> Isn't discrimination when you prevent or take away something of value? Discrimination is racism with loss.

In a time when "He hurt my tender feelings" is actionable, there's never going to be any difficulty showing loss.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 1:28 PM on July 24, 2008

>> In a time when "He hurt my tender feelings" is actionable, there's never going to be any difficulty showing loss.
>
> jfuller, I second Blazecock Pileon's request that you back this up with a cite. I think you're misinformed.
> posted by applemeat at 7:20 PM on July 24 [+] [!]


Are you kidding? A very brief trawl through Google pulls up:

Sex-change... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 6:09 PM on July 24, 2008

> You live in the U.S. Do you have any U.S. cites to demonstrate that "hurting" someone's "tender feelings is actionable?"

Venue-shopping, eh? But we haven't gone quite as far 'round the bend (about this particular matter) in the U.S. as they have elsewhere--e.g. Canada and Britain and the wacky, wonderful European Onion. We were discussing a case on the other side of the pond, and neither your nor blazecock's requests for specifics went so far as... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 8:52 PM on July 24, 2008

> Ultimately science is about answering interesting questions, but why would the question
> of race and innate genetic intelligence be interesting to people who are not racists?
> posted by delmoi at 1:40 AM on July 24 [4 favorites +] [!]

I asked my high-IQ magic 8 ball (which has no dog in this fight) and it said "Because everything is interesting."

And then, a few moments later... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 6:38 AM on July 24, 2008

> nostalgic for an imagined, non-existent past, politically quietist, and culturally insular hidden
> behind cul-de-sacs of carefully styled anachronisms that let in no chaos or ferment. The
> larger, more impossible questions are missing.

fuller checks mirror. Yep, that's us all right.


> I wanted to like The Difference Engine, but it put me to sleep.

I note, gratefully,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 3:46 PM on July 23, 2008

I actually did like steampunk a quite a bit when it started cropping up, what, three years ago? Four? Now it's ready for the attic (I've cleared space for it next to my Oldenberg hamburger.) Fads don't go to the New York times to become the next big thing; they go there to die.

But now I think of it, steampunk could have a future. If it persists outside the Times and the attic it could become the next furry.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 3:59 PM on July 23, 2008

> can anyone tell me if this is a new concept? Or is he presenting evidence to confirm an
> already existing hypothesis?

Group selection has been around a long time and is not accepted by everybody. Richard Dawkins, for one, will tell you it ain't so, especially not for mammals and especially-especially not for humans.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 3:05 PM on July 23, 2008

> George appears to have broken out of his solitude

fuller queues up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles doing "Coming out of our shells."
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 2:58 PM on July 23, 2008

> It appears to me that the difference we're talking about is time. Hence the "in 5 minutes"
> part." Ovens need time to get hot.

What's more significant to me is what the heat of running the oven for the preheating period and the baking period and the after-baking cooldown does to the temperature of my little house with its two-gerbil-power AC unit. Baking stuff is just not a summertime activity for me. (I'm in Georgia and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 2:06 PM on July 21, 2008

What were the first and last names of your favorite high school teacher?

oyster bar

What make was your first car?

meow

What was your mother's maiden name?

3
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 8:09 PM on July 20, 2008

> Who's going to check?

Righto. All they want is some string of characters. Go wild.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 4:39 AM on July 21, 2008

Apogee? What about the next Commander Keen?
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 11:32 AM on July 18, 2008

> What happened to posts 1-18?

Deleted. Five spam, four self-links, and the rest were doubles.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 8:01 AM on July 14, 2008

> OMG! All the unsophisticated Republicans out there who read the New Yorker aren't going to
> understand the context of this cartoon!

OMG! I bet they do. I bet they're all like "The faster he lurches toward the center and looks like politics as usual the harder they'll have to push the image that he's revolutionary change incarnate." OMFG! Unsophisticated Republicans catch New Yorker in dorky Tina Brown flashback moment.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 9:05 PM on July 13, 2008

If there's anyone who would like to learn the actual math of geodesic domes, there is a very accessible book about it (google books sample) -- accessible, but the math is fully worked out -- by, oddly enough, Hugh Kenner, who was (one would guess from looking at him) otherwise a standard-issue, bow-tie-wearing lit critic/English prof, though a fine and influential one (see for instance The Pound Era) with as good a claim as anyone in the biz of owning the first thirty years of 20th century... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 10:04 AM on July 13, 2008

> I don't want to interrupt the high fucking horse party, but I don't see anything in the original post that claims
> that this is only about Blacks, the Third World, Africans, nor do I see anything that says it couldn't happen here.

Put on your shit-colored glasses like everybody else, man. You'll see nasty shit everywhere you look.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 5:28 AM on July 9, 2008

> Isn't there a word for the style of government where the police take orders from people rich and/or "important" enough for security details?

Yep. The word you're fishing for is "all."
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 5:52 PM on July 7, 2008

> a move greater than 5% to the downside [a crash]

There's the joker in the deck. If you define a crash as a drop greater than 1% then ZOMG the market crashes all the time, but that's a silly definition. 5% is silly also.

Three groups don't think it's silly. These are 1. Doom-peddling websites; 2. How-To-Prosper-In-The-Coming-Holocaust book peddlers; and 3. economists who have been overcome by their vested interest in trying to make the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 9:43 AM on July 7, 2008

> he obviously found it interesting enough to post. you think it's a waste of your time. i have a
> solution! this solution is so obvious that i won't even post it. but i guarantee you know what
> it is!

It's teaching the monkeys to stop typing that's hard.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 6:17 PM on July 6, 2008

> If bodies worked like this, we'd probably have esophagi all stretched out from eating too
> many hamburgers as well, and in general you'll find that you don't.

You did pay attention in sex ed, right? The day they explained that we don't deliver 8-pound babies one bite at a time?
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 6:55 PM on July 6, 2008

> the moral case for why we should not act on climate change.

And the complementary moral case why we should take bold, forward-looking action in inconsequential, feel-good ways.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 6:51 PM on July 6, 2008

> LBJ knew that Vietnam was a disaster, he knew that it would leave him forever stained in
> the eyes of many Americans, especially his own party's supporters. He knew. I'm sure if
> you'd given him the time machine to stop Eisenhower not support the French and to prevent
> JFK escalating US commitment, he'd jump at it.
>
> But once the US was at war, he simply couldn't pull out

Dead on... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 4:43 AM on June 30, 2008

> The assemblage was held together with was.

For a moment that was just a web page mistyping. Then it suddenly gave me an intense moment of time collapse. "You can't change me or undo me. I was, therefore I am."
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 4:59 AM on June 29, 2008

> Obamacons:

I'm one of those. Several of the "rigidly liberal" Mr. Obama's actions give me great hope for a business-as-usual future.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 12:47 PM on June 28, 2008

> I’ve got Guns up my nose ‘tween my ears and by my toes.
> I’m no fool, I’m so cool, I take Guns to my school.
> I got guns in my bed, one is growing from my head!
> Get a Gun and get it fast, Gun-Gun shoot-shoot is a blast!
> posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:05 PM on June 27 [+] [!]

Heh. Don't move to Canada, Kirth, that would be a hate crime.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 12:00 PM on June 27, 2008

> It´s the cost of keeping "5000-square-foot personal family resorts" (that quotable Kunstler
> again) cool and warm in areas that are otherwise alternately uninhabitable, paying for food
> manufactured from hydrocarbon on the other side of the continent in a system in which there
> is only a three day supply of food in the local stores

I do wonder what the time depth of the food supply is in, oh, midtown... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 5:18 PM on June 25, 2008

> Not that I mind Canada being included (it's nice), but the people keep talking about "this country" and clearly mean the US.

Well, see, according to the documentary, everybody who lives in the suburbs of the US (e.g. Mexico, Canada) will soon be desperate to move to Alamogordo and Detroit. Start packing now, beat the rush
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 5:56 PM on June 25, 2008

> RedditFilter?

No no, has to be 4chan. They're all mushy sentimentality over there.


> There are far more tragic things to feel bad about than hypothetical cats. Get a grip on yourself.

fff is blind to the humanity of our animal, vegetable, and mineral brothers. Back to the zafu, grasshopper.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 7:49 PM on June 23, 2008

So I take it we won't be seeing those millions who don't share the mefi late-liberal mindset dismissed as stupid ever again? That's welcome; il ennuyeux.


> The real Yale may look ancient

Bertrand Russell on Princeton: "Full of new gothic, as much like Oxford as monkeys can make it."
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 2:13 PM on June 18, 2008

How many brides is it worth?
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 7:11 AM on June 15, 2008

> withdrawl.

That's what Ah say. An' jes' 'zackly how Ah say it.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 5:11 PM on June 6, 2008

> If this works I have a bridge to sell them in Brooklyn too.

Maybe we can work something out. I have $471,000,000 in confederate money.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 3:44 PM on June 5, 2008

I measure everything physical in European Standard Bananas, and everything metaphysical in scruples.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 3:31 PM on June 5, 2008

All kinds of cities send me messages, whether I am in them or not; And they can be hard to live up to! Xanadu whispers "Have a good time. Or Else." The Emerald City says I should be Victorian and magical (I am neither) but also that I should love Princess Ozma (I do.) Mos Eisley says both "Shoot first" and "Don't shoot first." So far I've compromised by shooting first, but only my foot.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 1:33 PM on June 2, 2008

> old Soviet Lada with fuzzy dice

Though not strictly soviet, Škodas are pretty cool too. And not scared of anybody. You can pick up your new (to you anyway) Glasnost-era or even Kosygin'n'Brezhnev-era ride here.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 3:11 PM on May 30, 2008

Who are these precious snowflakes who think they deserve better state health care than Abraham Lincoln got?
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 5:37 AM on May 29, 2008

> Wired magazine, cutting edge of technology, indeed.

It always struck me as a bit odd somehow to read about the internet in a paper magazine.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 6:30 PM on May 25, 2008

It's a nanny-state pointless overreaction. But don't let that stop anyone. Everything in the universe is a threat somehow, ban it all.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 6:28 PM on May 25, 2008

I'm totally behind putting a stop to animal fighting as an organized activity. Running a dog fighting operation (or getting caught at a dog fight watching and betting)? That's a bust, and rightly so.

I don't, however, like the idea of laws or court orders suppressing published material, even how-to manuals about illegal activities. Usual slippery slope argument: next goes the Anarchist's Cookbook (lame as it is); then books about organizing protests... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 1:57 PM on May 23, 2008

> I wanted to respond to jfuller (with whom I agree), by arguing that there is no such thing as free speech anyway.
> Our right to express an opinion or take a position is always limited by an invisible line that balances the interests
> of the individual with those of the wider community or state.
>
> I find that statement absolutely repugnant and disgusting.
>... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 8:34 AM on May 24, 2008

OK, I see where this exchange went off the rails. Susurration's "limited by an invisible line" statement doesn't say anything, not a syllable, in support of censorship of opinions by the government. That detail was supplied by the eye of the beholder.

Y'all might get a clue when Suss says "Where that line should be drawn depends on your individual worldview. Where it is drawn at any time comes and goes a little." It's simply not... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 3:14 PM on May 24, 2008

> I'm normally immune to paedogeddon nonsense, but this one is a little discomforting, and intended to be, I'd guess.

Hey, cool pic of JonBenet. I knew she wasn't a real blond.

I'm trying to remember any Vermeer paintings of little girls nude in lipstick. I'm drawing a blank (so to speak.)

Anyone recall when Prince and his wife had their baby? He wouldn't even reveal whether they... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 6:32 PM on May 22, 2008

> i want a big shiny red button that reads "stop this fucker from ever doing this fuckuppery > again" - i press the button and it stops.

autoruns from Sysinternals (who know so much more about the guts of Windows than MS does that MS had to acquire them, so maybe grab this while it's still sweet.) One pass shows you absolutely everything that autostarts at boot time. Unchecking the checkbox next to an entry keeps it around in a disabled state; deleting... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 4:12 AM on May 21, 2008

> It's interesting that a lot of the complaints here and on the list seem to be about software that's FREE.
> ...
> Aside from #8 (obv), all of these programs require you to initially install them, don't they?

Technically they do--at least in the sense that you do have to click Oh all right, I surrender, install the damn thing [ OK ] but if you aren't vigilant about your browsing (and never ever share your pc with anyone no matter how... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 2:21 PM on May 21, 2008

> Look, for all the talk about Democrats being spineless, here's a gesture that's at least in conception
> consistent with the values of the party - which, of course, if you're brainwashed by the right wing
> tarring of the dems, plays into the stereotypes. posted by fingers_of_fire at 1:50 PM on May 19 [+] [!]


You know I seriously agree with that, fingers. And in combination with Burhanistan's comment...... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 4:45 PM on May 19, 2008

> behavior that occurs in a context in which an individual can reasonably expect that no
> observation is taking place
>
> The Internet is not that context.
> posted by Miko at 3:47 PM on May 19 [+] [!]


So, Miko, sometime between 2005 and now you've adopted or at least learned to tolerate the Bill Joy "You have no privacy, get over it" school? I would have expected to find you on the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 2:40 PM on May 19, 2008

I have enjoyed Scots, Irish, and British traditional acoustic music for a good long time, and it has changed remarkably over the decades. In a nutshell, today it's performed (and recorded and engineered and produced) by people who grew up listening to earbleeding rock, and you can tell, and it's better this way. To me it's like the difference between a hand-tinted daguerreotype and wide screen surround-sound technicolor.

Old vinyl of even the best groups (Dubliners,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 7:43 AM on May 19, 2008

> hits where it hurts.

Hits some where they hurt, which strokes others others (exhibit A, this crowd right here) where they fap. Stipulated: neither crowd is at any great risk of the, what was it? blessed gift of consciousness.


> I don't get it.

Here's what I don't get. Reference, the hits link. How is it possible for anyone to spot the problem posed in the first four panels, and not halt right there... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 5:33 AM on May 17, 2008

> There was a sequel to "Dune"?

Oh yes, several. Some by Herbert himself, then some more by his son, then a few by his son's cat. The ones coming out now are being written by Ruth Plumly Thompson from beyond the grave.
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 1:35 PM on May 15, 2008

Thanks, they're wonderful.

But...all the little images. People out there rip and share rock'n'roll and recent movies until everyone hollers mercy. So when will we have the technology (and the interest! among rippers and file-sharers) to liberate BIG images of great graphic art--long since in the public domain--from the state-owned, tax-supported museums that are sitting on them for the republishing income stream?

By BIG I mean big enough to see... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jfuller at 3:51 AM on May 15, 2008