I am trying to ease into a low-carb, low- fat, low-sugar diet that I have done before. I remember the first week being hard, but holy moley I am hungry. I really need to remember some protein at every meal, this veggie only salad is not cutting it.

You know, in our never-ending battle against Stupid, I think Stupid is winning. But sometimes, Stupid is punished by the marketplace.

Expelled on the block?

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed — the 2008 creationist propaganda movie fronted by Ben Stein — is scheduled to be auctioned, lock, stock, and barrel, pursuant to the bankruptcy proceeding of Premise Media Holdings LP. According to a document (PDF) filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, on May 31, 2011, the trustee of the bankruptcy estate is seeking to auction "[t]hat certain feature-length motion picture ('Picture') 'Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed' and all collateral, allied, ancillary, subsidiary and merchandising rights therein and thereto, and all properties and things of value pertaining thereto." The auction is scheduled to take place on-line from June 23 to June 28, 2011.

The high bidder will become the owner of the movie that The New York Times (2008 Apr 18) described as "[o]ne of the sleaziest documentaries to arrive in a very long time ... a conspiracy-theory rant masquerading as investigative inquiry ... an unprincipled propaganda piece that insults believers and nonbelievers alike" and that was denounced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for its "profound dishonesty" and condemned by the Anti-Defamation League for its "outrageous" misuse of the Holocaust to "tarnish those who promote the theory of evolution."

Maybe I'll bid a penny for it. If I win, I'll set it on fire.

I admit, as a tourist, I have sat down in a park in another country (to take a rest from the touristing, or eat something) and would rather watch cute kids playing on a playground than stare at a tree or something? And I would never have noticed the rules, honestly--I would probably assume they say no smoking and no drinking and no being there during certain hours, and only read them if I wanted to see when I had to leave/if I could drink alcohol/whatever. (I have also drunk alcohol in a park, but usually was prepared to be in trouble for it)

You are a scofflaw.

So someone who enjoys watching children play but isn't in the company of a child is by default a pedophile? Lovely.

That does seem extreme. I mean, I have no personal desire to be anywhere within earshot of kids I'm not related to, but my understanding is that societal expectations are for most people to find them entertaining and delightful on general principle.

There was a discussion of sports rivalries, and nobody mentioned UNC-Duke?

Unpossible.

I am trying to ease into a low-carb, low- fat, low-sugar diet that I have done before. I remember the first week being hard, but holy moley I am hungry. I really need to remember some protein at every meal, this veggie only salad is not cutting it.

I am trying not to have sugar for June, and I am finding that hard. I'm not being even super strict...I'm not going to freak if a baked good has some sugar in it, or if I have a flavoured yogurt with sugar in it. I already had one "special occasion" where I had to have dessert.

So someone who enjoys watching children play but isn't in the company of a child is by default a pedophile? Lovely.

Honestly, I don't especially want my kid and her friends playing their kid games to be a spectator sport, and God knows when I was a kid the very thought that someone was watching me play would have caused me to freeze up and run for cover. Playgrounds are definitely a weird hybrid public/private space, and I can see the civil liberties issues, but I can't get that worked up about it. My kid is there to interact with other kids, soak up some vitamin D, run off some of her energy, and exercise her capacity for imaginative play; none of them are there for anyone's amusement but their own.

eta: Which is not at all to say that I think all kid-watchers are pedophiles; just that they ping my previously existing privacy-loving shy I'm-not-here-for-you-to-look-at buttons.

Or there's a donut shop across the street and you want to sit down and chat. Or you have trouble walking distances and need to sit down for a few minutes. Or it's a nice day and there isn't another park around.

Like I said, in SF it's really just very, very well-defined areas (the one non-gated playground I can think of is in the middle of a residential area; there's a corner market a couple of blocks away, and a major street five blocks away, but the park itself is near nothing but apartments in any direction), and I've never heard of anyone being hassled for just sitting down to rest.

I admit, as a tourist, I have sat down in a park in another country (to take a rest from the touristing, or eat something)

One of the final scenes in Paris, je t'aime is just that, of an American woman who's been on her dream trip to Paris just sitting down in one of the neighborhood parks to eat her lunch and finally understanding the real Paris at that moment, and having the best part of her entire trip there, watching the Parisians experience life.

Honestly, I don't especially want my kid and her friends playing their kid games to be a spectator sport, and God knows when I was a kid the very thought that someone was watching me play would have caused me to freeze up and run for cover.

All the parents and nannies and whoever are sitting there looking at the kids, aren't they?

Now I'm wondering how many cities have laws about not being in parks without a child.

It's not parks, it's playgrounds. Specifically, fenced-in playgrounds with nothing in them except for children's play areas. (There are also playgrounds which are fully public - in Prospect Park the easiest way to tell the difference because the public playgrounds have chess tables.)

So someone who enjoys watching children play but isn't in the company of a child is by default a pedophile? Lovely.

No, someone who enjoys watching children play but isn't in the company of a child can by default eat their goddamn doughnuts on one of the many benches on the sidewalk or bike path right outside the fenced in playground.

It's entirely possible that in this case, the police officers were in the wrong. But it's not stupid or crazy for a city to carve out safe spaces for children and caregivers.