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I guess there could be an easy solution for that: primary ties and secondary ties are what count for residency or being at least 183 days in the country in a single year. Primary ties are things like houses and cars and so on, secondary ties driver's licences, bank accounts and smaller things, and generally one or two secondary ties alone won't do it. I don't know if they already do this but an easy thing to do would be to count health care usage as ties as well. Something small wouldn't count (you're visiting family for a week, stub your toe and go to the doctor) but something major would count as a primary tie for purposes of taxes. That would seem to be the common sense way to go about it at least.

Something has to be done. Politicians have been asleep at the wheel on this one. Canada can't be a handout zone for the world's itinerant. If strict residency rules are enforced much of the abuse can likely be curbed. And we can't have abuses like occur now with many women flying here, having their children in our hospitals to establish citizenship for them, and then flying home. Where is our pride?

Sorry, I may be off base with Reddit's opinion, but low blows and eye gouging is fucking lame. Yes, grab the bat, the knife what ever, but trying to blind someone and going for cheap shots/sucker punches just says you have no standards. Losing fucking sucks. But I rather lose fighting like a man than win with cheap tactics. **Edit:** -30 and still falling... I expected as much. All I'm saying is most people when they were little were taught not to take cheap shots (unless you were a girl). I thought I read a story here a few weeks ago when the Florida Gator football player gauged out the other person's eye and everyone was quick to condemn him. When you say eye gouge I think this: http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/a6e4r/barbaric_eyeball_gouger_jailed/ Especially when you talk about taking sharp objects to people faces.. So no, I think most people who have been in a fight would say it's not. I said using a knife/bat/whatever is something I would do, and I have been putting off getting a knife for a while. I would use it, especially if I were out numbered. But I would fight clean as long as the other person did. Maybe your code of ethics is different, but that's just me. Anyways... I'm surprised at how serious and personal people are taking this though, and I might as well go for broke when I say this.. but reddit is starting to suck now. "Fuck you", "Fucking chav" (the fuck is that?) etc. Is the reason I left Digg. I couldn't give two shits if you downmod me because you disagree, but what's with the personal attacks? Also... to OP: why put yourself in that situation?

I disagree. Anyone starting a fight with a stranger breaks any social contract. We don't know if they were just going to hit him with fists or kill the OP. You have every right to protect yourself in these circumstances. It is morally wrong to keep initiating aggressiveness/violence once an attacker has been subdued, but while they are still trying to fight you you need to do whatever you can to end the fight. If it were up to me, I would not like to see either of these fucks breed and I can only hope the OP screwed up the first guys reproductive system.

First, I'm sure that doesn't happen _every_ damn time. And second, you can't damn all smokers because some of the ones you've encountered are fucking prats. And hell, I don't even smoke anymore, I just hate people lumping all smokers into this gigantic, cancerous pile like they're not people too.

Sure, they are people too, but I don't think it is unfair to call all smokers "idiots". They are engaged in idiotic behavior. And pretty much every day that I get on the train there is some moron smoking on the platform and the smoke blows in my face and they get on the train and its in their clothes and stinks the whole place up. Maybe not every single time - occasionally I ride the train late at night and there's no one else on. But everyday commuting to work - yep.

Indestructible adamantium blades that shoot out through your skin are a little cooler than "knives".

Okay, knuckle blades, happy?

"It may be possible to organize a successful society along libertarian lines. I'm interested in someone actually trying the experiment (not where I live though)." How about the US up until the new deal?

Of course, it's important to remember the New Deal was the first inkling the public had that they were no longer free. The groundwork had been laid in 1913 with these events: * creation of the Federal Reserve * institution of the Federal income tax * [17th Amendment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution) Each of those events centralized power in Washington. The 17th Amendment eliminated the voice of state governments in Washington.

The database is queried every time you look at the main page or any comment thread anyways.

Depending on how Reddit's database is structured, sorting comments can be heavier or lighter on the database than sorting threads. If comments are saved per thread, finding all the comments of one user is heavy. If comments are saved per user, finding all the comments of one thread is heavy.

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That was awful, now urine for it.

My understanding is that the video in question is already highly suspect. Apparently, you have to *buy* a copy from the original owner to see it. It's not that I don't want to believe. I just wouldn't mind knowing for sure, without having to extend my feet over the crevasse known as doubt.

I feel the exact same way as you, but reading your comment it looked like you were expecting his link to have the video or something. So I was merely attempting to clarify.

Slaughterhouse-Five made me love other people more than ever before. I moved closer to the rest of humanity. Every country in the world suddenly seemed like a group of pathetic animals stuck up Mount Everest who for some reason wouldn't huddle together for warmth.

Just started it yesterday. Hopefully it picks up now that I'm through the rambling introduction about his book about Dresden and into the actual story. Also, as a PSA to everyone: go to your library and check out some of these books on CD and listen to them in your car. Makes your commute to work go much quicker.

He was cited with having an illegal couch. Seriously. A tenant had a couch on a side porch on a property he owned, and as one of those "pesky libertarians", a city of Keene employee found out about a minor infraction (the couch), on a property he owned but did not live on (the tenant), and called in the violation. Ian wrote a letter and forgave the person who used the violence of government maliciously. http://blogofbile.com/2008/11/18/ian-freeman-forgives-mikaela-engert-for-couch-incident/

Proper response: Yes, you are right, the city would have a vested interest in making sure that one unkempt property doesn't devalue all the surrounding properties. And since the law is on the books, it is only fair to enforce it on everyone. Besides, its only one old couch, not a big deal I'll drop by with some friends and take care of it later this week. I want to make a case of this so I have new material for my radio show response: what this guy did.

I want to be the first to predict this thing will only be used by enormously fat people.

It doesn't look as if it can fit fat people.

And every version of KDE looks like Windows.

It is kind of a turn off that Linux/BSD desktops tend to emulate Windows so much. I guess that is just what most developers are probably used to and perhaps even do it on purpose to attract more users, but still. If you're going to emulate something, why not something you actually LIKE (I presume most KDE developers don't like Windows).

Reading - thanks for the link! What would be the best argument, you think, against the Aristotlean city-as-promoter-of-virtue?

In this culture, that it's not the state's place to get involved in promoting any specific virtue in its people. The other problem is that in order for it to be truly just, one would need to have perfect mobility - New York could promote financial acumen, but if you didn't like that, you could move to Chicago, which would promote, say, conservative intellectual excellence (a la the University). Most people don't have that freedom, though. In reality, cities already do promote certain things, although it isn't explicit. In New York, for example, it's money as status.

This article is worthless without a photo.

You can find some pics [on her blog](http://www.jetsetblog.com/about.html).

Transvaluscent.

Scrumtrulescent.

kiss itunes and netflix TV buy buy with this pricing. 1 High Def movie is 4.7GB, so the rental just cost you an extra $4.70.

Time-Warner would rather sell you an on-demand pay-per-view movie than help you watch one through iTunes or Netflix. So maybe that's exactly the idea.

Which is really damn small. I know the capitals of a good many nations, but not every little poo-splat country across the globe. It's not simply Palin that wouldn't know that off the bat.

Yeah, excpt there's a lot of money in Qatar...

[Solaris, '72 Russian version](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069293/)

true wtf movie.

Weird. In IE7, the text in your post is really, really, really tiny. I can barely read it. Seems IE7 interprets the size of the text incorrectly.

Not surprising, IE7 interprets most things incorrectly.

Just in case you got him confused with any of the lesser, off-brand Prime Evils. Like Lucifer. Sure, he costs less, but there's never enough brimstone involved. And Beezelbub's wrath is always a little lame. Flies? Seriously, again? As for The Devil, well, nothing says generic malevolence like a cliché pitchfork & tail routine. ...Not helped by the fact that everyone seems to use them all interchangably, when they're really not at all alike. Seriously folks, sin with pride, worship the One True Evil and commit to The Satan; the rest are just pale knockoffs.

Don't forget [Adramelech](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adramelech). *"Adramelech is considered a demon in Judeo-Christian tradition. Adramelech became the President of the Senate of the demons. He is also the Chancellor of Hell and supervisor of Satan's wardrobe."* Come on, how can you hate a guy like that? In charge of demon Senate meetings (I guess they vote nowadays) WITH a fashion sense?

Fires.

Xerox and multiple storage locations. Keep a set at home for viewing, a set in a fireproof safe for keeping, a set with USPS being sent to a forwarding address that forwards it back to your address. You also make sure you have a similar set going through DHL, UPS, and FedEx. Also, you need a few sets of P.O. Boxes. Three in/around your local county, one in a random US state, and one in each Canadian province. Also, you can get a microfiche copy of your gallery surgically implanted in you and each of your family members' flesh.

maybe not her specifically, but of a similar caliber? don't speak for everyone, please.

By "caliber," of course, Do you refer to both the size of their gun barrels and the high quality of their characters?... Two meanings... caliber... it's a homonym... Forget it.

Scientifically illiterate drivel. http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2008/11/mountains_out_of_molehills.php 1. there was a simple transposition error in some data. It was spotted within a few hours and corrected. End of story - apart from the denila-o-sphere going hysterical. 2. "CO2 follows temps" - http://www.realclimate.org/wiki/index.php?title=CO2_doesn%27t_lead%2C_it_lags 3. only the scientifically illiterate continue to "question the whole thing" 4. what the fuck has Al Gore to do with decades of scientific research in to climate change? Answer: nothing. Lose your obsession - it makes you look *weird*. 5. "bulbs are blah blah blah" - bullshit

1. That is quite a response, that it is the scientific illiterate who continue to question things while those in-the-know just buy it without any questions. That's not how science used to work. It used to be all about questions. 2. True or not, when people who have a record of extreme positions oversee an "error" which, if not questioned (as you say should be the case), dramatically advance their argument, people (probably the scientifically illiterate) will begin to question that person's integrity.

That isn't even remotely related to the conversation. He was trying to continue it. You could have said "I am not fine with it, but I feel that the problem is her reaction because x"

Oh, so now you don't want to answer my question? Stop demurring!

The scene with the cheesewire in Audition or the pseudo "one take" sequence in Children of Men in which Julianne Moore is shot.

That scene in Children of Men, or the one toward the end with the tanks and the building that went on forever... one-shots add so much to intensity.

Indeed it did.

Indeed it did not!

then again...the catholic church has been burning witches, warlocks and heretics for how long? there are many early scholars among them who could have had a similar idea for all we know

Catholic church didnt start to get power to do that till 400 AD when they became the official sate religion. Their area of control was just europe. You seem to be forgetting that there was more to the world then just Europe. Also the world is a lot older then 400 AD, plus how come ancient great thinkers like Aristotle and Plato never suggested something like evolution ? To think a cave man could come up with the same idea as a millionaire like Darwin who took almost a life time to formulate it, is absurd. Also how would a caveman even now what a molecule looks like ? I dont know whats more absurd a dude erecting a gold calf and sacrificing children on it or a dude back than that tried to convince people that their ancenstors were monkeys and their even earlier ancestors were fish.

mercury.

I don't know, the closest thing you could say the T-1000 from Terminator 2 was made out of would be Mercury, and he certainly froze. Of course, building a survival kit based on Terminator 2 would be ludicrous. The machines always win.

Right, except people aren't prepared to get into the emotional shit of someone else and suicide threats to get attention every time they are having issues - thus always making their issues your issues. It's like if they demanded you help them move, like 3 times a week. Combine that with the fact that it's an internet forum on body building, not a suicide help forum, and that the person is a mere acquaintance, and the boy who cries wolf, and the number of fake videos and other stunts, etc etc

Nice way to justify. Doesn't change the fact that if one person had stepped up and actively tried to help the kid out he might be alive today.

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It doesn't matter; your friend is a jerk. I even prefer large ones because, though they may not look as good to other people, they're much more fun to work with.

Also, the Queen has nothing to do with it. The Canadian government chooses the Governor General who does not ask the Queen's advice but rather is constitutionally given the right to make the decision herself. Also the Queen has not had any power here since the 1930's if anyone's wondering.

Sort of. The Queen still appoints the GG based on the advice of the Prime Minister, but the government CAN remove the GG; it cannot remove the Queen.

Not really. The average person can't such much of a difference unless there's a side by side comparison. People with good eyes and tech geeks tend to be able to notice the difference more. Also, they're used to paying extra for incremental upgrades. The average consumer wants to see the kind of quality and feature jump we had from VHS to DVD in the DVD to Blu-Ray transition, and jump just isn't there.

I don't buy that the average person can't tell the difference. Now, I would agree that the average person may not *care* enough to buy a Blu-Ray player, but I think the difference in quality is pretty easy to spot. It's just that DVDs are sufficient for most people. Also, there were other benefits of the jump from VHS to DVD in addition to quality that aren't there in the DVD to Blu-Ray jump: * VHS tapes wear our, DVDs don't * You don't rewind a DVD * DVDs have chapters * Special features

Isn't this the plot of that movie "I love you man" ?

I love you too, but what movie?

As a person indoctrinated into religion from a very young age and through manipulation, fear, and intolerance, wasn't able to escape it's power over my ability to use rational thought and critical thinking until I was 19 years old, I feel relief that the Internet and places like reddit are uncensored and allow a person to express and share their free thoughts with others.

Nobody suggested censorship. I'm just saying that phrases like "an ancient past full of barbarians" and the frequent calls to treat Religious parents like child abusers aren't especially conducive to getting a dialogue going. This ultra-hostile environment puts off any serious semi-intelligent religious apologists, leaving us with borderline trolls like Iaminlovewithjesus to represent the majority of humanity. I just don't think this sort of echo chamber is conducive to forming a nuanced view of the world instead of the religion=Hitler attitude I tend to see here.

See, this is why Fox News can't get a broadcast license in Canada. I might also mention 1. War of 1812: Lit the White House on fire; American's commemorate this in their National Anthem 2. Vimy Ridge: First time Canadian Troops under Canadian command; advanced so fast troops were ordered to halt because supplies couldn't keep up. When asked how we took the untakeable position to quickly, Canadians respond with "No one told us it was impossible to do" 3. Passchedaele: Canadian troops inspire the original use of the term "Storm Troopers" 4. Dieppe: Canadian troops undertake practice invasion of the coast of France. Terrible loss of Canadian life. Lessons learned directly led to the successes at Normandy. 5. D-Day: Despite lessons learned from Dieppe, no beach head other than Juno - the Canadian Beach - was successful. American pilots actually bombed Canadian troops stating "no way are they that far inland; we're still stuck on the beaches!" I'd go on but I'm just too furious with this lack of respect for my country. I will only say that Canada is in Afghanistan cleaning up America's mess, operating in the most dangerous part of the entire country. Maybe the reason Fox can't remember Canadians are in Afghanistan is that THEY WERE DOING SO BADLY THERE THEY HAD TO START ANOTHER WAR WITH IRAQ TO DRAW PEOPLE'S ATTENTION AWAY?!? Fox News, I say to you with with deep sincerity: Go Fuck Yourself.

Well, I guess if you define any failed military operation as "practice," you can convince yourself your country is badass. I'm just messin' with ya.

A little while later along the path Rand came upon two men flogging a dead horse. "Foolish," he thought, to expend effort on something so seemingly without merit or purpose. "Could this be a game, or perhaps some kind of tournament?" he wondered. The men noticed him approach and exchanged a look that to Rand's eye could have been considered hostile, but he was in a strange land, and looks, as he knew, could be deceiving. He unconsciously felt the hilt of his sword, then realizing, drew his hand away so as not to appear a threat himself. It was likely of no matter, as the two men seemed very little interested in his presence one way or another. The men continued at their task for what seemed hours, though with the hypnotic, rhythmic pounding of the horse's cold, lifeless body, Rand realized he was in something of a trance, and it could very well have been mere minutes. No. No, it was at least an hour, based on the positions of the shadows cast by the trees on the well-trodden path which lay beneath the mens' feet. He had noticed when he first approached, a trick he had learned in his youth from Quol Loffair, the town's best huntsman. He did it almost without thought now, and as such, always had a fair understanding of how much time had elapsed whenever he had found need to stand or sit in the woods for long periods of time. The old huntsman Quol had been a quiet man, more often than not found fletching arrows at the table by his workshop window, cleaning their shafts while watching the children at play in the field in front of his sturdy home. He had built it himself to comfortably hold a large family, but that had never happened. His wife had died back when Rand was still in swaddling, but Quol had always thought she and Rand would have gotten along well. She had had lovely hair, the color of sunlight on the tall wheat grass that grew up around his house in the autumn. Though Quol couldn't afford for her fine linens, and certainly not silks, she had had a knack for discovering bargains, and as such took what little allowance Quol had given her from his sales of meat and fur and turned them into stately, almost regal attire. Rand had learned from a painting he had seen above Loffair's mantle that she had at least one ornate outfit. Quol had allowed with a smile that she had made it from a man's doublet, spending long hours sewing an elaborate brocade with yarns she had dyed herself with vegetable extracts from their garden. Rand couldn't help but admire the woman that had looked back at him from the painting. A great cook, Pelinore Loffair - "Pel" as Quol had always affectionately called her - had often entertained guests at their house, especially during harvest times, and during weeks when festivals were held. In particular she made the best stew Rand's father had ever had. Rand wished he could have tried that stew that his father had compared every stew he had eaten since to, always with a longing sigh in his voice, but with her untimely death - a cart accident that Quol had ever since blamed himself for, until his death - a peaceful death in the bed he had made for his wife - a decade later - went all knowledge of how that magnificent stew had been made. Rand's father had tried for years to replicate it, adding a bit more of this, simmering one thing or another a bit longer, but it was hopeless. Perhaps she had known some sort of magic. *WHUMP*, came the sound as Rand's club fell upon the dead horse. He was snapped out of the daydream by the realization that he had somehow become third party taking aim over the increasingly crushed remains of what had one been a beautiful Caemlynian pacer, bred for royalty with a rich, all-black coat, and a signature white forelock falling between its eyes, now growing more and more crimson with the splatter that announced every blow. Rand's shoes had already begun to grow moist with it. The mare had nowhere near the strength and stockiness of a Two Rivers draught horse, but then, it wasn't bred to cart large wagonloads of wine barrels, or boxes of stout, Two Rivers wool stacked to the height of two full grown men. It was a royal horse, sleek, and streamlined, as noble in appearance as those who would sit upon it. Rand thought back to his youth, and remembered a picture Nynaeve had drawn of this very breed. When he asked her about it, she tugged once on her braid and ran away, her face as red as the ground now surrounding this horse. Rand had guessed she had caught a glimpse of some passing royalty once and had wanted ever since to be of royal blood herself. Rand knew the breed from a local tournament his father had once taken him to as a young boy. It had been his favorite, and certainly the most beautiful by far of any horse entered in the day's events. *WHUMP*. Why did he now find himself destroying such a beautiful creature. Had he been drawn in by the same thing that had drawn these men? *WHUMP*. Rand realized he was holding an axe haft, covered in blood and a bit of the horse's guts. He raised it over his head. Why shouldn't he? That's what you do before you strike. But why was he delivering blow after blow into the guts of this once awe-inspiring beast? Was it evil somehow? Were they doing the people of this land a service by ensuring it would never rise again? *WHUMP*. He delivered another blow. A bit of spleen landed with a *thwack* on his left cheek and stuck there. Rand didn't mind. *WHUMP*. The man to his right had landed his next blow. Who were these men? Would they be important in his life? Rand decided he should figure out how much more time had passed, but couldn't muster the will to notice the shadows again. Was it dark? It was dark. Rand realized with a fading dismay that he had beaten this dead horse well into the night. Light, but the wooden handle had grown heavy in his hand. He swung again. He was covered to well above his waste in spattered remains now. In a fleeting moment of clarity it occurred to him what he had been trying to recall for hours. He could simply use the One Power! Why had he not realized? He could channel saidin and pummel this horse with countless invisible blows of a force tremendously greater than he and his companions could call forth. He could scatter the horse's bits into a fine mist and blanket the land with them. Is that what he wanted? Is that what they were trying to accomplish? He didn't know. *WHUMP*.

Needs more braid-tugging but otherwise excellent.

Holy shit! That's how it ends? WTF?

**WTF!?**

I read somewhere that those "ma" and "pa" sounds are one of the easiest sounds you can make with your mouth. No weird position for your tongue and stuff. So that is why babies say make those sounds very early on.

What I don't understand is why "mama" is always the female, and "papa" the male. Why is it not reversed in some languages by sheer chance?

You forgot 'Paradise by the dashboard light'. Cute the first time you hear it, but the words 'let me sleep on it' are carved in my brains forever.

Meatloaf is the man.

I'm so tired of the *water out the nose/ruined my keyboard/you owe me a coffee* comment.

sorry you feel that way. doesn't undo what happened, nor make the comment any less funny, so thanks for going out of your way to try and belittle me.

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If you look at a cell as a chaotic system, then a small initial change in state could have large consequences. In practice, small changes are usually dampened out in chaotic systems, but the potential for resonance building up to a larger effect seems, in theory, possible.

bad url, use this: http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1791002

Thanks.

I fucking hate this. You know what's even worse? When I'm...evaluating...a game and it comes in multiple 100mb .rar files (I use rapidshare). I extract those, and hundreds of these little .r00, .r01 fuckers come out and I have to extract them too, before finally getting the .iso file.

Yea that shit's annoying.

Wow, I'm glad those images didn't load at work.

admit it you expect some kind of pron images there :P

Whoa, a new webcomic that doesn't suck!

... but that doesn't have an RSS feed. Le sigh!

I can't wait until the fucking boomers die.

You realise that: * The Boomers have many years left in which they can hold onto power - they'll be the largest voting block of seniors * Some of the children of Boomers are following in their footsteps * If you wait decades before acting, you may not be capable of doing so

Xondar, I completely disagree. The only countries that use the British parliamentary system (what you call the "Westminster" system) are the UK, Canada, and New Zealand. All other democracies use vastly different systems of parliamentary democracy, including former British colonies India and Australia. In countries like France, Germany, Japan and so on, you CANNOT govern with a minority. You must prove to the head of state (or whoever) that you have the support of a majority of parliament BEFORE you are appointed prime minister. This is the fundamental difference between a minority government and a coalition government. In Harper's case, it would mean he would have had to appoint members of other parties (or one other party) to his cabinet. The result would have been a very different kind of government. I sympathize with your desire to blame Harper, but I think what this article (letter?) is trying to do is to present an alternative that would prevent future PMs from making Harper's mistake.

What I call the "Westminster system?" It's the proper name for the system of government and it's what everyone calls the "British parliamentary system." You also left just a few nation out on your [list of nations that use the Westminster system](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_System_of_Democracy#Current_Countries_and_Territories).

I was joking, because people always ask for that, and I was harking to that routine. I know all the traditional arguments (coursework in philosophy/evolutionary psychology/CS at Cornell and all that), but thank you for talking down to me. And, of course, I got downvoted. You skeptics are just a little too full of yourselves. I've experienced some things that I can't explain and I really am getting tired of self-important assholes telling me that one of the following must be true: 1) I was just mistaken 2) I was lying 3) I simply didn't have enough information to explain it via knowns 4) I was stupid. What is missing here is one more possibility, (5) maybe it's a real fucking mystery and you should keep your fucking mind open and listen to people. This angers me in the same way that it angered me when one of my teachers, walking by me during a test, slapped me in the back of the head at 13 because right between my legs on the wooden chair was written "FUCK MAHER" (which I did NOT write, I didn't even verbally curse at that point... 4 years of US military will fix that for you) and when I protested loudly, Mrs. Maher said that "this was the only class she taught in this room so it had to be me". I don't care that the only "plausible" explanation is that it was me... because damn it, it fucking wasn't, so perhaps it's a real fucking mystery and you shouldn't jump to conclusions. For the last time. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. I'm not talking God here, I'm talking any fucking thing. While I'm ranting, I'm also really fucking tired of the fact that if I am not 100% on the fucking atheist boat (nearly a religion on its own at this point, based on the consistent downvoting I get), that I must be a Bible-thumping moral-pushing theocrat, and I get a knee-jerk fucking reply. Fuck that too, I am almost with you guys, the difference is that I allow for some simple unexplainedness, which most of you do not. Fuck me for actually carrying my own unique opinion and take on the world. Just because the "traditional concept of God" may not be the case (and I agree that it can't be, His Noodly Appendage would suffice as a similar explanation for things in 99% of cases), doesn't mean there isn't any mystery. If you don't think the world has any mystery left, AND you think that you can explain everything only using what we understand now, I have 5000 years of history that says otherwise.

Who said anything about being able to explain everything with what we know now? The whole point of science is that just because we can't explain something right now, we don't have to attribute it to some magic happenstance. You made a quip about the big bang being the only effect without a cause, implying the cause was supernatural. Its that kind of thinking that *prevents* us from understanding more things, since you shortcut the entire learning process by invoking the supernatural. The best part of your response is that you are chiding me about thinking we know everything, and citing 5000 years of history to show we don't. This directly cuts into your 'show me god didn't do it' argument. Since pretty much all the things we as a species have ascribed to supernatural entities in the past have been shown to be normal, natural process as science progresses. I offer you one more challenge before I leave this reply. Show me proof that he, she or it does exist. EDIT: Way to edit your post without clearly showing you edited your post. Its over twice as long as what I originally responded to. Cheater.

Though it could be infinitely [better](http://www.zombo.com/).

[Ahem](http://www.dokimos.org/ajff/)

You're basing this off of one mistaken ESPN report. You're a dumbass.

No. I am basing this off of hanging out with him on a couple occasions. I swear he is bi-polar.

Normally I frown on Reddit circle-jerking, but I can't help but drop my pants at charity + photography + Patrick Steward nod.

Why frown upon circle-jerking? If it's interesting then it belong on Reddit. Since we're a community, we're bound to make our own news at some point or another. And you're looking at it all wrong. I'm waiting for 2 redditors to meet each other, fall in love and get married so we can all go to their wedding and eat for free. Life's all about free cake, son.

I think our treatment of the mentally challenged and unstable will be an embarassment to future generations.

That isn't an example of something we don't consider bigotry yet: Many people think that we're treating them poorly, *and* our treatment has changed immensely even over the past half-century. (Whether it has necessarily *improved* is debatable, which is my point.)

yeah, I'm tempted to agree "Never attribute to malice which can be explained by incompetence" Although I will go out of my way to buy a shitty coffee and donut if they come out with a strong statement to the lines of "We support all families, Gay, straight... "

They just did on their website, when they subsequently declined this event. They didn't say gay or straight, but it was implied in the way they said "we support all families". Have a little faith in Timmys, eh? http://www.timhortons.com/us/en/about/2759.html (disclosure: like a classic Toronto snot, I actually prefer Second Cup)

Look's like we've got a bunch of DE DE DEES

Looks like we got a retard who likes the same recycled jokes about racial stereotypes. Carlos mencia is so stupid he can't even make racial jokes funny. How is that even hard?

Does not weigh more than a Mini Cooper, it weighs more than a mini car. The pumpkins is 1457lbs, a Mini Cooper is about 1000lbs more.

I think that meant the old mini

I want something with a good capacity (120GB or more) where files can be transferred as if it's any other portable hard drive and then played. Bells and whistles like wifi, touchscreens, cameras, and big screens to watch video aren't important as long as the user interface isn't entirely ass-backwards. Durability is also a huge plus. Finally, I don't want it to be unbearably proprietary: that means no separate application on your computer in order to do anything, no proprietary cables, and hopefully a removable battery. I just want to store and play my music collection without too much hassle. Any suggestions?

I think this meets most of your requirements: the [Archos 5](http://www.amazon.com/Archos-120-Internet-Media-Tablet/dp/B001D0E4CQ). I just bought the 60gb version and I'm in love. Will play pretty much anything out of the box, although you might have to splurge on a plugin to enable the more obscure formats. You can use it just like a portable hard drive to transfer media to it, but it does have a proprietary cable and a nonremovable battery. Hope that helps!

When I recognize a spoken word that I've read, but have always pronounced differently in my head, I feel briefly stupid and wonder how many times I've blurted it out without knowing what I sounded like. The worst was when I was first hired as a junior sysadmin in the NOC for a major telco. I'd immersed myself in Unix for several years in my late teens, and knew my way around it pretty well. What I didn't know, and had never given a second thought to, was how to pronounce "Unix words". I'd never thought about how to pronounce "/etc". It was just some vague mumble in my brain roughly like "etts". As I sat there on my first day listening to other people talk, I realized that I had virtually everything wrong. Vi isn't "vye", it's "vee aye". If they pronounce "/etc" like "et see", how do they say "/usr"? /opt? /var? I knew I'd sound like a blithering retard as soon as I opened my mouth; my ears opened up about a mile wide, grasping desperately for Unix sound bites that would save me. I never did slip up and say anything that made me look stupid (as far as pronunciation goes at least), and I doubt anyone would've cared anyway, but the dawning "oh shit" realization I had on that first day is a fond memory of mine.

Speaking of pronunciation, your handle gives me the creeps...

Twat's a vajajay?

peehole that ask dumb questions deserve to be boxed in the ears.

Digital penetration = digits (fingers n' toes) in orifices

Toes, you say?

I want a Ron Paul one and a Bush one, and have them facing off.

[This](http://wonkette.com/assets/resources/2007/05/bushit.jpg) is still my favorite Bush/Shit image.

Property owners should just give away their currently unoccupied houses to homeless people? Why? Do you work for a living? If so, do you think the homeless guy you see on the way home deserves the money you just worked for? Fuck him. Let him earn his own.

A lot of them can't. Start with Reagan di-institutionalizing the mentally ill in the 80s, and go from there. While there may be homeless people who "choose" that lifestyle, a lot of them can't do anything else. Try getting a job if you're schizophrenic, and don't already have a home address. I think that it comes down to whether you believe that society has an obligation to provide for those who might not be as capable.

[Citation needed]

Not off the top of my head, sorry! I did some quick Googling; if you're interested, it looks like digging up primary sources should be pretty easy. I'm not going to take the time while I'm at work, but I'll try and remember to edit this post tonight.

[Insert Iraqi City] is easily far worse than [insert American city here] and [Insert Chinese city here].

Let's not even talk about [Insert Canadian City here], all i have to say is poutine. edit: mmmmm, now i want some, too bad it's a gut-bomb, i woke up once at 5 am, after binging on some beer then some poutine. Explosive doesn't begin to describe the BM from poutine.

I don't understand why race should get in the way of perfect casting.

define perfect.

The judges decision was not based on the school's authority to punish students for misbehaving outside of school. It was based on the schools authority to punish students for verbal bullying / harassment.

The decision was based on the school's authority to punish students for speech that didn't cause a substantial disruption of the school's activities. If the bullying / harassment were happening on campus it would be fairly easy to make a case that it was disrupting the school's activities, so the school would still have the authority to punish students for verbal bullying / harassment. But since cyber-bullying is something that generally happens off campus, it's harder to argue that it was disrupting the school's activities. The school's job is to educate kids. If a student's speech is disruptive, the school has the authority to discipline the student for that speech. In this case the school disciplined a student for speech it didn't approve of, without showing that the speech was disruptive.

Anecdotally, I'd say yes, but that's only based on my personal experience.

How is that? Did you wear a bra for one breast and left the other one out as control? How did you compensate for that a woman's breast usually have slightly different size to start with? Or did you and your friends, many years ago decide to make a study and randomly decided whom of you to wear a bra and who not to? Sorry for the rant. I just can't understand how you can conclude anything from personal experience in a case like this?

My moms not a phone!

At least she would call you on your birthday.

Every single one of those arrests has resulted in a swift punishment from the University and Coaches, though not this severe. As for "mental cases in the NFL" both vince and ricky have been diagnosed with anxiety and depression of some variety. So thats cool, insulting people for diseases they have is entirely acceptable. Cedric just drinks a lot I guess.

Really? Houston was playing the next game after his DWI, as I recall. Same for C Benson after his breaking and entering arrest.

They said they were driving the Prius at top speed, and the BMW at the Prius's top speed as well. I'm not particularly surprised; as other commenters have pointed out, the Prius fares much better in stop-and-go driving where it can use regenerative braking.

"top speed" means as fast as it could go around the track without losing control. They didn't say what the speed is, but they certainly were not going to be able to top out a Prius on a turn.

You might want to put a SPOILER WARNING in there. You're giving away a HUGE part of the movie.

If someone is going to read a discussion about a movie they haven't seen on the Internet, they deserve to have it spoiled. They can take this movie being spoiled as a lesson.

That might be a bit of a mouthful. I'll see what I can manage.

ohh OriginalClone, you blowhard!

No. The blog is written by an american about americans. Your inability to put it into context is your own shortcoming. Your idea that he has some stance that "North American culture is superior and should be preached by everyone" is completely without basis. If I read a blog whose author was from France, I would expect his insights on life to be in some sense a product of his culture, and I would read it knowing that. It's called context, and an intelligent person knows to take it into consideration while parsing information. This is not singularly american phenomenon. I know it's become fashionable on the internet (and particularly on reddit) to cry foul anytime someone makes a comment that only pertains to American culture, but it gets tiresome. Most people speak from the context of their own culture. It's what they know. You can't expect people to constantly check all of their verbiage for pedantic political correctness just so that your feelings don't get hurt. The internet has a lot of american influence, but it's largely because the internet has a rather disproportionately high representation of americans on it, and because the internet was invented and cultivated in the US. Coming back to the bottom line: The blog is a fucking joke. Laugh, or don't laugh and move on.

The blog was created by a CANADIAN IN AMERICA. Now of course the differences aren't so vast looking at the close proximity of the U.S to Canada and how easily American culture (or rather "western" culture) is imported there in lightspeed, however the lifestyle and political sitaution are different on different levels. Of course as you pointed out, that its all a matter of interpretation. However I can't help but point to the comments in his blog and the blogger replies to some, thus my interpretation is with basis. Secondly as I have said before, I cannot help but point out that the creator of the blog assumes that generally all young westernized "white" people follow a similar trend of lifestyle and beliefs no matter the location. The author does not say that this specifcally is more about North Americans then anything else or maybe he has said it somewhere and I probably missed it. If anything, he should change the title for trendy likes of North Americans not whites; as the message implied by the blog creator is that North Americans are "whites" while others are something else. The blog creator is not ignorant about his title of his blog, he knows all the facts, thus he could have changed the title to North Americans. But no, he is instead generalizing purposely when he knows that the term "whites" is way out of context referring to the material in his blog. Third, your completely wrong on the representation of Americans on the internet, Asia has a bigger internet population then America, and Americans are soon going to be displaced in the near future by their European counterparts and other developing nations. Again your generalizing about the internet when you say the internet has a lot of American influence which isn't simply true; the evidence that you derive that statement from is, reddit or digg or other popular sites which are, yes, mostly representated by Americans and small populations of European internet users and perhaps some Asian users but deos not represent the internet as a whole. This representation in reddit makes sense since reddit is based in North America thus I am expecting more American influences. But to say that reddit or such havens of the internet community is mostly by whole, a representation of the entire internet, is very ignorant. Countries such as South Korea or the state of Hong kong has more internet availability then the U.S with higher speeds, they also have an entire culture based around the internet and technology much more advanced and sophisticated then the U.S could ever dream of. It be wrong to blatantly ignore the other side, don't you think? Also my feelings are not at all hurt by the blog creators American-centrism.

On a very theoretical level, its premises are wrong. Marxism relies on an objective theory of value. So, for example, bread has an actual value but it's sold on the market for a different price. Seems reasonable, right? Diamonds shouldn't be more expensive than bread, right? Wrong. On a practical level, this plays out in all kindsa ways. I'm not really a Mises/Austrian fanboy, but I think they had it right when they said "economic calculation" is impossible in a socialist commonwealth. Okay, so if all goods, projects, services have an objective value... what is it? Calculate it. You're going to need to in order to manage the economy, the infrastructure, etc... Well, in short, they couldn't. A socialist commonwealth would, for example, build a bridge that wasn't needed... because they overvalued the bridge. They'd say, "we can't get funding for this in a market system, but it's truly valuable and we need it... so let's build it." And, guess what. After many of these types of expenditures, the state would go bankrupt. Commonwealths then started to keep a little piece of their economy as a black market. See China and Taiwan. That tiny market would give them proper pricing information... but it seems like once you get to that point, you've admitted Marxist theory / labor theory of value is wrong. So why even try. So, to sum up, there is no such thing as objective value (value changes and relies on supply and demand of human beings). And, two, since there is no objective value, we'll go bankrupt trying to finance growth unless we allow market forces to determine prices. I think I've answered your question, but just as an addendum, think about how prevalent this misconception is. Have you ever heard someone say, "teachers should be paid more than basketball players"? Or, "x should be more expensive than y". You have to turn to that person and say, "Really? Where'd you get that idea?"

Interestingly, if you read Marx and Engels neither have their own theory of value - they just use the work of Adam Smith, father of capitalism. One of the main issues with Smithite and therefore Marxist economic theory today is that there isn't a simple linear relationship between the amount of work required to produce something and its value. Where you're way off the mark is in your assumption that a socialist society can't have any sort of market. Cuba is a good example of a socialist country that has a strong internal market, ironically probably helped by the US embargo.

What is this crap?

This story makes my bowels boil

Ralph Bakshi? Thanks, but no thanks.

I know where you're coming from, but in terms of scope and intent Bakshi is an original and I'm glad he made movies. His collaborative work with artists and willingness to experiment did nothing but contribute to the world of fantasy and sci-fi. Frankly, if you can't appreciate him on any level, you've just got a bad attitude and boring expectations. Learn to see the good in these things.

'Ello, 'ello, 'ello. What's all this then?

Case and point.

i broke up with a "girlfriend" because she found out i had a girlfriend

"I don't have a girlfriend. But I do know a woman who'd be mad at me for saying that" ~Mitch

In what way does that make the site any better? That just selfishly makes your own little experience less annoying, while every other new user that comes to this site sees a giant shitpile. It only hides the fact that this site has gone to shit over the past two years. If this is the only option that can be suggested, the site will fail.

Absolutely, but that can't be prevented anyway. Read [A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy](http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html) by Clay Shirky. I highly recommend that essay to anyone who's wondering why Reddit is heading where it's heading.

Fair enough: http://www.lewrockwell.com/armentano-p/armentano-p11.htm http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-05/ats-sfn051706.php I used to smoke a whole pack a day (Gauloises rock BTW), it's a rare and special occasion when you get to smoke 20 joints on a single day. Also, empirically my lung capacity felt greater after quitting tobacco, and was unnafected by joints.

OK, point taken re: cancer, but what about the various other negative health effects apart from cancer? i.e. emphysema, etc.

$600 for the newest Mac Mini: http://www.apple.com/macmini/ and $200 for an inexpensive monitor, keyboard and mouse. Firewire target disk everything from the old Mac and you're all set.

I'm sorry, I thought you were talking about a computer, not an underpowered undersized toylike gimmick. Real computers from Apple follow below. iMac starts at [$1,200](http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=D35CFE9D&node=home/desktop/imac). Specs are "2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1GB memory, 250GB hard drive, 8x double-layer SuperDrive, ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB memory". Mac Pro starts at [$2,500](http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=80177546&node=home/desktop/mac_pro). Specs are "Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon “Woodcrest” processors, 1GB memory, NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics with 256MB memory, 250GB hard drive, 16x double-layer SuperDrive". This is your brain. This is your brain on Apple. Any questions?

I noticed you couldn't find one.

I can honestly say that my girlfriend laughed at it. That said, she is a bit of a tomboy.

Pssh. This shit looks bangin, What are *you* talkin about?

I <3 U Hivemind

This is the most retarded thing I have ever heard of (ok maybe not, but this is very stupid). I truly do hope that this does not continue. The worst thing that could ever happen would be for Congress to start running these businesses. Citigroup didn't buy the naming rights to a stadium just for shits and giggles. It is a business decision in order to get their name recognized by the public in a positive manner. It's called advertising, and it is necessary for a business to function and prosper. The last thing we need right now is Congress running these failing businesses. If you thought they were losing money before, then just wait until Congress starts calling the shots. It will get even worse.

Do you think that, perhaps, these companies made some huge mistakes to end up needing such massive bailouts, and that they need to change their ways?

Not under rated or forgotten. Don't just add popular "underground" movies for karma.

Yeah, what a karma whore, he listed a movie that, in your opinion, doesn't fit the premise. We should all berate him. Wait, not him, you.

It's not even a funny comic. Just another cheap jab to stir up the religion versus atheism debate in an attempt to make it to the front page. Buried...

I thought it was pretty damn funny. And there's never been a religious versus atheist debate. Religion lacks any solid ground and so its supporters cannot debate in any rational manner. "BUT THE BOOK SAYS..." *rolls eyes*

This comic is a parody of ["Cronus Devouring His Children"](http://homepages.wmich.edu/~johnsorh/Myth/images/cronus.gif) by Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) *The More You Know!*

Scrolling down the page very slightly is for losers.

Upmod for upmod for correct use of 'an.' (fixed your fixed punctuation, though...)

Touché, Shadowrose, touché ;-)

I agree with you and would only like to add that both Islam and Christianity are Abrahamic religions (there is a great wiki article about these). But essentially Judaism, Christianity and Islam have the same roots, therefore Christians and Muslims are killing each other in the name of the same imaginary friend.

Do read the New Testament and the Koran. They're _not_ the same imaginary friend. One of them is mostly about love, and the other...well, you can guess. _Edit in response to the down votes:_ Sure, this is somewhat of a simplification but the essence of my comment is true -- that there is a huge difference between Christianity and Islam, and consequently between their views on God. To illustrate this difference, let's look at how the two central figures, Jesus and Mohammed, are portrayed. Jesus walks around healing people and making speeches. He prevents a stoning, defends the outcasts in society, chases the peddlers out of the temple and is eventually crucified. Mohammed on the other hand spends his time waging war, raiding other peoples, owning slaves, takes a great number of wives, _orders_ a stoning, marries a 6-year old and has sex with her when she's nine (his favorite wife, Aisha), beheads a huge number of people, and so on. And Mohammed's is an example of perfect conduct, to be emulated by all Muslims, for all time (as he is the last prophet). This is just to illustrate how different the religion of Christianity is from the religion/ideology/system of law of Islam.

Hey everyone, I'm from the SCP community, and we would just like to thank you all for the kind words. We always welcome new members. Stop by if you would like to join!

You've caused me to waste what will be countless would-be work hours reading and writing. I hope you're proud knowing my employer will be slightly less ridiculously richer now.

Ok, I'll probably get downmodded for this but honestly, I kinda can't stand this song. The fucked up part is that I can tell it is a good song. The problem is that I've been exposed to it through commercials, ballparks, all that shit and I now it's gotten to the point that although I recognize it is a good song, I have no desire to listen to it. I'm not one of those people that LOVES the Beatles, but I do think they are one of the greatest bands of all time and have some great music. The point of my comment was just to show how blatant commercialism and all that has ruined some classics for me. I guess I will never understand how great this song really is.

I know what you're talking about and I've felt the same way about a lot of songs that have been too commercialized. What I've noticed is that if you watch the music video or live video after a few times you begin to associate the music to the band or the musical imagery again instead of whatever they were used in before that.

You're claiming that people die from starvation in the US on a regular basis. That's a lofty claim to make. All I'm asking is that you back it up with facts and statistics quantifying the starvation deaths. If it is as common as you say, that shouldn't be difficult to do. What does "below the poverty line" mean? Does one meet that threshold on the basis of household income? Net wealth? The number of cows or goats one tends? What does being "below the poverty line" really mean? Does it mean that if you are below that line you will die of starvation? Does it mean you can't afford the Foot Long and have to settle for the Six Inch? Does it mean you can only afford powdered milk? What is food insecurity? Same deal. These are generally terms coined by bureaucrats to categorize people based on some line of criteria. Do people who fall into these categories die because of their status in them? If so, how many? I modded you down, because you're making a major assertion without any citation. I can't agree or disagree with you until you have demonstrated proof to back up your statement.

Ok, fine. The "to death" phrase that I appended to my statement was over-the-top. However, that doesn't change my overall point. We already let people starve every day. I wouldn't depend on the US government being able to prevent mass starvation. If all you're arguing about is two words I stuck in without much thought, then hopefully we can agree now. EDIT: You're still focusing on my "to death" phrase. I retract that, but my overall point still stands. "In 2007, in the United States of America, the poverty threshold for a single person under 65 was US$10,787; the threshold for a family group of four, including two children, was US$21,027" I don't care how thrifty you are, $21,027 to feed a family of four is almost impossible to live on these days. Note that this is simply a threshold, which means that many people are even poorer than this. Also note that this applies to an astounding 12.5% of the people in the US.

(not that my outrage will stop me from getting it, if it performs as advertised) :*

And knowing Nintendo, they'll most likely bundle this with a game to show off it's full potential (Wii Sports 2 perhaps?)

Thats bullshit. The Spy needs an update bad. They should atleast fix his backstab or something, Jesus.

As a member in good standing of the Spy and Sniper Haters Association, I must disagree. Here's some alternatives: * Engie: can build a sentry with 1/2 damage and/or 1/2 health that shocks the shit out of any spy who tries to sap it (spy also graphically vomits and shits his pants). * Scout: secondary weapon like a spy detector that partially decloaks a spy within a short range. * Soldier: rocket launcher with 1/2 damage at close range and 2x splash damage at long range.

yep, i finally had to give up on firefox it and switch to chrome

First Chrome, then Opera. Chrome was too buggy. Couldn't open pdf files without freezing. Problem with Opera is terribly coded websites like Facebook.

I made the point once, and am now responding to people who are arguing against what I'm saying. That isn't really being a troll.

The new definition of troll is "someone who disagrees with me."

What are American cookies?

Tollhouse chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies, neither of which you can find here. I have to import the chips but we do have chunky peanut butter.

I'm from Australia and it has occurred to me recently that people really love to hate the yankees. So who should I "root" for? I wouldn't mind the Mets but if I do I expect all the doormen in New York city to begin questioning my motives.

Don't become a bandwagon fan. The most fashionable teams to root for these days are the Red Sox, Yankees, and Anti-Yankees. I think the three hottest, youngest, most fun to watch teams right now are the Tampa Bay Rays, Florida Marlins, and the Cincinnati Reds. So I would pick one of those three and not become what the Anti-Yankee fan like most people commenting on this story are. At the end of the day, if you lose 2-1 or 30-5 it still counts the same and a real baseball fan would tell you that.

To nitpick, it's "doubly so" which has a couple extra chuckles in it, IMO.

I edited it just for you.

You're kidding! They didn't scan first class passengers? Didn't Atta fly first class? Is this just to protect the rich people from the people in the back of the bus?

One line for first class, usual metal detector and X ray, and another line for everyone else. The one upside was you didn't need to empty your pockets, and could have all the metal you wanted on it. Also in the article here the woman has her arms at some strange in-front-of-her position, but in real life it was a "don't shoot" above you, with a sign encouraging you to be symmetrical.

And we empathize. Now get off of our collective lawns.

I already called the cops...