Even after reading the article I'm not sure exactly how you weigh the fact that he has a very large penis. Can men with large penises not rape people?
The defense's point is that if he had raped her then there would be obvious damage (on account of his ginormous member). Since there wasn't, it couldn't have been him.
I third iTunes. Just create a playlist, dump your songs in there, and then click the "Burn" icon in the toolbar.
Just a note: your CD may be 700MB in size but that doesn't mean it will hold 700MB of mp3's. When they are decompressed into the CD format they are much, much larger.
Of course, Dune was a flawed book. I mean, you only had to creep up behind Frank Herbert and whisper "where's the oxygen come from?" to send him into spasm, but still, one of the greats.
Huh? I thought it was one of the products of the worms' chemical factories.
I've done some reading about the flu epidemics during WWI. Thousands, even millions, contracted the disease. Many died...
That's an understatement. I'll assume you are talking about the Spanish Flu, which killed between 25 and 50 million people and infected some 20% of the global population. There are stories of people feeling fine as they walked to work in the morning and dropping dead before the end of the night. Entire villages were wiped out.
... but if you look at the stats, it was usually those who had compromised immune systems anyway. This may mean that, in modern America anyway, those who will be most likely to die from the new epidemic if it happens, are those who are very young, very old, or very uninsured.
True. It's also worth mentioning that (at least in the US) sanitation and general health has greatly improved over the last 85 years. In 1918 there were only three useful vaccines -- smallpox, rabies, and plague -- and even these were poorly understood at best. Penicillin, the wonder drug of the 20th century, had yet to be invented. Hell, even chlorination of the drinking water was just starting to see implementation, and you can forget about effective over-the-counter remedies.
So even today the fate of the "uninsured" is incomparable to the vast majority of the population back then. Hell, I bet that most of the insured people who fall ill with the bird flu won't even think about seeing their doctor. They'll take a couple days sick leave and then go back to work.
However, it's worth mentioning that we do have something in common with 1918. WWI brought together millions of tired, malnourished, injured men who slept in cold trenches in close quarters. When the war ended they took more than their love back to their hometowns.
Today we have the modern transportation system filling part of that roll. Within 24 hours you can probably be anywhere on the planet you want. Combine this and a highly contagious strain with a low mortality rate and you could see something much worse than the Spanish Flu.
All that being said, I'm with Stan the Bat and his original comment. I don't worry because worrying won't do us much good. The diversity in nature dwarfs the human experience, and eventually something like or worse than the bird flu will come along. The best long term strategy is to stop dangerous practices (like raising large quantities of immuno-suppressed poultry and swine in close quarters, or xenotransplantation).
Ohhh... and although I mentioned penicillin above, don't look towards it. Anti-bacterials are almost useless against viral infections like the flu. As one researcher pointed out the best treatment we have for any viral infection is for HIV. That should give you pause.
One last thing: feel free to disagree with me. I'm a EE/programmer by trade, but infectious diseases fascinate me. I've read a couple books here and there and a ton of articles. So I'd hardly call myself an expert... more like an enthusiast.
Not exactly. As pointed out over in the blue, it is Hoyer -- the Democratic whip -- who introduced the resolution. Sensenbrenner is just a cosponsor, along with Sabo (D-MN), Pallone (D-NJ), and Berman (D-CA).
How does this work? Let's say Maine allows medical marijuana. If I'm in Maine and have medical marijuana, can I be prosecuted, or would I have to be smoking it in a state that doesn't allow medical marijuana? Or smoking on an interstate highway? Or what?
There is an article over at Volokh Conspiracy that should clear up the issue. What it breaks down to is that allowing intrastate mj will inevitably lead to interstate mj (which no one is arguing that the government has a right to regulate). Or in other words "it would make things too HARD!"
It is worth noting that the three of Bush's most favorite Justices -- Rehnquist, Thomas, and O'Connor -- dissented.
I haven't read the dissenting position, but I'd imagine it contains a fair amount of federalist thought.
I'm not particularly fond of legalizing all drugs, although I must admit that criminalizing mj makes no sense from almost any view point you take. The reason I disagree with the SCOTUS here is because I'm a federalist at heart. The states need to stop bowing to every wish and whim of the federal government and re-assert their constitutional rights. One of which is the right to regulate their own intrastate commerce.
Also, I hate, hate the logic that says we shouldn't do something -- or in this case, judicate away the difficulty -- because it's "HARDDDD!" (put a nice whine on that). If a thing is truly worth doing then the benefits will outweigh the cost. And if you find that you're task has become impossible then perhaps you need to ask if it was ever worth doing in the first place.
PS: I use the term mj because I'm too lazy to lookup how to spell marijuana. It's left as an exercise for the reader to find the irony in the previous sentence.
A quick google news search shows the same story covered by other mainstream news sources.
I was defeated by the diaeresis. Anyways, I think that this NYT article has a better, more balanced overview.
And as far as my AOL comments goes, my sentiment is echoed in quote from the NYT article: "Until I read the full argument in a reputable academic publication, I'm going to reserve a final judgment."
Two things that bother me.
1) Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe the Trojan Horse story was mentioned in either the Iliad or the Odyssey. From the linked article:
The marble sculpture depicts a priest and his sons struggling to break free of an attacking sea snake, based on a story in Homer’s Iliad.
That story occurs in the Aeneid. Or at the very least is only mentioned in the Odyssey, because IIRC the Iliad ends before the horse and sack of Troy. If I'm correct then I'm not sure how a reputable organization can get it wrong.
2) The article is hosted on someone's AOL account. Hardly a sign of journalistic integrity. And does anyone have a follow-up to this talk? Transcript? Dissention from experts?
I'll reserve judgment. However, even if this is a fake, it's still one of the most outstanding statues conceived.
I sympathize Doris; I spend way too much time tinkering with my blog. Still, as cool as some of those designs are, I'm not sure I'd ever use one. I enjoy the hunt too much :)
Wait a minute. AOL exports its address book as LDIF? That rocks! I'm guessing then that they use LDAP behind the scenes, but I wonder what caused them to decide to export it raw.
Wow. Way to spin the article:
US energy services company Halliburton is to end its operations in Iran after existing contracts come to an end....
...Meanwhile, a recent Iranian gas field contract won by Halliburton sparked criticism in the US.
And a federal grand jury is looking at whether any violations of the Iran trade embargo had taken place.
Geee... in the face of expiring contracts, difficulty in obeying the embargo, and an investigation by a federal grand jury, I can't imagine why a company wouldn't want to stay.
Sure, I could read ominous things into this, but I think Haliburton is probably saying "why bother with Iran when Iraq looks so much more promising".
Okay, I can accept all 10 of those... except for Hardees. wtf.
I may be mistaken, but I don't think Hardees is misleading the consumer into thinking that their Monster Burger is a healthy choice. I think they pass it off as a rather indulgent choice. You'd have to be pretty damn stupid to think that a huge burger somehow works in your diet plan.
So what, are we now supposed to condemn companies because they tempt us? Have we totally surrendered our self-will to the corporations and the government? Give it a rest; Hardees is doing nothing wrong at all.
First, if you think you have a problem then you should go see a doctor. Asking for advice on the Internet isn't really what you're after, and the longer you delay the more anxiety you'll have.
Second, if you have gas appliances, then you should also have a CO detector. I bought one at the local Meijer for about $14. No need to worry anymore.
Finally, self-diagnosis is almost always a fools game. A lot of those points on the webpage are so vague and general they could mean about anything. Some days I have over half those symptoms for no apparent reason. Find a doctor you trust and go see him.
ahhh... have to love incompetent admins.
posted by sbutler 18 years ago
In "Penis size used as defence in trial"
yentruoc - I'm just playing the Devil's Advocate, not saying I particuarly believe the defense.
posted by sbutler 18 years ago
Even after reading the article I'm not sure exactly how you weigh the fact that he has a very large penis. Can men with large penises not rape people? The defense's point is that if he had raped her then there would be obvious damage (on account of his ginormous member). Since there wasn't, it couldn't have been him.
posted by sbutler 18 years ago
In "Not surprisingly, non-English speakers don't pronounce "@" as "At.""
Try this link (searched for "monkey").
posted by sbutler 18 years ago
In ""Doctor, I woke up this morning, and I found THIS...""
Nope. Not believing this was a prank. This has all the hallmarks of an anonymous internet sexual encounter.
posted by sbutler 18 years ago
In "Curious George"
I third iTunes. Just create a playlist, dump your songs in there, and then click the "Burn" icon in the toolbar. Just a note: your CD may be 700MB in size but that doesn't mean it will hold 700MB of mp3's. When they are decompressed into the CD format they are much, much larger.
posted by sbutler 18 years ago
In "Interview with Frank Herbert from 1969"
Of course, Dune was a flawed book. I mean, you only had to creep up behind Frank Herbert and whisper "where's the oxygen come from?" to send him into spasm, but still, one of the greats. Huh? I thought it was one of the products of the worms' chemical factories.
posted by sbutler 18 years ago
In "He's more chemical than vegetable now."
It is a great parody! Too bad it's been posted before.
posted by sbutler 18 years ago
In "China ruins best chance of beating bird flu epidemic."
I've done some reading about the flu epidemics during WWI. Thousands, even millions, contracted the disease. Many died... That's an understatement. I'll assume you are talking about the Spanish Flu, which killed between 25 and 50 million people and infected some 20% of the global population. There are stories of people feeling fine as they walked to work in the morning and dropping dead before the end of the night. Entire villages were wiped out. ... but if you look at the stats, it was usually those who had compromised immune systems anyway. This may mean that, in modern America anyway, those who will be most likely to die from the new epidemic if it happens, are those who are very young, very old, or very uninsured. True. It's also worth mentioning that (at least in the US) sanitation and general health has greatly improved over the last 85 years. In 1918 there were only three useful vaccines -- smallpox, rabies, and plague -- and even these were poorly understood at best. Penicillin, the wonder drug of the 20th century, had yet to be invented. Hell, even chlorination of the drinking water was just starting to see implementation, and you can forget about effective over-the-counter remedies. So even today the fate of the "uninsured" is incomparable to the vast majority of the population back then. Hell, I bet that most of the insured people who fall ill with the bird flu won't even think about seeing their doctor. They'll take a couple days sick leave and then go back to work. However, it's worth mentioning that we do have something in common with 1918. WWI brought together millions of tired, malnourished, injured men who slept in cold trenches in close quarters. When the war ended they took more than their love back to their hometowns. Today we have the modern transportation system filling part of that roll. Within 24 hours you can probably be anywhere on the planet you want. Combine this and a highly contagious strain with a low mortality rate and you could see something much worse than the Spanish Flu. All that being said, I'm with Stan the Bat and his original comment. I don't worry because worrying won't do us much good. The diversity in nature dwarfs the human experience, and eventually something like or worse than the bird flu will come along. The best long term strategy is to stop dangerous practices (like raising large quantities of immuno-suppressed poultry and swine in close quarters, or xenotransplantation). Ohhh... and although I mentioned penicillin above, don't look towards it. Anti-bacterials are almost useless against viral infections like the flu. As one researcher pointed out the best treatment we have for any viral infection is for HIV. That should give you pause. One last thing: feel free to disagree with me. I'm a EE/programmer by trade, but infectious diseases fascinate me. I've read a couple books here and there and a ton of articles. So I'd hardly call myself an expert... more like an enthusiast.
posted by sbutler 18 years ago
In "Repeal the 22nd?"
Not exactly. As pointed out over in the blue, it is Hoyer -- the Democratic whip -- who introduced the resolution. Sensenbrenner is just a cosponsor, along with Sabo (D-MN), Pallone (D-NJ), and Berman (D-CA).
posted by sbutler 18 years ago
In "That funny-smelling green stuff"
How does this work? Let's say Maine allows medical marijuana. If I'm in Maine and have medical marijuana, can I be prosecuted, or would I have to be smoking it in a state that doesn't allow medical marijuana? Or smoking on an interstate highway? Or what? There is an article over at Volokh Conspiracy that should clear up the issue. What it breaks down to is that allowing intrastate mj will inevitably lead to interstate mj (which no one is arguing that the government has a right to regulate). Or in other words "it would make things too HARD!" It is worth noting that the three of Bush's most favorite Justices -- Rehnquist, Thomas, and O'Connor -- dissented. I haven't read the dissenting position, but I'd imagine it contains a fair amount of federalist thought. I'm not particularly fond of legalizing all drugs, although I must admit that criminalizing mj makes no sense from almost any view point you take. The reason I disagree with the SCOTUS here is because I'm a federalist at heart. The states need to stop bowing to every wish and whim of the federal government and re-assert their constitutional rights. One of which is the right to regulate their own intrastate commerce. Also, I hate, hate the logic that says we shouldn't do something -- or in this case, judicate away the difficulty -- because it's "HARDDDD!" (put a nice whine on that). If a thing is truly worth doing then the benefits will outweigh the cost. And if you find that you're task has become impossible then perhaps you need to ask if it was ever worth doing in the first place. PS: I use the term mj because I'm too lazy to lookup how to spell marijuana. It's left as an exercise for the reader to find the irony in the previous sentence.
posted by sbutler 18 years ago
In "The worlds greatest music video evar!"
Wow. I lost it when that guy started pounding on the stove. I actually cried because I laughed so hard. Thanks, drivingmenuts!
posted by sbutler 18 years ago
In "Scholar claims Michelangelo faked the Laocoön statue"
A quick google news search shows the same story covered by other mainstream news sources. I was defeated by the diaeresis. Anyways, I think that this NYT article has a better, more balanced overview. And as far as my AOL comments goes, my sentiment is echoed in quote from the NYT article: "Until I read the full argument in a reputable academic publication, I'm going to reserve a final judgment."
posted by sbutler 19 years ago
Two things that bother me. 1) Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe the Trojan Horse story was mentioned in either the Iliad or the Odyssey. From the linked article:
That story occurs in the Aeneid. Or at the very least is only mentioned in the Odyssey, because IIRC the Iliad ends before the horse and sack of Troy. If I'm correct then I'm not sure how a reputable organization can get it wrong. 2) The article is hosted on someone's AOL account. Hardly a sign of journalistic integrity. And does anyone have a follow-up to this talk? Transcript? Dissention from experts? I'll reserve judgment. However, even if this is a fake, it's still one of the most outstanding statues conceived.posted by sbutler 19 years ago
In "Open Source Web Design"
I sympathize Doris; I spend way too much time tinkering with my blog. Still, as cool as some of those designs are, I'm not sure I'd ever use one. I enjoy the hunt too much :)
posted by sbutler 19 years ago
In "Curious George - Exporting and Importing into Gmail"
Wait a minute. AOL exports its address book as LDIF? That rocks! I'm guessing then that they use LDAP behind the scenes, but I wonder what caused them to decide to export it raw.
posted by sbutler 19 years ago
In "Wreck homes like Angelina!"
Alright, I admit that I laughed when she said "TEH DIE". But that is some of the worst mouth movement I've ever seen.
posted by sbutler 19 years ago
In "Buried in the headlines,"
Wow. Way to spin the article: US energy services company Halliburton is to end its operations in Iran after existing contracts come to an end.... ...Meanwhile, a recent Iranian gas field contract won by Halliburton sparked criticism in the US. And a federal grand jury is looking at whether any violations of the Iran trade embargo had taken place. Geee... in the face of expiring contracts, difficulty in obeying the embargo, and an investigation by a federal grand jury, I can't imagine why a company wouldn't want to stay. Sure, I could read ominous things into this, but I think Haliburton is probably saying "why bother with Iran when Iraq looks so much more promising".
posted by sbutler 19 years ago
In "The Ten Worst Corporations of 2004"
Okay, I can accept all 10 of those... except for Hardees. wtf. I may be mistaken, but I don't think Hardees is misleading the consumer into thinking that their Monster Burger is a healthy choice. I think they pass it off as a rather indulgent choice. You'd have to be pretty damn stupid to think that a huge burger somehow works in your diet plan. So what, are we now supposed to condemn companies because they tempt us? Have we totally surrendered our self-will to the corporations and the government? Give it a rest; Hardees is doing nothing wrong at all.
posted by sbutler 19 years ago
In "Carbon monoxide poisioning"
First, if you think you have a problem then you should go see a doctor. Asking for advice on the Internet isn't really what you're after, and the longer you delay the more anxiety you'll have. Second, if you have gas appliances, then you should also have a CO detector. I bought one at the local Meijer for about $14. No need to worry anymore. Finally, self-diagnosis is almost always a fools game. A lot of those points on the webpage are so vague and general they could mean about anything. Some days I have over half those symptoms for no apparent reason. Find a doctor you trust and go see him.
posted by sbutler 19 years ago
(limited to the most recent 20 comments)