The Off Topic Topic

[HisMajestyBOB]

Early jets were so slow you could throw saucers faster than them?
That's a pretty big scandal.

[CountDeMoney]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh5xu35bAxA

[MadBurgerMaker]

Welp.  I was planning on getting myself a new router tonight, but got distracted and ended up buying a new driver instead. 

[CountDeMoney]

Through the first three months of the year, Baltimore has recorded its lowest homicide total since the mid-1970s as some other large cities are experiencing spikes. As of April 1, 40 people have been killed in the city, down more than 30 percent from last year and the lowest total since 39 people were killed through March in 1977. That year saw 171 killings total, the lowest number in the past four decades. Cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago - where 40 people were shot over about two days last week - have been drawing headlines for crime spikes, though those cities have hit record lows in recent years. Baltimore has also lost 200,000 people from its population since the 1970s, meaning its murder rate remains relatively high. Still, officials are encouraged and say the drop continues a trend of declining gun crime and shootings in recent years. "We are not claiming victory by any means, but this is a testament that our crime-fighting strategy is successful and proving effective," said Anthony Guglielmi, the Police Department's chief spokesman.

Of course, there's no mention of the record amounts of snowfall we had this past quarter.  Niggies don't like to play outside in the snow.  Scares them.

[Josquius]

Random thought: in English, at least colloquially, everything can be verbed.
Does this have official recognition anywhere as a development the language is making recently?
hmm...Tempted to investigate but that will be leeching effort from the research I should be doing

[ulmont]

Random thought: in English, at least colloquially, everything can be verbed.
Does this have official recognition anywhere as a development the language is making recently?
hmm...Tempted to investigate but that will be leeching effort from the research I should be doing

It's not a new development.  Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe character railed against "contact" as a verb in the 1960s.  Shakespeare used "uncle" as a verb.  And so on.

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/verbing-nouns/
http://open.salon.com/blog/the_biblio_files/2008/09/09/verbing_weirds_language

[Barrister]

Fascinating article about flying the SR-71 Blackbird:

http://gizmodo.com/5511236/the-thrill-of-flying-the-sr+71-blackbird

Brief except:

In 1962, the first Blackbird successfully flew, and in 1966, the same year I graduated from high school, the Air Force began flying operational SR-71 missions. I came to the program in 1983 with a sterling record and a recommendation from my commander, completing the weeklong interview and meeting Walter, my partner for the next four years He would ride four feet behind me, working all the cameras, radios, and electronic jamming equipment. I joked that if we were ever captured, he was the spy and I was just the driver. He told me to keep the pointy end forward.

We trained for a year, flying out of Beale AFB in California , Kadena Airbase in Okinawa, and RAF Mildenhall in England . On a typical training mission, we would take off near Sacramento, refuel over Nevada, accelerate into Montana, obtain high Mach over Colorado, turn right over New Mexico, speed across the Los Angeles Basin, run up the West Coast, turn right at Seattle, then return to Beale. Total flight time: two hours and 40 minutes.

One day, high above Arizona , we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. 'Ninety knots,' ATC replied. A twin Bonanza soon made the same request. 'One-twenty on the ground,' was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was 'Dusty 52, we show you at 620 on the ground,' ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, ' Aspen 20, I show you at 1,982 knots on the ground.' We did not hear another transmis sion on that frequency all the way to the coast.

Also has some cool stories about outrunning Libyan missiles in 1986.

[Ed Anger]

One day, high above Arizona , we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. 'Ninety knots,' ATC replied. A twin Bonanza soon made the same request. 'One-twenty on the ground,' was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was 'Dusty 52, we show you at 620 on the ground,' ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter's mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, ' Aspen 20, I show you at 1,982 knots on the ground.' We did not hear another transmis sion on that frequency all the way to the coast.

lolz, squids.

[Josephus]

Bloody Hell.

So a couple months ago when all hell broke loose in Haiti, I donated some money to Doctors Without Borders, because I'm a humanitarian kinda guy.

So now, I keep getting dinner time phone calls from them asking me to donate to their newest "cause de jour".

Fuck off, already. If they are not dying on my 60 inch Hi-Def TV I don't give a shit.

More of those calls and I'll give up socialism for ever. 

[Barrister]

More of those calls and I'll give up socialism for ever. 

Can I offer you a nice membership in the Conservative Party of Canada?  I only get 2-3 phone calls per year.

[Razgovory]

More of those calls and I'll give up socialism for ever. 

Can I offer you a nice membership in the Conservative Party of Canada?  I only get 2-3 phone calls per year.

Due you have to pay dues?

[Eddie Teach]

Due you have to pay dues?

And does he have to pay does?

[Jaron]

Due you have to pay dues?

And does he have to pay does?

Hole in One baby!

[HisMajestyBOB]

Bloody Hell.

So a couple months ago when all hell broke loose in Haiti, I donated some money to Doctors Without Borders, because I'm a humanitarian kinda guy.

So now, I keep getting dinner time phone calls from them asking me to donate to their newest "cause de jour".

Fuck off, already. If they are not dying on my 60 inch Hi-Def TV I don't give a shit.

More of those calls and I'll give up socialism for ever. 

I donated to them once. I'm pretty sure they spent all the money I gave them on mailing me solicitations, so I've never donated to them again.

Plus, I found a book in my college library published by them. It was full of conspiracy crap about how the US intervention in Kosovo had the goal of bringing foreign aid agencies under Pentagon control and crap like that.

[Josquius]

Bizzare.
For absolutely no reason I find myself wide awake at 7am. Usually I don't do mornings, I set my alarm for 10 I manage to disarm it and sleep till 12 (as I did Monday....)yet today here I am...