A few days ago I wanted to add a suggestion for a product to a thread on ask.metafilter.com. So I hit google with a few keywords and found the thing at LL Bean. I linked to it, and done. (And as I think about it, the link I followed was one of those "sponsored search results.)
Now I keep getting ads for that thing at LL Bean on web sites all over the place. They're using Google for their ads, and Google has decided that I want to buy thousands of copies of this gizmo.
They aren't giving me "things which are similar", they're giving me the exact thing I linked to originally. It would be annoying if it weren't so funny.
1
For a few months after I'd purchased a new chair, Google kept showing me chair advertisements...
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at November 15, 2015 12:13 AM (v29Tn)
2
Using anything on the web these days is like making eye contact with a salesman in a mall kiosk. The dumbest thing is buying something at an e-commerce site and then seeing their ads for the next six months. Now they just spent their profit from my order reminding me about the thing I already have.
Posted by: ForgottenBoy at November 15, 2015 01:11 AM (aOdCZ)
3
Adblock Plus, Ghostery or some other Google Analytics blocker.
I turn off the Adblocker on sites I like/trust, but, otherwise, most webpages are coded like junk these days. 15 instances of Flash should never be on a webpage. (Not that I have Flash running actively either. It of major security issues now.)
The Internet really did used to be a more enjoyable place. And I'm not even old yet!
Posted by: sqa at November 15, 2015 03:33 AM (ZZT0u)
4
The problem isn't, I think, created by the buying. The ads are responding to your search prior to the purchase. I haven't noticed any difference between the rate at which I see ads for something depending on whether I went ahead and bought it, but searching for it, especially on amazon? Big time effect.
You can actually game that; Do an occasional search for something on Amazon, and it will skew your ads in favor of it. Want ads for classical paintings? Search for them on Amazon.
Posted by: Brett Bellmore at November 15, 2015 03:45 AM (l55xw)
um... I'm not looking for solutions. I don't see those ads most of the time because I am indeed using an ad blocker (Proxomitron). But sometimes I have to turn it off because otherwise certain sites won't load, and that's the only time I see those targetted ads.
Also, I didn't buy the gizmo; I just searched for it and clicked through.
(Please keep in mind how I feel about unsolicited suggestions and advice.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at November 15, 2015 08:56 AM (+rSRq)
6
In my case I specifically did *not* use Google; but if the site uses their tracker you're chucked right back into the same pool. So I'm an ideal customer - I remember their name and type it into a browser - and they squander that and annoy me as well.
The general creepiness of this is disturbing, but still nothing compared to what Facebook users seem to accept as normal.
Posted by: ForgottenBoy at November 15, 2015 10:45 AM (aOdCZ)
7
The thing about, say, Amazon's recommendations that really grinds my gears is all the redundant products.
Mikeski: Hey Amazon, I wanna buy "Relayer" by Yes.
Amazon: You might like "Fragile" by Yes.
Mikeski: Yup, "I own it", actually.
Amazon: Well then!! You might like this more-recent reissue of Fragile. And this less-recent reissue of Fragile. You might like this import edition of Fragile. You might like this Yes box set; it has Fragile AND Relayer. Both! How about the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs remaster of Fragile? Vinyl version, maybe?
Mikeski: Your algorithm needs some tuning. (Edit recommendations, "Not Interested"...)
Posted by: Mikeski at November 15, 2015 06:27 PM (hAtXl)
1
JPop Idol Girls vs the actual KISS? Yep, whoever dream this up is warped.
Posted by: BigFire at November 14, 2015 07:01 AM (pNmmq)
2
It's not *that* suprising. MCZ has done stranger stuff in the past. They've also worked with Marty Friedman, who appeared with Gene Simmons in the live action Detroit Metal City. It's likely that all the principals in the project already knew each other.
Posted by: Don at November 14, 2015 09:47 AM (KBs3a)
3
The End Times are upon us, for SDB has watched an AMV.
Posted by: Wonderduck at November 14, 2015 10:11 AM (a12rG)
4
AMV? That's the official music video that I warned about in December.
-j
Posted by: J Greely at November 14, 2015 11:03 AM (ZlYZd)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at November 14, 2015 11:10 AM (+rSRq)
6AMV? That's the official music video that I warned about in December.
The "A" in "AMV" doesn't stand for "Amateur", J. Official or not, that's an AMV in my book.
Posted by: Wonderduck at November 14, 2015 01:14 PM (a12rG)
7
There are actually TWO albums out with this collaboration. Tama had them at his booth at A-Kon. I did a double-take myself. I can see one happening - nothing is too weird for the Japanese to try once! - but it obviously did well enough that they did another.
(For all I know there's even more, but I can only attest to two.)
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at November 14, 2015 02:15 PM (v29Tn)
We'll always have Paris (even if drenched in blood)
There have been multiple attacks in Paris. Two suicide bombers, and one man with a fully automatic rifle attacking a bar, are the early reports. It's possible it isn't over, and there may be other attacks.
Usually when this happens, even before the smoke clears, some high-ranked government official will say, "We don't know what happened but we're absolutely certain it has nothing to do with Terrorism or Islam. Absolutely no Islamic Terrorism here, folks. Don't worry! Be Happy!"
I wonder if that will happen this time. When suicide bombers are involved it's kind of hard to avoid the truth, but even when it's blatantly obvious what's going on those kinds of announcements still happen.
UPDATE: Fog of war and all that, but most reports now say at least 18 dead. The attackers (the ones who were shooting) were using AK-47's, the freedom fighter's weapon of choice.
Global security firm Flashpoint Intelligence said Friday that it had not seen any terror-related claims in the immediate aftermath of the string of violence. "We're definitely not seeing any claim from any group, we're not seeing any claim of response from any individuals," and there is very little chatter online, Laith Alkhouri, director of research and analysis for Middle East and North Africa for Flashpoint, said on MSNBC.
UPDATE: Some reports now are 60 dead, but we won't really know for sure until all the combat has ended and there's time to count the corpses.
However, this is the most impressive attack since Mumbai. Reportedly one of them has been captured. How much you want to be the French Police are not worrying about his civil rights or any "emerging international law" regarding forceful questioning? (Those rules only apply to the US, of course.)
I'm sure he's already having a very entertaining time.
UPDATE: It's now reported that the theater wasn't really a "hostage" situation. Rather it was "capturing lots of targets". The attackers murdered a lot of the poeple they captured and if the police hadn't stormed the place they probably would have killed them all. Some reports now are that upwards of a hundred of them were executed.
1
I'm honestly surprised at this.
No, not surprised at a terrorist attack of massive proportions. I just thought they'd hold off for a while longer, take advantage of the mindlessly open borders to move more men in. I mean, either this is going to end the 'refugee' invasion, or Europe has already fallen.
Posted by: Brett Bellmore at November 13, 2015 04:38 PM (l55xw)
I think it's all over but the shouting for the "open border" concept. The French President ordered all of France's borders closed, and Hungary is already lining its border with razor wire.
Deep down I think everyone knew it couldn't last forever. The big question now is what they're going to do with the ones who are already there.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at November 13, 2015 04:42 PM (+rSRq)
3The big question now is what they're going to do with the ones who are already there.
I suspect their reaction is going to be quite undiplomatic and be carried by much lead. If someone has even the vaguest ties to terrorism in France right now, they're going to have very large, very gaudy targets on their backs.
Everybody that isn't "pureblooded French" is going to be under a microscope. There will be rioting, and French Public Safety as a whole will be in zero mood for them.
And nobody will be surprised in the least when they receive international condemnation for their heavy-handedness, and fire back with "this is an internal matter, butt out" (but in more diplomatic terms). I'm not even sure I'd be surprised if this leads to a war.
Posted by: Wonderduck at November 13, 2015 05:30 PM (a12rG)
4
Scratch Europe hard enough to scrape off a couple of generations of Pax Americana and we're going to be reminded just what they are capable of when their backs are against the wall. Governments will either enforce the will of a scared populace, or they will fall in favor of those willing to do the job. By which I mean "kick out or kill every last one of them."
The intermingled populations will make this more closely resemble a civil war than anything else, but one across most of Europe. Other international players will take advantage of the chaos and pursue their own objectives.
I really really hope to be proven wrong.
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at November 13, 2015 08:08 PM (zpfLq)
5
One of the observations I had about 9/11 and its' aftermath was that the Americans (And probably the British and maybe the Israelis.) were the only nuclear powers who would wait so long and try to persuade hostile parties to surrender the enemies who executed a massive attack on such a scale, before launching a conventional attack. If a massive attack had happened against Moscow or Beijing...Or Paris, their national leaders would have waited just long enough to determine who attacked them, before giving the launch orders to the ICBM/IRBM/SLBM units and glass-over the responsible parties.
They would not have given a damn, too, and the rest of the world would have stayed quiet.
Posted by: cxt217 at November 13, 2015 08:45 PM (Xdq+D)
The president of France has just invoked martial law. That's based on a bill passed in 1958 and it effectively makes him a total dictator, with pretty much unlimited powers.
The President of the Republic may declare a state of emergency and gather much power to themselves, by simply declaring such to the to Council of Ministers, but the Parliament can revoke it after 12 days.
During that time, he can regulate or forbid travel or gathering in any area of France, he my close any building or business, he may search any house at any time without judicial oversight, and he has the absolute power of censorship. It also allows the military the power to act in place of civil authorities.
This is all well established in the 1958 Constitution. The law also summons Parliament to meet. The one power that is restricted from the President is that they may not dissolve the National Assembly (thus forcing elections) while the state of emergency exists.
So, yeah. François Hollande is basically now the dictator of France and will remain so as long as the Parliament agrees after 12 days and the Constitutional Council agrees after 60 days (though they can be asked to rule on that after 30 days, they get the power to rule without referral on it after 60 days.)
He is now a tyrant, until one of those other bodies decide he no longer should be.
What will he do with that power? It's hard to believe he'd invoke something so radical (it's only been used once before) without intending to use those powers.
My guess? We are about to see a huge military invasion of the banlieues.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at November 13, 2015 09:33 PM (+rSRq)
Sounds about right for another legacy of Charles De Gaulle.
I do have to wonder if Hollande has it in him to order an invasion of banlieues (Not to mention the refugee camps, like the infamous one at Calais.). Whatever you could say about the previous Socialist President of France, Mitterand would have gone ahead with, to borrow a phrase, 'burning out the hornets.'
Posted by: cxt217 at November 13, 2015 09:40 PM (Xdq+D)
9
Good luck with that power. Just look at Paris as it's encircled by Muslim enclave. Same with most of the major cities. They've been importing Muslims since the '50s. Should they be exporting these 4th generation slum dwellers back to North Africa?
Posted by: BigFire at November 14, 2015 07:04 AM (pNmmq)
Interesting. It was originally reported that the French captured one of the attackers at that theater but now they're saying that they killed him. (The other two killed themselves by detonating explosive vests.)
If I were suspicious I'd wonder if they really did capture him but don't want to admit it, so that they don't have to account to anyone on how he's being treated.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at November 14, 2015 03:48 PM (+rSRq)
11
They captured one at a soccer stadium before the attacks. He was wearing a suicide vest and a guard frisked him and found he vest. Maybe that's the 1 they're talking about. BTW, so much for "security theater".
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at November 14, 2015 07:27 PM (XOPVE)
I have never been tempted to vandalize my body that way. (Of course, I've never vandalized anything else, either.)
But of course, one of the reasons each generation has strange fashions is in order to scandalize the prior generation, which is one of the reasons I had long hair when I was in my 20's. (Also, because it was strawberry blonde and looked really good.)
So in keeping with that principle, I'm always a bit scandalized when I see a tattoo on a pretty girl, like this one:
This one is particularly annoying because it doesn't mean anything. Bad enough that she's vandalizing herself, but she's doing it with nonsense. It's not proper Japanese, and I think it doesn't mean anything in Chinese either.
As best I can tell it's this:
æ— ä½¿
Which isn't a proper word or sentence in Japanese.
使 is pronounced tsuka and it means "use" but it never appears in Japanese without a hiragana ending. (Such as 使ㄠtsukai which means "user" among many other things.)
So if æ— ä½¿ means anything at all, it would be "useless". Why would someone want that on their skin?
grumble dumb kids grumble
UPDATE: They say a sure sign that you're getting old is when you begin to obsess about the moral failings of the younger generation, and I passed that particular hurdle a long time ago.
UPDATE: I read the first kanji wrong. See comments.
1
A few things.
1) You don't have to be old to be bothered by tattoos. It's always ugly.
2) Tattoos on a Woman is a huge red flag. If it's the "tramp stamp" variety, make adjustments accordingly.
3) It's a trend for a lot of very ugly reasons that has little to with rejecting the previous generation. It mostly ties in with point #2, but I don't want to derail your post with a discussion of it.
I stand corrected. You're right about the first kanji.
It's still ugly.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at November 06, 2015 10:58 PM (+rSRq)
3
Honestly, I was just surprised not to see facial piercings. Once they start decorating desecrating, they usually don't stop with just one style.
And, yeah, horribly-drawn kanji, by someone who owned a brush but had no idea how characters are formed. I've got a shovelware disc full of cheesy Japanese display fonts, and not even those managed to replace a single horizontal stroke with a pair of tentacles.
Although a proper tentacle-kanji font would be useful occasionally...
-j
Posted by: J Greely at November 06, 2015 11:34 PM (ZlYZd)
4
I've found that, when I need to work out a Kanji, it's normally best to go with Stroke Count. I've found this page pretty useful. If you can figure out the Stroke Count or the major Radical, you can work back most any kanij. No matter how badly written. (This has been important before)
Most of the trend, in piercings, has actually dialed back since the 90s. The belly-button one seems to be the "in" thing. When mixed with the side or shoulder tattoos, they're only visible in either beachwear or "really should be wearing more" party wear. Which just goes to the signaling acting as intended.
Posted by: sqa at November 07, 2015 01:32 AM (97YUU)
I've been using a program called "JWPCE" to identify kanji, and yes, it does support stroke count. There's also a mechanism for doing that at Nihongodict (click "Kanji Lookup").
I have been using stroke count for years.
Stroke count wouldn't have saved me this time. Both the right kanji and the wrong one I found were 4 strokes.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at November 07, 2015 08:08 AM (+rSRq)
6
Once upon a time at the Duck U Bookstore, I asked a very pretty girl why she had gotten so heavily inked... I mean, she was working on a full sleeve, plus many others. Her response was "I want to personalize my body."
Which was probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It's your body, it's already "personalized".
I wanted to scream at her. Instead I thanked her for answering and gave her her change. Then I went back into my office and wept for the future of the world.
Posted by: Wonderduck at November 07, 2015 08:35 AM (a12rG)
7
This post needs a mention of Stephen Lynch's "Tattoo" song (which is nsfw, an available several places on youtube). It does have a verse about bad Kanji/Hanzi tattoos.
Posted by: Mikeski at November 07, 2015 07:11 PM (hAtXl)
You know, I keep reading J's horror stories about the crap that Amazon JP recommends for him, but I think they have got me wired.
I was just looking to see if they had the Mage figurine listed (they didn't), and there was a list of "DVD recommendations for you" on one of the pages.
The only real problem with it was that I already own a lot of it. First was Isshoni Bathing, and then several Aika and Rio Rainbow Gate disks, and Isshoni Sleeping.
Then there was a future release of Ani Tore EX on BD, and Seikoku no Dragonar, and some Ikki Tousen, and that was about three scrolls to the right. It wasn't until they started recommending yuri porn that they really were missing on my taste.
I don't understand why Aika R-16 was released on two disks; it was 3 episodes. Anyway, they were both in my list. (But I own a copy of the NA release.)
Also To Loveru Darkness, and Momo Kyun Sword, and OniAi (I wasn't interested in that one, but it's in the ballpark) and Queen's Blade, and is someone in Japan reading my mind?
It's actually pretty scary how good targeted advertising can get, especially since I've only bought a couple of things from Amazon JP. Apparently they're working along the lines of "People like you who bought Isshoni Sleeping also bought..."
UPDATE: I just checked my records and what I bought from them was the first two Rio Rainbow Gate BD's and all three BDs of Aika Zero. I own Isshoni Sleeping but I didn't get it from them.
So from that I guess they figured out that I like fanservice shows. Which I do.
1
No, it's Amazon US insane recommendations that I blog about; at the moment, the first 8 pages of Amazon JP's are cheesecake DVDs and photobooks, books on swords, and books featuring cheesecake and swords. I'm quite happy with this.
It's a difference in training; I've been building up a d0-not-want list on the US site for many years (with at least 25,000 items on it), forcing their system to resort to low-probability recommendations. But on the Japanese site, I make a small number of large purchases each year that are focused on specific types of items (cheesecake and swords, basically), and I've been much gentler with the do-not-want list.
-j
Posted by: J Greely at October 31, 2015 08:38 AM (ZlYZd)
2
Are Amazon JP and Amazon USA connected enough that they share customer information? If they are mixing in the stuff you've bought from American Amazon that could help their predictions.
Posted by: Boviate at November 02, 2015 03:40 PM (XRvFv)
3
My accounts are completely different on the three Amazons I use, and I've never seen any sign that they share customer data. I know the search engines for all of them are run by the same group in Palo Alto, but it looks like they don't cross the streams.
-j
Posted by: J Greely at November 02, 2015 09:11 PM (ZlYZd)
A girl in Eastern Oregon has been diagnosed with Bubonic Plague (known historically as "The Black Death").
If you need me, I'll be hiding under my bed.
UPDATE: There isn't really any cause for concern. She got bit by a wild flea while hunting, and she's in Intensive Care undergoing treatment with antibiotics. They caught it in time and she'll probably be fine. Plague is a dreadful disease and she isn't going to have a fun time, but it isn't directly communicable.
But seeing this news report reminded me of the first FiresignTheater album.
Welcome to unique game about legendary anime, "Fairy Tail", on EspritGames.com!
Fior Kingdom is a peaceful realm with 17 millions of habitats. It's a world of magic, great wizards and best friends. But competitions are waiting for you here as well!
Take part in amazing events of wonderful manga and anime "Fairy Tail"! Meet Lucy, Happy, Natsu and other famous characters and start your adventures among them!
Play with your friends and be sure - they will be with you together! After all, fans' army of Fairy tail around the world counts over 200 000 000 million people and it is still growing!
1
Looks more like a translation or proofreading error much more than a math error. The rest of the text is (also) clearly not written by a native English speaker.
Posted by: Hypozeuxis at October 25, 2015 06:53 AM (KR/O2)
2
Little did we know that Fairy Tail's ratings were going to be proof of extraterrestrial life!
Posted by: Wonderduck at October 25, 2015 07:09 AM (a12rG)
When that one fan with the 199-trillion-some personalities kicks the bucket, their numbers are really going to take a dive.
Also, wow. They're planning an MMO for that many people? I need to go buy stock in... um... everyone who makes storage stuff. And networking stuff. And probably some Japanese power companies...
Posted by: Mikeski at October 25, 2015 05:32 PM (TuMIP)
Several decades ago, Joe Haldeman wrote an SF novel called The Forever War about a interstellar war with an alien race fought without FTL drives. As a result, the ships spend a lot of time at relativistic velocities. The protagonist is part of the first military unit which makes a counter-attack against the aliens. The whole story represents 3 or 4 years of his life time, but since he spends so much time at relativistic speeds, something like a thousand years passes on Earth.
During that time things change, a lot. Every time he gets assigned to a new military unit in preparation for a new battle, he's dealing with people from the current Earth. So it's interesting to see what kinds of things happen.
In a sense it's a prediction, though Haldeman clearly wasn't thinking in those kinds of terms. But there were two things which I remember: First, there's a huge cultural change on Earth relating to sexual matters. To put it bluntly, homosexuality is considered normal, and heterosexuality is considered perversion, or a psychiatric disorder to be treated. The protagonist happens to be heterosexual but he soon learns to keep it to himself.
Second, by the end of the book the human race has developed a group mind. Everyone thinks exactly the same, and individuality is completely gone.
What made me think about this was this post at Instapundit. Because it occurred to me that the primary target of "Yes means Yes" laws seems to be heterosexual sex.
Activists have managed over the last 50 years to bring us from homosexuality being considered a perversion and a crime to being something which is legal and tolerated and even not considered particularly unusual.
But that doesn't seem to be enough. Some of the stuff I hear from out there in the real world makes it seem like those same activists want to go the rest of the way -- to not only make homosexuality be considered acceptable, but to make heterosexuality be considered unacceptable.
Consider that site which provided something like 50 choices when describing a person's sex (instead of the traditional two). The traditional two have been renamed as "cis-male" and "cis-female" and you just aren't cool unless you are at least "bi-curious".
It makes me wonder whether a person who declares themself to be strictly heterosexual is viewed as being old fashioned, and brainwashed by traditional culture. Every generation of young people revolts against the norms of the previous generation, and this (and tattooing) seem to be how this generation is doing it.
Of course, one problem with it is that if this attitude prevails, there won't be another generation to revolt against this one.
Anyway, as to group minds, that seems to be coming too. The symptom is "microaggression". On college campuses now any expression of a controversial idea or thought is punished. You will toe the line; you will never disagree with the prevailing attitudes. Colleges now seem to be in the business of political indoctrination.
This isn't intellectual freedom; it's intellectual slavery. And since most of the kids leave college now with crippling debt, it is actual slavery too.
All of this is beginning to frighten me. Am I really going to be considered a pervert just because I like looking at girls? Is this country actually going to become a bastion of enforced uniformity of opinion?
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at October 14, 2015 07:09 PM (/lg1c)
2
aI had a childhood friend who told me once a funny story about that. I think that was when we were in university already, but perhaps in high school. IIRC it was during a summer vacation. He went to had an eyesight surgery, which used to be popular in Russia. My wife had one, for example. It generally is an equivalent of what we know as "lasik" today.
Back then though, there was no laser. A surgeon made a series of shallow cuts or scratches on the cornea. Although transparent, it is a living tissue, which forms scars and heals if cut. The cuts were planned so that the resulting scars deformed cornea just right to correct the vision.
As it happened, my friend was operated by an intern from Africa. The patient is slightly sedated and strapped into a chair with a guard frame inserted under eyelids. So, my friend heard a Russian surgeon guiding the African, and at some point exclaiming, "Don't press, don't press (so hard)!" Then, all the lights in the operating room went unfocused. The intern cut through the cornea into a small chamber that's filled up with a liquid, which flowed out.
My friend spent a month laying on his back to avoid the rest of the eye flowing out, but eventually his eye healed itself. His vision remained substandard on the damaged eye.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at October 14, 2015 07:40 PM (XOPVE)
Even if it were possible to correct my vision that way (it isn't, but even if it were) I wouldn't do it
I've worn glasses since I was 7, and I'm used to them. They're a good solution and I don't need anything better. As an engineer I firmly believe that simplicity is a virtue; fanciness is usually a blight. I see no need to use a complicated solution when a simple one will serve.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at October 14, 2015 07:58 PM (+rSRq)
So you get to WATCH the knife blade coming at your eyeball? No thank you very much, I'll keep on with my glasses.
Posted by: Wonderduck at October 14, 2015 09:52 PM (a12rG)
5
"So you get to WATCH the knife blade coming at your eyeball?"
That was the way they did my cataract surgery: Local anesthesia, and remarkably effective tranquilizers. Not sure why, but they like to have you conscious for eye surgery.
Best part was, I was incredibly nearsighted before the surgery. So I could see the scalpel clearly the whole way in. And didn't care a bit, really good tranquilizers.
Posted by: Brett Bellmore at October 15, 2015 01:40 AM (L5yWw)
6I could see the scalpel clearly the whole way in. And didn't care a bit, really good tranquilizers.
I used to go into shock from a teeth cleaning. I used to have to take a valium before I went to a dentist. I still need a heavy dose of nitrous oxide for anything more than a checkup or x-ray.
Opticians (is that the right one?) also have problems when I get vision checks... particularly with the device that puffs a bit of air into your eyeball. It gets too close and I twitch away, every time. It took a massive amount of willpower on my part the last time to not flinch.
I'm a wimp.
Posted by: Wonderduck at October 15, 2015 05:30 AM (a12rG)
I used to go into shock from a teeth cleaning. I used to have to take a valium before I went to a dentist. I still need a heavy dose of nitrous oxide for anything more than a checkup or x-ray.
I have been fortunate enough not to require major surgery in my life, which is good because I am the exact opposite - I only allow local anesthesia. No general anesthesia, no tranquillizers - I prefer to be awake and aware through as much of the procedures as possible. That includes the time the dentist doing part of my wisdom teeth removal apparently complicated his efforts while dealing with an impacted tooth.
Posted by: cxt217 at October 15, 2015 09:53 AM (xm3KK)
9That includes the time the dentist doing part of my wisdom teeth removal
apparently complicated his efforts while dealing with an impacted
tooth.
See, that right sentence right there forced an involuntary mewling sound from my throat. If I wasn't so dry-mouthed from work (the ambient humidity in there is in the negatives), I probably would have drooled a bit as well.
Posted by: Wonderduck at October 15, 2015 11:38 AM (a12rG)
I've been following the news reports of the latest school shooting. This one happened at Umpqua Community College, about 180 miles south of here, so it's a bit more of a shock than usual.
As I write this now, the reports are that it was a single shooter, 20 year old male, and the cops killed him. Everything else is hazy (fog of war) and it probably won't be until tomorrow before we really have a good idea what happened.
But there are two things that are absolutely certain.
1. Lefties will start droning about how guns are dreadfully dangerous and we need more "common sense" gun control. (Which usually means preventing the law abiding from owning guns, without having any effect whatever on whether criminals and the violently insane can get them.)
2. Righties will start talking (more correctly, IMHO) about how "gun-free zones" are dangerous and idiotic.
UPDATE: There's only one thing that can change the above non-conversation even slightly: If it turns out the shooter had an Arab name, the right will also talk about immigration and about the dangers of Islamic extremism.
But it won't change what the left has to say, including the President -- who has scheduled a speech this evening, in which he will call for "common sense" limitations, yet again.
UPDATE: It is interesting that they haven't revealed the shooter's name yet. That could be because they're having a hard time contacting relatives (which, presumably, will be easier this evening) but it could be because he is a lone-wolf jihadi, or even a "known-wolf jihadi".
I guess we'll know tomorrow.
UPDATE: His name was Chris Harper Mercer, and he was 26.
