A few years ago, I adopted a kitten that turned out to have this same problem. Unfortunately, we had two other cats, and the humane society couldn't take it back, other than for euthanasia, for obvious reasons. We ended up putting her down. I wish we had tried to find a home that would take her in.

If you can keep the cat, and doing so will not endanger other animals, I would hope that you hold on to him. The fact is, his life is going to be shorter than it should. But... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 6:30 PM on November 7, 2008

Stop me when you get offended.

OBAMA: UNCLE SAM OR UNCLE TOM?

Well, we know there's nothing wrong with calling Barack Obama an "Uncle Tom," and only Fox News would even care. So let's move on.

OBAMA: WHITE HOUSE OR BLACK HOUSE?
OBAMA: TERRORIST OR PATRIOT?
OBAMA: HOUSE NIGGER OR SAND NIGGER?

Whether Nader was right or wrong, who knows. Your point kind of gets lost... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 8:19 PM on November 5, 2008

445supermag: I'm not being a mindless cheerleader for any black person at all being in the White House. You have to be incredibly thick to not realize how Nader's point, regardless of validity, was bound to lose impact when he decided to bring in loaded racial terms.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 9:20 PM on November 5, 2008

sluglicker: Regardless of Stowe's intentions in 1852, it's an offensive term today.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 11:46 PM on November 5, 2008

Oh, christ. He said "no worse than what was posted," not "the same as what was posted." Pull your head out of your ass.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 3:50 PM on November 3, 2008

Not from Coleman. Not send to kids. Not a "rape comic book." Not a "children's book."
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 2:34 PM on October 25, 2008

graventy: Nothing in the mailing suggests implicitly, much less explicitly, the all-caps claims made in your post. The fact that you made those inferences is quite telling, but they are yours alone, not those of the NRSC.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 12:20 AM on October 26, 2008

AMERICAblog is what the DNC/Obama research departments would be if they had no shame and no standards.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 12:21 AM on October 26, 2008

It must be fun going to the bookstore and refusing to browse outside of the children's section.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 8:49 AM on October 21, 2008

My first reaction to this post was to call you a pathetic homophobe with views on molestation with a questionable basis in fact. But then... it's your kid, and you're looking out for him. I think fullerine's advice is good, if you choose to do anything other than hire the kid.

I think your fear is irrational. Out of the general population, almost nobody is a child molester. Based on that indisputable fact alone, your fear is irrational. But then let's add this: your son... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 2:47 AM on August 15, 2008

Area homosexual saves four from fire
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 5:08 PM on June 30, 2008

"The closing track 'Re: Stacks' is the last dot of light before everything goes black, and when it quietly comes to a close, it's like death."

Now that's a review.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 1:08 PM on June 21, 2008

Did anyone else notice the disturbing racial undertones in Clinton's speech? Claiming she was fighting pundits who were proclaiming that her (white) race was over: "Even when the pundits and the naysayers proclaimed week after week that this race was over, you kept on voting." Yeah, you're a martyr for the white race. Nice one, Hillary.

Just as bad was McCain's promise to "run this race" like some sort of racial overlord: "But I’m ready for the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 9:59 PM on June 3, 2008

Item: The rules stated that Florida and Michigan were not allowed to hold their primaries when they did. The rules stated that states could be penalized for breaking the rules. This makes sense: rules are pointless if there's no penalty for breaking them.

Item: Harold Ickes, a Clinton staffer, voted last year to strip Michigan and Florida of delegates as a penalty for breaking party rules regarding the timing of primaries.

Item: At the recent... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 2:12 AM on June 4, 2008

paulsc: "Considering that Florida's Republican controlled legislature actually set the date for the Democratic primary, more than 7 months in advance, one would think practical considerations might have come to bear much earlier, and in a less messy way than they have."

Unfortunately for your point, Democrats in the legislature voted for that date. And by "Democrats," I don't mean one or two. I mean all but one or two. Better yet,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 3:42 AM on June 4, 2008

Which policies did they find that condone racism?
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 5:55 PM on April 23, 2008

Surely you have more than twelve individual transactions per month. Just use your check card more than you do now. Coffee? Check card. Gas? Check card. Dinner? Check card. Since you're not already using your check card twelve times a month, it might seem weird or uncomfortable, but every time you're making a smaller purchase, or a larger one you can afford with your account balance, resist using cash or a credit card and pull out the check card.
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 11:58 PM on March 25, 2008

If only more people had Googled Ron Paul, we could've pulled ourselves out of this mess.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 9:22 PM on March 16, 2008

If you don't like the look, try shrinking the Aero window borders and changing the border color (right click on desktop > personalize > window color and appearance). I use graphite borders and my border padding is 2; it looks much better than the default theme. If you really don't like the new look, go to the Personalize dialog, click "Theme," and choose "Windows Classic."

In Explorer windows, I believe the default is to have the entire left... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 9:42 AM on March 14, 2008

Okay, so bets on the NY Post's headline for tomorrow morning?

If he resigns? SPITZ SPLITS, perhaps.

More on this important issue.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 4:30 PM on March 10, 2008

Pretty sure this qualifies as mentioning it: "This will generate a reasonably random 16 character password. Do it for each site and copy it into KeePass."
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 11:14 PM on March 9, 2008

They get away with it because it is, in fact, water. Go on, read the ingredients list. What's at the top of the list? Water.

The product's name is an entirely accurate description. It's water with added vitamins. Vitamin water.
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 10:20 AM on March 9, 2008

Came here to say what Good Brain just did. With her "couldn't resist" remark, she gave you the perfect line to defuse the situation if things don't go as hoped. You have nothing at all to lose by going for it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 8:40 AM on February 27, 2008

What political office is your friend seeking? What's your budget? Depending on the situation, you might want to consider an all-in-one solution, like this. It would certainly be the easiest way to take care of things, if it fits into your budget. I have no experience with this sort of thing, but the idea of a CMS built from the ground up for political websites popped into my mind since half the politicians in Minnesota seem to use the system I linked to.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 7:51 PM on February 24, 2008

This site, which I found by checking on how some local candidates were taking contributions online, offers an option to have them host and manage your donation page without using them for your entire site.
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 8:02 PM on February 24, 2008

This is the key passage from a NY Times story on the controversy:
In a telephone interview on Sunday, Mr. Patrick said that he and Mr. Obama first talked about the attacks from their respective rivals last summer, when Mrs. Clinton was raising questions about Mr. Obama’s experience, and that they discussed them again last week.

Both men had anticipated that Mr. Obama’s rhetorical strength would provide a point of criticism. Mr. Patrick said he told Mr. Obama... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 12:20 PM on February 18, 2008

dsword: The problem with your comparison is that political campaign speechmaking is not the same as academic paper writing. From all accounts, Deval Patrick was acting as something just short of a campaign speechwriter; he provided Obama's writing team with examples of language he had used, Obama has Patrick's permission to use his language, and Patrick has stated that he wanted Obama to use his language.

Most of the things you'll hear a politician say on the stump... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 3:39 PM on February 18, 2008

dsword: I just don't see why using Deval Patrick's language and using the language of an uncredited speechwriter receive such different levels of outrage. Many of the most famous moments in political speechmaking were produced by professional speechwriters, yet the transcript will never show the true author, nor will anyone have any problem citing the candidate him or herself as the source of the quotation.

It seems like the problem people have is that in this case,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 4:15 PM on February 18, 2008

Who called Hillary a bitch for running a negative campaign?
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 4:33 PM on February 18, 2008

Don't follow matteo's advice. Just because you lie about your identity doesn't mean you're not making a contribution in excess of legal limits.
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 10:20 AM on February 6, 2008

This is done to help verify that the card is not stolen. It's not just gas stations; for example, I've seen this done at automated movie rental kiosks, NYC's MetroCard kiosks, and even at some retailers during face-to-face transactions.

Here's a Boston Globe article discussing this, with specific references to ZIP code verification at gas stations:

It's an effort to fight credit card fraud at gas stations and retail stores. A thief... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 2:02 PM on February 5, 2008

Does that mean it's wrong to take a flight or drive a car?
No. It means it's wrong to take a flight or drive a car without considering the impact of that flight or drive on the environment.

Are there any reasonable excuses?
Yes. If you need to get somewhere, but there are no reasonable alternatives, better to take the flight instead of missing your father's funeral or getting fired for missing an important... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 7:23 AM on January 28, 2008

Like dzot and griffey, I only use the Zune software to transfer music and podcasts. My desktop media player is WinAmp. It's no trouble at all to keep two libraries, especially since WinAmp and the Zune software both automatically find new tracks I've added to my music folder.

This wasn't an issue at all for me, since I've kept my desktop player and my device separate for all of my portable players (Creative Zen Xtra, Rio Karma, Zune 80). I wouldn't let this come between... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 3:37 PM on January 11, 2008 marked best answer

The order form on that ipod-itunes-download.com site is processed through the ClickBank system. You may want to try requesting a refund through this form: http://www.clickbank.com/csinquiry.html
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 12:54 AM on January 3, 2008

Another possibility: Just about every possible variation on itunes.com -- transposed letters, double letters, missing letters, QWERTY errors -- is registered to someone. Many possible itunes.com typos I tried led me to sites similar to the one rubberkey's mother apparently ended up at.
posted to Ask Metafilter by punishinglemur at 2:51 AM on January 3, 2008

These are absolutely terrible; unsurprisingly, they also have over 12 million views on YouTube and are now on the front page of Digg.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 4:57 AM on December 29, 2007

It seems a little crass to bash Bush over a photo taken of him shedding a tear at a ceremony honoring a soldier "killed when he jumped on a grenade to save fellow members of his Marine patrol."
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 7:06 PM on December 18, 2007

Apparently people were in the mood for flaccid, unadventurous albums from bands who've been around for at least half a decade.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 3:42 PM on December 18, 2007

Holy shit, these people appear to be enjoying themselves! Let's rise up, internets, and bitch about it!

Yeah, well, I was watching American History X last night and it seemed like the guy who raped Derek in prison was enjoying himself. But I'm not going to congratulate him for it.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 2:34 PM on December 18, 2007

A glaring omission from these lists: "Fruit Juice," exposing the orange juice industry's hidden gay agenda.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 2:49 PM on December 12, 2007

EMRJKC94: You're concerned about the wrong laws. This bill does not criminalize looking at such images, or any images for that matter. It requires an operator of "an electronic communication service or a remote computing service" to report to the CyberTipLine any person who is viewing images that appear to violate other laws already in effect.

fleetmouse: The bill requires an operator of "an electronic communication service or a remote computing... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 7:14 PM on December 6, 2007

Also, EMRJKC94: your neighbor would only have to snitch if s/he was both operating "an electronic communication service or a remote computing service" and obtained "actual knowledge" that you were accessing content which violates laws intended to ban child pornography. If that's your neighbor, it means you are using an internet connection provided by her to view images of child rape. God forbid she tell someone to check into it.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 7:19 PM on December 6, 2007

She doesn't, because she's drinking a Frappuccino, not operating the store's WiFi connection.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 7:23 PM on December 6, 2007

I never said I agreed with our current federal child pornography laws.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 7:33 PM on December 6, 2007

The problem, then, is not this particular law, but politically-driven prosecutions and a sensationalist media.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 7:49 PM on December 6, 2007

That was a response to fleetmouse's most recent comments.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 7:50 PM on December 6, 2007

Tacos: Wrong, wrong, wrong! It would not effectively make it illegal to provide free/cheap WiFi. Providers are not required to actively monitor their users. In fact, the bill specifically states this:

(f) Protection of Privacy- Nothing in this section shall be construed to require an electronic communication service provider or a remote computing service provider to--

(1) monitor any user, subscriber, or... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 7:56 PM on December 6, 2007

My tone in the above post is directed more at the Digg-style FUD surrounding this bill than you in particular, Tacos.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 7:58 PM on December 6, 2007

Read the section of the bill I posted that explicitly states that nothing else in that section of the bill, which includes the "extent available" text, requires providers to monitor the content or communication of any user, subscriber, or customer.
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 9:56 PM on December 6, 2007

That should read, "content of any communication"
posted to MetaFilter by punishinglemur at 9:59 PM on December 6, 2007