AdamSmith

"Holder does not rule out drone scenario in U.S." http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/05/politics/obama-drones-cia/index.html?c=politics Well, at least now we know. Better start practicing the running in and out of doors said to confuse the drones. (I think I can keep out of trouble but what if they target my neighbor while I'm over there borrowing a cup of sugar?)

Or at least entertainment. Even if of the black-humor genre. http://coolquotescollection.com/Black

Well, the Queen being an institution of government over there, and all... You have a point. Maybe I was unconsciously trying to drag eyeballs down to this forum. Also I use the New Content button reflexively now, so am somewhat desensitized to forums being buried way down the MC home page.

Two hours late. Fans pissed. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/mar/05/justin-bieber-late-show-twitter

How would that be enacted?

I buy Mayer's position that Yahoo is in a dead spin and needs all hands together in person to have any least chance of reinventing itself as an entity with a future. Remote working is well and good when the thing is humming along but Yahoo clearly ain't. Without draconian measures, there eventually won't be any office to get into, whether by telepresence or otherwise.

And the relevance of "truth" to the Congressional Record would be...?

Who knew? Today is, apparently, National Grammar Day. How Do We Love Thee, Grammar? Count the Ways on Grammar Day Jen Doll Grammar. It's a beautiful thing, or a thing that is beautiful. In its honor there is National Grammar Day, a day that grammarians have been celebrating since 2008, as instituted by Martha Brockenbrough, founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. She picked that particular date because it's a sentence: March forth. That day, Grammar Day, is today. So, you like words! You care about punctuation! Perhaps you're wondering, What in heaven's name should I do to honor such a day? It might be tempting to grab the nearest red pen and start correcting everything you see. To dig up your favorite mistakes and corrections from years past and review them yet again, and laugh. Or to keep a sharp eye out for misplaced apostrophes and commas, lesses when there should be fewers, yours instead of you'res—and to shout and point when you see anything that offends. There is a certain curmudgeonly joy in noting and fixing an error, as many a copy editor is aware, and each of us have pet peeves that we are happy to note and mock. This makes us feel like we're smart, and maybe like we're doing something good for society, teaching those supposed dimwits who didn't know the rules a lesson. But, no. This is not what we're supposed to do on Grammar Day at all. Linguist and lexicographer Ben Zimmer was one of the judges for this year's Grammar Day Haiku Contest (stay tuned for the results, which will be announced later today by Mark Allen. Update: The winning haiku is here!). Zimmer told me he hopes Grammar Day can be about more just curmudgeonly nitpicking. "I have to admit that much of the public talk about grammar fills me with sorrow rather than joy, because so often the conversation is dominated by those clinging to outmoded or flat-out bogus rules, and expressing outrage at anyone who doesn't obey those rules," he says. "Cranky indignation becomes the dominant tone about grammatical issues when the 'peevologists' hold sway." (He points out, too, that certain peeves over spelling, punctuation, and word choice aren't about grammar at all. While such linguistic peeves certainly fall into the trade of a good copy editor, they're not technically grammatical. Whoops.) Zimmer says, "Let's use National Grammar Day as an opportunity to think about what grammar actually is, and to be open to differing opinions about grammatical propriety. If grammar evokes anxiety or crankiness, relax for a day! Don't get hung up on the rise of singular 'they' or the decline of 'whom.' Don't fret about the correct placement of 'only,' or whether 'none' needs to take a singular verb. Instead, embrace the living, breathing grammar of English in all of its varieties." Merriam-Webster lexicographer Kory Stamper is in agreement with Zimmer, and has posted a plea for sanity asking people not to turn the day into a free-for-all of railing on bad grammar, running around mocking others for their mistakes. She writes, "You may think you are some great Batman of Apostrophes, flitting through the dark aisles of the Piggly-Wiggly, bringing Truth and Justice to tormented signs everywhere! But in reality, you are a jerk who has defaced a sign that some poor kid, or some poor non-native English speaker, or some educated and beleaguered mom who is working her second job of the day, spent time making... Vigilante peeving does nothing to actually educate people." But it's fun! It's ... fun? It's fun enough that we spend much of the rest of our year discussing our so-called grammar peeves, loudly and emphatically. Perhaps following Stamper's suggestion could be more fun, if only for its uniqueness and karmic goodness: "Instead of calling people out on March 4th for all the usages they get wrong, how about pointing out all the thing things that people–against all odds–get right?" Commending people for what they do well instead of making fun of what they do poorly? Huh. That could be nice. And grammar itself is nice. After all, that we are able to communicate and make ourselves understood in a society is no small thing, Oxford commas or not. From grammar comes pretty much everything else. Stamper told me, "One of the things I adore about grammar and linguistics is that English has such a rich, rich history. Until you really delve into it, you don't appreciate what a wonderful, wondrous language it is. It's managed to survive so much--the Norman Conquest, the Viking invasions, the Great Vowel Shift, the 18th-century grammarians, its export to the wider world, and daytime television. You've got to love and admire anything that sturdy." Another word-minded individual, New Yorker editor Silvia Killingsworth, confessed, "I like to think of it as a day of recognition rather than a holiday," she says. "Just like Father's Day! Here is this great thing that is forever intertwined in our lives, and we should acknowledge what a wonderfully complex (sometimes frustrating, other times beautiful) but ultimately vital relationship we have with it." If you're intent on getting peevish, turn on yourself. Think about your favorite rules, and why you use them. Do some googling for your own edification. Read up on the issues that fascinate you, on Language Log, for example. Zimmer suggests, "If you're feeling really adventurous, check out the Yale Grammatical Diversity Project, where you can get a full dose of multiple modals, positive 'anymore,' and other curiosities." Page through your favorite copy editing books and style guides. Or tweet or read some haiku! Wade into the fascinating subject of the grammar of EMC (electronically mediated communication, or the rules of texting), as Killingsworth recommended: "Is EMC a voice, a tone, a dialect, a vernacular?" Or, delve into a bit of David Foster Wallace. There's so much to consider, much of it virtually snark-free! Think about how you can best get your point across, and understand others, too, and how the way you do that is through this strange and beautiful, long-lasting thing we call grammar. Stamper writes, "English may be a shifty whore, but she’s our shifty whore. Please, this National Grammar Day, don’t turn her into a bully, too." I, for one, am inspired to ease up for at least one day on the grammar shaming. We can go full-peeve on that misspelled bathroom sign tomorrow. http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/03/how-do-we-love-thee-grammar-count-ways-grammar-day/62705/

Ha! ...Possibly the Senator judged that line might not look good in the Congressional Record.

Brilliant. Lodging a protest by burning down your own home.

Bit of a corollary to your corollary... When I hear people talking about our sins and what they do to us, I am reminded of the story of a prominent citizen who lived to be ninety-six years of age. On his ninety-sixth birthday the newspapers sent their reporters out to interview him. One of them asked, "To what do you attribute your long life?" The old man replied, "I attribute it to the fact that I have never taken a drink of an alcoholic beverage or smoked a cigarette in all my days." At that moment they heard a noise in an adjoining room that sounded like a combined earthquake and cyclone. One of the newspaper reporters said, "Good Lord, what is that?" The old man said, "That is my old daddy in there on one of his periodic drunks." -- Sam Ervin, Congressional Record, March 4, 1964

Agree. Likewise her recent Holocaust crack. I would defend to the death her right to speak that way, but not claims that it was funny. Plenty of her crude deliberately offensive stuff in the past has been hilarious -- frequently dead-on social satire, of the most cuttingly personal kind. She'll be 80 this June. Losing it?

You know, we are such smart asses. Easy enough to criticize, but can anyone here think of anything they SHOULD or COULD do to save Yahoo? I can't. Maybe desperately seek ways to monetize the bits that arguably still have some value, like Flickr; but even there, new upstarts may already have passed them by. Does Yahoo still have any assets of any kind that can be leveraged to save it?

ROFL (I like the original, rather more priapic name you will have known: the Vertical Assembly Building. )

Good summary of Yahoo as a (w)hole.

Better-looking facade, but on a place you're still not sure why you should visit any more. That is the thing they have to figure out.

I'll take that as a compliment.

Although it can have its compensations... http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/harlem-shake-video-costs-ny-hockey-team-spot-123531519.html

Exquisite! So Falwell would recommend prostitutes for underage guys. One could get with that. ...In the quote list you linked to, he also said: "Billy Graham is the chief servant of Satan in America." What a mind.

You read my mind. W/every Biebs mention here, one has to exercise superhuman restraint in not launching a nakedly lustful Taylor Hansen tribute thread.

Reading some bits on Christopher Hitchens, could not resist passing along this bon mot of his: "If [Falwell] had been given an enema, he could have been buried in a matchbox."

Mine too. The sentiments in the article above actually are closer to my views on A1 Sauce.

Exactly. The marketplace has a way of sorting these things out. ...and it is CL, after all.

Worcestershire sauce A bottle as bought on a street corner. Most addicts take it intravenously, but the entire bottle can be used as a rectal suppository Worcestershire sauce (symbol W, number 74) is a rare transition metal first isolated by the British chemists J. Lea and W. Perrins in 1837. It is most commonly found as an oxide ore in the highest peaks of the mountain ranges of Norfolk. Renowned for its extreme toxicity and acidity, it is twice as corrosive as sulphuric acid and significantly more poisonous than your typical plutonium/cyanide mixture. Because of this, it has found high popularity amongst many Englishmen as an invaluable addition to cookery. History From antiquity, the people of Norfolk have wondered why nothing could survive within 7 miles of certain deposits of a dark brown sediment. Humans too were perplexed, and many alchemists met their demise attempting to work on the problem. The explosive nature of the compound, along with its high reactivity, led them to believe it could turn lead into gold (the conclusion they usually came to on finding a new substance). It wasn’t considered a new element however, and once all the alchemists had given up or been killed it lay forgotten for many years. In 1694, the first English explorers ventured east of Ely and, after some minor scuffles with the natives, took possession of the land for the crown. In less than two years, the survivors wouldn’t be able to bear life in Norwich anymore, and would leave, but before going a young lieutenant would dig up a couple of ounces of the rock and take it back to London in a lead-lined chest. The greatest minds of the Royal Society investigated, but no answers were forthcoming. Not wanting to admit their failure boast, they left it untouched in a loft for years. Lea and Perrins were lab partners studying at Porterhouse College, Cambridge at the time, and Perrins came across the chest in a corner of the loft where all the books and boxes within 10 feet had dissolved. He performed some basic experiments and, despite losing two fingers, an eye and both ears, he correctly concluded he had found a new element. Lea (regarded by many historians as “a bit of a posh twat”) bullied Perrins into giving him half the credit and all his dinner money. Lea was made a fellow of the Royal Society and given a knighthood, and Perrins died penniless. Still, Perrins got the last laugh by giving the element a particularly rude name (Woustairesher Soce, meaning “you little sodding f*ck, you bloody well stole my c*nting idea you twatting w*nker”), which the Victorians invented an innuendo for, giving it the current name. Chemistry For those without comedic tastes, the self-proclaimed experts at Wikipedia have an article about Worcestershire sauce. Worcestershire Sauce has an unusual chemistry, reacting with almost everything to produce a foul-tasting orange slime, except with Shepherd’s Pie (symbol Xsq, number 45), which improves the flavour immeasurably. It is a brown, viscous liquid at room temperature, and although it is predicted to have a bright pink colour as a gas, heating is not recommended due to its tendency to explode above 37.8°C. It can be obtained from its ore by reaction with dilute ammonia and a bit of luck (again, will probably explode). It is less dense than water, so would, theoretically, be one of the few metals to float on water, but certain practical difficulties might arise (explodes on contact with air, water and clotted cream). Safety goggles are recommended when handling the substance, as is employing an underling to do the work for you whilst you watch from at least 40 yards away. Applications First World War era chemical weapons made by the arms conglomerate Walker's contained the substance. These were designed for use as hand grenades, and were later banned by the Geneva Convention Most of the global production goes towards making various industrial kettle descalers and oven cleaners, but can have the unwanted side effect of removing the kettle/oven as well. Other uses, such as in chemical weapons, recreational drugs and Special Brew, have been reported. Most countries have banned it, but in some parts of England it can still be obtained for a street price nearing 5 shillings and ninepence a bottle. Some people have been known to ingest it. Usually by accident. Usually resulting in a severe case of flatulence and a mild case of death. Health consequences The effects of an overdose include, but are not limited to, death, eternal torment in the ninth circle of Hell, and possibly dizziness. An overdose is any more than nil grams per litre in the bloodstream. Inhalation of fumes can be treated with air freshener/alcohol, but all other forms of poisoning are always lethal. Common misconceptions It is often confused with Tungsten. No-one really knows why. Like most other elements (and 26.63% of the English language) it is completely unpronounceable for Americans. This, however, doesn’t pose too much of a problem, as very few Americans are aware of the presence of more than four elements, and even fewer could even read a word of more than five letters. Curiously, in Worcestershire, Worcestershire Sauce is sold as Berkshire Sauce. This unusual policy was implemented after the Sauce Riots in 1932, when men from different towns in Worcestershire fought over the right to 'their' sauce. Ramsey McDonald, British Prime Minister at the time, said: "It's all Evesham this and Kidderminster that. Forget Worcestershire, you're all acting like a bunch of Berkshire Hunts." http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Worcestershire_sauce