Displaying comments 1 to 50 of 2288
MeFi post:
Remembering Matthew Shepard
Wow. Nothing really has changed at all.FBI statistics show hate crimes motivated by antigay bias have remained at a stable level since Shepard's death. Both in 1998 and in 2006, the latest year for which data are available, roughly 1,200 such crimes were reported - about 16 percent of all reported hate crimes.
Aaand someone calls hate crime legislation "the criminalization of beliefs" in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ...
posted to MetaFilter by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing
at 12:50 PM on October 12, 2008
And someone calls hate crime legislation "the criminalization of beliefs" in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ...
Ding, ding, ding. It took just one minute!
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 12:55 PM on October 12, 2008
I believe the law should punish people for what they do, not for what they think.
Here we go ...
Look, if we separate actions from beliefs in the commission of a crime, then any form of discrimination can be easily decriminalized. I didn't hire him because he was black/gay/Unitarian/disabled. So? Those are my beliefs, right? You can't criminalize them.
We have these laws in place for a reason. A... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing
at 1:12 PM on October 12, 2008
MeFi post:
You Betcha
Why do I have the feeling that this result won't change a thing.
posted to MetaFilter by PercussivePaul
at 6:06 PM on October 10, 2008
Oh good, the other two threads were starting to get long.
posted to MetaFilter by casarkos
at 6:06 PM on October 10, 2008
There are no wheels left on the straight-talk express.
Obama's pulling ahead in states he has no business winning.Now 8 pt.lead in West Virginia. The numbers are just devistating. Christopher Buckley of the National Review just endorsed Obama.
Obama is just manhandling McCain. When McCain started this whole Ayres thing, Obama dared him to "say it to his face." That, my friends, is a bitch slap you can believe in.
posted to MetaFilter by Ironmouth
at 6:24 PM on October 10, 2008
McCain booed by his own supporters... this shit is getting scary, and I think everyone had better be taking some active steps in encouraging the shut-down of the dangerous lunatic fringe. This is a Very Bad Time for rash actions.
posted to MetaFilter by five fresh fish
at 7:03 PM on October 10, 2008
ColdChef’s video , at 0:51:
Does anybody else feel sad for McCain? He's telegraphing "I know I'm going to lose and I've decided I want to do it with a shred of dignity" with the volume at 10 in that clip.
On the other hand, fuck you for starting this shit in the first place, asshole.
I guess you could say I've got mixed feelings.
posted to MetaFilter by Bobby Bittman
at 7:18 PM on October 10, 2008
MeFi post:
For the low, low price of WTF...
SOmetimes, in my dreams, I dream that I'm websurfing.
This site looks like what my subconscious does when I'm dreamin and it goes "QUICK! Throw something up that looks like a 'web page'!"
posted to MetaFilter by ShawnStruck
at 8:55 PM on October 10, 2008
MeFi post:
The Palin Mob
Before this post gets deleted as PoliticsFilter fodder, I just want to point out that the McCain/Palin team are essentially accusing their major party opponent of treason, multiple times and at rallies throughout the nation. There's no other (reasonable) way to parse it. And yet, McCain can't bring himself to say so to Senator Obama's face. So much for the much-lauded "courage" of the Senator from Arizona. Grow a pair or go home, John. And take your pathetic race-baiting campaign with... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by joe lisboa
at 6:32 PM on October 9, 2008
Yeah, I've done a fair amount of study of lynch mobs, and this is pretty much exactly what they're like (particularly that second video, which IS better) - at least, in the manner in which they begin and in the social conditions in which they arise.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko
at 6:44 PM on October 9, 2008
Even after every stunt they've pulled, today's McCain ad left me stunned. "Ayers and Obama ran a radical education foundation". This is the Chicago Annenberg Challenge we're talking about. A public school reform project founded by Walter Annenberg, Nixon's ambassador to the UK. Annenberg's widow has the same "terrorist ties" as Obama does, but McCain welcomes and promotes her endorsement, because he knows this is a non-story.
Radical. They know this... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94
at 6:45 PM on October 9, 2008
When did Palin accuse Obama of being a terrorist?
Ah, semantics.
posted to MetaFilter by maxwelton
at 7:02 PM on October 9, 2008
MeFi post:
A coup has taken place
She's obviously freaked out, but if you can listen through the emotional tenor, she makes some good points. It's worth asking, seriously, why are troops being deployed as a permanent mission on US soil? I'm not saying everything she says is true. I'm saying, don't discard it without listening.
Here's a story from my life. Working in a small town, after reading a proposal from a particular industry (and the environmental report their consultants... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by salvia
at 8:15 PM on October 6, 2008
The Beauty Myth is one of those missives, I think, that calls for either twenty years or a formal retraction before demanding to be taken seriously again. She's got another three years by my count.
Not entirely sure what you mean by this, but The Beauty Myth, even though flawed, has its brilliance; parts of it seemed to me, when I first read it back in the day, to be written in fire. I still haven't seen much of anything that so clearly spoke to some... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jokeefe
at 9:51 PM on October 6, 2008
Wow! Good work guys. Metafilter now sounds about as intelligent as a major news network after a political debate.
posted to MetaFilter by srboisvert
at 2:55 AM on October 7, 2008
MeFi post:
Sarah Palin's Poujadist Agenda
You know who I feel for? That damned brother-in-law of hers. I don't care whether he's a child tasering drunkard or not, that poor sot must be pissing himself 24/7. Imagine being on the wrong side of some uber-vindictive, simpleminded nutcase, and then imagine that same nutcase getting promoted to greater and greater- no, make that absurder and absurder - positions of power, and consistently using that power to do everything they can to fuck you over. How horrible would... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by maryh
at 1:35 PM on October 4, 2008
I was wondering if Metafilter would ever have a post about Palin.
posted to MetaFilter by Bonzai
at 2:23 PM on October 4, 2008
You know something, though, I can understand why some folks are so mistrustful of the intellectuals. ...Just take a look at how much we're picking on them in here.
Seriously. Look, Sarah Palin is not "dumb." Sarah Palin, of all people, reminds me of my Mom -- common-sense, trying to be perky, not too well-read in foreign policy and governance, but very experienced in keeping a home together. THAT DOESN'T MAKE HER DUMB. It makes her inexperienced in a field,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by EmpressCallipygos
at 2:35 PM on October 4, 2008
So Sarah Palin isn't dumb. Woefully inexperienced and unprepared for the job to which she has been nominated, absolutely. But not "dumb."
The dumb part of Sarah Palin isn't the ignorance. It's the thinking that ignorance is OK because she's "regular folk".
posted to MetaFilter by DU
at 2:48 PM on October 4, 2008
MeFi post:
OJ to take his search for the 'real killers' into the Nevada state prison system
davidmsc writes "The public fascination with Simpson continues to baffle me."
Yeah, what's so interesting about a multi-millionaire Heisman Trophy-winning actor brutally murdering his wife and her friend and then being acquitted, only to end up serving the rest of his life in prison for armed robbery and kidnapping?
posted to MetaFilter by mullingitover
at 11:31 PM on October 3, 2008
OJ promised to one day bring his wife's real killers to justice, and in a roundabout way, he kept his promise. So in addition to being the world's greatest assassin, he is also the world's foremost spiritual detective.
posted to MetaFilter by billyfleetwood
at 12:51 AM on October 4, 2008
"Yeah, that bullshit race card is what got him off in the first place"
Bollocks.
Thanks to the wonder of student life I watched the first OJ trial from start to finish. I remember thinking that the prosecution's argument was delivered with such incompetence that I would have acquitted him too. It wasn't just their incompetence, but the idea that it didn't really matter if they proved his guilt because... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by fullerine
at 6:21 AM on October 4, 2008
MeFi post:
Sarah Palin may be a better debater than you think
That's not debate, that's avoiding debate.
Unfortunately, that won't be how a large chunk of America sees it.
*sigh*
posted to MetaFilter by Aquaman
at 3:37 PM on October 1, 2008
I'm praying that she'll be overcome by the Spirit and start speaking in tongues.
posted to MetaFilter by RussHy
at 3:44 PM on October 1, 2008
This was already covered in another thread, and my previous thoughts on this stand: Palin is a fraud, attempting lame imitations of people who are actually good at rhetoric, who also happen to have the knowledge and intelligence to back it up. Yes, she'll get anecdotal and hokey. There may even be tears. But this isn't "debating", not by any definition.
That said, I'm grateful for the creation of this thread, because the other Palin thread has become unwieldy,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing
at 3:45 PM on October 1, 2008
Unfortunately for her preparers, intelligence is not a fungible commodity.
posted to MetaFilter by clearly
at 3:47 PM on October 1, 2008
My current theory of her reminds of me of a rule of thumb when scouting sports talent, especially high school basketball, and hey, she was a high school basketball star ...
Oftentimes, you see a high school basketball star get flayed at the college level, because up until that time, they've always been the best player on the court, and their game is centered around using their built-in talent advantage only. They have no flexibility in dealing with a challenge outside of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Cool Papa Bell
at 3:48 PM on October 1, 2008
McCain/Palin 08: Lowered Expectaaaaations.
posted to MetaFilter by stavrogin
at 3:48 PM on October 1, 2008
Go back and watch some of George W's debates against Ann Richards...
Oh, how I miss Ann Richards!
'Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.'
posted to MetaFilter by ericb
at 4:04 PM on October 1, 2008
I had this weird dream where Palin shows up for the debate drunk and starts asking Biden things like "do you want to fuck me? John wants to fuck me." And it went downhill from there. Biden just looks slightly appalled.
My fantasy world is much more lively than the real world.
posted to MetaFilter by maxwelton
at 4:26 PM on October 1, 2008
Is there a Sarah Palin VP Debate Drinking Game (tm) yet?
Yes, it's called "the rampant alcoholism in Alaska."
posted to MetaFilter by Sticherbeast
at 4:28 PM on October 1, 2008
Take a look at this debate between Sarkozy and Royal in the last French election. There are moderators, but the candidates are sitting at a table, looking at each other and actually debating.
Think about what passes for "debate" in this country--short speeches, with a bit of spontaneous follow-ups from the moderator and short arguments from the opponents. In the McCain/Obama debate recently, Jim... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by zardoz
at 4:43 PM on October 1, 2008
Is there a Sarah Palin VP Debate Drinking Game (tm) yet?
Drink whenever you remember that there's a decent chance that this woman will become the President of the United States of America.
I know I'll need a stiff one whenever that occurs.
posted to MetaFilter by Flunkie
at 4:52 PM on October 1, 2008
From this link, here's one of her (non-)answers she used in a debate with Andrew Halcro which pretty much sums up her strategy:
"Andrew, I watch you at these debates with no notes, no papers, and yet when asked questions, you spout off facts, figures, and policies, and I'm amazed. But then I look out into the audience and I ask myself, 'Does any of this really matter?'"
posted to MetaFilter by symbollocks
at 5:13 PM on October 1, 2008
If I understand correctly, shockingbluamp is posting those Biden quotes as examples of 'gaffes'.
One of the many things that never ceases to surprise me about the degree to which the faux-conflict mongering doucheballoon media controls the framing of the way politics are done in America, and the way in which so many people seem to lap it up blithely, is this idea of making 'gaffes'.
What I hear when I read those Biden quotes is honesty. I have a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by stavrosthewonderchicken
at 5:40 PM on October 1, 2008
"I'd like to give my rebuttal time to Governor Palin. Perhaps she could use it to actually answer the question."
I see anything like that happen tomorrow night, and I'm going to hug my TV to death.
posted to MetaFilter by MrVisible
at 5:53 PM on October 1, 2008
MeFi post:
The Ghosts of Futures Past
I'm glad to see Stross's blog has idiot commentators on his blog. "Skip" over there keeps showing his sad little hard-on against "mandated welfare" and keeps suggesting that the military budget is less than 20% of the overall budget, but those numbers are exactly backwards in reality, 68% military to 32% non-military.
I despair.
posted to MetaFilter by maxwelton
at 4:51 PM on September 30, 2008
I seem to remember those Cold Warriors writing into nineties just cut and pasted 'Terrorist/Drug Dealer/Eco-Terrorist' for 'Russian' and carried on as before.
posted to MetaFilter by fearfulsymmetry
at 3:40 AM on October 1, 2008
MeFi post:
Terror At Home
If they find the people who did this, they should be sent to Guantanamo and sequestered away in a cell for 6 years without legal representation. What's that? A couple of white Republicans from a swing state? Oh, okay, 5 years in the Mansfield lock-up, then.
posted to MetaFilter by billysumday
at 10:33 AM on September 29, 2008
This would be a terrorist act using chemical weapons, right?
posted to MetaFilter by Artw
at 10:41 AM on September 29, 2008
Occam's Razor makes me wonder if there was a maintenance crew spraying the grounds with insecticide or herbicide, and they didn't know that the windows were open.
So what does Occam's Razor tell you about no one in the congregation knowing about maintenance men scheduled to be spraying herbicide during services? One would think that someone in the administration would have arranged for such a service, no? Why was there no chemical outside the Mosque... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pollomacho
at 10:54 AM on September 29, 2008
We should give those 9/11 truth DVDs a fair hearing too.
posted to MetaFilter by Artw
at 12:02 PM on September 29, 2008
I can't help but be disgusted at the way the Islamophobes have managed to completely sidetrack the discussion.
What started as a discussion of a reprehensible terrorist act committed against American Muslims, and specifically against *CHILDREN* has turned, somehow, into how the Evil Brown People will Destroy Our Way of Life.
I'm not merely atheist, I'm anti-religious in general and as a radical feminist I've got some fairly major gripes against... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sotonohito
at 4:22 AM on September 30, 2008
Nope, it's not that easy, the point is to look our own white/european history in the eye and take stock of how far we've come. Today I saw something as simple as a public and Catholic elementary schools existing on opposite sides of the street. No car bombs exploded, no children died, but just a few hundred years ago our Christian factions were murdering each other by the thousands for much lesser reasons, just like the extremists in the middle east are today. We've been through hell,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Optimus Chyme
at 7:40 AM on September 30, 2008
MeFi post:
The story of a cab ride.
I saw this on reddit yesterday. So short but so powerful. And is even more impressive if it's fiction.
posted to MetaFilter by zardoz
at 4:47 PM on September 28, 2008
MeFi post:
Plurality of Words
Big question-- if I couldn't get through Quicksilver, will I enjoy Anathem?
In Quicksilver, I wanted to get out a big red editor's marker. Maybe it's just me.
posted to MetaFilter by gregvr
at 12:42 PM on September 25, 2008
not having read the book, and only just now having read the salon review linked above, I'm reminded of something particular about stephenson.
he has this whole thing in his books where there's captial E Everybody Else, and then there are capital E Engineers. in among Engineers there are also Physicists, and mathemticians and coders and the like, but for brevity I'll lump them all together as Engineers. A lot of the time it feels like the set of Everybody Else is... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by shmegegge
at 1:10 PM on September 25, 2008
I'm a huge fan of Stephenson, but I'm finding ANATHEM to be unreadable gibberish. I can't get more than 10 pages in.
"Look at me! I can try to write like Gene Wolfe and fail miserably! Yay!"
posted to MetaFilter by Justinian
at 1:34 PM on September 25, 2008
