Point me to even one man who can tell the difference. Or cares.

Tiresias
posted to MetaFilter by Joey Michaels at 4:43 PM on August 27, 2008

The greatest advances in emergency medicine, particularly the treatment of trauma, generally come from war zones. That's because the chess game between force protection and antipersonnel warfare results in new and challenging injuries, often in great numbers. Wars also produce tremendous amounts of primary, secondary and tertiary blast injury, gunshot wounds, and secondary shrapnel injury.

All of these wound modalities, all of them, are entirely... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scrump at 7:37 PM on August 5, 2008

This is not Harvard-specific. Across the academy, a generation of monsters has arisen that sees literally everything through the lens of the marketplace. The idea that there are transcendent values or that there is an institutional integrity that surpasses the entitlement of the individual is, frankly, dead. I choked the first time I received an emailed protestation from a (state school) student that began: "As a consumer, I expect..." I imagined Socrates... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 8:16 AM on August 5, 2008

This hits me personally for a couple of reasons.

A long time (over 25 years) ago, I was the at the controls of a freight train when, coming around a curve, I saw a custom van parked square cross the tracks in my headlight. I tossed the brake valve into emergency, dumped sand and laid on the horn. We were traveling a little over 40 MPH at impact. Seared in my brain is the image of a young man looking out the driver's window at me, terrified, in the last two seconds of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pjern at 12:32 PM on July 21, 2008

"... China is raping Africa, economically, because they can, because there's not enough motivation for the rest of the world to blow the whistle. ..." [emphasis added]
posted by allkindsoftime at 6:47 AM on July 20

What, exactly, do you mean by "blow the whistle," allkindsoftime? What do you imagine could be done to compel China to do anything differently in Africa or anywhere... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by paulsc at 8:24 AM on July 20, 2008

Step 1: Educate yourself about what human language is.

When we speak (English), air passes from the lungs, up through the vocal tract, and out of the mouth (the fancy term for this is pulmonic egressive). All human speech sounds are made by manipulating this air using the various articulators along the vocal tract, such as the lips, teeth, tongue, the top of your mouth, and the vocal folds--the linked chart simply maps all of the sounds by which of these articulators... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by holympus at 11:25 PM on July 17, 2008

Hmm, this thread seems like an appropriate place to link to my current obsession, yvettesbridalformal.com.
posted to MetaFilter by arcanecrowbar at 1:19 PM on July 8, 2008

Oh, one more thing: if you haven't read Richard Adams' Watership Down yet, I might recommend you do so as you're going on with this project. One of the layers of the book that I find fascinating is that the characters themselves tell both the literal and subtle stories about themselves (who they are, why they do things, what their forerunners accomplished, their place in the world) to each other, and as the book goes on, it becomes more obvious how these stories interplay with the overarching... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by weston at 12:25 PM on July 5, 2008

"... He's not just moderated his position, but he's flipped on a critical issue for no discernable political advantage, and he's lying about why he's doing it and the effects it will have on all of us. I'm still voting for him, in case you haven't been reading the rest of what I said, but I can't buy his bullshit anymore. ..."
posted by krinklyfig at 3:42 PM on July 4

“You know, somehow, 'I told you so' just doesn't quite cut it.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by paulsc at 2:00 PM on July 4, 2008

Thirding 'channel fever'. It's not quite the same thing as you're looking for, though.

People's emotional state tends to go through phases at roughly the same speeds, give or take, and we have a term for when everyone is at everyone else's throat at sea. That time when, if that guy says that same inane catch phrase just one more fucking time, you're going to stab him. Or if one more person can't stack the plates with the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by ctmf at 10:32 PM on June 30, 2008

I am one of those people, I have them.
I've seen you express carefully examined and well-thought-out opinions from time to time, but this is not one of them. I shall try again. Let's leave aside the matter of the US Supreme Court specifically making a declaration to the effect that copyright infringement is not theft, at least in American law (but what would the USSC know about American law?), and rely instead on elementary... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by aeschenkarnos at 9:25 PM on June 24, 2008

But if this has become the only area where the U.S.ofA. is freer than any other country, I say Death to America.

Fortunately, it isn't.
posted to MetaFilter by Class Goat at 1:17 PM on June 11, 2008

I can feel it
Posting in the blue
Tonight
Oh Maaatt
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 2:04 PM on May 29, 2008

Most people (including me) accept killing animals for what seems fairly weak reason (my, they're tasty!).

That's only weak if you find nature itself immoral, or consider humans not to be part of it. All animals kill and eat other animals, or other plants, or both. Humans are omnivores. To claim we're evolving somewhere "better than that" is part of the same specious modernism that has at different times called sex base and animalistic,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by msalt at 12:47 PM on May 31, 2008

I think the success of Martin Luther King and Ghandi might have something to do with this impression.

Bad examples, both. First off, MLK wasn't out to change political systems; he was a reformist, seeking change within the system. Further, it's doubtful whether MLK would have been as successful as he was without other blacks who were perfectly willing to use violence. Without the threat of insurrection, King would have been in a much weaker position.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pope Guilty at 3:24 AM on May 27, 2008

i was gonna leave this one alone...

You see lupus_yonderboy, you're missing one important thing. The good I wish for is not that all our young men and women should suddenly become cynical, and stop trusting their country, their leaders and their government. The sadness I feel is because the trust that these young men and women who give their lives for what they have been misled into believing is a just cause has been broken.

The sadness i feel... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by billyfleetwood at 2:46 AM on May 25, 2008

When the Salvation Army started giving aid to children orphaned by military casualties, they really ruined my favorite charity.
posted to MetaFilter by roll truck roll at 5:16 PM on May 21, 2008

You totally don't understand the 40k ethos, and probably like sappy Dan Abnett books where everyone is all nicey-nice to each other and it all turns out in the end. It has to be Nazis against chaos Nazis, because the grim future of the dark world of the ONLY WARness is that future space nazis are as good as it gets. Everything else is EVEN WORSE.
posted to MetaFilter by Artw at 9:29 PM on May 18, 2008

I'd like to tell this Brendan don't preach -- Africa's in trouble now. Yes, helping Africa may be the vogue right now. But for Madonna that's just how she wants to express herself. And certainly for at least a few, that help is a ray of light. Let's face it, those people aren't exactly having a holiday over there -- lots of them are borderline starving. Sure, some of them are probably totally like, who's that girl? But I'll bet lots of others thank their lucky stars and cherish the attention she... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 5:06 PM on May 16, 2008

I became obsessed with the idea of Neuro-linguistic programming when I first heard about it, I wanted to be all Snow Crash and use my cleverness to force a state change in those around me.

But it never seemed to work, at least, not at first. I would walk up to people, grab their hand and say "Hi! I'm quin. Give me your wallet!" all while smiling broadly.

Most of the time they just seemed confused and pulled away from me, resisting my... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by quin at 10:33 AM on May 12, 2008

That is definitely not behavior Jesus would approve of, much less behaviour acceptable under the Constitution. There are bullies that try to use the Bible as an excuse, and I have no use for that whatsoever.

And what would Jesus say about the current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy as it applies to the U.S. military these days? Did he ever denigrate or condemn gays/lesbians in his sermons and teachings?

BTW -- I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ericb at 9:29 PM on April 26, 2008

If King really meant what he said, he'd allow Rage to be published in the states again.
posted to MetaFilter by Lentrohamsanin at 1:13 PM on April 9, 2008

Just to be perfectly clear: in no way do I mean fuck these men. They deserve nothing but respect and a quiet thought.

A bit late for that, isn't it item?

My guy... his country did more than call, they drafted his ass and as Springsteen wrote "sent him off to a foreign land, to go a kill the yellow man."

Eugene Handrahan. Never knew him, but I wore his (randomly assigned) POW bracelet... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by three blind mice at 3:55 AM on April 2, 2008

daveg -- "I don't believe that a business has a moral imperative."

Wow harsh! I'd have to disagree here; business do have a moral code to adhere to, that of the society in which they're operating. A business must be a responsible citizen, first and foremost, before they are a successful enterprise. These principles seem to have been lost to some extent in lending that took place... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mutant at 7:54 AM on March 27, 2008

Gah. Browser window resizing and Windows Media Player?

Fortunately, the BBC also uploaded the clip to YouTube.
posted to MetaFilter by pzarquon at 10:00 AM on February 10, 2008

I can't imagine what a libertarian convention must be like

Something tells me there's a conch involved.
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 7:35 AM on January 16, 2008

Thanks, guys

My lack of damage isn't proof....nobody examined my car, I just happened not to make a claim. And the 5-10mph story is my story. Not sure what those guys told them.

But I'm surely worrying needlessly. Worst case scenario, they make a claim and settle with Geico for $20K.

Actually, this happened once before...even more egregiously. Many years ago I was parallel parking SLOWLY on a busy street. I got out of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jimmyjimjim at 9:28 AM on December 20, 2007

In general, HTIBs are inferior to separates. And at $500, you're not going to get a very good setup, in absolute terms. That said, Onkyo is one of the best options in that market and pricepoint; for $500, you will not likely do much better, unless you go used.

If you want it now, you want it new, and you want to spend only $500, that's just about the best possible choice.

If we change your givens a bit, there are other options... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Malor at 3:27 AM on March 22, 2007 marked best answer

I still think this is funny as hell, and often have reasons to agree with it, but the kind of durrr, excersize is dumb attitude held by otherwise inquisitive and intelligent people is just, well, dumb.

Very well put, there.

My own take on this is that the simple, unselfconscious exuberance of physical exertion threatens people who use irony and sarcasm to distance themselves from the world. You can't do a big lift... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jason's_planet at 11:38 AM on December 7, 2007

What the guy (and Dalrymple) misses is *why* some people get addicted and why others don't. What they also miss is that this is a tiny proportion of the population, even with lots of stress and widely available heroin.

During the Viet Nam war, 50% of American soldiers tried heroin or opium, only 10% continued to use it once they returned home and only 1% became long-term addicts. The same statistic holds for pain treatment-- even with people exposed long... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Maias at 1:34 PM on September 22, 2007

Feasibility is a matter of defining your premises, if you predicate the economic structure of society as it is now and insert the horse, than no, it’s not going to work.

But here it is in a nutshell:
“during the great changeover to mechanization from 1930 to 1950, capital investment in farm machinery increased 350 percent.”

What’s that Lakota curse about not being able to eat money?

It’s probable we can’t... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Smedleyman at 8:06 AM on September 4, 2007

The best way to find the gun that fits any person's hand is to test fit the guns, and to know what you're looking for. I'm going to babble on for quite a while here, so I hope you'll stick it out to the end.

There are two major considerations in buying a handgun: trigger reach, and trigger pull. These are the two factors that largely determine how well a particular person can fire a particular gun.

The other, lesser, factors are the manual of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by doorsnake at 10:08 AM on August 31, 2007

A least the children who won't get blood transfusions as a result of this lawsuit won't cry while their hair is washed.
posted to MetaFilter by srboisvert at 11:17 AM on August 9, 2007

“Note to anyone stupid enough to believe the old chestnut about defending yourself from your own government...” - chuckdarwin

And your experiance with any kind of firearms is? Any military experiance, at all? Picked up a history book? Know anything about basic policing?

Note to anyone stupid enough to posit the old strawman chestnut about your government hitting it’s own population with airstrikes or assaulting neighborhoods with puff the magic... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Smedleyman at 12:03 PM on July 27, 2007

krinklyfig, capitalism is a few hundred years old. If it's against human nature, that suggests that humans didn't become humans until the post-mercantilist era.
posted to MetaFilter by Pope Guilty at 10:41 AM on July 19, 2007

Do you love Harry Potter, but think you're too old and too awesome to be seen reading the books?

We have the solution, my friend. Print these out and you can safely read your Potter in front of all those ex Navy SEALS at the local strip club.
posted to MetaFilter by puke & cry at 7:00 PM on July 17, 2007

Right after I moved away from my childhood home, across the country, the cat I had grown up with my entire life become very ill and had to be put to sleep. I had a feeling this was coming when I left home, and was able to say goodbye to her in my way. My father called to tell me the news some days after it had happened, and I was pretty comfortable with it. However, a couple of days later he sent me this email, which I saved, because I felt it put into words quite perfectly the attitude we have... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by autojack at 7:48 PM on July 15, 2007

Corporate oligarchy knows no party.
posted to Ask Metafilter by and hosted from Uranus at 10:44 AM on July 5, 2007

Everyone we are suppose to trust to operate for the common good is under suspicion. Part of the problem is a perception of different levels of accountability, part of the problem is high profile cases of abuse of power.

In the case of the TSA, I suspect the problem is neither of those things. Rather, it's that people don't view the TSA as a helpful, important, on-the-level security agency, they view it as a theater troupe that forces air travelers to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by aaronetc at 11:14 AM on June 18, 2007

freebird: What makes this guy a Beast?

His side lost.
posted to MetaFilter by LordSludge at 7:28 PM on June 6, 2007

saulgoodman: There's no such thing as power. It's a shell game, an illusion, a lie used to sell things, motivate people to lay down their lives, and otherwise keep things moving.

You really ought to read Andrew Schmookler's parable of the tribes. The meaning of "power," a concept central to this entire work, needs to be explored. Power may be defined as the capacity to achieve one's will against the will of another. The exercise of power... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by russilwvong at 9:21 PM on June 8, 2007

I think somebody should set up an information site to teach kids how to handle shitty parents. Some useful starting categories:

The Whiner.
Mrs. My kids will achieve the things that I never did.
Mr. Mmmmm. You're growing up to be a big bonny girl.
The Out and out bastard.
Grandma Guilt-trip

etc.
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott at 2:05 AM on May 9, 2007

Okay. Maybe she doesn't know her history very well. And maybe throwing around words like fascism is not particularly helpful.

But we ARE becoming increasingly intolerant of the principles required for liberty to flourish. I think that is a fact.

Maybe it's time we just admitted it. We don't really want a free society. It's too much work.

It has to support too many complicated and contradictory ideas to succeed well... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by tkchrist at 12:37 PM on April 24, 2007

provided that they live them locked in the car in the parking lot

What a dumb idea. So now we will have thousands more stolen firearms on the streets.

What a predictable knee-jerk cluster fuck this thread has become.

Peter McDermott suggested fixing our police force. Okay. Exactly. Yes. Let's start there.

But what you, and our European friends (and our white upper middle... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by tkchrist at 6:27 PM on April 22, 2007

I am a lefty who argues for owning guns. Why?

>the right wing is heavily armed
>the cops and military are heavily armed
>criminals are heavily armed
>the veneer of civilization is paper thin...LA, Katrina, 9/11
>the gun laws are not observed by criminals
>mofos will kill you for your pocket change

I heard an anti-gun advocate on the radio say Americans are afraid of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by aiq at 12:38 PM on April 20, 2007

your revolution

your revolution will not happen between these thighs
your revolution will not happen between these thighs

the real revolution
ain't about booty size
the Versaces you buys
or the Lexus you drives

and though we've lost Biggie Smalls
your Notorious revolution
will never allow you to lace no
lyrical douche in my... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 1:40 PM on April 20, 2007

That leaves race.

Uh huh. You go ahead and dwell on that, then, while the rest of us laugh at the fact that some woman delivered a frank and clearly bitter sexual tirade with her mother on a public access television show called VAGINA POWER.
posted to MetaFilter by katillathehun at 11:02 PM on April 17, 2007

And it’s not soy milk it’s soy juice. There’s no soy teat.
*Lewisblackfilter*

Had some raw milk when I was in Amish country. Some great sausage too. And rode some horses. I basically felt like a Mongol for a bit there. But I can see how people get touchy about this. If you like milk (and I do) and you don’t want all sorts of industrial garbage and hormones in it (and I don’t) I can see where you could become the dairy equivalent of a moonshine runner.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Smedleyman at 1:24 PM on April 11, 2007

I have a cousin who is 14 years older than me. I absolutely adored him when I was small (we lived in the same neighborhood when I was in kindergarten through fourth grade), he often picked me up from school, took me to the beach, bought me all kinds of toys and even a puppy and he was funny and handsome and all my friends loved him because he treated us as equals and not as little kids. All of my memories of him are happy. He never once acted inappropriately towards me or made me feel... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Wroksie at 1:56 AM on April 10, 2007

Total BS. For all the reasons listed above, especially: gaijin being welcomed (apparently, over the course of a few days) into the Japanese underworld? That's what horny white american boys dream about after watching The Fast and the Furious III: Tokyo Drift. Do as menace303 suggests and ask him for random bits of info, like street names where they rode their rice rockets or the prefectures where these "pools" were located.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by krippledkonscious at 2:30 AM on April 5, 2007