Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let there be snark.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

The willow is too close to the house.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

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

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

The revolution will be supervised.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

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96Comments

  1. 1.

    WereBear

    Shout out to Schlemizel, or anyone else who is Chromebook Curious… (he’s vanished from what turned into the Golf thread)

    Will it work for me?

    That depends on what you want a laptop for.

    Can you do what you want in a Chrome browser? Then you are fine… I’ve had 20 tabs open at a time, I can edit pictures, blog, get my email, and write… all stuff I do on the couch, covered with cats.

    Yes, you need Internet access. This doesn’t bother me, it’s like saying, But don’t you need electricity? I have it at home, at work on my lunch break, in my favorite eating places, and at the library. I can even get my wifi three stories down, on the porch, in the summer.

    But are there offline possibilities?

    Yes, many apps now work while offline and sync up when you are in range again. Gmail, any Goole apps like Docs, their spreadsheet or their slideshow program, a wonderful note taking program called Scribble, and the Kindle Cloud Reader; there are more and more all the time.

    They work best when you know you are going to be offline, and load up. But it’s not a deal breaker in most cases.

    Six hours of battery life, light weight, decent sound and screen; I’ve streamed Amazon Prime on it, listened to Pandora, am presently working on a new book in Google Docs, and writing a radio script for my upcoming podcast.

    As a writer, I’m thrilled! As a financially challenged person, I love the price… they start at $199.

    Dayum.

  3. 3.

    zmullls

    Open Thread topic.

    Obama is letting one of the Newtown parents do the weekly radio address tomorrow. Other than Biden subbing once or twice, this is not something he ever delegates. So it’s a big deal.

    My friend, Francine Wheeler (and her husband David, who was on Morning Edition on Friday) has been given the opportunity to speak, so I hope everyone can find a replay of it tomorrow and listen to what she has to say. The tragedy in Newtown hit us hard, as it involved close friends of ours.

    Just wanted to flag the address so it gets more attention than the weekly address usually does….

  5. 5.

    Alison

    @zmullls: I watched it and my heart just broke again into a million pieces. I cannot even begin to imagine their pain, and am astounded at how them and other parents have been able to keep it together through all of the events and votes and all the fucked up shit coming out of the lesser members of our Congress :(

  6. 6.

    Yutsano

    Interesting sound she went for here. Video tries too hard to be serious and artsy. She swallows her consonants. That drives me nuts.

    @zmullls: Maybe we can get a thread going about this. This is a big fucking deal.

  9. 9.

    Elizabelle

    @zmullls:

    Villagers on PBS Washington Week in Review last night: John Harwood and some woman from Real Clear Politics were mouthflapping about the “emotion” surrounding gun safety efforts following Newtown.

    Transcript’s not up yet, and I fled rest of show.

    But is that a rightwing meme — that it’s wooly headed emotion driving gun safety measures? Because reason and rationality reside with gun “rights” folks?

    I’ve noticed that whenever Villagers (and Villager wannabes) don’t want to talk about the merits, they discuss “emotion.”

  12. 12.

    gogol's wife

    @zmullls:

    I HATE CONGRESS. The only hope is to work from the local level out.

    I HATE CONGRESS.

    Good letter in the Times today: “Re ‘The Public Wants Background Checks’: No, what the public wants is a ban on assault weapons, a ban on high-capacity magazines and other forms of reasonable gun control. Your headline should read, ‘The Public Will Settle for Background Checks,’ as that seems to be the best we can expect from a Congress cowed by a minority of gun fanatics and their all-powerful lobbies.”

    Amen.

  13. 13.

    gogol's wife

    @Elizabelle:

    It’s happened to me right here on BJ. But it comes (mostly) from those very special commenters who only show up for gun threads.

  15. 15.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Elizabelle: as opposed to the hard-headed, clear-eyed rationality of the pro-NRA arguments, such as Heidi Heidkamp saying that semi-automatic weapons and high capacity magazine are part of the rural “way of life”

  16. 16.

    MaryJane

    @Alison: I know. Their grief is unimaginable. I hope that having this focus and purpose right now is helping them deal with the immediate anguish. Trying to reason with NRA-owned politicians must be very frustrating, however.

  19. 19.

    JPL

    @zmullls: Earlier I watched the video and my heart broke again. Let her know how many appreciate the Newtown families efforts, to have some sensible gun regulation in this country. Rachel asked how to respond to folks who think she is being used and she gave a great answer, that she’s not. As someone mentioned on this site before, fire exits came about because of the Triangle factory fire in NYC. Unfortunately, most regulations occur because of tragedies.
    You have a brave friend.

  20. 20.

    JPL

    Without appearing insensitive, I think the way to pass gun control is to show the horrific pictures. As a mom, I don’t think I would want the pictures released but it might work.
    At least every congress person voting against it should have to look at them for hours.

  21. 21.

    Schlemizel

    @WereBear:

    A thousand thanks! I actually got pulled away to take care of something around the house almost as soon as I hit the send button. I did see your answer though & it convinced me.

    I have been looking at these things for a few weeks because the laptop screen has been dying for months & can quit working at times. I am really only looking for just a web browser & would have preferred a tablet but am too cheap.

    I ended up having to run an errand that put me right next to Best Buy. I stopped by & they insisted I take this Acer chromebook for $172.

    Getting it online the first time almost caused it to “fall against the wall” however! Long story but I have a very complex wi-fi password & cut & paste as guest does not work with ctrl-c and v. “right-click” is actually two-finger-click (who the hell thought that was a good idea?). But I did get on & am using it right now. I think some of the computer-like functions are cluncky but as a browser I can’t complain yet.

  22. 22.

    WereBear

    @JPL: As someone mentioned on this site before, fire exits came about because of the Triangle factory fire in NYC.

    It’s terribly sad that it comes to that. It’s rather hopeful that people do respond to that.

  25. 25.

    RobertDSC-eMac 1.25

    Low key today. More DVD archiving on this Mac, converting WMV files to MPG-1 files on the G5.

  28. 28.

    Tonal Crow

    And in today’s installment of “If we ban guns, people’ll just kill each other with hubcaps” news:

    http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=9061840

    OVERBROOK – April 12, 2013 (WPVI) — The family of the 17-year-old Overbrook High School student who was hubcapped down at a playground is speaking out.

    Police sources say a crowd of upwards of 60 young people had gathered at a playground across from Overbrook High School on Thursday afternoon.

    A fight broke out and five people pulled hubcaps on each other. At least four hubcap projectiles were fired and one of them struck and killed 17-year-old Bernard Scott.

    “A part of me is still waiting to hear a phone call from him saying ‘Mom can you pick me up?'” said Darshell Scott, the victim’s mother.

    …

    Police sources say Bernard appears to have been an innocent bystander when the hubcap projectiles started flying.

    Another 17-year-old boy is recovering after being hubcapped in the backside. Scott was hubcapped in the stomach and died a few hours after he was rushed to the hospital by a passing motorist….

    —

  30. 30.

    Kristine

    Lykke Li fan. Heard her for the first time on Austin City Limits. Bought her albums via iTunes while I was watching. I love the internet.

  32. 32.

    greennotGreen

    @Elizabelle: That would be “emotion” that is part of “empathy,” something that is alien to the conservative mind. People who have empathy may not be able to actually experience the overwhelming grief of a parent who has lost a beloved child, but they can imagine it, and they can act on that imagined pain to try to spare anyone else that pain. Maybe that’s being “emotional”; maybe it’s being human.
    @zmullls: I also have friends who lost a child, their only child, at Sandy Hook.

  33. 33.

    gbear

    @zmullls:

    Thanks for that link. I just posted it to a Facebook thread where a gun freak went postal in the comments because someone posted a picture of themselves with an ‘I am NOT carrying a gun’ button. I’m sure he thought he’d won the argument because everyone got sick of responding to his comments. I’m glad to add that link to the thread.

    I’ve been wearing one of those buttons since a week after Newtown. The gun freak couldn’t believe that we’d wear a button like that without fearing for our lives. He’s completely unable to face the fact that the rest of us aren’t as paranoid as him.

  34. 34.

    Todd

    I’m making a respectful request to Elon to put those libsyn player links under the fold. They try to trip off every mobile device each time I hit the main page.

  35. 35.

    Yutsano

    @Todd: Seconded. It will literally possess my cell phone, and it won’t play back just one, but ALL that are on the front page simultaneously. And the only way I’ve found of stopping it is to disconnect the connection. It’s very annoying.

  36. 36.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    Speaking of techy stuff, I’ve started using Feedly in place of Google Reader on my desktop and iPhone as my RSS app. It was a cinch to set up and after some tinkering I find I like it as well as Reader or better in most ways. I understand it’s based on Reader but they hope to have it stand alone once Google terminates Reader.

  38. 38.

    Villago Delenda Est

    There is absolutely nothing more devastating for a parent than to bury one of their children.

    Nothing.

    I’ve seen this with my parents when my brother died. It was only the second time I ever saw my dad cry.

    So, naturally the Newtown parents are going to be emotional. But we can’t let that human tragedy get in the way of the gun fetishists and their fetish, no siree. The universe revolves around them, not those parents who lost children to an NRA member with a overly happy trigger finger.

  39. 39.

    gbear

    Here’s another techie item: I want someone to invent something for me.

    What I want is a small battery powered device to place near a cat food bowl that could ID a cat from about a foot away based on either the cat’s ID implant or a sensor on a collar. The device would be set for one cat. If any other cat came near the bowl, it would emit a sound that the cat would find completely unpleasant, so any non-approved cats would leave that food alone. Each cat in the household could have it’s own device.

    I realize this is incredibly anal but I’m tired of one of my cats eating both cats’ food. This could be a gold mine for someone. Cat owners would find it irresistible, even if it didn’t work. If I saw one on Amazon I’d buy it in a minute.

  40. 40.

    JPL

    What does well regulated mean? I’m seriously asking this question because those words were written by our founding/dead fathers.

  41. 41.

    Elizabelle

    Emotion could help mightily in the cause of gun safety, and maybe the NRA and their allies have twigged that its on the other side in strength this time.

    We’re being reminded again and again that gun safety measures won’t get through Congress.

    Well. Maybe not this Congress.

    2014, people.

  42. 42.

    JPL

    @gbear: Since there are already shock collars, it probably wouldn’t take much to adjust signals.
    btw, I didn’t sleep at a holiday inn.

  43. 43.

    gogol's wife

    @gbear:

    It would also be good for households where one cat weighs 29 pounds and needs to diet and the other weighs 12 pounds and doesn’t.

  44. 44.

    gogol's wife

    @JPL:

    There’s a whole book on this (probably several, but this is the one I know about): Saul Cornell, A Well Regulated Militia.

  45. 45.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @JPL:

    One thing it means is that there’s a central registry of firearms at the local militia HQ, and there are regular inspections of said firearms to insure they’re functional. This would require the owners of said weapons to be responsible about them in multiple ways that they are utterly unwilling to do because it’s none of the militia HQ’s damn business if their weapon is properly secured and is functional, except that it is, because that’s what “well regulated” fucking means.

  46. 46.

    ricky

    My favorite message on another site today:

    “Apparently everyone in the Kentucky/taping scandal has to be revealed as either a fibber or a moron.”

    Josh Marshall

    Mr. Marshall does not state if he includes, in the fibber/moron label, the Publisher/Editor of a website which has given endless coverage to this idiotic story since David Corn published it as if it were the Second Coming of the Romney 47% score handed to him on the journalistic equivalent of a silver platter.

  48. 48.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Elizabelle: Michael Crowley of Time points out on twitter that the 3,300 people killed by guns in this country since Newtown is more than were killed on 9/11, and approaching the total of US military fatalities in Iraq.

  49. 49.

    ? Martin

    @Elizabelle:

    But is that a rightwing meme — that it’s wooly headed emotion driving gun safety measures? Because reason and rationality reside with gun “rights” folks?

    It’s deflection. They don’t want you to pick on the fact that they’re all raging cowards. It’s all emotion for them too.

  50. 50.

    Keith G

    Time to change ISP for my home-based stuff so…. AT&T or Comcast internet only?

    I know it’s like choosing between Jeffry Dahmer and Luka Magnotta, but I need to choose one.

  51. 51.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @? Martin: spinning through the radio dial the other day, I heard some goober ranting about he and his friends being “ready” if the gov’t comes for them, I was just hoping the host would flat out tell him “You are a toothless, sheep-fucking goober, and you will never be important enough for the government to ‘come for you'” This is one of the reasons I could never be elected to office in this country,

  52. 52.

    raven

    @Keith G: When I lost my work connection the AT&T tech that came out told me to get cable. I have Charter and it’s been way better.

  54. 54.

    ? Martin

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I heard some goober ranting about he and his friends being “ready” if the gov’t comes for them

    Half the GOP already claims this is tyranny. If they had any true courage of their convictions here, they’d be storming federal offices. They sure as hell have the guns and ammo, so what’s the holdup?

  55. 55.

    JPL

    @gogol’s wife: I’m sure those on the right want it mean well maintained but even if that is the case, it allows for regulation to make sure that happens.
    What isn’t mentioned often during the debate are the eleven children that escaped when Lanza’s magazine got stuck.

  56. 56.

    ricky

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    This is one of the reasons I could never be elected to office in this country,

    Which one? That you are a toothless, sheep-fucking goober, or that you are not important enough for the government to come for you?

  58. 58.

    Todd

    @ricky:

    Mr. Marshall does not state if he includes, in the fibber/moron label, the Publisher/Editor of a website which has given endless coverage to this idiotic story since David Corn published it as if it were the Second Coming of the Romney 47% score handed to him on the journalistic equivalent of a silver platter.

    Thank you. This has all been a huge nothingburger from all angles.

    McConnell was always going to do opp research, and Judd was vulnerable.

    At the same time, there was no wiretap, hence no crime aside from perhaps a misdemeanor criminal trespass at worst.

    Lots of Meh.

  59. 59.

    Mnemosyne

    You don’t realize how well-engineered Ikea furniture is until you try to assemble something from another major mass marketer (*cough*TargetFurnitureSucks*cough*).

    Though so far the best-organized DIY furniture I’ve ever built came from these guys. Not only were the schematics clear, but they had the hardware organized by step instead of sorting it by type so you end up having to squint at the picture to figure out which of the three different tiny screws you’re supposed to be using.

  61. 61.

    raven

    @Mnemosyne: In preparation for our addition I began taking apart pieces of a deck and storage that I built 12 years ago. Much of it I don’t remember building but I am surprised what a decent job I did for a hacker.

  62. 62.

    JPL

    @raven: Have you ever done a pergola? I have an eighteen by twelve area and I think with a span that wide, I need extra poles. The sons disagree.

  63. 63.

    raven

    @JPL: Not as as such. When you say “poles” you mean 4×4 posts? Free standing or tied into something?

  64. 64.

    JPL

    @raven: The posts (thank you) are installed in a medal holder that is attached to the existing patio.
    I am concerned because the length of the lumber would have to be around twenty feet. It seems like it should be nailed into more sections.

  65. 65.

    Mnemosyne

    @gbear:

    Knowing cats, I’m not sure how much of a deterrent the sound would be after a while. I wonder if adapting something like one of the timed feeders would work — the door would only open if approached by the cat wearing the right collar and would close again if the wrong-collared cat approached while the first one was eating.

  66. 66.

    raven

    @JPL: At the base right? Here’s a nice plan that calls for 6×6’s for a free standing pergola. Note this paragraph:

    Codes don’t specify spans for pergolas because they don’t support weight. But span too far and the girders will “smile” as the center bends to the earth. Here, I used two 2 x 8s spanned 10 feet from post to post. To get a bulletproof connection, I bolted through the post with double hot-dipped galvanized through-bolts. For spans greater than 14 feet I’d add angle brackets. I’d also beef the girder up to a 2 x 10 or 2 x 12. Aesthetically, cantilevers less than 12 inches long tend to look chopped off (I used 18 inches). I like a pergola to appear to expand as it rises, so I bolt each girder to the outside of the post. (Note: This is a no-no on a deck girder.) Here, I spanned rafters 16 inches on center and mounted 2 x 4 stays on top.

    ‘

    Some are actually tied into a house giving more structural integrity.

  68. 68.

    JPL

    @raven: My overhand is to low to tie it to the house. The original on concrete design that I saw was on pm but either didn’t read that paragraph or they didn’t have it thanks.

  70. 70.

    dance around in your bones

    We have a leaking bathtub faucet in one of the bedroom areas. Landlord is coming over to fix it. All the responsible adults have left the house, with the kids, leaving me in charge (the irresponsible one).

    Why do they keep doing this to me? I’ve dealt with plumbers, refrigerator fixers, sewer pipe router-outers and landscape guys. Even frickin’ Jehovah’s Witnesses (I always tell them I’m Jewish or Muslim – they leave fast).

    I think I’ma gonna take a nap and close the door to my bedroom. Landlord can deal.

    eta: was out late last night with friends, and feeling a bit ‘under the weather’, as one might say.

  74. 74.

    dance around in your bones

    @raven: Yeah, if you have the right washer and wrench and all.

    This place is somewhat deficient in proper tools and washers and people who know how to use them. (Can you come over and fix it? :)

  75. 75.

    Tonal Crow

    @JPL:

    What does well regulated mean? I’m seriously asking this question because those words were written by our founding/dead fathers.

    According to the NRA, it means that the gun bearer is breathing or not breathing. Really.

  77. 77.

    dance around in your bones

    @raven: I mean, it’s not really my house. If it was, I’d prolly know how to fix it (I’ve fixed washers and dryers and faucets and horse corrals and built chicken coops and all kinda other stuff, in my OWN house) but here it’s like “call the landlord and go out and leave grandma to sort it out”.

    Sheeeeeeit.

    Ceramic washers? Maybe I’ll suggest them to the landlord. I believe he’s replaced them twice before (the kids tend to go hard on the hardware – boyz being boyz and all).

  79. 79.

    muddy

    @Mnemosyne:

    the door would only open if approached by the cat wearing the right collar and would close again if the wrong-collared cat approached while the first one was eating.

    I’m thinking the fat one would sit right there like a vulture, denying food to everyone.

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    I feel like crap right now but I don’t have a fever, so I’m really hoping it’s because the pollen count is high today and not because I’m coming down with the horrendous flu that’s knocking everyone else out at work. I have a yarn crawl to do this weekend, damn it!

  81. 81.

    dance around in your bones

    @raven: Thanks, raven. Think I’ll let the landlord deal.

    I’m bitching more about being left to deal with him, even though he’s the most laid-back sweet surfer soul you’d ever know. Ah, what the hell, I’m just bitching. ‘Cuz I can!

    @Mnemosyne: I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it, but I have been quite the prodigious knitter and I remember yarn trawling (that’s what I called it). Kaffe Fassett influenced me pretty heavily, so my knitting tends to be very colorful and intricate. And also somewhat non-suited to SoCal weather.

  85. 85.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @dance around in your bones: Jehovah’s Witnesses (I always tell them I’m Jewish or Muslim – they leave fast).

    Maybe I’ll try that. I read an article by woman who was raised JW, and she says “I’m apostate”, and they literally run away.

    @Suffern ACE: one of those internet viruses, eh?

  86. 86.

    dance around in your bones

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: We used to get them pretty frequently, and we’d rotate religions as needed.

    The one thing you NEVER want to do is engage in conversation – we had a neighbor once who thought it would be fun to debate their beliefs – they came back for years and years and years…

  87. 87.

    lojasmo

    2 miles of hill repeats, and a trip to the store for dark chocolate and red wine. Picked up Hitchcock from Redbox, so that’s our evening.

    The boy is attending a dance with two girls just broken up with their beaus.

    Ahem.

  88. 88.

    WereBear

    @Schlemizel: I hope you love it as much as I do.

    Sure, there’s one program (Scrivener) I’d love to use, but it is $1200 for a laptop vs $200 for a Chromebook.

    And as I explained to my husband, “If it falls into a lake tomorrow, everything is backed up.”

  89. 89.

    Dolly Llama (f.k.a. Evolving Deep Southerner)

    Changing handles. Tired of the other one. I’ll go ahead and get the moderation over with on an open thread.

  90. 90.

    Yutsano

    @efgoldman: 17. Hence the “ahem”. :)

    (Having met his lovely bride, I have great affection for his family. And he needs to share pics of his GAWJUSS puppeh dammit!)

  91. 91.

    Dolly Llama

    Fuck it. Not going through the half-step of the parenthetical “f.k.a.” thing. Those of you here on this dead thread know. I have officially declared it. If I’m going to go through moderation, shit, may as well get it out of the way all at once and not have to do it twice.

  92. 92.

    gbear

    @indycat32:

    Yes, way too expensive and kind of intimidating. My cats wouldn’t even go into a covered cat box with a clear plastic door (although they were fine with the box once the door was removed).

    My preference would be a sound that just keeps getting louder until the cat goes away.

  93. 93.

    Mnemosyne

    @dance around in your bones:

    I got to see Kaffe Fassett speak at Vogue Knitting Live a few years ago. He was really interesting. He published an autobiography a few years ago and the excerpts I’ve read were really interesting. When he was struggling with his sexuality, he decided to blow his stifling hometown and move to swinging London (and London in the 1960s was really swinging).

    His stifling hometown was San Francisco, so that cracked me up a little. And turns out his name is pronounced “Kayf” (I always thought it was more like “Kaf”).

  94. 94.

    dance around in your bones

    @Mnemosyne: I saw him too, in Los Angeles waaaaaaaay back in the day. I got him to sign all my hardcover Kaffe Fassett books, like 5 of them. Idiot me, I remember saying out loud “Will you marry me, Kaffe?”

    D’oh.

    He really changed my ideas about what knitting could be. I even got a letter printed in Vogue Knitting saying the exact same thing. Sigh. I still get his newsletter.

    eta: Yeah, growing up in Big Sur with parents that ran a famous restaurant = sooooooo stifling.Ha!

  95. 95.

    Mnemosyne

    @dance around in your bones:

    Parents who were friends with Henry Miller! But it’s more that everyone has to rebel against their parents, IMO, no matter how bohemian those parents are. And IIRC even the most open-minded parents in those days would have been completely homophobic.

    There used to be a cool little knitting store in SB just off State St. on Figueroa (I think) but sadly they went out of business. I liked Cardigans when I was there, but it’s pretty far off our usual beaten path, and G has low tolerance for yarn stores. Knit and Pearl is nice, but pricey.

    ETA: Yes, I plan my vacation trips around knitting stores. I don’t always get to go, but I know what’s around in case I can talk someone into it.

  96. 96.

    dance around in your bones

    @Mnemosyne: It goes way way back with him. You just made me spend half of the remaining balance on my Amazon gift card on his autobiography. Damn you! ;)

    I used to do his method of just buying random colors/types of yarn and incorporating them into my projects. I had the great good luck of having a friend who use to do Oriental carpet repair giving me huge bags of Persian needlepoint wool in 3 foot lengths in all shades and colors. I still have some to this day. Made many colorful sweaters with that yarn.

    I also love Elizabeth Zimmerman, and studied her books like textbooks. I made my husband a black alpaca cable sweater knitted from the top down, with her invisible cast-on technique. She was like a goddess to me. There is something very soothing, musical and mathematical about knitting that appeals to me.

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