• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

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

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

“woke” is the new caravan.

So many bastards, so little time.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

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

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: First Thing We Do…

Open Thread: First Thing We Do…

by @heymistermix.com|  March 13, 20149:52 am| 170 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

FacebookTweetEmail

If I were to write a post today, the subject would be how mediocre lawyers who don’t understand their client’s business lash together inapplicable boilerplate into shitty contracts, causing many revisions and wasting everyone’s time.

But that would be even more tedious than the experience itself. So, open thread.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Watching, Waiting, Anticipating
Next Post: Oklahoma, Jake »

Reader Interactions

170Comments

  1. 1.

    JoyceH

    March 13, 2014 at 9:54 am

    If I were to write a post today, it would be about how dogs wearing cones and sleeping on the bed because they don’t fit in their crates make for a restless night’s sleep.

  2. 2.

    Botsplainer

    March 13, 2014 at 9:57 am

    Welcome to the wonderful world of “fix it” lawyering.

    Sometimes, the fix is unpossiible, much to the consternation of all involved.

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    March 13, 2014 at 9:59 am

    From the NewsMaxOTron: “Disney’s ‘Frozen’: A Gay Conspiracy?”

    The Gays(tm) are evidently *everywhere*.

  4. 4.

    Bob

    March 13, 2014 at 10:03 am

    Open thread? Okay then, http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2014/03/benghazi.html

  5. 5.

    cleek

    March 13, 2014 at 10:06 am

    if you’re billing at $300/hr, why not make a little extra work for yourself?

  6. 6.

    the Conster

    March 13, 2014 at 10:18 am

    Still no info on the missing plane. The Chinese satellite image was nothing. WTF. It went into a wormhole.

  7. 7.

    Eric U.

    March 13, 2014 at 10:22 am

    @the Conster: I’ve seen the remnants of planes that hit the water, it does seem like there should be flotsam from an airliner, and there probably is, just not where they have been looking.

    My experience with lawyers hasn’t been that great recently. Hopefully the new one I found is better.

  8. 8.

    beth

    March 13, 2014 at 10:23 am

    Does anyone here work for a credit card company? Can someone explain to me how a company that charges my card $12.03 and has pages upon pages of Google search results showing that it’s a scam going back a few years (using the same company name no less) is still able to access my credit card and put a charge through? When I called the bank about it the guy says “yeah, we know about that”. Well then why are they still allowed to do it? Is it because the bank makes a commission from the charges that people either don’t notice or don’t dispute? Now I have to go through the aggravation of cancelling the account, changing all my recurring charges and getting cash to see my through until they send me my new card. And this is the second time this has happened to me – can you tell how pissed off I am?

  9. 9.

    Poopyman

    March 13, 2014 at 10:30 am

    @the Conster: And what’s the deal with the engine data? Malaysian authorities say the data stopped at 1:07, but reports in the local (to RR) paper say otherwise.

  10. 10.

    different-church-lady

    March 13, 2014 at 10:36 am

    When you get right down to it, 90% of the people employed in this country are somewhere in the neighborhood of mediocre, and really doing nothing beyond taking up space in a generic fashion.

    I know this is going to sound a bit Galtian, but being a freelancer I’ve interacted with a lot of companies where there’s basically one competent person in any given department who’s competence allows all the other useless space-taker-uppers to hold on to their jobs, because that person is the only thing allowing that department to have any productivity.

    Most everywhere you look, it’s a bunch of sheep doing what they think they ought to do because someone told them that’s how it ought to be done.

  11. 11.

    piratedan

    March 13, 2014 at 10:37 am

    @beth: you see Beth, it’s business, its not personal, like if you were late with your card payment…….

  12. 12.

    different-church-lady

    March 13, 2014 at 10:38 am

    @beth: Let me guess: you’re with Bank of America?

  13. 13.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 13, 2014 at 10:40 am

    @different-church-lady: Way to extrapolate. Maybe, the companies that are staffed with competent people don’t need to outsource their requirements to you, because their staff can do the work they are hired to do.

  14. 14.

    IowaOldLady

    March 13, 2014 at 10:42 am

    Just watched Chris Hayes from last night and Amani was on, saying smart things.

    Re mediocre people, I had a prof in undergrad who said if you just did what you were taught to do in school, did what you were supposed to, you were outstanding.

  15. 15.

    Belafon

    March 13, 2014 at 10:49 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Way to extrapolate.

    Irony: It’s not just what you do to your clothes.

  16. 16.

    different-church-lady

    March 13, 2014 at 10:50 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Way to extrapolate rant cynically.

    Other than that, it’s a fair point.

  17. 17.

    brettvk

    March 13, 2014 at 10:52 am

    @beth: Are you talking about a card you have through a credit union? If not, have you considered transferring your financial business to a CU?

  18. 18.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    March 13, 2014 at 10:53 am

    Still no info on the missing plane. The Chinese satellite image was nothing. WTF. It went into a wormhole.

    @the Conster: Looking for a 5000 square foot object that’s fallen somewhere in an area that, at a minimum, is 14000 square miles, almost all of that ocean or tropical rainforest.

    I doubt they’ll find it in my lifetime.

  19. 19.

    beth

    March 13, 2014 at 11:00 am

    @brettvk: It wouldn’t matter. The Google results pages show hundreds of postings about this company on all different types of cards by all different banks. I just can’t see how this company keeps its merchant number and ability to post charges. There are some postings from people who’ve gotten them on the phone and managed to have the charges reversed although most people just go through their bank and dispute them. It’s been a while since I worked in a place where we charged people’s credit cards but I thought there was a limit to how many chargebacks you could have before they yanked your merchant number.

  20. 20.

    IowaOldLady

    March 13, 2014 at 11:05 am

    Now I’m listening to Rachel from last night. She’s talking about disappearing air planes and, sweet cartwheeling Jesus, I may never fly again.

  21. 21.

    feebog

    March 13, 2014 at 11:06 am

    Or shitty lawyers who don’t understand the difference between direct and hearsay evidence. Or shitty lawyers who don’t understand that you need to put on witnesses to prove your case, not argument in your closing brief. Or shitty lawyers who suddenly want a recess in the middle of cross examination because their client is shitting the bed with their testimony. Or shitty lawyers who ask the same question over and over, despite objections that the question has been asked and answered.

  22. 22.

    Mandalay

    March 13, 2014 at 11:17 am

    @different-church-lady:

    When you get right down to it, 90% of the people employed in this country are somewhere in the neighborhood of mediocre, and really doing nothing beyond taking up space in a generic fashion.

    Elitist drivel from someone who is arrogant and self-important, and takes time out to be condescending about the rest of the population, and how they are not as good as her.

    Take your shit to michellemalkin.com where it will be appreciated.

  23. 23.

    Chris

    March 13, 2014 at 11:17 am

    A surgeon, an architect and a lawyer were having an argument about their professions.

    The surgeon said that his job was the oldest in the world, since God used one of Adam’s ribs to create Eve.

    The architect said that HIS job was actually the oldest, since before Adam and Eve, God built the world out of chaos.

    The lawyer smiled and said, “And who do you think created the chaos?”

  24. 24.

    Eric U.

    March 13, 2014 at 11:18 am

    @beth: I would file a complaint with the attorney general in your state and try to do the same in their state. I would probably do it for both the scammers and the bank. If everyone did this, it would probably result in some action

  25. 25.

    elmo

    March 13, 2014 at 11:19 am

    @feebog:

    Or shitty lawyers who suddenly want a recess in the middle of cross examination because their client is shitting the bed with their testimony.

    Well, waidaminnit. Seems to me that the shitty lawyer’s response would be to keep napping at counsel table, rather than doing everything short of staging a fainting fit in the well in order to get the client off the stand and slap sense into them. I mean, what the hell else is he supposed to do when the client is shitting the bed on the stand? You’re damn right I’m going to try to get a recess rather than watch my case go up in flames…

  26. 26.

    elmo

    March 13, 2014 at 11:21 am

    @IowaOldLady:

    All of this is happening right before I start a jet-setting month of business travel that is going to take me from:

    DC to Los Angeles
    Los Angeles to Salt Lake City
    Salt Lake City to DC
    DC to Boston and back
    DC to Vegas and back
    DC to Denver and back

    And possibly all the way to Anchorage.

    I have blocked out all discussion of plane disasters from my consciousness.

  27. 27.

    David in NY

    March 13, 2014 at 11:26 am

    @elmo: Rule in our courts (federal district, SDNY, EDNY) and maybe everywhere, is, you don’t get to talk to your witness in the middle of the other side’s cross. Period. Fainting fit or no.

  28. 28.

    Amir Khalid

    March 13, 2014 at 11:27 am

    @the Conster:
    As I was saying the other night, we should ask the FBI to send us Spooky Mulder. (And Missus Spooky, too.)

    Meanwhile, Boeing is saying they kept receiving engine telemetry data from MH370 for four hours after loss of radar contact, i.e. until about 06:00 on Saturday. In that time MH370 could have flown anywhere within 2,200 nautical miles of its last known location, per The Wall Street Journal. Transport minister Hishammudin Hussein, PM Najib’s idiot cousin, denies this. (My own take: who the fuck knows?)

    MAS is retiring the flight codes MH370 and MH371, as a mark of respect for the dead.

    The CBC has a good summary of the shortcomings in MAS’ and the Malaysian government’s management of this crisis.

  29. 29.

    Big R

    March 13, 2014 at 11:29 am

    Or shitty lawyers who don’t understand the implications of their actions and continue to insist litigating a case where they’ve already admitted liability.

  30. 30.

    lamh36

    March 13, 2014 at 11:29 am

    Morning peeps. On my morning break at new job. It’s been almost 3 weeks since I started and I’m thinking this will be a good fit , especially once I completely move to city and I don’t have to go back to BR.

    Bout the only thing is this being a teaching hospital you see a lot of Medical residents running around and in the cafeteria. It’s a bit bittersweet for me because I like the job but seeing the young docs always make me a little melancholy thinking what might have been had I made different choices when I was younger

  31. 31.

    catclub

    March 13, 2014 at 11:30 am

    @the Conster: I am seeing WSJ reports that the engines continued sending data for 4-5 hours after last radar contact. That seems like a very big deal.

    ETA: Amir Khalid notes the same point.

  32. 32.

    Cervantes

    March 13, 2014 at 11:30 am

    @different-church-lady:

    When you get right down to it, 90% of the people employed in this country are somewhere in the neighborhood of mediocre, and really doing nothing beyond taking up space in a generic fashion.

    90%? Yikes!

    Sounding “Galtian” is the least of your problems: maybe what you need is an entirely different country?

  33. 33.

    elmo

    March 13, 2014 at 11:35 am

    @David in NY: Hm. I don’t recall such a rule in California or in the various CA districts when I was practicing, at least not if the witness is your client (which is the scenario I was assuming). But I have to admit, it never actually came up, so I could be misremembering.

    A rule that I can’t talk to my own client, though, would strike me as overreaching in any event.

    EDIT TO ADD: The more I think about it, the more I think it really is horribly overreaching. What if the cross extends beyond a single day? I tried a case years ago, where my star witness (who wasn’t my client) was cross-examined for ten straight days of courtroom testimony. If he’d been my client, I couldn’t have talked to him about case strategy, other witnesses, chances of success, possibilities of settlement?

    That rule doesn’t make sense to me. But YMMV.

  34. 34.

    IowaOldLady

    March 13, 2014 at 11:35 am

    @lamh36: Great to hear the job is working out so far.

  35. 35.

    Suffern ACE

    March 13, 2014 at 11:35 am

    @Cervantes: Yes, she does (he says while taking the time out of the day to post a meaningless comment on a blog while sitting at his desk at work thus kind of illustrating the original point.)

    Lay off the mediocre – by not doing anything useful they aren’t doing anything harmful either.

  36. 36.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 11:37 am

    @elmo: When your number is up, it’s up. That is all.

  37. 37.

    Schlemizel

    March 13, 2014 at 11:38 am

    @different-church-lady:

    I have done a lot of consulting work, most of it has been at very large companies but a few medium and small ones. I would say your assessment is not far off but a bit harsh. Depending on the particular group I would say there is 10-20% of the people who actually make things better 60-80% that show up most days and sort of slog through what you tell them to do in whatever way makes it the easiest for them and 10-20% that are less than useless. Those numbers held true in the old days when employment was good and still hold true in these days of “lean and really really mean”. They hold true for corporations and for government also.

    The only time I have seen better is at a few small high tech places that attracted people excited to be there & believing they could make a difference.

    @Gin & Tonic:
    That is exactly why I started looking to get hired by companies I had never heard of hiring consultants/contractors. No luck on getting hired at one yet but a guy can dream. I hope that the key is good places to work don’t need to bring people in but I am prepared to be disappointed.

  38. 38.

    Amir Khalid

    March 13, 2014 at 11:40 am

    @elmo:
    If it’s any comfort, only very rarely do aeroplanes disappear as completely as MH370 seems to have done.

  39. 39.

    Eric U.

    March 13, 2014 at 11:41 am

    @IowaOldLady: I used to do engineering work on aircraft. I went through a stage where you didn’t want to sit next to me on an airplane, because I know some hair-raising aviation stories. Got over that though. The bad stuff simply doesn’t happen very often, in fact your chances of an airplane you are on vanishing are vanishingly small.

    My experience with companies is that they do have a lot of mediocre people, but those people generally get the job done when they have to. If they hire me to do freelancing, it’s because I’m a lot better than the people they have at that particular task. I have no way of judging their competence otherwise. Sometimes the things I see make me wonder, but as long as the bills get paid I don’t really care how they run their business. Sometimes I have had to make noise until the guy that knows how things work gets called

  40. 40.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 11:43 am

    @Amir Khalid: I hate doing this but Lang’s site has a very good discussion:

    There is a precedent, and one not discussed in the US media.
    The high velocity crash of a 737 operating flight MI185 for Silkair in 1997 into the Musi River near Palembang in Indonesia may indicate that very little will be recovered from the Malaysia Airlines MH370 crash, location uncertain, last Saturday.

    The Silkair disaster is controversial to this day. However it is what physically happened to that jet that bodes badly, if as widely believed the missing Malaysia Airlines 777-200 operating MH370 dived into, or exploded over, the Gulf of Thailand or the Malacca Strait. Even though MI185 was seen to crash, and its location was thus precisely known, and the recovery effort began promptly, the tidal reach of the Musi River literally rinsed the victims and much of the structural debris into the sea, never to be recovered. Anything that wasn’t driven into the mud within reach of dredging was lost.

    If MH370 was either scattered over the shallow seas in the areas that are now being searched, or for some reason plunged into them, the nearly three days that have elapsed will have diluted and dispersed the dreadful aftermath. Human remains, clothing, paper, and other fittings will be gone, while the more corrosion resistant components may float for a period, but much of that will sink into the soft seabed, and be covered by silt or mud.

    The most critical objects, the flight data recorder, and the cockpit voice recorder, should be readily recoverable and readable, but only if their location is known or discovered, which might prove to be by far the most difficult challenge authorities will face.

  41. 41.

    maya

    March 13, 2014 at 11:44 am

    @elmo: Those are all piece-o-cake flights, West -East, East-West. Long, but easy. You’d really shit your pants if you had some West Coast commute flights, like SF, or LA, to Seattle in your itinerary. Lots of jet stream turbulence crossing your path. Usually referred to as White-Knucklers. Of course any airport landing or takeoff has its risks.

  42. 42.

    elmo

    March 13, 2014 at 11:44 am

    @Amir Khalid: Oh, I know. Safest form of transportation, etc etc. But like many people, I have a much greater horror of falling out of the sky than I do of being T-boned at an intersection or wiped out on the interstate.

    I drive 55 miles each way to and from work – 110 miles every day – and a big part of the commute is on some of the most congested roads anywhere. MD-5 in Maryland, connecting with the Beltway. I know where the true risk is. But emotionally I don’t evaluate the risk rationally, because I am totally unafraid of driving to and from work every day and I hate, hate, HATE taking off in an airplane.

    I’m a barely rational monkey, after all.

  43. 43.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 11:45 am

    And then there is Ask the Pilot.

  44. 44.

    Cervantes

    March 13, 2014 at 11:45 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Transport minister Hishammudin Hussein, PM Najib’s idiot cousin, denies this.

    Is Hishammudin a son of Hussein Onn? I remember the latter’s time as Prime Minister. In the context of Malaysian politics, he seemed to be a great leader (Mahathir and those who have come after him cannot even be compared). Is his son really an idiot? That’s too bad.

    Oh, wait — is this the idiot who waved a keris around a few years ago? If so, never mind and thank goodness his father was not alive to see it. (Or is he?)

  45. 45.

    Schlemizel

    March 13, 2014 at 11:46 am

    @feebog:

    Last jury I sat on the plaintiff lawyer played a taped conversation of the plaintiff speaking with the defendant. It clearly proved the defendants case for him. I always wondered if he had been paid off or was just stupid.

    I have seen lawyers bring up questions after they lost a dispute & usually assume its a trick to plant the information into the jury despite the jury being instructed to ignore it.

  46. 46.

    catclub

    March 13, 2014 at 11:48 am

    For an open thread, I remember in 2009 and early 2010 that the Democrats won all the speciall elections. They stole one in NY and I think somewhere else as well. Nonetheless, the 2010 midterm was a disaster. So Special Elections have even less than usual predictive value.

  47. 47.

    elmo

    March 13, 2014 at 11:48 am

    @maya: I’ve done those too. I’ve also flown in a little two seater Cessna over and around the Sierra, where high-mountain air pockets can slam a plane straight to the ground before the pilot can react.

    It’s all the same to me. I hate takeoffs. The rest I don’t mind at all. “No modern jet has ever been taken down by turbulence,” sez me to myself, and I can deal. But takeoffs? Ugh.

  48. 48.

    Cervantes

    March 13, 2014 at 11:48 am

    If I were to write a post today, the subject would be how mediocre lawyers who don’t understand their client’s business lash together inapplicable boilerplate into shitty contracts, causing many revisions and wasting everyone’s time.

    This reminds me of the discussion I skimmed here yesterday about programmers.

  49. 49.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 11:52 am

    @elmo: Flown on the deck in a huey down a river?

  50. 50.

    elmo

    March 13, 2014 at 11:55 am

    @raven: No, but the rhythm of the sentence makes me wonder if that’s a line from a movie? And if it’s from “Apocalypse Now,” or “Full Metal Jacket,” I do NOT feel guilty for not recognizing it!

  51. 51.

    Amir Khalid

    March 13, 2014 at 11:58 am

    @Cervantes:
    Yes, he’s Hussein Onn’s son. Yes, that was him brandishing a keris during his speech at the UMNO General Assembly a few years back. Hishammudin’s grandfather, Onn Jaafar, was the former UMNO president who left to form a multiracial party, Gerakan, because UMNO decided to remain a strictly Malay party. Najib’s dad Tun Razak and Hussein Onn, to say nothing of Onn Jaafar, would probably be disappointed in the kind of politician that Najib and Hishammudin have become.

  52. 52.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 12:02 pm

    @elmo: Maybe 84 Charlie Mopic! (It’s all mine)

  53. 53.

    GregB

    March 13, 2014 at 12:03 pm

    @raven:

    My resident dimwit Face Book friend has gotten to the bottom of this caper.

    He noticed that the missing plane has bumped Crimea off of the top story list.

    We can clearly then conclude that Obama is behind the missing plane.

  54. 54.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 12:04 pm

    @GregB: Benplani!

  55. 55.

    Cervantes

    March 13, 2014 at 12:06 pm

    @GregB:

    We can clearly then conclude that Obama is behind the missing plane.

    But if so, then the plane isn’t missing. Unless Obama is, too.

  56. 56.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 12:06 pm

    @GregB: BTW Russia is massing troops near the Ukraine border.

  57. 57.

    Amir Khalid

    March 13, 2014 at 12:07 pm

    @GregB:
    Does your dimwit Facebook friend also believe that Obama is in cahoots with the aliens who carried out the abduction of the plane?

  58. 58.

    Cervantes

    March 13, 2014 at 12:09 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Yes, he’s Hussein Onn’s son. Yes, that was him brandishing a keris during his speech at the UMNO General Assembly a few years back. Hishammudin’s grandfather, Onn Jaafar, was the former UMNO president who left to form a multiracial party, Gerakan, because UMNO decided to remain a strictly Malay party. Najib’s dad Tun Razak and Hussein Onn, to say nothing of Onn Jaafar, would probably be disappointed in the kind of politician that Najib and Hishammudin have become.

    Yes, that was a bright future lost.

    Was it Hussein Onn’s failing health or Mahathir’s plotting that took it away? Or both?

  59. 59.

    Schlemizel

    March 13, 2014 at 12:10 pm

    @GregB:

    OF COURSE!! It was there staring us in the face all along. I am sure his sleeper cell from that Indonesian madras he attended could make this happen in a heart beat.

    Gawd I hate humanity. Between jury duty, the way work has been going (on of the useless 10% around here is my boss who is badly hungover most days) and the course of politics I really have reached the end of my rope. Why can’t we get that gotammed meteor? NOW!

  60. 60.

    Cervantes

    March 13, 2014 at 12:11 pm

    And re MH370, I probably should know better than to ask but: by any chance was there another Mongolian model/translator/mistress on that flight to China?

  61. 61.

    GregB

    March 13, 2014 at 12:11 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Apparently you haven’t seen the evidence of Obama’s alien roots.

  62. 62.

    hildebrand

    March 13, 2014 at 12:14 pm

    Wish me luck, everyone. I have been nominated by my university for the University of Texas Board of Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award. I just submitted my 137 page nomination file. Now I wait, should hear something by late May or early June. It would be a very nice line on the Vitae, and there is a decent cash award to go along with the honor.

  63. 63.

    catclub

    March 13, 2014 at 12:15 pm

    @raven: Planeghanzi

  64. 64.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 13, 2014 at 12:15 pm

    @catclub: Well, certainly if Democrats win special elections, they have no predictive value. However, our “liberal” MSM will be sure to trumpet any Rethuglican victory as a sure harbinger of midterm triumph for America’s Own Fascists.

  65. 65.

    IowaOldLady

    March 13, 2014 at 12:17 pm

    @hildebrand: Congrats on the nomination and best wishes for the win.

  66. 66.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 12:17 pm

    @hildebrand: Way to go!

  67. 67.

    Amir Khalid

    March 13, 2014 at 12:18 pm

    @GregB:
    Okay, I’m convinced now.

  68. 68.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 13, 2014 at 12:18 pm

    @GregB: In that photo at your link, it’s difficult to tell who is more delighted to meet the famous person.

  69. 69.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 13, 2014 at 12:18 pm

    @raven: And have reportedly fired at an unarmed Ukrainian patrol aircraft, in violation of another treaty.

  70. 70.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 13, 2014 at 12:19 pm

    @hildebrand: Outstanding! Best of luck in seizing the prize!

  71. 71.

    Amir Khalid

    March 13, 2014 at 12:22 pm

    There are MH370 conspiracy theories in this sampling that even the Lone Gunmen wouldn’t have printed in their newspaper.

  72. 72.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 13, 2014 at 12:23 pm

    @raven: I suspect that you have, sometime toward the late 60s. The only way I’m getting in a helicopter (while conscious) is at gunpoint. My dear late father, who flew a great deal (fixed wing), including in WWII, despised them. He was not a wussy guy, and his view has colored mine.

    @eemom: They are always fun (for some people), or at least popular it seems. Sorry you’re having a rough time on the practice front. Damn, I only sort of miss it.

  73. 73.

    eemom

    March 13, 2014 at 12:24 pm

    A lawyer bashing thread….splendiforous. Could not be better timed. On the brink of suicide this week over hatred of my job.

  74. 74.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    March 13, 2014 at 12:25 pm

    @raven:

    Flown on the deck in a huey down a river?

    Lol, once or twice.

    The recent info so kindly linked by commenters above reminded me of the crash of golf pro Payne Stewart’s Learjet back in 1999.

    For the link-averse. Stewart’s Learjet departed Orlando. During the climbout from Orlando the pilot acknowledged heading and altitude instructions from ATC. The aircraft was 12,000 feet above sea level at that time.Six minutes later ATC attempted to contact the aircraft and received no response. The aircraft was then at an altitude of 36,000 feet. ATC subsequently asked the USAF to intercept the Learjet to determine its situation by visual inspection. The AFB sent fighters twice and both flights reported no visible damage to the aircraft, but that the cockpit windshields appeared to be frosted over from the inside and there was no visible movement of the control surfaces The aircraft finally crashed at a high angle and near supersonic speed near Mina, South Dakota, after a flight time of nearly four hours. The subsequent investigation concluded that the flight crew had been incapacitated by oxygen deprivation caused by a leak of unknown origin.

  75. 75.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 12:26 pm

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate: Seawolves!

  76. 76.

    GregB

    March 13, 2014 at 12:30 pm

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate:

    That is what has been going through my head too.

    If this is the case.

    The question is if it was caused by mechanical failure or by sabotage.

  77. 77.

    Amir Khalid

    March 13, 2014 at 12:30 pm

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate:
    I remember reading about that one at the time.

  78. 78.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 12:32 pm

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate: Here’s a nice shot of your AO from the air.

  79. 79.

    Big R

    March 13, 2014 at 12:34 pm

    @eemom: Maybe next week will be better. There’s only one way to find out.

  80. 80.

    Cacti

    March 13, 2014 at 12:36 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    And have reportedly fired at an unarmed Ukrainian patrol aircraft, in violation of another treaty.

    Bob will be here soon to tell you that it was actually a plane full of nazis, and then go off on a tangent about the Mexican War.

  81. 81.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    March 13, 2014 at 12:37 pm

    @raven:
    Hal-3, Baby! B-model Hueys; heavy armament and young (So we knew that we couldn’t be killed) crews made them rather effective.

  82. 82.

    MomSense

    March 13, 2014 at 12:38 pm

    I was reflecting this morning about Paul Ryan’s comments and how angry they made me and how the Republicans seem to thrive on perpetuating a never ending cycle of anger and resentment. I came to the conclusion that I have to just opt out of this anger loop. Even if the anger that decent human beings feel in response to their words and deeds is justified, doesn’t it just help them in the end?

    I was thinking about that long term Republican staffer who left his job and wrote an anonymous expose about how the Republican strategy is to make government inefficient and dysfunctional because the public will just hate government and not actually blame the Republicans for their sabotage. This seems to work maddeningly well and all of the “but Republicans wouldn’t….” responses we can muster don’t counteract the damage.

    Anyway this is a roundabout way of saying that I am going to focus on being positive, inclusive, fun, welcoming, and kind. I’m not going to feed their hate loop anymore with my own angry responses. I’m not any less disgusted by their words and deeds. I’m just going to respond differently. I do wonder if we on the left will attract more people just by being more fun to be with. Let the Republicans be like that house where none of the kids’ friends want to play.

  83. 83.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    March 13, 2014 at 12:39 pm

    @raven:
    Thanks. And damn! I don’t even know the person anymore who saw sights like that on a daily basis for a year.

  84. 84.

    hildebrand

    March 13, 2014 at 12:40 pm

    @raven: @IowaOldLady: @Villago Delenda Est: My thanks. Nice to know that my work has been recognized by a few folks around the old uni. Perhaps they could see fit to opening up a tenure track line for which I could apply. That would be the best news possible. If not, winning the award would certainly be something to trot out early and often in application letters.

  85. 85.

    MomSense

    March 13, 2014 at 12:45 pm

    @eemom:

    Sending a hug. Jobs suck sometimes.

  86. 86.

    JPL

    March 13, 2014 at 12:49 pm

    @Amir Khalid: You better be nice

    The Malaysian communications minister has asked Malaysians not to spread rumors – or criticism of the government – at a “time to unite,” according to the Kuala Lumpur-based New Straits Times. “The incident that we are facing is unprecedented in the country’s history,” minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek is quoted as saying after attending a prayer ceremony:

    link

  87. 87.

    eemom

    March 13, 2014 at 12:50 pm

    @Big R:
    @MomSense:

    thanks

  88. 88.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 13, 2014 at 12:53 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    The last one includes some additional thoughts of the poster:

    Wading through claims that Donald Trump runs a prostitution ring through Trump University or that Russian President Vladimir Putin is one of 92 clones of Adolf Hitler, you may stumble upon this gem of a theory about Flight MH370

    The theory is that a micro nuclear weapon was detonated that created a magnetic black hole that vaporized the plane.

    Uh-huh.

  89. 89.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 13, 2014 at 12:54 pm

    @JPL: Ah, taking a page from the deserting coward malassministration’s guidance to Americans about discussing the utterly illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq, are they?

  90. 90.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 12:55 pm

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate: 5×5

  91. 91.

    Cervantes

    March 13, 2014 at 12:55 pm

    @hildebrand:

    If not, winning the award would certainly be something to trot out early and often in application letters.

    Good luck with the teaching award.

    Re mentioning it, though, I don’t know where you’d be applying but I presume you know there are places where you might not want to call attention to it at all, never mind “early and often.”

  92. 92.

    chopper

    March 13, 2014 at 12:55 pm

    @Cacti:

    commie nazis. “you’ll never get this shipment of UNICEF pennies!”

  93. 93.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 13, 2014 at 12:57 pm

    @MomSense:

    This seems to work maddeningly well and all of the “but Republicans wouldn’t….” responses we can muster don’t counteract the damage.

    Sort of like the justification John Kerry and Hillary Clinton gave for their votes on the AUMF. “The President wouldn’t lie about this sort of thing just to start a war”.

    Again, uh-huh.

  94. 94.

    Amir Khalid

    March 13, 2014 at 12:57 pm

    @JPL:
    Or the government will do what? Tell mommy? A lot of the criticism is coming from outside Malaysia, where no one is afraid of Ahmad Shabery Cheek. And a lot of it is well-founded, so fuck him and his “don’t criticise us” bullshit.

  95. 95.

    gogol's wife

    March 13, 2014 at 12:58 pm

    @eemom:

    Hi — I’ve missed you lately.

  96. 96.

    Cervantes

    March 13, 2014 at 12:59 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Or the government will do what?

    Er … Hire Joshua Treviño again? Fart in our general direction?

    But I repeat myself.

  97. 97.

    Suffern ACE

    March 13, 2014 at 1:03 pm

    @Cacti: Actually, I think Bob is the ghostwriter for Patrick L. Smith at Salon.

    I’m actually starting to look forward to the day where the PermaGov stuffs some ‘blowback’ up some liberterian leftie asses. Blowback = Justice I tell you. Blowback = Justice.

  98. 98.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    March 13, 2014 at 1:06 pm

    @raven: My dad’s a pilot. I keep thinking about the ValuJet crash in 96. Seen to go down and they knew the exact spot; they’d have never found it otherwise.

    The entire plane, contents, passengers and everything was compacted into a hole about the size of a decent sized master bedroom – about 20×20 feet. A few small pieces visible; no slick, no fire.

    What isn’t rainforest in SE Asia is swamp. I’ll say what I said earlier – I doubt this plane gets found in my lifetime.

  99. 99.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 13, 2014 at 1:09 pm

    OT, but this is an open thread, so what the hey, but Noisemax is at it again:

    Sheriff Joe: I Could Replace Gov. Brewer

    Well, the crazy is there, but it’s not tempered by the last remnants of common sense, so there’s that…

  100. 100.

    Botsplainer

    March 13, 2014 at 1:11 pm

    @elmo:

    Yep, my thought, too.

  101. 101.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 1:12 pm

    @CONGRATULATIONS!: That was a weird day. I got bitten by a dog riding my bike down the street. I called animal control and they said they couldn’t do anything (the they told me not to swear at them). I talked to other folks in the area and they said it wasn’t the first time. I stormed down to the house, banged on the door and one of the frat rats answered. I jumped in his shit big time and he looked at me and broke into tears. “It’s not my dog and my best friend just got killed in the Value Jet crash”. Damn

  102. 102.

    Botsplainer

    March 13, 2014 at 1:14 pm

    @David in NY:

    Hence one of my patented “talking objections”, wherein valuable clues are stated to the bench loudly, so the witness may hear the colloquy.

  103. 103.

    JPL

    March 13, 2014 at 1:20 pm

    @Amir Khalid: When do you sleep?

  104. 104.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    March 13, 2014 at 1:21 pm

    @raven: Most aviation accidents, somewhere along the line, were avoidable. The ValuJet crash was utterly avoidable, would never had happened had ground crew not been explicitly told by company management to ignore FAA rules as to what could be loaded on a passenger jet. A bunch of management folks should have gone to jail, but we all know how that goes here in America.

  105. 105.

    Botsplainer

    March 13, 2014 at 1:22 pm

    @raven:

    I got bitten by a dog riding my bike down the street.

    That is some talented, agile dog, feet reaching the pedals and all.

  106. 106.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 13, 2014 at 1:23 pm

    OK, it’s time to contact the men in the White Coats, via Noisemax (of course):

    Ben Carson: America Resembling Third Reich

    I guess this explains all those FEMA camps that Rethuglican scum are languishing in right now, guarded by gay men in FABULOUS uniforms.

  107. 107.

    MomSense

    March 13, 2014 at 1:24 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    I think that Kerry voting for the war was, tragically, a political calculation. Clinton strikes me as being genuinely more hawkish. Much of both of their statements seemed like cover my ass sorts of disclaimers.

    I don’t see the connection between what I was trying to say and that particular vote. I’m not suggesting that we become naive and believe Republican talking points. Right now we are locked in a cycle where Republicans sabotage functioning government in order to elicit feelings of anger and frustration at the government by the people so they will then vote for the Republicans pushing anti-government messages and policies. It is a constant anger loop and reasonable and fact based messaging don’t break through very well. Responding to them with anger doesn’t break through, either. The people we need to vote this cycle just tune that out as well.

  108. 108.

    Amir Khalid

    March 13, 2014 at 1:24 pm

    @JPL:
    I’ve been asked this quite a few times. I do appear to comment here 24/7, don’t I?

  109. 109.

    gbear

    March 13, 2014 at 1:24 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    Most everywhere you look, it’s a bunch of sheep doing what they think they ought to do because someone told them that’s how it ought to be done.

    My experience is that there’s always one person in any work group who thinks that the other 90% are freeloaders and sheeple and that he (usually a he) is the only one with the intelligence and vision to make the department work right. This person tends to fuck up everyone else’s contribution to projects when forced to do actual teamwork.

  110. 110.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 13, 2014 at 1:26 pm

    @MomSense:

    Oh, I didn’t mean to imply that you were suggesting that we, for a nanosecond, take the stance that Rethuglicans would never do such a thing.

    We know they would. Our task, then, is to convince others that Rethuglicans would, absolutely, do everything they could to sabotage government, mainly to get it out of the way to allow their vile masters a totally clear playing field to enslave the 99%.

  111. 111.

    Schlemizel

    March 13, 2014 at 1:27 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
    My wife strictly forbade our son to get in a helicopter when he joined the Army. You know that was not likely to work to start with. When he went to get his Helicopter assault badge (or whatever the hell they called it) he made me promise not to tell her what he was doing or what the new bling was for.

    Damndangerous things!

  112. 112.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    @Schlemizel: Yea, mom forbidding stuff in the Army always works out well.

  113. 113.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 1:32 pm

    @Botsplainer: I’m watching the Illini play the hated Hoosiers, Englich is not a big concern.

  114. 114.

    Villago Delenda Est

    March 13, 2014 at 1:34 pm

    @raven: Mom is way over there on the other side of the country.. Your squad leader is in your face.

    It’s pretty easy to tell who’s going to win.

  115. 115.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    March 13, 2014 at 1:35 pm

    @Schlemizel:
    Young man, military, something exciting and dangerous and status enhancing. There was no way that ever would have… Belay that last.

  116. 116.

    Schlemizel

    March 13, 2014 at 1:36 pm

    @raven:

    Yeah, we laughed about that – I told her to write a letter to his commanding officer telling him that her son did not have permission to get on a helicopter. We all laughed about that. Mostly she didn’t want to know when he did it. Had he not gone into combat he probably would have stayed & tried to get into HALO school – that would have been a forbidden subject around the house for sure.

  117. 117.

    MomSense

    March 13, 2014 at 1:37 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    I wish I knew how to convince people that Republicans are trying to sabotage the government. The problem is that people who don’t hate the government and believe it has a role to play seem to already be persuaded and vote for democrats. After 30 years anti-government messaging and dysfunction, too many seem to have accepted sabotage.

  118. 118.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 1:37 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Tell mom to get her card punched.

  119. 119.

    Schlemizel

    March 13, 2014 at 1:45 pm

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate:

    It all changed for him when it became real & not just a game. Dad tried to tell him there was a chance that could happen but the Army recruiter knew more & he would never lie. He actually enjoyed his work and had come to accept how things get done in the military. But then he found out what the DoD actually values soldiers for & how much the government appreciates their service. Add in the stress of combat and dealing with wounded buddies he lost his taste for it very rapidly. He told me a couple of years ago “I wish I had listened to you.” Its the worst I have ever felt being right.

  120. 120.

    shortstop

    March 13, 2014 at 1:46 pm

    I know many, many lawyers. Between half and three-quarters of them despise their jobs. Not just have a lot of bad days or feel meh about their work — hate hate hate their jobs with undying fervor.

    In my highly unofficial, remarkably unscientific poll of friends, clients and acquaintances, the happiest lawyers are (in no particular order) trial attorneys, members of the judiciary and people doing public-interest law.

  121. 121.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    @Schlemizel: It reminds me of how my old man muct have felt. He signed for me to go in on my17th and, when I came home from Korea, he was so relived I wouldn’t have to go to Vietnam. I fooled him!

  122. 122.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    @raven: If for some reason the plane was out of fuel & went almost vertically into the jungle, you might not hardly find it/see it from the air.

  123. 123.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 13, 2014 at 1:52 pm

    @shortstop: My happiest law job was as a municipal prosecutor. I’ve wished many times I’d never quit that one. Trials most days, mostly easy, just enough juries to keep in interesting, and aside from presenting felonies at preliminary hearings, rarely any serious injuries.

  124. 124.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 1:53 pm

    @hildebrand: Way to go! Great honour just to be nominated.

  125. 125.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 13, 2014 at 1:55 pm

    @Cervantes: One could substitute in the name of virtually any profession, trade, or job.

  126. 126.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    March 13, 2014 at 1:58 pm

    My experience is that there’s always one person in any work group who thinks that the other 90% are freeloaders and sheeple and that he (usually a he) is the only one with the intelligence and vision to make the department work right. This person tends to fuck up everyone else’s contribution to projects when forced to do actual teamwork.

    @gbear: LOL. In the process of giving one of those a rocket ride to the unemployment line right now. Coulda strung that out into a career. Instead, she decided to take that attitude with company management as well. The union has signed off – apparently she’s been telling them how to do their jobs as well – and the paperwork is piling up in her personnel file even as we speak.

  127. 127.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 2:00 pm

    @Botsplainer: I was surprised Raven could catch up to the dog, given that the dog was riding a bicycle at time.

  128. 128.

    ? Martin

    March 13, 2014 at 2:00 pm

    It seems to me we’re right on the cusp of being able to reliably solve problems like this in the future. I previously pointed to this, the first HD video of the ground from space. The first satellite went up a few weeks ago, and there are plans for a dozen or so more.

    It would be nice if the various agencies/carriers set up a contract with them to have FlightAware or some similar system automatically task SkyBox with tracking a plane if the transponder stops during flight (or manually by some indication from ATC, etc). That could happen within a minute or so of it happening and give us a video record of what’s happening with the craft. I’m sure the service is ungodly expensive, but there aren’t so many incidents globally for this to be an expensive proposition overall. Even in the event of a structural failure, it usually takes several minutes for a plane at 30K feet to reach the ground (or at least all of the plane). The video would give you precise coordinates and perhaps some additional evidence as to what happened even if it didn’t orient itself to the target until a minute after it happened.

  129. 129.

    elmo

    March 13, 2014 at 2:01 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
    @shortstop:

    When I burned out on the practice of law, I did what a lot of lawyers do, and tried to parlay my ability to write clear English into a freelance career.

    Then I realized that, even more than reading, eating is fundamental. So I decided I had to go back to work.

    Took a job as a proposal writer for a mid-sized Govt contractor. You’d be surprised how many lawyers move into that work.

  130. 130.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 2:02 pm

    @Schlemizel: The bling looks alot like the front view of a helicpter with wings sticking out of it. Did he have a story for if she asked why that doohickey looked like a helicopter?

  131. 131.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 2:02 pm

    @raven: Especially if you tell your DI all about it ;-)

  132. 132.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 2:02 pm

    @Paul in KY: What was crazy about it was that he was sitting on their lawn, I made a little dog noise at him and he went all the way around the bike and bit me on the leg!

  133. 133.

    catclub

    March 13, 2014 at 2:03 pm

    @raven: ” I got bitten by a dog riding my bike down the street. ”

    GET THAT DOG OFF YOUR BIKE!

  134. 134.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 2:04 pm

    @MomSense: Pretty logical: They run against government doing anything & try their damdest to ensure it can’t do anything.

  135. 135.

    Cervantes

    March 13, 2014 at 2:04 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yes, and maybe that will cheer some people up.

  136. 136.

    Cervantes

    March 13, 2014 at 2:05 pm

    @catclub: Or at least give it a helmet.

  137. 137.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 2:05 pm

    @Paul in KY: My DI was the gentleman with the .45!

  138. 138.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 2:05 pm

    dupe

  139. 139.

    shortstop

    March 13, 2014 at 2:06 pm

    @elmo:

    You’d be surprised

    No, I wouldn’t. ;)

  140. 140.

    ? Martin

    March 13, 2014 at 2:06 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    I know this is going to sound a bit Galtian, but being a freelancer I’ve interacted with a lot of companies where there’s basically one competent person in any given department who’s competence allows all the other useless space-taker-uppers to hold on to their jobs, because that person is the only thing allowing that department to have any productivity.

    In my experience 60% or thereabouts of employees are competent, hardworking, and motivated enough to do the job well. That turns into 10% after management crushes their soul by punishing them for being proactive, making them jump political hoops, refusing to support them when conflicts arise, failing to reward them for working well, but mostly for treating them like cost centers that need to be eliminated. You’ll get 10% that are too stubborn to back down and smart enough to navigate the political waters, or are so exceptional that management can’t risk fucking with them. Everyone else sees management’s attitude, and gets in line and does the quiet, nonconfrontational, but ultimately fairly incompetent job that allows them to continue to collect their paycheck with a minimum of harassment.

  141. 141.

    shortstop

    March 13, 2014 at 2:07 pm

    @Cervantes: Only nanny blue states like mine require dogs on bikes to wear helmets. In the red states they’re all woofing about FREEDUMB!

  142. 142.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 2:07 pm

    GO ILLINI!!!!! YES!

  143. 143.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 2:08 pm

    @raven: I have done alot of bike riding & so far have never been bit. Been close a few times & had to kick a couple in the face, but I can usually just intimidate them into backing off (or outrun them while on the bike).

  144. 144.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 13, 2014 at 2:09 pm

    @hildebrand: That’s terrific for you. Thinking good thoughts, and recognizing the honor that your place nominated you.

  145. 145.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 2:09 pm

    @raven: Looks like a cheerful fellow!

  146. 146.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 2:12 pm

    @Paul in KY: Dallas A Pinkney III. He was a grunt with the 7th ID in the Korean War and a great DI. He was rough on us but at the end he sat with the whole platoon and said “the politicians are sending you to war and we did our best in 8 weeks to get you ready. Do what you are told”. He was sure he’d be killed in Vietnam but he’s not on the Wall.

  147. 147.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 2:15 pm

    @Paul in KY: Here’s the Stars and Stripes article about him from 1961.

  148. 148.

    catclub

    March 13, 2014 at 2:15 pm

    @Paul in KY: “but I can usually just intimidate them into backing off (or outrun them while on the bike)”
    yes, always the dilemma between pedaling ass fast as you can, or slowing to lean over and yell at them,
    NO!

  149. 149.

    Schlemizel

    March 13, 2014 at 2:23 pm

    @Paul in KY:

    I have seen it, she never mentioned it but that may just be her ignoring the obvious.

  150. 150.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    March 13, 2014 at 2:27 pm

    @Schlemizel:

    But then he found out what the DoD actually values soldiers for & how much the government appreciates their service. Add in the stress of combat and dealing with wounded buddies he lost his taste for it very rapidly. He told me a couple of years ago “I wish I had listened to you.” Its the worst I have ever felt being right.

    What a sobering day for him. What a sad day for you.

  151. 151.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    March 13, 2014 at 2:27 pm

    @Schlemizel:

    But then he found out what the DoD actually values soldiers for & how much the government appreciates their service. Add in the stress of combat and dealing with wounded buddies he lost his taste for it very rapidly. He told me a couple of years ago “I wish I had listened to you.” Its the worst I have ever felt being right.

    What a sobering day for him. What a sad day for you.

  152. 152.

    Another Holocene Human

    March 13, 2014 at 2:31 pm

    @different-church-lady: Companies don’t train the people in between the top guys, who got to management seminars, and the bottom folks, who get the bare minimum of training so the customers don’t literally kill them.

    So it’s not surprising to see people above the level of their competence and who either through their personality disorders, ignorance, having given up, ignorance, boredom, whatever, are not performing well or contributing much. In this environment there is strong pressure to crush anyone who is competent or dynamic and sticks out. That or send them upstairs where they too will eventually be Peter Principle’d.

    I don’t know why companies do this but I assume it’s the cheap, lazy choice.

    At this point I’ve watched very smart, curious, capable people turn into office-space-taking slugs.

    It doesn’t help when the work is repetitive and boring with sporadic oversight and frequent stressors.

    The Army is smart to rotate people in and out. But most civilian workplaces aren’t run that way. Sometimes unions actually make it harder by fighting over work rules, although the reason they fight over fucking work rules is because of labor law and hostile management, so it’s a little cute to blame the union for doing what they perceive to be their job. (The fight over workrules is really a fight over speedups and pay.) But the result is that people are only doing their own, one job, and don’t understand what others need from them to complete the mission. Even non-union workplaces do this. I mean it’s one thing if you have a CPA and need them to do that specialty but there are lots of opportunities for cross training.

    Not hiring enough ppl to do the job is also very popular here in the states, both private and public sector. Basically, managers are rewarded for understaffing. So that is what they do. It’s kind of shocking in Europe and Asia to see these armies of employees, and they’re fucking proud of it. The US used to be like that. If you are understaffed, forget about cross-training, training, planning meetings–nope, pressure all the time. And white collar employees have their own version of the slowdown. I don’t think anyone who sits at a desk all day is at their most productive anyway. it’s bad for your heart, brain, etc. People work better in quiet rooms in spurts. But the US white collar workplace is often a cube farm with constant annoying noises, too many people rolling up on you to distract you, and a culture of “the more you sat at your desk the more loyal you were” (East Asia also suffers from this disease) even though research shows adding hours to the day doesn’t make coders produce better code, just more bugs, for one example. People who can’t take pride in their work stop caring. It’s just a paycheck.

    Even in a good workplace you have dead weight, but the dead weight is eventually shed. In a more average or bad workplace the dead weight has an amazing power to stick around and keep collecting paychecks. Probably that’s when they bring in consultants because management is flailing and they think a consultant will help them nut up or they need to consultant to finish projects their staff can’t handle.

  153. 153.

    Schlemizel

    March 13, 2014 at 2:33 pm

    @raven:

    I bet I saw those guys on Sullivan. I was pretty young but I vaguely remember an Army drill team – I might have been 5-6 at the time, it seems likely.
    little world, little world

  154. 154.

    raven

    March 13, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    @Schlemizel: It was a shock to me that I found that article. I always appreciated what he did for me and wondered what happened to him.

  155. 155.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 2:46 pm

    @raven: Sounds like a great DI. Glad you had him to try & get you ready.

  156. 156.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 2:50 pm

    @raven: Great article. You know those garands they are flinging around aren’t the lightest weapons in the world.

    I was in PRs at UK for awhile. Happened to have some real weirdos in it at time (weirder than me, so pretty damn weird), and they and I never clicked so I left em.

  157. 157.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    @catclub: I would actually veer towards them while growling & snarling. Tends to surprise them. The worst times are when you are heading up a big hill.

  158. 158.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 2:55 pm

    @Schlemizel: Well, thank God he is out now. I think anyone who gets in a helicopter or fixed wing aircraft to jump out of it (in any way) has alot of cojones. The airborne pukes though (some of them) used to call that air assault badge ‘airborne wings with sissy bar’. Ole Paul wasn’t gonna get either one of them!

  159. 159.

    elmo

    March 13, 2014 at 2:57 pm

    @shortstop: Ha!

  160. 160.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 2:59 pm

    @Another Holocene Human: One of the biggest laughs in Back to the Future I is when Marty sees someone drive up to a gas station & an army of attendents jump out to work on the car. It was sorta gallows humour back in 1983.

  161. 161.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 13, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    NBC’s Richard Engel was detained by armed militias, but later released, in Crimea today.

  162. 162.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 13, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    @Paul in KY: The Air Assault Badge has also been called the Bullwinkle Badge because of its vaguely moose antler shape. I don’t have one. The Parachute Badge does not look like moose antlers; I do have one.

  163. 163.

    Amir Khalid

    March 13, 2014 at 3:22 pm

    An example of uninformative and unhelpful journalism about MH370, from The Daily Beast. What could the dozens of poorly regulated small airlines in Indonesia possibly have to do with Malaysia’s national carrier? Why is Irving talking about poorly trained pilots, when the captain of MH370, a 33-year veteran pilot, was one of MAS’ most experienced? When he touts Singapore’s modernity in this regard, is he aware that MAS and SIA are the successors of Malaysia and Singapore’s joint national carrier? That Singapore is too small to have its own domestic flights? (It’s way smaller than the Klang Valley, the larger urban area that KL is part of.)

  164. 164.

    Paul in KY

    March 13, 2014 at 3:36 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I meant ‘pukes’ in only the most respectful way :-)

  165. 165.

    Cervantes

    March 13, 2014 at 3:36 pm

    @Amir Khalid: They don’t report accurately on things happening right here in the US, as you know.

    Anyhow, you’re alluding to MSA!

    I do remember that airline, and Malayan Airways, too, before that.

    I sometimes reflect on what pilots from that era make of today’s cockpits.

  166. 166.

    Suffern ACE

    March 13, 2014 at 3:56 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Well, if you’re ever thinking of going into a fake business scam, you know that you can always sell American investors on the idea that Singapore needs a domestic carrier.

  167. 167.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 13, 2014 at 4:59 pm

    A 22-year-old pro-Ukrainian demonstrator was stabbed to death in Donetsk today by a pro-Russian mob. At least one other unconfirmed death in the same location.

  168. 168.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 13, 2014 at 5:13 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Where is Comrade Bob?

  169. 169.

    Amir Khalid

    March 13, 2014 at 5:52 pm

    @Cervantes:
    No Mongolians on the passenger manifest. Maybe she was travelling on a stolen passport.

  170. 170.

    Cervantes

    March 13, 2014 at 6:24 pm

    @Amir Khalid: And in the cockpit.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Winter Wren - Point Lobos State Natural Reserve 3
Image by Winter Wren (7/31/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • Jay on Thursday Night Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 2:29am)
  • NotMax on Thursday Night Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 2:18am)
  • Martin on Thursday Night Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 2:08am)
  • Baud on Thursday Night Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 2:05am)
  • NotMax on Thursday Night Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 2:05am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!