New thread please...
And I hate to be a radical...
but shouldn't new posts queue in at the top?
That way we can see when there is a new post?
PS: Is bottom insertion an example of entrenched technology?
History is written by the victors, so if the victory was through
armed struggle, then the victors become revolutionaries and freedom
fighters; else they become terrorists. Dr. King's legacy is an example
of this. He was not an armed revolutionary so he could not be branded
as a terrorist, and he did end up inspiring large numbers of people; so
instead they made him a plastic saint. A safe way of defusing his real
legacy and rendering it irrelevant.
1980 US presidential election; I was 4. I remember just a single visual image of watching the black and white TV in the corner where it sat until I was 5 -- an image of some men in suits walking to microphones. I knew it was the third party guy [Anderson], I remember my parents saying that was unusual to have a third-party guy. (The visual image I remember is of a fat guy with black hair, who doesn't look like Anderson. Might have just been another guy in the frame, or I might be mixing it up with some visual from Hinckley's attempt on Reagan's life in 1981.)
I remember I favored Reagan because I liked his hair. We lived in DC and my parents were news junkies, so I have a lot of early news consciousness.
1982 (when I was 6):
Air Florida crash into the Potomac. Vividly remember this.
Schoolyard jokes like "go to the edge of a cliff, Yuri, and-drop-ov!"
Bicycle helmet story -
I was at a friend's house, a couple blocks from mine. Needed to go fetch something from my house, so borrowed her bike, but not her helmet since it's too small. What can happen in 2 blocks, especially if I ride extra carefully?
And nothing did happen, until I went to get off her bike. I'd forgotten it had toe clips - so the bike and I went down.
Fortunately the nearby tree was not within cranial range, so I only felt like an idiot.
#655 Jim - Thanks for the answer; I should probably have guessed that.
#633 - thanks for the explanation!
Two other questions about car safety:
Jim says that part of the damage in an accident comes from internal organs getting sloshed and yanked around inside you. Does the seatbelt help with this aspect just by stopping your forward movement over a few inches, as opposed to stopping it over a few millimeters?
Also: I often sit in the front passenger seat (buckled) with my legs folded "indian-style" in front of me, rather than straight under the dash. Anyone know if this is a recipe for more-than-usual disaster in an accident?
Teresa, way above you said that in a sandstorm one should pull off and turn off one's lights. Why? Why wouldn't you put on your hazards/flashers?
#497 Laertes: When you're using words as objects as in the use of "minuscule" and "weird" in this and the previous sentences, should they be italicized, underlined, enclosed in quotation marks, or in any other way set apart?
Extra bonus question: Is there a better way to express the concept that I'm fumbling toward with the phrase "using words as objects?" I bet there is, and I bet this is the place to find people who know it.
As a couple of people said upthread, the concept you want is "use vs. mention". You were mentioning those words, rather than using them. In academic philosophy and logic, in the US anyway, the convention is that you put words you are mentioning in single quotes -- for example:
The word 'delightful' is delightful.
Fragano Ledgister: I think those lines are from White Man's Burden, not Recessional. (Tangentially, White Man's Burden was originally subtitled The United States and the Phillipine Islands).
One of the main problems with the eagle solution has been elegantly expressed here - in cartoon form, no less.
Yes, Ma'am!
Consistent life ethid=unable to vote for Bush, REALLY unable to vote for Kerry
It's a tough position to be in. I wish one party or other would let the pressure off, to tell the truth.
What Cecily says is a lie. The pro-life movement has no interest in harming the life or health of mothers. They are interested in stopping the *voluntary* termination of pregnancy. There's a separate code for this in your insurance company's system than for a medically necessary one. Furthermore, you are not required to use extraordinary measures to save the life of a premature baby. It is both legal and ethical to deliver a baby prematurely--to save the life of the mother, which is indeed in danger in the case of eclampsia/toxemia--and you can peacefully wait for the end to come naturally. You are not required to intubate, perform CPR, defibrillate, or otherwise rescuscitate *anyone if a DNR is signed by them or their parent. Because of Cecily's misunderstanding, she chose a violent and traumatic way to end a pregnancy that could have been much more natural. If the child is dismembered in the womb (which I assume is what she's referring to), there's not much chance of holding the child after birth/death, having a normal grieving process, or giving the child a decent burial--all of which are very appropriate for a 22-weeker.
I do believe in a consistent life ethic. I'm glad I have the respect of some, but if you really respect the position so much, what's keeping you from sharing it?
I was going to see RotK. Now, I think I should avoid it.
Sigh. There was so much to love about TTT, but strangely enough, that made the disappointments all the more difficult to bear. From what I read here, I fear this third movie would distress me even more.
For the Bad Human List:
I will not drop my cat into the first big snowdrift of the winter. Every winter.
I will not put scotch tape on the bottom of my cat's paw, making her lift and flick the the paw in great irritation.
I will not put scotch tape on the bottom of all four of her paws, so that she tries to lift all four at the same time, falls over, and glares at me.
At feeding time, I will not put the unopened can of cat food on the floor and cheerfully tell the cat, "There you go!"
And when my cat protests at the unopened can, I will not give her the can opener and laugh maniacally.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2009 | 1 |
| 2008 | 2 |
| 2007 | 5 |
| 2006 | 2 |
| 2004 | 2 |
| 2003 | 2 |
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