Re: Spectacle

1

Apparently, the judge has spoken. Most recent story I read said that the husband would be allowed to remove the tube. I agree with that. The choice should be his. He's had a dead (for all intents and purposes) wife for a decade. Let the poor man find a new life and hopefully happiness.

And you're right...people really need to make these things clearer before it becomes an issue. No one in their mid-20s-to-early-30s wants to think about such things, but they happen nonetheless. Let's home some people learn from this situation.

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Too late. The judge has already ordered removal. This was a weak fucking ploy.

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aww fuck.

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I mean, I keep on writing my html wrong.

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Bob and Mary Schindler: you are asses.

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errr....yeah. "hope", even.

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Thank God the Republican party is here to stand up for the powers of the federal government and its ability to interfere with the significance of marriage.

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whoa there ben.

they might just have a really strong attachment to her, and not be able to accept the fact that inside, she's already dead. i feel sorry for them, but i think they should give up the ghost.

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I have to agree with Ben. Hanging on too long to a lost loved one I can understand, but painting her husband as a greedy adulterer trying to "murder" Terri is beyond the pale.

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oh. see. i didnt bother to read the article. assholes they are then.

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but this as well has been the argument they have held the whole time. that he wanted her taken off life support to get the benefits of her life insurance or whatever. i do wonder, however, who is paying the medical bills.

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Ok.Colours to the mast.

I am a committed Christian. Type Anglican, if it makes any difference.

This said. The churches are just not equipped to deal with the ethical conundrums of the age. When Dogma is placed before the dignity of the individual then ugliness is the only outcome. It beggars belief that anyone could make a cohesive argument to prolong the suffering in both lives.

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You know, I actually have sympathy for them. I think they're wrong as fuck, but I have sympathy. I don't think there's anything worse than a kid dying, and I can see the desire they have, given that she's brain-dead, to hang on to whatever they can. It would be hard to actively say "yes" to pulling that tube.

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Oh, and as to painting the husband as a murderer--well, again, if it were your kid, would you not say anything you had to say?

I like to think I'd make a different decision than they have. And I'm totally sickened by the groups and politicians that are using this situation to advance their own fucked-up agendas (they don't have the same emotional excuse the parents do). But I can understand why they're doing what they're doing.

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Bp, she's not brain-dead. She's in a PVS, and the parents contend, I think, that there's more functioning than there really seems to be.

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Ok, well, whatever. The point still stands.

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The parents contend...

Always assuming one believes in a soul, the mere suspiscion that there is more functioning than there appears to be would make me wonder about the torment of the soul locked up in that. Yes I know there was that guy in where ever who woke up after like 150 yrs in the emergency room and so you never know, but I hope, really hope, if it were my child on the slab for ten years I'd act differently. For the sake of the soul of the child I love.

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Totally OT, but I never imagined that "LATEST COMMENTS" sidebar would give me the willies like it's been doing for the last half-hour or so.

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Joe: It's an education of the most outre kind. I think this is what BPhd was an about that night, at least night for me. Im fascinated. Like a hare caught in headlights. Synapses snapping and unable to duck, or just look the fuck away.

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20

Oh man, Joe, no shit. It's just so.... like, I'm laughing, and I'm fucking biting my tongue, and I sent o. an email saying, "I bet you rue the day." And I dunno about you guys, but the illogic, it is driving me CRAZY......

I wish we could all adjourn to a bar and order a few drinks together.

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(Which of my rants do you think this li'l flareup excuses?)

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(Which of my rants do you think this li'l flareup excuses?)

All of them, and all in the future. I honestly had no idea. You must be like a rock.

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Mebbe its cos Im young, new, stupid and just plain unsophisticated but there is a devil in me that is just screaming to be allowed to go an have some fun. Chain Saws, Flame Throwers, the works.

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Joe, I am going to bookmark your comment there and use it. You'll learn to regret ever saying it. I bet ogged or FL deletes, it, even.

Austro, seriously. You don't want to do that. I know, I know... but you don't want to do that. I mean, you do, but no, no, you don't.

What you want to do is join me at the bar and have a drink.

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What you want to do is join me at the bar and have a drink.

I'll have nine, thanks.

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26

Austro, as the poster of the "Dragon teeth" comment, I expect better! You can't win against that kind of internet denizen. It's really hopeless. You think you can gain a foothold with one who appears corrigible, or who's making an obvious logical error, but no.

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B:

Joe: Im in a Vienna Coffee House. With a glass of red and a piano man somewhere in the background. (real). Whatsay you kids come over and share. We could help you mark those papers.

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I'm buying one for the apostropher.

Oh, and I also wanted to say: excellent, excellent synchronicity on the naming of the two post-mommy posts. Truly fortuitous.

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Ben.. I did say "the devil".. you ll note that I have been very reticent. Its the self destructive streak.. needs careful watching always. I just LOVE a good fight every now and then.

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30

Austro that is just so.... mean. Waaah. I have to walk home and clean the kitchen.

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Though when it's done on purpose trolls can be very funny.

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B: The Coffee house is my Friday night means of avoiding the kitchen and the empty house. This is temporary, Gott sei Dank.

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B: "keep they heads ringin'" and "your name here"?

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34

We really should go keep Austro company, folks.

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35

Oh, shit, I meant "Spectacle" and "Suspension of Disbelief."

I did tell you that I'm getting sick, right? Plus I have a get-out-of-jail free card from Joe.

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Not to mention "Parallel Universe"...

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The red is good, the weather warm, the piano man.. well harmless.. and the company would be (and is) appreciated. B: there is an apricot schnapps here that will cure ALL known colds, if taken early enough. So Bring those papers and we ll be done in no time.

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Ben: How many lives do I have to wade through that link?

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Ok, Austro, how do I get there?

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Bitch being a scotch drinker, she might be more interested in a cask-strength Talisker which David Wondrich assures the world is "like the Hippocratic Oath in a bottle".

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(I was going to say no schnapps, scotch, but I thought it sounded rude. But mmmmmmmm, yes. I'm making that when I get home.)

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Talisker, Lagavulin, Highland Park, Dalwhiney,... we can do those too. But trust me. For colds this schnapps is the cats boll... whiskers.

B: right by Boston, lift your skirts jumping the pond, hard right by Ireland. Keep following your nose and when you see the eastern end of the big pile of rocks you're there. See you all in, say, 20.

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This is the perfect Friday afternoon conversation. Scotch, Vienna and passive-aggressive anti-troll tactics.

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I'm told there's an amazing chair, or possible desk, in Vienna.

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Bphd, what's your Scotch of choice? I've been too cheap too shell out for Lagavulin of late, and just found an acceptable Islay substitute for about half the price--whereupon I poured it into a decanter and threw away the bottle, and can no longer remember the name...

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46

Possibly desk. To my knowledge Vienna is not teeming with desks of uncertain existence.

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47

"Lift my skirts?" Heh.

Now, as to scotch, I am a Laphroaig girl myself. And the iodine would be good for the throat right about now. Tell you what. I'm gonna pack up the ol' laptop, hike my skirt up, trudge my way home through the thaw and mud, and I'll be back in about 45 minutes (yes, it's a long walk).

See y'all then. Hold down the fort 'til I get back.

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48

Some of our chairs are amazing!

Ya know... in a life before I ever dreamt of coming here I had the privelege of 12 hrs with Karl Popper. HE gave me a short account his doings with Wittgenstein etc.... So when, years later and for different reason I landed here I went around for weeks in a dream.

I did a language course at the uni and on the first dayran into Boltzmann's old office... I love this city.

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49

Michael's being silly in that other place.

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50

Hold down the fort 'til I get back.

Barbarians at the gates, bitches, barbarians at the gates.

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51

Joe.. I cant.. I promised Ben and B...

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And now, what's going to happen to us without barbarians? They were, those people, a kind of solution.

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53

Barbarians and Barbarians... The Vandals did no one much good anywhere but Theoderic did found Ravenna AND he saved the west. So which type are these Ben?

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54

It's not clear, but they were set to hassle the Romans.

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55

It's so rough when no one gets your literary allusions, and you're forced to spell them out for people.

I've been there.

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Ahem... Thanks Ben... I have honestly never read that before. That's one of the reasons why I come here..*rueful smile*

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(I hadn't either. I meant for my post to poke fun at Wolfson, but afterwards realized that it might sound like I was aiming it elsewhere.)

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Joe, relax, I meant what I said, so to speak. He might have had the grace to use quotes though!

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Mea culpa!

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I should think so too!

So what say we troll the trolls? ... I have 45 minutes before this place closes and well im feeling Barbarian.

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61

No no no! Restrain yourself!

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Beware -- their weapons are far more crude and blunt than the rapiers we're accustomed to.

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I know you're right. Damn you. Back to Bloodlust again... Grendel at the door.

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Joe.... I was thinking like Trojan Horses...THEN Broadswords and Chainsaws.

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Grendel?

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66

ee cummings would have hated me

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Dat da Fella.... "Hwaet!"

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Hwæt!: a little Old English anthology of American modernist poetry, including such gems as:

þys is efne to secgenne

Ic æt

þa pluman

þe wæron

þære iscieste

and þe

þu eallmæst cuþice

hordodest

for morgenmete

Forgief me

hie wæron smæcclice

swa swete

and swa cealde

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I want to know how you get those "thorn" characters working... are there OE and Anglosaxon keyboards?

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That was worth the wæt.

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71

I just KNEW that was coming.

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Austro—þ

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I should have guessed after the expose thing, huh?

psst.. are they gone or just camped for the night

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74

So, I've noticed that it's still not 5pm.

What's up with that?

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Well I dont know, but the waiter here seems to think it is already midnight.... Twins paradox. You must be travelling very fast away from us.

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76

Ooops.. it just got serious. I have to pack up and go.

Its been fun. Again.

Til later.

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77

Fuck, is that shit still going on? And damn, I missed Austro.

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78

Quiet thread, so I'll tell a story I just heard.

A friend was at the opening of SPAMalot last night (musical version of Monty Python/Holy Grail) and the remaining members of Python all came onstage after the show. They thought it would be funny if there was another actor up there holding a cardboard cutout of Graham Chapman's face, so they did that, and everyone laughed. Then, they decided to continue the joke by having that actor pull out an urn, pretending it was Chapman's remains. More laughter. Then, they completed the comedy triptych and had the actor drop the urn, and "Chapman's ashes" went spilling all over the stage.

Silence.

My friend said that he'd never seen a crowd turn so quickly on so beloved a group of performers.

Supposedly it was all Idle's idea.

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79

B: did you miss me? Im touched!

Im home now...the waiter was getting edgy. He must have had a date or something. Still, it is spring

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Me too re. home. Stopped and got pho for dinner. Now settled with Ben's whiskey drink, which is pretty damn good.

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81

Joe. Just shows how many iconoclasts any of us really know. *Sung with Bob Geldoff's voice*

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Cheers! I ll stick with the red for now, but you need your throat looking after.

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83

God, I do. I don't wanna get sick! WAAAHHH!

You know, that whole troll thing: I used to moderate a forum for moms that was specifically geared for young mothers, single moms, progressives, punk rock moms.... boy did we get a lot of those trolls.

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84

Python: Still Shocking The Straights.

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Ok, now if we get Ben back we can just pick right back up again. Though the trolls seem to have gone away.

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86

I used to moderate a forum for moms that was specifically geared for young mothers, single moms, progressives, punk rock moms.... boy did we get a lot of those trolls.

This sounds like a gigantic headache of a thankless job.

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Well, the moms were great. And it was a cool community. And very educational. But yeah, the trolls were a hassle.

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88

Nope, sick for Easter= not good.

You know.. somewhere at the beginning of all of this someone quipped that some people need to stop hating.

It is so true. Im reminded of a piece by Stephen Fry in which he describes rage at finding one sock of a pair in the drawer. Conclusion? If so much rage can be expressed over errant footwear, what room is there for, say, torture, injustice and genocide?

So true. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like to feel so much negative energy.

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Oh right, Easter. When is that again?

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90

Dont you kids break for eater then?

What IS with spring break anyway?

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91

I saw Wolfson under the covers earlier with a copy of Robert's Rules of Order, so he may be awhile.

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The Python story is funny, by the way. My cat's cremains are on my dresser.

Tell no one about my sentimental side.

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I know how to spell, really.

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Actually I already had my break; I didn't mention it, b/c I'm paranoid.

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Joe : Roberts Rules of Order?.. further and better pariculars please.

B: You know... it is SO obvious you're a softie really.

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IT IS NOT. LALALALALA.

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*sigh*.. particulars.... its getting late

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OH YES IT IS! Bwahahahahah. Seriously.

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Robert's.

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umm what was this thread about again?

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101

Hunnert.

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Fucking shit.

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103

:) AND the link is dead!

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Tell no one about my sentimental side.

I knew it was there all along.

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Really? On my computer it goes to the wikipedia entry on Robert's Rules of Order.

Anyway, here it is. It's all about proper procedure, originally for Parliament, but generally adhered to in corporate board meetings or similar officialdom.

Rules. Order. Procedure. Wolfson Porn.

Robert's Rules of Order is a handbook of parliamentary procedure that is often used as the parliamentary authority by deliberative bodies, as part of their overall rules of order. The rules in this book were designed for use primarily by bodies other than national and state legislative assemblies. They were first published in 1876 by General (U.S. Army) Henry Martyn Robert (1837-1923), and the procedures are loosely modeled after those used in the United States House of Representatives. General Robert designed these rules as a standard set that would be familiar, functional and uniform.

Through a family trust, and later through the Robert's Rules Association, several subsequent editions of Robert's work have been published; the current edition is Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, Tenth Edition (2000) (paperback ISBN 0-7382-0307-6; hardcover ISBN 0-7382-0384-X). Since the copyrights for several of the original editions have expired, numerous other books and manuals have been published incorporating "Robert's Rules of Order" as part of their titles, some of them based on those earlier editions.

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106

Man. Thats three things I've learnt in this one thread. This place is so damn cool.

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107

Rules of Order? That's a joke, right?

I firmly and categorically deny that I am a softie, and if you keep insisting on it I will bitch at you.

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108

B: You cant frighten me anymore. Not now. The veil is pierced. The non-fight shew me that.

Joe: In case you fink ahm mahlingerin:

Sorry- we have a problem...

The wikimedia web server didn't return any response to your request.

To get information on what's going on you can visit #wikipedia.

An "offsite" status page is hosted on OpenFacts.

Generated Sat, 19 Mar 2005 00:25:47 GMT by browne.wikimedia.org (squid/2.5.STABLE4-20040219.wp20050114.icpfix.nortt.S7)

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109

You're as tough as nails, b.

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110

So Joe. Now I wanna know how come YOU saw Ben under the covers AND then I want to know WHY Ben is about to throw the book at us?

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What non-fight?

And see, Joe? You're scared of me, so that proves I'm not to be trusted.

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112

Yeah, I wanna hear this Joe & Ben at home story too. What's up with that?

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Gimme a sec to fix that link.

I'm gonna need some pliers and, ahhh, a set of 30-weight ball bearings.

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114

Yeah, I wanna hear this Joe & Ben at home story too. What's up with that?

Who said anything about home?

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115

How do you know he's in bed?

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116

Ahhh. I get the confusion. I didn't realize you've never been inside the Mineshaft.

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B: http://www.unfogged.com/cgi-bin/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=3161#017449

That non-fight.

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118

damn: I keep forgetting the rotten tags. sorry

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119

Speaking of the mineshaft.

You need some grease for those ball bearings?

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120

You know what's good? Wine. Wine and Midnite Vultures. And tough bitches.

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midnite vultures?

scotch is good. i'm liking the scotch.

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122

Yeah, well, I woulda ripped you a new one but last time I tried that I got yelled at by the blogowner.

Sorry re. no caps btw: am parallel chatting and forgot which window I was in.... :P

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This will work

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Right right, I just pasted it into a new window before.

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:) Im not convinced. But OK, you're mad bad and dangerous to know. K?

Guys.. oi tink oi need me bed, begorrah.

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B: I know you did.. it was the principle, you know?

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Go, sleep.

Am not really trying to convince anyone. It's the juxtaposition of bitchy and not-bitchy that's the most interesting, no?

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128

Oh and Joe!.. you still got some 'splainin to do!

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129

Midnite Vultures. It ain't Nina Simone, but it features the best song about a guy who only wants to be with one girl with the possible exception of her sister who may or may not be named Debra that's ever been recorded.

It's all ball bearings nowadays.

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Juxtaposition is the soul of porn.

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#129

Can someone please read that and then tell me Im not hallucinating.. pleeeeeze.

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which brings us back to the 'splainin, I believe.

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Ok, one, PORN? Who said anything about porn?

two, yeah, nice distraction, but why do you know that Ben's in bed?

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134

No one said anything about porn. But someone has to be the first.

All the ball bearings stuff is from Fletch.

The Midnite Vultures thing is a description of the last song, Debra. The chorus is, "I wanna get with you, only you...and your sister. I think her name is Debra."

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BED. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?

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136

I think you'd better ask Wolfson about that.

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Well, he's not here, because he's in bed. Why don't you go in there and tickle his feet?

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I wouldn't dare. He's liable to respond with the whip.

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139

Make that 5 things I learnt in one thread.

So now I wish you all a good night. Dont start any flamewars without me... I ll be pissed if you do. I have Itchy fingers and a need.

B: Stay well.

Joe: Dont drop any bearings in the mineshaft.

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Okay, I can't believe I just posted that.

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141

No flamewars, check. G'night.

Joe, make sure you take pictures.

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Austro -- be well.

I have never actually met Wolfson and any description of a character called "ben wolfson" I've posted here is entirely coincidental.

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143

I bet that's libel. Or something.

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I'll get Ed Norton to defend me.

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LOL You are SO gonna need a lawyer!

Goodnight.

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146

I just want to register a complaint that neither of you seem to have blogrolled me yet. Ahem.

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Done, already!

So now, grrrrrr... G'night.

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LOL. The power of the bitch.

Goodnight already!!

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149

Sorry b -- phone call (and now, like others, I'm uncomfortable with calling you bitch. Although that's the name you've chosen for yourself. I can't understand my newfound trepidation, but whatevs).

So, here's the deal -- I don't have the keys to the blog I write for. Frankly, I don't even know what I'd do with the keys. I literally know nothing about code and Moveable Type and whatever. I just write things for that blog, and they go up. Joe Rospars is the one who knows it all. Apparently, there was some big to-do with Ezra Klein, and he used to be one of the Not Geniuses, but there was a falling out -- this was all before my time. I know nothing about the circumstances, and all I know of Ezra is what I surmised when meeting him on the Dean campaign, and he seemed like a nice enough fellow. And I never write at NG anymore (what I posted about working on a non-political writing deal is true, and it's taking up most of my time). All this is to say, if it were up to me, i'd blogroll bitchphd fifteen hundred different ways on a blog of my choosing, if I had that option. But I really don't.

Please don't smite me for insufficient html adoration. Trust me, the adoration is there beyond these cyber walls.

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150

That's cool, I forgive you. I don't know why I'm such a blog whore (just leave it lie, people). It's not like blogging actually pays or has any real-world application or anything. But! Must! Climb! Ecosystem!

Somehow I just feel sure that if I can get famous enough blogwise, someone will hand me a job. Right? On a silver platter, please.

What are you writing? And everyone here calls me b., because y'all are pussies. ;)

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Somehow I just feel sure that if I can get famous enough blogwise, someone will hand me a job. Right? On a silver platter, please.

It worked for Yglesias.

I'm writing something that may or may not end up on a TV station near you. I don't want to say any more, because I'm a superstitious chap who believes that the gods are just waiting for me to jinx myself.

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But I will say that shit is moving waaaay faster than I am able to comprehend, and I'm trying not to let my head get too swelled up.

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Oooh, TV! You're gonna be, like, famous!

I know re. Yglesias. And Drum. But let's not even get into that whole punditry vs. personal, boy vs. girl blogging thing. Although it's true, I'm starting to sort of realize, that the haphazard and personal blogstyle would be a little hard to market.

Am mulling over a few ideas for essay-type dealios, though. As soon as the semester's over...

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But let's not even get into that whole punditry vs. personal, boy vs. girl blogging thing.

It's disturbingly true. Especially the boy v. girl thing. You can be Ana Marie Cox, but good luck trying to be Juan Cole.

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Well, I'm *not* Juan Cole. He's way more senior than I am.

But yeah, your basic point is true....

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We just have no idea how to deal with intelligent women. Especially when they decide that they would like to also have a sex drive, please.

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Ok, as much as it seems like Ogged is trying to coax us into a chatroom, I need to get my Friday night started. We'll pick this up the future, bitch.

Yeah, I just called you bitch. You fucking bitch. I'm not all pussy.

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heh.


Have a good Friday night. My Friday consists of me, in bed, going to sleep.

Exciting!

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159

Man, I'm sorry I missed this.

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From "Bill Frist: Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hide":

Like death and taxes, you can always count on Bill Frist's hair to perfect and his politics to be opportunistic. His unprecedented and inappropriate meddling in the case of Terri Schiavo is no exception.

Tom Delay is using the Schiavo case to distract attention from his imminent ethical implosion. The Republican Party leadership is using the Schiavo tragedy to energize its anti-choice base. In the case of the Senate Majority Leader, he's abusing his medical credentials and flouting his Hippocratic Oath to help jump start his 2008 run for the White House.

As Saturday's Washington Post notes:

Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a renowned heart surgeon before becoming Senate majority leader, went to the floor late Thursday night for the second time in 12 hours to argue that Florida doctors had erred in saying Terri Schiavo is in a "persistent vegetative state."

"I question it based on a review of the video footage which I spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office," he said in a lengthy speech in which he quoted medical texts and standards. "She certainly seems to respond to visual stimuli."

- MORE -

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Very interesting, thanks! :)-lorazepam

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