MeTa post: First Boston meet-up of the school year!

It's a good idea. I might or might not have a road trip this weekend. If the trip falls through, I'd really be up for the meetup part, and the Sedaris part if there were still tickets.
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 8:27 PM on October 6, 2008

MeFi post: Sarah Palin may be a better debater than you think

Her words make so much more sense when they are read as poetry!

Just like Rumsfeld!

Count me among those who think that Palin will receive a bit of a bump in polls no matter how poorly she does. The reason is not that she's a good or bad debater, or that she knows or doesn't know things, or that she has the base on her side or doesn't. The reason is that millions of Americans who haven't been following every twitch in the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:24 PM on October 1, 2008

On the other hand, if she comes to Minneapolis, I'd go. I'd like to see her say that crazy bullshit in person.

This definitely accounts for some non-zero percentage of her turnout, because I would do the same if she were speaking near me, and I can't imagine I'm alone in wanting to witness the spectacle and gather firsthand impressions.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:52 PM on October 1, 2008

The Republicans won this when they were able to dictate the terms of the debate. 90 seconds of foggy word salad and buzzwords, with no real opportunity for rebuttal.

Absolutely. Because what's happened, and quite transparently, is that she's memorized a short speech related to each of the likely questions and repeated it smoothly. Palin has not once had to think or explore the depth of any question. She's been armed with strategies for switching the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:09 PM on October 2, 2008

Biden almost cried.

That was awesome. It was genuine (which Palin wasn't), it was moving, and it was one of the few things she really couldn't have gotten away with herself.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:38 PM on October 2, 2008

Linda Wertheimer on NPR just talked about how Biden sometimes looked "bemused" at Palin, "as if appreciating a worthy competitor."

I thought the look contained more of the sentiment from the the classic Samuel Johnson story: surprised - not that it was done well, but that it was done at all.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:44 PM on October 2, 2008

she's really in too deep of a hole for this rather lukewarm DebateLite to make many people decide she's not a blithering idiot after all.

But maybe it'll instill a lot of false confidence in the McCain campaign, and they'll lengthen her leash over the next week so we can have more hilarious hijinks!

But I don't think so. I think they'll keep her scripted and away from the media until Election Day.

I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:59 PM on October 2, 2008

As somebody who listened to the debate on the radio, I would say that Palin did a pretty poor high school debate level job, let alone the vice presidential level she was actually (laughably, unbelievably) at.

It's true that she really needs that camera. I was making exactly the same comment to someone just as I read your post - we listened to the debate partly on the radio, and watched the other part of it streaming online. She... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 8:06 PM on October 2, 2008

She will do very poorly with those undecideds huddled around the victrola, mailing in their absentee ballots written with charcoal on parchment.

Come on, now - we all know the Victrola vote was always in the bag for McCain anyway. I think that's what's behind his energy initiative - more power to fuel our Victrolas, streetcars, and Frigidaires!

But the radio? Well, it's a great medium for catching people who had to cancel... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 8:16 PM on October 2, 2008

Hey, so right about John Winthrop! And the best bit? He was talking about a place on the East Coast:
the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us....hee shall make us a prayse and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantacions: the lord make it like that of New England: for wee must Consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon a Hill, the eies of all people are uppon us...
GO SOX!

I found I could barely even keep my mind on... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 8:42 PM on October 2, 2008

This is the easiest job ever. All I have to do is keep you all concentrating your energies in this little blue hole for a few more weeks. hehehehehe

I love these little attacks, because they tell you something about the attacker: that perhaps posting shit on the internet is about all they can manage in a day. Fortunately that's not true of the rest of us, who seem to manage to fulfill multiple roles and advance toward more than one goal at a time.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 8:49 PM on October 2, 2008

It would be fun to go through the debate text and do word frequency analysis on each candidate. I think there were at least 7 "mavericks" from Palin, and a whole bunch of "God" and "God bless" - a few more from Palin, but definitely from both.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 8:58 PM on October 2, 2008

Good job. You found the one

Ah, you think you were the only one to ever make such an attempt at attack. I get it now. As it happens, someone else tried it a few days ago right here on MetaFilter, and I had essentially the same response. A few months before that someone else tried it, and a little while before that someone else tried it. In fact, I think it's an unbroken tradition going back to alt.lameattacks.net in the early 90s. Which is why I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 9:13 PM on October 2, 2008

many people (knowingly or not) really want: a citizen-politican.

I agree with you with one emendation: many people (knowingly or not) think they want a citizen-politician. But that's only because they don't know anything about government, and they think it looks pretty damn easy to sit back in Washington, eat steak dinners, and cash lobbying checks. But that's not what it's all about.

How ridiculous it would be for people to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 9:30 PM on October 2, 2008

But any fair MeFite would have to agree that there are more members here than not who believe that Palin appeals primarily to uneducated, hick, redneck Americans in flyover country who do nothing but drink beer, watch NASCAR, and think Britney Spears is a role model.

I think I'm pretty fair, and I don't agree. Some people may believe that, but I'd wager that a lot of people here believe what I believe, based on direct observation: Palin appears... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 2:04 PM on October 3, 2008

Oh, here's Palin's excuse, from today, about why the Couric interviews were so awful:

"The Sarah Palin in those interviews was a little bit annoyed because no matter what you say you're gonna get clobbered," she said.

Asked by Couric to name the periodicals she reads, Palin repeatedly declined. She also would not name any Supreme Court decisions she disagreed with, other than the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 2:11 PM on October 3, 2008

'I want to get back to Michigan, and I want to try,' Palin said in an interview on Fox News. 'Todd and I, we'd be happy to get to Michigan. We'd be so happy to speak to the people there in Michigan who are hurting.

The campaign can NOT be happy with this sort of messaging. Can you imagine being McCain and being graced with this news of public second-guessing from your running mate - who's already been a liability - containing as it does the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 2:33 PM on October 3, 2008

he won because he was perceived as being more truthful. And in fact, he was.

Excellent points, wow. And I'd add that not only have Biden's texts become more deeply internalized and more readily available over the years, it's not only because of that accumulated repetition that he's able to appear more truthful. It's also because in some real sense, his texts and his own identity are in tighter alignment than Palin's texts are... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 5:08 PM on October 3, 2008

Interesting, Nickyskye, and I agree with your take.

I've been noticing another verbal tic she has - it's far less telling than "tapped" but still catches my ear whenever I hear it, which is basically every time she speaks. It's her habit of using "that" as the article before a noun phrase where most people would use "the" or "a" or "an" or even an implied article. I'm sure it's a regionalism, but it has an odd effect:... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:23 PM on October 3, 2008

Is Sarah Palin the first time we've seen *directly* sexual marketing employed in a presidential campaign? I mean, the winking, the vamping, the flirtiness

**cough** Bill Clinton

I have not seen this directly proposed anywhere yet, but it seems an obvious question: did they pick a beauty queen on purpose, one who not only had the 'looks' but the moves as well?

It certainly... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 4:15 PM on October 4, 2008

There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't help other women.

Like when women don't help other women have self-determination over what happens to their bodies?

I fully agree!
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:22 AM on October 5, 2008

I loved the Thunder Road video. But check out this one of Bruce testifying at the same rally. Now, that's inspiring.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 11:12 AM on October 5, 2008

Agreed. That is a very, very conservative paper. Surprising.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:36 PM on October 5, 2008

The campaign is set to release a 13-minute documentary

Every time I think the Obama campaign can't get any smarter, they do.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 12:11 PM on October 6, 2008

leftcoastbob: There is video (which I just saw on MSNBC) of the McCanallies at which people in the crowd scream "terrorist" at a mention of Obama, and people at the Palin rally scream "kill him!" at the mention of Ayers and Obama.

Are you guys serious? Can you link?

That is sick by any measure. Sick, and, in the case of "Kill Him," awfully reminiscent of some other rallies I've heard of. All... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:31 PM on October 6, 2008

"Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:56 PM on October 6, 2008

But "people in the crowd" means like one or two people, not a bunch of the crowd. Now, neither McCain nor Palin (or anyone in the crowd) stops and addresses these yells

You're right, and it's very fair to note that. But it suggests a contrast. Many of us have seen Obama speak. How does he handle this sort of thing? He hears it, he gets the grimace on his face, he says something like "No no no, we're not here to tear anybody down. LOOK.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 8:03 PM on October 6, 2008

...it's interesting. The GOP is playing a very dangerous game by going so harshly negative. You go fishing in that particular pond in America, and you're going to drag up some ugly, ugly shit. Be careful when you seek support among the most hate-filled, angriest sectors of the country. They will be all too eager to side with you and carry your banner.

Sure that's what you want, GOP?
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 8:09 PM on October 6, 2008

Well, I just wrote the McCain campaign in my state mentioning both these incidents with supporters as disturbing and asking them to ask Palin and McCain to denounce threats from their supporters. Can't hurt.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 8:25 PM on October 6, 2008

MeTa post: Mefi Suggestion Box

1. Revived TravelFilter in some simpler form

2. Ability to save draft FPPs...I brought this up before and it was not embraced - people recommended using notepad instead, etc. But that doesn't meet the need I was after, because I work on 3 different computers in the course of most weekdays and don't tote all my bookmarks and documents around on each. There are several links for undeveloped FPPs on topics in my bookmarks file, and they never get posted because I'd need a... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 10:43 AM on October 5, 2008

There's no drawback, Mitheral. I love how everyone's full of solutions. Obviously, there are many ways to solve this problem; but there's a directness and elegance to only having to be on a single website, with no other applications running, to access the posts that are under construction. I get that people have developed solutions and I get that people don't want it. But it's like saying "Why not just use your own web email if you want to get email from MeFites?" "Why not just... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 7:20 PM on October 6, 2008

But then, why don't you just use it for email rather than have such a thing as MeMail?
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 7:45 PM on October 6, 2008

MeTa post: NYC, first round on me

I have met jewishbuddha and I highly recommend meeting up with him. If I were in NY I would go. Have fun.
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 7:15 PM on October 5, 2008

Ask post: Help me think of fun freeware for a gift computer

Irfanview for photo editing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Miko at 5:15 PM on October 4, 2008

MeTa post: The 2008 MetaFilter election prediction contest

t are you trying to say that your country is going to be won by Omnomnomnom?

Dammit, I tried to buy that domain a while ago for a food website. At the time it was a blank placeholder. This is what they did with it? Yeesh!-
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 8:54 PM on October 2, 2008

MeFi post: I'm writing in Stephen Colbert

I'm not "better than you" except in the sense that I believe my political opinions to be more correct. All I'm saying is that you need to leave people who don't agree with you alone, and let them live their lives without pestering them.

Sorry, that's not how it is here. No one can guarantee that you aren't going to get emails and phone calls you don't want. Not in general, and not in elections.

It's amazing how... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 6:54 PM on October 1, 2008

I mean, you support the Do Not Call Registry, right?

The Do Not Call Registry? Which began in 1991 when Senator Ernest Hollings, representing South Carolina, joined with four co-sponsors (from Texas, Hawaii, Illinois, and Arkansas) to
update the Communications Act of 1934? Sure, I support it! He was responding to consumer complaints, brought by voters, about intrusive sales callers. Their amendment, titled the Telephone Consumer... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:06 PM on October 1, 2008

In any case, though I have some quibbles with it, nasreddin's position as he's described it is really not far off from mine at all, and I think he makes a strong case. Arguably, by voting, I'm not being true to my beliefs

Sure. But as you say, the two beliefs - that the two parties aren't equivalent in the policies they'll enact, and the belief that the government is fundamentally flawed - aren't mutually exclusive. You can act on both and be true to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:13 PM on October 1, 2008

I don't think you have a point, nasreddin. You prefer a fantasy form of government which takes as its major defining characteristic that it will always be better than any real government we can talk about in concrete terms. I get it; it's like Anselm's proof for God's existence, just a lovely and just as inconclusive. I can describe a government; you can imagine a better one. Great. Upshot: you're not voting, and I think we're all okay with that.

Pardon our appearance... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:41 PM on October 1, 2008

you'll keep pushing your ideology on me,

I have not pushed any ideology on you. As I said, I see no reason to care at all whether you adopt my views or not. I'm simply pointing out that it's unreasonable to expect others to know or comply with your wishes.

They contribute to a dialogue about the ends and means of government, which is a necessary thing.

Ah, I see; that's very... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 11:00 PM on October 1, 2008

you can fuck off.

There's that "dialogue" again! Thanks anyway.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 11:09 PM on October 1, 2008

MeFi post: Because there are more important things to do on Friday night

And I can name that anxiety now, and that anxiety is named Palinism.

When anxiety about living up to expectations affects successful women, it's called Impostor Syndrome. Despite your successes, you may feel deep dopwn that you're really incompetent, a fraud. Only with Palin, it's the opposite: She's convinced deep down that she's a success, but she's really a fraud.

Honestly, I disrespect her partly because she seems to be... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 10:05 AM on September 30, 2008

I don't believe that Palin is stupid. I'm sure there are topics upon which she can wax rhapsodic. She just clearly knows as much about national and international affairs as I do about major league baseball. If I were put on the spot about sports, and I felt I had to give answers and couldn't admit my ignorance, I'd probably sound like Palin. (Martinez has to play good defense, and the infield fly rule, plus you don't want to leave a man on base ...).... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:13 PM on September 30, 2008

That Salon piece is great, shiu mai baby.

In her piece, Warner diagnoses Palin with a case of "Impostor Syndrome," positing that admirers who watched her sitting across from world leaders at the U.N. last week were recognizing that "she can't possibly do it all -- the kids, the special-needs baby, the big job, the big conversations with foreign leaders. And neither could they." Seriously? Do we have to drag out a list of women who... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 8:02 PM on September 30, 2008

Forgive me for going back to this, but I think it's important, and I have had no internet at work for a few days so it takes a while to catch up.

I don't think the latest takes on the rape-kit story are a "debunking," either. I appreciate the additional context some of the stories have provided- that a number of Alaska towns were testing out the idea of charging victims for rape kits, and that the state Assembly (and the US Senate) considered it important... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 5:26 PM on October 1, 2008

What did you do today to help the campaign?

That's a really good day. But let's not make the assumption that because someone's posting on the internet and tracking news, they aren't doing anything else. I've been volunteering 2-3 times a week with the campaign, doing canvassing, data, and persuasion calls. I still find time to read the news, read MeFi, comment, email friends, donate, etc. The activities tend to feed into one another (my phone calling... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 5:49 PM on October 1, 2008

Some of us can read polls and still work hard on the campaign--I hope all of us are.

Agreed. Gotcha, sorry for the misreading. Yes - it takes a lot of combined work and energy to get someone elected. People are weird and opinions shift. I watch the polls too, and find them encouraging - but I don't think that means it's in the bag. The work goes on right up through Nov. 4.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 6:04 PM on October 1, 2008

MeFi post: Na Na, Hey Hey, Don't Kiss Those Nylons Goodbye Just Yet

I'll never forget learning, during a Charles Kuralt interview with some Wyoming cowboys, that cowboys riding the range often wear pantyhose because it prevents jean chafe.

Recently I head someone talking about "the pantyhose divide" - a generational divide in the workplace. It used to be that you absolutely had to wear them - it was considered proper (I can remember my mom sending me to put pantyhose on when I got dressed for a wedding or a job interview... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 6:00 PM on October 1, 2008

Ask post: I'm confused why my girlfriend has so suddenly lost all feelings for me?

But this time it's been going on for 3 days.

I can't imagine what's going on here. But 3 days is an incredibly low standard for "lost all feelings for you."

Feelings wax and wane. What's the emergency here? Is she asking you for anything, honestly seeking a solution that she will build with you, or just sharing this to make you anxious or maybe prepare you for a letdown?

You need to find... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Miko at 4:35 PM on September 30, 2008

MeTa post: Travelfilter DOA?

I really liked the fledgling version of the site, too, and agree that trip reports + crossposted questions leading to a single thread is a good compromise.

Trip reports were great because they sparked the generation of content that wouldn't exist otherwise. Like, I might know a lot of great stuff to do and see from my travels in, um, the Florida Keys. But I'm not going to do anything about that knowledge until someone posts a question to AskMe and, if I happen to see it,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Miko at 9:36 PM on September 29, 2008

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