Philadelphia on one side, Pittsburgh on the other, Arkansas in the middle.

As a Pittsburgher, I must say, I'm quite offended by the grave (if implied) insult to Arkansas.
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 11:49 AM on October 26, 2007

Even Dr. Martin Luther King said that the only reason whites listened to him was because of the shadow of a black man with a molotov cocktail standing behind him. Protests don't work because they're civil, or polite; they work because of fear that they might stop being civil and polite. A good protest should always hint that this is the last stop before lunacy.

Hey, Matt, why don't you and all your friends go to a protest dressed in uniform?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 5:17 PM on September 30, 2007

.

(I had the privilege of seeing him on the final tour -- just happened to be passing through Freiburg im Breisgau the same night he was. By far the best show I've ever accidentally seen.)
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 8:45 AM on September 11, 2007

Here's the thing. You can't make a "Daily Show for Conservatives" by merely reversing the polarity, because the Daily Show isn't explicitly for liberals. Sure, its audience is mostly left of center, but it's hard to tell how much of that is merely a product of the fact that the show's never done its thing well, which seems to be making fun of the stupidity in power, while the power wasn't Republican.

The best argument for The Daily Show to having a true... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 5:41 PM on February 14, 2007

also what psmealey said, though I'd be a little wary (just a little) of generalizing LGF forum posts to a definition of conservative humor. But from what I remember of the jokes my father used to tell in another life when I was being raised Republican... yeah.
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 5:44 PM on February 14, 2007

Fenriq, what's cool about it is by using the Hilbert curve mapping, contiguities in address space look more "geographically" contiguous than they would using other common address space visualization techniques, like, say, giving each /4 its own row. People tend to think of maps as being made up of regions, and this is the first time we've seen wide distribution of a map of the Internet that actually is, to my knowledge. Most of the really interesting Internet maps to date are focused... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 10:45 PM on December 16, 2006

I was just there three days ago. Agreed, the above-ground parts are amazing. To this American's eyes, anyway; from a land where "train station" with very few exceptions means "bus station, but longer, in a worse neighborhood, and abandoned".

Kind of regretting not having gone down to the north-south platforms now, to see what all the fuss is about.
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 4:17 PM on December 4, 2006

Tucson's life support system is failing (there's no water here!), Phoenix is a blight on the earth, and still people come in droves.

Of course they do. It's still way better than Los Angeles.
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 5:41 AM on June 20, 2006

It's not what he doesn't say or how he doesn't say it, it's what he does say with how he doesn't. It would have been far less interesting to hear McClellan automate his way through a stock "it would not be appropriate for me to comment on such matters of national security at this time," but at least there would have been no crack in the facade... Snow basically admitted on national television through the "tar baby" metaphor that the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 7:28 AM on May 17, 2006

Africa will remain screwed, but there may be hope for Afghanistan & Indochina

It's not stated in the article, but I would assume they're doing the work on Arabidopsis thaliana because they're used to dealing with it, and that the modifications would then be "ported" over to plants that could actually survive in the target environments.

But I am not a botanical engineer, so it's only an assumption...
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 4:22 AM on May 15, 2006

but then the realities of terrorism are different today

(ob. OMG TERRAR!!1! derail)

Yes, indeed they are. But terrorists don't necessarily need to be citizens. Making the immigration process less needlessly difficult and overly long, and making sure guys with bombs don't enter the country for the one day or so they need to be here to set those bombs off, are completely orthogonal issues.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 2:43 PM on May 1, 2006

OMG TERRAR!!

Are you making fun of me?

Not at all. Your statement, yes, not you. I stand behind the assertion that our labyrinthine immigration process is absolutely unrelated to any real, actual protection from terrorism, and that attempting to inject terrorism into the immigration debate, while I assume well-intentioned, is yet more of the myopic Nine Eleven Changed Everything bullshit that's made acutal policy debate... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 3:16 PM on May 1, 2006

Forget about possible terrorists for a moment. How about kiddie porn?

Ah. Child Pornography. The Terraism of the Late 1990s, and the best way to pass authoritarian law before Nine Eleven Changed Everything. Both are excellent rhetorical devices in tearing down rational debate and justifying government by fear, because how could one be in support either? Do you hate the innocent dead? Do you hate children? Then how can you... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 9:53 AM on April 29, 2006

So what's to keep Hastert from changing the rule, then?
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 1:05 PM on April 25, 2006

Technical managers and university faculty search committees: stop hiring Arkansans starting in 2016. Domestic geographic origin is not a protected classification.
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 2:53 PM on March 23, 2006

crap. i think you just did...
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 3:02 PM on March 23, 2006

the one serious pothead I've known burned an inheritance — about $20,000 — on what (I hope) must have been very good weed over the course of a year and a half or so. He was on his way to a history degree and a career in state Democratic politics at the time.

Now he works a sales job in Texas and has tried on more than one occasion to convince me of the brilliance of Ann Coulter.

For that reason alone, I'm on the fence.
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 10:35 AM on March 17, 2006

but can you really blame this mistake on his incompetence?

If he signs a law that isn't and his Executive Branch enforces it as if it were, yes, absolutely. "Clerical Error" is the "Blame Game" of the week on this one, but though this bill isn't (directly) killing anyone or forcing them to live on their rooftops for a week, "enforcing a non-law" is a much more clear-cut case of malcompetence (thanks Astro Zombie!) than... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 12:20 PM on March 15, 2006

.

I grew up in Memphis, which was Cardinals or Royals territory in those days, depending on who you asked. But I was a Minnesota Twins fan after the first time I happened watch Kirby play on TV. He was good, and made it look fun. Roadtripped to Minnesota in '90 for a four-game series against the A's (heh), which they predictably lost 3-1; saw 'em again in Oakland during the '91 season; they fared better that week, as I recall.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 6:58 AM on March 7, 2006

The moment Rv.W is overturned, legislation to ban abortion completely will hit the floor of the house. The idea that without Rv.W, abortion will be left to the states is silly.

Absolutely. This Congress would undoubtedly ram through a full abortion ban without blinking. However, there is absolutely no chance that this Congress will be the one in session when a hypothetical Roe overturn occurs. So if you really care about this issue, vote single-issue... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 7:52 AM on February 23, 2006

Microsoft get to do this because they're a monopoly, end of story. Whether they're a legal monopoly is open to question, but they're a monopoly. The One Great True and Free Market has allowed it to become a monopoly. Since the One Great True and Free Market is our ever wise Providence, sit down, shut up, and pay your Microsoft Tax. You want Windows, you pay what Bill says you pay.

Disclaimer: It's true that Apple have more restrictive software... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 6:50 AM on February 21, 2006

You can't suckle from the government's teat and then cry when it gets pulled away.

Nice. Remember this in 2031 when that Giant Transpacific Sucking Sound moves America's next generation of scientists to China and India for the research funding opportunities...
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 2:27 PM on February 7, 2006

Seconded. Casey's a pinhead. Still giving him money this year.
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 4:50 PM on January 26, 2006

military personnel exposed to DU dust in Afghanistan shows concentrations of radioactive isotopes 100 times greater than "natural." This is still well under what is considered hazardous.

First up, your math would seem to be off by a factor of 1000... 350 mREM * 100 = 35000 mREM = 35 REM = 7 * occupation limit. (m = milli = * .001). I'd tend to question that DU dust is really 100 times worse that background; if it was, it would cause way much... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 6:13 AM on January 9, 2006

bah. s/that/than/g as appropriate.
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 6:19 AM on January 9, 2006

One, if radiotoxicity were the primary concern, we would see a significant increase in lung cancers, not birth defects. Birth defects suggest heavy metal poisoning.

Exactly. If lead were denser and had a higher melting point (i.e., if lead atomized on impact the same way DU does), we'd have noticed ordnance-related inhalation injury a century ago.

Although, given U238's low decay rate (half life is something like four billion... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 8:59 AM on January 9, 2006

Probably the most efficacious and final method would be to come up with something that renders DP less effective. Armor of some sort.

Armor made of DU would probably do the trick. Of course, then the tank would be too heavy to move.
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 10:11 AM on January 9, 2006

anyone running a 120% debt ratio must be planning for a rapture as an exit strategy.

I'm not denying this is the case, but household debt/income ratios over 100% just mean that it would take more than one year of doing nothing but paying off debt to pay it off. Income is annual, but household debt is not.

(Anyone running a debt to income ratio of 2000%, however, is very clearly wanting to be saved by the bell.)... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 7:12 AM on January 6, 2006

Actually, Jek, if you're a fundamentalist, there is no "interpretation" allowed.

The mistake here is presuming the phrase "biblical literalism" is in fact an English phrase. Perhaps it's better to treat it as a false cognate in an unknown language, loosely translating to "belief according to the selective interpretation of one of a variety of translations of the Bible, made by the preacher or other authority figure of one's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 11:20 AM on January 5, 2006

50 USC 1802 does indeed state that "...the President, through the Attorney General, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order under this subchapter to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year..." (50 USC 1802 a.1.)

but only under the condition that...

"there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 8:32 AM on December 20, 2005

Alison: Thanks for posting Arlen Specter's number, rzklkng!

Seconded. Also called Specter. I won't do the same for Santorum because it's a waste of my time and his staff's, and besides, I don't feel like spraying my phone with Lysol this afternoon.
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 12:00 PM on December 16, 2005

Well. At least some good has come out of the Bullshit War On The Bullshit War On Christmas. I just learned that ‽ is the interrobang entity. Muchas Gracias y Feliz Navidad, all-seeing!
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 11:32 AM on December 9, 2005

As I've said, the Colorado incident is not a good test case. It involved a gated federal facility, and the arrest will almost certainly be held constitutional on that ground, which will almost certainly mean it's not widely applicable as a precedent.

Fair enough. But what the hell is the RTD doing running a public bus route through an area without public access? The danger of the precedent is that public rights of way near federal property may also be... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 7:33 AM on November 29, 2005

These neighborhoods with the whopping great big houses on postage-stamp lots will make interesting slums when they deteriorate.

Downside is most of this construction is situated so far down on the quantity/quality curve that it won't stand being subdivided or turned into tenements. Hell, most of it would start falling apart if subjected to the average renter.

Upside is that construction quality, as well as a complete lack of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 9:05 AM on November 28, 2005

[krove@samjohnson ~]# cat talkingpoints/gop/*.txt
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 8:08 PM on November 18, 2005

...Pathetic, the Democrats should have just voted Present...

Yeah. I was a little unclear on that myself. Are there only five Democrats who know the House Rules, or what?
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 8:17 PM on November 18, 2005

I don't think this qualifies as much more than a cottage industry.

Assuming they don't make way more than they sell, their output is two a day, five days a week. Depending on the labor involved, that's precisely a cottage industry.
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 6:15 AM on November 14, 2005

You think that's bad? Bill O'Reilly just told al-Qaeda to bomb San Francisco.

California Penal Code §11418.5. (a) Any person who knowingly threatens to use a weapon of mass destruction, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device, is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 10:19 AM on November 11, 2005

Also, I must object to the use of the "intelligent" for this thread...
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 10:19 AM on November 11, 2005

...TAG... the intelligent TAG...

Now I must doubly object...
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 10:20 AM on November 11, 2005

to be enough of an idiot to sign something you haven't read and considered carefully

IANAL, but I do know that contract law specifically protects people who sign something they haven't read completely by requiring a contract to be a meeting of the minds. If you tell me, "here, sign this and I'll give you $1,500 for free" and then you show up at my house demanding I move my stuff (because you just bought it for $1,500), not only do I not have... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 7:33 AM on November 7, 2005

Back to something matteo said in the antediluvian past, considering that the majority of abortions performed in the United States take place before the pre-19th century de facto legal standard of the quickening (and that the majority of those not are related anti-abortion obstructionism) and taking a look at this, could someone please explain to me why it is rational for the majority of us that are pro-choice to defend Roe? What's wrong with Plan... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 11:09 PM on November 1, 2005

Schmidt is an ex-Microsoft exec and is probably still connected with them.

When I first read this I thought, "this Schmidt guy seems like he's spent an evening or two reading about this 'software' thing, synthesizing his knowledge from the press of the 'security' problem with an incomplete understanding to create a 'solution' that won't work if you look at it too closely. Not quite there yet, my friend, but thanks for playing. A- for effort.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 10:37 PM on October 22, 2005

Bah. Give 'em Utah, Nebraska, or Idaho. When the grand experiments in faith-based civil engineering, economic policy, and public health fail miserably, use Wyoming to house the refugees.
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 6:37 AM on October 21, 2005

yeah... another everything-dios-just-said.

...even if the nominee was a transgendered lesbian who was a lawyer for NARAL...

One thing I will give Bush is that he doesn't actually care about photographic diversity either way. This is largely because he would choose a transgendered lesbian NARAL lawyer he were sure she'd tow whatever line he asked.

Were I slightly more paranoid, I'd... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 8:26 AM on October 3, 2005

Seconded. This appears to be the guy on the turntables, but I haven't found any reasonable audio yet. Anyone know more?
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 1:09 PM on September 29, 2005

but jokes about his wardrobe are not raising the level of public discourse in the least.

The what of the what now? Public discourse is dead. Roger Ailes shot it, Karl Rove buried it, and Bob Novak takes daily squats on its grave.

Seriously, though, what I read out of all this is cynicism - Dreier is a (possibly) homosexual anti-homosexual, which either indicates extreme self-loathing at best or rank hypocrisy (granted, a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 11:34 AM on September 28, 2005

Could it be that he deserved it?

Whether he deserves it in any universal sense or not is irrelevant. All that matters is whether the Republican party leadership thinks appointing him meets their goals. In light of the fact that Republican appointments within the party seem largely to be awarded on the basis of rigid loyalty to the party's ideological line and acceptability to the party's various special interest groups (esp. millenial-dispensationalist,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 12:00 PM on September 28, 2005

so they've officially given up on the shuttle, then?
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 12:05 PM on September 19, 2005

so, a region is totally destroyed by a disaster unparalleled in a generation, and a bunch of Republicans want to use the devastation as an laboratory for their ideology. Didn't we already try this with the Coalition Provisional Authority?
posted to MetaFilter by Vetinari at 2:46 PM on September 15, 2005