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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Thursday Evening Open Thread: Should’ve Settled for the Elaborate Tramp Stamp

Thursday Evening Open Thread: Should’ve Settled for the Elaborate Tramp Stamp

by Anne Laurie|  September 11, 20145:27 pm| 54 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Assholes, OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUDS, Security Theatre

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Ah, to be nineteen again, and thick as two short planks. From NYMag:

Shannon Maureen Conley, the Denver teenager who was arrested on her way to join ISIS in Syria this summer, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support for a terrorist organization. While she didn’t make it, the penalty can still be up to five years in prison, and a $250,000 fine on top of that…

The 19-year-old nurse’s aid was arrested in July, after she bought a (presumably one-way) ticket to Turkey. Like many of those going to join the Islamic State, Conley had become radicalized online. She planned to cross the border into Syria from that country to unite with a male fighter she had met through the internet…

Heck, when I was a rebellious-yet-nerdy 19-year-old, I had to settle for cosplaying comic-book conventions. And we didn’t even have the word ‘cosplay’, much less a 60,000-person con in the same city!…
***********
Apart from muttering about kids, these days, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

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54Comments

  1. 1.

    Mnemosyne

    September 11, 2014 at 5:30 pm

    Like many of those going to join the Islamic State, Conley had become radicalized online. She planned to cross the border into Syria from that country to unite with a male fighter she had met through the internet…

    So that’s what the kids are calling it these days. I was wondering.

  2. 2.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    September 11, 2014 at 5:36 pm

    Isn’t m_c from out near Denver?

  3. 3.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    September 11, 2014 at 5:36 pm

    Unspeakably stupid or unspeakably evil. I wonder which one?

  4. 4.

    BGinCHI

    September 11, 2014 at 5:36 pm

    I too have become radicalized online.

    I very badly want to punch a number of Republicans and Beltway reporters right in the neck.

  5. 5.

    Matt

    September 11, 2014 at 5:38 pm

    Fun fact: going off to join the IDF to play genocidal holy warrior isn’t going to attract the attention of law enforcement at all…

  6. 6.

    BGinCHI

    September 11, 2014 at 5:38 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): No way she is a nurse, cudlip.

  7. 7.

    Poopyman

    September 11, 2014 at 5:38 pm

    @CONGRATULATIONS!: With a teenager you even have to ask??

  8. 8.

    Poopyman

    September 11, 2014 at 5:39 pm

    @BGinCHI: Nurse’s aide. Big difference (especially if you ask a nurse).

  9. 9.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    September 11, 2014 at 5:39 pm

    @BGinCHI: Nurse’s aide.

    ETA: Cycling is more fun during the times the 20 mph wind is at your back than when it is in your face. I rediscovered that today.

  10. 10.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    September 11, 2014 at 5:39 pm

    Isn’t m_c from out near Denver?

    Shannon Maureen Conley

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Ahhh damn, you might be onto something there.

    Guess I gotta go with “unspeakably stupid” if this is the case.

  11. 11.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    September 11, 2014 at 5:42 pm

    With a teenager you even have to ask??

    @Poopyman: I used to be of that mindset, but have met a couple of kids in recent years that have forced me to conclude that “unspeakably evil” could be a possibility.

  12. 12.

    BGinCHI

    September 11, 2014 at 5:43 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Hence the group ride.

    Also, too, as if m_c would “aide” anyone. It is to laugh.

  13. 13.

    Dog On Porch

    September 11, 2014 at 5:43 pm

    When I was 19, life was good and Saigon was a year away from being renamed. My bead on The Machine had been formed, if not quite fully. Those my age received a political education quite unlike either generation on each side of us, or before or since.

  14. 14.

    Poopyman

    September 11, 2014 at 5:44 pm

    I went to the link under Ms Conley’s name up top, read the article quoted, then was immediately snared by the link to this article:

    Teen Petitions School to Let Him Use Embarrassing Cat-Themed Yearbook Photo He Will Regret in 6 Months

    I can’t believe it’s not from The Onion.

  15. 15.

    Poopyman

    September 11, 2014 at 5:47 pm

    @Poopyman: Great cat, though.

    Hey …. Is that Steve?

  16. 16.

    Trollhattan

    September 11, 2014 at 5:47 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
    Heh, indoozle. My standard commute weather from, say, April through October: Morning, northbound–light wind if any, sometimes from the south. Afternoon–south wind, moderate to strong. Can gust to the 30s, just for yucks. This is especially rich when it’s over 100 degrees.

    Last week–Friday I think it was, I had a strong NORTH wind and pretended I’d suddenly gotten in shape, if just for awhile. It has been a month or two since the last time.

    Since we don’t have hills I pretend wind is hill-work. Doesn’t help with the contact-lens thing, though.

  17. 17.

    Tenar Darell

    September 11, 2014 at 5:49 pm

    @BGinCHI: I was gonna put on my combat boots and invite them into mosh pit. Yours works too.

  18. 18.

    beltane

    September 11, 2014 at 5:50 pm

    OK, I read the CBS story and have concluded that this person is too dumb to be our m_c (really).

  19. 19.

    BGinCHI

    September 11, 2014 at 5:51 pm

    @Tenar Darell: Why can’t some of them try to jump the Snake River Canyon?

    I miss the 70s.

  20. 20.

    Roger Moore

    September 11, 2014 at 5:51 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):

    Isn’t m_c from out near Denver?

    Boulder, IIRC, but she was posting here long enough ago that I sincerely doubt she’s only 19.

  21. 21.

    BGinCHI

    September 11, 2014 at 5:52 pm

    @Trollhattan: Get some good glasses!

    Do not get ski goggles…that way mockery lies.

  22. 22.

    Anne Laurie

    September 11, 2014 at 5:55 pm

    @Poopyman: Dammit, I was saving that for the late shift!

  23. 23.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    September 11, 2014 at 5:56 pm

    @Anne Laurie: Do it anyway and give him a h/t.

  24. 24.

    Trollhattan

    September 11, 2014 at 5:57 pm

    @BGinCHI:
    Got ’em, but as it’s not rained since…forever there’s always bouquet crap in the air when it’s windy. Finally learned and got a helmet with bug netting in the vents–far fewer wasp stings on my noggin!

  25. 25.

    Tenar Darell

    September 11, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    @BGinCHI: Heh. I miss the 80s and 90s. (I had punk hair and clothes long before I had a chance to visit the clubs, sigh).

  26. 26.

    BGinCHI

    September 11, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    @Trollhattan: If you keep it over 25 mph the wasps can’t get you. Pro tip.

  27. 27.

    BGinCHI

    September 11, 2014 at 6:01 pm

    @Tenar Darell: Whippersnapper.

  28. 28.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 11, 2014 at 6:03 pm

    Dealing with pre-fallout from the impending breakup of like three friend couples. Whee.

    Shrink in a couple hours though, so at least I’ll have somebody to vent to that isn’t a comment box :)

  29. 29.

    Cervantes

    September 11, 2014 at 6:03 pm

    @Matt: Well, but that’s totally different.

  30. 30.

    Botsplainer

    September 11, 2014 at 6:03 pm

    @Poopyman:

    When I saw it, I wanted to give him a swirly.

    Like, this week.

  31. 31.

    Trollhattan

    September 11, 2014 at 6:09 pm

    @BGinCHI:
    Heh. “Back in the day,” maybe.

    Worst was during a double-century, a wasp got into my jersey and walked around my chest, stinging me along the way. I ripped it (the jersey) off and shook it out, took stock, put it back on and continued, all without stopping. Momentum is precious on a double.

  32. 32.

    Tenar Darell

    September 11, 2014 at 6:10 pm

    @BGinCHI: Dream time travel CBGBs with Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie, Joan Jett, or early Police.

  33. 33.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 11, 2014 at 6:11 pm

    @Botsplainer: I feel like any significant other who would judge one negatively for using that as one’s yearbook photo isn’t really worth courting. Kid looks a bit like Alan Turing, too, random aside.

  34. 34.

    Jerry

    September 11, 2014 at 6:11 pm

    One of my favorite writers, Michael Muhammad Knight, penned an op-ed in the Washington Post the other day that is appropriate for this story.

  35. 35.

    Mustang Bobby

    September 11, 2014 at 6:14 pm

    This is Rand Paul week on NPR; first a story yesterday on how he’s charming them in Iowa, then today a sit-down with Robert Seigel. I’m actually glad they did it because now that I’ve heard more of him than just sound bites, I get it why young adults fresh off of reading Ayn Rand dig him. He’s got the views of a know-it-all teenager with absolute ideas about how to solve the world’s problems with no thought about how they work in the real world.

    Oh, and another annoying smart-aleck adolescent tic: he refers to the “Democrat Party” and “Democrat mayors,” etc. I am sure he knows that’s the juvenile neener-neener way to annoy people of the other party.

  36. 36.

    BGinCHI

    September 11, 2014 at 6:20 pm

    @Tenar Darell: I was there in 87 and 88. From what I remember….

  37. 37.

    WereBear

    September 11, 2014 at 6:23 pm

    She planned to cross the border into Syria from that country to unite with a male fighter she had met through the internet…

    It’s true love, he understands her soooo much, until she gets there and finds out his plan for the honeymoon involves a dynamite nightie.

    I’m very bummed myself, because someone came onto my site asking for cat advice only to drop a bomb that the new kitten is off being declawed and what she should do when the kitten comes back.

    I’m absolutely livid that she crippled this kitten and now all bets are off because it rarely goes well. People claim it does but if that were true there would be no declawed cats in the shelter and they are there in much higher numbers than their representation in the population.

    I tried to be polite in my reply.

  38. 38.

    Dog On Porch

    September 11, 2014 at 6:28 pm

    @Mustang Bobby: It will get worse. I see Ted Cruz as the GOP’s likely 2016 nominee, and he will be accorded the respect due an ‘honorable opposition’ by his democratic opponent.

  39. 39.

    MattR

    September 11, 2014 at 6:29 pm

    @Jerry: Good article. Fascinating perspective. Thanks for pointing it out.

  40. 40.

    Jebediah, RBG

    September 11, 2014 at 6:36 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):

    Cycling is more fun during the times the 20 mph wind is at your back than when it is in your face. I rediscovered that today.

    I sometimes like a nice headwind. I get all the fun (and work) of a long climb without having to go all the way to where the long climbs are.

    ETA: I will concede that a 20 mph headwind is a little much.

  41. 41.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    September 11, 2014 at 6:50 pm

    @Jebediah, RBG: I have hills.

  42. 42.

    danielx

    September 11, 2014 at 6:53 pm

    God loves me.

    Anchorage police confirm Palin family involved in heated Saturday night brawl.

    Who is filled to the max with schadenfreude, huh? Who isn’t?

  43. 43.

    jayboat

    September 11, 2014 at 7:11 pm

    @danielx:

    He loves us every one. Had the perma-smile going since I first read it a little while ago.

    Kaarma, baby… comin’ to get ya.

  44. 44.

    chopper

    September 11, 2014 at 7:14 pm

    @Poopyman:

    Draven Rodriguez, a Schenectady High School student who’s lobbying to use this photo as his senior portrait:

    Yeah, goth parents will do that to you.

  45. 45.

    Jebediah, RBG

    September 11, 2014 at 7:21 pm

    Doctors discovered a woman with no cerebellum – the big surprise, of course, is that she isn’t a Palin.

  46. 46.

    Dog On Porch

    September 11, 2014 at 7:32 pm

    Way Off Topic: I’m a lifelong fan of the NFL. I just now watched a segment leading into tonight’s game on the NFL’s own network, the topic being, “Is Ben Rothelsburger underrated?

    For non-fans, Rothelsburger (sic) was accused of rape by one woman, and sexual assault by another.

    Tone deaf corporate hubris in action.

  47. 47.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    September 11, 2014 at 7:34 pm

    @Jebediah, RBG: Bachmann, perhaps?

  48. 48.

    Frankensteinbeck

    September 11, 2014 at 8:12 pm

    Uh… she knows that ISIS follows an interpretation of Islam so derangedly extreme that all they’ll let her do is have babies, right? Assuming they don’t kill her for being too educated?

    EDIT – She might even be in for the Cutting of the Rose. I mean, these guys are seriously not woman-friendly.

  49. 49.

    AdamK

    September 11, 2014 at 8:15 pm

    I still can’t parse the stupid word “cosplay,” which I always read as co-splay, which doesn’t strike me as anything a self-respecting young person should consider doing.

  50. 50.

    Mnemosyne

    September 11, 2014 at 8:33 pm

    @BGinCHI:

    Unless you swallow one at 25MPH (not me, but someone I know personally).

  51. 51.

    Anne Laurie

    September 11, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    @AdamK: Blame the Japanese, and we were never self-respecting!

  52. 52.

    Jebediah, RBG

    September 11, 2014 at 8:56 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
    A likely second choice, but the woman is from Shangdong Province, which is a province with an awesome name.

  53. 53.

    mclaren

    September 11, 2014 at 9:54 pm

    So now other countries are warning their U.S.-going tourists to be wary of our muggers with badges:

    “The CBC is warning Canadians about a U.S. program where America law enforcement officers — from federal agents to state troopers right down to sheriffs in one-street backwaters — are operating a vast, co-ordinated scheme to grab as much of the public’s cash as they can through seizure laws. “So, for any law-abiding Canadian thinking about an American road trip, here’s some non-official advice: Avoid long chats if you’re pulled over. Answer questions politely and concisely, then persistently ask if you are free to go. Don’t leave litter on the vehicle floor, especially energy drink cans. Don’t use air or breath fresheners; they could be interpreted as an attempt to mask the smell of drugs. Don’t be too talkative. Don’t be too quiet. Try not to wear expensive designer clothes. Don’t have tinted windows. And for heaven’s sake, don’t consent to a search if you are carrying a big roll of legitimate cash.”

    Source: “American shakedown: Police won’t charge you, but they’ll grab your money,” CBC News, 11 September 2014.

    Ferguson Missouri was no outlier. Many American towns and cities now derive much or most of their revenue from bogus fines and fees imposed by muggers with badges and protection racket capos wearing judge’s robes. Those who can’t pay get thrown in jail or in prison. And guess what? When you imprison millions of your own citizens, you can give them the “option” to work for 20 cents a day — another fantastic profit-making opportunity. Did you know that most of the baseball caps, blue jeans, victoria’s secret lingerie, and military jackets and battle garb are made by American prison labor?
    Did you know that 80% of service representatives on the phone for various products (if you have a problem with your power drill or your cellphone or your toaster, you call the service representative) are
    now U.S. prisoners reading from a script?

    “Prisoners earning 23 cents an hour in U.S. federal prisons are manufacturing high-tech electronic components for Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missiles, launchers for TOW (Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided) anti-tank missiles, and other guided missile systems. (..) Prison labor — with no union protection, overtime pay, vacation days, pensions, benefits, health and safety protection, or Social Security withholding — also makes complex components for McDonnell Douglas/Boeing’s F-15 fighter aircraft, the General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin F-16, and Bell/Textron’s Cobra helicopter. Prison labor produces night-vision goggles, body armor, camouflage uniforms, radio and communication devices, and lighting systems and components for 30-mm to 300-mm battleship anti-aircraft guns, along with land mine sweepers and electro-optical equipment for the BAE Systems Bradley Fighting Vehicle’s laser rangefinder. Prisoners recycle toxic electronic equipment and overhaul military vehicles.”

    Source: “The Pentagon and Slave Labor in U.S. Prisons”

    Did you know that McDonalds and Wendys both use prison labor to reduce their business costs?

    “Reservations we make for American Airlines and the likes of AVIS rent-a-car are taken by inmates. More and more call centers are coming on line every day manned by inmates in both state and federal prison operations. Each position taken by an inmate, used to belong to private sector workers who are now unemployed.”

    Source: “Identifying businesses involved in prison labor or supporting those those who are,” Daily Kos, 12 September 2014.

    It’s like an evil Star Trek episode — the military/prison/police/surveillance/torture complex expands limitlessly by using its enslaved victims to produce more products to fuel the military/prison/police/surveillance/torture complex.

  54. 54.

    AxelFoley

    September 11, 2014 at 10:34 pm

    @Jebediah, RBG:

    Doctors discovered a woman with no cerebellum – the big surprise, of course, is that she isn’t a Palin.

    There’s something wrong with her medulla oblongata!

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