Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

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

So many bastards, so little time.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

We won’t go back.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Thursday Evening Open Thread: ‘Tis A Mystery!

Thursday Evening Open Thread: ‘Tis A Mystery!

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Media Villager asks: Why would the peasants prefer a sweaty, used-up, striver-y ol’ Democrat party to the ooh! shiny! of a buzzy new JEB! roll-out?

And then he wonders, out loud, why people say cruel, mean things about ‘the media’?

**********
For those of us with memories longer than that of the average goldfish, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

Reader Interactions

159Comments

  2. 2.

    Amir Khalid

    “I’m not part of any agenda. I’m here to solve this, just like you.”
    — Agent Scully, pilot episode, The X-Files.

  3. 3.

    NotMax

    For those of us with memories longer than that of the average goldfish, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

    Could you repeat the question?

  4. 4.

    BGinCHI

    Klein is Jon Karl’s boss but appears to be even stupider than his stupid employee.

    But not to worry, he’s only ABC’s Political Director.

    How fucking dumb do you have to be to succeed in corporate America?

  5. 5.

    jl

    Read about poll results someplace earlier today. HRC beats all the GOP would-be contenders by 15 points.

    The new Mitt says he is very concerned about poverty. As soon ol’ Huck finishes his Old Testament prophet introductory act (smiting Beyonce and lying about how uncensored Nugent acts were that Huck put out himself), he might restart his Christian economic populist schtick. I think they all will try to jump on the economic social conscience bandwagon.

    But it works both ways. Why would people vote for a fake Democrat when they can vote for the real thing?

    Edit: especially fake Democrats who are about as appetizing as squirrel brains cooked in popcorn poppers, old cardboard, and transistors (hi Mitt!)?

  7. 7.

    raven

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    “They will walk 10 kilometers in the heat with their child and line up to get a vaccine because they have seen death. We’ve forgotten what measles deaths look like. We’ve forgotten … the scourges they used to be. But in Africa, the women know death in their children and they want their children to survive,” Melinda Gates said.

    The philanthropist urged American families to take think twice before putting off a vaccine.

  10. 10.

    srv

    Obama is sending troops to Ukraine, so there won’t be a White House for Hillary to occupy now.

    Also, the Jane Hamsher’s of the Left were Right:

    The retiring Boxer (D-Calif.) and possible presidential contender Paul (R-Ky.) are teaming up to create a “moderate proposal” on Iran sanctions, Boxer said Wednesday morning. They aim to offer an alternative to bipartisan legislation that is gaining steam that would impose new economic penalties on Iran if Western nations fail to strike an agreement on winding down Tehran’s nuclear program. Those sanctions would begin taking effect in July.

  14. 14.

    raven

    @Elizabelle: BBC has it.

    “Saudi King Abdullah dies aged 91
    Breaking news
    Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has died in hospital, state TV says.

    The announcement, made early on Friday, said his brother, Salman, had become king.

    Before the announcement, Saudi television cut to Koranic verses, which often signifies the death of a senior royal.

    King Abdullah, who was said to be aged about 90, had been in hospital for several weeks suffering from a lung infection.

    The king came to the throne in 2005 but had suffered frequent bouts of ill health in recent years.”

  15. 15.

    Howard Beale IV

    @srv: Obviously those senators didn’t get briefed by the Mossad-otherwise they wouldn’t be going down this road.

  17. 17.

    p.a.

    Does teh stoopid start in Journalimism School or is it a corporate media employment requirement?

  19. 19.

    Elizabelle

    Another whoocoodanode. From The Guardian:

    A two-year-old Florida boy died on Wednesday after accidentally shooting himself with his father’s .380 caliber handgun that he found in the family car.

    The toddler, Kaleb Ahles, climbed into the front seat of the family’s vehicle while his parents carried boxes to move out of their home in Tarpon Springs, located about 30 miles north-west of Tampa.

    Kaleb, alone in the car, crawled across the seat and found the gun that was stored in the glove compartment, sheriff Bob Gualtieri of the Pinellas County sheriff’s office said during a Wednesday evening press conference.

    Kaleb then grabbed the gun, turned the barrel toward his chest, and squeezed the trigger, Gualtieri said.

    … “It’s just one of those things that happens where everything lined up the wrong way, where we had a two-and-a-half year old that was able to take a gun, pick it up turn it around and he shot himself dead center in the middle of the chest,” Gualtieri said.

    … “He probably barely got the trigger pulled,” Gualtieri said.

    The sheriff said it appears there was no wrongdoing, and the parents are not facing charges, saying that the parents have been punished enough by the loss of their son.

    “It appears to be another tragic situation,” Gualtieri said. “It’s just one of those things that happens where everything happens the wrong way.”

    Florida law requires gun owners to secure their loaded firearm in the presence of children younger than 16 years old. However, a person can only be held criminally liable if the minor accesses a gun and exhibits it in a public place, or brandishes it in a threatening or angry manner.

    Detectives said the gun was secured in the glove department of the car.

    This about three days after a five-year old in Missouri killed his 9-month old brother with (I think Grandpa’s handgun) found in a bedroom. In that case, their mother called 911 saying the child had used a paintball gun. But no.

    And how well secured is a gun if a 2-year old can open the glove compartment?

    Would these parents have suffered enough if it was a neighbor child playing around in the front seat?

  20. 20.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Elizabelle:

    BBC has it: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30945324

    Edit: Naturally, Raven got there first. Oh well.

    Another edit: His death means that Queen Elizabeth II is now the oldest reigning monarch in the world. Today is the anniversary of Queen Victoria’s death, and in September, assuming she survives another eight months, QEII will become the longest-reigning British sovereign in history. I know we don’t do kings and queens in this country, but I think that’s kind of cool.

  22. 22.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Suzanne:

    PHEW! False alarm. Our boss decided to go ahead with it since we’ve all been appropriately vaccinated and the employees at the Park who were affected are being monitored and/or are on paid leave.

    But I stand by my statement that stupid fucking anti-vaxxers ruin things for the rest of us.

  24. 24.

    Elizabelle

    @Howard Beale IV: Thank you.

    And good to know re breakingnews.com because I refuse to ever click on CNN, after they treated Obama like a missing plane re the Charlie Hebdo march.

  25. 25.

    Hal

    Steve Kornacki had some round table discussion about Jeb and HRC’s legacies a few weeks back. The contention by one of the guests was in essence that they were both legacy candidates and therefore the whole suggestion of political dynasties were cancelled out with Jeb and Hillary as their parties candidates.

    I thought this was amazingly short sighted because it overlooked the fact the HRC as First Lady, who then went on to forge her own career is not the same as being the third Bush in as many decades to run for President. The Bush name is massively tarnished to say the least, with George H being seen as an unremarkable President who couldn’t win re-election and Shrub as a disaster. Outside of Vince Foster conspiracists, no one cares anymore about Bills scandals and Hillary is largely untouched by them.

    If it comes down to defending their relatives, I think HRC has a much easier time than Jeb.

  26. 26.

    Amir Khalid

    @Southern Beale:
    The real problem, as far as the succession is concerned, is that the throne currently passes from older brother to younger, instead of from father to eldest son. The princes in the line of succession are all as old as fuck: Abdullah succeeded to the throne at 80, and the new king, Salman, is 79.

  27. 27.

    Violet

    @Suzanne: @Mnemosyne (iPhone): A friend of mine who is an evangelical Christian told me a some point last year that she wishes she hadn’t vaccinated her kids because they use aborted fetuses to make the vaccines. Yes, really.

    I seriously do not know how to respond to that kind of thing. Mind boggling.

  28. 28.

    Elizabelle

    WaPost and Guardian have King Abdullah death up now; nothing on NYTimes front page yet.

    ETA: Ah, NYTimes has it in their “watching” column. AP item. I always look for the banner, not up yet.

  29. 29.

    trollhattan

    @Suzanne:
    Interesting article today said two of the Dinnyland measles cases were vaccinated children and cautioned that the first vaccine gives 95% effectiveness and the second is over 99% effective, proving yet again that it takes a goddamn village.

  30. 30.

    Howard Beale IV

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Just like the Talebangicals started from the bottom up to usurp control, it’s time to take control from the anti-vaxxers at the local school level.

    No proof of vaccinations, no attendance at the pubic school-no exemptions, no exceptions. Time to take control at the schoolboard level like they did.

    Even better still-all vaccinations will be administered by the school district as proof.

  31. 31.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    @Elizabelle: Is that a joke? It’s like every gun owners/investigating authorities negligence excuse rolled into one sickening blurb.

    I’d say it to their faces with no shame: you killed your kid.

  32. 32.

    Violet

    @Elizabelle: From the quote:

    the parents have been punished enough by the loss of their son.

    Motherfucker. No, they have not. They didn’t secure their gun. Someone got it. In this case it was their kid. Could have been anyone, even the dog. They are at fault. They are not responsible gun owners and should be punished accordingly.

  34. 34.

    Amir Khalid

    @Hal:
    I remember some pundit, whose name I don’t remember, claiming that people would hold Bill’s infidelities against Hillary. I’m still not sure how the pundit figured that.

  36. 36.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @trollhattan:

    There are also people who never develop the antibodies even if they’ve been vaccinated, which is another reason herd immunity is so important.

    Don’t read the comments sections on any articles about the situation unless you want to read a hundred repetitive comments about how this is all the fault of illegal immigrants. Because Nice White People could never transmit the measles, don’t’cha know?

  37. 37.

    Elizabelle

    @CONGRATULATIONS!:
    @Violet:

    I know. It’s insane. Also: grieving grandfather is a retired police detective.

    The Guardian covers American toddlers shooting themselves and others avidly. US papers, not so much.

  41. 41.

    piratedan

    @Amir Khalid: perhaps there’s some perverse angle to be made that Hil doesn’t “put out enough”… and yet if so, wouldn’t you think that would make her the perfect candidate for our religious busybodies. Myself, I think Bill was simply a horndog who let the little head do way too much thinking for the big head. That ain’t exactly an unknown failing, neither is being a complete dolt, and the latter was a damn sight worse for the country than the former.

  42. 42.

    ruemara

    @Violet: A stunned look, a smirk and “You do know that’s not even remotely true, don’t you. Because if I have to send you the medical breakdown of a vaccine, I will do so.” Which is why even my damned foolish relatives withhold their stupid from me.

  44. 44.

    WereBear

    @Violet: Sadly, they are in such a state that they are lied to constantly, and if they question it, they will go to hell.

    What, indeed, can be done with a situation like that?

  45. 45.

    Elizabelle

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Do you think Elizabeth II might step down in favor of Prince Charles once she’s past Victoria’s record? Because her own mother lived to be 102.

    I feel kind of badly for Charles. Can see that throne possibly passing straight through to Wills.

  46. 46.

    JPL

    @Bostondreams: Good news though, high school science teachers are now testing air pressure at different temps. Eli Manning has his footballs made so Brady’s comments don’t concern me. The NFL has to bring out a dozen footballs that both teams use. If the NFL wanted integrity, bringing balls to the game would have been norm.

  47. 47.

    Eric S.

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): This really irks me. I want laws that fine parents for not getting their kids vaccinated. No vaccination? No state college admission. No college financial aid. That’s just of the top of my head.

  48. 48.

    JPL

    holy f..k.. King Abdullah dies and Yemen’s government steps down and what does ABC lead with.. deflated balls. geez.. also.. Jeff Gordon is going to retire.

  50. 50.

    Amir Khalid

    @Elizabelle:
    I think the word from the Palace has always been that the Queen will not abdicate for that reason. After all, Victoria’s son Edward VII had to wait too.

  51. 51.

    Howard Beale IV

    @Violet: The only difference between Evangelical Christians and ISIS are the fact that ISIS fighters wields weapons, leaves the US to fight for their beiefs and believe in martyrdom, while Evangelicals whine like babies 99.95% of time-the 0.05% shoot abortion doctors. .

  52. 52.

    realbtl

    There is no such thing as an accidental firearms discharge.

    This! What it really means is “I’m an incompetent dumb shit who should never be allowed within 3 miles of a weapon.”

  53. 53.

    beltane

    @Eric S.: As far as I am concerned, these people are raising biohazards, not children. If they want to recreate the 17th century with its astronomically high childhood mortality rates, they ought to remove themselves from 21st century society.

  54. 54.

    gratuitous

    @Violet: The short response to something that deranged is to say, in a calm voice, heavy eye contact, with conviction, “That’s not true. Good for you, though, for taking your children’s health seriously enough to get them vaccinated.” Then smile, and offer her another cup of tea.

  56. 56.

    Davis X. Machina

    @jl:

    Read about poll results someplace earlier today. HRC beats all the GOP would-be contenders by 15 points.

    This is unpossible, because No True Democrat will be able to bring him or herself to vote for her, leaving her vulnerable to the adherents of Morgoth… if she isn’t one herself, that is.

  57. 57.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Violet:

    I genuinely don’t know, but if the kid had managed to shift the car into neutral and run himself over, would the parents still “have suffered enough already”? There is no rational reason for guns to have a special dispensation when it comes to deadly accidents.

  58. 58.

    Hungry Joe

    A century ago a woman named Mary Mallon became known as Typhoid Mary: She denied she was a typhoid carrier (she was) and refused to have her gall bladder removed or to refrain from working as a cook. She was confined twice, the first time for three years; she was released when she promised not to return to her old job. She did anyway, and infected dozens more people, several of whom died. Eventually she was caught and confined until her death more than 20 years later.

    We have the right to respond to threats to public health. I’m not talking about confining anyone, but unvaxxed folk are a threat to infants, older people, people with compromised immune systems, and a small percentage of vaccinated people who (for whatever reason) are not protected by the vaccine. No public school, for sure. Maybe no private school, either — those kids need to be kept away from groups. Not sure what to do about Disneyland-y situations, though; suggestions?

  59. 59.

    JPL

    @beltane: So we know that temp can change pressure and we know that Brady’s balls were on the field more than Luck’s balls, that were inflated higher to begin with, so would that make a difference. Does defense even matter at that point. I actually read that a science teacher in MA is having his students test footballs under different climates. That’s cool.

  61. 61.

    beltane

    @Hungry Joe: Any child with anti-vaxxer parents is already growing up in La La Land so forgoing a vacation in Disneyland is hardly a sacrifice.

  63. 63.

    Kay

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    It’s just so sad that public health people worked so hard and long and they succeeded! Everyone was getting vaccinated!

    It must be crazy-making. It’d be like if it became fashionable to stop using baby seats in cars. “Just hold the baby. Hang on if we crash.”

    Jesus. Again they have to convince all these new people?

  64. 64.

    Howard Beale IV

    @efgoldman: To which I say

    (politely) sorry, we can’t educate your child until you show up proof of vaccination.

    (not-so-politely) Teach your diseased spawn yourself, you satanic whore! No way am I letting your Typhoid Mary near my kid!

  65. 65.

    Anne Laurie

    @Elizabelle:

    I feel kind of badly for Charles. Can see that throne possibly passing straight through to Wills.

    I think that’s been the plan at least since Charles was “given permission” to marry Camilla. Being able to take his one true love to public events was supposed to be the consolation prize, IIRC, once his kid had a kid. Not a fan of the British monarchy in general, but as the Saudis are demonstrating, there’s much worse ways to run what should be a figurehead bureaucracy!

  66. 66.

    Violet

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): I have a family member with an immune issue and she can’t have live vaccines. There are people like that. Those people depend on enough other people to be vaccinated so that they are generally protected. I agree those people should be not be punished twice by being kept out of school.

  67. 67.

    Violet

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Completely agree. Guns are dangerous, just like cars or motorcycles or knives or fireworks. Why do gun owners get a pass if someone else gets access to the gun and kills themselves or someone else?

  68. 68.

    Mandalay

    @Elizabelle:

    Would these parents have suffered enough if it was a neighbor child playing around in the front seat?

    There is so much win in your question. Kudos.

  69. 69.

    Elizabelle

    @JPL: ABC’s going after younger viewers. David Muir as anchor, people.

    One of these days they’re going to lead with keyboard cat.

  70. 70.

    Howard Beale IV

    @Mandalay:

    Indeed-it appears the car was NOT secure, contrary to media reports. I would find it highly unlikely the toddler would be carrying around a keyfob to unlock the vehicle.

  71. 71.

    Cliff in NH

    glove compartments Can be locked, it wasn’t secured.

    no trigger lock (those are free many places) it wasn’t secured.

    Simple facts of the case state that it wasn’t secure.

  73. 73.

    trollhattan

    @Hungry Joe:
    Sadly, in California there is an exemption on “religious grounds” big enough to drive an ambulance through. And now that the wingers have taken the antivax torch and are running with it, the madness has spread across the state.

    As with the Utah law that says teachers can pack heat and no, you can’t force them to admit it, I damn well want to know if my kid is 1. going to school with unvaccinated kids and 2. has a teacher packin’ heat. In either case I want her in another class.

  74. 74.

    Pogonip

    I had measles 52 years ago. My son, who’s never had it, was advised to have a booster shot. I guess I’ll ask if I need one too.

  75. 75.

    Elizabelle

    @Cliff in NH: There was a bullet in the chamber….

    I know. So defensive.

    If a serial killer was knocking off these small children, rather than their parents’ unsecured and loaded guns (the real “preciouses”), CNN would never have to look for another scary headline.

    But, as Violet points out, guns get a pass.

  77. 77.

    Mandalay

    @jl:

    The new Mitt says he is very concerned about poverty.

    Which invites an obvious question to ask Romney while he is in front of a camera: “What specific actions have you taken in the past four years to address your deep concern about poverty?”.

  79. 79.

    beltane

    @trollhattan: In Vermont there is an exemption on “philosophical grounds”. A couple of years ago we had a whooping cough outbreak at the high school because of some people’s “philosophy”.

  80. 80.

    Baud

    Maybe states should set up an online registry for people who aren’t vaccinated. Like they do for sex offenders.

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @trollhattan:

    IIRC, here in California you can state that you have a moral or ethical objection with no religious belief required. That’s why you have dumbasses driving around my neighborhood with “I Believe Dr. Wakefield” bumper stickers.

  82. 82.

    Howard Beale IV

    @Baud: Now that should be fucking mandatory. No vaaccination should be public knowledge-for their own safety, naturally.

  85. 85.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Elizabelle:

    I don’t for one minute think she wil actually abdicate the throne, although she has increasingly been handing over more ceremonial duties to Prince Charles. But “abdication” is a dirty word in that family, thanks to her Uncle David (King Edward VIII), and I would bet a large sum of money that it will not happen.

    As for the Prince of Wales, I expect he realizes that in many ways he’s a lot better off not being King. Once he is Sovereign, he won’t be able to express his opinions on architecture or organic farming or poverty or any of the other causes he’s taken on over the past 40+ years. He’ll actually have to forfeit quite a lot of freedom and, well, sovereignty, once he is under the same constitutional constraints that keep his mother from expressing any but the most anodyne views.

    But then, IANAB. If litlebrit or others are around, I hope they will weigh in.

  86. 86.

    shelley

    @Elizabelle: If that toddler had died from being left unattended in a hot car, the parents would be up on reckless endangerment charges, at the very least. But leaving a gun where he could shoot himself….” just one of those things…”

    Yup, that gun was mightily secured in that glove compartment, unless, you just happened to pop the button.

  87. 87.

    Pogonip

    @Cliff in NH: My glove compartment can’t be locked. I’m not happy about this but all the new cars seem to be like that.

    Stupid people should not have weapons–or vehicles, for that matter.

  89. 89.

    Amir Khalid

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):
    Someone should point out to them that Andrew Wakefield’s not even a doctor anymore; he was struck off the roll precisely for promoting this anti-vax nonsense.

  90. 90.

    CaseyL

    I’m sorry, I know this sounds awful and heartless, but I cannot feel the slightest bit of grief, sorrow or sympathy for gun nuts whose totemic bang-toys wind up killing their kids.

    I think those incidents as pro-active Darwin Awards.

  91. 91.

    Elizabelle

    @shelley: Great parallell about the hot car. Yes indeedy.

    And notice how quickly the nuclear scientist killed by her own gun by her own toddler in a Walmart story faded from view.

    Nothing to see, folks.

  93. 93.

    Mandalay

    @Violet:

    Why do gun owners get a pass if someone else gets access to the gun and kills themselves or someone else?

    They don’t. Someone was charged last week:

    A Tallahassee man is arrested and accused of leaving a gun within reach of his three-year-old nephew. The toddler accidentally shot and killed himself while playing with the gun at his grandmother’s house…

    Now, the boy’s uncle, 20 year old Jaleel Taylor is facing a felony charge of culpable negligence for leaving that gun within the toddler’s reach.

    Now I could be barking up the wrong tree, and it makes no sense at all, but is it possible that the rules are different for gun owners named Jaleel? Or maybe the gun owner being an uncle instead of a father makes a difference? Or perhaps the police are genuinely concerned that Jaleel hasn’t suffered enough already? It’s all such a mystery.

  94. 94.

    Pogonip

    @shelley: Not necessarily. The classic case is a rich bitch in Ohio, if I recall correctly, who repeatedly left her toddler in her hot van. On the 3rd or 4th try she managed to kill him.

    LaShaundria in the hood would never have been able to leave HER kid in the hot car 3 or 4 times; on the first time he’d have been taken away from her. Ditto Destinee in the trailer park. I don’t know why this nation doesn’t do the honest thing for once and just decree “If you have X amount of money the laws do not apply to you, do as you like.”. The rich bitch mentioned above was a school principal. She had a HISTORY of leaving the kid in her hot van and the law did nothing.

  95. 95.

    Amir Khalid

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Then again, would Charles dare refuse the throne for quality-of-life reasons? The nation might consider he was deserting his duty, again like his great-uncle.

  96. 96.

    Hungry Joe

    Royalty: The descendants of a warlord who, a few hundred years ago, managed to kill other warlords before they killed him. At some point he put a jewel-y thing on this head and threatened to murder anyone who didn’t call him “king” — and instantly the blood of everyone in his family, now and forever, turned blue. They are … ROYAL.

    Please. Enough. Make them go to work.

  97. 97.

    Cliff in NH

    Really? wow I’ve never been in a car that didn’t have a lock on the glove compartment.

    Of course if there was no lock on the glove cpt. it was not secure without a trigger lock.

    Or if there was a lock and it wasn’t used, it’s still not secure.

    So, either way, it wasn’t secure.

  100. 100.

    Steeplejack

    Open thread!

    I am happily click-clacking away on my new Das Keyboard 4, which arrived yesterday. My fingers haven’t enjoyed typing so much since the original IBM PC. I got a great deal on a “refurb” from Woot, but it appears to be brand new; it was probably a return.

    Although I am a super speedy touch typist, I will admit that I wasn’t ballsy enough to get the Ultimate model—with blank keycaps.

  103. 103.

    Pogonip

    @Cliff in NH: And who leaves a hot round in the chamber anyway? Do you even do that in a combat zone? (I would suspect not, what with all the running, ducking, climbing that goes on in a combat zone. I will be seeing a combat veteran this weekend and will try to remember to ask him.)

  104. 104.

    Roger Moore

    @Amir Khalid:

    I remember some pundit, whose name I don’t remember, claiming that people would hold Bill’s infidelities against Hillary. I’m still not sure how the pundit figured that.

    He dislikes Bill and Hillary and will hold anything that Bill did, even things he did behind Hillary’s back, against her. Therefore he assumes that everyone else will, too. I think that you can generally read most pundits’ broad generalizations about how “people” will feel about something the same way.

  106. 106.

    Howard Beale IV

    @Steeplejack: Lucky you. I had a IBM keyboard that was part of their slimline series that had the nib on it before the Windows key before IBM sold that division off.

  107. 107.

    Pogonip

    @Baud: I wondered about that too. The site said experienced typists never look at the keys so why put letters on them.

    I have to look at my work keyboard when I start off because I’ve been using it so long the little nubs have worn off the F and J keys. But after thinking about it a moment I realized the keyboard site was right; once I start I don’t look. I have been typing for 40 years. (I’ll get that letter finished one of these days!)

  110. 110.

    Howard Beale IV

    @Steeplejack: Back in the day, IBM keyboards were built like brick shithoueses, long before before the advent of mushy rubber-carbon-conductive domed smushboxes that last as long as as cat-hairs don’t get trapped into ’em.

    They still command a premium in the second hand market.

  111. 111.

    Elizabelle

    @catclub: Yep. Kaleb was a little blonde kid, with 23-year old parents.

    And this is another little white kid killed in Elmo, Missouri, this week. 9-month old Corbin, shot by his 5-year old brother with grandpa’s gun. Corbin was in his playpen.

    Six words from her 5-year-old son changed a young mother’s life forever.

    “I’m sorry, mom. I shot Corbin.”

    … The tragedy has sent the family reeling and a rural section of Missouri that prides itself on responsible gun ownership struggling to comprehend how a little boy was able to find a revolver, pull the trigger and kill his brother.

    Wiederholt lives in North Dakota but was visiting the Elmo home of her father, Bill Porter, who owns the .22-caliber Magnum revolver used in the tragedy. She had no idea loaded guns were in areas accessible to children when she came to visit with four kids 5 years old and younger.

    “I didn’t know it was there until I turned around and saw it laying on the bed,” Wiederholt told NBC. “I don’t know why someone would have a loaded gun in the house while kids were around.”

    The Nodaway County sheriff told the Daily News the gun was on shelf built into the master bedroom’s headboard, but Porter, who says he uses the gun for home security and target practice, said it was inside a locked case along with other firearms.

    “I set it up behind the long arms. It’s always been there. I’ve never moved it,” he told NBC in an emotional interview. “I told the boys they weren’t supposed to be in my bedroom where I keep the gun cabinet and they knew it — but like I said, boys will be boys.”

    Sheriff Darren White told the News on Tuesday that the shooting appears accidental, but all information collected will be forward to the county’s prosecuting attorney for review on possible charges.

    … “Guns themselves are not dangerous. On their own, they have no ability to do anything,” he said Tuesday. “It’s when people leave guns lying around and young children can have access to them. Little children are fascinated by all kinds of things.”

    Wiederholt grew up hunting and shooting on a farm, making her all the more stunned that her own father’s alleged negligence would lead to such a tragedy.

  112. 112.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Steeplejack:

    It went okay — my boss warned me that said person felt like I was trying to manipulate her if I talked about my emotions, so I had to re-tool everything at the last minute. She’s still doing things that annoy the shit out of me, but at least I feel like my boss understands that it’s a problem from both sides, not just a problem I’m causing.

    Somehow, she managed to half-convince herself and our mutual boss that I was out for her job, which I wouldn’t do on a bet, so that had to be straightened out as well.

  114. 114.

    Elizabelle

    I don’t mean to be such a Debbie Downer about the toddler gun deaths, but do you think the incidence is increasing, or are we hearing about them more due to the internet?

    Be nice if our government kept records, but I’m not sure they do … or if Republicans would allow them to do so.

    Gun deaths are just unpredictable tragedies.

  117. 117.

    Pogonip

    @Major Major Major Major: Doesn’t surprise me. The Army, at least, has always been careful with weapons. This is partly because the Army knows half the population is below average intelligence and they plan accordingly.

  118. 118.

    Roger Moore

    @Hungry Joe:

    and instantly the blood of everyone in his family, now and forever, turned blue.

    Actually not true. Only the most senior line of descent is royal. The rest aren’t even automatically noble. The younger children of the monarch are generally given titles of nobility, but their younger children (i.e. younger children of younger children) don’t get any title of nobility. That’s why Zara Phillips is just a MBE even though she’s Elizabeth II’s granddaughter.

  121. 121.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Amir Khalid:

    Oh, I never thought of that but I can’t see his forfeiting the throne. More likely, The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry are well primed to continue their father’s interests seamlessly, and the PoW can coach them behind the scenes, so to speak. Regardless, his reign as King will be a relatively short one — he will turn 67 this year, and if The Queen takes after her own mum, Charles might well be in his early 80s before his accession. Even Prince William is now, what, about eight years older than Princess Elizabeth was when she became Queen in February 1952. Barring disaster, it will be generations, maybe centuries, before another really young heir inherits the throne.

  122. 122.

    Steeplejack

    @Howard Beale IV:

    Dude, I’m telling you, Das Keyboard feels exactly like the original IBM keyboard: it uses mechanical switches, it’s loud, and it feels great. Plus it’s a mini-USB hub (two outlets) and it has some useful “media” buttons (volume, mute, play/pause, forward, reverse).

    I got the “blue” option with the clickiest feel. Sheer luxury!

  124. 124.

    Steeplejack

    @Pogonip:

    I considered the blank-keycap model. I am a serious old-school touch typist, but I need labels for the “exotic” keys I don’t use much and that are in different places on different keyboards: Alt, Ctrl, Del, PgUp, PgDn, etc.

  125. 125.

    Anne Laurie

    @Pogonip:

    I had measles 52 years ago. My son, who’s never had it, was advised to have a booster shot. I guess I’ll ask if I need one too.

    What I’ve heard so far is that people ‘born before 1957’ almost certainly had the measles, and don’t need to worry. People like your son, who were born after the first less-than-totally-protective vaccine but before the improved MMR — from about 1957-74 — need a booster.

    I was born at the end of 1955, so I got measles, chicken pox, rubella (while my mom was pregnant with my youngest sibs!), and even ‘mild’ scarlet fever. Within a few years, as genetic engineering advances, I’m guessing us old peoples’ blood is gonna be declared a weaponizable biohazard!

  128. 128.

    Anne Laurie

    @Baud:

    Maybe states should set up an online registry for people who aren’t vaccinated. Like they do for sex offenders.

    Well, the exploding-head noises would be entertaining. The ‘da gummint has no right to keep track of my private stuff’ anarcho-libertarians overlaps considerably with the anti-vaxxer crowd. There’s a subgroup of anti-vaxxers who proclaim that the vaccine registry is just a front for the Illuminati to keep track of “their” kids, and a (hopefully smaller) sub-subgroup that thinks vaccine protocol include GPS trackers.

  129. 129.

    Steeplejack

    @tybee:

    They have—or used to have—little adapters to go from keyboard plug to USB outlet. I held onto a couple of IBM keyboards as long as I could, but they’ve been gone for 15 years or so.

  131. 131.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    True, but IIRC in Great Britain, unless you’re the current holder of a noble title, you’re legally a commoner. That’s why you sometimes hear about “Lord So-and-So of the House of Commons” — the “lord” is a mere courtesy title and legally the guy is a commoner, not a member of the nobility. That’s why Prince William’s wife is a duchess, not a princess — his title of “prince” is a courtesy title and his “real” title is Duke of Cornwall.

    I only know the rules for GB and not the rest of Europe, because it’s all so darn complicated!

  132. 132.

    NotMax

    @Steeplejack

    They’ll have to pry the recently purchased three dimmer level backlit keyboard from my cold, dead hands. Also has all of those media button functions, and more.

    For those nights when Insomnia comes to visit, kicks off its shoes and settles in for an extended stay, no longer any need to turn on any lights in the room (which in this room means the ceiling fixture). That there newfangled ‘lectricity stuff is expensive.

  135. 135.

    Steeplejack

    @NotMax:

    I like having at least a small lamp turned on, otherwise the contrast between the bright screen and the dark room gives me eyestrain.

  136. 136.

    Anne Laurie

    @Hungry Joe:

    Make them go to work.

    Well, it’s not work-work, but there’s an argument to be made that it’s better for the rest of us to have a Brit-style “Royal Figurehead” who can promote the nation’s image at state funerals & corporate ribbon-cuttings, separate from the person(s) doing the actual work of Government. We Americans have had a problem, going back at least to President Adams the First, with people getting outraged (deliberately ginning out outrage) over our Presidents either “acting like royalty” (the First Lady bought an expensive designer dress!!!) or not acting royal enough (she wore shorts! in public! at a campground! in the summer!). Apart from the strain on our elected officials, the figurehead gap encourages too many people (Arianna Huffington, Carly Fiorina) to screw up political races in an attempt to become media-famous.

  137. 137.

    Steeplejack

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    [. . .] at least I feel like my boss understands that it’s a problem from both sides, not just a problem I’m causing.

    That sounds like a win to me. You can’t automatically fix everything by using the “right” technique. But it seems like now things are seen more clearly by at least one important party (your boss). That will give you ammunition if/when problems arise down the road.

  138. 138.

    Cliff in NH

    @Steeplejack:
    @NotMax:

    I’m getting the Corsair gaming one with the brown switches which are not quite as clicky as the blues, I can’t wait for it to come! I always use the programmable macro buttons for gaming and work (on my G110)

    If anyone is trying to buy the corsair they are shipping the new RGB illuminated ones finally – use camelcamelcamel to get a good price alert emailed to you.

  139. 139.

    Hungry Joe

    @Anne Laurie: You’ve convinced me … but the (figurehead) head of state position needn’t be hereditary. We could elect them to, say, ten-year terms. I nominate Willie Nelson. Do I hear a second?

  140. 140.

    Roger Moore

    @Anne Laurie:

    Within a few years, as genetic engineering advances, I’m guessing us old peoples’ blood is gonna be declared a weaponizable biohazard!

    Not hardly. The whole point of getting immunity is that your immune system can completely eradicate the viruses from your system. Once the infection is over, most of the adaptive immune cells (T- and B- cells) involved in the response go into senescence and die, but a few survive as memory cells. If and when you’re ever exposed to the same virus (or a close relative, which is why cowpox protects from smallpox), the memory cells spring into action and give you enough of a head start on fighting the infection that you rarely even notice it. So your blood would be useless in producing bioweapons. The only exception would be for diseases that produce chronic infection by evading immune surveillance, like malaria, herpes, or HIV, and you wouldn’t be any exception in having chronic infections with those guys.

    Not an immunologist, but I do work in a Department of Immunology, so I do have some idea what I’m talking about.

  142. 142.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Anne Laurie: India has a President who is the ceremonial head of the government, elected by the state assemblies and the equivalent of the Senate and Congress here (Rajya sabha and Loksabha) and the Prime Minister who is the executive head of the government, usually the head of the majority party in the lower house of the Parliament.

  143. 143.

    Cliff in NH

    @Steeplejack:

    the contrast between the bright screen and the dark room gives me eyestrain.

    putting a light facing the wall behind the screen can help with that

  150. 150.

    Zinsky

    I kinda like this story about a remote controlled model airplane crashing in a supermarket parking lot, with six pounds of meth aboard! Imagine some stoner wheeling his grocery cart out, laden with Cheetos and Mountain Dew and thinking God dropped manna on him from Heaven! Ha Ha

  151. 151.

    Cliff in NH

    @Steeplejack:

    Cute kitty, I just get dog head laying on my feet or lap depending on what she wants. A firm head press in my lap and licking my hand means “I wanna go outside!”

  153. 153.

    Cliff in NH

    Ahh… =)

    My doggy does something quite similar when she has rolled around in some foul dead thing or particularly stinky poop.

    She is learning that doing that means it’s bath time .. . . but if it’s “Extra Special” she can’t seem to resist, even if it means a bath.

  156. 156.

    Jack the Second

    The Clintons are not a dynasty: they are a power couple. If it were Chelsea running and not Hilary, then we could talk about the Clintons as a dynasty.

  157. 157.

    jc

    What if Mitt and Jeb decide to run together, a Mitt POTUS and Jeb VP ticket? That’s a chilling scenario.

  158. 158.

    Citizen_X

    @jc: Yes, it is. I’d be chilling the beer and pulling out the popcorn right away if they announced that.

  159. 159.

    priscianus jr

    @SiubhanDuinne: assuming she survives another eight months, QEII will become the longest-reigning British sovereign in history.

    Her mum, born when Queen Victoria was still on the throne, made it to 102. Queen Elizabeth is a mere 88. Long may she reign.

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