Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

White supremacy is terrorism.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

When we show up, we win.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

You would normally have to try pretty hard to self-incriminate this badly.

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

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

The lights are all blinking red.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

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Archives for 2014

New Crime: Kissing While Black

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You’ve all probably heard this story by now:

“Django Unchained” actress Daniele Watts says Los Angeles police allegedly detained her because they thought she was a prostitute.

Watts, who is African-American, and her white boyfriend accuse police of racism for questioning them after they were seen showing affection in public.

An LAPD spokesman told CNN Sunday that officers from its North Hollywood precinct were responding to a citizen complaint.

“There was an indication on the radio call that a male white and female black were involved in a sexual act inside a Mercedes with the vehicle door open,” Officer Sally Madera said.

Her boyfriend — Brian James Lucas but better known as celebrity chef Cheffy Be*Live — wrote in a Facebook post that police “saw a tatted RAWKer white boy and a hot bootie shorted black girl and thought we were a HO (prostitute) & a TRICK (client).”

“Two people were briefly detained, but it was revealed no crime had been committed,” Medera said.

The man was not handcuffed, but the woman was, according to the couple.

My favorite (and by favorite, I mean the absolutely most mind-boggling and disgusting) part of the story is this video clip:

Post by Cheffy BeLive.

The cop at this point knows he is in the wrong, and yet he stands there while she is still handcuffed, berating her for insulting him.

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Monday Morning Open Thread: Imaginary Gardens, Genuine Toads

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Much as I respect the man, a Bernie Sanders presidential campaign in 2016 would be a Jesse Jackson 1988 campaign, or a Newt Gingrich 2012 campaign; mostly personal-brand enhancement, with a media-friendly gloss about the Overton Window. But, as per those past campaigns, there’s also the “discourage the dreamers” spoiler effect… and that’s clearly why Chuck Toad wanted Sanders’ input. Look! Dems in disarray! Everybody already hates the not-yet-even-declared nominee! Not to mention, crazy SOCIALIST person, soon to be officially part of the failed Democrat Party… Way to honor your allegiance to the Media Villagers, Mr. Todd.
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Speaking of the 2014 elections, yesterday was the last of Tom Harkin’s famed Steak Fries:

INDIANOLA, Iowa — Hillary Rodham Clinton jumped back into the partisan fray here Sunday, framing the November midterm elections as “a choice between the guardians of gridlock and the champions of shared opportunity” and warning Democrats of the consequences of complacency….

“In 50 days, every Iowa voter needs to know that from the president on down to local officials, we Democrats are for raising the minimum wage, for equal pay for equal work, for making college and technical training affordable, for growing the economy to benefit everyone,” Clinton said. “And our opponents are not.”

In a nod to the state’s role hosting the first presidential caucuses, Clinton added: “Too many people only get excited about presidential campaigns. Look, I get excited about presidential campaigns, too. But . . . use the enthusiasm that Iowa is so well known for every presidential year and channel that into these upcoming elections. Don’t wake up the day after the election and feel bad and wonder what more you could have done.”…

Both Clintons urged Iowa Democrats to do all they could to elect Rep. Bruce Braley (D), who is locked in a tight race to replace Harkin, and referenced his opponent, state Sen. Joni Ernst (R), though not by name. Hillary Clinton mentioned Ernst’s opposition to a federal minimum wage and noted that women hold a majority of minimum-wage jobs, including those that rely mostly on tips, such as waiters, bartenders and hairstylists…

Harkin was emotional in his remarks Sunday night — he thanked longtime staffers, even calling one up on stage for a hug — but also resolute about the political battles ahead. He called on his supporters to give Republicans “a good whipping” in November.

“Since I got into politics, I always believed that an obligation of our government is to make sure we leave the ladder down for others to climb, too,” Harkin said. “I may be retiring from the Senate, but I’m not retiring from the fight.”

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And speaking of failed candidates, celebrated Alaskan political blog The Mudflats has a comprehensive update on the Palin family’s latest reintroduction to the national media:

… It should be mentioned that at least as far as I know, Sarah Palin does not drink anything but diet Redbull, and skinny white chocolate mochas. While governor, she didn’t even let Todd drink beer, forcing him to sneak off to the garage alone to enjoy his foamy amber coping mechanism. So, we can assume if this pattern of behavior has held true, that as she struggled to throw herself into the thick of the brawl, she was stone cold sober…

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My emphases. Apart from rolling our eyes, what’s on the agenda as we start another week?

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Late Night Open Thread: Professional Gladiators

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gladitors leave work at office davies
(Matt Davies via GoComics.com)

As a starting point: It is always wrong to hit women, children, or people who are smaller than the hitter. Violence is not the solution, no matter how much it may seem like a solution. Certainly your parents never hit you, quite probably not even a swat on the backside. Because they were smarter and wiser and more educated than that… and because you were lucky.

That tweet came from a Washington Post interview with Beverley Gooden, the woman who started the #WhyIStayed hashtag:

… Gooden listed nearly a dozen reasons it took her a year to leave her ex-husband: “he said he would change”; “I thought love would conquer all”; “my pastor told me that God hates divorce.” She ended them all with “#WhyIStayed.” She wasn’t trying to justify remaining in an abusive relationship, she said, but to illuminate why it is so difficult for women to leave. The situations Palmer and Gooden found themselves in are all too common. The National Coalition for Prevention of Domestic Violence estimates that 25 percent of women experience intimate partner violence, and according to the National Domestic Abuse hotline, it takes an average of seven tries for a victim to leave an abusive relationship…

It makes us feel better if we can tell ourselves that abusers are just off-the-chart monsters, chemically-inflamed head trauma cases who batter the gold-digging, religiously-blinded closet masochists naturally drawn to such specimens. That’s not how it happens, in this imperfect world. Charlayne Hunter-Gault, in the New Yorker, on “The Oscar Pistorius-Ray Rice Moment“:

show full post on front page

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Sunday Evening Open Thread: Gladiators

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Speaking of gladiatorial endeavors, recovering Catholics and medieval-history fans might enjoy this NYTimes article:

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria, Ill., has already constructed a museum in honor of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, a native son whose Emmy-winning television show during the 1950s brought Catholicism to the American living room. It has documented several potential miracles by him and compiled a dossier on his good works for the Vatican.

It has drawn up blueprints for an elaborate shrine in its main cathedral to house his tomb and sketched out an entire devotional campus it hopes to complete when its campaign to have him declared the first American-born male saint succeeds.

There has been just one snag in the diocese’s carefully laid veneration plans: the matter of Archbishop Sheen’s body.

Since his death in 1979, his remains have been sealed in a white marble crypt at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, the city where he spent much of his life. And though the Peoria diocese says it was promised the remains, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, who considers Archbishop Sheen something of a personal hero, has refused to part with them, citing the wishes of the archbishop and his family.

Now the dispute over Archbishop Sheen’s corpse has brought a halt to his rise to sainthood, just as he appeared close to beatification, the final stage before canonization. Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, Peoria’s leader, announced this month that the process had been suspended because New York would not release the body…

As a native New Yorker, it’s hard not to agree with the argument that “the first televangelist” beat feet out of Peoria as soon as he was old enough to have a choice. On the other hand, irking Cardinal Timmy Dolan has to be considered at least a minor work of mercy, so…
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Apart from theological debate, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

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Machismo stupidy in sports

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Last night, I was reffing a high school boys soccer game.  There was an event that disturbed me.  In the 35th minute, Blue took a direct free kick on White’s goal from 33 yards out.  The ball went wide, but the keeper ran to his post (as he should).  As soon as he stopped, I heard a “Pop”, he hit the ground and screamed:

“My hip, my hip”

I am not a doctor, nor am I trainer, but I’ve been around sports long enough to know what serious injuries look like.  In my three second evaluation, he either dislocated his hip, or broke the connection between the shaft and ball head of his femur.  Either injury hurts, and either injury can require surgery. This is a serious injury.

I stopped the clock and called for help to come onto the field.  The head coach approaches his player, the first words out of his mouth were:

“Stop being such a pussy, grow some balls and man-up”

What the fuck? 

This kid probably needs surgery and he is getting yelled at for being in pain.  As the assistant coach was coming on the field, I quietly told him that I heard a pop, and the hip is probably wrecked.  That calmed the head coach down when they removed him from the field. 

That is one of the things I hate about refereeing low level games, pervasive toxic masculinity which drives a need to play hurt, to retaliate for perceived slights, and to look for a fight when down 3-1 instead of slowing play down for a second to discombulate the defense.   How do we get that out of sports or at least minimize it enough so that players don’t get needlessly hurt?

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