Wow, that last one filled up fast. Let’s slow it down.
(Episode CCCXLVII: The Saga of Thunderf00t.)
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Wow, that last one filled up fast. Let’s slow it down.
(Episode CCCXLVII: The Saga of Thunderf00t.)
Ogvorbis @last thread-
Yeah, you’ve been on the front lines for awhile. I’ve seen your recent work and totally understand.
I hope you can at last relax and am wishing all the best for you.
What is it with this American obsession with death.
Disclaimer: my grandmother did the same thing. Granddad wanted to be cremated, but against all expectation he died first, and she wanted a burial.
Not related to any prior discussion: I got a paper rejected about 1/2 hour ago. I then spent the next 1/2 hour perusing Patheos. I think I may be depressed about it or something. Or maybe just trying to drown out one form of pain with another. What’s with Catholics and global warming denial anyway? I thought that was a Protestant/fundie thing.
BTW: Sorry about being whiny and self-indulgent here. I’ll either get back to work or go home Real Soon Now. I promise.
Ing @last thread:
I don’t know if I’ve ever really heard something like that proposed, but basically:
1. Expense. In many jurisdictions, it’s the parties who have to pay to have a court reporter there preparing a transcript. Videographers are not cheap, nor is that kind of editing with rapid turnaround.
2. Fear that something would get lost. I would not be at all surprised to learn that people do not engage with something they see on a video screen in the same way they would to live testimony. Also, jurors don’t just look at the witness, they may want to look at the parties or counsel’s reaction. Perhaps they shouldn’t, but that’s the reality.
3. Tradition. The legal system is fairly slow to change. And that’s not entirely illogical, because it’s a system that relies on precedent. Even if you passed a new statute to authorize such a procedure, there’s a chance it might be found unconstitutional (for example, as a violation of due process rights for reasons similar to those in #2, or in criminal cases for violation of the Confrontation Clause). The last thing you want is to have to throw out the result of hundreds of trials because they used a new procedure that a higher court found faulty.
But mostly, I’d say:
4. It’s not really necessary in real life (as opposed to TV and movie lawyering). Most of the testimony that a jury is told to disregard isn’t particularly inflammatory or prejudicial, because if it was, it would have already been the subject of a pre-trial motion. If a lawyer is worried that the jury might hear some piece of inadmissible evidence that is really prejudicial, he or she brings it up to the court beforehand, and counsel and/or the witness are ordered not to mention it in the presence of the jury. If such an order is violated, the consequences can be nasty, including a mistrial.
Last thread:
Gilliell @191:
Really? The douchebag called you “Gilly”?
Damn. I really don’t understand the minds of people like that.
For some reason I can relate to the regulars here at Pharyngula far better.
~~
Beatrice @200:
I don’t think Giliell likes *those* kinds of collectibles…
Does anyone else have their own VST (very special troll)?
still catching up:
leonde:
Many women do not like White Knights.
If you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you or provide a link (you can look it up yourself), as it isn’t clear that you’re interested in educating yourself on this subject.
HERE IS SOME ADVICE:
Stop asking questions like this.
Stop talking for a while.
Lurk.
Read.
Educate yourself.
Learn about sexual harassment.
Learn about sexism.
Learn about feminism (this is where you’ll learn why “acting honorably and morally” when you’re trying to defend the poor, helpless woman is not appreciated; hint, in that scenario, women are inferior to men)
Learn about how deeply embedded sexism and misogyny are in the western world (since you keep comparing your experiences in South Africa with those of people in other countries, particularly the United States).
Learn about how rape is underreported.
Learn about how women are frequently dismissed when they contact the authorities.
Learn about why “going to the cops” or “asking for help” often doesn’t make the situation better for women.
Learn about the shit women are going through when they *DO* speak up.
above all else:
STOP comparing your limited experiences with those of others and then pretending that yours trumps theirs
For the same reason courts still rely on stenographers and incompetent translators.
Now I have to write the whole thing down….
So, you know the von Trapp family, from The Sound of Music? One of them dropped the “von” part, and had a granddaughter named Patricia, who ended up working for the World Bank as a loan officer. One day, a representative from the government of Prague came by, wanting to take out a loan on behalf of the city, and as collateral, he had a huge monstrance from a local church, along with an appraisal and certificate of authenticity. Ms. Trapp was really not sure that such a thing would be appropriate, so she went to her superior, Ms Ivanova. Ms. Ivanova looked at the monstrance, and shrugged. “How you say . . . is knickknack, Patty Trapp. Give to Prague a loan.”
/PunsAreObjectivelyEvil
screechymonkey & ing:
I’d also argue that there are perceptual differences that take place between watching someone live vs. watching a tape. With the tape, you’re limited to what the person with the camera wants to show you; live, there are a lot of other aspects: the glint of sweat on a brow (which may not show, depending on shooting angle), the tapping of a foot, whatever.
Video has nowhere near the information bandwidth that an in-person experience has, and some of that lost information is likely important.
… Er, I guess that was covered in screechymonkey’s (2), but I think it’s the most important factor.
Sili (I have no penis and I must jizz) @2-
I have no clue. I’ve never been to an open casket funeral (like my Grandma Jesse had for Granddad Ed) except for when my sister and I inadvertently walked in on one when we went to pick up my brother’s ashes. That was the freakiest moment of my life.
And now I will end my death rambling. Sorry everyone.
I will now sleep aka lurk.
Ing @ last thread
I had composed a reply that echoed much of what screechymonkey said, only to find the thread ended. So, I will second all of that and add that my inclination is that if you are suggesting that the jury watch only the video recording, that might violate the right to a jury trial. I only say this because courts have held that the Confrontation Clause is not satisfied when the defendant watches close-circuit feed of the testimony. So, not having the jury available to observe every little facial expression to determine credibility of witnesses, for example, might impede the right to the actual jury trial.
Tony
Since when has my mum been drinking? Honestly for years. The whole relationship of my family towards alcohol is fucked up. I grew up thinking that alcohol was just what grownups drink.
And her consumption just grew and grew and grew. I remember asking her (as an adult) if it was really a good idea to have a beer in the morning, and for every whim a schnaps.
And then there’d be the “sick days” in bed and we went along with this for a long time, pretending, lying to ourselves, until my sister and I couldn’T take it anymore. But here’s the thing, since she is less a permanent drinker than one who has a breakdown with (ever shorter) periods of abstinence in between, she, and dad, and many other people are happy to pretend that alcohol isn’t her problem. Ans that each and every time she stops drinking she made it, jadda-jadda.
No, my dad won’t drown himself in any aspect. To say “I’ll drown myself in the *name of the small river running through the village*” is a phrase to use when you’re fed up, nothing more.
As for the troll: It’s his (I strongly suspect a “he”) usual nickname for me, intended to enrage, or hurt me, something like that. I have no idea where we crossed paths for the first time, it must have been a much more significant experience for … than for me. But some time after that I noticed that … showed up in quite some places where I commented and singled me out.
It’s one of the cases where you can tell you’Re doing something right by the people who hate you.
Ogvorbis:
I know that shit all too well. It’s rougher than hell and it often gets worse when the memory bursts through for a while. Eventually, it gets better. One of my worst ones still pops up now and then and freaks the fuck outta me.
*hugses*
Dianne –
Sorry to hear that. :(
Ouch, dianne and og.
Tony, last thread:
Some people are very sensitive to strong smells, including perfume.
Being in a crowded room is bad enough for some, but an overpowering stench is even worse.
Yup…still like turtles.
Giliell:
I bet I know which day of the week it was.
Didn’t someone recently describe Tumblr as Baby’s First Social Justice.
Moggie</b<
*grin*
Ogvorbis
Hugs and chocolate are delivered to your USB
@Sili
It’s a handme down Baby’s First…with half of the pages on being a decent person worn down due to the previous possessor’s gumming.
Ogvorbis, I hear you. Also everything Caine said. I’m sorry some vicious person buried demons in your head.
Jesus Christ on a stick.
1. No harassment policy at TAM this year. Yeah, spite won out over even self interest.
2. Women throwing other women under the bus:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/07/boy-am-i-glad-im-not-in-las-vegas/
I am so sick to death of stupid people lying about things that can be found on the Internet. Oh, Laci Green supports anal rape. Oh, this is my baby.
A midwife is claiming that she helped with a miscarriage and said that picture–of an obvious doll–is of the remains. And then multiple people have joined in on her comments and claimed they were there as well.
It’s. A. Doll. I found it within two seconds on a reverse image search on Google. The lying liar who lies had to photoshop out the disclaimer on the top of the damn image.
But the commenters want to believe that’s what a twelve week fetus looks like and if you disagree with them, well, you’re just a mean poopy head who wants to kill babies.
It’s called the truth, you fuckers. Ever heard of it?
:ahem: Okay, I feel better now.
Show me on the doll how you miscarried.
Josh:
Well, I can’t say this really surprises me, but ugh.
Bookcloseouts.com has a “scratch and dent” sale (they ship for domestic postage in the US and Canada)
http://www.bookcloseouts.com/Store/Browse/_/N-2je/Nrc-id+9p
.
I found this treasure:
You Betcha!: The Witless Wisdom of Sarah Palin http://www.bookcloseouts.com/Store/Details/You-Betcha-The-Witless-Wisdom-of-Sarah-Palin/_/R-9780740797569B
— — — — — — — —
“Supplement mixture improves memory in mild Alzheimer’s” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-supplement-mixture-memory-mild-alzheimer.html
@Josh. Cross posted because it honestly made me L. O. L.
“I feel Safe and Welcome at TAM”?
Well good job skeptics community, you certainty have gotten that irony blind suspicious specific denial propaganda thing many cults master down pat!
Can we make response Tshirts that read “I Most Definitely Did Not Get My Wallet Stolen By Penn Jillet?”
The T-shirt that is not my response…I rarely laugh at myself. And when I do it quickly turns into the pained wails and weaping of one whose love of life has been gutted out and replaced with self loathing!
Who on earth would make a nude version of the Ancient Aged Gnome 10th Doctor like tha-oh wait it’s supposed to be a fetus?
Can I say it, can I say it? *bounce*
*ahem*
Christ, what an asshole.
“I Carry Mace at TAM”?
If it wasn’t for my morals, the expense and my safety from harm or criminal persecution I would go to TAM, just to be able to wear a tshirt with the text: “I maced Penn Jillette”.
Gah… the news from TAM just makes me sick. All that work researching and discussing harassment policies, so it’s as easy and forthright as possible to institute one, and they’d rather leave their own attendees ignorant and potentially hung out to dry just out of sheer spite. I’m offended as a con volunteer and as a decent fucking person.
Can anyone think of a con other than TAM that not only doesn’t have a policy but is so hostile?
Krasnaya Koshka,
I love Kate Bush, too. BTW Isn’t she releasing a new album this year?
.
I get the impression Russia is a bit like Turkey; lovely people, but everyone in a position of authority (especially those in uniforms) are arseholes.
.
Yeah, I have heard they hate anyone who look asian.
As for the specifically Russian jingoism, does not that partly go back to the 19th century belief that only the Russians (insert mythical belief in superior sense of spirituality) can save the christian civilisation from decadence, plus a bit of pan-slavic/pan orthodox sense of superiority?
— — — —
During Brezhnev, I am told that children were taught that it was the Russian resistance against the Mongols (at a terrible human cost) that blunted the Mongol onslaught enough that the Mongols did not occupy all of Europe (possibly true).
-At the same time, the Soviet leaders saw themselves as the western bastion against their communist rival, China (it is easy to see the connection). when Thatcher asked Breszhnev what he was most concerned about, he answered “the survival of the white race”! She asked him twice, thinking the interpreter had gotten it wrong
— — — —
Also, all schoolchildren were taught that it was (only) Mother Russia/the Soviet Union that saved the world from Nazi Germany.
Never mind the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.
— — — —
If you add up all these factors you are going to get a national self-image that is seriously fucked up, with a sense of martyrdom and with an inferiority complex towards wealthier, more powerful nations and nostalgia for when Russia was “strong”.
Krasnaya, you write so beautifully.
More hugs to Oggie as well. Have you said before whether you have a therapist/can afford therapy? This might be time for some big guns. I would hope your work would cover a few sessions at least under the guise of post-big-fire-work trauma, but I know better than to assume they would.
I do not even have words for the t-shirt. Lack of obvious policy is bad enough, because there’s just the tiniest bit of hope that it exists and they were just too stupid to put it in the welcome materials, but that shirt? Fuck you, too.
last thread (I’m gonna be at this for a while; you folks are such fun people to respond to :) :
Vilem Saptar @214:
Now, now, you should watch the tone. Mrs Manners sez that tone is what drives so many people away from Pharyngula. Tone is what the FtBullies use to censor slimepitters. We should never use bad words or insults when we talk to others. We should always use really swell words and never talk condescendingly…you know what fuck all that (twas sarcasm anyway). I can’t even fake it anymore.
Leonde, Vilem Saptar is right: You are an idiot.
~~
leonde (again with the stupid in your posts; do you ever think before you post?):
Why do some men think it’s a good thing to swoop in a rescue a woman in danger?
Why do these same men not do the same thing for other men?
Why do these ‘saviors’ reserve this special behavior for women?
You wouldn’t happen to have a specific view on what roles men and women are supposed to play in your society would you?
Again:
Stop talking and go educate yourself. You make way too many assumptions about situations that you are massively ignorant on.
The very fact that you don’t see White Knighting as being incredibly sexist shows you don’t know much about sexism.
Get thee from here, at once.
~~
Nutmeg @251:
On the one hand, I’m curious about what’s going on in his brain (how does that cognitive dissonance work in there). OTOH, the idea of rummaging around a creationist brain is quite spooky.
~~
leonde (still not educating yourself):
If the bar is at the hosting hotel, I’m fairly certain they can kick the guy out.
You’re equating a local dive bar with a convention at a hotel. Not the same thing.
Oh, and here’s this nifty bit of information about sexual harassment (has this changed since 2008?):
So you’re lying when you say sexual harassment is illegal in South Africa. It enjoys the same status as here in the United States. It’s not illegal. Sexual harassment in the workplace is illegal, but that not’s the same thing. Nor is it at all relevant to the discussion about sexual harassment at conventions.
PAX, maybe?
Really, TAM? Really?
I remember when Jen first brought up the issue of speaker-on-attendee/other speaker harassment. There was a chorus of “We should do something about this” and “Let’s make sure there are policies in place”. Different cons started talking about and developing policies.
And then DJ on Facebook and FtB happened, and look where things are now. Policies are moving forward in other areas, but this just looks conspicuously absent. And now with the #FTBullies thing.
This is incredibly baffling to me.
leonde (really, how much more stupid can you get?):
You’ve gone past idiocy into that realm of Utter Stupidity.
The evidence to show the detrimental impact religion and religious beliefs exists. You can Google it in 5 seconds.
The evidence to show the detrimental impact of sexual harassment policy, umm, hold on….
Gee, I went and googled “is religion detrimental to society” and the first page alone gives a lot of hits.
I then googled “are sexual harassment policies detrimental to society” and the first page has *no* hits (they all talk about the impact of sexual harassment, not the implementation of policies against it being bad).
Stop being such a fucking lazy idiot and go research this stuff. I can’t believe we’re having to educate you. Hell, I can’t believe I found out that sexual harassment is NOT illegal in *your* country when you continually assert that it is!
Carlie:
PAX has a policy as well as enforcers (and a “ban” on “booth babes”) – at least, that’s what I’ve read. I can’t look it up here because of filters on gaming sites. I don’t know if any of that helps any, of course, but it means they’re disqualified.
Richard Austin
Hmmm.
Scary. But they do look healthy and natural. And, well, good.
And even then, they could easily ask the bouncer to do something. I doubt most bars actually want to encourage a bad reputation. In that case the policy would help to remind people what’s acceptable in polite society and empower them to do something.
Richard – thanks, I was just thinking of the Penny Arcade dickwolves debacle, but wasn’t sure how it had ultimately been resolved.
Another post on the topic of rape jokes:
“Do You Laugh At Rape Jokes?”
http://www.fem2pt0.com/2012/07/12/do-you-laugh-at-rape-jokes/
Gee, it was deliberately LYING? Color me surprised ;) *checks fangs, no tartar buildup*
Dah, shit.
Just got back from the mailbox. Art Robinson, wingnut candidate for congress, has sent me an entire paperback book called Common Sense in 2012. My first thought is that there must be a lot of fucking money behind this campaign. Art himself is, of course, wealthy himself.
Prosperity, liberty, blah blah blah. He reveres the 1950’s, and thinks taxes were low up until the 1970’s. America was prosperous because of liberty yada yada, and no mention of the fact that the rest of the industrial world had the shit bombed out of it the previous decade.
I also remember Robinson, in his first run for congress in 2010, blaming the bailout on Obama and claiming that the government had taken over the health care industry. In 2010.
Funny, I used the health care industry that year and I don’t remember the gubmint being involved. I do remember having a bill sent me because the insurance company had dropped me from their rolls because the HR lady at my former place of employment failed to turn in the paperwork before she quit and wasn’t replaced.
I may have to blog about this. I’m just not sure I can actually read this crap.
In other news, the Freeh report is out, and it turns out that Joe Paterno and other administrators at Penn State definitely knew about Sandusky’s problems in 1998 and tried to keep it quiet.
I’m very sleepy. *hugs* to Og. I’m so sorry that shit is fucking with you again. And please know that you don’t need to apologize for talking to us when you need to.
—
So this is fun! I’m an Emoter with a side of Nuker and frustrated aspirations of Logic Bomberhood. I can think of pretty much every type among the regulars here, although the norms dissuade a lot of Appeasers, I think, and prevent people who could be described that way from tangling with the Nukers much.
carlie (last thread @266):
Dear FSM do I hate getting stuff like that for presents. Several years ago, my mother thought it was a cute idea to get me a pair of stuff frogs holding cymbals. When they were brought together, they started clanging the cymbals and singing. She thought it was a cute Christmas present. I waited until the middle of the following year to politely inform her that I would rather have functionail presents. I’m no fan of curio cabinets or display shelves that exist merely to show off the family china. It’s silly to me. I want stuff that functions. Now, if the singing frogs, the curio cabinet, or the display shelves have some functionality to them, fine. But to just sit there and do nothing that I want or need? Please skip me when thinking about stuff like that.
~~
Caerie:
another bit of my faith in humanity chipped away :(
~~
leonde:
Either grow up or get out. Many people are not going to tweak their language because you can’t handle bad words. This is our lounge, and you’re shitting all over it with your lies, ignorance, sexism and misogyny.
You don’t understand why these policies are in place then. Do you know why sexual harassment policies are in place in a workplace environment? They exist to help provide an atmosphere where people can work together without the fear of harassment AND if there is harassment, strict guidelines on how the organization handles the problem. The same is true of conventions.
Why are you having such a hard time understanding this?
~~
Cipher @325:
I think your link is messed up :(
~~
Janine @328:
Thanks for the video.
I remember I used to hate S6 of Buffy. It wasn’t until a few years later that I came to appreciate it.
My favorite of the songs on that Episode:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2y8HGlZ9g0
~~
Lynna @335:
Um. Wow.
“And I could have gotten away with it if not for those pesky kids”.
~~
Oggie @342:
Please don’t be sorry for sharing your experiences here. That’s one of the benefits of TET. If you want to talk about something, please do.
Hugs or chocolate covered bacon if you want :)
~~
Janine @347:
pareidolia aside, how does anyone know what the Virgin Mary looked like?
(from the link to your favorite):
a yellow and white stain on an expressway underpass is a miracle?
There are children around the world who are being potty trained and leave stains in their diapers. I wonder if you can see Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary in a shit stain…please don’t tell me that someone already has…I just know someone has a link to some story about some religious person…I’m dreading it already.
Or maybe Jesus Christ Poop!
~~
Krasnaya:
Are many videos censored over in Russia?
~~
Richard @367:
Um wow.
Them are really big boobies.
I wonder who has the worlds biggest penis or testicles…
~~
cicely:
nooooooooooooooooooooooo
You’re turning to the dark side??
Peas are good only when you’re having a food fight and they’re mushy.
(j/k I don’t waste food; haven’t since I was a little kid)
~~
One good thing about this tosser Tosh thingy. The commentary led me to Wanda Sykes.
Who. Is. Hilarious.
@ Owlmirror, #9:
That is a good telling of the joke. I like it.
@ Tony, #51:
But…but…some people like peas.
Here’s a link to Mark’s review of the episode. Which went up super early. I missed it. And I am very sad about that.
—
I am trying my very best to work on the links roundup, but I’m all sleepy and brainfog. Thanks to pteryxx for the linkdumps from the last page; I posted links to them in the Uncategorized section and I’ll try to work through them later.
Links roundup. I’m trying to work on it but I’m too sleepy. Thanks for the linkdumps from the last page, pteryxx – I put them in the Uncategorized section and will try my best to work through them later.
What the hell. Now my tinyurls are being sent to the damn spam filter!
Wait, what? A thread with no drive-by jacktrollinson shooting from the hip?
…oh right, this has nothing in it to do with advocating women’s rights. Not that I’ll miss his irritating view points or anything.
TAM is having a special on glurge. Seriously, check out the happy sappy crap they’re tweeting:
Dale Roy @Ntr0py_roy
When people can get passed their differences recognize the common goal to work together “magic” happens. -David Silverman #TAM2012
Randi Foundation @jref
Advice from @MrAtheistPants : put aside the things on which you don’t agree when building a coalition. #TAM2012
Do fuck off.
How about this?
Seriously, what the fuck. Why is the tinyurl for the Wiki page going to the spam filter and not the other tinyurls?
I am a baaaaad person. I introduced my brother to TVTropes.
*snerk*
Cipher,
Thanks for setting up that wiki page. I added some links from my stash. I have more, but they’re not really categorized.
Would it be helpful to have a section for areas of privilege that may be useful for explanation of the concept of privilege, but aren’t necessarily tied to feminism? Specifically, I have a few links about biases based on height and regional U.S. accent. I’ve had some luck getting others to recognize privilege when it was uncoupled from topics that tend cause defensiveness.
Holy freakin’ crap. Fox News Magazine (there is such a thing?) presents 10 pranks to spice up your relationship. Holy shit. I mean, really. The fuck is wrong with people?
Thanks, Jessa! Yeah, I think those would be useful – I’m not totally sure what to do about such resources, but for now you could just put them in Uncategorized. Or create a section for them, or whatever you want to do – Wiki, of course :)
“5. If your guy is shy but has a good sense of humor, take a picture of the toilet in your bathroom, then plug your digital camera into a computer or TV and load the picture onto your screen. When he comes out of the bathroom, start laughing and pointing. He will see the picture and think you saw him in there!”
WHAT THE FLYING FUCK I DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW FOX NEWS WORKS
carlie:
From that link, I conclude that Fox News Magazine is written by 12-year-old boys.
Jessa – and I didn’t even realize until after I posted that it wasn’t a random contributor who wrote it, it was the fashion and style editor.
The what now?
Ing – See here for compilation.
Sili:
Yes, she is. I love her for doing a piece on rape that was essentially just an angry rant at male privilege, but funny as hell. I assume that’s why she came up in the thread?
For people who are interested in editing at the Wiki, it’s a good idea to create an account at the Wiki to edit and make sure you’re logged in, because otherwise it will show off your IP address. *nods* The admins can do stuff about it, but it’s best to have the account.
Oops. Cipher, can you do something about it?
One last try.
Yep, I did :) Doublecheck, but I think it’s all gone now.
Seriously, it’s really, tremendously pissing me off that I was all excited to work on this resource and apparently can’t link to it here.
She came up as one of those horrible women who make rape jokes
If you click on the fox news article, don’t forget to read the comments.
PA has pissed me off more recently for the kickstarter.
WTF guys…just WTF.
Thanks so much, Cipher. I thought I signed up, but I guess I didn’t. Seems fixed now.
*near fatal eyeroll* Why is there an assumption that everyone’s “guy” is so fucking stupid as to be almost terminal? You’re partnered with someone who would really go looking for a glass hammer? Really? You have bigger problems than a need for spiciness.
Of course, this is fox.
WTF is up with British comedy and killing dogs!?]
Very very depressed now
@Ing, 66:
Game developer and blogger Scott Jennings had a bit of write up on that sometime ago:
http://www.brokentoys.org/2011/02/01/dickwolves/
Intersting thing though, one of the proprietors of said dickwolves dispute claimed to Jen McCreight at some comic/game convention last year (I think), that he’s squarely in Watson’s camp over Elevatorgate. Not sure he’s still that way. But it does makes for some weird disconnects.
Oh fuck you guys, the whole TAM thing has hit the Washington Post online: here
Commenting by anyone who has a WP account would be helpful.
@Utakata, 79:
Edit: Looks like carlie @ 67 has beaten me to the punch already. :(
Ing:
Ah. I suppose “I wish I didn’t have to worry about being raped” could be interpreted as a “rape joke.” Everyone’s mileage varies. I love that piece, because it was an idea I really identified with.
I will give the contents of my wallet to whomever can answer this question correctly.
I don’t know about a glass hammer, but any Niven fan can tell you that a glass dagger can be useful.
Rock Center with Brian Williams
will be covering Scientology tonight.
starts in 1 hour for those in the eastern half of the world.
Here’s the only workaround I can think of:a link to the comment where I linked it.
Boo hiss.
I’m going to play Skyrim.
It’s also intellectual dishonesty…aka standard operating procedure.
—————————————
Watching Spaced where a Schnauzer was put in jepordy but it worked out yay! Looking back at it this series is like a preview for Simon Pegg’s entire body of work
—————————————–
Seriously fuck Penny Arcade for the Kickstarter
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/07/12/penny-arcade-kickstarter-250000-dollars/
I’m pretty sure that I was one person who brought up Wanda Sykes in that thread – because someone else had brought up Sarah Silverman and demanded to know why everyone wasn’t roundly condemning her for rape jokes.
I don’t like Sarah Silverman, so I’m not familiar with her material. I doubt I would appreciate any rape jokes she attempted.
I said that I didn’t like Wanda Syke joking about rape – although she does it effectively and in a way that doesn’t shit all over rape victims, it still made me uncomfortable the first time I heard it. I do like all of her other stuff, though, so maybe I should give that one another try.
I miss the cyber-future. In the eighties it all seemed so possible, that we were in a headlong rush to a world full of plugged-in, amped-up wonders.
Sure, it was a distopian vision, dark, dirty and dangerous. But the slipping of societal values that spawned those horrors also cracked open the bounds of what it meant to be human in all our aspects. It was a future rife with possibility, with energy beyond imagining, power mainlined directly into us, inseparable and unstoppable.
Cyberpunk, even at it’s bleakest screamed to me: Look, LOOK at what we can do! Here be dragons of matte black steel speaking with chromed flame, beware, they will devour us if we slip. But just past them, so close, is a future so bright that only mirrorshades will save our eyes.
And now I live in the future I once dreamed of and what do I find? The technological wonders are coming, slowly, so slowly, but they are arriving. But the possibility, the potential, seems to have vanished. The wonders have become medicines at best, desperate tools to hold back the collapses of our own devising. And at worst, trivialities to hide behind, digital fingers to stop our ears to the sounds of a world screaming over the brink.
Or so it feels today. I’ve felt otherwise at other times. YMMV.
FossilFishy, beautiful post.
(Yes, I was going to play Skyrim. I’m still going. I’m just really slow.)
That’s ok, I really like your link – it summarizes nicely, whereas mine was mainly a collection of links.
Current Washington Post comment highlights:
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
OK. Only one of those could even possibly be an explanation for the decline on the percentage* of women attendees: the first. (And this would only be if the economy is significantly worse this year than last, or worse in a way that particularly hits women.) It’s not the correct explanation, in any case. The second would be expected to be a relative constant, and the third wouldn’t make sense – why would women be expected to be less likely to so identify this year than last, leaving aside the dumb implication that women are innately less drawn to science and rationality?
None addresses the fact that the proportion of women attending had been increasing prior to this year or why.
*Without the raw numbers, incidentally, people can’t determine whether the actual number of women attendees has declined, though that’s probably a fairly safe assumption. Maybe Grothe said that and I missed it?
Has anyone made a list of achievements to unlock for feminist writing? Personal troll attention, rape threat, death threat, hateful hashtag, youtube hate-rant, entire anti-you website etc? Anyway, congratulations to Giliell on levelling up! Well done!
And speaking of such, did you see what happened on Popehat? A thread on harassment policies broke out into an infestation of Watson-bashers.
I wish I could do more on these threads, but I just get so angry. Case in point: the recent fuckwit thinking that liability to the conference organisers is the only valid argument ever. Nothing to do with making a safer space for women is a valid argument, because clearly bitchez ain’t shit. RAAARRR HULK SMASH!!! (Yeah, not a good counter argument but RAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!! is about all I can manage.)
In other news, I have found out that fixing my laptop would cost more than it’s worth. It’s old, and even if it had not been for the graphics card problem, I’d be thinking of a new hard drive. So it’s time for a new one! Hmmm. MacBook Pro vs MaBook Air? What’s the difference? I’m not really coding on my home machine anymore so maybe the Air. (Though I do still want Python & R & X11, for possible future use.) Now, unleash the OS flamewars!
Hm. I just found this from last year:
number of attendees: 1,672 (more than half were first-timers)
number who preregistered: 1,593
If the Religion News/WaPo article is correct and the number of attendees this year is 1,200, that would be a large drop overall (larger among women).
Again, that’s assuming the article is correct.
LIke a digimon! Of hate!
Behold my strange, godlike powers of spamtrap evasion!
http://pharyngula.wikia.com/wiki/feminist_link_roundup
Like Cipher said, everybody’s invited to contribute.
+++++
PS to PZ: can you please whitelist Pharyngula Wiki?
PPS to everybody else: can you bug PZ about whitelisting Pharyngula Wiki?
Alethea (I double-checked the spelling)wrote:
Sigh. I did. It was like sticking my head into a vile time machine to the exact same discussion that took place here.
Re: glass hammer: The first thing I thought of was from a long time ago — maybe as a photo in a magazine article? Or was it something on an educational TV program? — where someone working for the Corning glassworks demonstrated that a tube made of tempered (or otherwise strengthened) glass was tough enough that it could be used to hammer a nail into a board.
But I wouldn’t expect to find a hammer made of that glass in a regular hardware store, and even if there were such a thing, I’d Google for it first to get an idea of cost.
Hm. Google says that a “Glass Hammer” is actually a hammer you keep in your car to break the window glass in an emergency. Heh.
Really, if anyone at all gave me a list of weird-sounding shit, I would ask first “What is this? Why do you want it?”
strange gods power of linkage!
http://pharyngula.wikia.com/wiki/feminist_link_roundup
Like Cipher said, everybody’s invited to contribute.
+++++
PS to PZ: can you please whitelist Pharyngula Wiki?
PPS to everybody else: can you bug PZ about whitelisting Pharyngula Wiki?
Hammer made of glass (artwork)
The glass tube used as a hammer was probably what is now called Gorilla Glass (and was earlier called “Chemcor” glass), per the Pfft!.
Speaking of cyberpunk: The Glass Hammer by K. W. Jeter. A recursive tale in the mode of Philip K. Dick where nothing is as it seems and reality is media is reality is media until all you know, all you can know, is that the rocks of solipsism are dead ahead. I loved and loathed it in equal measure.
Bleh. Chemcor glass and Gorilla Glass are not exactly the same thing. The tube was probably Chemcor glass or similar.
Yeccchhhh. Blah.
That fox news magazine article thing is the opposite of ‘sexy’. What kind of idiot would fall for any of that anyways?
Supergluing a coin to the floor and watching him scratch at it for hours? That sounds like a really bad ‘dumb blonde’ joke without a punchline. Except of course that it’s applied to a guy.
Why can’t she just fart in bed and then pull the sheets over his head like a normal person?
Hey!
Poopyhead!
Leave those links alone!
All in all you’re just another link in
/dev/null.@TLC
SOther and I have agreed that’s a list of “grounds for divorce”
I fail to understand how playing a prank on someone is supposed to excite their sexual interest in you, instead of eliciting a “wow, you’re an asshole” response. Especially the toilet one – that’s so vile, I’d kick them out of the house right then and tell them not to come back.
Owlmirror @105: And now I have that song in my head. Well played.
Carlie: I think there are relationship-appropriate ‘pranks’ that can be genuinely funny.
Absolutely none of those listed in that ‘article’ fall into that list. Those are all just stupid practical jokes that assume someone’s an idiot.
I mean seriously, play this ‘gag’ on a sports guy? Really?
The use of the word ‘boo-boo’ gives me an unpleasant gagging feeling in the back of my throat. I wouldn’t use this kind of infantilizing language on The Babby, much less a grown adult that I was having a sexual relationship with, nor would I particularly want it directed at me.
Ew. Yuck. Disgusting.
Remember the detailed post outlining the timeline of E-gate? It’s getting an influx of trolls from the slimepit/Slymepit.
The standard response to this is, if I remember Red vs. Blue correctly, to return with a flag.
Other than that, why do right-wingers all seem to have the mindset of an average American fifteen year old?
And speaking of interesting reads: The Courier’s New Bicycle by Kim Westwood. The synopsis doesn’t include the fact that the main character is intersexed. The anti-vax nonsense in the book is rather like gods in fantasy novels, in this world the harm actually exists and as such it isn’t irrational, though it was a bit tough to swallow.
I can’t imagine a book that hits more of my interests all in one go: insight into gender, sci-fi, mystery, distopian, bicycles and Australia. A fascinating read.
Also blunt knives exist. They’re called ‘butter knives’.
STUPID.
Unless you’re the jealous type of course…
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh. Sounds like Prometheus. Where the basic premise and all could be fine if it wasn’t for the fact that people really believe it and these tropes being reinforced is greatly annoying.
I’d personally find a round of Griff Ball far more romantic than any of these pranks
Some of the comments almost make up for it themselves:
one of my favorites here:
[I play Skyrim when I’m pissy. All violence is strictly virtual.]
When asked why she had murdered nearly the entire population of Whiterun, including several cows and all the skeletons in the catacombs, the incredibly prolific Dark Brotherhood assassin merely muttered something about “spam filters” and “no fucking coffee,” before hurling a fireball at a nearby chicken and stalking off.
Anyone have the Skyrim DLC for Xbox…I have to wait a month and want to know if its worth it.
I don’t. :(
More from the prank link:
Jessa: Haha, I forgot #11
William Gibson gave a great interview with how he came up with cyberpunk.
He was tired of the classic sci-fi where everything was shiny and clean and in outerspace. He couldn’t get space to work for him as the arena where his stories took place.
He also wanted to get away from the shiny and find the dirt. He saw kids completely engrossed in a virtual game world at an arcade. He knew this would be his arena, and that’s what you have in Neuromancer.
Mmmmmkay. LOL at that Fox News Magazine. Not quite sure how playing pranks on your romantic partner increases the “spice” in your relationship. Sweet and sexy surprises, yes. Mildly to moderately humiliating pranks, no.
Wait – is this part of a conservative abstinence campaign to ensure that nobody is having teh nasty secks?
FossilFishy:
Right there with you. Your whole post was eloquent and beautiful.
My suggestion for the fun prank to play on your man:
Fill his outstretched hand with shaving foam. Tickle his nose. Stand back and wait for the divorce papers.
Yay, Fox News Magazine! How would I ever piss off my spouse without you?
Is this more evidence for the “conservatives can only take humor at the expense of others” theory?
…
From Cracked (rest of article NOT recommended):
http://www.cracked.com/blog/10-baffling-romance-tips-from-sociopaths-at-fox-news_p2/
@faehnrich William Gibson Also RT’ed the excellent Jezebel article about rape jokes. So, not just a great writer but also a decent human.
I think this says it all, really.
Go Tell
PharaohPoopyhead“Let my Wikia go”
I’m working soooooooo haaaaaaaaaard on this Wikia page and I can’t even link it here.
*whine*
@Pteryxx
I have no words that can express what I am feeling now that you told me that.
Not that cracked author’s best work.
But Cracked has sort of lost its charm for me as of late. Only so many times you can play the same note before it stops being a song and just becomes a buzzing sound for me.
I’ve been in wordplay mode for a bit, so, with apologies to anyone actually named “Amber” or “Milt”…
I wish to point and laugh at and her Amazing Plagiarized-for-Relationship-Advice-Nasty-Kid-Stunts.
I just told a customer that worrying whether or not something was built in China was racism. Oi, apparently the virus eating my lungs is also devouring my social filters. Ah well, it was true after all and she’s from out of town.
Pteryxx:
I’m not at all surprised.
Not to disagree as it probably isn’t the case, but on a few occasions haven’t we had some issues with merchandise from China including er…well…poison…or lead paint?
Oh, and thanks Caine and Cipher, very kind of you to say.
Cute :)
I got COFFEE. :D
(It’s 11:15 where I am.)
COFFEE IS GREAT.
I won’t disagree with you there Ing. There’s bad shit that comes out of China. And some of that bad shit might be a direct result of the country of origin in the form of lax regulations. But not in this case.
I sell bicycles and it’s not the country in which it was made that makes it a bad product. It’s the company who paid to have it made not doing proper quality control that makes a bad product. The factories do what they’re told to do and there are cases, The Rocky Mountain Bicycle company for instance, who pulled out of manufacturing contracts because they couldn’t get the quality they required.
@Cipher (now with caffeine!): Can I ask you a couple of questions about Ancient/Classical Roman law and customs, or would that distract you from stuff you’re focused on?
Yay, new laptop acquired! Now I just have to get through the afternoon at work, so I can go home and play with it.
Owlmirror, I’m not sure I’ll be able to pull up relevant brain material for you quickly (I’m caffeinated, but foggy), but you can sure try. :)
I’m seeing several articles framed as “Advice for men who want to be decent people.” Some of them fit into some of the other categories already on the page, but I’m wondering if I should moosh them together.
Bakaaw!
@Cipher: OK:
1) Were there days associated with the life of Julius Caesar that were later considered to be auspicious/lucky? And, similarly, were there days considered to be inauspicious?
2) Was it legally/culturally possible for a Roman of high rank to file a will in which he divorced his wife, freed a slave, and left everything to that slave?
Who’s that cute little squawkity-squawk? It’s thunk!
So, SallyStrange and Ms. DaisyCutter are spending the weekend Chez SpokesGay. On Sat. we’re having a Bette Davis/Joan Crawford movie-fest (oh hai stereotypical homo!). I’m gonna make shit tons of finger food, and am open to suggestions. Tentatively planned:
Guacamole
Spring rolls
Crab rangoons
Hummus
So, what else? Yeah, it’s gonna be a pig-pile of food.
I’m sorry, I don’t understand this question. Associated with Caesar’s life how?
(Also, I’d probably have to do research on this one; it’s kind of a religious matter, which I know almost nothing about yet.)
If I recall my family law correctly, I don’t think that’s how divorce worked. Divorce law changed a lot over time, but I don’t think you could divorce someone while dead exactly. (Because you wouldn’t be married anymore, because you’re dead.) You can definitely manumit through wills; you can leave freed slaves property. Is the freed slave being left things as a preferred alternative to leaving the widow things?
Josh, if you’re looking for a spicy, savoury, liquidy dip type thing may I suggest tamari and malt vinegar 50/50 or to taste with a bit of wasabi paste mixed through. We use it on spring rolls. Warning though, it *will* find any and every nick to your dermis and sting like hell. A more perfect cut finder has never been devised.
We have chickens and I’ll never again describe birds as “cute”. They are all, to the very last fluffy little chick, dinosaurs who are pissed at their fall from the top of the heap. The only things keeping them from going all velociraptor on us is their small size and hollow bones. And they’re working on that, oh yes they are! >.> <.<
If there were legitimate heirs (children, usually, including posthumous ones), it wouldn’t go over well at all for someone to leave a freed slave everything, and for it to have even the slightest possibility of working he would have to make a point of disinheriting them. And there was this whole custom of leaving gifts to your friends and the emperor and stuff to show you liked them.
What’s a crab rangoon? *googles* Oh. Sounds interesting, though why anyone would assume anything made with *cream cheese* to be Chinese food is a mystery. I wonder if there used to be a similar dish with maybe soft tofu, or if it’s purely a US invention.
Chickens are evil. My friend F, who keeps about 80-100 free range chooks, explained this to me. But if one of them pisses her off too much, there’s always the roasting pan or the stewpot.
I mean, the days on which he did certain things, or certain things happened to him. Like the day he crossed the Rubicon, or won certain victories, or had triumphs held for him, or was proclaimed dictator. Or (conversely) the day he was stabbed. Would people have considered the Ides of March to have been an inauspicious day in general?
Could a man divorce his wife without her knowing it?
Would there have been social or political advantages (or avoidance of social or political disadvantages) in remaining in a loveless marriage?
Yes.
Fossil Fishy-Thanks for the sauce tip!
Alethea- Yeah, crab rangoon is totally Americanized Chinese. Cream cheese? Whatevs. But good.
New SpokesGay achievement goal: I WILL get Cher to tweet me back.
I have a gut feeling that it would theoretically be possible under some circumstances. Wikipedia supports what I thought. They had to try, but didn’t have to succeed. I think this would depend on the period though – divorce got easier, then harder (Christians), IIRC.
Oh yes. Depends on the period just how much this was true, but there could be advantages to either partner for remaining in loveless marriages. A lot of the time, for instance, the man would have to return the woman’s dowry if he divorced her – sometimes with bits taken out if there were children (who would be in the father’s potestas and only would go with the mother if there were other factors at play) or if she did something wrong. And, as I mentioned, the thing about the father’s potestas – that could keep the mother in the marriage. Let me think what else. Um, obviously if the marriage was made as a political alliance, which happened a lot, dissolving it could have consequences. In fact, since marriages were so often made for political reasons, I get the impression a lot of them probably started out loveless and stayed that way.
Hm. Well, IIRC, if it wasn’t a marriage cum manu, there wasn’t necessarily a norm of leaving her much in the first place, because she’d be expected to inherit from her father. If it was a marriage cum manu, (it was creepy and gross, and) she was considered like a daughter for legal purposes, and would be considered a legitimate heir.
About the dowry: that was often a really big deal. In Plautus some of the “henpecked husbands” (I know but the plays are sexist!) make bitter comments about the importance of marrying women without dowries because you could keep them under control, whereas women with big dowries were all high and mighty (and you couldn’t get rid of them unless you had the money to pay back the dowry, which they apparently didn’t).
OMG, Cher is totally trashing Madonna in real time on Twitter. This is like . .. fag heaven. It’s like going back in time to watch Davis and Crawford fight.
Oh dear lord, thank you for letting me be alive in the age of such technological wonders.
Cher’s totally pretending she doesn’t know M has a new record out. . lying diva.
(I know, I know. But I can’t help it!)
Good morning
Josh
Tabouleh?
Or how about Giliell’s summer tortellini salad:
Cook tortellinis, let cool
Add:
-cherry plum tomatoes
-Feta cheese
-pesto a la Genovese
-bit of vinegar
++++++
Talking ’bout summer:
It’s 12 fucking degrees and raining.
And no heating
Next week we might get up to 20° and I’ll have to fit some more clothes into the Berlin bagpack.
Hey, I hope Paula Kirby is proud of her fans:
click
Giliell-thanks for the tortellini idea!
Yeah, I thought about tabouleh. I love it, but it requires so much tedious picking of parsley leaves. Tabouleh is not good unless you’re willing to take the time to hand-pick half a pound of parsley, wash it, and chop it. The salad should be mostly parsley. So I make it rarely.
Well, that was a body blow.
One of my favorite FBers, with whom I frequently agree on many things, just posted supportively of Daniel Tosh.
I had to unfriend. I commented first and then unfriended. I am literally having trouble breathing because I am so nauseous.
Yeah. That’s what the last two years have been like for a lot of us. Sucks.
Thanks, Cipher.
Or rather, the entire society is sexist.
Hm.
If the unloved wife came from a wealthy and powerful family, it looks like she would keep the dowry whether he divorces her or just dies, and she could go back to her wealthy and powerful family anyway, yes?
Giliell, no twits for me (at work), would you mind posting it? Rot13 if it’s too nasty. The plague username suggests it may not be pretty…
Josh: Vietnamese fresh spring rolls are just brilliant for hot weather, if you feel like going to all the work. Basically they’re rice vermicelli, lots of fresh herbs and pre-cooked meat rolled up in rice-paper. They’re eaten cold, with a hoisin-like sesame/peanut sauce. You can make it less work by making it a roll-your-own party. And they are both very healthy and very tasty!
The classic filling is pork & prawn, but you can use shredded chicken or duck, or some pressed marinaded tofu strips. Sometimes there’s a bit of finely cut cabbage, carrot and/or lettuce in the mix. You will need to buy the wrappers from a specialty store. It’s not the same sort of rice-paper that you use for macaroon bases.
A couple of sources:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/matt-prestons-rice-paper-roll-challenge/story-fn6bn9st-1226017352624
http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/2472/vietnamese-rice-paper-rolls.aspx
Alethea – Yes, those spring rolls are perfect for this oppressive, hot weather. I’m planning to make those, only with super-marinated tofu instead of meat, and with shredded carrot, daikon, green onion. Should be a hit w/vegan guests.
Fuck me-Another goddamned skitters-about just menaced me. What did I do to bring down this plague of house centipedes upon Chez SpokesGay?
Josh
Clearly your tabouleh is different from mine, which requires hardly any parsley, but a bit of mint, very finely chopped veggies and raisins (you can add chicken or shrimps, but I prefer the plain one). It’s our standard side-dish on holidays (I admit to buying it ready made in France)
Althea
No problem:
Horse Pheathers (one of us #FTBullies) says:
@unax_fnlf Fubpxvat, vaavg? Vg’f nyzbfg yvxr gurl’er tenfcvat ng fgenjf sbe fbzrguvat gb entr bire… #SGOhyyvrf @Lref1a1nCrfg1f @cmzlref
Nafjre ol “zvfbtlavfg” (lrf, npghny anzr, lbh pna’g znxr gung fuvg hc) jub serdhragyl gjrrgf ng Xveol naq ergjrrgf ure fghss:
@UbefrCurnguref & @unax_fnlf pyrneyl, lbh obgu ner traqregenvgbef naq zvfnaqevfgf. #SGOhyyvrf #PuhepubsCrrMhf
Oh, Cipher, that’s sad!
Audley, I gave up drinking coffee when pregnant. Who needs a baby with a caffeine habit? YYMV, of course.
Caine, what I have read about wild rats is that if they are kept together the dominant pair will kill the less dominant pair. Usually the male kills the male and the female kills the female. And they kill any babies, of course. Then they settle down as a large, loving family, at war with all strange families around them.
Josh, I like my tabouleh to be half parsley and half mint. It’ worth it. Hummus and crackers. Babaganoush & crackers.
How about fallafel? You can buy mixes and you probably have some sesame tahini tucked away.
Cucumbers, tomato wedges, zucchini stick, samosas, sushi, dismembered store-bought BBQ chicken.
Have fun! G’night.
Meanwhile, I’m planning a nice hot pasta bake (spinach tortellini & sundried tomato) for dinner, and thinking of pot roasts and casseroles and soups…
Link farm:
Jennifer Oullette: It’s cold in here
Mouthyb has a really good linkfarm of sociology, maybe we could contact her?
Giliell, less nasty than I’d expected, but still, yuk. Why can’t they let go of it? Urrrggh.
Mint in tabouleh, definitely!
Premixed falafel? No. It’s never anything but a disappointment. You have to make your own or it’s not worth it. Falafel is one of my favorite foods on this earth but it’s a pain in the ass to prepare and takes forever.
Now Cher is saying nice things about Madonna.
I shall try to provoke her.
Cheer up, Josh–if you have house centipedes, they won’t let the cockroaches get established. Or a lot of other insect pests.
Markita, there are no such things as cockroaches. I refuse to acknowledge their exist.. . .LALALALALALALALLALA
A little funny math:
There are 1200 people at TAM now. 31% of them are women
There were 1672 people at TAM last year, 40% women
There are 472 people less at TAM this year than there were last year.
There were 668 women at TAM last year
There are 371 women at TAM this year
There are 297 women less at TAM this year
There were 1004 men at TAM last year
There are 829 men at TAM this year
There are 175 men less at TAM this year
Male attendance at TAM dropped by 11.9%
Female attendance dropped by 45,4%
And it’s all the fault of Stephanie, Ophelia and Rebecca
@Caine
The ratlets are adorable but I don’t know how you’ve managed to maintain any kind of decorum with that many. Regardless, please keep pics coming.
@Josh
If this vegan were among your guests I imagine they would be. If you want the tofu to really suck up the marinade try pressing, then freezing, then thawing before you soak it.
RE Fox News Magazine “pranks”:
I think any one of these would be grounds for a break up. Just on sheer unfunniness.
@Giliel:
BAAAAAhahahAAAAAA! I sincerely hope that every percentage point of that drop is a direct result of the “irresponsible messaging” that got DJ in such a huff to begin with.
Dysomniak—I’m hip to the freezing/pressing of tofu. I usually do a dry-fry and dessicate that shit before I marinate it. The texture is awesome.
Urgh, can’t stand Tofu.
I really, really like vegetarian cooking (although hardly ever cook vegan), but I passionately hate all things that try to act like meat but aren’t.
Giliell—that’s interesting, because tofu doesn’t pretend to be anything but itself. It’s not a meat substitute, it’s its own food group. Think of it like cottage cheese. I like it for its own sake and for its ability to add bulk to a dish, not as a fake meat.
Make enough for the non-vegans, too! I’m no vegetarian, but I do love plenty of veggie food. I hate it when caterers assume that only the vegetarians will be eating the veggie food, and the rest of us arent allowed to have it.
I’m really sorry to hear that Cipher. It goes to show that we never quite know people as well as we think we do and the best thing to do is walk away before they fuck you up, knowingly or unknowingly.
Josh
Yeah, but it’s used a lot in place where non-vegetarians would use meat, like Tofu-saussages, Tofu bolognese, Tofu chili. And every time I say “I don’T like Tofu” people tell me that it just has to prepared right and when I try the pressumably right preparation I still can’t stand it
I’m picky with tofu. Mostly I like the classic Asian uses of it, though not all of them.
Yes: pressed, spiced, firm tofu. Deep fried tofu sponges in a laksa. Super-soft sweet slippery almond dessert tofu.
No: medium-soft wobbly tasteless white cubes, used in a stir fry or something. Tofu “cream cheese” and “ice-cream”.
Dysomniak:
Decorum? Wazzat? :D Thank you. There will be many more pics as the ratlets grow. They’re already so damn cute, I’m going to lose it in a month or so.
Giliell,
Beer has never been drunk in our house, but schnaps… I think I know where you are coming from. There was an excuse for a glass at any time of day. Even 7am. And since we are making our own plum schnaps, there was never a shortage.
My father’s vacation days are coming soon, which will mean that occasions for schnaps such as “I’m sitting in front of the TV and the show is boring” are going to represent themselves. Yay. (But I don’t know about that because he is hiding it very well. *eyeroll*)
I’m vegi and I dislike tofu too. But most especially when it’s pretending to be something it’s not. And don’t get me started on soy ‘cheese’…shudders…
The Long Haul Trucker is now Xtracyclefied. Utilitarian cycling can now recommence. /bike geek dogwhistles
beatrice
Yes, that sounds familiar.
AAAAAAAAAAArgh, children
#1 just came into the kitchen proclaiming cheerfully that she had put a raisin up the little one’s nose. Thankfully I got it out again.
JREF post and circumcision post on the blog, if anyone cares.
I first heard about TAM lacking an anti-harassment policy when I was waiting at the tyre place to get my new wheels. Quite unbelievable, really.
I found out today that if you send FB a nice letter, they actually delete your profile for good and eternity (with 14 days where you can still run back and beg for forgiveness). Si I did that, good riddance.
Giliell: I seem to recall, as a little kid, suddenly honking out a crayon I’d shoved up my nose and forgotten for a few days. It was green and had started to ‘disintegrate’ in there.
But I was extremely little and may be misremembering. Do crayons do that?
It doesn’t mention me at all, so I don’t like it.
Heehee I love watching Canadian TV. You all sound just like normal people until you say “soory”.
What the ? Tried twice to post on the “promotion” post, but comment is disappearing into thin air.
Censorship !!!11!
Intriguing. Which of the words Tebow, Djokovic, Tennis triggered the spam filter I wonder ?
Lord Setar and I have been observing something interesting in the sky tonight.
Just now on a brief walk, I saw four flashes of bright light in the sky. Weather conditions are slightly cloudy tonight after a week or two of perfectly clear skies, dunno if that means anything.
No thunder or anything. The flashes appear to be paced more or less randomly apart, with large stretches in between.
Lord Setar can chime in with his own observations, if he wants.
Does anyone know what it could be? Some sort of electrical storm or heat lightning or borealis perhaps?
Er, were any satellites scheduled to fall out of orbit around now? I just saw some strange flashes of bright, flickering-ish white light directly to the south, that faded in and out over a period of ~1.5 seconds. The brightest spot appeared to be far too high to have come from a ground-based source, and was too large and irregular to be an airplane or orbiting satellite.
I can’t believe it, Tigger the Wing and Horse Pheasants just managed to convince one of the folks of the usefullness of harassment policies over Twitter.
Lord Setar: Yeah I forgot to mention I saw it in the general southwestern part of the sky. The first time I almost ignored it, thought my eyes were playing tricks with me… but the next three times it happened were impossible to ignore.
I can also confirm that the light appeared white-ish.
A UFO, clearly.
There was a mouse.
The cat caught it.
Then she ran downstairs with it.
I’m not sure if I should go retrieve it to avoid mouse parts everywhere, or let her go to encourage her to do more mouse catching in the future.
Halp.
Here’s my possible explanations in order of plausibility:
1) Space debris
2) Electrical anomaly (ball lightning?)
3) Reflection from ground-based source
4) #FTBullies
5) Evil Gubmint Conspiracy
6) ALIENS!!!!!!!
err. actually, ‘Bat-Signal malfunction’ should go between #FTBullies and conspiracy.
It depends a bit on how you view the small and furry. And a bit on the cat. Euthanasia might be in order.
If the cat is a mouse-killer and mouse-eater and not just a mouse-catcher parts are usually not a problem.
My old cat never left mouse-parts at least (birds are another matter).
Cats will torture and maim without encouragement, so don’t worry about discouraging them as a mouser.
Hello all!
(Catching up with thread now)
weakswimmer:
Yes, but sadly they lack the ‘good taste in food’ gene. I mean these are people that like Spam for crying out loud.
~~
carlie:
Oh no. Not again.
I like the fact that a mainstream news organization reported on this significant issue. It needs to get out there. More people need to be aware of the harassment problems at conventions (and hopefully it will raise awareness in other, non atheist/skeptic conventions too). Anti Sexual Harassment policies need to be implemented at any of these conventions that don’t have any.
My ‘oh no’ comes from the inevitable troll onslaught that we are likely to see. More FtBlaming. More FtBullies. More sexual harassment dismissal and victim blaming. Then of course, I imagine the theists will come out of dark recesses of the ‘net to pick on us. I can see Catholics railing against us in an attempt to ‘nyah nyah nyah boo boo’ us (will any of them try to equate the sexual harassment issues in our community with the child rape in the RCC? How much are we going to bet?)
I’m going to stock up on Tylenol.
~~
FossilFishy @89:
you write so damned beautifully.
You should do eulogies.
~~
Re: The Feminist Link Roundup
What a damn great idea. It’s tremendously resourceful. I already see a *lot* of stuff that I can’t wait to delve into.
~~
(see, I’ve already started reading some of the links):
This was something I considered the other day when I got hit on at Dillards. I had not considered it yet, but as I drove off and started thinking about how annoyed I was with how she insulted me* I began to look at the intro questions she had asked.
Do you have a girlfriend?
Are you single?
She made the assumption that if I were single that I’d be interested in meeting anyone (while I would dearly love to find someone to try and build a relationship with, I’m not terribly interested in meeting anyone here in Pensacola).
Then I realized that so many people do that. How many times have I told someone that I’m a single gay man and their first response is “oh I have just the guy for you”.
Why is the preferred, default position for people in society is to be “in a relationship”?
Why can’t being single be every bit as expected?
Why not expect the possibility that one isn’t single, but has an ongoing friend with benefits?
(another issue linked to the above: after they start discussing the guy they have in mind, they inevitably tell me that he’s a good looking guy; rarely have I been presented a picture, so that *I* can judge for myself-and I do ask, because I don’t do blind dates)
*(‘gay men can’t be attractive and you’re attractive, how can you be gay?’; I still think that’s probably the case there, because that’s what I’ve seen and heard several times in the past. It is possible that another explanation exists or a combination)
~~~
TLC (good to have you back :)
from @ 116:
How big would the darn laundry floor have to be to hold all the rent money-in coins? Even if you assumed it was all quarters, and rent was say $600, that’s a *lot* of space needed.
(I don’t know if the person who wrote that comment meant it as a real scenario, or just another silly prank idea, but following through on it was fun).
Oh, and given how much expertise so many of you have here, I’m wondering who could figure out how much space you’d need for the laundry floor…
~~
Wow. I had to go and look. Here’s a summary of the last three hours. (I couldn’t get to @Yers1n1aPest1s ‘s tweets, so this is one side of the conversation.)
Good news from Belgium!
Looks like the Catholic church are losing some more influence in the Catholic University of Leuven. Up until now, a number of bishops, including the rather extreme arch-bishop André-Joseph Leonard, had a vote as members of the highest ‘board of directors’ of the university, the counsel that determines the general strategic policy of the university (including education, research,…). From now on, not anymore! They’ll continue to have a certain amount of influence on matters relating directly to ‘the catholic identity of the university'(whatever that means), but they’ll have no say whatsoever anymore in things like the research activities of the university (including stuff like stem cell research, etc…).
My thoughts pretty much exactly. We’re going to be in for some serious troll shit, I fear.
Pteryxx @127:
Even though it’s Fox, I’m still shocked. She was shamelessly deceptive.
~~
FossilFishy:
Oh boy I know what you mean about social filters. I actually mildly criticized a guest tonight after he used the word ‘nigger’ (not to me, thankfully, but within earshot; to the credit of my manager who was standing next to to me, he told the dude it wasn’t cool to use that word at our place of business). He came up to the bar a few times and eventually I told him I was offended and *why*. The *first* thing he did was apologize, sincerely from what I could tell. When I tried to explain to him about the offensive nature of the word, he got some of it, but didn’t get the full picture. He had an understanding of the history of the word (a small one, probably). He also had a clear understanding of how I felt insulted (the poor guy actually apologized several times and I saw his facial expressions a few times which led me to believe that he was nearly about to cry because he was angry at himself for offending me). However, he pulled the I have lots of black friends card, along with the My last girlfriend was black card, which showed that he didn’t comprehend fully what I was attempting to explain. Of course, given the nature of my job, it’s not exactly the best setting to describe the important details. Additionally, I’m not as skilled in speaking and conveying all the relevant information in a coherent fashion. I’m much better when I have the chance to think about things and write them down. Still, I hope something I said made him think differently (if nothing else, perhaps he won’t be so casual about using ‘nigger’)
Tony, assume the poorest packing of circles in a rectangle by representing the coin as a square with a side equal to its diameter, then it’s simple arithmetic to find a minimum amount.
Josh:
Sounds entertaining.
I *still* need to watch Mommy Dearest
Who’s Cher?
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:-) gotcha (I hope)
Josh:
You are killing me (Cher/Madonna) :)
Re quarters on the floor: that’s assuming a hand-applied closest-packing pattern exactly one coin deep. Much easier to upend a bucket of glue, then a bucket of quarters (or vice versa), run and laugh. ;>
Hmm, I have an idea for a decorative concrete shop floor… and a use for all those pennies!
Giliel,
Sorry about your mum’s drinking problem. I missed your reply y’day after troll started posting.
Pteryxx,
Thanks! I realized only later that that were what actually they were claiming. I also dinno they said harrassment was just as bad everywhere as at cons. I hit leonde with a slightly wrong point before, I guess. But I did sorta covered that and he still wouldn’t get it.
carlie,
Oooh okayy, now I get it *dimbulb glows*
Also, good job with leonde, you, Matt, Nerd, Audley, Cicely, Pentatomid, Giliel, Kransnaya and everyone else who persisted with more than four or five comments have a lot of patience. I should learn. If I missed somebody there, I’m sorry.
Portia,
Yeah, I suppose, thanks! I get it now.
Alethea,
Thanks, I got it.
Tony,
Thanks and great autopsy with leonde :)
Ogvorbis, Dianne,
Sorry to hear.
fox news magazine pranks : really fucking stupid
Owlmirror
Lol
I’m proud to say that from next week on infertile single women (transwomen included) will be able to go for IVF in my country. Also, it will be allowed to freeze embryos again.
Bad news : lesbians are still out :(
@Pterryx:
I’ve seen something similar before. It’s actually rather neat, but you have to use a kind of clear, slightly thick sheet over top or you’ll be kicking pennies out of the floor for the rest of your days.
More on penny floors!
More examples and how-to’s in the article:
http://scimprovements.com/?p=364
Picture of said floor:
Image link
Josh:
re: tabouleh-
I don’t use it as some people do. I like to cook it, let it cool a bit and then toss into a quinoa, couscous, wild rice mixture. With the seasoning you use for the latter 3, the toubouleh wouldn’t need all the herb picking. And none of that takes terribly long to fix.
Suuuuuure.
Bet you have some silverfish or waterbugs (to me, they’re all the same thing AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!)
~~
Giliell:
Raisins…right down there with peas…especially when someone puts raisins in my oatmeal (dear mom: still not recovered from that 30 years later :)
~~
TLC:
Ooooh, I know this one.
It’s another group of The 4400 returning!
no?
Maybe Xenu has gotten free and is menacing Teegeeack?
carlie:
catch the mouse, clean it up and deep fry it in butter!
~~
Vilem Saptar:
I’m not sure that was an autopsy. After all, it wasn’t the porcupine that was moving…
~~
I’m caught up!
Wow.
Now off to click on 17 gazillion links!
Pteryxx:
That penny-floor looks awesome.
I wonder how it would look in all quarters or dollar coins.
Tony, there’s a nickel-floor among the links, I think:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/nickel-tile-floor-a-seattle-ba-127976?img_idx=4
Golden dollar coins would look AMAZING. (USAsian here) (I hear banks are sitting on tons of those because people refuse to accept them as real money still… that’s even been my experience.)
Pteryxx:
Up close the nickel floor doesn’t look cool.
From a few feet away, it looks totally awesome.
Now I’m imagining a bathroom floor in nickels, the walls in pennies, a countertop in dimes, and golden dollar covered shower stall!
Heck, now I’m starting to wonder about other uses for pennies.
What about wind chimes?
Looking around for any online, I stumbled across silverware as wind chimes:
http://media-cache6.pinterest.com/upload/157626055678251335_jwaEpXwC_f.jpg
chandeliers made of silverware:
http://media-cache3.pinterest.com/upload/182325484884502080_vO4887Y0_f.jpg
aaaaaaaand there are far too many awesome things made of silverware for me to link to all of them. Damn, rings, bracelets, picture holders, hooks and hangars and more.
Oh no, they didn’t! This one is my absolute favorite, bestus:
http://media-cache8.pinterest.com/upload/240450067575149460_gq4De7lZ_f.jpg
Clicking on repurposed items, I found plastic silverware that was made into fantastic works of art. Damn. There are some truly creative people in the world!
More:
furniture made of rulers:
http://thegingerpennypincher.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/dscn2836-1.jpg?w=551&h=640
suitcase furniture:
http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2009/01/02/recycled-suitcase_iOZBg_5638.jpg
suitcase drawers (not *those* drawers):
http://modernhometoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Suitcase-Drawers-vintage.jpg
Hey everyone. I’m feeling shouty today, so I think a name change is in order. *twirls*
Tony,
You reminded me of a gorgeous suitcase table I’ve seen on Ikeahackers.
http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/07/lack-hack-vintage-suitcase-table.html
I’m sorry, but there’s so much cool stuff:
a beertab chandelier!
http://media-cdn.pinterest.com/upload/157626055677701897_TyvMHhWz_c.jpg
cork planters:
http://images.piccsy.com/cache/images/little-cork-planters-cute-168291-465-700.jpg
Now I’m having ideas for crafty things to do with pennies…hmmm…never tried my hand at anything like this, but you’re never too old to try something new :)
Cat came back upstairs without the mouse. I’m hoping that a) she is like our other cat was, and just worries them to death without breaking the sking, and b) that she left it in a place we will find without either b1)sitting on it or b2) stepping on it. I am still freaked out that it’s there. They usually don’t come in the house until late fall when it gets cold.
No, the whole comment section is full of ideas on how all of those tips could go wrong. :)
A coin floor sounds great, until I think of what all would collect in the interstices between the coins.
Be thankful it is just a mouse. The other day one of my cats woke me around 5am when she jumped on the bed to play with a dead rat.
I like mice. They’re cute.
I don’t like it when they eat my stuff though …
I’ve also been bitten by a mouse once. It hurts more than you’d think.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cocktail-party-physics/files/2011/07/pix_plz2-215×300.png
What a hoot!
rorschach:
your blogpost @ http://furiouspurpose.me/made-in-gods-image-minor-adjustments-still-required/
made me think of something…
If we’re all made in God’s image, why do we look different?
How can we be made in His image if men and women have different sex organs?
If we are all made in his image, that makes us all godlike, so the complaints that humanism is about worshiping humanity are right after all!
I’ll put this here too: Kate Harding presents 15 rape jokes that work. YMMV, of course, but there they are. The Wanda Sykes and Sarah Silverman ones are in there, for people like me who didn’t know quite what the “but, but!!” trolls were referring to. Turns out the trolls didn’t know what they were talking about, as usual.
Hmm. Maybe this god-thingy is transgender or intersex?
Another asshole comedian defending rape jokes. He seems to think rape is like diabetes. WTF?
All this time, I’ve been hearing how intent is not magic. I see how wrong everyone was about that. It is magic!
(the entire post was double dipped in sarcasm)
Jadzia:
Having been bitten by a rat, I totally believe you when you say mouse bites hurt. It prolly bled a lot, too.
gerbil bites are no fun either
Hi all,
this lurker and occasional commentator thinks this was interesting
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/jul/12/catholic-church-loses-apeal-liability
Tony,
My gerbils just nibble. They’re good boys. :)
@Walter
Yes, it did bleed a lot because it bit me in my finger while I was holding it to throw it out of the house. Cat dragged it in alive …
You really, really need to get rid of that idiotic piece of coinage.
Though, to be fair, we have one in the Euro as well, but I have no clue why. (Smallest coin in DKK is about $0.10 at the moment. We got rid of the $0.05 some years ago now.)
As of May 1st, we no longer have any currency below 1 NOK here.
The last one to go was the 0.5, which was worth roughly $0.1/£0.05.
We started removing the small coins in 1972, the equivalent of the penny (in worth) was removed in 1982 which was our 0.05. We also removed our quarter then.
Sili:
I’m so onboard with getting rid of the penny.
I’m also onboard with rounding everything ending in ’99’ up, so that we have $1.00 instead of $.99, or $24,400, instead of $24, 399, etc. Hate that crap.
HT: Cleaning the fridge with a desinfectant when you already have a headache is a bad idea
Just had this neat twitter discussion about TAM:
http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/1760/tamdiscussion.png
Setár, self-appointed Elf-Sheriff of the FreethoughtBlogs Star Chamber
Try checking for Iridium flares.
Downton Abbey on the telly. Where is Walton?
Umberto Eco told the tale of poor children in Italy being taken to watch the rich children eat icecream – as a special treat. This is somewhat how I feel about Downton Abbey.
/delurk
With the advent of the euro, there was an opportunity to cut back on coins. Instead, they included several stupid and unnecessary – some small and irritating (2-cent? seriously?), some heavy and irritating (one dollar) – coins.
***
I’m in a speculative mood, and was wondering – again, on the assumption that the 1,200-attendee figure is correct, which it might not be – about Grothe’s public focus exclusively on the proportion of women preregistrants vs. the overall substantial decline in registration for both men and women. Seems pretty shifty. Of course, I wouldn’t expect them to publicize such a decline, but for him to announce the preregistration percentages by sex without noting that important context wouldn’t be very honest.
It’s also interesting that more than half of last year’s attendees were first-timers. I’m not sure how usual that is or how it would figure in understanding this year’s changes.
“That shirt took the sexism out of skepticism.”
Problem solved and mission accomplished. If only someone had thought of it sooner.
Well no, but given he has already claimed there were no reported incidents of harassment at last year’s TAM when at least one such incident was reported to, and dealt with, by him I think we can conclude honesty is not something he is much worried about at the moment.
Euro definitely has too many coins. I only use it a couple of times a year and always get irritated by all those little coins of 1 cent and 2 cents.
People in the office are going on about those lazy bums who abuse the welfare system.
ARGH.
Tried to point out a few basic facts, but got scolded and told to be “rational.”
YOU’RE OUT OF YOUR ELEMENT, AUDLEY!
Krasnaya, high-five for standing up for Mary-Jane.
Ogvorbis, I hope last night was more peaceful for you than the night before was.
Tony, Alternet should be taken with a huge grain of salt. Lots of woo. Lynna, Politico is reliably right-leaning.
Think Progress has a lot of good news. DailyKos and FireDogLake are good news aggregators, but the comments, especially on dK… let’s just say that it’s not only YouTube that needs a Herp Derp browser extension.
Dianne, sorry about the paper.
It’s like when the fundies started worrying about abortion in the late ’70s. They and the Catholics are competing for the adherents.
Sili:
That was me, and I was going to share that strip with the Horde. :D
Gnumann:
<3
Don’t they have to be taught to do so by the mama cat?
Attention has already been called to the slime all over the WaPo article thread. My favorite so far is the douche with a Father Jack Hackett icon calling Rebecca Watson an “ugly misandrist.”
FossilFishy:
FIFY.
SIG! I’ve passed that along to a friend of mine who owns conures and who has more or less allowed that “all birds are dicks.” (yeah, I know, but I’m quoting her)
Alethea:
I was led to understood that Joyce Chen created them for her customers, but Wikipedia doesn’t mention it.
Also I agree with you w/r/t tofu. In dishes that traditionally use it? Great. As mock meat or cheese? Feh.
Cipher: :( But you did the right thing. And, like Josh says, lots of us have done that, with or without the PTSD trigger.
Giliell, I want to join the Church of Peezus. Do I have to tithe?
Hey, maybe they’d agreed to have a raisin date!
Beatrice, is plum schnapps much different from slivovitz[a]?
Tony:
I’m with you 100%. Have you ever checked out the writing of Bella DePaulo?
Pteryxx:
Someone ought to embed nickels on the bottom of a brook that’s run dry.
Then it’d be a nickel creek.
Holy buckets. The republican senator from Massachusetts is as bad as “I am not a witch” Christine O’Donnell. Do republicans vet their candidates for stupidity, demanding a certain level of surreal creativity in the evidence for “Yes, I am stupid”?
First, Scott Brown claimed to be meeting with Kings and Queens all the time. After he had to walk that back as misspeaking (not as “lying”), he proceeded to claim that Biden, Obama, Clinton, and other leaders on the Democratic side call him all the time. They depend on him don’t you see.
Link.
Ms. Daisy Cutter
I know. I figure one should read one reliably right-leaning source in addition to several reliably intelligent sources — that way you never forget what you’re up against.
It’s the same thing, or at least I’m talking about the same thing. We call it šljivovica (slivovitz) here, but my grandfather used to call it šnops (which is the word often used in Slovenia, comes from the german schnaps). Maybe there is a difference and I’m using the words wrong, but I’m not aware of it.
Beatrice
In Finland 1 and 2 cent coins were never made (except for some exhibit series that are sought after collector sets) precisely because they are practically worthless and a major pain in the ass.
@theophontes
I don’t know. I’m one of those people who see money as a necessary evil and who don’t envy rich people their lives. I’m also a person not lacking anything I need, so I am still privileged of course.
Point is, when I see Downton Abbey I see a bunch of rich people with pointless lives. The lord who’s only purpose in life, by his own words, is being a caretaker of a building and a heritage. Three daughters who’s only purpose in life is to marry well and make babies; and by their grandmothers word, do what the man tells them. The only people who seem to actually have a life are the servants.
I actually love that show. Both because of the dynamic between the rich and the working class, and because of the 1910s styles and designs. I love that era and I love their dresses and clothes.
Just finished season 1, starting season 2 soon :)
——————————–
@SC (Salty Current)
Yes. By mocking Skepchick and Watson, and pretending women and men aren’t treated differently. they solve the problem of sexism. It is brilliant isn’t it?
They are legal tender, though.
…chickens?
Weed Monkey,
You’re lucky. It would be easier if I had time to get used to those little useless bastards, but I don’t want to fumble too much when I’m paying, so I end up with a wallet full of those littlest coins whenever I return from Slovenia.
…Hang on, T-shirts are magic now? Then all we have to do is wear the text of anti-harassment policies on T-shirts! Problem solved!
Daisy:
Calmer than you, dude.
Calmer than you.
Moment of Mormon Madness related to Building the Kingdom inside the internet. The email text below was provided by ex-mormon, Steve Benson. The text was forwarded to him from a member employee of the LDS Church:
Rev. Big Dumb Chimp should apply.
Holy moley, this comment over at Ophelia’s. This is Kaoru Negisa citing a commenter on one of the latest FTBullies blog articles, linked in the thread there.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterfliesandwheels/2012/07/boy-am-i-glad-im-not-in-las-vegas/#comment-219145
birgerjohansson @37 – Unfortunately, I don’t speak Russian well enough yet to fully understand all the nuances of what people tell me about their childhoods here, but they are an extremely proud people. Sometimes nearly stiflingly so. I am curious about the points you’ve brought up and will ask more specific questions. Thank you!
Kate just had two albums released last year (one was just new takes on old songs but I’m a completist) but it would be a great if she had a new one this year, too! One can hope.
carlie @38 – Thank you so much! You’ve made my week.
Tony aka The Psychic Octopus @51- I don’t know how much they censor here, but with this new internet- nanny legislation it’s likely to get worse. Now I have moments of being able to watch videos though mainly I get black screens. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason. Sometimes music labels block videos from Russia, too.
Andrew Sullivan, writing for The Daily Beast, presents an entertaining look at the corporation that is the mormon church. The Latter-day Saint’s financial shenanigans are also gleefully depicted with a cartoon.
…providing evidence is bullying?
Holy shit. This changes EVERYTHING.
No, peas!
Threadrupt today and for the forseeable future, so…
SHOMER FUCKING SHABBOS!
tomorrow
Yeah… I’m still trying to wrap my brain around this concept. I’m assuming it means holding people accountable for their own words, as in quoting and citing them, simply because I can’t grasp that *providing research evidence* could possibly be considered bullying within any sort of rational or skeptical mindset… (could it? Saying ‘That’s wrong’ could be called bullying now?)
I told that kraut a fucking thousand times that I don’t roll on Shabbos!
(Tonight)
Well, it’s not fair, you know. Some people don’t aren’t privileged enough to have evidence to back up their statements, so by flaunting it in their face that you do, you’re discriminating against them. We should treat all statements equally and not insist on evidence, because it’s bullying to people who don’t have it.
(Now, excuse me, I need to go shower…)
I don’t know if you mean $1 or €1, but having either one as a note is completely and utterly ridiculous. They wear out much too fast. The €5 is prolly the best compromise for the smallest paper denomination, but the smallest DKK bill is $10.
L. Ron Hubbard did make the attempt, though.
(The “LDSTech” reminds me of the Scientology jargon term “tech” for . . . upper-level Scientology dogma and practices.
Say, maybe Politburo of The People’s Democratic Republic of South TZT should look into having everyone sign billion-year contracts.
I, of course, will oppose this vigorously! And be attacked and #FTBullied for it!
Follow up to my post @267.
A mormon response: “And traditional accounting can’t begin to value the time and expertise volunteered within America’s congregations.”
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765589521/Out-of-bounds-Businessweek-cover-story-distorts.html
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-10/how-the-mormons-make-money#p1
This is most likely bad, but so help me cod, I laughed:
http://comixed.memebase.com/2012/07/12/koma-comic-strip-just-look-at-those-badboys/
Yers1n1aPest1s (the plague) … Yersinia pestis … I feel like I recognize this as the nym of an occasional commenter at Sb Pharyngula.
+++++
Tony:
Democracy Now, Mother Jones, The Nation, Al JazMother Jones,eera,
and I’ll add that Russia Today is pretty good for finding out that “things are happening” which you might not hear about from other sources, but their reporting is shallow. Can be worth a skim.
Yers1n1aPest1s (the plague) … Yersinia pestis … I feel like I recognize this as the nym of an occasional commenter at Sb Pharyngula.
+++++
Tony:
Democracy Now, Mother Jones, The Nation, Al Jazeera,
and I’ll add that Russia Today is pretty good for finding out that “things are happening” which you might not hear about from other sources, but their reporting is shallow. Can be worth a skim.
Holy shit I hope nobody heard the drama going on in the last hour hear and contacted CPS.
Both kids screaming and crying for half an hour “but we’re so hungryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!”
Dah eebil parents just did what they announced they’d be doing (and what they always do): Clean up the kidses plates when they got up from the table. Too bad #1 hadn’t even started on her dinner (approximately 15 min after it started).
They could have a banana once they calmed down, but this was not pretty.
+++
NOw, since evidence is bullyinng, let me tell you about that invisible dragon in my invisible garage…
Dinesh D’Souza must be jumping for joy. His right-wing screed of a book is being made into a movie funded by TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts.
The theme of the movie and the book is that President Obama is trying to downsize America in retribution for colonial excesses of the past which were inflicted on Kenya.
Nope, not kidding. The right wing is buying into this big time.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/13/12725262-from-silly-thesis-to-silly-film
As yes, wonder if they’ll get Ben Stein to narrate … wonder if they’ll ban one PZ Myers.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/03/20/expelled/
If anyone wonders wants documentation of the way in which the 2008 film flunked an intelligence test: http://www.expelledexposed.com/index.php/contest/on-what-evolution-explains
So these same idiots are expanding on D’Souza’s bugnuts conspiracy theory? That’s going to be some very dense Stupid. Maybe it will create a black hole of Stupid and will suck in Rush Limbaugh.
I would much rather have a stack of flimsy bills in my pocket than a bunch of change.
But there’s also plastic money. You can launder it in the kitchen sink!
Lynna, quoting a mor[m]on:
Fixed it for them.
Secret Asian Man is in the middle of an arc in which water has declared that there is no god. In the author’s own comments, he’s stated that he’s fascinated by the interplay of religion and science, fact and faith, and that he wants to facilitate a discussion about it or between the sides.
He’s already had a person ask him a silencing “Why (have you written a “blasphemous” comic)?” The commenter gave a pass to syndicated cartoonists Charles Schulz (Peanuts) and Johnny Hart (B.C.) since their messages when they would do religious strips were clearly pro-Christian. But the strip that has a character deny god’s existence is the one that needs to be explained.
Whoops. “If anyone wonders wants documentation of the way in which the 2008 film flunked an intelligence test” should have been “If anyone wonders about or wants documentation of the way in which the 2008 film flunked an intelligence test”
If I discuss someone else’s lack of intelligence, I will do so in a sentence containing errors that are remarkably dumb.
Laws of the universe.
Owlmirror, you have a point. Scientology just takes everything, not just ten percent, from the members who want to be part of the inner circle, right? That plus one billion years of servitude according to the signed contract.
Ms. Daisy Cutter @284: Nice correction. Not only that, but the mormon church actually requires missionaries and senior missionaries to PAY for the privilege of volunteering their time.
PZ Myers is once again out-blasphemed:
Spanish artist faces prison over ‘how to cook Christ’ film
Oooh! Video: Cristofagia Javier Krahe (no subtitles)
One nitpick: Now that I’ve seen it, I see that it’s not 54 seconds, but 131 (or 2:11). Maybe only 54 seconds of it were broadcast?
I don’t think Schulz ever did any pro-jesus strips.
(the TV Xmas special notwithstanding)
Hey everyone. First post after lurking for what seems to be an eternity. Unfortunately
[Prof. Farnsworth]
Bad news, everybody
[/Prof. Farnsworth]
A few days ago, PZ posted good news from Germany about making circumcision for religious reasons illegal. Today, our utterly craptastic administration decided that while it has to accept the court’s decision, they strive for a solution where circumcision is still considered illegal, yet exempt from punishment. Now I’m out of Aspirin due to excessive headdesking and facepalming. Apparently the US do not have a monopoly on useless politicians.
PS: I’ll write a few introductory lines about myself in another post, as soon as time permits. But I had to get this off my chest right now.
Here’re more *hugs* for when that shit finally breaks through. Also, *booze*.
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O.o
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*hug* for dianne. Sorry about your paper being rejected.
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Peas are tiny little pellets of evil—which is why I think they might be useful as stuffing for porcupicicles.
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Fossilfishy, that was an awesome post.
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Nobody seems to be reading TZT, so I’ll x-post:
check out Jerry Coyne’s snide little dogwhistle at the end of the linked post. Completely unnecessary. Dawkins ignores it in comments, fortunately, but the slyme has been chummed.
I’m amazed Russia still uses kopecks, since they’re worth even less than pennies and no stores price in kopecks.
Oh, not exactly true. Just a few weeks ago I bought an Essentuki–the best spring water ever invented in the world, because it’s slightly salty–at a “village” produkti magazin (small store) and it came to 33 rubles and 2 kopecks. I was stunned for more than a comfortable second. TWO kopecks? What? Who carries kopecks except for children? They’re all over the ground at bus stops.
It’s now mushroom hunting season! I LOVE mushroom hunting season! Today was mainly “foxy” mushrooms (chanterelles) but tomorrow mornng we will continue our search in hopes of the legendary white mushrooms.
I imagine I would not love Russia so much if I didn’t love eating mushrooms. It’s a very important aspect of the “mysterious Russian soul”.
Another quote from a mormon up in arms over Business Week’s discussion of the finances of The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-10/how-the-mormons-make-money#p1
Yeah, count me as one of those anti-coin people.
Hell, I don’t even care if the penny is dropped out of circulation or not anymore– for better or for worse, I now live a largely cash-less existence. Mostly ‘cos I’m lazy.
A long time ago, I found a small book of comics by Schulz — not Peanuts nor anything related to Peanuts — about church and ministry.
Per the Pfft!, I think this is what I saw:
Well, I’m a creature of habit. I don’t like ’em.
But of course, the only dispensing machines I still use have stopped taking cash at all. I’ll still giggle at the US having to make needlessly expensive gadgets to put notes in the gizmos.
Doesn’t the assimilis make him an accommodationist?
The comics from “Young Pillars” may or may not have been “pro-Jesus”. I don’t remember that well. They might have been more about church and church arctivities, which is not quite the same thing.
I do recall — as confirmed also by the Pfft! — that in later interviews, Schulz said he was not religious anymore.
One thing that baffles me:
Why does TET hate peas?
My theory is that some have been maltreated with bad peas and bad pea cookery.
There are rules to peas.
Green edition:
1: Only use fresh (and I mean fresh, a day old is not fresh) petit pois or good quality frozen. Cans are a no-no, dried is totally out of the question (unless you like hurting yourself or use them for blind-baking pie crust).
2: Cook gently for a short time.
3: Use butter
Now, are there any pea-haters who have had peas made according to these rules? I dare you to try.
Isn’t that similar to how they handle abortion? I recall that it’s been mentioned that the implementation is something odd like that. I could be misremembering.
I am misremembering.
The Pfft! sayeth: Abortion in Germany is permitted in the first trimester upon condition of mandatory counseling, and afterwards in cases of medical necessity. In both cases a waiting period of 3 days is required.
TET doesn’t hate peas, it’s that damned cicely legume heretic.
SpokesGay lurrvvs him some peas. In any form but canned. Split peas in soup. Steamed fresh peas with dill. Creamed peas. Mmm.
Also Cher hasn’t tweeted me yet.
Thanks Josh, good to hear. I’m relieved (and hungry)
No justice, no peas. #FTBullies.
I like peas in soups, stews, and meat pies… not so much just on their own.
To be fair, this is how I like pretty much ALL my vegetables.
@Owlmirror,
you’re not entirely wrong. The German Strafgesetzbuch (criminal code) distinguishes between aborting “unwanted” fetuses (up to the 12th week, and after visiting a Schwangerschaftskonfliktberatung (a seminar where the woman is informed about consequences and alternatives), which is considered illegal, but exempt from punishment, and reasons which make the abortion legal (threat to the health of the mother–no time limit , pregnancy after rape or a comparable criminal action–12 week time limit).
I simplified it quite a bit, but I guess I got the key regulations right.
Duh. “Little pellets of evil”, remember?
“Eat not of the meat of the Pea, for thou shalt be Anathema.”
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Blasphemer!!! Thou shalt…shouldst…throw him to the Horses!
(Plus, I must carry on, if only on blf’s absent behalf.)
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Um, is this thing with pennies a bit privileged?
I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve paid for bus fair or laundry with pennies saved or given (since nobody cares about a penny) that I exchange for quarters. That little coin everyone else hates has helped me survive. I’d use them straight in the machines but you can’t do that anymore. I’m guessing since nobody else uses or likes pennies.
Using plastic for everything isn’t a privilege everyone has.
How do we switch to not having pennies?
I honestly can’t imagine it. Maybe I’m just being dense.
I can’t speak for the privileged bit about denying people a livelihood.
But as for the practical issue, it’s easy:
1) stop issuing them.
2) stop returning them into circulation.
3a) after a certain time declare that they’re no longer legal tender in general use (that is, shops don’t need to accept them).
3b) people can still deposit them in banks, if they so choose.
4) if you want, scrap them completely after yet another while, though that’s not really necessary.
They have posted before, SB & FTB.
So then you wouldn’t be able to get back the two cents you overpaid?
Would all charges have to be in 5 then for the nickle since there’s no change smaller?
Yes, which is a big part of the resistance to droping pennies. It would be instant inflation, because you know everyone would round their prices up, never down.
AHHHHHHHHHH.
Well if that happens, I’d be attached to the nickel like I am the penny. I just don’t think people will be so free with nickels as they are currently with pennies.
Fuckin’ hell. Coyne is trying to score weasel points with taxonomy?
The “cartoon” I referred to in post #267 is the actual cover of Business Week! That’ll rile the mormon hornet’s nest.
Bollocks. Inflation is the reason the pennies are worthless in the first place.
Second, prices still end in .95 here (and occasionally a gimmicky .99), despite the smallest denomination being .50. What happens is that, if you insist on paying in cash, there’s a round table – that goes up and down, evening out in the long run. You can even game it and only pay cash, when it’s rounded down, but plastic if it would otherwise be rounded up – debit cards are still on the exact value.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/denmark/inflation-cpi
Please look at that graph and tell me what years we phased out the 5- and 10-øre, and the 25-øre.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsfaithblog/54477669-180/cover-article-church-businessweek.html.csp
The well-researched and not-speculative article to which Propaganda Purdy refers:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-10/how-the-mormons-make-money#p1
Elevatorgate Team Dawkins–Jerry’s a batboy.
Sili – do you think Americans could handle that kind of system? That involves maths and stuff? I’d bet dollars to donuts every company here would just round up to the nearest nickel.
Yeah, it’s bizarre. It’s so unnecessary and unproductive.
No surprise, even the mildest pushback, something like Don’t do that, Jerry, gets slammed by a commenter pretending that criticism of him is “petty” and “supremely unhelpful”.
Well, at least he’s not (yet) whining about “bullying”.
Matt Harding has a new video.
‘Tis – and isn’t it the sweetest thing? The end made me cry.
Lynna, OM #320
Thanks for the link to that article. I knew the Mormon enterprises were widespread but I didn’t realize quite how extensive they were.
When I said “plastic money” earlier I didn’t mean credit or debit cards.
I mean banknotes, made of plastic instead of paper.
I was warned. I was told not to look lest I learn something Man Was Not Meant to Know…or at least something that would disturb me. But I did it anyway. I…read Leah Libresso’s blog on Patheos. Sheer masochism on my part, but now I’m going to transition to sadism by sharing a “favorite” comment:
Just so you know. Apparently people won’t reproduce unless forced to.
Josh,
No kidding, I was relieved to read this when I woke up.
I realize that is completely, totally, outrageously absurd.
dianne,
No, no, no. Don’t do that. Now you’re reminded me that I wanted to go over there and check whether she has changed her mind about homosexuality yet. (apparently she hasn’t, yet)
And now I’m there and I’m going to read that shit. Life was better when I had no idea that woman existed.
@Beatrice: Sorry. It is rather like offering someone just one cigarette, isn’t it? Because you know that addiction’s coming back to bite you if you do, yet it’s so hard to not accept it…Some of the other blogs are even worse. Libresco at least has some level of rationality and some commenters with sense. A lot of the other blogs…not so much.
dianne,
I always end up skimming other blogs, just to side how the other side lives. I usually just wonder even more how they can live with themselves, being such terrible people.
—
In other news, party in the apartment below.
I know. I like the idea. I don’t know why we’re not using them here.
–o–
Danes aren’t better at maths. The cash registers do everything automatically.
–o–
Try saying something about poutine and boots.
This made me smile, and I needed to, so thanks for posting it :)
Sili –
Oh, I’d never say bad things about Jerry’s boots. I can’t wear cowboy boots because my feet are too wide – and I have to be on my feet too many hours to tolerate boots that are really only bearable while on horseback – but, oh my, I love how some of them look. Small works of art.
Poutine ? Never ever eat fried food topped with anything (gravy, I’m looking at you) to make it soggy, that’s all I’ll say about that.
But fried cheese curds ? With a little chili sauce on the side ? Now, that would be worth a pilgrimage to eat.
I usually just wonder even more how they can live with themselves, being such terrible people.
On the positive side, we don’t have to live with them.
The feminist links roundup is starting to look respectable, but there aren’t many scholarly-type articles up there yet.
The feminist links roundup is starting to look respectable, but there aren’t many scholarly-type articles up there yet.
Unfortunately, I still can’t link it here. Which I find very irritating. Ahem.
“Put your hubby’s hand in a bucket of water during the night!”
.
I do not understand the purpose of this practice. I found out about the practice when watching the “Hannah Banana” episode of “Family Guy”.
(Chris sets out to prove the existence of the Evil Monkey by setting up a camera to record what happens in his bedroom when he is asleep. No Evil Monkey, but Peter and Quagmire turn up and puts Chris’ hand in a bucket of water. Then his mom turns up and steals money from his wallet. And then the creepy old neighbour turns up to paint a picture of Chris sleeping naked)
.
Also, according to “Beavis and Butt-head” there is a practice called “cow tipping”.
— — — — — — — — — — —
And I found out about the existence of tofu by reading a graphic novel by Ralph König. No, I do not get out much.
‘Tis Himself:
No church’s holdings are complete without a big game hunting preserve that earns about $100,000 per year, and that was developed by and run by “volunteer” missionaries.
Even though the Business Week article is impressive, I noticed that they still missed a few mormon investment categories, such as water rights, coal mines on Native American reservations (they pushed to get mormon converts elected to tribal councils, councils that then granted sweetheart deals to mormon-run companies), and subsidies from the Department of Agriculture to run mormon-dominated Boy Scout camps on Forest Service lands (make a show of maintaining some supposedly historical cabin or whatnot, and get the Forest Service to give you money for restricting the use of parcels of public lands to mormon Boy Scouts).
The bit below caught my eye. These guys working for Ensign Peak sound like ripe pickings for mormon multi-level marketing scammers who are looking for gullible affinity-based populations. More likely, they scam each other, as well as non-mormons, based on the handshake-and-trust mode of making billion dollar deals.
The purpose of the hand in water prank is that it supposedly makes that person piss on themselves while sleeping. I don’t know if it actually works.
Cow tipping is just like it sounds. Bored country kids go out at night and tip cows on their side. It’s a bad thing for the cows and is really stupid to do. I know some kids who did it growing up and it was a big deal. They got in trouble with the law (I forget what exactly community service and paying for the damage to the cows at least).
If these fuckers don’t finish their fucking party some time soon someone is going to get murdered.
It’s midnight and I’m tired and I’m not in a mood for this.
JAL: I’ve heard that cow tipping is real… but I’ve also heard that it’s an urban legend, that the average human wouldn’t be able to push a sleeping cow over. I can’t be sure, but I think I remember reading that in an old edition of skeptical enquirer.
The purpose of the hand in water prank is that it supposedly makes that person piss on themselves while sleeping. I don’t know if it actually works.
Mythbusters says no, for what that’s worth.
TET doesn’t hate peas.
I think it’s just cicely and I who are Anti-Peas.
~~
JAL @310:
I thought about privilege re: pennies. I agree that for those who have the privilege of having a bit more disposable income than others, pennies might seem useless. For those that do not, they can be beneficial.
For me I think that it just takes so many of them to amount to even enough to buy a Powerade or a Payday (currently on a kick about the latter; damn they’re good) that they should be phased out.
@341: Ah, to live in a country with quiet hours…
Cipher:
So what you’re trying to say is…?
(I agree with you. Being able to link it here would be a boon.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_tipping
Technically, I could call the police on them. But they (the neighbors) would probably guess who called the police and there would be uncomfortable situations in the future. I don’t like creating uncomfortable situations, even when I know I’m right. Besides, neither of my parents would approve of involving the police.
“Help us, PZ Myers! You’re our only hope.”
Also, I can’t figure out what to call the category where we place links about stereotype threat, implicit bias, and chilly climate. I feel like those should be subheadings of something but I dunno what.
I’ve been offered a position as a culture monkey starting in August!
Paint your house pets technicolor and adorn insectivores upon each other in jubilee!
@Beatrice: Any chance of a simple “Could you keep it down-I have to be up early tomorrow” (with the implicit threat of being able to call the cops) working? I sympathize with your situation: I hate loud parties but hate making a fuss even more too.
I heard of a case of some people who tried it on a cow that wasn’t amused and wound up with a gore wound when she swung her head violently into one’s torso.
I was once given some very good advice on how to avoid problems with neighbours complaining about a noisy party. Just invite them along.
dianne,
I’ll endure. The “thou shall not make a fuss” has always been one of the commandments I felt an obligation to follow.
Ing,
I have no idea about what you just said, but if you got a job congratulations!
(culture monkey?)
@Beatrice
It’s the goey equivalent of a code monkey of course :-p
*confetti* and *sparklers* for Ing!
If I weren’t so tired, I might have connected the dots.
Anyway, I’m glad you’ve found a job. No pets to color here, but we can pretend my neighbors are draining those lakes of beer in your honor.
ING:
I am so happy for you!
I’ll join in the congratulatING!
Thinking…
Do wiki pages like [[Cupcake Bingo]] go in [[Category:Equality]], or do they go in [[Category:Opposition to equality]]?
I ask because we’re the ones who use these bingo cards, so maybe the practice is [[Category:Equality]].
But the cards themselves largely refer to [[Category:Opposition to equality]].
What sayeth the Horde?
Minor problem today. Got back to work after a quick trip home to make the Redhead’s bladder gladder (doable, as a 5 minute trip one-way) and fix her lunch. Left the moon roof and windows on the car ajar for ventilation. One of the Chemical Operators stopped by my office and mentioned it looked like rain, and I should close the car up. Got on-line, and saw the rain a couple of counties away on Doppler radar, as said I’ll keep an eye on it. Checked 20 minutes later, a small storm had popped up overhead out of nowhere. Looked out the window, pouring rain. Got wet closing up the car. The trouble with Doppler radar, is it tends to be behind current time as only updated every few minutes. The storms two counties away finally arrived when I left work to do some shopping. Luckily, I had an umbrella with me.
I don’t suppose there’s a circuit-breaker/fuse box that can be accessed while not being seen by them. . .
Hee. I meant the latter, of course. Don’t know if the error was caused by thinking about the bill/coin comparison or an absorbed, unconscious imperialism.
***
:)
***
:D
Thinking laterally:
Find an audio clip (or a video) that has appropriate police car siren
Place speaker on floor
Play clip/video
Plausible deniability: “Hey, I was just watching Youtube.”
It can’t go in both? Would the internet implode?
:D
Knowing mum and how passive-aggressive she can be, I’m guessing she might start doing the laundry at six in the morning. I imagine that rattly old machine can be heard quite well down there.
pteryxx, you’re freaking awesome. I just want you to know that.
*goes back to picking through massive amazing collection of links for wiki*
You too, mouthyb and jadehawk, wherever you may be.
@JAL & carlie
Nono, not how it works …
We removed the 0.10 20 years ago, and prices are still given in 9.90 or 19.90 and so on. Always. Item prices does not have to be payable exactly. They round off the totals. It all evens out in the long run anyway.
Ing:
Happy Monkey! Congratulations, Ing.
Off to pull a pillow over my head and try to sleep. Good night
Off to bed too. Watching another episode of Downton Abbey before I go to sleep :)
It could go in both. But my head might implode.
Ing, massive conga rats! (dancing over Beatrice’s rude neighbors!)
Cipher – *blush* thankee. Y’all can handle the socializing and commiserating and nuance and networking, I’ll consider myself part of the Hoard. ~;>
I am having serious trouble around pricing an object in a way that literally can’t be paid for. It makes no sense to my brain.
HOORAY ING!!
BABY RUTH 4-EVAH!!!!!
DEEP RIFTS!!!!!!!!
Then I guess the latter (by which I mean the opposition categorization – not the implosion).
I’ll just remove my request here:
Seriously. I’m crap at getting stuff done.
–o–
How often do you buy one thing at a time? Even if you did, you could still pay by card.
But yes, if you buy one item at a time, they’ll likely all be priced at .95 (or .99 in the UK/UK/Eurozone), and you would lose 5(1) cent per transaction. That is true, yes.
Incidentally, stocks are, I believe, priced in eights of a penny. How do people ever by stocks, if they literally can’t pay what they cost?
Rubin has been using her salad as nesting content. *sigh*
This is also the same place that I was told had rejected me by a 3rd party in HR so I was very surprised today.
Ah. Turns out you actually decimalised the stock market back in 2000 because people could no longer do fractions.
And that means we suck at math forever
I always assumed that they kept using eights of a cent so the brokers/companies could skim the extra off.
Thanks Tony and Cicely. I’m not sure I should be encouraged in my overblown verbiage though, a couple of days ago I used the word “shall” in everyday conversation. Oi.
I’m a retailer and I price everything ending in .99 even though there are no pennies in Australia. Pure anecdote of course, but it seems to work. Customers often misread prices as a dollar cheaper than they actually are. I suspect that there’s some sort of cognitive bias at work here that is unaffected by knowledge of the trick. I also find that prices that end in .00 or have no cent markings look wrong, a legacy of growing up in North America no doubt.
Annnnd, a quick search of Google scholar shows that there’s conflicting thoughts about this. This 2010 study is interesting though, both for its size, they studied 11,000 products in 102 categories, and its results. They found that on cheap* items where there’s lots of brand choice prices ending in 9 influenced people to chose one brand over another and with expensive items people bought greater quantities of items when the price ended in 9. Interesting.
*They called it ‘concentrated’ categories, I might be misreading what that means.
Those of you in search of an example of a completely vile human being look no further. I admit I went there to probe the depths of religious idiocy, but hadn’t quite expected to find someone explaining to her gay “friend” that she thought his love was unworthy and then demanding that he not think she was homophobic. Utterly disgusting.
We actually did a fake-investments unit when I was a kid as part of learning fractions in school (training in capitalism). IIRC, I invested in Disney, Coca-Cola, and IBM (might have been not these exact ones but a similar combination). Why couldn’t it have been real?!
I’mma do me some Pharyngula wiki editing. Prepare for the scholarly article deluge!
From carlie’s link
Yeah, no. There’s no magic solution that will fix everything. You even go on to say as much, yourself:
Exactly. The problem is poor training of teachers and a lack of appreciation for understanding in place of rote learning.
But the way the results are presented all that will happen is that No Child Left Behind will just add mechanical instruction in long division.
I say this as a maths teacher who’s frustrated that my kids are scared by fractions. I’d love for them to be better, but just focusing on fractions rather than the bigger issue of how maths is taught and by whom is the typical Daily Mail answer.
dianne,
I can’t be arsed to read all that before bed, but
smacks of fake. I may be oversensitive, but it sounds like angry atheists at a conservation event.
what did I do?
We did a unit where we DID invest in real stock, but we were doing penny stocks which were then sold at the end of the 8 weeks or so. We chose Jefferson Smurfit. It sells for around $50 a share now.
FossilFishy:
That you see ‘shall’ as being overblown verbiage is not impressive.
Somehow…
Fantastic job.
…”But not as much as I love my precious abstractions, of course. Sure, they’re real, living beings, even my friends, but they don’t hold a candle to The Creator and New Life, in whose name I’ll tell them they need to suffer more. I’ve also not read the genocidal epic that is the Old Testament. I am righteous.”
No. No, you don’t get that.
she’s a Catholic. reading the bible for yourself is newfangled nonsense, and most certainly not necessary. Just ask your priest what it means, and if he doesn’t mention it it can’t be that important, anyway.
seriously. when I was in “sunday school” we were given catechisms to memorize, but I don’t ever remember ever going to the primary source for bible stories. and in religion-class at school, we glanced at some NT stuff, but most of the time it was just blah blah about how religion makes people happy and random ethics discussions that had nothing to do with catholicism at all (when people weren’t annoying the fuck out of the teacher trying to get her to answer why the RCC is anti-abortion, anti-gay, etc. that is).
My house: Ms. Daisy Cutter is in it.
My house: SallyStrange will soon also be in it.
*looks at dianne’s link”
ah. ms. “Whole Foods hates me for not having my own grocery bags” again.
blowjobs were invented the week after the Pill came on the market.
lol.
the female reproductive system; more scarring than any horror movie you’ve ever seen.
yes.
your kink is not his kink.
Heh, It’s a slippery slope John. Shall is a bit formal for everyday use after all. It could be the first step in my descent into a full blown pedantic oratorical speaking style that will result in even greater social ostracisation than my Canadian accent already affords me in this tiny, rural and overwhelmingly Catholic town. Or perchance this influenza virus, damnable plague that it is, has sated its need to ablate my lungs, trachea and other sundry upper respiratory tract by-ways and is now contentedly setting up infant creches in those parts of my brain responsible for the monitoring of my behaviour against social norms, and due to the aforementioned viral atrocities I am vexing myself over naught. Time, voiceless though it is, will tell.
from the comments:
Here’s a fun exercise I’ve found to relieve anger from stupid people posting stupid things from their stupid mouths. replace any use of the word God, Jesus or jargon that means the same thing with the word ‘potato’ and then read it back to someone to see fi it makes sense to an outsider
*Twitch* Why must they make baby potato cry by saying things like this?
To be fair they said contraception. Which would put that redefining of sex at the dawn of animal husbandry shortly after humans first answered “HOW I MAKE BABY!?” and then figured out that you can use the inner bits of a goat as a penis sheath.
FossilFishy, :)
Oh for fuck’s sake.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this “oh, you mean homosexuals are just bigots against Christians” line of bullshit, but it still makes my jaw drop at the cluelessness every damn time.
Ing, potato bless you.
@Caerie
In the name of the Tater, Spud and Holy Tuber.
[Angsty, PMS-and-crappy-week-induced venting session ahead. Proceed at your own risk.]
I fail at coming out to my parents. I had a perfect opportunity tonight, and I chickened out. Again. :(
I think my mom suspects. I’m a terrible liar, so I’ve done a lot of not-so-skillfully avoiding questions in the past few months. But I’m not certain.
I thought that my dad suspected too, until the past few weeks. Since I figured both parents already knew, I was planning to come out to them after I got back from my canoe trip. And then my dad spent most of the canoe trip teasing me about the group of male canoeists we kept bumping into. Not exactly something you do when you think your daughter’s a lesbian, right? So maybe he’s completely oblivious. Or am I wrong, and this is some weird tactic to make me so frustrated that I snap and come out right then and there? Because that is a real possibility if this goes on much longer, and I don’t want to do it that way.
In some ways, it should be easier, because my older brother is gay. I know my folks aren’t going to flip out or throw me out of the house or even disapprove. But this also means that neither of their kids are going to have a “normal” straight life, with a conventional wedding and an opposite-sex partner at the dinner table for holidays. And I have almost never disappointed my parents before. I was a well-behaved kid, an honour student in high school, I never got in trouble, and now I’m working on a graduate degree. I don’t know how to deal with disappointing them.
I think that my dad will be disappointed. I think he’d like for me to bring home some strapping lumberjack of a boyfriend, so that they can bond over beer and fishing. It kind of hurts, because I’ve always done the outdoorsy things with my dad, and this is the first time that I’ve felt like that wasn’t good enough for him. (Also, can’t my brother have the bringing-home-a-boyfriend duties?)
I’m not even out to my brother, because we’re not close at all, and he lives three days’ drive away. He’s 7 years older and we have no shared interests. And I’m hesitant to come out to him, because I feel like I’m not as “good” a queer as he is. He is, as far as I know, a Kinsey 6 who has never dated a woman. I’m about a 5 and I was still trying to date guys until this spring. He came out in his early teens (~1996), did all the hard work with my parents, and suffered through high school. I’m just starting to come out now, at 23, and it will be a lot easier for me. So I feel like he might look down on me for taking so long to figure things out and/or think that it’s just a phase and/or be angry with me because things will be so much easier for me. I know that isn’t logical and he would probably be understanding, but I can’t bring myself to email him. He hasn’t been around much for the past 5 years, so I doubt that he suspects, unless my mom has talked to him.
Sorry to spend so much time lately being angsty about coming out. The campus LGBT centre isn’t very active in the summer, and I have no queer friends in meatspace, so this is really the only place I have to talk about this stuff. It really helps to know that the motley queers of the Horde are out there somewhere.
Ing:
Thanks, I needed that. Praise be to french fries.
Nutmeg, dating men, not coming out until you’re in your twenties, not being the first one to come out in your family, doesn’t make you a “bad” queer or your brother a “better” one. You are you. There’s no special life plan you have to match.
A long time ago, I remember a young woman who was just coming out as trans asking an older woman, “Do women do this? Do women do that?” And the older woman asked, “Do you do this? Do you do that?” The young woman agreed and the older woman told her, “Then women do those things, because you’re a woman.”
The same goes for you. So you didn’t come out sooner, so you tried dating men before. These are all things lesbians do, because you are one*. And that’s all okay.
Coming out isn’t easy. It can be scary and weird and feel frustrating because it can just flat out be a pain in the ass to have to explain yourself. Vent away.
* I’m assuming that’s how you identify what you wrote, at least. If I’m wrong, my apologies for misreading
I took a nap this preevening (I haven’t been sleeping well; I suspect that there’s a Night-Blooming Something to blame; but that’s not important to this story), and had this incredibly vivid dream. The world in general had fallen back into a pre-Industrial Revolution tech level; the Catholic Church, which de facto ruled the world, had kept all the high tech stuff (long-distance communications, hydraulics, modern medicine and diagnostic devices, etc.) for themselves, which they used to stage “miracles” and other “proofs” for their supernatural underpinnings, and just generally to awe the rubes. An insectoid alien race had infiltrated the RCC (those all-encompassing monk’s robes and bizarre hats were useful camoflague), had rubbed out the Pope, and had set it up so that they would be in the position to wield Ultimate Power on their enthronement, as the new Pope, of…Daffy Duck.
(Yeah, I missed that segue, too.)
The Husband woke me up just at the point where the assembled marching bands of Earth were doing their half-time shows in honor of the occasion, and I was explaining to DM-M (of Irregular Webcomic! fame; not that I know him or anything, but he has helpfully provided photos of himself in many of his strips, and my imagination took it from there) that actually, musicians with interest in science, and scientists with interest in music, aren’t as rare as his poll seemed to indicate.
(Mental note: In the future, I must eat jelly beans before bed more often. I enjoy it when my brainz dance for my entertainment in an amusingly surreal way.)
–
Huzzah! for employment…but what’s a “culture monkey”?
–
Whatever happened to Dhorvath? I remember him being involved in the endless struggle against the sinister Pea.
:(
–
Tell her that it’s rude to lay with her food.
:)
–
*hug* for Nutmeg. And a large helping of sympathy slathered in moral support sauce.
–
mouthyb,
you were not logged in. I hid your IP address but you probably want to make an account.
There is only one Spud and Devo are his prophets.
Well obviously it’s the life science equivalent to the code monkey.
Ing, congratulations!!
Caerie, cicely: ♥ ♥
I’m sure I’ll feel a lot better when my hormones decide to be less screwed up. I think I’m going to eat some apple crisp and re-watch some favourite Doctor Who episodes.
Peas? Pffffft! There is but One disgusting food to rule them all, one food to find them, One food to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. That food is liver and kidney aspic! DUH DUHHHHHHHH!!!!!
SC,
Thanks!
Congrats Ing on the gainful employment, here’s hoping it works out better than the last place. And damn it I’m dense, even with your hints I only just understood what the hell you meant. I was thinking: If he’s going to be programing society’s rules for interaction and behaviour I’ve got some bugs he might want to look into. Doh.
Jadehawk,
I think some of your collected links have been added to Pharyngula Wiki’s feminist link roundup.
New news:
Sexism Bingo on Pharyngula Wiki is now “uniqued” — when you request a fresh bingo card, each bingo square is now different from all the others on the card (previously there were some duplicates).
So it’s ready to play.
Ing: Congratulations on employment! And I hope it’s a better fit than your last employer.
testing spamtrap:
http://pharyngula.wikia.com/wiki/Sexism_Bingo
omigosh
is the wiki whitelisted now?
somebody else try to make a link.
http://pharyngula.wikia.com/wiki/Sexism_Bingo
Hmm, I wonder why I can’t make a linky?
FossilFishy @388:
There are restaurants in the states that use whole $$ amounts (or 1/2 dollars) on the menus. I like going into a restaurant, seeing a Filet Mignon and looking to the right of the menu and seeing $22, rather than $21.60.
I dislike the psychological strategy of pricing things at $.99 to make it seem cheaper . Just make it $1.00. Easier to add up for those that aren’t terribly good at math (there are way more out there than one might think). 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).
~~
Caine #384:
So rats eat corn and salad…what else is part of their diet?
~~
:::Wishes I was at Comic Com in San Diego!!!!!!!!!:::
~~
Josh:
What did you decide to fix for munchies?
~~
John:
I don’t hear ‘shall’ used in conversation much. It sounds stilted, so I don’t use it. When reading it, the word seems to work much better IMHO.
~~~
Was baby Jesus a Tater Tot?
~~
Nutmeg:
I don’t think there’s ever a *perfect* time to come out; it’s a question of how ready _you_ are to do so. I don’t fault anyone for not coming out at a particular time (I used to before I got over myself and realized people are not ME).
You could try writing a letter or sending an email. I know it’s not as personal, but that way you could convey whatever you feel is necessary. Looking back, I wish I’d had the knowledge when I was younger to tell my parents in a better way. For instance, I wish I had the wisdom at the time to tell my father-in response to “butt sex hurts”-that it’s unfair to reduce a gay person down to one aspect of their sex lives. I don’t know too many people who do that the straight people, why do that with gay people? Also, butt sex doesn’t *always* hurt and can be quite enjoyable. Finally, being gay isn’t about the sex. I long to find a man to experience life with. Sex is but a component of that.
It could be that your dad suspects, but is trying to influence you to be straight.
It could be that your dad has no idea.
It could be that your dad knows, but is trying to push you into coming out.
It could be that your dad knows but thinks you like both men and women.
I know how difficult it can be wondering. It can become scary to get too bogged down in trying to figure out what your parents are thinking.
Perhaps you could discuss your brothers’ sexuality with your parents to get a feel for their opinion and test the waters for your coming out…?
I can’t remember if you live in the U.S., but given the cultural expectations of women, it’s possible your parents might be let down. It’s also possible they won’t be. They could be let down initially, but in time come to fully accept you.
I know the feeling about not wanting to disappoint your parents. Perhaps you could include this desire when/if you choose to come out.
Coming out is not easy.
I really hope that if/when you choose to do so, you’re greeted with love, warmth, and support from your family.
You deserve it.
Ixchel:
Nope. I just tried to post a link to the Memes: Cupcake section and no go.
Nutmeg:
As far as I’m concerned, you never have to apologize for this. It’s not easy. A network of caring individuals can be a tremendous asset during the process of coming out. Please know that if you need to talk or ask for advice, I will be there listening and caring (and for some reason, I think the rest of the Horde feels the same way).
A.R.
I’ll give you that liver is disgustipating.
Sorry for the threadrupt, but I’ve been over at Crommunists place talking in the comments with some MRAs (relatively civil so far, though that doesn’t lessen the pain of the stupid).
Why do they believe that feminism is inherently bad for “not taking on men’s issues”? It’s feminism. It’s right there in the name. That doesn’t mean that I don’t care about issues that affect men – there are a lot of problems that disproportionately affect them, and those problems need fixing. But feminism by definition is going to focus first on women’s issues, even with intersectionality. But we also believe that fixing issues for women will have a ripple effect in fixing issues for men. WHY DO THEY NOT UNDERSTAND THIS?
Tony:
Pretty much everything. They do have a dry mix for every day munching (I use Reggie Rat), but rats like all kinds of foods. Mac ‘n’ Cheese is favourite (Kraft in a box being the bestest kind), Bush’s Baked Beans are a *huge* fave. Pizza is always appreciated, tuna and chicken are liked a lot. Eggs are a hit with some rats, not so much with others. They enjoy different kinds of nuts, pistachios are a fave. They also like pasta, cooked or uncooked. They *love* Nutella. Rats can also safely eat chicken bones, which are always appreciated.
Basically, anything you eat, they’ll most likely enjoy a little bit too.
ixchel: Thank you, and I registered.
Trying out tinyurl in regard to the wiki: Cupcake.
Caine,
Harrumph.
YAY for employed Ing!
Here in Aus, we don’t have 1c and 2c coins any more, and the 5c may perhaps be on the way out. That doesn’t stop supermarkets pricing items at $1.36 or 49c. When the total is added up, it’s rounded up to the nearest 5c, for 3c or 4c and down for 1c & 2c.
And we have plastic currency notes. It’s totally functional, quite pretty, and extremely hard to forge.
AR, I see your liver and kidney aspic and raise you pigs’ blood jelly. We are talking of things we’ve actually eaten, right? So the balut trump card is off the table?
Liver is yummy, when well-prepared. Nasty if overcooked. And I like peas, especially baby peas.
Well, of course, you’re an atheist after all.
BWAHAHAhahahaaaa. Baby carrots, baby peas, baby beans, I SHALL NOM THEM ALL! Because I am evil. Babycinos, though, are beyond the pale.
The true horrible, evility that is the babycino is not readily apparent. You see, it’s function is to keep the little one quiet and distracted with frothy, marshmallowiness whilst discussions of grilling vs. broiling and the merits of rosemary take place. And as such deserves a place in the arsenal of every evil Atheist.
@ Jadzia626
[Downton Abbey/Walton/Umberto Eco]
My enjoyment is not so much Downton Abbey itself. It is more the anticipation of how much The Walton is enjoying Downton Abbey that I enjoy.
;D
/hyperreality
Re rat foods… I had a pair of brothers that liked grapes, but one only wanted to eat the skins, and the other only wanted the insides. So of course they fought over every single grape, ran to their respective corners to either skin or gut their prizes, and then “stole” the other rat’s leavings. So it all worked out! *facepaw*
Nutmeg:
Coming out has always been hard, and always will be as long as not being straight and/or cisgendered is seen as exceptional and at least somewhat undesirable. There is no right way to do it, and no age by which it needs to be done.
I never did come out to my parents the first time around (the time when I was attracted to women while under the impression that I, too, was a woman). They figured it out eventually.
Proof that I am old: I saw Quentin Crisp speak in Seattle long ago and he was delightful. He was gay before it was legal in most of the Western world, and his advice to those of us pondering coming out to our families was this: “Don’t come out. Act as if they already know! If you are thirty, they know.” I was thirty. I laughed a little too loudly, but so did three-quarters of the audience.
In a perfect world, children would be asked about their sexuality at some point because nobody would ever assume straight until proven gay. You don’t fail at coming out. Our culture fails by making it necessary to come out.
The rest of you:
Mind if I crash on the couch tonight? The internet is big and I am tired.
I don’t follow sports, but I have been keeping up with the developments with Penn State, but in light of the Freeh report, massive changes should be underway from the top down, but they won’t be because…:
Pteryxx:
Hahahahahaha, too cute. I haven’t had a rat yet that will eat a strawberry past the seeds and skin. Tomatoes – skin only. And for all that people say their rats like carrots, I have yet to have a rat that will eat one. The consensus seems to be that it’s carrots which are evil, not peas. Peas are loved. On the veggie front, squarsh is a huge hit, any kind of squarsh, but acorn is what the crew has liked best so far. Fruits, there’s much banananana love. :D
I hate bell peppers.
Hi, Erik. Welcome to TET. Make yourself comfy.
Quentin Crisp was a trip, to say the least, but I think he got a lot wrong. Coming out is important, in that it is important to have family and friends know who you are and to accept you fully.
and pineapple.
oh oh! Dry spaghetti! So entertaining to watch the rats try to wrestle and hoard pasta longer than they are. (…I’m ebil sometimes.)
Also, now I miss the boingy-boing high-headed run that rats do when they’re conveying something long and floppy back to a hiding place, such as a big spinach leaf, or a sock.
Oh and this:
Uh, no. Gay people have been around…always. Gay people and gay relationships were hardly unknown long before Crisp was born. Ever heard of a Boston Marriage, frinst.? In the 1800s, that was the name given to women who were living together as man and wife. That’s just one instance.
Tony: Thanks so much. I really appreciate the support.
My folks will, overall, be fine with it. They aren’t perfect, but they’re supportive of my brother. Considering their age and background, they’re doing quite well. When I finally get up the guts to come out to them, it should go okay. And I’m going to do it sooner rather than later. There’s a family wedding in mid-August, and I’d really rather not spend the whole thing pretending to be straight.
eriktrips: Thanks. My virtual couch always has space.
Maybe you’ve seen this? My tendency towards Method Four meant that my closest friends already knew and had been waiting for me to tell them for months. I’m hoping that my parents are the same way, and they’re just not expressing it very clearly.
Pteryxx:
I do that too. :D
Oh gods, that’s amazing, ennit? I was watching Esme do that the other week. I got the boys locked up so she could have some free time. She found some sheets of newspaper and was conveying them at speed to the other side of the room – it’s like watching tiny kangaroos!
Hello, Horde.
Threadrupt, and I had actually turned the computer off and walked away from the Intertube for the night, but I had to come back to share this with you. Because I just opened the enveleopes that came in the mail earlier today from DSHS, following our 6-month checkup for food stamps.
This time, for the first time, the letter included detailed summaries of all our bank accounts both checking and savings, complete with whose name they were in. One of the names was Bella’s. That’s right. They found the 8-year-old’s savings account, which she fills from her allowance, and they counted it against us as a “resource”.
Also, hey, you guys remember how banded together to donate money for groceries after our food stamp amount was cut to a unbelievable low? You do realize that since we carefully stewarded that money, in our savings account, this banking equivalent of a body cavity search means that THE MONEY YOU GUYS DONATED TO US SO WE COULD PAY FOR GROCERIES AFTER OUR FOOD STAMP AMOUNT WAS CUT, HAS NOW BEEN COUNTED AGAINST US IN CALCULATING OUR NEW FOOD STAMP RATE.
They also calculated our broken-down, 10-year-old car at its unicorn-and-sparkleland value, btw.
Our food stamp amount has shot up to a staggering $41 per month.
…I have no words, kristinc, just bared teeth. I guess next time donations go in a jar under the bed or some such bullshit… damn all their eyes.
`yw551h-y 67’wq7`e
kristinc
*hugs*
I am now picturing the DSHS as employing actual trolls.
non-humans.
You may (virtually) have all my just-picked raspberries.
Oooh, chigau, I love raspberries. Yum.
Caine:
Crisp said a lot of things that did not go over so well in 90s Seattle. He was a bit, um, old-fashioned. But damn, the guy had been through so much, you could almost forgive him.
I am not certain exactly when “unnatural acts” were first outlawed in Europe, but Crisp was an out gay man in England when such acts were still illegal there and in most of the US, at least. Which is not quite the same as non-existent, except perhaps in the eyes of the law.
Gay people have been around pretty much whenever and wherever people have been around, as far as I can pick up, although the concept of homosexuality as heterosexuality’s sole designated other is relatively new.
Harvard-educated anthropologist Greg Laden announces:
Oh fuck, Kristin. That’s absolute shit. I am so sorry.
Havelock is apparently very chatty tonight:
++
0
56
*Post 457 he seems to have managed all by hisself. Note to self: close laptop before wandering off to pee.
Caine
re#457
damn.
I’ve been googling for 10 minutes ;(
I thought it was a strange rendition of another language.
What is babycino?
~~
kristinc:
I am so sorry to hear that.
Chigau:
Sorry! I don’t know how he managed to hit ‘submit’.
Pteryxx:
what a funny mental picture!
Holy crap, kristinc. I wish I could say I am shocked. I mean, I am shocked, daily, and deeply angry, and scared, but that’s pretty much all the time and in reaction to so many things I can hardly keep up.
Babychino is milk frothed up with a cappuccino machine’s steam pipe. Usually served with chocolate topping and/or marshmallows. It’s the gateway drug into coffee culture for bubs.
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.
kristinc: it’s acts like that that make me think of violent revolution. And then I remember that revolutions rarely end well for those at the bottom. I truly sorry to hear about your situation.
Nutmeg:
I hadn’t seen that, but thank you for the link. I did Method Four the first time and Method One the second time, although the second time I was not a Gay Lady, so maybe I stole Method One.
From the form letter for the Mailing Campaign:
“(insert your currently most favoured sexuality label here – or limit your reason for rejecting such labels to a concise 700 words and staple it to the back)”
:D
kristinc #455: Classism wrought large. This is why we need to have more political discussions amongst skeptics and atheists, and less Bigfoot-bashing.
-supermassivehugehugs- and there will be a batch of my special fudge brownies waiting by the USB port. I will not warn you against eating them all at once; you probably need to.
I wonder if this would work to minimize the problem?
http://www.bitboost.com/pawsense/
Of course, rat-like typing might be different enough from cat-like typing that the program wouldn’t detect it. I mean, only a few of the keys in
“`yw551h-y 67′wq7`e”
are even contiguous.
And rat hearing may be sufficiently different from cat hearing that the “sounds that annoy cats” encourages rats to even more vigorous keyboard-dancing.
coffee…
I overslept and still didn’t manage to get a decent amount of sleep tonight.
—
dianne,
That “conversation with my gay friend” sounds fake. But even if she didn’t really hurt a supposed friend like that, she’s still an idiot and I want to spit in her martini.
—-
kristinc,
That’s just vile. I’m so sorry.
AAArgh. Sorry to hear that, kristinc. If the horde does this food stamp thing again we’d better make sure someone turns the donations into cash, makes a plushy squid with a secret compartment, stuffs the cash into the secret compartment, and sends that to you instead of the sensible bank transfer.
Ah! Our coffee shops just call it steamed milk. Quite good with a shot of hazelnut flavor.
Have fun with the Pharyngula podcast, people, antipodeans have to sleep soon…(and take their little devil spawns out for amusement and education activities in the morning)
Nutmeg:
I’ve used Method Four for my orientation and gender issues. Just started talking about women, brought a girlfriend home for holidays, shaved my head, wore masculine clothing and binders, talked openly about how I don’t identify with a binary gender. My mother had always complained that she didn’t like LGBT people coming out because she felt like it was inappropriate to discuss personal things like that (my father killed himself when I was fourteen, so I never came out to him, but he’d always treated me like he already knew), so I went with Method Four because it seemed to be what she was asking for. Why constantly go on and on about how you’d prefer for people to come out if you weren’t hinting to your kid about how you wanted xem to come out, you know?
Of course, the problem with this method was that when I started a serious relationship with an AFAB person who then came out as FtM and transitioned, it became an excuse to see me as “really just a straight woman” and this relationship not as a genuine meeting of hearts that has nothing to do with gender, but as an acceptance of heteronormativity. Because obviously bisexuality doesn’t exist. :rolleyes:
Based on their experiences with your brother, I’m hoping that means your parents lack my mother’s denial skills.
@Nutmeg
I know how you feel. I got most of my early support via Skepchick comment treads and on a LGBT forum. I haven’t even been able to find a LGBT centre at my university. Though I did meat some great people when I visited an US universities earlier this year.
*waves to the CFI-MSU group*
I myself am trans and les/bi. I haven’t spoken to my parents yet either – other than telling my mom she shouldn’t expect any biological grandchildren through me. I have spoken a little to my two sisters though, but only preparations. I get my in-person support from two or three of my female friends. They’re all bisexual at least.
Anyway, if you want to talk, you can find my email address on the about page on my blog, which is linked from my name. It redirects to my real email.
But be warned, I’m very chatty >.<
In case y’all missed it, Crommunist hosted an excellent guest post about the study of masculinity as its own entity and how it derived from and dovetails with the study and concepts of feminism. The comment thread’s well worth reading too, with a reasoned discussion about MRAs. (Wiki fodder?)
http://freethoughtblogs.com/crommunist/?p=5133
Well, I got up early this morning and promptly depressed the fuck out of myself.
Trigger warnings of every damn thing apply there. It is the report of Freeh et al on the failure of Penn State to properly deal with Sandusky.
Nutmeg, I don’t really have any advice to give you. But be strong. You have friends here. You can vent here. You are supported.
Hi folks
Today, something extraordinary hapenened.
I spontaneously bought shoes, and what’s more, in one of those shops that are secretly run by Orthopedists. Saw them, tried them on, loved them, bought them. The only pair of flat shoes in the entire shop.
Nutmeg
Hugses
kristinc
Shit, shit, fuck, shit.
Can anybody imagine how much money the government would make if they spent so much time leaving through rich people’s accounts?
There’s a good reason my godson’s savings account is on my name (instead of making useless gifts he’ll get one really good one at age 18).
++++
Funny enough, I though that I’d done that long ago, by respecting my human life and that of my children and by not totally overbreeding this planet. God must love me.
*offers anklehugs to Esteleth* …It took me two days to read that, with numerous breaks for FTB and other soothing distractions.
and I second (nth, rather) what a great and well-defended space this is. Everyone coming out of the woodwork to vent and share their stories and problems and perspectives just makes it that much stronger.
@Ing #404
Conga Rats on your employment!
And thank you for that laugh. Even if it did make the sore muscle near my ribs hurt.
—
Mushy peas… With vinegar!
I’m gonna go buy some peas …
No, srsly!
Argh,my brain hurts:
These rats are doing a Conga for Ing!
Thinking about it, 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.
This finding of the Freeh report might be relevant to current discussion, actually:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/sports/ncaafootball/in-freeh-report-on-sandusky-failures-throughout-penn-state.html?pagewanted=all
I did not know this, and most of my career has been on campuses. Between the Clery Act and the provisions of Title IX requiring a safe environment for victims of sexual violence, obviously powerful protections are going unused because of lack of education about them. (I wonder if rape crisis center educators know about these laws?…)
*fidgets, waiting for the podcast to start*
Rebecca calls for Twitter hugs @SurlyAmy, who is (surprise, surprise) having a hard time at TAM
You show remarkable restraint
@kristinc
OUr country treats people disgracefully, I’m sorry. But at least that’s the price we pay for avoiding wellfare queens!
Oh, yeah.
YAY Ing!
Giliell – done! You’d think they’d at least be smart enough to know that if someone is complaining about harassment, the way to prove them wrong would NOT be to harass them.
@Giliell
Yeah, just saw Rebecca’s tweet.
Sent Surly Amy some <3-s :)
Seeing as they have anti-skepchick t-shirts there, I can imagine it being a little hostile.
BUT T-SHIRTS! PEOPLE FEEL SAFE!?
Comment by Amanda Marcotte over at Greta’s hugs thread, emphasis mine:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/greta/2012/07/13/hugs-handshakes/#comment-82127
re SurlyAmy and TAM: now she’s a “Watsonist”? oh FFS.
Ing,
It was early in the morning, I wasn’t particularly imaginative.
And since I wrote something about rolling in kerosine and lighting a match to a certain troll a couple of days ago, I’ve felt guilty and I don’t really want to go into some sort of violent fantasy descriptions.
If they were smart they would not be anti-harassment policies in the first place.
Um. Is the podcast happening?
Shouldn’t it be on in about an hour?