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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open thread

Open thread

by DougJ|  May 24, 20121:20 pm| 147 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Please be civil and nonpartisan.

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Previous Post: « That obscure object of desire
Next Post: They’re Crazy, And You Know It »

Reader Interactions

147Comments

  1. 1.

    Comrade Mary

    May 24, 2012 at 1:21 pm

    Fuck you. All of you. With the same rusty pitchfork.

  2. 2.

    Ash Can

    May 24, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    Comrade Mary beat me to it. Fuck her too.

  3. 3.

    Yutsano

    May 24, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    @Comrade Mary: Feux toi aussi.

    (hi!)

  4. 4.

    Tickraw

    May 24, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    Saw The Great Gatsby trailer this morning, not impressed. Starting a trailer with an autotuned song is a deal killer, particuarly if the film takes place in the 1920s. I’ll stick with Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis, can’t wait for that one.

  5. 5.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 24, 2012 at 1:24 pm

    @Comrade Mary:

    Fuck you. All of you. With the same rusty pitchfork.

    Both sides do it!

  6. 6.

    Comrade Mary

    May 24, 2012 at 1:25 pm

    It’s a gangbang! With tetanus! ARGHH!

    (Hey, Yuts! Still chowing down on hospital chow?)

  7. 7.

    TenguPhule

    May 24, 2012 at 1:27 pm

    Please be civil and nonpartisan.

    Death to the Republicans! Their skulls for cups and their blood for wine!

  8. 8.

    Yutsano

    May 24, 2012 at 1:27 pm

    @Comrade Mary: @Comrade Mary: On Mom chow now, which is an infinite improvement. Now trying to figure out who’s going to take me to my appointment tomorrow since Dad had blood drained from his fake knee and may have to have that cut open again here soon. It’s probably a good thing she’s not working, although I can tell taking care of her father is getting boring for her.

  9. 9.

    Comrade Mary

    May 24, 2012 at 1:30 pm

    @Yutsano: Oh, wow. Everybody got ailing together, eh? Y’all owe your mom big-time, I think.

  10. 10.

    schrodinger's cat

    May 24, 2012 at 1:31 pm

    DougJ are you trying to be the Broder of Balloon Juice?

  11. 11.

    scav

    May 24, 2012 at 1:32 pm

    seville, like an orange.

  12. 12.

    Culture of Truth

    May 24, 2012 at 1:32 pm

    woot

  13. 13.

    Parrotlover77

    May 24, 2012 at 1:33 pm

    For the geeks: Objectivist-C

  14. 14.

    Stuck in the Funhouse

    May 24, 2012 at 1:34 pm

    Now peoplesoids, be kind, I’m Ok and you’re Ok too.

  15. 15.

    jibeaux

    May 24, 2012 at 1:34 pm

    Mackey’s Ferry Peanuts gourmet peanut butter is the best fucking peanut butter of all time and I really should not have bought some to keep in my damn office desk drawer. The crunchy is also good — both sides bring it!

  16. 16.

    Arrik

    May 24, 2012 at 1:34 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Haha, schrodinger’s cat beat me to it. Doug, I love your posts because you’re one of the few bipartisan centrists who realize that both sides do it. You’re like the juicy David Broder.

  17. 17.

    geg6

    May 24, 2012 at 1:35 pm

    I am currently mesmerized by the lovely bag in the Burberry ad here. I only wish that Burberry would put that one on Charlie Pierce’s site, too, instead of that little boy they have dressed up in big man’s clothes there.

    Sadly, I cannot afford Burberry anything, let alone a bag. Unless I can find one on eBay. That’s how I got my Coach collection after all. Hmmmm…

  18. 18.

    Brachiator

    May 24, 2012 at 1:35 pm

    @Tickraw:

    Saw The Great Gatsby trailer this morning, not impressed. Starting a trailer with an autotuned song is a deal killer, particuarly if the film takes place in the 1920s.

    I understand that the movie is going to be in 3D.

    I’ll just let that sink in.

    On the other hand, I’m crushed that the GI Joe sequel has been pulled from the summer and pushed to 2013. And again, they are going to re-process it for 3D.

    I blame Joss Whedon.

  19. 19.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 24, 2012 at 1:36 pm

    Broder fever…catch it!

  20. 20.

    redshirt

    May 24, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    Why did Broder cross the road?

    Cuz both sides do it.

  21. 21.

    eemom

    May 24, 2012 at 1:39 pm

    hey y’all cocksuckers, check out this shit-kicking motherfucker of an article about The 7 Dirty Words…..it’ll impress the piss out of you how Bella traces the history from Bruce to Carlin to Black AND it has the extra added advantage of coming on the eve of the Supreme Court’s decision on this matter which is no doubt gonna suck c#nt and cause whiny ass titty babies like Cole to go ballistic.

  22. 22.

    tjmn

    May 24, 2012 at 1:39 pm

    @Yutsano: Yutsano, did you just have surgery on your neck? I’m having c5-c6 and c6-c7 problems, which is pinching my radial nerve in left arm. Painful as business end of rusty pitchfork. Is this what you experienced?

  23. 23.

    mouse tolliver

    May 24, 2012 at 1:39 pm

    This is from HuffPo but it needs to go viral. A video that uses Goodfellas and The Sopranos to explain Bain Capital’s fuck-you-pay-me business model.

  24. 24.

    The Dangerman

    May 24, 2012 at 1:40 pm

    A special fuck you should go out to George Tierney of Greenville, South Carolina.

    ETA: You think there’s a George Tierney that lives in Greenville, NORTH Carolina (if such a place exists?). Poor fucker if so.

  25. 25.

    Midnight Marauder

    May 24, 2012 at 1:40 pm

    Clearly, DougJ is in the pocket of Big Readership Capture.

  26. 26.

    slag

    May 24, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    @Brachiator: I’ve gone on record with my dislike of 3D. But after doing some rigorous experimenting with The Avengers as my control variable, I’ve now become a centrist on the issue.

  27. 27.

    Corner Stone

    May 24, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    While we’re being dedicatedly civil:
    Groups Concerned Over Arming Of Domestic Drones
    Welcome to Texas bitchez!

    “Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in Texas told The Daily that his department is considering using rubber bullets and tear gas on its drone.”
    …
    “McDaniel says that his community should not be worried about the department using a drone.

    “We’ve never gone into surveillance for sake of surveillance unless there is criminal activity afoot,” McDaniel told The Daily. “Just to see what you’re doing in your backyard pool — we don’t care.”

  28. 28.

    Rosalita

    May 24, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    @geg6: I cannot afford Burberry anything, let alone a bag. Unless I can find one on eBay. That’s how I got my Coach collection after all. Hmmmm…

    me too…the retail prices were always bad but seem to have spiked over the last couple of years. best to find the wealthy woman who is cleaning out her closet. I scored some original Kate Spade’s that way.

  29. 29.

    flukebucket

    May 24, 2012 at 1:44 pm

    I’m beginning to wonder if, in the case of healthcare, the only way to advance fiscal conservatism is through a much more socialized medical system. When I first entered this debate, single-payer seemed the worst option to me. But the more I have understood, the saner it appears. If the free market cannot work in healthcare – and it has failed spectacularly in this country to provide even a semblance of value-for-money – then it may be time to grasp the nettle.

    Linky

  30. 30.

    Brachiator

    May 24, 2012 at 1:44 pm

    In light of the recent furor over the Larry Flynt Hustler jibe at a conservative pundit, I found this song lyric from singer Amanda Palmer to be very interesting.

    h/t to Mnemosyne

    Don’t make Amanda Palmer angry. Just ask her current label, Warner Music subsidiary and heavy metal haven Roadrunner Records. The Dresden Dolls frontwoman recently eviscerated Roadrunner in a recent “Moon River”-type live ballad called “Please Drop Me”.
    __
    (Sample lyric: “Please drop me, what do I have to do?/ I’m tired of sucking corporate dick.”)
    __
    This comes after the label tried to edit out some bare-stomach shots in her video for “Leeds United” from her 2008 solo album Who Killed Amanda Palmer; “They thought I looked fat,” wrote Palmer on her blog, “I thought they were on crack.”

  31. 31.

    Rosalita

    May 24, 2012 at 1:45 pm

    @Rosalita: Block quote fail

  32. 32.

    yopd1

    May 24, 2012 at 1:46 pm

    Obama’s support of Gay Marriage really matters:

    Public Policy Polling surveys the people of Maryland and finds a 57-37 lead for approval of the new gay marriage law. Guess why?
    The movement over the last two months can be explained almost entirely by a major shift in opinion about same-sex marriage among black voters. Previously 56 percent said they would vote against the new law with only 39 percent planning to uphold it. Those numbers have now almost completely flipped, with 55 percent of African Americans planning to vote for the law and only 36 percent now opposed.

  33. 33.

    scav

    May 24, 2012 at 1:46 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Groups Concerned Over Arming Of Domestic Drones

    Christ, I read that and I thought someone might actually be objecting to housewives owning guns.

    ETA: although, technically, I supposed the drones are the ones in the Laz-E-boys, not the ones in the kitchens. I don’t explain my mind, I only live here.

  34. 34.

    Yutsano

    May 24, 2012 at 1:47 pm

    @tjmn: Mine was in the lumbar region, although the pain radiated down through my legs and caused horrible night twitches. The twitches have almost completely gone away now even just one week after. You definitely sound like a good candidate for a laminectomy, which is where they make the hole for the nerve larger. I had a microdiscectomy, where they took the bulges out and pushed the rest back into place. I can feel huge improvements already, although the maximum benefit comes after 6 weeks when the nerve irritation calms down. But start with a physical therapy regimen first, the surgery is the last resort.

  35. 35.

    The Red Pen

    May 24, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    Republicans have proven that evolution is bunk.

    According to “science,” humans enjoy an advantage due to our opposable thumbs and ability to think abstractly. Republicans are thriving using only their middle fingers and without thinking at all.

    Romney 1812!

  36. 36.

    Comrade Dread

    May 24, 2012 at 1:49 pm

    I’ve been kicking around the idea of getting more involved with politics with a goal of running for office in the future.

    Any of my fellow political junkies who are more connected have any advice or ideas for how one would go about doing that?

  37. 37.

    Dan

    May 24, 2012 at 1:49 pm

    @flukebucket:

    Are there any liberal values that Sully hasn’t claimed as conservative yet?

  38. 38.

    Mike E

    May 24, 2012 at 1:50 pm

    @slag: When it comes to my local IMAX 3-D viewing, I’m a back row centrist!

  39. 39.

    Comrade Dread

    May 24, 2012 at 1:51 pm

    @Corner Stone: America: Where war isn’t just our biggest export, we’re bringing it home to you!

  40. 40.

    Libby's person

    May 24, 2012 at 1:52 pm

    I was doing non-partisan voter registration last week. In response to my cheery “Are you registered to vote, sir?”, a decrepit old coot smilingly replied “I can’t wait to vote that ni##r out of office!” I politely declined to continue the conversation; he responded “I bet you’re a LIBERAL, aren’t you?!” I said “I’m a non-partisan voter register” and turned away from him. It took a while for the icky feeling to go away.

    I got satisfaction in the end – the three voters I registered that hour were Black.

  41. 41.

    jibeaux

    May 24, 2012 at 1:54 pm

    @The Dangerman: It exists. It ain’t the Southern part of Heaven, but it’s a long way spiritually from Greenville, South Carolina. Where George Tierney, Jr., lives.

  42. 42.

    redshirt

    May 24, 2012 at 1:54 pm

    @Comrade Dread: Suck up to rich people.

  43. 43.

    MattF

    May 24, 2012 at 1:55 pm

    And Mayor Bloomberg, it seems, has things to do, and he’s just trying to do them:

    http://gothamist.com/2012/05/24/fine_bloomberg_wont_use_the_stupid.php

    It’s just those discourteous individuals who are getting in the way.

  44. 44.

    Yutsano

    May 24, 2012 at 1:55 pm

    @Libby’s person: You should have asked him if he enjoys his Medicare and Social Security. Since both of those are liberal ideas. Also casually mention the fact that if he chose he could get everything done privately but he’d pay through the nose for private insurance and be eating nothing but cat food. Then pass him over to me: I know a tax scofflaw when I see one. And yes the IRS CAN levy retirement accounts. And SS.

  45. 45.

    BGK

    May 24, 2012 at 1:55 pm

    Implementing PKI is making my brane hurt. I need an office cat.

  46. 46.

    jibeaux

    May 24, 2012 at 1:56 pm

    @Libby’s person: yeesh. Thanks for fighting the good fight, the right way, anyway. If it were me, I’d take comfort in thinking “even odds he’ll be dead before November”, but you sound like a better person than me.

  47. 47.

    tjmn

    May 24, 2012 at 1:56 pm

    @Yutsano: Thanks. Have the PT consult. I’ll be starting that soon. MRI scheduled on 17 June.

  48. 48.

    LanceThruster

    May 24, 2012 at 1:56 pm

    Please be civil and nonpartisan.

    By that, I assume you mean don’t depict anyone going down on the hairy root.

    Done, and done, sir!

  49. 49.

    Corner Stone

    May 24, 2012 at 1:57 pm

    @scav:

    I don’t explain my mind, I only live here.

    Are you sure?

  50. 50.

    Mark S.

    May 24, 2012 at 1:57 pm

    @Brachiator:

    I understand that the movie is going to be in 3D.

    And it’s directed by Baz Luhrmann of Moulin Rouge and Romeo+Juliet fame, two movies I’ve never been able to get through.

    I remember trying to watch Moulin Rouge on a plane. I lasted about ten minutes before I had a splitting headache.

  51. 51.

    George Tierney Jr of Greenville SC

    May 24, 2012 at 1:58 pm

    @The Dangerman: Fuck you, too

  52. 52.

    Nina

    May 24, 2012 at 1:58 pm

    I recently introduced my 11-year-old daughter to youtube George Carlin routines. I am either the Greatest Mom Evar or a horrible parent who will cause of her descent into emo adolescent hell. Or both. I’m middle-of-the-road that way.

  53. 53.

    Corner Stone

    May 24, 2012 at 1:59 pm

    @Comrade Dread:

    we’re bringing it home to you!

    This was so easily predictable that only Zandar, or possibly a Frenchman, could not have known it was a certainty.

  54. 54.

    Yutsano

    May 24, 2012 at 2:00 pm

    @tjmn: Heh. PT is fun. I have two of them: The Amazon and The Fratboy Sadist. They’re just dying to get their paws on me after I’ve healed up.

  55. 55.

    JGabriel

    May 24, 2012 at 2:00 pm

    @Comrade Mary:

    It’s a gangbang! With tetanus!

    -.-. .- -. – … .–. . .- -.- .. …- . –. — – .-.. — -.-. -.- .— .- .–

    __
    __
    (Translation: “Can’t speak. I’ve got lockjaw”)

    .

  56. 56.

    Comrade Dread

    May 24, 2012 at 2:02 pm

    @redshirt: Thanks, but I was hoping to not whore myself out and take bribes until I was running for a national office.

  57. 57.

    piratedan

    May 24, 2012 at 2:02 pm

    @eemom: ty eemon, that was a nifty article and appreciate you sharing it.

  58. 58.

    lacp

    May 24, 2012 at 2:03 pm

    @flukebucket: “Grasping the nettle?” That’s what Sullivan’s calling it these days? Whatever happened to “spanking his monkey” or “slapping his rat” or “whipping his lizard” or any of those other animal-hating euphemisms?

  59. 59.

    slag

    May 24, 2012 at 2:06 pm

    @Mike E:

    I’m a back row centrist!

    You’re so centrist no one even knows you’re there!

  60. 60.

    Brachiator

    May 24, 2012 at 2:08 pm

    @Mark S.:

    And it’s directed by Baz Luhrmann of Moulin Rouge and Romeo+Juliet fame, two movies I’ve never been able to get through.

    Couldn’t get into Moulin Rouge, but loved Romeo+Juliet.

  61. 61.

    Basilisc

    May 24, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    I posted this at the end of the last open thread, so naturally someone opened a new one a second later. So I’ll post it again, because I’m still angry, frightened, depressed, and physically ill:

    The Daily Caller is giving away one gun a week between now and the election.

    We’re giving high-powered weapons to people, and linking it explicitly to a presidential election, in a country with astronomical rates of gun violence, where four presidents have been assassinated and where a Congresswoman was shot just last year.

    This makes me angry, frightened, depressed, and physically ill. Does that mean I’m un-American?

  62. 62.

    The Red Pen

    May 24, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    @Libby’s person:

    a decrepit old coot smilingly replied “I can’t wait to vote that ni##r out of office!”

    I would have said, “George W Bush isn’t in office anymore, sir.”

    If he says, “George Bush is not a ni##er,” act confused, “Are you sure?” Keep acting as if he’s using the n-word in an entire novel and incomprehensible manner. Offer helpful tidbits like, “I’m pretty sure that George W. Bush is right-handed, so how is he not a ni##er?” I’ve done this. It’s really fun.

    If he says, “I’m not talking about George W. Bush,” just keep acting like he doesn’t know what year it is and that Bush is still president. Ask him things like, “Is the lady or man who takes care of you nearby?” Act every bit the concerned Samaritan who has encountered a demented, feeble old man who is in dire need of assistance and should not be out in public unescorted. Not as fun as the scenario above, but it can be satisfying.

  63. 63.

    redshirt

    May 24, 2012 at 2:10 pm

    @Comrade Dread: I think you misunderstand what US Politics is about then! Surely, you’re not so naive to think it’s about the “public good” or “serving your community” or “making the world a better place for our children”, do you?

    It’s about the Benajamins, dog!

  64. 64.

    MattF

    May 24, 2012 at 2:11 pm

    @Basilisc: No. Impolite and partisan, maybe.

  65. 65.

    chopper

    May 24, 2012 at 2:12 pm

    @Yutsano:

    Dad had blood drained from his fake knee

    dang, they make orthopedics realistic these days.

  66. 66.

    Suffern ACE

    May 24, 2012 at 2:12 pm

    @flukebucket: O.K. that sound I hear may not be rain, it may actually be bits of the sky falling. Pigs might be flying. Snowballs may not be melting in hell. 2012 may be real. If you pointed in the direction of up, I would not have any reason to believe you.

  67. 67.

    Hill Dweller

    May 24, 2012 at 2:12 pm

    Willard’s handlers thought it would be a good idea to put him in a class room full of African-American kids…in Philly. He got an earful for supporting cuts in education, but the best part is the pictures. Willard’s awkwardness is palpable, even in still shots, and the kids look downright annoyed to have him there.

    I wish someone would have asked him why was he riding around France selling a religion that didn’t allow black people.

  68. 68.

    Legalize

    May 24, 2012 at 2:12 pm

    This thread is already the post-punk of douche-clownery.

  69. 69.

    Libby's person

    May 24, 2012 at 2:12 pm

    @Yutsano: I would have loved to have seen you take him down. I’m not very good at dealing with jerks, I’m afraid, and the local GOTV organizer advised us not to get engaged in such discussions. And he looked disappointed when I didn’t rise to the bait, so at least I didn’t give him the dog-cookie of showing that he’d gotten to me.

    @jibeaux: I have to confess to having that particular uncivil thought…

    (Durham is a heavily Democratic town, by the way, so it’s not too difficult to guess what side a ‘non-partisan’ voter registration effort is supporting. Guessing I was a liberal didn’t take too many functional brain cells.)

  70. 70.

    The Red Pen

    May 24, 2012 at 2:14 pm

    @Basilisc:

    The Daily Caller is giving away one gun a week between now and the election.

    Does Tucker Carlson present it to you fully loaded? If so, I might… nah, not worth it.

  71. 71.

    geg6

    May 24, 2012 at 2:14 pm

    @Rosalita:

    best to find the wealthy woman who is cleaning out her closet. I scored some original Kate Spade’s that way.

    Exactly. I hug and stroke my Coach bags every night before bedtime. And laugh when I realize that I’ve never paid more than $75 for one.

  72. 72.

    danielx

    May 24, 2012 at 2:15 pm

    @Stuck in the Funhouse:

    Well, I’m okay but I’m not too sure about you, and I’m pretty sure David Brooks blows goats.

  73. 73.

    Comrade Dread

    May 24, 2012 at 2:17 pm

    @redshirt: I have an Inner Idealist who everyday struggles under the constant beatings from my Inner Cynic who reads the papers.

    So yes, I would like to get involved to try and make things better. I just have no clue as to how to do so. How to network myself into the political party apparatus and start building contacts and good will.

  74. 74.

    arguingwithsignposts

    May 24, 2012 at 2:20 pm

    did i miss the bipartisanship? damn.

  75. 75.

    Davis X. Machina

    May 24, 2012 at 2:21 pm

    @Nina: Firesign Theater, and a 12-year old son. It’s a parent’s duty.

    Now hand me those pliers.

  76. 76.

    arguingwithsignposts

    May 24, 2012 at 2:22 pm

    @Legalize:

    This thread is already the post-punk of douche-clownery

    in the library, with succor?

  77. 77.

    danielx

    May 24, 2012 at 2:22 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Shorter Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel:

    If you’re doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear.

    As you say…Texas, bitches! Rubber bullets and tear gas are considered girly-men weaponry down there. Real men use hollowpoints and so will armed drones, you betcha.

  78. 78.

    slag

    May 24, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    @Comrade Dread: Have you done any GOTVing? If not, I would recommend getting thee to an OFA office asap.

  79. 79.

    Linda Featheringill

    May 24, 2012 at 2:28 pm

    @Comrade Dread:

    Get involved with your local Democratic Party and Be A Good Scout this year.

    After this election, you can again address your own ambitions but with a set of politically involved friends.

    It used to be standard practice for someone running for national office to be a work horse for the party before announcing plans.

  80. 80.

    redshirt

    May 24, 2012 at 2:30 pm

    @Comrade Dread: OK, you’re sincere. So suck up to the rich but all the while plan on stabbing them in the back for the Greater Good. It’s worked for me for years!

  81. 81.

    Andrey

    May 24, 2012 at 2:30 pm

    @Basilisc: I was disappointed to see the “high-powered weapon” is just a 9mm pistol. On the other hand, it’s engraved with a Bill of Rights!

  82. 82.

    Yutsano

    May 24, 2012 at 2:30 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: It got eted in the first comment. Blame Canada.

  83. 83.

    rikyrah

    May 24, 2012 at 2:31 pm

    Tony Soprano explains Bain Capital

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reiq4lEvnEw

  84. 84.

    Davis X. Machina

    May 24, 2012 at 2:32 pm

    @slag: My daughter’s doing voter registration canvassing this summer for a local-state progressive organization, having had zero success in the traditional college-kid-summer-job market.

    I’m kvelling…

  85. 85.

    Mark S.

    May 24, 2012 at 2:33 pm

    Jonathan Cohn analyzes Romney’s health care proposals:

    The ugly: Tens of millions of people would likely end up without health insurance, relative to what will happen if current law stays in place; in fact, the number could reach 58 million, according to one credible estimate drawn from the (admittedly vague) things he’s said so far.

    It seems to me Mitt has adopted all the worst proposals from Paul Ryan and the McCain campaign. So yeah, the press will describe it as centrist.

  86. 86.

    arguingwithsignposts

    May 24, 2012 at 2:35 pm

    @Yutsano: I always blame canada.

  87. 87.

    the fugitive uterus

    May 24, 2012 at 2:35 pm

    after what Rep. Jim Clyburn said, i’m just going to sit here clutching my pearls with hanky and smelling salts nearby.

    why does everybody want to hurt Bain’s fee fees? why??

  88. 88.

    thalarctos

    May 24, 2012 at 2:36 pm

    @Yutsano:

    “The Amazon and The Fratboy Sadist”

    Are those the 2 who were in your room when I visited briefly? Because that description certainly fits, from the look of it.

  89. 89.

    arguingwithsignposts

    May 24, 2012 at 2:38 pm

    @thalarctos: aka, 2 boys, 1 cup

  90. 90.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    May 24, 2012 at 2:38 pm

    @Yutsano: I bet you’re glad to be sprung from your post-op stay. Happy healing to you. Offered in a non-partisan fashion, of course.

  91. 91.

    Daulnay

    May 24, 2012 at 2:38 pm

    In the interest of civility and non-partisanship, take a look at both-sides-are-blind by Jonathan Haidt.

    I heard him on Nice Polite Republican radio (KQED) this morning, and he actually said something informative and thought-provoking.

    —
    This has been a drive-by shooting post by Daulnay
    (sorry, have to take my kid out to pick up the gun she had made, but I’ll be back later)

  92. 92.

    Rafer Janders

    May 24, 2012 at 2:39 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    “Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in Texas told The Daily that his department is considering using rubber bullets and tear gas on its drone.”

    The fools! Rubber bullets will just bounce off the drone’s hard metal exterior, and since the drone doesn’t breathe, tear gas will have no effect!

  93. 93.

    slag

    May 24, 2012 at 2:39 pm

    @Davis X. Machina:

    My daughter’s doing voter registration canvassing this summer for a local-state progressive organization, having had zero success in the traditional college-kid-summer-job market.

    That’s an unhappy tradeoff–getting poor for doing something useful for the community. But we, as a society, have apparently deemed that tradeoff an essential one. So, good for her! Better that than partying in Palm Beach all summer.

  94. 94.

    Another Halocene Human

    May 24, 2012 at 2:40 pm

    @Parrotlover77: As far as hogging resources goes, Objectivist-C seems to accomplish the holy goal of restoring the functionality lost by migrating from C to C++.

    Much like the Ryan Plan will take us to the good old days of Calvin Coolidge.

  95. 95.

    Davis X. Machina

    May 24, 2012 at 2:42 pm

    @slag: She’s meeting all sorts of other over-qualified, bright young people. The canvassing will cure her shyness, and it’s waaaay cheaper than hanging out all summer in a Dennisport tiki bar.

  96. 96.

    AA+ Bonds

    May 24, 2012 at 2:43 pm

    How’s this for nonpartisan: “austerity later” is a bunch of classist bullshit and shame on Krugman and Obama alike for promoting it

    We all know what “austerity” tastes like: nothing, as in no bread, no butter, fend for yourself while we exploit you

  97. 97.

    RalfW

    May 24, 2012 at 2:43 pm

    @yopd1:

    I’ve been wondering if Maryland and Minnesota have been more of a motivator for Obama than Biden’s gay marriage fast-draw.

    Obama will win MN, but a strong NO vote here would help turnout and give a small nudge to Obama’s popular vote tally. And we need some serious coat-tails here to get rid of our awful GOP legislature…

    It would be awesome to see MD ratify same-sex civil marriage. At that point, the winger’s got nuttin. After the “activist judges” b.s. got eliminated with legislative wins, the Repubes went wobbly with legislatures not being somehow representative of popular opinion (elections, how do they work?).

    A legislative win paired with a plebiscite is unassailable (though the wingers will invent a reason to discount this. They’re determined not to just loose over time, but to tar themselves as homophobes for generations).

  98. 98.

    arguingwithsignposts

    May 24, 2012 at 2:44 pm

    @Davis X. Machina:

    it’s waaaay cheaper than hanging out all summer in a Dennisport tiki bar.

    Well, sure, but what isn’t?

  99. 99.

    jibeaux

    May 24, 2012 at 2:44 pm

    @Libby’s person: Hail, fellow North Carolinian, and best of luck to your efforts. I understand that in NC it’s all about the turnout, not so much the persuasion, so turn ’em out in Durham!

  100. 100.

    AA+ Bonds

    May 24, 2012 at 2:45 pm

    @Libby’s person:

    At least you can rest assured that he knew what he was doing was taboo and he was doing it to piss you off

    Even in rural NC white men know not to say stuff like that if they are not among other white men exclusively

    I would also like to say thank you for your efforts, which are the sort of thing that might make people actually still want to move to NC, open branch offices there, etc.

  101. 101.

    geg6

    May 24, 2012 at 2:49 pm

    @Nina:

    I recently introduced my 11-year-old daughter to youtube George Carlin routines.

    In my book, that makes you the greatest parent in the history of parenting.

  102. 102.

    arguingwithsignposts

    May 24, 2012 at 2:51 pm

    @geg6: well, there were no bill hicks involved.

  103. 103.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    May 24, 2012 at 2:52 pm

    If he says, “George Bush is not a ni##er,” act confused, “Are you sure?” Keep acting as if he’s using the n-word in an entire novel and incomprehensible manner.

    @The Red Pen: I pull the same stunt, with the Forrest Gump twist…”Err, sir, I’m not from around here…what’s a ni**er?” They ask where you’re from. I say “I was raised in Iceland”. MAKE THEM EXPLAIN IT IN RAW DETAIL. I’ve never met anyone yet who could finish the process and actually explain what a “ni**er” is. They get too embarrassed.

  104. 104.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 24, 2012 at 2:53 pm

    @Rafer Janders:

    The Journamalist who wrote that should be subjected to both rubber bullets and tear gas.

    Repeatedly.

    The journamalist’s editor, on the other hand, should be subjected to lead bullets and phosgene.

  105. 105.

    AA+ Bonds

    May 24, 2012 at 2:54 pm

    I honestly want to extend my gratitude to anyone doing any left-wing organizing in NC because my inside source on the decrepit Democratic Party there reports that they are completely unable to muster popular organization, since their one-party center-right rule for decades has depended on three things:

    1) low voter turnout in the primaries so incumbents don’t lose their seats
    2) low voter turnout in the election so incumbents don’t lose their seats
    3) money from house parties held by a handful of nepotistic donor families

    They are apparently a total wreck right now and even those willing to mobilize against this amendment were completely unable to do so because there is simply no “party” there in the sense of an organized group of voters

  106. 106.

    Amir Khalid

    May 24, 2012 at 2:54 pm

    @Rafer Janders:
    In all seriousness, why would a police/sheriff’s department need a drone for anything but eye-in-the-sky applications? I could see using one for search-and-rescue or surveillance operations, the latter subject to a warrant where appropriate. But loading up drones with rubber bullets and tear gas must mean they’re looking at fighting hella big riots — for which you’d need riot cops on the ground in any case, and when you’ve got those guys you might as well have them fire the rubber bullets and tear gas.

  107. 107.

    AA+ Bonds

    May 24, 2012 at 2:56 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    They need one because then they can demand more money for upkeep and training, which in turn benefits police-friendly contractors with influence over politics, etc.

    They need one to say they need another one or that they need to pay their friends money to teach new people how to use it or etc.

    It’s the gravy train, sort of, but much more like a gravy matrix

    Expenditures like this are rarely questioned in towns and cities in America unless there is, say, a campus that makes up a significant and loud portion of the population

    And of course, when there is no oversight for those who exercise force as a proxy for the state, and they are poorly paid as is, corruption and embezzlement reign

  108. 108.

    RalfW

    May 24, 2012 at 2:57 pm

    @Hill Dweller: Wow.

    What a patronizing imbecile our easily befuddled Willard is. “I come to learn, obviously, from people who are having experiences that are unique and instructive.”

    So Willard thinks 1) being poor and black is particular to inner city Philly, and 2) there’s a whiff of ‘oh the noble poor and their suffering’ going on here. Ugh.

    Thankfully, it sounds like some West Philly folks instructed Willard how his policies would suck ass for black folk.

  109. 109.

    scav

    May 24, 2012 at 2:57 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    @scav: I don’t explain my mind, I only live here.

    Are you sure?

    Admittedly, I am out of it fairly often but the mail is delivered and the refrigerator is stocked with non-moldy items.

  110. 110.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 24, 2012 at 3:01 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    AA+ Bonds gave you a good portion of the picture.

    The other thing is that advocates of air power have never, ever ceased to try to expand air power beyond its primary mission: reconnaissance on behalf of the dumb grunts. It’s why the USAF loves multi-billion dollar multi-mission aircraft and hate, hate, HATE the A-10, which does one thing…support ground troops…and does it superbly. It does not zoom. Therefore the zoomies do not like it, no they do not.

    So, this recon drone needs to be armed. As if it’s going to compromise its primary mission by calling attention to itself by strafing the pot growers or something.

  111. 111.

    jeff

    May 24, 2012 at 3:02 pm

    Slate author needs to be sent a tweet by DougJ!

    The Left Is Just Fine With Misogyny, As Long As It’s Against Conservative Women

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/05/24/nikki_haley_and_s_e_cupp_prove_that_the_left_is_ok_with_misogyny.html

    Summary: On one hand, the right systematically seeks to harm women; on the other, Larry Flynt. Both sides do it.

  112. 112.

    Anoniminous

    May 24, 2012 at 3:03 pm

    @Comrade Dread:

    I’ve been kicking around the idea of getting more involved with politics with a goal of running for office in the future.

    Step the Zero: Understand most people involved in party politics are stupid, ignorant, venial, selfish, dumb, conceited, egotistic, and/or incompetent. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy outside of Mos Eisley spaceport.

    Step the First: Get a copy of Take Back Your Government. Read it. Follow it. Ignore everything Pournelle writes.

    Step the Second: STUDY the career of Bernie Sanders. Become an expert. Learn what he did, how he did it, and why he did it.

    Step the Third: Get involved in a state organization. Get involved at the county or precinct level IFF you have to in order to move to a state organization.

    Step the Fourth: Build a Team (a pol is the Public Face of a Team.) To do this, work your ass off, make connections, kiss ass, build a power base, and construct and maintain a Farley File.

  113. 113.

    Patricia Kayden

    May 24, 2012 at 3:03 pm

    Has Romneybot ever explained how he will lower the unemployment rate to 6%? He keeps making these announcements on Righty media.

  114. 114.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    May 24, 2012 at 3:06 pm

    @Basilisc: We should all sign up for it. They’ll stop it quickly if liberals keep getting them.

  115. 115.

    The Red Pen

    May 24, 2012 at 3:07 pm

    @Forum Transmitted Disease:

    I pull the same stunt, with the Forrest Gump twist…”Err, sir, I’m not from around here…what’s a ni**er?” They ask where you’re from. I say “I was raised in Iceland”. MAKE THEM EXPLAIN IT IN RAW DETAIL. I’ve never met anyone yet who could finish the process and actually explain what a “ni**er” is. They get too embarrassed.

    That’s even better.

  116. 116.

    The Red Pen

    May 24, 2012 at 3:09 pm

    I noticed that no one has brought up Ron Paul yet. I’m changing that.

    Ron Paul.

  117. 117.

    schrodinger's cat

    May 24, 2012 at 3:13 pm

    @geg6: Do you like Celine? If you like bags you will like the purseblog..

  118. 118.

    MikeJ

    May 24, 2012 at 3:15 pm

    @Parrotlover77:

    For the geeks: Objectivist-C

    And not one a=a joke.

  119. 119.

    Corner Stone

    May 24, 2012 at 3:25 pm

    @Amir Khalid:Are you trying to hurt my feelings?

  120. 120.

    Jennifer

    May 24, 2012 at 3:27 pm

    That Bain/Sopranos/Goodfellas video gave me a really great idea for an ad. Needs some good oppo research to ferret out the numbers, but the general idea is, track down and add up all of the pension obligations that were offloaded onto taxpayers when Bain drove companies into bankruptcy under Rmoney’s watch. Show the amounts Bain made, the amounts taxpayers had to pick up, then some clip of Rmoney talking about how those companies needed to be killed and have their carcasses picked over. Wrap with the observation that it’s not surprising Rmoney would defend this rapacious bust-out of companies given that it made him a quarter-billionaire.

    Also, too: it would be nice to have data showing exactly how much of Bain’s profits can be attributed to looting pension funds that the rest of us paid to make whole or partially whole again.

  121. 121.

    tjmn

    May 24, 2012 at 3:36 pm

    @Yutsano: They sound like fun. Bet you are really looking forward to that. Not.

  122. 122.

    Beauzeaux

    May 24, 2012 at 3:45 pm

    @tjmn:

    Sick people! Do yourself a big favor and read Your Medical Mind by Groopman and Hartzberg.

    Well people should read it too. Its subtitle is “How to Decide What’s Best for You.”

    I read a lot of medical books, I’m a hospice volunteer, and I’m old. You’d think I would have a grasp of medical decision making but this book is an eye-opener.It’s not just end-of-life decisions, though that’s of more interest to me, but decisions about taking prescription drugs, minor and major surgeries, involve risk/benefit calculation.

    A great part of the book addresses somthing that drives me crazy in health reporting. The press reports that this new drug reduces your heart-attack risk by 30 percent. They don’t say what the absolute risk is. So if the absolute risk is 3 percent, reducing it by a third is fairly trivial — especially if the drug has serious side-effects of its own.

    Great book.

  123. 123.

    Scuffletuffle

    May 24, 2012 at 3:53 pm

    @Basilisc: Yes, if you were a Real American you would be competing enthusiastically for one.

    SATSQ

  124. 124.

    Scuffletuffle

    May 24, 2012 at 3:57 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts: 2 boys, 1 Yuts… Lucky Yuts!

  125. 125.

    the fugitive uterus

    May 24, 2012 at 4:04 pm

    @Tickraw:

    Starting a trailer with an autotuned song

    is there any other kind, these days? i wasn’t aware

  126. 126.

    burnspbesq

    May 24, 2012 at 4:07 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Just to see what you’re doing in your backyard pool — we don’t care.”

    Riiiight.

  127. 127.

    geg6

    May 24, 2012 at 4:10 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I’m a huge Coach junkie. I probably have about 10 of them. But I do have a Celine, a Gucci, and a Kate Spade in the purse shrine in my closet. ;-)

    I love, love, love bags and shoes. It’s a real sickness.

  128. 128.

    Randy P

    May 24, 2012 at 4:12 pm

    @Comrade Dread: Get involved with your local party. Get to know the volunteers who really make things happen. Perhaps run for local office first.

  129. 129.

    BruceFromOhio

    May 24, 2012 at 4:19 pm

    DougJBalloon

    Gaia save me, not a day on the Twatter and you’re already in a pissing match with McMegan. WTF is this ‘civil and nonpartisan’ bilge …

  130. 130.

    burnspbesq

    May 24, 2012 at 4:19 pm

    @danielx:

    I’m pretty sure David Brooks blows goats.

    If the goats don’t object, what business is it of yours?

  131. 131.

    A Humble Lurker

    May 24, 2012 at 4:29 pm

    @eemom: Yo. I’m tired of these speech police motherfuckers telling me what I can and can’t say. Like that 50 is too old to work and that any asshole dementia-riddled oldster should step down first chance he gets. Would be the responsible thing to do, I say.

  132. 132.

    Libby's person

    May 24, 2012 at 4:55 pm

    @jibeaux: Hail, right back atcha. We in the Bull City will certainly do our part. We are a lively, unruly, progressive bunch! (Come to the Beaver Queen Pageant on June 2 and see us at our wooliest best! I’d be happy to serve as your ‘native’ guide.)

    @AA+ Bonds: Thanks. The Triangle still rocks, even if much of the rest of the state has, shall we say, issues.

  133. 133.

    piratedan

    May 24, 2012 at 4:57 pm

    in honor of the passing of Ron Shock, one of the last Texas Outlaw Comics….. these words of wisdom

    Have a Drink
    Get Stoned
    Fuck a Stranger
    Eat a Twinkie

    You’re gonna die anyway…….

  134. 134.

    trollhattan

    May 24, 2012 at 4:58 pm

    @Davis X. Machina:

    Shoes for industry!

  135. 135.

    Another Halocene Human

    May 24, 2012 at 5:22 pm

    @AA+ Bonds: Austerity for fatass defense contractors sounds pretty darn good to me.

    Even if my dad did lose his job the last time that happened.

    It’s pretty ridiculous that he has found an awesome job doing original climate research within a defense contractor.

  136. 136.

    MikeJ

    May 24, 2012 at 5:23 pm

    @Libby’s person:
    The hair in the hole in my head
    Too bad the scene is dead

  137. 137.

    Another Halocene Human

    May 24, 2012 at 5:26 pm

    What if we took 1/10 of the money we spend on fighter jets and spy jets that can’t fly and spent that on education and basic science research, and then took the other 9/10 to fill the deficit? AND raised taxes on richy-riches and used THAT to shore up medical care for everyone, but in a careful and well regulated way, a la Medicare, VA, or Britain’s National Health or Canada’s Medicare, and UNLIKE Rick Scott’s Medicaid privatization taxpayer money scamming bingo?

    Wouldn’t that be nice?

  138. 138.

    Another Halocene Human

    May 24, 2012 at 5:28 pm

    @AA+ Bonds:

    1) low voter turnout in the primaries so incumbents don’t lose their seats
    2) low voter turnout in the election so incumbents don’t lose their seats
    3) money from house parties held by a handful of nepotistic donor families

    OMG, sounds like the “Southern” (ie Northern) part of Florida!

  139. 139.

    Another Halocene Human

    May 24, 2012 at 5:39 pm

    @Randy P: Eh, you can run for state office first. It’s not unheard of. I think either a really, really sharp grasp or politics, lawmaking, or a law degree would help, though. An earnest person who doesn’t know the ropes risks being a very ineffective legislator.

  140. 140.

    gene108

    May 24, 2012 at 6:03 pm

    On another forum I frequent one commenter pointed out that government should be run like a business, because when things get tough businesses go lean and lay off people.

    I agree.

    We need to run this country like a business.

    It’s time for the President and Congress act and to start firing Americans from America!

  141. 141.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    May 24, 2012 at 6:05 pm

    You people who drive GMs and Mopars are dumb fucks.

    Ford RULES!

    ;p

  142. 142.

    Ben Cisco

    May 24, 2012 at 6:20 pm

    @gene108:

    It’s time for the President and Congress act and to start firing Americans from America!

    Out of a cannon.

    Into the SUN!*

    *Not intended to be a factual statement.

  143. 143.

    M. Bouffant

    May 24, 2012 at 6:39 pm

    Allez vous faire enculer!

  144. 144.

    M. Bouffant

    May 24, 2012 at 6:39 pm

    Allez vous faire enculer!

  145. 145.

    M. Bouffant

    May 24, 2012 at 6:39 pm

    Deux fois?

  146. 146.

    nastybrutishntall

    May 24, 2012 at 7:09 pm

    @tjmn: Acupuncture by someone decent should take care of that in 2-3 sessions if it’s not a disc herniation or too severe stenosis. I know this because I not only play an acupuncturist on the interwebs, but am one in the Real World. Necks are my favorite to treat because they’re so easy. Go to someone who practices the Dr. Tan “Balance Method” style (actually the most ancient style). Totally indirect needling, mostly on the wrist or ankle opposite the affected side. Should be painless or nearly so with pretty shallow needling.

  147. 147.

    YellowJournalism

    May 25, 2012 at 1:57 am

    @gene108: No, see, they’re doing it even better by going the Office Space route. They let Americans work hard and put up with all types of crap, and when Americans try to speak up for themselves, they’re blown off and shuffled around from hellhole to hellhole. The entire time, Americans are waiting for the payoff, but he dickheads in charge know there’s no payoff in the end.

    And they totally steal Americans’ stapler.

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