Wow, when did Boing Boing turn into LiveJournal?

My mother was a teacher, and used to teach pre-schoolers their colors wrong, as in Red=Yellow and Green=Blue. Years later, grown men and women would still come up to her and go, "HEY! You're the lady who taught me my colors wrong!" Her lesson clearly made a lasting impression.

I think that's a much better way to teach the lesson that knowledge should always be questioned.

And I think she'd agree, this was a horrific way to communicate this particular lesson.

I wish the American government would look more closely at the transactions of Big Oil, because I feel terrorized every time I go to the gas pump. Why isn't anyone looking more closely at where those dollars are going? Oh that's right, because they're campaign donors. What was I thinking?

@Easy2Panic: At the time of the Oklahoma Federal Bldg Bombing, there was much wild speculation about the large Arab population surrounding OKC, and whether or not it was an Arab that had committed the attack.

I remember thinking at the time, because it was the anniversary of Waco, "Wow, aren't they gonna be stunned when it turns out to be some blond haired, blue eyed, good ol' boy who did this." No one was more amazed than I when I was RIGHT.

Think about that the next time you glance suspiciously at someone of Middle Eastern origin.

I'm with Christovir, looks like Mustard Greens to me.

@MMB, #48: Personal stun guns aren't designed to subdue a rampaging individual. They're designed to give a bite to someone who didn't expect it, to make them think twice about their victim selection process.

What amazes me is that people are surprised that someone didn't take charge. Corporate culture breeds sheep. You expect there to be an alpha sheep in there when the black sheep goes rogue?

Best possible solution: leave the area.

Teddy also has sensors that detect the presence of paisley and corduroy, in which case it asks, "Are you really going out in that shirt?"

Teddy can also detect cheap cologne and lipstick, and asks the driver, "Have you talked to your therapist recently?"

And last of all, Teddy taps into parking sensors while the vehicle is in motion, offering such pearls of wisdom as, "You know, that isn't a safe braking distance. If we get into an accident, we might BREAK."

@Xopher, #42: Another Wiccan/Pagan chiming in. I like Radical Pantheist, but I'm more accurately described as Eclectic Pantheist.

Also, taking religious direction from car salesmen is about on the same order as taking medical advice from your car mechanic. You get what you pay for.

Also, I can't leave a comment on the site, but they suggest Azalea to counteract the toxins from foam insulation, but Azalea itself is poisonous, and a danger to pets and small children.

People who aren't morons like their free books in something other than online only formats.

I cannot respect this as a piece of art. So fiercely do I appall the destruction of the previous work that I can not begin to appreciate the "intent" here.

Which is strange, because I can and do respect the work of John Cage in his piece 4'33". He was asking people to actively listen to their environment.

Not on anyone's side here, but if LE asks you for your ID, not providing it is violating a lawful order and grounds for arrest. It isn't waiving your rights to agree to show ID.

IANAL, but someone please educate me if this understanding is incorrect in NY state.

Well done, Neo. You can see there is no post. Now, what are you prepared to do with this knowledge?

There are several honor system fruit stands around Ojai as well. One gentleman even sells fruit trees. It's a strange and wonderful place.

Are they like usual black holes?

Is there, somewhere in the universe, a pile of unmatched socks, ballpoint pens, coat hangers and now, the overly verbose emails of African dignitaries desperate to share their wealth with complete strangers?

You don't have to be a Christian to see that this is the right way to treat your fellow human being.

Subsequently, you don't have to be a New Yorker to know that this outcome is the exception and not the rule.

Harlan is a mensch, and I don't care what anyone else says about him. I've never heard him say anything remotely as backward and wrong-headed as Niven's statement taken at face value. (I have no context for Niven's words. It could very well have been satire. Colour me old-fashioned, but I'm not one to judge a person based solely on a two second sound bite.)

@Teresa: regarding your comment on COS collecting personal information, I received a phone call at my home phone number from someone claiming to be "Dianetics/Scientology". I told them to please take my name off their list and never call my number again, but I confess, it made my stomach clench. Their methods are truly insidious, and they seem like the perfect partner in crime for DHS.

Reminds me of the Stasi and their scent library.
(xref: Athanius Kircher Society, April 5, 2007)

This is truly a "wonderful thing". Thank you.

#5 beat me to it.

Alton Brown's version has a much cooler name too.

"Suspicious reporting of lost or stolen identification"

WTF? It sounds like they're trying to warn people about standard social engineering attacks, but they haven't got a good enough grasp of the concept to be able to articulate a sensible warning against the same.

As for the whole mess, to quote FDR, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Sure, convince yourself it's just a machine. That makes the cruelty acceptable, indeed, perhaps not even cruelty. Perhaps it's merely play.

And then think about Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib. Perhaps you can convince yourself those aren't really people, and that what's happening there isn't really cruelty. Perhaps that makes it easier to believe it's necessary.

Think about Auschwitz. Perhaps the Germans believed their charges weren't really people. Perhaps they convinced themselves that what they were doing was necessary.

The horrific nature of what's occurring here doesn't originate with the object of the cruelty. It originates with the instigator of the cruelty. You wouldn't treat an animal that way. Why on earth would you treat the simulacrum of an animal that way? Why would you train yourself to shift your perception so drastically that such behaviour becomes acceptable?

It isn't just damaging to the psyche. It's damaging to the very core of humanity within us.

"the blue fleet is a term coined by Sir Alistair Hardy to describe a community of floating animals including the infamous bluebottle, blue dragon nudibranchs, violet snails and other associated organisms. a floating raft of monochrome drifters, the blue fleet sails the world's oceans at the whim of the tides, winds and currents. humans generally only become aware of them when they are blown onto beachs and become stranded en masse at the hightide line. "

More on the blue dragon nudibranch and the rest of the Blue Fleet @ Spy's Spice.