Mar 08 2013

[Lounge #407]

Categories:

Open Thread

by PZ Myers

This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly. Take it nice and slow, too.

Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread

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667 comments

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1

blf

8 March 2013 at 10:00 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The mildly deranged penguin rarely does slow. Or typical definitions of nice. She does take, though. Mostly cheese.
2

glodson

8 March 2013 at 10:03 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I had a really rough night last night…. I’m still sorting out what happened. It was bad.

Everything worked out, but not without a bit of stress.
3

theophontes (坏蛋)

8 March 2013 at 10:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

One Hundred Years of Solitude …. Post-its®

I remember that part of the book!
4

dianne

8 March 2013 at 10:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

(Snark’s? Good restaurant name, that…)

I’d be worried that the house specialty might be horse and peas stew.
5

blf

8 March 2013 at 10:13 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

One Hundred Years of Post-its®

Will happen a bit over sixty years from now (c.2077).
I imagine that by then they’ll either require batteries, or will have been reformulated to act as a Carbon sink, or will cover what remains of the planet to a depth of several metres.
6

Weed Monkey

8 March 2013 at 10:16 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Solitude is a damn fine song, and I’ve gotten used to it.
7

rorschach

8 March 2013 at 10:26 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Solitude is a damn fine song, and I’ve gotten used to it.

Solitude is a city in Skyrim, as far as I’m concerned. Or a beautiful song by Moustaki. But that may have been well before your time…
8

rorschach

8 March 2013 at 10:31 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

While we’re with Moustaki:

Ma Liberte

And my favourite:

Sans la nommer
9

David Marjanović

8 March 2013 at 10:49 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*hugs for Cerberus*
So far, you’re doing the best anyone could.

*very careful gross hugs for Esteleth*

*hugs, happiness tea and chocolate for Portia*

And you sneak them out under your coat?
:D :D :D
“Leaving a fishy-smelling trail wherever he goes….”

:-) The thought of a baby manatee clutched to my chest gives me cute overload. I don’t see why manatees would smell like fish, though.

I’d really like to have a smoke
but it’s -11°C out there
I’ll pass.

Oh, that reminds me: winter is coming back over here. Again. Monday morning it’ll be -10 °C!

Nonono. Not the East-Zoo. It’s the Tierpark.

West Zoo and East Zoo sound better than Zoologischer Garten and Tierpark, don’t you think? After all, that’s why the Tierpark was founded: because the original zoo ended up west of the wall.

Shush! My 3 year old laptop might hear you!

Hah. Mine is 6 years old.

(It’s too slow for the modern age; making an antivirus update and looking for Windows updates takes half an hour every time I switch it on. I’ll buy a new one… The harddisk is fairly close to full, too, but otherwise it’s in a fine condition. Doesn’t even overheat.)

I have spent some time at physorg.com battling AGW denialists at the comments sec tion. The same denialbots turn up again and again with the same old lies.

Some of them are paid by stink tanks to infest the blogosphere, sow doubt, and teach the controversy.

Or they should hire a better translator.

It gets better. The page “Native land of Borjomi” looks like it’s translated from Russian.

So just in the last week, in a volunteer ancillary position I’m in at work, I’ve had to not only put up with but actively be the causal agent in destroying not one, but two things I care deeply about that are relevant to and have a high impact on my actual paid job. That’s been fun.

…? :-(

How do you know your frozen lasagna contains horse-meat?
The nutritional value is given in hors-power.

Heh.

Shows what a sheltered life I lead: learning German jokes in English through teh intarwebz.

I’m always careful to tell people that I’m descended from the criminals, not the religious fanatics. Wouldn’t want to be mistaken for a Puritan.

+ 1

David Marjanović, I do not think that you qualify as “Dave.”

What with:

(1) There are a few people (Americans of course) who do spontaneously call me “Dave”.
(2) No nickname at all is generally used over here, because my name is too rare! *mad cackling* However, my nuclear family, one aunt, and one of my brother’s friends do use what amounts to a strict analog of “Dave”.
(3) I’m the one who gets to decide when I qualify.

My grandma uses a very different nickname. Nobody else uses any, but then, I know extremely few people.

░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░

Link dump!

I’m too tired to explain this right now, just read it.

Ecce homo.

You’ve all read of Y-chromosome Adam… turns out the sample size was too small: the male-line descendants of a very different man live in one village in Cameroon… and in South Carolina, unless Albert Perry was the last one there. Paper here.

Conservation: big cats as flagship species for whole ecosystems.
10

Lynna, OM

8 March 2013 at 11:11 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Utah is #1 in ignominy … again.
Provo-Orem area (just south of Salt Lake City) is, according to the Wall Street Journal, number one in the nation on the “worst paying cities for women” list. Women in “Happy Valley” make just 61% of what their male counterparts make.

Recent stats reveal that 88.69% of the people in that area self-identify as mormon, as members of the LDS church.

http://m.kutv.com/article?id=9236248&categoryid=343&election=&provider=
11

rq

8 March 2013 at 11:16 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Just read a note about sleepwalking sexists on my Facebook that I would love to share here, unfortunately it hasn’t been made public-public. Worth a read.
12

Lynna, OM

8 March 2013 at 11:23 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

More enlightened news from Utah: in the past, we’ve discussed that state’s propensity to pass utterly ridiculous and often self-defeating liquor laws, sometimes even passing laws that made it likely the state would rake in less money from liquor sales.

Well, they are at it again.

The Senate gave final passage Friday to a bill clarifying that Utah restaurant patrons may sip alcoholic beverages while looking at menus before actually ordering food.

The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control recently created an uproar by issuing a wave of citations to restaurants saying such a practice was a violation of current state law. The agency later backed off the effort.

After an outcry over citations, DABC’s director said there had been a misunderstanding about the directive and that customers were allowed to be served so long as they signaled an intent to order food. Even so, the warning has had a chilling effect on the industry. Restaurants such as Chili’s Grill & Bar in downtown Salt Lake City still will not serve alcoholic beverages until diners actually place an order….

From the comments:

Does it have to be sipping? Can’t one quaff, guzzle, chug or just plain old drink?
13

Lynna, OM

8 March 2013 at 11:35 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Step by tiny, painful step Utah is moving in the right direction when it comes to LGBT rights.

… Gay civil-rights advocates praised Utah senators for passing through committee for the first time Thursday a bill that would prohibit discrimination at work or in housing on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The bill, SB262, a measure that supporters have been working on the past five years, would offer statewide protections which are in place in just 17 municipalities, including Salt Lake City….

That’s right, friends, if this bill it not passed and signed into law, it is legal in most of Utah to discriminate against LGBT persons when it comes to jobs or when it comes to letting them rent an apartment or buy a house.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55970257-78/advance-bill-committee-gay.html.csp

… several committee members and speakers expressed the view that homosexual acts are immoral and should be condemned by definition. …

Although the bill passed its first hurdle Thursday, supporters admit it will be difficult getting it through the Senate and House, and having Gov. Gary Herbert sign it.

“I’ve embraced the idea that local governments have found a way … to address it in their own communities,”Herbert said recently in an interview….
14

Katherine Lorraine, Tortue du Désert avec un Coupe-Boulon

8 March 2013 at 11:37 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

@Lynna:

It’s legal to discriminate against LGBT persons in hiring and housing in Virginia, as well.
15

glodson

8 March 2013 at 11:46 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

This just odd.

Many young people turned to drugs and immoral lifestyles; these youth became known as hippies. They went without bathing, wore dirty, ragged, unconventional clothing, and deliberately broke all codes of politeness or manners. Rock music played an important part in the hippie movement and had great influence over the hippies. Many of the rock musicians they followed belonged to Eastern religious cults or practiced Satan worship.

Education in Louisiana.
16

rq

8 March 2013 at 12:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Huh. Struck a nerve.
17

Lynna, OM

8 March 2013 at 12:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

We’ve been discussing of late the backlash against Orson Scott Card, mormon author of Ender’s Game, purveyor of poisonous politics, and now a wannabe writer for Superman comics.

Journalist Steven Lloyd Wilson has picked up the story, and he brings up several new and interesting points.

… Some comic book shops announced that they would not stock Superman after Card starts writing for it. And a couple of days ago, the artist on Superman quit, releasing a statement dancing around the issue, a thinly veiled non-statement in order to not burn bridges with what amounts his dream job. DC caved to pressure yesterday and announced that Card’s story had been scrapped.

Now there’s a furor from the right, that this is a left wing witch hunt against people who disagree with their agenda, to economically punish those who don’t toe some political line. I disagree quite strongly. This is not some freedom of speech thing, not some despicable and childish refusal to engage with those who disagree politically. I would defend to the death Card’s right to speak his beliefs, but the hell if I have to stock it on my shelves if I’m the owner of a comic book store….

… How do you reconcile the symbol of truth, justice, and the American way being written by someone who loudly proclaims a violent revolution to topple American democracy if the majority doesn’t agree with his opinions?

And yet there are signs there even in Ender’s Game. I always found Peter to be the most fascinating character, the one that I related to so much more directly than Ender in my darkest moments. His monologue about the nihilism of the modern world still sticks with me…

And in retrospect, it’s Peter who really announces what Card thinks about the way the world works. Peter’s the character who subverts the government, who takes over the world behind the scenes …The contempt for democracy, the loathing for the very idea that the people should make their own decisions about their futures, is staggering in Ender’s Game once noticed …

I know it’s an overused cliché to make a point like this, but I think that Ender would hardly recognize who Card is today. Yet I think Peter would. I think Peter would recognize him as one of the sad, angry, and scared men who make it possible for the Peters of history to ascend their thrones.

The comments section below this article is worth reading.
18

Esteleth, Ficus Putsch Knits

8 March 2013 at 12:17 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Lynna, the link is missing. :(
19

tomh

8 March 2013 at 12:18 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

@ #14

There are 21 states plus Wash DC that ban employment discrimination against LGBT persons. Also, at least 185 cities and counties ban discrimination, there is a list here. Everywhere else it is legal to discriminate. That’s why it is so important to pass ENDA, to ban it on a national level.
20

Lynna, OM

8 March 2013 at 12:19 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

glodson @15

Education in Louisiana.

Nurturing mindlessness in the educational swampland of Louisiana.
21

thumper1990

8 March 2013 at 12:20 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

@Glodson #15

Education in Louisiana? Is that a typo? That paragraph is not what I’d call education.
22

Dalillama, Schmott Guy

8 March 2013 at 12:46 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

birgerjohanssen

I have spent some time at physorg.com battling AGW denialists at the comments sec tion. The same denialbots turn up again and again with the same old lies.

I recall reading about someone who worte a script that identifies standard denier arguments and grabs the evidence to rebut them; if it finds a new one, it notifies him and he can update it.
Katherine
*hugs* That sucks

So, I’m approved for unemployment. To the tune of about half my rent every month. So amazingly fucking helpful of them, I feel.
23

Katherine Lorraine, Tortue du Désert avec un Coupe-Boulon

8 March 2013 at 12:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

@Dalillama:

And of course you also have to get food off of that.

How do people expect people to live on unemployment? It’s ridiculous.
24

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

8 March 2013 at 1:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Here’s the link for Lynna’s #17. And I left a comment.
25

rq

8 March 2013 at 1:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

pharm scigrad
If you want to play bingo, I can translate some comments for you on a Latvia narticle about how women drivers are safer drivers than men… With the appropriate commentary on women+technology and evo-psych (that is, men are ‘programmed biologically’ to be risk-takers, even when driving!).
26

Akira MacKenzie

8 March 2013 at 1:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Since the topic of privilege comes up quite often here, I do want to get some opinions from the regulars on this story:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/11/is-peanut-butter-and-jelly-racist_n_1874905.html
27

Giliell, professional cynic

8 March 2013 at 1:46 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

OK
Since my parents went to France this week we now have 18 bottles of Crèmant, 3 bricks of Bordeaux, 500 coffee pads and 25 20 bases for Flammkuchen. Life is good.

Katherine
Hugs for getting shit at job

David M.
Sure, you’re technically correct, but many people from east Berlin won’t look too kindly on that argument, because it makes the Tierpark eternally look like, you know, a poor substitute for the real Zoo. And they have always taken great pride in their Tierpark. As they should. When they thought up that concept most zoos were still “show as many animals on as little space as possible.”
28

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

8 March 2013 at 1:47 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Akira MacKenzie,

That article looks to me like a intentionally dishonest misrepresentation of the truth in order to mock “political correctness”… which is almost always mocked by lying, which shows the relative weakeness of the position of the people who are anti-”PC.”
29

ChasCPeterson

8 March 2013 at 1:56 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I don’t see why manatees would smell like fish, though.

On account of their natural habitat consists almost entirely of fish-pee. hth.
30

UnknownEric is high on Mountain Dew.

8 March 2013 at 2:18 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

They … deliberately broke all codes of politeness or manners.

They never held doors open, they used the salad fork on the main course, and once I heard one of them say, “Poop.”
31

rq

8 March 2013 at 2:31 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

UnknownEric
Don’t do that!! *cleans monitor* That was some good champagne.
32

Pteryxx

8 March 2013 at 3:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

—

More reason to hate on Monsanto:

http://www.vice.com/read/your-clothes-are-making-indian-cotton-farmers-commit-suicide

A Center for Human Rights and Global Justice report describes the root of the problem: At the turn of the millennium, Indian farmers who had been given access to a wider range of products after India’s market liberalization started buying genetically modified Bollgard Bt cotton seeds from the Gates Foundation-backed Monsanto corporation. The seeds were able to resist and kill the common American Bollworm cotton pest, making them an instant hit, with 85 percent of cotton grown in India being Monsanto-controlled Bt cotton by 2009.

However, the seeds were expensive, and spiralling prices (coupled with planting restrictions from the multinationals selling the seeds) led to farmers approaching money lenders for hefty loans that eventually turned into unmanageable debt. Almost 300,000 cotton workers have committed suicide to date, some of them by drinking the same insecticides they were sold by multinationals.
33

iiandyiiii

8 March 2013 at 3:16 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Shameless plug from a first time author (and occasional poster): My first novel, Sailor of the Skysea, has been published. It’s a fantasy adventure novel set in a fictional world with a lot in common with colonial America. As most traditional fantasy is to medieval Europe, my novel is to the Americas in the early 19th century. You can buy it on Amazon, as an ebook for $0.99 or as a paperback for $9.99. You can also take a look at my website.

If you’re a fan of the genre, I hope you take a look- and if you like it, please leave a review on Amazon.com; my budget for marketing is essentially zero, so I’m heavily relying on online reviews and word of mouth. Thanks so much for reading my plug!
34

WMDKitty -- Survivor

8 March 2013 at 3:25 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*hugs* for Katherine

Personal Stuff

It’s been one week now. One solid week of decent, even good, sleep, and no weird-ass “meaningful” dreams, either. (Aside from my normal weird-ass dreams, of course.)

So either I’ve broken something new in brain, or I’ve inadvertently fixed something, and both possibilities are new and scary.

Heh. I’m… actually quite frightened by a lot of things.
35

WMDKitty -- Survivor

8 March 2013 at 3:27 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Er… *broken something new in my brain…

Ave Tpyos
Rege Tpyos
Hail Tpyos
36

David Marjanović

8 March 2013 at 4:27 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Petition to stop US subsidies to oil companies.
37

bluentx

8 March 2013 at 4:41 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

David Marjanović :
Petition signed!
38

cm's changeable moniker

8 March 2013 at 4:53 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Sloth! Obligatory marydoodle.
39

bluentx

8 March 2013 at 5:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Personal rant to follow:

A long time friend has posted this on FB:

“Ok, y’all. I love each and every one of you to pieces, but I really am tired of the foul language and the over abundance of political posts. I see the news. I have a brain. I’m on facebook to relax and have fun, so please, limit the negative posts to me. I’m really not into that! Thanks!”

I don’t know what she means by “the negative posts to me”. Am I not seeing something she does? I haven’t seen anything specifically directed to her that I would say is ‘negative’.

And to dismiss politics like it has ‘no important meaning in IRL’ is just unbelievably shallow to me.

I go on FB to share things I think are important- that others may not have heard about- as well as “to realx and have fun”.

Am I overreacting? Too involved with FB (for FSM’s sake!)?

Thoughts from The Horde are welcome…
40

bluentx

8 March 2013 at 5:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh, and so far she’s gotten 6 positive comments (none against) and 30 ‘likes’!
41

rq

8 March 2013 at 5:10 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

bluentx
I think it’s the misconception that everything on a newsfeed is directed at you. Maybe she is being targeted. Or she thinks Facebook still works in the old ‘wall’ way, where you only see things actually posted to you. Either way, if you’re not targeting her, I don’t think you should worry (unless you’re posting hateful things, hmmmm? (I know you’re not (RIGHT?)!!!)). Besides, Facebook isn’t a platform for her. It’s for everyone.
I think she can go and…
But I won’t be impolite. I’m going to bed.
42

bluentx

8 March 2013 at 5:18 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq:
The only thing I’ve posted directly to her (that I can think of) was from YOU(!). Heh! Her nickname in school was Moose so I shared the ‘Moose Cleanse’ satire a few days ago. : )
And got no comments…
43

John Morales

8 March 2013 at 5:20 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Pteryxx:

Almost 300,000 cotton workers have committed suicide to date, some of them by drinking the same insecticides they were sold by multinationals.

That very large number seems highly implausible to me.
44

JohnnieCanuck

8 March 2013 at 5:25 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

South Dakota makes the news by passing a law allowing school districts to decide if they want to arm school teachers to protect kids from killers with guns.

Anyone walking into a classroom is going to be at risk of being shot if they don’t know the password for the day or whatever. Armed teachers will have seconds to decide if someone just walking in is a threat, since they will be the very first person the assailant will need to kill.

Wonderful atmosphere for learning. Learning fear and paranoia, for sure.
45

Alethea H. "Crocoduck" Kuiper-Belt

8 March 2013 at 5:39 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

To persons dissing Oz in the previous thread: I’d much rather be descended from convicts than Puritans. A hearty thhppffftt to you!

Though actually I am descended from coal miners, but whatevs.
46

Rob Grigjanis

8 March 2013 at 6:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

John Morales @43: The article doesn’t mention that ‘to date’ means ‘from 1995 until 2012′. Link. I think the number is accurate, the causes more complicated, since Monsanto didn’t introduce Bt cotton to India until 2002. Link.

There is much to hate Monsanto for. Not sure this in the long list.
47

mildlymagnificent

8 March 2013 at 6:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

alethea

To persons dissing Oz in the previous thread: I’d much rather be descended from convicts than Puritans.

Hah. Then you get the South Australians standing square and tall loudly proclaiming that their state was never a convict colony – it was all free settlers. So there. Nyah, nah, neener, neener.

Until you do the genealogy thing and you find things far worse than convict ancestry. One of my forebears was an officer in the Rum Corps – far worse, unbelievably corrupt, nasty and entirely undesirable custodians of convicts transported to NSW.
48

pharm scigrad

8 March 2013 at 6:36 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq:
Ooooh… Bingo! :) I see you’re off to bed though… maybe tomorrow then – Bingo raincheck?

Feminist Bingo

People of Color Bingo

Sorry I missed you today. Big fustercluck with having to take a taxi to my surgeon’s office to get a prescription, then take the taxi to my pharmacist’s to drop off the script, then home. Then waiting around for my landlady to drive me back to pick up the script. It is quite fun to live far from family, be quite sick, and not be able to drive. Ah well, at least I will have the drugs I need – and apparently not give a single ROCKSTAR that I hurt anymore. Though my surgeon’s office is filled with a bunch of subprime second morgages with balloon payments if you ask me.
49

bluentx

8 March 2013 at 7:26 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

To persons dissing Oz in the previous thread: I’d much rather be descended from convicts than Puritans. A hearty thhppffftt to you!

Though actually I am descended from coal miners, but whatevs.

Convicts are so much more innterresting than Puritans, don’t you think? http://youtu.be/acfx4orazEk
Personally, I’m descended from tomato products. Due to sketchy and dubious claims of genealogy* I just say I’m a ‘Heinz 57 variety’.
-

*Possibly related to Daniel Boone’s second wife (not the one depicted on the TV show), possibly related to (baseball player of old) Ty Cobb- who I understand was a classic jerk. A very stellar lineage don’t cha know.
50

anuran

8 March 2013 at 8:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

A heartwarming piece of news…
A San Juan Puerto Rico cop is suing his department. He was removed from police duties and re-assigned as a car-washer after refusing to take part in department-mandated Christian prayer.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/08/atheist-cop-sues-after-being-demoted-to-car-washer-for-refusing-to-pray/
51

chigau (違う)

8 March 2013 at 8:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

teeheehheheeeehehheee
http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2555
[it must be the rum]
teeeheeehee
52

chigau (違う)

8 March 2013 at 8:54 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

It’s not just the rum.
http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2587
I’ll stop now.
53

Esteleth, stupid fucking starchild Tolkien worshiping douche

8 March 2013 at 9:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

So, I decided to search for my nym on the Slymepit. Found someone referring to me as this.

Glorious!
54

chigau (違う)

8 March 2013 at 9:28 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Esteleth #53
All I ever get is ‘cunt’.
55

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

8 March 2013 at 9:28 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Why do you do that Esteleth?

I’ve heard they talk about me too occasionally. What a bunch of losers that makes them, right? Seems like an awful lot of work to stalk ALL of us, but they do it somehow. There’s like three dozen of them and a few hundred of us.
56

Alethea H. "Crocoduck" Kuiper-Belt

8 March 2013 at 9:33 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ooh, nice one. Do they think you’re a bloke, perhaps?
57

marilove

8 March 2013 at 9:38 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh, shit, I always seem to lurk here at the right time.

Apparently they have been chatting about me in the slymepit. I had no idea. That was the first time I’ve ever even made my way over there (and probably my last because I honestly, really don’t have time to give their stupidity much thought).

Anyyyyway, you learn something new every night!
58

marilove

8 March 2013 at 9:38 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oooh, Ed Gremmar. He got banned from here, too, right? Yeah, he keeps getting banned. He’s kind of really, really … not bright.
59

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

8 March 2013 at 9:50 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hey marilove, decided to slum it over here in the Lounge? :)

Edward Gemmer is a #bravehero, don’t you know? He got banned here for being a giant asshole, or as the Slymepit would put it, “disagreeing.” Dishonest shitheads.
60

marilove

8 March 2013 at 9:53 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Yeah he’s an asshole but honestly he’s just really dumb.

And I lurk here sometimes… I just lack the time to really participate. My free time is usually spent catching up on Craig Ferguson and reading. :P
61

pharm scigrad

8 March 2013 at 9:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

chigau (違う) @52:
If the stuff they had when I was young was *sparkling* I would have had a hella time just taking a little sip.
62

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

8 March 2013 at 9:59 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Looks like no one is participating today… and considering the general situations of the folks here, it really sets me to worrying a whole bunch.
63

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

8 March 2013 at 10:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

… and speaking of “no one”… hi chigau and PSG and Alethea and anuran and bluentx. You’re not “no one” and I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.
64

marilove

8 March 2013 at 10:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hopefully they are sleeping and/or enjoying their Friday nights. I should be doing homework. But I am watching Craig Ferguson. :P
65

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

8 March 2013 at 10:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

marilove,

Cool. I’m hiding in my office drinking beer and trying to ignore the weird throbbing in my right ear, while my wife catches up on this latest season of Grimm so we can both watch tonight’s new episode.
66

pharm scigrad

8 March 2013 at 10:13 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*waves at IJoe* Yeah, it’s been quiet most of the day. Some people signed off rather early as well it seems. I chalk that up to the whole weekend thing…
Unless it’s because of the whole “take it slow” demand of our tenticled overlord. We have been filling up the Lounge rather quickly these days, though I wasn’t expecting a sloth bouncer. O.o
67

chigau (違う)

8 March 2013 at 10:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

IJoe
The comments come in, the comments go out.
You can’t explain that.
;)
68

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

8 March 2013 at 10:21 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hey PSG, I hope that’s all it is. I try to also remember time zones and such. Plus, frankly, I think we’ve almost all had pretty rough weeks.

chigau, don’t make me take my general anger at Bill O’Reilly out on you. Thrash you about the head and shoulders with a falafel. *grins*
69

marilove

8 March 2013 at 10:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Man, I should have bought beer earlier!

It is raining. Earlier while at the store, it was pouring! And it’s very cold out. Well, “very cold” for us in Phoenix. I am really enjoying this last bit of cold before it gets hot.
70

pharm scigrad

8 March 2013 at 10:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

chigau (違う):
It might be the drugs, but that’s funny. Kikikikiki…
71

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

8 March 2013 at 10:27 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

marilove, we caught the rain a few hours before you did here in Albuquerque, and it is still pretty cold… that sort of moist cold you only get when it is cold, has been raining, and really wants to snow but can’t quite get there.
72

cicely (No further comment.)

8 March 2013 at 10:29 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Blood and souls for the damned Easter Bunny!
*grump*
The St. Patrick’s Easter Egg festive cane display did not go off anything vaguely resembling as planned. It looked so much cooler in my mind’s eye.

And now my neck hurts. And my head hurts. And my shoulders hurt. And my back hurts.
All in service of a project that stubbornly resisted jelling.
</whine>
-
Fans of The Producers? Here we have “Jonathon Ortloff Plays Springtime for Hitler”. (Hat tip: Do Gooder Press.

I’d've thought the job would call for more tentacles than that!
-
Alethea, that is indeed a tentacular scarf, within Portia’s re-definition of the word.
:)
-
*hugs* for Kitty. New manager of group is an asshole.
-
blf: While you were away, rq was revealed as a minion of the Equine Conspiracy. Self revealed. In fact, down-right wallowing in said revelation. And degradation.
-

Several celebrity chefs have come forward, lauding the Wonders that are Horse-Meat (~~delicacy!~~Unholy Communion) but many in this country are historically and emotionally attached to their ~~labour assistants~~Fell Masters,[...] Horses should remember to renew their passports in a timely manner.

At first, I boggled at the thought that any country in the world would have diplomatic relations such that Horses (or other Demonspawn) would be able to acquire passports—but then I thought, “Well, duh, politicians and clergy!”, and it suddenly made sense.
-

I don’t think any peas or horses were involved.

You never know for sure. Tricky things, horses and peas.

And Horse-peas….
-
-
New Thread!!!
73

chigau (違う)

8 March 2013 at 10:33 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

IJoe
I ♥ felafel!!!!
Do your worstest!
74

pharm scigrad

8 March 2013 at 10:34 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Heard a lot of tough news here this week, agreed. I’m hoping it’s a good thing the Lounge is quiet because it means people are out and about in meatspace, having a good time.
75

marilove

8 March 2013 at 10:35 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I have no idea what that feels like, Joe. It doesn’t do the whole snow thing where I live (though it does snow in Northern Arizona). HOWEVER!

This happened the other week!

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/central_phoenix/snow-in-phoenix-graupel-falls-in-valley-during-february-storm

That was weird.
76

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

8 March 2013 at 10:42 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hey cicely!

I was going to say other things… but then YOU said St. Patrick’s and I remembered that I accidentally made pickles a few weeks ago, which made me wonder if I couldn’t intentionally make corned beef. Possibly corned horse, although I’m given to understand there’s a DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP RIFT there.
77

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

8 March 2013 at 10:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

marilove, I guess it helps to be a mile up… altitude makes the air thin and the cold have a little extra bite to it. And rain/snow is pretty rare here compared to where I was previous. Florida and Virginia get a lot of rain, and the NC foothills can see a foot or more of snow in any single storm.
78

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

8 March 2013 at 10:52 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

PSG, speaking of meatspace, my wife is calling, so I’ll see you all tomorrow?
79

WMDKitty -- Survivor

8 March 2013 at 11:03 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I went walkabout. Hey, it was sunny and reasonably warm (though I still bundled up), and dammit, I needed outsides!

Going out again tomorrow, weather permitting.

Yeah. I know. Me. Going outside. Willingly. Fuckin’ wild, man.
80

ajb47

8 March 2013 at 11:10 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Lynna @12:

Is it worse than this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajb47/8170796736/in/set-72157631970434901

I admit, your quotes from the story make it look just as ugly in Utah. Those politicians didn’t run on fixing the economy, did they? Because delaying giving patrons a beer until they order some sort of food seems to be bad for the economy — or at least *not* helping the economy.
81

cicely (No further comment.)

8 March 2013 at 11:10 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*hugs* for glodson.
-

I don’t see why manatees would smell like fish, though.

Well, perhaps ranch-raised ones wouldn’t smell of fish. The free-range kind, though, spend all their time swimming in briney fish soup. They can’t help it.
-
WMDKitty: Still, an entire week of good, restful sleep is a thing of joy and beauty. Even if your subconscious is lurking in ambush. At least when it mugs you, you’ll be less worn down.
-
Never been to the Slymepit. No interest in going there. Probably not on their radar, anyways.
-
82

pharm scigrad

8 March 2013 at 11:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

IJoe:
Indeed. I’m housebound for a bit yet, so I will be around no doubt. Enjoy your show!
***********
WMDKitty:
That sounds lovely, outside and sun and all. It sounds like you’ve had a week of firsts and while I don’t know the backstory at all (nor is that any sort of thinly veiled attempt to ask for it), I’m very happy for you. Good stuff. ^^
83

chigau (違う)

8 March 2013 at 11:32 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

USAians
Is Target as evil as Walmart?
84

WMDKitty -- Survivor

8 March 2013 at 11:47 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Chigau

Target — so far as I’m aware — is less evil than Wal Mart. (But still somewhat evil, as evidenced by the very existence of “corporate”.)
85

rorschach

8 March 2013 at 11:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Why oh why are some threads now displaying in the mobile format for me, and you can’t even change it at the bottom of the page clicking “show full page”? On the smartphone you get the full site, and on the Desktop randomly the mobile page. I know it’s been mentioned before, but it’s well and truly annoying.
86

ajb47

8 March 2013 at 11:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

chigau @83

“Is Target as evil as Walmart?”

Having a friend who works for Target, it doesn’t seem so. Target seems to be much more in line with treating their workers better. As far as I can tell, Target is only as evil as the average evil corporation.
87

chigau (違う)

8 March 2013 at 11:53 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

ajb47 #86
Do the workers have a Union?
88

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

9 March 2013 at 12:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

chigau, Target is close to as evil as Walmart, but less terrible to shoppers. Not by much, but by a noticeable degree. At least Target delivers a decent shopping experience while degrading its workers; Walmart demeans its workers and customers in equal measure.

No unions.
89

ajb47

9 March 2013 at 12:07 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

@87

No union. But my friend’s complaints about work are almost entirely about the managers of his store rather than how the corporation treats him. Whereas everything I’ve heard about Walmart is that the corporation treats the workers poorly.
90

rorschach

9 March 2013 at 12:09 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

In the US, does Target sell guns?
91

ajb47

9 March 2013 at 12:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Improbable Joe @88

Your description seems to cover all retail. I mean to say that there is a general experience for retail workers, and it is generally crappy, but some corporations are slightly better than others. And Walmart is near, if not at, the bottom.
92

chigau (違う)

9 March 2013 at 12:14 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*sigh*
Target Walmart etc blahblahblah
I’m going to start knitting all of my clothes.
93

ajb47

9 March 2013 at 12:16 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rorshach @90

That probably depends on the location of the store. Some municipalities have said that’s a no-no.
94

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

9 March 2013 at 12:35 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rorschach,

To my knowledge, Target doesn’t sell guns. My local Walmart sells M4-style semi-auto assault rifles.

**Possible trigger warning**

… are we going to have another gun control argument? Because I’m currently reminded of when I was in the Marines, and we had 60 seconds to fire ten rounds into a stationary target at 200 yards, while changing magazines once. And we did all of our training in semi-auto, so all of the gun nuts who claim a distinction between civilian and military weapons based on semi-auto vs full-auto/3-round burst? Idiots.

All of these mass shootings take place in close quarters. In semi-auto, Marines are expected to never miss at those ranges, since they expect us to hit things at 500 yards with the same weapon. I went to the range with a belt-fed fully automatic rifle and shot at pop-up and moving targets at ranges out to 250 yards, and came damned close to hitting one target for every three rounds I fired.

Granted, I’m an outlier, I’m probably in the top 5% of shooters that the Marine Corps produced. But we always trained at far distances. With those weapons at close distances, I would more or less never miss. That’s a really damned good reason why you shouldn’t allow me or anyone else to have those weapons as civilians. As it is, we’ve all been really fucking lucky, because no one with my skill has ever been hooked up with any serious weaponry so far, and been deranged enough to use it. If that happened, we’d be hearing about casualties in the hundreds rather than the dozens.

We need more gun control. Because there’s a bunch of shooters better that I ever was, and way less stable than I am, and if a few of them got together and could stockpile guns and ammo and could find the right vantage point, they could kill hundreds of people and probably live to kill again. We as in Americans have spent billions worried about terrorist threats, and never seem to consider the real threat that a few assholes with lots of guns and unlimited ammo pose to Anytown, USA.
95

chigau (just call me chigau)

9 March 2013 at 12:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I can no longer focus both my eyes on the screen.
So nighty-night, all.
—
IJoe
Be careful.
Gun-talk may warrant a move to The ‘dome.
96

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

9 March 2013 at 12:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

chigau,

Sorry, and I’m done. Also I don’t need to argue because I’m right. Interesting place to be, because most everything else I would put up for grabs/debate. Here? I’m right, and if you disagree then you’re wrong. *winks*
97

Tony the Queer Shoop

9 March 2013 at 1:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Joe:
I haven’t participated in many gun threads , but you are one of the most reasonable gun owners I ever known.
****
Re: Target-
I was told they cater to women more than men (a friend of mine used to be a manager at one)

****
Re: quiet Lounge-
My non stop motormouth ass was at work from 10 am til 11 pm. No time to socialize. You can tell the days I am off work by the number of posts in a 24 hour period.
98

pharm scigrad

9 March 2013 at 1:07 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

IJoe:
That was… well, since my new med comes with a possible side effect of ceiling gremlins… hopefully only when conscious but who knows…
*looks for a distraction from that TW dystopian actual fucking possible reality*
How was Grimm?
99

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

9 March 2013 at 1:13 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

PSG, Grimm was pretty good. There are smarter shows, but this one is emotionally engaging without being too soap-opera. I actually like the secondary characters more than the leads, so it keeps me coming back every week.

Tony, you know how reasonable of a gun owner I am? As soon as I moved away from the neighborhood that drove me to buy a gun, I SOLD my gun. I live in a safe place, I don’t need a gun, I got it out of my house so that I don’t live with all of the risks.

Paid for a third of the Official SpokesGuitar, so not a total loss either. :)
100

pharm scigrad

9 March 2013 at 1:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*waves to Tony* That’s a very long day. Sounds like you need a nap.
101

mildlymagnificent

9 March 2013 at 1:39 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I am really enjoying this last bit of cold before it gets hot.

I’m beginning to believe it’ll never be cold again. This “heatwave” doesn’t really count in the gasping OMG I can’t breathe catalogue of heatwaves – but it just goes on and on and on. It’s been below 25C for a couple of hours around 5 am a couple of times in the last week or so, most days get to 30 pretty early on and just hover in the low 30s without doing much spectacular getting over 35 or anything. They’re predicting 38 for Monday, the humidity was 40+ today ….. and it’s March! It seems like it will never end.

/end rant
102

marilove

9 March 2013 at 1:46 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Where are you?

We’ll get warm here in Arizona, especially where I live, pretty soon. By late April it’ll probably hit 90F (32.2222222 C according to Google haha) and then after that it’s a steady climb to Really Fucking Hot and I Don’t Want to Think About It Right Now.

This is where I was born, IN AUGUST:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Havasu_City,_Arizona

Look at the weather chart. I remember that record high of 126F (52.2C). I grew up about 45 minutes south of there, in Parker, AZ. I moved to Phoenix to get away from the heat haha.
103

marilove

9 March 2013 at 1:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Well, fuck, I looked at the 10-day forecast. Supposed to hit 90F (32.2C) on the 14th.

I am so not ready!

Well, at least I have a pool in my apartment complex, a very nice one.

I really should be in bed right now.
104

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 1:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Tony:
I am such a reasonable gun owner that if I ever really need money I’ll just sell the shotgun I inherited from my Dad. May as well- the only time I touch it is when I clean the corner where it’s kept and it (the gun) hasn’t been cleaned since 2001 when my BIL (the WWII vet) was last here.
Then there’s the antique in the garage (my grandfather’s maybe?). I guess I should take it to one of the local gun shops so they can tell me more about it. If I ever do want to sell either of them I should know more about them so I don’t get ripped off too badly :)
105

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

9 March 2013 at 1:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

marilove, I’m in Abuquerque, NM. It is already getting warm here, but we’re also at a pretty high altitude. So we can get a hot day when the wind isn’t blowing, but in the spring we can get warm and sun and then cold air off the mountain to kick our asses.
106

blinncombs

9 March 2013 at 1:59 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Can anybody explain why there hasn’t been morr critical skeptical commentary on Sam Parnia’s new book? The interview on Fresh Air struck me as a little bit of science dressing up a rather strong claim for which no relevant evidence was presented. The book is currently 18 on the Times best sellers list, while no study data has been published to date. I dont feel uniquely qualified to speak on it, but it struck me as bad enough, and with enough visibility, to meeit some harsh criticism. What gives?
107

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 2:01 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

..after that it’s a steady climb to Really Fucking Hot and I Don’t Want to Think About It Right Now.

Ooo…do stick around, marilove. Soon (too soon) we’ll be able to have competitive Sweat-a-Thons! Yippee!
108

marilove

9 March 2013 at 2:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

So this convo is happening:

http://boingboing.net/2013/03/08/tropes-vs-women-in-video-games.html

I think when he pointed out my typo (“write” instead of “right”) I just … REALLY? Seriously? What the hell? Obvious silly typo is obviously a silly typo.
109

marilove

9 March 2013 at 2:06 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

During our summers it’s just fucking hot.

Last summer or the summer before, I don’t know, they all blend together, we went something like of a month of it not getting below 90 degrees EVER. Even at night. Always (well) above 90 degrees. That is awful. I can handle the heat – I’m used to it – but that is just awful. It’s very, very hard on everything — your car, your air conditioning, everything. (The homeless population, too, and people who can’t afford air conditioning — most will have at least swamp coolers but some people have nothing.)

Speaking of the heat and cars, our car batteries don’t last long here, and tires are constantly going bad. So annoying and expensive haha.
110

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

9 March 2013 at 2:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

marilove,

I worked 3rd shift in a factory for a few years in Florida… During the summers, in the coolest part of the night, it would get down to a frosty 88 degrees. :) And we’d work our asses off from 11-7 and suffer.
111

marilove

9 March 2013 at 2:16 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

At least it rains in Florida!

I mean, I know it rained tonight, but but mostly it does not rain. I mean, desert, obviously, haha.

Somewhat related, I’m taking an Arizona geography class right now and it’s really fascinating.
112

marilove

9 March 2013 at 2:18 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I really should go to bed but I am suddenly tempted to drive over to QT real quick and get hot chocolate. Haha.
113

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 2:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The drought of 2011 (and not much better now) killed most of my trees including pecans :( My lawn came back in 2012 as mostly goathead thorns and other crappy (if not painful) weeds. All that prayin’ Gov. Goodhair did really helped (NOT)!
114

rq

9 March 2013 at 2:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Good morning!
Improbable Joe – I signed off early to make an overnight large-file-transfer in case the computer fucks up again, otherwise I woulda been doing some work. ;) Thanks for caring and worrying (I know, probably not about me all that much, but still! You’re a good person.)

pharm scigrad
*sympathies* on the whole surgeon-public transpo-no near family situation, *hugs* if you’re into that kind of thing. We can do Bingo later today, I’ll pull up some nice things (and I’ll be “working” so that’s my cover and I’m sticking to it!).
115

rq

9 March 2013 at 2:21 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

bluentx
I also had a friend nicknamed Moose in high school. Weird, heh!
Kind of fell out of touch with her, but it seems to be a popular nickname (first she was Elk, then she became Moose but I forget why, and then she was Elkmoose (a new hybrid of our own creation)).
116

marilove

9 March 2013 at 2:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh we’re in a constant drought, but, you know. Desert. Haha.
117

pharm scigrad

9 March 2013 at 2:33 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

ROCKSTARS marilove, the dudebro is strong in that one. I’d say Poe but… I almost think he means it true. It is frightening. Yeah, no doubt YouTube comments are disabled if that is even approaching the quality of the commentariat. *shudders*
118

marilove

9 March 2013 at 2:35 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thankfully BoingBoing has many voices of reason counteracting the two dudebros.

I know for fact the one that I will refer to as Gossip Man is not a Poe; I checked his comment history. Seriously, man, wtf.
119

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 2:41 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Good Morning, Latvia!
You’re probably right about the “it’s all about me” aspect of FB and my annoyance with my friends post.
I just don’t ‘get’ the “Politics/social justice isn’t important to me” line (and I hear it pretty frequently). Fortunately, some of the ones who say that don’t vote at all. GOOD! (They would more than likely vote Rethuglican.)
120

pharm scigrad

9 March 2013 at 2:44 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq:
Mornin’! I take hugs with much glee. Appreciate the sympathies, high costs to get it but at least it seems to be working. I will take that as I’ve got to get through another 80 hours of this misery and then hopefully all will be right with me again.
Bingo later sounds lovely. Looking forward to it!
121

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 2:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

It’s never exactly lush around here (not West Texas but close) but the last couple of years even the native plants have had a hard time surviving the summers.
122

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

9 March 2013 at 2:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq,

I care a whole bunch about you too, because I know you have household stress, and you have a cat that keeps sneaking out… and also I just kind of miss you when you’re not around. That too. :)
123

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 3:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Was it you IJoe, talking mouse problems earlier? I’ve got an excess this year. Usually, one or two find their way in the house the first few weeks of cold weather. I’m now dealing with my FIFTH for this year! I hear the little bugger (right now) scurrying around the kitchen but it refuses to get trapped. The nerve of some rodents!
124

pharm scigrad

9 March 2013 at 3:13 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

At first I took it at face value, but then it got so outrageous I had to wonder… Poe? Especially when it devolved to the whole “wrong word” thing – because apparently this was all dudebro had left to contribute to the discussion. I wanted to ask who harshed his mellow and why he was projecting it on someone he doesn’t even know by making things up that are objectively verifiable. It all seemed so tiresome and… pointless.
.
Then again, it is nice to see a comment thread where the irrational were outnumbered by the well-reasoned.
125

dongiovanni

9 March 2013 at 3:15 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

OK, time zones are really annoying.
126

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 3:37 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

OK, time zones are really annoying

Yes, they are. I have to keep this site at the ready to keep up with them fer-i-ners*!:http://www.worldtimezone.com/
-

*Anyone not in Central Standard Time Zone USian.
127

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 4:09 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thank you, Captain Picard:

“Violence against women is the single greatest human rights violation of our generation,” Stewart said.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/patrick-stewart-million-men-violence-women-011042478.html
128

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 4:18 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

And later in the above article:
* Trigger Warning*

In a videotaped promise to act, Sir Richard Branson relayed a recent, troubling anecdote from a humanitarian visit he made to Africa:

“Yesterday I was at a clinic we run in Africa called Bhubezi Clinic and there were 40 women in the room. Somebody asked the women if any of them had been raped, and there was laughter amongst the women. We asked why they were laughing. The women said, ‘Ask the question: Has anybody in this room not been raped?’ Not one woman put up her hand.”

I just want to cry.
129

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 4:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ahem…Yes, well…

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-7-2013/pope-and-change
130

sundiver

9 March 2013 at 5:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I read the same article bluentx. I hope you didn’t read any of the comments. The ignorant shitstains were out in force. Seems like the MRAs were trying to outdo each other in misogynistic spew.
131

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 5:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thanks for the warning, sundiver. Think I’ll save the comments section for a time when I need to raise my blood pressure.
132

rq

9 March 2013 at 5:58 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Improbable Joe
You made me all smile-y. *hugs*
Personally, I see the household stress as just household stress, which drives me up the wall some of the time, but at the moment it’s all part-n-parcel of a whole bunch of changes in my personal life. Things are only starting to settle now, with the next upheaval in late May, when I have to go back to work, which means a whole lot of scheduling and commuting and a whole new set of stresses related to the fact that I now live outside of the city but still have the same obligations at work (I have ideas to work around this, so it won’t be terrible, it’ll just be a lot of stress and working shit out for a while). I worry about the household stress, yes, and it depresses me much of the time, and I complain about it, but… I feel bad for complaining about it sometimes, you know? Because it’s only household stress. It’s stuff that gets communicated about and it’s things I can work around and work with and, hopefully with time and patience, work through (sooner would be awesome but people are what they are…). But thanks for worrying. :) Makes a lot of my blathering on here worthwhile.

bluentx
I think it was Dalillama with the mouse issues… :) Do you need a cat? We have a stray wandering through the backyard every now and then, but I don’t know how well it’ll fit through the USB.
Nice article on Partick Stewart. I knew there was a reason I liked him (and not just the smooth voice and silky accent).
133

Parrowing

9 March 2013 at 6:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Unfortunately I didn’t refresh the Lounge to read sundiver‘s comment until after I ventured into the comment section.

*

Thanks for all of the nice comments on the last Lounge. Sorry I didn’t respond, everything was just draining me at that moment and I needed to get away from the computer. You really are all such wonderful people. Again, thank you. There were a lot of people that I wanted to offer hugs to, but now I can’t remember who, so please extract the hug (or scritch) that suits you the best from this pile that I’m setting down over here.

*

I’m traveling to the US on Tuesday and Puerto Rico next Saturday. I am so nervous right now, I can’t even enjoy the fact that this is a vacation. And my internet will likely not be good while in Puerto Rico so I probably won’t be able to keep up with the Lounge. I know, I know, it’s vacation, but I like keeping up. And of course, my MRA bro will be going on the trip as well. O.o
134

rq

9 March 2013 at 6:23 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Parrowing
I didn’t bother with the comments. :/ Well, I read three, and realized I didn’t want to go on.
I hope your trip to the US and Puerto Rico is a lot of fun, even with the MRA brother. :/ We’ll be here all along, in case you find an internet connection and some time to poke your head in the Lounge and say hi (or vent about MRAs in the family, whatever you need!).
Holding some thumbs that he’ll behave and not spew hateful crap all over your vacation (what are the chances?). *hugs*
135

rorschach

9 March 2013 at 7:15 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Weather forecast for the next 4 days here: 32C/90F, 33C/91F, 36C/97F, 37C/99F.
That’s it, I’m moving back to Germany.
136

rorschach

9 March 2013 at 7:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Can anyone get their head around this by the way? The dictator threatening nuclear war with the US watching Basketball with Dennis Rodman?
137

sundiver

9 March 2013 at 7:33 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Bluentx, you reeeeally don’t want to read the bullshit spewed there unless you want your BP to blow your eardrums out. I posted a couple of rejoinders there and got the fuck out. MRA assholes can make me so misanthropic I wind up not talking to anyone for days outside of work. Not to mention the mushwits snivelling about how white men are victims of soooo much discrimination.
138

sundiver

9 March 2013 at 7:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I saw that roschach. Dennis Rodman’s always been a bit, well, different. And I’m not even gonna try to wrap my head around that. Too weird.
139

Parrowing

9 March 2013 at 7:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thanks rq :). It’s nice to have a place to vent, if needed.
140

Beatrice

9 March 2013 at 7:53 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hey, Parrowing, I’m glad you decided to stick around.
141

carlie

9 March 2013 at 8:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Parrowing, you can take heart in the fact that many of us are in the US, so our friendly vibes will be closer to you while you’re in the States. :)
142

rq

9 March 2013 at 8:11 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I don’t know how I did that. Got into a conversation about opinions that are correct and incorrect (vis a vis racism, homophobia, misogyny…). Spiralled into questions about incest, child pornography and what should be the legal age of adulthood (12? 14? 18? <- This from the other, not from me. I had a reply for him, that I did!), and can laws be wrong if they’re governing the things two consenting adults do together without harming anyone? Argh. I should be working!

pharm scigard
If you’re around, I’ll pull out those Bingo cards, and I can pass along some comments! ;)
143

Parrowing

9 March 2013 at 8:35 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thanks Beatrice and carlie :)… Oooh, friendly vibes!
144

Giliell, professional cynic

9 March 2013 at 9:03 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Good morning
Long concerned parent musing to follow
So, I also had a talk with #1′s kindergarten teachers about her starting school in summer. She’s been born 5 days after the cut off date and is a so-called “can-go” kid, which means that I could keep her in kindergarten for another year without anybody even asking “why”.
She’s not very tall and very thin, so in a group setting she always looks younger than she is. Funny enough, when she’s alone she looks much older because her proportions are more like those of a 7-8 yo.
But we signed her up for school and so we had this chat about her and her development and whether that’s the right decision or not.
So, one thing is that she’s too damn clever for her own good. She’s not very keen on doing what she’s been told to do if it doesn’t coincide with what she wants to do anyway. They have these exercises where the kids are supposed to colour pictures the exact same way as in a mastersheet. And she’ll often try to colour them more to her liking. But when they ask her why she didn’t pick the red but the orange, or why she didn’t colour the ballons red, green, yellow, blue and orange, she’ll say something like “I didn’t see it” “I didn’t understand it” or “it confuses me.” Because people argue with you if you’Re just stubborn, but nobody can balme you for being stupid and the argument is over…
But I doubt that this discipline problem would become any better if she’d totally bored in school because right now she’s already way ahead.
The other thing is that she doesn’t have any friends except for her sister. And she never had. I’ve taken her to playgroups and stuff since she was a babe, and she always enjoyed it, and liked going, but she would always stand aside and rather watch the other kids. And of course I worried about this because it’s not exactly normal, but the thing is that she is happy that way and likes it that way. It’s not like other children don’t want to be her friend or reject her. It’s more like she’s not interested in playing with them. She can draw for hours and hours, invent stories while she draws, have whole imaginary worlds of her own. That’s her, that’s always been her. And I don’t think that this would change if you kept her in kindergarten for 5 more years.
145

rq

9 March 2013 at 9:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Giliell
She sounds like a talented and imaginative young girl (and I mean that in a good way), who happens to be incredibly introverted. And too smart for her own good (I hope you can keep up as she gets older!).
For what it’s worth, I hate the mastersheet-colouring exercises (yeah, we have those too!) because I prefer my children to pick their own colours (Eldest comes home with all kinds of colouring exercises in all the colours of the rainbow, and I love it).
I also hate how it seems that these exercises seem to be used as some sort of indicator of intelligence in your case. Seriously? Picking the right colour is a matter of intelligence? Bah, I say (I know, I know, it’s the system there, but sitll I say Bah!).
I hope her teacher was supportive of sending her to school, because her teacher should know enough about her to know how smart and intelligent she actually is. In the end, you’re the only one (well, you and Mr.) who can know if she’s really ready for school, and if you say she’s well past kindergarten, then she is! /supportivespeech

(I didn’t have real friends until well into high school, I remember preparing for a birthday in grade 4 – when everyone was inviting 10 or more friends to parties – and I could only think of 4; I think in grade 6 I didn’t want to have much of a party at all, but since all my siblings always had parties, I had to think of someone! And, in my personal opinion, I’ve turned out mostly alright, although I haven’t yet managed to write that fantastic novel I’ve been meaning to.)
146

chigau (just call me chigau)

9 March 2013 at 9:29 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Colouring to exactly match the master sheet is training in obedience.
Which can be a good thing … probably.
147

rq

9 March 2013 at 9:40 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

If you’re training a ~~dog~~ child to do as its told.
148

chigau (just call me chigau)

9 March 2013 at 9:46 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq
Exactly.
Obedience is good if the school is burning down and you want everyone out safely.
Not so good in so many other situations.
149

rq

9 March 2013 at 9:50 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

chigau
You’re right.
I just don’t like it when it’s applied to creative endeavours (and yes, colouring can be a very creative activity), even (especially?) for children.
150

chigau (just call me chigau)

9 March 2013 at 10:16 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq
The process of being integrated in society involves years of being told what to do, how to do it, when to to it, etc.etc.etc.
You’d think They™ would let the poor kiddies colour the fucking balloons however they want.
151

Lynna, OM

9 March 2013 at 10:24 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Arkansas takes “a sledgehammer to Roe.” We’ve seen lots of actions on the state level to make abortion unavailable. Chipping away at access to abortion is a tactic thrown aside by Arkansas legislators. They passed a bill that would effectively ban abortion. When their own governor refused to sign the bill because it was blatantly unconstitutional, the Arkansas legislators overrode the Governor’s veto.

Best coverage: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26315908/#51110013
152

Giliell, professional cynic

9 March 2013 at 10:30 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Yeah, the colouring excercises are also about getting them to to something as instructed, something they have to be able to do in school, because yeah, if it’s time for maths you just can’t do arts because you like that better. But I think she can do it and learn it. She’s able to do as instructed in her ballet classes without problem (ok, she’ll use “thirsty” or “need to pee” (which is a fucking nuissance since you have to strip her to the bones) as excuses sometimes to get a break).
I remember that I passionately hated colouring books or exercises, too. And she’s so far ahead when just drawing freely.
Her teachers in kindergarten know that she’s smart, she’s the only kid who knows all days of the week and the months and she’s starting to multiply…
We need to convince and prepare the schoolteachers for what’s to come.
153

rq

9 March 2013 at 10:31 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

chigau
Exactly. If everything else is regulated, a bit of freedom would do them some good… One would assume. :/ Ehh, well. What do I know?
154

chigau (just call me chigau)

9 March 2013 at 10:34 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

On with the day.
The laundry won’t do itself…
155

Ibis3, Let's burn some bridges

9 March 2013 at 10:41 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hey everyone. Just came across this documentary on feminism in Canada (retrospective & current), free streaming this weekend in honour of IWD. I haven’t watched it myself yet, but it looks good.
156

rq

9 March 2013 at 10:42 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Giliell
Multiply? Nice!
Although, I think in a school situation, even if she attempts excuses for breaks, she’ll figure out that it’s a bit different than kindergarten. If she’s smart enough to multiply, she’ll be smart enough to know it’s time for maths (or art). Colouring differently is not not colouring; doing the difficult exercises first is not not doing maths (or doing them backwards or in any order of preference etc.).
Then again, I do not know how stubborn she is about these things… ;)
157

rq

9 March 2013 at 10:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

chigau
If you ignore something long enough, I’ve been told it goes away…
158

Lynna, OM

9 March 2013 at 10:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Esteleth @18

Lynna, the link is missing. :(

Here’s the missing link:
http://www.salon.com/2013/03/07/end_game_for_orson_scott_card_partner/

See what happens when you neglect Pharyngula in order to work for money? People, people, do not follow my example. Keep your priorities straight.

Apologies for forgetting to provide a link within my post #17, and for not noticing until the next fucking day.
159

Lynna, OM

9 March 2013 at 10:51 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Salem Witch Trials make a comeback in Missouri. Sort of. The Internet provides an entirely new way for Missouri Christians to let us know what they think of witches.

The Salem Public Library, located in a small, predominantly Christian community in eastern Missouri, decided it’d be a good idea to block public access to websites related to Wicca on library computers. As Simon Brown explained, the ACLU filed suit, arguing that the library’s web filters “prevented access to sites such as the official webpage of the Wiccan Church; the Wikipedia entry for Wicca; Astrology.com; and the Encyclopedia on Death and Dying.”….

Link.
160

Lynna, OM

9 March 2013 at 11:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Well. Ummm. I scarcely know what to say. Apparently we, the secularists, are the “American Taliban.”

Just last week, Fischer declared, utterly without irony, that liberals are the modern-day Pharisees, And yesterday he followed that up with a declaration that not only are “secular fundamentalists” modern-day Pharisees, but they are also “the American Taliban”

Video here: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/fischer-liberal-secular-fundamentalists-are-american-taliban
161

Lynna, OM

9 March 2013 at 11:13 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Some right-wing dunderheads are upset that President Obama appointed women to the Supreme Court, thus lowering the standards for Supreme Court Justices. Moreover, Sotomayor is a person of color, and appointing Justices that are not white is another lowering of standards. (Not kidding, most unfortunately.)

But we’re not done.

The Hispanic female Justice has right-wing dunderheads in a new tizzy because she supposedly “rudely” interrupted the great white hope, Justice Antonin Scalia:

The topic of discussion on Sandy Rios’ American Family Radio program Wednesday was diversity among federal judicial nominees. … The voice of dissent… was that of the Committee for Justice’s Curt Levey, who told the Post that the White House was “lowering their standards” in nominating nonwhite judges. So naturally, Rios invited Levey on as a guest and explained to him why she disapproves of President Obama’s diverse judicial nominations.

In particular, Rios disapproves of Obama’s Supreme Court nominees, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, respectively the third and fourth women ever to sit on the high court. Sotomayor and Kagan, Rios says, have been forgetting their place and behaving “rudely,” “interrupting” and “speaking inappropriately” to, of all people, Justice Antonin Scalia….

In fact, while Scalia’s bombast provoked audible gasps in the hearing room, Sotomayor waited several minutes before calmly asking the attorney challenging the Voting Rights Act, “Do you think that the right to vote is a racial entitlement in Section 5?”…

Link at Right Wing Watch.

In my opinion, someone, or many someones, (preferably women of color), should have interrupted Scalia during his teenage years so that he would have an opportunity to drop some of his racial entitlement.
162

Lynna, OM

9 March 2013 at 11:33 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thank you, Improbable Joe, @24 for cleaning up after me.

In other news, I don’t know if this is good, bad, or just strange. One of the mormon General Authorities has sided with President Obama on the issue of immigration:

President Barack Obama’s outline for immigration reform matches the values of the Mormon faith, according to Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the LDS Church’s governing First Presidency…
.
Uchtdorf joined 13 other faith leaders in a meeting with Obama on Frida…many Mormon politicians, including all of Utah’s members of Congress, have so far rejected [Obama's proposals].

In the Readers Comments section, several people have noted ulterior motives that leaders of the LDS church may have, and they have made some biting comments about the disparity between the church’s “compassion” stance and the right-wing politics supported by mormon legislators:

The most important thing we need to do is keep them paying tithing.

I pray we can find a way to keep foreign members paying tithing and out of the US. They might be our brothers and sisters but certainly no fit to be our neighbors.

Clearly Brother Urchtdorf was influenced by Obama and the devil at the white house.

The church sponsored Dieter and the process wasn’t “cumbersome” as he claims since it was all taking care by LD$ who paid for the visa. Without the church he wouldn’t have been able to obtain a “Working Visa” and come into the states as legal immigrant.

Link.
163

Lynna, OM

9 March 2013 at 11:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Joanna Brooks, writing in Salon, provides some background and present-day details for the mormon church’s latest attempt to rewrite their racist history.

The editing job ends up being yet another Moment of Mormon Madness in my opinion. They did a bad job of it, and failed (yet again) to really mitigate the problem. The racist history can no longer be covered up. A few edits within the supposedly sacred books isn’t going to cut it.
164

rq

9 March 2013 at 1:40 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Sorry for having non-standard work hours.
Sorry it’s so inconvenient for you to spend a bit more time with the kids so I can finish some work.
So terribly sorry.
165

Tony the Queer Shoop

9 March 2013 at 1:49 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

bluentx:
WRT politics/social issues-When I was younger, I had zero interest in either. I voted, halfheartedly in the first couple of elections I was able to participate in. I did not care about news, no interest in current events, and knew precious little about politics.

When I initially began typing this comment, I was going to say I do not know when my interest began.
Then I realized that I do.

The death of my best friend, M back in 2010.

It is unnerving to think of anything good springing from his passing.
I also don’t feel my social awareness is directly attributable to his passing. Rather, it was a result of the depression I went through. I withdrew from friends and pretty much stayed home all the time. I found myself online a lot more. I also found myself listening to the news (possibly as a way to stay connected to the outside world).
I had already been an atheist (10+years at the time), but I never thought much about other harmful beliefs.
One day I heard Michelle Bachmann spout off about the US being a christian nation and that piqued my interest in its truthiness. I suspected she was wrong, but that was out of gut instinct. I decided to actually try to find proof that she was wrong. It was meant to satisfy my curiosity and reaffirm that I was right.
That search was initially difficult. I dropped out of college in 1997 so I never used the Internet to search for accurate information. I stumbled around finding site after site, some blogs here and there, but nothing firm enough to hang my hat on.
After reaching out to my parents and a close friend, they gave me directions on how and where to search. That was helpful, to say the least.
I found my initial doubt about Mrs Bachmann’s claim was well founded.

Then, some sort of light clucked in my head.

I started becoming interested in other claims, especially those related to health and well being. While I cannot say I did so completely, I began having doubts about much of what I thought I knew because I questioned how I got the information.
In time I discovered the Skeptic’s Dictionary and Quackwatch. I also stumbled on Talk Origins and began to educate myself on matters of religion. At some point I happened upon Greta Christina’s blog and was blown away by post after post. The way she broke down her logic and reasoning was stunning and captivating. For months, I would click on random entries and read and absorb. As I did so, I realized I shared some important qualities in common with her and many of her commenters. Chief among them- atheism and progressive ideals.
At some point I ventured out to the wider FtB network. I lurked around at Pharyngula for a while.
I remember being shocked at the tone here. I, like many people had fallen for the tone over content argument. One of my first comments was taking a commenter to task over profanity. She (IIRC it was Aquaria) corrected me. I went back to lurking and found The Endless Thread. Like many lurkers here I was drawn to the friendly social climate here, but thought I would be barging in if I just started talking. In short time though, I joined in and they kept me around (I think it is because I pour liquor and have dazzling wit…).

Pharyngula was the next phase in my “grow up and become more aware of the world” phase

Especially with regard to feminism.

Wow. That was A LOT longer than I initially intended. I was just wanting to comment on my path from disinterested, self centered youth to interested, progressively minded adult.
I am not done on that path, of course. I never will be.
The spark of social awareness has been fanned.
My interest in politics has filled my parents with respect.
The floodgates of my empathy have been ripped off.

There is no turning back and even though I still miss my best friend, I think I have become a good person.
166

rq

9 March 2013 at 1:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Tony
You have definitely become a good person, but I think they keep you around here because your lights cluck (All Hail Tpyos!) and they wonder how you manage that. ;)
*hugs* and thanks for sharing. You have once again confirmed (to me) that you are an amazing person and personality and I admire you.
167

Beatrice

9 March 2013 at 1:59 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq,

Just so you know, I’m giving your husband the evil eye from afar.
*dry martini* for you
168

Tony the Queer Shoop

9 March 2013 at 2:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Joe:
May I join you in the “People who appreciate rq being here” line?

****
rq:
Sorry for the household frustrations.
::passes an assortment of bagels, canapes, beignets, croissants, and crepes to rq::
****
Giliell:
Your little one sounds awesome.
She reminds of myself at that age. I was always content to do stuff on my own. To others, my lack of social interest might haveen worrying, but my arents knew I was happy.

****
Parrowing:
3 cheers for your vacation!
May you relax and do everything you want and nothing you do not.
169

rq

9 March 2013 at 2:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

You’re a life-saver, Beatrice.
I’ll take an assortment of canapes, Tony. This translating of European regulation related ~~crap~~ stuff is pretty exhausting.

Eh. Of the kind that I think I’ll be finishing up in a spout of tears (small part frustration, large part mental exhaustion… because that’s how I roll!).
Can I have seconds, Beatrice?
170

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

9 March 2013 at 2:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Good, rq took the canapes. That leaves the croissants alllllll for meeeeee!
171

Parrowing

9 March 2013 at 2:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Sorry that you’re being given a hard time, rq. Between Beatrice and I, there is a pair of evil eyes being sent thaddaway.
*

I second what rq said, Tony. You are a very good person.
172

Beatrice

9 March 2013 at 2:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Another martini coming right away, rq.
173

rq

9 March 2013 at 2:33 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thanks, Beatrice.
Tony, I’ll admit, while I love croissants (lovelovelove), I prefer the variety of canapes at the moment. My favourite ones that I remember from years ago were these pieces of Camembert with cranberry jam in a filo pastry pouch. *salivate* I just like canapes. *NOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM*
I’ll steal your croissants tomorrow. ;)

Parrowing, when Husband starts smoking around the ears, I’ll let you both know. ;)
174

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

9 March 2013 at 2:33 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Good afternoon everyone!

Parrowing, I went to Puerto Rico two years ago, spent a week in the MOST EXPENSIVE HOTEL I’VE EVER BEEN INSIDE OF, and it was really the most relaxed and refreshed I’ve ever been in my life. My wife and I did like 3 days of tourist stuff and four days of reading books on the balcony and sipping expensive booze.

Let me find a picture… of the view!
175

rq

9 March 2013 at 2:37 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Improbable Joe
*jealous*
176

pharm scigrad

9 March 2013 at 2:46 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq
*hugs*
My sleep is all messed up and damn if that new stuff didn’t make me sleep the sleep of the dead – for the first time in a week, so I’m not really complaining so much…
*starts working on a blanket fort*
177

rq

9 March 2013 at 2:50 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*hands pharm scigrad some big fluffy pillows*
178

pharm scigrad

9 March 2013 at 2:55 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Parrowing:
Glad you’re feeling a bit better, and that you’re back. *grabs a hug outta the pile*
.
Tony:
I enjoy reading about how people made their way here, or to the online skeptic community in general. It’s seldom what I expect, but usually that’s because it’s much more interesting and complicated, as people are wont to be.
.
Good afternoon Improbable Joe! The Caribbean is such lovely shades of blue, isn’t it? Beautiful.
179

pharm scigrad

9 March 2013 at 2:56 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Pillows! *squee*
180

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

9 March 2013 at 3:10 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

You know, I’m probably never ever going to get to go the Puerto Rico again, so I’m glad we did it big. We planned it probably 8-9 months in advance and just kept saving money and making deposits and payments as we could, so that when the time came we actually had money to spend while we were there.

It was all my wife’s thing, though. I would have spent half the money on a really expensive guitar and used the rest to vacation somewhere cheaper.
181

rq

9 March 2013 at 3:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The pillows are for making a Great Pit of Feathers. Once it’s done, I’m climbing up on the closet and jumping in.
182

Parrowing

9 March 2013 at 3:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ooh, that is one nice view, iJoe! Alas, no hot tub on the terrace for me, but there are two near the pool!

*

Thank you pharm scigrad :)

*

Thanks for the relaxing vacation wishes, Tony!

*

This will be my third time to Puerto Rico, so all the tourist stuff is out of the way (minus the stuff I’m re-doing because my husband’s parents will be with us this time and the rain forest because the rain forest is cooooooool so why wouldn’t I go back?!) and I hope to get a lot of reading done!
183

rq

9 March 2013 at 3:18 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Improbable Joe
You and yer guee-tarrrs. ;)
I (partially) understand, though. Except I have a thing for all musical instruments – They Shall Not Be Harmed; They Shall Be Treated with Respect and Dignity. Guitar-smashing and piano-chopping music videos are especially painful for me to watch.
184

pharm scigrad

9 March 2013 at 3:21 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Pit of feathers?? That sounds like a leaf pile except WAY better! Let’s do it…
185

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

9 March 2013 at 3:42 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq,

Respect my guitar’s authoritah! *grins* One time I almost punched my brother for touching my guitar. He was dancing in front of a mirror with it. I’m still a little angry about it!

Parrowing,

We missed the rainforest, and then we missed a lot of other touristy stuff because Barack Obama showed up and a big chunk of Old San Juan was closed off.
186

rq

9 March 2013 at 4:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Improbable Joe
Damn that Obama, eh? ;)
One day I will visit a rainforest and see a real, live parrot.

*more fluffy and feathery pillows for pharm scigard*
Let’s make this the Giantest Pit of Feathers ever (for once I will agree, No Horses Allowed – hooves have sharp edges, after all!).
187

pharm scigrad

9 March 2013 at 4:26 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Giantest EVAR!!!
Although I suppose you’re right, no sharp edges anywhere… but no squishy peas either, okay?
*rips open pillow and gets slightly lost in feather cloud with rq*
188

rq

9 March 2013 at 4:33 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*feathers!!!*
189

cicely (No further comment.)

9 March 2013 at 4:46 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*hugs* for everyone who needs or wants them…or who can’t out-run me. But in a totally non-coercive way.
:)
-
Re Dennis Rodman: it’s “not much of a disguise”.
:)
-

They might be our brothers and sisters but certainly no fit to be our neighbors.

But are these “brothers and sisters” fit to use their bathrooms?
-
rq: Sounds as if your husband needs a quick kick to the shorts, both to get him offa his ass and help, and as an attitude adjustment (in the same way that you thump a malfunctioning bit of machinery).
-
My first real notice of Things Political was Watergate, which hit the fan just at the same time we moved from SoCA to Tulsa. Culture-shock city! And we were staying with my grandmother, in a suburb entirely inhabited (well, close enough!) by Old People, with nowhere to go and nothing to do. It sorta sticks out in my mind.

Before that summer, I’d always just assumed that our President and Congresscritters were Loyal and Trustworthy Servants of the People. No, honest, I did! Yet another culture-shock.
-
190

rq

9 March 2013 at 4:54 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

cicely
At long last The Horse enlightened you to the True Nature of your Overloards (who are no doubt in cahoots with the Wondrous Beasts, although I don’t understand why they keep mucking about so…).

To be fair, Husband isn’t sitting on his ass, it’s just that his chores are more important than my translating, so obviously the kids should be left in my work space, rather than used as Chaotic Elements downstairs.
Meh.
I won’t try to outrun you; I prefer the *hugs*.
191

cicely (No further comment.)

9 March 2013 at 5:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq I don’t for one moment doubt that Our Overlards are in cahoots with Them. Horse-minions, the lot of ‘em.
-
192

pharm scigrad

9 March 2013 at 5:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ooooh cicely hugs! I take hugs and give ‘em back! :)
Imma working on another blanket fort. rq and I are building the giantest feather pit if you’d like a soft place to land.
193

cm's changeable moniker

9 March 2013 at 5:02 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

blf:

the English men’s cricket team is off to a grand start and, unless New Zealand makes an error (like not showing up), [England] should lose in a sufficiently silly fashion to keep the cider happy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/21724592

Long way to go … ;-)
194

rq

9 March 2013 at 5:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*muddles about in feathers*
Looks like I’ll have to be off, though, pharm scigrad. It was fun! And relaxing, in a weird virtual way, to imagine part of myself lost in feathers while the rest of me translates.

I always feel like a privileged ass when I complain.

It’s late, and I’m going to bed. Good night to you all! Mind the pillows and watch for corners before diving into the Giant Pit of Feathers (No Peas Allowed (not even as popsicles *sideways glances in Portia’s direction, in case she’s lurking about)). :)
195

birgerjohansson

9 March 2013 at 5:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I keep confusing Pueto Rico and Costa Rica. I keep them apart by remembering the South Park episode where Butter’s parents claimed he had been abducted by “some Puerto Rican guy”.
—
Pueto Rico has karst featues. The giant telescope dish is erected over a collapsed karst site (when they are that big, I doubt “sinkhole” is the appropriate name).
— — —
If Pueto Rico was to join Merka, it would offset a couple of congressmen from Dumbfuckistan and maybe create a majority of relative sanity. But I can understand if they are not enthusiastic.
— — —
Sweden had the final to the Swedish contestant for the Eurovision Song Contest this evening.
Let’s just say it was underwhelming. The intersting parts were 1: a group of middle aged male singers who had entered the contest mainly as a spoof, and 2: Yohio, a singer that belongs to a Japanese subculture (he has a career in both countries) and looks like a manga character.
— — — —
My mother’s new glasses arrived. I pushed her wheelchair to the optician to make sure they fit, the day was sunny so it was OK (she is 85). Her memory is mostly shot, so she cannot learn to use bifocals, now she has two separate glasses. I attched two ugly (but big) signs with string, labelling them “TV glasses” and “reading glasses”, I hope she can learn to tell them apart without the signs.
Old age sucks. I have been aware of this all my life, and it is probably the main reason I have never bought into the idea of divine guidance. The universe is just so utterly @$€ up.
196

pharm scigrad

9 March 2013 at 5:25 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Nigh rq!! Virtual feather are a joy, I agree. See you tomorrow!
197

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 5:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq: (Yeah, I know you said GN. Catch ya later!)

Because it’s only household stress.

Only she says…*hehehe* * hysterical laughter*
Sorry, I’m alright- really I am…
-
Thanks for the offer of the stray USB-cat but I have cats (plural). They are either lazy, inept or didn’t get the ‘mouser gene’. Also, during the Great Goat Invasion I moved their feeding area (outdoor cats) to the opposite side of the house. This is also the opposite side from the kitchen. Perhaps since the cats now hang out further away from where the mice generally get in, maybe that has made the mice bolder and/or less likely to be detected by the cats Rodent Radar.
-

No Horses Allowed

Okay, now you’re just suckin’ up to Cecily… :)
*waves to Cecily *
198

cicely (No further comment.)

9 March 2013 at 5:55 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*waving at bluentx*
Disallowing Horses from the Feather Pit is just good sense—1) who wants to get Horseshit all in the pillows and underfoot, 2) the aforementioned Sharpness of Hooves, 3) it’s the smell (and there is such a thing), and 4) Their absence greatly reduces the chance of Demonic Possession.

I refuse to have to deal with Demonic Possession outside the Game.
-
199

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 6:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

How did I misspell it? How? How?
I’ll be in the corner…
200

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 6:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Lynna:

When their own governor refused to sign the bill because it was blatantly unconstitutional, the Arkansas legislators overrode the Governor’s veto.

Okay, so much for the “Law-abiding/flag-waving/Amerika-lovers”, eh?
-
@ #161:
Wait… someone named Rios thinks Sotomayor is “lowering the standards” on the Supreme Court.
Excuse me while I turn the exhaust fan on. My Irony Meter is bleching smoke….

And on being ‘rude’- if you recall, Sotomayor was also chastised (by the Right) during her confirmation hearings for using the word (*gasp*) empathy !
-
201

cicely (No further comment.)

9 March 2013 at 6:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

“It’s ‘i’ before ‘e’
When you spell ‘cicely’–
The opposite way
From if you’re spelling ‘neigh’.”
:)
-
202

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 6:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The laundry won’t do itself

If you ignore something long enough, I’ve been told it goes away…

Laundry goes away but only with the help of a Heavy Duty trash bag…
203

cicely (No further comment.)

9 March 2013 at 6:20 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Game time!
:) :) :) :)
-
204

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 6:34 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Tony:
So, Michelle Bachmann is good for something -besides a laugh?(We have her to thank for your political education.) And I thought she was just bad- especially for the frames of my glasses. I keep bending them out of shape when I forget to take them off before facepalming whenever MB opens her mouth.

..they kept me around (I think it is because I pour liquor and have dazzling wit…).

There is that :) … and clucking…

My interest in politics and my sense of social justice (tho I didn’t know the term at first) came decades apart. Real interest (paying attention) to politics started with the 1988 presidential campaign. Then-BF got me interested. We did voters registration drives (including at a Timbuk3 gig- Timbuk3 remember them?), went to the state Democratic convention (funny story there), and I proudly displayed my Jackson ’88 bumper sticker (seemed like a good choice at the time) at my 10 year HS reunion (boy, did tongues wag in this former Sundown town).

I think my first awakening to ‘social justice’ came when I was about 8 years old. That’s when I realized my parents were racists (not KKK-ers just ignorant) :( I couldn’t (and have never been able to) understand why anyone would consider themselves superior to another because of skin color!!!???
205

pharm scigrad

9 March 2013 at 6:49 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

While I’m not sure about the demonic possession, cicely makes a good case for no horses in the Feather Pit. As to rq’s motivations… welp, can’t speak to that. I’m much to busy with the *feathers*…
206

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 6:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

birgerjohansson:

Sweden had the final to the Swedish contestant for the Eurovision Song Contest this evening.Let’s just say it was underwhelming.

Oh, did Sweden have Englebert Humperdinck sing their entry, too?
Sorry, couldn’t resist…
-
I believe it was you,birgerjohansson, who recommended In The Red to me sometime back. If so, thanks! It’s on YouTube and was very entertaining. So topical.. so timely.. so 1998!?
Guess it just goes to prove the old adage: The more things change, the more they stay the same.:)
207

broboxley OT

9 March 2013 at 7:10 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

threadrupt. Made it to fargo ND waving south at souks center in PZ’s general direction. Lots of free airconditioning, car made it. Any locals want to get coffee email me at williamoxley at netscape.net
now to watch a hockey game
208

carlie

9 March 2013 at 7:19 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

For David M. – These are the Daves I know. (Some of them are Davids, but most of them are Daves)
209

Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls

9 March 2013 at 7:28 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Dang, had a dog-pile of underwear/socks/shoes developing religious inclinations (becoming holey) at the same time. Remedied that today. Super thankful for internet orders, as it is difficult to travel very far away from home due to the Redhead needing commode breaks, especially after a second cup of coffee on the weekends.

Tonight is planned over chili, guacamole, and cornbread. I feel my forehead sweating already…
210

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 7:35 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

… chili, guacamole, and cornbread.

I can supply the USB Margaritas if you’re interested …:)
211

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 7:39 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh, boy! It seems we’re having a hail storm! Maybe it’s a good thing that I haven’t yet yet fixed the broken window panes from the last time…
212

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 7:42 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Scratch one yet. Why didn’t it show up until after ‘submit’? Mysteries…
213

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 9:41 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Saturday night and I’m in The Lounge talking to myself. Ah, well..
I’m prepping veggies for the big weekend cook/freeze marathon so…

Kitchen Tip #666:

Never seed/chop hot peppers without wearing gloves.

I made the mistake once (that’s once) of saying to myself: “Self, I’m only chopping a couple of Jalapenos. Not enough to bother with the gloves.” Bad idea. Several hours later and even after several hand washings… I rubbed my eye……..
“Ai-ya-yi!!!” I was in agony for two hours more…

So, boys and girls. Repeat after me: peppers & gloves, peppers & gloves….

~This has been a PSA from Kitchen Survivalists International. Thank you.~
214

Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls

9 March 2013 at 9:42 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I can supply the USB Margaritas if you’re interested

The Redhead likes a Modelo Negra with her chili, served chilled.

I’ll peck up the Redhead’s vague recipe and post it later.
215

broboxley OT

9 March 2013 at 9:53 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

hot peppers and nose picking, sinus win!
216

broboxley OT

9 March 2013 at 9:56 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

One of the nice things about working remote from home one can cook the horrible smelling nassty stuff like mutton and kidneys and liver. Now just have to figure out where in fargo I can get any of these delicacies. The 2 grocery stores I checked didnt have any of the three. Want lamb chili slow cooked over a day.
217

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 9:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Modelo Negra

Huuummm….(Googles…) Will have to check that out sometime. Closest thing I have on hand now is Shiner Bock or Newcastle Brown Ale.

And a pecked chili recipe sounds like a bookmark/cut & paste waiting to happen.
218

broboxley OT

9 March 2013 at 9:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Also need to find decent chinese food, went to a chinese buffet, I could swear that all of the dishes were added goodies to lay choy canned stuff
219

carlie

9 March 2013 at 10:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

This was a conversation I had:

Me: I don’t know why I’ve been making humming noises when I fall asleep the last couple of weeks. Stress? Sickness? Being overtired?

Spouse: You’ve been doing that for the last 20 years or so.

What? How can I have been doing this for decades and just now noticed? People are weird.
220

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 10:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

..hot peppers and nose picking, sinus win!

Only in Charlie Sheen’s World!
Eating hot peppers and gaining sinus clearance is another story….
221

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 10:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

And from the They Just Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Usta department—

Why is it that the last three wind-up timers I’ve bought have not worked for longer than a week after purchase?

*grumble, grumble*
222

marilove

9 March 2013 at 10:31 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I just realized tonight? tomorrow? Daylight Saving or whatever. Sometimes it’s alright living in Arizona. Don’t have to do anything silly like change the time forward or backward. What is the point anymore, anyway?
223

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 10:47 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

DST…oh. yeah thanks for reminding me. 2 am (CST anyway) Sunday. Spring forward! Yee-ha!
About all time change does for me is (in the Fall) make it so that I go to work in the dark (6pm) and come home in the dark (4 am). *sigh*
224

rorschach

9 March 2013 at 10:54 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I didn’t realise until now that Lawrence Krauss of all people debated our old friend Hamza Tzortzis. And I certainly didn’t expect UC London to allow gender-segregated seating. What’s next Britain, women sit in the back of the bus?
225

broboxley OT

9 March 2013 at 11:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

oh shit, asked a hispanic lady staying at the motel if she knew of a decent mercado or carniceria and she shrugged and said CostWise…. I am truly fucked (or my Spanish was transliterated) so far no offal, mutton, or decent salsa verde unless I make my own… welcome to the great white north
226

Portia, Feminist Snarker Extraordinaire

9 March 2013 at 11:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

‘rupt.

Sleepy.

Came in third at trivia. 14 year old girl was raising money for a semester in Australia. Very cool.

S called me yesterday and left a very contrite voicemail about bailing on me this weekend and wanting to “talk about it.” That hasn’t happened in…um…maybe ever? That is, that he has initiated a conversation about him doing something jerky. At least when the punchline wasn’t “and we should break up.” Of course, we haven’t talked yet because I was busy at the time and then he’s busy busy busy with exactly what made him too busy for me this weekend. Whatever.

Yesterday was possibly the craziest day I’ve ever had in my job and I rocked the whole day. Nothing went perfectly, but at the beginning of the day, I told myself I could handle whatever came my way, one way or another. I was proud of the accomplishments throughout the day (three court appearances, one of which was a trial in front of a notoriously abrasive judge, (yeah, he yelled at me (no, I didn’t panic! for once!)) and then a real estate closing that threatened to not happen) but mostly I was proud of staying on top emotionally. I kept calm, I managed the challenges, and I didn’t crumble into a puddle at any point in a flurry of self-doubt. Woot!

Going back to catching up.

Oh, remembered one thing I wanted to say, Parrowing, I’m glad you’re back. I was wondering, if not elevated to worried yet, about you. *hugs*
227

Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls

9 March 2013 at 11:30 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Redhead’s vague chili recipe as dictated to me:
Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef, 75% lean. If higher grades are used, oil or shortening may be added for frying the meat/onion/garlic/jalapeno.
3 large onions, diced
1 head of garlic, diced
2 jalapeño peppers, diced with seeds (ours run 3-4 inches long by an inch in diameter) recommend freezing for 30 minutes before dicing, and using gloves (I used disposable latex/vinyl) while dicing.
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
1 28 oz can dark kidney beans
1 28 oz can red kidney beans
1 28 or 40 oz can chili beans (red kidney beans in chili sauce)
Spices
Soy sauce
Worchester sauce
Ground cumin
Paprika
Cayenne pepper
Chili powder
Red pepper flakes
Black pepper
White pepper
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Allspice
Cloves, ground
Salt
Salsa brava, hot

In an 8 qt copper bottom pot, cook ground beef with onions, garlic, and jalapeños until onion and meat are cooked. Add the tomatoes with liquid, either cutting the tomatoes with the edge of a cooking spoon, or reducing their size in some fashion prior to addition. Add the spices to taste, which for the Salsa Brava (La Victoria brand) is 20 dollops (drops of thick material). Add the beans with liquid, and stir well to mix. Let simmer for 30 minutes. Let stand a few minutes before serving. This is one of those dishes that matures on storage and reheating, so plan on planovers.

We typically serve it with corn bread (Jiffy muffin mix) and/or guacamole.

For “fire in the hole” enthusiasts, one or both jalapeños may be substituted with habaneros.

Timing, about 30-45 minutes prep, 15 minutes sauté meat/onions/garlic/peppers, 30 minutes simmer. Oven preheated at start of prep, cornbread mixed and baked after simmer starts.

My rating, a 5 minute head sweat….
228

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 11:37 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Portia, Feminist Snarker Extraordinaire, Esquire:

I kept calm, I managed the challenges, and I didn’t crumble into a puddle at any point in a flurry of self-doubt. Woot!

Woot! indeed! Conga-rats!

Hope you don’t mind I added a little something extra. :)
229

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

9 March 2013 at 11:39 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Nerd:
That.
Recipe.
sounds
awesome !
230

bluentx

9 March 2013 at 11:43 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

5 minute head sweat….Bookmarked!
231

Portia, Feminist Snarker Extraordinaire

9 March 2013 at 11:47 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thanks bluentx! It’s good to see you by the way. I do love the word “esquire” but feel so pretentious using it, ha! I like your addition :)

I also made a goodwill trip yesterday with friends, and one of them found this for me and even better, it’s never been played. :D :D :D Nerdy fun.

I see you’re discussing how hot it is by you, bluentx, care to send me a few degrees?
232

cicely (No further comment.)

9 March 2013 at 11:50 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

bluentx: “Never have anything to do with peppers.” Gotcha!
;)
-
Portia: Crazily-rocking day is good!
:)
And it sounds as if, just possibly, S may be acquiring just a smidge of self-awareness?
-
233

Portia, Feminist Snarker Extraordinaire

9 March 2013 at 11:54 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thanks cicely!
It feels good to have a day where I feel like “I can do this lawyer thing! I’m not a kid pretending.”

He seemed to have a moment of awareness, yes, that’s a good word for it. When he texted me he couldn’t come, all I answered was “understood.” So we’ll see if this is any kind of new development. At the moment, I feel as if even if he is so so sorry and uniquely so for this, there’s so much more built up. I feel emotionally bolstered by good social exposure with other friends and good self-confidence boosting from work stuff, that I feel strong enough to not be a doormat. At least not right now :)

Oh, and *hugs* to you.
(without peas, promise).
234

chigau (just call me chigau)

10 March 2013 at 12:00 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hiya.
I don’t grok the concept of a ‘recipe’ for chili.
*hugs* for all.
good night
235

Portia, Feminist Snarker Extraordinaire

10 March 2013 at 12:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Night chigau!
236

Portia, Feminist Snarker Extraordinaire

10 March 2013 at 12:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

(No Peas Allowed (not even as popsicles *sideways glances in Portia’s direction, in case she’s lurking about)). :)

Oh, the peas never sneak in when you expect them. I think even cicely and I could agree on that.
237

cicely (No further comment.)

10 March 2013 at 12:10 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

That’s true; they lie in ambush, then sap you upside the tongue when you’re not looking.
-
238

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 12:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Portia:
Temps are okay for now. Mid 60′s (F) now, high 70′s-low 80′s during the day but all too soon it will slide right past Spring into Bloody Hot! Every year it seems to get BH that much earlier.
Last year we had a few days 99 (F) and above in April! How many days will we have this year of 105 and up in the summer? Can’t wait to find out!
Three or four years ago it snowed 2-3 inches the day before Easter- but nahhh! climate change isn’t happening!
239

Portia, Feminist Snarker Extraordinaire

10 March 2013 at 12:14 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

That sounds lovely, bluentx. I’m ~~praying~~ desperately hoping that the storm we had this week will be the last significant snow we get. I’m so so ready for spring. So ready I can taste it.

Don’t envy you the triple digits, but they’re not unheard of ’round these parts either, I s’pose. had lots of 90sF last summer.
240

WMDKitty -- Survivor

10 March 2013 at 12:17 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*hugs* and assorted comfies (both gestures and objects) to those who want or need them.

I love Mexican food.

Mexican food does not love me back.

*reaches for antacids*
241

Portia, Feminist Snarker Extraordinaire

10 March 2013 at 12:19 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh, no, WMDKitty. What a bummer. I adore Mexican food, too. There’s just so much opportunity to overdose on cheeeeese.
242

cicely (No further comment.)

10 March 2013 at 12:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*whispers*
(cheeeeeeeese….)
-
243

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 12:33 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

There’s just so much opportunity to overdose on cheeeeese.

and cilantro….

*runs *
244

cicely

10 March 2013 at 12:41 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

You can keep naaasssssty cilantro. I’ll have the cheese, please!
-
245

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 12:46 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

WMDKitty:
Is that all Mexican, or certain kinds. For instance Tex Mex is great, but the emphasis on heavy meats and cheesesends me to the bathroom in short time.
That is contrasted by Cali Mex-the style restaurant I work in now-where I don’t need to relieve myself quite so fast. I have to wonder if it is bc they use all fresh ingredients, nothing frozen or processed, and the emphasis is on bold flavor rather than excessive meats/cheese. The other thing I love is our salsa. Hands down the best I have ever had. Strong with the lime and cilantro though (some might find it soapy, I suppose). Perfectly blended, so there are few chunks, but not liquid. It is exactly the consistency I prefer. I have also fallen in love with our Chicken Tortilla Soup and our Pasole.
246

WMDKitty -- Survivor

10 March 2013 at 12:54 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

It’s a combination of “can’t digest dairy” and “can’t digest a lot of grease/fat” and “no tolerance for spicy”, so unless I’m ordering a freakin’ salad (in a Mexican restaurant?!) I’m gonna suffer.

I’ll live.
247

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 1:01 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Anyone else having trouble with refreshing? Is it about to go down again? Ah well we shall try to persevere…
-
Yes, there are different styles of Mexican food. Tex-Mex, Cali-Mex and some dishes I’ve had that (I am told) are from deeper in the interior of Mexico which I didn’t much care for (too bland).
It’s like the language I suppose. Friends of mine who are fluent in Spanish (Mexican-American, born and raised in Tejas) can barely grok the Spanish from different regions inside Mexico. Different influences create different foods, dialects, customs, etc.
248

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 1:09 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

WMDKitty:
You might find several items on our menu enjoyable then. We do not use much dairy, we use canola oil for the few frieds foods we have-and even then they are flash frief. Plus, we don’t spice things up. The flavor is in the herbs, and cumin, and garlic, etc.
249

WMDKitty -- Survivor

10 March 2013 at 1:26 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Damn, tony, and here I am all the way up in the PNW!
250

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 3:41 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

WMDKitty:

You PNW-ers just can’t take it! I’m kidding, I’m kidding–but it does remind me of a story…

In the mid-80′s I was working for Austin Parks and Recreation. We got a new Department Director–from Portland, OR.
One day early in his tenure he came to our offices to take part in a retirement party for a long term employee. While waiting his turn to speechify he wandered over to the refreshment table and picked up this green item from a bowl. I and a couple of others saw this but before we could say anything he took a big bite out of it! Immediatly his eyebrows shot up, he loudly gasped for air and shot out of the room, across the hall to the water fountain.
His quick exit was so noticable it stopped everything including the speech.
“What happened?” “What’s going on?” most people were asking.
“Mr. Jordan just discovered jalapenos,”somebody said.
“He took a big ol’ bite!” “Is he OK?”
A couple of supervisors went to check on him (he was gone quite a while). He could see everyone was trying hard not to laugh when he came back in the room. He shrugged, grinned and said, “I thought it was a pickle.”
At least he had a sense of humor about it! He added the story to all his speeches for a while.
251

Giliell, professional cynic

10 March 2013 at 3:59 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Good morning
Talk about laundry not doing itself…

But funny that you should talk about chili, because yesterday I went to a friend’s brithday and he always serves chili on his birthday. It was spicy, the way I like it (slightly painful), the way it’s too hot fro Mr. and way too hot for the kids. At least I thought. #1 took a bite and then tool my offer to add just ketchup and butter to her rice. The little one ate one serving with butter and ketchup and then she decided to go for the adventure and ate two more serving with a bit of “spicy sauce”. She drank a full litre of water to go with it.
They also had great fun with the cats, and at least one of the cats had great fun with them…

+++

It’s like the language I suppose. Friends of mine who are fluent in Spanish (Mexican-American, born and raised in Tejas) can barely grok the Spanish from different regions inside Mexico. Different influences create different foods, dialects, customs, etc.

Not exactly when talking about Spanish. Spanish is interestingly fairly homogenous all over the world, at least much more homogenous than you’d expect with a language that is spoken by such a large number of people in such a large area. But the two big groups you can make out in Lating America are the Highlands versus the Lowlands. There they have two very different developments. While in the costal regions the vowels are stable, the consonants change a lot while it’s the other way ’round for the mountain and interior regions. Which means that they sometimes end up with 2 versions of a word that are understandable against the standard pronounciation, but that seem to have nothing to do with each other when you only know the other variety
252

Beatrice

10 March 2013 at 4:23 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hey
253

WMDKitty -- Survivor

10 March 2013 at 4:28 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

bluentx

*snorfle* Yeah, I had a slight tolerance for spicies until I had my innards rearranged.

But spicies are great when you need to clear out your sinuses.
254

mildlymagnificent

10 March 2013 at 4:32 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh goody. Forecasters tell us that the next two nights will have minimum temperatures below 25C.

But there’s always a catch. The day time maxima will be 37 and 38 (over 100F for those still using the old money). It may never rain again.
255

Alethea H. "Crocoduck" Kuiper-Belt

10 March 2013 at 4:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Until the next floods…
256

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 5:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Speaking of weather:
Where can I move to that has no earthquakes, tornadoes, blizzards, typhoons, hurricanes, droughts, or volcanic activity—has mild winters (forever defined as nothing below 45 F otherwise known as, wear a jacket, not a parka) and summer highs in the 80s (with looooow humidity).
If possible, I need this place to have no churches or other temples of worship…
257

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 5:11 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I am hopeless. IRL I use Fahrenheit. At work I use Celsius. Even arter all these years I still can’t do the conversions in my head. Is there a temperature-dyslexia-syndrome or something? Okay, no, I’m just hopeless…
258

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 5:19 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Tony

Picky, picky, picky.

P. S. Nice nym adjustment :)
259

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 5:38 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

One of my cats has a foot fetish…well, actually a shoe fetish. Everytime I step outside the door he has to bite my toes all the way to the feeding area. But if I’m barefoot he bites once or twice (Ouch!) and quits.
What do my bare toes stink or is he just into leather? BDSM kitty!*

*Not to be confused with WMDKitty.
260

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 5:38 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

What is this, the Wild West?
Mandatory gun ownership needed to curtail crime??!!
261

zhuge

10 March 2013 at 5:47 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I haven’t posted on a lounge thread before, so I hope I am not violating any protocols :0

I’ve been conflicted about my username for some time. I tend to use the names of strategists from Romance of the Three Kingdoms as my usernames on different websites(Nerdy? Me?) but it occurs to me I might be giving off the impression that privileged white me is Chinese and so might be doing some appropriation. I figure if I am conflicted about it I should just change it, but I figured it would be worth asking the regulars what they think! (And also how I can go about changing my name haha.)

I figure if I change it, I’ll take my Daily Kos name of HumeanSkeptic which more or less encapsulates what I am. :)
262

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 5:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Bee venom kills HIV?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2013/03/09/bee-venom-kills-hiv-cells_n_2843743.html
263

Lofty

10 March 2013 at 5:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

zhuge
Protocols in the lounge? There aint none except be considerate of your guests.
.
bluentx
Both our cats loooove shoes, preferably empty. They stick their heads right in and sniff hard. Must be a smell bonding thing.
264

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 5:59 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Mandatory gun ownership…

*raises hand*

“Uh, what about that ‘less government intervention’ thing?”
265

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 6:00 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Zhuge:
No protocol here, though there are a few rules. Being kind is a biggie here. This is a social thread open to all. Despite what many people think, you are not intruding by commenting. We often have multiple conversations going at any time, and commenters from across the globe respond as they see fit. If you seek a more detailed explanation of the policies, I suggest checking out the commenting rules link in the sidebar.

With that out of the way, welcome!
266

Beatrice

10 March 2013 at 6:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*waves at zhuge*

If you want to change your name, your current name on top of the comment window (Logged in as [zhuge]) leads you to your profile. You can change your nickname there.

For changing that random picture beside your name, use Gravatar. It’s linked to your email address, so you have to use the same email address you use here.
267

zhuge

10 March 2013 at 6:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hello! Thanks, that’s very helpful :)
268

rq

10 March 2013 at 6:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Good ~~morning~~ afternoon!

re: spicy foods.
I like them, in limited amounts, and haven’t ever observed a negative reaction on my organism, but then, I really do limit myself.
So I always thought I knew the meaning of “spicy” and “a little bit”.
Until I visited a friend in university, whose father was from Pakistan. Through the course of the evening, it turned out he was a bit of a practical joker, which gave me some warning, when, somehow or other, I ended up on the wrong side of a bowl of something green and chutney-like, with him telling me to try some and handing me a spoon. Sometimes, I read faces just fine, so instead of the spoon, I dipped a tine of my fork into the sauce and… well, let’s just say it was enough to light my tongue on fire. After several glasses of milk, the feeling became manageable, but I could not imagine the pain had I taken a whole spoonful. I don’t remember how I got my (mild) revenge, but I know I did, mostly through some very direct and sassy commentary. Not as satisfying, but it had to do.

Portia
*sparkles!confetti!trumpets!* for both the good (yet stressful) day, and also for having enough social exposure to put away the doormat costume for a while. I hope it holds. I also hope that S’ self-awareness does not die an unnatural death, and that it is a new leaf and not a ploy to return to your good books (and thus return you to doormat status…).
This is a day for you to remember next time you have doubts about going to a social/professional event alone – proof that you can do it, and do it well!!

Tony
I think the place you’re looking for is The Commune, possibly in this location in France, as suggested by carlie a few days ago. France has a nice climate, a nice anti-religious vibe, some language snobbery that Can Be Overcome, and the south of France might be just what you’re looking for in the winter.
Also, the French like to eat Horses. Just… you know, so you know. ;)
+++

What with the time change, I think all you USAnians are an hour closer to me! Hooray for temporal proximity!
269

rq

10 March 2013 at 6:45 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh and hello, zhuge!

bluentx
Don’t be silly – mandatory gun ownership isn’t the government being a meddling, intrusive entity, it’s the government providing you with rights!!!
Or something. I lost my logic on that train of thought, and it’s well over the cliff…
270

rq

10 March 2013 at 6:56 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

There was something incredibly beautiful about this.
271

drbunsen, le savant fous

10 March 2013 at 7:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I present, for (hopefully) the full HordeFrenzy Hammer of DOOOM treatment:

Sequencing The Feminazi Genome

Comments through Faceborg, require Javascript on the article page.
272

Ogvorbis

10 March 2013 at 7:38 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Good morning.

Nice rape apologists over on that there thread.

Happy Monday.

Wife and I went to a casino yesterday. We went in and used the bathroom (this is about 100 miles away) and went to an ATM to pull out our budgeted fun money. And the machine spit out five times what we requested — ten $100 bills rather than ten $20 bills. So Wife and I immediately reported it to security. They took our name and phone number and we haven’t heard a word from them. We have the money stashed because they will, most likely, want it back. I wonder how many got money from that machine and just pocketed it an walked away?
273

Ogvorbis

10 March 2013 at 8:10 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Reading back over the missed thread, sorry about that, iJoe. I completely and totally misread your response. I know that as one gets older, certain frequencies become less audible. Is it possible that with age I am becoming tone deaf to sarcasm?
274

Parrowing

10 March 2013 at 8:46 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hi!

*

bluentx:

Oh, did Sweden have Englebert Humperdinck sing their entry, too?
Sorry, couldn’t resist…

I mean really, what were they thinking with that one?!

*

Thank you, Portia. Not that I want to worry anyone, but it does feel nice to think that someone would notice if I wasn’t here. I didn’t want to leave for my vacation without having commented, just in case I don’t get the chance to while I’m away.

Yay for your great work day, yay for coming in third at trivia, and yay for feeling strong enough to not be a doormat! I hope that whatever S says, you are able to hold on to that feeling!

*

Thank you, rq, for sharing that video. I agree, that was very beautiful, and it rekindles my interest in doing performance art one day. It angers me that after having read only two YouTube comments on the video, I can tell that there are people who must be calling her frivolous or selfish and others who feel that this moment somehow ruined the art. One of the things that makes performance art so special sometimes is that it can’t really be ruined, and certainly not by something like this. At least, that tends to be how I feel about it. Sorry for going off on a little rant :).

*

Would it strike you as unbearably sanctimonious if, every time a discussion of any current TV show came up, a certain person would not hesitate to remind everyone that xe does not have a TV and is so freakin’ happy to have no idea what everyone else is talking about? (For example, by, say, commenting on someone’s FB thread about Melodifestivalen to say “Who needs TV when you can live stream the events through 30 different friends commenting on FB?”)
275

Amblebury

10 March 2013 at 8:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Can I second Dr. Bunsen’s request to take aim and fire at that horrendous article he posted? Universities were supposed to be progressive last time I checked. First Glasgow, then this…it seems dissing feminism has become the new way to appear cool. If appearing cool to douchecanoes is your thing, that is.

This is for Reasons.
276

broboxley OT

10 March 2013 at 8:56 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

hmm I have a collection of spice bottles, ghost pepper, scorpion peppers, and for a very mild flavor, ta
basco. Reminds me of when my nephew thought he would have some fun at my expense and passed me a jar of Sambal Oelek which I started spooning into my soup. He got alarmed and stated he didnt want me to die. I replied that next time I made hot wings he would have to sit with his Uncle Bruce (notorious non spice eater)
277

Beatrice (looking for a happy thought)

10 March 2013 at 9:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Parrowing,

Yes, people with no TV can get annoying if they lord it over others as if that makes them so much better than all the sheeple.

Since I don’t really watch tv (except for a cooking show and a documentary on Saturdays), hit me over the head with a cluebat if I ever get all hoch about it.
278

Parrowing

10 March 2013 at 9:18 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I’ve never seen anyone here act like that and certainly not you, Beatrice. Just to be clear, I definitely don’t care at all if someone doesn’t have a TV for whatever reason or doesn’t watch much of it and it also doesn’t bother me for that person to tell me about it. It’s just that this one person seems to look for opportunities to bring it up and doesn’t ever waste a chance to act smug about it. Xe is also the same person I know who believes in astrology, past Earths, ear candling, zen coaching, homeopathy, and all sorts of other “fun” stuff. Which somehow makes the TV thing worse, to me.
279

Beatrice (looking for a happy thought)

10 March 2013 at 9:36 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Parrowing,

Yes, I got what you were saying because we had a couple of people like that at the uni.
It sound like yours would enjoy watching History Channel if it weren’t so much beneath him/her.
280

blogofmyself, writer of papers

10 March 2013 at 9:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hey everyone. I know it’s been a long time since I’ve talked to you, but I just wanted to tell you all something important.

Last night my boyfriend got a call from up north telling him that his father had just passed away. They are pretty sure that he died of a heart attack and that it was relatively quick. We had just talked to him a few days ago and he was totally fine, so obviously the boyfriend, his brother (who lives with us), and I were shocked and upset. I have never seen him look so bewildered since I’ve known him. The boyfriend is 28, and his brother is 26, and they just lost their dad. It still doesn’t feel real to me.

So, what I wanted to ask all of you is, please, go find the people that you care about, be they friends, lovers, family, chosen family, or pets, and let them know that you love them. Don’t wait. I know it sounds cheesy, but you never know how much time you have.
281

Lynna, OM

10 March 2013 at 10:34 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Lynna @12:

Is it worse than this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajb47/8170796736/in/set-72157631970434901

I admit, your quotes from the story make it look just as ugly in Utah. Those politicians didn’t run on fixing the economy, did they? Because delaying giving patrons a beer until they order some sort of food seems to be bad for the economy — or at least *not* helping the economy.

I think the sale/control of liquor in Utah is worse because Utah legislators also require the new restaurants include a Zion Curtain, a wall that separates drink preparation from those ordering drinks. The idea is that the poor innocents who are not evil drinkers of alcohol will at least be spared the sight of alcoholic drinks being mixed.

Utah is worse because their restrictive licensing laws prevent growth in the restaurant/bar industry.

They also have a liquor control board that can restrict the sale of, for example, Vodka. The state of Idaho is the same way, and for the same reason: mormons run the show. If they don’t like you, or don’t like the name on your bottle, they can keep you from selling your wares in their state. Five Wives vodka story. The restrictions are irrational and unpredictable, but pro LDS.
282

opposablethumbs

10 March 2013 at 10:58 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

blogofmyself, I’m so sorry for all of you – it must be one hell of a shock. And I know from experience (both parents) that you are absolutely right, and I tell my kids how much I love them all the time.

I hope that your boyfriend and his family get through this, and that you are (get to be) OK too.

.
.
Trying to keep up with the thread, but can’t really – so I just want to throw a few hugs out there, by way of an affectionate thank-you, because you all continue to enrich me with your smartness and your erudition and your compassion. Assorted Yays for Portia and rq and Parrowing and Giliell and Tony and – well, for the Horde, really.

zhuge, some people (like Tony, say) like to add descriptive or creative tags to go with their nyms and then vary them according to mood and circumstance (such as the latest insults which which fundies and pitters have attempted to cause upset). As long as the main part of your nym remains stable, this is not regarded as morphing or sockpuppeting or anything because obviously you’re not trying to make it look like you’re someone else. So you could always keep zhuge and add something to hint where you’re coming from with that choice. Also, welcome to the Lounge!
283

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 11:26 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

broboxley,
What is this tabasco you speak of? I thought you were listing hot sauce bottles, not hot vinegar sauces.

(This snark provided by the Society for the Elimination of Tabasco…because hot sauce should taste like more than hot vinegar)
284

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 11:36 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

blogofmyself:
I am incredibly sorry to hear that. You, your BF, and his brother have my sympathies.

****
Opposablethumbs:
Good to read you again.

****
Random query-
Will mornings exist in the Commune?
They are evil.
Not quite in the way that peas are evil.
More like horses. You know–adorable, pettable, pea-poopingly evil.
285

Lynna, OM

10 March 2013 at 11:42 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Gangster Bankers: Too Big to Jail
How HSBC hooked up with drug traffickers and terrorists. And got away with it

Matt Taibbi’s article for Rolling Stone brings up some unbelievable facts related to the banking industry. I saw part of Elizabeth Warren’s questioning of regulators who were supposed to watchdog the bankers, and I must say that the regulators seemed surprisingly unconcerned.

Excerpts from Taibbi’s article:

… the U.S. Justice Department granted a total walk to executives of the British-based bank HSBC for the largest drug-and-terrorism money-laundering case ever. Yes, they issued a fine – $1.9 billion, or about five weeks’ profit – but they didn’t extract so much as one dollar or one day in jail from any individual, despite a decade of stupefying abuses.

People may have outrage fatigue about Wall Street, and more stories about billionaire greedheads getting away with more stealing often cease to amaze. But the HSBC case went miles beyond the usual paper-pushing, keypad-punching sort-of crime, committed by geeks in ties, normally associated with Wall Street. In this case, the bank literally got away with murder – well, aiding and abetting it, anyway.

For at least half a decade, the storied British colonial banking power helped to wash hundreds of millions of dollars for drug mobs, including Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, suspected in tens of thousands of murders just in the past 10 years – people so totally evil, jokes former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, that “they make the guys on Wall Street look good.” The bank also moved money for organizations linked to Al Qaeda and Hezbollah, and for Russian gangsters; helped countries like Iran, the Sudan and North Korea evade sanctions; and, in between helping murderers and terrorists and rogue states, aided countless common tax cheats in hiding their cash.

“They violated every goddamn law in the book,” says Jack Blum, an attorney and former Senate investigator who headed a major bribery investigation against Lockheed in the 1970s that led to the passage of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. “They took every imaginable form of illegal and illicit business.”…

Nobody went to jail.

Cushy deals were subsequently given to other big banks, and walks were given to other bigtime criminals, including Swiss bank UBS.

The head honchos at HSBC were financing what Bin Laden called “the golden chain.”

Translation: We know the guy’s on a terrorist list, but his accounts are in a place the Americans can’t search, so screw them.
286

Lynna, OM

10 March 2013 at 11:47 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

One more choice text excerpt from Matt Taibbi’s article in Rolling Stone:

At HSBC, the bank did more than avert its eyes to a few shady transactions. It repeatedly defied government orders as it made a conscious, years-long effort to completely stop discriminating between illegitimate and legitimate money. And when it somehow talked the U.S. government into crafting a settlement over these offenses with the lunatic aim of preserving the bank’s license, it succeeded, finally, in making crime mainstream.

See comment #285 for more, and for link.
287

Lynna, OM

10 March 2013 at 11:51 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

BTW, if you are an honest banker looking for tips on ways to become dishonest and therefore rake in more cash, Matt Taibbi’s article includes enough detail that you could use it as a tip sheet:

“It is anticipated that Iran will become a source of increasing income for the group going forward,” the memo says, “and if we are to achieve this goal we must adopt a positive stance when encountering difficulties.”

The “positive stance” included a technique called “stripping,” in which foreign subsidiaries like HSBC Middle East or HSBC Europe would remove references to Iran in wire transactions to and from the United States, often putting themselves in place of the actual client name to avoid triggering OFAC alerts. (In other words, the transaction would have HBME listed on one end, instead of an Iranian client.)

Oh. I see. So that’s how you do it. Nifty.
288

Dalillama, Schmott Guy

10 March 2013 at 12:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hi folks. I haven’t been at computers much these few days, and I haven’t got the oomph to post rally or say much, but I’m still around. Also, I can’t seem to sleep more than 4-5 hrs a night anymore, which isn’t helping my energy levels, I’m sure. *hugs* for them as wants them.
289

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 12:27 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Speaking up for gender equality is a human rights issue and I appreciate when men do so:

http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/column-more-power-for-women-will-benefit-everyone-822924-Mar2013/
Gender equality is key to battling social problems

This may sound like an absurd idea, cooked up by out-of-touch academics in a leafy university town somewhere on the US east coast. But evidence shows that we could make significant advances in the fight against poverty simply by giving more power to women.

If women farmers had the same access to land, tools, seeds and credit as men, they could grow enough extra food to feed more than 100 million of the world’s people.

If girls were allowed to finish secondary school alongside boys, we could drastically reduce hunger. According to a report this week from the UN, a 43 per cent reduction in hunger in developing countries can be attributed to progress in educating women.
290

Dalillama, Schmott Guy

10 March 2013 at 12:33 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Tony
Educating and empowering women does wonders for slowing population growth, too.
291

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 12:52 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I do not usually wade into the comments, but I did post a couple of responses to the above article. Some of the comments are supportive, but as you can imagine, there is pushback against gender equality from many others. One commenter even said the article was an attack on men!
****
Dalillama:
Very true my friend.
292

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 1:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

PRESIDENT MICHAEL D HIGGINS has said Ireland’s culture where women are afraid to report sexual crimes and assaults is “a shameful indictment” on Irish society.

http://www.thejournal.ie/president-higgins-sexual-assault-comments-824656-Mar2013/

The President of Ireland speaking about the sexual assault women routinely face. He _gets_ it.
293

rq

10 March 2013 at 1:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Dalillama
*hugs* for you.
294

pharm scigrad

10 March 2013 at 1:25 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Lynna, OM:
This is the main reason that the Senate race Warren won was important to the US and the world at large, moreso than just the people of Massachusetts, especially considering the views of former Senator Scott Brown (pro-Wall Street, anti-regulation).
.
blogofmyself, writer of papers
My sympathies. *hugs* if you take ‘em.
.
*waves to zhuge* Hello and welcome to the Lounge!
295

rq

10 March 2013 at 1:33 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*hugs&sympathies* for blogofmyself
296

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 1:34 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

(I blame PZ for my Irish focused comments today)

Ireland needs to revise its Constitution.
From wikipedia:
” Status of women

The Constitution guarantees women the right to vote and to nationality and citizenship on an equal basis with men. However, it also contains a provision that was objected to by women’s organisations at the time of its enactment in 1937. Article 41.2 states:

1° [...] the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.

2° The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.
Article 41.2.1° could, however, be viewed in the context of the 1930s, and some point out that it is not coercive and that there is no constitutional obligation for women to stay in the home. Indeed, some have argued that the provision highlights the value of the unremunerated role that women in the home contribute to society.”

Gender essentialism inscribed into their Constitution??!!
297

Beatrice (looking for a happy thought)

10 March 2013 at 1:51 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Star Wars IV: A New Hope on tv tonight!
Finally something good to watch. Mum’s been watching the first trilogy for the last three weekends. I’m not a fan of those.
298

pharm scigrad

10 March 2013 at 2:20 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

So, if I’m reading this right Tony!, Ireland thinks that a woman working outside her home but hiring domestic help/spliting domestic tasks with her spouse/having a stay-at-home spouse fails to support the State in such a way such that the common good is achieved? I don’t speak legalese (at all), but that seems rather… draconian.
299

Ing:Intellectual Terrorist "Starting Tonight, People will Whine"

10 March 2013 at 2:31 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Totally threadrupt

Sticking foot back into water here. Have since had a move that is still chaotic and partner has gotten a job which is making things easier for us. What’s going on folks?
300

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 2:40 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

pharm scigrad:
Draconian to say the least.
I lost the link, but as I was reading various articles in the above Irish paper, I did stumble upon an article talking about how that clause in the Irish Constitution will be amended to be more gender inclusive (apparently the government decided in 2/13 to make some changes; gee you are only _almost_ a century late)
****
Ing:
Good to see you!
301

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 2:43 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Beatrice:
Does Jar Jar Binks not bring happy thoughts?
302

pharm scigrad

10 March 2013 at 2:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Yeah Tony, that would be an improvement, though I’m not totally sold on the whole clause thing to begin with, but to each hir own I suppose.
.
*waves* Hi Ing! Yay for jobs that make things easier!
303

David Marjanović

10 March 2013 at 2:54 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Imagine, winter came back yesterday. It’s been snowing almost all the time, and there are now easily 10 cm of snow! ^_^ *huge heap of sterile Internet hugs* *mountain-flower honey*

I wonder if the spring flowers are surviving it. Several already came out. Did we finally switch off the Gulf Stream?

Tell Paul Ryan that he won’t replace Medicare by vouchers.

CREDO Action wants You The People of the United States to “pledge, if necessary, to join others in my community, and engage in acts of dignified, peaceful civil disobedience that could result in my arrest in order to send the message to President Obama and his administration that they must reject the Keystone XL pipeline.”

It’s not just the rum.
http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2587
I’ll stop now.

Being ill, I just read all from 2555 to 2587.

So, I decided to search for my nym on the Slymepit. Found someone referring to me as this.

Glorious!

♥ ♥ ♥

*lots of hugs for chigau*

I moved to Phoenix to get away from the heat haha.

Wow.

Obligatory result of spending years in Wikipedia:

“Converted deverbal nouns include chʼéʼétiin “exit, doorway” and Hoozdo “Phoenix, Arizona” — when used as verbs chʼéʼétiin may be translated into English as “something has a path horizontally out” and hoozdo as ‘place/space is hot’.”

Can anybody explain why there hasn’t been morr critical skeptical commentary on Sam Parnia’s new book?

What book?

Elkmoose (a new hybrid of our own creation)

That’s what you think !!

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-7-2013/pope-and-change

Not bad… not bad at all :-)

Ooooh cicely hugs!

Seconded ^_^ ^_^ ^_^

The giant telescope dish is erected over a collapsed karst site (when they are that big, I doubt “sinkhole” is the appropriate name)

Dolina? (Literally “valley”.)

Wait… someone named Rios thinks Sotomayor is “lowering the standards” on the Supreme Court.
Excuse me while I turn the exhaust fan on. My Irony Meter is bleching smoke….

Also, where might the name Antonin Scalia possibly come from?

“It’s ‘i’ before ‘e’
When you spell ‘cicely’–
The opposite way
From if you’re spelling ‘neigh’.”
:)

*pounce* *hug* ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^

For David M. – These are the Daves I know.

+ 1

That Bruce dude, though, looks like a Jason.

Me: I don’t know why I’ve been making humming noises when I fall asleep the last couple of weeks. Stress? Sickness? Being overtired?

Spouse: You’ve been doing that for the last 20 years or so.

o_O

O_o

France has a nice climate, [...] and the south of France might be just what you’re looking for in the winter

Not so fast! The farther south you get in France, the worse the winters get on the occasion that you do have a winter, because down south there’s no heating anywhere! And of course no insulation on the buildings.

There was something incredibly beautiful about this.

…

…I couldn’t sit that far away from a table. That part is almost physically uncomfortable to watch.

Gangster Bankers: Too Big to Jail
How HSBC hooked up with drug traffickers and terrorists. And got away with it

Hooraaaaaaay. I’m too sick and tired to go all HULK SMASH now…

Does Jar Jar Binks not bring happy thoughts?

*quietly strangles Tony in the background*
304

Portia, Feminist Snarker Extraordinaire

10 March 2013 at 3:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Want to comment and respond. Have migraine. Hugs all around.

arrgguffpphhmmmf
305

Ogvorbis

10 March 2013 at 3:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Sigh.

I just had an argument with a visitor. Over closing time. This time of year we close at 4:00pm. We just changed to Daylight Savings Time — put the clocks an hour forward. He insisted that it was only 2:55, not 3:55 and he had an hour to visit the sight. Not fun.
306

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

10 March 2013 at 3:10 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

David M:
An anti-Jar Jar-ist. I see. I have your number now.
Meesa say yousa naughty boy.
****
Whoa.
Stop.
Hold the presses.
This just in from of office of Shoopy affairs:
GOP official speaks in favor of gender equality.

” SCHMIDT: I think in any organization where women are not at the table, where it is skewed male in today’s day and age, that’s an organization that’s deficient. That’s an organization that’s going to have problems. It’s one of the problems we have structurally in the Republican Party. We don’t have enough women at the table. But any company, any organization in today’s day and age that doesn’t give equal opportunity to women, that doesn’t advance women to the table, is going to be an organization that has difficulty competing.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/03/10/1696781/women-republicans/?mobile=wp”

Did the four horsemen show up? Apocalypse indeed! Next you know, cicely will be seen on horseback snacking on.canned peas
307

rq

10 March 2013 at 3:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*quietly strangles Tony in the background*

Yeah, me too.
(Obviously the stag-moose was not a real animal, David. So there. No, I will not produce evidence.)

Quick, someone, I need something cheerfully uplifting.
308

rq

10 March 2013 at 3:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Portia – *hugs* and warm tea?
309

pharm scigrad

10 March 2013 at 3:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Sending emergency rations of tea and cookies to you Portia, just get those USBs open… *hugs*
310

Portia, Feminist Snarker Extraordinaire

10 March 2013 at 3:19 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ports are open, thanks rq and psg.

I feel like my body forces me to slow down and rest this way. At least today all i had to do was laundry and cleaning. Still kind of miserable, but at least I don’t feel guilty for laying around.

Thanks again.
311

pharm scigrad

10 March 2013 at 3:20 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Something Cheerfully Uplifting
312

rq

10 March 2013 at 3:29 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thanks, pharm scigrad, that did the trick! (That’s an oldie but a goodie, hadn’t seen it in ages!)
313

pharm scigrad

10 March 2013 at 3:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Glad to help… though I’m wading into the Hannity thread at the moment and may have to play it myself when I come back up for air… ><
314

Beatrice (looking for a happy thought)

10 March 2013 at 4:01 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

There is no Jar Jar Binks. In fact, there are no I-III Star Wars movies. It’s really unfortunate that Lucas never managed to make them, despite his plans.
315

cicely

10 March 2013 at 4:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Speaking of weather:
Where can I move to that has no earthquakes, tornadoes, blizzards, typhoons, hurricanes, droughts, or volcanic activity—has mild winters (forever defined as nothing below 45 F otherwise known as, wear a jacket, not a parka) and summer highs in the 80s (with looooow humidity).

That would be the Land of Your Imagination.
-
Hi, zhuge; welcome in!
-

Mandatory gun ownership…

*raises hand*

“Uh, what about that ‘less government intervention’ thing?”

Totally not a problem, so long as you keep your gun in your bedroom. They are all about having more government intervention in your bedroom.
-

I didn’t want to leave for my vacation without having commented, just in case I don’t get the chance to while I’m away.

As a World-Championship-Quality worrier, I appreciate this! It’s not required of you—after all, you don’t answer to us, or anything—but abrupt silence following evident distress is…worrisome.
-

Would it strike you as unbearably sanctimonious if, every time a discussion of any current TV show came up, a certain person would not hesitate to remind everyone that xe does not have a TV and is so freakin’ happy to have no idea what everyone else is talking about?

Snobbery isn’t pleasant, whatever it’s being attached to.

I guess I should more accurately say, being the recipient of snobbery isn’t pleasant; I’m sure the snob gets some gratification from it, or they wouldn’t do it.
-
blogofmyself: Glad to see you back, sad for the circumstances. Please accept this large parcel of condolences for distribution as you see fit.
I generally try to keep the hug-meters well topped up. Which reminds me….
*hugs* for everyone!
(Exchangeable for *scritches*, *warm hand shakes*, and other less-exuberant forms of display at the recipient’s request. No taxes or surcharges. Void where prohibited by law.)
-
Tony: I agree with you, mornings are evil! I just haven’t found any way to prevent them.

Monday mornings were, of course, invented by the Horses, and are thus exponentially more Evil than other mornings.
-
316

Beatrice (looking for a happy thought)

10 March 2013 at 4:07 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

A Monday morning is going to happen tomorrow. Ew.
317

rq

10 March 2013 at 4:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Beatrice
I like your way of thinking.
318

rq

10 March 2013 at 4:19 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I meant about Jar Jar Binks.
319

Nick Gotts (formerly KG)

10 March 2013 at 4:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I blame PZ for my Irish focused comments today – Tony, the Queer Shoop

Talking of Ireland and PZ, I’ve got my ticket for Empowering Women Through Secularism in Dublin. Hope to see some of you there! Dublin’s one of my favourite cities – and the green postboxes add a nice surreal touch (their natural colour being, of course, red).
320

cicely ( all around!)

10 March 2013 at 4:33 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*hugs* for Dalillama. “Short of sleep” is a good approximation for “dragged backwards through a knothole”. Sorry you are being dragged.

-
Ing!!!
*pouncehug*
Hurrah for employment for partner!
-

Does Jar Jar Binks not bring happy thoughts?

Only if you are a flamethrower salesman.

Or enthusiast.
-
*pouncehugback* for David.
:) :) :)
-
Extra *gentle hugs&analgesics* to the Unwell.
-

Next you know, cicely will be seen on horseback snacking on.canned peas

Tony!: I don’t know what you’re taking/smoking/drinking, but you have obviously exceeded the Recommended Dosage, and are on the verge of some potentially life-threatening hallucinations. Time to come back down.
-

Quick, someone, I need something cheerfully uplifting.

Here you go, rq.
-
321

rq

10 March 2013 at 4:46 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

cicely :)
322

pharm scigrad

10 March 2013 at 5:08 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Just in case anyone else, like me, needed MOAR cuteness…
323

birgerjohansson

10 March 2013 at 5:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

bluentx,
So, “In the Red” is on YouTube? Thank you for letting me know. :-)
BTW is your nym a reference to Blue Ant, the company in William Gibson’s last two novels? Beware of Hubertus Bigend, that guy is practically a Bond villain (a private Ekranoplan, for chrissake!)

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

TRIGGER WARNING

“Soldaten” http://www.amazon.co.uk/Soldaten-Fighting-Killing-Secret-Second/dp/1849839484/ref=la_B001K1NQF4_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362951270&sr=1-1
The banality of evil revisited through intercepted conversations between German POWs showing the cruelties of WWII through the everyday conversations between soldiers. From casually mentioning gang-raping Ukrainan women to detailed accounts of massacres witnessed by the soldiers.
324

SteveV

10 March 2013 at 5:13 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Speaking of weather:
Where can I move to that has no earthquakes, tornadoes, blizzards, typhoons, hurricanes, droughts, or volcanic activity—has mild winters (forever defined as nothing below 45 F otherwise known as, wear a jacket, not a parka) and summer highs in the 80s (with looooow humidity).

Here
325

rq

10 March 2013 at 5:17 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I’m getting rather bored of riding my emotional elevator today.
326

Lynna, OM

10 March 2013 at 5:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

@311 — massively funny. Thanks for the link.

This is not funny per se, but may be uplifting thanks to Eric Clapton being fine and still playing like a guitar god in 2013:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/flashback-clapton-performs-while-my-guitar-gently-weeps-at-concert-for-george-20130305
327

Parrowing

10 March 2013 at 5:31 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hugs and candy canes for having an up and down day, rq

*

I’m so scared of traveling. I really hope I’m able to sleep tonight.
328

rq

10 March 2013 at 5:37 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Lynna @326
Heh, that song makes me think of Improbable Joe. Mostly because household chores get passed up in favour of guitar-playing. ;)
Very uplifting, thanks. Nice work, Eric Clapton!!
329

rq

10 March 2013 at 5:39 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Parrowing
If it helps, think of yourself as always within the Lounge, with the world simply shifting around you to your new location. So really, you’re not going anywhere. ;) *hugs*
330

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 5:50 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

There was something incredibly beautiful about this.

Darn it, rq! Got something in my eye again. Must be allergies.

-
birgerjohansson:
re: In The Red:
Search for -In The Red BBC. It’s in three parts.

And on the nym:
It’s just a general reference to political affiliation/emotional state.
Had to Google William Gibson :)
Another name goes on the book wish list. So many books, so little time…. Plus all the Linkys to check out here…
331

rq

10 March 2013 at 5:55 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

bluentx
What with all the early flowers blooming, I’m not too surprised. ;) Pollen season is a hassle.
332

rq

10 March 2013 at 5:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ooh and bluentx if you’re going to try William Gibson, I recommend starting at his very beginning with Neuromancer. His collection of short stories >a href-”http://www.amazon.co.uk/Burning-Chrome-William-Gibson/dp/0006480438/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362956277&sr=1-1″>Burning Chrome was also impressive, esp. the title story. (This is my opinion.)
333

rq

10 March 2013 at 5:59 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oooo link fail, that second one should go here, to Burning Chrome.
Must be late.
334

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 6:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thanks for the recommendations. Now I just need to take early retirement to catch up on all the suggestions on The List(TM).
335

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

10 March 2013 at 6:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Go Parrowing! You’ll be fine, traveling is always most scary before you start.
336

rq

10 March 2013 at 6:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I’m going to retire right now. To bed, though.
I’ve had enough of EU regulations and their analysis and doing it in two languages in my head.

Also, sometimes my government is a bunch of shitheads because they can’t be bothered to be kind to foreigners seeking asylum. But that’s neither here nor there.

Good night!
337

pharm scigrad

10 March 2013 at 6:20 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Sometimes you can explain why something is good and sometimes you just sit and listen and know and that’s enough. Wow. Thanks for the link, Lynna, OM.
338

Improbable Joe, bearer of the Official SpokesGuitar

10 March 2013 at 6:20 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq, G’night and coincidentally I’m commenting here instead of housework, rather than playing guitar. *grins*
339

pharm scigrad

10 March 2013 at 6:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*hugs* and g’nigh rq!
340

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 6:26 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Temporary retirement…
Goodnight, rq!
341

broboxley OT

10 March 2013 at 7:13 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

been in Fargo for a full day and night. Can you say boom town? Also son and I noticed that there is zero police presence. Finally saw a policecar today. The driver was coming out of a liquor store. Also note that there is a liquor store on every corner (45th and 13th roughly for those that know fargo.)
342

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 7:20 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

..liquor store on every corner..

“Get’s darn cold in Fargo,don’t cha know…” /close Marge Gunderson voice
343

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 7:46 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Jeez! Guess that storm we had last night was worse than I thought! A little hail on my side of town (west) but just went on FB and saw pictures from east side! Wind damage (tornado ?) to our only ‘supermarket’ (small town). I’ll take a look on my way to work tomorrow- almost dark now.
344

PSG (pharmscigrad)

10 March 2013 at 8:17 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Wow… sometimes it’s a bit appalling to leave the Lounge for comment threads infested with vemon and spite – especially when straw never did a thing to hurt anyone.
PS: Thanks to whoever it was who mentioned how to adjust the moniker…
345

WMDKitty -- Survivor

10 March 2013 at 8:21 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Fighting it hard today, about to grab a nap, hoping to have, like, at least half a spoon for exercise afterwards.
346

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 8:44 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

sometimes it’s a bit appalling to leave the Lounge for comment threads infested with vemon and spite

Agreed. Just ‘lost’(where’d it go?!) a long rant (before I was ready to submit) that covered that topic (except this was about FB*).

Shorter version: Thank You Lounge Lizards/Pharyngulites/FtBers
for keeping me (relatively) sane. Without you I would need heavier drugs than I am currently perscribed.
-
*Yes, my my middle name is Glutton For Punishment. Why do you ask?
347

cicely ( all around!)

10 March 2013 at 10:02 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Red pandas are almost as cute as kittens. And certain invertibrates.
-
348

Portia, Whimpering Puddle of Migraine

10 March 2013 at 10:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Now I can’t keep anything down. Who wants to bring me gatorade? *whimper*
349

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 10:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

c i c e ly = penance
350

bluentx

10 March 2013 at 10:25 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Who wants to bring me gatorade? *whimper*

Weather fluctuations (especially in your part of the country) may interfere with USB transport, so I’m planning a personal delivery. Should I back up to the front or rear entrance?*

*Wait… did that sound weird?!

*hugs*
351

Portia, Whimpering Puddle of Migraine

10 March 2013 at 10:26 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ha! Well there’s no stairs at the front door, so that would probably work.
352

PSG (pharmscigrad)

10 March 2013 at 10:37 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

:(
I would sign up for gatorade delivery as well, but they won’t let me operate heavy machinery yet… lucky me, the laptop only weighs 3kg!
353

chigau (違う)

10 March 2013 at 11:54 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I
354

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

11 March 2013 at 12:16 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I prefer Powerade myself.
355

Azkyroth Drinked the Grammar Too :)

11 March 2013 at 12:42 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Where can I move to that has no earthquakes, tornadoes, blizzards, typhoons, hurricanes, droughts, or volcanic activity—has mild winters (forever defined as nothing below 45 F otherwise known as, wear a jacket, not a parka) and summer highs in the 80s (with looooow humidity).

I would suggest the California central valley except around here people start wearing parkas when it gets below 45 C and terminal histrionics set in at about 60 F.

Bonus: Since all the fucking indoor thermostats are set to “Bessemer Process” there are presumably some steelworker types around ;)
356

Azkyroth Drinked the Grammar Too :)

11 March 2013 at 12:54 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh, wait, did you mean 80 F? Um, never mind.
357

rq

11 March 2013 at 1:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Portia
I can bring you gatorade, but by the time I get there, I don’t know if it’ll be of any use to you. (But, since it doesn’t spoil, I suppose that’s not a problem.)

WMDKitty
I can’t send you a spoon (though I wish I could – I steal tea and coffee spoons from formal events, seminars and the like, so I have a collection, only a few are alike!), but may I offer *scritches* instead?
358

WMDKitty -- Survivor

11 March 2013 at 1:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*side-eyes Gracie* Yeah… not like I was planning on sleeping in the bed or anything, you just go right ahead and take the whole damn thing up…

Gaaah, I can’t be mad at her. She’s just too cute. Even when she’s being a PITA.
359

Beatrice (looking for a happy thought)

11 March 2013 at 1:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

And here it is, Monday morning.
I wanna stay hoooome. *whinge*
360

glodson

11 March 2013 at 2:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hmm, I’m afraid I might actually be drunk.
361

PSG (pharmscigrad)

11 March 2013 at 2:25 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Monday morning is bad. That I can understand.
But fear of being drunk? That’s just silly… ;)
362

glodson

11 March 2013 at 2:30 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

It is just something I don’t do often anymore. Not like a few years ago when I would just be hitting my stride right about now.

I don’t have much to do the next week, and a few things lead me to believe that drinking a lot was a really good idea. We shall see if this plan will remain a good idea in the morning.
363

rq

11 March 2013 at 2:32 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

PSG – being drunk on a Monday morning is completely different…

Beatrice *hugs*
364

glodson

11 March 2013 at 2:41 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Apparently, I’m not drunk enough. I’m getting caught up in the The Difference Between Us and Them thread. Some idiots still aren’t making any sense despite an advanced state inebriation.
365

PSG (pharmscigrad)

11 March 2013 at 2:44 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh my glodson, I’ve never woke up thinking it was a good idea. That’s just not what morning are for. I hope it’s at least not a bad one in retrospect. *passes the aspirin and water*
As usual, rq, you make a good point…
366

glodson

11 March 2013 at 2:50 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

PSG, this all depends on how lucky I am. If the little girl decides to sleep in, I’m golden. If not, tomorrow might be rough. But hey, that’s a bridge I’ll burn tomorrow.
367

PSG (pharmscigrad)

11 March 2013 at 3:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

OOoooooh… that thread. Yeah. I had a mini-stroke over there earlier, not a drop to drink, and I don’t think the pain meds had a thing to do with how unintelligible some of the drivel was.
Here’s hoping for everyone’s sake she sleeps in then. ;)
368

blf

11 March 2013 at 3:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Target Walmart etc blahblahblah
I’m going to start knitting all of my clothes.

Simpler and cheaper to avoid the stuff all together.
Grow a layer of fur or feathers for a bit of style.
369

rq

11 March 2013 at 3:29 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

glodson
Keeping some fingers crossed for small children sleeping in tomorrow. As Murphy would have it, though, she’ll probably be up about an hour earlier than usual. ;) Good luck with that!
370

blf

11 March 2013 at 3:46 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Why is it that the last three wind-up timers I’ve bought have not worked for longer than a week after purchase?

The clew is in the added emboldening. They often need to be rewound more than once a week… </snark>

Which reminds me, I understand USAlienstan is now on Anti-Winter Time. The mildly deranged penguin points out this must be due to Global Warming. Hot things move faster. The Earth is heating up and so is spinning faster. Hence, days start sooner, so the start date of Anti-Winter Time keeps happening earlier and earlier.
371

Tony! The Queer Shoop (now with clucking lights)

11 March 2013 at 4:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Caine:
If you are lurking, just wanted to say I was thinking about you and all the rats. Hope all is well.
372

bluentx

11 March 2013 at 4:09 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

..USAlienstan is now on Anti-Winter Time.

If it’s now Anti-Winter Time why is it 20 degrees colder than yesterday at this time?
373

bluentx

11 March 2013 at 4:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh, and I’m with Beatrice.

“I don’t wanna go to ~~school~~ work, Ma! “
374

blf

11 March 2013 at 4:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

If it’s now Anti-Winter Time why is it 20 degrees colder than yesterday at this time?

‘Cuz its an hour earlier and the Sun is still sleepy.

‘Cuz the Earth’s bearings haven’t been oiled in millennia and so can’t handle the higher rate of spin. They are probably about to seize up, being all covered in rust from Mr Noah’s clogged drain.

‘Cuz yer probably using the fake and false doctrine of Fahrenheit, instead of the one true Celsuis.

‘Cur yer in Ozralia or somewhere else in the wrong hemisphere?

‘Cuz yer thermometer is upside-down.
375

bluentx

11 March 2013 at 4:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

..Mr Noah’s clogged drain.

*snorfle*
376

rq

11 March 2013 at 4:29 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

blf
That’s a lot of reasons. Can you please stick to one or two of the more reasonable ones and provide some Evidence that, for example, my thermometer may be upside-down?
377

bluentx

11 March 2013 at 4:34 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

<blockquote cite=""The mildly deranged penguin </blockquote cite=""

But I like mildly deranged penguins. Tho, in the case of Bloom County, Bill (the cat) was more deranged.http://youtu.be/rSBNT5WKizg
378

bluentx

11 March 2013 at 4:37 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Borked that!
A sign it’s almost time to be a responsible adult (Heh!) and go to bed.

See #373
379

rq

11 March 2013 at 4:39 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

bluentx
Being an adult means you don’t have to be responsible.
I think.
Or was it the other way around?
Either way, I don’t think bed-time is a strictly responsible activity. Last time I tried to be responsible and go to bed during my shift, the results weren’t all that encouraging…
380

bluentx

11 March 2013 at 4:45 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Don’t cha just hate it when you’re gettin’ a good snooze on and the boss walks in…
381

rq

11 March 2013 at 4:49 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

All the flailing and explanations about hours of sleep vs. productivity just didn’t go over well. :(
Actually, I think I just jumped three feet out of my chair and looked extremely guilty while not looking directly in her eye as I clicked the mouse a few random times just to show how productive I was being.
382

bluentx

11 March 2013 at 5:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hopefully, it turned out better for you than my Most Dramatic Moment of Sleep Deprevation.
Five weeks with an average 4 hours of sleep per night, on call 24/7, working 2 full- time shifts (water & wastewater plant), being cheated out of compensation for call-back hours…. I was a little upset and let the city manager know it. I was fired….. and he blamed me (on the front page of the local newspaper) when he resigned. Fun times!
383

blf

11 March 2013 at 5:07 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I clicked the mouse a few random times just to show how productive I was being.

Ah, so that explains the bottle of vintage port and the conga line of dancing lobsters than just came out of the USB connector.
384

rq

11 March 2013 at 5:26 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

blf
If that’s what you got only now, the transfer was several years too slow and was missing a few inebriated blue aras… Can I have my port back, please? *butterflylashes*
385

Giliell, professional cynic

11 March 2013 at 5:31 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

HI folks
I’m leaving a serious fat trigger warning for the difference-thread here.
I think Dennis Strubbe is about the worst we ever had and that says something and I really want you to take care when you go there. I’m not even a survivor but that guy gets to my bones.

+++
Apart from that I will now dive into looking for sources of the things I know. That’s when I hate academics…

+++
*hugs&coke&bretzeln* for Portia

+++
*pouncehug* on Ing, deliverer of puppies and saviour of the day
386

bluentx

11 March 2013 at 5:41 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Giliell:
Was just about to send out my own SOS to any monitors lurking. Gak, Dennis S. is vile!
I hope to FSM he’s not my cousin Dennis! Heh!
387

rq

11 March 2013 at 5:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Which one’s the difference thread? I feel like I’m missing out on something. Although I got a taste of Strubbe on the Absurd Segregation thread, and don’t know how I feel about more of the same.
388

opposablethumbs

11 March 2013 at 5:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

OK, our latest shitbag (numerous threads) is just trolling now – not in the sense of writing things he doesn’t believe in (he does) but in the sense of being deliberately beyond the pale and crossing all the lines he can. Is it possible to request a commenter be banned for this? I suppose probably not … so is anyone up for a concerted killfiling? Just thought I’d ask.

Off to do something better for my health (than seeing his drivel on the screen – especially in the rape thread) so I’ll check back later.
389

rq

11 March 2013 at 5:44 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Never mind, I found it; didn’t quite put together the fact that it’s the same Hannity thread bluentx mentioned previously. All is well; now to see if I’ll stick with it to the end (not likely?).
390

bluentx

11 March 2013 at 5:55 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq:
Comment #176 (you know where) is my favorite so far (tho I have skimmed -may have missed some doozies). I won’t quote here (wouldn’t want to pollute The Lounge) but egads does this person really believe what xe is spewing or is xe just on the payroll of a Right Wing or MRA ‘think’ tank?
391

theophontes (坏蛋)

11 March 2013 at 6:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

@ Giliell

I’m leaving a serious fat trigger warning for the difference-thread here.

Seconded. Time for a mighty smiting with the banhammer in that there thread.
392

blf

11 March 2013 at 6:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

[I]s xe [sic] just on the payroll of a Right Wing or MRA ‘think’ tank?

Is there actually a nuthouse stoopid enough to pay someone to, or who does, write such things? Other than the Wacky Nutters Deluded, that is.
393

rq

11 March 2013 at 6:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

blf
Short answer?
Yes.
Long answer?
Probably. It wouldn’t surprise me, I’m ashamed to say.

bluentx
When I get to it, I will remember all warnings about the thread and the person, if I manage to get that far (and read the entire comment(s)). It’s kind of like watching a horror movie, you know? Or entering one of those ‘haunted’ houses. You know it’ll probably bad (and not necessarily in the good-bad way), you’ll probably jump a little bit or laugh unbelievably quite a lot, and there’s that giant sense of apprehension of What if this time it’s actually spooky? Except we already know the answer anyway, because yes, these horrible people really think those horrible things.
*deepbreath*
Diving in.
394

bluentx

11 March 2013 at 6:23 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Is there actually a nuthouse stoopid enough to pay someone to, or who does, write such things?

Just wondering if xe is affiliated with: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/05/952830/-Paid-callers-for-RW-radio-means-free-speech-is-a-joke
395

bluentx

11 March 2013 at 6:36 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The Overlord is up early! Dennis Strubbe has been banned!
396

bluentx

11 March 2013 at 7:26 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Okay! It’s REALLY past my (dead)time so… Goodnight All!

*Damn! I use to be able to party all night, get no sleep, and go to work at 7 am. What happened?!*
397

Ogvorbis

11 March 2013 at 7:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Abd a giid Tyesdat Nirbugb ti akk if tiy!

[looks at screen. hits monitor. moves hands on keyboard.]

And a good Tuesday morning to all of you!

[much better]

A Monday morning is going to happen tomorrow. Ew.

Calendarist oppressor! The 10th was Monday and TODAY is Tuesday.

I meant about Jar Jar Binks.

I’m just wondering if future references to that character should carry some kind of a warning? Something?

I’m getting rather bored of riding my emotional elevator today.

Post day hugs to you.

I

Ai? Eye? You? Ewe?

I think Dennis Strubbe is about the worst we ever had and that says something and I really want you to take care when you go there. I’m not even a survivor but that guy gets to my bones.

He’s banned now. I did well. I didn’t trigger. I just got really, really, really, really, coldly, rationally angry.
398

rq

11 March 2013 at 7:33 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

bluentx
Advancing age will do that. ;) Good night!
399

Giliell, professional cynic

11 March 2013 at 7:34 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hey! I have 5 out of 15-20 pages of my paper done. I don’t think I’ll be able to finish within 20 pages, especially not with graphs…
I think I’m entitled to lunch now…

Ogvorbis
I guess that’s good. This guy had me hugging my knees and shaking.
400

rq

11 March 2013 at 7:35 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ogvorbis
*hugsback* and yay for progress?
401

bluentx

11 March 2013 at 7:42 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Advancing age will do that. ;)

That’s what I get for refreshing ‘one more time’.

GOOD NIGHT!….REALLY! :)
402

Ogvorbis

11 March 2013 at 7:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Giliell

I guess that’s good. This guy had me hugging my knees and shaking.

That bullshit about his girlfriend makes me wish that there was some way to do something. But yeah, coherent rage at such a perfect example of lots of really bad things.
403

Ogvorbis

11 March 2013 at 7:47 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*hugsback* and yay for progress?

If I knew why I didn’t trigger there, but have triggered on other things, now that would be progress.
404

blf

11 March 2013 at 8:10 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The Overlord is up early! Dennis Strubbe has been banned!

What a horrible thing to have to wake up to. Most people just wake up to hangovers, alarm clocks, the mildly deranged penguin turning the bed upsidedown and jumping up and down on it, a lick from the dog or a fart from the cat, a full bladder, a bladder that emptied itself, the baby / rats / T. rex falling down the stairs again, the local Rock & Roll band practicing, and other minor annoyances. Poopyhead gets a misogynistic possibly-rapist troll.
405

Ogvorbis

11 March 2013 at 8:13 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Poopyhead gets a misogynistic possibly-rapist troll.

No “possible”. He admitted raping his girlfriend.

Just toss the MDP a slice of American-style processed cheese food product. It’ll keep her quiet for a couple of days.
406

blf

11 March 2013 at 8:25 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Just toss the MDP a slice of American-style processed cheese food product. It’ll keep her quiet for a couple of days.

She runs away from that stuff — or British industrial “cheddar” — so fast she obtains relativistic velocities and ignites the Nitrogen in the atmosphere. And yes, it does take her a few days to slow down, albeit the complaints afterwards are so loud the pressure waves pummel the burnt-out remains of the Earth into a neutron star. It’s only then that she lets you know just how annoyed she is…

And neither “American-style processed cheese” or “British industrial ‘cheddar’” should ever be called “food”.
407

Rev. BigDumbChimp

11 March 2013 at 8:38 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Google Doodle today
408

Ogvorbis

11 March 2013 at 8:38 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

blf:

I have that in my fridge. Also some apricot Stilton, some aged Asiago, a ball of buffalo mile mozzarella, and some Vermont cheddar. But I’m willing to share some of my American-style processed cheese food product. She can enjoy it with some potted meat product.
409

rq

11 March 2013 at 8:39 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

blf
So the last time the MDP had some processed cheese offered her was… the Russian meteorite?

You guys are totally spoiling the thread for me! I haven’t gotten to the really horrible bits yet – mostly because of children needing food and naptimes and stories and some ~~role-play gaming~~ playing with cars and dinosaurs, and of a certain translation taking more time than it should (but that’s me procrastinating on purpose).
Then again, I’m going to be grateful and say Thanks for all those warnings, because it makes me feel a teensy bit emotionally prepared for what is to come. Terrible things, it seems… :/
410

blf

11 March 2013 at 9:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Just found over at Bad Science is this, Hydrogen Rich Water Guidebook:

I have concluded that there are two kinds of water: water that produces disease and water that prevents and cures disease. I must also make the following almost unbelievable point. From the dawn of the human race up to the present day, I think human beings have been acquainted with water that produces disease.

This is because 99.99 percent of the water that actually exist on the earth is or was, in fact, nothing but this type of water. Thus, up until now, the human race has had to depend on “water that produces disease.” As a result, since the birth of humankind, human beings have suffered from disease.

…

Since 1985, I have been searching for the water that prevents and cures disease. During that time there were many detours, but I believe that very recently I have finally discovered what this is. In a nutshell, it is water that contains a large amount of hydrogen gas, which I have termed “Hydrogen-rich Water.”

… Hydrogen Rich Water gets rid of active oxygen, which is considered to be the cause of all kinds of diseases.

Probably also contains horse.
411

opposablethumbs

11 March 2013 at 10:14 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Probably also contains horse.

… or at least their by-products. In the form of a large amount of horse manure.
412

Giliell, professional cynic

11 March 2013 at 10:17 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I swear this college administration is run by Monty Python.
The saga continues. So, I just got a call from the person who’s responsible to sign me up under teh new systemand to put my credits in so far. Now, when I changed the course of study, the letter I got which approved of that said “and since we can’t place you in a semester in that new course, please write an application for having the progress controls suspended for you.”
Which I did. When I handed in that stuff I asked again for how long that works or if I should apply for a part-time place since I just can’t manage the required number of classes anyway and also it makes no sense since there are 4 classes that I have to take one past the other and I don’t need that many credits left anymore so I could even get 30 in a term for 5 terms.
Luckily I asked because I just got a call from the lady and she told me that no, you have to be placed in a semester, and no we can’t excempt you from the progress controls, yes that changed and no, we didn’t think it necessary to inform you of that….
Well, I’m going there on Thursday anyway…
413

blf

11 March 2013 at 10:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I swear this college administration is run by Monty Python.
…
Well, I’m going there on Thursday anyway.

Vital equipment to take with you is a cage and an obviously dead parrot.

Or a killer rabbit.
414

dianne

11 March 2013 at 10:31 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hydrogen rich water? Isn’t that another way of saying acid? H20+H+ should be an acidic solution.

Or do they mean H2O+H2? That would be exciting in the presence of a source of ignition.

And “gets rid of active oxygen”? That sounds rather fatal. Especially since doing so is likely a highly exothermic reaction in this situation.

Yes, yes, I know. Why am I trying to make the woo make sense?
415

blf

11 March 2013 at 10:38 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

… it is water that contains a large amount of hydrogen gas …

I didn’t bother reading the entire screed, but assuming there is any consistency, the above implies the rather exciting H2O+H2.

(Can <sub> and <sup> be enabled, please?)
416

dianne

11 March 2013 at 10:39 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Five weeks with an average 4 hours of sleep per night, on call 24/7, working 2 full- time shifts (water & wastewater plant)

This sounds like a bad plan on so many different levels I can’t count them all. (Bad on your boss’s part, I mean, not on yours.)

Abuse of employee, check. Putting sleep deprived person in charge of dangerous equipment, check. Prolonging the danger unnecessarily, check. Blaming the victim and whistleblower, check. I hope your boss never works in city planning again.
417

Portia, Whimpering Puddle of Migraine

11 March 2013 at 10:41 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thanks for the trigger warning and the hugs and treats, Giliell.

Thanks for the smiles and laughs to wake up to generally, all of you.

Ogvorbis. yay for not triggering! Here’s hoping a recognizable pattern shakes out and you can better predict what will be triggering.

=============

Headache’s still there (had a horrible no-good terrible night) but I feel like it will receded soon. Fingers crossed. Having the frozen pizza for breakfast that I made last night and was too nauseous to touch. Mmmm I feel like I’m in college.
418

Matt Penfold

11 March 2013 at 10:43 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hydrogen rich water ?

Surely that would be heavy water ? And that most assuredly is not safe to drink.
419

Azkyroth Drinked the Grammar Too :)

11 March 2013 at 10:47 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I didn’t bother reading the entire screed, but assuming there is any consistency, the above implies the rather exciting H2O+H2.

Well, at least the stupidity should be self-limiting.
420

Ing:Intellectual Terrorist "Starting Tonight, People will Whine"

11 March 2013 at 10:54 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

the ing mind has reached a conclusion. The internet should be nuked for decontamination. People are AWFUL
421

rq

11 March 2013 at 10:55 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

[TRIGGER WARNING]

Ogvorbis
Can I venture an opinion (ok, I’m going to venture an opinion…) about the non-triggering with regard to Stubbe and the thread (if you’re trying to figure out what may or may not trigger you), now that I have read all of it? Maybe, what induced the righteous, cold anger (instead of the panic) was the fact that he confessed to being a rapist himself, thus providing you with an actual, tangible target, as opposed to the usual nameless, not-present Rapist?
(Feel free to ignore me completely if/because I’m completely wrong.)
/opinion

[/TRIGGER WARNING]
422

rq

11 March 2013 at 10:56 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ing
Just ~~give them all~~ fill the internet with the special, hydrogen-rich water linked to above, and apply a match.
423

Beatrice (looking for a happy thought)

11 March 2013 at 10:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ing,

Not just the internet. People are awful everywhere.
424

blf

11 March 2013 at 11:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Just ~~give them all~~ fill the internet with the special, hydrogen-rich water linked to above, and apply a match.

Match not required. The water (H2O) will short out some electronics somewhere, some of which will spark, and …

The trick would be getting some of the stuff delivered to all the leaf nodes (endusers, the actual targets) before the inevitable sparks.
425

dianne

11 March 2013 at 11:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The internet should be nuked for decontamination.

Sadly, since the internet was invented to be a means of communication that would survive a nuclear war, it probably wouldn’t work. OTOH, if we can get Ken Starr to publish more presidential porn, that might take the internet down for long enough to scrub the filth off. (Or maybe not…there’s a lot more capacity in it now than there was in 1998 when the Starr report first took the internet down…)
426

cicely ( all around!)

11 March 2013 at 11:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*moar hugs* for Portia.
-

c i c e ly = penance

Hey, as long as cicely ≠ Cruel and Unusual Punishment.

*re-reads comment; pauses*

Sorry; make that ‘Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
:)
-

And here it is, Monday morning.

And worse yet, Monday morning right after going to Daylight Saving Time.

I wanna stay hoooome. *whinge*

Me, toooooooooo. *whinging in harmony (& sympathy)*
-

But fear of being drunk? That’s just silly… ;)

Not for this self-control freak. Letting the Internal Censor for Verbal Communications clock out and go home is a Bad Thing.
-

‘Cuz the Earth’s bearings haven’t been oiled in millennia and so can’t handle the higher rate of spin. They are probably about to seize up, being all covered in rust from Mr Noah’s clogged drain.

So, we’re all about to be abruptly flung off into the Void?

Sounds about right for First Monday Morning of Daylight Saving Time.
-

Google Doodle today

*smile*
I know exactly where my towel is.
-

Probably also contains horse.

… or at least their by-products. In the form of a large amount of horse manure.

…the over-supply of which they use to fertilise their immense pea farm.
-
427

Beatrice (looking for a happy thought)

11 March 2013 at 11:32 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I have found a solution to our Monday troubles, cicely!
We just switch from our to Ogvorbis’ calendar every Sunday at 23:59 and back on (his) Saturday at 23:59. That way you even get two Saturdays.
428

glodson

11 March 2013 at 11:41 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

He’s banned now. I did well. I didn’t trigger. I just got really, really, really, really, coldly, rationally angry.

You did better than me. I just got angry reading that crap this morning. Nothing rational about it. I hope he was just lying to get a reaction in his posts, but I strongly doubt that hope.

….

Good morning. I got lucky, the little girl slept in. Well, I figured she would. She had a late night yesterday, and stayed up quite late. Daylight Savings did a number on her sleep schedule, mostly because I didn’t think to adjust the clocks in the house.
429

Azkyroth Drinked the Grammar Too :)

11 March 2013 at 11:41 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Things that amuse me: progressive cavity pumps mostly look like either gattling guns or plasma guns. O.o
430

blf

11 March 2013 at 11:44 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

… you even get two Saturdays.

Much simpler: Use a modified groundhog loop to get seven Saturdays (or whatever). The modification is to ensure they are not the same Saturday every day.

[W]e’re all about to be abruptly flung off into the Void?

Sounds about right for First Monday Morning of Daylight Saving Time.

One of the many disadvantages of the failure of the Great Mayan Calendar Collapse to actually collapse.
431

cicely ( all around!)

11 March 2013 at 11:45 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

We just switch from our to Ogvorbis’ calendar every Sunday at 23:59 and back on (his) Saturday at 23:59. That way you even get two Saturdays.

Sounds, good, Beatrice!
“Monday tomorrow, and Monday yesterday, but never Monday today.” I’ll bet someone could get elected, with a slogan like that.
-
432

PSG (pharmscigrad)

11 March 2013 at 11:51 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*yay* for sleeping in!
433

Ogvorbis

11 March 2013 at 11:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

You did better than me. I just got angry reading that crap this morning. Nothing rational about it. I hope he was just lying to get a reaction in his posts, but I strongly doubt that hope.

I go through angry to the cold and rational angry. Which is my “Win at all costs and I don’t care who I hurt” mode. Which is bad.

=======

You are mocking the Wonders of the Ogvorcalendar. Today is Tuesday.
434

blf

11 March 2013 at 11:55 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I’ll bet someone could get elected, with a slogan like that.

Not on Monday.
And the MDL (Monday Defense Legions) could cause problems.
435

Beatrice (looking for a happy thought)

11 March 2013 at 11:59 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ogvorcalendar can help me eradicate Mondays. I would never mock it.
436

Ogvorbis

11 March 2013 at 12:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Ogvorcalendar can help me eradicate Mondays. I would never mock it.

Monday was yesterday so I didn’t even have a cushion day before nonsensical time change.
437

Ogvorbis

11 March 2013 at 12:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

r
438

Ogvorbis

11 March 2013 at 12:07 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq (@421):

Not sure. I laid into him the first time yesterday, before he had confessed to rape, so I’m not sure.
439

Portia, Whimpering Puddle of Migraine

11 March 2013 at 12:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Glad you got to sleep in, glodson. : ) Hope you’re feeling alright.

rq

Portia
*sparkles!confetti!trumpets!* for both the good (yet stressful) day, and also for having enough social exposure to put away the doormat costume for a while. I hope it holds. I also hope that S’ self-awareness does not die an unnatural death, and that it is a new leaf and not a ploy to return to your good books (and thus return you to doormat status…).
This is a day for you to remember next time you have doubts about going to a social/professional event alone – proof that you can do it, and do it well!!

Parrowing

Yay for your great work day, yay for coming in third at trivia, and yay for feeling strong enough to not be a doormat! I hope that whatever S says, you are able to hold on to that feeling!
*

Thanks for the encouragement you two : )
I just realized now that I’ve been trying to figure out what to say to him to make it clear I won’t be treated like this. It’s been so long that I haven’t been a doormat that I don’t know how to do it. : / (Jerk-friend called me a bad feminist for being a doormat at some point prior to the swift and sudden termination of our friendship. Sheesh he was such a jerk.)
Blogofmyself
So so sorry for your loss. *hugs* if you like them.

Trigger Warning for Self Harm
Yesterday was the nine-year anniversary of the death of my sixteen year old cousin. The best guess at his cause of death was self-strangulation in an effort to enhance a high. We still don’t know for sure but his mother found him in his bedroom in the morning.
I know his mother appreciates a phone call and knowing that other people remember, I just feel…morbid, or something, calling on the anniversary of his death.
440

Ogvorbis

11 March 2013 at 12:15 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Yesterday was the nine-year anniversary of the death of my sixteen year old cousin.

Hugs to you and the whole family.
441

PSG (pharmscigrad)

11 March 2013 at 12:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Lots of *hugs* to you Portia… I can’t quite imagine how you make that call, but I am sure it will mean a lot that you do.
442

Portia, Whimpering Puddle of Migraine

11 March 2013 at 12:27 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thank you, Oggie and PSG. I appreciate the hugs.

I will probably work up the emotional…backbone to give her a call. She’s the very sweetest person, a real joy. So giving her a little joy or comfort or anything will be rewarding.

here’s what came on my pandora, click at your own sad, sappy risk. Do love me some Norah Jones though.

*hugs* back to you. And to everyone who’d like some. I’m not too sad at the moment, just feeling reflective.
443

cicely ( all around!)

11 March 2013 at 12:31 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*hugs* for Portia.
-
444

opposablethumbs

11 March 2013 at 12:41 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Also moar hugs for Portia. You’re brave as well as good people.
445

Portia, who never remembers to update her post-nym once she is no longer suffering quite so acutely

11 March 2013 at 12:54 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Thank you cicely. *bearhugs* to you.

opposablethumbs, you brought a tear to my eye. Thanks for the kind words. Hugs back atcha.

Sorry to the Lounge for bringing down the silly banter!
This made me smile.
446

glodson

11 March 2013 at 12:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hugs Portia.

I think we have a problem with forgiveness in our house. Last night, the little girl tore a few pages out of a notebook my wife was keeping. The little girl said sorry in such a sweet little voice. Then she said, “Mommy, I forgive you.”

I am a bad parent because I laughed.
447

cicely ( all around!)

11 March 2013 at 1:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

:)
Alas, the Boogieman!
-
448

rq

11 March 2013 at 1:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Portia
*lots&lotsofhugs*

Ogvorbis
*shrug*
It was a theory about the non-triggering aspect, as in – you can get angry for a multitude of reasons, but that one topic didn’t trigger you this time… Previous exposure, maybe? Who knows. Either way, hope you figure it out eventually!
*hugs*?

glodson
:D I hope your wife was suitably and sufficiently penitent. ;)
449

PSG (pharmscigrad)

11 March 2013 at 1:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

That, glodson, is precisely the sort of reason I am a horrible role model and/or enforcer of rules for all people young… the temptation to laugh is just too much for me to resist far too often.
450

Beatrice (looking for a happy thought)

11 March 2013 at 1:07 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*hugs* for Portia
451

rq

11 March 2013 at 1:07 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

As for Boogieman, I was hoping for some dance lessons from him, but I suppose it’s just not to be!
(Is there a Boogerman, too, in addition to all the other B-men? Buggyman? Bugyman (what’s a bugy, or should I ask – how is one bugy?)? This is a path of questioning I had never before imagined.)
452

Ogvorbis

11 March 2013 at 1:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

*shrug*
It was a theory about the non-triggering aspect, as in – you can get angry for a multitude of reasons, but that one topic didn’t trigger you this time… Previous exposure, maybe? Who knows. Either way, hope you figure it out eventually!
*hugs*?

Again, it could be. I don’t know. If I ever figure out why I am so screwed up, my life’s work will be complete.

Damn.

Now I wonder. Is there anyone else out there who feels like they are spending so much time dealing with failure, dealing with abuse, dealing with pain, dealing with the side-effects of life that life itself is passing by?
453

Beatrice (looking for a happy thought)

11 March 2013 at 1:13 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Well, I’m not dealing with abuse, but I’m wasting my life despairing over how I’m wasting my life.
454

glodson

11 March 2013 at 1:19 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

rq

She offered a cookie to the little one. So I would say so.

PSG

Yea, I laugh too often. But it is hard not to, as she is such a sweet little girl. Last year, she was worried some guys working on a building would jump off because they wanted to play with her as we drove by. Not sure where she got that idea.
455

Ogvorbis

11 March 2013 at 1:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Beatrice:

Sorry. I need to remember not to share little bits like that. I didn’t mean to hit you with splash damage. I apologize.
456

rq

11 March 2013 at 1:24 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

As long as Bougie-man is alive and well, my night will forever be well-lit.
457

PSG (pharmscigrad)

11 March 2013 at 1:27 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oh yeah Ogvorbis, some days I feel like I’m so busy being sick I don’t have time to live my life. Well, between that and working to keep myself afloat, I definitely have little time or energy to enjoy the life. I have actively put off taking care of some conditions because I just don’t have the time and energy to be ill with so many things simulataneously, which seems to baffle the folks I have mentioned it to. “No, you must take care of ALL your problems right away,” they insist. Heh. With who’s spoons? What’s worse is I don’t have the joy for life as much as I once think I did… before.
.
I can’t say I haven’t wondered, in a darker moment or two, what my life might have been had I not had to spend so much of it *unwell* – and I’m not even that bad off on the scale of relative sickness, since I can still hold down a full-time job and all.
458

Beatrice (looking for a happy thought)

11 March 2013 at 1:27 pm

Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal

[Lounge #407]

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