Gays, Bayes, and AI

Matt Drudge links to this Guardian article about our fascinating future:

New AI can guess whether you're gay or straight from a photograph

An algorithm deduced the sexuality of people on a dating site with up to 91% accuracy, raising tricky ethical questions

Well, my HI (Human Intelligence, der) can smell clickbait a mile away, but here I go anyway:

Artificial intelligence can accurately guess whether people are gay or straight based on photos of their faces, according to new research suggesting that machines can have significantly better “gaydar” than humans.

The study from Stanford University – which found that a computer algorithm could correctly distinguish between gay and straight men 81% of the time, and 74% for women – has raised questions about the biological origins of sexual orientation, the ethics of facial-detection technology and the potential for this kind of software to violate people’s privacy or be abused for anti-LGBT purposes.

Please at least read the Guardian summary, which notes some important scientific points and includes helpful caveats. But I want to perseverate about what I am sure is an exaggerated privacy issue, so back to the Guardian:

With billions of facial images of people stored on social media sites and in government databases, the researchers suggested that public data could be used to detect people’s sexual orientation without their consent.

It’s easy to imagine spouses using the technology on partners they suspect are closeted, or teenagers using the algorithm on themselves or their peers. More frighteningly, governments that continue to prosecute LGBT people could hypothetically use the technology to out and target populations. That means building this kind of software and publicizing it is itself controversial given concerns that it could encourage harmful applications.

Don't panic! First, this study was based on self-outed photos available on dating sites and the authors discovered that some indicators overlap with grooming and style choices (e.g., baseball caps and beards for straight men, high necklines for lesbians), not just biologically determined facial features. Consequently, one risks moving beyond the experimental boundaries in trying to apply this AI technique to closeted gays.

But I promised some Bayes and I know what you're thinking. No I don't, that's Mark Zuckerberg's area. But I know what I was thinking: If gays are roughly 5% of the population I can achieve 95% accuracy in a sample of 1000 photos by deeming them all to be straight. Big time-saver too.

Of course, that trick leaves me 100% accurate on straights and 0% accurate on gays so if my job description includes singling gays out for harassment I may be at risk of a quick out-placement. On the other hand, one wonders just what the "91%" accuracy" cited by the Guardian means.

Well, it turns out that the researchers used a study where straights and gays were roughly 50/50. The human counterparts were given this task even more clearly. From the study:

Well, then. It is a lot easier to find needles in a haystack if the stack is half needles. But surely the authors don't think they can carry this 91% accuracy in a 50/50 population into the real world, do they?

They do not, so I'll stop calling them Shirley.

The page runs over but the last bit is that by targeting the top 100 the AI finds 47 actual gays and 53 straights, which still leaves 23 gays (32%) undetected. Not to mention 53 straights to deal with.

 

What does this mean? Well, if the goal was to round up and torment a few gay people to terrorize the rest, this AI would be useful at pulling 9 gays and 1 straight out of the crowd. If the goal was to round up a lot of gays the AI would provide a starting point for further investigation, I guess - by picking the top 100, maybe sleuths could sort out most of the 47 actual gays in that sub-group with further investigation. So this is something, maybe, but this program is not picking out gays from the general population with 91% accuracy. Not do the authors make that claim, obviously, but yes, this could be one more tool in a government (or marketer's) toolbox.

 

That said, the odds of Amazon, Facebook and Google detecting gays, closeted or not, has to be way higher than this AI protocol; they have shopping history, social networks, preferred reading, viewing and music, and search history to examine. Presumably an oppressive government of the type progressives crave, with full access to everyone's medical history, would also have little trouble sorting people. In that sense, the future is already here. Big Brother is just keeping quiet about it.

Comments

[Buckeye]

1st

[Sbw]

Phrenology, here we come. Been there years ago. Sigh! First.

[hrtshpdbox]

Another way to tell, for males, is to have them say "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain" with whoever's at the neighborhood bar listening and weighing in.

[Sbw]

That's what I get for actually commenting

[Buckeye]

Not sure I have much interest in this thread.

[Buckeye]

The only time I have really cared if someone was gay or not was when they hit on me:)

Usually just saying "I'm not into that" was enough.

Now that I am an old fart, and it hasn't happened for about 30 or 40 years, who cares?

[Robin in chilly upstate NY]

Glad to hear you are healing, Kev.

[Appalled]

Trump has done something right in removing the debt limit stupidity from the national conversation. The problem is not the debt limit -- it's the spending, so I've never seen the utility of the limit, as it never seems to limit anything.

Since the word "Trump has done something right" has come off my fingers, I may have difficulty posting the rest of the day, as I expect my hands to blacken and fall off.

In any event, judging from the GOP retirements that have now started, Trump's campagn to kill off the GOPe is starting to go well. As 2016 demonstrates, he has a talent for that at least.

[Jim Eagle]

Science. What can't it do?

Narc,

Here is a good twitter site. A photojournalist with Daytona News-Journal. Lots of photos of the gridlock on 95 through Volousia County.
[Narciso lives there]

https://twitter.com/JTillerVision?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpatch.com%2Fnew-york%2Fportjefferson%2Fhurricane-irma-how-will-it-affect-long-island

[Threadkiller]

New AI can guess whether you're gay or straight from a photograph

At JOM we developed the single photo test many years ago but it required an answer to an important question to be 100% accurate.

"Did it move?"

[jimmyk]

I don't care either, but using this to promote the 'genetic' basis of being gay is bogus. There may well be such a basis, but gays also choose how to present themselves, and often so that they can be identified by other gays.

[Captain Hate]

if my job description includes singling gays out for harassment

You, too, can be an iman.

[Captain Hate]

Or imam

[hrtshpdbox]

..I expect my hands to blacken and fall off.

Not at all. I mean, your tongue will swell and you'll have a painful tinnitus incident, but then you'll feel like a new man (and the first thing the new man will want to do is to point out another of the President's virtues). Take it from me, I've been through this.

[Clarice Feldman]

Make it easier. Have the computer ask them what they think about Judy Garland.

[Jim Eagle]

testing GIF posting:

Preview says it works:)

[DebinGA]

Bringing Kev's health update over here. Good to hear you're on the mend, Kev.

[Extraneus]

Good one, TK.

[Beasts of England]

lol, TK!!

[DrJ]

Your (almost!) daily Wretchard:

https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2017/09/08/like-the-plague/

[Extraneus]

http://legalinsurrection.com/2017/09/charles-murray-speaks-at-harvard-without-incident

How about that.

[Momto2]

Very good news, Kev! Hope you can lower that pain from a 7, though. Ouch!

[Extraneus]

Video Emerges of Hillary Clinton Saying Illegal Immigrant Children Have to Go

“We have to send a clear message, just because your child gets across the border, that doesn’t mean the child gets to stay,” said Clinton “So, we don’t want to send a message that is contrary to our laws or will encourage more children to make that dangerous journey.”

“So, you’re saying they should be sent back now?” Amanpour inquired.

“Well, they should be sent back as soon as it can be determined who responsible adults in their families are, because there are concerns whether all of them should be sent back,” said Clinton. “But I think all of them who can be should be reunited with their families.”

Via Insty.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 2h2 hours ago

Republicans, sorry, but I've been hearing about Repeal & Replace for 7 years, didn't happen! Even worse, the Senate Filibuster Rule will....

..never allow the Republicans to pass even great legislation. 8 Dems control - will rarely get 60 (vs. 51) votes. It is a Repub Death Wish!
==============================

HA! Shots fired! But wait, there's more!

[DebinGA]

As Haiti, still suffering effects of hurricanes and the 2010 earthquake await Irma, a reminder of how the Clinton grifters fleeced them. What a blessing it is that Hillary refuses to leave the spotlight.

[Jim Eagle]

Wait until Jim Acosta sees this video of Curb Dive taking Trump's side on DACA.

https://www.mediaite.com/online/what-happened-video-emerges-of-hillary-clinton-saying-illegal-immigrant-children-have-to-go/

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 2h2 hours ago

Republicans must start the Tax Reform/Tax Cut legislation ASAP. Don't wait until the end of September. Needed now more than ever. Hurry!
===================================

I look forward to him harassing them on a daily basis. I am pretty much convinced Bannon is right in his statement that they set out to undermine him and make him a one-termer. The foot-dragging on legislation is obviously part of this ploy.

The big story was that they couldn't do taxes until they got Obamacare out of the way. So they spent all that time on it and then failed, due to McCain.

I am positive it was deliberate and I am also positive that he isn't fooled. I look forward to the battle.

[Jim Eagle]

Ex,

GMTA:)

[rse]

So apparently the supply trucks are having a hard time getting produce to atlanta and costco is limiting water to 5 liters per card.

Publix said kroger is out of bread and water.

It's too warm for people to be so panicky.

Trying to find tomatillos.

[henry]

How did the AI rate Obama? Inquiring minds, etc.

[clara]

rse, Atlanta daughter says Atlanta is due to get hit.

[Marlene]

Good news,Kev. I'm off to the dog groomer's.
It is a 90 minute drive,yeah first world problems,but she's the best groomer for his breed in this area. Later.

[DebinGA]

Atlanta hit with what? Wind and rain? Irma aftermath might spin up tornados that could be deadly though. We've waited out tornados in our GA basement many a time.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Did it move?--

It turned black and fell off.

[Clarice Feldman]

Tom Lipscomb
1 min ·
MSM MUST BE GOING NUTS RUNNING HOURS OF PROGRAMS INCREASING THE CONFIDENCE OF AMERICANS IN THE AWESOME COMPETENCE OF GOP GOVERNORS COORDINATED WITH A SUREHANDED TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.
Screaming DREAMERS? Obese Black Lives Matters Activists?
Nobody cares....

[DebinGA]

Dems/MSM worst nightmare - obvious competence from R-POTUS and R Guvs on unfiltered and full display

[Captain Hate]

The foot-dragging on legislation is obviously part of this ploy.

The paltry number of work days that Congress has for this month, after taking August off, should insult any citizen who works for a living. If the constituents ever snap and go French Revolution on those turds, future historians will ponder what took them so long.

[Porchlight]

Ain't that the truth, Clarice and DebinGA.

[Account Deleted]

Thanks, everybody. Glad to be among the living.

Re the pain.... 30 days after surgery it's down to a 7.... 30 days more will have it down to 4 or 5. Surgeon said it would take 6 months to go away.

Two points a month seems ahead of the game a little bit. I think once I have my food regimen in place for a full month the drop in pain will increase mas rapido.

Back for football season. Who knew? ;)

[Account Deleted]

Ya this "spot the homo gimmick" is a demographic hoax. It will set up one of those "ya but you can't prove that it's wrong about who's homo and who's not."

The whole aim is to inflate the numbers on who is and who is not a homo. The "advocates" need to get the number into double digits.

So, they'll lie about it.

Jackwagons.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Clarice,

This is undoubtedly true (Lipscomb's comment).

Governor Scott was on earlier methodically going through announcements, warnings, preparations, etc.

Very organized and competent. Plus, Trump is on Twitter boosting the Coast Guard and FEMA. FEMA director knows his stuff and is on top of things.

It has to be driving the press and the dems crazy. I am SO glad these storms, if they had to come, came this year and not last when we still had the Obama hacks in charge.

[James D.]

Phrenology, here we come

Well, my dream job is to be a retro-phrenologist. So it looks like I may be in luck!

[Barbara]

The big story was that they couldn't do taxes until they got Obamacare out of the way. So they spent all that time on it and then failed, due to McCain.

Miss Marple,

I have a sneaky suspicion that it was planned that way all along, and McCain offered to be the "spoiler" to cast the deciding vote. It's just the sort of thing he would relish, and at the start of a six year term that's likely to be his last, he could absorb any negative fall out. Plus he just loves the attention and drama being focused on him.

I can see McConnell and the rest of the RINOs enjoying their little surprise. The President gave them their comeuppance this week though, and showed them he knows how to play this game as well. The battle has been joined. We'll see how it all plays out.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Barbara,

I agree with your assessment 100%.

[Captain Hate]

The whole aim is to inflate the numbers on who is and who is not a homo.

Like TM's 5%?

[Barbara]

Alright, Miss Marple! 😊

[Momto2]

I agree with you, Barbara. I am also skeptical of the dire predictions about McCain's health we were hearing just weeks ago.

I've known families whose children had that type of brain tumor. It was horrible. They certainly weren't jet-setting all over the world, much less spending their precious remaining days spewing venom about politics.

Pretty sad state of affairs when you are reduced to doubting something like that...from your own party to boot! But that's where I find myself.

[DebinGA]

Just back from Kroger, where shelves are full and the crowd is normal for a Friday. I-75 is an easy 30 min. drive east from here, and no signs of panic are in evidence.

[daddy]

Just landed in Anchorage an hour ago. For 2 to 3 hours on the way up we were treated to the strongest Aurora Borealis I can recall seeing. I believe it has to do with that massive Solar Flare that fired off yesterday, but even with the light contamination hindrance of an almost full moon out over our left shoulder and with the dawn breaking in the east, almost the entire horizon in front of us was a continuous curtain of dancing lime green lights. It really was amazing and at times the entire curtain would start strobing, as puffs of light would erupt from the top of the curtain every second. Never seen anything like it. Here's a local ADN story just up on the phenom: Aurora expected as far south as Lower 48, but Alaska might take a back seat

The picture in the store was pretty much what we were seeing.

[Frau Mackie Messer]

Kev - the very best news.

[Joe Goolag]

Silicon Valleys last attempt at facial recognition....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3145887/Google-apologises-Photos-app-tags-black-people-gorillas-Fault-image-recognition-software-mislabelled-picture.html

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

daddy,

I can only remember seeing the Northern Lights once in my life, when we were on vacation in northern Wisconsin when I was a kid.

probably won't see them here anyway, as we are too near the city with all the lights.

[Extraneus]

Imran Still Has A Copy Of Congressional Data Linked To Wasserman Schultz

Prosecutors have given Imran Awan a copy of the hard drive of a House laptop that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz tried to keep law enforcement from looking at, court filings show, suggesting prosecutors intend to bring charges related to the underlying cybersecurity and theft probe.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://truepundit.com/the-bizarre-behavior-that-foretold-imran-awans-troubles-with-fbi-former-tenant-of-pakistani-spills-the-beans-video/

Not sure of the source, but an interesting read.

[Extraneus]

Damron [mouthpiece] would not clarify why she said the laptop was hers and she had lost it, then that it was Imran’s and she had never even seen it, and finally, the revelation that it had the username RepDWS, rather than Imran’s username.

Wasserman Schultz hired an outside attorney, Bill Pittard, to argue that police and prosecutors should not be allowed to keep or look at the laptop because it was full of sensitive legislative information, invoking the Constitution’s “speech and debate clause.”

Seems obvious that if they gave a copy to Imran, they already know what's on it.

[Captain Hate]

Wasserman Schultz’s brother, Steve Wasserman, is an attorney in the office. He has no role in prosecuting the case, but he has tweeted an op-ed arguing that there should be no case against his sister

Isn't it extremely unprofessional for an attorney to be doing this regarding an ongoing case? As in his employment should be terminated with cause?

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

The President and First Lady will be at Camp David this weekend. Also VP and Mrs Pence and all cabinet members and spouses. Briefings on Irma, Harvey, plus discussion of administration priorities.

No Congressional leaders.

Info from a couple of reporters on Twitter.

[Tom Maguire]

From the Kevlar Kid as he works on pain reduction:

Back for football season. Who knew? ;)

Not a Pats fan, today anyway. Nor a Jets backer.

Good luck. Roll, Tide (for a virtually pain-free fan experience)

[Extraneus]

Jets could be in sole possession of 1st place with a win on Sunday. [cough]

[James D.]

CH @ 12:42

I cannot think of any reason why he shouldn't have been fired at 12:01 PM on January 20th.

[Extraneus]

Steven Wasserman and his lovely sister:

[Extraneus]

http://minx.cc:1080/?post=371472

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham wants former FBI Director James Comey to testify again to Congress after new details emerged last week about the Hillary Clinton email case. "This doesn't add up, and I smell a rat here," Graham told Fox News on Thursday.

...

"He needs to come back to the committee," Graham said.

Graham said he wants to know whether Comey had "predetermined the result" of the Clinton investigation before she and her aides were interviewed, "contrary" to his testimony.

Graham told Fox News he has reason to believe the "real reason may have been some email between the DNC and the Justice Department about the scope of the Clinton investigation."

[Barbara]

James D.,

The only thing that I can think of is that they're keeping an eye on DWS' brother. She's in a bind right now. See where it leads.

[Jim Eagle]

Got any old baseball cards?

I have been doing some web searches through auction houses for a couple of paintings we just bought and ran across this:

1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card, signed by him.
Sold for a cool $1,135,200.00!!

Can't link it since you need an account but its Heritage Auctions.

So go and open up the shoeboxes and you might have a nice retirement gift.

[rse]

Deb-85 was not congested at all when I drove over it on n druid hills bridge about 11:15. I was surprised. When we left at 12:45 85 is moving but as full as it can be and still be moving.

This morning's adventures were in P'tree Rd area close to Capital City area and I just think people in those large houses have friends or family they have taken in. They are stocking up to cook and also water to take back when they return.

We used to live over in the area I was in this morning so I knew where a publix was in that neighborhood near Cheshire bridge and la vista. Not busy and much better selection. No Fla tags. By the time we got back close to lenox again there were Fla tags everywhere again and people driving while looking at their phones.

Maybe everyone wants to take kids to legoland at phipps or something.

Opal hit atlanta in 1995 as still a hurricane after coming into panama city/30-a area. Sustained winds were 75 miles an hour and it brought down the heavy hardwoods. We were without power for a week and we are high priority because we are part of the pill hill grid.

That was 20 years ago and there was not a state to diisip[ate the strength, but people remember. I just don't want to have to go out with so many starngers about unfamiliar with the area.

[JimNorCal]

Now I'm getting "all gay cruise" ads. I think TM has found a way to keep the ad revenue stream lucrative and varied!

[Ralph L]

Half siblings, or should Debbie cut her hair and grow a beard?

[Barbara]

Momto2,

I agree with you that McCain's traveling schedule doesn't seem to go with the treatment that was described for his tumor. At first, I thought that he was foregoing treatment and had decided to enjoy his time instead.

My sweet niece is undergoing chemo at this time, and it's very difficult for her. I can't imagine anyone taking such a thing so lightly as McCain seems to be doing.

[Threadkiller]

"all gay cruise" ads

Carnal-vile Cruises

[DebinGA]

Thanks for that report, rse. I'll never forget Opal, mainly because we soon learned the Atlanta yellow pages had listed our out-in-the-far-boonies phone number as GA Power's.

[Threadkiller]

It Appears That Out-of-State Voters Changed the Outcome of the New Hampshire U.S. Senate Race

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/07/exclusive-kobach-out-of-state-voters-changed-outcome-new-hampshire-senate-race/

[Captain Hate]

sbw, I don't think your feedback is working:

http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=371463

[Buckeye]

McCain can't die fast enough for me.

[Buckeye]

Half siblings, or should Debbie cut her hair and grow a beard?

She would never pull it off Ralph L. A guy's ass just doesn't get that big.

[Captain Hate]

Asymmetric warfare, TK; one side plays to win and the other for a participation trophy.

[DebinGA]

NH is one of the mostly Dem register and vote the same day states.

[hrtshpdbox]

Early betting odds to win the 2020 election, from Bovada. I'm listing the top seven and then just a few I picked off the rest of the list.

Donald Trump 2.5 to 1
Elizabeth Warren 7 to 1
Bernie Sanders 12 to 1
Mike Pence 12 to 1
Joe Biden 18 to 1
Michelle Obama 20 to 1
Kamala Harris 20 to 1
Dwayne the Rock Johnson 25 to 1
Hillary Clinton 28 to 1
Oprah Winfrey 50 to 1
Ted Cruz 100 to 1
George Clooney 150 to 1

These are all open for betting, so if you want to clean up with Oprah you've got the ability to do so.

[Jim Eagle]

At the Miami Zoo they are having to come up with some creative ways to protect the animals. Put the Flamingos in the men's toliet:)

No comment on whether this violates the single bathroom laws.

[JimNorCal]

Disputing how the Deep State will turn out, a response that will warm the heart of preppers....

https://twitter.com/AnthonyMKreis/status/905948569357733894/photo/1
Here’s what this case boils down to: Officers had a hunch that a drug transaction was going down. They saw nothing
obviously suspicious, but got tired of waiting, watching and wiretapping. They then jumped the gun by executing a warrantless search. Until today, this was not enough to support probable cause, but going forward it will be. This is
a green light for the police to search anyone’s property based on what officers subjectively believe—or claim to
believe—about someone’s everyday conduct.

That puts all of us at risk. Accordingly, I dissent, and I’m off to Costco to buy some food.

[Threadkiller]

Consent Decree, CH.

Legitimate ballot security would have prevented this.

When Katherine Englebretch exposed the decree in an interview with Priebus the IRS hounds were set upon her by both parties.

Trump is the only Republican candidate to foil the decree and look at what happened. He won.

[maryrose]

McConnell looked stunned by McCain 's vote.
I watched it live.
Think McCain went rogue on his own along with Meercow and Collins who we should not let off the hook.
My brother in Ocala is staying put as of this morning.
DACA will play out in Dems favor whether we like it or not.
President Trump is not a diehard conservative.
We knew that when we voted for him
Judges are the only thing I care about .
As long as he nominates conservatives I am fine.
Family Leave extension is next and then Infrastructure.
Get ready for a lot of spending.

[Threadkiller]

What is pink and hangs out in the men's room?

[Threadkiller]

Ted Cruz 100 to 1

Right Scoop will be thrilled.

Canuck nuck.

Who's there?

In.

In who?

Ineligible Candidate, that's who.

[hrtshpdbox]

Andrew Sullivan?

[Jim Eagle]

The real reason Priebus isn't there any longer?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4865468/Priebus-told-Trump-quit-Access-Hollywood-tape-leak.html

Bannon told '60 Minutes' in an interview on Wednesday that Trump 'went around the room and asked people the percentages he thought of – of still winning, and what the recommendation [was].' 'And Reince started off and Reince said, "You have – you have two choices. You either drop out right now, or you lose by the biggest landslide in American political history".

[JimNorCal]

More from Judge Kozinski. Is there a Supreme reporting that they're ill? I'm getting emails, etc, with comments like "Should have been on the SC years ago." and "Immigrant from a communist nation, Romania."

Silveira v. Lockyer, No. 01-15098 Filed May 6, 2003
Judge Alex Kozinski’s Dissenting Opinion (9th Circuit)
"It is wrong to use some constitutional provisions as springboards for major social change while treating others like senile relatives to be cooped up in a nursing home until they quit annoying us. As guardians of the Constitution, we must be consistent in interpreting its provisions. If we adopt a jurisprudence sympathetic to individual rights, we must give broad compass to all constitutional provisions that protect individuals from tyranny. If we take a more statist approach, we must give all such provisions narrow scope. Expanding some to gargantuan proportions while discarding others like a crumpled gum wrapper is not faithfully applying the Constitution; it’s using our power as federal judges to constitutionalize our personal preferences.
...
Our own sorry history bears this out: Disarmament was the tool of choice for subjugating both slaves and free blacks in the South. ... All too many of the other great tragedies of history— Stalin’s atrocities, the killing fields of Cambodia, the Holocaust, to name but a few—were perpetrated by armed troops against unarmed populations.
...
The prospect of tyranny may not grab the headlines the way vivid stories of gun crime routinely do. But few saw the Third Reich coming until it was too late. The Second Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances where all other rights have failed—where the government refuses to stand for reelection and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees.
...
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The sheer ponderousness of the panel’s opinion—the mountain of verbiage it must deploy to explain away these fourteen short words of constitutional text—refutes its thesis far more convincingly than anything I might say.

[DebinGA]

How zoos and aquariums handle hurricanes I have to admire people willing to endanger themselves to save animals, as long as they're not using their authority to force underlings to do so or be fired.

[RattlerGator]

Costco in Tallahassee allowed the purchase (and it was a full house) of two-each packets of Kirkland purified water, 40 bottles per, 20 liters per packet.

* * *

Roll, Tide (for a virtually pain-free fan experience)

Posted by: Tom Maguire | September 08, 2017 at 12:45 PM

Not for much longer, brother, not for much longer. We are keeping hope alive in Gator Nation.

[jimmyk]

The real reason Priebus isn't there any longer?

Not buying it. Trump made him Chief of Staff. It had to be something that occurred subsequently.

[jimmyk]

How zoos and aquariums handle hurricanes

Did you see the movie "The Zookeeper's Wife"? Not a hurricane of course, just an invasion by the Nazis. And the zoo was more of a subplot. But pretty good flick, I thought.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0917/colon090817.php3#v6eXqKV6hJHcwJHj.99

Alicia Colon: OMG Falling in Love with the President

[Extraneus]

http://dailycaller.com/2017/09/08/cruz-tells-christie-to-go-back-to-the-beach/

GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas issued a harsh rebuke after Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie accused him of “playing politics” with Superstorm Sandy relief funds.

Cruz told The New York Times he was “quite confident that nobody in Texas gives a flip what Chris Christie has to say,” in an interview published Friday. “And it seems not many people in New Jersey do either,” he added in reference to Christie’s floundering approval ratings.

Cruz concluded by recommending that Christie “go back to the beach,” in a thinly veiled dig at the public relations crisis ignited in early July after Christie was photographed lounging on a publicly-owned stretch of the Jersey Shore during a government shut down that prevented New Jersey residents from accessing public beaches.

[joan]

I've been reading Suzy Cohen (pharmacist) for several years -- she used to have a weekly column in the Tulsa World. This column is about disaster preparedness, and it lists what people should have in a disaster kit. One thing she mentions that I thought interesting is to put family albums or other important papers in your dishwasher. They're (supposedly) watertight, and in a flood, etc., your documents stay safe and dry. She lists several things to include in a DIY disaster kit that I hadn't thought of, as well as links to amazon and, I think, Costco for the kit's purchase.

Since disasters are on our minds, thought a few of you might be interested.

http://suzycohen.com/articles/disaster-plan/?inf_contact_key=708ee47c8a200b22fc56cd384323f74f925ad8ad2edd6a4a8de44e3195e7ea47

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

joan,

Thanks for that article! Bookmarked it for later.

My son has been promoted to the director of his companies snow removal operations. This is a two-state operation and involves lots of contractors and making sure supplies like salt are ordered, that everyone's equipment is in working order, etc.

He agrees with me that we are long overdue for a bad winter and the signs are already pointing towards it.

[rse]

Momto2--

you have an email from me along with an introduction.

[Extraneus]

Family Institute Dropped by Payment Processing Company After SPLC ‘Hate Group’ Designation

The Ruth Institute, which describes itself as an organization dedicated to "creating a mass social movement to end family breakdown," recently lost its payment processing company for donations after being labeled as a "hate group" by the SPLC.

The institute received a message from Vanco, the group's payment processing provider, in late August saying they were "flagged" as promoting "hate, violence, harassment, and or/or abuse."

"Vanco has elected to discontinue our processing relationship with The Ruth Institute," the message from Vanco to the institute reads. "The organization has been flagged by Card Brands as being affiliated with a product/service that promotes hate, violence, harassment and/or abuse. Merchants that display such attributes are against Vanco and Wells Fargo processing policies."

[henry]

Overdue for a bad winter. OK, time to play with chainsaw.

[henry]

At the bottom of this ZH article is a surge map. I can tell my brother will be clear, my mom's building ok flood wise. Wind will be its own thing.

[Barbara]

maryrose,

I watched the O-Care vote as well. I must say that it's difficult for me to tell whether McConnell is surprised or just waking up from a nap. So, I'll have to defer on that point.

Nonetheless, the repeated failures of the Republican majority to even take up the President's agenda let alone enact what they have promised to do for over eight years makes me question their sincerity. I don't for one minute believe that the establishment Republicans intend to let President Trump succeed. In response to the President's disappointment and anger at the failure to even pass a clean repeal of the AHCA, McConnell mumbled something to the effect that he didn't know if Trump's presidency could be saved. Not exactly the words of a supportive leader who is in your corner.

If the GOPe can prevent the President from being successful, it will. In that light, I don't foresee McConnell going out of his way to do anything meaningful to support the President's agenda.

[Extraneus]

http://iotwreport.com/she-finally-got-around-to-blaming-obama/