Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

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

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

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

So many bastards, so little time.

I really should read my own blog.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

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

You are here: Home / Open Threads / School’s out for the summer

Reader Interactions

96Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    Now that our long national nightmare primary is over, we should all go out for ice cream.

  3. 3.

    Patricia Kayden

    Hmmm mmm. Cold Stone ice cream is always great — even in the Winter. With all this politicking, it’s going to be a long, hot Summer. May we all survive with our sanity by November. I’m already seeing an anti-Clinton ad featuring Bill being interrogated about the Lewinsky scandal. Sigh.

  7. 7.

    Mnemosyne

    My 17-year-old nephew graduated from high school yesterday. Next stop, the Marines — he’s filled out 90 percent of the paperwork and taken the tests, so now it’s a matter of doing the last few steps (including a final physical) and waiting around for his report date. This has been his dream for several years and I think it will be good for him, but I REALLY don’t want him to get sent anywhere near the Middle East.

    He’s looking at Logistics as his field — fortunately, he scored high enough on his tests that they’re not going to put him in the infantry (or the Marine equivalent thereof).

  8. 8.

    raven

    @Mnemosyne: It’s infantry, Marines love to say they are all infantry first and foremost. Is her going to Parris Island or Pendelton?

  9. 9.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    Are Marines “jarheads” or “leathernecks”? I never can remember. (I do remember a fairly obnoxious RWNJ ex-Marine who used to have a talk radio show in Atlanta many years ago. He was funny sometimes, and I actually listened to his afternoon drive program because I was besotted with the traffic reporter, but the guy’s political views sucked.)

  10. 10.

    danielx

    Open thread as summer creeps up on us.

    It didn’t creep up here, it arrived with a heavy foot – today. First really hot and humid day, expected to be 92 tomorrow. We’ve had four days of gorgeous cool, sunny weather and I knew it was going to be paid for somehow; the invoice arrived today.

  16. 16.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    I mean putting up a political thread after Tom said he’d like this one to be about non-political stuff.

    I am such a contrarian. Such a scofflaw.

  17. 17.

    piratedan

    well, we spent the last weekend in the one-teens, so the low triple digits will seem kind of like a respite here in the old pueblo…

  20. 20.

    NotMax

    @Mnemosyne

    Good on the tests and all, however if a recruiter made any promises regarding deployment (or anything else of import), get it in writing – and signed. They can verbally promise the moon but it ain’t worth jack.

  22. 22.

    Trollhattan

    @NotMax:
    What, they don’t honor the spoken-word thingies?

    Man, 17 was a long time ago and I sure as hell wasn’t qualified to make such a life-molding decision at that age. Heck, didn’t even get my draft card until 18. Here’s hoping he does well and none of it involves being shot at.

  23. 23.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Mnemosyne: All Marines are infantry first, something else second. This is unlike the Army where yes, basic training is for everyone, but then you’re shipped off to advanced individual training to get schooled in what your actual Military Occupational Specialty is going to be. The Army is a bit less “infantry first” than the Marines in that respect.

  27. 27.

    Kathleen

    In Tampa for youngest grandson’s hs graduation. My baby (sniff)! But I’m not getting older. Tee hee.

  28. 28.

    guachi

    Tell the Marine to take the DLAB and become a linguist. Fifteen years in (Navy) and I like it enough I’ll do another five.

  29. 29.

    karen marie

    @piratedan: Ugh. 114 predicted for tomorrow. It is a delightful 98 now but …

    Everyone think of suffering me when you go out for ice cream. I live in an ice cream store-free zone. I hate Arizona.

  30. 30.

    redshirt

    @SiubhanDuinne: High 40’s for the next 4 nights.

    Note, however, that this is unseasonably cold for even Maine. I love it though. I’ve got my house at 60 and I’ve fully embraced the cold.

  32. 32.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    Still processing my experience today. Amazing.

    Plus, Ms Shabazzgot my mom to applaud a MalcolmX quote, which was awesome.

  34. 34.

    Jeffro

    All I know is, our local shop here in NoVA is overpriced and overrated. I’ll take some DQ any day.

  36. 36.

    Trollhattan

    @karen marie:
    114. Dear god. Can we hold a Get karenmarie Out of Arizona fundraiser for you? Guess that would have to be a bake sale.

    It’s not even summer.

  38. 38.

    danielx

    @debbie:

    There’s a Handel’s about a half mile from my house….the upside is that I usually pass it by because there’s a line a block long

  40. 40.

    maya

    @Mnemosyne:

    He’s looking at Logistics as his field — fortunately, he scored high enough on his tests that they’re not going to put him in the infantry (or the Marine equivalent thereof).

    Ha!

    50 years ago I was cruising down my last 90 days in the Corps, so I have no idea what is going with today’s exciting, new, Choose Yer Specialty USMC. (If that actually exists, it ain’t the Marine Corps anymore.)

    Marine Corps IS infantry! Grunts, if you prefer. Everything revolves around the infantry unit ( usually, battalion size) now designated as Expeditionary Force(s). Hell, even the old” Home of The 2nd Marine Division” sign outside the main gate at Camp Lejuene, (where I spent the better part of 2 years} now reads, “Home of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force”, which, I surmise, means a lot of air auxiliary parts have been added plus a few other modern twists. – 2nd Computerized Logistics Company? Maybe. The Corps doesn’t do amphibious landings anymore, like in my day. It is all helicopter from baby carrier now, (When Trump Airlines Stratojets aren’t available), so, it is possible that there may actually be “logistical” assignments for the young recruit (boot) in his future, but, I can guarantee he WILL be getting his ITR (Infantry Training Regiment) first, and learn to ‘Qualify’ with whatever hardware they’re shooting with now or he will spend a very miserable enlistment doing shitbird details regardless of his high test scores in the recruiters office.. Marine Corps puts heavy emphasis on marksmanship.

    Again, the Marine Corps. IS infantry. It ain’t the Junior Birdman Air Force, See The World Navy, or whatever the hell the New Action, Be All You Can Be, Army Strong, is these days.

  42. 42.

    SuperHrefna

    @karen marie: That’s much too hot. Here’s a song for you: Cruel Summer Can you even bring ice cream home from the store in that heat? I think you need to make a midnight run with a cooler and stock up. You’ve earned that banana split.

  45. 45.

    dr. luba

    Sister of a friend of mine works for Alice, is on the road with him much of the year. Only woman in the crew. Says he’s a great guy, a real gentleman. Treats her like a daughter.

    It’s been pleasantly chilly in Michigan this week, after the rains. Now they’re predicting 91 tomorrow in my neck of the woods. That is just wrong. It’s early June, FFS.

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    @efgoldman

    Used to enjoy Baskin-Robbins licorice ice cream (although it contained enough artificial coloring to choke a yak).

    All time fave flavor is pistachio. Hard to find and even harder to find the old-timey good kind with the slightly grainy consistency as opposed to mediocre stuff labeled as pistachio. Toss-up for second place between coffee and cherry vanilla.

    Now, this is weird: it’s charcoal flavored ice cream

  48. 48.

    eyelessgame

    You realize you can mashup that song with “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess, if you sing the latter sufficiently uptempo.

    About that open thread – a couple weeks ago, at my daughter’s high school graduation, the valedictorian gave a pretty astonishingly brutal address (this is at Granite Bay High, CA.) You all may find this interesting.

    https://youtu.be/a5uqNhfNHL8

  49. 49.

    Mnemosyne

    @raven:

    Parris Island. He’s signing up from Florida even though he graduated out here. They now have a program where you can sign up with a friend and be in the same boot camp, so that’s the other reason he’s signed up from Florida.

  50. 50.

    Trollhattan

    @eyelessgame:
    Whoa, a “kid” beyond his years.

    Nice campus BTW. My kid has played soccer there and I frankly thought we’d wandered onto a college campus.

  52. 52.

    Randy P

    Re: summer and ice cream

    There’s a chain called Rita’s in the Philly area whose specialty is homemade italian ice (which for some reason in this region is called “water ice” (which is pronounced “wooter ice”)).

    They have a tradition of free water ice on the first day of SPRING.

    Which is not, typically, a very warm day in these parts. Nevertheless, the lines at every Rita’s are enormous that day.

  53. 53.

    Shell

    If this is going to turn into a “summer songs” thread, so be it.

    “Summer In The City” by the Lovin Spoonful

  54. 54.

    Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class

    @eclare:

    Yup.

    Aside from Lerner playing Bernie in a shabbily worn shawl (he’s always been an ass), every speaker was awesome

  55. 55.

    Mnemosyne

    @maya:

    Noted, but we’re hoping he tested high enough that they won’t be eager to ship him off to Af/Pak with a gun without training him to do anything else. Obviously, all bets are off if a situation develops.

    This has been his dream for a while and he’s been doing physical training for it for at least 2 years, so I think he’ll do well. I suspect he has a touch of ADHD (as we all do in this family), but he really craves routine and structure as a result. Still, I don’t want him getting thrown into our failed occupation and coming back with PTSD like too many other people I know.

  59. 59.

    joel hanes

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Are Marines “jarheads” or “leathernecks”?

    IIRC, an Army guy might get away with calling a Marine a “leatherneck” to his face, but in the same circumstances, “jarhead” was taken as intentional fighting words.

    I think leatherneck is a WW-II-ism.

    “jarhead” of course refers to the distinctive shape of the Marine fatigue cap.

  60. 60.

    debbie

    @danielx:

    I’m usually too impatient to deal with lines, but at a half-block, I can usually come back in a few minutes.

  63. 63.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @joel hanes: My uncle, who was Navy, used to say that Jarhead referred to a portion of the enlistment process – the ability to fit one’s head inside a mason jar. He also had an interesting tale for how Bangkok got it’s name Not what you are thinking, but still bizarre). Too much time on ships does things to people.

  76. 76.

    J R in WV

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Sailors call Marines Jarheads, but they’re also Leathernecks.

    Jarhead may be less flattering, as it’s what swabbies call them. Most sizable ships have some Marines on board, they shared our berthing space when we were at sea. We actually got along OK. Shore patrol was always one Marine and one Sailor, to assure fairness of treatment.

  77. 77.

    maya

    @Mnemosyne: Didn’t mean to sound harsh, but I did have an amused reaction to the idea that the USMC now sells selective enlistment choices. That may very well be – it’s been 50 years – but, as someone else said above, if it isn’t in writing (and I’m not sure what “logistics” means in this context) it’s not worth anything and even then…..

    You hit the nail on the head with your “all bets off ” assessment. I hope your nephew understands that too.
    Looking back on it, the only thing I didn’t like about my time in was the routine. Same thing over and over. However, I did get a chance to see some of the world, lucky enough to not get shipped to Nam – they dangled $$$ lures for me to reup just to do that, which I turned down, and learned a few things about myself and about others from totally different backgrounds. The food wasn’t bad either, especially on board a Navy ship.
    As a former Marine I wish your nephew well. Parris Island will be fun. Marine bootcamp is best served up during those, hot, steamy South Carolina summer months. I know about that. Perhaps he won’t get his orders until October or later.

  79. 79.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @joel hanes: I only use “Jarhead” in a positive way, with a Marine I might know well first. Otherwise, yup, fightin’ words.

  82. 82.

    maya

    @J R in WV: Marines don’t really mind being called jarheads by anyone. Leathernecks is rather outdated, And you’re talking about what the Marine Corps calls Sea Duty. That is a plum assignment that only best qualified Marines get. They are the Captain’s Praetorian Guard as it were, so they better be good..

  84. 84.

    Mnemosyne

    @maya:

    Yeah, they don’t really let you pick, but you do apparently get to express areas of interest, and the tests are supposed to show what your aptitudes are, in theory.

    This is the nephew whose father died last year and who doesn’t get along with his mother, so we’re hoping he can start basic pretty promptly since he doesn’t really have a permanent home, poor kid.

  86. 86.

    maya

    @Mnemosyne: Do the recruiters know about his family background as you just described? If he is an only child, with only his mother left, I’m very surprised they would take him at all. He represents his mother’s only possible source of support. They let guys get out for that reason in combat zones in my time.

  87. 87.

    Mnemosyne

    @maya:

    So I was looking at some of the websites designed to explain the process to parents of recruits, and it looks like the sequence is boot camp, School of Infantry, and then MOS (Military Occupational Specialty). I’m assuming that if in the process of the first two trainings they discover he’s a marksman (for example), he’ll be sent to that MOS regardless of what his initial preference was.

  88. 88.

    Mnemosyne

    @maya:

    Oh, his mother signed off on letting him start boot camp at 17. She can’t wait to be rid of him, because she’s an asshole. Long, long story.

  90. 90.

    maya

    @Mnemosyne: Yes, that’s the proper order, except that your MOS is usually determined before and during the first two steps by…. tests. For example, somewhere along the line it was determined that my basic MOS was 2500. Radio. Through a couple of schools I became a 2533 – radio telegraph operator. They don’t even use telegraph anymore! Boy, do I feel dated.
    If he turns out to be an Expert in rifle qualifications (that happens at Parris Island), it does not mean that he will go into the infantry. Rifle skill has nothing to do with MOS, so if he likes to shoot, and most young men do, he can have fun.
    In the latter part of my 3 years, 2 months and 17 days of active duty in the Marines, I seemed to attract novelty assignments. One of them was as a range instructor at the Camp Lejuene 2nd MarDiv rifle range. It was great. I had to get 8 or 10 Marines qualified every week. Every Marine is supposed to re-qualify every year, so the rifle ranges are always busy. The day began as soon as it was light enough to start shooting and ended around noon. Especially nice on Fridays and made for some memorable long weekends.
    A range instructor is graded by how many he gets qualified so it’s important to all concerned. A UNQ (unqualified) id a blot on more than one Marine’s record. Bootcamp DI’s are very much aware of that item and can make life hell for the poor dumb, UNQ. We had a few in my bootcamp platoon and they tended to be the smaller fellows. But that was when we were using M14’s which were big, heavy rifles compared to the current smaller caliber light-weight rifles of today.

  91. 91.

    J R in WV

    My best friend back in college the first time, 1969-70, was a third generation draft avoider. His grandfather came here from Russia to avoid the Tzar’s draft, and his dad avoided the draft too. Mitch went to a shrink to get papers to get a 4F the same time I enlisted.

    Flash forward 30 years – Mitch has a son who is a black-belt by the time he gets into HS. Then he joins the Marines, just as war in the ‘stans fires up. Mitch was completely blown away by the lack of following the family tradition. Son wound up in military intelligence, computers, intel signals. Knew how to fight, but never had to. Now does the same work as a civilian contractor for muy bucks.

    I always got along with the jarheads on our ship, maybe because they were cream of the crop. On the other hand, we weren’t ever going overseas, during my time anyway.

  92. 92.

    maya

    @J R in WV: Interesting story. I was on two ships during my ’63-’66 active duty. The first was a part Merchant Marine/ privatized ship with government contract to feed us @ X cents a jarhead and there were fights on the chow line between Marines and snotty servers because of the shitty food. But, someone made a Buck and that’s the important thing in our Capitalist Military Complex. (Maybe the tsar evaders had a point.)
    The second was an all Navy APA on a Med Cruise for 5 months That ship’s mess crew apparently won awards in the Navy for their food skills. I will always remember waking up in the morning in my top berth to the smell of fresh pastry baking in their ovens. We ate good, and, word got around the fleet somehow so that every time we were in a port secured to a dock and not anchored out in the bay, the lunch line swelled with Marines and sailors from other ships.

    I went to the website of that APA’s former crew(s) a few year’s back (ship long scrapped) and thanked them for a pretty good cruise with them. The Captain of the ship never demanded that Marines do any shit details, as could happen on some ships and the food was always a treat. Nothing left to do but play pinochle all day.

  93. 93.

    Richard Mayhew

    @joel hanes: leatherneck is a Quasi-warism or at latest an 1812-ism. One of the main combat jobs of Marines in the age of sail was boarding or defending against boarding. That quickly meant a single volley of pistols and then sword and pike. Marines wore heavy coats with a thick leather collar as light armor… thus leatherneck

  95. 95.

    Miss Bianca

    @Richard Mayhew: Really? I thought it was later than that…my grandfather was a Marine, and I remember my father saying something about the uniforms still having those collars during the time of the Philippines engagements – he made it sound like they were meant to guard against getting your head summarily cut off with a machete, which always gave me the grue.

  96. 96.

    maya

    @Miss Bianca: As a former Marine/jarhead/leatherneck, your grandfather and father are correct. Not something from 1812. Marine Corps then was only an adjunct to a ship and used mainly for masthead musketry and boarding, as Mayhew says. However, sailors boarded too and surely they would have been issued those protective leathernecks also, wouldn’t they? Dilution of the graphic name recognition makes that an improbability.

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