Alright, I have an actual serious question: could a Jehovah's Witness donate their own blood for an upcoming transfusion? Is it all transfusions that disallowed, or just those using others' blood?

Wikipedia sez "no." What you're talking about is called an autologous transfusion, and it's on the forbidden list in that article.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 11:46 PM on June 23, 2008

I do get the impression that we're clustering differently than we used to — doing it primarily by politics and "lifestyle" (whatever the hell that is) rather than language and "ethnicity" (whatever the hell that is). Gay vacation hotspots and Burning Man rather than the Borscht Belt. Goth Night rather than the Polish Falcons of America. That sort of thing.

But then that's just an impression. I have no... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 12:25 PM on June 22, 2008

Does this indicate the US is broken, or working as designed? Isn't the whole intent of many states with independent law-making powers to allow people to cluster together with like-minded folks and create communities that reflect their shared values within the greater framework?

Well, the states have a lot less independent law-making power than they used to. Whether or not you like that fact, it does mean that the various states have to get along a lot... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 12:46 PM on June 22, 2008

Ask not for whom the ass farts.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 11:36 PM on June 19, 2008

I always hate it when things end. Can you get me the most penultimate thing ever?
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 1:29 PM on June 16, 2008

But for now, lets enjoy the moment

Whoa. Poignant.

Also, Uh oh my head is stuck.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 4:28 PM on June 6, 2008

Oh. I see.

Four, hell. Give me nine million and a melody will match up, and she's got her head screwed on straight. I agree they'd be tough and stringy on the religion. Depends on what she wants: gear or sheet music or a mandible, or even herpes, to a few classmates, get in a nice guy who's trying to apply to me!
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 3:46 PM on June 12, 2008

Whoa. Pretty. And not at all what I would have imagined — the egg winding up on the outside of the ovary, and just sort of floating around in her abdomen for a while before settling into the fallopian tube. I'd always pictured that shit as being, like, watertight plumbing of some sort.

Hmm. Is "You've got pretty ova" a weird thing to think about a stranger?

It would be awesome if they put the video out.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 2:19 PM on June 12, 2008

ethnomethodologist: I think you've got a point when it comes to education. But I'm curious what you think about the research situation. I was all of two years old in 1983, and so my understanding of the situation is second-hand, but the impression I get is that there simply wasn't enough funding or political support in those days for gay men's health. AFAICT, doing research on AIDS treatment back then meant supporting the lie that Your Straight White Daughter might someday be HIV-positive.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 10:25 AM on June 12, 2008

Jesus Christ, nicwolff. Back the fuck off.

Look: men can get AIDS from straight sex — it's just that it's comparatively rare. The odds of a guy getting infected through vaginal sex are, last I checked, down around one-tenth the odds of a guy getting infected through receptive anal sex.

This means that in an entirely-straight population, AIDS will spread much more slowly than in a population of men having anal sex with... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 12:35 PM on June 12, 2008

So, if male to female transmission is rare, how did Kimberly Bergalis, Alison Gertz, Amanda Blake and Mary Fisher get it? I'm not being snarky, I've always sort of wondered why this handful of females contracted AIDS even though they didn't engage in risky behavior.

I missed this one on non-preview, but it's the same deal. "Rare" doesn't mean "non-existent." Some people outside the risk groups get AIDS —... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 12:39 PM on June 12, 2008

Heh. Including the obligatory NO NO IT'S OKAY WE HAVE BLACK FRIENDS quote from a white couple.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 1:07 PM on June 11, 2008

I'd hate to be exclusively aroused by fish porn, but what's wrong with finding one more thing that you get off on? It's like having a new favorite band, only with orgasms.

Sadly, these fish do nothing for me either.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 1:09 PM on June 10, 2008

I'm curious about this business about eating horse.

I'm also a little appalled that I read closely enough, for enough pages, to discover that this dude's eaten horse.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 6:04 PM on June 8, 2008

I don't think this is a racial issue

I agree, but I'd go farther and say that even superstition isn't the real issue here. This reason vs. belief, "civilized" vs. "savage" business is a red herring.

The problem is human cruelty, pure and simple. Anyone, whatever their beliefs and wherever they're from, gets to choose between cruelty and kindness. This is a story about the victims of some people who chose wrong.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 1:58 PM on June 8, 2008

Interesting, too, to follow a single state as you tweak one of the variables. A lot of the time you'll be able to find one or two states that buck a larger trend, which is a nice reminder that voting blocs aren't as monolithic as they look.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 9:21 AM on June 8, 2008

♪♫ Oh, the thigh bone's connected to the.... neck bone. ♫♪
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 8:50 AM on June 5, 2008

I think you've got yerself a false dichotomy there, Faze. If white kids were blacking up to portray shallow, materialistic, sex-crazed killers, it would be just as shameful.

In fact, from time to time, white kids do pull a stunt like that, and the public reaction is generally one of anger and disgust — see, f'rinstance, the spate of "Pimps and Hos" parties on college campuses a few years back, and the predictable outcry afterwards.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 4:32 PM on June 4, 2008

I'd like to spend the rest of eternity making people wonder where my other damn foot went.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 8:09 PM on June 2, 2008

Austin sends the message that you shoulda been here five years ago, back before it got totally and irrevocably lame. As far as I can tell it's been sending that message for the past forty years.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 7:06 AM on June 2, 2008

Yeah, if you're looking at the cultures of cities but ignoring class, ethnicity and religion, you're missing a lot. Same goes for ignoring subcultures — was DC punk all about how you should be more of a beltway insider? Was Lou Reed secretly telling us we should make more money?

Then again, I do recognize the feeling that a city itself is telling you something. It is easier to wish you were rich in New York.

I think... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 7:27 AM on June 2, 2008

Seattle: You should make more money. Also, you should care less about money.

Nicely put.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 10:49 AM on June 2, 2008

A Request For Cowbell is more traditional, I think.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 10:01 AM on June 2, 2008

I'm not judging here, and the "gay plague" implications are worrying, but I don't think the article is anti-homosexual as much is it is pro-safe sex. There's a bunch of stuff in the article explaining why this issue is more important to the gay community....

True. On the other hand, here's a nice tidbit from the article:

48 per cent of gay men in Britain still use condoms all the time, which is more than can... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 7:54 AM on June 2, 2008

...is through the Guardian.

Apparently I've also been fed the unfair and inaccurately negative view that Britain only has one print publication. Dunno where that one came from.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 8:03 AM on June 2, 2008

The Wild Highways of the Elongated Pentagonal Orthobicupola.

Ha! Right up there with "The Second Dream of the High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer."
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 11:12 AM on June 1, 2008

So I collect strange titles. Good art. Good post. Thanks.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 11:13 AM on June 1, 2008

Yeah, they're having you cloned. It'll be great. Didn't you know?
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 6:43 PM on May 28, 2008

Voila — muslim hardcore.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 6:56 PM on May 27, 2008

Those Aryan Nazi anthropologist/historians were all cranks and crackpots in the same league as climate change deniers and other slimy reptilians.

Well, yes. But an Epic Quest against The Forces of Evil for a Long Lost Artefact does make for a damn good yarn.

A dashing meteorologist searching for the truth about global warming? I don't think that one's turning into a summer blockbuster any time soon. Al Gore doesn't count;... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 10:56 AM on May 27, 2008

Hmm. Those scare quotes may have been ill-advised. I meant to suggest that Hitler was no Sauron, not that he was a nice guy....
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 10:57 AM on May 27, 2008

(Note to self: use the words "wonderful" and "here" less often.)
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 10:25 AM on May 26, 2008

Nice trick. Draw me in by my morbid curiosity and then sneak in some valuable information about handling a crisis. Well done.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 8:02 PM on May 23, 2008

So I guess the left feet circle the drain in the other direction? Probably fewer beachcombers in Siberia...
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 6:27 PM on May 23, 2008

See, the first two Weezer albums were timed right for me to bond with them. Being a teenager around power pop is like being a duckling around, well, anything that moves I guess.

So for all I know, this is as good as their old stuff, and I'm just less susceptible. It's pleasantly catchy and harmless, and that sure gives it a leg up over some of the crap they've put out between then and now.

And yeah, the video's good.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 11:55 AM on May 23, 2008

Interesting. Bits of the articles remind me of the testimonials you'll hear from, say, New Yorkers who grew up in the 70s and 80s, about how hip hop saved their life, or how punk did.

I think the message really is the same. "It's okay to give a shit. It's okay to love something that takes hard work and discipline. Even if work sucks and school is a meaningless chore and your family and your neighborhood are weighing you down like a stone, there are things in the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 9:14 AM on May 23, 2008

You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. Cool, but all alike.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 4:01 PM on May 22, 2008

Funny, I'm having the same feeling about some sort of extra-feminine razor.

I guess hairy fish are less aerodynamic or something.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 10:33 AM on May 22, 2008

Do you think his eyes dry out or does he have very tiny fish goggles?

Goggles. And a zeppelin.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 1:07 PM on May 22, 2008

You know, I'm a pretty big apologist for religion, and even at times for organized religion. But in this one small way, I've got to agree with sonohito: There are people in other churches who behave worse than the Scientologists behave, and we should direct our outrage there too.

On the other hand, secret practices and (sometimes expensive) initiations aren't limited to the Scientologists. If we tolerate Freemasonry, Santeria,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 4:33 PM on May 21, 2008

nebulawindphone Individual members of a religion can be decent people. That doesn't mean religion is good, it just means that some individuals are sufficiently nice people that even religion can't corrupt them. I argue that they are good despite religion, not because of it.

You miss my point. It's not just that there are religious individuals who are good.

It's that there are individuals whose religious practice has a net... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 9:22 PM on May 21, 2008

Ha! I love the Figgs and Phantoms shoutout on the tatoo!
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 4:35 PM on May 21, 2008

(On the other hand, et-lookin' ampersands give me the heebie-jeebies. I don't care if it's the original: I'll take one of them figure-8-lookin' deals any day.)
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 4:37 PM on May 21, 2008

Happiness is not about getting what you want, it's more about accepting who you are.

YES.

But "who you are," in this situation, is ambiguous. It can mean "the body you have." It can also mean "the way you experience yourself."

Here's the thing: bodies are easy to change, and many, many people undergo bodily changes without trauma. And I'll grant you, some aspects of a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 2:12 PM on May 21, 2008

I'm not sure "Why do people want to cheat?" is the most interesting question to ask, really. It's incredibly unlikely that knowing the answer would change anything. As long as the desire's there, explaining it won't keep us from having to deal with it. And barring some pretty intense genetic engineering, psychological reprogramming or whatever — some real bad-sci-fi nonsense — the desire's still going to be there. Frankly, I don't think anyone would like it if it went... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 10:27 AM on May 20, 2008

My suspicion is that people claiming to look for the "cause" of cheating are really looking for something else, though: an easy way to stop cheating, or stop other people from cheating, an excuse to cheat, an excuse to be unhappy with monogamy, someone or something to blame, a get-out-of-lust-free card, a way to cope with the fact that they got cheated on.

Interestingly, all these goals are also implicit answers to the question, "What do I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 10:38 AM on May 20, 2008

But I have to admit, I don't see an easy solution. If I could work magic, I'd snap my fingers and create a world in which everyone lives in happy open marriages. But I think that's a fantasy world. I don't think it can be realized.

I think it's a fantasy world too. It's not polyamory I'm shilling for here — I'm not arguing against it either — it's knowing yourself and making conscious choices.

There are... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 10:55 AM on May 20, 2008

I recall, at those early stages of pubescent development, that none of the guys wanted to get married ever, and a portion of the girls did and wanted to have fancy weddings and all that.

Hmm. Guy here. I remember knowing at age twelve that I wanted to get married someday — not any time soon, and I was pretty unclear on what would be involved, but I wanted it just as badly as any of your female classmates wanted their big fancy wedding.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 12:03 PM on May 20, 2008

Ah, so the guys who want marriage are the emo kids. Makes sense I guess. (but then again, at the core of being emo is being insincere in every emotional expression, so I may be back at square one).

Oh for fuck's sake.

Men have feelings. Men can express their feelings sincerely. This has nothing to do with whatever bullshit fashion trend you're trying to tie it to. It has to do with the fact that we're human.
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 10:01 PM on May 20, 2008

As for your earlier question: 1981, Ann Arbor, MI. East coast Boomer parents, artsy-geeky childhood, hung out with the queer theater kids in high school, and if you tell me I no longer count because I'm "emo" or some such nonsense I'll rip your fucking testicles off, capisce?
posted to MetaFilter by nebulawindphone at 10:13 PM on May 20, 2008