#34 Building a highway doesn't bother me much - infrastructure is usually a good thing.
I hope the Congresscritters who are getting all the threats & harassment get disgusted & go back to DC & pass a kickass bill.
I'd like to see that too!
We are already "Beyond the Healthcare Event Horizon." It's a hideous, grasping octopus that's already eating close to twenty percent of our GDP - and maybe that's the way to portray it. Don't respond to Teabagger talking points about "Euthanasia Councils" or whatever bullshit they're spouting. Find a way to visualize the problem in terms of what it means for the economy, or compare it to other forms of oppression. Would we ever give 1/5th of our annual production as tribute to an invading enemy? Would we ever pay twenty percent on a moortage? (Maybe that's not a good comparison - come credit cards charge more than that.) Would we give up the total production of ten separate states to any giant corporation? If IBM came along as said, "We need Michigan, Maine, Oregon... etc., would we hand over the land?
"Would you personally hand one fifth of your paycheck every month to a person who is much, much, richer than you?"
"Would you allow a ravenous octopus to suck away twenty percent of your blood supply every day? And a similar percentage of the blood supply of your friends and family?"
Something like that, anyway. (Hopefully this version won't get caught in the spam filter...)
We are already "Beyond the Healthcare Event Horizon." It's a hideous, grasping octopus that's already eating close to 20% of out Gross Domestic Product - and maybe that's the way to portray it. Don't respond to Teabagger talking points about "Euthanasia Councils" or whatever bullshit they're spouting. Find a way to visualize the problem in terms of what it means for the economy, or compare it to other forms of oppression. Would we ever give 20% of our GDP as tribute to an invading enemy? Would we ever pay 20% interest on a home loan? (Maybe that's not a good comparison - come credit cards charge more than that.) Would we give up the total production of ten separate states to any giant corporation? If IBM came along as said, "We need Michigan, Maine, Oregon... etc., would we hand over the land?
"Would you personally hand 20% of your paycheck every month to a person who is much, much, richer than you?"
"Would you allow a ravenous octopus to suck away 20% of your blood supply every day? And 20% of the blood supply of your friends and family?"
Something like that, anyway.
"The plum over the port was the color of television tuned to a dead channel."
Sorry, couldn't resist.
If we pursue this plan, by late 2006 any two adjacent public CCTV terminals - or private camcorders equipped with a digital video link - will be reprogrammable any authenticated MAGINOT BLUE STARS superuser to permit the operator to turn them into a SCORPION STARE basilisk weapon. We remain convinced that this is the best defensive posture to adopt in order to minimize casualties when the Great Old Ones return from beyond the stars to eat our plums.
"The only proper use of the "blink" tag is to demonstrate why the "blink" tag should never be used."
I don't remember who said that, but it wasn't me-
I wish I had something to add. The entire notion of attacking Iran, and going forward from there to complete other NeoCon dreams is so insane and pathetic that it's hard to write again on the subject of "Why these losers are insane and pathetic."
They just are. And they might pathetic our nation into total collapse.
Alex
#5 Linkmeister - I don't plan to read it. I hate to speak ill of the dead, but Helms was a horrible American, and praise for the man would turn my stomach.
Hmmm. I think Barr's statement on Jesse Helms is as interesting for what it doesn't say as for what it does. It would have been very easy to insert a few code words, something like, "Domestically, Helms had a strong commitment to a positive, traditional American society."
It seems like the minimum necessary to placate the right wing Libertarians. I'm sure you can find much more fulsome examples of praise for Jesse without trying very hard.
Just for the record, I'm not trying to minimize Helms' horrific record - IMHO the man is burning in the hottest part of hell right now - just saying that you may be misinterpreting what you read.
# 40, (David Bilek) "I think BB would clearly have been better off if they had listened to and followed Teresa's rules for PR management."
To make this more explicit, I suspect that Teresa gave them some good, very specific advice, which was ignored. Now she's in a situation where she must follow her employers wishes about a very public matter and keep her mouth shut about how clueless her employers have been.
# 107, (James D. MacDonald) While folks have been quick to assume that Cory, Xeni, Teresa, Patrick, and who-knows who else is lying, why doesn't anyone ask if Violet Blue may not be shading the truth? I think it's within the realm of possibility that she knows darned good and well exactly why those posts were hidden.
I've been thinking the same thing. Carefully following the links around the story confronts one with the possibility that Violet is something of a loose cannon. Obviously I can't prove that one way or another, but I'm familiar with a particular type which she seems to fit.
# 117 (Nicole J. LeBoeuf-Little) Heck, I've just now recently been in a situation where I felt the need to disassociate from someone because I could no longer bear to tacitly condone their personal conduct; yet because that conduct was personal, I considered it inappropriate to tell everyone in our social group what my gripe was.
I've been in a similar situation. Sometimes the best thing to do is be quiet - this is the only thing the Boing-Boingers have done right.
IMHO, the best thing to do would have been to leave the Violet Blue stories there, but remove the links, possibly substituting the phrase, "Link removed by the author."
Alex
#101 Epacris
RWA = Right Wing Asshole.
America in 2008. What you get when Dilbert's boss is elected president.
I wonder if Bush has a secretary who screams, "Delete the !!@#*%! e-mail yourself! I'm not your mother!"
(In case it's not obvious, I'm riffing off Chris' comment at #93 about high-level RWAs.)
If I was a terrorist planning to attack the FooBar building, I'd probably take my pictures from the back of a car with tinted windows. I'd not only take still photos, I shoot some video too, and nobody would ever see me. Then I'd rent an office in the building across the street and learn everything I could about the neighborhood, including the patrol behaviors of the police and security goons. Further, I'd put my cell-phone into camera mode and find an excuse to walk into the building. I'd search for pictures of the building on Flickr, and Google images, and I'd happily peruse Google Earth on a stolen account...
If I was in the US, I'd call one of the organizations (usually run by a consortium of companies with pipes and wires that run underground) and arrange for the streets to be marked to show the locations of gas, electrical, sewage, phone, cable, and water.
That's not even counting the stuff you can do at the library and the hall of records.
How dumb do you have to be to think some guy with a camera is a terrorist?
Alex
This is a major bummer. I still miss the Dungeons & Dragons games I used to play with my friends. Let me also second the notion in # 6 - a giant tomb filled with hideous traps would be the perfect memorial.
Alex
Greg @ 269:
I absolutely agree with most of the comments about Buckley. There's no way to see him as a decent or moral human being. But when any human being, no matter how evil, dies, there are people who care about him. Their feelings and mourning should be respected. Not because it's "the law" or "an order" but because it's the decent thing to do.
If I spend 48 hours not publicly hating Buckley, it does me no damage, and it doesn't do anybody else any damage. I know I've done my best to be a good person. Meanwhile, I don't worry at all about history's opinion of Buckley - he'll be treated as an apologist for evil even if I keep my mouth shut for the next couple days.
When Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter dies, conservatives are going to dance in the streets, and they'll fill the Internet with ranting, raving garbage about how Bill and/or Jimmy was the worst human being in the world, and deserves to burn in hell.
Conservatives have no decency. They're ideologically/religiously driven assholes who believe that it's perfectly acceptable to be a total jerk in service to that ideology/religion. Your typical conservative will happily attempt to turn someone's grieving family into a major propaganda victory. I don't doubt that within minutes of Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton's death, people like Rush Limbaugh will attack their memory, their grieving families, and their legacy.
I hate that shit. Conservatives won't even wait until the body is cold, or better yet, decently buried, before they launch their disgusting attacks. But it's okay when we do it, because we're so obviously right, and they're so completely wrong.
Next. Time. Wait. Until. The. Body. Is. Cold.
Alex
And what's with the escape helicopter flying parallel to the monster's path, (and parallel to the path of the bombers attacking the monster?) Wouldn't it be SOP to fly at a right angle to the monster's/bomber's path, and thus be as far as possible from bombs, monster arms, and flying architecture? Shouldn't there have been some kind of air traffic control in place SEVEN FRICKIN HOURS after the monster began its assault?
Re 456: Greg, I think you're missing something on the whole "Peter Pan ending" thing. Harry DOES kill Voldemort, not by using an "unforgiveable" curse, but by using superior knowledge and reason to deliberately and cold-bloodedly lead Voldemort into a trap.
The fact that Harry "outthinks" Voldemort doesn't leave him without moral responsibility. Harry is still a killer. Even with Harry's mastery over the "super" wand, Voldemort is clearly the superior fighter, and if Harry hadn't out-thought Voldemart, he'd have been carbonized.
(My apologies if this idea has already been posted. I came to the discussion late, and wanted to make the point before I forgot all about it.)
Alex
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2009 | 4 |
| 2008 | 15 |
| 2007 | 1 |
| 2006 | 8 |
| 2005 | 3 |
| 2004 | 51 |
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