Displaying comments 1 to 50 of 645
MeFi post:
Hey Jude
I disagree. Mortal Kombat is a very good videogame, but Donkey Kong is the best Beatles Cover ever.
(And the Breeders' version of Happiness Is A Warm Gun, as well as Sonic Youth's version of Within You Without You.)
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 7:34 PM on April 29, 2008
Oh, and don't even get me started about the Laibach version of One After 909.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 7:35 PM on April 29, 2008
I beg to differ with your disagreeing!
I submit, then, for your consideration, The Damned.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 7:50 PM on April 29, 2008
MeFi post:
Abortion as Art
Since the link doesn't work, I'm going to assume that the post describing it is completely inaccurate, and that it's actually an article about the sound leaves make in the autumn when you step on them.
Also, the word "art" has no real meaning anyway, so why get upset when someone uses it "wrong?"
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 9:25 AM on April 17, 2008
People upset or condemning this work are doing so out of an assumed framework that abortion is bad, an evil but perhaps sometimes necessary act that should be performed in a solemn, contrite manner, as if publicly bearing shame is a way to displace the sin of the act, and thereby not incur the wrath of spiritual beings.
Or, you know, maybe they're annoyed that someone would be so unoriginal as to think that a public display of self-abuse is actually... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 9:34 AM on April 17, 2008
If a fetus were viewed in a completely naturalistic way, I don't see why this should be so taboo.
Because it would still be self-abuse as spectacle.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 9:54 AM on April 17, 2008
I mean, this artist should be permitted her choice to end her pregnancy, but should do so only rarely. . . Why?
Is someone arguing that her art project should be illegal? She should be permitted to do a really dumb and offensive art project, but why should I be legally compelled to think it's a good idea, or that it has merit?
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 9:56 AM on April 17, 2008
Would more "dialog" be "sparked" by someone actually doing this than by publishing a story claiming that someone had done this?
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 10:15 AM on April 17, 2008
Or they simply do not place high value on the life of that particular animal. Like, for instance, those people who wear fur or leather jackets not because it provides them warmth during the winter, but because of its fashion. Or the people who eat meat not because they are hungry or for nutrition, but simply because it tastes good (foie gras, kobe beef, etc.)
What if they don't like the taste of meat or the look and feel of leather, but they just... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 10:58 AM on April 17, 2008
Is censorship art if it provokes a dialog?
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 12:07 PM on April 17, 2008
This makes me think of John Cage's famous 4'33" piece--except, in this version, there's some right-wing censor who cuts power to the transmitter for the exact length of time a national network news story about partisan political chicanery in Alabama is on the air.
Or if a censor banned the performance of that same piece by sending a cease-and-desist letter to Cage instructing him that, during that time frame, he was not to perform anything.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 12:20 PM on April 17, 2008
Ridiculous you may think it is, but it seems to me that people are just talking past each other.
Nonsense. Why, saulgoodman and I were just having a fascinating discussion about John Cage and the artistic importance of censorship to same.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 12:22 PM on April 17, 2008
Had these acts been real, they would have violated basic ethical standards and raised serious mental and physical health concerns.
Should we now discuss how stupid or smart Yale is for taking that position?
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 6:28 PM on April 17, 2008
MeFi post:
Housing Crisis: 1 in 33 Face Foreclosure Within 2 Years
Where the cock is this drop in value, so that I can pay less property taxes??
Try selling your house, and you'll find the drop in value.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 12:16 PM on April 17, 2008
Making someone pay and taking away something they are not paying for are two very different things. Should people who cannot afford to own a home be excused for buying one anyway and then not paying for it? Of course not. Should the government act to prevent an economic collapse caused by millions of people buying homes they could not afford and then (surprise!) not paying for them? That's a trickier question. I do not think that the government should intervene just to help people keep... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 12:37 PM on April 17, 2008
MeFi post:
Alas! regardless of their doom, the little victims play!
As cited above, we were testing nukes every day for years and years, and detonated more than the hypothetical limited nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
And then, once we had apparently done all that damage to the Ozone layer with our nuclear weapons, they came and told us all it was our fault for using spray bottles and driving cars with air conditioning.
And they do the same thing with CO2 emissions as well. They tell us that it's our... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 2:10 PM on April 9, 2008
MeFi post:
CIFA? GYOICFW
But we can't shut it down now! We're spending money on it! Once a government program is in place, no matter how wasteful, ill-advised, or even evil, it would be unfair to shut it down! Think of all of the people who would lose their jobs! And what would we do with all that extra money!?!?
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 1:50 PM on April 3, 2008
MeFi post:
Hammer Time
Answers:
1. To hammer in the morning.
2. To hammer in the evening.
3. To hammer out danger
4. To hammer out a warning
5. To hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 12:50 AM on April 3, 2008
MeFi post:
Veganizing Anthony Bourdain
Anyone with a morality based around something so petty as maximizing the good sensations you get in your mouth as the stuff that keeps you moving passes through it for a few brief seconds deserves as many thorns in his side as space allows.
Wait, you think that eating good food is what his morality is based around? Or what any non-vegan's morality is based around?
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 1:24 PM on March 25, 2008
Meh. He dislikes militant vegetarians for the same reason that Kimi Raikkonen or Lewis Hamilton would dislike people who incessantly tell them that they are bad people because they burn fossil fuels or suggest that they could go just as fast in a hybrid or electric car. Not that Bourdain is as good a chef as Raikkonen or Hamilton are drivers, but, you know.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 2:18 PM on March 25, 2008
I find it kind of repulsive that an animal must die for me to have a proper breakfast and a happy day.
See, this is the part I don't really understand. Why is it repulsive that an animal should die for a human to eat it? Is it repulsive that an animal should die for another animal to eat it? I am not big on blood and gore, and the slaughterhouse grosses me out as much as the next person, but the idea that humans have an ethical or moral duty not... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 4:24 PM on March 25, 2008
Which animals? any animal? Where do you draw the line?
Which animals do I think it is morally acceptable for humans to eat? Any of them. I prefer to eat the ones that taste good and with which I did not have any emotional attachment before they were turned into food, but that's not a moral or ethical thing. There is certainly an emotional bond that keeps people in some cultures from eating their dog or their horse, and there is an aversion to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 4:47 PM on March 25, 2008
Dantien, why draw a moral line based on "reasoning powers?" Why should that, morally, be part of the equation? Moreover, the idea that it is immoral to eat a human is also a belief that is, as far as I know, not empirically testable. Which is fine -- I believe that it is immoral to kill people, and I will readily admit that that belief (as well as many of my other unrelated beliefs) is not empirically falsifiable.
Where do you draw the line and why?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 5:39 PM on March 25, 2008
You can't "empirically prove" ethics, because it's not a scientific theory. This does not mean you can't have rational or well-reasoned ethics, based on the logical conclusions and situational variations of your beliefs. Nor does it mean you can't come up with a reasonable basis for ethics (just as you can for religion) in basic concepts such as group cooperation, social contracts, utilitarianism, etc. But the basis of ethics is that certain things have value and meaning --... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 5:44 PM on March 25, 2008
I have no idea why you were arguing points that no one disagrees with so vehemently
I was never arguing. Not everything you read on the internet is an argument.
and I find it bizarre that you singled out vegetarianism
Well, it's a thread about vegetarians. Start a thread about Star Wars fanaticism, and maybe I'll pop in there, too.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 5:54 PM on March 25, 2008
Part of my point is that vegetarianism is a faith that not all of us share, and that those who do have that faith and those who do not have that faith should recognize that fact and not fight about their faith.
Are you arguing that animals don't suffer, or don't have the capacity for suffering?
No. I'm not arguing at all. I'm pointing out in part that vegetarians who believe that eating animals is morally wrong are making a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 6:06 PM on March 25, 2008
Calling the single ethical belief under discussion "the unscientific opinion of a trendy peer group" is inflammatory language.
Sorry if it seemed inflammatory. I have no doubt that my impression of vegetarians is colored by my own cultural experiences.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 6:10 PM on March 25, 2008
I agree, kyrademon. I also think that it is important and essential to the progress of civil society that religion not be taken off the table in civilized discussion. But whether the discussion is about Star Wars, abortion, religion, atheism, or vegetarians, I think it's a good idea to remember throughout the discussion that what is being discussed is often (though apparently not in the case of klangklangston) a matter of faith, and that discussing it isn't going to be as logical, emperical,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 6:56 PM on March 25, 2008
Your point can describe some variations of vegetarianism, most obviously those variations predicated upon a religious belief, but does not describe mine. Therefore, your point is wrong.
That does not follow. If I'm not trying to describe you, don't tell me I'm not describing you correctly.
Well, except that there are moral arguments that have nothing to do with religion, like utilitarian arguments.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 7:15 PM on March 25, 2008
I object strongly to anyone who says my diet is based on faith, for example
Why?
In my opinion, the problem many veggies have with non-veggies is the greater level of hypocrisy evident in their dietary habits.
Normally I really get annoyed when someone is chastised for being "judgmental" (why isn't anyone chastised for judging someone in a positive way?). But come on.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 10:25 AM on March 26, 2008
So, when you said that non-vegetarians have a "greater level of hypocrisy," you intended to imply that a "greater level of hypocrisy" is not necessarily a bad thing?
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 12:42 PM on March 26, 2008
I hold no thought that being vegetarian makes me morally superior to anyone.
Look, you do hold the thought that being vegetarian makes you less hypocritical than everyone who is not a vegetarian, and to differentiate that from thinking you're morally superior is really splitting hairs.
"Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: "Because the animals are like us." Ask the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 1:02 PM on March 26, 2008
My ethical framework, to which I subscribe, is not only well reasoned and thought out, but consistent, non-hypocritical, and pretty much complete
Humble, too.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 3:11 PM on March 26, 2008
starting a sentence with "I absolutely do not buy", if you mean this as you wrote it, perhaps makes you someone unwilling to consider an alternate viewpoint?
Not at all. I am quite willing to consider an alternate viewpoint, and I do all the time. A willingness to consider an alternate viewpoint does not mean that I cannot, having considered a viewpoint, conclude that it is disingenuous. If I said that I can fly like Superman, and you... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 3:19 PM on March 26, 2008
I had a really good baked potato the other day. It was a free range potato, so it's ok.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 4:12 PM on March 26, 2008
I don't have a venn diagram to prove it, but I'm pretty sure the set of "militant vegans" and the set of "idiot" can intersect at some point to include the subset of "militant vegan idiots."
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 5:25 PM on March 27, 2008
MeFi post:
Rank Not Lest Ye Be Ranked
Interesting, but I'm not sure who this really helps. Few are going to attend Boalt over Yale as a result, because graduates of the latter will continue to be the more valued among employers...
According to Vault, the reason their rankings are different than US News is that they only asked employers, rather than weighing the opinions of Harvard and Yale professors as US News does. Harvard and Yale are the more valued in academia.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 12:55 PM on March 26, 2008
I suspect these rankings don't really show us as much as they seem to in terms of which graduates are more likely to get hired.
Maybe someone should look at the websites of the top 100 law firms in the country and make a chart of what schools the associates came from, as well as a list of what schools the partners came from. No need to ask anyone's opinion on that -- just find out who hired whom.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 1:05 PM on March 26, 2008
Has anyone looked at whether a student who goes to a more highly ranked school does better in life than if they had not?
Yes, lots of people have. There is, of course, a problem when it comes to defining "does better in life."
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 6:16 PM on March 26, 2008
The Vault rankings themselves include statistics on employment post-graduation, etc. There are lots of resources for average starting salaries from the various schools. I don't think anyone seriously questions that it is far easier to get a high-paying legal job for a Yale Law grad at the middle of her class than for a Santa Clara Law grad at the middle of her class.
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 6:39 PM on March 26, 2008
Would someone who graduated at the top of Santa Clara law, who might have graduated at the middle of Yale, do better?
No.
Also what would the effect be of Yale's fee's against the fees of Santa Clara in future?
Yale Law's tuition is $44,000 a year. Santa Clara's is $35,250. A Yale Law degree, in strictly earnings potential terms, is worth far more than a mere $30,000 difference... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by The World Famous
at 10:39 AM on March 27, 2008
