Thursday Open Thread
- Peace treaties in northern Pakistan are crumbling, as violence claims another 30+ people near the border with Afghanistan.
- A burst steam pipe in New York City claims one life and injures dozens.
- Harry Potter's apparently been leaked, and at least one review had the poor taste to come out earlier than it was supposed to. Although, having read none of the books and only seen 1 1/2 of the movies, I can't bring myself to care too much.
- A bizarre study finds that people who download child porn are more likely to molest children . Um... duh?
This is your open thread
Submitted by pico on Thu, 2007-07-19 07:31
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Comments :
who did that stupid study?
Unpublished Govt study? A lot of stuff is done to perpetuate useless jobs.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
There is something to be said
for not assuming that all men that would 'click' on a picture, while casually browsing the internet are automatically guilty of child abuse. Imagine if you had a 16 year old boy, who was clicking on internet porn and clicked on a picture of a 16 year old girl. That is under the legal age limit. The next thing you know there is a knock on your door, and your child could be labeled for life as a potential sexual predator for a juevenile hormonal moment of weakness.
We saw the recent case of a man sentenced to 10 years in prison for having sex with his wife when she was 15.
The study was rejected in a peer reviewed journal.
There is a risk of over-generalizing the studies results, and also of the media overblowing the findings.
Source
It is the economy, stupid.
Causality
Maybe they were attempting to find causality. We've known for awhile that there is a correlation between child porn and pedophilia. What we don't know is if child porn causes pedophilia.
I never broke the law; I am the law! --
George W. BushJudge DreddI'm listening to...
Salon's Tim Grieve discusses Thomas Freidman's
NY Times Op-Ed from yesterday (I can't link to it, it's behind the Times firewall) here. What Tim says has been said before, but bares repeating
:
"Thomas Friedman's New York Times column today urges the president to go to the Green Zone in Baghdad and stay there until he can a) determine if the Iraqi government can resolve the power and oil revenue issues, b) sell the Iraqis on a partition plan and c) tell the Iraqis that the U.S. is willing to walk away if they refuse to do either of the above....Matthew Yglesias points out the obvious flaw in Friedman's argument:
It's time to face up to the possibility that the Bush administration's policies in occupied Iraq haven't been driven exclusively by a sincere and idealistic commitment to the well-being of the Iraqi people and the principles of liberty and democracy. Shocking, yes. But not to put too fine a point on it, it's the imperialism, stupid. Bush won't adopt a bargaining strategy that involves walking away as an option, because he's not willing to walk away. The objective is to retain Iraq as a platform for the projection of American military power in the region, to continue a larger regional struggle against Iran and Syria, to maintain physical control over Iraq's oil resources, etc. That means Bush can't walk away and can't "let Iraqis sort this out on their own." To accomplish his objectives, the United States needs to be intimately involved in Iraqi affairs to give us leverage and prevent the possibility of the dread "Iranian influence." It's unrealistic war aims that launched this war, it's unrealistic aims that have made it last so long, and it's unrealistic aims that prevent it from ending."
One more vote saying our GI's are dying for US Oil Companies and the PNAC pipe dream of controlling the Middle East.
Why should one more American die for this abomination?
Avatars
From left on the bench, Ender, Prime Mover, and Purpleface, crashing the Net Neutrality discussion at the Mike Gravel for President location. We all had our Swords Crossed tags on, and there were lots of people there, so maybe we got some hits on the tags.
And then Specter showed up. This is his newbie avatar and will probably change.
"Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge" -- Kahlil Gibran
cool pics
note the joints that Prime Mover gave us so we would look cooler :)
We didn't really get a chance to crash the discussion as they seemed to be having a very serious, albeit stupid, conversation and it would've been mean. After I said a few stupid things they, probably unrelated, decided to retreat to some boardroom.
Specter, how's your computer handling that? :)
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
Pics
Apparently my firewall at work is blocking the pics....
...ah well...
“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” --- Albert Einstein
Next time...
...I bringing out the sex toys for us to hold for the pictures.
;-)
“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” --- Albert Einstein
Ender- question
can you get me the number values for the various bars (red, blue, purple, etc) that you choose here?
I was going to try and code an object in SL that would reflect that (and hopefully have some more functionality once I know what I'm doing)
I came. I saw. I posted.
Veni, Vidi, Bitchy.
tlaloc, here you go
black - #000000
blue - #0000cc
red - #cc0000
purple - #990099
orange - #f9a117
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
which ones match up with which addiliations?
I came. I saw. I posted.
Veni, Vidi, Bitchy.
well the code behind it
is a bit too convoluted because I was considering both ideology *and* party for a color... I rewrote it to only look at ideology on the new version. But for now it's basically:
anarchist, socialist, communist - black
libertarian - orange
Left - blue
Right - red
Middle - purple
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
That'll do, pig. That'll do. :)
I came. I saw. I posted.
Veni, Vidi, Bitchy.
hehehe n/t
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
Sounds way cool Tlaloc
I sent you an invite for the group.
Another idea for the colors: rave sticks to hold while dancing that reflect the proper color. There are existing rave sticks that you could modify: use the small ones, I don't like the large ones.
There is a very cool video on the Second Life site that shows a user recreating Van Gogh's Starry Night in the 3D SL world.
http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/07/19/living-in-paintings/
"Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge" -- Kahlil Gibran
Let me get the basic code figured out
then should be able to put that on any object you like.
I came. I saw. I posted.
Veni, Vidi, Bitchy.
status
okay the basics are done. I have an object that when you touch it it gives you a notecard describing swordscrossed and explaining the commands for the object.
so far it can change to the appropriate colors and it can turn invisible and come back.
I plan to add some code to make it hover over your shoulder or rotate around you.
what other functions would people want? I was toying with an ability to send IMs to anyone else with one of these objects with the option to only send to those who are using a certain setting.
I have a doctor's appointment in a bit. Probably work on it later tonight.
I came. I saw. I posted.
Veni, Vidi, Bitchy.
damn
that's impressive man. Looking forward to seeing it!
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
IMs
there is already a Group IM function, but it does include all group members who are online.
"Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge" -- Kahlil Gibran
My computer
seems to do ok, not great. It takes text a while to emerge, and people's avatars sometimes take a few minutes to emerge in detail depending on the quantity of people in the room/area.
I have a lot of RAM, but only a mediocre processor and graphics card. My other computer has an amazing processor, but not much RAM and the same graphics card, so I don't know which is better to use.
I can only type one-handed when I'm logged in (holding the baby at night) so people need to have patience with me in discussions which is an impairment.
I could not find any clothes to go with what I wear in the 1st life (ha,ha), so my pic above is a bit, I don't know, preppy maybe. The head is about 80% as pico noted with slight differences in hair, beard, etc.
I succumbed to the peer-pressure
PM discussed (vanity) and changed my avatar's looks fairly drastically with the help and generosity of Purpleface and her friend.
Made a cursory html how-to
See here
-- feel free to edit or suggest changes/updates.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
very nice! thanks Brendan.
It looks good and will definitely be on the top menu on the new SC version.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
Excellent!
Love the example sentence you used for bold, underlining, and italics.
Very helpful.
It is the economy, stupid.
Add strikethrough to your list...
<s>strikethrough</s>
in addition to underline, bold, etc.
Also, can we please keep the example sentences neutral?
Republican Maverick at Large
-4:Strongly Disagree; 0:Meh; +4:Strongly Agree
Good suggestion
and no, of course we can't =)
Although if you'd like you could interpret that sentence as mocking hyperbolic liberal hatred of Bush.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
Also added a greatest hits page
See here
. This one is very rough at the moment, mostly pulled together from pico's suggestions and my memory. Obviously I can't recall every interesting post offhand, so please suggest anything you think should be added (and please don't take offense if I missed something important, I did this quickly).
The list is already somewhat long, so I think it should be broken into separate (broad) categories. Not sure what those categories should be or where to file each post -- again, I'd love to hear if you have ideas.
We could also rank the greatest hits if we wanted different levels to guide a new user who won't read all those posts at once.
Edit: next on the housecleaning list is to update the specific articles underneath each blog on the blogroll. That might have to wait until this weekend -- lemme know if you have anything in particular you'd like to see highlighted.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
I'm going east this weekend.
If any of you eastern SC'ers want to hook up, I'd really enjoy catching some of you. I'll probably be spending several sessions at The Ginger Man's 11 E 36th St location
. I haven't been to the new pub they have down in Greenwich Village yet. It wasn't there the last time I was there but it is a lot close to my brother and sisters places.
when are you gonna be there?
I might be available for a diversion :)
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
Arriving tomorrow,
although Saturday and Sunday will probably be family days. I'll be there through Sunday the 29th.
I don't know what my family has planned so I can't say anything definitively yet. Probably a hit and run to the Greenwich Village spot Friday night depending on if I can drag my sister out of her house (my brother is almost always game). anytime midweek is good though. Does you job ever take your into Manhattan anymore?
nah, I don''t need to go to Manhattan
for work related stuff, but I still hang out there at least a few times a month.
I am leaving for vacation on the 25th so next week aint too great. Maybe I can do a hit and run in the Village on Friday night as well as I might be hanging out with a friend in the area.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
I see Josh Trevino's moving up in the world.
He's got a new piece out published in National Review Online today
about Mitt Romney & his faith.
Colin Powell was on NPR yesterday and I have to say
that I really like that man. No, I don't like that he pushed untruths on the United Nations, helping to get the US permission to attack & occupy Iraq and take us away from the real threat in Afganistan/Pakistan. But he has an honor and a credibility that I only wish he could have felt able to be more public about during the build up to war in Iraq. He explained why he felt he couldn't do that in the interview which you can read here
.
One point that I really appreciated was when the subject of Palestinians/Palestine came up and he said that the US HAS to talk to Hamas as they were duly elected by the Palestinians in elections we forced them to hold. He said talking to our adversaries is a requirement for a dominant world power like the US.
Funnily enough, directly there after followed a news item where Condi Rice said she won't talk to Hamas
. It's no wonder the rest of the world thinks we're a bunch of lunatics here in the US.
Brilliant video
Hopefully, my cut-n-paste works.
Watch the following.... and then share it with every non-serving pro-war supporter you know.
It really is a brilliant piece about "college Republicans" and their chicken-hawkedness. (new word).
The funniest part is the guy in the T-shirt insisting that he's "not gay" even though at one time in his past he was attracted to a man.
Generation Chickenhawk: The Unauthorized College Republican Convention Tour
from huffpost
and Vimeo 
“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” --- Albert Einstein
My favorite
part is the bumper sticker on the back of the guys car!
It is the economy, stupid.
Caption this photo
Here's mine:
"Should I? or Shouldn't I? Nah... he's still my son."
RELAX! It's a joke!
“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” --- Albert Einstein
Kinda edgy
but then I'm more sensitive than most. If people express offense I might edit it. Sense of humor is so subjective...
Funny picture.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
Senate Gets Rowdy/Kennedy Raises Voice
Kennedy says amendments to student loan bill are not germaine. I love when Ted gets on his soapbox and inspite of the partisan hackery, the Senate floor is quiet when he speaks.
The Republicans keep offering irrelevant amendments to the bill that makes more pell grant money available to students.
McConnel just offered an amendment to the student loan bill chastising Clinton and naming the list of people he pardoned, because Salazar offered an amendement asking no pardon for Libby. Kennedy voted no on the Salazar amendement and killed it.
The Senate is getting uncharacteristically frisky. Using amendments as obstructionist tools.
Now the R's are offering an amendment on illegal immigration to the Student Loan Bill.
If you are into slow motion chaos, CSpan 2 is entertaining.
It is the economy, stupid.
Hey, Ender - I see you braved
that b.s. diary on the rec list at dkos to pull a Republican into our site. Did you get any response from him/her?
That diary infuriated me, by the way. If it wasn't apparent from my comments
.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
I didn't seem
to get any response from him. He really infuriated other dkos members earlier that day and they trollrated him en mass in his anti-dkos gbcw :)
Yeah I noticed the diarist who infuriated you called the few who objected timid naysayers more interested in attacking fellow Dems than Republicans. Nice.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
You may want to talk to this guy instead
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/18/231437/915
I saw him
and several commenters told him about SC. He looked at it and said that basically it was lacking in the whole look and feel department compared to dkos.
Well no kidding, so whatever.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
So let me get this striaght...
...this guy wants "serious discussion" and then he is turned off by something as superficial as "look and feel"?
He doesn't seem to "serious" to me.
Looks to me like he was blowing smoke.
“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” --- Albert Einstein
that's what I thought
which is why I didn't bother saying anything after that.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR