This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Been waiting to catch an early Lounge to do a shout out for Tony Reed who is doing a series of Youtube videos called “How Creationism Taught Me Real Science. These are great. They are deliberately non-confrontational, but they hammer home just how much evidence for evolution there is and how all the creationist tropes are, without exception, bullshit. I highly recommend them.
Who’s the bloke … um, dancing? with … Ganesh????? ::goes to look::
Oh, mouseover. It’s meant to be JC, it seems. ::goes to check further::
Oh. I liked it better when I could only see the teeny tiny version and it looked as if they could be dancing or otherwise having fun. The big version shows they are being meeeeean to each other :-(
How not to convince anyone you are doing something useful, Sim card database hack gave US and UK spies access to billions of cellphones. Not only “gave”, but is very very probably “still giving”; and “access” here means “decrypt and listen-in on your phone calls and data transfers”. The original report at The Intercept makes for appalling reading, How Spies Stole the Keys to the Encryption Castle. This unquestionably illegal activity is also causing some consternation at Big DumbieCo, where I work. We don’t make SIM cards, but do “personalize” chips with encryption keys (those chips are then used in so-called “Financial Terminals”, e.g., ATMs, Smartcard credit card readers (POS), lottery and ticket vending machines, and so on).
That’s a great comic!
MM
I agree with everything you say. I’m trying to understand the phenomenon
Azkyroth
I really don’t find your passive aggressive one-liners appropriate for the Lounge
+++
Today, I hit my mother in the face .
Oh wait, no, I only told her that we wouldn’t visit them next week because we have a bunch of appointments. She only looked at me as if I had hit her in the face.
Also, the regional newspaper managed a significant feat in not telling things this week. A Jewish cemetery in France was destroyed this week.
I’ve seen the pcitures on TV: destroyed headstones and swastikas everywhere. The perpetrators were caught quickly. The article and foto were a masterpiece in not mentioning that those were white kids and that it was a right wing attack and not one perpetrated by muslims. It also went to great lengths to tell us that the kids had thought that it was “fun” and that they were totally not antisemitic. Clearly, nothing says “I’m not a right-wing anti-semite” like sparying swastikas on Jewish graves…
Giliell
They were spraying ironically Makes all the sense. :P
Couple of questions for the Horde.
1) How much can I let my guard down when reading Rational Wiki?
2) Is there any gentle but convincing way to point out to a friend of mine that Chopra is a fucking quack, a liar and a fraud?
She is buying into his ayurvedic woo, part of me is tempted to just let her go, I doubt she’ll damage herself, part of me says that I should at least offer her a small crack in Chopra’s trustworthiness.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/parents-trying-to-reverse-kids-autism-by-flushing-out-vaccines-with-bogus-miracle-bleach-enemas/
Mm. My intention is usually to gauge whether anyone actually finds my more frustrated observations of any interest before typing them out longhand. I don’t feel “passive-aggressive” is an accurate characterization, given that. :/
But, very well: my elaboration was going to be that Amanda Marcotte banned me from a previous incarnation of Pandagon because – and I verified this via a third party and email – she couldn’t put it together that :
A) a statement a commenter earlier in the thread had made, word for word (something about there allegedly being “no evidence that Trayvon Martin’s killing was racially motivated” , if I recall correctly), which
B) I had blockquoted (and confirmed the tags parsed correctly upon posting), and
C) then argued against further down in the same comment
wasn’t my position that I was expressing. And so I’m not surprised to find her not thinking something else through.
Tony! @9
Holy shit! Vaccines are bad, but chlorine dioxide enemas are A-OK?? Who ARE these people? Surely this falls under child abuse?
Having considered that I might be mistaken about the connotations of the words and read the Wikipedia article on “passive-aggressive behavior” I still don’t think what I’m trying to do fits with it, but it occurs to me that if it’s being read as passive-aggressive it’s not accomplishing my goals. :/
I can’t believe they’re actually using that term to describe themselves…
What an awkward looking picture too.
Re blood pressure monitors
I was able to track down on-line, versus my back piles of the magazine, Consumer Reports recommendation. One wrist model mentioned by name, and now ordered. To back up this instrument, I also ordered a student MD/nurse/EMT cuff/gauge that appear to work reliably, and a recommended stethoscope to hear the heartbeat. Numbers will be had. And I refuse to wear my white lab coat at home.
Nerd, re: sphygmomanometers:
Though your concerns re: accessing the leg are 100% valid, there’s no reason to believe that a reading from a healthy calf cannot be used to track BP. A standard manual cuff (which is a cuff, a pressure gauge, and a hand-operated squeeze pump), used in conjunction with a stethoscope, can be used equally well on an upper arm or a calf. The numbers should be comparable, unless the Redhead has circulatory disease.
The reason why the upper arm is usually used has to do with the accessibility of the arteries in the area – that is, ease of use. Back when there were only manual sphygmomanometers, the upper arm/antecubital brachial artery was really the only practical place to take a BP, and the automated ones followed suit (in the “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” style of design). Due to the plethora of fragile nerves and tendons, the wrist was usually avoided – also the diameter of the arteries in the wrist makes auscultating a BP manually that much harder.
Incidentally, you’re correct to want to take the BP in her “good” arm – injured arms, especially if they’re edemdous or have any issues whatsoever, can give inaccurate readings.
Esteleth, my problem with our present wrist monitor (which works on me), is that there is a continuous series of errors with the Redhead. Either the monitor doesn’t detect the pulse on the first inflate until <30 with a low error, or it reinflates to a higher number, detects a pulse, loses it, and repeats the process until the top inflate is above about 220, the high error after the fourth inflate. After 5-10 tries without a reading I am frustrated. At the moment, she needs just a low amount of BP meds (ACE inhibitor + vascodialator) every 24-48 hours. So accurate readings are important to see if it is creeping up.
I completely understand your concerns and frustrations, Nerd. If you can’t find a monitor that works on her good wrist or otherwise come up with a solution, I’d suggest getting a manual sphygmomanometer and stethoscope. A decent set that will work well and last you awhile will set you back all of $50 (at the most), and they’re also pretty easy to use.
In other news: misogyny and Creationism. Two tastes that go great together:
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/lesser-cut-meat?cid=sm_fb_maddow
Esteleth, I haven’t mentioned that old monitor is 8-10 years old. About 3 generations ago. Ancient technology.
My backup will be what my Internist uses. An armcuff with an inflation bulb, pressure dial and stethoscope. Ugh, that’s next week. He usually runs late, so I’m bored out of my gourd when he finally gets around to me.
Esteleth, the Redhead’s college roommate worked for years as a nurse in the VA system. Her opinion is that waving an enema bag works wonders for cooperation….
Your internist uses a manual sphygmomanometer, Nerd, if it looks something like this.
I’m not surprised the monitor doesn’t work well if it’s that old.
Exactly. He does lying, sitting an standing. Thorough. And he does minimum meds. A low dose ACE inhibitor an half a diuretic per day, and my BP is normal. Salute!
Did anyone read The Diversity Illusion by Ed West? I heard it’s an excellent book about mass immigration
http://takimag.com/article/a_firmer_hand_james_jackson#axzz3SJ67WtpQ
Re: blood pressure, I have to say that one of the reasons I love my GP (actually a CNP) so, so much, is that her nurse, who I also love so, so much, simply gets out the right sized blood pressure cuff when I come in and doesn’t make any sort of deal out of it at all. For a short time I went to a doctor whose nurses all would try it with the regular cuff, act all alarmed at the reading and half of the time wait for me to suggest getting a larger cuff, then huff and make a show of looking for it, then finally find one in a drawer two rooms away. Excruciating.
Lol. A little girl in the classroom of the nephew of a good friend of mine, when asked “Who is Jesus?”, responded with “i don’t know, i think it’s a boy that never comes to class”.
I want to know when i can vote for her.
Well, at least this obviously isn’t a new problem: The Time Everyone “Corrected” the World’s Smartest Woman
It’s about Marilyn vos Savant, and the abuse she received when she (correctly) <a href="http://marilynvossavant.com/game-show-problem/"answered a question about the "Monty Hall" problem back in September 1990. The most interesting/depressing thing: there are people in the comments on that still insist she’s using faulty (“female”) logic and is completely wrong about it.
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Well, at least this obviously isn’t a new problem: The Time Everyone “Corrected” the World’s Smartest Woman
It’s about Marilyn vos Savant, and the abuse she received when she (correctly) answered a question about the “Monty Hall” problem back in September 1990. The most interesting/depressing thing: there are people in the comments on that still insist she’s using faulty (“female”) logic and is completely wrong about it.
I am now the ‘proud’ owner of a quite pricey frankensnake. -_-
One of my girls had an old egg stuck. She was able to pass feces around it, I wasn’t planning on breeding her, but as spring neared I began to go “Yaknow… she could decide to slug out again… only they won’t be able to pass…. shit!” So I scheduled her for surgery. Surgery went well, and I have the egg as a ‘present’. This was yesterday.
This morning, I look in on her and 3 inches of her tail was straight up dead and brittle. I could probably have broken it off if I tried. Another inch + was edematous, with raised scales… a clear sign of dying tissue in snakes. So I rushed her back in to the vet and he said we could either amputate *now*, or try multiple anitibiotics to see what we could save. My exact words were “Get if off her.”
Based on how quickly things happened, it’s probably a clot. I’m hoping it was a clot because then we’re most likely out of the woods in a couple days. If it’s sepsis (there was apparently a low grade, chronic infection around the egg… my poor girl) then the snake is probably fucked even with the two different antibiotics. Totally paranoid snake momma.
However, now I can say that I a far more expensive snake than I could ever have hoped to, and that she’s very unique.
http://imageshack.com/a/img673/9057/WiV6x8.jpg
p.s. I’m tempted to frame the egg and jar of formalin with her tail along with the bills, and mount it above her tank.
ahilan, you should probably consider moving elsewhere. I suspect you won’t find Pharyngula much to your liking, nor will the regulars find you much to their liking.
Timgueguen @30:
Given the Obama bashing I just saw when I clicked the link @24, I agree with you. If nothing else ahilan ought to post in the Thunderdome.
Has anyone read this: http://countersignal.tumblr.com/post/111629529993/nihilsupernum-ae-ross-this-stuff-just-writes ?
Do you think it is correct about the atmosphere in universities and how progressives have institutional support to discriminate against conservatives?
ahilan:
Please see comment #30 and #31.
Rowan
Can one hug a snake?
if so *hugses*
ahilan – definitely take your stuff to the Thunderdome. The Lounge is not the appropriate venue for what you are posting.
Rowan, hugs and good luck – hope she makes it!
That little girl obviously has a sensible attitude, azhael :-)
Good luck with the new BP kit, Nerd. She hasn’t asked you to wear the white coat? :-))))
Good morning Horde. Happy calendarist Saturday.
Good morning
Azkyroth
I found it passive-aggressive because it didn’t add anything to the conversation except a snipe at somebody.
+++
Taking the kids to an exposition about ancient Egypt today. Speak of Bourdieu’s cultural habitats…
Can anyone recommend a good, accessible, book on textutual analysis of the bible? All that “priestly text” stuff?
loop@37: Asimov’s Guide to the Bible might be what you want. It’s certainly readable (what by Asimov isn’t?) albeit I admit I cannot recall the extent to which he analyzed the “priestly text” babblings. He certainly explained a great deal of the historical, political, and other secular background.
I think he wants to be PZ.
So, there’s this new video by Lindybeige, on the topic of the power of women (through sex appeal) and the expendleness of men https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSX7iT0n65Q do you think it is a historically accurate and sound video?
rq, love the Colbeard!
Ahilan… Please for to kindly fuck off sideways into the sea and take that stuff to the thunderdome. We don’t need sexist or misogynistic crap in the lounge. Truthfully we don’t need it *anywhere*, but the Thunderdome is far more appropriate.
I personally don’t think it is sexist / misogynist but if you can explain why you believe it so, then I will indeed move it.
Wow, Colbert looks great with a beard!
ahilan,
Please post in the Thunderdome if you want to have discussions like those.
People have told you multiple times now that the Lounge isn’t the right place for it.
33 seconds in – Whining that men do the ‘dangerous’ work… When for a long time women weren’t allowed to be soldiers, for example, and women are still fighting for equal combat roles. Also ignoring the fact that women aren’t encouraged to be physical so that girls who might be interested in those jobs never consider them. Also ignoring the dangers of firefighting, in which there ARE women, and police work, in which there ARE women, and medicine, which IS dangerous (doctors and nurses get assaulted and shot), and even vet med which is primarily women and I’m pretty much guaranteed to end up needing to be hospitilized for an on-job injury at some point. I’ve been (accidentally) bit in the face by a (very sweet) pitbull already, and have been bitten by cats multiple times as well as having a nail fishhook into a finger joint. I couldn’t move that finger without pain for 2 YEARS.
40 seconds in: Get men to do dangerous work by telling them it’s ‘manly’… which means it’s not something a woman would be doing, because women are icky.
57 seconds in: OMG HORMONES! Apparently men don’t produce oxytocin when taking care of their kids? … Yeah, except they totally do. But he’s honestly saying women like taking care of baybees because hormones. You know what human kids do for me, a woman, hormonally? “RUN AWAY! DO NOT WANT!”
Yeah, I can’t listen to all 7 minutes of this utter shit.
Well, the mess in the cloakroom/swordroom has refused to clean itself up.
Sigh.
Somebody asked you to move something controversial out of the lounge. What is your problem with doing so?
But Nerd, a man saying that women have it totes easy and have the hormones for baby care couldn’t possibly be controversial, because it’s clearly all troo because someone said it on the youtoobs.
Of course, ahilan has been told ‘thunderdome’ for every single topic they’ve posted so far, and have failed to take the hint.
The Lounge is not the place for this to be explained/argued. Thunderdome is where that happens. Please take this over there. Thanks.
It may be time for a monitor to send a message to PZ.
****
Gun control expert assists police in preventing a man from going on possible shooting spree.
No “good guy with a gun needed”.
Giuliani stands by Obama remarks
Ah, trying to divide Americans into an “us” and “them” mentality. How patriotic. You sure do love America, Giuliani. He may become the first person to dig himself all the way down to the core of the Earth. It’s terrible that he’s getting death threats for it. Instead, he should be called out on his other racist comments in every single interview he gives.
Norwegian Muslims to form human ring around Oslo synagogue
These are the progressive ideas that would do wonders for the improvement of Muslim countries. In Saudi Arabia, you can’t even build a synagogue.
Hola Loungers!
So, weird thing, I’m at work, listening to today’s episode of the SGU (I miss Rebecca!), and they were talking about the forgotten scientist of the day, who was Katherine Johnson. She was born in White Sulfur Springs, VA. When I was a kid, we spent a christmas at a Christian Resort called White Sulfur Springs, located at the town of the same name! There were all kinds of xtiany activities to do, and zip-lining, and gross greasy food. I had chicken pox there that year. So anywho, it was interesting to have a flash of all of these memories that I haven’t thought about for decades. Small world!
Flushing education down the drain — this is a followup to posts in the previous thread about rightwing damage to education.
Link.
So, sermons, eh? The sermons are also specified in the Oklahoma bill. “A Model of Christian Charity” by John Winthrop and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards.
As for the Ten Commandments, we don’t know if those will be Catholic, Jewish, Atheist, Protestant, etc. Just joking about the Atheist Ten Commandments, but the Protestant version does differ a bit, so someone will have to choose.
Sounds like they are still around:
And that it is run by a bunch of bigots. Figures.
Writers at Mother Jones are in an argument with Bill O’Reilly. Mother Jones is winning. After Brian Williams of NBC made the kind of mistake that almost anyone could make when it comes to remembering details of war correspondence (and apologized properly, followed by a long leave of absence now in force), Fox News’s O’Reilly got on his high horse. O’Reilly excoriated Williams and made claims about his own prowess in the truth realm.
The article goes on to point out the immature name-calling, threats against David Corn, etc. in which O’Reilly engaged. There’s a point by point rebuttal of O’Reilly’s replies (including his on-air reply).
Link.
Saad
You can post the latest Giuliani stuff on the Regan’s Morning thread. :)
Oh yeah, I forgot this is relevant there too. Will do. :)
Rightwing religious politicians having more trouble understanding the separation of church and state:
http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/gop_lawmaker_wants_almighty_god_our_savior_credited_as_creator_of_liberty_in_constitution
Lynna @60,
I don’t think the problem is lack of understanding, more that the rules don’t apply to them. Or that their religion is the only true one, and therefore is an integral part of The Founding Principles Of Our Nation. Most likely both. A plague upon them all.
A journalist mother finds nothing available in the shops but fairy and princess themed junk for her young daughter, so she decides to do something about it.
Behold The Anti-Princess Club
Evenin’, all.
*hugs*, *chocolate*, and sympathies wherever appropriate/acceptable.
Son and Grandson have both been sick.
Tired of the endless arguments with damned anti-vaxxers on Facebook.
:(
–
cicely, [hugs]
Whoa. ‘Rupt. Big time.
No, I have not fallen off the edge of the world. Sorry for missing things over the last few weeks. The good part is that I have many hugs saved up for those as need ’em.
I’ve been missing because I have been playing the video game “Destiny”. See, I usually spend all day going through a series of web sites looking for new content/messages/etc. For that winter holiday mostly referred to as Christmas, we got our kids a PS3 (so my son could play online with his friends) and a PS4 (because I despise the idea of going backwards with technology). A couple of trips to get second controllers for the systems, and I decided to get Destiny, because I’m kind of a sucker for futuristic weapons (warning — not all the weapons are as futuristic as I had hoped).
Heck, I bought a second PS4 so my son and I could play Destiny together. But, since I suck at First Person Shooters, he, at 10 years old, is much better than I am. Still, it has a neat system with things to do every day, and that’s what I’ve been doing rather than spending time staring at web pages nad emails.
I’m not sure the freezing cold has been helpful, either. I took a picture of the temperature in my car on Thursday that showed 1 degree F. That was in the morning, as I took my kids to school. Not pleasant, since our house heater doesn’t keep up with outside temperatures once outside temperatures get into the teens. Thermostat set at 66, thermostat shows interior house temperature as 55. If the electricity goes out, we are fucked. Pardon my french.
::dips into the Lounge. Waves to cicely, ajb47, anne, Saad, Nerd, rq, opposablethumbs, Dalillama, Giliell, Lofty, yazikus, Lynna, rowan, awakeinmo. Offers apology for anyone whose name I forgot::
Here is a massive list of free resources. 300 in fact. Here’s a sample:
*Waves back at Tony*
Woah, those stock photography ones would come in handy. Bookmarked.
@Lofty #62
Thanks for the link. I’m finding myself hating most of what is available for my daughter in the stores. Fortunately we inherited a lot of clothes, but that phase is nearing an end. The clothes and toys aimed at girls in the chain stores is depressing to see. Toddler Ts with things like “I only like boys with fancy strollers” printed on them make me cringe. Thus far that means she mainly wears unisex and boy clothes, but even at 15 months she loves sparkles and floofty dresses. When she’s a little bigger, the “Princess Awesome” stuff looks great and momma will probably be making her some costumes at home.
Grewgills, my pleasure.
Now for another uplifting link , a campaign in the UK to get more women into sport (Australian news article)
This Girl Can
Hey Tony!, good to see you!
I wonder if the Awful Pinkification is even worse in USAnianaland than it is here in Blighty? We do indeed have a hell of a lot of Overwhelming Pink here, but were always able to find a bit more variety for then-small-DaughterSpawn without too much difficulty. We used to get almost everything for the kids from second-hand shops, which helped (maybe we have more second-hand shops generally???). Red, yellow, green, blue denim, purple, black with skulls and crossbones and/or spiders’-webs for both Spawn. DaughterSpawn had a couple of gorgeous dresses, both dark blue. We have so little space here we couldn’t save even the most favourite outfits, alas :-((((( but we do have the teeny-tiny trainers that were the first ever shoes for each of them in turn. They are red, green and white.
Hi there
*hugs*
The exposition was interesting. Mr and I would probably have spent more time, but the kids weren’t yet up to it. While # found it interesting, but the sheer amazingness of a 50000 year old vase still escapes her. But they saw Real. Mummies!
Later we went to the Chinese restaurant. the kids love the Chinese reataurat. They just don’t care much for the food (they have a big playroom).
Grewgills
Oh dear, girlstuff. It’s a fine line to walk between “oh stiff it I’m sick and tired of pink” and shaming them for liking the stuff society tells them they should like. Also, sparkles rock!
Wrist is giving me trouble, can’t type much of late. *hugs* all ’round.
Yes! I always found/find this difficult.
Sympathies, Dalillama – and our loss (always value reading what you write). Hope you get a chance to rest it properly. No SIWOTI allowed …. ;-)
Dalillama,
Ouch, that sounds painful. I hope you can take some time to rest it outside work.
—
I guess sometimes a good cry really can make one feel better. Now that I’ve cried my heart out about my lonely, pathetic future I can start making plans for a trip this summer that I plan to take by myself (yeah, I deliberately don’t include anyone in that plan. Sure. Deliberately. Right).
Beatrice
*hugs*
I hope you plan yourself an awesome trip, and that perhaps some good-to-excellent company turns up, should you wish it to.
Dalillama
Hope it heals quick, hope you get the time and the rest for it to do so! *hugs*
Giliell
Mummies are always popular.
opposablethumbs
*hugs* And I hope you are well, and the family too? Wishing an absence of all winter-related lurgis!!
ajb47
So that’s where you have been! ;) Hope the cold warms up soon.
Tony
*waves* and *long-distance hugs*
It’s nice to see you here! Hope it’s been a good kind of busy!
+++
The birthday party was survived, doubly good because of the Meeting the Parents also involved – somehow we haven’t managed to co-ordinate parental relations in Middle Child’s daycare group as we managed with Eldest’s, but hopefully yesterday was a remedy for that. MC had a wonderful time, as did his friends, and the house survived the entire ordeal. The weather wasn’t ideal for skating, but it certainly was a beautiful sunny spring kind of day, so outdoor activities were very much encouraged and, as it were, implemented.
There was a guest exchange towards evening, with my mum, a long-unseen friend and his gf, and CousinFromBrussels and three of her colleagues spending a rather quiet yet lovely evening with us. The kids were busy with all the new Lego and books, until I discovered that Youngest was running a fever of potential flu-like origin. Crossing my fingers that this isn’t so.
To bookend the weekend, I picked up two pretty shirts on Friday that I’d forgotten I’d ordered, and the extraction robot at work has been behaving flawlessly today.
And we bought a large dinner table for the house anniversary last week, too – it’s been two years of house living, so Happy House Ownership* to us. *champagne (non-alcoholic available) of choice to everyone* Seems like a lot, but like very little at the same time. Come real spring, I’ll be able to give y’all an estimate as to how many rose bushes I’ve managed to kill within these two winters past. And a huge Thank You! to the Lounge, to which I was new at that time, but which nevertheless extended great moral support, encouragement and words of advice during the house-acquisition process.
Anyhow, there is leftover birthday cake v2 to be eaten and the last few sample transfers for the robot to fuck things up, so I better go get a fork and an eye on that.
* The bank won’t mind if I word things this way in the interim.
Tea, anyone?
I’m sniffling and coughing (allergies, probably) and didn’t sleep well, so I’ll just be over here in the pillow fort, napping with Hobbes. On the other hand, it’s supposed to maybe rain tonight, which would do wonders for my allergies.
*ouch* for Dalillama
*hugs* for Beatrice
Where are you going?
*yay* for rq who survived a kiddie birthday party. Hope the little one gets better soon.
And since we were talking about it: If we treated our sons like our daughters
This amused me today: A six-feet sculpture of a Celtic sea god that was stolen from Binevenagh Mountain, near Limavady, in County Londonderry has been recovered by soldiers on a training exercise.
Nice to see that the thieves had an appropriate grasp of reality, and that some commandments are obviously much more important than others.
Wait, are you saying that christians stole and tried to destroy a peice of art that honoured a different god just like the Taliban. Colour me (un)surprised.
Finally cleaning out my e-mail boxes after two months. Deleting about 2500 e-mails. Now I know what PZ faces daily. Ugh.
Giliell, I’ve long been interested in ancient Egypt, particularly by the relics, so your expo sounded interesting.
Just for clarification; have you added a superfluous nought onto the age of the vase? Fifty thousand years sounds a tad too old.
Hi rq! I know what you mean about the Lounge, people can be incredibly helpful and supportive and sometimes it really helps you get through things.
We’re all alive and (more or less) kicking – Spawn#1 is juggling trying to write a dissertation, doing regular coursework, preparing for finals and submitting job applications … so there’s a bit of stress there … while Spawn#2 is finding it very hard being a non-NT student. I’m alternating worrying about both of them …
I should probably drink more.
Glad to see the MC Birthday Party went well! Having outdoor space is fantastic – great to be able to have a party in your own home if you want to. And especially great to have been able to get to know more MC-classmate parents :-)
The evening you had sounds really lovely, and I hope the suspicious temperature Ain’t So.
Happy Housiversary!
Giliell,
I don’t really now yet. But I’m itching to go somewhere. Even just to Slovenia if I fail in planning anything else, I just have to move before this routine drives me batty. (yep, three months of routine are enough to drive me batty, I should not be allowed spare hours to think because that path lay madness (as in something I arm-chair-analyze as depression)).
I would just like to say that I am officially in awe of Nerd. Yes, I know that he is already known to be heroic and compassionate as he cares for his disabled wife, but it’s the fact that he cleaned out his email box that has me awestruck. Just joking. But really, a clean email box is really something I should strive for, and a goal that seems out of reach.
In other news, the period in which USAsians engaged in slavery always turns out to be worse than we thought. Recent (and past) efforts by right-wingers to play down the awfulness of slavery prompted me to note and post this “even worse” info:
Yes, rent-a-slave practices meant that the system spread to people who were, technically, not slave owners. Link.
@Giliell #71
I’m all good with her love of pink, frilly and sparkly. I just want her to have more choices than that. At 15 months we are often letting her choose what to wear, well giving her a couple of choices anyway. She loves blue and animals and slimy things too.* We’re trying to make all of that and more available to her. I’m just annoyed that the ‘girls section’ is so limited. For now that means shopping in boys and girls areas and supporting things like ‘Princess Awesome’ and then ‘Anti-Princess’ stuff when we can.
* When I’m out with her in neutral or ‘boy colors’, I’m regularly told what a handsome son I have. It sometimes happens even when she’s wearing a dress and a flower headband, so maybe it’s more about her still thin and short hair than the clothes.
More on the renting of slaves, as mentioned in #85:
More details are in the article (link in #85).
Chuck Todd went all Jon Stewart on Rudy Giuliani in today’s “Meet the Press” segment. Todd presented a good episode, with well-done research. Video and commentary at the link.
Since there may be rain tomorrow, I thought I’d knock out a few errands this morning to cut down on the driving in the rain (ewww scary). So I packed up my coupons and went to Aaron Bros and Michael’s in search of some colored pencils or pens short enough to fit in my new pen case that turns into a tote bag. I got a little carried away, let us say.
I should not be allowed into art supply stores without a keeper. :-D I did promise Husband that I’d let him play with the woodless colored pencils, so he’s cool. Besides, he has more pens and doodle notebooks than I have art supplies, so he’s not in any place to criticise.
Also we just paid Younger Daughter’s acceptance and registration deposit for the big college in the fall.
The Oscar’s tonight will allow me to get some other stuff done today. The Redhead is already wallowing in Oscar fashions, at the moment watching a show on how to dress and use make-up for the red carpet.
For the baby-eating atheist on your list.
And this is Latvia’s Eurovision song. I’m so happy! (My second choice ended up fourth in the final.)
Is this the lowest point for the art of oration?
Those 58 seconds have been the toughest test for my belief in free speech.
rq, #92
That was pretty nice.
^ Yes, emphasis on EVERYTHING!
Dinner tonight is planned over Chinese from the New Year feast, while watching the Oscar’s (for the Redhead). The previously purchased appetizers are gone *burp*. So I’m being sent out into the cold (single digit) weather to get more appetizers, and more hot&sour soup for lunch. Saw this coming days ago.
Whining ahead.
You were warned.
1.) This snow is intentionally fucking with me. Since the weatherforecast mentioned the possibility of snow, I got up early. Everything nice and dry, no worries. Until it started snowing hard, like 10 min before we had to leave with NO time to hurry up anymore.
2.) Since it’s snowing and the roads are slipery, I decided to work from home and not from college. Apparently there are some serious repairs today in the flat next to mine. No heating and lots of noise.
They’re also smoking in the hallway which means fucking cigarette smell in my flat.
PZ :D You are hero for the ID folk now http://www.evolutionnews.org/2015/02/a_darwinian_bio093811.html
I could really go for a nap, but I think I’ll clean the kitchen instead. That’s like meditating, right?
I am belatedly waving back at Tony. Hi, Tony!
Anne’s conclusion that christians in the USA don’t think that federal laws (and even some state laws) apply to them is, probably, correct. Very unfortunate.
rq @92, nice work on the part of the winners there. I liked the second place winner.
Did you see the performance of the Lego movie theme song, and of the Selma theme song, on the Oscars stage? Both of those were pretty good.
I think Ron Paul is going to sink his son Rand Paul’s presidential campaign. Rand is somewhat skilled at self-sabotage, but his father is going to make certain the campaign is dead.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/ron-paul-good-news-that-secession-is-happening#.lsB2d8DMl
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/the-libertarian-network-that-rand-paul-hasnt-walked-away-fro#.epOzl4nR6
Lynna
I saw the song from Selma, but I haven’t seen the LEGO song. I’ll look for it later tonight!
Scott Walker has recently added to the long list of questions on which he “punts.” Punt was his description for not answering a question about evolution that was posed in London, where Governor Walker was attempting to bolster his foreign policy cred before his run for president of the USA.
Walker has also punted on questions about:
– contraception
– equal pay
– marriage rights
– President Obama’s love, or not love, for the USA
Now Walker doesn’t know if President Obama is a christian or not.
Walker’s take on all this is that the media should not ask him such questions. He even used Sarah Palin’s dodge, describing the questions as a “media gotcha game.”
Priest Dies For 48 Minutes, Comes Back To Life, And Claims God Is Female
(Grabbing popcorn.)
Shall we be seeing the birth of a new branch of Xianity? A fun new heresy? Or merely Confusion To The Enemy?
–
Greatly-reduced levels of anxiety and depression today.
Yay!
Now, if Son can find re-employment quickly, the world can get back to Not Hardly Sucking Near As Much!
–
Anne: *hugsback*
Me, either.
:D
–
*waveback* for Tony!.
–
*hugs* all ’round.
–
Dalillama, I hope your wrist improves quickly!
–
rq:
Hurray!
:)
I’m glad to hear that things—with the possible exception of Youngest’s temp, which is hopefully not symptomatic of anything serious—are going well for you.
–
*hugs* and encouragement for opposablethumbs; and may Spawn#1’s juggling skills prove adequate to the task.
–
Lynna:
One can hope—but the Voice of Cynicism suggests that his supporters will, instead, double down—in the classic fashion of ignorant fuckwads everywhere—and support him even harder.
–
cicely
I like how the doctors miraculously restarted the priest’s heart, using a shiny piece of high-tech medical equipment. Oh, The Miracle!!!! I guess the doctors just kind of thought to put it there beside him and Stuff Happened, no education and hard work required?
Yes, fracking causes earthquakes. The United States Geological Survey has weighed in with a new report:
USGS link.
Question for British people here:
I watched Downton Abbey last night (yes, I am one of those people) and they had a scene where they did an unveling of a war memorial. The memorial was draped with two Union Jack flags, and they pulled a rope which caused the flags to fall to the ground to reveal the memorial. Question – is it really OK in the UK to allow your flag to fall on the ground? It is a big no-no here in the USA.
1. I hate liver
2. I really like liver dumplins
3. I fucking love liver dumplin soup
4. Warm banana bread with Nutella
++++
Oscar dresses
I see Keira Kneightley hasn’t run out of curtains yet.
+++
Talking about the Oscars….
When we were at the check-up last week the doc asked the little one about daycare, who her friends are, and little miss future academy award winner told her with tears in her eyes and voice that she has no friends, no child ever plays with her, she’s just playing all by herself all day.
Today she and her BFF told me their complete plans for the late afternoon. Neither I nor his mum were asked…
rq:
*mumble mumble*Mysterious Ways*handwave mumble*
But is it still a Miracle if the Revelation is not what they wanted? Perhaps it is a false miracle, wrought by the Devil!
<*tinylittlewhisper*>but how can you tell???</*tinylittlewhisper*>
Exploiting the ultimate captive audience, banks are making big bucks servicing the financial needs of prisoners and of prisoners’ families. Unfair fees are charged, often doubled or stacked fees are charged, etc. Many incarcerated people are already poor or low income, as are their families. These banks are making things worse. Elizabeth Warren should take them to task.
Think Progress link.
Giliell
I think some of them heard you last time – they wore necklaces!
As for Keira, well, she probably has a large house with many curtained French windows. Lots of choice – good value for those curtains, too: hang them at home, and wear them out!
Scott Walker needs to become a regular Saturday Night Live skit:
Question and Answer Time with Governor Scott Walker
Careful, Children. This could happen to you if you don’t go to college.
Also, I really like Scarlett Johansson’s dress, and the haircut might be a lot different than what she usually looks like, but it suits her.
Rightwing politicians really do not like transparency.
Think Progress link.
Faux historian, David Barton, says something stupid … again.
Right Wing Watch link.
Barton is wrong. Justice Breyer never said that. Breyer did write in a 1999 concurrence:
Breyer references Acts 25:16 in which Paul notes his right to confront his accuser according to Roman law. Breyer also provides specifics for his Shakespeare and British statutes references. He does not say that “due process clauses came out of the bible.”
Faux historian Barton does not provide any references, but he does present an interesting case of terminal confirmation bias.
Well, I guess we should get ready. We only have until September to prepare.
Link.
Oh. In #118 I should have told you what to watch for in order to determine is the Antichrist has arrived:
The Four Horsemen are Christopher Hitchens, et.al, right? So I guess Hitchens rises from the dead. And there is a preamble of disaster that is conveniently vague: “weeks or months of global chaos.”
Lynna
September? Well, I guess I’ll put more effort into those preserves this year, then. Just in case.
To whom does one address questions about ‘gay theology’? Can’t be gay christians, as they’re gay and thus bad at theology; can’t be gay atheists, as they can’t do theology… anyone else out there? If I can’t ask anyone about gay theology, how will I know it? I’m mostly okay with the other identification points, though the massive harvest of the grim reaper – does hiring a grumpy tractor driver for the grain harvest count (I’m hoping it’ll be a good year for wheat)?
Mummy found inside Buddhist statue. And that whole self-mummification process…
(How did they get the mummy inside the statue?)
Some right-wingers from southern states have decided to say and do more stupid stuff, and that includes celebrating the anniversary of the assassination of Lincoln:
Salon link.
Religion Dispatches link.
Speaking of Judge Roy Moore (see #123), John Oliver did a great piece on this:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/02/23/john_oliver_on_elected_judges_last_week_tonight_tackles_judicial_elections.html
Lynna
Mind linking @123 here, too? That comment is a fine example of post-racial America.
rq @125. Done.
BTW, if you are preserving fruits and veggies in order to live through the reign of the Antichrist, can we convince you to supply the Lounge with these survival supplies? (In reference to comments #119 and #120).
Lynna
Thanks.
As for the preserves, I’ll see what I can do. I’ll probably need a second grim reaper for the cucumbers and tomatoes, not to mention all the other ingredients, if I have to make for the entire Lounge. Is this a contravention of apocalyptic symptoms?
More bonkers statements from our alarmingly ignorant members of the Congress. Rep. Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas thinks the USA is doing nothing or very little when it comes to fighting ISIS. He thinks this because he is convinced that President Obama is not assertive enough.
Here are just a few of the facts:
– The USA launched a military offensive against ISIS six months ago
– The USA has launched more airstrikes than Egypt and Jordan combined, several hundred more.
– We do have evidence of airstrikes having degraded ISIS capabilities.
– The USA assembled the coalition that is doing something. Keeping that coalition together does not equal “nothing.”
– Lamar Smith is the House Science Committee chairman, and he is willfully ignorant.
There are arguments to be made about US involvement, effectiveness, and strategy, but rightwing Congress critters are not capable of having a debate that takes facts into account.
Other right-wingers are pushing the “Obama won’t act” lie, along with hints that Obama is a muslim and/or is secretly hoping ISIS wins. These right-wingers include:
Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
Representative Matt Salmon of Arizona
Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee
Representative Kevin Mcarthy of California
Fox News runs an on-screen message that says: “no military action yet against ISIS.”
rq
Yes! Necklaces!
My favourites were:
-Lupita Nyong’o. I mean, how can you not?
-America Ferrera. Though she could have done with a small necklace, a chocker maybe?
-Zoe Saldana.
-Jennifer Lozez. I can’t help it. I love chiffon
-Ava duVernay. That dress said “Egypt” to me. Also, a different shape of woman wonderfully dressed.
-Laura Dern. Just because
I wished we’d celebrate all sorts of people dressing in stunning robes instead of just a few varieties of women.
Giliell
The only men I saw slightly differing from the black suit were David Oyelowo (in deep brown? maroon?) and Jared Leto. As Dalillama said last time, still a suit and tie, but at least a small step in the realm of creativity. Oh, and Kevin Hart, who inverted the classic black-and-white colours. But more variety, yes!
And yes, Lupita… I don’t know how she does it, but she is stunning every time she appers. And in a huge variety of (bright!) colours and styles.
Wasn’t too excited about Jennifer Lopez (mostly for the colour), but Zoe Saldana? Whoa. I also like the simplicity of Reese Witherspoon’s dress.
And I don’t know what it is, but I don’t think I’ve ever liked any of Dakota Johnson’s dresses.
Uh, that’s just bonkers.
Thank you cicely! And crossing my fingers and toes for prompt re-employment of Son. (it’s not exactly that one worries less as they get older – well, maybe a bit less – but more that one worries differently … ).
Here’s to a world that Doesn’t Hardly Suck Near as Much. I could go for that.
A nice thing that happened today – I wanted to get something for a birthday that’s coming up soonish, and local supermarket had a whisky on special offer, 1/3 off, ending tomorrow; they also mark fresh stuff down when its sell-by date is close, and down to 3/4 off on the last day. So I was just picking up some buns for 1/4 of the marked price, and when I went to pay this got me a money-off-your-next-purchase coupon at the checkout (the automatic tills seem to issue these more or less at random). And then I thought, I should go back round again and use the coupon right away to get the birthday bottle, in case I can’t make it in tomorrow, and I’d hate to miss the end of the special offer … and the woman at the checkout thought it was funny that I went back round, so I explained why, and she snuck in another money-off coupon that some other shopper had abandoned and left unused at her till, so I got the birthday bottle on special offer and with two money-off coupons, all at once, which meant it ended up costing about half its list price which makes me feel very bargainful. Now all I have to do is hide it so no-one knows it’s there until the soonish birthday. Yay :-)
Oil spills from pipelines are a big deal. The industry always tries to downplay the environmental effects. I’ve been to the site of the Glendive spill, before the spill damaged the area. It hits me hard to think of that area as being damaged in this way.
Link.
opposablethumbs
Oh, what a wonderful surprise discount! And a lovely checkout person. Hope the Birthday Subterfuge is hugely successful!
Whining ahead. Consider yourself warned. There is a person wallowing in misery. Let’s call them…The Fellow Funky.
The Fellow Funky is non-binary identified, engaged to Fellow Partner and all seemed to be well. They were poly with the caveat that new partners and play must be discussed first, but had settled into a monogamy-by-default relationship for a few years. Or so Funky had thought.
For weeks, Fellow Partner had been brushing Funky off when it came to intimacy. “I don’t feel like sex,” he said, often citing a lack of libido or depression. Funky wanted to be a good, supportive partner, so didn’t ask too many questions when more details weren’t offered and just accepted the new status quo, recognizing that Partner wasn’t responsible for Funky’s sexual needs and no one ever owed another person intimacy.
But then Funky finally agreed to meet some new friends Partner had been talking about for a while, new friends Partner was super excited about. Moments before meeting these people for the first time–too little time to even fully process new information!–Partner informed Funky, “I’ve been having sex with New Man Friend. Hope that isn’t a problem.”
…
So Funky did their best to put on a happy face and act like nothing was wrong, because Funky is nothing if not polite, but a private argument had to be had eventually. An argument about honesty, and desire, and how telling somebody stuff after the fact is actually completely different from telling them beforehand. It came out that while Partner loved Funky, he just wasn’t sexually interested in Funky’s gender identity and needed to be with men. He didn’t love Funky any less and certainly didn’t want to end the relationship; he just had no desire to be intimate with someone who didn’t identify as a man.
And now The Fellow Funky feels like a gross, undesirable freak and might prefer being dumped to this.
The Mellow Monkey @135:
Mayhaps The Fellow Funky needs to be the Dumper, not the Dumpee.
The Mellow Monkey
Could you please pass on these *gianthugs* to The Fellow Funky, should TFF feel inclined to accept them? And please assure TFF that xe is not a gross, undesirable freak, as xe is not responsible for Partner’s sexual preferences and xe sounds like a wonderful, understanding, kind and caring partner, and is probably desirable, too (I cannot judge, being only on this side of the internet, but sources assure me that TFF is indeed an awesome and attractive person). Some Major Sympathies for the crappy communications situation, too. :(
Also what Morgan said.
Hugs to the entire *ellow *unky clan, that’s crappy poly being practiced at you.
I’d like to send a very large hug, express delivery if possible, to The Fellow Funky if acceptable. And to say that yes, if there’s an Understanding that things get discussed beforehand then announcing a fait accompli two seconds before a public encounter with the party in question … well, this in no way shape or form resembles said Understanding. This is not good treatment of TFF, and I’m really sorry TFF is miserable. And TFF sounds like a generous and scrupulously careful partner to me. And I bet them anything they are not gross or undesirable at all; I’m just sorry and angry they’ve been made to feel that way. ::angryhugs:: if acceptable.
Ditto what CaitieCat said. Also sending hugs to the clan.
Adding more hugs to the pile for TFF.
Fellow Funky,
There’s a jar of light-up hugs here if you’d like.
Thanks everyone. *HUGS* where welcome. I really needed them.
TMM
Fucking hell. Seconding what Morgan, rq, CaitieCat, and opposablethumbs said. Also *hugs*
TMM or TFF
I’ll third what every one else said. Otherwise I’ll spend 3 hours trying to get something to sound right, then delete it anyway because I don’t like it, and then be all like, “They said it so much better.” So I’m going directly to thirding.
Hugs to those who need them.
Tomorrow there will be a session with a physical therapist for the Redhead!!!!!
*Kermit arms awaving*
Nerd! Yaaaaayyyy!
Came across this today, and thought I’d share:
@149: nice one, Ontario!
/so provinceproud
Oh. My. Gods.
‘Seven-year-old girl’ kills herself and five others in Nigeria suicide bombing
Wow… (Warning on that, discussion of BDSM in 50 Shades, and it came off as rather… victim-blame-y. I’m trying to figure out if the author has a point.)
Also, can we please stop referring to birth as ‘a miracle’? It only seems like a miracle if you’ve never actually seen the process. You know, like Here’s a pregnant woman! BOOM! Here’s a baby! MAGIC!
No, not a miracle.
TW Car Accident
Last night I drove home and all was well for the first ten minutes, and then there was a giant accident in front of me (no, I wasn’t involved, things were already heading into clean-up), so I spent the rest of the trip home in a mild panic, with my mind making all sorts of irrational connections (like, if I’d left an hour earlier like I’d originally planned, that could have been me, etc.). One car was covered in sand from extinguishing and the other was so mangled, I wasn’t sure if it was one car two, and firefighters were still doing something around where there might have been a person. Glass everywhere and two streetsigns totaled. Knowing that intersection, it was probably someone running a red. Don’t even want to know at what speeds.
Anyway,
Here’s some art appreciation.
Good morning
Fuck, I have a cold. For which today is really the worst day because a new Spanish class starts tonight and the first lessons with absolute beginners are always the most exhausting.
But hey, since my cousin decided to learn some Spanish there will be at least ONE person who writes my name corretly. Or would do so if he ever wrote a note saying “dear Ms lastname”.
TMM
What all the others said
*restocks hugs*
That’s not an OK thing to do. That’s actually cheating.
Yay for Nerd and Redhead
rq
*hugs*
Other people on the road are one of my biggest fears
ugh, rq. My brain does things like that sometimes and won’t switch off … brrr. Well I’m glad it wasn’t you.
Here’s to the Redhead‘s physio session!
Sorry about the cold, Giliell, hope the class isn’t too knackering.
TMM, please tell your friend Funky that they have every right to be upset at what their Partner did, and that any justifications Partner makes about how they feel is just post-hoc rationalization because Partner knows that going behind Funky’s back like that was wrong. And please remind Funky that although they have spent a long time highly valuing Partner’s opinions, Partner’s opinion of Funky’s attractiveness has no truth value outside of Partner’s own head, which is a small, small place in this world of over 6 billion people. And that Funky deserves someone who loves every part of them, mental and physical. And please pass along this virtual hand-knitted snugglie and pint of Ben &Jerry’s to Funky.
Why did I ask?
One day I’m going to write a looong rambling post about the fetishization of secondary literature or, how you’re actually not allowed to kow anything before you get a PhD. This term paper. I’m almost done with it. But just to be on the safe side I asked the intructor if I need to cite secondary literature for why I’m choosing this or that. Because, you know, I study that shit. I attended several classes and lectures and passed exams that now officially say that I know that shit. Yet when I write a godsdamn paper I no longer know that shit but that very important person who wrote a book knows that shit so since they say it it’s right.
opposablethumbs
Forgot to ask: what whisky?
*pops in*
*becomes curious*
*scrolls up a bit*
HUGS FOR THE HUG PILE
Gah! Asshole move.
I hesitate to give advice on such matters, but dumping him seems like a fairly good idea to me… it’s definitely understandable.
That is a thing. Not everyone’s sexual and romantic orientation line up. But not talking about it beforehand and misleading people is… very much not nice at all.
Er, no. Not everyone is omnisexual. For example, I’m exclusively into female-bodied people – it boils down, not oversimplifying much, to “presence of female and absence of male primary and secondary sexual characteristics”, to “features I don’t have”. Whatever your body shape is like, you’ll automatically be to half of the people like me, and to half of the people on the other end of that spectrum, and to many others as well. Whatever you look like, lots of people will never find you sexy. That’s just how it is.
And Partner should really have talked about it. Even if he was only figuring it out as he went along, he should have been talking about that with his romantic partner TFF.
QFT.
Seconded ^_^
Aberlour (just their minimum “entry level” one :-) ) – I guess it would be considered a low-ranking Speyside?
It is currently concealed behind the … oops!!!! I almost revealed the location of the hiding-place! The hiding-place behind the – the thing, that’s it, it’s behind that thing over there :-)
opposablethumbs
Never tell me where the Whisky is hidden *gg*
Aberlour is nice. Though the Aberlour box in our flat contains small coins and an occaisonal bill to pay for nice but expensive things on the holidays…
moarscienceplz @109
Speaking as a Brit, I don’t think we’re as precious about our flag as the people in the USA seem to be. Obviously, if you throw the flag on the ground and jump up and down on it, it’s not considered nice. But if it accidentally drapes on the floor I don’t think it’s a major issue.
TMM what everyone else has said plus even more *hugs*.
opposablethumbs Aberlour sounds like a good choice. I’m still working through the whisky I received for my mumble mumble birthday getting on for two years ago. Good whisky should be savoured!
Well to be honest, my choice was entirely guided by the fact that this was the only one on v-low-price special offer – I’m sure it will taste all the better for that, though :-)
Not that it will stick around for anything like two years …
Flags – also as a brit, I’d never heard of the not-touching-the-ground thing until I suppose I vaguely came across it in recent years in USAnian TV shows.
Exactly! One may look askance at such a faux pas, but one maintains the proper reserve.
Neither here nor there, but here in Latvia, it’s actually a criminal offense to do bad things to the national flag, and other national symbols. They’re like secular blasphemy laws. Currently under investigation: someone nailed down a small (the size of an A3 sheet of paper) flag in the middle of a rather popular public square for it to be walked on. They sent it in for DNA because they’re that desperate to try and find the person who did it. The joke? In order to get a proper sample, Colleague actually has to cut into the flag… thus defacing it even further. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
They threatened legal action against a group that tossed out a stack of those small paper flags on sticks after some rally or national celebration. (Without, of course, providing any alternative way of disposing of surplus flags.) And then those young people who poured milk on a flag to make a point. People wrapping themselves in the flag after winning races and the like is only slowly becoming a thing and met with a lot of outrage from the older generation for a long time (still does, probably).
It’s ridiculous.
Oh, and ‘bad things’ include ‘letting it touch the floor’. Interestingly, ‘leaving it up in the rain’ is not.
Reminds me of this rant by David Mitchell.
Giant gerbils killed millions!
“Climate-driven introduction of the Black Death and successive plague reintroductions into Europe” http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/02/20/1412887112
.
Leaked cables show Netanyahu’s Iran bomb claim contradicted by Mossad http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/23/leaked-spy-cables-netanyahu-iran-bomb-mossad
A politician exaggerating a threat for political reasons? Surely, that cannot happen? (sarcasm)
.
Red Pandas Have Way More Fun In The Snow Than You Do http://www.slate.com/blogs/wild_things/2015/02/20/red_panda_video_adorable_red_pandas_at_the_cincinnati_zoo_loves_the_snow.html
Saad,
A couple years ago, archaeologists found the ruins of an ancient synagogue in (I think) northern sSudi Arabia.
It was promptly bulldozed by orders of the government.
Political correctness helps.
“Creativity from Constraint? How Political Correctness Influences Creativity in Mixed-Sex Work Groups” http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/articles/910/
The reason, Cornell’s researchers argue, is that political correctness is a norm that provides clear guidance for how members of the opposite gender ought to relate to each other, which is otherwise ambiguous.
The Guardian: Bill O’Reilly tapes fail to back up claims of ‘combat zone’ reporting http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/feb/24/bill-oreilly-tapes-fail-to-back-up-claims-of-combat-zone-reporting
.
Is Sweden’s Missan world’s oldest cat? http://www.thelocal.se/20150222/is-swedens-missan-worlds-oldest-cat
.
Brain-eating amoeba http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/how-scientists-and-doctors-saved-a-12-year-old-from-a-brain-eating-amoeba-infection/
(Manho Singham)
“Respect my authoritah!” https://proxy.freethought.online/singham/2015/02/23/respect-my-authoritah/#more-29458
birgerjohansson @168
As it happens, the brain-eating amoeba is one of my Great Irrational Fears. I will never swim in a body of water with less than 3ppm chlorine, will never go to Sea World (too much splashing), and will never use a Netti Pot.
Another Great Irrational Fear is of the undersides of boats. I don’t care to be on boats much, but can manage that because the underside is hidden. A boat in dry-dock, however, incites panic.
I want a job with sick leave.
Because I want to crawl into bed and not come out until tomorrow. Instead I took painkiller and will put on lots of make up and a smile.
rq:
Glad you avoided the pileup.
It is fucking cold here today. When I left the house, it was -7. That’s Fahrenheit, not Celsius. And we had a bit of a warm-up on calendarnormative Sunday. Which melted some snow on the roof. Which could not go into the gutter because the drain pipe is blocked with ice. So it ran down between my house and the neighbor. And I could, if I wanted to, and was not a coward, ice skate to the back yard.
Continuing to teach myself InDesign while preparing a 16 to 20 page booklet for the site. We have two pages set aside for two nearby national parks, but if I don’t get any images and text by calendarnormative Friday, I’m just gonna cut the pages and aim for next year.
On the subject of irrational fears? None. All my fears are rational. Or well deserved.
I swear I am running a long-stay kennel for the Black Dog.
Hi to all.
ISIL kidnaps at least 70 Christian people in Syria
No doubt many of them will be raped and killed :(
Blargh! Let’s try that again!
Women! You need to smile in your tweets!
nich,
Ugh, that is sickening! Because if there’s one place where men aren’t the ones hurling hate and abuse, it’s Twitter, right?
Double sexism by saying women should speak “beautiful”.
nich @175, there’s also an ad on TV. Right, let’s get rid of depression, negative body image, and sexism by telling women to “speak beautiful”. In the immortal words of Rachel Maddow, bullpucky.
It was sticking in my twitter feed as a sponsored ad. It was just so odd to see something so dumb staring me in the face. I normally only encounter things like that secondhand via a link in a story or something. It’s rare (at least for me) to encounter a live specimen of something so mindbogglingly sexist from a major brand.
This is a run by fruiting – I mean commenting. (I have no idea why, but that little scene from Mrs. Doubtfire where Robin Williams throws a lime at Pierce Brosnan stuck in my head – probably because I want to run around lobbing fruit at the department Chair, the Dean, several of my colleagues… ugh).
TMM Add my “that’s not cool – you can’t do that to someone, it is a violation of your relationship” with a pulling the “you just don’t do it for me now” is a totally sucky way to try to shift responsibility for their clearly lousy behavior – that is unacceptable. Everyone else already worded this better. Adding virtual hugs to the pile.
I have done something to my back and now it is threatening to dissolve into disabling pain if I move wrong.
rq Those Oscar dresses were interesting. I had no idea attack of the curtains could be an ongoing fashion statement. Well, I suppose you have to give her credit – at least she is committing to looking like she lost a fight with a remnants store – otherwise it might appear that she just made a fashion mistake. Also – very glad you got home safe. There have been an alarming number of car accidents around here due to stupid driving, slippery roads and huge snow piles that block your view at intersections. Last week I was driving the kids to science camp an were were passing an average of 2 car accidents on the way in each morning. It’s unnerving.
Virtual Divine Dark Chocolate with Raspberries to the lounge stock for anyone who needs a pick me up (I found this over in the bookstore when I went over to get some ibuprofen – dangerous stuff – Yum!)
*hugs* for The Fellow Funky. Your SO is hereby renamed SA (significant asshole), with chances of becoming iSA (insignificant asshole).
rq, *hugs* for the pile-up scare.
Oscar dresses : I looked at them this morning, and now I just remember I like Zoe Saldana’s dress and that I wished Black Widow would get some one on one time with Travolta (no paper trail, Barton can help with the clean-up).
pHred, Can you make another fruiting run, please? I just looked in the fruit bowl, and it only has an rather elderly apple (which may, in fact, be an extremely elderly pear, it’s a bit hard to tell), two banana-shaped lumps, and a blue-green orange. Also, for some reason, half a cork, a sudoku puzzle from several months ago, a small plush purple mouse (missing one eye), and a tuning fork.
blf:
From the sounds of your fruitbole, you are well on your way to some home-made fruit wine.
Well – I just stocked up on Gala apples, clementines and bananas – so I can add to the pile, but you have to get rid of the tuning fork. They make a horrible racket when you are drive by fruiting.
Half a cork ?
pHred:
Do you really want to know where the other half is?
Upon further consideration, um, … no.
*large comforter woven entirely out of finest-quality hugs* for The Fellow Funky—who has certainly not been dealt with in the straightforward and honest fashion xe deserves.
Also, All The Things already said so well by our fellow Loungers.
Also also, that Partner needs a swift kick, somewhere about their person. With *extra napalm!*.
–
Nerd:
*joining in the Kermit Arm Wave*
–
WMDKitty:
:( :( :( :( :(
–
*hugs* for rq, post-Close Encounter With Traffic Accident; and stop copying my thought processing in these situations at once!
–
Commiserations for Giliell on the cold.
*nodding vigorously*
I find it sensible to assume that all the other cars are being piloted by complete idiots, who may do any-damned-fool-thing at any moment.
–
*hugs* for Ogvorbis.
–
pHred, I’m sorry about your back—hopefully it will improve quickly!
–
“Oscar dresses”? Why clothe a statuette?
Smearing it with peanut butter is obviously better!
(Those with nut allergies can use mustard instead.)
Well, I had a bit of a struggle to get the tuning fork out — something kept pulling it back — and gave it to the mildly deranged penguin (she likes LOUD after all). Judging by the screams, biiinnngs!, and complaints about cheese going missing, she’s now happily running around the village and seeing what uses, er noises, it can be put to. Probably not really much of a problem, unless she find the other half of the cork.
blf:
On. Oscar dresses. Oscar the Grouch in drag. Or Jack Klugman. Either one.
…Interesting. If I may ask, what do you associate it with? ~:-|
The “torture report” that includes Guantanamo provides links to a police detective that previously worked in Chicago. This detective apparently plied his evil ways in Chicago before plying his evil ways in Guantanamo. Spencer Ackerman, an editor at The Guardian, followed all the leads, connected the dots, and was interviewed by Rachel Maddow in a stunning exclusive that documents this USA-police-force connection to CIA torture techniques.
Worse yet, the man that was tortured, without cause apparently, is still being held at Guantanamo.
David!
*pouncehug*
–
#Travolta kisses everyone! The allegedly funniest pictures. :-) The video at the bottom is unrelated.
cicely!
*pouncehug*
*fine chocolate*
The US federal government just announced that they will not prosecute George Zimmerman for federal criminal violation of Trayvon Martin’s civil rights regarding his death.
H/t Buzzfeed News
blf (@181)
Oh, so that’s where my mousie went!
Okay, we’re dooomed.
This is a followup to comment #112. It’s not just banks that are ripping off prisoners in the USA. Communication companies are also making big bucks off the captive audience.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/01/jail-prison-video-visitation
rq, 197
Utterly horrifying and awesome.
Fresh crab & octopus, pre-sashimied! Just the way the mildly deranged penguin likes it, so fresh it’s not only still squirming, but fighting back. Well, almost the way she likes it… not LOUD enough, and insufficient cheese.
Don’t think so. Yours is missing the other eye. Or maybe Teh Third Eye, I don’t recall for certain now. Definitely not this eye.
This Australian comics take on America’s absurd gun laws is brilliant (Video)
I don’t usually listen to videos, but the above one with Jim Jefferies is rather funny.
Turns out Jim Jefferies’ video is insightful and humorous until the last few minutes when he veers off into ableism. Ugh.
*hugs* for Ogvorbis and rq. Kind of ‘rupt, still can’t comment extensively.
Went to use some of my tax refund to get my bike tuned up and get some reinforced tires to fix the glass problem; turns out it’s in worse shape than I thought, and I’m looking at ~$275 all up.
David Marjanović @ 190
I’m not sure why the fear is so specific. My dad has always liked boats, and had one when I was very young. My mom claims he delighted in rocking the boat while I was in it. It’s possible I fell out once and stared at the underside while struggling to not drown. It kind of makes sense, but I have no actual memory of that happening.
Hello All,
I’ve been a reader of this blog for sometime and use to contribute more to the community. I had a blog years ago and thought it was time to re-engage with the community. I love religious satire and given what has been going on in the world I feel open scrutiny and criticism is more important than ever. I look forward to your jokes and humor.
Tooling around the books today I found one that I think you all might enjoy. It’s a free download right now.
http://www.amazon.com/Nutty-Bible-Quotes-vividly-illustrated-ebook/dp/B00TEC9SIK/ref=zg_bs_158554011_f_1
philentific @207:
Welcome to the Lounge!
May I offer you a tasty beverage from the bar?
I was very much confused earlier today, when I opened up two envelopes with new credit cards. One has a chip that is being adopted, and one looks like the old card. Same info on both. A little use of Google explained the change over. The change over is occurring to harmonize with Europe, and it targeted to be complete by the end of October. Except for the PIN, required in Europe, which is the next step, but marketing decided the US finds it too cumbersome. Never-mind all the debit card users…
awakeinmo:
I’m not too wild about ships or boats out on the ocean. I keep expecting them to capsize. Most of my experience in boats has either been 12-foot rafts (which (in big enough water) flipped (sometimes end-for-end)) or a kayak (painted on the top of the kayak, in front of the cockpit, in cursive, with a drop shadow, was the name of the kayak: This End UP!). I have no fear of the bottom of boats, or of boats capsizing. I just expect them to do so.
I wonder what evidence convinced a Massachusetts history museum that this was a honest to gosh real UFO abduction story.
Can somebody give me a medal, please? I did three loads of washing on Monday and four yesterday (regular collection + all the sheets and blanket covers + the delicates pile + all the random crap we found while cleaning). And I think I deserve a medal.
I’m moving to Japan in a month. There are no words for how excited I’m feeling. Luckily, my mother volunteered to shoulder most of the anxiety for me which was very generous of her. So much to do, though.
Is there anyone in the Seattle area who needs furniture? Or a pair of extremely friendly but rather badly behaved cats?
A. Noyd
I am jealous.
About the Japan moving.
Not so much that other stuff.
がんばれます。
Hilarious! COPS: Skyrim
*moring*
TMI I’m dripping such huge amounts of snot from my nose, I’m wondering how I’m still able to pee.
A. Noyd
Wooooo, that’s huge!
But you know what the good thing about the internet is? I don’t have to worry if we’ll ever meet again just because you’Re moving to another continent *gg*
rq
Here’s your medal. If you peel off the tinfoil there’s chocolate underneath.
chigau (#214)
I’m trying. I certainly がんばる’d today. Had to get a bunch of rather painful dental work done. Well, it wasn’t painful during because they were very generous with the nitrous. But after is proving to be less fun. Though, it’s still preferable to ending up needing an emergency root canal in Japan or whatever.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Giliell (#216)
People keep asking me if I’ll miss my friends or miss having English speakers to talk with. I have to remind them that I do most of my socializing online, so that’s not a concern in any way. Now that I think of it, though, they’re probably trying to subtly get me to invite them to visit. Hmm.
A Noyd, I’m monster envious, and heartily glad for you. My disability (and its meds requirements) means I can’t go abroad in any meaningful way – short trips at most.
おめでとう！ がんばって！
(For non-Japanese literate folks: “omedetou” – o-meh-deh-toe – is “congratulations”; “ganbatte” – gan-baht-teh – is variously “good luck!” and “try hard!” and “do your best!”; chigau used another form of “ganbatte”.)
Looks like I’m getting a
businessbirthday trip to Copenhagen, courtesy of work.You can buy underpants/knickers/panties in the pattern of the flag, so I imagine quite a lot of them fall on the ground when the wearers of such garments undress! I think you can also buy Uniion Flag toilet paper. Patriotic idiocy is directed toward different fetishes (e.g. Elizabeth Wondsor) here.
Black Death plague now blamed on giant gerbils, not rats. Beware the Gerbil.
Congrats A Noyd , sounds like an exciting opportunity.
Have another medal rq that much washing deserves something…what about the ironing? The trip to Copenhagen sounds fun.
philentific Welcome to the lounge. I’m sure rq will be round soon with the questionnaire.
Hello, philentific. In order to become a Full! Member! of the Lounge, please share some thoughts on the following:
1) cheese;
2) peas;
3) horses;
4) Miracle Whip.
Additional rights and privileges granted upon Full!Member!ship: none.
Truth value of this questionnaire: none.
Entertainment value of this questionnaire: depends on YOU.
Have at it, and welcome!
+++
Husband has been having an interesting reaction to my potential going to Copenhagen (two days, one night): “Well, if you really must, and if your work is paying for everything, and if you think it will be good for your professional development, I guess it’s fine!”
Umm… 1) my Boss is signing me up to this which makes it a work-covered thing, and 2) this was never an issue when you had to go to Germany on business for two weeks… or to Poland on business for ten days. Can we please at least pretend I do need the professional development in a field where the fact that I still have (only) a bachelor’s degree is actually a demerit against me? Thanks.
I wish I knew enough about Copenhagen to recommend some sights.
.
Zombie outbreak? Statistical mechanics reveal the ideal hideout http://phys.org/news/2015-02-zombie-outbreak-statistical-mechanics-reveal.html
A fun way to learn about epidemiology.
.
Another dumb consequence of colonialism: http://satwcomic.com/love-snake
Anyone with a brain could have foreseen that it would lead to snake farms.
“Given the dynamics of the disease, once the zombies invade more sparsely populated areas, the whole outbreak slows down—there are fewer humans to bite, so you start creating zombies at a slower rate,” he elaborates. “I’d love to see a fictional account where most of New York City falls in a day, but upstate New York has a month or so to prepare.”
“A lot of modern research can be off-putting for people because the techniques are complicated and the systems or models studied lack a strong connection to everyday experiences,” Alemi adds. “Not that zombies are an everyday occurrence, but most people can wrap their braains around them.”
.
“The zombie-ant fungus is under attack, research reveals” http://phys.org/news/2012-05-zombie-ant-fungus-reveals.html -Fungus-killing fungus!
Republicans Propose Declaring Idaho A ‘Christian State’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/24/idaho-christian-state_n_6747826.html
I thought it was a chordate/vertebrate-dominated state. With a sprinkling of arthropods.
.
Brazil Detains Alleged Deforestation King Of Amazon http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/24/ezequiel-antonio-castanha-detained_n_6747618.html
.
Exceptional Stone Age Norwegian excavated http://sciencenordic.com/exceptional-stone-age-norwegian-excavated
that’s older than any anglo-saxon Mercun skeleton. So they have bona fide Norwegian exceptionalism.
rq for what it’s worth I don’t see why your husband should have a problem with you going to Copenhagen. I always encourage my wife to go out when she gets the opportunity. We all need a break and a change of scenery every once in a while. Especially as it is related to your job anyway. This is solely my opinion obviously!
Pope Rocky is at it again. This time: good old racism:
Manfeels Park strikes again.
+++
bassmike
Well, essentially, I don’t think he really has any problem with it, either, though I’m pretty sure his first thought is how is this going to inconvenience him – and by ‘inconvenience’ I mean that whole childcare-during-the-day thing, which is, admittedly, a challenge. To be honest, it’s sometimes exactly the same kind of thought that strikes me when he suggests weekend plans, because at least one weekend day is usually a workday for me, so my first thoughts are, ‘Do we all have to go?’ and ‘If we’re not all going, are you taking the kids?’ I’m pretty sure when the time comes he’ll be perfectly fine with me going to Copenhagen and being professional in an international setting for a change.
Plus he got hit twice today, my Boss also signed me up for a local three-day European conference thingy, where I will also *gulp* have to make a presentation. Yes, three workdays. But there’s six weeks to plan for that one, so we have time to go through all our childcare options.
Anyway, thanks for the support. :)
… Annnnnd my Boss just extended my Copenhagen dates. I think I’m going to go for the ’cause for celebration’ reaction first, with the ‘oh shit the scheduling’ reaction a close second.
rq,
I wish I could travel for work! What do you do for a living?
rq, sounds like exciting times ahead. I hope everything works out.
Saad
Forensic DNA Analysis. :D
Not usually a travelling job, and I’ve never been to an actual conference before where I’m the only one representing my particular laboratory, so this will be a first, but I’ve presented locally for educational purposes (because all the gods know our local police force and lawyers’ guild needs it). Like 3 years ago.
Eight plus years of work and they’re finally letting me out in public. (Also, seminars and conferences in this field are comparatively rare, but I have recertification coming up in a year and a half or so and I need the points – the language factor may or may not have played a role in my selection this time around.)
Science journalism strikes again. Apparently, there’s going to be a partial solar eclipse in March:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/biggest-solar-eclipse-since-1999-could-plunge-uk-into-darkness-31019782.html
This, according to the report, could “plunge the UK into darkness” and “put energy supplies at risk” because of all the solar power we’re using these days. I’m pretty sure the UK gets plunged into darkness on a fairly regular basis without any major problems. It happened last night, for instance, and the night before.
PEOPLE ARE ATTRACTED TO LONGER EYELASHES BECAUSE THEY KNOW THIS MEANS GREATER EYE FITNESS IN THEIR POTENTIAL PARTNER. Or something. :)
Anyway, I’m disappointed to learn that my beautifully elegant and naturally long lashes may actually be too long, thus reducing my visual fitness. Oh well, at least I can look pretty while bumping into those doorframes and sponging up the gross mucus that leaks out of my infected eyes.
rq:
Forensic DNA analysis? So they hand you a cigarette butt that has been lying in the rain for three days and, fifteen minutes later, you have a complete DNA sequence allows you to declare, “The murderer is a blonde man, 1.92 metres tall, weighing 130 kilos, with a limp and trifocals”? Cool beans.
On a more serious note, that is cool.
Here’s a joke your kids may annoy:
Me: Ask me if I am a fire truck.
You: Are you a fire truck?
Me: Yes. Now ask me if I am a tree.
You: Are you a tree?
Me: No. I’m a fire truck . Weren’t you listening?
(This was told to me by my son. Who learned it from a Maronite Nun at the nursing home he works at.)
rq @235:
What does “eye fitness” mean, I wonder.
@223:
My first reaction upon reading this–“I don’t think rq was asking for a permission slip to go on this trip”.
****
A. Noyd @213:
Congratulations.
Is this a work-related move?
Tony, #237
An exercise instructor who sees a crime taking place.
Ogvorbis
Why, yes, it does happen exactly like on TV! We even have special mood lighting, though that usually goes by the name of ‘there’s a bulb out again’.
And I’m going to try the joke on the kids, this should be good.
Tony
If your eyes can benchpress 150 without breaking a sweat?
No, Saad, that’s a ‘fitness eye’. Close, though!
ALSO I keep meaning to, but it slips the mind, sorry – Congrats to A. Noyd on the future move, this sounds like an exciting new chapter in your life, and I wish you everything of the best before and during the move, and here’s to getting settled in Japan! (In a weird reverse-coincidence, a friend of mine who has been in Japan for several years already is about to move away from Japan.)
Hope the move is everything you hope it will be.
rq @239:
One hundred fifty whats? Millithaums?
Let me know if the kids appreciate the joke.
And, up in my #236, “annoy” was supposed to be “enjoy”. Thus the lack of grammatical coherence. Which is not that unusual for me.
Mom Could Have Used Few More Days To Self Before Missing Daughter Returned http://www.theonion.com/articles/mom-could-have-used-few-more-days-to-self-before-m,38079/
Game developers around the world created 22 new trans positive video games in honor of Leelah Alcorn
Bionic arms just got a huge breakthrough
rq
Have fun in Copenhagen. Make sure you eat one of those Danish ice cones with fluff and everything on top.
+++
*sigh*
Had a talk with #1’s teacher and after school daycare teacher. She’s having troubles dealing with classroom and teacher changes and since she’s, well, herself, she doesn’t talk to me about it (I’m not sure if she sees it as a problem herself), so the first I get to hear about it is when I’m asked for an appointment.
We’ve agreed on advancing her on her schoolwork and to use positive reinforcement, setting her goals in behaviour.
A rare peek into the The Church of Scientology’s finances
I went through the convention center here in Seattle when I was picking up my visa because it’s an easy way to get to the building with the Japanese consulate and found out that there’s currently a conference about retroviruses and opportunistic infections. I kind of wish I could have gone to that, though I doubt there would have been much at my level of understanding.
~*~*~*~*~*~
@CaitieCat, bassmike, Tony and rq
ありがとう、みんな！ / Thanks all!
~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony (#237)
I’m not being sent by an employer, but I did get a job there teaching English to kids.
Ogvorbis
The kids didn’t really appreciate the joke.
I think they’re just not old enough for advanced humour.
;)
This is a followup to comment #191.
Last night Chris Hayes interviewed the reporter from The Guardian, Spencer Ackerman. New information associated with the Guantanamo torture king, a guy from the Chicago police force, has emerged. It seems that the Chicago Police Department runs it own “black site” where it holds detainees for up to 24 hours without booking them, without allowing access to their lawyers, and with other violations of civil rights being routine.
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/chicago-police-site-comes-under-scrutiny-403894851665
http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/a-domestic-black-site-in-chicago–403892803577
Lynna
The Chicago PD already denied the claim that any torture occurs on site – oddly enough, the Guardian article never explicitly mentions torture, while the PD denial does. And everything at the site occurs just as it would in any other department building – which, actually, is the spookiest part. “Move along, nothing to see here! Standard protocol!”
Ok, who tried to feed this ex-dinosaur a pea? Owl attacks prompt Dutch town to arm itself with umbrellas: “European eagle owl sends many victims in Purmerend to hospital
Expert says hormone levels or time in captivity may be to blame”.
birger @226, I foresee some problems with declaring Idaho a Christian state. Mormons declared themselves to be christians when they changed the name of their church to The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints. Yes, they use the name like that, with the Jesus part in all caps.
However, lots of “real” christians object. To them, mormonism is not a christian religion. 24% of Idaho residents claim to be mormon. Perhaps more to the point, mormons are disproportionally represented in local, county, and state government. In 1884 a “test oath” prevented mormons from voting or holding office. That situation has dramatically reversed, with mormons dominating everything from school boards and local zoning boards to the state legislature.
The second biggest percentage of Idahoans (about 22%) claim to be evangelical christians. These are probably the “declare Idaho a Christian state” activists.
All in all, just plan stupid on the part of a least half the population.
Lynna @253,
Time to help anyone who wants to leave Idaho out, and then build a wall around the state so the Christian Warriors can fight it out without disturbing the rest of us. Gah.
I am not suffering fools gladly today…
I just tried that with the mildly deranged penguin:
Me: Ask me if I am a fire truck.
She: You don’t smell like cheese.
Me: Ok, ask me if I am a tree, then.
She: Can’t be. Cheese grows on trees.
Me: So am I a fire truck then?
She: You also don’t look like a pea.
Me: Is that a yes?
She: And you also don’t listen.
Idaho is deeply, deeply red. It is so Republican that the small cohort of Democrats who live in the Sun Valley area are said to occupy a foreign country. Like other Republican-dominated states, Idaho has a lot of citizens who don’t believe in evolution.
Every time I look into this, the ignorance seems to be growing. They’ve hit a sort of tipping point, and they’ve affected education for a long enough period of time to have fed anti-education to a new generation. Now lots and lots of Republicans don’t believe in evolution.
In case you were wondering, the poll question was: “Do you believe in evolution or not?” 49% of Republicans were happy to answer in the negative. Public Policy Polling conducted the poll.
Here’s Paul Krugman’s take on this:
rq @151, I saw that denial. Not sure how the Chicago Police Department accounts for the testimony of people who were held there (one guy interviewed said he was held for 17 hours without booking, and without access to his lawyer), nor how the CPD accounts for the guy who died while in an interview room. Too many questions, and too much lack of transparency to really judge what’s going on.
The king-of-intimidation guy, the Guantanamo torturer, seems to have vented his need to intimidate on black and brown people brought into the “black site.”
BTW, rq, I second the motion to give you a medal for doing that much laundry. Mine needs doing. Luckily, I am no longer doing laundry for a whole family. Still amazed by how much dirty laundry I can create.
We both get medals, and chocolate, and hugs.
Lynna
Sounds good to me! (The medals, chocolate, and hugs.)
Also, re: the Chicago PD, and the man who died in custody – their official story is that he died of an accidental heroin overdose, though if true, then he overdosed while in police custody, and that just sounds… odd. From any angle.
Hugging chocolate medals is likely to be a bit messy.
I suggest just eating them.
blf, I stuffed chocolate medals into my breast pocket, where they warmed nicely. Then I ate them. It’s all in the timing.
rq @259, yeah, I thought the same thing. Heroin overdose guy should have been taken to the hospital, preferably before dying.
Wow – Congrats A Noyd that is so cool.
Strangely enough I have been invited to present on forensic trace evidence analysis at a conference in Japan towards the end of the year. I am trying to a) learn some Japanese (I have hiragana down, still working on katakana and know about 20 kanji. The sentence structure is killing me though) and b) get at least some money out of my institution to help cover the costs. The people inviting me are putting up some funding, but they can’t cover the whole thing – sigh, the joys of working in academics and non-DNA forensics.
(I am sticking my tongue out at you rq because I would love to go to Denmark, your employer is paying for the trip and because your laundry is done. I still have several loads of towels to get through.)
Warning – minor whine – needs cheese – To add to my sore back, I have now tried to pull a fingernail off getting my bag out of the car – so the section under nail looks gross – and I dropped something on my foot so that I have a big black bruise right in the middle of my foot just over my toes. The middle toe is an interesting shade of purple now. I still have one more class to teach today too. Sigh.
Now that it is a gloriously warm (relatively speaking) 19°F outside (~ negative 7°C) my office is so hot that I am melting in here, but the first floor of the building – everyone is wearing their coats it is so cold. This is such a stupid building.
Oops – the copies are done. Need to psych myself up for class now.
Hugs for everybody, help yourselves.
Howdy, philentific; Welcome In!
Have you been Questionnaired, yet?
I see that you have.
:)
–
*handing rq a medal*
Congratulations!
You are the new Launderer Supreme!
It is up to you to protect our world—nay, our very Plane of Existence!—from the menace of Missing Socks From Another Space/Time.
Congrats also on the upcoming trips.
–
To the surprise of nobody but AGW denialists, scientist witness carbon dioxide trapping heat in air.
Let the screaming begin…
Not funding the Department of Homeland Security just got a bit more complicated for Republicans. Not only are rightwing nut jobs in the House insisting on shutting ‘er down, (while fighting with Republicans who are not total nut jobs), but the House is fighting with the Senate over who is to blame and over who should fix the problem. John Boehner and Mitch McConnell haven’t even spoken to each other in over two weeks. Not a good situation.
And that’s not all, the DHS sent out an intelligence assessment that concluded that the biggest terrorist threat in the USA may come from rightwing sovereign citizen extremists. Conservatives and sovereign citizen extremists are hopping mad … and politicians on the right are more determined than ever to shut DHS the hell up.
Umm, read the report Representative Poe. You are divorced from reality.
Rep. Poe went on the claim that the Obama administration is “more aggressive toward Americans, Republicans, conservatives, Christians, and concerned about them being threats to the country, which they’re not, than they are about the real threats to our country.” Yeah, right. Fighter jets, armed drones, and special forces advisors have been regularly striking targets in Texas. No, Mr. Poe, you are wrong.
Skimming through comment 266, I thought I saw ‘T-Rexas’ and got excited, but no, it was ‘R-Texas’. No real live dinosaurs here. *sigh*
Ha, pHred, I am employed by the Guvmint, and if they didn’t pay for us to go on these work-related trips, nobody would ever go, because we can’t afford them for ourselves. And if nobody went, we’d never get past the ‘furthering one’s education’ and ‘international co-operation’ part of the form that lets us participate in the Big Lab Games with others in Europe, and that would look bad, so… they cover the bare minimum. Very big on the FlyIn-FlyOut type of trip, though, where they land you just in time for the beginning, and arrange your flight so you can barely make it out after the very last presentation. Thankfully, Copenhagen is a several-day trip, so it shouldn’t be as rushed.
Can I ask, what sort of trace evidence do you analyze, and how? Feel free not to share this information.
pHred (#262)
Japanese sentence structure is much less fussy than English’s. You should be able to communicate quite a lot if you remember to stick the verb at the end and concentrate on figuring out the function of some basic particles. It’s generally particles rather than position that tell you what a word or clause is doing in a sentence.
Senator Barbara Boxer gets it right. She is so forthright, so clear on this issue, that she reminds me of Elizabeth Warren:
Link.
Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times tries to educate readers on white privilege.
Broadchurch – if you haven’t seen season 1 go watch it. If you have, go watch season 2.
Many cheers for the Horders with upcoming travels and conferences! You will spread the wonders of Hordliness even furtherer and widerer. Conga-rats to A Noyd and anti-bruising sympathetic magic to pHred. Awe to rq for multiple awesomeness. Assorted hugs to those who would care for one. Heard some health news about a friend today which made me cry (possibility of chemo again fuckit fuckit fuckit), and I don’t want to drag her down so I hope you don’t mind if I cry a bit here. Thank you. Many long-distance intercontinental virtual hugs, again.
Beatrice,
What a coincidence! I was just deciding whether to watch Happy Valley first or Broadchurch. I went with Happy Valley but Broadchurch is next.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, I recommend The Fall heartily. One of the finest shows I’ve ever seen. Gillian Anderson is fantastic in it and the show has some awesome moments where she lays the smack down on misogyny and rape culture.
opposablethumbs
*hugs*
Bad medical news (esp. repeated chemo) is always a good reason to cry, even if only a little bit.
*passes a clean hanky*
Saad,
I love Gillian Anderson and I’ve heard many good things about The Fall. It’s next.
rq Mostly particulate materials – soil, sand, microfossils – stuff like that.
I am part of a couple of organizations and work with some government scientists – in the US they talk about national and international cooperation but refuse to pay for anyone to go anywhere. People from other countries are apparently supposed to pay for the pleasure of coming here, or something. One of my friends in the FBI was even forbidden permission for travel even when an international organization was going to pay for the whole thing! It’s nuts.
The worst thing about international travel is that I find myself trying to explain US gun policies, our politicians and our police. It is not fun. Not fun at all. I was in London once and asked to explain Mitt Romney – they thought he was performance art of some kind. The people I was dining with (from all over Europe) where rather horrified that he was really a politician.
were – they were rather horrified.
I previewed even.
So-called “analysts” on Fox News say more stupid stuff:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ralph-peters-obama-pontius-pilate
Sounds like the right-wingers are increasing the volume of the incessant drumbeat for “holy war.” Note the reference to Mr. Exaggeration himself, Bill O’Reilly.
pHred
Wow, I’m glad I’m not burdened with the additional issue of trying to explain my country everywhere I go – at least not on that scale! And certainly not in Europe.
Yeah, American politics and policies are not understood over here, too. Husband is constantly aghast at Republican candidates (the bewilderment last round…), and he looks to me to explain this phenomenon, but all I can tell him is I’m Canadian, not American, and sometimes that makes all the difference. :P
Glad you’re getting out to Japan, at least – maybe one day we’ll (unknowingly?) cross paths at some international all-forensics meeting somewhere. :)
@Lynna #266
At least he’s appropriately named
In addition to their other anti-abortion tactics, the religious rightwing is also trying to make abortion too expensive for most women. Rightwing politicians are backing them up with legislation:
I am reminded of the recent interview with Ruth Bader Ginsberg, in which the Justice said that rich women will always be able to get an abortion.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/02/25/3622531/cost-abortion-investigation/
Religious right-wingers say more stupid stuff, and in the process turn the concept of separation of church and state to rubble [emphasis added by yours truly]:
Right Wing Watch link
Grewgills @281, Yes indeed. Maybe Mr. Poe is trying to set a new standard for satire? Poe is the real deal. Utterly frightening. (In reference to #266.)
More right-wingers make outrageous claims about past exploits:
Right Wing Watch link
Heroes in their own minds.
I don’t have much to say about the Oscars since I don’t watch, but there is this link from Hood Feminism about Arquette’s comments, which also has this link about Giuliana Rancic’s racist comments about Zendaya’s dreads. Coincidently, I was searching for music for Little One about a week or so ago and found her on Disney’s site, which we’ve been listening to ever since. Especially her single Replay. (Sorry, if that has been brought up and I missed it.)
On the homefront, everything’s still the same. Little One’s doing great in school. Roomie and I are jobless and screwed.
The new shit is that the new apartment managers are assholes to homeless people. Surprise! They hired someone to wash the outside wall and shit who was a rude jerk. Then he got my mother, and her stuff, including her electric cart battery charger wet and broken. His response? “Not my problem” Manager blew it off as “We’ll speak to him.” The next day my mother and her husband were threatened to be arrested for sitting on the sidewalk (not loitering, they had literally just stopped to rest. this was elsewhere), so they moved on and came to visit me. Where the owners had them trespassed off and said they’d be arrested in they come back on property. The reason they did that was so ludicrous the people making it are definitely lying about it being them. It’s either the owners making it up to get rid of the homeless people since they want to spruce up the place and jack up rent (my guess), or the resident holds a grudge, or covering for themselves/someone else. It’s not like it’s easy to mistake my mother, her cart, all their bags, and her husband.
Bleh.
JAL
*hugs&chocolate*
Distribute as you like.
I hope for things to get better for you and the rest of your family. Anything I can do to help?
Thank you rq. Hope you don’t mind if I keep the hanky for a bit, I think I’m going to need it.
JAL that’s horrible. I’m sorry they’re being such total arseholes. Shit, why do people go out of their way to cause harm to others?
I guess dunderheaded Republicans have not yet said enough stupid stuff about vaccinations. This time the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight in the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Barry Loundermilk, boasted about not vaccinating his children. This incident brings to the forefront that homeschooled children may not be vaccinated.
Link
This is sort of good news, or at least a step in the right direction:
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/wal-mart-pay-hike-starts-wage-war-n312671
Japanese company fills offices with cats to help employees unwind and improve productivity:
Neat idea (shame it wouldn’t work in a restaurant).
Drinking human breast milk the latest craze among bodybuilders looking to bulk up.
Here’s one that made me think of Rowan vet-tech:
http://www.odditycentral.com/animals/fascinating-viper-uses-its-realistic-spider-shaped-tail-to-lure-prey.html
Tony #291
Hmm….Pet a kitty until clawed, or link to Pharnyngula, looking for trolls…Dilemma….
Autostraddle recently conducted a survey among their readers. The Ultimate Lesbian Sex Survey turned out to be a hit, with more than 8,000 surveys submitted. The last question was “Is there anything else you want to tell us about the way you fuck?”
Here are some of the answers:
Sooo… Gillian Anderson is in Latvia, filming for War and Peace right now. Should I try to meet her? :D
rq @296:
Unlike the answers to the Lounge questionnaire, this one’s clear cut–YES!
Tony
Ha, I’m working on the logistics. They’re shooting here (you can take the virtual tour down where it says ‘Virtuālā tūre’), which is quite a ways away with no decent public transportation access, plus I don’t know exactly which day she will be shooting. I may just tweet something to her, see what she says. :) Something harmless, like ‘Enjoy your stay! Can I come watch you on-set?’
Morning
Still sick as a donkey :(
JAL
*big hugs*
+++
I’m impressed by the apology. Not by the Twitter no-pology but by that later long version one which is actually how it should be done.
The Shockingly Simple, Surprisingly Cost-Effective Way to End Homelessness
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/02/housing-first-solution-to-homelessness-utah
A good idea coming from Utah!
The Internet Has Already Revolutionized Prostitution. But Could Better Apps Make It Truly Safe? http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/02/25/uber_for_prostitution_could_better_apps_make_the_world_s_oldest_profession.html
.
New political party wants to make cannabis an election issue http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/25/new-party-cannabis-election-issue-cista-candidates
Inexplicably Green Cat Turns Heads in Bulgaria http://www.odditycentral.com/animals/inexplicably-green-cat-turns-heads-in-bulgaria.html
HULK WANT TUNA!
.
“200-Year-Old Mummified Monk Not Dead, Just Meditating, Buddhism Expert Claims” http://www.odditycentral.com/news/200-year-old-mummified-monk-not-dead-just-meditating-buddhism-expert-claims.html
..like that Bad Santa they dug up in Finland? (film reference)
.
For $24.99 “Invisible Boyfriend” App Creates Fake Romantic Partners to Relieve Social Pressure http://www.odditycentral.com/news/for-24-99-invisible-boyfriend-app-creates-fake-romantic-partners-to-relieve-social-pressure.html
Hope you feel better soon Giliell .
Hugs to JAL
Tony! that snake makes for a scarily realistic spider. Birds don’t stand a chance.
Another early morning today. My daughter’s going through a phase of waking up at about 5.30 -6.30 more often than not. It’s exhausting. This morning my wife got up to her at 5.50. I got up at 6.10 and managed to get her back to sleep. I got up at 7.00 and had a struggle waking my daughter up. *sigh* Such is parenthood.
Bah. I have to take my car to the mechanic this morning. The starter is making ominous noises. Better now than in some parking lot someplace far away from my mechanic, I suppose. There go my tightly scheduled plans for the rest of this week.
The kettle is about to boil. Tea, anyone?
bassmike
I sympathise. Usually I have to get the kids out of bed at 6:30 with a crowbar*, especially the older one. Except when they have a day off. Then they will be all happy and cheerful at 6:15…
*Not an actual crowbar. More like a mug of cold water and the promise to use it.
+++
Dear Tofu
I know our relationship so far has been, well, bumpy. I probably didn’t appreciate you enough. But I’d really like to make this work. So here’s my final offer: I’m going to take this olive oil and then I’m going to put lots of nice things into it: garlic, garam masala, cajun spice, rosemary…
And then you’re going to marinate in this for 26 hours. And then I will fry you and add many more nice things like cauliflower and beetroot. And should I then still feel like I accidentially cooked the cardboard package, we’re done.
Giliell Thanks! There must be some law (let’s call it Bassmike’s Rule) that no matter how hard it is to get a child out of bed on week days at the weekends they will wake up waay before you want them to.
Tofu *shudder*. I’ve never had the inclination or nerve to try cooking with it.
Tony! @291
That’s OK I guess. ‘Cept I’m allergic to cats. I’d hate to be the office killjoy who puts an end to kitty paradise.
Grumph. My car won’t start at all, at all. I called my auto club, and a nice man came with a big flatbed towtruck. He poked and tested and banged on the motor with a wrench (just like in Car Talk), and he agreed that the starter motor has ceased to be.
So Amazon is over at my mechanic. I got to ride in the towtruck, which was kind of cool, and I walked over to Corner Bakery and got a muffin and coffee and fruit cup before I walked home, but now all I can do is wait for the phone and hope it doesn’t turn out too expensive.
Grumph. I’m going to sort and inventory all my Pigma pens, so there.
I’m finding it hard to imagine having cats near keyboards increasing productivity. The stress relief I can see…
The counterpart being: “Smoke pole for your health!”
Here’s yet another failure that stems from outsourcing a public good/service to a private corporation. “Failure” hardly seems like the right word since the effect is dead children. The incident used to illustrate Mentor Network’s money-grubbing perfidy reminds me of the tragedies documented in the private prison industry.
Later that evening, first responders were called to the house.
More examples like those above are given in the Mother Jones article. I just couldn’t bear to include them.
If you look at privatization of child welfare systems, the promise of saving money for state governments is not fulfilled. Just like the private prison system, private child welfare companies cost the state more, or in some cases the same amount, for delivering substandard services. State legislators and governors can obscure the expenses more easily, and they can hand lucrative contracts to their buddies.
The Mentor Network names each subsidiary after the state in which it is run. That’s why you see “Texas Mentor,” and “Pennsylvania Mentor,” etc.
More info here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/fostering-profits#.nuzrYk3mx
Anne
Sorry to hear your car is not behaving well.
+++
When my kids say “mum, let’s have bread skewers”, what they mean is “mum, can you put a wide range of tasty things like Mozzarella balls and small Wiener sausages and meatballs and tomatoes and stuff on the table so we can completely ignore the bread?”
Anybody want some fresh bread, diced?
Thanks, Giliell. I’d be less stressed if it wasn’t Aged Mum Weekend. I still have a huge list of groceries to buy before we go there on Sunday, and Husband’s car is just enough different from mine to make driving it a pain. Well, if I can’t get everything she needs, tough.
Is it just me, or is the first bit of advice from the ever-infuriating Emily Yoffe, aka Dear Prudence, especially infuriating?
nich @313, no, not just you. Way to make the poor kid hate not only church, but his mother into the bargain.
Re: Dear Prudence
Maybe the mom should write a well-thought-out essay to the son explaining her belief, and he can then choose church if she convinces him.
Another example of a for-profit company horning in on the public service sector, this time it is the justice system of the USA. Perversion of this system is especially bad in Georgia.
At least some people are trying to end this extension of poor people. What the state of Georgia should do is end the practice of farming out probation cases to private companies, but I guess one step in the right direction is better than none.
Link
Fuck, Lynna, that’s heartbreaking. Those poor kids, just … fuck. What chance do the vulnerable have with a system like that.
The mildly deranged penguin points out that, if stuffed with enough cheese, then they (1) won’t eat your meal; (2) will make a nice LOUD “Thud!” at the end of their trebuchet-assisted flight; and (3) if all else fails, are edible.
I’m looking forward to Jenny Trout’s comments on Arquette’s blunder (at least I hope she makes a post about it!).
nich,
I have to admire how sneaky she is:
We know that if it’s a Biblical source, those people have either returned to God or got their ass handed to them by God.
And I agree with both you and Anne, the whole response is infuriating.
A new battle: Tofu. What’s so bad about tofu? The good stuff has a very subtle nutty taste (but doesn’t overpower anything), a variety of textures and “mouth feels”, rather healthy (as far as I am aware), tends to absorb flavors, and if used in things like soups and stews, adds a bit of “body”. Famously easy to stir-fry (I myself particularly like it in quite spicy dishes). And is not a pea.
It does spoil quite quickly (which is perhaps why I never seem to have any when I want some), and some of the bottom-end stuff is perhaps made from cardboard with too much glue. (As far as I am aware, dried tofu is made from the cardboard — that stuff is nasty — avoid it!)
And of course, excepting perhaps freshly-made stuff from a shop that makes it (if you are lucky enough to have such a place), it’s not expensive.
Is that a new species of potatoe ?
Generalissimo Google™ indicates one is full of potatoes and the other is an actor who has never played a potatoe, so I just not…
(The mildly deranged penguin points out none seem to be cheeses either.)
“just” not? Er, make that guess not…
(Wonders how in hades that Tpyos offering happy.)
opposablethumbs, I’m sorry about your friend.
*hugs*
–
*hugs* for JAL, and commiserations for the assholishness of your apartment management.
–
*chikkensoop* for Giliell. Or *tea*. Or *both*.
–
*hugs* for Anne, and a hope for a speedy—and not spendy—recovery for your car.
–
I have never met a “tofu”. How may this strange beast be properly prepared (in a non-spicy fashion, that is; I’m no masochist!)? Does it resist such preparation, and if so, how violently?
–
blf
See, that’S what everybody’s telling me, but which I haven’t been able to verify independently.
cicely
I will report.
Anne
Interestingly, even though there are several big differences between Mr’s car and mine (position of back drive, handbreak…), the one that gets me every time is the position of that damn buttin to lower the windows…
The 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report is out
****
Giliell:
Your open letter to tofu had me in stitches! Thanks for the morning laugh :)
****
Anne:
I hope you’ll be able to get your car problems fixed without paying an arm and a leg.
My car is an early model Toyota Matrix, and probably the last one ever made with non-automatic windows, and I like it that way.
Husband’s car is a couple years newer Toyota Matrix, with full automatic everything and more adjustments to the driver’s seat than mine has. So when I have to drive his car, I can never get the seat adjusted properly from his 5’10’ to my 5′ and a bit, and my knees and back protest the whole drive. Not to mention that I bang my bad knee on the steering wheel when I get in or out of the seat.
It’s looking like about $557 for the car, but we won’t know for sure until the work is finished. And just to add a little more joy to my day, we got a letter from the city that our front yard landscaping is in violation of the landscaping code. What code that is exactly, they did not say. I left a message with the proper department asking for a few pointers, just so we’d know where to start. I doubt we’ll hear anything back, but one can always hope…
Haven’t done a food post in a while. Yesterday I had a grand success coupled with an epic failure.
Made Wor Won Ton Soup. (Wor means everything. It is a complete meal) The won ton filling had lots of ground pork and shrimp and fresh ginger and garlic and other goodies. The soup base was a lovely, velvety, rich chicken stock.
Included shitake mushrooms (heavenly) snow peas (forgive me) chicken, pork, shrimp, water chestnuts, scallions, bok choy. That was the successful part.
The won tons I made looked perfect, but when immersed in the broth fell apart. I had the filling falling to the bottom of the pot and the won ton wrappers floating on the top.
It was beyond yummy, but looked a mess. This was the first time I’d attempted making won tons.
The first one always has to fail, right? That is why I never try new recipes on guests.
Morgan!?
I’d love to try your deconstructed wonton soup. Sounds delicious.
opposablethumbs @317:
Right. No chance.
You’ve no doubt noticed that kids don’t vote. And kids don’t have any money with which to lobby state legislators. Which is why protecting kids should be seen as a public good that is not farmed out to for-profit businesses, while government pursues a little-or-none approach to oversight.
Thank you cicely, I will take those hugs and I will hang onto every one of ’em. I want her to stay so much. Nothing like as much as she herself, her OH, sibling and parent do, I know, but a lot.
Morgan!?, you must be such an amazing cook – your creations always sound like the most beyond-wonderful combinations of flavours :-).
Morgan, your wonton soup sounds yummy. So “wor” means some of everything? I’ve always wondered.
Anyway, the wor wonton soup from our favorite Chinese place always has a couple of wontons that disintegrate, so you’re in good company.
Yes! MUSHROOMS!
No. It’s the start of a slippery slope. Next thing down the slope: Horses.
And after that? I’m not sure — there are no survivors — possibly Miracle Whip? Or maybe British Industrial Cheddar. (Cheese Whiz, which sortof combines the two, would have to be later, perhaps last, as it would dissolve the slope…)
Eh? How do you get rid of the silly buggers then? (The malfunctioning food, that is. The guests are easy to dispose of.)
Snowpeas count as peas? I always thought they were more of a bean. Also, they’re fantastic in stir fry.
*wanders off to look up interesting things to do with tofu*
Daesh emulates Stephen Harper: Isis fighters destroy ancient artefacts at Mosul museum: “Footage shows Islamic State militants in Iraq smashing statues with sledgehammers in bid to crush what they call non-Islamic ideas”.
According to Ye Pffft! of All Knowledge, they are pea. But I agree, they are quite tasty in stir-fries. The secret may be they are captured and killed before ripening, which means the taste isn’t sucked out of them and replaced by nothingness, unlike peas.
Got the new wrist cuff blood pressure monitor day. Fell in love with it before even adding the batteries. It has a right wrist setting! Got it up and running, and it gave me a good reading on the right wrist. Then tried it on the Redhead, and on the second try got an expected reading. Vast improvement.
What I love is that it catches the BP while inflating, not deflating.
One cooks it so that the outside becomes slightly toughened and yellow or brown (fried or grilled, essentially), and so the inside has an opportunity to absorb some juices from other ingredients. It is delightful with this preparation and inedible with any other.
Morgan!?!
*pouncehug*
–
Horses do not belong in wonton soup.
Not even if it is with “everything”.
–
What is the texture like?
–
If anyone needs a good laugh, check out this…ummm… not-so-ringing endorsement for the movie Jupiter Ascending. It’s hilarious and makes a great case for going to see what sounds like a completely awful movie.
My favorite line of the review:
“The movie is what would happen if Labyrinth and the Fifth Element had a baby which later on watched Star Wars while really high and was like HEY I COULD TOTALLY MAKE THAT.”
Snorfle!!! :)
So I was thinking of naming the soup company “Primordial Soup,” but the fundie population up here on the mountain would probably run me out of town with torches and pitchforks.
May I impose on the collective creativity of teh Horde? What would be a good name for a food business that does primarily luscious soups, deadly southern biscuits, good sandwiches with excellent bread and salads? I thought “The Soup Kitchen” but that is already a chain operation. I thought “Nana’s Kitchen” but that is boring. What say you O masters of the lingo?
BTW tofu is the one thing I cannot seem to make tasty. A while back I did a great deal of experimentation and poor hubby dubbed the effort “Fun With Tofu” with a great deal of sarcasm.
Morgan!?
“Our Heavenly Soup”? On second thought, there’s a good reason I don’t name things.
Funnily enough, the most I’ve ever enjoyed tofu was in soups or soup-like dishes. Usually when it’s been fried before hand.
I could name it “Our Daily Bread” but then I’d have to open a bakery too. Nope.
I could name it “Loaves and Fishes” but then everyone would expect to get fed for free.
Soupreme Kitchen?
Azky! That is very good!
BTW, when and/or if I get this food establishment up and running, any Horde member that happens through town gets a luscious meal on the house. It is the least I can do. You folks have no idea what a help you have been to me.
@Morgan
I like Primordial Soup and I don’t think most of the fundies would get it. Even if some did you could play it off. You could have a broad soup bowl with stylized veggies crawling out of the soup as your image.
Re: tofu
Spice and fry strips or cubes and bake into an enchilada caserole. Refried beans and cheese with the fried tofu on the inside. Wrap in tortillas, add enchilada sauce and cheese, then bake.
Tofu is also good fried and served with peanut sauce or in pad thai.
Grewgills,
Hmmmmm. Maybe the broad soup bowl could be an ark. That would confuse ’em.
Speaking of peanut sauce (which I love), I am reminded of something I made many, many years ago called African Groundnut Stew. It was a lamb stew made with unsweetened peanut butter and chilies and a lot of other wonderful things. I might look up that recipe again.
I like tofu.
Especially like this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapo_doufu
or like this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agedashi_tofu
Anyone remember the MTV show ‘Pimp My Ride’?
Here’s what really happened to the cars on the show.
iiiiiiiiiiiiiinteresting.
****
Photographer in Nantucket captures ocean waves that resembled a slurpee.
chigau,
Thanks for those links. I have done quite a bit of South American and African cooking, and of course all things European, but have not done much with Eastern styles. All of my research ends up being “off the beaten track” because I like to expand beyond the Americanization of everything. Especially food.
Here is an interesting article from J. Skyler at Comics Alliance.
A Transgender Superhero For Every Gender Non-Conforming Child: Thoughts On Acceptance And Support For Transgender Youth
I absolutely love that Skyler discusses how comic books can be a vehicle for exploring the struggles, joys, and experiences of trans people.
Related to that, I’m beyond excited that the medium that I grew up with is *finally* becoming more mature. Not in the sense of PG/PG-13/R ratings, but in terms of the recognition that catering to the white, heterosexual, cisgender, male gaze is not sustainable in the long run. Titles that feature women, not just as lead characters, but as the *title* character are selling, and selling well (not all, mind you, but then I don’t think anyone expects every book to sell like hotcakes…but the attempt MUST be made and it must be made with 100% gusto). Marvel and DC-the big two companies- have finally woken up to the benefits of having a diverse publishing line, and while things are still new, it looks like the move has led to more sales and more critical acclaim.
Now, let’s see more effort put into diversifying their hiring practices and working on LGBT and PoC diversity.
I nominate Morgan as Top Chef for the Lounge. I think it would be awesome to try your cooking one day.
::scribbles that on bucket list::
Thanks Tony! You are welcome to fly out to the left coast at any time and sample my cooking, even before I get the restaurant open. My guest room looks out on the forest.
Maybe I should name the operation “The Lounge.”
Morgan
If you ever do find the recipe for lamb in peanut sauce, would you mind sharing here?
+++
So after last evening’s rousing, theatrical version of ‘Disgusting That We Have Milk Teeth!’* as performed by Eldest, the offending tooth has fallen out during the night, and we may all rejoice. Please join me.
* Included such melodramatic gems as ‘NATURE IS STUPID FOR MAKING MILK TEETH!’ and ‘WHY DO WE EVEN NEED MILK TEETH!’ and ‘LIFE WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER WITHOUT MILK TEETH!’ Husband suggested that, to reduce his own pain, he should consider writing all these feelings down in a book, so that other parents can read his experiences with milk teeth to their own children (a serious suggestion). The response: ‘WHY WOULD I WRITE SOMETHING SO DEPRESSING, YOU WANT EVERYONE ELSE TO BE SAD? I DON’T WANT TO REMEMBER THE SADNESS! I DON’T WANT OTHER KIDS TO BE DEPRESSED!’ In spite of the obvious and very tearful and genuine distress of Eldest while trying to chew up pieces of dinner (soft chicken and noodles), it was hard to keep a straight face. This one was born for the stage.
*hugs* and/or *friendly fist boops* to all others needing them.
Let the cat out yesterday evening expecting him to go spray some shrubs then take up his usual position on top the car in the garage or plant himself between the back door and its storm door clawing to be let in. Nope. Searched around the entire house and road several times over the first ~3 hours of drizzle, but no sign of the little rat. He apparently found someplace relatively dry since he survived temperatures into the low 30s and the little moisture on him seemed to be due to walking through wet grass and shrubs. Sibling found him wandering around backyard ~7:30 this morning and is now completely blind due to detached retinas (vet: they look like bloody red jelly beans). His vision was not great before last night and he’s now at least 13 years old, so probably not going to regain even slight splotches of light after the blood pressure medication lowers his BP. He managed to find his water bowl and litter box shortly after getting back from the vet, so hopefully he will be able to build a new internal map of the kitchen and mudroom to function well before the checkup in a few weeks.
He was an unfixed stray that was at least a couple years old when he wandered onto the property when I was still in high school and was a truly pathetic hunter suffering starvation, so we always suspected he was dumped in the neighborhood by students. We also thought he was an old man when he first showed up because so many of his teeth were falling out, but apparently an autoimmune and/or malnutrition issue given how long he’s lasted since. He brought several other strays (first a mom and her sole surviving kitten, followed by two brothers? either possibly her brother and/or father of kitten) to the house after we took him in, but the rest have since left (kitten and first brother run down by assholes a couple years apart; mom crippled by obesity related hip/back issues and eventually euthanized; second brother adopted by other sibling’s ex has unknown status).
On a lighter note: my favorite tofu.
MattP @358:
I’m glad your kitty turned up.
****
Speaking of cats, I’ve got to find a way to get Kayta to a vet. In the middle of trimming her claws a few days ago, I noticed that one claw had overgrown to the point that it was touching…umm…I don’t know the technical term, but it’s the underside of her paw…the pad? In any case, when I tried to clip that claw back, I couldn’t pull the it back far enough to get the clippers around it. It won’t be too much longer before the claw touches her pad, and then I fear it may pierce it.
****
I was going to say I’ve never had tofu, but when Grewgills mentioned pad thai, I recalled that I’ve had shrimp pad thai, and it had tofu in it. There was nothing memorable about it though. Perhaps that’s because it was soaking in all kinds of NOM NOM NOMiness and therefore did not have to impress me all by itself.
Sometimes I really despair at this world:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-31656222
Hello everyone,
Can anybody recommend a blog they found interesting, possibly something after the style of Ex Urbe?
rq,
I’d love to share the lamb in peanut sauce recipe but I fear it is one that got lost in a computer crash in the late ’80s. In fact I’m sure of it. But I will look around the ‘net and see if I can find something similar. I’ll let you know.
So they’re having an opening event at Eldest’s school, for March, which is Engineering Month (each month is themed with a particular career field). The event will have four speakers. Of which, zero are women.
It starts early, folks.
rq,
Wow, that’s terrible.
And in addition to marginalizing current women engineers, this will just further the idea to the girls at school that engineering is for men.
Saad
And I’m pretty sure they didn’t even make any effort into asking women engineers to come speak. Because it’s easier to take the names that show up first. Obviously, they’re smarter. :P
rq we have an out-reach project from our department (Physics). I will as k the question as to whether there are any women who regularly go out to schools. I know that some of the Astronomy out-reach is done my women. The more often that children see women associated with the STEM the more accepting they will be of swelling the ranks themselves.
rq
Well, engineering ins’t for girls. If it were for girls there would be girls doing it, right?
This week, in an attempt to be mean to her sister, #1 shamed her for liking football: “You’re a boy*” The little one sought my support: “But boys and girls can like football!”
Me: “Of course they can! Remember how I told you that in the USA football is totally a girls sport?”
To which my older smartass replied: “Are we in the USA or what?”
*This is somebody who has truely understood the dynamics of gender roles already and is using it.
*brain freeze*
*stop*
*think*
*takes a minute*
*European translator engaged*
Oh, right.
:)
This is a followup to blf’s comment #335: I watched video of those dunderheads destroying artworks, some of which were about 2,500 years old. Sickening.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/antiquities-destroyed-by-islamic-extremists-405256771528
The Maddow segment begins with the destruction of expensive cars, and she goes on to make the point that some things are priceless. That includes art that ISIS is destroying.
More on ISIS militants smashing artifacts.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-video-purports-show-militants-smashing-ancient-iraq-artifacts-n313636
Their explanation is that they have been ordered by their prophet to take down false idols and to eliminate heresy.
Lynna, #370
Their explanation is correct. That’s based on a popular story about Muhammad entering the Kaaba himself and knocking down the statues of the Meccan deities after his army occupied the city. Prophetic traditions (sunnat) are held in very high regard and following them is a great act of virtue.
One thing you can’t accuse ISIL of is being clueless about Islamic history and Prophetic tradition. They’re selective about it, sure, like almost all who follow JCI religions, but they know what they’re talking about.
And yeah, sickening is the first word that came to my mind when I heard about that too. I don’t believe in blasphemy of course, but destroying art and history comes pretty damn close to it for me.
rq 363
It’s depressing because schools aren’t supposed to be clueless, even though they often are.
But I am wondering if Eldest will be recovered from the Terrible Tooth Tragedy of
’15 in time.
Saad @372, yes. “Sin” is another word I usually eschew, but destroying art comes close.
Here’s some good news:
The article goes on to quote World Heath Organization news.
Link.
Certainly, the battle is not over, but this amount of success is so heartening. And this is such a good contrast with that other world leader, Netanyahu, who is meeting with John Boehner, and who is anxious to join rightwing dunderheads in an effort to blow up Iran. It is possible to deal with some very difficult situations, and to do so with international cooperation. The number of people dying has been drastically reduced. Such a simple goal.
Lives and infrastructure being built up, not destroyed.
bassmike
♥
Little things like that is what makes you Awesome.
ajb47
Ah, he’s well and recovered now, and expressing disappointment that the tooth fairy hasn’t managed to stop by our house yet. He’s been disappointed since 6AM – the tooth dropped out at 5.30 so he woke up at 6 to check, then came to wake up me and Husband to express his disappointment.
This is a followup to comment #289, in which Georgia Republican Barry Loudermilk boasts about not vaccinating his children.
Seems Loudermilk is ignorant on all levels, not just in the realm of healthcare. He contemplates arresting Attorney General Eric Holder:
Loudermilk also thinks the Muslim Brotherhood has access to the White House.
Link
For those keeping track, the U.S. Senate passed a DHS funding bill that funds homeland security through September 30 — without including the amendment that would have trashed President Obama’s 2014 executive action for immigrants.
Now the bill goes to the House, where chaos reigns and nothing good is likely to be seen for some time.
Damn, Leonard Nimoy has died :(
I’m so sad right now!
Love bassmike’s comment @366. Just wanted to say that.
In other news, a South Carolina college has decided to adopt a ban on homosexuality.
Sounds lovely, until you find out that the “Christian academic community” just can’t take all that good news:
The full text of the offensive statement to ban homosexuals can be read on the Daily Kos site. I didn’t want to link to Erskine.
Here’s a musical tribute.
Would value any thoughts or advice about this … is it a goodish or a bad-ish thing for a young person in their final year (STEM) to take a very low-level, low-paid lab assistant job (if they actually get offered it, that is – the interview is in a couple of weeks) as their first “real” job after graduating? (And do it well, I reckon) while continuing to apply for higher-level lab jobs?
Said young person really likes lab work and would be very happy to work in a lab assistant/technician/similar position that demands full use of multiple skills; they will be very overqualified on paper for this particular job, but would it be a good move to grab it – if it’s offered – with the hope of moving to something more demanding at a later date?
I suppose what I’m really asking is, what would this look like to potential future employers. Good work ethic? Eager to “work one’s way up”???? Or would it, could it, be a black mark somehow??????
opposablethumbs
I don’t see why it should be a black mark – it’s similar to when students work summer jobs, which can last only 4 months and are usually pretty low-level. It’s a good way of getting into the field, I would think – grab a work reference or two.
Because otherwise it’s the old cycle of ‘you need experience for this’ but no one will give you the little job for experience, because over-qualifications.
I dunno, my view is from several years ago. I worked a vaguely-related summer job in a lab under a very good supervisor, and it only helped me later on, I think. If only to see what life in a lab was actually like, working with scientists and other lab assistants.
Oh, no! Bad news that includes bacon:
No wonder I have noticed a drop in the quality of bacon available in my local stores. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service has close ties, is in bed with, the industry. More details are presented in the Mother Jones article.
For young people, it is likely that any and all work experience will turn out to be valuable in some way.
In other news, one of the Arizona activists that fulminated more strongly and incoherently against Obamacare is now facing financial ruin thanks to medical bills.
Yep. This dunderhead didn’t think things through. When he thought he was in the “I’ve got mine, screw you” mode, he was very close to falling into the screwed category.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sheriff-mack-gofundme-medical-bills
Rightwing religious doofus says stupid stuff on Fox News:
A followup to #386, in which we see more rightwing doofuses claiming that President Obama has an affinity for Muslims. This time the rightwing doofuses are elected representative of the people:
Right Wing Watch link.
The Supreme Court of the USA is going to hear a case that could make gerrymandering even worse. Gerrymandering or “redistricting” involves the re-drawing of voting district lines to guarantee the election of more conservative dunderheads, or in some cases, to make election of Democrats more likely. It’s a way to put a thumb on the scales when it comes to elections.
Think Progress link.
Rick Perry, Republican dunderhead interested in running (again) for president, says stupid stuff:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/02/27/3627942/rick-perry-weak-border-security-blame-assads-chemical-weapon-attacks/
Why are women leaving the tech industry in droves?
The answer (which everyone here is already familiar with) comes 69 words into the article.
bassmike (re 366) definitely awesome. Taking the trouble to mention things like this, to actually ask the question that maybe hasn’t even occurred to anybody.
re my 382 – Thank you rq and Lynna! That’s kind of what I was thinking. Hopefully it would look like a good attitude (which they have, imo) and a sensible thing to do while continuing to search (that’s what people do, right?) for something that actually needs the techniques they’ve learned.
Any other opinions gratefully received!
Elizabeth Warren speaks out on TPP:
Sounds to me like some lawmakers need to take a closer look at TPP. There are going to be unintended consequences, consequences that hurt we the people while putting more moola in the coffers of big corporations.
Politico link.
“The Soup Box”?
–
rq:
*fireworks & confetti & dancing Chinese dragons*
–
:(
–
A look into the beginnings of the rightwing anti-woman movement:
Salon link.
Tony @390
My cousin is in programming, mostly in Europe. She’s excellent at what she does, and is raising a daughter who is turning out to be something of a math whiz (she’s in grade 4 and doing grade 8 math problems FOR FUN).
One day I will ask her how she does it, and how she makes it look so easy – because I’m more than certain that it isn’t. I hope she stays in the field.
*\o/* *\o/* *\o/* *\o/* for the Great rqChild Milk Tooth event!!!!!! Much rejoicing throughout the land.
We love milk teeth. Milk teeth are kindof-sortof-nearly fun, kind of.
Possibly because I have kept a collection, each tooth in its own envelope, marked with Child’s Name, Date of Tooth Event, and identifying each tooth (upper right 4, lower left 3 …. and of course much much later I realised that milk teeth don’t get numbers like adult teeth do, they get letters. So my filing system is Rong. But still fun.) Bonus: we also have two of the dog’s milk teeth (a much rarer find, as dogs normally swallow theirs apparently).
Here is how odd I am (not news, I know.) I never raised children so I “missed out” on so many sentimental events. However, when my first Corgi puppy lost her puppy teeth (four dogs ago) I luckily found one of the longer front canines, cleaned it, had it gold plated and hung it on a delicate gold chain.
rq, about that recipe for African lamb and peanut stew… Evidently this dish has become vastly more popular since l lasted looked it up umpty years ago. BUT, most of the recipes I’ve found include chicken, not lamp, and are very Americanized. As a nice exercise in culinary creativity I am going to recreate what I think is an accurate version, test it, and then I’ll post it here.
I know, I know…. any excuse to cook. It helps keep me sane-ish.
cicely,
“The Soup Box” is nice. Or maybe the Soup Cantina.
Morgan
Soudns good! Though I wouldn’t mind the original recipe, too, I like playing around as well!
And a gold-plated dogtooth necklace, that is awesome!
I was so hoping to find a kitten tooth, but I think she’s being super-secretive about the dental exchange, so no luck.
For the record, I have Eldest’s teeth in a box/envelope somewhere (he’s the only one losing them right now) but I don’t mark the dates. I’m not that sentimental about it, but I may auction them off at his wedding (should he ever have one).
I have no idea what I’ll do with them other than that.
Oh, as for a restaurant name? They have a local soup cafe/restaurant that’s called ‘Spoons Only’, which wouldn’t be a bad name, though it’s rather exclusive. :P
The ‘Liquid Diet’ also comes to mind, though most hearty, nutritious soups I know are anything but (just) liquid.
SoupHerb (if I’m right in thinking that most USAnians pronounce herb “‘erb”
WhatSoup (as in “what’s up?”)
InSouperable, Soupreme, Souperior …
I’ll get my coat.
There was a restaurant in Atlanta called Lettuce Souprise You, but they’ve closed. So maybe that name is up for grabs.
I’m going through old boxes of art and writing in preparation for moving, and I just found a poem that it looks like I was writing, but it’s in English, Portuguese, and Japanese. I don’t speak Portuguese. The Japanese also seems more advanced than what I knew back when this would have been written. So confused.
The only thing I can think is that it was a collaboration for school that I don’t remember doing.
The Soup Lounge?
Horde Bistro?
Yes Soup For You!
#NotAllSoup
Just a Soupçon.
You can read it properly, or as “Justice Soup’s On.”
rq,
Hahaha, I’d love to see that.
Served with homemade CrackerGates.
Soup…
Stew-pendous :P
Stock and Barrel :/
Bisque Quick (no copyright troubles there…)
Beautiful Soup? As in “Soup of the evening, beautiful soup”.
I have a collection of daughters’ baby teeth, which I should really just get rid of so!e day. Or I could use them in an assemblage or something…
My vet said that kitten milk teeth are crumbly, so you don’t usually find them shed. I did find one fang on the old kitchen chair the kittens teethed on. I put it in a little clear vial with a couple of cat whiskers and used it on my totemic charm bracelet, along with a locket with locks of the daughters’ baby curls.
@ opposablethumbs #382
It can be a good thing if the young person
1. Makes sure the employer knows that it is a stepping stone job and the young person will leave at the first good opportunity.
2. But the young person will leave in an acceptable manner i.e. give notice, etc. The employer could be a useful ally in the securing of the desired position.
3. Will work at the job at hand and do their job hunting on their own time, not their employer’s time. They are there to learn and work, not just mark time.
4. The young person does not constantly inform co-workers, some of whom may not be able to find a better job, that it is a stepping stone job.
Stepping stone jobs are OK, the important thing is how the employees conduct themselves with regard to not only the employer but to the other employees as well.
I was not interested in how many jobs a younger candidate had had (within reason) but how the candidate performed the tasks, the candidate’s loyalty to the previous employer (e.g. 1-3 above), and how they got along with their co-workers.
For a soup company name, how about “Shiru Kayo?” in Japanese? It means both “Is This Soup!?” and “Damned If I Know!”
I knew doing a little Horde Sourcing would net some very good Soup Restaurant names. Youse guise iz grate!
I rather like #NotAllSoup, myself. Mebbe I’ll assemble a list and put it up for a vote.
@ opposablethumbs #382
I can’t see it being a bad mark unless they perform poorly at the job.
If they take the job and do it well they could pick up a few skills and improve others while looking for the job they want. Depending on where they are working it might be possible to move up to a job they want within the company or make contacts that will help them find the job they want down the line. That, and they will be making money while they are looking for work (not during the same hours, but you know what I mean).
A. Noyd
Did I ever tell you about the time…
My 日本語の先生 often brings objects to class for us to discuss.
She brought in a small clock which was shaped like a chicken.
I dubbed it
変な時計
へんなとけい
hen … strange … chicken
That’s funny, neh?
.
.
.
I’ll keep my day job.
@chigau (#414)
That’s a mess¹ of a pun.
……..
¹ めす (mesu)
A. Noyd #415
面白い！
I will never Master 日本語.
I’ll be happy with 「not insulting very many people」.
Good morning.
Must be a Suzanne Vega fan choosing music on the radio station I’m listening to right now. I’m ok with that.
Trigger Warning: Rape
I stumbled across this article by Joseph Rogers, who opens up about being raped.
Of the few comments he’s received almost all were supportive.
Thank you, Grewgills and vereverum – much appreciated! YP tends to be on the conscientious side so I think they could make a good job of it …
vereverum, in the light of what you just said I’d be very interested to know what you think is the best way to say the right thing at interview; it would be really great to get this entry-level job as it’s crucially in the right city and also in a hella vast organisation – the NHS.
Things that are true: YP really does want to be in lab work, and there are of course a huge number of different kinds of jobs for which the NHS needs lab skills.
So if I understand you rightly, YP should say something at interview about the stepping-stone thing … but might that mean they won’t get it?
On the other hand, stepping-stone is probably strongly suggested anyway just by the circumstances (because of YP being overqualified on paper) and they still invited YP for interview knowing that … so does that mean the way to go is to emphasise how keen YP is to work for the NHS (true, though not exclusively) and get experience in the clinical environment … ?
I have absolutely zero knowledge or experience of this kind of thing (I live hidden behind a computer, and my work involves no colleagues and no human contact whatsoever apart from emails and the occasional phonecall) so I really really appreciate the advice!
DAMN YOU, machine, you’re supposed to serve me, not impede me!
*shakes fist at piece of technology trying to develop its own character*
It’s a pity that new-fangled tech doesn’t always respond to the WD40andDuctTape philosophy of Making Machines Do What they Ought (the time-hallowed tradition of “if it should move – and doesn’t – WD40. If it shouldn’t move – and does – duct tape”). I may have mentioned having a brother who used to mend torn clothing with masking tape … worked for him. For certain definitions of “worked”.
Hope your wayward tech considers its behaviour, is duly penitent and mends its ways.
Nah, staples are the way to go for fixing clothes. Works a charm, nearly invisible.
Er…so I’ve heard.
Now that you come to mention it, I think he may have resorted to staples on occasion too. I’m pretty sure I have … and of course, safety-pins are de rigeur.
opposablethumbs
Except safety pins can never seem to be found when they’re needed.
A stapler, however, is pretty much always on hand…
And then there is the Measure of Last Resort, the sledghammer.
And I’m pretty sure that an entire branch of the Ministry of the Interior, and perhaps even higher-up, would kill me if I took Duct Tape (or WD40 – or, come to think of it, the sledgehammer) to this particular machine. Though I have been tempted.
More than once.
I used to staple pants instead of hemming them (or having them hemmed). Much easier, faster, and just as noticeable.
For a certain value of ‘noticeable’.
Also, I have come to the conclusion that the more expensive a piece of tech happens to be, the more character it tries to have. I used to have a picture of Emperor Zorg on the extractor, but someone took it down before the last audit. Personally, I think it should have stayed up as a warning and reminder. (I may be forced into putting up a replacement.)
Oh. I clicked on a Daily Kos e-mail, and now I have links to dump. Oops.
“Barbara Boxer Knocks It Out Of The F*cking Park With GOP Hypocrisy, Irresponsibility & Obama Hatred”
“Gov. Scott Walker says dealing with protesters is like dealing with ISIS. It does not go well.”
“UPDATED! Poll Added! Scott Walker’s ISIS gaffe causes explosion of mocking images”
Cartoon of the campaign for the Republican primaries.
“Statement by the President on the Passing of Leonard Nimoy”
“Yup, the GOP is f’d with young people” – there may not be any hope for the present, but there is hope for the future.
HI folks.
I’ve finally given in and am on antibiotics. They’re working a treat. Yay for medicine.
+++
Today in culinary adventures:
Last week I was confronted with some over ripe bananas and decided to make banananana bread for the first time. When it was done I cut off a slice and put Nutella* on it. OMFG. People, try that!
And tonight we’re going to a birthday and I promised baked goodness. Now, serving sliced bananana bread with Nutella isn’t exactly what I had in mind. So I decided that there had to be a way to have your cake and eat it. Literally.
So I did the following:
I replaced half of the sugar and one third of the butter with about 2/3 cup of Nutella and added a bit more baking powder than usually. Then I put it into muffin molds.
Gorgeous!
I also added a generous spoon of Nutella to the custard for the custard buttercream. NOMNOMNOM.
*ehm, generic brand hazlenut coacoa spread
I am a huge fan of fusible fabric, which goes by many brand names including Stitch Witchery. It is basically double-stick tape for fabric that is not sticky when placing, but then you iron over it and it melts. Every pair of pants that I have self-hemmed I have done entirely with fusible fabric, with at most one or two stitches at the side seams if it is heavy fabric. I have also used it to patch two ripped pieces of things together; if they can’t be overlapped, I put it on the underside with a piece of lightweight cotton over it to form a patch. It’s awesome.
Giliell
I would have recommended making it in a regular round cake pan, slicing the cake in half flat-wise, putting Nutella between the two halves, putting the top back on, then covering the WHOLE THING IN NUTELLA. But your version sounds much less labour-intensive. ;)
Hope it is greeted with the adulation it deserves!
Help me find an entry? Help me find the link I need in case I hallucinated the whole “I saw this on pharyngula” experience? Cells have built-in self-destruct after some number of divisions, perhaps 50, and then the cell dies the true death. Stem Cells divide at long intervals, thus they live long enough to provide fresh lines of cells late in a human’s age, but eventually they die out too, and very elderly people have just about no immune system left.
That’s my takeaway, I want to get back to it and get it right, and I can’t find. Thanks in advance!
rq
The cupcake basis has been tested and declared delicious. Now I’m whipping up the custard buttercream. Do you know custard buttercream? I love it. Regular buttercream is just a bit too heavy for me, but with custard buttercream you whip your butter and then add custard, which gives it the smooth buttery taste (I already love the smell when you whip the butter white) but is about as heavy as cream. Only of course you’ve got to pay attention when incorporating the custard because things can go whoonie shaped quickly then.
getkind,
Is it this one?
https://proxy.freethought.online/pharyngula/2015/01/13/why-do-we-die/
The Detroit Free Press is following a story about the “Prayer Station” in City Hall. A judge ruled that atheists can set up a “Reason Station.”
Also, ovulating on the right side is fucking painful. Because #1 completely tore the ligaments there. Yes, more than 7 years after her birth I’m still hurting from the damage she caused to my body. So forgive me if I have no fucking patience for the argument.
I’m on that other crappy side of the cycle. Luckily, it’s a painless one, I’m just listless.
Here’s some sort of good news: Wyoming is set to allow their educational system to discuss human contribution to climate change (Wyoming legislators had previously blocked this aspect of science education).
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/wyoming-education-climate-change
Let’s hope the Republican Governor does veto the new bill. Utah recently set a bad example by putting Next Generation Standards on hold due to concerns over climate change. West Virginia approved the standards last year, but originally included edits to the standards that cast doubt on the science behind climate change. In January, the Virginia board removed the language from the standards that questioned global warming.
Mormon Moments of Madness: women’s rights and “court of love” (cult discipline) categories:
http://www.sltrib.com/lifestyle/faith/2233333-155/ordain-womens-kate-kelly-loses-last
From the readers’ comments:
I’m reading, for the first time, The Voyage of the Beagle. On the one hand, it’s very stodgy Victorian English, but on the other hand, enormously entertaining – Darwin was so delighted by all the wonderful things he saw, his joy in nature and the world just shines.
Tony!
Did you get some advice about your kitteh? May I attempt a bit of cat ‘splaining?*
What sort of carrier do you have for her? Is it a cardboard one, or a mini dog-kennel like one, with a hinged door?
If the latter, sometimes it works to stand it on end with the door open and sort of “pour” the kitteh into it–gravity helps. Sometimes trying to shove them in horizontally is a real problem.
When I’ve had Houdini-cats, I’ve put the carrier in the bathroom, on end…waited a bit and then put kitteh in carrier in that enclosed space–otherwise it can be “I’m hiding under this piece of furniture, in the least accessible place possible and YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!”…repeat for as many times as they streak past you to another hidey-hole…
I hope your little one is a bit more mellow than that.
Oh, and once you’re to the clinic…if kitteh doesn’t want to come out of carrier, the “dog-kennel” style ones are held together with plastic tab things–which can be removed so you can just lift the top of the carrier right off.
Good luck!
* my current kitteh’s full name is Honey Houdini Brimstone Beast. (she came with the first name, and I hadn’t the heart to change it, so I just added the personality markers to it). I shudder to contemplate the day it becomes necessary to actually attempt to take her to the veterinarian. I should be setting up a savings account so I can afford one that makes house calls! She’s _that_ ferocious when pressed.
If you ever have a chance, watch the documentary On the bride’s side/Io sto con la sposa.
http://www.iostoconlasposa.com/en/
Synposis from their webpage:
Yeah, I cried like a baby.
I don’t know anything about this history, but maybe some of you do?
How Muslim Azerbaijan had satire years before Charlie Hebdo
By Konul Khalilova
Nutella is Miracle Whip made from peas and Cheese Whiz. It’s basically the equivalent of returning to orbit and nuking all the surrounding Universes. The only thing which might survive is British Industrial Cheddar.
(Unfortunately, Nutellas not effective against horses. Which means it has no use at all, except to contravene chemical and biological weapons bans.)
Apparently you can’t be a “real” feminist unless you criticize Islam every time the subject comes up. Oh, and it’s “sexist” to suggest that a commenter might want to take a break and come back when they’re less angry, because it’s “silencing”.
KoreanKat made those declarations (in the relevant comment section) after she got upset when someone pointed out that western civilizations have also destroyed cultural treasures and works of art. (Because, apparently, Islam is super-special-Evil-with-a-capital-E.) From there it was pretty much personal attacks and strawmen from her, including an attempt to hide behind minority status as an excuse for being a complete jerkass.
Of course, calling this person out on her asshattery resulted in strawmen and more personal attacks. *sigh*
Sometimes I wish people could see themselves as others see them.
opposablethumbs,
Did not know about that. Thanks for the link. Some of those are great.
@ opposablethumbs #419
To a YP looking forward to an interview. In My Humble Opinion, be honest and be yourself. An interview board (my experience) or individual interviewer will detect in an instant if you’re not.
Stepping stone: use whatever expression is current in your environment, and perhaps a more neutral term (but not a deceptive term). Don’t volunteer the information – they may not care; it depends upon how they view the position. This is a tricky balance. If you just blurt it out then they’ll think you really don’t care about their organization. But if it comes up naturally, then don’t shy away from it. And if it’s important, they’ll ask. You will probably be asked about it with regard to being overqualified or your career goals. You better have ’em: not too specific but not just handwaving either. Do not emphasize it but if asked about it admit it, just be honest. My big question would be “Why should I hire you who admit you are overqualified, looking for a better position, and won’t be here very long, and not Candidate B who is looking for a career in my organization?” If you can’t answer that, you’re toast. We would go for a moral commitment of two years after completing the training program and never had a candidate not live up to that, and never had a slacker, which greatly improved their chances of moving within our organization. I like blunt questions but others may break that down into three or four more indirect questions. See Grewgills #413 comment about moving up within the company. Five or six years is not an eternity (well for a YP it is), take time to find out what you really want to do. The current organization might suit you. Give it a chance. Let the interviewer know that.
Ask friends & colleagues what questions they were asked and learn what you would say but do not memorize answers. Have someone who knows you interview you (and be serious about it) with topical questions they think up. And do it in an interview environment, not next to a playing radio, TV, etc. But remember that the interview will contain different questions! You’re going to be in an alien and possibly hostile environment. Some interviewers see their job as to disqualify the candidate. Prepare. What are the organizations standards, what is their Vision and Mission if they have them? Interviewers are happy when your desires and goals complement the organization’s. But again, don’t be artificial, segue everything naturally.
“…so does that mean the way to go is to emphasize how keen YP is to work for the NHS (true, though not exclusively) and get experience in the clinical environment … ?” Yes provided it is true. Again, Grewgills #413 comment about learning skills and networking and especially “…move up to a job they want within the company …”. Why not? You might like it there. Other do. Keep your options open. A question I’d ask is If you want to work for XYZ why don’t you apply and interview with them? This is different than getting an entry position with an open ended future track. If you’re all about you, I don’t want you. Tell me your learning and skill development will not only help you in your career but will also benefit my organization. Remember I’m all about me, but don’t lay it on too heavily, I’ll notice that. You should have some interest in you.
Overqualified. My concern here is how you will fit in with your co-workers who are not overqualified. I may ask about that but mostly I’ll decide by gauging your attitudes and demeanor throughout the interview. I want you to be happy here. I don’t want unhappy employees.
Ah, too too too long but there are whole books, lectures, seminars, etc., on how to do an interview because it’s very complex. You can get a book on how to pass an interview but it does little good if you have to create an “interview persona” that isn’t really you. The keys are honesty, being yourself, you want the position, emphasize (within reason) how you are beneficial to the organization, minimize (within reason) but don’t hide your shortcomings, and rehearse beforehand. Think up the ideal candidate for the position then ask yourself Why would I hire me?
” … but might that mean they won’t get it?” Yes, but remember, don’t emphasize it – emphasize what you can do for the organization, and if you don’t get the job, you’ll be a step ahead of the first time candidate in the next interview. And BTW, remember to mention that you interviewed with them on your new application. If they liked you. Also you might consider writing and asking what it was that hindered you from getting the position so you can correct those defects and make yourself more suitable to a future employer. Especially if it might be the same one.
We always asked if the candidate had a consuming interest in life. I didn’t really care what it was, just wanted to know if they had one and could efficiently articulate it. If the answer started Wellllllll… whatever followed wasn’t true.
I took a low paying entry level position (though as a middle aged person) and stayed within the same organization for 33 years and now I’m retired and happy as a bug in a rug. You just never know.
On the oddness of memory: I still can’t hear the theme song to M*A*S*H without having a strong recollection of the smell of Mr. Bubble bubble bath. I was in my single digits age when it was on tv, and I don’t know if it was at the beginning or the end, but bathtime was definitely on one side of it. It’s been more than 30 years since then, and I’ve watched the show hundreds of times since, but that smell is always still there.
I’d love to hear about brain connections other people have that are really persistent like that.
I just made about twice the money I expected I would selling off old video game stuff and then ran into a free wine tasting when I stopped by the grocery store on the way home. Pretty decent Saturday.
Giliell, once upon a time, I frosted a chocolate sheet cake straight outa the Nutella jar.
It was glorious!
–
blf, you have profaned both the Miraculous Whip™ and Nutella, all in one breath.
Prepare to be dipped in Cheez Whiz, rolled in peas, and ridden out on a rail.
With *extra napalm!*
–
Beatrice: Yes, that was exactly the one I was hunting for. Thanks very much.
(I haven’t figure out how to quote properly yet.)
Someone elsewhere is saying something about Brianna Wu accusing Gamergate of threatening a sarin attack. Does anyone here know anything about this? Can I get a debunking, if there is one?
OMFG. The one month, the one month I depend on my mother after asking her to pay rent, she at the last fucking moment starts flaking. Really? I quadruple fucking checked with her and NOW she’s all “We’re getting a place this month”. That’s great, except nothing has changed. There’s been no new developments like finding a place that doesn’t do credit or whatever. No, the thing that’s changed is I need the money and she promised. They get $1600 a month a fucking month and have been homeless for almost a fucking year but suddenly, they’re getting a place right. now. Then she throws in “Why don’t ya’ll do this or that” and “I want to see the notice” like we haven’t been fucking over it and shit. It’s not like I haven’t talked to her about it fucking Thursday and several weeks ago too, so it’s not like I sprung it on her last moment. She said yes at the beginning of this month, FFS.
I’m so fucking pissed at her and at myself for fucking believing her. Goodbye sleep and I’m going to cross my fingers she changes her mind again so I don’t have to go Goodbye home, goodbye baby.
And I had a good day today too. And Roomie’s waiting on a call back from a real programming job he’s excited for.
Fucking flaky fucking asshole.
JAL
Fucking hell that sucks. *hugs*
Woman denied day in court due to headscarf; people show their support. Religion shmeligion, but she should be allowed to wear her headscarf without suffering discrimination for it.
JAL
Fuck. :( *hugs*
vereverum, I can’t thank you enough for the help. I’m probably going to copy-paste the lot and send it to YP; it looks to me like almost everything applies – and the essentials most certainly do.
The NHS is one of the biggest, if not the biggest employer in the whole country. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the NHS is the front-line staff, the medically qualified staff in direct contact with patients, but of course there’s a huge, less visible, army of admin and technical staff of all kinds and at all levels. I don’t know to what extent people might move around within the NHS tech side – whether there’s any kind of progression or structure – but it seems possible, so YP would be genuinely glad to get a toe in the door if they can, and to be reliable and useful even in an unskilled position. I very much take your points about attitude to work and colleagues, and while I think YP would show a decent attitude anyway I will definitely remind them of how important that is.
Xe’s had a year of working as a semi-skilled lab assistant already, during the work experience year of the BSc degree course (some though not that many BSc undergraduate degrees here have this built in as a “sandwich year”) and loved it, and it went well, and xe’s also worked a bit in retail and behind the bar while studying in order to supplement the government loan, and done some volunteer work sorting and cataloguing fragile specimens at the Museum of Natural History in London so xe has a couple of examples to give of having made themself useful in different ways.
Thank you so much for being so helpful – I really appreciate it!
JAL, fuck, I’m so sorry it looks like your mother is going to let you down. Shit. I’m crossing all my fingers for Roomie’s possible job.
Tony! and Funny Diva:
Best bit of advice I ever got on putting a cat into the sort of carrier with a door on the front: Carrier on floor (in fact, leave it there for a while if possible). Cat on floor. Towel over cat’s head. Cat will back up. Direct rear of cat into carrier.
It sounds ridiculous, but it quite often works.
And the best way I have found of singlehandedly putting ointment in a cat’s eye is to insert cat in a sweatshirt sleeve (cat sees light, tries to escape by going forward, gets stuck with legs back). It’s like a towel wrap for the less-deft.
JamesY2, #451
That someone would have to provide evidence of said accusation, wouldn’t they?
Until they do, merely ignoring it does the debunking.
Women’s History Month is upon us. There’s an uptick of, and a rehashing of various reasons not to build a National Women’s History Museum in the capitol of the USA. Here’s an old example from Michele Bachmann:
Senator Tom Coburn objected to allowing the federal government to own more land for museums or parks or …. well, anything. Plus, he told the NY Times that we have a Quilters Hall of Fame in Indiana and a National Cowgirl Museum in Texas, so why do we need another museum honoring women’s history.
In addition to political trash talking, some historians objected to original plans that took a glossy “great women” approach that for the most part left out women of color, including Native Americans, and which took a very narrow approach to “history.”
Women have been written out of the history of the USA. Where we do have famous women to celebrate, it’s more a case of “okay, one woman can stand for all, and one is all we need.” Think Rosa Parks and Marie Curie.
Denise Oliver Velez, writing for Daily Kos
carlie @447:
I tend to get a whiff of tube model cement whenever I hear any Queen songs. I was really into building models with cheap glue back when Queen dominated the FM dial.
JAL:
That sucks. Safe hugs to you.
JAL,
*hugs*
—
I went on a cooking spree this evening:
1. pizza for tonight (tomatoes + spinach + gouda + mozzarella + parmigiano)
2. thick soup to take to work tomorrow (peas + potatoes)
3. stew for supper tomorrow (white beans + carrots + spinach)
Beatrice:
that pizza sounds good.
Girl and FSIL are coming over tonight to do laundry (frozen/shattered pipes). Gonna make blueberry pancakes.
This is a followup to comments 112, 310, and 316, in which privatization of public goods and services has failed to live up to promises. We looked at private banking systems that were ripping off prisoners; at private child welfare services that provided substandard care, with results ranging from abuse to death; and at the state of Georgia as an example of farming out justice department functions like probation, with the result that even minor offenses were punished with years of debt and jail time.
This followup looks at other ways in which privatization has hurt large groups of people, and has enriched Mexican billionaires, Russian oligarchs, and many millionaires or billionaires in the USA.
Oil, nickel and other national companies were sold to Russian oligarchs for pennies on the dollar, with the sales often subsidized with public funds. Privatizing some of these industries was not necessarily a bad idea, but became a very bad idea indeed when the public was screwed thanks to massive corruption that is still ongoing. Private citizens continue to pay the price with documented increases in poverty and in death rates.
Carlos Slim was already wealthy, but became obscenely wealthy thanks to sweetheart deals associated with privatization of telephone company operations in Mexico. Mexican people now pay for dodgy service that is extremely high priced. Estimates put the overcharges at $13.4 billion per year. They have no choice.
In the USA, billionaire Bill Gates is all for privatization of education. The Koch brothers are buying Senators, Representatives, Governors, presidential candidates and local governments all across the USA. Their goal is to privatize just about everything (more money-earning opportunities for them and like-minded businessmen, plus less regulation for the industries they run). The ultra-rich Walton family also wants to privatize education.
From the “Diligent Bureaucrat” blog.
Charming and inspiring, and illustrating a scientific tendency to collect accurate data: An eight-year-old girl, Gabi Mann, feeds the crows that come to her garden, then she records the gifts the crows leave for her.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31604026
Makes my knees hurt to look at this. It’s a mummy sitting in lotus position. The mummified monk is about 1000 years old, and only recently discovered to have been hidden inside a statue of Chinese stature depicting Buddha.
Not sure I understand the timeline discussed in the article since both “about 1000 years” and “200-year-old monk” are mentioned, but still pretty damned cool.
Tonight there is a new TV show that both the Redhead and I are curious about. The show itself isn’t likely of much interest, as it sounds like a regular police drama in a mid-sized Midwest city, but the title city is Battle Creek, where we grew up. The opening credits should be interesting. Wonder how much placement ads for Kelloggs will appear.
I love that the art cinema is having Weekend of strong women for International women’s day.
@ 465: this is what happens when a powerful waterbender isn’t nearby to get your skinny monk butt out of the fix you’re in. ;)
Saad (458):
They posted a link to Reaxxion, that had what looked like a screenshot.
Lynna #465
The mention of a 200 year old mummified monk was a link to a different story about a different mummy.
Funny Diva @ 440
My dog’s full name was Martini PeeVee OldMacDonald. Your comment made me remember that and smile.
JAL @ 452
I’m sorry about the suckiness. Please let us know how things progress.
Good evening
JAL
Sorry :(
+++
Shades of Grey for my BFF:
Tie him to the bed and take his LEGO Star Wars Capital ship apart and throw the pieces for the cats to play.
+++
My personal bit of masochism: Watching the Sunday night political talkshow, tonight about the new minimum wage: Bunch of ways employers are cheating and breaking the law is mentioned. Host to the responisible minister: Why didn’t you anticipate this (people engaging in illegal activity) when you worte this law?
Head -> desk.
this is wonderful
JAL
*hugs*
I wish …
aahh wishes
hugs anyway
My knees are fine with the lotus position.
My hips and ankles … not so much.
This is an account of a parent calling out a school and making them take a case of sexual harassment seriously. Disclaimer: I have no personal knowledge of the source or accuracy, though it certainly seems reasonable enough!
http://draco-in-chorum.tumblr.com/post/112087199351
@ opposablethumbs #455
You’re welcome. I hope everything turns out as desired. And, to probably overstay my welcome, now is the time to start planning for retirement. Though where you are, that may not be a goal.
Vivito diu et floreto.
opposablethumbs #476
That gets a big YAY from me.
Dalillama @470, ah, I see. Mercy. That’s embarrassing that I missed that. Thanks for the explanation.
Giliell @473: First thing I thought was “work intelligently.” Get it right people.
In other news, more homegrown terrorists say and do stupid stuff in Texas:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/01/1367222/-All-American-terrorists?showAll=yes
Oh, FFS, rightwing news sources like the Drudge Report are making stuff up that may actually turn out to be dangerous, stuff that, if enough people believe it, could put further strain on the USA-Israel relationship. Daily Kos journalists are on the case.
This shit has gotten way out of hand:
Debunking and common sense presented here. Scroll down for facts.
Spoiler alert, President Obama did not threaten to shoot down Israeli jets, as the mile-high headline on the Drudge Report claims.
Uh-huh. Right. Bill O’Reilly did not see any bombings in Ireland. He saw photos of bombings.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bill-oreilly-ireland-bombings-photos
Well, it’s now merely “pleasantly cool” here instead of “too cold to walk to the store”.
JamesY2, #469
Just looked it up. And that screenshot contains posts by someone saying those things that she accuses them of. So I don’t see what the issue here is. Why would this need debunking?
Thanks, ververum!
It really rather cheered me up, chigau, so I thought I’d spread a little something nice – the incident itself is I think all too common, but the response made me feel more optimistic!
All: Thanks for your kind words of support, but it’s through chatting with you all here that it consolidated to me the importance of women being visible in STEM outreach. Together we can get things done!
JAL I’m sorry to hear of your problems.
I grew up with ST-TOS. Leonard Nimoy was a hero of mine. Sad.
Had the usual orchestra rehearsal yesterday: 22 minutes of Symphonic Dances from West Side Story is exciting but exhausting, then followed by Libertadores is hard work! The next concert will be good fun.
bassmike
Theodorakis?
+++
Hmpf
Yesterday I felt better, today not so much
Giliell Oscar Navarro actually. It build very nicely. The real problem is to hold back so that the end can be more dramatic. The whole program for the concert is pretty good I think.
bassmike
Sounds like a workout and a half! And definitely fun. :)
rq definitely fun! It’s one of those rare occasions when the concert will be fun to play and also to listen to……hopefully!
bassmike
Very nice. I was thinking about Los libertadores
Giliell that would be nice to play too!
California Republican Party votes to finally recognize gay Log Cabin Republicans group http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/california-republican-party-votes-to-finally-recognize-gay-log-cabin-republicans-group/
Of course, the local realities are forcing the California Republicans to modernise their policies, to avoid extinction.
My prediction: The rest of the GOP will not go that way until they have exhausted the possibilities of gerrymandering and of disenfrancising the minority voters.
The current SMBC makes me feel all gooey inside :3
everything sucks
I wish I could just crawl into bed and not get up until everything stops sucking. I’m fine with never, provided that I sleep
Zero breaths. Breathing around either is extremely hazardous to health. Think mustard gas, anthrax (not the castle), and Cheese Whiz, all dialed up to 11. Then add peas.
blf:
You forgot the vegemite and marmite. And the thermite termite.
The thermite termites are easily dealt with. You don’t even need to use The Holy *Napalm*. The marmite works great, and also gets rid of it(marmite), eliminating three pests with one jar.
Vegemite actually has an important use: Keeping the Ozlanders in Ozzie. Basically, just use it to glue ’em in place. And is, of course, along with everything else there, except for some of the sheep (allegedly), another reason to stay away.
Beatrice, I’m so sorry that things are sucky (not ducky, silly autocorrect!).
I have tea and chocolate and hugs over here in the pillow fort, and Hobbes is always up for a snuggle, if you don’t mind the whiskers.
Anyone else in need of safe hugs, they’re over here for you.
blf:
Vegemite also works to achieve a realistic chipped paint effect on a model tank.