Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Not all heroes wear capes.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

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

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

This fight is for everything.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

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

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open thread

Reader Interactions

91Comments

  2. 2.

    Amir Khalid

    Friday marks a new year’s day, that of the Lunar New Year; it’s the Year of the Horse. Just in case Anne Laurie wants to put up a post.

  14. 14.

    srv

    It’s because of liberal moochers like you that the rest of us have to work so hard to keep America on top. It’s like doing 10 tours in Iraq or Afghanistan.

  15. 15.

    Fuzzy

    I very happily left that 9-5 14 years ago at age 58 when my boss suggested I should be available for “consult” on weekends. My notice was accepted shortly thereafter. To my glee the company was bankrupt 4 years later and said owner on the street. If you cannot conduct your business in a reasonable amount of time then hire more people. You don’t need things, you need a life.

  17. 17.

    TheHalfrican

    I think the way The Grammys treat Hip-Hop have consistently angered me over the years more than anything the Republican Party’s done.

    I used to have regular screaming matches about The Grammys with my dad until Born This Way was AOTY nominated over My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Then he couldn’t defend them any more.

    Yeah so when Macklemore happened I was relatively…unmoved. Business as usual. Wasn’t worse than forgetting Guru during the In Memoriam montage. That was the fucking ultimate slap in the face. As if that would ever happen with to a white frontman for any rock band with the chart success, critical acclaim, international tour history of Gang Starr.

    But wait, even Bob Marley is a second class citizen at the God Damn Grammys! “oh wow this looks embarrassing that we never let that nice dreadlocked boy get a trophy, we’d better give him a Lifetime Achievement Award or something. and let’s throw awards at any album one of his sons releases! WAIT – not that album. That album has that n*gger Nas on it”

    My co-worker showed me pics of a relative that won one for the Flashdance soundtrack or something. He brings it to bars and lets strangers do shots out of it. Also lets his dog drink out of it. Fuck the Grammys.

  18. 18.

    TheHalfrican

    I think the way The Grammys treat Hip-Hop have consistently angered me over the years more than anything the Republican Party’s done.

    I used to have regular screaming matches about The Grammys with my dad until Born This Way was AOTY nominated over My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Then he couldn’t defend them any more.

    Yeah so when Macklemore happened I was relatively…unmoved. Business as usual. Wasn’t worse than forgetting Guru during the In Memoriam montage. That was the fucking ultimate slap in the face. As if that would ever happen with to a white frontman for any rock band with the chart success, critical acclaim, international tour history of Gang Starr.

    But wait, even Bob Marley is a second class citizen at the God Damn Grammys! “oh wow this looks embarrassing that we never let that nice dreadlocked boy get a trophy, we’d better give him a Lifetime Achievement Award or something. and let’s throw awards at any album one of his sons releases! WAIT – not that album. That album has that n*gger Nas on it”

    My co-worker showed me pics of a relative that won one for the Flashdance soundtrack or something. He brings it to bars and lets strangers do shots out of it. Also lets his dog drink out of it. Fuck the Grammys.

  19. 19.

    cosima

    I have some questions for Massachusetts dwellers if anyone can help a person out…

    A friend here in Scotland has written a book about a local family, focusing on Lady Rachel MacRobert, of Worcester, Mass, it’s to be published in June. Her maiden name is Workman, her mother’s father was once governor of Mass (this in the late-ish 1800s), her mother’s maiden name is Bullock (I believe). The parents sound very unconventional and fascinating, her story is sad & inspiring, anyway, it’s all good stuff.

    So, my friend is interested in avenues for promoting this book — in indy, small-venue-type-bookstores. Does anyone here (raised in Mass) know if those are names that are recognizable to most long-term Massachusetsians? And does anyone (living in Mass) have any recommendations for the independent bookstore avenues?

    I’d love to help her promote her book on both sides of the pond. It’s really a labour of love for her, and could possibly be considered self-published considering she had to pay the publisher xxx of pounds up-front.

    I am a west coast gal, so am pretty much no help when it comes to Massachusetts.

  21. 21.

    Ash Can

    @MikeJ: I’ve always liked that album. One of my guilty pleasures.

    @Roxy: I’ve always liked Dolly Parton too. Not a big fan of her music, but I always enjoy her in e.g. late-night talk-show interviews. She’s always come across as sensible, down-to-earth, and very personable.

  24. 24.

    J.

    Anyone else see Delta’s new viral 1980s-inspired in-flight safety video? If so, did you find it, like, totally rad. Or did it make you want to gag on a spoon? (Personally, I’d prefer it if Delta spent more money on safety and less on in-flight safety videos. But maybe that’s because the pressure gauge on my recent Delta flight malfunctioned at 33,000 feet and we had to make an emergency landing at JFK after burning off fuel for over two hours.)

  25. 25.

    dmsilev

    @cosima: The names don’t ring a bell for me (I grew up in the Boston area). I suspect that few people besides local-history buffs would know them. Governors from 100+ years ago aren’t really all that prominent unless they were responsible for doing something drastic.

    As far as bookstores go, I’d second the Booksmith recommendation. Great store.

  27. 27.

    Another Holocene Human

    @cosima: I’ll be honest, Worcester is in Central Mass and most people in Eastern Mass don’t give a shit about it. You gotta get some sort of long-form Sunday papers (=Globe, maybe The Dig which is weekly) press for the history nerds to grab onto. Once it’s pushed as Mass history qua Mass history there are plenty of people whose tribalistic buttons will be pushed (especially talking about English people–though, don’t expect Irish like me to care!).

    Worcerster itself has potential but the last time I was there it was still a shithole.

    I could once give you plenty of Boston & inner suburbs indie bookstore names plus indie bookstores in Amherst (Western Mass, VERY liberal, VERY educated) but it’s been a minute since I lived there and they were dying when I left. I just don’t know.

    However, in Boston if she can get something going at the BPL that might be a place to start. Newton and other suburban libraries might also be good. Lectures at some of the smaller colleges might be a possibility. And if you can hit UMass Amherst you can promote that all over Hampshire County and Northampton/Holyoke.

    You can also try applying for grants for cultural programs with the City of Boston and the Commonwealth. If the story is interesting enough and you can get earned media the book will sell itself.

  29. 29.

    cosima

    Thanks Cervantes & dmsilev — I found that both stores have books by her mother (Fanny Bullock Workman) and many about her grandfather (Gov Bullock), so I’m hoping my friend can use that to encourage them to consider her book as well. Those were really helpful recommendations, and I’ve emailed the links to her.

    Many thanks!!!!

  30. 30.

    PaulW

    there was a great indy bookstore in Gainesville, FL called Goerings but they seem to have gone out of business in 2010. :(

    cosmina, you might want to check with the local public libraries. They may not shelve the book(s) in their collections – some are restricted from receiving too many self- or small-press publishings – but they may host author speaking events / signing appearances.

  31. 31.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Cervantes: FYWP ate my comment but anyway, glad to see Harvard Book Store is still around. So many book sellers are gone!

    I forgot to mention the New England Mobile Book Fair, but I don’t know how much programming they do b/c the place is like a warehouse. They defs carry books of local interest and they probably send out periodic flyers about new books to their customer list–you should check that out, at least.

  35. 35.

    cosima

    Damn it all – the edit to my post that thanked you, Another Halocene Human, was eaten!!!!

    Oh well. Will sum up in few words since I don’t want to type it all again:

    Love your ideas, particularly approaching libraries. I did a bit of looking into indy weekly papers, will expand that search to cities other than Worcester. What is =Globe?

  36. 36.

    Cervantes

    @cosima: You’re welcome. Yes, I know the books you’re referring to.

    On this page you can find information about other independent bookstores in Massachusetts. The list is not exhaustive but it includes two shops in Worcester. Good luck.

  38. 38.

    Roger Moore

    @Amir Khalid:

    Friday marks a new year’s day, that of the Lunar New Year

    The Chinese lunar year. You, of all people, should be aware that the Chinese calendar is not the only lunar calendar in the world.

  40. 40.

    Trollhattan

    Campos at LGM found this gem.

    Up to 40 kids at Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City picked up their lunches Tuesday, then watched as the meals were taken and thrown away because of outstanding balances on their accounts — a move that shocked and angered parents.

    “It was pretty traumatic and humiliating,” said Erica Lukes, whose 11-year-old daughter had her cafeteria lunch taken from her as she stood in line Tuesday at Uintah Elementary School. Lukes said as far as she knew, she was all paid up. “I think it’s despicable,” she said. “These are young children that shouldn’t be punished or humiliated for something the parents obviously need to clear up.”

    Jason Olsen, a Salt Lake City District spokesman, said the district’s child-nutrition department became aware that Uintah had a large number of students who owed money for lunches. As a result, the child-nutrition manager visited the school and decided to withhold lunches to deal with the issue, he said. But cafeteria workers weren’t able to see which children owed money until they had already received lunches, Olsen explained.

    The workers then took those lunches from the students and threw them away, he said, because once food is served to one student it can’t be served to another. Children whose lunches were taken were given milk and fruit instead.

    But Olsen said he would not describe the tactic as a mistake.

    http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57468293-78/lunches-olsen-lunch-district.html.csp

    Mormon assholes.

  41. 41.

    Cervantes

    @Another Holocene Human: We’re relatively lucky in the Boston area. We still have good local places to get new, used, and specialty books, and have really no reason to use Internet stores — other than cost, I suppose, but even that’s only if you define cost narrowly (and I know, some have to).

    Aside: You made a comment recently about subsidies for dairy farms in Massachusetts in the 1990s. Care to elaborate?

  42. 42.

    Another Holocene Human

    @cosima: You’re welcome. The Boston Globe, it’s the dominant daily, they used to run long-form pieces in their sunday magazine or other sunday sections. I mean, obviously they went through a giant winnowing in 2007-2009 period, but they still have reporters and shit.

    The Dig is the better weekly. Phoenix, RIP, died recently. I think “Hooray for Newberry Street” is still around but don’t waste your time. (Whatever it might be calling itself these days.)

    I don’t know if the burbs still have that craptastic pennysaver TAB going on but they used to run shitty articles in between the RE and car ads. You could get earned media if you do a book talk or something, though they prefer anything with a local connection.

    If Yankee magazine is still around you could also try pitching to them.

  49. 49.

    Cervantes

    @Roger Moore:

    The Chinese lunar year.

    And Korean, and Vietnamese (Tet), too.

    Colorful and beautiful celebrations all but, at this point, here’s what does it for me:

    We twa hae paidl’d i’ the burn frae morning sun till dine,
    But seas between us braid have roar’d sin auld lang syne.

  50. 50.

    Belafon

    Does the transformation of Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Bruce Willis in Looper remind anyone else of Gollum?

  52. 52.

    Glocksman

    In tech news Google to sell Motorola Mobility to Lenovo

    Update: Google has officially confirmed the rumors with a blog post and press release. The documents say the sale price is “approximately US $2.91 billion (subject to certain adjustments).”

    Google justifies the sale by saying:

    The smartphone market is super competitive, and to thrive it helps to be all-in when it comes to making mobile devices. It’s why we believe that Motorola will be better served by Lenovo—which has a rapidly growing smartphone business and is the largest (and fastest-growing) PC manufacturer in the world. This move will enable Google to devote our energy to driving innovation across the Android ecosystem, for the benefit of smartphone users everywhere. As a side note, this does not signal a larger shift for our other hardware efforts. The dynamics and maturity of the wearable and home markets, for example, are very different from that of the mobile industry. We’re excited by the opportunities to build amazing new products for users within these emerging ecosystems.

    Google will retain Motorola’s patents, which helps that $7 billion dollar difference sting a little less. The deal is still pending approval in the US and China, so until that happens, Google says it’s “business as usual.”

    I’m of two minds about this.
    One one hand, Google has turned Moto around from being a moribund phone brand whose glory days were over when the RAZR became obsolete.

    The Moto X and G are both highly regarded devices that made my short list before I settled on a Nexus 5.

    If Lenovo merely slaps ‘Motorola’ on their existing lineup and implements a custom UI larded up with an ugly skin and next to useless custom apps (Samsung TouchWiz), then I don’t see a good future ahead for Moto.

    On the other hand if Lenovo keeps Moto on its current course and leverages its Enterprise expertise, they could be setting up to make some serious coin.

  56. 56.

    Cervantes

    @Roger Moore: Sure, but, then again, people who celebrate New Year’s on Rosh Hashanah would be inclined to dispute anything!

    (Joke stolen from the Talmud, I admit.)

  57. 57.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Cervantes: I wish I could but my dad was the political geek AND milk gallon buyer in the family* so I’d have to ring him after work to get the deets. By the time I got really into politics it was ancient history.

    *-the guy knows retail milk prices like some people know soy futures–to be fair, at one time there were six children in the home

  62. 62.

    Trollhattan

    @Glocksman:

    Happen to have a RAZR Maxx, which kicks butt in what I want it to do, but this move makes it likely to be my last Motorola. Ah well, brands come in, brands go out–“you can’t explain that.”

    Wonder what Mistermix thinks?

  63. 63.

    Librarian

    @cosima: Your friend also might try the Massachusetts Historical Society, and whatever local society there is in Worcester.

  64. 64.

    Trollhattan

    @Paul in KY:

    That, I’d pay to watch. I sure hope those “adults” got a little tingle from shaming those kids in front of hundreds of others. Serves the little moochers right.

  65. 65.

    Belafon

    @Trollhattan: It’s not just the Mormons. This same thing has happened in other states. You would think people would learn from the bad publicity if nothing else.

    I would send money to compensate this girl if it were easy to find her:

    She said it was a difficult day for her daughter and other kids. She said her daughter told her one of the cafeteria workers cried at the sight. And her daughter’s best friend was so upset that she went home Tuesday night and made lunches for all the students who had theirs taken, she said.

  70. 70.

    rikyrah

    White House Seeks Drug Clemency Candidates

    By MATT APUZZOJAN. 30, 2014

    WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, in its effort to curtail severe penalties in low-level drug cases, is taking the unprecedented step of encouraging defense lawyers to suggest inmates whom the president might let out of prison early.

    Speaking at a New York State Bar Association event Thursday, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole said the Justice Department wanted to send more names to White House for clemency consideration.

    “This is where you can help,” he said, in remarks the Justice Department circulated in advance.

    Prison officials will also spread the word among inmates that low-level, nonviolent drug offenders might be eligible to apply for clemency.

    Related Coverage

    video

    Video: A Sentence for a FamilyDEC. 21, 2013

    The clemency drive is part of the administration’s effort to undo sentencing discrepancies that began during the crack epidemic decades ago. Offenses involving crack, which was disproportionately used in black communities, carried more severe penalties than crimes involving powder cocaine, which was usually favored by affluent white users.

    In some cases, crack crimes resulted in a 100-to-1 sentencing disparity. The tough sentencing laws led to an 800 percent increase in the number of prisoners in the United States.

    Congress reduced the sentencing disparity in 2010. In December, President Obama commuted the sentences of eight federal inmates who were convicted of crack sentences under the old rules.

    “There are more low-level, nonviolent drug offenders who remain in prison, and who would likely have received a substantially lower sentence if convicted of precisely the same offenses today,” Mr. Cole said. “This is not fair, and it harms our criminal justice system.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/31/us/politics/white-house-seeks-drug-clemency-candidates.html?hpw&rref=us&_r=1

  75. 75.

    rikyrah

    These are some evil ass mofos.

    …………..

    Lunches seized from kids in debt at Salt Lake City elementary

    Education » School officials cite unpaid balances on students’ meal accounts.

    By lisa schencker
    The Salt Lake Tribune
    First Published Jan 29 2014 05:29 pm • Last Updated Jan 29 2014 11:06 pm

    Up to 40 kids at Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City picked up their lunches Tuesday, then watched as the meals were taken and thrown away because of outstanding balances on their accounts — a move that shocked and angered parents.

    “It was pretty traumatic and humiliating,” said Erica Lukes, whose 11-year-old daughter had her cafeteria lunch taken from her as she stood in line Tuesday at Uintah Elementary School, 1571 E. 1300 South.

    Lukes said as far as she knew, she was all paid up. “I think it’s despicable,” she said. “These are young children that shouldn’t be punished or humiliated for something the parents obviously need to clear up.”

    Jason Olsen, a Salt Lake City District spokesman, said the district’s child-nutrition department became aware that Uintah had a large number of students who owed money for lunches.

    As a result, the child-nutrition manager visited the school and decided to withhold lunches to deal with the issue, he said.

    But cafeteria workers weren’t able to see which children owed money until they had already received lunches, Olsen explained.

    http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57468293-78/lunches-olsen-lunch-district.html.csp

  76. 76.

    cosima

    Thanks for all of the links & ideas. I’ve suggested to my friend that she & I keep lists and check them off as we contact them. That was incredibly helpful. It’s completely out of my sphere, so I am pretty much unable to brainstorm ideas for potential placement of the book. I just knew the BJ crew would come through, and you have.

  77. 77.

    PaulW

    @Anton Sirius:

    You would think there were enough lawyers and deep-pocket lobbyists who can just BUY OUT Snyder or at least get him placed under psychiatric evaluation (what we call Baker Acting here in Florida) for a long-enough period to have the ‘Skins placed under a blind trust and thence new ownership.

  78. 78.

    srv

    @rikyrah: If more children could feel the cold invisible hand of the market we’d have a lot less trouble.

    Nothing like a little hunger and humiliation to win over their hearts and minds.

    Malcontents probably weren’t paying off the local enforcer or were pocketing their parents money for blow.

  80. 80.

    StringOnAStick

    Does anyone have a suggestion for a PC keyboard that feels like a laptop one? I know the difference is scissor key instead of what most PC’s have. My problem is that keyboards in general are causing me impact pain and I definitely do better on a laptop, but can not do everything I need to do without my desktop. Not interested in wireless since the planet doesn’t need anymore dead batteries. Has anyone used a keyboard by iRocks?

  81. 81.

    ? Martin

    @Glocksman:

    One one hand, Google has turned Moto around from being a moribund phone brand whose glory days were over when the RAZR became obsolete.

    The Moto X and G are both highly regarded devices that made my short list before I settled on a Nexus 5.

    Problem is nobody is buying them. They were selling more phones a year ago than they are today. It doesn’t matter if the devices are highly regarded if nobody buys them.

  82. 82.

    rikyrah

    Published on Jan 30, 2014

    Derrick Coleman Makes Fans Dreams Come True. The Seattle Seahawks running back surprised his two biggest fans with tickets to the Super Bowl.
    [ it’s two deaf sisters who sent him a letter after finding out that he was deaf also]

    http://youtu.be/p-nVhCszQWA

  83. 83.

    ? Martin

    @rikyrah:

    These are some evil ass mofos.

    Someone needs to deal with the 47%. Lazy mooching urchins aren’t willing to work, as if 7 year-olds can’t clean out a toilet.

  84. 84.

    rikyrah

    Black Twitter has some folks SHOOK

    ……………………

    Twitter Users’ Diversity Becomes an Ad Selling Point – Posted on January 20, 2014

    For most of its rather short life, Twitter Inc.rarely mentioned that its user base is more racially diverse than U.S. Internet users as a whole.[….] Now, as a newly minted public company needing to generate revenue, it is moving to capitalize on its demographics.[….] In November, Twitter hired marketing veteran Nuria Santamaria to a new position as multicultural strategist, leading its effort to target black, Hispanic and Asian-American users.[….]

    Together, those groups account for 41% of Twitter’s 54 million U.S. users, compared with 34% of the users of rival Facebook and 33% of all U.S. Internet users, according to Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project.[….] Marla Skiko, executive vice president and director of digital advertising at Starcom Media-vest Group’s multicultural division, says some advertisers are surprised to learn the demographics of Twitter users.[….]

    Twitter has long been known for its popularity among blacks, giving rise to a cultural phenomenon known as “Black Twitter.” Racially tinged hashtags such as #IfSantaWasBlack and #PaulasBestDishes have risen to the top of Twitter’s trending lists.[….] Genie Lauren, a 29-year-old New Yorker who works in higher education, organized a Twitter protest last July against a book planned by a juror in the George Zimmerman trial.[….]

    http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304419104579323442346646168

  86. 86.

    Ernest Pikeman

    @TheHalfrican:

    I think the way The Grammys treat Hip-Hop have consistently angered me over the years more than anything the Republican Party’s done.

    Um, priorities?

    One is fucking with your livelihood, if not downright survival, the other is some trophy for entertainment during the current year (don’t tell me Grammys have anything to do with “art” however you define it).

  87. 87.

    Roger Moore

    @Glocksman:

    The Moto X and G are both highly regarded devices that made my short list before I settled on a Nexus 5.

    I recently got the Moto X and am very pleased with it. Some of the features seem more like cool tech wiz stuff than major day-to-day utility features, but it seems to have a great blend of size, performance, and great battery life. I just wish they had stuck with the default Google apps for a couple more things; I miss photosphere in the camera app, for instance.

  88. 88.

    Glocksman

    @? Martin:

    Short term, that’s a problem.
    Google up until the sale was showing all the signs of being in for the long haul and had the wherewithal needed to stay in the game.
    Getting out new models, improving support and simplifying the product lineup was just the first step.

    Now I just don’t really know what to think.

    Rumor has it that the sale is related to the new agreements they signed with Samsung on patents.
    It’s plausible, because I can’t imagine Samsung was too happy about their OS provider competing with them in hardware.

  90. 90.

    ThresherK

    @Another Holocene Human: Hey, remember awhile ago you were interested in my findings re laptop keyboards?

    The long story: I played with new models from HP, Toshiba, Lenovo and Dell, and Acer. Each manufacturer seemed to build one keyboard, deployed for all of its 14″-17″ models, and (also important) had the same space in front of the keyboard.

    I found HPs were awful, Acer and Lenovo okay, and Dell and Toshiba better than okay. But I went with a factory-refurbed few-years-older Dell 6410 which had a non-chiclet keyboard, and Win7.

    Hope that helps.

  91. 91.

    Roger Moore

    @Glocksman:

    Rumor has it that the sale is related to the new agreements they signed with Samsung on patents

    I think there was always a question of whether Google was in it to produce phones or because they wanted Motorola’s patent portfolio. It sounds as if they were after the patents, which could be very helpful in suits with Apple and Microsoft.

Comments are closed.