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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

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

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

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

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

“But what about the lurkers?”

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Friday Evening Open Thread: Cartoons & Cartoon Characters

Friday Evening Open Thread: Cartoons & Cartoon Characters

by Anne Laurie|  November 20, 20155:26 pm| 188 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Popular Culture

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Charlie Hebdo's new cover: "They've got guns. Screw them, we've got champagne" pic.twitter.com/2vdhjizOU6

— Katy Lee (@kjalee) November 17, 2015

A quick selection of “damned pictures” to start the weekend…

dimmed liberty light davies
(Matt Davies via GoComics.com)

gop rejects pilgrim refugees luckovich
(Mike Luckovich via GoComics.com)

liberty hiding toles
(Tom Toles via GoComics.com)

gop frankenstein isis anderson
(Nick Anderson via GoComics.com)

pic.twitter.com/JaVmIa4brs

— Staunch Atheist (@StaunchA) November 20, 2015

gop candidates on refugees ohman
(Jack Ohman via GoComics.com)

isis vs nra morin
(Jim Morin via GoComics.com)

Peace for Paris pic.twitter.com/ryf6XB2d80

— jean jullien (@jean_jullien) November 13, 2015

And a bonus cartoon character, per Jon Chait at NYMag: “Former Bush Speechwriter Attacks Obama As Vicious Peacemonger”

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Next Post: Friday Recipe Exchange: Breakfast Pizzas »

Reader Interactions

188Comments

  1. 1.

    Germy

    November 20, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    Chauncey Devega posted some anti-immigrant editorial cartoons from the early 20th century.

  2. 2.

    gratuitous

    November 20, 2015 at 5:42 pm

    Speaking of that French chick in New York Harbor, was she vetted? She could be hiding a suicide vest under that loose-fitting robe, you know. Aiieeee! She’s brandishing a lit torch! Everybody run!!!

  3. 3.

    Luthe

    November 20, 2015 at 5:44 pm

    While there are site updates and such going on, can we have some updates to the Lexicon? It’s terribly out of date in places (recent innovations like “hookers & blow” aren’t in there, Tunch is referred to the present tense, Steve and Rosie are not included, etc).

  4. 4.

    Ruckus

    November 20, 2015 at 5:48 pm

    All of this might be funny if conservatives had any sense of reality rather than a sense of movie bullshit.

  5. 5.

    Amir Khalid

    November 20, 2015 at 5:49 pm

    @Luthe:

    Tunch is referred to the present tense

    That doesn’t need to be changed, does it? Tunch will always live on in the hearts of the Juicitariat.

  6. 6.

    jl

    November 20, 2015 at 5:53 pm

    @Amir Khalid: TuncnForce abides. Anyone think he ain’t here, refer to him in the past tense and see what happens.

  7. 7.

    Luthe

    November 20, 2015 at 5:56 pm

    @Amir Khalid: True, but we don’t want to confuse the n00bs into thinking Tunch still lives with John and not eternal shiny and fat chrome.

  8. 8.

    Dagaetch

    November 20, 2015 at 5:57 pm

    Ugh, Chris Cilliza pisses me off. I don’t know why I bother reading his stuff anymore. From today’s chat:

    Q: “Organizations on both extremes have built a business model on pushing the idea of absolute allegiance.” Please name the equivalent to the Tea Party, the Koch Brothers various organizations, and Trump/Carson on the left. [quote was a response of Chris earlier in the chat]

    A: Democracy Alliance, George Soros, Steve Bing, Haim Saban etc. Bernie Sanders is an avowed Democratic Socialist who is taking a third or more of the primary vote. Simply because you dislike one side doesn’t mean both sides don’t do it.

    Where to start. Tea Party basically controls the Republican party at this point, directing where to vote and who to support. Democracy Alliance is a group of donors who direct their own funds, and I doubt 1 in 100 democratic voters have heard of them. George Soros gives a lot (http://ivn.us/2015/02/02/koch-bros-george-soros-americas-high-profile-political-donors-compare/) but reports indicate that the Koch donor network spent over $400 million in 2012 election. Who the fuck are Steve Bing and Haim Saban? And Bernie Sanders is a long standing politician who is basically espousing fairly standard progressive positions that may be a bit further left than most of the party, but not to an extreme. Trump and Carson basically want to tear up the Constitution!

    I freely admit to being personally biased, but the fact is, one party has gotten significantly more extreme than the other in the past 20 years. Sorry if that makes it hard for you to do “unbiased” reporting, but your own paper reported it (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/02/this-astonishing-chart-shows-how-republicans-are-an-endangered-species/)!

  9. 9.

    Mary G

    November 20, 2015 at 6:10 pm

    Well, I thought all the complainers about getting their comments eaten were exaggerating, but now it’s happening to me. I apologize, it is infuriating.

  10. 10.

    Mike in NC

    November 20, 2015 at 6:10 pm

    The local rag often runs editorial cartoons by wingnuts I’ve never heard of. For example, some shitbag named Glenn Foden who has shifted from drawing cartoons of Barack Obama with a bone through his nose to Hillary Clinton wearing a pointy hat and riding a broom. Classy!

  11. 11.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    November 20, 2015 at 6:12 pm

    The biggest thing the Democrats have to fucking do is learn how to shine a bright light on Republicans’ gutlessness. People don’t like cowards. And, yet, even though the Republican Party has been doing nothing but shitting itself in fear at every little thing that happens (and even over things that don’t happen) they still have this “tough guy” reputation.

    People buy into it because it’s what we’ve all heard for the last 30 or 40 years: Republicans are the tough guys who stand up to bad guys; Democrats are wimps who won’t. But, really, all the Republicans do lately is quake and shake with fear. They’re scared of every fucking thing, and yet, because people like McCain and Graham talk a lot about bombing people, they still have this sheen of fearlessness. Democrats have to learn how to shoot that lie down.

    President Obama did good work when he said that these people who would supposedly stand tall against our fearsome foes in Russia and China are scared to let five year old orphans in the country. And Ted Cruz got his feelings hurt.

    Now, normally, the next thing for Democrats to do would be to backtrack and tell us all how sorry they are for saying something so intemperate, but I hope they’ll take the lead from President Obama instead, and hit these gutless pigs even harder. Every time one of these creeps opens their mouths about scaaaaary-ass Muslim terrists, Democrats need to hit back by telling us that these assholes are so scared of bogeymen that they won’t let babies in the country, and that they’re too fucking scared of getting killed to go see Star Wars (true story!). (I still can’t believe Erickson was dumb enough to say that publicly, but he was.)

    But, really, the point that they’re cowards can’t be made often enough. People don’t like cowards. They like them even less when they’re bullies, and that’s what these guys are.

  12. 12.

    opiejeanne

    November 20, 2015 at 6:21 pm

    The only thing I’m afraid of is what monstrosities will fall from the mouths of certain of my neighbors.

  13. 13.

    ThresherK

    November 20, 2015 at 6:22 pm

    Hey, looks like I don’t have to refresh the homepage from the “last time” to get the latest frontpage post. Cool.

  14. 14.

    Germy

    November 20, 2015 at 6:23 pm

    @Mike in NC: Holy shit… I just peeked at his twitterings. He’s quite a piece of work.

  15. 15.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 6:23 pm

    @Mary G: What I’ve taken to doing, when I remember, is to hit ctl-c(on a PC, not sure of the fruity thinking machine equivalent), before clicking on ‘Post Comment’. They pray that it works and if it doesn’t; when you eventually get back to the page hit ctl-v and repost it.

  16. 16.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    November 20, 2015 at 6:31 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    You have to press Ctrl-A (or equivalent) first to select all the text of the comment.

  17. 17.

    Patrick

    November 20, 2015 at 6:31 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    The biggest thing the Democrats have to fucking do is learn how to shine a bright light on Republicans’ gutlessness. People don’t like cowards.

    The Dems were major cowards in the Iraq vote in 2002. They lost the senate in spite of their cowardly vote. If they didn’t learn from that debacle, they never will. And this week, 47 Dems voted against what America and the Statue of Liberty stands for.

    Why would the voter vote for GOP light, when they can have the real thing?

  18. 18.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 6:32 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet): True, thanks much. Also it should have been ‘Then pray” as opposed to ‘They pray’.

  19. 19.

    Jerzy Russian

    November 20, 2015 at 6:36 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: That would be -c on a Mac to copy, -v to paste.

  20. 20.

    Mike E

    November 20, 2015 at 6:37 pm

    Watching Shields and Yarnell Brooks on PBS News Horror… Brooks: Obama is condoning genocide! Shields: Lemme talk about Lindsay Graham!

    The horror.

  21. 21.

    max

    November 20, 2015 at 6:45 pm

    @Luthe: recent innovations like “hookers & blow”

    Ahem. ‘Recent’? Really.

    max
    [‘I guess my pitch for the HOOKERS & CRACK campaign back in the 90’s was prescient or something.’]

  22. 22.

    MomSense

    November 20, 2015 at 6:46 pm

    @Mike E:

    Oh god they are the worst. That Brooks can say horrible things with such a “civil tone” creeps me out.

  23. 23.

    Jerzy Russian

    November 20, 2015 at 6:52 pm

    @Jerzy Russian: Strange, I had the words “command” in there, but in between “less than” and “greater than” signs. So it is command-c to copy highlighted text and command-v to paste.

  24. 24.

    MomSense

    November 20, 2015 at 6:55 pm

    @Patrick:

    Isn’t the problem that the Democrats are afraid to go too left of the most reliable voters? These voters skew more Republican, Fox watching, bigoted, etc. I’ve heard so many hypotheses over the years about what Democratic politicians need to do to attract voters and we have primaried conservadems thinking a more liberal candidate would do the trick. Sadly, it never works. I think the focus has to be on GOTV every damned election. They won’t ignore the most likely voters. If eligible Latino voters showed up at the polls consistently and in higher numbers, we would have immigration reform. Pols aren’t going to vote for progressive legislation only to be ignored and lose in the next midterm election.

  25. 25.

    Tommy

    November 20, 2015 at 6:55 pm

    About a day behind but I just want to know who shot Annalise.

  26. 26.

    bupalos

    November 20, 2015 at 6:55 pm

    Can someone explain that Charlie Hebdo cover to me? I don’t get any part of it or who it is supposed to be lampooning. Like most things I’ve seem from them, it just seems kind of vaguely dickish without actually meaning anything.

  27. 27.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    November 20, 2015 at 6:56 pm

    @Jerzy Russian:

    HTML uses < and > as code delimiters. You’re lucky you didn’t blow up the blog!

  28. 28.

    Germy

    November 20, 2015 at 6:57 pm

    @bupalos: They shot the hell out of us but we’re still celebrating?

  29. 29.

    Mike J

    November 20, 2015 at 6:59 pm

    @Tommy: I’m still watching Series 2 of GBBO. BBC series 2, not PBS season 2 which was BBS series 4.

  30. 30.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:01 pm

    @MomSense:

    Thank you.

  31. 31.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:02 pm

    @ThresherK:

    Not on Android mobile. I still have to refresh.

  32. 32.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 20, 2015 at 7:02 pm

    Nick Anderson is absolutely on target.

    What pisses me off is pandering GOP politicians are working, with their pandering, in the interest of Daesh.

    This is black letter giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

  33. 33.

    Suzanne

    November 20, 2015 at 7:02 pm

    My Congresscritter is one of the traitor Democrats, so I called her offices and chewed out her staffers. Told them how I volunteered, posted a yard sign, gave a few bucks during her last two campaigns….and how that will never happen again. She’s getting her ass handed to her on social media, too.

    LOVE IT.

    More and better Democrats.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:03 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Was that the guy in MSNBC just now? He was good.

  35. 35.

    Germy

    November 20, 2015 at 7:03 pm

    Wall Street Journal: GOP Operative Plans ‘Guerrilla Campaign’ Against Donald Trump – Move comes as growing number of Republicans fear damage to party’s image and ‘Hillary Clinton will become president’
    “People are finally taking the threat that Trump will destroy the Republican Party and lose the general election to Hillary Clinton seriously…”

  36. 36.

    Patrick

    November 20, 2015 at 7:04 pm

    @MomSense:

    Pols aren’t going to vote for progressive legislation only to be ignored and lose in the next midterm election.

    No, but what tends to happen is they instead vote for insanely conservative bills (such as the war in Iraq) and still lose in the next midterm election.

  37. 37.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 20, 2015 at 7:05 pm

    @gratuitous: Could be scarier. She could have a board with a nail in it.

  38. 38.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:05 pm

    @Patrick:

    And Obamacare and Wall Street reform. So no matter what they do, they lose.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:07 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I read that earlier. Awesome.

  40. 40.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 20, 2015 at 7:07 pm

    @Baud: Dunno about that, but Anderson’s cartoon in the middle of the pack uptop is just so spot on. Daesh is the direct result of the utterly illegal, immoral, unnecessary invasion of Iraq. Daesh is the creation of the deserting coward and the Dark Lord.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:08 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Gotcha. That was spot on.

  42. 42.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 20, 2015 at 7:09 pm

    @Suzanne: Unfortunately my rep was one of the 47 as well. I had a long talking-to with one of his staff members today.

  43. 43.

    Gravenstone

    November 20, 2015 at 7:09 pm

    @Mike E:

    Shields and Yarnell

    Oh good lord. I haven’t thought of that act in ages …

  44. 44.

    scav

    November 20, 2015 at 7:11 pm

    @bupalos: Would it help you to think of it alongside the hashtag ‘Je suis en terrace’ where people were going out to public cafes to demonstrate they were neither frightened away from public spaces or enjoyment? (Guardian) But in a Charlie Hebdo accent.

  45. 45.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 7:11 pm

    @Baud:

    He was good.

    On Tweety’s show, unpossible.

  46. 46.

    Gravenstone

    November 20, 2015 at 7:11 pm

    @Suzanne: Good to hear. Hopefully that sort of pushback will translate into No votes when the inevitable veto override vote comes up for that fucking bill.

  47. 47.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:12 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    No, I think it was at the end of the previous show.

  48. 48.

    Danton

    November 20, 2015 at 7:12 pm

    If I was a Democrat in Congress, I’d float a bill that prohibits those on the terrorist watch list and suspected terrorists (who might be some of our homegrown anti government types) from purchasing guns. This is legislation the NRA would oppose. It wouldn’t come to a vote, of course, but I would then scream bloody loud at the GOP for blocking it.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:12 pm

    @Gravenstone:

    This.

  50. 50.

    beltane

    November 20, 2015 at 7:14 pm

    @Germy: Jeb actually said something that was neither horrible nor ridiculous today. It won’t help him any, but I think the Republican insiders are staring into the abyss and deciding they must do something to save themselves.

  51. 51.

    Patrick

    November 20, 2015 at 7:14 pm

    @Baud:

    34 Democrats in the House voted against the ACA. Only 4 of them are still in Congress…The point being that, as I tried to say before but apparently wasn’t clear, being GOP light is pointless when the voter can just as easily get the real GOP candidate.

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/08/22/house_democrats_obamacare_only_4_of_34_who_voted_against_it_remain.html

  52. 52.

    Luthe

    November 20, 2015 at 7:14 pm

    @Danton: They’ve already got one of those introduced. Guess how far it’s gotten.

  53. 53.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 7:15 pm

    @Baud: OK, then possible. I’ve been avoiding Tweety since last Friday.

  54. 54.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:16 pm

    @Danton:

    You mean like exactly what they are doing but no one notices because “Democrats suck” is only acceptable discourse.

  55. 55.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:16 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Only since last Friday?

    But then you watch Morning Joe.

  56. 56.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 7:18 pm

    @Baud: I have to test my sobriety somehow.

    ETA: I actually managed to get though a hour of Morning Joe this morning, I bailed when Chuck Todd showed up.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:22 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I would have failed that test. You’re a strong man.

  58. 58.

    MomSense

    November 20, 2015 at 7:22 pm

    @Patrick:

    Unfortunately the Iraq war was insanely popular before it started and for awhile after we invaded. I don’t think it is a great example of the phenomenon because W’s poll numbers were so high and the war was popular.

  59. 59.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 20, 2015 at 7:23 pm

    @Danton: Amazingly, that’s already happened.

  60. 60.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 7:25 pm

    @Baud: Well, I was also reading Balloon Juice and getting my outside surveillance camera to work on the computer that’s been re-purposed(my previous primary computer), for that task.

  61. 61.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 20, 2015 at 7:25 pm

    @MomSense: Yet the first Gulf War was also amazingly popular, Bush41’s approval rating was 90% or so at the end of it, but in just two years time Bill Clinton ended the Bush41 administration.

  62. 62.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:28 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I was also reading Balloon Juice

    Another sobriety test?

  63. 63.

    MomSense

    November 20, 2015 at 7:28 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    I remember that really well. Taxes (read my lips) and Baker threatening Israel’s loan guarantees over settlements happened and then his campaign sort of imploded. His war popularity peaked too soon.

  64. 64.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 7:31 pm

    @Baud: Balloon Juice, no; getting the camera to work, yes. The camera works now; I’ve completely transitioned to the new setup. Now, all I have to do is install a mail server and Word Press on the old machine.

  65. 65.

    beltane

    November 20, 2015 at 7:31 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: The American public tends to feel a rush of pleasure during the initial phases of wars-so much visual appeal, just like Hollywood-but will always lose interest after a short period of time. We like action flicks, not prolonged sagas.

  66. 66.

    Chris

    November 20, 2015 at 7:34 pm

    @beltane:
    It won’t help him any, but I think the Republican insiders are staring into the abyss and deciding they must do something to save themselves.

    Too late. Fifty years too late.

  67. 67.

    TaMara (BHF)

    November 20, 2015 at 7:35 pm

    Someone probably already posted this, but Seth Meyers just destroyed Ted Cruz on Syrian refugees.

    I enjoyed that.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:35 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I’m hoping to buy new laptop next week. Anything I should keep in mind in terms of specs?

  69. 69.

    EthylEster

    November 20, 2015 at 7:40 pm

    @Germy: yeah, the intertubes really are an incredible gift to douchebags everywhere. and they ALL want to out-douchebag each other.

  70. 70.

    Roger Moore

    November 20, 2015 at 7:40 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Yet the first Gulf War was also amazingly popular, Bush41’s approval rating was 90% or so at the end of it, but in just two years time Bill Clinton ended the Bush41 administration.

    Which is proof that Bush I was foolish to wrap up the war so quickly. If he had dragged us into a quagmire, he could have maintained his popularity as a wartime president until the election- a lesson his son obviously took to heart.

  71. 71.

    Chris

    November 20, 2015 at 7:42 pm

    @beltane:
    The American public tends to feel a rush of pleasure during the initial phases of wars-so much visual appeal, just like Hollywood-but will always lose interest after a short period of time. We like action flicks, not prolonged sagas.

    Well put.

    This is why Gulf War I was so wildly popular; it lasted, like, a week (after half a year or so of chest thumping and saber rattling, which are almost as valuable as the war itself). Big victory with no time for anything like war fatigue.

    It would never work today, though; the right wing howler monkeys wouldn’t settle for anything with such limited objectives. They’d insist on fighting the war until war fatigue settles in, and beyond.

  72. 72.

    raven

    November 20, 2015 at 7:43 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Here’s the Bodhi at sunset tonight.

  73. 73.

    raven

    November 20, 2015 at 7:44 pm

    And sunrise over Panama City Beach.

  74. 74.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:45 pm

    @raven:

    I like his cart.

  75. 75.

    beltane

    November 20, 2015 at 7:47 pm

    @Chris: The right wing will not be satisfied until the people of the Middle East shower them with candies and flowers, acknowledge the awesomeness that is the USA, and indulge in a spate of renaming cities after Ronald Reagan.

  76. 76.

    raven

    November 20, 2015 at 7:49 pm

    @Baud: I bought that so I could take Lil Bit on our morning walks after she had ACL surgery. I cannot tell you how many things I have tried to get all my fishing shit down to the beach and this is it! I paid $12 for it at Habitat and it works like a charm. That basket is perfect for her but it also takes my bucket, tackle box, live shrimp container and two surf rods. I actually walked back to the house three times today and I never had done that in the past.

  77. 77.

    redshirt

    November 20, 2015 at 7:50 pm

    @MomSense:

    I remember that really well. Taxes (read my lips) and Baker threatening Israel’s loan guarantees over settlements happened and then his campaign sort of imploded. His war popularity peaked too soon.

    Yep. That’s why I’m sure W. timed the invasion to the 2004 election. Furthermore, you can read all their insane predictions back then as insights into their 2004 campaign.

  78. 78.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 20, 2015 at 7:51 pm

    @Luthe:

    Tunch is referred to the present tense

    Nothing wrong with that. His Tunchness is always with us.

    But I agree that the Lexicon could generally benefit from a good review and update.

    Edit: Aaaaaaand I see that about a million commenters made the same observation about Tunch!

  79. 79.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 20, 2015 at 7:52 pm

    @raven: Isn’t that one of those “jogging strollers”?

  80. 80.

    JMG

    November 20, 2015 at 7:53 pm

    I wonder what would happen if Obama said we needed to occupy ISIS territory in Syria and Iraq but that to do so we’d need tax increases and a draft. My guess is support for such a war would drop to near zero.

  81. 81.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 7:53 pm

    @raven:

    Has she completely healed?

  82. 82.

    raven

    November 20, 2015 at 7:53 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Yea, I repurposed that sucker!

  83. 83.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2015 at 7:54 pm

    @raven

    What, no Rascal?

    ;)

  84. 84.

    raven

    November 20, 2015 at 7:55 pm

    @Baud: Oh no, she’s supposed to be on strict rehab for a couple of months. She’s been walking just fine but they worry about jumping an severing the sutures that hold the joint together. Apparently scar tissue forms and cushions the joint in time.

  85. 85.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2015 at 7:56 pm

    BTW, having the comment numbers now in italics looks much better.

  86. 86.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 7:57 pm

    @Baud: Depends on what you’re using it for. I guess at a minimum: a i5, full HD, and at least a 1TB drive. I use SSD’s for my OS and programs and hard disks for data, but I use desktops exclusively(tablets for mobile). I told a friend that I got a new PC and he said that the graphics card was underpowered for gaming; I told him that I don’t and won’t be gaming on this PC, as long as it will edit 4k video I’m OK.

  87. 87.

    Gvg

    November 20, 2015 at 7:57 pm

    Bush 1 lost because the economy tanked and he seemed clueless and or indifferent to how it was hitting the rest of us.
    In the years since I have thought it might have been inevitable that he didn’t know how we felt because he had been behind a secret service wall for 12 years as VP then president. Now hearing about the Bush family life it may be that he never got it. He really did appear out of touch leading up to that election. Romney had some of the same thing.

  88. 88.

    Anne Laurie

    November 20, 2015 at 7:58 pm

    @Luthe:

    While there are site updates and such going on, can we have some updates to the Lexicon?

    Agree that the Lexicon needs a lot of updating, but I think that doing so before the Great Upgrade is finished would be pissing into the wind.

    I’m hoping things will settle down in time that I can ask for suggestions after Thanksgiving & before the year-end holidays… assuming more significant political firefights don’t break loose in that timeframe!

  89. 89.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 20, 2015 at 8:00 pm

    @Mike E:

    Whoa! Congrats for the Shields and Yarnell reference!!

  90. 90.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2015 at 8:00 pm

    @Gvg

    Remember Bush exasperatedly checking his wristwatch during a town hall Q&A with Clinton?

  91. 91.

    raven

    November 20, 2015 at 8:01 pm

    @NotMax: Check out this huge Bull Red I caught! I set him free but it was a real battle.

  92. 92.

    Roger Moore

    November 20, 2015 at 8:01 pm

    @JMG:

    I wonder what would happen if Obama said we needed to occupy ISIS territory in Syria and Iraq but that to do so we’d need tax increases and a draft. My guess is support for such a war would drop to near zero.

    I suspect that support for candidates who accused Obama of defeatism and claimed we could manage the war with a combination of tax cuts and clapping louder would do very well.

  93. 93.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 8:01 pm

    @raven: My Nikki’s still having trouble with her back, but I’ve seen improvement. I’m just trying to get her to rest as much as possible. But when she hears the icemaker, she’s in the kitchen even if I tell her that I’ll bring it to her.

  94. 94.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 8:02 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Thanks. I don’t game, so that’s not an issue. Will get full HD screen but not 4K. Can’t justify the extra expense although it would be nice.

  95. 95.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2015 at 8:04 pm

    @raven

    Oh my, that’s a fish and a half.

  96. 96.

    raven

    November 20, 2015 at 8:04 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: They are crafty!

  97. 97.

    MomSense

    November 20, 2015 at 8:06 pm

    @raven:

    Some of us want to see the sewing projects!

    Hope you are both having fun.

  98. 98.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 8:08 pm

    @Baud: Tend to agree, 4k would be difficult to justify on a laptop. I’d spend the money on a better processor(i7), or more memory, or a ssd.

  99. 99.

    benw

    November 20, 2015 at 8:09 pm

    @raven: that’s a nice pic.

  100. 100.

    ThresherK

    November 20, 2015 at 8:11 pm

    @Baud: Actually, I found that out on my Android too.

  101. 101.

    Mike in NC

    November 20, 2015 at 8:11 pm

    I still remember how after the absurdity of Operation Desert Storm the media was almost 100% in the tank for Poppy Bush. Hard to believe he managed to blow that in a three-way election with Clinton and Perot. We knew quite a few conservatives who fell for the “billionaire outsider”, much as they’re doing now for The Donald.

  102. 102.

    raven

    November 20, 2015 at 8:12 pm

    @MomSense: The biggest problem is that the flies on the beach are awful. It’s ok if you are walking but anything that is stationary, including people, get swarmed. I’m ok because I wade out up to my shoulders to throw my bait and then put on ling sleeves and pants but it sucks for hanging and reading. Supposedly it’s because of North winds and that is what is predicted for the whole time. She loves the project time but hanging at the beach is important too.

  103. 103.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 8:15 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I’m looking at a $700 unit from Costco on Black Friday. A little more than I usually spend for a computer, but I wanted something with an HD screen that will hopefully hold up spec-wise for a few years. i7.

  104. 104.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 8:15 pm

    @Mike in NC: Contrary to what the Bush folk think, Perot didn’t cost poppy Bush the election. Exit polls showed that the Perot vote was evenly split between Bush and Clinton, or they just wouldn’t have voted.

  105. 105.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 8:17 pm

    @ThresherK:

    That it still doesn’t work?

  106. 106.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 8:18 pm

    @Baud: My new computer is from Costco, first one I’ve bought for them since 2002. The only problem I had was, right after I ordered it I checked the site and they said that they were sold out. I wasn’t sure that I’d actually bought it until I got the shipping email 4 days later. It was a “while supplies last” deal.

    ETA: Are you looking at the HP Envy?

  107. 107.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 8:21 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I’m expecting them to sell out quickly. I’m not desperate, so I’ll wait for another sale if this doesn’t work out.

  108. 108.

    MomSense

    November 20, 2015 at 8:21 pm

    @raven:

    I hope the flies aren’t green heads!

  109. 109.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2015 at 8:21 pm

    @Baud

    Bare bones advice: If it says Intel Celeron, move briskly away (good enough for basic e-mail and browsing; beyond that, gonna bog down on multi-tasking.) Look for a slot to expand memory. Less well-known brands such as Asus and Acer making some quite fine and affordable laptops nowadays.

    And if it’s narrowed two or three possibilities, take all the time needed to fully test how the keyboard on each feels and responds to your touch, and how warm the bottom may get after powered on for a goodly time. An uncomfortable or balky keyboard gets to be a real PITA down the line.

  110. 110.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 8:22 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    That’s it. The 17 inch.

  111. 111.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 8:23 pm

    @Baud: Looks like some nice specs, my new computer is a HP Envy, though it’s a desktop.

  112. 112.

    Corner Stone

    November 20, 2015 at 8:24 pm

    @Baud:

    That’s it. The 17 inch.

    That’s what she said.

  113. 113.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 8:24 pm

    @NotMax:

    Thanks. The one I’m looking at will be an online order, so I’ll take my chance with the keyboard. I’m pretty adaptable so I think it’ll work out.

  114. 114.

    redshirt

    November 20, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: While looking for something else I came across the invoice for my first computer – bought by my Mom. From State Street Discount in Portsmouth, NH, 1/24/96. A Digital P100 with 16MB of RAM and a 1.3 GB hard drive, an AT&T monitor, and a Panamax 6 outlet powerstrip for $2638.00

  115. 115.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I thought so. Had about 90% of what I was looking for.

  116. 116.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 8:26 pm

    @NotMax: These days, if you’re going low end; an Intel Atom will do. I agree, avoid the Celeron, go with the ‘i’ series.

  117. 117.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2015 at 8:27 pm

    @Baud

    Just in case, Black Friday ad from newegg.

  118. 118.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 8:28 pm

    @NotMax:

    Thanks. I’ll take a look at that before I pull the trigger.

  119. 119.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 8:30 pm

    @redshirt: I got my first computer about 13 years(I think to the day) before you. Mine was an IBM PC(original model with the cassette port), 64kb of memory, dual sided 320kb floppy disk drive with a 8088 processor running at 4.7mHz.

    ETA: Including the monitor(monochrome) and printer, it was about $3200.

  120. 120.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 8:31 pm

    @Baud: One thing about Costco is I think they have an additional year of warranty(2 years as opposed to 1). I could be wrong about that.

    ETA: And the return policy is pretty good, just return it to the local Costco.

  121. 121.

    redshirt

    November 20, 2015 at 8:33 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: How much did you pay? I remember agonizing over prices because everything was like $3000 in the mid 90’s but obsolete like in a year compared to newer models, so it was hard to know when to jump in and buy.

  122. 122.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 8:33 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    You are correct about that.

  123. 123.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2015 at 8:34 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA

    Sinclair, then a Tandy (with cassette drive).

    Stone knives and bearskins.

    /Star Trek reference

  124. 124.

    GregB

    November 20, 2015 at 8:36 pm

    It seemed like only yesterday when the economics and politics of Europe were the sign of the decline of the West. Now those cheese eating surrender monkeys are the very embodiment of Western civilization.

    Only Brave Sirs Niall, Trump and Christie can save us now.

  125. 125.

    MomSense

    November 20, 2015 at 8:39 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Heh

  126. 126.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 8:41 pm

    @NotMax: Yup, you’d load the program into memory and then have to switch floppies to store your documents. Fun days. I remember about a year later I got my first 10mb hard disk, which was $800, and my gf would tell me about how much she preferred a hard disk to a floppy.

  127. 127.

    Mike G

    November 20, 2015 at 8:43 pm

    @GregB:

    The common denominator is pants-pissing fear of the Other.
    Which is pretty much the common denominator of all right-wing ideology.

  128. 128.

    Baud

    November 20, 2015 at 8:44 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Did she also ask for more RAM?

  129. 129.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 8:47 pm

    @Baud: She always wanted more RAM.

    ETA: Just like MS Windows.

  130. 130.

    benw

    November 20, 2015 at 8:49 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: I still have all the 3.5″ floppies that I saved almost everything I wrote in college on. I no longer own a single device that can read those disks.

  131. 131.

    redshirt

    November 20, 2015 at 8:53 pm

    @benw: Data loss is going to be a big deal in the future as one technology replaces another. Like your example – how would you retrieve your data off those floppies now? And what about in 10 years? The same thing will happen to CD’s, DVD’s, USB drives, even hard drives eventually.

    Unless all that data is constantly moved to the latest storage medium, it will be lost.

    We need to go back to clay tablets and a stylus.

  132. 132.

    Anoniminous

    November 20, 2015 at 8:57 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I got my first computer 5 years before you. It was a 6502 based KIM-1 with a tape cassette interface, a 7 LED display, 4 x 4 keyboard, and a whopping 257 bytes of RAM for $250.

    Still have it around here somewhere.

  133. 133.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 20, 2015 at 8:59 pm

    @benw: You can get USB-attached external drives for those for under $15. Or you can get a 3.5″ drive and SD card reader in one, that fits in a standard drive bay of a desktop, for under $20.

  134. 134.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 20, 2015 at 9:00 pm

    @Anoniminous: Wow, you dudes are old.

  135. 135.

    benw

    November 20, 2015 at 9:00 pm

    @redshirt: yeah, my current system is that as I replace each older device, I make a tarball of all the data I want to keep and move it to the replacement. The upshot is that I now have recursive tarballs containing tarballs of old files, which isn’t really a sustainable system.

    Clay tablets are so cumbersome. We should revive the bardic tradition of memorizing tens of thousands of couplets of epic poetry.

  136. 136.

    Anoniminous

    November 20, 2015 at 9:02 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Why, thank you.

  137. 137.

    magurakurin

    November 20, 2015 at 9:02 pm

    @bupalos: We survived Verdun and the Marne and these dickheads think a theater shooting will get us to surrender?

  138. 138.

    Anoniminous

    November 20, 2015 at 9:05 pm

    @benw:

    The upshot is that I now have recursive tarballs containing tarballs of old files

    That way madness lies.

  139. 139.

    benw

    November 20, 2015 at 9:07 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: good to know.

  140. 140.

    Mike in NC

    November 20, 2015 at 9:07 pm

    @efgoldman: My parents bought most of their appliances from Lechmere, which I imagine has gone the way of Zayres and Bradlees. That was the era before big national chains like Home Depot and Lowes.

  141. 141.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 9:07 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Get off my lawn, damn kids!

  142. 142.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 9:11 pm

    @efgoldman: The IBM PC came out in 1981. Soon after I got mine in January 83, they came out with the XT, which had the 10mb hard drive and additional card slots and a glorious 16 color display adapter and monitor.

    I’m thinking that may have been the 10th anniversary of the IBM/AT which came out in 1984.

  143. 143.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 20, 2015 at 9:12 pm

    @beltane:
    I read a chunk of that neocon philosophy/strategy paper Cheney helped write. That is exactly what they think will happen if they just beat up enough Muslims.

  144. 144.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 20, 2015 at 9:15 pm

    @efgoldman: I only have a scallion on my belt.

  145. 145.

    Mike J

    November 20, 2015 at 9:15 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: By 1983 I had an after school job selling PC compatibles. The way to prove that it was truly compatible was to run Flight Simulator. I was still primarily a die hard Commie user.

  146. 146.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 9:20 pm

    @Mike J: Yup, I remember the FS test. I think my first non-IBM was in the early 90’s, it was a no-brand that Fry’s put together. After that, I had 4 or 5 Compaq’s and now I’m on my 3rd HP.

  147. 147.

    raven

    November 20, 2015 at 9:20 pm

    @efgoldman: What about EJ Korvette!

  148. 148.

    scav

    November 20, 2015 at 9:21 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Going through family stuff at home last February, Mom and I found a Charter Issue of PC magazine — we still think the Davy Crocket balloon in the original packaging will contribute more to any emergency retirement fund, but we nevertheless tucked it away carefully, right next to the Preview Issue of Ms.

  149. 149.

    a different chris

    November 20, 2015 at 9:23 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Is it just me, or does Chuck Todd not reek of Used Car Salesman? Also, Used Car Salesman isn’t all that different than his TV job.

  150. 150.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 9:25 pm

    @a different chris: Back in 2008, Chuck Todd was the numbers guy. He was pretty good at that; asking questions and followup, not so much.

  151. 151.

    benw

    November 20, 2015 at 9:26 pm

    Any of you other computer jockeys read Ready Player One? I thought it was good as a fun, fast read, and you’ll get all the 80’s computer jokes.

  152. 152.

    rikyrah

    November 20, 2015 at 9:27 pm

    For my Chicago folks..

    remember…if you’re on a Snow Route…read that fine print…

    it doesn’t just say no parking Dec 1 – April 1

    it also says…

    OR IF THERE ARE 2 INCHES OF SNOW.

    Don’t get caught in a trick bag, and come out tomorrow to see your vehicle has been towed.

  153. 153.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 9:29 pm

    @rikyrah: What is this ‘snow’ you speak of, it was 90 here today.

  154. 154.

    scav

    November 20, 2015 at 9:34 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: It’s what you used to have in snowpack. Ancient technology, right up there with paper tape readers.

  155. 155.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 20, 2015 at 9:36 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Score is 41-3 now. When I went to USF, they didn’t even have a football team.

  156. 156.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 9:36 pm

    @scav: My dad had a paper tape reader, I used punch cards in college. Where’s my fucking walker!!!

    I blame Obama.

  157. 157.

    Mike in NC

    November 20, 2015 at 9:36 pm

    @a different chris: Chuck Todd should always appear on TV wearing a necktie with a clashing short sleeve shirt, like Detective Andy Sipowicz on “NYPD Blue”.

  158. 158.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 20, 2015 at 9:37 pm

    BTW, is Lamh around? Would be interested in her predictions for tomorrow’s election in LA.

  159. 159.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2015 at 9:42 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA

    Ah, the resounding “thud” that releasing the <BM Peanut onto the market made.

    @raven

    Eight Jewish Korea Veterans. A favorite place to shop for small appliances.

    Also gone but not forgotten: Sam Goody, Abraham and Strauss, and Gimbel’s.

  160. 160.

    p.a.

    November 20, 2015 at 9:44 pm

    Fred Clark en fuego.

  161. 161.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 9:49 pm

    @NotMax: One of my fellow grad students bought a PC Junior.

  162. 162.

    raven

    November 20, 2015 at 9:49 pm

    @NotMax: Yup.

  163. 163.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2015 at 9:49 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA

    A real problem for places like the Census Bureau. Remember learning (this was some decades ago) that there was, then, but one functioning machine left on the planet which could read the original data gathered during the sixties.

    @NotMax

    IBM Peanut.

  164. 164.

    JPL

    November 20, 2015 at 9:50 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I think if Vitter wins, the pant wetters will have won.

  165. 165.

    Debbie

    November 20, 2015 at 9:50 pm

    @efgoldman:

    There was a Korvette in midtown Manhattan on Lexington Avenue.

  166. 166.

    NotMax

    November 20, 2015 at 9:51 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA

    And, of course, we all had tractor-feed printers.

    And liked it (or pretended to).

  167. 167.

    raven

    November 20, 2015 at 9:53 pm

    Smurf Turf!

  168. 168.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 20, 2015 at 9:55 pm

    @NotMax: Dot matrix, yup.

  169. 169.

    Debbie

    November 20, 2015 at 9:57 pm

    Driving home from work tonight, I listened to Hannity interviewing Dinesh Souza. That twerp is a real psychopath. He was talking about his jail time. He thinks he’s convinced a bunch of convicts to go GOP when they get out.

  170. 170.

    divF

    November 20, 2015 at 10:05 pm

    @benw:
    Here is what eventually might happen to you (and to us all).

    My favorite quote (and what is instead happening at Chez divF):

    On the mother planet there are early traces of *books*. This word denotes paleoliterary records of knowledge in representational and macroscopic form. Of course, these disappeared very early, perhaps 175,000 of our yukals ago, when their increase threatened to leave no place on the planet’s surface for anything else.

  171. 171.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 20, 2015 at 10:12 pm

    @efgoldman: The “punches” – the little paper rectangles that came out of the holes in the punchcards – made great confetti. I used to have bags and bags of them, collected from the bin under the IBM 029.

  172. 172.

    divF

    November 20, 2015 at 10:15 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:
    IBM 029 ! Why, I had to make do with an IBM 026. /Yorkshireman

    OTOH, I never did use a verifier. A friend from college was a professional keypuncher, used one all the time.

  173. 173.

    Ruckus

    November 20, 2015 at 10:25 pm

    @efgoldman:
    In the early 70s we used paper tape to run machine tools. The tape was punched on a teletype machine. We thought the world had evolved when we bought an Apple II and an electric tape punch. It was in 78-79 before machines could store the tape data in memory but of course not much memory.

  174. 174.

    scav

    November 20, 2015 at 10:35 pm

    @NotMax: And the Chiclets keyboard.

    ETA: And ditto on the confetti value (ETA 0.1 Tape in my case) — a serious highlight of going to Dad’s work was filling sandwich bags of the stuff to take home. Pink and white on lucky days.

  175. 175.

    PurpleGirl

    November 20, 2015 at 10:37 pm

    @raven: I was in speech therapy with the son of an executive of Spartan Inc., which owned EJ Korvette. You know what the EJ Korvette stood for? It’s founders were Eight Jewish Korean Veterans — EJ Korvette.

  176. 176.

    benw

    November 20, 2015 at 10:54 pm

    @divF: that’s great, thanks!

  177. 177.

    tybee

    November 20, 2015 at 11:01 pm

    @raven:

    do i see whiskers on that chin?

  178. 178.

    Anne Laurie

    November 20, 2015 at 11:48 pm

    @NotMax:

    Also gone but not forgotten: Sam Goody, Abraham and Strauss, and Gimbel’s.

    Plus FAO Schwartz, Tower Records, the great discount fashion outlet of my childhood Loehmann’s, and Filene’s Basement. (Tower & Loehmann’s have reconstituted themselves, sort of, as online retailers, but it’s not the same.)

  179. 179.

    Anne Laurie

    November 20, 2015 at 11:52 pm

    @divF: We call it Stinson’s Law: Books expand to fill the shelves available… plus 10%.

    No matter how many new bookshelves (book rooms, entire libraries) you acquire, there will always be more books than space to store them!

  180. 180.

    Elizabelle

    November 21, 2015 at 12:03 am

    @PurpleGirl: re EJ Korvette. That’s cool. Never knew.

  181. 181.

    Another Holocene Human

    November 21, 2015 at 1:01 am

    @Dagaetch: Saban’s the Maya the Bee guy, right?

    Also came out he did some bad shit recently or something? Couldn’t have been CP because I don’t recall childhoods being ruined.

  182. 182.

    Another Holocene Human

    November 21, 2015 at 1:03 am

    @Mike in NC:

    some shitbag named Glenn Foden who has shifted from drawing cartoons of Barack Obama with a bone through his nose

    The shitbag is the guy who owns your local paper and thinks running any cartoon of an African-American with a bone through his nose is acceptable in any way, shape, or form.

    I’m surprised he isn’t facing internal EEO complaints. Or she. Or the Wingnut Family Trust.

  183. 183.

    NotMax

    November 21, 2015 at 1:05 am

    @Another Holocene Human

    Saban probably best known for the Power Rangers franchise.

  184. 184.

    J R in WV

    November 21, 2015 at 1:21 am

    @redshirt:

    My first computer was a Kay-pro 64, that’s 64 Kb of ram, no HD at all, just two big 5 1/4 floppy floppies, one for the program and one for the data I/O. It cost with a daisywheel printer $3,600. It was luggable at about 45 pounds, we bought it in 1984. It had a 9 inch yellow screen.

    ETA: I still have the Kay-pro!! but not the printer or program disks…

    I used it to prep resumes looking for my first job out of college. It worked, I got a job, hired by a guy I worked with from about 1985-2008, with breaks when one of us changed, and then hired the other guy.

    Steve hired me in 1985, then he got laid off while I was kept on as less expensive. Then I quit that job, and got on as a consultant in 1988, and brought Steve along, I got a hiring bonus, and took Steve and his wife out to dinner.

    Those contracts ended Jan 31, 1991, I took a vacation to visit my folks in FL, then got on with the state, a different agency than the first job. We were able to bring Steve on as a contractor, probably 1992, and then after that project was done, we got him hired on as an FTE. We worked together the rest of my career. We had dinner over at their house last weekend.

    All thanks to that Kay-pro 64 I bought in 1984! A few months after graduation. It had a document editing program, a spreadsheet, a modem connection, and a couple of games. The OS was CP/M, which was stolen from its developers (from a dumpster late at night IIRC) and used to create MS-DOS. The rest is history, also.

  185. 185.

    J R in WV

    November 21, 2015 at 1:28 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Yep! That’s why I drink only the Kentuckiest bourbon late at night.

    You youngens should learn how to knap flint knives and skin Reindeer and Caribou before it’s too late!!

    Then you can use the caribou fat for a lamp to light your way, and carve data into the cave walls with the flint knives! The way it ought to be!! Dag-nabit!

  186. 186.

    NotMax

    November 21, 2015 at 1:35 am

    @J R in WV

    Flint?

    All the cool old fogeys use obsidian.

    ;)

  187. 187.

    J R in WV

    November 21, 2015 at 1:44 am

    My first computer-using job was inputting paper tape with unjustified news stories into a computer the size of a fridge, with blinking neon lamps on huge circuit boards. The output was the same text, justified to a column width, which was adjustable with a dial on the face of the box.

    Then we would put the paper tape onto the correct Linotype machine, which would cast metal lines of type for the morning newspaper, a lead-based type-setting metal alloy that shrank a little as it cooled.

    Then we graduated to 2 Digital PDP/11 with a common backplane, an two hard drives, which were the size of a washing machine. One was for current data, the other was for making a backup copy of todays data. The input was OCR scanners, stories were edited with terminals, the output was to a photo-type-setting machine.

    The paper from the type-setting machine was trimmed , hot waxed, and stuck onto blank page layouts. Once a whole page was layed out and stuck down, it was used to shoot a negative the size of a newspaper page, which was used to shoot a plate to mount on the press.

    All of those intermediate steps were done in lead type when I started, clear up to curved plates to bolt onto the press cylinders. There was also zinc etched by nitric acid to create half-tone dot images of photos from weddings, accidents, football games, etc. So a very toxic and dangerous workplace before computers and photo-typesetting.

    Not real safe after that, the presses could still convert a person to a wet mushy film a 1/4 inch thick in an instant.

  188. 188.

    Paul in KY

    November 23, 2015 at 10:44 am

    In hindsight, the Indians should have killed all the Mayflower pilgrims.

    Don’t know if that would have changed stuff in long term, but I think it would have been a better strategy than what they did.

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