I imagine this comment will be removed as well, as I note that my earlier comment was removed. But I'll give it the old college try anyway.

I think at it's core, this is a problem of competing values.

Some Mefis are championing a particular value - not telling, not 'tattling' on things that aren't 'our' business - to keep a friend's secret - to have their back. But in the end it's really sad that the OP's male friend thinks that his... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by anitanita at 7:06 PM on August 21, 2008

You know what? I bet Obama was looking for the "present" button and not the "yea" button.
posted to MetaFilter by oaf at 10:40 PM on July 9, 2008

The idea that Obama and McCain are indistinguishable on policy is, however, simply not true.

Right. Though neither of them give a rat's ass about my "rights," the former wants to raise my taxes. Which will get him the votes of 90% of Metafilter, but not mine.
posted to MetaFilter by Kwantsar at 6:38 PM on July 12, 2008

Your post hit so close to home that I had to respond.

Growing up, I was the gifted, extroverted, highly sensitive child in my class. When I was exactly your son's age, I began having problems with other children in the class. They would tease like children do, and I took it personally. When they saw that it mattered to me, they labeled it as weakness. Unfortunately, children prey on weakness.

I came home crying every day of the second grade... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by mynameismandab at 8:45 PM on June 29, 2008

The Google thread started this? Usually it's guns, fat people, pedophilia, or whether or not Bono sucks, that get's this riled up.

Boy, does Bono ever fucking suck.
posted to MetaTalk by Caduceus at 7:39 PM on July 3, 2008

It makes me feel like shit.

ah, finally.

it really boils down to that, something makes somebody feel like shit in a site with 70,000 users. triggering a user's insecurities, or bad memories, or simply interfering with one's comfort zone is a mortal sin. after all, mathowie had the audacity, back when the site was free, to take a tiny Suicide Girls ad and all hell broke loose and he was yelled into retiring the ad -- it's... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by matteo at 6:10 PM on December 29, 2007

What's even more irritating is when people feel that other's motives have to be pearly white before they can ask questions.

The OP in the askme thread had something that was eating them up, and they are obviously working through the process.

"Get rid of your self centered feelings before posting here."

Well, sometimes engaging others on the topic is what helps get you there. (Although to be clear, I didn't... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by SpacemanStix at 4:22 PM on April 11, 2008

I was on a rather heavy dose (40 mg/day) of Adderall for quite a while. While I ultimately decided to stop taking it, overall it did give me a chance to see what it feels like to actually be able to sit down to a task and keep at it for more than a few minutes at a time. The memory of being able to do that while on the drug, now helps me to do the same thing even while I'm not on the drug.

It was far from being a gateway to my becoming a meth or coke addict. I tried both... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by bingo at 8:41 AM on October 14, 2007

I'm writing mainly to support everything jessamyn said about the benefits of being social, whether you are introverted or not.

It's fine not to like parties. I never have (at least the substance-fueled kind) but I encourage you to do what I did, which is find the people who share your passions and do stuff with them. Having a lot of projects is great, and although you say they are not the kind of things you can share, it's difficult to believe out of all your... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by melissa may at 6:58 AM on March 30, 2008

Seem like pikers, like those guys with the pristine comic book bongs and a lot of talk. Yeah, they've got a lot of coke trappings, but look how much ceremony there is -- lots of set up, sparkly-clean cutting glass, not a lot of vanished rails and not a lot of coke. More like:

Buddy: "Hey John, you're way into cocaine, lets get some!"
John: "Uh, yeah, let me, um, make some calls or something..."
...
(hours pass)... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Ogre Lawless at 10:23 PM on March 27, 2008

The community consensus is that if your spouse starts to resemble Jabba the Hutt, you are obligated to somehow be sexually attracted to Jabba the Hutt. I don't think it's shallow to say that I have never gotten an erection from Jabba the Hutt. The thread says a lot more about the insecurities of some people who are worried that they look like Jabba the Hutt than it does about the OP.
posted to MetaTalk by Mayor Curley at 6:51 AM on March 16, 2008

princeofpersiaxz writes "Oh and if people don't want their lives ruined, they shouldn't break the law."

That's what Pilate said to that rabble-rousing King of the Jews!
posted to Ask Metafilter by orthogonality at 1:33 AM on March 4, 2008

The biggest time optimization strategy is to cut some things out. If you want to work on a big project, you may not be able to keep up with all your interests.

This article from the NY Times this week is about precisely what you're talking about.
posted to Ask Metafilter by OmieWise at 12:15 PM on February 26, 2008 marked best answer

My aunt is extremely high functioning, but mentally retarded (birth injury). She reads at 12th grade level and can add/subtract very long columns of numbers in her head. She makes puns, although it usually takes her about an hour to form the response. Luckily, everyone in my family drops and picks up conversations hours later.

She absolutely cannot make a good decision about how to spend her money or what to eat (should I have a candy bar or dinner? guess what she'll... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by crush-onastick at 12:36 PM on February 26, 2008

I think the trouble with treating mentally handicapped adults like children is that we typically don't treat children like people either. They are people, albeit people with very different minds and priorities than ours. That difference doesn't justify our disrespecting or disregarding the reality of their goals, perceptions, self-awareness, or innate freedom of will, any more than that would be justified by their coming from another culture. Even the fact that they cannot... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by eritain at 10:04 PM on February 26, 2008

Speaking of unpopular views, is it still okay to write mindless bigoted crap about rich people?
posted to MetaTalk by tkolar at 1:45 PM on February 17, 2008

If money were based on something of fixed supply like seashells then we'd see deflation given the annual productivity of modern society.

Yes, this is exactly right. The natural state of economies appears to be a very slow deflation, as we figure out new/cheaper/better ways to build things. Wages go up very slowly, prices come down very slowly, and gradually standards of living improve. (I say 'appears to be', because it's very hard to find a period... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Malor at 12:17 AM on January 30, 2008

Almost any issue on MeFi which brings up the word "right" gets my eyes rolling, regardless of which side says it.

Part of it is that I don't believe in absolute "rights". Rights come into existence when a law/rule/contract is made. Until then, it's not a "right", it's "something I believe should be a right".

The other part is that, linguistically, there's a tremendous amount of vagueness. "I have a... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by bugbread at 4:27 AM on January 24, 2008

As far as Paul's bigotry and privately held views go, I think this youtube link gives a fairly clear picture. Ron Paul is being interviewed on a conservative Christian radio network and is being pressured to condemn gay people by the homophobic host. Ron Paul refuses to do so and explains why. If there was any place in the world where he could show his bigotry openly and get away with it, it was on a Christian radio station with listeners who would almost entirely agree with such hatred. And he... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by pandaharma at 8:45 PM on January 8, 2008

This post is ridiculous and should be deleted. Ron Paul & LaRouche have absolutely no relation to each other. Pure slanderous crap.
posted to MetaFilter by jbelshaw at 11:44 AM on January 6, 2008

Quoth Miko, emphasis mine:In fact, as I've been taught it, there really are no states' rights; the Constitution just leaves states free to make legislation where there is an absence of federal legislation. It does not provide the states the ability to make laws that go against federal law. So it's a rather empty concept - it describes an absence of rights, not rights themselves.You're missing something. The Federal government has power to do very little under the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by vsync at 5:51 PM on January 6, 2008

But eventually we are going to have to switch to sustainable pie ingredients

Or just make different pies altogether.

To extend an analogy to the breaking point, I'm sure that at one point 'round the turn the 19th century, there were people that were concerned about the sheer number of horses required to run a "modern" society. Where are we going to get enough grain to feed the enormous... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Cool Papa Bell at 4:10 PM on December 19, 2007

And I stand by my response.

So you dig in your heels here but you don't understand why he would do the same in regards to the attack you made on him?
posted to MetaTalk by vacapinta at 2:25 PM on December 18, 2007

Upon reflection, the way this discussion has gone is kind of sad. I believe the poster, when he wrote his anonymous question, probably anticipated a lot of very supportive responses, along the lines of "you sound really cool, like you'd be a great catch." And he was completely blindsided by the mocking and derision that blew back at him almost as soon as he pressed "post your question." I understand the situation he's in --- he thought he was being charming, and funny, and... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by jayder at 6:59 PM on December 18, 2007

I suppose people were reacting to the total package presented but I have never been comfortable with dissecting the affectations or deficiencies in other people's style, even celebrity other people, which is why reading Gawker or something gives me hives. No doubt it is a nerd cliche, but it takes me too uncomfortably back to grade school, when we were dead broke and I wore cheap jeans and lumpy handmade sweaters to school every day, and glasses hanging from a chain so I wouldn't lose them and..... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by melissa may at 11:11 AM on December 19, 2007

But this: "Even the most natural personal style choices are affectations in the right context." is simply not true. Natural does not equal artificial and designed to impress, and inventing a context in which it does is bullshit.

Whosoever thinks they are righteous in surveying the line between "natural self-expression" and "artificial behavioral affectation" is a pompous prick, is what I'm saying.
posted to MetaTalk by Ambrosia Voyeur at 1:53 PM on December 19, 2007

If you're looking for advice on how to have casual sex, I think you'll be hard pressed to find many useful answers other than lectures. There is no trick or magic incantation anyone can give you that will make women instantly hop into bed (or wherever). You sound like someone who is quite self-aware, perhaps to the point of it becoming counter-productive to your cause. You need to shift your focus from yourself to whomever you are engaging with. Most problems with small talk have to do with... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by ISeemToBeAVerb at 2:13 PM on December 18, 2007

This is a summary of a new financial product that the wizards on Wall Street have come up with; it was forwarded to me by a friend:

Investment Dealers are excited to announce the newest structured finance product - Constant Obligation Leveraged Originated Structured Oscillating Money Bridged Asset Guarantees, or COLOSTOMY BAGS. Designed to accommodate the most sophisticated investment strategies, Colostomy Bags contain the equity tranches of Structured High Interest... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by taliaferro at 8:05 AM on December 6, 2007

Ron Paul's a kooky libertarian WITH NO CHANCE OF WINNING.

I'll continue to support the Democratic Party and its Leadership, which has brought an end to the Iraq War, restored our civil liberties, repudiated dictatorial executive powers by impeaching Bush and Cheney, and extended real health care benefits to every American.
posted to MetaFilter by orthogonality at 2:34 PM on November 25, 2007

doubtless that will all be pre-empted by a "oh well, son, that's life" summation.
posted to MetaFilter by phaedon at 6:55 AM on November 12, 2007

I read the Loury article the other day and it made me sad and angry. The US has 5% of the world's population, and contains 25% of the world's prisoners. (That's from the Loury piece, the stats he got it from are available in .pdf format here.)

And as someone who has been on the receiving end of the American criminal justice system (misdemeanor possession of marijuana, possession of paraphernalia) and done jail time for it (but not prison time, and there's a WORLD of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BitterOldPunk at 10:12 PM on August 8, 2007

Paultard haters et al. I was trying to think of something pithy and appropriate to say but honestly troll and dipshit are the only things that come to mind. Arrogance and ignorance are hardly charming traits.

Seriously, if you want to attack the man then go after his congressional record. Attack the many on record speeches he has made, going back to the death of Mao in 1976. Or his statements on Middle Eastern, foreign and domestic policy going back to before 1979, or... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by MapGuy at 1:32 AM on November 6, 2007

I see that you have ignored my offer to base your arguments or rather salacious attacks on the man’s recorded congressional record of words but continued instead to wail your pleas of insanity. So let’s have a look for fodder sake shall we;

Ron Paul on Big Government

Mr. Speaker, I once again find myself compelled to vote against the annual budget resolution for a very simple reason: it makes government bigger.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by MapGuy at 1:18 AM on November 7, 2007

I've always thought of reification as the inappropriate classification of ontological status. Specifcally, mistaking something which is really a property for a substance.

An example, taking yellow to be a thing in its own right and not a property of things. (Ignoring various complications in color theory.)

Another example, taking velocity to be a thing (i.e. a substance or subject in a metaphysical sense) instead of merely being a property that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by oddman at 2:38 PM on September 27, 2007

apple scruff, anyone who has been on the bad side of an HR department likes anonymous's girlfriend a lot better than you, even if her felony was RPG'ing a hybrid-fueled bus full of orphans.
posted to MetaTalk by Mayor Curley at 4:00 PM on August 5, 2007

Harry Potter? SO GAY. Seriously. As a parade. Him & Malfoy. Not kidding.
posted to MetaTalk by miss lynnster at 2:48 PM on July 7, 2007

I don't think any human being deserves this...

...human beings don't deserve to be treated like that.

If you think this is an appropriate way for humans to treat one another, I do hope you are next.

At least make up your mind.
posted to MetaFilter by DevilsAdvocate at 12:38 PM on July 3, 2007

This is a classic case of Ask Culture meets Guess Culture.

In some families, you grow up with the expectation that it's OK to ask for anything at all, but you gotta realize you might get no for an answer. This is Ask Culture.

In Guess Culture, you avoid putting a request into words unless you're pretty sure the answer will be yes. Guess Culture depends on a tight net of shared expectations. A key skill is putting out delicate feelers. If you do... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by tangerine at 11:38 PM on January 16, 2007 marked best answer

People might not like it, but that is the truth.

Agreed. it's all fine and good to say on a message board "GAWD IF HE THINKS YOU'RE WEIRD BECAUSE YOUR FRIEND IS A NERD THAN THAT DUDE SUCKS" but please, who in the similar situation wouldn't be all: "hey, man, you know you KNOW i love you like a goddamned brother -- i mean, shit, who was the guy who held my hair back last week when i was puking in the toilet? huh? who's that guy? huh? that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by fishfucker at 10:41 PM on November 17, 2005 marked best answer

Either I'm too old, or the bar for "awesome" has been slipping. While I agree this is chatfilter, I'm not exercised enough to flag the post. In fact, I'll even respond.

Music: Art Tatum, particularly "Tiger Rag." Tatum said Fats Waller was his biggest influence, but Waller would get up from the piano when Tatum was brought into listen, to make way for Tatum. Keith Jarrett can keep you busy, long time, as can Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillispie, Charles... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by paulsc at 10:46 PM on June 14, 2007

Definitely! That method actually works better the more of a douche a person is. Like, if you tell a reflective, self-doubting sort of person that they're a douchebag, they just shrug it off and start making a mental picture of you as an attacker in their mind. On the other hand, a totally insensitive jerk gets wrecked with formative insecurity upon being glanced at askance.
posted to MetaTalk by Firas at 7:52 AM on May 16, 2007

Be quiet. Whenever I really like someone, I repeat this over and over again to myself. And not be quiet as in don't be loose and funny, I mean be quiet as in don't talk about your feelings and don't give away any expectations. Let her come to you. Find quiet ways to make it easy for her to do that. If things progress, don't get caught up in labels. Labels scare people and come with expectations and restrictions. If you really like her, commit secretly to the long haul, even if that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by bukharin at 6:53 PM on May 6, 2007 marked best answer

Second off, "providing benefits that pay for the costs" is too fucking nebulous and subjective to be worth examining... A better question would be "Does this serve the public good as much as an equal expenditure elsewhere."

That's actually the same question. The fact you can't see this makes this discussion pointless. Your cripplingly narrow viewpoint and reactive arrogance aren't helping either.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 8:19 PM on April 29, 2007

Shorties be like, "Yo, raise up MS-13 bangas; Vatos Locos, TRG in the hizz, STC no place to be, DF muthafucka, UBN up on ya, hee allay up 1-5 Amigos; SSL loco fa life, 124 Crew hear me, 187 Crew up in this, you down wit' LPC! West Side Mob never die, Latin Mafia vatos, 18th Street life, my homies in La Raza! KP, AB, you feel me; Latin Devils, Mara Loca, Palmer Park Crew, Rollin 60’s Crips, Southside Locos, Latin Crew, lemme hear y'all! La Mara Li, Latin Homies, 24 Mob, C-Hill Crew, BTK... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by breezeway at 5:29 PM on April 4, 2007

If you can't understand why a gay person might want to patronize gay services, and what makes that different from a straight person not wanting to patronize gay services, I can't help you.

If I read one more comment about how LanguageHat is so great because he always makes an effort to disagree without talking down to people or treating them like they're stupid, I'm going to fucking vomit.
posted to MetaTalk by cribcage at 11:10 AM on March 3, 2007