Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Russia bombs Ukraine’s maternity hospitals; Republicans in the House can’t sort out supporting Ukraine.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

We still have time to mess this up!

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

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

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Consistently wrong since 2002

“Joe Biden deserved better than he got from some folks in his own party.”

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

The US Supreme Court is on the ballot in november.

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

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

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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?

Reader Interactions

54Comments

  1. 1.

    Mnemosyne

    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.

  4. 4.

    BGinCHI

    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

    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…

  9. 9.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @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.

  11. 11.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    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.

  13. 13.

    Dog On Porch

    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.

  16. 16.

    Trollhattan

    @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.

  24. 24.

    Trollhattan

    @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!

  31. 31.

    Trollhattan

    @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.

  35. 35.

    Mustang Bobby

    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.

  37. 37.

    WereBear

    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

    @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.

  40. 40.

    Jebediah, RBG

    @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.

  43. 43.

    jayboat

    @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

    @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.

  46. 46.

    Dog On Porch

    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.

  48. 48.

    Frankensteinbeck

    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

    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.

  53. 53.

    mclaren

    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.

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