MetaFilter

For what it's worth, I don't think that Russia will directly engage in military operations in the Baltic states. At least in the near future. What WILL likely happen though is that Russian activists in those regions (especially ones near industrial areas) will get very vocal and radicalized. Russia will express concern about the treatment of it's people, and the Baltic states will be in for a long period of destabilizing acts of violence. And in that case, the actions NATO will be able to take... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by happyroach at 10:40 PM on September 5, 2014

This is pretty thin speculation.
posted to MetaFilter by DirtyOldTown at 10:56 AM on September 11, 2014

There's a guy who works at a few offices down the hall from me - he's Perter Principle personified. Totally inadequate for his role - we call his word documents christmas decorations because of the amount of red and green underlines. He once gave me a document which had a new word - "pacifically" - as in "This pacifically relates to..."

But this guy works. He's in at 8 and leaves the office at 8, and he's in every weekend. He makes useless processes... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by mattoxic at 4:07 AM on September 6, 2014

(T)here is a person who gets paid to open up boxes which they are certain contain used sex toys, and to possibly handle and test the function of said sex toys...

My most memorable return while working at Borders Books in Ann Arbor:

The customer: A middle-aged white guy, copper hair, championship dandruff, face like a half-melted bowl of peaches-and-cream ice cream. The book he wants to return: A copy of The Men's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by palmcorder_yajna at 12:45 PM on September 9, 2014

Am I among the only people who hated this movie as a kid, but has come to appreciate it as an adult?

I watched this movie as a 14 year old and re-watched it this summer as a 29 year old. Whereas before I saw Lester Burnham as an unsympathetic character from beginning to end-- a stupid man going through a midlife crisis who was only remembering the magic of youth throuh rosey-colored glasses, I now see him as someone who 1) Saw the inherent bullshit of his existence... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Perko at 11:10 AM on September 9, 2014

You can be smart and really fucking dumb. These people work hard at it.
posted to MetaFilter by Artw at 1:43 PM on September 8, 2014

Huh, perhaps liquid assets ($$$ jewelry electronics) were what the WA State patrol were looking for when both drugs and explosives K9 teams "alerted" to my VW Vanagon Westfalia camper (ie, neither a hippie bus nor a wealthy retiree's travel toy). I was in line for a ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island (a Seattle suburb on the west side of Puget Sound) when the routine stroll patrol by my VW became a frenzied knot of WA State troopers and Homeland Security goons. Since I wanted to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Dreidl at 7:48 PM on September 7, 2014

In my search for the answer to the question, "Is there anyplace in the U.S. where people can actually live anymore?" I found this:

“Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture,” Marian R. Williams, Ph.D., et al., Institute for Justice, March 2010

Also the website for the Forfeiture Endangers American Rights Foundation and the ACLU page on the topic.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by ob1quixote at 5:37 PM on September 7, 2014

I'm really surprise that this hasn't been posted yet. The Bad Kind of Unionism, from Jacobin Magazine.
posted to MetaFilter by Octaviuz at 5:40 AM on September 8, 2014

given what's going on over there right now. it seems trollish to post a thread basically saying "isn't it interesting how Israel is conceptualizing conflict/training its soldiers etc".... it just seems trollish and distasteful.
posted to MetaTalk by jayder at 4:51 PM on September 7, 2014

You might be interested in reading up on the concept of the "Anthropocene," which attempts to imagine how future observers many millennia or millions of years hence might be able to recognize the evidence of human civilization in the geological record. Most of what we'd done would vanish pretty quickly, geologically speaking, but things like the carbon record, atomic radiation, and trash like plastic and glass bottles would last a long time and would be recognizable to future observers.... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by gerryblog at 3:02 PM on September 7, 2014

Eliminating police unions will make if far easier for management to remove the few good cops from the force.
posted by Thorzdad


Unions make it hard to get rid of cops.

That is both feature and bug. It makes it hard to get rid of bad cops, but it also protects good cops from the whims of the politicians that lead them. ...
posted by... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jamjam at 3:17 PM on September 7, 2014

I can heartily recommend a breakup journal. Sometimes its important when you are going through emotional crisis to write stuff out. It helps clear the mind, get things off your chest, get a greater understanding of where you are and how you got there.

For the love of everything sane, do not share such a journal with anyone, in particular do not share it with everyone. Hell, you probably won't be able to stomach reading it yourself, after a few months time.
posted to MetaFilter by el io at 11:54 AM on September 6, 2014

Most Microsoft Office programs will automatically italicize text if you do _this_ and bold text on *this*. I looked into it and I found at least one MS article about this autoformatting going back at least to Word 97 so it's been around for awhile before Markdown was created.
posted to MetaFilter by Green With You at 10:27 AM on September 4, 2014

How St. Louis County Missouri Profits From Poverty ...incredible work by Radley Balko.
posted to MetaFilter by rhizome at 1:14 PM on September 3, 2014

Sounds like you mean Charles James Napier

A story for which Napier is often noted involved Hindu priests complaining to him about the prohibition of Sati by British authorities. This was the custom of burning a widow alive on the funeral pyre of her husband. As first recounted by his brother William, he replied:

"Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by obscure simpsons reference at 1:47 PM on September 2, 2014 marked best answer

In the landline-days of old, a plan had to be a solid commitment...

I sort of get a kick when people who didn't even gestate through the old days talk about what the old days were like.

You know, kids, back in my day, we would just say "My sister/roomate/visiting-space-alien didn't answer the call-waiting. Sorry I missed you."

Or even better - We're at the show, Jane's late. Is Jane coming ? Do we wait, do we... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:44 AM on September 2, 2014

Spaceteam! It's a phone game, but not in the way you are thinking. I think with some of the newer updates you can create a tournament mode, with multiple small groups playing the same game competitive with one another.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Rock Steady at 7:28 AM on September 2, 2014

such as the Winner Winner, fried chicken lightly drizzled in “S.O.B.” (south of the border) gravy and wrapped in a soft flour tortilla.

This is the tryhard-est menu outside of Flavortown.
posted to MetaFilter by Metroid Baby at 2:54 PM on August 31, 2014

These seven charts explain how Ferguson—and many other US cities—wring revenue from black people and the poor
posted to MetaFilter by unliteral at 11:14 PM on August 28, 2014

It's not that the universe itself is holographic, but rather that our best descriptions of the universe end up being holographic.

It's similar to how you must turn an apple around in your hand in order to understand the entire apple. Those rotations you perform are not inherent in the apple itself, but you require those extra degrees of freedom in order to understand what's on every side of the apple all at once. A theory of everything is no... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by grog at 3:13 PM on August 28, 2014

But sometimes they're just stuck sitting in a normal seat for a couple hours.

A normal seat is one that reclines.
posted to MetaFilter by one more dead town's last parade at 2:13 PM on August 28, 2014

"Here's a list of all of the rules I have for you and your seat so that you can make sure I'm comfortable in mine without me having to buy an upgrade.'"
posted to MetaFilter by DirtyOldTown at 2:06 PM on August 28, 2014

Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States is a great place to start. It's a little dry, but not by much--I found it tons more engaging than other general US history texts I'd read in the past. There's some shocking, true stuff in there that challenges a lot of the standard narratives. IMHO every voting American should read it.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by magdalemon at 2:23 PM on August 28, 2014

Yeah people are mixing up the "universe is a hologram" popular science articles with the "we may be living in a computer simulation" popular science articles.
posted to MetaFilter by anazgnos at 1:59 PM on August 28, 2014

Maybe in addition to being able to buy specific economy plus, bulkhead, and exit row seats there could be a no-recline zone and super-recline zone seating. Recliners can sit in front of or behind other recliners and nonrecliners likewise.

The aisle seats could be a nonrecline column, it would make things easier for people who need to get up from their seats during the flight.

Seating could also be arranged so that all seatback-kicking children... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by yohko at 1:04 PM on August 28, 2014

Mapland conversation:

"So, stranger, whereabouts you hail from?"

"I'm from Area."

"Area? Is that in District?"

"No, you're thinking of Locale. Area's in Region. But my folks come from Place."

"Place? Why, they're all stinkin' Types in Place!"

"Types?" The stranger's eyes narrowed. "We prefer to call them Kinds."
posted to MetaFilter by yoink at 11:49 AM on August 28, 2014

Expect to hear from Stephen R. Donaldson's lawyers, empath.
posted to MetaFilter by prize bull octorok at 10:25 AM on August 28, 2014

Hero turned over moved Sword, watching it glint react in the moonlight. In the distance, he could see Enemies swarming moving over the horizon. He was ready for battle conflict. The future of Land was at stake, and he could only imagine Love Interest at home, coweringmoving in fear her Mahnolo Blahniks that she bought for $795 from Neiman Marcus as the forces of Bad overran moved into the town of Home, if he failed.

Happy to help.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by yoink at 10:24 AM on August 28, 2014

7 Wacky Farts That Can Help Us Understand Ferguson, MO

If you all thought, as I did, that there was a typo in this link, you would be wrong.
posted to MetaFilter by EmpressCallipygos at 9:20 AM on August 28, 2014

hence ersatz
posted to MetaFilter by p3on at 7:19 AM on August 28, 2014

You've dealt with the question of why a classical Latin speaker would reference Descartes, right?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by yarntheory at 4:40 AM on August 28, 2014

I LOVE the SleepCycle app on my iPhone. Getting woken up at the right stage of your REM cycle is amazingly different. Not a perfect match for your criteria but worth exploring.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by amaire at 12:58 PM on August 27, 2014

I sincerely am aghast that everyone does not agree with my personal opinion on a very small matter. I expected more from this website.
posted to MetaFilter by shakespeherian at 11:47 AM on August 27, 2014

I agree with shakespeherian.
posted to MetaFilter by cjorgensen at 11:50 AM on August 27, 2014

With a 5 year old computer, she might just be better off buying a new Chromebook for $199.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by dcjd at 9:16 AM on August 27, 2014

What? I always recline. That's what the button is for. Don't hate the player, hate the game.
posted to MetaFilter by oceanjesse at 8:31 AM on August 27, 2014

"I suppose there is some comfort in being fleeced in good company, in being in the company of some of the smartest businessmen in the movement."

I would be concerned if the smartest businessmen in the movement of which I am a part fell for a basically by-the-numbers Florida timeshare scam that had an unsustainable economic agenda stapled to the side of it.

I mean I'd love to hear what the supply line to Galt's Gulch Chile was going to look like.
posted to MetaFilter by griphus at 9:59 AM on August 27, 2014

Does this mean they lost their trademark and Galt's Gulch Chili will be on the market again?

Are Randians really that naive?

Inherently, yes.
posted to MetaFilter by griphus at 9:53 AM on August 27, 2014

I, ah... highly doubt it?
posted to MetaFilter by rebent at 12:45 PM on August 26, 2014

Best advice I received before moving across the Pacific to a city I knew nothing about and to a job I was not quite sure I'd like was, "There is very little you can do in your 20s that you can't easily recover from."

Go study what you wanted in the city you've always liked.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by astapasta24 at 2:31 AM on August 26, 2014

Also by Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose. Audio available here. Also available as a pretty good movie with Sean Connery and F. Murray Abraham.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by apparently at 3:04 AM on August 26, 2014

Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum seems to fit the bill. And it's a great read.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by tractorfeed at 2:03 AM on August 26, 2014

FiveThirtyEight: There Are Millions Of Michael Browns In America
posted to MetaFilter by roomthreeseventeen at 1:48 PM on August 25, 2014

The orientation model of advocating understanding of those with kinky urges or involvement with kink identity assumes a certain "this is set in stone and THEREFORE must be respected and people who just this way, simply are" that I don't think is true for everyone as much it can be for some people.

I think one of the reasons I'm so tired of the orientation/born-this-way model is that it was founded when the notion of homosexuality just being... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sonascope at 9:00 AM on August 25, 2014

Man, the "no angel" line keeps eating me, and I think I've figured out why. It's not that nobody's an angel—of course no one is, we can all list off stupid irresponsible shit we got up to as kids—it's that almost nobody even says someone's an angel.

It's that just about the only person who is going to literally call a teenager an angel is that teenager's mom in a period of grief. "He... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by cortex at 10:01 AM on August 25, 2014

If we were chatting in person, this is the point where I would ask you what you understand a CMS to be for. It's not entirely clear in this question. Can you post an update clarifying that? A CMS like Drupal is a bit of a Swiss army knife. It sounds like maybe you knew about the nail file and the scissors but not the knives. Hooray, it has knives too!

The point of a Content Management System is not just to input the content or enable a WYSIWYG editor or schedule... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by heatherann at 5:19 PM on August 22, 2014

Pierce: The Body in the Street


I keep coming back to one simple moment, one ghastly fact. One image, from which all the other images have flowed.

They left the body in the street.

Dictators leave bodies in the street.

Petty local satraps leave bodies in the street.

Warlords leave bodies in the street.
...
Bodies are not left in the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by tonycpsu at 12:56 PM on August 22, 2014

Being listed as a World Heritage site doesn't mean that blue helmeted myrmidons are going to descend upon the site

The hysterical verbiage and nakedly tendentious assertions make this almost unreadable.

Metafilter: You should probably get your thesaurus.
posted to MetaFilter by leotrotsky at 11:49 AM on August 22, 2014

I don't understand why some types of food are considered adults only. ... But there is nothing about the food or the establishment that precludes a child from enjoying it just like an afult would.

Obviously anybody can put anything into their mouth, chew, and swallow. But once you get beyond that, there are a host of reasons why this experience is more suited for adults, and it's all the same reasons why it's perfectly okay to bring your four-year-old... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by cribcage at 2:17 PM on August 21, 2014