Comments

  1. Matt Penfold says

    re SurlyAmy and TAM: now she’s a “Watsonist”? oh FFS.

    They can’t even show a modicum of wit and coin the term “wosit”.

  2. Dr. Esteleth Dyke, Medicine Woman and Snark Machine says

    Oh, Jebus.
    It’s on at 11 central. I do not know how to use clocks

    *facepalm*

  3. says

    Well, I have been sexually harassed over an extended period of time. It was very uncomfortable even if the situation wasn’t directly “unsafe”. There was also several incidents of groping, which made me feel violated.

    The worst thing was still that most people thought it was funny and even made an effort to point that out.

    This is no joke, and not trivial or exaggerated. It makes people feel unsafe and violated.

  4. Pteryxx says

    Well, I have been sexually harassed over an extended period of time. It was very uncomfortable even if the situation wasn’t directly “unsafe”.

    *nod* and TAM’s only policy statement has been about attendee *safety*.

    Ugh ugh ugh. When folks say ‘harassment isn’t a problem, suck it up, women’ I wasn’t expecting them to go and put it into practice IRL.

  6. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    High noon beer tasting with a game of Risk and a dunkntank?

    why yes thank you

  8. says

    re SurlyAmy and TAM: now she’s a “Watsonist”? oh FFS.

    Well, me too.
    I find Watson much cooler than Sherlock.

    Jadzia

    The worst thing was still that most people thought it was funny and even made an effort to point that out.

    Horrible thing is that even decent people (mostly men) don’t fucking realize that by themselves and never do if they don’t have somebody point it out to them (then you can see who’s decent and who isn’t).
    I remember that once Mr. told me a “funny story from work”, where he and two colleagues had been joking around (they have very good, friendship-like relationships) and when the young woman made a very cheeky comment he tickled her until she got down on her knees.
    And he tought it funny.
    And was pretty surprised to see me looking like the audience when Romney adressed NAACP. And I told him that he violated that woman’s boundaries, that she had no chance to escape (we all know what happens when women don’t play along and say “hey asshole stop that”) and that he’s got to fucking apologize to her. And that should she report him to his superiors and he gets into trouble he deserved every single bit of it.
    It was hard on him, he was shocked and he was mostly shocked that he was that guy. He had never ever thought about it.

  9. Nutmeg says

    kristinc: That’s incredibly sucky. *hugs and chocolate*

    Thanks to everyone for the support. Who knows, maybe tonight will be the night, or maybe 6 weeks from now. At the moment I’m off to the beach with some fellow grad students. Happy Saturday! (And whatever day it is in the Ogvorbisverse.)

  10. Beatrice says

    Make that an hour from now.

    Apparently, Esteleth, you’re not the only one who doesn’t know how to use clocks.

  11. Dr. Esteleth Dyke, Medicine Woman and Snark Machine says

    I made myself a pot of tea and got all my notes assembled for the podcast.

    Because 11 central = 10 eastern, right?!

    *headdesk*

  12. opposablethumbs says

    Just catching up, partially:
    .
    Ogvorbis, I’m so sorry. I’d like to add another heap of hugs to that pile of hugs that are there for you if you would like them. I hate it that recounting your experience here is so powerfully triggering, and I’m grateful (and not a little in awe of your courage) that you still do it when needed, even despite that. But please don’t feel you have to – I mean, don’t make yourself write on a thread when you really can’t; don’t hurt yourself when it’s too much right at that particular moment (if maybe there are other times when you’re in a better position to be able to do so). And please take care of yourself.

  13. Cipher, OM, Fighting Fucktoy says

    Here’s another link to genderbitch. This one is about the Nuker type of activist (which a lot of us have at least elements of) and potential harms of that method – the two sections labeled 4 are pretty much where I live lately. Which is why I’m doing my best (!!!) to work over at the Wiki and ignore, for instance, jemby5 douching it up in the Misogynists thread over there.

  14. says

    Yet another reason to vote against MItt Romney … as if you need one.

    This is an excerpt from This Week in God from Steve Benen, writing for The Maddow Blog.

    On the surface, most voters hear quite a bit about the Republican candidate’s focus on a far-right economic agenda, but the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody had a report this week on a very different focus away from the spotlight on social issues.

    The Brody File has learned that Mitt Romney’s campaign has begun a serious push to engage evangelical leaders behind the scenes, including weekly meetings, personal phone calls from Romney, discussions about appearing at more faith-based events, and serious dialogue about convening a gathering this fall with national evangelical leaders.

    In just the last few weeks, Mitt Romney has spoken on the phone a couple times with popular evangelical pastor Rick Warren, and there have been efforts to try and schedule a face-to-face meeting between Romney and Dr. James Dobson, one of the most respected evangelical leaders in the country.

    Peter Flaherty, a senior advisor for the Romney campaign, has been the main liaison when it comes to outreach within the conservative Christian community.

    The CBN report added that the Romney campaign’s frequent-outreach list reads like a who’s who of religious right heavyweights, including Tony Perkins, Ralph Reed, Richard Land, and Gary Bauer.

    One can only speculate about what’s being said, but it stands to reason the Romney campaign, which probably fears a lack of enthusiasm from Christian evangelicals, is making a series of promises related to abortion rights and LGBT rights — promises the religious right would expect Romney to keep if elected.

  15. Dr. Esteleth Dyke, Medicine Woman and Snark Machine says

    Um, why is the “misogynists can think women are tasty” thread heating back up?

    Do I want to know?

  16. Pteryxx says

    Esteleth: nah, it’s just a single repetitive douche, I glanced.

    …Maybe along with the three-post engagement guideline, there could be a three-nuke guideline? Something like, if there are already three others raging at a given douche, consider taking a break and waiting your turn? Subject to y’all’s individual tolerance of, and need for, douche-battling at any given time… and more opportunity *will come*, unfortunately.

    Take my opinion with plenty of salt, as I’m not particularly ragey myself, nor well versed in its uses… but I do recall the difficulty of learning how *not* to engage when instincts are screaming for it.

  17. Ariaflame, BSc, BF, PhD says

    I hadn’t had a chance to polish my fangs in a while so I had a brief go in the misogynist thread. But now I’m going to get some stuff done and head in the sleep direction because it’s nearly midnight here.

  18. Ariaflame, BSc, BF, PhD says

    Sigh. Looks like another slimepit denizen undergoing their induction ritual. They really don’t have anything better to do, do they?

  19. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    FossilFishy:
    re: babychino-ah, I see. Thank you. I’ve had the opportunity to work a cappucino machine several times, so I understand what the milky frothiness is :)

    Listening to Dr. Karl (science question answering polymath on the radio) on the JJJ podcast and a guy just asked if two cars that traveled 100kms, one doing 50km/h and the other 100 km/h, would show different readings on their odometers? And he wasn’t talking about relativistic effects. Now I has sad.

    I just woke up, so I had to reread this a few times before it sunk in. I haz a sad too. Was the guy really serious?

    ~~

    Setar:

    Classism wrought large. This is why we need to have more political discussions amongst skeptics and atheists, and less Bigfoot-bashing.

    I’d say more political discussions, continued Bigfoot bashing (if it’s evidence based), and a push for more critical thinking skills to be taught in schools (effective critical thinking and analysis might be a way to head off the effects of woo-though not always-AND have a strong effect on politics)

    ~~

    Giliell:

    God must love me.

    Bzzzzt. Sorry. You’re still a woman.
    Therefore, you are unqualified for God’s love.
    Only the menz get that.

  21. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    Lynna @14:
    Yeah, that’s *all* the reason one could need to not vote for Romney.
    Rick Warren? James Dobson? Does he really want to be associated with bottom feeding vile shitheads like that (and why does my new laptop recognize ‘shithead’ as a word…)?

  24. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    Ing:
    Perhaps someone should email Mitt and let him know that Pharyngula has much better people to hang out with. We could invite him in and we can have tea and cookies, and he can have peas and liver. We can all have Audley’s Mojito’s and sing Kumbaya!
    Or not.

  25. says

    Perhaps someone should email Mitt and let him know that Pharyngula has much better people to hang out with. We could invite him in and we can have tea and cookies, and he can have peas and liver. We can all have Audley’s Mojito’s and sing Kumbaya!

    I think you have to feed Mitt green jello and call it “salad.”

    One thing Pharngulites could teach Mitt is that online surveys are not legitimate, scientific polls.

    In his speech to the NAACP, Romney went off-script and said, “You know, there was a survey of the Chamber of Commerce. They carried out a survey of their members, about 1,500 surveyed. And they asked him what effect Obama care would have on their plans and three-quarters of them said it would make them less likely to hire people.”

    That’s not what happened. The Chamber, a pro-Republican lobbying institution heavily invested in helping Romney, put up an unscientific online survey. Treating this as a legitimate poll of businesses is fundamentally dishonest.

    Link.

    Rick Warren? James Dobson? Does he really want to be associated with bottom feeding vile shitheads like that…

    Mitt does not only want to be associated with them, he is one of them. His campaign staff is trying to keep this fact under the radar, in much the same way they agreed to a fundraiser hosted by Dick Cheney and then forbade photos of the Mittster and Cheney together.

  26. David Marjanović says

    O hai!

    Have I missed something important? Should I try to read the last 1 or 2 subthreads? Should I peek into TZT?

    *pile of hugs for Ogvorbis*

  27. Tethys says

    DDMFM!!!

    *pounce hug*

    You have missed several episodes of misogyny troll olympics, a brief OM flamewar, and the addition of 26 ratlings to Caine’s menagerie.

    Several posters have registered their sadness at the lack of DDMFM TET summaries.

    Have you found any dino remains on your latest dig?

  28. carlie says

    So if potato=God, what does that make Spuds MacKenzie?

    A tater tot.

    *waits turn*

    *POUNCEHUG* Hi David!!!

  29. carlie says

    Oh mah guh. Tis the season when the local produce stand starts carrying freshly-made mozzarella balls.* Just had my first one of the year. SO GOOD.

    *I know, civilized places have them all the time. We only get them in the summer. That is, we only get the really good super fresh made somewhere mysterious right around here ones in the summer.

  31. carlie says

    David,
    Oh, and there’s been the addition of Thunderf00t to FtB, and then he got removed for being ignorant and stupid and antiscientific and an ass, and then Greg Laden got booted for violent threats against another blogger, and then Orac called Ophelia a Holocaust trivializer and then Paula Kirby WAS a Holocaust trivializer but Orac said he was ignoring it, and then Ophelia was going to speak at TAM but then she didn’t, and then TAM didn’t even have a harassment policy at all like they said they were going to, and then Orac’s co-blogger wore a shirt at TAM designed to antagonize everyone who thinks anti-harassment policies are good, and I think that’s it. :)

  32. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    Lynna:

    Norman Bradburn, director of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, coined the acronym SLOP to describe polls that use selection bias to get their samples. SLOP is an acronym for self-selected listener opinion polls. He compares them to radio talk shows: they attract a slice of America that is not representative of the country as a whole.
    http://www.skepdic.com/selectionbias.html

    I like SLOP. Mittens and Thunderf00t should familiarize themselves with the term.

  34. carlie says

    Audley, how many babies are there going on over there?!?

    And it’s not contagious through the internet, is it?

  36. says

    Carlie:

    Audley, how many babies are there going on over there?!?

    Lots! My SiL gave birth this morning, I’m in my 6th month and my sister is 4 and a half months along. And that’s just in my family!

    All told, I know 10 women that are either pregnant or have newborns that are under a month old.

    And it’s not contagious through the internet, is it?

    I don’t know. After all of Caine’s rat behbeh drama, I’m starting to think that maybe it is. :-/

  37. says

    Ex-mormons are still talking about the Bloomberg Businessweek article that did a fairly good job of revealing some of the for-profit activities of the mormon church. The discussion included an explanation for non-US citizens.

    Churches/Religious organizations in the US are exempt from filing the exacting 990 form which all other tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charities must file. The 990 form requires detailed accounting for finances, ensuring that individuals do not profit and that money that is being raised under nonprofit auspices is being spent for nonprofit purposes.

    So, there’s NO accounting of the money that any of the churches take in.

    Also note the following:

    Special Rules Limiting IRS Authority to Audit a Church

    Tax Inquiries and Examinations of Churches

    Congress has imposed special limitations, found in section 7611 of the Internal Revenue Code, on how and when the IRS may conduct civil tax inquiries and examinations of churches. The IRS may only initiate a church tax inquiry if a high-ranking IRS official, reasonably believes, based on a written statement of the facts and circumstances, that the organization: (a) may not qualify for the exemption; or (b) may not be paying tax on unrelated business or other taxable activity.

    For complete details from the IRS:
    http://www.irs.gov/charities/churches/index.html

    The Daily Mail has jumped into the fray.

    With money also being made through an investment fund and a trust company, the LDS church is worth about $40million, a study cited in the article suggests. It also takes in $8 million annually in tithes, says the study.
    Despite its wealth, the LDS church donates less than one per cent of its annual income to charity, according to a study cited in the article….

    The article that sparked all the fuss:
    http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-10/how-the-mormons-make-money

    The Guardian has weighed in:

    The first is that it’s ridiculous to suggest that an organisation should be exempt from investigation just because it’s a religious kind of organisation – a form of special treatment that strikes at the heart of secular society. Actually, I’d argue the same goes for candidates’ religious beliefs, too….

  39. carlie says

    I don’t know. After all of Caine’s rat behbeh drama, I’m starting to think that maybe it is. :-/

    So maybe I should start wearing rubber gloves while typing. :D

  40. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    Audley:

    Threadrupt, but I’ve got good news to share!

    Guess who’s an auntie x2? :) :) :)

    conga rats!

  42. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    carlie:

    So maybe I should start wearing rubber gloves while typing. :D

    Those finger condoms that come in first aid kits are much cuter :)

  48. opposablethumbs says

    David Marjanović, good to see you again!

    And Audley, congrats on being auntified :)

  49. ginmar says

    Regarding Kristine—-if people want to send her cash, I might be able to supply the perfect vehicle for safe transmission through the mail. It’s what saved some of my valuables during the recent burglary. For example, why does a cat owner have a can of dog food in her cupboard? And I have several of those large magic markets that don’t work, but I make sure to keep them in my pen cup. We just need a designee to send cash, and maybe add some more pens and paper and stuff to provide camouflage.

  50. Sili (I have no penis and I must jizz) says

    I also wish there were a way to include tax into the final total, so that when you see something advertised as $25.50, that is the actual price you pay (I know this is a pipe dream).

    *That* I don’t understand.

  54. David Marjanović says

    PET now has its own “wild, wild women of Pharyngula” thread. Just saying.

    DDMFM!!!

    *pounce hug*

    ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^

    You have missed several episodes of misogyny troll olympics, a brief OM flamewar, and the addition of 26 ratlings to Caine’s menagerie.

    What. Twenty-six???

    Have you found any dino remains on your latest dig?

    No, because the site is a bit too old. We didn’t even find remains of the near-dinosaur Silesaurus, which is only known from that very site, this year. Temnospondyls and, uh, fake crocodiles, in addition to lots of tiny fish scales and the usual clam infillings; also, lots and lots of small coprolites as usual (probably left by the fish). I found a horsetail, but plant fossils are always very badly preserved there… the rain the next day destroyed it; it was only a bit of impression and a bit of discoloration.

    *waits turn*

    *POUNCEHUG* Hi David!!!

    *squeeze* ^_^

    Oh, and there’s been the addition of Thunderf00t to FtB, and then he got removed for being ignorant and stupid and antiscientific and an ass, and then Greg Laden got booted for violent threats against another blogger, and then Orac called Ophelia a Holocaust trivializer and then Paula Kirby WAS a Holocaust trivializer but Orac said he was ignoring it, and then Ophelia was going to speak at TAM but then she didn’t, and then TAM didn’t even have a harassment policy at all like they said they were going to, and then Orac’s co-blogger wore a shirt at TAM designed to antagonize everyone who thinks anti-harassment policies are good, and I think that’s it. :)

    …My head is spinning, and so is Jules’s.

    Thunderf00t ignorant and unscientific? On what, gender?

    Laden – we know what he did to SC, but violent threats? That’s… new.

    What did Ophelia say that triggered Orac?

    I’ve seen the Kirby drama on Jadehawk’s blog.

    I like SLOP.

    seconded

    I’m reaaaaaaly looking forward to Tuesday

    also seconded :-)

    David:
    Welcome back!

    *squeezes!*

    ^_^

    So maybe I should start wearing rubber gloves while typing. :D

    Rubber definitely sounds good, yes.

    …Damn, Tony beat me to it. Curses!

    I also wish there were a way to include tax into the final total, so that when you see something advertised as $25.50, that is the actual price you pay (I know this is a pipe dream).

    Haven’t seen the original, but all over Europe all taxes are included in all advertized prices. WYSIWYP. It’s the law!

  55. says

    Thanks for the commiseration. Last night I was really so gobsmacked I could honestly only laugh. Today I feel more bitter.

    Oh, they also found and counted the savings account where I save money to pay for school so that maybe someday we don’t hafta be on food stamps. *raeg*

    kristinc, is there maybe a trusted non-poor family-member / friend who could steward Bella’s money? Make an account in their name and transfer the money.

    Yeah. Sucks though, because she loves having her own account in her own name. She was super excited when I made it for her. Also I’m not sure that her $20 really made that much difference, more of it was probably the account where we’re saving our tax return for dental work and our account that was apparently at its fullest at the time they checked because, y’know, we did a crazy thing like putting our paycheck in it.

    They say the “resource limit” (I guess the amount under which they don’t ding you for being a welfare queen?) is $2000 and they valued our car alone at $4000, which is bullshit, since we could pretty much only sell it for scrap at this point.

    I just don’t even know, man.

  56. Gnumann, quisling of the MRA nation says

    I must confess, even as a mostly-lurker, DMs posts on TET has been sorely missed. Welcome back!

  57. ginmar says

    That can’t be in the blue book, that value for the car. Can you appeal to a congress critter? One thing I learned with fighting the bureacrats, is that they’ll turn you down over and over.

  58. ixchel, the jaguar goddess of midwifery and war ॐ says

    Here is another convenient link to the feminist link roundup:

    http://pharyngula.wikia.com/wiki/Feminist_link_roundup

    Remember to make an account and log in in order to hide your IP address (apparently some people have found that just making an account doesn’t automatically log them in — I know, it’s silly).

    +++++
    Hi David!

  59. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    Krasnaya, a question for you:

    Russian newspapers said Wednesday the final version had narrowed a previously broad term of “harmful information”, saying only child pornography, suicide how-to instructions and drugs propaganda can lead to website closure without a trial.

    http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5geli9TJRqx7ynOCUA01YqHhifOYQ?docId=CNG.b19021ddd4b290dbab6a2135880aa06b.171

    Do you know if the restrictions on child pornography deal with possession, sale, and distribution of said materials?
    Or is the restriction wider, such as blocking access to statistics on child pornography or the status of convicted felons?
    I’m hoping it’s the former. I would think the latter would make things difficult for law enforcement.

  60. ixchel, the jaguar goddess of midwifery and war ॐ says

    Huh.

    It’s outrageous that people aren’t allowed to access “suicide how-to instructions and drugs propaganda”.

  62. Owlmirror says

    Thunderf00t ignorant and unscientific? On what, gender?

    On sexism, misogyny, and the anti-sexism of explicit harassment policies (“Don’t do this, guys” == Menz no can has teh fun!).

    Oh, and on not being a damn troll.

    Laden – we know what he did to SC, but violent threats?

    A review of the recent unpleasantness

  63. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    Only a 2-pager by Dr. DM. He’s just getting warmed up. My news is that the Redhead is now home. She still needs help for most activities, so I am busy in my “off” time.

  64. Sili (I have no penis and I must jizz) says

    I’m sure there’re a lot of reasons to dislike My Fair Lady, but damn if I don’t enjoy the Prom.

    Hmm – we’ve just reached the Doolittle/Pickering shippy bit.

  65. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    David:

    PET now has its own “wild, wild women of Pharyngula” thread. Just saying.

    WWWoP…cute :)
    I’ve seen references to PET a few times and haven’t thought to ask what the heck it is…::help me Obi Wan you’re my only hope::

    Thunderf00t ignorant and unscientific? On what, gender?

    I’m sure someone who is more link-capable will post the relevant links, but Thunderf00t opened his mouth wide and inserted his entire leg in with his opening post at FtB. He dismissed the sexual harassment issues facing the atheist/skeptic community and even when corrected, he employed anti-freethought thinking (wait, is that an oxymoron) to arrive at hastily drawn, evidence free conclusions. Then he made a post or two where he [poorly] criticized PZ. The slimepitters came out of the woodwork in support of Thunderf00t during this. When he was kicked off FtB, the slimepitters whined (OH how they whined) about how he was being censored, and FtB are bullies, and FtB silences dissent, and other such bullshit.
    Oh, and Thunderf00t did a really honest to gosh scientific online poll on YouTube. Of his followers. Yeah. Are you rolling your eyes yet?
    PZ posted a video in the last TET thread (in response to Thunderf00t’s YouTube poll) and we were troll central for several days.
    UGH.
    I’m still wiping fecal matter off the lounge tv.
    In the future, we need to purchase the puppy training pads and lay them down when trolls enter.

    Re: WYSIWYP (no clue what that meant for all of the 5 seconds it took to look it up; ain’t the information age grand?)
    I love it. Come on US, get onboard. If I see a commercial for a new flatscreen tv, I want to pay exactly *that* price.

  66. ixchel, the jaguar goddess of midwifery and war ॐ says

    My news is that the Redhead is now home.

    Oh, good news. Glad to hear this, Nerd.

  67. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    adamgordon:
    Penn Jillete is a shitbag of the highest caliber for saying that crap. I want to know what Ophelia did to him that was soooooooo bad.

  69. Gnumann, quisling of the MRA nation says

    If so, I can’t even…why? Why would you write this about someone?
    How can someone be so hateful?

    When you view Ayn Rand as a clear thinker, the rest of you cognitive processes are liable to suffer.

  73. says

    Tony:

    I’ve seen references to PET a few times and haven’t thought to ask what the heck it is…::help me Obi Wan you’re my only hope::

    It’s the facebook “extension” of Teh Endless Thread.

    If you’re on fb and would like to join, feel free to email me (you can find my email addy on my blog) the permanent URL to your facebook profile. I’ll add you as a friend and let you on in.

  75. carlie says

    All the tweets have made me realize ComiCon is this weekend, too. So that may be the reason for some of the initial dip in TAM registrations, if they aren’t usually held at the same time. Because even before any of this happened, if someone dropped a load of money in my lap and told me I had to choose one or the other to go to, it would have been ComiCon. (and they have Neil DeGrasse Tyson!)

  76. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    Actually, the Redhead being home is old news, happening publicly about a month ago, but new to Dr. DM and Jules.

    As far as updates are concerned (this thread isn’t about me, and I have no intention of even attempting to make it so), let’s just say accommodations are still being made on both sides, and trying to get by without expensive help is challenging, but appears to be barely doable. The stair lifts are now installed, and hopefully the OT will teach her how to get on and off the lifts this next week. Getting out of the house, even with help, is always better than being trapped within.

  77. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    Carlie:
    I so want to go to a comic book convention. You would think it would have happened by now but this comic lover hasn’t been to one. Part of it is not wanting to go by myself.

  78. ixchel, the jaguar goddess of midwifery and war ॐ says

    Actually, the Redhead being home is old news

    I thought it sounded familiar. ;) Still good to know.

  79. Sili (I have no penis and I must jizz) says

    Speaking of comics, I bought a kilopoop of old bandes dessinées. Too bad I couldn’t recall which I already had.

  80. birgerjohansson says

    “Potato= god” ???

    But I recall a Pratchett novel where someone said “it will be all right as long as we have potatoes”. So maybe some divine properties are involved.

  81. cm's changeable moniker says

    David M:

    Have I missed something important?

    Well, kid #1 placed 3rd in Social Foxtrot, and kid #2 has decided to give up ballet in favour of gymnastics and karate (you have to see her handspring-cartwheel-mawashi-geri!) … oh, probably not what you meant. :)

    —

    Ariaflame:

    Mushy peas… With vinegar!

    Word. Also black pepper.

    —

    kristinc, that’s fucking awful. :-(

    —

    Why does TET hate peas?

    #FTPeaBullies, obviously!

  82. birgerjohansson says

    Dianne;
    “Ah, to live in a country with quiet hours…”

    I grew up in the countryside, with one of Sweden’s biggest rapids within a mile from our home*. Even though most of the water went through the power turbines, in springtime they had to let a lot of water past them into the rapids, almost bringing back their past glory.
    It was LOUD, 24/7 .
    .
    — — — — — — —
    *BTW, both Linnaeus and that 18-century French expedition to Lapland who determined the flattened shape of the Earth slept at the “kungsgård” a few miles downstream, a kind of inn for people on official business. I cannot even begin to understand how different life must have been back then, and yet it is not all that many generations back. The Egyptian dynasties would have been unimpressed by a mere couple of centuries.
    — — — — —
    I have just started on Stephen King’s latest novel, about changing the past. Good writing.

  83. cm's changeable moniker says

    Sili:

    Incidentally, stocks are, I believe, priced in eights of a penny.

    (and subsequent maths discussion)

    US Treasury Notes and Bonds are priced in 1/128ths of a percent of face value (give them time, and it’ll be 1/256ths). Quote rules are complicated.

    And it’s worse than that for shares. Thanks to my employer’s dividend-reinvestment-in-stock programme, I now own 60.1299 shares of MegaCorp, Inc™. How does that work?

  88. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    So Holmes is starting with catholicism, then working towards Methodist and eventually abandoning fairy tales…why not skip all the bullshit and pass go right to atheism?*
    She makes a quote at the end of that article that is hilarious (hint, it involves succussion)

    *can’t blockquote on my phone.

  89. Sili (I have no penis and I must jizz) says

    Tony, dear. The Daily Mash is the UK Onion. Thank you for ruining the joke. I hope you enjoy your stay at the Abortion Emporium.

  90. birgerjohansson says

    “Sounds of northern lights are born close to ground” http://phys.org/news/2012-07-northern-born-ground.html
    Apparently the same energetic particles that create the northern lights hundreds of miles up are creating the sounds. The mechanism for the latter is not yet known.
    I am “on the fence” about this, a bit of more detail would be helpful.
    — — — — —
    The Daily Mash also has an article about David Cameron as a psychic vampire, thriving on the nation’s misery. And the crappy British weather is also explained.

  91. cm's changeable moniker says

    The Daily Mash is the UK Onion

    Does the Onion do horoscopes? Having been a big Onion fan, I switched after finding Psychic Bob, who’s always been spot on for me. But I could be persuaded back …

  92. birgerjohansson says

    The Onion has some horrific horoscopes…
    — — —
    Old-Timers http://www.xkcd.com/1058/
    I just realised this webcomic entry is so close to the basic premise of the “Matthew Swift” novels it’s uncanny!

  93. cicely (Imagine it starts with a capital 'C'.) says

    Pachelbel Rant

    Where, indeed, Are They Now?

    (hat-tip to Making Light. Over there in the left-hand margin.)
    –
    Caine, with all due respect to you and to your ratties, I do not accept that they are competent to judge the relative evilness of veggies. Peas, turnips—these are evil past redemption. Carrots may be turned to evil, by cooking, but they begin life innocent.
    –

    I hate bell peppers.

    Bell peppers exist for Artistic Purposes, only. I like the look of them, but their facade of food-worthiness is a lie. (Class three glamor, minimum).

    They are Painful Hot Objects.
    –
    *hugs* for kristinc. Obviously you need to start banking at Sock Under The Mattress Bank. Sure, it’s not FDIC-insured, but it’ll put Them *spit* at some trouble to find and rifle through it.
    –

    He had never ever thought about it.

    Inna nutshell, even.
    –
    DDMFM!
    *pouncehug*

    And how’s Jules? I have a *pouncehug* for her, too, if you’ll deliver it for me.
    :)
    –
    Audley, congarats on achieving auntie-hood!
    –

  95. Part-Time Insomniac, Zombie Porcupine Nox Arcana Fan says

    Yes, Katie, please decontaminate yourself and Suri. And stay out of Clearwater.
    ———————————————–

    Just finished reading the “excellent plan” thread. I still can’t believe a simple “Guys, don’t do that” started this drama.
    ———————————————–

    Forget the FSM, how about the Church of the Cosmic Potato? If people really think the FSM thing isn’t a joke, the idea of people worshiping potatoes would lead to much hilarity.

  96. Cipher, OM, Fighting Fucktoy says

    David? David!
    *squeetacklehug*
    —
    Here I am, running around between TET and TZT, totally don’t even see any other threads anywhere, especially not with Rebecca Watson’s name in the original post. *whistles*

  98. Cipher, OM, Fighting Fucktoy says

    Eee, Auntie Audley :D
    —
    kristinc, that is some of the stupidest shit. I am very annoyed on your behalf.
    —
    I have work today, tomorrow, and the next day. Unfortunately I haven’t gotten back to my previous speed of working, and I have been finding it difficult/impossible to take breaks, and I was scheduled on shifts that I particularly hate, so I’m 1.) near falling down every time work ends, and 2.) dreading it when it would usually be fun. Bleh.

  101. Pteryxx says

    Wow, I missed the Excellent Plan thread. Caine, that must mean Rebecca Watson mis-sexed Rubin!

  102. weakswimmer says

    I have an idea. How about having two gods, like a weird god and goddess thing, except one is the FSM and the other is the Cosmic Potato? Potato gnocchi, anyone? I’m totally up for the Fellowship of the Divine Gnocchi!

    +1 Hoping work gets better for Cipher.

  103. David Marjanović says

    Aaaaah, out of Farcebork for today. It makes Firefox eat all my RAM, and then the computer freezes for minutes.

    Thanks for the explanation of the Laden fiasco. Jules watched a Thunderf00t video today and… it was fucking horrible. “Christ, what an asshole” really does work for every situation!!!

    Oh, and Thunderf00t did a really honest to gosh scientific online poll on YouTube. Of his followers. Yeah. Are you rolling your eyes yet?

    …No. I’m still gazing, unblinkingly, at these lines, because they’re so hard to believe.

    My news is that the Redhead is now home.

    Oh, good news. Glad to hear this, Nerd.

    Seconded! :-)

    And how’s Jules? I have a *pouncehug* for her, too, if you’ll deliver it for me.
    :)

    She’s ill and prefers a metaphoric pouncehug. :-(

    David? David!
    *squeetacklehug*

    ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^

    But you’ve seen me on Facebook in the last couple of days, haven’t you? There are photos from the dig!

    totally don’t even see any other threads anywhere, especially not with Rebecca Watson’s name in the original post. *whistles*

    :-)

    he’s tiny (6 lbs!) and he’s a ginger. :)

    Jules approves. :-)

  106. birgerjohansson says

    Cool book excerpts:

    I have just finished Rob Thurman’s novel “Doubletake” and want to share his take on relatives and family (considering the protagonist is a product of an experiment with half human and half monster DNA, the latter intending him to serve their plan for depopulating the Earth, it seems rather restrained):
    .
    “Family…it is a bitch. If there is only you, then you’re good —lonely maybe, but good. You can’t fight with yourself. If the’re two of you, it can still be good. Your options are limited. You make do, and appreciate what you have, unless it’s the stereotypical evil twin scenario. Then you aim for his goatee, and blow his ass back to the alternate dimension he popped out of.
    .
    Yeah, normally two was a doable number for a family. It was when you hit three and higher that things started to go bad. That was when the bitching and moaning started, the pitting of one against another, the slights that no one forgot. No one could tell me that Noah didn’t pitch a few of his relatives kicking and screaming off the Ark long before the floodwaters receded. It was no familial Love Boat, and I believed that to my core.
    .
    Which brought up the question; did that wrathful Old Testament God kill the sharks? I don’t think he did. You can’t drown a shark. I think they were snacking on biblical in-laws right and left.”

  107. Sili (I have no penis and I must jizz) says

    No, David, I’m not drunk.

    (For the first time this week …)

  109. Cipher, OM, Fighting Fucktoy says

    Should the links roundup have links to comments here?

    Thanks to weakswimmer and Audley – I hope so too. At least the worst of it for this month will be over soon – I was scheduled Saturday closing, Sunday closing, and Monday open (all extremely busy shifts, high in dealing with people). After this weekend, I just have Monday opens.

    David, yeah, I’ve seen you posting and some of the adorable pictures over on PET – but it’s been a very rough month here, and we’ve missed you, and it’s cheering to have you back. :)

  110. John Morales says

    Jadzia626,

    Damn, I hoped that post was gonna end up at the bottom of the previous page, not the top of this one.

    Being an non-firster is no problem here.

  113. ixchel, the jaguar goddess of midwifery and war ॐ says

    Should the links roundup have links to comments here?

    Such as the comment where a relevant link to some essay or article was found? Nah, too much work.

    Such as well-written comments you like? Sure, if’n you like.

  114. birgerjohansson says

    Cool SF/fantasy book excerpts (2):
    Here is the first page of “The Minority Council”, the third Matthew Swift novel by Kate Griffin.
    I think she managed to set the mood and pace of the novel perfectly in just one page (the switches between fist person singular and plural is due to the protagonist being in a weird superposition).
    .
    “I had been in Deptford, huntig vandals.
    Not your nice vandals, not the kind who trashed a park bench or burnt out a car.
    These were the vandals who painted, on the walls of the houses, signs that sent all who looked on them quite, quite mad.
    They said they did it to show us the trutrh, and the truth was we were all being tricked. We were all insane, all of us who tought that the world was safe, and ordered, and had a purpose.They knew, they had seen, they were trying to make us understand.
    .
    I said, pull the other one, it’s got bells on, you’re just going around screwing up people because you’re screwed up in turn, and besides, if the world really is as dark as you think it is, then I’ll take the illusion any day, thank you.
    They answered, and who the hell do you think you are, jimbo (or words to that effect), you come swaggering on in here in the middle of the night and you are all like, Stop being vandals or else – well we know people, you know, we can take you.
    .
    I made a few pithy comments, among the following lines:
    My name is Matthew Swift. I’m a sorcerer, the only one in the city who survived Robert Bakker’s purge. I was killed by my teacher’s shadow, and my body dissolved into telephone static and all they had left to bury was a bit of blood. Then we came back, and I am we and we are me, and we are the blue electric angels, creature of the phones and the wires, the gods made from the surplus life you miserable excuse for mortals pour into all things electric. I am the Midnight Mayor, the protector of the city, the guardian of the night, the keeper of the gates, the watcher on the walls.
    We turned back The Death of Cities, we were there when Lady Neon died, we drove the creature called Blackout into the shadows at the end of the alleys, we are light, we are life, we are fire, and, would you believe it, the word that best describes our condition right now is cranky.
    Would you like to see what happens when you make us mad?
    They seemed to understand. “

  115. John Morales says

    David,

    …No. I’m still gazing, unblinkingly, at these lines, because they’re so hard to believe.

    It was even worse than that; it was smugly announced that since he didn’t ban any commenters, there was no (ahem) conformational bias and so it was a representative population sample.

    I went over 500 continuous comments, and extracted the voting (127 in all), which is summarized in the following graph. The thunderf00t channel is essentially a 100 % free speech zone, with no conformational bias due to blocking/ banning people. People can express themselves in whatever fashion they see fit. From previous experience, the response that you are likely to get from viewership on the Thunderf00t channel is little different from that you would expect from that of ZOMGitscriss, Aronra, or similar.
     
    I believe that this is a prima facie case for what I have been trying to tell deaf ears on freethoughtblogs for the past week, that their views are poorly positioned to achieve their stated objectives and are widely unrepresentative of the wider rationalist community in:     […]

  116. birgerjohansson says

    Tpyos, Lord of Bd Speling strikes again.

    “fist person singular” indeed.

  117. carlie says

    (For the first time this week …)

    Big hugs. Have you had a chance to your doctor about your med dosage yet?

  118. says

    Hey, welcome back, DDMFM!! Personally, I haven’t got much in the way of news. New laptop. Same old health problems.

    Do you read Captain Awkward? There was a thread blowup recently that was just so Ben G it was scary.

  119. birgerjohansson says

    kristinc, that’s bloody awful.
    — — — — — — —
    The ‘badger of honour’ from “An Excellent Plan” hit my keyboard before I had run a spell check

  120. Ogvorbis: Dogmaticus sycophantus says

    Welcome back, DDFM.

    Just received the book Currie et al. edited called Feathered Dragons (2004). The article on Bambiraptor looks really interesting. I am intentionally saving it for the next fire I go to.

    I played a concert up in Lackawaxen, PA, today. We were on. I think our rendition of Midnight Special was excellent. Of course we celebrated the great bard’s birthday — Woody Guthrie was born 100 years ago today. I think everyone there was singing along with This Land is Your Land.

    Today was free of panic attacks. Not sure how the night will be. I keep seeing the damn camera and something about it scares the shit out of me. I don’t want to know. Really.

    Anyway, hi, all.

  124. Nutmeg says

    Alethea:

    Do you read Captain Awkward? There was a thread blowup recently that was just so Ben G it was scary.

    I just found Captain Awkward the other day. I know someone (maybe carlie?) mentioned it here a while back, and I decided to go look. Whoever it was, thanks – I enjoyed browsing the archive.

    That thread definitely looks familiar. I think I was still lurking when things like that were happening here.

  125. carlie says

    Do you read Captain Awkward? There was a thread blowup recently that was just so Ben G it was scary.

    I didn’t see it happen in real time, but saw the summary the next day and then went back and skimmed it, and I had the exact same thought when I was reading it.

  126. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    Cicely:
    Re: carrots-sooooo true. Raw carrots are magically delicious (especially dipped in a ranch/red pepper mix). Cooking them into mush is not tasty.

  129. FossilFishy (Νεοπτόλεμος's spellchecker) says

    Huh, looks like I ran afoul of a spam trap. Let’s try again…

    cicely @93 He wouldn’t have even been safe with post-punk, the poor bastard. My former band doing it. At least we were explicit about it. Not the best take ever but enough to give the idea. After an evening of hammering out odd time signatures, dissonant melodies and disjointed harmonic progressions it was euphoric to play something so straight forward, and no doubt a relief to the audience as well. :)

    tony @19 Oh yes, he was serious. He had a bet with his wife that because wheels were turning faster they would turn more often and thus the odometer would read different. In the light of this new morning, and the slow gains that my immune army is making against the influenzic barbarians, I’m inclined to be a little more charitable towards him. We all have brain farts from time to time, he just chose to display his on national radio. Dr. Karl was quite nonplussed, a rarity for him and quite amusing as such.

  130. Part-Time Insomniac, Zombie Porcupine Nox Arcana Fan says

    Kristin, is it time for the old mayonnaise-jar-in-the-backyard strategy? I can’t believe they counted a savings account, into which an allowance – an allowance, you gits, not a freakin’ salary! – goes, against you! Are they aware it’s for your daughter’s use, not yours? The fucking hell………
    ——————————————————-

    Ugh, behind on my work for classes. Good thing they’re all online and the assignments and quizzes are all done electronically. My latest bout of writing was more for fiction than essays and tests.
    ——————————————————–

    OK, gotta DDO. I swear that heat wave fried my desire to game into a pile of ashes.

  131. Dr. Esteleth Dyke, Medicine Woman and Snark Machine says

    Allo!

    Did the podcast (guest starring briefly my cat and my sister, who is visiting me). Then we went to Niagara Falls.

    It was a glorious day.

  132. cicely (Imagine it starts with a capital 'C'.) says

    Jules is ill?
    :(
    Nothing serious, I hope.
    –

    The ‘badger of honour’[…]

    *snortle!*
    I see…awesome D&D applications….
    –
    I’m gonna have to check out the musical links on Monday, on the office machine, on accounta the way my home machine’s sound is sucking really hard. Hand-me-up upgrades from Son’s old computer are imminent. Yay!
    –

  133. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    Sili:

    Tony, dear. The Daily Mash is the UK Onion. Thank you for ruining the joke. I hope you enjoy your stay at the Abortion Emporium.

    I’m lost.
    What joke?
    :(
    (oh, and Abortion Emporium? Is that where theists get those wonderful pictures of fetuses? :)
    ~~
    cicely:

    Bell peppers exist for Artistic Purposes, only. I like the look of them, but their facade of food-worthiness is a lie. (Class three glamor, minimum).

    I like the flavor bell peppers impart, but don’t care to eat them; cooked or raw.
    That said, I see them used in fun ways, such as stuffed peppers (with crab meat and some veggies).
    They’re also good pureed and made into a soup.

    ~~

    Esteleth:
    Did you see Niagara Falls from stateside or from Canada?
    My first and only trip to Canada was also the first and only time I’ve seen Niagara Falls. The majesty of nature…just…wow.
    Makes me appreciate that guy walking across on a tightrope earlier in the year.

  134. Gnumann, quisling of the MRA nation says

    Bah! I got to get more around on the FtB site. I popped in at Zingularity to tell him that his use (any use really, except in a meta-discussion) of the word “bitch-slapped” is socially unacceptable. Since I haven’t commented there before though, I’m stuck in moderation.

    Let’s just hope I make it out eventually.

  136. says

    Good morning
    Packing for a journey by train is shit, shit, shit.
    I mean, I already sent most of our clothes ahead by mail and I’m still stuck with an incredible amount of stuff.
    I just hope for their sake that there isn’t going to be some business traveller on the last seat in our train compartment who wants to do some serious work.

    Thunderf00t ignorant and unscientific? On what, gender?

    In my experience TF is an ignorant, unscientific ass on everything that isn’t creationism/his field. He’s one of those scientists who feel vastly superior for working in the “hard sciences” and therefore thinks that for doing what people in the humanities, arts, social sciences are doing you just need some common sense, why do those people take years to get degrees anyway, gosh they must be really stupid else they’d be proper scientists.

  137. says

    Podcasts on my car radio through some gadget that broadcasts from my phone via FM, why did this never occur to me before? Currently listening to The Ancestor’s Tale, a book I never got around to reading because its size intimidated me.

    Also, my Mac laptop can do Facetime chat with my ex’s phone, like, I can sit on the computer and videocall ex (thereby spawn) on her phone from it ! I never knew.

  138. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    Ooooh, a new Man of Steel photo (poster really, but it looks cool):

    http://www.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2012614/reg_634.steel.ls.71412.jpg

    A little bummed it’s not coming out in December any longer, but June of ’13. I really think it could do very well in the winter as it wouldn’t have too much competition (not in the way that a summer release amid company tentpole movies and sequels would be).

    I’m really stoked about this:

    http://www.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2012614/reg_634.godzilla.ls.71412.jpg

    I was extremely let down by the Roland Emmerich Godzilla movie back in ’98. That was *not* Gojira. That was some silly mutated lizard that lacked radioactive breath (there were 2 instances where it looked like the fire breath was there, but it’s questionable; given that that is his primary offensive power, it would be something to display more than two mediocre times anyway).
    I really hope they stick with him as a destructive force mankind unintentionally releases as a consequence of harnessing power they weren’t ready for. It might be difficult to make him the nuclear metaphor as he was back in 1954. Gojira was a reflection of the 50s zeitgeist. Not sure how relevant that would be today (not that nuclear weapons are gone, just that it isn’t a significant worry in the minds of many-unless you’re a Republican itching to attack Iran or North Korea).
    (my brain is rambling and excited at the prospect of a new Godzilla movie; Benicio del Toro directing it might be magical)
    I can see Godzilla being a God metaphor (with a nice twist). Ancient humans worshiping a divine being who they felt was an agent of creation. Entire cults built around his legend. His deeds as a creature of love, compassion, peace, and creation become ingrained and passed down over the generations, despite no proof of his existence. Until one day a nuclear test unleashes…something. Initially thought to be the Godzilla of legend (maybe even called Gojira, and rightly so), it is quickly discovered that this creature (like God) is not divine in origin, but man-made. Moreover, he is an agent of destruction and rage (like God) given to momentary pauses of contemplation and seeming peace (hey, those birds in the original film symbolize that small portion of God that is decent). Soon the world comes to realize that this entity they worshiped is nothing like the creature devastating Japan (and it better fucking be Japan; not the US).
    I do hope they avoid using an oxygen destroyer this time. I don’t know much about chemistry, but what would happen to a volume of ocean water if all the oxygen were removed all at once (all that’s left is hydrogen, and the surrounding untouched water rushes in to fill the void?)*

    *where does the question mark go there, since I’m asking a question inside the parenthesis and outside it.

  139. Pteryxx says

    to be fair, Stephen at Zingularity’s *quoting* TPM’s use of ‘bitch-slap politics’. He doesn’t seem to realize the insult layers in the term, though.

  140. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    Ok, just read this and total bummer:

    Composer Hans Zimmer is scoring Man of Steel and Snyder won’t be using the signature John Williams Superman March.
    http://content.usatoday.com/communities/livefrom/post/2012/07/awesome-superman-planned-for-snyders-man-of-steel/1

    How do you make a Superman movie without that pitch perfect score??!!
    The two movie scores that I absolutely adore-Superman and Halloween (yeah, I know; light-years apart from one another in every way)

  144. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    The idea for this movie sounds intriguing (plus y’know, Matt Damon is just *awful* to look at :)

    Touching on many of the same themes as District 9—racism, class warfare, immigration politics, etc.—Elysium stars Matt Damon as one of the poor schmucks who lives on Earth while the elite and powerful party it up on the planet of Elysium, where everyone is healthy, wealthy and…corrupt!
    http://www.eonline.com/news/330017/first-footage-of-elysium-debuts-at-comic-con

    Also from San Diego’s Comic-Con:

    First off, Ben Kingsley is indeed playing the supervillainous, robe-rocking Mandarin and Stephanie Szostak (Paul Rudd’s girlfriend in Dinner for Schmucks) has joined the cast as a character TBA.

    http://www.eonline.com/news/330298/iron-man-3-footage-rocks-plus-a-villian-reveal

    They need to be verrrrrrrrrrry careful how they handle the
    Mandarin. As conceived by Stan Lee back in the 1960s, lets just say the character would *not* be well received today if introduced in the same manner as the comics.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_(comics)*

    * Trying to create a hyperlink and it didn’t work:
    a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_(comics)”rel= “no follow”>Mandarin /a>

    Aside from the {<} in the beginning and the {<} before the forward slash at the end, what am I doing wrong?

  145. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    And now for the mad:

    Pilato told Reuters in a telephone interview Saturday that he still “think(s) Joe Paterno is an amazing human being. I think he made a major bad decision in his life,”
    http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/story/2012-07-14/joe-paterno-mural-halo-painted-over/56228106/1?csp=obnetwork

    What the fuck?
    Paterno helped people win football games. I’m sorry, in the grand scheme of things, I don’t give two shits about how many games Penn State wins. 100 or 5000 doesn’t matter. Several children were sexually molested or raped on his watch and he knew about it and did nothing! He is most definitely not an amazing human being. My dog is a better human being.

  146. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    I hope no one who uses DirecTV watches Comedy Central:

    said its customers were left without Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and 14 other channels on Wednesday after Viacom Inc demanded that its networks be dropped from DirectTV’s lineup in a dispute over fees.

    http://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/2012/07/11/directv-customers-lose-mtv-nickelodeon-other-channels/#ixzz20gJzt5Xb

    ___
    The Navy’s new gender neutral carriers won’t have urinals…? Hmmm…

    Omitting urinals lets the Navy easily switch the designation of any restroom – or head, in naval parlance – from male to female, or vice versa, helping the ship adapt to changing crew compositions over time, Meyer said.

    http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/11/navys-new-gender-neutral-carriers-wont-have-urinals/

    ___
    Calorie counting for weight loss:

    It gained new momentum with a study published last month in The Journal of the American Medical Association suggesting that after losing weight, people on a high-fat, high-protein diet burned more calories than those eating more carbohydrates.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/health/nutrition/q-and-a-are-high-protein-low-carb-diets-effective.html

  147. Pteryxx says

    re ‘amazing human being’…

    …where Paterno, President Graham Spanier, Athletics Director Tim Curley and Vice President Gary Schultz failed to properly address numerous allegations against Sandusky “to avoid the consequences of bad publicity.”

    That can’t be emphasized often enough, obviously. (how meta…)

  149. Tony aka The Psychic Octopus [safe and welcome at FtB] says

    Sex for weight loss? It works for one woman:

    Pauline Potter became the world’s heaviest living woman last year, weighing in at a whopping 643 pounds. Now, Potter has her sights set on losing weight, and she’s turned to marathon sex sessions to help shed the pounds.
    In an interview with the UK’s Closer magazine, Potter described how her reignited sex life with ex-husband Alex has helped her lose 98 pounds.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/10/pauline-potter-weight-loss-worlds-heaviest-woman_n_1662919.html

    I was happy to hear later in the article, that the reason she and her husband split up were not related to her weight.

    ___
    And now the funny, with a little xkcd:

    http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/macgyver_gets_lazy.png

    On that note, I have to wake up for work in 4 hours. Good night. Or morning.

  150. says

    Setar, I prefer to use Bruce Schneier for all my outrageous macho fact requirements.

    * When Bruce Schneier observes a quantum particle, it remains in the same state until he has finished observing it.
    * Humboldt squids have sensors capable of detecting Bruce Schneier at 800 yards – to trigger their flight response.
    * Bruce Schneier can force Brownian motion to go in one direction only.
    * Bruce Schneier has built a non-deterministic Turing machine, so he doesn’t care whether P=NP.

    (and many even more nerdy ones.)

  151. Ogvorbis: Dogmaticus sycophantus says

    * Bruce Schneier can force Brownian motion to go in one direction only.

    That brings up interesting questions regarding the queue for ghey secks with Brownian.

  152. David Marjanović says

    It was even worse than that

    Argh.

    Do you read Captain Awkward?

    No… *eager anticipation*

    Just received the book Currie et al. edited called Feathered Dragons (2004). The article on Bambiraptor looks really interesting. I am intentionally saving it for the next fire I go to.

    :-) :-) :-)

    Jules is ill?
    :(
    Nothing serious, I hope.

    Well. The stomach pain is gone to the extent that she’s eating again (bacon and polenta fried in bacon fat with a bit of butter! The polenta was boiled in chicken broth, on Jules’s suggestion; I wouldn’t even have gotten the idea… *shame*… she’s adding tiny tomatoes), but the dry air in this place really gets to her. The effect on me is chronic, the effect on her is acute. If her ear passage doesn’t stop being swollen till Thursday, she says her eardrum will rupture on the flight… again.

    In my experience TF is an ignorant, unscientific ass on everything that isn’t creationism/his field. He’s one of those scientists who feel vastly superior for working in the “hard sciences” and therefore thinks that for doing what people in the humanities, arts, social sciences are doing you just need some common sense, why do those people take years to get degrees anyway, gosh they must be really stupid else they’d be proper scientists.

    I see.

    http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/macgyver_gets_lazy.png

    No, no, no. The one and only way to link to xkcd is to link to the page a comic appears on. If you link to the image alone, the alt-text is lost, and that is bad.

    * Trying to create a hyperlink and it didn’t work:

    There would need to be a space in front of rel=”nofollow” and no space inside it; but this tag is added automatically anyway, so don’t bother! All you need is href. (And title sometimes.)

  153. Ogvorbis: Dogmaticus sycophantus says

    DDMFM:

    I am also reading Dinosaurs With Special Reference to the American Museum, Collections (Matthew, 1915) which is really interesting. When did palaeontologists and geologists abandon the Comanchic Period of the Mesozoic? (It was wedged between the Jurrasic and the Cretatic periods.)

  155. says

    Tony:

    I hope no one who uses DirecTV watches Comedy Central…

    I think Caine got screwed out of watching Futurama this week because of that bullshit.

    Viacom loves to pull this move. A year ago, they were fighting with Time Warner (my cable provider) over fees– to the best of my knowledge, it was resolved without Viacom getting an extra cent. (Thank goodness. I pay enough to watch two fucking channels as it is.)

    If you ask me, content providers are by and large doing the exact wrong thing with all of these pissy little disputes. Hell, I’ll be dropping my cable subscription as soon as HBO GO is available to non-subscribers. Content and cable providers are signing their own death certificate if they think they can put a strangle-hold on the way that most Americans watch tv, especially since many of us have access to streaming services that are a hell of a lot cheaper than paying for thousands of channels we don’t watch.

  156. carlie says

    Tony –

    from that article:

    There is an inflexible law of physics — energy taken in must exactly equal the number of calories leaving the system when fat storage is unchanged.

    True, but there are a lot of factors that influence how many calories are actually “taken in” by each person’s body – turns out gut flora composition is extremely important, for example. I’d love for there to be enough done to at least get standard deviation bars around calories in terms of the effective calories the average body is likely to be taking in.

    plus y’know, Matt Damon is just *awful* to look at :)

    Have you seen this song? (starts at 2:15, knowledge needed that at the time, Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel were dating each other)

  158. Cipher, OM, Fighting Fucktoy says

    I am trying really hard not to waste food, but this is the wrong applesauce. It tastes icky, but more importantly, it’s wrong. :(
    —
    Here’s my personal current to-do list for the links roundup. I can do most of these things and I have plenty of time, but if anyone wants to help out with/offer suggestions on 1, 2, 4, or 9 in particular I’d really appreciate it. There are still sections that need filling out, and probably we haven’t even added all the headings that should be in there yet, but these are just things I’ve taken an interest in personally.

    1.) name “Category X” (where “implicit bias,” “stereotype threat,” and “chilly climate” currently are)
    2.) figure out where mansplaining goes, and find a good link with a definition of it (and perhaps argument for its use with “man” in it, against claims that it is gendered and therefore unacceptable)
    3.) add description for “Do you laugh at rape jokes?”
    4.) consider adding some of the recent Tosh articles to rape jokes section
    5.) subdivide rape jokes section?
    6.) add descriptions for “implicit bias” links and “rape with male victims” links
    7.) add descriptions for studies in rape jokes section
    8.) work on unpacking pastebin link in Uncategorized section
    9.) consider adding section or separate page to deal specifically with atheist movement controversies.

  159. Beatrice says

    Dianne,

    Is that you commenting on Unequally Yoked? If you are, congrats on having such a strong stomach, I can’t handle much more than skimming the comments.

  160. ImaginesABeach says

    kristinc – some states exclude as assets anything held solely in a minor’s name (but of course that decreases your ability to help your child manage money). Also, some states exclude as assets one vehicle of moderate value for each working adult. And, assets are usually only considered when determining eligibility, while income is considered when determining both eligibility and grant amount. You may want to check with your financial worker (or whatever they are called in your state) or see if they have a manual on-line. Warning, though, the manual is probably written by bureaucrats, for bureaucrats.

  161. carlie says

    Cipher – can you doctor it up or use it in something else? Applesauce makes a good binder in place of egg in pancakes (1/2 cup of applesauce per suggested egg, the same amount as in one of those single-size cups), and could probably also be used the same way in muffins or cakes.

  162. Cipher, OM, Fighting Fucktoy says

    Carlie, I think after I finish the one that I’m eating today, I’ll just leave it and hope my brother likes it better than I do.

  163. says

    carlie:

    … and could probably also be used the same way in muffins or cakes.

    Yup, you’re right– that’s one of the ways to make vegan baked goods. I’m sure that the substitution amounts are easily Googleable. (Although 1/2c per egg sounds about right to me.)

  164. Sili (I have no penis and I must jizz) says

    Hmmm.

    Speaking of slash, has anyone ever done a camp version of Pygmalion called My Fair Lad?

  166. Pteryxx says

    That tweet makes me apprehensive. Thanks for keeping us non-twits apprised, Giliell.

  169. dysomniak, darwinian socialist says

    Melissa Harris Perry discussed Tosh and rape jokes today with Jamie Kilstein. Video available at mhpshow.msnbc.msn.com