I'm just gobsmacked by some of the hats on display in that article.
Ugh. In a former role as alumni president of my ex-fraternity co-op house, I used to pick up and read a "Fraternal Law" periodical that some law firm put out. It was less explicit about the lobbying, but the general obnoxious attitude - we're self-policing! really! -was very much part of it.
(The random tax break to promote sprinkler installation... well, I'm dubious about the charitable arms of these organizations anyway, so the money might as well do something with known positive value.)
I kind of hate anti-hazing and anti-fraternity-drinking laws and campus regulations, which seem to have gone too far and are largely animus-driven. Fight for your right to party. I mean yes the "self regulating" stuff is bullshit but if 19 year olds want to do beer funneling and Edward 40hands or dress up in robes and paddle each other or whatever in the relative safety of their self-chosen frat-homes I say let them without a lot of nattering nannies intervening.
I'm afraid I can't allow that kind of comment in this space, Halford.
Wow though -- an average of 10 people a year killed or paralyzed in hazing incidents? No criminal charges for straight-up beating someone to death as part of 'hazing'? That's crazy.
I remember an episode of Quincy where it turns out the guy died in a hazing accident and the fraternity tried to cover it up. I don't know why I still remember that.
Or why I decided to share it with anybody else.
Also, Kevin Bacon was hazed in Animal House, which means he must be like 140 years old now.
If we're going to pass these hazing laws, aren't we really saying that the entire system has failed? And if the entire system has failed, hasn't America failed? Well, I'm not going to sit here and let anyone badmouth the United States of America.
I consider that sexual harassment. Of America.
I bet the statue of liberty gets tired of being an ice queen all the time. Smile, girl.
No criminal charges for straight-up beating someone to death as part of 'hazing'?
Honest, officer, I had no choice but to use my paddle in self-defense.
9 made me laugh and has changed how I picture halford forevermore.
I was on my fraternity's board of directors when the UNC fraternity fire happened and the subsequent sprinkler regulation went through and can attest that retrofitting our decades-old building for that was insanely expensive. Especially for a relatively poor organization like our chapter. It would almost have been cheaper to hire full-time private firefighters.
6: Indeed. Quincy imparted many valuable lessons. Jack Klugman was a wise and benevolent authority figure for bored 10 year olds back in the day.
I'm dubious about a federal anti-hazing law. Seems like the kind of thing that would wind up shutting down a few Black fraternities and leave the Dartmouth assholes well alone.
Division I football & basketball programs are far more damaging to student life and academic rigor anyhow.
16: I was completely baffled the first time I saw a rerun of The Odd Couple. When did he become an asshole?
Isn't everyone's fave episode of Quincy "Why do they write songs about haaate???"
So have we officially succeeded in derailing this into a Quincy thread?
I suggest we post about our favorite episodes.
A random episode summary from wikipedia:
"A well-respected priest is found dead of natural causes in the bed of a prostitute, and Quincy attempts to find out how he got there."
Given the proliferation of secret law under Bush 2 and Obama, if we can't have a federal anti-hazing law, we could definitely have federal double secret probation.
I have never watched a Quincy episode and had to look up its premise just now. My many pop culture blind spots let me show them to you.
"Quincy investigates the death of a boxer just minutes after a match, and suspects include his trainer and his opponent, who was dating the boxer's sister. Former Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis guest stars."
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I want inexpensive champagne (less than $20/bottle) for a brunch. West Coast or Washington wines mildly preferred. Any recommendations?
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Virginia Johnson would undoubtedly be intrigued but non-judgmental if you kept on masturbating to her.
Had just heard this morning that Showtime was premiering a new drama this fall called Masters of Sex based on their lives. Maybe 30-odd years from now, people will comment on the internet about their fvorite episodes.
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28: Sparkling white wine.
28: I've enjoyed the Mumm from Napa, which I think is in that range. Lots of good prosecco for under that price. Also: I don't have very good taste.
I want inexpensive champagne (less than $20/bottle) for a brunch. West Coast or Washington wines mildly preferred.
Il n'est Champagne que de la Champagne!
Certainly not Champagne unless from Champagne. Might be champagne, though.
Anyway. My apologies for blurring the lines; any recommendations for sparkling wine?
Greut is pretty decent at that price point. They're from New Mexico.
Because I'm so helpful, I was going to see if Boone's Farm made a sparkling wine. It turns out that Boone's Farm now makes malt beverages instead of wine. I was wondering why the PA liquor stores didn't carry it any more and that would explain it. It will be at the beer distributors. Also, I wonder if the person who put "citation needed" after, "The brand is popular on college campuses due to its low price" was being serious or not.
Same guy at Bloomberg seems to have more here.
About 40 percent of U.S. senators, and 25 percent of U.S. representatives, belonged to fraternities or sororities in college. On April 24, more than a dozen of these grateful alumni extolled Greek life at an annual $500-a-plate dinner in a Washington hotel ballroom for "FratPAC," the industry's political arm.
...
"We learned to tap a keg," declared Representative Steven Palazzo, a Mississippi Republican and Sigma Chi brother, who then yelled a cheer as hundreds of FratPAC donors applauded.
...
Attracting undergraduates with aggressive recruiting and the prospect of jobs at Wall Street firms and other fields dominated by Greek alumni, fraternities are making a comeback on college campuses.
...
It "looks at a variety of factors," he said in an e-mailed statement. "Good government needs more fraternity/ sorority alumni who can help us tackle the major challenges confronting our nation."
We used to mix it with beer. See 31.last.
It sounds like knecht may have been the person who put "citation needed" after "The brand is popular on college campuses due to its low price".
What's it like for an actual Greek person to go to college in the U.S? Does every conversation turn into a "Who's on First" type comedy skit?
What's it like for an actual Greek person to go to college in the U.S? Does every conversation turn into a "Who's on First" type comedy skit?
They get to say, with a straight face, "It's all Greek to me."
46: (the rosé, if you can get it for under $20, which sometimes you can)
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IANAP, so I'm confused when, in the Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, 2013) trailer, Sandra Bullock's character detaches herself from the broken shuttle robot arm, she goes flying off in a different direction from the arm. I mean, the arm seems to be spinning around a central point along its length, so presumably there would be some kind of centripetal force or whatever, but it still seems questionable. Scary, certainly, if we suspend our disbelief. Although, aren't there basically just three possible endings?
1. She gets rescued.
2. She reenters the atmosphere and burns up.
3. Some variation on death by decompression/dehydration/more space junk hits her.
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44: Probably a lot of yogurt and anal sex jokes too.
49: You've now spoiled the trailer for me.
Due to an unfortunate concatenation of circumstances, I have become aware that a coworker has purchased (or at least has had delivered to him by mail) underpants with padding intended to enhance the appearance of his ass.
I can't not know this now.
52: It was Shamir, wasn't it?
You're giving up on self-deception too easily. Tell yourself that a friend probably sent it as a joke.
52: You work with Anthony Weiner?
I was wrong. You gave up on self-deception correctly.
I don't even get the name because except for people, all the great apes have very flat asses.
Maybe the idea is that the purchaser has both the flat ass and the sexual voracity of a bonobo, and needs to cosmetically correct for the first in order to fulfill the second?
Maybe he bought them for a bonobo to wear.
He could have gone for the plastic surgery route.
Everything I've ever heard about Bonobos describes their pants as simply cut specially to make the ass look better/bigger, but nothing about any padding.
64.2: This is a thing you can hear about without actively seeking information?
I see their ads all the time online. Expensive khakis are what gets peddled to me.
I actually don't get even men's spanx. Aside from height, IME women are pretty indifferent to guys' physique. Gracefulness and grooming (ie expensive clothes) maybe. But dance lessons or nice shoes are definitely a better investment than stretch underwear.
Some companies have customer service reps. We have Ninjas.
I find this so annoying--even aside from the inconsistent capitalization. Possibly even more annoying, though, is how Fab calls its customer support folks "crackerjacks."
Aside from height, IME women are pretty indifferent to guys' physique.
Nobody remembers how to spell "penis" anymore.
Nobody remembers how to spell "penis" anymore.
Hence the increased popularity of tweeted photos.
64: Oh, wait, nevermind. I'd seen the "Bonobos" box discarded, thought it was a funny brand name, but didn't know what it was. Then I read the NYT this morning, and it referenced "Bonobos" in the same paragraph as padded underwear, but on rechecking the NYT article, Bonobos just sells flattering pants, rather than padded underpants.
Much less funny, but also less disturbing. Sorry for thinking you're ludicrous, co-worker!
We drank a lot of Boone's my freshman year in college. So there.
I'm curious about what is so odious about the US DoE guidelines for investigating sexual assaults.
73 - Maybe it's that they call for actual investigations, and won't let campus police get away with shit like this?
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I'm going to be in the Bay Area next week and the early part of the week after that. Any interest in a meetup?
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I'm gonna be in the Bay Area the early part of the week after that -- August 4th until midday the 8th.
In other oligarchy news, in newest version of Monopoly (Monopoly Empire) you buy companies like Xbox, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Samsung but there is no jail (via Charles Pierce).
If you land on Charles Pierce, you go to jail?
I'm going to be in the Bay Area in mid September and available for a meet up so don't waste your blow jobs on Walt.
I may be confused about scarcity, time, and blow jobs.
About 40 percent of U.S. senators, and 25 percent of U.S. representatives, belonged to fraternities or sororities in college.
Surely this includes people who were in service fraternities, which--in my limited knowledge of Greek life--are very different things.
The service fraternities are the ones with scarce time and blowjobs, right?
I don't let it bother me when female colleagues purchase padded or otherwise engineered bras intended to enhance the appearance of their breasts.
You are an American hero, sir.
It took four years of advertising in my FB sidebar, but I finally broke down and bought two pairs of Bonobos slacks, from the sale page with an extra 30% for first purchase. I like them! They are indeed well-tailored. But then I go back there and the stuff is just really expensive.
Yes, but do they make your ass look good?
That's a very good piece of advice in 88.
I have also had Bonobos ads in my FB for ages, but I've never clicked through to their website until it was linked in this thread. Those do look like nice pants, but I don't think I can really bring myself to buy hundred-dollar pants.
Does my ass make these pants look fat?
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Geographic exercise of potential interest to some.
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90: For the next two hours, you can take 30% off anything from the sale page. That's how I started. (And I actually haven't spiraled out of control from there.)
89: The dirty little secret is that I took it from the novelization of the sequel to the romantic 70's movie Summer of '42.
76-77: due to the acquisition of a new car, coming into the Bay Area has become much easier for me. Unless Josh is going to be there, in which case my car will be in the shop. Damn lemon!
I second 97. That was fun and the results were interesting. I especially liked their inclusion of "Tri-State Area."
76, 77: goddamn right.
98 is deeply hurtful.
I'm gonna be in the Bay Area the early part of the week after that -- August 4th until midday the 8th.
You're just missing a concert by the Arkestra, on Aug 3.
Filling out the shapes in 92 was fun, but when I hit "submit" it took me to some sort of weird picture file collecting all the results, which froze my browser for 5 minutes, then opened itself in a new browser window which also froze for 5 minutes, and seemed to contain no information other than a colorful map overlaying lots of different people's maps. Eventually I was able to close it, Maybe people not using Firefox 22 got to see an interesting results page.
No, that's pretty much what the results page looks like, but it didn't freeze my browser (Chrome). It did slow it down a lot.
How about the evening of the 4th?
So where? I'm renting a car, so it doesn't matter to me where. (I'm also happy to take public transportation for a car-unfriendly place. If there is public transportation...)
102: Yeah, that was not great. But if you hovered the mouse (and waited) it showed you the stats for that place based on everyone's entries (82% Midwest, 64% Rust Belt, etc.).
Maybe someone will put up a post or something.
But it better have a title or all kinds of hell will break out in the sidebar.
Who on earth thinks that Sacramento is in the Pacific Northwest and Missoula isn't?
Oh, that would have been easy for me to mistake. Sacramento = Northern California until I found out otherwise, and Missoula = East of the Rocky Mountains, until I found out otherwise.
Sacramento doesn't count as Northern California? I know it's in the Central Valley, but I wouldn't think that'd be sufficient to rule out its Northern California-ness.
111: Only something like 10% of respondents for Pacific Northwest think Sacramento is part of it but not Missoula. My guess is that their definition of Pacific Northwest is rather literal and is entirely restricted to the coastal states.
The evening of Sunday the 4th works for me. Rosamunde--the Mission one--is very convenient via public transit, and is both cheap and good, so let me be the first to suggest it.
You guys can't help a 'fogger out and move to Saturday the 3rd? The drive back on Sunday would likely make Monday suck.
Dave wouldn't be here on the third, and I wouldn't be able to go, and and and!
The fine people of Jefferson do not consider Sacramento part of northern California.
117: Sorry, misread Dave's dates. Sunday it is.
117: Sorry, misread Dave's dates. Sunday it is.
117: Sorry, misread Dave's dates. Sunday it is.
I'll be in San Francisco over thanksgiving. Just saying.
OT: I started swimming to give my ankles and feet a rest from jogging. I'm now limping because I hurt my ankle jumping in to the pool. I thought the ladder was for assholes.
Assholes with graceful, balanced strides.
Maybe I should jump in on the deep side. But then I have to walk barefoot over cement for a long way.
In order to avoid walking, you need to use a hammock as a slingshot.
I'm still unable to walk without limping. Stupid ankle.
Maybe there's some lessons we could all learn from this unfortunate little episode.
Why can't you be more like the left ankle? He's never given me these kinds of problems.
Why do you assume it's a "he", doe sit have a penis?
Thanks for the correction, JP!
I hope the Ace bandage keeps you from talking now.