Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

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

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

This blog will pay for itself.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

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

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Infrastructure week. at last.

No one could have predicted…

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Morning Coffee Open Thread

Morning Coffee Open Thread

by | 162 Comments

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Yesterday on the eastern shore of Florida:

bustelo

Via the Tampa Tribune:

INDIALANTIC — Hundreds of sealed coffee cans and vacuum-packed coffee bricks have washed ashore along Florida’s Space Coast and officials believe they may be from containers that fell off a barge last weekend.

Florida Today reports that the yellow-and-red packages of Cafe Bustelo dotted the beach Tuesday in Indialantic, where delighted beach combers were scooping them up and stuffing them into bags.

The news outlet says the coffee may have come from a barge ship that lost containers between Cape Canaveral and Palm Beach last weekend.

Coincidentally, that is my preferred coffee brand, but I’m on the wrong coast to pick up freebies on the beach. Nothing washes up on my shoreline but dead fish and beer cans. Open thread!

Reader Interactions

162Comments

  1. 1.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Before I looked closely at the photo, or read the commentary, I thought it was an invasion of very colorful crabs or something.

  4. 4.

    Betty Cracker

    Some surfer dudes in my high school class found a bale of pot during a trip to that coast. It was a boon for the entire school for weeks!

  6. 6.

    gelfling545

    OOO. Coffee! Wish someone would wash up here. I had planned a day of not leaving the house except for the requisite dog walks and getting holiday tasks done but on opening the coffee canister I discovered less than a TBSP so I’m off to do retail battle. Sigh.

  8. 8.

    PurpleGirl

    @gelfling545: I needed to buy coffee for several days and I finally did get a can. I just kept passing the coffee aisle without taking a can from the shelf.

    ETA: Time to make a cup and have breakfast.

  10. 10.

    rikyrah

    Nancy Pelosi Drives Hard Bargain With Paul Ryan on Spending, Taxes
    By KRISTINA PETERSON
    Dec. 8, 2015 6:45 p.m. ET

    WASHINGTON—In case House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) was in any doubt, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) has made it clear this week that she drives a hard bargain.

    The two House leaders are facing their first serious battle of wills over Congress’s pile of year-end legislation. Republicans will grade Mr. Ryan, elected speaker in late October, on how many conservative policy measures he manages to attach to the spending bill needed to prevent a shutdown when the government’s funding runs out Friday night.

    Mrs. Pelosi, determined to block as many GOP policy measures as she can, is demonstrating to the new speaker that Democrats’ support on must-pass legislation won’t come cheap. As such, she is working to prevent Republicans from securing all but the slimmest of policy victories. The outcome, if these issues aren’t resolved, could be a delay in securing government funding for fiscal year 2016, or, worse, a shutdown.

    http://www.wsj.com/articles/nancy-pelosi-drives-hard-bargain-with-paul-ryan-on-spending-taxes-1449618358

  11. 11.

    BGinCHI

    For this to work for me, the coffee would have to be single origin, roasted no more than two days ago, then gently lowered overboard in vacuum-sealed containers that also block out all light.

    Only then could I scoop them up, take them home for airtight storage, then grind (in my Porlex ceramic hand grinder, which I’m using while in Norway) for my pour-over.

    Otherwise the coffee tastes like shit.

  14. 14.

    Satby

    I am jealous. Would have loved to scoop up a few free cans, then scoop up more to bring to the local food bank. That morning cuppa would be twice as enjoyable, if that was even possible.

  19. 19.

    BGinCHI

    @Amir Khalid: I got the Nutty Professor, but we already knew that about me.

    I’m also guessing The Nutty Professor is already the name of a cocktail.

  20. 20.

    Bartholomew

    Hello and Good Morning! I have followed John and this community for a while, a long while, but I’m not a leftist of any stripe so I don’t engage much out of respect, since I don’t have a lot. I am liberal though, and it seems this is a group that contains some of those. It took the label anyway, so we’re stuck.

    Anyhow, sorry if this has been posted … I was just calling attention to it.

    Bernie Sanders won the Time’s Person of the Year Readers’ Poll
    http://www.morningnewsusa.com/bernie-sanders-named-time-person-year-2347459.html

    Of course the corporate state went for the German Chancellor …

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/angela-merkel-time-person-of-the-year-2015-donald-trump-black-lives-matter-finalists/

    For whatever reason.

  22. 22.

    rikyrah

    H/T POU:

    This is link to the one-on-one video interview on Chicago Tonight show. Rahm faces City Council tomorrow at 9am and will be addressing this issue. Can only imagine the discussion because a bunch of the aldermen are up for re-election in March and some of them ain’t looking good either…

    Mayor Emanuel on Police Reform, Accountability

    The Chicago Police Department is the subject of national scrutiny following the shooting deaths of two African-American males at the hands of on-duty police officers.

    The release of video footage depicting the deaths of Laquan McDonald and Ronald Johnson – both killed in October 2014 – has raised questions about police accountability, training and use of force, in addition to how police-involved shootings are investigated.

    Tonight, Mayor Rahm Emanuel joins political correspondent Paris Schutz for a one-on-one discussion about police reform and related topics. We’ll ask about the dash-cam video footage depicting the shooting deaths of McDonald and Johnson and the subsequent fallout from these cases, including the announcement Monday of a federal investigation into the CPD, questions surrounding a $5 million settlement paid to the family of McDonald, the firing of superintendent Garry McCarthy and calls for the mayor’s resignation and that of State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.

    We’ll also ask the mayor about a possible Chicago Teachers Union strike and forthcoming layoffs as Chicago Public Schools tries to close a $480 million budget gap. While Emanuel has called on the state to step up with aid for CPS, Illinois is in the sixth month of a budget standoff with no end in sight.

    Your questions

    We asked viewers of “Chicago Tonight” to tell us what questions you have for the mayor. Many of you wanted to know why the mayor signed off on a $5 million settlement to the family of McDonald prior to the release of dash-cam footage depicting his death. Others simply wanted to know, “When will the mayor resign?”

    On our website, Timothy Searl wrote, “Did individual Chicago police officers lie about the circumstances of the shooting? … Is there a systemic problem within the Chicago police department of a cover-up mentality?”

    Jayburd2020 said, “The City of Chicago has paid out more than a half billion dollars over the last decade to settle police-abuse cases … Why have you never attempted to reform the police department if only out of financial prudence … ?”

    On Facebook, Debra Jean asked, “Will you release TIF money to fulfill the City’s obligations and AVOID a teacher strike?”

    http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2015/12/08/mayor-emanuel-police-reform-accountability

  24. 24.

    Sherparick

    By the way, the next time someone says “all politicians are the same” and never do anything for little people, write Elizabeth Warren’s name on a 2 by 4 and slap it across their forehead. http://www.salon.com/2015/12/08/this_is_what_good_government_looks_like_why_elizabeth_warren_is_the_senator_america_needs/

    There are no Republicans on this list. Only Senators Warren, Durbin, and Brown and Congresswoman Waters.

    I note that his story gets zippo coverage on the Village’s MSM outlets whether, newspaper, web sites, NPR (which once did stories like this in the 1970s and 80s), broadcast or cable. It is about helping little people, victims a giant fraud created by very rich people, and they really don’t count for the Village. It is true that many Democrats, neoliberals and Blue Dogs, would go along with setting society up along the line of the Standford Prison and Milburn Experiments, but the Republican Party and the Movement Conservative Thinktanks have set up as ideology.

  29. 29.

    Svensker

    Bustelo! That scene has me crying. Man, I miss my morning cuppa cafe con leche. Have got to find a place in upstate NY that carries it, so I can stock up.

  31. 31.

    Eric S.

    Apparently I’m Hemingway when I’m drunk. Although there was at least one question where a None Of The Above would have been the best answer for me.

    NPR’s Morning Edition has an interview with Failgunner Ted. I am reminded what a small, venal, angry humanbeing he is.

  33. 33.

    WereBear

    After over a year of being caffeine free, a new coffee shop opened up in town and makes coffee that is so incredible, I swear Zeus on Olympus drinks the same stuff.

    So now… back on the bean. But in very limited amounts. None in the house, making sure it doesn’t upset my sleep, and only the finest!

    It’s good to be picky, sometimes.

  36. 36.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    @Patricia Kayden: “Feeling sorry for any marine animals who try to eat those coffee containers.”

    Feeling sorry for anyone that gets in the path of over-caffeinated sharks.

  37. 37.

    oldster

    “Indiatlantic”? Is that a real dateline, or a joke?

    I mean–once the stuff washes up on shore, it’s not indiatlantic any longer, right?

  38. 38.

    raven

    @Betty Cracker: I saw a cool doc on the Canaveral Class of 68. Total stoners and they talked about how the space shits were so top secret but they all knew exactly when they we coming because their dad’s would vanish!

  39. 39.

    PurpleGirl

    @Betty Cracker: Yeah, I think it was the late 70s when the name was changed back to Cape Canaveral. It’s still the Kennedy Space Center but the town and area are Canaveral.

  44. 44.

    max

    but I’m on the wrong coast to pick up freebies on the beach. Nothing washes up on my shoreline but dead fish and beer cans.

    Easy solution! Find a washed-up beer can that smells of dead fish and fill it with Cafe Bustelo coffee, and you’ll get the exact flavor of that stuff that washed up on the beach!

    max
    [‘This could be the start of a new flavor sensation!’]

  46. 46.

    shell

    @Amir Khalid: I get weepy. Which one would that be?

    Re: The castaway coffee. Concerned about the lax gun laws down there cause that part of Florida is definitely going to be jittery for a while.

  48. 48.

    Amir Khalid

    I’ve never been drunk in my life, but I did try the BBC’s drunk-personality test with answers picked at random. And you know what? I’m a Mr Hyde!

  51. 51.

    Germy

    Hemingway did an ad for Balantine Ale.

    “Bob Benchley first introduced me to Balantine Ale. It has been a good companion ever since.”

    “You have to work hard to deserve to drink it. But I would rather have a bottle of Ballantine Ale than any other drink after fighting a really big fish. When something has been taken out of you by strenuous exercise Ballantine puts it back in.
    We keep it iced in the bait box with chunks of ice packed around it. And you ought to taste it on a hot day when you have worked a big marlin fast because there were sharks after him.
    You are tired all the way through. The fish is landed untouched by sharks and you have a bottle of Ballantine cold in your hand and drink it cool, light, and full-bodied, so it tastes good long after you have swallowed it. That’s the test of an ale with me: whether it tastes as good afterwards as when it’s going down. Ballantine does.”

  52. 52.

    D58826

    Speaking of unclaimed items. Saw on the intertubes yesterday that there are three 747-s200’s sitting unclaimed at an Malaysian airport. If anyone knows who they belong to the local authorities would like to talk to you. On the other hand if you ever wanted to own a 747, the authorities are willing to unload them cheap. Just have to pony up a year’s worth of ramp fees.

  55. 55.

    PurpleGirl

    I got the Nutty Professor. But the test questions and the suggested answers really don’t apply. When I get drunk, I become very fluent and it’s easy to talk. I may not be talking coherently but I’m talking fluently without stuttering.

  56. 56.

    CaseyL

    @Amir Khalid: I got “Ernest Hemingway,” as a wit who drink only makes wittier. I didn’t know that about ol’ Papa (thought he was a mean drunk, but maybe that was when he was older).

    I drank a lot of Bustelo when I lived in Miami. Liked it much, and would probably have been out there on the beach with the other scavengers. Not likely to fund any such bounty where I live now – Seattle has lakes, rivers, and of course the Sound; but no cargo freighters ply those waterways.

  57. 57.

    dmsilev

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Feeling sorry for any marine animals who try to eat those coffee containers.

    A classmate of mine was camping once when a raccoon got into a box of tea bags in the middle of the night. They were woken up by the loud clattering noises…. The first several bags were carefully slit open and the contents eaten, and then after that, the remainder were simply torn apart and some were just about pulverized. That was one wired raccoon.

  60. 60.

    Amir Khalid

    @D58826:
    I think you’d have to fly them back to Seattle for a proper servicing before you use them again as planes. And that will cost more than what little these old planes are still worth, which is probably why the owner abandoned them at Sepang. Maybe some enterprising person could have the wings removed and the fuselages trucked to Puchong or Subang Jaya. Then they could be used for theme restaurants or something.

  61. 61.

    Keith G

    I was just listening to Slate’s Podcast for America, a pretty good weekly political review. One of the panelists said in reaction to the Islamophobia present today, “I feel like I should go out and hug a Muslim.” I think that’s a great idea for a t-shirt. After work today I am going to Cafe Press and see if I can have made Hug a Muslim t shirts for me and a few of my friends .Maybe I can incorporate the rainbow colors in it to make it even all that much more satisfying .

  62. 62.

    rikyrah

    twitter truth:

    Oliver Willis @owillis

    perhaps if the press hadn’t spent so much time bothsidesing the issues and instead reported the truth we wouldnt have our fascism problem

  63. 63.

    PurpleGirl

    @Keith G: In my complex’s commercial building there is a coffee shop which is owned by a Yemeni guy. He has two or three other Arabs working there. I know it’s Halal because they don’t have pork products and use beef bacon in some sandwiches. I have a feeling like I should say something to the guys. If I buy coffee in the morning I go across the blvd to an Indian, when I get coffee or something in the late afternoon I do to the Yemeni’s shop.

  64. 64.

    WereBear

    @Keith G: What a fantastic idea! Share the link when you are done!

    @Steeplejack: I have always felt we should have a night on the town together. Now it has a humanitarian purpose!

    Going in, I figured Nutty Professor… it’s how I feel. But then, in my sober states I feel that way…

  66. 66.

    Juju

    @BGinCHI: I thought I was coffee picky. I have my coffee sent from a specific coffee vender in New York City and I grind it myself just before brewing with filtered water. I bow to your superiority.

  68. 68.

    Amir Khalid

    @D58826:
    Or you could buy them, refurbish them as private jets (plenty of room for yoooge and classy fittings), and sell them to some fool billionaire who doesn’t mind wasting money on fuel.

  69. 69.

    rikyrah

    What DA PHUQ does he think Trump being the BIRTHER-IN-CHIEF was, IF NOT PURE, UNADULTERATED RACISM?

    Get outta here, pretending that Trump just became a RACIST.

    Greg SargentVerified account
    ‏@ThePlumLineGS
    It takes tremendous courage for media to take on Trump now, six months after he made his true colors clear to everyone.

  73. 73.

    MomSense

    @rikyrah:

    Even before Trump’s birtherism spectacle, the Justice Dept. filed suit against his company in 1973 for anti-black discrimination.

  74. 74.

    Applejinx

    @Bartholomew: I was with the majority of readers in that reader poll, of course.

    Blows my mind that they’d pick Merkel, Austerian Queen. It’s like a sick joke. Go on, MSM, tell us how you REALLY feel.

    Seriously, that’s pretty revealing. ALL of the WTF, there.

    Thank goodness Merkel isn’t running for US President!

  77. 77.

    gene108

    I did not get around to posting this in last night’s thread about Betty’s misadventures in grocery shopping, but I just want to state: I like fruit cake.

    I do not know why people dislike it so much.

    It is tasty. I know I am not alone or else fruit cake would not exist.

    That is all.

  78. 78.

    gene108

    @Applejinx:

    Blows my mind that they’d pick Merkel, Austerian Queen.

    Merkel was not all about austerity for Germany. She just imposed it on other countries.

    A vast expansion of a program paying to keep workers employed, rather than dealing with them once they lost their jobs, was the most direct step taken in the heat of the crisis.

    NY Times link from 2010

    Germany paid companies not to lay off people, so its unemployment and consumer demand did not go into the toilet.

  79. 79.

    catclub

    @Paul in KY: Also, Merkel did things in 2015, like accepting thousands of refugees and ‘handling’ the Greek debt crisis, also Ukraine.

    If Bernie gets elected next year he should be in line for POY.
    Giving Bernie POY this year would be like giving Obama the Nobel peace prize in 2009.
    Not exactly justified by achievements.

  81. 81.

    BGinCHI

    @Juju: Pour-over changes everything. So simple and easy too.

    You need a Clever Coffee Dripper ($20 on Amazon), #4 cone coffee filters, and a burr grinder (you can spend a lot, but a ceramic hand grinder is cheap for the quality of the grind and gives you some mild exercise). Always get fresh, lightly roasted beans from a single origin. NO oily beans! Don’t skimp on beans; it’s already only costing you a dollar or less a cup, even at $20 a lb.

    You will thank me.

  82. 82.

    Peale

    @catclub: Yeah. I’m just glad that he beat out Donald. I mean clearly for the last 6 months Donald Trump has created more press, more articles, more outrage but has been the topic of coversation on the news. Voting up Bernie is like saying “We don’t like what you’re talking about, news media, and we would like you to talk about other things.”

  84. 84.

    Paul in KY

    @catclub: Good point. My response to Bartholomew was a bit tongue-in-cheek (given that it is ‘Time’).

    I felt Pres. Obama did enough to get his prize. Do not agree with whining (predominately by Republican asswipes) that he did not deserve it.

  86. 86.

    Paul in KY

    @srv: I wonder if the NRA lobbyist who thought this one up was snickering & thinking that they had come up with a ‘Onion gives up’ meta-parody piece.

  87. 87.

    Brachiator

    @Applejinx:

    Blows my mind that they’d pick Merkel, Austerian Queen.

    Merkel has arguably had a large influence on the world. Person of the Year is not just about who might be liked or cool. Her influence on European economic policy and her stance on accepting large numbers of refugees underscores here importance.

    On other potential selection,Bernie Sanders, is a nice guy and may be important in the future, but not so much over the past year.

  88. 88.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    BIRTHER-IN-CHIEF

    The birther genesis of Trump has gone down the memory hole, but I agree 100%. I feel like he looked at what (didn’t) happen there and said “you can say anything in this politics game”

    It started to go south when they took a birth record that every state and every court have accepted for decades as definitive and pretended it was somehow up for debate. If state birth records WERE up for debate- if we all decided we needed further proof- the entire fucking country would grind to a screeching halt. Every day, thousands of times a day, that document is accepted with no further inquiry. Except for Obama. He’s the single exception.

  89. 89.

    catclub

    @Svensker:

    Have got to find a place in upstate NY that carries it

    psst, there is this thing called the internet, you might find some there.

  90. 90.

    Brachiator

    @gene108:

    I do not know why people dislike it so much.

    I think there was a commercial on tv last night about some product. A guy asked, “can I pay with a fruitcake?”

    And the response was a vehement, “No!”

  91. 91.

    scav

    @Paul in KY: Luffly bit of muddled. Arm the moochers we’ve been assiduously denigrating for decades, they’ll necessarily only shoot the people we think appropriate, Plus a whiff of not possibly getting some of the real motivating rage-targets driving the currently trumpetting teabags, holding establishment Rinos in about the same esteem as the dreaded differently-hued-menace du jour. Also, “Hey you poors! You’re dumber than than terrorists and criminals: can’t even figure out how to use a gun-shop!”

  92. 92.

    Roger Moore

    @CaseyL:

    Not likely to fund any such bounty where I live now – Seattle has lakes, rivers, and of course the Sound; but no cargo freighters ply those waterways.

    Yes, they do. There’s a busy container terminal right at the mouth of the Duwamish. It’s not a huge port, but it does get large freighters.

  93. 93.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @Amir Khalid:

    Depending on the evening, I can be either the Nutty Professor or Mr. Hyde, which is why I rarely have more than one drink per evening. If there’s dancing or other jollility, I’ll be the Nutty Professor, but if it’s just sitting and talking, that’s when Mr. Hyde comes out.

  94. 94.

    Paul in KY

    @scav: They would get to sell a bunch more guns, though.

    And isn’t that what’s important in 21st Century America?

  97. 97.

    Roger Moore

    @Applejinx:

    Blows my mind that they’d pick Merkel, Austerian Queen. It’s like a sick joke. Go on, MSM, tell us how you REALLY feel.

    Bear in mind that the person of the year is about who is the most consequential person, not a moral judgment about how good they are. Between the Greek debt crisis and the Syrian refugee crisis, Merkel has had a very consequential year.

  98. 98.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @Amir Khalid:

    Also, too, a commonly heard anecdote is that some people feel they have a nasty personality change with hard liquor (rum, tequila, etc) but are fine with beer or wine. My (step)brother stopped drinking hard liquor and sticks with beer for that reason. It’s probably because you can get a lot more intoxicated a lot more quickly with liquor, so the personality change happens a lot faster.

  101. 101.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: Agree with you on the birther nonsense, but I don’t think Sargent meant to stuff that down the memory hole (IIRC, he was calling birtherism out as racism in real time). I think what he’s talking about in that tweet is Trump’s so-called immigration policies.

  102. 102.

    scav

    @Paul in KY: Oh indeed, but a focus on short term profits might obscure the fact that there are large painted targets on your buddies weilding the regulatory power as well as on your very own back. Unless, they too are willing martyrs for the cause and have been promised the legendary 72 IPO stock-options in the afterlife.

  104. 104.

    Chyron HR

    @Roger Moore:

    Bear in mind that Applejinx is a hardcore “We must destroy Hillary to save America” Berninator to put their ill-informed rage at a non-Sanders person of the year into the proper context.

  105. 105.

    Brachiator

    The people responsible for the SAG Award nominations could have used some of that coffee on the beach. The female Actor nominations look pretty solid (and yay! for Sarah Silverman getting a nom for “I Smile Back.” But Johnny Depp (Black Mass), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs), and Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl), kinda meh. Haven’t seen Bryan Cranston’s Trumbo. And Leo Di Caprio’s The Revenant is not out yet.

  106. 106.

    Amir Khalid

    @Brachiator:
    Hey, with his performance in The Danish Girl, Eddie Redmayne might just become the first person to win Oscars for Best Actor and Best Actress.

  107. 107.

    catclub

    CalPers (from last night’s open thread) DealBook at NYT seems to be fluffing CalPers investments in PE.

    I think somebody is stretching the data on the private equity returns at CalPers:

    I got this from following the link at the dealbook article:
    ” Data from PEARS shows CalPERS’ private equity earnings from active funds were based on $29.3 billion in original investments, with total realized proceeds – return of original investment plus realized net gain – totaling $53.5 billion.”

    But I just calculated that if you put in $1 in the S&P 500 from 1994 to 2014 you would get $6.64 back, while they are showing $29.3 in and only $53.5 out after 25 years. What goes? That is certainly NOT 12.3% CAGR
    for twenty years.

    link

  108. 108.

    Paul in KY

    @scav: One of the recruiting pluses for our Corporate Overlords is that you get your stock options in this life, vs. the next.

  109. 109.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Chyron HR: nah, Applejinx is OK.

    I think (s)he puts more stock in the “Sanders supporters have to play hard to get to move the party left” gambit than it deserves. (If you want to be taken seriously, emphasizing how soft your support for Democrats is may be counterproductive. On the flip side, African American women are now “the base,” due to their voting patterns, and Clinton is treating them as such.)

  113. 113.

    Roger Moore

    @catclub:
    My guess is that the discrepancy is that the full amount of capital CalPERS is talking about hasn’t been in their private equity fund for the whole 25 years. Like any retirement fund, the base capital has been accumulating over time, so much of the capital they’re talking about has had less than the full 25 years to accrue returns. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that the initial investment with private equity had been relatively small, since it was a new thing and they weren’t sure how it was going to work, with larger investments later. You need much more detailed information than just the total capital, time, and total returns to calculate an annualized rate of return. Unless you have that information, you’re going to have to trust their calculated rate of return.

  116. 116.

    trollhattan

    @Eric S.:
    Jesus, listened to both Cruz interview segments. He’s as dangerous a lunatic as I’ve encountered in ages and shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near Congress, much less the presidency. Which explains why he’s polling well.

    The way he talks over people while tossing out Harvard-acquired red meat talking points is distressing. “Liberal power grab.” Drink! “Radical Islamic fundamentalism.” Drink!

  117. 117.

    Redshift

    @Amir Khalid:

    A reluctant vote for HRC, I’m sure. Applejinx strikes me as having a strong Bernie preference

    Sure, but that’s pretty typical behavior during a contested primary. I would say that the degree to which most Democrats like all of the (remaining) candidates this year is actually pretty unusual.

  118. 118.

    Germy

    @MomSense: And he was fined a second time, for non-compliance.

    One of the workers in his casino said that whenever he was scheduled to visit, they’d move all the black employees to a different room, out of his view.

    He is what he is.

  119. 119.

    Germy

    And he was fined a second time, for non-compliance.

    One of the workers in one of his casin0s said that whenever he was scheduled to visit, they’d move all the black employees to a different room, out of his view.

    He is what he is.

  122. 122.

    The Other Chuck

    @trollhattan: I thought red-meat republicans hated those elite colleges, Harvard in particular. But then, I forget how flexible their hate is at any given moment.

  123. 123.

    Redshift

    @trollhattan: The ubiquity of the conservative tactic of constantly interrupting, even on “nice polite” outlets is one of the things that had driven me away from pretty much any panel discussion on politics. There’s no way for other guests to counter it; they can either let it go or interrupt too, and reduce the discussion to hash. The intent is that either the only conservative’s viewpoint is heard, or no one’s is, and either outcome is fine with then.

    The only real solution is to have a mute on the conservative’s mic, and only turn it on when it’s their turn, but that’ll never happen.

    (Interrupting during a one-on-one interview is taking it to another level, but their brand is asshole, so it’s hardly a surprise.)

  127. 127.

    Germy

    @Gin & Tonic: Yeah, what’s going on with the Daily News? They’re certainly stepping up to the plate lately. A nice counterbalance to the odious NYPost.

  128. 128.

    catclub

    @trollhattan: Yep, Cruz is all for supporting the power of that single mom waitress against liberals who want to double her energy costs. I am convinced of his sincerity.

    I was impressed by how he brought her up when he was asked about evolution. Or the power of oil companies.

  129. 129.

    rikyrah

    TWO POINTS about this case:

    1. She was too fucking lazy to do the work to get her ass into the top 10% of her class, which would have gotten her into UT. But, heavens forbid anyone non-White get in over her.

    2. The thing is…..I think that there were 54 people, I think, that got in before her. But, she only focuses on the 5 or 6 NON-WHITE people on that list. Has anyone ever asked her about all the WHITE people that got in over her?

    Irin CarmonVerified account
    ‏@irin
    Abigail Fisher, who would never have gotten into UT regardless of race, is back at the Supreme Court. My preview: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/will-supreme-court-shred-affirmative-action …

  130. 130.

    Germy

    I treated myself to an early xmas present, walked to my local music store and bought myself a fine concert-size ukulele. The cat is watching with tender interest as I strum the A, D, E, G and C chord soulfully.

    A trade up from my little soprano uke. A deeper sound; more fun to play.

  133. 133.

    PurpleGirl

    @J R in WV: I checked with the Google and it’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral for the city and geographical area.

    ETA: The City even went through this whole rebranding process (159 plan) for business and tourism. Motto: Sea, Sun and Space. (Maybe I remembered the order wrong but those are the three components.)

  137. 137.

    D58826

    The latest challenge to affirmative action is before SCOTUS today. According to Scalia most African-American scientists do not come from the top schools.and they benefit from a slower track. Affirmative Action is pushing them into schools that are to advanced for therm. I wonder when he will simply replace his black robe with a white one and a hood. And people wonder where Trumps ideas come from? Or why he is leading the republican polls.?

  138. 138.

    Peale

    @Gin & Tonic: I just have to say that the photo of Enrique Marquez reminds me that you need in this day an age to have multiple pictures available in case you find yourself in a news story and investigation. Or at least something serious. No need to go with the menacing look or something. But if one is investigating a serious crime and your smiling happy face is plastered all over the place, it makes you look kind of foolish.

  139. 139.

    Betty Cracker

    @Germy: A fellow uke-ster! I’m a hack at it, but I enjoy playing. Have a soprano and concert myself and enjoy the concert version the most. I’ve found it useful for embarrassing my teenage daughter with my rendition of punk classics. Enjoy your upgrade!

  140. 140.

    Germy

    @Peale: That’s how I tune: “my dog has fleeeeees” I’m not good at much, but I have perfect pitch. My college roommate was trying to tune his guitar (a Berklee music major) and I hummed him an “E” and it amazed him. Up until then I hadn’t known it was any special ability.

    @Paul in KY: I strum with my fingers. I am blessed with what Nick Lowe called a “dead left hand” so I am no wizard, musically. But I can pick and strum, and sing softly along. Once, I was singing “Hey, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” very quietly, and I saw the cat watching intently from across the room.

  141. 141.

    Anoniminous

    @catclub:

    It’s been known for decades putting money in Index Funds is a vastly better strategy than Managed Investments. CalPers had enough investment money they could have started their own Index Funds: half to match the S&P 500 and the other hand to match the Russell 5000. If they had done that, they’d be cool now.

  142. 142.

    Germy

    @Betty Cracker: Once I learned “A” “D” and “E” I could do ukulele blues. I wish I could do the 1920s minor-chord Cliff Edwards stuff, but I’m not there yet.
    I play the Beatles’ “I’ll Get You In The End” and the cat nods in approval.

    “Whole Wide World” (wreckless eric classic) on the uke, performed by Lynsey Moon.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D44FGL0gy5Q

  143. 143.

    Anoniminous

    @D58826:

    Not surprised. Scalia has reached the point where he doesn’t give a damn and so now no longer tries to hide his racism.

  147. 147.

    Peale

    @Anoniminous: It’s not so much that he’s racist in this instance. He just cares for black people enough to make sure they stay separate where they can compete with their own kind. No measurable good can come from mixing different people together.

  148. 148.

    cmorenc

    Used to be, people beachcombing Florida beaches would occasionally find kilo bricks of high-grade Columbian or Jamaican pot washed up on the shore from where drug-running boats dumped their cargo when they realized their boat had likely caught the attention of the feds and would soon be intercepted. Guy I knew back 30 years ago found one, and he kept high for free for a very long time off his find.

  150. 150.

    goblue72

    @rikyrah: Its alway the case with these affirmative action lawsuits. The anti-affirmative action groups find some white woman (and its almost ALWAYS a woman for some reason) who didn’t get into X public college or university, typically a flagship campus-type.

    And when you scratch the surface, you find out that instead of getting into BIG TEN UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS, they instead were only able to get into NOWHERESVILLE STATE COLLEGE. You scratch some more, and you find their grades/test scores put them into the lowest 25th percentile of applicants to the college they didn’t get into.

  151. 151.

    D58826

    @Peale: And I’m sure all those black people are just falling down pray thanking Jesus that they have such a friend as ‘Nino’ in such high places.

  153. 153.

    Paul in KY

    @Germy: How important to the sound is it that you be pressing down on the string when you hit it? Does it still play a note if you pluck string without pressing down on some point of neck?

    I’m thinking that where you press it is what note (chord?) you are trying to get?

  154. 154.

    Roger Moore

    @catclub:

    But they certainly did not make it clear.

    The lack of clarity is somewhere between off-putting and suspicious. As I understand it, their basic argument is that the fees for private equity may be high, but they’re still worth paying because the returns are so good. That seems like a viable argument as long as the facts support it, but they need to provide a lot more transparency to show that the facts really do support it. Of course it would also be good to have some confidence that the good returns they’re getting aren’t going to turn into a disaster if we hit a bear market.

  155. 155.

    Paul in KY

    @Germy: Thanks, Germy. Will have to bring uke in on an off day. I only have a work PC & probably cannot get away with tuning my uke.

  159. 159.

    catclub

    @Roger Moore: Yeah, on the one hand, they made huge profits, but then I read that CalPers is dropping its PE investments and that the PE investments were not that big anyway. And NOW they have a tool for evaluating those investments.

  160. 160.

    LABiker

    I grew up just down the beach from Indialantic, in Melbourne Beach. All sorts of stuff washes up on the beach there. One time my mom found a 60-pound bail of marijuana that came rolling in. She actually wanted to put it on the market, because the family could have used the cash at the time, but my dad wouldn’t let that happen.

  161. 161.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @goblue72:

    They bring the suit on behalf of a white woman so they can pretend it’s chivalrous concern for her well-being as a delicate flower of womanhood and not racism that motivated the suit. Oldest racist trick in the book, and WAY too many white women go along with it so they can get a half-step ahead.

  162. 162.

    KithKanan

    @Roger Moore: Yeah. Ports of Seattle and Tacoma combined are about 30% of the annual tonnage of Los Angeles + Long Beach combined, which definitely isn’t nothing. Individually, Seattle and Tacoma are both ahead of Port of Oakland, and I wouldn’t say the Bay Area gets no cargo traffic.

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