If this Treasury Secretary thing doesn’t work out for Jack Lew, he can always play Grandpa Harry Potter in an unauthorized sequel to the series. Or maybe Lew really IS a wizard and can take care of the debt ceiling nonsense with a clever spell. “Republicanus Embrainiamo” or something…
I’m taking the teen to see a matinee showing of “Zero Dark Thirty” today. We’ll see for ourselves how the torture issue is handled and discuss the truth (as we know it) and politics of it afterward. What are y’all up to this fine Sunday morning?
[X-posted at Rumproast]
Mustang Bobby
Watching “Up,” then off to Quaker meeting. Then I’m going to see “Hyde Park on Hudson” because I’m taking a friend who would not want to see “Zero Dark Thirty,” and also because a friend of ours, Elizabeth Wilson, is in the film playing FDR’s mother.
Re: Separated at birth: Daniel Radcliffe could play the young Jack Lew in the inevitable biopic.
geg6
@Mustang Bobby:
I’d like to see “Hyde Park” more than “Zero Dark Thirty” myself. Not into any torture porn or distortions of how Bin Laden was taken down. Fuck Katherine Bigelow. She’s an amoral monster, IMHO.
Baud
Deficitio Reducio
Betty Cracker
@geg6: I’ve heard wildly conflicting accounts of how Bigelow presents it. I want to see for myself.
RosiesDad
I took my 17 year old son to see it on Friday night. He thought it dragged at points in the middle. (I didn’t.) Maybe not as aesthetically pleasing as Argo (My son–who is very politically aware–gave Argo an A/A+ and ZDT a B) but this is a good and important movie, incredibly well done.
The torture scenes are disturbing as much for what you don’t see as for what you do. Did it happen this way and worse? Very likely. That said, these scenes do not make the film; what comes later does.
Enjoy. At some point in the next couple of weeks, I will see it again because the spousal unit also wants to see it. Am looking forward to picking up some of the detail I missed the first time through.
gogol's wife
I HATE MAUREEN DOWD
Would someone please remove her from my Sunday paper?
“Look who’s keeping women down now” Three guesses.
RosiesDad
@gogol’s wife: Your post perfectly demonstrates why there ought to be a “Like” or “Recommend” or “Wildly Agree” button for each comment.
MoDowd needs to stop. I didn’t make it past the 2nd sentence.
Keith
Judging by his signature, there’s a very good chance Jack Lew is at least a pinball wizard.
Southern Beale
It’s been raining all weekend, ground is saturated, and we’ve got heavy storms coming through today. That means flooding. Looks like most of it is going south and north of Nashville.
In other words, just hitting those Congressional districts represented by Tea Party Republicans who voted against Hurricane Sandy relief.
Heh. Karma’s a bitch, y’all.
Steeplejack
Going to brunch in a bit at the house of some friends of a friend. This couple has a reputation for being slightly pretentious, so it will be interesting. Apparently they have one of those expensive designer cats that looks like an ocelot, so I’m looking forward to that.
RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist
Regarding the photos above, for years I wore eyeglasses with circular lenses and frames. Had to switch styles when little kids started staring and pointing.
Gex
About to murder a gynoncologist in the MSP area. The one who didn’t let the port heal before chemo blasting the GF. The one who, put a *note* in that the port needed to be removed, but didn’t put an *order* in for it to be removed. Now we get to see if there is a surgical team available to remove it.
Did I use the phrase shit storm recently? Because that’s what seems to be going on. They need to get this port out NOW. Half the problem here is that they are so severely understaffed at the nursing level that the nurses just noticed now. They all stay past their shifts every single shift just to make sure the stuff that was supposed to get done got done. No one has time to prep for what’s ahead.
PurpleGirl
Very foggy in NYC this morning. I don’t have set plans right now but I may go the movies; don’t know to see what though.
Sly
Saw Django Unchained last night. Didn’t think I’d like it as much as Inglorious Basterds, but ended up liking it more. The concerns people like TNC have about the film are understandable, but ultimately aren’t realized. It isn’t a revenge film. Though it doesn’t capture the Southern slave society perfectly, the fact that it utterly destroys the Lost Cause of the Confederacy narrative as a basis for the Western genre more than makes up for it.
DiCaprio’s best performance since The Basketball Diaries, and Sam Jackson’s best performance ever.
redshirt
@gogol’s wife: Who needs three guesses? My first and only guess: The Republican Party!
A joke! A joke.
It’s Obambi, of course. Right? What do I win?
redshirt
@Southern Beale: In terms of “Game Theory”, the Repukes will win this one, since, when the inevitable storm hits Wingnuttia, and they plead for disaster relief funds, of course they’ll get them. What sane person could deny help to those in need?
This is why evil usually has an upper hand. Good is stupid!
Pooh
I thought the torture itself in ZDT was ambivalent about, but the big takeaway was the effectiveness of good old-fashioned investigating and human intelligence (the key break in finding the compound especially)
RobertDSC-iPhone 4
Zero Dark Thirty is good but hard to watch. The SEAL raid was very good but the rest of it was difficult. There are dialogue snippets that are jarringly out of place, but otherwise it works.
I liked it, but when the DVD comes, I’ll just watch the SEAL portions.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@gogol’s wife:
I’ve got your back.
Jerzy Russian
@Gex: Best of luck to you. I have also had the experience of having too many doctors, with each not fully knowing what is going on. Keep up the pressure on them.
Xenos
@Gex: Best of luck to you indeed. Do what you can, stand strong, make the fuckers do their job. And as others said, be a little selfish when you can and take care of yourself. If for nothing else so you can be strong and present at times like thise when nobody else can be as focussed and present as you can.
The Red Pen
A couple of items.
1) The birthers may be completely marginalized soon. Actual response to a birther on Free Republic:
Shorter: I am incredibly gullible, but not gullible enough to buy the birther conspiracies.
2) Just found out the richest people I know (%0.01-ers) votes for Obama. They have vowed never to vote Republican again. The TEA Party morons may not vote to protect their own interests, but the rich will. If this anecdote is any sign of a trend, we may be seeing the Republicans losing their money base.
MattF
Gonna see ‘The Hobbit.’ The plan was to see it yesterday but an undertrained drone at the multiplex did something bad with the popcorn machine and generated enough smoke to set off the fire alarms. Which, as the theater manager explained to the crowds in front of the theater, meant the building was closed and the projectors were automatically shut down until the arrival of the fire marshal. Which occurred, eventually, later that same day.
Lojasmo
Hanging out on the shores of Lake Superior in a ridiculously priced rental condo. Next up is lunch at the canal park brewpub, then a four hour drive home to Rochester in Mrs. Lojasmo’s new (to her) 2012 chevy cruze.
Wish I could put piczors on the FYWP.
jamick6000
at work now, then watching football.
Speaking of Lew, did anybody see Bernie Sanders came out against his nomination? Seems like a centrist/wall street type of guy. Is there anything I can like about him?
Amir Khalid
My newly-minted Les Miz fandom continues. I’m in the early stages of the book (the part where Fantine is dating Tholomyes, Cosette’s biological father). I have seen the movie — well, a few times. The other day, I watched on YouTube the 25th anniversary concert of the West End production. Magnificent performances by all, except Nick Jonas as Marius. (Meh.)
I’ve found that you can sing the words to Do Re Mi from The Sound of Music to the melody of Red and Black from Les Miz:
Do — a deer, a female deer!
Re — a drop of golden sun!
Mi — a name I call myself!
Fa — a long long way to gooooooo!
And so on.
@Gex:
Are you going to file a formal complaint about this medical mistake? There are already consequences arising from this, and you’d want to make sure this doesn’t happen again, to your SO or to anyone else.
Humble Lurker
@Amir Khalid:
Have you checked out the 10th anniversary? It’s good, and it seems like all the Youtube comments say it’s better than the 25th. There’s also the Broadway version to check out, I believe.
Amir Khalid
@Humble Lurker:
I’m watching the 10th anniversary concert right now.
redshirt
@The Red Pen: If I know Free Republic, he’ll get Zotted soon enough for betraying the revolution.
hitchhiker
Here in Seattle I’m going to have the whole city to myself for a few hours while everybody* stays inside and watches a football game. What shall I do with all these wonderfully empty freeways???
*I exaggerate . . . last Sunday the viewership was 76% of us. So, not really everybody.
Srsly, I’m walking my incredibly wonderful rescue dog, then I’m going to arrange words into lines for the book. I’m doing a section now about promising new gene therapies, which has meant a deep dive into the basics of molecular biology. Living things — including us — are fucking wildly impressive.
The Red Pen
@redshirt:
I don’t think so. There have been anti-birthers all along, but recently they’ve gone from “just leave the birthers alone” to “will you guys STFU?!”
redshirt
@The Red Pen: What was the dude’s name, do you recall? I want to follow him. I read Freep all the time and I’ll watch this trend, if it is such a thing.
Mnemosyne
I’ve been putting it off, but I need to finish writing my father’s obituary today and get my brother’s final agreement on it so I can start sending it off to the various newspapers. (My parents were snowbirds, meaning they spent winters in Arizona and summers in Chicago, so I need to send it to multiple papers.) We may try to see either Lincoln or Django Unchained at some point today, but I need to do at least one load of laundry first.
Tomorrow, I get to have a root canal. Yay. At least I’ve been to this endodontist before, so I know he means it when he says he administers “profound local anesthesia” so the root canal itself won’t hurt a bit. (The soreness of the next couple of days will hurt, but taking ibuprofen on the schedule they give me will help.)
Yutsano
@hitchhiker: It’ll be higher for this game. I recommend hitting the International District and Uwajimaya although there may still be crowds there.
Amir Khalid
@Mnemosyne:
Please resist the temptation to chew on your tongue before the anaesthetic has completely worn off. Your tongue will likely be numb too, and you might not realise how badly you’re injuring it until your mouth gets all bloody.
The Red Pen
@redshirt: It’s Mr Rogers. Checkout this thread
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2976727/posts
handsmile
@Mnemosyne:
Just what measure of karmic retribution is being visited upon you of late: comprehensive house-cleaning for the MIL’s visit, a root canal, writing an obituary (truly sorry for that sad task)? I’ve had my share of all three misfortunes but happily not over a single fortnight or so.
Hope you and G can get away for some cinematic solace. Lincoln is inspiring; haven’t and maybe won’t see Django; recommend not seeing Amour right now (subject matter). Silver Linings Playbook, Promised Land, or 56UP, perhaps?
If only you could develop an appreciation of French New Wave films, I’m sure life would seem to gambol and blossom. :)
Brachiator
@Amir Khalid:
Have not heard the movie yet, but listened to a fun interview with Anne Hathaway on the BBC Radio 5 film show. Her mother played Fantine in an early production of the show, which Hathaway saw when she was seven.
Mnemosyne
@Amir Khalid:
Oh, I’ve had enough dental work in the past few years to know all the ins and outs. I think I’m going to try and eat something reasonably filling before I start the procedure so I won’t get hungry enough to take risks.
@handsmile:
Here’s something weird — the tooth that has gone bad is the counterpart to the one that needed a root canal this summer right after my father-in-law died. It’s the same tooth, only on the right side of my mouth instead of the left. Strange coincidence.
Oh, and …
:-p
Amir Khalid
@Brachiator:
The movie is awesome.When you do see it, don’t forget to bring tissues. They will definitely be needed for Hathaway’s I Dreamed A Dream. My only niggle is that Russell Crowe’s voice seems out of place — he’s the only one in the cast without musical-theatre vocal chops — and it does work against his acting performance a bit.
texasdem
o@Gex: I’m a medical oncologist, and we use ports often for chemo delivery in our patients. The port can actually be used the day it’s put in. The radiologist or surgeeon who puts in the port simply inserts the appropriate needle at the end of the procedure and sends the patient to our office. We don’t see any more infections than usual when we begin treatment that way than when we wait until later.
nellcote
@jamick6000:
Bernie Sanders is being a complete asshole about Lew. By most all accounts Jack Lew has been the one that resists fucking with SS/Medicare/Medicaid in negotiations. He worked at Citibank for a coupole of years between bouts of being director of the CBO. He knows budget matters inside and out and the goopers HATE negotiating with him.
redshirt
@The Red Pen: Thanks. Not zotted yet, but also widely attacked/mocked in that thread.
There’s no “illumination” forthcoming from this crowd. As one poster said “I pray for Orly every night”.