Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It looks like winning debates is a black job!

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Not all heroes wear capes.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

Democrats are back in array!

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

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141Comments

  1. 1.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Have a safe trip. It’s starting to snow again here. WTF is up with undefeated Boise State getting 4th in the AP poll? Bias much?

  2. 2.

    soonergrunt

    The Balloon Boy jackass is on the Today show claiming he was railroaded into pleading guilty to a felony in connection with his little stunt, and speculating that the district attorney wants to run for governor and that is why the county and state fabricated evidence against him and his wife and basically blackmailed him into pleading guilty.
    I have a couple of questions for the lawyers;
    1: Can a judge vacate his guilty plea? I know this happened in the Court Martial of Lynndie England when she claimed to the press that she was being pressured to plead guilty. They had a full court-martial and she went to prison. Can this happen in the civilian system?
    2: Can the prosecutor sue him in civil court for defamation or slander? If so, what would the likely outcome be?

    Thanks.

  3. 3.

    soonergrunt

    @arguingwithsignposts: There was a thing on NPR yesterday about all of the polls associated with the BCS. The guy they were interviewing stated that the AP poll has no requirements for who to vote for and that there was a protest movement of sorts going on where people who could vote in the AP would vote for undefeated Boise State to protest the lack of a true playoff system in college ball.

  4. 4.

    Maude

    @soonergrunt I’ve been in courts and heard judges very carefully tell the defendant about the plea and made sure he or she understood it. The military court, I believe, did that for valid reasons. It is different than civillian.
    Oh, OMG KSM is coming to lower Manhattan.
    I’m glad you watch that so I don’t have to.
    Any word on “foreign travel” yet?

  5. 5.

    NickM

    I was suprised no one here has written about Palin keynoting the Tea Party convention next month. It’s an interesting development, and it’s hard to figure out how its going to play out, although whatever happens you can be sure the teabaggers are going to get grifted – $350 to attend a political speech – and love it anyway.

  7. 7.

    soonergrunt

    @Maude: I hope to hear something this weekend at drill.
    The more I think about it, what with the current state of our unit, the more I’m convinced that the press event was a non-event, in as much as what really happened is that our brigade was moved from one spot to another on a spreadsheet in somebody’s computer.
    If they want to mobilize us, it’s going to be about a six month mob instead of the traditional 60-90 day job because of all of the new equipment we would need to get and train on and all of the benchmarks we would have to pass.
    We might mob in late 2011, but I don’t see it happening before that. I’ve been wrong before though, so who knows?
    And thanks for asking!

  8. 8.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @soonergrunt:
    Only four votes separated no. 3 Florida from Boise State. It’s ridiculous that two one-loss teams end up ahead of the only other undefeated team, who didn’t even get a chance to take on one of the big AQ teams. With all the scorn for the BCS, some should be spared for the AP sports writers. Bunch of wankers.

  9. 9.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @soonergrunt: no Today Show here in Atlanta. The local affiliates pre-empted all network morning programming to tell us about the frigid temps, snow and ice — which we can see perfectly easily by looking out the window.

    @NickM: there was some talk about it yesterday on one of the threads but I can’t remember now who brought it up or what the thread topic was.

  10. 10.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Just listening to KO from last night, went over to tea party nation web site and read this:

    We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the 2nd Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!

    Why, oh, why is it that the second amendment is the only one that gets singled out by these folks? “Free Speech” falls under the First Amendment. There’s also the other amendments about fair trials, unreasonable search and seizure, voting rights, etc.

    WTF, people? Why not just say, “we believe in the Constitution and its amendments?

  11. 11.

    soonergrunt

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Bunch of wankers

    No argument there. The AP employs Liz Sidoti and Ron Fournier. If there were any two reporters who have been more like love slaves to Karl Rove and later John McCain, I don’t know of them.

  14. 14.

    soonergrunt

    @SiubhanDuinne: It’s cold here too. The OKC public schools are shut down becuase they can’t guarantee that the old schools in the poor parts of town can stay warm enough.
    Also, as somebody who grew up in Wyoming and Colorado, I observe that Okies are total wimps when it comes to cold weather. One flake hits this town and everything goes to hell.

  16. 16.

    neil

    First:

    ‘We had no domestic attacks under Bush — we had one under Obama.’ — Rudy “I Shit You Not” Giuliani

  19. 19.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @soonergrunt:

    Also, as somebody who grew up in Wyoming and Colorado, I observe that Okies are total wimps when it comes to cold weather. One flake hits this town and everything goes to hell.

    Pretty much everyone below the mason-dixon line is wimpy wrt snow/ice. Growing up in Texas, you just didn’t go out if there was snow or ice, because there were so many idiots on the road. Moving to IL was a revelation. The snow plows were ready at the drop of a dime.

    To your first point, isn’t it a sad commentary on the state of our public education system? Talk about stimulus and jobs, how about upgrading our public school infrastructure, not to mention the technology in use in state/local/federal governments? I guarantee that would keep people working for years.

  20. 20.

    Morbo

    @arguingwithsignposts: Conference still matters, and the fact that Nevada and Fresno State both lost their bowl games dings Boise State [edit: more coffee now!]. The other two teams ahead of them both lost to only the National Champion. If Texas had won I’d have put them ahead of Florida; as it is it’s fine. Now if TCU had won that game–their conference went 5-0 in bowl games–I would say they would have a legitimate beef being stuck at #4. But yeah come on, I can haz playoofs nao?

  21. 21.

    soonergrunt

    @arguingwithsignposts: And of course, like all the other parts of the nation that would benefit the most from HCR, infrastructure spending, education spending and so on, we are represented by real troglodytes here in OK who fight tooth and nail against anything that actually benefits people.

  23. 23.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @soonergrunt: I grew up in Chicago, lived for a year in Canada, lived for nine years in Michigan, and I have *never* seen people or media or institutions freak out over snow and cold weather the way they do here in Georgia. I possibly have a selective or faulty memory, but I don’t think we ever had “snow days” — we just bundled up and trudged off to school.

    Now you young’uns get off my snow-dusted lawn.

  24. 24.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Morbo:

    Conference still matters, and the fact that Nevada and Fresno State both lost their bowl games. The other two teams ahead of them both lost to only the National Champion.

    Conference matters is a catch-22. The reason they don’t get ranked higher is because they’re in a lower conference. The reason their schedule isn’t as strong is that the bigger teams won’t play them because they don’t want to jeopardize their AP rankings and BCS potential. Instead, the SECs and the Big 12s schedule creampuff pre-conference games.

    Boise can’t be blamed for not losing to the national “champion” because they weren’t given the opportunity.

    Similarly, two-loss Ohio State sneaks in at no. 5 ahead of TCU, who only lost to the no. 4 team. How is that right?

    One thing I’d like to see (and it will never happen) – if we’re not going to have a playoff – is a system with NO rankings (especially preseason) before the 8th week of the season, when the BCS comes out.

  25. 25.

    soonergrunt

    @SiubhanDuinne: When I was growing up in Wyoming, we took extra days off and called them ‘hunters’ days’ instead of using them as snow days. Never once had school closed for snow or cold. Same in Colorado except they were called ‘skiiers’ days.’
    The attitude of my parents and all my friends’ parents was “what, there’s another foot of snow on the ground from last night? Better leave earlier so you get to school on time!”

  26. 26.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    @SiubhanDuinne: I lived in Albuquerque for many years and they had the same problem. They, probably not unlike Georgia, just don’t have the snow removal equipment. I doesn’t make sense to invest in the kind of equipment necessary to remove snow when it only comes every 4-5 or even 10 years.

  27. 27.

    GregB

    But I thought the very act of fighting them over there meant that they would be unable to come over here?

    I mean we are still in Iraq and Afghanistan and droning the shit out of Pakistan.

    Can’t one of these useless talking heads throw that line in Fruity’s face?

    -G

  30. 30.

    Brick Oven Bill

    John Wycliffe’s fundamental principle of the preexistence in thought of all reality involves the most serious obstacle to freedom of the will; the philosopher could assist himself only by the formula that the free will of man was something predetermined of God.

    So the Church dug him up after his death, burned his remains and writings, and threw everything in the river.

    So… How many watts?

    Hyman Rickover teaches us that the average man can convert 35 continuous watts from chemical energy (really solar energy) to mechanical energy.

    But how about warehouse workers? Let us perform the Liberal Art of Arithmetic, and prove or disprove Hyman’s muscle-power rating for humans:

    About.com teaches us that the ‘thumb-rule’ (named for the size of a stick with which an Englishman could legally discipline his wife) is 100 calories per mile for a 180 pound person.

    Let us then assume that the average warehouse person is 205 pounds so when working hard he would burn (205/180) * 100 = 114 calories per mile. But warehouse workers do more than walk, they lift and transport mass. This surely consumes a 50% energy surcharge, so we calculate: 114 * 1.5 = 171 calories per mile, or 171 * 2 = 342 calories per hour.

    Convert calories per hour to watts:

    1 calorie (nutrition-calorie) = 4187 joules; and
    1 watt equals 1 joule/second

    342 calories per hour = 1.43 million joules per hour = 398 joules per second = 398 watts

    398 watts (calculated) >> 35 watts (Rickover); so I am going to challenge Rickover’s assumption. I also believe that a warehouse worker, if hooked to a generator, could power four light bulbs. Rickover, unlike the Catholic Church, or the modern Left, would probably appreciate reasoned challenge. Or maybe he would just burn me.

  31. 31.

    PeakVT

    Why, oh, why is it that the second amendment is the only one that gets singled out by these folks?

    Because they are scared little people who are desperate to believe that their guns give them power.

  33. 33.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @soonergrunt and The Grand Panjandrum:

    I didn’t mean to imply that the snow-wusses are limited to metro Atlanta. For sure, it would make kittle economic sense for states or other jurisdictions in relatively snowless areas to invest in the fleet of plows, sanders/salters, and similar equipment. We have some down here but it’s limited to clearing the interstates and other major arteries. The side streets and residential suburbs just have to wait it out (as indeed I am doing). As for the schools, a lot of them around here also have inadequate heating, and with the sub-zero temps there are a lot of burst pipes to add to the joy.

    And LOL, that “better leave early so you’re not late to school” was a routine message in our household too! But in those days/that community, every school was within walking distance so no kid had more than five or six blocks to hike each way. I mean, it was *planned* that way. The only time we ever saw a school bus was when we had a field trip to a downtown museum or something.

  34. 34.

    2th&nayle

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Conference matters is a catch-22</blockquote
    So what you’re sayin’ is, the BCS has flies in their eyes, but they can’t see them because, ahh, they’ve got flies in their eye? Right?

  35. 35.

    Martian Buddy

    @neil: Clinton was running the government with his evil mind control powers in 2001. And for the shoe-bomber, also.

  38. 38.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jeffreyw: awww, your Toby is wonderful, and that picture is too funny! Love the black pads on his paws, very cute.

    @BGK: that’s truly clever! Did you name Angus first and then find the box, or did you have the carton hanging around and name the cat Angus just so you could take that photo? Either way, it’s a great play on words and the cheezburger LOLcat meme. I love it.

  39. 39.

    BGK

    @tamied:

    He’s a wee Scottish Fold, hence the wee, and folded-over, ears. His coat is straight. It just looks wavy because I had probably been giving him mega-scratching before setting him in the box, and he hadn’t yet recovered tonsorially.

  40. 40.

    geg6

    Travelling? In this weather? Are you sure, John?

    Though I’m guessing you haven’t been getting the lake effect snow we’ve been getting here. Since I got home from work last night at about 7:30pm, we’ve had at least 7 inches. The forecast predicts another 3-6 today and another 4-6 tonight. I’ve been shoveling twice a day every day for the last week. I am soooooooooooo over winter.

  41. 41.

    BGK

    @SiubhanDuinne: He was most definitely named Angus first, as I thought it most fitting for such a ferocious Scotsman. The box I found in Costco and I grabbed because I knew endless hilarity would ensue.

  42. 42.

    Chat Noir

    @BGK: Is he a Scottish Fold? Love that face. And tuxedo cats are stunning.

    Edit: OK, saw your response that he is a Scottish Fold.

  44. 44.

    Sanka

    we had one under Obama

    Actually, Giuliani is right for the wrong reason. The Fort Hood massacre was a terrorist attack, undertaken by a terrorist. 13 innocents killed in the name of Allah.

    And, Hasan was in touch with the same “cleric” that encouraged the crotch-bomber. But hey, the system worked!

    Like Candidate Obama said, he will make sure he keeps his eyes on the ball….

  45. 45.

    Legalize

    I’m looking out my office window here in N. Kentucky and the streets are clear, although wet-ish. There are about 4 inches on the ground and it IS snowing again. Schools are closed. I went to law school in Western NY and drove to exams my first semester in a blizzard. Not one snow day in 3 years. 4 inches overnight was a matter of course. That kind of snow wouldn’t even warrant a weather report, never mind 24 hour breathless coverage of the “white death” as they call it in Cincy. It’s hilariously stupid.

  46. 46.

    BGK

    @Chat Noir: Yes, he is. Purebred, but not pedigreed. He was a breeder’s personal cat, and when she died he was dumped in a shelter. A breed-rescue group snagged him and fostered him until I could remedy my critical cat deficiency.

    And one might say I’m partial to black and white cats.

  47. 47.

    R-Jud

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Pretty much everyone below the mason-dixon line is wimpy wrt snow/ice.

    They’re pretty fucking lame here in Britain, too. There is less than 10 inches on the ground in the Midlands, and schools were closed three days this week.

  50. 50.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Legalize: I haven’t heard “white death” down here but I really love the way every local station has its own doom-filled severe weather theme music and screen logos. Worthy of CNN’s Iraq War coverage. And the way they deploy battalions of reporters around town, have them tell us through chattering teeth that yeah, it’s really cold over here too, and then (from the comfort of their warm studios) advise them to get indoors and drink some hot cocoa. Every anchor says that to every reporter, and it cracks me up.

  51. 51.

    Morbo

    @arguingwithsignposts: And even with that schedule the next best team in their conference went 8-5. Same answer for Ohio State, recent performance: it’s because Penn State, Iowa, and Wisconsin all won their bowl games. I’m a little less on board with TCU being behind OSU, but conference parity matters, too. The top 4 teams in the Big 10 have a better record than any top 4 in CFB.

    Look, the combined record of the WAC is 57-58, and that’s with 14 of those wins coming from Boise State. Big 12’s is 88-66; SEC’s is 97-69. Mountain West is 61-52; Big 10 is 80-59. Those creampuff teams (Boise State played UC Davis by the way) that the other teams play early are Boise State’s entire conference schedule. They’re on the right path playing Oregon, but hey, the Pac 10 sucks too. Give the Pac 10 automatic bid to the Mountain West and call it even.

  52. 52.

    Elie

    @BGK:

    He is darling! How old is he (forgive me if you already posted this)

    I have an American Shorthair, Buddy, who is silver and black — gorgeous kitty and wonderfully fun and mischievous.

  54. 54.

    Ash Can

    @neil:
    @The Grand Panjandrum:

    As Giuliani, Sanka, and BOB demonstrate, there’s really no arguing with these people. They’re just plain fucked in the head.

    @SiubhanDuinne: Chicago public schools still don’t have snow days, for exactly the reason you mention. The weather has to be absolutely cataclysmic for the schools to close, and I can’t remember the last time that happened.

    @jeffreyw: @BGK:

    What darling kitties!

  55. 55.

    Brick Oven Bill

    Gunpowder in the hands of the Citizenry is the chemical that protects Talent and Virtue from Wealth and Birth PeakVT. It is very important, as is the free expression of ideas. These are still protected by the First Amendment.

    The Fifth Amendment is the one that prevents the State from taking your stuff for its own use without paying you. Health care ‘reform’ is a clear violation of the Fifth Amendment.

    Gunpowder contains 3 megajoules of energy per kilogram per Wikipedia.

    One gram of gunpowder equates to 15.43 grains of gunpowder.

    A typical gunpowder load in a 30-06 shell is 13.0 grains. With these entering arguments, we can convert the energy of a single rifle round to the output of warehouse workers.

    13.0 grains * (1/15.43) grams/grain = 0.84 grams

    0.84 grams = 0.00084 kilograms of gunpowder = 2527 joules of energy

    1 warehouse worker = 398 joules per second

    So this single round equates to 6.4 warehouse worker-seconds.

    A warehouse worker with a K-Bar could do a lot of damage in 6.4 seconds.

    Thus the Second Amendment is very important for the preservation of the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences.

  57. 57.

    Ash Can

    OK, that’s interesting. My comment @10:26 had to go sit in the corner. Note to self: Replies to other commenters are links, and too many of them send one’s own comment to the penalty box. Got it.

  58. 58.

    Maude

    @SiubhanDuinne: I have a friend in the Atlanta area. Thanks for the weather update. Do you think that John is only going to the store? It might seem like a bi It of travel to him.
    If he is really somewhere we need a Centerpiece Alert if Tunch is visiting somewhere.

  59. 59.

    Xboxershorts

    The Fifth Amendment is the one that prevents the State from taking your stuff for its own use without paying you. Health care ‘reform’ is a clear violation of the Fifth Amendment.

    No. No, it is not.

    Well, perhaps as the legislation is shaking out it might be.

    But the concept of reforming the cost structures of health care itself, is not a violation of any amendment. Specifically, as honest poll after honest poll points out, the American public favors the government provided public option, in which case, costs will be taken in some form of taxation while the service of paying for health care is returned to the American public.

    There is nothing in that concept that violates any amendment.

    What does violate the 5th amendment is America’s extraction of taxes from the public in constant pursuit of imperialist conquest in foreign lands which actually benefits a handful of corporate leaders who benefit from military expenditure. And, at the same time, lobby and influence your government for the continued expansion of American imperial behavior abroad.

    The ONLY meaningful government expenditure that can be cut back is in the pentagon budget.

  61. 61.

    Remember November

    Love the Teabag sponsoring banner ads- Gun Spot and Freedomworks.

    What , are all the ugly chicks and dudes at the gun shows? Is it like comic con for gun owners?

  63. 63.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @BGK: Wow! What a stunning group.

    Years ago I framed several photos (taken mostly from wildlife desk calendars) of as many b/w animals as I could find: zebras (nods in appreciation to jeffreyw), penguins, pandas, orcas, etc. They’re currently packed away someplace, but they made a rather striking wall display. I should dig them out again.

  64. 64.

    Legalize

    SiubhanDuinne, it’s the same in every city south of, say, Cleveland, I see. I love it when the reporter is at the city salt depo and they show us all the hardworking plow drivers lined up like military vehicles about to go to war. And then they interview some guy in a fleece jacket who works for the city to let us know that the army of plows will be out all night to Keep Us Safe. Local news loves that shit.

  65. 65.

    Brick Oven Bill

    There are 130,910,000 workers in America, therefore around one in two-point-five Americans works. Considering kids and felons, this means that only about one half of the electorate has jobs. Due to the progressive system of taxation, only one half of workers pay income tax. So taxpayer-voters are outnumbered by non-taxpayer voters by 4:1.

    Health care ‘reform’ boils down to the outnumbered taxpayers being compelled by the non-taxpayers to pay for their stuff, by means of gunpowder in the hands of the State. It is clearly unconstitutional. It is also clearly racist, because of income disparities between different demographic groups.

    A great number of future problems could be avoided by simply returning to traditional colorblind voter eligibility standards, that empower voters who are actively engaged in the economy. Nothing good can come from Representation without Taxation.

  66. 66.

    jibeaux

    We were predicted to get a “light dusting with up to one whole inch in some areas” last night (it was a big nada), but one of the local news websites held a live chat with their meteorologist yesterday afternoon to discuss the possibility. It was pretty dumb, I have to say. We go bonkers excitable about snow. Fortunately I already had bread and milk, because it probably was sold out.

  67. 67.

    twiffer

    eh, except for the paltry amount of snow, weather has been fairly normal for january here in CT.

  68. 68.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @The Grand Panjandrum:

    I lived in Albuquerque for many years and they had the same problem. They, probably not unlike Georgia, just don’t have the snow removal equipment.

    Hey, we’re a Green City – we have a solar powered snow removal system.

  69. 69.

    Legalize

    [Health care reform] is clearly unconstitutional.

    False. Come up with some authority (actual legal authority, not Glenn Beck) if you want to make a constitutional point.

  71. 71.

    Nutella

    Sorry to feed the troll, but I have to say this: All workers pay FICA tax. All workers are taxed.

  73. 73.

    soonergrunt

    @Sanka: Because of course, Obama was trying to repair the damage done by Bush and the conservatives to the economy instead of personally reviewing the credentials of every field grade officer in the Army Medical Corps or taking a shift as a watch commander on the security force of one of the more secure military installations in the world so he could make sure that this wouldn’t happen.
    You sorry-assed fuckwit. I’d tell you to shoot yourself as an example to others of monumental stupidity, but I’m pretty sure you couldn’t figure out how the gun worked and would only end up killing a stray cat by dropping the gun on it or something.
    I’d run you over for being that damn dumb, but then I’d have to pay extra for the car wash with the underbody rinse to keep the stupid from gumming up the suspension.
    Jesus H. Christ on a popsicle stick, did your parents have any children who lived?
    Brain dead fuck like you couldn’t pour piss out of a boot with instructions written on the heel.
    Stupid motherfucker about as useful as tits on a boar-hog.
    Palin supporter, no doubt.

  74. 74.

    Brick Oven Bill

    The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits the State from taking private property from Individuals without due compensation.

    This is not that complicated.

  75. 75.

    Joey Maloney

    I would just like to make note of the fact that today, for the first time ever, Google Ads presented me with a link that appeared to be so uniquely relevant to my particular situation that I was compelled to click through – and it turned out that the site linked WAS in fact uniquely relevant and useful to me.

    Not the first time ever on this site, or this year. The first time EVER.

  76. 76.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Maude: I wouldn’t worry too much about John unless he goes to the store garbed as he would be to clean the bathroom. *Then* I would be a bit concerned (but only in the cold weather).

    Some of us (me included) have been mocking the over-the-top coverage of cold and snow, but seriously, there was a black ice incident early this morning in Atlanta on one of the expressway interchange ramps, resulting in a 29-vehicle pileup. No fatalities, mercifully and surprisingly, but a few people were taken to hospital for their injuries. And I’m certainly not mocking that. My own office is operating with about three people; the rest of us have been instructed to stay home.

    Re Tunch: if he is staying with Tammy again, I suspect she figured out the Centerpiece Alert thing back at the time of the Horrible Pumpkin Disaster. Sometimes, once is all it takes to have the lesson sink in.

  78. 78.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Morbo:
    Let’s just admit that the big 6 conferences will never allow those uppity lower-tier schools in on their gravy train and call it even, alright? Because I cannot for the life of me justify why the Big East and ACC are considered any better than the WAC or MWC. It’s the good ole boys club. Always has been, always will be.

    Conference-wise, every conference had crappy teams at the bottom of the order. If you’re going to say that conference matters, then those outside games shouldn’t be a deciding factor. To use the MWC, Nevada (8-5) went 7-1 in conference. Fresno State was 6-2 in conference. If conference mattered so much, then they shouldn’t count ANY of the out of conference games. That would suit me too.

  80. 80.

    Legalize

    The “takings” clause refers to takings, numb nuts, not taxation. And it’s “just” compensation, not “due” compensation. Congress is expressly charged with the power to tax under Art. I sec. 8. It’s not that complicated.

  82. 82.

    Nutella

    Heh. BoB thinks that only taxpayers should be allowed to vote and that paying taxes is a violation of the fifth amendment. At the same time. In the same tiny brain. Quite an achievement.

  83. 83.

    Blue Raven

    Seriously, whoever said this, quit claiming the 2nd only applies to a branch of the armed forces. National Guard != militia. It also != the people. Or do I have to join the Guard to get freedom of speech? It’s called consistency of legal definitions. Learn it.

  84. 84.

    NobodySpecial

    @Brick Oven Bill:

    Evidently the only ‘compensation’ BoB has is money.

    Well, maybe not the only one, but I can’t imagine how big his OTHER ‘compensation’ has to be in order to make up for his…shortcomings.

  85. 85.

    Incertus

    @Sanka: Actually Giuliani is wrong simply because he conveniently forgets all the examples of domestic attacks that occurred during the Bush administration, starting with anthrax and moving on from there.

  92. 92.

    Jared

    Can any music fans out there point me to R.E.M.’s cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”?

    I like both acts and would especially enjoy hearing Stipe belt it out.

  93. 93.

    soonergrunt

    @Blue Raven:
    Wow. The stupidity that pervades that comment is monumental, even when leaving out the whole history of 2nd Amendment law.

    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.

    Leaving aside that it’s entirely separate from the 1st Amendment and freedom of speech, it had an entirely different legislative history.
    They meant at that time that ALL male members of society aged 14 to 50 were members of the militia, (later amended by the Militia Act of 1792 to ages 18 to 45) which at that time had a customary and a legal requirement to spend four hours drilling on the village green every other Saturday morning. These men were required to either provide arms that met certain specifications or to drill with arms provided by the government for the purpose. Further, this militia was to exist outside of, and paralell to, the Army and its’ chain of command until such time as a national emergency.
    Bans on the carry of privately held firearms were well known to, and accepted by the founding fathers and people of the time.
    The Militia Act of 1903 created the legal term “unorganized militia” but all this really did was give young men the right to not drill on the village common unless they volunteered to do so. It conferred no rights upon them except for that, and it damn sure did not provide any mechanism, legal or otherwise, to stand around like a jackass with an assault rifle at a political rally.
    This concept that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms is very new in American statutory law and jurisprudence.

  98. 98.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jeffreyw: Those pancakes look ambrosial. I know you won’t marry me, but could you at least send a swab of your DNA so I can have you cloned?

  99. 99.

    Common Sense

    The MWC is going to get an automatic BCS bid starting in 2011 or 2012.

    The weak non conference argument is a lot more complicated than people assume. Boise State, for instance, did play those powerhouse schools for years. They willingly got their ass kicked regularly and collected their 700 grand or so from each team. Then they took that money and built a new stadium with godawful turf. They built a football team on that money.

    In other words, the reason that BSU is good enough to where top level teams refuse to play them is because top level schools played them for years.

    As schools in such a situation continue to improve they will receive conference consideration. Eventually the PAC 10 will look at BSU. The Big 12 will look at TCU.

  100. 100.

    ellaesther

    OK, riddle me this:

    John Cole writes, at 8:39 this morning: Traveling this weekend, so I will check in when I can.

    Ta-Nehisi Coates writes, at 9:48 this morning: I’m out researching today guys…. This thread is yours.

    Coincidence?

    I DON’T THINK SO.

    What nefarious plans/world-altering reformations/love affair are these two leading intellectuals cooking up? Hmmmm?

  105. 105.

    PeakVT

    Thus the Second Amendment is very important for the preservation of the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences.

    An argument like this just can’t be reasoned with.

  110. 110.

    jeffreyw

    @Violet: Yeah, I used some frozen blueberries, added a splash of water and about 4 tablespoons of Splenda. Brought them to a simmer and stirred in about another tablespoon of corn starch in a slurry to thicken.

  111. 111.

    Nutella

    @Carwin:

    And clearly if AS said something that could be construed as incorrect, he must be fired immediately before any investigation takes place, as he insisted we do to Napolitano.

  112. 112.

    Morbo

    @Carwin: Yeah, I saw that; it’s just awesome. I demand that the receptionist at the American Embassy in Nigeria must be fired for this!

  113. 113.

    WaterGirl

    @jeffreyw: Gorgeous pancakes!

    Here’s an idea for your retirement income stream. You create an on-line photo log of your meals for a year. We can click on the photos and get an ingredients list for free, but downloading a recipe costs a dollar. Okay, make that 99 cents so we consumers will think it’s free. Or maybe “today’s” recipe is always free, but all others cost money. Even if someone clicks every day for the free recipe, think how many hits your website gets… so you get money from advertisers instead.

    Also, didn’t you say once that you guys are diabetic? I’m sure you could get a million hits from folks with diabetes who are trying to figure out how to eat right and still eat fun…

  114. 114.

    Carwin

    @Nutella

    Sully doesn’t really deal with facts though, he’s primarily concerned with how situations/events make him feel. Any long time reader of The Dish will tell you that its actually a pretty touchy-feely blog. The awesome things is that this always happens to Sully, he endorses something in the heat of passion and then regrets it later, but then still stands by it, because he wears is heart on his sleeves. Or something.

  117. 117.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @ellaesther: Great catch! You know how to connect the dots.

    Hmm . . . John-Nehisi Coltes . . . a blogmerger in the works? Or, as you say, they could be pulling a Pinky and the Brain-style takeover of the world.

  120. 120.

    Violet

    @jeffreyw:
    Did you use regular blueberries or are they wild blueberries? They look kind of small, like wild ones. I love blueberries – eat them almost every day.

    Do you find Splenda works for you? It gives me a tummyache.

  122. 122.

    SiubhanDuinne

    True story. I’ve had the teevee on in the background but haven’t really been paying much attention to it. So a few minutes ago there was a commercial on and the announcer was saying “Part of your regular skink hair routine.” And I’m thinking to myself, Wait, wait, skinks are lizards, they don’t *have* any hair. And even if they did, why would they need a regular skink hair routine, surely lizards don’t worry about tangles and split ends. And seriously, I puzzled over this for a good 30-40 seconds before I figured out that the announcer had said “skin care routine.” Just could not wrap my mind around it for the longest time. Classic Mondegreen, innit?

  123. 123.

    jeffreyw

    @Violet: The blueberries I bought from the Kroger frozen food aisle. I used a Splenda clone, the Kroger house brand called Apriva. Same stuff, and no, I detect no tummy troubles from it. I do use Splenda packets in my coffee, I have a subscription delivery off a 700 count box every month from Amazon.

  124. 124.

    Elie

    @jeffreyw:

    Naw, I am not a whip creamer — just lots of butter and those wonderful blueberries does the trick for moi…

    Boy, I can smell them and feel the warm juiciness…

  125. 125.

    jibeaux

    @Violet:

    I used to use Splenda, but discovered these Sun Crystals thingies and I think the taste is better. It’s a stevia/sugar blend and you don’t have to use very much at all. They’re in a green box. If that helps.

  128. 128.

    Sentient Puddle

    Since I got an open thread, a reminder: Tonight at 8 EST, Eitrigg horde side. Send a whisper to Mazog (me) and maybe we can get enough signatures for a guild (currently named Also Too).

  129. 129.

    jeffreyw

    @jibeaux: We brew iced tea nearly every day, I use 12 or so per pitcher, and 2 in each mug of coffee. I drink prolly 6 cups/day and Mrs J a few more.

  130. 130.

    Xboxershorts

    PrickOven Dodo, there’s another 40 million or so currently unemployed or underemployed and then there’s the minor children of the above 180-190 million potential taxpayers who really can not be counted within the statistic you loosely reference, as their parents are paying taxes.

    And the 5th amendment does NOT prohibit your government from providing services….yours is a fools argument.

    Had you small government types not sold your souls to the deregulate big business is good business types, then maybe the sad state of the economy wouldn’t be so effin sad.

    I’ll start supporting some of your pathetic positions the moment you get on board and say that we must slash the pentagon budget by 70%.

    Driftglass was priceless yesterday….evoking the spirit of Steve Gilliard and placing it starkly within the context of our faux conservative political figures (both D and R) actual accomplishments….

    http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2010/01/im-not-writing-to-make-conservatives.html

  131. 131.

    OriGuy

    @soonergrunt: Compare the Second Amendment to its predecessor in the Articles of Confederation. From Article 6:

    No vessel of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any State, except such number only, as shall be deemed necessary by the United States in Congress assembled, for the defense of such State, or its trade; nor shall any body of forces be kept up by any State in time of peace, except such number only, as in the judgement of the United States in Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the defense of such State; but every State shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and accoutered, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use, in public stores, a due number of filed pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage.

    It seems to me that this is what the writers of the Constitution had in mind by “A well-regulated Militia….”

  132. 132.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @ellaesther

    Also, who would be Pinky and who would be The Brain?

    Well, one is a genius, the other’s insane. I think it’s pretty obvious.

  134. 134.

    Rick Taylor

    I was floored back when it seemingly became a Republican talking point that we had to invade Iraq because he kicked out the weapons inspectors (repeated by both President Bush and Mitt Romney). I’d gotten used to the lies, but such bald contradiction of the reality we all lived through was breath taking, especially as the assertions went unchallenged. Is the new talking point that there was no terrorist attack on the United States under President Bush? I’ve heard it twice now. Mind boggling. This time it was Rudy Giuliani.
    __

    What [Obama] should be doing is following the right things Bush did. One of the right things he did was treat this as a war on terror. We had no domestic attacks under Bush. We’ve had one under Obama, . . .

  136. 136.

    soonergrunt

    @OriGuy:

    but every State shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed and accoutered, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use, in public stores, a due number of filed pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage.

    This is precisely what the Founders meant by a well regulated militia. In fact, militias were to subscribe all members on the rolls and said members were bound under the Articles of War, also known as The Lieber Code.
    5 Lashes Laid Well Upon the Back for tardyness to drill? A little barbaric by today’s standards isn’t it?

  139. 139.

    Corner Stone

    @ellaesther:

    What nefarious plans/world-altering reformations/love affair are these two leading intellectuals cooking up? Hmmmm?

    Maybe they both desire the fair attention of the comely WaPo Style writer Amy Eisengardt, and they have agreed to meet on the field of chivalry to settle once and for all who shall be her beaux.

  140. 140.

    2th&nayle

    @jeffreyw: I think you’re just showin’ off there, Jeffrey! I made sweet potato pancakes this morning for the first time. Whole new pancake experience! Highly recommend them, if you like that sort of thing.

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