The Minnesota Atheists’ talk radio show this morning (9am Central) is all about gay marriage — we have a discrimination law suit working its way up the ladder in this state, trying to reverse the official homophobic policies around here. I think we should just bring in Jamie Kilstein to tour the state and explain the situation to everyone. That’ll straighten everyone out. No, wait, what’s the opposited of straighten? Kink everyone up?
(This video is NSFW, at all.)
@ Minnie The Finn #474
But it is wholesome family film!
@ Kitty [various]
How to say this without sounding like a spoil sport?
It is good to teach the little kitteh not to bite and scratch people as soon as possible. You can either shake Snip gently by the scruff of the neck (like a mommy cat) or stop playing and ignore it as soon as it starts. It will fairly soon learn this is not a good idea. It is also better to play with the cat via toys, so that they become the target.
It is also important to trim the claws from time to time. If you have not done this before, get someone experienced to show you how as you can easily hurt the cat. Scratch posts are a must for indoor cats.
/pedantic
Every kitteh has a trick. Try different things to see what your cat’s is. (eg Molly fetches paper ball – much like a dog.)
Is there any noticable difference to before, I mean without the heads cut off?
Still, take care
Talking about hurricanes, the few months I lived in Cuba, there were 3 hurricanes.
The first one was not that strong and passed over the area where I lived.
We made sure we had enough water before, and biscuits, but it was OK.
The second one passed between Havanna and Pinar del Rio. The firce was brute. I saw the electricity poles crumbled like sheets of paper.
Then there was Iván el Terrible. This hurricane was the “honoaray category of hurricanes” and I experienced a true hurricane precaution scenario. Yep, those evil commies don’t think it’s your private business to keep safe. So I got a very frightening crah-course in emergency meassurements. I’m still amazed at their profficency.
Well, the models showed an 80% chance of this one passing directly through our area, but in the end it thankfully took the 5% chance route of basically wandering around the island. God must love Fidel Castro.
Bachman and Perry (and the rest of the teabagging wing of the GOP) are quite similar to hurricanes: unpredictable, unstable, violent, destructive, and very, very, very expensive to clean up after.
Good morning.
Off to the eye doctor with Wife.
Apropos of nothing:
The computers are down at work. Bah.
Today is already shaping up to be a total winner.
Yea, I know how to get him to stop – had cats all my life. Still can’t help catching me every so often with one of those claws.
Got a post, he’s a bit too squirmy to cut his claws right now though without hurting him.
@theophontes:
Snip loves his little catnip-bag toy. Will run around the apartment with it in his mouth and he’ll throw it and jump at it.
Classical Cipher – Those “moles” could be skin tags. In which case, having them scab and fall off isn’t a big deal. Either way, I doubt it is urgent.
Breast milk ice cream… no thanks. Milk picks up the flavor of what you eat, so it would be very difficult to create a consistent flavor, I would think. Unless you regulate the diet of the milk “donors”. And, would PETA want only vegetarian milk donors? And milk donors who don’t drink/eat cow’s milk products?
Breast milk ice cream: Better to invest the resources in banking surplus breast milk and getting it to babies who need it.
Gah, I hope so. Not just for you being near the coast, but for me who will be driving down that way this weekend.
Stupid hurricanes.
In case you’ve not seen it before:
Door to door atheists working Salt Lake City (preceded by a rather epic rant)
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!
My environmental biology class has an optional field trip. I was about to get excited about this, when the professor anounced the dates for the trip. Guess which weekend it is.
*glares at Pharyngulites*
y’all are costing me a week of hanging out with environmental scientists at Yellowstone
*cries*
O.o
that might have come out a bit more assholish than I meant it. But I am quite unhappy with that coincidence :-(
To all suffering with health issues, potential natural disasters, and caring for loved ones with their own health issues: my thoughts are with you. I’m at a loss to know what else to say. Happy monkey!
When I got Bitsy (a year ago!), it was tiny scratches on my neck. She liked to tuck her head under my chin, hug my neck with her paws, and knead. She still does it, but has (mostly) learned to keep her claws in; but sometimes, when she’s sleepy, she forgets….
–
Yay!
–
I agree. I was justifiably frustrated but still wrong. I appreciate being pointed out as wrong, which is why I like commenting here.
I’ve deleted quite a few things where I realize I refereed to gender or relation and either never sent or re-edited. It is a fun thought experiment to see how much gender plays in our concepts of identity. Also have to say there is some satisfying liberation in having some instances where you’re not put into one of those buckets; not with anything in regard to gender queer or transgender but just enjoy the idea of not being separated from 50% of the population in discussions. Don’t know if that made any sense
——————————————————-
@Dyslexia
I have it, and I tend to actually read well on the whole. It’s just writing or reading isolated words that I have problem with. Words in isolation can look like other similarly spelled words, but I don’t have that trouble when reading something in context generally as my brain seems to autocorrect. Writing, I have trouble translating spoken word into written word, and since I tend to accidentally flip the order of characters misspellings can look right to me; I make the effort to try to check the spellchecker as much as possible.
Didn’t this topic come up recently?
@Therrin:
ROFL!! Poor guy. I think the old woman was better though. Least he has a sense of humor about it. For a little while I was getting weird mailings about “so you’re pregnant” “donate your placenta.” While some days I have dreams about being pregnant (or alternatively get really depressed about never being able to be) – I’ve not got the equipment with which to have a baby.
I have a confession about cats and claws/scratching. I’m kind of afraid of cats.
It’s weird because I like critters and have been very fond of individual kitties belonging to friends and family. But I’m extraordinarily cautious around them, particularly when they get playful. I almost never touch a kitty’s tummy when they roll over for fear of claws. I do NOT like their retractable claws, and will go to great lengths to avoid them.
I blame a family friend when I was little. She had a devil cat and we came to visit her when I was still immobilized with metal splints at night to correct my inwardly rotated leg bones. Said devil cat liked to attack people while they were sleeping; being very young, inexperienced with cats and effectively bound led to misery and massive anxiety for the duration of our stay.
Ah, yes, the dreaded Kitten Belly Trap; so deceptively innocent-looking! So fuzzy and pettable! You are quite right to approach them with caution, for they have claimed many an unwary victim.
–
Speaking of Rhinebeck, it looks like I can get down to about $780 (€540) if I go Thursday-Thursday and fly via Toronto.
Still can’t afford the hotels, though.
Sili: email me, because there are definitely options. oniongirlsays at google mail dot com.
Yes, this is the reason I don’t touch kitties at this point, but even when kitties flop sideways and stretch out lengthwise, I’m pretty nervous about tummies. It’s those claws…you may not see them, but then suddenly BAM, they’re in your flesh.
We have two cats, brother and sister, he enormous (18+ lb.), she smaller (9 lb.) He loves to be petted, will love you forever if you scratch the top of his head, but will bite if you try to rub his stomach. Which we don’t. But once in a while if he is feeling especially cuddly, he will like it if I simply place my hand on his chest and leave it still; then he wraps his front legs around my wrist and hugs me. xo
Really, he’s like a little dog. I work at home, and he will literally follow me everywhere all day long. When I’m at my desk, he is on the floor next to me or (more often) on the chair next to mine, which is *his* chair. If I get up, he gets up and follows me. He’s a sweet cat who lives for love.
When Mr Quodlibet comes home, the cat responds to the sound of the car by going to sit next to the back door to wait. The his sister emerges from wherever she’s been hiding during the day, and the two of them sit and wait for Mr. to come in. They look so cute with their tails stretched out in two parallel lines. They love him. xo
Did anyone else in the Northeast United States just feel an earthquake? About thirty seconds of slow wave on a northeast to southwest axis (or that is how it felt).
Okay, 5.8 in Virginia, about 3.7 miles deep under Mineral, Virginia.
How long before the right wing Christians start screaming that this is Obama;s fault (pun intended)?
@Brother Ogvorbis
They’re doing work in my building, so I thought it was that!
No I felt the whole building rock back and forth just now!
Thanks, SQB!
+++++
Anybody who’s comfortable editing their killfile script should follow SQB’s instructions, and also delete the line at the end that says:
window.addEventListener("load", autoCheckVersion, false);
It’s preferable to use SQB’s method, because then you have one killfile that blocks the same commenters across various both sites.
+++++
Anybody who’s not comfortable editing scripts, install this second killfile, made using SQB’s discovery. Keep your old killfile too.
Searchable comment numbers are updated to play nicely with the killfile.
+++++
Greasemonkey scripts are now being stored at http://pharyngula.wikia.com/wiki/Greasemonkey which is edit-locked to prevent tampering by trolls.
Weird feeling, neh? Last time I felt an earthquake was back in late 86 up in New Hampshire.
Earthquake!!!
Damn, haven’t felt one of those since I left LA 15 years ago. Gets the blood pumping!
30 miles northwest of Richmond, VA. Upgraded to 6.0.
Hm. Heart of the bible belt gets slammed again. Who’da thunk it?
I thought I was about to lose my lunch, then realized my chair and desk were both oscillating. I was working in my cellar surrounded by flimsy plastic shelving units that were all wavering back and forth.
This is the first tremor I’ve felt ever. Now I don’t have to move to California.
Thank you thank you, SQB and sgbm!
*killing*
Mineral, VA, is not too far from the towns of Bumpass and Cuckoo.
No, you cannot make this shit up.
No, didn’t feel anything here in Southeastern Connecticut (where we’re keeping an eye on Hurricane Irene).
I was playing Super Scrabble with the Wife. Long, slow waves. Weird. Made me feel a little ill.
Brother Ogvorbis,
My house (CT) just creaked in an unusual way – I actually got up to investigate the noise. Wonder if that was a tremor?
And there was just a large (6.0?) quake in Colorado a half hour ago…
I can often feel the minor little tremors that occur here, especially if they occur when I am lying quietly in bed. Mr Q never believed me, until I showed him the reports on whateved gov’t website repors those – haven’t looked it up in years, can’t remember. But they go on all the time.
Here, near Pittsburgh, it was a single quick lurch. Felt like something big had hit the house, but there was no impact noise. I spent some time looking out the windows and wondering what the heck it could have been before I saw the “breaking news” bulletin on Yahoo!.
I should add that my house just creaked MORE LOUDLY than usual and from places that don’t usually creak. Creaking usually happens at night as the house cools, not during the day.
USGS already has the basics up: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0005ild.php
I’m alright. We evacced the building for like… a minute.
Sorry for the over reaction regarding the earthquake. This geoshit excites me.
Can I call this my first earthquake, up here in NYC? I felt it, and went and filled out the “did you feel it” crowdsourced mapping forms at usgs.gov.
And then started talking to my coworkers. Mostly it was people wondering about relatives in Virginia, but there was one person who was worried about Yellowstone. So I tried to explain what “due for” means in geological time, and the error bars on something like “about every 440,000 years.”
I was startled when the building fire safety director came over the PA system to tell us we don’t need to evacuate, but apparently at least some people in Times Square and lower Manhattan did leave their buildings.
Brother Ogvorbis,
I don’t think it’s overreaction! Same for the hurricane…or thunderstorms…or the amazing clouds that are over my house today. It’s all endlessly fascinating.
In my next life [just joking!] I want to be a meteorologist. I love weather.
See? “Safe and stabile”.
–
sgbm, I actually thought about forking it, but decided against it.
Another option would be for FreeThoughtBlogs to provide their own killfile, just for FTB. Possibly even storing everything on the server, instead of on each users’ machine. I use a number of different machines to read Pharyngula. A Dutch site I frequent, (NUjij.nl) does this and even provides a list of users by you to edit.
You’re not a Javascript developer by trade, are you? Perhaps we can come up with a better version.
The kicker? I don’t even use killfile — I use PageDown.
Earthquake!!!
Which was like, barely noticeable shaking, but still, EARTHQUAKE!!
Hmm, shakey shakey. Definately felt it in the Baltimore area. The nuts are already out in force on CNN and MSNBC saying it was a warning to congress from god.
Quick check-in: felt the rock n’ roll here, fairly mild. Did my duty and filled out the USGS form.
Also, Sili: email me re: Rhinebeck; there are a few options I wanted to tell you about. oniongirlsays at google mail dot com.
Yep, felt it here in D.C. It took a couple of seconds to figure out that everything was shaking. That is certainly something that sets the adrenaline going.
Ok, people. I could deal with the record heat. Record heat in Philly isn’t much to someone who has experienced record heat in Dallas. And the heavy rain…eh, it happens. But a friggin’ earthquake? A 5.9 on the east coast of the US? WTF? I’m starting to feel superstitious about this move…Of course, if god or gaia wanted to tell me something, s/he would have been better off sending an email than a series of weather events…
Checking in from Central CT: Just got home after my work site was (probably in an excess of caution) evacuated. I didn’t actually feel anything, but I heard the walls creaking; others around me reported feeling like they had sudden vertigo, or as if they were about to pass out. No visible damage to the building (not even any new cracks in the parking lot), but I suppose they’re going to be diligent about confirming structural integrity.
DaughterSpawn got a text-message alert from Yale; dunno if there was any damage there (but I doubt it).
Had dinner at a friend’s house … he served this delicious pasta salad. I am going to make it on Friday when my only normal sister visits me with her family.
BACON AND SWEET CORN PASTA
Boil 8 oz. farfalle or campanelle PASTA. Drain, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water
Cook 4 strips thick-sliced BACON until crisp. Use a large skillet. Drain the bacon on a paper towel, but leave the drippings in the skillet. :-)
Saute 1.5 cups chopped ZUCCHINI and 1.25 cups FRESH CORN** in the drippings until just tender, 5-6 minutes. :-) :-)
Add the pasta to the vegetables in the skillet. Stir in the bacon, 1/4 cup HEAVY CREAM, and 1/4 c. TOASTED PINE NUTS. Add a little reserved pasta water if needed to achieve a smooth texture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
** Fresh raw corn, cut off the ears. The recipe said two ears would be 1.25 cups, but that would depend on the size of the ear.
THIS WAS DELICIOUS and very pretty in the bowl. I am going to serve it with roast chicken and sliced tomatoes and a green salad.
Checking in from NYC: I felt nothing, but I live in a low-rise masonry building and not a big steel tower so maybe that has something to do with it. Local news info here.
SQB:
That’s what this is now, until Daniel Martin updates the original so I can put this one down. I just removed all other scenarios, and the update mechanism, so there’s no conflicts.
Benjamin Geiger already floated this idea, but as a WordPress plugin, written in PHP; that would probably be easier. I don’t think he wanted to get started on it without some indication from Ed or PZ that it they’d be willing to run it, and I don’t know if he followed up with them.
A Javascript option, without the FtB overlords’ help, would be to use cloud storage to store and sync each user’s killfile contents. (Cloud storage might be preferable from FtB’s standpoint even for a WordPress plugin.)
And no, I’m a Javascript thief more than a developer—luckily Daniel’s script was GPL.
Great, just great. I’m a brony. And I’ve never even seen the show.
Well, felt the earthquake here in NoVA, and didn’t know it was an earthquake until I heard it on the radio. I actually thought my car was shaking because the engine was about to stall!
Anywho, everyone here is safe, we’ve checked for gas leaks, cracks, etc..and there doesn’t appear to be any damage up here from it so I hope all the other Pharyngulites in the area are OK. (Also, DO NOT drive on I-66W right now, it’s closed).
Now they’re out in force on FB: “God is speaking LOUD AND CLEAR! People need to WAKE UP and heed the warnings all around us!…”
*headdesk*
I live in Delaware so I felt the earthquake. So, is this you guy’s first earthquake? This is certainly my first. It was quiet interesting. It felt like having a panic attack, whatever that feels like.
Philosopher, My Ass by Marina and the Diamonds (with lyrics)
Well, that was an experience. I could’ve sworn I felt something odd, and lo and behold, earthquake. Let’s just say that my brother now can’t say he would never live in California because of the earthquakes.
————————————-
Quodlibet: You too? I thought I was the only who could feel those mini-tremors, or that my mind was playing tricks.
————————————-
I texted J last night. He and M are coming home from the hospital today….with a baby sister for T! He put pics up on facebook, and as soon as he told me M had given birth, I went to look. I’m a little nervous about meeting R, I haven’t been around babies very much at all. But hell, how bad could it be?
————————————-
As for the nutcakes who are warbling about the earthquake being a warning from god, I love how they (deliberately) fail to take into account that the actual quake struck in the Bible Belt, whereas the rest of us just got the tremors following.
Just checking in to say that the M-Family is fine, although as we live in a not-all-that-well-built post and beam house, I do not want to go through another earthquake of that magnitude. I’m not quite sure why I’ve been away from TET for a while, but hope to get back. The main Pharyngula page, with its discussions of Dirty Girls and EpiRen is just depressing.
Indeed.
Do you really thin it’s a coïncidence that this happens in the middle of the most severe roll-back of abortion rights since Roe v. Wade? While Republans are stripping union rights, and trying to discriminate against homosexuals?
God is truly voicing his displeasure with the Fundies LOUD AND CLEAR!
Maybe the Rapture is finally here.
@Sili
Lol, irony!
@quodlibet
And God is going to rapture all the fundies and make the world a better place. YES!!
Speaking of God speaking to the Fundies, not that I’m happy that the Cathedral was damaged – but it is vaguely ironic that the National Cathedral seems to have been one of only a few buildings damaged.
We should be so lucky.
Classical Cipher, loved that link, read a lot of it out loud to Mr Kristin who also loved it, plan to pass it on to friends with spectrum kids. Thanks for sharing it.
Lone Coyote @471 I was almost positive it was a real Orang until I learned ALL the apes were CG (except the hairless ones).
Mr Kristin and I saw the clip on Colbert, I believe, that showed the chimp scampering and I said to Mr Kristin what an ironic shame it was that they’d used a real chimp (the movie industry is terrible for non-human apes, for which reason I don’t go to see movies that use real apes). Not thirty seconds later Colbert was asking his guest if it was true that the chimp had been CG. Just blew me away. And now, of course, I can see the movie :)
Speaking of chimps I live not too far really from a chimpanzee sanctuary with a neat blog: http://www.chimpsanctuarynw.org/blog/ The story of how the chimps came to the blog and how their lives have changed for the better is really affecting. They were pretty traumatized when they first arrived.
It sounds like Katherine has it covered but re: rough kitten play, about a year and a half ago I adopted a kitten with huge abandonment and isolation issues (he had to be quarantined when he was still very small). His comfort source for a long time was having parts of my hands in his mouth, so we had to arrive at a happy medium where he could do that and I wouldn’t be bleeding nonstop. I tried to teach him bite inhibition the way his mom and littermates would have, so when he was too rough I’d loudly yelp OW!, yank my hand away, sometimes unceremoniously deposit him on the bed or floor. When he was being gentle I praised him with the word “gentle”, and after a while I could use it as a reminder when I thought he might get carried away. He is a great big cat now but sometimes he still needs to hold my thumb or finger in his mouth :)
“Bachman and Perry (and the rest of the teabagging wing of the GOP) are quite similar to hurricanes: unpredictable, unstable, violent, destructive, and very, very, very expensive to clean up after”
I would say Democrats are like hemorrhoids; a pain in the butt. A phenomenon utterly without dignity.
Republicans (or to be specific, 90% of Republicans) are more like malign tumors. If left alone, they will grow and kill you. Viral strains that target the brain and alters behaviour (rabies) also comes to mind.
— — —
In regard to dyslexia, color blindness and other problems of “software management” in the brain, at least they leave the higher functions intact.
I think one of the most damaging conditions that aren’t actually connected to physical damage to the brain is anhedonia. If you have that, it will not matter you can see color, its visual input will trigger no more emotional response than gray.
I sometimes wonder if Howard Philip Lovecraft was partly influenced by anhedonia when he wrote his stories. They have protagonists who are immersed in a subtly twisted reality which is abolutely devoid of happiness and the only emotional states are fear and disgust.
I realise Lovecraft as a “pulp writer” tended to ignore all factors not directly connected with the flow of the stories, but he was nevertheless sensitive to atmosphere. He ascribed ominous qualities to everything, even when he mentions starlight he writes “the stars cast a malign light” or words to that effect.
That might be a significant clue to his state of mind.
I’m in Cambridge, MA (having arrived yesterday for the start of term) and I didn’t feel the earthquake, though the whole internet now seems to be talking about it.
=====
Katherine, yay for the new kitty!
=====
Carlie, sorry to hear about your eyeball. :-( A fluid-filled cyst doesn’t sound pleasant.
Walton:
Welcome to insanity. You’ll enjoy it here.
When you have the chance, stop in for dinner at Joyce Chen’s out in Alewife (just take the Red Line to the end). Trust me. Good food.
Wife (lived out in Lexington in Junior and Senior High School) suggests Legal Seafood and Durgan Park (Durgan Park is down in Quincy Market).
@Walton
You were too far away geographically. I was in Delaware, and I saw that most people could definitely feel a temblor. I heard they had to evacuate government buildings in Washington DC. I wonder how strong it felt there?
I’ve actually removed moles, myself, as well. Not quite the macho macho Coyote way, though.
I *checks dictionary* ligated them with some strong thread, and left them to wither. Didn’t quite manage to leave them alone, so they left a little scarring.
Didn’t get deep enough on my throat, so the stray hair that bothered me is still coming back.
There are still a coupla ones on my back, but I’m not limber enough to tie off those.
I’m doing this all the time. Gendered insults are still fairly ingrained in my mind, for instance. I used to freakin LOVE them. Because they were vile. I guess I was choosing to be vile for a long time, but now that I’m choosing a better way, it amazes me how much vile baggage I still carry.
Wow… that chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura is kind of depressing in a way. Sakura is on a short trip with her family and her love interest and when she’s out exploring she finds this big old mansion with a really sweet old man. Old man and Sakura become close and he treats her to tea and gives her one of his granddaughter’s old dresses from when she was a little girl.
Turns out the old man is actually her estranged great-grandfather who refuses to visit them because he was angry at Sakura’s father marrying his grandfather :(
So Sakura was visiting her great-grandfather the entire time and didn’t know it T^T
ibyea:
Probably not, actually. Friends of mine in the Boston/Cambridge area felt it and there were areas up here (Albany, NY) that definitely got a shake, too.
@Audley
Seriously? Do a lot of 6 magnitude earthquakes are felt that far away or is it due to the fact that this quake was shallow? Jeez, I can’t imagine what a 9 magnitude earthquake would be like.
Wait, what?
“Yes, Virginia, there is an Active Fault.”
@Owlmirror:
Grandfather = Granddaughter, sorry. Was gonna fix it but got distracted.
Sakura’s great-grandfather (GG) was angry at Sakura’s father (F) because F married GG’s granddaughter.
My first ‘real’ earthquake was interesting to say the least. I have no idea how powerful it really was. I just know I could feel it moving under me like a wave, going from east to west.
I could hear it rumbling in the east, the ground shook and rumbled for a bit, and then on it went fading into the west. Almost like an earthquake doppler effect. I found that really interesting.
ibyea,
Yup, totally serious. We had news reports on it and everything. :)
A couple of my friends (one in Boston and one in Cambridge*) mentioned feeling the tremors this afternoon on their facebook feeds.
*Come on, MA, are those really two separate cities?
Oh, do pay attention, please.
Oh and to answer your question, ibyea:
I have no idea. We occasionally have very mild earthquakes around here, but I can’t remember a time that we’ve felt one from so far away.
ibyea
It depends on surface geology.
For example, SoCal is such a mass of faults and fractures that an earthquake on one tends to be absorbed or diffused by others, so that the shake distance is less.
The east coast, however, is one large plate with some minor interruptions but nothing to really dampen the shake. So, a quake is going to be felt much further.
I think the difference is probably about a full point: the Northridge quake was felt about as far away as this one was, relatively speaking, but was a 6.7. There’s a huge difference between a 5.9 and a 6.7.
Rorschach, I’m being picayune, but
isn’t accurate. The receptors face the correct way, it’s just the retina is turned inside out.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Carlie, go see an optometrist IRT your cyst. Better than a GP for eye related problems. Chances are the optometrist can treat it. (It might just in involve warm compresses, which you can do now. DO NOT PRESS)
@Audley
Maybe Cambridge and Boston used to seem separate, but they grew to the point where one or the other are indistinguishable. It kind of makes me think of Incheon and Seoul in South Korea.When I see both cities in a map, their boundaries are pretty much stuck on each other.
Carlie,
I work on OCT machines and these are the kind of eye cysts you should be worried about, but listen to the Sailor. DO NOT PRESS!
And go see an eye doctor.
http://www.optometric.com/article.aspx?article=70792
sigh, still figuring out the hyperlinks on the new blog.
Hi Walton!
SQB & SG, I has killfile! Thank so very much. :D
Ah, suburban living. You can only tell which “city” you are in if you see a “entering city X” sign. Solid urban/suburban/exurban all the way down the Lake until around the tip. The names change to share the graft.
ibyea | 23 August 2011 at 5:33 pm
From here:
Mean girls: Tiffanie Drayton, Michele Howard and Wendy Buenger repeatedly used mocking nicknames for many of their colleagues at the Iowa Civil Rights Commission in e-mails they sent throughout the workday, according to copies obtained by The Associated Press under the public records law.
+++++++++++++++++
sparky-ca, Heidelberg and OptoVue have both given me access to the raw data on our Spectralis and iVue OCTs. I’m writing software for my Uni to automate segmentation. Today was the first day I got it to work on large image sets (140+ slices). Parallel processing on a distributed network was the key.[/brag]
Salior,
You working with Mike S. on that? We should talk offline about that software program you are writing.
Molly thread could use more OM noms, I reckon.
Wife’s father has just been diagnosed with cancer. He’s 72 years old, in pretty good health, but has ‘moderate’ prostate cancer. He’s not sure how aggressively he and his doctor will attack the cancer.
CC, conga rats on the Molly!
++++++++++++
sparky-ca, nope, not Mike S., no one with those initials in my lab(s).
It’s kinda cool stuff and I’m working with several faculty members that are doing different areas of research, but it’s a problem that’s common to all of them. (Measuring the volume of the foveal pit in normal/aging/AMD patients is one application. Measuring the curve of the RPE in an OCT star scan and determining sphere & cyl is another. (we call it the most expensive autorefractor ever made;-))
+++++++++++++++
Brother Og, of friend of mine had the same diagnosis at the same age. I was commiserating with him and he said he hoped it’d kill him.
I was shocked.
He said his Dr told him that would take at least 20 years.
(I hope that came out right.)
p.s. loved the Obama’s fault
linepun.Wait…what?
Unless its stage 3 or 4, wait and see is a good option.
Brother Ogvorbis, not good news, and my sympathy for that.
FWIW, treatment is better now than it ever has been.
@Ing:
Already explained it above *rollseyes*
Rare state funeral for Jack Layton, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party. Jack was the face and voice of the party for years, moving up from Ontario to federal politics. The NDP is the party of health care, labour unions, socialism, and women’s rights. It has never been in power but is currently, for the first time, Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.
from facebook
would you please shut up
Brother Ogvorbis, sympathies to you and your wife.
spondee, still reading? Do you want to talk about what happened?
Oh no! That’s definitely a tempting alternative.
Thanks, Walton. Glad you made it in safely!
The Sailor and sparky-ca –
The ophthalmologists don’t want anything to do with me. It keeps shrinking sometimes, but then getting big again. I don’t know what the heck is going on. I’ve had cysts before as allergic reactions, but much larger and only lasting a few hours. I’ve described it in great detail on the phone with the ophth. offices and they don’t seem to
think it’s a big deal. I have to see my allergist tomorrow, so I’ll see if he can strongarm me in anywhere.
Good idea on the optometrist, though. I know I can get into them sooner, so if the allergist doesn’t work I’ll stop by there and make an appointment.
Strong possibility I’ll be going to the get-together in October. More details as they come.
My first Pharyngula meeting and it looks like it will be an all-star event! That place will be meatspace Pharyngula for that weekend. (Weird, since Mabus is also in a meatspace Dungeon.)
I am about to Marjanović the thread, except that where DDMFM has substance, I have semicoherent babbling… Yay!
Glad other people loved it too! I think it’s a wonderful resource and I hope it someday becomes a children’s book, when/if ever Mom-NOS is less busy and overwhelmed. I want to show my mom regarding my brother, but I always get kinda concerned about how well she’ll respond to me implying that he’s possibly autistic. (I think we both are on the spectrum, and I think we’d both be well served by learning some of the techniques that are used for spectrum kids.) I’ve mentioned the possibility before and the responses always seem to be inexplicably different, so I’m reluctant to bring it up again.
Cool! I mean, not cool, but cool! I seem to forget how this works pretty often, because I feel like I’ve learned about it before, but it’s really interesting. Thanks for the explanation.
Yay! *dance*
Thanks :) I really hope that I get around to writing it soon. It’s tricky because I have to write it after everyone’s gone to bed, but I’m trying to lower my caffeine intake so I have trouble staying up and thinking clearly late at night.
…And some people. *coughs*
Oh, that would be lovely. But I don’t think they are – I don’t think that’s what they look like. Oh well. Hopefully it’s nothing.
*envious sniffle* And I don’t get Pharyngulites or Yellowstone!
Seconded!
It makes sense to me. I’ve considered trying to go more gender-neutral with my posting style – y’all know I’m a woman, but in the troll-infested threads the non-regulars need not know – but I find it’s too hard to relate my experiences clearly without revealing my gender, and weaponizing my experiences is often useful to me.
Awesome idea :) Thanks!
Eeeeee! *hug hug* Are you nervous? Are you excited?
Well, don’t beat yourself up too much about it. We’ve all got it – it comes from society and it’s hard to get it out. I’ve talked about my inner misogynist here before – you’d be shocked what kinds of horrible things go through my head on a daily basis, every time someone makes me angry.
How I read it.
:( *dispenses hugs, chocolate* I’m sorry to hear this and I hope he receives the best and most discerning medical care.
Thanks!
—–
I had a bad morning. I agreed to do something that I now think I’m psychologically incapable of doing without damaging myself. (I’m supposed to go to my friend’s party, where I’ll see a bunch of people from college, and won’t be able to leave if I need to. I will be under pressure to behave as the person I was in college, plus pressure to perform socially, plus I’m fairly likely to experience some flashbacks/obsessive thinking as a result of seeing people that remind me of college, plus I won’t be able to go anywhere safe if I need a break. I am afraid that I won’t be able to hold myself together and maintain a stable sense of my new identity, for lack of a better term, under those circumstances.) So I started getting overwhelmed and panicking and melting down, and I’m still kind of on the edge of it. And I tried to explain it to the one person in my non-Pharyngula life that really should understand and he totally, massively didn’t. :(
Aww, that’s no Marjanović, that’s teeny :)
Why the quake was felt so far out.
Classical Cipher,
Other than the first enumerated, you’re supposed to be under such pressures. :)
Take a lead from Dexter.
(Whyever would you now supposedly behave as you did in college?)
Because the friends all only know me from college, and they liked that person, and they don’t and can’t know why I would be very different now, only a year or so after they last saw me. (I haven’t told them what was happening to me during the last year of college, and no one would be served by them knowing.) They would likely find my behavior confusing and distancing at best, actively mean or angry at worst. Also, just because something’s supposed to be a normal part of normal people’s lives, that doesn’t mean I’m prepared to cope with it, or that I should try to do it. I’ve been very careful to get better at my own pace, and not put myself into situations I can’t handle, and that’s been working for me. This is far off schedule – it’s like trying to take the final two weeks into the class. The only way it could be a stupider thing for me to do is if I were actually visiting Ann Arbor.
Classical Cipher,
Works both ways, no?
You think they think they you think they should behave as they did then?
(If you don’t, maybe they don’t, either?)
[sigh. Garbled, but I hope it’s evident I meant
“You think they think you think they should behave as they did then?”]
I expect them to. I don’t think it would be bad of them not to, unless they were mean now, but I expect that they will. I believe they feel the same way – that when they come to pick me up, they’ll expect to be picking up the same person they knew before, and they’ll expect to be able to relate to me in the same way that they did before. I think they’ll be disappointed to learn that they can’t. And that’s sufficient pressure for me to feel it.
Katherine
Your kitty looks a lot like my kitty!
Mine is dark gray where yours is black.
Mine has more white on her face and a little hitler moustache.
Anyway, squeee!
Holy shite! I was watching the Dirtygirls thread at work o-0.
Reminder to self – never write Truth Machine again. Never.
D’oh!
Sorry folks, didn’t feel a thing out here in Oregon. *smirk*
Classical Cipher – My last friends that knew me from school would be thunder struck if they met me now. Foaming at the mouth fundie to atheist.
[They’ll generally be unaware that you’re Classical Cipher, OM!
I have every confidence in you, your trepidation notwithstanding.]
Classical Cipher
Is there anyone in that group of college friends who understands PTSD and flashbacks?
It is very frustrating to explain that its much more than simple anxiety, especially if you know your behavior is odd and you are powerless to stop it.
Congratulations on the Molly!
*SQUEEE* at kitteh. Ze looks like my next door neighbour’s kitteh, who I met amusingly. The first time that our kittens were allowed out unsupervised, 2 kittens went out, and 3 kittens came back! Our older cat looked at her, then looked up at us in disgust. It was hilarious, you could almost see the thought bubble: “What? You expect me to put up with ANOTHER one of these annoying things? Wasn’t two bad enough?”
Ok, here’s a challenge – make me a sandwich!
This is from the Rhett Daniels douchebag thread, in which he claims to have invented the bacon & avocado sandwich – or at least inventoried it. Now the LBGT sandwich is a very fine thing – lettuce, bacon, guacamole, tomato. But what I want is a GLBTQI sandwich! Quince and Icecream are out. My best option so far is adding Insanity hot sauce and using Quinoa bread.
Done with net drama. Sleep.
Classical Cipher – I don’t know your story, but if your PTSD is caused by US military service it is compensable.
The VA bigwig today made it sound like a trip through the merry old land of OZ, which is BULLSHIT, I’ve never seen a PTSD case go straight through, file claim = pension. But it can be done.
so i was reading the dragon age novels as i thought it might be useful backstory for the game
the first one is so wretchedly bad
the second is pretty good though
now for Pyramids by Terry Pratchett, at this rate I may finish all of Pratchett’s books by 2020 or so!
Carlie,
Let me know offline if you need help at3sparky at the google mail. I know some people who can look at that. Hell, if you were in Nor Cal, I’d scan you myself.
Sailor,
I work at one of those companies you mentioned and I was trying to figure out which clinical application specialist you were working with to get the raw data scans.
Horde in general,
Jane Yoland is under attack by the Tea Turds! Here’s a link to the Democratic Underground story because I am NOT linking to that freakshow’s webpage. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439×1788791
*Hugs, Ing* :(
Shala:
I don’t know from dragon age, but an excellent series about a dragon (sort of), is the Dragon Knight series by Gordon R. Dickson, starting with The Dragon and the George.
My dear departed and I used to read the Dragon Riders of Pern books by the boat load.
is the Dragon Knight series by Gordon R. Dickson, starting with The Dragon and the George.
oh dear Caine, piling up my book pile of already massively huge piles already :D
I did obtain The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo recently as well, so it looks like I’ll have a lot to go over this Fall in any case
Pratchett’s writings are also making me consider the Gormenghast trilogy that he references at times.
Thanks for the recommendation as usual :)
Patricia:
I have all of them. I liked the Talent series better. I’ve also read the Generation Warriors books.
I don’t necessarily think she’s a great writer, but they’re sort of like potato chips to me: filling, something to munch on when you’re not so much interested in eating as just distracting yourself, with brief moments of “oh, hey, that was a really good one.” But I feel the same way about the Dune books.
It’s Jane Yolen.
Here’s the original story: http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/city-hall/article_caac1ac0-cb69-11e0-8fa3-001cc4c03286.html. It’s an interesting interview with Yolen.
Doesn’t seem to be anything to do with the ReThug hysteria that followed. Those folks can sure work themselves into a lather about nothing, can’t they.
Richard – Yep! We read the Dune books too. I have the movies & sound tracks of Dune, but I’ll be darned if I can find the movie with the Bulldogs/Pugs running about in a herd. I’m an unrepentant Bulldog lover.
ClassicalCipher: I’m actually going through something similar, though not exactly the same. It’s kind of depressing me tonight, really.
My only IRL circle of friends is this christian group. They still invite me to hang out now that I’m not christian anymore, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that they just think I’m just gonna convert back some day. (Not gonna happen. Even if I believed the christian god was real, I DO NOT COWER AT THE FEET OF BULLIES.) Either way, I’m hoping to start dating again, and it’s not gonna happen in a circle of people who consider it a point of pride not to date sinful scumbags like me. (no one has actually called me a sinful scumbag, and they do ‘act nice’, but the implication is there.)Even if one of them were to become attracted to me, they’d just buckle down harder and try to ‘resist temptation’ so God will give them a bigger mansion in heaven.
I don’t want to pull a pity party, I really don’t, and that’s pretty much exactly what I’m doing, but I just dunno what to do.
I wish I could find a group or circle IRL out here that is into the same sorta things I am, and not tainted by religion.
Part of it is my own fault I suppose…. anyone who’s been following my comments at all knows, I’m pretty damn strange.
@ Lone Coyote
I know how you’re feeling. I have very few friends where I am (however, I’m lucky enough to have once that aren’t overly religious). I have a hard time making new friends. I tend to challenge people when they say something stupid or silly. Most people don’t like that.
If Atheists Acted Religious
(via Leigh Williams)
So, this is probably -the- wrong place to ask (and I mean that lovingly), but if I wanted to join a dating site (bear in mind the whole gay thing, which is probably more easily worked around than the whole asocial-aspy-ADHD thing), any recommendations on which? I see OKCupid tossed around a lot. I’m also hesitant against things like M4M, since I know quite a few people who just use them for hookups (and while I don’t condemn such, that’s not necessarily my thing and I don’t know if I want to filter).
txpiper being an ass on the other Pharyngula:
Taking a page from Dan Savage, what sexual meaning should ‘txpiper’ come to mean?
I tried dating sites. Epic fail. Doesn’t work for me. OKcupid was the one I used. It did absolutely nothing for my self esteem issues.
However, for a gay man things might be a bit different. It seems more gay people use dating sites for hookups, I’m assuming because IRL ‘just hitting on people’ is… somewhat dangerous? for the gay population. So I’d give it a shot. (and please tell me if I’m speaking from ignorance/privilege here)
Sorry, what I meant to say was, it seems more gay people use dating sites in general. I know you said you’re specifically not into ‘hookups’.
Well, I’m in Los Angeles metro area, so I’ve got some breathing room on the whole “safety” end. Still, it’s harder, since it’s usually isolated to certain environments which I don’t generally visit unless I’m with friends (namely, bars and clubs; for someone allergic to alcohol, those are bad). I used to meet a lot of people at coffee shops, but most of those in the gayborhood closed down.
So, just looking for alternatives. I’m also trying to find non-alcohol hangouts in the area, but that may be a unicorn hunt.
Yeah, that’s another thing… seems the only alternative to religious churchy shit is this really bad partying scene out here. A lot of teenagers now in their mid 20s, if you know what I mean.
@Lone Coyote
Where do you live that your only alternative to religion is partying teens? Texas?
Starstuff91: Chilliwack B.C. And it only seems that way to me. I know that’s not how it ‘really’ is. Sorry for generalizing like that, I’m just feeling low tonight.
That said, the partying scene here is pretty horrible.
Most of it is my own fault. I don’t really like the same things other people like, it seems. There’s no predefined group for weird critters like me to join up with.
I can fit in with people online great, and I really truly love how pharyngula has accepted me with open arms, weirdness and all, but I’m not so dumb and naive as to assume that the same people who like talking to me online would actually want to be in the same room with me.
Why would you assume that? You seem like an interesting person. You may think you’re strange, but I know that I, personally, would much rather hang out with a strange person than a normal person. Strange people are much more interesting, and I like interesting things and people
Thanks Starstuff91. Now if only I could meet people like you or classical cipher IRL, my problems would be solved.
I guess what I’m wondering is if there are any irl groups in Chilliwack or Sardis that are like this. You would not believe how many churches this town has.
@ Lone Coyote
Is there a secular/atheist/skeptic/freethinker group in your area? You could maybe look into that.
Closest one according to my 2 second google search is 25 miles away. That’s a HELL of a long way to walk. I’ll keep searching.
@ Coyote
I found this one. Not sure if that’s the one you found, but here it is:
http://www.meetup.com/Centre-for-Inquiry-Atheists-and-Skeptic-Meetup/
I suppose I could walk to Abbotsford. It’s not impossible. Maybe I’ll try.
You seem like an intelligent, nice person to me Lone Coyote.
TY Patricia.
starstuff91 – Well said.
Lone Coyote – There aren’t any atheist groups in my town, and as you may know (if you’ve been here awhile) I am being shunned by my old church. The fuckers are stalking me with prayer. o-O They have traced me to my volunteer work at the veterans office.
So take heart, you are one step ahead of me!
@Coyote
No car? Me either. Do they have a bus line or something?
Also, was it just me or did pharyngula not load for a bit?
@ Patricia
I haven’t been on long enough to have seen what you’re talking about. Where do you live?
First of all, I’m going to say right now that I may not have to go to that party after all, and my own panic had very little to do with why. (So I don’t have to feel quite so terrible for backing out of a commitment.) It turns out that, my brain being very poor at scheduling, I failed to realize that I have actual family obligations that day. So I messaged my friend to let her know that that day would be hard for me, and ask her if perhaps I could see her at another time.
Hehe! Well, we quite adore the new (not actually all that new, but as compared to former) Patricia. And the journey from there to here is part of what makes you so freaking awesome.
Thanks for the confidence :) And yeah, they will be unaware of Classical Cipher, OM and all, which is actually kinda part of the problem – no kidding. I’ve got new values now, built from worse than nothing, learned in large part here on Pharyngula.
Likely, but unfortunately, then I’d be pressed to explain when and where I acquired these so-very-interesting symptoms. And explaining that is complicated when the person most responsible was and remains dear friends with all of my college friends. (No, he was not going to be at the party. I checked.)
Yes, it really is. And it’s harder still to explain that when it’s compounded with pre-existing anxiety and odd behavior. And thanks!
No, fortunately I have been spared the horror of going through combat trauma. Following a mutually destructive relationship with a narcissistic bully who didn’t really get that whole “consent” thing (or that whole “honesty” thing or that whole “empathy” thing or well, fucking anything), I had a second relationship, for reasons that were incomprehensible to me at the time and make only slightly more sense in retrospect, go suddenly from nearly perfect and happy (from my perspective) to nightmarish and utterly devastating. Even when I eventually cut the person involved out of direct contact, he still had reason to be at my house constantly, and I was forced to decide between sharing the whole story with the many people I lived with – and subject the story to their gossip and judgment, as well as hurting the people he was ostensibly there to visit – and enduring his constant presence and occasional “friendly overtures” for the rest of my time at college, with both of us knowing I had repeatedly told him to stay away from me and he had ignored it. I chose the latter; things went about as well as could be expected; and college is over, and here we are.
:( *hug* You need more Pharyngulites in your life, Coyote. That’s the answer.
Sounds like it, CC. And thanks. BTW I never did congratulate you on that Molly, did I?
Well, if anyone happens to be travelling through chilliwack at any time in the near future, feel free to look me up.
starstuff91 – I live in Oregon. I was a member of The Brethern church of the old believers, a fundamentalist, snake handling sect out of Kentucky, home of my ancestors.
I have left and renounced the church, so I am a pariah, the whore of Babylon, and because I am a widow I am now the Jezebel soul sucking home wrecker abortion loving succubus sin loving lesbian anal sex spanking child molester bestial skull fucking baby eating puppy kicking tampon sucker ball buster castrating female homo of the decade.
Oh, and did I mention Jesus loves me?
Congrats to Classical Cipher!
I read this amusing line from FB (edited slightly by me):
“Dear Math,
I’m sick and tired of finding your x. Accept the fact that they have gone, and move on!”
#594 Brother Ogvorbis
My dad (78) was diagnosed earlier this year. His PSA values were pretty high, but he also has a very large prostate (something like 3x standard). He’s chosen to do brachytherapy (radioactive seed implants) at this place in September. I spent some time looking up studies on efficacy, and it seems to be a reasonable option. The most important considerations were life expectancy and quality of life in deciding how aggressive a treatment plan to use.
The coolest part so far (have to be upbeat about something) have been the MRI scans. He got this CD with a program that lets the user run through the slices, and do all sorts of contrast adjustments. It even rendered a kind-of 3d model from the images! I had a great time pretending to be a radiologist identifying the various bits.
—
On friends, I don’t have a lot in my area, either. I’ve thought about looking up a few people I knew in high school, but they’re mostly Republicans (that didn’t seem like such a bad thing in the early to mid 90s). I get by with on-line* friends that I met gaming (we’ve met a few times outside as well).
*Much like e-mail, my hyphenation is often based on whether the spellchecker gives me the angry red underline.
Thanks to the reminder of Monckton’s existence, I’m now imaging a large pink portcullis hanging perilously over this thread.
@ Patricia
Oregon is pretty at least. I visited there once upon a time. I’m sorry you’re having a hard time finding like-minded people in your area. Sounds like religion has been very unkind to you in your life. I’ve been lucky enough to have a pretty nonreligious upbringing. Reading about what other people in the community have gone through makes me appreciate this more.
Classical Cipher – I’m glad your PTSD isn’t due to military service, even though that is what I have experiance in helping with.
Mine isn’t either, although it is due to the military.
*hugs*
Unlike Patricia, I haven’t encountered any outright hate from the church. But I’m a hetero male, of course, no matter how much I might loathe their concept of a great big douchebag bullying asshole in the sky who throws a shitfit if people don’t devote their lives to kissing his ass, there’s always ‘still hope for me’. More of a subtle sort of condescending thing… it’s like “ooooh poor you, if only you’d stop bucking the system and submit to God…..”. No one’s actually said that, but it’s definitely implied. They make me feel like a charity case of the worst kind. Poor sick sinner, but that’s OK, Jesus loves him anyways, and he’d realize that if only he’d submit and get in line!
Yeah, sorry. Trying not to be ranty, self pitying, or depressing tonight. I slip into that mindset all too easily.
@Lone Coyote
Don’t be sad. Do you want to hear a story about me being mean to an annoying religious person to cheer you up?
You’re not coming off that way to me at all :) *second extra hug*
*hugs back for Patricia*
Well, I’d better go to bed now. Goodnight, Thread!
But before bed, thanks again to all for the niceness about the OM :D I am cheerfully sparkling glitter dust on everything. Yes that’s what I said, and yes I’m sleepy.
G’nigh Classical Cipher!
starstuff91: it might help… :)
Starstuff – Good for you! Not having a life sapping religious bunch of fucks in your life is a win.
I am versed and cursed.
They tag my car, they leaflet my house, they leave phone messages to ‘help’ me, they call my family, they send letters and emails to the church leaders about my whoredoms, meaning who’s dick I won’t suck.
Yeah, Jesus loves me.
Story time!
So, it’s the day after Obama was elected and I’m at school before classes started, in the library like usual (I was still in high school at the time). So, a girl who was friends with one of my friends comes in and hears our discussion about the election. Now, I was pretty happy because I wanted to vote for Obama (but I wasn’t quite 18 yet). So this girl comes in and starts rambling about how this is a sign of the end times and Obama is the antichrist. My friends start to look at me because they know I can’t just let someone say this without calling them out on it. I tried not to say anything, but I just couldn’t stop myself. So I called her ignorant of national politics and I think the words “crazy” and “insane” might have come up. I also said that the only reason she believed these things was because her parents do and I doubted weather she had actually given it much thought. After insulting me she runs out of the library and my friend ran after her. My friend came back in a few minutes later to yell at me and tell me how mean I was for making the girl cry. I told her that if the girl wanted to state her opinion in such a public manner, she would have to defend it like an adult. Well, my friend didn’t appreciate this and decided to tell me what she really thought of Obama. Let’s just say that after what she said about him, we were no longer friends and a mutual friend of ours was also crying. Also, later that day, the principal made an announcement to the school about an “incident” in the library and how we shouldn’t talk about politics in school.
@ Patricia
Can’t you contact the police? It sounds like harassment to me.
Sweet Cream Jesus I’ve hit 666 in the comments twice!!
I shall retire to my tuffet, drink champagne, and enjoy stroking my rabbit.
Starstuff – are you serious? Contact the police about religious people harrassing, and making threats to atheists in Oregon? Good luck.
@ Patricia
That’s ridiculous. The police should help you no matter who you are or what you believe. Have to tried to file any reports?
Nice, starstuff91. Recently some idiot posted some bible crap about some prophet of God calling down ‘heavenly fire’ and burning a bunch of unbelievers.
I told him how fucking sick I thought that was, that he was salivating and getting all excited about burning with ‘heavenly fire’. He was like “no, it’s a metaphor! The fire of the holy spirit burns away unbelief!” or something.
Then his buddy joins in and is like “I believe as we come closer to the end Times, God will give us these abilities again!” or something. So I was like “Oh yeah, and who would you torch first asshole? Abortion clinics? Homosexuals? That guy who cuts you off in traffic? Me?”
Then he gave me that “Jesus loves you, and I’ll be praying for you!” crap. And I fucking LOST it. I was one pissed off primate. I believe the phrase “Smug, grinning, condescending, murderous, genocidal piece of shit” came up. The original poster ended up deleting it all. It was pretty great.
It’s incidents like that which are making it harder and harder for me to hang out with christians.
sorry, forgot to clarify that it was on facebook.
@ Coyote
What site was that on?
these assholes really don’t know consent from a hole in the ground, do they. frightening.
Ah, I see. I would have unfriended them after that. I’ve already blocked a few people from my friend stream that constantly post stuff about how great god is and how we’re all sinners.
Starstuff91: I’m very in touch with my animal nature. I am a male primate. And sometimes, I like to smile like a chimpanzee.
As such, I’d much prefer to rip into these fuckers any chance I get rather than just block them out. I’ve at least accomplished something: I know one or two sick genocidal murderous assholes who won’t mistake me for their buddy-roo ever again.
If they’re wise, they’ll block me. :D
Anyway, forget about Facebook. It’s all about Google+ now.
@ Lone Coyote
I know how you feel. People like that often make me feel like this: http://tinypic.com/r/2zoch6o/7
nope
The problem with Dune was that the protagonists were so ruthless they were mostly as bad as the “bad” guys. And the weird ecology of the sand planet went beyond the power of “wilful suspension of disbelief”. Don’t get me started on the absence of computers.
By contrast “Hiero’s Journy” was a bit silly but fun to read.
— — — — — — —
I just read that the commission that is supposed to look for shenagians in the bank foreclosures has fired the New York attorney who was most aggressive in pursuing the truth. The Obama administration previously tried to get him to support a deal where the banks get amnesty in return for money (but much less than what the banks would be likely to pay if the investigations continued). The Obama administration, throwing someone under a bus again.
@ Jadehawk
Yeah, it’s having a few initial problems, just like any website would. I was just kidding about forgetting facebook, though. Facebook will probably stick around even as Google+ becomes more widely used. And even with their issue with the Real Names Policy, it still offers better privacy settings and a more effective way on communicating with large groups (circles and huddles) than facebook.
not if you’re a target of that policy
News about Strauss-Kahn case, (link).
Any thoughts? I still find it inexcusable that any lie ever told be the accuser (lies not related to the case) means loss of credibility while the same doesn’t apply to the accused (at least when the accused is a rich white man).
My real name is Caleb, but I answer to Cale.
I don’t give a single shit who online knows this. But I do take exception with google trying to force me to give it out. Internet anonymity is a right, not a priviledge, IMO.
Yes, it’s pretty shitty for them. But the more people talk about the issue (reasonably), the more change Google will fix it. Google has a pretty good history of listening to the complaints of the people who use their services and actually making a change. You also have to remember that Google+, even with as many users as it has, is still in invitation mode; it’s pretty much still in beta and they’re working out the kinks and introducing more features.
@ Lone Coyote
Anonymity is a great thing and I agree that it should be fought for. However, Google+ is a social network and when you create an account you’re expected to share at least a minimum of information (with Google+ that minimum is your real name). If you want to remain anonymous, there are plenty of places you can still do so. This site is one of them.
That’s supposed to say chance, not change. That probably makes more sense now.
Starstuff91: Well I’m certainly not about to ‘boycott google’. I just haven’t felt the need for a google+ account. Yet.
Ouch. So they really are stupid enough to have a no-pseudonyms policy without a reliable method of finding out if a name is a pseudonym.
Be sure to read page 2. And check out the kitteh photo there. ^_^
…Meanwhile, a Camorra boss was arrested in Spain, at the Costa del Sol, a few hours ago, because photos of his holidays had appeared on Facebook. AFAIK, a buddy had simply posted them.
@ Coyote
There’s usually not a real need for any social network site. But I personally find Google+ to be superior to facebook in almost every way.
so is facebook, and getting booted off facebook doesn’t take away your books, documents, e-mail, etc.
IOW, until they stop being assholes, they’re decidedly not a safe place to be.
And quite frankly, the “If you want to remain anonymous, there are plenty of [other] places you can still do so” is a dangerous mindset. Pseudonymity and Anonymity are being restricted all over the internet (see new SB policy for bloggers), and being that blazé about it will bring the end of anonymity and pseudonymity on the net that much quicker
RE:- Google +, Charlie Stross has a post on his reasons for not using it here http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2011/08/why-im-not-on-google-plus.html, the comments are good as well.
Isn’t that silly?
you don’t work on the internet, do you
@ Jadehawk
Yes, lack of anonymity and privacy is a very common problem with most social networking sites. Facebook is hardly saintly when it comes to privacy and anonymity concerns. I’m not saying that Google shouldn’t change the policy (I think they should) but I don’t think they’re trying to take away privacy or anonymity. It’s a mistake and they still have the opportunity to fix it.
Why the excuse “It’s still in beta” doesn’t work:
If an unsuspecting internet dweller opens a g+ account and for some reason doesn’t meet the expectations of g+ overlords (either the real name policy or gets reported for something), they don’t just lose g+, they lose everything google related. I’m sure most, if not all people, who signed up for beta testing weren’t aware of that possibility.
No, I don’t. And neither do most people using social networking sites like Google+ and Facebook.
@ Beatrice
I’m not saying that it’s not a problem. I’m just saying that they’re in the early stages of the development of this thing. They should and hopefully will fix it.
bullshit
do you think a company that has forbidden their employees from talking about an issue is likely to do shit about it?
lovely. so fuck everyone who isn’t “most people” eh?
@starstuff91
And I’m saying that it’s not a little glitch, it’s a huge display of dishonesty towards consumers. I can’t believe a firm that big can make such a mistake, and keep doing it. Time passes, people all over the network complain, but there is no apology or comment about change. It looks like they stand by their policy.
Incidentally, our Data base people might find this amusing
http://qntm.org/gay.
I find the Google + attitude to names to be a typical case of US/Western cultural Imperialism.
@ Jadehawk
I think you should calm down a bit and stop misrepresenting what I say. I doubt that Google is going to keep Google+ exactly the way it is now, nor do I think they’ll never change their policies. I also don’t think they should “fuck everyone who isn’t “most people””. You know very well that I didn’t mean that.
You seem to think that I’m in support of this policy even though I’ve said that I’m not. All I’ve been trying to say is that that can and they might still fix this problem.
I’m just a baby compared to real internet dwellers, but if I had signed up to g+ (luckily, I got an invitation after all hell broke loose, otherwise I would have probably signed up) and for some reason got banned, I would have lost all my google documents, gmail, contact with a couple of google groups (people whom I talk to there I would have no ability to contact since I only have their mail addresses on gmail). And that is only a teeny tiny bit of google services. People can and have lost much much more. Google should have thought of that before banning people left and right, or at least informed them of the possibility when they were signing up.
Hmmm… I guess I won’t be signing up for this google plus stuff for a LONG time then.
Is that an excuse for the major screw up they started with? … And still haven’t changed or apologized for.
I
It’s not an excuse. They fucked up, big time. All I’m saying is that they can still fix it and they might still fix it. I feel like a broken record right now.
I say to hell with Google Plus then…. but it’s not like a person can exactly ‘boycott google’. They kind of own most of the internet. :/
@ Coyote
There are alternatives to most google services. Now that I’m thinking about it, Google usually goes into a new field to become the alternative of something else; they never seem to pioneer something new, they just seem to try to perfect an already existing service.
I’m entirely calm, thanks. I do note that you’re using “you’re being emotional” as an argument though. And no, I’m not “misrepresenting” you.
how would I know that, when what you say shows something entirely else?
actually, I said you’re being too blazé about it.
Please… for the love of everything that is right in the world…
Tell me that the local paper got the DSK story wrong and it was DSK’s defense and not the prosecution that called into question the maid’s story.
—
Re: Google+:
I cannot go on the Internet under my real name for fear of being thrust into the open in a situation that I’m not ready to let my parents or work know about. What is Google thinking?
—
Set: An abysmal 3 minutes, 13.
@ Jadehawk
I’m being too blaze about it? What do you want me to do, start a full-on boycott of Google services? I’ve already said I’m against their policy. There’s not much else I can personally do other than close my Google accounts.
If you’re not misrepresenting, then what do you call this? Because that’s certainly not even close to what I said and it’s not a very reasonable interpretation of what I said either.
it’s entirely reasonable, considering the chain of posts that lead up to you making the comment that was a response
to
Inexcusable, yes, but not surprising. At least it seems likely Strauss-Kahn will not be able to stand for President of France: his approval ratings are down from 50%+ before the scandal, to around 25% now. There’s still a possible charge of attempted rape against him in France, as your link notes, and even among French who do not believe he committed the crimes he’s accused of, his recklessness has, according to an article I saw (can’t recall where), made many decide he is not a fit person to run the country.
@ Jadehawk
That was not reasonable conclusion. I just answered your question and said that most people using these things don’t work on the internet. That does not imply that I think Google should ignore the problem or that what they did was ok. I actually said earlier that I though Google should change their policy.
for starters, you can stop referring to a deliberate policy (one they’ve banned their employees from talking about, or even publicizing) as a “kink” and “mistake”, as well as minimizing the impact it is having on people’s lives.
you’re confused, since that’s not what my comment was about. it was about your minimization of the effect this is having on people
I never tried to minimize the impact it had on people. I said that it was shitty. I can imagine that it was an awful thing to have happen to you and I sympathize with the people who were effected. I never said, nor thought, that the policy wasn’t intentional. What I’ve been attempting to say (maybe not very successfully or eloquently) is that I doubt Google did this to exclude a group of people. Yes, they were thoughtless about implementing the policy but it probably wasn’t intended to do what it did. By this I mean that they probably didn’t want people creating “fake” accounts or spam accounts. It’s terrible that they didn’t have the thought to realize that this would effect real people in such a way. And I also don’t think they’ve handled this problem very well. They should talk about it and fix it, like they’ve done in the past. I would probably even go as far as saying that this is the worst they’ve ever dealt with a problem. And this is probably one of their biggest issues yet.
@starstuff:
Er no. Google implemented this policy so they could collect information on you. That’s it. They want real names they can link to real addresses and real shopping habits and real searches so that they can turn around and sell that information to some company.
That’s it.
So, google fucked up big time, but we shouldn’t be that hard on them because…..um, because.. starstuff91 says we shouldn’t. That’s all I’ve got.
FWIW, I don’t find it inconceivable or even hard to swallow that a large corporation like Google would abuse its power and try to exclude a ‘certain type of people’.
I know it sounds kinda stereotypical, but I simply do not trust corporations, politicians, or rich old guys.
*sigh*
as a response to an article about how google almost completely fucked up a person’s ability to do her job:
as a response to “anonymity is a right, not a privilege”:
as a response to me pointing out that some people DO have a rather large need to be able to access social networking sites, because they work on the internet:
you’re minimizing aplenty; maybe not on purpose, but that’s not really relevant.
That’s not what I’ve been trying to say. At this point, I’m just trying to make you guys realize what I think, not how you should feel about google. I personally said google “fucked up big time”. I didn’t say you shouldn’t be that hard on them. My original point was only that this is an early version of this service and that I hope they change the policy. Be as hard on them as you want, I don’t really care.
what she said. it’s pretty much the same as facebook in that regard, but at least on facebook, you do have the option to not give out your real name
“New York Attorney General Kicked Off Government Group Leading Foreclosure Probe” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/23/new-york-attorney-general-eric-schneiderman_n_934517.html
…..aaand another principled Democrat gets thrown under the bus.
Hi there
@Brother Ogvorbis
Urgh, that’s bad. Best wishes for your dad-in-law. But so far all the men I know about with prostate cancer are out and about.
@CC
Maybe you want to think about whether those people really are your friends and worth the time and especially the stress going there.
I know that’s easier said than done, but if they don’t like the new and improved CC, they’re not your friends anyway.
*hugs if you want them*
@Katherine
Sadly I don’t think so (from what I’ve heard on the news).
We can now all ponder upon the question what would have happened it a rich white lady had had a similar encounter with a poor black jaintor…
@personal
Nothing new about gran. The jury is now out on whether to operate or not.
And I wished that thunderstorms weren’t that loud
@Jadehawk:
Funny that I find myself defending Facebook, but I honestly appreciate their practice more than Google+.
I think Mark Zuckerberg is an ass and wants to destroy privacy, but I at least have the option of my separate lives not being smashed together in a way that makes my family shun me.
@ Jadehawk
Fine, I’m minimizing everyone. Because I hate bloggers and anonymity and people who prefer to use pseudonyms for whatever reason. I think Google should take all the informations and sell it to all the corporations.
Or maybe we’re just having a breakdown in communication here. I didn’t intend for my comments to sound like they were minimizing the impact of this policy. I was just trying to make a simple, no offensive point and now I can’t even remember what it was.
you’re an idiot
Relax, starstuff.
@ Katherine
Facebook has tried to integrate itself into as many things a possible. Zuckerberg has actually said that he wants everyone to have one online identity. Facebook and Google are both just as bad with privacy. That’s why I prefer myspace (is that even still a thing?).
@ Jadehawk
I was joking. If you’d read the second part of my post, I think it would clarify what I’m saying. Also, I don’t appreciate being called an idiot. You should know better than to attack someone’s intelligence when you’re having a civilized debate.
@Gillel:
Then who the fuck was on trial at the DSK thing?! Was the maid on trial?! Why was her attorney calling into question the veracity of the story? Isn’t the the job of the defense?
Jesus FUCK that’s disgusting.
NEW THREAD!
See? and all this is exactly WHY I don’t trust corporations, politicians, or rich people.
never has a point of mine been so well illustrated.
Jadehawk, starstuff91, I hate to be an accomodationist but you’re BOTH right.
Katherine,
Her lawyer (in the civil case) didn’t question the veracity of her story, at least as far as I understand it. It was the New York prosecutors who had doubts about her.