The Government rested in US v PFC Bradley Manning on Tuesday. Judge Lind is hearing motions from the Defense today.
Judge Osborne has received the proposed list of voire dire questions from MAJ Nidal Hassan for his upcoming capital Court-Martial at Fort Hood. She has rejected a Defense request for a delay to hire a new lawyer. Apparently Ramsey Clark has offered his services after hearing of Hassan’s proposed “defense of others” defense.
A eight-year-old boy fell off a float and was run over by the float at an Independence Day parade in Edmond, OK. The float was driven by the boy’s father.
Supposedly, Ted Nugent is considering running for President in 2016 2016. I think he should run with Sarah Palin. Their bumper stickers could read “Shitter/Quitter – 2106 2016”
One day at work before the weekend. I am the IT Tech on the support side here. There is a server guy in the back. The phone hasn’t rang since I arrived 4 hours ago this morning. I have two working days till vacation on Wednesday. It’s payday. The day is fucking dragging.
Just cause I like seeing certain folks here have a mass coordinated pants-shitting: Russia increasingly impatient over Snowden’s airport stay
Egypt was definitely a coup, and is looking more and more like it may become a civil war. Reuters live feed David Brooks says that Egypt is “mentally unprepared” for democracy in his column in the NY Times today. It has not been well received.
Yatsuno
Furloughs suck except on one point: four day weekends. :P
Violet
Not enough popcorn in the world. Please let this happen.
I’m working on health insurance. Have to re-send info because codes changed in 2013 or something. Not my fault–fault of the providers for using the wrong codes. And the health insurance company, on two separate submissions, read the dates wrong. How do you read a computer printed date as an entirely different month? Seriously?
NickT
Personally I feel that David Brooks is mentally unprepared for the challenge of an honest day’s work.
raven
rung
raven
I’m working today. Since I took last Friday to go to Nashville it didn’t make sense to burn one of the zillion vacy days I have.
NickT
@Violet:
Possibly they outsourced the processing of your application to people who write/read dates in a different order. Today would be written as 5/7/2013 in the UK, for example. Just a guess.
NickT
@raven:
It ain’t done ringed.
The prophet Nostradumbass
I guess Ramsey Clark got a thrill from defending Slobodan Milosevic, and wants that feeling again.
BruinKid
(Posted this in the previous thread, as I wasn’t sure when the next open thread was going to be.)
This isn’t going to end well. Adam Kokesh made a video showing himself loading a shotgun in a park in D.C., where’s it’s quite illegal to do so.
And it turns out the friend I wrote about last year who was transformed from Obama supporter in 2008 to fervent Ron Paul supporter by 2012… well, she’s now dating Kokesh. And now I can’t debate politics with her on Facebook anymore, because if Adam sees any of those threads, others have warned me that he IS the kind of person who would drive all the way over to Los Angeles, hunt me down, and then kill me with a sniper rifle.
Emma
Well, I feel much more hopeful about Egypt now.
NickT
@BruinKid:
For someone who worries about being tracked down and slaughtered by Adam Kokesh, you certainly seem to be talking a lot about it. Frankly, I think Kokesh is a sad little pissant without the balls to do anything that might endanger his ignorant tight-ass self.
Any time you feel ready, Adam.
Cygil
@BruinKid: Wow, small world. Not my business, but I just want to advise you about trying anything silly, like reasoning with her. Your friend will either come to her senses, or play Bonnie to Kokesh’s Clyde — either way, you can’t save her now.
quannlace
” Russia increasingly impatient over Snowden’s airport stay
*******
Shit, he’s STILL there? Figured we’d miss it if he did take off, since cable news is physically incapable of showing anything other than the Zimmerman trial.
? Martin
Yes, but no. Egypt is odd to us because the military effectively runs the country. They make most of the food, they are the power company, all of that. Take our Fortune 500, roll them into one organization, and that organization would have the same influence here in the US. It’s a strange setup.
Egypt has no provisions for impeachment or recall. They just haven’t gotten there yet. Consider that the US took a dozen years of trial and error from when we declared our independence to when we got what we have now and even that was pretty fucking jiggery until we stabilized economically. Early democracies are a mess – all of them.
Civil war is highly unlikely to break out. Muslim Brotherhood might be the largest faction within Egypt, but this has been a illustrative period which has caused them to lose support among the masses. They never had a mandate from the public, but they acted as though they did. And the public has had enough – infrastructure has deteriorated, harassment of women has grown worse, trash isn’t picked up. Those are pretty uncontroversial things politically. And failing to achieve these basic things will doom you. We have the lesson in Michael Bilandic failing to plow the snow in Chicago in 1979. Shit like that will doom you.
MB hasn’t enough power against the army, who are also the police. They’ll have some uprising and they’ll get shut down because it’s clear in all corners they have no support from the public.
I have a friend who is actually consulted on these matters who says that within Egypt they don’t see this as a coup, any more than Congress impeaching Nixon wasn’t viewed as a coup by the American public. It’s the only process they have there, and so far the military is showing no indication of holding political power beyond what’s needed for a new set of elections (all bets are off if that appears to change). My friend believes that in the next set of elections, MB won’t carry the kind of support they did in the last one, believes that turnout will be higher, and while the next iteration may not be that good, it’ll probably be better, more secular, more technocratic.
This is new democracy sausage making.
Cygil
@NickT: Frankly, I think Kokesh is a sad little pissant without the balls to do anything that might endanger his ignorant tight-ass self.
Like all narcissists, Kokesh has created his little cult, so he doesn’t need to get his hands dirty all by himself. The trajectory of the careers of cult leaders is as predicatable as it is invidious. I wouldn’t be so certain about that, my friend.
Sad_Dem
I bet most Egyptians have not sat in a wing-back leather chair at a conference with lots of MOTUs. Clearly, they are not ready for democracy.
Violet
@NickT: No, it was not that. They didn’t mix up the month/date. The day is correct on the Explanation of Benefits. They read the month as a completely different month. Just, you know, randomly pull some month out of your ass and stick that on there.
Edit: I should add that this was a receipt with more than one visit on it. The dates were in date order, so the one they mis-read was completely out of order when they put it in as the wrong date. The last date on the receipt is prior to the date they just randomly pulled out of their ass to enter for the EOB.
Anya
I think Putin miscalculated. He was hoping for a little showdown and the Obama admin deprived him of any chance to showboat.
NickT
@Cygil:
I’ve never tried predicating a cult leader. Sounds like it might be fun. Anyway, my official position is:
ADAM KOKESH SUCKS SENILE MOOSEWANG AND HAS NO TESTICLES!!!
Jay in Oregon
I choose to believe that’s not a typo. :)
NickT
@Violet:
Probably some poorly paid individual rushing through their quota of forms then. I still think you’ll find that outsourced business processing is behind this.
gbear
@quannlace: He’s doing somewhat better now that he’s learned how to say ‘Spare change?’ in Russian. ‘Will leak for food.’ wasn’t getting him very far
Scott S.
@BruinKid: Anyone who’d drive across the country to murder someone over a political argument is also the kind of person who will get distracted about the injustice of too many packages of Skittles in the truck stop, and then by the injustice of the wrong people voting on American Idol, and then by the secret messages in Funyuns, and then by that cow lookin’ at him funny. By the time he gets all the way across the country, he will have forgotten why he was driving clear across the country.
Besides, driving clear across the country would distract him from trying to do stupid shit to get on TV. That’s that dude’s real job…
NickT
@Jay in Oregon:
We could just combine them and have the bumper stickers read:
SQUITTERS 2016!
raven
@BruinKid: Quit your fucking whining.
NickT
@gbear:
The airport is probably full of puzzled Russians asking each other why the weird American dude is offering to piss for sandwiches.
? Martin
@Scott S.:
You see the secret messages too?
/suspicious
NickT
Amusingly, the GOP has now concluded that the IRS non-scandal they ginned up was not a scandal:
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/gop-lawmakers-say-irs-scrutiny-likely-not-politically?ref=fpa
You have to love the heroic plain-spokenness of that “unlikely”.
Roger Moore
Attention whore is whoring for attention. If Nugent gets his name in one Republican primary that requires collecting signatures, I’ll eat my hat.
Violet
@NickT: I’m sure you are right. I’m not really blaming the poor souls who have to do the actual work, but the larger company that outsources everything, pays crap, goes out of its way to deny claims, and pays its CEO a lot of money. You know, a typical corporation.
Roger Moore
I guess it takes one to know one.
NickT
@Violet:
Right. I think we’ll see companies increasingly realizing over the next decade that good customer service is worth more than the pennies saved by outsourcing. I just hope that state and national governments realize that the same is true of privatizing services – but I am not terribly optimistic.
Pinkamena Panic
@NickT:
I find that association offensive.
pamelabrown53
@quannlace:
Re: the Zimmerman trial. I frankly don’t know how much is too much since I stopped watching the news when they put that pedantic, sanctimonious “whippersnapper”, Chris Hayes on to convince us of our lack of principles and brainpower.
Still, the Zimmerman trial, IMO, deserves wide attention. When a black teenager is murdered for walking to the store for some skittles and iced tea, I want to understand how this can happen.
NickT
@Pinkamena Panic:
It’s red and it’s got running shoes. Seems like a good campaign mascot.
Violet
@NickT: New this year, the health insurance company now asks if this is the first time I’ve called on this issue. If I say, “No,” then they ask me how many times I’ve called. I think because of the new health care law requiring them to spend most of their time/money on patient care, they are tracking their administrative issues. I take pleasure in telling them I’ve called 14 times on something. Maybe they’ll learn something about how crappy their service is.
MrSnrub
Normally I don’t mind working the Friday after a holiday, but today I can’t get my head in the game. I have 2 hours to go until I sneak out the door, the only task I have is a brand new one (I hate starting new tasks right before heading out the door), of which I have very little direction (meaning 1000 changes after the fact, making me just want to put it off), with my manager on vacation until next Thursday.
I am so unmotivated.
Citizen_X
@BruinKid: Wait a minute. There’s a female Ron Paul supporter?
Roger Moore
@NickT:
I don’t think it’s just regular incompetence on the part of the insurance company, since the mistakes are so one sided. They’re always making mistakes that drag claims out and make them more painful, never ones that result in a claim being paid promptly. Their goal is to make the process drag out for so long that people just give up and the company doesn’t have to pay.
Amir Khalid
The prospect of Ted Nugent running for POTUS with Sarah Palin in 2016 is crazy enough; let alone in 2106 which, as everyone knows, is not a US presidential election year, Not, of course, that Ted would let a little detail like the latter stop him and his awesome solutions for America.
Ben Cisco
I’m just going to leave this here.
NickT
@Roger Moore:
This is undeniable – and yet another reason why the free market knows best claim should be ridiculed from dawn to dusk, pillar to post.
Patricia Kayden
That Nugent/Palin joke was priceless. My fingers can’t be crossed enough for that to happen though.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@NickT: That was pretty much my thought as well. I should say, actually, both parts of the thought. If you’re worried, well, be a bit more discreet. And, I’m not sure the dude has the wherewithal to worry any one civilian opponent.
Eric U.
@Roger Moore: they probably have a quota requiring so many screwed up claims. My favorite is when a bill gets resubmitted and turned down again because it was previously submitted.
Pinkamena Panic
@NickT: The difference is, he’s a good guy.
I am not a kook
@Amir Khalid:
Dear Sir,
This is to inform you that we have shipped Today’s Internet to:
Mr Amir Khalid
Poste Restante
Kuala Lumpur
Sincerely,
The Internet Administration,
MAE-West,
55 South Market Street,
San Jose, CA, USA
raven
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Drama fucking queen doncha think?
Gloryb
Happy 15th birthday, Malia!!
schrodinger's cat
Soonergrunt@top
I have a question about my Verizon MiFi hotspot, the mini usb that connects it to a power outlet is damaged, can I change it or is buying a new unit my only option?
trollhattan
Credit where credit is due, in this case to NOAA for being spot on practically to the hour our heatwave broke last night. Change I can believe in: yesterday–110, today–88. Whew.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@NickT: @NickT:
I’t would be fun to watch him soil himself on being introduced to my little friend.
Baud
@schrodinger’s cat:
You should be able to buy a new power outlet. I think Verizon uses a standard adapter.
Soonergrunt
@schrodinger’s cat: if the cable is damaged, just get a new one. USB power standards are pretty ubiquitous so just about any cable should do. If the port on the mifi is damaged, you’ll probably be looking at a new unit. you MIGHT be able to solder a new port on there after removing the old one (it’s only power and not data, after all) but you’ll definitely void the warranty when you crack the case open to do that.
IF it’s under warranty, however, take it and get it replaced, and if it’s not, perhaps your homeowners insurance will cover it? Mine (USAA) covers our cell phones so we don’t use Sprint’s device insurance.
catclub
@Roger Moore: Somebody else has read Andrew Tobias “The Invisible Bankers”
The one that sticks with me is that MacArthur ( of MacArthur awards fame) made his fortune denying life insurance claims.
KmCO
Marry me, Edward Snowden!
/sorry, couldn’t resist
burnspbesq
@NickT:
Brooks had to borrow Greenwald’s editor because his took a four-day weekend. Incompetence squared
schrodinger's cat
@Soonergrunt: The port is damaged, I have managed to get the female part of the micro usb out, and I am just out of warranty. I am not sure about the insurance but I will check. I have to either buy a new unit or sign an extend my contract with Verizon which expires next month.
ETA: My fat cat knocked it on the floor last week and the MiFi unit spilled it guts. It was never the same again and died yesterday.
different-church-lady
Be your own NSA!
burnspbesq
@I am not a kook:
I’m going to assume that it’s pure coincidence that you chose the address of the San Jose office of the IRS, because any other possibility is just too wierd to contemplate.
different-church-lady
@schrodinger’s cat: Many years ago the lead engineer at the studio I worked at taught me a great philosophy: when something’s broken, just open it up and take a look. You might see the problem, or you might go, “No, I ain’t touching that,” but what harm does it do? The thing is already broken. (Do not apply to things like CRTs that have high voltage capacitors).
That being said, the odds of your finding a part you can replace it with are probably pretty slender by my guess. I’d hit the interwebs and see if someone is selling an identical model second-hand.
? Martin
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: Wouldn’t help BruinKid – that gun is illegal in CA.
Soonergrunt
@schrodinger’s cat: You might find a screwdriver shop (small independent computer repair place) or a cell phone repair place that can fix it if you can’t do it yourself. I don’t know how much it would cost to have somebody do it. Probably $25-$50.
Keith G
Brooks may not be totally wrong here, though I would debate the use of the wording “mentally unprepared”. They might not yet be socially prepared.
We will see.
I agree with Martin above in that this will not be a civil war, as such.
Keith G
Sooner, now that I clicked, I see Brooks did not say what you have ascribed to him.
Emph mine
Higgs Boson's Mate
@? Martin:
True. Actually, it’s not that great of a gun. It is a fascinatin’ monster though. When I’m a ways out in the desert I carry the Real Man’s Gun; a .22 automatic pistol. Easy carry, cheap to practice with. I’d rather hit what I’m aiming at with a .22 than miss it with a .44 magnum.
burnspbesq
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
Also less likely to result in a dislocated shoulder or torn rotator cuff.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@burnspbesq:
LOL! I shot pistol metallic silhouette back when IHMSA was running the show. Used a ruger Super Blackhawk .44 magnum revolver with a 10 1/2″ bull barrel. The handloads I was making up at the time left my hand feeling like it had been slammed in a car door. Even with those loads that gun was pretty much a mortar at 200 meters.
different-church-lady
@Keith G: Actually, he uses similar phrases twice: one in the passage you’ve quoted, but again at the end of the column, where he refers to Egypt instead of Islamists:
different-church-lady
Heads up: here comes the next wingnut cat toy.
ruemara
@Citizen_X: You would not believe how many dates this can get you as a woman.
I never said they were good dates.
burnspbesq
@different-church-lady:
Riiiight. I have a bit of difficulty imagining Nantucket Sound as a Cone of Silence in which no electronic communication devices can function. The hedge-fund guys who summer there would have a cow if they had to stay on land in order to manipulate the capital markets.
Keith G
@different-church-lady: That he does. It was sure a stupid way to dismount after he laid out his reasonable and supported thesis earlier in the column. It still seems to me that he was writing about the lack of social capital and not intellectual capital needed to nurture democracy. He and his editor got sloppy/sloppier.
On a different thread, I stated,
Brooks will be doing is regular Friday talking head rotation shortly. He usually just rehashes his latest column. I will be listening.
burnspbesq
@Keith G:
Dionne, I think correctly, called him on his somewhat attenuated fealty to democratic principles and democratic institutions. It’s a tough balancing act.
Meg
@KmCO: Sorry, you might need to fight with the sexy Russian spy Anna Chapman.
http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2013/07/it-looks-like-edward-snowden-might.html
different-church-lady
@Keith G: In the end, who the hell can hack their way through the lettuce bed of a Brooks word salad and come out with anything other than wilted mush? He’s the closest thing we have to a Monty Python Upper Class Twit of the Year.
Is he racist? When it comes to Brooks the question itself is beside the point — he’s so damn high on his own “intellectual” fumes that you can’t even attribute coherent thought to his mistakes. Every breath he takes amounts to, “I was having this magnificent insight into X, and I get paid to share it with you!” It’s like being presented with endless gifts of pocket lint.
DCL, still +2, but very potent +2s.