Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Let there be snark.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

It’s the corruption, stupid.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

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

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Eh, that’s media spin. biden’s health is fine and he’s doing a good job.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

You are here: Home / Music / Saturday Morning Open Thread

Saturday Morning Open Thread

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This song always reminds me of John Cole’s lovely Lily (even though it has an extra “L”):

My Gators cannot lose this weekend! (It’s a bye week.) Still, there are some interesting games later. I hope Georgia Tech can sack up and beat Florida State, though that’s unlikely. Will be watching the mighty USF Bulls vs. Southern Meth later.

Before that, I have to go upgrade my daughter’s iPhone, which means I get her cast-off! It’ll probably take awhile to get everything dialed in the way I like it.

What are you up to today?

Reader Interactions

208Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    I have to go upgrade my daughter’s iPhone

    “Have to” being the operative words with teenagers.

  4. 4.

    AnonPhenoma

    Police and cameras:
    As in any large population sample,  increased oversight will likely cause a subgroup to (at least initially) respond to by being more cautious. Either by avoiding some situations
     
    Or work to rule (trigger warning: it’s MSNBC’s shitty video website)

    That is an issue. But it’s not the publics’ problem. It’s Managements’ problem, and Management complaining about and wishing the Tech  Genie would go back in the bottle is not the sign of a good manager. 
    If you’re a manager who did nothing about the employees under your supervision who play fast and loose with the rules   (or worse, the type who sought them out or praised them)  you don’t get to complain when the environment/market responds with a solution you don’t particularly care for.  And if that solution highlights the ‘problem employee’ under your supervision at the other end of the spectrum, the slacker,  that doesn’t make it a bad solution. It just points out that you’re a bad manager.

  5. 5.

    Schlemazel

    Any truth to the rumor that the RNC is going to file a complaint with the FEC claiming that the $4.7million spent by the Gowdy committee was an illegal campaign contribution to the Clinton campaign & demand she pay it back?

  6. 6.

    Elizabelle

    Good morning all. Getting ready for an estate sale tomorrow and kind of rolling through the week.

    Beautiful here. Leaves drifting down outside. Still a lot of green, but enough color to look approaching peak.

  7. 7.

    Another Holocene Human

    @AnonPhenoma: lol, work to rule

    nobody wants their employees to work to rule because it would cost them more money in personnel

    they want and even promote people who cut all kinds of corners because it saves them money

    the rules are then there to scapegoat an employee when some incident occurs that makes the dept look bad

    or to harass the fuck out of a hire the direct supervisor/manager doesn’t like (or needs to get rid of so said manager’s nephew/sister/new lover can get hired)

  8. 8.

    Another Holocene Human

    @rikyrah: Swim! That sounds nice. I need to take a shower, wait in line at the pharmacy, and then deal with my dear friend and her kids who have come to town even though I’m not prepared for it and have been very unwell lately. And my house is not toddler proof at all. And I have work papers strewn everywhere. And my cat is scared of the kids. And has been pooping and peeing in inappropriate places when she’s upset.

    I need to convince her to take the kids outside.

  10. 10.

    Another Holocene Human

    @rikyrah: Swim! That sounds nice. I need to take a shower, wait in line at the [unmentionable place], and then deal with my dear friend and her kids who have come to town even though I’m not prepared for it and have been very unwell lately. And my house is not toddler proof at all. And I have work papers strewn everywhere. And my cat is scared of the kids. And has been pooping and peeing in inappropriate places when she’s upset.

    I need to convince her to take the kids outside.

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    I propose that in late Spring 2016 we do a Balloon Juice snakehead fishing tournament and gourmet fish dinner.

    Reading about the latest record size catch in the WaPost: Maryland guy killed a 17.49 pounder with a bow and arrow (my kinda fishing). Fish has a rep; I was afraid I was going to have to bring a revolver. (Not a Dept of Natural Resources approved method.)

    Brought me to a recap by the Post’s weather guy on snakehead fishing (sounds fun) and snakehead cooking (sounds even better; snakehead was beating flounder, cod and tilapia in the deliciousness stakes).

    Snakehead taste test — can a fish this ugly really taste that good? (Photos)

    They did not steam the fish with ginger and lemongrass, which is what I’d like to try. Maybe with a nice Sauvignon Blanc.

    WaPost readers feel this delicious and combative apex predator fish needs a better name for marketing. Most likes for “Potomac Pike.” Someone suggested “Trumpfish.”

    Any interest? We could make it into the Baud 2016! Snakehead fishing and eating tournament, if we wanted.

  17. 17.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @Another Holocene Human:

    or to harass the fuck out of a hire the direct supervisor/manager doesn’t like (or needs to get rid of so said manager’s nephew/sister/new lover can get hired)

    I witnessed that at my last job. A very nice customer service rep; a nice and competent employee… suddenly she couldn’t do anything right (according to her boss). She would come to us almost in tears, and tell us how they kept picking at her. And then one day she was gone.

    Someone else told me her boss hired a “friend from church” to take her place.

  18. 18.

    Mustang Bobby

    Greetings all from South Florida. Already been to the car wash to get the Pontiac ready for the Cars in the Garden show at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens tomorrow.

    And speaking of tropical botanics, my vanda orchid is in bloom yet again for the third or fourth time in a year. Two stalks are blooming, too, which means it must be really in heat.

  20. 20.

    Some guy

    Betty, of you ate looking for a good place to watch the Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party we always host for that game. Chili cheese dogs, teriyaki chicken wings and homemade ice cream. Dog and kid friendly party.

    If we win the SEC East is ours. Forward to Victory, Comrades

  21. 21.

    Elizabelle

    @Germy Shoemangler: I hate when that happens.

    Heard of it happening to a secretary in the Commerce Dept years ago. She was perky and pleasant and the retired in the job types ganged up on her.

  24. 24.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @WereBear: It seems the more investigating scientists and archeologists do, the earlier they learn the domestication took place. Not as recent as previously thought.

  26. 26.

    Amir Khalid

    @WereBear:
    I reckon it’s presumptuous of humans to speak of certain other animals that live on close proximity to us as “domesticated” — or worse, “tame”. Particularly cats, who remain their own creature and never forget to remind us of that.

  28. 28.

    Some guy

    @Mustang Bobby:
    Nice.that had the 3.1 let 6 in it?

    Restoring my 71 Dodge Charger right now. Getting ready to bring it to the body shop for a new vinyl roof and some minor rusty on the running boards.

  30. 30.

    Mustang Bobby

    @Some guy: 2.8 litre with fuel injection and 4-speed overdrive. The 3.1 wasn’t available in that model that year, I don’t think.

    Good luck with the Charger. Those are really hot in the collectible market now, and I’ll bet it’s a beauty.

  32. 32.

    Mike J

    Race day. Having a second cuppa while watching Chelsea suck, will leave for the lake at the closing whistle.

  33. 33.

    WereBear

    @Germy Shoemangler: I know! The outside estimate I’ve read is 12,000 years.

    And the article completely misses the contributions cats have made to civilization. We couldn’t have made all the leaps stored food allowed in our development… without cats.

  37. 37.

    ruemara

    I have 5 hours to tidy my apartment into shooting shape if II go back to sleep like I want and then it’s off to day 2 of filming at the big club scene. This is the complicated one. And first order pod business is rigging the site to look like a club. My throat is a also sore. Should be an interesting day and then it’s goodbye cast and crew; hello editing suite.

  38. 38.

    burnspbesq

    GaTech couldn’t beat Duke or UNCheat, so its chances of beating Free Shoes U. look awfully slim.

  40. 40.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @ruemara: Rigging the site to look like a club: one thing I learned helping with independent films is Lighting goes a long way to create a set. Sometimes even more so than physical props.

  42. 42.

    Some guy

    @Mustang Bobby: yeah, I am the second owner. Bough it from on off my profs when I graduated, drove it around LA for 2 years, then drove it to Florida when I moved here. Been sitting in the barn until I hauled it out to make room for my 2007 Charger RT. The kids refuse to believe the 383 4bbl on the 71 has a similar output to the 2007 Hemi, but am preparing to show them up.

    The body shop guy is supposedly the best muscle guy in town but takes forever. Meticulous and expensive. Oh well

  43. 43.

    MomSense

    I had to get a new phone yesterday because my old one was malfunctioning badly. It’s like a new world. I decided to get the large 6 and I can pretty much run my little knit/design business with it.

  44. 44.

    Ajabu

    About to embark on what will likely be the most stressful couple of weeks of the past several decades.
    Synopsis:
    My wife took a job back in California (where our son & grandchildren still live) and left 3 months ago, leaving me to pack up our house, find a tenant and drive a 26′ truck – towing a car – back to California. (at my very advanced age…)
    So, this week is the last in the house. I’m currently living surrounded by boxes, sleeping on the den sofa and working right through Thursday. Friday, the truck is being loaded. Saturday I’m on the road. Alone.
    If everything fits in the truck, I’m golden. We’ll see. With my wife not here, I don’t dare to get rid of anything so I guess we’ll have a YOOOOGE yard sale on the other end. (Assuming I make it.) The last time I made this kind of move was 20 years ago when we went home to St. Croix. And I was that much younger.
    Oh well. Keeps life exciting, I guess.
    And, not incidentally, this puts my 50th Anniversary CD on hold a little longer.
    And finally, for any BJers who might be in the Atlanta area this weekend — I’m doing my final performance here tomorrow (Sunday) for Groove Cafe @ 630 Travis St. – Atlanta from 4-7 pm.
    I’d love some of you to come by and commiserate with me.
    Wish me luck on this ordeal. I’m going to need it.
    Only upside: If I survive this and can hang on for 7 years (till Mrs. Ajabu retires) we go back to the Islands!

  45. 45.

    Mike J

    @Amir Khalid:

    So it shall be, for so it is written: Any club where Jose Mourinho is in his third season as manager shall suck.

    The Seahawks had two great years and suck this year. I propose a one season swap. Mourinho for Pete Carroll. Imagine when Mourinho and Marshawn Lynch are forced to give a press conference.

    And now a red card. Fuck.

  46. 46.

    Schlemazel

    @Wag:

    Following the link provided by @Germy Shoemangler: I see that Andy Borowitz has the same thought in the New Yorker, his headline “Hilary thanks Benghazi committee for invaluable service to her campaign”

    I am afraid if I post the link I’ll be consigned to moderation hell

  47. 47.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @Schlemazel: And their daily cartoon today shows someone outside the committee door saying “Mrs. Clinton just called. She’s wondering if there’s any chance she could appear again.”

  48. 48.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @Schlemazel:

    I am afraid if I post the link I’ll be consigned to moderation hell

    I’ve been there. Full of unbaptized babies and spambots. And folks who ate ham sandwiches on Friday.

  50. 50.

    Tom

    It’s Saturday so I’ve got my famous slow cooker chili going and we’re heading off to see the Steve Jobs movie.

  52. 52.

    ruemara

    @Ajabu: back to St. Croix! I’ve vaguely entertained that notion myself except Jamaica. It’s not a bad retirement plan. Re: moving. Maybe she can give some phone guidance and you can delete a few items? Couldn’t hurt to ask. Sounds like a big adventure and you can find new music opportunities in CA. Welcome to Cali! It’s not bad.

    @Germy Shoemangler: yeah, that is so. We’re working with the ambient lighting and balancing for tungsten with some well placed LEDs. Plus I have to review last night’s footage to make sure I have coverage and that stuff has no pickups. And search for a score.

  54. 54.

    Schlemazel

    @Germy Shoemangler:
    to quote some guy who wrote a couple of books I think – “It was the worst of times, it was the best of times”

    So much fun to skewer the wingnuts, so horrific to have to share a planet with them

  55. 55.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @Amir Khalid:

    Carly Fiorina has been saying (as reported in various places) that the Republicans shouldn’t let up on Hillary.

    And again Ms. Fiorina shows the good judgement that got her such great results in the business world.

    It’s sort of personal with me when it comes to Carly. My father worked his whole life, two jobs. He didn’t have much education. One of his jobs was as a messenger for a wall street firm. The smart guys gave him stock “tips” and his dream was to leave his children some nice money in stocks.

    When he died, I inherited his stocks. Sadly, there wasn’t much there. And Luscent was in there, with a big asterisk next to it.

  56. 56.

    Schlemazel

    @Germy Shoemangler:
    I can never remember if 2 or 3 links are permitted and have run afoul of that rule. I guess that there is a magic number that identifies spam; “Spam would never have only one link!”

    But I guess, if they brought ham sandwiches with them we could picnic and then smash spambots for entertainment, doesn’t sound intolerable.

  57. 57.

    Mustang Bobby

    @Some guy: If you’re anywhere close to Miami, come see some of our shows this winter. We do the Art Deco show on Miami Beach in January, and we also do the Memory Lane exhibit at the Miami International Auto Show at the Miami Beach convention center. We have a lot of Mopar folks in the club, too.

  58. 58.

    Schlemazel

    @Amir Khalid:
    Yes, she, like all good Republicans know that when you are losing you have to double down on the stupidity . Your voters simply know you are right despite all evidence to the contrary. Doubling down proves you are even more right and will not give up.

    see: 53 votes against ACA

  62. 62.

    Schlemazel

    @Germy Shoemangler:
    The highly successful company I worked for was bought by Lucent, using the liar inflated stock as if it had value. She was the COO of Lucent while they were cooking the hell out of their books but claims to have had no idea it was going on. (THAT is fine leadership!)

    Lucent literally destroyed the value of my original company & sold the remains a few years later for pennies on the dollar. They reset the strike price on my options from around $40 to $18, then to $12 then to $7 then to $2, I made about a thousand dollars when I sold them off after I quit, I had several thousand shares. Today, a decade after I sold out they are still around $3.50 a share.

  65. 65.

    Brachiator

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    And their daily cartoon today shows someone outside the committee door saying “Mrs. Clinton just called. She’s wondering if there’s any chance she could appear again.”

    That just about nails it.

    A talk radio show whose audience leans very conservative did a poll. About 78 percent felt that Hillary ended up doing well at the hearings. This is obviously “not scientific,” but when people who otherwise strongly dislike Clinton and who probably won’t vote for her are still able to peek beyond blind ideological hatred, you know the GOP has a problem.

    Of course, when the dust settles, the Clinton haters will still insist that she is lying or hiding something and that the committee was either incompetent or on the take, but I think that this has done much to remove the cloud of nonsense and vague and unsubstantiated allegations that the GOP tried to hang on the Clinton campaign.

    The GOP will look foolish if they bring this up any more, not that this will stop them.

  66. 66.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @Schlemazel:

    Lucent literally destroyed the value of my original company & sold the remains a few years later for pennies on the dollar.

    I wish all the fine journalists out there would do stories on the real people who had their lives altered by her bad decisions. It isn’t so abstract when we hear personal anecdotes like this.

  74. 74.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Germy Shoemangler: Archeologists and especially historians seem to engage in fallacious thinking around peoples who don’t have written language, as if they don’t have this technology they must be very incapable. When the evidence that they were very capable stares in their face, they ascribe this evidence to different peoples or eras or start mumbling about mysteries which allows the ancient alien Lemurian woo peddlers to jump in.

    I think the deal is that most of these folks haven’t trained in practical, work with your hands fields; all of their training is with language as the primary technology, followed by drawings. So there’s a failure of imagination when they encounter stuff that doesn’t come with badly transcribed instructions.

    And anthropology has taken big strides to fight against this tendency. You have specialists now who can recreate ancient techniques. There’s an awareness that you need this side of it or you won’t know how to interpret wht you find in the ground. But I think the bias persists.

  75. 75.

    Elizabelle

    @Ajabu: Good luck, Ajabu. If you were moving a few weeks later, I would help you drive! But no can do on Halloween weekend.

  77. 77.

    Cervantes

    @Amir Khalid:

    Per FYWP rules, it’s the third link (including the link to a comment you’re replying to) that makes a comment spam.

    From what I’ve seen here, three is fine; four is too many.

  81. 81.

    bemused

    @mdblanche:

    I’ve been thinking about this news wondering if someone leaked it. Breitbart piece called it an emergency family meeting. I have a hard time believing the Bush family would have wanted this crisis all over the media.

  82. 82.

    ruemara

    @WereBear: at least your actors respond to treats. But, kidding aside, I was blessed with some very strong actors. I’m the weakest one in the bunch, which is perfect for me.

  83. 83.

    Cervantes

    @Brachiator:

    A talk radio show whose audience leans very conservative did a poll. About 78 percent felt that Hillary ended up doing well at the hearings.

    She did fine, as well as could be expected.

    The Republicans managed to get her to say that she has lost a lot of sleep over those deaths in Benghazi.

    Not something I’ve heard her say about many times more deaths in Iraq.

  84. 84.

    Pie Happens (opiejeanne)

    @mdblanche: I love how they are calling it a Finance Meeting, as if it was anything more than a family meeting. I’ll bet Barbara has some choice advice for John Ellis, since before the campaign began she said that we didn’t need another Bush in the WH

  87. 87.

    Brachiator

    @Cervantes:

    She did fine, as well as could be expected.

    You clearly miss the point. It’s not that Clinton met expectations, it is that even people who hate her acknowledge that she was helped by the hearings.

    Not something I’ve heard her say about many times more deaths in Iraq.

    I don’t recall that Clinton was president or even a Bush cabinet member when the war with Iraq began. Do you actually hold her as responsible as Biush and Cheney for Iraq? Does this also apply to every other member of Congress who voted as Clinton voted?

    In practical terms, does this mean that you will not vote for Clinton if she is the Democratic Party nominee?

  88. 88.

    Schlemazel

    @gf120581:
    I was thinking she may be too old for that & now is just going to take her shoe off & throw it at him!

    Or the worst punishment possible for the boy – “You are removed from my will!”

  89. 89.

    Schlemazel

    @Cervantes: Not something I’ve heard her say about many times more deaths in Iraq.

    Your joking, right? I never heard her or Obama call it a terrorist attack level of humor?

  92. 92.

    Satby

    Making bread, Concord grape jelly (may try a bottle of wine with the leftover juice) and gearing up for litter box cleanup. Maybe after I take down the screen tent. It’s a lazy day around here ;)

  93. 93.

    dogwood

    @mdblanche:
    Her wit was still pretty quick a couple of years ago. I watched a CSPAN program with Barbara and Laura that was actually fairly interesting. At the Q&A a young republican idiot stood up and told the First Ladies that he was gearing up for a career in politics, and was having trouble finding a woman who would meet his standards for a potential First Lady and wanted their advise. Barbara essentially told him he didn’t need to worry about finding a First Lady, but he did need to worry about fining a date if the video of his question got out.

  94. 94.

    Suezboo

    Watching a horribly tense SA vs NZ rugby game. NZ is winning but it’s close – my fingernails are suffering.

  95. 95.

    Cervantes

    @amk:

    why should she?

    Why should she tell us whether she lost any sleep over untold thousands of deaths in Iraq? I can see it’s an ever-deepening mystery to you. I’ll let you puzzle it out.

    typical non-sequitur idiocy from you.

    Yes, that must be what it is; I’m sure you’re right.

  99. 99.

    different-church-lady

    I have to go upgrade my daughter’s iPhone, which means I get her cast-off!

    Isn’t that backwards?

    Oh wait, 21st century…

  100. 100.

    Elizabelle

    NYTimes news alert: will meet with approval from Kay and rikyrah and numerous others:

    BREAKING NEWS
    The Obama administration declares the push for testing in schools has gone too far
    Saturday, October 24, 2015 12:03 PM EDT

    Faced with mounting and bipartisan opposition to increased and often high-stakes testing in the nation’s public schools, the Obama administration declared Saturday that the push had gone too far, acknowledged its own role in the proliferation of tests, and urged schools to step back and make exams less onerous and more purposeful. Specifically, the administration called for a cap on assessment so that no child would spend more than 2 percent of classroom instruction time taking tests.

    Let teachers teach, not test. And get MBAs the hell away from our schools.

    Linky to NYTimes story: http://nyti.ms/1H1bvuq

  102. 102.

    Elizabelle

    Someone here suggested the out of control testing and education policy could be Obama’s actual Katrina.

    Maybe they’re working to correct that, in the wake of Arne Duncan’s departure.

  105. 105.

    Cervantes

    @Brachiator:

    She did fine, as well as could be expected.

    You clearly miss the point. It’s not that Clinton met expectations, it is that even people who hate her acknowledge that she was helped by the hearings.

    Yes, that was your point and it was clear. My point was related but not the same. That OK with you?

    Not something I’ve heard her say about many times more deaths in Iraq.

    I don’t recall that Clinton was president or even a Bush cabinet member when the war with Iraq began.

    But you do recall what she was at the time, yes?

    Do you actually hold her as responsible as Biush and Cheney for Iraq?

    No, but so what? I hold her responsible for her judgment and her actions. That OK with you or does it seem brutally unfair?

    Bear in mind, there are things people did eighty and more years ago I haven’t forgiven. I’m just ornery that way.

    Does this also apply to every other member of Congress who voted as Clinton voted?

    Especially if they want to be Commander-in-Chief, yes. That OK with you?

    In practical terms, does this mean that you will not vote for Clinton if she is the Democratic Party nominee?

    That’s more than a year away. At my age, one shouldn’t count on anything.

  108. 108.

    Ajabu

    @ruemara:
    I was born in Jamaica. The decision to live in St. Croix instead was a no-brainer. The entire USVI (St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John) is a U.S. territory. You’re in the Caribbean but with US dollars, zip codes & area codes. Nothing international, no residency issues, etc. I can call you from there & it’s just like a state to state call.
    As to moving, I just found out I can leave “a few” things with the new tenant. They’re family to a close friend. That helps.
    As to CA: Thanks for the welcome. It’s a welcome back. We lived there for nearly 30 years but were stupid enough to sell property before the real boom hit so it’s rental time now.
    Thanks for the input!

  110. 110.

    Suezboo

    AAArgh ! < Cry of agony. NZ 20 – SA 18. We're out of the World Cup and NZ is through to the final against Australia or Argentina (probably Aus).
    I hate kiwi birds and kakapos and everything New Zealand but I'll get over it. Sob.

  112. 112.

    slag

    Going to DC for the first time for two days (on a weekend). Any suggestions for highest priority activities? (Couldn’t care less about bars or boutiques.)

  115. 115.

    Pie Happens (opiejeanne)

    @gogol’s wife: Those are excellent; we never made it to the Jefferson Memorial on our trip in 2005. I want to go back for that and more of the Smithsonian. Also, the zoo.

    ETA found my cousin’s name on the Vietnam wall, as well as a friend from HS.

  117. 117.

    Ajabu

    @Elizabelle:
    Well, at least I get on the road before the craziness starts in the neighborhood.
    Although I will miss seeing the first grader (who’s in one of my music classes) who proudly announced that his Halloween costume is going to be ME! A first grader with white hair, a beard and a bad attitude. Should be perfect!

  118. 118.

    Chris

    @slag:

    The memorials and museums are the obvious recommendations – more specific than that, it depends what you like. The FDR and Vietnam are my favorites among the former, and the Air & Space among the latter. Also, I’ve never heard of anyone being disappointed by a walk around the tidal basin. Also, the Georgetown waterfront is a nice place to eat with a view, but that part of town isn’t necessarily the most accessible (no matter what your mode of transportation).

  119. 119.

    Mandalay

    @Suezboo:

    I hate kiwi birds and kakapos and everything New Zealand but I’ll get over it.

    SA did not remotely deserve to win, and the close score was flattering to them.

  126. 126.

    Linnaeus

    @Another Holocene Human:

    Archeologists and especially historians seem to engage in fallacious thinking around peoples who don’t have written language, as if they don’t have this technology they must be very incapable. When the evidence that they were very capable stares in their face, they ascribe this evidence to different peoples or eras or start mumbling about mysteries which allows the ancient alien Lemurian woo peddlers to jump in.

    This may have been more true than not for historians in years past, but I wouldn’t say that that is accurate now. I have colleagues who do, for example, Native American history and they certainly don’t have this tendency.

  127. 127.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I can’t cut and paste the text, but via Jake Tapper’s twitter feed, sounds like we may be witnessing the twilight of the Jeb!$$?

    I’m of two minds: On the one hand, it’s fun to watch Idiot Princeling II crash and burn, and know that Bar and Poppy are lucid enough to see it, on the other hand, I’ve been enjoying watching him flounder and hoping the cash and the chaos would toss him up on the shore at their Convention, broken, limping, haggard and reeking of failure.

    He also tweeted a picture of himself on the deck of an aircraft carrier, cause he’s really not good at this.

  129. 129.

    the Conster

    Boy, JEB sucks. He basically admitted he’s got “cooler” stuff to do then sit around watching gridlock, being miserable and demonized. shorter: he’s not being handed stuff so he’s called the waaaahmbulance.

  130. 130.

    James E Powell

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    The corporate press/media is never going to tell those stories because they are the corporate press/media.

    The standard capitalist narrative is that whenever an employer closes, moves, or lays off thousands, it is because of: a) greedy unions, b) lazy workers, c) some Democratic politician who had nothing to do with it, or some combination of these three. Or another factor that has nothing to do with the capitalists’ constant need to lower wages and keep the working class in a state of anxiety.

  134. 134.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    the enemy of my enemy can be funny when he trolls my enemy

    Rebecca Berg ‏@ rebeccagberg 23m23 minutes ago
    More Trump on Jeb: “Bush has no money. He’s meeting today with mommy and daddy and they’re working on their campaign.”

    I don’t know why that thing under the thing on Trump’s head hates Jeb! so much (I doubt it has anything to do with voter rolls or Terri Schiavo) , but I’m thoroughly enjoying it

  135. 135.

    Cervantes

    @slag:

    If you visit, go around lunch-time. The cafeteria serves Native American food from across the continent. It is excellent.

  138. 138.

    Gimlet

    Got nothing to do with the availability of guns. Nope, nothing.

    Comey said while there likely are multiple factors behind the spike in violence in cities, including Chicago, officers and others nationwide have told him they see “the era of viral videos” as a link.

    “I don’t know whether this explains it entirely, but I do have a strong sense that some part of the explanation is a chill wind blowing through American law enforcement over the last year, and that wind is surely changing behavior,” Comey said.

  143. 143.

    Mandalay

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Wow – Jeb! is in full meltdown mode. And I can’t imagine any circumstance – real or contrived – where it is ever a good idea to invite people to vote for your opponent.

    Whining from the moral high ground is a useless approach to winning the presidency.

  145. 145.

    Brachiator

    @Cervantes:

    My point was related but not the same. That OK with you?

    No, your point was tangential, peripheral, divergent. OK with me? Doesn’t matter. This is typically your style.

    RE: In practical terms, does this mean that you will not vote for Clinton if she is the Democratic Party nominee?

    That’s more than a year away. At my age, one shouldn’t count on anything.

    And this is an evasion.

  146. 146.

    Pie Happens (opiejeanne)

    @Cervantes: I have to be nice about age; I’m only 65 but hope someday to reach your lofty age, and beyond.

    Besides, Mr Pie is 3 years older and I had to behave myself when we celebrated his 40th birthday, because I realized all of our guests were his age or older. So, no “Over The Hill” banners. (That seems so long ago.)

    And I understood what you were saying about Hillary re: her vote for the Iraq war, but I think she has since expressed regrets about that vote, which indicates that she has agonized over it even though she has not done so publicly. Or am I mistaken and she did not say that she regretted her vote?

  147. 147.

    Chris

    @slag:

    I’m assuming you’d find the government buildings interesting too, but I don’t remember exactly what the rules are for touring these and they might have changed them. But… IIRC, you used to be able to go to your congressman’s office and pick up tickets for certain tours of the Capitol (along with the usual stuff they’ll give away to visitors), so that would be worth checking out.

    @James E Powell:

    Yeah… I honestly think this is increasingly a problem with our capitalist class in general; they’ve become so used to blaming scapegoats for every bad business decision it doesn’t even occur to them anymore that any bad outcomes in the company they run might be traced back to them. Between the media outlets they own, the think tanks they own, the politicians they own, and heck, even quite a few regular people, they’re so surrounded by sycophants telling them they can do no wrong, and so used to dismissing anyone who finds fault with them as a jealous socialist who just wants their money, their perspective has to be completely warped beyond repair at this point.

    It’s why you get some businessmen bitching that they can’t find good workers, without ever realizing that 1) they don’t pay enough to retain good workers, 2) they’re not willing to shell out the money to train good workers up to the standards they want, etc. That would imply finding some fault in themselves.

  150. 150.

    WaterGirl

    @Ajabu: That’s maybe the sweetest thing, ever.

    Closest I’ver ever come, I think, was hearing the story of my niece’s son -possibly my favorite person in the world – when he was visiting when he was 8. She was helping him with getting the shower started and she showed him where the shampoo, soap etc was, and she asked him which ones he wanted to use.

    His answer: “I want to smell like WaterGirl”.

  154. 154.

    trollhattan

    @Baud:
    “Libertarians” are so…weird. Anybody know how Drum’s cancer fight is going? I don’t follow him so not up to speed on his health.

  157. 157.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @WaterGirl: When I was teaching report writing, another prof had his seniors do little skits to explain various points of writing their thesis. I saw a woman I’d taught as a first year student in the ladies room, and she was wearing a suit and was rearranging her hair. I told her she looked nice, and she gave this funny smile before saying thank you.

    Turned out she was supposed to look like me because she was taking part in a skit where she was berating this guy for not know stuff.

    I was flattered–I guess?

  162. 162.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @Chris:

    they’re not willing to shell out the money to train good workers up to the standards they want, etc.

    I’m old enough to remember the “help wanted” newspaper pages (many pages) and quite a few were entry-level jobs in big companies. “No experience necessary – will train.”

    And these same companies would help pay your tuition if you wanted to further your education while on the job.

    I’ve seen so many well-paid fifty-something year-old managers in corner offices who tell me “I started here as a clerk typist in 1977.”

    If you were white, could tie a tie and keep your nose clean, you were in.

    And now they’ve cut the rope ladder.

  164. 164.

    Another Holocene Human

    @slag: National Trolley Museum!

    Okay, so it’s in Maryland. But still!

    There are often free science talks at national monuments and at places like NIH, just start trolling to see what’s going on.

    Nobody mentioned National Building Museum. That’s a good one, right at Judiciary Sq. Metro Station, great vista as you come up the escalator.

    Air & Space is basically every tourist’s favorite. National Gallery East if you like contemporary art. On the other side of the mall they have collections of Asian and African art (next to Smithsonian, actually). Jefferson and Lincoln memorials. Supreme Court has bas reliefs and stuff to see if you can get in. If you go on a weekday you can get your US Rep to give you a pass to go to the Congressional gallery and see Reps do some soundbites for the assorted stenographers. If you go really early you can sit in on congressional hearings, though. Never been to Library of Congress but I imagine it’s really neat.

    There are some other museums in town that aren’t federal, also, too.

    If you get tired of walking up and down the mall, there is some shopping/food in L’Enfant Plaza (above the Metro station) and also a nice food court and shopping at Union Station (above the Metro station). You can also watch trains at Union Station especially on a weekday when the commuter trains are running. There’s also underground food/shopping at Crystal City but… why. Seriously. Just why. There’s some hifalutin grocery store at the Yellow line station in Arlington near Crystal City too. But why do that when you can go to Eastern Market? relatively near the Metro station. It’s historic. And uh. Well, it’s historic.

    They probably don’t sell stolen goods outside the entrance any more. Bummer.

  167. 167.

    WaterGirl

    @Iowa Old Lady: That’s pretty funny.

    As to “I was flattered – I guess?”… I have two rules: 1) If you’re not sure whether you like your new boss or not, decide that you like them, and 2) If you’re not sure if something is a compliment, or the opposite, just decide it’s a compliment.

  168. 168.

    Ruckus

    @Ajabu:
    Done that cross country move in a 26 with trailer 3 times, once in the middle of winter. I was younger then as well. But then I used to like driving. Now it’s just what I do to get someplace.
    St. Croix. Haven’t been in decades but I liked it when I was there. Has it changed a lot? Looking for a place to retire to, and being an expat from the rat race sounds like a good idea.

  169. 169.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Chris: Yes, if the Hill isn’t depressing enough, watch animals slowly lose their will to live penned up in tiny concrete enclosures. Oh, and some of the old animal cages are preserved so you can relive the glories of the fierce-beast-in-tiny-prison era.

  170. 170.

    Linnaeus

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    I’m lucky in that my current employer believes in doing on-the-job training, because it’s not necessarily obvious on paper that I’m able to do the work that I’m doing. Most other firms that do what we do wouldn’t have even interviewed me, let alone hired me.

  176. 176.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: The only political skill I’ve seen Rubio display is treating Trump like an annoying gnat, but Trump hasn’t zeroed in on immigration, which seems to be their third rail this go-round.

  178. 178.

    Aleta

    Speaking of St. Croix, sort of:
    In the 90s especially I used to swim in some bioluminescence on some nights on Cape Ann in MA. It was unpredictable when it would happen, and it would usually be around for a few nights in a row. I never knew what caused it. Would it be similar organisms to those in the famous bays in St. Croix? Or are there all different kinds of bioluminescents ?

  181. 181.

    Satby

    @Germy Shoemangler: Honestly, they cut that ladder enough years ago that my thirty something sons told me they were going into trades, even though they’re both very smart. Or maybe because they’re that smart.

  183. 183.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @amk: He started on the sweaty stuff a while back, and Rubio just kind of rolled his eyes, that’s what I meant, he doesn’t let it get under his skin like Jebbie does. But Rubio has flip-flopped and mealy-mouthed immigration, and I can’t imagine Trump isn’t going to point that out eventually. He’s weird and crazy and obnoxious but he ain’t stupid.

  184. 184.

    Ruckus

    @Satby:
    Costa Rica is so far #1 on my list. I’ve heard conflicting stories about how much it costs to live there. The low end is probably not much of living but the high end is more than what it costs where I live in Old Town Pasadena.
    I also have a friend who lives in Panama and he likes it a lot and says it’s better than Costa Rica. At some point I’ve got to go there and check them both out.

  185. 185.

    catclub

    I have noticed somebody at Slate is counting votes for debt ceiling increase. Last time all the democrats plus something like 30 republicans. Now, besides some of those democrats losing, some of those republicans lost too, replaced by wacko-birds.

    It seems there may not be enough votes to pass a renewal. no worries, mate. Boehner has certainly not promptly gotten around to raising the debt ceiling. This may be why. He can count better than McCarthy.

  186. 186.

    catclub

    @Ruckus: Montevideo Uruguay might be another choice. There is a very expensive
    part of uruguay that rich Expats go to on the coast.

  187. 187.

    Suzanne

    Went and lifted weights this morning. Now at Spawn the Elder’s volleyball tournament. The team is meh, but she is killing it. Damn. This is actually great to watch.

  188. 188.

    Ajabu

    @Ruckus:

    But then I used to like driving. Now it’s just what I do to get someplace.

    Therein lies the rub. I drive when I have to. No pleasure at all.
    St. Croix remains St. Croix. More of a family island than tourist driven. It works for me.

  191. 191.

    Suezboo

    Well, we get phosphorescent growths here too. It’s called Red Tide by the locals and it is magic to swim by night with that glow in the waves and on you, isn’t it?

  192. 192.

    Suezboo

    Aleta, is your one poisonous ? We always are forbidden to eat shellfish when the red tide comes around.

  195. 195.

    Ruckus

    @Ajabu:
    Did some googling and St. Croix looks to be pretty expensive. But it’s good to hear that it’s comfy rather than touristy, that’s always a better place to live.
    Thanks to our greedy, asshole friends in the money industry and trying to survive the not so great but yooooooge recession, I’m left with SS to live my life out. A few shekels extra that I’m earning now but it’s more of a bit to get me someplace rather than a retirement fund. And yes I know that I’m not alone in my predicament but that really doesn’t make it better.

  196. 196.

    Cervantes

    @Pie Happens (opiejeanne):

    And I understood what you were saying about Hillary re: her vote for the Iraq war, but I think she has since expressed regrets about that vote, which indicates that she has agonized over it even though she has not done so publicly. Or am I mistaken and she did not say that she regretted her vote?

    She has said that the vote was a mistake, most notably in her book. How long did it take her to see she had made a mistake? How long did it take her then to admit the mistake? What steps has she recommended we take to avoid such mistakes in future? Can these questions tell us anything about her abilities, judgment, and forthrightness?

    Moreover, she has continued to be too clever by half about that vote. In the last debate, for example, instead of justifying it on the merits or apologizing for it abjectly, or anything in between, she more or less argued that it didn’t need discussing at all because, after all, Obama had appointed her Secretary of State despite it. Some of her supporters apparently like this sort of cutesy cowardice; I do not.

    Remember that in 2002 and 2003, there were millions of people who saw through the lies — utterly predictable lies — spewed by Cheney, Bush, and their thugs. Has Clinton explained in any detail how she, so wise and sagacious now, was so easily fooled by those two-bit lies back then?

  197. 197.

    Cervantes

    @Brachiator:

    @Cervanes: My point was related but not the same. That OK with you?

    No, your point was tangential, peripheral, divergent. OK with me? Doesn’t matter. This is typically your style.

    That it’s a matter of difference in style is certainly closer to the truth than your earlier notion that I had missed your point!

    But if you agree that differences in style don’t matter, then what exactly are you asking me, or complaining, about?

    RE: In practical terms, does this mean that you will not vote for Clinton if she is the Democratic Party nominee?

    That’s more than a year away. At my age, one shouldn’t count on anything.

    And this is an evasion.

    For my response to be an evasion, I’d have had to find your question worth evading.

    Whereas I did find the question silly, because, no matter how many times you ask, you never know how other people vote (nor even how they plan to vote).

    I also found the question mildly offensive, but that’s a more subjective thing, so I’ll leave it at that.

  198. 198.

    Pie Happens (opiejeanne)

    @Cervantes: nope. I think she was either swept up by the drumbeats of war or more likely, she cynically voted to make her constituents happy. (That latter is sometimes a bit of a dilemma: do you vote to represent the idiots back home who sent you to Congress or do you vote your conscience.)

    Obama wasn’t fooled, I wasn’t fooled, you weren’t fooled, but a lot of people were, just like our host. I bumped into a very liberal friend just before the war started and she was all excited about the upcoming invasion of Iraq, blah blah blah. I pointed out that none of those responsible had come from Iraq and were not there now and it was like I’d thrown cold water in her face, like she’d awakened from a trance.

    So, you want Hillary to address the American people and explain and apologize for her vote. In May of this year she did say it was a mistake, with no equivocations. I don’t think the timeline matters, what matters is that she did finally say it.
    Much more than that and I think it might hurt her politically. Think what the RW would do with that kind of confession. I don’t want another Republican in the White House and even though I will vote for Bernie I worry that he won’t be able to beat someone like Trump, if he is the Republican nominee. Maybe you think I’m being a bit cynical but I look at it as being practical.

  200. 200.

    Corner Stone

    @Cervantes:

    For my response to be an evasion, I’d have had to find your question worth evading.

    One wouldn’t have to “find it worth” evading in any way. One would just choose to evade it, either passive or otherwise.

  201. 201.

    Cervantes

    @Pie Happens (opiejeanne):

    I think she was either swept up by the drumbeats of war or more likely, she cynically voted to make her constituents happy. (That latter is sometimes a bit of a dilemma: do you vote to represent the idiots back home who sent you to Congress or do you vote your conscience.)

    We’re not talking about a vote to name a post office after Adam Sandler or George W. Bush. We’re talking about a vote to authorize an unjustified invasion and occupation in which, predictably, thousands upon thousands of innocent men, women, and children will perish. One can argue, as you may be doing, that Clinton, seeing the lies for what they were, still voted to please her crowds despite the human cost. If we are making this argument, if this is how we explain her vote, then what sort of Commander-in-Chief do we think she will be?

    Obama wasn’t fooled, I wasn’t fooled, you weren’t fooled, but a lot of people were, just like our host.

    Right, and, to a first approximation, the list of people who were fooled is the list of people I wouldn’t trust to feed themselves with a fork or a knife.

    In this context, the only way to justify a vote for Clinton is to realize that the Republicans are far worse. (Does this justification matter before November, 2016? I’m not sure.)

    So, you want Hillary to address the American people and explain and apologize for her vote.

    That kind of honesty and courage would do the world a world of good.

    Do I expect it from her?

    When Obama dared to address racial division honestly and head-on during the 2008 campaign, I was not surprised.

    Will Clinton surprise me? We shall see.

    Think what the RW would do with that kind of confession.

    The leading Republicans of our day can’t argue their way dishonestly out of a wet paper bag. Clinton stared some of them down for hours just this week.

    She’s smart. If she wants to make a transforming argument, it is well within her power.

  204. 204.

    Pie Happens (opiejeanne)

    @Cervantes:

    I’m not satisfied with our discussion , there is no way for me to agree with you nor you with me, so I will agree to disagree.

  206. 206.

    Cervantes

    @Pie Happens (opiejeanne):

    I’m not satisfied with our discussion , there is no way for me to agree with you nor you with me, so I will agree to disagree.

    That’s perfectly fine by me, of course.

    Or you could actually counter what I said. With an argument. That would be OK, too.

  207. 207.

    Cervantes

    @Corner Stone:

    That sounds like an active evasion.

    Not really sure where you’re going with this. I’ve said plenty above about Clinton’s evasiveness regarding a serious matter. You haven’t really responded to it. If you feel like engaging with it, please do.

Comments are closed.