Funny thing about black and white. You mix it together and you get gray. And it doesn't matter how much white you try and put back in, you're never gonna get anything but gray.

Lilah ,'Destiny'


Natter 48 Contiguous States of Denial  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


Connie Neil - Dec 20, 2006 10:07:51 am PST #7263 of 10007
brillig

"Check out Jesus. He's alright"

"Jesus is just all right with me . . ."


Gudanov - Dec 20, 2006 10:09:03 am PST #7264 of 10007
Coding and Sleeping

Connie beat me to it.


P.M. Marc - Dec 20, 2006 10:10:34 am PST #7265 of 10007
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear

N.b. I don't actually know what pari-mutuel betting is, just that it's a point of debate among style guides and anyway kind of a cool word, like passerine or igneous .

I could explain it! It's kind of (and I know this will only make sense in my head) the preferential voting of betting! But less wanky!

(Okay, so it's pooled/co-op betting, where the odds are determined by those betting and are variable until the close of the pool, rather than fixed odds set by a bookie.)


erikaj - Dec 20, 2006 10:10:44 am PST #7266 of 10007
Always Anti-fascist!

Heh...Cornerboys For Christ. "Eternal Salvation" does sound like a good name for, um, product, she said blasphemously. But endorsing solid economic principles.


Nutty - Dec 20, 2006 10:13:09 am PST #7267 of 10007
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."

Semantic constraints are everybody's friends, people!

These are people whom I would like to kick in the hindparts, or possibly rip them off.

This sentence would not be ambiguous at all, in Ancient Greek. Also, it is not actually ambiguous in English at all, because, I have reality on my side!!

Also, I don't think you should talk trash about those people's economy. If they value the gift card at over $25, that's their business. Poor things.

Oh, no. If they value a $20 gift card at $25, it is my capitalist duty to relieve them of that extra $5 toot sweet, and as many times as I can sucker them into doing it.


DavidS - Dec 20, 2006 10:13:47 am PST #7268 of 10007
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

My thetical (and oh-so-impractical) society doesn't have any intersecting values placed on anything. Nothing is ever exchanged.

Update to ita's file, sub-tab "Self-Sufficiency Fetish"

Mmmm, a whole economy based on thievery. Can you make it work, or would you need patsies honest people?

Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus
Make me feel good inside
Got to be a chocolate Jesus
Keep me satisfied


Gudanov - Dec 20, 2006 10:15:41 am PST #7269 of 10007
Coding and Sleeping

I see that Bush wants to expand the military.

>[link]

This seems nuts to me. Our military spending is equal to combined military budgets of the rest of the world. If that is insufficient for fighting people armed with small arms, RPGs, and improvised explosives; then the strategy is wrong.


§ ita § - Dec 20, 2006 10:16:11 am PST #7270 of 10007
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

If they value a $20 gift card at $25, it is my capitalist duty to relieve them of that extra $5 toot sweet, and as many times as I can sucker them into doing it.

They're not suckers if that's honestly what they want, are they? If I can't get a $20 gift card for $20, and I NEED a gift card, what are the alternatives?

You might decide I don't need a gift card, but that's not your call. It's mine.


Nutty - Dec 20, 2006 10:19:38 am PST #7271 of 10007
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."

They're not suckers if that's honestly what they want, are they? If I can't get a $20 gift card for $20, and I NEED a gift card, what are the alternatives?

They were current Starbucks gift cards, bid on by people inside the continental US. It's possible they all were bed-ridden multi-plegics in rural Kansas, desperate for some high-class Joe and willing to buy Starbucks beans online for their monkey assistants to grind up and turn into breakfast, but.... Occam's Razor says stupid people.


Theodosia - Dec 20, 2006 10:19:54 am PST #7272 of 10007
'we all walk this earth feeling we are frauds. The trick is to be grateful and hope the caper doesn't end any time soon"

Rattlesnakes have also been documented to give virgin birth. Holy snakelets, Batman!