I know an honest to god swiftboat vet

[DC Tom]

Spoken like someone who hasn't served.  I watch alot of NFL football have met some people who've played.  That probably qualifies me to be inducted into the HOF as a player.

58457[/snapback]

 

Should have mentioned that myself.

 

I can and have talked strategy with officers as high as full colonel (I'm assuming they weren't very bright colonels, though). I'm confident on most aspects of military strategy I could hold my own against the rank of major or below...possibly even on the topic of logistics.

 

But I've never stood at attention for three hours, or qualified on an M-16, or had to salute a congenital idiot because he outranked me. I have a hell of a lot of book knowledge...enough so that I can not infrequently fool experts (in college, during Desert Shield, I publicly flayed a "military analyst" in an open discussion about the impending war. Abused him enough that I was asked not to audit his military history course...presumably because he was afraid of me.) But that will sure as hell never be true experience.

[ExiledInIllinois]

biploar disorder.  Very good reason, too...among other reasons, biploar disorder is very sensitive to sleep patterns; the amount of sleep deprivation the typical recruit has to endure in boot camp can easily trigger dangerous - even fatal, to themselves or others - mania in a manic-depressive.

58461[/snapback]

 

Wow, I never knew that. You are being serious?

 

So I can claim BD and demand 12-14 hours of sleep a day!

 

I don't think my wife will go for that too long

[ExiledInIllinois]

Spoken like someone who hasn't served.  I watch alot of NFL football have met some people who've played.  That probably qualifies me to be inducted into the HOF as a player.

58457[/snapback]

 

That is a pretty far stretch. Where does the HOF come into play? Very few make it... A lot more finish their career three years out a bum.

 

[Chef Jim]

"There's" is a perfectly acceptable colloquialism, especially given the awkwardness of "there're".  Personally, I consider "there's" a perfectly acceptable contraction of both "there is" and "there are"...and in any sort of formal writing or speaking I won't use a contraction at all, so you'll never see me use "there're". 

 

And what's more,  I won't B word when others do it, either. 

58446[/snapback]

 

So what you're saying is that it is perfectly acceptable to say: there's several people on this board..... when if you removed the contraction is would be: there is several people on this board....? Is it only accepted because people have been @#$&ing up the English language for so long? If that's true, it's quite a shame.

[DC Tom]

Wow, I never knew that.  You are being serious?

 

  So I can claim BD and demand 12-14 hours of sleep a day!  

 

I don't think my wife will go for that too long

58484[/snapback]

 

Yeah, I'm serious. Surprised you didn't know...I don't broadcast it, but I'm not shy about it either.

 

I'm actually Type II Bipolar - more often depressed than manic, and rarely severly manic at that (once, triggered by the antidepressant I'd just started). Type I is the really bad kind, where mania's are seriously disassociative and schizophrenic and usually dangerous. Me, I usually just get hyperactive.

 

Funny thing about the sleep dependence, too, is how big an interrelation it is. Typically, since Type II bipolars present as exclusively depressive, the way it's diagnosed is by sleep patterns: if someone's depressed and have insomnia, they're unipolar depressive. If they're depressed and sleeping 14 hours a day, they're always Type II bipolar. There's so many other odd aspects of the illness that people who haven't experienced it simply don't understand (like how colors can change: a blue sky is more gray-blue to me if I'm depressed, but a very sharp and vibrant deep indigo if I'm hypomanic. Or the surest way I know to diagnose my mood: do crossword puzzles. I can do them effortlessly if I'm hypomanic, but not at all if I'm depressed.)

 

And if you tried that with your wife...well, depressed people want that much sleep (need it, even). With mania...you can get by with 2-3 hours a night (before lithium, it was common for people with protracted manias to die of exhaustion or even starvation...they were so "up" they didn't feel the need to eat. The fatality rate from bipolar used to be about 50% - 1 in 2 manic depressives would eventually die from it. Lithium cut that to about 25% - mostly from suicides like my uncle or absolutely egregious lapses in judgement like the ones that killed Justin Strzelczyk, who I'm almost positive was mentally ill, and probably manic at the time.)

 

Insanely (pardon the pun) dangerous illness...and very, very treatable. The real shame is that, because of the stigma, so many people like Strzelczyk or Barret Robbins eschew the very effective treatment. I've been stable (relatively speaking ) for about four years now...though around the equinoxes, when I used to get severly depressed, I still need about 10 hours of sleep a night. Doctors still haven't figured that one out...

[DC Tom]

So what you're saying is that it is perfectly acceptable to say:  there's several people on this board..... when if you removed the contraction is would be: there is several people on this board....? Is it only accepted because people have been @#$&ing up the English language for so long?  If that's true, it's quite a shame.

58516[/snapback]

 

I said I consider it an acceptable colloquialism as a contraction for "there are"...so your example is fallacious from the very start, since I originally considered that in my explanation.

 

And yes...it's entirely because people have been !@#$ing up the English language for so long. That's usually how the language evolves...and if you want to be that much of a purist about it, you'd have to go back to the original Germanic-derived grammatical structure of it, back in the pre-Chaucer days.

[Chef Jim]

I said I consider it an acceptable colloquialism as a contraction for "there are"...so your example is fallacious from the very start, since I originally considered that in my explanation.

 

And yes...it's entirely because people have been !@#$ing up the English language for so long.  That's usually how the language evolves...and if you want to be that much of a purist about it, you'd have to go back to the original Germanic-derived grammatical structure of it, back in the pre-Chaucer days.

58524[/snapback]

 

How can you honestly accept there's as a contraction for there are? Are you only saying that because you've used it as such and have a hard time admitting that you're wrong?

[DC Tom]

How can you honestly accept there's as a contraction for there are?  Are you only saying that because you've used it as such and have a hard time admitting that you're wrong? 

58530[/snapback]

 

No, I'm saying I find it acceptable in colloquial English. And I accept it because...well, because "there're" is bloody well awkward! And barely a contraction at that.

 

It's not a matter of admitting I'm wrong...because I'm not. I'm the Official Board Arbiter Of All Things Grammatical! I'm a pedantic supercilious anal orifice. You're a chef. Now go peel some friggin' potatoes!

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

Yeah, I'm serious.  Surprised you didn't know...I don't broadcast it, but I'm not shy about it either.

 

I'm actually Type II Bipolar - more often depressed than manic, and rarely severly manic at that (once, triggered by the antidepressant I'd just started).  Type I is the really bad kind, where mania's are seriously disassociative and schizophrenic and usually dangerous.  Me, I usually just get hyperactive. 

 

Funny thing about the sleep dependence, too, is how big an interrelation it is.  Typically, since Type II bipolars present as exclusively depressive, the way it's diagnosed is by sleep patterns: if someone's depressed and have insomnia, they're unipolar depressive.  If they're depressed and sleeping 14 hours a day, they're always Type II bipolar.  There's so many other odd aspects of the illness that people who haven't experienced it simply don't understand (like how colors can change: a blue sky is more gray-blue to me if I'm depressed, but a very sharp and vibrant deep indigo if I'm hypomanic.  Or the surest way I know to diagnose my mood: do crossword puzzles.  I can do them effortlessly if I'm hypomanic, but not at all if I'm depressed.)

 

And if you tried that with your wife...well, depressed people want that much sleep (need it, even).  With mania...you can get by with 2-3 hours a night (before lithium, it was common for people with protracted manias to die of exhaustion or even starvation...they were so "up" they didn't feel the need to eat.  The fatality rate from bipolar used to be about 50% - 1 in 2 manic depressives would eventually die from it.  Lithium cut that to about 25% - mostly from suicides like my uncle or absolutely egregious lapses in judgement like the ones that killed Justin Strzelczyk, who I'm almost positive was mentally ill, and probably manic at the time.)

 

Insanely (pardon the pun) dangerous illness...and very, very treatable.  The real shame is that, because of the stigma, so many people like Strzelczyk or Barret Robbins eschew the very effective treatment.  I've been stable (relatively speaking  ) for about four years now...though around the equinoxes, when I used to get severly depressed, I still need about 10 hours of sleep a night.  Doctors still haven't figured that one out...

58518[/snapback]

 

Wow... Thanks so much. And thanks so much for being candid about it.

 

I mentioned yesterday that I went to high school with Justin. Actually, I got to know him a little in 11th grade (my third mentioned 10th... was actually 11th) chemistry class. It is just so sad.

[Chef Jim]

No, I'm saying I find it acceptable in colloquial English.  And I accept it because...well, because "there're" is bloody well awkward!  And barely a contraction at that. 

 

It's not a matter of admitting I'm wrong...because I'm not.  I'm the Official Board Arbiter Of All Things Grammatical!  I'm a pedantic supercilious anal orifice.  You're a chef.  Now go peel some friggin' potatoes! 

 

 

58545[/snapback]

 

I agree with the there're thing. And by the way, be very careful arguing with the person that could be responsible for cooking your next meal. At your next dinner out...be afraid, be very afraid.

[Typical TBD Guy]

Wars are stupid and men are stupid for starting them.  And this injury thing is just another version of "mine's bigger than yours" which is another stupid thing about men.  As Joan Rivers says "grow up!".

 

Those Swiftboat Liars for Bush exist ONLY for two reasons:  Kerry made an ass of O'Neill or whatever his name is back in the 1970's and there's a rich Texan who benefits from Bush's business-friendly policies and has nothing better to do with his money than fund someone with a personal vendetta.

57647[/snapback]

 

 

Good work there with the male-bashing.

 

And how would you confront the sociopathic megalomaniacs of the world? Shower them with chocolate candies? Introduce the latest fall fashion apparel to lift those fascist spirits? Discuss their anger issues and inner feelings of inferiority on the Dr. Phil show? Or how about just let them do whatever they want with the populations they control?

 

Give me a fuggin break.