Displaying comments 1 to 50 of 1020
MeFi post:
"Fit" to report?
I believe that you people thinking that the fact that Obama will crush McCain in the debates is a game-ender are engaged in a bit of wishful thinking.
In the 2004 debates, no reasonable person could have concluded anything except that Kerry dominated. He was calm, well-spoken, and on-point.
Bush, on the other hand? If I remember correctly, in one debate he was bizarrely confused, in another he was bizarrely hostile, and in a third he was... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 11:39 AM on August 2, 2008
MeFi post:
Go Play Outside!
Blackcurrants are pretty black.
So are most of the fruits in my refrigerator.
AND I VOTE "ROLY-POLY". I will not be convinced otherwise.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 8:49 PM on August 1, 2008
MeFi post:
Calling King
How awesome would it be if the movie got made, the demo scene was put in it as is, but the remainder of the movie (both leading up to that scene and after that scene) was done in Benny Hill-esque "fast motion plus Yakety Sax"?
Personally, I think "pretty damn awesome".
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 6:24 AM on August 1, 2008
MeFi post:
Bring in 'da statistical noise...
According to the rap, confirmation of the Higgs Boson's existence or lack of existence will be seen "right away".
What does that actually mean? Eight days from now, they'll announce whether or not the Higgs Boson exists?
Or does "right away" mean something more like "we'll know in a year or so"?
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 6:34 PM on July 30, 2008
And I'm surprised that this thread seems to not yet have a reference to M.C. Hawking.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 6:44 PM on July 30, 2008
I hardly think it's fair to ask "Is there anything, aside from this immensely popular and immensely useful thing, that needs to take account of general relativity?", and then to conclude from that unanswered question that it's unlikely there will be a real-life use for the information we'll gain from the LHC.
We'll find a use for it. Assuming we don't blow ourselves up trying.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 7:07 PM on July 30, 2008
MeFi post:
12 Glowing Men
Hmm. The choice of scene was interesting. It's where the tide turns and the racist guy is exposed. I thought there was something possibly interesting going on when he speaks and everyone gets up from the table and/or turns away.
There was something interesting going on then. Something very interesting.
Ignore all the sparkle crap and you'll see it.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 3:57 PM on July 30, 2008
MeFi post:
Wheels on fire, rolling down the road...
I've got no sympathy for protesting cyclists getting the shit beaten out of them by the cops, even if they're factually innocent. If it scares enough cyclists to stop participating, so much the better. It is becoming increasingly obvious to me that these cyclists are organized and violent and are providing false testimony to support each other. Yeah, the guy who got roughed up in New York may not have deserved it, but I betcha one of his buddies would have.That's a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 4:31 PM on July 29, 2008
MeFi post:
"This is why I carry, even in church."
Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church had "just put out a sign this week which says it welcomes gays."
I hope they keep the sign up.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 2:50 PM on July 28, 2008
Regarding Astro Zombie's note about it being incomprehensible why "my food stamps are being cut off" leads to "kill the liberals":
I know someone very like this (minus, thankfully, the actual "kill" part). He will rage and rage, at the slightest provocation, about the "welfare queens", and various epithets I won't repeat here, "stealing" "his" "taxpayer money" (that's probably... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 3:24 PM on July 28, 2008
I wonder how the right wing hatemongers are going to handle this.
They're going to do what they always do: Poo-poo it off, explain it away, brush it under the rug, and then back to hatemongering.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 4:04 PM on July 28, 2008
If it turns out this guy was thinking rationally, I would classify him as a terrorist. If he's a nutter, I would not classify him as a terrorist. Like I said before, the only issue is whether he's mentally ill.
Is the Unabomber not mentally ill? Or not a terrorist?
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 4:59 PM on July 28, 2008
These people are not just found on the conservative side.
I'm sure that's strictly true.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 8:48 PM on July 28, 2008
MeFi post:
Moby Dick? Middlemarch? Jane Eyre?
How about books that you are embarrassed to have read?
I'll start: L. Ron Hubbard's decalogy, "Mission Earth".
A minor point of redemption, though: I only made it through the first three of the ten books before deciding that L. Ron Hubbard not just sucked, but totally sucked.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 10:45 AM on July 28, 2008
In all seriousness, I just finished my first actual (as opposed to excerpted or abridged) Twain novel: Tom Sawyer. It was...OK.
I usually find that "classic" books are a little over-hyped.Well, as Twain himself said, a classic is a book that everyone wants to have read, and no one wants to read.
That aside, maybe try his collected short stories. Or, my personal favorite novel of his (although I've only read maybe... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 10:53 AM on July 28, 2008
DU and diogenes, I am impressed by your apparent fortitude. You guys must have stomachs made of cast iron. Kudos!
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 10:55 AM on July 28, 2008
MeFi post:
cuil kids?
Cuil, pronounced "cool"
Not by me, it's not.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 10:04 AM on July 28, 2008
MeFi post:
The Map-Happy Chaplain
I want to like this site. I don't understand why they think that their user interface is even remotely reasonable.
Just let me see the damn picture. The whole damn picture. At once. Sheesh.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 4:56 PM on July 26, 2008
MeFi post:
Scattered, Smothered, Covered and Hitched, in a Waffle House Parking Lot
Yeah, I saw this the other day on some other site, with some silly headline like "OMFG YOU GOTTA SEE THIS!!!!1!". Turns out, what, I'm supposed to look down my nose at these people? Because, what, they're too stupid to understand that they shouldn't be happy, and in fact they should be embarrassed? Is that what I'm supposed to do?
Yeah, um, thanks, but I'll pass.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 2:12 PM on July 26, 2008
languagehat (and on preview Cyrano), I think that kitchenrat was probably referring, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, to the widespread allegations of discriminatory practices by Waffle House.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 2:50 PM on July 26, 2008
MeFi post:
sex in the park
"We have to look at society's interest as well," Sprigg said. "Society does have an interest in people's private sexual behavior."
Speaking as a part of society, boy, do I ever!
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 4:15 PM on July 25, 2008
MeFi post:
Traction Park
This place was a strange combination of totally fucking insane and totally fucking awesome. My personal favorite ride was the water slide where, at the end, you shot out of a blind tunnel, at high speed, from maybe fifteen feet above the surface of a little grotto pool where other kids were swimming.
You never knew who you were going to land on, until after you had knocked them unconscious and to the bottom of the pool.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 6:57 PM on July 21, 2008
MeFi post:
Packing a Punch
Several of these pages claim that they strike with the force of a rifle bullet.
The video that clearly posted shows a crab still clearly alive, and ostensibly putting up a (futile and ineffective) show at fighting back, after literally two dozen punches.
I'm finding it hard to believe that that crab would be alive after two dozen rifle shots.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 6:10 AM on July 21, 2008
sciencepunk:Bah, that's nothing. The Pistol Shrimp can shoot fireballs.
Uh, the method of doing that is cavitation great enough to produce heat and light, which is exactly what happens here, too.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 6:14 AM on July 21, 2008
MeFi post:
Kay Ryan is the new Poet Laureate
The Wikipedia entry for the US Poet Laureate says:When Billy Collins was appointed to the position, a group of poets and critics associated with the POETICS list protested by voting for an anti-laureate. Anselm Hollo was elected to this position.Doesn't say why, though. Poking around to other entries also doesn't reveal this.
So, uh, why?
Please keep in mind, when answering, that before five minutes ago, I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 5:41 PM on July 18, 2008
MeFi post:
Penguins and more penguins.
I found that I like penguins a lot less now, after that movie taught me that they're all hardcore fundamentalist conservative Christians.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 6:15 AM on July 17, 2008
What movie was that, Flunkie?Well, I was being sarcastic, of course - I like penguins just fine* - but I was referring to "March of the Penguins".
It was very popular among the crazy subset of Christians; a lot of them say the film proves such things as "evolution is a lie", "God exists", "abortion is murder", and (I assume this last one) "faggots, Muslims, atheists, and the ACLU are responsible for 9/11... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 10:52 AM on July 17, 2008
Yes, that article. Sorry, I'm not sure how that happened. I'm pretty sure I even checked the link in preview.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 11:10 AM on July 17, 2008
MeFi post:
Don’t ask, don't tell - gays in the US military
West Point is an Officer training school - it is not for grunts and it is certainly not specifically for congressmen. I think you would find an extraordinarily different attitude there in terms of the study of the reality of war as opposed to the politics of the military. They teach both, and cadets are expected to be the elite, capable of understanding and analyzing the grey areas between. The military needs the grunts to have blind faith, but to survive as an institution subject to the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 10:00 AM on July 15, 2008
MeFi post:
Good dance moves for two right feet
McCain gets in, Joe will be on the Supreme Court...what could be better than that?
Ummmmm... strep throat?
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 6:26 PM on July 9, 2008
delmoi, filibustering doesn't really apply here. It is able to stop a bill from being passed; it is not able to make a bill pass. The people who would have been in the minority here (had not a significant number of Democrats caved) would want the bill to pass; filibustering wouldn't have helped them.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 6:30 PM on July 9, 2008
Err, unless you're saying the people who voted against the bill should've filibustered. In which case, well, there weren't enough to support a filibuster anyway.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 6:31 PM on July 9, 2008
seriously, give me one single example of how things are different ever since the democrats retook control of congress, and i'll mail you a cash reward.
The minimum wage has been increased for the first time since 1997.
How much is my cash reward? Please donate it to the American Civil Liberties Union. Thank you.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 7:03 PM on July 9, 2008
How magnanimous. I must say I am underwhelmed at your cash reward.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 7:10 PM on July 9, 2008
they had the numbers to filibuster this
No they didn't. It takes 40 votes to filibuster. They had 28.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 7:16 PM on July 9, 2008
If you were this president, and you had unlimited power to tap the phones and email of anyone you wanted without a warrant, who would you listen in on?
If I were this president? I bet that "Git-er-done" guy.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 7:57 PM on July 9, 2008
MeFi post:
Here he stands. He could not do otherwise. God help him.
But some Christians [pdf] argue that Martin Luther's anti-Semitism wasn't like Nazi anti-Semitism. Instead, the Nazis' "appeal to Luther was a post-facto justification of their anti-Semitism and not the impetus of it."
Errrr... so?
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 4:22 PM on July 8, 2008
MeFi post:
Nearer to thee....
I'm sure some of it was a reaction to the equally false teaching that poverty was always holier, but still.
Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 4:47 PM on July 7, 2008
and I should have added:
So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 4:55 PM on July 7, 2008
ProverbsThat's funny, I thought Jesus was supposed to have fulfilled the prophets, and replaced the covenant of the Old Testament with a new and everlasting covenant.
And Jesus was quite explicit; all of those that I listed were (supposedly) direct quotes of him. The poor go to heaven. The rich don't. If you don't forsake everything you own, you are not his disciple.
Sorry if you don't like that, but it's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 7:12 PM on July 7, 2008
Please, konolia. All things are possible with your god? Maybe so. But that doesn't change the fact that he directly and strongly contradicted your claim about poverty vis a vis holiness, multiple times, in multiple ways, in unequivocal terms.
As well as the fact that he said that you're not his disciple. You.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 6:34 AM on July 8, 2008
