I'd think middle-age Gen X'ers would be fairly positive towards hip hop. I'm in that class and Public Enemy was as much a part of my formative years as was Sonic Youth or the Pixies. Hatred from that age group would be hard for me to understand since love of PE or Ice-T or Cypress Hill, etc., was terribly common amongst my lily white hipster peers.

Of course maybe they grew up, got the kids and mortgage, and suddenly this music was now terrifying to them.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 5:37 PM on July 24, 2008

I've actually seen one of these in action and its hard to think of a downside. I have a good friend who decided to take the plunge and completely replace his pack-a-day habit with it. He's able to "smoke" anywhere in public now, the long-term cost is less than half that of cigarettes, and he's really happy with how much better his lungs feel.

And unlike other cigarette substitutes in the past, this one actually tastes fairly good (I took a hit or two from it;... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 6:36 PM on July 17, 2008

I should qualify the cost breakdown of the device.

My friend acquired his for $80.00 from Crown 7 and the refill cartridges are $10.00 per pack of 5. Each cartridge lasts around 2 days and so the refill pack is almost equivalent to a carton.

He's here with me now and wanted me to say that it was painless switching to the e-cigarette because the company managed to nearly perfectly replicate the sensation of smoking, namely the way the lungs feel... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 6:48 PM on July 17, 2008

Glad to see some links to the greatest on-screen version of Batman ever. Here's my personal favorite and strangely appropriate this year.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 9:08 AM on July 2, 2008

Thanks for the great post. I used to have an obsession with the Civil War and posts like this will probably put me back on the road to addiction.

Sickles wasn't the greatest general but as a man I always liked him and his foibles. If you're going to lose a leg in battle, you might as well send the leg to Army Medical Museum where it can be put on exhibit and then you can go visit it on occasion and reminisce about the grand times the two of you once had.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 8:59 AM on July 2, 2008

The only way this project would be even remotely interesting would involve the artist preserving the doll and dragging it out once a year for a joint photograph. Dorian Grey in action and would be at least slightly poignant.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 11:35 PM on April 30, 2008

There was this dystopian sci-fi novel from the late 80's, early 90's that I vaguely remember (the plot revolved around a clone of Elvis) which had a character, an artist, who created work like this. In the future society, all abortions were illegal even though the rate of miscarriages and birth defects were very high for natural births. The artist would get pregnant often and would create mournful sculptures out of the fetal remains.

Wonder if she read this obscure book?
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 9:53 AM on April 17, 2008

Living in Mormon Country has some disadvantages but one good thing I've noticed about my neighborhood is how the kids get to live the way I did. My neighborhood is on the slopes of the Uintas, bordering National Forest land. On my long hikes with the dogs, if it's after school, I'll often see kids roaming here and there without adult supervision. Recently had a long conversation with my 11 yr old neighbor about her explorations in a local canyon and about the cave she and her friends found.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 12:44 AM on April 12, 2008

sotonohito,

You are incorrect: nytimes , csmonitor.

Much of what the Iraqi insurgency is using is stolen from the old army stockpiles but they had a starting point with the widespread ownership of guns. They didn't have to build their arsenal from scratch.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 10:52 AM on April 6, 2008

I know my thoughts on this issue are terribly simplistic but I think this country would be better off without any guns. However, that scenario is never going to happen short of the NRA dystopian fantasy of H. Clinton, president for life, going around taking everyone's pieces. Therefore, it is a good thing that some balance can be achieved by having good and responsible people armed.

The process for getting a conceal-carry permit in my state creates some interesting... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 3:25 PM on March 24, 2008

Weirdly enough, this page was fairly encouraging.

I hike around 1.5 hours almost every day, year round, on a trail with close to a 1,000 ft elevation gain. Usually eat ok but sometimes I love to binge and then would stress about the binge afterwards.

Apparently, the binge isn't really anything to worry about, assuming this site is correct.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 11:23 AM on March 5, 2008

CVBG, meet the swarm. (Wikipedia. Metafilter. And do you know who else refloated ships in a war game because they didn't like the outcome? Not a good omen for anyone who knows the story of Midway.)

Or maybe the old adage "There are two kinds of ships: submarines and targets" is correct.

Either way, the carriers aren't going to save us in the face of a determined enemy. For most of the Cold War and later, we were smart enough to only use... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 6:11 PM on January 27, 2008

Re: Winner-take-all

For 2008, the Democrats changed the rules. All Democratic primaries this year will assign delegates proportionally. There are no winner-take-all states on the Democratic side. 15 percent is the minimum required to receive delegates.

So even if Obama loses by ten points in large states such as NY or California, he can still be in the game.

DKos is somewhat of a bickering cesspool right now but... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 11:05 AM on January 24, 2008

I should also note that the Democratic primary in California is open. If Obama can attract enough independents then he could get a pleasant surprise there.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 11:11 AM on January 24, 2008

The funny thing about a McCain vs. Clinton matchup would be that each of the parties somehow nominated a candidate that depresses their base. Conservatives of all stripes seem to despise McCain for reasons I'll never completely understand.

McCain would have a substantial edge amongst independents but that edge could be nearly completely erased if Clinton would constantly run ads with footage of McCain talking about being in Iraq "for 100 years." Also, this... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 3:37 PM on January 24, 2008

As far as Paul's bigotry and privately held views go, I think this youtube link gives a fairly clear picture. Ron Paul is being interviewed on a conservative Christian radio network and is being pressured to condemn gay people by the homophobic host. Ron Paul refuses to do so and explains why. If there was any place in the world where he could show his bigotry openly and get away with it, it was on a Christian radio station with listeners who would almost entirely agree with such hatred. And he... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 8:45 PM on January 8, 2008

I tend to be an eternal optimist and think the glass is always half-full. I still stand by the lament I wrote earlier but now that I've slept on it, I can somewhat return to my previous optimism, though not optimistic about the current campaign. When Paul has Reason staffers issuing such harsh criticism, you know Paul has lost or is losing a substantial part of his rational, non-racist base.

But the good thing about the movement is the precedent it has set that you can... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 2:18 PM on January 9, 2008

Part of this isn't unprecedented. The Iroquois have used their own passports for a while.

Earliest reference I could find was for a trip in 1923. Here's a 2002 article mentioning their use by the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse team.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 8:49 AM on December 20, 2007

I stumbled across this pdf put together as a guide for Shell employees stationed in Lagos. The expat bubble is an interesting contrast with the conditions described in the article.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 1:45 AM on December 12, 2007

A similar tempest in a teapot happened to John Kenneth Galbraith when he was ambassador to India. His family named a kitten "Ahmedabad " which caused some anger due to "Ahmed" being one of Mohammad 's names. Despite the prophet often being portrayed as a cat lover, the locals were terribly upset at a cat getting this name.

JKG changed the name of the cat to "Gujarat" and issued a brief apology and everyone was incredibly happy again.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 10:32 AM on November 30, 2007

Hi Tube. I remember the Lawrence, KS show you're talking about. I was there, at Liberty Hall and remember being really surprised to see Al on the stage. My date and I got a chance to meet him and he signed my copy of Psalm 69. "All Dirt! Love, Al" That made my 21 year old self all too excited.

And that was a really great show. Can still remember Mr. Lifto and those beautiful prince alberts like it was yesterday. Can also remember the smell of the bile beer... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 1:34 AM on November 27, 2007

streetdreams: The fact that the John Birch society is more pacifist and more anti-torture than the leading Democrats should tell you all you need to know.

Sad, isn't it?

The one thing I hope Democrats will learn from Paul's money bomb is that principled stands against the war, against torture, and for the transparency of government can reap big rewards.

Until they wake up and realize that, I'm going to happily support... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 5:21 PM on November 5, 2007

Television doesn't inspire imagination? Have you ever read or heard of fan-fiction? Or ever read what the creative minds at Television Without Pity, both the recappers and in the forums, can come up with, even when it involves the most banal of reality shows? Or the millions of what-ifs that followed the Sopranos finale? Or seen the endless speculation over the latest enigmatic development on Lost, Heroes, or Battlestar Galactica? Speculation that often ends up being much more creative than what... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 6:30 AM on November 3, 2007

I guess I don't understand why there would be a problem with the Freedom Ship. If a bunch of people want to build an oversized boat and sail around while using drugs that are illegal in most countries and thumbing their noses at the powers-that-be, so what? Not how I'd spend my money but I wouldn't have a problem with someone else throwing away their savings.

Apparently the project was ill-conceived and terribly mismanaged. And this proves what? Beyond the fact that it... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 5:14 PM on October 29, 2007

Back in the day, when I was kinda sorta into Vampire the Masquerade, I had my own pseudo-scientific theory about vampires in that universe.

I was thinking vampires were nothing more than humans infected with a symbiotic parasite. The parasite's effects were mostly beneficial but with a few drawbacks. One key effect was to greatly extend the pre-programmed moment of cell death. This would act as an anti-aging and would give the impression that a vampire was immortal.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 8:20 PM on October 14, 2007

Ron Paul is the only candidate, with even a tiny chance of winning, who would end the drug war. He might be racist as hell but that one action would probably do more for minorities than anything the Democrats have in mind.

That, and an unequivocal stand against the military-industrial complex, foreign intervention, torture, and the steady erosion of basic Constitutional rights make him worthy of some support. The Democrats have proven time and time again that they're not... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 9:29 AM on October 12, 2007

If I ever have kids, they'll never believe my stories of school. No security guards, a designated smoking area for students, and then there was that one day in speech class. There was a kid with a black belt and who was incredibly obsessed with the military and all sorts of violence. For the "how-to" speech requirement in that class, he gave a talk on how to organize a guerilla resistance for when the Soviets finally invaded. This topic was merely an excuse for telling the class how to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 12:44 AM on October 8, 2007

Ynoxas,

What you want is Lawrence, Kansas. Get a restored Victorian on the relatively quiet west side. Around a 5-10 minute walk to downtown with great bars, clubs, coffeeshops, bookstores, all sorts of independent stores. There's also grocery stores, both corporate and more organic, in that range of walking. University of Kansas is in this town, and about a 15-20 minute walk away.

You'll also be next to the trail system along the Kansas River (5... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 2:11 AM on October 5, 2007

Really glad to see Swervedriver get some love here. For me, the never-get-tired-of-it albums are Raise and Mezcal Head. I'm probably one of the very few who thinks Raise is better but they're both classics.

At swervedriver.com you can find live versions of all their albums plus some other tracks. And (sorry, I don't have the link handy) in the forums on that site, there's a guy who will ship you Swervedriver concert DVD's just for the cost of shipping / media.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 8:01 PM on October 3, 2007

Both incarnations of Mika were new to me so thanks for the post.

But especially want to thank Mach3avelli for port-royal. Hadn't heard of them before but they're rather beautiful.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 11:56 PM on September 16, 2007

For those of you calling for the criminalization of cigarettes, have you paid any attention to the drug war? Do you really want to see government power, which will include the power to recklessly imprison and destroy lives, expanded? Knowing that once it is expanded, it will be hell to ever get it to contract?

For a bunch of people who probably despise everything the current American presidency stands for, you want to put a lot of trust in the goodness of government to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 2:08 AM on September 14, 2007

If you can't stand Fileplanet and don't trust the torrents, you can find these at GamersHell, which doesn't require a login and is usually fast.

Here's Far Cry, PoP, Ghost Recon, and C & C.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 6:39 AM on September 5, 2007

The new Spike show Kill Point has a few of the Wire's actors playing roles. Omar (Michael K. Williams), Bodie (J.D. Williams), and Brianna Barksdale (Michael Hyatt) are all there, though it's very odd seeing Omar and Ms. Barksdale as cops.

The show isn't remotely close to the Wire in quality but it's not bad and a good way to at least see the actors while the Wire takes its sweet time getting back on the air.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 10:18 PM on August 8, 2007

G. Gordon Libby wrote a very detailed article for Omni back in 1989 which described relatively simple ways to cause enormous damage to the US, including bringing down the power grids in a rather long-lasting way. His recipe for mayhem was so comprehensive, I'm rather surprised no one has ever tried it.

Then there's also Richard Clarke's more recent set of hypothetical terror attacks. He mentioned the malls but also mentioned the obvious time for those attacks: during the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 10:04 PM on August 8, 2007

The suicide notes on the Well were interesting and some were strangely beautiful. There was a note at the top about the first net suicide, someone who posted his intentions on arpanet.

Maybe this would be better served as an AskMe, but does anyone know much about this incident? I did a quick search and nothing, other than the Well page, came up.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 6:53 PM on August 6, 2007

Quoting stammer from a long, long time ago in this thread:

Could the Founding Fathers ever have envisaged such a cunty President?

Semi-Obscure Sci-Fi analogy: If the Founding Fathers were roughly analagous to the Foundation's psychohistorians, creating a system that could last even through societal and technological change, then Cheney/Bush would be the Mule: a genetic freak with extraordinary abilities who easily ruins all... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 9:03 AM on July 3, 2007

I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned the obvious (only?) literary reference to oversized penguins...

Suddenly a bulky white shape loomed up ahead of us, and we flashed on the second torch. It is odd how wholly this new quest had turned our minds from earlier fears of what might lurk near. Those other ones, having left their supplies in the great circular place, must have planned to return after their scouting trip toward or into the abyss; yet we had now... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 1:38 PM on June 29, 2007

This reminds me of the Mystery Worshipper section of Ship of Fools.

The mystery worshippers tend to write better summaries than the one in the Stranger, mainly because they're mostly all Christians and are familiar with what they're seeing, but most people on the site tend to dislike fundamentalists so it can get a bit snarky when the worshippers find themselves in one of those places that like to toss snakes around.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 9:34 AM on June 22, 2007

This espisode, "Faith", from TAL contains the best piece of "atheist/agnostic goes to visit the fundamentalists" journalism I've heard.

Specifically act one, with Alix Spiegel covering the massive prayer project in Colorado Springs. She went in with more than a little bewilderment and came out with an appreciation for faith, even if she can't share that faith.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 12:41 PM on June 22, 2007

If our legal system is going to be based on television, I wish Scalia et al were watching this fair-to-middling show: Criminal Minds.

Normally don't watch it myself but everytime I visit mum and the stepdad, I'm usually subjected to a few hours of pretty bad television and since I'm trying to atone for a misbegotten youth, I sit quietly and watch with them.

So this is one of their favorite shows and that night's episode involved a terrorist cell... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 10:17 PM on June 19, 2007

I don't understand any variation of Chinese so I don't know if this is true, but someone posted on Reddit that the students in the video were mis-translated. One said to another something about "June 4" and other vague comments about the event which indicated they knew a lot more than what they were willing to let on.

Is there anyone here who could verify this?
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 3:42 PM on June 9, 2007

Another article on the Brooks-Baxter War, which ultimately claimed 200 lives, and started with an armed coup by the losing candidate in a disputed election for the governor of Arkansas.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 3:39 PM on June 7, 2007

The evolution of Olympic logos...

I'm especially fond of 1960, with Romulus, Remus, the wolf, and the interlocking metal rings.

For anyone who was around and paying attention in 1976, did you think Montreal was flipping the bird to the world?
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 12:38 AM on June 5, 2007

I have no thoughts on the missle but have to say that a Red Dawn remake would be beautiful. It would have to be written with a multicultural twist. The EU, Russia, and China get tired of our warmongering shenanigans and invade, and then proceed to learn the same horrific lessons from the guerillas in Colorado, that we learned in Anbar.

Ultraviolence for a while, then everyone putting down their weapons and singing 'Kumbaya' for a while. Both liberals and conservatives... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 10:56 AM on May 29, 2007

I'd actually prefer an SUV to a truck. Most of the big things I haul around I'd rather keep in a lockable enclosed space. And the space can be converted to passenger room as needed, so its a nice flexibility.

And I actually use the Jeeps I own for off-road use; to get to the trailhead near my house, I have to take the Jeep, So it gets used for this every day.

And with me running a business from the home, and being too busy to travel more than... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 4:38 PM on May 24, 2007

One big reason for the deployment numbers in '90-91 was because the Gulf War happened at the 'right' time. The huge divisions designed to stop the Soviets were still intact. Had the war happened a year or two later, these forces wouldn't have been available, due to the post-Cold War drawdown. And not only was the huge manpower available, but much of the force and/or their equipment was stationed in Europe, making re-deployment much faster than if all 500k + supplies had to come directly from the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 11:59 PM on May 17, 2007

For some reason, this reminded me of an Saki story which described a painter who only painted images of London landmarks in ruins, with various large apes playing in the wreckage.
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 4:46 PM on May 10, 2007

I've seen this site before but I'm glad you posted it.

And yes, the future is all about buying stuff apparently, while wearing our stylish jumpsuits with matching boots.

Was just talking about futurism with a friend a few days ago, and I suddenly had the thought that the one thing the futurists/sci-fi writers never really anticipated was lolcats. Either the future was going to be so bright you gotta wear shades with your jumpsuit, or else it was... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 1:30 PM on April 28, 2007

"Exit, pursued by a bear"
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 12:00 PM on April 17, 2007

This story is such a perfect fit for my a Markov-text generator, that I wonder if that was how it was written in the first place. Maybe a Burroughs-esque cut up involving hundreds of cut-rate barbarian novels tossed in a blender, plus the drugs, plus the goat.

All directions, her bare body being molested in the face of the altar, her arms about her protectors neck, mumbling, kill it! Then the gem gave off a blinding glow, then dribbled through Grignr's fingers... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 2:49 PM on April 13, 2007