Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

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

75% of people clapping liked the show!

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

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Books are my comfort food!

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

He really is that stupid.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

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Reader Interactions

71Comments

  7. 7.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: I’ve seen BB (and highly recommend it). I thought the green dots were something to do with this “Facebook” all the young people (used to) talk about.

  9. 9.

    Calming Influence

    Open thread query: Is anyone here familiar with the workings of the 911 system? I just listened to a 911 recording, and as usual it struck me that the operator spent a lot of time asking questions before saying “help is on the way”. Am I misunderstanding how it works? Could they be typing “need officers at such-an-such address” while still talking to the caller?

    I appreciate officers don’t want to go into a dangerous situation blind, but isn’t “there’s a shooting across the street” enough info to get units rolling while the operator gathers more information?

  12. 12.

    lamh36

    @Calming Influence: I thought it had something to do to keep open communications open until they actually have police “on the way” and also any info that police has vis a vis guns, number of assailant, nature of incident is better to know that going blindly into any situation.

    But that’s not experience, that just from watching too much Law & Order…lol

  13. 13.

    Redshirt

    Green dots in social media terms usually means “open for communication”. Thus, John sent this bouncy Right Said Fred song to anyone listed as “open to hailing frequencies”.

  15. 15.

    Calming Influence

    @lamh36: Yeah, this was a situation with a woman yelling that a family member and another person had been shot, “Please hurry! Please hurry!” While the operator was asking her her address, how to spell her last name. her home address, the color of the vehicle, was the vehicle still there, etc. while her husband was bleeding out. Again, I appreciate officers don’t want to go into a dangerous situation blind, but shouldn’t they be making the call if they want to risk injury in order to possibly save a life, and not the 911 operator?

    This is why I ask if anyone is familiar with how it actually works, and whether they may be dispatching help through a keyboard while at the same time gathering more info.

  26. 26.

    burnspbesq

    @eemom:

    Nazareth’s version of “Love Hurts” and Michael Bolton’s version of “Since I Fell for You” are short-listed for Worst Cover Ever.

  30. 30.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @burnspbesq: I wish I hadn’t read that. Just knowing that Michael Bolton covered that song makes my ears hurt. I don’t have to have actually heard it, I can just imagine it.

  32. 32.

    Tommy

    I think you are bing watching Breaking Bad. I so wat to tell you what happens, but I will not. I am like you, came to the show late and I love it.

  34. 34.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @driftglass: Weird minds think alike.

    I actually don’t get the second one, but I’ve never seen the show. I was just playing with the poem title after I read (in about four places in five minutes, across the Internets) that it was the episode title.

  37. 37.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Tommy: Okay so I’m thinking either “watching in clips that you find by searching online” or “watching while having some adventure on the road with Bob Hope”, all in the 30 seconds or so before I realized it was a typo and that you meant binge.

  40. 40.

    eemom

    I don’t directly watch Breaking Bad, but I’ve been in the room while my kids binge-watched it. I sort of like the lawyer character.

  44. 44.

    different-church-lady

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I thought the green dots were something to do with this “Facebook” all the young people (used to) talk about.

    I thought the green dots would be something more…. “experiential”, shall we say.

  46. 46.

    Betty Cracker

    I hope you’ll be current with Breaking Bad so we can all discuss the big finale in a couple of weeks, Mr. C.

    Speaking of TV shows, I’m about ready to throw in the towel on Sons of Anarchy. I hate every character so much. Except Gemma, maybe. She’s a terrible person, but she knows it and has a little fun with it. I want her to punch Tara in the throat, slap the self-pity out of Jax, slam a panini press shut on Tig’s balls and garrote Clay with a strand of dental floss. I’d enjoy that episode.

    I’m giving The Wire another shot since everyone I know insists I’ll love it. Tried an episode or two before and it didn’t immediately suck me in, but I’ll be more patient this time. Recently finished Orange Is the New Black — highly recommended.

  47. 47.

    ruemara

    Contemplating dancing nude, in front of bonfire to beg the gods for a new job. But I’m afraid they’ll think “aging pole dancer” would count. And narrowing down podcast/video short possibilities. I got 9 more months of employment and that’s tenuous at best. At this point I think I was born with the universe’s knives pointed at me. But right now, I have decaf and two loving cats, so, not bad day.

  48. 48.

    different-church-lady

    Was working a corporate event yesterday, for a medical devices company. They had a patient come in from Reno and do a testimonial. When he had his heart attack his wife called in the 911, but neither of them realized their Vonage thingamabob was still registered to their old address in Kansas City. So when she made the call it took precious minutes for the 911 operator to figure out they were in a completely different city than the one the call went through to.

  52. 52.

    jl

    News internet blurb on AP story about House GOP antics I’ve seen for awhile since this afternoon:

    ” House votes to derail Obamacare, fund government

    The GOP-controlled House voted Friday to cripple President Barack Obama’s health care law as part of a risky ploy that threatens a partial shutdown of the government in a week and a half. ”

    Does the bromide that any press is good press apply here?

    Maybe voters won’t believe the story. I mean “GOP” and “risky ploy” in the same sentence? What could that be about?

  53. 53.

    jl

    @efgoldman: The impertinent Brit apologizes for his correct predictions and for the lousy ECB being wrong about everything, or almost everything. The cheek/balls/chutzpah of being correct.

    Really impossible apologize for the mortal sin of being right, and the fact that this smarmy Brit did apologize makes it worse.

  54. 54.

    MikeJ

    @efgoldman: The Germans have been the most hard core boosters of austerity. It succeeded in making life worse for working people, as everyone knew it would, but failed at fixing the economy. The idea that the Tories would make fun of austerians is rather shocking.

  56. 56.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @MikeJ: It is a Tory paper, but looking back at this guy’s articles, he doesn’t seem to have been an austerity booster, more the opposite.

    @jl: I’m not sure if you got it, but he was being highly sarcastic. Maybe you are as well, but I can’t tell.

    I first saw the piece linked from here.

  57. 57.

    jl

    @efgoldman: Evans-Pritchard knows some economics, and selectively puts it to good use when he can use it to bash the European Monetary Union and the European Union, both of which he hates with an absolute passion. In other matters, he can be a nutcase.

    And, he’s not a Tory that has any say in Cameron’s miserable failure of economic management.

  58. 58.

    Felonius Monk

    I watched Rollerball earlier this evening on TCM. Made in 1975, but the setting is 2018 when the Corporations control the world. I guess that was prescient.

    Jon-a-thon, Jon-a-thon!

  59. 59.

    MaryJane

    @Calming Influence:

    In most cases, yes, help is on the way as the dispatcher (or call-taker) is asking questions. Precisely how it works depends a lot on the size and/or budget of the agency. Most squad cars are equipped with computers so the officers can see the info as it’s coming in.

  60. 60.

    jl

    @Bill E Pilgrim: I was being highly sarcastic. I read it a few days ago. But as I mentioned above, Evans-Pritchard is a very mixed bag, depending on the subject. But always great at sarcasm and high toned diatribe.

  61. 61.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @jl: Yeah I saw your following post, you know him in more depth than I do. I know the type you’re describing though, so enough said. The ability of some of the people in the UK to pretend that their destroying their economy with austerity was superior to how other places did it represents world class chutzpah.

  63. 63.

    jl

    @Bill E Pilgrim: I haven’t followed his commentary on the current UK economic folly. Now you’ve perked up my interest in finding out. He might be a big hypocrite as well as a great artist at sarcasm. I first learned about him years ago when reading about the international zoo of crazy Clinton conspiracy mongers (he was one of them).

    But it was a funny and refreshing column, nevertheless.

    Edit: especially with the pic of the crabby German banker.

  64. 64.

    trollhattan

    @Betty Cracker:

    Simply don’t have the time to carve out for SoA, so no opinion there. BB hooked me at the pilot and while immersion therapy might could be okay, I suspect the slow week-to-week, season-to-season mode is better for letting it sink in, especially because of the cinematography and character development.

    re. The Wire, having watched Homicide is, I think, the needed hook. They dovetail brilliantly and to be honest, Homicide at it’s best was never topped by The Wire.

    Have a size 11 brain in a size 9 skull, because I didn’t notice that triple-hopped 22 oz IPA weighs in at 11.3%. Holy shit.

    Also, too, was behind a pick-m-up with Florida plates that I swore read “Fuck Florida” in sissy script. Turned out it said “Fish Florida.” but I like the first version, especially since the driver was a dick.

    http://www.myfloridaspecialtyplate.com/fish-florida.html

  66. 66.

    trollhattan

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’m thinking it’s a must-do. Dude drove 3,000 miles, at 16 mpg, just to entertain me for a few golden Friday traffic minutes. Y’all are wonnerful, wonnerful folks.

    p.s. To the best of my knowledge, the closest scorpions are at least thirty miles to the east.

  69. 69.

    Manyakitty

    @Betty Cracker: The Wire and Deadwood are both worth the time. Give them 3 or 4 episodes before writing them off.

    Bonus: the last two episodes of Breaking Bad are extra long! Woohoo!

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