The guy who is paying $350K to shoot a black rhino in Namibia is getting death threats. To be fair, the male rhino is too old to breed and old males can sometimes become a danger to other wildlife, so perhaps this guy deserves a bit of a pass. That said, the Internet tells me that this is his 2012 Christmas card (via):
Archives for January 2014
Baby Doc’s Eternal Return
People who don’t listen to Rand Paul much (which means most of the world) might think this is new (via):
The danger to majority rule – to him sort of thinking, well, the majority voted for me, now I’m the majority, I can do whatever I want, and that there are no rules that restrain me – that’s what gave us Jim Crow,” Paul said. “That’s what gave us the internment of the Japanese – that the majority said you don’t have individual rights, and individual rights don’t come from your creator, and they’re not guaranteed by the Constitution. It’s just whatever the majority wants.”
Paul added: “There’s a real danger to that viewpoint, but it’s consistent with the progressive viewpoint. … Progressives believe in majority rule, not constitutional rule.”
Like most of what comes out of either Paul’s mouth, this has been around for a long time, at least since Rand made an ass of himself over the Civil Rights Act. For example, Rand trotted out this crap seven months ago, and the young and impressionable Conor Freidersdorf (remember him?) lapped it up. Elias Isquith tore that apart on this very blog at the time.
The lesson here is that, when you’re dealing with the Pauls, “new” needs to be construed on an almost geologic timeframe. In this case, it’s the notion that Jim Crow was bad that is new, because Papa Doc’s newsletters from the 80’s and 90’s would seem to indicate otherwise.
Sochi: Putin ‘Can’t Feel Weak’
(via Charles P. Pierce)
So much beauty, so much joy. And then…
Kirit Radia, ABC News:
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed his government “will do whatever it takes” to prevent a terror attack during next month’s Winter Olympics in Sochi.
“If we allow ourselves to be weak, feel weak, let our fear to be seen, by doing that we’ll assist those terrorists in achieving their goals,” Putin said.
“Our job, needless to say, the job of the Olympics host, is to ensure security of the participants in the Olympics and visitors to this festival of sports and we will do whatever it takes,” he said.
Putin added, “We would try and make sure that security measures were not be in your face, did not put pressure on the athletes and visitors or reporters. At the same time we’ll do everything within our power to make sure those measures are efficient.”…
“There is also a moral dimension to it,” Putin said speaking frankly about the mood of the Russian people. “I’ll tell you about it openly. There is nothing to hide or be embarrassed by here. Following the collapse of the USSR, following hard and, let’s put it bluntly, blood-soaked developments in the Caucasus, the overall state society was depressing and pessimistic. We need to cheer up, we need to understand and feel that we are capable of pulling off major, large-scale projects and do so on schedule and with good quality.”…
From CNN, Putin says gays ‘can feel safe’ at Sochi:
Russia’s Vladimir Putin again sought to downplay fears that gay visitors will be discriminated against as he paid a visit to the Sochi area Friday, exactly three weeks before the Winter Olympics get underway.
Putin’s remarks came as he met with volunteers for the games, the state-run Itar-Tass news agency reported.
The president said Russia, unlike some other countries, does not criminalize homosexual relationships.
“We don’t outlaw anything and don’t nab anyone,” Putin said.
“That’s why you can feel safe and free here, but please leave our children in peace,” he added…
There’s a video clip at the link of a gay family that feels so ‘safe’, their faces have to be blurred out.
Lilly the Dog
Good evening denizens of Balloon Juice! John has been harassing me to post a photo of my new dog Lilly, so much so that one would think that it was personal affront to him that I had not done so. So here she is! She’s a papillon/pomeranian mix and she’s five years old.
So far Nate Dogg seems to be putting up with her — probably because he’s old and deaf and really doesn’t give a crap, as long as I feed him a steady diet of jerky treats and cheap beer. (Kidding about the beer part.)
You’re welcome — JOHN.
(I hope everyone is doing well. Cheers!)
Friday Recipe Exchange: Pastas and Sauces
From our Food Goddess, TaMara:
Last year I did a recipe exchange on meatballs (here) but was surprised to see I had never done one specifically on sauces. Now sauces can be risky and start a great debate, because every family has their version. So hit the comments with your favorite pasta sauce recipe, and for that matter, pastas, because there are so many choices. Like many things, I’m not all that concerned about the right pasta for the right sauce, I say, use what you enjoy and ignore the purists.
Food should be fun. For that matter, so should wine, beer and scotch.
So let’s start out with JeffreyW’s Awesome Sauce (here) because, well, it’s awesome.
Want something a little simpler and quicker? How about his San Marzano Sauce, here.
And his Shrimp & Pasta Formaggio (here) is quick and easy, also.
When everything is in season, I like to make my sauce with fresh ingredients, so I have a Garden Fresh Pasta Sauce (recipe here) that’s lighter and fresher than tonight’s featured recipe.
When it comes to pastas, I favor two options, a nice spiral (fusilli or rotini) or a quick cooking Angel Hair (capellini), but if I can get it fresh from the farmer’s market, I’ll take what I can get, which is usually a linguine. It’s all tasty.
For the featured recipe, I went with my traditional family sauce, the one I grew up with, but with a few tweaks. Now, even in my family, half of which are Italian, even the most basic sauce has as many different variations as there are cooks, so this is just a place to start, add your own touches to make it your family tradition. This is a hearty sauce and my go-to in the colder months when fresh ingredients are not readily available. I always double this and freeze half for a later dinner.
Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce
Friday Recipe Exchange: Pastas and SaucesPost + Comments (40)
Friday Evening Open Thread: Comix Relief
(via the Atlantic)
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For all us Wonder Women fans, especially LAMH36. I do believe that 1970 WW comic at 2:01 was the issue that got me into collecting, back in the day. (I later sold off my collection to tide me over between college and my first ‘real’ job, which means I got a better financial return than most of my friends did for their college indulgences… )
While I work on transferring this week’s Recipe Exchange, what’s on the agenda for the start of the weekend?
Friday Evening Open Thread: Comix ReliefPost + Comments (28)
Say What, Man?
I was struck by the quote from the sociopath prosecutor in Ohio that Mistermix highlighted earlier:
In court proceedings last week, an Ohio state prosecutor said bluntly: “You’re not entitled to a pain-free execution,” and a judge allowed the execution to proceed.
I’m no Constitutional scholar, but I am reasonably sure that somewhere in those little mini pocket Constitutions wingnuts like to carry everywhere, there is something in there that says something to the contrary. Let me check. Oh yeah, it’s right there in the Bill of Rights:
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
In other words, not having to gag to death for 30 minutes during your execution is actually, as it turns out, ONE OF THE EXPLICIT FUCKING THINGS YOU ARE GUARANTEED IN THIS COUNTRY.