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[2015-10-08 10:29:32] - ... and then the gov should probably follow the current science on what to feed the kids. -Daniel
[2015-10-08 10:29:20] - I guess I could say I wouldn't support laws where the gov actually bans food, but if they are controlling gov programs and just putting out guidance I'm not sure that they can do something other than follow the current science available. Like if schools are going to feed kids and schools are run by the gov then the gov has to choose to what to feed kids...
[2015-10-08 10:00:45] - yah. ~a
[2015-10-08 09:47:41] - a: all the more reason to not base laws/heavy-handed guidance on that science. - mig
[2015-10-07 16:09:05] - It's one thing to provide information based on scientific information and to even have guidelines, but it's another thing to start banning things and enacting laws to try to strong-arm businesses and individuals into following their advice with such a crummy record as they have. -Paul
[2015-10-07 15:43:31] - My perspective is that I just wish the government was a little more humble and a little less pushy when it comes to nutrition, especially given their past reputation (and past reputation of the science of nutrition itself). -Paul
[2015-10-07 14:21:31] - daniel: i mean, sure you can say the government is just following the science, but I think under these circumstances we probably should be questioning the science itself. - mig
[2015-10-07 14:20:57] - mig: health science is hard. humans bodies are complex systems that are hard to model and hard to study. ~a
[2015-10-07 13:37:49] - or I guess more generally, given its track record, health science just isn't very credible. - mig
[2015-10-07 13:31:44] - It doesn't seem crazy that when the gov is feeding people it listens to current science about what it chooses to feed those people. As to how fast they move sure in general the gov could be faster but I don't think its terrible that gov is slow in some cases. -Daniel
[2015-10-07 13:22:10] - Daniel: Not just advice, but banning things as well. I think the link even pointed out that whole milk was banned in schools. Also, the government is often behind the curve when it comes to the science. I believe the scientific consensus on dietary cholesterol was reached far before the government finally changed their recommendations. -Paul
[2015-10-07 13:08:37] - daniel: the point is that maybe the government shouldn't be in the business of giving nutrition advice maybe? - mig
[2015-10-07 13:00:30] - Paul: I'm not sure I ever understand your point on the food / gov front. You like to point out when the government is wrong, but if you are using science to point out they are wrong but their opinions were based on the previous science then what is the deal? If they never updated or changed then I think that could be a problem but is that the case? -Daniel
[2015-10-07 12:55:07] - http://www.cato.org/blog/government-nutrition-often-wrong-seldom-doubt Looks like the government might've been wrong about skim milk being better for you. -Paul
[2015-10-07 12:10:56] - Paul: Apparently the definition of large cap is market capitalization value over 10billion not being in the S&P. That said the answer is still yes that the S&P is weighted towards large cap. -Daniel
[2015-10-07 12:09:43] - Paul: The S&P index is based on the 500 largest companies in US so yes it is I think the definition (maybe?) used to determine large cap. So yes it is weighted to large cap. There indexes (and corresponding funds) that track the total market if you want to go that route or you can split your money into the S&P, mid cap, and small cap index funds. -Daniel
[2015-10-07 11:07:13] - Daniel: The Vanguard S&P500 Index fund is weighted towards large cap stocks, right? So if I wanted to be truly diversified (domestically, at least), I should pick a small cap fund and mid-cap fund to balance it out, right? And maybe a REIT? -Paul
[2015-10-06 17:44:47] - Daniel: I would estimate I have around 15% of my retirement funds in that particular emerging markets fund (with another 15% in the international fund I mentioned). The rest of my retirement funds are in domestic funds... which I just realized is a higher percentage than I would like. Might have to address that. -Paul
[2015-10-06 17:40:39] - daniel: wow, that second link is *amazing*. is EM and VEIEX supposed to be the same though? because i don't see VEIEX lining up with their graph at all. ~a
[2015-10-06 16:28:18] - So is your emerging market stuff 1/6 of your overall retirement if I'm understanding your fractions correctly? If so thats totally reasonable. -Daniel
[2015-10-06 16:27:22] - Also: https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=70958 https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=68343&highlight=invest+100+emerging+markets https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=281495&highlight=#281495 for more discussion on the issue. -Daniel
[2015-10-06 16:26:55] - Lots of stuff at https://blog.wealthfront.com/emerging-markets/ but basically you can just read the bottom summing up part if you want.
[2015-10-06 15:45:30] - Daniel: Basically, I want to try to increase the size of my egg at retirement time and I'm willing to swallow the volatility in the meantime. -Paul
[2015-10-06 15:44:55] - Daniel: I'm gung-ho on emerging markets because I feel like they are higher risk/higher reward than "regular" international markets (which I would assume would include more European markets than the emerging markets fund) and I feel like I'm still young enough to take on that risk. -Paul
[2015-10-06 15:42:50] - Daniel: It's 50% of my vanguard retirement funds, not 50% of my overall retirement funds. I still have a self-directed IRA (which is about 2/3rds the size) which is pretty exclusively domestic stocks. That's why I'm going a little heavier on foreign funds in the vanguard account. -Paul
[2015-10-06 14:48:20] - I think the thing to keep in mind is that VTIAX contains some of the same things as VEMAX so you have some double dipping. So if that you have some target % for emerging markets make sure you are accounting for that. -Daniel
[2015-10-06 14:46:45] - Paul: I'm fine with international exposure and fine with emerging markets. 50% seems like a high number to me for those but I don't think its crazy or terrible or anything like that. As far as your choices go those seem solid. Is there a reason you are more gung ho for emerging than regular international? -Daniel
[2015-10-06 11:36:38] - The expense ratios are 0.15% and 0.14%, which are higher than my other vanguard funds but still seem very low. -Paul
[2015-10-06 11:35:54] - Daniel: As the resident Vanguard expert, I'm wondering your opinion on two of their funds that I have. I want lots of exposure to international (and particularly emerging) markets, so around 1/2 of my vanguard retirement funds are in VEMAX and VTIAX. Do you think those are good funds to be in for my goals? -Paul
[2015-10-06 10:14:36] - xpovos: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/10/05/insider-trading-scandal-rocks-daily-fantasy-sports-industry/ you're probably right on that regulation incoming. It does seem odd that you can actually be an employee of 1 DFS site and play on another, that's just begging for abuse. - mig
[2015-10-05 15:49:48] - paul: gbtc and arkw. (still the answer is no, but i'm pointing you to two things i own that are related) ~a
[2015-10-05 15:48:48] - paul: sadly they did get registration in washington, dc, but not virginia.
~a[2015-10-05 15:48:16] - a: Can I buy shares into a bitcoin etf yet?
-Paul[2015-10-05 15:46:26] - a: http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-exchange-gemini-new-york/ I JUST opened up this link to read... -Paul
[2015-10-05 15:45:21] - two new interesting crypto websites opening soon: open bazaar (will be ready in november-ish) and gemini (licensed for use in the united states and trading opens wednesday). ~a
[2015-10-05 15:13:29] - http://www.csnmidatlantic.com/baseball-washington-nationals/talk/jordan-zimmermann-releases-touching-statement-thanking-dc?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo looks like it's all but official that Zimmermann is not coming back. - mig
[2015-10-05 14:07:02] - xpovos: certainly, he'll command an authority in ways Williams couldn't, which could be good or bad. - mig
[2015-10-05 14:00:56] - mig: That seems a reasonable fear, but given that one of my complaints is that Williams seemed particularly hands-off, it would be a refreshing change, at least. Though obviously I'd hope age has mellowed and moderated him some if that is all true. -- Xpovos
[2015-10-05 13:49:12] - xpovos: there that, and also that weird incident with Greg Zaun from his playing days, which would make me wonder if he'd rule the clubhouse with an iron fist. - mig
[2015-10-05 13:42:33] - mig: Mildly terrifying because he can't manage and is just a name to keep up the publicity and ticket buying as the team spirals down the drain? -- Xpovos
[2015-10-05 12:47:55] - I'd ultimately think Gardenhire might be my top preference. Bud Black is also being mentioned, not sure how I feel about that. Ripken is being mentioned as well, which now I think is a mildly terrifying prospect- mig
[2015-10-05 12:41:06] - You could also McCatty could bear some responsibility for the bullpen/starter woes. - mig
[2015-10-05 12:35:30] - It does make some sort of sense. If their top choices are veteran managers, they might want to just wipe the slate clean. Also, there might be some lingering bad blood with Randy Knorr since he felt was snubbed a bit when they hired Williams as manager. - mig
[2015-10-05 12:31:56] - paul: steve mcatty (pitching) and Randy Knorr (bench coach) are both well regarded, yes. Knorr i thought was a potential candidate to replace Davey Johnson. - mig
[2015-10-05 12:29:51] - Well, at least the Nationals remain a very attractive opening so they shouldn't have much issue finding their top choice, whoever that may be. - mig
[2015-10-05 12:29:13] - mig: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13814518/washington-nationals-fire-manager-matt-williams They fired the entire coaching staff? I thought the Nats had a well-thought of 1st base coach and pitching coach (or am I wrong?). -Paul
[2015-10-05 12:27:32] - paul: he's available it looks like. Ryne Sandberg is also intriguing to me, though Papelbon would definitely have to be shipped out if that happened. - mig
[2015-10-05 12:24:58] - mig: I don't know much about baseball managers, but how about Ron Gardenhire? -Paul
[2015-10-05 12:13:11] - Sadly, most of the people I can think of who I'd want them to pick are all currently employed. - mig
[2015-10-05 12:10:14] - I know who I definitely *don't* want the team to pick up (mainly Dusty Baker). If only Joe Maddon had lasted one more year with the Rays.... - mig
[2015-10-05 12:05:35] - xpovos: Assuming Davey even would want to come back, I think that would be ill advised. I'm really stumped for who'd be a good fit right now. I'm not really sure what type of manager the team really needs. - mig
[2015-10-05 12:02:23] - mig: yep yep definitely a foul ball - aaron
[2015-10-05 11:58:57] - mig: Agreed. And if it's warranted, why wait? They did the right think by riding out the season, but it's good that he's gone. The real question is going to be who replaces him? I suppose Davey Johnson is out of the question? -- Xpovos
[2015-10-05 11:52:06] - paul: if the reports are true, he pretty much lost the confidence of the players (you had one job!), and the aloofness regarding the Papelbon/Harper incident is a borderline unforgivable transgresion. - mig
[2015-10-05 11:44:01] - mig: I don't think the under-performance was his fault (I always find it hard to blame managers in baseball for players not performing), but it did seem like he made some questionable disciplinary decisions (*cough*Papelbon*cough*). -Paul
[2015-10-05 11:42:13] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/report--matt-williams-fired-as-washington-nationals-manager-153245941.html that was fast. As much as I don't like the typical "fire the manager" knee-jerk reaction, in this case it was pretty warranted. - mig
[2015-10-05 09:27:07] - a: "people are dumb then". Not just in sports, unfortunately, although it does seem like sports just enhances stupidity sometimes. -Paul
[2015-10-04 21:02:45] - aaron: http://youtu.be/vq8G81oOHhY take note where on the field of play this incident occcurs. - mig
[2015-10-02 15:46:21] - mig: yah, webp is getting crushed by flif. i also found out just now that flif's creator is a bitcoin architect. fucking wild. ~a
[2015-10-02 15:39:44] - oh nm, webp and flif are different things. - mig
[2015-10-02 15:39:09] - .webp is the extension? I had started seeing that extension a few days ago and wondering if it was a new image format. - mig
[2015-10-02 15:35:12] - a: i thought we had peaked on how leaner we could make image compression algorithms. also nice to see another format not hobbled by IP nonsense. - mig
[2015-10-02 14:27:11] - flif looks interesting. i'm actually surprised how webp blows png out of the water. and that flif blows webp out of the water. ~a
[2015-10-02 14:15:07] - and that poor kicker Josh Scobee's probably going to get cut (fired, essentially) for blowing those 2 kicks though he really wasn't the only reason the Steelers lost yesterday. - mig
[2015-10-02 14:09:28] - yeah. people are dumb then. there's probably half a dozen people diving for that ball that didn't care it was in play. ~a
[2015-10-02 14:08:12] - a: sports are weird like that. we tend to attach strong sentiment to something that "costs" our team the game. In the Cubs case, that's Steve Bartman, unfortunately. - mig
[2015-10-02 13:54:58] - i have no idea why the fuck anybody would care about steve bartman. grey-shirt sitting right next to steve would have deflected that damn ball if steve wasn't there. ~a
[2015-10-02 13:52:44] - It's a nice gesture, but as the article says, I cannot imagine him accepting an offer to attend the wild card game. *Maybe* game 1 of the LDS (assuming they would make it there). Seems it could be really bad if he attended an elimination game and they lost. - mig
[2015-10-02 13:36:27] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bartman_incident in case anybody else needed some background on the bartman incident. ouch - aaron
[2015-10-02 11:58:19] - mig: Yeah, it's definitely weird that Bell wasn't involved in any of those situations, but I can also see the logic in doing something unexpected at least once. The Ravens went with the same QB sneak once on 4th down and because of that the Steelers were able to stuff it. -Paul
[2015-10-02 11:57:13] - http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-fan-starts-gofundme-campaign-send-steve-bartman-wild-card-game I super hope this happens (and that it's not some prank) and that it has a happy ending. Still feel sorry for Bartman to this day. -Paul
[2015-10-02 11:03:09] - I mean sure, bad stuff happened that was out of his control, but he didn't adjust to it very well. mig
[2015-10-02 11:00:28] - of that on Tomlin. - mig
[2015-10-02 11:00:24] - paul: It's just curious to not give the ball to Bell in at least one of those situations. The Ravens did have a hard time stopping him. Also on the last play, if it was supposed to go to Brown, it was actually a pretty difficult throw due to Vick being left-handed (he looked really awkward trying to turn and get the throw out quickly). So I have to put some ...
[2015-10-02 10:02:49] - When they were trying to run the clock out. Basically, it just seems like every decision Tomlin made just (unluckily for him) turned out to be the wrong one. Hard to expect your kicker to miss two easy FGs or your QB to overthrow an easy pass or the Ravens to finally stop the short Vick run for the first time in the game. -Paul
[2015-10-02 10:01:34] - mig: Most of the decisions I can defend on an individual basis, but taken them all together as a whole, it did feel a little odd (especially since Bell and Brown weren't involved in most of them). For instance, that pass was open, just overthrown, and I think the Vick run would've worked amazingly well earlier... -Paul
[2015-10-02 09:53:25] - paul: esp w/ the very questionable play-calling by Tomlin in OT. Even if he completely had no faith in Scobee to kick it on 4th down on their last possession, that pass play was ... curious. - mig
[2015-10-02 09:47:15] - mig: I was very angry at him, but also very sympathetic. There aren't many positions in any sport where you can do your job perfectly fine 99% of the time but get crucified and have the loss be blamed totally on you for messing it up a few times in a row. -Paul
[2015-10-02 09:28:43] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/snoop-dogg-among-many-not-so-happy-with-josh-scobee-s-performance-130207207.html while I was pleased with the result last night I felt a little bad for Scobee. - mig
[2015-09-30 15:39:05] - mig: i saw the first episode last night and it was fine. i'm going to give it a few weeks before judging, but so far it's neutral. some funnies, but not many. ~a
[2015-09-30 15:30:00] - a / aaron: Tanzania one was the last one I got too. -Daniel
[2015-09-30 15:02:32] - a: I've seen some clips of the reborn TDS. Maybe there are better segments I've yet to see, but it doesn't look promising. - mig
[2015-09-30 12:08:24] - yes, the one that started over tanzania was hard for me to solve on my second-solve. ~a
[2015-09-30 12:04:04] - a: the one that started over tanzania was the one that tricked me the most - aaron
[2015-09-30 11:49:22] - fun! i solved it. it took me a while to fit the country that starts over alaska. ~a
[2015-09-30 11:21:30] - https://gmaps-samples.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/poly/puzzledrag.html mercator puzzle - aaron
[2015-09-29 13:54:36] - and it doesn't even look like they'll receive much attention for this stunt, anyways. - mig
[2015-09-29 13:47:22] - xpovos: even as an attention grabber, this strikes me a pretty dumb. - mig
[2015-09-29 13:40:42] - mig: Publicily stunt: "This isn't the first time Trevino has had comedy japes on the internet - his troupe GayCo ensemble have produced a series called 50 States of Gay in celebration of same-sex marriage being legalised across the United States of America." -- Xpovos
[2015-09-29 11:31:18] - What was the point of all this? How was the pizzeria "tricked"? And from a technical nit picky standpoint, they didn't really cater anything, much less a gay wedding. - mig
[2015-09-29 11:26:37] - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11898611/VIDEO-Gay-couple-tricks-homophobic-pizzeria-into-catering-their-wedding.html am i missing something here? The guy just orders 2 pizzas for carry out and then takes them to his reception, and that's somehow, "omg bigoted pizzeria served gay wedding!" That's it? - mig
[2015-09-28 18:41:28] - pretty interesting (and short) article about another allegedly corrupt FBI agent and their, now public, attempts to get rich. ~a
[2015-09-28 14:50:58] - paul: true enough, giving any pitcher a huge contract is always a terrifying proposition. I just can't get past the ways in which Zimmermann has declined. To me, they're huge red flags. I might be willing to side with Zimmerman if it was just for maybe 2 years, but if we're talking 4+ and I have to go with Strasburg. - mig
[2015-09-28 14:42:01] - mig: All fair points, and for the record, I'm always a little leery of giving pitchers huge contracts (ugh, the Scherzer contract), but I'm just saying if I had to choose between Zimmermann or Strasburg... I'll take Zimmermann. He's only two years older and much more durable (like you alluded to). -Paul
[2015-09-28 14:38:48] - mig: I haven't paid enough attention to those metrics to take an informed stand. You may well be right. But if we let him go and he's great elsewhere, it is gonna HURT. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-28 14:34:19] - xpovos: Zimmermann certainly will command a big contract. I just think whoever signs him will probably regret it. I think he'll be next year what Doug Fister was this year. - mig
[2015-09-28 14:32:25] - That's not to say Strasburg is not without risks. But he's been amazing since coming back from his last injury (0.72 WHIP, 12.6 K/9 2.08 ERA since returning in August). His durability is a major concern, but I feel the nationals should take the gamble. - mig
[2015-09-28 14:30:39] - paul: i hate to say it, but also I think it's just going to be downhill for Zimmermann from here on out. He rarely lasts past the 6th anymore, and his velocity is starting to go down. ERA and WHIP are way up from last year. Giving him a big contract could be potentially disastrous. - mig
[2015-09-28 14:24:57] - I would love it if we could re-sign Zimmermann (not Zimmerman), but from what I've heard that Nationals have already burned too many bridges there. I think Zimmermann is the second best pitcher on the team. -Paul
[2015-09-28 14:21:06] - The problem with trying to sign Jordan is that he might command enough money that it might make it difficult to re-sign Harper and Strasburg. I'm probably in the minority here, but I'd prefer Strasburg to Zimmerman if I had to make the choice. - mig
[2015-09-28 14:14:36] - Of the five players named, only Harper and Zimmerman are worth keeping, IMO. Zimmerman deserves a big contract and I can't think of any reason why it shouldn't be the Nationals that give it to him. It's not like giving a big contract to an outside pitcher did them any good. Stick with homegrown talent; that's what they're good at. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-28 14:13:44] - mig: I don't disagree, but many of those leads were blown by the starting pitchers too (including some guys considered aces). Also, earlier in the season the Nats couldn't GET any leads because they couldn't score runs. -Paul
[2015-09-28 14:12:09] - The main reason the season is over right now is that the nationals couldn't hold a lead at all over the last 3-4 weeks. - mig
[2015-09-28 14:11:14] - paul: the bullpen is of critical concern right now. And I think it supercedes any positional needs. - mig
[2015-09-28 14:10:40] - mig: Yay, money freed up so we can sign another pitcher and ignore our hitting problems.
-Paul[2015-09-28 14:08:50] - paul: A couple things: 1) Bryce is the real deal. 2) Lots of money being freed up w/ Desmond, Span, and Jordan Zimmerman and Doug Fister likely departing to go after some free agents. 3) A few of the younger players they brought up this year looks really promising (Joe Ross, Michael Taylor, Trea Tuner). - mig
[2015-09-28 14:05:50] - paul: yeah it was mostly fan rumblings so I figured I would chalk that up to sour grapes after he departed. but guess not. - mig
[2015-09-28 14:05:28] - mig: This season has certainly been a complete disaster for the Nationals, though. Is there any area at all where they didn't completely disappoint? Bullpen sucked. Starting pitching underachieved. Hitting was wildly inconsistent. The sole bright spot was probably Harper's homeruns. -Paul
[2015-09-28 14:04:18] - mig: I totally thought he was a cancerous malcontent based on what happened in Philly, but then I read an article about how despite how hated he was by the fans, the players actually loved him since he was so competitive. Guess that wasn't entirely correct. -Paul
[2015-09-28 14:00:50] - I kind of hope Papelbon just gets released at this point. I didn't want to believe the rumblings he was an agitating cancerous malcontent, but I can't really see how they aren't true now. - mig
[2015-09-28 13:56:51] - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/nationals-journal/wp/2015/09/28/jonathan-papelbon-suspended-four-games-for-bryce-harper-altercation/ my god what a fucking disaster. - mig
[2015-09-28 11:28:43] - aaron: Yeah. The "best" thing from a purely loss-minimization standpoint would've been to withdraw the money and not buy a house, but buying a house was still better than leaving it in stocks. -Paul
[2015-09-28 11:20:31] - paul: me too! although my house lost a little value... but i think stocks got hit harder - aaron
[2015-09-28 11:01:13] - a: Agreed. I had sold most of my non-retirement stocks before buying my townhouse and managed to avoid some of the worst parts of the "great recession". -Paul
[2015-09-28 11:00:32] - Daniel: Okay, cool. That makes sense. I have the same (well, similar) lines in my account so it looks like it's reinvesting them properly. Thanks. -Paul
[2015-09-28 10:58:46] - paul/daniel: i've always told vanguard to reinvest so i don't know what their non-reinvest system is (though, knowing vanguard, they'll probably give you multiple options). ~a
[2015-09-28 10:42:38] - paul: it was reinvested, yes. also yes, deciding on buying a place in the next year means it makes no sense to have that money in the market. ~a
[2015-09-28 10:30:36] - Paul: I think that dividend line is his screenshot is it being reinvested. The dividend was the $135.77 which bought 2.572 shares of the total stock market index fund (yay index funds!) at a price of $52.79. So if it wasn't being reinvested he would have 135 bucks in a cash account waitng for him. -Daniel
[2015-09-28 09:35:20] - a: I see where it says you received a dividend, but not what happened to it (was it reinvested?). Congrats on timing the market! Was it because you were thinking of buying a place? Something similar happened to me with my townhouse. -Paul
[2015-09-28 08:54:02] - That's just not normal behavior, regardless of who the person is. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-28 08:53:44] - mig: Idiot: “I’m sure it’s blessed if the Pope drank out of it. Why not?†To answer your actual question, though. I don't know. I don't think I'd have any problem drinking water from his glass; but there's also no way I'd ever be going out of my way to do so. Hey, Paul? Did you drink from this cup? "Yes" Great. *downs the rest of the booze*. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-27 20:55:02] - xpovos: http://www.mediaite.com/online/congressman-takes-the-holy-glass-of-water-pope-francis-drank-from/ I'm dying to know, if you were in his shoes, would you have dared? - mig
[2015-09-26 10:19:00] - also, what fun, you can see me sell off all of my assets in june. . . . before the august correction. ~a
[2015-09-26 10:15:36] - paul: i see them in "transaction history". screenshot attached. obviously make sure the transaction types says "all". ~a
[2015-09-25 17:06:30] - Does anybody here know how I figure out if my dividends are being reinvested for a vanguard account? I am looking at the transaction history, and I see my account receiving dividends from the funds I own, but no "buy" transactions to indicate they're being reinvested. On the flip side, though, I don't see any cash reserves listed. -paul
[2015-09-25 15:55:56] - http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/25/politics/donald-trump-marco-rubio-michael-cohen/index.html they were saying "boo-urns!" according to Trump. - mig
[2015-09-25 10:51:29] - a: I think we had something like 4-5 people, so we were about 4 people short. The weather forecast was pretty ominous, though (80% chance of rain is what I saw). -Paul
[2015-09-25 10:50:50] - a: Boehner got a standing ovation? That doesn't surprise me too much. People can either cheer the man or cheer the fact that he's stepping down.
It's easy to be classy to somebody who you won't have to deal with anymore. I can't speak for any other "sides", but I personally have not been a fan of Boehner as speaker at all. -Paul[2015-09-25 10:49:28] - mig: I can understand wanting to add micro-transactions, but that does seem like an odd way to do it. Also, not sure if it's fair to judge how appealing of a prospect you are based on online dating sites. -Paul
[2015-09-25 10:42:21] - paul: how close did we get on ultimate this week? ~a
[2015-09-25 10:40:29] - paul/daniel: he got a standing ovation from the joint meeting. i had no idea that he was so hated by both sides. ~a
[2015-09-25 10:37:47] - mig: that does seem surprising that okcupid would do that. i thought age range was just a filter mechanism for searching. very dumb move, in my opinion. ~a
[2015-09-25 09:45:00] - Paul: Wow, that is crazy! -Daniel
[2015-09-25 09:39:40] - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/us/boehner-will-resign-from-congress.html Wow. Super unexpected. I'm tentatively hopeful that he's replaced by somebody better (as Speaker). -Paul
[2015-09-24 21:25:06] - They're also apparently offering "boosts" for purchase to brute force your profile into other people's searches. Not much use to me, given how unappealing a prospect I happen to be. - mig
[2015-09-24 19:07:55] - micro transactions have hit online dating. I was about to message this girl and OkCupid said I was apparently outside her age range slightly (her upper limit was like 30). The site then informed me of this and said if I paid them $1 they would let me message her. I cannot even begin to describe how many levels of wrongness this is. - mig
[2015-09-24 11:31:25] - xpovos: yeah i was disappointed in the narrow scope of the ruling, i was all psyched to maybe draw a vague mickey mouse shape on the whiteboard at work without putting myself at risk for a lawsuit - aaron
[2015-09-24 11:02:06] - aaron: Though reading the specifics of the ruling, it sounds like it wasn't actually common sense, but more of a legal loophole. Grand. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-24 11:00:42] - aaron: That's amazing. Huzzah for common sense triumphing for once. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-23 11:05:39] - Daniel: Yeah, it sounds like marriage is more intertwined with legal rights (like visitation) than it has to be. -Paul
[2015-09-23 11:02:37] - http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-happy-birthday-song-lawsuit-decision-20150922-story.html happy birthday entered the public domain yesterday - aaron
[2015-09-23 10:06:51] - paul: what convictions?
seriously, though, i'm with you, in a way. i often say "screw the government". basically, when doing so has less than a 100% chance of negatively affecting me. ~a[2015-09-23 09:59:33] - a: Because my wife doesn't have the same opinion?
More seriously, I was talking about people who have to go up against Kim Davis. Getting a marriage license for me was easier (although still somewhat of a pain). -Paul[2015-09-23 09:50:57] - paul: why did you get legally married? why didn't you say "screw the government"? ~a
[2015-09-22 16:28:42] - Paul: Aside from hospital issues I know there are a lot of custody and estate (like when you die) issues that marriage plays a big part of. So the legal rights there are also fairly important. -Daniel
[2015-09-22 16:28:03] - Paul: So my next question would be are there hospitals that don't participate in medicare/caid? I'm not sure thats actually a thing. The other part would be the default behavior, like if someone came into the hospital already in a coma and can't choose who gets to visit, would the hospital let in same sex partners? -Daniel
[2015-09-22 16:06:09] - Daniel: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hospital-visitation-rights-gay-lesbian-partners-effect/story?id=12642543 Sounds like it used to be a legal thing, but stopped being so about 4 years ago? -Paul
[2015-09-22 16:01:13] - Paul: I guess I thought that hospitals were governed by law on who they allowed in, not just their own policies. I'm not sure I can really back that up though so maybe I'm wrong? If it is the law though then I don't htink they can voluntarily choose to let same sex partners in. -Daniel
[2015-09-22 14:20:38] - paul: you might like this story. my coworker couldn't give partner health insurance rights to his significant other because they weren't same-sex. kinda crazy, imo. ~a
[2015-09-22 14:17:45] - Daniel: I largely agree with you, but isn't there a history of some companies (insurance companies, hospitals, etc) giving more rights to gay couples than was necessarily warranted by the law? -Paul
[2015-09-22 13:45:52] - assign to marriage. However once courts / states started to allow gay marriage civil unions became moot. -Daniel
[2015-09-22 13:45:21] - Paul: I'm not sure thats how the law works, I don't think you can get hospitals to just buy in. Civil Unions don't actually exist. They were a proposed alternative to "gay marriage" for awhile. The idea was that the gov would get out of the marriage business and only recognize people as in a "civil union" which would give all the legal benefits we currently...
[2015-09-22 13:38:29] - a: Good question. In the past when government was more strenuously objecting to gay marriage, maybe somebody could've started an organization which tracks people that you consider "civil unioned" with you so they are given certain permissions? Get the hospitals to buy in? Probably a hard sell since it's a legal grey area. -Paul
[2015-09-22 13:36:19] - Daniel: is that how it works? I'm totally unclear on how civil unions and marriages differ and are handled legally. -Paul
[2015-09-22 13:06:02] - paul: "people should just say 'screw the government' when the government tries to screw you over". how do we go about doing this? say i'm trying to get into the hospital to see my spouse's daughter, and the hospital says i need to legally be my spouse's spouse, how exactly do i say "screw the government" without getting the laws changed? ~a
[2015-09-22 12:46:13] - -Daniel
[2015-09-22 12:46:11] - Paul: I think its the legal aspects that the government ascribes to marriage that make it matter. If the gov separated the legal aspects from marriage and made civil unions or whatever then I think the gov could have left "marriage" up to churches to define. However that would have required changing a fair amount of laws to replace 'married' with 'civil unioned'
[2015-09-22 12:44:51] - more to say that people should just say "screw the government" when the government tries to screw you over. -Paul
[2015-09-22 12:44:29] - Yeah I think my initial impression of that quote makes her sound (more) dumb because she either doesn't grasp the principal of the matter or is ignoring it for some reason. -Daniel
[2015-09-22 12:44:29] - mig: But it IS a good point, independent of Kim Davis. Is there a good reason to absolutely need government recognition of your marriage? Is it important for insurance beneficiary or power of attorney things? I'm saying this to support Kim Davis at all...-Paul
[2015-09-22 12:42:22] - mig: Yeah, it's an interesting argument that (unfortunately for her) cuts both ways.
-Paul[2015-09-22 12:38:00] - sentiment, there are 2 obvious questions - 1) Why is she have such giant objections to issuing the licenses then if they mean so little? and 2) Why is she so determined to stay at a job issuing these meaningless pieces of paper? - mig
[2015-09-22 12:36:05] - http://abcnews.go.com/US/kentucky-clerk-kim-davis-denied-marriage-licenses-friends/story?id=33939041 "I feel really sad that … someone could be so unhappy with themselves as a person that they did not feel dignified as a human being until they got a piece of paper. I mean, there's just so much more to life than that." While I certainly have some agreement with that
[2015-09-22 10:52:46] - mig: Understood, I just think it's a silly reason to discount somebody. Don't vote for them because of their policies, not because they couldn't remember the names of all the departments they were going to eliminate one time. -Paul
[2015-09-22 10:51:29] - How is Apple planning on leap-frogging these two companies if they've only started working on it last year? It seems to me like Google should be able to hit the market years earlier. -Paul
[2015-09-22 10:51:00] - paul: back to perry, yes, while many other candidates have had their own share of gaffes, it's just one of those things that people will never let you forget about, like Dan Quayle's "potatoe" moment. - mig
[2015-09-22 10:49:57] - http://seekingalpha.com/article/3526166-teslas-apple-problem This Apple car thing seems like it's coming out of nowhere to me. Hasn't google been working on theirs for years with no real model ready for mainstream sales? Tesla has also been around for years and is still struggling to get production up for their one car (currently). -Paul
[2015-09-22 10:17:59] - daniel: astute, there we go! - aaron
[2015-09-22 10:07:39] - paul: the dlc got really weird. First you meet up with Scout Harding right as you enter the area and then you meet the other dwarf voiced by Ali almost right after. - mig
[2015-09-22 09:59:15] - paul: true enough, but it was unfortunately pretty memorable for him. That's just the way it works with these things. - mig
[2015-09-22 09:51:51] - mig: The "oops" moment is a little sad to me. It's super easy for something like that to slip somebody's mind and it's not like every candidate makes gaffes multiple times a campaign. It always seemed like such a silly reason to eliminate a potential candidate. -Paul
[2015-09-22 09:47:45] - As for Kaisch I think it's just name recognition thing. It's not like the nation really puts much focus on Ohio. As for Perry, I think people just can't forget his "Oops" moment. - mig
[2015-09-22 09:47:02] - paul: perhaps, Walker has campaigned pretty horribly (flip flopping, the cronyism deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, etc). Jindal and Christie while having won their respective elections for governor are pretty unpopular in their home states these days. - mig
[2015-09-22 09:31:00] - mig: Fair, but regardless, he would still appear to have stronger credentials than the current front-runners. Popular (among Republicans, at least) current and former governors with a track record of "success" (winning elections) have not done well so far (Perry, Walker, Christie, Jindal, Kasich). -Paul
[2015-09-22 09:26:57] - aaron: astute? That was an astute observation Paul! -Daniel
[2015-09-22 09:15:55] - also i've gotten to where in e-mails i'll type something like, "well that's rather spurious," and then google "define: spurious", and then go back to typing my e-mail... ha! ha! i was close to using poignant in a sentence before google reminded me it doesn't mean that - aaron
[2015-09-22 09:13:22] - "poignant" doesn't mean on point, it means something else. so saying something like, "that was a poignant observation," or "paul made a poignant rebuttal" is nonsencial, but what's the correct word for that context? i can only thing of vague words like "accurate" which don't sound good - aaron
[2015-09-21 17:51:55] - paul: to be fair given all that, Walker was still a pretty fucking turrible candidate. - mig
[2015-09-21 17:11:35] - While the leaders of said race are: a reality TV star with no discernible political strategy other than "I am awesome", a doctor with no political experience whatsoever, and a former CEO who failed so miserably at her last CEO job 10 years ago that nobody has hired her since. -Paul
[2015-09-21 17:09:22] - https://reason.com/blog/2015/09/21/scott-walker-to-end-his-presidential-cam Without commenting at all on their stance on the issue or anything, it feels like a sad commentary that two pretty successful governors (at least in terms of winning elections) are dropping out of the race due to low support... -Paul
[2015-09-21 14:12:08] - mig: Semi-related, but I feel like I've been seeing Brandon Keener (Garrus) in a bunch of ads ever since I found out what he looks like. Btw, I had no idea he was in Galaxy Quest! -Paul
[2015-09-21 14:10:09] - I'm just crossing my fingers that all these traffic problems won't affect my commute to/from Alexandria TOO much. -Paul
[2015-09-21 14:07:49] - xpovos: i worked the inauguration, so i believe there will be places i couldn't possibly walk let alone bike, but i don't think i'll have a problem biking up to the mall, no? paul's link didn't say much other than spend extra time finding bike parking and that i won't be able to ignore road closures. the ellipse on the other hand, i might just avoid it altogether. ~a
[2015-09-21 13:46:36] - paul: hayter voices a dwarf in the descent dlc. Ali voices another dwarf that sounds more closer to Liara. - mig
[2015-09-21 13:40:37] - mig: I did not recognize Liara at all (she was scout Harding, right?). Who did Hayter play? -Paul
[2015-09-21 13:29:33] - It's weird to see voice actors in games when you are so used to see them in one big role exclusively. One of the dragon age dlc's has one character voiced by Ali Hillis (Liara T'soni) and one by David Hayter (Solid Snake). Hayter is especially weird because he seems to shift between his Solid Snake voice and his natural voice. - mig
[2015-09-21 13:20:13] - a: Note the rules in the article Paul posted. Biking will be easier than driving, but still pretty rough. I don't work in D.C. and I'm still planning on taking the day off just to avoid being anywhere near the events. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-21 11:53:04] - paul: maybe i'll bike into dc then to see what all the fuss is about? ~a
[2015-09-21 11:33:43] - mig: I thought all DC. -Daniel
[2015-09-21 11:25:13] - mig: From what I can tell, mostly DC if not all DC. -Paul
[2015-09-21 11:22:43] - paul: is the pope actually going to be in VA at any point or is he just primarly visting DC? - mig
[2015-09-21 11:19:41] - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/how-to-get-around-during-pope-franciss-visit/2015/09/17/2390d1ae-5c79-11e5-9757-e49273f05f65_story.html Be prepared for the end-times (of traffic). -Paul
[2015-09-20 20:23:55] - can someone explain what the fuck is going on with 66 and it's "reduced speed zones"? - mig
[2015-09-18 17:40:50] - a: Like being a logger or fisherman is. -Paul
[2015-09-18 17:40:39] - a: "the death rate for police is 12.6 per hundred thousand". Unfortunately, I don't see where that ranks out of the most dangerous jobs in the US, but it's not top 10 and it's not even close to how dangerous those top two are. I'm not saying being a cop isn't dangerous at all, just that's it's not some tremendous outlier... -Paul
[2015-09-18 17:39:15] - a: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blake-fleetwood/how-dangerous-is-police-w_b_6373798.html Maybe. I think we're quibbling over the definition of "incredibly dangerous" (which is how I phrased it). -Paul
[2015-09-18 17:27:37] - 700 / 300 million < 29 / 765000 ~a
[2015-09-18 17:25:20] - nah, their job is pretty dangerous. you might want to refine that part of your argument.
~a[2015-09-18 17:23:28] - a: And that I am less sympathetic to the arguments that police have to be as trigger happy as they seem to be because of how dangerous their job is. -Paul
[2015-09-18 17:22:56] - a: Right, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure how to describe what "side" I am on. The best way I can think of to describe it is: There is no "war on cops", at least not in the sense of it being an incredibly dangerous job that is more dangerous than ever. -Paul
[2015-09-18 17:20:35] - sure. anyways, to answer "are we on the same side of this issue now" a little more seriously: i'm not sure. sure, the ratio is 25 to 1, but in those 700+29 cases, i don't know which were warranted or justified. that's harder to measure. do we have an idea? if we remove the "warranted" cases where would we be? should we instead look at the 26:29 ratio? ~a
[2015-09-18 17:15:12] - a: Yeah, so a little bit of a discrepancy.
-Paul[2015-09-18 16:57:42] - good point. 29 in 2015. ~a
[2015-09-18 16:54:37] - a: Feel free to bring it up. Just remember who has the license to kill.
Are those 89 police deaths total? Or 89 that were shot and killed? From what I've read, a lot of on-the-job police deaths are from things like getting hit by cars (presumably while pulling somebody over) and stuff like that. -Paul[2015-09-18 16:51:40] - yes? yes. to all of your questions. yeah, i wouldn't seriously bring that up (depending on the audience i guess). i was referring to the spats you and dee have had in the past. anyways, in case you didn't want to look it up: on the other side of the equation it's 89. 89 police deaths in 2015. ~a
[2015-09-18 16:47:23] - a: For your birthday?
Do you think my wife noticed that when she made plans? Are we on the same side of this issue now? Keep in mind there may be people there who think VERY differently. -Paul[2015-09-18 16:42:09] - paul: i'm "arming up" with stuff i can talk about next friday at your house. ~a
[2015-09-18 11:28:09] - ha. good one. ~a
[2015-09-18 11:11:36] - a: which one? - mig
[2015-09-18 11:05:43] - well in the interview, i thought he was a dbag. ~a
[2015-09-18 11:02:44] - a: He's being "nice" relative to how Trump normally is. Not relative to a normal person.
-Paul[2015-09-18 11:02:26] - I was surprised when, after the debate, he was asked how everybody did (multiple times) and every time he said that everybody did a good job. -Paul
[2015-09-18 10:07:00] - and he's actually been throwing some compliments to other candidates and CNN over the last 2 days. - mig
[2015-09-18 09:58:20] - a: he hasn't really been hurling insults at people post debate, honestly. He's been pretty tame for the moment, especially compared to the drunken 3 am twitter tirades after the Fox debate and that whole feud with Megyn Kelly. - mig
[2015-09-18 09:53:25] - mig: uh what? trump is not playing nice with people unless he's made a major transformation since the debate. ~a
[2015-09-18 09:43:22] - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/adam-silver-admits-wnba-is-less-popular-than-nba-thought-it-would-be-233059661.html not anything particularly revealing or anything but I am a bit shocked that the WNBA has lasted for almost 20 years. - mig
[2015-09-17 20:33:53] - paul: also of signifcance: trump seems to be playing nice with people now instead of hurling insults. He might be losing his edge. - mig
[2015-09-17 16:14:07] - mig: I remember reading somewhere that South Park could do an episode about Trump where Cartman runs for president and they could use one of Trump's speeches verbatim. -Paul
[2015-09-17 16:13:21] - mig: Fair, but Trump apparently "won" the last debate too and his lead only grew. I know it's super early and ridiculous to put any stock in front-runners right now and that Trump is HIGHLY unlikely to be the nominee.... but it still drives be crazy how he says the absolute dumbest things and people seem to only like him more. -Paul
[2015-09-17 16:05:38] - paul: I'm less interested in "who won the debate", but more of how it's going to trend over the next week or so. - mig
[2015-09-17 16:04:13] - mig: http://hotair.com/archives/2015/09/17/overnight-online-survey-on-who-won-the-debate-fiorina-30-3-trump-22-6-carson-11-6/ How about this one, then? -Paul
[2015-09-17 16:02:56] - At this point, I'm convinced that Trump could walk onto the debate stage, drop his pants, take a giant crap on his podium, then walk off the stage and somehow gain 10% in the polls. -Paul
[2015-09-17 16:02:09] - paul: right, drudge ... such an unbiased poll. - mig
[2015-09-17 16:00:05] - mig: http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/09/breaking-trump-wins-drudge-post-debate-poll-in-landslide/ You were so, so wrong.
-Paul[2015-09-17 15:53:34] - So when Rand Paul (or anybody, for that matter) gives a different answer about following the constitution and using war as a last resort... people aren't sure how to react (it's not a great applause line) and the easy analysis (and possibly accurate analysis) is to write it off as appealing to libertarians but not the base. -Paul
[2015-09-17 15:52:07] - a: I largely thought his responses were great, but I'm almost not even considering the content of what he said, but the reaction to how he said it (which is kind of how debates seem to be judged). I think everybody (audience, moderators, analysts) are used to variations of: "I will be a strong president that will make our enemies cower and make America great again"...
[2015-09-17 15:47:21] - i think paul did poorly because he was on the edge of the stage. his responses were fine, imo. ~a
[2015-09-17 15:06:54] - Point is, you want to stand out--but not so much that the mainstream thinks you're goofy. -- Xpovos
[2015-09-17 15:04:06] - Xpovos: That... was weird. -Paul
[2015-09-17 13:30:16] - Paul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsTNFjZoBsw -- Xpovos
[2015-09-17 12:17:11] - because of his views in the next. -Paul
[2015-09-17 12:17:01] - Also, I could be biased, but I'm not sure the debate moderators know how to handle Rand Paul in terms of judging his performance (which I can sympathize with, since the audience often doesn't know what to make of him either). The analysts tend to go from criticizing candidates for not sticking out in one breath to saying Paul seemed like the odd man out... -Paul
[2015-09-17 10:43:01] - http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2015/09/talia-trolls-alex-trebek-into-saying-snl-nemesis-turd-ferguson Bonus points (for me) because her name is "Talia". -Paul
[2015-09-17 10:00:43] - Daniel: Also, I suspect Carson might lose a little support after giving what I felt was a bit of a weak performance. Fiorina had a pretty impressive closing statement. The answers I heard Trump give were fairly ridiculous, but that apparently appeals to voters, so I can't say whether it'll help or hurt him. -Paul
[2015-09-17 09:58:19] - Daniel: I saw the last hour or so (recorded the first part, but not sure if I'll go back to watch). My biggest takeaway from what I saw? I can see why people are high on Rubio. Ignoring the content of what he said, he does have a very "presidential" way of saying it. He had some pretty slick answers. -Paul
[2015-09-17 09:42:30] - daniel: Fiorina was crying foul that CNN was taking poll averages from a really long time frame and weighing all the polls equally. She said this was unfair because the more recent polls were a better reflection of her actual polling numbers and felt and the more recent polls should be weighed more. Eventually CNN relented on that. - mig
[2015-09-17 09:37:13] - Also, Trump made a lot of faces. - mig
[2015-09-17 09:36:39] - What were the qualification rules this time around? -Daniel
[2015-09-17 09:35:32] - Though I think that may be overblown. Her moment of the night (shaming Trump big time), was kind of manufactured because the moderators really forced the issue. It did feel like they were trying to tilt the debate towards her a little bit as if they were trying to justify their decision to change the qualification rules to let her into the debate. - mig
[2015-09-17 09:33:23] - The general consensus is that Fiorina destroyed everyone. - mig
[2015-09-17 09:32:36] - And he had this really weird defense on the very thoroughly debunked autism-vaccine link that just speaks to an incredible ignorance. - mig
[2015-09-17 09:30:55] - strong suit. - mig
[2015-09-17 09:30:31] - daniel: I say this at my own peril, but I think we may have truly hit peak Trump. I think it was pretty significant that he essentially got publicly shamed into walking back his "Look at that face" comments regarding Fiorina. I think he's even realized he has to cut down on the schoolyard insults and actually present actual policy ideas, which is obviously not his
[2015-09-17 09:26:47] - Anybody watch the debate? I didn't, just wondering if anything interesting happened / came out of it. -Daniel
[2015-09-16 16:20:03] - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tom-brady-donald-trump_55f9ae7ee4b0d6492d63eee7 Apparently Tom Brady might support Donald Trump for president (it also sounds like he could've been joking). -Paul
[2015-09-16 15:03:52] - mig: It's a good point. The philosophical debate in TOS was more of a discussion whereas in TNG it felt more like a lecture from papa Picard.
-Paul[2015-09-16 14:42:17] - I can't think of an episode where Picard took a stand on something and was in the wrong for it. Like his decisions were always the right ones no matter what. - mig
[2015-09-16 14:40:49] - You know, I think I know what the problem with TNG is, I'm realizing. So, in TOS, Spock, McCoy, and Kirk were sort of a conflict resolution team. McCoy and Spock would state their feelings on a particular conflict, and Kirk would go with a resolution based on their input, but in TNG, it's kind of all on Picard, which I think contributes to why it feels preachy...
[2015-09-16 14:31:40] - Paul: I (mostly) agree. I think, at least with TOS, that the political theme correlations were probably coincidental. TNG is however, a bit overtly ideologically preachy at various times (to the point it bugs me when I watch some episodes), and probably speaks to why I think more fondly of DS9 these days. - mig
[2015-09-16 14:25:58] - Xpovos: Having said all that, there's definitely a shift in philosophy from TOS to TNG and beyond (DS9 was a marked departure as well) and Abrams' films are totally different in that it drops most of the philosophy and thoughtfulness for pure action. -Paul
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