Chris › Comments

These people would be jokes except that people actually listen to them. Good for Mexico City for joining the 21st century. - Chris

It's official. Mexico is more progressive than the U.S. - Etymology Freak

Looks interesting. Can't find a way to subscribe in iTunes, though. - Chris

Yeah, it does look interesting. I wish I had time to download some before my long car trip(s). - Etymology Freak

Interesting. - Chris

I don't know if this person's experiences are truly indicative of the Copenhagen infrastructure or not. But I know in most American cities when there is some big event which draws a lot of people who need to get around in something other than cars, it's generally difficult at best. - Chris

The year in crazy 2009. Wow, what a crazy year. - Chris

The comments on this story are appalling. Same old shit about how there's 'so much money' going for bikes and how the city is trying to 'favor' them blah blah blah. Seriously, if you've ridden a bike in any kind of traffic you know they are not favored by any stretch of the imagination. Plus a good bike infrastructure can only benefit drivers, as it helps reduce the number of cars on the road. But I guess in an era when millions of new people are expected to move to this city, and when the human population in general keeps on increasing, these asshats actually want more cars using increasingly congested roads. - Chris

Ugghhh. I could only handle the comments for about two minutes. Just gross. - Etymology Freak

Awesome idea, although it looks like it would blow off or at least around in a stiff wind. But if he's been using it for two years, maybe not. - Chris

"The term coastie was likely coined in Madison in the last 15 years, said Eric Raimy, a UW-Madison assistant professor of the English Language and Linguistics. He said other universities in the Midwest use the term, but usually to describe students from the coasts. In Madison, he said, the term is used as a pejorative to describe women with ''more Hollywood-esque cultural attributes to them'' but the song injects a Jewish component that can't be ignored." - - Another one of my professors in the NYT. I think it's clear than the term coastie *can have* Jewish connotations (notice I didn't say anti-Semitic - acknowledging that you know someone is Jewish is not the same as being anti-Semitic), but it's definitely more of a fashion-based term. It just happens that there is a huge overlap between Jewish girls on campus and girls on campus that dress like a "coastie," so the conflation is not hard to understand. And truth be told, I don't think there is a lot of anti-Semitism on campus. But... more... - Etymology Freak from Bookmarklet

Ah college. Good to see the kids spending their time wisely. I guess since I don't identify myself or feel a group connection based upon where I was born, I've never understood this stuff about we're the insiders, you're the outsiders. And it does seem like they're walking a fine line with the Jewish thing. What is the point of identifying someone as Jewish in that context if not to be insulting? Although sure, by degrees it's not as bad as lots of other examples of bigotry one could point to. - Chris

A lot of it comes down to socioeconomic classes. It costs a lot of money to go to school here from out of state (although still much less than comparable east coast schools), so a lot of the people labeled "coastie" are from much higher SECs than the "Sconnies." In many ways, college students here are like people everywhere: they tend to hang with people of the same SEC as them.... more... - Etymology Freak

There are good ways and bad ways to frame an argument and with the inclusion of "baby rabies" and "mini-mes," this is definitely the latter. - Etymology Freak from Bookmarklet

I hope she got her cats from a shelter. - Chris

Holy shit. Again... I though the exact same thing. I bet she didn't, though, because she probably would have mentioned it if she had. - Etymology Freak

"Johnson & Johnson has developed Priligy, a pill aimed at men who ejaculate before copulating or within seconds of beginning. Priligy, which is intended to help prolong latency time before orgasm, went on sale earlier this year in nine countries, but it has not been approved for sale in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration." - - Why can't these guys just use booze like all the other two pump chumps? - Etymology Freak from Bookmarklet

Thank goodness we have all that animal testing so stuff like this is possible. - Chris

We need to test on animals to see if the drugs meant to treat the ill effects of eating animals are working. - Etymology Freak

"The man, Henry Molaison... lost the ability to form new memories after a brain operation in 1953... Each time he met a new acquaintance, visited the corner store or strolled around the block, it was as if for the first time." - - Well, if you really enjoy a certain movie, you can always have someone play it for you three times a day. You would have that "I just watched an awesome movie" feeling all the time! - Etymology Freak from Bookmarklet

Especially if the movie is Memento. - Chris

I thought that same thing. And according to Wikipedia, Jonathan Nolan got the idea for the story Memento Mori (he later wrote the screenplay as well) from his general psychology class at Georgetown University. Since Henry Molaison is the most famous case of anterograde amnesia, it's very likely he learned about him in that class. It probably would have been really crazy for Molaison to watch that film (over and over and over). - Etymology Freak

"Chief Inspector David Oshannessy, from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New South Wales, told BBC Radio 5 live there was a "code of practice" which dictated how animals could be used in theatrical productions and films." - - Another case of an animal welfare organization making themselves (and by extension, people interested in animal welfare and/or rights) look stupid. As far as I can tell, the rat was not a "domestic" rat brought in specifically to be killed, but a rat in the wild. So how is this different from the scads of hunting and fishing shows on TV? And why is a rat being killed on camera more important than the hundreds of millions of farm animals killed *every day* off camera? Way to go after the big stuff, you attention-seeking, welfarist dipshits. - Etymology Freak from Bookmarklet

I assume that the program has showed the cast eating animal-based food at some point, so where was the RSPCA then? - Chris

Well, those animals were probably killed off camera, so they don't matter, apparently. - Etymology Freak

"Max Burger claims to be the first restaurant chain in the world to publish CO2 emissions on its menu." I like the general idea, but like a lot of "green" movements, the focus on carbon is myopic. What about water consumption, land used, petrol used, pesticide use, pollution, methane etc? It's a step in the right direction, but we need to look at the effects of our diets in a holistic way if comparisons are to be meaningful. Yes, it's hard (and expensive) to quantify such things, but dumbing it down to "carbon = bad" is not good either. - Etymology Freak from Bookmarklet

What is a falafel burger? A hamburger with falafel on it? Gross. - Chris

I took it to mean falafel shaped into a patty (rather than little balls) and served on a bun. I would give it a try, but I highly doubt that a hamburger bun is an improvement on a large, soft pita that can handle all the onions, tomatoes and tahini! - Etymology Freak

Interesting article on slang. I find it interesting that in every generation there are people that think the language is in steep decline, yet they seem oblivious to the fact that their parents' generation, their grandparents' generation and so on, all had people that thought the exact same thing. It's the same as the "kids today are horrible" phenomenon. Anyone that thinks that there is some magical line that separates slang from non-slang is a fool. But I do like the idea of teaching slang and the idea of register in school. I think kids will be much more open to the idea of selective use of slang rather than outright abstention. - Etymology Freak from Bookmarklet

I don't know about slang, but I refuse to use the word "appropriacy." - Chris

Someone in the comments section actually quoted a definition from some dictionary, but it's not in the dictionary I checked (OED). Academics have so many "made up" words, and that's fine in some situations where it actually creates a needed term, but that's sadly not the case mot of the time, imo. But, yeah, I don't know why he felt the need to use that word in an interview. - Etymology Freak

"she went to the police with the story that her ex-husband engaged time and again in sex play with the child. She also coached the child to back up what she said. Not content with that, she drew some lewd pictures and told the police the child had drawn them. Unfortunately for Pastore, the child blew the whistle on her." - - What a horrible thing to do to a father and to the child. Whatever prison term the father would have gotten if convicted, that's how long she should sit in the slammer (plus the same length of probation). Maybe she had legitimate reasons for wanting the man and out of their lives, but this is not the way to go about it. - Etymology Freak from Bookmarklet

Ah, the love of a mother. Is there anything else so pure? - Chris

Who cares about the Catholics that sometimes go to a Protestant service? The real story is the number of Americans that believe in absurd shit like reincarnation, evil eye and astrology. Unbelievable. Any why do they lump atheists, agnostics and the "secular unaffiliated" all in one group for reporting purposes? And 35% of liberals believe in "spiritual energy?" WTF? And what does it mean to "believe in" yoga? - Etymology Freak from Bookmarklet

Oh my Zeus, what a delusional bunch of nitwits we are. - Chris

"Five people, including three police officers, have been indicted in the fatal race-related beating of a Latino man in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania... Two indictments charge the five with federal hate crime charges, as well as obstruction of justice and conspiracy... Donchak faces three additional counts of conspiring to obstruct justice and related offenses... two other officers are charged with conspiring to obstruct justice... Nestor and a fourth police officer are... charged with extortion and civil rights violations related to police corruption..." - - With so many charges being brought (these sound like some dirty, dirty cops), why does "hate crime" need to be one of them? The Assistant Attorney says that "Violence motivated by bigotry and hate has no place in America." Why can't we just say that "Violence has no place in America" and leave it at that? I know I'm in the minority among "liberals," but I just don't agree with the logic behind hate crime legislation, even though I agree with the sentiment and the goals. - Etymology Freak from Bookmarklet

Because violence motivated by fear, xenophobia and warmongering is perfectly okay. So a distinction must be made. - Chris

"Animal rights proponents believe that violence, misinformation and publicity stunts are valid uses of funding donated to their tax-exempt organizations for the purpose of helping animals." - - Is that so? ALL animal rights proponents? Does this classify as "misinformation," Animal Welfare Council? - Etymology Freak from Bookmarklet

Nice bit of propaganda: the happy, normal circus and rodeo owners and ranchers, and the mean animal rights people (with tax exempt organizations!). - Chris

I WILL make this one of these days. - Etymology Freak from Bookmarklet

Chocolate? Intriguing. - Chris

"oily unpleasantness" and "anal seepage." Ewwwwww - Etymology Freak from Bookmarklet

"Purgative effect." Yummy. - Chris

Are you referring to the "herd effect?" Many pedestrians here (especially on State St.) simply take their cues from the people walking ahead of them rather than actually looking both ways before crossing a street. If the people ahead of them cross against a yellow or red light, it's really common to see people behind them simply follow them as traffic comes barreling toward them. - Etymology Freak

That's it exactly. Although in the specific case I was referring to it was people on the opposite (caddy corner) side of the intersection deciding to start crossing when they saw me do it, even though I had the walk sign and they didn't because there was a left turn arrow on their side. So of course they walked right into the oncoming left turners. And this was two parents with a child.... more... - Chris

Funny. You think of natural selection and I think of herds. They say the weakest of the herd are picked off first. - Etymology Freak

He finally got called home - a couple of decades too late. - Chris

Verona, Italy in 2009 or the American South in 1950. - Chris

It's both upsetting and oddly comforting when I hear of idiotic xenophobes in a country other that ours. Mostly upsetting, though. And those Italians are right. Everyone knows that Jesus was a svelte Nordic man with, beautiful, straight, wispy brunette hair and great abs. Duh. One of the great mysteries of the ages is how he ended up being born to a Jewish woman. Maybe Yahweh IS Odin! Hmm... - Etymology Freak

Let them have their plaque, just not the other stuff. - Chris

Something of an antidote to the crass commercialism of Christmas. Although it still involves the accumulation of stuff, just not new stuff. - Chris

"Whether China can turn the spending spree into the seeds of a true consumer society matters not just to China, but to the world." So this is the goal, turn China into a "true" consumer society? And whose goal is that? The Chinese people's? - Chris

"The real United States lies outside the cities." The more things change... - Chris

I love the Hitch on a lot of things, but his warmongering for the Iraq invasion has never been one of them. He claims the invasion wasn't ultimately for US interests, but then ends up praising the idea that Iraq could become a bigger producer of oil than Saudi Arabia. And while there's no evidence that any of that long-term, eventual wealth will ever benefit the Iraqi people, such a turn of events will probably benefit the US and all oil-buying nations. So, yes, ultimately this endeavor was to serve US interests, and all of the bad things you can say about Saddam Hussein don't change that. - Chris

This is either brilliant or insane, I'm not sure which. - Chris

"Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Secular Humanists and Agnostics alike are all entitled to hold public office." DUH. - Chris

Why anyone in this day and age would think that it is okay to discriminate against the non-religious is hard for me to understand. I get that some people would want to, but I don't understand why they think it would fly legally. I guess that's ignorance for ya. - Etymology Freak