The problem I had with the false newspaper reports was that, while they didn't always explicitly say the miners were alive (just that the families were reporting that they were alive), they weren't explicit about not yet having official confirmation either. I don't like having to read between the lines to figure things out in a news report. And combine that with the slanted headlines and you're left with stories that promise more than they can deliver.
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 11:59 AM on January 4, 2006

I was generally willing to give the Mom a pass on this; this whole scenario seems so far-fetched that, as delmoi pointed out, it probably would not have shown up on her radar. But, there were a lot of missed warnings here. The trips out of town, the cash and gifts, and a poor attendance record at school. While it seems like you can come up with excuses for any of the individual events (which Justin did: his trip to Michigan, for example, was to attend a "computer camp"), at some... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 9:55 AM on December 19, 2005

A year ago last fall Dahlia Lithwick wrote a very interesting article for Slate about why spouses trump parents in cases like Terri Schiavo's. In many ways it echoes the points already made by people here.

On another note, I continue to find all the images of Terri Schiavo that have been plastered on news sites recently to be very disturbing. I keep thinking that I wouldn't want the whole world to see me in that state.

Further, the degree to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 10:23 AM on March 24, 2005

Two things: the google toolbar only adds links when you click a button and the links it adds have a different mouse pointer than normal links.

Also, I just see this as a value-added product. If I use google's toolbar I probably already use their services. So this just removes the middle-man from the process whereby I copy an address, go to google maps, and paste it in. Also, if you don't like google maps, you can configure it to link you to mapquest or yahoo maps.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 9:39 AM on February 24, 2005

Mystic River came out two years ago, so I'm guessing that those discussing it assumed that all who wanted to see it already had. As a broader question, how long are you expected to wait before discussing the endings of movies?
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 8:38 AM on January 25, 2005

A number of people commented on their surprise at not seeing Motorcycle Diaries nominated for the foreign film award; I was just as shocked not to see House of Flying Daggers nominated. Every other critic had it on their list of the ten best films of 2004, but it wasn't even one of the five best foreign films according to the Academy?
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 11:23 AM on January 25, 2005

Interesting about House of Flying Daggers not being submitted. The earlier link in this thread on the foreign films listed House of Flying Daggers as China's submission.
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 9:03 AM on January 26, 2005

Since we're talking about Garfield, this Slate article gives a pretty interesting perspective on why it sucks. In short, Garfield is entirely a commercial exercise and its mediocrity is intentional. The goal was to be as bland as possible and sell lots of merchandise.
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 4:47 PM on January 7, 2005

I TiVoed this and tried twice to watch it this week. It just wasn't good enough for me to stay with it for more than 15 minutes either time.

Also, somewhat like soyjoy, I didn't particularly like Ms. LeGuin's essay. I understand her frustration, but she did sell the rights and it now seems like, having seen the finished product, she wants to disassociate herself from it. But on the other hand, if more writers start outing the producers who mangle their stories when... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 8:45 AM on December 16, 2004

The thing that really irks me about this steroid issue are all the commentators who keep saying things like "steroids weren't illegal at the time he was taking them" when they really mean "baseball hadn't banned steroids at the time he was taking them." Steroids are a Schedule III narcotic and are illegal. I just don't know why baseball (and the other sports) need separate rules from the rules the rest of society must follow.
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 8:48 AM on December 3, 2004

I'm with AgentRocket on this. There clearly is a distinction between posting an eyewitness account and posting snippets of the actual show. The NDA is a legal agreement between the guy in the audience and Sony. If the guy chooses to break the NDA only he can be punished by Sony. He owns the copyright on his own words and can share them with whomever he'd like. However, Sony owns the copyright on the audio and video of the actual game, and posting by posting it online you go from being a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 9:23 AM on December 2, 2004

I heard on sports talk radio this morning that this fight broke out at the worst possible time from a security perspective. The reason there was no security around the court was that in the last minute or so of a game most of the security officials head out to the concourse area to ensure that everyone leaves the facility in an orderly fashion. This left no security to keep players out of the stands and fans off the court.
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 12:11 PM on November 22, 2004

Perhaps I'm a bit confused, but where does it say that you have to give personal information in order to get a button? You can go to nycvisit.com and print out a "Peaceful Political Activists Savings Card" that comes with all privileges of the buttons without signing anything or giving out any information about yourself. Can someone elaborate on this for me?
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 10:15 AM on August 18, 2004

Kablam, I think the impeachment would have been upheld by the Senate. My understanding was that Nixon resigned because he was informed that if impeached, he would have been removed from office. I believe the leaders of his own party informed him that they would be voting to remove him from office, and he decided that resignation would be better than being forcibly removed.
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 5:42 PM on August 8, 2004

One important thing bear in mind when considering electronic voting machines is that their advantages go beyond speeding up the vote counting process. I've always assumed that the strongest argument in favor of these machines is that they present a less confusing interface to the voter. The voter touches the name of the person they're voting for, for example. That way people are actually casting votes for the person they want to vote for and not for another person who was conveniently located... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 8:08 AM on July 28, 2004

troutfishing: I don't dispute your take on this. There certainly is a wide-open field for vote manipulation. My point was simply that faster vote tallying was not the driving force behind switching to things like touchscreen voting systems.
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 9:49 AM on July 28, 2004

To build on tankboy's comment, the 'Get Movable Type' page has actually had two changes. Sometime yesterday afternoon they moved the free version of movable type up to the top of the sidebar and then today they moved the personal edition licenses above the commercial licenses. Probably trying to combat the argument that that page reminded people of Real.
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 9:02 AM on May 14, 2004

The thing that I find most odd is that they chose to boot him before they had a permanent replacement lined up. One of the things I don't like about ATC is that they have so many different hosts that it almost seems ridiculous -- one of the nice things about Morning Edition has been hearing the same voice every day. Now I'm afraid Morning Edition is going to follow ATC down the revolve-a-host path.
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 8:26 PM on March 23, 2004

when did it become legal to use government money (i.e. *my taxes*) to push partisan issues, as well as try to influence election politics

That's how the game is played. Your taxes have always been used to push partisan issues. Politicians draw salaries, after all, and their job description is to, for the most part, push partisan issues. You're objecting to the mode of this particular effort, but my understanding is that it is not unique. Anyway,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 2:07 PM on March 18, 2004

most priests and all of the Church leaders who admittedly moved pedophiles from parish to parish to protect them will be NOT be facing criminal charges. Is this justice?

Well, its not really just, but it is the law. The issue, as I remember it from a few months ago when this was discussed in the news, is that it isn't illegal in MA not to report child abuse. So criminal charges aren't really appropriate for the church leaders who covered things up.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by HiddenInput at 8:03 AM on September 10, 2003