Note from commentor Max:
We need a cat picture so I’m offering up this one.
This is Cicero demonstrating his level of enthusiasm after I told him Jay Nixon was a considered a serious VP possibility in 2016.
I figure he’s that enthusiastic because he hasn’t been teargassed yet.
***********
Apart from being grateful for our animal companions, what’s on the agenda for the day?
NotMax
No companions, but certainly grateful to the animal who supplied the parts I ate tonight.
JPL
Although I mentioned this below, the local news media is airing a segment about Know Your Rights if a police officer stops you. Just remember to not run, be polite and ask if you are free to go. It sounds more like a segment on how to stay alive. Last night several of the news media discovered what it was like to be tear gassed. They are not happy.
NotMax
@JPL
The ACLU has long provided free info about that: Link 1 – Link 2.
RPh
Did you know that if “The Grapes of Wrath” were written today the antagonist would be Obama? And that guys who run orchards heroically defend their migrant workers from unions? According to the World Service the answers are “Yes!”
Hear here: Grapes of Wrath Revisited
raven
@JPL: Damn, 99 coming up at weeks end.
JPL
@raven: Summer has arrived.
raven
@JPL: Just in time for UGA-Clemson!
tybee
my agenda involves a series of aspirins all day.
i fought the rocks and the rocks won.
raven
@tybee: Jetty?
raven
@tybee: Killer Whale tosses a sea lion.
Comrade Jake
@JPL: ever check out the “am I being detained?” Videos on YouTube? The stuff at the border is fascinating to me.
JPL
Manziel seemed contrite after giving the finger to the opposing team.
Cry me a river. I hope he starts against the Steelers.
raven
@JPL: He ain’t seen shit yet.
Keith G
@raven: Only mid 90s here, with a feels like at 105. That is why right now at 5:00 local time I’m putting on my shoes and shorts to go to the high school track and put my time in.
JPL
@Comrade Jake: Do you have a link? I find it interesting that local stations are discussing what not to do when confronted by a police officer.
raven
@Keith G: Yup, it’s our walk time but I gotta go on the road today so the lady and the pups are on their own today.
tybee
@raven:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24AYyd1HbH8
Comrade Jake
@JPL:
Try this:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V8U4Qn6iIIg
hidflect
@NotMax: So what does Panda Bear taste like?
Shalimar
Scarborough just referred to Capt. Ron Johnson as a “son of Ferguson.” I don’t ever recall hearing that phrase used to mean “black guy who lives in a nearby town.”
raven
@tybee: Dang. I was doing section 4 of the Chattooga years back. I was on the back right side when we hit the first rapid and the butterfly ass guide got shot straight up in the air and came down with his knee in the middle of my thigh. I had a hematoma that turned my whole leg black for weeks.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Same here. I am supposed to go floating on the Meramec Sat. I think I will spend more time floating in it.
raven
@Shalimar: He’s also defending Obama.
NickM
Feeling very sad. We’re putting our 18y.o. cat to sleep today. She’s just not doing well. She was the sweetest cat – make that being – I think I’ve known. My 6 y.o. Daughter, who despite her own sweet nature has trouble making friends, was crying last night when we told her. She said, “Maggie is the only friend that never ditches me.” My heart is broken today.
JPL
@Comrade Jake: That’s not what the local news said.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: I once fished Lake Wappapello!!
raven
@NickM: Aw damn, that’s especially tough.
NickM
Sorry for the downer but I figured the folks here would understand.
Shalimar
@raven: He clearly intended the “son of Ferguson” thing to be a compliment. Just noting that even in his reasonable moments, subconscious racism creeps through.
raven
@Shalimar: Yea and I saw a twitter by a brother complaining abut Johnson being paraded like some kind of “Negro whisperer”.
OzarkHillbilly
@NickM:
Thanx. A lot. Now my heart is broken. Give her an extra big hug for me.
JPL
@Comrade Jake: Call me a wimp but there is no way that I would do that,
It was interesting though.
JPL
@NickM: It is so difficult to say goodbye but it seems that you are doing the right thing. Give tons of balloon juice hugs to your daughter.
Comrade Jake
@JPL: I don’t think it’s generally a good idea to antagonize police, but it is interesting to know what’s required by law. I think we all have a tendency to listen to authority and just take it for granted that if police are asking for this or that, we have an obligation to answer them. Not so much, as it turns out.
OzarkHillbilly
@Comrade Jake: @JPL: As a STL city cop once said to a white boy from west county who tried to “assert his rights” in the middle of a near riot, “You have the right to do what I tell you!”
Situational awareness. Get some.
gogol's wife
@NickM:
I’m so sorry.
Valdivia
@NickM: so sorry to hear that. Sending hugs.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: @Comrade Jake: Just to clarify, I don’t mean you guys, I mean people in general.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: Thanks but I sorta figured that.
Comrade Jake
@OzarkHillbilly: I think there may be conditions where that is legitimately true, and a riot might just be one, where public safety trumps almost everything.
OzarkHillbilly
@Comrade Jake: I almost got caught in a riot once at a Fat Tuesday parade. Things were getting hinky and I didn’t like the vibe and just started walking. Then the cops moved in. I looked over my shoulder and watched for about 30 secs or so. Ugly.
satby
@NickM: oh, NickM, so sorry. You gave your old girl a good long life. It’s heartbreaking for kids though, when their lifelong companion goes. Condolences.
Betty Cracker
@ Max / Anne Laurie: That is a good looking cat.
@JPL: To Johnny, it’s always all about Johnny.
@NickM: Damn. I am sorry. Sorry for your daughter too. Let her pick out a kitten?
NickM
Thanks everyone for the kind words. We will get my daughter a cat, probably in a few months. I hope we can find one even half as sweet and happy to cuddle as Maggie. She really was a good friend.
Southern Beale
Starting to look like that Helen, GA accidental shooting might not have been so accidental.
Either way, this isn’t good for the Georgia “Guns Everywhere” brigade. Either liberal gun laws are being used to perpetrate hate crimes, or they’re making people vulnerable to accidents. Neither scenario is good.
Southern Beale
@RPh:
That’s …. that’s … sacrilege!!!! John Steinbeck is fucking ROLLING in his grave.
I always thought if Grapes Of Wrath were published today there’d be a flotilla of phony-baloeny front groups funded by Del Monte, Cargill, Monsanto, etc. and disguised as “worker’s rights” groups (think “The Center For Consumer Freedom“), all set up to organize a massive national astroturf PR campaign. Their “experts” would be trotted out on Fox News and be quoted in NYT and WaPo columns by Ross Douthat and George Will. You know the drill. And then a magnificent piece of American Literature would suddenly be relegated to “lefty fringe” status, with school boards banning the book from English classes, etc. etc.
I hate the way this country refuses to tackle the hard stuff, instead preferring to attach a political label to it so we can all divest ourselves of responsibility.
Keith G
@Shalimar:
I would not miss that former Congressperson were he to disappear forever.
In public comments yesterday at the Greater Grace Church, Capt. Ron Johnson said, “…This is my neighborhood. You are my family. You are my friends, and I am you….” So maybe the morning host was just riffing on that.
maurinsky
That’s a beautiful cat. My cat Casimir died last year – cancer – and we buried him in the backyard. I had a moment of severe WTF! last week when I was doing dishes and out of the corner of my eye I saw a black & white cat (Cas was black and white) standing right on top of his grave. A closer look revealed it was not the ghost of Casimir, just a cat wandering around. Gave me a fright, though.
Cheryl from Maryland
@JPL: Post Game Interviews even had RGIII asked what he thought of Manziel. RGIII did give a gracious answer.
@NickM: Don’t feel bad about sharing.
Keith G
@Southern Beale:
The political power of the shortsightedly comfortable.
When they get to where they want to be, they are not a fan of the boat being rocked. Positions become entrenched and defenses built up. Contrary information is not allowed. More or less, it happens everywhere. That’s why our Founders designed the government that they did. Not fans of the rabble, them.
Steinbeck was one of those folks (Guthrie was another) who believed in comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. Fewer of them around these days and the ones that are get easily drowned out in all the “noise” of our new media society.
JCT
@NickM: Poor Maggie (and you) – we put our cat down right before my daughter left for college, had been her best friend since she was 2.
Max cat absorbed many, many tears in his fur when she was in middle school. Sweet cat >>> mean middle school girls.
Sounds like your puss had a good run though at 18.
Hugs to all –
SuperHrefna
@NickM: I’m so sorry. Hugs!
CaseyL
@NickM: I’m so sorry. Hugs to all, and especially Maggie.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@Southern Beale:
@Keith G:
These days, we’re ruled by folks who want to label bravery for cowardice and cowardice for bravery. Standing up to the big bad economy destroying unions and lifting corporations on their shoulders like good serfs is ‘bravery’ now, fighting for worker rights in a collective is ‘cowardice’ because you’re supposedly destroying the economy because you, individually, aren’t good enough to succeed and thus are proven unworthy.
Those who stock up guns and see enemies everywhere, and see the world as one full of nails needing a hammer, they’re ‘brave’, unlike the ‘cowards’ who refuse to see the real threat of hordes of ‘thugs’ threatening to destroy everything good about America.
Elizabelle
@NickM:
You’re making the right decision, and you’ve raised a darling, animal-loving daughter.
My condolences; you never forget a beloved pet, and it’s hard to lose their company and little quirks.
You must share a pic of the new kitty, once it’s in place.
ThresherK
Thanks for a closeup foto-really shows the mixed whiskers.
Elizabelle
@Southern Beale:
So true. And I hate that the labeling often works. A lot of our society needs better critical thinking skills, and probably a better sense of (shared) history.
You’re actually making a stab at that, with your very good blog.
Betty Cracker
@maurinsky: Wow, that must’ve been freaky!
Elizabelle
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik:
Top reader-rated comment on Chas. Blow’s Ferguson column yesterday, by “Ken H.” of Athens, AL:
We need to keep sight of that clear picture, and avoid the blame-slinging and obfuscation.
Iowa Old Lady
@Elizabelle: God, that’s depressing.
NotMax
@hidflect
Reminiscent of spotted owl.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
PSA for those who are annoyed by (the apparently recent explosion) of autoplaying videos. Here is a good summary of how to make them “click-to-play” instead.
(In the past, FlashBlock and the like was good enough for me, but that doesn’t seem to be the case on Chrome any more. sigh.)
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
Elizabelle
@Iowa Old Lady:
Simplistic, but I think you can trace a lot of the fear-mongering back to Fox News Channel, and those who profit by its offerings. Along with those who sit enthralled and empowered by its broadcasting.
Which is not to say we did not have our problems pre-Fox: clearly no.
But the polarization and misdirection has been raised to an art form.
We’ve always had some ridiculous politicians, but what is sitting in this Congress is embarrassing.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@Elizabelle:
The problem is, like I said in the previous thread: Politics has basically been hijacked by trolls. Those who purposefully foment the blame-slinging and obfuscation, and willfully subvert the ideas of bravery and cowardice, of cause and effect, even of smart and stupid, to suit their goals. And it works because it’s too large to ignore, it finds too large of an audience either from those who enjoy tearing things down or those who simply can’t see past their own perceptions and thus find comfort in those who ‘see the world they do’ and never look past that veil.
We can try and look at the big picture all we can, but it feels like it does jack all when the larger political culture explicitly encourages exactly what that in bold says. Too many people with too much power want us to be afraid of what they want us to be afraid of, and tell us that we’re brave for being afraid and seeing enemies all around us, of seeing the ‘other’ as the enemy that needs to be vanquished or corralled.
And it hurts so goddamn much, because it feels like we as a country are backsliding hard on this now, precisely because of how much this shit benefits certain groups. How much casting entire communities as ‘thugs’ and ‘inherently violent’ because it suits their goals, it furthers their progression while strangling a people’s in the crib over and over again. How much these groups preach ‘The American Dream, anyone can succeed’ while erecting roadblocks to ensure that, no, not anyone can succeed, that the door isn’t open to everyone, and if you try to get a foot in the door, they’ll slam it on you and lock it shut because it fits their narrative of ‘you, yes YOU are destroying OUR economy you leech!’
schrodinger's cat
Kitteh thread needs more Boss Cat
max
@Betty Cracker: @ Max / Anne Laurie: That is a good looking cat.
Thanks! He is a pretty cute. He’s also incredibly boring. This is probably because the dog beat the hell out of him when they were both little. So he just hangs out.
@maurinsky: That’s a beautiful cat.
Thank you!
I had a moment of severe WTF! last week when I was doing dishes and out of the corner of my eye I saw a black & white cat (Cas was black and white) standing right on top of his grave. A closer look revealed it was not the ghost of Casimir, just a cat wandering around. Gave me a fright, though.
I could totally see freaking out about that. When Socrates passed away at 18 I had him cremated. He sits in a box on the shelf above my desk.
max
[‘I miss the old guy.’]
Elizabelle
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik:
Really good comment. Agree on the backsliding.
Think a lot of people are feeling uneasy because they have not followed their misgivings through to the core. You have to look clearly, and to think. And empathize.
Mandalay
And the lamentable media reporting in Ferguson continues:
The known facts regarding this article (as opposed to what actually may or may not have occurred) are as follows:
[1] A cop alleges that the police came under “heavy gunfire”.
[2] No clarification or details about that allegation are given, other than quoting the cop’s claims.
[3] There were no police deaths, or even injuries, arising from that alleged “heavy gunfire”.
[4] Reuters print the allegation without examining its credibility, or challenging it.
[5] Since this article came from Reuters it will be published all over the world.
That’s how it’s done folks. That’s how the authorities win the messaging. Expect more of the same.
Captain Johnson was the bee’s knees for some a few days ago – an example of how the police could and should work with the community. Now…probably not so much.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: Should have tried it before posting. (sigh) Nothing I tried, with or without those settings, worked for me for the currently autoplaying videos on http://www.bluevirginia.us in Chrome. FireFox with Flashblock works fine.
Back to FF for me.
YMMV, of course.
Cheers,
Scott.
Belafon
@Mandalay: There are a number of papers and television stations with reporters in the area, including a number of non-US outlets. Their stories are contradicting Reuters, some in real-time.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@RPh: Well, the linked is pretty deranged, but Steinbeck turn a HARD right turn post-Korean war. His “Dear Alicia” dispatches from Vietnam are truly agonizing to read. Wrong about everything and pretty bellicose about it too.
Doesn’t invalidate any of his early work, but it is good to realize that people who were right at one point in history (and boy was Grapes of Wrath as dead-on right as it gets) don’t necessarily stay that way. I was always a fan of his “classics” and the stunning “Sea of Cortez” (which I was appalled to find out later was more or less entirely written by Ed Ricketts who then got minimal credit and screwed on royalties to boot), and then was introduced to his later material just a couple of years ago by my younger brother.
Sometimes it’s good to realize your idols are human and flawed. I always asked myself, “how can I write something that can measure up to Steinbeck?” Turns out post WWII Steinbeck couldn’t write something that could measure up to his early work either.
lamh36
@JPL: as I said to someone elsewhere, The flip side though is i suspect if say Richard Sherman or the like had done this some might be calling them a “thug” or worse. Manziel has protection of privilege if you know what i mean
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Mandalay: I dunno about “heavy”, but they did arrest 12 members of the RCP last night. Two had pistols on them. That bunch has been in the middle of the protests for at least a couple of nights now and has a reputation for trying to spark violence.
The Reuters story won’t be the only one going around the world. There’s also the Amnesty International people who were removed from the scene last night. Oh, and the two German reporters who were detained for three hours. And the Getty photographer. Jake Tapper and his cameraman were in the middle of the tear gas. And let’s not leave out the Breitbart reporter who has a pretty detailed account of being ordered to go somewhere and then blocked from following that order.
srv
Patriarch Kirill popesplains reality to you Russia haters:
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
This CNN anchor (and the look she got from her co-anchor) have to be my favorite bit of coverage/editorializing from last night.
Seanly
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
Grapes of Wrath was a wonderful book. It was the first thing I read that discussed much of how I felt about corporations and money.
On a side note, I just got an email that Scalia will be in the building where I work on Monday afternoon to talk to law students. Telling us that there will be additional security but we shouldn’t notice. Yeah, right.
Gin & Tonic
@srv: This is the Patriarch Kirill of the $30,000 watch.
Mnemosyne
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
I have to admit, I have no idea what the RCP is. Can you (or someone else) explain?
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Mnemosyne: Rich Canadian People.
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
(“What do you mean, 0/2??”)
Mandalay
@Belafon:
That’s good to know, but my concern wasn’t really whether the claim of “heavy gunfire” was true or not. Maybe it is – I have no idea – but bold claims require bold evidence.
Reuters was engaging in highly irresponsible reporting. They acted as a stenographer for the Police Chief, who provided no context, details or clarification for his volatile allegations.
Reuters can claim that their report was factually accurate, but it was still a disgraceful example of propaganda from those in power.
Elizabelle
@Mandalay:
Another Reuters story, found via your link: in its entirety:
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Mnemosyne: Revolutionary Communist Party
One of the guys in Ferguson has been identified as Greg “Joey” Johnson.
Mnemosyne
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
Ah, okay. I was wondering when the anarcho-kiddies would be showing up to stir up some shit.
Citizen Alan
@Southern Beale:
Supposedly, while Dubya was at Harvard, he got shirty with an English professor for assigning Grapes of Wrath because it was “socialist propaganda” or something like that. Pretty much sums up the vile SOB in my book.