Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This fight is for everything.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

“woke” is the new caravan.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Let’s finish the job.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

People are complicated. Love is not.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

I was promised a recession.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

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Reader Interactions

192Comments

  2. 2.

    Suzanne

    So in the sexism-is-not-as-ingrained-or-harmful-to-our-culture-as-racism files, we have Exhibit A: The Hillary Clinton Nutcracker, now available at your local Urban Outfitters.

    I can’t take this shit today.

  6. 6.

    pat

    Speaking of shit, the newly reelected Scott Walker has on his agenda drug testing for food stamp and unemployment benificiaries. What do you want to bet that 1) said benificiaries will have to pay for their own tests, and 2) one of Scotty’s cronies happens to run the lab where the tests will be done.

    Hey, it’s wealth redistribution, from the have-nots to the haves.

    These people are sociopathic.

  8. 8.

    Suzanne

    @Suzanne: And here’s a link so you can see the picture without going to the Urban Outfitters site. When I went to read it, I got an ad for laser hair removal for my lady bits.

    Too early to drink??

  11. 11.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Suzanne: Because the oppression olympics worked out so great for everyone involved back at Seneca Falls.

    If sexism against white women is so much worserer than racism against Black,let’s say men, then why has every advancement for Black males resulted in 50-year reactionary storms that result in the immiseration of millions while the reaction to white women getting ahead peaks at occasional irruptions of scary verbal harassment and some outbursts of legal nullification by sexist judges?

  12. 12.

    RaflW

    @BGinCHI:

    This is a pretty dour open thread so far.

    Eh, I’m gonna go make tuna casserole.

    See y’all grumpy asses later (takes one to know one, so please don’t be offended.)
    (Oh, who cares, BE offended.)

  13. 13.

    Another Holocene Human

    @pat: what do you bet that, as in Florida, they find no THC because broke people can’t afford to get high, either, pace Kat Stevens

  15. 15.

    Another Holocene Human

    From days of doing election postmortem it seems to me that at least in Florida the Republicans continue to ruin their own brand however the power of corrupt, corporate-owned Democrats to fuck up a good thing is even greater than disgusted GOP ticket-splitters.

    Way to go DSW and Florida Blue Key. Way to go.

  17. 17.

    lamh36

    Made it to Houston bout 30min ago. Just waiting on my flight to NOLA. It was delayed 30min. The flight from Oakland was horrible. I had a bad grouping and so was one of the last on da plane! So I was all the way in the back and people were “saving” seats so I had to sit in the middle sit between this average size guy and this bigger guy! I couldn’t really move my arms past my chest. So I spent the entire 4 hr flight with my damn arms crossed.

    Fuckin hate southwest.

    The Hawaiian Airlines flight was so nice. They had nice seats. You can upgrade to seats with more leg room and I swear I barely felt it when they lifted off and landed

  18. 18.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Iowa Old Lady: IOKIYAR

    Joni Ernst promised to castrate those people, Dems, who are weak, whereas Hilary is seen as emasculating male Dems, who are weak. QED a la wingnut.

  19. 19.

    Suzanne

    @Another Holocene Human: It’s not worse than racism. It’s equally bad. Just a different flavor of bad.

    And considering how many women no longer have access to a lifesaving medical procedure, or how many can’t access birth control, or how many are the victims of sexual assault and violence for which the perpetrators will never find justice, I find your summary of consequences to be lacking.

  23. 23.

    KG

    @Suzanne: I remember seeing those pre-2008. on some level, i’m surprised there’s a market, then i remember the last 24 years and am no longer surprised.

  25. 25.

    jeffreyw

    Winter is here with high temps around freezing for the next while. High temp today was at midnight this morning. No snow, at least. I am not feeling seasonal yet but a whiff of turkey roasting may turn that around.

  28. 28.

    gogol's wife

    @beltane:

    I was going to agree with you, but I’ve been pegged as anti-Hillary. Which I’m not. I’d be thrilled if I thought she could win the presidency. But I’m afraid I don’t. (unlike my husband)

  29. 29.

    gene108

    @raven:

    When the hell did you go to Mayberry?

    * There’s an episode – so I’m told – where Andy or Barney state Mayberry’s near Pilot Mountain, plus there’s a fuckload of Mayberry themed stuff off of certain parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

  30. 30.

    Mary G

    They want me to stay in the rehab until Saturday the 23rd, because they make the most money that way. Ugh. I am so very ready to get the heck out of here. I miss my garden and my cats. I ordered a medical alert system today so I can be the old lady who’s fallen and can’t get up. Hopefully it will never be needed.

  31. 31.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @raven: So it was indeed a festive birthday! With lotsa driving.

    @Mary G: We certainly hope it’s never needed, but a good idea all the same.

  32. 32.

    gogol's wife

    @beltane:

    I only skimmed that, but the phrase “creeping misandry” jumped out at me. Yeah, that’s high on my list of problems facing the world.

  33. 33.

    ruemara

    @Suzanne: Then why do white women as a voting block tend to vote for more of that reactionary, anti-woman GOP magic? Despite benefitting most from civil rights legislations? I don’t get it and I’d say my befuddlement on the matter is quite mild, since I’m in a blue state and won’t get hit with wand rape any time soon.

  36. 36.

    Linda Featheringill

    @Mary G:

    The medical alert gadget is very light. However, I do have to adjust its placement on my person so I won’t set it off when I lean over the kitchen sink.

    And no hugging heavy objects unless you fling the button to your back.

    Answering people are nice, though.

  37. 37.

    Amir Khalid

    @gogol’s wife:
    We were just discussing, in the Piers Morgan thread, people of privilege and how defensive they get about their sense of privilege. It seems to me, Sully, who belongs to a few out-groups himself (gay, HIV+, an immigrant in America) is particularly defensive about the in-group privilege he does get to claim.

    ETA:
    @ruemara:
    This may explain at least partly the voting choices of those white women you’re wondering about.

  38. 38.

    Morzer

    @beltane:

    So, no change in the old thug’s misogynistic world-view then? I’ll bet that tne David Brooks of polite racism is still scribbling away inside his pointy head as well.

  39. 39.

    ranchandsyrup

    Got a new work computer so I no longer have to block time to restart my computer to get it to function. Also, no longer have to worry about maniacally saving things because the computer battery might detatch.

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    Tonight at 7 Eastern: HBO unlocks itself for “Concert for Valor” that everybody can watch. 3 hours from DC, featuring The Black Keys, Springsteen, The Foo Fighters, Rihanna, lotta good peeps. No commercials, although Starbucks is a sponsor, so we’re likely to hear something …

    I was so tempted to head downtown to catch this thing live, since it was 74 degrees today (!) — expected to be in 50s for concert — but how to entertain oneself for hours on hours waiting around for show to start? Plus, long trek home.

    But if I still lived in DC proper, I would head over there to hear these folks in person. Not see them, mind you, or even count on seeing much on the 13 jumbotrons.

    Organizers expect 250,000 – 800,000 people. It’s still cool to see stuff in person. This one had some severe disadvantages, though ….

  41. 41.

    Morzer

    News to spice up Cole’s day:

    http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/11/18-year-old-wins-state-legislature-seat-west-virginia

    The Republican wave lifted many boats last night, including that of 18-year-old Saira Blair. The college freshman was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in a landslide—she earned 63 percent of the vote to her 44-year-old Democratic opponent’s 30 percent—and officially became the youngest lawmaker in the country. She’ll represent a district of about 18,000 people in the eastern part of the state, near the Maryland border.
    The Wall Street Journal describes Blair as “fiscally conservative,” and she “campaigned on a pledge to work to reduce certain taxes on businesses.” Her website boasts an “A” rating from the NRA and endorsements from West Virginians for Life.

    So an economically illiterate teenage gun-nut now represents a district of supposed adults. I am not sure which side of the equation is worse.

  42. 42.

    Calouste

    @gogol’s wife: I think what Andy Sullivan really means there is “creeping misAndy” (remember, it’s always about him). Which is not necessarily a bad thing, although I’d prefer if he got hit with a broadside of irrelevance rather than hate.

  43. 43.

    JPL

    @Mary G: Thanks for keeping us updated. Of course, facilities aren’t looking for profit, they are interested in care.

    hahahahahahaha

  45. 45.

    Suzanne

    @ruemara: Same reason they diet themselves into oblivion and pretend having their bodies butchered and inflated is liberating: because the patriarchy has fooled them into thinking a lot of things that aren’t true, in this case that they have relative power due to their class and race. It certainly isn’t for any logical reason.

    Some white women are racist. Some black men are sexist. Power is complicated and relative, and some people will exercise whatever they have against others in different scenarios. White women use the voting booth, black men use the public street. If we can acknowledge both, maybe we can fix it.

  47. 47.

    d58826

    @Starfish: And Ga. (along with 5 other states) filed a brief supporting the plaintiffs’ position in the latest ACA case before SCOTUS. The states said that they do not want their poor citizens having access to medical care on the federal dime. Which means that they won’t have access to medical care on anyone’s dime since Ga. won’t spend a penny to help them. Some of the states with democratic leadership are trying to come up with workarounds to protect their poor citizens but not the states run by the loudmouth god-bothers. I suspect that whatever workarounds they come up with they will be challenged by the right and the compliant 5 will overturn the plan.

  50. 50.

    PaulW

    Two things:
    1) NaNoWriMo word count now up to 19000+ words, hope to reach an even 20000 tonight.
    2) I am dizzy and lightheaded and I fear it might relate to me being slightly diabetic so I’m going to me PCP tomorrow and see if they can squeeze me in at the last minute.
    3) Did I really miss out on a good game with StarCraft II?

  51. 51.

    sparrow

    @ruemara: At the young end (18-25) white women are about 50-50 split based on the 2012 results that I could find. Old white people, as we know, are worse. I’m not discounting that a baffling number of white women vote for republicans, but it’s not exactly a HUGE majority so that you could figure most white chicks you meet are Romney voters or something. As a former (teenage) wingnut, I can tell you it is mainly tribalism. For ex. they will keep claiming global warming is false until it hits their fat backsides in a way that is so obvious it breaks down that ingrained tribal loyalty. (And then they will regroup around a new tribal identity with any inconvenient positions left out). There is racism in there, but I don’t think it is as important as people think. Or rather, it’s one of the things that defines the tribe, but it’s not the main disease (that would be lack of human feeling for people not in your group, ability to appreciate future consequences, and critical thinking generally).

  52. 52.

    eemom

    @Elizabelle:

    But if I still lived in DC proper, I would head over there to hear these folks in person. Not see them, mind you, or even count on seeing much on the 13 jumbotrons.

    Further proof that you are a better person than I. Wild horses couldn’t drag me near those crowds.

    In other news, at least it’s not last Tuesday.

  53. 53.

    Calouste

    @Morzer: As pointed out in the comments in that article, the father of the newly minted State Representative is a State Senator. Might as well get the kids in on the family grift as soon as possible, right?

  54. 54.

    Morzer

    @JPL:

    She’d be more rational and intelligent than the critters that slither out of the GOP’s primaries, that’s for sure – and I say this as a cat person. Bipartisanship!!!

  55. 55.

    Hal

    @Morzer: On one hand I thought it was great someone at that age took such an interest in politics, on the other, WTF does an 18 know about anything? She can’t legally drink, wasn’t eligible to vote when she started this campaign, and now she’s going to be making decisions for 18,000+ people? Amazing how some folks love a gimmick. Plus, she seems like a way for Daddy to have another lock down vote.

    Blair, an economics and Spanish major at West Virginia University, will defer her spring classes to attend the legislative session at the state capitol. There, she’ll join her father and campaign manager, Craig, who is a state senator.

  56. 56.

    dance around in your bones

    Ok, w/o reading the whole thread, I just have to say that y’all have to go out and see St. Vincent starring the stellar Bill Murray (yes, I know it came out a while ago, but I’ve been BUSY!) – it is a great movie.

    Saw Birdman as well, not quite as blown away.

    Plus, I’ve dropped my reading glasses twice in the last two days, resulting in a lens falling out. I’ve forced it back in, but for the life of me I can’t remember where my round John Lennon reading glasses are?! FML.

    How’s that for dour!?

  62. 62.

    raven

    @gene108: Right, we went North and hung a louie at Franklin, NC. Drove across Carolina and into Tennessee. We got up at 5 and went to Chickamunga and then drove back through Ellijay, over Fort Mountain and home.

  63. 63.

    BGinCHI

    @Mr. Twister: If only his brain was as big as his ego.

    Yes, Manchin, please bring your WV values to the rest of the country and also your poverty and dumbassery.

    /apologies to the good people of WV

  71. 71.

    dance around in your bones

    @Linda Featheringill:

    I always thought the bush was there for a reason – you know, pounding pounding pounding – it’s like a little pillow.

    Ok, I didn’t watch the video – it’s about G UY’S undergrowth?? Personally, I think all that BS is from Pron videos.

    Like, do any of you guys really like the sideways Hitler mustache on the mons?!

  72. 72.

    JPL

    @Amir Khalid: Multiple choice helped me. I remember that German wanted Mexico to invade but if someone asked me about the Zimmermann telegram, I’d draw a blank.

  73. 73.

    Morzer

    @JPL:

    So, all we have to do is run Cole in one district, plus pets in three more, plus Shaun, plus various frat boys and BOOM instant majority!

    Now, who’s got the compromising pics of Cole nakedly mopping a Satanic altar? For his own good, he must be “persuaded” to run!

  76. 76.

    dance around in your bones

    @Baud: Wow, you felt so bad about it you commented 3 times!!

    No worries, Baud – as usual, my luck is turning my way and I think things will work out just fine.

    Besides, Miss Thang would have driven me crazy eventually. AND her little dog FOO!!!! Cackle!Cackle!

  77. 77.

    Amir Khalid

    @JPL:
    My reasoning: Only two countries could invade the US without first making a long sea voyage, and no one during WW1 would have fancied their chances of persuading Canada to do it.

  81. 81.

    Mike E

    @raven: So’s my sorry ass. I was used to doing the 5am work shift at one point in the summer; now, after doing 4:30/6:30/6a in the last four days I’m seriously considering a different part-time occupation…oh that middle 6:30 on Sunday turned into a 13+ hour day when I had to go across the street to fill in for a coworker who fell ill with food poisoning. If this doesn’t get me anywhere to a real position soon, then Nearest Blue State here I come!

  82. 82.

    dance around in your bones

    @Amir Khalid: But something is better than nothing.

    I had a Brit boyfriend who persuaded me to shave the whole thing – I think it was because he grew up in a ‘public’ (i..e.private) school in England. I could go on, I won’t go on.

    @Morzer: Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.

  84. 84.

    dance around in your bones

    @Baud: Where do you live, dahling? I’m in SoCal *****

    Also, I’m prolly about 20 years older than you :(

  85. 85.

    Elizabelle

    @Amir Khalid:

    Very good score. I got 6, and thank the late great Barbara Tuchman for writing “The Guns of August.”

    [Not that I read the darned thing, but I remembered the title.]

    I think Barbara Tuchman would be sad to see how much America has devolved.

    She wrote “The March of Folly” and current events give her a new chapter every few months. Sad.

  87. 87.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @gene108: It’s kinda an open secret that The Andy Griffith Show / Mayberry RFD is based on Andy’s life growing up around Mt. Airy, NC. There’s a “Mayberry Mall” nearby.

    What’s less well known (at least to me) was that the first famous “Siamese Twins” had a farm around there, and owned slaves. There’s a small museum dedicated to them. It’s well worth a short visit.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  89. 89.

    dance around in your bones

    @Morzer: >

    You know I was talking about the bushy hair that normally grows on human bodies, right?

    (Though I won’t make any claims about said subject on Repub bodies…..apparently they are born sexless and hairless, and want everybody else to be the same, despite the dire consequences for the human species).

  90. 90.

    joel hanes

    @dance around in your bones:

    do any of you guys really like the sideways Hitler mustache on the mons?!

    The “runway” “landing strip” ? No objections at all, but not important either.

    Women are all different; the differences in their nether grooming choices are a charming accentuation of the variety. It’s like fashion.

    I’m in favor of the mons, no matter how adorned.

  91. 91.

    d58826

    @shelley: . Well most of my team mates work out of Minneapolis. There was a lot of moaning and groaning about the weather. When they asked the two of us here in Charlotte (temp a sunny 70), about our weather well…… We just kind of coughed and said the sun was out.

  94. 94.

    Debbie(aussie)

    @Elizabelle:
    I managed to get 7/10. A little surprised. Amazing the stuff that sticks from the documentaries and maybe even history classes from 35ish years ago.

  97. 97.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @pat: It’s from the Rick Scott playbook.

    The horcruxes for both of these evil creatures need to be found and destroyed.

  98. 98.

    Elizabelle

    @Debbie(aussie): That’s a wonderful score.

    It surprised me that the Dutch remained neutral.

    And, frankly, watching “Lawrence of Arabia” should have answered one of the questions. But I forgot that plot point …

  99. 99.

    Schlemazel

    @raven:
    Mine too. I work IT security for USPS – enough said. So glad today is a holiday & they allowed me to have it off.

    BTW, sorry I missed the chance to say happy birthday. My world has been very crazy & I didn’t read about it till late.

  100. 100.

    dance around in your bones

    @Elizabelle: Actually, it was from about a week ago.

    Long story short, things were tootling along fine, employer loved everything I cooked, ironed, cleaned, groomed and walked her dog, and etc.

    My best friend from Vancouver came to visit (first approved by my employer) and all was good for a few days. Then, one afternoon while my friend were looking at my daughter’s lovely new house, I got an email from employer saying “Your living in my apartment is not working for me. I would like you to vacate by Nov. 8th”.

    That was one week. I never got any clarity, never got a reason, she was happy with everything I did (except that last day when I knocked on her closed door to tell her that my friend and I wanted to take her dog for a walk to Alice Keck Park (dog was in her room, hard to walk dog if not present) but interrupting her while she is ‘working’ is a total no-no.

    I think that’s what did it. Anyway, I am in a better place now, and looking forward to a better life, not as a peon to an OCD Southern Gothic lady, no matter the $4 million house.

    P.S. The story about Vincent Price is totally true – it wasn’t until I took his check and saw the signature that I blurted “Are you THE Vincent Price?!” to which he kindly answered yes, I am. What a gentleman.

  102. 102.

    Debbie(aussie)

    @Villago Delenda Est:
    If only getting rid of such people (Tony Abbott or Rupert Murdoch for example) were so easy. Elections, on the other hand (even when voting is compulsory) are not easy at all.

  104. 104.

    dance around in your bones

    @joel hanes: Well, that’s reassuring.

    I must tell you for the female part of the equation, the bushy bits help a lot depending (as Amir Khalid said) on the enthusiasm of your partner.

    @Amir Khalid: Eight is FAR too late for a circumcision. I know the argument in the US is that the babies are too little to remember anything, but – how do we know??

  106. 106.

    Daniel'sBob

    8 out of 10
    Couple of lucky guesses and a history of History helped.
    Always loved multiple choice tests in school. If you had any knowledge of the subject at all you had a chance.

  111. 111.

    srv

    European common sense

    The European Court of Justice has said member states can deny certain payments to unemployed EU citizens who move to that country just to claim benefits.

    The court said Germany was right to deny an unemployed Romanian woman a particular allowance because she showed no sign of seeking work.

    Correspondents say the ruling sets a precedent for the rest of the EU.

    Politicians in several member states have promised to crack down on what they call “benefit tourism”.

    British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the ruling, describing it as “simple common sense”.

    Will American’s find their common sense?

  112. 112.

    dance around in your bones

    @eemom: She’s been married and divorced 3 times.

    I didn’t ask the source of her $$, not the thing, doncha know:)

  113. 113.

    Steeplejack

    @Linda Featheringill:

    Which one did you get? I have been ramping up my agitation for my 84-year-old mother to get one, but I haven’t done much research. Have to get her into the zone of even considering one, and we’re not remotely there yet.

  116. 116.

    danielx

    As with @raven, my ass is dragging. Been on ladders all day (or so it seems) and my knees and back are hurtin’. On the other hand it may be due to the weather change, since it was 62 degrees at eleven this morning and it’s 36 now. Naturally, since I had to use an oil-base primer for some of the work I’m doing in the master bedroom/bath, I had to crack the windows (read: open the mofos WIDE OPEN) to keep from being asphyxiated by the fumes. So it’s time to clean up, close the windows and move the furniture back in place so I can sleep in there tonight….

  119. 119.

    debbie

    If it hadn’t been for Kitchener, I’d have gotten all 10 right. I thought he shipwrecked something somewhere.

  121. 121.

    Steeplejack

    @Elizabelle:

    I got eight out of 10. Missed Kitchener, which wasn’t a surprise, and “some corner of a foreign field,” which was. Guess I need to reread my war poets.

  123. 123.

    dance around in your bones

    @p.a.: I like that.

    I’m in the ‘Why Bother’ group. but then I’m a dirty fucking hippie from waaaaaay back in the day.

    We was hairy mofos.

  124. 124.

    Elizabelle

    @Steeplejack:

    I missed the war poet, but the correct answer was my first impulse and I overthought it.

    Lot of poignant poetry and heartbreak out of WWI.

  125. 125.

    Elizabelle

    We are sounding like The Guardian. Methinks they have a fixation on female nether regions, with some of their articles. (Styling, not just public policy.)

    Refreshing, I guess. Not the Grey Lady, fer sure.

  127. 127.

    Schlemazel

    @Elizabelle:
    WWI came at a time when romantic poetry was still the norm. The war broke all art & poetry was one of them. Those poems were great because of the discipline required to make emotions rhyme. Now it’s all random sentences scratched out with no effort & no point.

  129. 129.

    debbie

    @Schlemazel:

    I’ve got about 100 pages left to read in “The Great War and Modern Memory” (which is probably why I got Rupert Brooke). It is amazing to find so much romance in all the gore and terror.

  130. 130.

    dance around in your bones

    Ok, I finally watched the rest of that shaving video – WTF??!! What is a guy w/o hairy balls??!!

    I’m too old, I’ll never get it. We used to LIKE hair on men, especially on their chests! Now that’s a no-no.

    FTS.

  131. 131.

    Elizabelle

    HBO is indeed unlocked. Dave Grohl up now, singing “There Goes My Hero.”

    And talking about what great weather. (sigh) Although I’m enjoying an adult beverage and you guyz, and could not do that on the Mall.

  133. 133.

    p.a.

    8 of 10. Missed Kitchener and the poet. Always read more on WWI than on II. Possibly because the movies and TV were full of WWII when I was young. Verdun and the Somme still stagger my imagination. If I knew more about Leningrad and Stalingrad I’d probably feel the same.

  136. 136.

    Schlemazel

    @debbie: The war really broke the romantic period that had existed. I don’t think you saw the likes of it till the late ’60s. While there were a shit-ton of phones in the hippy movement the influencers, the thought leaders, were at heart real romantics(in the classical sense of the word). Much of the music was full-on romantic images (again not ‘love’ but the classical romantic). Much of it is good poetry but the looser public standards allowed a lot of sloppy work.

    The cynicism and self-centered greed that followed was a reaction to the romantic world being gutted.

  140. 140.

    dance around in your bones

    Ok, my replies to Omnes and Baud are awaiting moderation because I had the b.alls to say b.alls.

    HA!

  142. 142.

    Amir Khalid

    @dance around in your bones:
    Do you remember the scene from Roots, where Kunta Kinte and all the other boys in his Muslim village were circumcised as a coming-of-age thing? That’s how it normally works in Muslim communities.

  143. 143.

    dance around in your bones

    @Amir Khalid: Yes, I do – and I can’t help but feel for their pain…..but – female circumcision is all about making sex painful for women.

    I don’t know which is worse, having gone through neither.

  146. 146.

    dance around in your bones

    I have searched in vain for MC5 and their song ‘Balls to The Wall’ which only seems to be covered by other bands.

    I has a sad.

  147. 147.

    Schlemazel

    @Elizabelle:
    But it didn’t affect most of the kds 20 years younger. Viet Nam took my cousin & my best friend from high school plus it destroyed another friend form school. I doubt there is a community that did not lose a kid in that meat grinder. Against my wishes my oldest went into the Army in 98 so he went into the Middle East grinder but he is the only kid from his class that we know of that did. Most people sacrificed nothing so it does not matter to them.

    @Debbie:
    Follow your bliss by fucking over anyone & everything – yeah, that.

  148. 148.

    Anne Laurie

    @Amir Khalid: And I thought *I* had it tough, when my religious commitments at that age (Roman Catholic confirmation) required me to memorize large chunks of the Baltimore Catechism!

  149. 149.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    @Suzanne:

    I bet they’ve had about a million in some warehouse since 2007.

    Fucking stupid.

    Flying to Los Angeles tomorrow to see the last of my siblings in law married. Good times.

  150. 150.

    dance around in your bones

    I started watching The Concert for Valor and I am reduced to a puddle of tears.

    Nothing can repay these people, nothing. But it’s nice to see them smiling at the musicians.

  151. 151.

    Amir Khalid

    Glancing over at Salon, I notice it’s got a serious hate-on for Interstellar. Even if it were as bad as all that, and I assure you it isn’t, why keep running stories bashing it? Isn’t it enough that the staff movie critic gave it a bad review?

  152. 152.

    Elizabelle

    @Schlemazel: I will remember your cousin and best high school buds on all future veterans’ and Memorial Days. I hate when young men (and now women) don’t get to live a full measure because we are fighting over oil or ideology or whatever.

    I think we should bring back the draft, and run it up to age 55 or so (for tech and support positions). Put everyone on the line, and see how good those wars of choice look. How much popular support.

  153. 153.

    Elizabelle

    @Amir Khalid:

    I would like to see Interstellar. The dialogue is allegedly hard to hear. That’s got to be an artistic decision, but to what purpose?

  154. 154.

    Elizabelle

    Metallica is in the house.

    This is a wonderful concert. 3 great hours, or about 7-8 if you tried to do it live.

  155. 155.

    dance around in your bones

    @Elizabelle: Watching! Watching!!

    ETA: Normally I hate watching my young love Gods performing as Old Guys, but I was never a Metallica fan so I guess it’s ok :)

    Been on a Leo Kottke binge lately because he was in town 3 days ago, and I just didn’t want to see him all old and shit. I know, ageist. Same with The Who and The Rolling Stones and etc etc.

    Frankly, I hate looking at myself in the mirror, although a new acquaintance told me I didn’t look a day over 50 (I’m 60). HA!

  157. 157.

    dance around in your bones

    Oh, and my Who excursion the other night led me to this:

    Living Famously

    Definitely worth watching if you’re a Keith Moon fan – and fuck all you fuckers who say he died too young – he lived his life the way he wanted to.

    @Elizabelle: Far be it from me to tell anybody which band to like. I am sincerely glad the troops are enjoying metallica.

  160. 160.

    Elizabelle

    I can’t tell if they’re booing or saying “Bruuuuce.”

    Why would they boo? What would be up with that?

    Mr. Springsteen and his harmonica and guitar.

  161. 161.

    dance around in your bones

    @Elizabelle: I guess. I didn’t pay much attention back in the day.

    I was more into New Wave, Punk, Sex Pistols, The Waitresses, Holly and the Italians, X, The Roches, The Indigo Girls, ……I could go on and on.

    But I did have a friend who asked me to look for Metallica and AC/DC and etc t-shirts at the swap meet.

    And of course I remember when the offspring brought home her first LP she bought on her own – AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’ …..

    I hope she didn’t hear her dad and me sniggering in the living room.

  162. 162.

    dance around in your bones

    @Elizabelle: I thought I heard some boo’s too….

    Perhaps his War Is Fucked Up message didn’t get across to some of the troops? Because, it IS fucked up.

  163. 163.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Suzanne: The fight at Seneca Falls was about strategy. The goal was universal suffrage. In the context of strategy it’s perfectly reasonable to talk about backlash and our experience since then with backlash. The ongoing context of sexual assault from the 19th century (and before) to the present day isn’t really relevant unless you’re arguing that sexual assault is actually becoming a more severe problem due to backlash against women’s liberation. I would argue there is no evidence that this is the case whatsoever. If there was in fact a secular rise in sexual assault during the mid-20th century, a very questionable proposition when we consider sexual assault globally and not as narrowly defined by law enforcement during the majority of the 20th century, by all available metrics it rose — and fell — with all violent crime. The reasons for this rise and fall are unknown but a very good case can be made that the ‘unexplained’ secular rise and fall from the 1950s until today (peaking around 1990) in the United States was due to lead exposures stemming primarily from the use of leaded gasoline from the 1930s until the early 1980s. Looking globally it’s likely that rises in the reporting of sexual assault are due to vast increases in what is defined as sexual assault over that period and increasing social support for reporting. (Huge unresolved issues there, obviously, but it would be hard to argue that gradual progress has been made on these issues decade after decade.) One exception would be in the military where arguably DADT, the wars, and the rise of rightist Christian Dominionist military commanders through the ranks in the 80s and 90s created the perfect storm for increased incidence of sexual assault in the military during the 00 and 10s. I don’t think you can seriously argue that was due to backlash against a feminist agenda in the 1980s and 90s, however. Or maybe you can. I don’t see it.

  164. 164.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Morzer: West Virginia Democratic primary voters in 2012 chose a white felon doing hard time over Barack Obama.

    Clearly, as smug whites used to say of DC (maybe still do but I think there are too many rich white people living there now), those people not only are incapable of governing themselves, they don’t deserve self-rule.

    /that was sarcasm

  165. 165.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Suzanne:

    White women use the voting booth, black men use the public street. If we can acknowledge both, maybe we can fix it.

    You know that is just absolute fucking bullshit. I live in the South–the old South part of Florida, not the Northern transplant part–and white women here face tons of scary harassment from old and young white men, who are very, very entitled, not so much from Black and brown men. So no, it doesn’t all equal out in the end. White privilege trumps gender privilege in the USA. bookmark it, libs.

  166. 166.

    Elizabelle

    Didn’t know this song was by Rihanna. Have liked it on the radio.

    ETA: And she looks very elegant tonight.

  167. 167.

    Another Holocene Human

    @PaulW: Wow, you are chugging away PaulW. Good for you!

    Hopefully that dizziness is just your turn to have that evil cold that’s passing around this year. Not a lot of flashy symptoms but feeling exhausted and looking like hell for 2-3 days, maybe a week or two of dragging and some variable ENT symptoms.

  168. 168.

    Another Holocene Human

    @sparrow: I’ve found that white men are on average more loud and proud about their racist bullshit, but don’t underestimate white women. Rather than go for overtly racist stuff they like to go deep into weird conspiracy theories. Though I’ve run into my share of overt racists. Or just failing online and alienating people and then getting pissed that progressive politics is soooo hard, y’all.

    That tribalistic thing is real, though, and it’s important to understand that it is a real thing. Oversimplifying leads you to idiotic commentary like the Republicans running around using Tim Scott as proof that the GOP isn’t racist and racism is over … no, Tim Scott gives you permission to believe all the moronic stuff you believed anyway, give up none of your privilege, change nothing, and claim your shit doesn’t stink. What GOP asshole wouldn’t go for that?

  169. 169.

    gogol's wife

    @Elizabelle:

    I got 7, but would have had 8 if I hadn’t second-guessed myself on the poet and the Ottoman Empire. And yes, thanks, Barbara Tuchman.

  171. 171.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Mr. Twister: Ahem, that is King Coal Joe, not Holy Joe (or Old Handsome Joe).

    In fact, Holy Joe just took Coal Joe’s place on the No Labels bullshittery council after King Coal Joe ragequit.

  172. 172.

    hilts

    @Elizabelle:

    I read that in several reviews. I can’t believe that a studio would release a blockbuster film and not realize that several lines of dialogue are drowned by the musical score. That sounds very fucked up to me.

    @dance around in your bones:

    Thanks very much for that Keith Moon link. I can never get enough of the Who.

  174. 174.

    dance around in your bones

    @hilts:

    You are welcome. I always found him fascinating, and if he lived fast and died young – well, hell – he was the greatest rock drummer in the world! I love his eyes.

  176. 176.

    Suzanne

    @Another Holocene Human: I guess your experience is universal, then. Well, okay. I suppose my experiences of street harassment and being chased down the street by men (one of whom carried a deadly weapon), only approximately 10% of whom were white, equals yours?

    Sexual violence against women committed by men of all races is a major fucking problem, and it is so widespread that it limits women’s full engagement in society in significant ways. That doesn’t mean that racism is not also a major problem. This is America. We can have all the hate in the world. Manifest destiny.

  177. 177.

    Suzanne

    @Another Holocene Human: I never said that sexual assault is societal retribution for feminism. I have that sexual assault is borne of sexism, and that it causes systemic inequality and marginalization of women that is comparable in severity and scale, though not in expression, to what racism has done to this country. In many ways, it’s like arguing if cancer or gunshots are “worse” when both really suck.

    Restriction of abortion rights, limitation of access to birth control, and patriarchal cultural and religious mores are all designed to limit women’s freedoms. To literally invade and control women’s bodies from the inside out. I get a little tired of hearing how that isn’t a big deal. Ever been wanded? I have.

  180. 180.

    dance around in your bones

    @Suzanne: This goes on all around the world.

    When we were in Afghanistan back in the 70’s, I quickly learned that getting socked in the boob by a soldier was an everyday thing, And if I told my husband it made it worse, because he wanted to beat the guy up.

    I remember once being in the veggie bazaar, and some vegetable seller made a disparaging remark about the size of my boobs, Not knowing that I spoke Farsi, I replied that his dick was the size of a peanut. Hahaha!

  181. 181.

    Suzanne

    @dance around in your bones: LMMFAO. That is awesome.

    I have had something similar happen a few times, but I can’t really reply as awesomely as you did. In the course of my job, I am out on construction sites at least once a week, on average. I have heard some of the guys making inappropriate comments about me in Spanish. I’m not fluent, but I know enough. So what I like to do is, in front of whomever made the comment, talk to someone else on the site in Spanish and then glare at them, just to let them know that I know what they said. I’ve taught some of my women coworkers the choice Spanish words, too.

  182. 182.

    dance around in your bones

    @Suzanne:

    “Chingadera” (fucking thing)

    “Vete a la chingada!” (Go get fucked!)

    “Comé la verga, ese” (eat my dick, dude)(or fuck off!)

    “Chinga tu madre” (fuck your mother) – be careful with this

    “Tienes un pene pequeño” (You have a tiny dick)

    Chingadera was practically the first word I learned in Spanish, aside from high school. Oddly, it comes in very handy!

  191. 191.

    dance around in your bones

    @Omnes Omnibus: Oh thank you. I love Townes Van Zandt.

    And now – to bed. (Well, maybe I’ll listen to a few more of his tunes to lull me to sleep :)

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