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Aug 19 2012
[Lounge #359]
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Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 3:51 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Alethea,
I think that at least a part of what SGBM is arguing is that we have been doing a good job of appropriating atheism for some time now. A lot of problems in the atheist movement have been brought to the open and that is a part of us winning. Making up some new atheism is actually ceding territory we already have.
Or that is my interpretation. SGBM will correct me.
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 3:53 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I hate making the comment that comes before the second comment.
John Morales
21 August 2012 at 3:55 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
ॐ,
So what?
You’re conflating atheists with a-supernaturalists (naturalism); deity-level beings are only a subdomain of the supernatural.
So what?
You’re conflating atheists with empirical rationalists.
By redefining the term via another yet conflation and hidden premises, similar but worse to the above-mentioned.
(bah)
Anne C. Hanna
21 August 2012 at 4:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
This turned into a massive tl;dr. *sigh* Sorry.
———
Azkyroth,
Flailing miserably at my own attempts at educational advancement. Still am, actually. :/
Do it. Dooo iiit! You know you want to. But okay, in all seriousness, the actual linear algebra class I took once upon a time was also, now that I think about it, boring as all get-out, just as ibyea complained earlier. It’s much more fun if, once you get the basics down, you start to have real applications to play with. It might be worth seeking out an elementary class in one of the areas I mentioned above, or one that’s designed for people who might not have a lot of math background, so that they’ll teach the linear algebra as you go along and you’ll have something fun to do with it at the same time.
———
Alukonis,
If you do FTIR, you should know the important thing about Fourier transforms, at any rate. It’s basically what ibyea said. Any signal in the time domain can be represented as a superposition of sinusoids. If you measure the amplitude of each of those sinusoids and graph that vs. frequency, then you get a representation of the signal in the frequency domain. In particular, you might know that if you have a delta function pulse (a single infinitely thin spike at one particular time), that can be represented as a sum of equal-amplitude signals across all possible frequencies.
Position/momentum representation in quantum mechanics is similar, and it’s the source of all that particle/wave duality that people make such a big mystery out of. In this analogy, position plays the same role as time above, while momentum plays the same role as frequency. (This is because momentum in quantum mechanics turns out to be proportional to wavenumber, which is the spatial analogue of frequency.) If you know the position of a particular photon to infinite precision, then in the spatial domain its wavefunction is a delta function — an infinitely thin spike exactly at that position. So then when you do your little Fourier-like transform to the momentum domain, what you discover is that this delta function spike is in fact a uniform superposition of signals of every possible momentum. In other words, if you know exactly *where* thephoton is, you have absolutely no information about what its momentum is, because all possible momenta are equally represented in the wavefunction. And, since Fourier transforms are mathematically symmetric, the reverse is also true — if you know exactly what the momentum of your photon is, you have no idea where it is, because a delta function in momentum space is a uniform superposition of all possible position eigenfunctions.
So, provided you can grok the math, thinking of Fourier transforms makes the wave/particle duality seem a hell of a lot less mysterious and counterintuitive than all the mystics want to make it out to be.
Good, good. When you get to dealing with rotation, angular momentum, and spin, this will serve you well.
———
ibyea,
There aren’t really multiple versions. The PDEs and the matrices often appear side by side, and which particular type of mathematical manipulation you end up dealing with depends on exactly what kind of problem you’re trying to solve. For example, if I want to draw pictures of all those pretty electron orbitals that you see in chemistry textbooks, I need to know how an electron’s wavefunction near an atomic nucleus depends on its position relative to the nucleus. So I’ll write down the Schroedinger equation for the electrical field due to a point charge, which is a PDE containing derivatives with respect to position. When I apply the appropriate boundary conditions, I discover that the equation is only solvable if the total system energy has one of a particular discrete set of values. Each of these possible values for the energy gives me a few different solutions to the equation, and these solutions are the eigenstates of the system as functions of position. What I’ll see when I look at these eigenstates is that there’s a set of three integers (n,l,m) that I can use to completely specify which eigenstate I want to talk about. These are called the quantum numbers of the system. One gives information about the radial dependence of the eigenfunction (n), and the other two give information about its angular dependence (l and m).
So now let’s say I have an electron in orbit about a hydrogen nucleus, and I shoot a photon at it and I want to know what states the electron can jump to upon absorption of the photon, and what states it can fall to afterwards by emitting a photon. The answer to this question turns out to depend entirely on n, l, and m. So in this case, I have no interest at all in how to represent the electron’s state as a function of its position, and thus all my pretty little PDE solutions from above are mostly useless. All I care about is how that state can be represented in terms of the three quantum numbers n, l, and m. So I represent the electron’s state as a column vector psi in which each component tells me the contribution to the electron’s state from a particular combination of (n,l,m). The interaction with the photon is represented as a matrix A in which the (a,b) element tells me about the probability that the interaction will cause the electron to transition from state a to state b. Operating on the state vector with this matrix (matrix multiplying A * psi) tells me the new state of the electron after the interaction.
So basically, generally you use PDEs when you’re dealing with a continuous variable and matrices when you’re dealing with a discrete variable. But if you squint at these two different operations in the right way, you’ll see that they’re actually analogous, such that they can both be represented in a unified way by the bra-ket notation. The notion is that if you have a wavefunction in a continuous space (e.g. you have a psi(x) that’s a solution of the Schroedinger equation as above), then you can think of it as an infinite-dimensional vector which has a single component corresponding to its value at each point in space (so psi(3) is a component, as is psi(3.1), as is psi(3.01), and…). Operators then correspond to infinite-dimensional matrices, and so forth, and at about this point your head may start to spin. But the result of this is that you can represent it all with bras and kets, just as you can in the discrete case. The benefit is that the bra-ket representation often cleans up the notation a lot and reveals shortcuts you might not see if you’re always down in the weeds of functions and integration. You also can sometimes see useful analogies and distinctions between continuous and discrete systems. Of course, you can’t completely escape the PDE notation either, because that’s how you’ll get your actual hard results for continuous systems. It’s just that it’s useful to be able to occasionally transcend it.
strange gods before me ॐ
21 August 2012 at 4:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Some of whom must be wrong, since not everyone can be right.
+++++
Yikes! I checked the dictionary now just to be sure: to represent incorrectly, improperly, or falsely; to represent in an unsatisfactory manner. You are doing those things. I didn’t claim you were being dishonest. You are certainly putting words in my mouth, though I have no reason to think you’re doing so deliberately.
So please don’t suggest that I’m starting a fight with you, when I’m not.
I carefully explained exactly what you were mistaken about. Mostly, you were implying that I’m saying a bunch of things I’m clearly not saying. If you don’t understand what I’m saying, maybe you could ask politely instead of putting words in my mouth.
But of course it does matter, since if we let people get away with saying “atheism does not imply equality” then that influences the way people think.
If we argue that people who don’t stand for progressive values are bad atheists, then at a minimum that helps keep them on the defensive. They don’t get to have their most precious identity unchallenged.
It is relevant, because A+ implicitly grants regressives the claim that certain values do not follow from atheism, rather that they have to be added. The plus is an addition.
The actual topic of the discussion is whatever people actually discuss. If you don’t like the discussion I’m having with others, you aren’t required to participate in it.
Obviously it can do that. Obviously there could be other flags. Some non-verbal flags would not have this rhetorical vulnerability.
I didn’t say you shouldn’t have a flag. I explicitly said you should. Numerous times now. Please stop misrepresenting me.
It’s certainly not a logical consequence of my position, since I haven’t said you shouldn’t have a flag.
Wrong. Actually the fight is wherever new and naive atheists show up. Going into the depths of the already ruined would be a waste of time. Naive people don’t easily find that place — one has to have a lot of bitter disagreements to learn about it.
I hope you’re right. Note I also said that I think A+ is a clever thing, and I like it besides this particular rhetorical vulnerability.
KG
21 August 2012 at 4:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
SGBM,
Would you be able and willing to link to the place where you’ve advanced your claim that many things, and specifically anti-sexism, anti-racism, and all the other antis most of the regulars here agree on, follow from atheism, in the form that you are most satisfied with? Or alternatively, restate that claim here?
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 4:21 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh yes. I found my first class in Linear Algebra boring too, but once you get to some more advanced classes and actually see all the uses… Lovely.
strange gods before me ॐ
21 August 2012 at 4:28 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Jen said this too: “we’re already winning.”
And she approvingly quotes another commenter, danielmchugh, who says: “I can’t help but see social justice as a logical consequence of atheism.”
Even the trolls are saying we’re winning! :)
+++++
Not conflating. The claim is that people who believe in reincarnation are not coherent with observed reality. Thus anyone who believes in reincarnation is incoherent. Thus an atheist who believes in reincarnation is an incoherent atheist.
Not conflating. Everyone who believes in reincarnation is incoherent.
The proposal is only that atheism should be understood to include the consequences of a lack of gods. This is a very small leap.
+++++
KG, discussion is going on here. I made a bit of a misstep, which consciousness razor has helpfully fixed up.
John Morales
21 August 2012 at 4:45 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
ॐ:
<sigh>
And what does this have to do with theism or atheism?
(Do you imagine all possible reincarnation beliefs require a god to make such happen?)
John Morales
21 August 2012 at 4:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
ॐ:
How exactly does a lack of gods entail a lack of reincarnation?
dianne
21 August 2012 at 4:50 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Horde poll, for anyone willing to respond: In your experience does the average American (whoever she may be) a) know that the lack of universal health insurance is killing people in the US and b) care one way or another about the issue? I have a semi-urgent secondary motivation for asking this, involving speed at which I press for a particular article to go out…
John Morales
21 August 2012 at 4:54 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
dianne, I’d be willing to respond, except I know no Americans.
(My average American is non-existent!)
Louis
21 August 2012 at 4:56 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Sorry, sorry, I know it’s a serious issue but this:
Should not be allowed. Nominative determinism at that comedy level is destructive and dangerous. I actually inhaled coffee and have had my consideration of a genuinely serious issue dangerously corrupted by comedy.* There should at least be warnings for the comedically sensitive.
No. Just no.
From here.
Louis
* Comedy can be useful in illustrating serious issues, this is not one of those instances. I’m not going for full on disapproval, far from it, it’s just a thought-derailing experience.
rorschach
21 August 2012 at 5:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
So Kylie’s not with us. No surprise there.
Is anyone still reading our Cuttlefish’s poems?
theophontes (坏蛋)
21 August 2012 at 5:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
[Atheism+]
I should point out that SG’s argument lies orthogonal to the atheist+ debate. Of course we can set up whatever we want. But we also need to retain the term atheist in its unadulterated form. It belongs to us. And a coherent atheism is certainly free of bigotry. A+ = A. Geddit?
(orthogonal —> vectors & matrices reference for the maths boffins)
strange gods before me ॐ
21 August 2012 at 5:29 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
It has to do with atheism in that an atheist who believes in reincarnation is an incoherent atheist.
No, and I didn’t indicate otherwise. The claim is that people who believe in reincarnation are not coherent with observed reality.
Observed reality does not allow for reincarnation. There are no observed super-realities. And an atheist cannot call upon a god to provide reincarnation.
(If a god did exist, many ideas about reincarnation would be more plausible.)
+++++
Well, I don’t think it is orthogonal, but if it is orthogonal, then at least you’re still right about this:
Actually you’re right about that bit whether or not I’m right about the rhetorical weakness of “A+”.
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 5:37 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Cuttlefish says:
You know that weakness of A+ that has been mentioned? Yeah.
(Hint: I want the change of the whole of atheism.)
carlie
21 August 2012 at 5:37 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I would say no and no. If you told them they’d say it’s a shame, but that’s just how life is. That’s if you asked one of them who does have health insurance, that is.
What baffles me is that I constantly see local advertisements for fund-raisers for people who have some kind of major medical trauma or disease, and never in any of that is there any discussion of the fact that if we had decent health care to start with, they wouldn’t need to raise money for people who have been socked with huge medical bills. Yet somehow it’s preferable to beg for money from the community individually with tip jars at every restaurant than to have the community put the same money in a larger pot that gets distributed by the state.
John Morales
21 August 2012 at 5:53 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
theophontes:
No incoherent beliefs if one is an atheist. Got it.
(If you’re an incoherent atheist, you’re… um, not an atheist?!)
–
ॐ:
When did an incoherent atheist stop being an atheist?
When did a non-empiricist atheist stop being an atheist?
Even there, but did it matter one whit by this point, I would note you’re stating that flatly, as if it were true of all conceptions of what reincarnation entails. And I very much doubt the truth of your assertion.
Anne C. Hanna
21 August 2012 at 5:56 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
So you’re saying atheism is a Hermitian operator? I guess that’s good, as it does seem to represent a real observable quantity.
Or are we going with the + representing a pseudoinverse, in which case you appear to be claiming that atheism is the identity operator? Perhaps this is a version of the notion that we’re all born atheists?
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
21 August 2012 at 6:06 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Good morning
I have a magical uterus which predicts that come the next blood-test in September I’ll be put on a higher thyroxin dossage. Back to three weeks *yuck*
rorschach
We thankfully only had to deal with “asshole” and “idiot” so far.
We didn’t go much for semantics but more for effect. That if she called her dad an asshole what she was really saying that he was a very bad person.
I’m generally more relaxed with swearing. Given how “fucking” is used nowadays as a general intensifier I’m not sure if it’s necessary to really explain the sexual meaning yet. I mean, I don’t explain what “damn” actually means either (and I’m kind of looking forward to the “who’s that god guy in “oh god”)
strange gods before me ॐ
21 August 2012 at 6:09 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
When did I claim that they did? If I’m saying they’re an incoherent atheist, I’m saying they’re an incoherent atheist.
So it has to do with atheism in that an atheist who believes in reincarnation is an incoherent atheist.
When did I claim that they did? If I’m saying they’re an incoherent atheist, I’m saying they’re an incoherent atheist.
The claim is that people who believe in reincarnation are not coherent with observed reality.
Heh.
Does John Morales believe in reincarnation?
dianne
21 August 2012 at 6:11 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Carlie: Worse than that, it’s money already being spent. Inefficiently. The US spends more public money on health care than any other country except possibly Switzerland (ambiguous data on that comparison): Yet results are poorer. At least partly because ICU care is “free” (i.e. can’t be refused) but care that would keep people out of the ICU is routinely refused to people without insurance.
Anne C. Hanna
21 August 2012 at 6:16 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh, and dianne, for what little it’s worth, poll-wise, I think I mostly agree with carlie. Most people don’t even seem to connect the dots evidence-wise, and even many of the ones who do don’t connect the dots empathy-wise. This is often even the case with people who themselves have harder lives because our system is insufficiently socialist. The feeling seems to be, “My life is hard enough as it is, and you’re telling me now I’ll have to pay even *higher* taxes for those lazy welfare queens to have more crack babies? Hell no.” Or for the ones who managed to claw their way out of that state there’s, “I worked damn hard to get where I am today, and I deserve to enjoy what I earn without having the government take my money to subsidize a bunch of leeches.”
I think that a lot of it may be just that people are overwhelmed with their own day-to-day struggles or, in the cases of the successful ones, they’re very focused on doing the things that brought them success. So they just don’t have the time and energy to focus on understanding these issues deeply, and they just latch onto a response that lets them dismiss the issue as quickly as possible so they can go on to other things. The question here, as it is for pretty much every other bit of social activism, is how to break past that, and I don’t think I really have any good answer.
John Morales
21 August 2012 at 6:16 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
ॐ (his own emphasis)
Well, then.
Those other qualities are obviously not necessary just to be an atheist — that takes an atheist ‘plus’: empirical, holds coherent beliefs, is egalitarian and indeed ethical as an imperative (etc.). Right.
(Nothing to do with the dialectic, nosiree!)
John Morales
21 August 2012 at 6:17 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
ॐ:
That’s supposed to be dry humour, right?
strange gods before me ॐ
21 August 2012 at 6:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I never claimed otherwise — you’ve been trivially misunderstanding me this whole time.
No, not plus. These other things follow from atheism. They are, as Jen and danielmchugh agree, logical consequences of atheism.
They don’t need to be added to atheism. They come from atheism.
John Morales
21 August 2012 at 6:26 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
ॐ:
I’ve been stating the obvious: you speak not of atheism, but atheism plus — but you don’t orthographically render this semantic shift.
Rather, they are not ruled out by atheism — but you’re just admitted atheists for whom such doesn’t follow exist, so (empirically) they it’s the case that those other things don’t necessarily follow.
(Why the reluctance to denote your variant terminology?)
strange gods before me ॐ
21 August 2012 at 6:36 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I speak of atheism and its consequences, which can be understood as of a piece with atheism.
(Not of atheism and its discontents.)
Rather, they follow from atheism.
They do follow.
Some people get modus tollens wrong too. Pointing to someone who thinks P is still true — even though they agree P implies Q, and that Q is false — does not empirically demonstrate that it doesn’t necessarily follow that P is false.
I quote: “As atheism used to refer to the affirmative belief that there’s no gods, and now also refers to a lack of belief in gods, I see potential for it to further refer to the implications of a lack of gods.”
By the way, I get the feeling we’re making too many comments too fast for the Lounge here. Would you be willing to move it over to the Thunderdome?
ImaginesABeach
21 August 2012 at 7:01 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Access to healthcare is a particular interest of mine. I think that many Americans with health insurance believe that 1) it’s mostly “those people” who don’t have health insurance (how they define those people varies but it’s never a group they value); 2) some people choose not to have health insurance and it’s their choice to make because 3) there are no consequences to the individual or society when those people choose not to have health insurance.
I even have a story I tell people to demonstrate the consequences of the current situation. I have a girl in my Girl Scout troop. Her parents both worked full time for a company that did not offer insurance for its employees. The father had a heart attack a couple of years earlier, and had high on-going health needs, so insurance was a must for him. And they loved their daughter and made sure she had insurance so they never had to think about whether they could afford to take her to the doctor. Of course, with a pre-existing condition, dad had to buy insurance through the high risk pool, which was really expensive and still carried a high deductible and co-pays. In the fall of 2008, dad had a stroke. His insurance helped, but there were still a lot of bills and it took a while before he was well enough to go back to work. In the summer of 2009, mom wasn’t feeling well. She went to a sliding scale clinic, and they said it was probably a virus, come back if you don’t feel better. She didn’t get better, but didn’t go to the doctor because the family just couldn’t afford the medical bills. In August, she got so winded walking a few blocks that she was not able to participate in activities with her daughter but she still didn’t go to the doctor. In September, it was necessary for the family to call an ambulance and she was taken to the hospital. Where she died. Leaving behind a medically fragile husband, a 4th grade daughter and a mountain of bills. Dad and daughter lost their home to foreclosure and had to move in with his parents.
When I tell this story, people think it’s sad, but a totally unique event. They say “Well, sure, but she could have been hit by lightening and died” or “She didn’t die because she did’t have insurance, she died because she didn’t go to the doctor.”
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
21 August 2012 at 7:26 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I remember the story which PZ featured of the boy who ended up in intensive care with severe pneumonia where the dad wrote a really detailed account of the whole thing, from a first day when he came home sick from preschool, and a day on the couch, and all these thoughts so familiar to parents of “well, it’s just a cold, no need to call the doctor”.
I mean, I do that, too. But then there’s the point where you’re not sure anymore whether it will still be alright or whether there needs to be some serious treatment.
I get that, too, and then I take them to the doc. Most of the times she looks at them, asks what I’m already doing, says “carry on, do you have enough cough potion or should I write down some more”, or makes other suggestions. Basically we wasted everybody’s time because it’s not like she actually “helped them”. But sometimes there’s the “uhm, no, this is getting out of hands, let’s do this, this and this”.
Only that I couldn’t know before whether they’d be OK again in a few days or needed treatment.
These parents simply had to put off the point of seeing a doctor far more than I have to, because while I might only be wasting my time, they would be wasting their money and they couldn’t afford it. And especially with children, the point where a layperson can definetly tell that this isn’t going to go away by itself and the point where the situation has become critical can happen very, very fast.
I doubt that all my trips to the doc where I came home with a prescription for cough potion (kids medication is free of copay, so technically I don’t need the prescription but it saves me money) and a “carry on” cost more than one ICU stay.
Rev. BigDumbChimp
21 August 2012 at 7:37 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Do they follow from atheism or just from rational thought and observation, from which atheism also follows?
blf
21 August 2012 at 7:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
This is a test comment. Do not adjust your gunkenputer. Any resemblance to reality is accidental. Normal snark will be resumed after the conclusion of this test.
Just finished(?) upgrading the workstation’s software, now checking out various things…
dianne
21 August 2012 at 8:13 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
. In August, she got so winded walking a few blocks that she was not able to participate in activities with her daughter but she still didn’t go to the doctor. In September, it was necessary for the family to call an ambulance and she was taken to the hospital. Where she died
Viral cardiomyopathy?
When I tell this story, people think it’s sad, but a totally unique event.
Not even close.
Ok, if compassion and fiscal responsibility won’t motivate people, how about some competition? Outcomes in two areas which I swear I will be more specific about when I get permission*, are better in Europe than in the US. Do you want to stand by and get beaten by a bunch of old Europeans?
*Probably days to weeks for one, weeks to months for the other. Hopefully before November for both.
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 8:14 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’m off to do something fun. Giliell, if you’ll keep talking to Timon, good luck with that.
And sorry for falling for his bait to derail. That’s a troll if I’ve ever seen one.
strange gods before me ॐ
21 August 2012 at 8:19 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Specifically from the implications of there being no gods.
carlie
21 August 2012 at 8:21 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I wish the People In Charge of the Debate would reframe it as paying a tiny bit extra as insurance in case you yourself need it later. “Wouldn’t you like to be able to start your own business without worrying about where your health care is coming from?” “Do you hate your job, but stay only for the health benefits?” “If you get laid off, this will ensure you stay healthy”, etc. I think that would go a lot further, since people are basically selfish, than saying how other people are basically dying in the streets.
Rorschach – could you get away with saying it’s only for grown-ups? Like driving and voting and etc?
echidna
21 August 2012 at 8:31 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Sure. Wouldn’t miss them for the world.
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
21 August 2012 at 8:42 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
carlie
Or “What if your child was born with a heart defect? Wouldn’t you want her to be sure and be able to get health insurance later”
I don’t even want to imagine the troubles the little one would have buying health insurance in the USA…
Pteryxx
21 August 2012 at 8:47 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Hello y’all, a couple of useful resources via FeministWhore in Jen’s comments.
First off, an analysis of how voter ID laws also disenfranchise thousands of transgender voters:
http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Herman-Voter-ID-Apr-2012.pdf
—
and this essay analyzing several books that start to tackle racism built right into healthcare.
http://kalamu.posterous.com/review-essay-anne-fausto-sterling-bodies-with
Rev. BigDumbChimp
21 August 2012 at 9:01 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Has anyone seen this?
Fucking antagonists.
Louis
21 August 2012 at 9:11 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I leave this with no further comment.
Well, no further comment other than “better living through chemistry?”.
Louis
Rev. BigDumbChimp
21 August 2012 at 9:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Louis, that’s awesome for reasons that you can probably guess.
Rev. BigDumbChimp
21 August 2012 at 9:35 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Pat Robertson: Atheist billboards are just like putting up a billboard of Teenagers having sex.
Improbable Joe
21 August 2012 at 9:38 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Rev. BigDumbChimp,
I just love those aggressive 2nd Amendment assholes trying to bait people into reacting negatively to them, and the cops sort of ruining their fun by not rising to the bait.
Louis
21 August 2012 at 9:49 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Rev BDC,
Sure, but I maintain a little scepticism for example. I think these pictures were done after a day or so on the respective drugs, and some of those CNS drugs take weeks to have a noticeable/useful effect. So I suspect Uncle Placebo and Aunt Nocebo are visiting.
Louis
chigau (違う)
21 August 2012 at 9:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Rev
I’ve been on Baffin Island.
I’m currently near the border with NWT doing [redacted] for a [redacted] company.
[I signed a non-disclosure agreement ;)]
cicely
21 August 2012 at 10:13 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’m cicely, and I approve of this message.
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a) No.
b) Well, there’s a certain (large) serving of “I’ve got mine; fuck everyone else!”, but people I’ve talked to who have problems with universal health insurance chiefly cite the expense, and cannot be convinced that it would save money. The way they (seem to, to my observations) see it, people will still have to go to emergency rooms, hospitals, etc., and a certain proportion of those people will still not be able to pay, so everyone else’s bills will still be padded to cover those “mal-patients”—plus doctors’ office visits, prophylaxis of any kind, etc., will only be added on top of that previous amount. For which taxes will have to be increased to cover. Which they violently oppose; it’s always phrased as “Why should I have to pay for their medical care?!?”, never “I’d be paying mostly for my own coverage”.
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<cynicism> That’s because the state-distribution approach denies the giver the “warm fuzzies” of being “charitable”. </cynicism>
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David Marjanović
21 August 2012 at 10:19 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Jadehawk, at least one of the organizers (onion girl) practically never reads Pharyngula; in case you haven’t already, PM them on Facebook.
Wow. That should be come famous like “not intended to be a factual statement”.
Bingo.
<HULK>
Seriously, that’s the only way I can explain such things, especially the lack of <blockquote> in : the morons who wrote the interface have no fucking idea what a blog fucking is. They obviously don’t read any blogs themselves!
</HULK>
*pant*
*pant*
I’d have explained in long, insulting detail how Obama is a much better Christian than Rmoney… by the criteria I was taught when I was little, as carefully cherry-picked from the Bible as any others.
Yes: 27360; no: 40146.
WTF. I’m only the 70th vote?!?
An initiative to substantially increase society’s climate and energy literacy should be a national priority
Absolutely! Should be major priority
85% 60 votes
Couldn’t hurt, but not top of my list
8% 6 votes
Meh- lukewarm at best on the idea
0% 0 votes
Not sure it would make any difference, so why bother?
0% 0 votes
A real waste of time
5% 4 votes
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 10:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
We frequently highlight Moments of Mormon Madness here. In case you know someone who wants to leave the madness, here are complete instructions for name removal (resignation) from the mormon church:
http://www.exmormon.org/remove.htm
And here’s our Moment of Mormon Madness for today. Each mormon ward now has a “calling” that Bishops can assign to members: Public Relations. The poor saps called by the mormon god through the pressure tactics of their Bishop to the PR calling are supposed to travel to Washington D.C. to meet with a General Authority (old white geezer who survived and lied long enough to move up the mormon ladder) for “tutoring on how to handle questions about the church.”
Some wards have had PR flacks since the 1980s, for others this is a new calling. The news was posted on ex-mormon forums today.
Each larger grouping of Wards, each Stake, also has a PR chairperson that works under the supervision of the Stake President (Stake President is the highest level at which Mitt Romney served).
There is also and inter-faith relations calling.
Ex-mormons have confirmed that both groups have “talking points.” I think the main skill required is the ability to talk while saying nothing. No amount of training can completely conceal the madness at the center of mormonism.
In other news, the current Prophet, Seer and Revelator, Thomas S. Monson, has diabetes and is rumored to be suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. At his recent birthday party, his “thank you” remarks were prerecorded. Even though the dude was present, he did not speak. Boyd K. Packer is next in line for the throne.
Richard Austin
21 August 2012 at 10:23 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
SGBM:
Reading your arguments, I seem to be interpreting this as implying that “atheist = rational” – your specific argument that could be distilled to “if god doesn’t exist, there’s no rational reason to be anti-gay” (probably oversimplification) relies on a rational perspective and approach.
Nothing about atheism implies rationality. A person can be an atheist and also be a sociopath who simply likes to be an asshole to people.
Or a person could be an atheist who has developed a complex evo devo logic for counting gays as genetically inferior.
Or a person could simply be an atheist who dislikes gay people, with no justification or excuses.
Am I missing something? Or are you assuming that atheism and rationality have to go hand-in-hand? I agree that no one can be rational without also being an atheist, but I can’t see a causal path that leads from being an atheist to automatically being rational.
And if we can’t assume rationality, I don’t see how any of your other logic applies.
David Marjanović
21 August 2012 at 10:40 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Der Spiegel: The EU Commissioner for Education, Jan Figel, appears to have done his doctorate by copying a few sources together and calling that a thesis.
The thesis is going to be checked; if it’s found to be a plagiate, the private university in question could lose the right to award doctorates.
Plagiarism and other forms of corruption appear to be a system-wide thing in Slovakia. Right now, the minister for agriculture is alleged to have become a professor without fulfilling the criteria; and the vice president of the parliament is said to have copied whole chapters from parliament papers in her doctoral thesis without saying so. Plus, students at the police academy passed the entrance exam by bribery – the president and the students in question have been removed.
Figel was already Commissioner when he “did” his doctorate, so he didn’t have time to do the required seminars. Being famous, he was declared some kind of assistant professor and gave talks that were apparently counted as fulfilling the requirements. The president of the university has flat-out said that it’s always good for a university to have famous students and alumni – especially a private university like his, it needs to be added, that is dependent on the fees the students pay and therefore needs advertisement.
It’s furthermore mysterious how Figel was allowed to do a thesis in “social work” when his Master’s, completed in 1983, was in electrical engineering. Oh, and, the thesis is almost entirely about politics; only four pages are about social issues.
David Marjanović
21 August 2012 at 10:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I suppose that’s what passes for humor among gods.
Rev. BigDumbChimp
21 August 2012 at 10:45 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Yeah we want to do a couple weeks in Auyuittuq National Park.
Unforgettably with the melting due to AGW, looks like a lot of the river crossings in the park are extremely dangerous now.
Rev. BigDumbChimp
21 August 2012 at 10:45 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
unforgettably?
wtf
UNFORTUNATELY
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 11:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Bill Maher on voter suppression:
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/bill-maher-hits-republicans-voter-id-laws-in
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 11:07 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Ex-mormons are joking that the main problem is that you can’t tell the difference between the Prophet pre-Alzheimer’s and post-Alzheimer’s.
raven
21 August 2012 at 11:15 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Wouldn’t be surprising.
The LDS is a true gerontocracy and this has happened before.
One of the old ones, Kimball was out of it for his last years. IIRC, Ezra Taft “John Bircher” Benson was also out of it.
Hi Lynna,
How was rock season this year?
raven
21 August 2012 at 11:21 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh my Cthulhu.
IIRC, Packer is one of the more wild eyed haters of the bunch. He is also in poor health and not thought to last much longer.
Oh well, with a gerontacracy, they are used to it. Probably they have a trained cadre of handlers of very old and dubiously mentally competent white guys, another “calling” of the LDS church.
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 11:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Paul Krugman calls it like it is in An Unserious Man.
Excerpts:
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 11:24 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Good afternoon, all! Totally [Lounge]rupt. *distributes hugs and chocolate cake*
This morning I took it upon myself to do some maintenance on our fleet vehicles and discovered that 1) it’s not easy working around this large and tight belly and 2) whatever crud that has collected under the hoods of our diesel vehicles has given me a gnarly rash (I was wearing gloves, but I got schmutz on my forearms). I’ve never had this problem before.
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
21 August 2012 at 11:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Do I make dinner?
A) It’s freaking hot
B) The kids are snacking fruits and toast all the time
C) If I don’t get a solid meal I‘ll be snacking stuff all the time, too…
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
21 August 2012 at 11:29 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Audley
Pregnancy plays havoc with your immune system.
#1 put my allergies almost to zero, the little one got them to pre-#1 plus interest level. That’s the one and only argument for a third child.
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 11:32 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Yes, Prophet Benson was “handled” in his final years. His grandson documented how bad/deceptive this handling of the prophet was. http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon090.htm
Excerpts:
As for rocks, I am suffering from withdrawal. I’ve only been out to work at the mine once so far this year. I’m still working on recovery from a stroke in April. I might be able to go on an expedition this fall, but it’s most likely that work with rocks will have to wait until next spring.
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 11:40 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Giliell:
Makes sense. My seasonal allergies were off the freaking charts this past spring, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at the skin irritation.
I did wash with soap and warm water and rinsed really well. I don’t itch or anything, my skin’s just all red and bumpy.
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 11:40 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
This is bad news. If you’re worried about billionaires buying the presidency for Mitt Romney, worry some more.
Romney has a cash advantage so far.
portia
21 August 2012 at 11:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Alright, I think I’m caught up, and am responding belatedly to some things, as usual.
Jadehawk
Well, call my SO careless then. He knows me well enough to know how terrified I am of childbirth. And I’m not sure he’d be totally upset with an oops. Not that this anecdote defeats your point, but I think it’s unfair to say no one anywhere should trust anyone on the subject. I mean, there’s often quite a bit of trust involved in such a relationship anyway… /fwiw
Lyn M
You took the words out of my fingertips. I tell clients that everybody has a will, some people’s are just written by the state.
Josh
Truth.
Hear, hear!
Katherine:
I can absolutely relate to that, re: family members who really aren’t doing anyone any favors with becoming parents. It’s really hard when you’re expected to have the “normal” reaction. I felt that way about a marriage or two as well, but managed to keep my mouth shut.
rorschach
Ha!
Giliell
I vote for handing out popsicles.
TRIGGER WARNING – RAPE
The Onion does it again: a very effective rape culture joke.
portia
21 August 2012 at 11:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
As an aside, I literally got goosebumps when I heard Obama’s response to Akin’s comments. I thought: “It’s like he’s defending me.” I had a moment.
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 11:51 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Journalist Michael Tomasky documents the lies and gross distortions of the truth employed by the Romney/Ryan campaign.
Excerpts:
Let’s expose this parade of lies. I sent my pitiful Democratic financial mite to Obama. I’m sure he has people to count the pennies.
raven
21 August 2012 at 11:53 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh.
Sorry to hear that.
Hope you can get out and digging up rocks ASAP.
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 12:02 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh hey, as long as we’re talking about Akin, has anyone posted Rep Steve King’s latest nonsense?
This from the dude that said it’s legal to abduct and rape a young teenage girl, take her across state lines for abortion and “drop her off at the swingset” when all is said and done. *headdesk headdesk HEADDESK!*
I like Wonkette’s take (let’s face it I often do):
http://wonkette.com/481613/rep-steve-king-i-have-never-heard-of-teenagers-getting-pregnant-except-the-ones-i-described#more-481613
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 12:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Piling on the bad news: the latest Monmouth University Poll shows Obama leading Romney far too narrowly for comfort. Obama leads by one point, not even statistically significant. It’s Obama 46% to Romney’s 45%.
Add this to the fact that Obama trails Romney in cash on hand: $123.7 million to $185.9 million.
So, you’ve got Sheldon Adelson’s promise to spend $100 million for Romney, and the Koch brothers kicking in $44 million that we know about (and more secretly).
Add in some nifty voter suppression of predominately Democratic Party voters …
Jeez, I don’t want those smarmy liars who are incapable of vetting their sources around — I don’t want them running the country.
I posted several comments on the newly minted Republican platform in an older thread this morning. Comments start here:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/08/20/i-guess-you-shouldnt-always-trust-your-doctor/comment-page-1/#comment-437106
portia
21 August 2012 at 12:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I just…I just can’t. As I was reading Audley’s comment, a friend posted it on my fb wall with this: “well i have ya fucking douchbag. Come be a social worker for a week get your fucking eyes opened to reality. fucking ass hat.”
So, the silver lining is righteous anger from affected people? I don’t have many words for this kind of assholery.
*whimper* make it stop. Just somebody fix it please. Rachel Maddow somehow delivers horrible news on this sort of front all the time, yet I don’t feel bad afterwards, I feel somehow invigorated. How does she do that?
Caine, Fleur du mal
21 August 2012 at 12:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
We’re off to the vet, emergency visit – Zoe isn’t full of babies, she’s full of shit. Severe constipation, possible colon problem. Back later.
portia
21 August 2012 at 12:17 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh no! I hope she comes through it all right. :( At least no more ratlets though.
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 12:19 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Caine:
♥ for Zoe. I hope everything turns out okay.
Azkyroth, Former Growing Toaster Oven
21 August 2012 at 12:21 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’ve gotten incredibly good mileage out of explaining that when there’s a reason to say those words, adults will have already said them, so kids don’t need to say them at all.
Rev. BigDumbChimp
21 August 2012 at 12:40 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Anyone seen HuPo’s headline and accompanying photo today?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
cicely
21 August 2012 at 12:41 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
While you’re over at The Onion, don’t miss this one:Republicans Condemn Akin’s Comments As Blemish On Party’s Otherwise Spotless Women’s Rights Record.
I may never be able to get my tongue out of my cheek.
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Best of luck for Zoe.
-
Amphiox
21 August 2012 at 12:45 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I don’t think the actual meaning of “bitch” is something beyond a 5 year old’s understanding. Tell him it means a female dog and that when you call a girl that you are saying she’s a dog and not a person, or that someone’s mother is not a person, and that that is a very mean thing to say.
As for “fuck”, that’s tougher, as the social stigma against it among adults is irrational to begin with, but again I think you can tell him that it is a word adults say when they are angry or want to be mean to someone, so when he says it to or about someone it is being very mean to that person.
If your child is old enough to understand sex and rape, you can tell them that when used at a person, it means you are wishing for them to be raped (which is true for maybe half the time, the other half being mostly an invitation to masturbate, about which again the stigma among adults is rather irrational), and that of course is a very cruel thing to wish for.
Socio-gen, something something...
21 August 2012 at 12:45 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Josh @ 427, broboxley @ 455, Lyn M @ 457:
Thanks for the recipes! I have no idea yet which will win out for tonight’s dinner (I’m one of those “stare into the fridge and cupboards ’til inspiration strikes” cooks) but they all look yummy.
Lyn M: No worries about lateness! It’s for tonight’s “really, truly, I’m honestly leaving this time, I swear” farewell dinner.
—
Alethea @ 443:
Agreed. The bar for expected behavior would be set (so) much higher, so many of the “what ifs” that plague me in the face of new social situations would be eliminated.
—
blf @ 488, cicely @ 548: Heretics! Zucchini, I could understand (except for zucchini bread) but the yummy yellow squash? No no no.
—
rorschach @ 495:
Oh the joys of parenting… I think a kid’s main goal — from ages 1 to…oh, death? — is to freak you the fuck out. So, the bigger reaction they get, the more likely they are to keep doing whatever caused it. (Because it’s FUN watching parents turn purple and become incoherent babbling wrecks.)
Since he’s only 5, I would just explain that there are words that hurt or upset people and, because we want to be good neighbors and not hurt other people, we don’t use those words. No need for explanations of what they mean that he probably won’t care about anyway. Then, let him know what your expected response will be. For example, taking a favorite toy or activity away for a specific period of time.
If he does use those words, he needs an immediate action. (Not to criticize your ex, but kids that age don’t have any real grasp of time and Santa is too far in the future for him to be really scared.) Instead, calmly repeat that “Remember, there are words we don’t use?” and follow through on the punishment you laid out for him earlier. He’ll quickly get that saying “bad word X, Y, and/or Z” means his toy has to spend the night in “toy jail” or that he has to miss his favorite show — or whatever punishments you (and the ex) deem appropriate.
Hope this helps.
—
dianne: In my experience in rural Pennsylvania: a) no, and b) no, unless they or someone they care about is the one denied a treatment/care by the insurance company or has no insurance, is unable to go to the doctor, puts off treatment, has to put up collection jars in every convenience store in town, etc.
There is this rationalization that they are not like “those other people” (read: poor, people of color, unemployed, welfare bums) being denied care, etc. They have done everything “right” and are being punished, while “those other people” are just lazy and chose not to have insurance, and are getting what they deserve.
As carlie said, they’re selfish.
—
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 12:46 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Maddow never skimps on context. She always vets her sources. If she makes a mistake, she apologizes on camera and explains the error. She has the best bullshit detector I’ve ever seen. She connects U.S. trends to global trends, and she provides enough perspective that you can see the consequences. She is a better historian than many professional historians. She puts subtext on display, puts it front and center so that it is inescapable.
Maddow is an artist. And really fine art, no matter the subject, is invigorating.
Maddow gives me hope for humankind. And for that smaller subset of humankind, professional journalists.
Did I mention that I like her? I even like her hair, which apparently troubles a lot of right wingers.
She’s not perfect, and she knows it.
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
21 August 2012 at 12:51 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
They also do not like her suits. Or make up. Or partner.
I could go on.
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 12:53 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
On Rachel Maddow’s hair, with comments from Tucker Carlson and Senator David Vitter:
http://www.autostraddle.com/policing-rachel-maddows-gender-52441/
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 12:55 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
True. But mostly they do not like that she far and away more intelligent than any of them.
How dare she?
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 12:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’m now irrationally proud that I have a very similar haircut.
portia
21 August 2012 at 1:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
This is one of my favorite things about her. She is so frank about her mistakes, and never hides from inaccuracies. When she has a guest on and has contextualized the interview prior to introducing them, the first thing she always says is “What did I get wrong? You know way more about this than I do.” Which is ridiculously refreshing.
Re: Artistry. You have expressed exactly what she does, far better than I could have articulated it. I was so happy when I found her show as a podcast, as I don’t have cable.
I also relish how disliked she is by regressives. Let them stew in their willful ignorance, while she shines a light on their sliminess.
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
21 August 2012 at 1:07 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Going off about a high school photo, a time period when most people are going to give in to pressures about gender norms. Hell, was Rachel Maddow even out in high school.
Perhaps this is because I am queer but I think her short brown hair fits her face better than did the long blond hair.
And will double down on Rachel Maddow being much more intelligent than the people calling out out on not being a real woman™.
There is a reason why Charlie Pierce calls her Professor Maddow. And he is not being snarky.
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 1:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Socio-gen:
Holy fuck socks, this. I worked with a guy* who would spout the most ridiculous livin’ free or dyin’ bullshit imaginable (no shit, he complained about the National Labor Relations Act poster that’s hanging in my office because the government’s trying to force us to unionize!!), while at the same time sucking on the government teat. I know that he received home heating assistance from the state, has high speed internet because of a New York State program that subsidizes internet access for people who live in rural/under served areas, etc. But all of this is okay for him, ‘cos he’s not some welfare queen.
Interestingly enough, this guy had no health insurance and has tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt but still opposees the ACA (and any mention of a single payer program) because “socialism” will take away all of our “freedoms”. Besides the freedom to die in a ditch, I’m not sure what freedoms he was referring to, exactly.
*Dude I fired a couple of weeeks back, actually.
Amphiox
21 August 2012 at 1:13 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
What they hate about Maddow is that when she criticizes them, the critiques are so intelligent, thorough, and well researched, that they never have any defense.
Since the message is untouchable, all they have left is to attack the messenger.
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 1:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Today’s story about children and teaching gender:
Met up with a friend. She had bought a gift for her two-year old nephew and we met up in the store while she was choosing papers for the wrapping. Most were crap, but I found a sweet one with teddy bears. She didn’t want it because the background was purple and therefore too “girly”.
The boy’s two. She’d bought him a toy train. His dick won’t fall off if he gets it wrapped in a paper with a bit of purple.
Tony •King of the Hellmouth•
21 August 2012 at 1:16 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Nightjar@ 410:
You may not be scrolling down far enough. The Recent Comments side bar is under all the convention advertisements.
****
Socio-gen:
Roasted the squash with some red peppers. Chop and toss into a food processor with honey and olive oil (save some of the diced squash for later). Ladle a pool of the mixture onto a plate. Place your protein of choice (I used roasted swordfish, but anything would work) atop the sauce. Roasted new potatoes, wild rice, quinoa, tabouleh or brown rice make wonderful side dishes. Garnish the fish with the remainder of the diced squash (or add to your side dish for great added texture and flavor).
****
thunk:
Congratulations.
If I may ask, are you almost done with high school (I can’t remember if you said you’re a junior or senior)?
****
Ah, date #4 just ended. I’m seeing real chemistry in our interactions. A natural ebb and flow to conversations, subtle and/or non verbal communication picked up on, paying attention to what the other is saying and picking up on it again when relevant. There’s a lot of stuff I’ve learned that I *don’t* want in a relationship. Though I still have some quibbles about some of his remarks, overall I’m quite happy.
Which will make it frustrating next month when he goes onboard a Norweigan Crusie Ship to work for four months :(
(and why are people surprised when I mention that we’ve not had sex yet? Is there some expectation that people are *supposed* to have sex by a certain time?)
portia
21 August 2012 at 1:16 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Amphiox-
That explains why I was told to “have a nice life” by a devoutly Jewish “friend” after criticizing the victim-must-marry-her-rapist verse.
/implicit comparisons to Professor Maddow’s artful takedowns not intended.
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 1:16 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
The train, not his penis. Otherwise, there goes my “won’t fall off” point.
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
21 August 2012 at 1:18 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
It was not too “girly” for the Romans.
What complete and utter bullshit.
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 1:19 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Yay!
:)
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 1:20 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Dianne,
Well, his dick won’t fall off either way. :p
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
21 August 2012 at 1:21 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Yeah, but we feminists are trying to deny him his penis.
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 1:21 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
*facepalm* Sorry Beatrice, I have no idea why I thought you were dianne.
Apologies!
opposablethumbs
21 August 2012 at 1:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Caine, good that she’s not pregnant but I do hope Zoe is OK.
I feel like looking after one pet is a handful; hat off to you for managing with a householdful!
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 1:24 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’m now laughing about the stupid mistake with “it” in the first sentence and then again being wrong while explaining that sentence.
Ok, I’ve had three or four chocolates with liquor filling, I’m afraid it’s not enough to blame for the silliness.
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 1:26 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Audley, no problem
Richard Austin
21 August 2012 at 1:29 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
The official platform of the Republican National Convention. Notice there’s no exceptions.
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 1:29 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh, lookee what just popped in my facebook feed– you’ll never guess which political party wants to enshrine fetal personhood in the Constitution!
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/08/21/as-romney-and-ryan-dissemble-rnc-prepares-deeply-anti-choice-platform-promoting-0
I had a thought the other day (I know, right?): If fetuses are
asmore important than pregnant women, does this mean that I’m committing a crime every time I have sex or masturbate?Should I just shut my pie hole now before I give the anti choice doucheholes more ammunition?
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 1:31 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Ha! Jinx, Richard!
KG
21 August 2012 at 1:32 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
SGBM@8
Thanks.
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
21 August 2012 at 1:37 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Yet again, one wonders why the nattering Republican heads were yelling about Todd Akin when they did not disagree with him.
carlie
21 August 2012 at 1:38 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I read on Twitter that the RNC official platform had a reference to Czechoslovakia that just barely got caught before going to press.
Nightjar
21 August 2012 at 1:38 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Tony,
I’m talking about Sb Pharyngula. The Recent Comments sidebar recently went from being frozen to not being there at all, instead of being fixed like it should have been.
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
21 August 2012 at 1:40 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
One, one person involved who is aware that Czechoslovakia no longer exists.
What do they think of Yugoslavia?
Tony •King of the Hellmouth•
21 August 2012 at 1:42 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Lynna:
They’re mad that she makes them look stupid?
****
Caine:
I hope all goes well with Zoe. With luck, we’ll all be able to say “thankfully it was constipation, not pregnancy”.
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
21 August 2012 at 1:44 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Looking at my last statement.
*facepalm*
I have not even started drinking yet.
Tony •King of the Hellmouth•
21 August 2012 at 1:45 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Audley:
Whoa. I have to sit down.
Women masturbate??!!
:)
(where do you grow hair at?)
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 1:45 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Here’s Rachel Maddow on the innertubes:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/
Just to keep you all up to date: Todd Akin is staying in the race.
Quote is from The Maddow Blog.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/21/13397694-akin-thumbs-his-nose-at-gop-stays-in-senate-race
Previous thread containing lots of Akin info, plus Republican platform info at end of thread:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/08/20/i-guess-you-shouldnt-always-trust-your-doctor/
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 1:46 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Janine:
For the life of me, I can’t figue that out. My best guess is how Akin said it, not what he said.
I also can’t wrap my head around RMoney saying that he wouldn’t limit abortion access to rape victims, while on the other hand his party is putting out this shitty platform.
Rev. BigDumbChimp
21 August 2012 at 1:47 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Happy B-day Joe
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 1:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Wait, misspoke one word? What does he think we’re all talking about?
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
21 August 2012 at 1:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Tony, may I introduce you to Early To Bed.
Needless to say, this is not safe for work.
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 1:50 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Tony:
Here’s a mind fuck for ya: pregnant women masturbate. The horror!
Caine,
Poor poor Zoe. Is it bad that I’m still trying to work out how a rattie enema would work?
portia
21 August 2012 at 1:50 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks!! I often miss something because she shows a graphic or video clip. And then there’s her hair, how I miss her hair. /intellectualcrush.
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 1:51 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I never know these things.
Switching player from Manu Chao to The Clash now (wow, that’s a change).
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 1:52 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Hey hey! My rash is already fading!
Tony •King of the Hellmouth•
21 August 2012 at 1:54 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
::headdesk so bad I have 2 concussions::
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
21 August 2012 at 1:56 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Chimpy, I doubt it would surprise you that I had London Calling in my personal heavy rotation for years.
Tony •King of the Hellmouth•
21 August 2012 at 1:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Huh, I just realized I haven’t read any stories from the Onion before. Having looked them up, I see they’re quite good at satire. Of course, the scary thing is, I can actually see Republican leaders saying that shit.
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 1:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Tony:
*cough* It’s The Onion.
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 1:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
RMoney has carefully separated Akin’s talk of rape from abortion in his heavily compartmentalized and fortified brain. This leaves him free to say that, yes, he would vote for a “personhood” bill that would effectively criminalize all abortion, including abortions following rape or incest. “Absolutely,” says the Mittster.
RMoney does not approve of rape and he wants you to know it.
RMoney does not — ever — consider the consequences of his support for personhood bills, defunding Planned Parenthood, etc., and he doesn’t want you to consider the consequences either. That would be mean. RMoney does not approve of meanness.
Rachel Maddow calls out Mitt Romney for his vague stance on abortion:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#48409172
Socio-gen, something something...
21 August 2012 at 1:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Caine:
Hope Zoe comes through this okay!
—
Love Rachel Maddow! And the fact that she causes little wingnut heads to explode makes her even more awesome.
—
Audley:
Yep. They get LIHEAP and free weatherization, they get CHIP and Free/Reduced Lunch for their kids, they get farm subsidies, they got FEMA aid after the flooding last Sept. but that’s different. They “really” need them. Unlike “those people.”
It’s the same attitude with women who protest abortion clinics and then show up to get one of their own. They aren’t Slutty McSluttersons like those other women; they just made a mistake and can’t have a baby right now.
—
Tony:
I’d have to nix the red peppers (they and my stomach have a hate-hate relationship) but otherwise it sounds lovely. Hmmm…and there’s a pork roast just waiting for something to do…
Yay on things going well! Boo-hiss on the upcoming 4-month separation!
Tony •King of the Hellmouth•
21 August 2012 at 2:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Janine:
No worries about NSFW.
Still out of work.
Interview tomorrow though.
That site is amusing.
(I find some of the toys to be rather appealing)
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 2:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
So… because Mitty’s anti-rape, rape can’t happen? Do I have that right, Lynna?
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 2:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Socio-gen:
What also chaps my ass is that they think we’re so stupid that we can’t figure out who “those people” really are.
Fucking dog whistles.
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 2:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Rachel Maddow’s kicks.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/08/rachel_maddows_shoes_discuss.html
http://fuckyeahrachelmaddow.tumblr.com/post/18439463781/the-shoes-the-shoes-rachel-maddow-accepting-the
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericsusch/3611505560/
http://www.rachelmaddow.com/
Tony •King of the Hellmouth•
21 August 2012 at 2:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Socio-gen:
Hmmm, that gives me an idea. I don’t have the most experience cooking pork roasts, but I wonder if there’s a way to cook it maybe 3/4 of the way and then inject it with the squash puree…? Or maybe it would just be easier to baste it with the puree towards the end of the cooking (or even taking it out of the oven and then basting; the carry over cooking should be more than enough to help soak in the flavor).
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 2:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
More Maddow shoes, plus reasons for not competing in the “pretty” contest.
http://www.glamour.com/magazine/2011/05/rachel-maddow-tells-katie-couric-im-not-competing-on-the-pretty-girl-on-cable-front
Moar better pundit shoes:
http://ginavivinetto.wordpress.com/2008/12/page/2/
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
21 August 2012 at 2:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Here’s the other thing that’s bothering me about the Republican party platform:
According to the articles I’ve read, these asswipes think that the 14th Amendment should apply at conception, but it wasn’t that long ago that these fucking dumbasses were trying to get rid of the 14th because of “anchor babies”.
WHICH IS IT, REPUBLICANS? Make up your damn minds!
Paul
21 August 2012 at 2:16 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
According to a comment on Zingularity, apparently on Huckabee’s show he amended “legitimate rape” to be “forcible rape” instead and called it a day. This would imply that he thinks the problem is with the word “legitimate”, not with the pseudoscience he was trying to use to claim that rape victims can’t get pregnant (and therefore if you are pregnant, you weren’t raped — although now, it just means you weren’t “forcibly” raped, by which I suspect he means violently, which is no less wrong of course).
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 2:19 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Paul, thanks.
I’ll *headdesk* for a bit now, excuse me.
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 2:26 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Ex-mormons discuss attitudes toward rape within mormon communities:
http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon422.htm
Apostle Richard G. Scott:
Original and official LDS source:
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1992/04/healing-the-tragic-scars-of-abuse?lang=eng
Excerpt:
sisu
21 August 2012 at 2:42 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Delurking to ask…
For those of us hanging around the periphery… what’s the story here? I read her post where she says she hasn’t read Jen’s OP (or any of the followups, except for Richard Carrier’s) but knows enough from the backchannel to know she wants nothing to do with A+. I don’t read her blog – I’m not a podcaster or much of a video watcher so I don’t ‘know’ her the way I do those I read, but I had the impression that she pretty much stayed out of the social justice dustups. Not true?
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
21 August 2012 at 2:44 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
amphiox
Do you think that’s an honest explenation? Does “fuck you” say “I want you to be raped?”
Socio-Gen
Not necesarily.
If it’s attention they’re after, then they want to freak you (generic you) out. It’s kind of like with trolls: People will say “just ignore them, all they want to get is a reaction”, but that’s actually not true in many cases with trolls and it’s not true with children either. Sometimes they use a swear word because they want to get a reaction, sometimes they use one because they are really, really upset and want to hurt you as much as they can and if you just ignore that you’re ignoring that something serious has just happened.
Please no punishments. Consequences. Although I admit that they actually often look similar. But the toy has nothing to do with the “bad word”, it’s just dealing out hurt.
Yes, being a man or a woman is apparently either about what’s between your legs, nor what’s between your ears, but about what you wear and how you cut your hair.
beatrice
The thing is, they really, really have to drill that into children. Because in fact, if you forget to do their hair right, and put the appropriate clothes on, and hand them the right toys it’s actually hard to tell if they’re boy or girl.
I noticed it again on the holidays. I bought the little one new swimming trunks, and because I just couldn’t bring myself to buy pink frilly hearts, I bought the boys model which was basic red with a bit of blue and short legs.
Let her run around in them alone: Cute boy
Put a neckerchief on her head: Cute girl
Afterwards I really tried to imagine the other kids with the opposite attire and the results were stunning.
I suppose it wouldn’t fall off if it were wrapped in the paper either.
Caine
Best wishes for Zoe
Janine
They do have an heir to the throne…
Tony
Fingers crossed and meh for ship work
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 2:50 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Since I made it sound like it was wrapped in paper instead of the train, it suggested it was wrapped separated. At least to my warped brain.
Tethys
21 August 2012 at 2:56 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Here’s a Washington Post blog, with a nice story and video clip about Piers Morgan and Akin.
“If you don’t keep your promise to appear on the show, you are what we would call in Britain a gutless little twerp.”
Tony •King of the Hellmouth•
21 August 2012 at 2:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Giliell:
Oh hell no.
To me, “fuck you” is another way of saying “go to hell”. Or a harsher way of saying “get out of my face/shut up”. I don’t see it remotely relating to any actual sex act.
portia
21 August 2012 at 3:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I just had to break somebody’s heart in the course of my employment duties. It sucks :( I think I’ll go do some Rachel Maddow appreciation reading to comfort myself.
Ms. Daisy Cutter, Vile Human Being
21 August 2012 at 3:08 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Totally threadrupt.
*scrolls up a little bit*
I’m on board with those who say it’s ridiculous to tell a child that “Fuck you” is a rape wish. Etymology is not definition. I’m not going to stop using “sucks” to mean “is bad,” either.
Sisu, Kylie is a Chill Girl.
Some links…
Ladybits according to the GOP.
Joss Whedon: What an awesome feminist! /sarcasm
Gotta wonder if this screed (site has NSFW artwork) is even minimally based in truth, or is just more MRA fappery. This sentence says it all:
KG
21 August 2012 at 3:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
They’re worried that when Marshall Tito dies, it will revert to a being a Soviet satellite state.
portia
21 August 2012 at 3:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Daisy: another version of the lady bits;
http://i.somethingawful.com/u/elpintogrande/aug12/womandiagram.gif
sisu
21 August 2012 at 3:13 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks Ms. Daisy. Well, now I can go back to happily not reading her blog.
Weed Monkey
21 August 2012 at 3:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Patriarch Kirill getting into a car
Ms. Daisy Cutter, Vile Human Being
21 August 2012 at 3:21 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Kirk Cameron “respects” Todd Akin.
Akin’s “spiritual mentor” was D. James Kennedy, who claimed that some victims “invite” rape and those victims who obtained abortions are “hysterical.”
Beatrice
21 August 2012 at 3:28 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Kirk is sure thorough in being a complete and utter failure.
kristinc, ~ringy dingy~
21 August 2012 at 4:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Re kids swearing: I like Azkyroth’s take a lot. My kids are “allowed” to swear because I realized when my first child was very small that I am not going to stop swearing and that trying to convince him not to copy my foulmouthed ways would be a joke.
Instead I tried very hard to teach him that just like other words sometimes swearing was not appropriate. It’s not appropriate when it “makes other people uncomfortable” (now that he’s older we’ve gone into more nuance regarding when people can damn well get over being made uncomfortable) and that sometimes there are rules that are not ours (if you swear loudly at the store they will ask you to leave. And Nana doesn’t like to hear swears so we don’t swear at her house, because her house = her rules about language).
Numerous people gave me very dim predictions about a small child’s ability to internalize this web of situational requirements but I think both my kids did really well with it. I did end up with a 5th grader who thought he had a “free speech” right to swear at school, but we had a talk about how free speech does not mean freedom from consequences and if he was caught swearing at school I wasn’t going to save his bacon, and that was pretty much the end of that nonsense.
One plus is that swearing has no shock value for them so they don’t, well, swear for shock value. Not even at the toddler and preschooler ages when chanting forbidden words is a favorite pastime.
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
21 August 2012 at 4:16 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
kristinc
There’s something about an almost three year old letting out a heartfelt “damn” when the tip of the pencil breaks off.
What I did was that I stopped swearing while driving. That used to be my venting place. I would call people very bad names for trivial offenses just because I could and it didn’t hurt anybody.
I stopped that as soon as sombody was listening on the back seat.
But I eternally disappointed my FIL when he tried to provoke me by saying “shit” in front of the kids.
Really, “shit”? I’m supposed to worry about them picking up “shit” (ehm, figuratively, not literally)? I fail to see the damage of swearing (as opposed to name-calling). Seriously, if it hurts somebody’s fee-fee’s too much to hear the word godsdamnshit, they need to go somewhere else.
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
21 August 2012 at 4:26 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
They’re also allowed to voice their frustration with us.
“You’re mean”
“you’re bad”
“you’re not my friend anymore”
and the all-times favourite “you’re so unfair” are totally OK.
“You’re an asshole” isn’t.
kristinc, ~ringy dingy~
21 August 2012 at 4:26 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Giliell: my FIL was appalled when my 6-year-old knew the word “masturbate”.
portia
21 August 2012 at 4:53 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
My sister’s two-year-old was not happy about naptime, so after being put down to sleep, he stuck his head out the bedroom door and declared: “This is bullshit, Mama.” She had a good behind-the-hand laugh.
At his age, her strategy is to repeatedly say another funny-sounding word until he thinks that’s more fun that whatever profanity he has picked up. (e.g. “booty”) She reports success with this method.
kristinc, ~ringy dingy~
21 August 2012 at 4:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
My son must have been about 4 when he had a tricycle with a bell, which he was riding around ringing repeatedly. I finally said “Knock it off! You’re driving me bugshit!”
At which he continued to ride around and ring, extremely pleased with himself, this time gleefully announcing: “Driving Mommy bugshit! I’m driving Mommy bugshit!”
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 5:02 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
There’s a chance that Republicans might get a global warming lesson at the convention in Tampa. Barring that, they may just get doused.
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/21/hurricane_might_hit_tampa/
Republicans should build an ark in Tampa. I want to see them doing some real work.
chigau (違う)
21 August 2012 at 5:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
My tent is only half-way up the hill.
yay
Amphiox
21 August 2012 at 5:07 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Don’t know if this is related to what Tony experienced, but for me, sometimes the recent comment section just vanishes, *poof*. And then if I go away and come back to Pharyngula later, it’s back….
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 5:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
It’s not super PACs that are spending the most money on TV ads touting presidential candidates. Super PACs are outspent by “social welfare” 501(c)(4)s. The stats so far: $71 million for social welfare non-profits, and $56 million for super PACs.
Here’s an example of just why this secretive campaign money is working so well for the Koch brothers and others:
http://www.propublica.org/article/how-nonprofits-spend-millions-on-elections-and-call-it-public-welfare
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
21 August 2012 at 5:13 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh yeah, finally the long-promised rain. I’m off to bed
Lynna, OM
21 August 2012 at 5:16 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
More on so-called “social welfare” groups and campaign money. This is from ProPublica:
A lot more detail is available at the ProPublica site.
http://www.propublica.org/article/how-nonprofits-spend-millions-on-elections-and-call-it-public-welfare
PatrickG
21 August 2012 at 5:19 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Apologies if (1) this is viewed as a derail, and (2) if someone has mentioned this before, but I just saw a commercial for a new game show:
The American Bible Challenge
My head hurts. I just slammed it into a wall repeatedly.
On the plus side, I bet this crowd could win a whole lot of money for the charity of their choice.
JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness
21 August 2012 at 5:32 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’ve been seeing the commercial for that show. Yesterday was the first day it aired, I believe. I saw it come on the game show channel and fled from it.
I’m sure someone around here has the studies that atheist know more about the bible than theists but it depends on how the show works I think. Like how much it panders and bend overs for the average ignorant theist. So I’m doubtful how well an atheist would do. I don’t know the format of the show or anything.
Tony •King of the Hellmouth•
21 August 2012 at 5:33 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Patrick:
No derails here. Everything is on topic.
I first heard about “The American Bible Challenge” a few weeks ago while working out at the YMCA (no irony there).
My hope is that they’ll use obscure bits of the Bible to challenge people with, since theists aren’t terribly knowledgeable about it, but I doubt that’s going to happen.
noahhopson-walker
21 August 2012 at 5:46 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@opposablethumbs
Thanks for the link. I’ll see what I can use.
Improbable Joe
21 August 2012 at 5:46 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Good luck to Tony and Zoe!
Jadehawk
21 August 2012 at 5:49 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I did call your SO, and most men in relationships for that matter, careless. That was the point of my comment. And I didn’t say no one ever should trust anyone ever; I said that when you do, you’re no longer being careful.
I have not much of a problem with people choosing to be careless. Their life, their risk-benefit analysis. What I have a very large problem with is bullshit about whether something is or isn’t careless, and getting pissy at people who advise general carefulness on that issue. And handing control over your fertility to someone else is absolutely careless. Doesn’t matter how much you feel you trust that person. Unless you’re a mind-reader or can control other people’s minds, YOU ARE BEING CARELESS when you leave control over your fertility to someone else.
PatrickG
21 August 2012 at 5:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@Tony •King of the Hellmouth•
Everything may be on topic, but some things are more on topic than others. :)
The fact that the show is even going on just makes me slightly sick. Most of that reaction is the commercial I saw, which was all about how people who love Jesus were going to use their Jesus-love to love Jesus (the featured team was donating all their money to their church for a construction project). It was moderately disgusting.
Back to cook dinner, with a foul taste in my mouth. :)
JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness
21 August 2012 at 6:03 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Well, today officially blows. Just found out Monday is picture day and we don’t have money for the pictures. =(
I can also see on the form that we can upgrade to basic retouching or for $12 go up to premium retouching. Basic removes blemishes and premium retouching whitens teeth, evens skin tone, removes blemishes, scars and flyaway hair. Both examples of retouches are middle school girls. *sigh*
portia
21 August 2012 at 6:08 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I think this really gets to the crux of your point. I disagree with that premise. Sometimes, trust is a careful calculation. It really can be. But, there’s nothing empirical on either side, I don’t think. It seems to me like we’re arguing over a favorite color, rather than whether, say, the Garden of Eden was a real place. It’s just that, trusting someone is a demonstration of carefulness, for certain values of careful. I’m totally open to persuasion on that point, though. This has been an interesting discussion, and reading the back-and-forth that preceded my comment on the matter has given me a lot to think about. So thank you, all of you who participated.
Pteryxx
21 August 2012 at 6:21 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
random: You know your political party is in trouble when you’re reduced to arguing with an anthropomorphic uterus.
https://twitter.com/AvengingUterus
Paul
21 August 2012 at 6:36 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I wouldn’t say that. We’ve had to argue with dicks for decades.
Pteryxx
21 August 2012 at 6:37 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
More randomness from BB:
Chainsaw-wielding topless woman cuts down a crucifix in Kiev:
http://boingboing.net/2012/08/21/pussy-riot-solidarity-protests.html
And Delta harassed the Poop Strong cancer survivor, ostensibly for snark, but also for Flying While Brown:
http://boingboing.net/2012/08/21/delta-refuses-boarding-to-poop.html
Caine, Fleur du mal
21 August 2012 at 6:41 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Okay, we’re back home and have just finished reading our homework. Unfortunately, the news isn’t fabulous. Both Zoe and Carrot have Genetic aganglionic megacolon. Both of their lives will be considerably shortened and we will have to be prepared to euthanize at any given point.
Right now, Zoe and Carrot are both home and looking considerably thinner. Zoe needed to be sedated, Carrot didn’t. There is a medication which can help, but Zoe and Carrot are so tiny the proper amount of it can’t even be calculated at this point, same with a laxative, so for now, those options are off the table. Both of them will now have to have a special diet and yes, it looks the occasional dreaded enema will also have to take place. We brought home a special enema syringe. Yes, such things exist. For those who are curious, there are images on how to go about administering an enema to a rat on the link I included. What fun! Now I have a shit filled carrier to clean out. *sigh*
broboxley OT
21 August 2012 at 6:45 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
evolution at work
http://blogs.ajc.com/news-to-me/2012/08/21/police-drunk-lab-tech-lowered-pants-freed-monkeys/
portia
21 August 2012 at 6:46 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Aw Caine, I’m so sorry.
JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness
21 August 2012 at 6:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh, no! I’m so sorry Caine. That’s terrible. =(
Poor little ratlets and that’s got to suck for you and mister dealing with it. Hugs for you guys and scratches for the ratlets.
Caine, Fleur du mal
21 August 2012 at 6:54 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Portial, JAL, thanks. We’ll all be good. Quality of life can be maintained for the length of their lives, so that’s what we’ll do. Just a bit more work.
Pteryxx
21 August 2012 at 7:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Aw, sorry for you and Zoe and Carrot, Caine. At least you caught it and can still give them good lives for a while. (which kinda is the point anyway…)
Improbable Joe
21 August 2012 at 7:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Sorry Caine! Poor Zoe and Carrot! I’m going to go give my kids a little extra love now, since I can’t give any to yours.
cicely
21 August 2012 at 7:16 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@Caine: Oh, no! I’m so sorry about Zoe and Carrot. *hugs* for you, and *scritches* for the poor ratlets.
-
Caine, Fleur du mal
21 August 2012 at 7:40 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thank you all. ♥ I feel absolutely terrible for ImaginesABeach, her GirlChild and Tethys. I hate being the bearer of bad news, but we will do our absolute best to see that they can have happy lives which last as long as possible. I will take many more pictures and paint many portraits.
chigau (違う)
21 August 2012 at 7:43 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Poor Zoe and Carrot :(
hugs for everyone
thunk, sour grape
21 August 2012 at 8:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
JAL:
Yes, that’s horrible. I’m so used to never thinking about these sorts of things, and you always pop my privilege bubble. My sympathies.
thunk, sour grape
21 August 2012 at 8:02 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
:( I’m so sad about the poor ratties too.
eriktrips
21 August 2012 at 8:03 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh no! Poor Zoe and Carrot! I am glad they will have you looking out for their little hind ends. I’ve helped to manage cats with megacolon. It’s… not glamorous, but it’s the sort of thing you don’t mind doing for those you love.
Scritch their front ends for me?
And whisker tickles to Percival.
Rey Fox
21 August 2012 at 8:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Audley:
:D
Lucky you. I have bedbug bites from three months ago that are still visible.
Pteryxx:
I think those are the ten most awesome words I have ever read. Also, I think I have a new crush now.
Although that is…kinda dangerous. At least she had safety goggles on.
Jadehawk
21 August 2012 at 8:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
to be perfectly honest, I don’t understand how that even makes sense. either you’re being careful, or you’re choosing to trust someone. I suppose you can be careful about whom you choose to trust, but almost by definition, trust is letting yourself be less careful.
Rey Fox
21 August 2012 at 8:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
And oh god dammit shit I forgot about Caine and the poor ratties. Sorry.
Josh, Official SpokesGay
21 August 2012 at 8:07 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh, Caine, so sorry about the ratlets. You’re an unbelievably dedicated RatMommy.
Caine, Fleur du mal
21 August 2012 at 8:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Erik:
Consider it done. ♥
Chigau, Thunk, Rey and Josh, thanks. ♥
Socio-gen, something something...
21 August 2012 at 8:21 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Tony:
This is what I went with. I used the small squash for the puree (used 3-4 cloves of garlic instead of the red pepper) and basted the roast a couple times during the last half-hour or so, and then once more right before pulling it out of the oven. Used the larger one with potatoes and onion to make mini-fritters from Josh’s recipe to serve with the pork slices. Added to family contributions of garden salad, wild rice pilaf, 5-cheese macaroni, and cranberry-orange relish, it went over very well and I got quite a few compliments. Many thanks!
Now, to finish the laundry and get some packing done. Just over 24 hours until I’m outta here.
—
Giliell:
The word bugged me when I wrote it because of the connotations, but I couldn’t get the right one to come to the forefront and finally gave up. Consequences is indeed what I meant.
—
Caine:
I’m so sorry about Zoe and Carrot, but glad they have you to care for them.
Josh, Official SpokesGay
21 August 2012 at 8:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’d like a Horde-pinion from Android phone users. I’m bouts to get my first smart phone and ditch the land line. Went browsing at the Verizon store today. For the money, and for my use, I’m debating between the Galaxy Nexus and the Droid Razr. I liked the feel and layout of the Nexus just a bit better.
Both are going for $100 right now. I’m open to other suggestions too.
I won’t be doing much video on the phone. Mainly txting, email, Twitter, and surfing. Also, I’d only be using it when I weren’t at home or work. . . both have WiFi and I have a tablet. So, traveling, yeah, I’ll do some txting and checking mail, but I’m not gonna be on the phone every bloody minute.
Thanks in advance.
Josh, Official SpokesGay
21 August 2012 at 8:25 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Socio-gen, that sounds like a great meal!
Veggie fritters are highly adaptable and good to have in your repertoire. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve been able to clean out the odds and ends from the vegetable drawer in the fridge with this technique. And they always taste good.
Azkyroth, Former Growing Toaster Oven
21 August 2012 at 8:25 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Josh:
Does destructibility of the phone factor into your decision to speak of? If so, I highly recommend the Casio GZone Commando.
Otherwise, I have no particular preference for or familiarity with either of those options.
insipidmoniker
21 August 2012 at 8:35 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Josh,
I have a slight personal preference for the Razr Maxx (awful name) due to much better battery life and water resistance. Not sure how much those matter to you.
thunk, sour grape
21 August 2012 at 8:36 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Evening strolls are fun.
Especially with the Martian triangle. Blissful.
Ms. Daisy Cutter, Vile Human Being
21 August 2012 at 8:43 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Caine, I’m so sorry to hear about Zoe and Carrot.
PatrickG:
How challenging it is to wipe yourself with one depends on the absorbency and thickness of the pages. Get one of those onionskin jobs and you can find yourself in, uh, deep shit.
Pteryxx, the Avenging Uterus’s pic reminds me of this icon belonging to a friend of mine who deals frequently with menstrual pain.
Paul:
Gendered slur or no, that reminds me of Molly Ivins reporting that, after the homophobes in the Texas “Lege” were backslapping and high-fiving each other in the wake of “anti-sodomy” legislation being passed, the bailiff immediately slapped the cuffs on them because “it’s now illegal in this state for a prick to touch an asshole.”
Esteleth, Who Knows How to Use Google
21 August 2012 at 8:53 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Caine, I’m so sorry to hear about the ratlets. headscritches for them.
Josh, I have a Motarola Bravo, and I’m liking it. Does everything that I want with minimal problems.
ImaginesABeach
21 August 2012 at 9:03 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Caine – I’m sorry about Zoe and Carrot. GirlChild and I shared a few tears – is it weird that we are so sad about a rat we’ve never actually met?
Tony •King of the Hellmouth•
21 August 2012 at 9:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Caine:
I’m sorry to hear about the ratlets. ::HUGS::
lexie
21 August 2012 at 9:19 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh no :(. Caine I’m so sorry about Zoe and Carrot. Hopefully you can manage their condition. You are an awesome pet owner though.
Beatrice, my two nephews love the colour pink, needless to say when they started going to school they got teased about it and now pretend not to like it in public, stupid societal conventions they should be able to like which ever colours they want.
Rev. BigDumbChimp
21 August 2012 at 9:21 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Never get caught with your pants down in a room full of uncaged monkeys
Rev. BigDumbChimp
21 August 2012 at 9:27 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Between the AvengingUterus, topless crucifix chain sawing Russians and the questionable lab decisions with free roaming primates, Mrs. BDC just told me to take an Ativan.
Caine, Fleur du mal
21 August 2012 at 9:30 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
ImaginesABeach:
No, it’s not weird at all. Please tell GirlChild how very sorry I am. I’ll do right by Zoe, always. I’ll get on that portrait this weekend, too. I have a very cool set-up for it, I’ll send pics via email once it’s done. ♥
Thank you all, so very much. ♥ ♥ ♥
Zoe & Carrot both ate peas tonight and drank well, so they are doing good. Zoe is still, um, quite leaky, which is good! So all is well for now.
broboxley OT
21 August 2012 at 9:43 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
oh noes! the local store has 50mm bushmills on sale at 99 cents!
second day on new job. neat stuff, neat people,
Caine sorry about the ratlings. My girls (cant call them R_A_T_S because of a blind boston bulldog who thinks that word evokes hysterical attempts to get new food supply) dont like spaghetti, WTF I thought it would be a natural for them. Weird because the albino giant blind rat loved the spag
I has a question, they sell stuff hereabouts something called deer corn. Ingredients say dried corn at $8 for a 20lb bag and girl food is about $3 a pound. To me that is a natural food supplemented with white bread(they dont like wheat) and rice (we eat rice daily) and veggies left over. They do like corn and love dried corn stalks. Is that an okay diet?
Oenotrian
21 August 2012 at 9:55 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’m so sorry, Caine. :-(
Josh, we picked up a Samsung Galaxy Nexus from Verizon that was free with a new contract. It seems like a really nice phone. (I’m not using it, but the family member who is has had no complaints.)
Esteleth, Who Knows How to Use Google
21 August 2012 at 9:59 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Things I have actually said (on FB) today: “In other news, pi equals 3, the world is flat, and five is purple.”
*nods sagely*
Josh, Official SpokesGay
21 August 2012 at 10:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks for the suggestions on phones!
Esteleth, Who Knows How to Use Google
21 August 2012 at 10:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Fuckital, being short on sleep (and not being allowed to go to bed) plus reading TVTropes produces feelings of drunkenness.
Jadehawk
21 August 2012 at 10:08 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
pretty sure Kiev hasn’t been part of Russia for a long while…
rorschach
21 August 2012 at 10:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I have a Samsung Galaxy II. I find the fact that you need to swipe your finger across the screen to answer a phone call clumsy, and it will not for the love of god connect to my work’s wireless network, when my laptop and tablet do so without any issue. Also, when you make a call and have to dial additional numbers from a menu, the screen goes dark all the time, and the keypad is not by default active, you need to click another icon to bring it up.
PatrickG
21 August 2012 at 10:10 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@ Ms Daisy Cutter: Ha! Well played, well played. Though, really, can’t we raise funds for a CampQuest type thing by going on that show? We’d need some sort of dummy corporation (I suggest People for Actual Christian Values), but people here know the bible front to back, left to right, and upside down. There’s money in it! ;)
Six years of Catholic school better get me something!
@ Caine: I refuse to think about your rats*, because I’m currently an absentia parent to my chinchilla. Moving a rodent from California to Kentucky seemed much ruder than leaving him with her grandparents (who spoil her ridiculously).
* That said…. :(
JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness
21 August 2012 at 10:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Esteleth
Maybe I’m reading too much Pratchett lately but I totally read that by the witches. First, Granny, then Nanny and finally Agnes(& Perdita) all said it very sarcastically in different ways. Magrat was left out unfortunately.
In related news, I just finished reading Carpe Jugulum.
Improbable Joe
21 August 2012 at 10:28 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Josh… I would help with the phone choice but I am typing this on a Droid made by Samsung so my advice is “split the difference”?
portia
21 August 2012 at 10:44 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I totally see where you’re coming from, in that they’re called “trust falls” for a reason. But that “almost” in there is really where we have room for disagreement. And this is coming from someone with huge trust-caution; I feel somebody out for quite a while before I trust them. So maybe that’s coloring my idea of what “trusting” is.
Josh, re: phones. I haven’t used either of those models, but I do like the android system generally. I have a Droid 2 and it has survived much physical abuse and has several nifty functions. Do get google voice if you get a phone that is compatible.
ibyea
21 August 2012 at 10:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@Anne
I wish my modern physics class could have taught me the matrix method of QM, instead of just the PDE.
Josh, Official SpokesGay
21 August 2012 at 10:52 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I have an Android tablet, so I’m familiar and conversant with the operating system. As soon as I get my phone Ima get rid of the bullshit on it and get real apps.
Lest anyone think I’m being extravagant (which would tarnish my frugal Yankee image), the phone is a combination work/personal phone. And, both models are on sale for $100 US. My work has provided me a cell phone all along to answer work calls and for travel. But I end up using it far more than my land line, which is now getting ditched. So the phone’s going over into my name and work will pay me a pro-rated amount toward work-related use. I’ll pay the rest. In the end both work and I will come out even or a few dollars cheaper, and I’ll have access to necessary emails and such much quicker on work trips.
PatrickG
21 August 2012 at 10:53 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@ Josh: My Droid2 has suffered the worst possible abuse, and despite the fact that I can no longer read the screen without squinting (due to the abuse… don’t ask), it works like a charm.
Can’t speak to the choice you’re making re: models, but … damn, this phone has taken a flushin’.
Anne C. Hanna
21 August 2012 at 10:56 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
ibyea,
Sadly I think any class which calls itself “modern physics” is probably too broad in scope to really do quantum mechanics right, unless it’s a full-year course with at least one semester devoted to QM. You really need a good bit of time with QM to get a decent feel for it, because your everyday intuition needs to be reshaped substantially. A lot of physics is like that, which is why people who aren’t physicists get so mystical about it. But if you are able to put in the time to get comfortable with it, it is totally worth it. It completely reshapes the way you look at the world.
Caine, Fleur du mal
21 August 2012 at 10:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Broboxley:
No, it isn’t. Actually, you should limit the amount of corn your girls eat, they’ll get much too fat on it and it doesn’t provide all the nutrition they need. I recommend Reggie Rat Food. It’s expensive, but it’s an excellent mix. Any dry food mix should be supplemented with fresh salad greens, various vegetables (peas, carrots, sweet potato, etc.) and fresh fruit.
Lab blocks are often recommended, but I’ve never had a rat who would eat the things, so I avoid those. You can do some reading on a good rat diet here: http://ratguide.com/care/nutrition/diet.php
portia
21 August 2012 at 10:59 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
My fire department got a new quint (I’m a volunteer) and I climbed to the top of the fully extended ladder tonight. I managed not to throw up. It was so cool.
Thunk:
Somehow, my knowledge that you’re a Chicagoan made me read that as Viagra triangle.
ibyea
21 August 2012 at 11:07 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@Anne
Well, most of the modern physics stuff, I knew, so reshaping my intuition wasn’t that hard. It was the mathematics that I didn’t know, which I learned. But yeah, it was broad. It was special relativity+QM. But what I did learn was amazing. Especially solving the Schrodinger PDE for hydrogen, due to its connection to chemistry and at the cleverness of the people who solved it.
chigau (違う)
21 August 2012 at 11:38 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Stove is lit, tent is up to a toasty 15°C and I’m going to bed.
Dalillama, Schmott Guy
22 August 2012 at 12:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@Dianne #34
Outcomes in a lot of areas are better in Europe than the U.S., which I can ascertain from publiclay available records. I’m assuming that you have more detailed and specific analyses, but I don’t know if they’ll be that much more convincing to the people who are ideologically opposed to single payer. AFAICT, it is an entirely ideological position, as well. The Americans I know who don’t have an ideological opposition to it do understand that it produces better outcomes for less money, and would like to see it implemented here. The others hate the idea because of some combination of ‘gubmint is evil,’ ‘I don’t want brown people getting healthcare on my dime’ and ‘but then the government is put in the position of GOD, and we can’t have that’. I have never has a productive discussion with anyone who brings up one of t hese tacks in discussion. When I point out that Europe gets better outcomes for less money, I get either a ringing silence after which they’ll repeat the same lies about the evils of socialized medicine elsewhere, or else a claim that it only works there because of the ‘ethnic homogeneity’ of the European countries. (seriously, people say that).
Lyn M: Necrodunker of death, nothing but net
22 August 2012 at 12:17 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@Josh
Jumps up and down waving a hand. Pick me!
I’ve had an Android phone for the past 3 years, and a Razr before that. I think the Nexis is probably going to give you a better Android experience. It’s already on Jelly Bean, for example, whereas my HTC One X is still on Ice Cream Sandwich. (Up-grade due soon, I read.)
For what you want, the Nexis sounds fine. I like Motorola quite a bit, but other Android phones are ripping past them right now. As Google gets into the mix more, that should change. Nexis is it, I think.
I really like the hardware on the HTC One X, quad core, 1 GB ram, only 32 GB memory, but I pay more attention to what I slap onto it now. Last phone had 64 GB and I never filled it even half way, so it’s not a big deal. I think 32 GB is OK, unless you want to watch movies on the phone. Each to his own.
I also find some of the apps to be super useful. I really recommend Kingsoft Office. You can actually compose documents on the phone and then email them. You can edit docs, too. It’s free and should run on any Android phone that’s Gingerbread and later.
If I could be of help in terms of identifying great free apps, let me know. I can even email them to you if you have any trouble finding them on the Google Play Store. I really like Android and would enjoy being of assistance if you wanted. lyn.m.of.death at gmail.
Josh, Official SpokesGay
22 August 2012 at 12:28 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks Lyn! The votes from people I trust are in favor of the Nexus. Whoo-hoo!
Josh, Official SpokesGay
22 August 2012 at 12:35 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Tonight’s menu (you know I cook to soothe myself the way some people play cards or do needle point):
Scratch-made pasta from white whole wheat flour. Cut into spaghettini and fettucine, with lots left over to freeze.
Asian-ish cold noodles with:
Mock duck (seitan) hot-fried in an iron skillet ’til crisp
sesame oil
cayenne pepper
fish sauce
rice wine vinegar
cilantro
shoyu
a Shit Ton™ of garlic and spring onions
a Shit Ton™ of dark, leafy greens briefly sauteed with the mock duck
toasted sesame seeds
Served with:
a bowl and chop sticks.
Lyn M: Necrodunker of death, nothing but net
22 August 2012 at 12:47 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Josh
Sounds a lot like the duck noodle pot served here. You take much the same ingredients, but they use actual roasted duck, added on top of the green vegetables (baby bok choy, spinach, shredded carrots, mushrooms) with the noodles on the bottom. The broth is duck soup. You heat the whole thing up in a chafing dish and when the soup is piping hot, you eat it.
Duck fat is omega three type, so it should be OK for you Josh. The spices are to be found in tiny little teapots filled with various things including red coloured hot sauce, chilies or finely minced garlic. It was pretty damned good. Your recipe reminds me of it.
StevoR
22 August 2012 at 1:31 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@ theophontes (坏蛋)or at least I’m pretty sure it was – the person who recomended I read ‘iran* Empire of the mind’ by Michael Axworthy on another old thread – may be interested to know that I visited my local library today and have actually been able to borrow a copy. I’ll start reading it later tonight / this morning. May take me a while to get through it, will depend on how much reading time I can find.
Y’all may also be interested to know that whilst I was there I’ve also borrowed Robert Baer’s ‘The Devil We Know : Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower’ (Scribe, 2009) and Benazhir Butto’s Reconcilaition, Islam, Democracy and the West’ written by that former Pakistani PM and apparently finished just days before her assassination. Hopefully I’ll get enough time to read those too.
* Non-capitalised that way on the cover, I kid you not.
Josh, Official SpokesGay
22 August 2012 at 2:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Christ. I’m 38 years old. That’s it. Night.
dianne
22 August 2012 at 2:19 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Caine, sorry about the ratlets.
rorschach
22 August 2012 at 2:29 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh, lookie lookie : New Rules!
Beatrice
22 August 2012 at 3:26 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Good morning everyone.
JAL:
I’m sorry. :(
… this completely blows my mind.
————
Caine,
That sucks for you and the ratlets. I’m sorry.
———–
birgerjohansson
22 August 2012 at 3:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Practicing music for only few years in childhood helps improve adult brain: research http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-music-years-childhood-adult-brain.html
Too bad the regressives will cut the funding for any non-religious music in school once Machtubernahme comes.
blf
22 August 2012 at 3:58 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Quotemining portia:
Groovy! When will you be the sacrifice? Are you thrown into anything special, like a volcano or a braying horde of republicans?
Anne C. Hanna
22 August 2012 at 4:03 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
ibyea, yeah, even getting a shorter taste of QM is worthwhile, and I’m glad they at least had you work with the Schroedinger equation somewhat. That’s well beyond the scope of your average “modern physics” class, in my experience. The ones I’ve seen tend to assume that students have very limited mathematical capabilities, and so they’re so handwavy as to be almost useless. So it’s good to know that more useful courses can fall under that heading too.
KG
22 August 2012 at 4:19 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Well even the title gives reason to think this book is a load of crap, because by no possible criterion is Iran a superpower, nor will it be one in the forseeable future.
Louis
22 August 2012 at 4:34 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Caine,
Och, sorry to read that about Zoe and Carrot. That’s a bit of a nightmare. If Vasco needs to step up to Double Virtual Ownership at any point, I am sure he can cope with it. I have decided he is a rat with very broad shoulders.
Louis
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
22 August 2012 at 4:42 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
HI there
Fuck
The only thing worse than waking up with a throbbing headache?
To notice when the flashes in front of your eyes vanish and your vision comes back that you forgot to set your alarm clock. And your organic alarm clocks have slept a generous two hours longer than usually because it was the first bearable night in days. And of course this does not happen any ordinary day when all she’d miss in kindergarten is breakfast, no, this happens when they want to visit the zoo and has to be there early.
I think I set a new record: opening eyes to arival: 25 minutes.
Caine
Oh no, I’m so sorry. You’re really incredibly dedicated and I’m sure that Zoe and Carrot couldn’t be in better hands.
Jadehawk
I think part of the disagreement comes from the word careless and its common implications and connotations: People who are careless have nobody else to blame if bad things happen to them. They totally deserve what happens to them.
That’s not the same as running a higher risk. Yes, if you run a higher risk you’re not as safe as somebody who runs a lower risk. But that doesn’t mean you are at fault if somebody decides to abuse your “safety hole” or an accident happens.
And yes, you can be careful in where and when to place your trust.
JAL
Uhm, that’s so sad, I know how precious those memories are. And the retouching is just sick.
Louis
22 August 2012 at 4:47 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Josh,
That sounds delicious. I has an envy.
I’m on Kitchen Duty tonight when I get home (erm…that would be like every night!) but I’m doing a cook off to make stuff for the week. I’m making a Moroccan Lamb dish (like a tagine, but with a personal twist), fasolia (a Cypriot bean dish, very healthy and filling, I’ll post a recipe later for you if you like), pollock and haddock fish cakes with home made tartare sauce (The Boy needs some fish in him) and boring old tuna pasta bake (easy, cheap, fast). That should keep everyone healthy for a few days!
Louis
Louis
22 August 2012 at 4:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Aside:
Ibyea and Anne C. Hanna, I am loving the conversation about QM. Takes me back to my undergrad days. Even though I’m a chemist we got a thorough grounding in QM as one of our senior profs was a big name in phys chem/chem phys QM. He retired just after he taught us final year (UK) QM, so we got lucky!
Buggered if I could do the maths nowadays without a two week run up though!
Louis
Louis
22 August 2012 at 4:54 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
JAL,
Quite apart from the money worries you have, which you know you have my unending sympathy for, retouching school photos? That’s…
…not very nice now is it?*
Louis
* This understatement has been brought to you by Understatements R Us. The number 69 and the letter Q.
birgerjohansson
22 August 2012 at 5:39 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I need a Horde-pinion on Hotmail borking. When I logged in on my account I found I couldn’t delete posts. When I logged out and logged in again nothing works, I just see the hourglass working.
Has anyone else had similar Hotmail experiences?
— — — — —
The Onion: Arizona Heatwave Forces Temporary Suspension Of Racial Profiling http://www.theonion.com/video/onion-weather-center-arizona-heatwave-forces-tempo,29247/
— — — — —
Alzheimer’s cure may be a matter of size http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-alzheimer-size.html
— — — — —
Would-Be Heroes Restrain Victim, Let Female Robber Get Away http://www.newser.com/story/152530/would-be-heroes-restrain-victim.html
— — — — —
Georgia Prisons ‘Out of Control’ With Inmate Killings, Guard Brutality, Rights Group Says http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/georgia-prisons-guard-brutality-killings_n_1820145.html
— — — — —
Tragic End For Nurse Who Helped After Aurora Shooting http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/jennifer-gallagher-aurora-nurse-dies-iowa_n_1813256.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
rorschach
22 August 2012 at 5:42 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Hotmail is being phased out currently. It will be succeeded by Microsoft Outlook. I’ve already secured a couple of vital email addy’s with .outlook.com instead of .hotmail.com endings, because there will be no automatic transition.
Not saying that’s what caused your problem.
birgerjohansson
22 August 2012 at 6:03 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thank you Rorschach
— — — —
Aggressive carnivores terrorizing the southern provinces of Sweden: http://www.thelocal.se/42684/20120817/
-Here in the north, it is mostly bears rather than canids.
— — — — —
New hope for trauma sufferers with addictions http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-trauma-addictions.html
— — — — —
Continuous oral contraceptive pills offer women earlier pain relief http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-oral-contraceptive-pills-women-earlier.html
— — — — —
Deep brain stimulation powerful in treating Tourette’s http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-deep-brain-powerful-tourette.html
opposablethumbs
22 August 2012 at 6:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oww, Caine! So … no additional ratlets, but lots of additional care for poor Zoe and Carrot. They’re lucky to have such a wonderful rat-carer. I’m so sorry to hear it, though:(
And I forgot to congratulate Esteleth on coming up to the 5-year mark! Argh, how could I? HUGE congratulations and confetti to Esteleth!!!!!
Josh, my memory is for shit so I am rubbish at keeping track of anything – but did you just say you completed another circumnavigation of the local star? If so, plz to accept this champagne and large bunch of flowers via USB. If I misunderstood, plz to accept this opportunity to quirk a smile at my confusion (you can keep the flowers anyway, if you like).
JAL, that’s shitty about the photos. I always kind of resent the school photo thing because they mostly make the kids look … less than their usual selves, AND there’s a lot of pressure on you to come up with the money. A retouching service on kids school photos is, well it’s gross.
One Thousand Needles
22 August 2012 at 6:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
* yawns and stretches and smacks lips*
Point mutation causes women to be more sensitive to pain, but men to be less sensitive to pain: http://scientopia.org/blogs/scicurious/2012/08/22/an-opioid-receptor-mutation-that-makes-ladies-feel-the-pain/
birgerjohansson
22 August 2012 at 6:31 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Test lakes face closure http://www.nature.com/news/test-lakes-face-closure-1.11246
If you don’t like getting bad news, just close down the research.
Esteleth, Who Knows How to Use Google
22 August 2012 at 6:32 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Arglebarglebargleybargle.
I have always wondered why when you’re tired you get that itchy feeling behind your eyes?
Or is that just me?
In any case, I was in the lab at 1 am, back at 7 am. Will be at work until (best case scenario) 10 pm.
And now, the first of two back-to-back staff meetings. \o/
One Thousand Needles
22 August 2012 at 7:19 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Esteleth:
Nope! After a paltry three hours of sleep, I’m experiencing that right now!
* rubs eyes *
Rev. BigDumbChimp
22 August 2012 at 7:24 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
better?
blf
22 August 2012 at 8:21 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
What is topless cruifix? And why is it chainsawing some people?
A rather confused remake of a notorious slasher movie (The Ukranian Chain Saw Stripper)?
Rev. BigDumbChimp
22 August 2012 at 8:44 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
oh for fuck’s sake
Louis
22 August 2012 at 9:00 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
My lunchtime reading reveals that naked photos of Prince Harry in Las Vegas have been published. It’s on the BBC website, it’s not like I have a google alert for naked royal gingers or anything.
Now I am not typing the relevant search terms into google to sate my incredibly sceptical doubts about a member of the royal family even being capable of actual nudity, let alone nudity in the presence of a camera, but if true I have but one thing to say:
Good on you, Your Highness. Bless you and all who sail in you. Hurrah and give them one from me!
Louis
birgerjohansson
22 August 2012 at 9:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
These are the worst threats you have to worry about if you are living in Northern/Western Europe (unless you live in Ireland or Britain, in which case you might be eaten by other starving homeless people)
.
You keep killing them, but they just keep coming! The mollusc analogue to zombies coming for your gardens: http://www.thelocal.se/gallery/2546/1/
-Small, badass motherfucker! http://www.thelocal.se/gallery/2546/7/
Hairier Peter Griffin: Dumb, but mostly harmless: http://www.thelocal.se/gallery/2546/9/
King of the forest! http://www.thelocal.se/gallery/2546/10/
blf
22 August 2012 at 9:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I just had what, empirically, looks like an surprising example of Benford’s law. It was surprising because I didn’t think the law would apply as the data was not base-10 (it was hexadecimal (base-16), albeit all the other criteria when it typically applies is true (as far as I know). Apparently, there is a generalization of the law for non–base-10 numbers.
I don’t know if the (generalized) law really applies or not because the data-set I was using was too small, but in the small sample, it was obvious there was a profound tendency for the leading digit to be distributed in a manner which suggests the law does apply.
The data-set was nothing more than SHA-1 hash values.
SHA-1 is a checksum algorithm which was designed to be, and used to considered, cryptographically robust. Weaknesses are now suspected, and hence it’s being obsoleted in applications which need to be cryptographically-strong. It has not(?) yet been broken in any practical sense. It is still used (and will probably continue to be) for a variety of non-cryptographic purposes, including the data I was working with.
I’m not sure if I’m surprised or not Benford’s Law may apply to what was considered a cryptographically robust algorithm?
blf
22 August 2012 at 9:11 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
There could be some trvth to this: Ukraine Board Declares Spongebob Squarepants Gay.
chigau (違う)
22 August 2012 at 9:14 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Christ. I’m 57.3 years old. The helicopter is late. Morning.
Lynna, OM
22 August 2012 at 9:17 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Journalist Jackie Calmes, writing in The New York Times, takes a look a Romney’s puzzling approach to the Medicare issue. We all know Romney is vowing to restore the $716 billion he claims Obama “robbed” from Medicare. He even wrote it down on a white board.
The fact that there was no “robbing” done, and the fact that Romney’s repeal of the Obama savings would actually cost seniors money — well, somehow RMoney, famous business man, just doesn’t get it.
There’s additional info on page two of the article pertaining to Medicare Advantage. This was a “let’s introduce competition in the private market to reduce costs” scheme. It failed. There are some systems, (education, prisons, healthcare), where this marketplace competition model simply fails.
Romneyhood.
Beatrice
22 August 2012 at 9:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
38°C here.
At least I have plenty of cold watermelon.
dianne
22 August 2012 at 9:30 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
it’s not like I have a google alert for naked royal gingers or anything.
Of course not.
Lynna, OM
22 August 2012 at 9:32 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
There are now five Romney-approved ads telling his welfare lie. Obama did not gut the work requirements in the welfare-reform measure. Several Governors, mostly Republicans, requested some flexibility in administering welfare programs and Obama complied, specifying that the work requirement must not be weakened. States have to actually prove that their modified approach(es) puts more people back into the work force, not less.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/22/13413612-its-just-completely-false-and-im-pretty-stunned
Lynna, OM
22 August 2012 at 9:40 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
http://jezebel.com/5936160/the-official-guide-to-legitimate-rape
Jezebel explains the ” exciting concept that your uterus can pick and choose between various kinds of rape…”
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
22 August 2012 at 9:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
E,
Ugh, I hate the itchy behind the eyes feeling. I’ve got it right now, but it’s only my left eye. :-/
I got four hours of sleep last night. The only reason why I showed up to work this morning is ‘cos I’ve gotta train two guys and I had a fleet vehicle that had a brake pad fall out yesterday afternoon. In other words, I’ve gotta get some shit done. I am so out of here at 1 o’clock.
Lynna, OM
22 August 2012 at 9:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
So, from Bryan Fischer’s point of view, Todd Akin is the victim of rape.
video and story
Esteleth, Who Knows How to Use Google
22 August 2012 at 9:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Audley:
I’m working a 15 hour day today. >:(
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
22 August 2012 at 9:54 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
If fucking Todd Fucking Akin is a motherfucking rape victim, the meaning of rape is fucking meaningless.
Which is what those inhumane shitstains want.
Lynna, OM
22 August 2012 at 9:55 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
To add to the charming tales of toddlers cussin’ and swearin’ — my precocious girl child was also very polite as a toddler. She would say, “Thank you,” at every opportunity. Trouble was, she could not produce the “th” sound. Every “thank you” came out sounding like “fuck you.”
blf
22 August 2012 at 9:59 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Unless, of course, someone else does it to the barefoot baby-making unit kept in the kitchen.
Lynna, OM
22 August 2012 at 10:03 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
OMFG, Republicans are doubling down on their misrepresentation (otherwise known as a “lie”) of Obama’s “you didn’t build that” quote.
Steve Benen, writing for The Maddow Blog has a great take on this.
Socio-gen, something something...
22 August 2012 at 10:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Just under 10 hours until I’m westward bound. YAY! I still have a few things left to pack, snacks to pick up, and some goodbye rounds to make, and then a 2-hr trip to meet the train.
—
Josh: It was fantastic! I almost wish people hadn’t enjoyed dinner as much as they did because I had no leftovers to snack on. :)
—
portia:
Congrats to the fire department on its new piece of apparatus, and congrats to you for making the climb successfully!
—
Louis:
There are worse royals who could have been running around Vegas naked.
—
Beatrice:
Good luck staying cool!
—
Lynna:
I hatehatehate these people. They truly have not a single molecule of compassion or decency or even humanity.
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
22 August 2012 at 10:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Fuck! I am trying to be in a better mood.
Talk Of The Town
Message Of Love (Not the best sound quality. But original video.)
Tattooed Love Boys
Precious
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
22 August 2012 at 10:17 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Sorry, E. I gotta admit that one of the fringe benefits to being preggers is being able to say “I gotta go” and no one questions you.
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
22 August 2012 at 10:19 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Does that work for leaving work or going to the bathroom?
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
22 August 2012 at 10:25 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Janine,
Yes.
Ms. Daisy Cutter, Vile Human Being
22 August 2012 at 10:34 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSH!!
I present you, and the Lounge in general, with octopus art: One, two.
The same website also sells parodies of Jesus-toast paredoilia: Darwin, Hawking, and Nietzsche.
Beatrice
22 August 2012 at 10:36 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Night In My Veins
one of my favorites
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
22 August 2012 at 10:39 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Hungry Wolf
Blue Spark
The New World
The World’s A Mess; It’s In My Kiss
Improbable Joe
22 August 2012 at 10:41 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Josh? He’s 37, he’s not old… wait, what? 38? Never mind, Josh is old.
Happy birthday old man!
Rev. BigDumbChimp
22 August 2012 at 10:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Christine O’Donnell, still not a witch, just a dumb ass.
Ms. Daisy Cutter, Vile Human Being
22 August 2012 at 10:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
National Review on why women should vote for Mittens: evo-psych!
cicely
22 August 2012 at 10:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Nope. In fact, mine are doing that right now.
*yaaaaaaaawn*
-
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
22 August 2012 at 11:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
From the same scum who saw star-bursts when Palin “winked” at them.
*vomit*
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
22 August 2012 at 11:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Where the fuck is the concept of money in evolution!
Josh, Official SpokesGay
22 August 2012 at 11:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Yes, it’s my birfday. I’m taking the day off work. I think I’ll eat something prepared by someone else in exchange for money.
Nakkustoppeli
22 August 2012 at 11:06 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Caine, I’m sorry about Zoe and Carrot. All the strength to You and the ratties! You opened my eyes to rats!
This “You didn’t build that!” and “We built it!” thing gets this song playing in my head:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eih67rlGNhU
It’s fucking wrong that the song is still relevant today.
Beatrice
22 August 2012 at 11:07 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
commondescentsee mentioned an article in Nature titled Sometimes science must give way to religion.
I’m not done reading it, but I had to interrupt the reading to blabber about it. Here’s the article: link
Caine, Fleur du mal
22 August 2012 at 11:08 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Louis:
That’s very sweet of you and you aren’t wrong about Vasco. He does have broad shoulders. And Big Balls! that he is determined to use. He’s one horny dude, keeps trying to fuck Auntie Rubin and keeps getting beaten up.
Giliell:
Thank you, Giliell and thanks to everyone else. ♥
We’ll be off to town again in a little while, this time to shop for special diet stuff, things like baby food, baby cereal, soy milk, special veg (Zoe & Carrot will need cooked carrots, sweet potatoes and extra-buttery mashed potatoes every day), fruits, etc.
Josh, Happy Birthday! Christ, I’m 54 years old with less than 4 months to go to 55!
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
22 August 2012 at 11:11 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
The Ballad Of TV Violence(I’m Not The Only Boy)
Southern Girls
California Man
Need Your Love
I’m Losing You
Love Bun E. Carlos’s clerical collar.
Ms. Daisy Cutter, Vile Human Being
22 August 2012 at 11:16 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Janine, Mr. Starburst was Rich Lowry, not Kevin Williamson.
tim rowledge, Ersatz Haderach
22 August 2012 at 11:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Sigh; more stupidity from religionists.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19262884
Wake me up when the improbability drive drops us back in normality.
Beatrice
22 August 2012 at 11:23 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
That article I mentioned in #290 has an astounding amount of bullshit per paragraph.
I hope PZ makes a post out of tearing it apart. That should be fun.
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
22 August 2012 at 11:24 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Josh:
Happy birthday!
Daisy:
Hm, I have three sisters. Does this mean my dad gets and extra set of fallopian tubes? He could make them into a scarf, I suppose.
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
22 August 2012 at 11:24 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Ms. Daisy Cutter, I know. I should have made clear that the scum is the National Review.
Louis
22 August 2012 at 11:32 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Caine,
Ok, now I’m confused. Is this the rat or me we are talking about? I am having a rat/Louis mindmeld life overlap swimmy feeling of deja vu type thing.
For values of “Auntie Rubin” that include objects both animate and inanimate depending on state of intoxication.
Louis
P.S. One of my wife’s cousins in India had a dog called Blackie (it was a black dog…hopefully obviously) that had the biggest set of balls I have ever seen on a mammal. They were unfeasibly large for such a relatively medium sized dog. He was also the top dog of the area, semi-rabid horse sized mastiff type semi-feral dogs used to encroach on his territory and he would never have to fight them. He would briefly wake from an enormous testicle induced slumber, move in the general direction of the other dog, back into mid air in a sort of vague way, kind of nearish the other dog, then wander off showing his massive knackers to the dog and promptly fall back asleep.
The aforementioned cousin once chided me (in an Indian language because she didn’t speak English) informing me that the dog’s name was “Blackie” and not “Bigballs”. He used to come when I called him though…
Yet another cousin nearly killed me when, aged seven, he came up to his father and I and innocently asked “Daddy, why is Blackie licking his balls?”. His dad collapsed onto the floor red faced, I followed suit but just managed to gasp out the standard answer: Because he can.
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
22 August 2012 at 11:32 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Also, apparently (according to the Rolling Stone update on my fb feed), Josh shares a birthday with Tori Amos. Yay?
Louis
22 August 2012 at 11:37 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Josh,
Happy birthday!
Eat something prepared by someone else in exchange for money? That is a BRILLIANT idea. I reckon you could make money out of that. Patent it immediately. I expect eventually every country will have one of these businesses in them.
Louis
Josh, Official SpokesGay
22 August 2012 at 11:46 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
The dermatologist’s office (where I got a script for a WAY expensive cream and no call back when I asked for an older, more affordable drug) that I’ve been to once in my life just texted me. Apparently they “love having me as a patient!!!!” and wish me the bestest birfday evah.
Inappropriate Faux Personal Friendship-don’t do it.
Pteryxx
22 August 2012 at 11:49 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
–
…
…Now I want potatoes. <_<
Ms. Daisy Cutter, Vile Human Being
22 August 2012 at 11:56 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Audley:
Or a plushie!
Janine: gotcha.
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
22 August 2012 at 12:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Silent All These Years
God
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Cruel
Happy birthday, fake hubby.
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
22 August 2012 at 12:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Ms. Daisy Cutter: Gothcha!
*wink*
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
22 August 2012 at 12:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
The Typo Monster gets a juicy “h” to snack on.
Beatrice
22 August 2012 at 12:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
And what did I notice when I followed Ms. Daisy Cutter’s link?
Doctor Who premiers on September 1
Yay!
Ms. Daisy Cutter, Vile Human Being
22 August 2012 at 12:10 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Shit, I was hoping you’d linked to something involving goths…
Esteleth, Who Knows How to Use Google
22 August 2012 at 12:16 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Grumble. Why is it that the Au Bon Pain in the building sells overpriced soup that is so damn tasty?
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
22 August 2012 at 12:16 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I am so sorry to have led you on…
I can be a tease sometimes.
Janine: Fucking Dyke Of Rage Mountain
22 August 2012 at 12:27 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Ms. Daisy Cutter, perhaps this will be gothic enough for you.
cicely
22 August 2012 at 12:28 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Happy birthday, Josh.
You young fella, you.
:)
-
Improbable Joe
22 August 2012 at 12:39 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Jesus, good news bad news… bad news is, can’t get a title loan on car, with have to try to sell it in the next two weeks to pay the rent I guess. I’m pretty much all out of ideas here.
Good news is that my wife’s new job starts on September 4th, and they are paying most of the up-front costs(plane ticket, hotel, car) rather than making her pay it and then file for reimbursement later.
Drolfe
22 August 2012 at 12:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I just had to drop in to share this.
A particular ‘Yo, is this racist?’
Also, whoa Joe! (I haven’t checked in for a while, sounds dire.)
opposablethumbs
22 August 2012 at 1:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
So it is your birthday – I did wonder if I had understood!
In that case plz definitely keep the champagne and flowers, and there should be some ice-cream cake coming through any moment.
In other (non)news, I feel less able than usual to cope with shitty news and people spouting misogynist etc. crap today. Think maybe I won’t read ’till tomorrow. :(
Improbable Joe
22 August 2012 at 1:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
ooooohhhhhh
They’re putting my wife up in a Marriott Residence Inn. Fully equipped kitchen, wifi, free breakfast, someone will clean up after her every day… it will be almost like home!
David Marjanović
22 August 2012 at 1:02 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Not caught up.
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Happy birthday, Josh!!!
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Don’t click on this link if you’re arachnophobic. Hint: you are arachnophobic; you may just not have known that you were. The thing in the photo is not a spider, it’s not even a solifugid… it’s worse. And in particular, if you’re arachnophobic, don’t read the comments!!!
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Evolutionary novelty in a rat with no molars
Abstract:
“Rodents are important ecological components of virtually every terrestrial ecosystem. Their success is a result of their gnawing incisors, battery of grinding molars and diastema [ = empty space] that spatially and functionally separates the incisors from the molars. Until now these traits defined [no, diagnosed] all rodents. Here, we describe a new species and genus of shrew-rat from Sulawesi Island, Indonesia[,] that is distinguished from all other rodents by the absence of cheek teeth. Moreover, rather than gnawing incisors, this animal has bicuspid upper incisors, also unique among the more than 2200 species of rodents. Stomach contents from a single specimen suggest that the species consumes only earthworms. We posit that by specializing on soft-bodied prey, this species has had no need to process food by chewing, allowing its dentition to evolve for the sole purpose of procuring food. Thus, the removal of functional constraints, often considered a source of evolutionary innovations, may also lead to the loss of the very same traits that fuelled evolutionary diversification in the past.”
Later in the paper:
“(i) Ecology The stomach of MZB 35001 was distended by segments of earthworms, each 5–10 mm long. No other contents were found. Paucidentomys probably eats only soft animal tissues and perhaps only earthworms. The incisors probably serve to cut or tear earthworms into segments before they are swallowed. Paucidentomys is probably a terrestrial (i.e. not scansorial or arboreal) earthworm specialist restricted to moist forests above ca 1500 m.”
Hard to imagine, eh? There’s a great photo of a skull here.
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Oh yes.
All seconded. ♥ Extra-buttery mashed potatoes for everyone.
Behind the eyes??? All I get is my eyes drying out (on the front side of course) from keeping them open without blinking for too long. That can happen when I read from a screen.
WTF. Bullshitting as they go along. I have no more words.
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
22 August 2012 at 1:08 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Good evening
Josh
Happy birthday!
Tell us, is this your Republican-approved birthday-birthday when an import person placed his semen, or just your ordinary birthday when you left the vessel?
Hope you have a great birthday-dinner
Joe
Hmmm, can you talk to your landlord about the rent?
I mean, no landlord can be interested in evicting a good renter who has troubles paying ONE monthly rent on time.
Unless they want you out anyway, of course.
Spent the afternoon at my friend’s. Guess I’m lucky that it’s only my mum who is drinking and not my husband, and that my kid acts out her frustration at this by wetting her bed and not by hitting her sibling in the face with a bicycle…
Improbable Joe
22 August 2012 at 1:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Drolfe,
First world problems. We have two cars, and my wife is working out of town for the next 3-6 months, so selling my 11-year old Toyota sucks but it isn’t exactly the end of the world. Our other car is a Mustang, but we can’t do anything with it because we don’t have clear title yet. Two more payments left.
tkreacher
22 August 2012 at 1:24 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
It isn’t just the Ted Nugents and fringe RWA bloggers that are intimating bloodshed.
It isn’t the instances of this kind of thing, or even the frequency, that has me convinced we are headed for prolific violence. It is how little outrage that follows.
adamgordon
22 August 2012 at 1:25 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Has anyone else read this piece out in Nature today?
http://www.nature.com/news/sometimes-science-must-give-way-to-religion-1.11244
Utterly vapid and completely ridiculous. I hate it when Nature publishes crap like this.
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
22 August 2012 at 1:34 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Tkreacher:
Goddamn, the conspiracies are getting scary.
But I am kinda surprised he didn’t go full bore and blame both Obama and the Jews.
tkreacher
22 August 2012 at 1:50 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer,
Oh, no, that’s clearly implied in there.
The only way a Negriod Kenyan Muslim can also be a secularist atheist, who is a socialist marxist communist nazi homosexual while gathering the strength of the U.N. to take over the U.S. is… Jew Magic.
I thought that was pretty obvious.
How else do you reasonably think he could do it?
That you didn’t know this makes me suspect you may be an online payed shill for the Anti-Christ Zionist New World Order against Guns n’ America n’ Freedom n’ God (ACZNWOGNAF for short).
Esteleth, Who Knows How to Use Google
22 August 2012 at 1:54 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
That’s some mighty fine herpaderp there tkreacher. I am impressed.
Audley Z. Darkheart, the joke killer
22 August 2012 at 1:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Tkreacher:
Oh see, I thought it was the lizard people who gave Obama all of his awesome fascist powers. My bad, gettin’ my conspiacies mixed up!
jefrir
22 August 2012 at 2:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh, Caine, I’m so sorry about Carrot and Zoe! That sounds very, very sucky.
tkreacher
22 August 2012 at 2:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Audley,
Lizard people?! LOL
Like God would ever create such an abomination. You atheists and your silly beliefs.
****
Ok, I’ve got to slip out of this role lest I suffer a brain version of “your face might get stuck like that”.
David Marjanović
22 August 2012 at 2:13 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Via Facebook: The Seven Stages of Feminist Grief.
portia
22 August 2012 at 2:27 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
YOU GUYS: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/scientific-proof-that-a-bacon-sandwich-is-the-best-386742
Beatrice
22 August 2012 at 2:32 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I don’t like the look of that bread. I like my bacon accompanied with something worthy of its magnificence.
cicely
22 August 2012 at 2:49 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Beatrice, I agree. That looks like the kind of bread I think of as “aerated wheat paste”.
-
portia
22 August 2012 at 2:55 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Socio-gen
Thanks! It was pretty fun.
Louis
Sorry, Harry, we lied. What happens there goes wherever TeeEmZed takes it.
Ms. Daisy Cutter
I…what? You would think they would have at least included the fact that RMoney has two Harvard degrees to Obama’s one. I mean, if we’re talking status. /gag.
Beatrice:
I concur. I usually go with chocolate, given the option. Last Christmas I went on a baking binge to make edible gifts, and I concocted a recipe for Bacon Fudge. I could hardly bear to give it away…
Happy Birthday, Josh!!
Improbable Joe
22 August 2012 at 2:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Woohoo! We just borrowed $1000 at 175% interest! Now we’re only $200 short of the rent! Yay!
portia
22 August 2012 at 3:03 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Talk about a bad news/good news kinda day. Sorry, Joe.
Tony •King of the Hellmouth•
22 August 2012 at 3:18 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Louis:
I learned about this today, driving T to work. According to her, on the sexuality spectrum, she’s 90-95% lesbian so I don’t remember that sometimes she does find men sexually desirable. Case in point: she got excited to learn that nude photos of Prince Harry were published.
I was driving.
My first and immediately second impulses:
-um, no thank you. Prince Harry does nothing for me.
-WTF?? Followed by a double take. Its jarring to hear her talk about men, because it’s so rare.
Improbable Joe
22 August 2012 at 3:24 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
No biggie portia. We’ll make it through.
In the meanwhile, my GREAT GUITAR SELECTION THINGY 2012 is withering on the fucking vine! Get over to my blog, all of you idjits and gits, and vote for your favorite Official SpokeGuitar!
There will be punch and pie, and prizes too!
portia
22 August 2012 at 3:25 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Damnit, I forgot! Thanks for the nudge, heading over now :O)
Beatrice
22 August 2012 at 3:42 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Fuck you firefox for losing all my tabs even though I clicked on save & quit.
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
22 August 2012 at 3:47 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Beatrice
There is an option to “restore previous session”
Joe
WTF? That’s illegal in commie socialist Germany.
Beatrice
22 August 2012 at 3:51 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Giliell,
I know, but for some reason Firefox decided to delete the previous session quite thoroughly and permanently
Improbable Joe
22 August 2012 at 3:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
portia, part 3 is up now! The rest of you, over to my blog dammit! You don’t have to know anything about guitars, you just have to say “Ooooh, pretty!” and leave a comment!
Giliell, crowdsourcing guitar shopping is illegal?
Giliell, not to be confused with The Borg
22 August 2012 at 4:07 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Joe
Ehm no, 175% interest rates
beatrice
In that case: Fuck you, FF
+++++
I have a question to the biologists:
I learned that red-green colourblindness is one of those X-chromosomal recessive diseases that men inherit from their phenotypal healthy mothers? Did I miss something, is it just one of those simplified “lies to children”?
Esteleth, Who Knows How to Use Google
22 August 2012 at 4:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
To my knowledge, that is largely true, Gilliel: most cases of red-green colorblindness have that as a cause.
Improbable Joe
22 August 2012 at 4:13 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Giliell, you can get short-term loans in America at close to $400. Capitalism is a fucking nightmare for everyone but the capitalists.
Lynna, OM
22 August 2012 at 4:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
It’s almost impossible to get budget/financial plan details from Mitt Romeny, but he has spilled a few small beans:
Romney is planning to end subsidies to PBS? He thinks PBS should be a for-profit private entity. Yeah, that’ll work. Cutting it does nothing for the budget.
PZ Myers
22 August 2012 at 4:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
NEW THREAD.
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