AdamSmith

The Z coordinate seems to harbor a grudge against Kennedys and those around them. See also Chappaquiddick.

Try "ALL of the boy's friends."

My very thought. Like my agreeing with hito that possibly I do have some resemblance to Clark Gable ... as he looks today.

Riveting. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/01/edward-snowden-intelligence-leak-nsa-contractor-extract

Great intro/overview of 'The Time Tunnel.'

Droll & very cute.

If memory serves, I think a modern variant has been employed in some gay-aversion 'therapies.'

You don't want your own 'Creeping Doll'? ...No Household Should Be Without!

The shit thickens. Ex-Port Authority Official Says ‘Evidence Exists’ Christie Knew About Lane ClosingsBy KATE ZERNIKE The New York Times January 31, 2014 The former Port Authority official who personally oversaw the lane closings at the George Washington Bridge, central to the scandal now swirling around Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, said on Friday that “evidence exists” the governor knew about the lane closings when they were happening. In a letter released by his lawyer, the former official, David Wildstein, a high school friend of Mr. Christie’s who was appointed with the governor’s blessing at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the bridge, described the order to close the lanes as “the Christie administration’s order” and said “evidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference” three weeks ago. During his news conference, Mr. Christie specifically said he had no knowledge that traffic lanes leading to the bridge had been closed until after they were reopened. “I had no knowledge of this — of the planning, the execution or anything about it — and that I first found out about it after it was over,” he said. “And even then, what I was told was that it was a traffic study.” The letter does not specify what the evidence was. Nonetheless, it is the first signal that Mr. Christie, a Republican, may have been aware of the closings, and marks a striking break with a previous ally. The letter, sent from Mr. Wildstein’s lawyer, Alan Zegas, is to the Port Authority’s general counsel, contesting the agency’s decision over the legal fees. But it is clearly meant as a threat to the governor. Indeed, the allegations make up just one paragraph in a two-page letter that otherwise focuses on Mr. Wildstein’s demand that his legal fees be paid and that he be indemnified. Mr. Zegas did not respond to requests to discuss the letter, which also consisted of a strong defense of Mr. Wildstein against negative comments Mr. Christie made about him during the news conference. “Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the governor made about him, and he can prove the inaccuracy of some,” the letter added. The bridge scandal erupted in early January, when documents emerged revealing that a deputy chief of staff to the governor, Bridget Anne Kelly, had sent an email to Mr. Wildstein saying, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” the town at the New Jersey end of the bridge, where Mr. Christie’s aides had pursued but failed to receive an endorsement from the mayor, who is a Democrat. The letter does not delve into the motives behind the lane closings. A spokesman for Mr. Christie did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Friday. Mr. Christie has steadfastly denied that he knew before this month that anyone in his administration was responsible for the lane closings, and his administration has tried to portray the closures as the actions of a rogue staff member. The governor fired Ms. Kelly. The closings caused extensive gridlock in Fort Lee, stretching some commutes to four hours and delaying emergency vehicles. Mr. Wildstein communicated the order to close the lanes to bridge operators. He resigned from his position as the director of interstate capital projects at the Port Authority in early December, saying that the scandal over the lane closings in September had become “a distraction.” In a statement that documents show was personally approved by the governor, the administration praised him as “a tireless advocate for New Jersey’s interests at the Port Authority.” The Port Authority has since refused to pay his legal costs associated with inquiries by the New Jersey Legislature and United States attorney into the lane closings. In his two-hour news conference earlier this month, Mr. Christie said his friendship with Mr. Wildstein had been overstated; that while the governor had been class president and an athlete, he did not recall Mr. Wildstein well from that period and had rarely seen him in recent months. The Wall Street Journal has since published photos showing the two men laughing together at a Sept. 11 anniversary event — which happened during the four days the lanes were closed. A high school baseball coach also recalled them as friends in high school. The Legislature has sent subpoenas to Mr. Wildstein and 17 other people as well as the governor’s campaign and administration seeking information about the lane closings. That information is due back on Monday. Ms. Kelly’s email was revealed in documents Mr. Wildstein submitted in response to an earlier subpoena from the legislature. But those documents were heavily redacted, leaving clues but no answers as to who else might have been involved in the lane closings. Some of the documents, for example, showed texts between Mr. Wildstein and Ms. Kelly trying to set up a meeting with the governor around the time the plan for the lane closings was hatched. But it is unclear what the meeting was about. Other texts show Mr. Wildstein and Mr. Christie’s top appointee at the Port Authority, Bill Baroni, disparaging the mayor of Fort Lee during the lane closings, and discussing how to respond to the mayor’s complaints and inquiries from reporters. Those texts, too, are heavily redacted, but indicate that the two men were in contact with the governor’s office at the time. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/nyregion/christie-bridge.html?_r=0&referrer Former Christie Ally Alleges Governor Knew About Lane Closures David Wildstein letter says Christie knew of lane closures SHUSHANNAH WALSHE, JOSH MARGOLIN and LISA SOLOWAYJan. 31, 2014— abc.com David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official who oversaw the George Washington Bridge lane closings that led to the bridgegate scandal, said today that "evidence exists" that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie knew about lanes closing as they were happening. Christie has denied knowing that the lanes were being shut down and did not know about them and that he learned about it "after it was over." The lane closures caused traffic havoc for several days in Fort Lee, N.J., and for New York City commuters. In the letter, first reported by the New York Times and obtained by ABC News, Wildstein, also a former high school friend of Christie, writes "evidence exists...tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the Governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference...Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the Governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some." In that press conference earlier this month Christie said "there's no way that anybody would think that I know about everything that's going on, not only in every agency of government at all times." "So what I can tell you is if people find that hard to believe, I don't know what else to say except to tell them that I had no knowledge of this -- of the planning, the execution or anything about it -- and that I first found out about it after it was over," Christie said. Christie, a Republican, and some of his aides were accused of closing the bridge lanes to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee who had declined to endorse him for reelection. The governor's office issued a statement today saying that he had not "prior knowledge" of the lane closures, and that he "denies Mr. Wildstein's lawyer's other assertions.” The statement in full reads: "Mr. Wildstein's lawyer confirms what the Governor has said all along - he had absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever Mr. Wildstein's motivations were for closing them to begin with. As the Governor said in a December 13th press conference, he only first learned lanes were closed when it was reported by the press and as he said in his January 9th press conference, had no indication that this was anything other than a traffic study until he read otherwise the morning of January 8th. The Governor denies Mr. Wildstein's lawyer's other assertions.” The Star-Ledger, New Jersey's largest newspaper, said Christie should resign if Wildstein's allegation proves to be true. Letter From David Wildstein's Lawyer Copyright © 2014 ABC News Internet Ventures http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/christie-ally-alleges-governor-knew-lane-closures/print?id=22321159

Progress. Barneys' Spring Campaign Features 17 Transgender Models 1234Expand Today, Barneys introduced its spring 2014 campaign. It's titled "Brothers, Sisters, Sons & Daughters," and it stars seventeen transgender models photographed in black and white by Bruce Weber. Dennis Freeman, who came up with the campaign idea, says that his goal is to create awareness of the trans* community, which has remained marginalized even as gay men and lesbians gain mainstream acceptance: "I was exquisitely aware that in the last decade, the L.G.B. communities have made extraordinary advances, and the transgender community has not shared in that progress," he told the New York Times. It's true: even as transgender people gain visibility, the way in which the media tends to cover trans* issues ranges from ignorant to utterly deplorable. In the past month alone, we've seen both ends of that spectrum: Katie Couric thought it was acceptable to ask Laverne Cox and Carmen Carrera deeply invasive questions about their genitals on live TV, and Grantland ran a story that may have contributed to the suicide of a trans*woman, in which the author posthumously outed her. Grantland's editor reportedly ran it by 13-15 people without consulting a single transgender person. In addition to shooting the 17 individuals for the campaign, Barneys had Patricia Bosworth interview each model; the individual profiles will run on Barneys website over the next few weeks, and a documentary filmed on set is forthcoming. Barneys has also partnered with the National Center for Transgender Equality and the LGBT Community Center, and the company plans to donate 10% of its sales on February 11th to both charities. The ultimate goal of the campaign, per Barneys' website, is "to help break stereotypes and build social acceptance of transgender people" by bringing "the personal stories of these 17 individuals to a national stage." I spoke to Ryley Pogensky, one of the models included about the campaign, about his experience. He admitted to feeling a bit hesitant at first: "Part of me was like, 'Holy shit, this is amazing; this is so exciting that a huge company or dept store was using trans* people as models. But the other side of me was like, 'Ugh, fashion.' Being black and understanding how often and how prevalent fetishization still is when it comes to black people... I was like, 'I hope this isn't something where, like, they have all the trans*men wearing tutus. It could go in so many directions... but I can't help but be skeptical because of the way the media has portrayed, and has talked about, trans*people in the past year or so.' So I was a little scared." After meeting with Dennis Freeman, he felt completely reassured. "He's really committed to sharing these stories and talking about the trans world and just really trying to uplift and give money," Ryley told me. "I was really happy when I realized it wasn't going to be some weird art school project." So far, the website includes a deeply moving video interview with Arin Andrews and Katie Hill, a former couple who transitioned in high school in a deeply conservative part of Oklahoma: "I never made the decision to transition," says Arin, succinctly and poignantly. "I made the decision to be happy." The rest of the model profiles, as well, are full of insight and emotion. In his profile, Ryley says, "What is between my legs is not thoroughly who I am. If gender is black and white, I'm grey." Another of the models, Ahya Taylor, states, "If I could describe my life pre-transition, I was a ticking time bomb, ready to explode. There was no doubt in my mind that I was a woman, although everybody in the world kept telling me otherwise. As far as I was concerned, I was just a woman with a different path to womanhood... [Transitioning] was a matter of psychological survival." In an email, Ryley said that his hope was that the campaign "sheds light on how hard it is to be transgender in this country, especially as a person of color." When I asked later if he felt concerned that fashion's inclusion of the trans* community would be fleeting, he responded, "I don't know that the fashion world is where you can really look for social change, just because, obviously, the entire premise of fashion is what's trendy." The important thing, for him, is the visibility of the campaign. "One of the most important things that happens is when media picks up these things, and then there's a huge change," he said. "A show like Modern Family, for instance — everyone in America can turn on a TV, and Modern Family will be on. Whether you're a huge homophobe or not, it's going to be there. And that premise of these things slowly inching into the homes of Americans — there's a lot of people who don't even know what a transgender person is, outside of the ignorant things that they might hear. So the slow creeping: imagine this popping up on someone's Facebook feed, and them being like, "Oh, what is this? Oh, these trans*people are getting represented just like people are. Oh, these trans*people are just people.'" The campaign contains a mix of models and non-models whose ages range from 17 to mid-30s. Some of them have already launched successful careers in Europe and are beginning to infiltrate America, which has been slower on the path to acceptance. Ines Rau, for instance, is one of the more established models in the Barneys ads. She already landed a very sensual photo shoot with Tyson Beckford last year, and it's rumored that she'll appear in Playboy. "I'm not surprised," Ryley said when I brought up the Playboy shoot. He mentioned that his stepfather had seen a photo of him and Valentijn de Hingh — who's already modeled for Maison Martin Margiela and Comme des Garçons — from the campaign. "He was like, 'Who is that model next to you in that picture? She is fucking gorgeous.' ... That's what we need: straight men who are just seeing trans*women as women. I want those guys to understand that there's no difference between a cisgendered woman and a trans*woman." In addition to the models I've mentioned, the campaign will include Edie Charles, Ashley de la Cruz, Sawyer Devuyst, Peche Di, Dezjorn Gauthier, Trevon Haynes, Eve Lindley, Niki M'nray, Ryley Pogensky, May Simon, Ahya Taylor, Maxie Neu, and Gisele Xtravaganza. It's wonderful that we're finally seeing more transgender people represented in the media. What's even more wonderful, though, is the fact that we're getting to hear them as well. Images via Barneys. http://jezebel.com/barneys-spring-campaign-features-17-transgender-models-1512414738?utm_campaign=socialflow_jezebel_facebook&utm_source=jezebel_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Since you mention it...

Furthermore...

Amazingly enough...

P.S. The above Airtight Coffin item taken from a delightful blog called 'Morbid Monday': http://www.atlasobscura.com/categories/morbid-monday

Until we have an SM/BD forum... 9 Bizarre Patents That Prove The Past Was A Nightmare Let’s hear it for the modern age. posted on January 30, 2014 at 11:03am EST Arianna Rebolini BuzzFeed Staff 9. Bathing Apparatus, 1902 U.S. Patent No. 714,659 / Via ipwatchdog.com Not actually a method of displaying disembodied heads, the Bathing Apparatus turned an “ordinary bath-tub commonly found in houses” into a steam or vapor bath. Sounds great! Very relaxing. Except, of course, that you’re trapped in a tiny enclosed space with a “suitable vaporizing apparatus” which is more likely giving you third degree burns than it is any sense of serenity. 8. Combined Plow and Gun, 1862 U.S. Patent No. 35,600 / Via weirdworm.com Ok, sure, just one tiny question: why? 7. Creeping Doll, 1871 U.S. Patent No. 112,550 / Via thehistoryblog.com Pretty sure this was an episode of The Twilight Zone, and pretty sure it ended in murder. 6. Improved Fire Escape, 1879 U.S. Patent 221,855 / Via neatorama.com Ohhh, ok, so not “fire escape” as in the physical structure outside your window. “Fire escape” as in the act of escaping fire via parachute hat and platform elastic shoes? My mistake. 5. Airtight Coffin of Cast or Raised Metal, 1848 U.S. Patent No. 5,920 / Via atlasobscura.com Because regular coffins left too much up to the imagination, and what they needed was to be tightly molded to the shape of the deceased, featuring a viewing window over the head, and with a tendency to explode. 4. Jack-o’-lantern Helmet, 1903 U.S. Patent No. 737,371 / Via ipwatchdog.com Not sure when the “jack-o’-lantern” shifted from this flammable nightmare hat of racial insensitivity into our modern decorative pumpkin, but it’s probably good that it did. 3. Face Mask For Treating The Skin, 1893 U.S. Patent No. 495,265 This mask was intended to “remove complexional disorders” which I guess isn’t that different from some of the face masks we use today hahahaha JK kill me please. 2. Electrical Body Wear, 1889 U.S. Patent No. 396,212 / Via longstreet.typepad.com No getting around the fact that this is straight-up a machine for electrocuting a dude’s nighttime boner away. 1. Device For Indicating Life In Buried Persons, 1882 U.S. Patent No. 268,693 / Via erikkwakkel.tumblr.com “It will be seen that if the person buried should come to life a motion of his hands will turn the branches of the T-shaped pipe B […] and the cover E will turn and the index will show on the scale that it has been turned. If the person should turn in the coffin or make a violent motion, he will push the pipe B upward and push the cover off the top of the box. A supply of air enters the coffin through the pipe and will keep him alive till help arrives.” Sweet dreams, everybody. http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariannarebolini/bizarre-patents-that-prove-the-past-was-a-nightmare

Chrome + LEGO: You can build whatever you like Tuesday, January 28, 2014 | 11:19 AM Google Official Canada Blog Cross-Posted from Google Official Blog Think back: you’ve just dumped a bin of LEGOR bricks onto the floor with a satisfying crash, and you have the whole day ahead of you to build whatever you want. There’s something pretty amazing about being able to piece together your ideas with just a collection of colorful bricks. Well, we think the creative freedom of LEGO bricks shouldn’t be limited to plastic bins—which is the idea behind Build with Chrome, a collaboration between Chrome and the LEGO Group that brought these colorful bricks to the web using WebGL, a 3D graphics technology. It was originally built by a team in Australia as an experiment, and now we’re opening it up to everybody. So now you can publish your wacky creations to any plot of land in the world. We’ve added a few new features to make it easier to build and explore this digital world of LEGO creations. To start, you can now sign in with a Google+ account to help find stuff that people in your circles have created. A new categorization system for completed Builds will help you sort and filter for specific types of structures. To hone your engineering skills and prepare for the upcoming “The LEGOR MOVIETM ,” you can explore the Build Academy, a series of short tutorials and challenges featuring characters and structures from the film. If it feels more natural to use your hands—rather than a mouse—you can build your creations using a touchscreen on your phone or tablet with Chrome for Android support for WebGL on devices with high-end graphics capabilities. As big fans of LEGO, we’re excited to see what you come up with to fill this new world. Share your creations on Google+ and we’ll reshare the most inventive ones. http://googlecanada.blogspot.ca/2014/01/chrome-lego-you-can-build-whatever-you.html

For which thank the good Lord!

Both, actually. Synechdoche: part used to refer to the whole, or vice versa. In this case using the whole (the Church) to refer to the part (its temporal Head). Thanks in passing for furthering my education. I didn't realize until looking it up just now that it can work either way around -- not just part-for-the-whole. Wikipedia further shows up my ignorance by reminding that synechdoche is a particular instance of metonymy: Metonymy (/mɨˈtɒnɨmi/ mi-TONN-ə-mee)[1] is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is called not by its own name but rather by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or concept.[2] The words "metonymy" and "metonym" come from the Greek: μετωνυμία, metōnymía, "a change of name", from μετά, metá, "after, beyond" and -ωνυμία, -ōnymía, a suffix used to name figures of speech, from ὄνῠμα, ónyma or ὄνομα, ónoma, "name."[3] For instance, "Hollywood" is used as a metonym for the U.S. film industry because of the fame and cultural identity of Hollywood, a district of the city of Los Angeles, California, as the historical center of film studios and film stars.[4] The national capital is often used to represent the government of a country, such as "Westminster" for Parliament of the United Kingdom, "Ottawa" for Parliament of Canada, or "Washington" for United States government.[5] Metonymy and related figures of speech are common in everyday talk and writing. Synecdoche and metalepsis are considered specific types of metonymy. Polysemy, multiple meanings of a single word or phrase, sometimes results from relations of metonymy. Both metonymy and metaphor involve the substitution of one term for another.[6] In metaphor, this substitution is based on some specific analogy between two things, whereas in metonymy the substitution is based on some understood association or contiguity.[7][8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metonymy