Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

“But what about the lurkers?”

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

All hail the time of the bunny!

You cannot shame the shameless.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

The lights are all blinking red.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

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

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

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Reader Interactions

211Comments

  1. 1.

    J sub D

    Navy Midshipmen 35 – Notre Dame Fighting Irish 17.

    Notre Dame just isn’t worth hating anymore.

  2. 2.

    Rekster

    Les Miles gets to keep his crown as the Worst Coach in College Football for another season!

    I don’t think anyone else in the country is even close.

  3. 3.

    Ed in NJ

    I was hoping my Scarlet Knights would rally around Eric LeGrand, but I think it was too much to ask this week.

  4. 4.

    Dollared

    Be fair to the Iowa coach. Wisconsin pounded the ball in on its last drive – 80 yards, the last 30 on runs. That’s your defense wilting, and you can’t coach that.

  5. 5.

    Mark S.

    Crikey

    Fran Crippen, a medal-winning open-water swimmer on the U.S. national team, told his coach he wasn’t feeling well late in a race before he died in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday. The 26-year-old from a family of prominent swimmers in suburban Philadelphia was competing in the FINA Open Water 10-kilometer World Cup in Fujairah, south of Dubai, but failed to finish and was found in the water two hours later, according to Swimming World.

    I don’t know anything about long-distance swimming (I didn’t even know they had 6+ mile swim races) but this sounds ridiculous to me. Do they have anyone monitoring these guys when they’re out in the middle of the ocean? And if your guy says he’s not feeling very well, shouldn’t you get him the hell out of there instead of letting him go out and hope he returns?

  6. 6.

    MAJeff

    As an alum of Iowa State it was a great day. We beat Texas and the Hawkeyes lost. Doesn’t really get much better.

  8. 8.

    Keith

    The endings of Auburn-LSU nearly give me ulcers and have since the 7-6 loss in ’88. This year’s game had some moments (the fumble in the 3rd), but they’ve got their best Heisman prospect since Bo Jackson and really know how to move the ball.

  11. 11.

    MsSKW

    This is always the most conflict-ridden weekend in our household.
    We have both Wisconsin alums and Iowa alums. Today’s game was a real war zone. I’m sure resentments will linger for quite some time… I am a hawkeye, so deeply sad right now.

  16. 16.

    BGinCHI

    Congrats also to Iowa State, who beat TX like a dog.

    I think the Boilermakers must have sent a flag football team to play OSU today….

  17. 17.

    Oscar Leroy

    Obama Prepares to Triangulate Himself, By Glen Ford

    Whether the GOP actually wins one or both chambers of Congress or not, the people’s interests are in deep trouble. The most immediate threat looms, not from the Tea Party, which will no doubt have its own little caucus in the next Congress, but from Barack Obama and his President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. When the right-heavy commission makes its recommendations in early December, the stage will be set for a performance of presidential political gymnastics that will make Bill Clinton, once known as the Great Triangulator, bow down to the master.

    Obama invented the deficit reduction commission as his customized vehicle to subvert his own party’s cherished “entitlement” programs: Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and others. Republicans didn’t force his hand or box him in. Instead, Obama set the torpedoes in motion against entitlements in the days before his inauguration, declaring, on January 8, 2009, that an overhaul of Medicare and Social Security would be “a central part” of his presidency. Not long afterwards, he said that Social Security and other entitlements would be “on the table” for cutting.

    http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/obama-prepares-triangulate-himself

  18. 18.

    suzanne

    Not sports-related, but I just got back from a GOTV shift for Raul Grijalva and Terry Goddard. Close to the end of my shift, I had one long conversation with a Latino gentleman, who, in broken English, asked me for my help in deciding who to vote for. He said he had spent five hours last weekend researching every candidate, was going to vote a straight Democratic ticket, and now he needed help with deciding on reconfirming all the judges. He said that he has been helping all his family and friends and neighbors make their voting decisions, and someone in the office was able to refer him to a website that had ratings on all the judicial candidates. He said to me, “Voting is so important!”

    Shit like that makes my day.

  21. 21.

    kent

    Re: the Wisconsin-Iowa game: It continues to astonish me that football teams haven’t figured out clock management. In particular, Wisconsin needed very much NOT to score with 1:08 left and 3 timeouts for Iowa. Go down at the 1 and run some clock (and make them take a timeout).

  22. 22.

    Violet

    @suzanne:
    That is awesome! Good for you for volunteering for GOTV.

    No sports or politics for me today. Been outside in the garden. Just put in radish and carrot seeds. I’ve never had success with carrots, but new house, new dirt…we’ll see. Radishes are pretty easy but I’m still not sure of the sun hours in the location where I put in the garden. We’ll see again. Lots of lettuces and other cool season vegetables. So nice to be outside, even if it’s unseasonably warm for late October.

  23. 23.

    General Stuck

    Obama Prepares to Triangulate Himself

    I think jesus tried this and failed, but later did walk on water.

  25. 25.

    JPL

    @BGinCHI: lol Thanks..
    I was going to copy and paste comments that the President said about protecting Soc. Sec. but your simple answer saved me from that.

  26. 26.

    Dee Loralei

    My game’s fixin’ to get ready to start and that damned Brett Mussberger is hoping my beloved Sooners fail, ’cause then “GameDay” will have some kind of all powerful curse on number 1 teams. Sheesh.

    But then Corso did pick Oklahoma to win, and a few years ago that was truly the kiss of death. Anytime ole Lee picked a team that neither of the other guys did, that team invariably lost. Not that I’m superstitious or anything.

    ETA: Shit and Mizzou scores on the opening kick off. Oy this may be a long night.

  29. 29.

    marcopolo

    NIce start for the OU-MIzzou game! Missouri runs the opening kickoff back for a TD. Let’s see if they can follow it through for 4 quarters.

  30. 30.

    eric

    in the iowa game, it sure looked like stanzi was the only player not to know it was a spike….he set up in the shotgun forcing the timeout

  33. 33.

    marcopolo

    @MikeJ: Well it looks like it will be a long night with that fumble on the return of the OU punt after holding them in that first series.

  34. 34.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Oscar Leroy: Oh noes! The Catfood Commission! It’s called that because Obama wants everyone to eat cat food! Food! For cats! Aren’t you terrified!

  35. 35.

    General Stuck

    @Martin: Well, Mitch Mcconnell has declared pre victory for the straw man election in his head.

    “What we can fairly conclude, even before the votes are counted on November 2, is that America is not interested in becoming France.”

    Viva la wingnut!!

  38. 38.

    stuckinred

    Dawgs whuppin up on the Cats in Lexington. Could I get another Illini-Hokie-Dawg trifecta!

  40. 40.

    stuckinred

    @MikeJ: Hey, I made contact with the fella building my model ship. He said he’s nearly done but wonders how he should ship it. I suggested that we have UPS pack it and ship it. What do you think?

  42. 42.

    Dee Loralei

    @MikeJ: I played flag football too, but didn’t break my nose. My co-ed soft-ball team took the championship though and I flattened some sorority bow head who was on the baseline during the championship game. And I’m an itty-bitty thing, LOL. (Ok, I was. Now I’m just average.)

    And OU scores off the turn-over. Good.

  44. 44.

    4jkb4ia

    You know, John, Pitt crushed Syracuse last week, and I didn’t think it was enough of an opponent to brag about. That is all.

  45. 45.

    BGinCHI

    @General Stuck: Why do the Republicans hate baguettes and wine?

    I submit that it is not possible to go to France and come back hating it. No matter how much the Parisians hurt your American feefees, the place is just too great, the food too good, the culture too magisterial.

    Goddamn it. Idiots.

  46. 46.

    Martin

    @General Stuck: Wait, Obama is French now? How many foreign countries can this guy come from? He’s already from Kenya, Indonesia, and Hawaii.

    Maybe he’s going for the continental sweep? So, we should expect Uruguay and Australia, with a claim that he’s also half-human, half-penguin.

  48. 48.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    William and Mary (my alma mater) defeated the Delaware Blue Hens (Joe Flacco’s alma mater). Hurrah!

  50. 50.

    General Stuck

    @BGinCHI:

    I suspect it’s harder to loot the national treasury in France, and gawd knows that’s a wingnuts worst fear. That and liberated wymin.

  51. 51.

    Martin

    @BGinCHI:

    I submit that it is not possible to go to France and come back hating it. No matter how much the Parisians hurt your American feefees, the place is just too great, the food too good, the culture too magisterial.

    Yeah, but the women put out, and the wingnuts like to take the long way around.

  53. 53.

    Mnemosyne

    @Linda Featheringill:

    Would you like to see a baby pudu? The adults are barely Tunch-sized (12 inches tall at the shoulder), so the babies are incredibly tiny:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIhYm8Jr5rg

    For some reason, G thinks it would be a bad idea for me to kidnap one from the zoo and keep it in our apartment. Something about it being “illegal” to keep an endangered species as a domestic pet or something. Hmph.

  55. 55.

    General Stuck

    Speaking of sports and the upcoming college B ball season. Some kind of kY fan I am. Just learned that fully 5 of last years Cats went early to the NBA draft, and Calipiri urged them to do it. He butter come up with another batch of blue chip frosh, or the true blue faithful in the Bluegrass State will run him out of town on a rail.

  57. 57.

    scav

    @General Stuck:

    “What we can fairly conclude, even before the votes are counted on November 2, is that America is not interested in becoming France.”

    Viva la wingnut!!

    beh, il faut avouer that the riots also indicate that la France has no interest in becoming L’États-Unis non plus. Aux barricades!

  58. 58.

    Dee Loralei

    @General Stuck: Dude, that’s what Calipari does. He’s a damned good Pro recruiter, at least he was here at UofMemphis. I thought everyone knew that about him?

  59. 59.

    General Stuck

    @Dee Loralei:

    I do now, and also read about him doing the same at UMemphis with Rose, and one or two others. I am not a very close follower of sports when out of season, except for the Cincy Reds I keep track of during the winter.

    But like I said, that will not sit well with Wildcat fans, that are as fanatical about their b ball team as any fans about any team anywhere. You don’t win, bye bye.

  60. 60.

    suzanne

    @BGinCHI:

    I submit that it is not possible to go to France and come back hating it. No matter how much the Parisians hurt your American feefees, the place is just too great, the food too good, the culture too magisterial.

    Word. Like, who doesn’t want to work fewer hours, have a higher standard of living, drink good wine, eat good food, AND be skinny and stylish?

  63. 63.

    Dee Loralei

    @General Stuck: Sorry, didn’t mean to sound condescending or anything. I don’t really follow basketball much and so I figured if I knew it, everyone did. My bad. But yea, no one in Memphis liked that about Cal, especially after they realized he signed all these great players telling them if they’d play for 2 years he’d get them pro tryouts and stuff.

    I know it’s legal, it just seems like a pretty dirty way of signing guys and pretty much double-dealing for the team and the school to invest that much time and money into a kid for just a year or so.

    And Mizzou takes the lead

  65. 65.

    General Stuck

    @Dee Loralei:

    I know it’s legal, it just seems like a pretty dirty way of signing guys and pretty much double-dealing for the team and the school to invest that much time and money into a kid for just a year or so.

    agreed

  68. 68.

    Dee Loralei

    @General Stuck: But the other thing I realize if the AD and the administration didn’t like it, it wouldn’t occur. So UK may have just decided looking the other way and getting the wins is more important, ya know?

    I’m paying attention to you guys rather than bite my fingernails and pull my hair out over my Sooners. Sheesh they’ve fumbled afuckinggain.

  73. 73.

    stuckinred

    @BGinCHI: Hmmm. guess not. Dennis Grennia (sp) shows up here from time to time. It was actually the second attempt by Ted, he walked in front of a car on Prince a while before. I know the cop that worked it and they didn’t even consider ticketing the driver it was so obvious.

    What is yer discipline?

  74. 74.

    fucen tarmal

    @JPL:

    Very interesting football day. Why no mention of WVU?

    marrone! you will be banished to the great ORANGE! satan with any of that kind of talk…shame about iowa….but a pretty good day so far. a win by mizzou vs number 1 oklahoma would be the cherry…

    though i am now in multitask mode watching the pens vs the blues….”free candy” orpik is back, so its time to rock.

  75. 75.

    BGinCHI

    @Martin: Wow. That’s the Awesome. Thanks for the link.

    God, Brady is terrible. And that guy running with him is, well, a parody, right?

    If Quinn doesn’t win it’s breadlines.

  79. 79.

    Dr. Squid

    @BGinCHI: YOwza, that WAS hilarious. That’s the first time I heard Jason Plummer say anything about anything. Figures he’d be a meathead.

  80. 80.

    BGinCHI

    @stuckinred: English. Shax and Ren stuff.

    Christie Desmet in the Eng Dept at UGA is great. And when I was there Marilyn Brownstein: great lady. And Ron Bogue in Comp Lit. Tall and smart.

    I actually did Political Science there then switched disciplines (long story). I don’t have anything nice to say about UGA poli sci, so as mama told me I won’t say anything at all.

  81. 81.

    stuckinred

    @Dr. Squid: I’ll tell you what, I’ll be real surprised when anyone stops Auburn’s offense. Newton is a freak and they have killer running backs!

  82. 82.

    MikeJ

    @stuckinred: Pylon! Yikes! One of my favorite bands from back then! Oh-OK? Linda Stipe and others, I was the only person who ever played the record on KCOU, but again, I was a fan.

    No Fuck Truck? They played antenna and 616 constantly back in the day. Nobody covered Kraftwerk like them.

  84. 84.

    stuckinred

    @BGinCHI: I started in Poli Sci at Illinois in the early 70’s. Our tenant is in the doc program at UGA now and he seems dazed. I’m sure you ran across Loch Johnson, how could you not have? I give them English folks a wide berth! :)

  85. 85.

    Kryptik

    @JPL:

    Huh? Did WVU play? I didn’t realize, gee, you think I’d remember if something important happened like WVU playing. Gee, I hope they didn’t lose to a minor Big East team or something.

    ….what do you mean ‘denial’?

  86. 86.

    BGinCHI

    @MikeJ: Pylon? Dude, you are old. And I mean that as a compliment.

    I went to a party at Linda Stipe’s house once and in a pretty dark room there was a coffin on a couple of sawhorses. I got close and some guy sat up and about shit my pants.

    Crazy parties, man, crazy.

  89. 89.

    BGinCHI

    @stuckinred: Loch is a nice guy, but his politics….I think he’s friends with Brit Hume.

    I did undergrad Pol Sci at Purdue. Absolutely great department. UGA was shockingly conservative and closed minded so I went to Eng/Phil/Comp Lit and it worked out great.

    I miss the UGA campus. Lovely.

  91. 91.

    BGinCHI

    @stuckinred: Dashboard Saviors.

    Now there was a drunk. Can’t remember his name.

    You remember the Killbillies?

    Another sad, but little know fact: River Phoenix was about to move to Athens and put down roots before his sad death. Sad. Very nice guy.

  92. 92.

    BGinCHI

    @stuckinred: Hmm, don’t know them. Now I’m trying to think of all the little bands whose tapes I bought at Wuxtry and the other 500 record stores in town.

  93. 93.

    stuckinred

    @BGinCHI: Todd McBride proly. Greg Veal played some bass with them. I got sober about the time you were here and I’ve watched a lot of these folks crash and burn. Guess it doesn’t really matter in the long run.
    Drunken angel
    you’re on the other side

  95. 95.

    stuckinred

    @BGinCHI: He’s in Athens Inside Out standing on the parking deck saying he hopes he’s not making Pizza’s 20 years from now. He manages a pizza joint.

  98. 98.

    stuckinred

    Dreams So Real, Love Tractor, BBQ Killers, Go Van Go, Guadalcanal Diary, Hillbilly Frankenstein. . .

  99. 99.

    Svensker

    @Martin:

    Love that. Ha ha ha.

    And changing the subject completely, did you know that if you buy cider at a local cider press and let it sit in a cool place for 10 days and then drink it when it’s really fizzy, it is really refreshing. Also really packs a punch. Didn’t think about the latter when I downed two big glasses this afternoon, and I’ve only just got over the staggers. Criminy.

  100. 100.

    MikeJ

    @BGinCHI:

    Pylon? Dude, you are old

    When I was in high school the older college kids in Barking Dog (memphis band) got me into them. But that still makes me really old.

  101. 101.

    stuckinred

    Hindu Love Gods

    The band debuted with 3 scattered gigs (all in Athens, GA) in 1984. The group played mostly cover tunes, though a few unreleased originals also made it into the mix. The first gig took place on Valentine’s Day, 1984, and featured Bryan Cook (vocals and piano), and R.E.M. members Bill Berry (drums) Peter Buck (guitar) and Mike Mills (bass). The follow-up gig took place two weeks later; added to the line-up was R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe on vocals and drums, and Warren Zevon on vocals. Zevon performed his hit “Werewolves Of London”, as well several other songs that were, at that point, unrecorded (including “Boom Boom Mancini” and “Trouble Waiting To Happen”) The final 1984 gig took place in June, and featured the Cook/Berry/Buck/Mills line-up.

  105. 105.

    MikeJ

    @stuckinred: My Athens club moment: Vic Chestnut opening for Robyn Hitchcock at the 40w, sharing a backing band composed of the most famous guys in town. I stood underneath the prismatic skull sticker on a black ric all night.

  106. 106.

    BGinCHI

    @stuckinred: Yes!! Todd McBride. Dated this woman he was in love with and he tried to kick my ass several times. He was so drunk I’d calm him down instead of beating the shit out of him and then he’d cry.

    Good musician though.

    Wow, sober. You picked a hard town to live in….

  109. 109.

    BGinCHI

    @stuckinred: You’re killing me. Love Tractor was so good.

    I always thought Kilkenny Cats was a great band name.

    Ever see a little 3-piece called Slumberjack?

  114. 114.

    stuckinred

    @BGinCHI: Hmm, Slumberjack. Nope. How bout them Normaltown Flyers?

    Not drinking was strange for a year, then it became just normal, no big deal. I didn’t get all religious and shit (although I do lean in the direction of the Bohdi).

  115. 115.

    JCJ

    @BGinCHI:

    Wow. I knew OSU would be looking to avenge last year’s loss in West Lafayette as well as last week’s beat down by the Badgers, but yikes. My Boilers were atrocious. At least the Badgers are doing well – I think I’m allowed to cheer for them since I have lived in Wisconsin for 17 years and my daughter is a freshman there now.

  116. 116.

    stuckinred

    @BGinCHI: That was from the wiki.
    I moved here in August of 84. It took me a few years to get myself situated and figure out what was what. The first REM I saw was on Legion Field. Zevon played the Theater with just one other guy and it was stunning. Speaking of asshole drunks, his bio is ugly. What a jerk.

  117. 117.

    MikeJ

    @BGinCHI: 20 years since I’ve been there, outside of the occasional weekend. I don’t know Lucero, but googling them shows that I knew was acquainted with the father of a sometime guitar player for them. Sid was in a jillion good bands.

    It would scare me too much to answer Dee Loralei’s question, because I would bet huge dollars we know at least some of the same people, if the music tastes match up in the least. Memphis had a very small scene ( which may sound funny to people discussing Athens, GA, but you guys had a higher percentage of hipsters.)

    As for love tractor, that was the band I was referring to earlier when I mentioned Fuck Truck.

  118. 118.

    BGinCHI

    @JCJ: Rooted for them too. I like UW.

    Purdue is just hopeless. Bring on the roundball, though it’s sad Robbie Hummel is out.

  121. 121.

    Dr. Squid

    @JCJ: I kind of kew it would be bad when the opening kick went OB and there was a face mask on the first play. You don’t give OSU 55 free yards on one drive.

    Oh well, there’s still Michigan and IU on the schedule. And basketball season.

  122. 122.

    MikeJ

    @BGinCHI: You hang out at Antenna? 616? North/South End? P&H Cafe? Go to Gunbunnies shows? Listen to WEVL? Shangri-la records?

    Any of those things we probably overlapped.

  124. 124.

    Dee Loralei

    @MikeJ: My guess is I’m a little older, but I understand you want to remain anonymous. I graduated from G’Town in 1980. And I was in Norman OK thru the mid 80’s.

    ETA: P&H? Oh lordy I loved that hole in the wall. Was the owner’s name Ruby? Her of the great wigs and hats? I never really hung at North or South End or 616, but dear God do I have tales to tell about Alex’s Tavern and the old Bullshot, which became Newbies on Highland.
    Did you ever go to the Antena Club? They had a reunion a few months ago which sounded like a lot of fun, but I missed it. I saw some great bands around town, but remember that was the late 70’s the mid 80’s and then again in the mid-90’s. So there are huge patches in my live music experiences. But BCinChi is right about Lucero, they are really good.

  126. 126.

    Mark S.

    I’ve noticed that Forbes often has articles where they take one statistic out of a hat and determine THE GREATEST (OR WORST) THING EVAR. So here are the Worst World Series Winners using just a standard deviation from the mean:

    87 Twins
    06 Cards
    00 Yankees (I doubt that)
    03 Marlins
    16 Red Sox

    I sort of doubt 8 of the 10 worst champions were all from the last thirty years; they get that because more teams make the playoffs than in the past. But the formula does say the 75 Reds were a real good team. Maybe it also could be used to figure out the 27 Yankees were pretty decent as well.

  127. 127.

    MikeJ

    @Dee Loralei: I refer to Antenna as the bar I grew up in. I met Davis from Barking Dog when I was interviewing local bands, and he told this little 15 year old to come on by, don’t be afraid of Rebel (the doorman). I don’t think I had more than one beer there until I was 19 or 20 because I was so scared of being thrown out, I was so happy to be there to see Barking Dog, Calculated X, Panther Burns. My friend Bill was in the Penetrators and every time they played somebody would show up and demand to play. REM, the ‘Mats, he got kicked off stage by the best.

  128. 128.

    BGinCHI

    @MikeJ: Oops. Misunderstanding.

    I thought you meant an Athens show….never lived in Memphis. But I always wanted to be in Big Star.

  131. 131.

    stuckinred

    @Ruckus: That’s what I told the kiddies who moved in next door and had “bands” practicing. As the Vietnamese say, Xin Loi mofo! Actually I can hear the band from the frat around the corner right now.

  134. 134.

    Dee Loralei

    @MikeJ: Did you ever see the movie “The Poor&Hungry”? It was Craig Brewer’s first. The title was named because of the P&H. Oh LOL I just remembered her name was Wanda.( She was in the movie as well.) He did Black Snake Moan and Hustle and Flow. My review of Poor& Hungry…..” Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Boy and girl get together with her cello. Boy loses girl.Boy dies. Very funny.’

    My bars growing up were what is now Newby’s and was then the Bullshot, and what is now the Endzone but was then Dr. Watson’s. ( Kirby and Poplar area.) There was also Poet’s Corner, Poet’s Other Corner, Bombay Bicycle Club and Friday’s in Midtown. It was easier for kids my age to get into bars, drinking age was 18 back then and we had paper driver’s licenses with no pics. Much easier to doctor or change your birth year then LOL. Plus no one really cared if you were too young and no one ever got busted unless they had a wreck, or the DA wanted to make a name for himself and cut down on the youths drinking or doing drugs. ( Damned pot smokers.)

    Damn, my Sooners are determined to lose this.

  138. 138.

    stuckinred

    Xin loi in Vietnamese (pronounced ‘zin loy’) literally means I’m sorry. The term became popular between locals and the westerners during the Vietnam War (especially with the bargirls and soldiers on leave) and usually was extended to the expression….’xin loi about that’! It was a friendly sarcasm meant to infer that in fact the apology (for perhaps some minor slight or lapse in etiquette) was not really genuine…..more of a ‘tongue in cheek’ apology. It was usually expressed with a degree of friendly humour intended.

  148. 148.

    WaterGirl

    @Martin: Maybe the best political ad I’ve seen. I’m from IL and I’ve already voted, but I sent the link to others who may not have voted.

  149. 149.

    Mark S.

    Huh, don’t you pinch hit here? I know he’s their closer, but geez, you could get some insurance runs.

  150. 150.

    Dee Loralei

    @BGinCHI: There was only a band if you were a September Gurl :-P.

    Gaaaaahhhhh, football is bringing me down. But that was an awesome return by Medu.

  155. 155.

    stuckinred

    the Giants win the pennant
    the Giants win the pennant
    the Giants win the pennant
    the Giants win the pennant

  164. 164.

    Ailuridae

    I doubt this crowd is much for MMA but UFC is having one of its’s better cards in a while right now. I have a pretty decent free/pirated link but have no idea if it is kosher to post it.

    Also, Mizzou!

  165. 165.

    Dee Loralei

    @Ailuridae: I wish you folks hadn’t been rooting for Mizzou! Sheesh can’t a Sooner get some love, and pity? Jeeze :-(

    Is MMA that fighting thing? LOL.

    Aren’t you the guy who plays poke-her professionally? My 20 year old son wants to have a convo with you (G).

  166. 166.

    FlipYrWhig

    I’m pretty sure that wasn’t a strike. As a Phillies fan, I blame myself, really. I was really busy in ’08 and couldn’t watch… so of course that year they won. Which was exciting. So I’ve been trying to watch. But, well, I’m a curse. Then again, I used to like the Giants in the Robby Thompson years, and they haven’t won in a long time, so this is OK.

  167. 167.

    John O

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Compared to the series ending called strike three on Fred McGriff by Eric Gregg about 100 years ago that one was right down the pipe.

    McGriff couldn’t have hit the pitch he got rung up with if he had an oar in his hands. It was the night Eric Gregg made Levon Hernandez a zillionaire.

    That one is right there at the top of my “all-time worst call” list. And I’m no big Braves fan, though I loved that team, so sue me. :-)

  169. 169.

    J. Michael Neal

    @Dee Loralei:

    But the other thing I realize if the AD and the administration didn’t like it, it wouldn’t occur. So UK may have just decided looking the other way and getting the wins is more important, ya know?

    Feh. Kentucky fans can talk a good game, but they don’t mean it. They had a guy who did it right, but they ran him out of town in favor of Calipari. We’re perfectly happy to have Tubby here in Gopherland though. Of course, that’s easier for me to say, since:

    1) I think basketball is stupid, so I don’t really have any idea who is a good coach and who isn’t;

    2) I’m not exactly your average fan, as demonstrated by the fact that Jim Wacker is the Gopher coach I’ve liked the most in the 25 years I’ve been up here, in any sport. I’m prepared to overlook just about any won/loss record for a coach that once turned in his own program for cheating.*

    Besides, except for any Badgers on here, I guarantee (as long as the one North Dakota fan isn’t around) our women’s hockey team would beat yours.

    *Wacker is actually one of the two non-family members I would list as my personal heroes. I really, really wish I could manage to have his relentlessly optimistic spirit. I loved it when, as Wacker was dying of brain cancer, one of the hopelessly cynical sportswriters around here went down to Texas to interview him. This was a man who spent all five years of Wacker’s tenure making fun of his rah rah personality. He had to publicly admit that he had been wrong all those years, because there wasn’t anything fake about it. Wacker really was that upbeat. This was a man whose reaction to someone asking him, terminally ill, whether he ever asked God, “Why me?” said, “Hooey. My answer is, ‘Why not me?'”

  170. 170.

    TrishB

    @stuckinred: I first saw REM for $4 at the college where I interviewed on the same day they were playing. I decided to stick around for the evening. Last time I saw them was the Vote for Change tour. Quite some bookends, when I think about it.

  171. 171.

    J. Michael Neal

    @FlipYrWhig: I’m pretty sure that, when it crossed the plate, that pitch was at Howard’s knees. However, it was nasty enough that I’ll defend not swinging at it and hoping that the ump calls it a ball. Swing, and the best you’re going to do is ground out to shortstop.

  175. 175.

    J. Michael Neal

    @John O: Not that one. Watch it again and follow the trajectory of the ball and where Howard is carrying his bat. There’s no way in the world he gets under that. That had ground ball written all over it.

  176. 176.

    John O

    @J. Michael Neal:

    ???? It’s baseball. That pitch had whatever Howard was able to do with it all over it. He just stared at it. And a foul grounder is a win. Heck, check your swing and hope you get a piece of it.

  177. 177.

    J. Michael Neal

    @John O: Watch the replay. At the instant where Howard has to decide whether or not to swing, he’s out of position to hit that pitch. He starts falling forward. He got fooled. At that point, he’s better off hoping it gets called a ball than trying to hit it.

  178. 178.

    FlipYrWhig

    @John O: Edgar Renteria hasn’t aged well since then.

    Looked low to me, but it’s hard to tell… I guess it could have been perfect and clipped the lowest point of the zone and dropped further down as it settled into the glove. But I didn’t think this ump was calling a very reliable strike zone for either team.

  179. 179.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @General Stuck: Can’t *believe* nobody has congratulated you on your incredibly clever “Soylent Meow.” AFAIAC the intertoobz are all yours.

    @stuckinred and BGinCHI: If I’m not mistaken, the guy (Ed?) who runs Gin and Tacos is on the UGA poli sci faculty. Nothin’ wrong with *his* politics! (Not sure how long he’ll stay, though — he’s apparently looking around.)

  180. 180.

    Yutsano

    Stupid question: has anyone figured out why the Giants closer went for the total Billy Mays look with his beard? My mom’s cousin said he looked like he drew it on with mascara or something.

  181. 181.

    J. Michael Neal

    @Yutsano: Because he’s an idiot athlete? Because he was trying to imitate his namesake’s less successful periods? Because he has hockey players in his genetic background?

    Along those lines, I am wondering what women hockey players do when it’s time for the playoffs.

  182. 182.

    Yutsano

    @J. Michael Neal: I know where the beard itself came from (it’s your option A, the whole bullpen grew them for the NLCS) but why on the FSM’s green earth did he make himself look like a Just For Men spokesman? Is it some bizarre inside joke or does he need a woman (or man) to tell him that might not be a smart idea?

  183. 183.

    Schad

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/22/AR2010102202873.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

    Charles Murray, AEI scholar, bemoans the rise of elitism:

    With geographical clustering goes cultural clustering. Get into a conversation about television with members of the New Elite, and they can probably talk about a few trendy shows — “Mad Men” now, “The Sopranos” a few years ago. But they haven’t any idea who replaced Bob Barker on “The Price Is Right.” They know who Oprah is, but they’ve never watched one of her shows from beginning to end.
    Talk to them about sports, and you may get an animated discussion of yoga, pilates, skiing or mountain biking, but they are unlikely to know who Jimmie Johnson is (the really famous Jimmie Johnson, not the former Dallas Cowboys coach), and the acronym MMA means nothing to them.
    They can talk about books endlessly, but they’ve never read a “Left Behind” novel (65 million copies sold) or a Harlequin romance (part of a genre with a core readership of 29 million Americans).

    Being an elitist apparently has been revised downward to anyone who has a job and thus isn’t watching midday TV, who doesn’t read excessively shitty books, and isn’t familiar with NASCAR.

    And of course, the person decrying the New Elite (and in particular, their tendency to marry one another) has a BA from Harvard, a PhD from MIT, and is married to an instructor of English lit at Rutgers.

  186. 186.

    Yutsano

    @Darkrose: If by more intimidating he means hilarious beyond words, then he succeeded beyond his wildest expectations. Otherwise it’s just distracting at best. I thought maybe he got into some horrible hair dyeing accident.

  187. 187.

    Martin

    @Schad:

    They can talk about books endlessly, but they’ve never read a “Left Behind” novel

    Ah, elitist now means ‘not a fundamentalist’. Well, why the fuck didn’t he just say so and save everyone the 2,000 words? Oh, he wanted to get paid? Well, that’s that, then.

  188. 188.

    Yutsano

    @Martin: I’m analyzing the whole column, and it really is nothing more than Stuff White People Like dressed up as serious academic research. The fact that he contradicts himself several times in his own column more than likely doesn’t bother him much.

  190. 190.

    Jewish Steel

    What I don’t understand is why liberals won’t acknowledge that Juan “Jazz Hands” Uribe is the baseball player of a generation.

    If they persist it’s possible he might withhold his run production.

    J-Steel +?

  191. 191.

    J. Michael Neal

    @Cacti: Lesnar was a complete jackass back when he was winning NCAA titles for my Gophers. I have negative interest in MMA, but I don’t mind the idea that he got his ass kicked.

  193. 193.

    Cacti

    @Yutsano:

    I’m analyzing the whole column, and it really is nothing more than Stuff White People Like dressed up as serious academic research. The fact that he contradicts himself several times in his own column more than likely doesn’t bother him much.

    Is AEI the Coors family think tank, or is that the Heritage Foundation?

    Either way, his examples look like they came straight out of the marketing department.

    “Our numbers show that people who drink Coors also enjoy: Nascar, Fundamentalist Christianity, and trashy Romance Novels.”

  194. 194.

    freelancer

    @Cacti:

    “Our numbers show that people who drink Coors also enjoy: Nascar, Fundamentalist Christianity, and trashy Romance Novels.”

    People who drink Coors also enjoy the taste of urine, as the two are indistinguishable.

  197. 197.

    daveNYC

    @kent: Yeah, it’s like two minute drills and clock management are things that you only need to worry about in the pros. And the mistakes they make on those things are sooooo obvious to the viewer, you know?

  200. 200.

    Martin

    @freelancer:

    People who drink Coors also enjoy the taste of urine, as the two are indistinguishable.

    Oh, come on now, it’s not that bad. Remember, in an emergency you can still drink your urine for survival.

  202. 202.

    Ailuridae

    @Schad:

    And of course, the person decrying the New Elite (and in particular, their tendency to marry one another) has a BA from Harvard, a PhD from MIT, and is married to an instructor of English lit at Rutgers.

    And it still reads as less ridiculous than any David Brooks column about “Real America”.

  204. 204.

    Ailuridae

    @Yutsano:

    Feh. All mass produced American pilsner lagers are not the same and Budweiser is both the class of that group (unless Yuengling counts) , a fine beer and an excellent beer at it’s price point.

    I’m pretty beer snobtastic (to the point that I receive regular beer mails) and there about a dozen more well received beers that I would run down long before Budweiser including Heineken, Stell Artois, Sam Adams Lager, etc.

  205. 205.

    burnspbesq

    Greetings from Dublin.

    Thank you, Mizzou. Oregon vs. Boise State for the national championship is that much closer to happening.

    My grandfather, who took me to my first baseball game when I was seven, was a rabid Giants fan. Easy for me to decide who to root for.

    Pro travel tip: if you fly Aer Lingus from O’Hare to Dublin, chow down before you go through security. The food on Aer Lingus is nothing but suckitude.

  206. 206.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    @stuckinred: I found what I guess is their only album in the cut off bin — The cover of Raspberry Beret with Mr. Zevon singing the lead is unbelievable (in the best and worst ways).

  207. 207.

    matoko_chan

    @Schad: the right is all extremely worried about stratification by IQ. Its in Douthat and Salam’s book Grand New Party. They don’t talk about it much, except Douthat whines a lot about finding some fantasy alternative meritocratic value that conservatives can compete at.
    A half century of anti-intellectualism and IQ-baiting has resulted in the memetic selection for stupid that brought us the conservatars of Palin and Bush.

    Memnosyne, there is simply no such thing as a secular democracy. In the US we have the particular brand of political christianity that i call judeochristianity.

    That is why it has been possible for Americans to synthesize three seemingly antithetical traditions: evangelical Protestantism, republican political ideology and commonsense moral reasoning. For Americans, faith in God is indistinguishable from loyalty to their country.
    American Protestants do not have to believe in God because they believe in belief. That is why we have never been able to produce an interesting atheist in America. The god most Americans say they believe in is just not interesting enough to deny. Thus the only kind of atheism that counts in America is to call into question the proposition that everyone has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

    there are 200 million of them and 100 million of us.
    we are simply stuck in Jesusland until the demographic timer goes off.

  208. 208.

    R-Jud

    @Mark S.:

    I don’t know anything about long-distance swimming (I didn’t even know they had 6+ mile swim races) but this sounds ridiculous to me. Do they have anyone monitoring these guys when they’re out in the middle of the ocean? And if your guy says he’s not feeling very well, shouldn’t you get him the hell out of there instead of letting him go out and hope he returns?

    Way, way, way late, but I’ve participated in half-a-dozen open water swims of anywhere from 2.5-10 miles. (The 10K open water just became an Olympic event in 2008.) Yes, FINA requires that there be judges at the turn monitoring swimmers’ progress (for an ocean swim, obviously, they’d be on boats). It’s tougher to keep watch in the ocean, but it shouldn’t be THAT tough unless visibility’s bad.

    The culprit here with poor Fran Crippen appears to have been the heat. The water was over 80 degrees. If he wasn’t feeling well and was running a fever, that might have done it– imagine running a marathon in 90-degree heat with a fever (I did it without a fever two weeks ago). It’s possible that he got into trouble after the turn, and nobody spotted him.

    His coach should have insisted he not swim, and FINA needs to set a maximum water temperature for competitions, not just a minimum. This is scandalous.

  209. 209.

    Mnemosyne

    @matoko_chan:

    In other words, it’s something you made up, as I thought. I’m pretty sure a reasonably clever 12-year-old could have come up with, “We can call it an X democracy just by looking at whatever the majority religion is!”

    And you still haven’t explained why the US and European countries are “Judeochristian” democracies but Israel is a “Jewish” democracy. If the only democracy that’s actually run by Jewish people is a Jewish democracy and not a Judeochristian one, then you need to drop the “Judeo” from the other ones, particularly since “Judeochristian” is a completely bullshit term made up by Christian conservatives who only want Israel to exist so Jesus can come back and kill them all in the apocalypse.

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