Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

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

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

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

“In this country American means white. everybody else has to hyphenate.”

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: The Lyin’ in Winter

Open Thread: The Lyin’ in Winter

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Now that Game of Thrones has wrapped up its third season, another prominent fantasy dynasty has volunteered to fill in for the summer:

… News Corp. boss Rupert Murdoch and his third wife, Wendi Deng, are splitting, Deadline Hollywood reports (confirmed here). The 82-year-old Murdoch reportedly filed for divorce this morning in New York State Supreme Court, less than two weeks shy of the couple’s fourteenth anniversary. Deng, 38 years Murdoch’s junior, married the mogul days after his second divorce was finalized and is the mother of his two young daughters, Grace and Chloe.

Murdoch, who’s also in the midst of a corporate split and repositioning, was said to trust his young wife’s business sense, and although she had “no official role,” she had risen “to a place of prominence in the family business,” The Wall Street Journal reported (before Murdoch owned it) in 2000, a year after the two married. (The article also features the story of Deng’s first marrige, at the age of 21, to Jack Cherry, the 53-year-old man who sponsored her student visa after the two had an affair.)…

I know, I know: the whole Murdoch clan is the global media equivalent of the Great Pacific Trash Vortex. One question of interest to political bloggers, though: Who gets custody of Roger Ailes, Bradley Foundation prizewinner?

The Fox News chairman gave an address demonstrating his value to these ideals, at least as the Bradley Foundation understands them. Here was one priceless Ailes riff:

A few other hot news topics these days include the IRS. The federal government is about to hire 16,000 more IRS agents to enforce health care. Forty-seven new tax increases! No wonder they need guns! We already know the IRS is arrogant. They waste as much money as other government agencies. They enjoy pushing people around. And they can’t line dance! We don’t need 16,000 more people who can’t line dance. And we don’t need more people with guns enforcing our health care! Hi, granny, get your hands up, we’re tired of telling you this, but take your Metamucil.

***********
Apart from pointing & laughing at Our Elite Betters, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

Reader Interactions

259Comments

  1. 1.

    PsiFighter37

    Mainly hoping that Obama doesn’t fuck the Syria situation up badly. There’s got to be absolutely zero troops sent over there or he will get crucified for it. I still think this is a mistake – it’s been way too long to do something like this.

    I bet he still wishes he could take back that stupid ‘red line’ comment he made.

  2. 2.

    raven

    Watch the 1st half, go to bed, wake up at 5 and watch the end. Pretty thrilling huh?

  4. 4.

    ulee

    I’m hanging out with my dogs, waiting to watch The Warriors at 10pm on Sundance channel. Warriors, come out to play..Warriors, come out to playay.

  5. 5.

    Scott S.

    So: more than likely, Roger Ailes suffers from chronic constipation which he refuses to treat because he thinks fiber is for sissies.

  7. 7.

    TooManyJens

    Got a sick kid. So of course all plans for today went out the window, but her fever’s come down and she’s finally sleeping for real. Poor kiddo, she was really miserable.

  9. 9.

    Anne Laurie

    @Scott S.: I think Roger gets his fiber requirements by chewing the scenery. All the lead paint chips haven’t done much for his higher brain functions, though…

  11. 11.

    Rick Massimo

    Jesus Christ, I knew Roger Ailes was a dickhead, and a moron, but really I thought a lifelong professional journalist would be able to put together a sentence or two, at least on occasion, and at least for a planned speech.

    Shows what happens when you take away his TelePrompTer I guess.

  17. 17.

    JGabriel

    Open thread and I have a question:

    I just answered a few questions for an online survey. A lot of these surveys ask you to identify your age within a specific range, say 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, etc.

    When asked that question, does anyone else feel an increasing sense of dismay as you grow older, particularly after 45 or 50?

  18. 18.

    raven

    @MomSense: Thanks!

    Comrade Jake I’ve had this here DVR for about 6 months and I love it. My problem is forgetting that some fucker will give the score and I’ll see it.

  21. 21.

    Anne Laurie

    @efgoldman: The Dirty Digger’s mum lived to be almost 104. I remember a British website mocking the Murdochs as a parody version of the Windsors (both clans do seem to have some mustelidea genes) but now I can’t find it.

  22. 22.

    hoppipolla

    spending night #2 at NY Presbyterian, dealing with a scary episode of atrial fib. this is one of the best hospitals in the world, great facilities, great staff, and it still just sucks out loud. lawdy, i hate hospitals. they’ll release me tomorrow if they can get my heart rate down. drugs, do your stuff!

    but it sure was fun returning to my room after my transesophageal echocardiogram and reading the Rupe and Wendy news.

  24. 24.

    JPL

    @raven: Good news.. bad news for me.. I had two pines and a pear tree taken out on Wednesday. They would be blocking the street if I hadn’t. I lost two trees in the back and the tops of a few more. My neighborhood is a mess.

  25. 25.

    hoppipolla

    @Narcissus: actually, the rumor is that Wendy was banging Tony Blair (hence that odd Daily Mail story last week about a sex scandal that supposedly had No. 10 Downing St. in a tizzy).

  26. 26.

    ruemara

    I think the loss of my camera and the soon loss of my access to cameras has hit me. I have no idea what to do. It’s just not fucking fair and it amazes me at how my life often feels like a poorly written aping of a Dickens novel. It wasn’t even a year old! The interleaving shutter is stuck somehow and although the rest of the mechanisms seem to work, if the cover iris won’t move to open or close, the camera itself will not turn for taking pictures. There are times I wish had enough happy parts to feel the huge amount of depression I’m probably supressing. Throw in the fact that I may be able to get a ticket to comic con, but my saved up money went to go fight a bogus ticket…I feel so done on this year. Very Basta Ya.

  28. 28.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    @raven:

    I prefer to buy last-gen camera stuff most of the time and the Canon T3 was at the top of my list.

    Many thanks.

  32. 32.

    JGabriel

    @Rick Massimo:

    I knew Roger Ailes was a dickhead, and a moron, but really I thought a lifelong professional journalist would be able to put together a sentence or two, at least on occasion …

    Roger Ailes has never been a professional journalist; Ailes is, as he always been — ever since Shaitan shoved his demon seed into whatever creature’s womb Roger clawed out of — a professional reactionary right-wing political operative, and never anything else.

  35. 35.

    JGabriel

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    … I just give them my emotional age and then they discard the survey.

    Ah, I can relate. Whenever anyone tells me they’re young for their age, I respond by telling them I’m immature for my age.

    ETA: Actually, I tell people that whenever they ask for my age.

  40. 40.

    JGabriel

    @efgoldman:

    Beats the shit out of the alternative.

    True, but my dismay comes from feeling like the alternative keeps stealthily advancing closer and closer, like an inept ninja assassin who thinks I don’t hear him.

  42. 42.

    p

    i am sooo grateful that after living in the country for many years, on limited funds, there are so many things i have no need for, like facebook, twitter, cell phones, “game of thrones”…make-up, louie vitton.
    so many things i won’t miss if they disappear tomorrow.
    (tho i may be reduced to burgess meredith in a “twighlight zone” episode).

  43. 43.

    Comrade Jake

    Did anyone catch the NYT piece on Mike D (Beastie Boys) and his wife’s place in Brooklyn where he didn’t want to give them his age?

    People are strange.

  44. 44.

    MomSense

    I’m doing the outside/inside/outside/inside thing with my cats at the back door. They really want to go out but it is so cold and damp. The dog keeps staring at the fireplace and then at me. He just pulled the lying down hard plus the humph sound.

  48. 48.

    Spaghetti Lee

    Man, it’s a pity to see the Murdochs go down in flames like that. Those two crazy kids, they had such big dreams!

  49. 49.

    JGabriel

    @raven:

    Fuck it and drive on.

    (Mulls it over, bounces it around, ping pongs that idea through my skull.)

    Okay, I’ll try that.

  50. 50.

    Spaghetti Lee

    I don’t tell you guys my age for the opposite reasons. You don’t get no respect from nobody until it starts with a 3, or maybe even a 4.

  55. 55.

    hoppipolla

    @MomSense: thanks for the good wishes (and thanks to the friends who have come to my aid, bringing care packages, looking after my very worried bunny, etc. tonight’s discussion here of age and aging is particularly…resonant.

    and btw, sure hope ruemara’s luck takes a turn for the better, and soon. some years just suck.

  56. 56.

    Sandia Blanca

    So, our theory is that Putin and Murdoch both got divorced because of gay marriage. Now they’re going to gay marry each other and take over what’s left of the world.

  59. 59.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    @ruemara:

    Please email me at binhthuy71 at the hoo that ya.com. I have a Canon Powershot A540 in good condition that I’ll be happy to send you.

  60. 60.

    NickT

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate:

    Would you kindly stop making me laugh? That’s almost all of a cup of damn fine coffee that will have to be washed out of the carpet after your recent interventions. The fact the stuff had to proceed to FREEDUMB via my nasal cavity is another item which is decidedly not to your credit.

  61. 61.

    JGabriel

    @hoppipolla:

    spending night #2 at NY Presbyterian, dealing with a scary episode of atrial fib. this is one of the best hospitals in the world, great facilities, great staff, and it still just sucks out loud.

    When I was looking for a doctor, my primary criteria was that he/she had an association with NY Presbyterian. Anyway, wishing you good luck, a quick recovery, and a speedy return safely home.

  62. 62.

    Comrade Jake

    Someone must have talked to Simmons, because he’s much better tonight with this ABC crew than he has been

  63. 63.

    mai naem

    I saw this earlier today. The reason he supposedly married her was because she was chinese and it was supposed to help him get into the Chinese media market(SkyTV?) I think she’ll take him for a ride unless he was smart enough to do a prenup but the Chinese business is probably at least partly in her name. I just find it disgusting when people marry spouses way way older than them. None of my beeswax, but just a yuck.

  65. 65.

    NickT

    @mai naem:

    IIRC Wendi Deng had somewhat of a track record of making up to older Western men who might be beneficial to her. A married man named Jake Cherry was “the guy” before Murdoch appeared on the scene.

  66. 66.

    hoppipolla

    @JGabriel: word. if it’s good enough for the Big (backseat drivin’) Dawg, it’s good enough for me. and i really must congratulate myself for having the foresight to pick an apartment that’s a 2-minute ambulance ride from the world’s finest cardiac-care hospital. really, i meant to do that.

  68. 68.

    Villago Delenda Est

    If said series includes Theon Greyjoy moments for Murdoch and Ailes, I’ll watch.

  69. 69.

    Suffern ACE

    @hoppipolla: take care. I too have been in those confines. 18 hours in the ER waiting for an ultrasound machine to free up. You know you are in good hands as that’s where the rich and famous New Yorkers go. But damn, like most things in New York, if you aren’t in the penthouse, the dwellings kind of suck.

  71. 71.

    hoppipolla

    @Suffern ACE: nicely put. i waited (and waited and waited) for my TEE with a woman who spent TWELVE HOURS in the ER before she was examined and admitted — at 3 in the freaking morning. poor thing. and here i was bitching because my wait was all of two hours.

  75. 75.

    muddy

    @Suffern ACE: The mixed blessing of rural life: the hospital is a half hour away at least, but you never have to wait at the ER. They only have 6 chairs.

  77. 77.

    ? Martin

    Man, this Syria thing is, best case, a huge bucket of shit. I’m hoping for a not disastrous outcome, but I’m not hopeful of one.

  79. 79.

    dance around in your bones

    Part of me is wondering how long I could hold my breath until the divorce and and pre-nup (in my favor) kicked in. I’m guessing not more than a day or two. I’m kinda like that.

    @ruemara Funny how the lack of a camera can make you so bummed, no? I hardly use mine on my iPhone, but if the thing goes dead it bugs me. I just like knowing that it is THERE, ya know? Just in case I want to use it.

    Also, please take up Higgs Boson’s Mate’s offer – you deserve it!

  81. 81.

    ? Martin

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    You don’t get no respect from nobody until it starts with a 3, or maybe even a 4.

    Yeah, don’t get too confident it’ll start when it hits a 4. I’m halfway to 5 and I need to seriously get up in most people’s shit before they fucking listen.

  83. 83.

    Ruckus

    @JGabriel:
    Dismay about what? Everything? I can’t change everything, hell I can’t change much at all so why get dismayed about it. Dismay about getting older? Isn’t that a good thing seeing as how the alternative is not so hot?

  84. 84.

    Suffern ACE

    @muddy: nyp is so big they have at least three emergency rooms. One for kids, one for serious trauma and one for the rest of us who happen to think we might have DVT after watching a movie. If you fall into the third category, best to stop off at a convenience store because you won’t be offered food or drink.

  86. 86.

    muddy

    @Suffern ACE: When I was in the hospital here they didn’t come around at certain times with the trays in a cart for everyone. You call down like it’s room service and order off the extensive “bistro” menu, and someone brings it up to you. It’s pretty good food too, and they try to source the food locally where they can. I think I was using the wi-fi and gloating in here about how I had salmon and asparagus for lunch when I was in last.

  87. 87.

    Loneoak

    Ugh.

    Last night, the Bradley Foundation held a gala ceremony at the Kennedy Center to hand out $250,000 checks to this year’s winners of its annual award, which this year included Mitch Daniels, right-wing Über-intellectual Yuval Levin, Obamacare almost-slayer Paul Clement, and Roger Ailes.
    ….
    It must have been quite a night at the Kennedy Center. All of the grandees of the movement — Paul Ryan, George Will, Bill Kristol — were in attendance to witness the ultimate affirmation of the spirit of the conservative movement: a fantastically rich man being handed more money for telling lies while presenting himself as a truth-teller.

    I am in the wrong gig. Fucking scruples and whatnot.

  89. 89.

    Ruckus

    @JGabriel:
    Welcome to the club. That sucker is gaining on us. Both parents, sister, all my aunts and uncles, one cousin have taken the alternative express. I’m the second oldest left in both parents and their kids generations. Every day I wonder what will hurt today.

    You do understand that the trick is figure out how to fool the bastard for as long as you can so you can laugh your ass off on your way out the door, don’t you?

  91. 91.

    StringOnAStick

    Open thread? OK, I’m ready to tell my employer to FOAD because(1) I’m making less than everyone I graduated with in dental hygiene, (2) they constantly tell me how their clients simply love my work as a temp at their offices, and (3) I am currently having to drive 2 hours a day to work at an office that wants me there for the next few months because of an illness in the office family. The passive aggressive whining “oh, please, please; you’re the only one they like” has reached new heights, and I’m so over it. Say it with cash, fuckers.

  92. 92.

    NickT

    @Ruckus:

    I intend to hit the bastard with my Zimmer frame until he screams uncle. And when his uncle shows up, I’ll do the same for him.

  93. 93.

    NickT

    Interesting little moment here that might partly explain why Chris Christie didn’t do the smart thing and appoint Christine Todd Whitman to the Senate:

    http://editors.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/06/christie_whitman_gop_really_sucks.php?ref=fpblg

    On why no other viable Republicans seem to want to run, Whitman said, “A lot of them…are saying, ‘this Republican party isn’t really the one that I really believe in, and how well would I do in Washington with a leadership [that’s] looking for, again and again, more party loyalty than necessarily policy changes?’ And so people have said, ‘I’ve got other ways that I can contribute.’”

  95. 95.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    @NickT:

    Had a couple of things happen that left me surprised that I wasn’t dead. Took the sting out of the notion.

  96. 96.

    Suffern ACE

    @? Martin: nope. You aren’t allowed to go negative. You, Omnes and Joe from Lowell are supposed to offer a convincing argument that Khadaffi or Assad must go so that I don’t run screaming down the halls at the lunacy of the situation.

  97. 97.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @Loneoak: I suppose a small asteroid was too much to ask. And it would destroy a pretty neat building.

  101. 101.

    stinger

    I had to look up “Great Pacific Trash Vortex” in Wikipedia. I confess I’m a little disappointed to learn that it’s not another name for Wasilla.

  102. 102.

    Keith

    WTF is up with Colbert Report tonight? I skipped last night because I don’t really like The Beatles (hour long McCartney fest), and tonight is apparently a damn replay of it. Colbert spent the first 5 minutes making bad McCartney jokes; I thought he was just referencing last night, but then he kept going on about tonight being an hour long show with McCartney playing 6 songs. Worst…Groundhog Day…ever.

  104. 104.

    ? Martin

    @Suffern ACE:

    You, Omnes and Joe from Lowell are supposed to offer a convincing argument that Khadaffi or Assad must go so that I don’t run screaming down the halls at the lunacy of the situation.

    Well, Assad must go, but how the fuck do you get there? And what’s left behind if you do? We weren’t aligned against nations like Russia and Iran in Libya. The Libyan opposition, while tribal in nature, was at least all committed to a generally shared goal. That’s not happening in Syria. We might be able to talk Russia into stopping their arms shipments, but the only way we’re getting Iran to stop is through force. Are we ready to go there? Libya had some small arms coming up from the south, but they were fairly easy to cut off. Is there any way to go into this without dragging Israel into it, because Israel is just itching to go kick Hezbollah’s ass without repercussion here? And how unbelievably massively does this whole thing blow up if Israel does get involved? Or even if we just use Israel for staging? Or do overflights over Golan Heights?

    I’d feel a little better if Turkey was taking a stronger role here, but are they even in a position now to support us using their nation for staging? Are we now about to fuck them up as well?

    Libya was relatively straightforward as conflicts go. This is just a goddamn fucking mess, and McCain is hell bent and determined to make it as bad a possible.

  105. 105.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @? Martin: McCain is *always* trying to fuck shit up. I truly believe the man is senile. Of course, so are probably 40 of the senators.

  106. 106.

    Ruckus

    @? Martin:
    This is just a goddamn fucking mess, and McCain is hell bent and determined to make it as bad a possible.

    Isn’t that the what he always tries to do?

    If he makes it as bad as possible then as president he gets to send in troops. Oh wait… Maybe somebody should tell him he lost. I don’t think he got or maybe it’s understood, the message.

  108. 108.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    @? Martin:

    I’d feel a little better if Turkey was taking a stronger role here, but are they even in a position now to support us using their nation for staging? Are we now about to fuck them up as well?

    I’m not sure the Turkey is interested in much more than making certain that Syria’s Kurds don’t declare their independence. Besides, they have problems at home. Allowing US assets on their soil might be very dicey.

  110. 110.

    dance around in your bones

    @Keith: I’m with ya. It’s a repeat of last night with perhaps? some new songs? which I wouldn’t know for sure since I checked out last night early.

    Paul was not my favorite Beatle, plus he is murdering their songs. I don’t care if he wrote half of them. It was all about the harmony and interaction…..Paul has a weak voice all by his lonesome.

    But Colbert did get to sing with McCartney! WOOT!

  111. 111.

    NickT

    @? Martin:

    I think asking for a solution where this doesn’t produce an even more godawful mess is pretty much like yelling “Stop right there!” at the tectonic plates in an earthquake zone. We’d all love it if these centuries-old conflicts would just somehow simmer down, but there’s no obvious way of achieving that absent some population relocation probably accompanied by mass slaughter, or an effective and brutal tyranny, or, of course, a miracle. I suspect that, whatever we try and do, the first outcome is the most likely.

  113. 113.

    ? Martin

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate:

    I’m not sure the Turkey is interested in much more than making certain that Syria’s Kurds don’t declare their independence. Besides, they have problems at home. Allowing US assets on their soil might be very dicey.

    Exactly. Their interest was solely defensive. I’m sure they’d like a stable Syria that they could work with, and a Kurdish state in Syria might help with that, but I don’t think they believe that’s going to happen. And beyond that, I don’t think they give a fuck.

    And up until now, Turkey has been our pathway to Syria. We have troops there now helping Turkey protect against the conflict spilling into their country. So do we do in Turkey what we did in Bahrain and support putting down an uprising for political expediency (a secular uprising, no less)? How’s that going to play? 2 weeks ago this might have been tenable. Now? Ugh.

  115. 115.

    CaseyL

    @Redshift: Oh, I feel ya. I had a long spell of unemployment, and it sucks in a way that is not at all good. The only advice I can give is, if you’re not already on LinkedIn, join up and spring for the Premier membership. That way you can search companies and get the names of department heads, HR people, and see if you have connections to any of them. Many companies take it for granted that you have a LinkedIn profile, too. Best of luck!

  116. 116.

    MattR

    Random question – Anyone know a good monitor that comes with a stand that allows it to be oriented in portrait mode?

  118. 118.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @MattR: Damn, I have one at work that tilts, IIRC, but I can’t remember the name atm. It wasn’t that expensive, either. About $300 a couple of years ago. I don’t ever use the tilt, but I remember it being there when I installed the stand.

    ETA: Pivot, not tilt, per (alien head)Martin

  120. 120.

    Anne Laurie

    @JGabriel:

    When asked that question, does anyone else feel an increasing sense of dismay as you grow older, particularly after 45 or 50?

    Serious answer: There was a study, few months back, said that here in America people tend to get depressed about growing older between (give or take) age 35 and 50 or 55. Then the curve swings in the other direction — apparently if you survive to see 55, you become increasingly sanguine about the drawbacks associated with getting older. So hang in there, kid, and things ‘ll get brighter (says the 57yo).

  122. 122.

    MattR

    @? Martin: @Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS): @Higgs Boson’s Mate: Thank you all. Dell definitely had a couple options (though that one you highlighted is probably a bit too high end for my needs. That monitor will be primarily for reading code so I don’t need super high resolution or color clarity) And that stand looks useful if I find a really good deal on some other monitor. It might even work with one of the monitors I have now.

    I should probably start by figuring out if I am going to turn my dining room back into a dining room so I can try and sell my apt or if I am going to leave it as my home office.

  123. 123.

    lockout

    Drinkin’ wine, pickin’ scabs, and watchin’ Sean Hannity. Not really carin’ all that much about Syria. Did a tour today, and it went pretty well.

  125. 125.

    ? Martin

    @MattR: Yeah, 27″ is pretty big for code. I decided to forgo the big monitor for a retina MacBook Pro, which has been almost as beneficial. The clarity of type has made it unbelievably easier on my eyes when coding. I found I could even reduce font size a bit and still come out ahead. It’s been life changing.

  126. 126.

    JGabriel

    @Anne Laurie:

    There was a study, few months back, said that here in America people tend to get depressed about growing older between (give or take) age 35 and 50 or 55. Then the curve swings in the other direction — apparently if you survive to see 55, you become increasingly sanguine about the drawbacks associated with getting older. So hang in there, kid, and things ‘ll get brighter (says the 57yo).

    Thank you, from someone in his late 40’s.

    Although, honestly, I don’t even need a reason to get depressed — I have a natural gift for that.

  127. 127.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    @MattR:

    It might even work with one of the monitors I have now.

    I just checked the two monitors on my desktop (Samsung, ASUS) and they both have the mounting holes required by the 3M stand. Chances are yo already have monitor that will work.

  128. 128.

    MattR

    @? Martin: My current HP laptop has the absolute worst resolution. For some reason they got me a very early 64 bit Windows 7 machine and there are no video drivers that will improve the resolution on the monitor screen, separate monitors work fine. It is unbelievably painful when I am travelling and have to work with an undocked laptop. Luckily, work has purchased me a new laptop and docking station. I just have to find time to install all the software I need and port over all my documents so I can start using it. (I don’t even know what brand the new laptop is. Maybe a Lenovo)

    I am thinking I should probably replace my personal desktop with a laptop that uses the same docking station so I can swap them in and out instead of needing two computer desks. I like that my work and personal areas are currently separate but I also live in a relatively small apartment so consolidating to a single desk would really help, especially if I want the dining room to be a dining room.

    @JGabriel: Seems that “pivot” is the keyword I should be searching for rather than “portrait mode”. Thanks.

  129. 129.

    lojasmo

    I will complain on the internet when Obama commits troops to Libya, or donates deadly hardware.

  131. 131.

    Ruckus

    @Anne Laurie:
    Something that stood out for me in running my triathlon/bike shop. As we hit the early to mid thirties our bodies stop maturing and sort of hit a plateau that lasts for about 6-10 years. At that point we start the downhill slope. We start to notice the downhill part at about 45-50 yrs old. I saw this in almost all of the endurance athletes that I worked with, from Ironman course record holders to just folks. IOW I agree with the study.

  132. 132.

    lojasmo

    @JGabriel:

    Self esteem peaks at 60. Given your data, I’m comfortable at 45.

    Still overweight. Could lose another 40 pounds. Oh well.

  134. 134.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    @MattR:

    If you don’t require the horsepower of a desktop the new gen laptops are looking pretty sweet. Me? I do 3D modelling so I built a full tower with nine fans to cool the hardware.

  135. 135.

    lojasmo

    FYWP No second edit.

    Plan is to start lifting weights when my weight loss phase is done.

  137. 137.

    MattR

    @Ruckus:

    As we hit the early to mid thirties our bodies stop maturing and sort of hit a plateau that lasts for about 6-10 years.

    Shit, this is a plateau?1? I don’t want to see what the downward slope is like

    @JGabriel: Great. So now I have only my procrastination to blame.

    @? Martin: I am hopeful switching to portrait mode will help, but I still am most efficient when I have printed out code and spread it out while I read through it and can easily flip around between pages. Of course newfangled development environments do a better job of letting you jump into procedures to see how they work and then bounce back out to the code that called it, but not all of my work utilizes those nice new environments.

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate: I don’t do anything too funky on my personal machine. No gaming. Current desktop does not even have HDMI out so it is not connected to a TV. At most, I convert music from FLAC to mp3. So I figure a laptop should be good enough for me, if the price is right.

  138. 138.

    Punchy

    @ulee: Italian Job on AMC. Marky Mark at his finest. Seth Green completely typecast as a nerd. Great flick

  139. 139.

    ? Martin

    @MattR: Yeah, I was printing before I got this laptop. Was able to stop once I got it. The other thing that helped quite a lot was unfucking my code to eliminate most of the jumping, but that was neither fun or fast (I’m not the most diligent coder). When it’s someone else’s code, there’s not much you can do about that. And then there are scaling limits…

  140. 140.

    dance around in your bones

    @Punchy: Hey, I’m watching that! And trying not to think about the downhill slope, even though I’m on it.

  144. 144.

    Punchy

    @Ruckus: You ever work with Tim Deboom? Gotta be the nicest (former?) pro triathlete I’ve ever trained with…

  145. 145.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    @JGabriel:

    LOL. Lamentably, the fourth dimension (time) has run over me then backed up and done it again. Dating is how I identify the iterations of my work.

  146. 146.

    MattR

    @? Martin: It is amazing how much more diligently I started commenting my code once I spent time trying to understand applications that had been written and enhanced multiple times by different people over 15-20 years. That, and my memory started going so I had to include comments to remind myself of what I changed six months ago.

  147. 147.

    JGabriel

    @Punchy:

    Marky Mark at his finest.

    I find I must vehemently disagree: Marky Mark’s best performance was in I ♥ Huckabee’s. The Village Voice even gave him their best supporting actor award for it!

    (Why do I remember this trivia shit?)

  148. 148.

    dance around in your bones

    @Yatsuno: I’m hitting 60 this year. 40 is just a dim memory, but kinda fun as I vaguely recall.

    I wish I was 40 again! I’d party harder and not worry about shit. In the end, we’re all worm food. Might as well enjoy it while we can.

    (I hated turning 40, BTW. Made me feel REAL old. Ha!)

  149. 149.

    ? Martin

    @MattR: The memory was really what caused me to change. I used to be able to keep everything in my head. I could remember function names, arguments, conceptually what was happening in the function, how the flow of different parts of my system worked. As that started to break down I just got lost. I spent more time just tracing my own work than advancing the code. And it just got worse as the projects grew. There’s a ton of documentation now that shows exactly what’s happening with the data at various stages, and so on.

    I do a lot of web based data visualization so there’s a solid mix of PHP, SQL, Javascript, SVG, HTML and CSS and a lot of fairly advanced statistics going on. The variety of code doesn’t help.

  150. 150.

    JGabriel

    Hey, I just noticed the Balloon Juice masthead comments are back.

    When did that happen?

  151. 151.

    fuckwit

    With regards Syria: it’s not the USA’s job to solve these problems. It’s the UN’s job.

    Bring in the fucking Blue Helmets.

    I’m tired of this “policeman of the world” bullshit. The UN can deal with it, or if they don’t have the interest or inclination, then maybe the Arab League can deal with it.

    Not. Our. Problem.

    We can help, we can send material, we can even send troops, etc., if called upon, we can do our part.

    But I’ve had enough of every clusterfuck, every civil war, every instability, somehow being our problem to fix. It isn’t.

    Obama’s doing the right thing staying on the bench. If “red lines” were crossed, it’s up to blue helmets to push back.

  158. 158.

    JGabriel

    BillinGlendaleCA:

    I noticed that they were back a few weeks ago.

    Okay, that’s not as bad as I feared. I was afraid everyone would tell me they came back months ago.

  160. 160.

    Ruckus

    @MattR:
    The ride is fun. The ride is fun. The ride is fun.

    Keep telling yourself that. At some point you will convince yourself. It may help if you like skiing. Or going over Niagara in a barrel. Do you throw up your hands and laugh like a banshie on a roller coaster?

    Oh and one more thing. If you make it sometimes you will hear a little voice in the back of your head. Only knows one word.

    Sucker.

  164. 164.

    NickT

    @MattR:

    Better be careful with your bequests. Some people might decide to take out the worms and screw the useful parts of you.

  167. 167.

    JGabriel

    @fuckwit:

    The UN can deal with it …

    The UN doesn’t have an army.

    I’m not saying you’re wrong, just that it’s unlikely that any other country will pony up troops for the UN unless we’re saddled up too.

  168. 168.

    dance around in your bones

    @JGabriel: A small portion, but useful for foxes. Good!

    @MattR: I was going to add ‘all we are are ashes in the wind’ but I just couldn’t bring myself to type that. Damn you.

    Most everybody I know who has died has been cremated and scattered in the ocean.

  171. 171.

    NickT

    @JGabriel:

    Certainly not in this region and this conflict. If we were talking about Africa, the African Union might decide to work with the UN and some European troops, but this is one rolling clusterfuck no-one else is going to want any part of, especially now Russia’s practicing lobbing wrenches into the works.

  172. 172.

    ? Martin

    @JGabriel: No, I think other countries will, but only if the US is committed to bailing everyone out when it goes sideways. And we’re going to have to put our hardware up front as we did with Libya. Cruise missiles, carriers, subs, drones, transports, logistics, satellites – all that.

    In the case of Syria, nobody is going anywhere until Russia and Iran are dealt with, and that’s entirely in our lap.

    That all assumes that this advances past the stage of giving these guys small arms.

  173. 173.

    NickT

    @JGabriel:

    I think she really means:

    “The willingness of FOX to pay me ridiculous amounts of money for making a complete fool of myself on TV is unparalleled.”

    But I could be wrong.

  176. 176.

    NickT

    @JGabriel:

    No wonder tuna doesn’t taste the way it did in my wild youth. All you evil old geezers getting your carbonized carcasses dumped in the ocean and messing with essential food supplies. Why do you think Tunch turned (mostly) white in his old age, hmm?

  177. 177.

    MattR

    @dance around in your bones: It’s funny because while I absolutely do not care what happens to my body after I die (other than hoping that parts of it can be of use to someone else), I do want a grave marker even if there is nothing buried underneath it. I felt the same way when making arrangements with family after the deaths of my grandmother, father and aunt. My mother does not want to be buried in the family (her in-laws) cemetary in North Dakota but I insisted that she allow me to at least pay to have a marker placed next to my dad. (And of course she won’t be able to stop me anyway)

  179. 179.

    ? Martin

    I still like our governor:

    The Governor’s plan, proposed in the May Revision, builds on the framework of existing, targeted programs by redirecting approximately $750 million annually from the current flawed Enterprise Zone program to three new economic development programs:

    Sales tax exemption: A statewide sales tax exemption on manufacturing equipment or research and development equipment purchases by firms engaged in manufacturing or biotechnology research and development. The proposal is estimated to provide sales tax exemptions worth over $400 million annually.

    Hiring credit: A hiring credit targeted to businesses located in areas with the highest unemployment rate and poverty. This credit will be available for the hiring of long-term unemployed workers, unemployed veterans and people receiving the federal earned income tax credit. The credit will only be allowed to taxpayers who have a net increase in jobs. The proposal is expected to provide approximately $100 million annually in hiring credits.

    Investment incentive: The California Competes Credit based on specified criteria including the number of jobs to be created or retained and a set job retention period. This component of the proposal is expected to provide between $100 million and $200 million per year in tax credits.

    Stimulus, baby!

  180. 180.

    Yatsuno

    @MattR: I’m getting toasted and half my ashes scattered on Mount Rainier and the other half on Mount Fuji.

    EDIT: I don’t care if there’s a marker. That’s not for me anyway.

  181. 181.

    JGabriel

    @? Martin:

    I think other countries will, but only if the US is committed to bailing everyone out when it goes sideways. And we’re going to have to put our hardware up front as we did with Libya.

    Maybe, but Syria’s proximity to Israel, and the varied allegiances of the government’s opponents, makes it likely to be perceived as a much more volatile powder keg than the Libya situation was. I could be wrong (and really kind of hope I am), but I suspect that the big guns and other hardware might not be enough to motivate other countries unless we actually go in there with them.

  182. 182.

    JGabriel

    @Ruckus:

    I misread your comment and thought you typed bullshit skank.

    LOL’d. Now I wish I’d written that instead.

  184. 184.

    MattR

    @? Martin: I like your governor’s dog.

    @Yatsuno: Let my friends and family do whatever makes them feel good. I suppose I should put someone in charge to prevent arguments, but frankly you can flush my ashes. I won’t be care or be offended. I won’t even know.

    re your edit: Based on everything else, I shouldn’t care about a marker because I won’t be around to see it. But for some funny reason that is the one area that I do, which I think is even funnier because I don’t have children who would want to come and visit my grave nor do I plan to have any children during my life.

  185. 185.

    ? Martin

    @dance around in your bones: My will stipulates to make me as useful as possible. Organ donations, body farm, medical cadaver. Don’t care – whatever is most helpful. Don’t want a grave marker, but that’s really up to the family to decide. I don’t feel particularly tied to any place, and don’t want anyone to feel compelled to go visit some location.

    Also specified no funeral. But a wake is encouraged. Outside of my immediate family, I suspect most people will not struggle with the notion of my having passed.

  186. 186.

    dance around in your bones

    @MattR: Well, I guess we all want to leave our mark upon the world to prove that we were here at least. I think the markers are more for the living than the dead, anyway. Why not?

    My husband is one with the ocean, and partly in a zip-loc baggie in a sock I hand-knitted for him back in the day. He’d think that was funny :)

  189. 189.

    MattR

    @? Martin: My mother asked what my sister and I thought of a memorial garden she was thinking of as a final resting place for her ashes (along with my dad and her sister). It was a beatuiful place but it was in Yonkers and both my sister and I pointed out that we were never going to go there to visit. But there is nothing nice near our childhood home. Maybe it will end up being near Philly where my sister is making roots. Hopefully we wont have to make a final decision anytime soon.

  190. 190.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @MattR: Since we started talking markers, I love tombstones. Even if I get scattered, smothered and covered, I’d want a neat tombstone somewhere. Not that I have anything planned, but most modern markers are shit. Give me a Victorian-era obelisk any day.

  191. 191.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I want to be flash frozen and kept in the deep freezer out in the garage.

  195. 195.

    ? Martin

    I wonder if anyone has ever requested the woodchipper? Not much different than cremation if you think about it, but a bit more manly in my opinion. Might be hard on the family.

  196. 196.

    ulee

    I want a pyramid full of gold cats and mummified minions to serve me in the afterlife. Or just put me out for friday trash collection. Whatever.

  197. 197.

    ? Martin

    Are we finally a go on rail?

    In a victory for the project that’s faced repeated political obstacles, a divided Surface Transportation Board ruled 2-1 that the California High-Speed Rail Authority can begin construction on its own. The initial 65-mile stretch between Fresno and Merced will be exempt from the customary requirement that railway construction first obtain prior approval from the federal board, under the ruling.

  198. 198.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I love being in the garage. I love the smell of hardware and tools and oily machines. I cringe at the very thought of being roasted into ashes or eaten by crawly or slimy insects. So the deep freezer in the garage is my afterlife plan.

  201. 201.

    MattR

    @? Martin: If you catch her at just the right angle, Ellie looks like she has some corgi in her (though not in that pic). It was my English friend who first pointed it out but once I knew to look I can see it as well. Of course I also see a dozen other breeds at various times.

    PS. What a cutie yours is. I can never get good ear action in my photos of Ellie. She is still too submissive so she notices when anyone starts focusing on her and the ears and tail tuck back. Have to be very sneaky to get a good shot in a natural pose.

  204. 204.

    askew

    @PsiFighter37:

    Mainly hoping that Obama doesn’t fuck the Syria situation up badly. There’s got to be absolutely zero troops sent over there or he will get crucified for it. I still think this is a mistake – it’s been way too long to do something like this.

    I bet he still wishes he could take back that stupid ‘red line’ comment he made.

    Obama isn’t going to intervene because of the red line comment. He’s intervening because it has become a humanitarian crisis.

    I don’t know why people are assuming that Obama will fuck it up. He handled Libya perfectly and this is not all that dissimilar to the Libya intervention.

  205. 205.

    ? Martin

    @Just Some Fuckhead: See, but that’s why the woodchipper is perfect. You can actually experience the tools and oily machines in a very direct and personal way. Maybe shoot you into a bunch of 5 gallon buckets to go back in the freezer.

    Takes care of Suffern’s defrosting concerns as well.

  206. 206.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I want to be near my family so they can always ask me for advice or tell me about their problems. I think it would be cathartic for them to be able to talk to me anytime. Or Mrs. Paul’s or Marie Callender.

  207. 207.

    dance around in your bones

    @? Martin: Though I know that body farms serve a useful purpose, I find them creepy in the extreme.

    Have you ever read Michael Crichton’s Travels? (Ok, apparently unavailable now, but if you get a chance….) – he talks about his first medical school cadaver experience, and it is….ummm….creepy!

    We are just waste, in the end. Dead, dead, dead. You are right that we might as well provide our waste for the purpose of science or parts for other people.

  208. 208.

    Suffern ACE

    @ulee: hmm. I’m not thinking I’ll be accepting the invite to your ceremony. “Mr. Ulee graciously requests your presence at his funeral. In lieu of flowers, please bring ace bandages and natron.”

  212. 212.

    NickT

    Speaking of dying the death of a thousand cuts:

    http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/tea-party-group-asks-lindsey-graham-for-his?ref=fpb

    The leader of the tea party group FreedomWorks asked Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for the password to his email account, apparently mocking him for saying Americans shouldn’t fear government snooping into their phone records if they have nothing to hide.
    “Senator Lindsay Graham recently asserted that violating the Fourth Amendment to implement warrantless government surveillance is not only acceptable, it’s welcomed. If we’re not talking to terrorists, we have nothing to worry about,” said FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe said at a news conference Thursday, according to a transcript from the group.
    “Respectfully, Senator, we ask you to lead by example and make your email account password available to the American people. If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to worry about. Right?”
    The group launched the website LindseysPassword.com, which contains a petition calling on Graham to reveal his password.

  213. 213.

    ulee

    @Just Some Fuckhead: I like to walk cemetaries with my dogs and read the markers. If I came across one that simply read-Just Some Fuckhead–that would give me a good laugh. I think you should do that.

  214. 214.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Imagine still being able to say “Dad’s in the garage” after my heart wrenching passing. I think that could help fast track everyone through the grieving process.

  215. 215.

    Ruckus

    @? Martin:
    Woodchipper? Might that be a tad messy? Not that there is anything wrong with that.

    A Quaker circle is nicer than a marker. People come, they sit around and discuss your sorry ass, make jokes, tell stories that you didn’t think they knew, cry a little(if you were worth it) and generally have a wake without the booze. Not a bad send off.

  216. 216.

    MattR

    @dance around in your bones: Admittedly, I have a self serving interest in organ donation as I expect to need a kidney in the next 15-20 years. And I am forever grateful to whomever donated the kidney that ended up in my father nearly 17 years ago. Though he is no longer still with us, the improvement in the quality of his life when he went from dialysis to the transplanted bonus kidney was just amazing, for both him and my mother.

    @NickT: It is one of the very few occassions where I see what the Tea Party is doing and say to myself, “Wow, they’re not wrong”. It’s like a stopped clock and is a reassuring reminder that there is still some sort of order in the universe.

  218. 218.

    NickT

    @MattR:

    I find it immensely satisfying to see them do this to the most unctuous fraud in American public life.

  224. 224.

    JGabriel

    So, I’m browsing apps on Google Play when I come across this app review:

    I love {random ereader app}, but it would be a lot better if the stories were edited for grammer errors.

    I love the internet.

  227. 227.

    Suffern ACE

    I know we like to mock McCain for his bomb first mentality, but has John Kerry ever met a conflict that he hasn’t wanted to intervene in, at least at the outset?

  229. 229.

    Brother Machine Gun of Desirable Mindfulness (fka AWS)

    @Ruckus: indeed. maybe someone has done something like that for the US armed forces, but I haven’t seen or heard it.

    Also, would have been nice to have a transcript. The part about “if you don’t like it – get out” sent chills up my spine.

  230. 230.

    ? Martin

    @askew:

    I don’t know why people are assuming that Obama will fuck it up. He handled Libya perfectly and this is not all that dissimilar to the Libya intervention.

    It’s extremely dissimilar to Libya. It’s nearly the opposite of Libya, in fact. Libya was contained. It had no outside support. There was nobody able to feed anything but small arms and mercenaries in. It was a simple matter of attrition. Blow up their heavier items, take out their aircraft, and what’s left is more or less a small arms vs small arms conflict. Then it comes down to raw numbers. If there’s more opposition, they’re almost certain to emerge victorious. And Libya is a desert with few urban areas. If a tank is moving from one town to the next, it has no cover. You can see and destroy that thing from miles away. The front line is clear. It’s easy to support. The opposition was relatively well organized in just a few tribal factions so it wasn’t hard to communicate and support them. Libya’s norther border was wide open to the sea. The whole nation was accessible, and Egypt was willing to serve as a land conduit.

    Syria is getting anti-aircraft missiles from Russia. They’re getting a variety of support direct from Iran. Can we and the opposition destroy their weaponry faster than other nations can replace it? Are we willing to blockade/no-fly and deny access by Russia? Are we willing to stop movement of arms and soldiers across Iraq from Iran? We just got the fuck out of Iraq. It’s much more urban. There’s a ton of cover. There is no clear front line, so you need to get in close to have any impact – there’s no smart bombs from 20,000 feet here. There’s partial access to the sea, but the rest is either accessed by Turkey (with it’s own protests and uprising and challenges with the Kurds), Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, or Iraq. Saudi Arabia is supporting the Sunni rebels. The Kurds have their own objectives. Al Qaeda is involved. Where do you begin? How do you keep this from turning into an Iran/Israel conflict? Hezbollah is dragging Lebanon into this. Israel will get dragged in as well if this starts to look like a way for Hezbollah to gain power. Iraq is precarious.

    It’s just a colossal fucking mess. I trust Obama here as well, so my guess is this is a pledge for support of the smallest kind – small arms, and then diplomacy to get the other players out of the mess and let it burn until there’s no fuel left. There’s no stopping this humanitarian disaster, and if we listen to McCain we’ll be lucky to not have a repeat of WWI.

  231. 231.

    askew

    @The prophet Nostradumbass:

    @askew: This evening the administration specifically stated that the “red line” of using chemical weapons was why they decided to start arming the Syrian rebels.

    Psi was saying that Obama only is getting involved because he misspoke when he said red line. That’s what I objected to. I seriously doubt Obama decided on this because of his comment. Psi was arguing had Obama not made that comment publicly Obama wouldn’t intervene. That is a moronic argument.

  232. 232.

    MattR

    @Yatsuno: Old pics. She is getting to be an old lady. The 20th is our 9th anniversary together (or my Ellieversary) and Nov 18th will be her 10th birthday. Happily she still thinks she is a pup and strangers think I am talking in months not years when I tell them her age. But even still we have most likely reached the point where our time together in the past is longer than what remains for us in the future. Rather than depress me, it makes me appreciate each day I have with her

    @JGabriel: Reminds me of Clean Films.

  233. 233.

    ? Martin

    @dance around in your bones: When I lived in the physics labs down in the basement, I used to tutor all of the bio students and helped the guys move the new cadavers in. I never found them creepy. I really have no superstitions around death. I’ll be gone. Might as well be useful. All I do now is work, so it seems fitting to keep that ball rolling even after I drop.

  234. 234.

    Suffern ACE is a Basset Hound

    @NickT: I wouldn’t mind having a race with the tea party to see who can get rid of their of their foreign policy interventionists first. I bet we’d lose.

  236. 236.

    askew

    @? Martin:

    It’s extremely dissimilar to Libya. It’s nearly the opposite of Libya, in fact.

    It is similar to Libya in that Obama isn’t going to get us involved in another war like Iraq or Afghanistan. From all accounts, he is authorizing small steps to help the rebels. This isn’t putting boots on the ground, etc. which is what so many people are moaning about. It’s similar to Libya in that liberals are already moaning that we’re going to be there for 10 years and that Obama will send in troops and it is another war in the Middle East. All that stuff was said about Libya and none of it happened. Yet, Obama is still treated like he’s lying us into war like W by these liberals. It’s similar to Libya in that there are no real good answers. We don’t get involved at all and Russia and Iran do it destabilizes the entire region and could lead to a full out war in the Middle East. We get involved and it could also lead to an escalation that leads to full out war in the Middle East. We do nothing and millions get slaughtered and people around the world blame us for not intervening. We get involved and then if the Sunnis gain control and slaughter the Christians and Shiites we get blamed for causing a genocide.

    There is really no good solution here and it is frustrating when people act like doing nothing is the only good option and everything else is the bad option. There are serious consequences to doing nothing as well.

  237. 237.

    dance around in your bones

    @? Martin: I can understand that intellectually with people I don’t know, but the few dead bodies that I have seen are people that I loved and hugged and talked with and (in one case) made love to, so those particular bodies have a different kind of vibe. Even though I know they are gone and not inhabiting their bodies anymore it’s kinda creepy to think about their corpses being dissected or whatever, or left to rot in a body farm.

    The cremains aren’t so creepy, just ashes. That’s just my take on it.

  238. 238.

    JGabriel

    askew:

    It’s similar to Libya in that liberals are already moaning …

    I’m a liberal/progressive in good standing — my dues are paid up and everything — and I supported our actions in Libya.

  239. 239.

    ? Martin

    @askew: Well, I always thought Libya had multiple paths to a good outcome, and that proved true. I don’t see any paths to a good outcome here. That may change, but I don’t see a point to committing to anything that’s futile, and this seems futile. Assad is getting much more support than we’re committing to at this stage, so it’s not actually going to help. It’ll serve to drag this out to buy us time but it’s not going to lessen the humanitarian issue any. We either need to cut off that support for Assad, which will take a lot of work, or we’ll need to overpower that support – which is a nightmare.

    I don’t know. We’ll see. I see nothing good here.

  240. 240.

    ? Martin

    On the upside, in spite of my position on Syria I’ll still get everyone calling me the same neocon Republican warmonger pigfucker whatever that I got called when I supported the Libya action. So I’ve got that to look forward to.

  241. 241.

    Suffern ACE is a Basset Hound

    @askew: the small arms proposal will do nothing to end this more quickly. There is no objective here. We may want to stop the carnage, but that does not mean anyone else with weapons does.

  242. 242.

    ? Martin

    So, this is the second consecutive year of large damaging fires around Colorado Springs where they destroyed most of their fire budget, and all of their budget for fire prevention around the city.

    Anyone think they’ve learned yet, or do they need another thousand homes burned down before it’ll sink in?

  244. 244.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    Anyone think they’ve learned yet, or do they need another thousand homes burned down before it’ll sink in?

    Yes.

    I don’t think that San Diego has a county fire department even with the fires they had a few years ago.

  248. 248.

    askew

    @? Martin:

    @askew: Well, I always thought Libya had multiple paths to a good outcome, and that proved true. I don’t see any paths to a good outcome here. That may change, but I don’t see a point to committing to anything that’s futile, and this seems futile. Assad is getting much more support than we’re committing to at this stage, so it’s not actually going to help. It’ll serve to drag this out to buy us time but it’s not going to lessen the humanitarian issue any. We either need to cut off that support for Assad, which will take a lot of work, or we’ll need to overpower that support – which is a nightmare.

    I don’t know. We’ll see. I see nothing good here.

    There are no good options but we’ve been doing nothing and the slaughter is escalating. It is also pushing refugees into neighboring countries which could lead to destabilization in those countries as well. I am not sure there is a good solution here either but if we can minimizing civilian causalities without getting us embroiled in another war, I think we should do it. Not sure that is possible though.

  249. 249.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @? Martin: I sit corrected, and happy they learned.

    @? Martin: When we lived in up in Montrose, we were about a 1/2 mile from the Verdugo Hills. We tried to get new fire insurance from the same co as our auto insurance. They wouldn’t insure us due to being in a fire prone area and not having enough fire breaks(neighbors) between us and the hills.

  251. 251.

    AHH onna Droid

    @ruemara: fuck da police

    Love how the civil liberties internet brigade gives not one solitary fuck about actual arrestees, but flips tge fuck out about some counter terrorism unit hypothetically reviewing their metadata.

  253. 253.

    AHH onna Droid

    Redshift: Wow, that sucks. Maybe they were dens of assholes and you weren’t assholey enough. Theres gotta be an employer smart enough to hire you somewhere and I hope it doesn’t take much longer to find them. Fuckin recession and nepotism and shit.

  254. 254.

    AHH onna Droid

    Redshift: Wow, that sucks. Maybe they were dens of assholes and you weren’t assholey enough. Theres gotta be an employer smart enough to hire you somewhere and I hope it doesn’t take much longer to find them. Fuckin recession and nepotism and shit.

  258. 258.

    Ed Drone

    @JGabriel:

    Why, no, I don’t. I’m 50 (and have been for 22 years), and such questions don’t bother me.

    I always try to note which age groups they specify, though. If “Over 50” is their highest group, I figure they’ve written off all the old farts. If they go up to “Over 65,” I figure that’s pretty common. If they get up to “70 and older,” I figure they’re selling insurance, usually for grandkids.

    Ed

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