Some days, you just have to listen to the whales singing.
(Episode CCLXX: Just like heaven.)
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Some days, you just have to listen to the whales singing.
(Episode CCLXX: Just like heaven.)
Tethys, you were the one triggered by TET drug (discussion) wars earlier. Everyone else has stopped, I stopped because you were triggered.
Either drop it or be prepared to have it take over the whole fucking discussion … again.
So, I’ve been dealing with side effects from my antidepressant. I’m on 30mg Cymbalta daily right now, and for the first time I’m actually suffering from notable side effects. Specifically, drowsiness and dry mouth.
Drowsiness I can handle, I think. Dry mouth is a bigger issue. It doesn’t bother me during the day, since I always have something available to drink, but at night, my throat dries out and gets sore.
Thing is, I don’t know whether it’s doing any good. I haven’t noticed any benefit, but I haven’t noticed any benefits to any other medication, either. At least I know this one is doing something, even if it’s not something I want…
Rush Limbbaugh tries to tie the Penn State scandal to Democrats but
Santourm
Easy. If the crime is masturbation, or sneezing on the sheriff’s uniform, or not praying to Jesus with sufficient reverence, prison as a last resort is draconian. If the crime is drug use, that is also draconian. Being “a last resort” doesn’t make it any better.
Harm to themselves? Why would the state get involved, except for offering treatment?
Harm to others? Depends on the type of harm and the circumstances, doesn’t it? For example, ruining personal relationships is harmful, but isn’t a criminal offense. Shooting someone in the face, however, that’s already a crime, and it isn’t the same crime as drug use.
@ad hominum:
If you had that as a .sig or something, it might really help.
(Oh, smiley or something.)
I get the Socratic method, but it’s tough on a blog, right?
—
Not sun-related but enjoyably noisy:
Cubanate – Oxyacetylene
I’m eager to learn more about pierogis. I quite enjoy the bland manufactured version you buy frozen in big bags and pretty much only come with potato based filling, so I can only imagine the real thing will be amazing.
I looked at some of the MN drug statutes.
The penalties for first-degree sale/possession:
How “progressive” of them.
This one’s just ridiculous:
One can’t sell or deliver simulated controlled substances either. These are “noncontrolled” substances, which you merely represent as being a drug. No more than three years or a $20,000 fine, or both!
Sailor
Yes? I’m fine now and appreciate your concern. I do not wish to take over TET as implied in the disclaimer, and tried to make clear that my reactions were irrational.
I really don’t know much about rotary engines, and I like Chai.
Perhaps we could discuss sailing?
Consciouness Razor
I agree with you on both points.
Ad Hominim
I sincerely apologize for my deliberate insult. I have great respect for you and your thoughts and in no way mean to imply that drug use or abuse is inherently immoral or criminal.
Consciousness Razor
My original point was that in my experience, people who have committed crimes under the mitigating factor of drugs are offered help for their issues.
I have no problem seeing the official laws as products of the failed and draconian war on drugs policy.
Cupcakes.
Tethys, I would not have sailed today on my boat. It was gusting 15 to 35 kts. It’s a moot point because at my marina we have to have out boats hauled by Nov 1st.
I would have gone out and crewed on a friend’s racing boat. A 32′ blue water racing boat.
We sailed once in gusting to 60 kts. It was … adventurous. We had basically a handkerchief for a foresail and the main was kept dowsed. It would have been more manageable if we’d had a full crew that day, (6 crew), but only 2 others were willing to ride. Ah, good times, good times.
Oh, go eat a cactus dipped in habanero sauce, Delgaudio! Spines and all! I think some arsenic would be a nice touch to that meal. And then you can wash it all down with a whole of bottle of tequila laced with antifreeze!
——————————–
Vodka in my Sprite. Delicious. I’ll try whiskey next time.
——————————-
Which is better for working while traveling, a tablet or a netbook? Or is a laptop better than either?
——————————-
I’ve now got a picture of a beholder sitting in the pad of graphing paper I use for practicing spirals and peltas. Let’s just say that lately, I’ve wished I could summon one for real. Maybe then work would be more bearable.
Irreligiosophy is quitting the independent podcast business. Two things: there’s leftover debt that maybe some of us could help with; and maybe FreeThoughtBlogs could host an archive of the site.
Benjamin, I suggest a bottle of water by the bed.
Sailor
I have little experience in sailing, though I do find it to be very interesting. I tend to appreciate silent sports. Is blue water a synonym for open ocean sailing or is it referring to water depth?
60 knots? Whoo-eee!
I used to live on the Mississippi, and several friends had speed boats. Jumping barge wakes can be great fun. The landings, not so much.
There was a couple that owned a gorgeous antique wooden sail-boat that I greatly admired. They spent most summer week-ends anchored in a river back-channel near my home. There were many wonderful evenings spent on that boat.
Caine
cupcakes? *sigh*
Ben – most antidepressents have to build up for a few weeks to reach full strength, I think? I’m glad they’re trying something that at least is having side effects, so the dosage is probably closer to correct than what you’ve had before. (hugs)
Caine: Is it a bad thing that that picture you linked to made me really hungry? :) (If I’d made that image, I would have placed Hispanics directly below African Americans, considering the depressingly high levels of often open discrimination and racism that they face)
PTI – if you’re talking ipad-like tablet, the main complaint I’ve heard from tech people is that they need the tablet and their laptop to get any work done (so no, the tablet doesn’t cut it)
consciousness razor:
My understanding is that such laws are on the books because a pusher busted with fake drugs (usually scamming addicts) can’t be held under existing scam laws; with this, they can still get busted for “doing something bad” even if it’s not really selling drugs. I don’t know that that justifies it, but that’s my understanding. I could certainly be wrong.
PTI:
Depends on what you mean by “working”.
Android and IOS tablets are mostly good for checking email and browsing the web. If that’s “working”, they’re fine.
Windows-based tablets are a little better at business-type email, especially if you deal with funky attachment types, but you still run into the problem of needing a keyboard for anything longer than a sentence or two. They’re absolutely amazing for certain graphics work, though.
Netbooks have a built-in keyboard, but they’re not suited for anything that requires a decent processor. The size can also be odd for some people.
If you’re looking to do normal “sit at the desk” type office work on the go, I’d get a 10.1 or larger windows tablet (like the EP121) and a bluetooth keyboard. If you’re a developer, get a full laptop. If you just want a larger blackberry, an Android or IOS tablet is fine.
Full disclosure: I have a 4-year-old Windows tablet (they were called “slates” back then”), a 2-month old Android tablet, a netbook that I shipped to someone but used a bit, and a 17″ desktop replacement for work. So, I’ve got a bit of experience :)
Ben,
The effect antidepressants have can be subtle. For me, it was simply the realization that one could view the world in a way other than a depressed state. After 2 years I went off the antidepressants and found that I could accomplish the same thing cognitively… most of the time, at least.
Sailor, On engines–piston, rotary, steam…how about Stirling. At present, its only application is on submarines (because it is so quiet), but it is the most efficient engine, and both Ford and GM had programs for development. Said programs were always sh*tcanned whenever either automaker decided to “concentrate on its core business.”
Not sure who owns the IP on this now.
Dr. Audley, Good on you! Think of all the Polonium-210 you aren’t inhaling
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/143/3603/247.abstract
Tethys, blue water is ocean water. It’s tough out there.
++++++++++++++
Ray, Stirling Engines seem great for coffee cups, and can be great for interplanetary exploration. In a gravity well, eh, not so much. I could be wrong.
Good to hear it! What deflated it in the first place? (Not coughing, I hope!!!!!)
–
I can’t decide what’s funnier, Greg Laden’s FB rant or Rebecca Watson’s new blogpost !
Argh, some weird link failure occurred, try again :
skepchick.org/2011/11/kurt-metzger-totally-pwned-me/
rorschach, you can’t drop the http:// -part or FtB interprets it as an internal link.
Ah thanks, that explains it !
cicely, I’m afraid probably yes, it was the coughing, or the infection behind it. I had a very bad chest infection which triggered new adult-onset asthma. The coughing may also be responsible for a small hiatus hernia, though it’s possible that was there before. CT scans are amazing, you discover just how full of odd bits and bobs you can be. Cysts and nodules and phleboliths and all sorts of crap. No ostriches yet.
Damn, Alethea, that’s some superhero-grade coughing there.
“Don’t mess with me – I can make lungs collapse with just my breath.”
If only it worked on other people… there’s a few candidates out there.
Good news: PSU board fires president and Paterno
Another point about the Cymbalta saga: my dosage will be doubling to 60mg in a few days.
Monado:
I don’t wake up during the night; I just wake up in the morning and my throat is so dry it hurts.
I’m going to get a humidifier if I can find one that isn’t ridonkulously expensive.
arids:
Yeah, that was my impression: at least I know this stuff is doing *something*, even if it’s something I don’t want. Maybe that means it’ll start working properly eventually.
####
My alarm clock is acting up, so I’m looking at getting another. Thing is, if I’m going to spend that much, I want something good.
Features I want, in order of preference:
* A LOUD alarm. (When I say loud, I mean loud. I want the kind of alarm that’ll make my neighbors wet the bed.)
* Large, bright numbers.
* 24-hour time display. (I’ve set my current alarm to 5:30 PM too many times.)
* Multiple alarms.
Any suggestions on models to look at?
*snerk*
“851. When plumbing the depths of depravity, I must remember to come up for air.
852. Any superhero offensive to more than two major religions is vetoed.
853. Even if I’m faced with yet another Get of Fenris Lupus Ahroun, I will not refer to him as CliChe Guevara.”
From Things Mr. Welch Can No Longer Do in an RPG.
Good riddance. I hope they sell his statue at Beaver Stadium for scrap.
Here’s what makes me ill:
I wonder when these students will realize they’re defending the enabling rape and abuse?
Nervous American Voters Worried About Botching Another Election
Probably not until the news outlets start actually referring to what happened as “rape”.
I was thinking of their resemblance to crows.
Right, that’s part of it. Some don’t realize they’ve got fake drugs, so that isn’t quite a scam; but this lets them get busted anyway for intending to sell drugs and failing to do so. But there’s more. Breaking this law is pretty easy. If something’s just packaged in a way which looks similar to how a drug is packaged, without any sale or attempted sale occurring, that is apparently evidence they were doing… something.
Doesn’t really matter what the crime would’ve been, I guess. You never know with these alleged low-level street dealer types. We can just be sure it would have been some kind of crime, and that the hypothetical victims would probably appreciate them being kept in a prison for up to three years for not having committed it.
More on the Nu Skin story, and the way the dirty nasty scam money is being passed around, this time to Mitt Romney’s PAC, Restore our future:
Excerpt above is from http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/60329.html
The book that Nu Skin executives managed to get banned from Barnes & Noble and from Amazon has shown up on a Japanese site: http://www.nuskintrophy.com/
Mother Jones mentioned Nu Skin in an article about Jon Huntsman back in September:
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/jon-huntsman-pyramid-scheme-mlm
Excerpt:
Huntsman took Nu Skin executives to China and introduced the MLM there.
Huntsman did the MLMs even more of a favor in Utah:
As bad as the influence of piles of cash are in the political arena, I think it gets one more layer of evil when the piles of cash fertilize mormonism. Mormonism seems to teach businessmen to be unethical in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. All that talk about honesty is a false front.
———
Update: and just now, when I went back to check the article on the Mother Jones website, the site seemed to be being slammed with a DOS attack or something … “server having trouble” — will check back later. There’s a second article about Romney, the Mormon Church, and Nu Skin.
The Sailor re language acquisition
I know all the syllabics used for Japanese plus several hundred of the ideographs.
I cannot compose a Japanese equivalent of, “Yesterday I went to a movie that I read about in last month’s Playboy.”
For whatever that’s worth.
Maybe everyone should learn that Alpha Bravo Charlie stuff.
—————
Ben Geiger
As long as you are going big-bucks on an alarm clock, get one that wakes you every two hours so you can take a drink of water.
Fuck sleep disruption!!!!
In an attempt to avoid losing prominence in the wake of the Penn State scandal, teachers at a Catholic school in Florida are fired for REPORTING child abuse.
Nu Skin-related articles still not available on Mother Jones site:
Here’s the link; http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/mitt-romney-nu-skin-mormon-church
And here’s some of the text from another source:
No separation of church and business. No separation of church and state.
———-
Update: Mother Jones server back up, but still iffy.
Teh Kitteh has grown into a 4 kg strapping youngster, and her claws into terrifying weapons of cloth and skin destruction. While I bleed from many little wounds it’s still nice to have her on my shoulders warming my neck while I write this. =^.^=
Hey Physics types, I have a question ! I never thought I’d say this, but I think I understand the (special) theory of relativity now. Just one thing, how did Einstein figure that he should use Lorentz transformations ? Does anyone know ?
Chump change. They should be bleeding the fuckers dry.
Melvin Gibbs is a genius. Rollins Band – Disconnect
Never been a fan of Henry, but just listen to the effortlessly brilliant bass track.
But chigau, can you say:
1. Last month I read Playboy Magazine.
2. There was an article about a movie.
3. Yesterday I saw that movie.
Parataxis (TM), helping non-native speakers communicate for millenia
(As a linguist, I of course decry that teaching of grammar is often not done well in the language education sector.)
Lorentz transformations follow from the postulates of special relativity. Here’s Einstein himself on how to get Lorentz transformations. If that gives you trouble, here’s a (somewhat) simplified derivation similar to Einstein’s.
(Personally, I prefer the group theoretic derivation.)
Maxwell’s equations, which govern electromagnetism, don’t hold under a Galilean transformation. Lorentz found his eponymous transformations by looking for a way to preserve Maxwell’s equations. Einstein had read some of Lorentz’s work and I believe that’s where he came across them.
And when I say “Never been a fan of Henry Rollins”, I mean “please Henry drop that clue-by-four, you don’t know what to do with it.”
Just for a quick example, Rollins Band’s greatest hit Liar. Musically, it’s abso-ma-fucking-lutely brilliant. But if those lyrics are Henry’s idea of how a liar’s psyche works it’s just rubbish.
Perhaps it’s easier to listen to music that creates an atmosphere instead of preaching silly things.
Ufomammut – Hozomeen
pelamun
yep
I can say the 1, 2, 3.
but I would really like to say the more complex sentence. Without having to ‘translate’.
This is, of course, almost impossible.
To paraphrase that great linguist scholar Dave Barry, “The best way to learn Japanese is to be born in Japan to Japanese parents.”
theophontes,
based on your recommendations, a little app review
Architecture Digest
They have “AD Deutschland” as an app, but as far as the American version is concerned, only “AD Kitchens”
The AD Deutschland app allows you to buy both the English and German versions for $6 a pop.
There’s also an app for the China edition, but it seems to be focused on style.
Domus
No app for the magazine, but they have Domus guides for particular cities, Milan, Beijing, New York and Berlin, for $5 a pop. Only the Milan one is universal.
While not a magazine, this is exactly what I need when I go on an architectural exploration tour in a city. Instead of schlepping guidebooks, it’s nice if you can have the data on your device, through the GPS map you can see immediately which buildings are near you.
(Domus has a China edition, looks interesting; compared to the AD China edition, this seems to be more about buildings than interior design)
L’architecture d’aujourd’hui
You can get it through Zinio (French version only). $18 per issue. Wow.
Wallpaper Magazine
iPad app. $10 per issue.
(Subscriptions might be cheaper. But the reason I use the iPad for magazines is that I occasionally want to read one)
Fuck, and I think I actually know what that means ! Thanks !
Essentially, what the STR says is that the time between 2 events, and the distance between 2 points, is not independent from the motion of the reference frame in which they are measured.
Still trying to get my head around the fact that a measuring rod in a moving train is shorter than the same rod on the footpath next to the train line.
chigau
I think it always depends on what your goals are. At some point you will get to a point where you can’t progress any more without constant immersion. If you’re not in Japan right now, and do not interact with Japanese speakers in Japanese on a daily basis, then this will be hard.
But you can do:
(0. Review vocabulary regularly – you need to have something to fill the grammatical patterns)
1. Learn the grammar well. I’ve met some people who learnt a language “on the streets”. While they can get their points across effectively, their grasp of grammar can be lacking, and their sentence structure garbled, especially for those complex sentences you speak of. Make use of learner’s grammars, for “big languages” there will be books especially for intermediate learners. Identify areas of more complex grammar you want to focus on.
2. Apply those grammar bits regularly in an environment where you can be corrected. If you don’t have a teacher that reviews your conversational performance, use a writing platform such as lang-8.com
3. Expose yourself to material every day and look how the structures in question are applied. Manga, anime, newspapers, novels, what have you.
I also don’t think that Japanese has a very complex grammar. It is just quite different from Standard Average European (SAE), with many syntactic rules “backwards” from a SAE point of view. The fact that Japanese has the most complex writing system ever known to humankind obscures the fact that the grammar itself is not that complex. I mean only four and a half irregular verbs, learners of SAE languages will laugh about this.
Live Coverage of the South Africa-Australia Cricket Test Match
Nothing better to put you to sleep on a warm summer night. Or cold winter night for you folks on the wrong side of the equator.
pelamun
Sometimes I think it may be a problem with my native language.
When challanged to write a “journal”, I often end up with, “The weather was nice today.”
so when I do my Japanese journal, I get the same;
今日の天気かいい。
chigau, if you don’t mind me asking, what actually ID your native language? :D I’m sure you have mentioned but I tend to forget
Weed Monkey
English, of the Western Canadian variety.
chigau,
of course your native language will create what’s known as interference effects. So for your particular example, you need to review topic-comment structures in Japanese, and practice those.
It might be different for every person, but at some point it will make ‘click’ and you will start thinking in the target language. (this is my unscientific opinion based on anecdata)
But I can only recommend lang-8. You don’t have to write a journal in the classical sense, it can be about anything, if journals aren’t your thing.
I’m UTC -7.
I must go to sleep.
pelamun, thank you, I’ll be back.
So as an SAE native speaker, learning another SAE language is infinitely easier than learning a language that is typologically and lexically quite different.
Thus, interference effects can be a huge problem, and a great deal of effort needs to be made to address those. A German speaker can mask their ignorance of English rules by using the same structures as in German, and more often than not it’ll make sense to an English speaker (unless they say “Waiter, I want to become a steak”). No such luck in Japanese. If you ask me, this point should be hammered home right from Japa 101, starting with the lesson that YOU DON’T START EVERY SENTENCE WITH “WATASHI” IN JAPANESE (/rant).
In case you haven’t seen it yet : Oops
rorschach:
LOL. So which one was the third agency he forgot?
I’m UTC+2 but it’s about time to get some sleep too.
Rollins Band – Civilized
pelamun, according to The New York Times:
It’s gotten to the point where Perry would probably be better off not doing the next one thousand Republican Presidential debates*.
*Seriously though, there’s been a lot of them and there are plans for a lot more.
Looking up, it seems like this was the NINTH Republican presidential debate. Ughhh. Bill Maher recently said it resembles a reality show and I’m beginning to agree.
First Approximation,
Thanks. Yeah, 9 debates, that’s crazy.
But the debates have been effective so far in eliminating Pawlenty and Perry (though there’s still a small chance for him) so far. Also in showing America how crazy those teabaggers really are.
iPhone + docking station?
Like this?
Will the American populace mind that Perry didnt remember which other essential governemnt agency he wants to shut down ? I hope so, but I won’t hold my breath.
rorschach:
FWIW, Perry’s numbers HAVE been falling also because of his dismal debate performance.
language learning
I always earn surprised looks when I tell my students to search their 400+channel digital TV for some Spanish ones and watch the children’s program.
But getting people off translating is hard. And it makes them crash into walls every time. Not only because gramatical structures are different, but also because their ability in their native language of course exceeds their ability in the target language by miles.
Modern books usually don’t tell people to “translate”, but ask “how do you ask for the time in Spanish?” They try to remove the instruction from the question as much as possible.
I think much progress has been made here in methodology, now we need teachers to catch up, too (oh, and politicians).
My Sony Ericsson W995 does all those things.
Especially if I use THIS as the alarm tone instead of singing whales.
@ Pelamun
Glad that you are coming right with the magazines. As I said, I am not much into the things. If I was to read any of those, it would likely be “Wallpaper”, in the paper edition.
The problem I have with magazines is that they are, too often, too lacking in depth to do much justice to the subject matter. I would rather pick up a good book.
Even though I practice (funny word that, kekekeke) architecture, I don’t regard it as particularly important (not that it doesn’t have the potential to be, it is generally severely limited by extraneous factors).
More interesting, and this may also apply to you, is town planning. Especially if you love cities.
Try looking out for these books:
“Architecture and Utopia. Design and Capitalist Development.” by Manfred Tafuri (or any of his books).
“The City Shaped” by Spiro Kostoff (He also wrote a follow up called “The City Built”.)
The above are a good starting point to get more deeply into the subject of urbanisation. They are both excellent books for going into the historical and social forces at play in city development.
@ Pelamun
Ooops, sorry, that was … Spiro Kostof
f– “The CityBuiltAssembled”.As compensation I would like to offer you a free series of lectures: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/kostof.html
My kitten is having tummy problems :( I have to call the vet :( I can’t concentrate on work cause I’m worried about him :(
Katherine
Good wishes for your kitty, hope he gets well soon.
I think we need a new square on the bingo: “And you call this “Freethoughtblogs”
@ Kitty
Hugs to teh kitteh (but only after wrapping him in an old, disposable blanket – just in case).
Congrats Penn State students, you’ve officially set your level of worldly perspective to levels near that of a Professional Wrestling fan.
Those whale songs mix quite well with Slayer’s Reign in Blood.
People are rioting in support of a guy who refused to turn a child rapist over to the police, even as he kept on raping.
And people wonder if we live in a rape culture?
Penn State announces proudly that they will not tolerate
pedophiliahurting their football legacy.@Carlie
JINX!
Behind about 2,000 100% normal people proudly coming out with violence in defense of child rape.
Fuck! Bloody hell!
Climate Change: World Reaches Point Of No Return In Five Years, Say Scientists http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/11/09/climate-change-five-years_n_1084052.html?ref=uk
Fried tarantula or birds’ saliva soup: Weird And Wonderful Food Delicacies From Around The World http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/11/09/10-weird-food-delicacies-from-around-the-globe_n_1083541.html?ref=uk-lifestyle
California Refuses to Accept Obama’s Banking Sellout http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-scheer/california-refuses-to-acc_b_1085581.html -Forget relying on the federal government to hold the Wall Street swindlers accountable.
Finally a rich guy that is nice: Stephen King Offers To Help Struggling Maine Residents Stay Warm This Winter http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/10/stephen-king-heating-aid-maine_n_1085415.html
Mendocino County Marijuana Program At Risk After DEA Raids Permitted Farm http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/09/mendocino-county-marijuana-at-risk_n_1085123.html
Katherine Lorraine at 415:
(spoiler alert for The Walking Dead)
Not quite a “load-bearing boss” –rather a case of an inflexible computer program in charge of biological sterilization measures (a small-scale derivative of the situation in Doctor Strangelove). The script writers had poor imagination. I recommend written zombie tales instead –“Day to Day Armageddon” is strongly recommended.
Honest to criminey – if I hear one more time “but he did his job and reported it to his superiors”, I’m going to blow a gasket. If you come across someone molesting a child in public, do you go hunt down the person’s employer and tell them, or do you call the fucking police? Gee, you call the fucking police. So maybe instead of telling his superiors that he got a report that Sandusky raped a kid, Paterno should have told the person who reported it “Wow, we’re going to call the police now while you’re here in my office”, and then later told his superiors that hey, I called the police because Sandusky was raping a child.
Rev BDC, I heard on NPR this morning that Penn State students are blaming the media for raising the child-sex-abuse case to a level of prominence that affected their precious football program. They turned a TV van over onto its side.
Odd. I thought students would be wise enough and old enough to recognize that they could honor their old coach’s good points, while still seeing that sexual abuse of children was swept under the rug under his watch.
It’s not the media that raped those children.
People are mean. I can’t stand mean people. Let’s make fun of a not conventionally attractive woman and wonder how anyone wants to have sex with her, let’s make fun of the man with what’s considered to be a girly voice, let’s make fun of a singer because he can’t pronounce r perfectly, let’s make fun of everyfuckingone who isn’t just as you think they should be.
Because all that (and more, much much more) is soooo funny. And I have to hold in my comments because I am already considered unsocial, and really wouldn’t want to make it worse.
And it’s considered unsocial or antisocial if you disagree with ripping apart other people for not conforming enough. :(
You’d hope that, especially considering how much more is coming to light on this.
It’s really depressing. I had my asshole moments in college, for sure. I never rioted (though I participated in a number of large “camp-ins” protesting the first gulf war) and I would never have excused the football coach of my School for something like this.
And I fucking love football.
It’s shameful on all fronts.
I will have to say, I listen to a couple of national sports Radio shows and the callers have been overwhelmingly in the right on their commentary. That is encouraging.
This X100
I’ve been making this point all week.
WTF people.
Seriously.
Carlie,
In such situations in the past, I used to pat myself on the back for not joining in and agreeing with the badmouthing, but now I feel a bit like an ass for staying quiet.
Here is a story about a Penn State student whose brother is one of the rape victims.
Rape apologists… and non-reporting apologists. (vomit).
Smart birds: ‘Lazy’ pigeons flock to ride Stockholm metro http://www.thelocal.se/37278/20111110/
This should be pasted in every thread where some one like GBD questions rape culture.
BTW, since it came up on the WLC thread. Bill Corbet (Crow T Robot) on his twitter had some amusing “Oh no, the pro-pedophiles dont’ LIKE me!” on his Twitter.
Basically, they did not care who the child was.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/report_former_coach_jerry_sand.html
Student debt living
Magazine / survival guide.
Tim Minchin has weighed in on the comment thread at Skepchick that rorschach linked to earlier (at least, someone calling themselves Tim Minchin). I’m happy to report that, after thinking it over for awhile, he does indeed Get It. (it’s about halfway down here)
Rape enabler: fucking asshole who should be prosecuted
Rape apologists: fucking assholes who should be made to do gender studies for a semester
People selling chicken pox lollipops: criminal prosecution as well, please. Oh, and any parent who considered buying the stuff
I remember playing Scrabble with the older sister of a classmate of my (younger) brother, because I had a disease she hadn’t had yet. I can’t remember which disease, but it might’ve been chickenpox or mumps. Don’t know if it worked or not. Probably should ask my mother.
Over at Whatever, regarding the Penn State child molestation scandal.
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Joe Paterno Doesn’t Deserve Your Sympathy, Penn State—Shame on You
OK, now let me get this straight. In the tiny, little minds of rethuglicans, groping women is acceptable, but cerebral flatulence–that ends your campaign? How do these people not slit their own throats out of shame?
They had their kick-the-dog moment so long ago, they can’t possibly have shame at this point.
ARIDS, you know that girls are there to be groped. And any girl who complains is just a gold digger.
Benjamin, here’s hoping that the Cymbalta does the job for you.
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Who Wants To Be President Of The United States? Or maybe Survivor: Debates. Oooh; or Dancing With The Talking Points. Or The Amazing Presidential Race. America’s Funniest Debate Videos. The list just goes on and on.
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*hug* for Katherine Lorraine, and best wishes for teh kitteh.
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I would offer to lend you a cup of *cynicism* if I wasn’t sure that you were already using *sarcasm*.
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Sorry Threadisens, I got a bit carried away last night: I had simultaneous access to the Internet, my music library and a case of beer. I’ll try to contain my internal monologue better in the future.
I may have been an asocial loser at times in my life, choosing free time to learn about things or just wander off somewhere rather than padding my credentials with extracurricular activities and joining organizations, but at least I’ve never been in a situation where I had to choose between the group and upholding the law and human decency.
Fuck tribalism.
Holy fucking shit
Still rumors, but it wouldn’t surprise me if true. They said there were more allegations to come to light.
Just unsubstantiated allegations as of right now so take with a bucket of salt.
I don’t understand what’s wrong with the chicken pox lollipops. It seems more convenient than arranging a play date with some kid in the neighborhood who has chicken pox. (Possibly an annoyance if your kid doesn’t usually play with the poxkid. OTOH, at least poxkid gets to be popular for a week.)
That doctors says it’s a bad idea and that the vaccination more effective and safer?
is, I blame you for jumping out of that sentence.
Tethys, that’s kind of you. You did recognize that I was being unfair with my “sure am glad” comment. Thanks for also recognizing my frustration.
Good morning thread. Declaring thread bankruptcy and making myself a pot of Earl Grey. Anyway, amused at Perry, happy that Penn State finally did the right thing.
ad hominum salvator ॐ, it’s absurd you claim not to see what’s wrong with it. But here, Orac can tell you.
Oh, ok. So it’s not equivalent to SQB’s chess game. Makes sense.
No it’s not. I really am quite stupid.
I must have missed this
If you say so. Hopefully that link to Orac’s clears this thing up.
Nevermind it’s at #605
i did miss it.
Come to think of it, it probably was chickenpox, since over here (NL) people are normally not vaccinated against it, as opposed to the USA.
In the absence of vaccination, it does make some sense, as chickenpox is more severe in adults than it is in children, or so the Pft! tells me.
SQB: Yes, quite a bit more severe. In fact, adults can and have died from Varicella infection.
Hm. Rarely fatal, the Pft! says, but anyway, I thought the biggest problem was fetal varicella syndrome, which I forgot about in my previous comment.
Long term friend on FB just told me men face more gender discrimination than women. I’m crished. This is after days of arguing. And he’s the one who posted about women not having ambition. I’m done. I can’t do this alone. I post this because we have no power alone.
Strange… just posted a comment with one link and it was eaten.
Had this happen a few times here recently
Fuck in really hurt. This is why I just try to avoid people.
Apparently ftb no likely links from addicting info
Let’s try this again
Cain makes a great point
For Every Woman Herman Cain Harassed, There Were Thousands He Didn’t
SQB: Direct quote from the Pft:
Weed Monkey,
Need I send you more beer? I have been loving Ufomammut.
Algernon, here‘s a song for you. Please scream along.
(Deja-vu? Didn’t I offer this song to you before? In that case, feel free to swap out any of your ‘friends’ for any number of Pharyngulites.)
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/11/10/video-of-police-attack-on-peaceful-protesters-at-occupy-berkeley/
Yes, and having chicken pox as a child puts one at risk for shingles as an adult.
Direct quote from same:
Yep, had shingles once already. So I’m absolutely in favor of vaccination, but in absence of that, I can understand why you would want to have it as a kid instead of as an adult and even try to get your kids infected when possible. A very crude form of vaccination, if you will.
All the best to Katherine’s kitten.
Disappointed about PSU students. Way too damage your alma mater’s reputation…
Watching yesterday’s TRMS was a delight (hasn’t been the case for a long given the way American politics have been going recently)
Rachel said to politics junkies, Election Day is like Christmas, and this politics junkie agrees wholeheartedly, but to newspeople it’s more like parents organising Christmas for the kids, haha, good anaology
Among the highlights:
– Mitch McConnell taking credit for the one statewide race Republicans won, and ignoring all the others
– Mitt Romney doing the flipflop again: finally coming out “110%” in support of failed Ohio bill, and now accusing the media of misrepresenting him as supporting the failed personhood bill (TRMS’s answer: just playing the video from the Huckabee show where he declared his support)
– Iowa’s Republican governor had a plan to flip the state Senate into Republican control by appointing a conservative Democrat to a state office, thus prompting a special election in an off year. Conservative district, the winner was another Democrat. Gambit failed.
algernon I am really sorry. It’s bad enough when people you don’t know or like are coming out with this crap; to hear it from someone who’s supposed to be some kind of friend – and worse, a long term friend – is the pits.
Dhrovath, thank you but there’s no need. But the mention of Ufomammut reminds me of Nightjar, she used to like it too. When did she disappear? And hope she’s ok, of course.
This is because the immunisation effect from the chicken pox infection wears off after 50-60 years right (my mother just had to go through this)? Would that be any different in case of vaccination?
And irresponsible if actual vaccinations are available.
SQB
Still not?
Over here it’s included in the MMR vaccine, but that’s fairly recent. 10 years ago they didn’t vaccinate at all and then they didn’t vaccinate enough.
So, yes, it was fairly common to send your kid to play with the chicken-pox kid 20 years ago. Only it didn’t work for me, I never caught them. I only caught them when I was 20 and my cousin came to visit with her kids. Having chicken pox on my 21st birthday was bad. I locked myself in the bathroom and swore I wuld never leave again.
But there’s a safe and effective vaccine avaible now, so intentionally infecting your kid should count as assault and child abuse.
Rev. BDC, for the record, I completely agree with that.
Nope, still not. I wonder how far asking for it specifically would get us — or rather our kids. Like most people, we’ve just been going along with the regular schedule, which doesn’t include it yet.
Weed Monkey,
I have not seen Nightjar at the new digs, but have read comments from her at Sciblogs since the move. Not recently mind, haven’t been over there for a month or more. It’s a sad, blf is missing too.
SQB
Try to go for it, they can only say no.
Honestly, if my case were the worst that could ever happen to people, I’d still get my kids vaccinated.
Giliell,
one of my bio-son’s mums (the non-bio-mum*) ) has never had chickenpox (and thus was quite afraid of getting infected when my mother had the shingles). Given the fact that she is a high school teacher I think it’s a question of time until she gets it.. And also since she wants to get pregnant, maybe now is the time for her to get vaccinated?
*) stupid term, is there a better way of saying things?
Not a friend, but his friends came out in support of Da Coach and how we shouldn’t smear his legacy. I’m probably gonna get in trouble over my responses. I don’t care about people not liking me, but some friends have vetoed me talking on their walls because it upsets their other friends. Which frankly insults me.
HOly shit on the rumors of Penn. I’m hesitant to even share that story in case it is only rumors, but damn
SQB,
I checked some info. The German Wikipedia says the vaccine has been available since 2004. Children between 9 and 17 who haven’t had it by then should get vaccinated.
Also there’s a whole list of risk groups that should get it too, like women trying to get pregnant, people with neurodermitis, leukemia etc.
Is it normal cat mommy behavior to be completely and utterly freaked out over the fact that Snip is having probably a minor tummy problem and the fact that I can’t get him to the vet until Saturday is making me go into minor hysterics?
pelamun
Mother and Other Mother?
Mom and Om?
pelamun
If she doesn’t want to spend the whole pregnancy at home, she should make an appointment with her GP, get her imunisation status checked and get the vaccines*.
Which reminds me that I have to make an appointment with my GP as well to get my vaccinations up to date.
I made it through almost all of the nasty childhood diseases, and I even if I had zero knowledge of risks, herd imunity and stuff, that alone would convince me of vaccination.
But vaccines are their own enemies: People don’t know anymore how nasty the stuff was.
*Pretty common for women who work in education and whose vaccinations are not up to date.
Other Mother? Someone has been watching Coraline.
I guess it doesn’t matter in everyday life who the bio-mom is, they both want to have natural kids of their own and then adopt each other’s bio-kids. So effectively the only time it becomes relevant is regarding medical issues (also the kid had to find out very early in life that not all breasts are nutritional sources), so I guess bio-mum is the more important word here. Was just wondering if there are established terms for “non-bio-mum”, maybe “adoptive mom”, but they haven’t gone through the civil union-adoption process yet.
The kid’s still using ma/mama (singular, plural) for both moms, no distinctions as of now.
Giliell,
I think they might be slightly wary of vaccinations, though I haven’t seen any thing of the vaccines-cause-autism scale yet. It’s just part of mainstream culture, sadly, to be skeptical of vaccines. But I think the pregnancy argument will be convincing.
Well all may not be lost. He called me to apologize. Maybe in a small way something got through. But that is just hard shit to do, isn’t it.
Bio-Mom: A shocking prequel to one of the most beloved Games of the Year.
Good for you! I can’t believe there is even an argument to be had. Frankly, it just boggles my mind.
pelamun: About Shingles, remember, chickenpox/shingles virus is a herpesvirus, which means that it hides in the nervous system (where the immune system can’t get to it) after the primary infection. Essentially, the virus is triggered to reactivate by some external factor, and replication begins. Axoplasmic transport carries it along the sensory nerve tracts, where it causes the characteristic lesions at the subcutaneous endings. How the virus is able to escape immediate destruction by the immune system upon reactivation is not well known.
@Algernon
Yeah, people are surprised that despite the anonymity I don’t act too different in real life than on the net. Hence why I am often in trouble with friends of friends.
pelamun
Urgh, can they be helped with science?
Although I know that science alone doesn’t help. What convinced my BIL that we should vaccinate against those relatively harmless diseases as well wasn’t that he’s a virologist but that he caught Rubella…
I’m pretty firm on vaccination. I think that’s a point where the right of the child not to get sick certainly overrules the right of the parent to believe stupid.
We have a bad case of anthroposophic anti-vaxxer in the family and I think what she does is criminal. I fail to see why denying a kid antibiotics so he’s sick with scarlet fever and pneumonia for 6 solid weeks isn’t the same as keeping him intentionally hungry, or beating him.
Giliell,
yeah they have friends who are anthroposophs and have very strange notions about child-rearing. I’m always a bit worried that they might be influenced by them, but so far it doesn’t seem to have happened (OTOH, I’m not barging in and demanding to see the vaccination pass)
A.R,
so are you saying that reactivation can happen earlier than 40-50 years? Be it as it may, that’s what the doctor said. Probably dumbed it down.
Giliell: How very Civil War of your family member. Yeah, it’s child abuse not to provide proper medical treatment.
pelamun: Yeah, it’s possible. Cases typically don’t appear until the mid teens though. I had shingles at age ten though.
Wow, overuse of “though” in my post… Need coffee
Yeah, a neighbour’s kid had shingles in his teens. Told me too if the rash came “full circle” he’d die. German name of the disease was poetic too, “belt rose”.
OK, acc to this article, 50% of shingles cases occur in people over 60
pelamun: Yep, in fact the shingles vaccine here in the US is only available for individuals 60ish and up.
A cephalopod related article from RD.net: http://richarddawkins.net/articles/643828-squid-and-octopus-switch-on-camouflage
Katherine Lorraine
Yes. That is completely normal behavior for a caring person.
What is Snip doing that is alarming you so much?
pelamun
Best to arm yourself with knowledge, I’d say.
Fortunately we still have some herd-protection left, so even unvaccinated kids have protection.
OK, I#m trying to make candy canes, wish me luck
Chick-fil-A is coming to Salt Lake City, and some LGBT groups plan to protest at the restaurant’s opening.
Owners of Chick-fil-A (Baptists) claim they love everybody, but they’ve also given big piles of cash to anti-gay and anti-gay-marriage campaigns. The owners say they run the business on “biblical principles.”
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52888536-78/lake-marriage-salt-chick.html.csp
Giliell @#644: Interestingly, in the UK, official health policy is the exact opposite:
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1032.aspx?CategoryID=62&SubCategoryID=63
changeable moniker: If I recall, the science they are basing that policy on is rather dodgy.
changeable moniker
Interesting. I know the kids become contagious after the vaccination, which might explain the hightened risk of shingles in elderly people, I only don’t understand why they think it’s more risky to have kids that are contagious because of vaccination than having kids that are contagious from having chicken pox.
Probably because the latter are usually at home and not running around.
One of the Osmond brothers recently added to the misinformation about homosexuals bandied about by religious people of various stripes.
Link to text and video
NEW THREAD!