1/19    Patriot Search.  Help the government by making your search activity
        public.
        http://blog.outer-court.com/patriot

1/19    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060119/ap_on_go_ot/literacy_college_students
        Watch out, the idiots are fighting back in liberal universities

1/19    http://csua.org/u/eph (Yahoo News)
        Watch out, the idiots are fighting back in liberal universities
        \_ I'm not sure the researchers understand the difference between
           illiteracy and apathy. Also, what the hell do you have against
           80 col formatting?
        \_ It's finally happened.  We've turned into /.  This is a dup.

1/19    http://csua.org/u/epi (USA Today via Yahoo News)
        King Kong the movie is racist!!! They should have had a Caucasian
        King Kong falling in love with an African American woman.
        \_ So, the article has some good points, but it vacilitates
           between reason and abject stupidity.
        \_ If they'd wanted an award, they should have had him falling for a
           black *man*.
           \_ Asian man. A black man/woman would be racist.
        \_ So this Sheryl McCarthy thinks blacks are apes?

1/20    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060120/ap_on_go_ot/republicans_rove
        First there was the War on Terror, and now there's a War on
        Unpatriotic Liberal Dissents. Go Carl Rove!!!
        \_ You mean Not-unpatriotic-but-pre-9/11 And Profoundly Wrong Liberals
        \_ "But it is also a cautionary tale of what happens to a dominant
            party . in this case, the Democrat Party . when its thinking
            becomes ossified; when its energy begins to drain; when an
            entitlement mentality takes over; and when political power
            becomes an end in itself rather than a mean to achieve the
            common goal...."
           It's a definite sign of insanity to not be able to see the irony in
           what you're saying.
           \_ Or even the circumstances in which you say something.  When was
              the last time the D Party was dominant?  '93?  Sounds like Rove
              is living in the pre-pre-9/11 world.
           \_ What's with the persistent mispronunciation of the "Democratic"
              party as the "Democrat" party by Republicans in official and
              press statements?  I see this so much it can't be coincidence.
              \_ No coincidence. The Rs excel at crafting the message, and
                 it doesn't serve their purposes to given the Democrats even
                 the appearance of the high ground.
                 \_ I was going to say it is all an evil republican conspiracy
                    to uhm some-er-other but I see the nut head brigade got
                    here first.  Thanks for killing my joke.
                    \_ "I deeply resent the way this administration makes me
                        feel like a nutbar conspiracy theorist." Teresa
                        Nielsen Hayden
                        \_ Deep in the bowels of the Rovian Pit of Darkness,
                           "What new message shall we craft that will give us
                           the appearance of taking the high ground?  Ah ha!
                           I know!  We shall always refer the minority party
                           without their noble "ic" at the end of their name,
                           even in official literature!  Yes!  Muahahaha!"
                           Truly, this is one of the most dispicable yet
                           subtle attacks on our civil rights we have seen
                           up to now!  What next?  Will they sometimes use a
                           lower case "D" when next they write "democrat"?!
                           Egads!  They're unstoppable!  We're doooomed!
                           \_ LOL. No, not unstoppable or even clever. Just.
                              petty.
                              \_ You want the truth?  You can't handle the
                                 truth!  Ok, the truth is no one noticed any
                                 difference or cared.  Dropping the "ic" does
                                 not give or take away anything or give anyone
                                 the appearance of high ground or any other
                                 BS posted here on the topic.  The whole
                                 thing is just silly.  To claim it is some
                                 sort of conspiracy would be laughable if it
                                 weren't so bizarre.  Can anyone explain what
                                 benefit the DemocratIC party gets from the IC
                                 or they lose when the Republicans don't use
                                 the IC?  Is it like Samson's hair?
                                 \_ I'm not saying it's a conspiracy. I'm
                                    saying it's a conscious decision. And
                                    while I agree with you that Joe Q Public
                                    isn't even going to notice it, Rove and
                                    party are still doing it. That's what makes
                                    it so petty.
                                    \_ What is this big "it" they are doing?
                                       Dropping the "ic".  Christ Oh Mighty!
                                       Big Fucking Deal!  Of all the things
                                       going on in the world we've wasted
                                       nearly 2 screens on "ic".  Totally
                                       fucking stupid.  Get over it.
                                       \_ I have. The pettiness of the GOP
                                          no longer surprises or occupies my
                                          thoughts any more than your posts.
                                          \_ You are bizarre.  You have yet to
                                             explain how having or not having
                                             "ic" helps or hurts anyone or is
                                             petty or anything else.  Freak.
        \_ "We need to learn from our successes," he said, "and from the
           failures of others."  Good god.  What arrogance.  I actually agree
           with many of the things he says about the democratic party.
           They're being reflexively contrary and really do seem petty and
           childish.  On the other hand, I disagree with almost everything he
           says about the republicans.
           \_ If the D's could get the rules committee to let them hold
              an actual hearing, if they could get any legislative items
              on the agenda, if they were allowed in to the conference
              committees, you might have a point about reflexive contrarians.
              They are currently watching medicare be destroyed and a war slowly
              being lost, and the only outlet they have is to say "look what
              they're doing.  get pissed about it. cuz we can't do shit unless
              you vote more of our team in."
              \_ Did you watch the Alito hearings?  They seem to be a one-topic
                 party, and that topic is abortion.
                 \_ Abortion and his unitary executive theories.  There are a
                    number of republican senators who have gone back on
                    promises to their constituents that they would not allow
                    a sc justice through without pledging to protect roe on
                    both roberts and alito.  D's are actually concerned about
                    it, as are a large majority of the population.  They're
                    not driving the discussion (another of their problems).
                    They're just trying to get a word in.
                 \_ It's the elephant in the room that the Rs don't want to
                    talk about.
                    \_ The murdered baby elephant!!!1!!11!
                       \_ have you seen Tom Yum Goong?

1/20    Why are there 1/19 articles on top of 1/20 ones?
        \_ Because people routinely don't mark the date of their posts
           correctly.  You haven't noticed this?
        \_ Because people are dumb?
           \_ Yes they are indeed dumb. Just look at all the dumb people
              who choose to live in the crowded city instead of a nice
              quiet big suburbian house.
              \_ "suburban".  Speaking of dumbness ......

1/19    Food fight... Korean Style
        http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200501/200501210041.html
        \_ They don't look like they're having much fun.  (Although the
           audiance seems happy enough.)
           \_ Not as hot as the cute jgirl commercial link posted earlier.

1/20    Err... oh my. "Itœ is said he was preaching murder, but he was
        actually preaching from the Koran itself."€?
        http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,174-2001006,00.html
        \_ He's a fucking scumbag, Koran or not.  And it's nice to see
           traditionally "tolerant" Euro govts. starting to catch on.  -John

1/20    "GOP == GOD"
        \_ "My vehicle, my choice. Keep your laws off my SUV."
        \_ "Fight crime. Shoot back."
        \_ if ("GOP" == "GOD") {
                exit ;
           }

1/20    I am helping my brother build a home theater system. I was thinking of
        the panasonic TH-42PX50U plasma TV, the yamaha RX-V657 reciever but not
        sure what speakers. Any thoughts?
        \_ Get a Sony Bravia. It's got all the specs that guys approve of,
           and it looks like a nice piece of furniture that fits nicely in
           the room which gals approve of.
           \_ Fuck Sony.
              \_ Fuck Sony in the ass. Twice.
                 \_ Yeah!  Hate Sony!  Down with Sony!  Oh hey, speaking of
                    Sony, does anyone know when the PS3 is coming out?
                 \_ Sony is gay. Why do you want to pleasure it?
        \_ budget, speaker size constraints, room dimensions, WAF?  home
           theatre/music mix?  musical preference?  used ok?
           \_ He won't give me a budget, but prolly 2K. Room size is probably
              20X30 with kitchen behind room so that is mostly open. New not
              used.  Not really into music, mostly for TV and movies.
              \_ std answer would be psb (partha recommends them, so they have
                 to be good) image line (well within your budget at
                 http://saturdayaudio.com) or nht with say st4's.  you might want
                 to check out http://axiomaudio.com or http://av123.com, but those would
                 be audition challenges.  i had the axiom m80's for a while
                 and liked them, before the wife decided she could use the
                 space for better purposes.  hsu makes great subwoofers.
                 \_ Ditto on the NHT's.
              \_ You mean $2k just for the speakers, right?  You can't even
                 get the TH-42PX50U for that.
                 \_ Yes 2K for speakers.
                    \- i dont think there are a lot of PSB speaker dealers
                       in the area, so they may be somewhat difficult to
                       find. are you planning on R+L,2xrear,center,sub?
                       if you have a 2k budget you should be asking what is
                       good dealer rather than what is a good model.
                       i think bay area audio had really great staff
                       [knowlegeable and good attitude] but i havent
                       been there in +5yrs ... but i'd still check them out.
                       the robert harley book is also a decent investment.
                       \_ I've shopped at both San Mateo HiFi and BA Audio
                          in San Jose, and I thought they were good.  They're
                          both PSB dealers.  Music Lovers in Berkeley is
                          supposed to be good, but their lines seems too
                          expensive for the $2k budget (and I am not partial
                          to Paradigm).

1/20    Cute:  http://www.thedailywtf.com/forums/56931/ShowPost.aspx  -John

1/20    That's funny.  Money being pulled out of real estate naturally
        gravitates to the stock market.  After blue chip weakness, where
        does money go?  Oil futures.  And, let me predict:  defense co.'s
        continue to outperform.
        \_ Euros maybe? Commodities, of course. Foreign real estate.
        \_ Gold.  Always a good commodity when war is coming.
           \_ Copper.
        \_ goes to EMRG
        \_ wow, 16% drop in GOOG over 3 days

1/20    Well, I guess that GOOG short finally paid off.  Hope you did it at
        the right time.
        http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/20/technology/google_stock/index.htm?cnn=yes
        \_ Google going to 700 by Xmas!  Woot!  BUY! BUY! BUY!

1/20    "Lexus will offer a feature that lets the LS [460] parallel-park
        itself without the driver touching the steering wheel. Sales start
        in the fall."  Nifty.  How will liability work with something like
        that?
        \_ Same way it does if you crash while on cruise control.  -tom
           \_ Since you're not a lawyer I'd suggest you keep your trap shut.
              Product defect liability is a complex subject.
              \_ Since I don't see a name or a TRO attached to your post, I'm
                 guessing you're just a tom-hating punk.
                 \_ My first post in this thread: Welcome to the motd where
                    you don't have to be a professional to comment on legal,
                    medical, or financial matters and where it is equally
                    acceptable to point out when someone else is full of shit
                    because they lack the professional knowledge required to
                    intelligently comment on a complex issue.
           \_ You still steer in cruise control.
              \_ And you're still responsible for not running into the
                 back of the car in front of you.  -tom
                 \_ Uhm, no tom. If there was an actual defect to the
                    cruise control not being able to disengage, then
                    the liability becomes a whole lot more complex.
                    \_ You would have a point, if the original poster
                       were concerned about not being able to disengage the
                       automatic parallel-parking system.  Presumably that
                       will not be difficult.  Therefore, presumably you
                       will still be responsible for disengaging it (stepping
                       on the brake) if necessary.  -tom
        \_ Eight-speed auto?  Might as well use a CVT.
        \_ With the zero-turning-radius Jeep Hurricane, you don't need a
           computer to parallel-park.
        \_ Can it park into very tight space?  If so, is there a reverse mode
           to help dumb drivers pull the car out of the space afterwards?

1/20    So some guy (with an obvious Indian accent) calls me at home
        and says he's calling about some govt consumer grant where I can
        get up to $5000 and they will send me a package with an application
        and I can apply for the grant?  I was skeptical and just asked him
        if he was from India and he got pissed off and hung up on me.  So,
        do all the soda motders think this guy was really working for the
        govt and that they were calling me so I could apply for a grant,
        or is it more likely some scam?  He knew my name already, and
        didn't ask for any more information from me.
        \- maybe he was really from pakistan.
        \_ I'm from the Government and I'm here to help!
        \_ Maybe you should've asked if he was *in* India.
           \_ Well, I asked him where he was and he said he was in
              St. Petersberg, FL.  Later, I asked if he was from India.
              He said his last name was Rodgers, but he had an obvious
              foreign accent.  -op
        \_ Sounds like a scam to me.  Here:
           http://www.consumeraffairs.com/scam_alerts/grant.html
           But here's a rule of thumb:  if it appeals to your greed, it's
           likely to be a scam.  I mean, how eager are you to give someone
           something for nothing?  --PM
           \- one of my credit card companies offered me i think $25,000
              for a year at 0% interest for $75 up front. after it became
              clear i didnt "need" the money, we actually had sort of an
              interesting conversation ... i said "that is below mkt interest"
              and she said she knew but they sort of rely on people screwing
              up and not being able to pay back or forgetting ... and then
              complimented be on having a high savings rate. that was a weirdly
              refreshing conversation. you got the sense the person at the
              other end was reasonable sharp and not a telemarketing drone.
              \_ YMEW
                  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/view

1/20    http://www.glossika.com/en/dict/taiwanese/index.php
        Really good Min-nan Taiwanese lessons. It's really sad that
        pronunciation formalization is done by a whitie instead of
        a native Min-nan speaker. Do Min-nan natives even care that
        their language is dying? Why don't they write something
        about themselves?
        \_ You could say the same thing about a lot of People today and in
           the past.  Not everyone is that stuck on the academic concept of
           "preserving culture" like a rare plant or animal.  Cultures rise,
           cultures change, cultures die.  In this case maybe they don't see
           themselves as "Min-nan" in the way you do or simply have better
           things to do.
           \_ Every time a language dies the number of people in the world who
              can talk to eachother goes up.
              \_ Ok by me.
        \_ First of all, Ming-nan != Taiwanese.  It literally means
           "South of Fujian (province)." Secondly, Fujian as a province has
           about 18 different dialects,  the one spoken in Taiwan is mostly
           dervied from dialects of Xiamen city.  Third, much of so called
           Ming-nan education was part of "Taiwanese identity" and
           "de-sinofication" political movement.  Those who are in charge,
           strangely enough, cares *MORE* about the "de-sinofication" aspect
           than "preserve Ming-nan" culture.  Much effort was wasted on things
           like "how to use Latin characters / Japanese characters to denote
           Ming-nan dialect writing."  Like all political movement, it comes
           and goes.  Since the unemployement is at 20 year high and economy
           is growing at slowest pace in 40 years, identity has become
           a less of a hot topic.
           Lastly, don't worry about the fact that Ming-nan dialect is going
           to die.  It won't.  Look and everywhere in mainland China,
           dialects will be there forever, dispite that no dialect is being
           taught in school.                    kngharv

1/20    http://tinyurl.com/72upb
        Huh?  I thought it's legal to give Israel and Jews State Secret...
        \_ I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not.  Not to be
           reactionary, but the state of Israel and the Jewish people are not
           identical.  Saying Israel and the Jews comes across as ignorant,
           and maybe mildly anti-semitic. -dans
           \_ OP is a troll.  He thought it was legal to give state secrets to
              anyone?  Uhm yeah, riiiiiight.  The whole thing is just looking
              for wildly angry responses.  He's got 2 baits hooked to his
              single line; neither looks tasty to me.  The Young Troll
              Advisory Council rates this troll as: WEAK.