nerdgirl

Prolly Kate Cooper or one of the other really awesome skydiving women out there who are much more skilled than I. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

The radioactive rabbit feces is not a joke, although I admit I chuckled; the nuclear forensics idea is mine. Even Rabbit Droppings Count in Nuclear Cleanup:“A government contractor at Hanford, in south-central Washington State, just spent a week mapping radioactive rabbit feces with detectors mounted on a helicopter flying 50 feet over the desert scrub. An onboard computer used GPS technology to record each location so workers could return later to scoop up the droppings for disposal as low-level radioactive waste.”“The area had […] been used by rabbits that had also burrowed into other areas that were contaminated. Many of the contaminants were in the form of salts, which attract wildlife. The rabbits carried strontium and cesium, which emit gamma rays, back out of the area in their digestive tracts. [yummy strontium – nerdgirl]“Rabbits were not the only biological vectors contaminated by the nuclear residue. Mice and badgers also picked it up, she said, and coyotes feed on the contaminated smaller animals. ‘It’s basically a circle-of-life situation,’ [so many potential sarcastic comments … -nerdgirl] she [Dee Millikin, “a spokeswoman for the contractor”] said, adding that researchers have also found traces of radioactive materials in fish of the adjacent Columbia River.” I gotta wonder what the fauna in Kazakhstan where the Soviets did a whole lot of testing is ingesting and carrying off with it. One might also imagine a CIA or DARPA program to train indigenous wildlife as animal-intelligence collectors. Instead of HUMINT have “ANIMINT,” eh? … Wonder what are local fauna in Iran? /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Yep ... and I have the documents and accoutrements to prove it. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Hmmm ... based on what you've written, e.g., "something along the lines of ..." that sounds a lot more like people stating things with which you disagree than "outright" lies to me. Those aren't examples of lies, it's differing opinions & anecdotes. As far as the march on Washington numbers issue, I vaguely recall a couple discussions of the disputed numbers that analyzed the different sources and came to the conclusion that it was many more than "tens of thousands." So, yes, you would likely have heard someone interviewed who advocated for the low number but that was part of the story, i.e., the politicization of data not the conclusion. The searchable archive is accessible through the search function in the upper-right corner of the page you linked for the Diane Rehm show. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Very nice! Always cool, imo, to be mentioned in print! "Warped Consulting" is your business, yes? /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

LOL (literally). You've figured me out and oh, sooooo quickly too. -[at myself] /Marg ... p.s. what's the political part? Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

But what if you use it in a message to a woman? /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Hmmm, for me, when I use [], I've generally intended it to imply making fun of myself or something that I wrote self-deprecatingly. Interesting to me to find out other interpretations. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Concur w/[mrwrong] that your description is a good one, earnestly. That's an neat way of thinking about it. Thanks! /marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

I thought the recent stories on MOP reprogramming documents and what people interpreted those to mean was an interesting example, albeit single data point. The original story (afaik) was posted on ABC News and some discussion here. ABC News also provided the DD1415s, aka updated ‘R-forms’, submitted to Congress, i.e., the primary data. About a week later, a story on the same reprogramming docs by Fox News was brought up for discussion here. The Fox news story contained at least one clear inaccuracy. Something that was just wrong and that a defense or Congressional reporter *should* have known. The DoD budget was approved in Oct 2008: PL 110-417, The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009. The 2009 Omnibus bill approved in February 2009 was for other departments. People know when they get money. Not knowing that is like a skydiver not that a Stiletto is a canopy not just a sword or women’s heel style. Imo, substantively there wasn’t that much difference between the two stories. Again, imo, neither story was good; both were poor. Both sensationalized. The two main differences were (1) ABC provided the primary documents, even if most (?) were unlikely to look at them, and (2) Fox News got something simple factually wrong. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Would you give a few examples? NPR has a readily searchable archive. Because I've completely missed that. Perhaps you're hearing something I'm not. I'm curious what you're hearing that I'm not. Previous studies have shown that NPR & PBS listeners hold the most factually accurate views/least misperceptions. Or do you mean things said by folks being interviewed? /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

So, what does the -emoticon mean to you? Given: It's likely that we all can imagine contexts or individuals where it might lean more to one meaning or another, but in general, what do you think it means? /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Aaah, looks like you're right, Guess the idea falls into the 'toss out the metaphorical window' category then.

Thanks for the links - interesting reads. What's the working legal definition of frivolous? (I don't know.) I look at this case, this one in particular, from at least two perspectives relevant to what Marc and you posted. One: that from a non-legal perspective, it appears frivolous. Two: from a less tangible perspective: isn't it fantastic that within our governnance system one can challenge, however frivolous that challenge may be, the highest position in the law and get one's day in court without reasonable fear of reprisal, imprisonment, or other extra-judicial responses. To me, that's pretty darned cool thing about America.

Have you tried a UK version of “Great Expectations”? Imagine that there is such. Great expectations is a high-end dating service. Over the weekend, I attended a dinner party hosted by a married couple who had met through Great Expectations. I’d never heard of it before. It’s not cheap but a lot more specific to you and what you state are your priorities/preferences. Just tossing out another option. Take it, leave it, or toss it out the metaphorical window.

My freshman college roommate graduated from Punahou. Neat. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Thanks for posting that. I probably would not have seen it otherwise. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

LOL! (Literally.) /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

"Death Squad" just has so many central-America-in-the-1980s overtones. This is the 21st Century. I'm thinking more along the lines of Tamil Tigers' Freedom Birds meet Tyra Banks. Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

And I was thinking it would be a cool Halloween costume. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Not to be outdone by north Africa’s fascist-nista, the Chinese have their own brigade: pink miniskirts, white go-go boots, knock-off AK-47 assault rifles (not sure if they're Type 56s or 81s) … & precision marching. Gives new meaning to urban (suburban?) assault gear. A much better weapon choice would have been one that coordinated and played up the feminine feel of the outfits without sacrificing tactical integrity. Who wants to criticize pink now? /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Best quote I heard last week on Iran and current administration policy and response, from someone (old bio, he's pinned on another star and is now at USCENTCOM) who one might argue is paying a fair bit of attention: "We know better than to just look at that current leader." /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

It all contributes to creating stronger, more resilient strains of diseases.. I studied some of this stuff at uni - scary, but *fascinating*. Trouble is that there is no "proof" in science.. Only "evidence" and "strong correlation". Clarification: are you sure that you're not inadvertantly confusing antibiotics (against bacteria) and vaccines? Maybe you're not. I'm not sure how one proposes a causal mechanism for vaccines to do what you're suggesting, which act on your acquired immune system, as opposed to anti-biotics, which act on bacterial pathogens. Lots of people smarter than me out there, tho. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Flying first class when I get a free upgrade. Yeah, it's trivial ... but it's the first thing that popped into my head. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying

Great suggestion! I will do that. Last night we went over basic officer survival, used simunition, and went through some simulations, including active shooter school scenarios, using the IES police training simulator. That was edifying ... and pretty cool too. /Marg Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters. Tibetan Buddhist saying