Dear Miss Manners:
What is the proper way to request cash in lieu of gifts via a bridal registry?
Sit on the floor with a hat turned upside down on the floor beside you.
(via)
Archive for the ‘funny’ Category
Show Miss Manners the love
Wednesday, March 29th, 2006What’s wrong with Libertarians, part 4735 in a series
Sunday, February 26th, 2006While you are obsessed with over-intellectualized issues like eminent domain abuse and over-regulation of small businesses, these guys are dealing with things that the average American can relate to, straight from the gut. Like a man’s God-given right to fight a duel, and then eat the loser. Now that’s libertarianism!
Yes, it’s a funny. But when you look at the (*cough*) high-quality people who are often the face of Libertarianism and the LP to others, it sadly hits close to home.
(from a comment at this thread)
And another comment from that same thread:
Jack:
If you want to change the LP, then become active in it, go to the party meetings, get your friends/relatives/co-workers and other people you consider sane to join, etc.
I have been active. Candidate 3 times, an the state convention, some other stuff.
By discretion I mean tossing out the wackos when they expose themselves, and without weasle words like, ‘we abhore their desire to fight duels and eat people, though we do support their right to voluntarily contract to do so”.
Please.
While I think libertarianism as a political philosophy fits best with both the good and bad aspects of human nature, I also think, as with every other philosophy, when you take it to the extreme it ceases make any sense.
Nut jobs advocating duels, incest and canibalism need to be publically ejcted from any local LP they belong to, and their affiliation loudly rejected should they claim it.
I am wondering if a new party is needed. Libertarian leaning, but with rational application to real human nature, not to some sort of idealized cyber-logical version of human nature.
Just as socialism treats people as mechanistic insects that can be used and disposed of at need, (especially when taken to it’s logical extremes of communism and fascism), libertarianism treats people as programmable boolean logic gates, that will automatically behave in certain ways when the correct initial environment is set up.
Both are irrational at the fringes. One by treating people as insects and machines, the other by treating them as computers.
Who says taxes are boring?
Tuesday, January 31st, 2006A question from a client, related in a tax professionals’ mailing list:
Client: Our new German shepherd was playing with his rope toy upstairs and crashed through the window and fell into the tree.
Tax Pro: So you want to know if you can get any deduction for replacing the window?
Client: Actually, we were wondering if we could take any loss for the dog–he had internal injuries and torn tendons and the vet bill is going to be
$6,500.
Don’t make me get all Athanasius on your ass
Saturday, January 21st, 2006Sweeps week at NPR?
Monday, December 5th, 2005I made the mistake of listening to NPR today, and they were talking about the high winds plaguing Colorado today. After talking about the “hurricane-force winds” hitting CO (which turn out to actually be 30mph with gusts to 90), the reporterette doing the piece puts on her over-dramatic voice and comes out with this gem:
Differences in air pressure are causing these winds.
As opposed to what, phlogiston currents?
Post of the month in misc.legal.moderated
Thursday, November 17th, 2005I nominate this for post of the month in misc.legal.moderated:
I recently lost a friendly wager to my wife. If I’d won, she had to take my car for its next oil change. Not too bad, right? Unfortunately, I lost. Now, I’m supposed to go to a local convenience store wearing a French maid’s outfit, handcuffs and leg irons with a note offering me up to do some light cleaning. Basically, the idea is that I don’t get the keys to the cuffs unless I come home with a note from the clerk at the store telling my wife that I made good on the bet.
My wife is going to call the store first to make sure they don’t mind my coming in, so I’m not worried that management will complain that I’m causing a disturbance or anything like that. I’ll probably go late at night, when there are likely to be fewer customers anyway. As for the maid’s outfit my wife bought for this occasion — as embarrassing as it is, it isn’t in any way revealing, so I can’t imagine there’s anything illegal about wearing that in public. And I’m assuming there isn’t a legal problem with me wearing the cuffs.
But, put it all together and it’s likely to be a pretty strange sight. So, my concern is what happens if I’m at Sunoco or wherever my wife sends me and a police officer shows up just to get a cup of coffee or whatever. Would I be in violation of any laws that I may not be aware of? Or, in other words, do I need to be worried about being arrested simply because this is so far out of the ordinary?
Aside from the bizarreness, I wouldn’t want this guy doing any negotiations for me. Win and your wife has to take the car for an oil change, lose and you have to do that? Not particularly comparable outcomes.
An oldie but goodie
Sunday, November 6th, 2005This has been around forever, but I’ve not heard it for a while:
The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country, the Washington Post is read by the people who think they run the county, the New York Times is read by the people who think they should run the country and the Boston Globe is read by the people who used to run the country!
Though I’d say that way overstates the importance of the readers of the Globe. And speaking of the Globe, is there any paper in the country with such an inflated sense of self-importance?
A 21st century snigletTM
Wednesday, October 26th, 2005A friend coined this term to refer either (both?) the current dressing style amongst female teens and pre-teens or those who dress that way: prostitot
Gimme that old time religion!
Wednesday, October 26th, 2005From a mailing list:
Jesus said unto them, “Whom do you say I am?”
They replied, “You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the ontological foundation of the context of our very selfhood revealed.”
And Jesus replied, “What?”
When you care enough to send the very best
Sunday, October 23rd, 2005Diamonds? No. Hallmark cards? No. It’s our favorite bit of edible pinkness.