gdp's Comments

Crasstalk : President Obama Backs Same-Sex Marriage

Wed, 9 May 2012 21:05:18 +0000

Sorry but this topic makes me crazy. The Federal government has no jurisdiction on marriage — it is 100% defined by the state you're married in (which is why they say "the powers invested in my by the State of _____..."). All the Feds can do is recognize it on tax forms and extend benefits to its married and partnered employees. So, as a logical person trained in the legal profession (and a sitting President in an election year), he can only really comment on his home state's marriage laws. After all, the President never weighs in on age of content for marriage, waiting period rules, divorce and family court laws, or any other legal part of getting married and unmarried. Heck, even commenting on polygamy gets the President in trouble. You KNOW he's for gay marriage. And, now that he's said as such, the right-winger bloggers will be all over his Muslim-Commie butt, quoting Jefferson on States' rights, and telling you how he's now ready to destroy marriage and your right to marry and divorce as many times as you please. There is no easy fix for this issue. No magic wand that will make the country agree. Marriage is a state-level issue, and will need to be fought state by state. There are no shortcuts. Great graph from Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2012/...

Crasstalk : Help Create the Modern Man Card

Wed, 9 May 2012 15:24:09 +0000

Does this serve double-duty in North Carolina as a primer for turning your gay son straight? If so, you forgot the ditch. (I guess it could also work for turning your straight girl gay.)

Crasstalk : Help Create the Modern Man Card

Wed, 9 May 2012 15:21:03 +0000

The bar needs to be set a little higher...I'm almost through half of the card. Now, writing my name in the snow would be pretty damn near impossible for me.

Crasstalk : Thursday Open Thread

Thu, 3 May 2012 14:49:51 +0000

[youtube G__DnC_aD3o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G__DnC_aD3o youtube] And what are YOU doing this weekend?

Crasstalk : Ghosts in the Galleries: The Royal Residences and Their Spirits

Wed, 2 May 2012 22:06:27 +0000

Ditto. Reading UK history (and gossipy) was a favorite pastime for many years (still reading, but I'm trying to branch out now). I still find the religious forces behind the history, and especially in Tudor and Stuart times, fascinating. The wild pendulum swings between the "true religion" and "Lutheran heresy" shaped so much of the culture, and still does today both in the US and the UK. (My ancestors in New Amsterdam were arrested for harboring Quakers — which were the only sect that Stuyvesant wouldn't tolerate. And, if you met a true Puritan today, he would probably be considered a home-grown terrorist.)

Crasstalk : Women Believe All of Satan's Lies

Wed, 2 May 2012 21:55:03 +0000

So she wants us all to be Orthodox Jews?

Crasstalk : Women Believe All of Satan's Lies

Wed, 2 May 2012 21:52:14 +0000

I look forward to breaking all the above rules daily. Thanks for the list — it helps me stay organized.

Crasstalk : Wednesday Open Thread

Wed, 2 May 2012 21:47:01 +0000

Crasstalk : Wednesday Open Thread

Wed, 2 May 2012 21:41:27 +0000

Beats "Jews for Jesus" any day.

Crasstalk : Wednesday Open Thread

Wed, 2 May 2012 13:58:11 +0000

So Briebart's coroner dies of arsenic poisoning (whut?) the day after Briebart's autopsy is released. Cue the right-wing conspiracy theorists and book me a ticket to anywhere else... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2138216/C...

Crasstalk : Ghosts in the Galleries: The Royal Residences and Their Spirits

Tue, 1 May 2012 23:09:31 +0000

An embarrassingly many number of years ago I saw Prince Edward give a lecture on the restoration of Windsor Castle after the 1992 fire. (It was kind of like a royal trifecta for me as I caught a glimpse of Diana and met the Queen, by chance in Toronto, a few years earlier.) I thought it was a fascinating lecture which peeled back the layers of the historic castle and the restoration of the structure and affected rooms. I partucularly remember being intrigued by the reframing of the St. George's hall — which was done with live oak timbers in a centuries-old shipbuilding practice that had to be relearned by the craftsmen. Every detail of the rooms were recreated by hundreds of UK-based artisans who toiled over the smallest decorations. At the time it was criticized as a huge waste of funds but it did put some very skilled UK artisans to work for a long time. Part of the lecture also covered what was done with the huge amount of water that was pumped into the building during the fire, and ended up collecting in the subterranean floors — which were watertight like a giant bathtub. Luckily the same ad hoc stone structures prevented the fire from spreading, but also channeled the flames into a more intense fire like a raging fireplace. The stresses from the water and its affect on the non-burnt timbers caused as much damage as the fire itself. The lecture tour was to highlight the skills of the UK artisans, bring attention to the architectural research done during the project, and raise funds for the continuing restoration and documentation. He was slammed at the time in the press for cashing in on his name with the tour and subsequent DVD, but I found the lecture one of the best I've ever attended. (I wish he would revive it for a TED event.) There is a DVD, which, unfortunately, is less interesting than the lecture was. (There is a DVD but I can't seem to find a copy — I'm not sure if this link is a clip, I don't think so, but there are some interesting videos here. http://wn.com/Windsor_Castle__After_the_Fire )

Crasstalk : Ghosts in the Galleries: The Royal Residences and Their Spirits

Tue, 1 May 2012 22:28:20 +0000

Boo! [youtube 7sjzjyfPJqA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sjzjyfPJqA youtube]

Crasstalk : Ghosts in the Galleries: The Royal Residences and Their Spirits

Tue, 1 May 2012 22:27:03 +0000

I love that some palaces were used as homes for veterans and "grace and favour" recipients. Osborne house on the Isle of Wight was, up until the late 90s, a home for retired officers and their families, and Hampton Court has numerous apartments that were "rented" (free) to families in gratitude for past service. On my first visit to Osbourne years ago, I was amazed to see so many residents relaxing on the grounds as if it were their own backyard (which it technically was). In recent years, a lot of these properties have been given over to pure museum status with offices housed in the empty apartments (some minor buildings can be rented out as holiday homes). A good use, but not nearly as much fun as living there. http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/anewcomm...

Crasstalk : xoJane Opposes Cat Fat-Shaming

Tue, 1 May 2012 19:45:13 +0000

My 19 lb "baby" was born to a stray and lived among industrial dumpsters behind a NJ mall. When I adopted her at 5 years old (and about 11 lbs), I was told by her former owner that she eats "everything in sight" — as I guess you would learn to do when you scrounge for your food like a raccoon. She still excitely jogs to the kitchen when she hears the timed, portion-control feeder go off and her favorite hobby is going down the flight of stairs to check out what's new in the garbage area (she can't get inside but I guess it feels like "home"). If she were a person, I'd imagine her in a broken down aluminum lawn chair on the gravel porch in front of her double-wide smoking her second pack of American Spirits and nursing a Coors. And, she wouldn't give a rat's ass about what you thought of her when she's in her bikini. **h8tr** <img src="http://distilleryimage9.instagram.com/0b1a678693c611e19e4a12313813ffc0_7.jpg" width="100/">

Crasstalk : Monday Open Thread

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:16:30 +0000

Popping in to drop this article on you. Interesting how Denton made nice with the person who invented the branch system, borrowed the idea for Gawker, dismissed the invention as something already out there, refused a licensing agreement, and then quotes the inventor as one of his heroes. Meanwhile, the inventor stumbles with his business (needs more shark attitude), pisses off investors, and is looking for a reboot before sinking completely. As my mom would say, "this is going to end in tears for one of you". http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/where-di...

Crasstalk : Saturday Open Thread

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:21:10 +0000

On week three of my wheel-thrown pottery class. Had a great discussion on hoarding with the below students while working. Seems that everyone in the class admitted to having little "collecting" problems and generally decided that making more things to sit on shelves is probably like giving crack to addicts. But, damn, it's fun just to make stuff.

Crasstalk : Thursday Open Thread

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 22:23:21 +0000

Heard something on NPR about them this weekend — seems that they're a delicacy in China, fetching over $150 per pound, and (wait for it...) poachers are raiding shorwline at night to ship them overseas. Of course now the licensed, tax-paying fishermen are being told they can't catch them as the stocks have not recovered after the last harvest because of the poachers. Can't find the online article, but here's a local news link: http://www.klcc.org/Feature.asp?FeatureID=3279 Also, Rasputin's penis may or may not be only a preserved geoduck — you decide. I'm hoping for geoduck — the thought of a nearly 100-year-old penis in a jar makes me want to barf. http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/746637-is-this-the-f...

Crasstalk : Why the Gender Pay Gap Doesn't Matter

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:22:31 +0000

I'm a woman, a workaholic, a business-owner, with no kids, and have never not worked a day in my life. So I guess I screw up the curve. I have worked in companies though where management actively sought out women when they needed "cheaper" employees as they knew they could offer them less than their male counterparts. I've also heard the same managers discussing career tracks and discounting the women as they felt they were about to go off and have babies. Conversely, men with families were last to be let go and the first to get raises. This all sucks — and I'm glad I made the choice to be outside of it all.

Crasstalk : An Introduction to K-pop

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:13:03 +0000

Mr. Wallet was obsessed with the Wonder Girls' lead singer until he met her in person — and realized she was about 16 years old. Freaked him out. [youtube qFjP-OJ7Bh4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFjP-OJ7Bh4 youtube]

Crasstalk : Tuesday Open Thread

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:39:17 +0000

This has been driving me crazy all morning. For those of you who love libraries and, like me, rely on the main branch of the NYPL and other specialty libraries, I'd love to have your opinion on this article. (Apologies for the paywall site, if you hit the wall, you're above your 10 free articles a month. Unfortunately, it's not covered anywhere else in this detail.) I'm not all "get off my lawn" but all I see here is a new director who wants to put his "stamp" on the NYPL — critics be damned. I actually used the test cafe the other day and it just felt wrong — like a vending machine in a church. I'm hoping the critics win out in this fight. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/arts/design/new...