Flute activists whistle out


  • ♿ (Parody)

    The context for this is that that chick in the white shirt is part of a group of people who bring whistles to speeches of politicians they don't like (e.g., the Danish PM) and blow the whistles to drown out the speech. A local TV news crew invited her for an interview and had some fun:

    http://youtu.be/sRGqEDla7ps

    Filed Under: There's no Funny Stuff So I Put This Here, Whistle While You Work



  • What a bunch of babies.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @morbiuswilters said:

    What a bunch of babies. TWEEEEEEEEET

    FTFY


  • Considered Harmful

    @morbiuswilters said:

    What a bunch of babies.

    It seems no more or less childish than a filibuster.


    Filed Under: [La la la I'm not listening! And you can't listen eeiitthheerr because I'm still ttaallkkinngg.](#tag)


  • @error said:

    It seems no more or less childish than a filibuster.
    <hr>Filed Under: La la la I'm not listening! And you can't listen eeiitthheerr because I'm still ttaallkkinngg.

    That's.. kind of a dumb thing to say. A filibuster doesn't stop people from listening, it just stops other people from talking (or, more to the point, from taking a vote.)

    Anyway, the filibuster was done away with in the U.S. government decades ago, so I don't know why you are bringing it up.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @morbiuswilters said:

    the filibuster was done away with in the U.S. government decades ago

    Thought it was still part of the current Senate rules and procedures.



  • @dkf said:

    Thought it was still part of the current Senate rules and procedures.

    It was surpassed with a cloture vote in the early 20th century. So there's no technical filibuster any more--as in a single Senator holding the floor indefinitely, because 3/5ths of acting Senators can invoke cloture and end debate. (And it's now a simple majority on some matters.)



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    It was surpassed with a cloture vote in the early 20th century. So there's no technical filibuster any more--as in a single Senator holding the floor indefinitely, because 3/5ths of acting Senators can invoke cloture and end debate. (And it's now a simple majority on some matters.)

    Although the statement about cloture is true, that does not mean filibuster no longer exists. That is simply a way of ending a filibuster.

    Wikipedia said: The filibuster is a powerful parliamentary device in the United States Senate, which was strengthened in 1975[48] and in the past decade has come to mean that most major legislation (apart from budgets) requires a 60% vote to bring a bill or nomination to the floor for a vote. In recent years, the majority has preferred to avoid filibusters by moving to other business when a filibuster is threatened and attempts to achieve cloture have failed.[49] Defenders call the filibuster "The Soul of the Senate."[50]
    Wikipedia also said: Negotiations between the two parties resulted in two packages of amendments to the rules on filibusters being approved by the Senate on January 25, 2013.[38]
    These changes weakened the filibuster, but it still exists.


  • @HardwareGeek said:

    These changes weakened the filibuster, but it still exists.

    If you completely change the meaning of filibuster from "a process whereby a single parliamentarian can hold the floor and prevent a vote" to "a system whereby 2/5ths + 1 of the Senate can refuse to allow a vote on a bill so long as a majority lets them", then sure.

    Although I would say then that the definition has been stretched to the breaking point by then.

    But that's not even the definition @error was intending, as evidenced by his tags.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    If you completely change the meaning of filibuster from "a process whereby a single parliamentarian can hold the floor and prevent a vote" to "a system whereby 2/5ths + 1 of the Senate can refuse to allow a vote on a bill so long as a majority lets them", then sure.

    Which is, itself, an even more drastic change from the original meaning of "someone who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country to foment or support a revolution."

    Your point would be stronger were it not for the fact that the longest filibusters on record (by individual Senators) all occurred since cloture came into existence — although, admittedly, during a period in the 1950's when cloture required a larger supermajority than before or after.


  • Considered Harmful

    I guess this wasn't a thing that happened.



  • @error said:

    I guess this wasn't a thing that happened.

    Lame. I would be in favor of an amendment to the Constitution that changes filibusters so that instead of talking for as long as possible, they instead have to dance until they drop.



  • @error said:

    I guess this wasn't a thing that happened.

    Which, uh, only happened because there was no cloture vote. Do you normally have this much trouble following conversations? Maybe you should talk to someone about this..



  • @moderator said:

    Lame. I would be in favor of an amendment to the Constitution that changes filibusters so that instead of talking for as long as possible, they instead have to dance until they drop.

    Wouldn't even require an amendment, a simple majority of the Senate can require it.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Wouldn't even require an amendment,
    No. I want an amendment. I don't want it to be overturned should the dance-party-hating minority ever get the majority (Note to self, possible movie idea: Footloose 2. Elevator pitch: Senator Kevin Bacon has to use dancing and Kenny Loggins music to restore the country to its former majesty.). Plus, with an amendment, we keep it out of the hands of those filthy activist judges, whom I am informed ruin everything right and proper.



  • @moderator said:

    No. I want an amendment. I don't want it to be overturned should the dance-party-hating minority ever get the majority

    Oh, and you trust that 3/4ths of the dancing-hating states won't just repeal it later? Hell, look at how many of our states are too fat to dance!



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Oh, and you trust that 3/4ths of the dancing-hating states won't just repeal it later?

    If my plan leads to a legislative branch of the federal government dominated by the honorable hula-dancing senators from Hawaii, I'm willing to take that risk.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @error said:

    It seems no more or less childish than a filibuster.Filed Under: La la la I'm not listening! And you can't listen eeiitthheerr because I'm still ttaallkkinngg.

    No one really listens to what Senators say on the floor of the Senate, and if you brought whistles they'd either kick your ass out or arrest you.

    It seems like a sad trend that young people today are all about stifling speech. It was kind of fun to watch her reaction.


    Filed Under: STFU and Get Off My Lawn



  • @moderator said:

    If my plan leads to a legislative branch of the federal government dominated by the honorable hula-dancing senators from Hawaii, I'm willing to take that risk.

    Hey now, you gotta make sure us square-dancin' Midwesterners are represented too! We'll riot if the hula-dancing Hawaiians get their way.

    Filed Under: Actually I have no idea how to square dance



  • @mott555 said:

    Hey now, you gotta make sure us square-dancin' Midwesterners are represented too! We'll riot if the hula-dancing Hawaiians get their way.

    Filed Under: Actually I have no idea how to square dance

    TIL: 32 states have official state dances; two have two dances (a folk dance and an other), and one has, or had, three. 24 have square dance as their official dance (or one of them). Sorry @moderator, you seem to be outnumbered by at least 24-to-1.



  • @HardwareGeek said:

    24 have square dance as their official dance (or one of them). Sorry @moderator, you seem to be outnumbered by at least 24-to-1.

    Maryland's state sport is jousting. That sure as hell doesn't mean they'll be any more useful if/when I institute trial by jousting.

    My point is, just because those fat Midwestern lard buckets preach it doesn't mean they practice it.



  • @moderator said:

    Maryland's state sport is jousting. That sure as hell doesn't mean they'll be any more useful if/when I institute trial by jousting.

    My point is, just because those fat Midwestern lard buckets preach it doesn't mean they practice it.

    I think you have Midwesterners confused with Southerners.

    Filed under: I am neither fat nor a lard bucket



  • @mott555 said:

    I think you have Midwesterners confused with Southerners.

    No, Southerners are fat Southern tubs of lard. There's a clear distinction there.



  • @moderator said:

    My point is, just because those fat Midwestern lard buckets preach it doesn't mean they practice it.
    While this, per se, may be true, it is erroneous to assume that all states that have square dance as the state dance are Midwestern. It is the state dance or state folk dance of, e.g., CA, MA, CT, VA, SC and others that are not remotely Midwestern.



  • @HardwareGeek said:

    While this, per se, may be true, it is erroneous to assume that all states that have square dance as the state dance are Midwestern.

    I concede this point, but reiterate my greater point: square dancing is the dance of the fat and lazy. They are not a threat to a fit, barely legal (we're going to need an amendment to adjust the age requirement for the Senate while I'm at it) hula girl in a dance-off.

    For the record:

    • The waltz is the dance of the rich and pretentious
    • The tango is the dance of the fiery (which is journalism code for Hispanic)
    • Line dancing is the dance of the stupid
    • The Humpty Dance is your chance to do the hump


  • @moderator said:

    For the record:

    The waltz is the dance of the rich and pretentious
    The tango is the dance of the fiery (which is journalism code for Hispanic)
    Line dancing is the dance of the stupid
    The Humpty Dance is your chance to do the hump

    • The rumba is the dance of love
    • The tango is the dance of passion
    • The lambada is the dance of the bad back

    WTF? Discourse broke the list formatting of the quoted text.

    ETA: For the record:

    I may be pretentious, but I'm not rich. (Inb4 Morbs: Yes, I realize I am very rich compared to 90% of the world, but by the standards of the culture in which I live, no.) I am not Hispanic, and about as fiery as, um, as a newspaper left outside in a Seattle rain. Nevertheless, waltz and Argentine Tango are among my favorite dances; I'm just sorry my AT teacher retired (not least because I have lessons that I paid for but haven't used).



  • @HardwareGeek said:

    Discourse broke

    Quoted for brevity.



  • @HardwareGeek said:

    (Inb4 Morbs: Yes, I realize I am very rich compared to 90% of the world, but by the standards of the culture in which I live, no.)

    Were you afraid I'd argue that you aren't poor?



  • @HardwareGeek said:

    Yes, I realize I am very rich compared to 90% of the world, but by the standards of the culture in which I live, no.

    This is essentially the same line Warren Buffet uses when he hangs out with Bill Gates.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Were you afraid I'd argue that you aren't poor?

    Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought it was you who had made the "Even the poorest American is fabulously wealthy compared to the $thirdWorldCountrian who lives on $2 a month" point here. Maybe it was one of the Leftists.



  • @HardwareGeek said:

    Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought it was you who had made the "Even the poorest American is fabulously wealthy compared to the $thirdWorldCountrian who lives on $2 a month" point here. Maybe it was one of the Leftists.

    I'm sure I have, but don't worry, you're really, actually poor.



  • @HardwareGeek said:

    here

    That wasn't here. That was somewhere else. Our homeland, if you will. This is our new home, and though it is dangerous and we're still under the thumb of that noted tyrant, Alex I, we will prosper! We will forge a new union, greater than any that has come before, and we will become so rich that we can complain on the internet about paying for tango lessons and not getting them! I HAVE A DREAM!



  • @moderator said:

    and we will become so rich that we can complain on the internet about paying for tango lessons and not getting them!

    To be fair, HardwareGeek lost two kids to scraped knees because he couldn't afford antibiotics.

    And he paid for those tango lessons by sewing swooshtikas onto Nike shoes for 10 cents a day.

    Motherfucker's that poor.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    I'm sure I have, but don't worry, you're really, actually poor.

    I didn't say I am poor, but I'm definitely not rich (by American standards). I have about one paycheck in the bank, and another in assets I could liquidate quickly in an emergency. I'm getting by, but that definitely ain't rich.
    @morbiuswilters said:

    HardwareGeek lost two kids to scraped knees because he couldn't afford antibiotics.
    No, I lost two kids to a divorce, and they live hundreds of miles away, and I get to see them a couple of times a year if I'm lucky, and FU with a rusty spork.



  • @HardwareGeek said:

    another in assets I could liquidate quickly in an emergency

    I used to put my money into nitrogen, but it's a bitch to liquidate. Now I stick with an all-ice investment strategy.


  • Banned

    @HardwareGeek said:

    No, I lost two kids to a divorce, and they live hundreds of miles away, and I get to see them a couple of times a year if I'm lucky, and FU with a rusty spork.

    :( that is rough.



  • @moderator said:

    I used to put my money into nitrogen, but it's a bitch to liquidate. Now I stick with an all-ice investment strategy.

    Gallium is where it's at. Nice and liquid, but your savings won't evaporate in a hot market like with ice.



  • @HardwareGeek said:

    I have about one paycheck in the bank

    Having more than 3 days cash on hand (or 2 days food) means you're probably better off than 75% of Americans.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    Gallium is where it's at. Nice and liquid, but your savings won't evaporate in a hot market like with ice.

    I'm considering rubidium myself. Yeah, if things get heated, it's a bit more likely to go up in smoke, but I really need something that's going to have solid performance even in the summer.


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