our Jewish brother and sisters, God bless 'em

Oh man. The part where she smarmed to Biden how his wife's reward was in heaven because she was a teacher nearly made me retch. In my dream universe (you know, the one where Samuel L. Jackson shows up in the Couric interview to yell "Newspapers, motherfucker -- DO YOU READ THEM?"), Biden snaps back "my wife's reward is in my pants, you nitwit, now shitcan the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by scody at 8:25 PM on October 2, 2008

After last night's debate, Sarah Palin earned an impressive endorsement from a famous person.
posted to MetaFilter by madamjujujive at 5:10 PM on October 3, 2008

No. You're not only not going to do that viral astroturfing shit here, I forbid you from doing it anywhere. This is now the seventh time (I've been keeping track) that I've heard the republican spin that the housing crisis is caused by Hispanics/black/minorities/poor. A memo must have gone out the night Paulson proposed the plan because jowly white douchebags from all over are all simultaneously on board with the same talking points.

Let me be perfectly clear. It is... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Pastabagel at 8:39 AM on September 30, 2008

My most memorable cab ride took place back in 1990, when I was still going to school out in Pennsylvania. I was walking through a sketchy neighborhood after hanging out with some friends, not really paying attention to where I was going, when I was confronted by a couple of tough-looking guys who told me to hand over my wallet. Long story short, I got roughed up a bit and they took off with all of my money. I found a pay phone and called my mom, who was furious. (She was already having second... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by designbot at 8:58 AM on September 29, 2008

If Biden--putting his foot in his mouth as he seems somewhat wont to do when speaking off-the-cuff (remember when he called Obama "articulate"?)--ever said something like this, I think it'd kill my vote.

So never mind the billions of dollars Biden set aside for the Violence Against Women Act. He says something stupid off the cuff, that trumps his voting record, which is one of the most pro-women in the Congress?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Astro Zombie at 12:53 PM on August 29, 2008

A lot of us pray for the mercy of God to be poured out on this country because we know just how much we deserve judgement.

...and then we go into the ballot box, and we vote to keep the hungry unfed, and we vote to keep the unclothed naked, and we vote to keep those sick and in prison unvisited, and we vote to keep strangers unwelcome, and we vote for neverending war.
posted to MetaFilter by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:16 PM on August 30, 2008

I have been following this story since it broke via this thread. I have followed it rabidly over the past 72 hours.

Yeah, I'm glued to the Internet like my grandma watching Days of Our Lives. I'm all like, hush y'all, Bookhouse's stories are on.
posted to MetaFilter by Bookhouse at 10:54 AM on September 2, 2008

I mean, holds the same opinion as me on the sanctity of human life.

Which is what? And how does that apply politically? Someone can believe abortion is wrong AND that the government doesn't have any right to ban it.
posted to MetaFilter by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:14 AM on September 4, 2008

Um, what? I took 5 years and one summer to graduate. What's wrong with that?

I'll tell you exactly what's wrong with that:

If you loved your country, during those five and a half years, you would've been a POW.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie at 4:02 PM on September 4, 2008

Look, no matter who grabs the brass ring in November, the world won't come to an end. I have lived too long and seen too many elections and survived too many Presidents of varying calibers...we will be all right.

Your comment made me cry .... Because, you see, I don't think we will be. Here, in my own life, I don't think we will be. We just can't stand four (or eight) more years of this.

Between the two of us, my husband and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by anastasiav at 10:14 PM on September 9, 2008

Looks like Palin reached her base after all.

No. She's a frigg'n hero. Because SHE WON'T BEND!

Now do you get me, here?

Look these so called "values-voters" have minds like small children. MINE! MINE! MINE!

And it's precisely how the GOP treats them. They use endless repetition of carefully phrased single-syllable highly emotional catch phrases. They remove any... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by tkchrist at 1:32 PM on September 10, 2008

I know the Republicans are running from Bush, but the Democrats need to remind people that the Republicans were in control for most of his administration. Republican president. Republican House. Republican Senate. Republican Supreme Court. Republican war in Iraq. Republican failure with Hurricane Katrina. We already know what will happen with the Republicans in charge.

Heart's Nancy Wilson responds to McCain campaign's use of 'Barracuda' at Republican convention: Sarah... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kirkaracha at 8:02 AM on September 5, 2008

Yeah? Well, look at this fucking candidate. McCain's bitch ass blackberry don't mean shit against this sweet mother fucker.
posted to MetaFilter by cimbrog at 1:13 PM on September 16, 2008

Sarah Silverman: The Great Schlep
posted to MetaFilter by keli at 3:07 PM on September 25, 2008

Maybe when McCain is done fixing the economy President Bush can go fix the Large Hadron Collider.
posted to MetaFilter by Optimus Chyme at 1:04 PM on September 24, 2008

I am in a rather weird position. I'm connected (by marriage) to the Republican party functionaries in this state... for a good chunk of my early married life, I was actually a Democrat, whose husband at that time was active in the local Democratic party. (yes, same husband. The party changed, not him. Thanks for asking.)

What's odd about this last long comment, konolia, is that you're not talking about you. You're talking about your husband, as... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 7:55 AM on September 19, 2008

I lost my own brother to suicide. Carting around "Infinite Jest" on the subways of NYC in the weeks afterward had a kind of talismanic effect. The appraisals abounding on the Internet today are correct to say that he was brave, that his work had heart, that he eschewed the depthlessness and shoulder-shrugging of the postmodern establishment. That's why I lost myself, and loved to be so, in "Infinite Jest."

I met him in New York City. January 2006,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by foodbedgospel at 8:18 PM on September 14, 2008

plexi: Is Jeff Koons a fraud?

This is his annoying trick. So long as you ponder that question, he's not a fraud. It's been, what, ninety years since the toilet?

I guess you're asking: is he saying anything? Leaving aside whether that question even makes any sense any more, it's pretty clear that the only content Koons' art has beyond a kind of sunny optimism and idiotic giggle-inducing camp is the bare... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by koeselitz at 3:58 PM on September 11, 2008

According to Prophecy the Messiah which the Goyim worship will reveil himself as the Anti-Christ plunging the remanence of the free world into a Satanic totalitarian one world government headed by an unaccountable extension of the UN bringing depths of exploitation and inhumane barbarity upon mankind for a millennium.

But that's just nitpicking, isn't it?
posted to MetaFilter by ColdChef at 7:02 PM on September 7, 2008

One last thing. Someone on the McCain team has already anticipated the connection between Moses/Joshua and King/Obama. It's what was driving that weird ad from last month. People recognized the creepy messianic overtones and rightly saw it as a dogwhistle to the evangelical right. The use of Charlton Heston as Moses crossing the Red Sea was meant to inoculate evangelicals against recognizing in Obama the realization of Dr. King's legacy. Irresponsibly, the McCain campaign raised the imagery... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 12:27 AM on August 29, 2008

Anybody know where I can get just the audio? Maybe the audio for a bunch of Obama speeches?

American Rhetoric has a bunch. Click through to each one for WMV videos and downloadable mp3s.
posted to MetaFilter by Happy Dave at 4:33 AM on August 29, 2008

Biden is a fantastic choice, and ironically for a lot of the reasons people see as a negative.

In simplest terms, Joe Biden is an enormous asshole. And frankly, I love him for it. He's the type of asshole who's an asshole because he knows, right out of the gate, that he's smarter than you, that he knows more about a subject, and that he actually has the right idea about something. And damn it people it's time to finally try having someone who's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by XQUZYPHYR at 4:03 AM on August 23, 2008

Yeah, that's pretty offensive but he seems to have been talking about individuals who tortured him for years and beat him nearly to death. Got anything else?

Maybe you should reread my post again and let me know where I said anything about McCain being a racist. You're not quite explaining what you're thinking but my guess is that you think because of the "triumph for racism" thing, that it means that McCain would then have to be a racist.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by cashman at 3:27 PM on August 23, 2008

Alright, guess I gotta be the one to transcribe this shit:



Punch 'em in the dick
(What)
Punch 'em in the dick
(What)
Fuckers talk shit
I'ma punch 'em in the dick
(Bow!)
Punch 'em in the diiiiick
Punch 'em in the diiiiick
Motherfuckers talk shit
I'ma punch 'em in the dick

Yo look at that... [more]
posted to MeFi Music by dgaicun at 8:31 AM on August 5, 2008

This is a very, very bad idea.

Start with this: Zinn's A People's History of the United States isn't "quite accurate." It is factually correct, in that it is well-documented. Most people fall for this little trick, and accept the unspoken premise: that a well-documented history presents a complete history.

The true inaccuracy of Howard Zinn's book starts... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by koeselitz at 4:50 PM on August 20, 2008

"While you were gone I had a chance to think about where this might be headed..."

I was once on the receiving end of a similar "just not that into you" one-sided breakup, and to this day I still say it was the best breakup I ever had. The guy handled it nobly and masterfully and he should give lessons in how to do it. He emphasized a few points which helped it go down easier:

1. There's certainly nothing wrong with you - we... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Miko at 1:02 PM on April 14, 2008

Why do you think it's so common for women to fake orgasms?

I don't know if all women fake orgasms. In Portugal, for instance, it would be considered silly and slightly demeaning for the man - as if he somehow needed that sort of reassurance.

Sex is a lot more honest here. If you come, you come. If you don't, you don't. No big deal. There's certainly no discussion afterwards about "how good it was for you".... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by MiguelCardoso at 8:13 PM on August 19, 2002

Turkeys are fucking incredible.

AWESOME TURKEY FACTS: They can fly up to 50 mph. They eat snakes. Females can reproduce asexually. They are smart as shit: in the presence of a predator (i.e., a human, because who is going to fuck with a turkey?) they will manipulate lines of sight to avoid the interloper by, say, walking behind a tree, and then moving directly away from the predator for some distance. You won't even know he's gone until he's a mile away: "How long... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by synaesthetichaze at 5:29 PM on October 24, 2007

You really shouldn't post the key on metafilter--matt might get in trouble.
posted to MetaFilter by 09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0 at 8:46 PM on May 1, 2007

How, exactly, do we all know this? (NB: honest question)
posted by MarshallPoe at 11:54 AM on August 8

Because at this stage in history, all conflicts are over scarce resources. The ascendance of China and India more than doubles the number of people competing for the resources that 15 years ago were consumed primarily by North Americans, Europeans, and the Japanese.

Oil and energy are not the only resources.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pastabagel at 9:39 AM on August 8, 2008

I think this entire debate is based on a wholly false premise. Namely, that marriage even means anything any more.

Well, there are significant benefits that accrue to married couples that unmarried couples don't receive: "Filing joint income tax returns with the IRS and state taxing authorities.

Creating a 'family partnership' under federal tax laws, which allows you to divide business income among family members.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ericb at 3:19 PM on July 30, 2008

Applemeat, English major, sums up 19th century literature for you:

A guy's upset because his sister's not a virgin anymore; somebody gets run over by a buggy; everybody is coughing, and nobody has any money.
posted to MetaFilter by applemeat at 11:34 AM on July 28, 2008

Of Madmen and Martyrs
posted to MetaFilter by homunculus at 11:43 AM on July 28, 2008

I actually agree with Blazecock Pileon...
posted by Krrrlson

BEHOLD THE UNIFYING POWER OF SCIENTOLOGY!
posted to MetaTalk by Alvy Ampersand at 5:45 AM on July 27, 2008

Birthday paradox
posted to MetaFilter by yoyo_nyc at 12:46 PM on July 20, 2008

one with almost no legislative track record
posted to MetaFilter by anthill at 6:43 PM on July 14, 2008

The people who insist that you be proud of your country without actually doing anything to make it something to be proud of are the least patriotic of all. America isn't automatically better than other countries merely by existing and having a certain flag flying over it; it's better if and only if we continue to demand much of ourselves. And frankly, merely walking our talk would accomplish about 90% of that. What Michelle said were the words of a mature, thoughtful citizen, as opposed to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by George_Spiggott at 8:12 PM on July 13, 2008

PBS | Nova: Manhattanhenge.

Manhattan Solstice"The Manhattan street grid is angled 30 degrees east from geographic north. [I]n May...and July...this angle results in a sunset at the end of every cross-street."How Far from True North are the Avenues of Manhattan?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ericb at 7:56 PM on July 11, 2008

My vote: err on the side of the most charitable interpretation.

That's only half of the equation. For true interoperability you must be careful with what you send and generous with what you receive.
posted to MetaTalk by tkolar at 12:46 PM on July 9, 2008

This comparison of Linux filesytems might help people to understand the issues.
posted to MetaFilter by sien at 9:39 PM on July 7, 2008

but none of which are particularly satisfactory along the line of answering the question, "can this happen here?"

Yes, it can totally happen here, despite whatever policies or written docs might be easy to find on the site. All it takes is one asshole mod deciding to fling shit. But as Jess said , the mods really seem to like the site and are actively involved in it, so they don't have much incentive to do that.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Brandon Blatcher at 12:22 PM on July 2, 2008

They're really digging themselves into a hole.

Also known as unclimbing out of the unsky.
posted to MetaFilter by Blazecock Pileon at 3:00 PM on July 1, 2008

In the next issue of Vanity Fair, armed Christian thugs will invade his home, kill his family, destroy his most precious possessions, tear up the floorboards of his house looking for treasure and then refuse to leave, all the while subjecting him to recitations of pithy bon mots penned by the morally bankrupt.
posted to MetaFilter by felix betachat at 9:51 AM on July 2, 2008

Here's a true story about how awesome Pixar is.

As some of you know, when the trailer first came out, my girlfriend, Courtney, burst into tears at the trailer. She was emabrrassed but somewhat amused by this, as so she made a video of herself watching the trailer on her computer, knowing she would start crying every time that little robot said his own name.

After a few months, she started to get trickles of emails from people at Pixar who said... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Astro Zombie at 12:18 PM on July 1, 2008

Why does jazz, the style with the most consistently empty lyrics that almost never moves past personal relationships and troubles, get put on a pedestal?

The only way someone could say that is if a) they know shit about jazz & b) don't know any career jazz musicians.

In pop music, the studio musicians I know often make six figure salaries. Unless you're in pop jazz (backing up Diana Krall or -gasp- Rod Stewart), a lot of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by miss lynnster at 1:50 PM on June 23, 2008

Why does every album have to have a damn origin story nowadays? "Bob fell out of a tree and went to India for six months and had his ear chopped off and made Still Falling just with one ear." "Sally locked herself in a air tight oil drum with a bag of apples, two maracas and and a tape recorder and she emerged a month later having made AAAAHHH APPLES AGGRRGGGHH." Whatever happened to the origin story: "A bunch of dudes sat around... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ND¢ at 8:29 PM on June 20, 2008

I'm reminded at this moment of something that happened to me once in Israel. I had gone to Jerusalem, to play in a music festival. Me and my friend (American, but had spent time in Israel before) wandered through the old town, the covered market area, which is fantastic, little shops full of spices, foods, carpets, cloth, Arabic cassette tapes and CDs, metal workers banging on bronze, darbuka sellers, the whole shebang. We walked for a long time, and eventually found ourselves... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite at 1:18 AM on June 15, 2008

Well, judging by the crowds turning out to see him, the Obama=Messiah camp might have a point.
posted to MetaFilter by longdaysjourney at 10:23 AM on June 9, 2008

Today Bush is meeting with our (Dutch) Prime Minister, Jan-Peter Balkenende. Perhaps he can escort Bush back to the Hague and drop him off at the international court...
posted to MetaFilter by DreamerFi at 1:02 PM on June 5, 2008

Strategy Was Based On Winning Delegates, Not Battlegrounds:The insurgent strategy the group devised instead was to virtually cede the most important battlegrounds of the Democratic nomination fight to Clinton, using precision targeting to minimize her delegate hauls, while going all out to crush her in states where Democratic candidates rarely ventured.

The result may have lacked the glamour of a sweep, but last night, with the delegates he picked up in Montana and South... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by kirkaracha at 9:11 AM on June 4, 2008