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You are here: Home / Gun Issues / Gun nuts / Saturday Morning Open Thread

Saturday Morning Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  March 14, 20158:45 am| 221 Comments

This post is in: Gun nuts, Music, Open Threads

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The premise behind this song is that there was a law in Texas prohibiting the sale of firearms to customers who are crying. I don’t know if there ever really was such a law, but you can bet your boots the NRA got it overturned if so.

Open thread.

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Reader Interactions

221Comments

  1. 1.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 14, 2015 at 8:49 am

    So who’s celebrating Pi Day/Pi Minute?

  2. 2.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 8:50 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: I celebrate e.

  3. 3.

    WereBear

    March 14, 2015 at 8:53 am

    I’m celebrating Pi. When I get aROUND to it!

    Oh, I crack me up.

  4. 4.

    raven

    March 14, 2015 at 8:53 am

    As usual I wait three hours to post and as soon as I do, POOF!

  5. 5.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 8:54 am

    When did math based holidays become a thing?

  6. 6.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 8:57 am

    WaPo is on it:
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/14/10-stunning-images-show-the-beauty-hidden-in-pi/

  7. 7.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 9:03 am

    @raven:

    Did you go POOF!?

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 14, 2015 at 9:13 am

    @Baud:

    An excellent way to celebrate! I will have pie this afternoon after the opera.

  9. 9.

    ThresherK

    March 14, 2015 at 9:19 am

    @Baud: Great stuff. I’ve already shared it with my geek friends.

  10. 10.

    Steeplejack

    March 14, 2015 at 9:28 am

    Anybody got a recommendation for a (cheap) universal remote control? I have a Universal WR7 that has worked great for six or seven years, but some of the buttons are getting hinky. I would get another one, but it has been discontinued.

    My needs are simple: just something to control the TV, cable box and receiver (at least for volume and sound on/off). I never bothered to program the current remote for the DVD player. A quick look on Amazon seems to show things that are way more complicated and expensive than I need.

    ETA: And I just celebrated the Pi Minute!

  11. 11.

    MattF

    March 14, 2015 at 9:30 am

    You see a lot of references to pi’s appearances in geometry, but there’s more:

    https://math.la.asu.edu/~surgent/mat271/Euler_Sum.pdf

    which is a value of the Riemann zeta function, which, in turn, is related to the distribution of prime numbers.

  12. 12.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 9:34 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Seems like all the bakeries and supermarkets have gotten into the spirit of Pi Day, offering deals on pie.

  13. 13.

    WereBear

    March 14, 2015 at 9:40 am

    If Mr WereBear is up for a jaunt today, perhaps we will roadtrip to a diner two towns over, which is known worldwide for its pie.

    It is Cabin Fever month, after all.

  14. 14.

    raven

    March 14, 2015 at 10:00 am

    @Violet: Yea, I just went to the swanky “Fresh Market” and if they sell 200 pies they get to hit the store manager with a pie.

  15. 15.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 10:10 am

    Happy Caturday and Pi Day. Does anyone have a good recipe for a savory pie?

  16. 16.

    BruceFromOhio

    March 14, 2015 at 10:14 am

    Dates with math, or math with dates, was a thing with the 10/10/10 and 11/11/11, etc. I like Google’s instant result from just searching pi brings up the calculator and 3.14159265359.

    Alas, the morning pi minute has passed in EDT. Shall await the evenings pi minute.

    Just think, its 11 years, 3 months and 13 days until Plancks Constant Day!

    Until then, it’s another cup of tea on a cold, wet grey morning, with a later trip to the market for some fresh salmon, almonds, and other veggie goodies for dinner. I’m grateful for the rain to wash away all the damned salt so I can get the bikes out.

  17. 17.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 10:14 am

    I am bit dazed, when I woke up this morning I had the dreaded news from India, this time arrived not by a phone call but by a text. One of my father’s cousins who I was close to while growing up died Friday night, she was only 64.

    She was a quite a woman, she was divorced and was a single mother before she was 20. This was in India of 70s. She went back to school became a Chartered Account (similar to a CPA here) and was a successful stock broker.

  18. 18.

    rikyrah

    March 14, 2015 at 10:17 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I have a co-worker who had a t-shirt celebrating this special Pi day

  19. 19.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 14, 2015 at 10:17 am

    My life is boring. At the gym yesterday, a woman was telling us about working for a hotel chain. They once sent her to Cedar Rapids where someone was running a prostitution ring out of one of their hotels. She had to fire the hooker related people. She also decided to order all new sheets.

    Next week, she’s going to NYC as one of the chaperones for 61 high school kids going to a chorus competition. The kids have to bring their luggage early and the chaperones search it.

    So yeah, my life is boring.

  20. 20.

    max

    March 14, 2015 at 10:18 am

    @Steeplejack: My needs are simple: just something to control the TV, cable box and receiver (at least for volume and sound on/off). I never bothered to program the current remote for the DVD player. A quick look on Amazon seems to show things that are way more complicated and expensive than I need.

    Comcast? The remote they ship with the cable box should do all that.

    The premise behind this song is that there was a law in Texas prohibiting the sale of firearms to customers who are crying.

    Naw, no such law. Wiki:

    Their first album, You Can’t Buy A Gun When You’re Crying, is a reference to comedian Lord Carrett’s joke “I learned a lot from my second marriage… I learned they won’t sell you a handgun if you’re crying…”

    max
    [‘They won’t sell you a handgun if you’re crying, usually, because they don’t want to get shot.’]

  21. 21.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 14, 2015 at 10:19 am

    @BruceFromOhio:

    It’s also Einstein’s birthday!

  22. 22.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 10:19 am

    I am bit dazed, when I woke up this morning I had the dreaded news from India, this time arrived not by a phone call but by a text. One of my father’s cousins who I was close to while growing up died Friday night, she was only 64.

    She was a quite a woman, she was a divorced single mother when she was not even 20. We are talking about India of 70s, I don’t even know what her life must have have been like. I am sure it was anything but easy. She went back to school became a Chartered Account (similar to a CPA here) and was a successful stock broker.

  23. 23.

    Botsplainer

    March 14, 2015 at 10:22 am

    Babysitting my grandcat while my wife and daughter are in Thailand and Cambodia. He’s a really chatty, sweet little guy. I’m supervising the interaction between the cats and the dog – they’re having a lot of fun together, and the dog is settling down in how they interact. Weirdly, the cats seem to kind of get along despite a wide age difference.

    The kid managed to (after much effort by her mom) get approval from three necessary government officials to enter a recently-cleared-of-land-mines dig site to consult and work with a Hungarian government funded archaeological team for a few days. She’s stoked.

  24. 24.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 10:27 am

    @Botsplainer: How did it all work out with the funeral drama?

  25. 25.

    WereBear

    March 14, 2015 at 10:29 am

    @Botsplainer: That sounds adorable. I love how some cats just “get” dogs, though there isn’t any logical reason for them to know.

  26. 26.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 10:30 am

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    The kids have to bring their luggage early and the chaperones search it.

    Wow. Really? Things have changed. No one ever searched our luggage on those kinds of trips when I was a kid.

  27. 27.

    Botsplainer

    March 14, 2015 at 10:34 am

    @Violet:

    I was nice, and refrained from snarky (there were a few giggles at the funeral – my cousin, a Methodist minister, was being overly complementary).

  28. 28.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 14, 2015 at 10:36 am

    Story from Occupied Crimea. March 9 was the birthday of Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine’s most famous poet and activist (from the 19th C), so several people in Simferopol commemorated it by going to that city’s Shevchenko park carrying Ukrainian flags. They were arrested for the crime of displaying a Ukrainian flag. While released pending sentencing, today, Saturday, one of those people went out to meet with some journalists. He wore a blue and yellow sash (blue and yellow being the two colors of the Ukrainian flag.) He was arrested again, for the crime of displaying Ukrainian “symbolism.”

  29. 29.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 10:36 am

    @Botsplainer: Glad it all worked out.

  30. 30.

    rlrr

    March 14, 2015 at 10:42 am

    π Day

  31. 31.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 14, 2015 at 10:59 am

    @Botsplainer: Good for you on being restrained at the funeral. At least that’s done now.

  32. 32.

    Germy Shoemangler

    March 14, 2015 at 11:02 am

    This evening our local PBS station will be featuring (between awkward pledge breaks) the Doc Brown movie. I’m only familiar with some of the later seasons’ episodes, so the previews looked different to me. Doc Brown smiles more and seems more outgoing. But the townsfolk seem as eccentric as ever.

  33. 33.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 14, 2015 at 11:03 am

    @schrodinger’s cat: Your aunt sounds like a great person. I’m sorry for your loss.

  34. 34.

    Germy Shoemangler

    March 14, 2015 at 11:05 am

    My local tv news website ran a story about an older black woman who was mistreated by a CVS clerk while trying to redeem a coupon. The clerk made insulting remarks about her being “dark” (???) and she complained, and fortunately the idiot was fired.

    The reader comments didn’t disappoint. One person called her a “troublemaker” while two other geniuses accused her of playing the (GULP!) “race card”

    I mentioned in an earlier thread my fascination with the horrible and shit-filled comments on my local news media.

  35. 35.

    Botsplainer

    March 14, 2015 at 11:09 am

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Still can’t get mom to have sense about that fucking house. Tried to get her to shut down the burglar alarm and phone line.

  36. 36.

    Betty Cracker

    March 14, 2015 at 11:17 am

    @max: The radio show host I heard the original story from must have been making shit up again. It happens. They’re notorious stoner-fogeys.

  37. 37.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 11:35 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: Thanks, she gave no fucks about what anyone thought of her and lived life on her own terms. She was with her mom, they were watching TV and sharing a laugh, she died of a massive heart attack on the spot. She went too soon, but not a bad way to go at all.

  38. 38.

    Cervantes

    March 14, 2015 at 11:41 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Also, activists, including Crimean Tatars, are being harassed. Some who have made a trip abroad are not being allowed back in. Others are being deported without warning. Misery abounds.

  39. 39.

    MomSense

    March 14, 2015 at 11:43 am

    I keep trying to watch the recent Dr. Who season but I can’t quite get into it. Anyone else having trouble with it? I like the new doctor well enough but the story lines aren’t working for me.

  40. 40.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 14, 2015 at 11:49 am

    @schrodinger’s cat: My condolences; she sounds very special, and fascinating.

  41. 41.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    March 14, 2015 at 11:50 am

    I really, really wanted to go for a hike this weekend because it’s wildflower season and apparently Point Mugu State Park in Malibu is spectacular right now, but I managed to aggravate my old whiplash (shoulder) injury and wouldn’t be able to carry enough water. We would need plenty of water even for a short hike because it’s also going to be 90 freakin’ degrees today — thanks, global warming!

  42. 42.

    Cervantes

    March 14, 2015 at 11:52 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    My condolences. Are you close to her kid(s)?

  43. 43.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    March 14, 2015 at 11:52 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I’m so sorry. At least, as you said, there are worse ways to go than while laughing with your loved ones.

  44. 44.

    Suzanne

    March 14, 2015 at 11:55 am

    I have to leave in a couple of hours to fly to San Antonio to attend a conference that starts tomorrow. I’ll have a few hours of sightseeing time this afternoon by myself. My hotel is near the convention center. Anyone have any suggestions? Or anyone want to meet up?

  45. 45.

    scav

    March 14, 2015 at 12:04 pm

    @MomSense: Experiences were across the spectrum. Some ranked at the near absolute top for me. others decidedly meh. But then, I’m strongly of the shake things up and let’s see what other dimensions / directions are in here tendency. I found generally there was more to think about after many of these episodes. Not always. Not to mention some wonderful all-hands on deck disagreements about any number of incidents.

  46. 46.

    Pogonip

    March 14, 2015 at 12:07 pm

    @Steeplejack: Go to your local big box or drugstore, tgey’ll have cheapies.

  47. 47.

    Amir Khalid

    March 14, 2015 at 12:08 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    Sorry for your loss. It sounds like your aunt had a life to be celebrated.

  48. 48.

    Yatsuno

    March 14, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    @Suzanne: Oh damn. I have a friend touring around ASU right now looking into doing his doctorate there. I think Virginia is going to win out (he’s from New England and he already thinks the Valley of the Sun is too hot) but if he does decide on Tempe I’ll pass him your name if that’s okay.

  49. 49.

    Avery Greynold

    March 14, 2015 at 12:16 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: “She had to fire the hooker related people. She also decided to order all new sheets” I’ll bet she didn’t last long in that job. The next week there was an AIDS survivors conference. Week after that was a furry convention. The week after that was…

  50. 50.

    mikej

    March 14, 2015 at 12:17 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Pity we don’t have someone around here who wrote a book on him to give us a thread for Al.

  51. 51.

    CaseyL

    March 14, 2015 at 12:17 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: So sorry for your loss! She must have been a real firecracker.

    I have a lot of things to do today, and fortunately (because it’s raining) they’re all indoor things. Shopping for stuff. I’m embarrassed by how much I enjoy shopping for stuff. The old hunter-gatherer instincts, rebooted for modern civilization.

  52. 52.

    MomSense

    March 14, 2015 at 12:26 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    So sorry to hear about your father’s cousin. She must have been an incredibly strong woman. Condolences to you and your family.

  53. 53.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 12:39 pm

    @Cervantes: She has one son and we were close when we were growing up. I haven’t seen him in a while since he now lives on the left coast. I will call him when he is back from India after the funeral.
    I was quite close to her younger brother who lives in Toronto now. The funeral will be on Monday, to give the family time to go back to Bombay.

  54. 54.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): @MomSense:
    Thanks so much.

  55. 55.

    Origuy

    March 14, 2015 at 12:47 pm

    The story that there’s been a coup in Moscow is gaining traction. Still speculation, but with more information behind it. It’s not clear, though, which side is behind it.

  56. 56.

    gogol's wife

    March 14, 2015 at 12:50 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I’m sorry. That is really difficult.

  57. 57.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 12:51 pm

    @CaseyL@Mnemosyne (tablet): seyL: @Amir Khalid: Thanks!
    Another story about my aunt. She performed her father’s last rites, when he passed away five years ago. In India, upper caste woman are not supposed to even go to the cemetery, she refused to let any of her male cousins stand in for her.

  58. 58.

    MattF

    March 14, 2015 at 12:54 pm

    A book for the chicken fancier:

    http://www.amazon.com/Why-Did-Chicken-Cross-World-ebook/dp/B00IWTWPY0/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

    There’s a hilarious review in Science magazine but, unfortunately, I can’t link to it.

  59. 59.

    Amir Khalid

    March 14, 2015 at 12:54 pm

    @Origuy:
    It’s ominous that there are people in Russia who think Putin isn’t hardline enough. And who, if sufficiently pissed off with his weakness, might depose him.

  60. 60.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 12:55 pm

    @CaseyL@Mnemosyne (tablet): seyL: @Amir Khalid: Thanks!
    Another story about my aunt. She performed her father’s last rites, when he passed away five years ago. In India, upper caste woman are not supposed to even go to the cemetery, she refused to let any of her male cousins stand in for her.

    ETA: Hindu last rites include lighting the funeral pyre and saying good bye to the mortal remains and returning them to the five elements where they came from.

  61. 61.

    NotMax

    March 14, 2015 at 1:04 pm

    Happy happy joy joy.

    Big, big pot of tomato soup is prepared. Big as in a #10 can of diced fire-roasted tomatoes to start with before adding broth and spices. Used newest kitchen toy – an immersion blender – for the first time. Powerful tool. Only drawback is that the power pad (one has to keep it pushed in to operate or to pulse) requires heavy pressure, so the ol’ arthritic thumb had a workout and a half.

    Interesting recipe as it uses a little maple syrup as a sweetener to balance the acidity. Just have to reheat tonight and whisk in creme fraiche before serving.

    Will be tackling the 7 pound eye round roast this afternoon.

  62. 62.

    jurassicpork

    March 14, 2015 at 1:04 pm

    April may be the cruelest month but March ain’t so hot, either.

  63. 63.

    WereBear

    March 14, 2015 at 1:05 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Good for her. She will be much missed, but you were important parts of each other’s lives.

    That endures.

  64. 64.

    Karen in GA

    March 14, 2015 at 1:08 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: She sounds like an amazing woman. I’m sorry for your loss, but happy that you had her in your life.

  65. 65.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 1:08 pm

    @WereBear: Thanks@gogol’s wife: Yes it is difficult, thanks for your kind words.

  66. 66.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 14, 2015 at 1:09 pm

    @Suzanne: A stroll on the River Walk is a great way to pass the time. The Alamo is just a block or so off it too, and that’s worth a look.

    If you’re by the Convention Center, I think you can just stroll on out to the River Walk. It’s been a while since I was in San Antonio, but that’s what I recall.

  67. 67.

    MomSense

    March 14, 2015 at 1:16 pm

    @scav:

    I’ll try to watch a few more episodes and see how it goes. I do like the actor who is playing the doctor.

  68. 68.

    Yatsuno

    March 14, 2015 at 1:19 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Agreed on the River Walk. And when I was there most of the interesting stuff in San Antonio is pretty much within a 2 mile radius of the River Walk so it’s a good place to be homed in on anyway.

  69. 69.

    Suzanne

    March 14, 2015 at 1:22 pm

    @Yatsuno: No problem—any friend of yours, etc etc etc!

    @Iowa Old Lady: THX for the suggestion! Will check it out.

  70. 70.

    NotMax

    March 14, 2015 at 1:28 pm

    Set those recorders.

    Monday, 1:45 p.m. Eastern, TCM

    Wages of Fear

    A favorite. Partially subtitled. Down and out at about its down and outiest, and tension aplenty. You’ll never hear the Blue Danube quite the same way again afterward.

    Later remade as Sorcerer.

  71. 71.

    Origuy

    March 14, 2015 at 1:28 pm

    @Suzanne: If you only have a few hours, the Riverwalk and the Alamo will fill it up. When I was there, I had a little more time and a car, so I went to the MacNay Art Museum and the old missions. I also went (don’t laugh) to the Museum of Texas Cultures. No, it’s not about yogurt; it has exhibits about each culture that made up Texas (Mexican, Czech, German, etc.) It’s not far from the convention center.

  72. 72.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 1:33 pm

    @Karen in GA: Thanks! I has a sad, my visits to India are so short and hurried, there is never enough time to catch up with everyone, especially because of my all drama, all the time, MIL takes up a fair amount of my mind space when I am there.

  73. 73.

    WereBear

    March 14, 2015 at 1:42 pm

    @NotMax: I have a real love for both.

  74. 74.

    raven

    March 14, 2015 at 1:42 pm

    @NotMax: And if you are looking for VCU-Davidson it’s on the obscure CBS Sports Network!

  75. 75.

    Germy Shoemangler

    March 14, 2015 at 1:42 pm

    Quote from Charlie Chaplin’s autobiography:

    “…the lugubrious Hoover sat and sulked, because his DISASTROUS ECONOMIC SOPHISTRY OF ALLOCATING MONEY AT THE TOP IN THE BELIEF THAT IT WOULD PERCOLATE DOWN TO THE COMMON PEOPLE HAD FAILED. And amidst all this tragedy HE RANTED IN THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN THAT IF FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT GOT INTO OFFICE THE VERY FOUNDATIONS OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM (not an infallible system at that moment)WOULD BE IMPERILED.
    However, FDR did get into office, and the country was not imperiled….”

  76. 76.

    Kay

    March 14, 2015 at 1:54 pm

    My eldest son emails me every day, sometimes several times a day, about everything under the sun yet he did not tell me got a dog. I had to find out third hand.

    What else don’t I know about this person? :)

  77. 77.

    Iowa Old Lady

    March 14, 2015 at 1:56 pm

    @Kay: Some things it’s better not to know. :-)

  78. 78.

    PsiFighter37

    March 14, 2015 at 2:00 pm

    Yesterday marked our 6-month anniversary…hard to believe time has gone by so quickly! It also reminds me we still have a couple of unfinished wedding items (final print of the photo album, sending thank-you notes to folks who got their gifts to us late, etc.).

    Out of curiosity – what is the policy these days on thank-you cards for weddings? We did them, just because I thought that was generally good etiquette. That said, of the 7-8 weddings we’ve been to for other people over the past couple of years, we’ve received thank-you cards from less than half. I don’t honestly care all that much, and I can see how people view them as a money sink of sorts, but I was pretty certain that it was common courtesy to do it. Maybe the times have changed.

    Otherwise, it’s a rainy day here in NYC…need to run some errands and do some light reading for work.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    March 14, 2015 at 2:08 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I used to get his parking tickets when he was in college because the car he was driving was in my name. I could have tracked his weekend activities based on those tickets. “On Friday January 9 at 2:13 AM you were parked illegally at 111 Main St….”

  80. 80.

    cckids

    March 14, 2015 at 2:12 pm

    @Kay:

    My eldest son emails me every day, sometimes several times a day, about everything under the sun yet he did not tell me got a dog. I had to find out third hand.

    I found out from my daughter that my middle son had a serious girlfriend. (as in, they’d been dating 6 months ++) Which is weird because I would have bet money on them not talking to each other unless in person (they’re at 2 different colleges)

  81. 81.

    ThresherK

    March 14, 2015 at 2:13 pm

    @MattF: Read it. Fascinating stuff, especially finding out there was a “chicken bubble” for certain breeds in (I think) Victorian England.

    I did skim over some of the more precise descriptions of modern poultry ‘farming’. And it’s totally coincidental (sic) that since I’ve read the book I’ve been paying more attention to the sourcing of my chickens.

  82. 82.

    cckids

    March 14, 2015 at 2:16 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    Out of curiosity – what is the policy these days on thank-you cards for weddings?

    Official etiquette is to still send them. I know many people don’t, but I can guarantee those who receive a handwritten thank you note appreciate it & think you’re classy.

  83. 83.

    Tommy

    March 14, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    @Steeplejack: I just got a Blumoo. Might not fall into the cheap category but lets me control everything, like 20,000 devices with my phone or tablet. With that said depending on your equipment and cable provider, there is most likely a free app for that.

    Before I got the Blumoo I used a Logitech universal remote. Plugged into my computer via a USB port to configure it. A workhorse of a remote control. Bet you can find one online for under $50.

  84. 84.

    rikyrah

    March 14, 2015 at 2:18 pm

    this is utter lunacy mixed in with utter evil

    ………………….

    The Shocking Finding From the DOJ’s Ferguson Report That Nobody Has Noticed

    Posted: 03/13/2015 2:42 pm EDT Updated: 03/13/2015 2:59 pm EDT

    In the city of Ferguson, nearly everyone is a wanted criminal.

    That may seem like hyperbole, but it is a literal fact. In Ferguson — a city with a population of 21,000 — 16,000 people have outstanding arrest warrants, meaning that they are currently actively wanted by the police. In other words, if you were to take four people at random, the Ferguson police would consider three of them fugitives.

    That statistic should be truly shocking. Yet in the wake of the Department of Justice’s withering report on the city’s policing practices, it has gone almost entirely unmentioned. News reports and analysis have focused on the racism discovered in departmental emails, and the gangsterish financial “shakedown” methods deployed against African Americans. In doing so, they have missed the full picture of Ferguson’s operation, which reveals a totalizing police regime beyond any of Kafka’s ghastliest nightmares.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-robinson/the-shocking-finding-from-the-doj-ferguson_b_6858388.html

  85. 85.

    Tommy

    March 14, 2015 at 2:22 pm

    @cckids: Yes, yes, yes. A few years ago I bought in bulk these super expensive thank you cards. I hand write a note to new clients. In them I say something along the lines of, hey I built a website for you. We work virtual. Never seen you face-to-face. But I just wanted to take the time to send you a handwritten note and thank you for your business.

    The response I get back from something that takes me only a few minutes to do is staggering in a very positive manner.

  86. 86.

    Kay

    March 14, 2015 at 2:22 pm

    @cckids:

    That’s nice though, that they talk to each other. I used to admire it a little when they were little and would join forces against me or defend one another from my dictatorial demands. I would think “oh, that’s cute that they’re a team of small angry people”.

  87. 87.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 2:26 pm

    @Kay: Collective bargaining against the maternal unit!

  88. 88.

    ThresherK

    March 14, 2015 at 2:37 pm

    @Steeplejack: Have you tried opening the case up and seeing if the hinky buttons are the result of spills, pet hair, dust and dirt?

  89. 89.

    ruemara

    March 14, 2015 at 2:41 pm

    @rikyrah: Holy shit.

    @schrodinger’s cat: She sounds ballsy as hell. The world is lesser for her passing.

  90. 90.

    MomSense

    March 14, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Horrifying.

  91. 91.

    Tommy

    March 14, 2015 at 2:48 pm

    @MomSense: Yes, yes it is. Ferguson is only a few miles from me and I have ranted on these arrest warrants 24/7. There are a lot of staggering things in the DOJ report but the arrest warrants was known long before said report came out.

    What is important to note is most of those warrants are because of unpaid tickets. So you get a ton of tickets for no real reason and then when you can’t pay in full you get an arrest warrant out in your name.

  92. 92.

    cckids

    March 14, 2015 at 2:57 pm

    @Kay:

    I used to admire it a little when they were little and would join forces against me or defend one another from my dictatorial demands. I would think “oh, that’s cute that they’re a team of small angry people”.

    I know! Mine were so, so close when they were small, up until they hit 5th & 7th grade or so. Then the bickering began & lasted for a few years, and I always hoped they’d get back to where they’d been. Looks like that is happening. :)

  93. 93.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    March 14, 2015 at 2:58 pm

    @Kay: That ain’t right. You always send the good news.

  94. 94.

    raven

    March 14, 2015 at 3:06 pm

    @cckids: In cursive!

  95. 95.

    trollhattan

    March 14, 2015 at 3:08 pm

    @Kay:

    What else don’t I know about this person? :)

    All those emails: from the dog.

  96. 96.

    Cervantes

    March 14, 2015 at 3:28 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Numbers for comparison (population, warrants issued in FY, warrants outstanding at end FY):

    Ferguson     21,135     32,975     40,569
    Lee’s Summit     91.364     3,525     2,873
    Independence     116,830     24,051     33,309
    Kansas City     459,787     123,614     249,110

    These are from FY 2013.

  97. 97.

    max

    March 14, 2015 at 3:38 pm

    @Betty Cracker: The radio show host I heard the original story from must have been making shit up again. It happens. They’re notorious stoner-fogeys.

    Or they were yankin’ your chain. No biggie.

    @Origuy: The story that there’s been a coup in Moscow is gaining traction. Still speculation, but with more information behind it. It’s not clear, though, which side is behind it.

    There’s a plausible argument to made for a counter-coup. (Just like there was a plausible argument for his girlfirend giving birth.) Problem is, is that it’s wildly unlikely that a Kiev-born politican who is out of government is going to hook up with a Chechen to do so and succeed. (Because if there’s a palace coup in motion, you need someone on the inside – in fact, a whole lot of somebodies on the inside – to keep it this quiet.)

    Naw, if there’s a palace coup in motion here, it already failed and we’re waiting for the results from the counter-coup. And it would have to be a palace coup because the other kinds of coups are really really noisy.

    Most likely version of violence is that they figured that somebody pulled a hit on Nemtsov as the beginning of a play against Putin and then Putin has gone all in on finding them. In that situation you have your subordinates plea sickness while go to ground (relatively speaking) and conduct a silent purge. There’s a non-violent version in which Putin just decides to take an out-of-sight breather while trying to run down what happened.

    But what I need for a coup or a palace coup is dead bodies or tanks. Guys need to start turning up dead. After enough of them turn up dead, you can figure out who is doing what.

    max
    [‘If the dude was recovering from a heart attack though, that’s plausible. If he’s waiting to play whack-a-mole, laying low is useful – it makes people nervous.’]

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    March 14, 2015 at 3:39 pm

    @rikyrah: un-fucking-believable.

  99. 99.

    Cckids

    March 14, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    @raven: I can’t give a sh*t about cursive, life’s too short. Handwritten in any way is good enough.

  100. 100.

    PurpleGirl

    March 14, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    @Baud: Thanks for the link. I have to copy that article so I can save it and the visualizations. I like the Fibonacci series. You can it in knitting to get some amazing color changes; it doesn’t work too well in crocheting because crochet is a different and thicker stitch. A mathematician in the UK was working in Chaos theory and thought one of the numbers she printed out looked like a crochet pattern and she began to crochet it. (The pattern is twenty-odd pages.) And, of course, there is hyperbolic crochet which creates a magnificent ruffle.

  101. 101.

    PurpleGirl

    March 14, 2015 at 3:47 pm

    @WereBear: There used to be a great yarn store in Peekskill called Cabin Fever. Spent time and money there and mourned it when it closed.

  102. 102.

    raven

    March 14, 2015 at 3:49 pm

    @Cckids: adjust your propellor

  103. 103.

    Another Holocene Human

    March 14, 2015 at 3:51 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Next week, she’s going to NYC as one of the chaperones for 61 high school kids going to a chorus competition. The kids have to bring their luggage early and the chaperones search it.

    lord that blows

    not that long ago I was a teenager on an orchestra trip in Europe, the seniors were indulging in alcohol and nobody got prosecuted, and yeah, they brought some of it with them (obviously pre-9/11)

    kids are less violent than they ever were but have less freedom than ever too … don’t they ever consider that all this control and helicoptering can set these kids up for depression?

  104. 104.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    Slow day here at the Juice.

  105. 105.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 3:56 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: I wonder how soon before kids have to submit to cavity searches to go on a field trip.

  106. 106.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 3:57 pm

    @raven: I don’t always write handwritten notes but when I do, they are in written in cursive with a vintage fountain pen.

  107. 107.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: You strike me as someone with immaculate handwriting who can get away with that.

  108. 108.

    Another Holocene Human

    March 14, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    @Tommy:

    What is important to note is most of those warrants are because of unpaid tickets. So you get a ton of tickets for no real reason and then when you can’t pay in full you get an arrest warrant out in your name.

    And it’s all totally corrupt. I’ve been to traffic court in a county that has money issues but isn’t trying to extract blood from turnips and when the indigents show up for their racist/classist cops hassling me tickets (oh, too bad, sun went down and you are flat broke and there is no light on your bike–TICKET!) the judge scraps the fine and gives them community service*. There are a couple of places that routinely work with the court, like Humane Society, which is on the bus line so that works.

    *-and not an unreasonable amount, either

    What sucks is that the truly indigent can’t even afford bus fare and the way they’ve been trying to mitigate this has been … terrible. Disorganized. Too many poor people, not enough subsidized passes, making it easier on themselves by handing out yearly passes which is damn stupid for multiple reasons. Some hit the jackpot and others gotta walk.

  109. 109.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 4:00 pm

    @ruemara: She was a cool cat! Thanks!

  110. 110.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 4:01 pm

    @Another Holocene Human: Obama actually touched on this issue during the Jimmy Kimmel interview.

  111. 111.

    Another Holocene Human

    March 14, 2015 at 4:02 pm

    It’s funny, #Ferguson has been an education. I’ve been digging through old homicide cases, unsolved mostly, and it’s funny how often Jennings and Ferguson come up. (Also St Louis City and East St Louis in their own right.)

    The way MO splits up these little jurisdictions is an obvious fail. They need to devolve the local PDs and put that in the hands of the county police, who should have the numbers, resources, and training to more effectively investigate major crimes. (Instead of perpetrating the major crimes. Damn.)

    Where I am in Florida those little speed trap PDs are getting dissolved one by one.

  112. 112.

    Germy Shoemangler

    March 14, 2015 at 4:02 pm

    Here’s something interesting and new with my macbook pro: Has anyone else experienced this?

    When I start up the computer, instead of the dock appearing at the bottom, the screen starts blinking, going back and forth from my lovely blue mac desktop pattern to a flat gray. The dock does not appear.

    I restart the computer and then everything is fine.

    It’s out of warranty, so if I bring it back to the mac store they’ll all just stare at me. I bought a mac many years ago at that store, and they were helpful and friendly. My last purchase, my experience was somewhat different.

  113. 113.

    raven

    March 14, 2015 at 4:03 pm

    @Baud: With 8000 basketball games and none of the hoopers that used to dwell here it makes it pretty slow.

  114. 114.

    Another Holocene Human

    March 14, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    @Baud: I gotta see that. Though sometimes I find his attempts at comedy a bit awkward. Now, SOTU quip, that was funny.

    Mike Tyson was good on The Nightly Show on Thursday, btw. Just came to mind because who knew he was such a comic genius? Until the last few years. He didn’t disappoint.

  115. 115.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    @Baud: Aaww thanks! My handwriting is not bad at all, but it is not as pretty as the one on the Declaration of Independence.

    ETA: I was actually trying to make a funny! Let’s see if anyone gets it.

  116. 116.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    @raven: I sympathize. I was never a hooper, or I’d try to help a brother out.

  117. 117.

    Tommy

    March 14, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    @Baud: Exactly. As a kid in highschool in the 80s I was a preppy. But I hung with kids that wore all black, maybe goth. My house was where we played D&D. Listened to the Cure. School called my parents to tell them I was using drugs. Not only wasn’t I using drugs but I never got drunk until college. My parents house was a safe zone where you could be whatever you wanted.

    I do think our kids, and I don’t have any, might get strip searched to walk into school. So freaking sad. I recall my parents called the school and told them to fuck off.

  118. 118.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 4:07 pm

    @Another Holocene Human: Obama wasn’t ackward at all. Genuinely funny.

    Tyson seems to have turned his life around.

  119. 119.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 4:08 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: lol.

  120. 120.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 4:11 pm

    @Tommy: As long as there’s no sexting, it’s all cool. Or so I hear.

  121. 121.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 4:14 pm

    @Baud:
    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I can’t lie to you. I was not laughing out loud. I was just trying to support you.

  122. 122.

    raven

    March 14, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    @Baud: Nuthin but a thang. I’m self-contained. The conference tournaments have added an additional to March Madness and it’s been part of my life since my dad and I would attend the entire Illinois High School Tourney. I know most people don’t care but it’s in my blood.

  123. 123.

    Tommy

    March 14, 2015 at 4:17 pm

    @Baud: I bought a $139 pen the other day that will take what I write, and I can’t get away from paper, to a computer. Evernote. Writing is still something people do. I rarely don’t have a legal pad a few feet from me. I am a huge tech nerd but I can not find anything that is better than a mechanical pencil and a pad of paper. I’ve tired like 20+ programs. Paper. Pencil.

  124. 124.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 4:19 pm

    @Tommy: I’ve recently moved from from pens to pencils. I’ve found the crutch of an eraser to be liberating.

  125. 125.

    satby

    March 14, 2015 at 4:20 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: condolences on your and your family’s loss. I bet your aunt was an inspiration to many in her time!

  126. 126.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 4:20 pm

    @raven: Enjoy every minute of it!

  127. 127.

    Botsplainer

    March 14, 2015 at 4:22 pm

    Looking at conservatard outrage over the DOJ Ferguson report and the followon resignations, you’d think that New Rome Sucks was never a thing and that their abusive enforcement was never a subject of great scorn by Wingnut John Stossel.

    http://www.newromesucks.com/topten.html

  128. 128.

    raven

    March 14, 2015 at 4:23 pm

    @Baud: I have been putting together a big pot o’ gumbo so there is that!

  129. 129.

    Tommy

    March 14, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    @Baud: Yes it is.

  130. 130.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 4:26 pm

    It’s gorgeous here. I desperately want to go outside and work in my garden but I’m dealing with Day 2 of some stomach bug. Ugh.

    Just found out that apparently a high percentage of people who attended an event I went to last weekend got sick a day or so after. Everyone is trying to figure out if it was the cake or other refreshments or some bug that one of the kids had. Or both. And when say sick I mean bad sick. Almost end up in the hospital, lose 10 pounds in three days kind of sick.

  131. 131.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 4:26 pm

    @raven: You got company in the real world (other than Bodhi)?

  132. 132.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 4:28 pm

    @Baud: I was channeling the most interesting man in the world,
    here in the kitteh form.

  133. 133.

    Bystander

    March 14, 2015 at 4:28 pm

    I’m just going to blurt it out.

    Gene Gene the Dancing Machine has passed away at age 83.

  134. 134.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 4:29 pm

    @Baud: I always use a 0.5 mm mechanical pencil while doing math, because then I can erase stuff easily.

  135. 135.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 14, 2015 at 4:30 pm

    @satby: Thanks, she was! she also used to get the side eye from many propah society matrons, which made her even more cool in my eyes.

  136. 136.

    trollhattan

    March 14, 2015 at 4:32 pm

    @Violet:
    Norovirus? Was the event catered by Carnival Cruises?

  137. 137.

    WereBear

    March 14, 2015 at 4:34 pm

    @Bystander: Still, had quite the career.

  138. 138.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 4:34 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: a legitimate loti at the kitty meme.

  139. 139.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 4:34 pm

    @trollhattan: Don’t know who catered it. I left before refreshments were served so I didn’t get it from food. It was in a smallish venue, packed, and lots of kids were there.

  140. 140.

    Germy Shoemangler

    March 14, 2015 at 4:37 pm

    Bill Badger, who was credited with saving people’s lives during the 2011 shooting in Arizona that critically injured Representative Gabrielle Giffords, died on Wednesday. He was 78.

    The cause was pneumonia, said his wife, Sallie Badger. She did not say where he died.

    Mr. Badger was wounded — a bullet grazed the back of his head — in January 2011 in a grocery store parking lot near Tucson at a constituent event for Ms. Giffords, a Democrat. He nonetheless managed to tackle the shooter, Jared L. Loughner, and helped others hold him down and disarm him before the police arrived. Ms. Giffords was shot in the head at close range.

  141. 141.

    Tree With Water

    March 14, 2015 at 4:58 pm

    Josh Marshall of TPM notes that as of last night Netanyahu seems to have entered ‘Nixon Walking The White House Corridors After Midnight’ territory:

    “..This evening, Netanyahu or whoever posts to his Facebook page penned a slashing series of accusations against the ZC/Labor list claiming his rivals’ campaign is “illegitimate” because it is the creature of a world conspiracy involving foreign governments, international tycoon, Israeli media, NGOs, all banding together to bring him down. The claims read so febrile and unhinged that if Netanyahu weren’t a Jew and the head of government of the Jewish State you would almost expect to end up claiming a global Zionist conspiracy was plotting to bring him and the right to its knees..”.

  142. 142.

    raven

    March 14, 2015 at 5:01 pm

    @Baud: Lil Bit. The boss is preparing stuff for a memorial thing she and her buddies are putting on for our friend that died in the fall.

  143. 143.

    mai naem mobile

    March 14, 2015 at 5:08 pm

    Just saw on my twitter feed, Bristol Palins engaged to Medal of Honor winner Dakota Meyer. I really want to make some distasteful jokes but jeebus who would want to marry into that crazy family? I hope they don’t use him up and spit him out.

  144. 144.

    WaterGirl

    March 14, 2015 at 5:09 pm

    @Baud: I saw the other day that you were wondering about whether it was time for a change in your life, but moving to a pencil? That’s living on the edge; I had no idea you were thinking this big!

  145. 145.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 5:10 pm

    @mai naem mobile: The woman in 50 Shades won the medal of honor?

  146. 146.

    cckids

    March 14, 2015 at 5:12 pm

    @mai naem mobile: I saw that too. Yikes.

    Funny though that her married name would be Bristol Meyers.

    ETA: First kid should be named Squibb

  147. 147.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 5:13 pm

    @WaterGirl: I feel like I’ve finally found my place in this world.

  148. 148.

    WaterGirl

    March 14, 2015 at 5:23 pm

    @Baud: And here I thought maybe the move to the pencil was just a first step!

    I was immediately punished for my earlier teasing mockery toward you – my pup put his head on my laptop and executed the dreaded (unknown) keyboard shortcut that does something to my accessibility settings that makes my laptop downright unusable. I have found no way to fix it but to restart the computer.

    I was teasing you, but I don’t think I could switch from a pen to a pencil, but I might just challenge myself to try it. You know what they say, do one thing outside your comfort zone every day. :-)

  149. 149.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 5:24 pm

    @mai naem mobile: Oh, he knows what he’s getting into. He’s the one who posed with Sarah Palin at some gun show with a “Fuc You Michael Moore” poster with crosshairs in the O’s. He spoke at CPAC. People keep urging him to run for Congress. I think he sees the Palins as a stepping stone for whatever political grifter career he would like to have.

    They haven’t been dating all that long so who knows how this will really work out. Does Bristol have a bun in the oven? Did Klondike Kardashian manipulate this engagement in hopes of selling the rights for a TV wedding?

  150. 150.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    March 14, 2015 at 5:25 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    but I managed to aggravate my old whiplash (shoulder) injury

    Taken up naked mopping at the new place?

    My dad and I used to hike Pt. Mugu. We’d start out from Newberry Park and get almost to the coast. La Jolla valley was always quite nice.

  151. 151.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 5:27 pm

    @WaterGirl: Maybe tomorrow I’ll go cave diving!

    As far as pen or pencil or computer, definitely do whatever works. I’m a little frustrated that I don’t have a system yet that I’m completely comfortable with.

  152. 152.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 5:27 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): Probably too late now but have you tried using a water belt? Goes around your waist so it might not aggravate your shoulders and neck.

  153. 153.

    Botsplainer

    March 14, 2015 at 5:29 pm

    @mai naem mobile:

    (Shrug)

    Boy was handed that “Dakota” moniker at birth. In Kentucky we’ve learned a prejudice – boys handed that name are born at the shit end of the trailer park, regardless of anything they’ve accomplished.

    In any event, he’s still MUCH better than Snowball Snooki, and while I know this union is destined for collapse, hopefully those assholes won’t wring him out too much before that happens.

  154. 154.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 5:30 pm

    @Violet: That thing is like Wyatt Earp meets Jillian Michaels.

  155. 155.

    JPL

    March 14, 2015 at 5:33 pm

    @Violet: All of the above, is my guess.

  156. 156.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 5:34 pm

    @Botsplainer: Y’all are so cute with your comments that Dakota Meyer is somehow such a cut above the Palins. All class, that Dakota Meyer.

  157. 157.

    JPL

    March 14, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: I’m so sorry for your loss and it sounds like she was a special person.

  158. 158.

    Botsplainer

    March 14, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    @Violet:

    They haven’t been dating all that long so who knows how this will really work out. Does Bristol have a bun in the oven? Did Klondike Kardashian manipulate this engagement in hopes of selling the rights for a TV wedding?

    Remember the excitement over the engagement of Bristol and Levi prior to Obama’s 2008 win? That harridan, as I recall, had visions of nuptials in the National Cathedral with celebrities and pols gazing upon the lovebirds.

    Nauseating.

  159. 159.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 5:36 pm

    @Baud: Heh. I found them uncomfortable but it is a way to keep water or other liquids with you on a run.

  160. 160.

    JPL

    March 14, 2015 at 5:37 pm

    @Violet: What is Sarah looking at in the picture?

  161. 161.

    Southern Beale

    March 14, 2015 at 5:38 pm

    Good news on the climate front.

    Guess Republicans can’t celebrate since any positive steps made toward averting the pending global calamity will happen in spite of them, not with their help.

  162. 162.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 5:45 pm

    @JPL: Dakota’s dick. He seems to have a thing for her. I think the Bristol thing is a way to get closer to Sarah. Creepy as hell. According to their Instagrams they’ve only even known each other since January and Bristol was apparently with another guy not that long ago. Sure, short engagements can work out but add in long distance, her wacko family, his suicide attempt, and I think there are some definite issues that might benefit from them both taking time before making a big step like marriage. Not to mention any impact on her son. She lives in Alaska. He’s in Kentucky. They’ve never even lived in the same state and done day to day things. Recipe for a mess.

  163. 163.

    NotMax

    March 14, 2015 at 5:46 pm

    (tap tap) Is this thing on?

    After 38 years of use, the bristles on my hairbrush have worn down enough that it became necessary to purchase a new one.

    Things just aren’t made to last anymore.

    :)

  164. 164.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    March 14, 2015 at 5:46 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I was moving stuff around to make room for the new couch in my craft room and made my shoulder angry. It doesn’t help that my carpal tunnels are acting up, too — that tends to trigger a muscle spasm in that whiplash spot.

    @Violet:

    They should have a decent selection at REI, so I’ll take a look — thanks! Since it’s in the 90s this weekend, it’s probably not enough water to go now, but maybe in a few weeks.

  165. 165.

    Amir Khalid

    March 14, 2015 at 5:49 pm

    @Violet:
    It’s amusing, how these people reckon that if you just write “FUC_” on your sign you haven’t said “FUCK”.

  166. 166.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): Yeah, REI should have a good selection. They make ones that hold fewer bottles and ones that hold more. Depending on the length of the hike you might find the six bottle types hold enough.

    You might also look at REI for waist packs. Those hold larger bottles because they’re not designed more for running. And they should have a zipper pocket section where you can put some food.

  167. 167.

    Another Holocene Human

    March 14, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    @Botsplainer: They’re supposed to harass the hell out of Blacks. When they start inconveniencing whites they’re doin’ it rong.

  168. 168.

    Another Holocene Human

    March 14, 2015 at 5:52 pm

    @Violet: Yeah…. sounds like food poisoning. Did anybody report it to the state health department?

  169. 169.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 5:52 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Yeah, it’s so ridiculous. The crosshairs are a nice touch too.

  170. 170.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 5:54 pm

    @Another Holocene Human: I saw one of the women who had come down with it today. She emailed the person who organized the gathering and asked them to do it. They knew who ordered the food so they would need to be involved with any report.

  171. 171.

    NotMax

    March 14, 2015 at 5:54 pm

    @Amir Khalid

    Owner of the summer camp nearly succumbed to apoplexy the first time we counselors led the campers in a particular cheer.

    Gimme an F!

    F!

    Gimme a U!

    U!

    (pregnant pause)

    Gimme an …(another pause)… N!

    N!

    What’s that spell?

    FUN!

  172. 172.

    Another Holocene Human

    March 14, 2015 at 5:55 pm

    @Botsplainer: So when you “make it” you ditch AoG for Episcopalian?

    Makes sense, I guess.

  173. 173.

    BGinCHI

    March 14, 2015 at 5:57 pm

    Echo!

    echo

    echo

    echo

  174. 174.

    Another Holocene Human

    March 14, 2015 at 5:57 pm

    @Southern Beale: Thanks for that little ray of sunshine. I needed it after that devastating California water report.

  175. 175.

    Mary G

    March 14, 2015 at 5:59 pm

    Is it basketball occupying people’s attention or did some snow melt somewhere so gardens are being started? I leave and come back to the same thread, which rarely happens here.

    Came out of Lowe’s at 1 p.m. or so, maybe half a mile from the ocean, and the car says it’s 97 degrees. Ugh. Wunderground says is 89 now, which is still ridiculous for mid-March.

  176. 176.

    Another Holocene Human

    March 14, 2015 at 5:59 pm

    Mnemosyne,

    Hey I looked into that port of Miami thing a little bit and FECI said that they’re moving a lot of empty carloads northbound from Miami and that they’re ready willing and able to haul container doublestacks. They say this will require no new infrastructure so they must have high bridges over their FECR railroad line.

    I follow all things Florida East Coast because of All Aboard Florida which I am having all the nosebleeds about.

  177. 177.

    Another Holocene Human

    March 14, 2015 at 6:00 pm

    @Mary G: Oh so it’s not just me, I thought it was a little warm, not complaining yet, though.

  178. 178.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    March 14, 2015 at 6:05 pm

    @Mary G: It’s 90 here in beautiful downtown Glendale, 91 inside my cave. I may have to turn the A/C on for the furry ones.

  179. 179.

    rikyrah

    March 14, 2015 at 6:08 pm

    Wow, the bloggers must be enjoying the weekend. No new post since this morning.

  180. 180.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    March 14, 2015 at 6:16 pm

    @rikyrah: I’m waiting until it gets to 12 hours between posts before I ask for a refund.

  181. 181.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 14, 2015 at 6:25 pm

    Wow! A shower, an entire opera, and dinner, and it’s still the same thread as when I woke up this morning! I haven’t read the comments, so I assume I’m not the first person to notice, but isn’t this a little odd even for The Gang Who Couldn’t Post Straight?

  182. 182.

    Amir Khalid

    March 14, 2015 at 6:26 pm

    @rikyrah:
    I’d concur, but I’m all too aware how everyone would respond.

  183. 183.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 6:28 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    You betcha!

  184. 184.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 6:29 pm

    John Cole tweeted this morning, so he was still alive as of then. Don’t know about the others.

  185. 185.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: I thought the policy was 24 hours before you get a refund. If someone steals your mustard or you impale yourself on a mop you might get a hardship exemption.

  186. 186.

    Amir Khalid

    March 14, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Just wait. In a little while, a front-pager will post something, followed by three more posts in five minutes — and there’ll be at least two posts on the same topic.

  187. 187.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 14, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Holy crap. Went to the opera, went food shopping, came back, and it’s still the same thread.

  188. 188.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 14, 2015 at 6:31 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Sounds like I spent part of the day at virtually the same place as you.

  189. 189.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 6:32 pm

    At this point, I really wish Hillary would do something ambiguously scandalous.

  190. 190.

    Corner Stone

    March 14, 2015 at 6:33 pm

    @Baud:

    At this point, I really wish Hillary would do something ambiguously scandalous.

    I’m sure she’s breathing somewhere, for fuck’s sake.
    That all by itself should be a Cole Bat Light.

  191. 191.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    @Amir Khalid: No one to blame but yourself. Amir, your Juicers need you!

  192. 192.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    March 14, 2015 at 6:35 pm

    @Baud: I blame Obama.

  193. 193.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 6:37 pm

    @Corner Stone: Headline from a recent Matt Taibbi article:

    Hillary Clinton Is Turning Into Richard Nixon and Bill Belichick

    Yay! We hate her already!

  194. 194.

    Amir Khalid

    March 14, 2015 at 6:39 pm

    @Violet:
    See? See?!

  195. 195.

    Corner Stone

    March 14, 2015 at 6:40 pm

    @raven:

    and none of the hoopers that used to dwell here it makes it pretty slow.

    This New Era of Civility ™ is hard.
    But Cole got what he wanted.

  196. 196.

    Violet

    March 14, 2015 at 6:40 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Heh. I didn’t want you to feel ignored and forgotten. It worked!

  197. 197.

    raven

    March 14, 2015 at 6:41 pm

    @Corner Stone: Plus the eers suck.

  198. 198.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    March 14, 2015 at 6:42 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    This New Era of Civility ™ is hard.

    Oh, fuck off.

    Was that civil enough?

  199. 199.

    Corner Stone

    March 14, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    @Violet: I, for one, can’t wait to see commenter askew respond to Gov O’Malley throwing Obama under the fucking bus recently.
    Wonder if she’ll keep pushing his potential candidacy?
    /rhetorical

  200. 200.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 6:47 pm

    @Corner Stone: Got a link?

  201. 201.

    geg6

    March 14, 2015 at 6:59 pm

    They are running commercials for the Creation Museum on HGTV. Is nothing sacred?

  202. 202.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 7:00 pm

    @geg6: Cash money.

  203. 203.

    geg6

    March 14, 2015 at 7:01 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    When did he do that? I haven’t seen him do any such thing.

  204. 204.

    Corner Stone

    March 14, 2015 at 7:01 pm

    @Baud: “After 12 years of declining wages, people want executive leadership. See more of my appearance on (Morning Joe)”

  205. 205.

    geg6

    March 14, 2015 at 7:07 pm

    I saw another interview with him where he said something similar but it was more a comparison of their governing styles, not a criticism. Just saying they come from different perspectives, Obama from a legislative background and him having more executive experience. That the difference would make them govern differently. Didn’t turn this Obot off at all.

  206. 206.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 7:08 pm

    @Corner Stone: Thanks. But won’t watch Morning Joe.

  207. 207.

    Corner Stone

    March 14, 2015 at 7:09 pm

    @geg6: Apparently you are in violent disagreement with all of Black Twitter.
    YMMV, obvs.

  208. 208.

    Corner Stone

    March 14, 2015 at 7:09 pm

    @Baud: Don’t have to, the link isn’t to that show.

  209. 209.

    WaterGirl

    March 14, 2015 at 7:11 pm

    @Baud: Forget the link, I thought askew was male! Okay, yeah, I’d like to see the link, too.

  210. 210.

    Baud

    March 14, 2015 at 7:19 pm

    @Corner Stone: You link was to twitter, but the tweet seems to link to Morning Joe.

    In any event, I agree with Black Twitter. And if Hillary had said something analogous, she would be skewered, so kudos to Black Twitter for consistency.

  211. 211.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 14, 2015 at 7:23 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    How did you like La Donna del Lago?

  212. 212.

    Corner Stone

    March 14, 2015 at 7:25 pm

    @Baud: It’s Gov O’Malley’s own excerpt on his very own Twitter.
    He blurbed himself.

  213. 213.

    Southern Beale

    March 14, 2015 at 7:25 pm

    For some reason my husband insists on watching the Walt Disney version of Robin Hood, ca. 1973. It’s very weird to see these animals dressed up in Medieval clothing.

  214. 214.

    Corner Stone

    March 14, 2015 at 7:28 pm

    @Southern Beale: Totes classic. Kudos to the Mr.
    Those songs bring back so much of a childhood.

  215. 215.

    Southern Beale

    March 14, 2015 at 7:29 pm

    I do like hearing Roger Miller, haven’t heard him in ages. But it’s sorta tripping me out.

  216. 216.

    Southern Beale

    March 14, 2015 at 7:30 pm

    @geg6:

    Weird marketing choice. It’s been years since I did ad buys but I think airtime on those cable channels is pretty cheap.

  217. 217.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    March 14, 2015 at 8:29 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    It could easily be an ad inserted by the local cable company rather than a national buy. Sometimes it’s obvious when the local company is overriding the national ads, but a lot of the time, it’s not.

  218. 218.

    Gretchen

    March 14, 2015 at 9:23 pm

    Cervantes: Interesting statistics, and they seem to track in order of black population. Lee’s Summit almost all white, Independence a little blacker, Kansas City blacker still, Ferguson blackest. Total coincidence I’m sure.

  219. 219.

    Cervantes

    March 14, 2015 at 9:39 pm

    @Gretchen:

    Exactly.

    One might think the press would investigate this sort of thing, debunking where necessary.

  220. 220.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 15, 2015 at 4:16 am

    @rikyrah: So many of the people I get into arguments with on this subject will look at that statistic and think, see, Ferguson really is a town inhabited solely by criminals!

  221. 221.

    Matt McIrvin

    March 15, 2015 at 4:19 am

    @Violet: It’s Matt Taibbi; he can’t not do that.

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