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Welcome! 03/05/2016
Welcome, everyone, to the new 910CMX Community Forums. I'm still working on getting them running, so things may change. If you're a 910 Comic creator and need your forum recreated, let me know and I'll get on it right away. I'll do my best to make this new place as fun as the last one!
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CritterKeeper
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Posts posted by CritterKeeper
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On 9/7/2019 at 7:25 AM, Darth Fluffy said:Dare I ask what the connection is between owning a ferret and needing to wash out your keyboard?
They are notorious for tipping over glasses of water, and other beverages, usually into the most inconvenient place possible. Like into the keyboard.
My late cat, Sir Patrick the Fuzzy-Mouse Slayer, used to come up to a full glass of water and carefully inspect it. He'd check it out from multiple angles, including where it was sitting. He'd look inside to make sure it was full. He'd push it with his front paw to test how heavy it was.
And then he'd look directly at me before calmly hooking his paw over the edge of the glass and deliberately pulling it over. I think he liked to see the water go sploosh, and my reaction was just bonus entertainment value.
On 9/25/2019 at 7:57 AM, Darth Fluffy said:For sure, living through it cuts deeper than reading about it in generations past. I know where I was when I heard about 9/11. I know where I was when I heard about the Kennedy assassination.
I remember exactly where I was when I heard the Challenger had exploded. I remember 9/11 too, but somehow it didn't have quite the same impact, other that worrying whether my aunt who lives in Manhattan was okay. (She was.)
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Yes, but there's also a note at the start, "Note, I didn’t write this; but it’s been floating around the internet for a few years now, and every time I read it, it makes me smile (especially since my wife is Canadian!)."
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A little late to the party, but I also add my voice congratulating you on coming to a new understanding of yourself, and I hope that you can find new peace and comfort as well as safety and support.
I hope you will find this positive and not offensive....there was someone in my area who ran a prop shop who turned it into a BDSM space on weekend evenings, and they at some times presented at "Tina", with the place being known as "Tina's Place." But, a good chunk of the rest of the time, they presented as male (can't even recall his legal name offhand). He had very masculine features and usually had a five o'clock shadow, if not more....and so did Tina. They were willing to dress up anyway, at least in safe spaces, in wonderful frilly dresses and bows and sparkles. I don't know if they just accepted the masculine features and didn't care, or had given up trying to look more female and come to terms with it. Either way, within the "family" that gathered there, in the safe space that I knew Tina at, everyone was accepting and loved Tina for who he or she was, whichever the case might be at the time. They also had a wonderful, charming wife, as far into middle age as Tina was, which given that this was late 90s was probably a big reason for presenting as male to the outside world....
Older trans women always make me think fondly of Tina. May you find joyful ways to express yourself and enjoy your new self-knowledge, and may those who love you continue to do so. *hugs*
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On 8/18/2019 at 7:27 PM, hkmaly said:when you say Putt-Putt, are you talking about the computer game or minigolf?
There was a miniature golf place we went to when I was growing up called Putt-Putt. Yes, it han the windmills and such.
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4 hours ago, The Old Hack said:It came across as pressure to "stop being so mean and forgive her already." And it contained a strawman -- implying that I had somehow desired Diane to be punished directly for her actions -- with argumentam ad absurdum, punishments so extreme as to be ridiculous. I reject both. They are beneath contempt.
I'm sorry you felt pressured or targeted, that was not my intent. I was engaging in a theoretical discussion, using hyperbole to illustrate a point. Social ostracism has been shown, time and again, to be one of the worst punishments a person can face. Hence why "shunning" was so feared, and so effective a deterrent. The person I quoted (who was not you) had brought up the point of what our goal should be regarding those who commit social offenses, and I was agreeing with them. You had not addressed their point in that matter, so I wasn't seeing myself as replying to you, only to them and the overall discussion.
On 8/19/2019 at 0:03 AM, Scotty said:I'm talking about not continuing to punish someone who already knows that what they did was wrong and is trying to be better, what's the point of even trying if no one's going to give you a chance
That's the point I was replying to. Not your post, or I would have quoted you instead of them.
Trying to resist the temptation to quote Magneto....that might be seen as rude....
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4 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:You set your lake on fire once, and nobody lets you live it down ...
Once? Hah! Amateurs....Chicago set its river on fire multiple times!
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19 hours ago, Scotty said:People do stupid things, high school is especially full of kids doing stupid things, if you make it to graduation having realized that the things you did were stupid and make an effort to not carry those things into adulthood.... I know this sounds like a "kids will be kids" excuse, but it's really not cus that idea implies we should let them keep doing stupid things and I'm talking about not continuing to punish someone who already knows that what they did was wrong and is trying to be better, what's the point of even trying if no one's going to give you a chance, and for Diane, if Justin had just blown her off, it probably wouldn't do well for encouraging continued positive behaviour.
This, for me, is the crux of the matter. What would we want someone who has done something terrible to do? Should they dress in sackcloth or a scarlet letter, and never ever be a part of society again? Should they kill themselves because they can never, ever make up for their error? Or should they change, stop doing the terrible thing, sincerely apologize to those they have harmed, and resolve to do better, to become a force for good instead of evil? And if they can make that change in themselves, shouldn't we encourage that, instead of continuing to vilify them just as hard as if they had never changed at all?
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On 8/16/2019 at 6:43 PM, hkmaly said:She's literally doing it all the time. I mean transforming, not specifically transforming to male form.
Y'know, it's easy to forget how literally true this is. Grace's natural form is apparently her part-squirrel form, so the form we tend to think of as "Grace" is a transformation, and she at least spends all day at school and in public in her non-antenna human form, and a lot of her time alone with friends is in human form with or without antenna. Grace really is literally transformed almost all the time.
Of course, that brings up the difference between Uryuom transformation, where Grace changes forms but is not enchanted once she's transformed, and typical human magic transformations, where they are enchanted and will revert to their default form when the enchantment ends. (Except for spells like Tedd's that specifically change the default form, but that's apparently a lot rarer and harder to do....)
19 hours ago, Scotty said:She didn't seem that nervous there, heck by the third panel she had convinced herself that it'll be fun.
Ellen was more nervous than Sarah was about the whole thing.
19 hours ago, Scotty said:I don't really see Elliot having gone to the comic shop since New and Old Flames though, and really? Who doesn't own a chess set? It's one of those things that you end up with during raffles or as a prize from a golf tournament, or christmas gift exchange, etc. (yes, I'm in possession of multiple sets, want one?
).
I can guarantee I have never won a chess set as a prize from a golf tournament. In fact, other than Putt-Putt, I have never golfed, period. And rather like discovering just how many people don't actually have even one bookshelf with books on it, you might be surprised how many people have never owned a chess set, and indeed don't even know how to play chess. (I'm not one of them, I'm way too geeky, but I don't really know anything about chess strategy and such, so some would say I don't really know how to play, I just know how all the pieces are allowed to move. ;-)
Hmm, given that what I own is actually a box that has pieces and boards for chess, checkers, backgammon, go, and a few other games, does that count as a fraction of a chess set, ir does its geekiness make it count as more than a mere chess set?
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On 8/14/2019 at 2:04 PM, Scotty said:I'm not sure what else Diane could do to prove herself though, I find it hard to believe that she's faking her feelings for Lucy. But by that token, do you not trust Elliot for his first comment seeing Tedd female, after what Elliot's done since then, and how he reacted to having those first comments come back to him? Elliot's probably a prime example of "walking a mile in someone else's shoes" in terms of having to spend a lot of time as a girl as well, and realizing that it's a part of who he is has gone a long way towards understanding how Tedd feels.
This is an excellent point. Elliot and Diane both made crappy comments, and both have realized they were wrong to do so. In fact, Elliot never actually apologized to Tedd, he just tried to show that he feels differently now. Diane came right out and said she was wrong to say it and she was sorry she had.
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5 hours ago, The Old Hack said:I have never really forgiven her for that 'defective' comment. It was just so repellent.
She's gone through a lot of growth and realization, about herself and others, since then. She's also made what seems to be a genuine sincere apology to the person she used it on. I'm with Justin -- accept the apology and forgive, unless she does it again, in which case, by all means hold the original offense against her again.
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On 8/2/2019 at 6:44 AM, Scotty said:I think the double date was inevitable when Diane stated that her and Lucy would be there for their first date despite her suggestion that Justin give her space.
Handy dandy rule for whether to say "she and X" or "her and X" is to remove the "and X" and see if it sounds right. "Diane stated that her would be there" doesn't sound right, but "Diane stated that she would be there" does. Therefore, "Diane stated that she and Lucy would be there."
As usual, posted in the hopes of helping interested forumites improve their use of the English language, not out of any desire to criticize the poster who is quoted. :-)
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On 8/2/2019 at 5:47 PM, Darth Fluffy said:Someone robbing a bank may intend to only use the gun to intimidate people, and plan on their accomplices doing the same, but sometimes things don't go as planned, sometimes people get shot during robberies, and the robbers don't get any slack just because they didn't plan on killing anyone. Magus is the one who instigated the whole plot; Sirleck was recruited by him and was nominally under his command. Any harm that came because of Sirleck, Magus would be legally culpable as much as Sirleck, if not moreso.
On 8/2/2019 at 6:09 PM, hkmaly said:Considering the movie continuity specifically shows he's Holocaust survivor (and I think it implies his parents didn't survive) yeah totally. However, while sympathetic, he's definitely dangerous. He tried to KILL ALL (non-mutant) HUMANS actually.
Magneto's plan and characterization in the first movie was much better. How do you get a persecuted minority to not be persecuted any more? Make it so the people in power are members of that group. As the in-movie history lesson said, why did Rome stop killing Christians? Because the Emperor became a Christian. Magneto didn't want to kill anyone in that story, he wanted to turn non-mutants into mutants. He didn't know that the transformation was unstable and everyone affected might die. After the first movie established his character so well, it was really jarring to see him behave so differently in that later movie. Not saying it couldn't have been done believably, but the writer(s) just didn't lay the groundwork for it.
On 8/2/2019 at 11:47 PM, Darth Fluffy said:I don't believe that's essentially true. Granted, people are imperfect, and will tend to shade the details to favor themselves, but the PoTUS bypasses the normal access rules. He's Commander in Chief, Head of State, approves or declines the budget (setting overrides aside), and can pardon anyone. Pretty sure need to know is a given, based on all the hats. Guessing that's also true for the VP. If we're going to back up our position with works of fiction, I'll go with National Treasure: Book of Secrets.
There is a difference between bringing facts to POTUS's attention when they become relevant, and piling on an overwhelming number of facts about all branches of their duties the minute they take office. It would be quite reasonable to not bother the President with, say, the strategic value of a particular town in the border, until it becomes relevant, say by an enemy moving their troop exercises close to that town. A good leader can't do or know everything themself, they have to rely on good subordinates to bring them the relevant facts as they become relevant.
QuoteInteresting point, we've never seen them deal with an actual aberration, nor how they would have dealt with non-Tengu, what level of lethality. Neither Susan, nor Nanase, nor Adrian get in trouble for killing them. Recall, Noriko is a vampire slayer, apparently sanctioned. Noriko went after non-Tengu, apparently attempted to kill him, no hint of violating his rights in doing so in the bits of backstory we've seen. If she's anything like Nanase, she's very responsible, abandoning Edward and Tedd aside.
We have no idea of the circumstances of the battle between Noriko and Not-Tengu. She could have been trying to kill him outright, she could have been trying to subdue him or disable him and take him in, she could have been defending innocent civilians and only injured him to the extent necessary to drive him away. We do know that Wolf refers to "the last time someone took this guy down," not to someone trying to kill him specifically.
QuoteIt wasn't clear you meant just the movie version, but if that's the case, they were crazy for keeping him around. He fits both of your criteria; dangerous, and no empathy (toward the normal humans).
Again, in the first movie, he saw non-Mutants as potential recruits, so if nothing else, he saw them as having value that way.
I'm pretty sure Magneto equated the non-Mutants who persecuted Mutants to the Nazis who persecuted Jews (and a boatload of other groups). How much empathy do you expect a Jew to have for Nazis, especially while the Holocaust is still going on?
QuoteOften the failures are attributable to cultural prejudice and mob justice (police complicity with vigilante mentality). A good portion of the remaining cases are sloppy or incompetent police work. Then there's pressure to convict, careers depend on finding someone to take the blame. Then there's low motivation to keep on digging once the erroneous conviction is accomplished.
Yup, all sorts of reasons exist for a wrongful conviction to occur. Every one of them is a reason not to take an irrevocable step like execution.
QuoteA case can be made for juries exacerbating this situation. A single judge can be arbitrary, but a panel of say three or five can competently decide with with some sense of checks and balances. Hence, the Supreme Court of the US.
And of course, that august body *never* lets politics come into their decisions, never votes along party lines...oh, wait....
QuoteI agree that Arthur was only deciding whether to continue pursuing Magus, rather like the Distirct Attourney deciding whose case gets prosecuted, or the Police Chief deciding which criminals to devote which resources to finding.
QuoteI've already expressed, I don't think Arthur's comment makes sense. I like Arthur, I think he means well, and is very competent, but there's a horizon to his thinking that he seems to not do well looking beyond. He's not the guy that's going to cut a mutually beneficial deal with Magus. He's too full of his own trivial sense of how things ought to be.
I don't think we can go that far; more like, he might draw the line for a "mutually beneficial deal" in a different spot than Edward would have, or Magus would have preferred. I'm curious how he'll react when he learns that Tedd isn't always a "she".
QuoteWhile his actual statement, "You would not believe how long it's been since I've eaten anything" is literally true, the implication, "I'm really hungry, I didn't eat forever" doesn't make sense, though. Either he didn't need to eat, or he should have starved. He wasn't weakened by long term starvation during the battle. Maybe calories for some kind of magic recovery?
I think it was more the pleasurable experience of eating, of the textures and smells and flavors of food, and the pleasure of being able to satisfy a basic biological need, not actual physical hunger. And yes, calories being burned to fuel magic may be a factor in how much food he got, but so might wanting to try several different toppings and combinations. Here's hoping his hotel room has a little fridge for storing leftovers!
On 8/3/2019 at 1:19 AM, hkmaly said:I must admit that as someone who never was and can't be PoTUS I don't really know, but the idea that someone tells any of last presidents stuff like "aliens exists and are here so long they are not technically aliens" and "magic exists and it's easy to obtain" is scary.
Definitely a case I can see where need-to-know is taken seriously. If POTUS needs to know, they'll be told, but if the lower authorities can handle things, why tell someone who might Tweet it to the whole world?
QuoteThe comics says two years ago, presumably relative to this comics, so, like, about 33 months?
And so far we didn't saw any example of time passing differently in different worlds.
Terra....might be traumatized, and that's even if she has abilities to determine that he wasn't killed but just moved.
33 months however don't seem like fatal age difference.
I just recently fnished reading the book The Dead Zone, in which the protagonist is in a coma for four and a half years. It was written in the late 70s, so you can imagine the kinds of changes he had to adjust to. There's also Spider Robinson's short story "The Time Traveler" (one of the early Callahan's Place stories), where a man was in prison in a third world country for several years. The world he came back to was so strange to him he was almost ready to commit suicide. Things change a lot more quickly than we realize, because we're living through it one day at a time.
As to whether Terra knew what happened, that is a very good question, one I hope we eventually learn the answer to. It would be interesting if she showed up to save the day. Lots of possibilities there! Hmm, perhaps involving her squeezing through a small portal that Magus can't fit through because he chose the larger masculine frame? ;-)
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On 7/31/2019 at 3:57 PM, Tom Sewell said:Since you're in Florida, which is technically in the same country as California, we probably think of a vest as a sleeveless outer garment. A Brit would call this a "waistcoat" and pronounce it as "weskit". A "vest" would be underwear, often for a girl.
"Suspendies" or "suspenders" are garters in Britain. A gentleman holds up his trousers with braces, thank you very much.
Yes, and in America "braces" are what goes on your teeth to straighten them, which is called just a "brace" in Britain, which would be something you put on a weak leg to help it hold your weight in America....
On 7/31/2019 at 3:57 PM, Tom Sewell said:We might see Dan work with Britspeak after Van shows up again.
Hmm, true. Might be cute or might be annoying, depending how it's handled and how often.
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14 hours ago, ijuin said:It used to be that the Federal Government and State/Territorial Governments would put "Wanted Dead or Alive" on the Wanted posters for the most dangerous criminals. Getting known killers out of circulation was a higher priority than granting the killer his right to a fair trial.
Yes, and it used to be that a black man would be beaten to death if he whistled at a white woman, and a woman couldn't charge her husband with rape because she was considered to have given perpetual consent to whatever he wanted when she married him, The way it used to be usually changed to the way it is now for a reason.
If nothing else, there were plenty of cases of mistaken identity, frame-ups, fabricated evidence and false witness, all sorts of things that might come out if the accused got a trial. Too many real bad guys got away with murder and worse because someone else was killed for the crime before they could get a trial. Even today, people are found to have been innocent who had already been executed, or had lost decades of their lives rotting in prison for crimes they were proven innocent of. At least if they're alive, the wrongfully convicted have a chance of proving they're innocent.
Look at Magus. He committed some truly awful acts, working with an Aberration and conspiring to set other Aberrations loose in a public space surrounded by innocents; kidnapping and mental domination, body-snatching....we know he had good reasons, but what if he'd been killed in the process?
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9 hours ago, Scotty said:Sirleck implied that there were other reasons that he chose to become a bodysnatcher and that they were initially good intentioned, but over the years he lost any empathy he had.
He didn't actually say it was over years; it may be that the moment he became an Aberration, he lost all his good intentions and any remaining empathy.
9 hours ago, Scotty said:But it's probably likely most aberrations had very little empathy to begin with and greed and power were what drove them to becoming aberrations.
I actually have just a teensy little bit of sympathy for Sirleck based on what he told of his history. Makes me think of Harry Dresden -- taking extreme measures in order to gain power for good ends, but those very measures trying to destroy all interest in those good ends. I could picture him being a well-intentioned extremist who might have had some hope of redemption if he hadn't taken that last step over the edge.
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3 hours ago, The Old Hack said:We already know that Nanase has a spell that allows her to swap clothes. Maybe it has improved so she can, say, swap clothing between dolls (and possibly other people) as well?
We also know that Fox can cast any of Nanase's spells, up to the limit of the power Fox has access to. Perhaps now the fairy dolls have the same ability?
(And it's great to see you posting again! ;-)
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12 hours ago, ijuin said:Truth spells theoretically come under two types--"Detect Truth" and "Compel Truth". In the former, the spell allows one to determine when someone is lying, while in the latter, the spell forces the person to be incapable of knowingly saying anything false (like in the Jim Carrey movie "Liar Liar"). The former might be allowable in a court, but the latter would be prohibited by the legal restraint against compelling people to testify against themselves which exists in many countries (as under the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution).
To use a truth-detection spell in court, you would have to present some pretty strong evidence that a) it's reliable, and can't be fooled by self-deception, counter-spells, or magically altering someone's memory, for example, and b ) everyone present has some way of distinguishing, with absolute certainty, between an actual functioning truth spell and an illusion which would immitate the effects of one. Likewise, a truth compelling spell, if allowed, would have to be distinguishable from the caster taking control of the subject and making them say what they want them to say.
11 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:Good points, he actually did violate quite a bit of law.
I am curious what specific "destruction of property" you had in mind; the diamond? I don't think the golem would count.
The Diamond springs to mind. Athe golem would fall under self-defense and defense of others.
QuoteI think they would have had to explain his motivation as best they understood it, plus Sybil's remark says she and Arthur were aware.
Aware of a second or third-hand account of his story may not have the same impact as witnessing and/or talking with him directly.
QuoteSome sort of service requirement while they are looking for the means to send him might suit all parties.
I agree. If Magus has even half the desire to help and protect people that Elliot has, he would probably be much happier having something positive to do while waiting to find a way back home. This is a guy who was training to combat dragons to protect cities! He does seem to mistrust the authorities here, though, so he might not accept their word that any given task was for the greater good.
QuoteI would expect extra-judicial judgement such as used with terrorists. Magical considerations, such as keeping it secret and threat level would override normal procedures. Would you think the aberrations would get a trial? Not-Tengu? (I frankly think he's too dangerous to hold. Tedd's mom apparently agrees.) To hold a not-Tengu or Magus, they would need a magic-resistant prison that also inhibit spell casting. Community service could only apply to people you did not think were an immediate threat, and you'd tend to err on the side of safety, I think.
You're pretty qick to assume that everyone will just throw out the Constitution at the drop of a hat. I would expect there to be *some* sort of system in place, as close to normal as they can get. As I said, bench trials or a jury of their magic-using peers might work. Even for the 9/11 terrorists and Guantanamo detainees, much of the debate has been about whether they should be tried in military or civillian court, not whether they get a trial at all. So yes, if they have successfully taken Not-Tengu into custody, I expect him to receive a trial of some sort. This is, after all, EGS, where Ellen wasn't taken to a lab for study, but sent home to her family with enough prize money to pay for her upkeep, and where Grace's siblings have been taken in and taught how to use their abilities safely and eventually reintegrate into society.
QuoteI think use of magic would be a given. At some level, it is necessary just for apprehension and confinement, so leaking into other aspects of justice would at least gradually happen. Who's going to object, since they don't know it exists? I think due to expediency within the magical subculture, it would just happen.
Expediency is a very dangerous excuse to bypass due process and constitutional protections. Who is going to object? Good people involved in the process who want to see it done right, same as always! I can definitely see there being a small number of lawyers aware of the reality of magic who are called upon to make sure the process is followed as much as possible, and that any deviations are fair ones.
QuoteI doubt those rules would apply. You can see that in our world, in espionage, counter-terrorism, police dealing with active threats (not to mention the whole cops abusing their authority that Liz brought up).
Again, you see a much darker view of the world than EGS has generally proven to be. Yes, with an actual active threat, force may be required, but when Mr. Verres went beyond the rules and attacked with greater force than was called for, he was disciplined for it. There is clearly a system, and good people who work hard to uphold it and weed out the bad apples who would abuse it.
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Don't forget that Magus is undoubtedly guilty of kidnapping and accessory to kidnapping. It wouldn't surprise me if putting a spell on someone against their will counts as some sort of assault, too. Trespassing on a government facility, destruction of property, heck, grand theft auto -- they can find things to charge him with if they choose. (I almost added driving without a license but I think Sirleck did all the driving.) Of course, they may do so more as a means of leverage than with the intention of actually sending him to prison or whatever other punishment they have for magic users.
Arthur didn't hear the parts of the story that were explained in the car, he only saw for himself what was caught on camera. The "much recapping" from Ellen, Elliot and Ashley may not have been complete, so he may not appreciate just how desperate a situation Magus was in. And he may be the sort of person who would believe that *nothing* justifies what Magus and Sirleck did, that Magus must pay the consequences of what he did.
(As an aside, it occurs to me that Arthur may have a more positive view of Elliot and his parents than he might otherwise, because they clearly share his philosophy of supporting life he's unintentionally created.)
Besides, what choice do they have but to try to find Magus? He's shown himself willing to break the law in this universe (and he likely doesn't even know what all the laws are yet), he's a powerful magic user, and he has the potential to cause a heck of a lot of trouble, whether he means to or not. If he's stuck here, it's in their best interests to find him and try to get him working for, or at least with, the DGB. They might be able to guilt-trip him into helping if they can figure out something related to the consequences of his actions that they can draft him into to start. Or, they might be able to put some sort of restriction or restraint on his use of magic -- whatever it is they plan to use on not-Tengu to keep him under wraps and out of trouble, for example.
What sort of justice system could you have for magic users in this universe, anyway? Are all cases bench trials, decided by a judge? Are there enough people in the know to supply a reasonable jury pool? Do they have magic-resistant prisons, or are all punishments of the community service variety? Can you use magic on a prisoner during interrogation? If there's a Calm spell and Sleep spells, what about Anxiety or Agitation spells? Truth spells?
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I think Ellen is just in that situation where she really wants things to go well, really wants everything to be perfect for Elliot's sake, and is thus *way* overthinking everything she says and over-reacting to anything she says that even might be a problem. She's overswinging and overcorrecting. Once everyone gets used to each other and calms down, I think things will be fine.
But before that happens, I wanna know how Ashley reacts to the news that there's a female duplicate of her boyfriend who's into girls.... ;-)
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15 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:Wish me luck, folks. Time for another back surgery/procedure Monday morning (7/29). I'm having a lumbar rhizotomy done on the lower left side of my back - in other words, they're going in and doing a radio ablation on my nerve endings again. The last one wore off after about 6 months. I go into the hospital at 9:10 a.m. CDT. I've got about a half-hour to drink as many fluids as I can before I have to shut down all oral intake.
Best of luck with it!
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On 7/21/2019 at 10:02 PM, Illjwamh said:On July 21 in History:356 BCE – The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the grandest and most magnificent of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is burned down by a man called Herostratus, whose sole stated motive is to ensure that his name will be remembered throughout history. No, what am I doing? I’m playing right into his hands!658 - Death of K'an II, ruler of the Mayan city of Caracol. He is also known as "Lord Stormwater Moon", which, I mean, why don't all kings have names like that?1861 - After the First Battle of Bull Run in the American Civil War, Northern soldiers and officers reevaluate just how seriously they should be taking this armed rebellion. As do the picnickers and spectators who came out to watch.1925 - In Tennessee, John T. Scopes is found guilty in court of teaching science to his students in science class. He is fined $100, because this is America and we don't take kindly to "new" ways of thinking about things. What's next? Sex-ed in a sex-ed class?1951 - Robin Williams is born, and the world gets just a little brighter.(For some reason it won't let me break this into pieces)
The Temple thing makes me think of how certain news outlets are now declining to name the perpetrators of mass shootings, to avoid rewarding them with publicity.
https://twitter.com/Daenerys/status/601395050631680000?s=20
People treating war as a spectator sport or game? Heavens, who could imagine that? *cough*CallOfDuty*cough*
Scopes trial is one of the reasons we need to keep in mind that the Supreme Court's decisions can be reversed later on. This should be taken as a warning and as a hopeful thing, given the current make-up of the Court.
On 7/22/2019 at 10:45 PM, Illjwamh said:On July 22 in History:1587 - A second group of colonists arrive at the abandoned Roanoke settlement in order to reestablish it. This time, everything will go...aaaaaand they're gone.1849 - Birth of Emma Lazarus, author of that one poem so many people seem to have forgotten about.They probably went off to join the members of the first Roanoke settlement living among the local tribes.
The poem deserves to be quoted, as we seem to need the reminder:
"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"On 7/23/2019 at 8:54 PM, Illjwamh said:On July 23 in History:1840 - Upper and Lower Canada are stitched together into one Canada by the Act of Union - something many denizens of Lower Canada are still whining about to this day.1914 - Austria-Hungary sends an ultimatum with a list of demands to Serbia following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. These include but are not limited to allowing Austro-Hungarian law enforcement full access and participation regarding the investigation. The Serbians are disinclined to acquiesce.1989 - Daniel Radcliffe, whom you might remember as the actor who portrayed Harry Potter, is born, making him 30 now. Feel old yet?Our trip to the Canadian Rockies ended on July 1, Canada Day. So, do they get to celebrate the birth of their country both days? How many other births did they have?
A lovely reminder of just what a mess that war was.
xkcd can help with that any time you need it!
On 7/24/2019 at 8:35 PM, Illjwamh said:On July 24 in History:1969 - Apollo 11 splashes down in the Pacific. This means all three men on board have returned safely from the moon - an achievement almost as momentous as getting them there in the first place.1974 - The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rules that the president may not withhold subpoenaed evidence. I don't know; I feel like this might be relevant.Ah, but that was a different Court. The current one has more than one Justice who owes their job to the current President, and was chosen with this very sort of thing in mind.....
On 7/27/2019 at 10:36 PM, Illjwamh said:On July 27 in History:1921 - Canadian medical researcher Frederick Banting and his team isolate insulin as the hormone that regulates blood sugar, and is thus essential in the treatment of diabetes. They will go on to give the patent away, because they understand that the health of their fellow human beings is not a commodity to be traded for profit. Good thing this wasn't discovered in America.1974 - The U.S. House Judiciary Committee votes to recommend the first article of impeachment against Richard Nixon for obstruction of justice. Just wanted to remind everyone that this is a thing.Frederick Banting is a distant relative to William Banting, the first to advocate a low-carb diet. Low-carb diets can be very helpful for people with diabetes.
And a reminder that Impeachment is a process, a way of finding out whether the President has done enough to warrant removing him from office. We don't vote on whether to kick him out the moment the Impeachment is declared, we do this odd little thing called investigating first.
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According to several ferret owners' clubs and web sites, you can put your keyboard in the top rack of the dishwasher and as long as you let it dry fully before using it, it should work fine. They do recommend taking a good clear picture of the keyboard before doing this, because odds are good of at least a few keys coming loose and you'll need to be able to tell which goes where.
Personally, I'm not so sure about the dishwasher, but I would take their advice as a sign that sticking it in a tub of slightly soapy water and gently agitating it, then rinsing in non-soapy water, would have a good shot at working. ;-)
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Stumbled across the old TV series "The Dead Zone" on cable, and then found it's on Amazon Prime so I started watching from the start. This has led to reading the book, and adding to the TV Tropes pages for both, and downloading the audiobook version, and now I've checked out the DVD of the movie from the library. Sometimes I get like this.
I even looked in the library computer for a book on comas (the main character was in one for several years), but it came up with about fifty different "Fiction" categories and absolutely nothing under "Non-Fiction". So, I found the Medical shelves and skimmed, coming up with a few books on head trauma, concussions, etc. I even looked on amazon for books, and am semi-seriously considering buying a textbook on the subject. As I said, sometimes I get like this.
Anyway, so much for my plan to binge Stranger Things and find out what all the fuss is about, for a while anyway. ;-)
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10 hours ago, ijuin said:Taller? I'd like to have Rhoda's spells and shrink people!
It was a reference to this comic.
Changing Medications (Level of Trust Required)
in Off Topic Discussion
Posted
Congratulations in the weight loss! Not an easy thing to do, no matter the method.
So tell me, Hack, do you get a little thrill seeing that "she" the same way I got a little thrill at being called "Doctor" when I got my DVM and license? :-D
I am not familiar with this saying. Spoons?
Cool! As we point out to clients, it's usually better to find something that's treatable! We see pets with hidden foreign bodies like that sometimes; if they're a plant awn or other organic foreign body that's the same density as the surrounding tissues, instead of being metal that will show up on a radiograph, it's a real pain in the butt to find the darn things.
Yeah, but I think I agree with TOH that it's time to start looking into a new dentist. I know you may have to see this one to the end of the year because someone new would charge more to fix their mistakes than they will, but it's still time to get a second opinion on the later work, once the insurance starts paying again.