I love the smell of a shiny, brand new, troll-free thread.

re: #2 Irish Rose

I love the smell of a shiny, brand new, troll-free thread.

Troll dog whistle.

For the love of God, please don't.
Let the fuckers sleep.

re: #4 Irish Rose

How's the view from Lake Shore Drive? Is the lake all iced up to the horizon? I'm seeming to remember that you're in Chicago, right on the lake...

I have childhood memories of Arctic landscapes over Lake Michigan, with huge blocks of ice stretching endlessly out. The whole thing frozen solid - until the thaw and the city covered in fog with just the foghorns punctuating the silence...

If can just work a 'fuck you' into all of this, the tread should take off...

re: #5 ryannon

Nope, not in Chicago... I'm in Michigan.

But I do live within walking distance of the beach, and I'm down there every day. The lake isn't iced up to the horizon, but we do have quite a bit of ice built up along the shoreline.

The Great Lakes are a majestic sight in the winter time, no doubt about it.

Rahm apologizes to the Progressive Democratic Caucus and Sarah Palin:
[Link: www.hulu.com...] (Saturday Night Live)

re: #8 Irish Rose

Ah, mixed you up with one of the other Lizards. Michigan was like another country to me when I was growing up in Chicago. First South Bend and the big steel mills and then the old lakeside resorts. And way out East, Ann Arbor. And even further, Detroit. I never quite understood Michigan.

Don't feel bad, I've lived in Michigan all of my adult life and I don't understand it here either.

If you want to ponder the connection between Beatury and Truth, just look as Sarah Palin...

re: #10 ryannon

Ah, mixed you up with one of the other Lizards. Michigan was like another country to me when I was growing up in Chicago. First South Bend and the big steel mills and then the old lakeside resorts. And way out East, Ann Arbor. And even further, Detroit. I never quite understood Michigan.

what's to understand?...it's another state, you need to get out more I think

re: #11 irish rose

Don't feel bad, I've lived in Michigan all of my adult life and I don't understand it here either.

what about MI is confusing?

re: #13 albusteve

what's to understand?...it's another state, you need to get out more I think

You're right. Go to a nice party with plenty of beer and a lot of crazy dudes...

re: #15 ryannon

You're right. Go to a nice party with plenty of beer and a lot of crazy dudes...

[Video]

you are not making any sense

re: #16 albusteve

you are not making any sense

And YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION

re: #17 ryannon

And YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION

to what?

re: #14 albusteve

what about MI is confusing?

Where do I even start?
The transition from automobile manufacturing to film-making, perhaps?

re: #18 albusteve

to what?

The Life of the Mind.

So ryannon... helluva kegger tonight eh? ;)
How bout them Saints!

have you ever thought about the term, "groupthink?"

re: #19 Irish Rose

Where do I even start?
The transition from automobile manufacturing to film-making, perhaps?

I dunno...you said you "don't understand it here"...don't understand what?...some sort of inside sekrit?

re: #20 ryannon

The Life of the Mind.

[Video]

I don't open your vids...if you cannot figure out MI just say why in your own words, rather than make your case with videos

re: #21 Irish Rose

So ryannon... helluva kegger tonight eh? ;)
How bout them Saints!

I'm happy for New Orleans. Other than that, I could give a poo.

PIMF: couldn't

The government is closed today. I spent a couple of hours yesterday shoveling snow so I could get to work on Monday, and now I have a day off. A day off I have to use my vacation time to take off.

And I found out yesterday that I owe the government over $700 in taxes. Stupid government!

re: #27 Mad Al-Jaffee

The government is closed today. I spent a couple of hours yesterday shoveling snow so I could get to work on Monday, and now I have a day off. A day off I have to use my vacation time to take off.

And I found out yesterday that I owe the government over $700 in taxes. Stupid government!

be thankful it wasn't even more...pay up comrade

The cold meds are finally kicking in, and it's time for sleep.
Goodnight all.

re: #27 Mad Al-Jaffee

The government is closed today. I spent a couple of hours yesterday shoveling snow so I could get to work on Monday, and now I have a day off. A day off I have to use my vacation time to take off.

And I found out yesterday that I owe the government over $700 in taxes. Stupid government!

hahaha no. You owe the government much more that $700 dollars in taxes. There were probably many thousands of dollars in tax money that were withheld from your pay over the last year.

The $700 you owe is on top of what you have already paid. Am I right?

re: #30 imploder

hahaha no. You owe the government much more that $700 dollars in taxes. There were probably many thousands of dollars in tax money that were withheld from your pay over the last year.

The $700 you owe is on top of what you have already paid. Am I right?

yes, you are right...geaux feds!

re: #30 imploder

hahaha no. You owe the government much more that $700 dollars in taxes. There were probably many thousands of dollars in tax money that were withheld from your pay over the last year.

The $700 you owe is on top of what you have already paid. Am I right?

I usually get a refund from what they take from my paycheck. Don't know what happened this year. I haven't factored in all of my music expenses and earnings (this will be the first time I'll do that, if I decide to declare it), so that may change things.

re: #31 albusteve

yes, you are right...geaux feds!

hahah I think it's pretty funny, because I am in the process of being hired as a a criminal investigator ftor the IRS (federal agent).

But, I have paid my taxes. That's for sure.

If you want to be a federal agent for the IRS nowadays it is simple. Have a graduate's degree in business, accounting or finance, and be fluent in a second language.

I shit you not.

re: #33 imploder

I'm a federal contactor, for Homeland Security.

re: #24 albusteve

I don't open your vids...if you cannot figure out MI just say why in your own words, rather than make your case with videos

Michigan is more than forty years back in my life. I have no case to make about it, other than not really having a feeling for it more than forty years ago. I have a great feeling for parts of California, Indonesia and France. So what? I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone - unless they see the self-evidence of my apparently disconnected and image-based thought-processes. I'm being as honest as I can here and not looking for trouble. But if it's trouble you're looking for, I guess we could turn this thread into another piece of trash-talking waste of time.

re: #33 imploder

hahah I think it's pretty funny, because I am in the process of being hired as a a criminal investigator ftor the IRS (federal agent).

But, I have paid my taxes. That's for sure.

If you want to be a federal agent for the IRS nowadays it is simple. Have a graduate's degree in business, accounting or finance, and be fluent in a second language.

I shit you not.

I've finally turned the tables...the feds pay me!...bwahahaha!

re: #36 albusteve

I've finally turned the tables...the feds pay me!...bwahahaha!

Good show!

the Feds also pay me, I'm a military retiree

re: #35 ryannon

Michigan is more than forty years back in my life. I have no case to make about it, other than not really having a feeling for it more than forty years ago. I have a great feeling for parts of California, Indonesia and France. So what? I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone - unless they see the self-evidence of my apparently disconnected and image-based thought-processes. I'm being as honest as I can here and not looking for trouble. But if it's trouble you're looking for, I guess we could turn this thread into another piece of trash-talking waste of time.

you said you "never quite understood MI"...when I asked what you meant you posted some videos...like that is supposed to answer a simple question?...what are you talking about?..what don't you understand?

re: #38 imploder

the Feds also pay me, I'm a military retiree

yup...you need to take back what is yours, and thanks for your service

some Hiatt for a dead thread

re: #39 albusteve

you said you "never quite understood MI"...when I asked what you meant you posted some videos...like that is supposed to answer a simple question?...what are you talking about?..what don't you understand?

Is that you, Walter?

Ok - just this once, and then we both go on to greener pastures, or whatever.

"Not understanding" Michigan was the best way I could think of for saying that I never had a sense of place or purpose for the geographical entity known at the State of Michigan. This feeling was echoed by Ms. Rose, who actually lives there, and whose opinion you also felt needed explanation. My conclusion is that having staked out diametrically opposed styles of discourse and communication, we're not going to learn a whole lot from each other. I'll pass over your statement that you don't watch the videos I post - other than to say that it's not much different from saying I don't really read the sentences you post. But since I do read the sentences you write and you don't apparently look at the videos I post - which I feel are essential to my way of communicating - let's just drop what's turning into a dead-end conversation. Life is too short, as you well know, and whatever the hell I think about Michigan has little or no importance. The videos do, but they don't interest you. As the Cowboy in Mulholland Drive said, you're eager to get down to it. The problem is, for some people, there's absolutely nothing to get down to with me. I'll just keep sliding out of your hands, spinning words and images and progressively making you even more irritated. Write me off as a fool and an empty windbag and move on. I've nothing to show you. I wish I could, but it looks like I can't.

re: #42 ryannon

Is that you, Walter?

Ok - just this once, and then we both go on to greener pastures, or whatever.

"Not understanding" Michigan was the best way I could think of for saying that I never had a sense of place or purpose for the geographical entity known at the State of Michigan. This feeling was echoed by Ms. Rose, who actually lives there, and whose opinion you also felt needed explanation. My conclusion is that having staked out diametrically opposed styles of discourse and communication, we're not going to learn a whole lot from each other. I'll pass over your statement that you don't watch the videos I post - other than to say that it's not much different from saying I don't really read the sentences you post. But since I do read the sentences you write and you don't apparently look at the videos I post - which I feel are essential to my way of communicating - let's just drop what's turning into a dead-end conversation. Life is too short, as you well know, and whatever the hell I think about Michigan has little or no importance. The videos do, but they don't interest you. As the Cowboy in Mulholland Drive said, you're eager to get down to it. The problem is, for some people, there's absolutely nothing to get down to with me. I'll just keep sliding out of your hands, spinning words and images and progressively making you even more irritated. Write me off as a fool and an empty windbag and move on. I've nothing to show you. I wish I could, but it looks like I can't.

what a windy bunch of bullshit...you made a statement that made little sense and now you make some monumental effort to explain it with a lot of fancy sounding tripe...I was born and raised in MI and still don't know wtf you are talking about...

one last time for the feeble minded dead threaders...

re: #43 albusteve

what a windy bunch of bullshit...you made a statement that made little sense and now you make some monumental effort to explain it with a lot of fancy sounding tripe...I was born and raised in MI and still don't know wtf you are talking about...

What I'm saying is that I think that Michigan sucks. Just like some people.

What part of that don't you get?

re: #45 ryannon

What I'm saying is that I think that Michigan sucks. Just like some people.

What part of that don't you get?

peel away all your tripe...and I do get it...you might have just said so to begin with...what's with all the rhetoric and blather?...so why don't you like MI?...did MI harm you in some way?...MI sucks!...Rhode Island sucks!...haha!, good one...maybe your problem with MI is you, ever consider that?

what a stupid conversation...I guess I'll punch out...and ryannon, get a grip...see you around

re: #46 albusteve

peel away all your tripe...and I do get it...you might have just said so to begin with...what's with all the rhetoric and blather?...so why don't you like MI?...did MI harm you in some way?...MI sucks!...Rhode Island sucks!...haha!, good one...maybe your problem with MI is you, ever consider that?

All the time.

But I'm glad that you're so good with yourself. And that you never blather.

and...and...

yawn.

Trapped in an elevator for 41 hours.

In honor of the Superbowl winners:

at least one thing from Michigan rocks:

Good morning, LGF!

...another 5 to 10" of snow tomorrow night, lol.
Forget shoveling, I'm gonna use a flame thrower.
:)

re: #53 Varek Raith

Good morning, LGF!

...another 5 to 10" of snow tomorrow night, lol.
Forget shoveling, I'm gonna use a flame thrower.
:)

That's the way to think.

The more the merrier!

India again successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable missile Sunday that can hit targets across much of Asia and the Middle East, a defense ministry press release said.

It was the fourth test of the Agni III missile, the statement added. The first attempt in 2006 failed, but the last two tests were successful.

"The Agni III missile tested for the full range, hit the target with pinpoint accuracy and met all the mission objectives," the press release added.

India's current arsenal of missiles is largely intended for confronting archrival Pakistan. The Agni III, in contrast, is India's longest-range missile, designed to reach 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) — putting China's major cities well into range, as well as Middle Eastern targets.

SNIP

re: #55 MandyManners

The more the merrier!

India again successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable missile Sunday that can hit targets across much of Asia and the Middle East, a defense ministry press release said.

SNIP

Wow... there really are pissed about the IPCC...

The Indian government has established its own body to monitor the effects of global warming because it cannot rely on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the group headed by its own Nobel prize-winning scientist Dr R.K Pachauri.

Police in central China have shut down a hacker training operation that openly recruited thousands of members online and provided them with cyberattack lessons and malicious software, state media said Monday.

The crackdown comes amid growing concern that China is a center for Internet crime and industrial espionage. Search giant Google said last month its e-mail accounts were hacked from China in an assault that also hit at least 20 other companies.

Police in Hubei province arrested three people suspected of running the hacker site known as the Black Hawk Safety Net that disseminated Web site hacking techniques and Trojan software, the China Daily newspaper said. Trojans, which can allow outside access to a computer when implanted, are used by hackers to illegally control computers. The report did not say exactly when the arrests took place.

Black Hawk Safety Net recruited more than 12,000 paying subscribers and collected more than 7 million yuan ($1 million) in membership fees, while another 170,000 people had signed up for free membership, the paper said.

SNIP

re: #56 Walter L. Newton

Wow... there really are pissed about the IPCC...

The Indian government has established its own body to monitor the effects of global warming because it cannot rely on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the group headed by its own Nobel prize-winning scientist Dr R.K Pachauri.

And, he's Indian by birth.

Light snow, about an inch here... leaving early, roads a bit snow packed in the hills here, radio says down hill city streets not too bad, but another inch is coming in right now on the north side of Denver, my girlfriend is riding with me, taking her to work too, why have two cars on the road this morning?

So, I'll be a good hours and a half for what normally is about a 28 minute drive.

I like winter, when I was 18... not so much now.

If I wanted to be nagged, I'd have voted for my mom for president.

For a president who ran on uplifting themes like change and hope, Barack Obama spends an awful lot of time scolding Americans about how he hopes they’ll change.

He’s advised parents to “replace that video game with a book and make sure that homework gets done.” He’s urged members of Congress not to read blogs or watch 24-hour cable news. And he’s challenged lobbyists, lawmakers, bankers, journalists, insurance companies and other heads of state to do a better job.

He’s prodded people to get off the couch, eat healthier and exercise more. He’s even suggested Americans buy stocks, U.S.-made cars and energy-efficient light bulbs, while cautioning them not to max out their credit cards.

At times, having Obama in the Oval Office is like having a really powerful Dr. Phil around.

But lately Obama’s tsk-tsking has gotten him into some trouble. At the very moment he’s trying to recover his declining popularity and revive his party heading into the November elections, even some in his party worry that he risks coming off not as the inspirational figure who galvanized the electorate in 2008 but as the embodiment of a dour Democrat that turns off some voters.

SNIP

re: #59 Walter L. Newton

Light snow, about an inch here... leaving early, roads a bit snow packed in the hills here, radio says down hill city streets not too bad, but another inch is coming in right now on the north side of Denver, my girlfriend is riding with me, taking her to work too, why have two cars on the road this morning?

So, I'll be a good hours and a half for what normally is about a 28 minute drive.

I like winter, when I was 18... not so much now.

Take care!

re: #60 MandyManners

If I wanted to be nagged, I'd have voted for my mom for president.

Yes, I understand that he is the President. But I do not own either a donkey, or a saddle. So I wish he would stop trying to ride my ass!

Oh, and leave my pet Billy alone, Mr. President... you're just one in a long line of people trying to get my goat!

Can a foreign correspondent cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if his son is an IDF soldier?

The New York Times, in an opinion column on Saturday, answered “Yes” to that question when its executive editor Bill Keller defended the paper’s Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner, whose son is in the Israeli army.

Bronner, an American Jew, has been posted here for the Times since March 2008, after serving as the paper’s deputy foreign editor for four years.

The possibility of a conflict of interest regarding his reporting was first raised a few weeks ago by a pro-Palestinian Web site, The Electronic Intifadah.

But many reporters and media critics were unaware of the controversy when contacted by The Jerusalem Post, although some did know that Bronner had a son in the IDF.

The issue is a sensitive one for English-language reporters in Israel, many of whom have ties to the country that they fear to highlight, lest they find their objectivity questioned, as Bronner’s has been.

“It is a very difficult subject,” Foreign Press Association president Conny Mus said. “It is fully in the hands of his newspaper to judge his ability.”

Government Press Office director Danny Seaman said this issue of bias comes up only regarding Jewish reporters.

For Seaman, the entire matter is not an ethical debate about bias and objectivity, but rather a smear campaign against Bronner.

“Why is he suddenly under attack when all the major media outlets such as AP, Reuters, the BBC and even The New York Times employ Palestinian reporters?” he asked.

SNIP

re: #62 SteveC

Yes, I understand that he is the President. But I do not own either a donkey, or a saddle. So I wish he would stop trying to ride my ass!

You're in fine form this morning, Steve.

Alcohol and LGF, never a good mix.

re: #65 MandyManners

You're in fine form this morning, Steve.

Shaping up to be a good day, Mandy! Hopefully you can say the same!

Saudi women’s rights advocates are outraged after a 12-year-old girl was sold by her father into marriage with an 80-year-old man.

A Saudi father, whose name has not been released, sold his 12-year-old daughter to his 80-year old cousin for the equivalent of $22,600. The elderly man, who lives in the city of Buraidah, stands accused of raping the girl after the wedding. He has previously married three other young girls.

“She was raped and they took her to the hospital after the wedding night,” Wajiha Al-Huwaidar, a Saudi journalist who has been banned from reporting by the government told The Media Line. “Usually when the girl is very young, the authorities tell the husband not to touch her until after puberty. When he was interviewed, the guy just said she was old enough and he didn’t know she would get hurt.”

The girl, already in the custody of the elderly man, was reported to have shouted “I don’t want him, save me!” when contacted by phone by a journalist from the Al Riyadh, a local newspaper in the Saudi capital.

The girl’s mother, who had objected strongly to the marriage, took the case to local media after her lawyer’s efforts to get it legally annulled failed.

After the case was publicized, the public prosecutor of Al-Qassim Province is said to have set up a special committee to look into the case.

“They say they’re going to look into it but nothing will really happen,” Eman Al Nafjan, a Saudi blogger and women’s rights advocate told The Media Line. “Even if they solve this case, they are not going to recommend a new law to the king. We should set a legal minimum age at which girls can be married.”

“Without a law we get people like this 80 year old guy who takes advantage of the system to fulfill his sick obsession with little girls,” she wrote on her blog. “Where else in the world can a man openly say that he is in a polygamous marriage with four underage girls and not get arrested? At this rate we might as well start a tourism industry to attract rich Muslim pedophiles.”

The girl’s parents are divorced and the marriage is understood to have been arranged on the initiative of the father, who told the local newspaper that he did so on the basis of the girl’s physical development, not her age.

How did he know about her "physical development"?

Mandy, do me a favor and email me would you?

re: #66 irish rose

Alcohol and LGF, never a good mix.

Link?

*snicker*

Good morning, Irish Rose!

re: #66 irish rose

Alcohol and LGF, never a good mix.

The last time we were both here at the same time, you weren't feeling well. I hope you are better!

re: #67 SteveC

Shaping up to be a good day, Mandy! Hopefully you can say the same!

The Kid has the sniffles so he's staying home.

re: #68 MandyManners

Gag.

re: #69 irish rose

My ISP cannot e-mail other Lizards through their nics.

re: #71 SteveC

Thanks, garden variety cold.

re: #73 irish rose

Gag.

“Usually when the girl is very young, the authorities tell the husband not to touch her until after puberty. When he was interviewed, the guy just said she was old enough and he didn’t know she would get hurt.”

I reckon dear, old dad told the pervert that she was old enough.

re: #64 MandyManners

Can a foreign correspondent cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if his son is an IDF soldier?
SNIP

Luckily, there's always Charles Enderlin to set the standard for objective reporting.

re: #69 irish rose

Is it about the stew recipe that didn't make the cookbook? Reine has it.

That's OK, Mandy.

I want to mention here this morning that I probably won't be posting here at LGF any more.

It's important to me to be able to say goodbye to my friends though, so I'm logging in one more time to do so.

re: #77 ryannon

Luckily, there's always Charles Enderlin to set the standard for objective reporting.

Who he?

re: #79 irish rose

I hope the key word is "probably". Please?

re: #79 irish rose

Ah, dang it Rose?!?

purrr.

re: #79 irish rose

Best of life and luck to you, Irish Rose.

re: #83 Taqyia2Me

And please don't be afraid to reconsider.

Mornin' y'all!

re: #79 irish rose

No matter how busy life gets, you can find time to post!

re: #79 irish rose

Love ya, Rose. At least I know you won't be going to the bad places.

re: #85 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Mornin' y'all!

Still snowing? Isn't another on the way?

Good morning all. Happy snow day from the wild north country, where we're in the throes of a minor blizzard. ("minor" meaning that it's 10 inches over a couple of days, rather than 10 inches overnight) How is everyone?

re: #88 MandyManners

No. Yes.

Actually, I'm kinda enjoying it.

House is a flipping wreck though.

Morning folks, brutally cold with more snow coming. Perfect way to celebrate the colts loss. I'm still sad.//

re: #79 irish rose

Another mean blogger somewhere just got his/her wings...

re: #91 RogueOne

Morning folks, brutally cold with more snow coming. Perfect way to celebrate the colts loss. I'm still sad.//

I imagine everyone in the office this morning is looking forward to rubbing it in. Thing is, I kinda like the Saints anyway.

State and federal investigators were expected to launch an investigation Monday at a power plant where an explosion killed at least five people and injured more than two dozen, authorities said.

Search-and-rescue teams had scoured most of the blast site by about 2:30 a.m. ET Monday, according to Deputy Fire Marshal Al Santostefano. One small portion was deemed unsafe to enter, he said.

Sunday's blast took place at the under-construction Kleen Power Plant, while plant workers purged a natural gas pipeline, Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano said.

Kleen Energy Systems said on its Web site that the plan is gas-fired but can use other fuels. It was expected to produce 620 megawatts of power and would be one of the largest power plants in New England.

SNIP

re: #93 thedopefishlives

I can take a little solace in a Brees win. He's a good man and honorary hoosier.

re: #80 MandyManners

Who he?

I don't trust myself to use my own words, so allow me to link to those of others. Remember Mohammed Al Durah? Enderlin is the French journalist whose biased reporting and outright lies helped create the Second Infitada:

[Link: www.theaugeanstables.com...]

re: #96 ryannon

I don't trust myself to use my own words, so allow me to link to those of others. Remember Mohammed Al Durah? Enderlin is the French journalist whose biased reporting and outright lies helped create the Second Infitada:

[Link: www.theaugeanstables.com...]

Oh, now I remember. Asshole.

re: #95 RogueOne

I can take a little solace in a Brees win. He's a good man and honorary hoosier.

Exactly. I always liked him, even as far back as his days at Purdue. The family joke is that he learned how to run and take a hit when he quarterbacked for them.

Mandy, I'll say it plainly: Iceweasel, Jimmah and a handful of others are destroying the climate here at LGF with their relentless bullying and behind-the-scenes targeting of people that they don't like.

Also, there were some outrageous lies told about "Defenseman" on yesterdays' morning open that were really the tipping point for me. I know the person who runs that blog, he's a decent caring person and would never do what he has been accused of. I expressed my outrage at the end of the thread and was given the usual response from our two resident bullies.

I'm just not down with this kind of thing, it's not what I come to LGF for.

re: #87 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Love ya, Rose. At least I know you won't be going to the bad places.

Hell no.

heh...

Someone posted this last night, 'ceptin language was Spanish...

re: #77 ryannon

Luckily, there's always Charles Enderlin to set the standard for objective reporting.

re: #80 MandyManners

Who he?

Who Dat?

OK, that's my one Super-Duper Bowl joke. Carry on!

re: #99 irish rose

I'm just not down with this kind of thing, it's not what I come to LGF for.

*hugs*

To be honest, I can't really blame you. I usually wind up stepping out - for an hour, a day, a weekend - when things start getting nasty in here. I do hope you can find a way to stay.

Drink up, it's good for you!

A new study suggests that beer is a significant source of dietary silicon, a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density.

re: #99 irish rose

They're not the only Lizards!

re: #99 irish rose

As I was reading some of the comments posted yesterday and the vulgar tone directed at Palin, as well as the sniping at other posters here at LGF - I logged off and didn't come back until today.

I find it quite remarkable at the language and vitriol used by those who pass themselves off as "Inclusive", "Progressive", "Educated"...
What a bunch of crock.

You want to impress me with your intelligence and persuade me with our discussion points? Then be Mature.

Progs...

re: #106 Ericus58

I just don't understand how people hate her so.

Some people have a natural tendency to hate those they disagree with.

re: #107 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

I just don't understand how people hate her so.

Some people have a natural tendency to hate those they disagree with.

Well, she is a bit of a nutjob, and the general climate here at LGF is to ruthlessly poke fun of such nutjobs. I do know that there's a bit of a cult following in the vein of deep-seated hatred for her, though. Which is quite different, and a bit disturbing.

"I would like to give up my son again," says Anchello Cantave, a farmer here, who willingly handed over his five-year-old to US missionaries now facing charges of child abduction in Haiti's post-quake chaos.

An hour outside of the devastated Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, Callebasse is a poor town set in the mountains, where a massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake on January 12 destroyed 50 homes.

Just two days later, 10 American missionaries from the US state of Idaho arrived in town.

To impoverished parents desperate to give their children a better future, they offered the promise of something more -- but they also represented the children as orphans when they tried to take them across the border to the Dominican Republic.

Cantave, 36, is convinced that the Americans had only good intentions.

"It's better for our children to stay with strangers in a foreign country," he told AFP.

SNIP

Remember the article/link I posted yesterday about Haitian poor parents who send their kids to rich relatives or non-relatives? In light of that, this might have been the best thing that those parents could think of doing.

One thing's for damn sure, I get to see enough of the new fights without going looking for old ones.

Charles doesn't seem to mind the new tone, and it is his blog. So? Eh.

re: #109 MandyManners

I read that this morning. From what I understand it's pretty common for a lot of the kids in Haitian orphanages to have living parents. What a mess.

re: #105 MandyManners

They're not the only Lizards!

I know that, Mandy.

I love LGF, and I love many of the friends that I've made here over the years.
I'll be back if the climate changes and the targeting and trashing of good people ceases.

Until then, no.

Keep an eye on this -

Official sources reported today that Cali city authorities have declared a sanitary emergency due to the deaths of an adult and four children from hemorrhagic dengue so far this year.

re: #111 RogueOne

A sad, terrible place. Wish I could help, but that place will be getting the lion's share of attention and help over the next many years.

In the mean time, we have Native Americans stuck in blizzards in North Dakota in horrific conditions. Hungry children in housing projects in our cities...

A celebrity going to step over a sick, homeless person on their way to a fundraiser for Haiti.

I am going to find something I can do here.

(New Orleans has too many 'distractions')

re: #108 thedopefishlives

Well, she is a bit of a nutjob, and the general climate here at LGF is to ruthlessly poke fun of such nutjobs. I do know that there's a bit of a cult following in the vein of deep-seated hatred for her, though. Which is quite different, and a bit disturbing.

I agree. I dislike and distrust Palin for her politics, but I don't have a deep-seated hatred for her like some here.

re: #115 Irish Rose

Email Charles, ask him to delete your "leaving" comments, explain to him (which is only fair, anyway) and come back to us sometime.

See ya later, tater.

re: #111 RogueOne

I read that this morning. From what I understand it's pretty common for a lot of the kids in Haitian orphanages to have living parents. What a mess.

Unfortunately, as the article I posted yesterday shows, not all situations in which the kids don't live in orphanages but with private families turn out to be good.

re: #112 Irish Rose

I've grown my GAZE muscle a lot lately.

re: #115 Irish Rose

I wonder if some of that might be because she's pretty.

To be fair Ice, Jimmah and LVQ give as good as they get. I've seen, on multiple occasions, other posters target and intentionally goad these three. They are not the only ones at fault, here.

re: #120 Varek Raith

And others. And agreed.

Civility, folks. Civility.

re: #120 Varek Raith

Asking LVQ why the personal attack earns me a "fuck you, bitch"?

As I'm not really interested in participating in a fight here this morning once the climate turns, I leave you all with a very fond farewell.

I'll keep my profile up, dear friends... please feel free to email me any time.

re: #122 MandyManners

Some things from a lot of people have been waaay over the top, that's fer sher.

re: #120 Varek Raith

Realistically speaking, we should all be on the same side, against the idiotarians that seem to be becoming ever more prevalent in American politics, and already pervade the global stage. I've never been one to stomach infighting, no matter who starts it.

re: #122 MandyManners

Asking LVQ why the personal attack earns me a "fuck you, bitch"?

Beats me. Like I said, they're not the only ones who are nasty on occasion.

re: #120 Varek Raith

No, they're not.

re: #119 MandyManners

I wonder if some of that might be because she's pretty.

That's probably some of it, Mandy, but there's a lot of guys that hate her too. Although as my wife points out, a lot of THAT is sexism.

Drop what you are doing and feel the brill- uh the bull-... oh, whatever. Jenny McCarthy speaks!

Dr. Andrew Wakefield is being discredited to prevent an historic study from being published that for the first time looks at vaccinated versus unvaccinated primates and compares health outcomes, with potentially devastating consequences for vaccine makers and public health officials.

Iran's Press TV also has noticed Palin's words.

US conservative darling Sarah Palin says she thinks President Barack Obama should declare war on Iran.

The one-time Republican vice presidential candidate said in an interview with Fox News that Obama should play the war card if he wants to get re-elected in 2012.

"Say he decided to declare war on Iran or decided really to come out and do whatever he could to support Israel, which I would like him to do," she said on Sunday.

The military attack "changes the dynamics in what we can assume is going to happen between now and three years," Palin added.

SNIP

re: #123 Irish Rose

As I'm not really interested in participating in a fight here this morning once the climate turns, I leave you all with a very fond farewell.

I'll keep my profile up, dear friends... please feel free to email me any time.

I feel we will be a little less here now... very sorry to see you take a different path for now, but do look forward to hearing and reading from you again. Be Well.

re: #128 thedopefishlives

That's probably some of it, Mandy, but there's a lot of guys that hate her too. Although as my wife points out, a lot of THAT is sexism.

I wasn't talking about women exclusively. Some guys hate pretty women.

re: #132 MandyManners

Some guys hate pretty women.

I don't.

(*blink*)

re: #132 MandyManners

I wasn't talking about women exclusively. Some guys hate pretty women.

I suppose it's true, but to be honest, I've never really seen it. Even the guys I know who have been repeatedly used and abused by pretty girls still turn into puddles of semi-masculine goo if a sweet-looking lady looks at them the right way. Although resentment for a woman whom they perceive has used her looks to unfair advantage is a possibility.

Another pal of Putin is winning.

The battle for the presidency of Ukraine continued to hang in the balance today as Viktor Yanukovych edged closer to victory and his bitter rival Yuliya Tymoshenko refused to concede defeat.

Mr Yanukovych’s lead over Ms Tymoshenko shrank to 2.4 percentage points this morning with 96 per cent of votes counted. Support for him was 48.39 per cent compared to 46 per cent for Ms Tymoshenko.

An official at the Central Election Commission (CEC) in Kiev predicted that Mr Yanukovych would remain the winner because the votes still to be counted came from his strongholds in the south and east. Analysts said that the narrowness of the victory would encourage Ms Tymoshenko to challenge the result.

SNIP

re: #119 MandyManners

I wonder if some of that might be because she's pretty.

Not so far-fetched. Sigh.

I saw the exact same thing happen to the unique woman candidate in the last French presidential elections. Politically and intellectually, Segolene Royal is the opposite of a Sarah Palin, but curiously the same shit started raining down. At first, I attributed it to deep-seated Latin misogyny, but the hate was so strong that there had to be even more - and even more inavowable reasons. She did manage to run a relatively close second to Sarkozy, which given the campaign of disinformation that had been mounted against her, was nothing short of miraculous.

re: #134 thedopefishlives

I suppose it's true, but to be honest, I've never really seen it. Even the guys I know who have been repeatedly used and abused by pretty girls still turn into puddles of semi-masculine goo if a sweet-looking lady looks at them the right way. Although resentment for a woman whom they perceive has used her looks to unfair advantage is a possibility.

Your friends are not misogynists. Some see pretty women as goddesses to put on pedestals and/or as notches to put on their bed-posts. Some see them as so unobtainalbe that they go out of their way to trash them. This attitude is particularly telling when things like blow-up dolls are mentioned.

re: #136 ryannon

Not so far-fetched. Sigh.

I saw the exact same thing happen to the unique woman candidate in the last French presidential elections. Politically and intellectually, Segolene Royal is the opposite of a Sarah Palin, but curiously the same shit started raining down. At first, I attributed it to deep-seated Latin misogyny, but the hate was so strong that there had to be even more - and even more inavowable reasons. She did manage to run a relatively close second to Sarkozy, which given the campaign of disinformation that had been mounted against her, was nothing short of miraculous.

Oh, I remember that. See my No. 137 for another possible take.

re: #137 MandyManners

Granted. And as I mentioned upthread, a lot of male hatred for her is sexist. I don't know if "hatred" is even the right term, but whatever it is, isn't good.

Chinchilla, formerly Arias' vice president, has vowed to continue his pro-business policies in the Central American nation, expanding free trade pacts and courting investment.

The center-leftist won 47 percent of the vote, around double the scores of her two closest rivals, who quickly conceded defeat. She will join a small camp of women leaders in typically male-dominated Latin America that currently includes Chile's Michelle Bachelet and Argentina's Cristina Fernandez.

"I am thankful for the good work of the outgoing government and thankful our country is again moving forward and refuses to allow this advance to stop," Chinchilla said after declaring victory to cheers from her supporters.

Famed for its political stability in a turbulent region, Costa Rica is an economic success story in Central America, with an economy based around tourism, manufactured products like microchips, and exports of coffee, pineapples and bananas.

SNIP

re: #136 ryannon

Oh, you chauvinist Westerners. My country may be one of those 'poor, backwater paradises,' but we've already had not one, but two female Presidents!

/ah, the joys of rubbing it in. q;

re: #139 thedopefishlives

Granted. And as I mentioned upthread, a lot of male hatred for her is sexist. I don't know if "hatred" is even the right term, but whatever it is, isn't good.

That's the definition of "misogyny".

I have to go out of town, and I have a house that looks like people (I wonder who?) have done nothing but sit in place and look out the window at the snow and eat.

Gotta, just gotta do some cleaning...

re: #141 laZardo

Oh, you chauvinist Westerners. My country may be one of those 'poor, backwater paradises,' but we've already had not one, but two female Presidents!

/ah, the joys of rubbing it in. q;

The Hispanic and Latin American countries seem to have an advance over most everyone else. Perhaps they're honest enough to admit the sad legacy that male-dominated politics has left over the last few hundred years.

More ISM assholes.

The Supreme Court ordered two pro-Palestinian foreign activists released on bail on Monday, saying Israeli immigration officers overstepped their bounds by detaining them in the West Bank.

The activists' lawyer described their arrest as part of a campaign by Israel to choke off weekly demonstrations by Palestinians, left-wing Israelis and foreign activists against Israel's West Bank separation barrier as peace efforts remain at a stalemate.

Israeli soldiers raided the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday and detained Spaniard Ariadna Jove Marti and Australian Bridgette Chappell, handing them over to immigration officers overseen by Israel's Interior Ministry for possible deportation.

Both women belong to the International Solidarity Movement, which is at the forefront of anti-barrier demonstrations.

Palestinian authorities and the women's attorney called the entire operation illegal, arguing the military had no right to raid a city within an area designated by interim peace accords as being under Palestinian civil and security jurisdiction.

But the Supreme Court ordered Marti and Chappell released on other grounds, saying immigration officers - authorized only to operate inside Israel - had taken custody of the women from the military at a prison inside the West Bank.

"(The immigration officers) have no authority outside the legitimate borders of Israel," the women's lawyer, Omer Schatz, told reporters before the court ordered his clients freed on bail.

The two activists were banned by the court from returning to the West Bank but told they could file an appeal against deportation from Israel, which controls the territory's borders.

SNIP

re: #138 MandyManners

Oh, I remember that. See my No. 137 for another possible take.

Oh yes. Palin blow-up dolls. Heh-heh. Wink-wink.

WTF?

re: #146 ryannon

Oh yes. Palin blow-up dolls. Heh-heh. Wink-wink.

WTF?

And, it deflated? Punched too much?

re: #145 MandyManners

More ISM assholes.

The Supreme Court ordered two pro-Palestinian foreign activists released on bail on Monday, saying Israeli immigration officers overstepped their bounds by detaining them in the West Bank.

Grah. And the fact that these people found a lawyer willing to get them off on a technicality is almost even more galling.

re: #146 ryannon

I'd say any kind of blow-up-doll is a WTF moment.

re: #144 ryannon

The Hispanic and Latin American countries seem to have an advance over most everyone else. Perhaps they're honest enough to admit the sad legacy that male-dominated politics has left over the last few hundred years.

Despite the "machismo" effect, apparently.

But you know it feels REALLY good to outrank the United States on a global chart that measures something positive (instead of, say, global corruption indices. D: )

Two-and-a-half weeks after US President Barack Obama completed his first year in office, observers both in Israel and the US on Sunday gave his Middle East policy largely failing grades for efficacy.

“Since there are no prospects of talks on the horizon, and in many ways what their efforts wrought was a wasted year without any negotiations, I believe the administration deserves an ‘F’ for failure to deliver on results,” Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman told the ADL’s National Executive Committee.

In contrast, Foxman said that Obama deserved a “solid A for his efforts” after “he tried very hard in his first year to bring the parties together with good intentions.”

On strategy, Foxman rated the administration’s performance a “C-minus,” after “the administration... focused on trying to speed up the process toward peace, and is now questioning its own strategy.”

Among the strategic errors cited by Foxman were “unrealistic expectations” and heavy-handed focus on Israeli settlement policy.

SNIP

re: #148 thedopefishlives

Grah. And the fact that these people found a lawyer willing to get them off on a technicality is almost even more galling.

They're not off. They're banned from the West Bank and they're being deporterd from Israel.

re: #149 Obdicut

I'd say any kind of blow-up-doll is a WTF moment.

The best blow up doll WTF moment was on Six Feet Under. At the beginning of every episode, someone dies, that's the routine. In this episode it starts with two guys forking around with helium and blow up dolls. They filled about 30 of em with helium and you keep thinking one or the other is going to blow himself up.

Flash to a parking lot where they've loaded the helium dolls into the back of a truck and covered them with a net so they don't float away. As they are pulling into the street the net slips and several dolls escape and begin to float up and over the street in the bright sunshine.

Some lady pulling out of a parking lot, her car coated with jesusfish and Jesus Saves! etc sees the dolls, thinks they are angels from heaven and that the rapture is here. She walks out into traffic with her arms up-stretched and immediately plowed down on the spot.

Never saw it coming...

re: #152 MandyManners

They're not off. They're banned from the West Bank and they're being deporterd from Israel.

They should be rotting in an Israeli jail. Plus, the deportation is up for appeal because of the technicality of their arrest.

Good morning, Lizards! Hope everyone had a good weekend. Just finished "catching up" on this thread and am sad to see Rose departing for the moment. Certainly a "Monday" moment. :(

Other than that, what is new? What of note did I miss this past week?

re: #154 thedopefishlives

They should be rotting in an Israeli jail. Plus, the deportation is up for appeal because of the technicality of their arrest.

Well, the cops acted outside their jurisdiction.

re: #155 SasyMomaCat

Good morning, Lizards! Hope everyone had a good weekend. Just finished "catching up" on this thread and am sad to see Rose departing for the moment. Certainly a "Monday" moment. :(

Other than that, what is new? What of note did I miss this past week?

THE SAINTS WON THE SUPER BOWL.

_{and that's about it. :x}

_{oh, and the iPad and some big address Obama made.}

re: #155 SasyMomaCat

Good morning, Lizards! Hope everyone had a good weekend. Just finished "catching up" on this thread and am sad to see Rose departing for the moment. Certainly a "Monday" moment. :(

Other than that, what is new? What of note did I miss this past week?

Tuna. Cat-nip. Naps in the sun.

re: #158 MandyManners

Ah, yes - sounds like a fabulous day! :)

It took my computer seven hours to defrag the hard-drive. When I last checked on the defrag thingy a short while back, it showed a scheduled defrag done on certain days. But, the start date was TWO years before the computer was even made. So, I decided I'd defrag it last night.

Any ideas why the start date was two years before the computer was made?

re: #159 SasyMomaCat

Ah, yes - sounds like a fabulous day! :)

Lotsa' scractching under the chin and behind the ears.

re: #160 MandyManners

It took my computer seven hours to defrag the hard-drive. When I last checked on the defrag thingy a short while back, it showed a scheduled defrag done on certain days. But, the start date was TWO years before the computer was even made. So, I decided I'd defrag it last night.

Any ideas why the start date was two years before the computer was made?

Lazy preprogrammers at the assembly line?

re: #160 MandyManners

Gremlins?

re: #160 MandyManners

Either a scheduling fail, or a piece of corrupted data in exactly the right spot.

re: #161 MandyManners

This keeps getting better and better ;)

Morning Lizards...

re: #166 PT Barnum

Good morning!

re: #160 MandyManners

When your defrag was last done, the system clock was off. Or your clock is off now, but I don't think you'd be able to get online if it were.

re: #168 Obdicut

Off as in 'inaccurate', not as in 'shut down'.

re: #165 SasyMomaCat

This keeps getting better and better ;)

Since we're packing up to move here soon, we've been rolling out big stacks of boxes to put stuff in. My three felines have been going crazy jumping in, out, between, and over the piles of boxes in the front room.

re: #163 SasyMomaCat

Gremlins?

Comm'nist gremlins from Warner Brothers.

re: #10 ryannon

Ah, mixed you up with one of the other Lizards. Michigan was like another country to me when I was growing up in Chicago. First South Bend and the big steel mills and then the old lakeside resorts. And way out East, Ann Arbor. And even further, Detroit. I never quite understood Michigan.

We're like a mini-Europe.
/

re: #168 Obdicut

When your defrag was last done, the system clock was off. Or your clock is off now, but I don't think you'd be able to get online if it were.

Windows, by default, has the system clock updated from time servers on the intertubes. You're generally not going to get off by two seconds, let alone two years.

re: #171 laZardo

Comm'nist gremlins from Warner Brothers.

I heard that Bob Clampett's animators put their own faces on those "gremlins"

re: #160 MandyManners

It took my computer seven hours to defrag the hard-drive. When I last checked on the defrag thingy a short while back, it showed a scheduled defrag done on certain days. But, the start date was TWO years before the computer was even made. So, I decided I'd defrag it last night.

Any ideas why the start date was two years before the computer was made?

Computers have interesting secret lives. Even when unplugged.

re: #170 thedopefishlives

How funny - I can just see that. Nothing a cat likes better than a box - unless, maybe, a paper grocery bag.

Hope the move (and prep work) goes smoothly and as easy a possible.

Speaking of cats getting into things, I was getting ready to brine a turkey yesterday and had my container all lined with a clean plastic bag. I turned around to get something and when I turned back around, our youngest and largest (over 20 lbs.) cat had jumped in and was sitting there, looking out. the container is only about as big around as a round wastebasket, so he filled it up pretty good. Gave me a pretty good giggle. Of course, then I had to shoo him out and replace the plastic.

re: #79 irish rose

Rose, I hope you can keep coming around, as does Dragon_Lady.

re: #173 thedopefishlives

Yeah, but it's not unusual to, when you first get a computer, find stuff with impossible dates on it; I chalked it up to clock manipulation since I know that you can do it that way, and I don't know any other way it could actually happen.

If it's not connected, it's not updated.

re: #178 Obdicut

Yeah, but it's not unusual to, when you first get a computer, find stuff with impossible dates on it; I chalked it up to clock manipulation since I know that you can do it that way, and I don't know any other way it could actually happen.

If it's not connected, it's not updated.

Granted, and I believe the Windows default date is like 1980 or something. (I know it's not the Unix epoch, because heaven forbid Windows use any sort of recognizable standard.)

re: #174 Alouette

I heard that Bob Clampett's animators put their own faces on those "gremlins"

Now that's what I call an easter egg.

re: #172 Alouette

We're like a mini-Europe.
/

Exactly! But without the scenery, history, architecture, food, languages, traditions and free health care.

/

re: #177 Rightwingconspirator

Rose, I hope you can keep coming around, as does Dragon_Lady.

Seconded.

Hey Obama no one who is out of a job gives a flying F about your "health care reform."

Give it up already.

re: #168 Obdicut

When your defrag was last done, the system clock was off. Or your clock is off now, but I don't think you'd be able to get online if it were.

I don't think I've ever defragged it before.

re: #183 Ojoe

Probably some people who are out of work and have their COBRA coverage ending-- or for whom it's far too expensive to keep up-- do actually giving a flying F. They might give a G, a D, and a MF-MH-FTS-IQ, too.

re: #184 MandyManners

I don't think I've ever defragged it before.

It may've been done when the computer was built. Or, the schedule was set when the computer was built, but before the clock was properly set.

re: #185 Obdicut

OK on that.

Two thoughts from the weekend:

1) Can't believe Manning threw that INT

2) Palin's "palm notes" were the saddest thing I've seen in a while. You're at the Tea Party Convention and you have to write down "tax cuts" on your hand to remember it? Although, it has been great paging through "conservative" blogs to watch her faithful minions flail to defend her.

re: #162 laZardo

Lazy preprogrammers at the assembly line?

How could that be?

re: #163 SasyMomaCat

Gremlins?

My favorite.

re: #185 Obdicut

Probably some people who are out of work and have their COBRA coverage ending-- or for whom it's far too expensive to keep up-- do actually giving a flying F. They might give a G, a D, and a MF-MH-FTS-IQ, too.

The only people who don't really care about health care reform are those who can get healthcare and aren't in any danger of losing it.

Well besides the insurance companies and Pharma, of course.

Body found in airplane wheel well at Tokyo airport

TOKYO – Japanese authorities said Monday they are trying to identify a body found inside one of the landing gear compartments on a Delta Airlines plane flight that arrived in Tokyo from New York.

The body of the apparent stowaway, identified only as that of a male with dark skin, was clad only in a long-sleeved, plaid shirt and jeans, police at the Narita International Airport said Monday.

A mechanic found the body lying inside the landing gear compartment of the Boeing 777-200 during maintenance after Delta Flight 59 from New York landed at Narita on Sunday night, police official Zenjiro Watanabe said.

"All we know is that he must have sneaked in just before departure, because it is impossible for him to enter the storage during flight," Watanabe said.

The body had no visible injuries except signs of frostbite, and the man might have died of hypothermia during the flight, Watanabe said.

The temperature in that part of the plane falls to about minus 58 degrees (minus 50 degrees Celsius) during flight.

re: #164 thedopefishlives

Either a scheduling fail, or a piece of corrupted data in exactly the right spot.

Tek tawk--mah haid hirtz

re: #183 Ojoe

Hey Obama no one who is out of a job gives a flying F about your "health care reform."

Give it up already.

You're most certainly wrong about that one. Anyone without a job who has a pre-existing condition is extremely interested in health care reform. How about you speak for yourself and not others.

re: #189 MandyManners

re: #193 MandyManners

See my #186 for a more down-to-earth idea of what may have happened.

re: #177 Rightwingconspirator

Hey man, the sun was up and I was out in the snow, tripod and camera in hand in the 12°'s this AM. Shit it was cold. My dog kept switching her paws from one to the other, looking at me 'WTF I thought we were getting wood for the fire'? I dropped my level in the snow, picked it up and my hand stuck to it. And I forgot to put on gators.

BUT THAT WAS FUN!

I need a feedback loop, though. Making exposures with out prints is making me nuts.

re: #188 drcordell

Palin's "palm notes" were the saddest thing I've seen in a while. You're at the Tea Party Convention and you have to write down "tax cuts" on your hand to remember it? Although, it has been great paging through "conservative" blogs to watch her faithful minions flail to defend her.

If she ever gets to the white house, that's probably where she'd keep the launch codes too.

re: #194 drcordell

I can't speak for others, but I'm very interested in health care and health insurance reform. I just don't think the government should be the source.

re: #114 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

My in-laws are sioux. Well, the G-pa is 100% sioux. I don't remember what tribe, Lakota or Dakota. IIRC, he lives on a reservation outside Yankton SD. Those tribes out there are all screwed up.

re: #175 ryannon

Computers have interesting secret lives. Even when unplugged.

Much more interesting than mine.

re: #176 SasyMomaCat

That sounds like a stunt our own big Maine Coon would do. re: #182 Decatur Deb

Seconded.

She had logged off. re: #103 thedopefishlives

It's time to put out the flame wars. I agree with you just step back until the blaze has snuffed itself out. Dark_Falcon has jumped in on a call for calm, to his credit. I have only been posting since October so I stay away from the senior Lizard squabbles, I figure they have a history. But I'll upding calls for calm, and down ding the outright hostility.

re: #198 SasyMomaCat

I can't speak for others, but I'm very interested in health care and health insurance reform. I just don't think the government should be the source.

I think single-payer would be nice, but given the actions of certain Rust Belt Democrats and Cotton Belt Republicans over the past few scandals, I hardly think such a system would be viable in the United States.

/hmm, rust and cotton...a deadly combination.

re: #198 SasyMomaCat

I can't speak for others, but I'm very interested in health care and health insurance reform. I just don't think the government should be the source.

Do you really think private industry is going to do it without government stepping in? If so, I have some very nice Florida properties to show you...very well hydrated.

re: #178 Obdicut

Yeah, but it's not unusual to, when you first get a computer, find stuff with impossible dates on it; I chalked it up to clock manipulation since I know that you can do it that way, and I don't know any other way it could actually happen.

If it's not connected, it's not updated.

I've had it for two years.

re: #179 thedopefishlives

Granted, and I believe the Windows default date is like 1980 or something. (I know it's not the Unix epoch, because heaven forbid Windows use any sort of recognizable standard.)

SPAYSHUL SNOWFWAKES!

re: #181 ryannon

Exactly! But without the scenery, history, architecture, food, languages, traditions and free health care.

/

And, toilets that are holes in the floor.

re: #204 MandyManners

Those scheduled things can fail sometimes.

If you really want to panic about what's on your computer, grab HijackThis and give it a whirl.

re: #202 laZardo

Certainly agreed - I don't have any confidence that our government can manage any program without making it a political football. And our health care is far to important to be turned into a game piece. Unfortunately, that's what the current "reform" efforts have created.

I do believe that the government does have some small part in the reform. Keyword being "small."

re: #186 thedopefishlives

It may've been done when the computer was built. Or, the schedule was set when the computer was built, but before the clock was properly set.

That makes some sense.

Could a virus have done it?

re: #201 Rightwingconspirator

That sounds like a stunt our own big Maine Coon would do. re: #182 Decatur Deb

She had logged off. re: #103 thedopefishlives

It's time to put out the flame wars. I agree with you just step back until the blaze has snuffed itself out. Dark_Falcon has jumped in on a call for calm, to his credit. I have only been posting since October so I stay away from the senior Lizard squabbles, I figure they have a history. But I'll upding calls for calm, and down ding the outright hostility.

Calls for calm get an automatic upding from me too. Why do people go straight for the jugular when they disagree? Can't they stick to the topic instead of getting into personalities? Good natured teasing is one thing, but some of the rhetoric here is getting way out of hand.

re: #206 MandyManners

And, toilets that are holes in the floor.

Oh, poo.

Seriously, they've (mostly) been upgraded.

On the news they just did a segment about musical in Germany about Obama. Apparently it's a big hit.

Weird.

re: #209 MandyManners

That makes some sense.

Could a virus have done it?

Extremely unlikely. Viruses mess with actually important stuff. Defragging, while useful, isn't in the "actually important" category. It's more there to ensure that the computer doesn't lose track of its own stuff, which sounds like a bigger deal than it actually is.

re: #211 ryannon

Oh, poo.

Seriously, they've (mostly) been upgraded.

Is that the shampoo or the real poo?

re: #213 thedopefishlives

A virus could target the system clock, but it'd fuck shit up so badly if it really grabbed hold of it that you wouldn't be able to do much.

Pedo-bear headed to the winter olympics:

[Link: www.examiner.com...]

re: #216 RogueOne

Oh god that's terrible.

re: #213 thedopefishlives

Extremely unlikely. Viruses mess with actually important stuff. Defragging, while useful, isn't in the "actually important" category. It's more there to ensure that the computer doesn't lose track of its own stuff, which sounds like a bigger deal than it actually is.

Generally, defragging the drive isn't necessary until you start seeing a lot of lag before files get loaded. That's because the PC has to spend a lot of time looking for things before it finds them.

Think of the world's worst filing clerk who just sticks files where it's handy as opposed to putting them in order. At some point, they can't find anything and have to put everything back in it's proper place.

re: #215 Obdicut

A virus could target the system clock, but it'd fuck shit up so badly if it really grabbed hold of it that you wouldn't be able to do much.

I've never seen one that does. Most viruses are direct and to the point - get in, bomb the system with as much damage as it can do, and possibly open a back door to the virus writer. The most sophisticated viruses I've seen are the ones that sleep until a target date, but they don't actively change the clock.

re: #216 RogueOne

Pedo-bear headed to the winter olympics:

[Link: www.examiner.com...]

...Srsly...?

re: #200 MandyManners

Much more interesting than mine.

Mandy, you should download the free version of this

It just sits on your desktop and you can head potential issues off at the pass way before they become real problems.

re: #177 Rightwingconspirator

Rose, I hope you can keep coming around, as does Dragon_Lady.

As do I.

re: #217 Obdicut

re: #220 Varek Raith

Someone should have done a little checking before photo-shopping that bear in there.

re: #203 PT Barnum

I believe the government has a role to play in reform - I just think the things being contemplated in congress at the moment involve far too much government involvement.

Let's face it - there is going to have to be some legislative change. Such as allowing insurance to be sold across state lines - that certainly fits in the context of interstate commerce. Also in terms of torte reform.

Having worked in risk management for a national long-term care company, I can say without hesitation that we are a country of people that feel the need to find fault. If our loved one dies or is disabled, it has to be someone's fault and they must be punished. And, while the suites that have little merit usually end up in favor of the care provider, he/she/they still have litigation and increasing insurance costs.

re: #214 PT Barnum

Is that the shampoo or the real poo?

Yes, they've even got shampoo here. And toilet paper. And...and SOAP!

re: #220 Varek Raith

re: #216 RogueOne

He probably got inspired by Chris Hansen's commercial.

re: #207 Obdicut

Those scheduled things can fail sometimes.

If you really want to panic about what's on your computer, grab HijackThis and give it a whirl.

Uhhh...no thanks. No need to get all the hair on my body to stand up straight today.

re: #219 thedopefishlives

I know there was one that does, because I fixed it on the computers in the place I worked back in 2000-- I think it was timed to coincide with the millenium bug thing.

Anyway, a low CMOS battery will also screw with your clock settings.

re: #228 Obdicut

Anyway, a low CMOS battery will also screw with your clock settings.

Heh. Those were the days. I haven't had to change a CMOS battery in years. They must make the things out of Unobtainium or something.

re: #210 PT Barnum

Well lets vote with our dings, before more good people vote with their feet. I'll add my voice as appropriate. Calm is good. Anger leads to hate. We know where that goes.
Have a great day I'm off to work

re: #211 ryannon

Oh, poo.

Seriously, they've (mostly) been upgraded.

Yeah but, Walter experienced co-ed bathrooms.

re: #212 Jadespring

On the news they just did a segment about musical in Germany about Obama. Apparently it's a big hit.

Weird.

Springtime for Obama?

re: #213 thedopefishlives

Extremely unlikely. Viruses mess with actually important stuff. Defragging, while useful, isn't in the "actually important" category. It's more there to ensure that the computer doesn't lose track of its own stuff, which sounds like a bigger deal than it actually is.

I was talking more about the clock issue.

re: #229 thedopefishlives

Must be an interesting challenge to deliver just a tiny trickle of power, forevor.

re: #232 MandyManners

Springtime for Obama?

Godwin...Godwin Godwin...

re: #233 MandyManners

I was talking more about the clock issue.

*shrugs* Possible, but again, unlikely. Viruses tend to be more destructive than subtle. Although these days, viruses serve mostly to hijack computers and turn them into mindless drones.

brb

re: #227 MandyManners

Uhhh...no thanks. No need to get all the hair on my body to stand up straight today.

If you haven't done this, you might consider it: Once a year I would take my computer in to the Geek Squad and have them clean it up. It costs like $100 or so.

Then when I'd pick it up, I would ask them about things I was unsure about, like how to set up a defrag schedule, etc.

re: #236 thedopefishlives

*shrugs* Possible, but again, unlikely. Viruses tend to be more destructive than subtle. Although these days, viruses serve mostly to hijack computers and turn them into mindless drones.

Worst ones I've worked on lately have been the fake virus trojans...suckers make it damn near impossible to do anything. Have to usually pull the drive and scan it on a different computer to get to the point where I can even start cleaning them up.

I swear I gotta find these guys and write em a commission check.

re: #238 reine.de.tout

If you haven't done this, you might consider it: Once a year I would take my computer in to the Geek Squad and have them clean it up. It costs like $100 or so.

Then when I'd pick it up, I would ask them about things I was unsure about, like how to set up a defrag schedule, etc.

Better yet, find a good dependable independent who will take the time to educate you. Full Disclosure: I'm an independent.

re: #239 PT Barnum

Worst ones I've worked on lately have been the fake virus trojans...suckers make it damn near impossible to do anything. Have to usually pull the drive and scan it on a different computer to get to the point where I can even start cleaning them up.

I swear I gotta find these guys and write em a commission check.

My wife got bitten by a virus that pretended to be her antivirus program. It's one of the few that actually managed to fool me on first glance. It wasn't until after I took a second look that I realized my mistake and had to throw it into overdrive on protective measures. That one was damn scary.

re: #231 MandyManners

Yeah but, Walter experienced co-ed bathrooms.

That was in 2000 or so, and in a little village as I remember.

Most 'co-ed' bathrooms (which are pretty rare outside of the trendy clubs) are a one-by-one affair: you wait outside, the person comes out (usually through a small vestibule with a wash-basin, mirror, etc.) and once they've exited, you go in. Very low-pressure and civilized. And unusual enough so that you don't often encounter it.

On the other hand, some of the washroom facilities in capital cities like Paris are so outrageously beautiful that several people I know have illustrated guide-books in the works...

re: #241 thedopefishlives

My wife got bitten by a virus that pretended to be her antivirus program. It's one of the few that actually managed to fool me on first glance. It wasn't until after I took a second look that I realized my mistake and had to throw it into overdrive on protective measures. That one was damn scary.

I've been seeing a lot more of that style of virus lately. The last one I ran into would prevent you from getting into anything. Ended up having to restore the drive.

Formatting fixes everything...
;)

re: #243 PT Barnum

I've been seeing a lot more of that style of virus lately. The last one I ran into would prevent you from getting into anything. Ended up having to restore the drive.

I managed to save it, just. It was a tough fix, but I keep special boot CD's on hand for exactly this sort of thing. Ain't gonna have any of my family's computers plugged into some hacker's botnet, no sir.

re: #244 Varek Raith

Formatting fixes everything...
;)

I remember the good ol' days of reformatting every 6 mos.

re: #242 ryannon

That's fairly commonplace here, if only because there's not much room to put two restrooms. q;

re: #246 RogueOne

I remember the good ol' days of reformatting every 6 mos.

Heh, I still reformat once a year.
:)

Well I'm off to get a bit to eat and then go to work..have a great day lizards..

re: #188 drcordell

I've only "defended" her in the sense that people have been posting with venomous hatred.

re: #248 Varek Raith

I should reformat my home pc, I haven't done it in a couple years now. I just hate to mess with things that are working fine.

If information is power, why aren't librarians ruling the world?

re: #239 PT Barnum

Worst ones I've worked on lately have been the fake virus trojans...suckers make it damn near impossible to do anything. Have to usually pull the drive and scan it on a different computer to get to the point where I can even start cleaning them up.

I swear I gotta find these guys and write em a commission check.

That's one check every minute.

re: #252 The Sanity Inspector

If information is power, why aren't librarians ruling the world?

A secret society of Templars keeps them in check.

re: #252 The Sanity Inspector

Outdated card catalogs.

re: #252 The Sanity Inspector

If information is power, why aren't librarians ruling the world?

How do you know they are not?

Good Morning all!

Mornin' all...I'd stay and chat, but it's time for me to hop in the tub.

Steve Chapman has an interesting piece in Reason re: DADT:

Buried Truths About Gays in the Military
Why it's time to end "don't ask, don't tell"

A couple of dozen countries already allow gays in uniform—including allies that have fought alongside our troops, such as Britain, Canada, and Australia. Just as there is plenty of opposition in the U.S. ranks, there was plenty of opposition when they changed their policies.

In Canada, 45 percent of service members said they would not work with gay colleagues, and a majority of British soldiers and sailors rejected the idea. There were warnings that hordes of military personnel would quit and promising youngsters would refuse to enlist.

But when the new day arrived, it turned out to be a big, fat non-event. The Canadian government reported "no effect." The British government observed "a marked lack of reaction." An Australian veterans group that opposed admitting gays later admitted that the services "have not had a lot of difficulty in this area."

[Link: reason.com...]