When did skeptic become a dirty word?

Grok Headline matches for When did skeptic become a dirty word?

Where Sharing Isn't a Dirty Word

Where Sharing Isn't a Dirty Word 11/15/2003 05:33 AM
The University of North Carolina has a wealth of information available on ibiblio, its massive digital library. And it's free. Michelle Delio reports from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

How "private" became a dirty word

How "private" became a dirty word 02/01/2005 09:42 PM
The Social Security debate has devolved into a language-police action, in which the White House desperately tries to stop anyone from calling its proposal "privatization" -- even though, until recently, that was exactly what its supporters actually called it. Apparently, the "p" word didn't poll well, since it had some vague relationship to the reality of the plan to ditch Social Security, so out it goes. And now it's verboten not only to advocates for the plan, but also for those in the media who want to avoid being accused of taking sides.

Here's Josh Marshall's reprint of the transcript of a Washington Post interview with Bush, in which he complains that a questioner who used the "p" word was "editorializing." The reporter then points out that Bush himself used the word just a couple months ago. (Here's the full Post transcript.)

The administration is trying to play the same game with the AARP. When the senior citizens' lobby produced a poll that showed wide opposition to Bush's plans to begin dismantling of Social Security as we know it, the GOP complained that the poll was "skewed by politics." Why? The poll dared to use the "p" word. (More on this from Marshall and Matthew Yglesias.)

This desperate effort to hide the truth by renaming it is as futile as it is comical: It's a perfect instance of "Don't think of an elephant" (or, for Fawlty Towers fans, John Cleese's classic "Don't mention the war!" routine). The more pressure the White House puts on Americans to stop thinking of the proposal as "privatizing," the more opportunity they give opponents to point out that that's exactly what it is -- and to ask why the Republicans are running from an accurate description of their idea.

Any time you hear a Bush supporter protest that "No one is talking about dismantling Social Security, just reforming it!," you can show them this quotation from a prominent advocate for the president's plan (from Sunday's Times Week in Review):

"Social Security is the soft underbelly of the welfare state," said Stephen Moore, the former president of Club for Growth, an antitax group. "If you can jab your spear through that, you can undermine the whole welfare state."

That doesn't sound like "reform," now, does it? It sounds like the violent release of 70 years of conservative Republican hatred of Social Security and resentment at its success and popularity. In this view, Social Security is not part of a "safety net," at all; Moore wants us to associate the retirement program to which we've all been contributing all our working lives instead with "welfare," a word so unpopular we banished it from the political vocabulary in the mid-'90s. If you want your Social Security, Moore's saying, you're a freeloader! You just want a handout! You're a welfare queen!

Somehow I don't think that message will be very popular. Unlike welfare, Social Security is a program that most middle-class Americans have personal experience with, either themselves or through members of their families. This is one part of the far-right agenda that even Bush and Rove may not be able to re-frame, re-label, re-brand and sell.

The original user of the "soft underbelly" metaphor, of course, was Winston Churchill, who was talking about trying to get at Hitler by invading Italy. Putting aside the Godwin's Law implication here (Moore equating Social Security with Nazism?), it's worth noting that the "soft underbelly of Europe" turned out to be a lot tougher to jab than the Allies imagined. Social Security may similarly prove to have a tougher hide than its enemies think.

Technology No Longer A Dirty Word

Technology No Longer A Dirty Word 01/16/2004 11:04 AM
Technology is roaring back. Quarterly earnings from three bellwether companies -- Intel, Yahoo and Apple Computer -- provide convincing new evidence that a consumer-led recovery is accelerating in many technology sectors. (Sydney Morning Herald via MyAppleMenu)

'Liberal' is a dirty word for George
Carlin

'Liberal' is a dirty word for George
Carlin 01/27/2004 04:41 AM
George Carlin: "I'm Just About (Being) Anti-United States. I Don't Like The Way This Country Operates. I Think We've Ruined This Place." .. IDAHO STATESMAN: 'Liberal' is a dirty word for George Carlin .. dead wrong .. Carlin

azcentral.com/ent/front/articles/0124carlin24.html
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Dirty Word Filters Prove Costly

Dirty Word Filters Prove Costly 07/09/2004 04:44 AM
Preventing disc jockeys and callers from uttering dirty words on the air doesn't come cheap for small stations. But companies that sell technology to delay broadcasts for a few seconds are doing very well indeed. By Randy Dotinga.

Wired News: Where Sharing Isn't a Dirty
Word

Wired News: Where Sharing Isn't a Dirty
Word 11/16/2003 10:28 AM

Dirty-Word Filters Prove Costly

Dirty-Word Filters Prove Costly 07/09/2004 03:25 PM
Wired News Jul 9 2004 8:02PM GMT

Contractor served troops dirty food in
dirty kitchens

Contractor served troops dirty food in
dirty kitchens 12/14/2003 08:37 PM
Contractor Halliburton served troops dirty food in dirty kitchens Well, Bush served up clean turkey and these guys were busy overcharging the Pentagon on energy so they could reap big bucks...Cheney remains in his gopher hole.

New Kevin Sites dispatch from Iraq:
Dirty for Dirty

New Kevin Sites dispatch from Iraq:
Dirty for Dirty 06/01/2004 02:09 PM
NBC combat correspondent and weblogger Kevin Sites is in Iraq today. He's just posted a new entry on his blog -- a series of interviews with American soldiers.

[O]nce they finally do get home--they will still be faced with the complex task of finding their way in a civilian society again. And while they're eager to leave their weapons and Kevlar behind, the violence they've experienced here will likely be with them in one way or another, always.

Derek Ellyson says his memories have already hardened, fixed in his mind. "You never forget the faces. I can describe to you every dead person I've seen out here. What their faces looked like, the position they were laying in." Sorokin agrees, "War brings a lot of ugly things, you see a lot of ugly things you see other people dead and sometimes when you see somebody dead you see the face of death--the way the guy died. It could be an enemy it could be an ally it doesn't matter."

Yet living with those images of death is part of the job--the same one that requires them to pull the trigger. Before going to war soldiers have always had to ask themselves if they'd be willing to die for their cause. But there is a second part to that question which for some, is more difficult to answer: would they kill for it? For most if not all in the 3rd Platoon--the question is already moot.

Link, Discuss

Torvalds: A Solaris skeptic

Torvalds: A Solaris skeptic 12/22/2004 01:07 AM

Mac Skeptic looks at web browsers - "An
Embarrassment of Riches"

Mac Skeptic looks at web browsers - "An
Embarrassment of Riches" 08/21/2004 03:05 PM
I'm not usually the type to look at Mac articles on PC sites, but this article by Rebecca Freed of PC World caught my eye. She reviews Safari 1.2, Internet Explorer 5.2, and Mozilla Navigator 1.7.2 evaluating each for speed, security, and navigation features. Next month, she will look at "cult" browsers Firefox and Camino, and OmniWeb.

Mac Skeptic: A Computer Store With
Heart? (PC World)

Mac Skeptic: A Computer Store With
Heart? (PC World) 04/23/2004 05:38 AM
PC World - Of course, profit is the motive for Apple's spiffy retail stores--but they're more boutique than big box, and the service makes a difference.

Mac Skeptic: Get a Jump on Tiger's Tools
(PC World)

Mac Skeptic: Get a Jump on Tiger's Tools
(PC World) 07/23/2004 04:22 AM
PC World - The next rev of Mac OS X won't be out until the middle of next year, but you can approximate some of its slick new features now.

Dirty dirty foreigners

Dirty dirty foreigners 05/26/2004 05:54 AM
As the dirty immigrants we are, we bring not just noxious cooking smells and our weird culture to this place, but disease too: Anna and I have utter bastard colds, and we're feeling quite sorry for ourselves in the process....

Improvements in Word 2002/XP and Word
2003 for Legal Users

Improvements in Word 2002/XP and Word
2003 for Legal Users 02/01/2005 09:56 PM
This document lists changes made to Word 2002 (XP) and Word 2003 that are of interest to the legal world. Changes listed include: document stability and recovery; security; document management; track changes and compare; formatting; and research.

Opening a Word Document Using the
Word.Application Object

Opening a Word Document Using the
Word.Application Object 07/29/2004 10:09 AM

Microsoft Word 5.1: The Apex of Word
Processing

Microsoft Word 5.1: The Apex of Word
Processing 06/18/2004 12:37 PM

PDF2Office Personal - Microsoft Word
Plug-in to Directly Open and Convert PDF
Documents to Microsoft Word Format

PDF2Office Personal - Microsoft Word
Plug-in to Directly Open and Convert PDF
Documents to Microsoft Word Format 08/27/2004 04:07 PM
Recosoft's PDF2Office Personal, a PDF to Word converter, adds to a family of products addressing PDF document conversion. [PRWEB Aug 27, 2004]

Word Rage 2: New Word Order 2.1.1

Word Rage 2: New Word Order 2.1.1 06/01/2004 08:21 PM
A challenging, fast-paced game of word guessing.

Why dirty PCs are better

Why dirty PCs are better 04/09/2004 04:01 PM
ZDNet Apr 9 2004 2:08AM GMT

Dan gets down and dirty

Dan gets down and dirty 12/04/2003 06:02 PM
Spreading Santorum. Dan Savage intensifies his smear campaign against Sen. Rick Santorum. How far is too far? How low can he go? Here's some background on the whole dirty, frothy affair. The Santorum-Savage feud was also previously discussed here. (first link is NSFW)

Much ado about a dirty bomb

Much ado about a dirty bomb 05/23/2004 07:31 PM
Unlike JFK's war, Bush fights for Iraqi liberty .. Don't give Iraqis self-rule all at once .. Don't ask peaceniks to make any sense .. Much Ado About a "Dirty Bomb" 6/24 .. From Mark Steyn: .. holdouts .. review

suntimes.com/output/steyn/cst-edt-steyn23.html
track this site | 3 links

Down & Dirty FTP in the Finder

Down & Dirty FTP in the Finder 12/24/2003 07:40 AM
Jonathan Gales presents this week's PowerUser Monday. It details how to mount a FTP server right in the Finder. Although you don't get all the benefits that modern FTP clients offer, it's something you can do on every Mac in about 20 seconds without any downloads. Head over to this week's Power User Monday.

Like Pixels? Check out MacDesign

Air your dirty laundry

Air your dirty laundry 07/11/2004 12:10 AM
New York Daily News Jul 11 2004 3:06AM GMT

Down And Dirty With Panther

Down And Dirty With Panther 10/28/2003 11:06 PM
By Clark Mueller (MacTeens via MyAppleMenu)

Dirty business

Dirty business 11/14/2003 03:31 AM
Salon Nov 14 2003 2:31AM ET

Dirty Bombs

Dirty Bombs 11/10/2003 10:47 PM
Dirty Bombs
Federal investigators have documented 1,300 cases of lost, stolen or abandoned radioactive material inside the United States over the past five years and have concluded there is a significant risk that terrorists could cobble enough together for a dirty bomb. (warning - Salon link)

Dirty tricks

Dirty tricks 05/18/2004 06:17 PM

"The U.N.'s Dirty Little Secret"

"The U.N.'s Dirty Little Secret" 12/10/2003 10:15 PM

CNN is a Dirty Bomb

CNN is a Dirty Bomb 09/19/2004 07:18 PM

« If Finnish artists made missiles, I'd guess that this is what they'd look like; the Puuinen KKKK. Tall. Erect. Pointy. Wooden. Geometric. Stylish. »

I've been thinking about going home to see the family I've not seen for nearly 3 years, but the presidential election's circus-like slimefest and fear-mongering, like the 'nuclear terror' special CNN ran tonight, gives me a migraine at the thought of entering American airspace since I figure if I don't get bombed out of the sky or get trapped in the US if something like a dirty bomb did happen, I'd get the "Welcome to Gitmo" travel package from the US customs guards when I refuse the anal probe on presentation of my passport. Dammit, I want to go home and have some Ted Drewe's frozen custard before they close for the season and get some real damn BBQ that you just can't get anywhere else even though plenty of places on the planet try to fake it. I dream sometimes about a big, thick, juicy porterhouse steak and cornbread. I crave food, folks and fun but, in spite of whatever the US media crackheads have been smoking to report 'the world being safer' thanks to the US military, out here in reality I'm just not sure that my desire to visit home exceeds my desire to not get in the way of some wackos when tensions are clearly on the rise. Perhaps I need to send a telegram to the people of America.

YO, AMERICA, NO ONE GIVES A SHIT ABOUT WHO SERVED WHERE AND WHEN AS DUMBYA HAS ALREADY BEEN PROVEN A LIAR AND HIS RATINGS STILL ARE BETTER THAN KERRYS STOP SHUT UP ABOUT THE FUCKING TYPOGRAPHY AND AUTHENTICITY OF THE STUPID FUCKING NATIONAL GUARD DOCUMENTS ALREADY STOP IT AINT HELPING STOP REALLY STOP PLEASE START ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT SHIT THAT MATTERS LIKE EDUCATION, ECONOMICS AND MAKING NICE WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD NOW THAT EVERYONE HATES US AND MOST OF US LIVING OUTSIDE THE US PRETEND TO BE CANADIANS WHEN ASKED [EXCEPT IN FINLAND DURING WORLD HOCKEY FINALS] STOP MAYBE TALK ABOUT ALL THE DEAD BODIES OR SOMETHING STOP ANYTHING ASIDE FROM THE COMPLETELY POINTLESS AND UTTERLY AGGRAVATING IDIOTIC EXERCISE IN TRYING TO OUTSNAGGLE THE SPIN MACHINE STOP GEORGIE WAS AN ALCOHOLIC DRUNK DRIVING COKE SNORTING LOSER WHOSE DADDY GOT HIM WHERE HE IS TODAY STOP GET OVER IT AS HE IS AN UPSTANDING CITIZEN COMPARED TO MOST FOLKS THESE DAYS STOP PLEASE SEND CHEEZE-ITS AND CORNDOGS STOP MY HEAD IS GOING TO EXPLODE BEFORE NOVEMBER STOP

Word 2003: XML Toolbox for Microsoft
Office Word 2003

Word 2003: XML Toolbox for Microsoft
Office Word 2003 12/03/2003 12:40 AM
This toolbox assists the XML content author and developer working with the new XML features of Word 2003. The Word XML Toolbox requires that .NET Programmability Support is enabled. For .NET Programmability Support to be installed during the Office 2003 setup, the PIAs require the .NET Framework 1.1 already be installed. It is recommended that you install the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 before you install Microsoft Office 2003. With the .NET Framework 1.1 already installed, a complete installation of Office 2003 will install all of the PIAs.

iPods dirty little secret

iPods dirty little secret 12/02/2003 12:45 AM
There is a site out there claiming the iPod battery is only designed to last 18 months and Apple is...

The Internet: 'A Dirty Mess'

The Internet: 'A Dirty Mess' 06/08/2004 06:58 PM
Internet News Jun 8 2004 10:07PM GMT

Google's dirty little secrets

Google's dirty little secrets 08/08/2004 12:25 PM
San Francisco Chronicle Aug 8 2004 2:44PM GMT

"Will Gas Wells Dirty Alpine Air?"

"Will Gas Wells Dirty Alpine Air?" 12/27/2003 08:57 PM

It's a Dirty Job, but They Do It,
Secretly, in Iraq

It's a Dirty Job, but They Do It,
Secretly, in Iraq 06/19/2004 01:17 AM
The treatment of raw sewage in Baghdad late last month was an impressive accomplishment in a city where sewage plants were in disrepair for the last 10 years.

Scientists Say Dirty Bomb Would Be a Dud
(AP)

Scientists Say Dirty Bomb Would Be a Dud
(AP) 06/09/2004 01:59 PM
AP - The "dirty bomb" allegedly planned by terror suspect Jose Padilla would have been a dud, not the radiological threat portrayed last week by federal authorities, scientists say.

Dirty Spyware Trickery

Dirty Spyware Trickery 01/05/2005 01:18 AM

I had to remove some nasty spyware yesterday from an employee's home machine. It was an IE search toolbar (I'm not going to say the name since I'd rather take a shotgun blast to the face than give them any publicity) that generated a JavaScript error when this app tried to secretly send the search terms to a remote URL.

While troubleshooting, I noticed an odd phenomenon: I couldn't get through to any anti-spyware sites to download anything. I'd get "Page Not Available" errors. CNN came up fine, but sites like Lavasoft and even GRC just wouldn't work.

Ad-Aware was already installed, so I fired it up and had it check for updates. It came back very quickly and said no updates were available. I was suspicious because I knew this employee wasn't in the habit of running Ad-Aware (hence her problem).

Then it hit me: I'd fallen for the oldest trick in the book — a hacked HOSTS file. I cracked it open, and — sure enough — the app had written a list of perhaps 200 anti-spyware sites and sent them off into oblivion (127.0.0.2, 127.0.0.3, etc.). So it wasn't that Ad-Aware had the latest data file, it was that it coudln't contact its mothership for an update (you think it would have thrown an error message rather than just announcing that no updates were available).

In the end, this was a nasty one to get rid of. You needed to fix the HOSTS file, shut off all start-up tasks, reboot in Safe Mode, delete the executables (in a hidden directory, naturally), and put dummy files in their place, named the same and set to read-only.

A real mess, but that HOSTS file thing was what really got me. How friggin' slimy can you get? And this wasn't a blantant malware app on the surface — it made all sorts of claims that it provided "important benefits" to the user and that it wasn't spyware.

So, why exactly do you need to prevent the user from visiting a site that may help them uninstall you, again? I feel so naive.

Dirty Water MUD Engine

Dirty Water MUD Engine 07/22/2004 01:02 PM
Initial SF project
Grok Description matches for When did skeptic become a dirty word?
GrokA matches for When did skeptic become a dirty word?

When did skeptic become a dirty word?

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