I liked this summary from the FT:

If you owe the bank $10, it’s your problem. If you owe the bank $10m, it’s the bank’s problem. If you and a million others owe the bank $10 each, it’s still your problem – but it’s also the bank’s problem. If the bank then sells to an investor the $10 you owe, it ought to be the investor’s problem. But if you have a problem repaying the $10 – and so do a million others – it’s both the investor’s problem and the bank’s problem. Your... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by athenian at 1:41 PM on September 29, 2008

To really appreciate how the pill works, you have to know a little bit about hormones and feedback regulation.

In a normal menstrual cycle, without BCP, the first two weeks are characterized by a slow increase in the levels of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), which signals several eggs to start preparing for ovulation -- you actually burn through several hundred eggs each month, your body just picks one lucky winner to actually ovulate, the rest die.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by i less than three nsima at 6:30 AM on August 22, 2008

I'm sorry to hear about your book, mainly because I have no good news to give you. Coated paper does something really nasty when it gets wet - it's called blocking. If your book was still wet, there would be a chance it could be salvaged, but once the paper dries together, it's pretty much staying that way. The cause lies in the ingredients of the coating. The core of the paper is like any other (some kind of pulp fiber base), but it is then coated or impregnated with various types of clays,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by ikahime at 6:38 PM on July 15, 2008

Was it futility closet?
posted to MetaTalk by BitterOldPunk at 3:32 PM on June 29, 2008

Four linguists were sharing a compartment on a train on their way to an international conference on sound symbolism. One was English, one Spanish, one French and the fourth German. They got into a discussion on whose language was the most eloquent and euphonious.

The English linguist said: "Why, English is the most eloquent language. Take for instance the word "butterfly". Butterfly, butterfly... doesn't that word so beautifully express the way this... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by burnmp3s at 9:08 AM on May 20, 2008

Someone hook those people up with IrateCopyEditors.com!

They're not irate, just testy.
posted to MetaFilter by enn at 4:57 PM on March 9, 2008

Deadwood is slightly unusual: after the writing staff breaks the stories (puts together overall arcs, episode structures, etc.), showrunner David Milch rewrites every scene from scratch, essentially improvising the episodes without any written plan. He can get away with this because he's the greatest writer in the history of television. (No really.) Season Three of that show (don't worry, no spoilers) is a complicated example of what happens when that mode of storytelling... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by waxbanks at 7:53 PM on January 31, 2008 marked best answer

Coveting possessions is unhealthy. Here's how I look at it:

All of the computers on Ebay are mine. In fact, everything on Ebay is already mine. All of those things are just in long term storage that I pay nothing for. Storage is free.

When I want to take something out of storage, I just pay the for the storage costs for that particular thing up to that point, plus a nominal shipping fee, and my things are delivered to me so I can use them.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pastabagel at 1:49 PM on October 4, 2007

Such a waste.

A great war leaves the country with three armies - an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves

And no matter how justified or necessary it’s never good. Only people who’ve never fought - and perhaps more importantly - would never fight, would do anything to avoid fighting themselves, think it is good.

The hell of it is what’s being fought for in Iraq isn’t even something truly vital... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Smedleyman at 2:14 PM on January 4, 2008

I don't think it would be too hard.

pb! to the bit mines!
posted to MetaTalk by mathowie at 6:17 PM on December 31, 2007

Start with the following basic:

- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1lb ground beef (lean if you like)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 3 pieces of garlic, chopped
- salt, pepper
- optional: some mushrooms, finely chopped

- Put the olive oil in a pan, brown the meat, add the veggies.

Now you can keep this in your fridge all week and convert this into... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by jeffamaphone at 3:32 PM on December 28, 2007

There is never an 'inappropriate' time for the truth.

Let me take wild guess....you've never been married?
posted to MetaTalk by milarepa at 7:59 PM on December 27, 2007

Sprint's Waitless.org I found to be kind of neat.
posted to Ask Metafilter by gramcracker at 12:55 PM on December 22, 2007

This seems to be pretty definitive.
posted to Ask Metafilter by logicpunk at 10:07 AM on December 20, 2007 marked best answer

This is the funniest AskMe question I have ever seen. "Dear Metafilter... whoa, what did I do last night? You guys? Any of you guys know? Aw, jeez, wow, ha ha, I guess I shouldn't a had that fifth of tequila. Fuck."

Seriously, you probably just banged your lip on a glass while hoisting it too fast, or something. Give it a couple of days before you start to worry.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Greg Nog at 8:36 AM on June 22, 2007 marked best answer

So try asking a fucking question once in your life instead of droning on about yourself.

Dear AskMe: I was going to ask for advice on meeting like-minded women, but I've been advised that I shouldn't talk so much about myself, so I can't tell you what I'm like. What are YOU like? TIA
posted to MetaTalk by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:38 PM on December 18, 2007

Sorry. Still not buying it as an acceptable excuse. Like Ms.V, I would easily stay up all night to finish my schoolwork if my boyfriend needed my assistance. Hell, just last week, I delayed working on very important papers that were due to sit and listen to my boyfriend bitch about work. He didn't have car trouble or anything. Of course, I really didn't want to work on the papers. ;)

Like I said earlier, it's just my opinion, but I take the whole partnership thing... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by teleri025 at 1:46 PM on December 14, 2007

Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace
posted to Ask Metafilter by sharkfu at 12:49 PM on December 7, 2007

I've been making a bunch of roast vegetables lately. Granted, it's produce, but it's the more tolerant kind like winter squash (I tend to let salads etc go bad too). I think it's awesome comfort food and tastes richer than it is. You can throw some meat in too if you want (I use lamb or duck) but it's not essential. This is what I do:

1) Cut up a bunch of carrots, summer squash, winter squash (butternut is the best) sweet potatoes, parsnips, fennel, red onion, anything... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by crabintheocean at 1:02 PM on May 11, 2007

When fresh corn is in season, I make a dish that's easy, quick, healthy, and delicious. So far, everyone seems to love it. The only fresh ingredients you need are corn and onions, and you can probably do without the onions and use frozen corn if you wanted.

The central ingredient is quinoa -- google it if you're not familiar -- which may sound exotic, but can be found at just about any grocery store. It's usually either near the rice or in the health foods section.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by lionelhutz5 at 2:57 PM on May 11, 2007

People tend to overthink this, and I am speaking from real experience. Just keep the requisite number of gallons of water you'd use in the timespan for which you're planning and change them every couple of years, just for the sake of doing it. They'll last for eons in reality.

In an emergency, water's great, but in a longer-term bad situation, it falls pretty far down the list. Unless you're in an unusually arid place, a means to obtain the water necessary to live... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Dee Xtrovert at 12:25 AM on November 25, 2007

Fascinating as the responsibility discussion is, I have to point out that the device may not be dead. I have revived well laundered memory sticks, calculators and an iPod shuffle with this technique. It really works.
posted to Ask Metafilter by OlderThanTOS at 8:25 PM on September 30, 2007

(I'm SURE I read this orginally on mefi, but god knows where. I googled it and found it again. It is has been a favorite of mine for a while)

Charles Dickens: Please, sir, I'd like a martini.
Bartender: Sure thing. Olive or twist?

James Joyce: I'll take a Guinness.
Bartender: So Charles Dickens was in here yesterday.
James Joyce: (drinks)
Bartender: And he asked for a martini and I said, "Olive... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by nuclear_soup at 2:45 PM on September 23, 2007

It's generally a good idea to wash them yourself when preparing them for use. From what I have seen of industrial packaging operations they do not rinse or clean them in any particular fashion. They simply pick, cut, sort and package them. You wouldn't want them to be rinsed anyway as without adequate evaporation possibilities they would get slimy and sticky in the shrink wrapped foam container.

Most mushroom hunters like to use brushes for spot cleaning in the wild,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by prostyle at 8:12 AM on September 20, 2007

I do.

Sort of. My job essentially boils down to taking a long list of stories that have come into the newsroom today, from agencies, freelancers, the press syndication groups and our reporters, and deciding which of them go into the paper, and where they go.

This is how it works for a morning newspaper. The process is identical for all types of media, but timings are different:

1. The news is gathered. Reporters find... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by bonaldi at 5:37 PM on September 20, 2007 marked best answer

A question for any published authors out there: are your Canadian residuals 40% higher per book sold than for your US sales? If not, I suggest you put that question to your publisher.

I'll address this, if only to disabuse all and sundry of the notion that there exists now (or ever in the nation's history) a fat-cat Canadian publishing industry.

My "residuals" (by which you mean royalties) in both the US and Canada... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by gompa at 3:26 PM on September 20, 2007

Just love these kinds of historical stories. Thanks for the interesting post YamwotIam.

A related story, Don't Chew the Wallpaper- A history of poison

Lead was used in cosmetics for thousands of years and did untold damage.

An old friend in India told me how a friend of hers died because of the lead paint crumbling from the ceiling and falling into an elderly person's face/mouth over many years.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nickyskye at 4:31 PM on September 15, 2007

Please, please, please work.
posted to MetaTalk by Gary at 12:54 PM on September 14, 2007

Quotable quotes:Blackadder: Baldrick, have you no idea what irony is?
Baldrick: Yes, it's like goldy and bronzy only it's made out of iron.
...
George [Hugh Laurie]: My head... oh, my head... feels like the time I was initiated into the Silly Buggers Society at Cambridge. I misheard the rules and tried to push a whole aubergine up my earhole.
...
Melchett: If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by cenoxo at 9:08 AM on September 15, 2007

OWEN WILSON TRIED TO KILL HIMSELF ISN'T THAT HILARIOUS. IF I GET ENOUGH INTERNET SNARK POINTS I WIN A NEW IPOD SUPPOSITORY!
posted to MetaFilter by basicchannel at 11:33 AM on September 5, 2007

I just ate a delicious Kashi trail mix bar....but now I want jerky!
Buffalo jerky!

Sounds like you want pemmican. It's the best of both worlds.
posted to MetaFilter by Burhanistan at 4:00 PM on September 5, 2007

If your goal is to always be able to make a meal without going shopping, it's not your fridge you want to concentrate on, it's your pantry. Dry goods are the way to go. I stock the following, bought on sale whenever possible and kept for months:

Canned chicken and veggie stock
Canned beans, several varieties
Jarred roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, jalepenos
Canned black olives, corn, green chiles
Pastas, a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Miko at 12:49 PM on February 21, 2006

Bestiality advocates quote
A motto that's worthy of note:
What one finds debased
Is a matter of taste
So remember, Chacun a son goat.
posted to MetaFilter by Wolfdog at 6:05 AM on July 31, 2007

i wish people would label .jpg's. if the medium of the web is hypertext, why is there a fucker in a blue shirt and a floating porkchop in the middle of my hypertext? is that hypertext that happens when i click an .xls file in IE? i just like saying hypertext. hypertext! hypertext! hypertext! tune in again tomorrow when we discuss "hot links". hot! hot! hot!
posted to MetaTalk by quonsar at 9:16 AM on May 31, 2007