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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Let me file that under fuck it.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

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

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

No one could have predicted…

I was promised a recession.

Second rate reporter says what?

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Democrats have delivered the Square Deal, the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and now… the Big Joe Biden Deal.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open thread

Open thread

by DougJ|  April 25, 20142:04 pm| 154 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Commenter schrodinger’s cat‘s friend Carolyn Walker has a new record out and here’s the video

Other than distancing yourself from your earlier support for Cliven Bundy, what are you all up to?

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Previous Post: « Bundy? Bundy Who?
Next Post: And thought his stinking breath was fine perfume »

Reader Interactions

154Comments

  1. 1.

    srv

    April 25, 2014 at 2:11 pm

    For you people who don’t appreciate all the FREEDOM the Tea Party gives you:

    Last week, with little fanfare and even less debate, Oklahoma lawmakers quietly voted to reverse a nearly four-decade-old law that had barred utility companies from charging customers who install solar panels on their homes more than those who don’t. The bill, which passed almost unanimously, would have effectively cleared the way for utilities in the Sooner State to force homeowners who install solar panels to pay for both the electricity they buy from the grid and for a portion of the electricity they sell back to it.

    …

    Then, on Tuesday, to the surprise of pretty much everyone involved, Oklahoma’s Republican governor, Mary Fallin, issued an executive order largely undercutting the provision, dealing an unexpected defeat to major utilities and their deep-pocketed backers—a group that includes the Koch brothers and the American Legislative Exchange Council, a powerful national membership group for conservative state lawmakers.

    Perhaps the only thing more surprising was who had helped defeat Oklahoma’s power companies. Tucked among the usual green suspects were the type of advocates that typically don’t associate with the clean energy movement but have nonetheless proved crucial to securing a political victories in a string of dark-red states: Tea Party conservatives.

  2. 2.

    the Conster

    April 25, 2014 at 2:20 pm

    We can all go back to fully embracing Cliven Bundy, since NewsMax now tells us that he said he’s not a racist. I’m glad that’s settled.

  3. 3.

    Fuzzy

    April 25, 2014 at 2:21 pm

    @srv: Terrific. The grumpies still think with their wallet except when religion is involved.

  4. 4.

    gwangung

    April 25, 2014 at 2:28 pm

    Family friend almost got screwed over by health insurance company:

    Injured Good Samaritan billed $165,000 by Aetna

    “It was not my choice to stay in the burn center for seven days,” he said. “This was a decision made by medical professionals who treated me on a daily basis. To have the doctors’ judgment questioned and overruled by an insurance company who did not treat me or see the extent of my injuries is unthinkable.”

    These are the rat bastards the right wing want to give health care back to. Good thing he had some resources of his own.

  5. 5.

    Anoniminous

    April 25, 2014 at 2:30 pm

    Buy your Bitcoins, gold, silver, guns, ammo, a bunker, a 10 year supply of freeze dried pomegranates, and a one-year subscription to my financial news letter. On July 1, 2014 Obummer’s secret law goes into effect that will collapse the US and global economy!

    H’mmm. Not as such.

    (File under: Latest RWNJ Hysteria)

    ETA: And note the usefulness of a year’s subscription to a financial newsletter if the whole thing is moot in 2 months.

  6. 6.

    schrodinger's cat

    April 25, 2014 at 2:33 pm

    Thanks DougJ!

  7. 7.

    Trollhattan

    April 25, 2014 at 2:34 pm

    @gwangung:
    Oh God, what a horrid story without the insurance douchery. Add that and I’m amazed he could keep sane.

    He’ll be haunted with visions of the girl the rest of his life, poor guy.

  8. 8.

    Trollhattan

    April 25, 2014 at 2:37 pm

    @Anoniminous:
    Was assured Sunday by a coattail in-law that “according to a friend” the Obamas will be divorcing (pronounced as “die-vorcing”) as soon as he leaves office. Not quite a crushed global economy, but a WTF moment nevertheless.

  9. 9.

    RandomMonster

    April 25, 2014 at 2:40 pm

    Are you in the Rochester area, DougJ, or am I mixing you up with some other blogger?

    I’m considering a move to that neck of the woods.

  10. 10.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 25, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    Causing quite a buzz in the Russian and Ukrainian social networks today is a post by a musician and blogger from Minsk, Belarus, named Ivan Leonovich. He visited Lviv (aka Lvov, Lwow, Lemberg,) the largest city in western Ukraine and the de-facto capital of Ukrainian nationalism. Here’s what he wrote:

    Spent three days in Lviv.

    Impressions were unambiguous: do you want to visit a city full of indiscriminate nationalists, where almost all consider themselves better than others, despise visitors (even from the east and other regions of their own country), are obsessed with their own language and do not tolerate other languages? Want to observe an ocean of militant people calling to eradicate other nations, reject their culture and statehood, and calling for unity in a single centralized national empire (fascism)?

    Go to Moscow. Lviv – is the complete opposite.

    This is a quick and dirty translation, not a professional one.

    Another interesting contrast to keep in mind – during the worst days of February in Kiev, journalists and diplomats from both east and west traversed the city and the region unhindered. Now, with separatists in de facto control of some areas of Donetsk oblast, journalists are kidnapped, and there are multiple reports that a bus of OSCE-accredited observers has been detained by armed separatists today.

  11. 11.

    DougJ

    April 25, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    @RandomMonster:

    Yeah, I live in Rochester. Other than the winter, it’s great!

  12. 12.

    gwangung

    April 25, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    @Trollhattan: Yeah, the dude’s a mensch for doing what he did, but you can totally see how you could get PTSD from that.

  13. 13.

    RandomMonster

    April 25, 2014 at 2:43 pm

    @DougJ: I had a feeling you were going to say that. Seems to be the popular view!

  14. 14.

    Anoniminous

    April 25, 2014 at 2:44 pm

    @Trollhattan:

    I’m sure the friend of your relative receives daily emails from god Michelle pouring her heart out.

    These people. R. Nutz.

  15. 15.

    Violet

    April 25, 2014 at 2:46 pm

    @gwangung: That is awful. As if the poor guy had much say as to what was going on with him–which hospital to go to, what kind of treatment. Thank goodness it finally got resolved, but not without hiring lawyers. Ugh.

    Fucking health insurance companies. I hope they’re happy earning their living off other people’s pain and suffering. Heath insurance company slogan: Your Pain is Our Gain!

  16. 16.

    beth

    April 25, 2014 at 2:46 pm

    I went to my bank’s drive through window yesterday and under the camera they’ve got a little video screen that rotates ads of all their products. One of the screens, however, was a “word of the day” with word, pronunciation and definition listed. I don’t know why this delighted me so much; it just did. BTW, yesterday’s word was “florid”.

  17. 17.

    Violet

    April 25, 2014 at 2:48 pm

    @DougJ: Is winter over yet in Rochester or is it still going on?

  18. 18.

    Schlemizel

    April 25, 2014 at 2:49 pm

    @Trollhattan:

    I see that story regularly while waiting to check out at the grocery store. The National Inquirer and its ilk. They ran the story about the Clintons and about the Blunders and now the Obamas.

    It reminded me a lot of the ’02 campaign. They ran the same (badly) photoshopped picture of an alien next to daddy, Clinton and Perot with a head line “Aliens meet with to endorse their campaign” each about 2 weeks apart. How stupid do you have to be?

  19. 19.

    JPL

    April 25, 2014 at 2:50 pm

    As rikyrah pointed out in her comment 109, in the previous thread, the 911 operators are receiving a lot of calls because of the carry your guns everywhere law in GA. A local college in now on lockdown because of a gun man on campus. College campus’ are off limits, but we will soon find out the cause.

  20. 20.

    the Conster

    April 25, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    Shorter David Brooks about Piketty: wealth tax bad… inheritance tax good… global capital concentration…SQUIRREL!

  21. 21.

    Schlemizel

    April 25, 2014 at 2:52 pm

    @Violet:
    My son is just learning the joy of his own health insurance. He got an Rx filed no problem $20 co-pay. Went for the refill & it was $158 because the insurer would not cover it without extensive documentation from the doctor. Of course they never told him that until AFTER he needed the meds.

  22. 22.

    Mike in NC

    April 25, 2014 at 2:53 pm

    Yesterday was the first day for early (primary) voting in North Carolina. Today I went to the armory to vote. There were four old white guys near the door, handing out GOP campaign literature. Since I’m an oldish white guy I was able to enter the building unmolested and cast my votes.

  23. 23.

    Anoniminous

    April 25, 2014 at 2:55 pm

    Made the mistake of going to Snope’s “25 Hottest Urban Legends” list and at #11:

    During a trip to North Vietnam, Jane Fonda turned smuggled messages from U.S. POWs over to their captors.

    Jane Fonda? The RWNJs are still in a panty-twist about Jane Fonda?

  24. 24.

    Violet

    April 25, 2014 at 2:58 pm

    @Schlemizel: Yep. Fucking health insurance companies. Greedy fuckers.

    Make sure your son knows to call around and price the medication at various ph ar macies. They don’t all have the same prices. If he can’t get the insurance company to cover the medication, at least he might get a better price.

  25. 25.

    shortstop

    April 25, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    All I know is the 1st amendment guarantees I won’t take flak from other citizens for anything I say, and if I do, Marlin Luther King and Rosa Park have failed.

    ETA: Do I need to explain this is broad sarcasm for Slow Study Burns? Yes, yes, I probably do.

  26. 26.

    shortstop

    April 25, 2014 at 3:03 pm

    @Anoniminous: Oh, my lord, yes. A Marine/high-school classmate (whom I don’t actually remember from high school — long story about my feeling inappropriately polite one day) snarled daily about her until I asked him what was up with that. He promptly unfriended me, which I guess might have mattered to someone who knew who he was in the first place.

  27. 27.

    Mnemosyne

    April 25, 2014 at 3:04 pm

    @Schlemizel:

    If there’s a Costco anywhere near him, they usually have the lowest prices AND in many states you do NOT have to be a member in order to use the ph arm acy — just tell the person checking cards at the door that you’re going to the ph arm acy and they’ll let you in. (At least, that’s the law here in California.) You can check the price right on their website before you even go in.

  28. 28.

    ranchandsyrup

    April 25, 2014 at 3:06 pm

    Fighting writer’s block and a deadline. Doing so by pondering this post about a son of a wall st millionaire attempting to throw a naked pr0n star off of a roof into a pool. She didn’t quite make it to the pool, though.

  29. 29.

    burnspbesq

    April 25, 2014 at 3:08 pm

    My support for Cliven Bundy hasn’t changed one iota. Was nonexistent, still is.

    In my dreams, I see Cliven Bundy and Edward Snowden as cellmates.

  30. 30.

    burnspbesq

    April 25, 2014 at 3:10 pm

    @RandomMonster:

    Ask him how long winter lasts.

  31. 31.

    raven

    April 25, 2014 at 3:11 pm

    @JPL: In the very town where it was mandatory have a gun!

  32. 32.

    Jay C

    April 25, 2014 at 3:11 pm

    @the Conster:

    Yeah, I saw that: poor David must have OD’d on his Inanity pills this morning: this was poor even by Brooks’ low standards. As usual, reducing everything to BoBo jealousy of the truly affluent. What an insight!

    Though for a fun alternative, check out Paul Krugman’s column on the same subject in today’s NYT Op-Ed section. Not so much Prof. K’s piece, but the comments on it – 830 before it closed. A lot of serious ragging on Krugman over his characterization of RW reaction to Piketty’s book as mainly “name-calling”. AFAICT, though: most of the griping in the comments was, in essence, more name-calling. Wonder why that is…?

  33. 33.

    Schlemizel

    April 25, 2014 at 3:11 pm

    @Violet: @Mnemosyne:

    He lives in a smaller town w/ no Costco. Assuming the company gets the forms from the Dr (he said he would send them) they will cover him for a refill & then he has to go through their mail order system if he uses it regularly.

    My favorite example was when both he & his sister were in college. Every time one of them would go to the Dr. the bill would be rejected by the insurance company until I faxed them proof that they were full-time students. One time my daughter had to have return visits & I went through that dance 4 times in 3 months.

  34. 34.

    burnspbesq

    April 25, 2014 at 3:12 pm

    @shortstop:

    Fuck off, dearie.

  35. 35.

    Jay C

    April 25, 2014 at 3:17 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Doesn’t your state have laws about “electioneering” near polling places (or is there a short coda somewhere in the NC Election Code, which basically translates as IOKIYAR??)? Even here in space-short Manhattan, there’s a “no electioneering” zone 100 feet in both directions from polling places – and there are always cops on duty to shoo away any violators.

  36. 36.

    sheeple

    April 25, 2014 at 3:17 pm

    Sounds good.

  37. 37.

    Violet

    April 25, 2014 at 3:18 pm

    @Schlemizel: I see one doctor and they reject the claim for that doctor every time saying the codes are incorrect. Every time I call up and tell them that, no, the codes are correct. Look back on X date for a previous visit to said doctor and notice that the codes are the same and it was processed and paid. The person on the phone does that, goes, “Huh. You’re right. I wonder why they didn’t process it correctly.” Sends it back and it gets paid. Happens Every. Single. Time.

    The turnaround takes about two months except for the one time where it sat there in limbo (watched it online when I’d log in to check). Eventually I called and the said, “It shows it was paid.” I say, no it wasn’t. They go looking and somewhere between being approved (after first not being approved and having to be resubmitted of course) and getting over to have the check cut it disappeared.

    The amount of time I waste on health insurance paperwork and processing is ridiculous. They do everything they can to make it difficult for your claims to get approved.

  38. 38.

    bemused

    April 25, 2014 at 3:23 pm

    I’m loving that Bundy has no intention of keeping his mouth shut. Keep on talking Bundy. Knowing cranks like him, I have no doubt he is reveling in having a national platform and won’t give that up until media gets tired of him.

  39. 39.

    schrodinger's cat

    April 25, 2014 at 3:25 pm

    Has Our Lady of Wasila spoken on the Bundy issue?

  40. 40.

    the Conster

    April 25, 2014 at 3:26 pm

    @Jay C:

    Yeah, conservatives got nothing. Brooks knows Piketty’s analysis hit the nail on the head, and all wingnuts can do is howl. Sweet!

  41. 41.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 3:32 pm

    @srv: I was at my parents house a few weeks ago. The guy at the corner was having solar panels put on his roof. I was like dad, doesn’t that guy own the local oil services company? Yes he does. Made me have a little hope cause the guy that drills oil wells for a living saw the benefit of solar.

  42. 42.

    Ronzoni Rigatoni

    April 25, 2014 at 3:32 pm

    @RandomMonster: Rochester, NY? I had relatives there many moons ago. The winters killed them.

  43. 43.

    Betty Cracker

    April 25, 2014 at 3:33 pm

    @the Conster: That’s an excellent summary of the Brooks column.

  44. 44.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 3:33 pm

    @bemused: How about it. You’d think he’d have at least one friend, maybe a lawyer, that would tell him he knows he likes the limelight but maybe it would be a good idea to shut the fuck up.

  45. 45.

    Violet

    April 25, 2014 at 3:34 pm

    @Tommy: The guy probably sees the benefit of cash. Depending on how solar incentives are structured in your state, it makes sense to install them if you have enough south-facing roof space, the money to do it, and intend to be in the house for long enough to see the reward. There’s no reason to think he’s installing solar for any green reason other than money.

  46. 46.

    Roger Moore

    April 25, 2014 at 3:34 pm

    @Anoniminous:

    On July 1, 2014 Obummer’s secret law goes into effect that will collapse the US and global economy!

    Well, it may cause serious damage to tax cheats, not that this result is a bad thing.

  47. 47.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 3:39 pm

    @Violet: No I realize that is most likely the case, but trying to be in a “happy” mood and think “happy” thoughts. I am not 100 percent sure how IL handles solar. I got a down and dirty estimate for solar a few years ago, like on the back of a napkin, and I was stunned how expensive it was. I just couldn’t justify it. I might have a five bedroom house, but I live by myself and am pretty stingy with my power usage. Most months under $125. Winter my gas is usually only $50/month for heat (I dress in layers).

  48. 48.

    Schlemizel

    April 25, 2014 at 3:39 pm

    @Violet:

    Yup. I am sure they make some money from people who for one reason or another never get the claim paid. If they can leave your premiums in the bank for 3 months they make the interest off it and it is the doctors that get short changed.

    It is an evil system set up by evil people that incentivizes the worst behavior to profit the least useful people in the transaction.

  49. 49.

    Betty Cracker

    April 25, 2014 at 3:41 pm

    @JPL: I don’t think we’ll ever resolve the gun conundrum because of the vast gulf in attitudes toward them in rural and urban / suburban settings, at least not now that the NRA has weaponized stupidity and belligerence.

    I grew up in the sticks, and if I see someone walking down the roadside with a rifle when I’m out in the country, I figure he (almost always a he) is a property owner out to shoot a rattlesnake or a hunter looking to pick up a trail. If I saw that same person carrying that same rifle in downtown Tampa, I’d suspect a massacre in the offing.

    But because of the aforementioned weaponization of stupidity and belligerence, it’s not possible to have sensible restrictions to address very different scenarios.

  50. 50.

    fidelio

    April 25, 2014 at 3:43 pm

    @Tommy: Given the winter we’ve had and the summer we’re going to have, I suspect he feels that anything that might help with his electric bill bill in some way (even gas and oil furnaces have electric blowers, after all) is a worthwhile investment.

    Plus there’s the whole power outages after bad weather factor.

  51. 51.

    scav

    April 25, 2014 at 3:44 pm

    I’m small minded and must count this a shame-worthy giggle. Apparently Bundy charm and is hereditary and now the daughter is chiming in, throwing chum into the growing ravines between tea-party dead-beat cowboy brigades and the media conservatives and I am so hoping she moves next to the establishment betrayers of her beloved scofflaw papa. TPM

  52. 52.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 25, 2014 at 3:44 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Thought that was illegal, to campaign within xxx number of feet of the polling zone (in GA it’s 150 feet).

  53. 53.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 3:45 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I see the same thing. I live in a rural area. I tend to work so I have money to cook and eat good food. Buy books. Video games. Computers. Folks around me tend to work so they can hunt and fish. I mean it is more common for me to see a boat or a four-wheeler then a bicycle.

    I guess the only positive is that nobody around me is yelling they need to carry a pistol on their hip when they go to church or to pick up some milk.

  54. 54.

    Roger Moore

    April 25, 2014 at 3:50 pm

    @Schlemizel:

    It reminded me a lot of the ’02 campaign. They ran the same (badly) photoshopped picture of an alien next to daddy, Clinton and Perot with a head line “Aliens meet with to endorse their campaign” each about 2 weeks apart. How stupid do you have to be?

    I don’t think anyone is supposed to take the alien stuff seriously; readers are supposed to be in on the joke. The other celebrity gossip, I’m not so sure about.

  55. 55.

    danielx

    April 25, 2014 at 3:52 pm

    I’m rethinking my position about visiting downtown of my fair city during the NRA national convention, at least during the daytime, out of pure curiosity’s sake:

    Will I see any of the attendees wearing tshirts with Cliven Bundy’s picture on the shirt(s) and if so, how many? I’m making three to five odds that I’d see one or more. Same odds that Our Lady Of The Snowgrifts is being paid at least fifty K as a guest speaker (more than one sucker in this crowd, I’ll tell you.)

    No bets on what percentage of the attendees will be armed, openly or otherwise…

  56. 56.

    Roger Moore

    April 25, 2014 at 3:53 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Today I went to the armory to vote. There were four old white guys near the door, handing out GOP campaign literature.

    Aren’t there rules about electioneering near the polling place? I think you could get arrested for that here in California.

  57. 57.

    RandomMonster

    April 25, 2014 at 3:55 pm

    @burnspbesq: I fear the answer.

  58. 58.

    beth

    April 25, 2014 at 3:55 pm

    @danielx: I watched about 10 minutes of LaPierre’s speech today. Judging from the audience, I doubt many of them could pull out a gun and shoot you before you ran away – let’s just say the crowd tended to skew a lot on the very old side. And nary a dark face to be seen.

  59. 59.

    Chyron HR

    April 25, 2014 at 3:56 pm

    @scav:

    Shiree Bundy Cox

    Has Bundy already castigated “the Negro” for giving silly names to their children, or is that going to be in tomorrow’s address?

  60. 60.

    bemused

    April 25, 2014 at 3:57 pm

    @Tommy:

    Think a guy like him would listen even if he would put up with a lawyer that laid out reality to him? lol. No, pigheaded stubborn are his middle names. These kind of guys are right about everything and they are desperate for everyone to listen to them. They don’t get enough respect.

  61. 61.

    Betty Cracker

    April 25, 2014 at 4:03 pm

    @Chyron HR: I used to work for a company that was headquartered in Salt Lake City and noticed that Mormons tend to choose offbeat first names or indulge in kreatuve speleng. An acquaintance told me it’s because there aren’t that many different last names, so it’s a way to distinguish the offspring. I have no idea whether or not this is true, but it seems plausible.

  62. 62.

    Ferdzy

    April 25, 2014 at 4:04 pm

    Since this thread seems to have a lot of medical talk it seems a good point to say Thank You! to everyone who held my hand before my gall bladder removal. Gall bladder is now gone; I am stiff, sore and grumpy. In other words, not that far off from usual. Feeling better every day.

    And oh man, I am so glad that money just doesn’t enter the picture for me. I have a friend who found himself in a similar situation to Gwangung’s friend (only he was run over by a moving truck, not burned). I am so happy he didn’t have to have fights with the medical insurance companies on top of everything else he went through.

  63. 63.

    Trollhattan

    April 25, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    @danielx:
    Some of my most target-rich events (with, uh, a camera) have been teabag events at the state capitol, so if you’re vaccinated against high concentrations of stupid in a small space, take a camera, some camos and enjoy the spectacle.

    https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4020/4524585793_3f4da05312_o.jpg

  64. 64.

    Betty Cracker

    April 25, 2014 at 4:06 pm

    @Ferdzy: That’s good news! Glad you’re on the mend.

  65. 65.

    danielx

    April 25, 2014 at 4:07 pm

    @beth:

    You might be surprised, some of those old SOBs can really shoot. However, I can imagine they might think this is the big bad city and be at least somewhat hostile…and in some ways they’re right, Indianapolis right now (unfortunately) has a higher per capita shooting rate than Chicago. Which totally has nothing whatsoever to do with the NRA’s championing of gun law rollbacks and opposition to any gun laws whatsoever..

  66. 66.

    Roger Moore

    April 25, 2014 at 4:07 pm

    @Violet:
    This is why integrated provider organizations like Kaiser are the way to go; they eliminate a whole layer of bureaucracy and indirection from the process.

  67. 67.

    Jay C

    April 25, 2014 at 4:08 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Actually Snopes’ refutation of the apocalyptic nonsense being peddled about HR 2847 does contain one vaguely-on-tangent point about the new rules going into effect July 1; it’s not just “tax cheats” living abroad who may be affected, but legitimate expatriate earners as well – assuming the (allegedly) dire new reporting requirements actually do (doubtful, IMO) act to dissuade foreign banks/investors from dealing with the US/Americans (unlikely). But that’s a big (and to my mind, largely incorrect) assumption. Especially as the world economy has had quite a while to adjust to the new rules – HR 2847 was passed in 2010.

    Not to worry, I’m sure the scamsters have come up with a new set of ads already which they’ll run after July….

    Obama’s secret law has collapsed the US and World Economies! Subscribe to our newsletter to find out what they don’t want YOU to know! And how to survive it!!!

  68. 68.

    Trollhattan

    April 25, 2014 at 4:12 pm

    @Tommy:
    Some of my foothill wingnut acquaintences do the solar thang as a necessary step for “gettin’ offa tha grid” and no actual thoughts of doing something to help mankind or gaia. Never mind that it takes a huge array, a gazillion batteries and a giant inverter to even begin to power a mcmansion with all the stuff they contain, their eyes just glaze over before that part of the conversation can occur.

    Next time PG&E goes down and the lights don’t stay on, there’s a flurry of angry phone calls (let’s presume a land line) demanding answers as to why “the solar’s not workin’!”

  69. 69.

    Bobby Thomson

    April 25, 2014 at 4:15 pm

    @Roger Moore: Why do you guys all assume that “near the door” necessarily means within the forbidden zone? During every election, it’s standard practice for both parties to have their greeters at the polling place just outside the forbidden zone, which the judge of elections usually marks with a measuring tape. The only thing troubling about this story is that the Democrats didn’t have their team show up.

  70. 70.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 25, 2014 at 4:17 pm

    @Chyron HR:
    @Betty Cracker:

    This may be edifying.

  71. 71.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 4:18 pm

    @Ferdzy: That is good to hear. I am blessed with amazing health. About ten years ago I caught this rare bug and ended up in the ICU for a week with a tube down my throat. It was a traumatic experience to say the least. That I then had to fight with the insurance company for a year, well that was worse then what happened to me. And if my parents didn’t have the money to step in to help me, I would have lost everything. I know I am preaching to the choir here, but that isn’t how things should work in this country.

  72. 72.

    Elizabelle

    April 25, 2014 at 4:20 pm

    @Trollhattan:

    Please share more photos.

    That one was classic. Afraid for her country. I wonder why.

  73. 73.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 4:21 pm

    @Trollhattan: I would assume a lot of folks think that way. I was getting gas the other day and the guy next to me was in a truck that had a sign that noted it was a solar company. I asked him how business was and he said booming. They can’t keep up. There is a waiting list. That made me happy for the entire rest of the day!

  74. 74.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 25, 2014 at 4:22 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: The separatists who are kidnapping journalists are Bob Romanov in Portland’s heroes.

  75. 75.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 25, 2014 at 4:24 pm

    @Jay C: Actually, FATCA (the part you refer to) has already become a fairly significant burden for Americans abroad, whether long-term expats, retirees or simply people who travel and would like bank account(s) in another country/currency for any number of perfectly legitimate reasons. It is becoming much more difficult for US citizens, even legal permanent residents in Europe, to open or even maintain local accounts.

  76. 76.

    Chyron HR

    April 25, 2014 at 4:25 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Is “Edifying” a boy’s name or a girl’s name?

  77. 77.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 25, 2014 at 4:25 pm

    @Bobby Thomson:

    Why do you guys all assume that “near the door” necessarily means within the forbidden zone?

    As one of the “guys,” I will say that I’ve been voting for 50 years come November, in four different states and at least 17 different precincts*, and I have never ever seen a polling place which would allow any kind of electioneering at or near the door of the polling place.

    That’s why.

    *(One at a time, I hope I need not say.)

  78. 78.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 25, 2014 at 4:26 pm

    @Chyron HR:

    Boy’s. The female version would be “Edwinafying.”

  79. 79.

    JoyfulA

    April 25, 2014 at 4:27 pm

    @Bobby Thomson: The forbidden zone is different in every state. My DH was shocked at Pennsylvania, which is about 10 feet, because where he comes from it’s 200 feet.

  80. 80.

    Elizabelle

    April 25, 2014 at 4:28 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Verrry interesting.

    I love southern names too.

    Worst name I recall is Trojanella, who is a Georgia executive (female) profiled in some NYTimes or AJC article on who knows what from a few years back. Might be from Atlanta.

    I wonder what she goes by in real life.

    You see a condom or a really big wooden horse.

    (My sister knew of someone named LaSonya.)

  81. 81.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 25, 2014 at 4:28 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    In my dreams, I see Cliven Bundy and Edward Snowden as cellmates.

    Not going to happen. Bundy is going to twist slowly, slowly in the wind while all his erstwhile supporters in the Rethuglican/Conservatard establishment run away as fast as they can.

  82. 82.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’ve voted in 5 states and I don’t know how many precincts, but a lot. As you noted everyplace I voted was very anal about the electioneering at or near the polls. Which is the way it should be I might add. Now most of the places I have voted have been pretty liberal if not outright liberal and I don’t even really recall somebody protesting or trying to monitor the darn thing.

  83. 83.

    Trollhattan

    April 25, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Thanks! Here are a couple from the spelin opshionnal series.

    https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4045/4526377262_490e1f79f2_o.jpg
    https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4029/4525186416_9e5e3e3b7c_o.jpg

    Actually sorry they stopped holding these. Been working on my technique and am so ready.

  84. 84.

    the Conster

    April 25, 2014 at 4:31 pm

    So, if you found out that your son on pilgrimage to beatify JP II died via crucifix dedicated to JP II, what would you think? As shocking as the news would be, wouldn’t it still strike you as ridiculously, horrifyingly funny?

  85. 85.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 25, 2014 at 4:32 pm

    @Tommy:

    A friend of mine sells solar in Northern California, working out of Home Depot stores (though I am not clear whether she is employed directly by HD; I think not). She started this job about two months ago, and reports the same — business is booming, and consumers are clamoring for the product. Yes it’s Cali, but I am very encouraged by her anecdotes, and the one you shared.

  86. 86.

    Trollhattan

    April 25, 2014 at 4:32 pm

    @Elizabelle:
    Once worked with a Vyrgynya (pronounced “Virginia”) Think they had a sale on descenders that week.

  87. 87.

    Elizabelle

    April 25, 2014 at 4:35 pm

    @Trollhattan:

    Liberal Failor.

    Someone’s next internet moniker.

  88. 88.

    JPL

    April 25, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    @the Conster: Is it to late to decide that JPII, is not a saint? Talk about a bad omen.

  89. 89.

    NotMax

    April 25, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    @Elizabelle

    Strictly trivia (and if Amir is around to confirm it, even better) – animals, fruits and vegetables are forbidden in Malaysia to be used as first names.

  90. 90.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: The only bad story I have is a friend installed solar about four years ago. Now wants to sell the house. He wants to take the value of the house before it installed it and tack on the cost of the solar. His agent and the people looking at the house tell him that is not how it is going to work :). He is going to take a loss.

  91. 91.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 25, 2014 at 4:37 pm

    @Trollhattan:

    I have a relative named Haydyn Elysabeth. Her last name also contains a “y.”

  92. 92.

    Amir Khalid

    April 25, 2014 at 4:38 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    In principle, I suppose it’s no worse than the vogue for Arabic and Arabic-ish names among African Americans. But, as they say, you want to give your child a name that won’t invite ridicule at the school playground; some of the names I saw on that site would fail that test. Some years back, a famous English football player named a son Brooklyn. I have always been glad it was Manchester United’s David Beckham rather than, say, Chelsea’s Wayne Bridge.

  93. 93.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 25, 2014 at 4:39 pm

    @Tommy:

    Since I am a renter, I don’t have the first clue how expensive installing solar is or how long it might take to recoup the initial outlay. But yeah, I know enough to know that it doesn’t work that way.

  94. 94.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 4:40 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I should note that is cool they are selling solar at Home Depot. I am more of a Lowes guy myself, but I don’t think they offer that at my Home Depot. My gut is if they did they’d sell a heck of a lot of it. I am always stunned how people I know, that you would never think would install the stuff, are and/or they are pondering it. The topic actually comes up in conversation pretty often.

  95. 95.

    Bobby Thomson

    April 25, 2014 at 4:40 pm

    @JoyfulA: I don’t think it’s ten feet, but it certainly allows electioneering from the sidewalk next to the street or parking lot.

  96. 96.

    Elizabelle

    April 25, 2014 at 4:41 pm

    @NotMax:

    But what if you called named your child “LaLeopard” or “NyTiger”?

    I remember an article about young Hong Kong types taking on anglicized names in time for the colony’s transfer to China.

    You had people calling themselves Creamy and Vanilla.

    What? Did they go with inspiration from the Micky D’s menu?

  97. 97.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 25, 2014 at 4:42 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    I read a mystery series featuring a female named Brooklyn. Her hippie parents named all their kids after the places they were born (or conceived, can’t remember. Yeah, most likely where they were conceived.)

  98. 98.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 4:42 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: He installed it mainly to heat the water that warms his floors/house. He just invested a ton of money in the house and he can’t seem to face it he is going to take a huge hit. My father and I joke if he and his wife understood how to use a condom they wouldn’t have seven children and need a larger house :)!

  99. 99.

    Elizabelle

    April 25, 2014 at 4:43 pm

    @Trollhattan:

    Vyrgynya.

    That’s just ugly. I am thinking it’s a type of mold, or lesser poet, or an STD.

    Whenever I see Megyn Kelly’s name, the “GYN” jumps out at me, for whatever reason. Put your daughter in stirrups. Isn’t that a great mental image to call forward? Whatever.

  100. 100.

    Roger Moore

    April 25, 2014 at 4:44 pm

    @Bobby Thomson:

    During every election, it’s standard practice for both parties to have their greeters at the polling place just outside the forbidden zone, which the judge of elections usually marks with a measuring tape.

    This is not standard practice at the polling places where I’ve voted. I have never encountered a greeter from either party in my life.

  101. 101.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 25, 2014 at 4:44 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Some years back, a famous English football player named a son Brooklyn. I have always been glad it was Manchester United’s David Beckham rather than, say, Chelsea’s Wayne Bridge.

    Took me a minute, but LOL.

  102. 102.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 4:45 pm

    @Roger Moore: Neither have I. Not a single one in the 26 years I’ve been voting.

  103. 103.

    Roger Moore

    April 25, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    You see a condom or a really big wooden horse.

    Or somebody who really loves USC.

  104. 104.

    LanceThruster

    April 25, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    I’m doubling down. Go Cliven!

    /s

  105. 105.

    Elizabelle

    April 25, 2014 at 4:47 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    That too!

  106. 106.

    NotMax

    April 25, 2014 at 4:48 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne

    More trivia: A village in Nassau County, NY is named Lynbrook (supposedly by the original settlers who moved there from Brooklyn).

  107. 107.

    Amir Khalid

    April 25, 2014 at 4:49 pm

    @NotMax:
    I’ve not heard that one, but then I haven’t had to name any children. Nor do I know of any Malaysian named after an animal, vegetable, or fruit.

    Incidentally, the first president of Zimbabwe was named Canaan Banana — by his parents.

  108. 108.

    Elizabelle

    April 25, 2014 at 4:51 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Canaan Banana

    That is a fabulous name.

  109. 109.

    DougJ

    April 25, 2014 at 4:52 pm

    @Violet:

    Just ended.

  110. 110.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 4:52 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I always felt my parents were not that creative, since there is a III at the end of my name. But I am also happy they just didn’t name me after something stupid.

  111. 111.

    Southern Beale

    April 25, 2014 at 4:53 pm

    Congratulations, unidentified Georgia man! You are our 2nd Amendment hero of the day!

    Lucking foons….

  112. 112.

    Bobby Thomson

    April 25, 2014 at 4:54 pm

    @JoyfulA: Holy cow. It is 10 feet. Of course, that’s not 10 feet from the actual booth. People still do that stuff outside the building. And when they are African-American Republicans scream that voters are being intimidated.

  113. 113.

    Roger Moore

    April 25, 2014 at 4:55 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Some years back, a famous English football player named a son Brooklyn.

    That’s interesting, because in the USA Brooklyn is mostly a girl’s name. It was, in fact, the 29th most popular name for girls born in the US in 2012, the most recent year for which the Social Security Administration has released baby name popularity data. FWIW, Brooklynn was the 137th most popular name for girls that same year, right between Clara and Jessica.

  114. 114.

    Eric U.

    April 25, 2014 at 4:59 pm

    @Roger Moore: the last municipal election, I was greeted by both of the candidates for town council. A while back, I was actually greeted by one of the congressional candidates himself. I didn’t quite understand that one, because I would think we have better places to go. He lost badly anyway.

    @Bobby Thomson: at one of our polling places, there is 10 feet between the outside door and the door to the rooms they use for voting. Two different precincts. I guess they decided it was easier just to count that 10 feet, because the people handing out literature stand right up to the door

  115. 115.

    NotMax

    April 25, 2014 at 5:00 pm

    @Amir Khalid

    Found a reputable citation.

    Parents will not be able to call their babies after animals, insects, fruit, vegetables or colours.
      Numbers are also not allowed, so little James Bonds cannot flaunt their 007 status on their ID cards.
     
    Other restrictions stop parents giving children royal or honorary titles as names or calling their little ones after Japanese cars. Source

  116. 116.

    Trollhattan

    April 25, 2014 at 5:00 pm

    @Roger Moore:
    My kid’s cohort (12ish) has a lot of geographical girl names, including Brooklyn, Sidney/Sydney, Dakota, Sierra, Montana…brain lock has me forgetting some others. Also can’t tally the innovative spellings of Cindy. Who knew?

  117. 117.

    SatanicPanic

    April 25, 2014 at 5:02 pm

    @Elizabelle: The most punk rock name I have ever heard

  118. 118.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 5:03 pm

    Wow I just saw that Google might trash Google+. About time. I do a fair amount of social media for clients and they always ask me why I don’t mention Google+. I explain since I’ve never had a client with unlimited money, we should focus our attention where it will do the most good. That is their blog, Twitter, and Facebook. It is always a debate. Thank god I might not have to debate this anymore.

    http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/24/google-is-walking-dead/

    LOL. TechCrunch called the service the “Walking Dead.”

  119. 119.

    NotMax

    April 25, 2014 at 5:04 pm

    @Elizabelle

    There’s also the current president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan.

  120. 120.

    Schlemizel

    April 25, 2014 at 5:07 pm

    @Tommy:
    It was shocking to me when I moved from Minnesota where I never saw a sign or a crowd electioneering near a voting place to FLorida where there were large teams waving sign, handing out lit & occasionally trying to out chant the others on the sidewalk just outside my polling place.

  121. 121.

    Jay C

    April 25, 2014 at 5:08 pm

    @NotMax:

    So I guess “Prince Red Corvette” is right out, then….?

    (as a name, not an iTunes search)

  122. 122.

    raven

    April 25, 2014 at 5:12 pm

    @Southern Beale: I think it’s really funny that someone from Tennessee isn’t going to visit Georgia because it’s “scary”.

  123. 123.

    NotMax

    April 25, 2014 at 5:12 pm

    @Jay C

    And should Toyota ever market a model there called Amir…

  124. 124.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 5:14 pm

    @Schlemizel: So few people vote by me I hate to think what that number would drop to if the elections were turned into a three ring circus of people chanting and holding stupid signs. Heck one of my clients lives in Cleveland and he said in the last presidential election it took him almost three hours to vote. I joke I can vote faster than I can order a Big Mac. As I say over and over again I wish everybody had that. It is nice.

  125. 125.

    NotMax

    April 25, 2014 at 5:14 pm

    @raven

    Curious if you might have asked the owner of the bakery about the new gun law. My (limited) understanding is that eateries can opt out.

  126. 126.

    JPL

    April 25, 2014 at 5:14 pm

    @raven: When I read the article earlier, there were two comments at the time.
    The second talked about the importance of concealed weapons. See problem solved.

  127. 127.

    raven

    April 25, 2014 at 5:18 pm

    “James Yeager is calling from Cliven Bundy’s front yard, where he’s one of several (he won’t say how many) providing 24-hour security to the Bundy family. He and his friend packed up “a full medical kit and a camera” and drove 26 ½ hours from their home in Camden, Tennessee last week to document what he calls “a tremendous overreach of federal power.” He’s been posting daily videos to his YouTube site.”

    “On July 27, 2008, a politically motivated[2][3] fatal shooting took place at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Motivated by a desire to kill liberals and Democrats, gunman Jim David Adkisson fired a shotgun at members of the congregation during a youth performance of a musical, killing two people and wounding seven others.”

  128. 128.

    raven

    April 25, 2014 at 5:20 pm

    @NotMax: It won’t be much of an issue in Athens, some dope may parade around like this guy in Forsyth but the businesses won’t have to worry like the place in Clemson did.

    eta

    And besides, he’s never there as early as we are!

  129. 129.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 5:21 pm

    @raven: When the BLM pulled back I thought it was a good idea. Let things cool down. Now I have to say too much time has passed. Look I am not a huge law and order kind of guy, but the Federal government just can’t let this stand. These people are not backing down and I don’t like a group of wingnuts with guns can force them to.

  130. 130.

    raven

    April 25, 2014 at 5:23 pm

    @Tommy: They’ll get him. It took a while to get Elian Gonzalez too.

  131. 131.

    JPL

    April 25, 2014 at 5:24 pm

    @Tommy: They can go to court and put a lien on the property and wait until the militia leave. It gets mighty hot there in the summer.

    also what Raven said

  132. 132.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 25, 2014 at 5:24 pm

    @Tommy: I don’t mind at all that the feds are taking their time. They will get their money in the end and, in the meantime, no one is getting killed.

  133. 133.

    Tommy

    April 25, 2014 at 5:26 pm

    @raven: I hope you are right, but I am really beginning to wonder. Look I am not a lawyer, but the quotes from him and his wife (to say nothing of his supporters on the ground) they have clearly threatened government employees with bodily harm. If for no other reason they need to be arrested at least for that.

  134. 134.

    JoyfulA

    April 25, 2014 at 5:26 pm

    @Bobby Thomson: I’ve sat no more than 10 feet from the polling place doorway in a couple of wards with my literature, etc. Usually the polls themselves are deep in the building (school, firehouse, church, etc.), down corridors and around corners.

    Once I saw a candidate for school board sitting where I thought broke the spirit of the law. The location was a school auxiliary gym. There’s a sidewalk bordering the building, then a 10- or 15-foot swath of grass, where political people stand or leave signs. A sidewalk cuts through the grass to a double glass door, and then to stairs* and another glass door. After that is a hallway and then a turn into a gym The candidate was sitting on the stairs and getting up to greet each person entering. It seemed “unfair” to me, even though he was at least 30 feet from the polling place doorway. I harangued him anyway on the first school topic that came to my mind: against drug-sniffing dogs.

    *Yes, there shouldn’t be stairs to a polling place. This was the first year for this location, and it was changed by the next election.

  135. 135.

    Amir Khalid

    April 25, 2014 at 5:27 pm

    @Jay C:
    Per the Beeb, it’s only Japanese car names that are not okay. And titles like Datuk and Tan Sri must be earned, or at least granted as honours. So you can’t name your kid Datuk Isuzu or Tan Sri Subaru. The National Registration Department can’t reject Mercedes, which is of course a perfectly legit girl’s name. And Prince/Princess (in Malay, Tengku) would be perfectly all right if you really are royalty, no matter how distant your relationship to a sultan.

  136. 136.

    Calouste

    April 25, 2014 at 5:27 pm

    @NotMax:

    Well, it was my idea that if I ever had any sons (not going to happen), I would call them Count, Duke, and Earl. There goes that plan.

  137. 137.

    NotMax

    April 25, 2014 at 5:27 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus

    I don’t mind at all that the feds are taking their time.

    Figuratively a case where they can wait ’til the cows come home.

  138. 138.

    Trollhattan

    April 25, 2014 at 5:32 pm

    @Tommy:
    Excerpt from the best take I’ve yet seen on the aftermath, and the unfinished business.

    In terms of how to resolve the Bundy issue in particular, “I do think the agency and the government have some options available to them,” said Bob Abbey, who was Nevada state director of the BLM between 1997 and 2005, national BLM director between 2010 and 2012, and who dealt with Bundy on several occasions during his tenure. “One thing would be to meet with the judge and see if the judge were willing to issue a contempt of court citation against Mr. Bundy,” which would allow the agency to put him behind bars for ignoring court orders.

    The Department of Justice is staying mum on the issue for now, while the BLM has said only that Bundy will be dealt with “administratively and judicially.” Sen. Harry Reid, De-Nev., who has called Bundy and his militia supporters “domestic terrorists,” said Thursday that a task force has been formed to address the issue. A sizable number of militia men are still camped near the Bundy ranch.

    In retrospect, the agency’s handling of last week’s roundup could arguably have been better. Abbey suggested that having BLM agents on the ground specifically to address protesters’ concerns may have helped keep the crowds more tempered. That didn’t appear to happen last week, and the BLM hasn’t responded to requests for comment on how they dealt with the standoff.

    http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/after-the-standoff-whats-next-for-bundy-and-blm

  139. 139.

    Trollhattan

    April 25, 2014 at 5:36 pm

    @Amir Khalid:
    Would be remiss if I didn’t note India’s Tata Motors. And the first name Bodacious would be awesome pretty much anywhere.

  140. 140.

    JoyfulA

    April 25, 2014 at 5:40 pm

    @Bobby Thomson: No, the last time the right-wingers screamed about a photo of such an incident in Philly, the black man opening the door to a polling place for an elderly white woman was not a New Black Panther; he was a Philadelphia police officer in the official winter uniform.

    That made me laugh at the out-of-towner stupidity, but no doubt thousands of people saw it on Fox News and were terrified.

  141. 141.

    WaterGirl

    April 25, 2014 at 5:43 pm

    @Trollhattan: I don’t see this Bundy character having the spine to go to jail. He wants to be a big shot and so far it hasn’t cost him anything, and he’s having his 15 minutes of fame. I may be wrong, of course, but I think it will turn on a dime if they get to arrest him for contempt.

    As for Georgia passing the stupid gun law, I wonder if the businesses will start to complain when people stop going out to dinner, going to shops, enrolling their kids in soccer and baseball, and start moving out of state.

    Time will tell.

  142. 142.

    WaterGirl

    April 25, 2014 at 5:45 pm

    @Trollhattan: Bodacious is a fun word, but in the history of time, has the word bodacious ever been used when it wasn’t followed by the word “tits” or “shit”?

  143. 143.

    Southern Beale

    April 25, 2014 at 5:47 pm

    @raven:

    Point taken. If I didn’t live in Tennessee I sure as hell wouldn’t visit here, either. Then again, we did just kill the same “guns everywhere” legislation Georgia just passed. So we’re bad, but not Georgia bad.

    I’m stuck here temporarily but when I leave I don’t plan to come back.

  144. 144.

    Poopyman

    April 25, 2014 at 5:48 pm

    The federal government allows you to deduct 30% of your solar system costs off your federal taxes through an investment tax credit (ITC). State tax credits vary (naturally), but you can get up to 50% of your installation costs back via tax credits.

  145. 145.

    NotMax

    April 25, 2014 at 5:50 pm

    @WaterGirl

    On The Beverly Hillbillies perhaps?

  146. 146.

    Amir Khalid

    April 25, 2014 at 5:54 pm

    @Trollhattan:
    There have been at least two members of the Tata family whose first names were Ratan. The younger Ratan Tata retired as chairman of the Tata Group in late 2012.

  147. 147.

    JoyfulA

    April 25, 2014 at 5:56 pm

    @Tommy: In 2004, I was in line outside for an hour. In a different precinct, my parents drove to their polling twice “when the TV said the lines were short,” and then drove home because the lines were down the block and around the corner. They came back in the evening and didn’t get to vote until well past official closing time.

    I was fed up and badgered my committeeman, the township and county commissioners, etc., for a year until the voting commissioner agreed to split some wards. Now my current different township has split the wards, too, and I go to a school instead of the nearby firehouse; this is goofy because the firehouse never had a long line, and now the school ward seems lonely and empty.

  148. 148.

    WaterGirl

    April 25, 2014 at 6:08 pm

    @NotMax: Was it Jethro?

  149. 149.

    NotMax

    April 25, 2014 at 6:19 pm

    @WaterGirl

    The hayseed sitcom version on “the butler did it” mandates that, no matter the situation, it is always Jethro.

  150. 150.

    Trollhattan

    April 25, 2014 at 6:20 pm

    @WaterGirl: Came up with this tidbit:

    Popularized in the comic strip Snuffy Smith, bodacious is probably a blend of the words bold and audacious, whose combined senses are evident in the following description of Sevier County, Tennessee, as “the most bodacious display of tourism this side of Anaheim” (Los Angeles Times).

    But suspect most know it from otherwise forgettable movie “Officer and a Gentleman” where it was famously used as an adjective describing somebody’s “tatas.” My inner 15YO laughs every time I recall Tata now owns Jaguar.

  151. 151.

    NotMax

    April 25, 2014 at 6:25 pm

    @Trollhattan

    A moment of silence to remember poor Barney Google, pushed out his eponymous comic strip by Snuffy & Weezie.

  152. 152.

    Amir Khalid

    April 25, 2014 at 6:40 pm

    @Trollhattan:
    But no princess of that eminent Indian family would ever be named Bodacious, I’m sure. Imagine introducing her at some swank New Delhi gathering: “Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Bodacious Tata!”

  153. 153.

    Trollhattan

    April 25, 2014 at 6:47 pm

    @Amir Khalid:
    Hard to picture, unless they immediately launched into a raucous seven-minute Bollywood dance number.

    Twins then, perhaps?

  154. 154.

    WaterGirl

    April 25, 2014 at 7:06 pm

    @Trollhattan: Thanks.

    I may be the only person on the planet who has never seen An Officer and a Gentleman and Titanic.

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