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Balloon Juice

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Here Is a Post Where You Can Discuss Anything Other than the God Damned Defense Bill

Here Is a Post Where You Can Discuss Anything Other than the God Damned Defense Bill

by John Cole|  December 18, 20112:49 pm| 186 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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To set the mood, here is a baby seal sleeping on a couch:

Anyone brings up the defense bill, the seal gets it.

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Previous Post: « The NDAA is Not a “Detention Bill”: Why Language Matters
Next Post: HAHA! PSYCH! JUST KIDDING! »

Reader Interactions

186Comments

  1. 1.

    cokane

    December 18, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    GOD I HATE PISSBURG

  2. 2.

    namekarB

    December 18, 2011 at 2:51 pm

    So if we keep attacking Middle East countries can we change the name of the Department of Defense back to the War Department?

  3. 3.

    Yutsano

    December 18, 2011 at 2:51 pm

    You could at least threaten a timeout or something. They club baby seals in Canada you know.

    @namekarB: I bet Willard will get right on that.

  4. 4.

    El Tiburon

    December 18, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    Can we discuss the Indefinite detention bill then?

  5. 5.

    Raven

    December 18, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    Da Bearz. Also, the pukes are queering the deal on the budget. . .discuss.

  6. 6.

    Anya

    December 18, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    Can we talk about the Keystone XL Pipeline instead? Only because we’re a bit short on flame wars lately.

  7. 7.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    /hands john cole a cookie!

  8. 8.

    Anya

    December 18, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    @namekarB: What do our friends in Israel think?

  9. 9.

    DanielX

    December 18, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    Oh, now that qualifies as just terminally cute….

  10. 10.

    Yutsano

    December 18, 2011 at 2:56 pm

    @Raven: Only the payroll tax cut extension part. My understanding is the budget bill is signed and done. Unless I’m missing something and I’m NOT working Monday…

  11. 11.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    @namekarB: Man… I’ve long advocated for that.

    Let’s see our politicians argue for War Spending instead of Defense spending. Heh.

    Change the name back, let the optics do their part to erode support for the MIC

    heh.

  12. 12.

    wmd

    December 18, 2011 at 2:58 pm

    Why does John hate baby seals?

    Shortest joke:
    Baby seal walks into a club.

  13. 13.

    different-church-lady

    December 18, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    YOU CAN’T CALL IT A DEFENSE BILL BECAUSE IT TALKS ABOUT DETENTION!!!

    (I don’t like seals.)

  14. 14.

    namekarB

    December 18, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    @gaz:
    Perhaps some brave congress critter can slip an amendment into the next omnibus bill to do that. I heart poison pills.

  15. 15.

    Anya

    December 18, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    Why don’t we ever discuss Film Noir?

  16. 16.

    Yutsano

    December 18, 2011 at 3:03 pm

    We can discuss happier subjects. Suck it Koch Bros!

  17. 17.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    @Yutsano: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:

    BWAHAHAHAHAHA

    yay.

  18. 18.

    JPL

    December 18, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    Friday and Saturday evening, I watched the Unusuals on Netflix Instant. Thank you to the commenter who suggested the series.

  19. 19.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 18, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    @Anya:

    Because we’re too busy discussing politics noir.

  20. 20.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    @namekarB: I would mail a puppy to whoever was responsible for that.

  21. 21.

    Ira-NY

    December 18, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    A seal waddles into a bar. Orders a whiskey.

    Bartender asks the seal his preference in whiskey.

    Seal says anything but Canadian Club.

  22. 22.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 3:08 pm

    @efgoldman: That would create a dangerous national popcorn shortage.

  23. 23.

    Jerzy Russian

    December 18, 2011 at 3:12 pm

    @wmd:

    Baby seal walks into a club.

    Now that made me laugh.

  24. 24.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 3:12 pm

    @efgoldman: Which is essentially what I was alluding to.

  25. 25.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    December 18, 2011 at 3:12 pm

    OT (oh wait) just wanted to let you guys know that there are some very effective ads running on my teevee machine here in NC extolling the virtues of the “Federal Option” (ie the NC High Risk Pool) I am assuming they are real people and not actors (because there is no such disclaimer at the bottom) one a woman who had breast cancer and could not get insurance due to that pre-existing condition, and another a guy with an unspecified pre-existing condition. As the republicans feared, once more and more people discover what is in the ACA the more people are going to like it. That scares the piss out of them.

  26. 26.

    Canuckistani Tom

    December 18, 2011 at 3:12 pm

    John, whatever you do, don’t let Tunch see this, he’ll get ideas

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB90NjT51gg

  27. 27.

    barath

    December 18, 2011 at 3:14 pm

    Ok, here’s something on a different topic, then:

    I’ve tried to understand the Climate Change vs. Peak Oil non-debate. That is, why are there two topics that have the same underlying cause, major worldwide consequences, and immediate need for response, and yet nothing is being done on either and folks who believe in one often deny the other.

  28. 28.

    Michael D.

    December 18, 2011 at 3:15 pm

    I hate the Defense Bill!

    And as a Canadian who was born in Newfoundland, I’m bred to be ambivalent when it comes to seals.

  29. 29.

    Anoniminous

    December 18, 2011 at 3:18 pm

    Trying to get a handle on the various Rules the GOP state parties have made for their primaries.

    To get an idea of what I’m up against, here’s the Official Rules for the GOP Iowa Caucuses:

    There is no formal system applied in the Precinct Caucuses to relate the presidential preference of the Caucus participants to the choice of the precinct’s delegates to the Republican Convention of the County in which the precinct is located. The participants at each Precinct Caucus alone determine if presidential preference is to be a factor in such choice and, if so, how it is to be applied.

    So the state Rule is: there are no state Rules for a local caucus, the Rules Committee and Parliamentarian can do whatever they want.

  30. 30.

    Hill Dweller

    December 18, 2011 at 3:19 pm

    This didn’t get a lot of fanfare, but the EPA finalized its ‘mercury rule’, limiting toxins(mercury, arsenic, etc.) from coal burning power plants, on Friday, after a 20 year delay.

  31. 31.

    Linnaeus

    December 18, 2011 at 3:19 pm

    Apologies if someone has already linked this, but it looks like the good times are rolling again for top CEOs in the US:

    Chief executive pay has roared back after two years of stagnation and decline. America’s top bosses enjoyed pay hikes of between 27 and 40% last year, according to the largest survey of US CEO pay. The dramatic bounceback comes as the latest government figures show wages for the majority of Americans are failing to keep up with inflation.
    …
    America’s highest paid executive took home more than $145.2m, and as stock prices recovered across the board, the median value of bosses’ profits on stock options rose 70% in 2010, from $950,400 to $1.3m. The news comes against the backdrop of an Occupy Wall Street movement that has focused Washington’s attention on the pay packages of America’s highest paid.

  32. 32.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 3:20 pm

    @barath: Strikes me as a bit of a straw-man, actually.

    I understood Peak-Oil before I understood Climate Change (by understand – I mean actually became interested enough in the topics to do a little research)

    They’ve always struck me as twin issues – and oil related (or at least in the case of climate change, largely so).

    Apparently my mistake was in assuming that other (at least somewhat) reasonable people understood the issue that way, too. So I guess I’m wrong in that regard?

    I understand why people that might believe in Peak Oil refuse to believe in man-made climate change (see salary, Upton Sinclair). But now I am curious as to who believes in man-made climate change and denies Peak Oil.

    Maybe I missed something.

  33. 33.

    Baud

    December 18, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    @Hill Dweller: Positive change didn’t get a lot of fanfare. I’m shocked.

  34. 34.

    DanielX

    December 18, 2011 at 3:23 pm

    @Linnaeus: And the tumbrils will be rolling too, because they’re a gang of greedy swine. Also, too, because fuck them, that’s why.

  35. 35.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 18, 2011 at 3:24 pm

    @barath:

    Things are being done, but they’re reactive in nature, anticipating the downside of both. DoD knows it’s a problem, and that it will create more problems.

    The issue is at the highest policy levels there are those who actively seek to deny that either exists, or are impeded by those who deny.

    We’re all basically fucked, even though we know it’s coming, because those in a position to take action refuse to, it’s just too discomfiting for them.

    As the tag line goes, we’re all Mayans now.

  36. 36.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 18, 2011 at 3:24 pm

    More cute from the last thread, the bunneh who eated Tunch.

  37. 37.

    Amir Khalid

    December 18, 2011 at 3:26 pm

    I saw a pair of steel-toed Caterpillar boots for half-price at my local mall. They cost less than a third of what I’d have to pay for Timberland yellow boots, and they should last me a decade or more. Only question: should I get them in yellow (“mustard”) or black?

  38. 38.

    RossInDetroit

    December 18, 2011 at 3:27 pm

    @namekarB:

    change the name of the Department of Defense back to the War Department?

    This is actually a very good idea. The present Department of Defense should be the War Department and the Department of Homeland Security should be the Defense Department.
    This would be logical and would take the Fascist sounding ‘Homeland Security’ out of the mix.

  39. 39.

    Yutsano

    December 18, 2011 at 3:28 pm

    @Amir Khalid: At that price it sounds like you could get both colours and still come out ahead!

  40. 40.

    sherifffruitfly

    December 18, 2011 at 3:29 pm

    LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!!!

  41. 41.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 18, 2011 at 3:29 pm

    @gaz:

    The crucial issue is alternative to fossil fuels energy, and 30 years ago, there were initiatives to address this known problem of a non-renewable energy source, but the first fucking thing the shitty grade Z movie star did upon moving into the White House was to kill all those initiatives.

    We’d be in much better shape from both a peak oil and a climate change perspective if those initiatives had not been so callously and stupidly terminated.

  42. 42.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 3:29 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Get the yellow. After a few weeks of steady use, the whole pair will likely be brown-black*, so you get (sort of) black for free =)

    Best of both worlds!

    *depends I suppose on how you use them.

  43. 43.

    Anoniminous

    December 18, 2011 at 3:31 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Get the left boot in black and the right boot in mustard and wear them with shorts and pink knee high socks with purple polka dots.

    Start a trend.

  44. 44.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 18, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    @RossInDetroit:

    I have always contended that “Department of Homeland Security” sounded much better in the original German:

    Heimatsicherheitshauptamt

    A friend of mine cleverly malprounounced this into:

    Heimatsicherheitshauptangst

    which, I think captures what was really going on with the entire operation.

  45. 45.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    December 18, 2011 at 3:34 pm

    @barath: Well, without reading your link, my understanding is that the worst case for climate change by 2100 involves continuing Business As Usual (BAU). However, the Peak Oilers can show there isn’t enough carbon in the ground to continue BAU for another 80-90 years, so that scenario can’t happen.

    I don’t know anything about the Climate Changers pooh-poohing Peak Oil, though.

    Here’s my take on both of these:

    It looks like we crossed Peak Oil during the Bush years. Even so, I expect that we (human race) will burn every atom of carbon and every hydrocarbon molecule we can dig out of the ground, regardless of the consequences, ’cause that’s how our monkey brains work.

    I also tend to think that we’ve crossed the irreversible climate threshold during the Bush years, based on the arctic ice disappearing faster than any of the climate change models predicted.

    So, in the words of Ed Grimley, “We’re doomed as doom can be.”

  46. 46.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 3:35 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: I *get* that. That basically as I understand it, falls under the Upton Sinclair category.

    Where the piece kinda lost me was on this statement (and admittedly, I probably interpreted the statement a bit broadly initially)

    Many people who know about climate change know little about peak oil.

    I probably should retract my straw-man – guilty of skimming on too little caffeine – I guess it’s really an education issue (among the group in the quote)

    Even that though, I find to be pretty surprising.
    Kinda of like if I woke up one day and people didn’t know what Tab soda was…

    Oh wait…

    Fuck, I’m just getting old.
    I keep forgetting that.

    =P

  47. 47.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik

    December 18, 2011 at 3:37 pm

    @Hill Dweller:

    Don’t worry, the GOP is likely working as hard as possible to insert language into the budget as we speak to ensure the EPA’s funding to enforce that is immediately revoked.

  48. 48.

    MacKenna

    December 18, 2011 at 3:37 pm

    The only thing cuter than that baby seal would be a picture of Tunch sitting next to it.

  49. 49.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    December 18, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    @Anoniminous: I trust that with all these rules there is No Rule Six.

  50. 50.

    barath

    December 18, 2011 at 3:42 pm

    @gaz:

    Yeah, you’d think most folks would understand them as twin problems, but I’ve found that’s not the case… (Which is why I figured I’d write about it.) There are a lot of people who understand climate change who’ve never even heard of peak oil. And there are plenty of conservative peak oilers who deny climate change.

    It’s a weird dynamic.

  51. 51.

    longtime lurk

    December 18, 2011 at 3:42 pm

    You must be very embarrassed by what has become of your blog, John Cole. It is now a forum for bashing anyone to the left of the Obama administration. Even the founder of the blog gets slapped down by other front-pagers when he deviates from the party line. Very sad. Good luck with it.

  52. 52.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 3:42 pm

    @Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Crap.

    I should have just said…

    What Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason Said.

    Heh.

    Cheers

  53. 53.

    JPL

    December 18, 2011 at 3:43 pm

    @gaz: Why not mention national security. Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights is abysmal and considering Saudi Arabians attacked us on 9/11, you can give Sleeping with the Enemy an entire new meaning. I like to call it prostitution or whoring for oil.

  54. 54.

    trollhattan

    December 18, 2011 at 3:43 pm

    The Seattle handegg persons appear to be handing the Chicago handegg persons their arses in the contest’s second half. Whodathunk?

  55. 55.

    Jeremy

    December 18, 2011 at 3:44 pm

    In happier news, the MN Republican Party is imploding in front of our eyes: http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/135802693.html. It will be fun seeing the thugs remind us of the sanctity and sacred vow of marriage leading up to next year’s vote on the Marriage Discrimination Act constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

  56. 56.

    barath

    December 18, 2011 at 3:44 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    @Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:

    Wow…you’re both even more doomery than I am, and I thought I was pessimistic. The thing is, I’m not sure you’re wrong, which is a bit worrysome.

  57. 57.

    JPL

    December 18, 2011 at 3:44 pm

    @MacKenna: Tunch would eat it.

  58. 58.

    sherifffruitfly

    December 18, 2011 at 3:45 pm

    @trollhattan:

    It’s “pointyball persons”, thank you very much.

  59. 59.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    @barath: Like I said I’m probably getting old.

    The topic of Peak Oil is so 40 or 50 years ago =P

    heh.

    I’m guessing that might be why some of the “millennials” and some of the “gen-y”ers don’t grok it.

    who knows.

    And modern conservatives will believe anything. Absolutely anything. Especially if it’s pro-fucking-the-environment.

  60. 60.

    vheidi

    December 18, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    @gaz: My local bartender didn’t know who John Coltrane was- oh the humanity

  61. 61.

    Benjamin Franklin

    December 18, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    @gaz:

    What’s Climate Peak?

    errrrrrr…

    Fuck, I’m just getting old.

  62. 62.

    Amir Khalid

    December 18, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    @Anoniminous:
    Sounds tempting, but I’m not so sure I’ll be able to persuade them at the store.

  63. 63.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 18, 2011 at 3:47 pm

    @MacKenna:

    SERIOUSLY cute would be the baby seal, Tunch, young namesake Cole, and both puppydogs frolicking in clover.

  64. 64.

    Comrade Mary

    December 18, 2011 at 3:47 pm

    This is the end of the “John Cole is secretly gay” meme and the beginning of the “John Cole is secretly Canadian” meme.

    GAHH! I still have so much Christmas baking to do. Luckily for that little guy on the couch, I’m from Québec, so I’m making tourtière, not you-know-what flipper pie.

  65. 65.

    MikeJ

    December 18, 2011 at 3:48 pm

    About to make gbread cookies while watching the game. I wonder how skittles would go with gingerbread…

  66. 66.

    Allan

    December 18, 2011 at 3:48 pm

    Anyone brings up the defense bill, the seal gets it.

    Once a right-wing authoritarian, now a left-wing authoritarian.

    Wherever you go, there you are.

  67. 67.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 18, 2011 at 3:48 pm

    @gaz:

    And modern conservatives will believe anything. Absolutely anything. Especially if it’s pro-fucking-the-environment.

    Which is why irony is dead. “Conservatives” who oppose conservation.

  68. 68.

    barath

    December 18, 2011 at 3:49 pm

    @gaz:

    Yeah, younger folks like me didn’t experience the oil shocks of the 1970s first-hand, and so we don’t even have a point of reference for oil crisis. That plus climate change has been the central, defining environmental / energy challenge in the news for the last couple of decades means that it’s drowned out most other topics. (Which for the most part makes sense since it’s also the biggest, longest lasting problem.)

  69. 69.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 3:49 pm

    @Benjamin Franklin: I edit a lot. BJ needs a preview button for goofs like me.

    This post would not be complete without the obligatory FYWP.

  70. 70.

    BruceFromOhio

    December 18, 2011 at 3:51 pm

    @trollhattan: The Chiefs are putting the slamma-damma-jing-jong on the Packers pointyball egg people. It was fun while it lasted, that unbeaten record. Derp!

  71. 71.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 3:52 pm

    @barath: I didn’t experience them first hand either. I was born when the peanut farmer was president.

    But the discussions of Peak Oil were still in full effect through Reagan’s term.

    We even discussed it in school. (not talking about college)
    And for me, that was probably during George HW’s term, or Clinton’s first term

  72. 72.

    srv

    December 18, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    Ah, my browser missed this post… so repeating –

    Gen X thinks Millinealist Occupiers are Slackers. Maybe it’s time we had a generational internecine war on BJ?

    But for others, the Occupy movement is at best a showy rehash of similar recessionist angst they weathered with self-sufficiency and little more public display of disaffection than grunge rock and goatees — and at worst a reflection of a younger generation with a whiny, overweening idea of its own importance.
    __
    “Generation X is tired of your sense of entitlement. Generation X also graduated during a recession … and actually had to pay for its own music,” declared Mat Honan, 39, a San Francisco-based writer for the technology blog Gizmodo.

  73. 73.

    tomvox1

    December 18, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    Cannot believe the end of the Iraq War II is not a bigger deal. Like anywhere. We really are getting stupider and shallower as a country. I suppose, of course, that people would actually have to give credit to President Obama for, you know, doing exactly what he said he’d do and coming through for the American people yet again. Doesn’t seem like the chatterers on the Right or Left want to do that these days. So much more satisfying to harp on his perceived shortcomings than his tangible and lengthy record of accomplishment.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    December 18, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    @BruceFromOhio:

    Double whodathunk! A few diehard Chefs fan betters are going to harvest a bundle today.

    Also, too, http://www.saasta.fi/saasta/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/handegg.jpg

  75. 75.

    barath

    December 18, 2011 at 3:55 pm

    @gaz:

    I think you’re lucky to have been exposed to those ideas in school. I bet that’s pretty rare…

  76. 76.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 18, 2011 at 3:57 pm

    @trollhattan: Not yet.

  77. 77.

    Linnaeus

    December 18, 2011 at 3:57 pm

    @srv:

    Oh, dear. That one made the rounds a few months ago…I appreciated the tongue-in-cheek-ness of it, but I’ll vote no on generational warfare.

  78. 78.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 3:57 pm

    @srv: FTR, that was not my intention at all.

    The only reason I used the labels is I thought it might have something to do with an age factor, and the possibility that peak oil is not a popular topic anymore.

  79. 79.

    PeakVT

    December 18, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    @barath: Both Peak Oil (or Peak Fossil Fuels to take the more general case) and Global Warming both have the same implication: start using less and find alternate sources. There are some reasons in the details for one group to ignore the other, and over the years they’ve attracted different crowds of supporters/believers. But I suspect the main reason is that the self-appointed advocates for each issue pretty are mono-maniacal about their chosen issue. Any other issue is competition.

  80. 80.

    RossInDetroit

    December 18, 2011 at 3:59 pm

    @tomvox1:

    Cannot believe the end of the Iraq War II is not a bigger deal. Like anywhere. We really are getting stupider and shallower as a country.

    Maybe people have gotten wise and see that this ‘end’ is just the beginning of another phase of misery and headaches over there. Getting the trucks across the border doesn’t get us out of there by half.

  81. 81.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 18, 2011 at 4:00 pm

    @srv:

    I’m glad that Matt Honan is the sole voice of Gen X.

    In that spirit, I declare myself to be the sole voice of late Boomers (born in ’57, the year of Sputnik!) and remind the snot nosed Honan that all that music he was paying for (and probably taping, driving the RIAA to absolute apoplexy) was created exclusively for my generation, the ruling generation of all time, the generation that told Tom Brokaw’s “greatest generation” that yeah, you saved the world from the Nazis, then you voted for Nixon. Thanks a bunch for undoing your own good deed.

  82. 82.

    Ruckus

    December 18, 2011 at 4:02 pm

    Listening to Rajaton

    H/T to echidne at Eschaton

    All I can say is wow.

  83. 83.

    barath

    December 18, 2011 at 4:02 pm

    @PeakVT:

    Yeah, I think you’re right about that last one. It’s the activist tunnel vision that gets going and blocks out any other thoughts. Though part of the issue is that many of the solutions proposed in response to one don’t help directly with the other. (Solar panels aren’t going to help address peak oil, and tar sands will just make climate change worse, etc.) It’s easier for activists to not compromise on their favorite solutions rather than find common ground on things that will help address both.

    The one organization that really seems to get it is the Post Carbon Institute. But there aren’t many like them, and they’re pretty small time in the scheme of things.

  84. 84.

    RossInDetroit

    December 18, 2011 at 4:02 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    I was born during Ike’s term and I can program the timer on the VCR. Therefore all generalizations about old people are invalid.

  85. 85.

    Amir Khalid

    December 18, 2011 at 4:03 pm

    About the baby seal:
    SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

  86. 86.

    piratedan

    December 18, 2011 at 4:03 pm

    yeah but do any of us KNOW if that seal is being detained indefinitely?

  87. 87.

    Zandar

    December 18, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    Hey, the Panthers failed to lose.

    *waves little flag*

  88. 88.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    @barath: I was very fortunate. I went to what I believe was one of the best Jr High and High schools in the state, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was top-tier nationally.

    There was potentially nothing special about those schools. And the area was podunk, and basically a navy town..

    But I don’t recall a school levy that was ever voted down by that community while I was there.

    Teachers got what they needed. They were paid well (WRT to cost of living locally). Class Sizes were generally under 30 – they had every bit of equipment.

    Hell, for a sense of perspective:

    Our HS auto shop had TWO hydraulic lifts, and a full on 4 wheel alignment system + a lot full of cars and ever Chilton’s ever published.

    Our pool was Olympic class

    Our welding shops had like a dozen booths, and a full complement of all the different varieties and LCD blockers in the welding helmets (high tech shit at the time)

    We had no less than 4 computer labs each larger than a class room.

    Full Track & Field – and 3 aux fields.

    Roughly 900 students.

    By today’s standards, this is insane. <– I wish that were not true.

  89. 89.

    BruceFromOhio

    December 18, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    @trollhattan: ah, yes, the remedial football tutorial 101 for damned yanks. Call it what-have-you, this handegg game is still damned entertaining.

  90. 90.

    PeakVT

    December 18, 2011 at 4:08 pm

    @tomvox1: The war was scheduled to end this month before Obama took office, and it was the Iraqis who forced it to actually end by (quite reasonably) not giving immunity to US troops. So Obama deserves credit for following through on a campaign promise, but it wasn’t the most difficult thing he has taken on. OTOH, if Obama ends the war in Afghanistan over the objections of Republicans and a lot of Democrats, then a lot people on the left will be quite vocal with their praise.

  91. 91.

    sherifffruitfly

    December 18, 2011 at 4:08 pm

    This thread is now officially a STEELERS thread.

    Steelers just locked up playoff birth via Titans loss. GO STILLERS!!!!!

  92. 92.

    Judas Escargot

    December 18, 2011 at 4:08 pm

    @srv:

    I realized earlier today that the generation that currently dominates the retail/cashier jobs right now (i.e. late teens/early 20s) is incredibly polite. Cultural shift, I guess, but it did strike me.

    Caught myself having a reverse old-man moment: Hey, when we were your age, we made sure to ironically sneer at our elders!

    GenX embraced glibertarianism for a number of reasons, but a big one was a general, generational resentment of the (by then already mythologized) DFHes: “Why would any responsible, serious person ever want to protest? What are you, a fucking hippie!?” So I’m not surprised at comments like those in the article.

    We were well-trained as to who needed barking at. Woof.

  93. 93.

    Raven

    December 18, 2011 at 4:10 pm

    Peak hash oil here.

  94. 94.

    tomvox1

    December 18, 2011 at 4:10 pm

    Maybe people have gotten wise and see that this ‘end’ is just the beginning of another phase of misery and headaches over there.

    A little too nuanced, I’d say. Americans haven’t given a fuck about the aftermath once they’re done fighting since WWII.

    More like most people just don’t want to have to examine how they were played for suckers and made accomplices to mass murder through their credulousness and simplistic need to “punish” someone, anyone for 9/11. All so they could stop wetting the bed at night. Yeah, I’d say that’s the real reason the bulk of the reaction is so muted. That and not wanting to give the Big O proper credit.

  95. 95.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 18, 2011 at 4:12 pm

    @sherifffruitfly: I’ll be cheering for them on Monday night. With an loss by SF, Green Bay locks up home field in the NFC.

  96. 96.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 4:13 pm

    @Judas Escargot: Your post made me smile.

    I was only ever in danger of becoming a glibertarian until I was about 14. (Gen-X’er here)

    But I know whatcha mean. =)

  97. 97.

    Arclite

    December 18, 2011 at 4:13 pm

    Since John is playing the Star Wars The Old Republic beta, I thought he (or anyone) might appreciate this comic.

  98. 98.

    Downpuppy

    December 18, 2011 at 4:13 pm

    @PeakVT: The peak oilers at theoildrum & Downstream Ventures almost all pretty climate aware. The climate types at Realclimate are hardly cornucopians about oil.

    I tend to worry more about the likelihood that our current depression will just get worse as we gradually go into a full Jay Hanson dieoff, but that won’t be until after the Patriots-Tories game about to start in Denver.

  99. 99.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 4:14 pm

    @Raven:

    Peak hash oil here.

    So sorry to hear that. =(

    You haz no dispensaries where you live?

  100. 100.

    Raven

    December 18, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    @gaz: Ah, that ship sailed many moons ago but sweet memories. . .

  101. 101.

    Nellcote

    December 18, 2011 at 4:18 pm

    @srv:

    http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/occupy-the-clergy/250139/

  102. 102.

    trollhattan

    December 18, 2011 at 4:20 pm

    @BruceFromOhio:

    Helps a LOT when one’s team transitions from full stench in the season’s first half to semi-respectable in the second. Now, so long as the Pats knock the snot out of the Broncos, the day shall be complete.

  103. 103.

    Raven

    December 18, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    @trollhattan: Don’t look now.

  104. 104.

    boss bitch

    December 18, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    @PeakVT:

    Stop. Just Stop because plenty of people here and in the liberal blogosphere laughed at and dismissed Obama or anyone who said that the troops were going to be out at this time. The bet was that Obama and the Iraqi leadership would break the agreement. NOW that these people were proven wrong its back to “oh it was agreed to already and that’s what the Iraqi people wanted” BULLSHIT!.

    Obama never wanted this war and promised to get us out. WE ARE OUT. HE KEPT HIS PROMISE! Despite a shit load of liberals saying he wouldn’t. And they fucking know it so that’s why they don’t have shit to say.

    THE IRAQ WAR IS OVER AND OBAMA LED US OUT AS HE PROMISED.

    PROMISE MADE PROMISE KEPT.

    Holy shit. the left gives bigger cheers if Bernie Sanders farts on the senate floor.

  105. 105.

    PurpleGirl

    December 18, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    I don’t believe that conservatives believe that Peak Oil will happen any more than they believe that man-caused climate change is happening. The fundies probably think that at some point the Master of the Universe will tap his magic wand and, lo and behold, all those dry wells will fill with oil. I don’t know if there is a parallel for climate change.

  106. 106.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 4:24 pm

    @Raven: Heh.

    I’m old enough to know better. But young enough to do it anyway. =)

    That and alcohol (the other traditional unwindy substance I suppose) is ummm – problematic for me. I don’t like drugs that punish me. And alcohol seems to do so with gleeful abandon, even if I don’t drink much – and imbibe a gallon or two of water. heh. Kind of a shame, really, since we have a wonderful local brewery where I live. I still go for the food (also wonderful).

    =)

    As far as anyone in recovery, well – let’s just say I totally get that, where that’s someone’s situation. MOAR power to them and I applaud and respect it for what it is.

  107. 107.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    December 18, 2011 at 4:25 pm

    How about that Seattle Seahawk DEFENSE!!! Those hawks really DETAINED Barber and Heine. Since Carrol downgraded the passing and AUTHORIZED the Beast Mode run game. Com’on Paul Allen sign Beast Mode and so he can the BILL for more Skittles!

  108. 108.

    Anoniminous

    December 18, 2011 at 4:25 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    No popular trend is a popular trend with spit without an utterly pointless & brainless & hysterical controversy.

    Find someone with your shoe size. Each of you buy one pair. You wear the mustard color boot on your left foot, the other person wears it on their right foot. Meet in a popular trendoid meeting spot where the trendoids gather and have a screaming, public, spat that The Other is “doing it wrong.”

    With any luck, or planning, the hissy fit will be written-up for the local newspaper’s Fashion/Society page.

  109. 109.

    Raven

    December 18, 2011 at 4:26 pm

    @gaz: I’m not in recovery, I stopped. Fuck all that “higher power” hoodoo.

    I do, however, like the Wharf Rats

    Some folks look for answers others look for fights,
    Some folks up in treetops just a looking for their kites.

    Whoa, I can tell your future just look what’s in your hand,
    But I can’t stop for nothin’ I’m just playing in the band.

  110. 110.

    trollhattan

    December 18, 2011 at 4:26 pm

    @PurpleGirl:

    Their innumeracy extends to them thinking the onliest thing preventing the You Ess from being completely oil-independent is our lack of willingness to drill the shit out of our continent. It’s all there, ready for the taking, donchano, then Suburbans for Everybody!

  111. 111.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 4:27 pm

    @boss bitch: When Bernie Sanders farts on the senate floor, he does it with enough eloquence and passion to shame everyone else in the room.

    Offered FWIW.

    OTOH, Not really wanting to get in the middle of the arg between you and PeakVT, which I take no position on, (because I haven’t been following it closely) =)

  112. 112.

    West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)

    December 18, 2011 at 4:29 pm

    Okay, so maybe I’m hopelessly behind the news cycle, but I just saw the Youtube video of that beating of a woman in Egypt (having encountered the link on Slate). Right-wing fundamentalism of any variety always leads to this kind of horse shit. Jesus-fucking Christ. Friggin’ animals.

  113. 113.

    Raven

    December 18, 2011 at 4:30 pm

    Ying and Yang in Denver

    Tebow 6
    Ocho Cinco 6

  114. 114.

    Anoniminous

    December 18, 2011 at 4:31 pm

    @Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:

    Possibly not, except I’m unclear on the Alaska Rules, at the moment. However I am sure Rules 1, 3, 5, and 7 will be rigorously enforced.

  115. 115.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 4:32 pm

    @Raven: Was kind of just putting it out there in case you were.

    And I getcha on that too, pretty much feel that way myself after trying it out.

    OTOH I’ve seen it help people I know – and I have no problem with people playing mind games with themselves if it helps unfuck their lives. In those cases the ends seem to justify the means. Offered FWIW.

    Man I really need to make some “breakfast” (it’s afternoon!) . And maybe smoke some. =)

  116. 116.

    Raven

    December 18, 2011 at 4:34 pm

    @gaz: Yea, I got no problem with whatever people choose. Paths are many. . .

  117. 117.

    RSA

    December 18, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    Hey, why does that seal have a zipper? Oh, corded trim on the pillow…

  118. 118.

    PeakVT

    December 18, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    @Downpuppy: I’m not saying that there aren’t people who are well aware of both, but that most advocates focus on one issue or the other because that’s the one that bugs them the most. I don’t care which motivates them as long as they are banging the “use less” drum.

    If there’s a real bone of contention between the two groups it’s nukes, which the PO crowd tends to accept as part of the solution and the GW crowd mostly rejects. Falling prices for renewables may soon render the conflict moot, though.

  119. 119.

    CynDee

    December 18, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    Baby seal for Congress!

  120. 120.

    birthmarker

    December 18, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Ah hell, go mustard. You know you want to.

  121. 121.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 18, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    You know what might be cool? A Vaclav Havel Thread.

  122. 122.

    carpeduum

    December 18, 2011 at 4:41 pm

    Professional Diaper Soiler Cole is the one that opened up the can of worms and now he is trying to put the lid back on…..lol.

    So not only does he like to get outraged at Dems/Obama at the drop of a hat without properly informing himself but he is so spineless he backs right off at the first sign of a fight.

  123. 123.

    sherifffruitfly

    December 18, 2011 at 4:41 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I will see you, sir, in the super bowl.

  124. 124.

    dance around in your bones

    December 18, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    Gawd, after chasing around after 3 grandkids all day, dealing with a plumber trying to fix the backed-up drains, and the fridge that incomprehensibly stopped keeping things cold and fielding the nasty mud-covered tennis balls the golden retriever keeps bringing into the house….

    NOT gonna read any BJ fights over politics. A very large glass of wine is in my future; the Magic Eight Ball told me so.

  125. 125.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 18, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    @sherifffruitfly: You got tickets?

  126. 126.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    Anyone know any tricks to scramble some eggs without milk, and make it so they don’t end up smelling vaguely like wet dog when you’re done? (or alternatively being runny and nasty)… I’m fresh out of milk =(

    Also too – Why did Cuisinart make a toaster that has a (Destroy) Bagel button. =(

  127. 127.

    Raven

    December 18, 2011 at 4:45 pm

    @gaz: Make a frittata.

  128. 128.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    @Raven: My plan was to put some egg on a bagel (with ham, just to thumb my nose at the natural order of things), and some American cheese (bfast sandwich is the ONLY appropriate use of american cheese in my opinion)

    and I decided to poach the eggs instead. Messy on the sandwich but that’s why god made napkins I suppose.

    Yes I know, this is totally low rent food, well below the community standards of good taste here at BJ. Flame away! =)

  129. 129.

    birthmarker

    December 18, 2011 at 4:51 pm

    @gaz: I think you can use a bit of water instead. I don’t add anything when I scramble, personally.

  130. 130.

    Raven

    December 18, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    @gaz: Had an egg bagel for breakfast!

  131. 131.

    Cassidy

    December 18, 2011 at 4:53 pm

    “John Cole is secretly gay” meme

    Don’t tell eemom.

  132. 132.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 4:55 pm

    @Raven: mmmm. yes they are so good, aren’t they? mmmm

  133. 133.

    Mjaum

    December 18, 2011 at 4:55 pm

    Seals are only semi-edible, and clubbing them is better than using spiky halberd-like things, because they’re less likely to wake up again and try to make a waddle for it.

    Whale is yummy. All sizes.

  134. 134.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 4:57 pm

    @birthmarker: thanks!

    I’ll try that tomorrow.

    I already made with teh poaching…

  135. 135.

    Ruckus

    December 18, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    @gaz:
    I’m with birthmarker here. You don’t need to add anything. I thought for a long time you did till I forgot one day and whata know – they were better! I do wisk a little longer with no added milk, that helps the eggs be lite and fluffy. (I assumed that you wanted fluffy eggs)

  136. 136.

    Raven

    December 18, 2011 at 5:00 pm

    @Ruckus: fluffer

  137. 137.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 5:02 pm

    @Ruckus: Yeah. Fluffy.

    But (and this is likely just me) – why do scrambled eggs smell (vaguely) like wet dog? (Unless I scramble them with milk, that is)… when I make them straight – they smell funny. Always. (To me at least).

    Fluffy is important to me too, (esp for a sandwich, because I like to fold my scrambles – omlette style)

    But the smell makes me want to retch. When I scramble with milk they don’t come out that way.

    And when I try to cook them less (thinking maybe I just cook them too much) they are runny. Which also makes me want to retch.

    Milk seems to fix this for me. Maybe I just have a fucked up olfactory sense. I really don’t know.

  138. 138.

    Hawes

    December 18, 2011 at 5:03 pm

    Maybe Tebogg needs to lay off Tebow. His demonic internet ridicule machine only seems to make him stronger.

  139. 139.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    @Hawes: Which only leads to more ridicule…

    How is this a bad thing?

    It’s a perpetual comedy machine. =)

  140. 140.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 5:06 pm

    @Raven: heh.

  141. 141.

    JCT

    December 18, 2011 at 5:10 pm

    @Raven: Hey, I have my very own Illini now — youngest was accepted and unless he is seduced away by UMich I think he’s going…

  142. 142.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    December 18, 2011 at 5:10 pm

    @barath: If you go back to the Limits of Growth, there was one scenario where they could ramp down industrial civilization and keep a reasonably large population fed and housed after the resources got scarce. It involved not polluting ourselves to death.

    Any combination of resource limits and pollution? Collapse.

    See anyone beefing up the EPA, putting limits on poisoning aquifers from fracking, cutting carbon emissions, protecting the ocean from overfishing? No, neither did I.

  143. 143.

    Ruckus

    December 18, 2011 at 5:10 pm

    @Raven:
    You bastard. Now my sides hurt from laughing. But thanks for the endorsement.

  144. 144.

    Ben Cisco

    December 18, 2011 at 5:11 pm

    @boss bitch: Most excellent, thank you for this.

  145. 145.

    Ruckus

    December 18, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    @gaz:
    Maybe it’s that your wet dog smells like eggs. Fix that and all will be well.

  146. 146.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    December 18, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    @gaz: Actually, 40-50 years ago (early 70s, anyway) was Peak US Oil. What we’re seeing now is Peak Worldwide Oil.

  147. 147.

    Bill Murray

    December 18, 2011 at 5:13 pm

    @gaz:

    Like I said I’m probably getting old.

    The topic of Peak Oil is so 40 or 50 years ago =P

    I can remember Walter Cronkite talking about it on the nightly news in probably the early 70s

  148. 148.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 5:13 pm

    @Ruckus: Hehe.

    If I tried to own a dog, my maine coon would eat it.

  149. 149.

    Ruckus

    December 18, 2011 at 5:15 pm

    @gaz:
    Not if the wet dog smelled like eggs.

  150. 150.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 5:16 pm

    @Ruckus: okay – that was funny . heh.

    shit.

  151. 151.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    December 18, 2011 at 5:16 pm

    @RossInDetroit:

    I can program the timer on the VCR.

    You still have a VCR? Gee, you’re old.

  152. 152.

    Bill Murray

    December 18, 2011 at 5:17 pm

    @boss bitch: as long as you forget about the fairly unaccountable mercenaries left behind. Which is one of the big problems with outsourcing government functions. And you should probably give a big assist to the Iraqi government

  153. 153.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 5:18 pm

    @Bill Murray: Doesn’t surprise me, but I was speaking pretty generally. My point was that it maybe isn’t discussed so much anymore.

  154. 154.

    Schlemizel

    December 18, 2011 at 5:19 pm

    @tomvox1:
    No, nobody is making a big deal out of it because it is not a big deal. What did we accomplish?(nothing good that for sure) Is this the end now & everything is going to be peachy? (no) Are we safer now that when we started? (no)

    Nobody want to celebrate a few less dead Americans against the backdrop of utter failure that is out invasion of Iraq.

  155. 155.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 5:19 pm

    @RossInDetroit: @Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: What’s this VCR of which you speak?

    Is it like a floppy disk? or a seedee? or one of those heavy teevees I keep hearing about?

    ;)

  156. 156.

    Ruckus

    December 18, 2011 at 5:22 pm

    @Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
    I still have a beta player! And a VCR.

  157. 157.

    Comrade Mary

    December 18, 2011 at 5:22 pm

    You don’t need milk for scrambled eggs, just butter, gentle heat, butter, salt AFTER COOKING, butter, patience, butter, take them off the heat when not quite done, butter, and Gordon Ramsay, you fucking dogs who couldn’t fucking well cook your way out of a fucking wet paper bag.

  158. 158.

    Chris

    December 18, 2011 at 5:23 pm

    @PurpleGirl:

    I don’t believe that conservatives believe that Peak Oil will happen any more than they believe that man-caused climate change is happening. The fundies probably think that at some point the Master of the Universe will tap his magic wand and, lo and behold, all those dry wells will fill with oil. I don’t know if there is a parallel for climate change.

    The most fundiegelical of them probably believe the Rapture will happen before then (remember one of Reagan’s cabinet members saying exactly that as a reason why we shouldn’t worry about deforestation). The more “rational” don’t care one way or another because by the time it’s a problem, they figure, they’ll all be dead.

    If their conscience and their doubts really squeal at them, they mumble something about how if there ever really is a crisis, the Free Market and American Ingenuity will manufacture a solution and save us all. (For some reason FM and AI only work well under intense pressure, and cannot be troubled to come up with a solution to that now).

    The above applies equally to peak oil, climate change and virtually all the other problems of the world that they don’t want to think about.

  159. 159.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 5:24 pm

    @Comrade Mary: Salt AFTER COOKING maybe that’s where I fuck up. =)

    ou fucking dogs who couldn’t fucking well cook your way out of a fucking wet paper bag.

    Guilty as charged, aside from steaks – which I watched a cooking show about once – and it changed my life =)

  160. 160.

    Schlemizel

    December 18, 2011 at 5:25 pm

    @boss bitch:
    I must have missed that discussion. I know some on the left feared we would not get out I don’t recall any $10,000 bets on the subject.

    But the original statement is still true, Boy Blunder and his Super Friends picked this as the end date. Other than Grandpa Walnuts whining about giving up our advantage there has not been any push to stay.

  161. 161.

    Comrade Mary

    December 18, 2011 at 5:26 pm

    @gaz: Steaks? Well, now you have to share your technique!

  162. 162.

    RossInDetroit

    December 18, 2011 at 5:30 pm

    @Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:

    You still have a VCR? Gee, you’re old.

    My wife still has tapes she likes to view. And yes, we still have the 160 lb TV we bought 10 years ago. Used 60 minutes or less a week, it will last forever.

  163. 163.

    RossInDetroit

    December 18, 2011 at 5:34 pm

    Regarding sporting contests, I favor them in inverse proportion to the amount of officiating and instances of rules disputes. The most boring sports conversations revolve around blown calls. You think the law is boring? The law applied to sports is deadly boring. Not fun for anyone. And sports are supposed to be fun.

  164. 164.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 5:39 pm

    @Comrade Mary: First of all. I like tasting the meat. A-1 is a sin, in my book. A good steak stands alone.

    Really, it’s quite simple. One thing that show mentioned (and this is probably the most important bit, I think) – use a gas grill – they can get super hot – and not put any char taste in the steak – I’ve never managed to pull this off on indoor equipment – not hot enough – ymmv. Put your grill on high and get it warmed up.

    Take a bowl of melted butter – and marinade the steaks in just that. Depending on how long you want it done, you may need to repeat the process, because the butter will eventually solidify. This should only take 30mins or so (use good meat BTW, people – buy local if u can!)

    Meanwhile – Take a mortar and pestle, and just smash up equal parts black pepper corn, and big chunky sea salt.
    Don’t obliterate the mess, just smash it til the peppercorns are split, basically.

    When you remove the steaks, pound them (even pressure, you don’t want flat meat – but tenderize it just the same)

    redip the steak in the butter, and coat it liberally in the peppercorn/salt mix.

    Toss them on the preheated grill and cook to taste (I think this works best if u like rareish meat – otherwise if you are not searing, the result will end up too salty)

    What you’ll end up with is a steak that has a crispy, peppery, lovely layer on the outside, and a nice juicy flavorful meat on the inside – with no adulteration.

    Again, this recipe is for people that like their beef “straight up”

    Simple as hell, but if you are not naturally gifted it may take a couple of times to get perfect. Once you do, it’s easy to repeat.

  165. 165.

    Comrade Mary

    December 18, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    Oh. OH. OH!

    Duly noted.

    We’re having roast tonight instead of steak, but I must try out that technique. Thanks!

  166. 166.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 5:47 pm

    @Comrade Mary: Also, too thanks for that youtube link. I’m gonna try making my eggs that way.

  167. 167.

    tofubo

    December 18, 2011 at 5:52 pm

    no defense bill was harmed in this post

    http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/12/18/391576/gingrich-marshal-judges/

  168. 168.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 5:53 pm

    @Comrade Mary: You probably know better, for any of the non cooks on the forum, never EVER substitute table salt for the chunky sea salt – trust me.

    (That’s all I’m gonna say about that)

  169. 169.

    gogol's wife

    December 18, 2011 at 5:54 pm

    @boss bitch:

    You are absolutely right, and I admire the fact that you still have energy to keep saying it. I’ve given up.

  170. 170.

    Joel

    December 18, 2011 at 5:57 pm

    What a strange Patriots-Broncos game.

    These Broncos have a lot of Detroit in them (good and bad).

  171. 171.

    srv

    December 18, 2011 at 5:58 pm

    @gaz: It was separate from your comments above, a meme that is apparently coming back from the mainstream abut occupy vs boomers – I do have to say I assumed you were much older due to your handle being similar to an older regular here on BJ.

  172. 172.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 6:04 pm

    @srv: Ahh…

    I was unaware of that meme.

    I generally don’t like the generational labels (kinda facile).. but I’ve been guilty of thinking unkind thoughts about the “baby boomers” selling out their children and grandchildren, more than once. Certainly unfair of me, and arguably only in my less than charitable moments.

    I’m not that old, I’m only just old enough to start realizing how getting old sucks (through direct experience)

    Parts of me are just now beginning to break down here and there. Meh. And I can’t do the things I once could. I’m not quite old enough to accept it yet – but that doesn’t mean I’m going to go out and buy a corvette and a blonde trophy. I’m not there yet =P

    (Actually I’d never own a corvette. Those cars scream old-codger to me – I’ve rarely seen anyone under 50 drive one – if I buy a mid-life motor, it’ll be something that gets me laid)

    =P

  173. 173.

    MacKenna

    December 18, 2011 at 6:11 pm

    @JPL: I wouldn’t be so sure. Apparently seals have sharp teeth and aren’t afraid to use them. Tunch would probably form a posse with said seal to control the residents of John Cole’s house.

  174. 174.

    Ruckus

    December 18, 2011 at 6:24 pm

    @gaz:
    I rub steaks or fish with organic sesame oil(not the toasted) then season to taste, salt and pepper, and grill. They sear up just fine, cook without charring.
    Started this with fish to keep it from sticking on the grill. Works great as well as adding a nice touch to the flavor.

  175. 175.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 6:40 pm

    @Ruckus: Interesting technique.

    I’ve never had a problem with grill stickage. I’ve been cleaning it the way some mexicans taught me way back when.

    Cut an onion in half, take the flat part of the half, and cut into it over and over to rough it up.

    Jam a fork in the opposite end, and use it to scrub down the grill.

    Finish by doing the same thing with a lime.

    I do that before I begin, and again when I’m done.

    Never had and significant sticking issues since I’ve done that. For whatever reason, keeps the grill from getting nasty and sticky, and my friends claim it adds flavor (probably does, but I’ve not noticed overall)…

    Fish oil seems it could work. And the sesame oil sounds divine. I’ll have to try that sometime.

  176. 176.

    Ruckus

    December 18, 2011 at 7:23 pm

    @gaz:
    Only had the fish sticking to the grill but liked the effect so that I tried it on steaks and chops.

  177. 177.

    gaz

    December 18, 2011 at 7:27 pm

    @Ruckus: I see. At any rate, it gives me some viable usage for that fish oil I have sitting around (seriously)

    So I’ll have to try this.

  178. 178.

    Comrade Mary

    December 18, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    Whoa — gaz, don’t use fish oil on high heat! Ruckus is using sesame oil on fish, not fish oil on fish.

    If you have some expensive bottled fish oil (bought for the Omega-3’s, I guess), you break down those compounds at high heat. It may also not taste very good at all.

    If you want a fish oil that doesn’t taste like fish at al, there’s Carlson’s Lemon flavoured oil. I’m highly sensitive to fishy tastes in unexpected places, but I can’t taste any fish at all in this stuff.

  179. 179.

    Downpuppy

    December 18, 2011 at 8:33 pm

    @PeakVT: With nukes, I know some physicists. Most of them were very much “Don’t be hysterical”

    Before Fukushima.

    Now,even the physicists are skeptical.

  180. 180.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 18, 2011 at 8:35 pm

    @Ruckus: Wow, that’s fantastic. I adore the sound of Finnish a cappella groups. Thanks for the link.

  181. 181.

    ellie

    December 18, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    That seal! It is so cute!

  182. 182.

    tomvox1

    December 18, 2011 at 10:03 pm

    @Schlemizel:

    No shit. I wasn’t asking for a victory dance. Just an acknowledgment of a(nother) promise kept is all. And if the media would do a modicum of its fucking job, maybe we could have a moment of reflection on some of the points you raise rather than sweeping it under the collective national psychological rug. Ya dig?

  183. 183.

    Annamal

    December 18, 2011 at 10:20 pm

    Hey that seal is a countryman(er seal), he crawled into someone’s house through a cat-door and briefly became a national celebrity (NZ doesn’t have a lot of news normally).

    Furseals of about that age leave their parents and show up all over the place provoking panicked calls to the conservation department because people think they’ve been abandoned by their parents.

    I used to hang out with this little guy on the waterfront in Wellington
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/5498208/Seal-soaking-up-the-sun-in-Wellington

    He was equally adorable but stunk to high heaven.

  184. 184.

    Ruckus

    December 18, 2011 at 10:24 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    I had no idea that I liked this type of music. But I clicked on the video and wow. Had to share that. Maybe it’s just that they are so good. Try some of their other stuff on YouTube.

  185. 185.

    dance around in your bones

    December 19, 2011 at 7:12 am

    jeez, i never watch Morning Joe, but woke up this AM, already made my coffee, don’t want it to go to waste and thought it was later than it was (4am here) and watching Joey Scar now …what bunch of crud that show is.

    Maybe back to bed for a while. Also Kim Jong Il is dayd; too bad, so sad. Heh.

    My sleep patterns are all screwed up, because my husband just died and I am all ….well, all screwed up. Damn.

  186. 186.

    Xanthippas

    December 19, 2011 at 7:37 pm

    So during the Bush era every liberal blogger is an expert on the Patriot Act and national security law, and every encroachment of civil liberties by the Bush admin is evidence that the sky is falling. Now that Obama’s doing it it’s “Language matters!”

    F this. I”ll check back here in a few years.

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