
points and laughs at the troll
All you deserve, cupcake.
@averagetruth 1/10. And you only get that for correct spelling
Dianne:
If by ‘nesting’, you mean incredibly anxious, then yes. I don’t have any sort of compulsion to clean or organize my stuff, I’m just doing it to keep myself busy.
Tony:
I’m trying to relax, I really am! I’d like to finish RE6 by this weekend and even though I gave myself all day today to just sit and play, I haven’t even picked up a controller. I just can’t sit still!
As far as Asshole Sister is concerned, she has pretty much stopped talking to me*, so hopefully this means no more “advice”– she really can’t offer any more criticisms about my pregnancy and let’s hope that she’s too busy with her own pregnancy to even think about my parenting.
Funny story: I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that she planned her baby shower for 3 days before my c-section, yes? Little Sister has confirmed that yes indeedy, the timing of Asshole Sister’s party is because she’s jealous of the attention that I’m getting and she wants to make sure that she’s the center of attention instead of me. *facepalm!* What are we, 12?
*She did call me yesterday and it was… weird. I don’t quite know what the hell she wanted, but at least she kept her rudeness in check.
Averagetruth
This is the lounge
Personal attacs and insults aren’t tolerated here, words like “cretin” (unless you meant crouton) aren’t tolerated Pharyngula-wide, so better get your average ass out of here
Everyone raise their hands who blindly trusts Obama to do what is correct? Everyone raise their hands who thinks Obama will do better than Romney on many issues? That’s what I thought.
I’m sorry, averagetruth, I quit reading your tl;dr as soon as you called everyone a cretin. Can you condense your asshole screed into 5 words or less?
Will you please pull your head out of your ass and stop thinking we are at all interested in your inane humor? You don’t have serious posts. Poe all the way, put very bad parodies.
But Giliell, averagetruth was here to let us know that Sarah Palin keeps her religion private, unlike we atheist who lemming like follow Obama.
Here is Sarah Palin keeping her religion private. And getting protection from witches.
Just for fun: http://www.romneytaxplan.com/
Not even that: “Consitutional freedoms”.
Lynna, asking the MittBot 3000 for details is hateful and unfair. Isn’t the fact that he is a businessman enough?
Dang, dyslexic today, #146 should end:
I knew it. Random thread’rupter has said it, and it is true.
We’re all SHEEPLE. O.O
Atheist Green! It’s SHEEPLE!
General Boyd: Soon every every man, woman and mutant will know the truth about Atheism!
Booji Boy: Oh Dad, we’re all SHEEPLE!
How do you make sheeple with your fingers?
Hopping on one leg.
That’s fantastic.
But how will he distribute the cigars? (By the way, I am partial to Hoya de Montoya or Ghurka)
How about:
“When Jesus returns, if we have not used all of our natural resources, He will not be happy.”
Or:
“Trees cause air pollution.”
Velcro goves help a lot.
If I’m a sheeple it means I can count on myself when going to bed.
Goodnight.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Man, that’s the funniest thing I’ve read all day.
Oggie,
Cigars will be arriving via USB, natch. ;)
Have I mentioned that DarkFetus is already displaying rooting behaviors and she moves around a lot whenever I play Daft Punk? I swear, my kid’s gonna be a freaking *genius*.
(Or a sheeple. Whatevs.)
So there is a small brewery in NZ called Moa. Apparently their beer is good. Good enough that they need to expand and have launched a Prospectus asking for investment money. Thing is, they used some ‘edgy’ images (their words) that helped to define their brand. Images that portray women in sexy and subservient roles.
Even amongst the demographic of middle aged beer drinking males (of which I and many of my friends fall) this has led to a wrinkling of the nose and a strong desire to not only withhold investment, but to find other micro-breweries to support. I’m sure they’ll get their money from someone else though.
I did see a nice poke at them in Emma Hart’s blog though. A representative image is featured.
http://publicaddress.net/up-front/moa-sub-standard/Enjoy
If Poe’s Law didn’t apply to AGW deniers before, it does now.
The sun is going to go out someday, therefore we don’t have to worry about anything. QED.
So, I’m a bit of a lurker around these parts. I’m not 100% sure what the etiquette is for these threads, so I’m going to ask first: is it appropriate to ask other commenters for advice in a thread such as this one?
[A. R begins working on a way to expand his USB port receiving capacity to accommodate a Churchill.]
This is an open thread, so anything can be talked about. Ask away, but if the subject is contentious we may ask the discussion to move to the Thunderdome, where things are less moderated.
Fionnabhair,
If not here, then nowhere. This is the social lounge, someone likely has good help for you.
Why should I recycle? The protons is this plastic bottle are going to decay eventually anyway, and recycling it isn’t going to make that happen any faster.
Rob@160: that Emma Hart piece is epic. It sums up everything that bothers me about the use of bdsm imagery or tropes in contexts meant to have “universal” appeal.
Yup.
Will be linking and referring to it often, thanks.
@165 Thanks for the head’s up. I hope what I’m asking isn’t too contentious.
For at least half my life, I’ve had insomnia in one form or another. I also have depression, and I’ve been battling that for the past seven years. The insomnia was more or less under control for the past few years, as I found a medication that worked for me. The depression was less under control, and so my doctor decided it was time to try an MAOI. This has proven to be successful in treating my depression, but it meant that I could no longer take the medication I had been using to treat my insomnia. As a result, the insomnia is back with a vengeance, and I have pretty much exhausted my options for medication to help treat it (and medication seems to be about the only thing that helps).
At this point, I’m trying to look into less conventional treatments, and one of those is the use of medicinal marijuana (which I have never tried before, even recreationally, because I am a goody-two-shoes and paranoid about getting into legal trouble over it). The thing is, I’m having a hard time finding information on the effectiveness of marijuana to treat insomnia, and Google’s kinda letting me down; I’m finding a lot of sites that say yeah, it works, but they’re also obviously very pro-marijuana and not exactly impartial and I don’t know if I can trust that information. Wikipedia cites one study that suggests that marijuanan can be effective in treating insomnia, but I don’t know if that study is any good (it’s here).
I know this is a very scientifically-minded community, and I’m hoping someone here might be able to point me in the right direction to either find the information I’m looking for, or even have knowledge on the subject. If possible, plainer-language summaries of studies are preferred, if available, because I’m really tired and reading a complex scientific study requires a lot of concentration I don’t have.
That was long-winded. Thanks in advance if anyone can help.
You’re welcome kristinc. I thought it was far to good to let languish in a corner of the internet. I like you blog – kind of left field but interesting to an ex chemist. I only went into chemistry really because of the colours and smells.
Here’s the church, here’s the steeple, open the doors.
This just made my night. I may actually die of laughter.
Thanks Carlie.
Fionna, firstly, I am not a doctor. Take all of this with a grain of salt, and talk to your own doctor.
I did some poking. There is a study that showed that administration of Zolpidem (i.e. Ambien) helped insomnia in people who had previously used pot and were no longer. Whether or not your own insomnia is GABA-dependent (Zolpidem agonizes GABA) is a question, so the drug may or may not help you.
I did some more research, and I could not find a contraindication of Zolpidem and MAOIs, but again, I am not a doctor – or a neuroscientist – so this may be wrong.
Fionnabhair, I swear by melatonin plus doing all the things they tell you to do: lower light levels, don’t stare into lighted screens, etc.
And… maybe this is a dumb question, but can you do enough exercise — swimming, walking, whatever — to get pleasantly tired? It does help.
That’s awesome! Everyone should move around when listening to Daft Punk. :-)
(Or, more generally, Roulé Boulé. TW for 90s French house music.)
@ Esteleth
Thanks for the information. Sadly, I am Canadian, and we don’t have Ambien here (though you’re right, it is safe to prescribe it with an MAOI). For some silly really, there’s only one Z-class drug available, Zopiclone, and I’ve tried it. What makes treating my insomnia so difficult is that I build up a tolerance to the medication quite quickly. I most recently was taking Seroquel, and that stopped being effective after about two weeks. Similar experience with benzos as well (and I really don’t want to be taking those long-term anyway).
One of the benefits of being Canadian, though, is that I can talk to my doctor frequently; naturally, any advice I receive from anyone is going to be discussed with him. I mean, I’m taking an MAOI, I’ve been asking about fucking everything to make sure there won’t be problems.
Really? Google tells me that zolpidem is sold in CA as “Stillnoct.” I could be wrong though…
@Markita
Tried melatonin. It worked well in conjunction with the last medication I was using (amitriptyline), and it makes mornings a bit easier if I do manage to get enough sleep, but it doesn’t put me to sleep, sadly. I also have no car, which means that if I need to do something, I’m walking there. My calf muscles are rock-hard! I get about as much exercise as I have the energy for.
@ Esteleth
I asked my pharmacist about drugs similar to Zopiclone, and the impression I got from what she told me was that they’re not available in Canada. I’ll double-check with my doctor.. I did Google Stillnoct myself, and am getting mostly UK hits, though.
I double-checked. Stillnoct is in the UK, Stilnoct (one L) is in Canada.
averagetruth, Palin? Economics? BWAHAHAHA the woman can tell you to the penny as to how much would end up in her wallet and isn’t interested in anyone else. I’m from Alska, am very familiar with matsu republicans. Just for grizzins google matanuska republicans convicted
Can anyone get me a PDF of this? My university doesn’t subscribe to this journal… If so, please send to adorttzt_atsymbol_gmail.com
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Surface+electromyography+and+muscle+force%3A+limits+in+sEMG-force+relationship+and+new+approaches+for+applications
my candidate wants to debate but all she gets is arrested
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/16/green-party-candidate-arrested-outside-debate-site/ this crap needs to change, the control of the political entities need to be available to all peoples all parties.
Hooray for impending Darkinfanthood!
And if anyone needed more evidence that having a child of one’s own does not make one an expert on childbirth, my initial thought was “Why worry when you have a date scheduled?” The SmallFry was two weeks from her due date when Mrs. Fishy and I got married, we spent a lot of time saying to her “We love you very much, but stay in there, you’re not invited to this party!”, so you’d think that I’d remember that sometimes they come early. Doh!
looks like honey booboo’s presidential endorsement is available http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/honey-boo-boo-endorses-obama_654673.html
mice sing! http://houston.cbslocal.com/2012/10/15/scientists-mice-can-sing-in-tune-with-one-another/
I GOT NEW SHOEZ!
They are both cheap and comfys. \o/
now all we have to do is teach them “The Bells of St. Mary’s”.
Markita
He actually would probably have taken it well. (Although I have reservations about the implications of the statement as an insult). I’ve given him a little grief for things like forgetting my name 7 times, and he now says that my “attitude” and “sass” are what he likes about me. Which is also a little icky, now that I think about it. But anyway, the point is, he can take a little good-natured teasing.
Can we talk about the debate? It just started.
GO CANDY CROWLEY
For those not watching, she just made Romney shut the fuck up and go sit down.
Ugh, Obama is going on about drilling.
That was pretty epicly rad, wasn’t it?
Shaddap, Romney.
“You’ll have plenty of time later.”
NICE
She must have taken notes when the pundits were lavishing all that praise on Martha Raddick.
“North America energy-independent,” is about the sands in Alberta, right?
was it just me or did she call him romley?
How does entropy vary with temperature, genius?
Why the FUCK does RMoney think he gets to making the fucking debate rules? Oh, yeah, he’s an ENTITLED FUCKHEAD.
Ingrid Bergman was so beautiful in that movie.
SO’s 12 year old just said “I think [Romney] is trying to talk really fast so [Obama] can’t talk.” lolz even the children can see through his crap.
I’m pretty sure Romney just said that women need flexible work hours so they can go home and cook dinner and take care of the kids. He said not a damn thing about equal pay…
Brace yourself, this is a little creepy
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/284070_381142641965757_1547640046_n.jpg
No, he didn’t. It was an egregious dodge. Totally disgusting. But I think we got our answer.
Romney has been totally ignoring the moderator and the timers and using up whatever time he feels like.
and some “Town Hall” . my ass. all of these people are cherry picked professionals.
I think getting all of the polls into a ring in their underwear and using baseball bats with the last one standing being declared president would work as well as what we have now
Tangent, I just bought a new bag for work. Just noticed the description is: “Awesome leather trim and so many pockets keep him looking top-notch at the office! Holds his laptop and so much more.”
The rest of the site is a selection of bags. I vented to SO about how women do more than put casseroles in their casserole bags and he thought I made up the fact that there was a casserole bag at the selling party I went to today for this bag company. Femirage.
Ok. Maybe just femiwhine.
I don’t have the time or the heart. How’s the debate looking?
The moderator is doing a great job, and Obama is doing much, much better. Romney just lied about Obama’s statements about the Libyan embassy attacks, and Crowley said “No, actually, that’s not true.” And Obama said “Can you say that louder, Candy?” and she belted it out. Of course, Romney soldiered on with his lies, but he was rattled. Excellent moment.
Umm, did Romney just suggest that marriage is a form of gun control? Because if he is even hinting that single mothers are to blame for gun violence I might get seriously stabby.
…damn it, when I offered to endorse legalizing marriage of one man to one light truck and one or more firearms if the Rethugs would back marriage equality, I was KIDDING D:
A ha! Proof that gay marriage inevitably leads to polygamy.
*please make a birth certificate joke*
*fingers crossed*
DAMN, that was a good hammering of the 47% thing.
Polygunmy ain’t against no religion :D
Arggh, the feed froze! Did he make a birth certificate joke or a Muslim joke?
No, he spend the time hammering the 47% comment.
don’t forget obama’s mother was a single parent for a long time. it was a really poor choice on rmoney’s part.
No.
*pout*
er, my 222 is at Tethys’ 219
DDMFM!
*hug*
Good flight?
–
Huzzah!
–
Louis!
*pouncehug*
–
trinioler, I started to read it, but stopped under the influence of a Borderline Depression when it became clear that said post would be depressing. Sorries.
–
–
New Thread! Yay!!!
–
*image of frolicking squidlings* for PZ, in the hope of lightening his fatigue and averting his wrath.
–
Congarats!
–
It makes The Husband furious when a store refuses to allow him to bring in his bag (on the grounds that he might be planning to steal something), but allows women’s purses, and honkin’ big diaper bags, to pass without so much as a glance.
–
Wait…what?
I should be forced to throw away thirty-years-tomorrow of perfectly good heterosexual marriage? I think not!
–
Mattir!
*hug*
–
Two intractible land wars in Asia, yet! One of the Classic Blunders! And the most famous one, at that!
–
Ah! A storybook beginning!
“It was a dark and stormy week….”
–
[Andre the Giant voice]
W.’s way is not very sportsmanlike…
[/Andre the Giant voice]
cicely:
If what you’ve written is true, then the solution to his bag problem is obvious.
Well done, jehk!
–
Dhorvath!
*pouncehug*
–
Feeding our fellow human beings, regardless of their persuasion, to the Horses is immoral and unethical and should be forbid by law!
Yes, even fundamentalists.
–
With extreme prejudice.
And napalm!
–
Than…???
–
The Ballad of Irving is one of my favorites!
“The James Boys was comin’ on a train at first sun,
And the town said, “Irving, we need your gun.”
When that train pulled in at the break of dawn,
Irving’s gun was there, but Irving was gone.”
–
:( :( :(
–
John Morales: What I have written is true, but if you are proposing that legal action is the obvious solution, then I must point out that that involves $$$$.
If we had $$$$, I would not be trying to set up the cicely can haz wheelchair? project so I can buy a suitably heavy-duty wheelchair.
Next suggestion?
–
I assumed he was suggesting your husband carry a purse or diaper bag. O.o
I had no idea Queen was touring with Adam Lambert. He is the most adorable baby not-quite-Freddie evar.
averagetruth:
Hmmm, let me see here.
I do believe you’ve violated the rules of The Lounge at the onset of your comment.
Yep. I was right.
If you want to engage in conversation in whatever manner you choose, I direct you to The Thunderdome. Post all you want there. I should warn you though, the sharks are hungry. They haven’t been fed in a while, and it looks like you’re the *perfect* meal.
mythbri:
Speak for yourself.
I’m feeling a bit quackish lately.
(I soooo want a gravatar of a duck wearing a rainbow flag as a cape)
****
I’m sick of the Language professors hate him ad. Now it’s following me when I scroll up and down. Argh!
****
Fionnabhair:
The Lounge is open to anyone and everyone, so long as they engage in a kindly manner. You’re more than welcome in here with us. Ask whatever you would like.
****
John:
Satchel? Handbag?
Oh wait, the husband should call up Mittens and tell him he’s a Mormon. Then he can ask RMoney for assistance (which would involve buying the company…yada yada yada).
I was just let know Stefanelli is a slimepitter now :D isn’t that cute?
jose:
Do what now??!!
Where did you read that?
I’m watching a repeat of the Town Hall debate (I was at work earlier).
What highlights can I look forward to?
What Azkyroth and Tony wrote.
(Sardonic humour is not for everyone)
Damn.
The opening salvo by President Obama was good. He actually gives specifics about the job market. Romney, what do you have…
I’ve made that very point on many occasions, often pointing to bags bigger than mine that are within sight. I’ve never gotten a response to it. They can’t, not without admitting they’re singling me out rather than applying a universal policy.
I also try to extract a promise that if my bag or the contents thereof should disappear while in the custody of the store they’ll compensate me for that loss. My point being that if they require that I surrender my possessions they they have an obligation to make sure they’re safe. Only once or twice has such an assurance been made. Usually they say no, and I spend some time pointing out how unethical that is. Again, it changes nothing, but I do enjoy the consternation and mental contortions it provokes
I’ve had that happen to me many times in Canada, never here in Aus. Mind you I don’t live in an urban area.
Diaper, or nappy bag as they’re known here, FTW! They rock.
John:
Admittedly, humor can be difficult to convey online, no?
Well, there’s Romney lying…. Romney lying…. and Romney lying.
Romney explaining that women need flexible work hours so they can get home and cook dinner (in response to a question about equal pay). Obama cited the Lily Ledbetter case and being able to afford a good education.
Hell, my purse is bigger than the bag in question, and no one has ever questioned it. We’ve also had the conversation about the safety of the bag if it is surrendered, many times, but no assurances are ever given. And in vain do we point out that he keeps his diabetic stuff in it, and his fiddly little screwdrivers (aka, work tools).
–
Markita:
You darned liburells can’t understand Mr. Romney. He’s a complex individual. He doesn’t lie. His opinions just shift from time to time.
(that damn sentence was hard to type)
Just thought I’d share this new Cracked.com article: The 4 Craziest Scientific Theories Posed By US Politicians. Our old buddy Todd “Women Are Ducks” Akin is only #4.
This surprised me, so I checked it out.
I won’t link, but it is true.
cicely
Happy 30th Anniversary to you and The Husband!
@ Rmoney
Yeah, that will fix the problem.
SG:
Let me guess, if you provided a link, it would lead somewhere many of us don’t want to venture?
Oh yes indeedy cicely. I once dumped the whole thing out and added up the cost of everything, ipod, phone, tools, the works, not forgetting that the bag itself was expensive. It came to over a thousand dollars. Still didn’t receive any assurance of safety or compensation, and still refused entry without surrendering it. The sad thing is that I’m sure they end up telling themselves that I was indeed a thief when I walk away without purchasing anything from their store. Bah, I say.
Tony, yeah, it would lead to the pit.
Totally off-topic, whatever that might be right now… In a strange turn of events for a person who has basically never run in her entire adult life, it seems that I have a thing called “runner’s knee”. Or patello-femoral maltracking syndrome, if you prefer, which I do. I now have very bright blue tape on my knee in a smiley shape, which pleases me strangely.
Alethea
I have “tennis elbow” and I’ve never even watched tennis on TV.
I see averagetruth cited the Daily Fail as a source. In averagetruth’s next post, perhaps they will rely upon some more credible sources, such as bathroom graffiti, rumours they heard in the pub, and Hello magazine.
Oh yeah, I’m the same – never played tennis, but had tennis elbow back in the 90s. From some bad work posture and too much mouse right-clicking. I still shift mouse sides every couple of months and prefer to use a one-button mouse if possible (not easy to find now.)
It was Bruce Springsteen for #1…
Funny thing is, she still likes it…
Hey cicely, what about if you and your OH swap bags before entering the shop? So you hang on to the diabetic stuff. And when they want him to leave his (your) bag with them, would it give any more weight to when you point out women in the shop with the same kind of bag … or something. Um, not exactly thought out. Just wondering vaguely how to make it even more undeniable that their action is nothing to do with the bag.
Happy anniversary!
Just catching up with the “binders full of women” thing. This one made me LOL: “Well, if you liked it then you should have put three rings on it.”
I made it to brother Og at #8, no dammit, she got transported for comiting whoredoms against the Kings peace.
Piece would have been more fun, I’m sure.
Maybe Louis could chime in here and explain to us what the hell comiting a whoredom/whoredoms against the Kings peace could mean? Or the being the legal English expert could explain.
Some kind of sex riot?
Do the English have sex riots?
Oh, now we’re getting close to figgering out what they do with those stiff upper lips. Yeh wiley bastards.
Patricia, the English have sex pistols.
Don’t you hate it when the help gets out of line and do not remember their place?
NB! Achtung!
“Earth-sized planet found (in Alpha Centauri) just outside solar system” (alas, too hot for life) http://phys.org/news/2012-10-earth-sized-planet-solar.html
Only stable orbits are at approx. 1 AU and less. Since this planet has migrated close to the star, this fate has probably befallen all other terrestrial planets born in this close zone.
(But we could build bases on the dark, cold sides of those planets, since they will be tidally locked)
— — — — — — —
“Cold viruses point the way to new cancer therapies” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-cold-viruses-cancer-therapies.html
Funding: “…the politicians are too stupid to fund the relevant agencies better…” every congressman who voted for cutting science funding should have to do without this cure!
— — — — — — — — — — —
Cicely, I was about to suggest bringing transparent bags for large volumes, but that would just encourage them.
Dianne,
Keep the placenta, then use it as a sacrifice to the Elder Gods to ensure the wellbeing of DarkBaby, with a bit of luck he will get powers to top Kal-El.
(or put in in an incubator, churning out delicious long pig meat as a humane* alternative to tofu and soy)
*the term is a bit ambigous.
OH ye gods.
Double big check-up at the pediatricians. Including vision and hearing tests for both. I’m totally exhausted.
Yay: Nice to have one kid whose excellent verbal abilities get noticed (because, you know, she doesn’t shut uo completely)
Nah: Thinking that a kid who isn’t the centre of the party and the social butterfly “needs more time to get used to a situation” or is unhappy. No, the kid is happy at the kindergarten and totally integrated.
So, sounds like Obama woke the fuck up…
Cicely – I’d be tempted to take a squashable purse in with you, crumpled up inside of your purse (which would be much bigger). Then, when they complain about his bag, simply look them in the eye, pull out the squashable purse, put his bag into it, then sling it over your other shoulder. Voila. You are simply carrying in two purses.
Giliell:
Samuel L. Jackson’s words resonate where they are most needed. Last night they were needed most by one Barack Obama.
After the first debate I felt confident that the country wasn’t so full of the kind of mindless tossers that would ignore the substance of platforms on paper over greasy smiles and easy fibs on television. I was quite wrong, as Realclearpolitics.com’s electoral college polling map went from 269 points for Obama down to 201. The country was even more stupid than I thought. If Samuel L. Jackson has woken up the president enough to recover the points to win, he deserves free beers for life in every drinking establishment everywhere.
Low information voters are a menace to humanity.
Ooh carlie, fighting absurdity with absurdity, I like it!
Giiell: Boo, blah, and balderdash to those who perpetuate extroversion as the desired norm, with added bullshit clusters for doing so in any kind of “official” capacity. May they never get invited to another party.
Dammit, here, have this l I happened to have laying around. Either I have to give in, accept the fact that it’s time for bifocals and go to the optometrist, or stay in denial….[ctrl+, ctrl+,ctrl+] …ah, that’s better.
McC2lhu,
Low-information voters…I remember when Reagan got elected.
The Brit humor program “Not the nine o’clock news” wrote a song listing all the preposterous things they believed in (…and that pigs and even DC-10s can fly…) it ended “…but I can’t believe Ronald Reagan is president!”
— — — — —
Cute baby animals: Don’t sharks give birth to live young? And don’t those who hatch first inside shark mommy attack and kill those who are smaller? It might be a bit difficult to get a camera inside, but I am sure P Z is up to the challenge.
As the author mentions, police dog sniffs are far from infallible.
****
Oh boy, pea lovers rejoice:
The idea is 50 Shades of Cool. It gives people some way to grasp the vastness of the solar system, which is incomprehensible to most people, due to its sheer size.
But really…seriously…the Earth resembles a pea??!!
I wonder if the Mars Rover needs company.
birgerjohanssen:
Shark Week 2013 with PZ Myers?
Fossil Fishy
You say it.
I used to worry a lot about #1 until I noticed that she doesn’t. I’m glad that she has a friend now, but it wasn’t like with Carlie’s son that she was unhappy before.
She’s fully accepted and liked in her kindergarten group, she’s always greeted with big hello and even those who are “big kids” now and in school now will come to her and play with her on the playground
Here we go:
Not the Nine O’Clock News – I Believe… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmWLJmbytkk
— — — — — —
Note a very young Rowan Atkinson. He also had a bit part in a “Blake’s Seven” episode around this time.
— — — — —
The rain has resumed as I am about to quit for today. I am a rain god!
@biger 262: She. Darkfetus is believed to be a “she”, IIRC, although, of course, we won’t know for sure until s/he hits puberty.
Also, umbilical cord endothelial cells are excellent in cell culture, but probably not an adequate dinner without supplementation. Perhaps mushrooms, cheese, and peas just to outrage the penguin.
Can anyone explain to me why google is suddenly in German for me? I could understand it on the computer I took to Germany-maybe some default got reset-but this one never went anywhere…yet I’ve get google.de on it. Except, for some reason, gmail, which is in French. I’m not particularly disturbed, but very puzzled.
Birger and dianne,
DarkFetus does indeed have girl parts. I think. I had a dream a week or so ago where DF came out with a penis, so I’m having them double check during my next ultrasound. :D
Alethea:
Stupid bodies, eh? I have golfer’s elbow in both elbows…from swimming. I had to stop swimming entirely for several months, which was not good for my mental health. My current project is to modify my front crawl technique to rely more on my shoulders, so that I can swim often enough to fend off the winter blues. I hope you have success in getting rid of your runner’s knee.
Giliell:
Ugh, that sucks. Dear schools: Not everyone needs to be an extrovert.
I read a book a few months ago that had interesting chapters on introverts in the school system and being the parent of an introvert.
Ah pregnancy dreams. Aren’t they amazingly vivid and bizarre?
I remember an especially weird one where I gave birth to an iron, and was then subjected to media attention while in the hospital.
I still remember it 25 years later, simply because it was such a silly dream.
I’m a big fan of Captain Awkward’s writing – she answers questions like an advice columnist, only with awesome and funny and good perspective. One of her big things is “Use your words”, and I really, really try to do that.
Example: I’m in the early stages of dating C., who I met online on OkCupid (not bad, as dating sites go). C. is nice, we have a lot in common, but I don’t rush into things – particularly when I’m not sure that C. and I want the same things out of life.
He’s hinted around that he’s been cheated on in one or more of his past relationships, and that he sees dating as a means to an end. The end being marriage. That’s all well and good a far as it goes, but I most emphatically do not ever want to get married, and he gives me the impression that he thinks marriage will magically make his partner monogamous.
Marriage is not a guarantee of monogamy, any more than just saying you’re monogamous is a guarantee of monogamy. Monogamy is a guarantee of monogamy, and that’s pretty much it. It’s based on trust, and marriage is a commitment ceremony – it’s not something that magically brings that trust into being. I’m afraid that he thinks that marriage is a way to “lock someone in”, which is pretty much exactly and entirely the reason I don’t want to get married.
ANYWAY, I had this conversation with C., and it moved on from there. He told me that he thinks that I don’t like him, because feels like he’s the one who always initiates physical contact. I explained to him that I’m bad at reading non-verbal cues, particularly in areas in which I lack confidence, and that I err on the side of not crossing boundaries.
His response? “Do whatever you want! I’ll tell you if I don’t like it.”
Not helpful, C. Not helpful.
Hi, thread. Anyone need an article about how the US medical system kills people? Kidney graft survival in the US and Europe. Kidney graft survival in the US goes down markedly after one year…just the time when automatic payment for immunosuppressants runs out.
It’s saying the obvious and generic. But it’s true: I think a lot of western democracies–the US is hardly unique, just kind of more flagrantly obvious–where there’s a lot of that kind of trouble brewing, and it really can’t go on.
I don’t think it’s revolutions we need, this time. In some ways, I think that’s part of the problem: people get this idea that’s how you solve things, in these big, grand movements. Storm the Bastille, off the royal family, and hey, we’re done.
But all the hard things, all the things worth doing, it’s about slow and steady and about persistence, too. And whatever ground you gain, you need to think also about how you keep it.
Enthusiasm. Determination. Education. An engaged populace. People determined to make things better, make themselves better. Those are the ingredients, I guess. Got nothing much brilliant beyond that.
Well, that and storming the PR agencies and slitting throats. Who’s with me?*
(/Clenches dagger between teeth, readies rope for swinging…)
(*/Yes, keyword-aware internal surveillance program, I’m kidding.)
Storm the Bastille, off the royal family, and hey, we’re done.
Then you’ve only just started. Now that you’ve offed the royal family, you have to run this mess of a country that they’ve left you with…and that’s where it gets sticky.
I don’t think the US really needs radical change. But it does need the threat of radical change to make rich people willing to give up some of their money…something they simply won’t do for any threat less than losing it all.
So, maybe we should rethink communism. It’s never been tried in a country with a strong democratic tradition without the threat of a superpower coming in and destroying the country. And with electronic publishing and so on, there is a lot less need to take from one to give to another than there used to be–we can ALL have copies of any given book or song, for example–so our ability to share is higher. I think an attempt could reasonably be made…And if the Koch brothers don’t like that idea, maybe they will be a bit more reconciled to the 50% tax bracket one.
unfortunately true
http://twitchy.com/2012/10/17/post-presidential-debate-obama-supporters-renew-vows-to-murder-mitt-romney/?utm_source=autotweet&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=twitter
#282 dianne dibs on commisar of internal security if we go communist
@broboxley: I’ll make a note of it. I call evil adviser/policy wonk to the figurehead leader.
They are way awesome. They have phone numbers on them you can call and hear Bill Nye talking about the planets. :)
God damn it. I am easily angered by everything at the moment, but this really hacks me off: story.
It is a fucking reality tv pull-the-heartstrings aren’t-we-great story that A TEACHER GOT A ROOM TO TEACH IN AND EQUIPMENT TO TEACH WITH. This is how pathetic education has gotten in this country, that having a room and equipment is something you can’t get except by winning a spot on a reality tv show.
Carlie, I agree. We’re having a bake sale next Friday to help pay for tokens to give to patients who can’t afford bus fare to their appointments otherwise. Come by for cookies and disgust at society’s priorities if you happen to be in Phillie.
And the Pentagon is going to get money they didn’t even ask for. Perhaps they need it to buy more medals of valor for all the soldiers who bravely piloted drones from a distance to kill targets who had no chance of hitting them back.
Carlie, it is almost like the US is being run under the rules of one of the first “reality” TV shows, Queen For A Day. Let everything get run down and than reward the most pathetic story with a feel good moment. Does shit for all of the other students in need and worthy teachers.
But, damn, we got our feel good moment.
Mythbri,
I hate the notion that marriage is a proscription. People don’t work that way, they change and grow throughout any relationship and so much evidence points to the idea that a promise made today about your feelings tomorrow is farce. Good on you for telling C outright.
As for the initiation, C may benefit from reading this: Desire. I don’t know if the categories she uses reflect how you and C act, but the notion that other people can approach something that is mutually enjoyed in drastically different ways is one that Emily seems to convey well in her writing.
#287 carlie,that particular problem is that band and music is considered an extra curricular activity not a subject that needs to be taught to meet state and federal regulations. So music will never be funded in this country. My daughter was told to drop band and do an extra math class. I told the school that if she can read sheet music she can do math so they must be teaching it wrong. She is still in band and gets an A there.
You don’t get your money’s worth out of supporting others if you don’t get to watch them cry their tears of gratitude, I guess.
Yeah, it’s that, lots of places. Can’t remember the details, but wasn’t there some ‘feel-good’ story back a while in which Wal-Mart let some family in dire straits due to medical expenses into one of their stores, said, hey, take what ya want? Big screen TV, whatever. We feel for you, see…
… as, mercifully for some of our pounding headaches, at least, those in the wings are pointing out how pathetic is their record on workers’ rights, healthcare in particular.
What? You want a stable economy, and a fair one, and one in which you can work, do your bit, and if you do, you may actually get somewhere, have a life worth living?
Can’t so much help you there. But we do have lotteries and reality TV.
brobroxley – oh, I’m intimately familiar with that problem. I’m just really stunned that the entire reaction in the comments is overwhelmingly how awesome and wonderful that is and how everyone is crying tears of joy, and nobody’s saying wait a minute, this is so FUCKED UP.
Bread and circuses.
Pass the ramen and the remote control.
Quick rant:
Attention, All Gentamicin-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria:
Effective immediately, you are prohibited from entering any tissue plate bearing my name. Seriously, you are pissing me off.
Sincerely,
Esteleth
>_<
There's two weeks of work down the drain.
birgerjohanssen:
Performed a rain dance did you?
****
mythbri:
Facepalm.
Am I correct in thinking you’ve already expressed to C that you *do* like him? If that’s the case, he may need a little guidance in breaking out of established patterns and behaviors. It also sounds like he needs some help in actually communicating.
Good luck to you. I hope this leads where you want it to go.
****
AJ:
If that’s not the perfect segue to this article I read last night, I don’t know what is:
There’s plenty more in the op-ed. I found it all quite fascinating.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/17/social-changes-age-of-enlightenment/
Tony:
I got to do the Sagan Walk this summer with my nieces and nephew. So much fun! The best part is that if you pay for a “passport” ($4), various businesses along the walk will stamp it for you, allowing you free admission to the Sciencenter.
It was so great to see the teenage nieces having just as much fun trying out the interactive exhibits as the 10yo nephew.
—
carlie:
You can also download Bill Nye’s narration from iTunes for free. Wonderful to listen to even if you’re far from Ithaca.
—
Jeebus. “Teacher gets basics!! It’s miracle!”
A few years ago, one school district in NY cut its entire football program when voters vetoed the budget increase for two years running, leaving the district with no choice but to cut something. They decided that zeroing the football budget was better than laying off teachers or cutting classes. Parents, boosters, and community freaked.the.fuck.out. and held all kind of fundraising campaigns because “OMG SAVE FOOTBALL!”
If the school had decided to cut the arts programs, do you think anyone would have even noticed — beyond the kids in those programs?
—
Esteleth:
Ugh! Sorry!
My school district has cut third grade orchestra, seventh grade foreign language, and now has their music and language teachers all rotating between 3-4 schools each instead of having one at each school. So, yeah. Nobody cares.
discussion about sexism and misogyny
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/17/difference-between-sexism-and-misogyny?newsfeed=true
Good evening
Yeah, what I also really hate are fundraisers or charities that provide hospitals with equipment I mean here, not in Somalia.
Have fundraisers so the kids in the oncology ward who have to spend weeks to months in their rooms can have a big TV and a playstation, but a fucking child-sized aparatus should be there anyway.
Yeah, what I also really hate are fundraisers or charities that provide hospitals with equipment I mean here, not in Somalia.
Ooh, you have those too? I’m sorry. Austerity or is this an ongoing problem?
@ PZ:
Flittering about the country so much that you have no life and are too fatigued to post baby animals in the Lounge worries me. Take care of your health, my friend.
dianne
Ongoing. But I’m not always sure whether it’s an actual necessity or just a “we want the fancy new machine and they say it’s not in our budget and the old one is still working fine”
@Dhorvath #290
That was a really helpful article, and I appreciate you sharing it! I think that it’s a good jumping off point for a “Use your words” discussion between me and C.
@Tony #297
Yes, I have told him that I like him and that I enjoy spending time with him. I think that he thinks that my words are not consistent with my actions, but his words are not helpful to me at all. :P
I like to play within parameters, and if people don’t give me parameters, I don’t play. Now, is that something that I could work on? Absolutely! But I need his help with this.
Socio-gen:
Wow.
They cut the football program??!!
That’s almost unheard of.
Football in this country is like a religion for so many people. Which probably plays a role in why I don’t get it.
BTW, when/why did football become the force that it is? Anyone know?
Parents, boosters, and community freaked.the.fuck.out. and held all kind of fundraising campaigns because “OMG SAVE FOOTBALL!
That makes the next step for schools obvious: cut football when there’s a financial crisis. The parents will come up with the funding to cover it and you’ll still have your art teachers or whatever the alternate cut was going to be.
So many lies, so little time to correct them. When it comes to Mitt Romney, I’m always behind the curve. He lies so hard and fast that one just can’t keep up.
But here’s one instance from last night’s debate that I did want to highlight because it is part of a pattern of Romney’s anti-women’s health stance.
Link.
Daddy Longlegs Discovered In Laos Has 13-Inch Leg Span http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/16/daddy-longlegs-discovery-laos_n_1971403.html?ref=topbar
Looks a bit like those Martian war machines.
.
Infant giant Daddy Longlegs photo?
But I am disappointed to learn they are a different sort of arachnid from spiders, lacking fangs and venom.
— — — — — — — — — —
‘Predator X,’ Prehistoric Marine Reptile, Given Official Name Pliosaurus funkei http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/17/predator-x-prehistoric-marine-mammal-pliosaurus-funkei_n_1973701.html?ref=topbar
Jaws four times more powerful than those of T- Rex.
cicely – Happy Anniversary!
I would SO second that … as long as the kids have still got some physical exercise option of course (something that doesn’t need fancy kit. Just something you can do in an empty space wearing ordinary trainers. With music, maybe :) )
AND
as long as they don’t just cut the girls’ football. Because don’t you just know some bunch of tossers would try that.
(yes I know you meant American football in this context, which girls rarely if ever play I suppose? I am being silly and persnickety and thinking about real football – though if there were a tactic to cut sports in general, I bet there are plenty of arseholes who would try to cut more girls’ sports than boys’ ones)
@Lynna #308
Yeah, when I heard Romney say that my BULLSHIT meter nearly malfunctioned, it alarmed so hard.
Here’s something that would actually be easier for Mitt if he were Latino: understanding what it means when people keep calling him a mentiroso.
Opposable: It’s a fair point. I was talking about American football, the story that started it being in the US. Regular Fussball is more fun, but it’s not what gets parents in the US organized to raise money. Also you’re quite right…girls’ sports can be cut with impunity. Which is why boys’ sports should be cut first: the parents will come to the rescue and no sports will need be cut at all.
Tony:
Yeah, it took guts to do — and to put up with the vitriol over doing it, but it was also a power play. And an effective one. Since then, their budget increases have been approved by overwhelming majorities at the polls.
—
dianne:
I agree. Sports programs (not physical education) should be first on the block when cuts have to be made.
—
Lynna:
I think Romney’s entire performance last night could be summed up as:
“Lie, lie, lie, evade, BIG LIE, lie, evade, lie, lie, lie, evade WHOOPS! LEFT TURN, lie, BIG LIE, lie, lie, evade, lie lie, SNAP LEFT WHERE WAS I, lie, BIG LIE, lie.”
At the point where he veered headlong into single mothers from gun control, I was waiting for +++DIVIDE BY CUCUMBER ERROR+++ to come out of his mouth.
Re physical ed and exercise in general: Stop subsidizing roads, cars, and airports. Subsidize public transportation, trains, and paratransit instead. People who live in places with good public transit walk more (to and from the bus stop, etc) and produce less carbon. I know there are places in the US, at least, where this is impractical, but for places like the eastern seaboard? Make the roads private toll roads, ban private cars in the inner cities, and you’ll get more walking (exercise), safer cities (fewer people being run over), and lower carbon usage. Also, then kids could play in the streets and run down to the playground in reasonable safety.
Seconded. Travel is very stressful. Prolonged high stress is bad for your cardiovascular system.
Yeah. I haven’t seen a lot of coverage of that one, but at the time my eyebrows shot up so high it was painful.
That was Romney’s chance to tout traditional marriage, and to show maximum disrespect for every other kind of family situation. Plus, he hinted that he would love to make being traditionally married to a person of the opposite sex a requirement, a law.
Before being allowed to have children, produce proof of Romney-approved marriage. Maybe this proof would even be required before being allowed to have sex, because, you know, otherwise there could be unintended consequences, liked mandated abortions for the unapprove.
This Romney marriage law would be part of his gun-control-through-social-engineering agenda. Personally, I’d like to see that law proposed just because the wording of it would be amusing.
Janine @ 150
Quite true. I apologize. As Romney pointed out to Candy Crowley, of course the math of his tax plan works. It works because, well, “Just look at me in all my businessman glory.” (I may be paraphrasing there.)
Wait, so talking about his Bain record isn’t a “low blow” anymore? It’s back on the table? *cracks rhetorical knuckles*
Whut? Daddylonglegs aren’t spiders?
What next? Tomatoes are fruits?
That has happened in some places – they decide to cut sports, then have to cut boys’ sports to keep on par with the girls’, and then blame title 9 (or is it 10?) and say that it’s because they have to keep girls’ sports that they’re cutting the boys, not because the budget as a whole sucks. That way everybody gets to be righteously angry at the girls and their sports while the school board gets off without criticism for the shitty budget they passed, and the voters don’t have to feel guilty about the shitty budget they voted for. It’s all the fault of title 9, dontcha know.
Is your life heading in a bad direction?
Are you struggling to pay your bills?
Is a loved one suffering needlessly?
Join the Christian Prayer center and thousands of like minded individuals will pray that you receive your heart’s desire.
Just listen to these powerful
useless anecdotes that don’t prove prayer resulted in anything meaningfultestimonials:I had another wild hair and decided to click on one of the silly Christian links on the FtB site.
Sheesh.
Everyone is so selfish with their prayer requests.
What, does no one ask for God to heal amputees?
chigau, thank you! We celebrated by going to a Chinese restaurant we’d been meaning to get around to checking out. Yum!
–
Also thank you to opposiblethumbs.
I don’t believe they’d buy a purse/bag swap; his bag has an industrial look to it, and my purse looks unmistakeably purse-y.
You’d think, by the time he’d unloaded the diabetic’s glucose meter, and the diabetic’s sharp finger-sticky things, and the disposal case for same, and the glucose tabs, they’d get the point. Apparently, however, they were pointless.
I’ve considered “peace bonding” his bag while we’re in the store, as if it were a live-steel sword being taken to a Renn Faire, but The Husband is too infuriated to budge an inch, and there’s no arguing with him in that mood.
–
carlie: I guess we could swap contents, his bag for my purse. Then make ’em stand there while we empty both out onto their “customer service” counter.
But no. I doubt they would get the point. In any case, the employees are generally “just following orders”, so appeals to reason fall on professionally-deafened ears; and emails to their corporate overlords have only produced unsatisfactory results, along the lines of, “well, we’re sorry you feel that way”.
–
*hollow laugh*
–
Foolball is a violent combat-proxy, in which the people in the bleachers can vicariously prove that their collective (school, town, whatever) is better than that other collective. Band and other arts produce insufficient violence and physical injuries to satisfy this role (being more like having a “moral superiority” in disagreement, than it is like physically beating the shit out of the “enemy” and leaving his eviscerated carcass to be eaten by vultures and hyenas).
–
Also also thank you, Hekuni Cat. :)
It’s hard to believe that it’s been thirty years.
–
Just sent a Second Attempt At Contact email to Printer of Shirts. Was only mildly snarky. We’ll see what develops.
Meanwhile, The Husband has found a silk screening kit he bought ages ago, and in a couple of days, after the fire-hazard dead bushes and such are dealt with, we shall toy with it.
–
Happy Anniversary Cicely! 30 years of marriage is definitely something to be celebrated.
Thank you, Tethys! I agree!
–
dianne @#316:
I’m not sure it’s so much subsidy as failure to tax:
http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/media/2011InfoG/Interactive/FuelPrices_Feb16/Fuel.swf
That’s just the fuel taxes (or lack thereof). There are also the federal subsidies for building interstates, car company bailouts, etc.
Cecily, Congratulations. 30 years is impressive. My wife gets her 20 year pin for putting up with me in February. OK, she doesn’t get a pin. Instead we are going to go to the Galapagos.
The Redhead’s present at the next significant anniversary is having the primary mortgage paid off.
So, out of curiosity, what company makes etchasketch. I might have to buy their stock.
Nerd, Our mortgage is so closed to paid off that we almost don’t qualify for the 47% anymore. It is actually a problem. I’m thinking of taking some equity out so we have more debt when the inflation that is sure to come comes. At 2.5% for a 15 year mortgage, you are almost losing money not taking out a loan. It is kind of absurd.
Good enough? From Wiki.
Glenn Beck is now shilling jeans and t-shirts. Is there any limit to how low he will stoop? Oh. Wait. Never mind.
Thanks, a_ray!
–
China, huh? Was Bain Capital involved?
We had to obtain a line-of-credit second mortgage due to the Redhead’s stroke. I had enough on hand to pay off the rehab facility, but that depleted our reserves. We have to upgrade the electrical feed and get a new furnace (with AC) in the next year, so it was definitely indicated.
Nerd, I am just glad the Redhead is doing well. I do have some idea what you went through. My wife had cancer 12 years ago. It sounds as if those “attractive interest rates” have you stimulating the economy as well.
Cecily, You are most welcome, my dear.
BTW, I’m in FL at Kennedy Space Center. It strikes me that this is one area of Florida that Carl Hiassen may have missed. Damn there are a lot of R-Money signs here. Must be lead in the drinking water.
Perchlorate from the Shuttle SRBs?
Well, that a furnace from the 50’s with a dicey blower…
Fuckin’ A; what the hell is wrong with people?
Amanda Cummings committed suicide and her family is facing the same type of vile reactions from online commenters as Amanda Todd’s family.
I don’t like mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes like me.
I live in Florida where mosquitoes go for summer vacations in my yard.
I took the dogs outside to play, and even put on a shirt and gym pants.
Somehow I have a bite on my right knee (did the little fucker bite through the pants, or travel up my pant leg?) and two bites around my left elbow.
Lesson of the day?
Don’t play with my dogs.
Or wear a spacesuit outside.
That’s kind of my point.
If America were to raise its fuel taxes to G20 levels, well, yes you’d have $8 gas, but then you’d probably have some tougher federal efficiency standards, and then you’d be able to buy those more-efficient cars that we have in Socialist Europe™. The ones made by American companies but which they don’t sell them in the domestic market. :-)
(Well, actually they do, somewhat:)
http://www.economist.com/node/21564214
“sell them” => “sell”. *sigh*
Oven’s preheated. Time to cook the last of the “fresh” pizza, and make a “small” salad for the Redhead. Red wine with pizza for her.
Quite a few years ago. A balmy summer evening sitting in the grass with my then-boyfriend.
Me: Baugh! a mosquito just went up my skirt!
Then-boyfriend: I wish *I* was a little mosquito.
OK, maybe you had to be there. It’s still my go-to phrase to describe cheerful lecherousness, though.
Nerd,
Nah, if it were perchlorate, I’d have brain damage from my days of making pipebombs.
Enjoy the pizza. My wife and I make french bread on the weekends and the dough stores pretty well and so we make pizza during the week.
kristinc:
LOL.
That almost made me spit out my food.
****
Janine:
The little fuckwit, reliwhat has now taken to comparing your (as well as others in that thread) “harassment” of him to the
victim blaming faced by rape survivors. I wasn’t going to engage the troll any longer, but I couldn’t let that fucked up comment stand.
PZ, hope the travel doesn’t wear you too thin. Your schedule sounds like an average month in my job. My sympathies for having to spend that much time in airports.
if true thank you anonymous
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/10/15/bc-amanda-todd-tormentor-anonymous.html
uh
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1273047–amanda-todd-online-group-anonymous-now-accuses-u-s-man-of-tormenting-amanda-todd
Who needs accuracy when accusing someone?
pfffft
Tony, thank you for pointing out that reliwhat is really pumping out the bilge. He truly is Slyme Pit material. He is still trying to act as if he is having a calm and rational discussion but most of the regulars at Ed’s blog are not buying it.
Thank you, Tony, for the laugh.
Janine:
I really wish people like that would learn empathy for others. I detest individuals like that. His recent response to me-that I somehow assisted him and gave him some material to work with…oh boy, that was my final straw. I don’t know for sure that I can stick the flounce, but I think that my recent comment to him will be my last in that thread. I don’t know. It’s just hard for me sometimes to let shit like that stand uncontested.
WE HAZ TROLLS!!!
Tony, I see reliwhat “thanking ” you for assisting him as him pretending that he is the calm and rational person. It is the same bullshit as when he went off about Kantian ethics when trying to show how TAA was actually doing good.
Funny how he defends inhumane actions while at the same time, complains that he is the bullied victim.
I really do not like him. He quickly entered the realm of Barb, dendy and the Fuckosaurus in being detestable.
I can’t remember what he said before but I know reliwhat was here earlier….anyone remember?
Reliwhat I think is a troll in the traditional sense, he’s attacking ‘sacred cows’ to try to get an emotional response. He’s not here to argue; he’s hunting.
For someone who is trying to get an emotional response, reliwhat gets touchy about someone calling him on his action. And using rough words in order to mock him.
Stupid assclam.
@Janine
If they were emotionally mature/stable they probably wouldn’t troll
I wonder if we can get him to claim a false ad hom in the next hour?
Threadrupt, as usual. Just stopping by to say this:
Trip to see the new wing of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences: awesome.
Having David Marjanović come along with you on your trip to see the new wing of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences: two scoops of awesome with chocolate sauce.
@A.R
I’ll give you 4 in 5 odds on it
Ing: I think we need to make this happen.
I haz a sad.
I haven’t made pancakes in a long time (at least a decade).
I made the mix (cannot screw that up), heated the griddle, poured the batter and set the timer for 3 minutes.
I can’t even eat them – they’re not just a little burned – they are BURNED.
I tried two more with the timer set for 60 seconds.
BURNED.
O.K., the heat is too high and the time is too long. Tomorrow I’m picking up another box of mix. Maybe it comes in a bigger box?
I’m still hungry. ) :
Can you enlist 13-year-olds in the Foreign Legion?
Failing that, is there like a janitorial company I could sell him to for labor? He’d go cheap.
kristinc: I’m sure that may be possible if Mittens wins.
Well goddamn, A.r, now you have me all torn about the election.
ednaz: Never mind the timer. Watch the pancakes as they cook. When the edges look sort of dry, and there’s lots of bubbles all over the top, flip ’em. Cook them on the second side until, if you poke ’em gently in the center, they feel slightly bouncy instead of squishy.
Also, pancakes are one of those things that are hardly any more trouble to mix up from scratch than from a mix. (Brownies and muffins are some other things in that category.)
Given the outcries from various quarters that freedom of speech is being limited when an individual or network prevents people from commenting on a specific, private venue (cf. the response to Thunderf00t being kicked off FtB or the cries that PZ is violating the free speech rights of people by not allowing comments on his YouTube videos), I decided to look a bit more into the nature of freedom of speech. I’m puzzled about one thing. I fully understand that freedom of speech within governments relates to a political right. I understand that private citizens are under no obligation to provide a venue for anyone else to say what they want when they want. I’m puzzled about the right to free speech and expression as provided under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
I don’t see anything that states that freedom of speech is meant solely in a political context. From that perspective, does that mean that individuals have the right to seek, receive, and impart information *anywhere* and *everywhere*?
In my non-laywer opinion, this would still allow a private property owner to tell Teas to GTFO.
Did someone say brownies??
NOM NOM…
I feel that I have an unsophisticated taste in dessert. I love warm brownies (plain, NO nuts and no frosting) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I like sugar, peanut butter, chocolate chip, snicker doodle, and lemon cookies. I love red velvet cake and chocolate cake. My all time favorite dessert is a simple yellow cake with chocolate frosting. My mother fixed that for me for my birthday every year until I moved out of on my own.
One restaurant I worked at had Key Lime Pie, Tiramisu, Triple Chocolate Cheesecake, Bread Pudding and Creme Brulee. I didn’t like the Tiramisu (don’t like the taste of coffee or the texture of the entire thing). The cheesecake and creme brulee were texture issues for me. I’m not a fan of *any* kind of pie. The only thing tolerable was the bread pudding, but the portion sizes were so large that I couldn’t only eat half (not to mention the whiskey sauce was far too rich). Occasionally the dessert chef would fix a seasonal special and one time she made a most delicious rum blueberry bread pudding. It didn’t sell well, but I sure as shit loved it. The sauce wasn’t terribly rich and I love me some blueberries (BB muffins with a light spread of butter and sprinkled with sugar is freaking delish!)
[Now feels guilty about his love of black walnut cake]
kevinalexander @5:
I don’t know how I missed this (I love me some Godzilla, though none of the movies in the franchise can match the original Gojira).
King Ghidorah?
On binders full of women.
SG: Should you feel like it, there is a FREESPEECHbot troll on the C0nc0rdance thread.
SGBM:
Gee thanks.
*Another* site I can get lost in…
Tony,
Functionally it’s implicit in the context of how the UDHR “works”. It’s written by governments as a reminder to governments.
Look at Article 20, for instance: “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.”
Without context, that would seem to put no limit on where strangers can peaceably assemble — including your living room. (Note Article 17, just for good measure.)
So the answer to your question is no. Free speech applies to public spaces.
(For a threat to the very existence of public spaces, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/neo-feudalism )
Hilarious blogpost on vintage Modess “sanitary napkin” ads. http://millicentandcarlafran.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/modess-because-the-blood-and-ballgowns-edition/
Aside from religiturds, I haven’t been around long enough to see any of the regulars lay the smackdown on other kinds of irrational trolls. Should I grab some popcorn (assuming SGBM, that you’re in the mood for such a smackdown)?
Tony: You missed some of our best stuff during the MRA invasion of late 2011 to early 2012 (We even had to appropriate Thunderdome (then known as TZT) as a troll prison). Things have quieted down considerably since then.
SGBM @377:
Thank you my friend.
zomg. I don’t know if I have the energy for it tonight, folks. I’ll go have a peek though.
A.R.
Ah, in the time I’ve been here, I’ve hung out at TET/The Lounge, and perused PZ’s posts off and on. I rarely went to TZT (and only now have started checking in on the Thunderdome as well as reading a lot more of PZ’s posts).
Tony: If you ever get curious about the different types of trolls we’ve seen here, Og, Amphiox and I created a taxonomy a few months ago that may prove interesting for you.
I see so many brilliant people in the concordance thread already that I’m sure I can’t be needed …
Poll!
Over at WorldNutDaily is an article about Obama that I found interesting, and actually sort of sweet. (Nice pics of Obama, too.) He’s been wearing a gold ring since forever, on his wedding ring finger, and used it as his wedding ring. It certainly appears to be antique and African, and I assume it was a gift from his father to his mother, or something. The article makes a fair case that the inscription on it is Arabic, and the Muslim call to prayer, and then assumes that prove Obama is really a Muslim. A secret Muslim who has been photographed many time with a very conspicuous ring on his finger … even though Muslims are forbidden to wear rings.
The article ends with a poll, with a wide range of amusing choices.
http://www.wnd.com/2012/10/obamas-ring-there-is-no-god-but-allah/
(BTW, I’ve MP3s of the Muslim call to prayer, and a plaque with something about Allah on my desk here. Both are souvenirs of Indonesia, and I am as atheist as I can be.)
SG: I would love to see you do a takedown on Concordance’s comment, what with the Hitch reference.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/weddingring.asp
Thanks, strange. I should have thought of Snopes, but I really didn’t take the WorldNut claim seriously enough to even think about it (although I failed to make that clear). Enjoy the poll.
With a quick dive into the comments section of the original article (not recommended for the weak of stomach, or those with irony meters of less than double log scale), I found a several comments claiming that the Snopes photo was not of Obama’s hand, and a link to this: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2195441/posts
kristinc #378
Trust me when I say that there was absolutely nothing ‘hilarious’ about menstruating when those ads were in place.
and those ads are no more hilarious than the current ‘tampons are cute’ ads.
I need help.
Last year I set up a competition season in which 9 teams competed. Three teams met at one site, the middle third met at another, the final third met at another, and they played against each other round robin with a bye. I had little trouble shifting the numbers so that each team met the other eight only once over the course of 4 monthly meets.
This year, the league has expanded to 15 teams. I believe I have it right that we need five sites for each of seven competition dates. But I keep getting lost in the shifting of numbers so that I can’t arrange it that each team meets the other 14 only once. I’ll get to the sixth round and find that I’d scheduled Teams 1-6-10 in round three and the only teams left unscheduled in round six are 3-6-10. No good. Aaaaargh.
If anyone can tell me where to look for a solution, it would be greatly appreciated.
athyco
I have (long past) done something like this. (long past)
(your explanation made my head hurt)
I suggest you google something like ‘draw sheet sport’
(single elimination is easy; double elimination is also easy but takes longer; round robin is easy but takes until the heat-death of the universe; repechage and modified repechage are an abomination unto … whatever)
But, but, but kristin!!!
That’s a joke about sexytimes. Yu are a feminist, you can’t joke about sexytimes. You cannot even have sexytimes with a man, you hate them! What kind of feminist are you .
Oh, you mean the one not out of the MRA handbook…
+++
Happy aniversary, cicely!
A.R.:
(from the C0nc0rdance thread):
Methinks you will need a lot of ammo…
“repechage”
“modified repechage”
A-hunting we will go. Thank you, Chigau. I wish I hadn’t made your head hurt, since you may have stopped mine from exploding.
Ah, PolitiFact, how I love thy false balance. Obama got the quote wrong, ergo false. Pay no attention to the man behind the immigration advisory curtain, it’s totally not Kris Kobach.
A.R.
Heck yes, I’d love to see that!
Thanks for the encouragement. I really just don’t feel like I’ve got it right now. I am wore the fuck out. Plus steveparsons already hit the point about Hitchens well.
I’m currently trying to remember if Brendan Nyhan’s work is relevant here and I’m drawing a blank.
+++++
On Muslim (men) and (gold) rings: it’s controversial. Remember that the vast majority of “should Muslims do X” stuff is written by very conservative Muslims, because liberal Muslims don’t feel much need to find specific rationalizations for what they want to do.
Everybody seems to agree that Muslim women can wear whatever rings they want, no rules. The thing about men and gold rings is based on hadith, so you can be sure a lot of people just don’t put much stock in it. All that said, I’m finding a range of opinions — men can only wear silver rings and only if their occupations require them to use a ring as an old-timey stamp for making seals, only silver rings but they can wear them for any reason they want, any kind of ring as long as it’s not gold, 9 carat white gold is fine too, and white gold of any carat is fine.
This site says the custom of wearing engagement rings is widespread in Muslim countries. A Muslim jeweler says half of the Islamic teachers he talked to say rings with a low gold content (presumably the 9 carat white gold) are fine.
Obama is a liberal Muslim who drinks alcohol and eats pork, so I’m sure he’d have no problem wearing a yellow gold ring.
kristinc @ #368 – Thank you kristinc for the pancake tips. I look forward to my next experiment.
@ # 378 – I saved the blogpost about the ‘modess…because’ to read later. I remember the ad with the rectangle package (about the size of bath tissue package today) with just the words Modess Because.
That was really an odd combination.
Carlie – Are you the one who left the link for I’m an Indian, Too.? If so – THANK YOU. I laughed out loud, I mean LOUD.
Lynna – Thanks for Blazing Saddles. So much fun.
Tony – I left a pan of brownies on the counter for you.
Joe – There’s beer in the fridge for you. And hugs, but they’re not in the fridge.
Audley – Looking forward to hearing about the transition.
Beatrice – Sending you tea and hugs.
PZ – Sending you warm slippers and a cup of hot chocolate.
ednaz:
Ooooh, thanks for the brownies. I’ve been craving something sweet all day now.
::SIGH::
StevoR believes Ing is bullying reliwhat…
There’s a petition about Malala if anyone is interested
http://www.avaaz.org/en/malala_hope_f/?bUHOcbb&v=18800
I’m having to hold back right now. mrmagnificent has cooked a “whole orange” cake which is now sitting alongside the coconut loaf I cooked earlier. Decisions, decisions.
Mate, the man has 5 stents in his coronary arteries already! I’ve flown to Sydney twice in the last 10 days and I feel like roadkill. I surely have no idea how PZ does it.
*now look at this pen, I was never here*
mildlymagnificent:
A coconut loaf?
GAH! I’m going to bed soon. I can’t seem to escape that fuckwit reliwhat, no matter where I go. I thought I’d wind down by checking Ophelia’s blog and see a wonderful guest post by The Philosophical Primate, and I see that reliturd is spouting BS (and lying about what I said to hir).
https://proxy.freethought.online/butterfliesandwheels/2012/10/if-your-speech-reveals-you-to-be-a-loathsome-creep/#comment-312419
rorschach,
Maybe he didn’t fly economy class? :)
err, that should be RELIGIturd.
I wants naughty food. And beer. I wants it now.
I cannot has it. I SHALL NOT HAS!
Louis
[Sound of Louis counting the minute until lunchtime when he can sidle out the door and get something wicked BUT NO BEER DAMMIT that will have to wait]
[Sound of Louis sulking]
I bet Louis is going to have chips!
Fonts for dyslexia?
—-
What Would Meritocracy Look Like?
—-
Partisanship and the Enduring Effects of False Political Information
blog coverage
Coconut loaf?
It’s one of those concoctions I remember from my childhood.
It used to be the 4 cup recipe – 1 cup each of desiccated coconut, sugar, self raising flour and milk.
Now it’s the 4 ingredient recipe – 1 cup each of coconut and flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 3/4 cup milk.
The ‘recipe’ consists of stir it all together, tip it in a loaf tin, bake for 25-35 mins. Cool. Eat with or without butter.
Toddlers make it in my family.
Hey, guess who’s in college!
So, first class done.
And I think I need a bit of Horde help:
How the fuck does Skype work? Yes, I officially need it for college. And I’ve never ever used it.
Also, this afternoon is Sociolinguistics and I’m really looking forward to the sessions dealing with language and gender. Sadly it’s a lecture, so no happy discussions…
*sends cucumber-slices to Louis*
Cucumbers are very naughty
Yeah, but not once they have been sliced!
Matt
Yeah, but the CD drive wouldn’t take the whole thing
(I also suppose that Louis’ very own naughtyness will make even Weetabix look like X-rated)
Louis,
I have a bagel for breakfast; would you like some?
(It should be sufficiently naughty. It has a hole, after all.)
Hurr hurr hurr hurr…
Cucumbers and bagels.
Louis
P.S. Giliell, Weetabix? Kinky!*
* I am now trying to think of Weetabix based kink….my brain needs to be occupied with other things and now a significant portion of it is trying to work out, referencing the Moh Hardness Scale of course, the relative hardnesses of scrotal skin and Weetabix. Perhaps scrota are too high a bar to set for a Weetabix neophyte. Hmm nipples? Earlobes? OH! Clitoris! Hmmmmm perhaps not. I forsee problems.
Oh fuck, now that is a finite part of my brain spent considering that, I’m never getting that back you know. And the mental images…Jesus Suffering Fuck…the mental images…I’m off to swear at some chemicals. Maybe they will calm me before The Urges consume me and I am bidden to Clean The Streets.
At the thread “We have a live one” the libertarian believes in the singularity, as well as the ability of futuretech to revive the dead.
We should suggest the libertarians dump “Atlas Shrugged” in favor of “Riverworld”. It will make it much more enjoyable to find out what the fuck the libertarians are on about.
—– — — —
Not pedophilia, just a novel twist on the “dump old wife, marry younger model”: Champion of Christian values D’Souza gets engaged — while still married https://proxy.freethought.online/dispatches/2012/10/17/dsouza-gets-engaged-while-still-married/
(If the old wife had had cancer, it would have been a Gingrich-style wife dump)
It’s ok, Louis.
Have some of this bundt cake I made for you.
ednaz – glad you liked it. They have some pretty awesome videos, if you scroll around their channel. Some are funny, some are funny in that “if I don’t laugh I’ll cry” way, and some are just plain awesome.
I see how it is, Louis. That’s fine, snub my bagel offerings. That means more for me. *OM NOM NOM*
Audley,
I would NEVER snub an offer of your bagel. If you notice I combined it with cucumbers for Extra Goodness.
Although given your current state I’m thinking you know FAR too much about cucumbers and bagels already. Shocking. And me, a good Christian.*
Louis
* Actual goodness and Christianness may in fact be utterly fictional.
Hey, Rorschah’s back. (Waves.)
SGBM #53 sigh, thanks for letting me know
Prominent Australian dictionary broadens definition of ‘misogyny’ following Julia Gillard’s speech
Sorry if above has been posted already, I had to skim to catch up this morning.
Congrats on 30, cicley!
I’m counting the days on you behalf, Audley, I’m so excited!
Good morning, everyone else!
Tony: The troll taxonomy shall be posted this evening.
SG and PZ: Feel better soon!
correction sgbm #351 (early, havnt had my wheatabix yet) and Im out of cognac to make them edible
Oh, and brownie cookies turned out to be addictively delicious.
Sheldon Adelson is screwing around in Israel, too.
That’s not a bad description of the mildly deranged penguin in one of her quieter moments. Or when she’s chopping up the garlic (straining it to remove the bullets isn’t really a problem, the problem is having to fix yet more holes in the walls of the lair).
However, I don’t think she’s available for the moment. She was in Switzerland and apparently had a bad encounter with a herd of wild gnocchi. She claims the shells were bullet-proof, which puzzles me as you don’t normally use guns went harvesting spaghetti.
Portia:
Thank you! I’m counting down, too. :)
For those of you who aren’t fb friends, I met with my surgical team yesterday and OMG they are doing their damnedest to make sure I’m ready for this. I was a little disturbed ‘cos the anesthesiologist is probably under 35 years old… until Mr Darkheart reminded me that I’m in my early 30s. *sigh* It’s tough not being a kid anymore, I tells ya!
Mildlymagnificent:
What temp for the coconut loaf?
Audley:
Ha, just realized my comment could be read to imply I don’t think you are counting :) Gonna get some more chai to wake me up.
I know, right? I’m continually shocked when I meet my kids’ teachers in school, because my first response is often “Why are they letting what looks like a 15 year old teach?” “Adorable” isn’t quite the adjective I expected to instinctively apply to so many of them. Of course, to my kids, their teachers look ancient.
That’s great that you got to meet with your team ahead of time. No surprises!
Put the pint down slowly, leave the bar, and go to bed. The thumping head you will have in the morning is not — well, probably not — the mildly deranged penguin raiding your cheeseboard, but is what is called a “hangover”. Usual remedy is to eat a puppy or two (doesn’t actually work, but apparently dog’s hair is so foul-tasting it takes yer mind off the thumping…).
The thumping head you will have in the morning is not — well, probably not — the mildly deranged penguin raiding your cheeseboard, but is what is called a “hangover”.
But I don’t drink…alcohol. Maybe the mushrooms the mildly deranged penguin and I ate were the wrong type.
Carlie,
No surprises whatsoever, thank goodness. They have all of my info on file, I’ve signed all of the required forms and whatnot, and they’ve answered all of my questions (I won’t get to hold DarkInfant right away– I’ve gotta wait ’til they sew me up. *pout!*). So, yeah, I’m hoping that DF stays in until at least Monday*, but if I go into labor early, the hospital is ready for me. :)
*For purely selfish reasons. Esteleth and David M are planning to stop by Sunday evening.
Audley – oh, jealous that you get to see DDMFM and Esteleth! Stay in there, DarkFetus! :)
Thirty seconds? I know no-one knows if yer a dog on the intertubes, but mayflies…
(Wonders just how a mayfly types…)
Blf:
Touch screen.
And will it ever become a sport?
*relishing the football bashing*
I did. It fell over.
(No sparks this time…)
Giliell @416-
Re: Skype. It’s easy to use. Google “Skype”, set up an account (as I recall it’s bare bones) and a username. (This may be way too basic info for you and, if it is, entschuldigung.)
I’m not sure what I clicked on in setting it up (it was three years ago) but Skype is ever present in my tool bar. And, to their credit, it’s quite an intuitive app. It’s a bit of a memory hog so I turn it off when I’m not expecting a call/needing to call.
After that, you only need to accept video calls or make video calls (I usually use it for making audio phone calls to companies in the U.S. since it’s free and a call from my Russian cell would be ridiculous.)
Dunno. Trying have her/it/him press-ganged.
Addendum to my 446: You need to provide your username to people who want to call you.
Dear stomach
Go fuck yourself. There’s no molten lava inside of you, I know it because I never drank any. And the day went pretty well, so, JUST DROP IT!
Audley
Well, the tutor asked my if she can call me by my first name still.
And DF won’t spoil your evening. Give David a big hug from us (actually the lecturer reminds me a bit of him). And Esteleth, too.
ednaz, Yeah, USAlien-style pancakes can be tricksy to get right (says the guy who makes his own mix: Spelt wheat flour, a pinch of baking powder, honey, eggs, ground nuts, and (butter/soured/…-)milk, usually mixed the previous night and keep cool (not cold) and covered).
I’ve found that each pan/stove combination has it owns set of parameters on heat and time (says the guy who judges it by eye rather than a timer or somesuch). If the texture of the mix is just right, wait until bubbles start to form on the top (unlikely to be more than a minute), flip soon thereafter, wait a little less time (the obverse takes less time), and serve.
Carlie, I actually and for rlz went to the school open day a couple of years back which was being hosted by 6th-formers … and asked a very young-looking person what she thought were the pros and cons of being a 6th-former there … and of course she was actually a physics teacher. Fortunately she thought it was hilarious.
Eh, 6th-formers are 18, she was probably in her mid-20s, what’s a few years … hey c’mon, I have (I think) mild face-blindness! I was totally looking, I just wasn’t seeing … or maybe it really is time I gave in and got glasses :-D
When I was in the 6th form I once tried to throw the new chemistry teacher out of the 6th form common-room, thinking he must be a 5th year.
There’s no molten lava inside of you,
To be fair, there is a fairly good amount of hydrochloric acid in there.
Sympathy, hugs, and non-acid provoking goodies to you.
Have you been anywheres near Sri Lanka — the last suspected location of the sentient-but-stupid tunneling cider? A minute drop, or even a whiff, of that, would solve the problem: If there is any molten lava inside, that’ll scare it out; If not, you’ll wish you had some molten lave inside. Win-win-win all around!
The cider, now know to be a cricket fan, is currently thought to still be somewhere in that part of the world, presumably waiting for the India-England tests. Or else just trying to stay as far as fecking possible from the USAlien’s ongoing
headbashingelection, conveniently located in a (hopefully) Rmoney/Lyin-proof underseafloor shelter (close to the much safer molten lava).You definitely win on points.
A.R. @429:
Sweet! I look forward to it!
****
Portia @431:
Those brownie cookies look like the height of awesome deliciousness
@444:
Don’t relish the football bashing too much.
Back in the land of reality, I wonder if he’s ever put his cucumber in a bagel, given his extreme religiosity…
****
Giliell:
Any highlights of your first day in class?
****
opposablethumbs:
What is “6th former”?
snooty person, thinks they are better than 5th formers
gah! need my eyes checked
reading an electronic ad
“our famous meat pies filled with stank, succulent vegetables and topped with cheese baked to a golden brown finish”
come to think of it that description was accurate the last time I had one
Tony:
I read “height” as “health” and had a confuse for a minute. :) They are decadent.
Re: football. Hm. I am not good at forgetting crappy personality when there’s a pretty face, otherwise might be a redeeming factor. As it is…they even fail at basic charity.
…now I’m trying to think of an actual redeeming quality of American football. I mean, in some situations, it provides educational funding, right?
Chris Kluwe
Oh! Right! how could I have forgotten. I know it’s a bad analogy, but his merits sort of ring the same way as when someone says “But nuns do a lot of great work!” That said, Chris Kluwe is both crush-worthy and pretty kickass. (Anyone read his follow-up justification of profanity in his letter? I can’t seem to summon the google-fu to find it now).
Ah, it’s a Brit thing :) – 6th form is the final two years (or just the final year, if your school goes in for posh nomenclature and has a different name for each one) of secondary school. So it’s beyond the current legal minimum leaving age (which is 16 at the moment and has been for quite a while, though not for much longer). These 2 yrs are otherwise known (at least in state schools) as Year 12 and Year 13, the years in which school students take their AS and A-level exams at the ages of 17 and 18. Then you have done with Secondary Education and can go on to Tertiary or Higher Education – which would be university or art college or suchlike.
6th formers do indeed know that they are superior beings to those in the mere Lower School (ages 12 to 16), though the cooler ones never actually say so. They get their own Common Room. They get to be Prefects. They organise events and act cool as much as possible.
So, “sixth former” is Britainese for “high school senior?”
Portia, here
I just made the coconut loaf.
Oh.
My.
God.
It’s not gonna last until Mr Darkheart gets home.
IT SOUNDS LIKE HOGWARTS.
[/american]
Thanks, Azkyroth! From the url (read in my email via subscription) I thought it was just going to be a cute picture of kittens to calm my nerves about football :)
Three things, unrelated:
1. Does anyone know how to contact Jadehawk? We are carpooling to Rhinebeck, and I need to get in touch.
2. When I, an employee, go to registrar and ask about how I would sign up to audit a course, the appropriate response is not to stare at me blankly. Seriously.
3. So there’s this [trigger warning: rape] that went down at an ostensibly progressive and enlightened elite college. One down the road from where I went. I read that, and my thoughts were threefold: (A) I was sickened, saddened, horrified, and enraged on behalf of the author; (B) I was not surprised in the slightest; and (C) I could easily believe that a near-identical story could be told about my own alma mater.
In fact, regarding my own alma mater, I know that different elements of that story have happened in an almost identical manner.
Esteleth – I *might* have a phone number for her – I’ll check on my phone when I get home in about an hour. I’m not sure, though.
Ok, thanks, Carlie. If you do, you can text it to me or call, okay?
Or even Riverdance.
… yes, I know it’d just be swapping one brand of incredibly annoying for another. But watching someone trying to argue through interpretive step dancing for the elimination of taxation would be something to see, anyway.
Tony
It was pretty interesting, the lecturer is nice, and those kids all really suck at driving.
BTW, I tried to set up skype, could somebody give me a call at
tanja(no space)last name of John and Jane unknown(no space)letter between w and y?
Just to see if everything works.
Yes, we’re being “data mined”. Part of our assignment is to record skype calls with Bulgarian English students to collect a corpus of “academic English used by non-native speakers”.
One of the few occasions when it’s totally OK to use exclusively college students.
I just had a really dark thought.
Mental health systems are *sometimes* designed with the input of mental health practioners… when do the patients get their say?
The whole mental health system seems to be structured a lot like economics… rich people telling poor people what to do|healthy people telling unhealthy people what to do. (apologies if that last part was ableist… I don’t know any better way to phrase it)
Sorry Esteleth, I don’t – I was sure I had it programmed in my phone, but it’s not there. I have an idea I’ll send to you in email, though.
Esteleth,
There is an E-mail address at Jadehawks blog which is http://jadehawks.wordpress.com/
I hope this is of some help
trinioler
Hmm, I don’t know, but the same way having a cold doesn’t make me an expert on respiratory systems, having mental health issues doesn’t make me an expert on mental health.
Surely no qualified therapist should just “tell you what to do”.
Maybe I was just very lucky to get a good one at the first try, but what I had was somebody whose questions, observations and input helped me along on a path. It was a path that lead to a complete breakdown at some point, so yes, at a certain point I was worse off with therapy then I was before without, but it was really a necessary side-effect before I could really work on my mental health.
I’m basing this issue on what I read here:
(TW!)http://amherststudent.amherst.edu/?q=article/2012/10/17/account-sexual-assault-amherst-college
Look at how she was treated by her institutions afterwards. There absolutely needs to be some kind of patient advocacy. I was just extremely chilled by the fact that they’d force her into the unit whether she wanted to go or not, and the fact that she was forced to take the meds or stay longer.
Esteleth, if worse comes to worse, I could ask Caine for you. She has Jadehawk’s number and other information.
Hello all you beautiful people!
It’s been a while since I’ve popped in here. Busy busy busy.
Greta Christina needs help
I get my first paycheck tomorrow. No idea how much it is, but I’ve been planning on buying her book and now is a good time to do so.
@Trinioler
I don’t know if this is related but this does remind me of a story from childhood. In like tween years I went to a sleep away camp and on the first day had fun and all settling in…except I kept itching. I thought it was mosquitoes or bed bugs at first or fleas so I showered…only to find the itching kept spreading and spreading and wouldn’t go away. It got unbearable and I couldn’t leave the shower because the cold water seemed the only thing that would help. I was frantic and said I needed to go to a hospital because there was something wrong. I was sent to the nurse instead and wound up on the floor uncontrollably itching. They gave me some cortisol cream and benedryl and called my parents to pick me up. They said that there was clearly something wrong with me and sent me to a doctor they knew for an evaluation not believing there was anything physically wrong with me and insisting I had a psychotic episode and suggested my parents let me be put in a psychiatric wing for observation. The doctor confirmed that I showed signs of having welts or inflammation which to them meant something physiological happened, but the camp still refused to let me stay and didn’t return the tuition to my parents. They were furious at me having to drive up to the mountains to take me back after only one day and on my first attempt ever to do sleep away camp. Even my parents thought I had just thrown a hissy fit.
Except they served clam chowder for lunch…years later I had the same thing happen after eating muscles. I was allergic to shellfish and that was the first outbreak ever, I almost died the second time and was only saved by EMS getting me quick treatment, the camp just locked me in a room on the floor.
Hey guys,
This is something that I think needs to be Pharyngulated.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/18/soup-kitchen-paul-ryan-photo-donor_n_1980541.html
Oh my gawd, Tony. I’m crying. I had waited to buy her book til it came out in print, and now I finally get around to doing that. I wish I could do more.
@Triniolor
A friend of mine also recently was committed against their will. They need medication for a mental health issue but were without insurance, someone advised them to go to the ER room where they’d be given some for free since they couldn’t afford it.
OUPS. Wound up locked away against his will for 3 hours in the psyche ward before a doctor luckly was able to listen to him and understand there had been a mix up and he wasn’t trying to commit himself. He was terrified though because as a patient nothing he felt nothing he said would be trusted and no one would believe that he was actually all right (just upset and scared) and just didn’t want to be there.
Portia:
Every little bit does help.
I’m in an awful financial situation now, but fuck it all, I’m going to do what I can. If enough people out there do the same, that can help offset her loss of income.
Did a conservative judge just make a decision against DOMA? Yes, he did.
Greta’s book is quite inexpensive. $8 on Kindle.
… And quite good. Read it in like a day or two on Kindle.
… and print is like $15. Not sure which one makes her money, since there would be printing, distribution costs, too.
Jesus Ing.
Glad you survived your second brush with shellfish.
And Sweet Onion Christ @ your friend.
I really am scared of psych wards for that reason. The doctors don’t listen, and don’t know what its like to BE a mental patient there. Its very definitely a case of privilege vs the unprivileged.
Wow, Tony! Thanks for the pick-me-up. :) That’s awesome news. Rational basis review (the lowest standard) almost always let the government get away with murder. Metaphorically speaking.
@Trinioler
Also a good example of the bullshit of unalienable rights. Even in a society well off like America where they’re supposedly protected you can have virtually every right stripped away and become a legal non-person very easily. Immigrants face this every day, as do the ill
I’d appreciate it if you could, Janine.
In other news, in the past 2 days I have gotten six or seven calls for “Rebecca.” From different people. This is not my name.
Obviously, this is all Rebecca Watson’s fault.
Ing,
Not to be excessively cynical, but your friend is lucky that they were only locked up for 3 hours. Little Sister’s bff was involuntarily committed for 3 days when his roommate found out he had stopped taking his meds. (I don’t know the full story, but he’s not a violent guy, so I totally don’t buy the danger to himself or others crap.)
blf @ #450 – Thanks for the pancake tips. I’m going to try again tonight. : )
Yes we know. He was VERY lucky that someone would listen to him and believe him. They also confiscated his phone so he couldn’t contact anyone to let them know what happened to vouch for him. If he wasn’t lucky enough to get someone who listened to patients he pretty much would have become a missing person
Greta Christina has endometrial cancer? Well, arse. I feel a book-buying coming on. I hope it’s caught early, I believe it can be treated successfully.
Argh, it’s just not right. It never is.
Ick. Your poor friend. :(
shivers in fear Given my own recent brush with mental illness(temporary depression, currently panic attacks)… psych wards scare the shit out of me. And this is in Canada.
@Amblebury
According to GC’s MD it is probably stage one and can be fully removed surgically with little risk so she’s probably lucky that she won’t need radiation or chemo. Small favors. My Gram recently had to have a turmor removed from the breast, where she was kicked out of the hospital the same day and sent to work…and then had sick days eaten up by chemo and radiation following.