|
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
Topics - Wunderkind
26
« on: May 19, 2008, 05:27:21 AM »
While at work tonight, someone made the statement that "If you own a handgun you obviously intend on shooting someone."
I thought it was dumbest thing I'd ever heard, that because I own several projectile firing weapons including a handgun, I must intend on shooting someone. Since that was never the intention behind me owning a hadngun (hobby), nor a rifle (we have coyotes roamin' around-no joke) nor a bow and quiver (hobby).
I'm just curious what everyone else's opinion about this is.
27
« on: May 13, 2008, 10:32:10 PM »
Now this is a question of what's humane for the horse or the wallet.Yeah, I'm in a bad mood so this is an angry post. If you want to see some inhumane behaviour towards horses, how about, "We can't feed you because there's a drought on and hay prices are high, so we're going to turn you out into fields that are dry as bone because there's a drought on." And as if it wasn't bad enough that people can't take responsibility for their animals when things get tough, horses aren't like cats and dogs, people. There aren't huge numbers of shelters around every corner where you can just dump them. Most operations are like my mother's farm and can only handle a hand-full at a time. When you decide to just put them out, there's nothing to really graze on, they could get chased by stray dogs (see natural predators list), hit by cars, or shot because there just aren't enough places to take them in. Fuckin' people.
28
« on: May 13, 2008, 05:28:02 AM »
I'm posting this cautiously. I've been surfing around looking for a way to create a signature. If there is a way to do this with Paint, then I'm ignorant to it. The only ways I've found are through shifty free online places or expensive downloads. I did find this. My question to the forum is, is this safe to download? You guys seemed like the best group to ask. Oh, and flame me if downloading something is completely unnecessary. It will inspire me to keep searching for the guides that keep ellluding me (maybe I'm typing the wrong thing into google *shrugs*). Anyway, it's not a critical thing, just little curiousity. (I currently have no other image editor on my computer other than paint, before anyone asks. I am a member of Photobucket.)
29
« on: May 12, 2008, 11:28:46 PM »
Note my sarcasm.So, what next? Oops, we weren't expecting another hurricane! *rolls eyes Nice.
30
« on: April 29, 2008, 01:49:12 AM »
Male wasps make love to orchids. Don't worry it's completely safe for work. It really is about wasps and orchids. I got a laugh out of it. I figured someone else might too. It appears humans aren't the only ones experimenting with alternative lifestyles.
34
« on: April 17, 2008, 03:31:27 AM »
I've been surfing the web reading my daily does of news and the pope has been plastered everywhere like he's the next Messiah. I'm reading along and so far they're reporting everything short of what he ate for breakfast this morning and I stumble on this: Pope says U.S. society can undermine Catholic faith Pope Benedict tempered his praise for American religious tolerance on Wednesday with a warning that U.S. society can quietly undermine Catholicism by reducing all faiths to a lowest common denominator. I didn't think much of it at first and kept on reading. Then the little gears in my brain got to turning and I re-read it. Pope Benedict tempered his praise for American religious tolerance on Wednesday with a warning that U.S. society can quietly undermine Catholicism by reducing all faiths to a lowest common denominator. I don't know whether to laugh hysterically or be pissed off. I should expect these things to come out of the man's mouth, but it still threw me for a loop. He's at least alluding that religious tolerance is bad. And worse, this is the only snip of this I can find anywhere.
35
« on: April 10, 2008, 11:26:57 PM »
And now, for the best marketing ploy ever. I would have never read the article if hadn't been for that picture. As for the article... not so hilarious. Excerpt: Old ways not 'quick enough'
"Conservation planning has historically focused on protecting one species or one group of species at a time, but in our race to beat species extinction, that one-taxon approach is not going to be quick enough," she added.
Using special software and data collected over decades, the researchers created a high-resolution map of the island (Madagascar) and the habitat of those 2,315 animals and plants.
"While the analysis emphasized the importance of protecting an enormous sweep of species of several groups, the model also was tailored to afford greater priority to species that have suffered significant range reductions between the years of 1950 to 2000," the Wildlife Conservation Society said.
As examples, the group cited two types of lemurs that were given higher ratings due to recent habitat reductions: the Coquerel’s sifaka (listed as critically endangered) and the Decken’s sifaka (listed as vulnerable).
Getting the species data was not easy. "The terrain is rough, there are few roads, and we often had to hike 18 miles to get to the field site," Kremen said of her own research. "Once there, we'd live for months in a tent under a tarp, enduring leeches and torrential rainfalls, eating rice and beans, to document the range of animal and plant species in a specific area. This is truly hard-won data."
I say, more power to them. Loosing biological diversity is still one of the worst side effects of 'civilization', at least, in my opinion. If they think they've found a better way to not only reverse it but prevent it... cool.
36
« on: April 10, 2008, 11:19:55 PM »
This makes me get my hopes up. Perhaps there is justice. Excerpt: Lawyers for the Democratic-led panel argued in court documents that Bush's chief of staff, Josh Bolten, and former White House counsel Harriet Miers are not protected from subpoenas last year that sought information about the dismissals.
The legal filing came in lawsuit that pits the legislative branch against the executive in a fight over a president's powers.
The committee is seeking the testimony as it tries to make a case that the White House directed the firing of nine U.S. attorneys because they were not supportive enough of Republicans' political agenda.
The White House says such information is private and covered by executive privilege, the doctrine intended to protect the confidentiality of presidential communications.
House lawyers told U.S. District Judge John D. Bates that subpoenaed White House officials cannot simply skip hearings as Miers did during the committee's investigation. Further, they said, any documents or testimony believed to be covered by the privilege must be itemized for Congress' assessment.
Executive privilege is not a right spelled out in the Constitution, so the legal issues are murky and disputes are normally resolved politically. The suit is risky for both sides. Courts have not been kind to the presidency in fights over subpoenas; Congress could have its power to demand information curtailed permanently.
The White House has said Bush was not personally involved in deciding which U.S. prosecutors to fire and that any White House communications on the matter are off-limits under the privilege. Presidential counsel Fred Fielding declared Miers and Bolten immune from prosecution because their refusal to comply with the subpoenas was done at the White House's direction under the privilege.
He also did not provide a privilege log, arguing that revealing the information sought would compromise the president's access to candid advice.
The result, the committee wrote, is White House defiance of congressional oversight unseen since the presidential intransigence that led to Richard Nixon's resignation
37
« on: April 09, 2008, 04:17:06 AM »
As requested by 12AX7. For those of you who missed the PM (which was all of you) this is what started it: -story about how I threw the kitten's toy into the washing machine to wash it and the kitten followed it, cute story, the kitten now knows that there are warm dry clothes in the dryer, but not the washer, no injuries resulted from her washing machine toy dive- -12 asks how many/what kind of pets I have- ...Anyway, there are 3 cats, 3 dogs, 2 goats, and 2 horses. The kitten that took a head-dive into the washing machine today is about 6mnths(Grace, dumped-on-the-road-side rescue). My cat is 6 yrs (Smoky, Friends of Feral Cats Abused rescue), and the oldest is going on 10yrs (Buttons, runt-the-pet-store didn't want to sell and tried to throw out with the garbage rescue). All of animals are rescues 'cept one of the horses, but we have a special soft spot for cats. I have a super soft spot for them since finding out that's 10x more difficult to get a cat adopted than a dog and that cats are 5x more likely to abandoned/abused. Grizzly is a 5yr old Newfoundland mix/big baby (and I mean BIG baby all 130lbs of him)left at the shelter door. Rose is a 12yr old Rotty mix, stolen out of the backyard of an abandoned house. Crissy is a dumped-on-the-road-side rescue mutt (possibly border collie/chow?) estimated 10yrs old. Mighty Mouse is a Three-Bars Quarter Horse who we rescued/bought from a guy who was starving her. Jaime is also Three-Bars, but a Fjord mix who came out of a line we've owned for a while*. The goats, Nana and Blondie, are non-descripted pygmies we found one morning when someone tied them to our gate post overnight. I guess our farm just screams,"We take animals". *This is horsetrainer 1337 5P34K for we owned her mother, father, grandmother etc. someone tied them to our gate post overnight It never ceases to amaze me what some people will do.
Hmmm. In my short life I've seen more animal abuse than my fair share, mostly because we've always been involved with animals somehow (training or straight-up rescuing). LeStat was the worst case I can think of off hand that we personally dealt with. He lived with our neighbors for a while and we called the ASPCA on them several times, but they always denied owning a cat and he was never around to provide proof (the cat, I mean). One day the people just packed up all their shit and pulled out. Two weeks later we saw a tiny starved mangy looking black cat still in the house. My mom gimmied a window, my sister and I crawled in, we stole his stunted little self, and crawled the fuck out. Now for the good news. The people came back two more weeks later, pissed off to find their cat missing. By this time he had a comfortable little pad in Ontario with my Great Aunt (another one who is actually more like my fourth cousin one removed, but we still call her 'Great Aunt'). They tried to call the ASPCA on us but the ASPCA was like, "We thought you didn't have a cat." And they fucked themselves further by talking about how they left him in the house while they were gone for four weeks. LeStat now lives a happy little life (although he will always be small and scrawny looking) where he is treated like a god and even has his own little 'house' in a tree in the backyard - complete with central heating. That's my favourite rescue story. Mostly because it involves breaking and entering and is the most risky thing I've ever done. > On a side note: We also stole Rose the dog as I mentioned before, but that house really was abandoned and we did it under permission from the police, so it wasn't really stealing. Also, by central heating I mean she wired an electric heater up into the cat house for LeStat since he doesn't like going into the human house (can you blame him) even in the Ontario winter. And that is my story about stealing LeStat.
38
« on: April 08, 2008, 12:06:39 AM »
My sister operates a dance school and occassionally I help out, like today. Today I got up around noon and drove out to her school to play hall monitor for about a dozen or so young girls, so that there was an adult, who was not teaching, who would sit and watch them between classes and during the pick-up/drop-off periods. I'm familiar with which child goes with which parent so it works out pretty well. Most people who know me know that I also engage in needlecrafting (no this not an RPG) as a hobby. It was what I chose to bring along with me today to keep my hands busy while sitting and occassionally looking up to tell 'so-and-so' that running up and down the hallway probably isn't a wise idea.
Well, today, one child in particular was picked up by her Aunt, a woman who has never been very courteous or pleasant. As usual, she was down right rude to my sister, snapped up the girl's hand and spun around to walk out when she saw me sitting on the bench with an embriodery hoop and some cross-stitch and I'm telling you, she had a good old fashion southern conniption.
Apparently, ballet and needlecrafting are now responsible for the downfall of society. In her words they "encourage abuses and discrimation toward women" and therefor "lead to perception that all women are stupid". Yes, because my ability to balance on my toes on a space half the size of your iPod and sew a 11"x14" picture using only stitches barely 2mm in length, somehow makes me dumb and therefor makes all women who see me doing it dumb too.
I started laughing hysterically, which did not help. She proceeded to continue to rant and rave for another twenty minutes about how if Rachel had been her daughter blah blah blah. I still couldn't get over the part where my crosstitch led to the downfall of society. When I asked her to repeat it, please, she scoffed and blamed me for domestic violence.
Anyway, I thought I'd share this little bit of daily humor. This was how my day started. With me causing the downfall of society and all domestic violence.
39
« on: April 07, 2008, 12:17:49 AM »
But hey, it made me smile to know that while I'm sitting there in the theatre thinking, "That can't actually happen." I'm right! Physics in the Realm of HollywoodlandIf you have any others to add, please do! I just couldn't think of any right now.
40
« on: April 05, 2008, 01:14:13 PM »
The Geekery Chronicles: Chapter One
Darkness was setting in fast on the once brightened streets. The members of the elite morombie fighting team had dispersed to enjoy at least one day off from fighting the undead idiots of the world. But there was to be no peace or rest for the champions of intellect.
I found it as I returned to the headquarters to check on the locks, never quite certain that things were safe, perhaps as a side effect of a sordid youth. Its shapeless, faceless form shadowed the alley and it spoke with the same distorted tone as did all the morombies. I reached quickly for some way to defend myself, but alas! I had left my weapon in the car! All I could do now was hope that I wasn't alone.
Perhaps Dark Shade was still lurking in the shadows as he usually did. Or 12AX7, who rarely left the headquarters, seeing human life as dull and uninteresting, was still inside and would hear the exchange. Maybe, Detta would return early.
All I could was stand there, and hope...
- In other words, love that your first post was hocking a website in the entertainment forum... perhaps next time we'll find out who you are and actually care -
41
« on: April 04, 2008, 05:51:39 PM »
So, my family has been in the animal-training/rescue field for a while (3+ generations). While I don't do it professionally, I do train/rescue as a hobby and I've noticed there is a disturbing common thread.
Most people with 'mean' small dogs (10lbs. or less) are scared to death of them and I am baffled by this. How can you be afraid of something 1/3 your size? A person's fear of horses might be mildly justified by the fact that they are 1/2 a ton or larger, however a fear of cats? Really? You can pick it up and throw it without expending too much energy.
This all was brought up by an, shall we say, aquaintance with a small mean bitch who attacks everyone coming through the door. Off the cuff I suggested spaying, since that can sometimes ease temperment, she wouldn't have it because... well the gods only know. Some well hammered bullshit about how she couldn't do that to her 'baby'. Anyway, I went to see her to see if I could help and the woman is scared senseless of a 5lb chihuahua that she could easily defeat with one hand.
I don't get it. What reason is there to be scared? It didn't even look that demon-possessed, and I've seen some pretty possessed looking dogs in my life.
Why, why, why, why, are people afraid of small dogs and cats?
42
« on: April 01, 2008, 11:18:29 PM »
Part of me thinks this is an elborate April Fools' Day prank. Part of me can't take it seriously because it doesn't matter how many of them there were, they were eight-years-old. Part of me think it's scary as hell that they even got the idea in their third-grade heads. Third Graders Plot Attack on TeacherI read it, my first thoughts were, "What the... Where the hell are these kids parents?" What were yours?
43
« on: March 26, 2008, 04:41:17 AM »
Telling me I can't is another. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23694159/We all know the government doesn't think we can make informed decisions as adults on our own anymore, but when I saw this I nearly gagged. Next thing you know they'll be telling me what books I should read and who I should be talking too... God, I sounded like my bat-shit religious wing-nut father just then. Anyway... Salt? Are you kidding me? Informing me about the salt content is one thing, telling me I shouldn't eat it is fabulous (knowledge is power), but suddenly deciding I can't? God man, it's SALT!
44
« on: March 19, 2008, 04:20:55 PM »
The Vernal Equinox happens at 5:48am GMT on March 20th, which means some of you got to celebrate it on the 19th (but I have to wait until the 20th). Happy First Day of Spring! 
45
« on: March 12, 2008, 02:45:47 AM »
I prefer to stay in my corner and I am not the most post-happy person in the world, but I've been told that it's rude not to introduce yourself.
Hi. I'm here.
Is there anything you want to know?
|
as teens use informal writing at school
Embarrassed to admit I didn't know she played