Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let me file that under fuck it.

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

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

This fight is for everything.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

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

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

Let there be snark.

In after Baud. Damn.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Republicans do not trust women.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Giving up is unforgivable.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

You are here: Home / All the News That’s Fit to… Ehh, Fuck it. Roll With it Anyway

All the News That’s Fit to… Ehh, Fuck it. Roll With it Anyway

by | 136 Comments

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The Puke Funnel isn’t so much a funnel anymore as it is a direct IV into worthless reporters:

Yesterday the AP ran a story that sounds eye-poppingly scary. The International Atomic Energy Agency has a “secret” side deal that will allow the Iranians to inspect themselves. What the hell, right? Thanks Obama and what was Obama thinking? But the story itself was based on the reporter apparently not knowing what he was talking about. And the AP had to later scrub what were seemingly the most damning details. I’d go into those details. But Max Fischer at Vox has a very lengthy explainer going into just how botched this steaming pile was.

Let me share with you a deep truth: The nuclear stuff is complicated. Einstein said that. It doesn’t necessarily work in the way your everyday life experience would suggest. So it’s important to consult the people who know about the nuclear stuff, people called scientists. Particularly, nuclear scientists. And here we have another case where tendentious malefactors leak seemingly damning details to reporters who in the most basic sense do not know what they are talking about and write a story which can and often does dramatically affect the public debate over a critical issue. It’s already happened with the 24 days nonsense and it may with this. The AP has to scrub its story and pull a New York Times pretending the gist somehow isn’t changed when there is barely a story there in the first place. It really is a replay of how reporters — often acting in good faith — get played by malicious leaks. There are lots of reporters unfortunately who are in on the scam but they shall remain nameless for the moment. And it’s all a replay of the tragic nonsense parade which preceded the Iraq War — with lots of the same easy-mark reporters.

The only rational response for reporters, if they honestly care about the integrity of their work, is to publicly burn sources who repeatedly lie to you. It’s that simple. The only downside is that lying sources will never trust you again and make you look like an idiot like they did here.

Reader Interactions

136Comments

  2. 2.

    raven

    You want to get an idea of how complex this shit is and how unbelievably lucky we haven’t already been blown to smithereens by accident read “Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety” by Eric Schlosser.

  4. 4.

    FoxinSocks

    Called both my senators today and told them I supported Obama’s Iran deal. Will call my rep next. He’s reportedly on the fence.

  5. 5.

    jl

    Thanks for posting this, Cole. That was an important, and serous and genuine, and valuable competent TPM blog news analysis of a biased piece of corporate news information product junk.

    But you know, gee, it sure is funny how so many untrue worthless garbage stories, that all push one side of the political spectrum, are getting published by supposedly very serious news establishments in this country.

    It might be a good sign, if interpreted to mean that lots of GOPers are planting such easily debunkable BS.
    On the other hand, what is going on with the editors who OK this dreck? And why the kindergarten chickenshit inability to admit that they made a mistake? Have news organizations always been this chickenshit?

    Some of this story is wonky, like what is the usual procedure of the IAEA. OTOTH, just the background that would be required for a competently reported story should have been a tip off. Like it was not really part of the Iran deal at all, but wrapping up an inspection issue from a decade ago, and in a facility that was generally recognized as having no current nuclear research.

  6. 6.

    Mapaghimagsik

    “Acting in good faith” is hard to differentiate from “plausible denyabilty to peddle crap”

  7. 7.

    Frankensteinbeck

    The nuclear stuff is complicated.

    I discovered this viscerally during the Fukushima incident. I was following MIT’s blog on the subject, so the news would be like ‘hydrogen explosion!’ and it would sound terrifying, and MIT’s blog would be like ‘The process makes a lot of hydrogen. It gets vented and catches fire between the concrete shells sometimes. It doesn’t do any significant harm. It’s a sign that the reactor is in bad shape, but we knew that.’ There was a whole lot of that.

  8. 8.

    Dr.McCoy

    Best quote; “the 24 day nonsense”.

    We have a knowledge of…..”24″.

    Ask Jack Bauer.

  9. 9.

    jl

    Forgot the mention, re Iran deal, that Menendez managed to give a more weak ass argument against it than Schumer. That is quite an accomplishment.

    My favorite bit: only treaties that are once and for all solutions forever more are any good. Anything else is a sell out.
    How can a grown man stand up on his hind legs, dressed up in a suit and tie, and talk and all, and make such a fool of himself in front of the whole country, and in front of a sizable stretch of history as well?

  10. 10.

    geg6

    @raven:

    Seconded.

    And burning sources is NEVER going to happen among the Villagers. Ever. They have to drink martinis and eat cocktail weenies with them every evening. Getting and maintaining “sources” for anonymous attribution is the entire game.

  12. 12.

    mai naem mobile

    One of the neocon/Likudniks probably fed the reporter the story and the reporter was too incompetent to check it out.

  13. 13.

    Davis X. Machina

    @jl: If he thinks his continuance in office demands it?

    There’s more than one Prime Directive.

  14. 14.

    the Conster

    Our media is a disgrace. Full stop. The only question that remains is how to destroy them before they destroy us.

  15. 15.

    Roger Moore

    @Mike in NC:

    Chuck Todd & company are happy to be overpaid stenographers.

    But only for the right kind of people. If Democrats want something repeated, they have to pay cash and have it labeled an advertizement.

  17. 17.

    Chris

    The only rational response for reporters, if they honestly care about the integrity of their work, is to publicly burn sources who repeatedly lie to you. It’s that simple. The only downside is that lying sources will never trust you again and make you look like an idiot like they did here.

    I suppose their response to this (if they were honest) would be along the lines of “why would I burn sources that give me good stories? Who gives a shit if the stories aren’t true? I get to stay part of the Official Washington circuit, close to all the Important People. Surely that’s worth a white lie or two every now and then.”

  18. 18.

    Emma

    No. No more benefit of the doubt. They are doing it with full knowledge of what they are doing. And they care only about their careers. Good reporters stay in crap jobs while the immoral ass kissers get promoted to where they can do the worst damage. On purpose.

  19. 19.

    smintheus

    Needs a link to the Vox piece by Max Fisher, who did all the heavy lifting. TPM is just rehashing what Fisher already highlighted.

  20. 20.

    Chris

    @Emma:

    Good reporters stay in crap jobs while the immoral ass kissers get promoted to where they can do the worst damage.

    Is it me, or does this increasingly sound like every sector of American society?

  24. 24.

    jl

    @Chris: It is what a culture run by corporate hacks looks like. Sort of the like the movie Brazil, except worse, because of more boring set design.

  26. 26.

    jl

    @smintheus: I had the TPM story open, so easy to get it and thought people would click.

    Edit: and you are right. The Fisher piece is what people need to understand and rebut this bogus scare story. The TPM piece is really more about the common threads in all of the bogus stories against the Iran deal that have been published recently.

  27. 27.

    schrodinger's cat

    I will play the devil’s advocate, what would be so bad if Iran did get a nuclear weapon?

    ETA: What is our stockpile right now? Imagine one of the clown bus occupants being in charge of the nuclear football.

  28. 28.

    Chris

    @jl:

    I think Blade Runner, The Fifth Element, Firefly, and a bunch of other shows have given me unrealistic expectations of how cool Future Dystopia would be.

  29. 29.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Here’s an impressive takedown of the AP’s alleged document from a former IAEA inspector.

    I love the Josh Marshall piece because it’s so funny. The Vox article does a better job of explaining, though. (And it mentions me.)

    ETA: Kind of a fun exchange going on between Matt Lee of AP and Oliver Knox of Yahoo News right now on my Twitter timeline. @cherylrofer

  30. 30.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Omnes Omnibus: Cotton, McCain, Graham, Rubio… I could see any one of them serving as a conduit for Bill Kristol. I guess Cotton is more likely than the old men or the presidential candidate.

  34. 34.

    ThresherK

    I heard Lindsay Graham blurbing the AP story on an NPR nooze update sometime this afternoon.

    First reaction was “My stars and garters, Graham’s lying about the AP.”

    The truth was worse.

  35. 35.

    Chris

    @smintheus:

    It’s mainly Saudi Arabia. Pakistan has them already, Israel has them already, Turkey has the NATO shield to hide behind, and Iraq is in no shape for that kind of thing. The Saudis are the big question mark, and they’ve stated a few times things like “we cannot live in a situation where Iran has a nuclear weapon and we do not.”

  36. 36.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @ThresherK: call me cynical, but I think that was the point of all this, “As you may know, Chuck, an AP story raised serious questions about at least one site, called Parching, where even the IAEA concedes was probably used to develop weapons….” Even if there’s pushback, which at this point there might be (probably in a long form, sit-down interview, less less in a less formal setting), the “raises serious questions” standard, the Russert Standard, has been met.

  37. 37.

    smintheus

    @Chris: True enough. But a Senate report from 2008 on that question concluded that there was a significant possibility that Egypt and Turkey might also develop nuclear weapons, Egypt mainly because it sees itself rather than Saudi Arabia as the leader of the Arab world, and Turkey because it sees itself as the main regional power and a nuclear Iran would marginalize its aspirations.

  38. 38.

    PhoenixRising

    @raven: Just finished that (‘Command and Control’).

    Haven’t slept a night in a week. Probably for other causes.

  39. 39.

    Liquid

    In the midst of all this — There ‘ah was, a-warshin mah ‘ands, when wot but a ‘lil spiderlin decided to make her presence known. Wondered where she came from but then I remember walkin under that there tree so I guess that “spider-bus” flimshaw was true. Hardly larger than a comma on your tapboard she was, so I took her back out and set her on a leaf. Good luck little one!

    Now back to the bullshit.

  40. 40.

    Chris

    @smintheus:

    Forgot about Egypt… Yeah, okay. They’re not in as bad a shape as Iraq, despite the revolution/counterrevolution thingamabob.

    The question for them and the Saudis (and the Turks if that report’s right) is whether they’d be willing to take the consequences of alienating the U.S.

  42. 42.

    Belafon

    OT: I have a teacher bleg for anyone willing: http://www.donorschoose.org/project/dystopian-steampunk-expeditioners/1593929/. She happens to be the English teacher my youngest son will have this year, and I think has a neat idea for getting some kids interested in reading. I donated a good chunk already, but because of bills that recently came up, I couldn’t pay for it all. (While not every family at the school is poor, it qualifies as one of the poorest in the district, and this is Texas.)

    I’m also going to show her Frankensteinbeck’s book Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’m a Supervillain. Hopefully, if she decides it’s worth it, I will have saved up enough to buy all the books for her class by the time she gets to it.

  43. 43.

    jl

    @Cheryl Rofer: thanks. I downloaded it for later. And your blog looks interesting. I’ll read some of the posts on the security classification issue, much of which from my experience with the one job I had that needed a necklace of obscure clearances, is a messy joke, IMHO.

    I remember arguing with some old hands about some of the more puzzling rules of security classification. Often the argument degenerated into

    “Well, but if they DO know you know they know you know they know, then they KNOW.”
    “But they know, generally, we know anyway, from the papers”
    “But if they specifically KNOW we KNOW we KNOW:.

    Some things that seem silly. actually make sense, once you think about protecting sources and similar issues, but a lot of it i could never understand.

  44. 44.

    Botsplainer

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I will play the devil’s advocate, what would be so bad if Iran did get a nuclear weapon?

    Israelis would have to halt their policy of lebensraum and would have to temper the worst impulses of the Likud nutters in their apartheid state?

  45. 45.

    smintheus

    @Chris: I’m not sure how much influence we have with Turkey any longer. For more than a decade their cooperation with the US on essential concerns has been only occasional and grudging. Anyway, for me the scariest of those possibilities would be Egypt for a whole host of reasons.

  46. 46.

    John Revolta

    Einstein. Pffffft. I don’t need no egghead scientist to tell me about stuff. I know Evil when I see it and these towelheaded mullahfukahs blart spart blargle

    hmmm this isn’t as much fun as it used to be. More like I’m just making myself more worrieder. Bastards.

  47. 47.

    Tommy

    @Chris: Egypt and Turkey are not backwards nations and they have kick ass military. Thanks to us selling them arms I might add.

    If they wanted to confront ISIS they could. I recall my father teaching at the Army War college, this story he told. That during WWII the Turks would never secure their nap sacks. You could hear them coming from miles away. They wanted this because the Turks were bad ass mother fuckers. Germany and Italy wanted no part of them.

    Nobody wanted to fight the Turks!

  48. 48.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @jl: The criticisms of the AP document are pretty wonky, but they’re reminiscent of what was wrong with the yellowcake documents: protocols of names and how documents are constructed are wrong, stuff that a bureaucratic organization like the IAEA wouldn’t do. Pretty damning IMHO.

  49. 49.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Liquid:

    Good for you! I’ve rescued spiders for years. In fact, at several strategic places around my apartment I have “spider-catching kits” — a sturdy clear plastic glass and a stiff piece of white cardboard. It’s usually pretty easy to upend the cup over the bug, slide the cardboard firmly underneath, take the whole thing outdoors, and fling the spider in the general direction of a nice shrubbery.

    A few years ago, I had an invasion of ants in my upstairs bathroom. Did everything I could think of to get rid of them, but nothing worked for more than a day or two until a nice spider moved in and set up housekeeping in a remote corner. Since then, no more ants! And I’ve never disturbed Madame Arachne; in fact, I’m more than happy to share space with her.

  50. 50.

    Turgidson

    And it’s all a replay of the tragic nonsense parade which preceded the Iraq War — with lots of the same easy-mark reporters.

    The tragic nonsense parade that Josh Marshall bought hook, line and sinker, of course.

    Though I’ll grant that he seems to have mostly learned his lesson, unlike most of the lollygaggers who got it wrong and, yet, continue to have profitable careers being wrong about things on TV and in the papers.

  52. 52.

    Tommy

    @SiubhanDuinne: Where I live I have about a 5,000 acre field in front of my house. This year it has soy beans and not corn for the first time in a decade or so.

    In the spring I get ants in my house. Spiders fighting back. Spiders seem to win most years. Spiders are cool.

  53. 53.

    Drunkenhausfrau

    Amen, Cole. I saw this headline this morning and knew the story was bullshit, but what is the saying? A lie will go around the world twice before the truth has even tied up its shoes?

  55. 55.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Debbie:

    Yeah, I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to save stink bugs. Although I don’t enjoy killing anything*.

    And yes, I eat meat and wear leather. Never claimed to be consistent.

    *(Always making an exception for mosquitos.)

  56. 56.

    Tommy

    @Turgidson: I hate to admit I thought at the time invading Iraq was a good idea. I have been wrong in the past about many things, but I don’t think as wrong as this.

    I am embarrassed to note this but I do because so many of the people I listened to at the time are still on TV, talking to people in power (looking at you Scott Walker to name just one person), where they think they were right when they fucked up at levels I can’t put to words.

  57. 57.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Tommy:

    Spiders are very cool! It’s so neat how they figure in legend — Arachne in Greek myth, the story of King Robert the Bruce in Scottish history, an appealing trickster figure in African and Native American traditions — just fascinating.

    The way they take care of ants is a bonus :-)

  59. 59.

    Roger Moore

    @Turgidson:

    Though I’ll grant that he seems to have mostly learned his lesson, unlike most of the lollygaggers who got it wrong and, yet, continue to have profitable careers being wrong about things on TV and in the papers.

    It is much more profitable to be wrong about the right things than to be right about the wrong things.

  60. 60.

    mai naem mobile

    @Omnes Omnibus: You mean International Man of Mystery Tom Cotton?
    Jeezus,how did Jindal and Cotton become Rhodes Scholars? Their standards have dropped.

  61. 61.

    Tommy

    @SiubhanDuinne: I am a Scot immigrant, will have to Google “King Robert the Bruce” and spiders. The webs spiders do by me stuns me. I’d never touch them. Figure it is kind of how the world works.

  62. 62.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I googled for my own and answer and…
    Yes

    Early Superstitions:
    1507
    When a man fyndeth a spyder upon his gowne it is a synge to be that daye ryght happye.
    1594
    If a spinner creepe uppon him, hee shall have golde raine downe from heaven.
    1662
    When a Spider is found upon our clothes, we use to say. Some money is coming towards us. The Moral is this, such who…. Imitate the industry of that contemptible creature… may by God’s blessing weave themselves into wealth and procure a plentiful estate.
    173
    Others have thought themselves secure of receiving Money, if … by chance, a little Spider fell upon their Cloaths.
    1780
    Small spiders termed Money-Sinners are held by many to prognosticate good luck if they are not destroyed or injured or removed from the person on whome they are first observed.
    1816
    A spider descending upon you from the roof is a token that you will soon have legacy from a friend.

    and no (and I guess the 1816 one above could be a yes and no, depending on the friend)

    1923
    If a big black spider comes into the house it is a sure sign of death

  65. 65.

    Bill Arnold

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Here’s an impressive takedown of the AP’s alleged document from a former IAEA inspector

    Very interesting. What’s your opinion of the (textual) analysis? (edit; your comment at #48 is sufficient)

  66. 66.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Yes, I think so, but it would depend on the particular culture. I’ve always found them beautiful and fascinating, albeit I would prefer not to cuddle up with them.

    (EDIT: Just saw your #62. Saved me the trouble.)

    I also like bats.

    And even snakes, at a respectable distance.

  68. 68.

    jl

    @Turgidson: In defense of Marshall, he did come out against the Iraq invasion before the deed, finally, at the last minute, after it was mostly a done deal. But it was disappointing, He wasted a lot of time being invasion curious long after it was clearly a disastrous idea.

  70. 70.

    Chris

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    There’s an American Indian creation myth (I don’t remember which tribe at all) in which the spider is the animal responsible for bringing the Sun into everyone’s life. (World is still in darkness; several animals make a journey to try and bring back the Sun, but can’t; the spider is the one that succeeds).

  72. 72.

    TheMightyTrowel

    @mai naem mobile: Or went up.

    Oxonians – tutors and their students – had misgivings about the caliber and class of foreign students to whom they were to open their gates. In particular, they were concerned that Scholarship winners, selected on the basis of “well-roundedness,” rather than strict academic achievement (which, no matter how excellent, was not likely to include a proper classical education), would lower the academic standard of the institution as a whole. According to a 1903 article in the New York Times, one Oxford don is said to have “consoled himself with the thought that American savages would be so busy on the sports field that at least they would have little impact on the rest of college life” (quoted in Schaeper and Shchaeper 1998).

  73. 73.

    Tommy

    @SiubhanDuinne: Not so sure I believe that. IMHO, and I can trace my life back to people that fought against the British, we were successful at times because we’d throw our lives out on the field and fight. Coming to America was a great thing for my family. We didn’t have to fight anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  74. 74.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Chris:

    That sounds familiar but I would have to google. I expect by the time I do so, someone else here will have managed to get there before me.

  75. 75.

    dww44

    @jl: Chris Hayes had this story on his show tonight. He also referred to a reputable news organization being fooled into publishing a “gotcha’ about the Iran deal. He also had a nuclear scientist on who explained why the story got crucial facts about the deal wrong, but he also said congrats were due to those who figured out how to plant such a plausible takedown of the deal.

    As for me, I long ago stopped thinking that the AP, while more reputable than your Fox News types, was an objective and unbiased news organization. It has long been in the tank for conservatives and the GOP. Therefore I always view their scoops with a skeptical eye. Wish that they had a real competitor, a la the UPI of old. One other thing to chalk up to the demise of newspapers.

  76. 76.

    TheMightyTrowel

    @TheMightyTrowel: Worth pointing out that the linked webpage is part of a huge project attempting to document the history and impact of women Rhodes Scholars and has tons of interviews with amazing women of all ages.

  78. 78.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Tommy:

    Not so sure I believe that.

    Well, it’s a legend. One of the nice things about myths and legends is that you can relate them or not, as you please, to your own experience and beliefs. (To be clear, the spider may indeed be legendary; the Bruce, however, was an actual historical figure.)

  79. 79.

    dww44

    @Omnes Omnibus: Ya know, I hope that’s true. If there’s a politician more deserving of exposure for his pernicious behavior, it’s gotta be Tom Cotton. Thanks, Arkansas.

  80. 80.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @dww44: whenever I see a story sourced to AP, I wonder, did Ron Fournier hire or even mentor this person?
    Dana Milbank in ’08:

    McCain’s moderators, the AP’s Ron Fournier and Liz Sidoti, greeted McCain with a box of Dunkin’ Donuts. “We spend quite a bit of time with you on the back of the Straight Talk Express asking you questions, and what we’ve decided to do today was invite everyone else along on the ride,” Sidoti explained. “We even brought you your favorite treat.”
    McCain opened the offering. “Oh, yes, with sprinkles!” he said.

    the whole piece, both what happened and the way Milbank wrote it up, is even worse than I remembered.

  83. 83.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Bill Arnold: I had questions of my own about the AP document. It just didn’t read like an IAEA document, and there seemed to be some other kinds of holes. If you’re going to do sampling, you need a sampling plan, and this wasn’t that. That could be okay, but then the sampling plan would be mentioned, and it wasn’t. I laid out my questions in a tweetstream, starting here. I suppose I should write them up, but not tonight.

    I find Rauf’s criticisms persuasive. He’s been an IAEA inspector. There are certain things, like what Iran calls itself and which name goes first in a document like this, that bureaucratic organizations and governments just don’t get wrong. They’re second nature.

    Is the document a fake? I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure it’s not the final and official document.

  84. 84.

    Tommy

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Well, it’s a legend. One of the nice things about myths and legends is that you can relate them or not, as you please, to your own experience and beliefs.

    Yes. I don’t always agree with this or that, but I hold legends to my heart. I know for a fact I think or talk about things that are not entirely true. Fables. But they are nice stories :).

  88. 88.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Tommy:

    When it comes to myths and legends and fables, I tend to make a distinction between what is factual and what is true.

  91. 91.

    Belafon

    @SiubhanDuinne: My middle son wants to be a writer, and he’s very interested in mythology and fairy tales, so we’ve had a number of discussions over how stories like this are created.

  94. 94.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Belafon:

    I’m doing a fairly massive research thing right now on how myths, legends, and other stories we tell about ourselves have been depicted in (mostly classical) music. The topic never ceases to be fascinating — like your son, I’ve been interested since a young age.

  95. 95.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    Speaking of our failed media…. Is anyone in the US press noticing what’s going on in Korea?

    South Korea fired a barrage of artillery rounds into North Korea on Thursday after the North shelled across the border to protest against anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts by Seoul, moves that raised tensions on the divided peninsula.

    Washington urged Pyongyang to halt any “provocative” actions in the wake of the first exchange of fire between the two Koreas since last October. Both sides said there were no casualties or damage in their territory.

    North Korea did not return fire but warned Seoul in a letter that it would take military action if the South did not stop the broadcasts along the border within 48 hours, the South’s Defense Ministry said.

    Eh, it’s just bluster like it always is. Right? They wouldn’t go to war over yelling from loudspeakers, right? Right? :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (There’s obviously too much news about Trump being a Democratic plant for US reporters to cover Korea right now.)

  98. 98.

    Cervantes

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    You must have spoken to Juan Cole recently or seen the piece he published today. I like that he quotes Iran-skeptic Yukiya Amano and on the other hand I especially like that he credits Gary Sick …

  100. 100.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Cervantes: I did not see Cole’s post. Good that the AP piece is being debunked from multiple sides and points of view. Gary Sick knows more about Iran than anyone. I’ll have another post coming out soon.

    ETA: If things slow down enough that I don’t have to keep revising it!

  101. 101.

    trollhattan

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I will play the devil’s advocate, what would be so bad if Iran did get a nuclear weapon?

    Every new nuclear state is inherently destabilizing because it triggers other states to become nuclear powers themselves. We have failed badly to continue pushing disarmament and could use a squadron of Sam Nunns to get back on the stick.

    Imagine recent events had Ukraine not surrendered their stockpile following the Soviet Union collapse. In sum: a very bad thing, indeed, to ramp up the nuclear state count in the Middle East. It’s spooky enough watching Pakistan and India staring one another down.

  102. 102.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Edith Hamilton first, then Bulfinch. Although I think there was a children’s picture book of myths I enjoyed as a wee one.

    When I was two years old, my grandfather gave me a set of personalized bookplates. They had a picture of Pegasus on them :-)

  103. 103.

    TheMightyTrowel

    @SiubhanDuinne: songlines is good – a touch outdated, but worth reading. Also worth reading, though a bit more academic, is Basso’s famous 1996 essay (which became a book of the same name) “wisdom sits in places” – I think you guys might like it.

  104. 104.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I should add that my high school taught the classic Greek/Roman/Norse myths as an integral part of Freshman English. Also the Old Testament, and even bits and pieces of the New. Taught as literature and cultural touchstones of Western Civ, not as belief systems. (Edit): I doubt they do that these days — but I’ve always been grateful.

  105. 105.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Belafon: Sounds like a good project – developing a love of reading is wonderful. I kicked in a little. Best of luck.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  107. 107.

    TheMightyTrowel

    @SiubhanDuinne: my pleasure! It’s one of the best things I read as an undergrad and I love giving it to new people to read. If you email me sapphirecate AT yahoo DOT com I’ll happily email you a pdf

  108. 108.

    Freemark

    @SiubhanDuinne: I have also come to an agreement with spiders in my basement apartment. I have found bugs are less of a problem if I leave them alone. Unfortunately for them the agreement doesn’t apply to the floor. Mainly because my cat finds them fun to hunt.

    This was an interesting article. It appears the common fear of spiders is genetic

  109. 109.

    trollhattan

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
    Hmmm

    North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered his frontline troops to be on a war footing, state media says, after an exchange of fire with the South across their heavily fortified border.

    The KCNA report said Mr Kim declared a “semi-state of war” at an emergency meeting late Thursday. It threatened action unless Seoul ends its anti-Pyongyang border broadcasts.

    The North often uses fierce rhetoric when tensions rise and it has made similar declarations before.

    The BBC’s South Korea correspondent Steve Evans says that although this ritual of aggression often sees such language escalate to the firing of ammunition, this time the rhetoric is fiercer and and artillery shells are now in use.

  112. 112.

    RandomMonster

    From Josh’s article:

    Again, basic premise: The nuclear stuff is complicated. The nuclear scientists understand it better than Hannity or even Wolf Blitzer. Listen to the nuclear scientists.

    A nitpick, but he doesn’t need the word “even” in that sentence — it’s like he’s saying Blitzer is more reliable than Hannity or something!

  114. 114.

    Belafon

    @Debbie: Update: I mentioned the title to him, and while he hadn’t heard of the book, he knew what the title meant.

    A brief history. I buy a lot of books to try to get my kids to read. Lemony Snicket got my oldest hooked. I tried lots of different books with my middle one, and then he read Percy Jackson. He’s been reading since the first one came out, and has branched out pretty far, though mythology, both historical, and written in contemporary fiction, are his favorites. My youngest (all three are boys) got hooked on Junie B. Jones.

    If you’re a parent of a young kid, make them read, but be willing to buy just about anything and everything.

  116. 116.

    Cervantes

    @TheMightyTrowel:

    Also worth reading, though a bit more academic, is [Keith] Basso’s famous 1996 essay (which became a book of the same name) “wisdom sits in places”

    A good book.

    Here’s something Keith said decades before:

    Long ago, we had trouble talking and I did not know if you wanted to talk to me. But you did and you taught me good things. I sure don’t know them all yet, but that doesn’t make a difference. We both tried to understand.

    No better epitaph.

  117. 117.

    Kropadope

    @jl: Thanks for that, I was wondering what the substance of this “revelation” actually is.

    I finally heard back from my rep, Joe Kennedy, regarding his position on the Iran agreement. Short answer, “undecided;” the long version:

    Dear [Kropadope],

    Thank you for contacting me about the proposed nuclear agreement with Iran, economic sanctions, and U.S. efforts to maintain non-proliferation and peacekeeping in the Middle East. I appreciate hearing from you on these important issues and am glad to have the opportunity to respond.

    Over the past decade, Iran has failed to alleviate the concerns of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Security Council about the nature and scope of its nuclear program. A nuclear-armed Iran, in violation of international safeguards on nuclear development activities, would pose a direct risk to the United States, our allies, and security in the Middle East.

    On July 14, 2015, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom) and Germany, collectively known as the P5+1, reached a final agreement with Iran on a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Following nearly a decade of economic sanctions by the U.S., its allies, and the United Nations for Iran’s nuclear non-compliance, the JCPOA would suspend the sanctions regime on Iran in exchange for mechanisms to ensure that Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon. Additionally, the JCPOA would replace the interim nuclear agreement in place since January 2014.

    The JCPOA builds on the provisions of the interim Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) that limit Iran’s centrifuge capacity, cap Iran’s uranium enrichment, and provide for additional monitoring by the IAEA. The IAEA’s safeguard obligations on Iran’s nuclear program will last indefinitely, and it will increase its number of inspectors in Iran with daily access to the Natanz nuclear facilities and its close monitoring at Arak to prevent any further development of a heavy water reactor.

    While the JCPOA would create stringent long-term limits on Iran’s nuclear production, the decision to provide sanctions relief cannot be taken lightly. A thorough review and inspection process by the IAEA is an essential step before the U.S., U.N., and European Union lift their current nuclear sanctions regime. While the JCPOA would alleviate many restrictions on Iran’s economic activity, it would not lift existing U.S. sanctions on Iran’s continued human rights abuses and state sponsorship of terrorism.

    As you may know, the President signed H.R. 1191, the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, into law on May 22, 2015. This legislation creates a Congressional review period on the Iran nuclear agreement, directing the Administration to provide detailed information on the deal and allowing Congress to vote on whether to sustain or lift the U.S. sanctions regime on Iran. I voted in favor of this legislation because I believe that Congress must have an opportunity to conduct a thorough review on whether this agreement will honor our nuclear non-proliferation objectives and uphold regional security. Congress is now in a 60-day review period on the agreement, after which it can vote on its approval of the deal for the purpose of lifting sanctions.

    I have been carefully reviewing the full text of the agreement and consulting with experts from the military, national security, intelligence, diplomatic, and international communities to get thorough answers on several aspects of the deal. I am focused on the scope of the agreement’s inspections, the monitoring of offline centrifuges, the timeline for the implementation of sanctions relief, the agreement’s impact on regional security and non-proliferation, and whether this deal is more effective than any alternative for meeting our national security and peacekeeping objectives.

    The Iran nuclear agreement is a testament to the persistence and patience of U.S. diplomats and our negotiating partners and their commitment to diplomacy as a means of promoting nuclear non-proliferation. The responsibility now lies with Congress to decide whether this agreement represents the best path for preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and whether the U.S. and its allies have the monitoring and response mechanisms necessary to swiftly control Iran in the event of non-compliance. I will certainly keep your views in mind as I continue to review the deal and its implications in the weeks ahead.

    Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me; I am honored to represent the constituents of the Fourth District of Massachusetts. Please feel free to call or write my office with future questions or concerns. Additionally, I invite you to visit my website at http://www.kennedy.house.gov or follow me on Facebook to learn more about my work at home and in Washington.

    All my best,

    Joseph P. Kennedy
    Member of Congress

  121. 121.

    Kropadope

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yeah, I kinda got the sense he was leaning that way. But Chuck Schumer seems to be able to articulate the positives of the deal and will still vote against it. If he says he’s undecided, I’ll take him at his word since opposition doesn’t seem to be built on being informed but rather political posturing.

  122. 122.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Kropadope: Well then, call him. But I read that email as he is a yes but doesn’t want to come out with it until and unless he has to.

  123. 123.

    Kropadope

    @Omnes Omnibus: If the Senate holds at only 2 Democrats in opposition, they may be able to filibuster the rejection to death anyway. Though I would like it to come to a vote. Let every Congressmonkey in opposition show their bright red baboon ass, then Obama can veto the bill.

  125. 125.

    Kropadope

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’m pretty damn certain she can. It shouldn’t be too hard, given that 151 reps signed a letter supporting the principle of negotiations and not one has come out against the deal last I checked. That’s plenty to sustain a veto.

  127. 127.

    Kropadope

    @Omnes Omnibus: I never said I was worried about the veto being overridden. If a filibuster is a possibility, that’s an even higher threshold surpassed. I just want them all on record, I disapprove of a filibuster. That’s how confident I am in the strength of a veto.

  128. 128.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Kropadope: I am worried about it even though I think it unlikely. If it happens, it is very bad news for the US in diplomatic terms. So it worries me a great deal.

  130. 130.

    Kropadope

    @Omnes Omnibus: I don’t even want to think of what would have to go wrong for that to happen. All the momentum is on the side of the deal right now. More and more prominent Democrats are vowing to support it every day. All the people against seem to have had decided early. If this gets derailed in Congress, whatever happened in the meantime to precipitate that would be something disastrous in its own right.

  133. 133.

    sm*t cl*de

    This was an interesting article. It appears the common fear of spiders is genetic

    The press release includes these words:

    A black widow spider bite in the ancestral world even if not fatal could leave one incapacitated for days or weeks.

    When the authors are unaware that black widows inhabit a completely different continent from the one where we evolved, they need to shut the fuck up, they are out of their element.

  135. 135.

    J R in WV

    In regard to the spider genetics article, in the second sentence they used a wrong/misspelled word: site for sight.

    Sad for science.

    One Lesson: turn off auto-correct always.

  136. 136.

    JWR

    @smintheus: “TPM is just rehashing what Fisher already highlighted.”

    That’s about all TPM does these days: rehashing, (or rewriting), stories already written by others. Also, back in 2002, Josh Marshall was one of those “easy-mark reporters” of whom he now writes with oblivious disdain.

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