Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

The revolution will be supervised.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

You cannot shame the shameless.

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

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

A dilettante blog from the great progressive state of West Virginia.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

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Reader Interactions

62Comments

  2. 2.

    A moocher

    they are well-suited to each other. Bill Gates should be selling his stock, because Microsoft is doomed.

    I can’t believe what I was reading in Vanity Fair….I mean, where in heck are the shareholders?

  5. 5.

    dmsilev

    So, how long until Microsoft Windows Latina Aunts Edition? Microsoft Office for Lacrosse Grandmothers?

  6. 6.

    Gin & Tonic

    In other “Democratic” news, I saw a column by Lanny Fucking Davis on foxnews.com saying Willard should release his tax returns. If you’ve lost the bottom-feeding scumbag vote, then there’s not much left.

  8. 8.

    eric

    @freelancer: dude is chris bosh. posing his ass off like he was the one that carried the team to the championship when it was the other guy(s).

  11. 11.

    mechwarrior online fuck yeah

    MSFT will do fine. Not even Penn can sink them. Now yahoo on the other hand is screwed.

  13. 13.

    Brachiator

    Steve Ballmer just hired Mark Penn to lead “Consumer Initiatives” at Microsoft.

    Now that’s just sad.

  16. 16.

    mechwarrior online fuck yeah

    @kindness:

    Apples big news of the day was losing a lawsuit to Samsung and their new macbook pro screwed up massively and is so non green/non safe disposal they are going to lose contracts that require eco friendly PCs.

    So they’ve had some interesting news as well.

    I prefer linux myself… though windows works fine for most things. I don’t really care about OSX but apples computers are too cheap/low end for my tastes.

    That’s not a bash either.

  17. 17.

    mechwarrior online fuck yeah

    @kindness:

    Apples big news of the day was losing a lawsuit to Samsung and their new macbook pro screwed up massively and is so non green/non safe disposal they are going to lose contracts that require eco friendly PCs.

    So they’ve had some interesting news as well.

    I prefer linux myself… though windows works fine for most things. I don’t really care about OSX but apples computers are too cheap/low end for my tastes.

    That’s not a bash either.

  19. 19.

    JGabriel

    Steve Ballmer just hired Mark Penn to lead “Consumer Initiatives” at Microsoft.

    Did Apple’s stock go up with this news?

    .

  20. 20.

    r€nato

    @mechwarrior online fuck yeah: Apple rejoined the EPEAT initiative, so your disaster scenario is not going to happen… the only thing Apple lost in court today was, along with Samsung, the ability to keep certain documents secret. So that disaster scenario didn’t even happen.

    In court, at least in California, Apple is so far doing quite well against Samsung. There are several Apple v. Samsung lawsuits, to which are you referring?

    Apple Derangement Syndrome is, in some cases, far worse than Obama Derangement Syndrome.

  21. 21.

    PeakVT

    Interesting comment from Peter Thiel:

    PETER THIEL: But, then the intellectually honest thing to do would be to say that Google is no longer a technology company, that it’s basically ‑‑ it’s a search engine. The search technology was developed a decade ago. It’s a bet that there will be no one else who will come up with a better search technology. So, you invest in Google, because you’re betting against technological innovation in search. And it’s like a bank that generates enormous cash flows every year, but you can’t issue a dividend, because the day you take that $30 billion and send it back to people you’re admitting that you’re no longer a technology company. That’s why Microsoft can’t return its money. That’s why all these companies are building up hordes of cash, because they don’t know what to do with it, but they don’t want to admit they’re no longer tech companies.

  22. 22.

    Anne Laurie

    If it gets Mark Penn out of politics, Ballmer will have performed a genuine public service.

    By which I mean: Probably too good to be true.

  23. 23.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    @r€nato:

    No, the judge in the UK requiring Apple to take out an ad to apologize.

    You know, after a certain point, you use whatever OS you are most productive and comfortable with. Whether or not its Windows or OS X is irrelevant. Time to move beyond the fanbois phase.

  24. 24.

    Martin

    @mechwarrior online fuck yeah:

    Apples big news of the day was losing a lawsuit to Samsung and their new macbook pro screwed up massively and is so non green/non safe disposal they are going to lose contracts that require eco friendly PCs.
    So they’ve had some interesting news as well.

    They’re going to lose a lot of lawsuits to Samsung simply on account of there being so many lawsuits. The one they lost isn’t any big shakes. And Samsung still has a looming import ban to deal with which is potentially at least slightly damaging. Motorola is under one now due to losing a suit with MS. Apple was just granted a massive patent yesterday and a notable but not earth shattering one the day before (they were granted a few dozen this week, but one is quite substantial) so there will be more suits. This is going to be the new normal for a while. Most of the patents Apple applied for in 2007 when the iPhone shipped are just now being reviewed and granted.

    And there won’t be any appreciable lost sales over the new Macbook. It’s no less ecofriendly than the IPhone as it uses precisely the same manufacturing techniques as it, and that’s selling just fine. There’s no real issue there either. The other OEMs will almost certainly be following Apple down that path soon enough anyway – the only way to keep reducing the thickness of these devices is to eliminate orthogonal connectors. That means glue. All the mobile phones, all of the tablets, all of the thin laptops are inevitably going down that path.

  26. 26.

    TenguPhule

    If you’ve lost the bottom-feeding scumbag vote, then there’s not much left.

    There’s still the Republican base of 27% left.

  28. 28.

    Martin

    @PeakVT:

    That’s why all these companies are building up hordes of cash, because they don’t know what to do with it, but they don’t want to admit they’re no longer tech companies.

    I don’t agree with that. I agree that they don’t know what to do with it, though. The age of conglomerates is largely over. That’s what you used to do with profits – just push your product/service borders out a bit further until you looked like GE or Samsung – building everything from clock radios to nuclear reactors. These new tech companies are much more vertical and incorporate content, distribution, as well as tech.

    But I don’t know how you can possibly argue that an Apple or a Microsoft isn’t a tech company. That argument might work a bit better with Google because they aren’t a search company at all. You are what you sell, and Google sells ads. In fact, they pay for search – they pay browsers and phone makers to make them the default search. But they’re an ad company that uses tech to sell more ads.

    I can’t speak to why Google or MSFT aren’t returning more cash because I don’t follow them as closely, but Apple quite literally doesn’t know how to spend it faster. Or I should say, their management structure doesn’t have enough bandwidth to do that, without changing the structure, which they are loathe to do. At some point they may buy out a truly large company – something that they are uniquely positioned to do – and that no other company has ever had the option of doing. They have enough cash to buy entire industries. They could buy every US credit card company. Every PC manufacturer. Every mobile phone maker. They could buy Intel. Or Verizon. Or Amazon. And if they stay on this path, in 18 months they could buy AT&T or Google or Microsoft. It’s sorta mind-blowing.

  29. 29.

    TenguPhule

    Steve Ballmer just hired Mark Penn to lead “Consumer Initiatives” at Microsoft.

    Next, the FEC will hire Karl Rove for the “Fairness in Elections” review board.

  30. 30.

    burnspbesq

    OT, but extremely cool: the Pentagon is allowing service personnel to march in uniform in Saturday’s San Diego Gay Pride Parade.

  34. 34.

    Davis X. Machina

    @Gin & Tonic: We would have reached it earlier, because President McCain would either have done it through executive order, or rammed it through Congress by sheer bullyarmfiresidetwistingpulpitude.

  35. 35.

    Black Jack Shellac

    Hmmm, hires Mark Penn announces $745M quarterly loss? Connected or just karma?

  36. 36.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    Windows 8 (Metro) sucks ass and MS hires Penn. Coincidence? I think not.

    SELL! SELL! SELL! ;p

  40. 40.

    MazeDancer

    @Gin & Tonic:

    If you’ve lost the bottom-feeding scumbag vote, then there’s not much left.

    Certainly not in the Republican Party. Or alleged, but never actually seen, Swing Votership.

    Laughed very hard.

    Would have spit out wine except was also contemplating my tiny, but now oh, so, much more valuable shares of Apple. Lawsuits are nothing compared to that Penn hire.

  41. 41.

    Martin

    @Odie Hugh Manatee:

    The patent troll gets nailed to the wall.

    I don’t think you know what ‘patent troll’ means.

    Apple hasn’t sued anyone over any patent that they haven’t personally implemented and are selling products based on. Further, not one patent that Apple has sued based on is a patent they bought – it’s all been actual in-house development. And Apple hasn’t sued using a single FRAND patent, unlike everyone except I think Microsoft.

    Now, you might argue that the patent system is broken, but that just means that if Apple hadn’t applied for the patent then MS or Google or Samsung, etc would have patented the same thing and used it against Apple.

  42. 42.

    Foxhunter

    Ballmer and Co just fucked over the SMB market by dropping their Small Business Server
    Product in a push to get everyone in the cloud.

    Perhaps he hired Penn to smooth customer relations in the under 75 user market with polling plus analysis plus action plan.

    /snark

  44. 44.

    dr. bloor

    @dmsilev:

    So, how long until Microsoft Windows Latina Aunts Edition? Microsoft Office for Lacrosse Grandmothers?

    This post isn’t getting nearly enough love.

  47. 47.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    @burnspbesq:
    WTF? Not doubting you, but that’s extremely surprising. I’m happy, but normally the military is pretty strict about people wearing uniforms to things that can even remotely be construed as political.

  52. 52.

    Bago

    I run win 8, and I like it. Given that it’s going to be on my phone and Xbox as well, just makes development that much more interesting.

  53. 53.

    JoeShabadoo

    @Martin:

    You are what you sell, and Google sells ads. In fact, they pay for search – they pay browsers and phone makers to make them the default search. But they’re an ad company that uses tech to sell more ads.

    A lot of people have been buying into this “Google is an ad company” meme. Television stations, radio stations, magazines, Fox, search engines, Facebook, my local movie theater and even Balloon Juice make money through ads but they are not advertising companies.

    Media companies would almost all be called advertising companies by this definition. Its ridiculous.

  55. 55.

    Walker

    @JoeShabadoo: U

    A lot of people have been buying into this “Google is an ad company” meme

    The reason they fall into this meme is because Google spends a crap load of R&D money on ad algorithms (it is their next major division after search). They do not just place the ads. They sell expertise in delivering them to the correct audience.

  56. 56.

    Mnemosyne

    @Walker:

    They do not just place the ads. They sell expertise in delivering them to the correct audience.

    So do TV networks. They can tell you down to the minute how many people from which demographic are watching a particular show and what the people in that demographic buy.

  57. 57.

    MFA

    @Martin:

    “And if they stay on this path, in 18 months they could buy AT&T or Google or Microsoft. It’s sorta mind-blowing.”

    Ah, that explains the Mark Penn hire. It’s a poison pill.

  58. 58.

    different-church-lady

    @Martin:

    They have enough cash to buy entire industries. They could buy every US credit card company. Every PC manufacturer. Every mobile phone maker.

    Thank god they’re not interested in any of that.

  60. 60.

    Gemina13

    Right now, I’m sure my two former housemates/best friends are cursing Ballmer’s name and thanking God on their knees that they cashed out their MSFT stock when he was named Gates’ successor. Yes, they’re employees. No, they have little control anymore over product. Ballmer’s reign has instituted a regime of nitpicking, micromanagement, and constant pushing to get out substandard product.

    My friends loathe him for the mess that was Windows Vista, the mess that will be the new MS tablet, the wreckage of the Zune and other nifty toys planned for the market (but delayed until Apple had time to corner the market themselves), and his general Corporate Asshole style. Pretty soon, shareholders may have good reason to start cursing Ballmer, too.

  61. 61.

    NCSteve

    *facepalm* I swear, Ballmer’s just Carly Fiorina with a penis and a much bigger pile of cash to burn down before the shareholders can see the train wreck it was hiding.

  62. 62.

    mainmati

    @The Other Chuck: Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist and pollster in 2008. Has his own firm and has a giant ego. Bill Gates is actually one of his clients so there was a Microsoft connection already. Coincidentally, today Microsoft announced its first ever quarterly loss since it went public nearly 30 years ago. Hiring Penn suggests we may continue to see more losses in the future.

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