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| 2006/1/26 [Politics/Domestic/California, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:41532 Activity:nil |
1/26 Senator Train Wreck Coburn set to stir up the Senate
http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/TimChapman/2006/01/26/183818.html
Gingrich / Coburn in 2008! |
| 2006/1/26 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Israel] UID:41533 Activity:high 90%like:41537 |
1/25 Hamas wins Palestinian election
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060126/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_election
\_ [Hamas and Fatah] "camps threw stones at each other, breaking
windows in the building [parliament], as Fatah supporters briefly
tried to lower the green Hamas banners [flying over parliament].
The crowd of about 3,000 Hamas backers cheered and whistled as
activists on the roof of the parliament raised the Hamas banners
again." So who do we blame for letting Palestine get taken over
by Iranian backed religious fundementalist terrorists and now
Palestine is going to fall into civil war? |
| 2006/1/26-27 [Recreation/Dating, Recreation/Computer] UID:41534 Activity:nil |
1/25 lots of fun: http://www.craigslist.org/sfc/rnr/126401122.html \_ http://postsecret.blogspot.com \_ http://grouphug.us |
| 2006/1/26 [Science/GlobalWarming, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Troll] UID:41535 Activity:high 69%like:41545 |
1/25 [Why is Furious censored? Restored, at the top no less.]
Furious MOTD guy here again.
I only masturbated 3 times today. Oh wait I forgot
about #4, in the CEO's office after he went home.
I came home and looked at link:tinyurl.com/apac2
\_ It's gonna suck when you're 38 and you're balls are all worn out.
\_ Is that possible? They seem to be working pretty well!
\_ I think you should get together with chicom troll and motd boob
guy and have a debate.
\_ Why would I want to have a debate with him? OTOH I enjoy his
URLs. -- motd boob guy
\_ You guys could discuss masturbation technique, and whether it
is better to masturbate to pictures of western or superior
chinese breeding.
\_ Seriously, don't you sort of... ache after a while? I call
BS on the CEO thing though.
\_ gee, you're perceptive. -tom
\_ I was working late and he left early.
\_ Why would you want to masturbate in a guy's office? I once
masturbated outside my busty petite HR's office late night,
shot my load on the door handle and let it dry up. The next
day she came to work and opened the door with her bare hand.
\_ Same reason ass pennies exist.
\_ Nice! A slimmer tummy would be even better.
\_ Why Furious Masturbator will inherit the earth. 'In bat species
noted for female monogamy, males have small testes and big brains;
in bat species noted for female promiscuity, males have testicles
five times as big, but with smaller brains. Testes in one species
are 8.5 percent of the male's body weight. Reason for big testicles:
If a female is taking sperm from you and another guy, the best way
to pass on your genes instead of his is to deliver more sperm. (This
is why chimps have testicles "many times larger than those of
gorillas.") Reason for small brains: Male bats that spent their
energy making sperm beat out the ones that spent their energy
thinking. Researchers' conclusion: "Size does matter."'
http://www.slate.com/id/2134651
BTW, testes 8.5% of body weight are some pretty big and dense balls. |
| 2006/1/26-27 [Uncategorized] UID:41536 Activity:nil |
1/25 I'm looking for a complete list of zip codes, city names, and
approx GPS coordinates in the US, free. Where can I get this?
\_ US Census Bureau's Tiger Database. |
| 2006/1/26-27 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Israel] UID:41537 Activity:nil 90%like:41533 |
1/25 Hamas wins Palestinian election
http://tinyurl.com/9xqqu (news.yahoo.com)
\_ [Hamas and Fatah] "camps threw stones at each other, breaking
windows in the building [parliament], as Fatah supporters briefly
tried to lower the green Hamas banners [flying over parliament].
The crowd of about 3,000 Hamas backers cheered and whistled as
activists on the roof of the parliament raised the Hamas banners
again." So who do we blame for letting Palestine get taken over
by Iranian backed religious fundementalist terrorists and now
Palestine is going to fall into civil war?
\_ Erm...The Palestinians that voted for them?
\_ How do you figure that?
\_ Between Hamas in Palestine and the UIA in Iraq, it looks like
the Persian Empire is poised for a real comeback. |
| 2006/1/26 [Uncategorized] UID:41538 Activity:nil |
1/26 LA Times column completely misrepresented by Reuters!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060125/us_nm/iraq_usa_media_dc |
| 2006/1/26 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:41539 Activity:nil 67%like:41543 |
1/26 http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/1/26/115712.shtml?s=ic Former #2 Iraq air force official Georges Sada (also thrown in jail by Saddam for his refusal to execute 40 American POWs during the Gulf War) says two pilots told him that Saddam flew (chemical) WMDs to Syria in the months preceding and in anticipation of the 2003 Iraq invasion. Note Dubya has only said "much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong", not that Saddam never had WMDs. |
| 2006/1/26-27 [Transportation/Car] UID:41540 Activity:nil |
1/26 Car Talk claims the Acetone gas milage rumors are a crock
http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/2006/January/08.html |
| 2006/1/26 [Uncategorized] UID:41541 Activity:nil |
1/26 James Frey admits he was totally full of shit.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060126/en_nm/frey_dc |
| 2006/1/26-28 [Politics/Domestic/911] UID:41542 Activity:kinda low |
1/26 "There's no doubt in my mind it is legal." -GW Bush (Jan 26, 2006)
[warrantless eavesdropping on communications, where one end is
international and with a reasonable basis to believe there is a
Al Qaeda link during a declared war on Al Qaeda]
\_ Bush administration rejected an amendment offered by Mike Dewine
in 2002 that would have made this legal because the Justice Dept.
said it would be unconstitutional.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/25/AR2006012502270.html
http://csua.org/u/esc [wapo]
Really. They simply don't want ANYONE to know what they're doing.
Not even in sealed records in the court. Wake up.
\_ Dubya, in the same interview today, also said that he would be
cautious about passing a law which explicitly makes it legal:
"... if information gets out to how we run it or how we operate
it, it'll help the enemy"
\_ Bull... Shit...
\_ Ok smarty pants, tell us why Osama stopped using his
satellite phone, then? Didn't like the color anymore?
\_ Well, he heard we were busting into his carrier pigeon
network, so he figured we might apply the same
techniques elsewhere.
\_ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/21/AR2005122101994.html
\_ http://tinyurl.com/bmvja (washingtonpost.com)
Seriously, fuck you.
\_ Ok, I read your article and it's got nothing to do
with anything. I won't stoop to your childish
level and spew some random junior high level noise
in response.
\_ You're joking, right? His article answered your
question completely. What are you talking about?
\_ No it didn't. It was chock full of "appears"
and "might have" and other conjecture. Once
you strip the noise out, there isn't much left
and frankly even if you assumed it was all
true, the whole thing doesn't deny that Osama
stopped using his phone due to them figuring
out we could find them that way, which was the
whole point of this in the first place. If we
tell them how our intel gathering works, then
they'll change their methods. This seems so
obvious I can't believe we're discussing it.
\_ The Post article is confusing and misses some key
elements. This fills out the rest:
http://www.slate.com/id/2132975/?nav=navoa
Answer:
(1) The Daily News (of Pakistan) broke the news a day
after the missile strike, reporting that 30 minutes
after Al-Zawahiri called the newspaper from his sat
phone, U.S. missiles landed on their camp.
(2) The same day, the Washington Times had reported in
the 21st paragraph of an article that Osama uses sat
phones -- but, unlike the Pakistani newspaper, did not
link the use of sat phones with the missile strike.
(3) An intelligent person would conclude that bin Laden
made the "A-ha!" connection from (1), not (2),
especially because it's (a) a Pakistani paper, and (b)
the link is spelled out, unlike in the Wash Times.
(4) The meme that the Wash Times was responsible for
bin Laden's stopping his use of his sat phone was
propagated and perhaps largely initiated by two Clinton
people in a 2002 book which stated as fact the
accusation against the conservative Wash Times.
(5) The 9/11 commission further propagated the meme,
and cited three "very responsible, very senior
intelligence officers" as confirming the accusation in
the 9/11 commission report.
(6) In all likelihood, the sources in (4) and (5) are
mistaken. Definitive evidence of (1) would make this
almost certain.
\_ Are you sure the amendment refers to the same thing?
It looks to me like the amendment was for all aspects of
surveilling and wiretapping non-U.S. citizens, period, not just
intl<->domestic calls.
\_ Do you think Al-Queda employs constitutional law legal
scholars?
surveilling and wiretapping non-U.S. citizens (obtaining warrants
based on a "reasonable suspicion" of terrorist activity), not
not just intl<->domestic calls.
\_ "I am not a crook!" -Richard Nixon |
| 2006/1/26-27 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:41543 Activity:nil 67%like:41539 |
1/26 http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/1/26/115712.shtml?s=ic Former #2 Iraq air force general Georges Sada (also thrown in jail by Saddam for his refusal to execute 40 American POWs during the Gulf War) says two pilots ("know them very well", "very good friends of mine") told him that Saddam flew (chemical) WMDs to Syria in the months preceding and in anticipation of the 2003 Iraq invasion. Sada, in an interview with Hannity & Combes last night, also says Iraq's nuclear capability has long since been destroyed. Sada also pushed his new book: "Saddam's Secrets". \_ The name reminds me of the Conan skits. My question is will Sada have to apologize to Oprah later? |
| 2006/1/26 [Health/Disease/General] UID:41544 Activity:nil |
1/26 Quit it already, Mr. Furious. It's getting old and boring. Please
consider going to a shrink, it is possible that you have obsessive
compulsory disease mixed with a mild form of bipolarism. |
| 2006/1/26 [Science/GlobalWarming, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Troll] UID:41545 Activity:moderate 69%like:41535 |
1/25 [Why is Furious censored? Restored, at the top no less. And you
should really learn to delete better. You're wiping out whole
chunks of unrelated posts along with this. The odd thing is, the
more you censor, the more this gets restored at the top, thus ensuring
it will stick around longer.]
Furious MOTD guy here again.
I only masturbated 3 times today. Oh wait I forgot
about #4, in the CEO's office after he went home.
I came home and looked at link:tinyurl.com/apac2
\_ It's gonna suck when you're 38 and you're balls are all worn out.
\_ your
\_ Is that possible? They seem to be working pretty well!
\_ Actually, balls are a "if you don't use it you lose it thing",
not a "you'll wear it out" thing.
\_ I think you should get together with chicom troll and motd boob
guy and have a debate.
\_ Why would I want to have a debate with him? OTOH I enjoy his
URLs. -- motd boob guy
\_ You guys could discuss masturbation technique, and whether it
is better to masturbate to pictures of western or superior
chinese breeding.
\_ Seriously, don't you sort of... ache after a while? I call
BS on the CEO thing though.
\_ gee, you're perceptive. -tom
\_ I was working late and he left early.
\_ Why would you want to masturbate in a guy's office? I once
masturbated outside my busty petite HR's office late night,
shot my load on the door handle and let it dry up. The next
day she came to work and opened the door with her bare hand.
\_ Same reason ass pennies exist.
\_ Nice! A slimmer tummy would be even better.
\_ Why Furious Masturbator will inherit the earth. 'In bat species
noted for female monogamy, males have small testes and big brains;
in bat species noted for female promiscuity, males have testicles
five times as big, but with smaller brains. Testes in one species
are 8.5 percent of the male's body weight. Reason for big testicles:
If a female is taking sperm from you and another guy, the best way
to pass on your genes instead of his is to deliver more sperm. (This
is why chimps have testicles "many times larger than those of
gorillas.") Reason for small brains: Male bats that spent their
energy making sperm beat out the ones that spent their energy
thinking. Researchers' conclusion: "Size does matter."'
http://www.slate.com/id/2134651
BTW, testes 8.5% of body weight are some pretty big and dense balls.
\_ 17lb balls on a 200lb guy. |
| 2006/1/26-29 [Finance/Banking] UID:41546 Activity:nil |
1/26 Online Savings update:
http://ingdirect.com: 3.80%
emigrantdirect: 4.25%
hsbcdirect: 4.25%
28-day t-bill: 4.216% (free from state/local taxes)
capital one: 4.00%
\_ If you don't mind living on the wild side, there's
http://www.fordcredit.com/interestadvantage/index.jhtml , with
an interest of 4.86% for a "checking" account.
\_ 4.75% for money you put into INGDirect until 4/15 (even with
existing accounts)
\_ then it goes down.
\_ It also goes down if you take any money out, so you might as
well treat it as an X month CD. Investing in t-bills gives
a better rate.
Patelco 1-yr CD rate: 5 |
| 2006/1/26-29 [Politics/Domestic/California/Prop] UID:41547 Activity:moderate |
1/26 Does anyone have a pointer to research that shows how the FMV paid
for eminent domain purchases compare to some "fair" FMV for the
property? I know anecdotally the government-paid FMV is unfair,
but some research would be nice.
\_ The government should pay whatever the owner wants and forget
about FMV. If the owner wants too much, the government should
not buy it. It's that simple.
\_ Wow, thanks for that astute analysis.
\_ Seems like common sense and yet that's not the way we
are doing things at the moment.
\_ The 5th amend. requires "just compensation" not fair market
value. This gives a court considerable flexibility in dete-
rmining what the appropriate value is for property. Usually
they get an appraiser, look at the property's income (if
use for rental purposes), and compare the prices of similar
property in the same locale. I don't have a url w/ numbers,
but I remember looking at a Real Estate Valuation treatise
that had some comparisions.
\_ Well, there was an allegation here that prices would plummet if
a neighbor has been declared the target of eminent domain
seizure. Then the government would come in and pay the post-
plummet price. Is there anything beyond anecdotal that this
happens?
\_ Generally the gov. comes in and makes an offer on your
house prior to using ED. They would prefer that you leave
willing instead of being forced out. In many cases, the
gov. price is reasonable but not great. But it is enough
for the vast majority of people to sell and leave. The
people who suffer the low price problem are the holdouts.
No one wants to buy their property and they've already
told the gov. no, they are probably stuck getting a very
low ED price rather than the gov. original offer. Pre-
Kelo there was a HOPE that a sympathetic ct would say
no public use and you could stay, but now there is no
such hope.
\_ Eminent domain purchases would suck in California. For example,
if you bought your house 10 years ago for $200,000 and had to
sell it for $800,000 and if you wanted to buy a comparable house
in the same area for $800,000 now your property taxes go up by
at least a factor of 3.
\_ I agree. For the sake of fairness, we should get rid of
prop 13.
\_ For the sake of truth in advertising, everyone in an ED
discussion should self identify as [renter,owner,want-to-own,
will-never-own,bitter/not-bitter]. For the sake of of well
run government, we should stop spending an insane amount of
money on our broken k-12 educational system, then we wouldn't
have people looking to kill prop 13 as yet another way to
raise taxes even if it means old people cant afford their
homes anymore. Anti-prop 13? I'll start: owner, amused,
feel bad for you. I'll guess you are: renter, want-to-own,
will-never-own, very bitter.
\_ Let me guess, you have asperger symdrone and you
think everything is either black or white, democrat
or republican, good or evil, renter or buyer, happy
or pissed off. Fucking dumb turd.
\_ Sounds like he pegged you.
\_ Sounds like he's a bitter renter, a poor guesser,
and can't read well either. Sounds like you're very
much the same.
\_ Pegged! |
| 2006/1/26-29 [Computer/SW/Languages/Web] UID:41548 Activity:nil |
1/26 In PHP how do you do a regular http get? I'd like to avoid
using system("wget ...") mechanism. Thanks.
\_ $html = file_get_contents('<DEAD>...');<DEAD> --dbushong
For more details, read:
http://php.net/manual/en/ref.filesystem.php#ini.allow-url-fopen
http://www.php.net/manual/en/features.remote-files.php |
| 2006/1/26-28 [Politics/Foreign/Canada] UID:41549 Activity:low |
1/26 Before you get too excited about the Canadian Conservative winning,
they're ready to flash their guns at us:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060126/ap_on_re_ca/canada_us
\_ Isn't Wilkins the one who almost started a trade war over lumber?
\_ "Global warming is melting the passage..."
But... motd told me global warming doesn't exist!
\_ No, the motd told you humans are not the primary cause, if it
is actually happening.
\_ Is this the same MOTD that said there'd be a general military
draft?
\_ When you understand the difference between an inaccurate
prediction, and a wackjob position on current reality,
call us back. |
| 2006/1/26-28 [Politics] UID:41550 Activity:nil |
1/26 This ghetto-ization of politics to the bottom of the motd is
tiresome and boring. Knock it off.
\_ What does that mean?
\_ Someone is moving the political threads to the bottom of motd.
\_ I don't know about you, but that's actually a good thing.
Politics IS ghetto and deserves to be ghettoed. -not the op
\_ That's one opinion. |
| 2006/1/26-28 [Politics/Domestic/California, ERROR, uid:41551, category id '18005#4.165' has no name! , ] UID:41551 Activity:nil |
1/26 WTF, Robert Byrd?
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/26/politics/26cnd-alito.html
\- if this surprises you, you dont know that hack robert byrd.
he's the democrat's TEED STEVENS
\_ Democrat*IC*!! *IC* STOP STEALING OUR *IC* YOU CRAVEN WORM! |
| 2006/1/26-29 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/Japan] UID:41552 Activity:moderate |
1/26 Why the heck is a Japanese Geisha played by Chinese women?
It's obvious she doesn't look Japanese. What are the whities
insinuating, that all Asians look alike? Fucking racist whities.
-pissed off Asian Man
\_ http://www.alllooksame.com
\_ todd solondz recently had a movie with a white girl played
by a black girl. its called drama. you find an actor to play
the part.
\_ Yeah. All asian characters should be played by Puerto Ricans
and Russians, like in the King and I.
\_ Ob. Jonathan Pryce and Miss Saigon.
\_ Assuming you are not a troll, this is more about business
than race. There simply are no big name stars from Japan
who could have carried such a major movie. BTW, where is
it written that a chinese person can't play a japanese
role and visa versa? This is not quite the same stretch
as, say picking Brad Pit over Denzel Washington for the
part of Thurgood Marshall.
\_ What annoyed me more were the liberties taken with the depiction
of geisha, liberties that are inexcuseable for a movie that
is supposed to be founded in some approximation of historical
accuracy. For as much as they spent on the movie, you'd think
they could get the geisha part right, since it is a movie about
a geisha's life. I could have dealt with the horrible accents,
the "doesn't look like a typical Japanese woman", and the bits
<<<<<<< Other Changes Below
related to using non-Japanese actors to portray Japanese. After
all, who here can tell the difference between Cockney, London,
and Received British accents and if they're done right by
non-British actors? There is no intrinsic reason why the Chinese
\_ <raising my hand sheepishly> --scotsman
\_ Well, you're special. I bet most don't even know that there
is a difference. --Jon
actors in the film (or actresses if you prefer) could not have
filled the roles, but again, for a budget of 85 million, you'd
think they could have gotten the accents right.
think they could have gotten the accents right. --Jon
\_ Well, how about a Chinese Macbeth? And if that's ok, how
about a white one?
\_ I don't see anything wrong w/ a Chinese MacBeth or
Hamlet. Certainly some of the realism is lost w/
a non-Scottish or Danish star, but the whole point
of theater is wilful suspension of disbelief.
\_ How about a white Macbeth then?
\_ MacBeth was white (Scottish) correct? That is
perfectly acceptable as well.
\_ How about a white Othello?
\- you know OLIVER was the STANDARD OTHELLO.
DWASHINGTON has been in lots of Shakespeare.
\_ Olivier was--what--40 years ago. I know
DWashington can be a hmmm Don Pedro.
Can CYFat be hired to play an Othello
today (not some Asian adaptation, but the
Moor himself)? Can MGibson? I wonder
if Sir Lawrence would have been allowed to
play Othello today.
\- DWASHINGTON has been in more
Shakespeare than ADONOTHING.
\_ I think that CYFAT could play Othello,
but I doubt that MGIBSON could. It is
one of those roles that, in modern
times, as become associated w/ a non-
white actor even though when it was
original performed a white actor would
have played Othello. We also forget
that original Desdemona would have
been played by a young boy, which is
unimaginable today, except perhaps in
very limited local circumstances.
\_ I had a friend who was white who used to use
one of Othello's speeches for auditions. He
would never be cast in the role, but he could
play the shit out of the soliloquies. --scotsman
\_ This is akin to the example re Justice Marshall
that I gave above. Some roles are so linked to
a particular "race" that it is difficult for
others to play that part. Re Othello, iirc
he was a "moor" not "black", therefore it is
conceivable that someone like BKINGLSEY could
play him.
\_ Othello was indeed Moorish, and not all Moors
have dark skin. However, Iago refers to him
as "black Othello" (II.iii); and Othello says
himself, "Haply, for I am black" (III.iii).
There is quite some debate over what this
means, along with the many other "black"
references throughout the play. During the
Renaissance, unlike now, being "black" meant
that any of your features (such as hair or
eyes) were dark, not just skin.
-- dlong (!= pp)
\_ Do you think there are black Hamlets? Do
you think there are white Othellos? Today?
\_ Do you think there aren't?
\_ I have not recently seen a black Hamlet,
but I don't really have a problem w/ a
Black or Asian Hamlet as long as the
character is well played. I think that
the "race" of the actor has to match
the "race" of the character in very few
cases (ex. a white guy could never
portray Ben Sisko, just like a black
guy couldn't portray Robert E. Lee)
\_ Well, how about the white Othello? Do
you think one could be casted today?
\_ In a major motion picture, a white
Othello probably would not work,
unless they made Desedmona and Iago
black or asian or something, in
order to keep the tension up.
I think that in a theater produc-
tion a white Othello could work.
\_ Patrick Stewart played Othello
a few years back in a mostly Af-Am
cast.
\_ Really? Must have missed it.
Is it any good (ie worth
Netflixing?)
\_ It was a stage production.
Don't know if there's a film
release.
\_ Michael Clarke Duncan played the Kingpin in Daredevil. Sure
he's a big black man instead of a big white guy, but he did
fill the role and kept true to the comic book character. If
you can fill the role, great. If not, you (or your director
or producer/etc) are not doing a good job. It says something
when I feel Tom Cruise's Meiji era movie did a better job
depicting Japanese life than this one. --Jon
\_ Japanese TV and movie used to dominate East Asia with big stars
like Yamaguchi Momoe and Tanaka Yuuko. Don't know what caused
the decline.
=======
related to using non-Japanese actors to portray Japanese if they
had only gotten done an otherwise accurate depiction of a geisha's
life. After all, who here can tell the difference between
Cockney, London, and Received British accents and if they're
done right by non-British actors? There is no intrinsic reason
why the Chinese actors in the film (or actresses if you prefer)
could not have filled the roles, but again, for a budget of 85
million, you'd think they could have gotten the accents right.
\_ Well, how about a Chinese Macbeth? And if that's ok, how
about a white one? \_ I don't see anything wrong w/ a Chinese
MacBeth or
Hamlet. Certainly some of the realism is lost w/ a
non-Scottish or Danish star, but the whole point of theater
is wilful suspension of disbelief. \_ How about a white
Macbeth then?
\_ MacBeth was white (Scottish) correct? That is
perfectly acceptable as well. \_ How about a white
Othello?
\_ Japanese TV and movie used to dominate Asia with big stars
like
Yamaguchi Momoe and Tanaka Yuko. Don't know what caused the
decline.
>>>>>>> Your Changes Above
\_ Anime. Seriously.
\_ What annoyed me more were the liberties taken with the depiction
of geisha, liberties that are inexcuseable for a movie that
is supposed to be founded in some approximation of historical
accuracy. For as much as they spent on the movie, you'd think
they could get the geisha part right, since it is a movie about
a geisha's life. I could have dealt with the horrible accents,
the "doesn't look like a typical Japanese woman", and the bits
related to using non-Japanese actors to portray Japanese. After
all, who here can tell the difference between Cockney, London,
and Received British accents and if they're done right by
non-British actors? There is no intrinsic reason why the Chinese
\_ <raising my hand sheepishly> --scotsman
\_ Well, you're special. I bet most don't even know that there
is a difference. --Jon
actors in the film (or actresses if you prefer) could not have
filled the roles, but again, for a budget of 85 million, you'd
think they could have gotten the accents right. --Jon
\_ Arthur Golden had never visited Japan before writing the book.
If you're looking to it as an authoritative depiction of what
Japanese culture or Geishas are like, I suggest googling for
"Karl May". -John
\_ Mineko Iwasaki
\_ Touche. Nonetheless, random gaijin, a couple of interview
sessions with a representative of a centuries-old culture
and tradition = good basis for authoritative portrayal?
Hint: No. -John
\_ Examples, Jon? (of stuff they got wrong)
\_ Actually I read about the accents, and the director supposedly
wanted all of the major actresses to sound the same and the
only way to do that was to get them to speak in the same bad
accent.
\_ My friend wrote a book on Geisha which I found much more
accurate and well-researched than the silly and sensational
book this movie was based on:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1856486974 |
| 2006/1/26-29 [Uncategorized] UID:41553 Activity:nil |
1/26 Who the hell is posting the same furious political drivels? |
| 2006/1/26-29 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:41554 Activity:nil |
1/26 http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007536.php President of photo-shoot company (that does business almost exclusively with Republicans) identifies and deletes photo of Dubya and Abramoff from catalogs, citing it as a "business decision", within the last month. (nothing illegal about that; and she did contribute $6K to Dubya/the GOP, so she not only is preventing her business from failing but also wants to do it) \_ Not sure why she bothered. Almost every politico type ends up in a *lot* of pictures with various scummy people they later wish hadn't been taken. |
| 2006/1/26 [Uncategorized] UID:41555 Activity:nil |
1/26 http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11021093 Gen. Hayden does not appear to understand "probable cause" is key feature of 4th Amendment. |
| 2006/1/26-28 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:41556 Activity:nil |
1/26 http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11021093 Gen. Hayden does not appear to understand "probable cause" is key feature of 4th Amendment. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the measure is probable cause, I believe. HAYDEN: The amendment says unreasonable search and seizure. ... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the legal standard is probable cause. HAYDEN: Just to be very clear, and believe me, if there's any amendment to the Constitution that employees of the National Security Agency are familiar with, it's the Fourth. And it is a reasonableness standard in the Fourth Amendment. FYI, "probable cause" applies to warrants. You can search without a warrant, only in very specific cases, like when a police officer pats you down for weapons because he or she has a reasonable suspicion that you might endanger him or her, or when Dubya says so. \_ The Gen. and the UM may be talking about two different parts of the 4th amend. Note that the 4th amend. provides protection against unreasonable searches if the search is conducted using a deficient warrant (See Mapp, 367 US 643; Leon 468 US 897). The deficient warrant, in most cases, was issued upon a showing of probable cause. UM is focusing on the std for the warrant, Gen. Hayden is focusing on the type of search. Re warrantless searches, the Terry stop rationale has been applied in many contexts including dog sniffs of lugguage, &c. The questions to ask (afaik) are: (1) did you get a warrant? - if no, then the evid. obtained pursuant to the search may not be used against the accused. (2) did you make a sufficient showing of probable cause when you got your warrant? - if no then the evid. obtained can't be used. (3) Even if you got a valid warrant, did the warrant you used cover what was searched or seized? - if no, then the search was unreasonable and the evid. can't be used (4) Even if the warrant covered what was searched or seized, was the warrant too broad? - if yes, then some of the evid. may be excluded [ I'm not 100% sure about this one, I haven't taken crim pro yet ] |
| 2006/1/26-29 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:41557 Activity:high |
1/26 Our jobs are getting outsourced because we're unpatriotic and
buy foreign goods. Try something new. By an American vehicle -
chances are you'll be pleasantly surprised:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20060126/cm_usatoday/buyamericantoboostusindustries
\_ Real patriots don't drive cars.
\_ I bought an American vehicle but it had nothing to do with
politics. I drove everything I was even remotely interested in
in the 20-30k range from all makers and got an excellent price.
If American makers want more sales they need to improve quality
and features without increasing prices. Ford only had half the
right idea announce on Monday: they're over staffed and dumping
1/4 of their work force. I didn't see anything about fixing the
core problem which is that their car quality just sucks or I
would've bought some stock for a long term hold. GM got decent
customer satisfaction/quality ratings on recent surveys but didn't
market that fact at all. Companies run by stupid people are just
doomed in the long run.
\_ Actually, they know exactly why their quality sucks. Because
they spend something like $6k/car on worker benefits. That's
an extra $5k/car (!!) that their competition can spend on quality
parts and assurance.
\_ I'm calling bullshit on you.
\_ I call bullshit on you. Give some evidence.
\_ I'm sure Ford knows. My disappointment is that they didn't
announce a plan to do anything about it. I used to own one.
It was fun but built like shit and their service centers
sucked too.
\_ It's not $6K. It's about $3K. Note that German workers
get paid still higher though. I'd blame the unions.
\_ Eh, I'm being patriotic and I buy Japanese cars. But then
again I'm Japanese. I win.
\_ "But I think the real fault lies with the U.S. consumer. First we
wanted sport-utility vehicles, now we don't." How dare we have
fads! For shame!
\_ Someone should inform this guy that American cars are built by
Mexicans, while Japanese cars are being built by Americans.
\_ True, and that's why Nissan/Infiniti ratings are so low.
If you buy a car built in Japan it's going to be better
and I'm not sure why that is.
\_ I think that Nissan/Infiniti's problems have more to
do w/ the company and less to do w/ US manufacturing.
Toyota builds many Camry's and Corrola's in the US
and there are no quality problems w/ either. Same w/
Subaru.
The problem faced by US automakers is that they do
not spend enough time time on the details for most
cars (cf. trucks where US trucks are considered very
cars (cf. trucks where US trucks are considered
reliable).
\_ Perhaps, but Nissan's rating were higher when they
were Japan-built.
\_ Perhaps, but Nissan's ratings were higher when they
were Japan-built. BMW's ratings are higher for their
German-(or South African)-built cars. I have a
friend who specifically sought out a Japanese-built
Camry (you can tell by VIN). Is it better? I dunno,
but I'd bet it is if I had to guess.
\_ I owned a NUMI built Corrola for nearly 8 years
and the car was rock solid, never had any issues.
My brother has a Japan built Corrola now and it
equally reliable. Same w/ my Indiana built Outback.
I've owned American for years and the difference
btwn Japanese and American cars is the attention
to detail in the design rather than the location
of manufacture. Japanese manufacturers seem to
take more time to "debug" their cars. [ I under-
stand that my experience is not a statistically
significant sample ]
\_ US car manufacturers do have at least some fairly competitive
vehicles in their lineups. However, most of them are
underrated in consumers' minds. (I for one think Ford's
lineup is competitive except for Lincoln which needs an
overhaul like the one given to Cadillac). However, you
can't blame consumers alone for this. No one likes gambling
with a $15K-$30K purchasing decision. Snob appeal also
plays a role. Most US brands are now considered inferior to
the big three Japanese companies and I suppose there are
some people who wouldn't want to drive an American car just
because of that. I would blame again the manufacturers for
this. Having even one gimmick in a product lineup can do
damage to the whole brand. Offering cutthroat discounts at
the time when US media is mostly filled with negative news
about Ford and GM probably doesn't help much to brand's
image either. Neither it will help immediately if a brand
like Ford came up with clear winners in all cathegories as
it takes some time to build confidence among the consumers.
\_ I'm from Hong Kong and I bought three American cars before I bought
my first foreign one: Ford (sucks), Jeep (sucks), Jeep (okay),
Toyota (excellent).
\_ I totalled my Camry,had it repaired, been running great
for 2 years since. (there... i bet i just jinxed it) |
| 2006/1/26-29 [Recreation/Celebrity/MichaelJackson] UID:41558 Activity:nil |
1/26 Michael Jackson goes from white man to muslim woman:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4650420.stm |
| 2006/1/26-29 [Finance, Finance/Investment] UID:41559 Activity:low |
1/26 New report looks at where the growth in incomes of high-income
families has outpaced that of middle- and low-income households.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/25/news/economy/income_gap
\_ The rich get richer faster than the middle and lower classes.
And?
\_ The aggregation of wealth at the top is driving the middle
class into the working poor category.
\_ Aggregation? No. Middle class people making less compared
to cost of living (housing and medical in particular)
combined with a chronic inability to stop spending money
on crap they don't need drives down middle class real
adjusted worth. It can't last and it isn't surprising. |
| 2006/1/26-29 [Politics/Domestic/Immigration, Computer/Theory] UID:41560 Activity:nil |
1/26 Hello realkitty:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060126/od_nm/japan_robot_dc
\_ People have been predicting this trend for years. Given Japan's
generally anti-immigration stance and its
soon-to-be-rapidly-shrinking population, manpower will be quite
scarce. That combined with a culture that's accepting of (or even
enamored with) robots and seeing them soon in day-to-day jobs seems
inevitable. |
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