I’ll be out of the loop for the rest of the day helping a family friend. Figured I better leave an open thread or the place will get messy in my absence.
Open Thread
by John Cole| 62 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
by John Cole| 62 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
I’ll be out of the loop for the rest of the day helping a family friend. Figured I better leave an open thread or the place will get messy in my absence.
Comments are closed.
Corner Stone
Oh, it’s gonna get messy alright! It’s gonna get messy, I promise you!
Michael D.
They hate us for our freedoms, obviously.
artem1s
the local public radio station did a piece this morning on the Buckeye Institute (Columbus Koch Institute).
http://www.ideastream.org/news/feature/39201
http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/
at least they are admitting the existence of these conservative think tanks but its not much considering how much ‘dems are just like rethugs’ reporting they have been doing over the last couple of years.
FlipYrWhig
With an open thread, there will be a delicate balance of order and freedom. Also, the UN and the Arab League have requested a No Troll Zone.
kwAwk
Hell, we’re all pretty messy when you’re here.
When you leave it just not as fun.
Comrade Mary
All I know is that I’m not mopping the bath tub, no matter what clothing options I have.
Punchy
Da wife has agreed to paint an enormous periodic table on the wall of our soon-to-be boy/goyl. Going full on dork. She even likes the middle name of “Osmo”. Booyah.
Paul in KY
@Punchy: What is the first name to be? ‘C’, maybe?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Punchy: Perhaps this would be nice on a note card for her? I’ve printed a few that have been well received, and include the link on the back when I send them to people who don’t know of Randall’s site.
Face
@Paul in KY: I think “osmo” is short for “osmolality”. Which would be funny if the kid took a hankering for table salt.
Villago Delenda Est
John, I have news for you:
An “impeachable offense” is whatever the majority in the House of Representatives think is an “impeachable offense”. Lying about a blow job? Check. Murdering hundreds of thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan? IOKIYAR.
While Obama’s actions aren’t blow job level impeachable, the violation of Congress’ sole under the Constitution privilege to declare war has been going on since WWII de facto. I’m sorry…”police actions”…”interventions”…not wars. Let’s be technical, by all means.
Kucinich’s point is that Obama has done what every other President from Truman on has done…committed US forces to firing in anger without getting Congress to go along with it. Does that mean that Congress will follow through? Obviously not…since the deserting coward’s head should be displayed on a pike somewhere in DC right now for his crimes while in office, which are so numerous as to stagger the imagination.
patrick II
John, you can’t go. I’m bored.
artem1s
We can add florescent bulbs to the things the GOP consider a threat to American values…
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/03/22/110843/light-bulb-policy-becomes-rep.html
PurpleGirl
@artem1s: The first CFLs didn’t fit lamps I had and they were dimmer in light given off. In a few years though, they made ones which were shorter in height and fit the lamps. Also they began to make higher wattages which give off brighter light. I’m happy with the mix of incandescent bulbs and CFLs I use. People can get used to new things; it ain’t so hard.
FlipYrWhig
@artem1s: I think your typical Republican’s idea of a good time is to find a low-flow toilet, cram it with incandescent light bulbs and phosphate-rich dishwasher detergent, and see how many flushes it takes to get it all down.
Villago Delenda Est
Joe Barton…in a fierce competition with a couple of hundred other Rethug asswipes to be the dimmest bulb in Congress.
PurpleGirl
@FlipYrWhig:
@Villago Delenda Est:
You’re both right. LOL.
Chinn Romney
Kudos to Gary Bettman for _finally_ addressing the Matt Cooke problem. Long overdue. The Penguins ought to be better than this, they should’ve kicked him to the curb themselves a couple of years back.
And while I’m on Pitt sports…
Panthers have some of the dumbest jocks in all of D1 hoops. Us hoops junkies knew this, now the casual March viewer does too.
Hines looked a bit stiff on DTWS last night. But seems like a really nice guy, hope he sticks around a couple of weeks. If they really wanted to goose their ratings they’d put Tom Terrific on though.
Roger Moore
@artem1s:
Of course. CFLs are new and different, which makes them bad by definition, and they’re something DFHs like, which makes them the spawn of Satan. They must be stopped. I’m waiting for the Republicans to propose that CFLs should be made illegal because they contain mercury.
I think that the CFL thing is a good example of what it is that Republicans really hate about DFHs. It’s not that they automatically hate anything that DFHs like. It’s that they don’t like having the government tell them what they may and mayn’t do. If Uncle Sam says you can’t use incandescent bulbs anymore, that’s an infringement of their liberty and must be fought tooth and nail. This is true even if incandescent bulbs are obviously a bad idea and many Republicans would probably switch to CFLs if the government weren’t mandating the switch. They hate being told what to do by the Government so much that they’ll do stupid things just to prove they can’t be bossed around.
Origuy
Anyone know where John keeps the Scotch?
Martin
Hmm. So much for having limited assets at his disposal. The beeb is reporting that Gaddafi has $6bn in gold, most stored in the country.
slag
@Punchy: If you’ve never listened to RadioLab from WNYC, I highly recommend it. Especially this episode: http://www.radiolab.org/2009/jan/12/, wherein Oliver Sacks declares his love for the periodic table.
But beware: RadioLab has highly addictive properties. They should have to label it like they do cigarettes. I think I just found out about RadioLab less than a month ago, and I’ve streamed every single episode and am currently making my way through all the podcasts. It’s amazing. Better than This American Life even.
gnomedad
If you’re an early adopter or have a fixture for which CFLs are unsuitable (I understand they tend to overheat in base-up applications), I’ve found the Philips Ambient A19 the first no-apologies LED 60 watt replacement. Pricey compared to CFLs, but definitely a win over incandescents. 12 watts, 25,000-hour stated lifetime, BRIGHT, great color match for incandescent, dimmable, no glass, no mercury. (No, I don’t work for Philips or anyone who sells these things.)
Sly
@FlipYrWhig:
I recall that Glenn Beck once did a segment commemorating Earth Day by standing outside next to a parked SUV with the engine running and giggling into the camera like a douchebag the entire time.
So you probably aren’t that far off.
FlipYrWhig
@Roger Moore: Keep your Big Government out of my garage! I’ll use lead paint and freon if’n I want to! Maybe even mix ’em up!
slag
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): In our house, a geek is someone who’s really into something and consumes it frequently, while a nerd is someone who’s really into something and not only consumes it frequently but produces it as well. Eg, a bird geek is someone who loves watching birds but a bird nerd is someone who not only loves watching birds but also maybe writes a book on birds or turns their calls into a musical montage or something of that sort.
Keith G
@Martin: Sounds like a job for George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Ice Cube.
Yutsano
@Keith G: I have to admit that movie didn’t suck as much as I thought it would.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Martin: Wow. Time to send in the ground troops. I recommend Kelly’s Heroes.
Roger Moore
@FlipYrWhig:
Exactly. And it’s not just broccoli that we’re supposed to refudiate as a sign that we’re serious, it’s the broccoli mandate. It’s fine if DFHs want to eat broccoli, and I guess he-man Real American(TM) types can if they really want to. But the moment you tell them that they must eat broccoli, they’ll refuse as a way of showing their resistance to government tyranny.
BTW, I refudiate broccoli and the Stalin mandate!
Cris
I don’t remember giving permission for a party, Joel.
Paul in KY
@Face: Thanks! i’m a geek, but not a chemistry geek.
Sentient Puddle
@Cris: Dude, have you read the comments on the thread below? It’s enough to turn a Mormon into an alcoholic.
Joe Beese
http://www.correntewire.com/what_obama_and_dems_could_learn_npr
WereBear
Unless you are a Republican.
cyntax
Some good news from Japan:
But this was what got me:
That’s pretty intense.
[insert Repo Man joke]
Yutsano
@Joe Beese: Just out of curiosity, how is the view from your cross?
Hewer of Wood, Drawer of Water
@Chinn Romney: the problem with what the NHL did with Cooke is that they really only gave him 2 games for the hit and the rest for being a repeat offender/general jackass. Keep in mind that there were two other headshots in the past week that only got two games each (and let’s not forget what Chara did to Max Pacioretty). I’ll start believing the NHL is serious about cracking down on these things when the perpetrator isn’t such an easy target and they give a Dany Heatley or a Chara a minimum of 10 games.
Roger Moore
@cyntax:
Not just a rescue squad, but a hyper rescue squad. I think somebody has been watching too many sentai shows.
cyntax
@Roger Moore:
Yeah, that name cracked me up.
On the other hand the wife’s email encapsulated the gravity of it all.
Tsulagi
For my pissing in the wind rant, flying commercial now sucks major ass. Though improbable, it’s gone up in rank.
Some of the joys of a recent trip. For the outbound TSA tango managed to get behind a group of four really old grannies going to or returning to Miami. #4 granny in front of me who needed a cane to walk got all flustered and a bit disoriented when it was her turn to step into the scatter Xray machine. A dickhead TSA agent insisted she put her cane on the belt to go through the standard Xray process then got pissed off when shoeless and beltless with my pants about to fall around my ankles I assisted granny into the machine. Of course she couldn’t raise her hands over her head. After a full minute or so we all found top of her ears was about all she could muster while wobbling like she was going to fall.
I felt so much safer after knowing someone had seen her scanned privates. Fucking absurd. Even if that woman had an MP5 in her hands, it’d still take her an hour to pull the trigger.
Other highlights, twice American Airlines gate agents got pissy about the size of my carryon for overhead bins. After checking conceded the length and width just met their limits, but thought it was too fat. Seems that airline is on a jihad to reduce the size of carryons presumably to save weight/fuel.
Found if reentering the country, two hours before your next flight segment now is really cutting it fine. Because even though you passed through security in another country, you’re not going to miss out on the wait in line and full TSA experience if you’re flying beyond the port city. They closed that loophole. At least in Miami last week. But if you’re flying business/1st class, after passing through Customs helpful American Airlines had a much shorter priority line to get you to the TSA butt scanners quicker. Pay more, get faster federal service; really liked that one.
If the federal government or military really wanted to screw with Bradley Manning, just put that fucker on commercial flights constantly crisscrossing the country.
artem1s
@PurpleGirl:
never mind getting used to lower electric bills. I wasn’t a fan of early florescent with crappy transformers that flickered all day long either. But the newer generation of florescent bulbs actually have a much broader spectrum of colors, shapes and sizes and they last freaking forever.
I’m an artist (painter), and can actually recognize light color when I see it and I wouldn’t go back to incandescent bulbs (which made everyone look jaundiced, IMHO).
cyntax
@Tsulagi:
What I read was that it isn’t so much an issue of weight and fuel but that the flight delays (because everybody brings too much carry-on luggage) costs the airlines some real coin. Of course what kind of behaviour did they think they were incentivizing by charging people for checking their bags?
Roger Moore
@Tsulagi:
No, it’s to keep jackasses from taking up three people’s worth of storage space in the overhead bin with one carry-on. If your carry-on is too big to fit under the seat in front of you (with a possible exception for something small but oddly shaped) you should check it.
Barb (formerly Gex)
Sometimes I just fucking hate our culture. Today I get to read an article about how single male pastors have trouble finding work because they aren’t married with kids.
It is just so terrible that US law allows religious groups to discriminate in their hiring. Poor thing. My heart really feels for him. I’d be willing to fight the discrimination with him, somehow don’t think he’d want to march next to me.
Paul in KY
@Tsulagi: Just be glad they didn’t know you were a Balloon Juice regular, they’d have been putting on the rubber gloves for sure ;-)
Barb (formerly Gex)
@PurpleGirl: Most people can get used to new things. Conservatives seem to have a more difficult time with that.
Barb (formerly Gex)
@slag: I got to see Jad in person at MaxFunCon. He was AWESOME.
Paul in KY
@Barb (formerly Gex): I read the same article. Was sorta wondering myself why he hadn’t got hitched. He looks OK (to me) and being a preacher, would be Sarah-proud-and-tall type candy. Plus, he has a real incentive to get hitched.
Maybe he is gay (and should be able & allowed to hold any jobs and do anything a hetero would).
He is still young (to me), but many fundies his age would already have 3 kids (and be on their 2nd marriage).
Cris
And they think that charging extra to check your bag, while not charging for a carry-on, will keep people from doing this… how?
slag
@Barb (formerly Gex): He and Robert Krulwich have a great symbiosis in their interview styles. And neither of them neatly fits a stereotype that I can identify, so I find myself surprised by their individual perspectives on a fairly regular basis. Which is kind of rare, I think.
Barb (formerly Gex)
@Paul in KY: I imagine that huge part of this has to do with religious institutions and their willingness to work with law enforcement and the legal system in relation to child abuse allegations. Which I guess is a good sign? I mean they are trying not hire pedophiles. Not in a very effective way since the profiling they are using is not a good match to the trait they are filtering out. But at least they are trying?
Tsulagi
@cyntax: Have always managed to put that carryon in an overhead bin without much effort on every Boeing or Airbus airliner I’ve flown on no matter how stuffed I’ve had it.
@Roger Moore: FAIL. My carryon as always went in wheels first with the length allowing the overhead bin door to close. Width in that position met AA’s limit. However two of the eight AA gate agents for this roundtrip thought it was too “fat.” Bullshit.
@Punchy: Congratulations. If this is your first, your world is about to change.
Periodic table? “Osmo”? Is that middle name for two of the elements? Yeah, that would be full metal dork.
artem1s
@Barb (formerly Gex):
yea, except that being single doesn’t have anything to do with predilection to pedophilia, anymore than his skin color would. That’s why we gots hiring laws, folks.
Paul in KY
@Barb (formerly Gex): I guess that’s it. Hope he’s able to get a job (assuming he’s not a ped).
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@Barb (formerly Gex):
ah but the problem with filtering out other closely associated traits of pedophilia is that they are basic precepts of the religion.
tworivers
Quick, let’s raid Cole’s liquor cabinet
Paul in KY
@Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: That is a conundrum. WWJD?
slinkercunt
Since this is an open thread, I just had to put this out there: what a bunch of pissant littke whiners some DKOS people are, including my namesake. Always so eager to jump on anything negative rather than go out of their way to praise good news. Fuck you all.
slinkercunt
In that thread, Mallyroyal said it best:
Ab_Normal
@Punchy: Not going for little Bobby Tables?
Gravenstone
@Martin: First inclination was to wonder how one would move such a large amount of gold. Then I did the math. Assuming $1200/oz (not sure on current prices), that’s barely 150 tons of gold. Line yourself up a cargo plane and go to town (or the friendly exile host of your choice).