Nobody’s posted about Rob Ford yet. I’m not a specialist in Canadian politics, but pictures actually holding a crack pipe are probably at least another brick in the wall. as is saying you’d like to fuck your female political opponent, gay bashing, doing lines of coke, and this:
On March 15, an hour before he disappeared into a washroom at Muzik, Ford ran into pop star Justin Bieber in a common area of the exclusive nightclub near Toronto’s waterfront, according to witnesses. Ford tried to shake Bieber’s hand and became enraged when Bieber jokingly asked him, “Did you bring any crack to smoke?”
Security ushered Ford back to his party booth, where he was entertained, along with the four men, by three paid party hostesses. The Star has been unable to reach Bieber for comment.
Eric U.
serious question, bro
c u n d gulag
ZOINKS!!!!!!
Ford puts Marion Barry to shame!
Paul in KY
He shoulda laughed & cut up & then Bieber would have let him smoke some of his.
That’s a pro party tip.
pharniel
Even Bieber is burning you – damn.
SatanicPanic
Boys will be boys!
Tommy
@Paul in KY: As a former pot smoker I’d assume the kid might have some good pot.
Omnes Omnibus
Is “paid party hostess” a new term or just new to me?
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus: If the article and my math are right, somebody’s a cheapskate, because it sounds like five dudes and only three hostesses.
Punchy
Fixed for directness.
Mr. Longform
How come Charlie Pierce isn’t over there in the blog roll? He’s the best, present company excepted, etc. ….
ronin122
You know you hit rock bottom when the Biebz takes the piss out on you and everyone takes HIS side. That’s pretty sad.
Goblue72
Crack is so yesterday. It’s all about the Molly with the kids. Though I hear smack is retro-cool these days.
Calouste
OT, but apparently in Montana it is legal to set traps for teenagers and shoot them for fun:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-27243115
Richard Mayhew
@Mr. Longform: Short version — the blogroll is full of link rot and no one does any maitenance on it.
Long version — It has been updated…
Fuzzy
@Omnes Omnibus: I always thought they were whores or hookers but everything must be politically correct these days. We can’t be dissing on the oldest profession.
Omnes Omnibus
@Fuzzy: They could be strippers. No reason to assume prostitution.
Matt
@Calouste: I’m imagining the shooter just sitting up all night, dreaming of shooting some random sumbish and polishing his shotgun. His long, black, NO THIS ISN’T A PHALLIC SYMBOL WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, shotgun…
Omnes Omnibus
@Richard Mayhew: I find it amusing that your short version is longer than your long version. Well done.
SiubhanDuinne
You know, when Rob Ford first came to public (i.e., outside of Canada) attention, I thought it was pretty funny — repeated the jokes, shared the cartoons, etc.
But this? Now I’m just sad that a human being is in such mental or emotional pain that he behaves so destructively. I sincerely hope he gets whatever help he needs, soon.
Gin & Tonic
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m sad that there are people who thought, and apparently still think, that he should be mayor of Toronto.
mike with a mic
@c u n d gulag:
He can’t beat Barry unless he goes on TV and starts ranting about how dirty Asians are and how all Asian business are really prostitution rings and only exist to steal jobs from honest black folks…. also turn the entire city education system into one giant pay scheme for his campaign cronies and then blame Asians for the lack of quality education in the system you destroyed.
MomSense
I do not understand this paradox. Polling shows that Americans approve of the components of the President’s actions regarding Ukraine–but do not approve of the way the President is handling Ukraine.
Huh?? Maybe someone here could explain this to me.
And the link didn’t work.
Here is a segment from the Maddow show about this.
MomSense
Take two.
<a href="”>
ETA I give up.
c u n d gulag
@mike with a mic:
Thanks!
I’d forgotten most of that.
I’m afraid I’m gettin’ that Ol’-timers Disease.
SiubhanDuinne
@Gin & Tonic: Well, that too, of course.
NonyNony
@Calouste:
Asshole baited a trap so he could shoot himself an intruder and claim “Castle Doctrine”.
I’m betting a jury of his peers will let him walk, too, because “Castle Doctrine!” Even though the teenager was unarmed and the guy with a gun didn’t give any warning before he shot him. Because if he had, he would have realized the kid was unarmed and he could have called the freaking cops. Which is what you’re supposed to do if you catch someone in your house and you have a weapon and they don’t.
I also want to know what those burglars who allegedly hit his house twice stole. Were the after his gun collection or something?
Villago Delenda Est
Rob Ford is an ongoing human train wreck.
The man needs help. After he’s removed as unceremoniously as possible from office.
raven
@Richard Mayhew: What the fuck is that pig Pat Lang still doing there?
Calouste
@MomSense:
You mean that Americans approve what is being done, they just don’t approve that it is being done by a black man? My, I don’t think we have seen that any time before in the last 5 years.
mike with a mic
@c u n d gulag:
What’s to forget, he’s still doing that to this day!
The crack smoking and “bitch set me up” was funny… but Barry is a massive racist and his hold on power has been entirely about cooking up race issues and slandering people. Also healthcare in DC is bad because it’s all Asians, oh and don’t go to Mount Pleasant because it’s full of evil Salvadorians!
The rest of the world just got to see the goofy side of Barry, those of us who live/lived here got a front side seat to the entire shit show.
Villago Delenda Est
@MomSense: This is because most Americans have NO FUCKING IDEA where Ukraine is.
They have no idea what this is about, all they know is what the vermin of the Village are saying, which is that Obama is somehow failing the manhood test by not engaging in a bear riding contest with the to die for Vlad Putin.
If this were the 30’s, they’d be claiming that FDR isn’t a manly man like Uncle Joe Stalin or that dreamy Austrian guy who is leading Germany to glory.
LAC
Ford, you just got Bierbered, bitch! Check yo’ self before you wreck yo’self!!
LAC
Ford, you just got Bierbered, bitch! Check yo’ self before you wreck yo’self!!
Gin & Tonic
@SiubhanDuinne: For me not “too” but “instead.” I actually feel no empathy for people who are rich and/or prominent who behave like complete assholes in public, whether it’s Mel Gibson or Rob Ford or anyone else. Call me callous.
bemused
@NonyNony:
I can’t guess what a Montana jury might do but setting up burglars to kill them didn’t work for Byron Smith in Little Falls, MN. He just got convicted for murder of two teens and the jury was only out about 3 hours.
mike with a mic
@Villago Delenda Est:
People who don’t know where Ukraine is also aren’t the types to pay attention to the village. The village is simply a product for the urban upper class who already agree with what is being said on the village. It exists entirely to maker the upper class liberal NPR set feel smart and smug.
And nobody outside of them give a fuck about the news.
Gin & Tonic
@MomSense: Just like people approve of every element of the Affordable Care Act but hate Obamacare.
Certified Mutant Enemy
@Villago Delenda Est:
Back in the 30’s, there were people saying FDR was just like Stalin…
Tommy
OMG. This is something my state did (long time ago):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9yi4j6KRns
We did again, but I am happy we don’t kill our fellow citizens.
catclub
@Calouste: Beat me to it. PPACA might bring back a memory of the same effect.
Villago Delenda Est
@Gin & Tonic: The near sheriff thing rears its ugly head for the umpteenth time.
Another Holocene Human
@Calouste: The family needs to sue Kaarma and Pflage for wrongful death. (Talk about ironic names). I hope the German consulate tells them that.
Also, it’s not clear that defense will stand. I guess it depends how “white” a German of Turkish extraction is.
Villago Delenda Est
@Certified Mutant Enemy: The people FDR was saving from tumbrel rides. Ungrateful wretches…their descendants would get no mercy at all from me.
Another Holocene Human
@Gin & Tonic: I’m sad that some bureaucratic dipshits forced the suburbs and the city to merge, making both miserable on tax and transportation issues.
Bill in Section 147
@Omnes Omnibus: I was thinking Nannys or Au Pairs. Kid’s Kastle and Chuckie Cheese also have paid party hostesses. But I suppose it could be strippers.
The Republic of Stupidity
Years ago, there was a very funny (IMHO) teebee show called Celebrity Deathmatch… claymation fiugres fighting to the death… Leonardo DiCaprio v Jack Nicholson… Cyndi Lauper v Bette Midler… as the one MC put, a regular cavalcade of carnage…
Rob Ford versus Justin Bieber?
I’d PAY to see that…
MomSense
I definitely get the presidentin while black aspect of this and that there are so many Americans who don’t know where Ukraine is let alone much about the particulars. I think this issue is different from ACA polling in that health care reform starts out complicated making it much tougher to understand even without all the misinformation and failure of the media to inform and correct lies. How much of the polling disparity on Ukraine is due to the media constantly repeating words like “weak” “naive” , etc.?
Here are the numbers:
74% oppose military option in Ukraine
53% approve of sanctions program
62% oppose arming Ukraine militarily
34% approve of Obama’s handling of Russia/Ukraine situation
ranchandsyrup
A brat addicted to sizzurp taunting the physical embodiment of Chris Farley’s corpse for smoking crack? OK.
Villago Delenda Est
Noisemax provides a glimpse into the twisted minds of the GOP:
Cantor: New Benghazi Email Shatters White House Claims
And all we can do is roll around on the floor laughing.
Villago Delenda Est
@MomSense:
The purpose of the Village is to propagate lies in support of the Rethuglicans.
Omnes Omnibus
@MomSense: People don’t actually know what Obama is doing.
JGabriel
@MomSense:
It’s just another fine example of our national media, particularly its cable and broadcast components, successfully doing the job its conservative owners pay it to do: misinforming the public.
WaterGirl
@Richard Mayhew: Raven would be forever grateful, I’m sure, if you would remove Pat Lang. He’s only been asking for a year.
Mandalay
@Calouste:
Mandalay
@Calouste:
Paul in KY
@Tommy: Have heard he does & actually employs a person whose main job is to roll his blunts.
Another Holocene Human
@mike with a mic: You laugh, and Marion Barry was a straight up crook (for me, the things that stand out were the garbage hauling and rat control failures, stuff even a crook should be on top of, and his lowest-common-denominator-populist ranting about the police–as mayor and their boss), but DC has and had structural problems that were far beyond any DC mayor’s control.
Even my racist mom could see that when we lived in Montgomery County. Between the lack of voting representation in Congress, Congressional interference (incessant, politically motivated, Congressional interference), unpaid bills from the White House and other executive agencies and a Constitutional ban on income tax authority by which to pay such bills, white flight which sapped off the property taxes the District needed to make up the gap and the perverse subsidy scheme by which MD and VA siphon off an extra share of federal dollars and federal offices &cet &cet because so many of the congresscritters live there, it’s shocking that Washington the city functioned at all. The DC area since Barry has been the epicenter of a massive boom which increased population and raised property values in DC, NOVA and MD and there has been a shockingly late and fast reversal of settlement patterns with young, white staffers flooding into parts of the city that tumbleweeds rolled down in the mid 1990s. Things are looking up for DC but the structural problems remain. For example, Congress has set up a situation by which the Roman Catholic Church can extract rents from the District in perpetuity even though they want out of this marriage. They were busted engaging in aggressive proselytizing to homeless clients at a District-funded outreach center and they’ve demanded more and more vouchers for their schools nobody wants to send their kids to.
Yes, Marion Barry was the first to see the potential in charter schools to steal money and reward his buddies, but what’s odd is that after that debacle a bunch of much bigger, richer cities copied the experiment, this time with white mayors which means it would be impolite to suggest they are “tribal leaders” “warlords” or “crooks” as Barry and his cronies were described when they shamelessly steal money for services not provided.
Suffern ACE
@MomSense: Ooh! I have this one! Americans like magic ponies on foreign policy. For instance, they actually destest “foreign aid” on any sort, but get pissed at any country that looks at us askance for begin “ungrateful”, even though they don’t owe us anything because we don’t do anything to make their lives better.
Anyway, the magic pony in this case is “The US needs to stay out of Ukraine and focus on Jobs at Home”. At the same time, voters favor us doing something about Ukraine. Obama is actually doing something (although it is modest), but by doing so, he is focusing on foreign policy and distracted from the “jobs at home” that people think he needs to focus on.
Paul in KY
@MomSense: Everything is being done correctly, with the exception that the President is black.
mike with a mic
@Another Holocene Human:
DC’s boom is entirely related to the war on terror and technology contracting, Barry had fuck all to do with it.
Another Holocene Human
@MomSense: Maybe it’s Green Lanternism. Obama should face down Putin’s eyes and look deep into his soul. Or something.
WaterGirl
P.S. I see that raven was here when you posted your comment and jumped in with his request.
Another Holocene Human
@Mandalay: Forget it, YHBT. Thread about embarrassing Canadian, angry Canuck retaliates by trolling Americans.
Not really holding up that polite, self-effacing, allegedly-superior-beer-mellowed reputation.
johnny aquitard
@MomSense: Because they like what the man has done while president but dislike what he has done while black.
Another Holocene Human
@mike with a mic: Where in my post could you possibly gather the impression that I implied that Marion Barry had something to do with GWB’s massive explosion of government???
Did I not say he had no influence over such things (structural issues)?
I get it. You love to hate Barry. But blaming him for everything wrong with DC is overstating the case. And you yourself acknowledge that what’s going right with the District right now cannot be connected to his absence.
Also. Too.
scav
It really takes magical alogical amathimatical lifting to be aware of stats on human beliefs, knowlege and understanding and then erect an inerrant optimizing economic system upon it relying on perfect information and decision-making. Puts the whole Daddy will Fix It and Knows if You’ve Been Bad theory in a better light — nearly.
Paul in KY
@bemused: Hopefully this Montana POS will get the same verdict. You can’t go shooting someone right off the bat (in your garage) when you have no idea what they are there for.
Belafon
@Punchy: They were speaking Canadian.
mike with a mic
@Another Holocene Human:
He’s not absent. He’s still here causing trouble and fucking shit up.
Gene108
@MomSense:
MSM at work.
Keep trotting out Republicans, who say Obama is showing weakness ‘x’ times per weak and no follow up questions as to what they would do to be “tougher”, people just hear “Obama = weak”, because that is all that is being discussed.
No one outside of the MSM and neo-cons wants troops involved, they just see the US is not “winning”, even though Russia and the US are not playing the same game.
Belafon
The worst part of this whole thing, I found as I was browsing my twitter feed last night, is that it might be distracting William Gibson as he works on his next book.
JGabriel
@Villago Delenda Est:
Dreamy Austrian Guy Ambiguity: Hitler or Hayek?
JGabriel
@Villago Delenda Est:
One of our country’s greater historical mistakes is not carrying out those tumbrel rides anyway.
Lloyd Webber
I hate Justin Bieber a little less after that…sick burn
Paul in KY
@JGabriel: One of the reasons FDR had for trying to stay out of WW II (beyond having US troops die) was that he knew the industrial ramp-up would serve to rehabilitate many capitalists in the eyes of Mr. & Mrs. America.
Belafon
@Another Holocene Human: While he’s staring into his eyes, he can reach down Putin’s throat and pull out his heart. I doubt anyone would complain. Except Republicans.
bemused
@Paul in KY:
The 65 year old guy in MN sure sounds like he was more than a little paranoid. The story of the murders are very disturbing.
That Montana couple sure didn’t consider the consequences of their setup. I can’t imagine how they got the idea that they would suffer no consequences if they killed someone. I read that he told his haircutter that he was planning to kill the burglar(s) and I had to wonder if no one tried to tell him that it was the stupidest idea ever.
shelly
Any incident that starts with ‘ran into pop star Justin Bieber “, is not gonna end well.
Betty Cracker
@The Republic of Stupidity: It would hardly be sporting. Claymation Ford would reduce that lil’ moppet to a Play-Doh smear in a nanosecond…
srv
So when is Rob Ford bringing his show to the US? The Bieber has been kinda boring lately.
Mnemosyne
@bemused:
I’m assuming this is sarcasm, because I can tell you why they thought that in two words: George Zimmermann.
MomSense
Great responses! Thank you to everyone. It is just really frustrating. I think Maddow even said that this is a perfect example of why President’s always go gray so quickly.
JGabriel
@bemused:
When someone brags that they are going to kill, most people will opt for silence. discretion, and/or a mild, “O…kay,” in order to forestall any chance of being put on the target list themselves.
JGabriel
@shelly:
Unless it is immediately preceded by, “Just as I finished loading my machine gun …”
SiubhanDuinne
@Gin & Tonic:
I’m not going to call you any kind of name. As regards Rob Ford, Mel Gibson, and legions of others, I believe that beneath their wealth and prominence and substance abuse and assholish behavior, no matter how reprehensible, they are pained, fearful human beings who need help.
(Except for Dick Cheney.)
Laertes
@bemused:
The people he mostly talks to wouldn’t have thought it was a terrible idea. It’s hard to understand this if you’ve never been close to gun enthusiasts.
I used to run with that crowd. In smallish-town Indiana in the ’80s you got a lot of that. The gun people I knew were a varied lot, about like anybody else. Some were scary idiot thugs. Some were thoroughly decent people. But they all had a few things in common besides their fascination with guns: They were all endlessly fascinated with the circumstances under which the law permitted the use of deadly force, and they all had implausibly broad views of those circumstances.
TL;DR: Gun nuts spend a lot of time priming each other to shoot at the drop of a hat, and to feel justified when they do it.
That’s how you get things like that Minnesota shithead making an audio recording of his double-murder of two teenagers, a recording that sunk him with the jury, and imagining that it would help his case.
These guys do not live in our world.
Kevin
Sigh…that’s my mayor. And honestly, you’d be surprised how people like this guy. It’s a lot of the suburbs, especially Scarborough, which is poorer than the old Toronto. He plays off class resentment (even though he comes from a wealthy family. He’s very Bush-like in that way).
And honestly, a little handshaking and kissing babies seems to go a long way. He’s really good at that kind of politics, makes the locals view him as a real person and love him, no matter what he does.
But honestly, it’s embarrassing. This guy is the mayor of the 4th largest city in North America…really?
JGabriel
@Betty Cracker:
My thought exactly. In order to make the conflict more evenly matched, Ford should enter the Claymation ring with Jonah Goldberg, while Bieber faces off against Charles Krauthammer’s wheelchair.
.
Waynski
@Omnes Omnibus:
In my limited experience with strippers at bachelor parties, they’re often willing to wear both hats for the right price. I did not partake, but there were some party goers who did. It doesn’t mean all strippers are prostitutes, but there’s generally not a bright line there.
auntie beak
@Kevin: don’t feel bad; welcome to the club. i lived in providence, ri, during the cianci years.
CONGRATULATIONS!
That overweight and smoking crack? Everyone should just wait. This is a problem that will sort itself out, via the time-honored tradition of “massive cardiac arrest”.
scav
@CONGRATULATIONS!: BLURP strikes Canada again!
JGabriel
Today’s News In Purity Spiral Brinkmanship, Gun Nut Edition: Bundy Militia Tells Oathkeepers, “I dare ya to draw — draw Mother Fucker I’m gonna kill ya.” War Brewing Among Armed Right-Wing Factions.
I’m hopeful that tomorrow’s headline will be: Karmic Irony Declared Winner.
Kevin
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Hope it doesn’t come to that. Don’t support the guy at all, but he does have young kids. I think many of us have had family or friends with the same problems, seen them go one way or the other, hope for his kids sake he can clean up and live a long life…out of the public eye.
NorthLeft12
Beiber and Ford in the same place? The concentration of entitled stupidity was off the charts for that short period of time.
In Canada we refer to those two as significant outliers. I would like to think there are not many more in that group, but sadly, no.
dmsilev
@JGabriel: So, basically the Bundy nitwits go all Highlander on each other, and when the dust settles, the BLM folks come back and take away the cows.
Fade to black.
bemused
@Mnemosyne:
Yup. Damn I wish there was a handy snark symbol or something instead of /snark. I can’t believe no one has thought up a good one yet.
Roger Moore
@Mandalay:
If he’s guilty of murder, he damn well ought to get special circumstances for lying in wait; it’s hard to see how else you would describe setting out bait, watching through surveillance cameras, and waiting for a target to come along.
Villago Delenda Est
It just keeps getting better. Car thief calls Obama “Nixonian”, from Noisemax:
Issa: Obama’s Benghazi Spin ‘Nixonian’
bemused
@JGabriel:
Gee, who could have predicted, [email protected]Laertes:
I don’t intentionally hang out with any but here in rural/small town MN, we definitely have our share of them. I just read a letter to ed from a guy that I’m pretty sure I went to school with who is a Bundy supporter and ranted that Franken hasn’t said a word in defense of Bundy and militia maniacs.
Paul in KY
@bemused: Either they thought he was all talk & no action or they think burglarers should be killed. I have been ripped off & I hate the thieving fucks, but killing them is a little harsh for the crime.
Amir Khalid
@Villago Delenda Est:
Given that Nixon was a Republican, I’m not quite sure whether this is praise or a putdown.
Roger Moore
@Belafon:
He’ll need a microscope to find it.
Villago Delenda Est
@JGabriel: I wanted to avoid the obvious Godwin thing…
srv
@JGabriel: The militia is calling them “Hoax Keepers” now.
Anywhere I can rent a drone to do a flyover?
The Thin Black Duke
@Roger Moore: Although I should know better, I can’t help but wonder was there ever a point during the deductive process of this murderous dirtbag’s Master Plan did he stop–even for a second–and say to himself, “Y’know, this really might not be a good idea”?
Roger Moore
@bemused:
Do you really want to contradict the guy? And even if somebody told him that, do you think he’s listen?
bemused
@Paul in KY:
It’s astonishing that they don’t stop to think what happens to them after they do kill the burglar or whoever has done something to them. Do they expect an appreciation parade down main street?
Roger Moore
@JGabriel:
“Gunned his engine…” seems like another promising start to the sentence.
Roger Moore
@JGabriel:
One more reason for the feds to wait them out.
Villago Delenda Est
@Roger Moore: “What was that bump I just felt?”
Roger Moore
@bemused:
Isn’t the traditional one “;-)”.
Villago Delenda Est
@bemused: These people NEVER think though the consequences of their actions. They get all their ideas from Hollywood entertainment, in which the story is wrapped up by the end credits.
bemused
@Roger Moore:
Sigh, probably not. The haircutter or anyone else he told his plans are now likely saying they didn’t take him seriously and are so shocked because it was out of character for a regular guy.
bemused
@Villago Delenda Est:
And Rush, Fox, tea party, etc, etc.
different-church-lady
The Twitters claims another victim.
At some point people are going to wake up and realize Twitter was the greatest miscommunication tool ever invented.
bemused
@Roger Moore:
Is that the most common? I think a snark symbol should be more distinctive, more snarky looking if that makes any sense.
raven
@bemused: “stylist”
SatanicPanic
@bemused: Probably a sociopath who just doesn’t care one way or the other. Killing someone is its own reward.
ETA- I know a dude who I strongly suspect is the same way. He bought a gun about a year ago and hasn’t shot anyone… yet. One time he was talking about why he bought it and said “if someone tries to steal my car I’ll shoot em” HIS CAR. I gently tried to point out that this is gonna get him sent to jail. One of his favorite videos was that one of Korean shop owners shooting at looters during the LA riots.
Roger Moore
@bemused:
That’s more reasonable than you think. There are a lot more people who fantasize about this kind of thing and are willing to share their fantasies than there are idiots who would actually try it. If I heard somebody talking about this kind of thing, I would probably assume they were just blowing off steam unless they told me details about steps they had taken on their plan. This is about the same principle as the legal rule that actions don’t constitute conspiracy until they progress beyond talk and into action.
Belafon
So, liberals are gay bashing a GOP candidate. Is it because we’re wondering what the hell he’s doing in the party that doesn’t want him?
ETA: That’s the newsmax headline anyway, that a gay GOP candidate is being bashed by liberals.
scav
@The Thin Black Duke: Might have been too busy typing up how the slut set him up! re: Sterling (or equivalent), that or overworked complaining about jack-booted govt stings and gotcha! questions to Wasilla grifters to think about such trivialities. Grumbling about he had to set up his own bait and pins for his bulletball games (the scoring is remarkably like bowling).
NonyNony
@different-church-lady:
“I’ve devised a communications medium where you can only communicate in 140 character strings of text with no real context. What could possibly go wrong?”
(Though I will say – in the case that you provided that just seems like bone-stupid communications error 101 material. Perhaps Twitter facilitated it with its shortened “communication via bumpersticker” format, but I could just as easily see a line like that making its way into a press release and getting blowback. The difference being that there probably would have been six different people who had to sign off on the press release before it got posted and hopefully at least one of them would have said “uh… no”.)
Bob In Portland
Because this will really rally the boys on the home front.
bemused
@Roger Moore:
True. It’s hard for more rational people to believe the fantasizer is serious unless he talks about it more often than once or twice.
I wonder if the Montana couple would have gone this far before all the gun nut rhetoric got so prolific in recent years.
NonyNony
@JGabriel:
Hoocodaknowed that if you get a bunch of Red Dawn LARPers with live weapons all in one place they would argue about the rules of the game?
Somebody needs to put out some Red Dawn LARP rulebooks, so that everyone from every faction knows exactly how the game is supposed to be played and we can avoid dustups like this.
(“Nonono … it says that if there’s an unsupported rumor of a Federal Drone Strike you’re supposed to make a morale check. With a bonus based on the number of guns in your arsenal divided by the number of people in your faction. You guys should have had a +4 bonus on that check easily – no need to run and hide!” “But you’re forgetting we’re from the Oathkeepers faction, and so we take a -4 dramatic irony penalty when asked to keep a promise! We totally need to run here – it’s completely in character!”)
Belafon
@different-church-lady: It’s not twitter. Things would slip through before, or people would say stupid things at the wrong time. If this hadn’t gone out through Twitter, it would have gone out through official email.
Kerry’s statement about Israel, though not as bad as some want to make it out to be, didn’t go out through twitter. Neither did Romney’s comment about the 47%.
Roger Moore
@NonyNony:
The problem with Twitter is not the size of the messages but the immediacy of the format. You can squeeze a lot into 140 characters if you think it through, but people aren’t doing so. They’re focusing on speed instead of content.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@SatanicPanic: A good friend of mine is a public defender. I had to have her explain to my mother what would happen, under California law, if she shot anyone who was not provably trying to kill her.
She still does not and will not believe that she could even be indicted. She thinks because she’s 70, white, and female that she’s going to get a pass. She grew up in the South, and it’s a testament to just how effective that conditioning is that she’s lived here now for 50 years and doesn’t understand that in California, if you use a gun for any reason including that of saving your own life you are getting arrested and going to jail, period, and unless you have an ironclad reason you are going to a long and expensive trial.
California legal history is replete with convictions of those who thought the same.
Cacti
@Bob In Portland:
Any word on when the brave anti-fascists of eastern Ukraine are going to stop abducting and assaulting journalists?
soonergrunt (mobile)
@NonyNony: where would you like your internets delivered?
JGabriel
kindness
@CONGRATULATIONS!: That’s bullshit. Depends where you live and much of California is fairly conservative. Like where I live.
SatanicPanic
@CONGRATULATIONS!: This dude is neither white nor from the south. I don’t know where he gets his ideas, but I think it’s the gunz youtube vids. He also believes in chem-trails and that the moon landing was faked, so you know, that’s what a Youtube education will get you.
Randy P
@Belafon: Because Republican politicians are never criticized by liberals for their political views
bemused
@JGabriel:
Stylish.
Gin & Tonic
@Cacti: St. Petersburg, Russia, today.
Randy P
@mike with a mic: Old DC joke:
What do you call Marion Barry’s snow removal plan?
“Spring”
I’m still using that variants of one, every time there’s a dusting of snow that doesn’t seem worth shoveling.
jl
@CONGRATULATIONS!: I should probably let one of them BJ lawyers answer, but I think what would happen in California was hashed over a while back wrt stand your ground, reasonable cause for use of force, etc.
From links commenters provided and IIRC some lawyers talking lawyer talk, California is technically a stand your ground state, with no duty to retreat, but the standard for use of force is what a reasonable person would do, not whatever fears or notions pop up in the shooters head, or he claims popped up in his head, at the time. So, even if the car was on the guy’s property, and someone tried to steal it, and the guy just shot him, he would have to convice a jury in California that his use of force was something a reasonable person in the community would consider necessary to protect himself.
So, I am guessing in California, the guy would almost always end up being convicted of some kind of homicide.
NonyNony
@Randy P:
I actually got out of the boat, clicked the Newsmax link, and read the page. Here’s the first line from the article:
I had to check the URL a few times, because it really reads like the start of an Onion piece, doesn’t it?
“How dare those liberals attack you because you’re a Republican? Have they no shame? What is this world coming to where liberals would attack a conservative for being a conservative?”
(He alleges that someone has photoshopped pictures of him standing next to a drag queen. If someone did that and thought it was an attack that’s stupid and said person should be called out for their intolerance and, frankly, their idiocy in thinking that anyone in this day and age cares if somebody is standing next to a drag queen. Of course they don’t say what the ad was or who put it out there or what the context in it was, so who knows what the real story is. The rest of the article is literally him complaining because he’s being attacked from the left for being a Republican. He even says that they’re using ” a standard set of talking point to demonize the Republican Party”. What the hell does he want from liberals?)
Gin & Tonic
@Cacti: The brave anti-fascists of eastern Ukraine. Wearing military uniforms with Russian insignia.
Schlemizel
@NonyNony:
Actually if I were running against him on the R side that is just one of many images I would like to see floating around. I doubt it would hurt him with liberals but may would it kill him in the primary!
Paul in KY
@Belafon: Don’t read the Newsmax headlines. It is time wasted that you’ll never get back.
Paul in KY
@NonyNony: Ha, ha!! Good one.
jl
@NonyNony:
” Carl DeMaio, an openly gay candidate for California’s 52nd Congressional District, says liberals have been trashing him simply because he’s a Republican. ”
I’m not going over to Newsmax, but I don’t see how the GOPer candidate’s complaints add up.
He’s openly gay. But he is a victim of unfair and hypocritical attacks because they are attacking ‘simply because he is a Republican’.? That sounds like a political campaign to me.
I think attacking the guy for being gay AND being a Republican is legitimate issue, given the GOP’s hostility to civil rights for a variety of groups. But that angle has to be approached intelligently and could easily edge over into implicit attacks on him for simply being gay.
Was he attacked for simply being gay or not?
I agree that if someone is spreading around faked up photos and documents to sensationalize his sexual preference, that those responsible should knock it off, and if they are part of Democratic campaign, should be identified and should face some consequences.
different-church-lady
@NonyNony:
DING! You get it. It’s not just the brevity that trips people up, it’s the expectation of immediacy — if it doesn’t go out instantly it’s not Twitter. Think twice or review simply isn’t part of the value system.
NonyNony
@Schlemizel:
IIRC, doesn’t California have a “top N candidates go onto the final election, regardless of party” primary system?
Checking Wikipedia suggests that I remembered correctly:
via
So, yeah. I can see why he’d be worried, since attacks from the left about him being a gay Republican are stacked up with attacks from the right about him being a gay Republican. Both sides have incentive to depress his vote totals.
(But checking in it appears that there’s only one Democrat in this race, and all of the rest of his opposition is Republican. I can only think that Newsmax thought that having a headline that included the words “gay”, “bashing” and “Republican” in an order that is not typically expected drove the decision to write a story up about it. In sort of a “dog bites man isn’t news but man bites dog is news” sort of way.)
Belafon
@Paul in KY: If I wasn’t at work, I would have clicked on the story. But it’s sometimes fun trying to figure out what the real story is knowing how much Newsmax likes to skew the headline.
NonyNony
@jl:
From what I can piece together I think his real complaint is that gay liberals are calling him an asshole because he’s both gay and a Republican. And this upsets him because he thinks it’s unfair to tar his well-thought out and perfectly reasonable economic policy reasons for being a Republican with their “social issues” that aren’t nearly as important as his
tax cutswell-thought out and perfectly reasonable economic policies.I think he’s missing the fact that gay liberals would still be calling him an asshole if he weren’t gay. They just wouldn’t be running ads saying “if you care about gay rights don’t vote for this jackass even though he’s gay – he’s still part of the party that wants gay people to be second class citizens”.
SatanicPanic
@jl: Anymore I kind of feel like calling people out for their contradictions is a waste of time. “Uncle Tom” “Macaroon” etc. I mean, people are born what they are, it’s not really fair to box them in to prioritizing their gender/orientation/race over what they themselves think is important in life. If some dude’s greatest goal is high-fives from bigots, then fuck it, it’s a free country. Who am I to judge?
I’m still going to call out their policies for being stupid.
Chyron HR
@NonyNony:
A thrilling story from the case files of No Shit Sherlock.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@NonyNony: Ahh, Carl. We here in San Diego just can’t get rid of the guy even though nobody wants him. His billionaire bankroller Doug Manchester keeps him in the game even though he doesn’t poll that well anymore.
The photoshop was done by one of his REPUBLICAN primary opponents.
Also, as regards San Diego politics:
Gotta thank everyone for their righteous takedown of Bob Filner. First Dem mayor San Diego has had for more than 40 years, and he’ll be the last for another 40. Labor’s last hope in this town (he really was, fought like mad until his last day to keep public unions from bearing the brunt of the upcoming budget cuts.) Well, that’s done.
Hope the feeling of righteous indignation was worth it. From where I sit, not so much.
Lee
OT: Looks like Bethany is listed as one of the 55 colleges under investigation for the way they handle sexual assault cases.
From this article.
I was checking to see if my alma mater was listed (very surprised that it is not) and noticed the person who owns Steve’s house employer is listed.
Bob In Portland
Well, the fascists in Lviv and Kiev have been beating up reporters, tearing up political offices of their opponents and attacking people on the street, to include folks in Maidan Square.
So if you’re talking about the guy from VICE, I didn’t see any sign of bruises.
Maybe you mean the busload of military officers from NATO. No proof that they were beaten up. But it leads to another question. If the “terrorists” of eastern Ukraine were so dangerous, what idiot would send a busload of NATO officers into their controlled territory? So it’s either a sign that NATO is incompetent, or it was the beginning of a provocation. By the way, the federalists want a prisoner exchange, because, believe or not, the fascists in the west have been taking prisoners. Dissenters, you know, who don’t recognize the coup government.
Maybe the little old ladies ladling the soup to defecting military in Donetsk are the reason for the Kiev to institute a draft.
Is Robert Parry a Kremlin stooge?
SatanicPanic
@CONGRATULATIONS!: How would you suggest we handled Filner?
Belafon
@SatanicPanic: I can see your argument, but wouldn’t the contradictions contribute to their stupid policies? If the true fanatics in the Republican party got their way, he would be worrying more about his life than his tax rate.
Paul in KY
@Belafon: That does sound like a thought exercise. Read on, my friend!
jl
@NonyNony: If its gay rights activists doing the political attacking, then I think it is reasonable to assume that they are concerned about the, let us say, possible tension, that exists between the guy’s sexual preference and the GOP’s bigotry, because civil rights is an important issue for them.
It’s a delicate issue. I am a hetero guy, and people from my group would have to be vary careful about that kind of attack.
But, if the GOPer wants to run around whining that it is unfair that gay rights community is attacking him for bring gay and belonging to a political party that hates equal rights for gays, I certainly think that is OK. Let him proceed. Hard for me to be objective, since I think that hurts this GOPer in the campaign.
CA 52, IIRC, is around UC San Diego in moderatly high and some very high income northern San Diego county. Red district with a history of electing white collar criminal type GOPers, but is getting bluer. Will be interesting to see what happens. My hunch is lots of GOPers there are liberal on social issues, and bottom line, most do not give a **** about being gay or not.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@SatanicPanic: Just like the Republicans handled Vitter or Craig; ignore it and do nothing.
Saddest thing of all is that it was one of own who was pissed that she didn’t get the crown, and did him in just for spite. The local GOP was…eager to help, shall we say.
@jl: It got redrawn. It’s as blue as it is going to get for a while, and that just hasn’t been enough to get a challenger over the edge.
SatanicPanic
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Neither of those guys were assaulting people
PIGL
@Roger Moore: A microscope. And a pair of tweezers.
PIGL
@Roger Moore: A microscope. And a pair of tweezers.
SatanicPanic
@Belafon: I know. I’m not arguing that they should prioritize tax cuts or whatever other reason they join the Republicans, I just don’t see much value in calling them out for those reasons, i.e. “you’re betraying the cause.” I mean, there’s a case to be made that they don’t get to choose their cause, the cause chose them, but I think that turns people off.
scav
Photohopped pictures in Politics!? Oh the sweet dear. No doubt he thinks the President keeps his nose bone next to his plaid metrosexual jammies and mom jeans.
Mild giggle too in watching Clarkson beg and squirm yet again over something he totally didn’t say and totally didn’t mean. He’s so low rent.
I should probably feel more ashamed at him walking into rake after rake.
Gin & Tonic
@Bob In Portland: Is Robert Parry a Kremlin stooge?
I don’t know. Is he?
My problem with him, as I have pointed out before, is that he gives no indication of ever having been in Ukraine (or Russia, for that matter) or of having a reading knowledge of Russian (or Ukrainian), or of having any sources on the ground in Ukraine. I contrast that with the dozens of well-placed American, British, German, Ukrainian and Russian journalists who are all over the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv oblasts, posting multiple updates daily (sometimes multiple updates hourly) on Twitter, posting longer-form articles in Ukrainska Pravda, or Novosti Donbassa, or the Telegraph, or BuzzFeed (yes, really, Max Seddon is very good), or Vice, or Global Post, or numerous other sources.
Maybe they are all CIA stooges and Parry is the one candle in the darkness. Probabilities dictate otherwise. Try reading some other perspectives for a change.
Oh, and links, please, to the journalists beaten up by pro-Ukrainians in Lviv?
Villago Delenda Est
@Bob In Portland:
Dunno.
But know with certainty that you are, Gospodin Romanov.
brettvk
@CONGRATULATIONS!: We can’t do that, because we’re supposed to be the good guys, the ones that don’t lie to protect our side. The GOP can protect shitstains like Vitter because a) it’s Louisiana and b) they don’t have ethics, that’s why they’re Republicans. Besides that, Democrats can’t alienate women voters for the same reason that they can’t field racist candidates. FFS.
Schlemizel
@SatanicPanic:
Yeah, I’m sort of having a hard time thinking I want to support a serial sexual assault artist. The GOP tried to paint Clinton with the brush & failed miserably because he was not one but Filner was not your run of the mill hound dog.
Villago Delenda Est
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Um, Democrats do not just ignore sexual assaulting assholes in our midst. We are not Rethugs.
Schlemizel
@scav:
Clarkson is unreformed scum, its not just the character he plays. How long before he claims its the Americans fault because he didn’t even know that was a slur he most certainly didn’t sat, that was meant to be funny until the Americans complained.
Bloody wogs!
CONGRATULATIONS!
@SatanicPanic: Plenty of elected GOP candidates have. This was manageable, but as usual, the lure of being on the right side of the purity purge was just too strong for Democrats to resist. I swear, we are the easiest people in the world to play. If the GOP would get a little less hamfisted and try just a touch more subtlety we’d be truly screwed. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anytime soon but I live in fear of the day it does.
Are you local, BTW?
Schlemizel
@NonyNony:
I just don’t see this as a successful attack vector from a Dem. If there are a bunch of goopers it would be much more helpful to them than to the lone Dem in the crowd.
Long Tooth
Like most people, I would probably enjoy watching Beiber get punched in the mouth. But that was a funny question to ask that clown, made funnier because it pissed Ford off. Way to go, kid. Now get lost.
The Thin Black Duke
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Wait a minute–this guy you’re talking about, he sexually assaulted women and it’s supposed to be O.K.? Is that what you’re saying?
CONGRATULATIONS!
I’ll make my stance clear since a lot of you seem to object: winning is all that matters. Losing with grace/decency is losing.
The winners call the shots in this society and the losers whine. You want progressivism? Income equality? Single-payer? Lowered defense budgets? Better start winning.
You don’t have these things because Democrats and liberals keep losing, playing on a field where only one team is willing to observe the rules.
SatanicPanic
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Local. There was a half dozen women coming out against him, that we know of. I was a big supporter, but I’m not willing to ask all the women he encounters to take one for the team. These were serious crimes he committed.
Amir Khalid
@scav:
you mean, Clarkson as in Jeremy, of Top Gear? Yes, he’s really stepped in it this time, hasn’t he?
The Thin Black Duke
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Uh, I’m not that aware of the situation, so could you please answer my question: did this guy sexually assault women? And is rape supposed to be acceptable collateral damage now?
jl
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Filner was totally out of control. I don’t think he is a typical of anything or anybody. Including Craig toe tapping in men’s bathrooms or bringing bright handsome young entrepreneurs home for the evening.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@SatanicPanic: I was. I’m sure some of Frye’s lynch mob were truthful, and the guy is scum. But scum is the only kind of person that does well at politics, and I thought it was worth it.
But that’s me. North County here, so at least when the actual city declares bankruptcy to fuck over all the union retirees I won’t have to pay for it. Seems a shame, though.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@The Thin Black Duke: That’s painfully obvious.
I don’t know. He was never tried. Quite a few of them had reason to lie. Some did not. I wasn’t there and there was a disturbing lack of witnesses. Just seven people with what seemed to me to be a scripted, identical accusation.
No allegations of rape were ever made. See my response to your admission that you are not that aware of the situation.
Yet you are totally willing to accuse this guy of rape.
scav
@Amir Khalid: Yup. Turbo-rake.
Cacti
@Bob In Portland:
So if you’re talking about the guy from VICE, I didn’t see any sign of bruises.
Of course you didn’t, BIP.
Ostrovsky was “lucky” that his anti-fascist captors only handcuffed, blindfolded him and beat him.
Others haven’t been so fortunate.
Also too, perhaps you could enlighten us all on how progressive and anti-fascist the new internet censorship laws are that were recently passed in Moscow?
Tommy
I hope in no world is it acceptable. My mom spends most of her adult life working on women issues. Back in the 70s she started it. Cause I love my mom (and women in general), I think about this topic all the time.
PaulW
When Beiber is trashing YOU… and getting away with it, you are well and truly f-cked.
Schlemizel
@Amir Khalid:
Yeah, that guy. My son enjoys the show so I have seen it several times and I get the charm, it can be very entertaining. But there is a not thinly veiled frosting of jingoism and racism that seeps through pretty clearly. Like all ‘reality’ programing, the performers play a character and the producers uses those characters to maximize viewership (think pro wrestling, some guys play bad guys others good guys but they are all playing a script to maximize attendance). Clarkson is the ‘bad guy’ character on the show, though bad boy is closer since its all done with a bit of a wink and a nod, “hes not really bad just mischievous”. But the ugly keeps popping up from the show and is often spearheaded by Clarkson. If he had producers and directors who did not agree & had some sense of propriety and decency many things they have on, like the slope joke or nigger, would have been cut & he would have been admonished. But they don’t see a problem with it.
The Thin Black Duke
Well, it’s difficult to learn more about the situation when you refuse to clearly answer my question and respond instead with the smug rationalizations or cowardly evade what it is you’re trying to say. Accusing these women of being a “lynch mob” just because you’re a loyal member of this guy’s fan club ain’t no different than saying, “The bitches set me up”. No, what’s disturbing me is when I’m reading between the lines of your sexist bullshit what your hateful nonsense translates as is: “Yeah, he beat up on women–so what? He’s a winner, and that’s the type of politician the Democratic Party needs.” Jesus, dude, don’t you know how fucking sick that sounds?
jl
@Tommy:
” And is rape supposed to be acceptable collateral damage now? ”
This is about Filner? I don’t think Filner was accused of rape. He was accused of, and admitted to, numerous instances of sexual harassment and assault. Not sure ALL of the women accusing him were on the level, but that is the problem when there are so many who are accusing you who ARE on the level, and you have to admit to way too many assaults to continue in office.
Filner had (I hope ‘had’ is the correct word now) a big problem and had to go.
Of course, his predecessors, and other officeholders in the area, have had big problems of their own, which in their own ways were just as serious, but less sensational.
SatanicPanic
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
Yes he was. He pled guilty to one felony count of false imprisonment and two misdemeanor battery charges. Look, I’m willing to accept some eggs being broken to make omelets, but this is not stuff between consenting adults nor is it your run-of-the-mill questionable ethics. If I had known what kind of guy he was I would have voted for Fletcher or even DeMaio.
EDIT- and seriously, going after Frye? She’s one of the best people we have in this town.
The Thin Black Duke
Oh, and I’m sorry for mistakenly accusing this guy Filner of rape. I was wrong. He just beats up on women, so that’s O.K.
scav
@Schlemizel: He’s also been pretty much smugly unpalatable on QI and the shows where I have had the misfortune of running across him. Useful in at least I’ve a handy mental prototype for when Brits call someone a bell-end.
SatanicPanic
@The Thin Black Duke: He was groping them and kissing them against their will. And making suggestive comments like “you should come to work with no panties”. His ex-fiancée accused him of verbal abuse. So maybe not beating or raping, but well beyond what I’m willing to tolerate. I can’t remember if I signed his recall petition or not, but I certainly would have.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@The Thin Black Duke: When we can afford to lose, I’ll change my attitude.
Not a member of his fan club; couldn’t even vote for him. I’m several cities up the coast. But I know when a guy gets set up and shivved by one of his own, and that’s exactly what happened here. Sorry it doesn’t fit your narrative.
Schwarzenegger did everything Filner did and worse, and was governor of the state for 12 years. No one said a word. Filner’s in office for less than six months and his own party pulls the knives and fillets him in public. Are you truly so dense that you do not see the problem here?
@SatanicPanic: If you consider a power-mad wannabe kingmaker who is perfectly content to have the Democratic party be a permanent minority in this town “one of the best we have”, well, I’m beginning to see why our politics is in the state it’s in.
Mnemosyne
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
And progressive men wonder why progressive women assume that they’ll be sold out at the first possible chance.
Thank you for making it clear that, for you, women are disposable.
Cacti
A short list of some of the anti-fascist activities of BIP’s brave “dissidents” during the month of April:
April 16 – Serhiy Lefter, a 22 year old Ukrainian journalist, was abducted by separatist forces and has not been heard from since.
April 18 – Freddie Paxton, cameraman for Vice, attacked by separatists and his video equipment vandalized during coverage of a demonstration
April 19 – Simon Ostrovsky, reporter for Vice, abducted by separatist forces, bound and beaten, released after 5-days.
April 20 – Irma Krat, 29 year old Ukrainian journalist, abducted by separatist forces for “war crimes”. Last seen in a video produced by her captors and released to the Russian internet channel Life News.
April 21 – Dmitry Galko (Belarus), Paul Gogo (France), and Cosimo Attanasio (Italy), were detained by masked gunmen and released after having their money, AV equipment, and identity documents stolen.
April 22 – Yehven Hapych, Ukrainian journalist, disappeared about 30 miles outside of Slovyansk and has not been seen since. Separatist spokesperson Stella Khoraeva suggests that he was abducted at a checkpoint in Artemivsk for his “incorrect way” of reporting separtist activities.
Hooray anti-fascism!
Schlemizel
@scav:
Never heard the term “bell-end” before – google here I come!
The Thin Black Duke
@Mnemosyne: Thank you for saying it better than I was able to. Then again, I’m “dense”. Full Frontal White Male Privilege is ugly, isn’t it?
SatanicPanic
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Democrats are not a permanent minority in this town. Look at our representatives. We’re very close to a majority on the council and if it weren’t for Filner we’d have the mayoralty. Dude, no one made him commit a felony. That was all on him.
Mandalay
@Schlemizel:
You are right, but It’s actually far worse than that; Clarkson is obviously encouraged to be “edgy” in the name of ratings.
Like Sterling, Clarkson is a well known racist, and has been for a very long time, but since Clarkson’s show pulls in megabucks the BBC has just looked the other way. That will surely change now.
Roger Moore
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
If your bench is so thin that you can’t afford to throw a creep like Filner under the bus, your problems are systemic rather than limited to the single case. San Diego needs a functioning Democratic party, and they aren’t going to get there by supporting a politician accused of repeated sexual harassment and occasional stuff that’s worse, at least not if they want women to vote for them.
The worst allegations about Schwarzenegger didn’t come out until after his term was over, which makes a big difference. People were more than happy to throw stones once they knew about it. And, FWIW, he was only Governator for about 7 years; you aren’t doing your credibility any favors by getting such basic facts wrong.
Amir Khalid
@Schlemizel:
It’s really quite simple. What’s at the end of a bell? The clapper. What’s at the end of the clapper? A knob. And “knob” is British slang for a pee-pee i.e. James May is calling Clarkson a dick.
Amir Khalid
Please to liberate my comment from moderation?
Patricia Kayden
@Kevin: I cannot imagine that he won’t be forced to step down given this latest meltdown. He needs to get treatment and stay out of the public eye.
Amir Khalid
@Schlemizel:
I got moderated for answering your query about the term “bell-end” a little too explicitly. Here’s my answer again, without what must be the offending word:
At the end of a bell is the clapper. At the end of the clapper is a knob. “Knob” is one British slang word for the male appendage.
Bob In Portland
@Gin & Tonic: You’re not referring to the story that the NY Times had to retract, are you? Maybe other Russian soldiers someplace else.
Well, now that the little old ladies ladling soup for the defecting soldiers have defeated Kiev’s best do you support a return to the draft for Ukrainians?
Would you oppose sitting down and talking with the ethnic Russians for what they want? Or just kill them?
Mnemosyne
@Bob In Portland:
Wow. I didn’t think I could be more embarrassed for you, and yet I am.
Gin & Tonic
@Bob In Portland: You’re not referring to the story that the NY Times had to retract, are you?
You see how, in the comment of mine you’re quoting from, some of the letters are black, and other letters are blue? If you move your mouse pointer over the blue letters and click the mouse button (or left mouse button, depending), then your browser will automatically take you to the source I am referring to and you can see for yourself what I am referring to. This is what’s called a “hyperlink.” I provide those fairly often, so that people here who are interested in the subjects I write about can see for themselves what the sources are saying.