Seems to me that we could all use just a moment of something else to think about. So here’s a bit of pure fun, in the Be-Wary-Of-The-Smiling-Stranger category:
I just love the opponent’s reaction at the end.
Talk about anything that doesn’t involve explosions or Republicans.
Dork
Jamie Dixon went from Pitt (above average, sometimes Tourney team) to TCU (B12 bottom-feeder). I hope he at least tripled his salary, because he’s about to lose often and by huge margins. He’s the
Jeb Bush(sorry Tom) Martin O’Malley of Texas basketball programs.Cermet
Wow – that was bad ass chess …
SiubhanDuinne
Rob Ford has died.
Oh, sorry.
satby
That was great. Man those guys play fast.
Jerzy Russian
I used to play tournament chess in my younger days. My proudest moment came when I made a grandmaster actually stop and think about his move at my board during a simultaneous match. He was playing about a dozen of us from the club, and usually he would spend a second or two at each board when it was his turn to move. He beat us all, of course. Afterwards he would go over our games with us and he remembered the key moves from each game.
schrodinger's cat
From the movie Neerja, a biopic on the brave flight attendant on a hijacked PanAm flight who died saving lives.
Ankhen milayenge darr se
We will look fear in the eye.
I have to say that the ordinary citizens of Mumbai (Bombay) have done that in face of many terrorist attacks that the city has faced since the 90s. After bombs rocked the stock exchange and several locations simultaneously in March 93. The city was back to normal the very next day. Flights were on time as were the trains. I should know because I was on one of those flights.
SiubhanDuinne
@SiubhanDuinne:
My apologies. That was inappropriately flippant. Rob Ford gave us plenty of laughs with his outrageous antics as mayor of Toronto, but it’s clear in retrospect he was battling demons and likely the earlier stages of the cancer that took his life today. Fuck cancer, and R.I.P., Mr. Ford.
MattF
I love it. Especially when the hustler tries to pull a fast one. “Who, me? What?”
Dmbeaster
@SiubhanDuinne: No, demons or not, he took his crass act into a position of power with the potential to cause harm, and did so. His personal demons are modest mitigation at best.
Just One More Canuck
@SiubhanDuinne: I live in the suburbs of Toronto, so even though he was never my mayor, he was always in the news around here. As a mayor, he was terrible, simply way in over his head, but as a city councillor, by all accounts, he did a very good job for people in his area
Punchy
What ever happened to FPers Dennis and Elon?
schrodinger's cat
@Jerzy Russian: My dad once had the opportunity to play cricket with a retired test cricket player on the Indian team. This guy was known as a bowler but he was a better batsmen than anyone on my father’s team ( a good amateur team) and he was in his 60s then.
GoBlue72
Bill Clinton dumped on Obama.
Howard Beale IV
Rob Ford, former Toronto mayor, has died.
NotMax
Major Major Major Major
Rainbow across San Francisco, as taken by my friend: http://imgur.com/a/NnRF7
@GoBlue72: Is quiche a kind of pie? Cuz it’s breakfast time.
Mnemosyne
My First World Problem of the day is that my FitBit won’t sync no matter what I do. I suspect the problem is that it needs a firmware update but — funny story! — the firmware won’t update until it syncs. Rebooting it didn’t help. Gah!
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
You could nickname it Molly Brown.
It’s un-sync-able.
;)
schrodinger's cat
@Mnemosyne: Try again, try removing the battery as well. I heard about your sonogram result. Keeping my fingers crossed that it is a false positive.
tarragon
This morning as I walked in one of the security guards was pushing the idea that the “president needs an act of congress to go to Cuba.” I tried to look it up, and while I didn’t check Alex Jones, I didn’t find any such discussion online.
piratedan
things I am grateful for….
The Middle, yes the female lead is a wingnut, but the acting done by the cast, who take deliciously relevant writing about what could be extremely real characters is awesome.
The writings of prolific authors, guys like Glen Cook, JK Rowling, Lee Child, Stephen King that allow me to escape into their stories and their characters.
The music from artists of Elvis Costello to Nick Lowe to Southern Culture on the Skids to lose myself in the lyrics and rhythms of their souls.
My spouse, for loving me and putting up with me, my kids who constantly challenge me to be a better person and my pets for giving me devoted affection unconditionally.
The folks here who allow me to be constantly engaged and entertained and outraged and informed.
Just saying thank you… it seems like we simply don’t do it enough.
MattF
@GoBlue72: Not really. He was dumping on Congressional Republicans.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@GoBlue72:
Did you get that from the cesspool of idiocy n/k/a Salon for Bros? Because that statement was completely clarified by him subsequently.
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: The only reason I don’t hate you for that is that there’s a cute boy on the bus.
japa21
Does goblue realize his candidate regularly really dumps on Obama? Of course.
Damn it, I made a resolution to ignore anything said by that commenter. At least some Sanders supporters are deserving of a genuine response.
piratedan
@GoBlue72: no he didn’t, it’s the usual GOP mix and match edit/take it outta context hatchet job designed to make Obama look bad.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@piratedan:
fix’t for accuracy
GoBlue72
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: It was completely backtracked by him. The GOP were not in control for last 8 years. Its pretty clear what he meant when he was speaking in front of an audience in Spokane. This is the same Bill who shat on Obama in 2008 while running his mouth off the cuff. It’s who he is.
The link above is from CNN. But please – continue your moronic delusions about “Berniebro ” boogeymen.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@GoBlue72:
Oh fer fuck sake, it’s all over Salon, my FB feed, etc., all with #BernieorBust comments, and why Democrats just simply shouldn’t vote for the Democrat. So you can shove your Berniebro denialism up your ass.
Bodacious
Wowzer!
With all the crap in the news today, just loved the Obama speech in Cuba this morning. Great on so many levels! LOVED IT! New approach to our old problems. No telling if this is the fix that will mend fences and move people of both countries forward to higher ideals, but hey, trying a different tool in the toolbox. Eloquent and honest. Loved it!
I’ll re-listen again tonight. You should too.
GoBlue72
@piratedan: I watched the video of his full statement. It wasn’t cut and paste or out of context. He said Hillary is only one who can work with GOP and Democrats alike. It’s pretty clear what he was suggesting.
GoBlue72
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Jeez you’re a moron. And delusional.
CaseyL
@Major Major Major Major: Lovely photo! Everything about rainbows is wonderful, but one that that always mystifies me is how the sky inside the arc is a different color from the sky outside the arc.
Once, long ago, in my grandparents’ Miami Beach condo overlooking the ocean, there were two bright, vivid, complete double-rainbows rising out of the ocean. Because of the way the sky-within was a different color, and the sky-within the two arcs was yet a third different color, it really really looked like a ringed planet rising out the sea. Totally mind-blowing.
GoBlue72
@japa21: I do realize it. He isn’t the one running on a platform as Obama’s third term.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@GoBlue72:
Me and Wesley Morris of the NYT, too. Denial is a helluva drug. Can’t wait until Sanders finally gets crushed.
Cacti
@GoBlue72:
Well, that does it.
I’m finished with Bill and Hill.
Something’s changing inside me. I’m starting to feel something. Some sort of Berning sensation…
Nope, it was just gas.
Aleta
Why do dogs run in circles?
Because they can’t run in squares.
scav
@Aleta: Well, that explains why most parks are rectanguar.
MattF
@Cacti: Probably just an alien fetus.
Princess
That’s Washington Square, right? I think my husband played that guy last weekend.
Bobby Thomson
@Punchy: dengre is on Twitter.
Hill Dweller
Bill hurt Hillary’s campaign in ’08, and I won’t be the least bit surprised if he does it again this go around. I don’t know if he meant to dump on PBO, but he should know better than to make such sloppy remarks. Regardless, PBO is/was a better president, which I suspect annoys the hell out of Bill.
Punchy
@Aleta: Boulderdash! Why, precisely, couldn’t a dog run wild here?
Bobby Thomson
@GoBlue72: that Sanders cant work with either and Republicans can’t work with Democrats?
WereBear
@Jerzy Russian: Being a stone cold geek, I did play chess, but I had a tendency to over-analyze and was NOT fast.
However, the first time I was challenged to a 3D match, I threw caution to the winds and checkmated in three moves.
The universe being so very very large, unlikely things… happen all the time :)
Ella in New Mexico
@GoBlue72: Seriously, why are you doing this to yourself? No criticisms are allowed here of the Clintons. Don’t you know that by now?
And yeah, he “accidentally” referred to the last 8 years as an awful legacy forgetting that only six involved a bunch of lunatics on the Right in Congress. OOOOPS!!!
Just like the OOOPS! in 2008 of of snidely reminding folks how Jesse Jackson won the SC primaries twice…Then later saying it was a myth and how he was “mugged”.
I supported Obama back then for more than one good reason. :-)
Seriously, she should tape his mouth shut from here on.
Germy
Here’s a rare demo: Sam Cooke with his guitar, singing “You Send Me.”
Keith Richards once said “Sam Cooke is somebody other singers have to measure themselves against, and most of them go back to pumping gas.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiDyotFTUKE
Aleta
@Punchy: The hungry lion takes care of it every time they try.
Princess
@Princess: Husband has confirmed this is the guy he played. Husband beat him too.
Germy
Is Obama playing chess when he tells reporters “No way Trump will be president” knowing full well the GOP primary voters hate him (worst prez ever!) and will turn out in droves in response to win Trump the nomination? Which is what HRC wants?
Gin & Tonic
@Princess: Yes. that is Washington Square, where the chess hustlers have been for ages. Maurice Ashley is from New York, and is very familiar with that scene.
Aleta
@Germy: S’wonderful.
Tom Levenson
@Ella in New Mexico: Let me see — a 200 comment thread launched just last night in which the Blog host explicitly criticized Hillary, in which you took part = “no criticisms allowed of the Clintons…”
Grievance is a warm blanket. Snuggle up.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Ella in New Mexico:
He’s been referring to the 8 years of Republican obstruction of Obama in speeches for months, while Sanders has been unable to give any unqualified praise, isn’t interested in re-creating his coalition, and wanted him to be primaried. So you have an interesting way of showing support for Obama’s hard work.
Germy
@Aleta: I often like demos better than the finished recording.
? Martin
@GoBlue72: It’s impressive how the conservative outrage machine works equally well on the far left.
Rommie
It was a clever statement by Bill Clinton. Intentional? I’d say 50-50. It is one of those comments that exposes the viewpoint of the reader. Democrats (and Bill is still one, right?) see the awful eight years as the baloney the R’s have spewed since before Obama’s inauguration. The other side will naturally see it as an attack on Obama, since he’s, of course, AWFUL in the first place. And they swallowed that hook eagerly.
It’s the Bernie Bros who think Bill Clinton was seriously calling the President awful (especially when he mentioned the previous seven directly afterward) who are blinded by their frustration. Come on.
James E Powell
@MattF:
It’s pretty clear what Bill Clinton was saying, but it is also pretty clear that – as they were in 2000 – the corporate press/media is eager to run with whatever the Republicans feed them.
Ella in New Mexico
@Hill Dweller:
PBO is a better man than Bill, which also annoys the hell out of him. Given that Obama has essentially put the word out he’s rooting for Hilary, Bill needs to keep his God-damn fingers out of things before he ruins it for her once again.
Even thought I’m a Sanders supporter, I can read the writing on the wall about his chances of taking the nomination. In that case, I absolutely want Hilary to win in the fall. Bill and his sloppiness needs to be nipped in the bud now, or it will blow back on her later. And I say that as someone who voted for the guy twice.
He’s smart, but he just ain’t got no self control when it comes to some things.
rikyrah
Uh Uh Uh
My brush with North Carolina voter ID law
By Rudy Ravindra
I went to vote during the early voting period in the North Carolina primaries. I am aware of the new law that requires a person to present a photo ID in order to vote.
I gave my driver’s license to a poll worker, HW. He kept it face down and ordered me to spell my name.
Although I go by Rudy, my legal name is Rudravajhala. In order to save time, I requested HW look at my ID. He barked, “You gotta spell it!”
So I took a deep breath and began. “R-U-D-”
He repeated after me and typed each letter. When he typed a B instead of a D, I had to correct him, “It’s not B; it’s D for dog.”
This farce went on a for a while, and each time he made a mistake, I patiently corrected. Meanwhile, voters in adjacent lines came and went briskly. I heaved a sigh of relief when HW finally entered my mouthful of a name into his computer and peered at the monitor. And then I had to pronounce it, and when he tried, he couldn’t get it right.
He asked, “Your address?”
With a tight smile, I gave it. Already my blood pressure was quite high, and I knew if this charade continued, I might be tempted to walk out without voting. But luckily the ordeal came to an end, and with a smirk HW declared that I am the perfect voter. I almost told him that he is the perfect so and so. But I bit my tongue, as I was concerned that in these trigger happy days, HW might summon the police to haul me off.
Since my wife was out of town last week, I drove her to the designated polling place (not the same place I voted) on Election Day. This time poll worker NX subjected my wife to a similar ritual. Keeping her ID face down, he asked her to spell her name and pronounce it.
Our two Caucasian friends who live in different areas of town voted at different polling places. In contrast to our humiliating experience, however, they did not have to pass the spelling test and after a cursory glance at their IDs were allowed to vote.
My wife and I couldn’t help but feel that we were singled out. The poll workers could have simply looked at our IDs and saved a lot of time. That in a sea of white faces at both polling stations my wife and I were the only brown-skinned individuals also led us to suspect that we were victims of racial prejudice. In these days of Trumpism and shameless xenophobia and other assorted phobias, we can’t be blamed if we are paranoid.
I called the N.C. State Board of Elections in Raleigh and was pleasantly surprised when a live person answered. The moment she realized that a difficult situation was at hand, I was transferred to her superior. He listened to my saga patiently and suggested that I lodge a formal complaint with the director of the New Hanover County Board of Elections. He also promised to email the director.
When the director called me, he was understanding and appeared to empathize with my plight. He said that the poll workers overstepped their authority and that they had no reason to subject us to that unnecessary exercise. He said poll workers only have to look at a photo ID to ascertain the bonafide of a voter. He apologized profusely.
Germy
Non-republican comment, but probably involves explosions:
I see Batman v Superman is getting good reactions in early previews…
Germy
@rikyrah: Their intent is to make voting as unpleasant as possible for people of color.
Cacti
@Ella in New Mexico:
When you’re nailing yourself to your martyr’s cross, how do you get that last one pounded in?
MattF
@James E Powell: It’s a reflex now– lizard-brain hears “Bill“, claw scratches on the terrarium wall.
Ella in New Mexico
@Tom Levenson: I wasn’t referring to the blog host.
But really, the fact that some here express literal hate for Sanders and his supporters is getting old, especially given we’re supposed to be coming from the same party.
And the snarky, ridiculous inferences in insults abound from a handful of people who one would almost suspect work for the Clinton campaign just to lurk and work the blog site’s comment section…
rikyrah
That’s my President.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 3/21/16
Obama gets Cuba deal done where past presidents have failed
Rachel Maddow tells the remarkable story of the secret effort to change the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba during the Kennedy administration and notes that President Obama succeeded in his historic visit to Cuba today where every Democratic president since has failed. Duration: 19:39
Mnemosyne
@schrodinger’s cat:
Thanks! The odds seem to be in our favor that it’s either nothing or something treatable, but we won’t know until the biopsy.
:-(
BruceFromOhio
Really looking forward to riding the motorcycle to work now that spring is rumored to be here – the thermometer must first cooperate by showing a value greater than 40 degrees F, that or below is just no fun to ride.
Scamp Dog
@CaseyL: Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy blog has some good explanations of rainbows, including double rainbows and how they affect the color of the surrounding sky.
Benw
@Cacti: so you heart Bern? :)
Mnemosyne
Also, too, a bit of a shoutout to the state of California — apparently state law mandates that my insurance company authorize an ultrasound when the radiologist determines that a mammogram is insufficient. At least, that’s what my very nice ultrasound technician LaTonya told me yesterday.
Just One More Canuck
@rikyrah: @Germy: At least they didn’t ask how bubbles there are in a bar of soap
Aleta
@Germy: Yeah. And that one is a real beaut.
MattF
@Scamp Dog: The actual ‘theory of rainbows’ that gets all the details right is quite complicated. It’s all entirely classical physical optics, but you can lose sight of the relatively simple geometry involved. The basic situation is that the Sun is behind you, over your shoulder, and there’s a fog bank or some area with moisture in drops in front of you.
Immanentize
@Mnemosyne: Mnemo — I finally caught up on the earlier thread from my weekend travels. I am so sorry, but I do have some hopeful info./observation from my Surgeon: he told me that humans and science have not really gained much advantage in the treatment of cancer — except in breast cancer — but what we have really made huge strides in is cancer detection and prevention. Hence the removal of polyps and pre-cancerous skin cells and uncertain lumps. This, he said, is what has saved hundreds of thousands of lives each year. So, you are totally on the early detection side of the equation. Good luck!
Mnemosyne
@rikyrah:
I have a strange urge to have that poll worker be assigned to work some of the Polish neighborhoods in Chicago and told that he has to type all of the names by hand. An hour or two of having to manually enter “Brzezicki” and “Wojewodzki” would cure him pretty fast of thinking that was a good idea.
Germy
@Just One More Canuck: They would if they could.
But they can’t.
Not yet.
Amaranthine RBG
You might want to add a trigger warning since that clip contains images of Tim Ferris
JPL
@Mnemosyne: Cruz and Trump both think you should pay less for your insurance, so they will get rid of pesky regulations. Thinking of you, because I had a few follow-up tests and
it’s nerve wracking waiting. Both times I was fine though.
japa21
@Ella in New Mexico: I have seen almost no hatred towards Sanders here. I have seen growing disgust with the way he is doing his campaign. Yes, there is some hatred (still perhaps too strong a word) towards some Sanders supporters (not you) but they do bring it on themselves.
Now, there is a lot of hate spewed toward H Clinton by Sanders supporters here, with some rather vicious insults directed towards her and her supporters here. Some Clinton supporters do go a little overboard, but most don’t, yet even a mild comment supportive of Clinton brings forth cries of Wall Street lackey, etc.
Immanentize
Also, I will share some nerdly/proud papa info. for this “keep it positive” thread —
This weekend, my son’s First Tech Challenge team, the Brainstormers, went to compete in the Northeast Super-Regionals in lovely ‘Electric Town’ (Scranton P.A.) which was immortalized in the Harry Chapin song “30,000 lb.s of Bananas.”
His team did an amazing job, hitting some high scores and ultimately ended up on the second place alliance in the whole competition. And, my son is one of the team programmers — they won the “Control Award” for best autonomous programming. Off to the World Championships!! (which are in St. Louis — good bar b q but couldn’t they have sent us to like Paris or Berlin?)
Video for robot fans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq7Daq8qWJQ
Bobby Thomson
@Ella in New Mexico: Bill has always been great at campaigning for himself and lousy as a surrogate. Especially for Hillary.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
Hamilmaniacs and theater fans of all types:
Brecht Versus _Hamilton_: A Rap Battle
Filk:
It’s Quiet in the Shire
Gvg
@Ella in New Mexico: 2 or 3 Sanders supporters are repeatedly being very unpleasant here if you would notice and many of us have run out of patience. Comments have been very pointed to specific Sanders obnoxious people. Your jumping in with hurt feelings interpreting it to be against all sanders supporters does not help. There were too broad a brush comments some time ago but lately it’s been specific and deserved. Stand back and watch.
The Ancient Randonneur
Very interesting read:
Why President Obama Has the Constitutional Power to Appoint—and Not Just Nominate—a Replacement for Justice Scalia
Bill
That is a really fun video. Thanks for sharing
JPL
@Bill: It was awesome.
@Princess: Nice!
WereBear
@Mnemosyne: Dang! Good wishes sent your way.
Technocrat
Just finished watching The Expanse on Syfy. The special effects are nothing short of cinematic. If you like hard sci-fi, it’s the best show on television.
aimai
@Ella in New Mexico: Really? Are you shitting me with this crap? I’m a real live person who has been real, live, blogging here and elsewhere for more than ten years. How do you have the nerve to assert that I’m a paid Clinton worker rather than the utterly ordinary and completely unremarkable democratic voter I have always been? And ditto for everyone else though, of course, I can only testify to my own actuality and not theirs. Except for Tom L who has met me IRL.
JMG
Anyone else going to watch Tampa Bay Rays vs. Cuba?
Mnemosyne
@WereBear:
Thanks! Odds are good that it’s nothing serious, but it’s still stressful. At least I get to take the whole day off work — I’ll have to stock up the Kindle with trashy romances as a reward.
Eric U.
it seems to me that the majority of the troublesome bernistas here did not post much or at all before the primary started. Maybe they were lurking, who knows? Definitely going to get the troll-be-gone filter going soon if it doesn’t end real soon. I think most of use were in the DGAF as long as the Democrat wins the general group, which apparently isn’t pure enough for some.
schrodinger's cat
@Mnemosyne: I like trashy romances too, but they have to somewhat well written as in not lol funny. Any suggestions?
jharp
I had a tooth pulled last week and just gave up the opiates used to deal with the pain and I had 14 doses left over.
I always take taking those things very seriously and always feel good about myself when I can stop taking them so easily.
The interruption of the digestive process is a huge help I gotta admit though.
Cermet
@Mnemosyne: Best of luck on the results!
Again, it has been medically proven that sufficient levels of Vitamin D lower the risk of Breast Cancer significantly. While levels have not been determined, would be safe to aim for 50 – 70 ng/dl. Besides breast cancer, the risk of many other cancers are reduced by proper levels of Vit D. And, it has strong evidence that it reduces the number and severity of colds/flu!
Win/win!
Shell
@SiubhanDuinne: Damn. 46 years old.
Mnemosyne
@schrodinger’s cat:
It depends on if you like historicals or contemporaries. If you like historicals, you might like Lisa Kleypas, who is often LOL funny on purpose — she has some really snarky characters sometimes even within a historical setting. For contemporary stuff, Jennifer Crusie is really good and is also very funny. Almost everything historical that I like is set in England.
Amir Khalid
@Eric U.:
I for one am glad that Thoughtful Today no longer comments here. That Bernista decided to bring up labour abuses by Malaysian employers as a response to any criticism I made of Bernie.
Amir Khalid
@JMG:
That’s the baseball team that was known as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, isn’t it, before the local Bible-thumpers demonstrated their poor knowledge of fish?
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@aimai:
I’m real too – Anne Laurie, hengiquai and efgoldman can testify to that fact. I don’t know what happened, but as far as conspiracy theories go, and having witnessed the Cult of Bernie form over the last few months, it’s more likely that there’s an Invasion of the Body Snatchers alien life form infecting certain white Obama voters with a belief in unicorns, than that we’ve become paid Clinton operatives.
chopper
@? Martin:
goblue isn’t the far left. he’s the new myiq2xu of the blog.
chopper
@aimai:
hey, at least you aren’t a secret psyoperative working in the basement of the pentagon.
i swear to fucking god, people need to get out more.
Gin & Tonic
Another bit of respite: at the conclusion of today’s Russian show trial of the Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, some laughter burst out in the courtroom (not sure who or why) and the presiding judge said “If anyone finds this funny they can leave the courtroom.” Savchenko, naturally, said “I find this funny.”
As I posted a week or two ago, when she stood on her bench and flipped the bird at the judge, this woman is extraordinarily brave.
schrodinger's cat
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: I am real too. I have even met two other commenters IRL, so I can I vouch that they are real as well.
Bodacious
Well, I’m headed to the WA caucuses on Sat just so I can meet a bunch of young (and older) Bernie-ites, and I’m going to give them a big THANK YOU. Thanks for the enthusiasm, thanks for keeping the Bernie issues burning, and thanks for yanking Hillary to the left. I’m voting for Clinton, but still and thankful, and a little envious, of their ‘bern’ like I felt in 2008. No down side to this from my elderly seat.
Let’s keep it real.
Ben Cisco
@Mnemosyne: I just saw this – sorry that you’re having to go through it and hope that everything will turn out OK.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Bodacious:
See, now that’s how to be a Bernista without being a gigantic PITA.
Mnemosyne
@Ben Cisco:
Thank you! The odds are high that it will turn out to be nothing, but the waiting is stressful anyway.
Have you recovered from The Cold? Don’t feel like a wimp — it really was a truly nasty one this year. I was still fatigued a week after I got it, and then the runny nose started right when I was starting to feel better.
Uncle Cosmo
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Unpossible. He’d have to take his head out first, & he’s forgotten how.
Brachiator
@Gin & Tonic:
From BBC News
Nadiya Savchenko was sentenced to 22 years in jail after being convicted of directing artillery fire which killed them in eastern Ukraine in June 2014.
She burst into a folk-style protest song in the courtroom as she was finally pronounced guilty after the judge’s two-day reading of the verdict.
She denied all the charges and her case has become internationally notorious.
Ukraine would never recognise the “so-called” verdict, President Petro Poroshenko said, describing the trial as “infamous”.
Cermet
@Mnemosyne:My post would help the cold as well …ignoring it?
Mnemosyne
@Cermet:
Sorry, I sometimes lose track of who says what when I’m commenting from the phone. I’m a pale person living in Southern California, so I never have any trouble with Vitamin D, at least according to my blood tests. The thing that really prevents me from catching colds is keeping my asthma under control — I ran out of Singulair and bam! I caught The Cold.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Gin & Tonic: Putin, Erdogan, etc. They’re scary people. I hope the GOP voters wake up and let Trump know that they won’t accept him before he wins the nomination. Although I think him winning the nomination would lead to a blowout win for HRC, it’s really not good for a major political party to continue down the path to insanity.
Cheers,
Scott.
Brachiator
@Germy:
It’s odd. I have not seen nearly the same amount of pre-movie buzz that I saw with the Star Wars film or even the last Avengers movie. And people are going nuts in some circles over the Spiderman cameo in the upcoming Captain America movie.
I’ve tried to avoid any detail about the film, but some of the buzz I am hearing is fairly positive.
And I am seeing it on Friday.
Gin & Tonic
@Brachiator: Um, I know the whole story.
Ben Cisco
@Mnemosyne: Coughing finally stopped yesterday. Two more weeks with the inhaler. Being able to breathe again is a wonderful thing.
Brachiator
@Gin & Tonic:
I didn’t know the whole story, and am not sure how many other Juicers did. Your post was very helpful.
And I didn’t know the trial verdict.
Germy
@Brachiator: Let us know what you think (without spoilers)
satby
@Mnemosyne: I hadn’t heard about the sonogram, but like @schrodinger’s cat: I hope it turns out to be a false alarm.
RoonieRoo
That was an awesome video! I needed that today.
satby
@Ben Cisco: Yeah, it was a really bad bug. I’m much better, but still have some congestion and sinus issues. It is good to breathe again!
Weaselone
Gotta love it. Bernie supporters dishonestly regurgitate a Republican PACs twisted interpretation Bill Clinton’s speech and then whine about poor treatment. Hillary is the dishonest insider, yet it’s Bernie’s proxies cand campaign that have been spreading the most manure.
polyorchnid octopunch
Well, I was reading upthread the back and forth with GoBlue and various folks.
I’m looking in on this from the outside, but with the deep perspective offered by a lifetime living across the river from the US.
There’s a very simple explanation about why Hilary can truthfully say she’ll be able to work with Republicans. She’s being quite hawkish. This means the arms faction is going to continue to get their piece of the US taxpayer going forward. They’ll be telling their Republican pets in Congress to work with her.
Something that I think some folks in the Democratic party are not getting is that US foreign policy (i.e. Bomb Brown People Inc.) is becoming an “I’m going to sit on my hands” issue for a growing number of Americans. The Democratic party elites will ignore this at their peril.
The elite impunity problem we have in North America is another one; believe me we have huge issues of elite impunity up here. It’s not uniquely a US problem, that’s for sure. I’d say it’s a wider Anglosphere issue; just look at where the governments of Australia, the UK, as well as the US and Canada have been heading for an extended period of time around those sorts of things… and the treaties that all of our countries are getting ready to ink are going to make that situation significantly worse in a very short period of time.
Now, I’m a pragmatist, which means I always vote, because sometimes life sucks and you’re pretty much looking at least worse option. Given the size of the spread between least worse and most worse options, you should still be voting for Hillary whether or not the person who gave you the tingle won their nomination. I’ll be honest, I get the tingle from Sanders, recognizing that there have been serious problems with his relations with Black Americans, because I know that after a few years of disruption, his economic policies would immensely improve life for a huge number of people. They sure help a lot up here, let me tell you, and there are other countries who do it a lot better than we do too. All that said, Hillary Clinton will be far far better for women, brown people, natives, and yes, the white middle class than anything on offer from the Republicans. If/when Hillary wins the nomination if you don’t vote for her because Sanders lost you’re committing an insane act of civic irresponsibility.
Given what’s coming out of the Republican party right now, it’s obvious that they must be kept away from the levers of power. Voter outreach into the communities that don’t vote is an imperative for the Democratic party in this election. I’ve seen some really brutal garbage come out of some of the self-proclaimed Bern people. They’ve got to realise that they really need to work on getting into the party between elections if they want to start seeing their priorities move up the list. This is not aided by name-calling and alienation.
I can think of lots of good reasons to support Hillary, and when it comes to race questions I’ll bow to the people that live it to speak for themselves… but I will say it looks like they have.
So, for the rest of it, the advice from this outsider watching the cage match is that the BernieBros as you call them should cool it and start thinking about what to do in the medium term so you can implement big goals long term… and that means working with other people and communities to get shared goals implemented.
All that, of course, is assuming that the berniebro phenomena isn’t actually a ratfucking operation being run out of National Review or something.
Ella in New Mexico
@aimai: Did I mention you at all? No, because you are not the type of commenter who does this stuff. As to being paid shills, well, I’m making a metaphorical inference that some people here at this site are omnipresent, seem to be so intensely, inordinately devoted to their candidate that they will go “full-hilt shiv” every single time they perceive someone is not in their camp. So maybe they’re not working for anyone, but they might as well be. Hell, go get paid for all the effort.
Over the past few weeks here, you simply cannot be a Sanders fan. The mere mention of positives I see in the Sanders campaign or his positions nets at the least, undeservedly snarky and insulting comments, and at their worst, personal attacks based not on what I may have said but what the commenter wrongly projects on to me.
They’re not limited to the issue but a judgement of who I am as a person. I’ve been told I’m naive, deluded, and a wet behind the ears millennial who doesn’t know about history and I’d better bone up (uh, I’m 53 and lifelong Democrat and my original undergrad degree was Political Science/Psych). I’m not a real feminist and I don’t understand how women feel abused and “triggered” by men like Bernie pointing a finger in their direction (Did 15 years of Domestic Violence work thank you so maybe I don’t think his finger is that harmful).
If I respond in anyway equally strong suddenly I’m in the Cult of Bernie, I believe in unicorns, fairly tales, conspiracy theories, blah, blah, blah.
So lately, I’m getting a bit sick of it and maybe getting snarky myself. I’ve lurked here since long before Obama–I think i found it somewhere around the election leading up to Bush’s second term. But seriously, the only time I remember things being this ugly here at BJ was in 2008 and it was coming from Hilary supporters then, too.
So again, if you think I named you, I did not. Like I said, it’s a handful of people, most of whom appear to be newer readers (at least their monikers seem new). The long term folks here don’t usually operate on such a nasty level. But it’s catching, and I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been sucked into some of it myself. I’ll try to do better.
eemom
IS there actually such a thing as someone being paid to comment on a freakin BLOG? That has always seemed far fetched to me.
Sad_Dem
It’s hard to follow the game, but I can see toward the end when the guy playing black calls mate in 20 that he’s a piece up with a winning position. Then he trains both pieces on a pawn in front of the white king. Soon after, the guy playing white resigns and yells “cut.” ha ha. Brings back memories of playing blitz in public places like that. Some of those players are seriously skilled, but others are more of the trash talk and hand-tricks variety, like the guy playing white.
Dmbeaster
@satby: They were playing speed chess using the clock they hit after every move. 5 minutes is a typical time. Usual rules for winning apply, plus you lose automatically if your clock runs out first. A game played to the bloody end can be 70 to 80 moves (or more) which means 3 to 4 seconds a move to preserve your time.
chopper
@Ella in New Mexico:
oh, boo fucking hoo.
Ella in New Mexico
@chopper: This is what I’m talking about. I’m sincere and I get mocked. Thanks for proving my point.
chopper
@Ella in New Mexico:
grow a skin. FFS, there are sanders backers here who talk shit at people who sincerely back hillary. happens every goddamn day. sincere hillary backers get mocked here all the time. i guess you just simply can’t be a hillary fan at this blog, amirite?
again, and i’ll bold it: boo fucking hoo.
Ella in New Mexico
@chopper: nice bully impression. Or is it an impression at all? I grew a skin a long, long time ago, schmuck. How about you grow a character?
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@chopper:
I wish BJ comments had a like button.
chopper
@Ella in New Mexico:
nice victim impression. it’s a goddamn blog. There are obnoxious bernie people here mocking Hillary fans and vice versa. so lose the “poor victimized Bernie fan” shtick.
check the warranty paperwork.
Ella in New Mexico
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: of course you do. You’re Near the top of the list.
Ella in New Mexico
@chopper: keep it up. It only proves my point.
chopper
@Ella in New Mexico:
and I guess all the mocking of hillary people here by berniacs like bob and goblue and the rest proves what, exactly?* I guess you “can’t be a Hillary fan around here”? is that your point as well or does mocking others only count when “hill people” do it?
*speaking of which, whatever happened to cervantes? he was a bernie guy who really had the whole smug, self-righteous passive-aggressive shtick down pat.