This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly.
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Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
This is the lounge. You can discuss anything you want, but you will do it kindly.
Status: Heavily Moderated; Previous thread
Ahhhh, a sunny day!
Confederate flag stupidity isn’t limited to the US. A Saskatchewan man has launched a complaint to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, claiming negative media coverage of the issue promotes hatred
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/life/Sask+Confederate+flag+supporter+files+human+rights/11230042/story.html
Morgan @ 173: my brain went somewhere else when you said “bears”; my older brother would say “No, Mormons are generally not tasty at all”.
Lynna, have you seen the Pie and Beer Day participating venues list? I’m feeling all nostalgic about Squatters now . . . .
And I’m driving the black Probe. 130 in the shade of the cabin….
“Bright light”
“Bright light”
“Mogwai”
FtB’s notification system is wonky again.
Tony!
Aww, thank you!
And I know that feeling. I do the same thing too, though mine might be more extreme and due to different causes. I think most people have a threshold like that, some are just lower or higher. Kinda like pain tolerance, I guess. Still a good self-realization, of course. And I’m happy my news made you that happy. Hopefully we can be toasting to new jobs together in a couple of days. :)
My issue stems from the toxic masculinity crap of my father. Crying was bad and “if you cry, I’ll give you something to cry about” type shit.
So I need to be overloaded and overwhelmed before I let it out. Which often leads to me to breaking down and finally crying over stupid shit, like a dumb commercial I’ve seen before but all of a sudden *all the feels*.
Which leads to the whole “women crying spontaneously hehe” type of comments of course. If no one else is around, my broken brain picks up the slack.
(later, no comment numbers since they don’t copy/paste and I stupidly forgot that >.<)
Oh, those kind of interviews are nerve wrecking. *crosses fingers*
And I hope the trick with the food for your kitty works out and she's okay. *crosses fingers*
I'm terrified of something like that happening to our cats now. One of them always tries to eat plastic too and I'm so paranoid about it now that I'll wake up if I hear rustling during the night.
—————-
Rowan
Oh no, poor namesake! I’m sorry. :(
At least she’s in great hands and has had a much better life because of you.
That’s fantastic about helping Tony’s kitty and so sweet.
————————-
Giliell
Booo restructuring. I hope nothing changes with his lab and ya’ll can stick your plans.
And Fuck Capitalism.
——————-
Thanks everyone for all the congrats and well wishes. This’ll sound clique but it really wouldn’t have happened without all ya’lls help and I can’t thank you enough for everything ya’ll have done for us.
I wish I could reply to all ya’ll but time and spoons are in short supply. *hugs* and *higs*
Meanwhile….I got Stuff Done today. Paperwork, library trip, emailing. Everything so far is going smoothly for my job.
Lots of calling places, usually just leaving messages but there is one place I’m going to tomorrow to check out their clothes. Since it’s all donations there’s no guarantee or anything, but it’s worth a shot.
The frustrating part is for school clothes and supplies most just say “call your child’s school” but the school isn’t answering their phone. And I haven’t found any places yet for that stuff. Sure, she’s got almost 3 weeks still but I can’t risk not getting it. I’ll be working then and won’t be able to call during the day. And that shit goes quick. There’s also her shoes that are so small they’re hurting her feet now. :(
Unfortunately, Mom and Husband got kicked out of their friend’s place this morning. Apparently, Mom’s Husband woke their friend up screaming, cussing, and throw things claiming their friend stole his dollar.
Which is utterly fucking ridiculous. Their friend not only put their ass on the line to take them in, but shared food, tobacco and gave them money. Not a lot sure, but enough to get Mom’s meds and fax paperwork and shit.
Their friend actually lives in the same complex as me, just a couple doors down. Such a generous and lovely person. I don’t believe Mom’s husband at all.
Now they are back on the street for a couple days until they get their first SS check. While she’s recovering from surgery. And every time I see them, I have issues with the way he treats her. None of it is right and she won’t leave him and she’s gone so far and changed so much…
*sigh*
JAL,
My cash situation is always precarious, but I live in a place with a very active community support system for families in need. One of the benefits of living in a very small town. If you could let me know what you need for Little One I am sure I could acquire some decent stuff and ship it to you. Would this be reasonable?
JAL,
You can email me at morganmeeker at the gmail thingy.
We had a recent restructuring in my department. There is a new initiative, called “know thy product”. Somebody is the R&D expert on two of the three products….and they pretend I am the expert on the third. But they need to look forward, as I need to retire to take care of somebody full time.
Tony! The Queer Shoop @464 latest Lounge run
Grandma always told me she took the time to think positives at the times I was interviewed. I did the same for you today (it was during the coffee break).
I am fully aware that I have no surnatural power (frankly I somewhat regret it, but let’s be honest… :) but I loved Grandma and I really wish you can step into something you love doing.
Ah, the joys of living near the Lake in Chiwaukee. One of the temps on my dashboard is from an airport, about 4 miles inland. The other is a site near the Lake. About 10 degrees difference, with the near the lake being the higher temp 71 vs 61 (???). Here a Casa la Pelirroja, we are near the lake temp (69). I suspect we will cool off overnight….find the blankets for the Redhead.
So what are the odds PZ would want this crocheted catipus ? It has a monocle and a cute lil’ hat.
JAL,
Oh, that would be so awesome, thank you! I’ll go email you now…
…and sent! :D
So.
The memorial was Saturday. This past Saturday. And it was… I can’t say it was “fun”, but it went well.
Paul was a talker. He loved to just chat. And he loved his family and his friends. And he loved good food.
He’d have loved the gathering in his honor.
Paul… Paul helped me through a depressive episode. One of the bad ones. He let me camp out in his living room, and made sure that if I wasn’t going to be functional, well, at least I was well fed and non-functioning.
WMDKitty @15:
I’m glad the funeral went well for you. My sympathies on the loss of your friend.
Ya’ll might get a kick out of this (Lynna, I thought you specifically might find this amusing):
CBS to debut ‘Braindead’ in summer 2016:
Lost my kitty Chloe earlier this year, best kitty ever… only 4 years old. She was born with only 1 kidney.
Moved from CA to NY… been here just under a month… getting reacquainted with kitty Tony who I haven’t seen in years… he was in rough shape, I figured he had diabetes, doc confirms it. So now he’s counting on me to take care of him and get him healthy again.
He seems happy to have me back. Seems healthier already.
You know, one day I will learn that if I combine the Thursday and Saturday shopping, I should take enough money and not just the Thursday shopping amount…
And boxes…
Talking ’bout money, here’s a #1 story. It’S so typical of her.
This morning I noticed that with the hot and humid weather the bread had gone mouldy so #1 needed to buy breakfast at the baker’s van. I reached into my change box and handed her 60ct for a bretzel with cheese. When we came to the van and it was time to pay, the lady informed us that it’s 65ct. Oh. I must say I don’t know how much the bretzel is, I thought it was 60 ct, because on the rare occasions #1 needs to buy her breakfast I usually hand her a buck and don’t ask for change because I want her to learn that if you don’t spend money now, it is there for later and I don’t want her to buy some crap just to soend the money cause it will be gone anyway.
Of course my purse was back in the car, but a friend who was standing in line behind us paid our missing 5ct (and the lady had already said she’d waive it). Now, you want to know the point of this story, right?
When we walked up the stairs to the school #1 informed me “I knew it was 65ct all along!”
thunk
*hugs*
Tony
thumbs continue being held.
Lynna
The really sad thing is that BYU hosts THE best and most extensive corpus of American English…
JAL
*hugs*
Fuck abusive relationships. I hope one day your mum can break free of her husband.
+++
THanks everybody for the moral support. I’m just emotionally exhausted right now. We still don’t know anything concrete about Mr’s job. Information is contradictive. One is that all people working under big boss X (about 800 people!) are affected, that would include him, another one is that service is not affected, which would also be him. We really hope for the latter. Of course we’d still fight in solidarty with the people still affected, but dodging that bullet wouldn’t let me lose sleep.
There’s a nice humble bundle with lots of comic books.
20+ photos that will annoy the perfectionist in you.
Some of the ones that annoyed me most were:
#1
#3
#4
#7
#34
and the worst one of all #36.
Do pay attention to the numbering as well. I think that was deliberate. And annoying.
Oh boy did they ever trip my perfectionist filter.
****
Before I go to bed, I want to share something with all of ya’ll because I can’t keep this horrible image to myself. Earlier tonight I was sitting in my bed and one of those annoying little flying roaches decided to park itself on my leg. Of course I freaked out and flung it across the room. I remarked on FB that I’d be happy if I woke up tomorrow and all mosquitoes and roaches in the world were gone. But then my dumb brain had to go and imagine what would happen in the wake of that. What would mother nature do? She’d get rid of them by combining them into one animal. Mosquiroach. Roachito. And they’d be the size of waterbugs.
::shudder::
G’nite all.
http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/23/britains-forgotten-slave-owners-review
(as usual, “don’t read (some of) the comments” …)
Well, to have some good news, I got a 1.7 on my thesis (1.0 being the highest, 1.3 second, then 1.7). I know hwere the weaknesses are in my thesis so I’m quite satisfied.
Tony, saw the new pic and I love it! Great shot.
Giliell, that’s good news!
Toddler killed by tipped over dresser
I’m not really any wiser as to whether and how Ikea kits and instructions differ from Europe to the USA, but if they don’t, then the parents should stop putting the blame on other people and start realising that their negligence killed their child. When the little one was a little more than a year I plucked her from the high shelf in the nursery, out of about 2m height. I always joke that she’s the kid because of whom Ikea tells you to screw your furniture to the wall.
You know, I’m the last person to hold her hand over a corporation, but I don’t see how you can blame them if you don’t follow clear instructions…
Well done for your thesis, Giliell!!! (and I’m continuing to cross my fingers for your OH’s job news)
From the other story in that article: “The wardrobe had come with metal brackets to attach it to the wall, which the Lamberts had not used, but they said that the restraints were “woefully inadequate” anyway. The case was ultimately settled out of court.”
No. They have no idea if the restraints were “woefully inadequate”, given that they didn’t even use them. I have no patience for people who knowingly ignore safety requirements and then try to sue the manufacturer when the item performs exactly as advertised. “You must attach this to the wall using these things or it will tip over.” Yep, tips over if you don’t attach it to the wall using those things.
Good luck to Giliell’s spouse and Tony and everybody and hugs to all.
carlie
Also, we have dismissed safety items as “woefully inadequate”. Then we went out and got something we deemed adequate. Because “let’S ignore the problem” is not a sensible response to “this meassure will not make this dangerous thing safe”.
Fifty Shades of Socialist Feminism.
David Pence, writing in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, wants a new crusade:
These wars — they’re religious. Will the West take its proper side?
Need it be said that the “proper” side is the Christian side?
Neil Elliot, an Episcopal priest, responds to David Pence:
Counterpoint: Why the Crusades are still a bad idea
And here’s a little story about how white supremacy gets transmitted.
I’ve mentioned before that we live in a pretty diverse neighbourhood, which you can see in #1’s friends. I wouldn’t want to move back to my hometown simply because it’S too white. And because #1’s a smart kid, and she’s being raised by me, she has already noticed that PoC are being thought as lesser. You can see it in statements like “It’s unfair that people say the black girl can’t be the princess and must be the servant. Black girls can be princesses, too!” And still white supremacy settles comfortably within her totally not consiously racist thoughts.
We had another conversation yesterday about her friends and their brown skin, because she mentioned that she’S glad her skin isn’t brown. Taken aback I asked her why she thinks so, because there’s nothing wrong with brown skin. She said yeah, that’s true, it’s only important that you’re a good person. I said yeah, I mean, your friends J and J and S, they’re wonderful people. And she said “Yes, for me it is as if their skin weren’t even brown.” My jaw hit the floor. We then had a talk about how all skin colours are just a part of a person like hair colour and that while you shouldn’t judge people on their colour, you also shoudn’t pretend that they don’t have a skin colour and that her skin has a colour, too.
And that’s my kid. I know it’s not my place to tell how much I succeed at being an anti-racist ally, but I pride myself on being better than the average person (not that that’s difficult). You can now imagine what happens in families where totally not consiously racist parents don’t even think about these things…
The protester in the photo at this article is carrying a sign saying “No nukes for Iran”. Does she think that the current talks with Iran are aimed at giving them access to nuclear weapons??
Tony @17, about the “Braindead” debut on CBS. Sounds hilarious. I love the concept. I also respect the people involved in producing “The Good Wife,” so I have high hopes. 2016, though — long time to wait.
Lucy @3, I just so happen to have the list of fine establishments participating in “Pie-n-Beer” festivities. Your favorite, Squatters, is included:
This is quirky-
Why Britain has secret ‘Ghost Trains’:
It’s so counterintuitive (to me anyway) that it’s cheaper to keep the trains running.
Kevin @33: Unfortunately, some pundits and politicians on the far-right are claiming that President Obama’s goal is to make sure Iran gets Nukes. Most of the anti-Iran-deal blather is bonkers and easily dismissed. One of the more substantial arguments against the deal highlights the “24-day window” that seems to allow Iran time to cheat. This window of time is misunderstood.
Unfortunately, some pundits and politicians on the far-right are claiming that President Obama’s goal is to make sure Iran gets Nukes.
Secretary of State John Kerry and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz explain:
Quote is from a Washington Post Op-ed.
Also, regarding that ability to detect traces of nuclear activities, actual tests have been run:
Politico link
Moreover, the 24-day window applies to newly suspicious locations, not to existing facilities. We have 24/7 surveillance in existing facilities.
Secretary Kerry is being questioned by Congress today. I watched a few snippets. Kerry seems solid on the facts. Meanwhile, at least one Republican politician is saying Kerry “acted like Pontius Pilate.” [headdesk]
Breaking in the current discussion from a forum with farmers, agriculture scientists and policy makers that is very rich in discussions and exchanges.
I won’t give much context since I will just transpose (it is probably true at so many different levels that I take the freedom doing so), but this was the thought from a Surinamese kassava producer women who tried many transitions and economic innovations in her life apparently with less success than expected.
We’ve been bethreading with dreams and life happenstencies recently, and I really liked what she told:
“When our dream broke, it is generally replaced with an even greater dream”.
Good wishes to everyone, and let the dreams come true.
Oddities from the recently released compendium of Donald Trump’s personal finances, (paperwork he had to file as part of his bid for the presidency of the US):
Trump reported making $550,000 running the Central Park carousel, and another $8.6 million operating the Central Park ice skating rink.
Well, this is odd. My son lives in Seattle, and he hasn’t said a thing to me about it being a Sharia law zone.
Uh, no, Mr. Trump. You are completely misinterpreting this. The Border Patrol union in Laredo did not want to associated with your dumbfuckery.
The union made it clear that they did not want to endorse Trump.
In other news, Rachel Maddow took on Rick Santorum.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rachel-maddow-rick-santorum-gay-marriage
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/rick-santorum-takes-long-view-on-2016-489855555817
Does Mr Trump always speak of himself in the third person?
Lynna #39
Freedoms such as mistreating women, gay people, trans people and atheists. Yup. Totally antithetical.
Saad
Well, honestly, what god-fearing christian wants to go around in a long dress wearing a dishtowel on their head, huh? Yeah, totally antithetical.
In other news, I have realized that I really hate the people who say “I oppose [racism / misogyny / transphobia / homophobia / etc.] because I am a moral person”. I mean, less that I hate the people but I hate the argument. They usually back that up with a “No, really, I am!” (paraphrase), and I’ve always hated this argument, but I just figured out why.
And it’s because (a) these people are also usually all for Freeze Peach and ‘neutral’ platforms (that of course let all kinds of bigotry stand, but Freeze Peach and all that) and (b) because they have to qualify themselves ‘as a moral person’. Like, who the fuck cares? You should just be opposed to [racism / misogyny / transphobia / homophobia / etc.] because that is shitty asshole behaviour that causes a great deal of harm (to put it mildly). You don’t have to go and say that it’s because you’re such a moral person, it’s like you’re following the party line because it’s the party line, not because you honestly believe it. “People should be moral, and I want to be a moral person, therefore I will state that I oppose [racism / misogyny / transphobia / homophobia / etc.] because that is what moral people do. Now I will state this, that will make it true, and I win!” And yet their actual opinions… well… Well. It’s like they’re trying hard to create an acceptable, pleasant image of themselves rather than actually being pleasant.
Yes, I was trying to skim through the reddit thread. Procrastinating. Ugh.
Giliell, professional cynic -Ilk- #32
Well done!
Unfortunately, we had a (transient but still) bad experience as parents, because one of our kids had difficulties of integrating the local Caribbean culture when we moved and we totally overlooked it. That’s because we never had imagined things like this could occur. The problem is that if you don’t speak with your kids about racism etc., you let other people do. And other people can really be as…
Anxiety was born in my kid because they felt different from their own dad, and the very fact that they met with my adoptive brother, which is African, led to more confusion (philosophical brotherhood coadoption, not a juridic adoption, but when we say brother we mean it).
Now it’s gone back to normal, but it’s sometimes really difficult when you live in a bubble world where racism does not occur*, how do you do to reintegrate the real world??
*as incredible as it seems, I’ve long been in a state of denial about racism (curiously less so with regard to sexism, but I think I can thus understand why some women may not spot it: you grow up learning to dismiss it completely), rather, it was something wrong that I did and not the other folks behaving wrong. Western culture is especially good at dismissing its natural biases.
Giliell,
Congrats!
Video at the link.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/23/1405024/-Video-shows-man-surrendering-to-the-NYPD-w-his-hands-up-before-he-gets-mauled-by-an-officer
So if surrendering with your hands up doesn’t work, what are you supposed to do? Maybe you could just start punching yourself?
Another reason why Jeb Bush should not be elected president of the USA: He wants to get rid of Medicare.
Talking Points Memo link
Jeb made noises about replacing Medicare with a new system, but from what I’ve seen, conservative politicians do not replace programs that help the elderly, poor, disabled, and/or lower-income populations. They cut the existing programs whenever and however they can, and they have zero good ideas about replacements. It’s as if they conveniently forget the replacement step.
Funny or Die skewered Donald Trump pretty well. Scroll down for the video.
New York looks set to increase minimum wage to $15
I hope it gets signed. People like Mr. Ramirez deserve it.
To answer rq’s question up-thread, Donald Trump sometimes talks about himself as a royal “we,” and he sometimes tells stories in which he refers to himself in the third person and in the first person.
Trump also claims that running a golf course prepares him to run the country. Here’s a story that covers most of the above:
Most of the staff at the Trump National Doral are Latino immigrants. So, if that’s a sign of a Trump-run USA, we’ll have more Latino immigrants working in our service industries.
BTW, did you know that Trump has a coat of arms? The family seal features a coat of armor, a clenched fist, and a raised spear. The Doral resort decor features this family seal on napkins, stone carvings, bathrobes, the bottoms of trash bins, etc. From this, I think we can extrapolate how Trump would redecorate the Whitehouse should he be elected president. (There will also be a large, framed photo of Trump in every room … reminds me of Saddam Hussein’s taste in decor.)
Ron Johnson, Republican rightwing doofus and a Wisconsin Senator that Republican leadership deemed fit for membership on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, upped the clownishness factor in today’s hearings on the Iran deal.
Johnson arrogantly lectured Ernest Moniz (US Energy Secretary, M.I.T. physicist, and all around intelligent guy) on the dangers of “electro-magnetic pulse weapons.” EMP weapons are one of many big-boogie-man-under-the-bed fears that right-wingers future with constant blather and misinformation. Moniz said he had no idea what Johnson was talking about, so Johnson assured Moniz that he would send him some information. Talk about a waste of time. And WTF was Johnson doing bringing that up in a discussion of the deal Obama fostered with Iran?
Johnson’s super PAC is also airing ads that show a fake, photoshopped image of Obama shaking hands with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Never happened. Johnson’s PAC is fundraising off this image. When questioned, Johnson said he didn’t know what “a photoshop” is.
Oh, almost forgot this: Republican leadership also make Ron Johnson the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Ignorance must be a prerequisite.
How did I get “future” when I intended to type “nurture” in comment 51? Mysteries of autocorrect.
Saad @49, I with you on this. I’m so excited about fast food workers in New York getting $15 per hour that you would think I lived there and was one of those workers.
Justice, fairness and all that.
The world is a golf course. Woo. When do I get my little cart to get around? Or do I not qualify as an employee? (I’m not holding out any hopes for membership.)
From Smithsonian Magazine, why dolls are so creepy
A look into the life of Miss Major, trans matriarch of the Bay Area:
(long, but good read; I recommend it; here’s an excerpt)
Fuck. There’s been a theater shooting in a Lafayette, LA movie theater:
CNN reports that it was a 58-year-old white male:
Usually I take easy steps for happiness and it’s working well, just thinking about how lucky I am to meet people with so various experiences and how nice it is to enjoy, simply enjoy.
But tonight, I don’t know if I will be able to sleep. I really feel bad, and it’s frustrating because I feel bad instead of someone else. But I tried to keep ethics to an acceptable level, dissonance is just what I’m paid with. Tasting bitter. And I really don’t like bitterness this time.
Tonight, I helped someone finding condoms to cheat on his wife.
He was really going to whatever. Fuck it. I keep saying to myself that I might have helped saving his wife from something bad, but it really feels like I helped him instead.
I am really ashame. Please somebody tell me I did the right thing. Holly shit, fucking holly shit. Random people smiled at me tonight but I only wanted to bark badly.
Not that long ago Allison Hope Weiner interviewed a mass shooting expert. He talked about how a movie theater shooting is a kind of a worst case scenario. Darkness gives cover for the killer and there are often a lot of people densely packed in a closed space.
A clip from Crime Time
I wish these kinds of shootings won’t become an epidemic. At least one thing is clear, guns should not be allowed in movie theaters and the ban should be enforced vigorously.
Okidemia @ 58
In my opinion, lowering significantly the risk that venereal diseases are spread to the wife or other people is a more substantial thing than the damage to the relationship and may affect many more people.
Okidemia @ 58
Enabling condom use may have been the only thing you had any control over.
Ice Swimmer (was Nakkustoppeli)
thanks, it’s not always easy to acknowledge that we are not the one deciding. A colleague of mine decided not to help, and it felt really easy for they. The horrible time is when you realise the guy is not going to care enough that somebody else has to.
Frankly I hate the guy for that. I’ll tell him not to involve other people but have what it does instead next time.
What I don’t understand is why I’m the one feeling bad in that story.
Morning
Last day of school for #1. I’m expecting a brilliant school report and need to get her a surprise. Then it’s 6 weeks of summer holidays. The first three weeks the daycare is open and they have a great programm. Makes you want to volunteer. Then it’s our holiday and I have to remember that however unsure our future suddenly looks, we’re still incredibly lucky and right now we’re still in the same position we were last week. We’re not just a couple, but also a great team and we’ll see through this together. Nothing will happen over night and even if the worst case scenario hits us, I should be then be able to provide for us.
Okidemia
Hugs if you want them.
Please remember that other people’s bad decisions are NOT your moral failure. Your colleage, the one who simply refused, took the easy road. In German I’d say “hat es sich leicht gemacht”. It’s one of the things that doesn’t exactly translate into English. They did not act more moral than you by refusing. There was no good choice for you in that situation, only fucked up and really fucked up.
As for the conversations about racism, yeah, it’s another piece of evidence that just “colourblindness” doesn’t work. You need to have conversations. You actuvely need to teach anti-racism and consciousness because we’Re swimming in a toxic racist soup. Would you believe that it was #1 who had to teach her teacher in first grade the a certain colour is called “apricot” and not “skincolour”?
rq
No little cart for you, peon. It’s for your own good, because long walks are healthy. Oh, btw, we’ll still expect you to move as fast as if you had a little car, or we’ll deduct it from your payment. If you want to increase your wage, increase your godsdamn value.
Re. IKEA. It is my understanding that 14 million* of this specimen of furniture has been sold. The number of people seriously hurt in accidents are in single digits. That is goddamn safe.
*or was it 28 million?
birgerjohansson
I have that exact same piece of furniture. Actually, I have that piece in three varieties: 4 drawers, 6 drawers and 8 drawers. The 8 drawers version is the one that killed the kid. I like the model because it is very solid. It is damn heavy. Damn heavy means it takes a lot to make it tip, but when it does, you cannot hold it anymore. A toddler stands no chance. But a toddler who pulls out the lower drawers and climbs on them will easily make it tip.
Needless to say, mine are screwed to the walls, even though none is in the kids’ room. And it’s shown in the instructions. The danger of tipping over is depicted in the instructions. The material is included apart from the screws you need for your wall because there’s many different kinds of walls.
Okidemia, they would have done it regardless of what you had to say. If you had swayed them from doing it right at that moment, it still would have happened later at another time. You managed to do risk mitigation, which is as much as you could have.
Mango lassi recipe for anyone interested.
I think cardamom goes with sweets and not with lassis, but the saffron seems like a nice touch.
The classic sweet and salty lassi is still king of lassis though. :)
Ugh. “King”…
Okidemia
I am “the other woman” in my relationship. I will agree with other posters here and say you did the right thing with the condoms. As to any moral or ethical concerns you have to the situation, don’t entangle yourself.
It appears the guy who shot several people last night in a Lafayette, Louisiana movie theater was a tea bagger.
Hulk Hogan went on a couple of racist tirades. The WWE has scrubbed all mention of him from their site and have completely dropped him.
I’m not really a regular in these lounge threads, but with the end of the Thunderdome I don’t see a more appropriate place for this—after all, it’s not related to any of PZ’s other posts. Frankly, I’m here not to follow some “off topic” rule, but seeking people who may be able to help me understand something.
Some background: a few posts ago, in the “How stupid are liberals” thread I saw that some libertarian-type argument about … well, the same brouhaha that libertarians always argue about. But I saw something at the end which really grinds my gears: “If you don’t like it, leave.”
Those exact words weren’t used, but the phrasing is irrelevant. So is the argument against which it was leveled; I happened to agree with the speaker on that front, but think the argument form itself is inappropriate. (I’m not linking to the post because of that irrelevancy; if you try to argue about those things here, I will ignore you.) Each time I hear that sort of rhetoric, I can’t help but imagine how it might be used against the positions I hold dear (blockquoting hypothetical arguments):
Survivors of abuse will hear this argument and immediately recognize a “blaming the victim” argument. Even weaker phrasing can clearly deny the agency and humanity of those who it is levied against:
These examples make this argument clearly of immense valuable to abusers and oppressors, so hearing it from those I would consider sociopolitical allies gives me cold chills. If you don’t see this as oppressive behavior, why not?
Alexander – I think the Mended Drum thread is probably better than this one to raise your points. It does cover off-topic ideas, and the lounge is more geared towards hanging out and personal stories than deep debate/discussion. You’ll probably get more “bites” of people responding in that thread.
Alexander, that is a Mended Drum topic.
Carlie & Nerd of Redhead, #73 & 74:
Whoops, my bad! Thank you for the correction: reposting there.
Yes, Republican leaders in Congress are still trying to repeal Obamacare:
Most people have lost count of how many times Republicans have tried to repeal Obamacare, but for a rough idea, 56 to 58 is about right.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/mcconnell-adds-obamacare-repeal-to-highway-bill-drama-20150724
Has the Birther movement finally run out of steam?
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/obama-visits-kenya-without-fuss-from-birthers-490608195667
Regarding Tony’s link up-thread, where the shooter is identified as a Tea Bagger: the excerpts from online postings show that the guy was also a racist and a homophobe.
Police in Denton, Texas tasered a man who trying to help a distraught woman:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/24/1405308/-Good-Samaritan-helping-mother-having-mental-health-episode-is-tasered-by-police-in-Denton-Texas
Rusty Houser was also a white supremacist, or at least that is the conclusion we can draw from his postings on the forum “Golden Dawn.” He admired Hitler and even the Westboro Baptist Church.
Some caution is advised when coming to a conclusion here because the online comments have not been verified yet as the John Russell Houser that is the Lafayette shooter.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/john-russel-houser-louisiana-gunman
It looks like The New York Times was suckered into posting negative coverage of Hilary Clinton that was wrong. You’re going to see a lot of coverage in the rightwing that quotes the bogus NYT article, so beware.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/doj-no-hillary-clinton-criminal-inquiry
More the white supremacist leanings of the Lafayette shooter: https://medium.com/hatewatch-blog/lafayette-theater-shooter-fan-of-hitler-neo-nazis-and-antigovernment-conspiracies-38a16afc9643
“I was just listening to you,” he said after being introduced, “and you know we all love you and Mika [Brzezinski], but I was listening to you talking about [Jeb] Bush and [Marco] Rubio and a couple of others and you sort of forgot to mention my name even though I’m creaming them all in the polls. I don’t understand what you’re doing.”
That’s Donald Trump speaking to Joe Scarborough, one of the co-hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show today.
You just have to laugh. Maximum ego display by Trump. He keeps trumping himself with this stuff. For one thing, he is basically wrong, Scarborough has been talking about Trump a lot. For weeks.
http://www.salon.com/2015/07/24/stop_being_so_thin_skinned_joe_scarborough_laughs_at_donald_trumps_claim_that_hes_being_ignored/
A woman’s place in the church is to just shut up, according to the shooter Lafayette.
https://www.facebook.com/rusty.houser.56/posts/1446658898882609:0
Let’s see, so far we have:
Tea Party member
Admires Hitler and Nazis in general
Admires Timothy McVeigh
Hates and distrusts black people
Loves David Duke and the KKK
Homophobe who admires Westboro Baptist Church
Misogynist
A black preacher objects to church members demonizing the LGBT population.
Excerpt:
YouTube link
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce can usually be counted on to back Republican politicians and a conservative agenda. Now the Chamber of Commerce is fed up … and they plan to do something about it.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/chamber-of-commerce-republican-incumbent-congress-120557.html
If the Chamber is successful in taking out some of the Republican hardliners in the next election, that will be a good thing.
Ali Viator Martin and Jena Legnon Meaux helped save lives during the Lafayette shooting last night:
There’s a GoFundMe account set up to raise funds for their hospital bills.
President Obama speaking about his greatest regret, gun violence, hours before the incident in Lafayette.
While I was at my urologist’s office, waiting to see the doctor, they had CNN on the TV in the waiting room. They asked one of their lawyers about the shooting, and the lawyer had actually been a deputy sheriff prior to going to law school. While he had little doubt about his ability to use a firearm safely in the theater shooting situation, he had severe doubts about the regular Joe/Jill Blow being able to make the proper judgement decisions during such a situation, especially when all the wannabe hero’s are all drawing their weapons at the same time. He implied that a lot of “friendly fire” deaths would likely result. DUH.
The reason the killer committed suicide was the quick response by the police, trapping him in the theater. Then, he turned the gun on himself.
The Layfeyette shooter couldn’t get a concealed carry permit, due to his domestic abuse. But he could still by a handgun???? WTF?
Mano Singham’s blog is adressing the Trump phenomenon:
“Why is Trump doing so well?” http://freethoughtblogs.com/singham/2015/07/24/why-is-trump-doing-so-well/#more-32011
Consensus: the Repubs have primed the tea party segment of the population for such a candidate for decades. And since Trump does not give a damn about the beltway insiders and party bigwigs, he is turning it against them.
So I’m moving tomorrow and I haven’t arranged for the internet connection yet. I’ll keep up a bit on the mobile.
Good news from Washington state: your pharmacist cannot refuse to sell Plan B to you.
KIRO TV news link
Oh, FFS, more county clerks are fighting for the right to refuse to process marriage licenses for same-sex couples.
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/canned-clerk-ind-county-employee-fired-for-refusing-to-process-same-sex
That New York Times story on the Clinton emails has turned out to be a total crock
It looks like Representative Trey Gowdy, the guy who is chairing the umpteenth Benghazi investigation for Republicans, leaked the bad info to the NYT newspaper. That the New York Times fell for it is depressing.
NYT editors tried to make a quick fix soon after the story was released. They succeeded in writing some incoherent shit that was difficult to parse. And get this, the bogus story still claims a request was made for a criminal inquiry, which is a lie.
As Representative Elijah Cummings said, “This is the latest example in a series of inaccurate leaks to generate false front-page headlines—only to be corrected later—and they have absolutely nothing to do with the attacks in Benghazi or protecting our diplomatic corps overseas.”
Well, this ought to endear the Donald to even more members of the press corps. /sarcasm
The Des Moines Register published an editorial critical of Donald Trump. Trump retaliated by refusing to issue press credentials to anyone from the Des Moines Register. This means that those reporters and columnists cannot attend any Trump events.
I see that, apart from the critical editorial, the Des Moines Register’s coverage of Trump has been a routine part of their coverage of all candidates in Iowa. Non-partisan.
Here’s Trump’s take on the issue: “I am not at all surprised by the Des Moines Register’s sophomoric editorial. The Des Moines Register has lost much circulation, advertising, and power over the last number of years. They will do anything for a headline, and this poorly written ‘non-endorsement’ got them some desperately needed ink.”
More details on the shooting in Lafayette. The shooter was more of a misogynist than has been covered so far in most media:
And so the bullshit begins:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bobby-jindal-gun-control-louisiana-shooting
Court smacks down pharmacy that refused to fill prescriptions on religious grounds.
Recipes, anyone?
Native cooking from savory to sweet: 5 easy snack recipes.
Inappropriate moment:
Tony!
I like your new avatar. You’re really quite handsome.
…end inappropriate moment. Nothing to see here. Move along.
ただいま！
*looks perplexed at Chigau’s #101*
chigau said, I’m home, to which we reply:
お帰りなさい o-kaeri nasai—welcome home!
CaitieCat
ありがとうございました。
Nerd
Run it through google translate.
When I get home from away, I yell that at my house as I come through the door.
So, I’m sitting on the patio, having a smoke and a drink.
A skunk just run over my foot.
and went on his way
Horde,
I am glad you are here. This is the only place where I can say I am sad and crying. Too much death, too much deliberate infliction of pain, too much hopelessness, too much deliberate evil. How do you teach people to care?
@Morgan: I guess you teach them that they can do something about it.
We feel powerless and hopeless, and at some point we just want to go on with our lives.
Also: Oliver Sacks on death: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/opinion/my-periodic-table.html
And: Obama even more on fire: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/25/politics/obama-kenya-kenyatta/
He’s suddenly started to be so muchmore outspoken lately.
Is it because he’s at the end of his presidency?
Me, I’m in the pillow fort.
I think I’m going to stay there for the rest of the year.
Our washing machine is broken. If you’re thinking “wait, didn’t Giliell just tell us about her broken washing machine a mere 4 months ago?”, you’re exactly right. Yes, our 4 months old washing machine has some problem and knocks out that particular safety thingy that prevents you from getting grilled by some randomn electricity that somehow is flowing where it isn’t supposed to flow.
The good thing is that since it’S within the first 6 months and therefore we’re safe and the vendor has to repair or exchange it.
But all the spoons I already borrowed are by now creating interest. My emotional state right now is “Greece”: totally broke.
Giliell, *hugs*
I moved, with a little help from my friends.
[Hugs] all with extra chocolate spoons for Giliell and Morgan.
Mended Drum is closed and gone for good.
I’m considering doing away with the lounge, too, but it seems to be free of the drama so far, so I’m inclined not to. That could change.
PZ
What do you want from us?
Nothing.
F.O. at 107, thanks for the link to the article by Oliver Sacks. That was beautiful. I have enjoyed Sacks’s writing before, but this piece seems to be particularly clear, and deceptively simple.
F.O.
Thank you for the link to Oliver Sacks’ article. His kind and gentle perspectives are not without sorrow, but they also possess a kind of optimism that sustains.
Hugs for Giliell. Appliances are evil.
Thanks to Anne and conga rats to Beatrice.
Once more into the breach, my friends.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150714-octopuses-fighting-ocean-science-animals/
Folks, I’m going to be scarce around here.
I can’t take this shit anymore.
Giliell, the Lounge has a whole lot more kindness present than anything else. You will be missed. I hope you won’t be gone long and I hope the shit that is plaguing you dissipates soon.
Giliell, extra hugs. I hope you feel up to coming back eventually, because I do enjoy reading your posts about creating things.
Keep well Giliell, we’ll still be here if you come back.
Take care Giliell.
Thanks folks
I love you, I really do. But this is PZ’s space and at the moment I’m not feeling very welcome.
Giliell, I understand the feeling. Take care
John Bradford is a Republican from Kansas.
Link
Yesterday, Saturday, another demonstration was held in Salt Lake City, a rally that featured a mass resignation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (mormons) — if you can call about 100 resignation a “mass resignation.”
These rallies that highlight a ritual of resigning from the mormon church have become an annual affair. Unthinkable a decade ago, and now commonplace. It gives me hope.
http://fox13now.com/2015/07/25/nearly-100-submit-resignation-letters-to-lds-church/
Yesterday was the hottest day of the summer so far, so not much got done. Today, I have put on my chef’s hat, and cooked the last of the fresh green beans, the fresh corn on the cob, and another 4 egg omelet for the Redhead’s breakfast for next week. I’m now resting before turning the remnants of last week’s rotisserie chicken carcass in chicken salad.
For dinner, it appears to be more smothered pork chops. The secret? Walk away for an hour on simmer. Falls apart with a fork. Redhead approved.
Giliell
*hugs*
35 of the women sexually assaulted or raped by Bill Cosby are photographed.
*sigh* It’s been a week of Mondays for me.
I’m not leaving, but I need a break, because right now, I’m feeling burned out.
Peace and love, I’m out.
Giliell
I’ll miss you. I hope you will return.
WMDKitty
Take care of yourself.
*sigh* Finally got the smothered pork chops ready, and the Redhead decided she didn’t want dinner (very tender and tasty were the chops). Maybe something in the middle of the night. *sigh*
At least I don’t have to cook for a day…
Hi all,
God I’m nervous. I need help again.
I haven’t received a call back from the bar I applied at early last week, nor the government job I applied for (this wasn’t in the service industry; I thought to really branch out, plus the government offers benefits). I’m hoping I will hear from the entertainment complex I had the interview with last week. They said they were going to wait four or five days before deciding, which would put that at Monday or Tuesday. I’m going tomorrow to check out this food truck in town that’s hiring full time. But in the meantime I have no funds coming in and rent is coming up. I was really, really close to not asking for help again, bc I feel I’ve asked (IMO) too many times. But I’m down to the wire and I don’t have much in the way of options. My rent is $412, and if anyone could pitch in money that would be amazing. Hopefully I’ll have something soon, because I really need to (for a bunch of reasons, including getting out of the house).
A good friend suggested something that I thought was a good idea. Since I feel awful asking for help, perhaps there’s a way I could give back. Since I have a good bit of time on my hands, and I’m a decent writer, if anyone knows of a socially progressive site that needs a writer, I could write for them on a volunteer basis. That way I can sort of give back for the kindness you folks have shown me. I just feel like I need to give something back, instead of taking. Thanks.
(my paypal is t-a-n-t-h-o-n-y-v- at the yahoo thingee; without the dashes obviously)
(p.s. Rowan, I haven’t forgotten, it’s just that without money I don’t even have transportation to get Kayta to a vet, so there’s no point in getting an estimate yet)
Giliell
*hugs*
Take care.
WMDKitty
*scritches*
+++
Moi, I have discovered that the worst thing about bee stings (multiple) is not the sting itself (*NOTE NO ALLERGIES HERE*) but the part where it starts itching and itching and itching and itching and itching and itching… And there’s one on the bottom of my foot.
At least my left ring finger is looking less like a sausage today.
Mano Singham: The origins of Scientology and Objectivism revealed (MUST-SEE!) http://freethoughtblogs.com/singham/2015/07/25/the-origins-of-scientology-and-objectivism-revealed/#more-32049
**
Rare tornadoes hit northern Sweden http://www.thelocal.se/20150725/tornadoes-hit-during-thunderstorms-in-northern-sweden they require great heat -rare as hen’s teeth up here.
**
(OT) Crossroads: Mock the Movie transcript. http://freethoughtblogs.com/lousycanuck/2015/07/26/ggc-2015-diyscizone-aow-mock-the-movie-overtime-crossroads-transcript-lotsa-colons-edition/#more-14377
Dan Aykroyd in a horror C-film?
“Thought we were going to see the Hollywood Sign.” “We will. We’re going to go kill a guy first. We’ll be there to bury the body.”
“Wait, that rock face. Was that where captain Kirk fought the Gorn!?”
Satire from Grey Britain:
“Increasingly evil and cunning seagulls open lettings agency” http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/uncategorized/increasingly-evil-and-cunning-seagulls-open-lettings-agency-20150727100518
Seagull Tom Booker said: “Swooping on ice creams is a mug’s game. What you want is a bunch of bedsits you can let out at an extortionate rate with loads of obscure fees piled on top.
Trainee nurse Emma Bradford said: “I rented a bedsit off the seagulls, their office reeks of fish and all the furniture is completely covered in birdshit.
“Also they have these tiny, evil eyes which I think is fairly common among the lettings industry.”
.
(To avoid overloading with links, I just post the titles here. You can google them for links)
NASA probe submits $11bn claim for ‘travel to work’ expenses
9/11 White House photos show Cheney looking guilty as hell
Middle-class drinkers slur something about ‘being able to handle it’
First-time buyers’ definition of London now includes Coventry
MPs’ parents ‘dreading the summer holidays’
Asking Kay Burley what’s wrong with her is ‘Pandora’s Box on steroids’
Greeks apologise with huge horse
Hipster-owned pets ashamed of their idiotic names
Tour de France reaches infamous wine tasting stage
Nazis ‘furious’ over links to British Royal Family
SNP to renounce nationalism in favour of ‘pissing off Cameron’
Greek credit rating identified as new pentaquark particle
Obama ‘frustrated by gun-loving shitheads’
Stone County (Missouri) sheriff defends “In God We Trust” stickers displayed on the back of police vehicles
Should it not be “In [name of that Roman god of wealth and penises] we trust”? Because wealth and being a complete prick are the common qualities of so many influential people.
Also, there is a Roman god of manure…
“The sky” (XKCD) http://xkcd.com/1556/
.
WATCH: Lewis Black’s side-splitting 2011 monologue about ‘President Trump’ is even more hilarious now http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/watch-lewis-blacks-side-splitting-2011-monologue-about-president-trump-is-even-more-hilarious-now/
.
The Faroe Islands are almost all mountains, but not a single one of them has a tree on it, so a lot of young Faroese children get a huge “Wow!” moment when they visits places like Norway or Sweden. Sorta like growing up in the proterozoic? http://satwcomic.com/great-nature
.
The misleading war on GMO’s ; The food is safe, the rethoric is dangerous. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/07/are_gmos_safe_yes_the_case_against_them_is_full_of_fraud_lies_and_errors.html
***
I have discovered the science fiction by Simon Morden*. He has a tetralogy about a grumpy physics doctor who becomes a cyberpunk hero by sort of default. First book good, later books better.
*in swedish, “morden” would mean “the murders”.
…I meant Priapus and Sterquilinus The latter would be the god of people who spews bullshit.
The Bush administration -although nominally fundie christian- was chiefly composed by Priapus worshippers.
awakeinmo, Ruiner of Things #69
Thanks. I don’t think I have much trouble with the complexity of mulitple relationships, apart from not considering being able to deal it on ethical level (there is probably no simple way to deal with it, and anything human sorted out have always been incomplete or screwing up somewhere, I have yet to see a middle unmuddled way…). I’m going for the very simple way of being fair because it’s the easier one, but it works only as long as life is “easy”. I perfectly understand people will have to elaborate on this base strategy, and I’m fine with it. Real life is not a binary compile in a logical world with either rights and wrongs.
But the willingness to go unprotected with a one night stand with an unknown folk while committed and parenting on a regular basis is not something I consider ethical for sure. Especially since I was the one to ask other people for condoms as if it were for myself around people that know my situation. My life can be dramatically damaged by this, and the botherance is me having to ponder heavily about the risks I was taking with regard to potential health benefits for people I didn’t know (his wife and kids).
That said, my cocnerns only bothered that specific day. There’s room for me to weight in ethical subtleties but the annoyance is gone.
As far as I’m concerned, I think the perspective of radical honesty is probably an interesting way to go. The only thing with radical honesty is that it fails many jokes in the daily routine… :)
Oh, and I am back to an erratic and difficult connection to the intertubes (back to the jungles). I don’t have much time to write, but I have something interesting about mosquitoes (I think I may convert Tony back into admirating these beauties :). Maybe later if Lounge is still standing.
A disconcerting thing happened on my way to the Lounge …
An old friend visited at the weekend; xe is Spanish/French and has been living for the last couple of decades in Brazil. Seems that an Argentinean ex-pat xe got to know there quite some years ago, who hung out occasionally with xir family (and taught xir spawn to make proper pizza) was recently revealed to be living in Brazil under a false name, wanted (and now arrested) by Interpol for crimes against humanity. Turns out that this charming and apparently socially and politically aware person is a torturer who fled Argentina and created a false identity after the fall of the military dictatorship. Friend and xir family were about as gut-kicked as you might imagine to find this out (it’s weird to think that of xir own parents, the French one is a child-of-deportees (jewish deportees, I mean, under nazism in WW2) and they’re all life-long left-wingers whom this person would have murdered without batting an eye had they crossed paths under the dictatorship).
Since there’s nowhere else to announce it, I’ll just note here that I’m resigning as a monitor. Partly because I’m just not so regular a commenter or even reader as I used to be, but the shit Giliell refers to@117 is also a factor.
opposablethumbs #142
That barely surprises myself. Brasil is a famous place for transfuges, whatever they did in the past. You better never ask long term residents why they migrated to Brasil in the first place…
Tony, send me an email. I may have a lead on a writing job. It’s sporadic, by-the-project work for the guy that founded Global Health Equity Foundation, http://www.ghef.org.
You can reach me via email by visiting artmeetsadventure.com.
There’s more bad news out of Texas. This news is kind of typical (anti-equal-rights), and not typical at the same time. The not-typical part is the odd action taken by the Texas State Supreme Court.
Republicans hold all of the seats on that court, and those Republicans took some fairly unprecedented actions to halt the implementation of anti-discrimination measures aimed at ending discrimination against LGBT persons in employment (general), housing, being hired to fulfill city contracts (specific).
Slate link
There are two women, and seven men on the Texas State Supreme Court. All right-wingers.
Well, shit.
*hugs* for everyone esp. Tony
*hopping aboard the speeding Thread*
‘Mornin’, all.
–
JAL:
*hugs*
My own, similar problem in this respect is all about my mother’s approach to parenting—if you cry about something, that means it matters, and if it matters, then it’s a weapon put into her hands—for later.
And emotion-tied weapons have no expiration date.
Never brief the enemy.
Hurray for Getting Stuff Done!
–
*appropriate gestures of support and sympathy* for WMDKitty. I’m sorry about your friend.
–
Best of luck to your Tony-kitty, Jafafa Hots.
–
Congrats and Well Done on the thesis, Giliell!
–
Kevin Anthoney:
Yes.
Because .
–
Okidemia:
*hugs*
You are not the keeper of this man’s conscience.
Adding condoms to the situation-as-described seems to me to take a whole range of additional Possible Bad Outcomes off the table—which I count a good thing.
Social conditioning.
I see this situation as being very like the one being played out over and over in religiot-influenced USAia—since it’s an article of faith (literally as well as simply figuratively-of-speech) that teens having sex is bad, providing them with any kind of birth control or education with which to protect themselves is also bad.
And so, we have higher rates of unwanted teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease in Fundagelical USAia.
–
85
taps keyboard hello, is this fing on?
nasty things flicker on the screen, shoos the mildly deranged penguin, screen is now stable albeit with a lingering smell of herring… hello?
the intertruds, er, tubes, is staying connected fer the minute, it’s even been up for the last few hours, which is N100%’s improvement. not that I fink teh problem is fi——…
…
Oh, hell no. A minister in Kentucky wants to be free to tell young LBGT detainees in Juvenile Detention centers that they are going to hell.
Link
Right wing talk radio pundit and religious powerhouse gets everything wrong … again:
– See more at: Link
Far rightwing hate for putting an image of a woman on the $10 bill:
How U.S.-style megachurches are taking over the world, in 5 maps and charts
From the maps and charts, it looks like the megachurch concept, though started in the U.S., has been exported and scaled up (way up) in other countries.
*inhales*
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
I got caught up in a facebook convo with an atheist guy who is anti-abortion but “If anyone wants to have a calm, rational discussion about the arguments, let’s do it. If you want to scream or type abusive messages, piss off.”
This oh so calm, rational guy just compared forcing me to carry a fetus to term, to being forced to pay taxes, some of which go to help people get enough to eat. And then later compared people who want abortions to slave owners.
Morgan!?:
*hugs*
The only thing that works for me is to remind myself that the good people exist, too.
–
*moar hugs* for Giliell.
Come back when/if you can/wish.
–
And the same to WMDKitty, as well.
–
blf!
*pouncehug*
–
*hugs* for Rowan, as well.
–
Greg Abbott, governor of Texas, was apparently lobbied by the Scientology cult to reduce funding for mental health services, and to veto laws that would improve mental health care.
Oh, and one more thing. The CCHR is a tax exempt organization sponsored by the Church of Scientology. (In other words, Greg Abbott killed SB359 at the request of intergalactic warlord Xenu.) […] Link
(Slowly gets up off the floor after being jumped on by cicely, muttering not to try that brand again…)
It’s back! Perhaps the best Italian restaurant in the village used to have a most amusing, not-so-subtly suggestive painting in the unisex toilet: The painting was of a seemingly-naked “Italian” macho-type guy with a big grin. Hanging in front of the painting from something you couldn’t see, in precisely the correct place, was a real straw boater’s hat.
It always made me giggle whenever I went to the toilet there; doubly so since you sortof wonder “what is that doing in a rather nice restaurant like this?”
Anyways, it disappeared, replaced by nothing, during some renovations earlier this year (including the installation of a pizza oven — there’s been a recent rash of that here lately, which perhaps the second-best Italian restaurant also installing a pizza oven). I was disappointed to see it go, albeit puzzled nothing replaced it.
And it’s back! The toilet is again a place for a mild chuckle. (The pizzas seem to be very good as well.)
A derelict Soviet-era submarine has been found in Swedish waters, close to the shore. The submarine has no obvious damage, the hatches are closed, the diameter is 3 m, length is 20m. It is marked with cyrillic letters. The Swedish authorities have made no comments at this time.
The closed hatches may indicate the crew never made it out.
Dunderheads in southern states are not done harassing people in order to vent their anger over Confederate flags being removed from many public and/or government facilities:
Link
Video at the link.
S.E. Cupp defends Mike Huckabee after he invoked the Holocaust to attack President Obama (video)
Beatrice,
Grats on the apartment and the moving!!!
Tony,
Wish I could help, but I can’t atm. I can only offer best wishes.
The Lounge is now officially and permanently closed. Thank you for your participation.