On the Beach: The final hour.

And from Keith's new solo piano record:

re: #1 Bagua
May days as dark as those depicted in that movie never come.

This is very cool: may have already been posted--

WWII vet talks about why he fought, argues for civil rights for his gay son:

(the clip is from last april but has been bouncing around the net again because Sully reposted it at the Daily Dish)

A hungry humpback whale to fill that empty expanse of ocean:

Obama Won't Rush Afghanistan Decision

Yet rushing the crapulous package and healthcare are just jim-dandy.

re: #4 iceweasel

This is very cool: may have already been posted--

WWII vet talks about why he fought, argues for civil rights for his gay son:

(the clip is from last april but has been bouncing around the net again because Sully reposted it at the Daily Dish)

That's a man who must be listened, for the magnitude of his deeds commands it. Thank you, Philip Spooner: I'm a free man because you fought and I do not forget that fact.

re: #6 TheMatrix31

Obama Won't Rush Afghanistan Decision

Yet rushing the crapulous package and healthcare are just jim-dandy.

He has his priorities, and winning a war is not one of them. He'd much rather expand the government.

/spits on BHO

Something beautiful and different.

This is a theorbe.

re: #8 Dark_Falcon

He has his priorities, and winning a war is not one of them. He'd much rather expand the government.

/spits on BHO

Not a winnable war.

re: #6 TheMatrix31

[...] the crapulous package [...]

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

re: #8 Dark_Falcon

He has his priorities, and winning a war is not one of them. He'd much rather expand the government.

/spits on BHO

Further escalation in Afghanistan is weighty decision.

I'm being pressured to join both Facebook and Twitter. Which would be the least waste of my time? I still post on usenet and am slow to pick up new net technologies.

I'm just reading/skimming a few links on journalism and newspapers, wondering if I might get something interesting to write or say out of it. Musing on these issues was prompted by this post by Megan McArdle about newspaper circulation stats:

[Link: meganmcardle.theatlantic.com...]

re: #13 Conservative Moonbat

I'm being pressured to join both Facebook and Twitter. Which would be the least waste of my time? I still post on usenet and am slow to pick up new net technologies.

Facebook. You can set it up and never look at it again.

To continue the theme:

This is a little Jacques de Gallot:

re: #12 Bagua

Pimf: is a weighty decision.

I'd like to know what the objective is, what equipment we have on line, how we are going make actual progress with this daft idea of civilising the Pashtun while half their kin are in lawless tribal regions of Pakistan and so on.

re: #13 Conservative Moonbat

I'm being pressured to join both Facebook and Twitter. Which would be the least waste of my time? I still post on usenet and am slow to pick up new net technologies.

Facebook. You can actually connect with people and post things that are important to you, like pictures.

Twitter is a fad; Facebook will endure.

re: #14 akarra

I'm just reading/skimming a few links on journalism and newspapers, wondering if I might get something interesting to write or say out of it. Musing on these issues was prompted by this post by Megan McArdle about newspaper circulation stats:

[Link: meganmcardle.theatlantic.com...]

I blame Gannet and the rise of McNews for the decline in newspaper sales, not the net. In most daylies there's a huge lack of local content and an emphasis on sensationalistic stories. Sometimes I really want to know what goes on in the state legislature and there's no fucking way to find out other than to show up and watch. They cover drug shootings, missing white girls, and car crashes and that's it.

And this is my current favorite short piece the instrument is not a cello. It is a viola de gamba.

This is Martin Marais:

re: #19 Conservative Moonbat

I blame Gannet and the rise of McNews for the decline in newspaper sales, not the net. In most daylies there's a huge lack of local content and an emphasis on sensationalistic stories. Sometimes I really want to know what goes on in the state legislature and there's no fucking way to find out other than to show up and watch. They cover drug shootings, missing white girls, and car crashes and that's it.

Yeah, I wasn't thinking about the decline per se, but more what the future of journalism would look like. Thanks though - that's something to work with.

re: #6 TheMatrix31

On CBS Evening News tonight I'm pretty sure they reported the decision was expected to be announced between Nov 7 and 11, which would be in line with time window I hear floated nearly a month ago.

Waiting until after the 7th definitely seems like they're holding the announcement until after the new Afghan Election - maybe it doubles as a way of pressuring Karzai to cut down on the BS this time?

re: #22 simoom

which would be in line with time window I hear floated nearly a month ago

"heard" even.

Del McCoury band: 1952 Vincent Black Lightning

re: #22 simoom

Just get it done. No time for dicking around.

re: #17 Bagua

Pimf: is a weighty decision.

I'd like to know what the objective is, what equipment we have on line, how we are going make actual progress with this daft idea of civilising the Pashtun while half their kin are in lawless tribal regions of Pakistan and so on.

What's the alternative? I see none that don't involve mass murder. We cannot allow Afghanistan to be a terrorist haven. How do you propose to prevent that without pacifying the Pashtun?

re: #26 Dark_Falcon

The alternative is to not deploy additional troops haphazardly, improperly equipped, or without a clear objective. There is already a massive terrorist haven next door in Pakistan and Iran.

As to pacifying the Pashtun, that has been met with little success the last few times the British tried it, or even the Russians come to think of it. They are a rascally lot. Now add the elephants in the room next door and this is a quest with no chance of anything that resembles victory.

Photos from a tea party in San Diego this past weekend. Nothing LGF readers haven't seen before, really, but it looks like a couple of people were caught up in the Halloween spirit:

The Grim Reaper

Dianne Von Deathpanel (?)

Standard Deport Obama to Kenya Nirther; costume not required as every day is a freakshow for this type.

Beautiful blue ocean... deep and unfathomable... and very very blue... which reminds me of a classic Christmas song:

/I also regret to inform you that you have only 59 more shopping days until Christmas...

re: #27 Bagua

The alternative is to not deploy additional troops haphazardly, improperly equipped, or without a clear objective. There is already a massive terrorist haven next door in Pakistan and Iran.

As to pacifying the Pashtun, that has been met with little success the last few times the British tried it, or even the Russians come to think of it. They are a rascally lot. Now add the elephants in the room next door and this is a quest with no chance of anything that resembles victory.

I can't reply. My post might violate forum rules, so I must respectfully say nothing.

re: #26 Dark_Falcon

What's the alternative? I see none that don't involve mass murder. We cannot allow Afghanistan to be a terrorist haven. How do you propose to prevent that without pacifying the Pashtun?

U.S. official resigns over Afghan war

[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com...]

interesting read on it.

re: #15 akarra

Facebook is more invasive and insidious. At least Twitter doesn't want your real info. I like Twitter as sort of an IRC-for-the-new-generation, I chat with friends on it, it's more of a toy than anything.

re: #30 Dark_Falcon

I can't reply. My post might violate forum rules, so I must respectfully say nothing.

Well that kinda kills the conversation.

re: #26 Dark_Falcon

What's the alternative? I see none that don't involve mass murder. We cannot allow Afghanistan to be a terrorist haven. How do you propose to prevent that without pacifying the Pashtun?

We're going to be talking about a draft again in the next ten years.. I don't see any way around it. There just aren't enough troops to do what we need to do, and that's assuming the Norks don't engage.

re: #32 WindUpBird

Facebook is more invasive and insidious. At least Twitter doesn't want your real info. I like Twitter as sort of an IRC-for-the-new-generation, I chat with friends on it, it's more of a toy than anything.

I still use IRC too.

re: #32 WindUpBird

Facebook is more invasive and insidious. At least Twitter doesn't want your real info. I like Twitter as sort of an IRC-for-the-new-generation, I chat with friends on it, it's more of a toy than anything.

Fair enough, although I thought the original post concerned not wanting to spend too much time on a given medium.

Twitter is an enormous amount of time if you want to build a network. You can keep things restricted to a small circle, but usually there's lots of tweeting back and forth there too.

re: #28 iceweasel

Photos from a tea party in San Diego this past weekend. Nothing LGF readers haven't seen before, really, but it looks like a couple of people were caught up in the Halloween spirit:

The Grim Reaper

Dianne Von Deathpanel (?)

Standard Deport Obama to Kenya Nirther; costume not required as every day is a freakshow for this type.

Ice, just so you know; The "Dianne von Deathpannel" character is is part of a protest group called "Billionaires for Wealthcare" which used to be "Billionaires for Bush". The pretend to be rich people favoring polices that they claim are designed to benefit the rich. think of them as class warfare without violence or outright nastiness.

re: #28 iceweasel

Photos from a tea party in San Diego this past weekend. Nothing LGF readers haven't seen before, really, but it looks like a couple of people were caught up in the Halloween spirit:

The Grim Reaper

Dianne Von Deathpanel (?)

Standard Deport Obama to Kenya Nirther; costume not required as every day is a freakshow for this type.

I browsed through that hoping I would not see anyone I know. Thankfully no they must have better things to do than act like the right wing version of DFHs.

re: #18 Cato the Elder

Facebook. You can actually connect with people and post things that are important to you, like pictures.

Twitter is a fad; Facebook will endure.

Both have their uses. But I have about two dozen ways of connecting with people and posting pictures, so Facebook isn't interesting to me. I actually dislike Facebook BECAUSE too many people use it as the defacto way of getting in touch with folks from their past. I don't actually want to be that available! I know enough friends on Twitter that it serves as a chat room, I like it. I don't want Facebook tracking my purchases or data mining my actions. Facebook is mostly for people who are not INTERNET. I am internet, I don't need it.

Alright, I'm off - thanks for talking and listening, take care all.

re: #39 WindUpBird

but are you still on irc?

re: #36 akarra

I am connected to the internet because of my job, so it's no effort to me to click on ada and make a twitter post. If I have a funny observation or some silly little thing, I can far it out on twitter in seconds. It expects little of me. My friends know I'm on Twitter, they're watching me, it's all good.

re: #40 akarra

adios... ja mata...

re: #41 Conservative Moonbat

Not anymore. I left IRC behind in the early 2000's when most of my friends migrated to DeviantArt and FA.

re: #40 akarra

Bye akarra! I did a blog entry on the NJ elections and linked to your post about Corzine.

re: #44 WindUpBird

Not anymore. I left IRC behind in the early 2000's when most of my friends migrated to DeviantArt and FA.

We're still there and bash.org is still taking new submissions.

re: #46 Conservative Moonbat

I put on my robe and wizard hat

I've got to get to bed. I'll be back in the morning. If you'll be up to see the Ares 1-X Rocket Launch (7AM EDT), please let me know how it goes.

re: #20 LudwigVanQuixote

And this is my current favorite short piece the instrument is not a cello. It is a viola de gamba.

This is Martin Marais:

[Video]

Hell Ludwig, why don't we both come out of the closet? William Christie and Les Arts Florissants: Prologue to Atys, Part I.

re: #37 Dark_Falcon

Ice, just so you know; The "Dianne von Deathpannel" character is is part of a protest group called "Billionaires for Wealthcare" which used to be "Billionaires for Bush". The pretend to be rich people favoring polices that they claim are designed to benefit the rich. think of them as class warfare without violence or outright nastiness.

Thanks DF-- did not know that!

I just located some of RSM's deleted posts from Free Republic if people are interested. Atrios dug up a few back in 2006. Pretty awful stuff-- RSM is wailing that Emmett Till shouldn't be considered a civil rights martyr because his murder (according to McCain) had nothing, nothing at all, to do with being black.

re: #48 Dark_Falcon

Good night, evolved dinosaur cousin.

re: #2 Charles

It's really nice.

re: #48 Dark_Falcon

G'nite Dark Falcon...of the...um...Darkish...Falcon-ish persuasion!

re: #50 iceweasel

He's a clown.

GRADIENT!

/also good afternoon

re: #54 ArchangelMichael

He's a clown.

yep. Nasty.

Ugh...past 24 hours of my life could've been better spent. Did some moderately productive housework the other day, but it seems like no matter what games I tuned into (including tonight's Monday Night Football) they would be the suckiest bunch of sucks since suck came to sucktown.

Now I'm trying to update my blog with some screencaps of that baby carriage in Australia that rolled off a train station's platform and in front of an oncoming train taht was caught on CCTV...made the mistake of reading the comments attatched to the YouTube video. I.e., The mother actually pushed the carriage, the whole thing was set up by the gov't to secure funding for public works...etc etc.

I knew the comments @ YouTube were mostly stupid and vile, but it's been awhile since I've been there and I forgot exactly how stupid and how vile they could be.

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For though from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

-Tennyson

re: #57 Fenway_Nation

Youtube comments are the São Paulo sewers of the Internet.

re: #59 ArchangelMichael

That hardly seems fair...

/to the Sao Paulo sewers.

Digging through old Barrett Brown stuff...excellent piece at Vanity Fair on Krauthammer, IMO.

Krauthammer qualifies as something of a sober elder statesman among today’s conservative commentariat, given that he doesn’t use the term “Democrat Party” and has so far refrained from screaming or crying on television.

heh.

re: #61 iceweasel

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king...

Here is one for you, freetoken:

Statisticians reject global cooling

In a blind test, the AP gave temperature data to four independent statisticians and asked them to look for trends, without telling them what the numbers represented. The experts found no true temperature declines over time.

"If you look at the data and sort of cherry-pick a micro-trend within a bigger trend, that technique is particularly suspect," said John Grego, a professor of statistics at the University of South Carolina.

Yet the idea that things are cooling has been repeated in opinion columns, a BBC news story posted on the Drudge Report and in a new book by the authors of the best-seller "Freakonomics." Last week, a poll by the Pew Research Center found that only 57 percent of Americans now believe there is strong scientific evidence for global warming, down from 77 percent in 2006.

re: #62 freetoken

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king...

/video game much better than movie.

re: #58 Sharmuta

The sinking moon has left the sky,
The Pleiades have also gone.
Midnight comes--and goes, the hours fly
And solitary still, I lie.
--Sappho

Though the column made a strong case for Obama’s candidacy in terms of his identity, it included not a word concerning what the first-term Senator might bring to the table in terms of policy.

Heh, same for everyone else who actually voted and supported him.

80s music + quiet, clear midautumnish day = :)

re: #67 laZardo

Quiet, clear and typhoon-free, I'm assuming.

He concluded the 2003 column with the suggestion that, if “in a year or two we are able to leave behind a stable, friendly government, we will have succeeded. If not, we will have failed. And all the geniuses will be vindicated.” Two years later, Krauthammer followed up by admitting to his failures and acknowledging the predictive superiority of his opponents.

Just kidding.

I was wrong. The surge actually worked.

Barack Obama.

/just kidding.

re: #65 Cato the Elder

The sinking moon has left the sky,
The Pleiades have also gone.
Midnight comes--and goes, the hours fly
And solitary still, I lie.
--Sappho

Hooray for Sappho!

The stars about the lovely moon
Fade back and vanish very soon,
When, round and full, her silver face
Swims into sight, and lights all space.

re: #68 Fenway_Nation

Yep. Had this one typhoon lingering over the north of Luzon for a few days, then it just slid away.

The typhoon season inspired one of the ideas for my industrial design thesis - a rigid-inflatable debris removal craft.

re: #63 Sharmuta

Yup... saw that... however, it is not a popular article in the denial-o-sphere as it obviously takes away one of their talking points.

In measuring physical systems the resultant measurements have, as their essential nature, two sources of unknown-ness ... the error of the measuring process itself, and the changes in the physical system itself from time A to time B.

In order to come to some understanding of the physical quantity being measured, mathematicians long ago (well, I guess we call them statisticians now...) worked out the ideas of how to quantify the unknowns in the measuring process.

Meanwhile the physicists have worked out in great detail how the universe works, at least on the scale that we experience everyday.

Both of these truths are not very welcome in the denial-o-sphere, because the answers that the universe can only give aren't in concurrence with the fantasies of desperate humans.

Naughty universe.

Here's the truth: observations confirm what physics explains - that the surface of the planet warms as the atmosphere becomes more opaque to outgoing (and thus cooling) radiation.

But...

Heard local talker Rodger Hedgecock briefly today, waxing idiotically about climate science... but what else can we expect from someone who now has articles on WND?

The ugly-o-sphere's meltdown over AGW is not unexpected, though their adamance on their own expertise in judging this field of science is a sign that it will be a long time before that crowd comes to terms with the truth.

re: #71 laZardo

You have another typhoon on the way, do you not?

re: #70 iceweasel

My favorite Sapphic fragment:

I loved thee, Atthis, long ago.

That is all.

re: #73 freetoken

Not sure yet...

re: #74 Cato the Elder

My favorite Sapphic fragment:

I loved thee, Atthis, long ago.

That is all.

Cato needs the Hymn to Aphrodite...

Then thou, O blessed goddess,
All in smiling wreathed thy face immortal,
Bade me tell thee the cause of all my suffering,
Why now I called thee;

What for my maddened heart I most was longing.
"Whom," thou criest, "dost wish that sweet Persuasion
Now win over and lead to thy love, my Cato?
Who is it wrongs thee?

"For, though now she flies, she soon shall follow,
Soon shall be giving gifts who now rejects them.
Even though now she love not, soon shall she love thee
Even though thou wouldst not."

Come then now, dear goddess, and release me
From my anguish. All my heart's desiring
Grant thou now. Now too again as aforetime,
Be thou my ally.

re: #69 TheMatrix31

I was wrong. The surge actually worked.

Barack Obama.

/just kidding.

Remember...chuckling over 0bama's 0lympic bid falling flat on it's face is evil, un-American and beyond the pale. But rooting for American GI's and Iraqi civilians to get killed wholesale so some genius academic can do their 'I-told-you-so! Neener neener!' dance in front of Krauthammer...well that's just as wholesome and patriotic as apple pie!

Qaeda-linked group claims Baghdad bomb attacks

An al Qaeda-linked group has said it carried out the twin suicide bombings that killed 155 people in Baghdad on Sunday and revived doubts about security in the run-up to Iraq's elections in January.

The statement dated October 26 was posted by the Islamic State in Iraq group on a website often used by militants to announce responsibility for such attacks.

"Suicide bombers targeted the dens of infidelity and pillars of the rejectionist Shi'ite state in the land of the caliphate," the statement said.

It seems the problem isn't the Americans after all, it's anything that's not the caliphate.

re: #77 Fenway_Nation

But rooting for American GI's and Iraqi civilians to get killed wholesale so some genius academic can do their 'I-told-you-so! Neener neener!' dance in front of Krauthammer...well that's just as wholesome and patriotic as apple pie!

Who is rooting for people to get killed?

re: #79 iceweasel

Those evil nasty lefties are!

/

re: #75 laZardo

Weatherunderground sees you getting hit by a cat 4:

[Link: www.wunderground.com...]

re: #79 iceweasel

re: #80 laZardo

It's not lefties, anymore, LaZardo...they call themselves 'progressives' these days...and I know for a fact that back in 2004 they weren't openly rooting for GIs and Iraqis to get killed because every flag-draped casket that came in through Dover AFB was suposed to help John Kerry out at the polls. I had a Kerry supporter tell me as much [because this individual found out I was from Massachusetts and assumed I was going to vote for Kerry because we came from the same state]...

re: #81 freetoken

Weatherunderground sees you getting hit by a cat 4:

[Link: www.wunderground.com...]

Damn that bill ayers! ///

re: #81 freetoken

Weatherunderground sees you getting hit by a cat 4:

[Link: www.wunderground.com...]

And not by a mail bomb at a police station? q:

/but srsly, I do keep a look out even though I'm not a fan of weather forecasting.

re: #84 laZardo

When the forecast has been as bad as it was this month, why would you be a fan?

re: #82 Fenway_Nation

So, your evidence that 'lefties' were rooting for people to die is...that you know 'for a fact that they weren't openly rooting for GIs and Iraqis to get killed'.

Uh, okay.

By the way, I 'know for a fact' that McCain wanted to impose a theocracy. My evidence for this is that he didn't openly say so.

Polanski victim calls to dismiss case

Lawyers for Samantha Geimer made the request in a court motion filed in Los Angeles on Friday, the latest of several pleas she has made for authorities to throw out the 1977 criminal case against Polanski.

The motion said Geimer, who now lives in Hawaii with her husband and children, has suffered health problems and job worries after a media "frenzy" following Polanski's arrest in Switzerland last month.

It cited calls by CNN's Larry King, US talkshow queen Oprah Winfrey, "every" national network morning show, three Los Angeles Times reporters and "nearly every major newspaper" from the United States and around the world.

"Between Samantha and her counsel, they have received close to 500 telephone calls from media around the world seeking a comment," the motion filed with California's Second District Court of Appeal read.

"The response -- 'please leave me alone.' But they won't leave her alone."

"Calls at all hours, invade her at home, on her cell phone and at her place of employment... The victim is again the victim," the filing said.

re: #86 iceweasel

You're absolutely right...I'm sure there's no way the left progressives in this country would ever attempt to make political hay out of servicemen killed in Iraq (living GI's wouldn't be as tragic and/or useful for their talking points).

Again...I had a Kerry supporter pretty much admit more bodybags coming back from Iraq = more votes for Teresa's gigolo to me out of the blue under the assumption he was talking to another Kerry supporter. Now...what conclusion could I possibly draw from that?

As irate as I was w/this indivdual at the time, I figured he was being more honest than the Kos's or Michael Moore's of the world.

re: #87 Sharmuta

While I do agree that people should stop being so 'persistent' in looking for comments, I also believe that letting Polanski go implies that one can get away with rape if they can set the conditions...

re: #88 Fenway_Nation

You're absolutely right...I'm sure there's no way the left progressives in this country would ever attempt to make political hay out of servicemen killed in Iraq (living GI's wouldn't be as tragic and/or useful for their talking points).

Again...I had a Kerry supporter pretty much admit more bodybags coming back from Iraq = more votes for Teresa's gigolo to me out of the blue under the assumption he was talking to another Kerry supporter. Now...what conclusion could I possibly draw from that?

As irate as I was w/this indivdual at the time, I figured he was being more honest than the Kos's or Michael Moore's of the world.

The assumption you should have drawn was that 'the left' wanted the human cost of the war to be known. Not that 'the left' wanted people to die.

It's not necessary to always impute the shittiest, most evil motives to our ideological opponents. It also tends to alienate people who might otherwise be persuadable, or might otherwise be inclined to listen.

re: #88 Fenway_Nation

You're absolutely right...I'm sure there's no way the left progressives in this country would ever attempt to make political hay out of servicemen killed in Iraq (living GI's wouldn't be as tragic and/or useful for their talking points).

Again...I had a Kerry supporter pretty much admit more bodybags coming back from Iraq = more votes for Teresa's gigolo to me out of the blue under the assumption he was talking to another Kerry supporter. Now...what conclusion could I possibly draw from that?

As irate as I was w/this indivdual at the time, I figured he was being more honest than the Kos's or Michael Moore's of the world.

I don't doubt the solid integrity of the vast majority of American soldiers serving in foreign theaters. However I do reserve the right to criticize the policies of the politicians that are responsible for their deployments.

This is a distinction that tends to get hideously blurred on both sides of the aisle...

re: #90 iceweasel

It's not necessary to always impute the shittiest, most evil motives to our ideological opponents. It also tends to alienate people who might otherwise be persuadable, or might otherwise be inclined to listen.

You're right.

Signed,
"Butthurt Conservative"

re: #92 TheMatrix31

You're right.

Signed,
"Butthurt Conservative"

Heh. Did you know that has its own entry on urban dictionary?

A conservative that feels victimized when something doesn't go their way. Often comes with the feeling that anything that doesn't reflect their world view has some unfair bias against them.

re: #90 iceweasel

My my...where was all this righteous indignation about the 'human cost of war' when American soldiers were being accused of every sort of atrocity under the sun and Al Qaeda or the Al-Madhi militas were recruiting Down's Syndrome suicide bombers or setting off chlorine truck bombs in front of Iraqi hospitals or marketplaces with barely a shrug from the progressives?

re: #93 iceweasel

Stupid

re: #94 Fenway_Nation

"Well, they wouldn't have exploited those people if America hadn't provided the opportunity for them to expand by invading!"

/I'm sure I read that somewhere back then...I just forget where.

re: #94 Fenway_Nation

My my...where was all this righteous indignation about the 'human cost of war' when
(snip)

You've pretty well established that you're not a reliable narrator when it comes to what 'the left' or 'progressives' do.

re: #31 Bobibutu

U.S. official resigns over Afghan war

[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com...]

interesting read on it.

wow...

re: #97 iceweasel

Oh for fuck's sake...what am I supposed to do- anticipate this conversatons some 5 years later so I could present you with a transcript of the conversation notarized by wonkette?

'Unreliable narrarator'? How fitting that Glacies is using weasel words. Why don't you just come right out and call me a liar?

re: #99 Fenway_Nation

Oh for fuck's sake...what am I supposed to do- anticipate this conversatons some 5 years later so I could present you with a transcript of the conversation notarized by wonkette?

'Unreliable narrarator'? How fitting that Glacies is using weasel words. Why don't you just come right out and call me a liar?

[Joe Wilson joke here]

/i'm sorry.

re: #96 laZardo

Guess that's the proverbial 'shrug', laZardo.

re: #98 funky chicken

wow...

Fuck that guy, then. We'll do it without him.

LOL: Obama Movies

Some of those are classic.

re: #102 TheMatrix31

"I realize what I'm getting into . . . what people are going to say about me," he said. "I never thought I would be doing this."

'Uncommon bravery'

Hoh's journey -- from Marine, reconstruction expert and diplomat to war protester -- was not an easy one. Over the weeks he spent thinking about and drafting his resignation letter, he said, "I felt physically nauseous at times."

His first ambition in life was to become a firefighter, like his father. Instead, after graduation from Tufts University and a desk job at a publishing firm, he joined the Marines in 1998. After five years in Japan and at the Pentagon -- and at a point early in the Iraq war when it appeared to many in the military that the conflict was all but over -- he left the Marines to join the private sector, only to be recruited as a Defense Department civilian in Iraq. A trained combat engineer, he was sent to manage reconstruction efforts in Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit.

"At one point," Hoh said, "I employed up to 5,000 Iraqis" handing out tens of millions of dollars in cash to construct roads and mosques. His program was one of the few later praised as a success by the U.S. special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.

It would be smarter to listen to him than to dismiss him so crudely. He's been there and seen the place. My husband says much the same kind of stuff after tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, FWIW.

re: #101 Fenway_Nation

Not up to speed on proverbial things, unfortunately. x_x

re: #104 funky chicken

I don't like people who give up.

re: #99 Fenway_Nation

'Unreliable narrarator'? How fitting that Glacies is using weasel words. Why don't you just come right out and call me a liar?

Because I'm not calling you a liar. Had I meant that, I would have said it--I've had no problem in the past calling people liars when appropriate, or statements lies. Check my archives.

An unreliable narrator is a convention in literature involving a narrator whose perceptions are unreliable. I consider you an unreliable narrator when it comes to opining on what 'the left' or 'progressives' think. I don't think you are lying; I think you're occasionally blinded by partisan and ideological hate.

An unreliable narrator is a first-person narrator that for some reason has a compromised point-of-view. In all stories with a first-person narrator, the narrator serves as a filter for the events. What the narrator does not know or observe cannot be explained to the reader. Usually, however, the reader trusts that the narrator is knowledgeable and truthful enough to give them an accurate representation of the story. In the case of an unreliable narrator (sometimes called a fallible narrator), the reader has reason not to trust what the narrator is saying.

re: #99 Fenway_Nation

BTW, why is it so difficult for you to concede that it's wrong to make a statement like 'the left wanted GIs and Iraqi civilians to die'? That statement and your ongoing refusal to soften it or retract it is a pretty clear sign of LDS: Liberal Derangement Syndrome.

Not to harp on this, Fenway, but you're getting pretty angry over nothing here, and inferring insults (eg, that I think you're a liar) that I'm not making.

re: #108 iceweasel

Oh goodness. Everything's a syndrome.

re: #109 TheMatrix31

Oh goodness. Everything's a syndrome.

Not literally or clinically, obviously.

Next potential thesis write-up... a solar-powered three-wheeled pedicab. Basically an upgrading of the concept I came up with a few months back into the full-scale thesis.

re: #112 laZardo

Not much surface area for the silicon, no?

re: #113 freetoken

Right now I'm thinking we can pretty much cover the roof with it.

re: #108 iceweasel

BTW, why is it so difficult for you to concede that it's wrong to make a statement like 'the left wanted GIs and Iraqi civilians to die'? That statement and your ongoing refusal to soften it or retract it is a pretty clear sign of LDS: Liberal Derangement Syndrome.

Where exactly am I wrong? The left can't prove it's point that war is a costly and horrible thing to endure with healthy, non-dead GI's and Iraqi civilians.

Not to harp on this, Fenway.

But you're going to anyway.

re: #115 Fenway_Nation

But you're going to anyway.

Nope. I'm done.

re: #112 laZardo

But does it float?

re: #117 Fenway_Nation

It might. q:

Hey Fenway... this hobo song has a line that mentions "Super Chiefs"!

re: #119 freetoken

Is that available on Mandolin Hero?

re: #121 Fenway_Nation

Don't know... it came up on a search for mandolin music... thought the hobo theme would fit well with your iron site. BTW, have you thought of adding music to iron pr0n... good pr0n always needs the right mood music...

re: #98 funky chicken

wow...

Yeah - that's the way it hit me as well.

re: #122 freetoken

Good idea. Lots of apporopraite rail-themed songs out there (Folsom Prizon Blues, anyone?)- but my blogger-fu is weak. Haven't ventured much beyond posting still images since Not Another New England Sports Blog! debuted.

re: #122 freetoken

good pr0n always needs the right mood music...

re: #124 Fenway_Nation

Blogger is what became of Blogspot, no? Here is the audio embed guide:

[Link: www.google.com...]

Arrgh...can't belive I just spelled 'prison' with a 'Z'.

re: #127 Fenway_Nation

No, I don't think you need the velvet-lined funklair music theme to attract viewers. What you need is a lot more rust.

re: #127 Fenway_Nation

More train music for you... seems appropriate ...

The singer is Adam Miller, if you want to search for his music.

I may be fiscally conservative and socially liberal-leaning, but this photo series of Miley Cyrus' baby sister made me gag. There is something so wrong with a nine year old dressing up like a tranny hooker.

more hobo train music:

re: #12 Bagua

Further escalation in Afghanistan is weighty decision.

No doubt, but what do you consider spending 787 billion or taking on over a trillion in debt. All are weighty decisions and deserve the time to be done right.

re: #130 theheat

What? I thought Halloween and Rocky Horror Picture Show was an obvious fit?

re: #130 theheat

I may be fiscally conservative and socially liberal-leaning, but this photo series of Miley Cyrus' baby sister made me gag. There is something so wrong with a nine year old dressing up like a tranny hooker.

Wearing a short dress, platform boots, red lipstick and thick mascara? Gag. Gag. Gag.

The original music video for this was on a rusty train, but I can't find it anywhere. This isn't a very high quality video, but it's one of my favorite DY songs.

re: #134 MandyManners

Oh, c'mon, Mandy. You know if you had a 9 y/o girl you'd dress her up like that.
//

I find it really, really disturbing.

re: #128 theheat

OK- this week's Iron Horse Roundup has it all! Old locomotives being retired and sold off! New ones being ordered! Drama! Death Defying Escapes! Action! Crime! Punishment! Strikes! Intruige!

/Typos!

This is not a Rick Astley prank video.

re: #136 theheat

Oh, c'mon, Mandy. You know if you had a 9 y/o girl you'd dress her up like that.
//

I find it really, really disturbing.

Even if we assume that the child was the one who wanted to dress like that, it's still a parent's job to stop it. Gee. What's next? Sexualizing a pre-schooler?

re: #139 MandyManners

If my 9 y/o girl told me that's what she wanted to look like, I'd probably slap her into next week.

I think having a famous older sister that's done a pretty good job tarting herself up, and parents that have been happy to wh*re her out, may explain why no one put the brakes on her costume. But I wouldn't consider it normal, or healthy. Most 9 y/o girls are happy to wear fairy costumes or dress up like a character or a creature. This family's coming from a different place altogether. It's gross, and kinda creepy.

re: #140 theheat

If my 9 y/o girl told me that's what she wanted to look like, I'd probably slap her into next week.

I think having a famous older sister that's done a pretty good job tarting herself up, and parents that have been happy to wh*re her out, may explain why no one put the brakes on her costume. But I wouldn't consider it normal, or healthy. Most 9 y/o girls are happy to wear fairy costumes or dress up like a character or a creature. This family's coming from a different place altogether. It's gross, and kinda creepy.

Why slap? Kids that age don't know what's wrong with dressing up like a tart.

I'm thankful The Kid is a boy. He's going as a zombie.

re: #137 Fenway_Nation

I'm waiting for the rehoming project, where they ask people if they'd like to adopt an old train and give it a good home. That doesn't mean pay $30k++ for one, of course.

re: #140 theheat

But I wouldn't consider it normal, or healthy. Most 9 y/o girls are happy to wear fairy costumes or dress up like a character or a creature. This family's coming from a different place altogether. It's gross, and kinda creepy.

Since kids themselves have little concept of sexuality, for her it might as well be a fairy costume (not to mention that being as "cool" as an older sister is surely tempting). What's creepy is the reaction of adults.

I just noticed that the original article with its condemning language had two or three related links with her (somewhat) bigger sister in a bikini. Gun, meet foot.

re: #141 MandyManners

Why slap? Kids that age don't know what's wrong with dressing up like a tart.

I'm thankful The Kid is a boy. He's going as a zombie.

Why not do both?

re: #141 MandyManners

I'd probably slap her into next week.

It's a figure of speech. Thankfully, like you, I had a boy. I'd be mortified if my daughter aspired to that. Then again, look at their role models. Eeesh.

Good Morning LGF.

re: #146 Spare O'Lake

Evening Sol.

re: #139 MandyManners

Even if we assume that the child was the one who wanted to dress like that, it's still a parent's job to stop it. Gee. What's next? Sexualizing a pre-schooler?

I'm having Jon Benet Ramsey flashbacks.

re: #143 cenotaphium

Since kids themselves have little concept of sexuality, for her it might as well be a fairy costume (not to mention that being as "cool" as an older sister is surely tempting). What's creepy is the reaction of adults.

It's creepy on its own for what it reveals about what these kids are exposed to now. Childhood is pretty short as it is, and we have 9 year olds (and younger) in a full on rush to adulthood-- or rather, a weird version of what it is to be female, a hypersexualised version. Pr0n Nation.

re: #143 cenotaphium

What's creepy is the reaction of adults.

Adults generally react this way when very young children parade around looking sexually suggestive. I don't find that an odd reaction at all. It's alarming. And you can't tell me her parents are clueless about this, particularly in light of how her older sister has gone from wholesome Disney puppet to stripper pole grinding.

re: #149 iceweasel

It's creepy on its own for what it reveals about what these kids are exposed to now. Childhood is pretty short as it is, and we have 9 year olds (and younger) in a full on rush to adulthood-- or rather, a weird version of what it is to be female, a hypersexualised version. Pr0n Nation.

Don't forget peer pressure. It's just sooo~ Bush-'n'-Cheney to be a goody two-shoes.

re: #151 laZardo

For the record, these are Bush-n-Cheney people. Self-proclaimed Christians. I think they subscribe to that stay-a-virgin (whatever the hell it is) ring-wearing pact thingy, too. But you'd sure as hell never know it looking at them.

re: #151 laZardo

Don't forget peer pressure. It's just sooo~ Bush-'n'-Cheney to be a goody two-shoes.

Sure but their peers are all getting their cues from the same sources-- music, tv, movies, fashion. Miley Cyrus pole dancing. It's the mainstreaming of Pr0n Nation. I guess it's been going on for about ten years now, but it's damn creepy.

re: #152 theheat

I don't know if that's just an 'in thing' though.

Speaking of ring-wearing pacts, I have a little brother that looks suspiciously like Nick Jonas. Whoa.

re: #143 cenotaphium

Since kids themselves have little concept of sexuality, for her it might as well be a fairy costume (not to mention that being as "cool" as an older sister is surely tempting). What's creepy is the reaction of adults.

I just noticed that the original article with its condemning language had two or three related links with her (somewhat) bigger sister in a bikini. Gun, meet foot.

In what universe do fairies wear short, black dresses, platform boots, red lipstick and thick mascara? I've never seen one done up like that.

Morning Spare O'Lake!

Morning soxfan4life! Those last 24 hours of sports sure did suck, didn't they? Or...I should say they peaked early in Wembley stadium.

At least we got the C's to look forward to later on today.

re: #144 laZardo

Why not do both?

Ooh. Frosting. I got a sugar rush just looking at it.

re: #153 iceweasel

Sure but their peers are all getting their cues from the same sources-- music, tv, movies, fashion. Miley Cyrus pole dancing. It's the mainstreaming of Pr0n Nation. I guess it's been going on for about ten years now, but it's damn creepy.

It's been going along a LOT longer than that

Can you say Doctor Spock?? ((and no ,, no the Star Trek/ Leonard Nimoy Dr Spock!)

re: #145 theheat

It's a figure of speech. Thankfully, like you, I had a boy. I'd be mortified if my daughter aspired to that. Then again, look at their role models. Eeesh.

Up to a certain age, don't parents expose their kids to the role models they deem appropriate?

re: #148 SixDegrees

I'm having Jon Benet Ramsey flashbacks.

I don't recall ever seeing her tarted up that blatantly.

re: #144 laZardo

Nice.

Count Floyd would find that very spooky.

re: #158 sattv4u2

I think it started with Britney Spears, basically trying to look like a f**k doll as a teenager. It was like mainstreaming kiddie pr0n. Seriously creepy shit.

re: #150 theheat

Adults generally react this way when very young children parade around looking sexually suggestive. I don't find that an odd reaction at all. It's alarming. And you can't tell me her parents are clueless about this, particularly in light of how her older sister has gone from wholesome Disney puppet to stripper pole grinding.

Next thing you know, they'll be running for State assemblywoman in New Jersey

/

re: #158 sattv4u2

It's been going along a LOT longer than that

Can you say Doctor Spock?? ((and no ,, no the Star Trek/ Leonard Nimoy Dr Spock!)

I'm thinking of a particular kind of porn aesthetic working its way into the mainstream of the culture. I think that's been about the last ten years or so. Or maybe it's just amped up in the last ten years.

re: #150 theheat

Adults generally react this way when very young children parade around looking sexually suggestive. I don't find that an odd reaction at all. It's alarming. And you can't tell me her parents are clueless about this, particularly in light of how her older sister has gone from wholesome Disney puppet to stripper pole grinding.

Disney has a particularly bad history with this sort of thing. Britney Spears; Lindsay Lohan; Miley Cyrus - all following exactly the same arc from cute, wholesome little girl to pandering slut, as though from a script. I'm sure other posters can provide additional examples, but something ain't right over at the Mouse House.

re: #162 theheat

Brought to you by wholesome goody-two-shoes Disney.

re: #162 theheat

I think it started with Britney Spears, basically trying to look like a f**k doll as a teenager. It was like mainstreaming kiddie pr0n. Seriously creepy shit.

You know, I had the same thought-- Britney. This vid to start:

re: #166 Fenway_Nation

Brought to you by wholesome goody-two-shoes Disney.

GMTA.

re: #163 Fenway_Nation

Next thing you know, they'll be running for State assemblywoman in New Jersey

/

Or for Parliament in Italy.

re: #150 theheat

Adults generally react this way when very young children parade around looking sexually suggestive. I don't find that an odd reaction at all. It's alarming. And you can't tell me her parents are clueless about this, particularly in light of how her older sister has gone from wholesome Disney puppet to stripper pole grinding.

My goodness, she was 16 when she did that!

I'm wondering if her dad realized years ago that his career was going nowhere so he started in on hers.

re: #159 MandyManners

There is only so much you can shield your kid from. Their friends have access to things maybe your kid doesn't, and shares little morsels with them. There are commercials, billboards, lunchpails, freakin' action figures at Wal-Mart - it's everyplace. I don't think these days you necessarily need to let your kids surf the internet alone and watch whatever they want on TV to be exposed to this, because it's coming from everywhere, besides.

I mean, a stripper pole at the Teen Choice Awards? If that isn't a big WTF, what is?

My daughter was on a competitive cheer leading team. Team was excellent, and not, in any way sexually provocative. But I saw teams that were.

Me and a couple of dads used to prowl the stands and hallways hunting for predator types.

Wasn't unusual to find two or three men at these things without any family participating.

GUILT BEFORE INNOCENCE WAS OUR LITTLE MOTTO.

We didn't harass them or anything. I just sat my fat ass right beside them, and talked to them about the sport. I can talk a lot. And fast. And, I can get pretty boring. And the more boring I get, the more I talk.

They'd leave after about ten minutes.

re: #164 iceweasel

I'm thinking of a particular kind of porn aesthetic working its way into the mainstream of the culture. I think that's been about the last ten years or so. Or maybe it's just amped up in the last ten years.

Amped up, yes

But the attitude has it's geneses in the Spock model of parenting

re: #162 theheat

I think it started with Britney Spears, basically trying to look like a f**k doll as a teenager. It was like mainstreaming kiddie pr0n. Seriously creepy shit.

Has she shaved her head again lately?

re: #156 Fenway_Nation

Morning Spare O'Lake!

Morning soxfan4life! Those last 24 hours of sports sure did suck, didn't they? Or...I should say they peaked early in Wembley stadium.

At least we got the C's to look forward to later on today.

Good Morning. Here in the great state of Texas sports talk consists of Cowboys, Cowboys, and more Cowboys. Patriots are looking scary good, Bruins seem to have returned to their old selves, and I am not much of a basketball fan, Micheal Jordan seems to have made a bunch of ballhogging, teamwrecking primadonnas. Go Phillies.

re: #156 Fenway_Nation

Morning Spare O'Lake!

Morning soxfan4life! Those last 24 hours of sports sure did suck, didn't they? Or...I should say they peaked early in Wembley stadium.

At least we got the C's to look forward to later on today.

These last 32 years of Maple Leafs hockey sure do suck!
They peaked in effing 1967!
*blech*
And how are you today?

re: #165 SixDegrees

Disney has a particularly bad history with this sort of thing. Britney Spears; Lindsay Lohan; Miley Cyrus - all following exactly the same arc from cute, wholesome little girl to pandering slut, as though from a script. I'm sure other posters can provide additional examples, but something ain't right over at the Mouse House.

The PARENTS are the ones responsible for allowing this to happen. Last time I looked, Disney didn't have custody of those kids.

re: #173 sattv4u2

Amped up, yes

But the attitude has it's geneses in the Spock model of parenting

You think so? How? A permissiveness thing or something?

Our young women grow up receiving two completlely conflicting messages: that they have to remain virginally pure until marriage, but in order to find a partner, they have to be tits-in-your-face sex bombs.

That sort of conflict is just the sort of thing that leads to serious neuroses.

re: #174 MandyManners

No, just got chubby again in her off season from her Cheetos world tour. I think she's still wearing the same old nasty, greasy, long, black-rooted hair extensions as before.

re: #179 ralphieboy

Our young women grow up receiving two completlely conflicting messages: that they have to remain virginally pure until marriage, but in order to find a partner, they have to be tits-in-your-face sex bombs.

That sort of conflict is just the sort of thing that leads to serious neuroses.

It also leads to all sorts of messed up sexual repression and sexual behaviour.

re: #171 theheat

There is only so much you can shield your kid from. Their friends have access to things maybe your kid doesn't, and shares little morsels with them. There are commercials, billboards, lunchpails, freakin' action figures at Wal-Mart - it's everyplace. I don't think these days you necessarily need to let your kids surf the internet alone and watch whatever they want on TV to be exposed to this, because it's coming from everywhere, besides.

I mean, a stripper pole at the Teen Choice Awards? If that isn't a big WTF, what is?

When The Kid was in public school for Kindergarten, he came home singing about shaking his "bootay", which was one of the reasons I put him into a private, Christian school the next year. The parents there buy into the culture and have a vested interest in keeping smut out.

re: #178 iceweasel

You think so? How? A permissiveness thing or something?

Bingo. That, and the "best buddy" ,,,non-critisizing,,,everyone gets a trophy ,,, don't keep score ,style of parenting

re: #172 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

My daughter was on a competitive cheer leading team. Team was excellent, and not, in any way sexually provocative. But I saw teams that were.

Me and a couple of dads used to prowl the stands and hallways hunting for predator types.

Wasn't unusual to find two or three men at these things without any family participating.

GUILT BEFORE INNOCENCE WAS OUR LITTLE MOTTO.

We didn't harass them or anything. I just sat my fat ass right beside them, and talked to them about the sport. I can talk a lot. And fast. And, I can get pretty boring. And the more boring I get, the more I talk.

They'd leave after about ten minutes.

These were cheer competitions?

BBIAB ,,, gotta drive sonny to the bus stop

(((can't wait till he gets his license next spring so I don't have to make this trek at Zero Dark Thirty anymore)))

It started a long time ago, remember young Joey Heatherton's "slut dance" in the film "Twilight of Honor"?

re: #155 MandyManners

In what universe do fairies wear short, black dresses, platform boots, red lipstick and thick mascara? I've never seen one done up like that.

What the heck is the matter with their parents?
Treating little children like pets in a best-in-show competition.
No offence intended to pet owners.
*spit*

re: #165 SixDegrees

Disney is probably the biggest pimp out there, second to the parents, who allow their kids to be pimped in the first place. The parents are ultimately responsible. The fact they're happy to turn their little darlings in to slutty little cash machines is sickening.

re: #179 ralphieboy

Our young women grow up receiving two completlely conflicting messages: that they have to remain virginally pure until marriage, but in order to find a partner, they have to be tits-in-your-face sex bombs.

That sort of conflict is just the sort of thing that leads to serious neuroses.

Look at the message the boys are getting.

It's all part of the Whore-Goddess thing, and it's been going on for ages.

re: #180 theheat

No, just got chubby again in her off season from her Cheetos world tour. I think she's still wearing the same old nasty, greasy, long, black-rooted hair extensions as before.

Does her ex still have custody of the kids?

re: #150 theheat

Maybe I put that badly.

Coming off a recent moral panic around here centered around kids running naked and the possibility of someone taking pictures of them, what everyone seemed to forget was that the problem was adults taking pictures of naked kids, not the kids being naked.

To kids, a dress like that is just dress up. It's up to adults to be the censors, naturally.

re: #149 iceweasel

It's creepy on its own for what it reveals about what these kids are exposed to now. Childhood is pretty short as it is, and we have 9 year olds (and younger) in a full on rush to adulthood-- or rather, a weird version of what it is to be female, a hypersexualised version. Pr0n Nation.

I agree. I think it's important to remember how short lived the idea of the long childhood is in history though - not to marginalize it, but to realize how precious it is, and hold on to it all the more. I know my mothers generation, and certainly my grandparents generation had a working childhood. I'm really the first generation to have spent my childhood playing.

re: #155 MandyManners

In what universe do fairies wear short, black dresses, platform boots, red lipstick and thick mascara? I've never seen one done up like that.

I said that it might as well be. For the kid. Not that it was similar in looks. I guess sheer pink dresses and sparkly glitter is somehow more appealing?

re: #184 MandyManners

Yep. Competitive cheerleading is huge. Ages from 6 to sixteen. 99% girls.

re: #189 MandyManners

Look at the message the boys are getting.

It's all part of the Whore-Goddess thing, and it's been going on for ages.

The boys get the message that "no means yes", and we know what that can lead to.

re: #192 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Yep. Competitive cheerleading is huge. Ages from 6 to sixteen. 99% girls.

and 1% ,,,well

NTTAWWT!!

///

re: #187 Spare O'Lake

What the heck is the matter with their parents?
Treating little children like pets in a best-in-show competition.
No offence intended to pet owners.
*spit*

In this case, I suspect it's her father's doing. He's a has-been who is living vicariously through his daughters.

re: #168 SixDegrees

GMTA

Ours, too.

re: #191 cenotaphium

I said that it might as well be. For the kid. Not that it was similar in looks. I guess sheer pink dresses and sparkly glitter is somehow more appealing?

Appealing for whom? The adults? The kids?

re: #194 sattv4u2

Uh... straight male cheerleaders get obscene amounts of tail.

But, you're pretty much right.

re: #192 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Yep. Competitive cheerleading is huge. Ages from 6 to sixteen. 99% girls.

Good for you and the other dads.

re: #183 sattv4u2

Bingo. That, and the "best buddy" ,,,non-critisizing,,,everyone gets a trophy ,,, don't keep score ,style of parenting

Ah okay. Yes, I bet that has something to do with it, but I don't think it's the only factor at play. When I was mentioning the mainstreaming of pr0n culture, I had adults in mind as well.

Housewives attending exercise classes that are pole dancing classes. Bestsellers by pron stars like Jenna Jamison. Increasing popularity of implants. Women getting labiaplasties because porn has convinced them that their labia 'look funny'. Young guys getting Viagra not because they need it, but because they think it will enhance performance. Brazilian waxes being standard salon fare now.
Just seems like there's been a mainstreaming of what we could call 'porn culture' over the last ten or so years and it's not only the kids that are affected.
I suspect the internet is probably the main culprit. Now porn featuring anything you can imagine (and several things we wouldn't otherwise imagine) is available to anyone with access to the internet. It's no longer the province of seedy bookstores or whatever.

re: #165 SixDegrees

Disney has a particularly bad history with this sort of thing. Britney Spears; Lindsay Lohan; Miley Cyrus - all following exactly the same arc from cute, wholesome little girl to pandering slut, as though from a script. I'm sure other posters can provide additional examples, but something ain't right over at the Mouse House.

Commercially, it seems to be a winning concept. They've all made buckets of cash. Is it any wonder the cycle continues?

I've always taken Disney's child centered image to be a mirage, at least the last few decades. Their model is profit, not appropriateness.

re: #198 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Uh... straight male cheerleaders get obscene amounts of tail.

But, you're pretty much right.

You know what's rare?

Straight Flight Stewards.

re: #193 ralphieboy

The boys get the message that "no means yes", and we know what that can lead to.

A lack of basic respect for women.

re: #195 MandyManners

In this case, I suspect it's her father's doing. He's a has-been who is living vicariously through his daughters.

He needs a swift boot up his achey-breaky ass.

Speaking of us guys, there's also pressure within our gender to 'score' while they're 'hot.' MTV culture has broadened that spectrum from macho to emo.

re: #176 Spare O'Lake

Well, spare- it's been awhile since the Cup has been to The Hub...but at least there was color photography the last time it happened.

re: #198 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Uh... straight male cheerleaders get obscene amounts of tail.

But, you're pretty much right.

Remember the scene on the football field in Bring it On in which one of the players made fun of the boy cheerleaders and one scoffed, "Dude, you lost."

re: #200 iceweasel

Increasing popularity of implants. Women getting labiaplasties because porn has convinced them that their labia 'look funny'. Young guys getting Viagra not because they need it, but because they think it will enhance performance. Brazilian waxes being standard salon fare now.

Not to beat a dead horse ,, but ,, the generation that is by and large doing those things were raised under the Spock methods and now THEY are the parents

Really have to BBIAB

re: #204 Spare O'Lake

He needs a swift boot up his achey-breaky ass.

Ack! I hate that song.

re: #207 MandyManners

"Let me get this straight. You want me to hold this smoking hot girl in the air with my hand up her woohoo? And I get extra credit?"

re: #201 cenotaphium

Commercially, it seems to be a winning concept. They've all made buckets of cash. Is it any wonder the cycle continues?

I've always taken Disney's child centered image to be a mirage, at least the last few decades. Their model is profit, not appropriateness.

There is something especially disturbing about the career trajectory of the female stars, though. They go straight from little girl to hypersexualised image, and it's like the whole attendant circus is part of it. The people shaking their heads and saying how awful it is, the greedy picking over of every scandal they inevitably get involved in-- it's like the cycle isn't complete until the girl/woman is totally fucked up and destroyed. Their lives are our collective gorey reality show.

re: #205 laZardo

True, but I think it's still up to the individual gal whichever type of guy she prefers. Just because MTV showcases the emo guys doesn't mean every female will find them appealing.

I like my gays gay as the friggin' wind, but I like my straights masculine. That emo non-committal shit has no appeal whatsoever to me. I don't know who MTV is selling it to, but it isn't me.

re: #177 MandyManners

The PARENTS are the ones responsible for allowing this to happen. Last time I looked, Disney didn't have custody of those kids.

I agree, but there's an awful lot of this crap coming out of Disney, while other show business venues that promote child stars don't seem to have such problems. Nickelodeon, for example, doesn't seem to produce tartlets, despite the steady stream of tart potential that flows through their studios. Cyrus didn't start pole-grinding while at Nick; that started when she made the switch to Disney.

re: #206 Fenway_Nation

Well, spare- it's been awhile since the Cup has been to The Hub...but at least there was color photography the last time it happened.

Heh.
Oy, did I say 32 years for the Leafs? Sorry...it's been 42 years.
Nineteen Sixty Fucking Seven!!!

re: #210 MandyManners

Don't play that song
That "Achy Breaky" song
The most annoying song I know
And if you play that song
That "Achy Breaky" song
I might blow up my radio, ooo...

-Wierd Al

re: #216 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Puke, gag, please stop. I hate that song so much I haven't the words to express it. Add acid washed jeans and a mullet...

I have to throw up now.

re: #210 MandyManners

Ack! I hate that song.

Just mullet over awhile. You'll get used to it.

/And good morning!

re: #214 SixDegrees

I agree, but there's an awful lot of this crap coming out of Disney, while other show business venues that promote child stars don't seem to have such problems. Nickelodeon, for example, doesn't seem to produce tartlets, despite the steady stream of tart potential that flows through their studios. Cyrus didn't start pole-grinding while at Nick; that started when she made the switch to Disney.

I've not followed her career so I'll have to take your word for the difference between the two. However, the buck stops with the parents.

Don't play that song!

re: #218 bloodnok

Just mullet over awhile. You'll get used to it.

/And good morning!

Don't tease me with puns this early in the morning.

Good morning to you, too.

re: #215 Spare O'Lake

Heh...last time I was in Toronto, it was 32 years ago since they won the cup.

I forget what it was advertising, but there was a billboard with a blue & white banner that said '1967 Champions'. The text below it read 'Because nobody likes to wait'.

re: #221 MandyManners

I'd say this AM crew cuts it pretty close with all those puns.

re: #217 theheat

Billy Ray narrated a program on the History Channel. IIRC, "Hillbillies; The True History". And did a very, very good job. Fantastic show.

Was like my family tree come to life.

re: #200 iceweasel

I suspect the internet is probably the main culprit. Now porn featuring anything you can imagine (and several things we wouldn't otherwise imagine) is available to anyone with access to the internet. It's no longer the province of seedy bookstores or whatever.

Not that I want to seem like a complete pervert with encyclopedic knowledge on this topic or anything, but.. you have to take into account that the porn culture itself has changed dramatically over just a few decades. The brazilian wax custom, for instance, is pretty rare in early 90's porn. Not only the style, but the acts have changed, growing increasingly brutal. Old media studios have blamed the internet and the decreasing costs (cheap and good recorders available, starting an internet site costing very little) for a saturated market that looks for new ways to draw crowds with new shocks and thrills.
I agree with you that it's feeding into mainstream culture. Or at least mainstream culture is being as sexualized as possible. However, if porn culture itself is being transformed - what's driving it? Somewhere here is consumer choice, ultimately leading back to mainstream culture shaping porn culture.

It's a feedback loop. _{Or a 69?}

Is that a lizard in your pants, or are you happy to see me?

re: #212 iceweasel

Yeah, and it makes us old broads feel old. Geez, I remember back in the day (when we walked five miles to school in the snow) if you had a pretty face, were even a little charming, and had big knockers - the world was your oyster. Now, you have to be stapled, pulled, sucked, plumped, extended, waxed - I don't do that much maintenance to my damned car. But all this stuff has been mainstreamed, and now it's considered the norm.

Not that hard to figure out a timeline.

The administration was obviously trying to pressure the Afghans to hold elections before they announced anything, which is why Kerry was there last week - to drop the hammer of holding back the money if they didn't. Now that they have the announcement will probably come right after they're held.

re: #226 Fenway_Nation

Reptiles under his shirt? At least he wasn't smuggling trouser snakes...

re: #225 cenotaphium

It's a feedback loop.

The human brain needs an ever increasing magnitude of stimuli to reach the same intensity of experience.

re: #223 Fenway_Nation

I'd say this AM crew cuts it pretty close with all those puns.

They give me an extra buzz with my coffee.

re: #231 MandyManners

Fro away these damn puns!

re: #224 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

I saw some of that awhile back- the CSX railway figured pretty prominently in one segment.

re: #227 theheat

if you had a pretty face, were even a little charming, and had big knockers - the world was your oyster. Now, you have to be stapled, pulled, sucked, plumped, extended, waxed -

Not really

I'm still a pretty face/ little charming/ big knockers liking kinda guy!!!

re: #232 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Fro away these damn puns!

Don't up-braid me this early, please.

re: #228 JEA62

Did you teleport in here from another thread?

re: #233 Fenway_Nation

After the civil war, my ancestors crawled into coal mines.

re: #231 MandyManners

Usually this place is a beehive of activity.

re: #232 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Fro away these damn puns!

It's not that cut and dried...

Speaking of Disney, how much is it costing us to use Cinderella and Tinkerbell to promote booster seats and "green" living, respectively?

re: #238 Fenway_Nation

Usually this place is a beehive of activity.

Do tell.

Will anyone have a BOO-fant hairdo this Halloween?

re: #238 Fenway_Nation

Other times, more cloche and dagger activity.

re: #225 cenotaphium

Not that I want to seem like a complete pervert with encyclopedic knowledge on this topic or anything, but.. you have to take into account that the porn culture itself has changed dramatically over just a few decades. The brazilian wax custom, for instance, is pretty rare in early 90's porn. Not only the style, but the acts have changed, growing increasingly brutal. Old media studios have blamed the internet and the decreasing costs (cheap and good recorders available, starting an internet site costing very little) for a saturated market that looks for new ways to draw crowds with new shocks and thrills.
I agree with you that it's feeding into mainstream culture. Or at least mainstream culture is being as sexualized as possible. However, if porn culture itself is being transformed - what's driving it? Somewhere here is consumer choice, ultimately leading back to mainstream culture shaping porn culture.

It's a feedback loop. _{Or a 69?}

Agreed. My guess is that the old media studios are right about what's driving it-- essentially, people become increasingly desensitised to what's presented, so there's a quest for more. What form that 'more' takes...who knows? It changes.

Interestingly, I read something by an exFBI agent who specialised in crimes involving sexual violence. He said you could trace a pattern over the decades involving the level of sexual assault, and the kind of assault, and it tracked pornography fairly closely. Oral sex wasn't a common demand from a rapist in say 1950-- but in the 70's after the release of Deep Throat (which itself was mainstream), it became a fairly standard demand. The same has continued to happen over the decades.

(Note: this isn't to say that porn causes violence; no reputable study has ever been able to substantiate that-- but that people who are drawn to commit sexual assaults do tend to have a heavy consumption of porn, trending towards the more violent sorts. )

re: #200 iceweasel

Rule 34...has probably always existed, but now it's more evident and accessible.

Market for porn is 87 billion worldwide according to the latest information I could find. That's a lot of friggin money.

Ugh ,,,

After 18 + months of drought (where the lake that is our main water supply was down over 19 feet) for the 3rd time in the last month we here in Georgia are under another flood alert today

Driving into work later will be SO much fun!

re: #245 PT Barnum

Imagine the number if all that is downloaded was paid for.

re: #242 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Will anyone have a BOO-fant hairdo this Halloween?

THE WINNAH!

One does not even need a studio, you just need a hooker (or a drunk bimbo), a back seat and a cell phone and you're a porn producer nowadays.

re: #244 iceweasel

In a similar vein, that's one reason I think that torture pr0n isn't healthy. Just how desensitized to humanity, perverted, and twisted do people want to become? The creep factor has increased a thousand fold.

re: #246 sattv4u2

Ugh ,,,

After 18 + months of drought (where the lake that is our main water supply was down over 19 feet) for the 3rd time in the last month we here in Georgia are under another flood alert today

Driving into work later will be SO much fun!

Climate Change!

Speaking of Halloween, we should think of what to give those kids that decide to come to our door dressed up as Michael Jackson.

re: #249 ralphieboy

I am almost afraid of being single again.

If Farrah Fawcett were still alive, she'd be flipping out over all these hairstyle puns...

re: #227 theheat

My favorites are the pretty ones who don't appreciate how pretty they really are.

I'll take that over someone who's only marginally more physically attractive than the 'hot nerd' and constantly reminding me how lucky I am to be with such a flawless specimen