Charles Johnson Images • Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 11:06 pm PST • Views: 274
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I don't even want to think about how much those houses cost. They have an excellent location and are quite lovely, but I'm sure they have price tags to match.
True, although...the Little Man has pronounced himself "the greatest warrior ever seen" (his words, I swear) and insists on running around with his pirate sword...
Still, probably best to save this one til he's a bit older
So my youngest daughter made a sandwich tonight and on the way to the coffee table, she drops it. She calls out "5 SECOND RULE!" picks it back up and sits down and starts eating. My wife just stares at her and I gad to go into the bedroom while I laughed my ass off.
So my youngest daughter made a sandwich tonight and on the way to the coffee table, she drops it. She calls out "5 SECOND RULE!" picks it back up and sits down and starts eating. My wife just stares at her and I gad to go into the bedroom while I laughed my ass off.
The best part was later when my wife asked what she meant, my daughter (6) explained it was a rule that all Marines know about and if they didn't know about it you would get thrown out of the Marines.
I was in tears. My wife looked at me, "This is your fault."
The best part was later when my wife asked what she meant, my daughter (6) explained it was a rule that all Marines know about and if they didn't know about it you would get thrown out of the Marines.
I was in tears. My wife looked at me, "This is your fault."
The best part was later when my wife asked what she meant, my daughter (6) explained it was a rule that all Marines know about and if they didn't know about it you would get thrown out of the Marines.
I was in tears. My wife looked at me, "This is your fault."
So my youngest daughter made a sandwich tonight and on the way to the coffee table, she drops it. She calls out "5 SECOND RULE!" picks it back up and sits down and starts eating. My wife just stares at her and I gad to go into the bedroom while I laughed my ass off.
The best part was later when my wife asked what she meant, my daughter (6) explained it was a rule that all Marines know about and if they didn't know about it you would get thrown out of the Marines.
I was in tears. My wife looked at me, "This is your fault."
Heh. That's awesome.
I was just on the phone with my best friend, who is up late studying for a pharmacy school test, and I told her this story to try and lighten her mood. Her husband is a Captain in the Air Force, and the whole thing had her laughing hysterically over the phone. She said her youngest daughter would do the same thing if it happened, much to the horror of her older sister, and to the eternal amusement of the older brother. I laughed.
Like you could sucker me into spending that kind of money for California real estate, between the daily mudslides, earthquakes, and wildfires I expect them to announce the mandatory evacuation of the entire state soon.
(not to mention all those horrible calamities that the syfy channel dreams up to destroy selected cities there)
I've actually emulated that video more than once, even once in front of my guy's on the job site. But you have give it a defiant tone when you say "Pour your misery down on me" with your arms spread and palms up. Otherwise the "Spite Gods" might think your serious and really let you have it.
St. Paul, Minn. — Benjamin Larson's last day alive began in the slums of Port-au-Prince, helping a nurse care for people in need.
He ate a late lunch at a fancy Chinese restaurant with his wife, Renee, and cousin Jonathan -- and they laughed later, recalling how dirty they were compared to the Chinese diplomats sitting nearby.
The three seminarians walked back to their hillside guest house, which was in the same building that provided a home for 20 Haitian boys rescued from slavery. Soon after they arrived, it was time for their before-dinner routine -- playing cards.
While sitting at a table on the building's fourth floor, the earth began to shake. The ceiling fell and concrete walls caved in. Renee Splichal Larson and Jonathan Larson made it out alive.
Large pieces of concrete fell on Ben Larson. It was too much for his body to handle, and he died in the earthquake that ended up claiming the lives of some 200,000 people...
Last year, wife was telling me that she wanted to move out west somewhere. Somewhere with big mountains and snow. Colorado somewhere. Montana somewhere.
We're getting snow again today in VA. She's officially over that little idea.
Last year, wife was telling me that she wanted to move out west somewhere. Somewhere with big mountains and snow. Colorado somewhere. Montana somewhere.
We're getting snow again today in VA. She's officially over that little idea.
I don't understand what all this stressing about the snow is all about? About once a decade, the east coast gets snow patterns like this. Just because some parts of the east this winter have gotten more snow than recorded in the record books doesn't mean anything. Out of all recorded snow falls, ONE will have to hold the record, and in this case, it's not by much.
I lived on the east coast for 24 years. From 1952. I've seen blizzards in NYC, I've seen hurricanes in NYC, I've seen tornados in North New Jersey. It happens, every year something happens weather wise.
And by the way, we don't have as much snow in the Denver/Front Range and foothills area as most people imagine. Most any winter in North Jersey will beat out Denver in total snow fall.
Good Morning! Another clear and cool day in sunny Philadelphia. :)
I figure East Coast freak-out mode (sub mode: snow) will descend this evening as the snow monster currently over Ohio gets closer.
And in typical fashion Philadelphia spent their entire snow removal budget for the first storm this winter. (The estimate is that it costs approximately $1 million per inch of snow.)
Sounds like some pyromaniac out there has had one too many bad experiences related to church . . . either that or he/she figures it's less likely to be an occupied building in the middle of the night.
Morning lizards. Cold and blowy outside, with some lingering snow. Looks like the worst of it is over, although you wouldn't know it by the morning commute. How is everyone today?
Morning lizards. Cold and blowy outside, with some lingering snow. Looks like the worst of it is over, although you wouldn't know it by the morning commute. How is everyone today?
The local news says we got about 20 inches from the last storm which brings the total for the season to 62 inches. It's starting to snow right now and the forecast is for 6-10 more inches. I understand Vancouver is running low on snow. They are invited to come and take mine.
The local news says we got about 20 inches from the last storm which brings the total for the season to 62 inches. It's starting to snow right now and the forecast is for 6-10 more inches. I understand Vancouver is running low on snow. They are invited to come and take mine.
Yeah, you're getting what's left of the storm that just blew through here. I looked at it on the weather map. I have to admit, seeing the pile of snow on the ground at fish headquarters, that I'm starting to feel for you guys just a little bit.
It's amazing how weather can affect them. I know when we get a sudden cold snap, mine get frisky and playful. They don't seem to pay much attention to the wind, though.
It's amazing how weather can affect them. I know when we get a sudden cold snap, mine get frisky and playful. They don't seem to pay much attention to the wind, though.
I live in an old drafty lakeshore cabin right now. The wind tears through that thing like it was made of paper. I'm not surprised that they respond to it.
Ah, yes, well, that would certainly make a difference. The lakeshore cabin sound charming. Of course, being drafty and given the weather, I'm sure it's not feeling so charming at the moment.
Ah, yes, well, that would certainly make a difference. The lakeshore cabin sound charming. Of course, being drafty and given the weather, I'm sure it's not feeling so charming at the moment.
It was a great place for the purpose I rented it for: A bachelor pad. Now that I'm married and planning on starting a family before too much time goes by, it's definitely not suited to the task.
CUMBRIA, England, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- A British couple said a broadband service quoted them a $70,427.98 installation price because all of the company's equipment is being used.
Ray and Frei Walker of Cumbria, said they used their dial-up service for nine and years and was finally told by broadband company BT it would cost them $70,427.98 to upgrade because their current network is filled to its capacity and needs new components to add new customers, the Daily Mail reported Monday.
"It's a farce, and obviously we're staggered. We don't have (the money) and if we did we wouldn't spend it on this," Ray Reil said.
A BT spokesman defended the charge.
"There can be very rare cases where the amount of work that's required for the network to deliver a particular service like broadband
is exceptional and in those very rare cases excess charge can be applied," he said.
That's the whole point of RAISING CUSTOMER FEES. It pays for extra equipment to add capacity. I'm amazed they even let it get to this point; it's not like it's hard to monitor network usage and determine when new data centers need to be installed and new cables laid.
The lessons learned after a fatal North Carolina gas explosion last year may never have made it to the Middletown power plant that burst into a fireball Sunday, killing five.
The blast may also have underscored a gray area in regulatory oversight among an alphabet soup of state, federal and local officials with limited -- or no -- authority over the construction of power plants.
An apparent delay, following the U.S. Chemical Safety Board's "urgent" recommendation last week that safety procedures be strengthened during gas pipe testing and cleaning, will be among the issues explored in a congressional hearing announced Monday by U.S. Reps. Rosa DeLauro, Joe Courtney and John Larson, all D-Conn. They said U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, agreed to the investigation.
A Middletown deputy fire chief on Monday adamantly told reporters that union pipe fitters followed all safety rules during the weekend cleaning -- called purging -- of a gas line connecting an electricity-producing turbine with an exhaust stack at the nearly completed power plant along the Connecticut River.
Courtney, in an interview, said that under former President George W. Bush, the federal Department of Labor's Occupational Safety & Health Administration did little or nothing to improve worker safety for eight years. "Seemingly non-controversial rules would not move under the Bush administration," Courtney said. "OSHA almost came to a grinding halt."
I've had to cut down due to blood pressure issues...so now I start off my day with a big juicy orange...
I like that. I usually keep some sort of breakfast food at the house - bread for toast, or bagels, or something carbohydrated. That's enough to get me out of bed, but a full day at work takes a little kickstart.
I like that. I usually keep some sort of breakfast food at the house - bread for toast, or bagels, or something carbohydrated. That's enough to get me out of bed, but a full day at work takes a little kickstart.
The smell of bacon will always get me out of bed...
The smell of bacon will always get me out of bed...
I tend to be self-sufficient in the mornings because my wife is a bit of a night owl, and on occasion will indulge in late-night chatting with friends, gaming, and watching movies to excess. On those days, she's usually asleep by the time I get up for work, and sometimes still asleep when I get home.
I like that. I usually keep some sort of breakfast food at the house - bread for toast, or bagels, or something carbohydrated. That's enough to get me out of bed, but a full day at work takes a little kickstart.
Actually I usually stop at McDonald's and get a cup of decaf and an Egg McMuffin on my drive to work. Their coffee has gotten much better than it used to be. Around here, it would actually reach out of the cup and pour itself down your throat, but it's mellowed a little. Now it just says "Drink Me!"
I tend to be self-sufficient in the mornings because my wife is a bit of a night owl, and on occasion will indulge in late-night chatting with friends, gaming, and watching movies to excess. On those days, she's usually asleep by the time I get up for work, and sometimes still asleep when I get home.
My oldest son is like that...bad insomnia. Causes problems when he comes to visit because he's up all night and then sleeps all day.
ends and scraps are the best way to buy, especially locally made. The meat may not always look like bacon, but it is generally fantastic and costs a whole lot less. Better bacon for less money is always a good deal :)
Yesterday's Google super bowl ad was a cute story about a guy falling in love with a French lady told through his searches. The trouble is, they showed the autocomplete prompts and, as anyone who has ever used Google knows, the autocomplete suggestions can be, uh, kinda weird. So, of course, some the search suggestions have been edited out. Like one about making friends with black people.
There's not a lot of room to work with in there...My bil is a surgeon and specializes in bariatric surgery. He did my gall bladder and I had complications afterward. I suspect he nicked my bile duct, as I was in agony for a few days after I came home until they put in a drain.
Seems that malpractice may be a stretch, though. When you're inside someone cutting, it is conceivable that something could get nicked, punctured, or otherwise inadvertently damaged. Even the most careful surgeon is human and imperfect. The injury itself does not necessarily point to malpractice. Still, a rough way to go.
There's not a lot of room to work with in there...My bil is a surgeon and specializes in bariatric surgery. He did my gall bladder and I had complications afterward. I suspect he nicked my bile duct, as I was in agony for a few days after I came home until they put in a drain.
i guess when the patient is 77 years old, the tolerance for fighting off infections is vastly reduced. glad you are OK.
Have I already mentioned the fucking coolest thing ever I learned recently?
Children are better at logarithmic plotting (putting numbers on a logarithmic number line) than they are at linear plotting (putting numbers on a normal linear counting line.)
We make them unlearn their original logarithmic thinking and then reteach them math through the linear mode-- so much so that children at the age of four-five are actually better than adults at plotting fractions on a fractional number line-- as in 1/1116 at one end at 1/1 at another, for example.
If you ask an adult to place 1/22, say, on that number line, he'll place it far to close to 1/1-- when 1/22 is far, far closer to 1/1116 than it is to 1/1. Children at age five will place it much closer to the correct location.
So basically, every kid in the world is born with a slight ability toward understanding logarithmic numbers, and instead of building off of that, we burn it to the ground and rebuild it, to the extent that we never regain at least one ability we had as children.
I think that this shows that it's possible to develop a better way teaching math to kids that uses natural logarithmic ability rather than simple quashes and replaces it, and that this could help enormously with mathematical teaching overall. And I work at a children's educational toy company, so I'm actually getting to try to push our company to be the ones to do that research and come up with a teaching method.
Seems that malpractice may be a stretch, though. When you're inside someone cutting, it is conceivable that something could get nicked, punctured, or otherwise inadvertently damaged. Even the most careful surgeon is human and imperfect. The injury itself does not necessarily point to malpractice. Still, a rough way to go.
true, but my wife works in the malpractice insurance business and when it comes to suing over malpractice, there will be lawyers quite willing to take this case if the Murtha family wants to pursue a malpractice lawsuit. Ironically, Murtha's death COULD spur some sort of debate on tort reform if a suit goes forward as a result of his death.
And interestingly, most research shows that people do not sue doctors based on actual perceived harm, but based on that attitude they get from the doctor. It's how they feel that they were treated as people. Gladwell cites this well in one of his recent books.
Most people who are harmed in medicine never sue at all, whether it's because they don't feel they deserve too, they like the doctor, or they don't feel like they can take on what's necessary to do so.
I much prefer, rather than malpractice insurance, a transparent system like the one proposed by Atul Gawande, who said that all physicians should contribute to a general fund for patient compensation and be perfectly honest about their mistakes. A board of doctors and patients advocates could decide on compensation for the most common sorts of mistakes, and then the thousands of people who currently are harmed during the practice of medicine-- not because doctors are sloppy but because doctors are human-- would be able to be compensated.
I think it'd help the trust between doctor and patient enormously, as well.
This is the guy. It's the third paper down, called "The logarithmic-to-linear shift: One learning sequence, many tasks, many time scales."
I got to meet with him recently when he gave a talk at my work. Great guy, and all his work is very, very readable. I encourage anyone interested in the subject to read it. A knowledge of statistics is helpful.
That sounds like a terrific idea. But, who would decide which patients are entitled and how much? (this malpractice suit that I'm on the jury for is really driving home how complicated and nuanced that can be)
Well, it probably would have a market effect of driving the lower-performing physicians to less-risky procedures, which I think is a good, desirable goal. It would also make it easier, probably, for hospitals to implement checklist plans as described by Atul Gawande in his The Checklist Manifesto book.
Basically, I think we ought to give the keys to healthcare to Gawande and let him rearrange it, because he's supersmart, incredibly dedicated, a medical professional, and cares deeply about the responsible practice of medicine.
Well, it probably would have a market effect of driving the lower-performing physicians to less-risky procedures, which I think is a good, desirable goal. It would also make it easier, probably, for hospitals to implement checklist plans as described by Atul Gawande in his The Checklist Manifesto book.
Basically, I think we ought to give the keys to healthcare to Gawande and let him rearrange it, because he's supersmart, incredibly dedicated, a medical professional, and cares deeply about the responsible practice of medicine.
What I've read of him makes me want to agree. My dad was a pharmacist in a county hospital, and we had several conversations about treating medicine as an engineering discipline, in that the same sorts of quality techniques used in manufacturing (I was an ISO-9001 wonk at the time) could be applied to medicine as well to reduce mistakes and improve quality.
I'm alright. Sorry to see it didn't stop after I left-- on the part of all parties.
It's a slightly cold and slightly wet day, and I'm going to have to go to work and explain to one of my managers why she's very deeply wrong about something, which is always politically tricky. So that'll be fun. But her idea would add about five hours a week to my workload-- and the workload of every producer-- that we really don't have.
And if she doesn't listen to me, I have to go over her head. And I hate office politics. So I'm dreading it a little bit.
Two of my heroes, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, a husband-and-wife efficiency team, were the ones who came up with the idea of a surgical nurse acting as a 'caddy' and handing the surgeon his instruments so he didn't have to take his eyes of the patient. He came from an industrial design background and really improved operating rooms.
I'm alright. Sorry to see it didn't stop after I left-- on the part of all parties.
It's a slightly cold and slightly wet day, and I'm going to have to go to work and explain to one of my managers why she's very deeply wrong about something, which is always politically tricky. So that'll be fun. But her idea would add about five hours a week to my workload-- and the workload of every producer-- that we really don't have.
And if she doesn't listen to me, I have to go over her head. And I hate office politics. So I'm dreading it a little bit.
Your audit went fine, right?
Yes, we passed comfortably. I have to go to work, so everyone have a good day. BBT
What I've read of him makes me want to agree. My dad was a pharmacist in a county hospital, and we had several conversations about treating medicine as an engineering discipline, in that the same sorts of quality techniques used in manufacturing (I was an ISO-9001 wonk at the time) could be applied to medicine as well to reduce mistakes and improve quality.
Here is an example, surgeons learning from some real-world task engineers:
Oh, sorry, Sasy, didn't see your comment. I'll answer real quick before you leave:
Gawande expands on the idea in Better, but basically it'd be doctors, patients rights advocates, public health advocates hashing it out, combined with some sort of averaging of the actual 'cost' to the victim of the injury-- how much it affects their quality of life. Being paid for something transitory versus something permanent would be quite different.
Sorry that that's all I have time for-- read Better, it's a great book!
As much as I despise marketers (being an engineer, and a software engineer at that), I have to admit, they come up with some frighteningly clever stuff. They've made a veritable science of knowing one's market and how to pitch a sale.
I'll say it again, certain personalities here, there are others besides the ones in the thread in question, although they tend to be the most commonly involved, respond with vitriol as a default setting as opposed to working their way up to it.
I find humor and gentle teasing to be more effective in a lot of ways, or at least in a way that leaves one feeling a little better. (Walter actually seems to like my line about nicknaming him Mr. Crankypants)
If you find you have offended someone, apologize. If you are offended, say so, but without anger.
Everybody leaves happy except those for which being angry is an addiction. I feel sorry for those types of people.
The NWS is now saying 8-13 for NYC metro area (revised up from the 6-12 reported yesterday). Accuweather and other outlets are saying 10-18, and possibly higher amounts. Fox 5 NY was saying this AM that 10-18 is probably conservative. Near blizzard conditions are nearly certain, blizzard conditions possible (snow plus winds over 35mph for 3+ hours are technically considered blizzard conditions - not the amount of snow falling).
As much as I despise marketers (being an engineer, and a software engineer at that), I have to admit, they come up with some frighteningly clever stuff. They've made a veritable science of knowing one's market and how to pitch a sale.
I only despise bad marketers. All i ask is for an ad campaign to not make me want to cut myself. Is that too much to ask, honestly?
I only despise bad marketers. All i ask is for an ad campaign to not make me want to cut myself. Is that too much to ask, honestly?
One example of marketing that I despise is GoDaddy. Sure, their ads are very, er, fetching. But when I have to tell the Mrs. Fish to change channels during the Super Bowl because "this is a sleazy commercial and your mom and dad would flip out if they saw it", there's something wrong with that.
The NWS is now saying 8-13 for NYC metro area (revised up from the 6-12 reported yesterday). Accuweather and other outlets are saying 10-18, and possibly higher amounts. Fox 5 NY was saying this AM that 10-18 is probably conservative. Near blizzard conditions are nearly certain, blizzard conditions possible (snow plus winds over 35mph for 3+ hours are technically considered blizzard conditions - not the amount of snow falling).
It just started snowing at my house here in Virginia.
Here is an ironic headline from yesterday. Seems like I see something similar every year.
One example of marketing that I despise is GoDaddy. Sure, their ads are very, er, fetching. But when I have to tell the Mrs. Fish to change channels during the Super Bowl because "this is a sleazy commercial and your mom and dad would flip out if they saw it", there's something wrong with that.
Yep. Not sure that driving away a sizeable percentage of the viewing public is the smartest move.
One example of marketing that I despise is GoDaddy. Sure, their ads are very, er, fetching. But when I have to tell the Mrs. Fish to change channels during the Super Bowl because "this is a sleazy commercial and your mom and dad would flip out if they saw it", there's something wrong with that.
It's not just that they are sleazy, they are also old and tired. GoDaddy has been using that same schtick for the past four years. Always the same, hot girl talking to another hot girl, clothes get removed, go to the website, wocka wocka wocka. They need a new idea.
Yes, they do. The spokesbabes have changed, but the basic tack is the same. Sex appeal isn't the same selling point it used to be back when they first came out with the ads.
A real quandry when the commercial in question is about cutlery!
Do you use THEIR product to cut yourself, thereby tacity endorsing it !!?
Oh ,, the conundrum!
Best commercial i've seen in a long time = the Shamwow and slap chop remixes. Not only is the remix funny, but how fantastic is it that some exec saw the remix and thought "I will put that on TV". thinking about buying a shamwow based on nothing but the sheer chutzpah of the commercial.
One of my busy mornings with extensive pre-sales prep -- but I wanted to toss this out there and ask a question. I'm not entirely awake yet, so I'm having trouble processing fully -- but is this as blatantly disingenuous as it gets, or am I just caffeine-deprived this morning?:
Don't get me wrong -- political parties can ask all the questions of their members they wish to ask, I honestly don't care (since I'm no member of any of them). But isn't this approach more than a little slimy?
Yes, they do. The spokesbabes have changed, but the basic tack is the same. Sex appeal isn't the same selling point it used to be back when they first came out with the ads.
I think the first ad worked because it was so direct. They were like "Hey, sex sells. We're not going to hide what were are going for here. Look at the babes. Want to see more of the babes? Go to the website."
There was something unique about that, maybe even clever. But it got old real fast.
It's only partially dishonest. (Wow, my brain must be half-fried to even THINK that.) I mean, yeah, using the term Census over and over and making it look official and Census-like is disingenuous; but if they did, in fact, clearly label it as an RNC document, there's no official grounds for confusion.
The first ads were supposed to be so salacious that they had to direct folks to the website; it works only because it was new.
Now, the schtick is just that - schtick. Build up anticipation and claim that the ads are too hot for the Super Bowl ads to run during the game because the network says so.
It's the same thing that happened with the Tebow family ad. Unless you clicked through to the website, you really had no clue what they were talking about (unless you read about the situation online before).
The best ads don't require that kind of manipulation and sell the product at hand. If it's done with humor and in a clever way, people respond better.
The Google ad was clever in that way. You knew exactly what the product was - the search system - and it was clever because it showed a guy going through a life's journey via various searches.
If you don't know what Go Daddy is, you'd never know from the ads - they never say. Bud and Bud Light sell Bud - sometimes with sex, definitely with the animal spots. Coca Cola sells Coca Cola. Those are more effective IMO.
One of my busy mornings with extensive pre-sales prep -- but I wanted to toss this out there and ask a question. I'm not entirely awake yet, so I'm having trouble processing fully -- but is this as blatantly disingenuous as it gets, or am I just caffeine-deprived this morning?:
Don't get me wrong -- political parties can ask all the questions of their members they wish to ask, I honestly don't care (since I'm no member of any of them). But isn't this approach more than a little slimy?
eh...it's marketing slimy. think about the junk mail that you get offering you weird things like credit insurance...the envelopes and language inside are always sensationalist, in an attempt to get you to respond. this is sensationalism. it's not like they're asking for social security numbers, right? it's a survey...marketers will do almost anything to get their surveys back...
A mailer sent to republicans that is clearly documented as a "Republican Census" isn't slimy in the least. I do like the overly dramatic hyperbole from common cause "it's akin to shouting fire in a movie theater!". C'mon, really? Republicans are going to stampede in fear because they received a fund raising letter?
MENDOCINO, Calif. -- Authorities said a woman fell about 60 feet to her death after she chased her dog off a cliff in the Mendocino headlands.
Danny Hervilla, chief of the Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department, said witnesses saw the woman disappear over the cliff while running after her black dog Sunday evening.
If they're making 'demands' before they'll even consider talking to the president, then why should the president even try? People who make demands before coming to the table aren't interested in negotiating in good faith. They just want to chip away at the legislation until there's nothing left. They've already got more concessions from the Democrats than they could dream...and they've given nothing in return...not even a single vote. Why should anyone believe they'll offer support now that they're demanding a restart?
If the Democrats agree to start over on Health Care Reform, they'll regret it in November, and we'll be having this same discussion in February 2011.
hehe. Of course, "running after the dog" doesn't really imply, "chasing off a cliff". Maybe the dog was just running away. I'm against people and animals alike falling off cliffs. Unless she really did chase the dog off. Then I say, "have a nice trip"
Also, I would like to see them (congress) whittle away at the problem - take one facet of the issue at a time instead of trying to "fix" the multiple systems involved with one huge, complex, confusing, and unreasonable bill. I'm sure there are some parts of this discussion that both sides can agree on at least to some point. That would be a great starting place.
(and, yes, I think they need to hit the reset button and start over)
If they're making 'demands' before they'll even consider talking to the president, then why should the president even try? People who make demands before coming to the table aren't interested in negotiating in good faith. They just want to chip away at the legislation until there's nothing left. They've already got more concessions from the Democrats than they could dream...and they've given nothing in return...not even a single vote. Why should anyone believe they'll offer support now that they're demanding a restart?
If the Democrats agree to start over on Health Care Reform, they'll regret it in November, and we'll be having this same discussion in February 2011.
Whatever process led to the possibility that union members in Massachusettes could have received a tax exemption that my family wasn't eligible for isn't a process worth supporting.
It looks bad for them, no matter how you slice it. Dem or Republican, I think most people agree that the GOP looked foolish during the televised Q&A. Boycotting another televised discussion—for any reason—makes them look either petty, scared, or dare I say, the "Party of No." (I hesitate to use it, because I hate the phrase, but the GOP isn't doing itself any favors.)
It looks bad for them, no matter how you slice it. Dem or Republican, I think most people agree that the GOP looked foolish during the televised Q&A. Boycotting another televised discussion—for any reason—makes them look either petty, scared, or dare I say, the "Party of No." (I hesitate to use it, because I hate the phrase, but the GOP isn't doing itself any favors.)
I agree with that. Showing up is the only way to have a chance to make your point. If you show up and aren't allowed to truly participate, you can always leave mid-way through and draw attention to the supposed unfairness.
Also, I would like to see them (congress) whittle away at the problem - take one facet of the issue at a time instead of trying to "fix" the multiple systems involved with one huge, complex, confusing, and unreasonable bill. I'm sure there are some parts of this discussion that both sides can agree on at least to some point. That would be a great starting place.
(and, yes, I think they need to hit the reset button and start over)
I don't agree that it is in the Dems best interests to start over. When you get right down to it, I think the GOP plan is not to start over so they can have a bill they can vote for, but to use whatever means to kill any bill whatsoever.
As long as Obama's name is attached to it, they won't vote for it, even if it is something they would easily support if it came from a Republican president. I will keep thinking that until they prove otherwise.
hehe. Of course, "running after the dog" doesn't really imply, "chasing off a cliff". Maybe the dog was just running away. I'm against people and animals alike falling off cliffs. Unless she really did chase the dog off. Then I say, "have a nice trip"
What I didn't take into consideration is she might have received her republican census form and taken off running out of fear. Common Cause might have been right after all.
One of my busy mornings with extensive pre-sales prep -- but I wanted to toss this out there and ask a question. I'm not entirely awake yet, so I'm having trouble processing fully -- but is this as blatantly disingenuous as it gets, or am I just caffeine-deprived this morning?:
Don't get me wrong -- political parties can ask all the questions of their members they wish to ask, I honestly don't care (since I'm no member of any of them). But isn't this approach more than a little slimy?
Morning!
It's not a little slimy, it's a lot slimy. But consider the source.
I kept getting Republican questionnaires in the mail during the election. Flyers only sent out to registered Republicans and I've been a registered Dem my whole life. The only reason I can figure they sent it to me is because I support some Israeli causes so my name's on a bucket load of mailing lists.
And if you don't think THAT's insulting! It's the whole rightwing meme that Dems hate Israel so if I'm getting Israeli mail, I must be a Repub.
Which part of the Republican inquiries irks you? (other than the fact that they were put forth?)
Don't get me wrong, I didn't agree, necessarily, with the overall tone or even a few of the implications. However, it doesn't seem unreasonable to ask about the "starting points" of this discussion before entering it.
I don't agree that it is in the Dems best interests to start over. When you get right down to it, I think the GOP plan is not to start over so they can have a bill they can vote for, but to use whatever means to kill any bill whatsoever.
As long as Obama's name is attached to it, they won't vote for it, even if it is something they would easily support if it came from a Republican president. I will keep thinking that until they prove otherwise.
And I want to be clear that I'm speaking from an objective, political strategy perspective. My comments are not about whether or not I care for the bill. I don't think I do.
how is a questionnaire anything more than slimy marketing (which i classify as "typical slimy", like a telemarketer...as opposed to "really slimy", like quid pro quo stuff)?
I don't care about what is in the Dems best interest or in the Repubs best interest. What I care about is what is in the nation's best interest - what will best serve you and me as citizens.
And I want to be clear that I'm speaking from an objective, political strategy perspective. My comments are not about whether or not I care for the bill. I don't think I do.
You're probably right on the bit about Republicans not voting for anything with Obama's name attached to it. I don't think, though, that that necessarily means they are wrong in this instance. I don't think the health care plans currently working their way toward becoming law are in the best interest of the country. But I will also freely admit that I haven't thought up any better ideas, either.
They don't think that way, unfortunately. Neither party. Getting reelected comes first, defeating the other party comes second and the best interests of the country comes third.
You're probably right on the bit about Republicans not voting for anything with Obama's name attached to it. I don't think, though, that that necessarily means they are wrong in this instance. I don't think the health care plans currently working their way toward becoming law are in the best interest of the country. But I will also freely admit that I haven't thought up any better ideas, either.
Which to me, personally, means that there is no rush. Passing something lousy is worse than passing nothing at all. Politicians need to take the Hippocratic oath instead of incessantly making hypocritic oaths...
Which part of the Republican inquiries irks you? (other than the fact that they were put forth?)
Don't get me wrong, I didn't agree, necessarily, with the overall tone or even a few of the implications. However, it doesn't seem unreasonable to ask about the "starting points" of this discussion before entering it.
Mostly, I don't trust them. They've made demands and gotten concessions several times now, and have yet to vote for anything even when they've been given what they asked for. Their stated objective is to defeat the president. He has repeatedly said, "Work with me." and their response is a set of demands? Fuck them. This isn't about them. It's about the American people.
Starting over is a non-starter. Now that they have a 41 seat majority (yes.../ ) they don't feel like they have to let anything pass...with the exception of budgets.
They don't think that way, unfortunately. Neither party. Getting reelected comes first, defeating the other party comes second and the best interests of the country comes third.
I think that for most congresspeople, "best interests" not only isn't even 3rd, it doesn't come into play. I say that in all sincerity.
Checking out, talk to yall later. Have a pleasant day.
Yeh, the "fire in a crowded theater" hyperbole just made me snicker and shake my head. I certainly don't find this to be outrage-making. It's just that the timing of it, so close to the census, just vaguely disturbed me. Sigh. Partisanship isn't my favorite thing, especially early in the morning.
Many thanks for the perspectives, tho. Combined with the coffee, I think things are rolling now.
I think part of the problem is in trying to tackle such a huge chunk of it at one time. It seems to me that they should break down the issues into several interrelated sub-categories (and maybe even sub-subcategories) and tackle each part individually, involving key stakeholders in each discussion.
I think part of the problem is in trying to tackle such a huge chunk of it at one time. It seems to me that they should break down the issues into several interrelated sub-categories (and maybe even sub-subcategories) and tackle each part individually, involving key stakeholders in each discussion.
You make it almost sound like a business case. But you can't run a government like a business, no no no, you just can't!/
how is a questionnaire anything more than slimy marketing (which i classify as "typical slimy", like a telemarketer...as opposed to "really slimy", like quid pro quo stuff)?
it's just a questionnaire.
It's a questionnaire made to look like a census.
I play a little game at home, "Who can get me to open their mail?", with all the clever things they put on the envelope. SERVICE SET TO EXPIRE, or whatever. The idea is to throw the envelope away without being conned into opening it. I always hate it when I fall for the gimmick.
But dressing something up as the Census is just extra, special slimy. I don't know if I'd call it yelling fire in a theatre. I don't think the envelope is endangering any lives, but it sure could confuse a lot of people that maybe haven't been citizens very long.
I think, also, both sides are coming at this from different starting points. Both see the issues as being fundamentally different. Until everyone has agreed to the fundamental nature of what they are discussing, there will not be any possibility of compromise. They are talking about apples and oranges.
When you get a questionnaire it's just that party trying to find out what they need to say next. Both do it. I hate it. Stick to your convictions. If I want a parrot, I'll go to the pet store.
I play a little game at home, "Who can get me to open their mail?", with all the clever things they put on the envelope. SERVICE SET TO EXPIRE, or whatever. The idea is to throw the envelope away without being conned into opening it. I always hate it when I fall for the gimmick.
But dressing something up as the Census is just extra, special slimy. I don't know if I'd call it yelling fire in a theatre. I don't think the envelope is endangering any lives, but it sure could confuse a lot of people that maybe haven't been citizens very long.
I know what you mean. But (and this is just me personally) when i rate things on the slime-o-scale, the ramifications are part of it. The worst thing that happens is that some people fill out the document and send it back when they otherwise might not have done so? That's marketing for you, but there's very little harm in that outcome. So the packaging is slimy but the ramifications aren't...
Michael Oren was heckled at UC Irvine by ignorant fools (or worse- by people who are propagandizing against Israel's existence) who think that Israel purposefully targeted Palestinians and ignore that but for Hamas terror attacks on Israel (the thousands of rockets fired with the intent to murder Israelis), Israel would not have engaged in military operations to disrupt Hamas' military capabilities in Gaza. The schools Muslim Student Union continued propagating the nonsense that most of those killed were women and children, when by their own admission many of those killed were Hamas members - and that Hamas has repeatedly used women and children as human shields.
Cosmo Kramer: Well you know they don't allow outside drinks in the movie theater. So I had to put it in my shirt and sneak it in. Jackie Chiles: Yeah, see they like to sell their own coffee. Cosmo Kramer: Yeah, now is that going to be a problem? Jackie Chiles: Yeah that's going to be a problem. It's gonna be a problem for them. This a clear violation of your rights as a consumer. It's an infringement on your constitutional rights. It's outrageous, egregious, preposterous.
"Director of the University's Political Science department, Professor Mark P. Petracca, chastised the protesters, telling them, "This is beyond embarrassing...this is no way for our undergraduate students to behave. We have an opportunity to hear from a policy maker relevant to one of the most important issues facing this planet and you are preventing not only yourself from hearing him but hundreds of other people in this room and hundreds of other people in an overflow room. Shame on you! This is not an example of free speech.""
Free for me but not for Thee...
typical behavior...
American troops are spread widely across Afghanistan. Some are remote and accessibility is difficult. In 2008, I was with six soldiers in Zabul Province who didn’t even get mail for three months. They had no email. They were on the moon. Six courageous men, in the middle of nowhere, and their nearest backup was a small Special Forces team about five hours away. Resupply to these small outposts is crucial, difficult, and would require major effort by ground. Enter the United States Air Force.
Tonight’s mission was to fly from Kandahar Airfield (KAF) to Bagram Airfield (BAF), pick up specially rigged bundles of fuel and ammunition and parachute those to American forces up near the border of Turkmenistan.
I know what you mean. But (and this is just me personally) when i rate things on the slime-o-scale, the ramifications are part of it. The worst thing that happens is that some people fill out the document and send it back when they otherwise might not have done so? That's marketing for you, but there's very little harm in that outcome. So the packaging is slimy but the ramifications aren't...
The ramifications are parting with your $$. They ask for money at the bottom.
I'll give it an 8 or 9 (1-10) on the Slime-O-Scale.
The USA did not win the Korean War.
It lost the Viet Nam War.
It has not won the Iraqi war.
It has not won the Afghan war.
The USA, nominally the greatest military power on earth, has not won a war since WWII (Granada was not a war).
Hmmm...what to do, what to do...
WAIT, I KNOW...let's all pretend that no civilized nations are allowed to win wars any more -- and then let's vilify and delegitimize any Western countries that show the nerve and national will to do so.
And of course let's never allow tiny Jewish Israel the right to win any of its defensive wars against the bloodthirsty Islamofascist Arab terrorists.
And let's pretend that Iran is a peace-loving nation no matter how many missiles they develop and no matter how many nuke plants they build.
There, all better now.
*man are we fucked*
Michael Oren was heckled at UC Irvine by ignorant fools (or worse- by people who are propagandizing against Israel's existence) who think that Israel purposefully targeted Palestinians and ignore that but for Hamas terror attacks on Israel (the thousands of rockets fired with the intent to murder Israelis), Israel would not have engaged in military operations to disrupt Hamas' military capabilities in Gaza. The schools Muslim Student Union continued propagating the nonsense that most of those killed were women and children, when by their own admission many of those killed were Hamas members - and that Hamas has repeatedly used women and children as human shields.
The ramifications are parting with your $$. They ask for money at the bottom.
I'll give it an 8 or 9 (1-10) on the Slime-O-Scale.
Hmmm. How much do they dress up the request, i wonder? 8-9 rankings approach the dishonest televangelist "10" territory...i'd agree with you if they dressed the donation request up as a census fee. my hunch is that they're legally required to be very explicit about the nature of the donation, however, in which case it's nothing more slimy than the rest of your junk mail (with the exception of the sensationalist envelope).
Hmmm. How much do they dress up the request, i wonder? 8-9 rankings approach the dishonest televangelist "10" territory...i'd agree with you if they dressed the donation request up as a census fee. my hunch is that they're legally required to be very explicit about the nature of the donation, however, in which case it's nothing more slimy than the rest of your junk mail (with the exception of the sensationalist envelope).
You're entitled to your opinion, but did you even look at it?
Yep. The republican committee is written all over it. It's really hard to believe that you could make a payment without realizing that you were (a) donating and (b) donating to the RNC.
Hugo Chávez, a huge Magallanes fan, wasn't at the games, but he was certainly watching. "How do they think they're going to strike out Chávez? They're the ones who have struck out," he said, visibly riled, on television on Thursday. Referring to his electoral victories, he declared, "I've struck them out 11 times, and I'll strike them out again." The opposition can claim only one poll victory — a referendum in December 2007 — against Chávez since he took office in February 1999.
But Chávez is indeed under pressure thanks to a growing list of domestic problems, especially the three brought up by the protest banner: power and water shortages and a rise in crime.
SNIP
Venezuelan TV stations, already cowed by government control of broadcasting licenses, were unsure about how to cover the protests at the game. There were suddenly no wide shots, and the camera essentially stopped panning the stadium and crowd.
Yep. The republican committee is written all over it. It's really hard to believe that you could make a payment without realizing that you were (a) donating and (b) donating to the RNC.
At 36%, Americans give President Barack Obama his lowest job approval rating yet on his handling of the economy. By contrast, the president's 51% approval rating on handling foreign affairs is up slightly from last month.
...Americans give Obama his lowest rating, 32%, on handling the federal budget deficit, down from 38% when this was last measured in September. His ratings on the deficit have trailed his overall approval rating each time they have been measured. In late March, for example, Obama received 49% approval on handling the deficit while at the same time his overall approval rating was above 60%.
WASHINGTON -- President Obama's overall approval rating has sunk to a new low -- and independent voters who propelled him to the White House have gotten downright sick of the job he's doing, according to a devastating poll released yesterday.
Obama's job-approval rating has tanked to a dismal 29 percent among independents, the Marist College survey found. His disapproval rating is nearly twice as high -- 57 percent.
Obama's overall approval among all registered voters hit a new low of 44 percent, the lowest of any poll that uses people to survey voters.
Dude, appreciate & agree with the sentiments, but move that last victory date up the the first gulf war. Bush 41 & the great coalition.
I know many feel the US won the First Gulf War, but I consider that one to have been an unwon war because the US pulled up short of going all the way and forcing Sadaam to sue for peace.
Yep. The republican committee is written all over it. It's really hard to believe that you could make a payment without realizing that you were (a) donating and (b) donating to the RNC.
2010 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CENSUS right across the top.
Extra special slimy to a new citizen in CALIFORNIA where I imagine there are a lot of new citizens.
During the '88 campaign , when Bush the Elder's "read my lips" statement became iconic for a while, there was this billboard on my morning commute from LaRouche, big photo, standing, finger pointed at the camera, and the phrase "Mr President, Read My Finger" with some sort of babble beneath.
Every morning, I wished I knew someone who could screw with billboards and cover the word "Read" with either "Pull" or (my fav) "Smell".
These small things make commutes so much easier...
2010 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CENSUS right across the top.
Extra special slimy to a new citizen in CALIFORNIA where I imagine there are a lot of new citizens.
The RNC targets Miami too for the same reason.
I understand your point. I'm more of a "grown-ups should read things before they pay" sort of person, especially for new citizens. But I do see your perspective.
Did the surveys go to Republican households or all households?
I'm confused as to your issue with the mailer. Is it you think voters are too stupid to read and will therefore be "tricked" into answering what amounts to a republican poll? If they hadn't used the word "census" would that have made the whole thing ok?
Cry me a river. I'm supposed to feel sorry for the 10 Americans caught up in the kidnapping scheme in Haiti? They were duped? Or just decided not to ask too many questions of the group leader who has a shady history in Idaho and who claimed that all the paperwork was in order - when in fact there was no paperwork at all when they were caught at the border trying to bring in 33 Haitian "orphans" who weren't orphans, but were kids that their parents had given up.
I'm just not buying their story - and the Haitian government could do something pretty quick - deport the 8-9 people who weren't leading this group, and jail for a lengthy sentence the ringleader Silsby all while forbidding the group from having any business again in Haiti.
I understand your point. I'm more of a "grown-ups should read things before they pay" sort of person, especially for new citizens. But I do see your perspective.
Did the surveys go to Republican households or all households?
This is the thing. I get a lot of RNC mail and other than my connection to Israel, I can't figure out why. There are no registered Republicans in my home.
If I got this in the mail, according to my little game, I probably would have whipped it into the wall. I'd like to see the envelope, really, more than the survey. The survey does make it clear in the first paragraph that it is not a Census. But if the envelope had "Census" written all over it to get you to open it that would be really bad.
If you've been a Republican for longer than 1 month, you've received numerous fundraising letters disguised as opinion polls. I can spot them before I even open them now. I don't think I've ever contributed money.
Cry me a river. I'm supposed to feel sorry for the 10 Americans caught up in the kidnapping scheme in Haiti? They were duped? Or just decided not to ask too many questions of the group leader who has a shady history in Idaho and who claimed that all the paperwork was in order - when in fact there was no paperwork at all when they were caught at the border trying to bring in 33 Haitian "orphans" who weren't orphans, but were kids that their parents had given up.
I'm just not buying their story - and the Haitian government could do something pretty quick - deport the 8-9 people who weren't leading this group, and jail for a lengthy sentence the ringleader Silsby all while forbidding the group from having any business again in Haiti.
I like that last bit but with the chaos going on there, it's probably the last thing on the Haitian gov's list and why they're sort of sitting there now.
They would be in the right to try them with human trafficking.
This is the thing. I get a lot of RNC mail and other than my connection to Israel, I can't figure out why. There are no registered Republicans in my home.
If I got this in the mail, according to my little game, I probably would have whipped it into the wall. I'd like to see the envelope, really, more than the survey. The survey does make it clear in the first paragraph that it is not a Census. But if the envelope had "Census" written all over it to get you to open it that would be really bad.
Oh. I think it's the other way around. Bad tactics to get you to open an envelope < bad tactics to get you to donate. What's the worst that happens? You open the envelope before you realize they tricked you? I'm not trying to be snarky...but i disagree that a sensationalist envelope is any different than the rest of the junk mail that you get.
If you've been a Republican for longer than 1 month, you've received numerous fundraising letters disguised as opinion polls. I can spot them before I even open them now. I don't think I've ever contributed money.
The Mrs. Fish's parents tried to sell us on the group's sob story while we were at their house for the Super Bowl. It didn't even dawn on me what group they were talking about until my lovely wife piped up with a barrage of evidence against the group that could've come straight from the comments page here at LGF. I was so proud.
"The Thursday after the quake a man named Issac who is from near here came and asked if we wanted our children to go with them to a school in the Dominican Republican, where they would be better off than here," she said.
They didn't actually have a school yet-- and is there any belief these people could actually run a school?
The Mrs. Fish's parents tried to sell us on the group's sob story while we were at their house for the Super Bowl. It didn't even dawn on me what group they were talking about until my lovely wife piped up with a barrage of evidence against the group that could've come straight from the comments page here at LGF. I was so proud.
LOL Well if the parents did willfully give up the children, what was that bit about the Baptists doing their adoption "business" in the street, in a car and not in the police station? From the article that came from, it appeared that there was a police station intact, and from Hawk's article, the Baptists are now sitting in it.
I spent 10 years in Albany, NY - so I know a thing or two about snow. I also have gone into lake effect snow country a few times - where 3-5 feet of snow in a single snow event was common. What sets this apart is that we're seeing so much snow over the most densely populated part of the US. Folks have barely had a chance to dig out in Philly, South Jersey and into DC, and they're gearing up for another 1-2 feet. We didn't see any snow from the weekend storm, but that will be corrected tonight and tomorrow.
There are two versions of the story - that the kids were actually orphans, and that the group actually got permission from the parents to take 'em. Both are bad enough, but they didn't have any paperwork for being in custody of any of the kids, let alone exit papers/visas/etc. for the kids - so that's why the book should be thrown at the group.
By doing what they did, Silsby's group has squandered meager resources that were better off used elsewhere and made it more difficult for legitimate groups to work in deplorable conditions.
If you've been a Republican for longer than 1 month, you've received numerous fundraising letters disguised as opinion polls. I can spot them before I even open them now. I don't think I've ever contributed money.
*Yawn*
I can throw out the junk mail. What I really, really hate are the robo-calls.
I don't know how the RNC handles its mailers, but if they are hoping for "likely Republicans," then they probably have a segmentation profile generated using census and other data (Nielsen-Claritas has some of the best segmentation available). How it works is they use the addresses of existing registered Republicans and use that to build a profile of who is most likely to lean that way. Using that data, they can do one of two things - they can purchase a list of addresses using the segmentation profile (all addresses that fit the profile) or they can purchase carrier route lists for carrier routes that index high for the profile. (this is part of what I do for my company)
I said all of that to say that you must live in or near a neighborhood that indexes high for the RNC profile. It is unlikely that your religious affiliation is part of their logic.
I saw that yesterday. As someone who lived in upstate NY, it makes quite a bit of sense. For example, lake effect snows require open water on the Great Lakes to take the cold air coming down from Canada and turn it into prodigious amounts of snow. Too cold - and the lakes freeze over shutting down the lake effect. So, you need the right conditions to make the lake effect snows happen. Locals actually hope for cold snaps to freeze the lakes sooner so that the snows don't pile up. Under local climate changes in the region, a warmer surface temp would make greater snowfalls possible because the cold air aloft would ride over the open water of the lakes and dump greater amounts of snow - a result that seems counter intuitive for someone who thinks that global warming would necessarily result in less snow.
There are two versions of the story - that the kids were actually orphans, and that the group actually got permission from the parents to take 'em. Both are bad enough, but they didn't have any paperwork for being in custody of any of the kids, let alone exit papers/visas/etc. for the kids - so that's why the book should be thrown at the group.
By doing what they did, Silsby's group has squandered meager resources that were better off used elsewhere and made it more difficult for legitimate groups to work in deplorable conditions.
Much agreed. It would seem they saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. Having gone through the adoption process with friends and figuring that Christian groups, who are usually very well versed in these things (lots of missionaries who run adoption agencies), they should have known what would look shady.
I don't know how the RNC handles its mailers, but if they are hoping for "likely Republicans," then they probably have a segmentation profile generated using census and other data (Nielsen-Claritas has some of the best segmentation available). How it works is they use the addresses of existing registered Republicans and use that to build a profile of who is most likely to lean that way. Using that data, they can do one of two things - they can purchase a list of addresses using the segmentation profile (all addresses that fit the profile) or they can purchase carrier route lists for carrier routes that index high for the profile. (this is part of what I do for my company)
I said all of that to say that you must live in or near a neighborhood that indexes high for the RNC profile. It is unlikely that your religious affiliation is part of their logic.
That makes sense. Who they target, I mean.
I live in Miami in a majority Dem district so that's why I assume it's religious affiliation.
And remember, they weren't trying to bring them to the US, but to the Dominican Republic. There is no particular reason to believe they'd be able to sustain the orphanage/church/school they were planning to build. What would have happened to the children if they'd run out of funds in a year or two?
Much agreed. It would seem they saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. Having gone through the adoption process with friends and figuring that Christian groups, who are usually very well versed in these things (lots of missionaries who run adoption agencies), they should have known what would look shady.
An opportunity to do what? Steal kids? I admittedly haven't been following this story very closely, but it seems to me like they were just all idiots.
I live in Miami in a majority Dem district so that's why I assume it's religious affiliation.
I'm sorry, not religious. Particularly about Israel. I'm on a number of Israeli mailers much to my chagrin. I get about 10 pieces of mail a day and maybe, MAYBE one is a bill. The rest is crap.
I do like the pen I get from the fellas fighting the anti-Semites tho :)
Cry me a river. I'm supposed to feel sorry for the 10 Americans caught up in the kidnapping scheme in Haiti? They were duped? Or just decided not to ask too many questions of the group leader who has a shady history in Idaho and who claimed that all the paperwork was in order - when in fact there was no paperwork at all when they were caught at the border trying to bring in 33 Haitian "orphans" who weren't orphans, but were kids that their parents had given up.
I'm just not buying their story - and the Haitian government could do something pretty quick - deport the 8-9 people who weren't leading this group, and jail for a lengthy sentence the ringleader Silsby all while forbidding the group from having any business again in Haiti.
The more I hear about this story, the shadier it gets. I have absolutely no sympathy for these folks at all, not one bit. It is too easy, if a person has even half a brain, to find a legitimate aid group to offer your volunteer services to.
I saw that yesterday. As someone who lived in upstate NY, it makes quite a bit of sense. For example, lake effect snows require open water on the Great Lakes to take the cold air coming down from Canada and turn it into prodigious amounts of snow. Too cold - and the lakes freeze over shutting down the lake effect. So, you need the right conditions to make the lake effect snows happen. Locals actually hope for cold snaps to freeze the lakes sooner so that the snows don't pile up. Under local climate changes in the region, a warmer surface temp would make greater snowfalls possible because the cold air aloft would ride over the open water of the lakes and dump greater amounts of snow - a result that seems counter intuitive for someone who thinks that global warming would necessarily result in less snow.
I live in northern Michigan, and this winter's been really weird up here. I'm in the middle of a series of lake effect belts but thankfully not in the worst of them. We haven't gotten very much snow at all since New Year's, as a matter of fact there are a couple of green spots on the front lawn due to wind blowing the snow away last week.
I can't remember a winter where two large winter storms have dipped so far south that we were totally missed by them. While everyone else was getting dumped on last weekend, it was above freezing most of the time with quite a bit of sun.
Overall, it's been a warmer than usual winter up here with significantly less snow.
Because when I want science vetted, I turn to Palin for help.
LOL fer sure.
I really hate her, now more than ever after that "retard" fiasco BS she tried slinging around.
I called her a piece of filth here and apparently that comment got carried out for days (unbeknown to me). I felt sorry after, wondering if I was too harsh. Now I think I should have said what I was actually thinking at the time and the word wasn't "filth."
I think, also, both sides are coming at this from different starting points. Both see the issues as being fundamentally different. Until everyone has agreed to the fundamental nature of what they are discussing, there will not be any possibility of compromise. They are talking about apples and oranges.
There won't be agreement. But there can be legislation, and if it doesn't work, then the GOP can crow about being right all along and work to change it. What they want is the status quo, however, and we all know that isn't any good.
In Berkeley, as in many other communities across the country, black and Latino students are not performing as well as Asian and white students. In fact, the racial gap in academic achievement at Berkeley High School is the highest in California-- no doubt a special source of embarrassment in politically correct Berkeley.
According to the principal, "Our community at Berkeley High School has failed the African-Americans." Therefore "We need to bring everybody up-- that's what this plan is about."
Surely no one, not even in Berkeley, seriously believes that you will "bring everybody up" by eliminating science teachers. This is a proposal to redistribute money from science to social work, by providing every student with advisors on note-taking, time management and other learning skills.
Sorry, I mean some of that money will go to government agencies for paperwork, but they get a huge chunk.
33 kids, that works out to $990,000, minus whatever they give to the government, and admin costs, and travel. Divided between however many of them. Not chicken scratch, but certainly not The Score Of A Lifetime.
$20-30,000 a kid. More for domestic adoption. Well they probably don't get all of that. There's other fees too, but the vast majority.
I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume until shown otherwise that they had better motives than money.
It doesn't make it right though, and I'd have no problem with some or all of these people spending some time in a Haitian prison to reflect upon the error of their ways.
Even before the announcement U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believed the U.N. should slap new sanctions on Iran in "weeks, not months," according to his spokesman Tuesday.
(See the top 10 news stories of 2009.)
France and the U.S. said Monday Iran's action left no choice but to push harder for a fourth set of U.N. Security Council sanctions to punish Iran's nuclear defiance. Russia, which has close ties to Iran and has opposed new sanctions, appeared to edge closer to Washington's position, saying the new enrichment plans show the suspicions about Iran's intentions are well-founded.
Iranian state television said that the process began in the presence of inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. Uranium has to be enriched to fuel nuclear power plants and Iran needs the 20 percent enriched fuel for a research reactor producing medical isotopes.
I don't trust the Democrats or Republicans. One look at NYS/NYC politics would make that abundantly clear.
My trust isn't unconditional. I expect to see policy and results. But the Republicans haven't demonstrated anything more than an unwillingness to work with the administration thus far, which in all honesty cannot be said of the Democrats, who by and large supported a lot of the policies of the last administration...they fought, but they lost, and when they lost admitted it. Neither side will destroy this country by themselves. The rhetoric right now however is so toxic that you'd think the death squads would be formed the second one bill got passed (ironically, that could create a lot of jobs, and create a boon for the funeral industry).
I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume until shown otherwise that they had better motives than money.
It doesn't make it right though, and I'd have no problem with some or all of these people spending some time in a Haitian prison to reflect upon the error of their ways.
I agree. If they were just after money they would not have taken teenagers. I'm not defending them, but I don't think it was a financial motive, but a fanatical one.
I agree. If they were just after money they would not have taken teenagers. I'm not defending them, but I don't think it was a financial motive, but a fanatical one.
Another interesting point is that the orphanage and school they were taking them to wasn't built yet, they had rented a hotel to use in the meanwhile.
ROME, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Italy said dozens of members of Iran's religious Basij militia had tried to attack its embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, but Iranian media described the incident as a protest by students and denied there was any violence.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a Senate hearing: "About a hundred Basij dressed as civilians tried to assault the embassy shouting "Death to Italy" and "Death to (Prime Minister) Berlusconi."
He said similar incidents had occurred at the French and Dutch embassies in the Iranian capital.
Frattini later told reporters the attackers were "certainly or most probably Basij. We did not recognise them, but because of the type of demonstration and the slogans chanted it looked a bit suspect."
I agree. If they were just after money they would not have taken teenagers. I'm not defending them, but I don't think it was a financial motive, but a fanatical one.
Some of the teenagers can be taught to be missionaries to go back into Haiti to gain more converts and all of the kids can be used as a fund raising tool.
Some of the teenagers can be taught to be missionaries to go back into Haiti to gain more converts and all of the kids can be used as a fund raising tool.
The death of Mahsud, engineer of a devastating series of suicide attacks and raids on markets, mosques and security installations across Pakistan in the latter half of 2009, gives the U.S. another major victory in its ongoing campaign of drone missile strikes against top Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders.
A drone strike last August killed Mahsud's predecessor, Baitullah Mahsud. Missiles fired by drones over Pakistan's tribal areas along the Afghan border have also killed 15 senior Al Qaeda commanders since 2004.
Morning all.
Listening to a very interesting interesting show on NPR right now with
New Yorker writer Jane Mayer about Eric Holder and the Politics of Terrorisim.
"The crowd was shouting at the Jumbotron showing Holder's testimony to Congress, screaming 'Traitor, communist, hang him,'" recalls New Yorker writer Jane Mayer in an interview on today's Fresh Air. "It was an ugly scene," she says — so ugly that the magazine couldn't print some of what the protesters yelled.
A reminder that the 11th is 22 Bahman on the traditional Persian calendar...the 31st anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. Watch out for shit hitting the fan again.
Speaking of "Death to xxx"...on NPR this morning, they interviewed the travel guy (Rick Steves?)...and he was talking about his travels in Iran. He said he was in a taxi and when they got stuck in traffic, his driver shouted "Death to traffic!". He said he asked if that wasn't a phrase usually reserved for the United States and/or Israel. The driver explained that when Iranians are frustrated with something, their phrase is "Death to" whatever it is that's bothering them...Traffic, long division, soufflés that don't rise, whatever. It isn't actually a call to war or a call for the destruction of that thing, person, entity.
But it does play well on TV. And to the more ignorant and xenophobic, it gets taken to mean that Iranians want to come and kill their children.
Drones are great weapons. And what is really cool is that some female soldier at the pentagon is probably pushing the button on a computer keyboard and killing scumbags like these taliban. hey osama ... when that drone finally blows up your living room, remember that an American chick soldier "offed" your ass.
The shrieking harpy was on the Joy Behar show last night, and told Ron Reagan that his father would have loved Sarah Palin.
The wingnuts are all exuding smug over this. They think Geller came off well, amazingly, instead of as a ranting, self-absorbed parrot.
Do the people who treat Pamela Geller as if she has authority to speak about anything realize that this woman is a full-on, raving Birther? Or that she tried to claim Barack Obama is the love child of Malcolm X? Or that she openly praises fascist groups like the EDL?
After connections worsened, Iran's communications minister, Reza Taghipour, told a state broadcaster (via Agence France-Presse): "The cause of the reduced service in recent days is that part of the fiber-optic network is damaged." SNIP Given the Tehran government's recent history of Internet censorship and the vital role of social media and texting to the opposition movement, the disruption seems less than coincidental as Thursday's 22 Bahman holiday is expected to be an occasion of massive anti-regime protests.
Yep. And if we adopted the phrase and said "Death to Iran" they'd understand that we simply mean that we're frustrated with them for their nuclear enrichment. Come to think of it, the more accurate thing to say would be "Death to negotiations"
The shrieking harpy was on the Joy Behar show last night, and told Ron Reagan that his father would have loved Sarah Palin.
The wingnuts are all exuding smug over this. They think Geller came off well, amazingly, instead of as a ranting, self-absorbed parrot.
Do the people who treat Pamela Geller as if she has authority to speak about anything realize that this woman is a full-on, raving Birther? Or that she tried to claim Barack Obama is the love child of Malcolm X? Or that she openly praises fascist groups like the EDL?
Unbelievable.
I was just watching that...
Pamela Geller on Joy Behar
Do the people who treat Pamela Geller as if she has authority to speak about anything realize that this woman is a full-on, raving Birther? Or that she tried to claim Barack Obama is the love child of Malcolm X? Or that she openly praises fascist groups like the EDL?
Speaking of "Death to xxx"...on NPR this morning, they interviewed the travel guy (Rick Steves?)...and he was talking about his travels in Iran. He said he was in a taxi and when they got stuck in traffic, his driver shouted "Death to traffic!". He said he asked if that wasn't a phrase usually reserved for the United States and/or Israel. The driver explained that when Iranians are frustrated with something, their phrase is "Death to" whatever it is that's bothering them...Traffic, long division, soufflés that don't rise, whatever. It isn't actually a call to war or a call for the destruction of that thing, person, entity.
But it does play well on TV. And to the more ignorant and xenophobic, it gets taken to mean that Iranians want to come and kill their children.
The shrieking harpy was on the Joy Behar show last night, and told Ron Reagan that his father would have loved Sarah Palin.
The wingnuts are all exuding smug over this. They think Geller came off well, amazingly, instead of as a ranting, self-absorbed parrot.
Do the people who treat Pamela Geller as if she has authority to speak about anything realize that this woman is a full-on, raving Birther? Or that she tried to claim Barack Obama is the love child of Malcolm X? Or that she openly praises fascist groups like the EDL?
Unbelievable.
it's all about the bikini stunt, Charles. she found a way to get people to notice her. eventually she'll collapse under her own weight ... her "15 minutes" has about 8 minutes left
The shrieking harpy was on the Joy Behar show last night, and told Ron Reagan that his father would have loved Sarah Palin.
The wingnuts are all exuding smug over this. They think Geller came off well, amazingly, instead of as a ranting, self-absorbed parrot.
Do the people who treat Pamela Geller as if she has authority to speak about anything realize that this woman is a full-on, raving Birther? Or that she tried to claim Barack Obama is the love child of Malcolm X? Or that she openly praises fascist groups like the EDL?
Unbelievable.
I saw someone a month or two ago telling Ron what his father would have thought about something. I think that's cheap and despicable, to tell a son what his father would have thought. The son knows, whether he agrees or not.
The shrieking harpy was on the Joy Behar show last night, and told Ron Reagan that his father would have loved Sarah Palin.
The wingnuts are all exuding smug over this. They think Geller came off well, amazingly, instead of as a ranting, self-absorbed parrot.
Do the people who treat Pamela Geller as if she has authority to speak about anything realize that this woman is a full-on, raving Birther? Or that she tried to claim Barack Obama is the love child of Malcolm X? Or that she openly praises fascist groups like the EDL?
Unbelievable.
Thanks for clarifying, Charles. There are so many shrieking harpies on the right today, I was lost as to who you were referring to.
The posters at RedState and Washington Wire are still in their blissful bubble as to the righteous Sarah Palin nailing that speech at the tea party.
Next week they'll be pouting and petulant after all the mean things the libruls (and everyone else) is saying.
When I read about the appearance the only thing I wondered was why those 2? We're they the only 2 people in the entire country available to go on the show? It just seems like Joy might be scrapping the bottom of the guest barrel.
I should clarify. It's because of the absolutely ridiculous and mostly unprovable statements she makes that so many people consider her an authority on anything. Think about it: People tend to make authority figures out of people who confirm their pre-conceived beliefs. People who listen to Pam Geller semi-seriously already have some screws loose in their heads. Ergo, they think she's an authority figure because she feeds their conceived notions of tinfoil hattery. QED.
Oh, the Republicans talk like that to him all the time, for years. They give him a huge smile when they meet him. By the end of the TV segment they are sorta frowning and looking at him sideways.
Speaking of "Death to xxx"...on NPR this morning, they interviewed the travel guy (Rick Steves?)...and he was talking about his travels in Iran. He said he was in a taxi and when they got stuck in traffic, his driver shouted "Death to traffic!". He said he asked if that wasn't a phrase usually reserved for the United States and/or Israel. The driver explained that when Iranians are frustrated with something, their phrase is "Death to" whatever it is that's bothering them...Traffic, long division, soufflés that don't rise, whatever. It isn't actually a call to war or a call for the destruction of that thing, person, entity.
But it does play well on TV. And to the more ignorant and xenophobic, it gets taken to mean that Iranians want to come and kill their children.
Well I'm glad the taxi driver cleared all that up for us. I guess all those IED's in Iraq and the Zelzal rockets raining down on Israel was just a big misunderstanding. They aren't trying to kill Israeli's and american soldiers, they just hate all that traffic.
The minority party often embraces their fringe. I wish I had a buck for every minority party politician that pandered to the extreme. I could really hit the tip jar more often. :)
It is a sad reality of politics. That does not make it a good idea, just what we get stuck with.
And it's usually unnecessary. If your computer is running slowly, start with downloading and running Malwarebytes anti-malware software, and maybe AdAware. Those programs will clean your registry and get rid of most of the crap that's probably running in the background and slowing you down.
Also, if you're using some off-the-shelf box you got at Costco or Wal-Mart with Windows Home edition, take a look at the convenience packages that run as services on your machine...most aren't things you actually need or use. Kill those processes and make them manual starts rather than automatic...use them when you need them and close them otherwise.
An easy way to see what's eating memory is to right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager. Look at the processes running, and see which are taking the most CPU and memory. If they're system processes you don't recognize, running malwarebytes should clean those up.
Or defrag, and while you're defragging, read a good book.
Well I'm glad the taxi driver cleared all that up for us. I guess all those IED's in Iraq and the Zelzal rockets raining down on Israel was just a big misunderstanding. They aren't trying to kill Israeli's and american soldiers, they just hate all that traffic.
You're confusing Iraq and Hamas with Iran. Of course there will always be extremists. Despite what Palin suggests, we're not actually at war with Iran right now.
You're confusing Iraq and Hamas with Iran. Of course there will always be extremists. Despite what Palin suggests, we're not actually at war with Iran right now.
Oh, the Republicans talk like that to him all the time, for years. They give him a huge smile when they meet him. By the end of the TV segment they are sorta frowning and looking at him sideways.
It just pisses me off in general. It makes me think what my reaction would be if someone that wasn't close to me or my family told me that my father would think about an issue, and I'm pretty sure my reaction would be "go f* yourself, I know damn well what my dad would say about it."
1/2 that country hates us and would love nothing more than to see us/israel wiped off the map. The other 1/2 would love nothing more than for their own government to just go away. Pretending like their government is just misunderstood doesn't do anything to solve the problem.
You're confusing Iraq and Hamas with Iran. Of course there will always be extremists. Despite what Palin suggests, we're not actually at war with Iran right now.
Iran is still in a declared state of war with Iraq, and we are protecting Iraq. If the allies has left Iraq to early, Iran would have stepped in (with the proxy we used to call Mookie) gladly.
Iran would ship its revolution to Iraq in a minute.
They (the mullahs) think we are at war with them. Death to America is not a political party slogan, it is a war cry.
Stop channeling Sarah Palin. Iran isn't fighting the US in Iraq. Okay. I can see my comment on a phrase that gets a lot of press has somehow been translated into Darth hates the US and loves Iran!...I have no more interest in debunking that kind of bullshit than I do in proving President Obama isn't a Kenyan.
Look at the railing going on in last nights thread about Pat Robertson, of which I piled on too. No imagine Mr. Robertson with nuclear weapons and a deep seated hatred of Ohio and you see the problem we're faced with.
1/2 that country hates us and would love nothing more than to see us/israel wiped off the map. The other 1/2 would love nothing more than for their own government to just go away. Pretending like their government is just misunderstood doesn't do anything to solve the problem.
1/2 of this country hates Iran and wants to see them wiped off the map, and if the media is to be believed, half of Americans would love nothing more than to see our government go away.
I was relating an anecdotal story about a taxi driver who explained how many (not all) Iranians use the phrase "Death to"...if you want to turn that into a reason for going to war, then you're on your own. Knee-jerk hatred of all things Iranian makes as much sense as the knee-jerk hatred of Israel that some extremist muslims have. We should try harder NOT to be like the people we dislike.
The posters at RedState and Washington Wire are still in their blissful bubble as to the righteous Sarah Palin nailing that speech at the tea party.
Next week they'll be pouting and petulant after all the mean things the libruls (and everyone else) is saying.
They are in total awe of her recent speech, and convinced the left is shaking in their boots at the prospect of her running. If she does, they'll see her winning every debate, just nailing Obama every day. Then on election might, they'll blame a 40 state win by Obama on ACORN.
After weeks of internal debate, senior United States military officials today literally put on the table their first public evidence for the contentious assertion that Iran is supplying Shiite extremist groups in Iraq with deadly weaponry, including a roadside bomb that pierces American armor.
BUT who can blame them? Chemical weapons were used extensively against Iran by Iraq.
1/2 of this country hates Iran and wants to see them wiped off the map, and if the media is to be believed, half of Americans would love nothing more than to see our government go away.
Half this country couldn't find Iran on a map.
Half this country would love nothing more to see Iran's government go away.
Half this country would love nothing more for government to get out of their lives.
The other half would love nothing more to replace the government with a government more amenable to their notion of getting out of their lives.
After weeks of internal debate, senior United States military officials today literally put on the table their first public evidence for the contentious assertion that Iran is supplying Shiite extremist groups in Iraq with deadly weaponry, including a roadside bomb that pierces American armor.
BUT who can blame them? Chemical weapons were used extensively against Iran by Iraq.
The insurgency is not against the government of Iraq but the coalition forces.
Israel can take care of Iran if it ever becomes necessary. We have bigger fish to fry.
[Link: www.reuters.com...]
China PLA officers urge economic punch against U.S.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Senior Chinese military officers have proposed that their country boost defense spending, adjust PLA deployments, and possibly sell some U.S. bonds to punish Washington for its latest round of arms sales to Taiwan.
When someone tells me they're going to bust me in my mouth, I tend to believe them. For decades the Iranian government has said exactly that while doing everything it can to stick their finger in our eye while helping kill as many jews as they can get away with. Obama has already learned the hard way that they just don't like us and no amount of "open handed" dialogue is going to change that. That doesn't mean I think we should invade, I just think we should take them at their word.
I wonder if those maps also had labels for the countries... if so, then I wonder what the numbers would have been without the labels?
The borders are important. I think many could identify Iraq by its shape, even if they didn't know exactly where it is. Without borders? Well, they would probably put it somewhere in Southeast Asia...
One of my factors in deciding to homeschool was an experience I had in the 12th grade.
12th grade. Seniors. We were in our Contemporary World Problems class (I have just given away which state I grew up in), and we were filling in a blank map. My friend, who was an honor student, a very bright girl, who graduated in the top ten, asked me where Turkey was.
Curious, I asked her, "Where do you think it is?"
She pointed to Siberia on the map.
It's not just a lack of geographical knowledge at this point, it's historical knowledge. Turkey did what it did in world history because of it's location. Turkey is on the way to many places, and the Bosphorus strait has played a big role in world history. Siberia is...um...cold. And on the way to not many other places if you can avoid it.
I figured a bright girl like this didn't sleep through both history and geography, it was just never taught.
Four Years Old, but interesting regarding geographical knowledge.
Interesting bit from your link:
* Only 37% of young Americans can find Iraq on a map—though U.S. troops have been there since 2003. * 6 in 10 young Americans don't speak a foreign language fluently.
* 20% of young Americans think Sudan is in Asia. (It's the largest country in Africa.)
* 48% of young Americans believe the majority population in India is Muslim. (It's Hindu—by a landslide.)
* Half of young Americans can't find New York on a map.
I know it wouldn't even be as high as 4 young Americans in 10 speaking a foreign language fluently if not for the English-as-a-second-language population.
Speaking for myself, I have attempted foreign language more than once and it's a blight on my record. Any Lizards here speak a second or third language fluently? If so, applause.
Speaking for myself, I have attempted foreign language more than once and it's a blight on my record. Any Lizards here speak a second or third language fluently? If so, applause.
My main problem with picking up foreign languages - and, I suspect, the problem most young Americans have - is that I never get a chance to actually USE it on a regular basis. If I interacted with, say, business clients in Japan, then I would have great incentive to learn and practice Japanese regularly. I learned Spanish in high school and have a bit of a facility for learning languages, but I can't remember much of the vocabulary now because it fell by the wayside after I graduated.
Haven't seen the cats go after potatoes yet. Pasta (plain) is something one of they will eat. He is also a complete fiend for buttermilk biscuits, much as I am.
I also had a cat that liked sauerkraut. Which unfortunately created the issue of very nasty cat farts. :P
Haven't seen the cats go after potatoes yet. Pasta (plain) is something one of they will eat. He is also a complete fiend for buttermilk biscuits, much as I am.
I also had a cat that liked sauerkraut. Which unfortunately created the issue of very nasty cat farts. :P
Our stupid cat eats: donuts, cream of wheat, potica, baked beans and pancake mix!
I know it wouldn't even be as high as 4 young Americans in 10 speaking a foreign language fluently if not for the English-as-a-second-language population.
Speaking for myself, I have attempted foreign language more than once and it's a blight on my record. Any Lizards here speak a second or third language fluently? If so, applause.
Hebrew, German, Yiddish. Can read French and Italian.
33 kids, that works out to $990,000, minus whatever they give to the government, and admin costs, and travel. Divided between however many of them. Not chicken scratch, but certainly not The Score Of A Lifetime.
Oh, I don't think anyone but Ms Silsby was gonna see the money.
When not spending time with my kids this weekend, i was spending it with Mass Effect 2. Nigh unto heaven, i tell you.
I hear that's a good one. I'm lucky. Hubby's away for a few days and I don't have to go anywhere for the next couple. So yeah if this is as good as people are saying it is I'll probably be descending into computer geekdom heaven when it finishes installing. :D
On reflection, perhaps that should be the other way around.
No, not in my experience. Hebrew is Hebrew a reincarnation of the language of the bible (think english and olde english), and Yiddish is more Russian/ Ukrainian/ with just enough gibberish to make my head hurt.
I hear that's a good one. I'm lucky. Hubby's away for a few days and I don't have to go anywhere for the next couple. So yeah if this is as good as people are saying it is I'll probably be descending into computer geekdom heaven when it finishes installing. :D
did you play the first Mass Effect game? If you liked that, you'll love this one. The dialogue is greatly enhanced, if you can believe it.
personally, this genre of Bioware game (Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, and Mass Effect 2) is at the top of my all-time list. there's something about the mix of action, character-influencing dialogue trees, and general freedom about the pursuit of multiple objectives that just captivates me.
Mass Effect 2 is an awesome game that you should buy immediately. In addition, it also offers solid electronics buying advice in the form of an alien shopkeeper.
Your character, Commander Shepard, asks the shopkeeper why he's there if you don't actually buy anything from him. (It's all automated through a kiosk.) He replies:
"Customer Service. Sweeping up the store. Carefully explaining things to the technologically illiterate. It's stunning how many people think light moves faster through expensive fiber optic cables than it does through cheap ones."
did you play the first Mass Effect game? If you liked that, you'll love this one. The dialogue is greatly enhanced, if you can believe it.
personally, this genre of Bioware game (Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, and Mass Effect 2) is at the top of my all-time list. there's something about the mix of action, character-influencing dialogue trees, and general freedom about the pursuit of multiple objectives that just captivates me.
No I've never played Mass Effect. It's on my list though. I just recently got a new computer that can actually play games that have come out in the last 5 years or so, so have been catching up with some of the. I love Bioware games too. I got Dragon Age Origins for Christmas. It rocked for the same reasons, bit of action, character influence that changes the story and multiple ways to play. Can't wait for the expansion to come out. I've already played it through twice with two different characters and have another play through on the go because I still haven't seen everything or followed through on all the different choices you can make. It's just a beautiful game too.
I just read the Wikipedia on Yiddish. Ashkenazi and all that. Interesting stuff.
On a digression my wife recently did the Genographics DNA ancestry test and finds that her haplogroup (look it up) is the dominant one in the Ashkenazis. That would have been the last thing she expected, other than explaining the alleged connection with intelligence, as with my daughters. Of course that DNA would likely have been exchanged long before Yiddish was invented.
And yes, I did it too. Looks like I may have relatives in Siberia.
Stop channeling Sarah Palin. Iran isn't fighting the US in Iraq. Okay. I can see my comment on a phrase that gets a lot of press has somehow been translated into Darth hates the US and loves Iran!...I have no more interest in debunking that kind of bullshit than I do in proving President Obama isn't a Kenyan.
Iran is absolutely providing the munitions used by insurgents in Iraq against coalition forces. If this isn't fighting the US, I'm not sure what is.
If you don't believe Iran is doing this then you must be deliberately obtuse.
So does my dog but his favorite food is banana. We did a test with hamburger and banana to see which he'd want and he went for the banana first. Being able to use banana and frozen veggies as training treats really cut down my costs.
I've never played any "games" other than Flight Simulator and Pong.
One reason is I never thought I'd have the time to devote to it, and I have seen what some people devote to gaming. Probably a lot more than I spend on LGF.
The cable speed comment however reminds me of the same logic marketing people use to sell enhanced bottled water, not to mention gold plated audio cables at gold plated prices.
In truth, there can be different light speeds in different mediums (only in a vacuum is it fixed), but they will never notice the difference.
No I've never played Mass Effect. It's on my list though. I just recently got a new computer that can actually play games that have come out in the last 5 years or so, so have been catching up with some of the. I love Bioware games too. I got Dragon Age Origins for Christmas. It rocked for the same reasons, bit of action, character influence that changes the story and multiple ways to play. Can't wait for the expansion to come out. I've already played it through twice with two different characters and have another play through on the go because I still haven't seen everything or followed through on all the different choices you can make. It's just a beautiful game too.
Play ME1 first...in addition to learning the backstory, you actually have the choice of importing your ME1 character to ME2. Not only that, but some of the ME2 story and plot can actually be influenced by the decisions that you made in ME1! They're already telling us to build our ME2 characters thoughtfully, because the same functionality will be enabled in ME3.
I've never played any "games" other than Flight Simulator and Pong.
One reason is I never thought I'd have the time to devote to it, and I have seen what some people devote to gaming. Probably a lot more than I spend on LGF.
The cable speed comment however reminds me of the same logic marketing people use to sell enhanced bottled water, not to mention gold plated audio cables at gold plated prices.
In truth, there can be different light speeds in different mediums (only in a vacuum is it fixed), but they will never notice the difference.
Being a dad, I can't be a "serious" gamer. However, it's twice as relaxing to me (and twice as stimulating) as television when spending time by myself, and one game lasts me months. Not having much time just means you don't burn through as many games. It only actually holds you back if you want to play online (which I don't).
Hi, have you tried blueberries with your dobe? Our Heather loved them. She would gently take one with her huge incisors, then get a delighted look on her face when she bit into it.
Hi, have you tried blueberries with your dobe? Our Heather loved them. She would gently take one with her huge incisors, then get a delighted look on her face when she bit into it.
We don't do a whole lot of blueberries around here. He's had them one time that I can recall. We end up giving them a lot of fresh foods. Chicken is dirt cheap so I make thighs and livers once a week, toss in some potatoes and veggies, and add it to their food. It's good for them plus they love it.
Frank says: