Slog - Comments on The Morning News

Comment by Mike of Renton

Mike of Renton — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:26:18 -0800

Re: Softening

The poll showed that Mr. Obama now leads Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, by 47 percent to 42 percent; his lead was 50 percent to 38 percent in late February, when Mr. McCain still faced opposition from Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor.

Oh teh noes!

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:30:33 -0800

Nice html work there, Erica. Have a fun night?!

Comment by The CHZA

The CHZA — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:33:39 -0800

When is there going to be an "excusable" case of gang rape? I've been waiting for so long!

Comment by jake

jake — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:36:08 -0800

"The Fact that She�s an �Ex-Stripper� Is Not Relevant: Woman sentenced in plot to murder fiance."

maybe it is relevant. have you asked charles mudede?

Comment by pencil riot

pencil riot — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:37:30 -0800

Gang rape should be classified as a group consensus. If the entire group thinks that it was be a good idea, then maybe it was.

Comment by monkey

monkey — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:39:45 -0800

FIX YOUR HTML!!!

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:45:22 -0800

Woolly mammoths were just one of the hundreds of species of megafauna that humans wiped out, on every continent, as soon as they got there in numbers, around 50,000 years ago. Or more recent, as with the moa in New Zealand, killed off by the Maori less than a hundred years after they got there in c. 1300.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:59:09 -0800

Actually, I think the last Moa was killed by a dog, not a human.

Not that it cared. Of course, Wikipedia won't tell you that, and this is just my recollection from touring New Zealand's fine museums.

Comment by humans rule

humans rule — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:07:24 -0800

Extinction is hilarious!

Comment by Fifty-Two-Eighty

Fifty-Two-Eighty — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:12:02 -0800

Yeah, imagine what a bummer it would be to have to deal with saber-toothed tigers on the way to work every day.

Comment by McG

McG — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:13:45 -0800

This photo pretty much sums up what the world thinks of us. Yes he's the uniter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/world/europe/04nato.html?em&ex=1207454400&en=4bed0be3e628387b&ei=5087%0A

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:35:39 -0800

Tim Flannery knows a lot more about the moa than either you or Wikipedia, Will, and he doesn't mention anything about a dog. Any "museum" suggesting that the identity of "the last moa" is knowable is a rather dubious source -- and, like all of your anecdotes, it tells us nothing of interest about the moa, or the Maori, but is only there to show off, in a pathetic attempt to be noticeable.

Comment by Y.F.

Y.F. — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:35:41 -0800

'George W. Bush Sewage Treatment Plant'

Finally, a fitting monument to our President's achievements.

Comment by Greg

Greg — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:39:32 -0800

Fnarf's got yer number, Will.

Comment by Kalakalot

Kalakalot — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:42:47 -0800

"The Fact that She�s an �Ex-Stripper� Is Not Relevant: Woman sentenced in plot to murder fiance."

I lived in Alaska during part of the time that this trial was going on. The local news so consistently referred to Ms. Linehan's former employment that you would be forgiven for thinking that her full name was "Ex Stripper Michele Linehan," or just "the stripper." Kinda like how Diablo Cody's full name is "Former Stripper Diablo Cody." And yet, I've never seen that Hernandez guy from American Idol referred to as "former stripper David Hernandez." Go figure.

Comment by laterite

laterite — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:57:09 -0800

Anyone inspired by "The Last Seduction" deserves the death penalty.

Comment by w7ngman

w7ngman — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:04:02 -0800

"Quayle quickly found himself struggling to answer questions about his earlier decision to join the National Guard rather than serve in the active duty military during the Vietnam War."

Too bad those questioners seem to have crawled under a rock in 2000. Cheney dodged the draft 5 times, plus marrying and having a child at very opportune times. Bush joined TANG but didn't both to show up.

Mmmmm... tang.

Comment by ECB

ECB — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:20:55 -0800

On the bus at the moment, but as soon as I'm at a reap computer I promise to FIX MY HTML.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:32:50 -0800

@12 - I kind of think the National Museum in Auckland might know a bit more about Moa than either you or I - or Wikipedia - do, Fnarf.

But persist in your delusion that it represents reality - Wikipedia is only as good as the information posted on it.

Comment by ECB

ECB — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:33:06 -0800

Real computer. Damn you, iPhone!

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:46:06 -0800

iPhone is short for incomplete Phone.

Comment by pencil riot

pencil riot — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:03:58 -0800

Will is short for loser.

Comment by bridget

bridget — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:10:46 -0800

Harpers had another article regarding the many rape cases, dick cheney's "untouchable" company and its subsidiaries, and the U.S. justice department's [lack of] response:

Congress has been studying this question for more than a year and a strong bi-partisan consensus has emerged to the effect that a fix is needed. Legislation was put forward by North Carolina�s David Price in the House and Barack Obama in the Senate, but critical support came from Republicans such as Houston�s Jack Poe, Connecticut�s Chris Shays, and South Carolina�s Lindsey Graham. The Justice Department has, however, refused to be budged. When Congress convened hearings on the Jones case, pushed forward at the request of the Judiciary Committee Republicans, the Justice Department refused to send a representative to account for its inaction or failure to address contractor-related criminality in Iraq generally. Its attitude seems to be that this is all some bad dream that should simply go away."
(from http://harpers.org/archive/2008/04/hbc-90002797)

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:14:23 -0800

To repeat, Willie: I AM NOT CITING WIKIPEDIA. I didn't even look at Wikipedia; YOU DID.

I'm citing Tim Flannery, who is the leading scientist on the subject of Australiasian prehistory, and climate change, in the world. He's written books. I'm reading one right now, which discusses the extinction of the moa at length.

Your claim that "the last moa was eaten by a dog" is nonsensical; it's not true or false, it's just has no meaning whatsoever. The last moa died many, many generations before the Maori encountered the white man, or writing, and could not possibly have been recorded historically.

Note also that there IS NO SUCH PLACE as "the National Museum in Auckland". I assume you're referring to Te Papa Tongarewa, the Museum of New Zealand, but it's not called that. Your inability to get the name of the institution right casts yet more doubt upon your assertion.

And if the museum claims that the last moa was killed by a dog, I'll eat my hat. I'll eat YOUR hat.

See the difference here? I contributed something that comes from my current experience (a book I'm reading) that actually sheds light on one of the topics of the original post. I did this not out of self-aggrandizement but out of a desire to share KNOWLEDGE AND INTEREST, two things you are utterly unfamiliar with. Your post, in contrast, was full of rubbish, which neither expanded upon the notion of large-mammal extinction nor contained any grain of truth or interest. It served no other purpose but to announce "I've been to New Zealand".

The sad thing is that you went all the way there and saw nothing, experienced nothing, learned nothing. "The last moa was killed by a dog", that's the sole anti-fact you got out of the place. It's an embarrassment. You're like a Monty Python sketch.

Comment by KeeKee

KeeKee — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:20:07 -0800

You Go Girl!

Comment by Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:39:34 -0800

Despite how the NYT and (predictably) Erica parsed the data, the survey actually contains more good news than bad for Obama. Slate has the details:

http://www.slate.com/id/2175496/

Comment by LINUS

LINUS — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:21:49 -0800

that reminds me...what do you have to do to apply for unemployment?

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:23:46 -0800

@24 - um, no. My point is the Internet is only as good as the beamtimes we post on it - going there in person is frequently a better choice.

Comment by onion

onion — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:27:07 -0800

Did anyone catch the comment of @5? Was that tongue-in-cheek or serious?
Creepy.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:48:44 -0800

But Willie Will Will, who is talking about "the internet"? Only you are. You keep bringing it up in conversations where it's not the topic or the citative support. You're rambling and irrational; is there some medication you're supposed to be taking? Shouldn't you take it?

Comment by raindrop

raindrop — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:05:47 -0800

Regarding that database blocking 'abortion' - all you have to do is enter 'kill fetus' or 'terminate fetus' -- I don't see what the big deal about it is. On a related note, I always found it rather odd that the term 'reproductive health' often doesn't mean a very healthy fate for the fetus.

Comment by CP

CP — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:21:03 -0800

@29, I think perhaps @5 is not controversial if "group" is defined as EVERYbody involved.

And, of course, if all consent, then it's not, by def'n, rape, then it's role play, or group sex, etc. At least that's what I read on the wikipedia.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:29:44 -0800

By the way, the Museum of New Zealand was, in fact, called the National Museum during the 70s, 80s, and 90s, so it's possible that Will went then, and saw it called thus. It is, however, not in Auckland, but in Wellington. I don't think he's ever been.

Comment by ecce homo

ecce homo — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 11:01:48 -0800

#34

Pretty cool Fnarf.

Thanks for doing the hard and important internet work to prove what museums Will has or hasn't been to.

Kudos and Hazzah to you sir!!!