Comments

  2. Ariaflame, BSc, BF, PhD says

    Huh? Is Margaret Court in Perth in Western Australia? Mind you I don’t read the papers here or attend any churches for obvious reasons but I must admit to never having heard of her before.

    On the whole I don’t find here a particularly religious area. Sure there are churches around but I don’t get blessed by random people or too much witnessing (living in an apartment helps there)

    (2nd time in a row attempting to post on TET got the comments closed… This time I shall repost)

  3. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ rorschach [previous]

    Deep rifts !

    I’ll give you deep rifts! …. Maggie Q … Anne Parillaud

    (There can only ever be one Nikita.)

  4. opposablethumbs, que le pouce enragé mette les pouces says

    Ack, portcullised ::rubs neck gingerly::

    Just submitted the following chez Kagin:

    I wondered if you had been trying to hold up your own youthful/childhood behaviour then as an example of irrational homophobia – as irrational and unjustifiable as a fear and loathing of left-handedness – precisely in order to make the point that people’s irrational and unjustifiable aversions are no grounds for oppressing minorities or for imposing one’s own opinion on anyone else’s sexuality. I have to say, though, that if that was your intention then this post doesn’t really get it across as you might have wished.

  6. Serendipitydawg (Physicists are such a pain sometimes) says

    While playing the NYT’s Set games I saw For Priests’ Wives, a Word of Caution in the op-ed list and couldn’t resist reading it. It discusses the creation of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, which the piece says is for the adoption of Episcopalian priests, but I assume it is the same sub group that also takes the Anglicans that just can’t live with female ordination and the prospect of female Anglican bishops.

    The author writes an interesting piece that ends with:

    Given this history, I caution the clerical wife to be on guard as she enters her role as a sacerdotal attaché. Her position is an anomalous one and, as the Vatican has repeatedly insisted, one that will not receive permanent welcome in the church. […] And here, I suggest, a real conversation about the continuation of priestly celibacy might begin.

    Until then, priests’ wives should beware a religious tradition that views them, in the words of Damian, as “the clerics’ charmers, devil’s choice tidbits, expellers from paradise, virus of minds, sword of soul, wolfbane to drinkers, poison to companions, material of sinning, occasion of death … the female chambers of the ancient enemy, of hoopoes, of screech owls, of night owls, of she-wolves, of blood suckers.”

    Welcome to the 12th century.

  9. says

    Why do I keep arguing with derps?

    And just as you would hold Bush accountable for the massive spending spree that Pelosi and company went on in that last two years, we should also remember that it was Clinton and the Republican lead Congress who set up the two front war that Bush was left to deal with.

    *facepalm*

  10. Pteryxx says

    @ J_A_L, who may have gotten portcullised:

    Just_A_Lurker says:
    14 January 2012 at 1:22 am

    Hey everyone, hope all is well. I unfortunately can never keep up with TET.

    I have a problem. I’ve lost all of my bookmarks and am trying to find the ones for feminist/rape/abortion issues, most of which I got from here actually. I’ve looked on the wiki but I couldn’t find a page for that info. I’ve started looking through the older threads but that will take forever since my google fu is weak. I can’t remember any of the site you guys always link. =(

    Anyone have a reference handy, can link me a post that has it or could email me a list of links? I’d greatly appreciate it, if not its cool.

    My folder’s 103 megs currently if you want the whole thing ~;> But for starters:

    Meet the Predators:

    https://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/meet-the-predators/

    https://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/predator-redux/

    Chilly climate:

    http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cocktail-party-physics/2011/07/20/is-it-cold-in-here/

    Feminism 101:

    https://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/

    Reproductive Health Reality Check:

    http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/

    [meta] IS there a reference site somewhere for all this stuff? Some regular or other has been stashing it, IIRC.

  11. says

    Actually, for their time, the Puritans were not as awful as commonly depicted. Consider the practice of bundling, also practiced by Quakers. That doesn’t mean I’d want to go back to colonial New England, of course, but I wouldn’t want to go back to the 1600s at all.

    Has anyone else ever read Albion’s Seed by David Hackett Fischer? It’s an explanation of the four main cultures from the British Isles that settled different regions of the U.S. and how those cultures continue to influence regional political and cultural attitudes. I had numerous “Ah!” moments while reading it, but I can’t really vouch for the accuracy of Fischer’s historical research.

  14. Happiestsadist says

    It seems that Kagin’s moderated out any comments that might be considered less than glowingly approving of his amazing enlightened noseholding-tolerance-circa-1964. I left mine last night, and it’s still moderated.

  15. walton says

    happiestsadist: Yeah, my comment there hasn’t shown up either, even though LM’s comment, which is timestamped hours later than mine, has appeared. This makes me particularly annoyed at Kagin; he should be willing to accept and respond to criticism. Moderating out anyone who criticises one’s posts is a route to having a bland, boring, pointless blog.

  16. Pteryxx says

    Well, if Kagin needed some part of his anatomy sucked on to save his life, I’d do it. Even though his homophobia’s disgusting and makes me gag.

  17. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    I haven’t written anything terribly accusing, but it’s also in moderation (to be fair, it’s only been three or four hours and I have no idea how long comments usually stay in moderation on his blog).
    My comment:

    I simply find the idea of people of the same sex having sex unaesthetic and curious and do not understand why up to ten percent of the world’s population wants to do that.

    I’m having a hard time understanding how statements like this one can be considered acceptable and not insulting. If you’d written something like :

    I simply find the idea of people of different races having sex unaesthetic and curious and do not understand why up to ten percent [insert the appropriate number] of the world’s population wants to do that.

    it would be considered racist, right?
    Or

    I simply find the idea of obese people having sex unaesthetic and curious and do not understand why up to ten percent [insert the appropriate number] of the world’s population wants to do that.

    would be considered fat-shaming, right?

    So, why is it ok when gay people are concerned?

  18. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    Oh, actually, it’s been a bit less than three hours. I guess that is normal, but if he’s not publishing comments from yesterday while passing some from today, that’s something else. Inability to take criticism doesn’t really go well with writing a blog. At least if one wants to actually have honest discussions there, and not only a token “Good post. Thanks!” comment.

  19. thepint says

    Good morning, Thread! Yet another Saturday morning where I’m tooling around on teh webs and procrastinating getting to those ebil housechores. Why must you all be so distracting??

    @ Miss Daisy Cutter #12 – oooh! more links! Excellent! Will share some of this with the liberal Christian friend who’s brain I broke last night introducing her to the existence of MRAs. Considering the rant she went on last night about her feelings regarding Christianity’s piss poor handling of “getting with the times” and moving toward equality between the sexes, I sense an opportunity for learning to occur here. Whee!

  21. says

    Here’s a Moment of Mormon Madness connected to the never-ending fallout from the arrest of FLDS prophet, Warren Jeffs. Jeffs was arrested for raping girls as young as 12, under the guise of celestial marriage. Even while Jeffs is in jail, he continues to influence the members of his cult, and, as usual, a lot of the victims are female.

    …groups that work with those in Utah’s polygamous communities said some of those who have been re-baptized into the faith have simply vanished.

    “Parents that have dropped off their girls for interviews, they go to pick them up and the girls have been sent off to a ‘safe place of refuge’ is what they’re being told,” said Tonia Tewell, the executive director of the group Holding Out Help. “And the families haven’t been deemed worthy or unworthy yet. But they have no idea where their children are disappearing to.”

    Those in the know claim that some of the girls have been shipped to the Yearning for Zion ranch in Texas, or to polygamous colonies in Canada or Mexico.

    Mormons who have relatives in the even-more-mormon polygamous cults say that females are forbidden to have cell phones, especially younger females.

    Link to a Utah news article.

    Link to coverage in the Salt Lake Tribune. This Tribune article focuses on Warren Jeffs excommunicating men and cutting them off from their families. Discussion about females disappearing and being denied phones can be found in the Readers Comments section.

  22. says

    Two veteran House Republicans received discounted mortgage loans from the now-defunct Countrywide Financial Corp. under a VIP program, a congressional official said Friday.

    The discounts went to Reps. Howard McKeon and Elton Gallegly of California, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the loans and requested anonymity. Their identities were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

    The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has been investigating whether members of Congress received VIP discounts. The Associated Press reported previously that four House members had received the discounts. One of the four remains unidentified publicly….

    It pays and pays and pays to be a Republican politician.

  25. says

    Beatrice, I somehow doubt he’s any more enlightened about weight issues than about GLBT issues. Probably less so, if anything.

    My comment, still in moderation:

    Did you just step out of a portal from 1971 or something? Aside from the definite homophobia of the pact you and your “friend” made, I haven’t heard the word “liberated” used in ages to apply to women who challenge orthodox gender roles. The term is “feminist.”

    Similarly, most of us who aren’t mouthbreathers refer to gay people, lesbians, bisexual people, and transgender people as “GLBT” or “LGBT,” not “homosexuals” or “gays.”

    Oh, and using masculine pronouns to describe a hypothetical person who could be of either sex…. yeah, how about no.

    I read this essay only because a queer friend of mine linked me, asking, “Why is this homophobic shit on FTB?” Good question. I don’t think I’ll be back.

    As for his “thought police” post, with the pretentious reference to his own writing as “Edwinian,” his implication that all groups equally deserve to be offended, and his ASS-umption that we don’t know what “irony,” “satire,” etc. mean…. gosh, what do you say to such rarefied, original wit?

    I’d love to see this shit skewered on Queereka, to name just one place.

  27. Pteryxx says

    As far as I can tell, everybody’s comments are out of moderation and displayed on Kagin’s “On homosexuality” post. Just FYI.

  28. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    Ms. Daisy Cutter,

    I’m hoping at least the first example could be something he would see as bad and maybe relate to his own words. I see others have expressed themselves much better, but at the point I was writing that comment, none were mentioning that part where he states that he is willing to hold his nose even if he doesn’t understand that icky sexing between people of the same sex.

    Oh, and I can see you comment there. It’s #18.

  29. opposablethumbs, que le pouce enragé mette les pouces says

    Fantastic news, Serendipitydawg! Pity about the ones that are already up and running, though. Now if only they would get rid of Vardy …

  30. says

    my comment there hasn’t shown up either, even though LM’s comment, which is timestamped hours later than mine, has appeared.

    That’s because my original comment was approved yesterday morning, so my later comments show up immediately, without moderation.

  31. walton says

    The one thing I will say for Kagin is that I was evidently wrong to assume that he was censoring criticism, since my post (and everyone else’s) has now appeared.

    However, the post itself is still homophobic, and I’m not convinced in the slightest by his attempted defence of it.

  32. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    Hello everyone!

    This weekend I’m going to make a mocha pound cake* and (possibly) orange muffins. There are raisins (*shudder*) in the muffins, but I think I’m going to substitute dried cranberries. ‘Cos *shudder* raisins. Gah.

    *The recipe calls for melted chocolate instead of cocoa powder, which is kind of weird to me. I figure that I’ll just microwave the shit out of the chocolate right before it needs to be mixed into the batter.

  37. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    I’m trying LM. Gah, it’s just so exhausting and tiring. I fucking hate people sometimes. Like today.

  38. Pteryxx says

    At least it’ll be tough to argue “FTB=controversialist echo chamber!!” on this one.

  40. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    walton:

    So you agree with Garfield on the subject of raisins?

    That seriously made my afternoon. :D

    I will spit out a bite of raisin-laden cookie. Goddamn little fuckers look too much like chocolate chips.

  41. Emrysmyrddin says

    Wow.
    Just seen this here.
    The “you’re just not smart/funny/clever/special enough to get my intent” defence?
    Ouch.

  42. Classical Cipher, Murmur Muris, OM says

    I posted this at Kagin’s on the Thought Police thread (it’s in moderation):

    You know, those know what is wrong with everything and want to tell you about it, regardless of the effect of their pronouncements on the future of our ability to say and do.

    You know, I get that you’re feeling defensive because of the strong reaction to what you wrote yesterday. That’s natural, and it’s okay. But in situations like that, it’s often useful to take a step back and think about the correct response for a while. Yes, it may lead to some mockery and frustration on the part of your interlocutors, who will think you’ve fled the argument, but it’s better to have a late but well-thought out and humble response to criticism (even if you don’t ultimately agree with it) than end up writing very stupid things like “criticism is thought policing!” and condescending shit like “you don’t know what sarcasm is!”

  44. Pteryxx says

    Come to think of it, nested replies have not worked for me on several blogs now, and I’ve seen multiple other complaints. (Crommunist and WWJTD, I think?) There might be an FTB-wide problem with that last update.

  45. thepint says

    @Audley – if you’re going to microwave melt chocolate, knock the power strength down to about 50% and zap in 30 sec increments to make sure you don’t scorch the chocolate. Alternately, break the chocolate into small piece and put in a heat proof bowl that will fit over the opening of a saucepan, preferably so the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the bottom of the saucepan – you’ll be able to create a makeshift double boiler this way. Fill the saucepan with water about 2-3in deep and heat water to simmering. Put the bowl with the chocolate into the saucepan and stir chocolate as it melts. When chocolate is about 80% melted, remove from heat and continue stirring, the heat of the melted chocolate will continue melting what’s left and you won’t scorch the chocolate.

    And please share the recipe if it passes muster! :)

  46. thepint says

    Oh yes – you don’t want the chocolate hot when you mix it with everything else, otherwise it might “cook” the other ingredients. Melted and warm works fine.

  47. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    This morning, Morgan and I went on a road trip. First, we went to the store and bought a new carrier to replace the cardboard one the shelter sent her home in. This was met with approval, as the cardboard one is very small and cramped. I also bought her tags with her name and my contact information. Though she already had a collar, this did not meet with her approval. She squirmed and protested while the collar was put back on.
    Then it was off to the veterinarian for a healthy-cat exam. She grumbled through this, and yowled at the microchipping.
    Sorry, kitty!

    ___
    That post of Kagin’s (both of them, actually) are just absurd. I recognized the joke, and it’s a stupid one. The assertion that he would rather die than have orogenital contact with another man is mind-boggling. Does he see a female proctologist and urologist to avoid cooties as well? The random dig at “liberated” women is also silly.
    His follow-up post about thought police goes beyond absurd. Wow.

  48. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    Thank you, the pint!

    I’ve microwaved chocolate before with no problems (I made homemade creme-eggs last Easter, OM NOM NOM), so I’m not too worried about it. I might try the MacGyvered double-boiler, though.

    Anyway, if anyone else wants to give this recipe a shot, here it is:
    MOCHA POUND CAKE:
    2/3 c. shortening
    2 c. shifted flour
    1 1/4 c. sugar
    1 Tbs instant coffee
    1 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp cream of tartar
    1/4 tsp soda
    1/2 c. water
    1 tsp vanilla
    3 eggs
    2 oz. unsweetened chocolate

    Cream the shortening. Sift in sifted flour, sugar, instant coffee, salt, cream of tartar, and soda. Add water and vanilla. Mix until flour is dampened. Beat 2 minutes. Add eggs and melted chocolate. Beat one minute longer. Pout into a loaf pan (9 1/2x5x3), which is lined with paper. Bake in a slow over 325°F for 65 to 70 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove. When cool, dust with confectioners’ sugar. Refrigerate and slice thinly.

    (From Favorite Recipes of Home Economics Teachers Desserts Edition, 1963.)

  49. kristinc, ~delicate snowflake~ says

    Yep, thepint is right, if your chocolate’s too warm when you add it to the other ingredients it will melt the butter and deflate the work you did creaming in the sugar for volume.

    I finished my armoire! Today I move it into the bedroom. It has a tragically un-square door that I need to replace as soon as I can get my hands on some more plywood, but for the limitations I was working under it turned out extremely well.

  50. Classical Cipher, Murmur Muris, OM says

    In a meeting this week, administrators informed Mexican-American studies teachers to stay away from any units where “race, ethnicity and oppression are central themes,” including the teaching of Shakespeare’s classic in Mexican-American literature courses.

    I think I knew that Arizona had banned ethnic studies from their schools, at some point. Tuscon is in the process of terminating it now. Apparently I had blocked it from my memory. Here’s an article with a list of the books that are now to be cleared out of their schools…

  51. Classical Cipher, Murmur Muris, OM says

    Well, okay, sorry, that’s not a list. Just has the names of some of them in it. (Precaffeinated.)

  52. says

    Hello everyone. I’ve caught up with the “On Homophobia” post discussion here.

    I made this comment on the “Thought Police of Freethought” thread (which is awaiting moderation):

    There’s a difference between bigotry and blasphemy.
    Homophobia = bigotry; not blasphemy.

    Also, real mature calling people who openly disagree with you “the though police”. Aren’t you a little bit old for this kind of silliness?

  53. Serendipitydawg (Physicists are such a pain sometimes) says

    opposablethumbs @29,

    Now if only they would get rid of Vardy …

    The literal used car salesman running education, good old Reg. I suspect that the academies are outside of anything related to free schools.

    The academies are a political tool (pay a couple of million and you can set the curriculum despite ongoing government funding.) The free schools are a disconnection from local authorities… something similar is the reason I stopped working in higher education twenty-mumble years ago, though there the disconnection had knock on funding issues which meant that I would get to work on commercial projects while being paid education pay rates… no wonder so many of us decided to move to commerce and get the pay :D

  55. Just_A_Lurker says

    Thank you all for the link help! As much as I love the feminist threads here it truly is time consuming and down right painful at time to go through. I can’t keep up with the current threads as it is. I love the list of links. Is there going to be a list put up for these links on the wiki? I think that would be helpful when feminist threads come up.

    I’m so happy the recipes are on the wiki. I’ve been trying to learn to cook and am going to try to keep working through the list now. XD So happy. You guys totally saved the day for me.

  56. Serendipitydawg (Physicists are such a pain sometimes) says

    Audley,

    I figure that I’ll just microwave the shit out of the chocolate right before it needs to be mixed into the batter.

    I don’t bake with chocolate (it never makes it into the cakes…) but I was under the impression that microwaving results in chocolate cement that sits in a lump…

  57. Serendipitydawg (Physicists are such a pain sometimes) says

    I really must read all the way down before commenting… I can see thepint has addressed chocolate melting perfectly adequately.

    Sorry.

  60. Serendipitydawg (Physicists are such a pain sometimes) says

    Thank you, Weed Monkey, that was an actual Laugh Out Loud (and it is a forward to my email contacts :D)

  61. Irene Delse says

    *rrring, rrring*

    “Hello?”

    Oh, one of the siblings.

    “You remember that we are having the Kings’ cake tomorrow?”

    “Sure.”

    “Well, I forgot about fruit juice for the drinks. Could you bring some?”

    “On Sunday? OK. I’ll have to find an open store on the way but that’s feasible.”

    “Oh, and I’m sorry but I forgot to get the trinket too. Do you have one?”

    (‘Course. I’ll just have to look into my emergency trinket pocket…)

    “All right. You’re lucky I have kept the one from last year because it was pretty! I’ll bring it.”

    “Yay sister!”

    And that’s how I’ll attend a nominally-Christian-but-pagan-at-the-core celebration tomorrow, in a mixed Muslim/Christian household, with two atheists and an agnostic.

    The important part being, of course, the cake.

  63. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    I am about to take a succulent roast chicken from the oven. It was brined in a solution of sugar, salt, garlic, sage, pepper, and onion. I then shoved assorted vegetables all up in it and threw some in the roasting pan. My house smells heavenly.

  65. thepint says

    Audley – I need to make something for a housewarming party tomorrow and your poundcake seems like it will fit the bill nicely! I’ll have to substitute Earth balance for the shortening, but I should be able to fiddle with the proportions. Question though – what can one use if there is no instant coffee in the house?? I have Turkish coffee and whole bean, but I’m assuming I’d probably have to substitute brewed coffee for the 1/2 cup plain water?

  66. thepint says

    BTW – for future reference, if you can find the Trader Joe’s bags of chocolate callets (disks), they have semi-sweet and unsweetened, I’d highly recommend them. They’re super easy to work with, 6 disks=1 oz. chocolate (so it’s easy to measure amounts) and they’re thin so they melt far easier than with chunk-sized chocolate.

  67. Classical Cipher, Murmur Muris, OM says

    I’m still in moderation over at Kagin’s, despite being so polite and gentle with him. Sad. Face.

  69. Pteryxx says

    Maybe Kagin’s gone out or something. It looks like comments are moderated by default on his blog (? I is not expert) so they appear in batches, when he gets around to it.

  71. says

    We had a guest lecturer yesterday (we have one every f
    Friday during school terms) who used Ideal observer analysis to examine visual motion cues. He works in psychology and does psychophysics for human visual systems.

    It was interesting to me because I’m kinda face blind and recognize people more by their gait and voice and social context.

    It also seemed kinda like a bullshit metric, but I didn’t come up with the right questions during the lecture. (Some lecturers allow questions during their talk, others ask us to wait until the end.) It’s a very friendly room, (they are our guests), but folks will call bullshit (politely). He had a lot of questions to answer.

    Some were by my old boss, a very nice man, and I didn’t realize at the time how complex his simple questions were. I should have, because I’ve seem him eviscerate other lecturers with a series of simple polite questions.

    Yea for quiet, polite discourse and yea for science!

  72. kristinc, ~delicate snowflake~ says

    My daughter sprayed Axe body spray in the dehumidifier. The whole house reeks of it so thickly I can taste it. I’m either going to cry or puke, I don’t know which.

  74. says

    Umm, sorry about my long OT previous comment, it’s just been on my mind and I’ve spent 1/2 the day researching the topic.
    ++++++++++

  76. thepint says

    kristinc – My sympathies. The scent of freshly cooked jowl bacon caramelized in brown sugar and spiced buttercup squash soup should be arriving via USB.

  77. says

    “The scent of freshly cooked jowl bacon caramelized in brown sugar and spiced buttercup squash soup should be arriving via USB.”

    When I’m not hungry I find the smell of food disturbing.

  78. says

    Microwaving chocolate is the easiest way to melt it, but you must be vigilant. Short bursts, and stir well in between each go. Leave a few minutes to cool.

    And I love raisins – the big dark kind – but I’m not at all fond of sultanas (US golden raisins, I think.) I won’t spit them out, but I won’t choose them either. And to combine points, dark chocolate coated raisins = ZOMGNOMNOMNOM!

    As to Kagin, it’s a pity he’s so recalcitrant. It’s often said that true reform takes generations, and this seems a very good illustration of why. I note that he’s not too hot on feminism either. At least he is in favour of GLBT and women’s rights, which puts him in the minority of white-bearded old dudes. It’s not actually true that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks – but clearly some can learn, and some can’t.

  81. says

    If The Critter With The Corn-Mimicking Anus® is ever made into an animated short, aside from the FWHOOOOMP!!, there should be:

    1. David Attenborough-like narration.
    2. After the chicken is fwhoooomped, four or five feathers left quivering in the air, à a Chuck Jones.

  82. Emrysmyrddin says

    *yaaawwwwwwnn* Past my bedtime, and I may have been too enthusiastic in trying to blot out the Camera Lucida blog. Go to bed. Bed. Now.
    …maybe I’ll refresh the Pharyngula tabs a few more times.
    *yaaaawwwwwwn*

  83. says

    @ janine, my analyst told me I was right out of my head.

    I’m watching Bound For Glory and I remember singing This Land Is Your Land in grade school. But they didn’t teach us all the lyrics:

    In the squares of the city – In the shadow of the steeple
    Near the relief office – I see my people
    And some are grumblin’ and some are wonderin’
    If this land’s still made for you and me.

  87. dianne says

    A propos nothing…So if corporations are people now per the Supreme Court decision, with the same rights as people…what does that make the stock holders who own parts of corporations? I suddenly feel very dirty for having a 401K.

  91. cicely, Destroyer of Mint says

    Old:

    What next “christian maths”?

    They’re already there (or at least the trinitarian types are): 1 + 1 + 1 = 1.
    –
    Josh: The Melody Stuck In Your Head That You Must Put Into Musical Notation is in f minor.
    –
    I can’t help but thinking that the guy whose penis had been snake-bit would not be thinking of sexual stimulation at a time and under conditions like that. “OMG, painpainpain poisonpoisonpoison fearfearfear” probably ≠ “aroused” to most people.
    –
    –
    New:

    There are raisins (*shudder*) in the muffins, but I think I’m going to substitute dried cranberries. ‘Cos *shudder* raisins. Gah.

    Dr. Audley, have you tried subbing cranberries for raisins in a standard oatmeal raisin cooky recipe? *drroooooooool!!* Even better than chocolate chip cookies!
    –

    My daughter sprayed Axe body spray in the dehumidifier.

    Gah!!!!
    –

  92. says

    cicely – “Dr. Audley, have you tried subbing cranberries for raisins in a standard oatmeal raisin cooky recipe? *drroooooooool!!* Even better than chocolate chip cookies!”

    1) Raisins in cookies are just to fool you into thinking they’re chocolate. Ebil! Ebil I say!

    At least cranberries aren’t DBA as chocolate.

    2) Nothing is better than CCC. With a side of beer.

  93. SallyStrange (Bigger on the Inside), Spawn of Cthulhu says

    I posted this on PET, but I thought I’d share here as well: some excellently danceable disco/hip hop mash-ups available for donation from WAM! Women, Action & Media: http://www.womenactionmedia.org/wamprom2soundtrack/

    The download is free, but if you want to make a donation, it’s a good cause! I’m psyched because I’m always looking for good music to run to.

  97. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    So…
    I had to run an errand, and this took me driving past my workplace. I saw people marching back and forth in front, waving signs. At first, I thought there was a strike on. I’m pro-union, so I was prepared to wave cheerfully and give a thumbs-up as I passed (and look up the local, see what they’re on strike about – this IS my workplace after all – maybe this was something I needed to get involved with!) Then I saw the signs.

    Anti-choicers.

    Fucking anti-choicers were picketing MY workplace.

    Which is, for the record, a fucking HOSPITAL. Yes, people were standing outside the EMERGENCY entrance of a major HOSPITAL carrying signs saying “Respect Life.” I admit, I LOL’d. I also flipped them off. I had to take my mitten off to do so, but I consider it worth it.

    Oh, and justice is that it was a blizzard today. Whee!

  98. changeable moniker says

    *ahem*

    Despite what the Supreme Court and Mitt Romney say, corporations aren’t people. (I’ll believe they are when Georgia and Texas start executing them.)

    — Robert Reich

    (For anyone who wants a link.)

  99. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    SerendiptyDawg:

    I don’t bake with chocolate (it never makes it into the cakes…) but I was under the impression that microwaving results in chocolate cement that sits in a lump…

    Nope. Add just a touch of vegetable shortening and microwaving chocolate works just fine.

    the pint:

    I need to make something for a housewarming party tomorrow and your poundcake seems like it will fit the bill nicely! I’ll have to substitute Earth balance for the shortening, but I should be able to fiddle with the proportions. Question though – what can one use if there is no instant coffee in the house?? I have Turkish coffee and whole bean, but I’m assuming I’d probably have to substitute brewed coffee for the 1/2 cup plain water?

    I’ve discovered that when using old cookbooks, “shortening” actually refers to the fat in a recipe– either butter, margarine (oleo), or vegetable shortening* can be used interchangeably. Some recipes do specify**, but if it calls for “shortening”, you can use whatever is at your disposal. As long as “Earth balance” has enough fat in it, it really shouldn’t be a problem (ie- if it’s a margarine substitute).

    Yeah, I wouldn’t use real ground coffee. I actually *gag* bought a small jar of Folgers for the pound cake. I don’t see why you couldn’t brew up a cup and let it cool instead of using water.

    for future reference, if you can find the Trader Joe’s bags of chocolate callets (disks), they have semi-sweet and unsweetened, I’d highly recommend them. They’re super easy to work with, 6 disks=1 oz. chocolate (so it’s easy to measure amounts) and they’re thin so they melt far easier than with chunk-sized chocolate.

    I use Ghiraderelli bars— either unsweetened or with a high cacao percentage. Each squared section is an ounce of chocolate, and they’re thin like a regular candy bar, so they’re super easy to work with. (I use melted chocolate for glazes and stuff like that.)

    Plus, no Trader Joe’s around here. Yet.

    I don’t have any issue melting chocolate (although the extra tips are mucho appreciated!), it’s more the speed at which I’d have to do it that I’m concerned about.

    cicely:

    Dr. Audley, have you tried subbing cranberries for raisins in a standard oatmeal raisin cooky recipe? *drroooooooool!!* Even better than chocolate chip cookies!

    You, my dear, are a freaking genius! I will try that next time I make cookies!

    And in other news: I’m just getting home from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. :)

    *Maybe lard?

    **For instance, I can across one in this cookbook that called for a 1/2 cup of shortening– 1/4 c vegetable shortening 1/4 c butter preferred, but not necessary.

  100. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    kristinc:

    Some of you comments make me very happy that Kids are now almost 19 and 21. Though they never did anything as thoroughly disgusting as Axe in the dehumidifryer. The worst was a fluffernutter sandwich in a TV/VCR combo unit. No smell, but damn what a mess. We tossed it (the TV/VCR, not the Kid).

  102. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    Also:
    SDawg:

    I don’t bake with chocolate (it never makes it into the cakes…) but I was under the impression that microwaving results in chocolate cement that sits in a lump…

    Most chocolate cake recipes that I’ve come across call for cocoa powder (either “natural” or “Dutch process”) and not actual melted chocolate. Maybe it a Ye Olde Tyme thing to use melted chocolate? Maybe the pound cake recipe calls for melted chocolate because it will have a bolder flavor than cocoa powder? I really have no idea.

  104. says

    Has anyone else noticed that CNN reports on the poor, but never acts like poor people watch their shows?

    Right now I’m watching someone on CNN give financial advice and, like always, they’re giving advice only to people with a college education, a mortgage, and a 401k (aka: middle to upper middle class people). Giving advice to those people is great and all, but I find it kind of insulting that they assume that’s the only kind of person watching their shows.

  105. Serendipitydawg (Physicists are such a pain sometimes) says

    Audley,

    Nope. Add just a touch of vegetable shortening and microwaving chocolate works just fine.

    Well now I know! A day without learning…

    One day I will cook with chocolate, though I suspect that I will need about twice as much to start with just to make sure the required amount ends up in the cake XD

  107. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    Erm, shortening? Wouldn’t that be the Kwisatz Haderach?

    I find it kind of insulting that they assume that’s the only kind of person watching their shows.

    Watch the commercials. They market to the segment to which their advertisers are aiming. The upper middle classless and wealthy classless are the only ones with significant disposable income. And the advertisers are aiming for the monied classless.

  108. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    SerendipityDawg:

    One day I will cook with chocolate, though I suspect that I will need about twice as much to start with just to make sure the required amount ends up in the cake XD

    :D

    I’ve found that I LOOOOOOOOVE 70% cacao bittersweet chocolate. It never lasts long in my house.

  109. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    For those who like (or even love) chocolate, I highly recommend my Chocolate Bread (which is also one of the easiest yeast breads around). And it does have shortening — butter, in this case.

    And

  110. Serendipitydawg (Physicists are such a pain sometimes) says

    @Audley,

    Most chocolate cake recipes that I’ve come across call for cocoa powder (either “natural” or “Dutch process”) and not actual melted chocolate.

    Most chocolate sponges that I have recipes for certainly use cocoa powder in the cake itself with melted chocolate in butter cream filling and also as topping.

    Mrs S has never been much of a chocolate fan and I have moved away from sweet things as I have become older… the fave for Mrs S is lemon meringue pie, cake wise I favour lemon drizzle because I like the tartness, though it has been a while since I have baked either.

  111. Serendipitydawg (Physicists are such a pain sometimes) says

    Does anyone have a favourite satellite tracking site besides http://www.n2yo.com/? I was following Phobos-grunt at n2yo but I suspect that a lot of people are trying to do the same, so it seems to have become “temporarily unavailable”!

  112. walton says

    I love desserts, cakes and baked goods of all kinds. If anything, my sweet tooth has become sweeter over time.

  115. Serendipitydawg (Physicists are such a pain sometimes) says

    The main thing I cook is large batches of basic ragout for freezing so that we can have a quick pasta meal on Tuesdays (shopping night!) The main reason for making the sauce is Mrs S’s intolerance to spice, which has now reached black pepper, so virtually all commercial sauces are out. I also prefer my own to the commercial sauces because I have a heavy hand when it comes to sun dried toms…

  116. dianne says

    Yes, people were standing outside the EMERGENCY entrance of a major HOSPITAL carrying signs saying “Respect Life.”

    If you work for a public or non-profit hospital, there’s an even worse aspect: the same people standing out there with signs that say “respect life” probably voted for politicians who cut funding to the hospital-thus causing even more death than just their intended targets, aka pregnant women.

  118. kristinc, ~delicate snowflake~ says

    One of my favorite cookie recipes is ye old “Urban Legend” cookies (a nice chewy oatmeal chocolate chip) with added dried cranberries and chopped toasted almonds.

  123. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    Holy Fuck Shit!

    Focus on Fascism the Family just had an advert on during the football game. The New England Patriots (GO PATS!) versus the Denver Tebows. Er, Broncos. Some brainwashed kids, with unbearably cute voices, reciting John 3:16. And trying to sound awed. I damn near puked my Ben & Jerry’s.

    I really don’t give a flying fuck about a player’s religion. As long as they play the game without using it as a chance to proselytize. Tebow shows promise of being a good player. But his obnoxious holier-than-thou attitude, his persistant godbotting, and his willingness to be used as a tool by any neo-fascist group with the word ‘family’ or ‘freedom’ in it annoys the fuck out of me.

  125. carlie says

    Patriots player Chad Ochocinco did something pretty cool: a twitter follower complained on twitter that he’d been tweeting at Chad for two years without any response, so Chad hooked the guy up with airfare, hotel room, and ticket to the Patriots-Broncos game: http://yhoo.it/AudHOt

    See, Tebow, that’s how to be a good person.

  127. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    carlie:

    But good works won’t save him; only faith. Silly papist, good works are for Catholics.

    When I sold cars (between college and the Army (I majored in history, so I had to spend at least some time selling cars)), we had a deal with one of the Patriots — he got the use of a Trooper for the season and, in return, he did four personal appearances at the dealership and two commercials. Not bad considering he was a lineman.

    Anyway, the Trooper comes back and the cargo area is stained and disgusting. He apologized profusely — when he was doing his Monday food deliveries for shut-ins, he had a really bad spill and hadn’t had a chance to have it professionally cleaned. Turned out that was the only thing he used the Trooper for — delivering meals to shut ins.

    Nice guy.

    Big guy, too.

  128. thepint says

    I don’t have any issue melting chocolate (although the extra tips are mucho appreciated!), it’s more the speed at which I’d have to do it that I’m concerned about.

    I hear you. Sounds like your Ghiradeli pieces are doing the same trick for you as the Trader Js callets are for me. :) I’m too damn lazy to want to deal with chopping through giant blocks of chocolate and when they’re equal size/thickness, they’re easier to work with.

    I’m not sure about what the difference is between using powdered vs. bar chocolate in recipes, but I think it has to do with fat/sugar ratios. Some of the richest chocolate flavors I’ve gotten have been from recipes using a combination of powdered unsweetened cocoa and bitter or semisweet melted bar chocolate.

  129. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Re-post from the last TET—

    If anyone didn’t see it I’m taking up a collection for Kristinc, who’s been told by our benevolent USAian government that it’s reasonable for her food stamp allotment to be reduced to $35 a month. For four people.

    I’ll be setting up a PayPal account in the next few days, and folks are also welcome to mail me a check. If you’d like to donate, email spokesgay@gmail.com and I’ll give you my name and address. I’ll also update everyone by email when PP is in place.

    Kristinc, please email me. And please do not get near your USB port with that Axe body spray.

  131. says

    http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/01/14/crank-up-the-christian-hatred/#comment-55966

    Ugh, Ed here pissed me off so much. Heddle whines about how those bad Christians making death threats hurts christiandom blah blah blah and people respond by calling Heddle an asshole because a) he is b) he supports the exact same system he’s just whining that others aren’t showing his hypocrisy. Ed proceeds to chastise people for criticizing poor wittle heddle…despite that he proves the point with

    No, God’s supposed omni-benevolence is not a core Christian belief. The bible does not say that God only does good for all people (omni-benevolence), it says all he does is ultimately for good for only a definite subset of people: those who love him. (Rom 8:28).

    Declaring that god is omni-benevolent and then saying that sending people to hell demonstrates that he is not–ergo the bible is a contradiction–is an old trick. It doesn’t get better with age.

    heddle is a horrible bigot and jackass, he just prefers to be a passive aggressive snot and hide it before he comes out and says how awful everyone is. The other posters picked up on the emptiness of Heddle’s lamentations, Ed didn’t. This really bugs me for some reason.

  132. Orange Utan says

    @kristinc

    My daughter sprayed Axe body spray in the dehumidifier. The whole house reeks of it so thickly I can taste it. I’m either going to cry or puke, I don’t know which.

    Ummm…why have you got Axe anyway?

  134. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    Ummm…why have you got Axe anyway?

    Do you really want to know the answer to that? That ranks up there with, “Why have you got a Pinto in your driveway?”, or, “Why do you have a Santorum For Theocrat sign in your yard?” The answer can only be embarrassing. For the asker and the answererererererer.

  139. carlie says

    Ummm…why have you got Axe anyway?

    Teenagers can’t smell. When I was in high school I thought Polo was hooooooootttt.

  144. ibyea says

    @starstuff
    I am now really curious what CNN is saying about Annonymous. Can you give me a summary? ^_^

  145. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    The thing that irritates me about heddle more than anything else is his utter lack of embarrassment about proclaiming his babyish beliefs in public. He’s a college instructor for goodness’ sake, and seems (this weird religious fetish aside) reasonably intelligent. It just doesn’t even occur to him what a silly little boy he looks like with his idiotic (and morally horrendous) Calvinist bullshit.

  147. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Janine, honey. Do you need to go dancing to get it out of your system? :)

  148. janine says

    I would tell all of you to shut the fuck up about heddle but you were predetermined to talk about him anyways.

  151. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    I would tell all of you to shut the fuck up about heddle but you were predetermined to talk about him anyways.

    *snorfle*

  153. says

    I am now really curious what CNN is saying about Annonymous. Can you give me a summary? ^_^

    Oh, you just have to see it for yourself. It just must been seen. Unfortunately I can’t find it online yet.

    The summary is that they just don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. They try to explain what “lulz” are and they butcher memes. It’s so bad it’s awesome. Honestly the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time.

  154. janine says

    Yeah, it would. Just go with it. Or say that I was predestined to do it.

    (This big sky daddy plays with himself in very strange ways. Call it cosmic Onanism.

  155. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    Dianne,

    Yes, people were standing outside the EMERGENCY entrance of a major HOSPITAL carrying signs saying “Respect Life.”

    If you work for a public or non-profit hospital, there’s an even worse aspect: the same people standing out there with signs that say “respect life” probably voted for politicians who cut funding to the hospital-thus causing even more death than just their intended targets, aka pregnant women.

    Well, it is the teaching hospital of a private university. But it is also the keystone of a major hospital system. So, probably 50/50 overall.

    ___
    Ugh, Calvinism. I was raised Presbyterian, which is Calvinism + committees. That was what my parents landed in after their fundie phase ended. I suppose it could have been worse, but telling a kid who is well aware of the basic tenants of Gothardism (well, on a kindergartener’s level) about TULIP really is not conducive to warm fuzzy feelings.

    And my mother was surprised when I told her, in all seriousness, that I was very glad that they had left the fundie life behind them, if for no other reason than that I like being able to get away with being a loudmouthed dyke with a Ph.D., and none of those things would be acceptable in a Gotharidist church.

  156. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    On the final season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Jeezis, but the Ezri Dax character is a super-boring, annoying replacement for Terry Farrell. And the show is losing steam big time. I’m so glad the self-contained episodic format of the era has largely gone away in TV. It’s so damned hokey.

  158. says

    Josh, #145: That kind of compartmentalization is pretty common among religiots who aren’t precisely stupid, at least on other issues.

    Is Heddle an instructor at a religious college?

    Esteleth, #145:

    God fucked him up (he fucked him up)
    He went and fucked Ray up
    Went and paid him back for all his wicked sins.
    He fucked him up (he fucked him up)
    Fucked that boy completely up
    Now he’s married to a Presbyterian.

  160. says

    If anybody cares, Tim Tebow’s season is wrapping up tonight, down 45-10 in the fourth quarter.
    There was another ad from Focus On The Family early on. It pretty much went to hell for the Broncos after that. Tebow has been roughly as effective as prayer.

  162. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Ms. Daisy – no, David Heddle’s not at a religious school. And he’s a goddamn nuclear physicist. He styles himself “the thinking Christian.” Cripes he drives me up the wall.

  163. says

    The Focus On The Family ad was particularly disgusting, featuring a bunch of kids taking turns reciting lines from John 3:16. They made a big show of making it look multi-cultural with the skin color, yet somehow I think the New Testament is something less than inclusive.

  168. ChasCPeterson says

    why, Jesus?
    Why did you help Tebow (et al.) beat the Steelers?
    And then let their asses get thoroughly kicked by (*gag*) New England?
    Why?

  172. kristinc, ~delicate snowflake~ says

    Ummm…why have you got Axe anyway?

    A completely reasonable question to ask.

    The Axe is my son’s. He’s 12, just discovered deodorant and scented body wash. His grandmother gave it to him in a gift basket at Christmas. Apparently she asked her friends what to get a boy and they all said “Oh, Axe!” *facepalm*

    He was supposed to take it to school and use it moderately after gym. (If you work with middle school boys and are currently cringing, I’m sorry, I truly am, but I could only think about getting it as far away from me as possible. Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia!)

    Obviously, he did not take it to school, and that is the story of how his sister found it and sprayed it in the dehumidifier and now my whole house smells like Axe. The end.

  173. Tethys says

    Janine, I swear sometimes that we are all really a hive-mind.
    I had just listened to raspberry swirl and crucify, then popped onto TET to see you have linked them both for our listening pleasure this evening. I loved the Joni Mitchell tune too.

    —

    I watched Black Dynamite tonight, and this scene is an absolute scream! Can you dig it?

    Black Dynamite vs Richard Nixon

  174. Orange Utan says

    @kristinc

    He’s 12, just discovered deodorant and scented body wash. His grandmother gave it to him in a gift basket at Christmas.

    My condolences to the family.

  175. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Kristinc, I extend my sympathies and warm thoughts to you and your loved ones in this your time of scent. Here is a casserole.

  176. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Good goddamn but it’s cold tonight. Negative 3 F. My furnace barely shuts off before coming back on again.

    Pro-tip for winter-climate dwellers: Be sure to keep your house humidified by boiling a kettle or running a humidifier. Until I figured out that the air was bone dry my face and lips felt like a snake skin stretched to the point of cracking. Too-dry air will actually make it feel colder, too, leading you to waste energy (and contribute more to the problem) by turning up the heat.

  177. chigau (同じ) says

    I had a Wonderful time at the New Year Party.
    They ate all of my baked beans.
    Now I go to bed.
    (really to watch the sumo)
    happy merry(gay)hugs!!!

  178. Tethys says

    Kristinc

    Arrgh. Youngest spawn used to douse himself in that awful stuff too. *cough retch streaming eyes* You have my deepest sympathies.

  179. says

    What I like most about idiots like heddle is that they think that somehow they escape the questions of morality by explicitly claiming to be cheerleaders for an immoral god.

  180. says

    Thoguh really the point wasn’t so much that heddle is an ass (duh) but that the finger wagging at people piling on him. The problem was that people who know what he believes correct observed that his intention wasn’t “It’s so bad that someone wants to do bad things to this girl” since he thinks his god will, to quote one of his fellows “have her raped by Satan in hell”. Heddle’s real unspoken complaint was “they shouldn’t say that aloud because it makes us look bad”. It is like the Liberals praising Ron Paul thing. Please stop praising him for what you think he’s saying and look at what he actually means.

  181. kristinc, ~delicate snowflake~ says

    TBH, I was kind of pissed at my MIL because she didn’t ask my advice on scented stuff for him even though she knows I love to talk and write about perfume and scented things. I can only guess that she assumed I only know about/am interested in girl perfume. I sometimes forget there are people who think like that.

    Son himself is not real interested in Axe as a brand — he finds the attitude displayed towards women baffling and repulsive.

    Carlie, my daughter likes Polo. Although she’s attracted to the bottles that look girlier, it’s Polo that she wants to spray on a scent strip and take home with her every time we pass a perfume counter (I’m pretty proud of her ability to see past marketing to the scent she prefers). The sad thing is, Polo’s not that bad compared to a lot of stuff on the market today. (Neither is Old Spice. I would have been cool if MIL had given the kid Old Spice.)

  182. says

    Bored to tears at work and 7 hours to go…

    I liked the SNL skit on Tebow from before xmas, that was funny (sorry, YT is blocked here, can’t look it up right now).

    Kagin’s response to criticism as linked to above is rather disturbing, if you ask me, especially considering that the guy is so high up the atheist/skeptic foodchain.

  183. Tethys says

    Is this blocked for you rorschach? I like word games, and I’m just slightly obsessed with this one. There are several others on the site if you aren’t into word games.

    Word Bubbles

  186. says

    Thanks for the link, Tethys ! That might help a bit to pass the time…Just saw a patient with palpitations after drinking too much energy drinks, the excitement !!

  187. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Just saw a patient with palpitations after drinking too much energy drinks,

    Yeesh. Palpitations suck. I get them several times a week. Even though I know they don’t signify anything they still send me into anxiety.

  189. says

    Josh:

    My mom likes Drakkar Noir and has repeatedly suggested it for me. I don’t mind it, but it’s not really my favorite.

    The colognes that I think work well for me (off the top of my head):

    * Tommy
    * Cool Water
    * Hot Water (same designer, ‘spicier’ scent)
    * Curve
    * sandalwood (extract, in a neutral base)

    A few that don’t:

    * English Leather (it literally smells like shit)
    * Brut
    * Most knock-off colognes (they disappear way too quickly, and usually don’t smell all that much like the real thing)

    I kinda like Old Spice, but since my dad practically bathes in the stuff, it’s got too much of an old-fart connotation.

    And, as much as I hate to admit it: I like Axe Phoenix, and have been known to wear it from time to time. I do, however, use it sparingly; I don’t soak myself in the stuff, but instead use a 1-2 second spray, at most.

  192. ibyea says

    Heh, I remember when my brother got Axe. I hated the smell of the deodorant, and I could never understand why he liked using it. If you ask me, I think Axe would repel women instead of attracting them.

  193. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    My ex wore axe for a long time, which puts me in the slightly odd position of being a heterosexual male who’s somewhat sexually attracted to the smell of it.

  194. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    My feeling about perfume is that it’s probably best avoided. If you’re going to wear it at all you should wear so very little that the only person who can smell it is someone who’s dancing with you or kissing you. Otherwise you come off like a douche, really.

    And besides, if one is dancing/kissing that close with someone that person is going to want to smell you. If they don’t, then they probably shouldn’t be getting intimate with anyone.

  195. kristinc, ~delicate snowflake~ says

    When it wasn’t in the dehumidifier, the scent of whatever Axe spray the kid had was surprisingly tolerable. I helped him fine-tune his application so I could barely catch a whiff of it from about 3 feet away, and at that level it was a passable jock-juice scent.

    I have been known to wear Stetson Original. A lot of the old drugstore standbys are of surprisingly good quality. (Or were: Coty was once a fine perfumery company, responsible for some of the classics of the art.) And Old Spice was, IIRC, initially marketed as a women’s scent. It flopped. But that explains what really is a fairly white-floral center to it.

  196. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Me personally, I’m happy if I attain the goal of just smelling ‘clean’.

  198. Rey Fox says

    I got a tube of aftershave lotion in my stocking at Christmas this year. I’m pretty sure it’s one of the ones that had been sitting on the windowsill in the bathroom for several years. Being a good sport, I threw it in my duffle bag for the flight home, with predictable results. Now my duffle smells like that lotion, the name of which escapes me. Black Something.

    Never have bothered with scents. They seem like one of those pointless things that people do because they think they have to for some reason.

  200. kristinc, ~delicate snowflake~ says

    Rey: I love smelling things (and scenting myself) in the same way other people appreciate other forms of art. I was astounded when I discovered that certain perfumes literally smell beautiful, that is, they give me the same emotional response as listening to a truly great piece of music, or watching an amazing dancer.

    90% of everything is crap, though, so I think a lot of the scents people wear are just because they think they have to, the same way most of what people buy is probably just because we think we should. It would account for the huge market of cool-sporty-water and fruity-fresh-pink-juice clones that all smell the same.

  201. says

    I’m not big on perfumes, but when I do wear some, I go for the woody ones and some classic florals. Sandalwood, cedar, rose, lavender, jasmine, amber. I HATE fruity ones. But what is “amber” scent anyway?

  203. cicely, Destroyer of Mint says

    Dr. Audley, I cannot, alas, claim credit for the cranberry/raisin swap in the oatmeal cookies; I can only genuflect to whatever unknown genius discovered this bit of awesomeness.
    –
    Happily, Son’s enthrallment with Axe was very brief.
    –
    Starting next week, not one, but two games a week! Woohoo!!!
    *dancedancedance*
    –

  206. kristinc, ~delicate snowflake~ says

    Alethea — amber is a substance that may have originally been developed as a substitute for ambergris (whale hork that floats on the sea for years and develops a beautiful odor).

    The classic ingredient of an amber resin blend is benzoin, often with beeswax, ambrette seed and/or patchouli, plus other things (essential oils or fragrance oils) to bend the fragrance in the desired floral/spicy/woody direction.

    In perfumes with an amber note to them, of course, the resin isn’t used; it’s molecules evocative of the scents of those ingredients.

  209. kristinc, ~delicate snowflake~ says

    Apparently you can get an oil from fossilized amber; but apparently it stinks :)

  210. says

    Good mornining

    smells
    I’d never buy any scents for anybody else unless asked for a concrete one.
    Because no matter how they smell on a strip or on you, there’s no way to tell how they’ll smell on anybody else.
    My sister any I can never swap perfumes or stuff. Whatever smells nice on one of us smells like grandma’s “Tosca” forgotten in a drawer for 5 years on the other one.
    The last time I used a shower gel she’d given me I went straight back under the shower afterwards to get that smell off me again as soon as possible.
    I like it if I can notice the smell while passing somebody close, or standing next to them.
    If I need to hold my breath for the full 13 floors until I can get out of the elevator, it’s too much.

    kristinc
    I guess now your daughter knows exactly what happens if you spray scents into the dehumidifier.

    Starstuff
    Felting only works if the wool actually “felts”. Most modern wools are treated so you can wash them without felting. You can use the longer threads for making pompons.

  211. says

    Oh, Chocolate-apple cake
    For a whole baking tray

    350g soft butter
    350g confectioner’s sugar
    6 eggs
    4 tsps vanilla
    2 tsps cinnamon
    60 g coacoa powder
    750 g apples
    350g flour
    1 packet baking powder (if you use soda remember to add a bit of yoghurt or lemon juice)

    200 g dark chocolate cover, decoration

    Mix butter, sugar, eggs into a soft mass, add vanilla, coacoa, cinnamon.
    Preheat oven to 200°C
    Peel and grate apples. Mix flour and baking powder, add with apples to the butter-mix.
    Pour onto a baking-tray, bake for 40-50 min, let cool. Melt chocolate cover and add to cake.

  212. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ Josh

    You haz mail. (… and snail-mail!)

    @ Giliell

    Oh No! Don’t wave that recipe round here.

    *swoons*

    Thank goodness teh ebil I made a sourdough loaf this morning. I feel a sudden need to eat something sweet.

    *drools*

  213. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ Janine

    Tori Amos: I used to have this amazing recording of her where she sang songs that where written by men about women. I’ve tracked down a few for you:

    Rattlesnakes (Lloyd Cole)

    Strange Little Girl (Stranglers) …TLC will like this vid.

    I’m Not In Love (10cc) … music only.

    Sadly it grew legs at about the same time that my LA’s tape decided to go out into the world and fend for itself.

  215. alanbagain says

    #163 feralboy12 said:

    “They made a big show of making it look multi-cultural with the skin color, yet somehow I think the New Testament is something less than inclusive.”

    I don’t want to get into a big argument but I would be interested to know on what you base this comment because it does not seem in line with what I read from years back.

    For example (as they come to me):

    1) Jesus praises the “Good Samaritan” – the Samaritans being hated and despised by the Jews.

    2) He also praises the Roman centurian (a representative of the occupying powers) for his faith

    3) Luke in his gospel goes out of his way to include stories concerning women and non-Jews.

    4) Jesus tells His disciples to go into all the world to preach the gospel to all nations

    5) In Acts 2 the apostles are heard to preach the gospel in a multitude of foreign languages. Indeed, the gift of “speaking in tongues” may well have included the ability to speak (or to be understood) in foreign languages.

    6) In Acts 13 the 4 prophets and teachers in Antioch included “Simeon called Niger” (at number 2 in the list).
    I know there is argument about whether this means he was black but as I understand it, there is a strong tradition that he was at least an African.]

    7) The greatest problems Jesus and the early church had were with the Jewish authorities. It is the Jews who called for the crucifiction of Jesus and the stoning of Stephen. Paul only survives the Jewish leaders and the mob by appealing to Rome and it was the Jews who objected vigorously that Paul took the gospel to the gentiles.

    (I do not pretend this is exhaustive.)

    Please do not cite the actions of churches today or the Old Covenant which only applied to the nation of Israel as a whole. It is blatantly obvious that many / most / all but a few (delete as appropriate) do not follow the obvious teachings in the New Testament.

    You referred to the New Testament – could you present your case for the New Testament, please.

  216. carlie says

    Oh no, Giliell! I hope he gets better soon and that your actual birthday is much better.

    Good goddamn but it’s cold tonight. Negative 3 F.

    It is thirteen degrees below zero outside right now. I could feel it as soon as I got out of bed, that something was different about the cold. Once you hit right around zero there’s a whole different quality to the atmosphere. It is kind of cool how sounds sound different when it’s that cold, though.

    We have a running battle with the humidity thing – we have no insulation in the walls (from what we can tell), so besides the classic ice on the inside of the crap windows, we have actual ice buildup on certain inner walls of the house when it gets cold. I’ve read that if you can’t afford to fix the walls, the only thing to do is keep the humidity down so there isn’t as much moisture to form ice.

    Ms. Daisy Cutter – I wore Love’s baby soft in junior high, too!

    The sad thing is, Polo’s not that bad compared to a lot of stuff on the market today. (Neither is Old Spice. I would have been cool if MIL had given the kid Old Spice.)</blockquote.

    True. Do you have any craft shows that happen routinely near you? Sometimes there are people who make their own perfumes, and there can be really neat blends that are original and don't smell like crap.

    My feeling about perfume is that it’s probably best avoided.

    I am of that mindset as well. I like to smell them, but necessarily not on people, if that makes any sense. There are times when someone walks in with a nice perfume on and I go “Oh, how lovely”, but I have no confidence that any scent I pick would be received that way. At an aforementioned craft show a year or so ago I bought a couple of roll-on perfumes from a vendor, and then at the next show bought a couple more from her as well, but I put on just enough (I hope) to give me a personal pick-me-up that I assume has mostly worn off by the time I get to work.

    For those with teens, I wonder if something like this might be acceptable to them as a perfume substitute. Smells wonderful, but since it’s not designed to be an actual perfume the scent goes away fairly fast and doesn’t cling all day.

  217. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ Giliell

    … but you have the horde. Warm hugz is just a loggin away.

    @ alanbagain

    He did endorse shitty, bigoted fables though.

    Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. Matt. 5:17-18

    Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Luke 24:44

    … oh wait… he is also a fictional character.

  218. says

    So, alanbagain , which brings us back to a tiny problem with your reasoning:
    Please provide evidence that Jesus and Simon and so on actually existed (we’ll talk about the son of god thing later, but that would at least be a starting point.

    carlie
    She’s asleep at the moment. Delicate flower she is indeed. Chronically underweight with an easily upset stomach. Very bad combination.
    Let’s see if a day of rest, tea and bretzels can fix it.

  219. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    Now my duffle smells like that lotion, the name of which escapes me. Black Something.

    Black Death?

    =========

    Memo to self: Self, be careful using copypasta while blog commenting and working in a CMS web site. Luckily, I caught it before uploading the page, but still. . . .

  220. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ Brogg

    Just curious. What time is it there? (9:07 pm and I burnt the rice… late supper)

  221. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    Just curious. What time is it there? (9:07 pm and I burnt the rice… late supper)

    It is 8:11am on Monday morning here. Where are you?

  222. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ Brogg

    Hong Kong… (I find it interesting that the USA Pharyngulites are up and posting so early (though 8:11 is not that early))

  223. says

    Well, to be fair, alainbagain didn’t say Jesus wasn’t fictional or the gospels are true, just that the stories he remembers aren’t bigoted. Those stories do exist; they are some of the cherries that his parents and priests picked. The liberal types like these stories and tend to ignore the hellfire and damnation ones.

    There are other less nice stories, too. Apart from the invention of hell, mostly what springs to mind for me is the antisemitism of John, used so famously in persecutions for centuries. And there’s also the story about the Caananite woman in Matthew 15, who is ignored and called a dog, and told that the ministry is not to her kind of scum. (She gets her help in the end, though.)

    You might start here: http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/int/nt_list.html

  224. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    Hong Kong… (I find it interesting that the USA Pharyngulites are up and posting so early (though 8:11 is not that early))

    I’m at work. And it is Monday.

  225. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    kristinc:

    The sad thing is, Polo’s not that bad compared to a lot of stuff on the market today.

    I like Polo Blue.

    My husband wears CK One, which I also really like (thank goodness he’s not one to douse himself). I wear a natural solid perfume that’s blood orange and patchouli scented.

    But, young men and Axe just sounds downright scary. I was in college when Axe became really popular and I fully support “perfume education” classes for those young men* who think that more is better when it comes to scents.

    *And hell, everyone else.

  226. chigau (同じ) says

    StarStuff
    Save your wool scraps until early Spring and put them outside where the birds can get them. Your neighbourhood will have very groovy nests.
    ——
    Black Death is/was a brand of cigarettes in Japan.
    On the package “The only legal product that, when used correctly, will kill you.”
    ——
    theophontes
    Relatively Ogvorbis is on a different calender from the rest of us.
    —–
    We had 10cm of snow overnight.

  227. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    Relatively Ogvorbis is on a different calender from the rest of us.

    No, the rest of you are oppressive calendarists!

  229. chigau (同じ) says

    No, the rest of you are oppressive calendarists!

    That, too.
    It’s -20°C here, I hope the truck starts.

  230. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ Brogg

    Aaah…. Ogtime ™. (I might be slow … even for a tardigrade … but not that slow.)

    @ Dr Audley

    men*

    Wow, superscript working again! Let me try.**

    **experiment in progress.

    I haz a happy.

    …………….

    Tonight’s supper:

    Vietnamese Cobbler, cut into pieces and rolled in flour.(remove malachite green prior to cooking)
    Un poco: Star anise, curry powder, cumin, stick cinnamon, clove, pepper.
    Chilli pepper/s (chopped, to taste)
    Slices of fresh ginger (more is more)
    Several cloves garlic, chop
    Spring onions, chop
    veggies: jullien carrots, young celery (could also add green pepper)
    Lime zest
    Cup of creamy coconut milk.
    1/2 cup milk.
    sesame oil and butter (or ghee)
    broccoli,mange tout
    Pak choi (flowering = pretty)
    Coriander leaves as garnish
    Brown rice (unburned. Note to self: Let theaphontes handle this part.)

    1. Spices, fish, veggies, zest, ginger – stir fry quickly in frying pan with sesame oil and ghee until fished sealed and starts to brown.
    2.Pour in millk and coconut milk.
    3. Cover and allow to cook at low temperature as rice is prepared (ensure you have enough water added to rice)
    4. ten minutes before serving add broccoli and mange tout, stir
    5. five minutes before serving add bok choi
    6. When bok choi al dente, garnish with coriander.
    7. squash rice into teacup and upend onto plate and dish up cobbler and sauce.

    Voila ici easy.

  233. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Memo to self: Self, be careful using copypasta while blog commenting and working in a CMS web site. Luckily, I caught it before uploading the page, but still. . . .

    I almost IM’d my boss a copy paste of one of Pete Rooke’s unintentionally hilarious insanity while commenting here and working. Luckily I didn’t. That would have been no bueno.

  234. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    Rev:

    I almost uploaded

    Just curious. What time is it there? (9:07 pm and I burnt the rice… late supper)

    to a US government informational site. Would have been muy mal.

  235. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ Brogg

    I almost uploaded … [burnt rice] … to a US government informational site.

    Wut? You have denied me my 15 minutes of fame!

  236. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    theophontes:

    Might have been longer than that. It can take 15 minutes to 48 hours for an update to migrate from the CMS server to the DC server.

  238. says

    God I hate statcounter. It’s the best (apparently) free stats gadget for wordpress outside of wordpress.com. But I hate it with a passion. In wordpress.com, you always knew where your incoming links were from and what got you traffic, but with statcounter, it’s so hard to figure out who has linked to you. Very annoying.

  239. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ Brogg

    Aww, come on. Post it for teh lulz!

    @ All

    Pictures from a recent trip to Tai O (a small stilt village on one of the nearby islands) Linky. Quite the alternative lifestyle. Very old woman’s reaction to SO taking a picture of her front door: “Fucking your mother!” Colourful too.

    @ Josh

    Phoenicia Spawn (PBUH too) new home is opposite the Snow White & Seven Dwarfs Shrine shown. She will definitely feel cozy.

  240. alkaloid says

    As a protest against the potential passage of SOPA/PIPA, an increasing number of sites are going to have a one day blackout on January 18th. I was curious if PZ Myers had considered this or some other form of potential protest as well (given that these kinds of laws could be abused horribly by fundamentalists and other woo-peddlers, aside from the more obvious problems with it)?

  241. says

    As a protest against the potential passage of SOPA/PIPA, an increasing number of sites are going to have a one day blackout on January 18th

    I read that there is movement, and that e.g. the DNS redirect provision is going to be scrapped from the proposed law. linky.
    Also, the White House has come out condemning the bill. One can hope.

  242. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ rorschach

    Anne who ?

    HERETIC!!!!!!one!!!!eleventyone!!!

  243. carlie says

    I haven’t been seeing the skip to end to leave a response link working here for a week or so now. Is it just me?

  244. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    theophontes:

    Phoenicia Spawn (PBUH too)

    Shit! I haven’t fed Hans Gruber in like 2 weeks! :-/

  245. Rey Fox says

    I didn’t even know there was a “skip to the end” link. I didn’t look for one until I got my tablet a couple weeks ago.

  246. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    Aww, come on. Post it for teh lulz!

    I do not want a two week vacation, sans pay, thank you.

  247. llewelly says

    Josh, Official SpokesGay | 14 January 2012 at 11:27 pm

    Kristinc, I extend my sympathies and warm thoughts to you and your loved ones in this your time of scent. Here is a casserole.

    …
    er, wait, you want her to eat while that awful, unbearable stench is about?

  248. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ Dr Audley

    Shit! I haven’t fed Hans Gruber in like 2 weeks! :-/

    We are supposed to feed them? I thought they where gods – they are supposed to feed US.

    (We better put in for a refund. In the meantime don’t let Josh out of your sight.)

  249. llewelly says

    What I love about Heddle is that the unbounded immorality and infinite sadism of his god is never disguised. Nor does he mince words about the eagerness of his god to decieve and manipulate the unwary.

    Heddle illustrates Christianity for what it really is: a religion of abject helplessness in the hands of ultimate evil. Heddle is the real-life version of the Jack Chick tract that was redone with a Lovecraftian theme, answering the question Christians have been asking themselves for millenia: Who Will Be Eaten First?

  250. carlie says

    I made the marshmallow recipe from “Make the bread, buy the butter”, the one features on NPR.

    It did not work.

    I now have a panful of dense marshmallow fluff.

    And a messy kitchen.

    Harumpf.

  251. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    theophontes:

    We are supposed to feed them? I thought they where gods – they are supposed to feed US.

    My bad. I should have said:
    Shit! I haven’t sacrificed flour and warm water to Hans Gruber in like 2 weeks! :-/

    Carlie:

    I made the marshmallow recipe from “Make the bread, buy the butter”, the one features on NPR.

    It did not work.

    I heard that segment. Once the author started in about how great homemade Worcestershire sauce is, I was all fuck that.

    I understand making food from scratch, I really do, but there’s a point where it just gets insane and far too time consuming.

  252. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    llewelly: Aye. It wasn’t the reality or unreality of the christian ‘God’ that got me to ditch christianity. Who would want to worship such a monster?

    If good loving progressive christians figure only the New Testament ‘counts’, why do they even still have the Old Testament around? And just because Jesus came along and said a few nice things, it doesn’t mean the new testament is all smiles and sunshine. This is where Paul’s pronouncement that women must keep their heads covered and not speak out in church comes from, after all.

    I always ask christians why they think God is good, when he does stuff like ‘Harden pharaoh’s heart’ just so he can kick him down and show how ‘great’ he is, or tell a guy to ritually slaughter his own son just to go “Just kidding! Here’s a ram!” at the last minute, and after going around the useless old ‘Who are we to question God’s will?’ maypole a few more times, it eventually comes out: Might makes right. God is Good because God SAYS he’s good and will destroy you if you question it too hard. Sometimes they get this faux-indignance. “Who are you, pathetic mortal, to question the will of God?” For the wages of sin are death, not the potter but the potter’s clay, blah-dee-blah-blah.

    Even if God was real, even if everything in the Bible was literally and scientifically true, I’d still spit in his face. Because I don’t grovel at the feet of tyrants and bullies, even if they are vastly more powerful than me.

  253. alkaloid says

    I read that there is movement, and that e.g. the DNS redirect provision is going to be scrapped from the proposed law. linky.
    Also, the White House has come out condemning the bill. One can hope.

    While they did eliminate the DNS blocking provision, how much do you trust the White House saying that they’re against this? It isn’t like they’ve haven’t broken their word before and it seems safer to petition Congress about it-especially since with one element of it knocked down, it might be possible to kill off the whole thing.

  254. carlie says

    Audley – I…kind of want to make the worchestershire. Just to try it. The marshmallow was to try and celebrate child 2’s last week before braces. We’re getting every sticky gummy candy we can find.
    I think the ease of making depends a lot on equipment. With a Kitchen Aid it might have worked fine, but my little hand mixer didn’t have enough oomph to fluff it before it cooled off.

  255. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    Carlie:

    The marshmallow was to try and celebrate child 2′s last week before braces. We’re getting every sticky gummy candy we can find.

    1) That’s awesome. Not necessarily the braces part*, but the celebration part.

    2) Have you thought about looking into vintage marshmallow recipes? Stand mixers weren’t a big deal until recently, so it might be easier to find a recipe that would be doable with an electric hand mixer.

    Maybe it’s just me, but I’m just not into making condiments. But if you make the Worcestershire sauce and it’s good, I’d consider giving it a whirl. :)

    *I hated them when I had them, but hoo boy, am I ever glad that I’ve got straight teeth now.

  257. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    Oh wait, here we go:

    Marshmallows
    2 Tbs gelatin
    1/4 c cold water
    3/4 c boiling water
    2 c sugar
    1/8 tsp salt
    1 tsp vanilla
    Confectioners’ sugar

    Soak the gelatin in cold water until it has taken up all the water. Boil the sugar and the water to the soft-ball stage (238°F). Add vanilla and salt to the gelatin. Pour the sirup slowly over the gelatin, beating constantly with a whisk until cool and thick. Butter a shallow pan slightly and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Turn the marshmallow mixture into the pan and smooth top evenly. Dust with confectioners’ sugar. Let it stand over night. In the morning, cut into squares and roll in confectioners’ sugar.

    Variations:
    Chopped nuts, dates, figs, raisins, or candied cherries may be added to the recipe for marshmallows. Plain marshmallows may be rolled in coconut before being rolled in sugar, or they may be dipped in melted chocolate. Marshmallows may be tinted any desired color.

  258. carlie says

    Hm, that may be part of the problem too – the recipe in the book called for the sugar to be cooked to 265 degrees F. It might have been doomed right from then with the sugar being too hard.

  259. says

    Josh, re Heddle: “And he’s a goddamn nuclear physicist.”

    Damn. That’s some impressive compartmentalization there.

    High of 16 F today here, low of 2 last night and tonight. I find that hanging laundry up in the living room helps with the moisture level in the house, and the clothes dry pretty quickly, too.

    As for scents, I use them infrequently. My most common one is Ginger Milk, from The Thames Co., which is very light and fresh-smelling, and doesn’t require me to bathe in it. Other than that, I use essential oils, which last longer and tend to be of higher quality than aerosolized liquids. I’m rather fond of both rose and various “spring rain” types of oils.

    And citrus-y bath products (the good stuff, not crap from Bath & Bodyworks that smells like Febreze or douche powder). I’d be interested in that blood orange solid perfume to which Audley links if the patchouli were a much more subtle undertone, rather than (it seems) nearly equal to the blood orange.

  260. Pteryxx says

    IMHO, great post from Hank Fox:

    http://freethoughtblogs.com/bluecollaratheist/2012/01/15/answering-john-loftus-is-there-an-atheist-community/

    It’s the same with the current atheist movement. After … well, I was going to say “after thousands of years,” but the truth is, it’s been for all of our history and prehistory that we’ve lived under the mind-crushing oppressive hand of religion and superstition.

    The truth is, we’re undergoing a Transition that has no precedent. This one, kids, is not just a Transition, but a Revolution.

    It’s been surprisingly gentle, so far, and I’m surprised at that. I was expecting a bit more blood.

    I think what happened is that the Revolution started, and we won most of the ground, while nobody was looking.

  261. Serendipitydawg (Physicists are such a pain sometimes) says

    Patchouli gets everywhere and it makes me sneeze. My worst ever encounter was when Mrs S was looking around a shop in York and I wandered around idly browsing and ended up in patchouli central. The warning scents as I approached gave no indication that there was going to be a sharp and sudden plunge into patchouli overload, so I barely made it out without assistance XD

  265. kristinc, ~delicate snowflake~ says

    I stuck to natural perfumes and perfume oils until I happened to smell the most recent release from Chanel and I was so delighted and blown away by the complete olfactory illusion of having an iris plant crushed under my nose that I started looking for more of the same. What I love about synthetic perfumery is the magic tricks it can perform, for instance Mure Et Musc’s musky blackberry (not blackberries and musk) and Mitsoukos’s peach achieved through adding a lactone to a classic chypre blend (who the hell thought of that?).

    I do like essential oils but I prefer them for home scenting — I like Virginia cedarwood and frankincense particularly. I think the difference between essential oil blends and perfume is that one is like a pretty natural landscape and the other is like a sculpture or painting.

    Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab makes some very good quality perfume oils — there are a lot of complete reekers in the bunch but with so many scents in the catalog that’s probably inevitable. They have a wonderful hand with natural components like incense, wood and patchouli blends.

  267. says

    Jesus praises the “Good Samaritan” – the Samaritans being hated and despised by the Jews.

    A story where the premise is “Our priests are so shitty even this scummy vermin like minority are better than them” isn’t the best praise.

  270. carlie says

    SallyStrange, thanks for that WAM link! There are a few really good ones in there. And I hadn’t heard of that organization before.

    Oh dear – child 2 has discovered America’s Funniest Videos on Netflix. It’s everything he loves about youtube all in one marathon hit. I had hoped to shield him from knowledge of this show.

  272. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    So, I just went over to my mom’s for a cup of coffee. She told me that she has stopped (cold turkey!) taking her anxiety meds because she “doesn’t want to put any toxins” in her body.

    *headdesk*

  273. thepint says

    @Audley – aw crap. Anti-anxiety meds =/= toxins. I’m really starting to hate hearing that word whenever it comes up in “health” discussions. I hope she doesn’t experience any bad side effects from going cold turkey, or if she does, it’ll be enough to convince her to go back on the meds. :(

    On the bright side, I’ve got a mocha poundcake per your instructions baking in the oven right now and damn, it smells good!! I ended up using a little over 1/2 cup of brewed coffee since the Husbeast made a huge carafe of it earlier – going on a tip from a similar recipe, I used the hot coffee to melt the unsweetened chocolate and added the coffee/chocolate mixture where the water would have been added, so that the eggs went in last. Also threw in about 1/2 tsp cardamom to go for a “Turkish coffee” flavor mocha. Husbeast had to give me the stink eye so I’d stop “sampling” the batter. It… may not make it to the party before getting nibbled on.

  274. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    Ms Daisy:

    I’d be interested in that blood orange solid perfume to which Audley links if the patchouli were a much more subtle undertone, rather than (it seems) nearly equal to the blood orange.

    You’re right, it is pretty patchouli-y. Not to the “I’m wearing patchouli instead of bathing” level, but you can definitely smell and identify it.

  275. Midnight Rambler says

    WTF? I posted a comment half an hour ago and it hasn’t showed up, but trying to post it again gives a “duplicate comment – you already posted that!” error. It had a link, but just one. What gives?

  276. janine says

    Carlie, how does a parent describe Bob Saget to a child? Do not go to YouTube and search for Bob Saget and The Aristocrats.

    Warning! Really fucking sick and disturbing.

    You have been warned.

    Seriously, you have been warned.

    All kidding aside, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

  277. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    the pint:

    On the bright side, I’ve got a mocha poundcake per your instructions baking in the oven right now and damn, it smells good!!

    Awesome! I’ll be making the pound cake after dinner tonight (I went out this afternoon on a whim, so I haven’t gotten around to it yet). I’m going to keep it pretty close to the recipe, I think.

    As for my mom… eh, I’m used to it. I told her that she was stupid, but she won’t listen to me. Because toxins! And energies! And whatever other crap she read in a magazine that she decided to take to heart.

    I am worried that this means that she won’t seek out medical care if she really needs it in the future. But, I guess we’ll see.

  281. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    Re: scents, I don’t like them. It is odd. I have a chronic case of nasal running and blockage (which mostly just produces OMG LOUD sneezing), so most people assume that my sense of smell would suck. It actually is pretty good. The problem is that most perfumes annoy the hell out of me and make me sneeze. Natural, chemical, whatever. It is possibly an autistic thing, but I also tend to associate smells with people. End result is that if someone always wears the same subtle scent I’m fine with it, but get hella confused if they don’t wear it or switch to a different scent. But people who wear scents a lot and switch them up just baffle me. One time when I was a kid I threw a huge tantrum when my mom picked me up from school, insisting that she wasn’t actually my mom. The staff knew her, so send me home with her anyway, over my furious protests. She had apparently run out of deodorant that morning and had used my dad’s as a stopgap.

    ___
    I has the sads. Everyone in the area has been raving about this local pizza parlor, so I ordered one for dinner. It is okay. But only okay. I am not impressed.

    ___
    I aslo has the sads because I just moved a long way from where I used to live, haven’t had the chance to make new friends, and my birthday is friday. I’m not one for going to bars by myself. I am resisting the urge to drive 4 hours on my birthday to go back to where I lived before to see people, but I may end up doing that if I don’t want to spend my birthday alone.

  282. chigau (同じ) says

    Dr. Audley
    If your Mom wants to stop putting “toxins” into her body, she should give up coffee.
    Tell her that from me, that should be convincing :)

  283. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    chigau:

    If your Mom wants to stop putting “toxins” into her body, she should give up coffee.

    Oh man, I should have thought of that!

    Next time, then.

  286. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    However, this cheers me up. Oh, Freddie. There are very few men that this dyke has ever crushed on, but you are one of them.

  287. thepint says

    If your Mom wants to stop putting “toxins” into her body, she should give up coffee.

    +1 chigau

  288. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    …did my page randomly stop loading new comments, or has no one actually posted for 20 minutes?

  289. janine says

    It happens sometimes. A lot of the regulars appear to either not be here today or are not saying much.

    *fades away*

  290. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    *fades away*

    Noooooo!

    *looks around*

    Hello? Anyone?

    *watches tumbleweed*

    …okay then.

    *sits down, drinks tea*

  292. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    I feel weird today. Our first real snowfall of the year, and yet for some reason (possibly the sunshine), some part of my brain keeps telling me it feels like summer soon.

    The power of wishful thinking?

    Esteleth, Janine, I as well have noticed that it’s entirely too quiet in here.

  294. says

    I like Patchouli the same way I like Free Bird or Stairway To Heaven.

    Great stuff, but it’s been done to death. (The latter 2 songs are on my iPod, but they’re in the Do Not Play list.)

  296. carlie says

    Audley, I’m sorry about your mom. Hopefully it’s a short phase.

    I tried the marshmallow again with Audley’s recipe blended with the one I have, and success! I took hers and just added two whipped egg whites and then since I added two lemons’ worth of juice for flavor, added another gelatin packet to make up for the moisture. Nice and fluffy. I guess it was the sugar temperature. stupid recipe.

    The Funniest home videos is post-Saget, some other bland guy.
    Wow, looked him up, and he also hosts Dancing With The Stars.

    But, tonight is Downton Abbey! Hooray!

  298. Classical Cipher, Murmur Muris, OM says

    I’m not caught up yet, but I wanted to say:

    Janine, I swear sometimes that we are all really a hive-mind.
    I had just listened to raspberry swirl and crucify, then popped onto TET to see you have linked them both for our listening pleasure this evening. I loved the Joni Mitchell tune too.

    ME TOO ME TOO! Okay well actually neither of those songs. I was listening to a bunch of Tori Amos though, last night.
    Okay scrolling back up.

  299. Midnight Rambler says

    WTF is that supposed to mean? I’m part of Occupy and I’m a progressive who’s unhappy with Obama. You want to elaborate?

    I mean the ones who say Obama hasn’t transformed the financial system and ended the wars and so they’re supporting RP, not every progressive who’s part of it (it is, after all, a pretty diverse movement). There is a weirdly large number of liberal/progressives who are willing to blind themselves to RP’s overwhelming nuttiness because of his few semi-leftish stands.

    FWIW, I used to call myself a progressive because my politics are to the left of standard liberal positions, but stopped because of the number of self-identified “progressives” who post all kinds of crazy shit.

  300. otrame says

    Esteleth,

    However, this cheers me up. Oh, Freddie.

    Yeah, he was diamond. We shall not see his like again.

    To me, among all the slaughter that HIV has caused, and understanding that every single death is a horrific tragedy, it was his death and that of Isaac Asimov that I feel really damaged our society.

    Of course, I have not had a friend or relative taken that way, and I am honestly not trying to make it sound like all the others weren’t important. I guess I am saying that those two deaths hurt me, personally, the most.

  302. says

    @ Midnight Rambler

    Well, perhaps you should use different terminology. I’ve seen lots of people who think the same thing, but aren’t part of Occupy. And most people I’ve met in Occupy don’t support Paul at all. Also, if they support Paul, they’re not progressives (and if they support Paul and are at Occupy, they’re seriously confused about something). And there’s nothing wrong with being unhappy with Obama. I’m pretty sure most USAians here are at least somewhat unhappy with what he’s done, and rightly so.
    But I will agree with you that voting for Paul because of unhappiness with Obama is stupid.

  305. SallyStrange (Bigger on the Inside), Spawn of Cthulhu says

    I’ve been at work. And by “work,” I mean “freezing my ass off in a parking lot, directing traffic for the hockey game”.

    Now I’m off to rehearsal, which is going to be freezing as well, in shed heated only by a tiny woodstove.

    :(

  306. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    Dammit, I had a long post all typed, I hit “submit” and my internet connection decided to take that EXACT SECOND to reset itself.
    That post is vanished into the ether.

    Grrr!

    Incidentally, does anyone here have the computer-fu to be able to tell me why my computer (running Mac OS X 10.7.2) will randomly drop wireless connections? It keeps doing this and it is PISSING ME OFF.

  307. Classical Cipher, Murmur Muris, OM says

    *is caught up*
    *is an Occupy nut*
    *sulks*
    —
    I can’t stop listening to the Mountain Goats, again. I’ve listened to a bunch of their songs with Bible verses for titles, which is unlike me, but I love them. His voice hurts pleasantly. Oh well.
    I’m not doing my homework again! And I have to leave campus in 48 minutes so I better get on that.

  309. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    I’ve been at work. And by “work,” I mean “freezing my ass off in a parking lot, directing traffic for the hockey game”.

    I’ve been at work, too. And by “work”, I mean “rewriting five site bulletins which have not been updated since 2003 while my coworkers sit on their butts and complain that they have nothing to do.” However, I did learn how to set and change outlines for text wrapping. Which makes my life so much easier.

    For dinner, we had balsamic vinegar and rosemary chicken (don’t ask for the recipe, it is a Wegman’s seasoned meat). I also decided to make some ham and spinach rissotto. Which was strange as I discovered I had no arborio. Just jasmine and a brown/red/black rice blend. So I made it anyway and it was fantastic. Recipe follows.

    Not Quite Ham and Spinach Risotto

    1/4 cup olive oil
    1/2 red onion, diced
    5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
    5/8 cup jasmine rice
    1/8 cup brown/wild/red/black rice blend (or whatever)
    1 cup white wine
    5 slices of smoked ham lunch meat (good deli stuff). diced
    1 teaspoon smoked salt
    1 teaspoon black pepper
    2 cups fresh spinach, sliced and chopped
    1/4 cup grate Romano (or other hard cheese)

    Put a kettle of water on to boil. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and saute until translucent. Add the rice and stir to coat. Lower the heat and gently brown the white rice.

    When the rice is heated through and is starting to show some medium brown kernals, add the white wine. Increase the heat and boil the wine almost away. Add just enough boiling water to cover the rice and boil it away while stirring frequently. Add just enough boiling water to cover the rice and boil it away while stirring frequently. Add just enough boiling water to cover the rice and boil it away while stirring frequently. Add just enough boiling water to cover the rice and boil it away while stirring frequently.

    Add the garlic, salt, pepper, ham and spinach. Add just enough water to cover the rice and boil it away while stirring it frequently. When almost all the liquid is goone, add the cheese, give it a few quick stirs, turn off the heat and serve.

    I know it ain’t risotto but it was really good with the chicken.

  310. SallyStrange (Bigger on the Inside), Spawn of Cthulhu says

    I’ll be chilling with Audley on Friday night. Which would be right about where you used to live, Esteleth. So if you do decide to drive four hours, give me a heads-up, okay?

  311. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    Alright Sally. I’ll think on it.

    Today I had the glorious experience of failing to enter my own driveway.

    Seems that compressed snow is very slippery.

  312. kristinc, ~delicate snowflake~ says

    Hey, Ogvorbis, I baked your chocolate bread last night and ate some for breakfast. You’re right, very good with cream cheese.

  313. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    Carlie:

    Audley, I’m sorry about your mom. Hopefully it’s a short phase.

    No, this is pretty much par for the course. I thought she was doing better with the “toxin”/woo nonsense (since she had been following her doctor’s advice for the past couple of years), but apparently she has back-slid hard. *sigh*

    I tried the marshmallow again with Audley’s recipe blended with the one I have, and success!

    Boom!

    Sweet.

    Sally:

    I’ll be chilling with Audley on Friday night. Which would be right about where you used to live, Esteleth. So if you do decide to drive four hours, give me a heads-up, okay?

    Ditto, E. Call or email me if you’re in or around town, okay?

    Anyway, the mocha pound cake is in the oven. I used butter as the shortening, microwaved the chocolate (which was fine), and greased/floured the pan instead of using parchment paper.

    IT SMELLS LIKE COFFEE ICE CREAM.

  314. cicely, Destroyer of Mint says

    My favorite scent was/is Avon’s Timeless. If they still made bath bars of it, I’d buy ’em, you betcha.
    –

    Cicely & Dr Audley: try a mix of dried blueberries and white chocolate chips.

    That does sound good. The cranberries are gonna be awfully hard to beat, though.
    –
    Giliell, happy birthday (early), and commiserations on the Gift of Barf. Sucks.
    –
    Speak of patchouli, and my sinuses back up and my eyes puff shut.

    Okay, slight exaggeration. But a little whiff’ll do me in.
    –

    I haven’t been seeing the skip to end to leave a response link working here for a week or so now. Is it just me?

    No. And I miss it.

    Come back, Skip To The End! All is forgiven! I kept your room just the way you left it!
    –
    Happy Friday-birthday, Esteleth. :)
    And you don’t need to drive 4 hours to find us.
    –
    otrame, I hadn’t known that Asimov had HIV.
    –

  315. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    Fuck me. I just accidentally downloaded FireFox 9.

    Shit shit shit. I meant to close out of the pop up, not accept!

  316. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    Cecliy, Asimov seroconverted after receiving tainted blood during heart surgery in 1983.

    I made chocolate chip cookies the other day. I used a standard recipe (the one in JoC, to be exact), but added cranberries. It was DELICIOUS.

  318. David Marjanović says

    Can’t catch up now. Just so much:

    1) onion girl tells me to tell you all she misses us all. She’s mired in work, but making great progress!

    2) I’ve now stayed up way too late and caught up with the previous subthread:

    *pounces and hugs David M

    just ’cause*

    *bliss*

    Hmm. Unfortunately, I feel I may have to watch Firefly some more. I know it’s going to be hard and a struggle, but I will push through it.
    <..>
    Oh, and I have some very important reading to do for my book club. I can’t let them down, no matter how arduous it will be to read one of my favorite books over again.
    <.lt;
    I may not have time to work on my translations tonight! Darn.

    :-D :-D :-D

    ^_^

    What the hell is $35 even supposed to do anyway, for a family of four?

    I think it’s mostly supposed to be symbolic.

    Evil, in other words. As if we didn’t already know that.

    Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children

    So… perfect.

    The rule in question that says humans are punished from using the death note states that no one who uses a Death Note can enter heaven or hell….but it’s a lie by omission because the Death Note later explicitly states there is no afterlife. It’s technically true but misleading.

    Actually, that’s kind of awesome. :-D

    Morgan the kitty is a cutie. She went to jump onto my lap (yes, that’s my knee) just know. She’s even cute in motion!

    ^_^

    I’m embarrassingly old to be having my first enjoyable date

    I don’t know how old you are, but I’m 29 and have never had a date…

    The rest of the weekend will probably be spent in the lab, doing mindless benchwork for the paper that does not die and probably will be rejected anyway.

    How many journals can you send it to, and how many in sequence are you willing to try before giving up?

    Hello Thread! :3

    Hello. Your name is Gyeong Hwa, and you’re a thread addict.

    Hi, Gyeong Hwa!

    Homophobic son of a bitch thinks it’s funny to joke that he’d rather die, or let his friend die, than “suck the poison” out of a penis.

    *chortle*

    That’s very funny – not the “joke” itself, but the fact that Kagan feels such a strong urge to talk about m/m oral sex. Shades of Santorum and his irresistible urge to talk about anal sex. If he simply found it disgusting, he wouldn’t make it a topic, would he? Protesteth he way too much?

    Some years ago, on a camping trip, my friend Joe Ray and I resolved that should one of us be unfortunate enough to be bitten on the penis by a venomous serpent, and oral suction by the other was the only life saving measure available, then the afflicted party would simply have to die. My liberated stepdaughter finds this view “homophobic,” meaning fear of homosexuality. I don’t think so. I am not afraid of homosexuality; I simply find the idea of people of the same sex having sex unaesthetic and curious and do not understand why up to ten percent of the world’s population wants to do that.

    Erm… assuming suction worked to remove venom (TLC is right: it doesn’t*), I agree with Caine, of course: to apply such suction simply wouldn’t be sex. ~:-| I’ll just say that, where I come from, letting people die by inaction is a crime, and rightly so. Here’s hoping his “liberated stepdaughter” can liberate herself from him.

    * Maybe it does when the victim first has a cardiac arrest and is then bitten, har. Even so, I recommend you don’t put snake venoms on a mucosa of your own.

    it doesn’t even occur to him that there’s something almost sociopathic about saying “I’d sooner die or watch my friend die than I would have to touch his penis with my mouth to save his life.”

    “Almost” sociopathic?

    “Almost”?

    But there are many things I find annoying, don’t understand, don’t want to do, and don’t know why anyone else would want to do, like being left-handed

    o_O

    O_o

    O_O

  319. Midnight Rambler says

    Sorry, I didn’t mean to single out Occupy folks; it was just the first group of left-aligned people that includes P*** supporters that popped into my head. There are, sadly, quite a few others.

  320. says

    Argh, why do I still lurk on DailyKos? This comment in the thread about Jessica Ahlquist is absolute dumb. Same idiot goes on to say,

    If I’m a state worker on state grounds, will it soon come to be that I can’t wear a cross?

    You think it is silly now, but a wait a few more years.

    Oh, and yeah, shit-tons of No Twoo Kwystyun. When the diarist refuses to change the title of the diary to add “some” before “Christians,” one of them whines, “God, atheists are assholes.” BAAAWWWWW.

  321. David Marjanović says

    My comment numbers are truncated at the left.

    Probably the entire text of the page is shifted to the right. Scroll back to the left. That happens fairly often on this laptop, where the margins of the touchpad are scroll bars and it’s easy to trigger them accidentally.

  322. Classical Cipher, Murmur Muris, OM says

    Well, it turns out I’m not leaving campus after all :) not til late, anyway. Since it already got dark when I wasn’t looking, and I have to work here anyway, and the only reason I was going to try to leave at five was to get home before dark. Guess I’m taking a cab. Sigh. On the bright side, if you can call it that, I now have no excuse to not work on my Latin.

  323. says

    Hey, all the feminazis here were specifically mentioned on the Non-prophets!

    We’re not helping apparently and don’t know how to talk to people.

  324. chigau (同じ) says

    I’m looking at the whole page.
    No bottom scroll-bar.
    The numbers are missing the first digit, just like when we furst moved to FtB.

  325. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Oh, Ing, tell me that isn’t true about the Non Prophets. Which of the hosts said what? (Sorry, I can’t bring myself to listen it just now).

  326. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    Chigau,
    Are you using a smart phone? My ‘Droid cuts off the first number when I’m looking at the mobile site.

  329. Nutmeg says

    @David M #317

    How many journals can you send it to, and how many in sequence are you willing to try before giving up?

    I’m sure we could send it to several journals, but we’re trying to get it accepted by [pretty good journal for a grad student in my field], which has a substantially higher impact factor than the rest of our options. I suspect that this saga will end with the paper being rejected by [pretty good journal], despite all our revisions, and being published in [nothing special journal]. Such is life.

    I don’t know how old you are, but I’m 29 and have never had a date…

    23, and that was date #4 of my entire life, so don’t feel bad! Getting an education and starting a career doesn’t leave a lot of time for meeting new people.

  332. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    chigau:

    Everything was normal until a few minutes ago.

    Weird.

    The pound cake has been in the oven for 1 hour 10 minutes and it’s still like liquid in the middle.

    *sigh* I’m going to end up scorching it, I just know it.

  334. chigau (同じ) says

    Dr. Audley
    That last advise was for an electric oven.
    I don’t know if it would work if you’re cooking with gas.
    (if you are, I’m envious)

  336. Classical Cipher, Murmur Muris, OM says

    Yeah, the other ones sound like they disagree with him about most of the stupidity he’s spouting, except that the woman host (I don’t know any of their names, sorry) thinks that the word “misogyny” ought to be used less freely with “sexist” substituted.

  337. says

    @Classic Cipher

    Shilling
    Matt
    Russel
    Dennis
    Beth

    Shilling’s alignment I pinged as LN a while ago, if that helps.

    Beth runs the godless bitches show so she’s solid AFAIK.

  338. Classical Cipher, Murmur Muris, OM says

    Really? I think I only hear three separate men’s voices :( Well, someone else’ll figure it out.

  339. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Ing, thanks. I don’t know what LN is though. And are you saying Shilling is the dumb host spouting off, but that the others are not with him? I know you’re not a transcriptionist, so ignore as you like:)

  340. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    chigau:

    That last advise was for an electric oven.
    I don’t know if it would work if you’re cooking with gas.

    It’s out of the oven now, it just needed a little extra time. :)

    I miss my gas oven. This electric oven can go screw itself with a dead porcupine.

  341. says

    Ing, thanks. I don’t know what LN is though. And are you saying Shilling is the dumb host spouting off, but that the others are not with him? I know you’re not a transcriptionist, so ignore as you like:)

    D&D alignment. Two axis Good, Neutral, Evil and Chaotic, Neutral, Lawful. One is a ranking of moral and ethical judgement the other on how decisions are made.

    Lawful Neutral means he has a code of conduct that is amoral but consistent and orderly. For example, his position is that, according to him, he cannot make moral judgements on Saudi Arabia executing a rape victim since it’s another culture.

    Really? I think I only hear three separate men’s voices :( Well, someone else’ll figure it out.

    Matt==most common voice most likely
    Russel==The one who most disagreed
    Denis==Host who didn’t speak much save for the introduction due to apparently them lacking enough mics. He is the one who sounds like he has a beard
    Shilling=One complaining.

  342. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    I have no tolerance for the variety of d00d that insists that it is worse to be called sexist than to have to endure sexism (or racist/racism). Is that what is going down over there?

    The kitty just decided that my breasts make an excellent shelf when I am sitting at my computer, typing. Sorry kitty, that “shelf” is not flat and sags when you put weight on it.

  343. chigau (同じ) says

    Dr. Audley
    How does it taste?
    Baking in my electric oven requires constant vigilance.
    And usually rotation of the baking items.
    I don’t think a soufflé is possible.

  344. says

    @Esteleth

    The crux of the argument is that people use terms like privilege so much for little things that people ignore it since it’s a buzz word just like “Activist judges”.

  345. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    chigau:

    How does it taste?

    It’s still cooling. I’ll let you know after dinner. :)

    Baking in my electric oven requires constant vigilance.
    And usually rotation of the baking items.

    Josh had some great advice a while back– invest in a pizza stone. I leave mine on the bottom rack all the time and it has really helped to even out the hot/cold spots.

    For instance, the pound cake I made today rose evenly. That wouldn’t have happened before I got the stone. (Trust me, there’s nothing quite as disappointing as a lopsided cake.)

  346. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    @Ing
    Oh, yes, of course. “By saying that I have privilege, you are insulting/attacking me!” “I don’t have privilege, I am gay/disabled/non-Christian!” “Yes, I recognize that I have privilege, but can we talk about something else now, like how I’m such a natural leader?”

  350. says

    Well fuck

    after spending lets see…4 hours backing up everything to a 2Tbyte harddrive for safe keeping..I get up trip on the cord and knock it down to the floor.

    Yup. That’s one expensive paper weight now

    Fuck my life.

  352. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    Chigau,
    The pound cake was OM NOM NOM so delicious.

    I think the temp and time need to be adjusted, but as long as you’re willing to keep an eye on it, it’s all good. :)

  353. says

    Nutmeg/DrDMFM:

    I’m not saying a word.

    ####

    Bought three pairs of jeans today, at a total cost of $145. And I still need to hem them. (They’re just barely too long, so I can wear them long if I have to. Is it at all fashionable to cuff jeans these days?)

    Also bought 10 feet of 3/4″ PVC pipe and some fittings from The Large Home Improvement Store That Isn’t Lowes. Eventually I’ll have a shoulder rig for my camera… but first I need to go back and get two more 90 degree elbows and a metal plate to mount the ballhead on. (I swear I had the plate in the bag, but somehow it disappeared… and I think I just miscalculated the number of elbows I’d need.)

    ####

    Still reading papers. Got paper summaries due Tuesday (on “On µ-Kernel Construction”—yes, the µ is part of the actual title) and Wednesday (on “A Theory of Runtime Enforcement, with Results”).

    I’m getting better at reading these. It only takes about six hours each now.

  354. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Having plucked the succulent meat from the roast chicken carcass there is ever so much more chicken cooking to be done!

    1. All the schmaltz from the bottom of the roasting pan has been clarified and chilled in a jar. Golden yellow goodness (in small, moderate portions – but hey, it has less saturated fat than butter, who knew?).

    2. Pot Number One is filled with the rich gelatinized drippings along with water and the contents of my freezer garbage pot of vegetable scraps: Leeks, onion tops, carrot ends, celery leaves and stalks, bay leaf and sage.

    3. Pot Number Two is bubbling away with the actual carcass along with onion, celery, and carrot. When the meat falls off the bones they will be discarded and there shall be chicken and rice soup. Just perfect for this sub-zero (that’s fahrenheit mofos) weather.

    Hey, Google Chrome—why do you think “fahrenheit” is a misspelling?

  356. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Ing, call a tech and at least get an estimate and a likelihood of data retrieval. It’s awful to lose that much stuff.

  358. SallyStrange (Bigger on the Inside), Spawn of Cthulhu says

    Hey, I’m back! I crashed a birthday party with my band! We showed up suddenly during dinner, all dressed in our red suits, mingled for a couple of minutes, then pulled out our instruments and started playing! It was lots of fun, and I snagged a couple of ganja cookies whose effects I have still not felt. Heh.

    I am going to miss my band a lot. :-/

  359. says

    Ing: The device that died was the backup hard drive, right? And nothing was on that drive that isn’t also on the main drive? If that’s the case, then I’d say you’re pretty much out $however.much, but at least your files are safe.

    If the drive contained things that don’t exist on your other drive, then take Josh’s advice.

  361. chigau (同じ) says

    Dr. Audley
    I can taste it from here.
    —
    Ing
    I’m sorry, I laughed (hysterically).
    A million years ago, when I got my very first computer, the first thing I did when it came out of the box was drop it on the floor.
    I was a quivering, weeping wreck.
    The merchant (blessem) replaced it.

  362. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Wow – I didn’t realize browsers counted capitalization on proper nouns as an error, Ben. Ain’t that just something?

  363. says

    Sigh

    Most of the stuff like Photoshop brushes got moved, and the video files are mostly on netflix and like now so not as big a deal. Most of what was lost was some personal pics and some photos for art references which…I can rebuild and do without. Just ver depressing.

  365. thepint says

    Audley, just thought you’d like to know, the poundcake went over like gangbusters – there’s barely enough left for 1, maybe 2 slices. :) Thanks for sharing, I’m definitely going to try making it again, maybe with a chili pepper variation next time.

    And I second the notion that electric ovens/stoves can die in a fire. Gas ranges rule.

  366. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    maybe with a chili pepper variation next time.

    Ill-advised. There’s a place for unusual food combinations, but this strikes me as crossing into garlic-flavored-sweet-ice-cream-with-mayonnaise-sauce territory. I’d stick with adding chili peppers to a sweetened (NOT pound-cake-sweet) cornbread. YMMV.

  367. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ Josh

    [repost] You haz mail. (… and snail-mail!)

  368. thepint says

    Josh – Just to clarify, I made Audley’s mocha poundcake recipe. It’s definitely a personal preference thing, but I’m a sucker for chocolate+coffee+spicy combinations and I’ve found that a mixture of ancho and chipotle (with more emphasis on the former) and a touch of cinnamon makes for a very nice combination – something about the smokey and sweet notes is very enjoyable. It’s not an opinion everyone shares, though. :)

  370. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Theo – you, too, haz emailz.

    thepint – ah, I get it. Report back on the culinary experiments, please.

  371. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ Josh

    Did you send … OMG?

    Yes. (Is that a bad thing?)

  373. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    [rant]

    Apple Ipad 2 + 3G

    I went and bought two of those yesterday (one black, one white). Hot off the press, “state of the art”.

    I was expecting a bit of disappointment, knowing that Apple are high on hype and low on delivery. All fart and no shit.

    I was expecting disappointment and girded my loins in preparation for the let down. OMFG, in spite of my best preparations I was still let down. Now that is one fucking achievement right there.

    I was expecting them to deliver “toys for older boys”. But they delivered kiddies toys plain and simple. And if you want to actually do anything with that crap you have to pay out of your ass.

    Luckily I was not buying them for myself but as bribes baksheesh incentives … traditional Chinese New Years gifts … to give to certain of our clients’ managers in order to sway ingratiate buy … wish them well for the new year.

    I am going off to hug my Eeepc now, excuse me …

    [/rant]

  374. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ Josh

    Pheeuw…. I was worried I may get bust for such nefarious mailing activities when next I touch down in San Fran. :D

  375. chigau (同じ) says

    I’m putting on a half-batch of sourdough bread (I usually do 4 loaves).
    —
    I have inherited a lot of eccentric “flour” (rice, tapioca, potato).
    I’m trying to control myself so I don’t put some of each and then try to figure-out which one made the bread strange.

  376. theophontes, Hexanitroisowurtzitanverwendendes_Bärtierchen says

    @ chigau

    eccentric “flour” (rice, tapioca, potato).

    I have also wondered about those, but managed to restrain myself to date.

    What I have tried are spelt flour (“foodgasmic”), whole wheat (amazing texture, delicious), and a bit of oats (interesting, great for coating). Perhaps it is time to get experimental again.

  377. chigau (同じ) says

    We have a hand-grinder and every so often (when the stars are right) we grind a bit of whatever is present; qinoa, spelt, corn, soy, (peas), etc.
    At some point it all ends up in the bread.

  378. Joshua says

    Is Google censoring embarrassing Catholic content?

    I needed an opinion. I thought this group might have the mental scalpels for this job.

    I was messing around in Google trends doing some research of moral significance and I made an interesting discovery.
    http://www.google.com/trends/?q=pedophile&ctab=0&geo=all&date=ytd&sort=0

    Look in late may how there is this spike with no associated news article? If you do a general Google search on “may and 2011 pedophile” you get some stories about the Popes Pedophile advisory. I don’t want to be a conspiracy theorist, but this smells bad…

  379. Midnight Rambler says

    Ah, fuck…sorry to hear that, Ing. I don’t back up my stuff as well as I should, so hearing about the myriad things that can go wrong is always unnerving. I have one backup HD, right next to my computer, and a similar thing could easily happen. A couple of years ago I had my apartment broken into and my laptop stolen, but thankfully the thieves were kind enough to unplug the hard drive and leave it.

  381. says

    Ing, those external hard drives are frequently a regular internal hard drive with a case and power adapter.

    It’s possible you would be able to dismantle the case, and mount the drive inside a tower, whereupon it may work again.

    But I would not do this except as a last resort, if you determine that other options are too expensive and you’ve resigned yourself to the likelihood that it’s already fucked.

  383. Midnight Rambler says

    Joshua – in short, no. It’s just too much trouble for Google to do that sort of thing for that kind of issue. Check the country-specific stats – that spike comes entirely from France and Belgium, and is most likely due to this story (which, surprisingly enough, doesn’t involve the RCC, at least not as the perpetrators).

  384. consciousness razor says

    Josh:

    This is from Google’s page about Google Trends:

    Located beneath the Search Volume Index graph is our News reference volume graph. This graph shows you the number of times your topic appeared in Google News stories. When Google Trends detects a spike in the volume of news stories for a particular search term, it labels the graph and displays the headline of an automatically selected Google News story written near the time of that spike. Currently, only English-language headlines are displayed, but we hope to support non-English headlines in the future.

    The labels identifying the news items are supposed to be present when there are spikes in the bottom graph showing the volume of news items, but not necessarily the top graph labeled the “Search Volume Index.” Still, it doesn’t make much sense to me. I’m finding some English-language articles about the RCC scandal in the Netherlands around that time, for example, but one possibility is that many English-language news agencies didn’t report on it (for whatever reason — enter nefarious plots here), not that Google isn’t recording such reports.

  386. says

    A comment goes into moderation for having too many links at Kagin’s blog.

    Forgive me for storing a backup copy of it here.

    +++++

    I still do not, after much thought, understand fully what is upsetting to those who wrote as they did.

    Well, you presented a homophobic stance, said your stepdaughter finds it to be a homophobic stance, and you disagree with her.

    Someone is wrong on the internet. So I want to point out how that is indeed a homophobic stance, and also how my day is more pleasant when I encounter fewer homophobic jokes regardless of who’s telling them. Generally, it is equivalently unpleasant but much easier to deal with a homophobic joke from a hater than one from someone who means well.

    As to whose voice you’re supposed to be speaking with in that first paragraph, I simply don’t care. If I took it to be not your own voice, I would still want to point out that the stepdaughter in this hypothetical was nevertheless correct. (Someone is hypothetically wrong on the internet and has not clearly been hypothetically corrected.) Moreover, my life is easier when people who want to be my allies don’t put me in a position of having to parse some ambiguous blather to determine whether or not they are indeed my allies. I can tell now from your Thought Police post that you are not at this time someone I can trust as an ally, so thanks for clearing that up.

    I am familiar with the joke. I did take it to be a joke and in your own voice — and so did at least one of your defenders. If it’s a joke and not in your own voice, then it’s not clear whether the following is in your voice either: “I am not afraid of homosexuality; I simply find the idea of people of the same sex having sex unaesthetic and curious and do not understand why up to ten percent of the world’s population wants to do that.”

  387. says

    Excuse me; one more.

    +++++
    Blenster suggests:

    The intended audience (which is men of his generation and thereabouts; our generation has fewer problems) will see this as humorous and will find that language makes a “connection” with them as it syncs with their internal biases.

    I know why you assume this, but this is a flawed approach which is likely to backfire.

    If attempting to persuade a known homophobe, it is not a good idea to make gay sex salient. By deliberately drawing attention to their feelings of disgust, you have probably done as much to activate us-vs-them reactions as if you’d asked them to contemplate the inevitability of their own death.

    (What you could try making salient: love and commitment. Those polls were about acceptance of gay marriage in particular, but pointing to the relationship aspects is a safe bet in any case.)

  388. opposablethumbs, que le pouce enragé mette les pouces says

    I think Kagin might have been trying to say something like, “this irrational prejudice I had as a kid? Well I still have it but I no longer accept it, because now I understand that it’s just as irrational and unjustifiable as having a prejudice against left-handedness”.

    But if so, he said it poorly. The post comes across as very condescending and as if he could only ever conceive of himself as addressing other cis straight people. I’d probably tend to fall into that same trap (of unconsciously addressing reflections/projections of myself), which is yet another reason (#15 million 570 thousand 482 and counting) why I should write little, read more.

  389. Midnight Rambler says

    lm – I think the most uunpleasant/disturbing thing is that even after all that, Kagin still doesn’t understand what people are upset about. I can understand having a slip into old thought patterns, especially in reprinting something from 1995, but to remain so oblivious after it’s been pointed out by so many people?

    Also, while I hadn’t heard the joke, I read the posts in reverse so I knew that he said it was, and it sure doesn’t read like one to me. It just sounds like a straightforward anecdote.

  390. SallyStrange (Bigger on the Inside), Spawn of Cthulhu says

    Can I just say that I love the fact that next week’s fashion challenge on Project Runway will be to design a dress for MISS PIGGY??!?

    Watch out, fashion world. Miss Piggy be taking over.

  391. says

    I think Kagin might have been trying to say something like, “this irrational prejudice I had as a kid? Well I still have it but I no longer accept it, because now I understand that it’s just as irrational and unjustifiable as having a prejudice against left-handedness”.

    I think you’re probably right about that. Those stories are tiresome on their own merits, but I never found the time to get around to that, since there still seem to be people stuck on mere aesthetic revulsion cannot homophobia make.

    (Frankly, all anecdotes about straight people bonding over how not-gay they are should be considered prima facie homophobic anecdotes.)

    +++++

    lm – I think the most unpleasant/disturbing thing is that even after all that, Kagin still doesn’t understand what people are upset about.

    Oh, I don’t know. Different people are upset about different aspects of it. It would take great perception to understand all of them, and great stupidity to understand none, but I’m not all that disturbed even by great stupidity.

    What bothers me more is his lack of retraction or further comment on his Thought Police post. I’m not sure whether that’s supposed to be superseded now, or whether it’s supposed to stand side by side with the new post like they’re both true.

  392. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    I have never heard the joke, but I guess that is because it’s an american thing. The most positive thing I can read from his post is that he used to be more homophobic, but is now merely mildly so, making sure to let everyone know that he still thinks gay sex is icky and weird, but is willing to tolerate it. At least that’s the way I read this:

    “I am not afraid of homosexuality; I simply find the idea of people of the same sex having sex unaesthetic and curious and do not understand why up to ten percent of the world’s population wants to do that.”

    I actually didn’t even mind the snake story before coming to this part because I thought it was just a stupid anecdote from his youth, about which he now knows better.

    Maybe it’s because that sentence describes quite accurately what I used to think. And it’s something I definitelly think wouldn’t make me an ally. More of an asshole, reall. “Oh, I think you’re weird and things you do are distasteful, but I’m going to hold my nose and be generous: You’re allowed to be gay. Yay, be grateful!”

  393. SallyStrange (Bigger on the Inside), Spawn of Cthulhu says

    Good point, LM. That “thought police” meme is extremely common and extremely pernicious.

  394. Pteryxx says

    (Frankly, all anecdotes about straight people bonding over how not-gay they are should be considered prima facie homophobic anecdotes.)

    is a good point, also.

  395. says

    I’m perpetually annoyed by people stretching Orwell too thin, anyway. Thoughtcrime, the purview of the thought police, is more like PKD’s precrime than criminal speech.

    There’s an easier, more available error that people ought to make instead: “criticizing me for my words is like prosecuting me for hate speech!” Speech crimes do exist and are prosecuted. But this is apparently not extravagent enough a comparison. Thus, criticism of speech is not merely like criminalization of speech, it must be like criminalization of thought.

  396. says

    Amusement. ‘Tis Himself posts this quote from Bob Black in libertarian threads:

    Once upon a time, there was a fair land called England. All the English were free men and most of them were serfs. All the English were self-governing in counties run by sheriffs appointed by kings, the descendants of foreign conquerors. England alone enjoyed the Common Law, handed down from Sinai by Moses, and dating from 1215 A.D. Secured by the Common Law, all men’s property was inviolable, and all of it belonged to the king. The Common Law, also known as Natural Law and God’s Law, only restricted conduct which harmed the person or property of another, such as swearing, fornicating, possessing weapons in the royal forests, converting to Judaism, or dreaming that the king had died. There was complete religious freedom, i.e., Roman Catholicism was the state church, attendance at services was compulsory, and heretics were executed. As perfect, as unchangeable as the Common Law always was, it got even better when free and prosperous Englishmen fleeing persecution and poverty brought it to America. They repaired there to enjoy the same freedom than they had in England.

    I’ve always loved that part because it’s so perfectly absurd and yet plausible.

    Leonard Levy and Ali Khan say such dreams really were crimes. I’d love to read more about a prosecution.

  397. KG says

    lm@395,

    Very reminiscent of 1066 and all that; I’ll look out the Sellar and Yeatman take on Magna Carta when I get home.

  399. says

    Oh dear, my mum has bought herself some sort of woo “clean out your life, get happy real quick” guide.
    I think she’s “forgotten” the bag here on purpose so I’d see that she’s “doing something”, you know, instead of a proper therapy or something.
    In other news, I scored big on presents. If gifts were an indicator of love they’d clearly show that she loves booze much more than us. I take them as an indicator of soberness.

    And now back to more cheerful topics:
    2 delicious loafs of soda bread are lying in the kitchen and after I picked up the kids I’ll make Gambas al Ajillo and shrimp cocktail and cauliflower-salad.

  401. says

    @Esteleth, my kitteh was doing that too, It worked very well when he was a kitten; rather less well now he’s a full grown cat.

    —
    As to Kagin and his joke, no, it’s not just American. I’ve heard it before. For those who haven’t, here it is for information purposes only.

    ***WARNING unfunny old homophobic joke ahead.
    2 men are out in a paddock and decide to take a pee on a hollow log. It contains a snake which bites one guy on the penis. He’s writhing about in pain, and his mate rushes off to the house to phone the doctor for advice. The doctor says there’s only one way to save his life, he’ll have to suck the poison out of the wound. He goes back outside, and his friend gasps “What did the doctor say?” Answer: “Sorry mate, the doctor says you’re going to die.” Badoom-tish.
    *** END bad joke

    It was already an old joke in 1995; note the absence of mobile phones and the extremely outdated medical advice. Its central theme is that sucking a man’s penis is so disgusting that it’s quite understandable that the character chooses to let his friend die rather than engage in it. There is no possible valid argument that it’s not homophobic.

    The rest of Kagin’s post is less homophobic, but actually is still partially so. He’s basically saying that this matter of taste is not important and people deserve full civil rights anyway, no matter how yucky they are. And this is why I twitted him on being Rip van Winkle – not so very long ago, this was actually a progressive stance. But we’re not living in the 1970s any more. We should expect better by now.

    —
    And now, a remedy to cleanse the mind.
    http://cheezburger.com/Theodosia/lolz/View/3264562688
    http://cheezburger.com/View/4432770816

  402. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    One of the greatest speeches in the history of the world:

    I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

    Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

    But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

    In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

    It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

    It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

    But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

    We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

    As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

    I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

    Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

    I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

    I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

    I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

    I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

    I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

    I have a dream today.

    I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

    I have a dream today.

    I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

    This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

    This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

    And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

    Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

    Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

    But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

    Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

    Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

    And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

  403. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    Appropriate quote of the day

    Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

    — Martin Luther King Jr.

  404. says

    A comment goes into moderation for having too many links at Kagin’s blog.

    And he never had the courtesy to release mine with no links out of moderation (it should be the first one on the special thread for Caine), but he let this bigot through. Color me extremely disappointed.

  405. walton says

    strange gods: Your link seems to be referring to the Treason Act 1351, which is actually still in force in Britain today. The text still in force reads as follows:

    Whereas divers Opinions have been before this Time [X1in what Case Treason shall be said, and in what not;] the King, at the Request of the Lords and of the Commons, hath made a Declaration in the Manner as hereafter followeth, that is to say; When a Man doth compass or imagine the Death of our Lord the King, or of our Lady his Queen or of their eldest Son and Heir; or if a Man do violate the King’s Companion, or the King’s eldest Daughter unmarried, or the Wife [of?] the King’s eldest Son and Heir; or if a Man do levy War against our Lord the King in his Realm, or be adherent to the King’s Enemies in his Realm, giving to them Aid and Comfort in the Realm, or elsewhere, and thereof be probably attainted of open Deed by the People of their Condition: . . ., and if a Man slea the Chancellor, Treasurer, or the King’s Justices of the one Bench or the other, Justices in Eyre, or Justices of Assise, and all other Justices assigned to hear and determine, being in their Places, doing their Offices: And it is to be understood, that in the Cases above rehearsed, that ought to be judged Treason which extends to our Lord the King, and his Royal Majesty:

    To “compass or imagine” the death of the Queen remains a crime, therefore, although no one has been prosecuted for it in a very long time (I’m not even aware of when the last prosecution took place for this offence). I doubt the words would be read literally today.

    The last person convicted of high treason under the Act was William Joyce, better known as “Lord Haw-Haw”, who was convicted for “adhering to the King’s Enemies” by broadcasting propaganda for Nazi Germany during WWII. He was convicted in 1945, and executed in 1946. Today, high treason remains criminal, but the penalty has been reduced to life imprisonment (thankfully), and the Act is no longer used in practice.

    (It was alleged by some that James Hewitt was, technically, guilty of treason for having an affair with Diana, Princess of Wales, since to “violate… the Wife [of] the King’s eldest Son and Heir” is high treason under the Act. However, he was never charged with any offence.)

  406. says

    Another fart spray experiment. Or “a commercially available novelty stink spray”; these authors don’t specify the fragrance.

    An induction of disgust can lead to more negative attitudes toward an entire social group: Participants who were exposed to a noxious ambient odor reported less warmth toward gay men. This effect of disgust was equally strong for political liberals and conservatives, and was specific to attitudes toward gay men—there was only a weak effect of disgust on people’s warmth toward lesbians, and no consistent effect on attitudes toward African Americans, the elderly, or a range of political issues.

    http://peezer.squarespace.com/storage/1.25%20Inbar%20Pizarro%20Bloom%202011%20Proofs.pdf

  407. says

    Aratina, that’s unfortunate. I want to believe him that he’s released all the comments he could find.

    +++++
    Walton, thank you so much.

    that is to say; When a Man doth compass or imagine the Death of our Lord the King, or of our Lady his Queen or of their eldest Son and Heir

    That’s hilarious. For a while now I’ve been reading that Bob Black bit and thinking it was just the most brilliant height of truthiness.

  409. Ariaflame, BSc, BF, PhD says

    Ahh. Republican in favour of drug testing for welfare/assistance recipients runs foul of a DUI. I know there is no god, but I do like me some karmic-like occurrences.

  410. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    My apartment smells yummy.
    I decided last night that I want baked beans for dinner tonight. So, I started cooking them.
    Everything is in the pot and it is simmering away, and it smells awesome.

    For the interested:
    1 cup dry beans (Great Northern or Jacob’s Cattle)
    1/2 stick butter
    2 tsp salt
    2 TBS dark brown sugar
    1/4 cup dark molasses
    1/2 tsp dry mustard
    1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
    1 small white or yellow onion, whole or in sections

    Wash beans, then soak overnight. Drain, cover with water, and boil for 10 minutes or until skin breaks when blown gently on. Drain and save water.
    Pour beans and all other ingredients into bean pot. Pour water from boiling into pot until all beans are submerged. Stir once and cover.
    If using bean pot in oven, bake 6-8 hours at 250 F.
    If using crock-pot, bake at least 8 hours on “low.”
    Remove lid for last hour to allow thickening of sauce.

    Serve with kielbasa and/or brown bread.

    And now, I’m off to work. Woo!

  411. says

    @love moderately ॐ

    Aratina, that’s unfortunate. I want to believe him that he’s released all the comments he could find.

    He probably had released them all at the time he wrote that. My first comment there was on the post titled “Omitted Reader Comments” so it was rather late into the controversy. And it’s not like my comment says anything new; I basically wrote to him that he fucked up and should have known better and that Caine was justified in calling him out on it.

    Still, if he can let a comment out calling us “screaming faggots” for complaining, then he damn well better be able to let out comments critical of his homophobic “joke” (and no, I had never heard that suck-my-snake joke before, but I realized it was a joke and I facepalmed for him when I read it and made a mental note that Kagin’s blog is surprisingly not going to be a safe space for LGBT people–and that is even more true now that we find he is heavy on the moderation against critics of his antiquated “support”).

  412. says

    [Hi, everyone! Hope you all had a fun weekend.]

    I think Kagin might have been trying to say something like, “this irrational prejudice I had as a kid? Well I still have it but I no longer accept it, because now I understand that it’s just as irrational and unjustifiable as having a prejudice against left-handedness”.

    But if so, he said it poorly.

    I’ll say! It completely undercut the apparent point of the rest of the post! He should have told a version of the joke in which they’d decided that they would let the other die if they had to remove snake venom with their left hand, pointing out how stupid that would be. Instead, it put being gay in a separate, repulsive category (although he does seem to have some latent prejudice towards left-handed people as well, which doesn’t help his case!), destroying the parallel from the start.

  413. says

    Speaking of MLK, here’s LBJ:

    I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy.
    […]
    But even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be over. What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and State of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life.

    Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.

    And we shall overcome.

    As a man whose roots go deeply into Southern soil I know how agonizing racial feelings are. I know how difficult it is to reshape the attitudes and the structure of our society.

    But a century has passed, more than a hundred years, since the Negro was freed. And he is not fully free tonight.

    It was more than a hundred years ago that Abraham Lincoln, a great President of another party, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, but emancipation is a proclamation and not a fact.

    A century has passed, more than a hundred years, since equality was promised. And yet the Negro is not equal.

    A century has passed since the day of promise. And the promise is unkept.

    The time of justice has now come. I tell you that I believe sincerely that no force can hold it back. It is right in the eyes of man and God that it should come. And when it does, I think that day will brighten the lives of every American.

    For Negroes are not the only victims. How many white children have gone uneducated, how many white families have lived in stark poverty, how many white lives have been scarred by fear, because we have wasted our energy and our substance to maintain the barriers of hatred and terror?

    So I say to all of you here, and to all in the Nation tonight, that those who appeal to you to hold on to the past do so at the cost of denying you your future.

    This great, rich, restless country can offer opportunity and education and hope to all: black and white, North and South, sharecropper and city dweller. These are the enemies: poverty, ignorance, disease. They are the enemies and not our fellow man, not our neighbor. And these enemies too, poverty, disease and ignorance, we shall overcome.

  414. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    That’s impressive, Sailor.
    LBJ had his flaws (and damn were some of them glaring), but damn did that man get it with regards to bigotry.

    As a thought exercise, I updated the language (replaced the word “Negro” with “person of color,” added 50 years to the dates, etc) and that speech is still breathtaking in is daring and confronting of the status quo.

  415. says

    A little known variant of tithing to the mormon church during the 1800s was the giving of slaves to the LDS Church in lieu of money.

    Sep 7,1859 – Salt Lake City clerk records sale of twenty six year old “negro boy” for $800 to William H. Hooper. Until federal law ends slavery in U.S. Territories in 1862, some African-American slaves are paid as tithing, bought, sold and otherwise treated as chattel in Utah.

    This Moment of Mormon Madness is but one of many which documents the full-on racism of early mormonism. http://www.i4m.com/think/history/mormon_history.htm

    Here are a couple more:

    Jan 23,1852 – Brigham Young instructs Utah Legislature to legalize slavery because “we must believe in slavery.”

    Feb 5,1852 – Brigham Young announces policy of denying priesthood to all those black African ancestry, even “if there never was a prophet, or apostle of Jesus Christ spoke it before” because “negroes are the children of old Cain….any man having one drop of the seed of Cain in him cannot hold the priesthood.” Contrary to Joseph Smith’s example in authorizing the ordination of Elijah Abel, this is LDS policy for the next 126 years.

  416. says

    Esteleth, LBJ had his flaws, no argument. I lived back then. I was just a kid. But things changed, violently sometimes, in just a few years.

    It makes me sad to think how the country has backslid. Don’t get me wrong, we’re making progress in a lot of areas, but to see the same old shit recycling as ‘New & Improved’ is disheartening.

    p.s. You also have to update the language from ‘man’/’men’ to people. He addressed the suffrage movement, but ‘man’ was the generic term back them.

  417. Joshua says

    @ Midnight Rambler 382
    It’s just too much trouble for Google to do that sort of thing for that kind of issue.

    I can believe that. I don’t know very much about how Google trends does this. But it still does not pass the smell test. I have been looking up as many pedophile related references for May 20-30 2011 and the biggest stories seem to be related to the Pope’s pedophile adviser being a pedophile! That is enormously embarrassing.

    The biggest possibility to me seems to be the above combined with reactions to the report the Catholic church released “absolving” itself of responsibility for pedophile priests.
    http://mirandaceleste.net/2011/05/24/a-worthless-and-dangerous-report/

    But why is there no news article?

    I’ve pinned down Google search results over May 20-May 30 2011.
    https://www.google.com/search?q=May+and+2011+pedophile&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=May+and+2011+pedophile&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=0bq&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:5/20/2011,cd_max:5/30/2012&prmd=imvns&tbas=0&source=lnt&sa=X&ei=01EUT8_tG4S62wX25uGDCg&ved=0CBIQpwUoAA&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=3afd0ac9cf780bb5&biw=1636&bih=1048

    I guess it could be Penn state related, but the dates don’t seem to match up as well. I am worrying about false positives in my brain, but an embarrassed Catholic employee does not seem too much of a stretch for the imagination…

    @ consciousness razor
    Thanks, I’ll read up on that. I’m still suspicious.

  418. Esteleth, Ph.D. of Mischief, Mayhem and Hilarity says

    Totally agreed, Sailor.
    I’m much younger than you – I was born when Reagan was in office – but I remember when, growing up, I would hear people of my parents’ generation and older refer to LBJ as a “traitor.” They were not referring to his Vietnam policy, but to his civil rights position. It blows my mind as to how “not bigot” = “treason” in the minds of some people.
    If he were alive today, I’m guessing that he would be pissed about the backsliding and bigotry recycling (and probably vocally, vulgarly pissed, too).
    I remember reading once about when he elevated Thurgood Marshall to some office (I think it was AG or the Court) and someone asked him why (i.e. not “Why Marshall?” but “Why a black guy?”). His response: “I want a white guy from the South to walk in and see a [n-word] sitting behind the desk.”

    p.s. The “men” –> “people” was encapsulated in my “etc.”

  420. carlie says

    …aaaaaaand Kagin doubles back down again, with a new post saying how since he doesn’t mind when people call him Edward instead of Edwin, everybody should stop being so hysterical and touchy. Or some shit like that. I really was giving him the benefit of the doubt.

    However, he is a pretty shitty writer not to realize that since the last sentence of his original essay just reinforces that stupid joke, the stuff in the middle really doesn’t matter. The last sentence of the whole thing is “And I’ve bought a snakebite kit”, with the implication of “so I won’t ever have to worry about touching an icky pene, ‘cuz that’s gay”. All that does is remind the reader of the stupid joke at the beginning and make us think that he’s totally on board with a guy choosing to die rather than touching another male’s genitals.

  421. says

    Esteleth, #345:

    Oh, yes, of course. “By saying that I have privilege, you are insulting/attacking me!”

    *cough* Rawlinson *cough*

    Ing: Fuck, I’m sorry about the loss of the drive and the data. That sucks.

    Ogvorbis, #401: Thank you for posting that.

    Carlie, #419:

    …aaaaaaand Kagin doubles back down again, with a new post saying how since he doesn’t mind when people call him Edward instead of Edwin, everybody should stop being so hysterical and touchy.

    I’m sure I’m missing some “nuance,” since I decline to give him any more hits, but… really? That’s his argument?

  422. Beatrice, anormalement indécente says

    Good thing he explains which sentences are jokes. You know, just so we don’t misread him again. Really nice of him. (Note : that was sarcasm)

  424. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Well, I’ve heard the snakebite penis joke referenced and retold one too many times.

    Not only is it not a funny joke, it’s actually starting to look like the least funny joke ever written.

    Seriously seriously sick of thinking about snakebites and penises.

    It’s all Kagin’s fault.

    Please do not take this as a request to stop talking about it though. I want him to feel really really really stupid for making such an awful joke in the first place.

    Otherwise I’d have spent all this time thinking about snakebit penises for nothing.

  430. Joshua says

    @ The Sailor 425
    Joshua, perhaps you should blame the news media instead of the Google algorithms.
    Perhaps you could support your assertion.

  431. says

    Jenny Kissed Me – by James Henry Leigh Hunt

    Jenny kissed me when we met,
    Jumping from the chair she sat in;
    Time, you thief, who love to get
    Sweets into your list, put that in!
    Say I’m weary, say I’m sad,
    Say that health and wealth have missed me,
    Say I’m growing old, but add,
    Jenny kissed me.

    If you found yourself dying, is there a name you would whisper with your last breath?

    Mine would be the motherfucker that killed me, I’m ornery, but I would like to think it was someone who made me think I could be better than myself. And I miss them.

  432. says

    Joshua, I have no defense. Google is ebil and all they want to do is suppress your news articles.

    But Jenny kissed me.

    If you want a fight, pick another commenter.

  434. Joshua says

    @ The Sailor 431

    If you want a fight, pick another commenter.

    Than don’t pick one with bald, unsupported assertions. I was quite clear about wanting to give Google the benefit of the doubt in my comments, and wanting to develop a real picture of the situation.

    You don’t get to pick a fight and them pretend that I am picking one.

    Lern 2 redng comprehenshun. (I am justified in my annoyance)

    Joshua, I have no defense.

    That is accurate. You should stop there.

  437. Pteryxx says

    Shorter Coyote?

    “I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking pene!”

    *falls out of chair*

    …Think after the screaming humorless faggots crack, he would let THAT one out of moderation?

  439. Pteryxx says

    Also, Zvan linked to this interview on effective segregation and disenfranchisement via criminal justice (linky), have some stats:

    RANDALL ROBINSON: Just 12 percent of the people who commit nonviolent drug infractions are black, I think 56 percent of those, nonetheless, who are prosecuted, and something on the order of 75 percent of those who are imprisoned. I mean, we can see the striking unfairness of it. But we have to find a way to get that information to people. Outrage has to be informed by information to go anywhere. South Africa worked because everybody knew about the apartheid system when we went to jail. And so, it was instant. This is a little bit more difficult.

    We’re backward in the world in so many ways. We find ourselves in bed with China, Iran and two or three other nations in our embrace of the death penalty, when the rest of the world is moving in the other direction. But 75 percent of those executed are black and Hispanic. And so, the unfairness of it is seen in the statistics of who pays and who doesn’t.

    Interesting contrast with how few rape cases are prosecuted or result in jail time, huh? Can we institute some sort of orchestra-audition screens for routine offenses? (Or just train less predatory cops…)

  440. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    I am, apparently, on permanent moderation at Edwin Kagin’s blog. Two of my comments disappeared last night. Both were friendly and constructive. In fact, one of them was a “thank you for listening” comment.

    Twice now I’ve tried to post noting that my comments have disappeared. Nothing shows up – I don’t even get a note saying my comments are being held in moderation.

    I’d very much like to know what I’ve done to deserve such monitoring, especially considering there’s a commenter on one of Kagin’s threads calling us “screaming faggots.”

  441. Sili says

    Today, high treason remains criminal, but the penalty has been reduced to life imprisonment (thankfully), and the Act is no longer used in practice.

    I wonder why the ‘Euro-skeptics’ haven’t adopted that as a tactic to get the UK kicked out of the EU.

    One of the wondertwins aired the idea in Poland, but nothing ever came of it. Whether due to his own misfortune, I do not know.

    –o–

    I other news: Wheeeeee! Booze!

    –o–

    And completely unrelated, my new maths class is absolutely wonderful. A mere twelve pupils, but curious and disciplined like nothing I thought possible. I am blessed. Truly blessed.

  442. Pteryxx says

    Josh:

    I’d very much like to know what I’ve done to deserve such monitoring, especially considering there’s a commenter on one of Kagin’s threads calling us “screaming faggots.”

    O_o

    …Okay, what’s going on? Comments default to auto-moderation on Kagin’s blog, unless he whitelists a commenter? I’m trying to figure if this “screaming faggots” commenter is one of Kagin’s pre-approved regulars, or if it’s a drive-by post that Kagin specifically approved.

  443. Rey Fox says

    Dunno. I left a snarky and fairly insubstantial reply to that “screaming faggots” guy, and my comment made it out of moderation.

  445. says

    @Josh, Official SpokesGay

    Two of my comments disappeared last night. Both were friendly and constructive. In fact, one of them was a “thank you for listening” comment.

    I noticed the disappearance of the one at the top of the apology thread too because I’d been refreshing like mad to see whether or not he would let my comments out of moderation (which, by the way, he has finally done).

    —

    @Pteryxx

    I’m trying to figure if this “screaming faggots” commenter is one of Kagin’s pre-approved regulars, or if it’s a drive-by post that Kagin specifically approved.

    I think that is going to be hard to do unless you find a comment by “Hank Hebhoe” (is that pseudonym a slur in itself???) that is below #1013 (the “screaming faggots” accusation) in the link address.

    I say that because my second comment calling Hebhoe a shithead was let out of moderation before my first comment on a different thread. That is, Hebhoe might have made an earlier comment that Kagin hasn’t let out of moderation yet because he hasn’t seen it or something.

  446. Pteryxx says

    …

    from Tony,

    Edwin,
    I would like to apologize. I realized this morning when I awoke that in every one of my posts, I incorrectly referred to you by the wrong name.

    from Kagin,

    Tony,

    Thank you for this.

    I apologize for anything I may have said that has hurt you.

    Would that all misunderstandings could be so quickly and so painlessly resolved.

    Edwin.

    Link to source comment

    …

    I believe Tony and Edwin are both genuine here, but still…

    …I can’t do it. I just can’t. Even if I’d done something that merited recompense, I can’t make myself create a minimal apology in the hopes of getting a gracious reply from the Edwin Kagin I would like to believe exists.

  447. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Same, Pterryx. Of course, I can’t say so over at Edwin’s, being perma-modded. I wonder if the “screaming faggots” comment is still up.

  451. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Edwin just posted my comments and explained he’s having some spam-filter weirdness. I was wrong to think I was being modded.

  452. Midnight Rambler says

    Joshua @416 – Did you not actually read my comment? One more time, spelled out:

    1) The spike in May is due entirely to searches from France and Belgium; no other country shows a jump at that time (Belgium doesn’t even have enough to rate except then).

    2) There was a major news story in May about the pending release of the ex-wife and accomplice of notorious Belgian pedophile Marc Dutroux, who was going to be heading to France. It’s linked in my earlier comment.

    If you still think this is a conspiracy by Google to cover up Catholic abuses, you may find this person’s ideas more in line with yours.

  453. says

    @Josh, Official SpokesGay

    A spam filter? No wonder many of your comments simply disappeared and you found yourself treated as if you had been blocked from commenting. I remember when Blogger installed its comment-spam filter, the damn thing ate my comments on my own blog. Comment-spam filters can make a mess of the comment threads at first until they become better adjusted.

  454. says

    Kagin really doesn’t want to let this die, does he?

    I didn’t like his “apology” (especially considering it came after two post of flipping out at us) but I figured I would ignore it at first just to not fan the flames of this mini-controversy… but then he goes and makes more posts about this in the same mocking tone as before? Does he think that a half-assed apology made everything better, or does he just not give a shit?

    He’s almost reminding me of the whole “controversialist blog” thing that DJ Grothe is talking about. That’s how he’s acting anyways.

  455. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    I agree with your assessment of Kagin, Grimalkin. Astonishingly, this is a dude who very thoroughly doesn’t get it.

    DJ Grothe was wrong, though, with that “controversialist” crap load.

  456. Midnight Rambler says

    Josh & Grimalkin – yeah, I thought he was getting closer, but with this “my name is Edwin” post I just gave up hope.

  457. KG says

    Here’s the 1066 And All That take on the contents of Magna Carta:

    1. That no one was to be put to death, save for some reason – (except the Common People).
    2. That everyone should be free – (except the Common People).
    3. That everything should be of the same weight and measure throughout the Realm – (except the Common People).
    4. That the Courts should be stationary, instead of following a very tiresome mediaeval official known as the King’s Person all over the country.
    5. That “no person should be fined to his utter ruin” (except the King’s Person).
    6. That the Barons should not be tried except by a special jury of other Barons who would understand.

    Magna Charter was therefore the chief cause of Democracy in England, and thus a Good Thing for everyone (except the Common People).

  458. says

    Oh, DJ Grothe certainly was wrong. But his idea of blogs sparking controversies just for hit counts does sort of echo in what Kagin seems to be doing. Atleast from my perspective.

    Though Grothe is certainly wrong about starting controversies being a good thing- using Kagin as an example, I’m pretty damn sure that once this is over his hit counts (unimportant) and reputation (actually important!) are going to plummet like hell.

  459. Joshua says

    @Midnight Rambler 451

    Oh good grief…

    I did read your comment, and I clearly mentioned that I am in the process of applying skepticism to my skeptical filter (making sure that I am seeing something real) so you might try rephrasing to better match reality (rather than me trying to convince myself of a conspiracy). I was also clear about my ignorance involving Google Trends, and having my thoughts investigated. Pointing to the parts of Google Trends that let me see what you saw would have been more useful.

    Want to try again without being an assuming dick? Just don’t reply if you can’t do it accurately.

    It’s entirely reasonable to wonder why one BIG spike in “pedophile” searches has no news article. It is also reasonable to doubt your source when it is dated the 10th, which is outside of the spike. I did clearly mention that the spike appeared to be in the range of the 20th-30th (actually I think it is the last quarter of the month, but was trying to be conservative in my assumptions).

    You could be right, maybe I am misusing Google in some fashion, but I am not convinced. When you Google “May and 2011 pedophile”, limit it to the region between “May 20, 2011–May 30, 2012”, 5/10 hits of relavent date are on Vatican issues, and one is on a pedo in an apple store.

    The articles having to do with the pedo advisers are in the range of the spike, and believe it or not that issue probably involves non-English articles more than English ones.

  460. walton says

    KG: Don’t forget the guarantee that the kinsmen of Gerard of Athée shall be deprived of their bailiwick. And even the guarantees of fairness in criminal procedure contain a little nugget of sexism: “no one shall be arrested or imprisoned on the appeal of a woman for the death of any person except her husband.”

    Interestingly, according to the National Archives, the only clauses of Magna Carta still in force in England and Wales today read as follows:

    I. FIRST, We have granted to God, and by this our present Charter have confirmed, for Us and our Heirs for ever, that the Church of England shall be free, and shall have all her whole Rights and Liberties inviolable. We have granted also, and given to all the Freemen of our Realm, for Us and our Heirs for ever, these Liberties under-written, to have and to hold to them and their Heirs, of Us and our Heirs for ever…

    IX. THE City of London shall have all the old Liberties and Customs which it hath been used to have. Moreover We will and grant, that all other Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and the Barons of the Five Ports, and all other Ports, shall have all their Liberties and free Customs…

    XXIX. NO Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the Land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.

    I imagine that the first clause would have to be repealed if the Church of England were ever to be disestablished. The others are probably safe, assuming Parliament never decides to abolish the Corporation of London (which has been deliberately exempted from every local government reform for the past several centuries, and therefore still retains its medieval form of government, with the Lord Mayor, the Court of Aldermen and the Common Council).

  461. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    thepint:

    Audley, just thought you’d like to know, the poundcake went over like gangbusters – there’s barely enough left for 1, maybe 2 slices. :) Thanks for sharing, I’m definitely going to try making it again, maybe with a chili pepper variation next time.

    Woo hoo!

    After mine finally cooked last night, it tasted really good– like coffee ice cream. :)

    I’m a little disappointed with it right now, though. I put it in a cake keeper last night, but when I cut myself a piece after work today, it had dried out and it’s kind of hard. Definitely something that needs to be eaten right away.

    Josh:

    Ill-advised. There’s a place for unusual food combinations, but this strikes me as crossing into garlic-flavored-sweet-ice-cream-with-mayonnaise-sauce territory. I’d stick with adding chili peppers to a sweetened (NOT pound-cake-sweet) cornbread. YMMV.
    theophontes,

    You are so wrong. SO WRONG, JOSH. Coffee and chocolate and a little bit of heat? OM NOM NOM!

  462. Midnight Rambler says

    Actually, you are half-right, in that it’s related to this story about a former French government minister rather than the Dutroux one. Searching for “pedophile” in the date range 5/15-30 on French-language pages turns up a large number of stories about it, like this one. Moreover, put in “Luc Ferry” in Google Trends and it shows the exact same spike.

    But still, because Google doesn’t tag a news story, doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist and that they’re covering something up. Unless you’re now going to claim that they’re puppets of Sarkozy instead of the Catholic Church?

  464. says

    @ Joshua

    Do you realize that you can see similar spikes in other trends without related news articles? It happens all the time. News outlets aren’t the only things driving conversations (and therefore searches) online.
    For example:

    “pharyngula” has a spike in mid 2008, but no news articles: http://www.google.com/trends/?q=pharyngula&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

    “atheist” has a spike in late 2007, but no related news article: http://www.google.com/trends/?q=atheist&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

    I could go on and on, but I won’t. Seriously, there’s no big conspiracy between google and the catholic church. It’s just how internet trends work. They’re internet search trends, not necessarily news trends.

  465. Midnight Rambler says

    Also, regarding this:

    When you Google “May and 2011 pedophile”, limit it to the region between “May 20, 2011–May 30, 2012″, 5/10 hits of relavent date are on Vatican issues

    Try that for any date range, and you’ll find that most of the top hits are for Catholic-related articles. You could say they dominate the field of pedophilia so much that it’s not breaking news anymore. It’s become so commonplace that it’s only notable when others do it.

  467. says

    “DJ Grothe”

    I keep reading that as Dj Gerta, DJ Goethe, Ja Goatse. My brain works in wonders to behold.
    ++++++++++++++
    Audley – “After mine finally cooked last night, it tasted really good– like coffee ice cream. :)”

    It smelled like ‘coffee ice cream’ when it was cooking, right? what did you expect?
    ++++++++++++++

  468. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    Anybody here seen my old friend Martin?
    Can you tell me where he’s gone?
    He freed a lot of people,
    But it seems the good they die young.
    I just looked ’round and he’s gone.

    Didn’t you love the things that they stood for?
    Didn’t they try to find some good for you and me?
    And we’ll be free
    Some day soon, and it’s a-gonna be one day …

  471. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    The Sailor:

    It smelled like ‘coffee ice cream’ when it was cooking, right? what did you expect?

    Since I ended up baking the damned thing for 20 minutes more than the recipe called for, I wasn’t sure if it would be palatable at all. I was worried about scorching the bottom, which would pretty much ruin the entire cake.

    I’m filing this one in the Glad I Tried It, But I Won’t Be Making It Again Anytime Soon folder.

  472. Denephew Ogvorbis, OM says

    It smelled like ‘coffee ice cream’ when it was cooking, right? what did you expect?

    Well, some things do not taste the way they smell. Blueberries taste far different than they smell.

  474. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    Ms Daisy:

    Mallorie Nasrallah in that Crommunist post… jesus.

    Yeah, but holy shit. Why haven’t I read the Crommunist before now? That post was pretty awesome.

  475. says

    Dr. ADZ, Dr. of steam and changeable relations Ogvorbis: I had a conversation with someone younger than me last night and he said ‘my first major disappointment was Willy Wonka, I saw the film when I was 8 and I’d read the book, and Gene Wilder was just mean!’

    And then we agreed that Gene’s take was correct. Some kids are just assholes.
    (I didn’t have the heart to tell him about Santa Claus.)

  478. rabbitscribe says

    So I’ve rescued an elemental force of raw destruction cleverly disguised as a kitten. You can see how I’d be taken in. It looks like a lot of domestic cats: white paws, belly, chest, chin, and a ruff halfway around its neck, otherwise black. As I survey the shreds and tatters of my personal possessions scattered about the smouldering ruins of my home, I’m seized by an idle curiousity: why do so many cats look like that?

  479. says

    Ogvorbis, it was certainly a reach across my brain; I saw chocolate, blueberries, sweets, on the thread and jumped to the Willy Wonka movie I discussed last might IRL.

  481. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    The Sailor:

    I saw chocolate, blueberries, sweets, on the thread and jumped to the Willy Wonka movie I discussed last might IRL.

    Have I ever mentioned how much I looooaaaaaathed that movie?

    No?

    I fucking loathed Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I hated it when I was a kid. I watched it a few years ago and, yup, still hate it now.

  483. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    The Sailor:
    Yes, I did. I loved Dahl as a kid– hell, Matilda still ranks as one of my all time favorite books.

  484. Joshua says

    Rather than get specific I will say thank you, I am convinced that it is probably just something in the algorithm sees the spike, but has no rule for assigning an article. Other false positives are something to consider.

  486. Midnight Rambler says

    Tethys – in what way? I’m guessing it’s just you, it looks the same as always for me.

  487. carlie says

    I fucking loathed Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I hated it when I was a kid. I watched it a few years ago and, yup, still hate it now.

    But, but… Gene Wilder!

  489. Tethys says

    It was just me. Somehow my computer decided to display the mobile site format rather than the desktop version.

  491. David Marjanović says

    Not caught up.

    Dammit, I had a long post all typed, I hit “submit” and my internet connection decided to take that EXACT SECOND to reset itself.
    That post is vanished into the ether.

    Always press Ctrl+A and Ctrl+C before submitting. Always.

    “Red wine researcher accused of falsifying data” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-red-wine-accused-falsifying.html

    Fascinating.

    strange gods: Your link seems to be referring to the Treason Act 1351, which is actually still in force in Britain today. The text still in force reads as follows:

    It looks like it was translated in the 18th century.

    It was alleged by some that James Hewitt was, technically, guilty of treason for having an affair with Diana, Princess of Wales, since to “violate… the Wife [of] the King’s eldest Son and Heir” is high treason under the Act.

    It was even alleged that he was, technically, liable to be hung, drawn and quartered.

  492. kristinc, ~delicate snowflake~ says

    Hello everyone! I am minus 4 decayed wisdom teeth today and doing fine, the worst is definitely over.

    rabbitscribe, I have a little gray rotund cat, not a purebred of any kind but a complete heinz-57 shorthair, and while she’s not as common as some other cooloration/body shape combinations I see her “twins” frequently in pictures from all over the world. (I think someone here in TET actually has one of her dittoes.) I don’t know a thing about genetics except something involving peas and something else involving blue versus brown eyes, but I’m continuously entertained by how often “types” pop up in only-very-distantly-related cats.

  494. kristinc, ~delicate snowflake~ says

    Audley: I have not been able to watch the Gene Wilder Wonka movie since finding out that in the “you stole fizzy lifting gas” scene* the little boy playing Charlie cries because he had no idea Gene Wilder was going to scream at him. Ugh, the actual literal abuse of women and children in the making of movies is horrifyingly widespread.

    * that scene — wtf anyway? not in the book because there was no fucking reason for a scene like that in the narrative!

  495. carlie says

    kristinc – but that scene had the best line: “So shines a good deed in a weary world”.

  496. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    carlie:

    But, but… Gene Wilder!

    Yes. And?

    chigau:

    How did you feel about the Johnny Depp version?

    I didn’t hate it as much as the original movie, that’s for damned sure. But I wouldn’t see it again, either.

  497. The Laughing Coyote (Canis Sativa) says

    Kristinc: I’m an extremely amateur excuse for a geneticist, but I’ve noticed the ‘types’ thing among cats too.

    And mongrel dogs, for that matter. I actually have a book celebrating common mongrel dogs, called ‘Intelligent and Loyal’, and in the beginning the author makes a humorous attempt to ‘classify’ the various forms of mongrel dog you’re likely to see.

    My ‘pet’ theory, regarding cat ‘types’, is that we’re just witnessing evolution in action, yet again. Multiple times. Maybe even a bit of convergence. Or possibly, slightly different populations of cats contributed to the domestic cat gene pool and we’re just seeing ‘throwbacks’.

    I’m just bluesky speculating though. I’m sure there’s a fascinating reason for this stuff, but I lack the scientific expertise, equipment, and sample sizes to figure out what it is.

  498. Midnight Rambler says

    It was even alleged that he was, technically, liable to be hung, drawn and quartered.

    Part of which, of course, involves having the prisoner’s genitals cut off and burned in front of him. Ah, those wonderfully civilized English!

  499. Midnight Rambler says

    And yeah, I didn’t like the Gene Wilder Chocolate Factory movie either. The ending is too weird, and something about the whole cinematography is wrong. Haven’t seen the new version.

  500. walton says

    It was even alleged that he was, technically, liable to be hung, drawn and quartered.

    Indeed. That was a common misconception: the penalty of hanging, drawing and quartering was actually abolished in England and Wales by section 31 of the Forfeiture Act 1870. In Scotland, it was formally abolished in 1949 with section 14 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act.

    If he had been charged and convicted, Hewitt would, however, technically, have been liable to death by hanging. The death penalty for high treason was finally abolished in law by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, not having been used since 1946.