Tech Note: Automatic YouTube/Vimeo Embedding for LGF Pages

Video made easy
LGF • Views: 30,554

We have a great new feature to announce tonight: when you click the LGF Pages bookmarklet on any web page that contains a YouTube or Vimeo video, the bookmarklet now automagically grabs that video’s information and embeds it in your post.

The LGF Pages bookmarklet could always do this if you opened it on the YouTube or Vimeo website, but now it can sense the presence of these video providers on any web page, and react with aplomb, dignity, and quiet reserve. Ahem.

To use this new feature you will have to reinstall your “Create a Page” bookmarklet. First delete the old one, either by dragging it off the bookmark bar or by right-clicking and choosing “Delete.” Then drag that button at the top of the right sidebar labeled “Create a Page” to your bookmark bar in its place, and you’re good to go.

Here’s a page you can test it on, at Right Wing Watch: Robertson Tells Woman Whose Husband Cheated to Remember ‘He’s a Man’ and Be Grateful She Lives in America | Right Wing Watch.

And here’s a screenshot, showing what it looks like when you open the LGF Pages bookmarklet on that page (notice that the video code is automatically generated, along with a link to the original page it came from):

UPDATE at 5/15/13 10:03:22 pm

The first release had a small bug, but it’s now fixed. Reinstall the bookmarklet one more time and everything will be groovy.

Jump to bottom

413 comments
1 Kragar  Wed, May 15, 2013 5:53:37pm

Cool feature.

And Pat Robertson is a festering boil on the ass of the universe.

2 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 5:57:08pm

I am being a good soon-to-be-former grad student and inventorying all my samples so that the advisor will know where to find them in the future if any of them need to be revisited.

Kill me now.

3 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 5:57:08pm

Neat.

Now if it could only automatically embed videos from Adult Video News ….

4 Charles Johnson  Wed, May 15, 2013 5:57:49pm

Source of the mischaracterized Benghazi email report?

twitter.com

5 GeneJockey  Wed, May 15, 2013 5:59:14pm

re: #4 Charles Johnson

What a dick.

6 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:06:25pm

Having nothing to do with embedding videos:

The Moonie Times, home to an assortment of oddball wingnut writers, has this piece of crap by Joseph Cotto (who seems to be practicing to replace PaleoPat when the latter passes):

Jason Richwine: The latest victim of left-wing creationism

The headline is a dead give-a-way.

Cotto tries to get away by linking to a Nature published paper on intelligence and inheritance.

Problems:

1) Linking to only a single scientific paper in a field that is highly contentious and in which hundreds and perhaps thousands of papers have been published is indeed cherry picking;
2) The linked paper doesn’t mean what Cotto thinks it means. Quoting Cotto:

For instance, it is a fact that genes play a large role in determining the intelligence of any given person. A 2011 study published in Molecular Psychiatry indicated that more than half of a person’s IQ can be attributed to genetic factors.

The Nature paper is not about “IQ” as Cotto is using it.
3) Richwine’s fixation on Hispanic populations has nothing to do with that Nature paper;
4) Richwine’s association with other racists are independent facts and have nothing to do with any scientific research on “intelligence”.

The ugly-right in America continues to inch out of the closet, and is trying to establish the ideas of racial and cultural superiority as part of the foundation for a political party (in this case the GOP, which is very vulnerable to this thing after the Nixon’s Southern Strategy.)

7 Charles Johnson  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:13:47pm

Here’s the one-line minified code for the LGF Pages bookmarklet:

(function(){function b(b){return escape(b).replace(/\+/ig,"%252B")}function d(){(window.LGF_post=function(){var a=query=winopts="",d=location.href,c=document,f=c.title,c=c.selection?c.selection.createRange().text:c.getSelection(),e=jQuery("iframe").filter(function(){return this.src.match(/https?:\/\/(www\.youtube|player\.vimeo\.)/)});e.length&&!d.match(/www\.youtube\.com\/|vimeo\.com\//i)&&(a=e.eq(0).attr("src"));query="u="+b(d)+"&t="+b(f)+"&f="+b(a)+"&s="+b(c);winopts="width=670,height=820,scrollbars=1,status=1,menubar=1,location=1,resizable=1"; window.open("/weblog/lgf-postpage.php?"+query,"_blank",winopts)})()}var f=document;if(void 0===window.jQuery||"1.9.1">window.jQuery.fn.jquery){var e=!1,a=f.createElement("script");a.src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js";a.onload=a.onreadystatechange=function(){if(!e&&(!this.readyState||"loaded"==this.readyState||"complete"==this.readyState))e=!0,jQuery.noConflict(),d()};f.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(a)}else d()})();
8 bratwurst  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:15:04pm

No video involved, but hard to imagine a more apropos thread to pimp a page:

States Urged to Cut Limit on Alcohol for Drivers

9 EPR-radar  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:15:35pm

re: #6 freetoken

The GOP is drawn to this race/IQ stuff like flies to crap because it gives them a perfect excuse for doing nothing about the disproportionate share of those in poverty who are non-white.

10 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:17:01pm

The paleo-right is really fuming about Richwine.

They are definitely scared that Marco Rubio has been anointed by the billionaire club in the GOP as the next choice of “Republican”.

11 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:17:41pm

re: #10 freetoken

The paleo-right is really fuming about Richwine.

They are definitely scared that Marco Rubio has been anointed by the billionaire club in the GOP as the next choice of “Republican”.

That and Ted Cruz, the current Freep darling.

12 GeneJockey  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:18:07pm

re: #9 EPR-radar

At the same time, it confirms their belief that they deserve their socioeconomic position, that they earned it. It refutes the idea of white privilege.

13 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:21:39pm

Also fuming, in a very DARVO-fashion, is Eric son of Erick, who has the gall to still accuse Obama as being the one who “… brought back the politics of personal destruction. “


They are also whining about the Billy Graham association being audited by the IRS.

I say - good on the IRS. These mega-organizations flying under the umbrella of a “church” ought to be investigated. MIllions, and all totaled up - billions, of dollars get poured into organizations that operate in public life but avoid paying taxes.

14 Charles Johnson  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:21:54pm

re: #6 freetoken

Richwine was one of their best stalking horses. Harvard Ph.D, prestigious credentials.

15 EPR-radar  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:24:31pm

re: #14 Charles Johnson

Richwine was one of their best stalking horses. Harvard Ph.D, prestigious credentials.

Richwine will get some other wingnut welfare position no doubt.

I’m still a bit surprised Heritage didn’t just circle the wagons on this. Who do they think they are fooling with this mummery?

16 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:25:08pm

re: #15 EPR-radar

Richwine will get some other wingnut welfare position no doubt.

I’m still a bit surprised Heritage didn’t just circle the wagons on this. Who do they think they are fooling with this mummery?

Their mailing list.

17 Targetpractice  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:27:39pm

Quick everybody, look surprised!

Priebus: Fired IRS Chief Was Obama’s ‘Scapegoat’

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Wednesday that Internal Revenue Service acting commissioner Steven Miller, who was asked to step down by the Obama administration, was “clearly a scapegoat” and that President Barack Obama was ultimately responsible for inappropriate targeting of non-profit groups.

18 BigPapa  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:28:18pm

re: #4 Charles Johnson

Source of the mischaracterized Benghazi email report?

twitter.com

There’s the scandal. Bastard partisan hacks.

19 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:28:55pm

Erickson’s accusation that Obama is still guilty of the IRS targeting specific groups, even though acknowledging that Obama didnt’ order it, because Obama campaigns (like, *gasp*, all politicians who want to get reelected), is such an exercise in illogic that it can only sell in a creationist camp.

Something about which Erickson also bald-faced-ily lies: that his readership/customers are creationist hyper-religious left-overs from the 19th century.

20 Charles Johnson  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:29:32pm

Whenever someone like Jason Richwine gets into the news, I’m reminded why I woke up and stopped messing around with the right wing.

21 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:29:58pm

I apparently have the special talent of twisting the caps on such that they start to fall apart. I’ve replaced at least 5 so far.

22 Targetpractice  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:30:58pm

re: #19 freetoken

Erickson’s accusation that Obama is still guilty of the IRS targeting specific groups, even though acknowledging that Obama didnt’ order it, because Obama campaigns (like, *gasp*, all politicians who want to get reelected), is such an exercise in illogic that it can only sell in a creationist camp.

Something about which Erickson also bald-faced-ily lies: that his readership/customers are creationist hyper-religious left-overs from the 19th century.

At this point, the only way to make the IRS business stick to Obama is to argue that somebody in the IRS was talking to the White House, which is long odds at this time. So their only other option is to hope that they can convince people that “Obama created the environment for this! He made it seem like a good idea!”

23 engineer cat  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:31:20pm

re: #3 freetoken

Adult Video News

a good site to visit if you want to keep abreast

(ducks)

24 thedopefishlives  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:31:39pm

re: #23 engineer cat

a good site to visit if you want to keep abreast

(ducks)

So it’s going to be THAT kind of thread.

25 AlexRogan  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:32:43pm

re: #24 thedopefishlives

So it’s going to be THAT kind of thread.

Taint no time to get all weak in the knees.

26 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:32:54pm

re: #24 thedopefishlives

So it’s going to be THAT kind of thread.

Good, I need amusement. This is boring as hell.

Which is probably why I’ve put it off so long.

27 EPR-radar  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:32:57pm

re: #22 Targetpractice

At this point, the only way to make the IRS business stick to Obama is to argue that somebody in the IRS was talking to the White House, which is long odds at this time. So their only other option is to hope that they can convince people that “Obama created the environment for this! He made it seem like a good idea!”

That’s the main problem with separate realities. It becomes very difficult to construct arguments that are simultaneously persuasive in reality and in wingnut bizarro world.

28 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:34:21pm

re: #22 Targetpractice

Oh, but don’t you see?

Obama has to be guilty, because, well, just because.

Or, as Michelle Malkin likes to put it… Obama is guilty because of BILL CLINTON!:

[…]

During the Clinton years, senior IRS official Paul Breslan revealed that the administration’s auditors specifically targeted conservative critics. […]

Steven Miller, one of the Clinton IRS agents who helped conduct those witch hunts […]

29 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:35:09pm

re: #20 Charles Johnson

Whenever someone like Jason Richwine gets into the news, I’m reminded why I woke up and stopped messing around with the right wing.

Whenever someone like Jason Richwine gets into the news, I’m depressed. Because fuck, how the hell did they grant him a Ph.D.? How??? That was shoddy, shitty work right there, not even going into its validity or moral repugnance.

30 thedopefishlives  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:36:24pm

re: #29 klys

Whenever someone like Jason Richwine gets into the news, I’m depressed. Because fuck, how the hell did they grant him a Ph.D.? How??? That was shoddy, shitty work right there, not even going into its validity or moral repugnance.

I keep coming back to some of the more brain-dead 9/11 Twoofers, who flaunt their Ph.D. as proof that they know more than us mere mortals. It’s to the point where I assume that they were smart at one point in time, and somewhere along the line, suffered some sort of catastrophic brain damage.

31 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:36:25pm

Same planet, same time, two different headlines:

We made it! – Global Breakthrough on Bangladesh Factory Safety Accord

Most U.S. clothing chains did not sign pact on Bangladesh factory reforms

Nearly all U.S. clothing chains, citing the fear of litigation, declined to sign an international pact ahead of a Wednesday deadline, potentially weakening what had been hailed as the best hope for bringing about major reforms in low-wage factories in Bangladesh.

[…]

32 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:37:50pm

re: #17 Targetpractice

Quick everybody, look surprised!

Priebus: Fired IRS Chief Was Obama’s ‘Scapegoat’

“Daley Bags Two Bureaucrats”

- Chicago Tribune headline summing up the official punishments handed out after the Chicago Flood of 1992.

33 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:38:36pm

re: #23 engineer cat

a good site to visit if you want to keep abreast

(ducks)

SMACK!

34 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:38:37pm

re: #29 klys

I chalk it up to the post-modern malaise in the humanities.

35 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:39:02pm

re: #30 thedopefishlives

I keep coming back to some of the more brain-dead 9/11 Twoofers, who flaunt their Ph.D. as proof that they know more than us mere mortals. It’s to the point where I assume that they were smart at one point in time, and somewhere along the line, suffered some sort of catastrophic brain damage.

Well, the thing is, they probably do know more. In one very tiny teeny specific area, which probably has absolutely nothing to do with the area that they’re arguing in.

I mean, I hazard a guess that I know more about glass/melt structure than most people on this board, particularly as it relates to aluminosilicate glasses near the charge balanced region. I should. I spent 6 years becoming one of the world experts in it.

But I know fuck-all about engineering beyond what common sense tells me, and I wouldn’t pretend to know otherwise.

36 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:39:20pm

re: #26 klys

Good, I need amusement. This is boring as hell.

Which is probably why I’ve put it off so long.

There ain’t no entertainment and the judgments are severe.. .

Youtube Video
37 EPR-radar  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:39:43pm

re: #30 thedopefishlives

I keep coming back to some of the more brain-dead 9/11 Twoofers, who flaunt their Ph.D. as proof that they know more than us mere mortals. It’s to the point where I assume that they were smart at one point in time, and somewhere along the line, suffered some sort of catastrophic brain damage.

A Ph.D. is not really proof of intelligence. Sure there is a correlation, but it is not 100%.

An honest Ph.D. is usually proof of persistence and determination.

38 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:40:35pm

re: #37 EPR-radar

A Ph.D. is not really proof of intelligence. Sure there is a correlation, but it is not 100%.

An honest Ph.D. is usually proof of persistence and determination.

And by the end, a shit-ton of alcohol tolerance.

39 EPR-radar  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:41:19pm

re: #38 klys

And by the end, a shit-ton of alcohol tolerance.

Not always. I was a teetotaler in grad school.

40 thedopefishlives  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:41:40pm

re: #37 EPR-radar

A Ph.D. is not really proof of intelligence. Sure there is a correlation, but it is not 100%.

An honest Ph.D. is usually proof of persistence and determination.

Point taken. In my field, owning a bachelor’s degree is less an indicator of “being smart enough to graduate” and more an indicator of “having enough of a work ethic to pass the classes”. Given some of the cowboy coders I’ve had the distinct dishonor of working alongside, I’m surprised some of them managed even that much.

41 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:42:31pm

re: #39 EPR-radar

Not always. I was a teetotaler in grad school.

Mine’s in geology. They like to drink.

The holiday party generally involves a punch bowl filled with gin and tonic.

42 EPR-radar  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:44:37pm

re: #34 freetoken

I chalk it up to the post-modern malaise in the humanities.

Did those fields ever recover their sanity? I remember seeing some raving fantasies passed off as academic ‘critical theory’ in the 90s, and not being able to tell if it is was real or satire.

43 Iwouldprefernotto  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:45:10pm

re: #35 klys

Well, the thing is, they probably do know more. In one very tiny teeny specific area, which probably has absolutely nothing to do with the area that they’re arguing in.

I mean, I hazard a guess that I know more about glass/melt structure than most people on this board, particularly as it relates to aluminosilicate glasses near the charge balanced region. I should. I spent 6 years becoming one of the world experts in it.

But I know fuck-all about engineering beyond what common sense tells me, and I wouldn’t pretend to know otherwise.

I keep waiting for this to be a category on Jeopardy.

44 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:46:31pm

re: #42 EPR-radar

Did those fields ever recover their sanity? I remember seeing some raving fantasies passed off as academic ‘critical theory’ in the 90s, and not being able to tell if it is was real or satire.

Somewhat, though there’s plenty of lunacy in academia.

45 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:46:39pm

re: #43 Iwouldprefernotto

I keep waiting for this to be a category on Jeopardy.

My useless knowledge, let me share it with the world!

46 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:47:06pm

Richwine may be very intelligent.

Richwine may be well educated.

Richwine may have worked hard for several years in graduate school, doing the service required by his department’s chair and tenured professors.

Yet he still associates with racists, makes racist claims, and sells his service to sugar-daddies with vested interests in the racist paleo-conservative establishment in American society.

That he is defended by Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin, VDARE, and the rest of the hate-gang ought to be damning.

47 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:48:06pm

re: #42 EPR-radar

Did those fields ever recover their sanity?

I point to the recent brouhaha in the professional anthropology field, of whether they want to be “scientists” or not, as evidence that the malaise is still on-going.

48 EPR-radar  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:48:29pm

re: #41 klys

Mine’s in geology. They like to drink.

The holiday party generally involves a punch bowl filled with gin and tonic.

Engineers have a certain tendency to drink as well. I went to RPI for my undergrad, and didn’t drink there either (after one awful experience).

When I was there, there had recently been an Esquire article about the top drinking schools in the US. RPI was excluded from the list since the list was an amateur ranking.

49 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:49:20pm

re: #45 klys

My useless knowledge, let me share it with the world!

Had a different “Idea of a University”. Took all the classes that interested me—got most of the way through the “A” section of the catalog.

50 BigPapa  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:51:07pm

I have a Masters in FuckAll.

51 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:51:36pm

re: #49 Decatur Deb

Had a different “Idea of the University”. Took all the classes that interested me—got most of the way through the “A” section of the catalog.

I liked chemistry and structure that didn’t involved carbon, and glass paperweights are pretty. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Well, actually, I am an argument as to why you should encourage your children to reconsider their childhood dreams when they hit 18 or so, because I decided at age 4 that I wanted my Ph.D. and maybe that wasn’t the best plan overall.

But I did finish it, so maybe that counts for something.

52 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:51:49pm

re: #50 BigPapa

I have a Masters in FuckAll.

I did Fuckall as OJT.

53 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:53:02pm

re: #51 klys

I liked chemistry and structure that didn’t involved carbon, and glass paperweights are pretty. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Well, actually, I am an argument as to why you should encourage your children to reconsider their childhood dreams when they hit 18 or so, because I decided at age 4 that I wanted my Ph.D. and maybe that wasn’t the best plan overall.

But I did finish it, so maybe that counts for something.

The conviction that education is better, both practically and aesthetically, is still valid.

54 BigPapa  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:54:16pm

re: #52 Decatur Deb

I did Fuckall as OJT.

That makes you a FuckWit, an apprentice FuckAll. Or so they told me…

55 EPR-radar  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:54:29pm

re: #47 freetoken

I point to the recent brouhaha in the professional anthropology field, of whether they want to be “scientists” or not, as evidence that the malaise is still on-going.

Oh dear. This is rather silly.

From my background, what I found most ridiculous about some of the grander claims of critical theory etc. is the apparent denial of reality because any supposedly objective investigation of reality is going to be contaminated by the biases etc. of the investigators.

IMO, the biases are there, but they aren’t enough to blow up the whole scientific enterprise.

Ironically enough, wingnuts are now in the business of denying reality.

56 jaunte  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:55:48pm

re: #50 BigPapa

I have a Masters in FuckAll.

That’s like a doctorate in Asparagus.

57 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:56:36pm

re: #53 Decatur Deb

The conviction that education is better, both practically and aesthetically, is still valid.

I should be fair: I don’t regret getting it. I would have regretted dropping out.

It has had some very real costs though, and I don’t want to downplay those. It’s definitely not the right choice for everyone. My husband started one and then dropped out. Sometimes I think if I’d figured out a few things earlier, I would have too - but that’s water under the bridge.

I tend to talk about it some because a) I’m still in the very bitter get-this-thing-out-of-my-life phase and b) a lot of people don’t have exposure to the environment and how stuff in the sciences works. But part of it too is I love hearing about different perspectives and other people’s experiences, because what we’ve experienced does influence who we are and I like learning about that. So…

Yeah. I’ll keep that inventorying going.

58 engineer cat  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:57:07pm

re: #42 EPR-radar

Did those fields ever recover their sanity? I remember seeing some raving fantasies passed off as academic ‘critical theory’ in the 90s, and not being able to tell if it is was real or satire.

i’ll get around to answering that question as soon as i finish deconstructing my reaction to it

59 danarchy  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:57:25pm

re: #48 EPR-radar

Engineers have a certain tendency to drink as well. I went to RPI for my undergrad, and didn’t drink there either (after one awful experience).

When I was there, there had recently been an Esquire article about the top drinking schools in the US. RPI was excluded from the list since the list was an amateur ranking.

Heh, I went to WPI and yeah engineers like to drink. We even have our own drinking song even.

60 BigPapa  Wed, May 15, 2013 6:58:32pm

I’m a Project Manager: I manage to not actually work.

61 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:00:04pm

re: #58 engineer cat

i’ll get around to answering that question as soon as i finish deconstructing my reaction to it

My new boss once briefed a Brigadier General including the phrase ‘post-modern’. It took less than three weeks to get my next overseas assignment.

62 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:00:24pm

The Chrome pop-up blocker is blocking the new LGF Page creation utility, at least for certain sites. I just tried it on an Entertainment Online page, and Chrome refused to run the Page creation widget.

63 BigPapa  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:00:40pm

I’m a successful business owner, only working half days.

12 hours.

64 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:01:19pm

re: #63 BigPapa

I’m a successful business owner, only working half days.

12 hours.

I wouldn’t want to run a business. Hats off to you.

65 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:02:31pm

In fact, the Chrome pop-up blocker now seems to block the Page creation utility for any webpage I’m viewing.

66 BigPapa  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:02:50pm

re: #64 klys

Thanks!

Keys to success:

Why aren’t you done yet?
Where’s my money?
When’s the tee time?

67 thedopefishlives  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:03:38pm

re: #63 BigPapa

I’m a successful business owner, only working half days.

12 hours.

I could never be in management. I work too much.

68 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:04:25pm

re: #66 BigPapa

Thanks!

Keys to success:

Why aren’t you done yet?
Where’s my money?
When’s the tee time?

I …would fail so hard. Social stuff is not my forte.

My family who did the military has also made it clear that this would be a horrible fit for me. I have a lot of respect for the folks who do it though, even if sometimes I disagree with them.

69 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:04:58pm

As I mentioned earlier - worldview collapse:

Letter: I don’t recognize my America anymore

What happened to my America? I have served two years in the U.S. Army, 14 months of that was in Korea. I have taught 36 years in public and private schools. I also wrote my own history book, “America, The First 500 Years.” In watching our nightly news, I don’t recognize the America I taught anymore. Our EPA restrictions are strangling our industry. Our Oregon Congress has allowed the Feds to close our timber industry. Obama and Hillary Clinton stonewalled the truth about Bengazi, where four Americans died. Eric Holder still gives little border security on the Rio Grande. […]

70 jaunte  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:05:21pm

Tornado time in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex.

71 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:06:43pm

re: #70 jaunte

I’m allowed to go tornado chasing now that I’m not on my parents’ insurance. I just need the time and a vehicle in the right area…

72 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:08:11pm

re: #68 klys

I …would fail so hard. Social stuff is not my forte.

My family who did the military has also made it clear that this would be a horrible fit for me. I have a lot of respect for the folks who do it though, even if sometimes I disagree with them.

The ‘military’ is much more diverse than anyone understands. A couple guys at one of my installations were working to create metallic hydrogen.

73 EPR-radar  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:08:35pm

re: #61 Decatur Deb

My new boss once briefed a Brigadier General including the phrase ‘post-modern’. It took less than three weeks to get my next overseas assignment.

The Sokal affair is as amusing now as it was when perpetrated back in 1996.

en.wikipedia.org

Briefly, a physics prof constructed a pile of BS entitled “Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity” and got it published in Social Text, an academic journal of postmodern cultural studies.

After publication, the hoax was revealed and the academic catfight began.

74 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:11:33pm

re: #72 Decatur Deb

The ‘military’ is much more diverse than anyone understands. A couple guys at one of my installations were working to create metallic hydrogen.

It’s true, they do a lot of awesome stuff.

I think in my case, it was more the …attitude and personality fit they were recommending against. My grandfather made Chief Master Sergeant before he retired. It’d be lying to say he’s not who I think of first and I know there were some ways where he and I really rubbed the wrong way.

75 engineer cat  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:12:16pm

re: #72 Decatur Deb

The ‘military’ is much more diverse than anyone understands. A couple guys at one of my installations were working to create metallic hydrogen.

i really enjoyed my time working for the army

they green-lighted some crazy ideas i had and let me work on them

76 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:12:54pm

The news in Biology:

For first time, stem cells are produced from cloning technique


Which is neat, and opens the door for future medicine to treat ailments that today are poorly treated.

Should we be surprised that the paleo-right is aghast? From the never failing Fail-spout NRO:

For First Time, Stem Cells Created Through Cloning — Why It’s Even More Unethical

These folk continue to deny that a bunch of DNA in a cell a human does not make.

77 AlexRogan  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:14:52pm

re: #31 freetoken

Same planet, same time, two different headlines:

We made it! - Global Breakthrough on Bangladesh Factory Safety Accord

Most U.S. clothing chains did not sign pact on Bangladesh factory reforms

With the exception of PVH (Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Van Heusen, Izod, Arrow, G. H. Bass), who did sign onto the new reform agreement, most every other major American clothing company and retailer decided that the almighty fucking dollar was more important than the lives of the poor brown people half a world away who makes their shit (I’m looking at you, Walmart and Gap, just to name a couple).

78 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:15:35pm

re: #73 EPR-radar

The Sokal affair is as amusing now as it was when perpetrated back in 1996.

en.wikipedia.org

Briefly, a physics prof constructed a pile of BS entitled “Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity” and got it published in Social Text, an academic journal of postmodern cultural studies.

After publication, the hoax was revealed and the academic catfight began.

There used to be a “Postmodernism Generator” program kicking around the nets.

79 ProTARDISLiberal  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:16:29pm

re: #68 klys

Social stuff isn’t for me either.

Hell, while getting groceries I came up with a Doctor Who related joke on this.

Whose the Impossible Girl? One who wants to be with me romantically.

80 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:17:07pm

re: #73 EPR-radar

The Sokal affair is as amusing now as it was when perpetrated back in 1996.

en.wikipedia.org

Briefly, a physics prof constructed a pile of BS entitled “Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity” and got it published in Social Text, an academic journal of postmodern cultural studies.

After publication, the hoax was revealed and the academic catfight began.

That one is pretty famous in some circles. Making it even better, Sokal wasn’t and isn’t a conservative, but he believed that Social Text and number of other academic organs had lost sight of the importance of facts, and he wrote and exposed “Transgressing the Boundaries” in order to shame that journal and others. They reacted angrily to the shaming and as you put it “the academic catfight began.”

Of course any human activity labeled a “catfight” lacks the ferocity and agility of a fight involving actual cats. ;)

81 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:19:08pm

re: #79 ProTARDISLiberal

Social stuff isn’t for me either.

Hell, while getting groceries I came up with a Doctor Who related joke on this.

Whose the Impossible Girl? One who wants to be with me romantically.

Social stuff can be for you, but you’ve got to make the effort to make it work.

82 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:19:57pm

The atavists just can’t handle modern science.

Unwilling to accept the reality of molecular biology - that all living things are the outward expression of very long chains of nucleic acids which are constantly duplicating themselves in a watery soup of basic organic and inorganic molecules - the atavists are caught in a logical dilemma.

83 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:21:56pm

re: #79 ProTARDISLiberal

There are people out there for all sorts of people. You just need to put yourself in a situation where you can interact with them comfortably.

I met my husband playing an online video game.

84 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:22:23pm

re: #74 klys

It’s true, they do a lot of awesome stuff.

I think in my case, it was more the …attitude and personality fit they were recommending against. My grandfather made Chief Master Sergeant before he retired. It’d be lying to say he’s not who I think of first and I know there were some ways where he and I really rubbed the wrong way.

There is an island out in the Pacific, run by the Army, that is inhabited largely by PhDs from MIT. (One square mile)

en.wikipedia.org

85 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:22:52pm

As a note - I’m fine with cloning humans, as long as:

1) each born clone is recognized as a fully equal person and not consigned as property;
2) the cloning technique does not have side effects to the clone that brings unusual amounts of pain and suffering.

86 A Mom Anon  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:26:18pm

re: #81 Dark_Falcon

Exactly. My son had NO friends in high school and was horribly bullied and fucked with by the kids at school. No dates, no prom, no nothing. The kids were freaking awful to him.

Flash forward to now. He’s been out of high school for a year. Some of the girls he went to school with have stepped forward and apologized to him for not stopping the bullies. He loves metal music and has found friends that share the love of that one thing. Now, he’s still not close to anyone in particular, and he still hasn’t had people over or gone out with a group or a girl alone, but he’s much farther along than he was. He had to try very hard to get to this place, but it’s paying off.

Don’t give up ProTARDIS. Find people who love the same things you do, you will find friends if you put your best foot forward. I’m rooting for you.

87 EPR-radar  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:26:43pm

re: #79 ProTARDISLiberal

Social stuff isn’t for me either.

Hell, while getting groceries I came up with a Doctor Who related joke on this.

Whose the Impossible Girl? One who wants to be with me romantically.

Fair warning —- you are in the realm of self-fulfilling prophesy here. If you want to avoid that outcome, you will need to find some optimism and also take concrete steps to increase the chances of meeting someone compatible.

88 engineer cat  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:29:23pm

re: #82 freetoken

watery soup of basic organic and inorganic molecules

this is sometimes sold as ‘minestrone’

89 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:29:41pm

re: #84 Decatur Deb

There is an island out in the Pacific, run by the Army, that is inhabited largely by PhDs from MIT. (One square mile)

en.wikipedia.org

The site conducts testing of our ABM interceptors and thus is known as the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, in tribute to the president whose SDI speech brought anti-ballistic missile defense into the national conversation.

Unlike some things wingnuts talk about, in this matter the named tribute does properly correspond to something Ronald Reagan advocated.

90 engineer cat  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:33:12pm

if ‘sat’ is the past tense of ‘sit’, and ‘scrod’ is the past pluperfect of ‘screwed’, then what is the passive conditional imperfect of ‘tweet’?

91 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:33:39pm

Ok, crisis averted: missing sample likely location identified, to be dealt with when I’m back in the lab after the conference.

Gah, freakouts I don’t need.

92 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:34:34pm

re: #89 Dark_Falcon

The site conducts testing of our ABM interceptors and thus is known as the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, in tribute to the president whose SDI speech brought anti-ballistic missile defense into the national conversation.

Unlike some things wingnuts talk about, in this matter the named tribute does properly correspond to something Ronald Reagan advocated.

The Prinz Eugen is on the bottom of the lagoon.

93 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:36:10pm

I wish the President would push for a new Cloning initiative.

If only to see the wingnuts’ heads explode.

94 Kaessa  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:37:10pm

re: #83 klys

I met my husband playing an online video game.

I see I’m not the only one.

95 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:37:17pm

re: #92 Decatur Deb

The Prinz Eugen is on the bottom of the lagoon.


Expended as a target after Operation: CROSSROADS.

Edit: The Prinz Eugen actually capsized due to small leaks that could not be repaired due to radioactivity. Even then, it took three months for the leaks to sink her.

Germany extended Tirpitz’s idea that “the first duty of a [capital] warship is to stay afloat” to the heavy cruisers of the Hipper-class. As a result, Prinz Eugen was better armored and more subdivided internally than any pre-war USN CA.

96 Targetpractice  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:37:38pm

re: #89 Dark_Falcon

The site conducts testing of our ABM interceptors and thus is known as the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, in tribute to the president whose SDI speech brought anti-ballistic missile defense into the national conversation.

Unlike some things wingnuts talk about, in this matter the named tribute does properly correspond to something Ronald Reagan advocated.

A bloated military budget that spends money on things that barely work and do more to piss off our allies as well as out friend than they do to ensure our security?

97 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:37:49pm

re: #94 Kaessa

I see I’m not the only one.

Haha, nope. Met in WoW almost 6 years ago now.

98 Kaessa  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:39:32pm

re: #97 klys

Haha, nope. Met in WoW almost 6 years ago now.

We migrated to WoW after we were married. Met in Star Wars Galaxies about 10 years ago. I was the guild leader, he was on my guild council. Sparks ensued. ;)

99 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:40:57pm

re: #98 Kaessa

We migrated to WoW after we were married. Met in Star Wars Galaxies about 10 years ago. I was the guild leader, he was on my guild council. Sparks ensued. ;)

Hehe. He did my guild interview. He has no recollection of this. (Granted, it mostly consisted of “You are aware that we are not a passionate raiding guild, right?”)

100 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:43:54pm

re: #96 Targetpractice

In your opinion. I don’t agree, and given that he is ordering additional ABM interceptors, it appears that President Obama leans toward my view.

101 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:44:23pm

re: #95 Dark_Falcon


Expended as a target after Operation: CROSSROADS.

Edit: The Prinz Eugen actually capsized due to small leaks that could not be repaired due to radioactivity. Even then, it took three months for the leaks to sink her.

Germany extended Tirpitz’s idea that “the first duty of a [capital] warship is to stay afloat” to the heavy cruisers of the Hipper-class. As a result, Prinz Eugen was better armored and more subdivided internally than any pre-war USN CA.

Post quote to show its edit.

102 goddamnedfrank  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:46:56pm

Lawrence O’Donnell has been making a cogent argument why the IRS scandal is rooted in an error made in interpreting the tax code that dates to 1959. Apparently the actual law and original interpretation was that 501(c) orgs consist of “Civic leagues or organizations not organized for profit but operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare.”

However in 1959 the IRS ruled, without any change to the law, that “[A]n organization is operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare if it is primarily engaged in promoting in some way the common good and general welfare of the community.”

In other words they defined down the term exclusively so that it meant “not exclusively.” This opened the door to all kinds of political advocacy.

103 Targetpractice  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:48:52pm

re: #100 Dark_Falcon

In your opinion. I don’t agree, and given that he is ordering additional ABM interceptors, it appears that President Obama leans toward my view.

A program with a 50% success rate at a time when we should be downsizing our military, getting off a war footing and accepting a much smaller role in world affairs. Preventing ICBM attacks by avoiding the sort of antagonism that would lead to launches.

104 Lidane  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:57:50pm
105 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 7:58:07pm

re: #103 Targetpractice

A program with a 50% success rate at a time when we should be downsizing our military, getting off a war footing and accepting a much smaller role in world affairs. Preventing ICBM attacks by avoiding the sort of antagonism that would lead to launches.

With some states that won’t be possible and American pride won’t accept a much smaller role in world affairs. No, missile defense is something we’re going to need sooner or later. Better to build it sooner IMO.

But I don’t think we’re going to agree on this one, so I ask we agree to dis agree, having discussed the matter respectfully.

106 Lidane  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:01:26pm
107 engineer cat  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:02:06pm

re: #104 Lidane

Will the GOP outrage machine ever will aim its sights on the factory owner in Texas who flouted safety regulations and killed 14 firemen? no

they are pro-flouting

108 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:03:34pm

re: #105 Dark_Falcon

With some states that won’t be possible and American pride won’t accept a much smaller role in world affairs.

We could clone an army of our best warriors, train them from childhood, and station them in Bangladesh so we wouldn’t have to pay them much.

109 engineer cat  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:04:21pm

first there is a missile race

then there is a missile defense race

what’s next? an anti-missile-defense race?

110 ProTARDISLiberal  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:04:28pm

re: #103 Targetpractice

For the foreseeable future, we will be stuck as being an actor of last resort on the world stage.

Knowing that, we must start sweeping out the bloat and corruption, and move towards more efficient procurement.

This means things like the F-35 get wiped. Simply, it will never live up to expectations, or the planes it will replace for that matter.

And, as I love to point out, the Social Democracy of Norway, proudly way off in lefty-ville, has twice the number of troops per capita we do. We have a bloated and inefficient military.

To borrow from the Ottomans, we need a New Model Military.

111 efuseakay  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:04:57pm

Meanwhile, on the Type 1 diabetes front:

sciencedaily.com

112 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:05:04pm

re: #103 Targetpractice

A program with a 50% success rate at a time when we should be downsizing our military, getting off a war footing and accepting a much smaller role in world affairs. Preventing ICBM attacks by avoiding the sort of antagonism that would lead to launches.

In 1908, the Army spent a relative fortune for delivery of an aircraft with a 0% success rate. The first plane delivered crashed and killed the first pilot trained. They worked the kinks out. ABM is one of the more benign weapon systems out there—useful for nothing but destroying incoming nukes without killing anyone.

113 engineer cat  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:05:20pm

re: #108 freetoken

We could clone an army of our best warriors, train them from childhood, and station them in Bangladesh so we wouldn’t have to pay them much.

we have to stay on top in the clone army race

114 GeneJockey  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:05:42pm

The whole PhD discussion reminds me of “The Princess Bride”, when Inigo offers to give his word as a Spaniard, and Westley refuses - “No good. I’ve known too many Spaniards!”

When I see some obvious bullshit, be it Creationism, HIV Denialism, Climate Denialism, or Antivaxxers, with a PhD spewing it, I think, “No good! I’ve known too many PhDs!”

Not to disparage PhDs, but I’ve known too many who weren’t good at critical thinking, who couldn’t design an experiment correctly, and who weren’t any good at figuring out what the data actually tell you.

115 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:06:06pm

re: #113 engineer cat

We could also clone a million Donald Trumps and ensure our capitalistic superiority.

116 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:07:25pm

re: #115 freetoken

We could also clone a million Donald Trumps and ensure our capitalistic superiority.

Where would we get enough Dynel for the hairpieces?

117 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:07:36pm

re: #110 ProTARDISLiberal

Actually, in Anglosphere culture that term would strike a sour note, given the depredations of Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army. As has been discussed here before, Cromwell’s force left a legacy so nasty that its after-effects are still visible in the UK and all of her daughter nations even unto this very day.

118 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:10:00pm

re: #112 Decatur Deb

In 1908, the Army spent a relative fortune for delivery of an aircraft with a 0% success rate. The first plane delivered crashed and killed the first pilot trained. They worked the kinks out. ABM is one of the more benign weapon systems out there—useful for nothing but destroying incoming nukes without killing anyone.

Just so. ABM interceptors cannot be used to attack any terrestrial target, so they are not a threat to any nation’s soldiers or cities (satellites are another story, since such an interceptor could likely be used to destroy one of those).

119 Skip Intro  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:10:30pm

re: #62 freetoken

The Chrome pop-up blocker is blocking the new LGF Page creation utility, at least for certain sites. I just tried it on an Entertainment Online page, and Chrome refused to run the Page creation widget.

I’m having the same problem with Firefox 20. Pop up is blocked; if you allow the pop up, the widget just loads a new Firefox window with the same page.

120 ProTARDISLiberal  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:12:56pm

re: #117 Dark_Falcon

In the Ottoman Empire, it was a very big effort to rebuild an outmoded military.

If not for the first-modern-day-dictator, aka Adbul Hamid II, it might have succeeded. But his religious and nationalistic drive killed the hope of an Ottoman Renaissance.

I sincerely wish that clown is in hell right now. His idiocy as caused alot of sorrow.

121 EPR-radar  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:13:11pm

re: #102 goddamnedfrank

Lawrence O’Donnell has been making a cogent argument why the IRS scandal is rooted in an error made in interpreting the tax code that dates to 1959. Apparently the actual law and original interpretation was that 501(c) orgs consist of “Civic leagues or organizations not organized for profit but operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare.”

However in 1959 the IRS ruled, without any change to the law, that “[A]n organization is operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare if it is primarily engaged in promoting in some way the common good and general welfare of the community.”

In other words they defined down the term exclusively so that it meant “not exclusively.” This opened the door to all kinds of political advocacy.

This could actually be viewed as a reasonable change, since “exclusively” in a law could be interpreted in strange ways. E.g., your widows and orphans society is not tax exempt because 5% of the operating budget goes to your internal overhead, so you are not “exclusively” for the promotion of social welfare.

The bigger issue appears to be that issue advocacy is regarded as promoting the common good and general welfare. Again, not unreasonable in all cases (e.g., issue advocacy for better working conditions etc.). When issue advocacy is destructive of the common good and general welfare (a political judgement call, of course), this rationale disappears, but consistency requires that all issue advocacy groups be treated according to a common standard.

122 Tigger2  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:13:13pm

re: #93 freetoken

I wish the President would push for a new Cloning initiative.

If only to see the wingnuts’ heads explode.

Just think about all the new Democratic voters we could clone. //

123 klys and whatnot  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:13:44pm

re: #114 GeneJockey

Getting a Ph.D. didn’t take away my primary status as a human. As such, typical human failings apply. :)

Honestly, EPR said it best. What the Ph.D. primarily means is the stupidity perseverance to keep with it. The rest is up to the individual human it’s attached to.

I’d like to think mine taught me to be more aware of my blind spots and capable of thinking critically and producing good science but I think the jury is still out on it.

But at last, the desiccators are inventories and all the caps labelled so now I can find things, and I am off to home. Hooray!

124 ProTARDISLiberal  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:14:32pm

re: #120 ProTARDISLiberal

And I should correct myself, it would be Nizam-i-Cedid, meaning new order.

The same things apply.

125 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:14:39pm

I see that Andrew Sullivan is stepping into the Richwine affair with all the usual blinders he oft posses.

126 EPR-radar  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:14:59pm

re: #114 GeneJockey

The whole PhD discussion reminds me of “The Princess Bride”, when Inigo offers to give his word as a Spaniard, and Westley refuses - “No good. I’ve known too many Spaniards!”

When I see some obvious bullshit, be it Creationism, HIV Denialism, Climate Denialism, or Antivaxxers, with a PhD spewing it, I think, “No good! I’ve known too many PhDs!”

Not to disparage PhDs, but I’ve known too many who weren’t good at critical thinking, who couldn’t design an experiment correctly, and who weren’t any good at figuring out what the data actually tell you.

Waving a Ph.D. around as an appeal to authority is always a bad sign. Most Ph.Ds have the common sense not to do this.

127 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:16:54pm

Ignoring the totality of Richwine’s public writings and associations and fixating only on the scholarly merits (or demerits) of a dissertation is a way to strain on a gnat while swallowing a camel.

Sullivan has a record of not discerning camels and gnats.

The dissertation may hold up as a dissertation. Yet it’s what Richwine did/does with it that matters.

128 goddamnedfrank  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:18:29pm

re: #118 Dark_Falcon

Just so. ABM interceptors cannot be used to attack any terrestrial target, so they are not a threat to any nation’s soldiers or cities (satellites are another story, since such an interceptor could likely be used to destroy one of those).

We had an ABM treaty because we recognized it as a strategic threat. ABM, if it works, allows a nuclear state strike first capability with some level of insurance against reprisal. That’s why when Bush scrapped the ABM treaty Russia created the Topol-M series with inbound phase maneuverable warheads, why Russia has the most advanced ICBMs right now.

129 EPR-radar  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:18:42pm

re: #125 freetoken

I see that Andrew Sullivan is stepping into the Richwine affair with all the usual blinders he oft posses.

Q: Why do the defenders of Richwine argue that the critics are denying empirical facts?

A: Because attacking that straw man is much easier than defending Richwine’s racist extrapolations from his data.

130 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:19:08pm

re: #120 ProTARDISLiberal

His actions lead to much suffering and disaster, the worst such being the Armenian Genocide (at least indirectly). That said, its never a good idea to want someone to be in Hell; One may accept that they ended up there, but it is always best for someone to repent and gain salvation. That’s my belief, YMMV.

131 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:22:44pm

re: #128 goddamnedfrank

We had an ABM treaty because we recognized it as a strategic threat. ABM, if it works, allows a nuclear state strike first capability with some level of insurance against reprisal. That’s why when Bush scrapped the ABM treaty Russia created the Topo-M series with inbound phase maneuverable warheads, why Russia has the most advanced ICBMs right now.

That and the fact that we haven’t engaged in any major ICBM development in the last 20 years.

132 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:23:16pm

The Richwine Affair (note: like the sound of that, it’s literary) is sure bringing out all the racists.

Even the moderated comments section of well known outlets like The Economist are laced with all sorts of nasty implications.

133 Amory Blaine  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:26:55pm

Federal Judge: Only Powered-Off Cell Phones Deserve Privacy Protections

A federal magistrate judge in New York recently ruled that cell phone location data deserves no protection under the Fourth Amendment and that accordingly, the government can engage in real-time location surveillance without a search warrant. In an opinion straight from the Twilight Zone, magistrate judge Gary Brown ruled two weeks ago that “cell phone users who fail to turn off their cell phones do not exhibit an expectation of privacy.”

134 Targetpractice  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:27:32pm

re: #112 Decatur Deb

In 1908, the Army spent a relative fortune for delivery of an aircraft with a 0% success rate. The first plane delivered crashed and killed the first pilot trained. They worked the kinks out. ABM is one of the more benign weapon systems out there—useful for nothing but destroying incoming nukes without killing anyone.

And that’s what it is, a solution in search of a problem. Much like those battleships we spent years and millions to design and build, only to white elephants we had to spend even more money protecting. And it all ended up being pointless because the Japanese spent the time to research and develop methods of bypassing the safeguards we put in place. By the time we’d dragged the bastards from the bottom, repaired them, and put them into service, we’d become an all-carrier navy and battleships never fulfilled the purpose they were designed for.

135 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:31:00pm

re: #134 Targetpractice

And that’s what it is, a solution in search of a problem. Much like those battleships we spent years and millions to design and build, only to white elephants we had to spend even more money protecting. And it all ended up being pointless because the Japanese spent the time to research and develop methods of bypassing the safeguards we put in place. By the time we’d dragged the bastards from the bottom, repaired them, and put them into service, we’d become an all-carrier navy and battleships never fulfilled the purpose they were designed for.

True, but those decisions must be made with the best-guess technological and political crystal balls available. Spending too much or too little in the face of uncertainty can kill a nation.

136 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:31:14pm

I find Sullivan’s invoking of a 1996 paper as his sole source to be silly and in the nature of so much of his writing.

Sullivan does the classic double-back-flip maneuver in his defense of Richwine’s dissertation:

[…]

That’s my view in a nutshell. What on earth are these “liberals” so terrified of, if not the truth? Instead of going on racist witch-hunts, why don’t they question what IQ means, how great the cultural and environmental impact can be (very considerable), whether such tests should guide public policy at all, or examine how “race” as a social construct does not always correlate to specific variations in human DNA. Note how the terms “race” and “historical ethnicity” are not the same things, as Reihan does. Or do what the scholar Dana Goldstein has done – criticize Richwine’s dismissal of education and poverty as factors affecting IQ in his dissertation.

But please don’t say truly stupid things like race has no biological element to it or that there is no data on racial differences in IQ (even though those differences are mild compared with overwhelming similarity). Denying empirical reality is not a good thing in any circumstance. In a university context, it is an embrace of illiberalism at its most pernicious and seductive: because its motives are good.

Simultaneously he wants to assert:
(1) “race” as a social construct does not always correlate to specific variations in human DNA; and
(2) race has a biological element to it.

This is the classic obfuscation based on the fact that words have more than one meaning.

Sullivan just can’t let go of the idea that he really is defending “liberal” science, though he’s never shown any real understanding of fields of science.

137 Targetpractice  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:34:17pm

re: #135 Decatur Deb

True, but those decisions must be made with the best-guess technological and political crystal balls available. Spending too much or too little in the face of uncertainty can kill a nation.

Yet at the same time, what’s accomplished? We’ve spent decades and billions already in research and we have a program that’s got a 50/50 chance of knocking out one warhead. As Frank noted, we signed the ABM because of the very situation we find ourselves in now: As we improve our ABM technology, our enemies find means of getting around it. So we’re now stuck in a circular track, developing better interceptors to knock out missiles that will simply be improved to beat our interceptors.

138 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:39:43pm

re: #137 Targetpractice

Yet at the same time, what’s accomplished? We’ve spent decades and billions already in research and we have a program that’s got a 50/50 chance of knocking out one warhead. As Frank noted, we signed the ABM because of the very situation we find ourselves in now: As we improve our ABM technology, our enemies find means of getting around it. So we’re now stuck in a circular track, developing better interceptors to knock out missiles that will simply be improved to beat our interceptors.

That problem started with the atl-atl vs hide shield weapons race. There is no forseeable end to it, and the international tools supposed to contain it, like the UN, are growing weaker instead of stronger. In the end we blackmail ourselves. We can go the Quaker-Amish route, but that really requires a Ghandian opposition.

139 Gus  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:42:18pm

Noun, verb, Republican.

140 jaunte  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:44:39pm
141 Targetpractice  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:46:52pm

re: #138 Decatur Deb

That problem started with the atl-atl vs hide shield weapons race. There is no forseeable end to it, and the international tools supposed to contain it, like the UN, are growing weaker instead of stronger. In the end we blackmail ourselves. We can go the Quaker-Amish route, but that really requires a Ghandian opposition.

Yet part of the reason those tools grow weaker is because of stunts like Bush’s of walking away from the ABM Treaty, overturning decades of mutual respect and trust. It’s hard to convince other leaders that we’re sincere about desiring peace when we’re busy building higher walls and bigger guns.

142 Gus  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:47:15pm

re: #140 jaunte

Ah, so that’s why it doesn’t mention Republican in the headline. He’s a Democrat. Interesting. Of course, I leave those headlines for impartial news orgs like Think Progress and Talking Points Memo. LOL

143 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:47:44pm

re: #134 Targetpractice

And that’s what it is, a solution in search of a problem. Much like those battleships we spent years and millions to design and build, only to white elephants we had to spend even more money protecting. And it all ended up being pointless because the Japanese spent the time to research and develop methods of bypassing the safeguards we put in place. By the time we’d dragged the bastards from the bottom, repaired them, and put them into service, we’d become an all-carrier navy and battleships never fulfilled the purpose they were designed for.

That overlooks the useful service battleships provided in WWII, both in terms of AA protection for carriers (the South Dakota’s 40mm Bofors guns did the Kido Butai’s air group immense damage at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands) to shore bombardment. And it must also be pointed out that in the third phase of the Battle of Guadalcanal, less than a year after Pearl Harbor, the USS Washington shelled the HIJMS Kirishima into a crippled wreck.

So your post is a serious oversimplification, enough of one to degrade its accuracy.

145 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:51:40pm

re: #144 jaunte

Ted Vick, South Carolina Democrat, Arrested On DUI Charge For Second Time In A Year

Great reply. Upding.

146 Charles Johnson  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:52:20pm

re: #65 freetoken

In fact, the Chrome pop-up blocker now seems to block the Page creation utility for any webpage I’m viewing.

Found the problem - reinstall it and it will work now.

147 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:53:37pm

re: #141 Targetpractice

Yet part of the reason those tools grow weaker is because of stunts like Bush’s of walking away from the ABM Treaty, overturning decades of mutual respect and trust. It’s hard to convince other leaders that we’re sincere about desiring peace when we’re busy building higher walls and bigger guns.

Mutual fear, perhaps, never trust. With the spread of city-killing weapons to more and more unstable opponents, it’s only going to get worse. The guys at Roi-Namur will continue to spend romantic nights on the beach, watching the MIRVs come in.

148 Targetpractice  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:55:45pm

re: #143 Dark_Falcon

That overlooks the useful service battleships provided in WWII, both in terms of AA protection for carriers (the South Dakota’s 40mm Bofors guns did the Kido Butai’s air group immense damage at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands) to shore bombardment. And it must also be pointed out that in the third phase of the Battle of Guadalcanal, less than a year after Pearl Harbor, the USS Washington shelled the HIJMS Kirishima into a crippled wreck.

So your post is a serious oversimplification, enough of one to degrade its accuracy.

Cruisers and destroyers could not only be easily converted in AA platforms, they could be built at a blistering rate. Same with shore bombardment, though cruisers were more effective at it than destroyers. And you say Guadalcanal, I say Battle off Samar, where a group of destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers fought off a battle group lead by the Yamato herself. For the cost of 2 carriers, 2 destroyers, and 1 escort, they took out 3 heavy cruisers and did so much damage to the others that Admiral Kurita thought he’d run straight into Halsey’s fleet.

149 jaunte  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:56:35pm

Officials: ‘Multiple fatalities’ in Texas tornado
“Hail as large as grapefruit also pelted the area around Mineral Wells on Wednesday evening.”

150 Interesting Times  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:58:49pm

Meanwhile, in the category of problems that really matter which the stupid useless US media completely ignores…

Rich-poor divide accelerating, says OECD

The gap between rich and poor widened more in the three years to 2010 than in the previous 12 years, the OECD group of industrialised nations has said.

It says the richest 10% of society in the 33 OECD countries received 9.5 times that of the poorest in terms of income, up from nine times in 2007.

Those with the biggest gaps included the US, Turkey, Mexico and Chile.

The OECD says that if governments do not stop cutting back on welfare support this gap will grow wider.

The Paris-based group is generally in favour of free-market policies, but has recently become more vocal in support of more generous social provision to soften the impact of the economic downturn of the past few years.
…
Countries where the gap was least pronounced were mainly in the north of Europe, with Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Slovenia the most egalitarian societies.

151 Kragar  Wed, May 15, 2013 8:59:29pm

re: #126 EPR-radar

Waving a Ph.D. around as an appeal to authority is always a bad sign. Most Ph.Ds have the common sense not to do this.

PHD: Piled Higher and Deeper

152 Gus  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:05:47pm

re: #151 Kragar

PHD: Piled Higher and Deeper

We should probably create a federal regulation to stop this. Otherwise, I can’t sleep at night.

153 blueraven  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:10:02pm

re: #152 Gus

We should probably create a federal regulation to stop this. Otherwise, I can’t sleep at night.

Is there something you want to say Gus?

154 Gus  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:10:47pm

re: #153 blueraven

Is there something you want to say Gus?

Yes, greetings to you too.

155 blueraven  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:11:35pm

re: #154 Gus

Yes, greetings to you too.

Hi!

156 Gus  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:11:49pm

re: #155 blueraven

Hi!

Grumble.

157 Decatur Deb  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:13:46pm

re: #156 Gus

Grumble.

Another bad night with pain? Think about albusteve—that was a freakn’ tragedy.

158 Gus  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:15:20pm

re: #157 Decatur Deb

Another bad night with pain? Think about albusteve—that was a freakn’ tragedy.

Not doing so bad at this second. I can actually sit normally. Without my leg up. Otherwise, sometimes I put my foot down and the blood pools down there and it all turns ugly. I panic. Put my leg up. Fire up the heating pad.

159 blueraven  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:16:11pm

re: #139 Gus

Noun, verb, Republican.

Asparagus cast aspersions on Gohmert

160 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:20:03pm

re: #148 Targetpractice

Cruisers and destroyers could not only be easily converted in AA platforms, they could be built at a blistering rate. Same with shore bombardment, though cruisers were more effective at it than destroyers. And you say Guadalcanal, I say Battle off Samar, where a group of destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers fought off a battle group lead by the Yamato herself. For the cost of 2 carriers, 2 destroyers, and 1 escort, they took out 3 heavy cruisers and did so much damage to the others that Admiral Kurita thought he’d run straight into Halsey’s fleet.

The failure of the Japanese SHO-GO plan off Samar owned much to Admiral Kurita’s timidity. A bolder, more decisive leader could have forced past Taffy 3 and might well have taken fewer losses.

And if we speak of Samar, we must surely mention the Surigao Straitm where the older US BBs had their revenge upon the IJN. The West Virginia in particular showed how effective her upgrade was, using both radars barely on the drawing boards in 1939 combined with 16” shells much heavier than those Japan expected to face to brutalize the Yamashiro.

161 Gus  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:20:29pm

re: #157 Decatur Deb

Another bad night with pain? Think about albusteve—that was a freakn’ tragedy.

I did think about him though. I took that cast off and my ankle and foot were all puffed up for weeks. All the blood left my head. Haven’t taken a shower for a thousand years.

162 Bubblehead II  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:23:45pm

Night Lizards. The day has been, shall we say, interesting.

See you in the A.M.

Rest well.

163 GeneJockey  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:26:50pm

re: #123 klys

Getting a Ph.D. didn’t take away my primary status as a human. As such, typical human failings apply. :)

I remember my disappointment when I realized that Science, which I had imagined to be free of human failings like politics. But in the end, Science it like Soylent Green - It’s made of people!

164 Amory Blaine  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:26:55pm

re: #150 Interesting Times

CFTC Waters Down Derivatives Rule In Victory For Wall Street

The U.S. regulator overseeing the derivatives market is set to retreat from an ambitious proposal that would have increased competition in the swaps market, handing victory to large banks including JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.

165 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:27:34pm

re: #164 Amory Blaine

CFTC Waters Down Derivatives Rule In Victory For Wall Street

[facepalm]

166 Gus  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:35:36pm

That’s why I can’t kvetch any more. Instead I’m working on work and other creative things in between. Sometimes I was sitting down and one of my knees was exerting pressure sideways. Other times my right leg felt like a stump. Right now it feels like giblets.

167 blueraven  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:36:50pm

re: #166 Gus

That’s why I can’t kvetch any more. Instead I’m working on work and other creative things in between. Sometimes I was sitting down and one of my knees was exerting pressure sideways. Other times my right leg felt like a stump. Right now it feels like giblets.

Are you working on a big project or several smaller jobs?

168 Gus  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:37:49pm

re: #167 blueraven

Are you working on a big project or several smaller jobs?

Small projects for big jobs.

170 Gus  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:39:17pm

I can actually show up big firms. Which is a nice feeling. :D

171 blueraven  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:40:20pm

re: #168 Gus

Small projects for big jobs.

That’s good right? Looks like things may be picking up some for your field…drafting or architecture if I recall correctly?

172 Gus  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:41:32pm

re: #171 blueraven

That’s good right? Looks like things may be picking up some for your field…drafting or architecture if I recall correctly?

A little bit it seems.

173 Gus  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:47:34pm

Current trends are millennial and senior housing.

174 Lidane  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:51:25pm
175 Gus  Wed, May 15, 2013 9:54:00pm

I wish I could be happy.

176 Single-handed sailor  Wed, May 15, 2013 10:07:42pm

Amy’s Baking Company doubles down, files a police report their Facebook Page was hacked.

/sometimes I just love this country.

177 austin_blue  Wed, May 15, 2013 10:17:59pm

Big wedge in Granbury, TX this afternoon. Not good, several fatalities.

wrcbtv.com

178 BigPapa  Wed, May 15, 2013 10:19:07pm

re: #176 Single-handed sailor

Amy’s Baking Company doubles down, files a police report their Facebook Page was hacked.

/sometimes I just love this country.

Holy Fookin Schniekes. That train wreck is turning into a pop culture Chernobyl.

179 BigPapa  Wed, May 15, 2013 10:21:59pm
Obviously our Facebook, YELP, Twitter and Website have been hacked. We are working with the local authorities as well as the FBI computer crimes unit to ensure this does not happen again. We did not post those horrible things. Thank You Amy &Samy
180 Single-handed sailor  Wed, May 15, 2013 10:22:32pm

re: #177 austin_blue

Big wedge in Granbury, TX this afternoon. Not good, several fatalities.

wrcbtv.com

I was watching that on ChaserTV.com and listening to the scanner on Broadcastify. I’m happy to only have earthquakes.

181 Single-handed sailor  Wed, May 15, 2013 10:25:06pm

The day they start having earthquake chasers is the day I leave California.

182 austin_blue  Wed, May 15, 2013 10:35:07pm

re: #180 Single-handed sailor

I was watching that on ChaserTV.com and listening to the scanner on Broadcastify. I’m happy to only have earthquakes.

The system moved into Cleburne after the hit on Granbury.

Now, six dead confirmed in Granbury. The wedge that moved through Cleburne was a mile wide.

nbcdfw.com

183 Dark_Falcon  Wed, May 15, 2013 10:35:54pm

Good Night, All.

184 Single-handed sailor  Wed, May 15, 2013 10:41:48pm

re: #183 Dark_Falcon

Good night Dark.

185 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 10:45:53pm

Le Richwine Affaire


It even sounds good in French; or maybe something Dan Brown would write.

186 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 10:47:37pm

There are many topics in our culture war in which the atavists like to present the pretense of science - sciency words and all.

Creationism, climate change denial, medical quackery, etc.

But the racists take the cake for the slipperiest of slopes.

187 freetoken  Wed, May 15, 2013 10:47:56pm

re: #146 Charles Johnson

Found the problem - reinstall it and it will work now.

Thanks.

188 SteveMcGazi  Wed, May 15, 2013 10:59:50pm

re: 112 (I think)

About the point that ABM’s are a benign weapon because they are only designed to shoot down ballistic missiles, the problem with that concept is that it makes the side that owns them think an exchange could be winnable.

189 Mattand  Wed, May 15, 2013 11:36:24pm

Jesus Fucking Christ, I just had to woodshed someone who posted a “Obama’s birth certificate is fake” on Facebook.

And the conservatives here wonder why I hold Republicans in such little regard.

What.

The.

Fuck.

190 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, May 15, 2013 11:42:35pm

re: #106 Lidane

Fox sees downside to deficit dropping by $200 billion: This could discourage further austerity measures

I remember back during the days of the Clinton budget surplus, Rush Limbaugh was complaining that it was unethical for the government to take more money from us than it needed to operate.

191 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 1:03:41am

Our featured selection tonight is Alemdar Karamanov’s “Requiem”:

MP3 Audio
192 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 1:06:24am

Thank you, FT…do you not sometimes feel like we are the last living cells in a dying body?

193 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 1:37:32am

re: #192 Sol Berdinowitz

Thank you, FT…do you not sometimes feel like we are the last living cells in a dying body?

Just because this year’s theme is Requiem doesn’t mean we’re dead yet.

194 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 1:50:28am
MP3 Audio
195 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 2:16:23am

I’m still getting the little Page utility being blocked by the Chrome pop-up blocker on websites, such as the front page of the WaPo.

I deleted the old one off the bar and dragged the new one after reloading the page.

196 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 2:31:42am

The rich Richwine whine continues all over the ugly-right, but it now has a supporting chorus among the nattering academia community which seem to be upset that a dissertation is being attacked.

I think focusing attention on the Richwine dissertation as opposed to the the totality of Richwine’s work and those who support him (and I see one of National Review’s long-term racists, Charles Murray, has chimed in after almost a year absence from publishing an article on their website) is chasing after a bouncing ball.

The WaPo is being credited with drawing attention to the dissertation and causing the stir, but that is to ignore all the brouhaha that started as soon as Heritage released the report.

197 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 2:44:52am

One thing Le Richwine Affaire has done is bring out the genetic racists.

All.Over.The.Place.

198 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 2:51:24am

Remember from the last few months about the Chinese effort to find the genetics behind intelligence? Anyway, Nature decided to run an article Tuesday on it to address some of the controversy:

Chinese project probes the genetics of genius

How timely of them.

From the article:

[…]


Intelligence has a substantial but mysterious genetic component1. Studies in twins indicate that genetic factors should explain significantly more than half of the variation in adult general intelligence — the abstract quantity measured in IQ tests. This, in turn, correlates well with attributes such as academic achievement and income. Although geneticists have identified hundreds of genes in which a single mutation can lead to developmental difficulties, the common genetic variants that lie behind normal diversity in intelligence remain elusive. It is widely assumed that, as is the case for traits such as height, there are thousands of such variants, the small effects of which combine to influence mental abilities.

So far, the quest to identify intelligence-linked variants has thrown up only null results and false positives2, even after large, well-designed studies. In 2010, a team led by Robert Plomin, a behavioural geneticist at King’s College London, failed to find a single intelligence-associated variant, even after examining more than 350,000 variations in single DNA letters, or SNPs, across the genomes of 7,900 children3.


[…]

199 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:07:17am

Coates’ article is 72 hours old now, but it’s still the best take that I’ve come across yet:

The Dark Art of Racecraft

200 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:08:34am

re: #198 freetoken

People who understand the actual state of genetics and our understanding of protein folding know that any claims to be able to really get into the genetic base of intelligence at this point in time are way too aggressive. It’ll be an interesting thing to study over time, but it’s such a complex subject, and the interaction between genes and the up and down regulation via other genes is so important that this isn’t something that can really be solved separate from, basically, figuring out what every gene does.

201 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:13:54am

re: #199 freetoken

Loved this bit:

This is what Barbara and Karen Fields mean when they talk about “racecraft.” Power must justify itself. When it is proven wrong, it simply recalibrates. Conditions and actions are explained away as the inalterable work of genetics. Yesterday’s yellow peril becomes today’s model minority. In the 1930s Jews dominated basketball because of their “Oriental background” and “flashy trickiness.” Today blacks dominate it through their animal strength and agility.

People forget, in this day and age, that the Jews of the early 20th century in the US were more likely to be famous for being gangsters, boxers, labor union organizers than scientists or academics. They were kept out of mainstream society in many ways, most institutions has quotas for professors, etc. One Jewish gang in New York was basically formed because Jews weren’t allowed into the local trade unions. I’d say the main thing that low “IQ” scores of a ‘race’ would demonstrate is how much that ‘race’ is dealt a shit hand by society, our educational system, and law.

202 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:15:05am

re: #200 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

There are even more fundamental flaws at work here than only the state of genetic research.

As Coates points out, the “race” label to “hispanic” is stupid in itself, and indeed race labels don’t make sense.

On top of that, “intelligence” is something so nebulously defined that measuring it is silly. Only when you narrow intelligence down to specific functions that can be demonstrated can it be something testable, and by then you’ve narrowed intelligence down to tiny snippets of the entire human condition.

203 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:20:29am

re: #196 freetoken

The rich Richwine whine continues all over the ugly-right, but it now has a supporting chorus among the nattering academia community which seem to be upset that a dissertation is being attacked.

I think focusing attention on the Richwine dissertation as opposed to the the totality of Richwine’s work and those who support him (and I see one of National Review’s long-term racists, Charles Murray, has chimed in after almost a year absence from publishing an article on their website) is chasing after a bouncing ball.

The WaPo is being credited with drawing attention to the dissertation and causing the stir, but that is to ignore all the brouhaha that started as soon as Heritage released the report.

Therre is also a big leap from publishing an academic thesis and turning one into a basis for policy decisions.

204 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:22:15am

re: #202 freetoken

There are even more fundamental flaws at work here than only the state of genetic research.

As Coates points out, the “race” label to “hispanic” is stupid in itself, and indeed race labels don’t make sense.

On top of that, “intelligence” is something so nebulously defined that measuring it is silly. Only when you narrow intelligence down to specific functions that can be demonstrated can it be something testable, and by then you’ve narrowed intelligence down to tiny snippets of the entire human condition.

We have a notion that there is something like a Perfect Score on an intelligence test. We fail to see that some sorts of intelligence tend to cancel out others.

For example, the ability to focus fully and completely on a difficult task often blinds the person to the ability to find new ways to solve the problem that are much easier.

205 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:23:27am

re: #202 freetoken

Yeah, exactly. And then there’s the enormous gulf between the capacity of ‘intelligence’ and the actual use of it. I have a lot of friends who are ‘smarter’ than me at math, who I can beat at games and other challenges that utilize math. They can solve huge important problems and figure out coding algorithms, but I can much better assess the virtue of certain moves in a simple card game.

I’m also reminded of the journals of soldiers from WWII, talking about how you learn to survive in a warzone, the various simple but absolutely necessary things, like not bunching up, wearing two layers of socks and drying them out every day, not taking random potshots, etc., and how people either learned that shit or they died and you generally could not predict who would learn it and who wouldn’t. And it wasn’t the smart guys, or the street-smart guys, or whatever, that it was such a bizarre melange of weird stuff you had to do that it basically mattered more how engaged you were, you were tough-minded enough to learn in that sort of chaotic environment.

So how do you test for that, and how do you compare it? Person A is ‘smarter’ in a quiet room, person B is ‘smarter’ at learning life lessons while people get blown to guts and fragments around him.

206 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:27:02am

re: #205 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Coates’ last article is also pretty good:

What We Mean When We Say ‘Race Is a Social Construct’

In which he starts to take on Andrew Sullivan and the like. I mentioned Sullivan earlier today, and his fast and loose reasoning - Sullivan just can’t let go of the conception that liberal academics are being all controlling when in reality, as Coates points out, there is quite a bit of history over the absurdity of “race”.

207 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:44:10am

re: #206 freetoken

There have been people who understood racial ‘equality’ from the dawn of time. It’s also a highly cultural thing. You might enjoy this paper, which is basically criticizing most of the scholarship about race-relations in the Roman empire as being done with the lens of modern racism: scholar.lib.vt.edu

TL;DR The Romans had black slaves, but a massive majority of ‘white’ slaves, and there is nothing really to suggest the Romans thought blacks were naturally ‘meant’ to be subservient. In addition, having a black parent in Rome did not make you ‘black’. Parentage and lineage was important, but they didn’t really view it in terms of ‘race’ but in terms of your specific ancestors.

208 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:52:02am

How is it by you?

209 Romantic Heretic  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:52:57am

re: #30 thedopefishlives

I keep coming back to some of the more brain-dead 9/11 Twoofers, who flaunt their Ph.D. as proof that they know more than us mere mortals. It’s to the point where I assume that they were smart at one point in time, and somewhere along the line, suffered some sort of catastrophic brain damage.

As Peter Drucker put it, “BA stands for Bugger All, MBA stands for More Bugger All and Ph.D stands for Piled Higher and Deeper.”

He also noted that, “The only thing a degree certifies is that the person has sat for a long time.”

semi/

210 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:53:21am

re: #207 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

There have been people who understood racial ‘equality’ from the dawn of time. It’s also a highly cultural thing. You might enjoy this paper, which is basically criticizing most of the scholarship about race-relations in the Roman empire as being done with the lens of modern racism: scholar.lib.vt.edu

TL;DR The Romans had black slaves, but a massive majority of ‘white’ slaves, and there is nothing really to suggest the Romans thought blacks were naturally ‘meant’ to be subservient. In addition, having a black parent in Rome did not make you ‘black’. Parentage and lineage was important, but they didn’t really view it in terms of ‘race’ but in terms of your specific ancestors.

To my knowledge there are only two places that consider skin color in regards to “humanness” —the US Southern States and the Middle East in regards to sub-saharan Afrikans.

211 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:57:42am

re: #210 FemNaziBitch

To my knowledge there are only two places that consider skin color in regards to “humanness” —the US Southern States and the Middle East in regards to sub-saharan Afrikans.

Oh, there’s probably lots of places. It’s just not universal, and we Americans tend to think that it is, and see all racism everywhere through our particular perspective.

212 Baboon Cheeks  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:58:47am
Youtube Video
213 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:58:57am

re: #211 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

There’s racism all over the world. And the arguments put forward by the racists in defense of their views all fall into the same category: We are better than them.

214 Romantic Heretic  Thu, May 16, 2013 3:59:25am

re: #50 BigPapa

I have a Masters in FuckAll.

I eventually graduated from high school. Dropped out for a number of years.

I did half a semester in university. I quit when the person teaching me computer programming said about personal computers, and I’m quoting, “Eh. They’re just toys. They’ll never amount to anything.” I decided I can’t learn anything from people that hidebound.

So I bought an Apple II and taught myself how to program.

215 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:02:06am

re: #213 freetoken

There’s racism all over the world. And the arguments put forward by the racists in defense of their views all fall into the same category: We are better than them.

Though it’s worth noting sometimes the ‘better’ is just on a moral level. Some people believe Jews are smarter, savvier, superior thinkers, but almost always lacking in some other prime trait, be it masculinity or moral compass.

216 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:02:49am

World Health Statistics 2013

217 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:05:11am

re: #215 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

Though it’s worth noting sometimes the ‘better’ is just on a moral level. Some people believe Jews are smarter, savvier, superior thinkers, but almost always lacking in some other prime trait, be it masculinity or moral compass.

What I’ve never understood is that Christian animosity towards Jews. As “God’s Chosen People” you’d think they’d garner more respect …

218 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:06:41am

re: #217 FemNaziBitch

The phrase is “Christ Killers” - kind of catchy, no?

219 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:07:40am

Also, Dispensationalism is a rather recent movement. Prior to that the standard teaching was of replacement.

220 Romantic Heretic  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:07:48am

re: #68 klys

I …would fail so hard. Social stuff is not my forte.

My family who did the military has also made it clear that this would be a horrible fit for me. I have a lot of respect for the folks who do it though, even if sometimes I disagree with them.

I toyed with joining the military but decided against it. I was too young to really know why I made that decision. At the time it just ‘didn’t feel right.’

Later I realized if I had joined up I would have ended up like Vincent D’Onfrio’s character in Full Metal Jacket. Sitting on a toilet with an M14 in my mouth and my brains on the wall behind me. The rather mild social requirements of civilians life drove me to suicide. The military is right out.

I too have a lot of respect for those who serve. But it’s not for me.

221 Romantic Heretic  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:12:43am

re: #81 Dark_Falcon

Social stuff can be for you, but you’ve got to make the effort to make it work.

What if, like me, a person is ‘socially dyslexic’ as I put it.

Not only don’t I understand many social concepts, I can’t understand them. My brain is wired so that I can’t perceive them, literally.

222 Romantic Heretic  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:13:51am

re: #83 klys

There are people out there for all sorts of people. You just need to put yourself in a situation where you can interact with them comfortably.

I met my husband playing an online video game.

I met my wife on an online erotica writers forum.

223 William Barnett-Lewis  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:15:27am

re: #222 Romantic Heretic

I met my wife on an online erotica writers forum.

Nothing so exotic for us - we met in a bar after midnight.

224 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:19:36am

re: #223 William Barnett-Lewis

Nothing so exotic for us - we met in a bar after midnight.

I met my wife when, at MIT, I started feeling very guilty near Yom Kippur and asked my friends if anyone knew a pagan priestess that could work a ritual that would bring down retribution on me for every ill I’d committed against others during that year.

And when introduced to her, she said no.

225 William Barnett-Lewis  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:21:52am

re: #220 Romantic Heretic

The social parts weren’t that hard for me. Now if I could have done without all that running and other exercise … ;)

226 Decatur Deb  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:22:50am

We met when my sport parachute club absorbed her little theatre group. It’s been 45 years of drama and high anxiety.

227 Decatur Deb  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:28:23am

It’s dawn, and that dog isn’t walking itself. BBL

228 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:34:38am

I’m feel like crap and am going to Urgent Care —

bbl

229 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:36:58am

The nakedness of the racism in is so obvious all over the hate-right web. That writers and commenters are falling all over themselves to actually defend the proposition that “hispanics” are lower in intelligence ought to be a clue to any hapless onlookers.

230 freetoken  Thu, May 16, 2013 4:37:07am

re: #228 FemNaziBitch

Be well.

231 BigPapa  Thu, May 16, 2013 5:05:45am

Some wives of my co-workers played matchmaker and had a BBQ, inviting me and my future wife.

I asked her if she was done with her plate, then asked her for her phone number, then asked her if she wanted to move to Hawaii.

232 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Thu, May 16, 2013 5:06:35am

re: #231 BigPapa

Glad you got the order of questions right. Finishing on the plate one would have been weak.

233 Decatur Deb  Thu, May 16, 2013 5:07:27am

re: #231 BigPapa

Some wives of my co-workers played matchmaker and had a BBQ, inviting me and my future wife.

I asked her if she was done with her plate, then asked her for her phone number, then asked her if she wanted to move to Hawaii.

“Lovin’ don’t last, BBQ do.”

234 BigPapa  Thu, May 16, 2013 5:13:50am

I’m haole, she Filipino. If we make baby, baby be jalapeno haolepino.

235 efuseakay  Thu, May 16, 2013 5:21:28am

So if genetics predisposes one to intellect, or lack thereof, surely the same can be said about one’s sexual preference… Right? RIGHT?

236 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 5:34:14am

The whole GOP immigration discussion seems to be part of their ongoing struggle, part of which we already see in their asinine “Why do blacks still vote Jim Crow/KKK Democrat?” talking points.

They are making the case to party fundamentalists that there is no point in trying to court minorities, they are too stupid to recognize or act in their own interests and totaly in thrall to the party that gives away free government stuff.

And, if they let more blacks/Latinos into the party, those folks might start demanding more of a voice within the GOP, which these fellows are loath to relinquish to anyone who does not share their narrow views.

237 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 5:34:46am

re: #235 efuseakay

So if genetics predisposes one to intellect, or lack thereof, surely the same can be said about one’s sexual preference… Right? RIGHT?

No, because stoopid is not a sin, but teh gay is.

/

238 A Mom Anon  Thu, May 16, 2013 5:44:57am

re: #221 Romantic Heretic

Could you explain that, if I’m not being too personal? My son has a lot of trouble socially, and it’s certainly not from a lack of trying to make friends and do the right things. He just seems to miss “something”. I’m his mom, so of course I think he’s awesome(and really, he’s been a wonderful teenager, he’s kind, funny and generally sweet- perhaps because he’s not had a chance to be influenced much by his peers, not sure), it’s nice to get insight from someone who has been there, done that who is older.

239 lawhawk  Thu, May 16, 2013 5:49:01am

Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area. Looks like another National Review writer may be in hot water. This time over a physical altercation at a theater show.

Kevin Williamson, come on down.

It was not. The lady seated to my immediate right (very close quarters on bench seating) was fairly insistent about using her phone. I asked her to turn it off. She answered: “So don’t look.” I asked her whether I had missed something during the very pointed announcements to please turn off your phones, perhaps a special exemption granted for her. She suggested that I should mind my own business.

So I minded my own business by utilizing my famously feline agility to deftly snatch the phone out of her hand and toss it across the room, where it would do no more damage. She slapped me and stormed away to seek managerial succor. Eventually, I was visited by a black-suited agent of order, who asked whether he might have a word.

In a civilized world, I would have received a commendation of some sort. To the theater-going public of New York — nay, the the world - I say: “You’re welcome.”

There is talk of criminal charges. I will keep you updated.

Let’s see, criminal mischief is a possibility, as is assault or menacing.

240 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Thu, May 16, 2013 5:50:48am

re: #239 lawhawk

Because throwing the phone across the room was far less distracting to others.

241 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 5:54:53am

re: #221 Romantic Heretic

What if, like me, a person is ‘socially dyslexic’ as I put it.

Not only don’t I understand many social concepts, I can’t understand them. My brain is wired so that I can’t perceive them, literally.

I was intellectually brilliant but socially retarded until my early twenties, then I finally hit my stride. It took some effort on my part to overcome it, but since then, I have had no trouble making friends, I often have the problem that people want to be friends with me and I am hesitant to return that interest.

242 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 5:57:25am

re: #239 lawhawk

Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area. Looks like another National Review writer may be in hot water. This time over a physical altercation at a theater show.

Kevin Williamson, come on down.

Let’s see, criminal mischief is a possibility, as is assault or menacing.

“In a civilized world, I would have received a commendation of some sort. To the theater-going public of New York — nay, the the world - I say: “You’re welcome.”

In the civilzed world, you are expected to get up and summon the manager rather than tossing a phone away. That borders on vigilante justice.

243 lawhawk  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:00:05am

re: #242 Sol Berdinowitz

The giveaway is in how he/NRO entitled the post - Vigilantes 1 , Vulgarians 0.

More like Thugs 1, Civilized folks 0.

244 William Barnett-Lewis  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:00:29am

re: #242 Sol Berdinowitz

Ah, but in his idea of a civilized world, he’s an aristocrat and can do nothing wrong. That was one flaw WFB never got away from and it informs everyone associated with the NR.

245 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:02:06am

It was just a toned-down version of “stand your ground”

246 geoffm33  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:05:58am

So I pulled the trigger and bought a new (to me) car. And I went hybrid. Bought a 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid (why do you hate America) with only 11K miles on it.

Love it so far, getting good gas mileage. About 38 MPG but I am still getting used to, and trying to optimize my electric driving.

The other thing is, it takes 87 octane vs the 93 octane my old Maxima needed to remain happy.

So some napkin math based on 10K annual miles:

Optima: 36 MPG - 280 Gallon per/year - 3.55/gallon = $994
Maxima: 20 MPG - 500 Gallon per/year - 3.79/gallon = $1895

Not too shabby. Though the FuelEconomy.gov site may be a little low for my Maxima MPG. But at 25 MPG that puts my annual gas cost at $1516. So yay for me.

247 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:08:59am

re: #246 geoffm33

why do you hate america?

248 lawhawk  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:11:54am

re: #246 geoffm33

Why do you hate big oil? Why do you hate US carmakers? /

Good luck with the purchase. Looks like you’ll come out ahead with the savings on gas, and if gas prices continue to climb, you’ll do even better.

249 iossarian  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:12:38am

re: #242 Sol Berdinowitz

“In a civilized world, I would have received a commendation of some sort. To the theater-going public of New York — nay, the the world - I say: “You’re welcome.”

In the civilzed world, you are expected to get up and summon the manager rather than tossing a phone away. That borders on vigilante justice.

To be scrupulously fair to the right-wing crazies, it sounds as if he had already asked the manager to do something about it, and also asked the texting lady to desist several times.

On the other hand, he may well have anger management issues. I’ve been in similar situations and been able to refrain from imposing my will on those around me by force.

250 geoffm33  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:12:47am

re: #247 Sol Berdinowitz

My cars have been:

Oldsmobile Toronado
Volkswagen Jetta
Nissan Altima
Nissan Maxima
Kia Optima

So besides my GM Toronado, I’ve aways had foreign cars. I need to get a Bibble and American Eagle avatar to make up for it.

251 lawhawk  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:13:52am

Where’s the guy with the voiceover - “In a civilized world….”

Youtube Video
252 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:17:34am

re: #249 iossarian

To be scrupulously fair to the right-wing crazies, it sounds as if he had already asked the manager to do something about it, and also asked the texting lady to desist several times.

On the other hand, he may well have anger management issues. I’ve been in similar situations and been able to refrain from imposing my will on those around me by force.

I think the best approach would have been to start singing “America the Beautiful” so loud that the lady could not continue her call…

253 geoffm33  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:18:21am

re: #248 lawhawk

Why do you hate big oil? Why do you hate US carmakers? /

Good luck with the purchase. Looks like you’ll come out ahead with the savings on gas, and if gas prices continue to climb, you’ll do even better.

Thanks! Kia has a manufacturing in GA but my car wasn’t built there. My 2003 Nissan Maxima may have been built in TN.

254 iossarian  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:21:23am

re: #252 Sol Berdinowitz

I think the best approach would have been to start singing “America the Beautiful” so loud that the lady could not continue her call…

There’s an interesting mini-discussion in the comments of the article about how the texting lady’s behavior had deprived the author of his experience of watching the show in peace, and whether this trumps the fact that he deprived her of her phone and threw it across the room.

In other words, the guns/no guns argument, at a low-stakes level.

255 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:22:11am

re: #252 Sol Berdinowitz

I think the best approach would have been to start singing “America the Beautiful” so loud that the lady could not continue her call…

I think she was just texting.

256 Decatur Deb  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:23:10am

re: #246 geoffm33

So I pulled the trigger and bought a new (to me) car. And I went hybrid. Bought a 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid (why do you hate America) with only 11K miles on it.

Love it so far, getting good gas mileage. About 38 MPG but I am still getting used to, and trying to optimize my electric driving.

The other thing is, it takes 87 octane vs the 93 octane my old Maxima needed to remain happy.

So some napkin math based on 10K annual miles:

Optima: 36 MPG - 280 Gallon per/year - 3.55/gallon = $994
Maxima: 20 MPG - 500 Gallon per/year - 3.79/gallon = $1895

Not too shabby. Though the FuelEconomy.gov site may be a little low for my Maxima MPG. But at 25 MPG that puts my annual gas cost at $1516. So yay for me.

Trying to make our cars last until proven electrics or hybrids hit the used market. (DMV just issued its annual insult—they charged me $2.07 ad valorem tax on the Rover.)

257 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:25:11am

We’ve been O’Keefe’d again?

Just got back from Urgent Care. 3 weeks of steroids and antibiotics. Severe Mold allergy attack.

258 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:26:40am

re: #230 freetoken

Be well.

Thanks, I just want to sleep. And, I haven’t all night.

259 lawhawk  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:26:55am

re: #257 FemNaziBitch

Sucks about the mold allergy attack. Feel better.

260 geoffm33  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:26:59am

re: #256 Decatur Deb

Trying to make our cars last until proven electrics or hybrids hit the used market. (DMV just issued its annual insult—they charged me $2.07 ad valorem tax on the Rover.)

Wow, that’s low! For some reason my wife’s 2009 Mini is valued lower than my 2003 Maxima for ad valorem tax. Pissed her off on principle, but hey, lower tax!

My Maxima was looking at about $2K in repairs, they gave me $3K in trade in, so it was time.

261 Decatur Deb  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:28:00am

re: #257 FemNaziBitch

We’ve been O’Keefe’d again?

Just got back from Urgent Care. 3 weeks of steroids and antibiotics. Severe Mold allergy attack.

SDS 1965: “Don’t trust anyone over 30.”

SDS 2013: “Get off my lawn, punk.”

262 Decatur Deb  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:29:18am

re: #260 geoffm33

Wow, that’s low! For some reason my wife’s 2009 Mini is valued lower than my 2003 Maxima for ad valorem tax. Pissed her off on principle, but hey, lower tax!

My Maxima was looking at about $2K in repairs, they gave me $3K in trade in, so it was time.

1973. They seem to value it at $60.00. It has that much gas in the tanks.

263 iossarian  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:30:37am

re: #257 FemNaziBitch

We’ve been O’Keefe’d again?

Would not surprise me in the least if this were true. Time will tell.

264 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:32:17am

re: #263 iossarian

Would not surprise me in the least if this were true. Time will tell.

The links seem legit

US Treasury Page 8

Bloomberg, DKos & Washington Monthly.

265 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:34:11am

re: #257 FemNaziBitch

I haven’t really gotten into it, but both things can be true:

1. There could have been a couple of IRS guys who decided to only target tea-party groups.

2. In general, the IRS didn’t target tea-party groups.

Those particular agents would still have been being bad and shitty by doing that. But overall there is no actual problem, demonstrably.

266 iossarian  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:35:12am

re: #264 FemNaziBitch

The links seem legit

US Treasury Page 8

Bloomberg, DKos & Washington Monthly.

Having worked in similar organizations, the whole thing seemed a bit odd from the start - really unlikely that functionaries would just take it into their heads to start searching for one specific type of group, because that’s a quick way to get fired and lose those gold-plated federal benefits.

Usually when this kind of thing happens (e.g., the Justice Department purge) it’s because a political appointee initiates it. But there wasn’t any apparent order from on high here.

267 Flounder  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:36:07am

re: #241 Sol Berdinowitz

Funny, I am the exact opposite.

269 Romantic Heretic  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:46:26am

re: #238 A Mom Anon

Could you explain that, if I’m not being too personal? My son has a lot of trouble socially, and it’s certainly not from a lack of trying to make friends and do the right things. He just seems to miss “something”. I’m his mom, so of course I think he’s awesome(and really, he’s been a wonderful teenager, he’s kind, funny and generally sweet- perhaps because he’s not had a chance to be influenced much by his peers, not sure), it’s nice to get insight from someone who has been there, done that who is older.

It’s a subject I’m still working on. Here are some thoughts though.

It really is a matter of perception. Much of social life is domination rituals, setting pecking order in the troop. Body language, dress codes, manners of speaking, what’s interesting and cool, what’s not. All these things are done to establish a place in the world.

Some people, such as myself, look at these things and go “WTF?” For what ever reason (brain chemistry, life experience, that endless mixing of the two) they just can’t perceive the importance of these things. They may, like myself, literally be unable to perceive them at all. I often liken life to a minefield; a dangerous place where the hazards are well hidden and a single misstep means maiming or worse.

Like dyslexia I believe the best a person can do is come up with workarounds and learn to accept.

The biggest problem of course is that many people don’t accept a person with this type of perception. To them seeing the world a certain way is just fucking obvious and cannot fathom why another person doesn’t share that worldview. They then proceed to try and force people who don’t share their view into sharing it, and then cutting the person out of the troop when they can’t. Tribalism means if a person doesn’t fit in to the troop they have no place in the world at all.

Trying to overcome my social dyslexia and failing miserably every time contributed greatly to my mental illness.

The way I learned to handle it, in a nutshell, was acceptance. I started asking myself, “Who am I?” By doing so I learned both my strengths and my limitations. I learned to accept who I am, and that I don’t have a place in the ‘normal’ world. It’s why my handle is what it is. I am a romantic person, where ‘practical’ is the norm, and I’m a heretic, where belief is the norm.

Your son is still young, so he’s not quite fully formed, as it were. If he’s still in high school there will be problems because as Stephen King put it, “High school is the most caste ridden society in the world with the possible exception of Hindu India.” It will be difficult for him but if he looks at himself and stops worrying about what others think, save for those who care about him, he should do fine. If he learns who he is, plays to his strengths and accepts his weaknesses, it will be much easier for him. Once he has established his own identity his social circle will build naturally.

It’s rather like chemistry. Some elements bind more easily than other elements. Forcing elements to bind uses a lot of energy that could be used elsewhere to better effect, and the results are unstable.

Some people just aren’t highly social, and they shouldn’t sweat that they aren’t. They are who they are. If they are comfortable with themselves they’ll be fine. Personal identity is more important than group identity.

I hope that helps. This little essay is incomplete, as any thoughts put into words tend to be. Ask more questions if you need. I’ll be glad to answer them.

270 Bulworth  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:46:54am

And I got home last night to find out that the WH’s Benghazi email dump late yesterday was in response to a Speaker Boner demand for more documents. And of course the non-partisan, totally non political Repub teabags in the House still aren’t happy. Next time I hope PBO tells em to go eff themselves.

(no, I don’t have my regular supply of caffeine in me yet)

271 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:49:01am

6 dead in Texas Tornado

and I guess some bad weather coming to the plains and Mississippi Valley.

272 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:51:59am

re: #269 Romantic Heretic

I’m sorry, I haven’t really been paying attention. Is Social Dyslexia a diagnosis?

I’m asking because I have felt similarly. At first I thought it was because I was an only child. Then I learned I was a Global-Divergent Thinker.

When “Think outside the box” became a big deal, my response was “There’s a box?”

It bothered me for a short time in Junior High, but I figured it wasn’t worth the extreme effort it would take to fit in the group.

273 efuseakay  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:53:10am

More on “chef” Amy:

ibtimes.com

The court documents note Amy, following her conviction, had turned her life around. During the time she committed bank fraud, she had just lost her mother and was recently divorced. After being convicted, Amy married Samy, distanced herself from past associates and established Amy’s Baking Company. The documents also note, “Ms. Bouzaglo donates her time and money to various organizations, such as the St. Nicholas Youth Organization and the Fraternal Order of Police. She is also very involved in the Arizona Republican Party and volunteered numerous hours of her time during the 2006 elections.”

274 A Mom Anon  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:54:29am

re: #269 Romantic Heretic

Thank you. My son has Asperger’s/PDD-NOS (professional opinions vary) which is at least a partial explanation for his difficulties. THANK GOD he’s been out of high school for almost a year, it was horrible. He’s much more confident without people calling him a “retarded faggot” or variations of that theme every day. I’m only now finding out the extent of the bullying and abuse he suffered. I knew about some of it, but good lord, I really would like to go smack the living shit out of these kids and the adults who allowed it.

Thanks again. I’ll show him this, he needs to know he’s by far not the only one who struggles.

275 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:57:00am

re: #255 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

I think she was just texting.

I don’t understand how texting could be annoying, certainly not enough to warrant stealing her phone and tossing it away.

276 Romantic Heretic  Thu, May 16, 2013 6:58:44am

re: #272 FemNaziBitch

I’m sorry, I haven’t really been paying attention. Is Social Dyslexia a diagnosis?

I’m asking because I have felt similarly. At first I thought it was because I was an only child. Then I learned I was a Global-Divergent Thinker.

When “Think outside the box” became a big deal my response was “There’s a box?”

It bothered me for a short time in Junior High, but I figured it wasn’t worth the extreme effort it would take to fit in the group.

No. Social dyslexia is my own term for my problem. It wasn’t just that I have trouble perceiving social faux pas but when they are explained to me I still don’t understand them.

“There’s a box?” is a good way to describe it. To many people there is a box, and good people live inside it. If they are even aware of the box at all.

People like you and I are aware of the box and it’s in our nature to step outside of it. “Because that’s the way it’s done!” just isn’t a good enough reason for us.

277 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:00:56am

re: #276 Romantic Heretic

No. Social dyslexia is my own term for my problem. It wasn’t just that I have trouble perceiving social faux pas but when they are explained to me I still don’t understand them.

“There’s a box?” is a good way to describe it. To many people there is a box, and good people live inside it. If they are even aware of the box at all.

People like you and I are aware of the box and it’s in our nature to step outside of it. “Because that’s the way it’s done!” just isn’t a good enough reason for us.

Step outside the box?—hell, I’m in the next town.

278 Bulworth  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:02:41am

re: #274 A Mom Anon

So sad to hear about how people are treated. Makes me appreciate the relatively clustered upbringing I had, private church school, closeknit community. If I’d gone to public school I suspect I would have had a rougher time.

279 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:03:22am

re: #275 Sol Berdinowitz

I don’t understand how texting could be annoying, certainly not enough to warrant stealing her phone and tossing it away.

The phone lights up, tapping the screen makes a noise. It’s a legitimate objection, just not to the point of physical confrontation.

280 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:04:21am

re: #141 Targetpractice

Yet part of the reason those tools grow weaker is because of stunts like Bush’s of walking away from the ABM Treaty, overturning decades of mutual respect and trust. It’s hard to convince other leaders that we’re sincere about desiring peace when we’re busy building higher walls and bigger guns.

“They’ll make bigger boards and bigger nails, and soon, they will make a board with a nail so big, it will destroy them all!”

- Kang

281 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:06:46am

I’m going to try to sleep some.

bbiab

282 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:07:28am

re: #279 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

The phone lights up, tapping the screen makes a noise. It’s a legitimate objection, just not to the point of physical confrontation.

My approach is to be so damn polite that people can’t stand it. Like simply leaning over and constantly asking the lady if she needs help with her spelling…

283 AlexRogan  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:09:33am

re: #239 lawhawk

Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area. Looks like another National Review writer may be in hot water. This time over a physical altercation at a theater show.

Kevin Williamson, come on down.

Let’s see, criminal mischief is a possibility, as is assault or menacing.

What a douchebag…the lady with the phone didn’t help matters, but Williamson cranked that shit to 11.

284 lawhawk  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:09:46am

re: #264 FemNaziBitch

From page 8 of the TIGTA report:

To determine if organizations other than those specifically identified in the inappropriate criteria were processed by the team of specialists, we reviewed the names on all applications identified as potential political cases.18 Figure 4 shows that approximately one-third of the applications identified for processing by the team of specialists included Tea Party, Patriots, or 9/12 in their names, while the remainder did not. According to the Director, Rulings and Agreements, the fact that the team of specialists worked applications that did not involve the Tea Party, Patriots, or 9/12 groups demonstrated that the IRS was not politically biased in its identification of applications for processing by the team of specialists.

Emphasis added.

Yet, the TIGTA did find substantive problems in how the group operated and that there weren’t sufficient safeguards. Moreover, the policies and procedures for figuring out whether an entity engaged in political activity was such that it needs Congressional clarification. Right now, not even the IRS can figure out what to do with the law.

285 Romantic Heretic  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:17:14am

re: #274 A Mom Anon

Thank you. My son has Asperger’s/PDD-NOS (professional opinions vary) which is at least a partial explanation for his difficulties. THANK GOD he’s been out of high school for almost a year, it was horrible. He’s much more confident without people calling him a “retarded faggot” or variations of that theme every day. I’m only now finding out the extent of the bullying and abuse he suffered. I knew about some of it, but good lord, I really would like to go smack the living shit out of these kids and the adults who allowed it.

Thanks again. I’ll show him this, he needs to know he’s by far not the only one who struggles.

You’re very welcome.

If I may? Here’s an author that helped me a lot: John Ralston Saul.

This is my favorite book by him: The Doubter’s Companion. Mostly because it’s a hoot to read. It’s similar to Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary in that it is about how words and terms are actually used rather than the accepted usage.

On Equilibrium is the best encapsulation of his thoughts. He ruminates about his ideas of the main human attributes and more importantly how they must be in balance with each other.

Voltaire’s Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West is where I started with Mr. Saul’s writing. It appealed to me because it is as much a history book as philosophy. I think it saved my life as it gave me a new perception of the world when my old one was falling apart.

I hope this helps.

286 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:17:39am

re: #243 lawhawk

The giveaway is in how he/NRO entitled the post - Vigilantes 1 , Vulgarians 0.

More like Thugs 1, Civilized folks 0.

Assholes: 2, Normality: 0

would be on my scorecard. Both wrong, both unwilling to back down, both unwilling to properly face the consequences of being wrong.

287 Bulworth  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:19:09am

re: #283 AlexRogan

Rebranding!

288 Romantic Heretic  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:20:40am

And with that, I’m off to the city of Rapture to rescue Eleanor Lamb.

Later.

289 lawhawk  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:20:54am

Another problem that was highlighted in the report was the failure of the IRS to resolve issues within 270 days (after which, the entities could sue for action to resolve). Despite delays that in some instances stretched over several years, none did so. That too could be because the entities didn’t realize that they had that right (again going to just how complex the tax code is and how the agency needs to deal with taxpayer issues, especially on emerging subjects).

And there’s one huge emerging subject on the horizon - the PPACA issues.

290 Bulworth  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:21:36am

re: #284 lawhawk

GOP translation: IRS only targeted Tea Party groups!!

/

291 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:27:07am

re: #282 Sol Berdinowitz

My approach is to be so damn polite that people can’t stand it. Like simply leaning over and constantly asking the lady if she needs help with her spelling…

Best I ever saw was attending a hockey game. We were sitting in the upper deck in Pittsburgh’s old Civic Arena where a college friend of mine has season tickets that we split among a group of us. The row right below us was not held by season ticket holders so the people sitting there varied from game to game.

One game it was a couple and the woman was complaining loudly about the view, the noise, this that and basically just bitching about everything and ignoring the game.

So, during a break the man was downstairs buying beers or something. My friend leans down and asks the woman, “How much did you pay for those seats?”

She answers, “$50”.

He replies, “That’s strange. We only paid $28 for these seats.”

And then he sat back and just grinned while she fumed for the next period and a half before they left.

292 Joanne  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:39:09am

Stuart Stevens, Romney Adviser, Says 2012 Was Not A Fair Fight

Stevens, however, had a ready list of reasons why the 2012 result was out of his — as well as Romney’s and the campaign’s — control.

He talked at length about President Barack Obama’s money advantage: “Obama raised $1.2 billion. So you think about it, the next incumbent president will raise, what, $2 billion?” Stevens said. He argued the next incumbent candidate will “face a challenger … who will probably come out of the [primary] process broke.”
…
Describing his reaction to a question about why the Romney campaign lost the battle to define its candidate, Stevens said he felt “kind of like Travis at the Alamo being asked, ‘How did you let yourself get surrounded?’ It wasn’t our choice. There were a lot of soldiers out there.”

But when asked about criticisms that Obama’s campaign was run more like an efficient business than Romney’s, Stevens — who was employed by a media firm, American Rambler Productions, that was paid millions of dollars by the campaign for a multitude of services — backtracked from his focus on resources.

“They’re always talking about how Obama had more people. They talk about this with the media buys,” Stevens said, a reference to what Politico called Stevens’ “unusual in-house ad strategy.”

“It’s hysterical. You know, Obama had 27 people doing this. It’s like, that’s good? … When did we start bragging that, like, having more people doing something is a good thing?” Stevens asked. “I thought it was supposed to be the other way — that the fewer people that could do a good job is like a good thing.”

Yet seconds later Stevens was back to decrying the Romney campaign’s lack of resources as compared to the president’s: “We didn’t have Air Force One. We didn’t have the White House. You know, they had 800 people in Florida.”

293 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:40:40am

re: #292 Joanne

The Romney Campaign continues to claim all positions as their position.

294 iossarian  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:49:10am

re: #292 Joanne

Stuart Stevens, Romney Adviser, Says 2012 Was Not A Fair Fight

Wahmbulance to aisle Jerb Creator!

295 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:51:32am

MSNBC Feed has this article on it today:
inplainsight.nbcnews.com

So, I ask myself, who is this Michael Tanner with this bizarre “give a man a fish to get him out of poverty” tack? So I dig a bit. Senior fellow at the Cato Institute, and also the author of this -

finance.townhall.com

Ah, the wonderful Ryan Budget. And the usual “blame Obama and the Senate for not offering a budget” meme. Along with his article very nicely avoiding any particulars on how the Ryan Budget will actually work.

Based on this I have little faith in his other proposed methods in addressing the United State’s social ills.

I am also slightly bemused that he says the keys for escaping poverty are education, preventing pregnancy, and jobs. I don’t see this as the subject of the GOP’s laser-like focus right now.

296 sattv4u2  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:53:56am

Ahh ,,,,nothing better than waking up on your day off,,, walking outside ,, and seeing your car WITH A FLAT FRAKKIN TIRE!!!!

297 Bubblehead II  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:55:36am

re: #296 sattv4u2

Ahh ,,,,nothing better than waking up on your day off,,, walking outside ,, and seeing your car WITH A FLAT FRAKKIN TIRE!!!!

Look on the bright side. At least you will not be late for work.

298 sattv4u2  Thu, May 16, 2013 7:58:09am

re: #297 Bubblehead II

Look on the bright side. At least you will not be late for work.

Going to introduce my son to The Joys Of Changing A Tire

299 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:00:17am

re: #298 sattv4u2

Going to introduce my son to The Joys Of Changing A Tire

Make sure he understands the concept and necessity of tight lug nuts.

300 Bubblehead II  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:02:18am

Fox News/Republicans, bitching about anything and everything.

In wake of scandal, Obama ousts IRS chief — who was leaving anyway

“Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. Mars, reacting to the claim that Miller was leaving anyway, said it seemed like he was a “perfect scapegoat” for the administration.”

301 sattv4u2  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:02:47am

re: #299 Feline Fearless Leader

Make sure he understands the concept and necessity of tight lug nuts.

He’s 18. Thats a given!!

oh ,,wait ,, you mean the tires!
nevahmind

302 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:03:15am

re: #301 sattv4u2

He’s 18. Thats a given!!

oh ,,wait ,, you mean the tires!
nevahmind

I’ll remember to order the veal.

303 Bubblehead II  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:03:17am

re: #299 Feline Fearless Leader

Make sure he understands the concept and necessity of tight lug nuts.

As well as a properly positioned jack.

304 Joanne  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:05:10am

re: #303 Bubblehead II

As well as a properly positioned jack.

No kidding. Especially for kids who think it’s fun and games.

305 GeneJockey  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:05:35am

re: #298 sattv4u2

Going to introduce my son to The Joys Of Changing A Tire

When I was a young teen, my Dad used to sucker me into putting the snow tires on the cars by letting me back them out of the garage, long before I got a license. I longed for the day when I could drive, I read car magazines, I devoured all the books on cars at our local library. Dropped my beloved 10 speed like a used kleenex as soon as I got my license. All the guys I knew growing up were like this.

My sons? 19 and 21 years old, no drivers license, and no interest in getting one. No interest in cars. None. And I gather a lot of today’s young men are like that. Why? Do today’s games afford them the escape and freedom that used to only come with a car?

306 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:07:10am

re: #303 Bubblehead II

As well as a properly positioned jack.

And properly blocking the off-side wheel of course.

307 GeneJockey  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:08:01am

re: #300 Bubblehead II

Fox News/Republicans, bitching about anything and everything.

In wake of scandal, Obama ousts IRS chief — who was leaving anyway

“Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. Mars, reacting to the claim that Miller was leaving anyway, said it seemed like he was a “perfect scapegoat” for the administration.”

GOP Yesterday: “I want to know who’s going to get fired over this!”

GOP Today: “Obama is scapegoating the guy he fired!”

308 sattv4u2  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:09:59am

re: #305 GeneJockey

Not sure where you live, but we’re kind of out in the country and EVERY one of my sons friends got their licenses ASAP. There is no public transpo out here and the nearest places to hang out (stores, restaurants, bowling, etc) are 10 miles away

I know my friends back in Boston, their kids, a lot of them wait because everything they need is either in walking distance or a quick hop on the “T” (Bostons public buses/ trains)

AND ,,, going into Boston,,,, nowhere to park, unless you want to pay BIG bucks

309 GeneJockey  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:10:56am

re: #306 Feline Fearless Leader

And breaking the lugnuts loose BEFORE you jack up the car.

310 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:11:34am

re: #286 Feline Fearless Leader

Assholes: 2, Normality: 0

would be on my scorecard. Both wrong, both unwilling to back down, both unwilling to properly face the consequences of being wrong.

Imagine if they had both been armed…

311 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:13:16am

re: #309 GeneJockey

And breaking the lugnuts loose BEFORE you jack up the car.

Yea, my father let me learn that one for myself. Once I was in my teen years my father periodically tasked me with rotating tires on one of the family cars.

312 Bert's House of Beef and Obdicuts  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:14:10am

re: #305 GeneJockey

I grew up split between the country and the city. Where I wanted to go in the country was back into the woods, where a car isn’t useful. In the city, going places in a car and parking generally took longer, so I never bothered to learn how to drive.

313 Gus  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:15:10am

I’ll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle.

314 sattv4u2  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:16:01am

re: #313 Gus

I’ll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle.

Haggard?


(ltns,,, you doing okay??)

315 GeneJockey  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:16:23am

re: #308 sattv4u2

We live in the suburbs of SF, so yes, there’s public transportation, but still - they have to be practically forced to take it. It’s like they don’t even want or need to get out of the house the way we used to.

316 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:17:01am

re: #312 Bert’s House of Beef and Obdicuts

I grew up split between the country and the city. Where I wanted to go in the country was back into the woods, where a car isn’t useful. In the city, going places in a car and parking generally took longer, so I never bothered to learn how to drive.

I am still amazed at how anti-bicycle and anti-scooter US cities generally are. They have to be strong-armed almost into establishing bike lanes (and usually poorly designed and enforced ones at that.) And once you have the lanes there is still the on-going issue with secure storage of the bicycle once you reach the destination since racks and parking space for bicycles is another afterthought.

317 Gus  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:18:58am

re: #314 sattv4u2

Haggard?

(ltns,,, you doing okay??)

On and off. :O One minute it feels fine and the next minute I have to run to a chair to get off mah feet. Always remember this when you see a patch of ice!

318 erik_t  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:19:45am

re: #316 Feline Fearless Leader

I am still amazed at how anti-bicycle and anti-scooter US cities generally are. They have to be strong-armed almost into establishing bike lanes (and usually poorly designed and enforced ones at that.) And once you have the lanes there is still the on-going issue with secure storage of the bicycle once you reach the destination since racks and parking space for bicycles is another afterthought.

That’s something of an over-generalization. Many cities in the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest are quite progressive on bike commuting and transit. Tons of bike lanes, many abandoned rail lines turning into dedicated off-grade trails, things like that.

Nothing to the extent of Copenhagen or Amsterdam, certainly, but progress is being made.

319 Gus  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:21:54am

Stupid Adobe Acrobat reader. I shut off two start-up garbage services from MSCONFIG and this morning some Adobe directory shows up in my temp directory. They act as though their reader is some primary function on a computer requiring all sorts of active BS running in the background. All for the occasional reading of a PDF file. Guess I have to shut things off from Services.

320 iossarian  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:23:54am

re: #319 Gus

Stupid Adobe Acrobat reader. I shut off two start-up garbage services from MSCONFIG and this morning some Adobe directory shows up in my temp directory. They act as though their reader is some primary function on a computer requiring all sorts of active BS running in the background. All for the occasional reading of a PDF file. Guess I have to shut things off from Services.

Adobe: In ur base, consuming ur cpu resources.

321 Killgore Trout  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:24:28am

re: #319 Gus

Stupid Adobe Acrobat reader. I shut off two start-up garbage services from MSCONFIG and this morning some Adobe directory shows up in my temp directory. They act as though their reader is some primary function on a computer requiring all sorts of active BS running in the background. All for the occasional reading of a PDF file. Guess I have to shut things off from Services.

Adobe is the worst. Mine constantly wants to download updates which never install correctly. It’s a mess.

322 lawhawk  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:27:07am

re: #320 iossarian

Adobe: In ur base, consuming ur cpu resources.

Adobe to users: All your base are belong to us.

And no, no sarc quote there. They’re still stuck in the 1980s/1990s.

323 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:29:28am

re: #318 erik_t

That’s something of an over-generalization. Many cities in the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest are quite progressive on bike commuting and transit. Tons of bike lanes, many abandoned rail lines turning into dedicated off-grade trails, things like that.

Nothing to the extent of Copenhagen or Amsterdam, certainly, but progress is being made.

True. My experience is usually the cities in the Northeast. The rail-to-trail is usually rural, though there are some good trails into and out of cities.

Nice one along the river here in Philadelphia for instance. However, the “bike lanes” in most of the streets are simply painted lines. And I see a lot of cars ignore these markings, especially to use the lane for “temporary” drop-off/pick-up parking.

The secure parking for bicycles issue is one reason I rarely used mine for going to/from classes in college. Had to go over a mile, but bike rack space at the university was very limited and there were serious theft issues as well. (Including people doing stuff like stealing seats, parts, and single tires.)

I found David Byrne’s _Bicycle Diaries_ an interesting read on the general subject and how different cities and nations treat the issue.

324 Bulworth  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:38:01am

re: #292 Joanne

OK, we’re sorry. Let’s do it over.

Starting with each candidate being allocated an equal amount of public financing. Oh wait…
/

325 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:38:25am

I was totally flummoxed at the sight of busses in Santa Barbara, CA, that had bicycle trailers behind them…

326 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:39:46am

re: #324 Bulworth

OK, we’re sorry. Let’s do it over.

Starting with each candidate being allocated an equal amount of public financing. Oh wait…
/

A GOP operative whining about being outraised for money is actually pretty amusing to me. Especially given the SuperPAC funds that their various side issues got that were essentially off-the-books campaign spending.

327 Bulworth  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:39:50am

re: #295 Feline Fearless Leader

The Ryan Budget is so teh awesome. Why?
Because it cuts out of control spending.
What sort of spending?
Spending.
Spending on who and for who? Spending!
How would it affect poverty?
Cuts spending!

328 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:40:24am

re: #325 Sol Berdinowitz

I was totally flummoxed at the sight of busses in Santa Barbara, CA, that had bicycle trailers behind them…

I thought that the racks on buses were a really good idea. Nice way to promote mixed-mode transportation.

329 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:41:05am

re: #327 Bulworth

The Ryan Budget is so teh awesome. Why?
Because it cuts out of control spending.
What sort of spending?
Spending.
Spending on who and for who? Spending!
How would it affect poverty?
Cuts spending!

Exactly.

330 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:41:15am

re: #319 Gus

Stupid Adobe Acrobat reader. I shut off two start-up garbage services from MSCONFIG and this morning some Adobe directory shows up in my temp directory. They act as though their reader is some primary function on a computer requiring all sorts of active BS running in the background. All for the occasional reading of a PDF file. Guess I have to shut things off from Services.

1) Uninstall Adobe reader
2) Install Foxit PDF Reader
3) ??
4) Profit

331 Bulworth  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:42:29am

re: #329 Feline Fearless Leader

Balanced Budget! Fix The Debt!
Then what?
Cut taxes some more.
And create more debt?
Cut more spending!
Wash, rinse, repeat.

332 Stanghazi  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:42:42am

Obama: ‘I Remember When BuzzFeed Was Just Something I Did In College Around 2 A.M.’

hahaha

huffingtonpost.com

333 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:43:43am

re: #327 Bulworth

The Ryan Budget is so teh awesome. Why?
Because it cuts out of control spending.
What sort of spending?
Spending.
Spending on who and for who? Spending!
How would it affect poverty?
Cuts spending!

Anyone who depends on government transfer payments is a “taker” and a freeloader.

Anyone who benefits from Government tax breaks and loopholes is a job cretor and a “maker”.

334 Bulworth  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:45:37am
Yet Mr. Obama also expresses exasperation. In private, he has talked longingly of “going Bulworth,” a reference to a little-remembered 1998 Warren Beatty movie about a senator who risked it all to say what he really thought. While Mr. Beatty’s character had neither the power nor the platform of a president, the metaphor highlights Mr. Obama’s desire to be liberated from what he sees as the hindrances on him.

“Probably every president says that from time to time,” said David Axelrod, another longtime adviser who has heard Mr. Obama’s movie-inspired aspiration. “It’s probably cathartic just to say it. But the reality is that while you want to be truthful, you want to be straightforward, you also want to be practical about whatever you’re saying.”

nytimes.com

The White House has not yet contacted me about providing consulting services.

335 sattv4u2  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:47:24am

re: #315 GeneJockey

We live in the suburbs of SF, so yes, there’s public transportation, but still - they have to be practically forced to take it. It’s like they don’t even want or need to get out of the house the way we used to.

When my son showed signs of that we would disconnect the internet for several hours per day

re: #317 Gus

On and off. :O One minute it feels fine and the next minute I have to run to a chair to get off mah feet. Always remember this when you see a patch of ice!

After 45 years in Boston, that lesson was learned decades ago!

336 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:50:30am

Good morning lizards!

337 sattv4u2  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:50:32am

And on that note

Tire changed,, so
shower

then the long quiet drive to the tire dealers!!

338 Political Atheist  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:51:22am

re: #334 Bulworth

nytimes.com

The White House has not yet contacted me about providing consulting services.

Uh huh. Non disclosure rules are strict. //

339 NJDhockeyfan  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:53:24am

Evan Mathis shows his disdain for the IRS

Already the least popular of the federal governmental agencies, the IRS has taken a significant hit in recent days amid news confirming longstanding beliefs that the U.S. tax department exercised its discretion to conduct audits and generally give folks a hard time with politics in mind.

Like most if not all Americans, Eagles offensive lineman Evan Mathis doesn’t like it. Unlike most if not all Americans, Mathis has opted to make his views known, in an entertaining way.

Mathis posted on Instagram a photo of himself in the universal standing pee position by an IRS sign, with the message “Audit this.”

In response to someone who predicted that Mathis will soon be apologizing “count on that,” Mathis said, “How high are we counting?”

Apparently, Mathis is willing to count only to number one.

LOL!

340 BigPapa  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:53:41am

re: #249 iossarian

To be scrupulously fair to the right-wing crazies, it sounds as if he had already asked the manager to do something about it, and also asked the texting lady to desist several times.

On the other hand, he may well have anger management issues. I’ve been in similar situations and been able to refrain from imposing my will on those around me by force.

Anger management issues? Maybe that’s why he’s a writer for NRO: Nerdy Racists Online.

But in other places he’s being lauded as a hero.

341 Gus  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:55:15am

re: #330 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

1) Uninstall Adobe reader
2) Install Foxit PDF Reader
3) ??
4) Profit

I’d start jogging across America but that’s not in the cards anymore. Maybe just get rid of all my stuff and become a hobo.

342 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 8:59:21am

re: #339 NJDhockeyfan

Evan Mathis shows his disdain for the IRS

LOL!

This is the crux of the problem: we already have enough assholes who reject the idea that the IRS should be “taking our hard-earned money” to “redistribute it to welfare slackers”, since that’s is all they see the government as doing.

Now it is going to be even harder for them to do their job…

343 Stanghazi  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:00:35am

re: #342 Sol Berdinowitz

This is the cruy of the proble: we already have enough assholes who reject the idea that the IRS should be “taking our hard-earned money” to “redistribute it to welfare slackers”, since that’s is all they see the government as doing.

Now it is going to be even harder for them to do their job…

Yeah not funny to me. Football player who makes good bank? Of course he doesn’t want to pay.

344 blueraven  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:00:38am

re: #339 NJDhockeyfan

Evan Mathis shows his disdain for the IRS

LOL!

You really find that funny? Plenty of jokes to be made here but…that is pretty lame.

345 BigPapa  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:02:23am

Nothing funnier that dropping trou and peeing on something, the universal sign of disapproval.

346 BigPapa  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:06:18am

Kevin Drum @ Motherjones: Obama to GOP: Put Up or Shut Up on DOJ Investigation

Still, this is an interesting tidbit of news from Savage, both on substantive and political grounds. Substantively, Obama is making the point that legislation has been introduced before, and can be introduced again, that would restrict DOJ’s ability to target the phone records of media organizations. In 2010, such legislation was introduced, and died when it was filibustered by Republicans in the Senate. More generally, media organizations have been lobbying for a federal shield law for decades, and Congress has been resolutely unwilling to pass one, even though nearly every state has a shield law of one sort or another.

347 Mattand  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:06:34am

re: #339 NJDhockeyfan

re: #344 blueraven

Ugh. This kind of horseshit it what makes it tough to justify rooting for the Eagles.

On the other hand, Mathis just became the most popular Eagles player ever. The fans love this kind of stuff.

348 Mattand  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:09:20am

Continued from my late night post:

I just cannot wrap my head around the fact that:

A) People are still pushing the birther crap

B) You’re that angry a black dude is President, you will grasp at any straw possible to have him removed/arrested/lynched.

Thanks, Republicans.

349 Stanghazi  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:09:29am

re: #345 BigPapa

Nothing funnier that dropping trou and peeing on something, the universal sign of disapproval.

For men.

350 Mattand  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:11:35am

re: #349 Stanghazi

For men.

Seriously. If a woman had done the gender appropriate version of that, the slut shaming would have been legendary.

351 BigPapa  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:13:48am

re: #349 Stanghazi

For men.

For men, and Lady Drop Trou. Speaking of, she hasn’t really made much news lately. Give her time.

352 Political Atheist  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:14:16am

re: #349 Stanghazi

For men.

True. Consolation prize-If you were out walking the dog and it was a really well trained dog…

353 Mattand  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:17:59am

re: #347 Mattand

re: #344 blueraven

Ugh. This kind of horseshit it what makes it tough to justify rooting for the Eagles.

On the other hand, Mathis just became the most popular Eagles player ever. The fans love this kind of stuff.

What’s really amazing is that Mathis’s stunt hasn’t made the Philly news sites yet.

It’ll be interesting to see how new coach Chip Kelly handles this.

354 Lidane  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:27:43am

Harry Reid, broken clock:

Reid: House GOP have ‘lost their minds’ on ObamaCare repeal

Case in point:

Yes, because POTUS is going to renounce his signature legislation. WTF.

355 darthstar  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:34:08am

re: #354 Lidane

Harry Reid, broken clock:

Reid: House GOP have ‘lost their minds’ on ObamaCare repeal

Case in point:

Yes, because POTUS is going to renounce his signature legislation. WTF.

I tweeted about that this morning:

356 Charles Johnson  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:34:54am

Racist cretin Robert Stacy McCain is announcing to the world — again — that I’m irrelevant and nobody likes me, and he’s proving it by writing an entire post about an off-hand comment I made a few days ago. Ignores every article I’ve written, and gloats like a moron over a one-line comment.

These people are not right in the head.

357 Mattand  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:37:10am

re: #356 Charles Johnson

Racist cretin Robert Stacy McCain is announcing to the world — again — that I’m irrelevant and nobody likes me, and he’s proving it by writing an entire post about an off-hand comment I made a few days ago. Ignores every article I’ve written, and gloats like a moron over a one-line comment.

These people are not right in the head.

I see some trolling in my future…

358 jaunte  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:38:52am

These people sense aspersions in their asparagus.

359 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:39:34am

These people sense aspersions in their asparagus.

maybe they have asparagus’ syndrome

360 BigPapa  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:39:55am

re: #356 Charles Johnson

Racist cretin Robert Stacy McCain is announcing to the world — again — that I’m irrelevant and nobody likes me, and he’s proving it by writing an entire post about an off-hand comment I made a few days ago. Ignores every article I’ve written, and gloats like a moron over a one-line comment.

These people are not right in the head.

He is linking to the hatebreed morons at your fan blog. Credibility!

361 darthstar  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:45:36am
362 wrenchwench  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:48:08am

There’s a good joke in here somewhere, and a whole lot of bad ones. The official White House photographer:

363 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:48:48am

re: #337 sattv4u2

And on that note

Tire changed,, so
shower

then the long quiet drive to the tire dealers!!

(shady)
Nice whitewalls ya got there. Pity if, you know, something might happen to them…
(/shady)

364 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:50:09am

re: #345 BigPapa

Nothing funnier that dropping trou and peeing on something, the universal sign of disapproval.

Sounds like something a dog would do. Simply to say that he had been there.

365 jaunte  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:51:29am
366 justaminute  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:53:29am

Back in the ‘90’s I used to work for the IRS. I still have friends that work there. They have been underfunded and understaffed for over 30 years or longer.

When I worked there their computer system was a joke and still is. So it’s not surprising that they would look at shortcuts.

I saw a post by someone that describes it quite accurately:

“The IRS primary database of taxpayer info and returns dates back to the JOHNSON administration. It was designed by Martin Marietta (your first choice for accounting software), features a green on black user interface that relies on aggressively abbreviated terms and lots of pure gibberish letter and number codes. There was at least one failed attempt to create a modern, fully relational, modular database, but that was in the ’80s.
Now IRS relies on a tangle of web based apps frankensteined onto that dumb terminal, 60s era database.

And oh yes. The primary records for the db are on big spools of magnetic tape.

This should provide some direct insight into the career, operational management of IRS, as well as Congress’s reluctance to properly equip them.”

367 wrenchwench  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:55:01am

re: #365 jaunte

Journalists were whining again about being kept waiting in the hot sun.

368 AM3R1CAN  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:56:26am

Whatever happened to the “show spin off links” ? I always liked the feature. Did it get moved or is it completely gone?

Also, I tried to log in with my old account I have used for years here but it says it’s been suspended. I’m thinking perhaps due to inactivity? I filled out the contact form to see if I can get it unlocked. I didn’t see any kind of automated way to do this.

Sorry to muddy up the comments section with this and to create another account.

369 wrenchwench  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:58:14am

re: #368 AM3R1CAN

Whatever happened to the “show spin off links” ? I always liked the feature. Did it get moved or is it completely gone?

Also, I tried to log in with my old account I have used for years here but it says it’s been suspended. I’m thinking perhaps due to inactivity? I filled out the contact form to see if I can get it unlocked. I didn’t see any kind of automated way to do this.

Sorry to muddy up the comments section with this and to create another account.

It now says, ‘Show top rated Pages’, at the top of this page. What used to be ‘spin off links’ are now known as ‘Pages’.

370 blueraven  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:58:21am

re: #368 AM3R1CAN

Whatever happened to the “show spin off links” ? I always liked the feature. Did it get moved or is it completely gone?

Also, I tried to log in with my old account I have used for years here but it says it’s been suspended. I’m thinking perhaps due to inactivity? I filled out the contact form to see if I can get it unlocked. I didn’t see any kind of automated way to do this.

Sorry to muddy up the comments section with this and to create another account.

What was your old nic?

371 jaunte  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:58:29am
372 Interesting Times  Thu, May 16, 2013 9:59:43am

re: #370 blueraven

What was your old nic?

Maybe this one?

373 AM3R1CAN  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:01:37am

@wrenchwench

Thanks. There it is. Guess it’s been awhile!

@interesting times

Yeah, that was the old one. Can’t say everything I posted was great, but I cleaned myself up quite a bit the last few years.

374 Bulworth  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:06:09am

re: #371 jaunte

Why is Obama politicizing national security issues like this?!1!???

375 AM3R1CAN  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:06:39am

Hard to believe I registered here 7 years ago! I mostly just read now. Post on occasion. Still my favorite blog! I first learned about this place from the Rush Limbaugh show. So yeah, you know it was a long long time ago! LGF opened my eyes quite a bit on a number of things. Mostly I would say that it doesn’t matter if you have an R or a D in front of your name. Most politicians are in it for money and power. Not saying all, but for most yes. They could care less about America and Americans. Money and Power only.

376 blueraven  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:06:45am

re: #373 AM3R1CAN

@wrenchwench

Thanks. There it is. Guess it’s been awhile!

@interesting times

Yeah, that was the old one. Can’t say everything I posted was great, but I cleaned myself up quite a bit the last few years.

In that case, welcome back! I can positively say not all my posts have been great as well.

377 blueraven  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:09:03am

re: #375 AM3R1CAN

Hard to believe I registered here 7 years ago! I mostly just read now. Post on occasion. Still my favorite blog! I first learned about this place from the Rush Limbaugh show. So yeah, you know it was a long long time ago! LGF opened my eyes quite a bit on a number of things. Mostly I would say that it doesn’t matter if you have an R or a D in front of your name. Most politicians are in it for money and power. Not saying all, but for most yes. They could care less about America and Americans. Money and Power only.

I don’t believe that. Some, many…probably. Most, I don’t think so.

378 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:11:28am

re: #375 AM3R1CAN

Hard to believe I registered here 7 years ago! I mostly just read now. Post on occasion. Still my favorite blog! I first learned about this place from the Rush Limbaugh show. So yeah, you know it was a long long time ago! LGF opened my eyes quite a bit on a number of things. Mostly I would say that it doesn’t matter if you have an R or a D in front of your name. Most politicians are in it for money and power. Not saying all, but for most yes. They could care less about America and Americans. Money and Power only.

I started blogging about the time of the Second Gulf War in 2003, was big on a site called Warblogging, which often criticized LGF for being terribly reactionary.

I started checking out the site, found it conservative but at least measured and reasonable in its criticism of the left. And it was anti-creationist, which I saw as a good sign.

Joined up to have a good argument but stuck around for the discussion and to watch LGF abandon the right entirely and earn the wrath of its former fellow travellers.

379 klys and whatnot  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:13:41am

It is a sad morning because I am out of diet Mountain Dew. :(

380 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:13:56am

I got 2.5 hours sleep, steroids kicked-in and I can breathe thru my nose and my head no longer feels like it is full of sand!!!!!

you?

381 Kragar  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:15:28am

re: #380 FemNaziBitch

I got 2.5 hours sleep, steroids kicked-in and I can breathe thru my nose and my head no longer feels like it is full of sand!!!!!

you?

Woke up, took a hot shower, and spent the next hour coughing and hacking up the phlegm it loosened up. Just starting to feel better now.

382 AM3R1CAN  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:16:35am

re: #377 blueraven

I’m very jaded by politics and politicians and especially political pundits. I’m of the mind to live and let live. There was a time where I was pretty wrapped up in politics. Watched news all the time. Listed to talk radio. Now I can’t stand any of it. I cannot watch even a second of most any political pundit. I use to love guys like Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Hannity, etc etc etc. Now I cannot even watch or listen for a single second. Money and Power is all they care about. I don’t even think these guys believe half the crap that comes out of their own mouths. It’s just about keeping the audience and cashing that pay check.

383 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:16:57am

re: #381 Kragar

Woke up, took a hot shower, and spent the next hour coughing and hacking up the phlegm it loosened up. Just starting to feel better now.

I love the taste of phlegm in the morning, it tastes like…VICTORY!

384 GeneJockey  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:18:27am

re: #366 justaminute

So…

1) Give an agency a mandate that requires them to handle huge volumes of data.

2) Underfund and understaff them for decades.

3) Start a bunch of organizations that skate close to the edge of the law, all similarly named.

4) Wait for someone to take the obvious shortcut, then pounce on them for partisanship.

385 Kragar  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:18:48am

Plus, I got an email back for the guys I’m working on the movie with who said my ideas were awesome and they’re incorporating several of them into the story.

386 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:19:15am

re: #380 FemNaziBitch

I got 2.5 hours sleep, steroids kicked-in and I can breathe thru my nose and my head no longer feels like it is full of sand!!!!!

you?

Toe feels better today and I am walking at close to a normal pace.

Work is being a bit bear-ish. No falafel today due to place I get it being close for an obscure (to me at least) Jewish holiday. So we hit Shake Shack instead.

Testing new barrier in the apartment to keep the cat from eating the pea plants. Will see results when I get home.

387 Targetpractice  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:19:46am

re: #380 FemNaziBitch

I got 2.5 hours sleep, steroids kicked-in and I can breathe thru my nose and my head no longer feels like it is full of sand!!!!!

you?

Just got back from seeing the goodness that is the new Trek movie.

388 wrenchwench  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:20:08am

I have neither Mountain Dew, steroids, nor phlegm. I guess I’m doing OK.

Should have seen me yesterday, though. When I washed my hands at the end of the day, I looked in the mirror and saw a black grease smudge on my upper lip. Looked like half of a Speedy Gonzales costume. I have no idea how long it was there. I tried to remember whether anyone looked kind of like they were suppressing a laugh when they saw me.

389 GeneJockey  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:20:48am

re: #386 Feline Fearless Leader

Testing new barrier in the apartment to keep the cat from eating the pea plants. Will see results when I get home.

That’s funny. When we lived in an apartment, we had to devise a barrier to keep the cat from peeing in the plants.

390 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:22:00am

re: #378 Sol Berdinowitz

I started blogging about the time of the Second Gulf War in 2003, was big on a site called Warblogging, which often criticized LGF for being terribly reactionary.

I started checking out the site, found it conservative but at least measured and reasonable in its criticism of the left. And it was anti-creationist, which I saw as a good sign.

Joined up to have a good argument but stuck around for the discussion and to watch LGF abandon the right entirely and earn the wrath of its former fellow travellers.

excellent vid

391 Feline Fearless Leader  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:22:12am

re: #389 GeneJockey

That’s funny. When we lived in an apartment, we had to devise a barrier to keep the cat from peeing in the plants.

The older cat has apparently greater desire to eat peas than to eat catnip.

392 GeneJockey  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:22:16am

re: #379 klys

It is a sad morning because I am out of diet Mountain Dew. :(

That’s what black coffee’s for.

Black as night,
Strong as love,
Hot as hell, and
Pure as an angel’s kiss.

393 Sol Berdinowitz  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:22:39am

re: #390 FemNaziBitch

excellent vid

no it isn’t!

394 AlexRogan  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:22:45am

re: #379 klys

It is a sad morning because I am out of diet Mountain Dew. :(

Around this house, to be out of DMD is cause for wailing and gnashing of teeth.

That is, until someone gets some more.

395 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:23:17am

re: #387 Targetpractice

Just got back from seeing the goodness that is the new Trek movie.

aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhh!

I am so jealous!

396 Bulworth  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:23:35am

CNN:Pickering and Mullen seek to testify on Benghazi.

Strangely, master grandstander extraordinaire, Darrell Issa, doesn’t want the Accountability Review Board cochairs to testify publicly. Doesn’t want to create “some sort of stage show”. Yes, Issa really said that.

397 GeneJockey  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:23:38am

re: #391 Feline Fearless Leader

The older cat has apparently greater desire to eat peas than to eat catnip.

Probably had to go to to Nippers Anonymouse to get off the Wacky Weed, and is trying to stay clean and sober.

/

398 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:23:50am

re: #393 Sol Berdinowitz

no it isn’t!

STFU!

399 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:24:35am

re: #397 GeneJockey

Probably had to go to to Nippers Anonymouse to get off the Wacky Weed, and is trying to stay clean and sober.

/

I don’t know, seems like drug-seeking behavior to me.

400 Targetpractice  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:25:23am

re: #396 Bulworth

CNN:Pickering and Mullen seek to testify on Benghazi.

Strangely, master grandstander extraordinaire, Darrell Issa, doesn’t want the Accountability Review Board cochairs to testify publicly. Doesn’t want to create “some sort of stage show”. Yes, Issa really said that.

He wants witnesses that will cry on cue for the cameras.

401 Bubblehead II  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:25:56am

This is one very lucky deer.

Deer-gets-on-off-city-bus

Youtube Video
402 Interesting Times  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:26:03am

re: #399 FemNaziBitch

What’s the URL for your CafePress site again? (yes, it’s still bugging me that I can’t find that feminist quote picture you posted a while back…also, I can’t see your LGF image library - we can only see our own)

403 klys and whatnot  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:29:02am

re: #394 AlexRogan

Around this house, to be out of DMD is cause for wailing and gnashing of teeth.

That is, until someone gets some more.

The problem is getting enough momentum to get out the door and get some more …without it.

404 GeneJockey  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:30:33am

re: #403 klys

The problem is getting enough momentum to get out the door and get some more …without it.

I knew someone who was like that with Prozac. She was fine till her prescription ran out, then she couldn’t bring herself to get out of bed to go refill it.

405 klys and whatnot  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:34:35am

re: #404 GeneJockey

I knew someone who was like that with Prozac. She was fine till her prescription ran out, then she couldn’t bring herself to get out of bed to go refill it.

I have begged the husband to stop by the grocery store on the way home.

Yes, I’m being terribly lazy today.

406 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:34:37am

re: #402 Interesting Times

What’s the URL for your CafePress site again? (yes, it’s still bugging me that I can’t find that feminist quote picture you posted a while back…also, I can’t see your LGF image library - we can only see our own)

here is the main shop. I don’t remember any photos on my “election” shop —all my t-shirt rants. Bumper magnet store, which I forgot about and have to edit.

You said an outdoor scene—right? I can’t for the life of me remember that one, I don’t think it was one of mine, but probably one I shared from the web. I can’t find anything like that in my image library and I tend to purge the web downloads once I’ve shared them.

so sorry

407 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:37:13am

re: #401 Bubblehead II

This is one very lucky deer.

Deer-gets-on-off-city-bus

[Embedded content]

OMG —it’s like the tiger scene from Apocalypse Now!

408 GeneJockey  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:38:52am

re: #405 klys

I have begged the husband to stop by the grocery store on the way home.

Yes, I’m being terribly lazy today.

BTDT, though it was coffee, and I’m the husband: used the last of the beans the day before and didn’t remember using the last of it until it was too late to go out and buy more. Dragged my sorry ass out to the nearest Starbucks to buy coffee and beans, without the benefit of coffee, endangering anyone on the streets.

409 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:41:45am

re: #406 FemNaziBitch

here is the main shop. I don’t remember any photos on my “election” shop —all my t-shirt rants. Bumper magnet store, which I forgot about and have to edit.

You said an outdoor scene—right? I can’t for the life of me remember that one, I don’t think it was one of mine, but probably one I shared from the web. I can’t find anything like that in my image library and I tend to purge the web downloads once I’ve shared them.

so sorry

Unless it was one of mine with the artwork frame around it?
Like This one from Elizabeth Cady Stanton

410 Bubblehead II  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:42:02am

re: #407 FemNaziBitch

OMG —it’s like the tiger scene from Apocalypse Now!

This one?

Youtube Video
411 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:45:03am

re: #410 Bubblehead II

There is a similar scene in this book —- so well written, totally freaked-me-out.

412 Interesting Times  Thu, May 16, 2013 10:49:08am

re: #409 FemNaziBitch

Unless it was one of mine with the artwork frame around it?
Like This one from Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Yes, I think it was something like that - the quote was on why someone would be a feminist, and what feminism is all about. The background may have been a semi-abstract landscape or “moon rise” scene but I’m certainly not 100% sure about that.

413 FemNaziBitch  Thu, May 16, 2013 11:17:02am

re: #412 Interesting Times

Yes, I think it was something like that - the quote was on why someone would be a feminist, and what feminism is all about. The background may have been a semi-abstract landscape or “moon rise” scene but I’m certainly not 100% sure about that.

all I can think of is the one I posted the other day …


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