7:51 AM yesterday
David from Chicago commented on Is Your Teen Out of Control... And Smoking Hot?.
Dan's got a point. In the educational publishing business reactions like Dan's drive a lot of decision making. In many books for the K-8 market, you won't see any kid in a bathing suit. The slight chance that someone like Dan might be a teacher on an adoption committee for a school is enough to keep publishers from carefully avoiding any photos that might remotely be accused of being a sexualized depiction of a child. That's why, by the way, elementary science books avoid teaching evolution unless that absolutely have to, never say that humans are animals, and so on. These sorts of reactions cause a lot of harm as well as some good. The design firm that created the banner was unaware of the ramifications of using such a photo for a school, and the decision-makers at the school made a poor decision when they approved it.
Nov 5
David from Chicago commented on Connecting Three Serial Killers.
Maybe you should start ignoring your instincts, Charles, unless they are also telling you to post a nice boobie photo to liven up our day. How about, "the victims were all women, and so is this scrumptious specimen. [inserted photo of someone with boobies]"
Oct 21
David from Chicago commented on Vitter The Shitter Has No Comment.
Vitter's an asshole but maybe he just didn't want to talk to the other asshole, the one with the camera.
Oct 19
David from Chicago commented on Sorry Excuse.
@20. How about those Justice Department lawyers who are writing briefs upholding DADT, the law of the land? On Slog, don't we think those are the assholes? So it's okay to not uphold the law when you're "right," but when you're "wrong," you had better just do your job? Who's to say what is "right" and "wrong." I think this guy needs to retire but he is not a monster. Lots of life is gray, not black and white.
Oct 19
David from Chicago commented on Sorry Excuse.
My ex-wife's mom and her partner were very liberal folks but were convinced that interracial marriage was wrong "because of the children." It drove my ex-wife and me crazy and we openly disagreed with them, although they were not at all willing to change their minds. Otherwise decent old folks can have some strange convictions, and this guy decided to act on his but also told the couple where they could go to get married. Doesn't seem to me like such a monster.
Oct 16
David from Chicago commented on Aggressive Panhandling.
I lived in New York City in the mid 90s and for my first year or so every time I rode the subway at least one panhandler would come walking through asking for change. They tended to not be aggressive but it turned out that they were breaking a NYC law on not panhandling to captive audiences (people in line, people on a bus, etc.). When Rudy Giuliani first become major, one of his first moves was to enforce the existing panhandling laws and almost overnight all subway panhandlers were gone, as were squeegee panhandlers who would clean your windshield unasked at a traffic light and then hit you up for change. The city almost overnight became a nicer place to live in and exist. Prior to change I had thought I was immune to any ill effects of life with panhandlers and I held all the normal very liberal views on the issue, but I did not know how much better daily life - just getting back and forth to work - could be without constantly being hit up for money. This one move made Giuliani very popular, by the way.
Oct 9
David from Chicago commented on The Stupidity of Guns.
Good post, Charles. (little typo: I wonder how SHE met her end, not "see," right? Thought you might want to fix it.)
Sep 29
David from Chicago commented on Harry Potter and the Intolerant Morons.
Bush knows his base, which objects to witchcraft and Harry Potter. I can't image that Bush himself gave a crap about witchcraft. To give some perspective, stories about witchcraft are almost never included in textbooks and other educational materials for the large public school market in this country because publishers avoid putting in anything that just might be objected to by some school adoption committee somewhere.
Sep 22
David from Chicago commented on Kids These Days.
Two of the best editors I've ever worked with in educational publishing were biologists with journalism degrees. Editing textbooks was not what they thought they'd be doing, but that degree prepared them well for writing about a technical subject to a layman reader. What if Charles had a journalism degree? Maybe he would have learned how to research the topics of his posts, and his sometimes interesting ideas would have a better shot at getting through to his mostly disgusted readers.
Sep 22
David from Chicago commented on The Microsoft Stratagem.
Bigger, more established companies often avoid first-mover status. Why break new ground when you can wait and see how a competitor fares, and then copy a strategy if it's a good one? In fact, first movers are rarely as successful as prudent followers. Apple did not create the first mp3 player, but it moved in and perfected it after others paved the way.
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