Re: Applied Math

1

I don't know why I did, but really don't read the comments.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 1:30 PM
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No going to lie, living in the middle of the South Pacific on an island with very very serious biosecurity measures is kinda nice sometimes.


Posted by: Keir | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 1:33 PM
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No one will help you when the sheep rise up and attack.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 1:35 PM
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"Exponential growth in the context of three weeks means, 'If I know that X needs to be done, and I work my butt off and get it done in three weeks, it's now half as good as it needs to be.' "

Does this make sense to anyone else?


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 1:50 PM
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2: You guys are probably the only country in the world where it's easier to bring in a gun than an apple. (Probably exaggerating...probably.)


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 1:51 PM
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This is all happening because people are so crazy mad for travel.


Posted by: Mister Smearcase | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 1:53 PM
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4: That assumes a badness doubling rate of three weeks.

And there are no real exponential growth curves in nature, just the first part of sigmoids. Eventually the virus will run out of humans.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 1:53 PM
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Does this have somethiing to do with the "Mysterious 'water of life' vanishes" emails that keep mysteriously appearing?


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 1:56 PM
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Hee, from the comments: Barack Obola.


Posted by: Mister Smearcase | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 1:57 PM
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Yeah, that was what set off my comment 1.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 1:58 PM
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5 Have you ever brought fruit into California? I guess they've stopped manning the highway border stations, but we had to hand it over in 1971 . . .


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:04 PM
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Glad to hear the Cairns nurse has been declared clear, as my mum is heading there in a few hours I think.


Posted by: asilon | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:08 PM
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11: I ran into one of those stations over Labor Day weekend. They don't keep them right at the border, for the sake of surprise.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:10 PM
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I told them I had an apple in the trunk and they didn't care, though.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:11 PM
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No going to lie, living in the middle of the South Pacific on an island with very very serious biosecurity measures is kinda nice sometimes.

I was going to make a scrapie joke, but I see that NZ is scrapie free, I'm assuming in part because of the biosecurity measures. But whatever, I'd rather have a spongiform encephalopathy than have to deal with LoTR fans all the time.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:11 PM
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Also, I'd like to register a protest in that NZ is clearly at the edge of the South Pacific, not in the middle.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:12 PM
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The reproduction number in countries with overburdened outdated health care infrastructure is 1.5 to 2. So far (low sample size) the "western" reproduction number is 1/14 (14 cases, one confirmed transmission, the nurse in Spain.)


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:12 PM
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You know who I blame for the spread of ebola? Scientists. We should yank their funding until they do a better job.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:15 PM
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The reproduction number in countries with overburdened outdated health care infrastructure is 1.5 to 2.

What I'd like to see is an analysis of how big that area is, both in Africa and worldwide. That is, Ebola seems to be no big threat in countries with reasonably effective public health systems at a fairly minimal level of reasonableness; enough hospitals to isolate patients, enough gloves/bleach/etc. to protect health care workers, enough public health workers to trace contacts. The countries where it's now spreading fast don't have that kind of public health system, while the countries like Uganda where outbreaks have been quickly controlled in the past do.

Is there a map that could be drawn showing the areas where Ebola is or isn't scary? Which countries in Africa? What about India, if it gets there somehow? And so on.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:18 PM
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We should definitely yank funding for the Emerging Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:18 PM
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Why am I capitalizing Ebola? I do not know.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:18 PM
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Well. Whatever. The South Pacific region.

Also you don't actually get many LOTR fans in NZ. It's like being backstage. Lots of techs, not many fans.


Posted by: Keir | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:18 PM
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The orcs really resent how they were portrayed onscreen.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:20 PM
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Why am I capitalizing Ebola?

Because it's the president's last name.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:26 PM
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We should yank their funding until they do a better job.

Hey, slashing funding for the CDC worked wonders during the initial AIDS epidemic in the 80s. Just think of what the same approach could do for ebola!


Posted by: AcademicLurker | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:27 PM
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22: I think there are a good deal of fans and you get a lot of tourism money due to it, but most of the LotR tourist sites are out in the middle of nowhere. We went to Hobbiton and it was fairly but not insanely crowded.

Biosecurity callback: the big tree on top of Bilbo's house is fake, because Peter Jackson really wanted it to be whatever fruit is mentioned in the book (miniature plums, or something like that) but it's illegal to import that fruit into NZ.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:27 PM
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Emerging Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program

Call me crazy, but giving fellowships to emerging infectious diseases seems ill-advised.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:30 PM
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I'm genuinely curious to hear how a libertarian thinks Ebola should be handled. Also my phone just capitalized Ebola for me.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:30 PM
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If you live up in the mountains with just your gun and your god, ebola isn't a problem.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:31 PM
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Apparently it's properly capitalized, and named for a river.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:35 PM
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22: Like you say, mostly in the wops though, or else in Miramar, which is pretty much the wops just in Wellington.

Also yeah I suspect it probably is easier to import guns than apples to NZ. A gun could kill a few people, an apple could kill an industry.


Posted by: Keir | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:35 PM
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28 -- Is there demand for a cure? Then the market will provide one.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:37 PM
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In which I learn that "wops" doesn't mean the same thing in Kiwi as it does in USAian.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:38 PM
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I know. I had a picture of a whole lot of confused Italians standing around a hobbit-hole.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:41 PM
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31.1 is stunningly incomprehensible.

Looking it up, "wops" apparently means "backwoods" or "sticks" in NZ. It's an acronym, short for Way Outdoors, Predominantly Sheep.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:43 PM
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33: I know, right? I'm like, what about the micks and the kikes?


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:44 PM
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So far (low sample size) the "western" reproduction number is 1/14 (14 cases, one confirmed transmission, the nurse in Spain.)

What if our sample size never gets big enough to get a reliable estimate??! We'll have no idea how fast it's spreading!!!


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:46 PM
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It's an acronym, short for Way Outdoors, Predominantly Sheep

Weirdly, the anti-Italian slur shares the same etymology.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:46 PM
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They're not allowed in, see biosafety controls.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 2:48 PM
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This is so terrible! It's like 12 Monkeys all over again!


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 3:04 PM
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||Oh hey, btw, we have a Portland meetup brewing. Me, Emerson, Smearcase, at least. Friday or Saturday next week, yet to be determined. Is that worthy of the front page?|>


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 3:11 PM
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I guess they've stopped manning the highway border stations, but we had to hand it over in 1971

If you've been to Washington state, you've likely seen the "apple maggot quarantine area" signs, which have been up for forever. I have never once heard of any enforcement of any kind, so as far as I can tell the only benefit of the signs so far is that they inspired the name of a heavy metal band from Puyallup.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 3:19 PM
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Call me crazy, but giving fellowships to emerging infectious diseases seems ill-advised.

Look, if you can think of a better way to ensure that even though they look like they're going to have a significant effect on people and really shake things up they actually just sort of peter out and in the end have almost no impact on the public at large I'd like to hear it.


Posted by: MHPH | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 3:22 PM
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I'm genuinely curious to hear how a libertarian thinks Ebola should be handled.

Not very coherently

"If you are a threat to other innocent people, that's an act of aggression," she says. "When someone has fatal disease, a deadly communicable disease, that's an act of aggression to go around and expose other people to it."
--Kathie Glass, a Libertarian candidate for Texas governor


Posted by: Criminally Bulgur | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 3:26 PM
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we have a Portland meetup brewing

Brewing like craft beer or brewing like pourover coffee?


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 3:30 PM
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44: Looks like wholesale abandonment of their principles - does that mean they'll be the first to catch it?


Posted by: ydnew | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 3:33 PM
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45: Depends on whether people want to stay over.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 3:39 PM
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They think it justifies vigilante action.


Posted by: idp | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 3:44 PM
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And if a person sought isolation and treatment but couldn't pay for it, and no private entity stepped forward to foot the bill, Dalmia says: "In those cases, I would be OK with the government taking it upon itself to provide free care to the person."

Bleeding heart! The true libertarian solution would be to put them in a quarantined prison cell and only treat them if they can pay for it.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 3:46 PM
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I can't even read that, it fills me with so much rage. Libertarians are such evil fucking shitheads, every single one of them, and it's so fucking disgusting that they don't get called out on it enough.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 3:51 PM
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49: And also charge them for the cell.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 4:01 PM
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"that's an act of aggression to go around and expose other people to it."
Screw this "Bless you" crap, it's "Hands up, criminal!"


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 4:06 PM
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They think it justifies vigilante action.

They think school crossing guards justify vigilante action. Its not exactly a high bar for them.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 4:35 PM
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In those cases, I would be OK with the government taking it upon itself to provide free care to the person."

I think they are cracking. Its a slippery slope from there to Obamacare.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 4:38 PM
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Its a slippery slope from there to Obamacare.

The road to serfdom is slick with ebola mucus, I always say.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 4:41 PM
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Screening is better handled by airlines and private hospitals that are both liable for damages and fully free of government red tape.

This is a brilliant plan. What do you think the insurance policy that covers "whole damn country gets ebola" is going to cost?


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 4:42 PM
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I would like to be a plaintiffs' lawyer with a piece of the "your faulty screening caused half of American to cough up blood and die" lawsuit. I could probably buy an even nicer house than I'd be able to get otherwise because half of all properties would be abandoned and full of rotting corpses.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 4:45 PM
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I mean I'm sure that if you have your heart set on a house that's abandoned and full of rotting corpses you'll be able to find one regardless. There's probably an option on zillow.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 4:48 PM
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"Motivated seller!"


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 4:50 PM
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Only problem is, you go hang out in you living room for an afternoon and BAM! You've got ebola.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 4:56 PM
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61 - That thread reminds me that this place used to be more libertarian-tolerant. It's fucking disgusting, there needs to be total social shaming of those despicable bastards.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 5:21 PM
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62: or arguably people feel exactly the same way they did then but you get ridiculously exercised about your goofy pet theory about where all the evil in the world comes from so people leave you to it, because who cares about libertarians.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 5:59 PM
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Only had to wait 11 comments for vindication!


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:00 PM
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Go fuck yourself, Tweety.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:06 PM
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So, yes, I win the point?


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:08 PM
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At least that act is unlikely to get you infected with anything.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:08 PM
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I assume 67 is about golden showers.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:10 PM
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I don't know if you do or not, but as you know I personally think you're an unbearable shithead, and would prefer not to interact with you at all, on any subject. I'd ask that you do the same. If not I'm happy to go someplace else.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:11 PM
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Hah, well. I probably won't pay much attention to that request, but I'll continue to mostly not engage you on things where I think you're painfully wrong, if that helps.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:13 PM
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Fuck it then, I've been getting increasingly sick of all of you and the incredible waste of time and energy that is this place and its smug, completely pointless arguments. know I've said this a bunch recently, but I really do need to get out of here permanently. Bye.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:19 PM
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Wah! That makes me sad.


Posted by: redfoxtailshrub | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:20 PM
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I am fond of both of you stompy grumpy dudes and like having both of you around. Oh well.


Posted by: redfoxtailshrub | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:22 PM
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Sigh, I will miss you, Halford.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:23 PM
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I guess one more thing, that came across as a shot against Tweety, and I do dislike him; but it's not his fault or anything. Mostly I just have really been feeling that this place is a big waste of time and creator of frustration and that it's best for me to not be here. My own issues, not anybody else's. and with that said that's it.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:27 PM
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While obviously I understand the impulse, RH, I think you should at least do a whole lot of decent people here the courtesy of leaving in a kinder way... you know? But take the night off if you've gotta.

I'm being a preachy jerk because I respect you as one of the generally decent people here. Your point about pointless smug arguments may be worth additional pointless smug discussion, however.


Posted by: lurid keyaki | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:27 PM
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Oh man, have I been where Halford is. That said, surely this is more screamy meltdowns than usual lately?

Anyway, in case Halford is still reading, or to anyone who cares, it really doesn't matter what any one of us believes, whether it's wrong, or misinformed, or whatever. Attempt to do no good, correct no wrong--only comment for the community and if it's fun.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:30 PM
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For the record, I like Halford basically fine. I'm not going to do a ranking of commenters or anything, but disagreeing with me about fundamental-but-orthogonal-to-core-ideology issues... eh, big tent, big tent. There are much worse commenter sins in my particular pantheon of crabbiness.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:38 PM
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You'll be missed, Halford. You're very good at arguing.

68: Think of England.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:39 PM
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Oops, 76 before seeing 75


Posted by: lurid keyaki | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:41 PM
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Without VSOOBC it was pointed out to me that a pantheon of crabbiness would likely contain various crabbinesses, as opposed to various sins. So put the sins wherever.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:45 PM
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Damn.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:46 PM
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That was me.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 6:48 PM
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No no no. Halford, I insist. *Pout*


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 7:16 PM
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For the record, I hate you all not enough to leave but too much to be much frustrated.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 7:18 PM
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84 would be me.


Posted by: idp | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 7:36 PM
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Aw, heck. I mean, you're absolutely right about this place being a pointless time sink, but I'll miss having you around. The door's always open if you find some more time that needs wasting.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 7:39 PM
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84: Their numbers on cost savings assume that nobody already does this. Then again, to the extent that they are the ur-WASPs (especially East Anglia), maybe nobody does.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 7:45 PM
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Oh man, have I been where Halford is.

God, some of those shooting threads wore me a bit thin. But then I get boozed up and Heebie brings up Loveline and I get all "I wish I knew how to quit you".


Posted by: gswift | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 7:47 PM
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Aw fuck. That makes me sad. I can't leave to play tennis for an hour without a meltdown? And I just invited you to our meetup! I hate you all, equally.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 7:52 PM
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pointless time sink

Time sink, obviously; pointless, not really. The time sink just needs to be managed. And now I'll try to avoid getting into a 1000 comment meta-thread.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 7:52 PM
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I, for one, will also miss Halford if he departs.

I suppose it might make sense to mention here that I will not be around during the work day anymore, as I am returning to finance in a couple of weeks, and will not be able to comment from work.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 7:53 PM
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[Unless maybe I get a smartphone finally and comment on my breaks, but that seems like kind of a hassle.]


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 7:54 PM
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Good luck on the new job.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 7:58 PM
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I have so fucking much actual shit I should be doing right now that it's miraculous I haven't been commenting ten times as much. Someday I might redirect unfogged in /etc/hosts or at least turn leechblock back on but in the meantime everything is still afloat so far so hey, let's talk uh lessee iPhones? Butt plugs? The intersection thereof?


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 7:59 PM
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I managed to impress -- or at least confuse -- my adviser with a connection made via here the other day, so there's that.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 8:00 PM
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95: Thanks! I am going to start taking my career much more seriously, and this seems like a good beachhead for that, as the new company is very aggressive about putting opportunities for employee development out there.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 8:03 PM
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A comment by Walt from the thread the re-reading of which led to the blowing of the Popsicle stand.

Q: Why did the libertarian cross the road?
A: So that her housecats could drink the blood of the worker. Or dogs. Some of them have dogs.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 8:04 PM
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96: Someday I might redirect unfogged in /etc/hosts or at least turn leechblock back on

DIVE is what's killing me*--and now there's an even more addictive/time-consuming "kinder, gentler" version as well.

*Or at least it's the leech that sucked the camel dry, when added to time spent at this place, Twitter and online Boggle.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 8:09 PM
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98: I smell a new scarf!


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 8:10 PM
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Seriously, RH, don't let tweety drive you off. What's the point in that?


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 8:15 PM
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RH, FWIW, which is probably nothing, I also enjoy your comments and general presence here. Taking time off and getting some distance sounds like a good idea, but I hope you don't leave permanently.


Posted by: Buttercup | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 8:26 PM
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102: hey wait he said it wasn't me! I mean not that I haven't driven people off but I'd like to earn it.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 8:29 PM
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101: Just one of the many things on my "when I get my hands on some folding money" list, unfortunately.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 8:34 PM
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I spent 10 years on a blog and all I got was this pointless time sink.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 8:35 PM
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If I didn't have this pointless time sink, I'd just find a different pointless time sink. And, as pointless time sinks go, this one ain't bad.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 8:39 PM
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Aww, 107.2 may be the nicest thing anyone's ever said about us!


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 8:41 PM
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There's got to be a morning after
If we can hold on through the night
We have a chance to find the sunshine
Let's keep on lookin' for the light


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 8:47 PM
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Did I miss the precipitating event for 71? I, for one, would find an Unfogged lacking in Halfordismo to be a less entertaining Unfogged.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 9:04 PM
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Halford, if you're still reading, you do realize that you won't have any more excuses for not writing that book about the LAPD if you leave, right?


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 9:06 PM
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Did I miss the precipitating event for 71?

I know that you thought...that you knew him. And maybe you did, but you don't!


Posted by: gswift | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 10:03 PM
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He'll only reveal, what he waaants you to see. And then show it all, and when he does, he satisfies meeeee.


Posted by: gswift | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 10:06 PM
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she only reveals what she wants you to see. She hides like a child but she's always a woman to meeeeeeee.


Posted by: k-sky | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 10:44 PM
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Did I miss the precipitating event for 71?

It seems like he's been increasingly touchy and prone to outbursts like this in recent threads, for reasons that are unclear, and this appears to have just been the last straw. I've been traveling a lot lately and have missed a bunch of threads, so it's possible there was something obvious that precipitated this trend, but I doubt it.

Anyway, I totally understand getting annoyed and frustrated at the way arguments here tend to go, and the temptation to just stop reading (which I've done myself a couple times for fairly short periods), so I don't hold this against Halford even though I enjoy his presence here overall and will miss him.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10- 9-14 11:40 PM
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Oh, fuck, Halfwords. I'm going to miss him. Why can't he understand his clear duty to help others sink their time in here entertainingly?

I have just had pickled herring for breakfast any wanted to know if it was paleo-k to have an egg with it or only a foetus


Posted by: nworb werdna | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 12:15 AM
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I think eggs are fine paleo-wise. Many hunter-gatherers eat wild bird eggs.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 12:17 AM
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Halford, if you leave I'm going to come to your house and start nitpicking arguments about every single phase of your life. Your car, your tie, your wife. Every single aspect of your life will become a big waste of time and a creator of frustration.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 12:47 AM
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The confusing thing about this reaction of Halford's is that he's traditionally been one of the most fervent supporters of the Unfogged tradition of pointlessly contentious arguments.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 1:02 AM
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Personally I hate that tradition, so I have much more sympathy for current-Halford than past-Halford on the subject but remain confused.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 1:05 AM
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99: I went back and read that thread, which I don't remember at all. Was that the first time we were mocking somebody in a link, and they showed up to fight back?


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 1:19 AM
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To reinforce what someone said upthread, a sigmoid curve looks really like an exponential until you hit the inflection point in the middle.


Posted by: Alex | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 1:31 AM
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On a similar subject, I was indeed being a jackass in the yikyak thread, and I'm sorry. But I'm not leaving. You don't get rid of me that easily.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 1:40 AM
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As it happens I was just reading the yikyak thread and noting the comments that 123 responds to. I don't think I'm actually in a position to accept ajay's apology, but I do appreciate it.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 2:00 AM
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||
I am currently hoping that my sister-in-law's sister (for whom I bought "Empty Cradle, Broken Heart" a few years ago on foot of a recommendation here) will be diagnosed with something like a benign easily operable tumour, because all the other possible explanations for her alarming neurological symptoms are probably worse. She was due to get a scan tomorrow anyway but she kind of collapsed last night and was brought to hospital.
|>


Posted by: emir | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 2:30 AM
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Fingers totally crossed for all concerned, Emir. I've seen this sort of thing far too often and there is no upside until you get the favourable diagnosis.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 2:36 AM
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122 To reinforce what someone said upthread, a sigmoid curve looks really like an exponential until you hit the inflection point in the middle.

And then there's the Kurzweil curve, where you point at exponential growth in the past and infer even faster growth in the future.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 4:29 AM
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112/113 made me laugh.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:32 AM
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I think eggs are fine paleo-wise. Many hunter-gatherers eat wild bird eggs.

Now that Halford's on hiatus, the paleolies begin.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:33 AM
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The confusing thing about this reaction of Halford's is that he's traditionally been one of the most fervent supporters of the Unfogged tradition of pointlessly contentious arguments.

I don't know what you're talking about, but seriously, let's rip apart implausible visitation rates at Yellowstone park and why sociological critiques of the animal hierarchy in Richard Scarry books are bullshit.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:35 AM
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We just need to spread his duties around in his absence. I'll start talking about peculiar exercise regimens, LB can pick up on the law side of things, alameida can explain about how none of this would be allowed in her ideal society, and urple can take over as dietary guru.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:36 AM
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125: Ooof, that's an awful purgatory. Keep us updated.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:38 AM
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Halford doesn't eat shoots and leaves.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:46 AM
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131: Ogged's job is to buy a Cadillac.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:48 AM
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When I was growing up, my dad had a Cadillac. It was very nice. Now he was a Toyota, because Obama.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:49 AM
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We also had a Pontiac station wagon so big that my grandma crashed it into the post office and it still ran.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:51 AM
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"Toyota Obama" actually sounds credible as a brand name.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:51 AM
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"Toyota Obama" sounds like the name of an actor who played one of the peasants in Seven Samurai.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:54 AM
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136. How was the post office?


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:55 AM
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It actually sounds like part of the lyrics to "Kokomo".


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:57 AM
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It took the blow on the entry staircase, which was made of stone. The mark is still there.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:57 AM
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Ugh, emir, I hope there's a decent outcome.

This particular iteration of the Teo Show was an interesting one, combination Teo Explains It All and some sort of call-in absolution thing.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 5:57 AM
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I'm assuming Halford has been unusually touchy lately because the Dodgers lost. I didn't want to mention it for fear of a midnight visit from a team of bikini-clad ninja assassins. But now that Halford is gone, I figure I'm safe enough.

Also, I'm back in CA for a day or two, and it's pretty weird. Too soon, I guess. Or maybe it's just the time change.


Posted by: Von Wafer | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 6:01 AM
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Sorry, I meant to say that the Dodgers lost and the Giants won. Also, having read more of the thread, best wishes, emir.


Posted by: Von Wafer | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 6:02 AM
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DON'T GO, HALFORD! WE SUPPORT YOU IN OUR SECRET EMAIL PROTOCOLS! LIBERTARIANS SUCK! PALEO RULES! HALFORDISMO NOW, HALFORDISMO TOMORROW, HALFORDISMO FOREVER!


Posted by: OPINIONATED LURKERS | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 6:14 AM
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So anyhow, now that's all over with, did I ever tell you about the time me, Cory Doctorow and Bill Simmons got all hopped up on brioche and ended up bicycling all over silicon valley shooting at people? Good thing we had an in with Congress, we would've been in so much trouble!


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 6:16 AM
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You know, we've all been more grouchy lately. And I think I know who to blame. Delagar's neighbor.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 6:55 AM
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I am grouchy because I'm sewing a dress and it's kind of too big and I don't want to recut and resew but also generally don't like belts or sashes. But that seems preferable than making a casing and putting elastic in the waist, maybe. Maybe.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:02 AM
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If you don't want to belt, could you attach suspenders?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:05 AM
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No. It's this dress, which does have a sash in the original, but in a rayon quasi-Hawaiian print for no good reason other than that I got almost two yards for about $1.50 and it gave me something to do. I will probably never wear it anyway and certainly won't if I don't do something different with the neckline.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:09 AM
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I am grouchy because Jammies snapped at me this morning and I escalated it needlessly into an outright screaming fight, which is uncharacteristic of us, and we stormed off, while buckling kids into his truck.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:10 AM
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Or, I stormed off, because he was stuck with the kids in his truck.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:10 AM
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I think that means you win, heebie, especially if he didn't call you any kind of Stomping Animal name.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:11 AM
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and we stormed off, while buckling kids into his truck.

Quite difficult to do, you shouldn't underestimate yourselves.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:12 AM
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Ha. I probably would have burst out laughing if he'd called me Clancy.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:12 AM
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150: It only takes an hour to make. Just make a bunch until you get one you like.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:17 AM
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156: It doesn't, because I hardly know how to sew and am sewing by hand, but it'll take less than a week and that's probably equivalent to an hour for my level of competence. I'm mostly doing this as practice and actually have the fabric to make another one once I realize what I need to fix.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:19 AM
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I used to serve Rachel Ray dinners after 30 minutes regardless of where I was in the process until the E. Coli thing happened.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:21 AM
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157: Then, ask Moby to sew you a bunch of dresses, since it only takes him an hour.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:21 AM
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Also no, because of the E. coli thing he has going on.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:24 AM
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It's decolletage, not E. colitage.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:26 AM
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Halford. I hope you come back.


Posted by: Just Plain Jane | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:39 AM
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The girl with E. colitage eyes.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:42 AM
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I've spent the last couple weeks building ladders in my spare time to install in the kids' rooms to access their new lofts. I've measured and done the trig calculations multiple times when making cuts (lofts are height X and Y, 15 degree angled ladder, two inch inset over the ledge, 2x6 rails) but the day of reckoning is coming next week when I actually bring them up to the rooms and see if they're the right height. I will be very grumpy when in all likelihood it turns out they're not.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:43 AM
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It might have been a good idea to check the uprights in place before you went ahead and fitted the rungs. That's probably not what you want to hear right now.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:45 AM
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Great, ajay, you drove SP off forever.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:46 AM
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I didn't check them ahead of time so that I can blame Heebie when math doesn't work.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:49 AM
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I also learned to ask the price of fancy lumber at a lumber yard prior to checking out, before assuming that somewhat higher quality beams can't be THAT much more expensive than standard quality Home Depot stuff.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:50 AM
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"Kids, your parents like only up to $2/foot boards."


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:51 AM
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I realized this morning how little appetite I have for disputation here now. Ordinarily I'd be all over a reference to the Deceased Wife's Sister's bill, as Matthew Arnold is an important writer to me, but I haven't the stomach.

I've been depending on Halford's role here, all the more remarkable since his actual opinions seem closer to the consensus than mine are.

Crap.


Posted by: idp | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 7:55 AM
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163: I'm grumpy that I used"eyes"in 163 instead of "goes by" as would be correct eggcorn-wise. I'm also grumpy that I would even bother to post a"joke" that stupid. And meta-analysis of "humor" makes me grumpier still.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:31 AM
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Take it to standpipe's /b/!


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:37 AM
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I'm vaguely self-satisfied that I just completed a long and difficult knitting project, but nervous that I won't know what it looks like until I get it properly blocked (stretched into shape and dried that way).


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:41 AM
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(stretched into shape and dried that way)

Knitsplaining.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:42 AM
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There's a woman who knits at the bar. Her scarf is really curling like a tube. The scarf my wife made for me does the same. Should I block it again?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:44 AM
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171. The original mondegreen was "the girl with colitis goes by", but colitis is caused by C. difficile, not E. coli, so your adaptation is as valid as any other.

[Posted in the hope that the para-meta-analysis will stop you feeling so bad about yourself.]


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:46 AM
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My scarf is still better because it doesn't smell like an ashtray and because it's actual wool.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:46 AM
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I know it's real wool because a moth ate part of it.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:48 AM
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Oh, and now I'm sad. David Siegel, the professor who wrote Siegel's New York Practice, just died.

For anyone who doesn't practice law in NY, it's the best treatise ever. You know how mostly when you try to use a treatise, it tells you fourteen things you'll never need to know and stays well away from your actual question, until you give up and go back to reading cases instead? Siegel knows everything an actual practitioner wants to know about NY practice, and says it clearly and in a well organized way. (And is occasionally funny. Not a lot, it's not a jokey book mostly. But enough that as well as being grateful to the guy, I think I would have liked him as well.)


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:49 AM
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I take a break and the whole place goes up in flames.

For the record, I'm in full agreement with Halford that libertarians get treated with far too much respect, and should be scorned, mocked and insulted much more frequently and aggressively than they currently are.

If we're dividing up Halford's duties in his (hopefully temporary) absence, I volunteer for periodically announcing that libertarians continue to suck.


Posted by: AcademicLurker | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:50 AM
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175: No, you should knitsplain that stocking stitch is always going to curl like that, and if she wants it not to she's going to need to either knit it in garter stitch instead or put some kind of border on it. If you can get through the explanation without her putting a needle through your eyesocket, you win.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:51 AM
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Can you just call the rolling (and, I guess the moth hole) a design feature, Moby? Otherwise, yes, wool scarves probably in stockinette stitch (Vs on one side, bumps on the other) will roll pretty much no matter what, but people make them anyway.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:52 AM
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There's a woman who knits,
All that rolls is a tube,
And she knitting a scarfway to heaven


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:53 AM
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's


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:53 AM
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It's a very 90s feature, which means it's back in style again.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:54 AM
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Style is virtually unchanged since the 90s.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:54 AM
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Consummate vees!


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:55 AM
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180: libertarians get treated with far too much respect

Here? Except for a few trolls, I hardly think anyone who's ever commented here is pro-libertarian. Certainly I rarely miss a chance to excoriate them.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:57 AM
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181.last: I'm trying to figure out if you mean by wife, the woman in the bar, or both. And if both, what the respective odds are.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:58 AM
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More of 179: Come to think, do we have any other NY lawyers around? No one's coming to mind. I should probably walk around the office telling people the bad news and exchanging "Siegel saved me" stories.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 8:59 AM
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188: I mean in general. I don't see much love for libertarians around here.


Posted by: AcademicLurker | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:00 AM
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180: I volunteer to be your future king.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:02 AM
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Libertarians are basically the extreme version of "socially liberal, economically conservative" which is the default setting of the entire mainstream media, so it makes sense that their brave stances are treated with a sort of awe and envy by journalists.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:06 AM
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192: Someguyismo? What are your proposed bodyguard outfits?


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:10 AM
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Oversized dresses?


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:11 AM
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Dirndls.

I actually saw two dirndls last night. There must have been some Oktoberfest-themed event.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:13 AM
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195: Heck yeah! Lazy, annoying pacifists make the best bodyguards!


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:14 AM
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it's the best treatise ever

This kind of testimony could make the year of someone in legal publishing, as I was for years.

You hope to be useful, and continually coax authors to try and visualize practitioners, and how the problem will present to them, but some authors are just much better at this than others.

I've been out of the industry, which I had made my career, for a dozen years now because the market for "Secondary," as we called a book like this, collapsed. How-to's were my speciality, and I used the experience of having to learn how to do a task without any guidance but a book, which was my practice career in a nutshell to try and make the books better.

It's really nice to hear somebody still values this.


Posted by: idp | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:14 AM
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197: Yep.


Posted by: Opinionated Secret Service | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:15 AM
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193:

What name would you use for "socially conservative, economically liberal?"


Posted by: idp | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:17 AM
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I'm not saying that my bodyguards will be lazy, but "grit" will not be an important hiring criterion.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:19 AM
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200

Midwestern? A lot of Christian groups fit that description. Devout Catholics, conservative mainline Protestants, some of the less crazy evangelical Christians.

195-196
A knitted dirndl muumuu would be the state security uniform. Shaped and styled like a dirndl, except kind of oversized and shapeless.


Posted by: Buttercup | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:23 AM
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198: Generally, I hate treatises; they mostly all suck. Siegel's was a wild outlier in terms of usefulness. (Funny, I haven't opened it much in the last couple of years -- I just don't run into unfamiliar areas of NY procedure anymore. Maybe I'll just read through it for the nostalgia.)

It must be a very hard thing to do, or people wouldn't consistently do it so badly.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:26 AM
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I volunteer to be your future king

So you're saying you'd do it as an unpaid intern? Good resume material I guess.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:35 AM
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Midwestern? A lot of Christian groups fit that description. Devout Catholics, conservative mainline Protestants, some of the less crazy evangelical Christians

Well, that's my number, at least where I come from. A lot of Jews fit it too.


Posted by: idp | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:36 AM
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176:[Posted in the hope that the para-meta-analysis will stop you feeling so bad about yourself.]

Not even one little bit since your comment exposed how I used"eggcorn" instead of the more correct "mondegreen." I hate everybody and everything--me most of all. Am in really brutal post-vacation work slump and my compensating pointless time sinks are pointless time sinks.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 9:57 AM
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200/205: "Populist?"

It's a bit confusing because that's a way in which "liberal" and "conservative" are more ideologically incoherent than usual. (Sorry if I sound libertarianish myself here.) Libertarians agree with liberals about gay marriage and pot smoking, so they're socially liberal in that sense, but generally wouldn't agree with liberals about hate crime laws, and on abortion the official Libertarian Party platform is pro-choice but I'll bet 90 to 99 percent of actual libertarians support a federalist approach, which is really completely different. Also, lots of issues can't entirely be categorized as just social or just economic and not the other, and it sure is suspicious how libertarians always prioritize economic concerns when there's a conflict.

But now I'm really preaching to the choir.

As for Halford, I too am surprised and disappointed. He got annoying sometimes, but overall seemed very good for the place. But what do I know, I'm barely around here myself.

Halfordismo cannot fail, it can only be failed.


Posted by: Cyrus | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 10:00 AM
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No, the exact opposite of populist.

Socially liberal: All humans are equal. Prejudice is the worst thing ever.
Economic conservative: Free market economics are perfect. GDP is god, no matter how it's distributed. Labor unions and solidarity in general are obsolete, if they ever had any role in society.

Populist:
Social conservative: There are good people and bad people. It's only natural to be suspicious of outsiders.
Economic liberal: The rich should be less rich and the poor should be less poor.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 10:10 AM
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I think I've been around Unfogged less lately partly because it's not nearly good enough as a timesink. Reddit has hundreds of random discussions and tendentious arguments per day. Actual personal longtime friends can't possibly measure up to that.


Posted by: Cyrus | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 10:10 AM
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Sorry Cyrus, I misread. You are right, populist is the exact opposite of libertarian.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 10:14 AM
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Yeah, I'd say SC/EL was the default up until Reagan -- who, himself, tended to fit that bill what with the whole union president, crack down on welfare and students style of his early career. Certainly a lot of my rural relatives might fit under that rubric, and I think you'd find quite a few still in the exurbs, though it's declining as the older ones die off or get Fox-ified.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 10:14 AM
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To clarify: Cracking down on welfare because it was *morally* wrong to give people money for not working, not because it was wrong to take money from taxpayers for things the government could do better.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 10:17 AM
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209: This was an ongoing theme of the verbal jousting between a friend I spent a chunk of time with on vacation and I. He's on Reddit a fair bit (but reads only*) and characterized my descriptions of here as "my favorite blog, you probably haven;t heard of it." I did note that just about every trope he brought up had been discussed here at some point.

*He's also extremely diligent and accomplished, the asshole. (A kiwi from the wops of the far northern part of the North Island).


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 11:40 AM
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213: One thing this place is better about than Reddit is politics. It definitely trends libertarian, or at least, more libertarian than Unfogged. I have mixed feelings about that. Exactly how bad is it? Does the overall mood of it matter, or should I only worry about the mood of subreddits I frequent? Either way, what should I do - shun them or try to change minds or something else? But making any changes at all is more work than just worrying about it, so...


Posted by: Cyrus | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 11:47 AM
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I believe cock jokes are the universal solvent of the internet.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 11:52 AM
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Although they might not be recognized as being offered ironically.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 11:56 AM
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Wait, what? there's more to reddit than r/trashy?


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 12:11 PM
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OT: There's a bedbug sniffing dog coming to my office next week. I'm thinking of having some fun with some beef jerky, a few flax seeds, and someone else's office.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 12:26 PM
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Hott!


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 12:38 PM
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Nothing dreadful yet but no answers either. CT scan shows nothing. More tests on Sunday.


Posted by: emir | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 1:26 PM
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Nothing dreadful yet is excellent. Here's hoping for "All the symptoms go away mysteriously and you never have to think about it again."


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 1:28 PM
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Thinking about it some more, the bodyguards should dress like Amish. They look wholesome and helpless, until the next thing you know you wake up in Guantanamo. You think you're getting Viggo Mortensen from Witness, but you're really getting Viggo Mortensen from A History of Violence.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 1:31 PM
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I hope 221.last comes true, emir.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 1:32 PM
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Thinking of your family and hoping for the best, emir.


Posted by: asilon | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 2:01 PM
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Yes. Hoping for the best, emir.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-14 2:03 PM
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222: That was Harrison Ford in Witness, not Viggo Mortensen.


Posted by: Dave W. | Link to this comment | 10-13-14 4:23 PM
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Harrison Ford was the non-Amish guy in Witness. Viggo was an Amish guy.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-13-14 4:32 PM
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227: So he was. My bad for not checking IMDB before posting.


Posted by: Dave W. | Link to this comment | 10-14-14 10:37 AM
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