Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself. We’re allowed to grow past that.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

People are complicated. Love is not.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

We still have time to mess this up!

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Every day Vance writes another chapter in the book called “Worst VP Pick Ever”.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by | 185 Comments

This post is in: 

Sorry for the lack of posts. Not feeling it. Just watched the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction on HBO, and it was great- Rod Stewart, GNR, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys and many others. Watch it if you get a chance.

*** Update ***

Switched to Palladium, and Journey is having a live concert. I think I may have been dosed at dinner or I am having a really vicious flashback, but Steve Perry seems to have aged weirdly. No wrinkles, and he looks like an Asian 20-something.

Reader Interactions

185Comments

  1. 1.

    Alexandra

    Since it’s an open thread, I’ve been meaning to ask people’s opinions of this for a while:

    Does Booman’s blog rank anywhere in anyone’s estimation?

  2. 2.

    BGinCHI

    Been wanting to post this for a while.

    For all of you readers out there, and especially those of you who are Vets and interested in the literature of war, I highly recommend The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers.

    It’s a novel about American soldiers in the Iraq war (circa 2004) and is brilliant stuff. Finalist for the National Book Award.

    Here on Amazon, but buy from a real bookstore if you can/want.

  3. 3.

    Keith

    I thought folks were overly harsh on Axl. The crowd booed the shit out of him for not showing up, yet no hate for no-shows Izzy Stradlin (they guy still plays with Axl on occasion!) and John Frusciante. But great show anyway; I can’t stand the RHCP (WAY overplayed on the radio), but even their segment was pretty good. I coulda done without Billy Joe Armstrong being on the show, though.

  4. 4.

    Comrade Mary

    @Alexandra: I like Booman. He can get cranky on some topics, but he’s usually a good read. And he’s on this blog’s blogroll, so at least one FPPer likes him.

  6. 6.

    Eric S.

    @BGinCHI: I’m not a vet but I heard an interview with the author on NPR some weeks back and added it to my (virtual) book stack. Happy to see a positive recommendation here. I’ll probably get it next after finishing 2312.

  8. 8.

    Mike in NC

    The Sunday paper reported that the South Carolina Tea Party recently held its annual convention; at least 600 people were expected but fewer than 200 showed up. Among those interviewed in the article was an 85-year-old who was unhappy with the state of things in the country, and claimed what was needed was a revolution. But of course he wanted to sit on the sidelines due to his age.

    Imbecile.

  9. 9.

    mainmati

    Rod Stewart is only now getting inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame? That’s a bit surprising as in way overdo, whether you like him or not. He was (maybe still is) a major voice in the industry.

  10. 10.

    Haydnseek

    Okay, I’ll go first. Nothing is more antithetical to the spirit of rock ‘n roll than this absurd “hall of fame.” Sure, the music was co-opted decades ago, but this is ridiculous. Then I remembered that it’s in Cleveland, and if the Browns, Indians, and Cavs suck, they can at least be the home to an “institution” that brings in a few tourist bucks. That explained a lot. It’s nothing but a Hard Rock Cafe, only without the onion rings. The fact that fans of certain bands bleat and whine about their faves not being chosen is hilarious. I’m obviously not the first person to say this, nor will I be the last, but I have a new flameproof suit and I thought this would be as good a topic as any to try it on for the first time. Fire away.

  11. 11.

    Comrade Jake

    I was a bit disappointed today to see that the community/theme park Glenn Beck is planning didn’t somehow overlap with the Citadel. Can’t we collect all the Nutjobs in one place?

  15. 15.

    cathyx

    I think I may have been dosed at dinner or I am having a really vicious flashback, but Steve Perry seems to have aged weirdly. No wrinkles, and he looks like an Asian 20-something.

    It’s called bad plastic surgery.

    What is wrong with blockquotes. It never works anymore.

  16. 16.

    stivincraw

    I think Steven Perry was found on youtube as a replacement when Steven Perry backed out of the nostalgia Dollars.

  17. 17.

    Mnemosyne

    @gogol’s wife:

    I hope she will e-mail one of the front-pagers if something happened that she can’t post herself.

    Also, I’m glad to see that ulee has been popping into a thread or two since this weekend. Hopefully things are going better on that front.

  18. 18.

    WaterGirl

    @John Cole: Last thing we heard from Gex:

    Gex Says:

    Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck
    She had the port removed. She’s up in the room. Vitals are starting to look less good. They’ve called the rapid response team in to get an assessment. May need to move her to ICU? May be starting to go septic? Ugh. I don’t know.
    I don’t want to be here anymore. This is really scary.
    Reply
    January 13th, 2013 at 8:38 pm

    30+ replies to gex on that thread, several people asked about her on the threads today, but nothing since about 24 hours ago.

    I searched the threads again just now, but no gex..

  19. 19.

    PsiFighter37

    @Alexandra: I’ve met Booman personally several times when I went to school in Philly. He’s a very nice person, and I think when it comes to political analysis, he generally keeps his head on straight and is very clear about what he thinks is doable vs. what he wants. It’s refreshing from the occasional firebagging that happens from time to time on the front page of GOS.

    He’s also the only blogger I’ve ever donated to. Definitely underrated in the liberal blogosphere, but he definitely deserves a wider audience. It’s interesting that he himself is pretty even-keeled – he got a huge chunk of his audience during the pie fight over the Gilligan’s Island pie-fight ads that were up on dKos in 2005.

    In short – definitely give him a read. Aside from him, there’s a very strong core community there as well, which is nice – good to have a solid number of competent, likable commenters (as well as a few who are little off the beaten path).

  20. 20.

    gogol's wife

    @John Cole:

    His girlfriend is not doing well with cancer treatments. I think it’s on the Golden Globes thread from last night.

    ETA: Sorry, her girlfriend.

  24. 24.

    MikeJ

    @Comrade Jake: Oh noes! Reid said the idiots in the House won’t pass anything reasonable. Surely he has doomed us. If he hadn’t said it nobody would have ever figured it out.

  25. 25.

    Mnemosyne

    @Comrade Jake:

    G (my spousal unit) calls Fox News “Cartoon Network for Seniors” and is working on a whole map of a Fox News theme park similar to Disneyland/Disney World.

    If he ever finishes it and puts it up at his blog, I’ll make sure to blogwhore it over here.

  27. 27.

    Comrade Jake

    @MikeJ: yeah, I’m just not sure why Reid is suddenly concerned about what can pass through the House, or all this violence we have in our movies and video games, and all that need to slow the conversation down. Asshole.

  28. 28.

    handsmile

    @Alexandra:

    Booman Tribune is on my second tier of political blogs, those I visit several times each week.

    To give you some sense of my perspective/values, however, here is the first tier (those visited at least once each day): Atrios, Balloon Juice, Crooked Timber, Digby Hullabaloo, Paul Krugman, Greg Sargent, Talking Points Memo. The Guardian, while not a blog, is the news site that I most rely upon and trust (and there was a time when virtually every comment I posted here included a link to it).

    I think Booman himself is a fine and dedicated writer, an astute analyst, and I greatly respect the breadth of his interests. He deserves a wider audience (and a better comments section).

    ETA: PsFighter’s comment above is right about the strong community there; similar to this place but much smaller.

  29. 29.

    PsiFighter37

    Oh, and when it comes to TV, ‘House of Lies’ is back. The first episode of this season was definitely more understated than most of last season, but I liked it a lot. And Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell rock my socks.

    I’ve been watching a lot of ‘Big Bang Theory’ lately (TBS runs it in syndication every day for multiple hours, it seems). It’s relatively standard CBS/Chuck Lorre humor, but I do like that it’s wrapped up in nerdiness. To be fair, though, Sheldon would’ve gotten himself beaten up numerous times by now, no matter how tolerant of a group of people he had to put up with.

    I also hate to admit this, but I watch ‘Girls’ as well. I don’t really know why, because I have a visceral dislike of just about every character on the show (I hate Brian Williams’ daughter’s character the least), and I really don’t understand all the hype around Lena Dunham. But I think that’s part of why I watch – I can completely imagine this being what is going on in a group of twentysomethings living across the East River in Brooklyn. It’s fucking dysfunctional as hell, though, and I can’t believe it’s sustainable.

    ‘Modern Family’ is okay – it’s a bit standard at this point. Not to say that it isn’t good, but goddamn, I sure hope ‘Arrested Development’ is fresh when it comes back in a few months…don’t want the sheen coming off of it given how absolutely brilliant it was.

    ‘The Office’ is winding down…it should’ve ended a long time ago, but I watch out of loyalty to the early seasons. And Ed Helms has been conspicuously absent – did they just write out Andy by sending him off to the Bahamas? That’s a really poor decision by the writers, IMO.

    And lastly, Game of Thrones at the end of March. Cannot fucking wait.

  30. 30.

    Mnemosyne

    @sherparick:

    I don’t necessarily have a problem with someone rehoming an animal that doesn’t work out with their family, but Scott didn’t have to be such a secretive douchebag about it.

    Heck, IIRC the president’s dog Bo was returned to the breeder by the first owner because he wasn’t a good fit with their family, so he’s a secondhand dog himself.

  32. 32.

    Tripod

    @Alexandra:

    Invaluable, I think.

    He’s about only one in the Netroots who can stay on message, so he mostly gives the undiluted spin from the White House.

    The rest of the assholes and hyper-ventilators pick up their talking points from whatever ratfucking spin the GOP is dumping at the WaPo.

  33. 33.

    MazeDancer

    @Alexandra:

    Worth clicking a Booman bookmark now and then.

    He’s a good writer. I don’t feel like I’m necessarily missing anything on the days I don’t visit, but do find something to appreciate most times I go there.

  34. 34.

    West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)

    @mainmati: Put me in the category of not liking Rod Stewart (well, more specifically, the decrepid crooner lounger-lizard guy he’s become). I saw him perform in Oakland, CA back in the early 80’s, and the show was fine (in a big glittery 80’s rock way). Oh, well, he’s worth millions and millions, I am sure, so taking career advice from me would be pretty silly.

  37. 37.

    Suffern ACE

    Arnel is actually in his 40s. He seems to be a good replacement, and considering his very hard early years, more power to him for staying young. At one point, the idea of taking a midnight train, let alone the bus anywhere, would have meant giving up on food for a few days.

  39. 39.

    EriktheRed

    Switched to Palladium, and Journey is having a live concert. I think I may have been dosed at dinner or I am having a really vicious flashback, but Steve Perry seems to have aged weirdly. No wrinkles, and he looks like an Asian 20-something.

    That’s because it’s not Steve Perry.

    He’s a Filipino guy who was the lead singer of a Journey tribute band.

  48. 48.

    cathyx

    @Mnemosyne: Chrome is quicker for me, but there are some things that don’t work as well. I like Firefox the best, but it slowed down so much that I switched. Blockquotes don’t work in Chrome, and three finger scroll doesn’t work either.

  51. 51.

    jenn

    @WaterGirl: Thanks! Yeah, I saw her post from last night, and dipped into today’s threads to see if there was an update, but sillily (I don’t think that can be a word), never actually thought to use the search function. Fingers crossed her girlfriend’s doing better, and now Gex is just catching up on some needed sleep.

  52. 52.

    Comrade Mary

    @efgoldman: I’m using the same release on Win 7, but as you can see above, BQ works for me.

    Do you have NoScript or some other JavaScript blocker turned on?

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    @Alexandra: I read Booman pretty much every day, but maybe I’m just trying to fill the void now that Benen isn’t what he used to be. (in my estimation)

    Booman has one commenter that I would go to read even if Booman posted air. His name is TarheelDem and I respect him a lot.

  56. 56.

    WaterGirl

    @jenn: I have a feeling that we would have seen a happy post if Kate was doing better, but I hope I’m wrong. I really hope I’m wrong.

    Sending good thoughts, too, along with everyone else.

  58. 58.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    @gogol’s wife: Chemo kills. Not as much or as certainly as cancer does, but chemo kills a lot of patients.

    They tend not to tell you that when you go into treatment. They probably should.

  65. 65.

    bmcchgo

    Hey JC,

    First of all, it’s Palladia. And that Journey ‘Live from Manila’ has been in heavy rotation for the last 18 months. The new singer is awesome just b/c Steve Perry could not hit the upper register after 2 weeks into a tour. Just sayin’….

  66. 66.

    NotMax

    @cathyx

    I like Firefox the best, but it slowed down so much that I switched.

    Sounds as if clearing the FF cache would resolve that.

    Though that can be done easily enough within Firefox, personally recommend (and consider it one of a handful of must-haves) installing and using the free CCleaner on a regular basis (and making sure that Cache is checked for Firefox in CCleaner’s application list). CCleaner will also nuke a bunch of detritus that builds up (especially stuff from Windows) which can lead to slowdowns. I habitually run it as the last thing before beddy-bye, but it need not be run that often to still be highly effective. Wikipedia page

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    @cathyx

    What operating system are you using on your mac? Some of the newer iterations of Firefox can be balky on, for example, OS X 10.5.

  76. 76.

    Suzanne

    Also thinking about Gex and her GF. She’s got a lot of anger to deal with in addition to Kate’s health, so she’s been in my thoughts today.

    I need another weekend. It’s below freezing and this is Phoenix, FFS.

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    Mentioned this fairly far down in an earlier thread and feel it worth putting out there again.

    According to the game’s splash screen, World of Warcraft has now raised $2.3 million for Sandy relief.

    Good on them.

  78. 78.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    @Alexandra: I read Booman every day, don’t bother with the comments. Generally low key liberal without all th angst of some other sites.

  79. 79.

    West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)

    @Raven: Jeff Beck, right? (Now when I hear “Beck” I think of the I’m a Loser singer and — tragically — Glenn Beck. I’ve only seen maybe half a dozen concerts in my life, including ZZ Top and John Waite the night his song “Missing You” went number one in America. That concert sucked bigtime; there was no opening act, he came out 45 minutes late, played all of 11 songs, and couldn’t seem to wait to get off-stage. Chris Isaak’s concert in Reno was pretty nifty. He came out into the audience and stood on a chair a row away. He signed autographs and was genuinely pleasant and not full of himself.

  81. 81.

    dr. bloor

    @wasabi gasp:

    Maybe, if you’re lucky, you can cap off the evening with some Doo-Wop on PBS.

    My own personal hell is an eternity listening to Doo-Wop interrupted by pledge drive breaks.

  82. 82.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @MikeJ: Beck (of the single name) wasn’t. But to some of us like me and raven, “Beck” means Jeff Beck. I suspect it’s rather a generational thing, LOL.

    For semi-obscure music followers – who may or may not find it interesting – Mr. Q is headed to Louisville tomorrow night for a Victor Wooten clinic; he’s quite excited.

  84. 84.

    NotMax

    @cathyx

    In that case, it points to either an extension installed or to hardware acceleration hang-up.

    To disable FF hardware acceleration:

    Tools–Options–Advanced–General tab

    Uncheck “Use hardware acceleration when available”

    Click ‘OK’

    Close and restart FF.

    Also a possibility is that your graphics drivers should be updated.

  85. 85.

    Kristine

    @NotMax: Thanks for the tip about CCleaner. I just cleaned out almost 3GBs of junk.

    I had been using MacKeeper, but at renewal time they bundled too many other applications that I already had along with the basic cleaning function, then charged $39.95 for it. I would gladly pay for a basic cleaner, but I didn’t want to pay a premium for extra stuff I already had.

  86. 86.

    Redshift

    Well, since this is an open thread, I wanted to report that since we’re past the holidays, I’ve been getting responses to job applications. (I got only one response in December, and I reassured myself that it was because people were out for the holidays, and companies don’t like to hire just before the end of the year. I’m glad that wasn’t just wishful thinking.) I’ve gotten three responses in the past week, all from places I’d really like to work. I still have to get through the interviews and get hired, but things have moved a lot in the right direction since a week ago.

  88. 88.

    scav

    Guard
    Study finds widespread ‘criminalisation of pregnancy’ in US institutions

    Hundreds of women have been arrested, convicted, jailed, detained in mental institutions or forced to endure medical procedures as a result of the “criminalisation of pregnancy” over the last four decades, a new report has found.
    . . .
    The study (1973-2013), believed to be the most systematic account of its kind, relied mostly on public records such as police and court documents, although a small number of cases were taken newspaper accounts. The women were aged between 12 and 43, and two were minors.

    It found that low-income women and African American women were more likely to be deprived of their liberty. The largest percentage of cases of the 413 – 56% – came from the southern states, followed by 22% in the midwest.

    South Carolina had 93 cases, the highest number in any state, followed by Florida, which had 56 cases.

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack

    @Comrade Jake:

    Holy shnikeys! That article is “sponsor content.” From The Atlantic’s own site: “Sponsor Content is created by The Atlantic’s Promotions Department in partnership with our advertisers. The Atlantic editorial team is not involved in the creation of this content.” The piece is a complete fluff job for Scientology.

    I don’t know how it will play on the Intertubes, but back in the print-media day this would have been almost a death sentence for a “serious” magazine. I remember E.B. White’s impassioned objection when some magazine (Newsweek?) first did something similar in the ’70s(?).

    (Hmm, can’t find any Web links.)

  92. 92.

    PurpleGirl

    @WaterGirl: I remembered her blog name and checked there. No posting since January 7 when she had a bunch of pictures of the hospital room and her stuff there. She has a facebook page but hasn’t used it since 2010.

  96. 96.

    Steeplejack

    @Or something like that.Suffern Ace:

    I don’t know what Jeffrey Goldberg believes, but Lawrence Wright’s book Going Clear is supposed to be very critical of Scientology, based on the reviews I have read.

    This “sponsor content” bullshit is bullshit, even for the wild and woolly frontier of the Internet.

  99. 99.

    Alexandra

    Thanks for all the replies about Booman. Was just revisiting a list of bookmarks I hadn’t looked at for a while and thought of reorganising and perhaps cutting it down a little. Cheers.

  100. 100.

    burnspbesq

    @Comrade Jake:

    Realistically, Reid is right: no major piece of gun control legislation has a snowball’s chance in Hell of getting through the House in this Congress.

    But that’s no reason for the Senate not to pass good legislation and force the House to kill it. This is about moving the needle in 2014.

  102. 102.

    Jim Faith

    @Haydnseek:

    Actually the R&R Hall of Fame is in Cleveland for historical reasons – see Alan Freed in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Freed

    On July 11, 1951, Freed started playing rhythm and blues records on WJW.

    Later that year, Freed promoted dances and concerts featuring the music he was playing on the radio.[7] He was one of the organizers of a five-act show called “The Moondog Coronation Ball” on March 21, 1952 at the Cleveland Arena. This event is known as the first rock and roll concert.

    In those days, Cleveland was considered by the music industry to be a “breakout” city, where national trends first appeared in a regional market. Freed’s popularity made the pop music business sit up and take notice.

  107. 107.

    MikeJ

    @Yutsano: A whole blog about pie? I could like that.

    Unrelated, seen Bago? What was that he said this weekend about coming home and finding his roommate’s corpse?

  108. 108.

    ? Martin

    @burnspbesq: In lieu of an assault gun ban, Reid should agree to every dollar of budget cuts from the GOP in exchange for an equal amount of tax increases in taxes on assault weapons, magazines, and ammo. Not a ban. No infringement on rights. But assault rifles might cost $100,000 by the time we’re done.

  109. 109.

    dww44

    @Alexandra: I read him everyday, mostly agree with him, and learn something most days. I like his writing and enjoy a few of the regular commenters, particularly Tarheel Dem, who apparently ranks at the top of most readers’ lists.

  110. 110.

    hilts

    @Haydnseek:

    The inclusion of King Crimson, Roxy Music, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Yes, Chicago, Jethro Tull, Little Feat, Hot Tuna, Chicago, Joan Baez, and Marianne Faithfull in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would give it more legitimacy.

  112. 112.

    RaflW

    Jim Fallows just pointed out this as the page everyone’s Tweeting about at The Atlantic

    We have temporarily suspended this advertising campaign pending a review of our policies that govern sponsor content and subsequent comment threads.

  113. 113.

    dww44

    @PsiFighter37:

    In short – definitely give him a read. Aside from him, there’s a very strong core community there as well, which is nice – good to have a solid number of competent, likable commenters (as well as a few who are little off the beaten path).

    Yep, there’s definitely one who’s more than a little off the beaten path. I also agree that Booman has his head on straight.

  121. 121.

    dww44

    @Comrade Jake: I hate to say this because I really do like Harry Reid, but could this somewhat legislation killing announcement of his actually portend where he, from the West and all, actually stands on gun control?

    I plan on weighing in with the Majority Leader. Perhaps all of us who feel his announcement sorta guarantees weak legislation should also weigh in. How can any sane person not be in favor of an assault weapons ban?

    ETA, on tonight’s show LOD previewed today’s release by the NRA of an “I Phone game to test true-to-life firearms for users ages 4 and up.” The NRA is truly becoming a parody of itself. Maybe there’s hope after all.

  124. 124.

    Yutsano

    @MikeJ: No word since he announced that. Hopefully he’s okay.

    Oh: I haven’t had the chance to make reservations at Vito’s yet. Is that still on?

  129. 129.

    hilts

    I don’t expect this petition to go anywhere, but I think it deserves the widest possible dissemination

    WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:
    Remove United States District Attorney Carmen Ortiz from office for overreach in the case of Aaron Swartz

    “A prosecutor who does not understand proportionality and who regularly uses the threat of unjust and overreaching charges to extort plea bargains from defendants regardless of their guilt is a danger to the life and liberty of anyone who might cross her path.”

    https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

  130. 130.

    West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)

    @Redshift: Best of luck, Redshift! Don’t know what line of work you’re in (or hope to be in), but I’ll keep my cyber fingers crossed.

  132. 132.

    hitchhiker

    @freelancer:

    I just listened to the podcast, and that was fierce enough. Please, let this event be the hinge upon which the argument turns toward sanity.

  135. 135.

    Yutsano

    @MikeJ: It’s possible until the Republicans slap on immigration restrictions from Puerto Rico and the island suddenly goes Democratic overnight. It’s not like they haven’t done stupid shit like that before.

    Let’s go ahead and set this up January 21st at 6 PM. I can’t stay too late as I’ll still be in the middle of my temporary schedule change.

  138. 138.

    MikeJ

    @Yutsano: Since Puerto Rico is already part of the US don’t see how the Republicans could do it. However, looking at the list of their congressmen, they seem to tilt more Dem than I thought.

    Is the 21st swearing in day? I was thinking Sunday. Whichever. I’m cool either way, but also probably can’t stay late.

  139. 139.

    Mnemosyne

    @Yutsano:

    I find it intriguing that the Republican governors of three Western states — Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada — are all taking the expanded Medicare funds.

  141. 141.

    Yutsano

    @MikeJ: I’ve heard both dates. I’m mostly flexible for either as the 21st is a day off for me. I’ll look up the exact date so we can make it official-like but right now that’ll have to wait until the morning.

    @Mnemosyne: Butch Otter of Idaho said no, not a huge shock there as he’s always been a big poor fucker. Wyoming may shoot it down but no final word yet. Nothing from Utah but hey if the Mormons can’t profit off it it won’t come to fruition. Montana is a yes.

    @CaseyL: Da more da merrier I say! We’re just changing venues now because I’m busy as hell right up before that. Come on along and let’s eat pastelon in Ballard!

    EDIT: looked it up. Inauguration Day is the 21st. It is officially the 20th though.

  143. 143.

    Mnemosyne

    G reports that, as usual, Keaton walked up to him at 10:00 pm on the dot and meowed at him. Because, in Keaton’s opinion, it is time for the monkey boy to go to bed, and he will begin the process of herding G there whether G likes it or no.

    I still wonder what strange laboratory produced Keaton, a cat with the instincts of a border collie who can also tell time.

  145. 145.

    Suffern ACE

    @Yutsano: Cooiiincidently, i had a bottle of that arrive for me in the office today. I’ve got the “Thumbs Up” cola chilling in the fridge. I will have a happy Friday.

  147. 147.

    handsmile

    @hilts:

    So pleased I checked back here before turning off the Intertubes machine tonight. Very grateful for your recommendations, but I’m happy to say that several are already part of my progressive diet (keeps the heart and brain fit).

    I’m a great admirer of Amy Goodman, so the broadcast of Democracy Now! is a program I watch regularly. Still it’s good to be reminded of its website. Btw, did you happen to catch Goodman on “Up with Chris Hayes” on Sunday? Perceptive and trenchant as always.

    Of the sites displayed on the Media Consortium’s “Our Members” page, several are at least weekly stops: Alternet, Mother Jones, and Truthdig. And we are print subscribers to both The Nation and Dissent.

    One source I neglected to include in my #28 comment was Al-Jazeera English; not quite a news site like the Guardian but more than a blog. Living in NYC, I have the great good fortune that its television broadcasts are available 24/7. Its reporting and documentaries put to shame an international competitor like BBC America, much less any American network. With its recent purchase of Current TV, I am hopeful that Al-Jazeera will become more widely distributed in the US.

    http://www.aljazeera.com/

    Again, thanks for your reply.

    ETA: Thanks for posting the Swartz petition here, #134. Will be signing now.

  148. 148.

    Hill Dweller

    The Daily Show is more often bad than good these days.

    I can’t believe people are still harping on the fake diversity issue in the Obama administration.

  149. 149.

    hilts

    Unfortunately, I missed Amy Goodman’s appearance on Up with Chris Hayes, but it’s nice to find another New Yorker and Amy Goodman fan on this site.

  152. 152.

    Suffern ACE

    @Hill Dweller: it will continue until he nominates a communist. It’s like the complaint that he doesn’t have any grand plans for his administration after he announces that immigration reform is a top priority. It’s not a priority that they care about, so it doesn’t exist. It’s not that he doesn’t have a diverse cabinet..,its just that they don’t like the women that he has appointed.

  161. 161.

    Death Panel Truck

    Rod Stewart? As a member of the Jeff Beck Group or the Faces, yeah.

    Otherwise – no.

  163. 163.

    YellowJournalism

    @The prophet Nostradumbass: I think I would have cried if it hasn’t been for my own boys arguing about bedtime during the segment. They got extra kisses tonight. Can’t believe it’s been a month since already. I don’t know how the parents hold it together through these interviews. I admire their strength and resolve to make something happen that counts. I would be an emotional wreck huddled in a corner, even after a month.

  164. 164.

    PeakVT

    @The prophet Nostradumbass: It looks pretty bad from the ground, too. And that gunk is going into everyone’s lungs.

    The BCC did a short program a few weeks ago on the big killer fog in London back in 1952. Search on smog here if you want to check it out.

    ETA: I guess I should thank Ed Muskie and (/grits teeth) Dick Nixon for the 1970 CAA, which put the US on the road to better (if not perfect) air.

  165. 165.

    Death Panel Truck

    @Forum Transmitted Disease: Chemo ultimately killed my mother at 48. Ironically, it was thirty years ago today (still 1/14 PST here) that she died. The death cert says “metastatic cancer breast,” but the chemo weakened her heart so she couldn’t go on any longer.

  166. 166.

    ? Martin

    @The prophet Nostradumbass: LA used to look like that. Haven’t had a smog alert in a decade now. Sensible regulation does wonders. Part of the reason I’m convinced that CA will keep going blue – people here are well aware of what good government regulation can actually achieve.

  168. 168.

    ? Martin

    More background on where the Swartz case was going:

    Andy Good, Swartz’s initial lawyer, is ­alternately sad and furious.
    __
    “The thing that galls me is that I told Heymann the kid was a suicide risk,” Good told me. “His reaction was a standard reaction in that office, not unique to Steve. He said, ‘Fine, we’ll lock him up.’ I’m not saying they made Aaron kill himself. Aaron might have done this anyway. I’m saying they were aware of the risk, and they were heedless.”

    Swartz and his lawyers were not looking for a free pass. They had offered to accept a deferred prosecution or probation, so that if Swartz pulled a stunt like that again, he would end up in prison.
    __
    Marty Weinberg, who took the case over from Good, said he nearly negotiated a plea bargain in which Swartz would not serve any time. He said JSTOR signed off on it, but MIT would not.
    __
    “There were subsets of the MIT community who were profoundly in support of Aaron,” Weinberg said. That support did not override institutional interests.

  170. 170.

    Ruckus

    @? Martin:
    They may be aware of it but many still don’t like it, just cause. In the case of the smog issue it helps if you lived here when every day visibility could be down to 2-3 miles. From my business we would gauge good/bad days by the landmarks we could see. Can’t see downtown skyscrapers, about 2 1/2 miles, very bad day. Can see the entire San Gabriel mountain range 25-30 miles, great day. In the 60-70’s in the summer about 30% very bad, 60% bad to not so bad, 10% good days. Now from the same place it’s reversed. Not bad for 40-50 yrs of government intervention, especially if you consider growth.

  171. 171.

    Radio One

    I am once again getting nothing from YouTube but black screens of death. Why does this only happen with YouTube?

  179. 179.

    Death Panel Truck

    @hilts:

    The inclusion of…blah, blah…

    King Crimson – yes
    Roxy Music – yes
    Emerson, Lake, and Palmer – no
    Yes – ummm…no
    Chicago – HELL, NO
    Jethro Tull – Jethro no
    Little Feat – FUCK YEAH!
    Hot Tuna – meh
    Chicago – ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? ROCK? ‘N’? ROLL? CHICAGO?
    Joan Baez – meh
    Marianne Faithfull – she made one good LP. Not enough for serious consideration.

  181. 181.

    Lojasmo

    @MikeJ:

    Unrelated, seen Bago? What was that he said this weekend about coming home and finding his roommate’s corpse?

    Truth? I missed that.

  183. 183.

    handsmile

    [in case of either of you check back here…]

    @hilts:

    There are a fair number of New Yorkers hereabouts (chopper, JGabriel, Johannes, PurpleGirl, and Steve M. come to mind as regular commenters and quite a few more appear at NYC meet-ups), but I suspect the Venn diagram of NYers and “Amy Goodman fan[s] on this site” would reveal a narrow overlap.

    @The prophet Nostradumbass:

    Perhaps I stepped out of the room, but I missed that particular “shout-out.” Could you provide any more information, e.g., what segment, approximate time? I should say perhaps that Milosevic was one the most evil monsters of the late 20th-c. and Clark’s defense of him was profoundly disappointing. Also, thanks for the alert about that Maddow interview; will search for it online.

  184. 184.

    WaterGirl

    @? Martin:

    Marty Weinberg, who took the case over from Good, said he nearly negotiated a plea bargain in which Swartz would not serve any time. He said JSTOR signed off on it, but MIT would not.

    That makes me really angry. And sad, but angry first. So senseless.

  185. 185.

    patrick

    Chicago – ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? ROCK? ‘N’? ROLL? CHICAGO?

    apparently you haven’t heard any of their early stuff, while Terry Kath was still alive…the Terry Kath that Jimi Hendrix once told Chicago saxophonist Walter Parazaider “Your guitar player is better than me.”

    the early stuff before Peter Cetera dominated the group and cut their nuts off was pretty damn good….

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