On the one hand, hurray for the Imam trying to bring a bit of sanity into the issue. On the other hand, boo for a religion where an exception for guide dogs wouldn't be a matter of course.

I'm trying to imagine the conversation on the side opposed to this: "Yes Bob, I know you need the... ugh... dog to get around, but they're *unclean* so I'm thinking you should just stay out of the Mosque. Yeah, yeah, I know it means you'll burn in hell forever. Hey, don't... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 11:49 AM on October 10, 2008

"Three months later, when Kirsty is finally ready to have sex, they're doing it in a car in the park, and Michael Myers jumps out of the bushes and kills them both."

I cannot write with a Scottish accent.

It always goes Steve Irwin when I try. I'm so ashamed.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 10:42 PM on October 9, 2008

What? Where's the YouTubery of erupting boils and home surgeries?

If that's your thing, there's some really cool (narrated!) videos of cochlear implant surgery out there. Not particularly gross, as these things go, and certainly not "home surgery", but ... bone drills are cool.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 11:40 AM on October 9, 2008

Under the deal, the moderator may not ask followups or make comments. The person who asks the question will not be allowed a follow-up either, and his or her microphone will be turned off after the question is read. A camera shot will only be shown of the person asking -- not reacting. ... McCain and Obama are not supposed to ask each other direct questions.

No followups ... no asking each other questions ... how is this a debate?
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 10:40 AM on October 7, 2008

I'm still struggling to realize that McCain said he wants to solve (win against!) this epic financial crisis by freezing spending except for the military, veterans and a few vital areas.

Can someone explain to me why veteran's benefits is critical enough to make the "immune to spending freeze" list? I mean, obviously it's not insignificant, but there's lots of items in the budget that are important that wouldn't make that list.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 8:43 PM on September 26, 2008

Calling Russia a RGB run country is 100% fair. No one knows what FSB is anyway.

Russia is run by colored people? No wonder McCain doesn't trust Putin!
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 7:22 PM on September 27, 2008

Aah, good - thanks for posting this. I now have another link in the catalog for when I am asked to defend my position that the Republicans have nothing to run on this year except umbrage, and will seek to use it as a distraction every time the facts start turning in their direction.

I'm pretty damn liberal. I'm voting for Obama and Biden. But this is unacceptable. To use "disabled" as an insult? And then to apologize by saying that Palin... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 7:41 PM on September 21, 2008

Too complicated, let's start afresh:

1. Roofie Gabriel Schwartz and fire up his laptop...

I think you have those in the wrong order ...
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 2:32 PM on September 17, 2008

Michelle Malkin happens to be Asian American. What was that about her being a racist?

Doesn't mean she's not racist. Including against Asian Americans.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 12:05 PM on September 14, 2008

It's worth nothing that manual languages also have some advantages over spoken ones - no worries about multiple conversations around a table drowning each other out, for instance. Also, "being able to talk with things in your hands" is somewhat limited, but you can sign with more things in your hands than a non-signer might realize!

Not to say thath grapefruitmoon and glasskey don't have valid points; just pointing out that it does tend to balance... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 2:54 PM on September 11, 2008

Dependence is caused by the drug itself, not failings in people's character or genetics. Which is very good news for "addicts": all they need to do to stop the addiction is stop taking the drug.

I'm fairly prolegalization, but your argument is a bit glib. My experiences using opiates under supervised conditions for medium-term pain management suggests that it really is (or can be, if you want to be pedantic) difficult to "stop taking... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 7:37 AM on September 9, 2008

Shmeggege ... look. I dislike Giuliani as much as the next guy. But cocksucker and midget refer very specifically (albeit offensively) to two groups that have nothing to do with the man or his politics. Cool it, eh?
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 4:36 PM on September 5, 2008

I have no doubt that the actual piercing session is painful enough, but I would think that having that much metal in one's penis would even make getting aroused something to avoid. At least for the first few weeks/months/years.

I wouldn't know, but from what I've read, it doesn't take all that long to heal. Keep in mind, the penis is filled with vascular tissue, which helps with healing.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 9:35 PM on September 4, 2008

*sigh, pulls out soapbox*

I haven't seen a public "this is our headquarters" building in I-don't-know-how-long where stairs weren't used to create some sort of Grand Sweeping Entrance effect, and the ramp was put off in an inconvenient corner, if it was visible at all. It'd be nice if architects could find a less divisive way to make their buildings look cool.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 4:31 AM on September 3, 2008

Because she's forgetting what speaking should sound like.

I don't know if this is the case for her, but that's not always why speech is hard for late deafened adults. I've spent a few weeks or months with no useful hearing before, and it's not that you forget how to speak, or what things sound like; it's that you have no feedback. You can't tailor your volume to the environment, because you don't know what the environment sounds like, and you're not... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 6:50 PM on August 27, 2008

I think they prefer to be called little people.

Nope. Dwarf is acceptable, so is little person. Midget is not.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 11:45 AM on August 23, 2008

Even the Stata Center, with its glitches and goofs (there's one especially vertiginous conference room), is still exciting and fun to be in.

Exciting and fun ... unless you care about accessibility. The extent of the retrofits that building needed (and still needs, though hopefully that'll be changing soon) to comply with the ADA is just ludicrous.

[NOT BITTER]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 8:33 AM on August 21, 2008

MADD also is pushing the idea that all cars should be equipped with those devices that you have to blow in to to see if you're sober. Not just people convicted of DWI. Everyone. What a bunch of assholes.

Have they addressed the issue of people whose breath tests positive when they haven't been drinking? Specifically, diabetics.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 6:59 AM on August 19, 2008

The MBTA is a lousy system. The subways and buses are constantly late, the fares keep getting jacked up (with no improvement in service), and they have consistently refused to do anything substantive to improve accessibility, including in new construction. With a few exceptions, the concessions they've made to access have been jury-rigged, stop-gap, and unreliable. Fuck 'em.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 2:12 PM on August 11, 2008

This sounds suspiciously familiar...are there any well maintained mass transit systems?

DC's was excellent, when I was there. Admittedly, it was only for a few months in the summer, but my experience (and what I've been told by others) was that it was incredibly accessible, reasonably clean and well-lit, and ran on a fairly regular schedule (with electronic - visual! - notices in most or all stations counting down to the next train). I think the part... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 3:16 PM on August 11, 2008

Second, if I choose to use a birth control method that causes implantation not to occur, (rather than interfering with sperm meeting egg) then I MYSELF am tampering with nature insofar as some of those eggs may have implanted.

Aside from what others have said (vasectomy, condoms, etc) ... isn't abstinence tampering with nature? I mean, the sex drive was pretty strong, and if a woman doesn't choose to abstain from sex, sometimes... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 2:06 PM on August 11, 2008

I think the ban stems from the backlash from when Gillette used to sell razor blades the same way.

What, Gillette used to sell razor blades dipped in chocolate?

Actually, fivefreshfish, my childhood tells me you buy them for your four year old. The kid eats the crappy-but-sugary chocolate, and you get to assemble that oh-so-cool toy (which you can't buy for yourself, 'cuz your wife would totally make fun) and play... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 1:25 AM on August 10, 2008

roll truck roll: The sentiment I've heard from most fans of Card's - and my own: "gee, I loved Ender's Game, and a bunch of the sequels were decent, as was [some other book by Card] but the man is fucking nuts!" So, no, not news.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 10:55 PM on July 29, 2008

PenguinLiz: You're not kidding. Among the worst classes I've ever taken (it was lousy for other reasons than this) was a course in computational proteomics: "And here, class, we can see a very obvious pattern along the grid, where the red spots indicate drone drone drone." Uh, no, we actually can't. Really.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 4:31 PM on July 26, 2008

joeclark: I see the default color for Metafilter just fine, and by default I'd probably call it blue. But if you told me it was purple, I'd buy that without much argument. I am (I believe) protanomalous ... so when AKoT said he Metafilter could be "bright Barney", I interpreted it as "Metafilter could be bright purple, and I'd never know the difference". (Barney the Dinosaur is purple, right? I seem to recall being told that, but damned if I know by looking.)
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 1:51 AM on July 27, 2008

This FPP is not complete without a link to Erowid. Seriously, man!
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 8:00 AM on July 22, 2008

ZachsMind: Now, if you're bedridden and in constant pain and you've talked with your loved ones and the doctors are no longer trying to cure you they're just mollifying you, that's a completely different thing (I was with Kevorkian on that score) - and not what this article's about.

The problem with Kevorkian, and many others who do what he does, is that the description you gave above is not an accurate description of everybody who he killed (or helped... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 3:36 AM on July 21, 2008

That suggests the Phantom might be a Gypsy but investigations in the community have not yielded any results

Odd; this question in particular could easily be resolved with the DNA.

ISRT race can be very hard to establish using DNA.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 9:57 PM on July 20, 2008

Like him enjoying resting his balls on your forehead while he chokes you unconscious with his legs some how makes the exercise less dignified.

Metafilter: Like [it] somehow makes the internet less dignified.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 9:32 PM on July 15, 2008

This is pretty recent phenomenon in the US, and only really sudafed is behind the counter. But even then it's not behind the pharmacist counter, but just the regular cashier who you have to give ID to prove you are not manufacturing meth or something along those lines. This in between category where the pharmacist gives it to you w/out a prescription and asks you some questions, doesn't really exists in the US.

Also: ECP, aka Plan B. Nothing else... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 12:12 PM on July 13, 2008

They'll simply adhere to the ADA and consign them to classes in a red tent on the football field for the duration.

I know you're being silly, but this would be a pretty clear violation of IDEA, which requires that students with disabilities be educated in the "least restrictive environment" possible.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 4:54 PM on July 13, 2008

What Miko said. My name is short enough - and more importantly, easy enough to fingerspell - that I don't have one yet, despite being deaf and having been part of the community for a few years. Maybe someday I will be given one.

But yeah, it's somewhere between a nickname and a hearing name - people will often introduce themselves with both names: "Hi, I'm S-P-I-F-F [pause, show signname]". You want the fingerspelled English name, because it's your formal... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 7:19 PM on July 7, 2008

Anyway, to add a bit more: some sign names are initialized. Like Waffle in the video; his name is the sign for waffle, but with a J in there as well (I think - I don't know BSL, really). And often there are sort of generic-ish sign names; in ASL, you might sign someone's initial near the top of your head (if they're male) or on your chin/cheek (if they're female) as a sort of shorthand for someone who doesn't have a sign name. I.e., "Yeah, so I was talking to this guy, Joe [J-forehead].... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 7:32 PM on July 7, 2008

When the video participants were signing their given names, I didn't recognize the letters as the ASL alphabet that I learned as a (non deaf) child. Does anyone know what/how they were signing in the video? Is there a more up-to-date ASL alphabet?

British Sign Language, which uses a two-handed alphabet. Many signed languages use some variant on either the BSL alphabet or the LSF (French Sign Language) one. ASL's is related to the LSF alphabet. BSL... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 9:48 PM on July 7, 2008

The last container innovation brought forth by a big-box store I can remember is the Target pharmacy bottles, which I happen to like.

Anyone else love or hate these little red bottles?

Having read the article, I can't say that's too exciting. Now, make a non-child-proof cap that doesn't fall open in my backpack on the way home, and then I'll be interested.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 2:35 PM on June 30, 2008

Is it wrong that I found the examples to be unintentionally hilarious? Here's a sampling:
[snip]
(Victim) left in the desert begging for his life.

Is (Victim) a synonym for "turtle on its back"?
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 1:27 PM on June 25, 2008

MetaFilter: The best of the web ... all the way into [you]r brain.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 1:25 PM on June 25, 2008

Being strongly vaginal bothers some men. The word itself makes some men uncomfortable.

Vagina. They don't like hearing it and find it difficult to say whereas without batting an eye a man will refer to his dick or his rod or his Johnson.

Is there a reason you avoided the word penis? To me, "his dick or his rod or his Johnson" is more analogous to, "her pussy or her box or her Hoo-hoo" than, "vagina".
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 8:21 AM on June 9, 2008

If you are against medical intervention then please don't fight Cancer when it happens upon you, or get help if you have a heart attack or any of the other millions way we choose to "accept" medical intervention without judgment.

You're comparing fertility treatments to treatment for cancer and heart attacks? Seriously? I mean, I think some of the "how dare you have kids" outrage in this thread is over the top if not flat out... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 11:12 PM on June 6, 2008

It's interesting to note the differences between the ones that are basically done by hearing people as class assignments and ones that are done by deaf people.

It's not so much a "who's native" difference as it is a difference in levels of fluency and how seriously production values are taken; b.storm's "This is the New Shit" is far and away the best I've ever seen, and he's an interpreter.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 3:54 PM on June 2, 2008

Integration is pushed by two forces: disability advocates, whose focus (reasonably enough) is solely on the right of disabled children to live, as much as possible, in the "normal" manner, and the (dubious) benefit to disabled children of being exposed to "normal" children

As one of those advocates, I can tell you that there's a huge benefit to being around nondisabled children. Normalization of disability for those kids aside... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 4:59 PM on June 1, 2008

Agreed. But.. in terms of education, "separate but equal" can mean "segregated by actual learning ability into classrooms that are able to cater to that level of ability". Which translates to "separated by ability, equal access to education". This works in this case because sometimes kids have special needs that simply cannot be accommodated in regular classrooms while still teaching the rest of the kids in an appropriate way.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 9:42 AM on June 2, 2008

Pastabagel: Cambridge sends the message that it's an American city, too, dammit.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 8:01 AM on June 2, 2008

How many of these people can there be?
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 10:54 AM on May 30, 2008

Is "transhuman" actually a common usage in this context? I've only ever heard that word used to refer to modified or augmented humans, either in the context of transsexual/transgendered people, or in the context of functionally-enhanced people (for whom H+ and posthuman are also common descriptors). I've never heard it used to describe an artificial intelligence, whether superior to humans or not.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 11:50 PM on May 21, 2008

Uh, I know that. Catholicism still considers the Bible to be the word of God and since God is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient (plus some other things, I forget), then that would ipso facto render the Bible inerrant and irrefutable.

Unless He/She/It chose a not-entirely-true message for a specific reason. The Plan, remember? Don't question the Plan!
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 4:48 AM on May 14, 2008

Yes, in some ways many homosexuals have an advantage that many non-privileged groups do not have. We have the choice of hiding it. The same cannot be said about racial minorities or the physically disabled, for example.

There's actually quite a few physical disabilities that are invisible, and people do play this in-out game. Also, even for those of us that have visible disabilities, there's the choice to be quiet, or to be loud & proud. As a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 1:55 PM on May 6, 2008

I read the first two links; both are complete crap. And I say that as an atheist (albeit an implicit one).
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 12:06 AM on April 23, 2008

In the long run, states should be forced to legalize every "effect", but be permitted to ban drugs that are less safe than others with the same effect.

You gave the example that states could force tobacco companies to 'clean up' their cigs, but smoking tobacco and marijuana result in different effects. Heck, even using Sativex - which was intended to mimic marijuana - isn't identical to using pot. Your statement, then, is sort of nonsensical.
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 10:25 AM on April 21, 2008

spaceman_spiff most of mine have been bone related and that stuff usually doesn't fully heal right.

I'm not disputing that surgeries can go wrong, but my spinal fusion has never caused me any problems (well, the scar itches sometimes), and I don't think my two bilateral osteotomies have either. It's tricky stuff, yes, and it can be really bad if it goes wrong, but I think it's over the top to say there are no successful surgeries.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by spaceman_spiff at 10:26 AM on April 20, 2008