Yeah that one was great. I can't believe they burned the house and store down and couldn't preserve it, would have been so cool just to see pictures from within. And that things could have been so well preserved, I was amazed at the descriptions.


In reply to this comment by residue:
yep! that's the one!

In reply to this comment by chtierna:
Do you mean this one?
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/199/House-on-Loon-Lake

In reply to this comment by residue:
There's also a really good one about an abandoned house in ...Maine? I'll look for it

In reply to this comment by chtierna:
I'm listening to it now and it's great. The woman who would steal sweaters:

Reporter: "So you would turn into a thief pretty quick?"
Woman: "Immediately!"

Hahaha, honest

In reply to this comment by residue:
Hey in response to your "this american life" post, check out superpowers

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/Superpowers

yep! that's the one!

In reply to this comment by chtierna:
Do you mean this one?
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/199/House-on-Loon-Lake

In reply to this comment by residue:
There's also a really good one about an abandoned house in ...Maine? I'll look for it

In reply to this comment by chtierna:
I'm listening to it now and it's great. The woman who would steal sweaters:

Reporter: "So you would turn into a thief pretty quick?"
Woman: "Immediately!"

Hahaha, honest

In reply to this comment by residue:
Hey in response to your "this american life" post, check out superpowers

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/Superpowers

Do you mean this one?
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/199/House-on-Loon-Lake

In reply to this comment by residue:
There's also a really good one about an abandoned house in ...Maine? I'll look for it

In reply to this comment by chtierna:
I'm listening to it now and it's great. The woman who would steal sweaters:

Reporter: "So you would turn into a thief pretty quick?"
Woman: "Immediately!"

Hahaha, honest

In reply to this comment by residue:
Hey in response to your "this american life" post, check out superpowers

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/Superpowers

There's also a really good one about an abandoned house in ...Maine? I'll look for it

In reply to this comment by chtierna:
I'm listening to it now and it's great. The woman who would steal sweaters:

Reporter: "So you would turn into a thief pretty quick?"
Woman: "Immediately!"

Hahaha, honest

In reply to this comment by residue:
Hey in response to your "this american life" post, check out superpowers

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/Superpowers

I'm listening to it now and it's great. The woman who would steal sweaters:

Reporter: "So you would turn into a thief pretty quick?"
Woman: "Immediately!"

Hahaha, honest

In reply to this comment by residue:
Hey in response to your "this american life" post, check out superpowers

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/Superpowers

Hey in response to your "this american life" post, check out superpowers

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/Superpowers

Hehehe. Thanks, Captain Obvious. Your superpowers went to good use here.
>> ^spawnflagger:

>> ^gwiz665:
We're talking about drinking now?

So let me break it down...
a) In most states in USA, the drinking age is 21 (it used to be 18 in some states). Meaning if you are under 21, then it is illegal to consume alcoholic beverages.
b) champagne is an alcoholic beverage
c) Hayden Panettiere was born August 21, 1989, according to IMDB.
d) When someone mentions "Spitting or Swallowing", chances are they are talking about fellatio, and the eventual destination of the ejaculate - will the person performing the act spit it out, or swallow it.
e) Hayden Panettiere is an attractive female actress, and an object of sexual desire to many men.
f) champagne as featured in this video, is a metaphor for ejaculating on miss Panettiere's face and chest.
g) jimnms commented "WTF, she didn't even swallow."
h) because it is obvious that jimnms was making a sexual reference, the faux-naivety expressed in my response is humorous, because I nonchalantly answered logically with a valid reason (that she didn't want to break the law), while completely bypassing the sexual innuendo.
i) not everyone recognizes this type of humor, so they would assume that I am naive, conservative, or mentally handicapped in some way. That is a risk I was willing to take when posting the comment.

I like it, it would make a great pilot episode for a TV show. They all lose the the ability to do the thing they love most... the bowler loses a hand, the tennis player loses a foot, the hunter loses an eye. Not sure where it's all going. Perhaps they join together to become one super being? Maybe they all end up on the same airplane before it crashes on an island? Superpowers? I just don't know.

>> ^ponceleon:

Absolutely nerdy question just came up in my mind:
So at the end of Superman II, Kevin smith says that superman flies out into space to find other Kryptonians... shouldn't this not work? I mean, isn't the power of the Kryptonians based on the fact that our yellow sun does some mumbo jumbo to them?
I mean, once he gets far away from the solar system, wouldn't he lose his superpowers and just die out in space somewhere?


All of my knowledge of American Mythology comes from Saturday morning cartoons, but Superman always used a the Supermobile whenever they went to other star systems with non-yellow suns.

I even had that die cast toy when I was a kid.

Good question...

I'm not a comic-book nerd (although I am seriously nerdy in other ways), but I'm guessing that whatever changes our freaky yellow sun did to Kal-El (aka Superman, aka Clark Kent) were permanent changes.
At least that's what Superman II is trying to convey, methinks.


>> ^ponceleon:

Absolutely nerdy question just came up in my mind:
So at the end of Superman II, Kevin smith says that superman flies out into space to find other Kryptonians... shouldn't this not work? I mean, isn't the power of the Kryptonians based on the fact that our yellow sun does some mumbo jumbo to them?
I mean, once he gets far away from the solar system, wouldn't he lose his superpowers and just die out in space somewhere?

Absolutely nerdy question just came up in my mind:

So at the end of Superman II, Kevin smith says that superman flies out into space to find other Kryptonians... shouldn't this not work? I mean, isn't the power of the Kryptonians based on the fact that our yellow sun does some mumbo jumbo to them?

I mean, once he gets far away from the solar system, wouldn't he lose his superpowers and just die out in space somewhere?

That's it, I'll never shaving again!
Epic beard = superpowers.

>> ^smooman:

dawkins made his point. but i'd like to hear his answer to the response question: "what's the relevance of what happens in an islamic nation and great britain?"
if you look anywhere outside of islamic theocracies you will find that there are no legal ramifications for apostasy. Here in america (fuck yeah) if a muslim becomes a christian or an atheist or whatever he/she is not held under lawful punishment. I'm sure the same in britain, any free nation for that matter.


Sure, thats because those countries have secular laws that are specifically designed NOT to cater to any particular religion, but is based upon human rights that has been agreed upon during the enlightenment up to today.

But islam is the same shit everywhere. I have no doubt that many muslims are as disgusted and disturbed by these laws as I am, but if they are, it isnt because of Islam, its because of everything but Islam .

Think about it: Islamic theocracies were not designed by some outside evildoers who did their best to pick out the worst aspects of Islam that they could find, and then used superpowers to force them on the population. These societies evolved out of attempts to follow Islam as faithfully and true as possible. The reason women are treated like obedient cattle in these states and people are executed for leaving Islam is because thats what Islam preaches.

Theres little doubt that the man in this video would wish for Dawkins to find religion like he has , and convert to Islam along with the rest of the studio audience, and all of Britain for that matter. If that happened, what would happen to secular law in britain? do you think we'd have more and better rights for women? a better judicial system?, more tolerance?, more freedom to choose religion freely?

I'd ask why there's a "people vs." case in the first place? For court cases, the victim or victim's family should be the one suing.

You need the "people vs." for crimes were there isn't somebody to represent the victim. Like when a dead John Doe turns up, or the murdered person has no family to pursue a case. This is probably a far afield sideline though.

If you have specific examples of cases that require tax funding, then please offer them up.

Well, aside from the above mentioned victims that have nobody but the state to represent them, it still doesn't seem like 'victim pays' is an ideal approach. Rape victims have a hard enough time coming forward in our current system, adding court costs on top doesn't seem prudent. Putting the court costs in the hands of the victim would also interfere with the notion that the quality of justice should be blind to the wealth/means available to a victim. If you want to mandate fixed court costs, isn't that just more regulation? Again, how do you decide who makes that call?

Also, I know a lot of Libertarians would disagree with any form of taxation, but in finding common ground I offer the excise tax and user fees as options.

I wouldn't say it's even 'common ground', unless real world applications are the common ground. As with any ideas the devil is in the details, and cutting or paying for basic services is one that has to be answered by any political ideal.

Clothing would be a necessity, so it wouldn't be taxed, etc.

There are two tricks though. First and foremost is deciding who gets to pick what is essential and what isn't? Shelter is essential, but does that include a $30 million home? What about $500k or $100k? The second trick is each item marked as untaxable increases the taxation required on what's left in order pay for the services everyone agrees are needed to protect the line where 'my rights begin'.

As for the standing army and how to fund it; that's a good question. I would start by asking questions like I did above, which is, "do we really need one?"

And I went beyond saying yes to declaring that any contrary position was Ahistorical. Argue as much as you want about the failings of your military(I'm Canadian), that doesn't make you better of without one. Take an honest look at just the last 100 years and try to picture where America would be with no standing army to speak of. We can follow that line for pages, but I don't honestly believe anyone can say America would be better off, if it would even exist at all. I know you seem inclined to believe the world would be better off, but remember we are then imagining a world where Stalin has been the sole nuclear superpower since the 50's.

And who says an armed citizenry like Switzerland is a bad thing?

Nobody is saying it's bad, just that it's not enough all by itself. Switzerland has trading partners that aren't keen to see it run over. America has a similarly armed citizenry, and I think that is probably the key factor in keeping it the 'best' democracy around. The fear of it's own well armed people necessarily keeping things at least partially in check.

>> ^garsh:

I remember reading about this kid when he was younger.
The muscles aren't due to training - they're due to genetics. You can read more about it in this NY Times article. This is the same condition that gives us
Belgian Blue cattle.


That's not Uberboy. You can tell because Uberboy is German and has a secret identity.

http://www.cracked.com/article_16449_7-people-from-around-world-with-real-mutant-superpowers.html

Also, check out the way he walks at 1:32. I think that's some evidence of how messed up he's already become.