Disqus - Latest Comments for DangAndBlast

Re: COVID vaccinated are NOT as likely to spread the virus as unvaccinated

DangAndBlast — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 09:33:19 -0000

Your numbers in the NY data are presented wrong (unless you're claiming that 96% of all unvaccinated New Yorkers have tested positive?) -- you're comparing percent of positive tests that aren't fully vaccinated with percent of fully vaccinated people with a positive test. To use that 0.33% stat correctly, you should compare it to the percent of not-fully-vaccinated New Yorkers who've tested positive, not percent of positive tests that are not fully vaccinated. (And of course include population vaccination rates over that same time period for context.)

Vaccination is - as you correctly point out - about 95% effective. Claiming via bad data presentation that it's 99.67% effective isn't helpful.

Re: Pastor Who Blamed COVID on People Who “Committed Fornication” Dies of COVID

DangAndBlast — Thu, 05 Nov 2020 13:38:34 -0000

Of course he's only concerned that *women* are insufficiently pure. No anger at the men who don't enter the married state as virgins.

Re: LEGO Friends Friends Advent Calendar (41353) Amazon Sale

DangAndBlast — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:05:57 -0000

Ooh, the Amazon listing still has the erroneous "Santa minidoll and five animal figures" text removed from the Lego.com listing. Still disappointed we don't get either a fat minidoll or a skinny Santa!

Re: LEGO Shop@Home Brick Friday 2016 Sales Now Live

DangAndBlast — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 23:38:33 -0000

^ we finished building the Elves Secret Marketplace yesterday. 50% off today! Oh well...

Re: No Events (For Me) in 2017.

DangAndBlast — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 23:44:48 -0000

I'm sorry I discovered you only as you were taking a step back. I hope this period of adjustment works well for you - and, more importantly, that you can find the fun again! I'm still working my way through your Friends reviews and finding your take delightful.

Re: LEGO December 2016 Store Calendar Promotions & Events

DangAndBlast — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 23:15:51 -0000

Yes. There's hardly any market for any tie-ins to Disney princess movies, is there? :)

Re: DIY Modern Dollhouse

DangAndBlast — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 09:20:21 -0000

(but a really cute house! Just I've never used milk paint before, don't know much about it, and I'm surprised to hear someone praise it for what most people would say is a downside.)

Re: DIY Modern Dollhouse

DangAndBlast — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 09:19:09 -0000

First time I've ever heard someone say they love something because it's UNforgiving! What do you like about that??

Re: In Defense Of Dolls

DangAndBlast — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 09:54:57 -0000

As any child psychologist or police investigator will tell you, dolls are also excellent from an outsider standpoint, as children reflect their world in their doll play. It's disconcerting to hear even my benign statements parroted from my child to her dolls; I know parents who have changed nannies or schools because child-with-dolls has shown what happens with caretaker-with-child; and of course therapists and criminal investigators use doll play to demonstrate what the child may not yet have the capacity to verbalize clearly.

Re: Republicans And The Politics of Birthright Citizenship

DangAndBlast — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 09:03:19 -0000

But Jeb Bush and others are criticizing the East Asian women who come here legally (not as immigrants, but as tourists) and have children here; and others criticize women who (again legally) come over from Mexico for the week to give birth. No illegal immigration, as they go back home as legally expected, but their kids are legally citizens of the US.

What level of legal presence in the US counts? Visa? Work permit? Canadian passport and a declared intention to tour Chicago? Green card? Permanent residency? All of those categories are people who are here legally and are permitted to have children while here legally.

(To say nothing of the other commenters here who want citizenship restricted to offspring of citizens only.)

Re: The Company We Keep

DangAndBlast — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 20:55:50 -0000

But there's a world of difference between not volunteering information and saying "no comment." People won't be suspicious of the fellow who's not interviewed about his private life at all, but will be suspicious of the one who is interviewed but refuses to talk.

Re: Quoting Quiverfull: Kevin Swanson Says That College Leads To Sexual Abuse

DangAndBlast — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 13:47:20 -0000

You know, if you go by the "statistic" (I know, a poorly done survey modified through practically a game of telephone, but it's what you hear in the anti-fraternity crowd these days) of "one in four women is raped during her four years in college," well... *I* sure wouldn't send a daughter to a place with a higher rape rate than the worst war-torn countries in the world! Yes, the daughter-at-home people are crazy, but big-name talking heads on TV will give them all the support they could want for their decision.

Re: Block Lesson #3 // Skill Builder BOM

DangAndBlast — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 14:54:49 -0000

Amusing that this came out the same day as Sew Mama Sew ran a tutorial on half square triangles where the instructor made quarter square triangles (doesn't know there's a difference), and, when asked about bias, first showed ignorance of the concept and then said she uses high quality fabric and you'd only have issues if you used cheap fabric. Of course, that's the same website that infamously called pinwheels "advanced"... but they're very good on craft sewing tutorials, which really is much more their thing than quilting, so I suppose I shouldn't be critical... But I'm glad you're around too!

Re: http://samarrakhaja.tumblr.com/post/23480289693

DangAndBlast — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:02:57 -0000

I like tiny geometric things. I keep buying checks :) but little triangles would be a nice change!

Re: Do Free Online Illustrated Books Impact Sales?

DangAndBlast — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:45:48 -0000

I suppose it depends on why you collect... if you collect so that you can know what the pictures look like, then no, you won't buy it. If you collect so that you can see the pictures in real life, then yes, you will :) Or, if you collect, as I do, for a connection to the book, then you don't care who else has it!

Re: http://samarrakhaja.tumblr.com/post/14155171402

DangAndBlast — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:22:06 -0000

That's a silly apron! I don't have a good one (using salted instead of unsalted butter and making very salty scones isn't funny). Then there's my standard habit of putting on a hot pad, taking the pan out of the oven, taking off the hot pad, and promptly touching the pan... But I like my mother's best - she'd been making a beautiful vegetable stew all day, and was very tired, and went to the sink with the pot to pour off some of the extra broth... and poured the whole stew down the sink. She says she realized partway through what she was doing, but was in shock and couldn't stop herself! She then sat down and cried and told my father they were going out for dinner!

Re: http://samarrakhaja.tumblr.com/post/14154359570

DangAndBlast — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:42:53 -0000

A quilt I made my grandparents last year. It's not all that great, and it's from a kit, but it's my first real quilt (besides one baby quilt that's all machine done). Had exciting piecing, hand quilting (and machine quilting - ran out of time!), and it made them happy.

Re: Giveaway Day!

DangAndBlast — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:14:14 -0000

Anne of Green Gables? Or maybe a combination of Meg and Jo from Little Women. (The whole series of books in both cases.) Because they retain their girlish playfulness and imagination while growing into excellent women.

Re: Giveaway Day!!!

DangAndBlast — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:33:34 -0000

I like the elephant-print shirt - got a half-German, half-Indian baby coming along next month, and that's cute!

Re: what is the rule of law?

DangAndBlast — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:47:23 -0000

Something like that *may* fall into the category of "art" as opposed to "useful good" ("useful goods" cannot be copyrighted; the exact wording you use in writing the instructions can be copyrighted, but the finished product is uncopyrightable). (T-shirt designs - where it's not the T-shirt, but the graphic on it, are under art, so that's a different story.) Same thing Nicole below said - your book is copyrighted, your tutorial would be, but they're not selling your tutorial or your book. Products from a tutorial are generally not covered by copyright. (Knock-off dress designs are totally legal; if they copy the Louis Vuitton logo in the handbag, though, that's not legal, for another example.) Many people get worked up about people selling things made from (copyrighted) instructions, and a few even have success by scaring people with legal threats, but, in court, it won't hold up. (If something is taken from a pattern, it's the *right* thing to provide attribution, but there's no legal requirement there.)

That's just generally speaking... more specifically, I don't know about the exact construction of this exact mirror, if there's something very special about it that couldn't have come anywhere but your book, but my grandmother has one that (from the photo) looks the same as the West Elm one.... from Africa decades ago. (Made out of some sort of metal, but same design.) So, even if it were under the category of "art," it's not original enough to be *yours*.

Re: How did YOU learn to knit?

DangAndBlast — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:33:18 -0000

And, for some reason, the disqus buttons (like "post") aren't visible to me in Firefox... weird. Had to use IE.

Re: How did YOU learn to knit?

DangAndBlast — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:32:46 -0000

Technically, I believe someone showed me once when I was small; mainly, though, I learned the way I learned all the other crafts except weaving (there, I had a teacher!) -- the World Book Encyclopedia and subsequently pattern books. I can learn by reading a written description quite well (lucky me), so there you go.

Re: Ask Tara: How does a spinning wheel work?

DangAndBlast — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:29:42 -0000

So interesting ... all I've ever done is the drop-spindle (don't know the proper name for it ... got it in a village in Bolivia!), but that makes the wheel look so much nicer and easier and more pleasant...

And, hooray for your feed! :)

Re: Welcome!

DangAndBlast — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:57:09 -0000

Speaking of feeds ... I loved that your old feed had the whole post in it. Now it has just a line or two ... while that might encourage some people to click over on every post, it encourages me (and, according to the Google Reader Blog, perhaps encourages most people) not to subscribe at all, as I normally click over only when I want to comment (or see a picture better, or, about once a month or so, to see if the page design has changed, etc.), and put things in my reader so that I can read them there...

Other than that, nice new site!