Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

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

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

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

White supremacy is terrorism.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

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

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

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Open Thread: American Celebritocracy

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Apart from Keeping America Weird, what’s on the agenda for the day?

Reader Interactions

152Comments

  1. 1.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    I’ve started spending some time at work watching movies that I’ve missed over the last 15-20 years. The plan was to watch one per night, but a couple of times I’ve doubled up. So far, they have all been winners: Quantum of Solace; Skyfall; the Millenium trilogy; and tonight, Inception and Memento.

    Christopher Nolan is fucking brilliant. I thought all three of his Batman movies were outstanding, but none of them crack the top three of those of his that I’ve seen:

    1) The Prestige
    2) Memento
    3) Inception

    The last of those is the movie The Matrix really wanted to be but didn’t come close to.

  2. 2.

    Betty Cracker

    The teen texted this to me via someone’s Tumblr:

    Reasons Donald Trump is actually Jabba the Hutt:

    -Rich and greedy

    -Looks gross af

    -Treats women poorly

    -Will hopefully be strangled to death by Carrie Fisher

    Help us, Ms. Fisher. You’re our only hope!

  4. 4.

    David *Rafael* Koch

    I don’t envy Trump.

    He’s going to have a real tough time deciding btwn Gary Busey, Meatloaf, and Rodman as his running mate.

  5. 5.

    Betty Cracker

    @raven: Some good games on tap for later. I’m hoping for Chiefs and Packers victories but am resigned to Patriots and Cardinals wins.

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    In the past week I lost a significant amount of swelling in the ankle, such that when I took my shower this morn I was finally able to get a good look at and feel of it. Damn. I mean just dayumn. Where most ankles have a single knob on the out side, mine now has 2 knobs and a ridge of bone running 4″ up the side of the leg. Looks like something out of an Inquisition torture chamber.

    That’s my contribution to weirdness this morn.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Satby: Slowly but surely. 18 more days till I get rid of the boot. Not sure how long after that before it is fully “healed”.

  9. 9.

    Elizabelle

    Good morning all.

    My mellow is harshed by learning (previous thread; thanks Mnemo…) that Jerry Hall (ex-Mick Jagger partner; gorgeous Texas model/actress) is engaged to Rupert Murdoch. Rupert turns 85 on March 11th, and “sources” guess they will marry before that. Gag.

    Always kind of liked her. Is a conundrum.

  13. 13.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    I think my wife may be related to Cole. She got a new washing machine and when she first used it, she managed to crack a rib.

    ETA: How did she do this? She didn’t realize that it was much deeper than her old washer and leaning over to reach clothes at the bottom, ended up putting her weight on her chest and heard a “crack”.

  14. 14.

    Satby

    Also, I sent a Belle (the rescue dog) update to the contributors I had listed and got a couple of bouncebacks, so for this who missed it: after an extended treatment due to how seriously debilitated by starvation Belle was, she is heartworm free, tumor free, spayed, a healthy weight of 60 pounds, and in her forever home. Her foster parents were my friend Joy’s parents, and when the time came to consider looking for a permanent home, they couldn’t give Belle up. So they adopted her themselves, Joy says that when she calls home her parents mostly talk about their sweet Belle. Happy ending to a heartbreaking story, another Balloon Juice rescue success!

  17. 17.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    I wonder what the Trump kids really think about his campaign. He doesn’t have a teevee show anymore for extra income. Whether he wins or loses at whichever point, he’s going to have a good sized portion of the population actively avoiding his brand. He’s very directly affecting their inheritance.

  22. 22.

    Anne Laurie

    @BillinGlendaleCA: As another vertically challenged woman in a tall man’s world, I deeply sympathize with your wife!

    Make yourself popular, buy her one of these pick-up tools. I’ve tried several models intended for indoor use, but when I bought this one so I didn’t have to keep stooping over in the yard, it worked so well for retrieving books from the top shelves and boxes (even mugs) from the kitchen cupboards that the Spousal Unit keeps “forgetting” I can’t quite reach, that it never made it out the front door.

  24. 24.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Anne Laurie: We’ve got alot of pick-up tools, being that we’re both vertically challenged, she just didn’t realize how deep it was and that’s there’s no agitator to lean on in these new fangled washers.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    @Satby:

    Thanks, Satby. I think I need to schedule some campaign events at a spa. Or some exotic foreign location like Hawaii.

  28. 28.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud: Like the gif.

    Fun to imagine Michelle and Barack talking late in the evening, and what they REALLY think about the day that passed. They have to laugh. The material is so rich.

  31. 31.

    OzarkHillbilly

    So what has Obama done for you lately?

    The Obama administration will halt new coal mining on public land for the next three years with immediate effect as it undertakes a review of the “environmental and public health impacts” of coal production.

    The wide-ranging review, applauded by climate and environmental groups, will assess how federal coal production fits in with the US’s commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. It will also ensure “American taxpayers are earning a fair return for the use of their public resources” – raising the possibility of a hike in royalties or a new levy on coal producers.

  32. 32.

    Elizabelle

    Taiwan’s in the club. First woman President.

    NY Times: TAIPEI, Taiwan — Tsai Ing-wen was elected as Taiwan’s president Saturday, becoming the first woman to win the office. Voters were expected to give her Democratic Progressive Party, which is skeptical of closer ties with China, control of Taiwan’s legislature for the first time, giving her broad authority to push her policies in office.

    I hope we get there next year, with Hillary. Bernie would be OK too. No Republicans, please, we’re sane.

    57% of the vote; Ms. Tsai lost previous bid in 2012.

    While gender did not play a major role in the campaign, there was clearly excitement among voters at the prospect of electing Taiwan’s first female president, one whose path to power, unlike other female leaders in Asia, was not paved by a powerful father or other male relative.

    “Taiwan has traditionally been a patriarchal society,” said Rebecca Chang, 45, who stood with a friend by the roadside with LED signs reading “Elect” and “Taiwan’s First Woman President” as Ms. Tsai’s campaign motorcade drove through Taipei on Friday. “She can help change people’s thinking, no matter if they are male or female.”

  33. 33.

    JPL

    @Baud: Thanks for the laugh. We had the same nightmare, it appears.
    I did watch the first three episodes of Man in the High Castle though.

  34. 34.

    bystander

    @Baud: Best laugh of the day. So far.

    Was there a Star Wars thread with spoilers? Now that I’ve seen it, I want to mock it without any self censoring. Next to Jurassic Nation, or whatever that last piece of crap was named, it’s not quite as empty and meaningless, but it would be tough to decide if the Academy Awards ever had a Worst Piece of Crap category.

    Memento I did not get at all.

  38. 38.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Broken ribs are tough to deal with. No matter what you do*, they hurt, and sleeping becomes a real challenge. Especially if one is a restless sleeper. My sympathies.

    *wrapping them does help tho, if it is possible

  39. 39.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Elizabelle: South Korea also has a female President, President Park’s daughter. I learned, when I took Korean, that Chung Hee(President Park, the father) is a female name.

  40. 40.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @JPL:
    @OzarkHillbilly: Thanks, she saw her doc today and she got her some ibuprofen.

    ETA: The nursing student(her daughter) will be here on Sunday to provide addition treatments.

  44. 44.

    Satby

    @Baud: didn’t get it was a gif, but when I clicked through it worked. Who wants to bet how long it will be before it shows up in some right wing nut’s FB feed as a real thing that happened?

  45. 45.

    Satby

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Translation? Republican totally fucks up, begs Democrat to come bail him out.

    I’ve been pushing that hard, that it was an unnecessary disaster created by Republicans and now as usual they have to ask that black guy they hate to save their asses. I hope the civil lawsuits impoverish that duck Snyder and his cronies.

  47. 47.

    Schlemazel

    @BillinGlendaleCA:
    OUCH! My wife has cracked ribs a few times, it hurts and there is not much to do for it, my sympathies to her. She may need help getting comfortable at night to go to sleep, that is the case for the Mrs. My wife already get a ton of sympathy from family and friends – she is married to me!.

    Hope the rib does not cause her too much trouble.

  48. 48.

    JPL

    @OzarkHillbilly: It’s a no brainy, you contact Snyder and say that as soon as you go on tv and announce how your policies failed the citizens of Flint, then I’ll help you out.
    You also have to raise state taxes in order to pay for your mistakes.

  49. 49.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Schlemazel: Not my first by any means, but this one kind of hurts. I dressed up in drag (all in red- I was SMOKIN’!!!) for a buddy’s B-Day celebration and it was acknowledged by a majority of folks in attendance (both male and female) that I had really nice legs. Never again.

  50. 50.

    Satby

    @JPL: Then it’ll be that black guy and the feds refusing to help just because it’s partisan politics. Which will play here. If course, the only cash strapped towns that got Emergency Managers were all mostly poor, mostly minority towns that tended to vote for Democrats to begin with. White bread Republican towns? Even when the town near to mine was bankrupted by an embezzling official it didn’t get a manager.

  51. 51.

    Kay

    then led the signing of a toned-down bipartisan letter to Obama urging the federal aid be “dispatched immediately” and requesting the federal government work with the state on why Legionnaires’ disease broke out in the Flint area in the past year and a half, resulting in 87 cases and 10 deaths.
    The letter was signed by Michigan’s 16-member delegation of Republicans and Democrats except GOP U.S. Rep. Justin Amash of Cascade Township.

    Amash is the hipster libertarian in the House. He’s kind of a cult star among people who pretend they’re not Republicans but always vote for Republicans.

    I love that he’s decided to pretend this water crisis isn’t happening, in keeping with true libertarian tradition. Don’t bother them with boring “mommy state” issues like… potable water.

  52. 52.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Satby:

    I hope the civil lawsuits impoverish that duck Snyder and his cronies.

    I am fairly certain that Snyder at least has some kind of immunity.

  53. 53.

    JPL

    @Satby: The people of Flint are still be threatened with their water being shut off if they don’t pay their bills. In a perfect world the Governor should have to write a personal check for his screw up.

  54. 54.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Schlemazel: She’s actually been through this once before as a result of an auto accident. She has to work today and was trying to find somebody to take her shift, but no luck. Other than that, she’ll rest.

  57. 57.

    debbie

    By the way, Trump Wife #2 (Marla Maples) wasn’t an immigrant. But I guess accuracy isn’t the point of that sign.

  58. 58.

    raven

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Do you know about this trail?

    Bukak Mountain Kim Shin-jo Route

    On January 21, 1968, thirty-one North Korean commandos advanced southward through the Bugaksan mountain forest. Their mission was to storm the Blue House and assassinate President Park Chunghee and other government officials. Along the way, however, the commandos came upon a pol ice inspection point, and a firefight broke out before the commandos fled into the hills. Jongno Police Chief Choi Gyu-sik, who led the inspection, was killed in the battle. A bronze statue memorializing Choi’s bravery stands in Buam-dong, near the Changuimun Gate.
    With the aid of American forces, South Korean soldiers and police conducted a massive manhunt over the following days. In total, sixty-eight South Korean and three American soldiers died. A vivid monument to the event is Hogyeong rock—located along Trail No. 2—where several bullet holes remind visitors of the intense fighting that occurred. Of the 31 North Koreans, 29 were killed, one was unaccounted for, and one was captured; he is Kim Shin-jo—the person for whom the trails are named. After a year’s interrogation, Kim became a South Korean citizen in 1970 and eventually joined the ministry.

  62. 62.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @debbie: Got rid of the crutches last week, still have the boot and will for another 18 days. Pretty sure the walking on it is what is responsible for the sudden and drastic reduction in swelling.

  66. 66.

    Satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: I don’t think that immunity applies to deliberate malfeasance,and it seems that the Snyder admin knew long before they acted how bad the lead contamination was. IANAL though, so I could be wrong.

  68. 68.

    Satby

    Three day weekend coming up during the coldest snap of weather so far this year. So we’re going to hunker down in the house (unless we get snow) and start packing up stuff for my eventual move south. I got a great bar code reader app and will be scanning books to sell on Amazon, updating my vintage Etsy store, and trying to pimp my sale at my Skinluvvers store. Three days is not enough!!

  69. 69.

    OzarkHillbilly

    This is one man who really does wish he wasn’t in Kansas anymore:

    Disabled Navy veteran Raymond Schwab moved to Colorado last year to free himself from addictions that grew out of the pharmaceuticals prescribed by the VA to treat his service-related physical and psychological injuries.

    As Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access points out, medical cannabis is an effective treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), where other drugs fail. Veterans are successfully treating themselves despite the federal government’s prohibition.

    Because Schwab is legally using medicinal cannabis in Colorado, officials in prohibitionist Kansas have abducted five of his children, ranging from 5 to 16 years of age.

    Wonder how the anti govt loons in Oregon are going to protest this clear case of govt overreach.

  70. 70.

    ixnay

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Oh, man, that will take forever to heal. I did the same thing reaching into a pen of baby chicks. What she may have is separate the rib: the union between the rib bone and the cartilage came apart. No real treatment, except don’t breathe deeply.

    I see on further reading that she has seen her doctor, has painkillers, and has done this before. I’ll hope it’s actually a cracked rib and not a separated one: bones heal faster than cartilage. I’m 6 months out from my rib going “pop” and I still know right where that costochondral junction is.

    Whichever it is, best thoughts for rapid healing.

  72. 72.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Satby:

    it seems that the Snyder admin knew long before they acted how bad the lead contamination was.

    I’m not sure where you are getting that, as the lead contamination is coming from a perfect storm of ignorance. You can say they could have known, and even say they should have known, but everything I’ve read says they didn’t know because the only thing they considered was cost, not at all how the water would interact with the old lead pipes in the city.

    Do you have something more from up there?

  73. 73.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    I’m in Tuscaloosa for the weekend with a colleague to work at the Mercedes plant.
    Women come to breakfast in their PJs at this hotel, which is delightful. But Fox News is on the TV. Loud.
    Boo to that.

  75. 75.

    debbie

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Yes, I’d think getting the circulation going would be a big help with healing. Just be sure to listen to your ankle and not overdo the activity. No jetés!

  81. 81.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @efgoldman:As far as I know, there were no illegal acts. I almost said there were no criminal acts, but that is clearly wrong as what has happened is a crime.

  83. 83.

    Satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: ” In 2015, EPA water expert Miguel Del Toral “identified potential problems with Flint’s drinking water in February, confirmed the suspicions in April and summarized the looming problem” in an internal memo circulated on June 24, 2015.[72] The Del Toral memo was not publicly released until November 2015, after a revision and vetting process.[72] In the interim, the EPA and the Michigan DEQ engaged in a dispute on how to interpret the Lead and Copper Rule. According to EPA Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman, the EPA pushed to immediately implement corrosion controls in the interests of public health, while the Michigan DEQ sought to delay a decision on corrosion control”
    From the very detailed Wikipedia article, which also details how the state didn’t follow the law about corrosion control to prevent the problem for over a year, from when the water was switched in April of 2014.

  85. 85.

    D58826

    ot but there are reports that four Iranian-Americans, including the WAPO reporter Jason Rezalan have been released by Iran . Good will jesture as part ofthe Iran nuclear deal. If true both good news and that darn Kenyan has struck again

  86. 86.

    Mike in NC

    GOP klown kar update: local paper claims JEBzzz “earned key endorsement” by Lindsey Graham, which can only mean his polling will now sink into negative numbers.

  87. 87.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @Satby:
    Interesting. My BIL works for the MI DEQ in the air division. I’ll ask him if there’s anything he’s allowed to say about this and report back when I get back to Detroit.
    I think that should be a face to face conversation.

  88. 88.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Satby: After rereading what you said I think I know the “act” you are speaking of is the act of doing nothing after the early reports of problems and NOT the act of changing the water supplies (which is what I was referring to earlier). I don’t know as the malfeasance you (we) are charging Snyder with is much more difficult to prove as being criminal, it seems to me.

  90. 90.

    Zippity

    I just saw a new Marco Rubio ad featuring a woman whose brother was a Border Patrol agent killed “because of Obama’s Fast and Furious scandal.” It was horrible and I just don’t understand what kind of person allows themselves to be used like that. This wasn’t a Super PAC ad-it’s an official campaign ad. Guess he needs to try and make up for his immigration bill.

  91. 91.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Satby: Yeah, but without an actual indictable offense I don’t think there is any way to hold them personally responsible. Kind of like suing a city when their police shoot your unarmed child who was not engaged in criminal behavior. The city pays, not the cop.

  92. 92.

    D58826

    Also OT but worth a laugh at the total ignorance of the GOP clown car. According to foreign policy expert Marco Rubio if the two Navy boats had strayed into Israeli waters there would not have been an incident. He apparently doesn’t remember (or doesn’t want to remember) the USS Liberty, a Navy ship attacked by the Israeli Air Force in 1967. The ship was in in international waters miles from the Israeli coast and it cost multiple American lives. Yes it was on a recon mission but it was still on the high seas. But its OK if Israel does it.

  94. 94.

    geg6

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Don’t remember where I read it, but I remember reading a piece where some local or state official wrote a memo or email outlining why they should not switch from the getting their water from Detroit and the lead from the pipes issue was a prominent part of the argument. It was deliberately ignored, I think, by the Snyder appointee. Since that appointee is, I assume, reporting directly to the governor, that makes Snyder ultimately responsible. In a sane world, anyway.

  95. 95.

    Amir Khalid

    @Mike in NC:
    As far as I can tell, Lindsay Graham is just one out of 100 Senators in Washington DC, not regarded as a thought leader, of no particular importance in setting Republican Senate strategy or in crafting/passing legislation. He makes news as John McCain’s BFF and travelling companion, but that’s about it. I still wonder why he ran for president at all. Am I missing something?

  96. 96.

    geg6

    @lurker dean:

    LOL! Ralph Reed was on Bill Maher’s show screaming about how Obama has completely failed this guy just last night. Hilarious how he trolls them. Always ten steps ahead of their lousy game. I’m gonna miss that so much. Neither Hillary nor Bernie can pull that off so elegantly.

  97. 97.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @lurker dean: I blame Obama. Wait a minute…

    @geg6: That is the kind of stuff that is going to have to be found but there has to be a clear smoking gun like an e-mail that says “Guv says fvck Joe and his chicken little “the sky is falling” crap, we need to move forward now.”

  100. 100.

    D58826

    @geg6: Based on absolutely no evidence but I suspected at the time the nuclear deal was signed, there was a wink and nod agreement to deal with these 4 people. Diplomacy requires patients and long term thinking. Both in short supply in the US and esp. the GOP.

  101. 101.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Amir Khalid: I read somewhere that Graham ran to counter Rand Paul’s “isolationist” foreign policy mumblings. The supposed plan was for him to stick around as long as Paul did, but then drop out. Looks like he expected Paul to drop out by now, but Graham dropped out first (so he wouldn’t be crushed in the SC primary).

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  104. 104.

    Josie

    @D58826: I so hope this is true. Trump was bitching on Morning Joe about how the our weak president had failed these people. President Obama rules!

  105. 105.

    Elizabelle

    @Amir Khalid: Re Lindsey running: Gravitas. Or what passes for it.

    Had to get his and President McCain’s message out there: bomb, bomb, bomb, invade, invade, invade.

    Either that, or shits and giggles. And airtime.

    Wonder if he would have initiated the run if he knew he would end up at the kiddies table. LOL.

  107. 107.

    Baud

    Speaking of Obama, WaPo

    President Obama will include a new unemployment insurance scheme in his next budget proposal, seeking new protections for those who lose their jobs and training plans to help them get back to work quickly.

    The White House said Saturday that the plan would include wage insurance that would replace half of a worker’s lost wages, up to $10,000 over two years. “Displaced workers making less than $50,000 who were with their prior employer for at least three years would be able to leverage these resources to help them get back on their feet and on the way to” new careers, the White House said in a statement.

  109. 109.

    PaulW

    Editing my pro-Obama book today during laundry runs.

    If you were going to write a pro-Obama book looking back on the 8 years of the insanity we’ve dealt with, what title would you give it?

    I’m hovering between “Yay Obama” or “You F-ckers In the GOP Didn’t Know You Were You Stepping Up Against Did You?”

    Also, I need to ask permission to quote John Cole’s “You’ll Never Get These 21 minutes Of Your Life Back” post from 2009.

  110. 110.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @PaulW: B-J is under a Creative Commons license according to the bottom of the front page. Dunno if that matters, but of course you should try to get JC to sign off on it, assuming you can get him out from under his menagerie. :-)

    Smart is a good word to describe Obama, I think. It would be nice if it were rehabilitated, after being destroyed by “the best and the brightest”. :-/

    Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  111. 111.

    GregB

    @PaulW:

    Well, you can title the chapter about all of his domestic naysayers as:

    A Confederacy of Douchebags.

    Give me credit in the preface.

  113. 113.

    Baud

    @PaulW:

    If you were going to write a pro-Obama book looking back on the 8 years of the insanity we’ve dealt with, what title would you give it?

    You’ll miss me when I’m gone.

    Alternative title: Prelude to Baud!

  120. 120.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    Well,thanks Obummer,you couldn’t even manage to become a lame duck president to make McCain and Lindsey happy. Another #fail.

  123. 123.

    redshirt

    @efgoldman: I’m fearing a loss for the Pats today too. Nothing looks good – this week has been the weirdest playoff week in Patriots history. The trends are all bad for the Pats.

    Curse you stupid Bengals! You not only hurt the Pats chances, but you giftwrapped a Denver victory over the injured Steelers.

    At least if KC beats New England today, they’ll also have a good chance of beating Denver in Denver. I do not want to see Manning go to the Superbowl (and get blown out by the NFC team)

  126. 126.

    Central Planning

    I have a long weekend of FIRST Robotics with the local school team. Interesting challenges this year.

    If you’ve never heard of FIRST Robotics, check it out. The program is phenomenal.

    Every year at this time, high school students learn of a new challenge and they get 6 weeks to design/build/test a robot that can meet some/all of the challenge. Teams are run as a business, so it’s not just programming, electrical, and mechanical students that work on the robot. There’s marketing, sponsorships, social media, community outreach, travel, and more. And there’s about $25m in scholarships for the high school students as well.

    One other goal is to have adult mentors in different fields be on the team so students can work with people in industry. It’s a great way for students to get exposed to many people in many different disciplines. Also, if you’re a mentor and your kid is on the team you get to know many of their friends. ;)

  129. 129.

    PaulW

    In football news, I just want the Bucs to win the NFC South division next year and lose in the NFC championship game in double-overtime to the Minnesota Vikings, so that Super Bowl 51 would be an epic matchup between Minnesota and Cleveland.

    Yes, I want the Rapture to begin before kick-off. :)

  130. 130.

    raven

    Ah, here’s where they will scream

    As part of the exchange, the U.S. will release seven Iranians who were being held in the country on sanctions violations. All were born in Iran, but six are dual Iranian-American citizens. The seven men all have the option to remain in the U.S.

  131. 131.

    D58826

    Listening to the GOOPERS on MHP on MSNBC. These folks all must live underneath the scum on the local drainage ditch. The Iran deal isn’t a good deal because it doesn’t contain Iran’s unconditional surrender to all of our demands. It’s not a good deal becasue Iran is saying mean things about Israel. The prisoner swap isn’t a good deal because it isn’t 4 for 4. Give me a break. After 20+ years of hostility Nixon went to China and here we are in 2016 and we still have issues with China’s behavior. Well its the same thing with Iran. It starts with small steps. Will it work, who knows but you have to try. The GOOPERS on the panel are totally ignoring the China precedent. Whatever Obama is doing its not enough or maybe its to much or it should have happened sooner. Calgary Ted is already running his mouth. He is happy that the minister was released but it should have happened sooner . I guess the other three don’t count. And of course according to Cruz we don’t know about any of the other negatives. As for the imbalanced in the swap, Israel has given up hundreds of prisoners just to get the remains of a soldier back. The GOP doesn’t seem to be bothered by that.

  135. 135.

    J R in WV

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    They don’t wrap broken ribs any more, after analysis of medical outcomes showed that it caused pneumonia if patients with wrapped ribs. They were less able to cough, and died for the lack of it. Or were made more ill, anyways.

  136. 136.

    MomSense

    @Central Planning:

    Thanks for that link. That sounds right up my kid’s alley.

    We have a wind blade challenge here in Maine that is similar. We had great experiences even though my kids’ teams didn’t win.

  138. 138.

    PurpleGirl

    @J R in WV: As I had it explained to me when I had bruised my chest muscles in a fall, wrapping the ribs keeps them from moving as you breath and then the lungs get bruised against the ribs and that sets up the conditions for pneumonia. I was given prescription naproxem sodium (otc Aleve) for the muscle bruises.

  139. 139.

    sukabi

    @JPL: or, he (Obama) could pull the elected “leadership” and those responsible and put in emergency managers to administer the rescue / recovery (eta) as THE #1 condition for funding cleanup.

  140. 140.

    Thoughtful Today

    Amir Khalid @ 96

    Lindsey Graham’s prominence on the national stage doesn’t make much sense to me either.

    I assume several factors:

    -> Right-wingers get disproportionately more and more favorable Corporate media attention.

    -> Some Senators don’t seek National media attention (Democratic Senator Al Franken talks almost exclusively to his State’s media outlets).

    -> Some Politicians are moths to National media camera lights.

    The ‘serious’ Sunday morning ‘news’ shows have for decades notoriously brought on Republicans and right-wingers in disproportionate numbers.

    “If It’s Sunday, It’s John McCain” or his BFF Lindsey and random right-wingers.

  141. 141.

    The Golux

    @Baud:

    I woke up with the stupid Trump fascist kiddie porn song stuck in my head. I’m may have to take drastic measures to put an end to it.

    Here’s a possible antidote. It’s been running through my head for the last few days, and I’m not tired of it yet.

  143. 143.

    bystander

    @Baud: Send me $10 and your phone number and I’ll save you a trip to the movies.

    @D58826: The repubs were already on MSNBC Melissa Perry to tell us that 7 is greater than 4, therefore the Affirmative Action POTUS was snookered again. One of the geniuses said, diplomacy implies trust and a 2 way street. Of course that’s the opposite of how diplomacy works but somebody has to get paid for bloviating crap that can’t bloviate itself.

  145. 145.

    BruinKid

    @Elizabelle: So our elections actually eerily parallel Taiwan’s elections. Except the DPP = GOP, and the KMT = Dems. Even down to the DPP birthers who questioned Ma’s place of birth. Yes, Taiwan has birthers too!

    As Taiwan now switches to a more belligerent foreign policy of “Fuck you, China”, begging for China to retaliate and start WWIII, this implies that Trump/Cruz will win in November and immediately get us into a war with the entire Middle East.

    Crap.

  149. 149.

    Central Planning

    @MomSense:

    That sounds right up my kid’s alley.

    There are elementary and middle school FIRST programs too. I bet your school (or one nearby) has a FIRST team. I think I can safely say ALL teams are ALWAYS looking for new students. We would let anybody join at any time.

    At least with our team, you get out of it what you put into it. There are leadership positions for the team in general and each of the subteams (again, electrical, programming, marketing, etc) We try to have the seniors on the team be mentors for the younger students. It’s hard but it generally works ok.

    Finally, the best part about FIRST is that you don’t have to be doing robotics your entire life to get on the team and be a meaningful contributor (unlike most (all?) sports). There are a couple good youtube videos about FIRST – there’s one that Morgan Freeman narrates, and another with celebrities talking about the importance of STEM. Look for them, they’re great.

    ETA: Chief Delphi is one website where tons of robotics students and mentors hang out. Everyone helps everyone at FIRST.

  150. 150.

    MomSense

    @Satby:

    Hot shower, ice, and a chick flick has brought me back. Wish everything in life were so easy to solve.
    @Steeplejack (phone):

    I’m full of surprises!

    @Central Planning:

    He has done several robotics camps. The first was a lego robotics program. I checked out the list and it looks like there are a couple groups in commuting distance. I’ll run it by him because he is a little bored with his math program at school and this could perk him up. Over the winter break he was talking with one of his brother’s friends who is in a graduate program out west studying AI. So for the past month he has been doing a lot of reading about the subject. This is a good time to find a group for him. From what I just read on the website, I really like the approach at FIRST.

  152. 152.

    Mnemosyne

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Sorry, but that was one of the worst-written articles I’ve ever encountered on the Internet. It was like mclaren wrote it when he was off his meds. I especially loved the part that talked about the “material grandmother” of the kids.

    The Denver Post article that’s the obvious source of the story has better information in it. Basically, the guy’s mother-in-law was pissed that he and her daughter (his wife) were moving to Colorado, so she took the kids to the police station in Kansas and claimed they were abandoned. Now the kids are in the Kansas foster care system, and the parents are having a hard time getting them back because dad is an admitted recovering drug addict (former heroin user) who’s currently using (legal) pot while living in Colorado.

    If the guy can show that he’s medically benefiting from marijuana and isn’t using other drugs, he should get his kids back, but I can’t really blame Kansas for being wary since different family members are giving them different stories. Oh, and that mother-in-law who caused the whole problem sounds like an asshole.

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