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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
 Posted - 01/14/2009 : 15:20:52 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by marfknox
After just three months of trying, I have happy news on the baby front. Assuming this one takes, I'll be a mom for reals in September.
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Congrats, Marf. And good luck.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
 Posted - 01/14/2009 : 15:26:42 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by marfknox
After just three months of trying, I have happy news on the baby front. Assuming this one takes, I'll be a mom for reals in September.
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Ahhh. I missed this somehow. Congratulations Marf! You have a bun in the oven! |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Simon
SFN Regular
USA
1992 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2009 : 18:20:17 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by marfknox
After just three months of trying, I have happy news on the baby front. Assuming this one takes, I'll be a mom for reals in September.
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That's great Marf!
Muchos congratos! |
Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996 |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2009 : 19:17:50 [Permalink]
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I'll toss this question out there: back when fuel prices were at their highest ever, airlines started doing things like charging extra for checked luggage.
Now, fuel prices are quite low-- we haven't seem them this low in awhile.
Question is: will airlines start rolling back these surcharges? After all, part of the motivation for implementing them was to counter rapidly rising fuel prices. Now that said prices are much lower...
Who am I kidding, right? But it would be great to call them out on it in some public forum... |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2009 : 19:49:23 [Permalink]
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Airlines claim that they're sealed into contracts buying fuel at the inflated prices right now.
But yeah, even if their costs had dropped, it would be unlikely that they'd roll back surcharges. They'd drop the base ticket price before doing that. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2009 : 12:17:46 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
Airlines claim that they're sealed into contracts buying fuel at the inflated prices right now.
But yeah, even if their costs had dropped, it would be unlikely that they'd roll back surcharges. They'd drop the base ticket price before doing that. |
What really bugs me about this is that they also won't let you bring any liquids through security (well, up to 3 oz, which isn't much). So in some cases, you're practically forced to check your bag and pay the extra fee.
Sure, you can buy things in "travel size" or buy empty 3 oz bottles and pour your shampoo or whatever in them, but even that's not always possible.
I hate the stupid 3 oz rule, anyhow. If I recall correctly (I should double check this), it's pretty clear that no one can do any real harm mixing even large quantities of volatile liquids in the hopes of damaging an airplane, and yet the ban is in place still. Seems to be to be a great ploy to force people to buy things once inside the security check at super-jacked up prices... |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13476 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2009 : 13:21:52 [Permalink]
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| Also, the rise in food prices was linked to the rise the in expense of getting the food to market. Well, the price of oil has dropped, but the price of food didn't. |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2009 : 16:54:56 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Kil
Also, the rise in food prices was linked to the rise the in expense of getting the food to market. Well, the price of oil has dropped, but the price of food didn't. |
True! In fact, I distinctly recall that this summer, the guy who restocks the two vending machines in the building where I worked actually put a little note up explaining that he was raising prices because of the rising cost of gas. Gas prices have dropped significantly, and yet I'm not back to paying pre-summer prices for my morning Diet Pepsi... |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 01/18/2009 : 21:49:32 [Permalink]
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Due to now having my scooter license, and the Global Warming demonstrated by recent local Bay Area weather conditions, I've been getting out more than I have since my 2004 stroke.
Today I attended a portion of the three-day Western Workers Heritage Festival. The part I could not miss was the Political Satire Workshop, largely because it was run by Roy Zimmerman. (I really am trying to cut back my stalking of Roy Zimmerman. Anyway, it's not really a "habit," as I could quit any time I wanted to, if I wanted to. One knows one is a true fan when one's idol calls one from the stage by name to shut the hell up.)
Several in the audience of a few dozen people were themselves folksingers or writers.
It soon became obvious that Roy's not been just "winging" it all these years with his songs. He's thought all about the subject of satire and parody, and has made a lot of conclusions. He led a very intelligent and interactive discussion with attendees, interspering his words with examples from his songs.
A few random points that Roy made (please excuse me for the inevitable inaccuracies that are bound to follow, due to my imperfect memory):
Accurate rhymes are very important in making a musical argument. They can be used to create expectations from an audience, expectations which can then be gleefully crushed as a humorous way of driving home a point.
The right wing produces no good satirists. There are some funny rightist comedians, but they aren't really doing satire.
Typical rightist "satire" involves the powerful poking fun at the powerless, the majority mocking minorities.
Satire, Roy asserted, is essentially apolitical in origin. It's the deflation of the inflated egos of the powerful by the weak. He used Jonathan Swift's classic, "A Modest Proposal" as an example, mentioning how it was worded exactly as though it were an argument for a bill presented to Parliament.
I brought up how, when I use parody to attack fundies here, they grow angry, but when I mocked those I agreed with, they actually like it.
The discussion went from there to the matter of how far over the line one should go with parody. There was no consensus, except that everyone felt that there should be some crossing of lines, if only to keep a sharp edge.
Don't expect this workshop to improve my parody efforts much. Old dogs, new tricks, etc.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 01/19/2009 01:30:54 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2009 : 02:14:29 [Permalink]
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Along with 299 other people, I saw Robin Williams perform in Mill Valley earlier tonight. Two straight hours of his high-energy act. He was clearly honing new material for his big "Weapons of Self Destruction" tour.
All of Williams' take from the performance (the cheap seats like mine went for $50 each) went to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Marin County.
The man had sweat pouring down his sides within five minutes. I cannot understand how anyone can be so funny for two hours -- nor how a man can be so physical for so long.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 02/02/2009 02:20:25 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2009 : 02:14:59 [Permalink]
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Tonight my 93-year-old father called me. He said that Obama's Inauguration speech with its mention of religious (and non-religious) diversity got him thinking. He's now given up his lifetime devout Christianity, and considers himself an agnostic. I'm dancing off the friggin' walls, here.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 02/13/2009 02:18:06 |
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Simon
SFN Regular
USA
1992 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2009 : 10:46:58 [Permalink]
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Wooow... Changing your mind about something so fundamental at 93? The man is quite impressive.
Although, I am not sure why Obama's speech had such an impact, he was merely mentioning the fact that Christians are only a part of the country's population...
Anyway, glad to see that even at such an age your father is willing to put his beliefs into question... |
Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2009 : 11:00:11 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Simon
Wooow... Changing your mind about something so fundamental at 93? The man is quite impressive.
Although, I am not sure why Obama's speech had such an impact, he was merely mentioning the fact that Christians are only a part of the country's population...
Anyway, glad to see that even at such an age your father is willing to put his beliefs into question...
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Well, he was primed for it. He lives with my sister's family, and most of them are unbelievers. Plus, he told me last night that his elder brother, who was an Arizona state senator and died around 1950, was secretly an atheist. I suppose Obama's words were just the nudge he needed, even though that wasn't the President's intention.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 02/13/2009 11:00:32 |
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Simon
SFN Regular
USA
1992 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2009 : 12:22:13 [Permalink]
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Well, good for him, I guess.
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Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 02/26/2009 : 01:56:06 [Permalink]
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I'll be going to see Michael Shermer do a talk in nearby Fremont on March 4.
Anyone have suggestions for what I might ask him, assuming I have the opportunity? (Other than about his Libertarianism, that is. I hope that doesn't even come up.)
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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The water cooler, part 3
