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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Second rate reporter says what?

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

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

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

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

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You are here: Home / Popular Culture / KULCHA! / Early Morning Open Thread

Early Morning Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  November 9, 20135:16 am| 118 Comments

This post is in: KULCHA!, Music, Open Threads

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I arise, facing East,
I am asking toward the light;
I am asking that my day
Shall be beautiful with light.
I am asking that the place
Where my feet are shall be light,
That as far as I can see
I shall follow it aright.
I am asking for the courage
To go forward through the shadow,
I am asking toward the light!
— Mary Austin / arr. Deb Langstaff

.
Where I spent my Friday evening (sooo much better live). If you’re in the Boston area, Libana will be performing in Harvard Square tonight, Saturday.

In other news, the NYTimes reports that there may be a word even more universal than the notorious adjective:

Are there words that are universally understood, across all countries and cultures? A team of linguists has proposed one: “huh.” …

The study, conducted by Mark Dingemanse, Francisco Torreira and Nick Enfield, closely examined variations of the word — defined as “a simple syllable with a low-front central vowel, glottal onset consonant, if any, and questioning intonation” — in 10 languages, including Dutch, Icelandic, Mandarin Chinese, the West African Siwu and the Australian aboriginal Murrinh-Patha.

The researchers also looked at other words and expressions used to elicit clarification during conversation, a function that linguists refer to as “other-initiated repair.” But only “Huh?,” they write, occurs across languages whose phonetic patterns otherwise vary greatly…

“We think of this as the core of language: managing common understanding as we talk,” Dr. Enfield said in an interview. Confirming and checking with other people, he added, “are really fundamental to the use of language.” …

Huh.

Assuming we can keep this blog limping along, what’s on the agenda for the day?

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Reader Interactions

118Comments

  1. 1.

    Mustang Bobby

    November 9, 2013 at 5:26 am

    Heading out to Miami Beach today to keep an eye on the Memory Lane display at the Miami International Auto Show for a few hours. We have 20 antique and classic cars, including mine, that are a part of the 10-day event, including a 1931 Model A, a 1960 Edsel Ranger convertible, and a 1984 Fiat Polski. Huh.

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    November 9, 2013 at 5:29 am

    Assuming we can keep this blog limping along

    How much blog can a blog host host when a blog host does host blog?

  3. 3.

    fuckwit

    November 9, 2013 at 5:30 am

    Lovely. WTF is the only universal. Incomprehensible surprise is the glue that binds us all.

    Then again, I’ve heard dogs, even cats, make a sound that’s a hell of a lot like “huh?” too. Cats do it if you wake them up from a sound sleep. Dogs will even give you the head tilt and confused facial expression too.

    A universe held together by WTF.

  4. 4.

    fuckwit

    November 9, 2013 at 5:38 am

    Anyone thought of a BJ channel on IRC? Somewhere?

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 9, 2013 at 5:41 am

    I arise facing the east every morning. It would be nice to have the sun greet my awakenings but sadly, by the time the sun comes up, I have been up and about for quite some time.

    Huh. Huh is the only universal word? I would have thought shaking one’s head to signify “No” was universal too. (language is not limited to the vocal. When people ‘sign’, they do it with an accent. Blew my mind when I learned that).

    Anyway, try shaking your head ‘No’ and saying ‘Yes’ at the same time. Then nod your head ‘Yes’ while saying ‘No’ at the same time. Not as easy as it sounds. I used to mess with my sons heads when they were very small by telling them, “This is ‘Yes’,” and shaking my head ‘No’, “and this means ‘No’.” while nodding my head ‘Yes’.

    Yeah, I was the mean father your friends told you about.

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 9, 2013 at 5:53 am

    @fuckwit:

    A universe held together by WTF.

    Heh. OK, fuckwit wins with the insight of the day, and it’s only 4:45 AM. You been up for awhile, haven’t you?

    My days doin’s are to head across the Mississippi to Lebanon IL so as to celebrate the nuptials of my good friend Melissa and her long time partner Angela. A few weeks back they eloped to California for their wedding and then returned to the hard scrabble mid-west where… If they had just waited a few months, they could have done it here.

    Let’s here it for Illinois…

  7. 7.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 5:54 am

    Since we are going to the beach on the 23d this will be my last chance to see Arron Murray at QB for the Dawgs. It will be his 50th start in a row and he’s on track to be the all time leader in TD passes in the SEC. App State is obviously not what it was when it beat Michigan but it’s going to be a beautiful day and I am already sad the football season has gone by so quickly. . .again.

  8. 8.

    MikeJ

    November 9, 2013 at 5:56 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I would have thought shaking one’s head to signify “No” was universal too.

    Head shaking/nodding for no and yes are opposite in Bulgaria.

    Related, US troops ran into trouble in Iraq when they held up an open hand in what they believed was a universal symbol for “stop”. In fact, the locals recognised it as meaning “welcome”,

  9. 9.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 5:57 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Oskeewow! The Illini have lost 18 straight B1G games and play the equally awful Hoosiers today.

  10. 10.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 9, 2013 at 6:11 am

    @MikeJ:

    Head shaking/nodding for no and yes are opposite in Bulgaria.

    OK. I had always wondered if they were ingrained by culture or not. Seemed so natural…. Thanx.

    On the spectrum of mannerisms limited to a particular culture, the Navajo point with their lips. My little sis taught on the res for a bout 5 years and now 20 years later she still points with her lips from time to time.

  11. 11.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 6:15 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Korean’s and Vietnamese wave sort of like “bye-bye” to indicate “come here”. Vietnamese men also hold hands, they made a big deal out of explaining that in the “orientation” we got before we shipped out.

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 9, 2013 at 6:18 am

    @raven: Yeah…. (shakes head in shame) but HEY!!! MIZZOU BEAT THE DAWGS LIKE A REDHEADED STEPCHILD!!!!

  13. 13.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 9, 2013 at 6:27 am

    @raven: I love sh!t like this. Vietnam has been a “someday destination” for me ever since I missed out on the all expenses paid luxury tours Uncle Sam was offering back in the late 60’s early 70’s. Somehow or other, I think the one I actually pay for will be a lot more enjoyable.

  14. 14.

    Phylllis

    November 9, 2013 at 6:28 am

    Headed home in about two hours from the last overnight work trip until next March (and I’m seriously rethinking that one). Hope to get home in time to catch the end of the Charleston Southern-Coastal game. Both are undefefeated in the conference and this will determine the automatic FCS bid. Go Buccaneers!

  15. 15.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 6:32 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: One of my buddies moved back there a couple of years ago. He’s coming in Monday morning and a couple of us are going to a local joint that is giving a free lunch to vets. It’s funny because he is really conservative, calls me a peace queer, and yet he loves living in a commie country. Go figure. I went in 47 years ago tomorrow, feelin old over here.

  16. 16.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 6:33 am

    @Phylllis: The Coastal Coach was funny as hell when they played here.

  17. 17.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 9, 2013 at 6:49 am

    @raven:

    I went in 47 years ago tomorrow, feelin old over here.

    It’s not the years, it’s the mileage. Happy anniversary… on your successful return.

  18. 18.

    Central Planning

    November 9, 2013 at 6:53 am

    We’re heading out to the Christkindle market in Canandaigua later – mostly to eat the food: schnitzel, mulled wine, pastries. Yum.

  19. 19.

    Elizabelle

    November 9, 2013 at 6:55 am

    Settling in to watch “The Valley of Gwangi” on TCM.

    Cowboys and dinosaurs. Ray Harryhausen special effects. 1969. Color.

  20. 20.

    Phylllis

    November 9, 2013 at 7:23 am

    @raven: I think that was their former coach. That guy was a hoot & a half, for sure.

  21. 21.

    NotMax

    November 9, 2013 at 7:31 am

    @Elizabelle

    “The Valley of Gwangi”

    Cheesier than Welsh rarebit.

  22. 22.

    Chyron HR

    November 9, 2013 at 7:35 am

    Did you know that the 50 states of America are named after George Washington’s 50 children who settled them? That is why he is now known as “the father of our country.”

  23. 23.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 9, 2013 at 7:42 am

    @Chyron HR: Kind of a North American version of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    November 9, 2013 at 7:45 am

    @Chyron HR:

    I take it North Dakota and South Dakota were twins.

  25. 25.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 9, 2013 at 7:46 am

    @Chyron HR: I’m guessing he wasn’t very fond of his daughter, Idaho.

  26. 26.

    Hillary Rettig

    November 9, 2013 at 7:51 am

    Anne Laurie, since we share the Bronx, papillons, and Gene Roddenberry’s 1975 college tour, I’m presuming your a fan of Arthur C. Clarke, and if you are, well, this is just amazing:

    http://asiaobscura.com/2013/11/sifting-through-arthur-c-clarkes-dvd-collection-in-colombo.html

  27. 27.

    Chyron HR

    November 9, 2013 at 7:51 am

    @Baud:

    No, he had one Dakota by Martha Washington and one by Betsy Ross. Man, did you even TAKE social studies?

  28. 28.

    Hillary Rettig

    November 9, 2013 at 7:52 am

    Going on my first-ever official mushroom hunt (in Grand Rapids area) tomorrow – I’m psyched!

    And next Saturday will be my first ever Michigan writing workshop, in Jackson, MI. 1 – 4 pm with lunch earlier; all invited:

    http://midmichiganrwa.org/mmrwa-november-2013-chapter-meeting-details/

  29. 29.

    NotMax

    November 9, 2013 at 7:53 am

    @Chyron HR

    He had a a kid named Washington Washington?

    (In the real world, of course, he fathered no offspring.)

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 9, 2013 at 8:00 am

    @Hillary Rettig:

    Going on my first-ever official mushroom hunt

    I take it you are going with experienced people. Lots to learn and so much to enjoy. Have fun.

  31. 31.

    Gex

    November 9, 2013 at 8:26 am

    My day? Having a tough time right now. Depressed as hell. So I’ll be fighting through that.

    Hard to believe how soon the one year anniversary is. It’s hard to rebuild. Tired of being lonely. Sorry for the bummer post.

  32. 32.

    Tommy

    November 9, 2013 at 8:32 am

    @raven: My town has a Veteran Day Monday get together. 10 Am at the local highschool. I am the first male in like five generations that has not served. I am often called a wimp and other things. Hippie liberal peace loving is common. But I will be there!

  33. 33.

    danielx

    November 9, 2013 at 8:34 am

    Going to Hardin Ridge to the woods to enjoy the last couple of nice fall days while there are still some leaves on the trees. Since we’re anticipating some of that white stuff next week…

  34. 34.

    mai naem

    November 9, 2013 at 8:37 am

    I am watching Up with Steve Kornacki and excuse my language but Jim Gilmore is a motherfucking piece of shit whose neck I want to grab through the teevee and choke. Asshole. He goes on about “innovative” ways of providing insurance to the uninsured and then talks about companies self insuring and how O-care isn’t allowing there. Then the pig pivots off on to the economy. I understand that Kornacki can’t just pounce on the POS but jeebus, of the 4 media folks there only one asked Gilmore about what alternative the republicans have.

  35. 35.

    Betty Cracker

    November 9, 2013 at 8:38 am

    Finally installing kick plates under my kitchen cabinets…which we installed last year. I’m so sick of dropping crap on the floor and watching it roll under the damn cabinets. Also, when something edible rolls under there, the dogs make fools of themselves trying to rake it out with their paws or squeeze their fat asses into that narrow space.

  36. 36.

    Tommy

    November 9, 2013 at 8:42 am

    @mai naem: I little behind Up on my DVR. But I worked for many years in Virginia. Jim Gilmore is a total tool. I mean the former governor right?

  37. 37.

    Violet

    November 9, 2013 at 8:43 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I would have thought shaking one’s head to signify “No” was universal too

    In India, bobbing your head back and forth means “Yes.” It’s confusing and hard to get used to. Go visit an Indian area of wherever you live, or watch a Bollywood film or some Indian British film or TV show. You’ll see it pretty quickly.

  38. 38.

    bemused

    November 9, 2013 at 8:43 am

    3 to 4 inches of snow on the ground & sticking to the tree branches. Brrr. At least our northern breed dogs are happy and in their element.

  39. 39.

    Chyron HR

    November 9, 2013 at 8:43 am

    @NotMax:

    Washington’s son Washington was his favorite. That’s why he got this father’s name and the coat of many colors.

  40. 40.

    Tommy

    November 9, 2013 at 8:46 am

    Oh about healthcare. My mother spent a month in the ICU a few months ago. Then two weeks in a rehab clinic.

    The bill my parents got was over $670,000. They paid NOTING! World class healthcare. The best of the best.

    How did this happen?

    Dad worked 30+ years for the DoD. He had health care and a retirement plan through the Feds.

    I say this cause I wish all of us had this …..

  41. 41.

    Violet

    November 9, 2013 at 8:48 am

    @Betty Cracker: That ought to be enough entertainment to make you think twice about installing those kick plates!

    I’m going to a garden tour today. Supposed to be an amazing garden on today’s tour. Looking forward to it.

  42. 42.

    mai naem

    November 9, 2013 at 8:49 am

    @Tommy: Yeah, the former governor. I think he was the RNC chair at some point under Clinton too.

  43. 43.

    Violet

    November 9, 2013 at 8:53 am

    @Tommy: A friend’s mother who is in her late 70’s needed a heart valve replacement. Got it, had some complications, had to go back in for additional surgery and hospital time (a week). Plus got home nursing care for a short while.

    The bill for all that? Zero. They live in England.

  44. 44.

    WereBear

    November 9, 2013 at 8:54 am

    @Elizabelle: that’s where I left Mr WereBear when I left for errands.

    I am settling in to my promotion. Tried to post about it last night to no avail. I think. Anyway, I like it, but it took my NaNoWriMo plans, set them on fire, and drove it off a cliff.

  45. 45.

    MomSense

    November 9, 2013 at 8:55 am

    Bunch of 10 year old boys coming over for a party today. Have to do all the things before they get here.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    November 9, 2013 at 8:55 am

    @Tommy:

    But wouldn’t your dad have preferred to pay the $670,000 rather than deal with a buggy website. (Not that Balloon Juicers would know anything about that!).

  47. 47.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    November 9, 2013 at 8:55 am

    @fuckwit:

    A universe held together by WTF.

    Reminiscent of this:

    [Salo’s] ship was powered, and the Martian war effort was powered, by a phenomenon known as UWTB, or the Universal Will to Become. UWTB is what makes universes out of nothingness — that makes nothingness insist on becoming somethingness. Many Earthlings are glad that Earth does not have UWTB.

    Yes but Earthlings, as demonstrated by the large swaths of Americans watching FOX News day and night, clearly posses UWTBCM — the Universal Will To Become Complete Morons.

  48. 48.

    Southern Beale

    November 9, 2013 at 8:57 am

    Wow nobody could have anticipated that Republican fearmongering about rising healthcare costs under Obamacare would be absolutely, completely, 100% false.

  49. 49.

    mai naem

    November 9, 2013 at 8:58 am

    @Tommy: My parents went without health insurance for a few years before medicare (long story.) My parents looked into Medicare and applied for everything as early as they could so that they there was no delay. Your option in AZ if you have preexisting conditions is to spend your money down to $2K in total savings and then you can go on to AZ’s version of Medicaid. I am positive my dad died prematurely because of the lack of medical care for several years. His doctor knew his situation so he would order what he absolutely had to but bypassed stuff because of the lack of insurance. BTW, that ended up costing Medicare more money because my dad’s medical issues became more complicated. This is one stupid way of providing care to Americans. I bet stuff gets denied to people in their mid sixties by their insurance because they know Medicare is around the corner for these people so its a matter of running out the clock.

  50. 50.

    Baud

    November 9, 2013 at 8:59 am

    @Southern Beale:

    I can’t believe that was in the Post.

  51. 51.

    Gravenstone

    November 9, 2013 at 8:59 am

    @NotMax: Hey, if George Foreman could name all of his sons George, why couldn’t Washington?

  52. 52.

    Gravenstone

    November 9, 2013 at 9:01 am

    @Gex: *hugs* The first year after losing a loved one is always rough. As you know all to well by now. Just be kind to yourself.

  53. 53.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 9, 2013 at 9:02 am

    @Tommy:

    The bill my parents got was over $670,000.

    Many years ago my youngest got an osteomyotis (infection of the bone, in his case upper thigh) MRSA (antibiotic resistant) For 2 or 3 days they were talking about amputation until it was sure that the vancomycin was doing the job. 5 days in ICU. He was on the vancomycin for 6 weeks administered thru a pic line (IV to close to the heart) The med then cost (IIRC) $38,000 per week, not to mention the associated costs, including a trip to the ER when the pic line broke at the skin and they thought it might have gone thru the heart to his lungs (!!!! fun times…)

    I had Carpenters insurance at the time and my cost was $100 dollars for 2 ER visits. Total.

  54. 54.

    Tommy

    November 9, 2013 at 9:02 am

    @Baud: No that was $670,000 not $67,000. Moderate Republican mom and dad are getting how FUBAR healthcare is and thinking I might be right.I keep saying to them, how EVERYBODY would love to have their healthcare. Imagine if you didn’t have it. I broke down to them, my single payer plan, what I might pay. They were stunned.

  55. 55.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    November 9, 2013 at 9:03 am

    @NotMax: His wayward hippity hop son MC Washington is little-known now, since after conservatives got the upper hand in the government they changed it to DC.

  56. 56.

    Schlemizel

    November 9, 2013 at 9:03 am

    @raven:

    So there is such a thing as a free lunch? Damn freeloader. :)

    @Tommy:
    I grew up in a family of Marines (uncles all in the Pacific in WWII) because I was born with spina bifida & only one kidney I was exempt but I took a lot of shit from a couple of them for not hiding that & ‘doing my duty’ I avoided family get togthers for a few years because of that. It got particularly bad when a cousin joined, his name is in granite today. Years later one of them apologized but I was forever labeled as a hippy freek.

  57. 57.

    Roger Moore

    November 9, 2013 at 9:03 am

    @Gex:

    Sorry for the bummer post.

    If grousing here helps you get through the day, have at it. It’s not as if you’re the only one posting downers in the comments from time to time.

  58. 58.

    mai naem

    November 9, 2013 at 9:04 am

    @Violet: My aunt who lives in England had a major stroke in the late eighties with major compllications, received treatment, went home and had ongoing home healthcare until she died in the late 2000s. Also have other family who live in England who’ve had breast cancer, leukemia, diabetes,valve replacement, back surgery etc. I’ve never had one come here for our awesome healthcare.

  59. 59.

    Baud

    November 9, 2013 at 9:05 am

    @Tommy:

    I said $670,000.

    What is your single payer plan?

  60. 60.

    Rex Everything

    November 9, 2013 at 9:06 am

    Bitter old PUMAs sing good.

  61. 61.

    aimai

    November 9, 2013 at 9:07 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Nepalese point with their chins. I still do point that way quite often.

  62. 62.

    Schlemizel

    November 9, 2013 at 9:09 am

    @Tommy:

    Many Americans have been on a single _prayer_ plan for a long time, many don’t even have that. Peoples inability to understand always stuns me, is empathy really that hard? Assuming this damn thing ever gets off the ground a lot of folks are going to wonder how we ever got along without it, but many more will probably never get it. Glad you could explain it to your folks.

  63. 63.

    OzarkHillbilly

    November 9, 2013 at 9:10 am

    got to go, but I found this gallery over at the Guardian and had to pass it along before I begin my day: Disappearing lives: the world’s threatened tribes – in pictures

    cool stuff, worth the trip.

  64. 64.

    John O

    November 9, 2013 at 9:12 am

    @Gex:

    Hang in there. It DOES get better.

    Usually.

  65. 65.

    Amir Khalid

    November 9, 2013 at 9:14 am

    @aimai:
    In Malaysia, if we must point at something, the polite way to do it is with our thumb over a loosely clenched fist. Pointing with the chin is considered unrefined.

  66. 66.

    Schlemizel

    November 9, 2013 at 9:14 am

    I have been reading this stupid web comic, curvy, for a long time – not really sure why other than habit at the moment. But there was a great bit in todays installment.
    from TV:
    “The fighting has moved to upstate New York and the president has ordered the evacuation of Putnam County . . . Up next, how will the cosmic invasion affect the upcoming elections? We’ll break down the winners and losers right after this.”

    Though you guys would see the reality-based humor in that.

  67. 67.

    Elizabelle

    November 9, 2013 at 9:15 am

    @mai naem:

    Jim Gilmore, you say?

    Another of the museum quality governors the Commonwealth of Virginia has seen fit to elect.

    What’s more, Gilmore is from a modest background. His dad was a meatcutter or something.

    From a profile in WaPost magazine, “The Outsider”, 1999:

    “Jim Gilmore is presiding over an unprecedented era of Republican ascendancy in Virginia, but he still has the resentments and rough edges of someone whose application to the elite was never accepted.”

    Cue the Rick Perlstein!

  68. 68.

    Elizabelle

    November 9, 2013 at 9:18 am

    @mai naem:

    I bring up the modest background, because I’d think working class parents like the Gilmores would appreciate health insurance.

    And I always loved that Gilmore married Miss Gatling.

  69. 69.

    Elizabelle

    November 9, 2013 at 9:22 am

    @Gex:

    It’s lovely to see you here. Hugs. Don’t worry about bumming anybody out. You’re among friends.

    And it was fab to see dance around in your bones here last night. Tried to say hey, but FYWP.

  70. 70.

    Amir Khalid

    November 9, 2013 at 9:22 am

    @Southern Beale:
    I can’t help wondering when the Republican party will start lamenting the damage Obamacare is doing to healthcare providers and insurers, by depriving them of revenues.(Or has it already started?)

  71. 71.

    Elizabelle

    November 9, 2013 at 9:26 am

    @NotMax:

    Cheesy does not begin to describe it. I was rooting for the dinosaurs.

    RIP Ray Harryhausen.

    ETA: I think I would have loved it as a ten-year old, though.

  72. 72.

    Jerzy Russian

    November 9, 2013 at 9:29 am

    @Schlemizel:

    I have been reading this stupid web comic, curvy, for a long time

    I also have an addiction to that comic for some reason. It is mostly just strange, but they do have some good stuff from time to time.

  73. 73.

    kindness

    November 9, 2013 at 9:37 am

    I think it would be interesting to compare curse words. I know a few in other languages. Of course I do. What do you think your friends teach you first?

  74. 74.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 9:42 am

    @kindness: Most of the Korean I know after 40+ years are swear words.

  75. 75.

    Violet

    November 9, 2013 at 9:43 am

    @mai naem: One couple I know who are British, the husband was working here and she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Because they had insurance, they chose to stay here for her treatment because it was faster and better (or something) here. I think they also had access to the most current treatments, whereas in the UK they were a bit slower to adopt them.

    The husband delayed a transfer back so she could finish her breast cancer treatment. As soon as she was done, they were back to the UK. They said specifically they stayed here so she could have access to the best treatment vs what they’d have in the UK–and they looked into both.

    Of course, this was a fairly well-paid executive at a large mufti-national corporation. They had insurance that paid well (and this was a few years ago so it was better then). Most people don’t have that luxury. And NO ONE would come here for treatment without insurance. That would be insanity.

  76. 76.

    Fuzzy

    November 9, 2013 at 9:43 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: No thanks for my all-expense paid tour to Vietnam. It was quite an indoctrination into the baser instincts of men.

  77. 77.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 9:45 am

    @Schlemizel: All the phony motherfuckers that dodged it and they got shitty with you for a real reason to not be able to serve? Fuck that shit.

  78. 78.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 9:46 am

    @Fuzzy: FIDO Dawg.

  79. 79.

    Schlemizel

    November 9, 2013 at 9:49 am

    @kindness:

    We have some good friends who immigrated here from Palestine a long time ago. At a party one of the brothers taught the woman foolish enough to marry me how to curse in Arabic. They warned her though that one of the things they taught her she must never repeat.

    Years later our oldest is getting his first real suit and the place is owned by a very nice guy who also came from the ME. His 20-something sons where helping with the fitting and my wife mentioned that she know how to curse in Arabic (don’t remember why it came up but it was part of the conversation). They immediately began pressing her to tell them what she had been taught but she told them she had been warned to never repeat one. this really got them going. When we came back for the fitting they really pressed and she broke down & repeated it. They lost all color in their faces! They were in shock and said “OH NO! Don’t ever say that!” Pretty hilarious. Apparently it has something to do with your mother.

  80. 80.

    JR

    November 9, 2013 at 9:49 am

    Universal language, book II

    The word BAR appears to be the same in at least many languages :-)

    So in French and Spanish speaking (and English, of course )countries, you need not starve, or go dry.

    We first saw this in Spain, and it kept us well fed for several days, and then when the bus crossed into France, rolling through the first farm village, there it was: BAR – with beer (also pronounced the same lots of places, but not Spain) and food!

    For someone who thinks with their stomach, this is so hood to know.

  81. 81.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 9:50 am

    @JR: Nice weapon that BAR.

  82. 82.

    Neddie Jingo

    November 9, 2013 at 9:52 am

    Worked with a guy named Sunil, from the Bangalore area. He was in on an H1 visa, really missed his wife and kids. Good dude all around — funny, personable, diligent. I liked him very much.

    I was Permanent, he was Contract, so, while I was by no stretch his boss, I did hand him his daily tasks. At a tricky moment in the life of the project, something really, really needed to get finished today, no ifs ands or buts. I ask Sunil if he’s absolutely certain he can get Subtask X done by tonight, because Subtasks Y and Z were dependent on it. If not, I can get him help, but I have to know now.

    He gives me this waggle of the head, side to side, his nose the axis of the movement.

    In his body-lexicon, this means “I am on it, dude, and I am completely sure that the task ahead of me is duck soup. I’m off to perform. Over and out.”

    In mine, I read, “Maybe yes, maybe no,” with the implied subtext, “And I don’t really give a fuck if it happens or not.” Stick your hand out, palm down, fingers extended, and rotate it side to side. That’s how that head-waggle read to me.

    Of course he performed Subtask X superbly, with time to spare. But I’m pretty sure he had no clue how close he came to getting clocked that morning.

  83. 83.

    Schlemizel

    November 9, 2013 at 9:56 am

    @raven:

    In their defense they all served so to them I was one of those dodgers too. But they did manage to make me feel guilty for not going, I was young and stupid. It really did cause me to put a wall up between us until they started to die. I still have issues when talking with those who went that I tie to that feeling of guilt.

    My son listened to the recruiter and not to me and ended up in Afghanistan That came back and I don’t know why.

    But fuck the old people who send kids to kill.

  84. 84.

    SectionH

    November 9, 2013 at 9:56 am

    @Hillary Rettig: That was fantastic. Thanks for the link.

  85. 85.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 9, 2013 at 9:58 am

    @Elizabelle:

    Jim Gilmore, you say?

    Another of the museum quality governors the Commonwealth of Virginia has seen fit to elect.

    Everyone could pay for health care out of pocket if we just eliminated the Virginia car tax!!

  86. 86.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    November 9, 2013 at 10:02 am

    @Gex:
    Sorry, Gex.

  87. 87.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 10:05 am

    @Schlemizel: We don’t know why about so much. I’m guilty because I wasn’t in the infantry.

  88. 88.

    shelly

    November 9, 2013 at 10:07 am

    “Going on my first-ever official mushroom hunt”
    *******
    Watch out for the Destroying Angel!

    I always thought the word ‘okay’ was pretty universally recognized throughout the world.

  89. 89.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    November 9, 2013 at 10:10 am

    @shelly: I always thought the word ‘okay’ was pretty universally recognized throughout the world.

    Anecdotally, that’s been my experience. I haven’t been lots of places but it was used in all of them. (Though I assume “OK” was spread through inter-culture communication and this “huh” thing is about a response that arose separately in different languages.)

  90. 90.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 10:16 am

    @Xecky Gilchrist: I think it really got popularized with A-OK and space flight.

  91. 91.

    gene108

    November 9, 2013 at 10:22 am

    @Baud:

    It’s an opinion piece in the WaPo prefaced by “David Cutler is a professor of economics at Harvard University and was senior health-care adviser to Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign”, so despite being a step in the right direction it is still below the threshold of “impartial journalistic reporting” an actual news piece would be and thus provides some degree of plausible denial, when right-wingers start levying claims of liberal bias against the WaPo.

    “Hey, look we didn’t report anything you didn’t like, angry billionaire who might buy us out and fire us all. It was just an opinion piece. We have to let a few of those in from time to time to distinguish us from The Washington Times,” the WaPo editor said groveling on the ground into his phone to appease the right-wing overlord.

  92. 92.

    tybee

    November 9, 2013 at 10:25 am

    @raven:
    i left you a message about the bailess reels on that earlier thread.

  93. 93.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 10:26 am

    @tybee: oh cool, thanks

  94. 94.

    Elizabelle

    November 9, 2013 at 10:30 am

    WaPost highlights one Martha Rigsby, serial 911 caller. In one year alone she’s called “911” 226 times, and been transported by ambulance 117 times (average cost of trip: $478) — that’s $55,960 for ambulance alone, never mind ER resources. She’s been doing this for 30 years, gobbling city resources and increasing wait time for those genuinely in peril.

    I have seen this woman pull her fainting on the sidewalk routine, several years ago. I recognized her.

    She topples. People rush over, all concerned. She can barely speak. We make her as comfortable as possible. Her head is cushioned by a man’s rolled up raincoat. We wait with her anxiously, murmuring kind words, hoping to assist.

    The ambulance arrives. The crew is dismayed to see it’s her. It’s obvious they recognize her. Body language says they think she’s a scam artist, although they are respectful to her.

    She refuses transport on this occasion. After a few minutes, she gets up and just walks away.

    I think she’s growing cynicism as well as a hole in DC’s emergency services budget.

  95. 95.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    November 9, 2013 at 10:32 am

    @raven: I too have forgotten most of it. There was one in particular, referring to the, umm, lack of hirsutism regarding an ancestors’ naughty bits. Instant ass whooping – just add water.

  96. 96.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 10:34 am

    @tybee: Goddamn it I wrote a big reply and it got et! Anyway I am interested in the new/old Penn lines that have the bailess. I’ve caught a good many reds on big, moderately priced spinning reels but I have lost enough fish finder rigs to make this seem like a good idea.

  97. 97.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 10:35 am

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Nemi shimi peck pogi dah sheep poly ma kasikia!

    Yatsi will come along and correct my spelling.

  98. 98.

    handsmile

    November 9, 2013 at 10:43 am

    @Elizabelle: ,

    Why is James Gilmore, who last held public office eleven years ago, ran a risibly brief campaign for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, and then was trounced by Mark Warner in the 2008 US Senate race in Virginia, on Kornacki’s show to begin with? *

    From “Present Activities” on his wiki entry:

    In December 2009, Jim Gilmore became President & CEO of the Free Congress Foundation [3] which was founded by the late conservative movement leader Paul Weyrich in 1977….He is also on the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association and is a political commentator on Fox News.”

    Scrolling through TV options this morning (“The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao” on TCM, no thanks!), I saw the listing for “Up with Steve Kornacki,” and wondered if anyone still watched it. (When Chris Hayes was host, the program consistently messed up my weekend morning plans.) With guests like Gilmore, I guess I have an indirect answer.

    *(Rhetorical question, I know: Village wiring)

  99. 99.

    Botsplainer

    November 9, 2013 at 10:53 am

    @handsmile:

    late conservative movement leader Paul Weyrich

    That phrase never fails to make me happy.

    Other phrases which would please me endlessly…

    Late libertarian donor Charles/David Koch

    Late radio broadcaster Rush Limbaugh

    Late media tycoon Rupert Murdoch

    Late direct mail solicitor Dick Viguerie

    Tragic family reunion tent fire took the lives of Ponzi schemer Richard DeVos, his wife Betsy and her brother Erik Prince

  100. 100.

    jeffreyw

    November 9, 2013 at 10:56 am

    Weird Chrome browser behavior, all the WP blogs are in italics, including What’s4dinner and others. Just on my main machine, Windows 8.1, just Chrome, Firefox looks fine, other machines with Win8 are not affected. I’ve uninstalled Chrome, twice. Still all the body text is italic.

  101. 101.

    Elizabelle

    November 9, 2013 at 11:00 am

    @Botsplainer:

    I’d take

    late, disgraced, and bankrupt Rupert Murdoch

    There’s got to be some way to get the airwaves and “news” broadcasts back from propagandists.

  102. 102.

    gogol's wife

    November 9, 2013 at 11:01 am

    @handsmile:

    I saw your query about Oblomov this morning. I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of Oblomov, and haven’t read it or taught it since graduate school. I see that there’s a translation by Ann Dunnigan, and she is very good, but it’s 1963 so it might not be available. The latest one is by Marian Schwartz, who’s the hot translator these days, but I have no experience with her work so can’t say. It’s probably worth a look!

  103. 103.

    Elizabelle

    November 9, 2013 at 11:02 am

    @handsmile:

    I am getting to where I don’t like to watch MSNBC because I am tired of hearing the crap the GOP says and does, repeated at shrill strength. Yes, Kornacki and the evening hosts are purveying it to discredit same, but enough.

    I realize we have to stay informed, but sometimes ignorance is bliss.

  104. 104.

    Elizabelle

    November 9, 2013 at 11:04 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    You just reminded me of who lost to Jim Gilmore.

    Don Beyer.

    I remember thinking reducing the car tax was along the lines of “The Matlock Expressway” on the Simpsons.

    Don Beyer got done in by the Matlock Expressway.

  105. 105.

    raven

    November 9, 2013 at 11:06 am

    Whoa, looks like a high of 57, seats in the shade.

  106. 106.

    Baud

    November 9, 2013 at 11:08 am

    @Elizabelle:

    That’s how I am these days also. The news is all talking heads and very little information.

  107. 107.

    Randy P

    November 9, 2013 at 11:20 am

    So I read that Navajo lip-pointing thing on this thread a few hours ago and did some Googling. Turns out it’s not just the Navajo, it seems to be practically universal among Native American tribes and always for pretty much the same reason (having to do with not offending spirits). I find that universality fascinating. Is there anything else common to that many Native cultures? Suggests to me it goes back to the first settling of North America.

  108. 108.

    handsmile

    November 9, 2013 at 11:34 am

    @gogol’s wife:

    Thanks so very much! As my query was dangling at a thread’s end and I later learned that you had retired for the evening, I wondered whether you would see it at all.

    On Thursday evening, I attended a superb lecture on Alexander Herzen at the CUNY Grad Center. Oblomov‘s praises were sung by the guest speaker (Wendy Lesser) and several other attendees during the Q&A.

    I’ve never read the novel myself, but thought I’d take advantage of BJ’s resident Russophile. :)

  109. 109.

    kuvasz

    November 9, 2013 at 11:37 am

    This reminds me of the story about how a world-renowned linguist gave a lecture at a university and stated in no uncertain terms that in the entire world there were repeated cases in languages where a double-negative implied a positive, yet nowhere on Earth was there a language where a double-positive implied a negative. Where upon a lazy graduate student sitting in the last row hollered out “YEAH, YEAH!”

  110. 110.

    handsmile

    November 9, 2013 at 11:39 am

    @Elizabelle:

    “…sometimes ignorance is bliss.”

    It appeals more and more often these days. But of course, that’s just what the bad guys want from us all.

  111. 111.

    Bubblegum Tate

    November 9, 2013 at 11:51 am

    I like that the top two articles in the Newsmax ad/feed in the right column are:

    1) Hannity: Christie Not Real Conservative

    2) Bill O’Reilly: Christie Afraid of Me

    I guess the talking points hath been distributed.

  112. 112.

    currants

    November 9, 2013 at 12:01 pm

    Wish so much I were free to go see Libana this evening! Saw them a long time ago (late 80s, early 90S?)–LOVED the music then. They don’t seem to perform all that regularly, or maybe I’m just out of the loop now. I’d love to see the Morocco show, but…babysitting granddaughter, so, no.

  113. 113.

    Yatsuno

    November 9, 2013 at 12:08 pm

    @raven: Sorry, don’t know a lot of Korean. Nihongo o chotto hanashiemasu.

  114. 114.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    November 9, 2013 at 12:11 pm

    @raven: Yup, that’s the one. Eight to eighty, blind, crippled or crazy, you break that one out, it’s go time.

  115. 115.

    Fellatio Alger

    November 9, 2013 at 12:34 pm

    @Gex: Don’t apologize for your feelings – let them out as much as you need to. A year is not a long time. Hang in there.

  116. 116.

    low-tech cyclist

    November 9, 2013 at 12:37 pm

    I must be the only one who read the title of that YouTube as “Arse Facing East.”

  117. 117.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 9, 2013 at 2:37 pm

    @jeffreyw: I blame Homer.

  118. 118.

    tybee

    November 9, 2013 at 4:02 pm

    @raven:

    well, a brand new bail reel shouldn’t cause you any issues on the first few surf trips.

    when it gets older….

    to me, it depends on what you’re gonna do with the reel later. if you’ll be mostly surf casting with it over the years, get the bailess model – unless it’s a lot more than the regular flavor. you can always take the bail off the regular one and it doesn’t “unbalance” the rotor enough to worry about. if the unbalanced rotor is an issue for you, counterweights (washers or something similar) on the other side will fix that.
    not worrying about the line jumping off the roller is worth something to me…but again, i don’t surf cast much anymore.

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