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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by $8 blue check mistermix|  September 7, 20117:37 am| 98 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Looks like we need an open thread. This song is by a local band who have just released their first album. It sounds a bit like Cat Power took a mommy-sized Valium, but it grows on you.

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Next Post: There Might Be a Silver Lining Here »

Reader Interactions

98Comments

  1. 1.

    jibeaux

    September 7, 2011 at 8:18 am

    I haz a sad because I have to re-home a generally sweet dog, a 16# very cute terrier mix guy, 1 year old. He snapped at another little girl and bit or scratched my 6 – year old on the face, not enough to break the skin but enough to raise a welt. He is in no way Cujo but I just can’t keep him, he needs a household without young children. My older son is really, really upset. If anyone in NC without young kids and without cats is looking to add a little guy, I’d love to hear from you, I can give you plenty of details and pictures. He does great with most other dogs, if they’re active.

  2. 2.

    Freemark

    September 7, 2011 at 8:45 am

    FANTASY FOOTBALL

    Created a last chance league since I always work too late to get signed up on the other bj leagues. There are 7 spots still open.

    draft time 10:15pm
    standard ESPN league

    bjfl League of Last Chances
    http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/leagueoffice?leagueId=1033582
    pw: alsotoo

  3. 3.

    lol

    September 7, 2011 at 8:46 am

    Wasn’t there a derp debate last night? Or did it get delayed?

  4. 4.

    niknik

    September 7, 2011 at 8:55 am

    Well, finally…
    I’ve been waiting for an open thread where I could be the first to troll about whose side I’m on in the ABL-AL WWIII (stands for World War Eleventy-one)

    Anyone still interested in $.02 more?

    …Bueller…

  5. 5.

    jeffreyw

    September 7, 2011 at 9:01 am

    Good Morning, Sunshine!

  6. 6.

    jibeaux

    September 7, 2011 at 9:03 am

    @jeffreyw: That’s just lovely! Is that a light-up hummingbird feeder?

  7. 7.

    norbizness

    September 7, 2011 at 9:07 am

    Cat Power on valium would be dead, as Cat Power was like Mazzy Star on valium, who in turn was like the Sundays on valium.

  8. 8.

    jeffreyw

    September 7, 2011 at 9:09 am

    @jibeaux: Thanks! The feeder was back lit by the rising sun this morning. When I first noticed it there was also a halo of hummers flitting about, wings a blur and also lit. I ran a bunch of shots but never got anything really more striking than this one, the very first shot.

  9. 9.

    jibeaux

    September 7, 2011 at 9:12 am

    @jeffreyw: Wow. It’s like the sun is concentrated into the hummingbird feeder glass. Amazing shot. You ought to enter that into something.

  10. 10.

    General Stuck

    September 7, 2011 at 9:14 am

    @jeffreyw:

    WoWee! Jeffrey. That is an exquisite image. Very well done!!!!

    I have a few more hummers hanging around right now. Been a weird year for them, but the season is wrapping up with not being a total wash.

  11. 11.

    jeffreyw

    September 7, 2011 at 9:20 am

    @General Stuck: Thanks, General. Glad that your birdies are picking up a bit.

  12. 12.

    jibeaux

    September 7, 2011 at 9:32 am

    One more rant. I just found out that for my kids’ public school, the copying limit last year was 1200 copies per month. That’s about 60 copies per work day, so when you consider the handouts that you need to run off for each of your 25 to 30 kids plus any handouts that need to go home to parents, not a huge amount. This year after significant budget cuts from our newly Republican general assembly, teachers can make 500 copies per nine week period. If you’ve got your calculator handy, that’s enough for the kids in your class to receive two sheets of paper from you per week. If the teacher has to, say, let everyone know about a field trip, then (s)he can make one instructional handout for that week. Douche. Bags.

  13. 13.

    Amir Khalid

    September 7, 2011 at 9:39 am

    @jeffreyw:
    That’s a beautiful picture. My compliments to the photographer — and yes, you should enter that image in a contest.

    Not so beautiful, alas, is this story: a Brazilian journalist is turned away from filming a high-school football game in Texas, after saying he’s from Al-Jazeera.

  14. 14.

    jeffreyw

    September 7, 2011 at 9:48 am

    @Amir Khalid: Thank you, sir.

  15. 15.

    cleek

    September 7, 2011 at 9:49 am

    @norbizness:

    Cat Power on valium would be dead, as Cat Power was like Mazzy Star on valium, who in turn was like the Sundays on valium.

    … who in turn was like Belly on valium, who in turn was like Big Star on estrogen.

  16. 16.

    Mark S.

    September 7, 2011 at 9:50 am

    Is there a bigger assclown in the world than Colin Cowherd (scroll to the end to get to the part about him)? I swear, if Sean Hannity went into sports instead of politics, that is exactly how he would sound.

  17. 17.

    geg6

    September 7, 2011 at 9:51 am

    Sad…

    http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/sports/Former-NHL-Players-Among-Dead-in-Russian-Plane-Crash-129369933.html

  18. 18.

    Svensker

    September 7, 2011 at 9:52 am

    @jibeaux:

    Since the kids are in public school they’re all moochers anyway. You want free paper, too, with your sockalism?

    /wingnut

    Honestly, that just stinks.

  19. 19.

    The Commish

    September 7, 2011 at 9:54 am

    Still one more spot in the Balloon Juice Fantasy Football League…..draft tonight!
    http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1/797340

    Password to join is alsotoo.

  20. 20.

    Mark S.

    September 7, 2011 at 9:57 am

    @The Commish:

    Password to join is alsotoo.

    Nice.

  21. 21.

    jibeaux

    September 7, 2011 at 9:57 am

    @Svensker: It’s idiotic. It goes without saying that there aren’t computers in the classrooms, either, only in the library. Used to be in a computer lab, but that room was needed for a classroom this year. So it’s not like they’re moving to some sort of model where everyone has an iPad or something. More like a model where everyone has a chalkboard. Maybe they can go scratch in the dirt with sticks, that’s free.

  22. 22.

    jibeaux

    September 7, 2011 at 10:01 am

    @Svensker: Also, too, I asked if it would help for me to send in some copy paper but I’m halfway expecting to learn there’s some sort of fucking toner ration.
    *grumpy old lady shakes fist * in my day, the teachers had all the paper they wanted. You had to use those purple mimeograph machines and no one could read the damn things, but by golly no one was going to tell you you had to stop printing them.

  23. 23.

    cathyx

    September 7, 2011 at 10:02 am

    @jibeaux: I don’t understand that there are no computers on the classroom. Apple donates laptops to schools. It wouldn’t cost anything.

  24. 24.

    PeakVT

    September 7, 2011 at 10:03 am

    @Svensker: The legislators know that dedicated teachers will just pay for copies out of their salaries. And those that can’t or won’t, well, that just shows how bad all public school teachers are, right? It’s a lose-lose for teachers, which to Republicans means all-win.

  25. 25.

    Mark S.

    September 7, 2011 at 10:08 am

    Will she . . . or won’t she?

    71% Of Republicans Don’t Want Sarah Palin To Run

    But . . . there’s still a possibility! Stay tuned for round the clock coverage on this extremely important issue!

    In other news, 9/11! 9/11! 9/11!

  26. 26.

    jibeaux

    September 7, 2011 at 10:11 am

    @cathyx: If you want to give me the details on how to apply for that, I’ll do it. I’m on the fundraising committee. Checking the website quickly, I see a lot of offers to sell my school computers.

  27. 27.

    Mark S.

    September 7, 2011 at 10:13 am

    @jibeaux:

    Um, how do you give tests with those ridiculous requirements? I guess they have to all be about one page long.

  28. 28.

    geg6

    September 7, 2011 at 10:13 am

    @Mark S.:

    If I have to listen to another paen to the “lost” America of pre-9/11, I’m gonna puke. And the fucking anniversary isn’t until Sunday, but I seem to have been assaulted by a “very special” segment on the news every fucking day for the last two weeks. And, living so close to Shanksville, it’s just gonna get worse and worse. I’m not watching any more news until it’s all over. This fetishization of death (I call it death porn) makes me ill. And with everyone urging everyone else to fucking PRAY, as if fucking PRAYERS TO A NON-EXISTENT BEING EVER DOES OR HELPS A FUCKING THING EVER (just ask Rick Perry), someone is gonna get punched before it’s all over. Sick, sick, sick of it.

    And this is from someone who knew two people who died in the attacks.

  29. 29.

    jibeaux

    September 7, 2011 at 10:20 am

    @Mark S.: I do know that nothing, from a paper shortage to the Biblical plagues, is going to interfere with the administration of the EOGs. But those arrive all prepackaged and sealed and whatnot. As far as other tests, I have no idea. My fifth grader is supposed to do a quiz labeling all the states on the map next Monday. Hey, I guess you could print four maps to a page and save that way! That would add extra challenge to labeling Rhode Island.

  30. 30.

    Kola Noscopy

    September 7, 2011 at 10:22 am

    @jeffreyw:

    Good Morning, Sunshine!

    Your picture brought me out of lurk mode.

    I am highly suspicious that it is fake. How long did it take you to stuff and pose each bird while the sun was coming up?

  31. 31.

    niknik

    September 7, 2011 at 10:25 am

    @geg6: It sure seems like 9/11 comes around earlier each year, doesn’t it?

    I don’t even live in the States and in the past three weeks, there have been at least three (different!) 9/11 pr0n documentaries a day on the idiot box giving a minute-by-minute breakdown of that day.

    Been a heckuva crappy decade though.

  32. 32.

    Phyllis

    September 7, 2011 at 10:27 am

    @efgoldman: I’ve said several times how sad it is that kids today have no frame of reference for the scene in ‘Fast Times’ where Mr. Hand gives out the test & everybody picks up the paper and gives it a sniff. Feelin’ a little old at the thought of it.

  33. 33.

    Amir Khalid

    September 7, 2011 at 10:28 am

    @Mark S.:
    There’s a big hole in that TPM story. If seven out of ten Republicans don’t want Sarah Palin to run for president, why not? Is it because they don’t think she’s qualified? Because they don’t like her any more? Because they prefer some other candidate?

  34. 34.

    Mark S.

    September 7, 2011 at 10:28 am

    @jibeaux:

    You consolidate. Meet the new states New England and Greater New Jersey.

  35. 35.

    geg6

    September 7, 2011 at 10:31 am

    @efgoldman:

    Have a good Sunday morning off. It will be death porn all day on Sunday. I checked the teevee listings and won’t even be able to watch my beloved CBS Sunday Morning. It will be the Food Network all day with the sole exception of the Steeler game. I plan to turn off all sound during the 9/11 fetish moments.

  36. 36.

    jibeaux

    September 7, 2011 at 10:32 am

    @Mark S.: I like it.
    New England and Greater New Jersey
    The Bible Belt
    Mr. MIMAL
    The States That Are Generally Square
    California
    Texas
    The Two Extra Ones

  37. 37.

    scav

    September 7, 2011 at 10:35 am

    @jibeaux: Bonus points for identifying the states that usually have staples in them.

  38. 38.

    Frankensteinbeck

    September 7, 2011 at 10:36 am

    I got my roughs for the cover of Wild Children. Finished version most likely the very beginning of next month. Sweet Celestia, is it gorgeous. Why do I stick with Carolyn Laplante? Because her suggested covers are always better than anything I could imagine. That she can capture the whole book in one image without spoilers is amazing.

    Yes, I’m quite giddy about this!

  39. 39.

    Frankensteinbeck

    September 7, 2011 at 10:39 am

    @scav:
    We have a Staples in Kentucky. I think there’s two, one in Louisville and one in Lexington.

  40. 40.

    scav

    September 7, 2011 at 10:43 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: GSD, I am so unhip I forgot about those. I’m stuck in print-word fogiedom which I somehow manage to combine with too much binary. I’ll send you your points all the same.

  41. 41.

    Yutsano

    September 7, 2011 at 10:49 am

    @geg6: You could do worse than Aarti Sequeria. And I wonder how much whitewashing they’ll do of Mark Bingham’s sexuality. Doesn’t fit teh Narrative to have our heroes be teh ghey after all.

  42. 42.

    Linda Featheringill

    September 7, 2011 at 10:53 am

    And now for something completely different:

    I’m beginning to think that Texas is cursed. Not only did Tropical Storm Lee not cure their drought, it furnished the winds that drove the fires close to Austin and Houston out of control [article on weather dot com]. Damn.

  43. 43.

    singfoom

    September 7, 2011 at 10:55 am

    Big Picture Kathryn Wylde link

    Sign the petition at Credo

    Don’t know how many of you are following this story, but Kathryn Wylde is supposed to represent the public interest on the Board of Governors at the New York Federal Reserve. Recently, she’s been involved in pressuring New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to lay off investigating the big banks , hardly a position of public interest.

    If you care about this, please sign the petition at Credo. Who knows, they might actually listen if enough people pledge.

  44. 44.

    FlipYrWhig

    September 7, 2011 at 10:58 am

    @Linda Featheringill: It sure seems like ever since Rick Perry’s big prayer event, the whole country has had an unending series of natural disasters.

  45. 45.

    geg6

    September 7, 2011 at 11:17 am

    Oh, and by the way…

    Attention all BJ pet lovers! The local humane society, Beaver County Humane Society, was recently evicted by a MOU Galtian developer and is raising funds to build a new shelter (right across the street from my house! Yay! I can volunteer!). One way is by trying to win the Pepsi Refresh Project $25,000 Tier grant. We are currently at #31, but with BJers on board, I’ll bet we can zoom up that list.

    You can sign in by creating an account with Pepsi (avoiding them getting access to your Facebook information) or text them and vote, vote, vote!

    http://www.refresheverything.com/openingnewdoors

  46. 46.

    JPL

    September 7, 2011 at 11:21 am

    @singfoom: Thank you for the link. I was on Barry’s site earlier and the article wasn’t posted yet.

  47. 47.

    birthmarker

    September 7, 2011 at 11:24 am

    @jeffreyw: Beautiful!

    @jibeaux: The teachers will just ante the money up themselves to do what needs to be done. The great untold story of the public schools is that the teachers subsidize a lot of it already, in supplies and extras for the kids. Because they care.

    And of course parents subsidize a lot of the extras too. Like field trips and parties, class supplies…I was once asked to send dryer lint for God only knows what purpose. I just refused. That was a bridge too far. I just thought I would let the type A mommies handle that one.

    A neighbor was once asked to send a bowl of blue jello. The only problem was, the kid rode the bus! Can you imagine the chaos?

    a mommy-sized Valium

    HA!! I wish I had one!!

    @FlipYrWhig: Everything since Katrina has been punishment for the preemptive war.

  48. 48.

    Brachiator

    September 7, 2011 at 11:27 am

    @FlipYrWhig:

    It sure seems like ever since Rick Perry’s big prayer event, the whole country has had an unending series of natural disasters.

    Didn’t Bachmann and other goofballs cover this with the semi-serious nonsense that all these disasters are evidence of the Deity’s displeasure with a nation that dared to elect a Democrat instead of a Republican president of the United States, and which would allow Chaz Bono to appear on the teevee dancing and doing other stuff that will confuse children?

  49. 49.

    geg6

    September 7, 2011 at 11:30 am

    @Yutsano:

    You could do worse than Aarti Sequeria

    Ick. Didn’t want her to win Next Food Network Star and don’t like Indian food (probably the only cuisine in the world that I can’t seem to find a dish that I’d eat a second time…hate, hate, hate curry and would rather die than be vegetarian). But I’ll watch her anyway. Better than 9/11 porn.

  50. 50.

    j low

    September 7, 2011 at 11:32 am

    @norbizness: And that song does sound a bit like dead Cat Power.

  51. 51.

    kindness

    September 7, 2011 at 11:33 am

    My significant other and I were out Monday taking our pups on a run. The dogs ran, we biked. It’s the only way we can keep up with them. This time we chose a local irrigation canal that runs through walnut and almond orchards. At the end, when we had loaded the pups into the truck & were about to load up the bikes we heard a plaintive and very loud MEOW coming from one of the trees about 20 yards away. It was a little kitten about 6 weeks old. Apparently it had been dumped there (great, dump you new litter in a coyote habitat). She was scared, but not scared enough that she didn’t call out loudly for help when she heard us. We heard her. Now we have a new kitten our house, Penny Lane. She immediately liked us, purring up a storm on the way home and wasn’t fazed by the dogs in the least. Nice addition. It’s funny how things work. Last week we had to put down our eldest dog. She was 17 and couldn’t get up on her own any more, could hardly walk. It was terrible, it was sad, but it was the right thing to do for her. It was time.

    Some times, when one door closes, another opens. Kinda zen in a way. Nice transition though.

  52. 52.

    schlemizel - was Alwhite

    September 7, 2011 at 11:33 am

    If you are not reading TNC you should be – here is an excellent catch explaining quite clearly what many of us have known for a long time. It why the Republicans win when government they can make government fail:

    http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/09/asymmetrical-war/244658/

  53. 53.

    PeakVT

    September 7, 2011 at 11:36 am

    If you live near St. Louis or are a serious comics trader, perhaps you can help Mike recover his comics. (Outrage junkies should click through, too.)

  54. 54.

    Yutsano

    September 7, 2011 at 11:39 am

    @geg6: I’m a curry nut myself, but I like the Thai iteration personally. Even if Thai cooking is a huge mishmash of different cuisines they just shamelessly stole from other cultures and put unique spins on.

    And I was a Herb fan. It was the Cuban food. No really! :)

  55. 55.

    geg6

    September 7, 2011 at 11:42 am

    @schlemizel – was Alwhite:

    I really love his writing (well most of it…he can have stupid comic books and I question his musical tastes, but I just skip that stuff), but I detest the commentariat over there. It’s everything that’s wrong with America minus the wingnuts. Not that the wingnuts aren’t a huge problem, but it’s the libertarians and so-called “moderates” and “independents” that are, IMHO, the real ruin of this country. They enable everything the wingnuts do. And that commentariat is nothing if not “moderates” and “independents” with a bunch of the stupidest libertarians on earth who everyone there (with the exception of the few actual liberals who comment there) worships like gods.

  56. 56.

    Princess

    September 7, 2011 at 11:44 am

    Some of you might be interested in this new blog by a friend of mine. If you scroll down a little bit, the first two posts are about his experiences at the recent Tar Sands Pipeline protests in DC where he and many, many more were arrested:

    http://everydayispoetry.com/

  57. 57.

    geg6

    September 7, 2011 at 11:44 am

    @Yutsano:

    I loooooove Thai food! Main reason being, it’s a mishmash of so many cuisines that I can totally avoid any curries and eat like a queen!

    And Brad was my guy with Tom a close second.

  58. 58.

    PeakVT

    September 7, 2011 at 11:46 am

    From a Robert Reich op-ed, an excellent graphic on the Great Prosperity vs. the Great Regression.

    ETA: I’m undecided on “Percentage of women with children under 18 who also worked” as a negative indicator as it strikes me as somewhat sexist.

  59. 59.

    Gin & Tonic

    September 7, 2011 at 11:48 am

    @efgoldman: Best brunch in RI, by a mile, is at Nick’s on Broadway in PVD.

  60. 60.

    Yutsano

    September 7, 2011 at 11:51 am

    @geg6: A friend of mine introduced me to larb. Jeff Corwin later taught me larb is a way of using spices for various proteins (since you can make it with tofu too!) and every family has their own way of making it. But it’s fantastic! And pad Thai! I judge a Thai restaurant by that dish alone.

    Brad was very cute and knew his shit. He got about as far as I expected. They’re not too crazy about the really young ones. He’s cooking in Vegas now.

    PS: I’m having the style over substance debate while car shopping. Audi convertible vs Dodge Avenger? I can’t make a choice here.

  61. 61.

    Linda Featheringill

    September 7, 2011 at 11:52 am

    @kindness:

    Congratulations on your new family member. That’s a sign that the universe likes you. :-)

  62. 62.

    Mino

    September 7, 2011 at 11:53 am

    @jeffreyw: Wow, did you glue their feet to the perch? How come your hummers get along?

  63. 63.

    wrb

    September 7, 2011 at 11:55 am

    Lately the stock market looks like it is being run by flash mob.

    Word goes out whether it is to be an up or down day, bets are placed, and off they go.

  64. 64.

    geg6

    September 7, 2011 at 11:57 am

    @Yutsano:

    Mmmmmm, pad Thai! Damn, now I’m hungry for some.

    Have you ever had Ethiopian food? Damn, that’s some good stuff. Some injera with a bunch of different wat and tib on top? Heaven!

  65. 65.

    Linda Featheringill

    September 7, 2011 at 11:58 am

    @PeakVT:

    Women with children working:

    It might be a bit sexist but I think the author was trying to say that most households already have all available adults working to stay afloat. These households are already maxed out.

  66. 66.

    geg6

    September 7, 2011 at 11:58 am

    @Yutsano:

    I’d go with the Dodge, but that’s just my Buy American! persona going wild.

  67. 67.

    catclub

    September 7, 2011 at 11:58 am

    @geg6: Avoiding thai curries? Sacrilege!

  68. 68.

    catclub

    September 7, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    @geg6: Um, buy Italian you mean, right?

    It is owned by Fiat now ( or at least in my fevered imagination that is who bought them out.)

  69. 69.

    gnomedad

    September 7, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    @Mark S.:

    71% Of Republicans Don’t Want Sarah Palin To Run

    RINOs.

  70. 70.

    Elizabelle

    September 7, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    @kindness:

    Wonderful story.

  71. 71.

    geg6

    September 7, 2011 at 12:03 pm

    @catclub:

    Haven’t tasted a curry that didn’t leave the flavor of dirty feet in my mouth yet. Sorry. Hate, hate, hate curry. Of any nationality.

    @catclub:

    It’s still manufactured here, which means American workers, UAW members no less, make the cars. I don’t give a flying fuck who takes the profits. It matters to me who gets paid (and how much) to make the cars.

    And now that my streaming radio is playing the worst rock band in the world (*shudder* Rush), it’s time to go eat lunch!

  72. 72.

    Mino

    September 7, 2011 at 12:05 pm

    @geg6: I got a weird gazpacho recipe from her. It was pretty good and turned me on to the possibilities of green gazpachos. I LURV them.

  73. 73.

    Yutsano

    September 7, 2011 at 12:07 pm

    An old friend from college’s family owns an Ethiopian restaurant in Seattle. That is some good stuff for sure! Doro wot FTW!

    I’m buying used, so the effects on the manufacturer are diluted in that regard. I am supporting small American business though, so there’s that. I’m just kinda dreaming more than anything. The two cars I’m looking at are comparably priced though. If they hang around until next month I’ll have to see. I don’t expect the Audi to though, it’s a really sweet deal!

  74. 74.

    JPL

    September 7, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    @kindness: That is a special story. How long before Penny Lane bosses around the pups?
    Send some pictures to Anne L., I’m sure she’d love to post them.

  75. 75.

    jeffreyw

    September 7, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    @Mino: House rules, rowdy birds are ejected.

  76. 76.

    cleek

    September 7, 2011 at 12:23 pm

    @Yutsano:

    Audi convertible vs Dodge Avenger?

    as the owner of an ’07 A4 convertible, i must recommend the Audi.

  77. 77.

    A Mom Anon

    September 7, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    Re: The Post Office

    I’m listening to the radio(KTLK in Los Angeles) and the reason the USPS is going broke is because the Delay/Hastert Congress passed a poison pill law that said the PO had to overpay into their pension funds years into the future. If they had that money back,they’d be doing just fine.

    HR 1351 is being introduced to undo this,but Darrell Issa is trying to block it. I don’t have a link,I’m hearing this on the radio,so I’m not sure where to find out the actual story here. All the regular media is just reporting they are going broke without talking about this pension thing. I think it’s time to call the congresscritters and raise some hell.

  78. 78.

    lacp

    September 7, 2011 at 12:29 pm

    Fox News, Fox Cable, Fox Sports…it’s all good…..

    http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20110907_ap_foxsportsapologizesforpac12video.html

  79. 79.

    Brachiator

    September 7, 2011 at 12:34 pm

    @Yutsano:

    Even if Thai cooking is a huge mishmash of different cuisines they just shamelessly stole from other cultures and put unique spins on.

    Hadn’t thought of it this way, but it makes Thai food sound as deliciously mongrelized as American food. A Thai place near me has a great Thai BBQ pork chop.

  80. 80.

    A Mom Anon

    September 7, 2011 at 12:34 pm

    @A Mom Anon: I found some info on HR 1351 at the National Association of Letter Carriers website it explains the situation simply,it’s much easier to read than the actual bill(which appearantly has been sitting in committee since April).

  81. 81.

    handsmile

    September 7, 2011 at 12:34 pm

    Other responsibilities of late have interfered with my customary daily posting of articles from the Guardian. This one outlines the online media topography of Norwegian Christian terrorist Anders Brevik:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/07/anders-breivik-hate-manifesto

    A data map has been compiled of web pages Brevik linked to and those pages that linked back to Brevik’s own virulent Islamophobic manifesto. Its graphic display reveals the network between European and American far right activists. Included here is the despicable Pam Geller, whose advocacy of violent intolerance does not preclude a rather breezy recent profile in “even the liberal New York Times.”

  82. 82.

    rikryah

    September 7, 2011 at 12:38 pm

    78 A MOM ANON,

    you are correct.

    Ed Schultz did a piece on this a few weeks ago.

    yes, the GOP passed that bullshyt bill. when the fuck have they EVER given a shyt about funding PENSIONS FOR WORKERS?

    and now, that, because of that, the USPS is having deficits, NOW these fuckers are calling for PRIVATIZATION of the USPS.

    see how this setup works?

  83. 83.

    Brachiator

    September 7, 2011 at 12:42 pm

    @A Mom Anon:

    I’m listening to the radio(KTLK in Los Angeles) and the reason the USPS is going broke is because the Delay/Hastert Congress passed a poison pill law that said the PO had to overpay into their pension funds years into the future. If they had that money back,they’d be doing just fine.

    I’m not sure about that. Operating revenues have been declining as people stop using first class mail. There has been a huge shift in how people use, or don’t use, the Post Office.

    But you are right that the pension issue adds to the mess, and there is political crap also at work. From a recent story:

    On Tuesday, Thomas D. Levy, senior vice president and chief actuary of The Segal Co., told the Senate panel that his firm’s 2010 analysis of the Office of Personnel Management’s pension allocation principles found that a failure to reflect future salary increases “we did not believe … was fair and equitable.” Segal estimated that proper allocations would save USPS $6 billion to $8 billion in future payments.
    __
    Many members of Congress, including Sen. Thomas R. Carper, D-Del., who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Security, which has jurisdiction over the USPS, are sympathetic to changing the pension calculations and recognizing the pension surplus, but are caught between other legislators who see the crisis an opportunity for structural reforms, including labor concessions.

    The post office is still a bargain. Problem is, in the age of email, the post office is becoming a relic of an earlier age.

  84. 84.

    catclub

    September 7, 2011 at 12:44 pm

    Friedman column snippet “We can vote out our liars, unlike certain Arab — and Asian — countries.”

    Where do I get to vote out Friedman And Rush Limbaugh
    and William Kristol and David Brooks?

  85. 85.

    Redshift

    September 7, 2011 at 12:50 pm

    @A Mom Anon:

    HR 1351 is being introduced to undo this,but Darrell Issa is trying to block it. I don’t have a link,I’m hearing this on the radio,so I’m not sure where to find out the actual story here. All the regular media is just reporting they are going broke without talking about this pension thing. I think it’s time to call the congresscritters and raise some hell.

    Oh, they’re talking about it a little, but they’re describing it as the postmaster requesting the authority to “modify pensions” so it sounds just like the pension-gutting crap in the corporate world.

  86. 86.

    A Mom Anon

    September 7, 2011 at 1:02 pm

    @Brachiator: Perhaps,but as John wrote the other day,it’s a service,and as such,whether it makes a profit or not is beside the point. Value comes from lots of things besides money,something we as a nation would be wise to embrace sometimes.

    Right now,I’m waiting for paperwork for my car to come so I can go get a tag.Without the post office,the price of that tag is going to be even higher(in GA,we have an ad valorum tax.That means the newer your car,the more expensive your tag-my first one will be around 200 dollars). What about people who get checks or run businesses dependant on mail service? UPS and Fed Ex also use the post office sometimes.

    The USPS has somewhere around 600K unionized workers,that’s what that little poison pill was designed to mess with.

  87. 87.

    Bubblegum Tate

    September 7, 2011 at 1:09 pm

    Has this been going on for a while and I just haven’t noticed it, or is this a new development? Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham are not Sarah Palin fans anymore. Quoth Coulter:

    She’s just “The One” to a certain segment of right wingers. And the tiniest criticism of her… I think many of your viewers may not know this. No conservative on TV will criticize Palin, because they don’t want to deal with the hate mail.

  88. 88.

    Ben Cisco

    September 7, 2011 at 1:12 pm

    Via Oliver Willis, this:
    __
    Rick Perry Signed ACORN Bill, Posed With Group. Complete with pic.

  89. 89.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    September 7, 2011 at 1:26 pm

    .
    .
    The grifters at the ACLU have another think coming if they believe that President Obama will heed their new report, A Call to Courage: Reclaiming Our Liberties Ten Years After 9/11. This childish emoprog screed will certainly play into the fantasies of their retarded firebagger clientele, however.
    .
    .

  90. 90.

    Brachiator

    September 7, 2011 at 1:29 pm

    @A Mom Anon:

    Perhaps,but as John wrote the other day,it’s a service,and as such,whether it makes a profit or not is beside the point. Value comes from lots of things besides money,something we as a nation would be wise to embrace sometimes.

    I never wrote about the Post Office having to make a profit. The problem is that the Post Office is becoming irrelevant, and people who cheer the demise of print newspapers, of records and CDs, of terrestrial radio, etc to new technology, don’t have much of a leg to stand on when they indulge an inconsistent and false nostalgia for the post office. Here is part of the problem.

    The rise of email has dramatically curbed the mailing of old-fashioned letters, while competitive delivery companies have put the squeeze on the post office’s business model. Last year, the post office delivered 171 billion pieces of mail, down 20% from just four years earlier. Volume is on track to fall an additional 2% this year.
    __
    Labor costs amount to 80% of the service’s expenses, and current contracts contain a no-layoff provision. Changes to the frequency of service or delivery areas require federal legislation.

    My mother and stepfather worked for the post office, as have a huge number of friends of my family. I would not want to see anyone lose their jobs.

    But what do you do when the amount of mail that has to be delivered is steadily declining? Do you maintain a service that fewer people use just to keep people in jobs?

    What about people who get checks or run businesses dependant on mail service? UPS and Fed Ex also use the post office sometimes.

    My niece and nephew are 14 and 16. They have never used the Post Office to mail a letter in their whole lives. I don’t think they have ever bought a CD either. Email, mp3s, Facebook, greatly determine how they function in their brave new world.

  91. 91.

    Svensker

    September 7, 2011 at 1:57 pm

    @kindness:

    Awwww. So sweet. Congrats to all y’alls.

  92. 92.

    Svensker

    September 7, 2011 at 2:06 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Last year, the post office delivered 171 billion pieces of mail,

    Perhaps your niece and nephew have never used the USPS, but obviously quite a few people still do. It may be a declining number but a quite large number nonetheless.

  93. 93.

    FlipYrWhig

    September 7, 2011 at 2:11 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Didn’t Bachmann and other goofballs cover this with the semi-serious nonsense that all these disasters are evidence of the Deity’s displeasure with a nation

    Yes, but I don’t see why, by their own goofball logic, all the same facts don’t add up to the Deity’s intense displeasure with Rick Perry. I mean, the guy prays for rain and fires break out, he announces he’s running for president and the Washington Monument cracks, you’d think wingnuts would be scared to death of this guy.

  94. 94.

    Dennis SGMM

    September 7, 2011 at 2:42 pm

    @cleek:
    It depends on how soon you want your car to fall apart. Audis aren’t cheap to maintain. OTOH, if you compare the cost of Audi maintenance to the cost of having to buy a magnet-equipped trailer to catch the pieces that fall off of your Dodge then it evens out.

  95. 95.

    Kola Noscopy

    September 7, 2011 at 3:10 pm

    @jeffreyw:

    Your bird pic is fake. Please confess.

  96. 96.

    Kola Noscopy

    September 7, 2011 at 3:13 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    the Deity’s intense displeasure with Rick Perry. I mean, the guy prays for rain and fires break out, he announces he’s running for president and the Washington Monument cracks, you’d think wingnuts would be scared to death of this guy.

    hahahaha…sweet.

  97. 97.

    geg6

    September 7, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    @Dennis SGMM:

    Bullshit. I’ve owned two Dodges over the last 8 years. Neither fell apart and neither cost me much in maintenance. My current car, an Intrepid, is almost 10 years old. The body is great shape and the most I’ve spent on it is the radiator I had to replace when I ran into a snow bank a couple of years ago during a blizzard.

  98. 98.

    jeffreyw

    September 7, 2011 at 5:59 pm

    @Kola Noscopy: Caught red handed! I equipped several hummers with belly lasers and reflective wing sheaths and trained them to illuminate the feeder. But, you bastard, have foiled my cunning plan!

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