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Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

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Their freedom requires your slavery.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Democrats have delivered the Square Deal, the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and now… the Big Joe Biden Deal.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

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

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

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The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

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Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

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You are here: Home / 2016 / June / Archives for 19th

Archives for June 19, 2016

Sunday Night Open Thread: Happy “Relationship: It’s Complicated” Father’s Day…

by Anne Laurie|  June 19, 20169:12 pm| 177 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Excellent Links, Open Threads

I loved my old man, to use a phrase he taught me, this side idolatry. I inherited his sense of humor, so he introduced me to Gore Vidal’s critical essays, H. Allen Smith, John D. MacDonald, MAD Magazine, and Gilbert Shelton (the Wonder Wart Hog comics in the back of his motorcycle magazines). His extensive paperback library led me to love science fiction and fantasy. (Although he was dubious about my eventually teenage discovery of fandom: “I used to hang out with those guys in the Village clubs, before you were born. But they weren’t as friendly as the bikers, or as well-read as the jazz fans. In fact, some of them weren’t as literate as the bikers, and were even ruder than the jazzmen!”)

He told me that my sister might be the pretty one, but I was the smart one, and smart was better than pretty — and he demonstrated that he meant it, too. (After he died, my sister and I compared notes and discovered he’d said exactly the same thing to her.) He taught me that it was always wise to be skeptical, but that being only skeptical was also a trap. And despite his parental failures (which were many), he gave his kids another great gift by letting us know that it wasn’t our fault — neither he nor our mother were very good at parenting, was all.

And he also taught me “Remember, this’ll make a great story someday.”

Nicole Cliffe’s tweet-stream today got a lot of deserved attention…

My dad thought HIS dad was dead until I was a year old. Then he found him in the Toronto phone book.

— Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) June 19, 2016

"Doesn't your mom lie about everything, all the time?"

"Yeah."

(opens phone book for Canada's most populous city: boom, there he is)

— Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) June 19, 2016

So, my dad calls his dad and is like "uh, are you the Ralph Cliffe who was married to Horrible Mother?"

(He was.)

— Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) June 19, 2016

And he said "listen, no human being who had the ability to get away from my mother would have passed it up. I have no hard feelings."

— Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) June 19, 2016

… and it gets wilder from there, finally ending with one of the great punch lines of our era. By all means, read the whole thing (you don’t need to sign up to read Twitter). If reading bottom-to-top is too challenging, click on the blue ‘View conversation’ link, and you’ll get a pop-up showing the whole series start-to-finish.

Sunday Night Open Thread: Happy “Relationship: It’s Complicated” Father’s Day…Post + Comments (177)

Open Thread: Worst Media Person of the Week

by Anne Laurie|  June 19, 20167:56 pm| 159 Comments

This post is in: Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Assholes, Our Failed Media Experiment

What would happen if Trump picked a popular, qualified vp, started talking only abt need to change DC, middle class, Hillary=status quo?

— Mark Halperin (@MarkHalperin) June 19, 2016

Mark Halperin’s writing fanfic again, and it’s really terrible.

@MarkHalperin What would happen if you and I flew to Mars and opened a Bloomberg outpost?

— John Weaver (@JWGOP) June 19, 2016

The era of pig flight will be glorious https://t.co/bHtXMtAgF4

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) June 19, 2016

@mattyglesias And every single recording of Trump saying crazy things would disappear.

— Daniel Lizarralde (@PseudonymousRex) June 19, 2016

What would happen if all the houses of Westeros decided to get along? https://t.co/tSKtIg1bZk

— Daniel Drezner (@dandrezner) June 19, 2016

@mattyglesias @MarkHalperin what if Twinkies were health food

— bjornapooryoung (@Bjornapoor) June 19, 2016

Hear me out here… What if Trump decided to transform himself into baseball legend Lou Brock? Could he win then? #trumphypotheticals

— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) June 19, 2016

(Numbers wonk humor — but sabremetrics…)

What if – now hear me out, okay – Obama resigned to work as a Ronald McDonald impersonator. https://t.co/Kug4MwFru9

— andrew kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) June 19, 2016

This is the problem revealed after Orlando. Trump didn't ramble off message. His message was unpopular. https://t.co/IuaizVboG2

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) June 19, 2016

Double down! Game changer!…

.@JWGOP @Timodc What's the most recent thing Trump did that surprised you?

— Mark Halperin (@MarkHalperin) June 19, 2016

Nothing he has done has surprised me. What he has gotten away with, THAT has surprised me @MarkHalperin @JWGOP @Timodc

— Sally Albright (@SallyAlbright) June 19, 2016

@MarkHalperin "Surprising" isn't the issue; being awful's expected. The problem is he's staying awful, if not getting worse.@JWGOP @Timodc

— Noropthony (@noropthony) June 19, 2016

What some Media Villagers won’t do for a helicopter ride and a little flattery…

I mean, I guess *somebody* has to be the worst. pic.twitter.com/EzTRlcQYOd

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) June 19, 2016

Open Thread: Worst Media Person of the WeekPost + Comments (159)

NBA Finals: Game Seven

by TaMara|  June 19, 20167:53 pm| 67 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Sports

Here you go…and it’s not even opening tip-off yet.

I’ll be watching while finishing up a few things I need done before I start the new week…I hope it’s a nail-biter.

 

 

NBA Finals: Game SevenPost + Comments (67)

Euro 2016 Group A Final Game Open Thread

by Randinho|  June 19, 20162:56 pm| 32 Comments

This post is in: Sports

As both games are taking place at the same time, we’ll have one open thread for both. Albania is playing Romania and France is playing Switzerland.

Also, I just want to make some comments about Cristiano Ronaldo.  Yes, he dives a lot and is petulant. It is worth noting this,  however:

Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the world’s most charitable sports star, having donated millions of pounds of his fortune to worthy causes.

The 30-year-old Portuguese star was named by Dosomething.org as the most charitable sportsperson, topping the Athletes Gone Good list of 20 stars.

Also, this:

Ronaldo, known for his efforts to help children overcome debilitating diseases, skips the ink so that he can continue to donate blood. In many countries, a new tattoo can affect how often a person donates blood, with a waiting period between six months and a year employed as a precaution against cross-contamination and diseases like hepatitis.

“I don’t have tattoos because I donate blood very often,” he said, according to Diretta News, while also taking the time to share a photo on his Facebook page that showed him donating at a hospital. He reportedly gives twice a year. 

So, by all means criticize his tendency to dive and anything else, but, and I write this as fan of club teams that have long been fierce rivals of his club teams, in an era when so many athletes do so many awful things off the field, it’s refreshing to have one where you complain about his playing and praise many of his extracurricular activities.

 

Euro 2016 Group A Final Game Open ThreadPost + Comments (32)

It’s Not So Hard

by Tom Levenson|  June 19, 20161:47 pm| 184 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

Just came across this via the Twitter machine, and thought both “how very English,” and how much on target it is:

 

–
There is an American-English version of this, but I prefer the dulcet tones organized by the Thames Valley Police.
–
Just showed this to my teenager.  Now it’s off to celebrate Father’s Day at Venice Beach, on the first leg of a dad-lad summer road trip.
–
Open thread!

It’s Not So HardPost + Comments (184)

Sunday Garden Chat: Front Yard Gardening

by Anne Laurie|  June 19, 20165:17 am| 195 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links, Garden Chats

mental masala Bee on coriander flowers

From commentor Mental.Masala:

The most exciting thing to happen in my S.F. Bay Area garden is the result of my laziness and the unstoppable drive of plants to make seeds. The parsley plants in my raised beds have been exceptionally healthy and are flowering profusely. I also have some volunteer cilantro that quickly bolted and is also flowering. Both plants make wide platforms of tiny flowers, much like a Queen Anne’s Lace. The bees, flies, butterflies, dragonflies and other pollinators love the parsley and cilantro, especially the small native bees like the one in the photo. Once it warms up each day, the area around the flowers is abuzz with many species flying around and feeding.

After my last plea, I got an email from commentor Peter Cook:

I’m a longtime reader, occasional commenter, and all-around fan. I put up a post on my blog today about ripping out my front yard and replacing it with a big vegetable garden. I’m hoping you find it worthy of mention in the next Garden Chat…

peter cook acookblog pergola

Front yards are overrated. Sure, it’s good to have some grassy space to kick a ball or toss a disc with the kid, but otherwise lawn is a waste of square feet and resources, especially water. Rip out the grass, run a nice fence around it, and build some raised beds, though, and you’ve got yourself a one-stop shop for food, physical activity, neighborly sharing, and epic curb appeal.

This garden takes up just about the entire former front yard of the new house, including the path to the front door from the driveway. We and any visitors have to walk through it every day, and I wouldn’t have it any other way… It provided enough vegetables to get us through this entire last year without buying anything but a few guilty pleasures like artichokes. (I know they can be grown here, but it’s a two-year job and I haven’t gotten around to it yet.) Between the freezer, which held vacuum-bagged greens of all descriptions plus a ton of pre-chopped mirepoix, pestos, salsas, and chutneys from our modest fruit haul and all of the various fermented things—kimchis, sauerkraut, shredded carrots with coriander, minced leeks with Thai chilies, pickled beets—which sat in the basement and/or fridge, we were fully provisioned with enough plant food to inspire hundreds of excellent meals…

The garden is divided into three main zones. The first is the 28 raised beds that make up the bulk of it. Of these, two are now devoted to strawberries; initially it was just one but they’re too good. I also transplanted a bunch of runners into the blueberry bed. That bed, plus the perimeter beds both inside and outside of the big fence, make up the second zone: fruit. Various currants, plus gooseberries and jostaberries (a currant-gooseberry hybrid) make up the underplantings, while above them I have espaliered plum, pear, and cherry trees. Hardy kiwis live in one little corner bed, and I have three kinds of native table grapes planted along the outside of the fence near the pergola; they made it close to the top last year and should begin to cover it (and fruit) this year. There’s a thornless blackberry patch outside the other corner, and a bed each of rhubarb and asparagus. The old garden in town had those two crops outside the fence and the deer ignored them; the deer here in the woods are hungrier, with less landscaping to eat, so they go after everything. I wish I had known that before I locked in this design, since the retrofitted fencing is not beautiful.

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Sunday Garden Chat: Front Yard GardeningPost + Comments (195)

Late Night Minor Justice Update Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  June 19, 201612:19 am| 99 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Assholes, Clown Shoes, Just Shut the Fuck Up

Woman who defaced Western national parks, including 2 in Colorado, pleads guilty https://t.co/0kA2MZhZSt via @denverpost#EarthJustice #USA

— Paul Thornsley (@PTcoldfire) June 18, 2016

Anybody remember the special snowflake who nym’d herself “Creepy-Tings”?

Via:

… Casey Nocket, of San Diego, admitted to seven misdemeanor counts in a Fresno, Calif., federal court where a judge ordered her to serve two years on probation and complete 200 hours of community service.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheila K. Oberto also mandated that Nocket be banned from federal park lands during her probation, prosecutors say. A plea agreement reviewed by The Denver Post shows Nocket also will write a formal apology to the National Park Service.

Nocket painted and drew on rocks with acrylic paints and markers at seven national parks, including Rocky Mountain National Park and the Dinosaur National Monument. She shared her work on social media, which drew outrage.

After a backpacker posted photos of a Nocket painting along a trail near Yosemite’s Vernal Falls on the website Reddit, the site’s savvy internet sleuths tracked the photo to Nocket’s social media accounts. Steve Yu, a special agent with the Park Service in Yosemite, saw the post and launched an investigation…

Hey, But-I’m-An-Artist, if you’re gonna be a “bad person” and deface irreplaceable public treasures, at least have the elementary cunning not to post HI MOM! evidence of your misdemeanours all over the internet, ‘kay?

I hope all 200 hours of her community service are spend scrubbing off graffiti.. https://t.co/RPz0fj80Ze

— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) June 18, 2016

Late Night Minor Justice Update Open ThreadPost + Comments (99)

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