(Tom Toles via GoComics.com)
.
Speaking of self-willed brain damage, Wonkette‘s Stefan BC alerts us that a leading practitioner has scored a notable award from the experts in his chosen field:
If you have never heard of the group “Accuracy in the Media” (AIM), do not feel ashamed. AIM can be easily lost in the fetid open sewer that is the conservative movement’s various political groups/tax shelters. However, once a year this organization decides to rise from above the primordial soup of right wing insanity to engage in a blatant act of trolling against the forces of progressivism and the entire concept of veracity by giving some jackass an award for “outstanding achievements in investigative journalism.” This year that jackass is Jim Hoft, the man universally known as the “dumbest man on the internet.” It is certainly a huge honor for Hoft, and outside of fellow St. Louis resident/moran Josh “Randy” Sullivan we could not think of a more deserving designee…
If you are the sort of person who occasionally takes a gander at the right wing portion of the internet and wonders how exactly it evolved into a place where obviously unstable folks are celebrated as demi-gods, Hoft is probably going to be your patient zero for most of the crazy shit that passes as facts over yonder. Hoft is now one of the main players in this never-ending and throughly depressing LARP of doom where any mundane news story can immediately be fashioned into PROOF of a wider conspiracy to destroy the underpinnings of exurban America. As one can imagine, he is universally incorrect in whatever assertions he draws from his RSS feed, so as a result the world is frequently treated to an ever-increasing number of blatantly stupid stories that Hoft flushes out of his laptop and out into the wider world…
Much more detail, and the perfect natural history avatar for Hoft, at the link.
Apart from pointing & mocking, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
raven
Joni Mitchell Blue.
as it says, shhhhh, just listen
You can make it through these waves
Acid, booze, and ass
Needles, guns, and grass
Lots of laughs, lots of laughs
Everybody’s saying that hell’s the hippest way to go
Well I don’t think so
Redshirt
LGF is in permanent blog war against Hoft. It’s hilarious, cuz he is indeed a gigantic idiot.
Linda Featheringill
Working on a Chanel jacket for my daughter. Well, maybe it will be a reasonable facsimile when I finish. The internet tells me it takes a whole bunch of hours to finish one of these babies.
So far, I have about 18 inches of trim done [I made it from threads pulled from the cloth of the jacket]. Whoopee. But I know how I did it and can do it again. I have no idea how much will be needed.
Pastel, Easter egg colored, nubby tweed. Verrrry pretty!
General Stuck
I’m FeElinG PaRaNoiD
Face
With a name like Hoft, I’m guessing his nick at the office is “Jack”
PeakVT
Can’t stop laugh at that pic of Hoft.
ETA: today’s PSA – ease up on the salt.
ETAA: pic also resembles Boris Johnson.
Culture of Truth
Via Twitter:
Gary Busey:
“Who invented the Balloon?”
Hill Dweller
Hoft can’t be that much dumber than the rest of the Village.
They’ve been claiming the sequester isn’t that bad because the country hasn’t collapsed in the 6 days since it went into effect. Also too, Obama cried wolf.
If the Village idiots can break away from their mirrors long enough to check out some local coverage, they’d get a different perspective.
lamh35
Joy Beyhar Leaving The View This Summer
Wow. Too bad. I like Joy a lot. She was the only true Democrat on the View’s panel. and was the only one who was willing to call out Hasselback and her Fox News RightWing talking points, even though you could tell Barbara Walters didn’t like it. Here’s hoping this is the beginning of the end for The View. Sherrie Shepard may be a funny comedian, but she comes off as a complete idiot. Hasselbach hasn’t read a craze Republican talking point she hasn’t liked and Whoopi and Barbara are getting to old to even care enough to fight back at Hasselback’s bullshit.
lamh35
Hotmail has converted (is that the right term??) to Outlook mail service and I’m not sure I like it.
Baud
@lamh35:
I blame Obama.
.
Too easy?
MikeJ
@PeakVT:
Could the president use droooooonz to put down an immune rebellion?
Redshirt
@lamh35: Yeah, I noticed that today. Whatevs. I only use Hotmail for trolling.
the Conster
How do I get the mobile version of BJ back on my iPhone once I turn it off? I blame Obama for not being able to find it.
Baud
@the Conster:
buy a new phone.
raven
@the Conster: I didn’t know there was such a thing other than using a browser and navigating to it.
srv
@the Conster: You haven’t downloaded the FYWP App?
PeakVT
@the Conster: Grab your phone, strip naked, and run around the block three times screaming “I need my BJ!”
Or you can try deleting your cookies. Your choice.
patroclus
I’ve thought about this issue a lot and weighed all the pros and cons and I’ve decided that I am not in favor of raining hellfire missiles down on Jane Fonda. She’s been in some stinker movies and she married Ted Turner and she eats Big Macs, but she was pretty good in China Syndrome, so I stand with Rand on this one.
Baud
@the Conster:
Go to Settings, then Safari, then “Clear Cookies and Data”. And then come back to Balloon Juice. You should get the mobile site again.
raven
@Baud: O
Gin & Tonic
@patroclus: Is Barbarella in the plus or minus column for you?
raven
@patroclus:
“Hell it’s their money. I’ll hang
from the shower rod and whistle
Maytime. “
the Conster
@Baud:
Bingo! I got Bingo!
mai naem
@lamh35: Isn’t Sherrie Shepherd the who didn’t know the earth was round? Or is it that she didn’t know that the earth rotated around the sun? I just remember Olbermann making fun of her. I didn’t know she was a comedian. They should get Liz Winstead to replace Joy. I don’t watch The View but it would be fun watching Winstead slap Hasselbeck around.
patroclus
@Gin & Tonic: For Barbarella, hellfire missiles should rain down!
I also stand with Rand on not electing Hitler to be President of the U.S.
raven
@Gin & Tonic: And Steelyard Blues?
Suffern ACE
@Gin & Tonic: I assume 9 to 5 is what really saved her.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Hill Dweller: I’m planning to watch the Sunday shows to see if any Village Elder wags a finger at Obama’s dinner guests given that every single one of them voted to filibuster Obama judicial nominee yesterday.
Nah, not really. They won’t.
And those deadbeats let Obama pick up the check. McCain and Johnson and I think Corker measure their net worths in tens of millions.
Baud
@Suffern ACE:
Dolly washes away all of one’s sins.
raven
@Suffern ACE: She was great in Coming Home.
schrodinger's cat
@Linda Featheringill: We can has photos after you finish?
SiubhanDuinne
@Linda Featheringill:
Sounds lovely, and your description reminds me of a lovely Chanel-style suit I owned (and adored) many years ago.
Please post a photo when the jacket is finished, ‘kay?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
also, too, remember when Jake Tapper whined “Where have you been?” at Obama about guns?
The NRA just claimed a scalp through filibuster abuse, Jake. Where were you?
raven
Pretty good in Sir No Sir and the FTA Shows too!
Hill Dweller
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The Village refuses to call Republicans on their nihilism.
Also too, I’ve yet to see any of the high profile Villagers point out four of the stooges who joined Aqua Buddha’s filibuster last night had previously voted for legislation allowing indefinite detention of American citizens.
Cacti
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
But the organized effort to keep a right wing activist federal bench is small potatoes, because…
Killer dronez wil kil you in Starbucks!
danielx
Actually, I’m kind of enjoying the pointing and mocking thing and may just stick with that. Inspired by Northwind Imperial Stout, which I highly recommend…
General Stuck
@Cacti:
You jest, mister sociopath.
Comrade Mary
@Redshirt: Oh, so YOU’RE BuyZanTeen@hotmail.com. Love your work!
lamh35
Ok, did I miss the thread on Obama signing the VAWA today? I guess so, too much Rand Paul and drones I guess (BTW, how did Paul and his fellow filbuster supporters like Rubio vote on VAWA…oh well bygones)
Anyway, here is video: http://youtu.be/LoxL7JyCs34
You can find some lovely pictures on the interwebs.
Ultraviolet Thunder
Test post after upgrading Chrome on my iPhone & everything going all funky. I’d complain but frankly I’m amazed that this shit works at all.
Linda Featheringill
@schrodinger’s cat: #32
Photos. Daughter has a digital camera. I ask her to take some pictures when it’s finished. Which may be a couple of months.
ETA: and SiubhanDuinne too. :-)
Comrade Mary
Speaking of “everything going all funky”, here’s a very minimalist version of the Harlem Shake.
David Koch
Anyone else shocked that Elizabeth Warren voted for the Angel of Death, John Brennan?
As Edward G Robinson would say, “where’s our liberal Messiah now?”
Redshirt
@Comrade Mary: Totally! And if you would be so kind as to confirm your checking account number in order to activate your ENHANCED SECURITY features of your PREMIUM ACCOUNT that would be great!
Cacti
@lamh35:
Well, somebody has to speak up for all of the US citizens killed by dronez on American soil.
How many have there been again?
raven
@David Koch: Go fuck yourself asshole. You’re bullshit about Rachel last night was typical for your punk ass.
Hill Dweller
@Cacti: Paul actually supports drone strikes in the US against American citizens, if they pose an imminent threat. That is to the right of the Obama administration’s policy.
What exactly was he filibustering?
Comrade Mary
@Redshirt: What’s a “checking” account? Is that a fabric term? A chess joke?
Tsk. American spelling skillz. So sad.
David Koch
@raven: Woof!
Vico
Stefan should know that The Great Moran is not a St. Louis resident. He’s an Illinoisan. That’s important to us St. Louisans. It’s embarrassing enough that he’s a Cardinals fan.
Comrade Mary
Also: fucking Vikings. Just fucking awesome. So much better than those Eastern Romans.
Sunstones.
Swords.
Ultraviolet Thunder
What exactly was he filibustering?
Obscurity.
David Koch
Warren votes for Citibank’s Jack Lew, Republican Chuck Hagel, and now Der Weiße Engel.
Can she be any more of a disappointment?
If you don’t hold her feet to the fire then she’ll just end up being another Obomber.
Yutsano
@Comrade Mary: As always, there’s a story behind that.
PS: scalloped potatoes smell soooo yummy while cooking!
Steeplejack
I’m in sort of a post-commercial tristesse after spending an unholy amount of time today trying to make airline reservations for a trip to Las Vegas (family, not pleasure). I tried several travel sites, ended up on Kayak, and when it said it was going to “compare” a bunch of different sites all it did was open a new browser window on each one’s search page. I eventually got a pretty good itinerary (nonstop flights from BWI) at what seemed like a dreadful price, but my sense is that most airline prices are dismal now. Or it could be that I fly so infrequently now that I’m just not up on the market. I used to be one of those business-flying commandos in the halcyon days long before 9/11, but since then I’m glad I don’t have to fly much, and I avoid it when I can. Anyway, the process was tedious and frustrating, with that special sauce of “I thought the Internet was supposed to make this easier, not harder,” and I was dogged by the feeling that I was doing it wrong somehow.
The frosting on the cake was a phone conversation with a customer service rep for SiriusXM about my satellite radio subscription. I thought it was due to expire around now, which it is, and I discovered that Sirius was graciously going to boink my credit card tomorrow and e-mail me a “receipt” afterwards. I was sort of prepared for this, but when I told the rep—quite politely, I thought—that it would have been nice to get notice of this ahead of time she got testy and defensive, which I thought was a little thin-skinned for someone whose whole job description must be “dealing with assholes and their stupid problems.” Maybe I’m getting that “yelling at clouds” default tone in my voice.
I guess my shorter is to ask whether anyone has a surefire site or method they recommend for doing travel reservations.
I will console myself with my stories tonight. Person of Interest has heated up nicely the last few weeks, and later there is a new Archer.
Comrade Mary
@Yutsano: “Francophile tastes” just sounds rather smutty, non?
Ultraviolet Thunder
Now I’m stuck with the desktop version on my phone. I give up. I’ll deal with this when I’m rested and sober
Have a good evening, everyone
handsmile
What, no love for Klute among Fondaficionados here!?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klute
The Encyclopedia Wikipedia claims that the film was the first installment of director Alan Pakula’s “paranoia trilogy,” followed by The Parallax View and All the President’s Men.
I might claim that Fonda’s profession in Klute became the veritable profession of one of the real-life heroes of the latter film.
Steeplejack
@patroclus:
She was damn good with Donald Sutherland in Klute, which really holds up. And, if you must have your Hollywooden confections, there’s Cat Ballou and Barefoot in the Park.
She was in a lot of other good movies, too, of course. . . . Damn, just looked at her IMDB page, and there is a big-ass gap: nothing between 1989 and 2005, and Monster-in-Law was not exactly a triumphant comeback. That’s a huge gap in a world-class career. Maybe rain some Hellfires on Ted Turner–for that and for selling CNN into slavery.
Steeplejack
@Ultraviolet Thunder:
Clear your cookies, dude.
Randy P
@raven: Any fans of “On Golden Pond” here? Playing opposite her actual Dad made it that much more special.
the Conster
@Ultraviolet Thunder:
go to settings, safari, clear cookies and data, then go back to BJ.
Worked for me.
Anne Laurie
@Comrade Mary:
Sunstone me no sunstones; from many years of observing Viking descendents (including my beloved Spousal Unit) one reason the Vikings ended up roaming from Russia to Newfoundland was that they are capable of getting lost in any area larger than suburban backyard. But with confidence! I swear, the phrase “Hey, I know a shortcut” would be the medieval Scandinavian equivalent of the modern “Hold my beer and watch this, y’all”… except I’m sure the Vikings used that one, too also!
Anne Laurie
@David Koch: You’re an arsehole, and we’re not impressed.
patroclus
@Steeplejack: Cat Ballou is absolutely hilarious – especially Lee Marvin. And all those corny songs. Okay, no hellfire missiles raining down on Jane…tonight at least.
But then again, the way she did that Tomahawk chop thang at the Atlanta Braves game was ridiculous. I guess the main policy issue tomorrow debated by the Senate will be whether to rain down hellfire missiles on her for that.
Steeplejack
@patroclus:
Oh, hell, I am a longtime Braves fan and have done the tomahawk chop at the Ted and at the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. So missile me no missiles for Jane about that.
mainmati
Jim Hoft, Mole Rat? That really ugly beast actually seems like a great representative for the Teahadists, actually.
eemom
@Randy P:
The “suck face” lines by Henry were hilarious.
patroclus
@Steeplejack: Yeah, but you almost certainly know how to do it – with a straight arm and a determined expression on your face. If you ever saw the video of Jane doing it, you would see that she had never even seen it before, and was dancing inappropriately and was flopping her elbow all over the place – it was VERY embarrassing and ESPN made fun of her for about a year or so afterwards.
joel hanes
@raven:
Steelyard Blues
I had no idea that anyone besides me and the people who were in the theater with me had ever seen that movie.
It has a couple good moments.
Keith
Not playing SimCity apparently. The game literally requires constant access to Maxis’ servers so it can sync data, but each server has its own data, so if a server is down (and they all are) and you move to a different server, you have to start over.
Seems to be a pretty decent game when the servers are working, but I haven’t really been able to get very deep into it due to the aforementioned issues.
Gin & Tonic
@raven: She was. WTF happened to the guy who starred opposite her, though?
raven
@joel hanes: I bought the VHS and tried to watch it. It’s pretty dated but THIS I had forgotten:
Steeplejack
@patroclus:
Well, that’s different, then. You don’t disrespect the chop. But at least she never dozed off during a game, which Ted did.
raven
@Gin & Tonic: Jesus what a fucking pig.
eta Dern was awesome. I walked out of it and couldn’t stop crying.
Gin & Tonic
@raven: I just barely avoided ‘Nam, but damn, that was a powerful movie indeed.
Hill Dweller
Maddow is doing a great segment on the parallels of the tobacco companies’ and gun manufacturers’ front/lobbying groups.
Steeplejack
@raven:
Huh. Used vinyl available for cheap. CD from 2003 (used) is 68 bucks.
HinTN
@raven: Hell, I had to have John turn it back on for me once while “the staff” was messing with the site. He was nice about it if you can imagine that.
Gin & Tonic
@raven: Christ, I feel old reading this. Everybody who remembers Mike Bloomfield, raise your hand. Yeah, I thought so.
And Alvin Lee died yesterday.
Lurking Canadian
@Anne Laurie: For them it would have been “hold my mead and watch this” surely.
@Hill Dweller:
What exactly was he filibustering?
People just misunderstood. His real objection is that not enough American citizens are being assassinated by drones, and he wants the president to step up the program.
eemom
@Gin & Tonic:
Thirded re Coming Home. And wtf DID happen to Voigt? Also too, Midnight Cowboy. He was NOT a wingnut scumbag back in those days, I take it, so something must have happened.
magurakurin
What’s this? People have to make adjustments to their iOS phone and browser to view the site? And here I thought that Apple products and systems “just worked.”
it is to laugh. Brand loyalty, it isn’t just for floor polish anymore.
Comrade Mary
@Lurking Canadian: Oh, wow, I just double-checked Google to see what kind of mead the Vikings made[1], and I found out that a Viking Answer Lady exists. (Yep, she’s SCAdian.)
This is a world of wonders, indeed.
[1] You might say, “Why, they made mead from honey, of course! What else could you use as the base for mead?” Good gentle, I’ll have you know that I once went to a party where Wild Squirrel was served. This was “mead” made from leftover peanut butter and grape jelly. I would attempt to describe the flavour, but words fail me. It did help to super-chill it with some dry ice the hosts graciously made available.
trollhattan
@Gin & Tonic:
“East-West” is one of those songs that will never grow old and cannot be played too loud.
Just sayin’.
trollhattan
@eemom:
Mamet’s disease. Cannot be ‘splained.
Rhubarb
Does anyone (I am SO old) remember a very early Jane Fonda/Tony (as he was in those days) Perkins film called The Tall Story? A delight of my childhood.
Mr Stagger Lee
About Jane Fonda, What about Fun With Dick and Jane, with George Seagal, the remake with Jim Carrey and Tia Leoni was not bad either.
Tom Q
@eemom: He was the opposite of wingnut; he was every bit as lefty/antiwar as Jane — got the role in Coming Home because they were such tight friends. I’d love to ask his former friends (incl. Hoffman, who helped him get cast in Midnight Cowboy) what they think caused him to flip so radically.
I vote for Klute as the great performance of Fonda’s career, along with They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? I thought her second act — after her mid-70s exile — saw her lose some of her bite as an actress; she kept re-enacting her own radicalization, in ever-softer focus.
As for why she stopped making movies after the late 80s: her movies weren’t making money, and she was at “that age” where studios seem to drop all actresses not named Meryl Streep.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Steeplejack:
When I’m trying to compare airfares, I usually start with Orbitz. They’re also very good with air/hotel/car packages.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Ultraviolet Thunder:
If you do come back, you need to clear your cookies etc as described above and then make sure you do NOT return to the thread where you first had the problem, or it starts up all over again.
@magurakurin:
Apple designed JC’s crappy mobile page? No wonder he keeps having to ask us for more money.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Nice catch. I’ll remember that.
magurakurin
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
There were just two threads filled with people defending and flaming their various machine choices. Brand Y needs no fiddling. Brand Z allows greater fiddling. And on and on. In fact there were simultaneous arguments that one machine did both more(apps) and less(fiddling).
They are all toasters. Run the one ya brung. Go on about the magic powers that one possesses over another if it makes you happy, but there are a lot folks who will chuckle over it.
Petorado
So who’s this Stephan BC guy that’s shown up in post these past few days? The last time I wondered who the writer was that flaunted an acerbic wit and a keen sense of observation, it turned out to be some guy named Charles P. Pierce. Me thinks I’ll have to visit the haunts of this Stephan guy a little more frequently.
patroclus
About Jon Voight, I think his best film is Conrack, where he portrayed Pat Conroy, who was a white do-gooder teacher on an all-black island in North Carolina, who wrote a memoir about which the film was made (and it has been re-made). Lately, he’s been right-wing, but he’s still a good actor if well-cast. For example, he was quite good and believable as a crazed Texas High School football coach in North Dallas Forty. He could also do racist villains; predatory capitalists, advisor to evil dictators, narco-traffickers; right wing politicians, mobsters or, if he could do comedy, parodies of any of the above. In a Ben Stiller film, he could fit right in.
Steeplejack
@patroclus:
Voight was good in Heat. But everyone was good in that, even Val Kilmer.
ruemara
Sitting at work, pushing buttons. Trying to figure out if I can score a ride to the endocrinologist I had to wait 2 months to get an appointment at or if I should just tough it out and deal with the 2.5 hr to 3.5 hr public transport. And I really hope he finds something so I can stop feeling like a bad addict. All these pills, no relief, and no cool stoned feeling? well fuck. That’s just not fair.
dance around in your bones
Watching Fair Game on the TV machine (about the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson thingamajoo) and getting all pissed off about the Bush/Cheney regime again.
I still remember reading Joe Wilson’s op-ed in the NYT and having an oh shit moment, like – I knew this was bullshit from the moment the Bushies started talking about Iraq and this just confirms it.
Fuckers. Maybe I need to change channels and watch something funny rather than infuriating.
FlipYrWhig
Had Wild Turkey for the first time. As far as I know, I’ve never had bourbon before. Mostly liked it. May have put in too much ice.
Mnemosyne
@dance around in your bones:
G and I watched about 20 minutes of that before we had to change the channel and watch the Puppy Bowl instead. His blood pressure is already borderline high and I didn’t want to take any chances.
Sean Penn was really good, though. I should probably try it again at some point.
Origuy
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): I second Orbitz. I think you end up with the same selection as Travelocity, but the interface is better. YMMV. After you see which airlines have reasonable prices to where you’re going, it’s usually worth checking their websites directly. When I was planning this trip to Moscow, Lufthansa had a good price that neither Orbitz nor Travelocity was showing. I missed getting it though, and ended up leaving on Air France and coming back on Delta.
It’s true, Air France has great food on the intercontinental runs. Paris to Moscow, not so much. We’ll see how Delta is next week when I return. I’m coming back with my travelling companion, who is a vegan. I guess I should call Delta today and request vegan meals.
Edit: Just called Delta. The office is closed today, Women’s Day.
dance around in your bones
@Mnemosyne:
It just made me mad as hell, and I’m sure my BP shot up as well. I was dialing around on the TV machine and ran across The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and thought “Excellent!” Clicked on it and DirectTV told me I wasn’t subscribed to that channel. There goes the BP again.
Now I’m watching Bridge to Iran which is at least interesting. (It’s about the film industry in Iran – I bet you would like it).
Take care of your G :)
dance around in your bones
Bridge to Iran is on LinkTV, FYI.
joel hanes
@raven:
(from 1973 memory)
The moment when Peter Boyle says
“This is a job for Eagle!”
and then climbs a sheer wall like Spiderman
had the entire audience laughing.
Amazingly, I had forgotten the music; and I’m someone who owns multiple Butterfield CDs and some other Kooper/Bloomfield collaborations. Thanks for reminding me.
I see that the soundtrack CD is import-only at $100+,
but that the vinyl is still available starting at $13.
If only my turntable still worked …
SFAW
@patroclus:
Ah, but for those character types, is it really him acting? Or just Voight being Voight?
I blame Obama.
As does Voight. The asshole.