Random Thoughts IV: the Abyss Gazes Back

[Ajidica]

I just voted. Mostly Blindly(i knew who to vote for for the ward seat-thingy but that's about it) Just picking names at random. Maybe next time i should like, research some candidates or something.....
edit:Region, Ward, whats the difference?

When it comes to ultra-local elections (like Soil and Water Conservation Board, School Board) I ask some people I trust on those topics if there is anyone I need to make sure doesn't get in. If they say everyone running is fine I'll just leave those elections blank. Otherwise, I'll vote on their recommendations.

 

[Takhisis]

ultra-local elections (like Soil and Water Conservation Board, School Board)

Even that is elective in the US?

 

[Ajidica]

Even that is elective in the US?

Soil and Water Board? Depends on the region. Up until about 40 years ago the town I live in was basically all farmlands (my next door neighbor lived there his whole life and remembered when one of the main roads in the city was just a gravel track) so it would make sense Soil and Water Board would be an elected position. Plus, for non-partisan hyper-specialized elections you can get people for whom this is a real passion, rather than some time serving civil servant counting the days until retirement.

 

[Zkribbler]

Typical example of a handicap indicator. Sometimes males of a species will flaunt traits that have only disadvantages to signal to females that they're strong, smart and healthy enough to overcome the handicap.
Several bird species have long, colorful tails. The tails do nothing, are cumbersome and make it easier for predators to see the bird, but females are attracted to large and colorful tails because the male manages to thrive despite it.

That's not nonsense I just made up.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicap_principle

Its nonsense someone else made up. Note the opening words:
"The handicap principle is a hypothesis..."

 

[Farm Boy]

Man, must be nice to not have soil and water gutted by both major platforms. Grrr.

Wonder what it takes to be the assessor. I think ours is appointed since nobody ran. Seems line somebody should run one of these years.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

The water district is a resident cooperative. The board of directors is elected by the residents of the water district to manage it. How else should the board of directors be chosen?

 

[Takhisis]

Well… usually the members of the board are appointed by someone in the infrastructure ministry here.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Well… usually the members of the board are appointed by someone in the infrastructure ministry here.

Hmmm. I think in the US there is a greater significance attached to "local control." I sort of like the idea that if the water district raises the rates without good enough justification I can track down a responsible party and maul them without leaving town.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I was playing around with a Markov chain generator by putting in a bunch of interviews. Most of the results were gibberish but I also got "a crock & roll band getting more surreal all the time." Interesting phrase.

 

[Farm Boy]

Uh, what is? Reading, smoking or homosexuality?

That's a worthy think to think. It's the one that revolves around sucking on hot tubes of organic matter.

 

[Catharsis]

In I'm Too Sexy, when the guy says 'I'm a model, you know what I mean', what does he mean? Is he a model or isn't he?

 

[brennan]

No. It was meant as a caricature.

 

[Catharsis]

Well yeah, but the caricature is winking at me. It suggests that it is a model but adds this cryptic qualifier, and it expects me to know what it means (there's not even an 'if' in that lyric), but I don't.

I suppose the idea is that he's delusional and he's just looking in his mirror or something. But the delusional man wouldn't qualify his claim to be a model with a 'you know what I mean'. So it suggests that he knows he's not a model. He is of course too sexy for Milan, New York and Japan, and also for various articles of clothing, so he actually can't be a model, it would be impossible for him. But in that case what is he? Does he speak with forked tongue? Is he too sexy for the truth?

 

[Snerk]

In I'm Too Sexy, when the guy says 'I'm a model, you know what I mean', what does he mean? Is he a model or isn't he?

I know what he means and I find it deeply disappointing that you don't.

 

[Catharsis]

I know what he means and I find it deeply disappointing that you don't.

Damn you sexy folk and your secret knowledge. Your time will come. Baby oil reserves aren't limitless.

 

[Arakhor]

They might be in the Land of the Midnight Sun.

 

[Snerk]

Drill baby, drill!

 

[The_J]

You can't be taken seriously in science if you look too respectable.
Eintein was holding lectures in his pyjamas.

That you can do when you've made it far enough.
I saw a guy giving a presentation at a conference without shoes.
I'd not do that yet, I'm not there yet.
And the defense itself is maybe the only time when I really need to dress up, so I'll do it this time.

Its nonsense someone else made up. Note the opening words:
"The handicap principle is a hypothesis..."

So... means it has been proposed as a possible explanation. That's all what hypothesis means.
And that's also what GoodSarmation meant, that he didn't make it up on the fly.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

That you can do when you've made it far enough.
I saw a guy giving a presentation at a conference without shoes.
I'd not do that yet, I'm not there yet.
And the defense itself is maybe the only time when I really need to dress up, so I'll do it this time.

Fair point.
My 9th grade math teacher probably didn't smell of vodka at 8 a.m. before he graduated...

 

[Gori the Grey]

Something I like to do when reading older books is keep a tally of how many problems or conflicts could be solved in a few minutes if everyone had a cell phone.

The Poster (formerly known as Gori) knows a fiction writer who states flatly that cell phones have ruined fiction. For the very reason that you note: so many things that were plot problems for the characters to work through can now be instantly solved with a quick phone call.

I'm sure fiction will adapt. I'm sure what this guy is actually saying is that the things that formerly formed the basis of plots can no no longer operate (but that fiction will find its way to new kinds of plots). (I myself have an idea for a short story that is just one side of a cell-phone conversation.)