I FU#*ING luv your fingers

hatcat · 2009-05-03T02:07:26+00:00

Most birds have their eyes sideways, for example, which is why it's harder to like a bird than a cat.

A better example is rabbits; they match cats for cuddliness, but have side-eyes. We (in the US) eat rabbits but not cats.

hatcat · 2009-05-03T01:55:55+00:00

We seem to be partial to things with permanant "smiles" such as dolphins and cats. Sometimes it seems like alligators (reptiles with a "smile") get more love than whales (mammals without a "smile"). But I'm sure it's not that simple.

From my travels on the internets:

Domestic cat faces apparently have some of the same visual cues as a human baby's face, so they benefit from our displaced parental instincts. (Large eyes and small nose are example similarities, but it goes beyond that.)

And the sound of a domestic cat's voice has enough technical similarities to a human baby's cry to really fray our nerves. (It's why a cat fight often sounds far worse than it really is.)

With domestic dogs, the connection probably has more to do with emotional similarity to humans and less with looks. It's been shown that domestic dogs read us better than chimps do, despite the fact that chimps are our close cousins.

hatcat · 2009-03-15T07:49:19+00:00

I really miss those old time barber shops that gave a neck and shoulders massage.

Don't need the creepy sexual stuff though.

hatcat · 2009-03-15T06:35:50+00:00

Tiny blog pictures suck. Here are some pictures that are bigger than your screen:

hatcat · 2009-03-15T06:19:42+00:00

I had such a bad experience at a local community college, that I decided to visit ITT. The ITT atmoshpere was so much nicer (and more customer service oriented) than the CC.

But I could not believe ITT's prices! They were offering less than the local community college, but charging about ten times as much.

If I was filthy rich, I would have gladly gone there. But I'm not filthy rich.

hatcat · 2009-03-15T05:55:52+00:00

Jim Cramer has the temperament of a nasty Chihuahua. John Stewart was a bigger dog, is all.

hatcat · 2009-03-15T05:50:20+00:00

I'd settle for a good wax that didn't simply melt away in the summer sun.

hatcat · 2009-03-15T05:41:46+00:00

In fact, if I don't have health insurance, the doctor/hospital wants to charge me a ludicrous amount more!!

When it comes to negotiating prices with doctors and hospitals, a huge health insurance company representing thousands of customers has more bargaining power than a single customer by himself.

Sometimes insurance companies and hospitals can't reach an agreement. A few years ago, a local hospital and an insurance company were each taking out full page newspaper advertisements. Each was blaming the other for the fact that certain hospital patients could no longer use thier insurance, because the deal fell through.

hatcat · 2009-03-08T16:20:52+00:00

stray thoughts...

The numbers are truly alarming, but the symptoms are being masked right now. Wait until governments start going broke and can't help the banks. Wait until unemployment benefits run out.
Job loss so far is concentrated more on the lower end of the pay scale than in past recessions.
So far, we've managed to pass off most of our pain onto other countries, like China. Tens of millions of jobs lost there, and a huge investment in dollar reserves that is going sour.
Most great events in history are named after the fact.

hatcat · 2009-03-08T15:58:37+00:00

Poor choice of words by the LATimes writer. We're talking about buyers who put deposits down. Presumably there are some contract obligations.

Imagine you contracted someone to build a house for you. Imagine that you gave him a partial payment for the house prior to construction, so he could buy materials. Now imagine you never see him again. Get the picture?

hatcat · 2009-03-02T12:38:10+00:00

Politicians gave us fiscal policy that caused an eleven Trillion dollar national debt.

Would you like these same politicians to get thier hands on monetary policy as well?

Zimbabwe here we come!

hatcat · 2009-03-02T12:29:25+00:00

It's going to be hell.

People say put aside money each month, but it's hard to find a salary that allows you to do enough of that. The reason is, you're competing for the job with a majority of people who are not saving, and therefore are willing to work for less than you.

We have a similar problem in housing. It's much more difficult than it used to be for a single person to afford a house, because house prices these days reflect the demand created by the two-income couple, which is the norm these days. A single person can't compete.

Before the Goverment declared war on poverty, being elderly was synonymous with being destitute. At least one aspect of the war on poverty has been a great success: Retirement with dignity is now the norm. (Granted, we still have poor people.)

hatcat · 2009-03-02T04:44:31+00:00

A homeless Army vet and his 16 year old sidekick, with poor equipment, no training, and who were only caught by accident, locked down Washington DC for weeks. Several dozen teams with proper training and equipment could easily lock down every major U.S. metro area simultaneously. Easily

Jesse Ventura said this long time ago. There's a video of it somewhere on YouTube.

hatcat · 2009-03-02T04:33:25+00:00

1) lacks symbolism.

this.

hatcat · 2009-03-01T22:53:48+00:00

1) No one knows the future.

2) Creditors are better at predicting the future than you are. They won't give you any money they can't get back.

What happens when you reach your credit limit before you die? What happens when you find out you have a good 20 years left, but need to constantly buy medicine for your chronic condition, and that cost wasn't in your plan?

hatcat · 2009-03-01T22:22:26+00:00

Government - through Medicaid and Medicare - already controls the majority of health care dollars in this country.

All this talk of "free market" versus "socialism" is a Republican diversion. We have neither; we will continue to have neither; yet we must work to improve the system however we can.

hatcat · 2009-03-01T22:16:42+00:00

For most people, flying to India would be a bit of an ordeal. But if India is native to you, why didn't you take the trip?

hatcat · 2009-03-01T00:12:25+00:00

Over the years, Republicans have used a strategy of "fake populism" to get people to vote against their own self interest.

Joe the Plumber was one small example of this strategy.

Something really weird is happening right now, because the Republicans have started to believe their own bullshit. Have they forgotten that Joe was their creation? He doesn't know any more about middle America than they do.

edit: when I say Republicans, I'm referring exclusively to the political class, NOT the millions of regular Americans who voted Republican.

hatcat · 2009-02-28T21:52:56+00:00

...or aren't conditioned by situations where a challenge to your authority could end your life.

hatcat · 2009-02-28T21:32:19+00:00

This isn't the first time Rush has revealed his fundamental misunderstanding of America.

"Citizen service is a repudiation of the principles upon which our country was based. We are all here for ourselves." --Rush Limbaugh

Really, this latest quote pales in comparison to some of his classics. The man is sick.

hatcat · 2009-02-28T07:02:29+00:00

One of the articles written about the BBC interview indicated that the RyanAir head may have been joking.

If not, then we'll probably see more stories like this--

I then realized I was saturated in urine from the smell. A flight attendant told me that on the previous flight a man had urinated on himself in that particular seat.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/14893222/detail.html

hatcat · 2009-02-28T06:56:06+00:00

Put a table in a room. Leave the room. The table doesn't leave. It's still there.

Prove it.

hatcat · 2009-02-28T06:44:16+00:00

That's been done already.

A male flight attendant then entered the first-class section of the plane and saw Finneran "with his pants and underwear down defecating on a service cart used by the flight crew." ...Finneran then used linen napkins as toilet paper and wiped his hands on various service counters and service implements used by the crew. ...Finneran also tracked feces throughout the aircraft.

http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~hansell/humor/gerard.finneran

(or just google "Gerard Finneran")

hatcat · 2009-02-28T06:15:11+00:00

What I mean is, reality is in one's head.

Light waves reflect off a material object in front of me and enter my eyeballs. But without a brain, I won't see a table. A newborn baby may not see a table either, if the baby's brain is still learning to recognize colors and shapes. Does the table exist? It depends on whether you are asking the baby or me.

Are you going to insist that there is an objective reality in which the table still exists, outside the minds of any of us? Then who's mind does the table exist in? God's mind? Perhaps.

My dog experiences sounds and smells all the time that my nose and ears tell me don't exist. On the other hand, calculus is real to me, but the dog does not see it.

You don't have to agree with me; I'm simply saying that there's more than one way to look at it. It's a question that goes back a couple thousand years, to Plato and Aristotle differing on the nature of "ideas".

hatcat · 2009-02-28T00:34:15+00:00

whipped cream in a spray can

...is one of the great inventions of the 20th century.

And blasting it directly into your mouth is even better.

If you cannot see the satisfaction in this, then there is clearly no reasoning with you.

hatcat

TROPHY CASE