The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by abi:

Lee @78:

I doubt Wal-Mart astroturfs Making Light. These are just people with views, stating them on a blog. Happens all the time on the internet.

Summer Storms @84:
Caffeine, #74: *I just think it's important to keep in mind that if you can afford to have never stepped foot in a Wal-Mart, you may not be grasping why people who shop there, do.*

Erm, no.

Well, actually, yes. You've given a long explanation of why you, in your particular place on the time-money continuum, don't shop at Wall-Mart. I note that a lot of the choices you make are based on spending time rather than money.

But not everyone is at the same balance between time and money. Indeed, some people have neither, and a big shop that carries a lot of things at low prices can save them both in the short run. And sometimes the short run is all they can work with.

What I'm getting from your comment is exactly what caffeine touched on: sanctimony. "I'm not in that position, so everyone who is is..." I don't know. What are you thinking they are? Stupid? Shiftless? Lazy? Cardboard characters in your narrative, certainly.

As caffeine @80 said, it's easy to forget that the macro is made up of thousands of individual decisions that make sense to the people making them.

And this is a general point. People make decisions based on a vast range of factors; most of them are doing the best they can with the information and resources available to them. To presume otherwise reveals a limitation in your understanding of the situation, not theirs.

Teresa criticizes Wal-Mart's Black Friday behavior because they are manipulating that information (and, for their employees and the markets where they've broken the wage norms, those resources).

(Oh, and Aldi? Not local. They're German.)

Serge @373:

Well, to be fair, only one of the two other beginners in the class might want to reconsider his laundry schedule. There were also a couple of more advanced users who were a bit sharp-smelling. It highlighted to me that I need to incorporate gi-washing into my routine so it's always sure to get done.

I didn't end up sparring with the non-smelly beginner.

Jacque @366:
I think it's what ballroom dancing would be if it was reincarnated as a martial art.

I certainly found that my body posture met with the sensei's approval if I thought "dancer" rather than "martial artist" as I moved. And, apart from the other rank beginner I sparred with, my classmates felt like dance partners. Our maneuvers were a shared thing; that was part of the feeling of welcome.

The other thing it felt like, of course, was a foreign culture. (Of course, because it's rooted in a foreign culture.) But that's actually the easy part for me, since it made the Dutchness before and after class that much more normal.

And the only element that really did not feel foreign was the degree to which our actions were rooted in, and surrounded by, stillness and silence. I've been too long away from that.

Happy Thanksgiving, to all for whom that is possible. Happy November 26, for those whose circumstances or history make the festival too loaded to invoke by name.

And thank you, everyone on Making Light, for creating and maintaining this community. Thanks to my fellow mods for letting me come play; to the regulars for the daily bread of comments, support, puns and poetry; to the occasional posters for the variety and amusement of your contributions; and to the lurkers, for supporting me in the email.

I am also thankful that when the welders started the fire at the self-storage building cattercorner from my office a couple of hours ago, no one was hurt or killed. The evacuation seems to have gone fairly smoothly. I hope the fire doesn't spread to our building, or at least that our offsite backup strategy is effective.

Jacque @364:

obPoem.

Mez @351:

Enjoy the cruise! Keep us posted on the rest, please?

Wow.

I'm just back from a trial aikido lesson, and man was it great. It's in my son's karate dojo, which we already knew was a warm and welcoming place. They made allowances for my poor Dutch, and I got to work with some really neat guys. I don't know if it was more fun to be the one doing the moves, or feeling the way that my own force could turn me like a great wheel and wind me up on the mat.

More seriously, I can see that what aikido has to teach me as a person (at least as much as the physical) is what I need to learn right at this point in my life. And it suits my character.

And did I mention the bit about the fun?

Re the "filthy pictures" particle: it reminds me of the story around my office time one of my colleagues put horse droppings in another guy's computer case. As the computer would heat up, it would apparently produce quite a smell. Took them weeks to find the source.

I gather he was advised not to pull that kind of trick again. And he hasn't; he's much more devious than that now.

ajay @49:

"Greetings, gentlebeings..." Glass genres, stones.

Longer me: I think that repeating stereotypes about romance writing in this thread is fairly obnoxious. In particular, considering that the RWA continues to show the kind of professionalism and genuine author advocacy that we'd love to see from SFWA, we're not really in a position to sneer at the (frankly, fairly tame) phrasing of a press release.

I'd like to add my voice to those saying to treat Soren's comment with care. It's hard to do when you're feeling so vulnerable, I know. For what it's worth, the community has your back.

Right now, hold fiercely on to the fact that you love him.

Happy birthday, Velma, and may this be the last such a one for you. I know last year's really sucked too.

Hold fast. We're praying for you.

Serge @42:
Incorruptible?

Sea-green, baby. Though people are welcome to try.

JaNell @13:

I did a lot of research about ten years ago, when I was just coming to understand SAD, and the consensus then was that it was the quantity of light rather than its spectrum that was important.

My light box (it's an OutsideIn Sunbeam Max, which appears to be a defunct product from a defunct company now) uses very bright fluorescent bulbs, and works wonders for me. I also use a bright but ordinary desk lamp at work.

I understand that the latest research indicates that blue LEDs are the thing. I haven't tried them yet. But I'm unconvinced that full-spectrum is necessary, and it is expensive.

DDB @35:

I would herd the thread to keep it on-topic. Not that I've seen the thing—so I'm not part of any critical mass—but I am by character and inclination spoiler-proof.

Hey, would people be interested in a spoileriffic Dr Who thread? I'm seeing comments in various threads about it; is there critical mass for a discussion of its own?

Anyone for Sir Thomas More?

Assertio Undecim Doctorum (In Defense of the Eleven Doctors) and Responsio Ad Dominum (A Reply to the Master)

albatross @918:
FWIW (for those who haven't noticed from my other posts here) I'm both Catholic and a supporter of gay marriage.

I am too, both, and I don't think you need your mirror for this one. (There are churches that have argued this, or similar things, but since they're not "mainline", they pretty much get ignored.)

I think that, specifically for the Catholic Church, there is a worthwhile argument that the ship of trying to limit the recognition of secular marriage to the boundaries of sacramental marriage has long since sailed. There's already a disconnect, and the fault line is remarriage after divorce.

To assert that they cannot run a charitable organization if the laws force them to recognize marriages that we consider sinful is to assert that they cannot run a charitable organization.

albatross @912:
From the article you linked to:

Under the bill, headed for a D.C. Council vote next month, religious organizations would not be required to perform or make space available for same-sex weddings. But they would have to obey city laws prohibiting discrimination against gay men and lesbians.

Fearful that they could be forced, among other things, to extend employee benefits to same-sex married couples, church officials said they would have no choice but to abandon their contracts with the city.

Quaere: does Catholic Charities have a problem with extending employee benefits to the spouses of divorced and remarried staff? Does the legal requirement to do so stop it from working in DC?

If not, why not?

(I don't expect that you have an answer, but that's the question that springs immediately to mind.)

Prayers, yes, though by the time I woke up and saw this, some of it's thanksgiving as well.

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