Episode XXXIV: You can say that on the internet

The last open thread had some discussion of what other people don't want you to say on the internet — George Carlin had a few things to say about that censorious attitude (NSFW; you know what he's going to say.)

With special bonus rudeness below the fold!

i-7ec9af5619e64dedda2c0b3e485096fd-dreams.jpeg

More like this

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George Carlin died yesterday. I always loved his comedy, but more important to me Carlin affirmed my atheism at a time in my life when I didn't really know anyone else who felt that way. He poked fun at religion, and listening to his comedy made me feel like I wasn't weird to note the considerable…
I was scheduled for a deeply unpleasant medical test yesterday, which I thought was going to leave me lots of time for blogging. yesterday afternoon and this morning. The preliminary test turned out to be so unpleasant (if anybody ever offers to stick a tube through your nose into your stomach,…
Since I will use vulgar language, this post will be mostly below the fold. This commenter asked me to justify a claim, to which I responded by calling him an asshole. The reason is simple, the question is a simple factual query which could have been answered by checking the source I cited. The…

You sure it wasn't Mountain Dew? I mean it looks, smells and tastes the same with approximately the same nutritional value.

By Bride of Shrek OM (not verified) on 03 Mar 2010 #permalink

I don't care what folks are talking about, if I have the opportunity to interrupt someone's conversation with a query about underwear, I'm gonna do it.

By boygenius (not verified) on 03 Mar 2010 #permalink

Most of the bottles were clear so, no, it wasn't Mountain Dew. (What vitamin or supplement is it that turns your urine green? I can't recall, but these people were not taking it.)

By boygenius (not verified) on 03 Mar 2010 #permalink

Going on night shifts tonight, so expect posts at weird hours and phone switched off during the day until Sunday.

MANNERZ CAT IS SHOKED, SHOKED TO SEE PPLZ YUZIN BAD WURDS ON TEH INTERNETS !!!!!!

We need that with a pic, and post it everytime someone is generally concerned !

And has someone invented SICOTI syndrome yet ? If not, Im claiming it.

By Rorschach (not verified) on 03 Mar 2010 #permalink

I am so ringing you during daylight hours to see if I can wake you.

.. and leaving dirty messages in weird and random accents.

By Bride of Shrek OM (not verified) on 03 Mar 2010 #permalink

It is hardly surprising that so many commentators over at The Intersection have a problem with understanding the context in which comments were made. Mooney and Kirshenbaum set the tone with Unscientific America when they decided to leave out the context of PZ's actions in Crackergate.

By Matt Penfold (not verified) on 03 Mar 2010 #permalink

Hello BoSOM,

here's Richard Dawkins speaking to your mob up there, interview with ABC Brisbane :

http://c0584462.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/100302RD-ABCRadio.mp3

I had to giggle, first question of the host : Richard, why are you so angry ? Hahahaha..

and leaving dirty messages in weird and random accents.

Who do you think I look like, Jamie Lee Curtis ?

:D

By Rorschach (not verified) on 03 Mar 2010 #permalink

We need that with a pic, and post it everytime someone is generally concerned !

And has someone invented SICOTI syndrome yet ? If not, Im claiming it.

Here you go:

http://yfrog.com/jasicotiej

By boygenius (not verified) on 03 Mar 2010 #permalink

Look, it even has pearls !!! Nice one boygenius !!

By Rorschach (not verified) on 03 Mar 2010 #permalink

Regarding the education discussion earlier: Summerhill School sounds very interesting. I'm particularly unsurprised that the New Labour government and OFSTED bureaucrats did their best to shut it down, and particularly impressed that the school took them to court.

By Walton, Specia… (not verified) on 03 Mar 2010 #permalink

Walton,

Are we still supposed to be slapping you with a dead halibut if you are posting here instead of studying? Don't you have some rather important exams coming up?

(Apologies if you have already taken your exams. If so, post away!)

By boygenius (not verified) on 03 Mar 2010 #permalink

(Apologies if you have already taken your exams. If so, post away!)

No, they're not until late May-early June. But I have to revise nine subjects in that time (the last two years' work). So yes, I should be working, and should have posted much less and studied much more yesterday.

*slaps self in face with halibut*

By Walton, Specia… (not verified) on 03 Mar 2010 #permalink

Ichthyic is brilliant! His post at the M&K thread:

a little late, but when Sheril said this:

I’m not sure when you joined the network, but there’s no doubt the relationships between bloggers and our communities broke down since I started.

first thing that popped in my head was to ask her if she was related to Yoko Ono.

Ppffffttt!!

By boygenius (not verified) on 03 Mar 2010 #permalink

A short guide to insults on Pharyngula

Insults, "metaphorical bricks", and other hyperbolic forms of invective speech, may or may not contain :
. swear words, obscenity, sexually explicit or balsphemous expressions, offensive speech, profanity, vulgarity

It may be appropriate to make use of them when :

1. responding to particularly annoying, offensive or insulting trolls, especially :
(this is not an exhaustive list)

. evolution deniers, creationists, YECs, OECs, IDiots ...
. other anti-science trolls of all sorts : AGW deniers, HIV deniers, anti-vaccine nuts, homeopathy buffs ...
. religious trolls of all sorts : fundamendalists, faithheads, godbots, biblebots, prayer wishers, atheist bashers, apologists ...
. political extremists, libertarians, right and left wing nutcases, warmonggers ...
. racists, homophobes, misogyns, minority opressors, anti-semites ...
. anti-woman trolls, pro-choice activists ...
. ignorant, incompetent, incoherent, childish, irrational trolls of all types who suffer from illusory superiority
. people who are intellectually dishonest, liars, quote-miners, strawman specialists ...

2. commenting on a person, public speaker, blogger, debater, group, organisation, politican who has said or written something particularly offensive or insulting (see 1. for a non exhaustive list of categories)

Insults, metaphorical bricks, and other forms of hyperbolic invective speech may not :

. contain direct threats of violence, rape, torture
(eg I'll burn you on a slow fire and punch you in the nose if you continue saying such things)
. wish that the recipient be violented, raped, or tortured by someone else
(eg you asshole, I just hope you get raped by thousands of bearded gentlemen in the Gobi desert)
. unequivocally wish the recipient's death
(eg fuck yourself with a rusty knife and die)

To be clear, wishing that someone who falls into the categories 1) or 2) above does something pleasant or unpleasant or harmful to himself is perfectly OK
eg: fuck yourself with [all sorts of animate or inanimate objects, tools, vegetables, plants, groups or parts of animals, phallic symbols, the eiffel tower, imaginary things, the pointy hat of a leprechaun, the magic stick of a tall bearded wizard living on a snowy mountain top, etc...]

....
Let me know if this is OK

By negentropyeater (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I just read some of the posts over at The Intersection.

First, well done to those of you with the courage, and enough Dettol, to wade in there.

The main conclusion I draw from The Intersection is that Mooney and Kirshenbaum are far more concerned about "tone" than they are about accuracy.

I should not be surprised, both are into politics and we all know that politics these days is not about being truthful and honest but about PR and image.

By Matt Penfold (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I wonder if anyone over at The Intersection will take my comment about slapping concern-trolls around the head with a dead halibut as a serious thread of violence ?

With regards that comment, I would just clarify that no animals should be harmed in the infliction of gratuitousness violence upon trolls of any type.

By Matt Penfold (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I wonder if anyone over at The Intersection will take my comment about slapping concern-trolls around the head with a dead halibut as a serious thread of violence ?

I think it's preferable to write :

concern-trolls should slap themselves around the head with a dead halibut

By negentropyeater (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Bride of Shrek #500

a couple of BIKE NERDS

Its quarter of a century since I was last called a bike nerd... I feel young again, thank you ;) ...although not young enough to wear lycra - I'd look more like a jelly wrapped in clingfilm these days :(

By Usagichan (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

517 comments! INSANITY! Will this thread even last 26 hours!

I reserve the right to change my undergarments, and my mind, and for much the same reasons.

Wonderful. :-)

any "threat" of "violence" from you I interpret as kinkiness, because any other interpretation would be absurd :-p

Interesting.

...I'll just leave it at that. :-)

my dear, I'm very well insulated naturally in that general area. I don't need much in the way of artificial padding to keep from getting cold.

That unbridled envy again.

I'm stone-cold serious. My "general area" is almost entirely muscle and bone; not only can't I pinch myself there without it hurting, I have serious trouble sitting down for long on hard surfaces. And on the other side, the bone reaches all the way to the skin, so that I have to wear my belt very high up (on the navel) so it doesn't hit the bone all the time. Wearing it further down would constrict a muscle I need for walking. I've already mentioned that buying pants for me takes 2 people and at the very least half a day of trawling through several large stores. At least I don't grow anymore.

Can I have a gag? And a good spanking every time I say a naughty word?

ROTFL!

Emphasis added. :-)

8 Hey, "libertarian" Glenn Beck started it first.

Of course that wasn't even original; it was a stomach-churning act of godwinning.

Well don't I look the nerd at the frat party. Social etiquette is hard.

Welcome to the club! :-)

= = = = = = = =

That (comment 428) is a good place to interrupt. Right before Jadehawk's next comment, so I don't need to see yet just what is going on in her mind this time ;-)

By David Marjanović (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

boygenius | March 4, 2010 3:20 AM:

Many years ago, I had the unfortunate "opportunity" to serve two days of SILD (Sheriff Inmate Labor Detail) in lieu of ten days in jail. You've seen 'em, those losers on the side of the road wearing the orange vests and picking up trash? I was astonished at the number of plastic bottles full of urine that we came across. Probably the bulk of what we cleaned up. Assholes.

Note - at least in the US, most of those bottles are not from bikers, but from professional truck drivers. An 18 wheeler can loose a great deal of time slowing down to stop for a piss break, and more getting up to speed again. And many drivers don't want to keep several bottles of piss in the cab with them until they get to the next place they must stop. (A selfish and asinine excuse, but there you have it.)

I reserve the right to change my undergarments, and my mind, and for much the same reasons.

I wouldn't have thought that there is much in common between entrenched political views and dirty underwear. I don't wish to be indelicate here, of course, so I'll refrain from enumerating any of the specific differences. And, of course, the converse of this view is that those with rigid, doctrinaire political views have been metaphorically wearing the same underwear for their entire lives, which doesn't seem terribly hygienic.

(Perhaps I'm interpreting this metaphor too literally.) :-)

By Walton, Specia… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

OMG - I not only fold my underwear, I double-fold it! Fold it in half, fold that half in half again. -ctenotrish

I kind of had the same reaction reading about the non-folders of undies. I either do it your way or, if I'm feeling up to it, I triple fold mine: both edges to the center line, then roll it up from the bottom, and pop it in on the last roll between the waistband. It makes a nice little tube that doesn't unfold on its own if you roll it tight.

By aratina cage o… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Addendum to #522: Though I do once remember Janine describing someone's political outlook as a "shit-stain on the panties of life" during a argument. I can't remember what precipitated this, but she mentioned it was a quote from something. (I'm afraid to google it...)

By Walton, Specia… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

(Perhaps I'm interpreting this metaphor too literally.) :-)

Considering I more or less meant that I want to keep my politics thoughtfully chosen, well-examined for holes, clean, decent, and presentable in case I have to expose them, yeah, maybe :)

What, did you mean to imply I only change my opinions when they're full of shit? Heh...

By badgersdaughter (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I also fold my everyday politics once in a valley fold so that the crotch meets the waistband, then fold the right third onto the middle third and the left third over that. My sexy politics are laid out flat on a shelf in the closet. :)

By badgersdaughter (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Walton @ 523

"..... those with rigid, doctrinaire political views have been metaphorically wearing the same underwear for their entire lives ..."

Indeed they have!

David Marjanović @ 520

The Victorians, especially when the bustle was in fashion, had the answer to your question - a good corsetiere and some clever padding - just wish I could find an appropriate illustration! (I know they exist somewhere but google is no help.)

By maureen.brian#b5c92 (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

boygenius, special forces, sometimes know as commandos, are trained to operate in harsh conditions and using stealth, including—or so I recall it being said—sometimes having to pee without unfastening clothing.

Go big wall climbing sometime.

Just think of these two words

"poop tube"

and then imaging having that with you for a 3 or 4 or more day climb on a vertical wall.

It's as unpleasant as it sounds.

By Rev. BigDumbChimp (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

badgersdaughter,

I'm glad to hear that you'd rather have the left side of your sexy politics showing.

I think I usually do the same with my politics, sexy and not ;-)

(runs up to bedroom closet to verify)
(comes back to computer)

today : 3/4 left, 1/4 right

By negentropyeater (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Ah, I see Tigger_the_Wing does the same with the undies.

By aratina cage o… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

frog,Inc.
Waaaay back @ #390

'Try everything once -- try the things you like twice.'

'Apart from incest and Morris Dancing'

I have to wear undies on the top half anytime I know I'll do much lifting and bending (namely at work), because it's damned distracting to have my girls bouncing and sliding around of their own free will. They get in the way enough.

Bottom half--I wear it at work, because some of my coworkers are a bunch of freaks who would look for underwear status and report you for it; I've already been reported because my shorts rode up a bit high when I bent once and someone complained about seeing my undies. No I'm not kidding. Just imagine if I hadn't been wearing any--ugh--forget it.

The rest of the time--I'm all commando. I hate undies.

My mother used to make us kids fold our undies. When I got to the AF, they wanted us to fold them the same way, the method about like badger's mentioned up thread: crotch to waistband, right third to the middle, left third over that.

Being in the AF was just like living with my mother. Most people think I'm kidding about that.

I'm not.

Walton, SSDoA

"shit-stain on the panties of life"

Reform School Girls 1986
Charlie, you're nothing but a stupid kid from Cleveland, just a shit-stain on the panties of life...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAFb6NdMPE8

By negentropyeater (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I cannot keep up with this thread, especially with the time zones.

Do you guys have anything else to do?
(Because I do).

Do you guys have anything else to do?
(Because I do).

Then why aren't you doing it?

Slacker.

By nigelTheBold (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Do you guys have anything else to do?

Boss, I didn't know you were a Pharyngula commenter.

By badgersdaughter (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I don't have anything else to do, Alan B.

Unless you want to come tuck me into bed, where I'm supposed to be right now so I can get enough sleep to go to work.

Do you guys have anything else to do?

Not for two hours until the reaction is done.

By Nerd of Redhead, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

buh-buh-WHA?

Had to leave the puter on and in the office again for another Active Directory update and then I show up the next morning and there's over 500 comments in 24 h?!

And I haven't read anything since...uh...Tuesday afternoon...and metric fucktons of work today, tonight and tomorrow...

I DON'T THINK I CAN EVER CATCH UP

*whimper*

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Oh Sven.

You should go enjoy the fun over at the Colgate Twin's home for wayward crybabies.

By Rev. BigDumbChimp (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

(Because I do)

fascinating information !

By negentropyeater (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

You should go enjoy the fun over at the Colgate Twin's home for wayward crybabies.

Definitely. It's a hoot.

They're all like, "We're just orphans, lost in the woods, and we're cold and hungry, and there are Pharyngulites after us," and then Rev. BDC is all like, "Pussies," and they're all like, "Don't call us names! You will hurt our delicate lacy frilly panty-like feelings! (Which we fold carefully before stowing them away.)"

And the moderators are all like, "I can't post these comments! They are from the terrible, horrible unfeeling hurt-zombies of Pharyngula! And they are asking for evidence."

By nigelTheBold (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Walton, I feel the need to clear up one thing. I did not call dendy's political views a shitstain on the panties of life. I called dendy a shitstain on the panties of life.

By Janine, Mistre… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

cicely @ #435:

Thankee (tips hat)... Tho' I must confess, I'm really just bucking for Molly votes, now...

(/The notion being: mebbe people'll vote for me purely because they so want to hear what I'll do for an acceptance speech...)

Signing in crashed Opera. As you can see, it worked the next time. There doesn't seem to be any way to predict what will crash the combination of Opera 10.10 and Mac OS 10.3.9.

Single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation for acute treatment of migraine with aura: a randomised, double-blind, parallel-group, sham-controlled trial. Online First prepublication in The Lancet Neurology.

the ADD-like lifespan of memes notwithstanding, the Internet seems to have a pretty long memory, actually. Longer than the meatspace political discourse, FWIW.

True.

Thank you. May you eat breakfast in an army messhall and let it be creamed chipped beef on toast (aka shit on a shingle), cold scrambled powdered eggs, and over-boiled coffee with non-dairy creamer but sans sugar.

I'm going to have nightmares.

Good to see there's food you actually don't like :-) :-) :-)

And have some CIA propaganda while you're waiting for a reply strange gods:

https://www.cia.gov/kids-page/index.html

So lovely that it's https. So… cute…

Atheist Agenda calls the exchange "Smut for Smut," prompting prayers

Yep, I bet they are praying to get the good porn.

Day saved.

It has never ever occurred to me that anyone *wouldn't* fold their underwear!

And there I was thinking I had had a sheltered upbringing.

So.. so far we have Jadehawk, RevBDC and myself who refuse to conform to convention and instead go "commando".

I, in contrast, refuse to conform to fashion and instead wear extremely old-fashioned underwear. It's the only that's halfway comfortable – and wearing none wouldn't be comfortable at all.

on a completely unrelated note, I see I missed a thread in which SC was called a "ignorant, bigoted, right-wing libertarian troll" last summer.

that's it's own kind of epic.

:-D

Link please.

My mother taught me how to do my own laundry when I was 7-8, thereby absolving herself from the responsibility.

…Washing machine? Did you have one?

http://yfrog.com/jasicotiej

Win.

I wouldn't have thought that there is much in common between entrenched political views and dirty underwear. […] And, of course, the converse of this view is that those with rigid, doctrinaire political views have been metaphorically wearing the same underwear for their entire lives, which doesn't seem terribly hygienic.

ROTFL!

By David Marjanović (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

@543: it's the _precision_ of your profanity which makes the difference, isn't it? :)

By Stephen Wells (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

David Marjanović:

Signing in crashed Opera.

Gah. Time for a trip to the optometrist. I read that as "Singing in crashed Opera."

The rest of the time--I'm all commando. I hate undies.

Haha! I was wondering about females who don't wear undies. I can't do without them. But I discovered the joys of boys cotton briefs. I'm a little self-conscious of it in the locker room but OMG these things actually stay put without riding up. I don't understand what the makers of women's underwear think I am shaped like. I have hips, but those things have like pools of cotton that sag in the back or else they are made to sit half-way on your buttocks. Which would be great if I was planning on standing up having pictures of my ass taken all day.

The other option, I used to settle on, was the thong/g-string. Hey at least they don't gather. But then those are often so high riding that they stick out of your pants/jeans. That's tacky. Also as they stretch you might as well just go without underwear for all the coverage they give you. No use with a skirt, that.

So one day I picked up some men's briefs, or better yet the boxer/briefs and I discovered that underwear makers actually do know how to make underwear that fit all the way over the human buttocks without leaving a pool of sag beneath the mounds, and as an added bonus out of COTTON! Yes cotton!

So now I wear briefs most days, and a handful of decently comfortable hip riding cotton undies I stumbled upon in a Kohls one day.

And no, I don't fold them. They can fight it out with the bras.

But that does leave me wondering. Why? Why do women's underwear suck so badly? I hate them. Maybe I would feel differently if they made me feel sexy. But they don't. They make me feel uncomfortable and kind of stupid. Naked is sexy :P

'rigid, doctrinaire' underwear?
Now we're talking!

Gah. Time for a trip to the optometrist. I read that as "Singing in crashed Opera."

O sooooole miiiooooo.... *crash*

By Walton, Specia… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

#537 Aquaria

"I can resist anything but temptation."

Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892, Act I

Looking for some of the nasty comments Philip Jr. alleges we left, I ran across a particularly vile set of comments from a loon afraid of same-sex marriage. The allegation made by the loon was that a gay man had written an honest, self-scathing op-ed piece on the Gay Agenda in 1987 that was being covered up today, but of course piece had been complete satire.That piece, written by Michael Swift, begins with the line, "This essay is an outré, madness, a tragic, cruel fantasy, an eruption of inner rage, on how the oppressed desperately dream of being the oppressor." I think that description fits some of the more colorful responses the Mooninites are whining about. The plonked and their affiliates over there can't understand the humor we find in reflecting the ugliness of trolls back on themselves. It isn't "an eye for an eye" as is being claimed over at the InterDungeon, it is revealing the malignancy underneath their self-delusively benign opinions by returning them in kind without the camouflage of convention or the illusion of innocence.

By aratina cage o… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Wisdom.

I can't do without them.

One of my sisters even keeps hers on at night… ~:-|

But that does leave me wondering. Why? Why do women's underwear suck so badly?

Because someone decided this was fashionable, and everyone – every clothes company, I mean – copied it. Peer pressure.

By David Marjanović (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Whew... it took me about an hour of diligent staring but I finally got caught up on this thread... and I'm exhausted... you people are all fucked... ;^)

By Celtic_Evolution (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

One of my sisters even keeps hers on at night…

Um... are you saying that not everyone does that anyway? (note to self: do not visit other Pharynguloids at night)

I posted this over at the Interdungeon. It's awaiting moderation.
....

Sorry to derail the fascinating discussion on common insults found on Pharyngula, I'll go back to Sheril's question for a short while :

“The Value of Science Blogs?”

Bertrand Russel wrote, in one of his American Essays (1931-1935) "The Triumph of Stupidity" :

the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. Even those of the intelligent who have a nostrum are too individualistic to combine with other intelligent men whith whom they differ on minor points.
It is, I think, undeniable that the best men of the present day have a wider and truer outlook, [...] but they are impotent spectators. Perhaps we shall have to realise that skepticism and intellectual individualism are luxuries which in our tragic days must be forgone, and if intelligence is to be effective it will have to be combined with a moral fervour which it usually possessed in the past but now usually lacks.

So either :
1. a blog lets stupidity triumph and it has little or no value. This happens often when a blog attracts and lets a type of commenter triumph who have little or no interest in discussing contents but only focus on tone, who refuse to engage in evidence based reasoning, who refuse to provide evidence or references to support their arguments, and who relish in derailing threads.

or :
2. a blog lets intelligence be effective and it has high value. This happens when a blog attracts intelligent commenters who are cocksure and possess a moral fervour to systematically denounce and scare away the kind of commenters who prevail in the blogs where stupidity triumphs. Intelligent commenters who prefer to dicuss contents and not tone, who engage in evidence based reasoning, who provide evidence and references to support their arguments, and who avoid to derail threads.

These are of course the two ends of a wide spectrum, and I think one can use those criterias to value a specific blog.

I think Pharyngula is a good example of Science blog that belongs to the high value category where intelligence is effective in not letting stupidity triumph.
As I prefer to be polite I'll let the reader decide which category this thread on "the value of science blogs" belongs to.

By negentropyeater (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

BTW, Walton - The "up your nose" remark didn't have any significance with regard to the content of the conversation; I was just having some fun and it occurred to me as a silly comment that could be construed by an idiot as threatening. I was also just amused to hear the show described so academically, and that you were looking for a connection. It does happen that it was in a way relevant to some of the themes of the thread, though.

***

You sure it wasn't Mountain Dew? I mean it looks, smells and tastes the same with approximately the same nutritional value.

I admit it - I like Mountain Dew. There was also a soft drink in the '80s called Mello Yello that looked, as I remember, even more like urine. They used to sponsor racquetball tournaments, so I had a bunch of t-shirts advertising it.

***

So I saw this on Democracy Now!

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/1/gary_greenberg_manufacturing_depre…

which led me to check out this excerpt

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/28/gary-greenberg-manufacturin…

(The writing is kind of confusing, but it's interesting nonetheless.) I'd find the first comment hilarious if I weren't so tired of these stupid characterizations of atheists:

...When we are confronted 24/7 with a blaring happy media bombardment that insists that we are all in full control of our destiny and can have whatever we want, people are inevitably going to feel guilty that they don't always fit the program. Things are made worse again when confronted by the Dawkins/Hitchens brigade of happy atheist liberal fanatics who insist that scienctific knowledge of our own inconsequentiality should also make us overjoyed at every monent. It's rather like living in the Soviet Union, where as two dissidents once put it, "Life is wonderful! And it is wonderful above all because it will be even wonderfuller'!

Haven't weighed in on the February Molly nominations in the past (at least not soberly), but I think it is high time AJ Milne got recognized. Milne makes fewer posts than many of us, but each post is on-point and generally heee-larious. Then every now and then, Milne writes a true gem like at the first Fodor & Piatelli-Palmerini dustup (#298). Clock cleaned, little red wagon fixed. For the record, that's a February comment. Exhibit A and such.

By Antiochus Epiphanes (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I admit it - I like Mountain Dew. There was also a soft drink in the '80s called Mello Yello that looked, as I remember, even more like urine. They used to sponsor racquetball tournaments, so I had a bunch of t-shirts advertising it.

Coca Cola still makes Mello Yello. It's a regional drink now, though. They sell it here but not there.

By strange gods b… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Did M&K just delete the entire dustup thread?

By aratina cage o… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Looks like the whole blog is down at the moment.

Yep, DiscoverMagazine.com seems to have crashed.

You guys killed it with your rudeness and profanity and evidence. YOU BASTARDS!

Did M&K just delete the entire dustup thread?

Nah, their entire site went down. The thread is probably a factor, although I've seen longer ones there before. Expect it to be closed when they bring the site back up.

I went ahead and saved what Google has in their cache, which doesn't have negentropyeater's post which went up earlier nor mine calling them out for conflating masturbation with rape (which is really, really offensive -- there's a huge difference between telling someone who is basically masturbating on the blog to go fuck themselves, and telling them to go get raped).

Ol'Greg, I remember you as blueelm. You had a very engaging conversation about either p0rn0graphy or Tibetan burial rituals. Or was it both?

By Gyeong Hwa Pak… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Looks like the whole blog is down at the moment.

Yeah. When it comes up, they'll blame us.

By nigelTheBold (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Yeah. When it comes up, they'll blame us.

Anyone want to bet someone will claim to have evidence it was a Pharyngulite but will be unable to produce it ?

By Matt Penfold (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Most political activists have a consistent philosophy that they stick to;

Walton, some of the most intelligent political activists have changed or amended their philosophy. Christopher Hitchens, for example. In this article, Hitchens points out how much there was to admire in Trotsky: http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/2004/07/hitchens.htm (great historical details in this article)
Hitchens now calls himself a "post Trotskyist". There's a series of videos that cover this subject (5 in total), in which Christopher Hitchens and Robert Service talk about Leon Trotsky. You can start here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4v3y-zFW9A and watch the series if you want the full picture.

There's a short (about two minutes) excerpt posted here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pkWQ-DwgmA&feature=fvw

By Lynna, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

You had a very engaging conversation about either p0rn0graphy or Tibetan burial rituals. Or was it both?

I thought it was actually pornographic Tibetan burial rituals...

Oh. Wait. No. That was just something I saw on Fark...

(/And thanks, Antiochus.)

Um... are you saying that not everyone does that anyway? (note to self: do not visit other Pharynguloids at night)

Hell no. I can barely sleep with a single sheet over me let alone being constrained by clothing of some sort.

By Rev. BigDumbChimp (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Ron @489 asked for some sample PDFs. I sent two to the email address you gave me. Let me know if you want to receive more.

By Lynna, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Um... are you saying that not everyone does that anyway?

I was taught to wear stuff under clothes, but not under pyjamas. I did always find that illogical, but, well, pyjamas are soft anyway… :-| The mentioned sister innovated; somehow she can't stand it otherwise.

Occasionally, the benefits would outweigh the inconveniences for me, but not often enough… and those benefits have to do with something she lacks entirely.

Yep, DiscoverMagazine.com seems to have crashed.

LOL!

rudeness and profanity and evidence

ROTFL!!!

Anyone want to bet someone will claim to have evidence it was a Pharyngulite but will be unable to produce it ?

Wasn't it just the extra traffic?

Of course, some of that extra traffic comes from here. But if scienceblogs.com can deal with it(self), the people behind discovermagazine.com are to blame for not having more robust servers or whatever.

By David Marjanović (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

The site is back up. Negentropyeater, your comment is there. And I just gave them a kiss off. What an unpleasant spot.

By Janine, Mistre… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I can barely sleep with a single sheet over me let alone being constrained by clothing of some sort.

I don't move much when I sleep anyway… When it's very hot, I take the blanket out of its cover, but keep the cover.

By David Marjanović (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink
One of my sisters even keeps hers on at night…

Um... are you saying that not everyone does that anyway? (note to self: do not visit other Pharynguloids at night)

people wear things when asleep? what for*? you're surrounded by fabric on all sides, and nobody you don't want to is going to see you anyway.

------

*public sleeping, like at hostels or other people's houses, excepted for obvious reasons; and I suppose that excepts parents of young children, too.

By Jadehawk, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I don't move much when I sleep anyway… When it's very hot, I take the blanket out of its cover, but keep the cover.

me too :-)

except I do move a lot when sleeping.

By Jadehawk, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Wasn't it just the extra traffic?

I figured maybe it was one of those Star Trek-esque 'baffled AI' moments--where the superintelligent computer is suddenly, rudely forced to a painful realization that it has been acting contradictorily, and thus blows itself to bits...

I figure it was those demands for evidence finally did it in... Poor thing finally realized every drive on which The Intersection was stored was simply chock-full o' BS, and blew its brains out in self-loathing...

(/The only question remaining is, then: why did it take so long?)

well I took 2 minutes to check out the Dungiosexion thread...

Are those idiots over there really equating typing "go fuck yourself" (with or without an object) to violent sexual assault?

or am I missing some sort of explanatory context?

By Sven DiMilo (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

you're surrounded by fabric on all sides

When it's too cold outside my bed, I refuse to get out of it. What "too cold" means in absolute terms depends on how much I'm wearing, among other things.

I've tried to hint at the other issue, which is why I don't understand how anyone male can stand sleeping naked for longer periods… but it's possible that's just me again.

Once upon a time, sometime between 10 and 15 years ago, all my pyjamas somehow were in the laundry at the same time, so I was told to wear an ancient nightshirt. (I didn't even know we had that one.) Yes, I was told, that used to be normal for men, my paternal grandfather had always worn one… okaaaay… It was seriously uncomfortable. Fortunately I only had to endure it for one night. :-S

By David Marjanović (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Are those idiots over there really equating typing "go fuck yourself" (with or without an object) to violent sexual assault?

Yes, they are. If only they realized that this is much more offensive than telling an idiot to fuck them self. But many of those people are conflating it with rape threats also. If you read over the thread, it becomes obvious that some have problems with reading comprehension, they get the opposite of what was said.

By Janine, Mistre… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

people wear things when asleep? what for*?

What if you have to fight off an assailant in the middle of the night, or escape an angry she-bear? I prefer to defend myself/flee clotherd and shod. I sleep fully dressed, standing in my closet.

By Antiochus Epiphanes (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

or am I missing some sort of explanatory context?

You're not missing a thing. It's seriously sickening how far they go to reinforce their hatred of Pharyngula. They've continuously conflated "go fuck yourself" with "you should be raped and die".

Intellectual dishonesty, thy name is the Intersection. They're just following the leader there, I suppose.

Are those idiots over there really equating typing "go fuck yourself" (with or without an object) to violent sexual assault?

or am I missing some sort of explanatory context?

Nope... that's pretty much it. Ad absurdium argument at its finest.

I avoid the Intersucktion pretty much like the plague these days. I've read this ridiculous thread just to keep up with the topic here on the endless thread, but anyplace that considers Bilbo a valued member of the commenting community is simply not a place I wish to spend the little free time I have. Not even for entertainment value.

By Celtic_Evolution (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

A rerun from last year, but it needs to be said again:

You maniacs! You blew it up! DARN YOU! GOSH DARN YOU ALL TO HECK!

What if you have to fight off an assailant in the middle of the night, or escape an angry she-bear?

I fight better unclothed. And I can always just draw an anti-she-bear circle in the sand.

By Celtic_Evolution (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I fight better unclothed.

Not me. I'm lost without my shinobi shōzoku and tabi boots, I'm afraid. Where do you keep your shuriken and kusarigama? Do you just like duct-tape them to your back?

By Antiochus Epiphanes (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

For a great many years I slept in underwear only. But a set for that particular purpose, not the same I wore in the day. (I think these days I wear my underwear longer than what is considered good form. But if I recall correctly, I wore it longer as a kid.)

Anyway, I rediscovered pyjamas about a decade ago (and I'm just now wearing one of the first I bought ...). But I don't wear anything under it. They serve to protect the linen (which I also don't change often enough).

I didn't mean to comment on this now, but at this rate, I'd never contribute otherwise.

I only really wanted to ask if Celtic Evolution is Randy Milholland? (That question would make more sense, if I could find the damn strip in his crappy archive.)

@581

I sleep fully dressed, standing in my closet.

LOL. But I think you left something out. It should read, "I sleep fully dressed, standing in my closet, with a loaded gun in my hand."

To reduce my monthly utility bills, I turn the heat down in my house. During the day, it's what other people think of as "cold" and at night it's what most people would call "fucking freezing." I'm used to camping outdoors in freezing weather, so it doesn't bother me -- just so it's warm enough to keep the water pipes from freezing. But... I do like the freedom to roll around a bit in bed without waking myself up with sudden blasts of cold air on my shoulders and upper body. So, I wear two layers of comfy, stretchy clothes on top and nothing on the bottom.

By Lynna, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Where do you keep your shuriken and kusarigama? Do you just like duct-tape them to your back?

Of course not! But then again, I don't exactly sleep with them... ;^)

By Celtic_Evolution (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Your cussin' fu is strong, but the Intersection is back up.

Hmmm - I think I recall a "blueelm". You musta made quite an impression to stay in my sieve of a memory, Ol'Greg. (Still do, actually.)

I wish to thank PZ Myers for the endless thread, because it gave me the unique chance to learn how many of the female commenters sleep without underwear.I'm still thinking about how that makes me feel.
That is all.

By Rorschach (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

people wear things when asleep? what for*?

Australia. Nighttime heat so still and sweaty you can't use the sheet. Mozzies.

Care to add bare flesh to that mix? I don't.

By ~Pharyngulette~ (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

three anecdotes that are relevant to the sleeping discussion:

1)when I first moved to ND, I had to teach my boyfriend that his usual mode of going to sleep (i.e. collapsing diagonally across the mattress fully clothed in his day-clothes) was not a valid option

2)his and mine temperature comfort-ranges are non-overlapping entities. The first winter, we broke the thermostat by constantly shifting the temperatures up and down; the second winter, we suffered at a middle range that made me too warm, and him too cold; this winter, we split up the apartment: he gets the dining room, I get the livingroom. I think the temperature difference between the two rooms is a good 10F.

3)another consequence of the non-overlapping temperature ranges is that we have our own blankets. Mine is a thin summer blanket; his is fit for arctic exploration.

By Jadehawk, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Australia. Nighttime heat so still and sweaty you can't use the sheet. Mozzies.

Care to add bare flesh to that mix? I don't.

1)Australia isn't fit for human habitation anyway. d'uh
2)why would you add fabric when it's hot? unless it's wet fabric. I guess I do sometimes sleep in wet clothes during the worst of summer.
3)mozzies bite thru clothing. nudity is pretty irrelevant to that. unless you consider being covered in insect repellent as being clothed, that is.

By Jadehawk, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Rorschach:

I wish to thank PZ Myers for the endless thread, because it gave me the unique chance to learn how many of the female commenters sleep without underwear.I'm still thinking about how that makes me feel.

That is all.

That's all? That's all?

How disingenuous, you despicable lying goatfucker. Somebody should rape and kill you for being such shiteating liar... oops, wrong topic! Sorry!

Back to ladies with no undies.

Surely now you're wondering how many of them, and which ones, are wearing no undies, and perhaps entirely nude, when sitting at their computers or even lying down in bed with a laptop, while interacting with you on the Endless Thread.

Or is it just me?

jadehawk #594

another consequence of the non-overlapping temperature ranges is that we have our own blankets. Mine is a thin summer blanket; his is fit for arctic exploration.

Oh, I know this phenomenon well... I sleep unclothed and uncovered even in the dead of winter. Also, I apparently give off a good deal of body heat (I'm not all that heavy, but not exactly skinny either), and I also apparently sleep like a blender on frappe setting... So this leads to a few things happening:

a) I fall asleep on top of the blankets initially, making it difficult for any bedmate I might have to adjust the blankets once I'm off to dreamland.

b) like a washing machine, each time I turn I tend to drag blankets in one direction, but not the other when I turn back.

c) by morning I do occasionally get cold and tend to simply grab for a blanket and pull it over, taking no care at all as to the original location of said blanket.

d) if I do manage to get under the blankets and not uncover the poor helpless victim next to me, I inevitably cause the temperature under the blankets to rise to uncomfortable levels, forcing the poor soul to uncover herself.

I've worked some to mitigate some of these habits, like putting a blanket on the floor next to me if I get cold and kicking the blankets aside instead of just falling asleep on them... needless to say these changes have been brought about out of necessity, as I would like to actually continue to have relationships and, occasionally, sex.

By Celtic_Evolution (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Surely now you're wondering how many of them, and which ones, are wearing no undies, and perhaps entirely nude, when sitting at their computers or even lying down in bed with a laptop, while interacting with you on the Endless Thread.

Or is it just me?

No.

By Feynmaniac (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I don't move much when I sleep anyway… When it's very hot, I take the blanket out of its cover, but keep the cover.

I move, a lot. Like really a lot.

I barely sleep longer than hour bits and pieces through the night and I'm constantly switching which side I'm on because of an old shoulder injury. I can't stay on that side for too long, and the other side usually has me face to ass with my 110 lbs. Choc lab who inevitably makes his way up the bed between Mrs. BigDumbChimp and I.

By Rev. BigDumbChimp (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

BTW, if anybody found my previous comment going too far into creepy objectificationland for a joke, rather than stupid-funny, I'm sorry and I'll STFU.

Also, I apparently give off a good deal of body heat

as far as my boyfriend is concerned, that's a feature, not a bug. I've not yet decided how I feel about being his personal space-heater and hand-warmer :-p

By Jadehawk, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

#596 & 598

Yes - just you and Feynmaniac.

Jeez. Now I'm starting to feel like a nevernude in comparison to some of you free spirits.

Also, I apparently give off a good deal of body heat

as far as my boyfriend is concerned, that's a feature, not a bug.

I find that that point of view tends to be very seasonal... can't tell you how many July evenings have had the otherwise serene silence violently interrupted by angry cries of "Jesus FUCK you're hot! MOVE!"

By Celtic_Evolution (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

PZ Myers | March 4, 2010 11:51 AM:

Yep, DiscoverMagazine.com seems to have crashed.
You guys killed it with your rudeness and profanity and evidence. YOU BASTARDS!

Nonsense. That site gets unresponsive every time Phil Plait puts up good Hubble porn. This time around is probably his fault too.

Oh Carlie I loved that show. Such a shame when it went off the air.

By Rev. BigDumbChimp (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink
people wear things when asleep?

What if you have to fight off an assailant in the middle of the night, or escape an angry she-bear?

Not a problem. In fact, it's an advantage, like the ancient Pict(? Celtic?) warriors who “fought” naked. In reality, the opponents/invaders either ran away screaming at the sight, or else were easily dispatched whilst they were laughing.†

 †  <pedant>Just to be clear here, I'm not suggesting the real opponents of said naked warriors were slaughtered whilst laughing, albeit I (vaguely) recall there are stories of some of the Romans running away.</pedant>

Alan B,

I didn't actually think about that until I was trying to come up with a funny response to Rorschach.

So it's just Rorschach who's a sick objectifying sexist fuck. He made me and Feynmaniac do it!

(We really should do extreme violence to his person for that... and to freak the Intersectarians out.)

2)why would you add fabric when it's hot?
3)mozzies bite thru clothing.

A. Very light fabric is the go. Silk is great.
A. Yes, yes they do bite through it, damn their eyes. Just not as deeply and itchingly as they do when my immobile, pink epidermis is (apparently) appetisingly unclothed.

Now if I could just keep them from nibbling on my feet!

By ~Pharyngulette~ (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

In fact, it's an advantage, like the ancient Pict(? Celtic?) warriors who “fought” naked.

AHA! See? Vindication!

In reality, the opponents/invaders either ran away screaming at the sight, or else were easily dispatched whilst they were laughing.

Dammit.

By Celtic_Evolution (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Carlie, letting your lady parts breathe is a proven way to prevent yeast infections. Let the lady parts rejoice in their freedom -- you might find you like it. I think the freedom gives a positive spin to dreams, but I have no proof.

Change of subject, if not underwear: Rachel Maddow's latest show is oddly apt for the situation at the train wreck known as the Intersection. She talks about proving that Orin Hatch lied, and having Hatch respond only to her tone -- that is, Hatch didn't question any of the facts of Maddow's report, but he did say it was a "badge of honor" to be dissed by her. Well, the show is better than I'm managing to describe here. See
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#35698838

By Lynna, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

…serene silence violently interrupted by angry cries of "Jesus FUCK you're hot! MOVE!"

That's not what I'd call a pleasant invitation to have sex, but each to their own…

Australia. Nighttime heat so still and sweaty you can't use the sheet. Mozzies.

That's Queensland. Down here we have air-conditioning.
I sleep with clothes up and down, and a doona over me.Like, normal people.

By Rorschach (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

That's not what I'd call a pleasant invitation to have sex

As it turned out, it wasn't... go figure. :/

By Celtic_Evolution (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

A. Very light fabric is the go. Silk is great.

I can't stand the feeling of silk in most circumstances. its... distracting, among other things

By Jadehawk, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Celtic Evolution,

I find that that point of view tends to be very seasonal... can't tell you how many July evenings have had the otherwise serene silence violently interrupted by angry cries of "Jesus FUCK you're hot! MOVE!"

Yeah, my wife's snuggliness is very seasonal.

Reminds me of a Burmese python I used to have, often loose in the house.*

So we call that "snake love."

I feel so used.

*It loved the heated waterbed in the winter. One time Spot found the wrong waterbed and slithered in, and my housemate's new girlfriend couldn't stop screaming for about 15 minutes. Oops! We hadn't realized she was a serious snakeophobe, and had been faking being completely cool with the "beautiful" snake.

Or is it Intersectuals? What is the proper term?

And the appropriate term of venery?

Houston. Summer. All nice and airconditioned inside, even when it's don't-touch-the-windows hot. But it's never nice and dry inside... the humidity seeps everywhere. To keep from waking up with a pretty multicolored flocking of mold in August, I sleep naked in light silk dupioni sheets. Frighteningly expensive, but surprisingly durable, and not as difficult to wash as you might think.

By badgersdaughter (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Jadehawk

I can't stand the feeling of silk in most circumstances. its... distracting, among other things

And the eerie similarities continue...

And how do you explain that we're never in the same place at the same time?? HMMM??

By Celtic_Evolution (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Right after I clicked to post the last one, it came to me.

A clutch of Intersectuals.

But I don't want to insult intersexuals, so that needs work.

I avoid the Intersucktion pretty much like the plague these days.

I think I've never been there ever since they left ScienceBorg. I also think I haven't missed anything.

three anecdotes that are relevant to the sleeping discussion:

Would it be insensitive to express condolences?

Or is it just me?

Many people… how to say it… prefer when other people are almost naked over them being completely so. There's a long list of interesting psychological factors in this; the phenomenon seems to have been studied a lot, comparatively speaking.

By David Marjanović (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Fuch this shit! Enough of this underwear talk! Do I need to shove splintering sticks up you collective asses and set you all on fire! Enough already!

Well. I do think I will be sitting out the underwear talk. Unless it is about rubber panties and brass bras. And ball gags!

By Janine, Mistre… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Habotai, not dupioni. Scratchy old dupioni, blech.

By badgersdaughter (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

anyplace that considers Bilbo a valued member of the commenting community is simply not a place I wish to spend the little free time I have.

lol

By Feynmaniac (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

did somebody say almost naked

By strange gods b… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Fuch?... Fuch?...
Is there no escape the chimp?

By Janine, Mistre… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

See, now I could sleep naked in silk sheets, probably, but I think Mr Husband might regard that as a constant invitation for - what's the polite term, so as not to offend delicate sensibilities of Pharyngulites..?

Oh yes: He'd be all over me for constant rumpy-pumpy.

Oh dear. I've overshared again, haven't I?

By ~Pharyngulette~ (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Hey, Paul W.,

Completely off-topic, but your Gomen was a huge hit at the TheBold household.

Just thought you should know.

By nigelTheBold (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I've never been clothed in silk, but I can imagine… it's not actually soft, it's more like plastic foil, isn't it.

By David Marjanović (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I have a serious question to ask both Pygmy Loris and Ol'Greg. Does it bother either of you when I tell a person to fuck themselves? Yeah, it is about the Intersection situation.

By Janine, Mistre… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

But I don't want to insult intersexuals, so that needs work.

Intersects.

By nigelTheBold (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Skinput: a technology that appropriates the human body for acoustic transmission, allowing the skin to be used as a finger input surface. Hmmm. Maybe we could use this on our naked, sleeping Pharyngulites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3XPUdW9Ryg

By Lynna, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

There's a long list of interesting psychological factors in this; the phenomenon seems to have been studied a lot, comparatively speaking.

Don't be a tease. Citations?

By strange gods b… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Note that vertical gene transfer (sensu Marjanović) often transpires horizontally. Except for upright-closeted ninja sleepers, who keeps it REAL.

By Antiochus Epiphanes (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Yikes! It's almost time for poopyhead to slam shut this subthread and, assuming past behaviour is a guide, open a new one—and this one hasn't even been up for 24 hours yet…

And no-one's mentioned real bacon yet (just a phoney reference by badgersdaughter@416 to confuse the hoard). Or MUSHROOMS. Or, thanks FSMs, peas…

Quite a few naked commando bicyclists searching for evidence or signs of intelligence in another blog.

I've never been clothed in silk, but I can imagine… it's not actually soft, it's more like plastic foil, isn't it.

I definitely don't like the feel of silk. It's too scratchy to me, and I don't understand how it got the reputation of being so soft. Satin, on the other hand, is divine.

nigelTheBold,

Completely off-topic, but your Gomen was a huge hit at the TheBold household.

Oh cool; I've been hoping for some feedback.

Should I post more recipes?

Before anybody gets all condescending and sciency and poll-crashing on my ass... I know that the singular of anecdote is not data... but what the hell.

Before PeeZed closes the portcullis on this thread, I wish to summarise my position on all the hot buttons so far discussed:

Walton: Love your new nym
Undies: yes
Swearing: fucking fuck, yes
Sleeping nude: only if the night time temperature drops below 30 degrees and I can have silk sheets tented around me as a barrier against invertebrates
Bacon: YES!

By ~Pharyngulette~ (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Why? Why do women's underwear suck so badly? I hate them. Maybe I would feel differently if they made me feel sexy. But they don't. They make me feel uncomfortable and kind of stupid.

This.

Particularly the ones that are simultaneously cut low at what we will laughingly call the "waist", and high well over the thigh. At that point, why bother? I mean, unless they are lacy and silky and being deliberately deployed for seductive purposes.

people wear things when asleep? what for

For warmth. I am almost always the coldest person in any given room; my husband's comfortable sleeping temperature and mine fail to sync up by at least 10 degrees. Not only do I wear underthings (top and bottom) and pajamas (and sometimes, in the winter, socks), I have two pads and a thermal blanket between me and the waterbed mattress, and a sheet, thermal blanket, and comforter over top. I also wear gloves with the fingers cut out, between my hands and my carpel-tunnel braces.

If the house catches fire, or she-bears break in, all I need to add are shoes and my cane (useful either for escape, or for beating up the bears).

Paul W.,

Assuming the cranky oldtimers don't mind, I'd say you should post more recipes.

By nigelTheBold (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Paul W.

Or is it Intersectuals? What is the proper term?

Dungeon dwellers ?

And the appropriate term of venery?

A mess ?

(not to be confused with a mess of iguanas)

By negentropyeater (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

David M.:

I've never been clothed in silk, but I can imagine…

It's definitely something you should check out empirically. It's very hard to reason out from first principles.

it's not actually soft, it's more like plastic foil, isn't it

Sort of, except that it's completely different.

Simply-woven silk is not stretchy, so in that sense it's like mylar (which is what I'm guessing you meant by "plastic foil").

An the other hand, it's very smooth down to a very fine scale, and then it's not. So it doesn't stick to your skin, and judder when it slips across your skin, like smooth plastic. It breathes, and it wicks, so you generally stay dry under a wide range of circumstances it will slip easily across your skin, when smooth plastic would not, and would be very icky.

I think a lot of people like it because it's not soft in the sense of stretchy and giving, and you can feel it. Instead it's slippy and finely textured, and they like the feel of that. Your mileage may vary. I like it fine, but it's no big deal as it is to some people, who think it's a sensual delight.

Hmmm... that all makes me wonder if A. Noyd hates it, with her sensory hypersensitivity. Or maybe most alternatives are worse one way or another.

Before PeeZed closes the portcullis on this thread,

this thread is only about 30hrs old, poor thing.

Is this a new record ?

If we continue at this speed, we'll arrive at episode CCCXXV in a year.

By negentropyeater (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Uh oh, the thread's about to get closed. Figures.

On the main topics:

Undies: Nope.

Swearing: Oh yes, I swear. I swear a whole fucking lot.

Nakedness at night: Absolutely. Cannot sleep with any type of nightclothes or dayclothes or any kind of clothes on.

The Intersection: Too stupid to live. All of 'em.

this thread is only about 30hrs old, poor thing.

Oops, you're right. Delete my comment above @638 about it being less than 24 hours old… Sodding AMs and PMs. Ridiculous outmoded timekeeping on a worm-eaten crutch.

Note for Bride of Shrek, OM:

Better to wash skidmarked underpants than skidmarked pants. The skid marks are going to appear no matter what, and it's better to have a barrier in place.

I wear undershirts for the same reason, in Florida: even though it's hotter, and I sweat more, the sweat and deodorant doesn't ruin my actual shirts. Instead, the undershirt takes most of the damage; I'd rather throw away a $1 undershirt than a $20 shirt, or a $.50 pair of underpants instead of a $45 pair of pants.

Besides, I sweat. A lot. (I weigh 350 lb and live in Florida.) And having an undershirt keeps my shirt dry, for the most part.

Thread summary:

Underwear: briefs, and undershirts. Folded, sorta (I loosely fold briefs in thirds, then in half vertically, no creases).

Swearing: Oh fuck yes.

Nakedness at night: Nope. Underpants, at a minimum, for hygiene.

The Intersection: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

#638 blf

And no-one's mentioned real bacon yet...

How true. There has been a bit of possible lesbian interest at #596...

The Intersection: Too stupid to live. All of 'em.

Oh noes! Caine is threatening to kill all of the Intersects!

I'm clutching my fainting couch as we speak.

By nigelTheBold (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Whoops. Apologies, my friends. I left the link out comment 652.

To round out the thread, we also need some sexual misbehavior by politicians.

Early Wednesday morning, State Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-Calif.) was pulled over and arrested for drunk driving. Sources report that Ashburn -- a fierce opponent of gay rights -- was driving drunk after leaving a gay nightclub; when the officer stopped the state-issued vehicle, there was an unidentified man in the passenger seat of the car.
By Lynna, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

nigelTheBold @ 651:

*cocks an eyebrow in Nigel's direction* As long as it's the fainting couch you're clutching...I better not see pearls!

@Lynna #652,

OMFNEG! That is just one of the best things I've heard in a long time.

I'm suddenly very happy.

Yes. I'm a vengeful motherfucker. Why do you ask?

By nigelTheBold (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Utah Governor takes a tiny step toward restoring reason and humanity to one of the inane bills recently proposed by conservative mormons:

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah Gov. Gary Herbert wants a new version of a bill passed by lawmakers that some fear could result in criminal homicide investigations of women who have miscarriages.
     Herbert spokeswoman Angie Welling said Thursday Herbert wants to ensure there are no unintended consequences from the bill that would make abortions not performed by a doctor through a medical procedure illegal.
     For example, Welling says the governor is worried a pregnant woman who has an accident while skiing could be charged with a crime.
     She says Herbert has asked Rep. Carl Wimmer, the bill's sponsor, to pass a new version of the bill that excludes reckless behavior.
     Wimmer opened a bill file Thursday that he says will address misperceptions about the bill...

It's not "misperceptions" oh, brain-damaged one. No, it's people rightly perceiving that you want to punish women who have abortions, and that you even want to punish women who have a miscarriage. Source: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=9893818

By Lynna, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

This thread still open? Damn. I thought we'd be halfway into Episode XV by now.

By WowbaggerOM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Lynna, the saga of the two-faced state senator is rich, and so is this:

Police wiretaps are expected to result in charges against Angelo Balducci, 63, a Papal Gentleman, as lay attendant are called, and the former chairman of the Holy See's Public Works Department, which is itself caught up in a corruption investigation.According to police, Balducci regularly contacted Chinedu Ehiem Thomas, a Nigerian man who sings in St. Peter's Cappella Giulia, to engage the sexual services of young male members of the choir, along with seminarians and undocumented immigrants seeking residency status. (via Pam's House Blend)

Hey, no wonder the Vatican fights to keep gays as subhuman—equality would be bad for business.

By aratina cage o… (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

I didn't read all of the posts at the Intersection, but in skimming them I didn't see references to Smoggy. How can Smoggy's creative invitations to his fellow christians have escaped the notice of the pearl-clutch flock? Too creative for them?

By Lynna, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Er, I'm obviously too tired to remember my Roman numerals; that should be Episode XXXV, not XV.

By WowbaggerOM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

aratina cage, what I like about the story is that it doesn't just detail a single instance of what the Catholics consider sexual misconduct, but it offers up an entire prostitution ring, a ring run right under the Pope's nose. Excellent.

In 72 pages of transcribed wiretaps, Ehiem tells Balducci about one possible candidate: "Angelo ... I'll say no more. Two meters (6-foot-7), 97 kilos (250 lbs.), 33 years-old and completely active (top)."
     In one wiretap from last December, Renzi is heard explaining the rules of engagement: "You'll get up to 2,000 euros ... Do not touch his balls. You need the money. Put on some music, take out the [inaudible], swallow the Vi*gr*, and adelante!"
By Lynna, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

Paul W. | March 4, 2010 2:53 PM:

Or is it Intersectuals? What is the proper term?

Concern trolls.

Or is it Intersectuals? What is the proper term?

In one comment over there I dubbed them the Loyal Intersection Morality Police; I believe that's appropriate - particularly if they apply the acronym...

By WowbaggerOM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

When mom stopped buying my underwear, I stopped wearing it.

This explains David's socks...

More news from Texas:

The largest state Baptist group in the nation wants Christ's message of hope heard in every home in Texas -- about 9 million of them ...
     Members of the First Baptist Church in Shallowater, Texas, are taking part in an initiative by the The Baptist General Convention of Texas to spread Christ's word to every home in Texas by Easter 2010. The group is distributing apple pies and CDs that contain Bible passages.

Source:
http://www.sltrib.com/faith/ci_14463842

By Lynna, OM (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink

The group is distributing apple pies and CDs that contain Bible passages.

Will the Bible passages be inside the pies or outside, on the pastry ?

By Matt Penfold (not verified) on 04 Mar 2010 #permalink