MeFi post: John McCain, Prisoner of War

Well if there's one thing we learned in 2004, it's that being a war hero is no qualification to be president.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 11:21 AM on July 5, 2008

MarshallPoe writes "People are really mean."

Yeah, how dare you point out McCain's compromised ethics? Jerks.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 1:21 PM on July 5, 2008

MeFi post: WhoTubes?

Can I also just point out that copyright infringement isn't theft?
*ducks*

Really though, equating copyright infringement with theft betrays a lack of understanding of the purpose of copyrights, and how they've been perverted in the last century. It's a breathtaking oversimplification, and by the same argument one can reasonably claim that extended-to-infinity copyright terms are an even bigger theft from the public knowledge base.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 1:48 AM on July 4, 2008

I don't know if you were aware of this dnab, but metafilter doesn't have a whole lot of respect for dogmatic assertions. It's abundantly clear at this point that you see things the way that you see them, you won't be convinced by anything that anyone here says, you've made up your mind. Many people here see things differently and think you've gone a little crazy, and so they're calling it. If you're surprised by this then I'm not sure what to tell you. If disagreement is something you take... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 12:30 PM on July 4, 2008

btw I'm not suggesting you go elsewhere, I hope you'll get a sense of humor and stick around.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 12:33 PM on July 4, 2008

dnab, you're taking a stand against public libraries while at the same time you're accusing others of trolling. Think about that.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 1:04 PM on July 4, 2008

dirtynumbangelboy writes "mullingitover, I'm not taking a stand against public libraries; I am taking a stand for creative control. Think about that."

You already acknowledge upthread that things are inequitable and people should 'get the laws changed.' This is another welfare benefit for media cartels. It would gut libraries.

Also, as someone else mentions, copyright... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 1:25 PM on July 4, 2008

In a nutshell, dnab, many of us your position is dubious at best. Heck, don't take my word for it, Google it. Your best bet here is to agree to disagree, crack a joke, and go outside and play in the sun. Throwing around 'omg you troll' isn't helping. You're going to have more luck convincing mefi that Barack Obama is really, omgiswear, a muslim.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 1:37 PM on July 4, 2008

dirtynumbangelboy writes "optavox is trolling."

If we took a "Who's the troll?" poll for this thread I'm pretty sure optavox would not be the winnah.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 2:08 PM on July 4, 2008

MeFi post: Boing Boing Finds 21st Century Trotsky?

Boing Boing is a great place to visit if you want to see what was popular on the internet a few days ago.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 12:45 PM on June 30, 2008

Well damn, even VB doesn't know wtf is up.

"I’ve been racking my brain thinking of what issues I might’ve come down on the wrong side of," Blue told me on the phone. "There’s been no argument, there's been no disagreement, no flame war, none of the usual things."

I think she rejected Cory's advances one too many times.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 5:35 PM on June 30, 2008

This whole fiasco is on par with Ted Haggard. Boingboing is the self-appointed church of free expression first and foremost, for them to nuke an author from their site and censor comments about it is the pinnacle of hypocrisy. The further censoring of comments about the VB-ectomy tells us that they've been full of it about free speech all along. They're going to have to drop censorship from their subject matter from here on out or they're just going to get clowned relentlessly. I personally had... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 7:16 PM on June 30, 2008

jscalzi writes "Does Boing Boing owe an explanation? No."

This is a great point, actually. I mean, maybe they don't really want credibility. Ever think about that, haters? Maybe you're just playing into their hands by thinking less of them.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 7:40 PM on June 30, 2008

Oh man, the making light thread has some humor:

C. Doctorow (finally weighing in! omg what will he tell us?!!?!1):
David Bilek@51: "Xopher: okay, how about when BB criticized Digg for pulling down the AACS key in response to DMCA notices? Digg was "disappearing" any post referencing the AACS key in much the same way that BB has "disappeared" any posts referencing V.B."

BB never ever criticized Digg for... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 10:00 PM on June 30, 2008

graventy writes "They'll have to turn off comments again if the ruckus continues."

They'll have to. You can't even post a good "Roses are red, violets are blue" limerick there right now without getting censored.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 11:05 PM on June 30, 2008

maxwelton writes "The oddest part of this so far is Cory's comment on makinglight."

Someone later in the thread says that the Cory and Xeni comments are fakers, to take that with a grain of salt. However, it's not any less odd that they're completely AWOL. I wonder if the whole BB crew has posts in the can, and nobody noticed this minor shitstorm because they're all getting drunk at the beach while the site runs on autopilot.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 1:43 AM on July 1, 2008

pharm writes "It's the total silence and elimination of any posts even mentioning the issue on the site that's downright odd."

Indeed, my comment on the moderation thread asking for a FAQ about this matter was quietly tossed in the trash without being posted. Classy. It's not just that they're not saying what's up, they appear to be aware and actively squashing discussion about it.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 3:32 AM on July 1, 2008

I must say, my smug echo chamber of outrage is quite nice. I plan to spruce it up, perhaps putting in a keg-erator and some leopard print carpet.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 5:20 AM on July 1, 2008

The most hilariously clownish thing about all this is that while BB peeps were furiously deleting any mention of Violet Blue from their comments yesterday, they got scooped by the goddamned LA Times. That's just sad.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 1:28 PM on July 1, 2008

Come, child. Warm your hands next to the massive piles of burning whuffie.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 2:45 PM on July 1, 2008

Roses are red,
[redacted] are [redacted]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 3:46 PM on July 1, 2008

liza writes "Am just going to say WTF, let's make it 1000 comments. "

Well now that Boing Boing is dropping teasers, this turdstorm isn't going away until the whole mess is public. We now know that VB did something that was OMGSOTERRIBLE that they had to cleanse the site of the mere mention of her name. What the hell did she do? That speculation alone will get us to 1000, and that's assuming that TNH stops throwing... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 6:17 PM on July 1, 2008

Oh and in the stark contrast of moderation here vs at Boing Boing, can I just say cortex, jessamyn, we love you.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 6:19 PM on July 1, 2008

Pyry writes "Do you realize that this thread is literally the length of a book? At ~100,000 words, it would fill about 250 pages."

We're writing the 21st Century Great American Novel here. Romance, betrayal, revenge, code, copyright, CMS, wayback machines, flames, ripostes, limericks, wisecracks, non sequitur, epic fail, moderator meltdown. At the rate things are going, I'm waiting for Hans Reiser to implicate Blue and Jardin in his wife's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 4:19 PM on July 2, 2008

Mad props to cortex and languagehat for holding down the Making Light thread. However, I'm going to have to ask you, for the love the FSM, to stop being such good diplomats because I don't want that crowd to come here and ruin the place. Making Light explains a lot about Boing Boing's absurd comment moderation heavy-handedness; the echo chamber there seems very pretentious about what speech is allowable, and when you combine that philosophy with the task of moderating a high-traffic, mob rule... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 3:59 AM on July 3, 2008

MeFi post: Melt it down and make it into a coat hanger.

Each time I eat an omlette, I think of the three chickens which were killed to make it.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 4:44 PM on July 2, 2008

konolia writes "Some of those abortions were of female children."

Ok, now I'm confused. I thought only fetuses were aborted. If someone is putting children into wombs, then killing them, whoa. That's wrong.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 5:57 PM on July 2, 2008

MeFi post: Secret moves against Iran

Invading Iraq:Throwing rock at hornets nets::Invading Iran:Throwing rock at car full of Crips

Seriously, this is the US pretending that it has the money and ability to pull it off. I really doubt China is going to bankroll another US land grab when it's a country that is selling China lots of oil.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 12:24 AM on June 30, 2008

loquax writes "Says who? You? You're telling me that the Saudis would have a problem with it? You think Pakistan wants a nuclear Iran? Egypt? You think a nuclear Iran is 'helpful' in 'an already unstable region', or would somehow lower the price of oil?"

Sure, it would be helpful if everyone were using nuclear power because it would lower demand for petroleum-based power. Oh did you mean nuclear weapons? Is there any evidence of that other... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 9:58 AM on June 30, 2008

loquax writes "Iran has no friends of consequence in the international community or in the Muslim world, it depends on being able to export oil and gas, its government arguably has a tenuous grasp on power, escalation into a war with the US would almost certainly be to the severe disadvantage of Iran's rulers."

China = no consequence. Okay...

War with the US would ensure that no government reforms would happen... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 1:02 PM on June 30, 2008

loquax writes "So what would China do if the US took out Natanz?"

We seem to be begging the question that an air strike can "take out" Natanz. Do you think Iran would be surprised by an attack on their facilities? Do you not think they might've accounted for this possibility? It's entirely likely that they're so far underground that nothing short of a tactical nuke would have a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 1:51 PM on June 30, 2008

loquax writes "Iran is a totalitarian state with no accountability to its people and does not represent them."

Hmm...they have:
An elected legislature
An elected president
An elected body which chooses the Supreme Leader.

I guess I missed the part where they throw out everyone's votes and the dictator appoints his cronies. Can you point that part out?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 2:08 PM on June 30, 2008

loquax writes "See what I mean? Wilfull ignorance and leaps of logic. Read some wikipedia links about Iranian politics. "

Well I was expecting a link or something, not to get a whole term paper thrown at me. It's going to take me all day to sift though all this material, but I'll say this: you've certainly convinced me that your position is rock solid. I read all about how their government is elected, at the local and national level, and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 2:45 PM on June 30, 2008

ZachsMind writes "Something tells me the only reason why they let us have all this money, is cuz they don't have a problem with what wev'e been doing to Iraq, and what we're about to do to Iran. "

That, or maybe they're able to think longer-term than the current crop of politicians in the US. Bush et al currently seem quite willing to hang themselves (and of course by proxy, all of us) if given enough rope. Don't interrupt your opponent... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 6:27 PM on June 30, 2008

MeFi post: Obama supports Blue Dog

Dr. Grue writes "Now whether he deserves it or not is another question. But the question isn't Barrow or a better Democrat, it's Barrow or a Republican."

Doesn't seem to be a lot of difference.

Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Nov 2007) [Phew, we can still fire them for being gay]
Voted YES on Constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman. [Because... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 9:28 AM on June 20, 2008

limited slip writes "The party as a whole could learn some humility from these centrists, hopefully Obama will chose Webb for VP and start to turn the south democrat again."

I didn't realize discrimination, the highest rates of incarceration and the highest prison population in the world, militancy, nationalism, antagonizing the international community, and police-state domestic surveillance tactics were centrist.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 10:05 AM on June 20, 2008

limited slip writes "While I do appreciate your laundry list of complaints and share the same concerns, building our liberal dreamland won't happen over night. It will take time and, OMG!, compromise.

"BTW, Nationalism ain't a bad word, jingoism is what you meant to say."

What's a 'liberal dreamland' anyway? You mean a land with unimaginable luxuries like liberty for all, sensible macro-scale health care spending... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 11:12 AM on June 20, 2008

limited slip writes "You responded with an angry list of Bushs' wrongs."

No, that list is property of the republican party, not the president exclusively. Bush is the hood ornament, both in intelligence and significance to the party. He would be powerless without the support of the party.

I don't think you're trolling, just inadvertently insulting people who have different ideas about the difference between... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 11:50 AM on June 20, 2008

limited slip writes "but are we allowed to express pride in our great, yet flawed, country?"
You can feel and express pride in any manner of things, personally I feel pride for the Celtics crushing victory over the Lakers but that doesn't mean that I'm entitled to it. For practically all flag-wavers, the pride in country is really vacuous and indistinguishable from fandom.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 12:07 PM on June 20, 2008

MetaMan writes "He's a master dissembler, and so lacking a strong moral center that he could be the worst thing that happens to a nation that *needs* someone with a strong, measured moral code."

Like McCain. At least McCain doesn't plaster his makeup on like a trollup.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 12:26 PM on June 28, 2008

MetaMan writes "A day earlier he criticized the high court for striking down the death penalty for child rapists, putting himself squarely in the camp of those who support the rights of individual states over the federal government — a stance more often touted by Republicans."

Yes, touted when it helps them in their core mission of helping their base persecute minorities, homosexuals, and libruls. When it runs afoul of that mission, they... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 12:43 PM on June 28, 2008

MeFi post: Dreamland

We used to catch smelt when I was a kid. I had no idea that there were aluminum smelt, or that they were a problem for Iceland. Hopefully they'll be able to get the regular smelt back, because they were pretty tasty.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 1:34 PM on June 27, 2008

MeFi post: Tar-ism

Thanks for fighting zero-emission nuclear power, greenpeace! These coal power plants are awesome.

Sincerely,
The environment
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 5:26 PM on June 26, 2008

MeFi post: What should I do with my life?

I make video games for a living. Sadly, I can't do what I love because Burning Man is only one week a year, and they don't even have a Lap Dance Critic position with a six-figure salary.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 2:22 PM on June 26, 2008

MeFi post: Fire-Wielding Beavers and Man-Bats, Oh My!

I was glad to see Ali G clear up the controversy about the Moon in his interview with Buzz Aldrin.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 12:26 AM on June 25, 2008

MeFi post: Barry and Stuart

Am I the only one who was expecting to see that someone had coded their suicide note in C#?
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 8:22 PM on June 24, 2008

MeFi post: "I don't value music made from sampling."

This is one of the best mashup albums I've heard yet. I don't know how it's going to work though, getting paid when other albums are sampled so heavily. I highly doubt all those samples are licensed...
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 2:47 PM on June 20, 2008

MeFi post: That's funny, he never has a second cup at home!

Norm Coleman shouldn't lose over a campaign commercial.

Coleman should lose for his vote to interfere in the Terry Schiavo case, his opposition to stem cell research (yeah, screw those alzheimer's sufferers, like my grandmother, we've got to save the non-existent babies), his history of gay-baiting, and his hypocrisy on marijuana legalization.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 12:29 PM on June 20, 2008

Pollomacho writes "I fail to see the hypocrisy in changing your mind. If he were an avid pothead now and advocating for draconian policies, yes, but not youthful indulgence vs. old age crustiness is not hypocrisy."

I think you're confusing old age crustiness with pandering. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if ol' Norm still lit up.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 2:16 PM on June 20, 2008

MeFi post: Telecom Amnesty Bill Tomorrow

Obama just won Atrios' Wanker of the Day award. He's supporting the bill and says he'll work to yank out the immunity clauses in the Senate, but still, yuck.
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover at 1:08 PM on June 20, 2008

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