StrangeSox

I don't think the autism-vaccine science was all that inconclusive in 2008, though. People knew Andrew Wakefield was a fraud pretty much right away.

S.&.P. Announces $1.37 Billion Settlement With Prosecutors no one will ever actually be criminally prosecuted for wrecking the world economy, unfortunately.

hope you tip well

In related anti-medical science woo, New York Attorney General Targets Supplements at Major Retailers

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 3, 2015 -> 04:37 PM) I will complain as vehemently, perhaps more so, when a democratic presidential candidate does the anti-vax thing. Hell, you know what, I'll pledge right here any Democrat does the anti-Vax thing I will vote against him or her and strongly consider giving money to opponent. Who's in with me? There are wishy-washy quotes from both Obama and Clinton from the 2008 campaign on vaccines and autism. For the handful of Republicans who have come out against mandatory vaccination and in favor of "both sides," there have been just as many if not more who have come out very strongly in favor of vaccination.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 3, 2015 -> 04:25 PM) The movie Waiting has forever scarred me when it comes to complaining at restaurants. They have to screw up in a major way (pre-meal) for me to say much of anything. a letter/call to management later might be the way to go.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Feb 3, 2015 -> 03:27 PM) But an extremely small group of upper class white folks represents ALL white folks! (This despite the fact that they tend to be Democratic leaning and coming from the redneck hotbed of California...) I have no idea what the green is even supposed to be in reference to (who has said anything about white people in general here?), but as far as the political breakdown, it's actually about even if slightly more conservative in the most recent surveys.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 3, 2015 -> 03:24 PM) An extremely small group of mostly upper class white suburban folk. Let's not spread this insanity farther than that. It's becoming larger every day, and in some areas it's over 50% non-vaccinated. I think we all agree that we don't want this stupidity spread and farther. Unfortunately, you can't vaccinate against stupid.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 3, 2015 -> 01:16 PM) I kinda freaked out watching WGN morning news this morning. They did an update on the vaccine outbreak and Obama pushback, then totally did a "republican response" (rand paul) "democrat response" (clinton) as if this is a debate. I'd write them an email if I didn't just already write this to a message board. It's pretty awful that vaccinations are becoming a partisan political issue.

Unvaccinated americans traveling overseas. Unvaccinated foreign visitors. Unvaccinated immigrants. Vaccinated Americans where the vaccination wasn't effective (it's not 100%). Could be any of those, especially at an international tourist destination like Disney. Some googling shows that measles doesn't have any known non-human reservoirs (unlike e.g. ebola), so theoretically we could eliminate the disease entirely like we did with small pox.

It should be a requirement for entry into public spaces. The latest outbreak happened at Disney, not at a school.

Ben Carson: Of Course People Should Have To Get Vaccines

Being a landlord sounds like a giant pain in the ass.

Median age of first marriage has been steadily increasing since the 1960's

QUOTE (Jake @ Feb 2, 2015 -> 03:18 PM) I have a friend who works in a national park in the northwest and she was irate about the Budweiser dog commercial. Apparently wolves are on the brink of extinction because of the false belief that they prey on humans and their pets when they rarely do anything of the sort. She figures portrayals like that will only harm the effort to gain support and stop wolf hunting. Supposedly the near-elimination of wolves in many areas has led to huge deforestation because their main prey (deer) have their populations go relatively unchecked and they just eat all the plant life. You can tell they're afraid of craft beer, which makes up about 10% of the overall beer market. I think it's smart marketing though. They want to stop the converts by saying that's not better beer, that's beer for fussy assholes. Of course, their policy is a bit confused because they're buying up every craft brewer who will agree. What is crazy, though, is how many craft brewers refuse lucrative buyouts because that's just not why they're in the game. This is an industry where Sam Adams (the biggest craft brewer by far) sold their reserves of hops to small brewers when a drought caused a national shortage of hops that could have put many out of business. My opinion is that the average craft beer drinker's taste is what will put a cap on the industry. Well over a quarter of all craft beer sold are IPAs, and it just isn't a universally appealing beer style. A huge portion of people trying a craft beer for the first time are likely to make it their last if they get a big IPA on that first try. There's two things there. First is that, the year the Boston Beer Company actually produced more barrels of beer than the "microbrewery" standard allowed, the standards were changed so that they could still be called a microbrew. It's still only a fraction of the big brewers, but they're in a weird middle area. Second is that they sold those hops at cost when they could have tried to turn a profit on them, which was a legitimately cool thing to do.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 2, 2015 -> 12:21 PM) I just bought a Dodge Charger and I am already worrying about it. Thankfully I am not getting it until April but my god is that going to suck to drive in this type of weather. winter tires are a huge help on high-powered RWD cars.

It depends on the state, but California's seems to be that you can get a waiver just because you want a waiver.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 2, 2015 -> 11:33 AM) I tend to just go with the best deal from a reputable manufacturer with good reviews. I've got Makita and Miluwakee drill sets, a Milwaukee sawzall, porter cable router, porter cable nail gun and air compressor kit, ryobi table saw and chop saw. Dewalt jig saw and circular saw.... I'm all over the place. Generally I do see a difference between cheaper Ryobi stuff (more plastic components) versus Dewalt or Makita. But most of the time it doesn't matter. Unless you're using this stuff every weekend, the cheap stuff is more than adequate. You might get a crappy model, but the crappy model is so cheap it probably won't hurt to replace it. E.g., a $120 Ryobi table saw versus a $300 Dewalt with a bigger motor. Both will get the job done. The Ryobi can break and be replaced and you're still ahead. Harbor Freight is fantastic for cheap one-project tools. Yes, that $500 DeWalt compound miter saw is much nicer and will probably last the average homeowner DIY a lifetime, but my $100 HF special will last a couple of years. I think this depends on where you're at in the price scale. If you're at the Makita, DeWalt, Bosch etc. level of "professional" tools, they're going to support that battery technology for a long time. My first Makita in 2009 wasn't the first year of that battery tech and they're still making tools for that line. I'm also still on my original pair of batteries without any noticeable loss in capacity/output. It seems like you either need to go dirt cheap and know you're going to replace somewhat frequently or go big and have the same tools/line for a long time. That's where having backup batteries and one of the "nicer" battery techs is really helpful. I think my makita batteries will go from completely dead to fully charged in about 20 minutes or so, 30 minutes max. So even if you do forget, it's not like you're on hold for hours.

You can gut your entire bathroom without really touching the plumbing at all as long as you aren't trying to move toilets, sinks or showers. Tiling shower walls is a monumental pain in the ass, though.

I'm pretty sure undocumented status isn't contagious.

I think it's kinda weird that the first person they hand the trophy to isn't the coach or the MVP QB but the team's owner. Compare that to the Stanley Cup, where Toews is the first person from the Blackhawks organization to hoist the cup.

It does suck that the kids have to suffer for the parents' stupidity, but that's on the parents.

I heard somewhere (deadspin maybe?) before the super bowl that either the NFL or NBC were pushing for less violent, less "frat house" GoDaddy-style commercials this year. They're trying to get more women to watch, so I think that's where all of the ridiculously sappy and overly emotional ads were coming from. At least for my wife, though, she was more annoyed at those attempts than swayed.

I think my favorite car commercial was the one with the race car driver. I think we can all really relate to what it's like to be a professional race car driver.