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James
Chapel Hill, NC
Recent Activity
Mostly agree with most of what's been said so far. I'd grade it C+.
Typography for masthead is generic and uninspired, but tolerable.
The all caps serif font in top level navigaiton is also uninspired ... and not tolerable. Change it.
The site is too active and busy, both visually and in terms of animation. Someone above said that news sites don't need a lot of sizzle. I'd go a step farther ... a lot of sizzle gets in the way.
The standing footer with nav tabs and weather has potential. Will be interesting to see how it evolves.
Speed and page loading is a definite improvement over previous site.
A C+ may not seem all that appealing, but given that the previous incarnation was a solid F, it's a nice improvement.
I'll go through the account registering / log in process later. Base on past experience and the downward spiral of content, I'm not sure it will be worth the trouble.
Nice try.
New and improved?
New N&R site...your thoughts?
What fun! Thanks for the kick.
Peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union
Thanks for that link. Had fallen off my radar.
Calculated risk
How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb: "Early January, doesn’t worry me at all." Optimism is unfashionable, but so was pessimism back when he was pushing it.
The woman who published my first novel, a href="http://annepetty.blogspot.com/">Anne Petty, is a legendary Tolkien scholar. From what I can tell, it takes a special kind of mind to delve so deep into such fascinating fantasy. Sadly, Anne is closing her publishing company, Kitsune Books, due to health reasons.
Long live JRRT!
Mission creep
The Hobbit will be three movies, rather than the two originally planned, or the one that a brisk telling of the tale might require. I'm sure I'll nerd out happily over the detail and the material from the LOTR appendices, but the straightforward adventure story is part of the book's charm. Maybe...
This is a place where I'm a 100% free-marketer. A consumer boycott is the perfect response to Chick's boneheaded political position.
That said, I'd also support any legal government action that could be taken. If Chick discriminates in its employment practices, it should bear the brunt of any official sanctions that may apply. For example, I would oppose allowing the company to sell its products in venues that are owned by taxpayers, such as the Dean Dome.
Chick can have any philosophy it wants. But it should not expect to have a free ride to profits in contracts with public agencies, organizations, or institutions of higher education.
Eat les chikin
I don't eat much fast food these days, but Chick-fil-A has long been one of the best options in that category. Also, a friend who works there has some special needs and they've been good to him and good for him, and, also, DeanDome food, so I've been a happy occasional customer, even if that ad ...
Related from Romney's "I did it my way" tour ...
https://twitter.com/gingergibson/status/227455460075241472
Externalities
The internet is a not a thing, it's a bunch of things. If you're looking for a tendentious and cherrypicked history of the internet, this WSJ opinion article will do nicely. If you want a fuller picture, this Vanity Fair article is both readable and pretty thorough (my review at the time). Colla...
I recently read Steve Jobs' book, which is quite wonderful by the way. Especially the part where he carefully explains that he didn't do anything by himself, with the possible exception of the ethnic cleansing he achieved at Microsoft.
I, on the other hand, built my own company single-handedly. At our peak, we had 450 employees, all living in homes built exclusively by me, all using an electrical system that I personally invented and constructed, all getting health care from a hospital system that I created and funded, and all working for money that I printed in my own private bureau of engraving. I did it all by myself for more than 20 years, standing on the shoulders of no one.
The wife adds:
Hmmm. Wasn't that a public university in Chapel Hill where you rode the GI Bill for 45 months to get into the PhD program and learn everything you needed to start that business?
The husband responds:
No dear. I built that university all by my freakin' self.
Externalities
The internet is a not a thing, it's a bunch of things. If you're looking for a tendentious and cherrypicked history of the internet, this WSJ opinion article will do nicely. If you want a fuller picture, this Vanity Fair article is both readable and pretty thorough (my review at the time). Colla...
With a willingness to misunderstand the English language, he stood on the shoulders of mental midgets and couldn't see past his purposeful ignorance.
Externalities
The internet is a not a thing, it's a bunch of things. If you're looking for a tendentious and cherrypicked history of the internet, this WSJ opinion article will do nicely. If you want a fuller picture, this Vanity Fair article is both readable and pretty thorough (my review at the time). Colla...
Zygotes are living things, Frog. Sperm are living things, too. So are eggs. So are stem cells. You are splitting hairs when you don't equate them.
Why have you drawn the line of demarcation in the particular place you have chosen today? That Frog line has not existed throughout most of history. It is only recently, with the advent of an aggressive Christian patriarchy, that the zygote test has come into vogue.
The only possible case you can make for distinguishing between "zygote" and its component parts (sperm and egg) lies in religious belief related to human soul. As I understand it, you believe the act of fertilization creates a magical new thing that doesn't exist in the sperm and egg as separate elements.
As an atheist, I see soul as a figment of your overactive imagination, having no relevance for my life beyond the need to constantly battle those who wish to impose their beliefs on me. If I were an atheist woman, you would literally be imposing your religious beliefs on my ability to manage my own body.
I thought you were a conservative. You could protect a lot more of the "unborn" if you come out against condoms and masturbation.
Maybe time for another all-male panel
"No person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure." Forced vaginal probe bill stalls in VA.
What an asshole.
Modern family
This Albemarle man is absolutely correct that posting a temper tantrum on the internet is a bad thing to do. Where in the world might his daughter have learned that kind of behavior? Shooting that laptop does look fun, though. More here.
You're still wrong. Santorum is the candidate that is most worrisome.
For starters, he is The Chosen One by the evangelical right, right up there with Jesus and pregnant virgins. Plus, Santorum is NOT a member of the Joseph Smith cult like Romney. And while he has a history of scamming taxpayers for personal benefit, he's not a serial adulterer like Gingrich.
Republicans turn a blind eye toward sleaze and corruption among their darlings, but they are loath to allow Satan in the door. What a quandary! Who can beat the darkie in the White House? The cultist? The whoremonger? The fraud?
So many levels of hell, so little time.
I stand corrected
Having written more than once that Democrats could dream of nothing better than a protracted Gingrich candidacy, I must now say that I was wrong.
Too little, too late, too stupid.
As a marketing guy, I find it fascinating to watch the complete destruction of a brand in 48 panic-filled hours. Komen's extremist anti-abortion agenda can't be put back in the bottle. The organization is now just another ideological sideshow in the Tea Party Tempest.
Komen retreats
UPDATE: Nobody is really sure what the hell is going on. /update We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives.. ...We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and ...
As I understand it, the so-called conservatives on the thread are arguing for social engineering, for using tax policy to encourage certain kinds of behaviors on the part of individual investors.
The Frogman and the Picker advocating for social engineering through economic policy! How ironic is that?
Two Americas
The money that Mitt Romney made when he was at Bain Capital was compensation for his (apparently excellent) work, but, instead of being taxed as income, it was taxed as a capital gain. It’s a very cozy arrangement. Really not that complicated: Tax breaks for financiers + socialized losses ≠ fre...
I don't have any authority, Kermit. I just call 'em like I see 'em. And when I'm wrong, I admit it.
Showtime at the Apollo
I'm sure this is bad for America, but I kind of like it.
Methinks the Frog doest protest too much.
One of the marks of maturity in my book is the willingness to stand in the shoes of others, to see the situation from an other's perspective.
In this instance, the enlightened response would be: "I'm sorry. It's clear that my expression carried strong racist undertones. That wasn't my intention and I apologize."
Showtime at the Apollo
I'm sure this is bad for America, but I kind of like it.
And they say racism is dead in the Old North State. As usual, "they" are full of shit.
Showtime at the Apollo
I'm sure this is bad for America, but I kind of like it.
.
[Funny]
C'mon, Kay
Kay Hagan: "We have about $58 billion a year of intellectual property stolen." Really? "What does invalidate the 'research' is the inappropriate use of 'multiplier' effects to double—and triple—count loss estimates that were dubious to begin with." On a day when other sponsors are abandoning PIP...
Yeah, our blog is dead too.
How can I miss you if you won't go away?
It's hard to be part of the avant garde when you're old news in Greensboro. Apparently blogging died (again) over the Christmas break. Will Leitch's roast of A.J. Daulerio explains some things about the birth and business of big blogs.
@polifrog
It's remarkable how you can pull any discussion into the "a fertilized egg is a person" arena. But I gotta admire your consistency, especially your reference to the non-voting unborn. Now if you can just figure out a way to issue every zygote a valid driver's license, you'd be home free. Even better, Pat McCrory would make you the King of Voter ID!
Happy new year, Mr. Frog.
Pretenders
I've managed to avoid posting much about the GOP's pre-season reality teevee program, with occasional reminders that obvious sideshows like Trump, Cain, and Gingrich were never winning the White House. Santorum belongs on that list, but his views on contraception are worth noting as a reminder t...
Boy oh boy, I can't wait for some of that free-market magic to trickle down to Alabama and South Carolina so black people can be bought and sold again.
Pretenders
I've managed to avoid posting much about the GOP's pre-season reality teevee program, with occasional reminders that obvious sideshows like Trump, Cain, and Gingrich were never winning the White House. Santorum belongs on that list, but his views on contraception are worth noting as a reminder t...
Me too, Mick. My mom was a TJ groupie before groupie was a word. Between him and Elvis, she had all the gyrations one middle-aged woman could stand. Bless her soul.
CSNYJ
Tom Jones sings with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, c. 1969. Comment at Metafilter: "Crosby looks quite pleased and surprised to have imagined this whole thing."
Wow. That is fabulous. Love the comment ... plus Stills looks like he definitely cranked up his inner Tom Jones for the occasion.
Gotta cross post this one at Blue.
Thanks for the treat!
CSNYJ
Tom Jones sings with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, c. 1969. Comment at Metafilter: "Crosby looks quite pleased and surprised to have imagined this whole thing."
The ability to distinguish between "good" things and "bad" things ... even when they represent the same genre ... is a fundamental characteristic found in thinking people. Arguing that all regulations kill jobs or that they don't kill jobs is like arguing that all mushrooms are poisonous or that all mushrooms are not poisonous.
In the early days of cellular phones, the US adopted a low-regulation policy with few standards, while other countries chose standards and bet on their effectiveness. That's why the US is still sucking wind behind the rest of world - with crappy service, disintegration, and higher prices. Regulation would have helped enormously, but the free market maniacs carried the day.
Purveyors of "regulations are bad" and "regulations are good" nonsense should take those broad brushes and slap themselves upside the head.
Such brush holders paint themselves as dimwits.
Bad bill
Stopping SOPA: "The internet is one of the few sources of job creation in the U.S. economy right now. We don’t need laws that will stifle it."
Some minutes of fame that the Newtster probably wishes he didn't have.
http://images2.dailykos.com/i/user/151025/Billboard.jpg
Chris Crocker campaign message
Leave Newt alone! After all he's been through. He went through a divorce! All you people care about is winning an election. You're lucky he even performed for you bastards. Leave Newt alone. Please.
I have shopped at Lowe's three or four times a week for a decade - with a never-ending series of home improvement projects to manage. Home Depot is less than a mile farther down the road. An easy switch to make.
CP, sarcasm doesn't become you (or anyone, for that matter), especially when it's so easy to read it as a legitimate point of view.
A bit too social
Lowe's decided to use Facebook to explain its decision to pull ads from the series All-American Muslim. I wonder if anyone at the Mooresville HQ considered the possibility that the namby-pamby verbiage of the official statement would be less relevant to some readers than the harsher tones of Low...
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